In reference to nothing in particular, except that public libraries are the best…
Someone left a note as a "Hubei peasant worker" to the Dongguan (Guangdong) library??
"I've lived in Dongguan for 17 years and been visiting this library for 12 years. Books make one wise and sensible. Now the pandemic has made many businesses shut down. As a peasant worker pic.twitter.com/7lrrqtRblB— Chenchen Zhang??????? (@chenchenzh) June 25, 2020
"and success. Please continue to benefit Dongguan and migant workers.
from a Hubei peasant worker"
h/t @tingguowrites
original post on Doubanhttps://t.co/aVWykd6S4d— Chenchen Zhang??????? (@chenchenzh) June 25, 2020
Update: Mr Wu Guichun has got a new job as gardener & cleaner in a residential compound and will stay in Dongguan.https://t.co/GG1RkhIuqW pic.twitter.com/aMff6pJ2Eg
— Chenchen Zhang??????? (@chenchenzh) June 26, 2020
MomSense
Cheers, Mr Guichen!
From a library lover currently taking a break from turning the compost.
NotMax
In space, they can hear you shush.
:)
debbie
Libraries can do practically anything!
Elizabelle
That’s a wonderful story, AL. Thank you for finding it for us.
Libraries rock.
Phylllis
Our local libraries reopened several weeks ago for curbside pickup service only. I can give up restaurants, shopping, and maybe even travel. But not having the library in March – May almost broke me.
Elizabelle
@Phylllis: I am loving that our local libraries opened a few weeks ago, and we can order books, but they still gave us until mid-August to return the ones we checked out before they closed for months.
They’ve been really good about making e-books available when they were closed, and I noticed a few libraries doing virtual story time for kids, etc.
Phylllis
@Elizabelle: I tore through some great e-books while they were closed; turns out the Libby app works great on a iPad Pro. And the extended checkout period is an added benefit. On the downside, I’ve been 1 of 1 for two titles for a couple of weeks now & I’m champing at the bit. It’s almost like your 401K-you have to train yourself not to check your account too often.
Major Major Major Major
Ah, you’re all making me sad I can’t use the NYPL main branch reading room.
Respite you say? I’m excited for tomorrow’s tropical storm.
scav
@Elizabelle: And the libraries offering free wifi even when locked-down.
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
Chinese surnames precede the given name. He’s actually Mr Wu.
CaseyL
What a sweet story! Libraries create and nurture communities *everywhere*!
mrmoshpotato
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
ooh thank you.
Eric S.
@Amir Khalid: Sir name first is also true of Korea but not Japan, I believe. What other countries have the sir name first?
Jay Noble
Sorta Library related – Tomorrow my high school Senior English teacher Dorothy Holloway now of Farmington, N.M. turns 106! She retired after my class of ’79 (we had that effect on teachers) And we thought she was old back then! She taught 20+ years and was along with her horse the model for our original Red Raider mascot in ’67. She rode horses into her 90’s. Happy Birthday! And Thanks
https://www.facebook.com/groups/190537417675307/
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
He’s really just a shadow of the man that I once knew.
Elizabelle
@scav: Yeah. It was heartbreaking to read a story about some parents without wifi at home driving the kids to library parking lots after dinner so they could do their school work.
We could do so much better. Richest country in the world, my ass.
trollhattan
@Jay Noble:
Whoa [horse ref]. She gets all the congratulations!
mrmoshpotato
@Major Major Major Major:
Is it gonna be all “Hallelujah it’s pouring outside!”?
Major Major Major Major
@Amir Khalid: @MomSense: Sometimes western sources will anglicize the name and put the family name at the end; when in doubt, chinese surnames are usually monosyllabic.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Watching a thunder and lightning storm roll my way. Sitting on the porch having a delicious beer. Serenity now!
Raoul Paste
@trollhattan: so now he’s Doctor Wu?
