Wagner Again

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by stormy:
as a guy who... ...not crazy for opera,

Stormy, you and I need to talk....

[stormy]

that's ok
very glad to communicate opinions with you
maybe my english is a little wired

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Stormy:

Your English is a lot better than my Chinese; none of us are likely to complain. Glad to have you on the board.

OT (operatenor) meant that he would like to encourage you to enjoy opera. He is an opera singer, and he wants everyone to love what he enjoys so much.

English idiom can be very difficult, as it often means something entirely different that what the words translate to. If you're confused any of us would be happy to help clarify. It's a good thing the music doesn't need translating.

And good luck getting a straight answer out of several of our lunatics. Humor is just about the hardest thing to get translated!

[stormy]

that's even better to have a chat with a singer
maybe he will make me turn to opera
i have to complain about my english which i've learn for nearly 10 years. : )
that's quite frustating ,isn't it?
why there is no chat room?
in China a forum without chatroom is not very common

[bignaf]

a chat room on this board can be dangerous. try locking... well one guy I won't mention with... another guy I won't mention into a chat room. we'll hear bangs we'll see sparks coming out... never mind this is a bad joke. pretend you didn't read it.

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by stormy:

maybe he will make me turn to opera

why there is no chat room?
in China a forum without chatroom is not very common

Hi Stormy,

Of your conversion to opera appreciation I have no doubt. After all, the greatest opera ever written was set in ancient China (Turandot), so it is in your blood just waiting to be discovered (pardon me, I'm trying to be funny ).

Bignaf's right, I think. Not having a chatroom keeps this particular group of misfits (and I'm including myself in this) civil.

In all seriousness, I feel it is good for us having you post with us. Please don't be intimidated by the English language. Heck, even we Americans don't use our own language properly or effectively (I'm leaving the British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand contingent out of this one because we all know since they're using the King's English they are infallible. Oops, there I go trying to be funny again )

By the way, as you go along you will find that I attempt to be humorous a lot on this forum, even if it means everyone laughs at me. There is no length too great to get a laugh!

<small>[ 05-30-2003, 02:47 AM: Message edited by: operatenor ]</small>

[dai bread 1]

Omnia infallibilia est!???

[stormy]

Happy to see so many guys'reply
But when you guys are kidding you needn't to explain ,which make your jokes uninteresting.
Laugh is the best language.
All the people of the world know what he means when onee person laugh.
Culture difference is not so important as we think sometimes.
There is no difficulty in understanding when we talk to each other in the modern world.

[stormy]

Sorry I choose the wrong message icon
not

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Originally posted by dai bread 1:
One of the differences you may notice in the way we use English is that for us in NZ, an Asian is an East or South-East Asian. For the British, an Asian seems to be an Indian or Pakistani. What's the American usage, Americans? Who do you think of when you use the word "Asian"?

In San Diego, not necessarily the rest of the country, "Asian" usually means "I'm not quite sure". We have Filipinos, Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese, Laotian, Vietnamese, Guamanian (Chamorro), Guamanian (Micronesian), Samoan, Korean, Japanese. Several of these groups resent being confused with other groups so we often resort to the blanket term "asian" until we find out for sure.

Indian, and Pakistani are usually just called what they are. Iranian, Iraqi, Turk, Palestinian, Saudi, Egyptian, the same. When in doubt, I just ask.

[Gaby]

Originally posted by Haggis:

Gabbers,

Lately, there's been some credible revisionist history strongly suggesting Ludwig wasn't really insane.

Haggis,

credible revisionist history???? Is that the same as credible censoring???

Here is what I learned about Ludwig many, many moons ago:

"Born in Nymphenburg Castle, Munich, in 1845, Ludwig II. was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and became king of Bavaria at the age of 18. Disillusioned after a lost war with the Prussians, Ludwig lost all interest in politics and became increasingly eccentric.

