Back the week after next! Declan @ 1:23 AM xxx
The Soft 'D'Phonetically, very close to an 'L' but not as pointy sounding. a) The tongue does not caressing the top of your mouth and back of your teeth. Danish is apparently alongside Dutch as the 'worst sounding' language in the world thanks to the soft 'd' and harsh 'r.' Update: I was told by a Dane in my college that it's between 'th' and 'l' in English... Declan @ 3:28 AM xxx
Happy Belated New YearWell the hiatus adds a hint of irony to my new title, but .. hey. London was everything I expected - a seething juxtaposition of old and new architecture, cultures, lifestyles. New office towers across the road from the Tower of London; the Tate Modern's colonization of industrial space; poor neighbourhoods just a block away from porsche neighbourhoods. I stayed in Battersea. It reminded me of the inner city aspirational suburbs of Sydney. You'd pass a sports betting office and a 'cheque cashing office' on the way to the station. Grubby matresses would slouch next to beat up 10 year old computers on footpaths. You'd cross the road to avoid a street fight. It's an expensive town if you're not careful. Transport is particularly steep. My first impressions of Copenhagen are that it's as bad if not worse. Yet, for some reason, mobile phone costs here are less than half that of Australia... Update (as promised): Thus far, the Danes I've encountered have been modest and pragmatic. They have a saying here. 'If it's understated, it's good.' Costs have been prohibitive, particularly as far as food goes. The language is going to take some time to master. The pronunciation and rhythm are quite unique, however the grammar is more simple than German (my second language). The one thing I can say for the students here is that they know how to party. The bar in my college closes at 4am ... I'm still recovering from the weekend... Declan @ 7:39 AM xxx
... intermittent blogging over the coming couple of weeks. Declan @ 6:27 PM xxx Xmas in the Inner WestSomeone stole the wreath from our door in the wee hours of Boxing Day. What's next? Uprooting flowers from the front garden? Declan @ 2:18 AM xxx
C Monks announces the best of 2003 Declan @ 11:46 PM xxx Merry Thursday Everybodyand I'm on the verge of being kicked off my very first blog server! Apparently I've offended the administration by pulling him up on wild assertions. Declan @ 11:06 PM xxx
"Parwdon me sir, but I'm wooking for a wabbit" It's good to know that Google caters for all languages and cultural nuances Declan @ 10:59 PM xxx Cute. Declan @ 12:50 AM xxx ... only left to write***rant warning*** I've been reading Naomi Klein's Fences and Windows lately. She states in the preface that No Logo was a thesis driven project and this is basically just a motley collection of writings 'from the front lines of the globalisation debates.' There's only one piece which captured my attention - one which made a serious attempt to outline solutions to the current state of affairs. I'll start by outlining her take on these globalisation protests. Basically there are two sides. There are the evil institutions like the World Bank and IMF. They, along with Corporate [America - mostly] are screwing the world through painful extraction of profits from the most unethical of methods. Up against these are the motley collection of good hearted and pure spirited protestors who, despite their differing aims are part of a global revolution to undermine the all consuming corporeality of Capitalist expansion. These arguments have been waged inversely on the other side of the political divide - attempts to skew the moral terrain of the arguments with accusations of ideological shortcomings with the poor and needy batted around like political footballs. Both these books have a utopian vision of the future where the world's problems will be solved via a networking of people through high technology. For Drissen, this means engaging in full bio-technical solutions - the end of nature as we know it. For Klein, we see glimmers of many Gemeinschafts as a decentralised, high tech network - a mutated natural society. Just as with the 'players', the margins are also subsumed into the binaries in these solutions. A friend of mine was in Genoa in 2001 and, despite his noble aims of Peacefully drawing plight to the vast inequalities and ethical dilemmas of free market virulence, was beaten and tear gassed after the protest sites were highjacked by anarchist groups dressed in black suits, army boots and balaclavas. Acknowledging the vast differences in objectives of the groups at these protests would surely strengthen the case for the left. Just as the voice conservative right is highjacked by yobbos, thugs and nazis; the left too is often a contradictory collection of dreamers, hippies and anarchists. Surely separating the people you want to be there from the people who are is common sense? Klein's contributions to the debate on globalisation can't be ignored, but her specious solutions and false dichotomies most certainly can be. Declan @ 12:47 AM xxx
Taylorism vs. TrademarksMcLanguage Meets the Dictionary. by Dennis Baron "Shredded wheat, thermos, and zipper all began as trademarked terms that morphed into everyday words as well. Manufacturers want the names of their products on everybody's lips, but they don't want those names to become everybody's property..." (via aldaily) Declan @ 7:37 PM xxx -Smack the Weasal (via. venus im pelz) That would be one definite route to the unelectable Declan @ 7:05 PM xxx The best sardonic-cum-surreal comics this side of the North Pole... Declan @ 6:55 PM xxx Get with the programOk so the number of people STILL looking for Paris Hilton's porn movie is a little worrying. I mean, like, that was soooo 3 weeks ago! Declan @ 6:49 PM xxx
For the remainder of Friday Get me out of here! Declan @ 12:13 PM xxx Here's a sample of the wares: King Street Central Eyebal Beach cocktails anyone? Declan @ 12:43 AM xxx
Maybe I could try that telemarketing scam over thereSeems like prison has an upside in Denmark (via Houshusband) Declan @ 2:23 PM xxx  Declan @ 11:58 AM xxx
  Update: Robotjohnny has a tres amusing slant on the capture. Props to Niall too Declan @ 12:42 AM xxx vive la Googlebomb revolution Declan @ 12:05 AM xxx
His fluffy misogynistic rhetoric is often quaint and amusing; however, his complete inability to grapple constructively with my points presents a rather gloomy outlook for feminism. One of the more recent comments has been from the initial post-er - Caternia. She calls for everyone to 'ignore Julius.' This begs the question, why? Will he go away? (why not ban his i.p.? He contends that he's merely presenting contrarian perspectives, but there's more at stake here. This is a vision of the future via a vision of the past. Declan @ 9:56 PM xxx
Declan @ 8:31 PM xxx
I don't think I could live in the tropics. Declan @ 10:59 AM xxx Declan @ 1:07 AM xxx Declan @ 1:00 AM xxx |
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fleeting musings on culture, science, academia and society from a Sociology student in Copenhagen
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