VOL.51

Early X-it, XFL folds after disappointing first season - New York

Stuart Townsend: Out and 'About' - Ireland, N.Y.

Bahamas' Out Islands ideal for quiet getaways - Nassau(Bahama) + Florida

Malaysia to clean up streets, Singapore-style - Kuala Lumpur

Kate Beckinsale shows star power in 'Pearl Harbor' - Hawaii

BA prepares to reinstate Concorde-London

Nepal's 48-hour king dies after royal massacre-Katmandu

Ichiro, Olerud, Martin homer as M's get back on track-Seatle

New white wine as heart-healthy as red-Haifa/Israel

Trisha Yearwood performs 'I Would've Loved You Anyway'-New York

VOL.51

Early X-it, XFL folds after disappointing first season - New York
NO TOUCH DOWN〜新興アメフトXFL撤退 ( 2001-05-13 )

信じていた人はプレーヤーだけ、いやプレーヤーさえもこの日を感じていたかもしれない。予想通りといえるかもしれないが、わずか1シーズンで新興アメフト団体 XFL は消滅した。
X-it = exit
である。

The XFL folded Thursday after one season that was a critical and TV ratings disappointment for the football league founded by the World Wrestling Federation and jointly owned by NBC.

その原因
The WWF said its share of after-tax losses will be about $35 million. NBC's loss should be similar.
Even with adjustments on the fly, very little worked for the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener and the April 21 championship game, which was watched by about 75 percent fewer people than the debut on NBC.

ビジネスライクなアメリカなのに出発点からおかしなことばかり、有名プロレス団体WWFと'97に NFL の放映権を失った NBC のjoint venture である。視聴率がすべての NBC 頼りでは当然
Even with adjustments on the fly, very little worked for the XFL between the much-hyped and well-rated season opener and the April 21 championship game, which was watched by about 75 percent fewer people than the debut on NBC.
The final game's national rating was a 2.1, tying for 93rd place among prime-time shows that week and lower than anything else on the four major networks. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million TV homes.

その結果
In the end, the XFL had a shorter life than another outdoor spring football league -- the USFL, which started airing on ABC in 1983 and folded after three seasons.

しかし当事者は初めからこの程度の認識と迷走
"We knew it wasn't going to work [in prime time] from early March on," Ebersol said. "The launch worked, the people were there, and we didn't answer their expectations, I guess."
The XFL didn't seem to be able to decide whether it wanted to be more about sport or spectacle.

マスコミ経験者の感想は
"I never had faith in the concept," said former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, a consultant. "If they had pitched it closer to football, they would have lost the wrestling audience. If they had made a burlesque out of football to conform to the expectations of the wrestling audience, they probably would have lost NBC, which as I understand it wanted to play quality football."

てこ入れしたといわれる部分にも大きな疑問
Early games had lascivious cheerleader shots, anti-NFL bluster from WWF types, sophomoric double entendres and screaming announcers -- including Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former WWF wrestler -- who sounded more like shills than analysts.

第2週目の放送から素人のわたしからみてもすでに怪しかった
The XFL even changed the on-field rules to speed up games after a double-overtime contest in Week 2 delayed Saturday Night Live. Other rules changes came as late as the playoffs, and tinkering with the production side never ceased.

NFL 側には相手にされず
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would have no comment -- a position the NFL maintained throughout the XFL's existence.

最終戦はこの惨状だった

A. スタジアムでは
At stadiums, the eight-team league said it sold about 1 million tickets, but the championship game drew a crowd of only 24,153 to the 90,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum.
B.TV では
But the television viewership plummeted after a promising Week 1, prompting the league to give away about 30 percent of its ad inventory for free to sponsors whose commercials weren't reaching as many viewers as they had been promised.

肝心のプレーヤーや試合の質に関しても
Although the quality of the football might have improved during the season, it was telling that the league's MVP, Tommy Maddox, threw more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns during a brief NFL career.

最後にはさじを投げて
The XFL did give fans impressive access to the game, including cameras in huddles and microphones in helmets.
"In terms of the innovations that NBC and WWF brought to the game -- I would suggest that you will see those in the NFL," McMahon said. "Our whole imprimatur was to bring the game closer to the fan."

