tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post7694664543026894234..comments2024-03-13T18:03:14.612+01:00Comments on South Of Watford: Telemadrid Goes To The BeachGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-89429200492178813512008-07-29T09:09:00.000+02:002008-07-29T09:09:00.000+02:00I doubt they have seen the statistics Erik, but ev...I doubt they have seen the statistics Erik, but even if they have it would make little difference. Telemadrid output is 100% fact free and ideological considerations come firstGraemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-82853533483206907282008-07-29T01:23:00.000+02:002008-07-29T01:23:00.000+02:00Graeme,Thanks to Tom I found this great entry, whi...Graeme,<BR/><BR/>Thanks to Tom I found this great entry, which I had totally missed.<BR/><BR/>Oh how nice! Vilanova has been on TeleMadrid (the sticker "Volem una Vilanova més... ...catalana" in the video) ;-) I guess that the reporters had to come here to prove their hypotheses since it is almost impossible to do so in Barcelona.<BR/><BR/>John's comment about how few tourists we see in Barcelona and Costa Brava says it all. Have the journalists at TeleMadrid never seen statistics on which autonomous communities receive the most tourists? <BR/><BR/>//Erik in VilanovaErik Wirdheimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11761766313024185298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-59987432078491119932008-07-25T11:26:00.000+02:002008-07-25T11:26:00.000+02:00I agree to an extent. People in monogloth nations ...I agree to an extent. People in monogloth nations are less relaxed when confronted with poligloth chatter. I'd take it further. People from smaller nations - who always end up having to learn at least one foreign language - are unlikely to be unnerved hearing different languages. The most extreme case was of one - apparently famous - American culinary critic who wrote openly complaning about Europe's multitude of silly languages. Blooddy imperialist! Usually, where the language was the language of Empire (Britain, Spain, Russia), the attitude towards diversity in speech is perhaps rather less relaxed.<BR/>Although, I am not totally sure this is correct. Language is such a tricky issue. In the Soviet Union there was a multitude of languages, but everybody learnt Russian. I mean, few Russians ever bothered to learn Georgian, Armenian, Estonian, Uzbek,...But the people of these nations all know or knew Russian. Blooddy imperialism! But I perfectly understand those foreigners, who after having made the sometimes arduous effort of learning Spanish, find out that that's not enough, and that now they have to learn Catalan or (God forbid) Basque - the poor souls.moscowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10630531893165728171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-11414902757075244882008-07-25T10:08:00.000+02:002008-07-25T10:08:00.000+02:00Not forgetting the old standby, of course. If the ...Not forgetting the old standby, of course. If the person you are speaking to persists in claiming that they do not understand your language then you can always TALK A BIT LOUDER.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-75607820650716180642008-07-25T07:59:00.000+02:002008-07-25T07:59:00.000+02:00Hahaha I only just actually watched the video. Cla...Hahaha I only just actually watched the video. Classic stuff. I particularly like the German fellow with his 'estamos en España tambien, ¿no?' bit. I've got plenty of German friends and colleagues here but this is something nearly all of them say.<BR/><BR/>In my experience, the people who complain most about Catalan are: the Germans, the French, the British, the Americans, South Americans and then the Spanish (but usually Spaniards who don't live in Catalonia). My theory (and I'll write a longer post on my blog to explore this idea further) is that people who have grown up in a mono-cultured, mono-lingual powerful nation states are the ones most opposed to autonomy in Catalonia (or speaking Catalan, which to them means the same thing).<BR/><BR/>The way I see it, this marks a total lack of empathy with the people of smaller countries. The message always seems to be: yes, yes, we know you have your own silly language but I'd rather you spoke to me in another. In many ways, it's like a Singaporean tourist visiting Paris and insisting on speaking English. I mean, they all speak it really, don't they?Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06562902749398922096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-72206245804708155472008-07-25T07:57:00.000+02:002008-07-25T07:57:00.000+02:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06562902749398922096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-46952834824673317562008-07-23T20:11:00.000+02:002008-07-23T20:11:00.000+02:00And surely people that speak the same language cou...And surely people that speak the same language could never go to war with each other - and even if they did I'm sure it would all be very retrained. You would almost call it a 'civil' war...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-90181613074333755722008-07-23T16:58:00.000+02:002008-07-23T16:58:00.000+02:00Yes, then they could all join together in an allia...Yes, then they could all join together in an alliance to crush all the other countries whose languages have just been abolished. I think we might be better off keeping the translators.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-47460565374328886212008-07-23T16:20:00.000+02:002008-07-23T16:20:00.000+02:00@Tom,To continue in the stupid mood.....Ok, I agre...@Tom,<BR/>To continue in the stupid mood.....Ok, I agree, let's substitute German by Hindi then.<BR/>That makes the short-list a bit less Eurocentric...<BR/>I would round-off my proposal by suggesting that everybody should master at least 3 of the said 6 languages, and know a smatter of a fourth. Conflict reduction policy I call it.moscowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18229411388703168161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-15183382431325811432008-07-23T13:33:00.000+02:002008-07-23T13:33:00.000+02:00Moscow - It's obvious you're trolling but what a s...Moscow - It's obvious you're trolling but what a stupid thing to say. How would reducing the number of languages solve any problems whatsoever? Like there was never a war between English and Spanish speakers, or between English and Arabic (the language, 'Arab' is the person) speakers, or between English speakers and those who speak pretty much any other language.<BR/><BR/>And why is German there instead of Hindi? To protect our understanding of analytical philosophy, one hopes. Though why we have to lose the Continental school, or for that matter, the Kama Sutra, I don't know.