I’ve been buying this organic bread recently. I’m not a big organic guy (could you guess?) but it’s low-carb and yet doesn’t taste like cardboard. Several times, however, the bread has gone moldy within a day or two. Yuck. So I took some back to the store all indignant about how I only just bought this bread and now its moldy. The clerk explained it to me—heh, it’s organic—no preservatives, get it? Oh, that’s what preservatives do. I will never question civilization again.
— Alex TabarrokHow socialism works
(from Duke, via Marginal Revolution)
For most of us, it is hard to fathom the rationale for a market in burnt-out light bulbs. But in the scarcity-driven Soviet economy, the market was entirely reasonable. Light bulbs were rarely available to individual consumers, but were obtainable for state-sponsored activities. Thus, it would be difficult to purchase a light bulb for a new lamp in one's home, while burnt-out bulbs in state-run offices or factories were routinely replaced. So if someone purchased a new lamp and needed a bulb, he would buy a used light bulb for a small fee and replace a functioning bulb at work with the dud. He would then take the functioning bulb home for the new lamp, while the burnt-out bulb at the office/factory would be replaced with a new functioning bulb. Meanwhile, the maintenance person at the office/factory would take the used bulb and sell it on the used light bulb market.
Pajamas fall, everyone dies
As the leaders of Pajamas Media abandon their ad network and focus on their new streaming-media venture, it’s important to remember that they tried to tell their members that it wouldn’t last:
"...the next phase in the democratization of ideas has begun"
Sure enough, it was just a phase.
Blame the duck
[Update: Corrected translation. According to my professor, I was right the first time about the girls, but wrong about the grammatical inversion in the first verse. It’s “wine, women, and song”, not “wine, women, then song”…]
[Update: Now with romanized karaoke lyrics and translation!]
[Update: New! Improved! Now with extra Blue Man! This clip claims the group is Tokiwazu, so perhaps the other name only refers to their work with the full orchestra.]
He started it with Oo-Edo no Hikeshi (大江戸の火消し = “Firemen of Edo”). This led me to track down their versions of two other classics (1, 2), as well as the people responsible (題名のない音楽会 = “Orchestra Without A Name”), and the occasion (350th anniversary of the Great Fire of Meireki).
But there’s more. I found a higher-resolution video, and transcribed lyrics. My reading class will be amusing next week…
大江戸の火消し
俺たちゃ琵琶湖に行った 弁財天詣でさ
夜詰めの当番済まして 湯治も兼ねて
たまには上美女揃えて 杯重ねて
木遣りの声にも磨きを あてて帰ろうか
大江戸の火消し 空もはればれ
大江戸の火消し
琵琶湖じゃ畔の小屋で 芝居をやっていた
ちょいと覗いて行こうか 急ぎの旅でなし
江戸からの旅役者が はるばる来ていた
はだか火使って火が出て 俺たちの出番さ
火事場にゃ火消し 空には火の粉だ
火事場にゃ火消し
And for the kana-challenged who want to sing along:
Oo-Edo no Hikeshi
Ore-tacha Biwako ni itta, Benzaiten moude sa
Yozume no touban sumashite, touji mo kanete
Tama ni wa jou-sama soroete, sakazuki kasanete
Kiyari no koe ni mo migaki o, atete kaerou ka
Oo-Edo no hikeshi, sora mo harebare
Oo-Edo no hikeshi
Biwako ja hotori no koya de, shibai o yatte ita
Choito nozoite ikou ka, isogi no tabi de nashi
Edo kara no tabi-yakusha ga, harubaru kite ita
Hadaka-bi-zukatte hi ga dete, Ore tachi no debaru sa
Kajiba nya hikeshi, sora ni wa hinoko da
Kajiba nya hikeshi
Oh, what the hell, let’s try for English (loose where necessary to fit the tune):
Fire Brigade of Edo
We went up to Lake Biwa, a pilgrimage to Benzaiten,
after standing watch all night long. At the hot springs there,
we arranged for hot young women, and plenty of hot sake,
and practiced our hard-labor chant. Now shall we head straight for home?
Fire-brigade of Edo, the sky begins to brighten.
Fire-brigade of Edo.
In a hut on Biwa's shore, they were putting on a play.
Let's stop in and take a little peek, we're not in a hurry.
Troupe of Edo actors, had come up all the way from town.
Open flame turned into fire, our turn now to do our duty.
Fire-brigade on the scene, the sparks are in the sky.
Fire-brigade on the scene.
Fun with loanwords
Another fun one from the “Snow Eggs” recipe in 魔女館へようこそ:
アルミのバット
For the kana-challenged, that’s “arumi no batto”. The context is retrieving the poached meringue from the water with a skimmer, and placing it either onto a plate or an “arumi no batto”.
Answer below the fold…
Dilemma's Horns
The most difficult part of trying to get a few decent screen captures from the Aya The Witch DVD is summoning the willpower to stop staring at her.
Protection Money
Social conservatives are expressing (possibly-authentic) surprise that the Democrats’ current stimulus bill includes funding for contraception. I’m not sure why they didn’t expect it. After all, Congress has been spending our money like drunken whores for decades, so of course they associate condoms with cash payouts.
