Offtopic Sofa Time

[cutenebula]

Hello there!

Steph suggested I could introduce myself here, so here I am, if you don't mind...
So, errrr... I'll try to make it clear enough to be understood with my poor skills in english Sorry for the coming mistakes!
My name is Véronique, almost 37, and I live in the North of Paris with my 2 boys (Nicolas, 16, and Alexandre, 13). They are great teenagers and really keep me busy, no doubt about this (^_^)
Do I have hobbies?... yes When I have some spare time, I love to make beads animals (so childish...), decorate my house, keep fit (rollerblading, Pilates, outdoors game with my boys), travel, amusement parks (very childish, I know... ), and laugh, I'm desperately laughing all the time for stupid things...
I also love theatre and I used to follow some drama course. I'd love to do it again, but time is missing (and prices are desesperately too high nowadays... ). I hope I haven't forgotten too much about this
For work... errr to be honest I would love to forget this part of the introduction... I'm working in a cityhall in the 8th district, I'm one of the 2 hostess there and I'm really enjoying being with my partner Fanny, it's so much fun every day!!!
And I'm very proud being one the some french fans of Mr TJ

I hope I haven't bored anyone here, sorry if I did

[ThyneAlone]

Véronique, it is good to see you here and to hear about you and your family. How can you possibly think yourself boring? Especially with all your hobbies. The bead animals are very creative, not childish at all! Myself, I design and make teddy bears for all my friends and relatives. I find it satisfying as well as a very personal way of showing others I care about them.

Your English is very good. Non-English speakers always apologise here for their imagined 'poor skills', when in reality it is we English who lack the skills, for we are generally rather lazy and complacent about learning other languages and enjoying other cultures. As a languages teacher, that worries me. I hope we will often meet here. I love talking to people from other countries.

[TJ4ever]

Welcome Véronique!

Simone.

[Lauren :)]

Hi Véronique! Welcome to the sofa!

And your English is very good

Im trying to learn French at school

Je ne parle pas Francais

So i should be apologising for my lack of foreign vocabulary

*hangs head in shame*

[TJ4ever]

Thinking about buying a new car. My car is now 13 years old and needs some repairs which are very expensive. Don't know if it's worth it?! Oh I love this car! A new one is so expensive! But then I have a new one. Well, don't know what to do! Gonna visit some car dealers and ask for offers. I have three free days from wednesday on this week. So time enough for that!
Anyway, GOOD NIGHT!
Simone.

[Lorenith]

It's probably a sure bet that a new car will be cheaper in the long run.

If the repairs are expensive then the repairs probably cost more than the car is even worth now, and a car that old even if it's well taken care of is probably just waiting for the perfect inopportune moment to implode upon itself.

But if you get a new car, it'll side step all of that, and probably get you better mileage

My car's really old too, poor thing will need replacing, but I'm a poor college student so I'm going to run it into the ground before I buy a new one.

[cutenebula]

The bead animals are very creative, not childish at all! Myself, I design and make teddy bears for all my friends and relatives. I find it satisfying as well as a very personal way of showing others I care about them.

It's great that you make teddy bears sometimes I feel like my hobbies are not so interesting but I guess it's just because most of my friends don't have the same ones I also like to offer hand made gifts to my family and friends, including bead animals of course, and some ragdolls or cards home made

Welcome Véronique!

Thanks a lot Simone! Hi!!!

Hi Véronique! Welcome to the sofa!

And your English is very good

Im trying to learn French at school

Je ne parle pas Francais

So i should be apologising for my lack of foreign vocabulary

*hangs head in shame*

Hi Lauren, thanks a lot Don't worry about french, I think it's a hard language to learn so you really don't have to apologize! If you knew how many french people don't speak french correctly you would not feel that bad!

I'm so happy that you and Steph have such a real interest in France, it really warms my heart!

[ThyneAlone]

Ooh, I make handmade cards too, when I have time! You would be surprised how many artistic and creative people frequent these pages, Véronique.

When I go to France next week it will be to an action adventure centre in Mayenne. The boys will try out new sports like archery and fencing; and there will be daily excursions. The most popular are our trips to a market in Laval and to Mont St Michel and St Malo, but we also do a trip to an animal rescue centre and to a wonderful little chocolaterie. It is incredibly tiring, but I love it!

[cutenebula]

Ooooh, you go to France next week??? I know well Mayenne, as I used to live close to Alençon, and so not so far from Laval (^_^)
I looooove Saint Malo, I've been there so many times! Actually, my mother was originaly from the south of Rennes, in Brittany, so we often visit this part of France
I hope you will enjoy your trip (^_^) Hopefully you'll have a wonderful weather

I'm glad we share creative taste with a lot of people here And by the way, this week-end I will spend hours preparing all my Easter cards (drawings, cuts, etc) AND enjoying the nice weather with my boys as well.

