The 100 voices guy

Simply amazing, although it's not perfect.

Niet meer dakloos in Utrecht

A couple of days ago I was telling you about my housing problem in Utrecht, because I didn't have one and I was really sick and tired of the Dutch housing system. However, I did find a room! I can't believe it myself! (Well I do, but it's just a way of speaking… or "writing", rather.) Let me tell you how I found it.

On Thurday I went to the Educatorium on the Leuvenlaan, in De Uithof (where most of the Utrecht University lectures are given except for the Law and Humanities Faculties) because all the Erasmus and other exchange students could obtain information about activities related to culture, sports, etc. but also the so-called "inschrijving bij de gemeente" and many other things. We also listened to a girl from Canada who told us about her stay in Utrecht and we were introduced to the ESN (for Erasmus Student Network) of Utrecht. On a notice board I spotted a short message on a sheet of paper: "Kamer te huur in Bilthoven. Graag bellen op (…)" or something like that. I called the guy and made an appointment on Sunday at two o'clock.

So I went to Bilthoven and met with Mustafa, who's about 25 years old and decided to let two rooms of his appartment to share the rent. He showed me the room (2 meters by 4,5, roughly), the kitchen, the loo, the bathroom, the living room with television and a dining room with a big brand-new fridge — so I won't nuke it. Most important of all: everything was clean — just as if Mr. Clean was a friend of Mustafa. We chatted for half an hour and we got on very well with each other. I told him about my housing problems and told him I was really interested. He then replied that I could have the room directly! Surprised, I asked if there were other candidates and he retorted that he preferred the "first come, first served" system. So later in the day I told him I'd take the room.

On Monday afternoon Mustafa came to Zeist, at Magali's to help me with my luggage and my camp bed, and we drove to Bilthoven, and then he showed me where the train station, the shops etc. were located, and after that I unpacked my luggage.

Here are some pictures that I took in the apartment:

– My bed and the radiator


Same thing, but from the opposite side:


– The corridor:


– The entrance, with the kitchen on the left and the toilet on the right:


– The kitchen:


– The shower, curiously without glass walls to contain water (as is the case everywhere in the Netherlands):


– The living room:


– The dining room, with fridge:


– What I can see from the front window:


Mustafa told me he didn't have an internet connexion yet, but there are several WiFi networks in the building, so I decided to "take advantage of them" because as you know I can't live without the Web.

See you soon from more news from Utrecht!


PS. I don't know why but I just thought it was appropriate to feature this "C'est la fête" song, from the French-dubbed version of "Be our guest" in The Beauty and the Beast. It's Daniel Beretta (known for being the usual French voice of Arnold Scharzenegger) who sings:

"The Cat Concerto"

The Cat Concerto is perhaps one of the most popular short cartoons ever created. In 1947 it received the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. It "stars" Tom (the cat) as a piano virtuoso giving a recital on the instrument Jerry (the mouse) lives in.



I LOVE Tom's face at 03:43 and the way the piano lid is slammed onto his fingers…

The theme that you hear, Hungarian Rhapsody Number 2 by Franz Liszt, has been spoofed in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the piano fight scene featuring Daffy Duck and Donald Duck.



From Wikipedia:

Controversy

The same year MGM produced The Cat Concerto, Warner Bros. released a very similar cartoon entitled Rhapsody Rabbit. Directed by Friz Freleng, Rhapsody Rabbit featured Bugs Bunny opposite an unnamed mouse. Both shorts had very similar plots, and even use the same piece by Liszt.

Both MGM and Warner Bros. accused each other of plagiarism, after both films were shown during the 1947 Academy Awards ceremony. Technicolor was accused of sending a print of either cartoon to the competing studio, who then allegedly plagarized their rival's work.

You're Only Second Rate

When I was younger, I used to watch Disney movies all the time. Among those, The Return of Jafar, sequel of Aladdin. My point here was to show you one of my favourite songs, Tu n'es qu'un amateur, but first it would be better to watch the original version, sung by Jonathan Freeman, voice of Jafar:



Lyrics:

I must admit, your parlor tricks are amusing
I bet you've got a bunny under your hat
Now here's your chance to get the best of me
Hope your hand is hot
C'mon, clown, let's see what you've got
You try to slam me with your hardest stuff
But your double whammy isn't up to snuff
I'll set the record straight
You're simply out of date
You're only second rate!

You think your cat's a meanie, but your tiger's tame
You've got a lot to learn about the genie game
So for your education I'll reiterate
You're only second rate!

