Jackie Chan Breaking the Internet With His Duang

Jackie Chan Threatens to Break the Internet

So "duang" today! http://t.co/qCYIONDACw http://t.co/YKbVy4P9JX
— Jackie Chan (@EyeOfJackieChan) March 3, 2015

What is that weird 'Gollum' monster photosho ... err, photographed in the Chinese hills?

What is that weird 'Gollum' monster photographed in the Chinese hills? - Telegraph: 

Image via The Telegraph

A Chinese tourist has taken what he says is a photo of a "monster" hiding in the valleys of Huairou, in the north of Beijing.
The unnamed holidaymaker was camping with some friends in the hilly region, not far from the Great Wall of China, when he saw the "creature".
"I walked far away to have a pee, and suddenly saw a monster. I took a few pictures of it, but I am now terrified."

Bo Xilai: He turned out to be someone to watch out for after all ...

BBC News - Bo Xilai scandal: Timeline:

Bo Xilai, not looking so happy these days.

Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party chief in Chongqing, was once seen as a high-flyer tipped for top office. But he has been expelled from the Communist Party, parliament and is to face prosecution. His wife given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

Well, he made a splash but not the way we thought.

Back to the American transfer or, more likely, lack of transfer of power shortly ... waiting to see how my predictions pan out. Curious how I'll do vs. the professional pundits. I'm sure I'll prove to be a better prognosticator than Rove, at least.

Firefly's 15 Best Chinese Curses

Firefly's 15 Best Chinese Curses (and How to Say Them) - Topless Robot - Nerd news, humor and self-loathing.: 

2) The Explosive Diarrhea of an Elephant
大象爆炸式的拉肚子 ・ Da-shiang bao-tza shr duh lah doo-tze
Our penultimate entry is delivered by Mal, and once again, it draws its inspiration from the influence of Saffron. When Mal makes it clear that he's not interested in the accidental bond of wedlock he wound up in, Jayne, paragon of chivalry that he is, offers a perfectly reasonable deal. Jayne presents his most prized possession--a Callahan full-bore auto lock rifle with a customized trigger and double cartridge thorough-gage. He proposes an even swap, which by Jayne's reasoning is more than fair. This statement is Mal's assessment of Jayne's proposal, and really, who hasn't referenced explosive pachyderm feces when expressing complete incredulity? Happens to us all the time.

The Tao of Ping Pong

Playing Ping Pong in China: Profiles: GQ: 

Ping-pong would be my salvation. It would not only help me meet Chinese people, it would earn me their respect. Whereas in the U.S. ping-pong enjoys about the same esteem as dodgeball, China puts its champions on prime time. I'd prove I was more than just a big-nosed idiot foreigner—I was a big-nosed idiot foreigner who could excel at a sport they revere. If ping-pong could make Chinese people like Nixon, I just might have a shot, too.

Side notes:
The Tao of Pong is actually the name of a movie. Go figure.
Blazing Paddles was the Backyardigans take on Ping Pong action.
Jim McPherson plays a mean game in the Kim Stanley Robinson's The Gold Coast.
Of course, there's Christopher Walken in Balls of Fury.
Yes, yes, Forrest Gump. Others gathered here as well.
Dang, I missed the chance to watch this documentary.
Susan Sarandon, cougar of the ping pong world?!

Giant Bruce Lee statue is kickass.

Giant Bruce Lee statue welcomes kungfu fans: 

At 18.8 meters tall, the world's biggest Bruce Lee statue is ready to greet global kungfu lovers in the master's hometown in Jun'an town, Foshan in Guangdong province.

Had hopes of checking this out in person if I ever get to China again; but, I checked a map and it's a long way from Beijing.

ᔥ Tom Pappalardo 

让我告诉你我在twitter上的生命故事 #Efficiency

Brevity: Twtr | The Economist: 

ᔥ The Economist

Chinese ideal for micro-blogs, which typically restrict messages to 140 symbols. Though Twitter, with 140m active users the world’s best-known microblogging service, is blocked in China, Sina Weibo, a local variant, has over 250m users. Chinese is so succinct that most messages never reach that limit, says Shuo Tang, who studies social media at the University of Indiana.

ᔥ The Morning News 

Internet's latest dog and pony show is opium for the masses.

NYPL Labs : Stereogranimator

GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

A bit seizure-inducing, I'm afraid. Let me try one more though, a little opium to settle the nerves ...


GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

It's good to be a dragon. (If it's because your parents were superstitious in that way.)

Does Fortune Favor Dragons? | Mercatus:

Image via Water Dragon, Inc.

Why do seemingly irrational superstitions persist? This article published by the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization analyzes the widely held belief among Asians that children born in the Year of the dragon are superior.

迎春接福

Happy Birthday, Sammo!

