I am drinking "Mountain Sage Oolong" at the Lotus Tea house. Its the chill spot no one knows about. I can ease back and be online, drinking my tea and doing what i please ... all day ... and no one can find me.
This tea is a rare oolong from Guangdong Province ... it starts sweet and looks like honey, changes to amber and becomes a tart dew. then back again ...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The elephant in my bathroom
how silly we humans be.
Sports are and have been one of the ultimate political experiences for societies since the dawn of the ball. A discus tossing match between a Spartan and an Athenian was the grand catharsis of the day. A football match between Turkey and Germany is passionate, bloody and emotional because it synthesizes political and social realities onto the pitch and makes us cheer and cry for our collective people. Sports replaces war, simply said, and therefore will always be political.
Football has saved Europe from destruction as much as the Euro.
These Games are the most politically charged in a long time -- since 1984 I would say. Or 1980. China, of course, denies this reality and decries those who live in it. But nothing could be more important politically and socially for the Chinese than a successful Games. And we all know it.
we all just want the elephant to finish his deed without destroying the commode ... if we acknowledge that the commode is in danger, isn't that as cathartic as a gold medal?
Sports are and have been one of the ultimate political experiences for societies since the dawn of the ball. A discus tossing match between a Spartan and an Athenian was the grand catharsis of the day. A football match between Turkey and Germany is passionate, bloody and emotional because it synthesizes political and social realities onto the pitch and makes us cheer and cry for our collective people. Sports replaces war, simply said, and therefore will always be political.
Football has saved Europe from destruction as much as the Euro.
These Games are the most politically charged in a long time -- since 1984 I would say. Or 1980. China, of course, denies this reality and decries those who live in it. But nothing could be more important politically and socially for the Chinese than a successful Games. And we all know it.
we all just want the elephant to finish his deed without destroying the commode ... if we acknowledge that the commode is in danger, isn't that as cathartic as a gold medal?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
perhaps ... perhaps ...
This here is an interesting article on Obama, if only for the defense of his rejection of public financing. Dowd here says that going after the money is what Kerry failed to do and will keep Obama from being a "chump" like Democrats in years past.
I am getting more skeptical, but you never know. Perhaps Obama just wants to get into power, then we'll really see what the deal is.
I am getting more skeptical, but you never know. Perhaps Obama just wants to get into power, then we'll really see what the deal is.
Monday, June 23, 2008
2008 Olympics: For Chinese only!
The visa situation in China is getting more and more frustrating for foreigners trying to do anything here. How to extend or wiggle one's way into a longer stay burrows itself into every conversation at least once or twice these days.
If you have a Z-Working visa and want to extend it, you must leave the country first. So for those with jobs here, teaching most likely, they opt to find jobs elsewhere instead of paying for a return flight just so they can stay in a country that doesn't seem to want them.
F-Business visas were once the bribe visa for every expat. An F visa can be for 6 months or a year, can be multiple entry and was once upon a time easy to extend. No longer. F visas are now gold. If you have one (hehehe) you be chillin. If you don't, then you are trying to get one. By flying to Hong Kong or whatever.
L-Tourism visas are still not that bad, but now you have to show 3000USD in cash to the authorities (100USD per day for a 30 day extension HAHAHAHAHAHA!) or provide a bank statement to the same tune.
So not only is the visa situation getting a little stricter, which is a pain in the ass for all those who have been lounging here in China, but it is STILL as arbitrary and capricious as ever. This is actually what is most frustrating.
In Chengdu, they will throw the book at you. In Leshan, they stamp yer visa in 20 minutes. Or vice versa. No PSB official has any clue what will happen in the next few weeks, as all depends on decrees from on high, so all rules are subject to change without notice.
So what this means is that China, in the name of security, is tossing out all crackers or at least restricting access. Now this in and of itself is no big deal, it is what should be going on: doing things by the rules. But these rules are all bullshit because they only apply here and there and between the hours of X and X and (hello) its the Olympics. Last I heard they were supposed to be Games for the world to get down with each other.
And another thing:
China "demanded" that all foreign TV networks have a 10 second delay on their coverage of the Games, to minimize the effect of any ... unwanted visitors. From what I have heard the networks said "eat poo and expire."
