If you’ve not heard the Starbucks bit about passing the cheer yet you’ve probably not been to a Starbucks lately or, for that matter, watched TV at primetime. (Not that that’s a bad thing.) The promotional concept, as it were (and it was and is a promo stunt, no matter how you drip, mix, foam or double-shot it), is that Starbuckians the world over should effectively pay it forward by sharing some cheerful joyful happy-happy goodwill with a neighbor next door or a pen pal in a galaxy far, far away, albeit through a website developed for just such a task … Pass the Cheer here.

There are also ‘real world’ stories about conga lines of cheer-passing, wherein the person in front of you pays for your venti of joe, and so on and so on down the line, similar to paying the turnpike or parking booth toll for the driver behind you, totally kumbaya. In fact (though likely with two scoops of fiction), a local rag in Marysville, Washington reported that just such a good deed set off a chain of 1,013 Starbucks customers who each paid for the next person’s drink.

The critics, and there are many (though mostly the usual suspects waiting impatiently for a reason, big or small, to skewer Seattle’s behemoth yet again) frame all of this as premeditated capitalist hokum and a shameless way to build brand awareness. But I’m going to stick to a more holistic view and say I don’t see it that way, so black and white, good or bad, for the same reason that I’m not particularly upset that so many corporations have jumped on the Green bandwagon … if the message is good, let’s get it out there. And if the company increases sales, well, OK, good for them.

Or maybe I’m just being soft here on the heels of a December 25th? I know that there are few if any companies (with the exception of maybe The Body Shop, Newman’s Own, and Ben and Jerry’s) that truly walk the social venture walk. But for now, sure, I can buy Pass the Cheer, why not. I mean, I still hold a fondness for Santa riding Norelcos through a winterwonderland and polar bears sipping Cokes. That said, three cheers to all, and to all a good night (assuming you’re not too caffeinated to sleep).

Posted by: Colin Mangham

There, I said it. And though it’s a cliche of cliches to say that it’s often best to avoid the topics of politics and religion, here’s a vote for real peace and loving thy neighbor (and a healthy dose of religious pluralism), as well as a warm invitation for anyone anywhere to elevate your greetings above the over-the-counter generic. Instead, consider wishing well upon others with the full power of whatever faith, worldview, goodwill, physics, totem, spirit, source, mythology, meaning of life, or general sense of the inherent goodness in things that brings you joy, comfort and guidance throughout the year.

So Happy Channukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, yes, Holidays, and all the rest to all of you … plus one thing I think no one can argue with, let’s have a very happy New Year….

