Archives for March 2008

Read this very carefully, I shall write it only once…

Yes, my interpreter mind is already wondering how phrases such as “Good Moaning” and “I was pissing by the door, and I thought I would drip in” could be reasonably translated into German.

Confused?  Both are phrases from the UK sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo which I used to watch and which finished its original run in 1992.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the show has never been shown in Germany.  Then, last week, the BBC News website announced that ProSevenSat1 were to broadcast it dubbed into German.

Now I am completely intrigued as to how much of the original show will make it into the German version, as certain parts of it (symbols, salutes, etc.) are illegal here.  Will these just be edited out or blurred?

Any what about the accents?  The show relied on its over-exaggerated accents for distinguish between the languages “spoken”.  Actually, I’ve heard German actors using overdone English and French accents before, so that wouldn’t be too difficult to arrange.

I just wonder what the German audience are going to make of it all!   Let’s hope that ProSevenSat1 don’t think in a year’s time that it was a bad “mistake-a to make-a”!

Is bio-ethanol driving up food prices?

Readers in Germany may find this article interesting.  Once again, bio-fuels are being blamed for taking the food out of other peoples’ mouths.

What’s new about the argument this time, is that there is an explanation as to why this is happening.

Normally I hear a straight forward claim, that the production in Europe is taking food out of the mouths of people in Africa – without any thought as to whether the food would have actually been transported to Africa in the first place.

The new claim is somewhat different – due to the bio-ethanol production the price of the raw materials has risen, and that means that aid agencies have to pay more for things such as grain.  This in turn means that they can buy less of it to feed people.

Perhaps more regulation of the system is required so that the aid agencies still get their grain at a reasonable price, without stifling the competition of the bio-fuel producers?

I assume that other types of bio-fuel, eg. from wood chippings, is not affecting these prices and could therefore be a better option?

No post today

I have always been fascinated by the way that post boxes in the UK make a special mention of Good Friday.  On this day the post is collected at a different time to the rest of the year.

It’s one of the quirks that as a British ex-pat I think about today, along with having a lack of hot-cross buns to eat.

There are not many things that I miss about the UK, and most of the things that I do I bring back to Germany with me.

But the postal collection on Good Friday is one that I cannot bring with me, and Germany does not collect the post on any bank holidays.

I guess it’s just a piece of culture that I will have to do without.  I wonder how long it will last for?

Come to think of it, does anyone know why this exception exists in the first place?

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close