Men cower at the power in my pinky
My thumb is number one on every list
But if you're not convinced that I'm invincible
Put me to the test
I'd love to lay this rivalry to rest

Go ahead and zap me with the big surprise
Snap me in a trap, cut me down to size
I'll make a great escape
It's just a piece of cake
You're only second rate!
You know, your hocus-pocus isn't tough enough
And your mumbo-jumbo doesn't measure up
Let me pontificate upon your sorry state
You're only second rate!

Zaba-caba-dabra!
Granny's gonna grab ya!
Alakazam-da-mus
And this thing's bigger than the both of us
So spare me your tremendous scare
You look horrendous in your underwear
And I can hardly wait to discombobulate
I'll send ya back and packing in a shipping crate
You'd make a better living with a spinning plate
You're only second rate!

And now, here's the French version, Tu n'es qu'un amateur. The Genie's French voice is performed by the famous Richard Darbois, and Féodor Atkine (incidentally, he dubs Hugh Laurie in the series House, MD) dubs Jafar:



Lyrics:

Je dois admettre que tes p'tits tours sont amusants
J' parie qu'il y a un lapin sous ton chapeau
Mais aujourd'hui, ton mauvais numéro,
Je le vois perdant
Vas-y clown, montre-moi tes cartes.

Tu voudrais me faire retourner en enfer
Mais ta guerre éclair, je la réverbère.
Ta folie des grandeurs
N'est pas à la hauteur,
Tu n'es qu'un amateur.

Tu t' prends pour un tigre
Mais je t'amadoue.
Par les mathématigres,
Je matte les matous.
Ta folie des grandeurs
N'est pas à la hauteur,
Tu n'es qu'un amateur.

Quel effroi, quand je lève le petit doigt,
Quelle frousse que j' vous écrase tous d'un coup de pouce,
Si tu es convaincu
De rester invaincu,
Faut en faire ton deuil,
Notre duel continue jusqu'au cercueil.

Étonne-moi !
Branche-moi !
Électrocute-moi !
Au fond d'un tonneau
Percé de couteaux,
Je sauverai ma peau.
Ça n' sera pas du gâteau
Mais je l' ferai, mon poteau.

Tes p'tits tours de passe-passe
Sont pas très efficaces.
Tu n'es qu'un orgueilleux
Qui se prend pour un dieu
Ta folie des grandeurs
N'est pas à la hauteur,
Tu n'es qu'un amateur.

Zabacabadabra
Grand-mère t'attrapera
Et Abracadabra,
J' suis plus grand que l'Himalaya

Tu peux donc trembler devant moi
Sans perdre le bas de ton pyjama
Et si dans la panique,
Tu casses ta mécanique,
Ne me dis pas sans cesse,
Quand tu passes à la caisse :
"J'ai perdu, çà m'inquiète !",
"J' comprends pas, çà m'embête !",
"J' suis pas dans mon assiette !"

Such a song translation must be particularly difficult, because you have to take into account not only the usual features (prosody, rhymes, wordplays), but also the shots themselves, e.g. when you have "It's just a piece of cake", you see the cake, and in French it's rendered as "Ce n's'ra pas du gâteau".

Ads, ads, ads

Prison bièsse:



Brilliant!

The following one is probably a fake one, given the incorrect spelling of whose at the end. Thanks to Mr Romero for sharing this with us last year.



That's a shame this is not a real commercial. Quite the contrary, this one is real. (Once again, many thanks to Mr Romero.)



Today's Uncyclopedia featured article: Disneyland.

Walt Disney: Emperor of Dreams

Here's the final version of my blog entry about Walt Disney, which I also posted on germ@namur. Maybe I'm just gonna change a few links, adding silly things (like the spoof on Honey I Shrunk the Kids).

Who has never heard of Walt Disney? This world-famous cartoon director and businessman was born on 5 December 1901 in Chicago, IL. He is an icon in American culture, as will be shown in this blog entry.

Walt Elias Disney started his career as an advertising illustrator, but failing to meet the success he desired, he left his hometown to go to Hollywood. He founded a cartoon production company (known today as the Walt Disney Company), and a couple of years later, his Steamboat Willie made him famous, with its introduction of the character of Mickey Mouse. This film was the first in an endless series of worldwide-successful cartoons such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bambi, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland – among many others.

