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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2024

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  • It’s almost always bigger languages.

    Karel nese asi čaj by Jiří Korn and Vilém Čok

    This Czechoslovak song is mostly in Czech but also features number sequences from (in order of appearance): German, French, Italian, English, Czech. (The younger singer, Vilém Čok, was not explicitly anti-Communist but the censor ruined his career anyway because this song was “too weird”, and it didn’t recover except for the 1-minute intros to Ducktales and Chip’n’Dale he sang in 1990. That was recently ruled illegal even by 80s standards but the censor got a slap on the wrist. Čok was audibly laughing at the verdict because there was little else he could do.)

    Another non-English ones that come to mind are 1980s parodies of the countless Italian hits from back then (Sarà perché ti amo, Made in Italy, Ti amo, L’italiano etc.) by Jaroslav Uhlíř and Karel Šíp with some self-referential humor. I think that’s why my aunt, a language teacher, learned Italian first and only got good at English after failing to find a job in the 00s.

    But otherwise, the foreign-language content people mostly consume is English, and the songs reflect that. (Even imported words − do you think „fajn“ (pronounced fine) as seen in „One, two, three, všechno, co je fajn, se smí“ (a line from the aforementioned song) is from German fein meaning “delicate”?)












  • I don’t like stops where sitting runs the risk of missing the bus. (Most stops are request stops where I live)

    I suppose there could be a button you could sit/lean/step on to flash a solar- and battery-powered blinking light when held (not a toggle switch, people would forget to turn it off). Durable, several in parallel and preferrably not finger-operated, since that is less hygienic and uses up one’s hand. A PIR or radar sensor might work but passers-by and animals could set it off, plus most require the subject to keep moving. Of course, bus drivers will need to get the memo on the signal: where I live, they don’t need to be waved at, the presence of a person “at the bus stop” should be enough and it usually does work except for bad visibility. Although they sometimes ignore the request buttons inside because people could have leaned on them accidentally, checking if someone has got up and is at the door (not very friendly for elderly people who can’t safely stand in a moving bus).