He loved the theater and music, especially Richard Wagner's operas. He built three castles - Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee - at stupendous expense. Linderhof, the only one to be completed, was the king's favourite. Louis XIV became Ludwig's inspiration: his dream of absolute rule. But his extravagance, homosexuality and near or actual insanity worried the Bavarian government. Ludwig was certified insane in his bedroom at Neuschwanstein and, a few days later, on 13 June 1886 he and his physician were found drowned in the Lake Starnberg (Starnberger See). It has never been ascertained whether this was an accident or an assassination."

He may not have been mad, but he was definitely decadent, as is true of quite a few blue bloods. Must've been all that inbreeding!

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by Gabbers:

credible revisionist history???? Is that the same as credible censoring???

He may not have been mad, but he was definitely decadent,...

No, I'd say it was more like "military intelligence" (j/k, my certain Scottish staple chum).

[dkm32]

Originally posted by operatenor:
...this particular group of misfits (and I'm including myself in this) civil.

Said the King to his subjects... :p

<small>[ 05-30-2003, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: dkm32 ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Originally posted by stormy:
.
All the people of the world know what he means when onee person laugh.

What I'd always been told was that when one person laughs, they are laughing at me!

[priya978]

You've been told right OT!
Wait! Not to say that you were wrong storm, but! Ohh, geesh, you get it!

[priya978]

And Selma was basically right Storm. I don't know whether this is just because we live near each other but..
We usually blanket it with asian. That was one of the finer points! I wold be blanketed in that too but... I'm also more!! (Why does this stupid-looking face have to folloing everything I say?)
But around here we usually use it to refer to Phillipinos.

[shostakovich]

Asians are people from Asia. Asia is that big blob of land east of a capricious border following the Ural Mountains, then down into the Caspian Sea, exiting to the west to include Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, then scooting up to include most of Turkey (I believe the border goes through Istanbul), then south, encompassing the entire middle east, and staying just east of Africa. Whew!

One of the oddities of the middle east is that Israel, located in ASIA, is populated mainly by descendents of displaced EUROPEANS. Culturally, they are at odds with their surroundings. I think that goes a long way to explaining a major problem that (IMO) will not disappear any time soon.

Just to put a little music into this, try some by Paul Ben Haim, Israel's best known composer. Wagner, go spin in your grave.
Shos

<small>[ 05-30-2003, 11:05 PM: Message edited by: shostakovich ]</small>

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Geographically, shos, you're dead right. However, local usage, when referring to live people, generally indicates the presence of an epicanthic fold in some degree when the word "asian" is used. This is why the whole Indian/Pakistani/Iranian/Iraqi/Armenian/Lebanese/
Palestinian/Arab group often get left out of the term, even though many of them are clearly of Asian extraction, at least technically.

Paradoxically, I've heard the term to include Polynesians and Inuit, even though they are NOT asian, but do often have an epicanthic fold. Go figure.

To further confuse the issue, much of our population have grandparents off of more than one continent; take my family. My husbands grandparents were (3)local mestizo hispanics and (1)portuguese. Mine were (2) Swedes and (2) mixed mongrels that had lived in Tennessee for a long time. That lot is mostly generic Scots/Irish with a couple of Frenchmen and one Cherokee wife, generations ago.

My older daughter's husband has two Swedish and two French Canadian grandparents. How do you figure French Canadians, again? I dunno?

My younger daugher's boyfriend is Filipino, and he's the tallest Filipino I ever saw. If they stay together, I'll be reduced to percentages in figuring the continents involved in their kids.

At some point we're going to just call ourselves "american" and give up trying to explain the details. OT, gimme some of the good drugs. My head hurts.

[OperaTenor]

Darn it, Selma, all I have left is Tylenol.

[dai bread 1]

It's odd, you know. We can't tell the difference between the various E & SE Asians, but they can. Instantly. This despite the wide rang of faces you see in a Japanese train. :confused: