In other areas of the board we have talked about the problems of various translation devices from English to Spanish and back. Below is a great example of how it happens elsewhere:
Funny Madonna Interview Translation from Budapest's Blikk Newspaper
When the Evita production company came to Budapest, Madonna,had an interview with the Budapest newspaper Blikk. The questions were posed in Hungarian, then translated into English for Madonna, whose replies were then translated back into Hungarian for the paper's exclusive.
Soon after, at the request of USA Today, Madonna's comments were then retranslated from Hungarian back into English for the benefit of that paper's readers.
The end result is far from the original but much funnier. "I am a woman and not a test-mouse!" The translations have Madonna exclaim.
This is a complete transcript, verbatim.
Blikk: Madonna, Budapest says hello with arms that are spread-eagled. Did you have a visit here that was agreeable? Are you in good odor? You are the biggest fan of our young people who hear your musical productions and like to move their bodies in response.
Madonna: Thank you for saying these compliments [holds up hands]. Please stop with taking sensationalist photographs until I have removed my garments for all to see [laughs]. This is a joke I have made.
Blikk: Madonna, let's cut toward the hunt: Are you a bold hussy-woman that feasts on men who are tops?
Madonna: Yes, yes, this is certainly something that brings to the surface my longings. In America it is not considered to be mentally ill when a woman advances on her prey in a discoth?que setting with hardy cocktails present. And there is a more normal attitude toward leather play-toys that also makes my day.
Blikk: Is this how you met Carlos, your love-servant who is reputed? Did you know he was heaven-sent right off the stick? Or were you dating many other people in your bed at the same time?
I thought this news story was interesting -
Breast-boosting beer
European men are flocking to Bulgaria to buy 'breast-boosting beer' after EU accession led to customs duties on the drink being abolished.
The millet-ale called Boza which is made from fermented wheat flour and yeast is being snapped up by bar owners, shopkeepers and shoppers from across Europe.
They are said to be keen for their wives and girlfriends to benefit from its reported ability to make women's breasts grow.
Constantin Barbu crossed the Danube from Romania to buy Boza in the Bulgarian border town of Ruse.
He said: "I've bought a case for my wife to try out. I really hope I see an improvement."
And Austrian landlord Klaus Schmidt from the ski resort of Schladming said he was planning a trip soon.
He added: "I had heard of Boza before but it was always so expensive once the tax was added. But now that's gone I'm going to start offering the drink to my apr?s-ski customers."
I had to post this: I figure this guy is a Manchester U fan.
Trying To Destroy The Evidence
British authorities charged Craig Moore, 28, with blowing up a highway camera that had caught him speeding in the Hyde area of Manchester. Although the camera itself was heavily damaged by the explosives, the recording equipment in its base wasn't. It contained images of Moore speeding and then returning to destroy the evidence. He was convicted and sentenced to four months in jail.
Study Finds Cocaine, Pot in Rome's Air
May 31, 6:15 PM (ET)
ROME (AP) - Researchers may have figured out what makes la vita so dolce in Rome. A report from Italy's National Research Council released Thursday found that there are traces of cocaine and cannabis in the air of the Eternal City.
The institute made the discovery during a study of toxic substances in the air of Rome, Taranto, in the heel of boot-shaped Italy, as well as in Algiers. The results found that in Rome, there were traces of cocaine and cannabis - as well as nicotine, caffeine and benzopirene, which is commonly released in cigarette smoke and auto emissions.
"The highest concentrations of cocaine were found in the center of Rome and especially in the area of the University of La Sapienza," said Dr. Angelo Cecinato, who led the investigation.
Researchers can't say for sure why the high concentrations were registered in those locations, but Cecinato stressed that the findings didn't necessarily mean that cocaine and cannabis are more heavily used there.
The report said the maximum concentration of cocaine in Rome - 0.1 nanograms per cubic meter - was five times less than the legal limit for toxic substances in the air. Nevertheless, researchers said even the small amount was reason for concern.
There were small traces of the drugs found in Taranto and none in Algiers, the researchers said.
(For some reason, I don't find that surprising at all!)
LONDON (AFP) - To their high society owners, a pair of haute couture shoes can be a precious thing.
