The Coupland Discussion Community

Everything but the squeal

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:32:02 GMT

Now there's a funny one. Ethan rants about Bug's code.

"Jesus, Bug-what are you making here - hot dogs? You've put in everything including the snout . . . everything but the squeal."

Snout? Squeal? Does he mean the *dog* in hot-dog? Please help...

Mum and Prayers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:36:02 GMT

Can't get enough today :)

1. "Mom, did you buy drugs for Dad's IBM parties?"
It's fun teasing Mom. She smiled, "Oh, you know ... I clip news clippings."

I don't quite understand her answer. Do you? No connection to drugs at all!

2. Right there and then, Todd and his parents fell down on their knees and prayed on the Strip, and I wondered if they had scraped their knees in their fall, and I wondered what it was to pray, because it was something I have never learned to do, and all I remember is falling, something I have talked about, and something I was now doing.

Do you think it means he fell down on his knees and tried to pray, too?

Seed plants

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:20:06 GMT

Some more :)

1. We were really just there to schmooze and do PR, since our distribution's taken care of, and to approach people to develop Oop! starter modules. Standard stuff. We also did "seed plants" . . . who you give your hardware to prerelease is a high status issue.

"Did seed plants"? %) I've searched the Net, but nobody seems to use this term. Is it familiar to you?

2. Oh, to speak with the lost!

Is this maybe some kind of quotation from a movie? Again, the search yields nothing, but maybe you still have some associations?

Alamo and Eggs

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:19:41 GMT

Two more small things (it's not over yet, but I'm pretty close :))

1. EA's parking lot was so odd-entirely composed of brand-new cars. I felt like I was in the lot at Alamo.

Is this somehow connected with Alamo Rent A Car? Why are the cars brand-new then?

2. Ethan asked me, "So, pal, how was life in the Egg Farm?" (referring to the chokingly full, cramped, and miserable realm of coach class)

Does an egg farm really associate with something cramped? Or there is another reason for this metaphor?

Bug Dozer

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:53:25 GMT

Dear all,

What's a Bug Dozer? Some kind of toy, I guess. Right?

Susan bought some infamous "softer, less crumbly Play-Doh" as well as an obligatory Fun Factory, a Bug Dozer as well as a container of "Gak"-a water-based elastic goo-type play object endorsed by Nickelodeon and called by all of us, "the fourth state of matter."

Reuben Kincaid

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:56:48 GMT

Dear all,

Why Reuben Kincaid goggles?

"I want to fly to the South Pole, first class, Saudi Airlines, with a sleeper seat, and Reuben Kincaid sleep goggles made of passenger pigeon breast feathers."

I wonder what this sitcom character has to do with sleep goggles :)

@ in the next millennium

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:53:22 GMT

More :)

"@" could become the "Me" or "Mac" of the next millennium.

What "Me" and "Mac"? Either I am being very dim today, or the phrase is really vague :)

P.S. I don't know if this link has been mentioned in this community... I've just stumbled upon a great fan site about Coupland. Seems pretty old, but fun all the same. I love the "Coupland Moments" there.

Watership Down

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:51:49 GMT

It's a good day today, another interesting association :)

Abe is against the lack of gung-ho-ishness in pure research. He says Interval is an intellectual Watership Down. We have to remind him that since the government has pulled out of Big Science, someone has to do pure theoretical research. He grudgingly agrees.

I know that Watership Down is a famous book about rabbits (and the name of the hill where they finally build a warren). But in this context Abe's words seem kind of negative. Do you happen to know why?

Simply weather

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:10:57 GMT

Hi everyone, here's another allusion to a sitcom :)

Outside it was Richie Cunningham weather-like from Happy Days when Ralph Malph and Potsie come over and ding the doorbell, and they're wearing their varsity coats and they say, "Hello, Mrs. C." and the weather outside is ... simply weather.

Has anyone seen this episode? What kind of weather is meant? Not-Christmasy?

Kestrel

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:00:11 GMT

I hope I'm not boring this community :)

It's not about translation as such, I was just wondering about the names the guys in Microserfs give their computers.

