Subtle Terra Cotta Warriors Ad

National Geographic Society, December 2009. Very subtle use of Chinese in this ad for the terra cotta warriors exhibition. You can just make out the Chinese character 兵 ("soldier, warrior") inside the letter "O" in WARRIORS.



I've also seen these related sidewalk ads (this photo taken earlier this week in Dupont Circle):

I HEART NERDS

Dupont Circle. I think this Hello Kitty lunchbox is supposed to read "I [HEART] NERDS" but instead it reads "I [APPLE] NERDS." Huh?

(For more on the storefront window display in which this appeared, see the following post.)

Japanese Lucky Cats

Dupont Circle, January 2010. The waving (or welcoming) cat, often understood to invite good fortune and prosperity, is a common sight in Japanese (and other Asian) restaurants and shop windows. On the right, a golden maneki neko (招き猫) in gold bears the kanji or Chinese character 福 ("luck, good fortune") on its belly.

The handwritten Japanese text attached to the gold cat reads あけましておめでとう (akemashite omedetou) = "happy new year."

For more on the cultural significance of the "maneki neko," see this online taxonomy of lucky cat styles and colors.

For more on the Hello Kitty lunchbox in this image, see my previous posting.

P.S. I've been told another way to say "happy new year" in Japanese is 新年おめでとうございます (shin-nen omedetou gozaimasu).

Multilingual Christmas Wishes

Eastern Market, January 2010. It's several days into the new year, but this tree still bears the Christmas wishes of local residents. English: "Peace to Leslie" (top) and "Peace in the world, joy to the EM community" (bottom). Spanish: "Amor, Paz y Amistad" = Peace, Love and Friendship and "seguir igual de bien que en el 2009" = continue to be just as good as 2009 (top and bottom, in orange). Nonverbal: three peace signs (left, in green). The other inscriptions, apparently written by children: "ALESHA HAPPY" and "I Wish for happness [sic]."

P.S. Quite a few of the decorations (not pictured here) were written by people wishing for Senate to pass the Health Care Bill. It looks like those people got their wish!

Michelle Obama Translated (Czech and Chinese)

Prague, Czech Republic, December 2009. I saw this image of First Lady (and cultural icon) Michelle Obama during my holiday travels abroad. Here, her surname is rendered in Czech as Obamová.

This name transformation follows the Czech practice of rendering female surnames as grammatically feminine adjectives (often a modified form of the husband's name). This practice seems to work well with Obama, as her name already ends in a vowel. Other names like, say, Hillary Rodhamová Clintonová seem to me quite awkward.

Above, an example of how the First Lady's name can take different forms even in the US (here, a promotional book cover seen in DC Chinatown, November 2009). The translation of "Obama" as 奥巴馬 (here, 奥巴马  = ào bā mǎ) has become standard in Chinese-language media; "Michelle" is somewhat malleable but is most often rendered as 米歇爾 (here, 米歇尔 = mǐ xiē ěr).

January in Almanac and Book of Hours

January 1, 2010. Happy New Year everyone!

I start the year with images from the Library of Congress copy of "Poor Richard's Almanack" (printed by Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, 1733). A "best seller" for decades in the American colonies, Franklin's annual "Almanack" included not only a calendar but astronomical and weather forecasts, witty maxims and puzzles, and practical advice.

The page for January (above) shows the astrological sign Aquarius and a domestic scene.

Each month's illustration is preceded by a calendar listing important days (religious festivals) and astronomical events.

Above, a detail of an anatomical man along with Zodiac signs.

Both the structure and layout of the "Almanack" owe much to the medieval book of hours (see this informative website for more). Compare the humble "Almanack" to the exquisite calendar and anatomical man in this 15th-century book, the "Tres Riches Heures" of Jean, Duc de Berry:

While the print "Almanack" is in English and the manuscript "Heures" in French/Latin, these books clearly participate in a shared visual tradition.

For more on the "Almanack" in the context of Franklin's work, see this Library of Congress website.

You can also view high-resolution images of each page of the LOC copy of the "Alamack" as well as a medieval book of hours.

For more information on the "Tres Riches Heures," see here and here.

German Chinese Restaurant

December 31, 2009. I haven't posted anything in a while because of holiday travels (spent a few weeks in Europe). Before I resume my regular postings, I thought I'd share a particularly memorable experience: eating dinner in a Chinese restaurant in a small German village.

Here's a picture of what was on the table when we arrived: each setting included a quintessential German beer coaster and a napkin teaching Germans various Chinese phrases. Left hand column: "Guten Appetit" = 請您慢用 (qǐng nín màn yòng) - more literally, "please eat slowly." Note the German orthography here: "jon" = "yòng" since J = Y sound.

Our fortune cookies came with fortunes in 4 languages (English and German on one side, Dutch and French on the other).

Here's a picture of the spread. The duck, in foreground, was eine Haus-Spezialität (house specialty). Yum!

Lambda Departing

Dupont Circle, December 2009. Lambda Rising (the only LGBT bookstore in DC) has just announced it is closing at the month's end. The Greek letter "lambda" (λ) has long been associated with the gay rights movement and is often used as a symbol for the LGBT community. Incidentally, this stylized lambda logo vaguely resembles the Chinese character 入 (ru) = "to enter" (a place), "to join" (a group).

For more on the closure of Lambda Rising, see the coverage in the DC Agenda (the LGBT publication that recently rose from the ashes of the abruptly-closed Washington Blade).

P.S. For some speculation on how "lambda" came to be associated with the LGBT movement, see this website.

(Photo courtesy of Suite101).

Sneaky Typo Corrections

Eastern Market. Today I noticed that the misspelled manhole covers (which I mentioned in a recent posting) have now been replaced with new ones! I love that the replacement covers have a "fake rust" paint-job to make it look as if these are actually the original "old" ones.

I wonder if my blog had anything to do with these things being replaced?
Turns out the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee is responsible for replacing these and even sold off the old ones as collector's items (see comment section below).

Below, one of the old (misspelled) manhole covers.

Upside-Down Latin

It's the season of Advent for many folks I suppose a 15th-century Annunciation image is appropriate. Jan van Eyck adapts Luke 1:26-38 (Archangel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary she'll bear the Son of God). An inscription (left) bears Gabriel's words: AVE GRA[TIA] PLENA = "Hail, full of grace." Mary responds (right): ECCE ANCILLA D[OMI]NI = "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord."

Mary's words are upside-down. Is this so God can "see" (hear) her words?

A full picture of the image is below. National Gallery of Art, November 2009.

P.S. See this post for a different example of Latin speech in medieval art.