Happy Saint Valentine, Baba Dochia and Iulius Mall Day!

Well folks, I’d be sorely remiss if I didn’t wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day! Once again this year I’ve noticed the strange schizophrenia around this holiday. On one hand the mall is emblazoned with pink and red signs about the holiday with a ton of special products for sale, including giant overstuffed heart-shaped pillows. Just about every bar and club is having a Valentine’s … Continue reading Happy Saint Valentine, Baba Dochia and Iulius Mall Day!

Sam Cel RomanFebruary 14, 2011February 14, 20119 Comments

Complete Insider's Guide to Romania, The

Thanks!

@lifeinromania just downloaded your book and had to stop reading to give you a follow on twitter! — Ryan Crozier (@RyanCrozier) February 14, 2011 I simply love this guy; @lifeinromania http://kingofromania.com — El Lunes (@Ellunes) February 2, 2011 Continue reading Thanks!

Sam Cel RomanFebruary 14, 2011February 14, 2011Leave a comment

Muzak, Romanian language, Word of the Day

Slang Word of the Day: Aoleu!

I was listening to manele (as I am wont to do hehe) this morning while cleaning the house and heard this “word” aoleu and it made me laugh as I’ve heard my neighbors use it a million times. It’s an interjection, which means it’s something people suddenly exclaim and is never “conjugated” or modified in any way (grammatically). There are about a million variants of … Continue reading Slang Word of the Day: Aoleu!

Sam Cel RomanFebruary 13, 2011November 25, 20212 Comments

Money, probability and predicting the future

Don’t Strain Your Brain

If you’re not afraid to use your brain, I recommend watching this documentary (45 minutes) about “quants”, a slang term for quantitative analysts. Although the documentary covers many subjects, it directly addresses some of the topics I’ve been writing about lately, namely the inability to predict the future using (current) statistical modeling. I am not a mathematician, professional or otherwise. But this film interviews several … Continue reading Don’t Strain Your Brain

Sam Cel RomanFebruary 13, 2011February 13, 20113 Comments

Romanian language

Lexical Doublets

One of the interesting things about studying the Romanian language is the number of lexical doublets, meaning that quite often two similar words are used, one from a Latin root and one from a non-Latin (usually Slavic) root. English has many of these, including lord and master, venison and deer, fire and flame or sheep and ewe. If you are familiar with other Romance languages … Continue reading Lexical Doublets

Sam Cel RomanFebruary 12, 2011February 14, 201131 Comments

All Things Romania

Still more Romanian than you!