ただ一人の日本人プレーヤー、山田晋三に関しての私の感想。父親の仕事の関係で、小学生の時に3年間すごした Menphis で楽しくアメフトをしてすごせた部分ではかなり満足できたのではないかと思われます。ある意味、凱旋ともいえるかもしれない。

conveivable = imaginable
hyper = excess
daunt = intimidate or discourage, この場合 intimidate の意味で使いたかったのでは
parlay = bet money for another race , cf. parley = negociation
crave = desire
launch = start
prudent = 慎重な ( とてもそうだったとは思えないが )
salute = 軍隊での敬礼の意に使われる
decent = respectible, fair
fledgling = 駆け出し、青二才 cf. fledge = 羽毛が生えそろう、巣立ちができる
burlesque = 道化
lascivious = 挑発的
bluster = 荒れ狂う、怒鳴り散らす
sophomoric = sophomoreからきているが、未熟なのに生意気なという面白いいい方
shill = 扇情といった感じか
Ventura = 例のプロレスラーからミネソタ州知事になっていろいろ物議をかもしている人が解説？をすること自体がすでに怪しげ
tinker = 下手にいじくりまわす
demise / care pronunciation = death
plummet = fall down, plunge
imprimatur / care pronunciation = 著作物の許可、権利
perseverance = endurance
waiver = 放棄、棄権、延期、ドラフトのウェイバー方式がこれだと思う
implement = 履行する

Go to Sports Illustrated - Pro Football - XFL folds after disppointing first season
Go to Sports Illustrated - Xtreme QB Maddox named XFL Player of the Year

VOL.52

Stuart Townsend: Out and 'About' - Ireland, N.Y.
舞台から映画へ・アイルランド出身 Taunsend (2001-05-17)

Ireland出身の舞台俳優 Stuart Townsend がやや倒錯した男を演じる新作映画 'About Adam' について interview を受けています。
Townsend, 28, plays Adam as a Don Juan with a twist. He romances three sisters simultaneously, and still manages to come off slightly sympathetic. He's the kind of character who makes everyone around him feel better about themselves.

映画としてはこれが大きな一歩です
Townsend hails from Ireland, where the film was shot. Most of his experience is on the live stage; he's only been in a handful of films. But that's about to change, as he has two lead roles lined up to follow this one. His name might not be in the title of all of them, but it's still one you won't soon forget.

今回の役柄に関して
Stuart Townsend: Yeah, he's a little wicked, but in a nice way. That's what I liked about the film, that people do come out and go, "I hate him, he's bad," and then another person says, "No, he makes everything work out OK in the end." I think it is whatever you feel.
The thing about Adam is that he's ambiguous ... you never know who the guy is. I think it also depends on if you have sisters. ... If you have two sisters or three sisters you might be a little scared of the whole thing, but if you don't you may go, "everything worked out, everyone was happy."

そしてこのフィルムは
Townsend: For me it was a chance to go home, and it wasn't much of a stretch because it was just me doing an Irish accent, playing me just having a laugh. And it's a comedy ... it's not "Hamlet" or anything like that.

また
CNN: U.S. audiences are unfamiliar with you, but you have done extensive theater work in Ireland and England. When you get a project like this, where you carry a film, do you hesitate at all?
Townsend: No. I don't think I carry the film. I think it's more an ensemble really. It's not (Adam's) film, because you never even see his perspective. ... It's called "About Adam," but it's really about a family and the dynamics within that family.

というようなIrishにある民族的な複雑さも一蹴しています
Townsend: Being back home in Dublin in a very different context, working on a film. I left Ireland and hadn't been back in three years and being on location in a very familiar place was wonderful.

ことも少し影響しているのか
And also the actors. Having Kate (Hudson) and Frances (O'Conner) here, as an American and Australian, respectively ... nailing the whole Irish thing. That was great. And it's a comedy and it's fun. I mean it's great to do drama or a psychological thriller, but it's also nice to do a comedy and relax and enjoy it.

舞台と映画の違いに関しても
CNN: Do you have a preference between the stage and the screen?
Townsend: Not really, I love them both. I did a Tennessee Williams show last year in London with Helen Mirren, and that was the best experience working-wise that I have ever had. But I love film as well. It's just very different.