And another thing:
This whole Olympics thing is all about Chinese athletes winning enough gold medals to beat the USA so all Chinese on the Mainland can gain face. No matter what the cost. So athletes are imprisoned in large complexes and fed lord knows what so they can fulfill an adolescent, insecure, anxiety driven need to win ... medals ... so they can tell everybody:
"Look! We are the ones with the most medals! That means we're the Big Man in Charge now! It confirms everything the Grand CCP has been telling us for all these years!"
All this Olympics stuff has nothing to do with the international community per se. Its about China telling China that China is the Bomb and having foreigners hold a mike to the conversation and tell other foreigners what they heard.
And believe me. If China does not win all the medals or anything happens to "make poor China lose face" then all hell will break loose.
********************************* oh yeah? ***********************************
I am an American citizen, so I have enjoyed being a member of the gold-medal havin-est nation in the world. So:
If I were Chinese and I have
-- helped pull myself and 300 million of my brothers and sisters out of poverty in less than 20 years
-- exploded onto virtually every scene in the world, from oil exploration to space flight to pianists to college house parties
-- enjoyed 20 years of political stability (no mean feat for a nation of this size and scope)
-- given 1.3 billion people a TV, shoes, electricity, education and so on, all the basics
AND STILL have to deal with all sorts of hypocritical white people telling me what to do, how to do it, watching my every move, non-stop shit-talkin about everything I do, stealin my damn women(!) and other annoying things, well
I would hold a party for me and mine too, and to hell with whitey and what he thinks.
China is probably thinking to itself right now: Fuck Whitey, Lets Party!
And who can blame em ...
If you have a Z-Working visa and want to extend it, you must leave the country first. So for those with jobs here, teaching most likely, they opt to find jobs elsewhere instead of paying for a return flight just so they can stay in a country that doesn't seem to want them.
F-Business visas were once the bribe visa for every expat. An F visa can be for 6 months or a year, can be multiple entry and was once upon a time easy to extend. No longer. F visas are now gold. If you have one (hehehe) you be chillin. If you don't, then you are trying to get one. By flying to Hong Kong or whatever.
L-Tourism visas are still not that bad, but now you have to show 3000USD in cash to the authorities (100USD per day for a 30 day extension HAHAHAHAHAHA!) or provide a bank statement to the same tune.
So not only is the visa situation getting a little stricter, which is a pain in the ass for all those who have been lounging here in China, but it is STILL as arbitrary and capricious as ever. This is actually what is most frustrating.
In Chengdu, they will throw the book at you. In Leshan, they stamp yer visa in 20 minutes. Or vice versa. No PSB official has any clue what will happen in the next few weeks, as all depends on decrees from on high, so all rules are subject to change without notice.
So what this means is that China, in the name of security, is tossing out all crackers or at least restricting access. Now this in and of itself is no big deal, it is what should be going on: doing things by the rules. But these rules are all bullshit because they only apply here and there and between the hours of X and X and (hello) its the Olympics. Last I heard they were supposed to be Games for the world to get down with each other.
And another thing:
China "demanded" that all foreign TV networks have a 10 second delay on their coverage of the Games, to minimize the effect of any ... unwanted visitors. From what I have heard the networks said "eat poo and expire."
And another thing:
This whole Olympics thing is all about Chinese athletes winning enough gold medals to beat the USA so all Chinese on the Mainland can gain face. No matter what the cost. So athletes are imprisoned in large complexes and fed lord knows what so they can fulfill an adolescent, insecure, anxiety driven need to win ... medals ... so they can tell everybody:
"Look! We are the ones with the most medals! That means we're the Big Man in Charge now! It confirms everything the Grand CCP has been telling us for all these years!"
All this Olympics stuff has nothing to do with the international community per se. Its about China telling China that China is the Bomb and having foreigners hold a mike to the conversation and tell other foreigners what they heard.
And believe me. If China does not win all the medals or anything happens to "make poor China lose face" then all hell will break loose.
