Sorry. A lot has been going on that I don't care to write about at this moment, though I'm sure I will in the future.
Did see the movie Syecdoche, New York. I'm a huge Charlie Kaufman fan. At first, I was a bit disappointed (I think he needs to have Spike Jonze direct all of his work), but some of the writing in it is his best ever. I particularly like this speech from the minister near the end of the movie:
Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you'll never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it's what you create. Even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope for something good to come along. Something to make you feel connected, to make you feel whole, to make you feel loved. And the truth is I'm so angry and the truth is I'm so fucking sad, and the truth is I've been so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long have been pretending I'm OK, just to get along, just for, I don't know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own, and their own is too overwhelming to allow them to listen to or care about mine. Well, fuck everybody. Amen. from Synecdoche, New York Charlie Kaufman
And this quote at a funueral:
There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They're all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.
In reading about this movie on the internet I have more huge praise for Wikipedia. I looked up the MacArthur "Genius" Grant, browsed the list of recipients, randomly clicked a few names, and came upon the Dui Hua Foundation, which to this date sounds like the best, smartest, most well organized group aimed at improving things in China. Kudos to the Foudation for giving the grant to this dude. I want to get a job there.
China blocked YouTube again because someone posted some video of Chinese cops beating Tibetans again. Yawn. I wouldn't even know about it it wasn't for YouTube being blocked. Fucking retards bring more attention to themselves.
Feeling myself almost become old enough to be an artist. It's a lot like Jesus starting his ministry, ha ha.
Have lots of good sex lately with a smokin' little hottie....... No time to write (here at least). Ok, fine, here's a teaser: Her pussy is really sweet. I mean she really tastes sweet. I’m serious, it has a high sugar content. I’ve actually been contemplating whether it’s a more a dietary thing or like genetic. I mean, I don’t see her eating a lot of actual candy, so it could it be related to carbs? Would eating a lot of rice and/or noodles lead to a sweeter tasting pussy?
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Torn
I recently sort of started dating one of my students. We actually haven't even kissed yet, but otherwise it seems we are about a couple. This girl is one of the best-looking coolest girls at the school, in fact in discussion, Dean named her as the student he would most like to get with.
I'm not sure if it's this factor that has put myself and Dean in quite a spat at the moment (I haven't talked to him since Saturday), but fuck him, he's always got different girls around, and this girl specifically chose me. She approached me and asked to eat with me. I would never 'come on' to a student, so she had to make a pretty decent effort on her own part to make this happen.
Regardless of any of that, I really like this girl and I would be content to date just her. Problem being that my other 2 girlfriends, both of whom live in other cities, will both be visiting me in Beijing in the coming weeks. At first I freaked out thinking that both other girls would be here at the same time, but luck has it that one of them leaves 2 days before the other arrives.
Still, my long-term girlfriend is planning on staying for as long as 2 weeks here, and I can't imagine continuing this other relationship while I have a girl living with me for two weeks. This is going to be a tough situation to manage. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
This girl was dating a Korean guy last semester, and they always seemed all over each other, and she's a mature 20, so I assume that the V-Card shouldn't be an issue. If we start sleeping together within the next couple of weeks, I like this girl so much I would consider breaking up with my long-time girlfriend for her. Of course our relationship would need to evolve a bit, but I am terrified as to what will happen when "regular" girlfriend shows up.
From seeing this student every day in a familiar way, I've also got some good insight on the students' point of view. They've all seen Dean with several different girls, and know him for what he is (a player). I tried to warn him about this, but of course he was self-righteous and thought he knows far more about managing women than me. Oddly, Carl has flown under the radar, even though he has been far more prolific with the local ladies than Dean.
The fight came Saturday night when we were all out at a club in the city, and I was with this student. Of course it was far past normal dormitory curfew of 10:30pm, so this student... let's call her Sabrina... would have to sleep with us/me in some capacity. As it turned out, Dean had locked his key in his apartment, couldn't get in until the next day, and so was planning on sleeping on my sofa. With the Sabrina situation at hand, I remarked to him (when we were both drunk) that it was a stupid time for him to fuck up the keys thing, and he blew up at me, hence the "not talking in several days" situation.
I feel like ironing out all the details, but I've half-written this blog 3 times now, and I need to run at the moment, so I'm going to go ahead and post it, perhaps elaborate more on the "Sabrina" situation later.
I'm not sure if it's this factor that has put myself and Dean in quite a spat at the moment (I haven't talked to him since Saturday), but fuck him, he's always got different girls around, and this girl specifically chose me. She approached me and asked to eat with me. I would never 'come on' to a student, so she had to make a pretty decent effort on her own part to make this happen.
