Comments on: Completely Incomprehensible (When Chinese People Speak Chinese)

By: sk

sk — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:30:54 +0000

ok, here i am. re: tex mex. this is probably not what you're looking for but there's good/bad tex-mex (by which i mean chips and salsa, strong margaritas and lots of enchiladas with lots of cheese) at this place on bway and 102nd. a hint of what mexican in ny used to be before actual mexicans lived here (although it's by mexican brothers). loved the mariachi in costume. loved the fresh guacamole. down side: the entrees are practically more expensive than nobu. and it's good/bad (but not evil).

By: Haydé

Haydé — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:36:33 +0000

Another absurdity: while foreigners in stories have an extensive vocabulary, they fail to acquire the most common phrases or words like yes and no. Although it is of course a very useful narrative tool, this has bugged me since reading Tintin comics as a kid. Nico responds: Yeah, Tintin as we all know was 100% out of control. But also very romantic and beautiful. I wrote a piece about it! Check it out. My secret side-point is that a lot of times, these whacked out ethnic stereotypes get kids interested in finding out what's "really" going on; Lawrence of Arabia I think worked the same way on my parents' generation.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:02:52 +0000

Chevys in Times Square, yo.

By: minim

minim — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:52:09 +0000

an elegant, logical and significant post… yet what it immediately brought to mind was ‘allo ‘allo…

By: Habibi

Habibi — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:24:11 +0000

Well, I don’t even know why you read the book on the first place. Is as bad as it could be. Predictable and boring. And the movie… I can’t look at Tautou’s face anymore.
I watched “El Cid” the other day. This movie is mythical. Of course I have thought about American movies set in other civilisations. It doesn’t seem weird hearing Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra speaking in fluent English. But somehow wiht El Cid it was weird. Only some of the actors (I guess most of them of Italic origin) could pronounce names and places. Imagine my laughter hearing Heston say ‘Calahorra’. It’s not that difficult.
Well, but not all is bad, cos at least they pronounced the last city they conquered as [vaËˆÉ«É›nsia], as any other American would do, making it similar to what it is actually in Catalan (not Spanish). And the name of the hero as [sid] which resembles more to what Arabic speaking people would say (in fact, it was originally spelled ‘Ã‡id’.
And Hancock! I refuse.

By: sfmike

sfmike — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:41:37 +0000

The foreign accent conventions in Hollywood films have always driven me nuts as they are equal parts racist and equal parts absurd. My favorite parody of it was an old George Hamilton movie, “Zorro, The Gay Blade” where everyone spoke in ridiculous Spanish accents, even when they were dead and doing voiceover narration as their son read letters of instruction from the grave. “Fight injewstice to the pipples” is a phrase I still find myself happily using and which you might want to appropriate for the Netroots Conference in Texas.

By: brian

brian — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:49:27 +0000

The Corner, located where Lafayette forks, and Taco Chulo on Grand St. in Williamsburg have tacos that are incredibly tasty but probably gayer than what they make in Texas. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I had a chicken chimichanga thing and gooey cheesy refried beans at Festival on Rivington and found it immensely satisfying, though that was after six beers.

Regarding The Hunt for Red October, Sean Connery’s Russian is hilarious. Not even one-tenth as realistic as Cate Blanchett’s in Indiana Jones.

By: ben

ben — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:48:03 +0000

The answer to every question raised by this blog post is clearly Chilis in the Financial District.

By: Dan Johnson

Dan Johnson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:48:22 +0000

If I remember correctly, in The Hunt for Red October when the Russians are talking to or in front of the Americans, they speak Russian or English with thick Russian accents, but when they speak to each other on the submarine, they speak totally unaccented English. I think this is because the reds were just screwing with us and could talk normal all along.

By: Silas

Silas — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:01:48 +0000

I haven’t tried Cowgirl in New York but its sister restaurant in Santa Fe is pretty tasty. http://www.cowgirlnyc.com/menu_dinner.html

By: Maury D'Annato

Maury D'Annato — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:12:26 +0000

Depending on the ratio of Tex to Mex you’re after and how upscale/downmarket you fancy, there are a couple of good places. Lobo in Park Slope (other branch in Boerum Hill or Cobble Hill or whatever) is a fave.