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Film review of Alpha 2018

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Albert Hughes latest film is quite fantastic. It really gives the viewer, some food for thought, and this includes all food groups. Portraying Europe 20,000years ago, is a daunting cinematic project, which they have managed put to life on-screen quite nicely. The symbols presented in a beautifully flowing imagery, which at one point actually made my head spin.…

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Björk has recently been quoted as saying that “hope has gone out of fashion a little bit”. Not the most eloquent philosophical statement in my mind, but still interesting. She’s always on some kind of echolalia or echolalic edge. That’s the artist in her. She feels things. You feel it when she sings. Her mouth and heart always seem to be 1. She knows things, but can’t write or talk about it like…

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Sample translation of a French philosopher: Alain Deneault

The Mediocracy Exceptional candidates please refrain from applying. by Alain Deneault Put away your complicated books, since accounting books are now more useful. Don’t be so proud, neither too spiritual, or at ease, since that might put you at risk of seeming arrogant. Mitigate your passions, for they are scary. Above all, please do not present us with a “good idea”, since the paper shredder is…

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What is Financial Translation?

What is a financial translation? Financial translation is a term used to describe the correct and consistent use of words, phrases and vernacular, used in the financial industry by experienced specialists. My case experience and training stems from my Concordia University Master’s Diploma French to English translator, who enjoyed various translation topics, ranging from financial, social…

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English Version: The Era of the Levant

Word version available. Please send email to [email protected] to request.

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Anne Frémaux – L’ère du Levant (version anglaise)

L’ère du Levant Roman d’anticipation écrit par Anne Frémaux 123 086 mots 769 571 signes (espaces inclus) Anne FREMAUX Röntgenstr. 1443 123 Nul (Allemagne) Copyright © 13 novembre 2017 À Mica Table des chapitres Table des chapitres…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 Résumé……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 Note de…

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8:10 am, Friday, Jan 27th, 2017

Off on my second bike trip to visit Taiwan’s east coast. The Taitung area, to be more specific. A lady recently asked me if I was planning to bike all around Taiwan. In Mandarin Chinese it’s called huándǎo 環島. Was quick to reply that cycling around could be interesting, but my current dream is to huán hǎi 環海, or sail around the world on a sailboat. Wasn’t so sure if the term huán hǎi was commonly used in Chinese, but she understood anyhow. The short conversation I had with her was more precisely:

環島騎腳踏車有一點無聊，我要環海。

Which means translates as:

“Traveling around the island is a bit boring, I want to travel the seas and oceans.”

The feeling I have lately is somewhat inspired by a line in an Arcade Fire song.

“I have the notion of crossing the Atlantic Ocean”.

Only difference is that I want to add a bike to the formula. A bike and an old school Nordic Folk boat.

So anyhow, here I am off on another short trip. Sticking to the coastal areas. The pure oxygen and clean air must be fantastic inland in the mountains, but still think the air quality on the eastern coast is fresh enough. Much fresher than the industrial west coast. Tainan has been having higher than normal PMI levels lately. The Taiwanese weather and air quality app. That I use, gives a pretty good picture of what’s happening.

Train ride was the same as last new year. Ticket purchase with a bike always throws the ticket clerks off. What? You are bringing a bike? Let me look up the regulations and ticket prices on the system. 20 or 30 minutes later, the clerk tallied up the price for a no-seater ticket. Same as my last trip. Non luxury caboose. When I say non luxury this is it. Still like it, since I’m all alone at the back of the train. Can move around freely and check out the sites from the back door space.

Feel asleep about halfway through the 7 or 8 hour train ride. Some other foreigner was quickly assisted by the well organized train crew. The rush of wind that came in when they slid open the doors, awoke me. The rest of the ride got a bit raunchy. The train staff had left the back door to the caboose opened to provide some air, since I was seated not to far from roaring diesel engines. About thirty minutes through this, the engine maintenance engineer escorted me to some free seats, two coaches up. Sat nice and comfy in a reclining seat.

