"All who gain power are afraid to lose it" — Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
// Just a blog among many others //
"Et comme dirait Grucho Marx : 'Si vous n'aimez pas mes opinions, j'en ai d'autres !'" (Jean-Jacques Jespers)
// This is a blog that is updated on a daily basis (if I have time, though…) and on which I feature things that I find funny. Enjoy and don't hesitate to post comments as well!
Yep, that's it: I've made it to my 500th blog entry… Time flies. I was wondering what I would post for that special occasion, but I had no idea. My back up plan was of course to google "500" on YouTube and here's what I found: a guy whose challenge put to himself was to impersonate 500 facial expressions. You'll be awazed to see that he succeeds!
Let's watch a couple of other fragments from the tremendously hilarious show Alles kan beter. The first extract is evidence that French-speaking students of Dutch are not the only ones who make mistakes when saying the plural form of a noun:
Did you know that the human body is controlled by a kind of small room where engineers determine what the body does and says? In the following video, Alles kan beter (with Mark Uytterhoeven, Guy Mortier and Tom van Dyck) guides us through the meandres of former Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene… Beware: it's absolutely hilarious.
"Aaakes! Degoutant, onz' nagels zijn ze zwart als [?]"
"Dju!" "Wat is er?" "Geblokkeerd, he! We zijn geblokkeerd! De rechteren arm, he." "Harder trekken…"
"Hij zit te lachen?" "Ja, 't is een nieuwe functie." "Zet dat toch af!" "Sorry, mannen, voilà voilà!"
Sorry for not being quite able to transcribe tussentaal correctly…
And once again for those of you currently studying taalvariatie and some things about Dutch and Flemish dialects, they could be interested in watching this other video featuring Jean-Luc Dehaene:
I won't transcribe anything: I'm definitely not able to do so.
It seems silly to be able to do that, but it's really useful: the rare times I have to use a PC, it's a kerfuffle because you can see just one window at a time…
Elsa Schneider: He's given them to Marcus Brody. Henry Jones: Marcus? You didn't drag poor Marcus along, did you? He's not up to the challenge. Walter Donovan: He sticks out like a sore thumb. We'll find him! Indiana Jones: The hell you will! He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan. He speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom. He'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck... he's got the Grail already. Marcus Brody: Does anyone here speak English? Or even Ancient Greek? Water, no thank you sir. Fish make love in it… (…) My reputation precedes me.
Please watch this account of an interview of prince Philippe that was broadcast on Koppen, a VRT één programme. We get a sharp analysis of Philip's (un)ability to become king of our country when King Albert II dies.
"Is de prins er klaar voor? Het antwoord is: "Ja". De koning moet gasten ontvangen en met zijn foto op koekendozen kunnen staan, en dàt is meer dan in orde. Als België blijft bestaan, zal Filip er koning van kunnen zijn, maar of hij echt zal wegen, dat moet nog blijken."
I promised you several days ago to show you more stop animation movies made with Lego so as to re-enact scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Today, enjoy the Black Knight scene (I show you first the original version):
"None shall pass!"
"Now stand aside, worthy adversory." "It's but a scratch!" "A scratch?!? You arm's off!"
"It's just a flesh wound!"
P.S. Today, Professor Vandelanotte, referring to our History of Linguistics exam, said: "If you have problems, wave at my general direction." This was clearly a hint to John Cleese's sayings in the same movie, in the French Taunter scene: "I fart in your general direction". As Mr Romero pointed out: "I think nobody's got it." Then he looked at me (I was smiling), saying: "Yeah, of course…" I think Waldorf would have liked it, had he been there.
