Absolutely Anything Else

SimonTrew wrote:

I just went for a walk, my morning walk, and there must be ten dogs barking at me from people's gardens. It is quite annoying as it is a quiet Sunday morning and I just want to walk around the block. It is not as if I am going equipped or anything, but ruined my nice quiet walk.

I don't think dog owners realise how much their dogs are pests. To them, they are of course perfect pets, that is how a dog is, loyal to its owner. But they are nuisances to other people.

I was just walking along the street, a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and must have set off about ten dogs barking, because as soon as one starts, the others chime in, so now I have set the whole streetful of dogs off.

It has also stressed me out, so that my peaceful walk becomes a shouting match and now I am all stressed out. They are behind gates etc etc I know they are just doing their job, but I was just going for a walk. And now I have ten dogs barking at me.

There are a couple of people around here that don't pick up their dog's shit. I have already told one of them off, but there is another. I do not want it on my boots and i don't want to go blind, so please pick up your dogshit. When I catch who it is, the dogshit will be in their postbox.

If you have a pet, take responsibility for it. I don't want your dog's shit on my frontage which I tidy and clean.

A well trained dog should only bark if there is danger and not out of boredom.
There are ways to train a dog when to bark and when to shut it.
One thing I did love about my Doberman was in general that breed is not big on barking unless there is a good reason to bark. Guess their bite is worst then their bark!

Collectables, I used to collect vintage 1930's and 40's clothing. My deceased sister collected vintage hats, wine bottle corks and match boxes from clubs, vintage door handles too.

Saw a classic vintage 1950's style kitchen table yesterday at the second hand store, one of those chrome legged fake marble topped ones that everyone had back in the day.
Sale for only $50. today I can get it for 40% off, would love to buy it but nowhere to store it.
I should look online and see what they are going for.
If one has an eye for details and lots of time to look around you can find enough deals here in Vegas to do resale, E-bay even.
Some small shop owners in town do just that, have people search all the shops, and buy early before they go.
I picked up a croc. leather small wallet last visit here for $5. looked online since it was a designer piece, was retail for $160.
Usually the shop owners find these deals in the early morning, first in line when the store opens up.
Last week I happened to be first in line by chance, grabbed a few items for 40% off normal second hand prices. Picked up a $400. retail inversion table for only $32.
Relaxing to hang like a bat.. Good for the spine and the circulation.
It's fun any ways to look and see what you can find for nearly nothing.
I now officially look like a clown, red hair and all.
I found some jammies last week, only brought over one shared suitcase so needed a few little items to wear here for casual times.
Found some new looking "Smurf" cozy bottoms, way over the top like a clown would wear, then yesterday while searching the shop found myself a pair or bright orange house slippers from Holland that are made to look like cozy clogs. What an outfit, my son can't stop making jokes about my new ,"style".

Watched a short videos last night on how the French as moving into Hungary in droves.
All to escape the refugees in France.
Has anyone heard if this is true or not?
They mentioned that housing prices will soon be some of the most expensive in Hungary if western Europeans keep moving into Hungary.
I like reading the comment section on these videos clips.
Seems most Hungarians are not too happy to have social liberal French coming in and perhaps changing the Hungarian culture with their ultra liberal views.
Told them to stay home and fix their own problems and not import their views into Hungary.
I don't know any French people and really other then tourists haven't noticed them around Budapest at all.
I have no opinion on this really just thought it was interesting to see how people outside of Hungary believe it to be some sort of haven for ,"white flight".
The grass is always greener as the saying goes.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
I now officially look like a clown, red hair and all.
I found some jammies last week, only brought over one shared suitcase so needed a few little items to wear here for casual times.
Found some new looking "Smurf" cozy bottoms, way over the top like a clown would wear, then yesterday while searching the shop found myself a pair or bright orange house slippers from Holland that are made to look like cozy clogs. What an outfit, my son can't stop making jokes about my new ,"style".

Not planning to do some shopping at Walmart are you?

God no, except we were forced to go in there last night to buy some jumper cables for the car... Odd place, I actually did see a young women wearing jammie pants inside the Walmart.
Not a dressup sort of store for sure!
Walmart is a good place to pick up odd items like ear plugs or cheap motor oil for the car, that's about it.

Have to ring up my local cousin here today, he and his wife are "theater people" I had no idea they were.
This weekend they are both staring in their own production here in Vegas.
He wants to leave me tickets for the show but first wants to talk to me about the venue... I know they are super duper liberals and involved in the LGBQ community( I may of forgotten a letter or two!)
The show is  ""No Labels "and from the photo he sent me it looks like perhaps there is a drag queen in the production. My cousin is playing a security guard and his wife is staring as, "The Bathroom Bit**" can only guess it's a comedy show!
Think I'll be dragging my DIL with me, doesn't seem like it will be my husbands cup of tea!

Just looked up more details on the "No Labels" comedy show this weekend. looks like 50% of the profit is for charity for AIDS research for women.
There is a "drag" person in the show so that's that. My cousins daughter was "honored" a few weeks back at some LBGQ awards as a supporter.. guess I come from a line of liberals after all. I know Andy Warhol was a Ruysn, guess being liberal is in the DNA?
My cuz is half Italian, almost 90% of my cousins are half Italian.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

God no, except we were forced to go in there last night to buy some jumper cables for the car... Odd place, I actually did see a young women wearing jammie pants inside the Walmart.
Not a dressup sort of store for sure!
Walmart is a good place to pick up odd items like ear plugs or cheap motor oil for the car, that's about it.
....
Think I'll be dragging my DIL with me, doesn't seem like it will be my husbands cup of tea!

