Lookin

http://hyacinthbucketscookbook.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/7/6/13765701/7224387.jpg Do I speak Greek? Only when
seriously under the influence, old girl,
then they tell me I'm fluent.

Also interestingly here in NC on the Coastal Plain (eastern third of the state) especially close to the coast there are pockets of amazingly preserved Elizabethan English pronunciation which was after all the root of the Southern accent.

I can drive 30 minutes into the country outside Raleigh (where I grew up!) and not understand one word.

Somehow I expected to hear from you in this thread. There are many regional dialects of Spanish. The spaniards always have adjustments to make in latin America because of the Castillan influence on their own language, etc.
 
But that's not unique to Spanish! Look at what Americans have done to the mother tongue -- even in-country.
 
A coworker grew up in the USSR but has lived in the US (legally, a citizen now) since before the wall came down. (And boy is it fun watching HER opinions on current events in Russia!) English is still very much a second language for her and she has major problems any time she travels in the deep south, for example.

My experience has an o.k. ending. In 2011, I spent most of August in Stockholm, where (90%) of the population speaks English. I remember particularly meeting some working class guys who were drinking beer in a public park in Stockholm on a Saturday. They love Sweden, including the cradle-to-grave welfare system and eagerly asked about NYC and LA, while handing me beer after beer. One odd incident: Swedes put on winter clothing on Sept. 1 regardless of the weather. I tried a blanket, and, of course, looked ridiculous with sweat on my face and the rest of me.

This reminds me of something sort of relevant : the English language has about three times as many words in it as French or (I think) German. Because of the threefold sources Anglo, Saxon and Norman. So we have the Anglo words for meat on the hoof (the oppressed Anglos after 1066 And All That tending the flocks) and the Norman words for meat cooked and served up. Etc.
 
And the Saxon invasions and so on.

I love Australia and have made three long visits. It always takes me a small amount of time to get used to the accent, but it's usually very easy. Except once that is on a bus in Sydney, on my first day. I could not understand a word. I finally introduced myself to the two guys, somewhere in their 20s, who were sitting next to me. It turned out they were from Sweden and speaking in their native language. Of course, they also spoke English. I was a dumb American!

I'm always in awe of my friend who regularly travels the world. She is fluent (completely!) in Dutch, English, Spanish and Italian. And she can also speak quite good French and German.
 
I have an ear for languages and pick them up quite quickly. But what bothers me is that if you don't use a language, the knowledge does get rusty. And that's what's ultimately has kept me from investing the time in learning new languages. Because if you don't use them a lot, it seems a waste to put so much time and effort into it.
 
I am completely fluent in English and Dutch is my native language. I can carry a very short conversation in French and understand German a little bit.
 
I read all my books in English too. It's weird now for me if I read in Dutch. My ex- husband has the same proficiency in English and our conversations would switch between Dutch and English mid-sentence if one of the languages was lacking in the right expression or vocabulary.

Wow! So many wonderful responses!
 

 
I live in New York City, but I was born and raised in New Jersey by Asian immigrants. I was bilingual growing up—spoke my parents' mother tongue at home, and English elsewhere. In a way, I didn't consider myself bilingual back then just because I had understood the dynamics of being Asian-American when it came to the languages we were able to speak, which is almost always at least two.
 
French was the first complete "foreign" language I learned, in college as part of a free elective. I enjoyed the idea of being able to speak another language, but back then I didn't know how to continue (and couldn't afford classes at my local Alliance Française). Only when I started working that I was able to afford classes, the occasional tutor, and being able to commute to local francophone groups.
 
Several trips and three-month-long work-related obligations to Québec, Brussels, and Paris provided the necessary training to make me better at it. I am by no means fluent, but I am certainly capable enough to be able to actively switch my modes of speaking. (Another friend said of his frustration with Italian: "When I try to speak Italian with someone, my brain still translates to English. That's why it takes me twice as long to respond to someone's question, because not only did I translate what someone just said to me, but I also have to translate my response—which is in English. I want to get to the point where this doesn't happen anymore.")
 
