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While working on my site
I was struck with a sudden thought; I do tend to "gabber on" a bit, and perhaps
at times the people reading what I've written wouldn't understand what on earth
I'm talking about. So, this page is to explain about some things I may talk about
that aren't immediately obvious. Also, I thought I'd talk about a few things
which are often misunderstood.
You'll find links to this page throughout the site - click these to be taken directly to
an entry. Otherwise, use the index to browse. I'll add to this page when I start talking
about more odd topics, but if you have any suggestions or are confused about something
I've talked about please contact me,
and I'll add new entries.
AB -
CD -
EF -
GH -
IJ -
KL - MN - OP -
QR -
ST -
UVW -
XYZ
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Though often placed together, anime and manga are inherently different from one another
(though related). Anime (short for animation) is the name given predominantly in the western
world to animated television shows produced in Japan. Anime is not, according to popular
belief, restricted to children's shows such as Pokemon or animated pornographic
material (see hentai), but is as all-inclusive
and wide-ranging as live-action cinema itself, and aimed at all ages.
Manga (both singular and plural in usage) means "graphic novel" in Japanese, and is
used to describe all comic books originating from Japan. Manga almost always consist of monochrome,
lined and shaded drawings that are arranged into panels in a similar way to western comic books.
Different manga series are released together in monthly or weekly manga anthologies, however small
series-specific paperback books known as tankoubon are also available.
In the west, manga predominantly tends to be translated and printed in the paperback book
format. Again, manga is not the child's fare that western comic books represent; the range
of topics, subjects and targeted reader groups are broad, and manga is read by people of
all ages and backgrounds in Asia (and to a lesser extent in the west).
Anime and manga are often confused with each other as the artistic styles used in both tend
to be very similar. Many anime series have their origin in particularly popular manga series,
and follow their storylines. However, their differences are very distinct - one is animated
film and the other, comic book art.
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The word britcom is a further development from 'sitcom' which means
situation comedy. The 'brit' part means that the situation comedy in question is
British, and British comedies are the best! There are a lot of different shows, most of
which have spanned several series. Only Fools and Horses is often quoted as the
nation's favourite, but I love The Vicar of Dibley, Red Dwarf,
My Hero and Father Ted.
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British Telecom (more commonly known as BT), is the most prominent phone line
provider in the United Kingdom (where I'm from). I say 'most prominent' as it
used to be the only provider in the UK, but the array of phone companies in the
UK has recently increased. However, BT still remains the main provider. BT is
also our broadband provider.
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Ceilidh literally means 'dance' in Gaelic, and that's exactly what one is; a
type of group folk dance rather like a barn dance, but slightly different. The
dances originate from all parts of Britain, as well as Ireland (of course).
My part of England has quite a tradition for ceilidhs, and they're a common sight
at parties and weddings all through the year. I personally love going to ceilidhs
(one of my most favourite pastimes, actually) as they're easy to join in and
don't require much talent for dancing (although it helps). Usually (with the
help of alcohol, or with the strange mood that some residents of the North-East
get into at such events without alcohol), people make mistakes, fall over and do
stupid things and the people around them laugh themselves sick. Therein lies the
best thing about ceilidhs; but they're a lot of fun when you get it right, also.
My favourite dance is one called
Strip the Willow,
one that looks amazing when done well.
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A cell group is a regular prayer and Bible study group, which the majority of
Christian churches have as part of their weekly or monthly social activities.
Depending on the church, the groups can range from two or three members to a
group of 20; but they're usually no larger than that, as the idea is to have a
more informal and close-knit fellowship than you would get in church. For this
reason, most churches have more than one group, meeting at a church or in
someone's home. The cell group I attend is particularly for students (although,
non-students also come).
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A charver (also known as chav, charva, townie and other regional variations)
is literally an 'unruly youth'. Charvers are usually responsible for petty crimes
and lesser assault offences in British inner city areas. They are characterised by
their dress - sports (usually white) and fake Burberry tartan branded clothing, and
an abundance of heavy fake gold jewellery (also known as 'bling').
Their lifestyle involves excessive drinking of alcohol, teenage pregnancy, racist
and yobbish behaviour. Charvers are usually teenagers, but adults and even younger
children have been found living this lifestyle. Charvers are also usually white.
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Christingle is a Christian service held shortly before Christmas, especially for
children. It centres around an object of the same name, the Christingle, which is
symbolic of Christ's love for mankind. A Christingle has several parts;
The orange -
An orange is used to represent the world.
The red ribbon -
A red ribbon is wrapped around the orange to represent Christ's blood.
Four cocktail sticks with sweets on each one -
These are stuck into the sides of the orange to represent the fruits of the earth and
the four seasons.
A white candle -
A lit candle is stuck into the top of the orange to represent Christ, the light of the
world.
At my home church, the service involves laying donations at the Christmas crib (given to
UK charity The Children's Society). Half-way through the service, everyone is given a lit
Christingle and stands around the edge of the church. The church lights are put out and
everyone sings the Christmas carol Away in a Manger.
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Grace Darling is one of England's most celebrated heroines. She was the daughter of
a lighthouse keeper, and born in the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. In 1838
at the age of 22, she helped save the lives of the crew of the Forfarshire,
a ship that had run aground in stormy seas a few hundred yards from the lighthouse.
She died in 1842 of tuberculosis, and a memorial was erected in her honour in the
nearby churchyard of St. Aidan's. A museum also dedicated to her memory is just across
the road from the church.
