All-Nighter, Part III

I know that there’s no way that I’m going to get back to bed before six o’clock. I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time listening to Kidz Bop as of late. For those of you cool folk out there who don’t know what it is, Kidz Bop is a series of bowdlerized popular songs with accompaniment by actual children. When the songs are too scandalous, they don’t hesitate to throw in their own lyrical gems. With the Black Eyed Peas’ “Pump It”, the chorus includes the innocent, exploited children shouting “foshizzlin’!”, which makes me laugh and cringe at the same time.

I didn’t realize how many volumes the Kidz Bop library has grown to include. Not only is there Kidz Bop, the original, but also Kidz Bop 2 – 11, A Kidz Bop Valentine, Kidz Bop Christmas, followed up by A Very Merry Kidz Bop, Kidz Bop Sports Jamz, Kidz Bop Halloween, Kidz Bop Gold, More Kidz Bop Gold, and my personal favorite, Los Kidz Bop, with sassy salsa beats.

Did I ever post the video clip of the street corner singer? Well, I did now. The Montpellier Plus newspaper featured an article about him the other day, and it turns out that he’s actually trying to become a professional singer and uses the corner as a way to help him get over stage fright. I should have known that he wasn’t just some crazy guy from the fact that he was singing actual songs with actual words.

There is nothing to do at 5:54 in the morning. I wish I had wireless. The internet never sleeps.

I checked out two comfort books from the library today: Critical Essays on Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice, which I am just flying through.

Ooh! I can write out my essay!

I had Phonetics today, and for a change we worked on something useful – the ‘r’ sound that most Americans will probably never master, myself included. It’s pronounced ‘air’, but you have to kind of cough it out a little, so it sounds like “airhah”. Apparently the ‘r’ and the ‘l’ sounds are similar so we got to work on pronouncing the letter L as well. Here’s what we had to repeat:

Ni – dine – line; note – dot – lotte; natte – date – latte; Nantes – Dante – lente.

I always feel so silly in that class. Oh, good news – I got an 18.75 out of twenty on the test we go back today. I think that an A is something like a 14.1, so I’m not worried too much. At least we get grades in that class, albeit sporadically. Most of my other classes just have one final grade that counts for everything. I don’t like that.

Just for fun, and because obviously I have the time, here’s a writing sample that I had to translate into phonetics.

Lorsque le cours était fini, à quatre heures, une longue soirée de solitude commençait pour moi. Mon père transportait le feu du poêle de la classe dans la cheminée de notre salle à manger ; et peu à peu, les derniers gamins attardés abandonnaient l’école refroidi où roulaient des tourbillons de fumée.

[loRskәlәkuretєfini/akatRœ/ynlõgswaRedәsolitydkomãsєpurmwa//

mõpєRtRãspoRtєlәfødypwaldәlәklasdãlәƒәminedәnotRsalamãje/

epøapø/ledєRnjegamẽataRdeabãdonєlekolRәfrwadiuRuldeuRbijõdәfyme//]

Ugh, that is really not fun to type out.

Here are some sentences that sound almost exactly the same in French:

It’s a knowledgeable man / It’s a soap.

She is at the edge / She is in butter.

I love urchins / I love bear cubs.

It’s in satin / It’s a Satan (that’s close in English, too).

Here is Tintin! / Here’s your thyme.

Hee. Here are some more like those, because I think they’re funny:

I love old handsome men / I love old beef.

He dies / He bites.

Make a wish / Make veal.

He has no fear / He has no father.

You have nice hair / You have nice horses.

I don’t want anything / I’m worthless.

He is very young / He is very yellow.