Regardless of any of that, I really like this girl and I would be content to date just her. Problem being that my other 2 girlfriends, both of whom live in other cities, will both be visiting me in Beijing in the coming weeks. At first I freaked out thinking that both other girls would be here at the same time, but luck has it that one of them leaves 2 days before the other arrives.
Still, my long-term girlfriend is planning on staying for as long as 2 weeks here, and I can't imagine continuing this other relationship while I have a girl living with me for two weeks. This is going to be a tough situation to manage. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
This girl was dating a Korean guy last semester, and they always seemed all over each other, and she's a mature 20, so I assume that the V-Card shouldn't be an issue. If we start sleeping together within the next couple of weeks, I like this girl so much I would consider breaking up with my long-time girlfriend for her. Of course our relationship would need to evolve a bit, but I am terrified as to what will happen when "regular" girlfriend shows up.
From seeing this student every day in a familiar way, I've also got some good insight on the students' point of view. They've all seen Dean with several different girls, and know him for what he is (a player). I tried to warn him about this, but of course he was self-righteous and thought he knows far more about managing women than me. Oddly, Carl has flown under the radar, even though he has been far more prolific with the local ladies than Dean.
The fight came Saturday night when we were all out at a club in the city, and I was with this student. Of course it was far past normal dormitory curfew of 10:30pm, so this student... let's call her Sabrina... would have to sleep with us/me in some capacity. As it turned out, Dean had locked his key in his apartment, couldn't get in until the next day, and so was planning on sleeping on my sofa. With the Sabrina situation at hand, I remarked to him (when we were both drunk) that it was a stupid time for him to fuck up the keys thing, and he blew up at me, hence the "not talking in several days" situation.
I feel like ironing out all the details, but I've half-written this blog 3 times now, and I need to run at the moment, so I'm going to go ahead and post it, perhaps elaborate more on the "Sabrina" situation later.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Things Ain't That Bad
Wide use of the PC is still really modern. The vast majority of us were alive in an era when they weren’t so widely used. The internet is still brand spanking new on the grand scale of human history.
Each day sees more information become more readily available to more people on planet than the day before. American technology developed under the 1st Amendment of the American Constitution is so obviously beneficial to mankind, that no repressive government can ignore it or eliminate it. Although the internet in China is slow, the “Great Firewall” of China ain’t that big of a deal if you can search in English (it must be infinitely more effective on blocking information in Chinese), and China continues to aggressively teach their kids English at a younger and younger age. Globalization melds the world together, and because of the internet, English is obviously the world’s language.
Many people may be out of a job at the moment, shit may seem expensive, Bush was a big idiot, but the planet Earth is really a zillion times better than 30 years ago. The industrial revolution was a long long time ago. The technological revolution was a decade or so ago. The information revolution was a few years ago. The positive revolutions continue to get more frequent. Why wouldn’t this be good news to the revolutionary.
I finished reading 1984 on the internet, (it’s public domain in Canada), and it really got me thinking about all that China politics stuff again. A lot of that book is eerily shockingly similar to modern China, albeit absurdist in the book. With all the flaws in the Party, I think the modern leaders really do have mostly good intentions for the future. But because of the invention of the internet, the availability of information, and the steady increase in the educated class, China is sure to be moving towards a more reasonable, benevolent, and successful state than anything Orwellian.
Each day sees more information become more readily available to more people on planet than the day before. American technology developed under the 1st Amendment of the American Constitution is so obviously beneficial to mankind, that no repressive government can ignore it or eliminate it. Although the internet in China is slow, the “Great Firewall” of China ain’t that big of a deal if you can search in English (it must be infinitely more effective on blocking information in Chinese), and China continues to aggressively teach their kids English at a younger and younger age. Globalization melds the world together, and because of the internet, English is obviously the world’s language.
Many people may be out of a job at the moment, shit may seem expensive, Bush was a big idiot, but the planet Earth is really a zillion times better than 30 years ago. The industrial revolution was a long long time ago. The technological revolution was a decade or so ago. The information revolution was a few years ago. The positive revolutions continue to get more frequent. Why wouldn’t this be good news to the revolutionary.