Liberals eh?  I bet they feel a bit politically homeless.

I am wondering what your DIL will think of the show.  Do they have that kind of show in Japan?  Be interested to hear what she thinks or if it would work on any level in Japan or just too subversive?

I thought everyone wore strange attire in US Walmart.   

In the UK, people have started going in their jammies to the shops during the middle of the night.  There was a fad of wearing onsies to the supermarket.  But we don't have Walmart (it's called Asda in the UK) so it's jammies everywhere. 

First time I saw someone wearing a onsie was boarding at an airport. I thought it was some kind of sleep suit he'd put on for the plane. I was expecting the guy - about 25 - to have his teddy bear with him! 

Bit of a problem if he had to go to the loo multiple times - has to get undressed, like dungarees.  Great idea, like mechanics' overalls but quite hard work if you need frequent comfort breaks.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Bit of a problem if he had to go to the loo multiple times - has to get undressed, like dungarees.  Great idea, like mechanics' overalls but quite hard work if you need frequent comfort breaks.

Jump leads in UK English. Strange, a jumper in Candian English is a dress, so I don't know why you would put cables on that Perhaps it is the latest fashion...

I have my, I just call them "blues", my mechanics overalls, got a new pair the other day actually, but have a zip where my, er, I am not sure how to put this here, where the bit I pee out of comes out has a zip. You are buying the wrong overalls, overall. They only cost me about 4000 from the local shop that does workwear, you are going to the wrong places.

As a nudist or whatever word you want to use I usually do most work without any clothes on, I have a very private garden etc so I am not disturbing anyone else and it is just easier that way, but if doing something dirty I put my blues on. Got a new pair because the last ones, which I had for many years, are covered in a bit of paint.

The general aim with paint is to try to hit the wall with it, but I tend also to just wipe the paintbrush on my blues when I need to wipe it out. Maybe not a good strategy but they lasted me seven years so I cannot really complain.

Strtange, this tragic accident at leicester city FC they are  going to move the wreckage "to Farnborough" according to BBC. That is all they said.

Now I happen to know as I worked there, that will be British Wasteospace or BAE Systems or whetever it is called now. Why do they not just say that? It will be BAE Systems or something who does the investigation, so why does the BBC not just say so?

I realise a news report has to be brief but it is not that many words.

This has never occurred to me before, why do we call people "well heeled" this is on the news. I mean, I live in poverty and fix my heels with a bit of epoxy rosin and some tin tacks, but then I cobble everything together.

How can you be "well heeled", I mean, are they higher or made of better leather? What an odd expression.

SimonTrew wrote:

This has never occurred to me before, why do we call people "well heeled" this is on the news. I mean, I live in poverty and fix my heels with a bit of epoxy rosin and some tin tacks, but then I cobble everything together.

How can you be "well heeled", I mean, are they higher or made of better leather? What an odd expression.

Off the top of my head, I believe the expression of well heeled comes from the times when the ultra rich wore high heeled shoes while the poor wore  whatever they could to protect their feet, hand made wrappings etc. I know the traditional footwear of the Ruysn people from the mountains was and still is a soft leather sort of moccasin with ankle straps, good to feel the earth under your feet and good for walking on grass and hills, not so great for modern city walking on pavement.
Men were the first to wear high heels and platform shoes.
In Japan the Geisha wear very high slippers to protect their very expensive silk kimono's.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

God no, except we were forced to go in there last night to buy some jumper cables for the car... Odd place, I actually did see a young women wearing jammie pants inside the Walmart.
Not a dressup sort of store for sure!
Walmart is a good place to pick up odd items like ear plugs or cheap motor oil for the car, that's about it.
....
Think I'll be dragging my DIL with me, doesn't seem like it will be my husbands cup of tea!

Liberals eh?  I bet they feel a bit politically homeless.

I am wondering what your DIL will think of the show.  Do they have that kind of show in Japan?  Be interested to hear what she thinks or if it would work on any level in Japan or just too subversive?

I thought everyone wore strange attire in US Walmart.   

In the UK, people have started going in their jammies to the shops during the middle of the night.  There was a fad of wearing onsies to the supermarket.  But we don't have Walmart (it's called Asda in the UK) so it's jammies everywhere. 

First time I saw someone wearing a onsie was boarding at an airport. I thought it was some kind of sleep suit he'd put on for the plane. I was expecting the guy - about 25 - to have his teddy bear with him! 

Bit of a problem if he had to go to the loo multiple times - has to get undressed, like dungarees.  Great idea, like mechanics' overalls but quite hard work if you need frequent comfort breaks.

