Archive for May, 2011

A long bike ride in Folsom

Saturday, May 21st, 2011
My ischial tuberosities, or whatever stands between them and that modern non-cushy seat on the bike I borrowed, hurt. Probably didn’t help that I was riding a mountain bike sized for my 6′4″ brother-in-law. Not complaining, really, it was a nice ride.

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The new solar battery charger I got for my phone kept it at 100% all day. I’ve gotta figure a better mount for it for my everyday bike.

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Deer encounter video

Saturday, May 21st, 2011
It’s not much, but these 20 seconds made my day.

Deer Encounter on the American River Trail from ZachFine on Vimeo.

A deer stopped by the trail, I think to check out my solar-powered iphone4 battery.

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Customer Get Angry (Ai Qi Coffee menu)

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
I was just paging through a bunch of photos I shot with my iPhone while in China and came across photos I’d shot of a menu that featured some amazing English translations. I present to you a collection entitled “Customer get angry”:

The exterior of Hengdian's Ai Qi Coffee, for context.
Welcome to Ai Qi Coffee. Please have a seat over here in the overstuffed booth fringed with tassels. Here is a glass of boiling-hot water and a menu. Your waitress will be with you shortly.
Customer get angry
I highly recommend this dish. "Customer get angry"
Frozen old duck soup
"Frozen old duck soup" Truth in advertising taken one step too far.
The cold discolored ears, The cold cow shutter
"The cold discolored ears, The cold cow shutter" –Would you like to order an unappetizer?
Chicken rice spent
One of the side-effects of living in China for a while is that "Crispy pigeon" doesn’t even raise an eyebrow. It’s a good translation, and just looks like food. But "Chicken rice spent"? Hilarious.
Spicy beef noodles, bake butterfly
"Spicy beef noodles, bake butterfly" Braise like a bee?
Img 2214
"Onions detonation small cattle" Onions detonation small cattle!
Hawaiian scenery pizza
Hints of lava and surfboard? "Hawaiian scenery pizza". 1
Nalco small cattle baked carbon
"Nalco small cattle baked carbon"
Red pink beautifuls woman
Lovely. "Red pink beautifuls woman"
Coconut amorous feelings
"Coconut amorous feelings" It’s a very emotional drupe.
Flame hockey
"Flame hockey" Game on.
Colocasia esculenta schott pearl milk tea
"Colocasia esculenta schott pearl milk tea"2
Enough to give comfort
"Enough to give comfort" Dayenu.
Low because of Columbia coffee
"Low because of Columbia coffee" You said it buddy, Columbian politics always gets me down too. Let’s stop listening to NPR for a bit.

I really wish I’d asked if I could buy one of these menus, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Although I think many of these translations are hilarious, it is worth noting that I don’t think badly of whoever put it together –it was extremely courteous of them. Very very few English speakers ever pop into the small town of Hengdian, let alone drop into Ai Qi Coffee. So kudos to that establishment for trying (and largely succeeding) to accomodate the occasional English-speaker.
Customer not really angry.

  1. Again, those not accustomed to China might also find "Super cows feet pizza" to be noteworthy [↩]
  2. I suspect a scientific name crept into their woeful Chinese-English dictionary [↩]

Posted in China, Chinese language, Filmmaking, Photos, The Forbidden Kingdom | 1 Comment »

In which I assert that I am not Paula

Thursday, May 5th, 2011
This just happened:

Photo

Are Asian-Americans reclaiming the C-word now? I was a bit shocked to see it, but I suppose Paula either likes it or plays along.

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