I finished reading 1984 on the internet, (it’s public domain in Canada), and it really got me thinking about all that China politics stuff again. A lot of that book is eerily shockingly similar to modern China, albeit absurdist in the book. With all the flaws in the Party, I think the modern leaders really do have mostly good intentions for the future. But because of the invention of the internet, the availability of information, and the steady increase in the educated class, China is sure to be moving towards a more reasonable, benevolent, and successful state than anything Orwellian.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cultural Imperialism Update
I was pleasantly surprised to discover Mountain Dew for the first time this week. I asked the name in Chinese, and it neither sounds anything like Mountain Dew, nor has a meaning anywhere near the same. Dean said it tastes slightly different than USA Mountain Dew.
Personally, I never really much liked Mountain Dew, and I'm holding off for the big victory, which will be Dr. Pepper. We found Dr. Pepper in one random place in Beijing at a pretty expensive price, but it certainly is not being marketed here at all. The sodas available everywhere are Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Seven-Up, and Orange Fanta. One time I found Cherry Coke in a foreign supermarket, and when I offered a taste to the Chinese girl with me, she gagged and almost vomited.
A couple weeks ago, I was ecstatic to find real Kellogg's Frosted Flakes at Wal-Mart for only 13rmb a box. This low price indicates that the cereal is now being made in China. Previously, I had purchased imported cereal for prices of up to 80rmb a box. Chinese people just don't eat cereal. Wal-Mart also had the most normal tasting (read: fresh) milk to go with that. Previously, any milk tasted like that evaporated, canned shit.
The first thing I was excited to see come here (last year) was Doritos, although I'm a little sick of them at this point since they still don't have Cool Ranch flavor. All they have is Nacho Cheesier and this new (probably) "made for China" flavor called "Rock Taco." The flavors of normal (Lays) potato chips are generally quite weird (fish flavors, etc.). Previously, I had seen imported Doritos for over 50rmb a big bag, but the Chinese-made bags sell for about 5rmb.
I will also be ecstatic when I see Burger King or Taco Bell. Shanghai had Burger King and I ate there as much as possible, but Beijing does not have one yet. They tried a Taco Bell in Shanghai, but I'm not sure if it's still there. KFC introduced this item eerily similar to Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme, but it's this "Sichuan-style" thing that is decidedly different from the Taco Bell item. I wish Chinese people could get into Mexican food, but it's just too dairy-heavy which is unnatural for Chinese (they like pizza, though! covered in cheese).
It's a slow process to take over a country with secret capitalistic corporate techniques, but the two MOST POPULAR things in China period are still the NBA and KFC. I joke that if Chinese people could vote, Kobe Bryant would be elected president quite quickly. Kobe and Lebron jerseys far outsell Yao Ming.
Personally, I never really much liked Mountain Dew, and I'm holding off for the big victory, which will be Dr. Pepper. We found Dr. Pepper in one random place in Beijing at a pretty expensive price, but it certainly is not being marketed here at all. The sodas available everywhere are Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Seven-Up, and Orange Fanta. One time I found Cherry Coke in a foreign supermarket, and when I offered a taste to the Chinese girl with me, she gagged and almost vomited.
A couple weeks ago, I was ecstatic to find real Kellogg's Frosted Flakes at Wal-Mart for only 13rmb a box. This low price indicates that the cereal is now being made in China. Previously, I had purchased imported cereal for prices of up to 80rmb a box. Chinese people just don't eat cereal. Wal-Mart also had the most normal tasting (read: fresh) milk to go with that. Previously, any milk tasted like that evaporated, canned shit.
The first thing I was excited to see come here (last year) was Doritos, although I'm a little sick of them at this point since they still don't have Cool Ranch flavor. All they have is Nacho Cheesier and this new (probably) "made for China" flavor called "Rock Taco." The flavors of normal (Lays) potato chips are generally quite weird (fish flavors, etc.). Previously, I had seen imported Doritos for over 50rmb a big bag, but the Chinese-made bags sell for about 5rmb.
I will also be ecstatic when I see Burger King or Taco Bell. Shanghai had Burger King and I ate there as much as possible, but Beijing does not have one yet. They tried a Taco Bell in Shanghai, but I'm not sure if it's still there. KFC introduced this item eerily similar to Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme, but it's this "Sichuan-style" thing that is decidedly different from the Taco Bell item. I wish Chinese people could get into Mexican food, but it's just too dairy-heavy which is unnatural for Chinese (they like pizza, though! covered in cheese).
