 |
| 7/12 again Being utterly responsive to my readership,(hi Jenny, and sorry that I called you Sparky, Spanky), I have included links back to home page on blog. Re: Chinese characters, I have to admit that unless it is a really simple one, I cannot break a character down into its component parts without consulting Zhongwen.com, or some other dictionary, or a Chinese pal. For example, the "qi" in "men qi" has something underneath that looks a bit like a word for rice, but I have no idea what the stuff on the top is supposed to be. I study out of a textbook, but the book larnin' is not usually as interesting as what I pick up from friends. When my friend Mrs. L is in town (she is the only Chinese speaking person I know who understands what I say!) she teaches me plenty of idioms. For example, she taught me the idioms for "trivial matter" and "sanctimonious hypocrite," and how to say "I can't stand it anymore" and "he is a womanizer" and "Jim Carrey overacts." (or maybe the phrase I know means he is an egomaniac... not 100% clear on the idiom.) I wonder if i can remember how to write these things... 7/13 I just saw a Bollywood movie (Andaaz) in which there was a smooch! (it also has definite lambada-type pelvic contact between the romantic leads during the dance scenes.) Ever since I started renting them I have been wondering about the utter absence of the smooch from nearly all Bollywood movies. All lovers (or even married people) usually do onscreen is hug. I wish someone could explain this cultural quirk to me. Perhaps people in India think like folks in Japan about the smooch ...long ago I read some book about Japan which stated that in traditional Japanese culture a kiss is part of foreplay, rather than an affectionate/romantic gesture, such as you might use to plight your troth, or say goodnight to your date). I appreciate the all-musical, sex-free romances that Bollywood churns out. Heck, if I ran Hollywood, the actors would still be doing the classic Cary Grant invisible-lips type smooch. (Not that I want to censor anyone's artistic vision, or have a new Hayes Code, I just wish I could see some new movies where people did not move in to a kiss by opening wide for the dentist - so unromantic.) But, no smooch at all seems a bit ridiculous, especially given the constant melodramatic love stories and also, the sexy outfits and dance moves in many Bollywood flims. (Bare midriffs, tight miniskirts, and vigorous booty-shaking are apparently considered more decorous by the Indian moviegoing public than a smooch.) Based on the only other movie I had seen depicting a kiss (memorable title: Jism - apparently, an actual Hindi word - it is not recommended to try to google it for a definition, though), I kept waiting for the woman smoocher in Andaaz to kill someone, or otherwise prove to be the villainess of the picture, maybe by stealing the other woman's man as it looked like she was trying to do. And I was rooting for her to succeed too, but the apparent smooch and lambada turned out to have happened only in the woman's mind (the imaginary love duet is a standard feature of this flim genre). And she proved to be just as self-sacrificing as every other Bollywood heroine... More blog on blogger... |
| Bliggity bloggity bloo! |
 |