telephones – don't confuse the narrator

all mod comms

Yesterday I said I didn’t really know what to post, so made do with some old photos.

I’m not doing much better for inspiration today, but even if I still don’t have much idea about what to post, I do have a picture of a post box.

It’s a typical old pillar box – I think it’s Victorian – and the modern red brick houses in the background don’t exactly set it off very well.

Fortunately I didn’t need to go far to find another one with a better backdrop, and with a traditional red phone box alongside as well:

Continue reading “all mod comms”

dressing it up

Still with telephones – or, more accurately, still in search of phone and internet connections while travelling – I happened upon this:

About Telefónica: We open new pathways in order to continue transforming possibilities into reality, with the objective of creating values for our costumers, employees, society, shareholders, and partners globally.

In the same way that BT is ‘affectionately’ known as British Telecon, the Spanish company Telefónica is frequently called Timofónica. Perhaps this mission statement from their website explains it: instead of spending money on customer service, it’s going towards ‘creating values for [their] costumers’.

Perhaps someone should tell them that dressing it up nicely won’t help if the basic service is a pig’s ear.

cyber support

I’ve been dealing with a number of phone help lines in the last few days, with all the frustration and button clicking that involves. But much as I felt the helpdesk and support staff I talked to were neither as helpful nor as supportive as they might have been, I was still startled to see this image in a BT leaflet.

I really hadn’t expected their phone lines to be manned by cybermen.

of telephones and translation

I went to a workshop in the Cotswolds last week, where we discussed translation and poetry. Specifically, translating the poems of Lorca, as it was related to the Lorca in England competition. I do want to write more about translation, but have been caught up in discussion of my other hobby horse, the narrator in poetry.

So, while I try and find time to compose my thoughts and write some more on the subject of translations, which, “like women, when faithful are seldom beautiful and when beautiful are unlikely to be faithful” – (I’m not sure who to attribute that thought to) – here’s a picture of an English telephone box, just to brighten the page.