Another message from Wulong

Yesterday someone calling himself Wulong wrote to me in the hope that I would persuade Europe and the US to act together to save him from vegetarianism. The only real politician I know is currently falling around drunk in a French village, so it’s going to be a while before I can do anything. Meanwhile…

What does “50 beautiful circle” mean?

Since the floods last month in China, the writer of the following email has no the house, has no the farmland and has been living in a bamboo hut and eating wild vegetables. Fortunately for us his G5 and high-speed connection survived, although I am not sure I completely understand what he is trying to…

But prof, what use is my language degree?

There are thirty UK jobs listed on LanguageJobs.com, which describes itself as “the job search portal designed for language professionals and multilingual talent“: Bricklayers, carpenters, labourers Uk – London Quality building contractors with experience of conservatory installations including base, brickwork, and erecting, URGENTLY required. Good pay rates!!! Please conntact: ds@mnminternational.org Job type: Full-Time Type of…

SPACE

When I skimmed this column by Ralph Routon on Amarillo.com, I assumed that it consisted completely of single-sentence paragraphs, but unfortunately he’s thrown in a couple of multi-sentencers halfway through. Tabloids do it, American teachers may have encouraged it with their practice of making pupils create a backbone to be fleshed into paragraphs, but I’m…