German was the next language. I met a group of exchange students from Germany back in college, who a year ago "resurfaced" on Facebook, and extended an invitation to visit their country. I want to be at least ready with some decent beginner's-level German when I see them again after years out of college.
 
I'm in the process of learning Italian now (have only had a total of five hour-long sessions with a professional language instructor). My knowledge of French helps some, but largely, it's like starting from scratch. I have no specific reason for wanting to learn it, save for the challenge of being able to speak a fifth language.
 

 
My European-French-speaking friends—particularly one lifelong Parisian who admits to turning on subtitles when watching Franco-Canadian films—find Quebecois French to be peculiar, not only because of the accent, but because they (Quebecois) speak an archaic form of French.
 
Where European French, whether Swiss, French, Luxembourgeoise, or Belgian, were able to modernize at around the same cadence, Quebecois French remained largely unchanged from its 17th-century roots.
 
Interestingly enough, if you were to study French in Quebec, they teach you standard (i.e. European) French. You would be taught that going shopping is "faire du shopping," but the second you step out of class, everyone around you says "magasiner."

When I was a medical student, I did my one of my rotations at a hospital near Chinatown. I learned the following phrases in Chinese, which were helpful socially as well,
Hello.
My name is.....
I am well. You are well.
Lie down and spread your legs.
 
Oh it was an Ob Gyn rotation.

"Michelle, ma belle, son les mots que tres bien ensemble....tres bien ensemble."
"No tengo trona ni reina. Ne nadie que me comprenda. Pero sigo siendo el rey."
"Volare oh oh. Cantare oh oh oh oh"
 
You are not the only one who can sing in another language WG.

And driver attitude when they get tired of listening to the directions. A Uber driver said he not would come to a well known / heeled restaurant when the turns became too complicated for him. My friend resorted to waving down a real cab.

I have all 4 seasons on DVD and I love watching them. That show was so ahead of it's time. The sad thing is that Susan Harris designed the show to only be 5 season and they had one more season to go and then got cancelled.
 
For as funny as that show was it could be just as touching. Plus, even though Billy Crystal's character was portrayed as being stereotyped, it was a major accomplishment to have a main character like that on a show back in the late 70's.
 
To me, that show is timeless. I feel that show could be brought back with the right recasting and with a few small re-writes in the script could be shown today.

Soap stands out for me as a show I really liked when I was very young too. I think both Soap and Golden Girls dealt with sex and especially sexual repression very openly for their time, with a sense of humor. As a repressed little gay boy I could really relate to that.
 
As for Susan Harris's depiction of gays...I was thankful she acknowledged we existed at all, pretty much no one else on prime time did.

It had one of the first openly gay characters Billy Crystal as Jodie Dallas. He was really stereotypical to begin with. But then after several seasons had relationships with women while maintaining he was gay. So not the best depiction. But a depiction. I was 16 when it came on. I don't think I knew I was gay at that point. I may have had some suspicions -it's so difficult to remember what I thought 38 years ago. When this first came on, I hadn't even masturbated yet. That milestone occurred later in the school year.
 
Ted Wass who plays his brother Danny Dallas was really handsome. And so was Robert Urich who played Peter Campbell. For some reason I really liked watching them.
 
Here is the first episode. I still found it funny.
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jNYSHrkD4
 