It's a slow process to take over a country with secret capitalistic corporate techniques, but the two MOST POPULAR things in China period are still the NBA and KFC. I joke that if Chinese people could vote, Kobe Bryant would be elected president quite quickly. Kobe and Lebron jerseys far outsell Yao Ming.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Weekend
Friday night we went out in Sanlitun to meet some friends. I had to go score weed, so I left Dean and Carl to go meet my Nigerian drug dealer beforehand. I hate Beijing weed prices, and I got spoiled by the price and convenience of hooking up Marijuana in Sichuan province. Anyway, I met up with the guys at a house party thrown by a foreigner, and I almost wanted to vomit going in that place. In the apartment were probably two dozen people, and most of them were fat, ugly, loser foreign dudes with young, decent-looking Chinese chicks that wouldn't give them the time of day in their home country. I hate pricks like that.
Right before I arrived, the police had already visited apparently, telling them to keep it quiet. A fat, old, completely-out-of-touch-with-reality American was trying to sell me weed before I even rolled a joint. I've found lately that the better a foreigner's Chinese, the more of a loser he is. It's not very good motivation to learn Chinese.
Eventually I rolled a joint and we went in the hallway of the apartment building to smoke it. Here's the hilarious part: as me and a few other people are blazing right outside the apartment door, the police come again and walk straight past us, through a cloud of marijuana smoke -- to the apartment door without even blinking an eye. I don't think the cops had any idea what pot smells like.
Dean fell in love with this guy at the party, which he'll do from time to time. He sort of develops these man-crushes now and then. This particular guy was from England and seemed particularly dodgy and full of shit. About five second after meeting him, he claimed that he fucked Kate Moss back when he was a model. He also accidentally dropped that he was "rich," but didn't seem to have any money the whole night. At times he seemed like he could be an actual con artist.
But the guy said he knew how to get the "best coke" in Beijing, and we were bored so that sounded like an interesting plan. The bag was only 500rmb (not very high), but of course British dude didn't "have access" to his bank account, so I paid 400, and Dean paid 100. It was a tiny tiny tiny bag of Coke, and we split it 4 ways with a girl Dean had along (who had never tried it). That bag went so fast that we ended up buying ANOTHER, of which I paid for most of it again. Let it be noted that Dean paid me back his share days later.
We went to a bar at Sanlitun, and Dean ended up fucking his girl in the alley behind the club (she told him she had a fantasy about public fucking). I sat at a booth, trying to just keep to myself as Carl tried to chat up this chick in our group. I had met the girl once before and although extremely short and a bit pudgy, she's pretty nice-looking in the face. I did think, however, upon seeing her in the full light of the house party, that she looked a lot better in the dark light of clubs.
As Carl chatted to her I sat across from them ignoring them. She continued to lean over the table to attempt conversation with me, appearing bored of whatever Carl was saying to her. At this point the story becomes debatable because according to Dean and Carl, she wanted to fuck him for some time.
However, when we ended up back at her house later, she kept moving towards me and putting her hand on my thigh as Carl continuously moved towards her and tried to put his arm around her. Her roommate was a cool-seeming dude from Hong Kong, and when we mentioned that we had coke, he even agreed to try it with us. Again we went out in the hallway, and of course Carl (who doesn't do any drugs or smoke) stayed in the apartment with the girl.
As we were about to leave, Carl played this retarded "Can I crash on your couch?" trick, which forced me to call him out on it and humiliate him in front of her (the easiest way to get Carl's girls to throw themselves at me), but he ended up fucking her anyway (for the record she's a complete foreigner slut). Later he commented to Dean that I was "cockblocking" hard, which could be a reference to only the humiliation, or perhaps the fact that she (from my point of view) was obviously more interested in me than him.
Because we stayed up all night doing drugs on Friday, didn't end up going out on Saturday, and I constantly blew off every girl that texted me. Presently I have two girlfriends in other cities who text me at least every day, and one of Carl's students (virgin who I only made out with) who is desperately in love with me, and who I have to avoid constantly. The student I nailed immediately before the holiday (who has now slept with all 3 of us - Carl and Dean too) kept texting me, asking for my drug dealer's number so she could buy weed and ecstasy. Personally, I didn't feel great about giving her the number since I had introduced her to both things. Also, don't really want to see that crazy chick again. But she hooked up her drugs.
At this point, I absolutely cannot stand Carl. He is absolutely pathetic and despicable. He aggressively fucks tons of chicks off the internet. He fucks anything. He has no sense of humor, no charm. He fucks them as soon as possible and rarely sees them much after that. Yet, somehow I think that's mostly the choice of the girls and not his (I have been in the same room as him fucking before, and it isn't pretty).
I have no problem with guys "being excellent" in front of girls and banging tons of them. This guy does absolutely nothing excellent except for scheduling. And being white. And he's Canadian, not even American. In fact, I think the only thing he does excellent is *look and talk* like an American. I'm on the verge of banging another chick he hooked up, and it's SO easy once he brings them in. With me, him, and a female in the same room, it's unfair. I can make jokes.
