Friday 2 July 2010

PACK IT IN!

We are busily packing for our imminent departure for the Greek island of Kalymnos. Thanks to the good offices of our friend Sheila we have a handy Pack List --- well, to be precise, an entire pad of Pack Lists (probably enough to see out the remaining peregrinations of our lifetime!) which I thought I'd share with you...
UPDATE: April 2013 – The image  that was shown here was uploaded onto my Flickr Photostream but has been remove following a complaint from the manufacturer. You can see – and order the item – along with a lot of other cool stuff from the website of KNOCK KNOCK, who claim (with justification) that they 'put the FUN into functional'! I'm particularly inclined toward this item and, indeed, can think of many good uses for this!

Anyway, getting back to Pack List...
It includes tuxedo and dress shoes (obviously our usual attire for evenings in the taverna) but I won't be bothering with the 'Umbrella' (call me impetuous!) or - at least, not this year - with 'Nail polisher remover', 'Exercise clothing' or 'Birth control'. Nor, come to that, will I be taking anything remotely resembling an 'Itinerary': since I plan on doing as little as is physically and mentally possible!

Most usefully, however, it has reminded me that I need 'Hospitality Gifts'.

Well, that necessity has been conveniently solved with the arrival of a copy of my children's book, The Frightful Food Feud translated into Greek!

The Great Food Feud

Won't they be impressed at how my language skills have advanced?!

13 comments:

scb said...

Love the Greek children's book! (SCB pauses to wonder if she'd remember enough Greek to be able to read it. Doubts it.)

That list shows me beyond any doubt why I don't travel. I don't own the right belongings to pack!

Have a wonderful time! (Well, I know you likely can't do anything *but* have a wonderful time, going to Kalymnos.) (Will you be back before the 14th, she asked innocently?)

lapoph What you must do when your laptop becomes suddenly to warm while you are vacationing in Greece in July.

Suzanne said...

I love the pack list! As I too am preparing a departure I am making all sorts of lists, but nothing like that one, which includes some pretty odd stuff!
Anyway, have a lovely holiday and come back to us with loads of blogging stuff!
And congratulations on the language progress...

Arts and Crafts said...

Congrats for tha publishing success, I hope will be more translations!!

Brian Sibley said...

Gill e-mails to say...

But whatever you do don't forget your hair accessories!

Have a good time

Gill

Brian Sibley said...

SCB - Fortunately, we don't need quite a lot of the things on that list, but if there were a tick in that little box marked UNKNOWN in the DESTINATION window (top left) I guess you'd want to be prepared for anything!

Suzanne - On the subject of language... I hoped SCB was going to demonstrate her mastery of the Greek tongue and at least tell me what the title means in Greek. Maybe Roger or Sheila will come to my rescue before we depart...

Eudora - This is a new-ish edition (2009) but I was surprised to discover that it was first published in Greek in 2001. Turns out nobody ever thought to send me a copy until now! I don't think there's a Spanish edition yet...

Gill - Heavens! You're right, but where is my curling iron?

Sheila said...

Brian, I hope you will be giving readings of your work in Greek in the taverna in the evenings as part of the quality entertainment on offer.

We have jointly come up with a translation (which you may be told is incorrect by an English-speaking Greek) of the title of your book:

A Lovely Paradox

Have a great holiday!

Brian Sibley said...

Sheila - I really like A Lovely Paradox which perfectly sums up the story. I'll let you know the Island Greek translation anon... ;)

scb said...

I may be completely out to lunch, but I think paradox would be spelled para rather than pare (using English lettering). Pare I believe, means "take". I'm thinking...

scb said...

My language skills seem to have vanished, along with my Greek-English lexicon. Disregard my previous comment with the pare paradox in it.

Sheila and Roger are the experts. I bow to their greater knowledge.

*goes off muttering fragments of greek phrases*

SharonM said...

I see that they've included footwear that does the work for you - 'Athletic shoes'

What a book cover!

Looking forward to seeing the holiday pics (and hopefully another clip of David Astaire).

Bill Field said...

Now you've been published in the original language of the Bible! That is pretty spectacular! I hope you have a really great time in Greece!

Roger O B... said...

I'm now leaning towards "lovely surrender" or "lovely give and take" after looking at our Greek dictionaries. Beautiful is an alternative as well.
Roger O B...
TRACIZIN:The model railway is complete

Brian Sibley said...

SharonM - Yes, I need a pair of those shoes! David has, of course, brought his Fred-and-Gene Greek dancing sandels!

Bill Field - Although a children's story it is from a publisher who produces a great many bibles. I had an earlier volume in Greek - on the making of the The Lord of the Rings movies: if not exactly biblical, then at least epic!

Roger - Well the original sub-title (from an idea by David) was A Little Give and Take, so that makes sense (and the Greek Island Translation here concurs) although the story is about a kind of paradox. Obviously the original title The Frightful Food Feud was beyond translation...