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A fanfic (or fan fiction) is an original story which incorporates the characters
of one or more book, game, television show or film. As such, they are nearly always
written by fans of these particular franchises, and feature the characters in places,
situations or relationships in which they have never been seen officially. For
example, a popular genre of fanfic at the moment is the characters from Harry
Potter set after the end of the book.
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The Globe Café is an informal meeting place for international students, held in
one of my city's church halls. I was dragged along to a meeting by my friend Nam
Nam one night in early 2007 and have been attending ever since.
Also, the cell group I go
to is held in the same place directly before the café (which is handy).
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JapaNE is an Anglo-Japanese society based in Newcastle. Together with my friend
Grace, I used to go to the meetings, but as it's a bit of a hassle getting there
we stopped going a while back.
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The Lake District (sometimes called 'The Lakes') is a mountainous region in Cumbria,
north-west England, famed for its beauty and of course, its lakes. There are roughly
16 lakes in the Lake District (not including numerous smaller tarns, or ponds), the
largest and most popular of which is Windermere, in the south. My family go
there on our holidays every year, usually to the area surrounding the town of
Keswick in the north. The poet Wordsworth made the Lake District popular with
his poetry, and today the area is very popular with hikers and fell walkers, and
to a lesser degree, water sports enthusiasts.
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RPG stands for 'Role Playing Game'. It is sometimes used to refer to
certain types of video game, but also text games played online in forums and groups.
Each RPG begins with a setting and a beginning in the first post of a thread (usually
fictional, for example, a party of Elves is setting out from Rivendell to visit Lothlorien).
Each person who takes part assumes the identity of a fictional character (e.g. an Elf) and
describes arriving at the scene, getting ready etc. and setting out on the journey as one
of the group. It doesn't have to be a journey, it can be all sorts of story. Basically, an
RPG is like a fanfic written by many different
people.
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Second Life is an online 3D interactive virtual reality program which
resembles console video games such as Final Fantasy, but is almost
entirely built and influenced by the people who use it. 'In world', you use
a highly-customisable avatar to explore the thousands of places to visit, build
and interact with the world and other users.
Most places in Second Life are works of the imagination, but there are many
places (such as Dublin and Shakespeare's Globe, London) which have been created
and built
in Second Life by enthusiasts. Live music (by radio and film streaming) is also
very popular.
Second Life's website is at
www.secondlife.com.
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Shounen and Shoujo are (romanized) Japanese names given to two different genres of
anime and manga. Simply
put, shounen anime and manga are those series directed predominantly at a male audience,
and shoujo anime and manga are directed at a female audience. There are many things
about a series which can indicate it as shounen or shoujo; for example, shounen series
generally tend to involve fighting, technology, sports and (in more mature titles) beautiful
women, and shoujo series involve magic, romance, the arts and beautiful men. However, there
are many series which have elements of both shounen and shoujo in them, which blur the lines
between the genres.
Popular shounen anime/manga include: Love Hina, Naruto, Dragonball,
Gundam Wing.
Popular shoujo anime/manga include: Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon,
Fushigi Yūgi, Pretear.
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Sushi is a type of Japanese food. Although sushi (or -zushi in
compounded names) in Japanese usually refers to a specific type of sticky rice used
in cooking, in English it refers to most dishes which utilize this ingredient. I must
emphasize at this point - SUSHI IS NOT RAW FISH - but raw fish is sometimes used
as a topping for sushi, along with vegetables, egg, cooked fish and meat. A type of
edible seaweed, nori, is also commonly used and comes in flat sheets.
The most common types of sushi are :-
Nigirizushi -
A hand-formed block of sushi rice with a thin slice of topping and wrapped with
a thin strip of nori.
Makizushi -
Rolled sushi, formed into a cylinder using a makisu (sushi mat) and
sliced into small pieces. Arguably the most famous type.
Oshizushi -
Pressed sushi, using a mould to shape the sushi and topping into a square shape,
then cut into smaller pieces.
Chirashi -
Scattered sushi, usually consisting of a bowl of sushi rice mixed with topping
ingredients.
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Uno is a popular card game using a special deck of cards. Requiring 3 or more
players, each player is given a set number of cards and must discard them all to win
the game. This can be done in several ways.
Play begins with a "normal" colour/number (red, yellow, blue or green; 0-9)
being placed on the table, and the rest of the cards placed face down beside it in a
pile. Each player places one card at a time upon the card in the centre of the table.
Their card must match the card before theirs by either the same colour or number.
There are several other cards which can either be subject to the colour rules or be
used at any time, and which directly affect the next player. Special cards that can
only be used when their particular colour is in play include miss a go (the next
player misses a go), reverse (the direction of play is reversed around the circle of
players) and +2 (which makes the next player pick up 2 cards from the face-down
pile, unless they have a +2 in which case the next player after them must pick
up 4 cards).
There are also two other special cards which can be used at any time, and thus are
black. One is used to change the colour in play, and the other changes the colour in
play and forces the next player to pick up 4 cards from the face-down pile. If the
player does not have a colour card which matches the card on the table or a special card,
they must pick up a card from the face-down pile.
When a player is left with only one card, they must announce this to the other
players by calling uno (pronounced as the Italian for 'one'). Tactics often involve
the changing of the colour in play to a favourable colour and forcing players with few
cards to pick up from the face-down pile.
There are many variations to this game with different rules (the ones I've
described aren't necessarily the official ones). For example, myself and my
friends play a complicated version which involves 3-card penalties for mistakes
or failing to shout uno,
and "cutting" which allows a player to interrupt play if they have the exact
same card currently on the table. A more popular variation is the ability to place more
than one card at a time upon the table, if they match either perfectly or in number.
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YPF (Young People's Fellowship) is the youth group I used to go to at my old church, Bethesda.
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