But Disney’s interest lay not only in cartoons, but also in live-action movies: he most notably produced Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews. Disney also invested his money and his time in the creation of an amusement park in California, Disleyland. This theme park was designed in such a way that all American families could walk in a fantasy world that would remind everybody of his cartoons, for instance by getting lost in Alice in Wonderland’s labyrinth. As a philanthropist, he decided to create a new university, CalArts (short for California Institute of Arts), in order to promote the creativity of talented people who would probably become prominent in the arts.

Walt Disney died of lung cancer on 15 December 1966 — he was a heavy smoker. An urban legend says that Walt Disney was cryonically frozen, but he was actually cremated. Despite his death, his work was carried on by others, through the Walt Disney Company, which is now owned by his offspring. For example, several other theme parks were built in Florida, Tokyo and Paris. Even a Disney Cruise Line was opened in the Caribbean.

As far as the movie legacy is concerned, the Walt Disney Company went on to make not only many other successful cartoons such as The Beauty and the Beast, but also live-action films among which Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and hybrid forms mixing traditional animation with live action, e.g. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The latter is the only film featuring characters from Disney and from Warner Bros. in the same frame.



For almost a dozen years, the Walt Disney Company has invested more and more money in computer-animated films, which notably resulted in the two Toy Story films. These were made by the Pixar Animation Studios, which are now owned by Disney. Their most recent released film is Ratatouille.

In conclusion, Walt Disney is considered as an important character in the American, but also world culture, which makes him a legend. His future-oriented empire is one of the most powerful, and it still has many wonderful stories to tell, making us wander in the utmost fantastic universe.



Simon Labate and Quentin Poncelet

Walt Disney: an Empire of Dreams

Professor Vandelanotte asked us a couple of months ago to write a post on germ@namur as part of a writing assignment. Here are the original instructions (no need to paraphrase them):

For this assignment you are asked to work in groups of two people to produce a blog entry and a short presentation on an assigned topic. These topics were chosen to reflect aspects of different anglophone cultures (in the UK and Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

This time, I worked with my good friend Quentin, and in less than an hour and a half, we came up with this text. And oh yeah, before I forget, the topic that we chose is Walt Disney. I opted for this because I know some of the cartoons and besides, it's a biography, which means it is easier than summarizing up a concept. (At least, that's what I think.) So you find our first draft version. I just added several links afterwards. I will also post the definitive version on this blog once it's corrected. (Thanks, Ruth!)

Who has never heard the name of Walt Disney? This world-famous cartoon director and businessman was born on 5 December 1901 in Chicago, IL. He is an icon in American culture, as it will be shown below.

Walt Elias Disney started his career as an advertising illustrator, but as he did not meet the success he wanted, he left his hometown to go to Hollywood. He founded a cartoon production company (known today as the Walt Disney Company), and a couple of years later, his Steamboat Willie made him famous, as it introduced the character of Mickey Mouse. This film was the first in an endless series of worldwide-successful cartoons such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Pinocchio, Bambi, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland – among many others.

But Disney’s interest was not confined to cartoons, but also to live-action movies: he most notably produced Mary Poppins, with Julie Andrews. Disney also invested his money and his time in the creation of an amusement park in California, Disleyland. This theme park was made so that all American families could walk in a fantasy world reminding everybody of his cartoons, for instance by getting lost in Alice in Wonderland’s labyrinth. As a philanthropist, he decided to create a new university, CalArts (short for California Institute of Arts), in order to promote the creativity of talented artists who would probably become prominent in the arts.

Walt Disney died of lung cancer on 15 December 1966 — he was a heavy smoker. An urban legend says that Walt Disney was cryonically frozen, but he was actually cremated. Despite his death, his work was carried on by others, through the Walt Disney Company, which is now owned by his offspring. For example, several other theme parks were built in Florida, Tokyo and Paris. Even a Disney Cruise Line was opened in the Caribbean.

As far as the movie legacy is concerned, the Walt Disney Company went on to make not only many other successful cartoons such as The Beauty and the Beast, but also live-action films among which Honey I Shrank the Kids, and hybrid forms mixing traditional animation with live action, e.g. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This is the only film featuring characters from Disney and Warner Bros. characters in the same frame.



Since a dozen of years, the Walt Disney Company invested more and more money in computer-animated films, notably the two Toy Story films. These were made by the Pixar Animation Studios, which are now owned by Disney. Their most recent released film is Ratatouille.

In conclusion, Walt Disney is considered as an important character in the American, but also world culture, which makes him a legend. His future-oriented empire is one of the most powerful in the world, and it still has many wonderful stories to tell, making us wander in the utmost fantastic universe.