2014-10-31

詩 The Mental Gerbil

The mental gerbil
Surveys his domain of woodchips
and shredded newspapers
all of which he has read
scads of useless details in his head
Flurry of activity as he runs on his wheel
The pointlessness only after revealed
The world outside, visible yet irrelevant
Gnawing on some subject
His gaze narrows, dogged
He is cute and fuzzy

(2014/1/27)

2014-10-28

Keeping up with the Smiths

Some coworkers were talking about the shows "Elementary" (Lucy Liu and somebody -- who cares?) and "Sherlock" with what's-his-face Inglebert Humperdink who inexplicably played Khan Nunian Singh in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Reminded me of the Robert Downey Jr. movie (he's one of my favs -- have you seen Less Than Zero? -- another good "drug addict movie"), Sherlock Holmes (the first one).  In demonstrating (under protest) his powers of deduction to Watson's fiancee, he pulls out Watson's walking stick / sword and says it's made of "tensile steel".  That rankled.

It's problematic on several levels, and the research director let the side down.

The correct term is "high-tensile steel" (or for the uber-anal-retentive materials scientists out there, probably and technically "high-tensile-strength steel"), which means, as the name suggests, that the steel is good under tension, probably suitable for cables.  Probably not so important for girders, rails, and probably not swords.  It sounds good, though, unless you're a metalurgist or went to school in Pittsburgh, or have any engineering or construction knowledge whatever.

In Japanese swords, Bethlehem steel swords and knives, and pretty much anywhere, the metalurgical properties most prized are, I think, elasticity and hardness, which are, unfortunately, mutually exclusive, and therefore the ability to force a sword which has a) a blade edge which is hard, mainly to the end that it can be sharpened very keenly and keep that edge, and b) a blade body (these are both non-technical terms) that will not be brittle and break under impact, which would happen if the whole sword were hard like the blade, and by the same token, the edge would not cut well and would not hold a sharpening if it were elastic like the blade.  Elasticity derives from the carbon (and other?) alloying of the steel, and the forging technique, and the same goes for the blade, and also quenching techniques are used to make the blade.  It comes down to the crystalline structure of the finished steel, and the blade and the edge need to have different ones, which is tricky and usually the result of a highly-prized and often top-secret process.

Ductility is a property that goes to some degree with tensile strength (the ability to stretch and extrude a metal into wires, or pound it into sheets or other shapes) so might be good to a degree in the process of forging swords.

In short,

a) "tensile steel" is a nonsense term, rather like "height person"

b) high-tensile (strength) steel is probably completely wrong for swordsmithing (even if RD Jr simply flubbed his lines or whatever)

c) this may represent a gratuitous peppering of impressive-sounding terms, i.e., "tajingo" (the language of the other), and obviously it fell flat with me

d) This is the kind of thing I try to avoid, i.e., "over-committing" to irrelevant details, especially those outside (or even within) my area of expertise

d.1.) I probably fail in this more than I am aware, but it's a principle I try to think about.

I may be totally full of crap on part or all of this, so please correct if you find so

漫画 Drone Hackers

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2014-10-27

Japanese Class

Japanese - Chinese comparisons with possible new member of class (day before).
Counter words, old character styles, stroke orders, and other whackinesses.
The similarities are always re-assuring.

"Chromosomes" "Jargon"
and "swapping"

"How to swappu"

Title: "Two Ways to Win"

When your turn ends, you may drop or swap.

"You may do it in all spirit of selfishness"

JOKE: What's yours is not mine
...and what's mine is also not mine

Crazy radical notions of cleanliness in the tea shop

A self-explanatory doggerel on the kanji that make it up


Ah, but "contract" also has the same kanji (radical subset) as "tea house" and "cleanliness", actually the same as "tea house" (1st character), less the "mouth radical (hen)".

2014-10-21

Japanese Class

There was some Korean on the board before we started.  Anybody know what it says?

Crofton, our youngest member, and my take on his name in Chinese characters.
"High" and "bridge" have similar characters.

Translating "what if you roll double zero" in So-Soo-Yoo?

More of the same -- choose a ring and put it into the Boneyard.

"Kicking and moving" = "bumping"
"Keru" is a complicated kanji!

How to say "random" in the sense we mean it?
Unintentional? Aimless?
Without previous bias?

The full translation (I think) of how bumping works.
Just a few more sections left to translate.

2014-10-18

漫画 The Skies Over Ferrisburgh

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Hey folks!
I'm going to publish a comic every two days (and I may drop to one every three days—sorry!) until December due to National Novel Writing Month. Please stick with me and thanks for your support. Please post comments, too!
申し訳ないんですが、十二月迄二日間又は三日間毎出版になちゃうかも知れない。日本語でもコメントをご自由にどうぞ。
до декабря каждые два- три дня.
Je m'excuse, mais je pense publire une bande désinée tous les deux ou même trois jours jusqu'au mois de décembre. Je vous prie la patience.
Disculpa, pero parece que necicitaré publicar solo todos los dos o mismo los trés días hasta diciembre.

2014-10-17

小説 Cover Art Sketch for "Exodus"

This is a concept sketch for the art I hope to have made for the cover to my first-to-be-released novel, Exodus.

The idea is to release a "beta version", probably on Lulu, to be given to a small group of "beta readers" and then do a full release, either with a publisher, or self-publish a 3rd edition in Lulu along with a Kindle version on Amazon.


2014-10-13

Japanese Class








詩 Kind Fate

You, O time, O fate
The author of my daily torture
I would have you stay your lash
Give me surcease
By your relenting
Then all would be perfect
For I am innocent
If only you left me alone
Or did what I want
I don't know which