Call me, Sherlock... I was correct, my cousin and his wife will perform at a gay venue, hence  the reason
he wished to talk about the venue before I agreed to attend.
( The clue was the title and the photo of a man in drag... not brain surgery  to figure it out!)
He and his wife are straight but liberal, should be fun, they will take us to dinner after the show.
I plan on taking my DIL and asked my cousin if it's ok to bring her instead of my hubby.
I know he gets a bit uncomfortable in social situations and this whole event may be too much for him.
I know he's rather enjoy a free time alone with his video gaming inside a casino, alone in peace by himself.
He is really a loner, my entire family is a bit over the top, which is great but can wear on one's nerves at times.
I have a very colorful family on both sides of  the gene pool.
I'm the boring hum-drum one in the group.
Back in the day, my sister would test any new boyfriend with bringing them over to Sunday dinner with the family, if they passed the test, they were a keeper, at least until she got bored with them.
I wasn't willing to gamble, my husband met my mom about 6 months after our son was born for the first time, I wasn't going to scare him away too soon!!
Sometimes I even need a time out from them all.
Now, I just need to figure out what to wear... MY DIL may wear a custom of a anime character to the show, I've nothing so flashy with me... Might just have to go for your basic black outfit, pencil skirt in black with black stockings and shoes... So many decisions ...

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
I now officially look like a clown, red hair and all.
I found some jammies last week, only brought over one shared suitcase so needed a few little items to wear here for casual times.
Found some new looking "Smurf" cozy bottoms, way over the top like a clown would wear, then yesterday while searching the shop found myself a pair or bright orange house slippers from Holland that are made to look like cozy clogs. What an outfit, my son can't stop making jokes about my new ,"style".

Not planning to do some shopping at Walmart are you?

Sometimes I am slow witted, got it, should wear my clown outfit into Walmart!!!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

This has never occurred to me before, why do we call people "well heeled" this is on the news. I mean, I live in poverty and fix my heels with a bit of epoxy rosin and some tin tacks, but then I cobble everything together.

How can you be "well heeled", I mean, are they higher or made of better leather? What an odd expression.

Off the top of my head, I believe the expression of well heeled comes from the times when the ultra rich wore high heeled shoes while the poor wore  whatever they could to protect their feet, hand made wrappings etc. I know the traditional footwear of the Ruysn people from the mountains was and still is a soft leather sort of moccasin with ankle straps, good to feel the earth under your feet and good for walking on grass and hills, not so great for modern city walking on pavement.
Men were the first to wear high heels and platform shoes.
In Japan the Geisha wear very high slippers to protect their very expensive silk kimono's.

Yeah you could probably be right. I have books of idioms but the trouble is very few list the etymology. In the north of England, according to Orwell in "The Road to Wigan Pier", the miners and poor wore wooden clogs, and certainly wooden clogs were very common in the north of england, but even then you would I assume have a heel on them.

I mean, the thing that puzzles me is that we don"t have "ill-heeled", nobody ever says that... my grandfather was a very practical man and cobbled our shoes and I repair and re-heel our shoes and so on, but we never say "ill-heeled" do we. If we have "well-heeled" we should have "ill-heeled" but we don't.

One of the delights of learning Hungarian is that you suddenly start questioning your own language, I cannot remember what it was but sometimes the Hungarian will be a direct translation you expect it to be, and sometimes it will be entirely different,... it is not as if you would guess that szemuveg were spectacles, yes, eyeglasses, but you would never guess that.

Or bedtime... ágy is a bed, ora is time, let's have a guess what bedtime is, is it going to be.... nope according to Google Translate it is lefekvés ideje I have no idea if that is right, as gtrans is often wrong, I would have to ask the missus but it is past her bedtime.

So you have this constant juggling act with compound words, that it might be what you think it, and it might not be. There is no point guessing, you just have to learn Hungarian,

I am somewhat nocturnal and I get addicted to the "infomercials" that go on overnight, I just love them. I never buy anything off them, I just love kinda the adman who writes the prose, and cons.

We now have a copper pan of some kind, I have a copper pan, I have plenty of pans, I can tell you the history of polytetrafluourethylene if you ask, I didn't work as a molecular modelling scienticst for eight years without picking up a few facts as a sideline. What I am not going to dopo is buy a copper pan off the telly. I wlll buy it at the shop where I can see what I am buying,

The listings in the OED suggest that "heeled" was originally US slang for someone carrying a gun, especially a revolver, and that "well-heeled" meaning having lots of money developed from it.

Mark Twain (1866): "In Virginia City, in former times, the insulted party would lay his hand gently on his six-shooter and say, 'Are you heeled?'"

Beadle (1873): "To travel long out West a man must be, in the local phrase, 'well heeled.'"

Brodhead (1897): "I ain't so well-heeled right now."

zif wrote:

The listings in the OED suggest that "heeled" was originally US slang for someone carrying a gun, especially a revolver, and that "well-heeled" meaning having lots of money developed from it.

Mark Twain (1866): "In Virginia City, in former times, the insulted party would lay his hand gently on his six-shooter and say, 'Are you heeled?'"

Beadle (1873): "To travel long out West a man must be, in the local phrase, 'well heeled.'"

Brodhead (1897): "I ain't so well-heeled right now."

That is very interesting to know. I have dictionaries but they are not of the kind that would tell you this. I know who Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, was, but have not heard of Beadle or Brodhead, so that is all good learning for me.

So this then is an American expression, hmm, you would think somehow it were British, but your examples show that it is more likely to be American... as I say, you just never think of these things then one day you think "where does that come from?" It is one of the delights of being "abroad" with a broad is that you just start learning your own language all over again,.