********************************* oh yeah? ***********************************
I am an American citizen, so I have enjoyed being a member of the gold-medal havin-est nation in the world. So:
If I were Chinese and I have
-- helped pull myself and 300 million of my brothers and sisters out of poverty in less than 20 years
-- exploded onto virtually every scene in the world, from oil exploration to space flight to pianists to college house parties
-- enjoyed 20 years of political stability (no mean feat for a nation of this size and scope)
-- given 1.3 billion people a TV, shoes, electricity, education and so on, all the basics
AND STILL have to deal with all sorts of hypocritical white people telling me what to do, how to do it, watching my every move, non-stop shit-talkin about everything I do, stealin my damn women(!) and other annoying things, well
I would hold a party for me and mine too, and to hell with whitey and what he thinks.
China is probably thinking to itself right now: Fuck Whitey, Lets Party!
And who can blame em ...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Read This
My MAN Rindy dropped it on this piece right here. I urge everybody to read it and pass it around. Send it to Obama's braintrust.
He is already beginning to betray us, everybody: Isreal vs. Iran, public financing, ethanol ... not complete sell out yet, but its early yet.
Obama needs to know that we are powerful and can get him in, but if he goes on transforming himself into the politician he ridiculed during the primary, he will lose.
He is already beginning to betray us, everybody: Isreal vs. Iran, public financing, ethanol ... not complete sell out yet, but its early yet.
Obama needs to know that we are powerful and can get him in, but if he goes on transforming himself into the politician he ridiculed during the primary, he will lose.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Blogger up in China!
Well i'll be damned. After all this time, China has decided(?) to let blogger do its thing. So i am visible in China. This is a good thing.
I am in shanghai now and chillin with my man Ferchak. I love his house. And his style too. A true gentleman scoundrel of the most elegant and sordid sort. Last night I went around Shanghai and enjoyed myself. From Attica on the Bund I smoked la and gazed at the skyline with my man Rizlee and his woman Candace. He has been the food writer for this area for years. Now he is headed off to Thailand -- or maybe south america -- to continue being a food critic (Q, if you read this, i know your dream).
Its hard work. eating, writing. thinking. eating. writing. maybe some drinks. thinking ...
Shanghai is very interesting, but nothing for me. There are thousands of foreigners here -- many of them very very young -- and it seems like a big college town on friday nights. reminds me of nights in Minneapolis drunkenly chasing drunkeness down the sidewalk to Santana's for burgers and fries. Shanghai has good burgers and fries at a place called Beaver that also has Rogue Beer (from OR) and Dead Guy Ale. But Shanghai aint got santana's.
There are beautiful women everywhere being targeted by a growing force of pirates, bush pilots and aces.
Its like if San Francisco were a football and you turned it inside out, so the Asians in the Bay were the majority ... but not as chill. So young. A very young city. A wanton woman in her 20s, defiantly throwing her skirt up at the male gaze.
yeah.
i actually encourage all young kids to roll through china and have as much sex and fun as possible. I did it. and now we pass each other in the revolving door of shanghai as i exit stage (P-town foo'!) west and they enter stage east.
i head back to the Dirty Du tomorrow and start bidding farewell. On wednesday i start working on the torch relay convoy.
I am in shanghai now and chillin with my man Ferchak. I love his house. And his style too. A true gentleman scoundrel of the most elegant and sordid sort. Last night I went around Shanghai and enjoyed myself. From Attica on the Bund I smoked la and gazed at the skyline with my man Rizlee and his woman Candace. He has been the food writer for this area for years. Now he is headed off to Thailand -- or maybe south america -- to continue being a food critic (Q, if you read this, i know your dream).
Its hard work. eating, writing. thinking. eating. writing. maybe some drinks. thinking ...
Shanghai is very interesting, but nothing for me. There are thousands of foreigners here -- many of them very very young -- and it seems like a big college town on friday nights. reminds me of nights in Minneapolis drunkenly chasing drunkeness down the sidewalk to Santana's for burgers and fries. Shanghai has good burgers and fries at a place called Beaver that also has Rogue Beer (from OR) and Dead Guy Ale. But Shanghai aint got santana's.
There are beautiful women everywhere being targeted by a growing force of pirates, bush pilots and aces.
Its like if San Francisco were a football and you turned it inside out, so the Asians in the Bay were the majority ... but not as chill. So young. A very young city. A wanton woman in her 20s, defiantly throwing her skirt up at the male gaze.
yeah.
i actually encourage all young kids to roll through china and have as much sex and fun as possible. I did it. and now we pass each other in the revolving door of shanghai as i exit stage (P-town foo'!) west and they enter stage east.
i head back to the Dirty Du tomorrow and start bidding farewell. On wednesday i start working on the torch relay convoy.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
it just keeps gettin thicker
ya'll don't even know.
