[quote="sheerheartattack"](for example, [url=http://www.bartleby.com/141/]one of the greatest books ever on the topic[/url])[/quote]

Some people will [url=http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497]disagree[/url] with you there.

Honestly, I don't even necessarily endorse the entirety of The Elements of Style, nor do I favor the arbitrary and capricious adherence to strict rules. However, I admire it because it really gets you to think about [i]style[/i]. The rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation - well, they're all just dandy. However, I think that [i]style[/i] is paramount, and I would even bend the rules of grammar to accommodate it. Poor style is often quite apparent, even if no technical transgressions of grammar are present. A mastery of the English language implies a mastery of style - not the rules of grammar, although that is surely important.

So why do I think The Elements of Style is so valuable? Well, I don't care if you disagree with every tenet therein; the fact that you've made an effort to ascertain style has immediately made you into an infinitely better writer. Once you are aware of style and what it is, only then can you truly develop as a writer. My second reading of The Elements of Style mostly entailed a review of the rules and an analysis of whether I agreed with them and why. Of course, my first reading entailed a review of "What do I need to know to get an 'A'?" Then again, that was not much of a challenge in high school. As to the linked article, it highlights one of my least favorite "rules of style": Use active voice. Ack.

So yeah, there are two ways to read the Bible: the first is to identify dogmatic principles and accept them as fact; the second is to personally evaluate those principles and their application in your life. Guess which approach is the leading cause of ignorance in the world? Well, all I can say is that a little common sense goes a long way.

sheerheartattack: IM's own little English professor.

That's Dr. sheerheartattack.

Well, not yet - but for all intents and purposes.

JD Sheer.

SHEER JUSTICE.

[img]http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9648/sheermd.png[/img]

My professional degree will be a J.D., not an M.D. - although I did consider medical school at one point or another.

I like that, though.

You already enrolled in law school, Sheer or are you starting this school year?

I will be starting my second year this fall.

Impressive. Was the first year as bad as they say it is?

I guess it's like prison rape. It's inevitable, so you get used to it.

Hey everyone, haven't been on IM in the past week.

Just want to assure you all that I'm still here and will be trying to finish the translation ASAP. (and sheer, that includes revising all my rough drafts).


Thanks for your patience.

[quote="zorahk"]Hey everyone, haven't been on IM in the past week.

Just want to assure you all that I'm still here[/quote]
lol

Note to wanna-be english professors:

These are all rough drafts. It'll look better when they are edited. For now they are translated as fast as possible.




Chapter 11

THE 3rd MOVEMENT

Yamanaka: In the third wave, I was able to make the song strange chameleon partly due to my depression. I thought “Wow, I really made something great!”

Satou: We call everything since strange chameleon the third wave. But isn’t that something you can just tell by listening?

Yamanaka: I was thinking “We made a good song”, but...

Miura: Everything before strange chameleon, like tiny boat, was completely different musically from strange chameleon, and so we were like “what will become of what we have made until now”?

Yamanaka: What we are referring to as the third wave of the pillows, is like a completely different band. A stylish pillows, which now with a new feeling came sales. It was completely sudden, we were just all doing our normal thing.

Manabe: As a songwriter, Yamanaka also received opposition from the label, but he said “I want to make songs which I think are good myself.”, and so...

Yamanaka: After I was able to make the song strange chameleon, I kinda was like “Yeah, everything until now, just forget about it”

Yamanaka: At the latter half of the second wave, my feelings ended up being blended with dishonesty, and I also had gotten hurt feelings, and so anyway it was like “there’s nothing outside of strange chameleon”. Of course there was severe opposition from the staff, but by that time I had already entered the third wave. By myself. It was one man in the third wave of the pillows. So it was the complete opposite of what we were talking about earlier. I wouldn’t listen to anyone’s opinion. I wouldn’t even budge one inch. (lit: I wouldn’t listen to one millimeter of it). “If you think there is appeal in me, I want you to help. If you don’t feel any appeal, it doesn’t matter if you cut me.”

Sasagawa: In the third wave, they returned to being a simple sounding band with a true meaning. I don’t thin I really forced them to do it, but...

Manabe: Whether you call it throwing one’s life away or being left penniless, or as long as you are no good it’s okay being no good. Hmm...What do you call it... maybe like a genuine last stand?

Miura: I heard the song strange chameleon at a live performance, and I was really moved, so much so that I was almost crying. And so we were all stopped by Sawao-kun’s “SOS”.

Satou: Yeah. Whether you call it returning to a simple way, or whether you say we became rock band-ish, that’s the third wave.

Manabe: We starting getting the feeling around then that if this was no good, then it’s over. And that suddenly gave birth to evaluating the numbers...

I am so excited for the finished version of this. We are getting insights into the band (albeit 5 years after the fact) that really go into their internal workings. I'm sure some of you who study Japanese already pieced the above together, but for someone like myself who barely knows the basics of the language itself, this is really eye-opening. Makes me wish we had translated versions of past interviews from magazines and other videos so we could learn even more about how they truly function as a band.