Like, I know what a beadle is, it is sort of a policeman, before the days of the Bow Street Runners, I have no idea where Brodhead as a name comes from, quite unusual name.... the missus and I were saying this over a game of cribbage, you realise that there are huge gaps in your knowledge, thiings that you think "I should know that, but I don't". You come to a kinda juddering halt, that you think, I know where Chalfont and Latimer is in a game of Mornington Crescent, but can't translate fish-knife, or even find a fish-knife in Hungary, and a font is a pound so what do you call a typeface?

There is this huge daily battle in my brain with usually three or four languages and it takes me a while to "switch" and sort them out, which language am I speaking. A konnektor is a socket, but we don't call it that in English, so you are constantly juggling when you are bilingual.

Like I notice a lot of the mobile phone shops are still saying GSM. I very much doubt, that now we are all on 4G etc, that GSM actually is still used, but they still advertise as GSM. So you have this kinda word that meant nothing to Hungarians in the first place just essentially meaning "mobile phone shop".

The problem with being English is that you know the origins of a lot of words that to a Hungarian mean nothing at all and are just used as words and you want to slap them with a copy of the Collins Concise or whatever to say nope nope nope.

We get so much English here in Hungary, in advertising etc, that it makes my brain ache to work out, is this Hungarian? Is this English? Is it both?

Like, in British English we call a ballpoint pen a biro.  A HUNGARIAN INVENTED IT. But Hungarians don't call it a biro, they call it a golyóstoll. Named after Biró  Laszlo, you think it would be possible that Hungarians would call it a biro, but they don't, and have no idea what you are talking about when you say have you got a biro.

In British English, a fag is a cigarette, and to "bum" something is to borrow it. It is not a good idea in New York to ask to bum a fag, as it means something else... oh well.

WE gave my sister in law a birthday present which is a slow cooker, she has kinda translated that into Hungarian as a "lazy cooker". I think that is very funny.

She likes it very much.

SimonTrew wrote:

WE gave my sister in law a birthday present which is a slow ciooker, she has kinda translated that into Hungarian as a "lazy cooker". I think that is very funny.

She likes it very much.

ATM a "lazy cooker" around here is my DIL.
My husband has picked up the habit of calling her. "Little Lazy "this or that but not to her face of course.
She is a bit lazy i will admit at least she falls short of our standards.
I once believed the stereotype that Asians are hard workers, not true not true at all.
People are people and it takes all sorts in every society.

That's interesting that the saying being well heeled means to be armed .
Pistol packin' mama, guns scare the heck out of me, had one pointed at my head once by a odd ball stranger in a car.
Not a fun experience, I can tell you.

I'm all for a gun ownership BUT I also think everyone who is a gun owner should have a mental check  up.
I know allot of questionable people, mentally at least who own guns and that thought is not very comforting.
They could "fly off the handle" at any given moment.
Wonder where that expression came from?
I also know of a certain person In Hungary who owns a gun and it isn't legal.
Heard there are allot of guns in eastern Europe which crossed into countries during the war in Serbia, all black market items.
That's scarier then someone legally owning a gun to me.
Mostly criminal types, who else would have an illegal weapon around their home?
Duck and cover is a good knee jerk reaction to have in your tool box.
We used to practice duck and cover in grade school , just in case those nasty Soviets tried to attack us little school children in our classrooms...
I about used that tactic when I had a gun pointed at my head, then I decided to stand tall and take whatever was coming, not going to give the satisfaction to some st. creep by seeming afraid.
Worked that time but wow, not something for the light hearted.
Strangers with weapons, not a fun thing to think about.

My son had 2 men in Vegas at a gas station rob him by gun point once. He never buy gas at night after that.

Had a nice phone chat yesterday with my first cousin.
He and his wife are in a theater production this weekend.
They are the last 2 original players in the show.
50% of the proceeds will go to 3 different charities and they are acting for free as a favor.
He told me they are STRAIGHT and they are known as mom and dad in the gay community, sort of cute.
Will treat my DIL and I to diner after the show so we can catch up on 59 years! I was just a toddler last time I saw him.
His younger brother took his life in my aunts home back in the 1970's at age 21. A subject I'll be sure to avoid speaking of.His baby bro had been around 6 years old when he was an extra in a Disney film. Wonder what secrets he took with him to his grave?
No problem it was like we hung out last week by the way we got on over the phone.
He wanted to ,"warn" me about the shows venue before I showed up, n problem, it is a local LBGQ restaurant, show room.
I about laughed though when I went online to check out the menu and prices. No listed prices for items BUT all the calorie counts were listed!!
Girls gotta watch their figures after all...Too funny.
I'm looking forward to a few good laughs, too bad most of it will probably fly over my DIL's head.
Would love to bring my husband but he really isn't all that much of a social guy, too many people to meet all at once freaks him out, not sure why, he used to love to be in a large group at a party etc.
Think getting older has changed him allot in some ways.
My cousin is a couple years older then my husband is but guess some people are social butterflies and others aren't.
Next get together I'll put the squeeze on my Laci to come with.My cousins daughter is studying film and made a video for her class using all professionals school equipment and somehow got 2 big groups who perform on the Vegas Strip to be in her film for free.
End of the month they are having some sort of reviews at a club and my cousin has great seats as her parent for the show, he has invited us to come with. Something I'd love to do but will have to drag or drug my husband into coming along.
After that another cousin is flying  in so hope to have another family time while here in town.
God only knows if we will ever see eachother again so we should make the most of it.
I know my Hungarian side of the family, my husband's side is not all that open minded or creative.
Actually they are "sticks in the mud" another expression of which roots I have no clue of.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

WE gave my sister in law a birthday present which is a slow cooker, she has kinda translated that into Hungarian as a "lazy cooker". I think that is very funny.