Afrikaans – Geseende Kerfees en ‘n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Albanian РG̩zuar Krishlindjet Vitin e Ri!
Amharic – Melkam Yelidet Beaal
Arabic – I’D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida
Aramaic- Edo bri’cho o rish d’shato brich’to!
Argentine – Feliz Navidad
Armenian – Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Aromunian РCṛciunu ḥriosu shi unu anu ṇu, bunu!
Azeri – Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia – Selamat Hari Natal
Basque – Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali – Shuvo Baro Din – Shuvo Nabo Barsho
Bohemian – Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian – Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Breton – Nedeleg laouen na bloav ezh mat
Bulgarian – Vasel Koleda; Tchestita nova godina!
Catalan РBon nadal i feli̤ any nou!
Cantonese -Seng Dan Fai Lok, Sang Nian Fai Lok
Chile – Feliz Navidad
Chinese (Cantonese) – Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun
Choctaw – Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Cornish -Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsican – Bon Natale e Bon capu d’ annu
Crazanian – Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree – Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Creek – Afvcke Nettvcakorakko
Czech – Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Croatian – Sretan BozicCzech – Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish – Glædelig Jul og godt nytÃ¥r
Duri – Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch – Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
Egyptian – Colo sana wintom tiebeen
Egyptian Colo sana wintom tiebeen
English – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Eskimo – Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto – Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian – Rõõmsaid jõulupühi
Euskera – Zorionak eta Urte Berri On
Faeroese – Gledhilig jól og eydnurikt n?ggjár!
Farsi – Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish – Hyvää Joulua or Hauskaa Joulua
Flemish – Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French – Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
Frisian – Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Friulian – Bon Nadâl e Bon An Gnûf
Gaelic – Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ur!
Galician – Bon Nadal e Bo Ani Novo
German – Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Greek – Kala Christougenna Kieftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
Greenlandic – Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit
Hausa – Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian – Mele Kalikimaka (MC) Hauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)
Hebrew – Mo’adim Lesimkha. Shana Tova
Hindi – Shub Naya Baras
Hungarian -Hungarian -Merry Christmas=Kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket
happy new year = Kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket es boldog uj evet
Icelandic – Gleileg Jól og Farsaelt Komandi ár!
Indonesian -Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi – Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish -Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Italian – Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Japanese -Merry Christmas=MERII KURISUMASU …and if you like: SHINNEN AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU
J̬rriais РBouan Nou̩ et Bouanne Ann̩e
Karelian – Rastawanke Sinun, Uvven Vuvenke Sinun
Korean – Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Krio – Appi Krismes en Appi Niu Yaa
Kurdish – Seva piroz sahibe u sersala te piroz be
Ladin – Bon Nadel y Bon Ann Nuef
Lappic – Buorit Juovllat ja Buorre Oddajahki
Latin – Natale hilare et Annum Nuovo!
Latvian – Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian – Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lithuanian – Linksmu Kaledu ir laimingu Nauju metu
Livian – Riiemlizi Talspividi ja pagin vonno udaigastos
Low Saxon – Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar
Luxemburgish – Schéi Krëschtdeeg an e Schéint Néi Joer
Macedonian – Streken Bozhik
Malay – Selamat Hari Natal
Malayalam – Puthuvalsara Aashamsakal
Maltese – Nixtieklek Milied tajjeb u is-sena t-tabja!
Mandarin – Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Manx – Nollick ghennal as blein vie noaMaori -Meri Kirihimete
Marathi – Shub Naya Varsh
Maori – Meri Kirihimete
Mongolian – Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye
Monogasque – Festusu Natale e Bona ana noeva
Norwegian -God Jul og Godt Nyttår
Occitan -Polit nadal e bona annada
Oriya -Sukhamaya christmass ebang khusibhara naba barsa
Papiamento РBon Pasco y un Feliz A̱a Nobo
Papua New Guinea – Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Philippines – Maligayang Pasco at Manigong Bagong Taon
Pashto – De Christmas akhtar de bakhtawar au newai kal de mubarak sha.
Pennsylvania German – En frehlicher Grischtdaag unen hallich Nei Yaahr!
Polish – Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Portuguese – Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Punjabi – Nave sal di mubaraka
Pushto – Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Raeto-Ramance – Bella Festas da zNadal ed in Ventiravel Onn Nov
Rapa-Nui – Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian – Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche – Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Romani (GYPSY) – Bachtalo krecunu Thaj Bachtalo Nevo Bers
Romanian – Hristos s-a Nascut si Anul Nou Fericit
Russian – Pozdravlyau s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i c Novym Godom
Sami – Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan – La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardian – Felize Nadale e Bonu Cabuannu
Sardinian – Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Scots Gaelic – Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serbian – Hristos se rodi
Surinamese (SRANANTONGO) – Wan Santa Bedaki
Croatian – Sretan BozicCzech – Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Singhalese – Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Sorbian – Wjesole hody a strowe Nowe leto.
Somali – ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican.
Slovakian – Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok
Slovak – Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene – Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto
Sorbian – Wjesole hody a strowe Nowe leto
Spanish – Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Swahili – ºKrismas Njema Na Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº
Swedish – God Jul och Gott Nytt Ã…r and S Rozhdestvom Kristovym
Serbian – HRISTOS SE RODI! SRECNA NOVA GODINA!
Sudanese – Wilujeng Natal Sareng Warsa Enggal
Tagalog – Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon
Tamil – Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Thai – Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai
Tok Pisin – Meri Krismas & Hepi Nu Yia
Tongan – Kilisimasi Fiefia & Ta’u fo’ou monu ia
Trukeese – Neekirissimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Tswana – Keresemose o monate le masego a ngwaga o montsha
Turkish – Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian – Veseloho Vam Rizdva i Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku!
Urdu – Naya Saal Mubarak Ho Vanina Bon Natale a Tutti
Vepsi – Rastvoidenke i Udenke Vodenke
Vietnamese – Chuc Mung Giang Sinh – Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Welsh – Nadolig LLawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Xhosa – Siniqwenelela Ikrisimesi EmnandI Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo Namathamsanqa
Yayeya – Krisema
Yiddish – Gute Vaynakhtn un a Gut Nay Yor
Yoruba – E ku odun, e hu iye’ dun!
Zulu – Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle Nonyaka Omusha Onempumelelo

Posted by: Colin Mangham
Translations courtesy of Natalie Bewernitz and Marek Goldowski (I yanked it all from their Seasons Greetings email), thanks! I think we both hope there’s accuracy throughout, but where there’s not, please forgive and embrace that it’s the thought that counts.