今後の活動は
Townsend: Yes, (Anne Rice's) "The Queen of the Damned. " (I play) the Lestat character, which has been a lot of fun. ... And now I am doing another movie called "24 Hours." It's ... sort of a psychological thriller with Kevin Bacon, Courtney Love and Charlize Theron. I've just been up in Vancouver with them for the last week and they are great people.

エネルギッシュに
Townsend: Just tell good stories and do good work. I think the career thing and the actual creativity are sort of at odds with each other, but the creativity is the best thing. When you get on a project, who you are working with and what you are doing -- that is always the most fulfilling thing.

といっています。さらに
Sometimes, like with Lestat, there (were) certain things that I had problems with. But at the end of four months I was so glad that I did that project because so many amazing experiences happened. I think that's the best thing about having a career like this ... you get to meet amazing people and do extraordinary things. Going on stage, it's so different. You're earning 300 pounds a week, you work your ass off, and it's really fulfilling to tell a story to a live audience.

star = 動詞でも使う
with a twist = 歪んだ、といった感じか
wicked / care pronunciation = bad
ambiguous = not sureだが、「どっちともとれる」といった感じか

Go to CNN Showbiz Today Star of Tomorrow - Stuart Townsend: Out and 'About'
Go to VTR = CNN's Lori Blackman interviews 'About Adam' star Stuart Townsend (かなり聴きやすい英語です)

VOL.53

Bahamas' Out Islands ideal for quiet getaways - Nassau(Bahama) + Florida
地上の楽園は存在するか〜BAHAMAへの旅 ( 2001-05-20 )

地球上に楽園はあるか？　あるかもしれない。個人的に今までいったところで楽園かもしれないと思ったところは〜Nassau, Bahamaです。

フロリダ半島の東、キューバのすぐ北に位置する７００ぐらいの島々からなるバハマの首都はナッソーです。
Already, 400,000 tourists travel to the Bahamas after visiting Florida destinations, said Director General of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace. Speaking Friday in Nassau, he said one out of 10 visitors to the Bahamas first visits Florida

というバハマですが、このようなプランが売り出されました。
With a specific package combining Florida and the Bahamas in holidays sold through U.S. travel agents, the Bahamas could attract even more of the 40 million who vacation in Florida.

こうなってしまっては、もう楽園ではなくなるかもしれませんが、これからは首都ナッソーとは違う島にあるアバコなどの別の都市であるとしています。
For vacationers who want a little more solitude, the crowds are smaller and the pace is slower on the so-called Out Islands such as Abaco and Eleuthera

こんなところから、もう誘われます
"When you come down here it takes about five minutes to get in the different speed of life," one visitor said. "Everything slows down and it is just very, very relaxing."

したがって、当局はこう考えています
Of the Bahamas' 700 islands, only about 36 are inhabited, including Eleuthera. Although direct flights connect many of these to Nassau and Florida's major cities, they remain a lower-key alternative to higher-profile coastal resorts.
"We are not looking to put up the mega-resorts in places like Eleuthera," said Raymond Harrison, manager of the Eleuthera Tourist Office. "We want to maintain the small cottages or smaller-size resorts."

わたしがいった Nassau もたしかに以下を絵に描いたようなところです
Historic Harbour Island
Neighboring Harbour Island, whose colorful houses are reminiscent of a New England town, is one of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas, and one of the most picturesque.
Visitors have plenty of leisure options there, including boating, fishing, riding bikes or browsing the street-side souvenir stands where they can buy paintings by local artists.
A good place to break for lunch -- or a longer stay -- is the upscale Pink Sands resort.

しかし となりの Abaco は、こんな別の魅力もあってもっと「楽園」といえそうです
Ecotourism
"It's very important, because as I see it, this is the way the world has to go. One has to have respect for the environment," owner Nettie Symonette said. "I found myself living among these birds and animals and whatnot, and then I found that they became like a tremendous closeness to God."
The resort is a sanctuary for many animals, including about 75 species of birds.