She likes it very much.

ATM a "lazy cooker" around here is my DIL.
My husband has picked up the habit of calling her Lazy....

Ideally your DIL should be called Sue or Suzanna, then of course she would be a lazy Susan

SimonTrew wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

WE gave my sister in law a birthday present which is a slow cooker, she has kinda translated that into Hungarian as a "lazy cooker". I think that is very funny.

She likes it very much.

ATM a "lazy cooker" around here is my DIL.
My husband has picked up the habit of calling her Lazy....

Ideally your DIL should be called Sue or Suzanna, then of course she would be a lazy Susan

Touche!
Good one.

Good news for any American wine lovers who have gotten accustomed to wine prices in Hungary.
Trader Joe's still has their basic Charles Shaw wine for the whopping price of $2.99 plus sales  tax. they also have a nice organic wine selection  by Charles Shaw for $3.99 plus tax.
Thought I'd have to go dry in the US but  not the case after all.
( Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!)
I do think this brand is a contender to several brands in Hungary.

I'm in heaven ATM with all the wonderful avocado's in all the shops here, 4 for one buck or 3 for a buck!
Eating them daily until I pop or turn green!

I am never sure withHungarian wines, they are cheap enough etc but some of the grape varieties like chardonnay or merlot don't seem to do so well in the Hungarian climate, so I tend to stick to the local varieties which do much better.

As with many things Hungarian, they are just not marketed very well. Hungary is very bad at marketing itself, really, and at the moment the currency is so weak that it is very cheap for tourists to come here and add some money to our economy. You see ads on the telly for Australia or the UK or California or Ontario or wherever, you never see an ad for Hungary. You get Budapest city breaks taken either by stag/hen parties, fair enough, older people sailing down the Danube, but there really is so much more to do and see, and Hungary should push itself more.

It is a wonderful country and there is more to it than Budapest.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

( Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!)!

I was looking for the sanity clause... but there ain't no sanity clause.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I'm all for a gun ownership BUT I also think everyone who is a gun owner should have a mental check  up.

Marilyn, I think that is a very American attitude - no other country in the world is as casual as to gun ownership as the US.

In the UK you would have to have a gun cabinet, secured, to keep your rifle etc to shoot pigeons, you would not be allowed to own a handgun. To nobody's surprise, crimes involving guns are very rare in the UK, and often they are fake anyway.

You can own pistols and small arms for various reasons but must be licenced by the police and kept in a secure cabinet. And the constabulary will check not only that you are mens sana in corpore sano, but that you have no criminal offences, before issuing you the licence and checking your cabinet.

What you don't do is keep a revolver under the pillow.

The problem with guns in America is not the thing that hits the news, these occasional mass shootings etc, it is far far more likely that in a fit of anger you shoot your husband or wife. That is the problem with having a gun on your bedside table.

Most murders are domestic, by someone you know. I just cannot agree that allowing people to own guns is a good idea. I have various ways of murdering my wife, I suppose  could hang her or poison her or strangle her or asphyxiate her if that is not the same thing, or kick the ladder off the bottom when she is changing a light bulb, or switching the leccy back on when she is pairing up the new fitting, throw her into our wellness... I also have an enormous number of ways of killing myself were I minded to it.

The problem is that a gun, it is too easy, to fire in anger. I have fired missiles so I know how fast a speeding bullet goes.--- the problem is mostly it is done in the heat of the moment and regretted forever.

I cannot agree private handgun ownership is a good idea. Rifles etc for shooting pheasants, licenced and kept in a secure gun cabinet, OK, although in my opinion I would not even allow that,  I would say keep them at the clay pigeon club or wherever.

I know what the NRA says, but actually guns DO kill people, because most of the time it is domestic incidents after a row, and that is the problem with having a gun in your pocket. I would never even hit my wife. I shout at her and get annoyed at her, but never hit her. But people do that, and then they shoot, and kill.

I know it is ithe US Constitution, the right to arm bears, but that was never what was intended. It was never meant to mean people kept guns. If you actually read your Constitution you may find out that it was intended to allow a private militia to fight against the Government, which at that time, was us lot, the British it was not intended to say keep a gun under your pillow and shoot your partner.

To be clear, Marilyn, I enjoy an intelligent argument and would give you a hug any day of the week. I just disagree with you about guns.

One of my bad habits is singing jazz and blues standards in French. I make it up as I go along, so it is not as if it is going to be particularly good French, usually the tune goes, the words go, or both.

I am quite proud of my "Lune bleu" (Blue Moon), tu ma laissé seul, sans un reve dans ma coeur, sans un amant moi-meme.

But some are absolutely awful, it is hard to keep the rhyme scheme, the tune, and do the simultaneous translation all at once.

People who are monolingual seem to think simultaneous translation comes naturally, actually it is quite tricky. I do Bing Crosby or Perry Como to kinda make a muck of it on purpose.

How are you supposed to translate, say, Irving Berlin's "Top Hat White Tie and Tails"?  I can translate the words but it makes no sense at all....

So I got an invitation through the mails a posta, your presence requested this evening az este, top hat white tie and tails....

