I’m not a fan of graphic novels, but I do have a soft spot for highly stylized films. Renaissance looks like it has potential, and I have high hopes for Richard Linklater’s upcoming A Scanner Darkly.
The joys of tsuji-giri
There’s nothing like the strange details of a foreign language, as I discovered when I found a review of an intriguing book of world vocabulary. Who knew that tsuji-giri is a samurai-era term for “to try out a new sword on a passer-by?” And why do I wish we had a word like qiang jingtou to describe “the fight by a cameraman to get a better vantage point”?
I think finding untranslatable words is part of the joy of learning another language, along with the particular rhythm and manner of speaking. I remember that feeling when I first learned the French verb tutoyer, the act of becoming more friendly with someone by switching from using vous to tu.
Link courtesy of Anatole.
Newmindspace
I’d heard about the December subway party, but I hadn’t realized that the organizers had hosted other events. Newmindspace have hosted a party in a streetcar, two subway parties, and staged a pillow fight to make use of the sterile and ugly Dundas Square. Some excellent ideas, if you ask me. They came to my attention today because of an act they labelled the “Queen of Hearts” – basically just chalking hearts all over Queen West.
Yay Toronto. Maybe it doesn’t match Vancouver in zombiewalks, but there’s indie culture to be found.
(Photo courtesy of neuroticjose).
Tories & Bloc
There’s an interesting article in the Toronto Star today about the Tories’ hold on power. The pundits have been expecting them to ally with the Bloc, with a shared vision of decentralisation. Now that they’ve made major inroads in Québec as a federalist alternative to the Liberals, however, the Bloc will view them as a real competitor. The Bloc has a real interest in seeing the Tory government spin its wheels, and the Tories have to be careful to avoid appeasing the separatists if they want their Québec vote to grow.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tories find themselves with no allies in the house. Confidence motions will pass, since no one wants to go back to the polls, but much of the rest of their agenda could fail. I don’t know enough about house procedures, but I wonder if a Liberal+NDP+Bloc coalition could push through a few bills while the Tories flail…