Three other system units (two Quadras and a Pentium) are called "Ogre," "Hobgoblin," and "Kestrel."

Geeky, eh?
Have you ever thought about which "Kestrel" is meant? I can name a few more, but they are still not obvious enough (compared with ogres or sitcom characters). What are your associations?

A Yankee teacher on a casting couch

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:29:48 GMT

Now this piece, when Dan is at Ethan's place:

He then became quiet and still, and the presence of his arm behind me was eerily warm. I stiffened my posture. The scenario felt so charged-the whole situation. I felt like a Yankee schoolteacher on a Hollywood casting couch.

The meaning is quite clear, but maybe there is some cultural allusion (say, to a film)? Or Coupland simply refers to the general situation metaphorically?

Board games

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:32:59 GMT

Dear all, do you remember Daniel's notes from the interactive multimedia seminar in Microserfs?

4 )The stakes for multimedia may actually turn out to be embarrassingly small in the short run-like Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, or Hasbro cranking out board game versions of The Partridge Family, The Banana Splits, and Zoom.

Yes, I've looked up the companies and the games (and the shows they are named after), but I simply can't put two and two together. What do these examples prove? What is meant by the stakes? Does Coupland mean that the games were not very profitable? Why these games, then?

Well, if anyone could help me to understand this... This phrase will probably be the death of me :)

Barber Shops

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:44:25 GMT

Two questions about them, in fact :)

1. Toppy's
His skin was pale like rising bread dough, and his Toppy's cut was dripping sweat

Bug and Dad went into town to get their hair cut together at one of those barber shops with a stuffed bass on the wall. Bug said it was like going to a Toppy's in Moscow.

Is is a chain of barber shops? I only found an obscure one in Vancouver (of all places). There are no Toppy's in Moscow, as far as I know :) What is Toppy's associated with? Is it cheap, expensive, high-quality, posh, outdated or...?

2. And these "barber shops with a stuffed bass on the wall" - what's that? A logo of some kind?

If anyone could throw some light on this, I'd be delighted :)

facebook saves jpod

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:28:59 GMT

Chad sent you a message.

--------------------
Subject: Save jPod!

Dear Fan of jPod,

As a member of the jPod group on facebook, I am writing to inform you that CBC has canceled the TV show. To protest this awful decision, a campaign has been launched to convince CBC to reverse the cancellation and renew jPod for a second season.

To help out, please consider doing any of the following:
-Join the “SAVE JPOD NOW” facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8864248089
-Sign the petition at http://savejpod.ca
-Contact the CBC and voice your complaint (contact info available at http://savejpod.ca)
-Spread the word

Thanks for your attention.
--------------------

To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1002817469915

___
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Geeks and nerds

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:21:03 GMT

Dear all,

a conceptual question this time :) Do you remember this episode in the book?

We got in this discussion about the word "nerd." "Geek" is now, of course, a compliment, but we're not sure about "nerd." Mom asked me, "What, exactly, is the difference between a nerd and a geek?"
I replied, "It's tougher than it seems. It's subtle. Instinctual. I think geek Implies hireability, whereas nerd doesn't necessarily mean your skills are 100 percent sellable. Geek implies wealth."
Susan said that geeks were usually losers in high school who didn't have a life, and then not having a life became a status symbol.

I've read lots of stuff about it on the Internet. But, as far as I can see, Coupland (and many others) use these words in spite of this slight *difference* interchangeably. What are your personal opinions? Would it be all the same for you?

mmmm

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:15:12 GMT

From the Guardian's Dork Talk, last Sat. Douglas Coupland.

"I remember in the 80s when cellphones first started to pop. I remember how, if you saw someone using a cellphone on a street, you immediately thought they were an asshole: gee, my phone call is so important I have to make it right here and right now! Twenty years later, we're all assholes. We're assholes at the supermarket's meat counter at 5:30pm, phoning home to ask if we need prosciutto; we're assholes driving in traffic; and we're assholes wandering down the streets. And with cellphones and handhelds, we collapse time and space and our perception of distance and intimacy."

jPod cancelled

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:13:44 GMT

Canadian Press: TORONTO - Despite heavy promotion and critical praise, the Canadian shows ... "JPod" [isn't] being renewed by CBC-TV for next season, the public broadcaster said Friday.

