Two and a Half Men - Let me vent

At first, my goal on this blog was to write about expressions in English and how they are and how they would be in Portuguese. Than, I started to write about my adventure when I was living in Moscow, Russia. Now, I'll just write.





Two and Half Men is one of the best TV shows I've ever seen. It will be considered one of the best of my life. There is an online forum here in Brazil and I had to agree with the last post there, which says the show is over.

Should we blame Charlie Sheen? I won't loose my time with it, but let's be honest: Charlie Harper is, or was the soul of the show. Alan, Jake, Berta and Evelyn depend on Charlie. What are they without Charlie? The show has proven that without Charlie, they are nothing.

I thought Ashton Kutcher's character was going to be another Haper, even Evelyn isn't his real mother. He could have been Alan and Charlie's cousin, who was away for a long time. Walden Schmidt wasn't the right card to play. Two and a Half Men is a Harper's dynasty.

I understand how time is necessary to build Walden Schimdt's character. Ashton Kutcher was a great choice, but like I wrote on the paragraph above, Two and a Half Men is a Harper's dynasty. Walden has had some funny moments, but a lot of goofy ones. The producers kept Alan Harper the same way: in Malibu, living at the same house. But being Walden's "guest" hasn't been funny as it was when Charlie Harper was alive - since he got killed. I miss the chemistry between Charlie and Alan, something Walden and Alan haven't reached yet. Will they?

Let me make my mother's words mine: Jake Harper isn't funny anymore! My mom says he's not funny because he grew up. When he was younger, he had more funny lines than he has got. Since Eldridge's character got in the show, that's the moment Jake started to become not funny. I have some friends who smoke weed and don't get bored like Jake does. Whenever I think about weed - I don't smoke btw - Jake pops on my mind as an incentive to not smoke.

About that post I read here, the author says that the show ended when the Harper's house was redecorated. That was the moment where the Harper's dynasty was over. I understand that house belongs to Walden and he can do whatever he wants, but that was an turnover that will be hard to swallow.

Do you miss Evelyn? It seems she doesn't care about Alan and Jake. Not only Charlie had conflicts with her. There was or still has some room for conflicts between Alan and Evelyn, what could give us more funny lines to lol. How about Rose? Remember that episode when Walden's ex-wife tries to get back with him? What do we see at the end? Her stalking Walden and Rose giving her tips. I felt that moment that the show was going to be ok. What a waste of hope. See how Evelyn and Rose depends on Charlie?

What can we say about Berta? Judith and Herb? Not much, while I wish I could say more. They are still the same, but the way the show has gone, they could appear more, although Berta still has her quota like it used to be when Charlie was alive.

My question is: what will be Two And A Half Men's future? They show still has Two and Half Men, but a lot of people loosing interest on the show, loosing faith on its future and loosing time watching Two and a Half Losers.

The show will end, no matter why. I can't tell when and I don't wish it ends ASAP. I just think the show deserved a different character to replace Charlie Harper and when it ends, a better finale.

Another usage of animals to explain something

Back in high school time, I was at this party and a friend of mine got scared because someone said police was on the way. I don't remember the reason why of police coming to the party. But to my friend, he had pot with him. Since he was high, he was scared.

I was telling him all he time to keep calm, but then he was screaming that the cops would check on everybody and and arrest him because of pot. I told him throw the pot away and say he was too drunk. He kept saying that he would be arrested and tell the cops he was drunk would be trying to explain that a pig nose isn't a energy socket.

Maybe this is the best expression that uses animal I've ever heard in my life! It's so simple that I told it to a freelance designer, who was working next to me, and he got right away :)



That's how energy sockets are in Europe. That's why he got it.

Animals, again, explain how dangerous it can be

We have this expression in Brazil that means it's dangerous: to poke a tiger with a short stick. I know it works more like a metaphor.

Again, on the web, I found this picture:



Could we make "wake up a polar bear with cymbals" an expression/metaphor for danger?

Animals explain how drunk you are

We have this expression in Brazil that means you're drunk: with the monkey hanged on a giraffe's neck. I was on the internet and I found this picture:



Can some tell me if this is an expression somewhere? I can say the Photoshop work on this image is pretty cool :)

Reminder

The ad on the previous post is a school project, not a commercial one, as I wish it was.

Food makes it easy

My first post on this blog was about the expression "piece of cake". On my portfolio, I have a campaign for Corbis, where I played with some stuff searched online. Piece of Cake was one of the searches I played around.



When I was showing my book in Brazil, some people didn't get that piece of cake means something easy. But in Brazil, you can say something is easy by using food. The expression is "mamão com açúcar", in English "papaya with sugar". I'll do a "mamão com açúcar" layout, but just for my book in Portuguese.

I asked my coworker if there is an expression here in Russia that means easy that uses food. Guess what? Yes, there is, but very archaic: as easy as boiling turnip.

I wonder which countries have more expressions that says it's easy, by using food.

Another mystery solved :)

I always liked brands. Not because of their products or services. I like to see brands. They can be stamped on race cars, football (soccer to Americans) jerseys or airplanes liveries. Maybe that's why I joined advertising.

Sometimes I get curious when I see some brands. My biggest one started in 1995, when F1 Team Sauber showed their car for the 95 season with their new sponsors Petronas and Red Bull. I had an idea what Petronas was, because I remembered one of the commentators of the Brasilian TV station that broadcast F1 said that a big Malaysian oil company was going to sponsor Sauber. And after 4 years I found out that Red Bull was a drink. Later on, an energy drink. And later on, really good with whisky or vodka :)

I had this doubt for over 15 years, as far as I remember of this brand: Candy. I remember seeing this brand on race cars, on TV or on some race car toys.



With no Google, or even the internet, I had to carry this doubt for years. Because there is no Candy in Brasil. If you tell me that you found some Skittles in Brasil, you would call me a liar. But I'm talking about Candy home appliances. Candy is a British domestic products brand. They have dishwashers, stoves ... I found out after stopping by a friend of mine friend's apartment here in Moscow. He has Candy stove and dishwasher. Mistery solved and toasted with the beers we had that night :) That Candy you don't find in Brazil.

This blog is still "The Lost In Translation", although this post is more for "The Lost In Brands" :)