<BR/><BR/>Besides which, think of the number of jobs that would be lost in institutions, agencies, NGOs and... err... software websites worldwide! This is an anti-worker position!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06562902749398922096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-7250242151739179522008-07-22T20:07:00.000+02:002008-07-22T20:07:00.000+02:00Moscow, thay may make life "easier" but would be a...Moscow, thay may make life "easier" but would be a monstrous crime against the cultures of the world and the long histories that languages represent. Although I suspect you are not actually serious and are looking to get a reaction. So, here is one....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-27829022108512706062008-07-22T11:47:00.000+02:002008-07-22T11:47:00.000+02:00'I propose reducing the languages spoken in this w...'I propose reducing the languages spoken in this world to half-a-dozen: English, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese and Arab.<BR/>There, that's much better.'<BR/><BR/>And a simple, yet effective way to do it would be to beat school children with a stick, or give them a whack for each time they spoke the wrong language. After it all it did no harm in the Basque country under Franco or in Ireland under the English.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-12126585352335467132008-07-22T11:41:00.000+02:002008-07-22T11:41:00.000+02:00Moscow, there'll be no Christmas card from Nicolas...Moscow, there'll be no Christmas card from Nicolas Sarkozy for you this year!Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-90261866600194056842008-07-22T11:35:00.000+02:002008-07-22T11:35:00.000+02:00@Mariapi,Not really. If we all spoke the same lang...@Mariapi,<BR/>Not really. If we all spoke the same language may of the problems of this world would be solved overnight. I propose reducing the languages spoken in this world to half-a-dozen: English, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese and Arab.<BR/>There, that's much better.moscowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10953658037036266219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-30145688355360710122008-07-21T12:44:00.000+02:002008-07-21T12:44:00.000+02:00I'm catalan and just will say one thing. When I wa...I'm catalan and just will say one thing. When I was in Boston my script teacher gave us an article about how many languages are lost daily in the world. He said the power of a script is the individual way to express a world. The same with languages. If we all just speak one language, eat one kind of food and make one kind of love, all films, art and music will look the same. Isn't it a pity?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-64747539727045906612008-07-18T10:17:00.000+02:002008-07-18T10:17:00.000+02:00The next time they go to the beach they can take t...The next time they go to the beach they can take their bleeding helicopter with them as well, instead of just using it to annoy the residents of central Madrid. These things should be shared.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-53443038477174356892008-07-18T10:03:00.000+02:002008-07-18T10:03:00.000+02:00Justification, there is none. However, they got to...Justification, there is none. However, they got to escape the Madrid summer, go to the beach, and do the Dear Leader's bidding all at once. That just about made it worth enduring the extreme stress and mental torture resulting from the locals' use of an unknown and incomprehensible tongue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-83234272954760575612008-07-17T23:57:00.000+02:002008-07-17T23:57:00.000+02:00I thought Graeme woud quite like them too - I thin...I thought Graeme woud quite like them too - I think they are paractically 'seminal' works on the power of the modern media.<BR/><BR/>Telemadrid's style of 'investigative reporting' reminded me of the Brass Eye 'Good Aids / Bad Aids' and 'Crime' episodes in particular - a lot of the stuff is available on You Tube.<BR/><BR/>I wonder, though, how Telemadrid can justify going to Catalunya and harassing school teachers, waiters and so on. How exactly does this contribute to their role in providing local TV for Madrid? It's clearly that bit more sinister than just bad journalism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-73085053983982743172008-07-17T17:26:00.000+02:002008-07-17T17:26:00.000+02:00Yeah, they are both from the 1990's, but I was out...Yeah, they are both from the 1990's, but I was outside of the UK for quite a lot of that decade. Next time I'm back on the island I'll check them out.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-39692237045808571292008-07-17T15:41:00.000+02:002008-07-17T15:41:00.000+02:00Graeme, the programmes starhound mentions are quit...Graeme, the programmes starhound mentions are quite old, maybe more than 10 years. If you haven't seen them, you should definitely check them out. A reading of your blog suggests that it is your kind of satire..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-16807129361731283972008-07-17T10:06:00.000+02:002008-07-17T10:06:00.000+02:00You can tell when you've been away from the UK for...You can tell when you've been away from the UK for a long time, people make references to TV programmes you've never heard of. Thank God for Wikipedia. I doubt whether satire even at its best is really capable of capturing the essence of such such seriously bad journalism. Telemadrid probably wouldn't get the joke anyway.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-74410842825158215642008-07-16T20:23:00.000+02:002008-07-16T20:23:00.000+02:00What would Telemadrid think of 'The Day Today' or ...What would Telemadrid think of 'The Day Today' or 'Brass Eye'?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-59921344128906911632008-07-16T12:54:00.000+02:002008-07-16T12:54:00.000+02:00Es permet.Es permet.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-42715553948632385932008-07-16T12:05:00.000+02:002008-07-16T12:05:00.000+02:00As a non-Spanish speaking, Catalan speaking touris...As a non-Spanish speaking, Catalan speaking tourist can I just say how hard it is to find Catalan speakers in tourist areas?Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00982655562155492746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-85658266956833795872008-07-16T08:48:00.000+02:002008-07-16T08:48:00.000+02:00I see, I thought you were referring to Zapatero fo...I see, I thought you were referring to Zapatero for a minute! I was beginning to wonder what they'd mixed into your albariño.<BR/><BR/>The people behind the manifesto are the mirror image of the Gallego supremacists, because they also advocate supremacy for a language. As you say, the people shall speak - we will see what language they use.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.com