ほんとうに時間のある人はこんなすごしかたをするのでしょう
Savoring the environment doesn't mean roughing it, though. Guests enjoy a daily buffet of home cooking, with local favorites like roasted wild boar, macaroni and cheese and coconut bread. While the rustic huts are popular with bird watchers, there also are comfortable cabanas on the beach, a pool, and hammocks where guests can simply relax and enjoy the views.

solitude = lonely, alone
reminiscent / care pronunciation = de ja vu のようなものかもしれない、しのぶ、追憶する
browse = かじり食い、ぶらぶらショッピングをする (PCのbrowserなどもそうであるが、もとは動物が若芽をついばんだりして歩き回るところからきている)
lush, lushly = みずみずしい、青々とした (いかにもそんな語感、よく使われる)
whatnot = 何やかや、いろんなもの (初めて知った単語ですが、what + not ,とても便利に使えそうです)
sanctuary = 保護区 (日本語でもそのままサンクチュアリと使われることが多い)savor = taste
rustic = rural

Go to CNN Travel - Bahamas' Out Islands udeak for quiet getaways
Go to INTERACTIVE GALLERY / see more of the Bahamas
Go to my Nassau, Bahama page ( Overseas - Stay seashore & Islands ) = わたしがBahamaへいったときの４つのエッセイがあります

VOL.54

Malaysia to clean up streets, Singapore-style - Kuala Lumpur
一人の政治家が国家を変える (2001-05-27)

ひとりの政治家が大きく国や体制を変えることがあります。今の日本もある種その一時期かもしれません。しかしなんといっても、クーデターなどの政変などではなくこの数十年間に建設的に国家を変えたアジアの政治家はシンガポールのリー・クアンユー前首相だと思います。今、彼の息子が首相を引き継いでいてもあまりマイナス方向の話を聞かないのも、彼の父親の政策が抜本的に優れていたことは多くの人が認知するところです。
For years, people in Malaysia's largest city have snickered at how litterbugs caught in neighboring Singapore suffer hefty fines, hours of garbage-collecting and even state-sponsored counseling.

すぐ隣のMalasiaが、Singaporeの身近な「改革」のひとつであった街をきれいにする〜という対策に乗り出したのです。Kuala Lumpur市長の施策で
But the smirks may soon be gone after Kuala Lumpur's mayor announced the imminent introduction of Singapore-style laws to punish litterbugs and vandals with community work.

シンガポールそっくりのやり方です
He said Mayor Kamaruzzaman Shariff's upcoming community service law will succeed -- if it is enforced. He complained that city officials rarely invoke an existing anti-litter measure, under which offenders are fined between 500 ringgit ($132) and 1,000 ringgit ($263).

市長の考えは
Kamaruzzaman says he wants to transform the city of more than 1.5 million people, into "a garden city of lights" comparable to London and Paris.

以下はわたしも大きく同感します
Kamaruzzaman recently visited Singapore, one of the world's cleanest countries and a famously disciplinarian city-state.

すなわち
A. world's cleanest cityにするには　B. famously disciplinarian city-stateであることが必要でした。このＢ．は罰金だけでなくかなり過激なべつの部分も含みます。Singaporeに何度かstayしたときにいろいろ聞きました。過激すぎてここでは具体的に表現できないこともあります。

公表されたのは、例えば
The island nation grabbed global headlines in 1994 when American teen-ager Michael Fay was caned for spray-painting graffiti on cars.

シンガポールの代表的新聞 the New Straits Times はいわば日本での朝日＋毎日＋読売＋日経です。
In an interview published Sunday in the New Straits Times newspaper, Kamaruzzaman pledged to make offenders perform community service

断行するには当初はこのようにでもしないと無理かもしれません
"There are limitations in the penalties that we can impose," the mayor was quoted as saying. "But I agree that enforcement should be done regularly."
Kuala Lumpur City Hall pays a private company 100 million ringgit ($26 million) a year to collect garbage. Authorities haul 40 metric tons (44 tons) -- or 10 truckloads -- of trash everyday from the city's rivers, Kamaruzzaman said.

