In connection with the G8 conference at Heiligendamm, the media have turned to the ever-fascinating topic of What is an interpreter?

The Süddeutsche Zeitung magazin today has a long article on the topic, fortunately available online.

And the German political TV channel Phoenix repeats a 30-minute film on interpreters called Die Flüsterer, both tonight at 21.45 and tomorrow at 18.45. This is well worth watching.

Both the film and the article comment on how odd it is that interpreters (at conferences like this) are treated as if they did not have an existence of their own.

Dolmetscher werden als Augenpaar im Raum nicht mitgerechnet und als reine Durchgangsstation der Wörter angesehen. »Wir sind das Schmieröl, das den Motor am Laufen hält«, sagte ein EU-Dolmetscher in einem Zeitungsinterview einmal; von dem langjährigen Russisch-Dolmetscher der US-Regierung Bill Hopkins stammt die Aussage: »Ich bin eine Leitung, sonst nichts.« Diese technischen Vergleiche haben ihren Grund. Denn Dolmetscher nehmen in den Gesprächen, die sie übersetzen, nicht die Position eines beteiligten Subjekts ein, sondern eher die eines reibungslos funktionierenden Mediums.

LATER NOTE: On the Übersetzerportal, Richard Schneider points out that there is a longer version available on DVD. In fact, I think this longer version was on TV two years ago – it included a trip to Africa.

You’re not really supposed to record or photograph in concert halls, but for seven years Christopher DeLaurenti recorded the sounds of people coughing and musicians warming up before and during concerts. He used a MiniDisc recorder and went forward to be closer to the orchestra warming up. You can buy the CD, or listen to three excerpts at the New York Times.

For Mr. DeLaurenti, 39, a Seattle-based “sound artist” and composer, the noises were art. Now, out of more than 50 hours of recording, he has compiled a CD of greatest hits. It is called “Favorite Intermissions: Music Before and Between Beethoven, Stravinsky, Holst,” the latest entry in humankind’s search for art in unexpected nooks.

It recalls my earlier entry:

The recording falls firmly in the conceptual tradition championed by John Cage, who turned randomness into a compositional tool. Witness his “Imaginary Landscape No. 4” for 12 radios, or “4’33,” ” in which a pianist sits silently at the keyboard for 4 minutes 33 seconds and ambient sounds become the performance.

(Via Boing Boing)

The Daily Mail reports that a Court of Appeal judge charged with flashing on a train is being allowed to continue work:

Lord Justice Richards is reviewing failed immigration and asylum applications as he awaits trial over claims he twice exposed himself to a woman on a train.

Quite right too, particularly in view of his salary. He may very well not be guilty, anyway.

He stressed his work was purely a ‘desk-top exercise’.

As long as he’s sitting down, then.
The article has a good picture of a full-bottomed wig (Allongeperücke). These are only worn on ceremonial occasions, not in normal court proceedings. ‘Lord Justice’ is the title of a judge in the Court of Appeal and doesn’t imply he’s a lord, by the way.

(Via Criminal Solicitor Dot Net)

The monthly collection of articles at LLRX.com includes an updated version of European Union Law: An Integrated Guide to Electronic and Print Research, by Marylin J. Raisch. This is a good introduction, starting from basics. I think the last time they published it, the EU changed all its electronic addresses on the same day!

Another new (to me) language weblog is by Peter Harvey in Barcelona. Most of his site is related to his Guide to English Language Usage, but the blog (on Typepad) is wider-ranging.

The BBC says:
Serbia jails ‘filmed executors’
Serbia’s war crimes court has convicted four Serb paramilitaries who were apparently filmed as they shot dead six captured young Bosnian Muslims.
Speaking as an executor myself, I rather hope that they mean ‘executioners’.

(Thanks to Dances with Goats)

According to The Register, a British coach driver set fire to Germans’ towels on the Italian Riviera in order to make sun loungers available to British holidaymakers:

Glyn Bowden, 55, was driver for 55 South Wales tourists at at Viana Marina near San Remo. He yesterday recounted how the Germans “put their towels on the best sunbeds on the private beach and by a nearby pool”, much to the chagrin of the British party, The Daily Mail reports.

The situation escalated and Bowden set fire to the towels. He was arrested and about to be charged for criminal damage, but he was released after two hours at the request of the hotel, which owned the towels.

Here’s the original Daily Mail report. I tend to agree with the first three comments there: the Germans get up very early, and that’s why they are seen to do this – something other nations do too. And there’s nothing to stop you removing a towel and releasing the sun bed. (See earlier entry on Ralf Höcker’s book)

But the tabloid papers love to fan the flames of this one.

On the other hand, when I go to the local sauna, there is a women’s room with about 30 loungers. The last time I went, six people were lying there and all the other loungers had towels on them. Of course, they didn’t know I am British.

(Thanks to Trevor)