Sammo Hung Kam-Bo turns 62 today. If you don't have a copy of Pedicab Driver or Dragons Forever to watch in celebration ... why not watch some clips instead?

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Best to forget about Martial Law (Carlton Cuse didn't do him any favors -- except casting Kelly Hu -- with that show) and Heart of Dragon (where he plays Jackie Chan's mentally retarded brother) ...

No enemies ...

NYT: Liu Xiaobo's Plea for the Human Spirit

Image via NYTimes.com

Liu demonstrates a considerable amount of anger while retaining his Gandhian nonviolent spirit. Taken together, his essays offer the best analysis I have read of what’s wrong in the People’s Republic of China. Liu was the prime mover (although not the originator) of Charter 08, the petition signed by several thousand Chinese who demanded an accountable government and freedoms of speech, assembly, press and religion.

Bo Xilai, a name to watch for in Chinese politics.

The new face of China? | Prospect Magazine:

Former Dalian mayor, Bo Xilai

Jiang Weiping, a journalist, was the northeast bureau chief for Wenweipo, a pro-party tabloid. In the 1990s, China’s northeast was booming, its prosperity fuelled by vast deposits of petroleum, iron and coal. The boom made a few select men breathtakingly rich. Shrouded in a Dickensian soot, Dalian was a riot of neon-lit karaoke bars, cheap prostitutes and greedy officials. The region was also racked by violence as tycoons and corrupt bureaucrats vied for riches. Bribery, kidnappings and contract killings were common. Arrests were not.

I bookmarked this article before my trip to China but only just read it. I wish I'd been more on top of reading list so I could have asked my colleagues in Dalian (though they might all be too young to recall his term as mayor) what they thought of Bo Xilai.

Dalian has sweepers constantly at work keeping soot of the sidewalks, but it's still a smoggy, riotously lit up city. I was warned about pick-pockets on the city bus and in the subways, but neither experienced nor saw any real evidence of endemic violence. If there were any kidnappings or murders while I was there, I don't know how I would've learned of them given the state of their television news, internet, and newspapers.

I'd like to show the Beijing skyline to anyone that thinks the EPA and pollution controls are unnecessary.

A Tale Of Two Countries of the Day

The Dragon Building
Beijing, December 2012

China, December 2011

China, December 2011, a set on Flickr.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in China and hope that I get to travel there again. I'd love to see Xian, Shanghai, or Hong Kong on the next trip.

From the streets of Dalian

Unable to access Blogger, but posting from Beijing anyways ...

Enjoying a can of Yan Jing beer as I wait for the 5:30AM (local time) wake up call. Slept some on the flight over, so even though it's the middle of the night, I'm still wide awake here.

Don't have much in the way of first impressions of China yet, have only been from airport to hotel, but so far so good. Even though my Chinese is limited to ni hao and xie-xie, we managed to arrange a ride to a hotel with the help of some friendly airport staff.  

One thing I will say by way of first impressions, is everyone here that's working seems awfully young. From the uniformed security officers at the airport (military?) to  the hotel staff, all baby-faced kids. 

I didn't think it was possible to mispronounce the name of our next city too badly, Dalian, but apparently all three of us were saying it so oddly to the Chinese ear that when the hotel front desk clerks finally figured out what we were talking about, they had a good laugh. 

Next post will be from ... China?

Not sure about how much time I'll have or what internet connectivity will be like while I'm there; but, if nothing else, some pictures and notes from the trip when I return.

Off to practice my ni hao ...

Extinction Countdown: China's Yangtze Finless Porpoise

Extinction Countdown: China's Yangtze Finless Porpoise Faces 80 Percent Decrease in 30 Years:

Yangtze Finless Porpoise via Sci-Am

Currently, around 1,000 of the freshwater porpoises live in China's Yangtze River and its surrounding lakes, down from 2,700 in 1991 and 2,000 in the year 2000. That number continues to drop 6.4 percent a year, according to Wang Ding, principal investigator for the Institute, who told the Xinhua News Agency, 'The next 10 years will be a critical period for the conservation of this species.'

Tigger on the loose

China's Chengdu Zoo rehearses tiger escape using man dressed in furry costume | Metro.co.uk:

He was hunted down with sticks, guns and, most bizarrely, brooms, before finally being cornered beneath some bushes.

Despite looking more like the cuddly, hyperactive Tigger from Winnie the Pooh the smiley impersonator was pinned down at gunpoint and carried off on a stretcher.

As seen on tonight's TRMS.

Ni hao, Second World status. (IMF forecasts it will take five years for China's economy to surpass America's.)

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end Brett Arends' ROI - MarketWatch: 

For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.
IMF sees China topping U.S. in 2016

According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China's economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now. Brett Arends looks at the implications for the U.S. dollar and the Treasury market.

And it’s a lot closer than you may think.

According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.

Will our domestic tweeters shift to using the #SecondWorldProblems hashtag on schedule?