I hope he got a raise in his new position
Major Major Major Major
@mrmoshpotato: is this an It’s Raining Men joke I’m not getting or something…?
Kristine
Thanks for the great story.
Brachiator
Very sweet story about Mr Wu.
Amir Khalid
@Eric S.:
Japanese surnames also precede the given name — in Japan and among Japanese speakers — just like in Korean and Chinese names. Elsewhere, they put the given name in front to avoid confusing Westerners.
Some people of Chinese heritage have a Western given name before the surname and a Chinese given name after. E.g. Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, the Malaysian actress.
Yutsano
@Eric S.: Japanese names are surname first. Hence it should Suzuki Ichiro, as one example.
geg6
Good for Mr. Wu! Thanks for some happy news, AL.
BruceFromOhio
@trollhattan: my evening, you have made it.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@Old Dan and Little Ann: My pets are not enjoying the thunder rolling our way. At least we aren’t getting much wind, so my unstable tomatoes won’t get blown over this time.
I tried to post in an earlier thread, but got swallowed by moderation. I had to go to the supermarket this morning, so while I was there I bought a half dozen boxes of individually wrapped packets of cookies. Dropped them off at my local post office. I told the lady at the counter that I I know they’re going through a rough time and I can’t do anything to make their work more sane, or get their paychecks to them on time, but I can bring them cookies, so that’s what I’m doing. It’s not much at all, but I’ve felt better all the rest of the day.
WereBear
We’ve been binging on Upstart Crow. A must for Shakespeare fans, which is crucial to some of the comedy.
Same writer as Blackadder.
Amir Khalid
@Major Major Major Major:
There’s a South Korean forward who plays for English football team Tottenham Hotspur. Depending on their house style, the British sports media outlets call him either Son Heung-Min or Heung-Min Son.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): You made their August., That was kind of you. My almost 2 year old lab pays no mind to the thunder. If he see himself in the reflection of the TV, that’s another story.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
In titles of Hong Kong action films, the actress is identified in the English titles and credits only as Michelle Yeoh. Similarly in other Western TV shows and movies.
Some of my Chinese American co-workers appear to have a Chinese first name and an alternate English first name. But they are never used together.
Japanese American co-workers seem more likely to have an American first name, though again I had one old friend who also had a Japanese first name that was never used or mentioned to non Asian friends.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@mrmoshpotato: it’s going to be hallelujah the outside temperature dropped
Elizabelle
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): That is such a sweet (literally and figuratively) gesture. Individually wrapped treats for the post office.
Joy in FL
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): That is such a good idea. I want to do something like that for my local Post Office.
“… while I was there I bought a half dozen boxes of individually wrapped packets of cookies. Dropped them off at my local post office.“
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
In my experience they are not used together in speech, but it’s reasonably common to list both the Chinese and alternate name in things like company directories and signatures. That makes it easier for someone who has met a person under one name to realize the other name refers to the same person. I’ve also noticed that people who legally changed their names when they naturalized will often give their new legal name first and their original name second rather than the other way around. So one of my former coworkers would sign documents as Helen Yan Ge.
Brachiator
Mild spoiler for the new Perry Mason series.
Okay. Warning given.
I finally caught up with the new Perry Mason series. I didn’t realize that it was going to be a noir superhero origin story. There is a scene where I half expected Mason to rip open his shirt and reveal a costume with a big letter P on his chest.
The series is mildly diverting. They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.
That said, I like much of the acting, and like these versions of Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake. The mystery narrative itself is a bit overwrought. But I guess there will be a second season and it will be interesting to see the further adventures of Super Perry, uh I mean Perry Mason.
Avalune
Re: Pending rain I’m hoping for a good heavy bout so I can say the power’s out and read for a while instead of work tomorrow. Haha! Look they are going to say “there ain’t no snow in your house roll on over into your office and get to work” during snow days this year, so slightly exaggerated power outages are all I got.
zhena gogolia
@Major Major Major Major:
You are? I’m in despair. I can’t take any more disruption. And we have big-ass trees around my house.
