7||0|1656|0|yes
0|0|0|||1||when truth and fiction collide|Gryphon||22:30:17|09/13/2009|I just received my copy of %5Blink%3Awww.amazon.co.uk%2FCar-Fever-Dispatches-Behind-Wheel%2Fdp%2F0340994533%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1251859898%26sr%3D1-1%7CJames May%27s new book%5D last Thursday%2C and I%27ve been enjoying it quite a bit.  Like his previous books%2C %5Bi%5DMay on Motors%5B%2Fi%5D and %5Bi%5DNotes from the Hard Shoulder%5B%2Fi%5D%2C it%27s a compilation of his columns for the %5Bi%5DSunday Telegraph%5B%2Fi%5D%2C and one of them especially has pleased me%2C as it%27s his description of the %5Blink%3Aen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F%25C5%25A0koda_Fabia%7C%C5%A0koda Fabia%5D he rented on a holiday in Andaluc%C3%ADa.  In particular these three paragraphs%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Btt%5DEither way%2C no matter how firm you are with the salesman%2C regardless of how far you%E2%80%99ve stretched your car-buying budget%2C and even if you%E2%80%99re one of those people who believes a car is just something to take you from A to B%2C you will struggle to leave a Skoda showroom with a Fabia as boggo as the one I was driving. It looked as though it had fallen off the production line before it had reached the end.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe interior%2C for example%2C was finished in the following complimentary hues%3A grey. The carpets were some sort of underlay. The wheel trims were made from the leftover linings of Christmas biscuit family assortment tins and the tailgate from the tin itself. The steering wheel rim was hard and the facia was the single biggest injection moulding in the long history of plastic. I hated it just sitting there.%0D%0A%0D%0AThen I drove it. Hated it%2C because it was%2C of course%2C a diesel. Except that at the first refill%2C when the diesel nozzle wouldn%E2%80%99t fit in the filler neck and the symbol of a green pump mocked me from the inside of the flap%2C I had to acknowledge that it wasn%E2%80%99t. This only increased my rage. The steering was too light%2C the suspension was too bouncy%2C and all the stations on the radio were in Spanish%2C although this wasn%E2%80%99t necessarily Skoda%E2%80%99s fault.%5B%2Ftt%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AI read that and couldn%27t help smiling%2C because the automatic thought was%3A %5Bi%5DMy God%2C he%27s rented a %5Blink%3Awww.eyrie-productions.com%2FWL%2Fbattle05.txt%7CBelv%5D.%5B%2Fi%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Btt%5D%5Bpre%5D%09Transbelvia is a nice enough place%2C and the airport has rental%0D%0Acounters enough%2C that we could have gotten a car with all mod cons%2C an%0D%0AOpel or maybe a British Ford.  I insist%2C though%2C that when in%0D%0ATransbelvia%2C the truly discriminating tourist is obligated to drive%0D%0Athe national automobile%2C the one and only Belv.  The Belv is the%0D%0Aquintessential East European car%2C a tiny tin box with a two-stroke%0D%0Amotor that sounds like a mimeograph machine on Self-Destruct and%0D%0Asmells like a burning blackwall tire.  This particular one had a%0D%0Afour-speed manual gearbox that liked to crunch and jitter on shifts%2C%0D%0Abrakes operated by cables%2C and no gauges that worked.  It was%0D%0Aimpossible to tell how old it was%2C since Belvs have been manufactured%0D%0Ain precisely the same way since 1954.%0D%0A%09We shuddered and rattled down the airport access road and into%0D%0Athe city of Zbgnvzsk proper in grand style%2C with the windows rolled%0D%0Adown as far as they could be forced and the canvas sardine-tin cover%0D%0Aover the car%27s gaping roof rolled back.  The radio blared out the%0D%0Aafternoon news in Transbelvische and I couldn%27t figure out how to turn%0D%0Ait down%2C let alone off.  %0D%0A%09  In desperation%2C I punched the radio.  It didn%27t turn down or%0D%0Aoff%2C but switched from the news to a station that was playing what%0D%0Asounded like Bulgarian country-western music.  We were better off with%0D%0Athe news.  I felt a sudden desire to drive this car up into the back%0D%0Aof the Herc and take it home with me.  What was more%2C I knew if I%0D%0Aslipped the rental agent a pair of blue jeans on my way out%2C I could.%5B%2Fpre%5D%5B%2Ftt%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Admin%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|remande||15:51:13|09/15/2009|%0D%0A%3E We shuddered and rattled down the airport access road and into %0D%0A%3Ethe city of Zbgnvzsk proper in grand style%2C with the windows rolled %0D%0A%3Edown as far as they could be forced and the canvas sardine-tin cover %0D%0A%3Eover the car%27s gaping roof rolled back.%0D%0A%0D%0ASomething I%27ve been meaning to ask about this story%3A how do you pronounce %22Zbgnvzsk%22%3F  I can only think of two ways.%0D%0A%0D%0A1%3A Sneeze into your elbow%0D%0A%0D%0A2%3A PAT-eyed-lyke-too-bye-aah-VOW-el%0D%0A%0D%0A--rR%0D%0A
