[geeks] Phrasebooks

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Dec 30, 2007, at 3:19 PM, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 30, 2007 at 01:55:32PM -0500, Shannon Hendrix wrote:
>> Have you looked at those little travel translators?  The last one I
>> looked at seemed more focused on that sort of thing.
>
> Over the years, my wife has bought them and found them unsuitable
> for anything but translating while sitting at a desk, reading
> a newspaper or book. They are just too slow and unwieldy.

I've never done much but play with one briefly, but it did occur to me  
it would be hard to make use of quickly.

However, I met a Japanese girl who used one pretty effectively, but  
then... she spoke no English at all, so I guess she was driven to  
learn to use it.

>> Maybe that's a new business for you: create a travel-wiki for this  
>> and
>> sell ads.
>
> ok, I'll think about it. :-)

Make sure it can display on a mobile device...

>>> Also not to offend anyone, but from what I have seen on TV and been
>>> reading, a whole section on the purchase and use of condoms.
>>
>> That's funny.
>
> Why (you can answer off list)?

I just find it humorous that you would need to focus so much on that.

Unless the person is on a sex tour, it would seem food, fuel, and  
shelter would be quite a bit higher on the list.

I guess it just struck me as funny because I immediately imagined  
myself landing near Haifa, renting a car, and my first question before  
I drive off is where I can find some condoms.

It would make a hell of a first impression on whoever I asked too... :)

> I see condom commercals on foreign
> TV (we get England, France, Spain, Germany, Russian, India,
> a generic Pacific rim station  and so on).

US condom commercials are either hilarious or gross.

One of the funniest I've seen was (I believe) from Norway.  It showed  
one guy going to meet his girl, and thousands of guys dressed up like  
sperm running behind him toward the girl.  At the last moment they all  
run into a huge plastic wall just a few feet before they run her over.

It was hilarious.

> BTW, in most of Europe, and here prostitution is legal, but soliciting
> customers for someone else is not.

Only one state over here allows it officially, but it might as well be  
legal everywhere else since it happens anyway.

Locally, police raided a trailer which was handling 25 customers a day  
in a local trailer park.

Kinda gross...


-- 
"Where some they sell their dreams for small desires."