All of a sudden the grey skies had turned to a glistening blue and the vegetation was beautifully lush. This part of the trip is all about going through tunnels. That’s what the east coast is to me. Train ride through tunnels built on these mountains, that where probably once part of the ocean bed. Watching documentaries about the Mariana Trench and others kind of opens your eyes to how geography happens in this part of the world. How the numerous islands in the area, including Japan, Philippines and Taiwan were formed in the geological past, just boggles my mind. Understanding how the Mariana Trench was formed is an even bigger mystery.

It’s depth is almost the same as it’s relative distance to Taiwan – a bit over 10 km.

Back to the Taitung trip. Two spots I plan to visit this time around. First attraction is Xiǎoyě liǔ 小野柳, which I had passed by without really noticing on my first trip. It’s a nicely manicured coastal garden with lots of nice trees and crafty and artistic rock arrangements and paths. There’s a nicely designed wooden path that leads to the coast where you can see some interesting sand rock formations. Worth checking out.

Second spot is Sān xiāntái 三仙台. Also worth visiting, but I’m content with looking up the numerous pictures that others have taken of this bridge.

Biked in that direction, but met up with another cyclist while riding in that direction. He was also visiting the east coast to get some fresh air. He works in Kaohsiung, not so far from Tainan. I should try to hook up with him again for a meet up ride, where he cycles from Kaohsiung to Tainan, and I do the opposite. Meet halfway so to speak. He’s quite dedicated to cycling but also runs and swims. That makes him a triathlete! We cycled at a quick pace for about 30 km. We exchanged FB info and I decided to go for a dip in the ocean nearby. He kept on cycling towards Hualien. The picture with the scarf is me after that quick and long bike ride.

Life in Dulan was almost the same as last time. Got the chance to check out some concerts and play some music with locals and foreigners. That’s probably the highlight of my trip. Just having a beer with musicians and chatting it up. Met a French guy who plays various styles. He’s written quite a few of his own rock songs, but also enjoys playing Django Reinhardt songs. He calls the Gypsy styled swing, “manouche”. Plan on traveling to France to join his band and work on a music project. He lives in Provence, and we will practice for a month or so and then set off on a tour down south in Spain, or perhaps Belgium. Depends on if his friend who owns a van will join us on trips. Might also be a chance to work on more French to English translation projects.

Second Trip to Taiwan’s East Coast 8:10 am, Friday, Jan 27th, 2017 Off on my second bike trip to visit Taiwan's east coast.

Translation Projects for 2017

The New Year is coming in soon. Have been informed by some friends that the month of January will be a good time to cement things. Not sure if the cementing should be done on the personal level with relationships or with my business. I do know, that the New Year will mean a different approach to my business endeavors. First thing to consider is to actively look for new clients, and not attempt…

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How to recognize a scam

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British Pound Woes

Today’s news confirms what I guessed would happen. The UK has decided to leave the EU and obviously this would have economic repercussions on the British Pound. News is currently talking about how it’s hit as 30 year low against the US dollar. A month ago, I was asked to do the French to English translation of a social science book that dealt with the Europe’s response to the NSA and the…

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Demonyms of Fictitous Place Names

Although, while studying translation, most of my teachers kept repeating that we should not be using Wikipedia as a reference, I still think it’s quite useful. For example, my latest translation work deals with fictitious place names. How should I translate the French version of place names like Urbia? What to call their residents? Urbians? That seems simple enough. Other place names might not…

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Glossary of Technical Sci Fi Terms

Currently working on the translation of a Sci Fi novel that was originally written in French. Really like the authors take on the future. Cannot name the writer just yet, since the book is in the process of being published in French. Hopefully the budget will be decent enough to help her translate the English version. The Storyline kind of reminds me of the RPG game GURPS™. Steve Jackson,…

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Just finished working on the translation of various marketing info on some pretty cool brands. Little short pieces used in advertising. Sharing some of their logos, since their brands are quite classic.

