Mark Rowswell, aka Dashan, is a white Canadian guy with a real knack for speaking Mandarin Chinese. His Mandarin is said to rival that of a native speaker. But what propelled Mr. Rowswell to stardom is his ability to entertain audiences by telling funny stories in which he assumes the voices of the various characters. Thanks to the power of television, Mr. Rowswell is a household name in the PRC, although he is still virtually unknown outside of the country.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people, that’s who.
Lin Dan, badminton champion, is on his way to rock star status through a combination of good looks (relatively speaking) and an ever-growing reputation as a bad boy.
Witness some of the edgy — some would say unsportsmanlike — conduct that is drawing legions of fans to the formerly obscure world of top-level badminton:
Mr. Lin is representing China at the Olympics. The suspense is killing me…
What do you do if you’re producing the Olympics opening ceremony and the powers that be decide that the little girl chosen to sing the “Ode to the Motherland” isn’t cute enough? Do you:
(a) tell the powers that be to go f*** themselves;
(b) keep the same little girl, but shoot her from far away;
(c) have a chorus of little girls sing the song; or
(d) have a more “acceptable” little girl lip-sync to a tape of the first little girl singing the song.
Russia’s attack on Georgia (or defense against Georgian aggression, if you buy the Russian version of events) using conventional weapons was preceded, and accompanied, by an ongoing series of cyberattacks that crippled key Georgian servers. Hardest hit were government, media, communications and transportation websites.
Here’s the Spanish Olympic basketball team in a photograph that they posed for before leaving for China:
Ching Chong China-Hombre!
Yes, they’re really pulling at the corner of their eyes.
What’s bizarre is that the picture was taken for a full-page ad appearing in Marca, Spain’s best-selling newspaper. I’m guessing they thought it was cute. Humorous. Good-natured fun.
Spain is learning their lesson the hard way — word is that the photograph may jeopardize Spain’s bid to host the Olympics in 2016 or 2020.
The incident reminds me of how, back in 1979, the US Navy was loooking for a popular music group to help in their recruiting efforts. As you may recall, they ended up picking the Village People.
An African American blogger wonders whether Asian Americans are the new Invisible Man. (The term “Invisible Man” comes from the title of a novel by African American novelist Ralph Ellison, and refers to the narrator’s feeling that he is not “seen” by white America.)
It’s easy to think of examples in which Asian Americans are left out of discussions about race in America. And when we’re included, it’s often as a back-handed criticism of other groups. (The underlying message – why can’t they be more like those hard-working, God-fearing, studious Asian Americans?)
But more than that — how many times have you felt like someone doesn’t really “see” you?
You’d think that someone who rose to fame by gaining Michael Jackson’s trust and then trashing him in the subsequently televised documentary would have already plumbed the depths of poor taste.
But not Martin Bashir!
Speaking to the Asian American Journalists Association, Mr. Bashir complimented the audience for including numerous ”Asian babes” who made him glad he was standing behind a podium to hide his erection.
In an apparent surprise to Mr. Bashir, his Asian ancestry provided no immunity from a charge that his remarks were offensive (in addition to being painfully unfunny).
Would your parents love you more if your grades were better? Would they love you less if your grades were worse?
I’ve never conducted a scientific survey. But I would bet a lot of money that the majority of Asian American kids would answer yes to both questions, and the majority of white kids would answer no.
How happy are you with yourself?
My guess is that an awful lot of AA kids would answer “not very.”
Hey — maybe that’s the secret to getting your kid to do well in school…
In 1955, an East German female university student named Renate Kleinle met a North Korean exchange student named Hong Ok Geun at an East German university. The couple married in 1960.
In 1961, North Korea ordered all of its exchange students in East Germany to return home, including Mr. Hong who had to leave his pregnant wife and 10-month-old son behind.
Mail communication was cut off in 1963. The next time Mrs. Hong heard from her husband was in 2007, when she received a letter from him.
A year later, Mrs. Hong and her two sons found themselves in Pyongyang for the long-awaited reunion, which lasted for 12 days.
Mr. Hong, following in the footsteps of countless other Korean men, had remarried and started a new family during the separation.
Mrs. Hong had not remarried.
Mr. Hong’s second wife reportedly had expressed interest in meeting the first Mrs. Hong. However, a last-minute illness prevented her from joining in the festivities.
