In the Copacabana section of Rio de Janeiro, Altenir Jose Silva imitates John Sterling.
Silva is a writer with television and movie credits in Brazil, and he also writes in English, including a recent play about F. Scott Fitzgerald. He also pays around $70 a year to subscribe to a web site that streams Yankee games, direct from New York. He works on his English by shouting, “YANKEES WIN! Thuh-h-h-h-h Yankees! Win!” (It’s only fair. Some Americans imitate soccer goal calls by South Americans.) Silva and I become email pals, and he is a frequent contributor to this site. Recently, he visited New York for a screenplay course and he and his wife, Célia, took their last big trip before she delivers their first child, after years of marriage. We met for the first time at Foley’s, the Irish baseball pub on W. 33rd St. and he had already bought tickets to last Saturday’s Yankee game. Altenir and Célia were glad to hear Curtis Granderson was back in the lineup after his injury; Altenir gave his version of John Sterling’s rendition of “The Grandy-man can, oh the Grandy-man can.” From the nation of Pelé and Sócrates and Romario and Neymar, a man sings of Curtis Granderson. The very nice publicity director of the Yankees, Jason Zillo, arranged for a greeting for Altenir and Célia on the message board before the home half of the third. I advised them to have their cameras ready. They are great tourists. On their last night here, they caught Woody Allen’s weekly appearance at the Café Carlyle with The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band. Now they are back home in Rio. Instead of imitating Tom Jobim or Caetano Veloso, Altenir warbles along with John Sterling. 5/24/2013 10:24:15 am
George
Altenir Silva
5/24/2013 10:56:15 am
Dear George, 5/24/2013 05:59:48 pm
George - Thanks also for the indirect reference to our hometown as an international attraction. It's obviously different things to different people, but what New York City is mostly to locals is an undiscovered country. And that's too bad. Folks from around here need to see the city more through the eyes of tourists so they can appreciate how fortunate they are to be where they are.
Thor A. Larsen
5/26/2013 11:18:30 am
To continue Charlie's point about New Yorkers seeing the City from the point of view of a tourist, I strongly suggest the locals take the ferry to/from the Statue of Liberty. The view of the Statue of Liberty and then, the view of Manhattan as it heads back are spectacular, even if weather is not perfect. Arriving from Norway as a ten-year old on a passenger ship on a misty morining in March and seeing the Statue of Liberty and then Manhattan remain the most powerful images I still have from my childhood.
Thor A. Larsen
5/25/2013 03:47:06 am
I wonder if Altenir would like to comment on professional baseball in Brazil. As you both probably know, at the beginning of this baseball season,Yan Gomes of the Toronto Blue Jays became the first profesional Brazilian player to reach the major leagues. Since Brazil is such an avid sports-oriented county, I would expect to see a number of its baseball players in the major leagues in the future. (My daughter-in-law is from Porto Alegre so I do keep abreast on some Brazilian news.) 5/26/2013 05:03:01 am
Charlie is absolutely correct in encouraging New Yorkers to see their city at a more casual tourist pace.
George Vecsey
5/26/2013 05:12:41 am
Alan and others, it's true, it's great to see a love for New York reflected in others' eyes. Altenir and Celia did so much in a week. She is part Polish in ancestry -- her home in Cutibara is one of the largest Polish cities in the world, she said -- and I suggested a Sunday morning in the Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint, but weather and pregnancy precluded that.
Célia Silva
5/26/2013 07:32:04 am
Dear George,
George Vecsey
5/26/2013 12:55:22 pm
obrigado também
Ed Martin
5/26/2013 12:42:25 pm
Brooklynite son, Bruce, took me out to Flushing last year where we had the best Chinese (Korean available nearby) food ever. Down in a basement, watching handmade noodles being tossed. Chinatown is still wonderful after a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but try the 7 to Flushing for new treats.
George Vecsey
5/31/2013 06:28:26 am
Ed, sounds like the same basement where we go for Xi'an lamb buns -- there are booths for different provinces and cuisines. On Main Street, a block south of the LIRR station. Our grandkids love it. GV
Ed Martin
6/1/2013 12:00:01 pm
Sounds right George, had a delicious lamb bun myself. ( quietlyswallows.)
Brian Savin
5/29/2013 01:56:33 am
George, I enjoyed your NYT article on the subway series in a bittersweet way. You were right to call attention to slumping attendance. It's important to think about as a baseball fan. There is an often entertaining sports radio buffo who blamed declining attendance at CitiField on the Mets' poor performance and assured everyone he had information there was already a sell out for last night's premier pitching match-up. Of course, the attendance was even lower than the night before. It appears that attendance is down throughout baseball. Good baseball and lower ticket prices will still fill the stands -- I hope. Yet, the idea of intimate stadiums where you can actually see the action at a reasonable distance with reasonably priced tickets for the still-silent-but-increasingly-poor mega majority may be giving sports like your beloved soccer a good chance.
George Vecsey
5/30/2013 01:12:26 am
Brian, things cost money. We spring for the opera (Met, Glimmerglass upstate) once a year or so, knowing you pay for talent and production. Cable costs -- I watched the hideous US soccer team, Mets-Yanks and parts of the Stieg Larsson movie on Sundance Wed night -- thanks to the clicker -- but my monthly cable bill tells me that wasn't cheap, either. Still,NY has painted itself into a corner with those two new ball parks, emphasizing luxury boxes and wretched-looking bars and restaurants everywhere. At some point, baseball morphed into "entertainment." rather than two basic hours watching Henrich, Maglie, Campanella. Something has been lost. Best, GV
Ed martin
5/30/2013 08:47:43 am
Is too early to order Mets' playoff tickets?
George Vecsey
5/31/2013 06:29:34 am
Ed, you know the old saying:
Ed
6/2/2013 09:11:48 am
You have your priorities right George. Meanwhile, the Mets honeymoon is over. Sigh. Noodles are comfort food. 4/29/2014 11:09:44 pm
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is great blog. A great read. Comments are closed.
|
Categories
All
|