BruceFromOhio
Signed into the local library ebook site and holy cow, are you ready to be an activist informed by deep and wide history? The opening page is filled with titles on social justice, activism, and Black history in America. LOVE THESE TITLES. ON THE FRONT PAGE.
And then it changes to Kids & Teens. I think i might just check out “Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved An Ecosystem” because a respite is a good thing. Thanks, Public Library!
Can you hear me, Doctor?
Are you with me, Doctor?
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator:
I haven’t watched the new one, but this sounds like the ONLY feature that is faithful to the original.
Roger Moore
@Roger Moore:
ETA to my previous post: I’ve also noticed that it’s most common for people who change the name they go by to do it when they change jobs. It’s awkward to tell all your coworkers that you’d like to go by your western name now instead of your old name, but it’s relatively easy to do that when you switch to a new environment where nobody knows you under the old name.
It’s not exactly the same, but my former boss hated his first name, and when he started working here he started using his middle name, which he greatly preferred. We all knew his first name and that he was going by his middle name, but it was always interesting to go to conferences and meet people who knew him by his first name. He wound up legally changing his name when he naturalized, which wound up being a gigantic hassle when dealing with legal matters in his birth country.
Emma
@Brachiator: Michelle Yeo’s Chinese name isn’t on the credits in the English version of the credits because it would only confuse most of the world into thinking her surname is Kheng. But her government-issued identity card would have her name in the format Amir gave, and it’s common for local news media to refer to Chinese Malaysians and Singaporeans by their entire English-Chinese name (unless they don’t have an English name, of course). I don’t have a Chinese last name, so my parents had to put my Chinese name as my middle name on the birth certificate, but English – Surname – Chinese name is the norm in Malaysia and Singapore, even if we don’t actually go by both names.
Anotherlurker
@WereBear: I have binge watched “Upstart Crow” multiple times.
It is so much fun watching producers, writers and actors lampooning a subject that they love.
The Lodger
@Amir Khalid: It also happens in Hungary, family name comes first (e.g. Bathory Erszebet) although Western references still usually put the given name before the family name (Erszebet Bathory). I’m not getting the accents right because I’m using my phone, sorry about that.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
Mild Spoilers again about Perry Mason.
I don’t think that the tv show or novels dealt with Mason’s back story, and Della Street was maybe 15 years younger than Perry. It wouldn’t make sense that she would be a competent contemporary.
However, the problem with the new series is that they over-burden Mason with sorrows and failures, and by comparison Della is a noir Wonder Woman with not as much in her way.
But again I note that I like Della Street and Paul Drake in this series. Drake’s competence makes sense and is plausibly developed. I like the actor who plays Mason, like him a lot. But the way he is depicted doesn’t always work for me.
NotMax
All of you in the path of the big storm, take care.
phdesmond
i sent the story to a librarian chum!
thank you for posting it.
Roger Moore
@Emma:
Actors are a special case because it’s already common for them to adopt stage/screen names that are considered more marketable.
WaterGirl
@Brachiator:
They will not leave Perry Mason as a sad sack at the end of the final episode of the season.
Perry has found new meaning in life.
Brachiator
I don’t go very often, but I miss not being able to go to the library.
I do order some books online. A great service which should be expanded, but I have heard that publishers oppose this.
And yes, I have heard some techies and regular folk claim that libraries are obsolete in the age of the Internet.
Emma
@Roger Moore: maybe I’m wrong, not like I personally know her, but I don’t think she had to “adopt” her screen name. Michelle IS her legal name that her parents gave her at birth, she’s not adopting a stage-name by dropping out part of her legal name. This is different from, say, a PRC teenager picking an English name as a form of self-expression.
Brachiator
Well, this is interesting. From Lifehacker.