That song is all the wrong way around anyway. I have now put on my top hat, done up my white tie, sharpened my nails. Now I'm putting on my white shirt... er hang on, how can I put my tie on before my shirt... poliishing my cufflinks, doing up my tails,.I'm stepping out....

Not a word about trousers. You would not think it beyond the wit of Irving Berlin to stick in a line like "I'm putting on me trousers" would you.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
ATM a "lazy cooker" around here is my DIL.
My husband has picked up the habit of calling her. "Little Lazy "this or that but not to her face of course.
She is a bit lazy i will admit at least she falls short of our standards.
I once believed the stereotype that Asians are hard workers, not true not true at all.
People are people and it takes all sorts in every society.

....
He and his wife are in a theater production this weekend.
They are the last 2 original players in the show.
50% of the proceeds will go to 3 different charities and they are acting for free as a favor.
He told me they are STRAIGHT and they are known as mom and dad in the gay community, sort of cute.
Will treat my DIL and I to diner after the show so we can catch up on 59 years! I was just a toddler last time I saw him.....
No problem it was like we hung out last week by the way we got on over the phone.
He wanted to ,"warn" me about the shows venue before I showed up, n problem, it is a local LBGQ restaurant, show room.
I about laughed though when I went online to check out the menu and prices. No listed prices for items BUT all the calorie counts were listed!!
Girls gotta watch their figures after all...Too funny.
I'm looking forward to a few good laughs, too bad most of it will probably fly over my DIL's head.
...

Might be jumping the gun but maybe your DIL isn't used to her free-wheelin' MIL being around and is probably on some kind of good behaviour or even feels a bit intimidated?  Just talkin'... 

I never tell my MIL anything- she doesn't speak English or know much about foreign things.  Apparently she did not know that US English and UK English or Australian English etc were mutually intelligible.  Surprised me as I never thought about it being different (it is, but only a bit). But I digress.

I'm still interested to know what your DIL thought of the show.  I always got the impression from TV that Japanese people lived in a very regimented society where individual self-expression is not the norm. Even "rebelling" has large  elements of conformity.  An LGBTI venue to see a review/show must be a very surprising or even bewildering place to visit.   

BTW, I don't think Asian people are lazy at all, they are very industrious but from what I've seen they tend to like working either in a family business or in very large corporate businesses as small cogs where some of them do just enough to get by - loyalty, nationalism, following rules and these kind of things are more important than productivity or innovation or any kind of risk taking. 

And a personal observation from just walking Asian streets, is that it's very rare to see anyone radically non-conformist or individualistic.  No punks, goths, emos or biker types.

My DIL was going to wear some sort of anime custom today but since it's an afternoon show think she will probably wear her normal st. clothing, which is still different then what  most Americans wear.
Always a dress, not even sure she owns any pants or slacks.
Striped stockings that are knee high and a top with sweater and some ankle boots.
The show is this afternoon so we'll see how it goes.
Told my cuz to break a leg yesterday... Hope he didn't take my advice to heart
This is the sort of event my deceased sister would of just loved .
She tried and tried to get me to a show at the Queen Mary in s. Ca. a drag show.
I never went with her, now it's my turn to walk on the wild side.
I'll report how things went, the Sin Sity Sisters are also performing so it should be busy at the venue.
My cuz warned me that sometimes they "drag" members of the audience up on stage with them...No thanks, I'm not that free wheeling, need more then a beer or two to get me up there.

That's funny that your MIL thought people spoke different English in different countries, in some ways though she is correct about that.

I've never been to an Asian country except for Hawaii, my son tells me they aren't all that shy really, just private about it.
After all they have those Love Hotels in Japan.
No clerk at the desk either, just all automatic and private.
He was there once in Japan and mentioned all those kids wearing anime type clothing on the st. with purple hair etc.
Saw girls with those 12 inch high heels on walking around, a wonder they didn't fall over on their faces.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I've never been to an Asian country except for Hawaii

Is Hawaii in Asia? I really don't know technically or tectonically, obviously it politically is part of the US, but geographically, would it be in Asia? That is a really tricky one as it is right on the edge of a tectonic plate... I suppose half of it is in Asia and half of it in North America.

Anyway I was always told never to trust a Hawaiian. There I's are too close together.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

---for the whopping price of $2.99 plus sales  tax....

One thing I liked about the US when I lived there was that sales tax is kinda declared up front. You think, here in Hungary it is 27% but is kinda hidden in the price, the AFA, yes if you sit and do your long division you can work out how much tax you paid on that, because 27% is a particularly easy number for long division.... or not... but just add it up front and tell me what I am paying in tax, then at least I know rather than it being hidden.

On the other hand, you go to the dollar store and find that thinks are a dollar and eight cents, and you don't have the eight cents because you've forgotten that they add sales tax, that can be annoying.

Ben Franklin said there are only two truths in this world, death and taxes. I don't mind really paying taxes, that is part of belonging in a society. But don't hide it from me.

The problem with European VAT/AFA is that it is hidden and turns every shopkeeper into an unpaid tax collector, and it is a pain in the behind if you run a small business. I prefer the American way.

