Bonjour America

April 5, 2006 6:33 AM

Howdy États-Unis! Cyrille of Vingt Sur Vingt (French) has a new blog and he's talking to you, USians.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (20 comments total)

"I said to my brother, 'Call me insaanne...'"
posted by OmieWise at 6:42 AM on April 5, 2006

I think his blog is oh-kay but meh. I'm french. Maybe americans will like it better than me, and it's good since it's his goal :)
posted by Sijeka at 6:50 AM on April 5, 2006

Sijeka - what do you think about Vingt Sur Vingt? I hadn't heard of it before but it sounds like a good idea (and reminds me of a site I've been meaning to do for a while, "Review Everything", which would do exactly what the title implies).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:54 AM on April 5, 2006

Ah, it's always nice to see an intelligent, well-reasoned, response. It is.

But since we instead had a derail let's move back to the subject at hand....

While the podcast idea is "hip" I really rather read the blog. Does anyone know of a good example of this idea (a French person addressing Americans) in the old-fasioned written format? (preferably in English.)
posted by ?! at 7:31 AM on April 5, 2006

oh la vache, quel déraillement! monsieur HTuttle, calmez vous down, c'est just un blog! oh la la.

So, why Charlie Sheen and conspiracy theories? Is the real one into conspiracies or was he just picked for no reason?
posted by funambulist at 7:42 AM on April 5, 2006

I laughed at that. Reminded me of Brice de Nice (at least in terms of Cyrille's physical-comedic style). Merci pour tout, goodnewsfortheinsane...

And, Funambulist, Charlie Sheen recently came out questioning the 'official' 9/11 story. Here's a deleted metafilter post on the subject.
posted by jrb223 at 8:07 AM on April 5, 2006

Ooo, neat! A blog!
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:13 AM on April 5, 2006

Mod note: removed odd tirade about the French
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:14 AM on April 5, 2006

So, why Charlie Sheen and conspiracy theories? Is the real one into conspiracies or was he just picked for no reason?
Charlie Sheen believes the truth hasn't been told about what brought down the towers.
posted by etaoin at 8:16 AM on April 5, 2006

Does anyone know of a good example of this idea (a French person addressing Americans) in the old-fasioned [sic] written format?

de Tocqueville?

Lafayette?

Too literal?
posted by quite unimportant at 9:21 AM on April 5, 2006

and don't forget Bernard-Henri Levi's remake of de Tocqueville
posted by jrb223 at 9:39 AM on April 5, 2006

Hey, thanks for that pointer to the Levi book. That look's cool.

"French penguins"

That made me snort coffee through my nose.....
posted by lumpenprole at 9:44 AM on April 5, 2006

ah, thanks jrb223 (and etaoin), I had a feeling it was something I must have missed. So the " I said to my brother 'call me insane but" thing is a word by word imitation, I thought this French guy had come up with that himself.

Anyway, I am now even more convinced that the French and Americans are like antibiotics and alcohol, best when taken separately ;)
posted by funambulist at 9:48 AM on April 5, 2006

French and Americans are like antibiotics and alcohol, best when taken separately

As a hard drinking Franco-American, I'll have you know that I am nothing like a can of ravioli filled with vodka.....


Wait, what were we talking about?
posted by lumpenprole at 9:50 AM on April 5, 2006

ravioli in a can? that must be your American side :P
posted by funambulist at 10:02 AM on April 5, 2006

quite unimportant and jrb223: No, that was fine. Always nice to be reminded of an old friend. I was looking for someone presently writing though.
posted by ?! at 3:06 PM on April 5, 2006

Meh, stop calling me a USian. I see that word and instantly think its part of some cult that builds pyramids and eagerly awaits the arrival of the UFOs to take us home before the asteroid hits.
posted by Atreides at 6:38 AM on April 6, 2006

Meh, stop calling me a USian.

Yeah, seriously. Americans are called Americans because it's the United States of America, not because it's some kind of obscure cultural imperialism. Usian sounds like some kind of fake looking alien from Star Trek.
posted by unreason at 7:09 AM on April 6, 2006

I never thought "American" was specific enough though. Technically everyone from North, Central, and South America are "Americans."

And we're called that because of either a fluke of map making or as part of a deal with an entrepreneur.

I've always favored Yankees, but USians is just ridiculous.
posted by ?! at 10:15 AM on April 6, 2006

I never thought "American" was specific enough though. Technically everyone from North, Central, and South America are "Americans."

Yes, but there isn't really any confusion because they don't refer to themselves as Americans. They refer to themselves either by their nationality, or as North Americans, or South Americans. If you say Americans, everyone knows who you mean. People in Panama do not refer to themselves as Americans, and I've never heard anything to indicate that they want to.

I've always favored Yankees

Yes, but that's a nickname, not a nationality. The name of the country is not the United States of Yankeeland. Also, it's confusing, given that within the United States Yankee refers only to a subset of Americans from the Northeastern portion of the country.
posted by unreason at 11:53 AM on April 6, 2006