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/throw-out-your-onions-fda-says-1844595033
different-church-lady
OK, this thread is too bubbly for me to gloom it all up…
WaterGirl
In case anyone missed the birthday thread for Omnes and Subaru Diane, you should check out the link below. Even if you read the thread earlier, you may have missed the lovely limerick – written just for them – that was posted a little while ago.
https://balloon-juice.com/2020/08/03/celebrating-jackals-birthday-twins-subaru-diane-and-omnes-omnibus/#comment-7801914
raven
Chilly in Georgia in August!
WaterGirl
@different-church-lady: Not to worry!
John Cole just put up a thread moments ago that is just for you!
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: Since you’re here: I noticed something on my iPad a couple of days ago. It was just as kludgy and hesitant as ever when loading the front page. But once it loaded, I clicked on one of the “show full post on front page” and all of those tweets “below the fold” loaded like a rocketship.
Could it be that some of the hold-up is that all of those tweets are trying to load immediately, even though a lot of them don’t get displayed at first?
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
I am probably revealing my ignorance and will beg forgiveness in advance, but I’m not sure why making Della Street a fuller, more realized, more complex, and more central character in the story is a problem.
None of these characters are going to be who they were in the TV show. This is, after all, the 21st century. And it’s HBO.
But maybe more important is that this noir Perry Mason is closer to the original source material. The first novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws, came out in 1933. He’s more akin to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe than the guy we see in the late 50s TV series. Della Street is 27 years old in the first novel.
WaterGirl
@different-church-lady: That’s an interesting thought! I will look into it. thanks
WaterGirl
@raven: I just came in from the porch. It was 70, and it felt quite chilly! I would have had to put on warmer clothes if I had stayed out there.
We’ll have 2 more days with highs of 70 before we get back to 90+ on Thursday. I am not complaining about the cool weather!
pluky
@Eric S.: same in Japan. For some reason the Western convention is to flip the family name to the end unlike what we do with Chinese or Japanese names.
Btw, if you refer to a deceased Japanese emperor, the proper way is by era name, not regnal name. i.e. Showa Tenno (the Showa era emperor) rather than Emperor Hirohito.
Brachiator
@James E Powell:
RE: They do this thing though, that a number of feminist critics have noted. The show makes Della Street so competent and interesting that Mason is a bit of a sad sack by comparison, and you wonder why the show is not about her.
Mild Spoilers ahead
To be blunt, Perry Mason’s name is the brand name being sold, but he is more like the sad sap protagonist of some film noir, somebody set up to take the fall. He is not a consistently good protagonist. Della is noticeably smarter than Perry. There are scenes where we are waiting for him to catch up to her. So, imagine if John Watson was the hero of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, but Holmes was still the brilliant detective.
Every time I saw Della or Paul Drake, I wanted to know more about them. But often, when we follow Mason, he is doing something stupid, or whining about his life, or failing his friends and family. This seems to be a thing in contemporary films and tv shows, giving the main character a lugubrious and tragic back story. It’s not nearly as interesting as writers imagine. They want the hero to have flaws, but they overdo it.
I am equally dismayed with shows like Endeavour. And since Mason does not have much of a back story in the novels or tv show, the writers were free to be as creative as they wanted to be. But I have seen a lot of this before, and done much better.
The problem is, it’s not 1933. The writers have taken their love for 1940s film noir, and stripped out a few themes from Chinatown and mixed it with a phony 1930s sensibility. This Mason is not much like a 1930s detective, nor should he be. But too much of the 30s vibe is empty atmosphere.
However, a lot of people like the show and the cast is good. It’s not my favorite TV show, but it does have its moments despite my reservations.
ETA. I will also note that the black characters are not well served by the cinematography. This is an ongoing problem, and there is no excuse for it. But this is a whole other topic.
phdesmond
@BruceFromOhio:
bruce, that’s a poem.
phdesmond
@WaterGirl:
yeah, the limerick is a nice piece of work.