[thechat] Donner party

Bird bird at koolfish.com
Sun May 19 09:29:00 CDT 2002


Hi Kath,
I found it interesting what you wrote about Harry Potter. It made me so
mad that they changed the title of the film. They did the same here in
Thailand, but I suppose for a second language philosopher may be a bit
difficult as the level of English here is very poor, but it annoys me so
much when they change the title of many films for an American audience.
It must make you mad too as everyone presumes the average American won't
understand. But then on the other hand that puts you way above the
average American, I would take it as a compliment. It does make you
think though, I always remember the story my friend had when he was
travelling round the states. It was amazing how many times people asked
so where are you from? England he relied, oh so what language do you
speak?

Do a lot of Americans really think that English is a completely
different language and that America invented it!

Lisa

-----Original Message-----
From: thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of Kath
Sent: 19 May 2002 20:29
To: thechat at lists.evolt.org
Subject: Re: [thechat] Donner party


>>At 11:46 AM 5/17/2002 -0700, Shirley wrote:
>Interesting to hear that at least a few people outside of California
>have heard of the Donner party. I was born and raised in California and

>went to school here, so of course I learned California history in
>addition to US history, world history, etc. But I really haven't known
>what parts of California history are also common knowledge or taught in

>other states beyond things like the Gold Rush and other "major" events
>that played a more significant role in shaping the U.S.

I'm just an information pack rat.  I seem to retain most of what I read,
so I'm not sure where I first heard about the Donner party.  It's
something I've known for a long time, so I probably picked up back in
school.

I have a habit of just assuming everyone knows everything I know, and it
always catches me by surprise when people look at me with that "what is
she talking about" look. <g>

For instance, I had read that the first Harry Potter book was called
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone," but when they released it in
America, they changed the title to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer
Stone," because they thought no one in America would know what a
Philosopher Stone was.

I was insulted!  How dare they think we are so uneducated and under
read. I told the story at work with all the righteous indignation I
could muster.  When I finished everyone was staring at me with puzzled
looks on their faces.  "What's a Philosopher Stone?" the bravest of the
group finally asked.  Duh - I found out that everyone does not know what
a Philosopher Stone is <g>.

One of my co-workers once said to me, I don't know how you can possibly
think with all that junk stuffed into your head.  I think she meant it
as an insult, but I took it as a compliment.  I'm an information junkie
as well as being a pack rat. <g>


>I also don't live far from Donner Pass where you'll also find the
>gorgeous mirror-like Donner Lake and the Donner Party's museum and area

>where everything happened. It's less than 2 hours from where I live and

>close to Lake Tahoe. It's a very beautiful area in the Sierra Nevada
>Mountains. I've stopped at the museum a few times with friends or
>relatives visiting and have found it interesting to see. Mostly,
>though, I just enjoy the breathtaking scenery and being in the
>mountains (especially since I live in the valley below them).

Sounds beautiful.  It's an area of the US, I've always wanted to visit,
but so far I've only gotten as far west as Colorado - unless you count a
brief stop over in San Francisco on the way to Hawaii.  Oh - I guess
that would be west too, since I was going there from New Jersey <g>

Kath ...
Me --> www.cyber-kat.com
work --> www.winebow.com _______________________________________________
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____
While the US does not have a monopoly on stupidity ... it does seem to
be an overly abundant natural resource.




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