🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦 @ ZDL @ttrpg.network

My Dearest Sinophobes:

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It's also a paean to "sisterhood" (not literal) which adds to the appeal for me.

Here's a translation, best I can manage, of the lyrics (paired with the original). Since this is a conversation I've made it like a play's script. Where noted, Isabelle Huang sometimes sings in Shanghaiese; I've tried to change the register of the translation at those points but I'm not sure if that comes across. Difficult concepts or important symbols I've footnoted.

Yes. I'm more than a little obsessive. Sue me!

娄 (Lou)

檀香薰衣草
抓一把味道
香囊绣年少
辰砂 风随舞飘
煮酒熬尘嚣
相思 一分一秒
酒不醉今宵
换盏破晓
侬

Sandalwood¹ and lavender²,
I gather a handful of their fragrance.
Sachets embroidered with memories of youth,
Cinnabar³, drifting as the wind dances.
Brewing wine to simmer away the world’s noise,
Longing, measured out in every moment.
Tonight, the wine cannot intoxicate me;
We change cups until dawn breaks.
You—

黄 (Huang)

字字珠玑 绕乱内心涟漪
侬
看准时机 戳破他的叹息

Every word is a gem, stirring ripples in my heart.
You—
Seizing the moment, you pierce through his sighs.

娄 (Lou)

谁的胡琴 拔断日月光阴
我的手心 还有你扣紧
金钗杏靥 有你在身边
胭脂红颜

Whose huqin⁴ has plucked apart the days and nights?
My palm still holds yours, tightly clasped.
With golden hairpins⁵ and dimpled cheeks, you’re by my side—
Rouge upon a youthful face.

黄 (Huang) — 上海话 (Shanghainese)

侬了组撒啦
吾了窝里香呀
了窝里相组撒拉
了窝里香发花痴呀
个么册来白相伐啦
阿拉切切夜饭嘎嘎三胡
侬朋友 伐嘎啦
还是要吾做的电灯泡啦

You are ever so delightful;
I am the fragrance of home.
You, the joy within my hearth;
The scent of home makes one quite lovesick.
Shall we not while away the hours in gentle amusement?
Let us, perchance, share supper and pass the evening in cheerful discourse.
Are you, then, my friend?
Or am I, after all, but the third wheel⁶ in your story?

黄 (Huang)

弄堂的巷子口
缝一件烟罗裙
穿一缕如意云
啊
囡囡啊 一生只爱一人
囡囡啊 一世只为沸腾
沐浴四季的怨恨
与你陪衬
灵

At the mouth of the alley,
I sew a gauzy dress,
Slip on a wisp of auspicious cloud⁷.
Ah—
Girl, in this life I love only one,
Girl, in this world I live only for passion.
Bathed in the grievances of all four seasons,
I stand beside you,
Spirit—

娄 (Lou)

字字珠玑 绕乱内心涟漪
灵
看准时机 戳破他的叹息

Every word is a gem, stirring ripples in my heart.
Spirit—
Seizing the moment, you pierce through his sighs.

黄 (Huang)

谁的胡琴 拔断日月光阴
我的手心 还有你扣紧
金钗杏靥 有你在身边
胭脂红颜

Whose huqin has plucked apart the days and nights?
My palm still holds yours, tightly clasped.
With golden hairpins and dimpled cheeks, you’re by my side—
Rouge upon a youthful face.

黄 (Huang) — 上海话 (Shanghainese)

侬了组撒啦
吾了窝里香呀
了窝里相组撒拉
了窝里香发花痴呀
个么册来白相伐啦
阿拉切切夜饭嘎嘎三胡
侬朋友 伐嘎啦
还是要吾做的电灯泡啦

You are ever so delightful;
I am the fragrance of home.
You, the joy within my hearth;
The scent of home makes one quite lovesick.
Shall we not while away the hours in gentle amusement?
Let us, perchance, share supper and pass the evening in cheerful discourse.
Are you, then, my friend?
Or am I, after all, but the third wheel in your story?

娄 (Lou)

一生只爱一人
有谁为我在沸腾
金兰 易结不易散 推开世俗的城门

In this life, I love only one.
Who else burns with passion for me?
Sisterhood⁸ is easily formed, yet not easily broken—let us push open the gates of the mundane world.

黄 (Huang)

未来有多远
随你一路去荣烟
把酒欢歌啊 这人间

How far does the future stretch?
With you, I’ll go wherever the road leads.
Let us raise a glass and sing with joy—ah, this world of ours!

黄 (Huang) — 上海话 (Shanghainese)

侬了组撒啦
吾了窝里香呀
了窝里相组撒拉
了窝里香发花痴呀
个么册来白相伐啦
阿拉切切夜饭嘎嘎三胡
侬朋友 伐嘎啦
还是要吾做的电灯泡啦
侬了组撒啦
侬了组撒啦
侬了组撒啦

You are ever so delightful;
I am the fragrance of home.
You, the joy within my hearth;
The scent of home makes one quite lovesick.
Shall we not while away the hours in gentle amusement?
Let us, perchance, share supper and pass the evening in cheerful discourse.
Are you, then, my friend?
Or am I, after all, but the third wheel in your story?
You are ever so delightful,
You are ever so delightful,
You are ever so delightful.

