Translators Challenge – Fall 2008 “Politics” Issue (JETAA NY Newsletter)
Anecdote Article, Contest, Humor, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, Writers 
Comments Off on Translators Challenge – Fall 2008 “Politics” Issue (JETAA NY Newsletter)
Welcome to the second-ever JETAA NY Quarterly Translators Challenge, from the Fall 2008 “Politics” issue.
We once again invited JET alums and Friends of JET (i.e., anyone who wants) to take their best shot at translating a selected text. Why? Well, mostly to entertain, but also to give the greater JET alum community a chance to show their stuff as well as give the rest of us a fun way to study up on our nihongo.
The selected text for this edition of the Translators Challenge is an excerpt from “Political Science,” the satirical 1972 song by Randy Newman.
Prize: $25 gift certificate to BOOK OFF, the discount Japanese boookstore on 41st St. between Madison & 5th Aves.
Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an all-American
amusement park there
They got surfin’, too
Click here to see/hear “Political Science” on YouTube.
********************
THE WINNER!
Mia Simring
(CIR Aichi-ken, 2004-06)
Omedetou gozaimashita on
her second straight win!
********************
アジア込みすぎ、
ヨーロッパダサすぎ
アフリカなんて暑くて
カナダ － 寒すぎ
南アメリカ － 我が名を盗んだ
世界をぶっ潰そう
反対する人間を消しちまおう
カンガルー可愛いから
オーストラリアだけ助けよう
アメリカン遊園地
そこで作るぞ！
Ajia komisugi,
Yoroppa dasasugi
Afurika nante atsukute
Kanada – samusugi
Minami Amerika – wa ga na wo nusunda
Sekai wo buttsubusou
Hantai suru ningen wo keshichimaou
Kangaru – kawaii kara
Osutoraria dake tasukeyou
Amerikan yuenchi
Soko de tsukuru zo!
********************
COMMENTARY
Special thanks to professional translator Jamie Graves (Shizuoka-ken, 2002-03) for providing some commentary and insight.
Mia clearly put a lot of thought into changing the distinctly American rhythms and humor of a folk song into Japanese.
I was impressed at how Mia managed to avoid direct translation, instead finding uniquely Japanese ways of expressing the value judgements in the song. Instead of directly saying “old” in the line “Europe’s too old” she used ダサイ(dasai, “not with it, uncool”), which conveys the contempt a lot better.
She was also very good on keeping the translated text rhythmic and simple, replacing a potentially messy translation of “Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo” with “カンガルー可愛いから” (kangaroo kawaii kara), which manages to keep the humor and simplicity of the original. She even managed to rhyme the last verse!
New Bankruptcy Bill Cartoon
Blogs, Cartoon/Illustration, Humor, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on New Bankruptcy Bill Cartoon
Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) has posted a new Bankruptcy Bill cartoon at bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
La-la-la-la-la O-ba-ma & Japanese Songwriting
Audio, Celebrity, Humor, Japan Trends, Music, Uncategorized, Video Comments Off on La-la-la-la-la O-ba-ma & Japanese Songwriting
Obama-shi, Japan is so happy about the US election, they’ve come up with a song and video about it. Meanwhile, have you ever written a song in Japanese (or partly in Japanese)? Let me know and I’ll post it, or perhaps we can collaborate with other JET alums to come up with a tune and/or record it. Just email me at stevenwaseda at-mark jetwit dotto com.
Bankruptcy Bill in the WSJ Law Blog
Article/Journalism, Blogs, Cartoon/Illustration, Humor, Writers Comments Off on Bankruptcy Bill in the WSJ Law Blog
“Bankruptcy Bill to the Rescue” – The Wall Street Journal‘s Dionne Searcey yesterday wrote a nice item in the WSJ Law Blog about Bankruptcy Bill, the cartoon written by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and illustrated by Gideon Kendall.
From a Japanese perspective, the article is also notable in that it mentioned Bill’s bankruptcy haiku. :-)
We’d like to introduce JetWit (nickname: A.J.) , the new mascot for JetWit.com, created by Zi Mei (Saitama-ken, 2002-05)!
Below the jump, Zi Mei explains the origin of the nickname “A.J.” and shares an early sketch: Read More
New Bankruptcy Comic Strip by JET Alum Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94)
Blogs, Cartoon/Illustration, Celebrity, Humor, Writers Comments Off on New Bankruptcy Comic Strip by JET Alum Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94)
Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) (i.e., the guy who does this JetWit site) has launched a new comic strip about bankruptcy lawyers called Bankruptcy Bill. The first two strips are viewable at bankruptcybill.wordpress.com. Also, The Deal’s Bankruptcy Insider ran a nice item on the cartoon in this week’s issue (subscription required).
Electric Chair Bear
Blogs, Cartoon/Illustration, Graduate School, Humor, Writers Comments Off on Electric Chair Bear
Click here to see a recent blog post from Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2004-06) on the Electric Chair Bear project he’s working on with his classmates. Lee-Sean, who is the JETAA NY webmaster as well as the JetWit.com webmaster, is currently doing grad work in alternative media at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) which requires a great deal of blogging on topics that are simultaneously fascinating and completely esoteric.
Japanese Economy
Cartoon/Illustration, Humor Comments Off on Japanese Economy
Given the current state of things, I thought it would be appropriate to pull out a 2003 strip from Earth Bennett’s (Aomori, 2000-03) cartoon strip Every Situation is Different.
Do like to write songs? Do you know some Japanese? Here’s your chance to come up with a Japanese country song, i.e., a U.S.-style country song in Japanese (or at least half in Japanese). Send in your lyrics to me at stevenwaseda [at] jetwit.com. We’ll worry about the tune later (unless you also come up with a tune and a recording and want to share that too.) If it’s even half decent, I’ll publish it here, at which time other readers can offer an appropriate tune, new lyrics or try to record a version of the song. This will be an ongoing contest with no deadline. Multiple submissions welcome!
This idea, btw, was inspired by a Chinese country music video sent to me by my wife (a high school Chinese teacher). It is not only hilarious, but also has amazing choreography, costumes and… I can’t even begin to explain it. Just watch.
If anyone is looking for some help with their resume, Clara Solomon (CIR Tottori-ken, 1999-2001), who is now the Director of Career Services at NYU Law School, put together a great JETAA Resume Guide for the recent JETAA NY Career Forum. It was passed out to all the attendees in conjunction with her presentation, and she agreed to let Jetwit.com post a copy.
Particularly helpful are a range of suggested ways to characterize JET experience.
I was just looking through past issues of Earth Bennett’s (Aomori, 2000-03) JET cartoon Every Situation is Different and came across this one:
Top 10 Resume Blurbs
Career, Humor, Uncategorized Comments Off on Top 10 Resume Blurbs
In the spirit of the JETAA NY Career Forum (held yesterday at the Nippon Club), I thought it might be appropriate to post a topical Top 10 List from the Fall 2002 JETAA NY Newsletter. (Thanks to Clara Solomon for using it as a hand-out for her presentation on resumes, which reminded me of the existence of this list.)
Fall 2002 – “LET’S HAPPY JOB SEARCH” ISSUE
Top 10 JET Resume Descriptions: What They Say…… And What They Really Mean
#10
- Says: Functioned as liason for city relations and internationalization efforts.
- Means: Got hammered with city employees and guests while singing numerous renditions of “Love Me Tender.” Read More