Recently translated marketing for a Chinese client Just finished working on the translation of various marketing info on some pretty cool brands. Little short pieces used in advertising. Sharing some of their logos, since their brands are quite classic.

Finally got a chance to visit another place off Tainan’s east coast. First place was Hualian and my second trip was a bike trip from Taidong to DuLan. Very scenic ride that is mostly uphill to go and downhill coming back. The ride itself is done along a safe bike path that can get you from the Taitung train station to DuLan.

Have been in Tainan for almost a year now and although Tainan is known to be a bit more laid back than let’s say Taipei, a year of running around in the traffic of this ancient city has played its toll on my nerves. It’s nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the calm of the pacific coast. No pollution hazy coming from the mainland and the air feels bright and crisp in my lungs.

My trip started in Taitung (aka Taidong 台東). Took the 3 pm train and arrived at around 8 pm. Had to take the slower train (name) since the medium speed train (name) doesn’t allow bikes as a carry on. Found a B&B even though everyone in town including the 7 Eleven was telling me that it would practically be impossible to find a room since it was Chinese New Year. Was lucky and found a place that was willing to bargain even though it was New Year.

Woke up quite early and had a quick breakfast. Asked a few people to confirm the directions and off I was on a nice bike path, that follows the coastline. The path itself is a mix of small roads next to villages and some broader highways. Biked for a while and was suddenly passed by a team of cyclists riding some amazing looking bikes. They also sounded like high-end road bikes. I could tell by the sound of their gears. The guy heading the crew was quite tall and big. The whizzed by me and I tried to keep up, but my old bike seemed to be riding so slow and couldn’t maintain their speed even though we seemed to be riding downhill. Turns out that the ride from Taidong to Dulan does seem like it has downhill spots, but somewhat of an optical illusion. Validated this upon passing by a small town called 都蘭水上屋 (DuLan Shui Shang Wu) which means DuLan UpWater Room. Had also noticed websites talking about this optical water illusion. A bit like Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick. Was quite taken aback by the wonderful scenery. Felt like home, back in the Maritimes in New Brunswick and in Gaspé, Québec.

Stopped by a few wharfs to relax and chat with a local fisherman. Found out that most were actually from Taidong, but ride their cars or scooters out near DuLan to hang out with their buddies and drink Whispy, a really strong local booze. Talked about the fish and recipes. People seem quite fond of using MiJiu (local rice wine) to balance out flavors or mask what they consider to be the bad taste of let’s say some fish or lamb and the barking deer meat. There are quite a few Aboriginal restaurants and communities when you go ride towards the mountains. The foreigners and local Han Taiwanese seem to be more by the coast and on the main road next to the coast. Overall, this ended up being a nice change of pace from the routine I’ve established in Tainan. Highly suggest people visit the East Coast of Taiwan. The West Coast is quite busy and industrial. Good for shopping and trying out foods at the local markets, but the East Coast has some much more charm.

Biking Taiwan’s Eastcoast Finally got a chance to visit another place off Tainan's east coast. First place was Hualian and my second trip was a bike trip from Taidong to DuLan.

Perl Script to convert Chinese Simplified to Traditional or Traditional to Simplified Just finished watching a movie with Chinese subtitles. I'm more interested in practicing reading of traditional characters, so I found a Perl script that converts a file containing simplified Chinese characters and converts them to traditional.

Chinese Lunar Exploration Project: Chang'E

Chang_E_Moon_Exploration_ProgramJust finished a Chinese to English translation topic about the Chinese Lunar Exploration Project that uses the name Chang’E. It’s interesting to note how NASA uses Greek mythology for their project names. Chinese use their own cultural myths to name their projects. With the wealth of stories and myths in their culture, I think they’ll have the imagination to…

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Abstract about Taiwanese architecture

Just finished translating a Chinese abstract. Uploading to showcase some samples of my Chinese to English translation work.

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