Monday, July 27, 2009

More interesting things, weirdly mostly about TV

I have been playing scrabble on my computer a lot since I often just sit in my room while Karina has lessons with students who are too shy to talk to me. I keep getting tempted to write down interesting words that I didn’t know/good scrabble words but I have to keep reminding myself that I am here to learn Russian, not English. I broke down and wrote “dulcet” in my notebook today though.

When I talked to my mom on the phone and she asked me about things that I miss in America, I realized my list was surprisingly close to the half-joking list I made before I left.

I have now seen Law & Order: CI here twice. Firstly, seeing Vincent D’Onofrio on TV in Russia was kind of awesome. Secondly, it reconfirmed what I already knew about CI in English: it is almost unbearably boring to watch. The same holds true in Russian.

My favorite Beatles song has been a hit with my students.

I have now watched The Green Mile, Some Like It Hot, and Shopgirl in English while being here. I keep trying to get her to watch Up in Russian, but she keeps getting distracted.

Most American shows and movies here that are dubbed into Russian still maintain their English dialogue, but the sound is low and it often gets drowned out by the Russian. I actually really hate it because it is really hard for me not to listen to the English. I want to use my Russian literature words and say it is almost polyphony, but it is actually more like cacophony.

Speaking of polyphony, before I left I was driving to LA with Alexis and listening to Usher’s “Yeah” and realized it is a perfect embodiment of polyphony and, dare I say it, of what goes on in Anna Karenina. It is very much a multi-voiced narrative, both literally and figuratively. I kind of want to tell Professor Kliger, but I think he would probably give me the look he gave me when I told him I read David Sedaris’ new book over the summer.

I have seen a show on TV here that I think is the sequel to the Teila Tequila show (I am pretty sure it is called something like “Sex with Tequila: Twin Edition”) but is centered around two bi-sexual twin sisters. It is, of course, dubbed into Russian, but I can still figure out what is going on. It is probably the trashiest show I have ever seen. I like watching MTV here though because they always have shows like “Next” dubbed into Russian and they are pretty easy to understand.

I have kind of a crush on one of the guys on both “Dom 2” and this really stupid show about people with extra-sensory abilities.

I really like listening to books on tape here. I think partly because I like them in general, but also sometimes listening to music makes me sad. Most of my favorite music has really strong associations to my memories and my friends. If I listen to The Backstreet Boys I miss Amy, The Mountain Goats make me miss Matt, and Aimee Mann just reminds me of feeling sad and walking around New York City.

I am still covered with mosquito bites. I keep hoping I will become immune or something, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

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