I don't know how the guy is going to adjust when he goes back to California.
Right before I arrived, the police had already visited apparently, telling them to keep it quiet. A fat, old, completely-out-of-touch-with-reality American was trying to sell me weed before I even rolled a joint. I've found lately that the better a foreigner's Chinese, the more of a loser he is. It's not very good motivation to learn Chinese.
Eventually I rolled a joint and we went in the hallway of the apartment building to smoke it. Here's the hilarious part: as me and a few other people are blazing right outside the apartment door, the police come again and walk straight past us, through a cloud of marijuana smoke -- to the apartment door without even blinking an eye. I don't think the cops had any idea what pot smells like.
Dean fell in love with this guy at the party, which he'll do from time to time. He sort of develops these man-crushes now and then. This particular guy was from England and seemed particularly dodgy and full of shit. About five second after meeting him, he claimed that he fucked Kate Moss back when he was a model. He also accidentally dropped that he was "rich," but didn't seem to have any money the whole night. At times he seemed like he could be an actual con artist.
But the guy said he knew how to get the "best coke" in Beijing, and we were bored so that sounded like an interesting plan. The bag was only 500rmb (not very high), but of course British dude didn't "have access" to his bank account, so I paid 400, and Dean paid 100. It was a tiny tiny tiny bag of Coke, and we split it 4 ways with a girl Dean had along (who had never tried it). That bag went so fast that we ended up buying ANOTHER, of which I paid for most of it again. Let it be noted that Dean paid me back his share days later.
We went to a bar at Sanlitun, and Dean ended up fucking his girl in the alley behind the club (she told him she had a fantasy about public fucking). I sat at a booth, trying to just keep to myself as Carl tried to chat up this chick in our group. I had met the girl once before and although extremely short and a bit pudgy, she's pretty nice-looking in the face. I did think, however, upon seeing her in the full light of the house party, that she looked a lot better in the dark light of clubs.
As Carl chatted to her I sat across from them ignoring them. She continued to lean over the table to attempt conversation with me, appearing bored of whatever Carl was saying to her. At this point the story becomes debatable because according to Dean and Carl, she wanted to fuck him for some time.
However, when we ended up back at her house later, she kept moving towards me and putting her hand on my thigh as Carl continuously moved towards her and tried to put his arm around her. Her roommate was a cool-seeming dude from Hong Kong, and when we mentioned that we had coke, he even agreed to try it with us. Again we went out in the hallway, and of course Carl (who doesn't do any drugs or smoke) stayed in the apartment with the girl.
As we were about to leave, Carl played this retarded "Can I crash on your couch?" trick, which forced me to call him out on it and humiliate him in front of her (the easiest way to get Carl's girls to throw themselves at me), but he ended up fucking her anyway (for the record she's a complete foreigner slut). Later he commented to Dean that I was "cockblocking" hard, which could be a reference to only the humiliation, or perhaps the fact that she (from my point of view) was obviously more interested in me than him.
Because we stayed up all night doing drugs on Friday, didn't end up going out on Saturday, and I constantly blew off every girl that texted me. Presently I have two girlfriends in other cities who text me at least every day, and one of Carl's students (virgin who I only made out with) who is desperately in love with me, and who I have to avoid constantly. The student I nailed immediately before the holiday (who has now slept with all 3 of us - Carl and Dean too) kept texting me, asking for my drug dealer's number so she could buy weed and ecstasy. Personally, I didn't feel great about giving her the number since I had introduced her to both things. Also, don't really want to see that crazy chick again. But she hooked up her drugs.
At this point, I absolutely cannot stand Carl. He is absolutely pathetic and despicable. He aggressively fucks tons of chicks off the internet. He fucks anything. He has no sense of humor, no charm. He fucks them as soon as possible and rarely sees them much after that. Yet, somehow I think that's mostly the choice of the girls and not his (I have been in the same room as him fucking before, and it isn't pretty).
I have no problem with guys "being excellent" in front of girls and banging tons of them. This guy does absolutely nothing excellent except for scheduling. And being white. And he's Canadian, not even American. In fact, I think the only thing he does excellent is *look and talk* like an American. I'm on the verge of banging another chick he hooked up, and it's SO easy once he brings them in. With me, him, and a female in the same room, it's unfair. I can make jokes.
