EsePrimo's weblog

5:00 PM. "We have left only a red convertible and a grey SUV. Because of the Indianapolis GP this weekend, the rest of vehicles have been either rented or reserved… So, which one do you prefer?"—said the employee at the AVIS branch. Finally, Viduido decided to get the SUV, since unfortunately, this particular convertible doesn't have enough room in the trunk for the huge amount of baggage they are taking back to Spain.

The best way to learn a language starts inevitably by grasping and getting as acquainted as possible with the basic grammar rules. Once the basic constructions are fluidly handled, one must acquire a large vocabulary. After this, it only remains to get more and more exposed to even more complex examples; until reading any text or writing any document presents no secrets.

Listening comprehension and Speech should be worked in parallel to the previous plan, and one ought to pay attention not only to a restricted accent, but to show some interest for different speech patterns belonging to different countries and social levels. In English, for instance, one needs to acknowledge the serious and sober British accents, the laid-back and relaxed American modes, or the coarse Australian ways; not to forget hybrid patterns offered in old UK colonies like India. Although it seems practically impossible to tackle such a demanding work, it pays off. Among the obvious benefits, I like to list the better access to information gathered from readings, song's lyrics or movies from very different cultures.

An excellent exercise in this sense, that covers the third step above, is to get exposed to the thoughts of personalities from everywhere: politicians, actors and actresses, sportsmen and women, etc.

In order to exemplify this point, I have been collecting some quotes from Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband. Enjoy his diplomacy and "savoir faire":

I'm sure you've seen more than once those games in which someone presents cites of a book or a movie, and you have to find out their titles. The game introduced here is similar, but with a twist that makes it, if not harder, at least more involved.
( Click here to enter the game )
As always, you know the drill: I am after the procedure and search patterns, rather than the solutions themselves.

One of my lifetime's dreams: to explore the Paleontology section of the Smithsonian's National museum of Natural History. I believe that right now each and every one of you that were completely nuts about dinosaurs when you were younger—and even now, for a few of you—know what I am talking about. Once there, I couldn't but marvel at the sizes of those huge animals, in particular that enormous sea animal I forgot to record its name, and the subject of the somewhat blurry picture under the cut below. So, there is today's question:

( This is a fossil of what? )

( alarmist e-mail )

From three different pictures, playing accordingly with layers and masks, I obtained this somewhat harsh illustration. The obvious turn back to black and white was forced to even further communicate the idea of dryness, ausence of comfort, uneasiness that the word crowded inspires in me.

I'm not too happy with the overall illustration, but it makes an excellent point, since it communicates too well the feeling behind this week's suggestion. Please, feel free to comment on my technique, choice of topic, or whatever pops into mind.

It looks like everybody cool is doing the transparent background thing with their Powerbooks and/or iBooks. There is a whole Flickr tab devoted to them, so I didn't want to be less…