Happened upon an Orange Julius in Grove City, Pennsylvania today. (Yep, hittin’ the outlet mall 11th hour, again.) So, wow, been a while since I’ve seen one of those, and whisked me back to my mall rat days decades ago mixing their sugar rush slosh with a corndog and some Jolly Ranchers before heading over to the shirt shop to pick the sparkly iron-on I wanted transferred to a Beefy-T.

Hmmm. Maybe it was Farah? Daisy Duke? ELO? Jimmie Walker grinning “Dyn-o-mite!?” Or one of those hotrods with the flames spitting out the pipes and some Busch League aphorism like, “Old Chevy’s never die, they just go faster!?” And of course it had to have three-quarter sleeves … baseball-style, concert cool.

Anyway, a nice blast from the past, that Orange Julius, and glad to see the neon still burning bright. Apparently they’ve stayed the course and managed to hold ground against the likes of Jamba Juice, Robeks and a slew of others that jumped on the smoothie train, craftily concocting protein-powdered quick fixes to fuel some suburban shoppers through the most exercise they’ll get all weekend. Hey, I ain’t knockin’ it, whatever gets you through the night, s’alright, yeah, alright. Wait, no, maybe it was Cheryl Ladd? Better check the attic, must have that stuff mothballed somewhere….

Posted by: Colin Mangham

OK, so it was a safe bet that the new Will Smith/Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller would bank big over the weekend, but with a $76.5 million take at the box it’s the biggest December opening in history. Talk about boffo. And just look at the likes that got leap-frogged: King Kong (version 3.0), The Chronicles of Narnia (not Riddick), the Fockers (meet ‘em) and all three of the Lord’s Rings.

No doubt Smith is a veritable Ali in the theatrical ring these days, especially overseas; Entertainment Weekly even called him the “No. 1 movie star in the world.” But clearly he wasn’t really alone in New York. Warners et al. pumped a lot of bucks into promoting the flick. And I must admit that I Am Stoked to say that we, too, were in on the action (view our “I Am Legend” :60 spot, currently airing nationally, here).

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Or in this case, a nut for About.com (though there are several others), which, as I expected to find in my deeper spelunking, upends the JFK donut story as overblown, even frames it as a myth — though I would hardly say this ranks up there with Nessie in Scotland, bubble-eyed E.T.’s in Area 51 or even 30-foot alligators sloshing beneath the streets of Manhattan (let’s not rule that one out just yet).

“No one laughed at or misunderstood President Kennedy’s words spoken in German. In fact, he had been provided help from translators who knew the language well. He wrote out the key phrase phonetically [see my previous blog entry with the photo of his crib sheet] and practiced it before his speech … and his words were warmly received. Yet this German myth has been perpetuated by teachers of German and other people who should know better” (About.com).

The source goes on to point out that in Berlin a jelly donut is actually called ein Pfannkuchen (literally, pancake), not ein Berliner. So really what we’re talking about here is context and perceptual biases, and if I think of all the times someone (even German) has scrambled the English language in a gallant attempt to communicate way outside of their native tongue but I still understood them, well, again, it’s all about context.

Now, even though I have recently tried my hand, er, mouth at Vietnamese and Japanese (no doubt sounding like the proverbial Village Idiot in my goodnatured attempts), still to this day I won’t even attempt to speak French in France beyond, say, casual salutations. But that’s a story for another day and a plate or deux of les trois gourmandes in front of me (Ich bin ein gluttonous Amerikaner, nein?).

Posted by: Colin Mangham

This is a bit old hat to many people, I know, but still fun to revisit now and then. In JFK’s June 26, 1963 West Berlin speech to underscore America’s support of the democratic cause in a free Germany, he famously stated: “Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’”

The debate has continued ever since that what he really should have said was “Ich bin Berliner” (I am a citizen of Berlin) not “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which, translated literally is “I am a [type of] donut.” Eddie Izzard perhaps best recounts the situation here (YouTube).

