Nearly all the posts are bilingual.
Presque tous les articles sont bilingues.

English spoken. On parle français. (وكمان منفهم عربي، حبيبي)

Most of this blog's contents is subject to copyright. For instance, many of the latest illustrations I've made myself. I'm the cooperative type. If you intend to borrow some material, please contact me by leaving a comment. :-)
La plupart du contenu de ce blog est soumis aux droits d'auteurs. Par exemple, nombre des illustrations les plus récentes sont faites par moi. Je suis du genre coulant. Si vous comptez emprunter du contenu, SVP contactez-moi en laissant un commentaire. :-)

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Ordinary shopping

Monday, I went to see the annual book rummage sale, on the former demarcation line. By a "stroke of luck", Hassan Nasrallah was making a speech on TV, and many hot heads started firing in the air, more or less afar. (That's strange though, the Hezbollah militants are reputed to be very disciplined, normally.) I didn't find out who these Wild Wild East cowboys were officially. What I did find out, is that at one time a stray bullet fell down just some 5 metres from me, with a sound exactly like in the movies, "piuwwww, paf!". I had waited for a while after the shooting completely stopped, but those damned things fly for a long time.
Ah well, on with the story. The important thing I wanted to tell, is that I found myself a whole bunch of interesting books in the end. Some 30 kilos, at about $2 per kilo. That was a good day. I recommend to everyone those book rummage sales for some inexpensive culture.
Except that while I was picking my books, other gunshots much closer seriously disturbed my concentration. Shoot, what's the police doing?
I mean, I'm pretty sure that's definite disturbing the peace, right there, when one can't buy books without having to endure loud racket.
I should return there, and try to find that projectile. It'll make a souvenir of the May 2008 Book Sale.

Lundi, je suis allé visiter la braderie annuelle du livre, sur l'ancienne ligne de démarcation. "Coup de chance", Hassan Nasrallah faisait un discours à la télé, et de nombreux excités se sont mis à tirer en l'air plus ou moins dans le lointain. (C'est curieux, les militants du Hezbollah ont pourtant la réputation d'être très disciplinés en principe.) Je n'ai pas su officiellement qui étaient ces cow-boys du Far-Est. Ce que j'ai su, c'est qu'à un moment donné une balle perdue est tombée à quelques mètres à peine de moi (5, environ), avec un son exactement comme au cinéma, "piouwwww, paf!". J'avais attendu un moment qu'il n'y ait plus du tout de tir, mais ces saletés, ça vole longtemps.
Enfin, passons. L'important, ce que je tenais à raconter, c'est que je me suis trouvé un tas de livres intéressants en fin de compte. Dans les 30 kilos, à environ $2 le kilo. Une bonne journée. Je recommande à tout le monde les braderies de livres pour se cultiver sans payer cher.
Excepté que pendant que je choisissais mes livres, d'autres tirs beaucoup plus près m'ont sérieusement déconcentré. Mais que fait la police?
C'est vrai, quoi, je suis certain qu'il y a trouble caractérisé de l'ordre public, quand on ne peut plus acheter des livres sans supporter du vacarme.
Je devrais retourner là-bas, et essayer de retrouver le projectile. Ça me fera un souvenir de la foire au Livre de Mai 2008.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

See, that adds a little excitement. No rummage sale of any kind I've ever been to has had people firing into the air. For one thing, they'd all be arrested for carrying guns. What a boring old place I live in! Maybe I should move to Alberta.

Anonymous said...

Eff'n yer hankerin' manly gunnery ackshun, Texas is th' place t'be. Yee-haw! Fry mah hide! BTW, th' shootin' warn't exackly IN th' rummage sale. Thet kind of direck display is only fo' weddin's, d'uh! Fry mah hide! Th' shots were fum a small distance. But th' festive mood was still quite distrackin'. ah's gwine back t'morry, an' mah Maw let herse'f git cornvinced t'come along, acco'din' t' th' code o' th' heells! Wif earplugs. (She gits easily distracked by noise...)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Translayshun tahme:
If you want manly gunnery action, Texas is the place to be. Yee-haw!
BTW, the shooting wasn't exactly IN the rummage sale. That kind of direct display is only for weddings, d'uh! The shots were from a small distance. But the festive mood was still quite distracting.
I'm going back tomorrow, and my Mom let herself get convinced to come along. With earplugs. (She gets easily distracted by noise...)

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, I speak hillbilly - although this pecos paco speaks it with a very heavy Mexican accent.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Blame the people who programmed The Dialectizer. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Dat be a handy doodad. ah' always wants'ed t'be able t'rap JIBE. Eva' seen Airplane?

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Oh, you mean the movie that took the theme of the silly Airport series "to Seriousness, and beyond!"?

Thanks to his classic masterpiece, now I know how to fix a deflated auto-pilot. Might always come in handy...

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