"Whiteout," a big-budget and highly hyped movie about Antarctica, is arriving in theaters to some of the worst reviews ever. It has an 8 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes as I write this. That makes "Star Wars Episode I" look like "Gone With The Wind."
I was going to go on a tirade about how this is all too common, but instead I'll just make a few rental recommendations : "The Fast Runner," "Krasnaya Palatka" ("The Red Tent") and - sorry a sentimental favorite - "Never Cry Wolf." Or any account about Shackleton that isn't docudrama (one of those aired a few years ago and it was excruciating, sort of like "Titanic" forgetting the real drama had to do with the boat).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Why Google Translate needs to be taken with a korn of salt
"Fire f**ked by boys"
That's the banner headline at the top of Svalbardposten's Web site if you use Google Translate (with real letters replacing the asterisks, of course). It's also why one of the first changes made to the Icepeople site was disabling the Google Translate link to Svalbardposten's articles. Editor Birger Amundsen was concerned - rightly so - about it making his paper look silly or worse.
Running lists of mistranslations can be fun, in sort of a Chinese-menu-into-English way, and I'll do so from time to time. But errors like this are also why I'll post warnings about what you read when links to other foreign sites are posted. I do it so people can decipher general meanings from articles - and sometimes they're so garbled I don't bother - but to expect more is lunacy.
Interestingly, the title bar for that particular page says the fire was "banged" by the boys. The original Norwegian word is "påsatt," which according to my dictionary means "incendiary" or "intentional." I've looked up various crude forms of "copulate" and nothing comes close to "påsatt."
But, hey, it puts me one step closer to being able to swear effectively in the language of my new homeland. So it wasn't a total loss.
That's the banner headline at the top of Svalbardposten's Web site if you use Google Translate (with real letters replacing the asterisks, of course). It's also why one of the first changes made to the Icepeople site was disabling the Google Translate link to Svalbardposten's articles. Editor Birger Amundsen was concerned - rightly so - about it making his paper look silly or worse.
Running lists of mistranslations can be fun, in sort of a Chinese-menu-into-English way, and I'll do so from time to time. But errors like this are also why I'll post warnings about what you read when links to other foreign sites are posted. I do it so people can decipher general meanings from articles - and sometimes they're so garbled I don't bother - but to expect more is lunacy.
Interestingly, the title bar for that particular page says the fire was "banged" by the boys. The original Norwegian word is "påsatt," which according to my dictionary means "incendiary" or "intentional." I've looked up various crude forms of "copulate" and nothing comes close to "påsatt."
But, hey, it puts me one step closer to being able to swear effectively in the language of my new homeland. So it wasn't a total loss.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
It's not Obama visits Ben's Chili Bowl, but...
Small-town charm and lack of pretense are, of course, among the many great things about Longyearbyen. I just wrapped up an hour-long "exit interview" with Svalbard Gov. Per Sefland, who is departing Sept. 15, and headed over to my usual writing spot at Fruene. Turns out we both made a beeline for the coffee shop, since he arrived seconds afterward (he's a fan of the fried egg and bacon sandwiches, which are probably the most popular food item there).
Ever the annoying journalist, I obviously had to wedge in another informal question, following up on his earlier remark about more international delegations coming here by asking who's the most interesting dignitary he's met. But, like asking an athlete about his toughest opponent, the governor's well-schooled in wry diplomacy ("I think I'd better not say.").
It also seems the machine was having some kind of trouble reading his credit card. I can just see that scene with Obama: FOX News and the wingnuts claiming he' s a Kenyan Muslim leading a Nazi-like indoctrination of kids by urging them to stay in school would have made it a scandal for months.
He got the sandwich to go. I'm pretty sure that was his plan all along.
Ever the annoying journalist, I obviously had to wedge in another informal question, following up on his earlier remark about more international delegations coming here by asking who's the most interesting dignitary he's met. But, like asking an athlete about his toughest opponent, the governor's well-schooled in wry diplomacy ("I think I'd better not say.").
It also seems the machine was having some kind of trouble reading his credit card. I can just see that scene with Obama: FOX News and the wingnuts claiming he' s a Kenyan Muslim leading a Nazi-like indoctrination of kids by urging them to stay in school would have made it a scandal for months.
He got the sandwich to go. I'm pretty sure that was his plan all along.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The biggest surprise of Ban Ki-moon's visit
Working on a couple of articles about U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's trip to Svalbard that should be posted shortly, but a few quick impressions that may or may not make it into the "real" stories:
- The biggest surprise wasn't anything Ban said or did, but rather what he didn't get to say. There was time for three questions from the public at the end of a public forum Wednesday at The University Centre In Svalbard. In a room packed mostly with students and scientists that Ban had just called the future leaders of the world due to a unique situation where science is driving much of the important issues on the global agenda, only one question was asked. It was literally a Ferris Bueller moment with the moderator saying "Anyone...don't be shy." Silence. Unbelievable.