たしかにシンガポールで感じるのは街じゅうすべて公園のようにきれいだということです。もっとも車を一時間も走らせると、海またはとなりのマレーシアという小さな国です
またシンガポールの身近な政策のひとつとして日本を参考にしたものがあります。'Look East' といわれるもので日本の交番をまねて "Kohban"というシステムを取り入れました。さらに日本こそがまねをすべきだと思うのですが、完璧に近い住宅供与をしたというすばらしい政策があります。

snick = giggle
kutter = くず = bug
hefty = heavy
smirle = にやにや笑い
imminent = impending = 差し迫った
vandel = こころなき破壊者
bustle = 雑踏
invoke = 発動
cane = 鞭打ち
offenders = first offender/初犯、repeated offender/常習犯

Go to CNN travel / Malaysia to clean up streets, Sigapore-style
Go to my Singapore page(Overseas) = 私のシンガポール体験ページです

VOL.55

Kate Beckinsale shows star power in 'Pearl Harbor' - Hawaii
ォックスフォード女優、‘パールハーバー’を演じる (2001-05-31)

この映画に関しては、賛否両論、議論百出なのは当然。戦争に関してはそれぞれの立場、状況、個人、民族、国家によってすべて考えが違う。また個人的に戦争のような話題を正面から取り上げる考えもまったくないために、今回はこの映画で主役のBen Affleckと恋愛関係になるナース役を演じるKate Beckinsaleのインタビューを取り上げた。
Now some box office rivals are feeling some pain, as Beckinsale and the rest of the Pearl Harbor cast helped the movie haul in $75 million in ticket sales over the weekend.

というDisney製作の大作だが、Kate Beckinsaleは意外にも
With the success of the film, the Oxford-educated, Shakespeare-trained actress is poised to become a huge star on the silver screen, according to her effusive "Pearl Harbor" co-star Ben Affleck and many publications in her native England

また
Beckinsale's peformance in the blockbuster comes after a string of smaller-budget movies, from "Brokedown Palace" to "The Last Days of Disco" to "The Golden Bowl."
Beckinsale, 27, has a 2-year-old daughter, Lily, with her partner Michael Sheen.

自分の演じる役をクールに語っています
Kate Beckinsale: I had been under the really insulting illusion that nurses were some sort of underqualified doctor. It was so wrong. I learnt so much from researching that. You know the skill in nursing is a very particular and important skill, particularly during a war, that's about caring for the human being ... (It's) being able to kind of heal somebody's inside as well as their outside.
And you know the amazing kind of heroic courage of the nurses in this particular attack, when they really weren't prepared for it. I mean I think it's one thing when you go off to a war knowing sort of a little what you're in for, but these were just young women who were really registered nurses who hadn't had any of that kind of experience.

またCNNの次のような質問に関してもこう答えています
CNN: How do you think this (movie) will play in England and overseas?
Beckinsale: I have no idea. I would imagine very well. I think it's a great sort of old-fashioned epic love story, history, drama. I mean there's so much in it, I don't think it's something that's just for America because it's about American history.

母国イギリスでの評価にも淡々と答えています
CNN: Speaking of love affairs, some of the London papers just adore you and they're now proclaiming you the next great star. How does that settle with you?
Beckinsale: It's really strange. I feel like I've not been home very much in the last year and my whole life's been transformed, a couple of years before that, by having a child, so I don't really know where I am right now. I know that I spend most of my time in a sandbox, or pushing a swing, so that doesn't feel very movie star-ish to me.

個人的には、例えば仕事中などにヨーロッパのレストランなどで仕事相手の人やたまたま隣り合わせた人から、彼らの戦争に対する考えなどを聞くことはよくあります。この中には日本での「教科書」には載っていないこともたくさん含まれていたりします。いいことも悪いことも両方あります。わたしにとってはこのようなことを頭にいれて感じたり考えたりすることが大事なことであると思っています。

blockbuster = 大作の意味で映画用語としてよく使われる
bruise, puncture= (v, n) 傷、打撲
epic = 作品、映画（叙事的)

Go to CNN Showbiz Today /Kate Beckinsale shows star power in 'Pearl Harbor'
Go to VTR interview
Go to CNN Entertainment / Review: 'Pearl Harbor' hits some, misses much ( これが正当な評価か)
Go to my Honolulu page (わたしのハワイ体験です)

VOL.56

BA prepares to reinstate Concorde-London
怪鳥再び〜翔べコンコルド(2001-06-03)

２０００年７月、パリで離陸時に主としてドイツ人観光客を乗せて大事故を起こしてから、しばらく運航をとりやめていたコンコルドが、今年の夏から秋にかけてBAが再び就航させるようです。
British Airways says it is confident that commercial Concorde services will resume within weeks.
Concorde was grounded after an Air France Concorde crashed in Paris last July killing more than 100 people.