Footnotes

1. Sandalwood (檀香): In Chinese culture, sandalwood is not just a fragrance but a symbol of purity, spirituality, and tranquility. It is widely used in incense, religious rituals, and literature to evoke a sense of calm, sacredness, and connection to the divine[1][2][3][4][6][7][8].
2. Lavender (薰衣草): While globally known for its calming scent, in Chinese and Buddhist symbolism, lavender also represents purity, protection, and a bridge between the earthly and the spiritual[5].
3. Cinnabar (辰砂): A bright red mineral (mercury sulfide) historically used in Chinese art, alchemy, and medicine. It symbolizes vitality, protection, and sometimes immortality, but also carries connotations of mystery and the esoteric.
4. Huqin (胡琴): A traditional Chinese bowed string instrument, similar to a fiddle or violin, often used in Chinese opera and folk music. The sound of the huqin is associated with deep emotion and nostalgia.
5. Golden hairpins (金钗): Traditional Chinese hair ornaments, often worn by women as symbols of beauty, femininity, and sometimes status or marital affection.
6. Third wheel (电灯泡): In Chinese slang, “being a light bulb” means being the awkward extra person when two people are together romantically—what English speakers call a “third wheel.”
7. Auspicious cloud (如意云): Cloud motifs in Chinese art symbolize good fortune, harmony, and the celestial. Wearing “a wisp of auspicious cloud” is poetic for donning luck and grace.
8. Sisterhood (金兰): “Jinlan” (golden orchid) refers to a sworn sisterhood, a bond of deep, chosen friendship that is considered as strong as family.

OK, this one is going to be tough to explain. I'll start with pictures:

These are two variants of 陈年八仙果 (chén nián bā xiān guǒ or "Aged Eight Immortals Fruit"). Basically you hollow out a pomelo, fill it with a mixture of plum pulp, tangerine peel, assorted spices (including licorice), and salt. Then you dry it until it's dense. You cut it up into those wedges you see above and ... well ... you eat it.

Or you make tea with it.

Or you chop it up finely and use it to flavour meat dishes.

But mostly you just eat it as a snack.

...

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep.

Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.

"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

Watson replied, "I see millions of stars."

"What does that tell you?"

Watson pondered for a minute.

"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets." "Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo." "Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three." "Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant." "Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow." "What does it tell you, Holmes?"

Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: "Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent!"

Only one, here, but stored in unexpected locations.

It's been tried here. Didn't work well. 😉

Shopping. Definitely shopping. Flower teas. Flowers in general.

The big one for me is to raise men properly.

Just as a side note, but there is a point to it, when I pass by my compound's little park, there's always a bunch of children (12 and under) playing. And I always laugh at how the girls are some of the most vicious when it comes to competitive activities with the boys. Whether it's ball games or just roughhousing the girls are in the thick of things, swinging fists, throwing stuff, even kicking with gay abandon when things get rough.

But a handful of years later this is not the case. Something between the ages of 12 and 18 (which is where I got them when I was teaching) transformed them utterly into these meek, non-physical, non-confrontational people.

The way almost all societies are right now, women are raised to serve others (husbands, yes, but also society) and boys are barely raised at all, allowed instead to effectively run wild. ("Boys will be boys.") This means that we're raised to be wives, but they aren't raised to be husbands. (For the situation, natch, where we have "traditional" nuclear pairing.)

We need to change the culture. We need to raise boys to be functional elements of society. We need to instill in them the expectation that they too serve: their wives and society at large. All the other solutions to the violence against women situation are temporary stopgaps (though obviously still desirable): easily accessed shelters, better economic support, reproductive rights, easily accessed (and attentive) mental health support, etc. But for something that is effective in the long term we need a change at the societal level, and it needs to begin with the men.

Actually that's not an angle I'd suspected. Nice.

Yes, I noticed it. It's really repulsive.

It does, doesn't it?

It won't stop them from being really annoying sex pests though. 😩

5:30 on workdays, anywhere between 7:30 to 11:00 on weekends.

Ooh! That sounds like fun! Make a bunch of bingo cards and see how quickly we can fill them all!

Instead of that free one in the middle we'll put #NotAllMen because that's guaranteed to be referenced every time.

Ugh. Another topic that brings the rats out of the corners. This seems to be almost as bad as #ManOrBear.

The fact that you don't know the answer to that question yourself is pretty much clinching evidence that it's AI code.

I'm pretty sure that entire message was provided by degenerative "AI". It just reeks of the format and language of an LLM chat bot.

Could people who have actual technical skills check something for me? Does this code even work?

"Boom, baby, BOOM! I'm the Evil Midnight ..."

Never mind.

For those hitting Wired's paywall: https://archive.is/fMTwf

Looking at the URL, yes, there's a very simple pattern to Kaptain Ketamine's broken promises: if he opens his mouth he's lying.