 
Gman

http://i.imgur.com/KGYl6m4.jpeg

I can relate to that, Tonyko. This isn't my first queer experience, but it is the longer lasting one. I have always been a lone hunter, never been or am interested in a committed, LTR, so my crushes tend to be very short. But there is one guy I met almost 30 years ago I still have a passionate relationship with. When I met him both of us were very young, and he was a street hustler. A breathtaking beautiful one. Our encounters would always involved some kind of transaction, not always money, maybe diner, a piece of clothing, a joint, something. We would not have anal sex, but the kissing was celestial. After a few months of meeting very often, he robbed me. I was very young and poor, so he just vanished without much, just a tape recorder and my weed while I was sleeping. After about one year, he reconnects begging me to see him. We meet, he brings some cash to pay for my goods (he was and is waaayyy below the poverty line), and explains to me that a friend of him was waiting for him outside, armed, and threatening to use his weapon if he did not leave my place with some valuables. Of course I did not know wether or not to believe him. But the chemistry was so strong that I gave him the benefit of doubt and we started a long process of reconciliation. He stopped asking for anything in exchange of sex and that year, as a birthday gift, he bottomed for me for the first time. We have been loyal friends and passionate lovers since then. He is married, has three children, and still when I am visiting Buenos Aires we spend together as much time as we can. I will be with him this very Thursday. He is not anymore the smoking hot stud he used to be, but when I meet with him the old passion just aroused. I am not even close to be young attractive guy I was, but he still freaks out when we are together. Right now I have a boner.

IDK maybe the LAPSE in time has something to do with it. Sev years ago I was at a thing and talked to Larry King, the old host, his show was already off the air at that point. He told a story about his first love, the girl he planned to marry, he was nuts about her and couldn't live w/o her. But then his first REAL break in broadcasting came up but it meant moving far away and she refused to leave her family. He could not IMAGINE living w/o her, he took the job and felt like he'd blown his chance at his only love. 40 years LATER this very heavy very brassy woman with a screeching voice came up to him at a show in Fla and it was HER. He said he could NOT imagine what his life would have been if THIS is what he'd stayed with.
"I" thought to myself, if he HAD maybe he would still SEE that girl he fell in love with when he looks at her now. Maybe??
I know from MY experience it can make a diff. I went gaga over a Gaeity dancer almost 15 years ago. A recently out of the Air Force 24yo Blonde adonis hair now to his shoulders green eyes muscular bod of a God etc etc. THAT guy who was my "ideal" is STILL in my life today. We grew close. He's a true friend now whom I love and it's mutual our families have even met etc thou none know "how" WE really met lol. He still allows me to have a little "fun" with him because he knows how happy it makes me, and says it makes him happy to make me happy, even thou he's 100% straight and "that" life is in his past. He's a 39yo suit and tie professional the long hair is gone the muscles and hard body has given way to a soft body with skinny arms and in REALITY he's no longer the Adonis I first saw BUT he still excites me because it's HIM. And THATS what I still see.

That is so sweet T.
Im going to go hug my mom now.

Yes. And she LOOOOVED her gay son lol. Told EVERYONE how much fun we always have together going to shows shopping how much fun my friends were he took me here or there etc, more fun than with my bro or even my sis. I lost her this Spring. Miss her like crazy. Still pick up the phone like 10X a day cause I forget. Still haven't erased all her Vmails n stuff. It's weird cause you don't have a family of your own or a partner so it's like there's no one who gives a shit about you anymore. (I know not true of course, there's fam and wonderful friends etc) but this was the person who says call me when you get home put on a warm coat eat something call me when your plane lands go to the doctor etc etc you know stuff like that. It's so weird not having that anymore.

That was a sweet thing for your mom to do.
T

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-get-ready-break-uber
 
http://www.msnbc.com/sites/msnbc/files/styles/ratio--3-2--830x553/public/h_14174473.jpg?itok=Upo13sre
 