But to guard a 62,000 pound (120,000 dollar) pair of ruby- sapphire- and diamond-encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals at their London launch, retailer Harrods went to extreme lengths: bringing in a live Egyptian cobra to patrol the shoe counter.
Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding precious footwear might be a moot point with security experts.
But it makes for a pretty effective photo opportunity.
A spokeswoman for Harrods admitted that the cobra had been hired strictly for Mondays launch of the shoe collection.
"The snake has now been returned to its owner," she said.
So no need to fear snake bites at the shoe counter, then.
"Not unless you are a burglar," the spokeswoman said.
(I will reserve comment)
Woman crashes into store then tries to buy beer
Tue Jul 1, 9:31 PM ET
NORWALK, Calif. - A convenience store became an unwilling drive-in when a 74-year-old woman plowed her car through the front window and then tried to buy a six-pack of Budweiser, police and the owner said.
Lynne Rice of Norwalk drove her 1988 Cadillac into Joe's Food Mart and Video on Sunday evening, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Jenny Ha said.
The car plowed about halfway through the store but nobody was injured. Rice got out of the car, walked over to the cooler and pulled out a six-pack of Budweiser beer, said the store owner, who gave only his last name, Awada, to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
"I don't know how she managed to walk," Awada said, adding a cashier declined the sale and instead called police.
Rice was taken to a hospital for examination because she had a pre-existing medical condition, Ha said.
She was also arrested for investigation of misdemeanor driving under the influence and released on $15,000 bail, authorities said.
Rice could not be reached for comment Tuesday. There was no telephone listing with her name in Norwalk.
Awada said the crash destroyed two 6-foot-wide glass panels. Damage was put at about $8,000.
Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned!!
A screenshot of an eBay listing advertising the sale of a pair of underwear and a condom wrapper, taken on August 13, 2008. An Australian woman has taken revenge on her cheating husband by putting a photograph of his lover's underpants up for sale on the ***** site eBay
I had enough problems driving in DR, I did come across a couple of Drunk Drivers but hopefully they weren't blind!!
NANCY, France (AFP) - A blind journalist was given a month's suspended jail sentence and fined 500 euros (750 dollars) by a French court Friday for driving while drunk and without a license.
The owner of the car, who was also drunk as he sat next to the blind man when he drove the vehicle, was given the same sentence and had his license suspended for five months by the court in the northeastern town of Nancy.
The pair were arrested on a country road in the early hours of July 25 by police who spotted their car zig-zagging suspiciously and moving at a very low speed.
The police were astounded when the 29-year-old driver informed them that he was blind, and when they breathalysed him and his passenger, a 52-year-old photographer, they found they had drunk twice the permitted level of alcohol.
"I really wanted to do it (drive the car)," the blind man told the court. "I expressed this wish. He (the owner of the car) agreed."
The owner said he saw "a lot of happiness emanating from him" as he drove, adding that he had "one hand on the handbrake and one hand on the steering wheel" as the blind journalist drove.
It takes all kinds:
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A Malaysian welder had to have a nut removed from around his penis after an attempt to lengthen it before he gets engaged next week went embarrassingly wrong, a news report said Sunday.
The nut got stuck on his penis following an erection, the Star newspaper said, forcing him to seek help at a hospital in southern Johor state.
Staff from the Sultanah Aminah hospital had to drain some blood from the penis and cut away a top layer of skin before the object could be removed, the newspaper said.
It said the fire and rescue department were also involved in trying to remove the nut from the unnamed welder, who is in his 20s and hoped the nut would weigh down his penis to make it longer.
DALLAS - A robber rolled into a Dallas convenience store came armed with a bat and a knife. He left with a lot of condoms and an energy drink. Dallas police Cpl. Kevin Janse said Friday that a man in a wheelchair entered a Dallas 7-Eleven Wednesday afternoon, rolled straight toward the cash register and beat it with a baseball bat until it opened. But he didn't grab any cash. Instead, police say he stole 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink before making his getaway Wednesday afternoon. Janse says the suspect may have been homeless and was likely intoxicated at the time of the robbery.
Ok, explain to me two things, 1) Why did he beat the register until it opened and not take the cash and 2) If the man was intoxicated, wouldn't you think he would have wanted booze instead of condoms?