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Ted Talk Tuesday: Erin McKean redefines the dictionary.

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Lexicographer Erin McKean is as cute as a button: there’s simply no other way to describe her. This week the usual suspects at K & A watched her talk about dictionaries: where they come from, where they’re going, and how they’ve changed the English language. In lesser hands it would be a dry topic, but Ms. McKean’s gift for weird metaphors (pork butts and fishermen are two that stand out) and wild accusations (”Well, I blame the Queen”) made this talk a treat to listen to. At one point she claimed that several of her best friends were books, which I fully relate to (Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums and J.D. Salinger’s Frankie and Zooey), and I poked around the office to find out what kind of riff raff the other rewriters and instructors hang out with.

“Life and How to Survive It, by John Cleese and Robin Skynner. It’s written by the Monty Python guy. He was in therapy for a while. Robin Skynner was his therapist.” —Helen Lewis

“Any kind of reference book … An encyclopedia.” —Tracy Silvasti

“How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, by Robert A. Day. I think YOU should read this. It’s what made me who I am today. … Well, actually. Maybe it’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek, by Dave Marinaccio.” —Arnold Fisher

“Well it’s a bit of a toss-up, isn’t it, between Line by Line, by Claire Kehrwald Cook and that Grammar Bugs book. How could you possibly choose between the two?” —Jonathan Bell

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Ted Talk Tuesday: Alain de Botton on a kinder, gentler philosophy of success.

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Philosopher and writer Alain de Botton gives a witty, thought provoking, and quite frankly refreshing talk about the evolving definitions of success and failure. In ages past, those who failed to succeed in life were considered “unfortunates;” in today’s world, the popular term is “losers.” Alain de Botton wrestles with the reasons behind—and consequences of—this seemingly minor linguistic shift, and finishes with a battle cry for individual definitions of success. His books include “How Proust Can Change Your Life” and “The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work”.

After the talk, Arnold posited: What is your definition of success? Some equated it with money, others with a stimulating career. Steve-o felt that success could be summed up as “being in the right place at the right time.” Me, I’m of the opinion that if success doesn’t equal inventing the technology to bring Franz Kafka, Anais Nin, and Allen Ginsberg back to life, fashion them into a punk-pop super-group, and allow me to tour with them across the seedier eastern European capitals as a back-up vocalist, then I’m simply not interested.

Thoughts? What is your definition of success? Feel free to comment below in the Responses section.

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Ted Talk Tuesday: Jennifer 8. Lee hunts for General Tso

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee gives an entertaining and anecdote-laced talk about her search for the stories and histories behind some of the West’s most popular Chinese-American dishes. Startling facts emerge: did you know that America has more Chinese restaurants than McDonald’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Wendy’s outlets combined? Or that the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved in a Chinese restaurant in D.C.? Or that fortune cookies are actually a Japanese invention? One of the highlights of this 16-minute talk is video footage of Ms. Lee’s journey to the Chinese mainland, where she proceeds to introduce fortune cookies to the locals. “What is it?” asks one man, suspicious. Another gingerly takes a bite, then announces, “There’s a paper inside!” Many more tales and tidbits are available in Ms. Lee’s latest book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles.

Some reactions from the usual suspects at K & A:

“I was the one who suggested this talk, actually. I stumbled across it on Twitter. I thought it was an interesting topic.” —Sandra Barron

“I thought it was interesting to see how diverse food can be. It’s refreshing to see how you don’t need someone to tell you what makes a dish authentic or not. It reminded me of how much I miss British Chinese food. Even though it’s probably not as high-quality as Japanese Chinese food …” —Helen Lewis

“I thought it was a good demonstration of speaking too quickly. Makes it a little hard for an international audience to follow the ideas … I also didn’t feel there was any strong central theme that resonated with the audience. I mean, anyone that lives overseas knows that foods are adapted. Just look at McDonald’s. <derisive snort>” —Arnold Fisher

“What’s chop suey? No, really. Chop suey?” —Betty Loi

“It was food for thought.” —William Brooks

“I didn’t know that fortune cookies came from Japan, so that was very interesting. But I agree with what Arnold said: I didn’t see what the point was.” —Keiko Kuwahara

As for me, I found it fascinating to see the different ways food can sync up with politics, history, and geography and slightly alter the tone of each. It also put me in the mood for the best Chinese dish on the planet: sweet and sour soy balls at The Lotus Pond, a Buddhist-run vegetarian cafe in Victoria, Canada. It would probably be unrecognizable on mainland China, but as Ms. Lee says, Chinese food is just like Linux: “sort of an open source thing, right, where ideas from one person can be copied and propagated across the entire system.”

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TED Talk Tuesdays

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Every Tuesday at the K & A head office in Tokyo, rewriters and instructors gather in the lunch room for our weekly viewing of a TED Talk.

TED is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” Every year since 1984, annual conferences held in Long Beach, California, showcase speakers from the technology, entertainment, and design worlds. Their challenge? Give the talk of their lives: in 18 minutes or less. Over the years, luminaries ranging from Al Gore to Jane Goodall to Dave Eggers have graced the TED stage with wit, insight, and style. The conference is invitation-only, but there’s good news for the rest of us: over 450 TED Talks are posted online, available for viewing free of charge.

Primatologist Susan Savage-Rumbaugh discussed her lifelong work with bonobo apes. These apes can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, prompting Dr. Sue to speculate which has a greater role in skill acquisition: biology, or cultural exposure.

(Having grown up in the harsh wilderness of the Canadian interior, my feelings on this argument are mixed.)

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Five things to avoid doing when you make a presentation.

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

A phobia is defined as a “persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.” There are thousands of different phobias the general public falls prey to—a fear of death, of snakes, of flying, of falling—but the #1 fear of people across the globe is one that many of us have to deal with on a daily basis: the fear of public speaking.

There are several different methods for overcoming the fear of public speaking, or stage fright, as it is commonly known. Check out Gary’s blog for some tips. There are also five manifestations of stage fright that you need to avoid …

1. The Deer in the Headlights.
Wide, doe-like Bambi eyes, trained in terror at the audience or spotlight. Unable to move or speak.

2. The Godfather.
Mumbling, rambling speech in the style of Marlon Brando’s iconic 1972 crime boss. Content is understood by no one but a select, secret, inner circle—co-authors, for example.

3. The Samurai.
Expressionless face and monosyllabic delivery. Appears to take Stan Sakai’s “A samurai should always be prepared for death: whether his own or someone else’s” to heart.

4. The Coffee Addict. Jittery, unfocused speech that runs about 180 km/h. Strategic pauses are treated with contempt; deep breaths or even any consistent breath patterns at all are generally avoided.

5. The Juvenile Delinquent. Slouched posture, hands in pockets, sullen demeanor, and eyes trained anywhere but the audience—usually at one’s own feet.

Avoiding these tragic public speaking pitfalls is one of the first steps on the road to a successful presentation delivery.

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