Posted by: Colin Mangham

[Below, Kennedy's handwritten crib sheet with phonetic spellings]

Thought I’d mention that yesterday’s blog title was a riff on the movie Good Bye Lenin!, a fun little German film from 2004. As the story goes, it’s 1989 in East Germany, just months before tourists (like me, in July 1990) took hammers and chisels to snub the Hammer & Sickle and crack up the graffiti-skinned Wall for souvenirs. A proudly socialist mom has a heart attack watching her son being arrested for protesting against the Party. She falls into a coma, and wakes up with a dangerously weak heart eight months later when the regime has fallen.

To keep his mother alive, Alex creates an elaborate ruse to turn her apartment into a time capsule of sorts, effectively shielding her from the shocking news of spreading capitalism that might wind her ticker down. At one point he goes so far as to videotape fake newscasts to show her as live TV.

It’s mostly hijinks-with-a-heart (and subtitles), but I found it to be pretty good fun, and the critics gave it a decent boost with 84% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Alles gut, dasvidanya….

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Hard to believe, though it’s stating the obvious, that John Lennon was gunned down 27 years ago today, and by none other than Holden Caulfield (sic).  I know I’m breaking Yoko’s rule that we should remember John on the day of his birth not his death, but it’s hard for me not to remember December 8, especially as it comes right on the heels of that other Day that Will Live in Infamy.  Anyway, some  lyrics from the Double Fantasy LP (1980):

Before you cross the street
Take my hand
Life is what happens to you
While you’re busy making other plans

Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It’s getting better and better

Posted by: Colin Mangham

The clock on the official Harry Potter website (www.harrypotter.com) is now at t-minus seven days and counting till Harry the 5th hits the endcaps at Wal-Mart just in time for frenzied Muggles to stuff their stockings.  Anyone who’s not been sleeping under a rock for the past seven years is intimately familiar (for better or worse) with Mr. Potter and his rocketing brooms, shifting staircases, nemesis who cannot be named, and the death and rebirth – physical, spiritual, allegorical – of our hero in a tradition umbilically attached to, yes, the Phoenix. All bundled up into one of the biggest marketing machines popular culture has seen this decade, and only rivaled by the likes of its elder Star Wars.

Coca-Cola jumped on the Hogwarts train early, paying $150 million way-back-when for worldwide sponsorship of “Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first Harry Potter movie. Notably, Coke approached AOL Time Warner with the unprecedented eight-figure licensing deal well in advance of the movie screening in theaters. This effectively put the film “in the black” with a profit of $30 million before the first ticket was sold. In return, Coca-Cola could co-brand with the “Harry Potter” logo in its packaging, advertising and promotions, but could not use any of the names or likenesses of the cast of characters.

According to Keegan and Green (2005), three principles were used to measure the viability of the licensing deal: 1)  relatively equal value for both parties, whereby Harry Potter gained more worldwide exposure and Coke enjoyed a nice boost in goodwill; 2) synergies in brand value, with both brands marketing on “ideals of friendship, honesty and optimism” (their words, not mine); and 3) what they refer to as ease of understanding, meaning the two brands are a relatively natural fit together — as opposed to, say, the Marlboro Man hanging out with Ariel, our Little Mermaid. For that matter, we should probably keep him away from Hermiony, too, or at least till she’s 21.

Posted by: Colin Mangham (aka Cuthbert Von Cronkshanks via the Whomping Willow name generator)

An article in the LA Times today confirmed an observation I had while in Tokyo last month: Japanese are increasingly keen on the small screen (mobile phone) and the big screen (TV) but decreasingly into the conventional PC.  “In Japan,’ the article in the Times said, “kids now grow up using mobile phones, not PCs. The future of PCs isn’t bright.”

However … within minutes of my arrival at the hotel I gave up and packed away my mobile; Japan is on the UMTS 2100mhz band and my GSM iPhone wouldn’t work (neither did my Treo). But I figured, hey, this place is off-the-hook gaga over tech, I’ll just lug my laptop and hitch onto some free wi-fi. Only, there’s very little wi-fi to be found. Turns out, yes, they’re mostly using mobile phones for web searches, and you don’t find a bunch of people hunched over laptops at a coffee shop (though you will find plenty of Starbucks).

So there I was, half a world away with no phone, no email, no web browsing, no instant messaging. Sadly, I had to resort to communicating face-to-face with real live people … what’s this world coming to?

Posted by: Colin Mangham