More Internet Flotsam
October 23, 2008
Not alot of time lately, but have seen a few funny things on the internet.
Veronica Belmont pointed out these 80’s music videos redone in a literal fashion on her blog:
http://www.veronicabelmont.com/2008/10/80s-videos-much-improved/
The best of the two is definitely the A-Ha Video. The best lines are the ones about the pipe wrenches!
Going to try to go to a Ghost Tour at Strathern Park tonight in Simi Valley. http://tinyurl.com/5ogykb
Sometimes, history is more scandalous than fiction. If you want to read some interesting stories of pioneer families, religious cults and hollywood stars check out some Simi Valley history.
Classic Saturday Night Live Skits
October 19, 2008
I was surfing this weekend and found three of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits:
“Clarence the 5th Beatle” with Eddie Murphy:
“The Continental” with Christopher Walken:
Christopher Walken – The Continental
Dear Blog, Long Time No See!
October 1, 2008
Boy, have I been busy over the last few months. I am trying to finish writing the last substantive chapter of my dissertation and have written approx. 90 pages of this one chapter over the last 2 months. I am not sure how it got to be so long but apparently I did have something to say about the identity of the rulers of Dynasty XXV!?!?
My daughter has been growing like a weed over the last two months and is now talking non-stop! I know that is surprising given who her father is! (amused sarcasm) Since we speak German exclusively at home and speak English when we are visiting with my family, she is using both German and English and has recognized from context which of the languages she should use at any given time. At less than two years old, Nuria recognizes that there are two words for every object and oftentimes will give the word for an object in German followed immediately by the phrase “in english…..”. It took me years to get to the point in German where Nuria is right now. It will not be long before she is correcting her poor father’s German!
It seems to be so easy for young children to pick up new languages. I am so happy that we have decided to raise Nuria speaking German from the start. Although we speak German exclusively at home, we do speak English when we are out in public or with my family. Nuria seems to be picking up both languages very easily. Many folks are frightened that using two languages will confuse the child, but in our experience that has definitely not been the case. The only danger seems that you might facilitate the development of a pidjin-type of language development if you start to mix the two languages within the same sentences. We have been working very hard at speaking exclusively German or exclusively English, depending on context, to ensure that she learns each of the languages properly. Sometimes it has been hard on the members of our family that speak exclusively English, but in the long run it was definitely the right idea. Nuria amazes us every single day.