ですが
BA, which, with Air France operates the world's fleet of Concordes, says it is confident that the UK Civil Aviation Authority will re-issue the certificate of airworthiness for the planes.
Rod Eddington, BA's chief executive, said on Tuesday: "I am confident we will have it (Concorde) back in the air by late summer."

事故は記憶に新しい
A total of 113 people -- 100 passengers, nine crew and four on the ground -- were killed in the July 25 crash, moments after the supersonic jet took off from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

しかし
The investigation focused on whether a piece of metal on the runway set off the tragic chain of events, with a punctured tyre causing debris to rupture the plane's fuel tanks.
Following safety tests in France, all Concordes are being fitted with improved fuel tanks.

早くもこのような態勢です
He said that once BA had three of its seven Concordes available for service following modification, it anticipated introducing one daily return flight to New York.
Once five aircraft become available, the return flights would double to twice-daily.

それにはいいか悪いかは別にして、以下のような現実的な解決が進んでいるという、なかなかビジネスライクな背景があります
German lawyer Gerhart Baum, part of a team that says it represents 75 victims' families, said the overall deal was based on the amount that could have been expected under U.S. damages claims.
"In that way the German relatives will now be paid damages to a level not known before," he said. "Payments of damages are expected in June 2001."
Air France's insurers have said in the past their offer comes close to an overall settlement of around $150 million.

Concorde was grounded after an Air France Concorde crashed in Paris last July killing more than 100 people. = dead ではなく直接的に kill と表現
debris = piece

Go to CNN world - BA prepares to reinstate Concorde
Go to "Anatomy of Concorde" by Shockwave （コンコルドの全容を立体的に把握できます）
Go to my New York page （私の友人が実際にパリ〜ニューヨーク間でコンコルドに乗りました。その時聞いた話をニューヨークのページに載せてあります）

VOL.57

Nepal's 48-hour king dies after royal massacre-Katmandu
異文化＋異時間=外国〜ネパール王国事件 (2001-06-06)

この出来事の直接的なことにはそんなに興味があるわけではありません。日本語タイトルで表示したことを一番感じたということです。
異文化＋異時間=外国、ということです。

よく外国は文化、習慣、言葉が違うという人がいますが、わたしがそれにもまして感じるのは「時間」が違う、ということです。長いスパンでのタイムラグがあることです。たとえば韓国は日本は１０〜２０年前はこうだったであろうとか、小さな島に住んでいる人たちの生活に触れたりすると日本の数十年前はこうだったのかな〜などと思ったりすることです。
今回のネパールの出来事に関しては、そんなロイヤルな部分は一般人であるわたしには想像すべくもありませんが、日本でいえば江戸時代とか平安時代などにありそうなことだなと感じるのです。
The former Crown Prince Dipendra was admitted to hospital late on Friday with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound after reportedly slaughtering most of his family with an assault rifle as they sat around a dinner table.

最初の情報は
Initial reports suggested Dipendra shot his family after a dispute over his choice of bride.

さらに
Dipendra was pronounced dead at the military hospital where he has lain in a coma since late Friday, CNN's Kasra Naji reported from Katmundu.

だったにもかかわらず
Because of Dipendra's condition, the dead King's brother, Prince Gyanendra, had been named caretaker king.

さらにややこしくしたのが
On Nepal's first full day of national mourning, Prince Gyanendra altered the official story behind the tragedy.
"According to the information received by us [they] were seriously injured in an accidental firing from an automatic weapon," Prince Regent Gyanendra is quoted as saying in a statement broadcast on state radio Sunday.