- The best question that did come from that meeting was at the end from one of the four panelists (including Ban). Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a prominent Canadian Inuit activist who delivered a wallop of a five-minute speech about the hardships of her people and unacceptable compromises being reached, used her closing statement to basically get herself invited to the U.N. General Assembly meeting next month in New York. "Not to put you on the spot Mr. Secretary-General, but it would be a wonder for the Arctic people to have a voice as well." Afterward, she said, "he just said 'I'm on it,'" meaning he's doing what he can to get her an invite. Safe to say that if she makes it to New York that, even in that distinguished crowd, her voice is going to be heard.
- The progression of first-hand observations of Ban from the entrance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to the -16C storage facility 140 meters inside the mountain: "It's cold" (just inside the door to the outer world); "This is all frost? Oy! Hold your breath." (touching the frost-covered door at the entrance to the storage room); "It's very cold" (waiting to get out of the room after perhaps a five-minute look at his country's deposit of seeds); "If you have any questions, I have to go out" (to the press pack as everybody finally escaped the room).
- The second-biggest surprise? Turns out this is only Svalbard Gov. Per Sefland's first trip into the seed vault since it opened.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Yes, the film fest stuff is coming
Those of you patient enough to keep looking here for the Northern Traveling Film Festival diaries, be patient just a bit longer.
I had to switch Web editing programs and the new one is a bit of adjustment. Working with all the photos in particular took some doing, but they got done last night and now it's just a matter of pairing them with the articles.
They're mostly done. Honest.
I had to switch Web editing programs and the new one is a bit of adjustment. Working with all the photos in particular took some doing, but they got done last night and now it's just a matter of pairing them with the articles.
They're mostly done. Honest.
Even the weather is insulting him
You know how some vacations are doomed from the start? U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is probably going to be feeling that way shortly.
Ban arrives in Norway today for a three-day tour of Svalbard, where any remnant of summer vanished as a storm brought howling winds and snow (it's now snowed every month this year). So after getting insulted by Norway's deputy U.N. ambassador and having to deal with the awkwardness and apologies that no doubt will be in abundance, Mother Nature is giving him the cold shoulder.
He's up here as part of his campaign to fight climate change, which means he probably can't even complain about it being cold. The global warming skeptics are already going to love this, arguing that if warming actually is happening it's gotta be a good thing in places like this. And it's not hard to imagine their glee if some camera picks up snark from Ban about the weather.
Ban arrives in Norway today for a three-day tour of Svalbard, where any remnant of summer vanished as a storm brought howling winds and snow (it's now snowed every month this year). So after getting insulted by Norway's deputy U.N. ambassador and having to deal with the awkwardness and apologies that no doubt will be in abundance, Mother Nature is giving him the cold shoulder.
He's up here as part of his campaign to fight climate change, which means he probably can't even complain about it being cold. The global warming skeptics are already going to love this, arguing that if warming actually is happening it's gotta be a good thing in places like this. And it's not hard to imagine their glee if some camera picks up snark from Ban about the weather.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Working without a Net in Barentsburg
I'm here and things are underway at the Northern Traveling Film Festival in Barentsburg. Divas demanding red carpets and vegan backstage catering need not apply.
Getting the word out is trickier than hoped since the only internet access I've found is the office computer at the Barentsburg Hotel, which takes some arranging to use since the office is locked most of the time. This is a rush greeting, to be followed by in-depth postings as access is available.
(And it turns out the hotel's system doesn't work either, so this is being sent during a fleeting moment of connect time I have at the science center here.)
The group is smaller than I expected, maybe a dozen core people involved in organizing, making the films being shown and various culture/history/science presentations. There were perhaps 40 people at the opening reception and screening Saturday night, a lot of them local dignitaries, again a surprise since I figured a fair number of the town's residents would show up for the novelty.
Since then it's been the core group at various screenings, tours and a day trip to Pyramiden on Monday where they didn't watch films so much as trample them. All this and more will be detailed when Icepeople returns to Longyearbyen on Friday.
Getting the word out is trickier than hoped since the only internet access I've found is the office computer at the Barentsburg Hotel, which takes some arranging to use since the office is locked most of the time. This is a rush greeting, to be followed by in-depth postings as access is available.
(And it turns out the hotel's system doesn't work either, so this is being sent during a fleeting moment of connect time I have at the science center here.)
The group is smaller than I expected, maybe a dozen core people involved in organizing, making the films being shown and various culture/history/science presentations. There were perhaps 40 people at the opening reception and screening Saturday night, a lot of them local dignitaries, again a surprise since I figured a fair number of the town's residents would show up for the novelty.
Since then it's been the core group at various screenings, tours and a day trip to Pyramiden on Monday where they didn't watch films so much as trample them. All this and more will be detailed when Icepeople returns to Longyearbyen on Friday.
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