I have a cheque in my toilet from the Paymaster-General for my UK income tax for a few years ago, to the tune of two pounds and ninepence, which of course is impossible to cash in Hungary. It cost the Paymaster-General three pounds and sixty pence to send me the cheque for two pounds and ninepence, so he is already down by a quid and a bit...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My DIL was going to wear some sort of anime custom today but since it's an afternoon show think she will probably wear her normal st. clothing, which is still different then what  most Americans wear.
Always a dress, not even sure she owns any pants or slacks.
Striped stockings that are knee high and a top with sweater and some ankle boots.....
...
He was there once in Japan and mentioned all those kids wearing anime type clothing on the st. with purple hair etc.
Saw girls with those 12 inch high heels on walking around, a wonder they didn't fall over on their faces.

Started typing a more extensive reply and then lost it by not paying attention by pressing the wrong buttons and trying to do too much at once.

The anime thing is a bit strange - exaggerated eye sizes and squeaky voices, like caricatures of little children.  One of my kids was into anime but I always thought it was a cheap genre for low cost cartoons to fill in time on the airwaves.  There are some quite classy stories in anime.  One called "The Cat Returns" I seem to remember was quite good.  See here: The Cat Returns.

I believe the squeaky (high) voice is a thing in Japan that is supposed to be attractive in women.  Not the same squeakiness (or is raspy?) as Joe Pesci - But is it funny? Is it funny how?.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My DIL was going to wear some sort of anime custom today but since it's an afternoon show think she will probably wear her normal st. clothing, which is still different then what  most Americans wear.
Always a dress, not even sure she owns any pants or slacks.
Striped stockings that are knee high and a top with sweater and some ankle boots.....
...
He was there once in Japan and mentioned all those kids wearing anime type clothing on the st. with purple hair etc.
Saw girls with those 12 inch high heels on walking around, a wonder they didn't fall over on their faces.

Started typing a more extensive reply and then lost it by not paying attention by pressing the wrong buttons and trying to do too much at once.

The anime thing is a bit strange - exaggerated eye sizes and squeaky voices, like caricatures of little children.  One of my kids was into anime but I always thought it was a cheap genre for low cost cartoons to fill in time on the airwaves.  There are some quite classy stories in anime.  One called "The Cat" I seem to remember was quite good.

I believe the squeaky (high) voice is a thing in Japan that is supposed to be attractive in women.  Not the same squeakiness (or is raspy?) as Joe Pesci - But is it funny? Is it funny how?.

Squeaky not raspy. Ventriloquists use that technique a lot, as the hardest things to do if you vent is to pronounce the frontal plosives like B or V or P, so you tend to avoid them, like if you vent you do a B as a T on the back of your front teeth,

Yes, Japan produce a lot of these cheap anime cartoons, that are computer generated animation. To me they have no "feeling" to them, I mean the pictures themselves, if you watch a Bugs Bunny or other Warner Brothers classics, Daffy Duck or whatever, there is some "feeling" in the drawings, I don't know how else to describe it, but that computer animation just doesn't seem to have any "feeling" in it.

No human touch, perhaps, is what I mean, I don't know how to describe it. They just seem lifeless and clinical and just procedural and uninteresting.

A bit like the Japanese (Ducks) Hajimemashite!

One of the you learn, when you learn Hungarian, is that Liszt is just the word for flour. Not even Miller, like Arthur Miller who married Marilyn Monroe, no, it is just flour, even though it is milled.

So you have streets named Liszt Ferenc utca etc after the composer, but he is just Freddie Flour. Now, he could knock out a note, don't get me wrong, but how do you end up with a surname like that?

So everyone outside of Hungary knows Liszt as the composer of operas and concerti and whatever, and inside Hungary it is just a bag of flour.

I just chucked it into Google within a second it says he is also Franz Liszt, there is apparently a concert hall named that way in Budapest. There isn't, it is Liszt Ferenc and I know exactly where it is, but that is Google for you, you have back translated, and done it wrong.

The airport here in Budapest is called Liszt Ferenc repoluter. It does not say Franz Liszt so why does Google say it?  I was there at half past four this morning, I can absolutely assure you it is not called Franz Liszt airport.

These things get on my tits, that people use machine translation rather than learn a language

Zsa Zsa Gabor translated into plain old, Susan Gabriel.

Meeting my first cousin and his wife yesterday was really fantastic.
We instantly hit it off, his wife was lovely and both very kind and fun.

I "gambled" a 5 er on a raffle ticket at the club.
Half of all funds collected went to charity and the other have to the raffle winner.
Of course i didn't win, I never win at these sorts of things.
I had allot of fun and my DIL did too.
They gay community is so expecting and fun to talk with.
I almost "bought the farm' when one of the members of Sin Sity Sisters got off the stage and walked in his/her 4 inch high knee high platform boots, he was well over 6'5" tall with those on.
He about tripped while looking at me but thankfully caught himself before landing on top of me.
I would of been a goner I'm sure of it.
Could just see my obituary now... Senior lady killed in freak accident by a drag queen...
Had myself another glass of Merlot after that!
I told the waiter to just call me  Ms. Merlot!
My new found family wants to take us soon to a boxing match, something I hope my husband will be more into doing.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Zsa Zsa Gabor translated into plain old, Susan Gabriel.

Meeting my first cousin and his wife yesterday was really fantastic.
We instantly hit it off, his wife was lovely and both very kind and fun.