"We certainly recognize they were frankly terrific shows and in many cases they attracted quite a degree of critical acclaim, but unfortunately they were unable to attract an audience," said spokesman Jeff Keay. "Audience is not our only consideration, but it is an important one."

CBC Arts News: JPod, the comedy series about dysfunctional computer game programmers based on the book by Douglas Coupland, has been in trouble since February, when CBC moved it from mid-week to Friday night, when viewers are difficult to attract.

Curse CBC's typical schedule sabotaging and ever-clueless lack of the bigger picture. Younger viewers won't stay at home Friday nights, but torrent seeds had healthy numbers. That doesn't count though, of course.

Next season on CBC, another comedy on multicultural mishaps in a small town. Or, outtakes from Just For Laughs.

Little Birds

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:14:18 GMT

Dear all,
another question, if you don't mind :)

Shaw still remembers the Flintstones era of computers, with punch cards and little birds inside the machines that squawked, "It's a living."

The thing about birds-- it's just humour, right? Or some mysterious cultural allusion?

Indonesian food

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:58:34 GMT

Dear all,

Just a small thing this time:

"We had dinner in the down stairs cafeteria together (Indonesian Bamay with frozen yogurt and double espresso)."

What on earth is this Bamay dish? The Google suggests quotations from Microserfs, period. Does anyone know what this is?

new book spoiler

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:48:24 GMT

kids--
in the new york times book section 2/29/08,
there's an interview with dc & he shares *new book* spoilers--
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/stray-questions-for-douglas-coupland/

no bees? this is so vancouver. BEES are like...at the center of the x-files.
(the very center, XF film between seasons 5-6).

or else it has something to do with spelling :)

x, a

Moore and the Mariners

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:20:31 GMT

Hi everyone,
two more questions today, can you help? :)

1. She has [...] some purple and pink flowers in a bud vase, just like Mary Tyler Moore.

Has anyone seen this show? Does Mary Tyler Moore have a special bud vase there, or some special flowers?

2. Do you remember this episode when Michael tells Dan about his game about the end of history? And then Dan says, "Well, how about those Mariners!"
I have two versions: the Mariners meaning the Seattle Mariners (that he would rather watch a baseball game) or, maybe, just maybe, some obscure PC game. Where am I wrong?

Emily Hartley

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:25:37 GMT

Dear all,
Thank you very much for your help in the previous post! I hope it is fun for you too.
Here is another question for you :)

Do you remember this line?
"The kitchen is stocked with ramshackle 1970s avocado green appliances. You can almost hear the ghost of Emily Hartley yelling "Hi, Bob!" every time you open the fridge door."

I have the meaning alright. But-- Has anyone seen the series (The Bob Newhard Show)? And, generally (just curious), is it a well-known show? Is Coupland's allusion immediately clear?

And one more question (this one is more important for the translation), how exactly does she yell? :)

Translating Microserfs

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:28:14 GMT

Hi everyone,
My name is Katy, I'm a translator from Russia. Guess what - I've just started translating Microserfs for a publishing house. I am a Coupland fan, too, so I really really hope to fit in this community.
There are some things in the book that even my google-fu cannot help me with. Maybe some of you could share your ideas with me here once in a while?

Like, for example, I'm totally bewildered by this allusion to some Channel Three in the very beginning of the book:

I live in a group house with five other Microsoft employees: Todd, Susan, Bug Barbecue, Michael, and Abe.
We call ourselves "The Channel Three News Team."

Does anyone have an idea, why Channel Three? Which Channel Three? I'd be really greatful. Sorry if the question seems stupid. Different cultural backgrounds, you know :)

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:33:59 GMT

Have any of you been watching JPod? What do you think?

jpod download?

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:13:26 GMT

hey kids--
anybody have a link to JPOD DOWNLOAD
for the poor unfortunates who don't live in canada?
gracias, a/nyc