2|2|1|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|Peter Eng||16:26:15|09/15/2009|%3E%0D%0A%3ESomething I%27ve been meaning to ask about this story%3A how do you %0D%0A%3Epronounce %22Zbgnvzsk%22%3F   %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%0D%0AMy theory is that it isn%27t meant to be pronounceable by anybody.  Personally%2C I assume the syllables are Z-bg-nv-zsk%2C but my friends will happily tell you of my preternatural ability to mangle pronunciations.%0D%0A%0D%0APeter Eng%0D%0A--%0D%0ADalek and the two Snowths%3A%0D%0AEXTERMINATE%21%0D%0Adoot doo de doo doot.%0D%0AEXTERMINATE%21%0D%0Adoot doo deet doot.%0D%0AEXTERMINATE%21%0D%0Adoot doo de doo doot%2C de doo doot%2C de do-do do de doot doot doo doot doot.
3|2|1|||||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|Polychrome||17:28:34|09/15/2009|%3ESomething I%27ve been meaning to ask about this story%3A how do you %0D%0A%3Epronounce %22Zbgnvzsk%22%3F%0D%0A%0D%0A%2FBOB%2F%0D%0A%0D%0APolychrome%0D%0A
5|3|3|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|BobSchroeck||12:22:42|09/16/2009|%3E%2FBOB%2F %0D%0A%0D%0AHuh%3F  Somebody call%3F%0D%0A%0D%0A-- Bob%0D%0A-------------------%0D%0AFive years ago I was a four-stone apology. Today I am two separate gorillas.
4|2|1|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|Gryphon||18:48:12|09/15/2009|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Sep-15-09 AT 06:49 PM (EDT)]%3ESomething I%27ve been meaning to ask about this story%3A how do you %0D%0A%3Epronounce %22Zbgnvzsk%22%3F%0D%0A%0D%0AThose who do not speak Belvische or one of the related dialects of the region tend to say it %5Bi%5Dza-BIG-na-visk%5B%2Fi%5D%2C but the local render it closer to %5Bi%5DCHEH-beg NEH-veshk%5B%2Fi%5D%2C almost as if it were two words %28very occasionally one will see this Romanized %22Zebeg Nevesk%22%29%2C and with a unique local way of saying the first phoneme and last syllable that nobody born there can ever really quite master.  Rendered in written Belvische %28which is visually sort of a cross between Cyrillic and Arabic%29%2C it does actually have vowels in it%2C but no Western font contains the correct diacriticals for rendering it electronically%3B %22Zbgnvzsk%22 is as close as the Roman alphabet can get.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Admin%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
6|3|4|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|BobSchroeck||12:24:00|09/16/2009|%3Ewith a unique local way of saying the first phoneme and last syllable %0D%0A%3Ethat nobody born there can ever really quite master.  %0D%0A%0D%0ASo... only outsiders can properly pronounce it%3F  Now that%27s an odd language.  %3Cgrin%3E%0D%0A%0D%0A%28Seriously%2C a missing %22not%22 in that sentence%2C I do think.%29%0D%0A%0D%0A-- Bob%0D%0A-------------------%0D%0AFive years ago I was a four-stone apology. Today I am two separate gorillas.
7|4|6|||1||RE%3A when truth and fiction collide|Gryphon||17:23:41|09/16/2009|%3E%3Ewith a unique local way of saying the first phoneme and last syllable %0D%0A%3E%3Ethat nobody born there can ever really quite master.  %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3ESo... only outsiders can properly pronounce it%3F  Now that%27s an odd %0D%0A%3Elanguage.  %3Cgrin%3E %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3E%28Seriously%2C a missing %22not%22 in that sentence%2C I do think.%29 %0D%0A%0D%0AYes%2C I didn%27t do that right.  You know what I meant.%0D%0A%0D%0AActually%2C upon further review%2C %22nobody not born there%22 is a double negative%2C so it really should%27ve been %22nobody born elsewhere%22.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Admin%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D