I "gambled" a 5 er on a raffle ticket at the club.
Half of all funds collected went to charity and the other have to the raffle winner.
Of course i didn't win, I never win at these sorts of things.
I had allot of fun and my DIL did too.
They gay community is so expecting and fun to talk with.
I almost "bought the farm' when one of the members of Sin Sity Sisters got off the stage and walked in his/her 4 inch high knee high platform boots, he was well over 6'5" tall with those on.
He about tripped while looking at me but thankfully caught himself before landing on top of me.
I would of been a goner I'm sure of it.
Could just see my obituary now... Senior lady killed in freak accident by a drag queen...
Had myself another glass of Merlot after that!
I told the waiter to just call me  Ms. Merlot!
My new found family wants to take us soon to a boxing match, something I hope my husband will be more into doing.

Brilliant!  Sounds like it was blast for everyone! From drag parties to boxing.  Quite a mix there.  You'll need to come back to Hungary for a rest!

SimonTrew wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I've never been to an Asian country except for Hawaii

Is Hawaii in Asia? I really don't know technically or tectonically, obviously it politically is part of the US, but geographically, would it be in Asia? That is a really tricky one as it is right on the edge of a tectonic plate... I suppose half of it is in Asia and half of it in North America.

Anyway I was always told never to trust a Hawaiian. There I's are too close together.

No, Hawaii isn't in Asia but you'd never know .
In some places the only thing American is the flag flying over the post office.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Zsa Zsa Gabor translated into plain old, Susan Gabriel.

Meeting my first cousin and his wife yesterday was really fantastic.
We instantly hit it off, his wife was lovely and both very kind and fun.

I "gambled" a 5 er on a raffle ticket at the club.
Half of all funds collected went to charity and the other have to the raffle winner.
Of course i didn't win, I never win at these sorts of things.
I had allot of fun and my DIL did too.
They gay community is so expecting and fun to talk with.
I almost "bought the farm' when one of the members of Sin Sity Sisters got off the stage and walked in his/her 4 inch high knee high platform boots, he was well over 6'5" tall with those on.
He about tripped while looking at me but thankfully caught himself before landing on top of me.
I would of been a goner I'm sure of it.
Could just see my obituary now... Senior lady killed in freak accident by a drag queen...
Had myself another glass of Merlot after that!
I told the waiter to just call me  Ms. Merlot!
My new found family wants to take us soon to a boxing match, something I hope my husband will be more into doing.

Brilliant!  Sounds like it was blast for everyone! From drag parties to boxing.  Quite a mix there.  You'll need to come back to Hungary for a rest!

It was fun, reminded me of my teen years hanging out with my gay roommate and male friends.
Felt a bit ,"too" at home there really, no it was all good.Was fun to ,"camp it up".
My shy DIL was laughing too, looks can be deceiving, she understands more then she lets on.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.
In some places the only thing American is the flag flying over the post office.

I was mentioning along these lines to the missus the other day. Every government building in Hungary, will have red white and green flag, it does make it quite easy to find them. In Britain we don't do that, we might put up a flag on the Queen's birthday, but it is not common to have a flag up all year round.

If you had it in your own garden it would seem very strange, people would think you were a fascist, racist, extremist to do that.

We have at the Last Night of the Proms lots of patriotic songs and wave a lot of flags, but it is done kinda half ironically.

Even our national anthem doesn't say much about how good we are, God Save the Queen. Now I am all for the Queen being saved, and if anyone is going to do it, God's the chap for the job, but it is such a dreary tune. The good bit when it comes to Marshall Wade in the fourth verse never gets sung. Neither do the politicians tend to sing the second verse, "Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks", I wonder why...

Let alone that Marshall Wade is implored "And like a torrent rush/
Rebellious Scots to crush".... and you wonder why the Scots then don't sing it It is an absolutely terrible tune, terrible words, it is an awful national anthem.

Yet the fashion seems to be to use our flag, the Union Jack, on all kinds of items of clothing. I have no particular objection to it, but I see more Union Jacks here in Hungary than I ever would in Britain .(And yes, pedants, it is the Union Jack, not the Union Flag.... it does not have to be on the mast of a ship to be called a jack).

One of the annoying things about my name is that Hungarians have no idea how to pronounce it. I am usually "Trev Shimon'" or something, sometimes they realise I am not Hungarian and go with Western Name Order and go for Shimon Trev, very rarely do I actually get Simon Trew. I have got used to it, but half the time, I think oh go to the whatever office and just change your name to something Hungarian.

My wife is lucky in this way as she has a name that is the same in English as it is in Hungarian. it is the Trew that gets them. But that happens in England too. You have four letters. Look, they are straight on your left hand on your keyboard, T R E W, right next to each other, yet they will spell it TRUE or something if you are not careful.

It doesn't matter for a library ticket but then you get a passport or whatever with the wrong name and nothing matches up and they think it is fraudulent as the clerk in the office was not paying attention. My late mother will in Hungary forever be DOREN rather than Doreen because they missed it.

And why anyway do they insist always on my mother's maiden name as a security device? It is not as if anyone else can't go to the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages and look up my mother's maiden name. As a security device it is almost the weakest thing I can think of.

Like, I can impersonate my brother easily, I have never done this, but we have the same birthday, the same mother, I know his National Insurance number, I know where he lives, etc etc. It would be extremely easy to me to defraud my brother, sometimes it is tempting just for the fun of it, take a tenner out of his account and send it back to him. We do not look alike at all but the questions they ask over the phone, I would easily pass for my brother. They are nonsense.