I started and finished Mr China this afternoon. To sum it up, anything completely unfathomable in a business sense is possible, and probably happened last week in China. Incredible, oh so true, and funny as hell. People will take a lot of shite for 1.3 billion plus potential consumers.
Here’s another thought: if Candid Camera were to start filming again amidst this craze for ‘reality TV’, how many lawsuits would they face within their first week of filming? I don’t think programmes like Candid Camera could survive in the American climate today.
I wonder if they have to worry about being threatened with defamation lawsuits: Bloggers Fighting Government Regulations (I predict we haven’t seen the last of the Singapore government trying to control personal websites).
Via my sister, I hope everyone signs this very important Tom Cruise / War of the Worlds boycott petition. (Update: a second boycott is here. I’ve closed comments for now. This old post is getting attention I had not imagined.
我的面子比你的生命重要 (wo de mian zi bi ni de sheng ming zhong yao, or saving my face is more important than your life): “Their sons and daughters must go on dying in the quagmire so the neocons can find a way out that doesn’t involve losing too much face.” — Billmon
The lady doth protest too much, methinks: “Simple tricks alone would only rouse anger and revulsion for they lack real respect for and understanding of a culture.” — Improper commercials come one after another, why?
- had an early dinner at the Big Belly Sichuan restaurant
- watched a few episodes of Frasier
- went to an 18th birthday party at Georgie and Gary’s (and as we all agreed, our chances of going to more 18th birthdays in future were rather slim)
- dragged Neil home from Park Latin far too late
- had cheap soupy noodles for lunch
- had a cold Coke Light at Georgie and Gary’s (I detest diet drinks, they taste bad, but that’s all they had that was cold)
- had dinner at Havana (where the prices of their steaks have gone up quite significantly over the last 18 months)
- watched Sin City (that was fun, Clive Owen’s quite hot, eh, but watching Jessica Alba snog Bruce Willis was a bit creepy)
- watched a few episodes of Frasier
Here’s a thought: if Taiwan is considered a province of China, renegade or otherwise, why do Taiwanese-owned cars in China have to use black licence plates?
(Black plates are reserved for non-Chinese nationals only.)
I seem to be as busy now as I ever was, if not more. I think it’s something to do with only one computer possessing an Internet connection and two people trying to work on it. Therefore, there is no time to go and buy the equipment necessary for establishing a network, then sorting out the ICS thingy.
Update: we are now proud owners of a wireless network. Of course, my computer is the one still connected to everything in order for the wireless to, er, work.
Hehe. Revenge of the Sith meets Chinese subtitles translated into English.
Ah, I get it now. The casinos Integrated Resorts were not approved to rejuvenate the tourism industry, no no no, it was to create jobs for the MRT! These dastardly public transportation conspiracies…
(I think the MRT is very handy. I am so out of touch, though, I’ve not even been on that line that takes one through Clarke Quay and Little India — well, I may have, once, but I forget.)
The Christian Science Monitor reports on the opening up and shutting down of pop culture imports from the West.
In China, foreign-culture imports are carefully watched and vetted. No organized initiatives, no serious advertising, no creation of media fads or buzz can take place without party approval. Fads are pushed, experimented with, and sometimes abandoned if their popularity becomes too great or worrisome.
They mention that jazz dried up after it lost official approval. The Jazz Bar in Xiamen apparently had to stop playing jazz and imported a Filipino cover band because they had no business. I’m not sure why bad Chinese techno nightclubs are not frowned upon more; maybe the techno is a mind-control device. Quick, someone play it backwards and tell me what it says.
The other thing is sports.
China’s national in-line skating champion Liu Min says he was a member of a club in Shandong when a sports ministry official selected him to train seven years ago for in-line skating. “I was a martial-arts fanatic for a long time, until I was chosen for training. I’m really glad that happened,” he says.
There is a windsurfing scene in Xiamen, but I’m told not to bother mentioning it on What’s On Xiamen, because the instructor is only allowed to coach those who have been ‘selected’ as having competitive potential. I guess the rest of you guys might as well stay at home and hit the books, since the ‘fad’ of extreme and water sports is bound to fade (the Chinese government knows that sports like skateboarding emphasise aggressive independence and freedom, don’t they?). Why not just concentrate on something that will always be valued — good exam results.
As I’m writing this, I’m beginning to see very close parallels with another country, this desire to ‘guide’ social trends and fads. No prizes for guessing.
“The time has come for Democrats to fight back.” — Democrats, don’t put muzzle on Dean
This is the real fallout from the ‘not guilty’ verdict — Michael Jackson may try to resurrect his career.
Official entries to the WordPress plugin competition are now in, and some of them look damned handy.
It is perhaps appropriate that I purchased and watched A Dirty Shame yesterday. It’s the latest film directed by John Waters (which should tell you everything you need to know about the type of film it is). I, on the other hand, had not realised it was a John Waters film until the credits rolled, so imagine my delight.
It’s not really a film that can be spoiled in any way, so here’s what it’s about. It’s about sex addicts, starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, Chris Isaak, and Selma Blair. John Waters sets up situations (accidental concussions spark a complete loosening of inhibitions and the sufferers begin to openly indulge their deepest, darkest fetishes) and it all just goes crazy. Like all his films I’ve seen thus far (Cry-Baby, Polyester, Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living), it’s rude and shocking, but it’s not in any way pornographic. No where is there in-your-face nudity (a bloke’s arse is shown at one point and Selma Blair’s prosthetic boobs come out to play — update: on a second viewing, there were two scenes of full frontal nudity, but they were so ridiculous and it felt completely non-sexual to me), nowhere is there sexual intercourse (but there are fully-clothed simulations), but what perhaps flies in the face of ‘public decency’ is an open acceptance (? perhaps more like acknowledgement) of sexual diversity and fetish. S&M doesn’t even get a mention here, it’s probably too vanilla.
The core aim of the movie, it appears, especially in the cast and crew interviews, is to bring to the (over 17 years of age) public’s attention the fact that sex between consensual partners is not bad or evil or dirty, it just is what it is. Although this film confronts a US audience, I think this applies to Singapore too, where homosexuals (especially men) are now being discriminated against ‘for their own good’ (no public parties, no casual sex, no HIV — QED?) and where a girl’s nude, non-gynaecological photo is the talk of the town. Our public face is this Pleasantville-like facade, and not so far under the surface lurk diverse opinions, dreams, and desires, sexual or otherwise. We may not need to approve, on a personal level, every single thing, but we at least need to acknowledge they exist and not pretend that if we ignore or ban them, they will go away.
I do agree with the Big Ethel character that sometimes political correctness can go too far, though.
All in all, a good film and it made me laugh, especially to see Tracey Ullman be a ‘cunnilingus bottom’ addict.
(Plus I think Chris Isaak is hot.)