A sort of extraordinary exercise in control of voice and facial expressions, in the form of a Judy Garland impression, of all things. From the ever-impressive Amy Walker:

Related to something I could have sworn I’d posted previously, but apparently haven’t: 21 accents in 2 1/2 minutes.

(via BoingBoing)

The most beautiful words.  The most endangered words.  The most policed words.

(via Bookninja, Lifehacker, and BoingBoing, respectively)

• Reading: read (most of) Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners online, for free, legitimately!  (And then read an interview with her at Meeting House Mag.)  [via Bookslut]
• Watching: watch Stalker, online.  It’s a movie by the guy who did the good Solaris.  What’s not to like? [via Warren Ellis]
• Listening: all about con men.  And by “all about”, we mean “some about”.  Which is still more interesting than none about.  Australian con men, mind you.  Though there’s presumably some universality to conning. [source misplaced]
• Anticipating: Timecrimes.
• Remembering: That word… you know… the one with… it’s like…  Whatever.  Finally, a resource for finding the word you kind of sort of remember, partially.  [Tip of My Tongue, via Lifehacker]

A book’s journey from one language into another can be perilous. The Russian title for J. D. Salinger’s classic tale of adolescence translates as “Above the Precipice in the Rye.” A clerk in a Yokohama bookshop once told John Steinbeck’s wife that yes, he had a copy of Steinbeck’s “Angry Raisins.” Has this bumpy road gotten any smoother in recent years? Let the following quiz be your guide.

…

3. James Finn Garner dedicated his best seller “Politically Correct Bedtime Stories” to his wife, Lies (pronounced “lease”), which is the Dutch equivalent of Elizabeth. In the Norwegian edition, the book’s dedication reads:

a) “This book is dedicated to Untruths, for everything”
b) “For Dissembling, my everything”
c) “For Rental Unit, my north star”
d) “Lies Flat, I can’t live without you”

(via NYT: “Transloosely Literated,” by Henry Alford [6 Jul 2008])