Sadly, it’s not snowing this year here in the UK — we’re having a very wet, not a white, Christmas. This photo was taken a couple of years ago, when we did have a lot of snow. But whether it’s white or not, I hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas. Photo courtesy of …
Category archives: Life and work and everything else
Creative printing
This is great fun. For anyone who’s got old printer/fax/scanner hardware kicking around. All you need is a bit of creativity. Brother ‘Printer Orchestra’ by Chris Cairns from Partizan on Vimeo. Disclosure: having tried — and not at all liked — Canon and then Brother, I’m delighted and very relieved to be back with Epson. …
Glasgow’s times past
Looking for “doon the watter” links for my “Coping with Sandy” post, I discovered an amazing blog for anyone living in, from or interested in Glasgow. It’s called “Glasgow History” and describes the “Achievements and Archive Photographs of this Great Scottish City”. Glasgow’s politicians and planners have done unforgivable damage to the city and in …
A social networking rant. Tell us who you are, people!
Why do some business people go to such great lengths, on social networking sites, to avoid telling people who they are and what they do? Or to convey such a whimsical image of themselves on serious business platforms? I’ve just been up-dating my profile on KILTR, a social networking site for Scots or people who …
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Not love, not money. It’s translation that makes the world go round.
In an article in the Huffington Post marking International Translation Day (celebrated on 30 September), Nataly Kelly, Chief Research Officer at Common Sense Advisory and co-author of “Found in Translation”, listed 10 ways that translation benefits us all: 1. Translation saves lives. 2. Translation prevents terror. 3. Translation keeps the peace. 4. Translation elects world leaders. 5. …
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Back up!
Parts of the UK have been having horrible weather for the last few days, with flooding and, in Aberdeen, a weird seafoam* invading the Footdee neighbourhood, while is well worth a visit, by the way (preferably without foam). Here in Bearsden, just north of Glasgow, however, it’s a beautiful day. *(or “spume”, from the Latin spuma. This …
Olympic Opening Ceremony. British and proud of it… but not English
I’ve just seen a comment on Twitter that sent my Scottish/British blood pressure sky-high. Italian journalist Gianni Riotta, commenting on the opening ceremony, said that it illustrated “straordinaria sicurezza identita’ inglese”: essentially, the English people’s extraordinary sense of, and confidence in, their national identity, to the extent of being able to laugh at themselves. Mr. Riotta …
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Communicating with clients: crystal clarity or muddy murk?
Radio Scotland news recently featured a hotel booking mix-up. A group of French tourists turned up at the Jura Hotel, on the Isle of Jura (off the west coast of Scotland), saying that they’d booked rooms there. The hotel owner had no record of a booking, and the hotel was full. When he checked their …
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The jobs of the future… include translating
A recent article in The Vancouver Sun entitled What are the jobs of the future? examines the skills and careers likely to be most in demand as the 21st century progresses. The article cites a study by Sharon D. Crozier, of the University of Calgary’s Counselling Centre, on “Waves of the Future and High Demand Careers” …
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Translating the Zodiac: take our poll
We had a Twitter conversation a couple of weeks ago about Zodiac signs and the sort of character traits that make for good translators/editors. I thought it would be interesting — and fun — to see if there’s any correlation between a person’s zodiac sign and their choice of translation/editing as a career. So I’ve devised this …