おきまりの
With much of the country still reeling from shock, Nepal's government has remained tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the Friday night massacre in which King Birendra, Queen Ashwarya and other members of the royal family died.
The prince regent's statement did not make clear who was holding the gun at the time of the accident, but earlier statements from the Nepalese interior minister had said Crown Prince Dipendra shot his family after a bitter quarrel.

焦点の花嫁候補は写真で見るとさすがにきれいな方です
Military sources at the palace told The Associated Press the prince had turned against his family because his mother did not approve of a young woman, Devyani Rana, as his choice of bride.

しかし花嫁の背景には
Rana is the daughter of Usha Raje Scindia, a member of a royal family from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Her father Pashupati Rana is a former Nepal foreign and finance minister, and a member of the once-powerful Rana clan that established a line of hereditary prime ministers in Nepal.
Traditionally, members of Nepal's royal Shah dynasty, including King Birendra and his two brothers, choose a spouse from the Rana line to ensure political peace in Nepal.
But a report in the Indian Express Sunday said Rana's Indian connections counted against her

やっかいなことに今回即位した弟は
In 1990, King Birendra agreed to take a constitutional role in the wake of a popular movement that introduced parliamentary democracy.
The prince was suspected of pushing to return Nepal to an absolute monarchy system

敏感な民衆は
Meanwhile, nearly all the shops in Katmandu remained closed as a mark of respect. Government officials were easily recognizable in the streets, their heads shaved under orders by the home ministry.
The ministry also requested that all celebratory events, such as weddings, be postponed for the 13 days earmarked for performing rituals in remembrance of the king and his family.

結末はどうなるかしりませんが、こんなことばかりのところには旅行客も二の足を踏むのではないかと心配です。
同じテニスクラブの方で時々プレーをする写真家の稲越功一氏がネパールに取材に行ったときのことを話してくれたことがありますが、カトマンズ空港はちょうどすり鉢状になっていて、少し怖い感じもしますが、天気がいいと周りがすべて山に囲まれた中を飛ぶので、本当にユーミンの歌　(「カトマンズ」というCDがありました)　を思い出すようなロマンがあるのだそうです。
そんな素敵なところでどうしてこんなことが起こるのでしょうか？

anoint = ceremony for crowning
in a coma = 昏睡状態

Go to CNN World / Nepal's 48-hour king dies after royal massacre
Go to CNN VTR report - Nepal mourns death of royal family
稲越功一氏のオフィシャルサイトへ
松任谷由美の「カトマンズ」〜２０秒間だけ聴けます

Vol.59

New white wine as heart-healthy as red-Haifa/Israel
みのもんた話〜ワイン編 (2001-06-16)

どうもみのもんたです。そこのお嬢さん、どちらから？　蒲田？　いいところからいらしてくれましたねぇ。
今日はね、ワインが体にいいという話ですよ。それも白ワインですよ。赤じゃなくて。赤がいいというのはそちらのきれいな奥様もよくご存知ですよね。今日は白なんですよ。
といったかはしりませんが、みのもんたがとりあげるに最適な健康ばなしです。

Researchers led by biochemist Michael Aviram of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, developed a method to make white wine that exploited the grape skins.

従来はこういわれていました
White wine traditionally is made without the use of grape skins. Red wine is made by fermenting the juice from grapes along with the skins. The skins provide red wine with its color and contain the highest concentration of polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants.

今回発表されたのは
Aviram said oxidized cholesterol in the blood is deposited in the arteries and can cause blockages and heart attacks.

つまり
Israeli scientists have devised a way to make white wine that boasts health benefits similar to red wine, which may help ward off heart disease.
"In order to prevent this oxidation of cholesterol, we need to consume antioxidants, preferably natural antioxidants that you get from fruits and vegetables," he said in an interview.

これによって次のような疑問が一発で解決！？
Aviram cited what he called the "French paradox."

よくいわれてきたことですが
"The people in southern France, even though they eat fatty food, they get almost one-fifth the rate of heart attacks as, let's say, the Finnish people who also eat fatty food. Studies demonstrated that it has to do with the consumption of red wine in southern France," Aviram said.
Some researchers argue that the link between wine consumption and reduced risk of heart disease remains unproven in the absence of long-term human clinical trials

このような工程で白も赤に近い効果にできるそうです
His research team used whole squeezed grapes and incubated them for up to 18 hours in the presence of alcohol before removing the skins. This resulted in a significant increase of white wine polyphenols up to six times the normal level and exhibited antioxidant activity similar to that of red wine.
The polyphenol content of the white wine still was just a quarter of the amount in red wine. But Aviram said the similar antioxidant activities between the two wines suggested that white wine contains varieties of polyphenols with higher antioxidant activity than those found in the red wine.