I don't know how the guy is going to adjust when he goes back to California.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
It's Hard Not to Love Chinese Copyright Laws
In case you didn't figure it out, any Chinese person is able to download any music, movie, or video game free and easily. When I buy a pirated DVD for 5rmb (less than $1), they laugh at me for paying too much. The most popular Chinese search engine, Baidu.com, has a simple easy "MP3" button which will find you virtually any song to download for free. Go ahead and try Baidu outside of China -- I'm guessing it won't work for you.
It's hilarious that China puts so much effort into blocking internet content that is political or pornographic, while USA puts so much effort into blocking copyright infringement.
The new 2009 baseball game came out about a week ago (MLB 09 The Show), and I downloaded it already and quickly and easily put it on my PSP. Of course the game didn't work at first, so I had to update the PSP software (also easy). PSP is so awesome. I can't believe it was a failure in USA. It seems that everyone with any cash in China bought one. If you ride on the Beijing subway for any amount of time, you will surely see several PSPs. Chinese can download any PSP game for free in a matter of minutes and put it on the memory stick. My currently memory stick can hold 3, almost 4 games. The rest of the games sit on my PC's hard drive. Of course virtually every computer in China has pirated Windows XP on it. No Chinese person could imagine shelling out $200 for a Windows OS.
Of course Dean can't get free music onto his iPod. Apple is so smart. You can buy a Chinese MP3 for cheap and put any free music on it, but an iPod is useless here unless you actually want to keep paying for music.
While the Tiananmen Square Wikipedia page remains blocked here, millions of dollars of intellectual property are freely available on the Chinese internet.
It's hilarious that China puts so much effort into blocking internet content that is political or pornographic, while USA puts so much effort into blocking copyright infringement.
The new 2009 baseball game came out about a week ago (MLB 09 The Show), and I downloaded it already and quickly and easily put it on my PSP. Of course the game didn't work at first, so I had to update the PSP software (also easy). PSP is so awesome. I can't believe it was a failure in USA. It seems that everyone with any cash in China bought one. If you ride on the Beijing subway for any amount of time, you will surely see several PSPs. Chinese can download any PSP game for free in a matter of minutes and put it on the memory stick. My currently memory stick can hold 3, almost 4 games. The rest of the games sit on my PC's hard drive. Of course virtually every computer in China has pirated Windows XP on it. No Chinese person could imagine shelling out $200 for a Windows OS.
Of course Dean can't get free music onto his iPod. Apple is so smart. You can buy a Chinese MP3 for cheap and put any free music on it, but an iPod is useless here unless you actually want to keep paying for music.
While the Tiananmen Square Wikipedia page remains blocked here, millions of dollars of intellectual property are freely available on the Chinese internet.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Subversive Political Tactics & Last Weekend
On a side note, it's always been a sort of weird goal to become a cult leader. When preaching certain ideologies I find to be true, I feel like I'm recruiting.
Almost unrelated (yet some how absolutely related), I define my political ideology as radical moderate as a joke, but you would probably define me as extremely liberal (though I still carry a few views held by the extremely liberal people in my hometown). Regardless of any of this, I along with most Americans, hold two things to be absolutely true beyond any debate: 1) the U.S. Constitution is nearly perfect and should be copied/borrowed from by as many nations as possible around the world 2) USA saved the world from evil during WWII, which gives us some extra rights around the world...
With those two truths in mind, we can talk all the shit we want about how fucked up USA is at this point in time. Except that we actually elected a black guy as president. That is awesome and I really hope the place can get better (then maybe I'll come back, ha ha). 10 years ago I couldn't imagine a black guy getting elected.
Although my status as a Chinese taxpayer (I work in China, a decent chunk of my salary goes straight to the Communist Party) makes me more Chinese now, in some ways, I'm still an extremely patriotic American deep down. I'm just so good at playing the devil's advocate, that I can hide my true opinion until the moment I nail you in a debate (that is if you're a Chinese person speaking English, it's a bit unfair). Middle-aged men always want to talk politics at "English Corner" (Chinese events where they go to practice speaking English), so I love owning them if they try. I don't think they get so many Americans over hear who can debate politics like me. Most Americans living in China are huge douchebags.
That said, I've been reading 1984 and must vigorously endorse it to any Chinese whom with I discuss literature. I think this is a good article for debate, especially now that it's over 10 years old:
http://www.geocities.com/mstkg/sysart.htm
Basically, I practice subversive techniques at subtly manipulated minds towards more Western thinking, perhaps helping them move away from traditionalism that keeps the Party in power. Maybe I don't make a difference at all, but I'm sure 1000s of people like me certainly would.