[cutenebula]

It's friday!!! And friday night in France it's Bones'night!!! Yesss!
So for tonight, we will watch season 4, episodes 1 and 2 Can't wait to be tonight!!! I've read the resume in the tv program and... Wow!!! I want to see them!!! And also a past episode, season 2, episode 17

[ThyneAlone]

Fantastic! Subtitled or dubbed? I know dubbed is usually the weaker option, but imho there are some irritating English accents in 4.1 & 4.2!

[cutenebula]

Alas, no, the dubbed version only... I think we won't hear any brittish accent. I'll tell you on monday (^_^) I will not have internet during the week-end (no Internet at home and I'll be in Sarthe tomorrow morning )
I hope I will see these episodes on dvd to have the original version... in one year!

[Lorenith]

I can't imagine watching a live action show dubbed, then again I normally hate watching even cartoons dubbed so I guess I just don't like dubbed things.

The only thing I can think of in the whole universe that was dubbed better than subbed is the anime, cowboy bebop.

[ThyneAlone]

I like subtitles because they don't interfere with the way the programmes were originally shot. If a programme is in French then I want to hear the French language and glance down only if I'm not making sense of it. I like hearing even foreign languages I don't know. On the other hand I am fascinated to hear the voices in a dub. I've come across some Simpsons dubbed into French, and it's interesting to hear how/if the new voices work, and how the original is translated (sometimes disturbingly badly). And while looking for the latest ep in Bones S4 I found a S2 episode in French and lingered a moment just to see whether the timbre of the voices were similar to the originals. Booth was much gruffer than the original and TJ's voice definitely wasn't right. I'm fussy about TJ's voice! Brennan wasn't bad though.

[Lorenith]

When America dubs anything in my experience it's horrible.

Normally the translation is absolutely butchered and cut apart to the point where sometimes whole stories/meanings/relationships change, I've heard when things are translated in Europe the people translating things actually try to be accurate.

And then there's the voice actors.

No care at all is given in choosing them which is frustrating, and if there is any direction for them, it's the worst ever. Everything is often unnatural sounding, and is missing a lot of the nuances/inflection of the original. I wonder if they even *watch* the original to try to get a feel for things or not.

I don't know any language other than my own, but I read fast enough that subs do not pose a problem for me. Often times when I compare a sub and a dub with one another not only are the identity of the characters is lost, but so is the culture of wherever the show/movie originated from. I suppose keeping the culture would just confuse people who don't know anything about the cultures of other countries, but it should stay, then maybe we can learn more about our neighbors. (maybe I'm just biased by my extreme fascination by different cultures).

A lot of history and culture can be found in the way a cartoon or tv show is done in different countries.

[Lonia]

We only get dubbed versions on our TV. I prefer to watch the originals though. I watch it on TV dubbed (have no choice then ), but on DVDs I watch the english version. I'm glad when they have subtitles, but even then I prefer the english subtitles. Helps me to understand some things better. I don't really like hearing it in English and reading it in German. And I also think when they don't translate it properly linguistical they won't do it with the written text.

I can remember that I once watched something online. It was in English with French subtitles. Although I know very little French I tried to understand what I read in French and listened to it in English (where I also don't understand every word). That was kind of weird...

[ThyneAlone]

Bliss. Just the kind of thing I love to do, given the opportunity!

Lore, you are totally right about the highly variable quality of dubbing and, sadly, also correct that the flavour of a culture can get completely submerged by inaccuracies. It's a great shame. Nice to know there are so many others who prefer, like me, to hear the originals.

[TJ4ever]

As I know that here are a lot "Angel" fans, too, I would like to tell you that Andy Hallett died on March 29th. He was only 33 years old. You may already know, but I just read about it. Very sad!
Simone.

[TJ4ever]

I also have good news, which a lot of you also may already know! The BBC will air the new Doctor Who special "Planet Of The Dead" on April 11th.
Simone.

[ThyneAlone]

As I know that here are a lot "Angel" fans, too, I would like to tell you that Andy Hallett died on March 29th. He was only 33 years old. You may already know, but I just read about it. Very sad!
Simone.

Yes, I heard about this, heart disease I believe. I was shocked to hear it. Appallingly sad at such a young age.

The BBC will air the new Doctor Who special "Planet Of The Dead" on April 11th.

I am quite glad the Doctor Who special isn't till the 11th, as I come back from France on the 10th. I have already had to ask my family to record the new Red Dwarf special on the 10th!