しかし、この研究者は実際には
"I like this dessert white wine, but I'd like to get dry white wine which also will have a red wine-like health property," Aviram said.

これらの背景には、近年イスラエルがワイン製造量を急激に伸ばしてきていていまや南米、南アフリカなどにならぶ生産地として有名になってきている背景があります
At least one wine manufacturer in Israel has begun making the white wine using the technique developed by Aviram's laboratory. Aviram said he expected the new white wine to be sold in the United States by the end of the year.

どうも再びみのもんたですが、それにしても今回の内容はねぇ、池袋のセントポールで遊んでばかりいたわたし、みのもんたにとってはこの理系の用語の難しいこと、難しいこと。そう思いませんか、そちらの美しいお嬢さん、どちらから？　船橋？　それはまたいいところにお住まいですねぇ。
ん？　ところでオレは誰だ？

devise = ひねり出す、考案する
boast = proud
yeild = make
ferment = v,n 醸造する、発酵する
potent = a. / 効能ある
artery = 動脈　cf. vein
cardiology = 心臓(病）学
vascular = 血管
incubate = 培養する
"French paradox" = 欧米人はなんにしてもパラドックスが好き

Go to CNN Health - New white wine as heart-healthy as red
Go to my wine page (わたしのワインに関するちょっとしたエッセイです）
Go to my Paris page (わたしのParisでのワイン話）

VOL.60

Trisha Yearwood performs 'I Would've Loved You Anyway'-New York
美しきバラード・グラミー歌手TRISHAを聴く(2001-06-19)

３度のグラミー賞に輝き、１０年間に１，３００万枚ものアルバムが売れたTrisha Yearwoodのもっともアメリカ的な美しい歌声。
今回は連載６０回目、この辺でゆっくりとライブビデオをお楽しみください。アメリカのホテル(たとえばHoliday Innなど）にいくと、必ずこのような雰囲気のsingerがレストランで歌ってたりしますね。アメリカの人にとってはなつかしく、こころがやすらぐ歌声なのでしょうか。
先日CNNでライブ放送されましたので下のVTRをクリックして３分２０秒のショーをご覧ください。

なお内容は次のとおりです
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Ten years, 13 million albums and three Grammys ago, Trisha Yearwood came out with her first album, "Trisha Yearwood." Helped by the single "She's in Love with the Boy," the record went platinum. It was an auspicious beginning for the former Garth Brooks backup singer, who has since had 10 No. 1 hits on the country charts.

That kind of success tends to add some pressure to each new release, Yearwood told "Showbiz Today Reports" anchor Laurin Sydney. Her latest album, "Inside Out," was just issued.
"Well, every time you have a No. 1 record then there's the pressure to continue to do that," she said. "But I have been very lucky. I have always been able to choose songs that I love and we have been very lucky at radio."

Yearwood also recently graced the cover of Billboard magazine, coinciding with the June 5 release of the new album. That was a surprise, Yearwood said. "It's not even something you would dream about. I don't think I would ever have expected to be on the cover of Billboard and have that kind of tribute for 10 years. It's kind of overwhelming because it seems like it's all happened so quickly. ... So it's been nice -- it's kinda made me pause for a moment and look back and go, 'It's been a great 10 years.'"
A decade of making country music also means making a lot of musical friends. "Inside Out" features the talents of Rosanne Cash, Don Henley, Vince Gill and Kim Richie.
Yearwood stopped by our "Showbiz Today Reports" studio as a part of this week's "Showbiz Sessions" to perform her new single, "I Would've Loved You Anyway."

auspicious = 幸先のよい、めでたい
it's kinda　= やわらかい内容のときはこういう spelling がふつうになってきました

Go to CNN Showbiz Today - Trisha Yearwood performs 'I Would've Loved You Anyway'