Anyway, went out last weekend. This 18-year-old student, Amy kept calling, so I finally agreed to see her. I'd been avoiding her since before the holiday, but she managed to deliver the news that I impregnated her and gave her an STD. More about her later when I finally get around to recapping my Spring Festival.
I've really been feeling guilty lately about my girlfriend, so I really didn't want to fuck her. But we went out and she really wanted it all night. Instead I passed her off to Dean. Of course he tried to get me to fuck her with him, or switch off, but I made sure to avoid them at all costs once I made the hand off.
So both Dean and Carl got laid last weekend (I know Dean by at least 3 different girls), but I've got a girlfriend, and I'm not quite as into banging as many chicks as possible as these guys, but they can write their own blogs if they want. I could give you all the details I get, but that would just be lame.
Almost unrelated (yet some how absolutely related), I define my political ideology as radical moderate as a joke, but you would probably define me as extremely liberal (though I still carry a few views held by the extremely liberal people in my hometown). Regardless of any of this, I along with most Americans, hold two things to be absolutely true beyond any debate: 1) the U.S. Constitution is nearly perfect and should be copied/borrowed from by as many nations as possible around the world 2) USA saved the world from evil during WWII, which gives us some extra rights around the world...
With those two truths in mind, we can talk all the shit we want about how fucked up USA is at this point in time. Except that we actually elected a black guy as president. That is awesome and I really hope the place can get better (then maybe I'll come back, ha ha). 10 years ago I couldn't imagine a black guy getting elected.
Although my status as a Chinese taxpayer (I work in China, a decent chunk of my salary goes straight to the Communist Party) makes me more Chinese now, in some ways, I'm still an extremely patriotic American deep down. I'm just so good at playing the devil's advocate, that I can hide my true opinion until the moment I nail you in a debate (that is if you're a Chinese person speaking English, it's a bit unfair). Middle-aged men always want to talk politics at "English Corner" (Chinese events where they go to practice speaking English), so I love owning them if they try. I don't think they get so many Americans over hear who can debate politics like me. Most Americans living in China are huge douchebags.
That said, I've been reading 1984 and must vigorously endorse it to any Chinese whom with I discuss literature. I think this is a good article for debate, especially now that it's over 10 years old:
http://www.geocities.com/mstkg/sysart.htm
Basically, I practice subversive techniques at subtly manipulated minds towards more Western thinking, perhaps helping them move away from traditionalism that keeps the Party in power. Maybe I don't make a difference at all, but I'm sure 1000s of people like me certainly would.
Anyway, went out last weekend. This 18-year-old student, Amy kept calling, so I finally agreed to see her. I'd been avoiding her since before the holiday, but she managed to deliver the news that I impregnated her and gave her an STD. More about her later when I finally get around to recapping my Spring Festival.
I've really been feeling guilty lately about my girlfriend, so I really didn't want to fuck her. But we went out and she really wanted it all night. Instead I passed her off to Dean. Of course he tried to get me to fuck her with him, or switch off, but I made sure to avoid them at all costs once I made the hand off.
So both Dean and Carl got laid last weekend (I know Dean by at least 3 different girls), but I've got a girlfriend, and I'm not quite as into banging as many chicks as possible as these guys, but they can write their own blogs if they want. I could give you all the details I get, but that would just be lame.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Last Night
Carl found out there was some Chinese bands playing Oasis songs at a concert house in Beijing, so I agreed to go. He found out about the even from a Beijing girl he met on the internet. He initially called the girl a B-Teamer, but upon meeting her, I thought she was pretty hot. This is why I think that rating system is pretty flawed.
Anyway, Carl has met a lot of girls on the internet. He’s a big fan of Chinabounder, and seems to have made it his mission while here for a year to fuck as many girls as possible. Because of certain personality traits and quirks, I feel that it’s extremely easy for me steal a girl that Carl initially meets, due to certainly personality traits. Primarily, he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, so when I get thrown in the mix and get everyone laughing, I think I come off pretty good.
The reason I mention this is that about 2 months ago, Carl met a girl named Emily on the subway. Emily is an 18-year-old student Beijing native. Carl seemed to like Emily quite a bit more than most of the girls he meets. The girl seemed extra cool in a lot of ways and has an pretty extensive knowledge of music for an 18-year-old Chinese girl. The first time I met her, she made reference to the Plastic Ono Band.
The trick is that as soon as myself, Carl, and any girl are in the same room, I just have to sort of ‘put him in his place’ and the girl will instantly want to upgrade. Females are super-sensitive to the alpha male in their midst and are instinctively drawn to him.