I went to Hanyuan the other day and just got back in the Du. I was planning on staying a month there, but things didn't work out that way. On the way to Hanyuan I got a call from my man Philly in Beijing and he said:
"yo, that security job you wanted for the Olympics? well its on. Git yer ass to Shanghai with a suit on for an interview pronto."
I hung up and looked at Fraggle Beanmilk -- my companion and right hand fraggle -- and was about to say somethin, when the phone rang again:
"Herro! Is thees Ma Shan? We have big job fo U."
Now i get to write 15 stories about Chengdu over the next five weeks. Word is bond. So i will be on the road, protecting the torch with my Master Li Cuan (Philly gave him a job a month ago) and writing stories about the Du all the way up till the O-limp-iks. I was about to let Fraggle Beanmilk in on this, when the phone rang again. (i ain't playin):
"Herro! Is thees Ma Shan? We have big job for U."
Now they want me to write a BOOK on the Du -- tentatively titled: Laowais See Chengdu! Now I will probably change the title and all ...
And this all happened on the road to Hanyuan, where I am researching for a book on (secret shit can't let ya'll know).
So i finally get to Hanyuan, and here's what's goin on:
"Wang Tao's in the livin room, eatin cherry pie
Gramma Gongfu's in the kitchen pluckin chicken up to fry
Shiye's in the courtyard beatin up some budding hoz
I'm out front with Beanmilk feelin good down to my toes ...
Justa swingin ... Swingin ..."
(name that tune, and i'll buy you a scepter)
So you know. things is gettin deeper. My man Big Tenz thinks that a broad conflict is about to go down between China and the rest of the world, cuz China is playin hell with anyone who wants to come in/stay by being real pricks about the visa. Plus, of course all this recent nationalism and such ... and we can't neglect the various disasters and heavenly portents that spell doom for us all in 08.
Seems like i'll be in the thick of it. wish me evasive tactics.
When I get to a safe spot with herbs and coffee, I'll give you the low down on Hanyuan.
I went to Hanyuan the other day and just got back in the Du. I was planning on staying a month there, but things didn't work out that way. On the way to Hanyuan I got a call from my man Philly in Beijing and he said:
"yo, that security job you wanted for the Olympics? well its on. Git yer ass to Shanghai with a suit on for an interview pronto."
I hung up and looked at Fraggle Beanmilk -- my companion and right hand fraggle -- and was about to say somethin, when the phone rang again:
"Herro! Is thees Ma Shan? We have big job fo U."
Now i get to write 15 stories about Chengdu over the next five weeks. Word is bond. So i will be on the road, protecting the torch with my Master Li Cuan (Philly gave him a job a month ago) and writing stories about the Du all the way up till the O-limp-iks. I was about to let Fraggle Beanmilk in on this, when the phone rang again. (i ain't playin):
"Herro! Is thees Ma Shan? We have big job for U."
Now they want me to write a BOOK on the Du -- tentatively titled: Laowais See Chengdu! Now I will probably change the title and all ...
And this all happened on the road to Hanyuan, where I am researching for a book on (secret shit can't let ya'll know).
So i finally get to Hanyuan, and here's what's goin on:
"Wang Tao's in the livin room, eatin cherry pie
Gramma Gongfu's in the kitchen pluckin chicken up to fry
Shiye's in the courtyard beatin up some budding hoz
I'm out front with Beanmilk feelin good down to my toes ...
Justa swingin ... Swingin ..."
(name that tune, and i'll buy you a scepter)
So you know. things is gettin deeper. My man Big Tenz thinks that a broad conflict is about to go down between China and the rest of the world, cuz China is playin hell with anyone who wants to come in/stay by being real pricks about the visa. Plus, of course all this recent nationalism and such ... and we can't neglect the various disasters and heavenly portents that spell doom for us all in 08.
Seems like i'll be in the thick of it. wish me evasive tactics.
When I get to a safe spot with herbs and coffee, I'll give you the low down on Hanyuan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