Republicans get ready to break up with Uber
By Steve Benen
Republicans have generally been slower than Democrats to embrace new technology, but if there’s one thing the GOP loves, it’s Uber.
Here’s Politico:
Republicans love Uber. Young urban voters love Uber. And Republicans hope that means young voters can learn to love the GOP.
Car-hailing and ride-sharing services like Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and others are wildly popular among wealthy, young, tech-savvy urbanites – precisely the kind of voters that the Republican Party needs to win over to remain competitive in the long run. Those same services also just happen to be warring with government regulators in cities across the country over whether the upstarts are operating illegally as unlicensed taxi services.
And National Journal:
The Republican Party is in love with Uber, and it wants to publicly display its affection all over the Internet.
And The Hill:
Uber, Lyft and Airbnb have become mascots for a Republican Party looking to promote a new brand of free market conservatism while making inroads with young voters.
Though the companies were engineered in the Democratic bastion of Silicon Valley, Republicans seeking to promote their party as freedom-loving and tech savvy are latching on to them.
I’m afraid, however, that the love affair is poised to come to an abrupt halt. Republicans may love Uber, but Uber loves “Obamacare,” suggesting the star-crossed lovers may have to agree to see other people.
Buzzfeed ran this report over the weekend:
The CEO of Uber said Friday that Obamacare has played a crucial role for his army of drivers, an unusual, partial endorsement of the president’s signature policy from a man often cast as a hero of anti-government libertarianism.
BuzzFeed News reported in October that the new, subsidized market for health care has been a boon to companies like Uber, which are essentially digital middlemen relying on armies of independent contractors. Figures ranging from Uber drivers to Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber called the health care overhaul crucial in the emergence of the sharing economy, but Uber had remained officially silent on the subject until Friday.
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO and co-founder, described the impact of the Affordable Care Act as “huge,” adding, “The democratization of those types of benefits allow people to have more flexible ways to make a living. They don’t have to be working for The Man.”
Kalanick is touching on a well-kept secret: for all the irrational disgust the right has for the ACA, the law itself is actually a boon to entrepreneurs.
As we’ve discussed before, in the United States, plenty of creative Americans with a great idea for a business have traditionally been burdened by “job lock” – they’d love to pursue the entrepreneurial dream, but they can’t give up the health care coverage that comes with the job they don’t want. For these aspiring business leaders, the Affordable Care Act means freedom – they can start a new business without fearing that their families will go without access to medical care.
It creates the awkward dynamic in which Republicans – ostensibly those who celebrate private sector risk-taking and the entrepreneurial spirit – are trying to destroy opportunities for new business start-ups.
It also serves as a reminder that when it comes to the future of health care, the more the GOP assumes that the business community is behind the repeal crusade, the more misguided Republicans are.
 
:D:D
 
Those that are in favor of Uber, think of themselves, and stand against American jobs and American workers with a fair and equitable shake at a fair wage, fair health benefits and a fair shake at the American dream. At some point we have to consider the greater good...Unions built a solid middle class in the Americas, one brick at a time. They bought homes, found a place for their lives to happen, raised their children, sent them on to college and solidified the back bone of this country, and believed what government told them was the truth. Not everything is the truth, not everything is easy, nor should it be, it is often hard earned. I tip my hat tonight to the good people of Broward, Monroe, and countless other communities across this country that struggle with the issue of what is fair and equitable for all parties concerned . In many respects, this Uber thing is nothing more than a blip on the radar, a brief moment in time, but make no mistake, it has the potential to redefine the American worker, and the American work place, and to redefine the landscape, and in my opinion, not for the better.
 
 
 
Perhaps we can just let the Europeans, and Asians, and all the others continents north, south, east and west have Uber, since they seem to love and embrace it...oops, well except for the French of course, God bless them... ;)

I look forward to the day we can sue escorts for false advertising.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A coalition of California cab companies can sue ride-booking service Uber for advertising that it offers the safest rides on the road, suggesting to riders that taxis are the more dangerous option to get around town.
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday that the cab companies could proceed with most of their case, denying in part Uber's motion to throw out the suit. The ruling handed a partial victory to the cab companies, which have for years vehemently opposed Uber and similar ride-booking companies like Lyft and Sidecar, which make smartphone apps that connect non-professional drivers with passengers. The services have rapidly become the preferred choice to traditional taxis in several cities.
 
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28504884/judge-clears-way-cabs-sue-uber-over-false

http://news.bme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/black-ass.jpg Bikini Atoll After The Bomb



- ink on skin, unmounted . . . . . .