If you happen to read this blog regularly, you'll have noticed that I love alternate endings. I love them even more so when they're about films I like. Take the case of Independence Day, about alien ships trying to invade the Earth after destroying all of its most important cities, causing chaoes, destruction, collective hysteria and such nice things. You have probably seen this classic alternate ending by EditingRoom, with the heroes stupidly crashing and putting an end to the movie a bit sooner than expected:
— I was born on 12 February 1988 in Rocourt (in the municipality of Liège). I grew up in Aubel, then I studied in Herve (Collège Royal Marie-Thérèse). I took a bachelor's degree in Germanic languages (Dutch and English) in Namur, then I went to the KU Leuven to do a MA in Linguistics and Literature (Dutch and English). My main research interests are the translation of humour, intertextual references and multilingualism/heterolingualism.
// — I'm an Internet freak and fond of cinema.
// — I enjoy making (silly) comments on anything, grumpily bickering and nitpicking just like Statler from the Muppets.
// Why did you google my name, you nosy person?
"Tu veux ma photo, banane ?" (Biff Tannen, Back to the Future)
This picture was taken on 21 June 2007 while we were resting in front of a café in Damme. That day, just after the last exam of the first year, we had the opportunity to make a small excursion on a bike from Brugge to Damme.
My nicknames
Statler (coined by Prof. Lieven Vandelanotte) because I often make silly comments and crack jokes that nobody understands except my fellow Martin aka Waldorf
Statistics: number of visitors (starting on 5 November 2007)
Famous people I saw or met at least once (of course, nearly all of them come from Belgium)
Amélie Nothomb
André Flahaut
Anne-Marie Lizin
Arno
Axel Merckx
Benoît Poelvoorde
Bernard Hinault
Bla-Bla (I admit I was a great fan of his shows…)
Bouli Lanners
Bruno Coppens
Christophe Brandt
Christopher Lloyd
Didier Reynders
Didier Van Cauwelaert
Dupa (Jean Dupanloup)
Eddy Merckx
Eric De Staerke
Fadilah Laanan
Frédéric Deborsu
Frédéric Jannin
Gilles Dal
Grand Duke
Gryzette
Guy Verhofstadt
Herman De Croo
Howard Shore
Isabelle Durant
Jacques Balutin
Jacques Mercier
Jean Piat
Jean-Claude Vancauwenberghe
Jean-Jacques Jespers
Jean-Luc Fonck
Jean-Marie Leblanc
Joëlle Milquet
Juan d'Oultremont
King Albert II
Kris Peeters
Lance Armstrong
Laurence Bibot
Les Gauff' (Au Suc')
Lorent Deutsch
Marc Moulin
Marie Arena
Miam Monster Miam
Nathalie Uffner
Nicolas Sarkozy
No that's a joke, I never saw him
Olivier Monsens
Paolo Bettini
Philippe Geluck
Philippe Lafontaine
Philippe Lambillon
Pierre Aucaigne
Pierre Kroll
Pierre Rapsat
Pino Cerami
Prince Laurent
Prince Philippe
Queen Fabiola
Queen Paola
Raoul Reyers (Philippe Gouders)
Rik Verbrugghe
Robbie McEwen
Robert Sabatier
Robert Wasseige
Rudy Demotte
Saint André (the singer!)
Sam Touzani
Sergio Honorez
Stefan Liberski
Thomas Gunzig
Tom Boonen
Virginie Hocq
Virginie Svensson
People I dislike or hate or that irritate me (a selection)
Benedict XVI (Religious Extremist)
Benoît Dreze (CDH) (He wants to promote the so-called "chèques-service" which encourage slavery — namely people doing the housework you should do on your own)
Condoleeza Rice (A Shame For Women)
Donald Rumsfeld (Republican Idiot)
Filip De Winter (VB)
George W. Bush (Supreme Moron)
H.M. Leopold III (traitor)
John-Paul II (fortunately he died)
José Happart (PS) (Complete nerd)
Justine Henin (Tennis Player)
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Extremist)
Mgr Léonard (Intolerant, Religious Extremist, Mentally Deranged, Pillock)
Michael Schumacher (Dikke Nek)
Paul Wolfovitz (yeah, that guy who can't buy a new pair of socks but can help his girlfriend get a better job…)