The second time I met Emily, I was out at Nanjie at Sanlitun with Dean and some other people when Carl brought out Emily and one of her friends. When they arrived to sit at our table, Emily seemed to make special effort to sit by me and not Liam. Within 15 minutes of sitting down, her hand was between my legs and she straight-up asked me if I wanted to sleep with her.
Blah blah blah, I fucked her that night and several times after, Carl was a little upset at first, but fuck him he’s with a different girl every night.
Anyway, this new girl Liam brought out last night… I felt the same sort of vibe a bit (though not as strong as with Emily), and I think if I wanted to screw my friend again, I could jack this chick from him too (he fucked both of them already, what does he care? I don’t mind his sloppy seconds).
Anyway, Carl has met a lot of girls on the internet. He’s a big fan of Chinabounder, and seems to have made it his mission while here for a year to fuck as many girls as possible. Because of certain personality traits and quirks, I feel that it’s extremely easy for me steal a girl that Carl initially meets, due to certainly personality traits. Primarily, he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, so when I get thrown in the mix and get everyone laughing, I think I come off pretty good.
The reason I mention this is that about 2 months ago, Carl met a girl named Emily on the subway. Emily is an 18-year-old student Beijing native. Carl seemed to like Emily quite a bit more than most of the girls he meets. The girl seemed extra cool in a lot of ways and has an pretty extensive knowledge of music for an 18-year-old Chinese girl. The first time I met her, she made reference to the Plastic Ono Band.
The trick is that as soon as myself, Carl, and any girl are in the same room, I just have to sort of ‘put him in his place’ and the girl will instantly want to upgrade. Females are super-sensitive to the alpha male in their midst and are instinctively drawn to him.
The second time I met Emily, I was out at Nanjie at Sanlitun with Dean and some other people when Carl brought out Emily and one of her friends. When they arrived to sit at our table, Emily seemed to make special effort to sit by me and not Liam. Within 15 minutes of sitting down, her hand was between my legs and she straight-up asked me if I wanted to sleep with her.
Blah blah blah, I fucked her that night and several times after, Carl was a little upset at first, but fuck him he’s with a different girl every night.
Anyway, this new girl Liam brought out last night… I felt the same sort of vibe a bit (though not as strong as with Emily), and I think if I wanted to screw my friend again, I could jack this chick from him too (he fucked both of them already, what does he care? I don’t mind his sloppy seconds).
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The things that come to your head at odd times
So much business these days is done by selling freedom from admittedly imposed annoyance, I thought as I waited another 45 seconds before the next free porn video was allowed to download. These damn free download sites have all these damn restrictions on the free users, and of course they want you to pay something and upgrade to a premium user and they stop annoying you. All this free software is like that. The world is improved by allowing the world the use of their product or service for free, yet they reserve the right to annoy you unless you give them some money. Capitalism at its best. TV isn’t that different. It’s free, but you’re forcibly annoyed by commercials. Of course you can pay for premium TV with no commercials.
In Chinese, they call them "yellow movies," with the color referring to their skin color, similarly to the term "skin flick." Although illegal here, most young people (even girls) admit to having downloaded some (some more than others...)
Welcome
I am an American guy living in Beijing. I am in my late 20s.
I finally got around to creating another blog, and it can now be 100% anonymous. I couldn't believe how fast that last blog got my ass in hot water when I stupidly used some real first names.
I went on a Wikipedia bender today (Wikipedia Bender: when you uncontrollably click through and open new windows on any pages that seems interesting and keep reading random articles all day). After first veering through recently familiar paths involving linguistics (checkout Klingon and Lojban), I happened on a page about Aztec culture and found their attitudes towards slavery quite striking:
I finally got around to creating another blog, and it can now be 100% anonymous. I couldn't believe how fast that last blog got my ass in hot water when I stupidly used some real first names.
I went on a Wikipedia bender today (Wikipedia Bender: when you uncontrollably click through and open new windows on any pages that seems interesting and keep reading random articles all day). After first veering through recently familiar paths involving linguistics (checkout Klingon and Lojban), I happened on a page about Aztec culture and found their attitudes towards slavery quite striking:
Slaves or tlacotin also constituted an important class. Aztecs could become slaves because of debts, as a criminal punishment or as war captives. A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. However, upon becoming a slave, all of the slave's animals and excess money would go to his purchaser. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they had children with or were married to their masters. Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.
Point is, seems like a decent policy to me. I'm just curious what happens with slave-slave babies. I assume they get owned by the master, so maybe that would be pretty unfair, but I'd advocate the rest of it.
Need to write something every day, so if you read it and think it's interesting or hate me, let me know.
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