The 21th Floor

Here is an interesting bit of Chinglish / Engrish taken at a Beijing hotel in Zhongguancun (the Silicon Valley of Beijing as it were).





The twenty-firTH floor?

Ouch! Fist salute to the head.

I understand that the fist salute has a long Socialist and Communist history? Sorry though, reminds me of the People's Front of Judea's fist-to-the-head salute (painful!) in Monty Python's Life of Brian film.


Red Chinese Fist Salute Propaganda Video - Click here for the most popular videos

Wacky pirated DVD subtitles

As is well known, one can find DVDs at extremely low prices in China. It is often unclear if the DVDs of recent movies are pirated or not. Often though, the subtitles in English are quite funny. Not sure why technically, but it seems the pirates must re-enter subtitles and the English is very different from the actual speech or text. Here is an example from American Gangster:

* In the opening scene, Denzel and partners are dousing someone in gasoline. The victim screams "Damn!" or something. The subtitles say: "what damn". Then "damn of mix Zhang".

* The movie's title scrolls across the screen: "AMERICAN GANGSTER". The subtitles say: "name of movie: the United States be".

* "Based on a true story". The subtitles say "reorganize from the true story".

* When the mentor gangster is distributing Thanksgiving turkeys from a truck, the subtitles say: "Thanks-giving Day happiness".

* 1968 - Harlem. The subtitles say: "1968 year black living quarters".

* As the mentor gangster distributes turkeys from the truck, the subtitles say: "give you".

There is more. But that's all for now.

Location-based SMS text ads in China

Location-based SMS text ads have become quite pervasive in China. Verging on spam. Well, no they are spam. However, sometimes quasi-useful. For example, during a recent trip to the Great Wall of China, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text ad offering me a discount at a nearby hotel.

One also receives updates from China Mobile in terms of welcoming you to a new city (say Shanghai) with weather reports, etc.

2 penises brought to you by the letter "I"

You can see the strangest things on TV in China (and other parts of Asia). I have blogged (or at least uploaded videos) in the past with rough translations of faux medical product infomericals. So, my mind wandered into the gutter when I turned on the TV and saw a father and son set of blue penises eating ice cream. Well, of course, they were not penises, but the capital letter "I" and his son, lower-case "i".

Almost-post-industrial architecture in Taiwan

The almost-post-industrial architecture of Taiwan. This shot taken in Hsinchuang, Taipei County.

McDs delivers in Taiwan!

Following the lead of Dominoes Pizza and Pizza Hut in crowded Taiwan, McDonalds has started delivering by scooter as well. American fast food adapted to Taiwanese charateristics!

White furred cat

Mike the cat is quite good at spreading his white hair everywhere. Here he is shedding his fur on the black Miata:

Drawing from my childhood

When I was a kid, I loved to draw. Here is one of my drawings that my Dad just scanned up.

Bank of America (credit cards) sucks

After decades of banking with Bank of America and using their credit cards, I discovered, to my chagrin, that they were charging me an unbelievable 38% interest. They refused to lower that rate to the more reasonable, lower rates of my other cards.

So, I canceled the card.

Months later, got a notice of a credit of over US$140 on the card. No way on the hard copy to ask for the credit back (other credit card companies, upon cancellation, automatically mail you a check with the refund).

With this Bank of America credit card, however, the poor customer service was as follows:

• Refused to lower the interest rate.
• Fought me against cancellation.
• After cancellation, took 4 months to mail a notice of the credit.
• No way on the hard copy to ask for a check for the refund.
• I had to call the 800 number. No clear way to ask for a refund or speak to a human being.
• I then had to click on "report lost card" to get an option (FINALLY and counter-intuitively to have a refund check mailed which will take 7-10 days).

I will never bank with this horrible group again.

Chinese holidays - it's people! People!!!

Chinese, like all human beings, love to travel and love their holidays. However, given the population density in China, it is advisable NOT to travel during holidays and try to time your travel and vacationing when most of the 1.3 billion Chinese are working.

Then again, if you want to experience foot-to-foot crowds as dense as in the planet Gideon in Star Trek, then by all means go to China during their holidays.

This photo says it all:

Pumpkins a plenty (but less than in the past)!

My parents drive to a nearby local farm to buy pumpkins for Halloween each year. Blankenship Farms on Halls Hill Pike in Rutherford County near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Mr. Blankenship, 76 years old, lamented today that his harvest was not as robust as those in the near past due to climate change and erratic weather.

Asian Engrish # 1 - Candy Oiler

This guy is a Candy Oiler? Lost in translation?

Chocolate Taiwanese Rain! What a lightless pain...

Taiwanese rain! With no lights, I really feel the pain! Again...

Illegal vehicles for senior citizen scavengers in Taiwan

Taiwan presents itself - rightly so - as a high-tech powerhouse (such as the Bill Gates-laden ad on CNN now). However, some parts of the economy and society are still quite low-tech. Dare I say poor? It is frequent in Taiwan to see dilapidated, old and illegal (no license plate) motorized or pedal-powered vehicles such as these. Elderly men and women use such vehicles to scavenge Taiwan for recycleables such as cardboard.

Police don't seem to enforce traffic rules against these poor senior citizens - not sure if that is good or bad for society.

Youtube Spam e-mail count for today - 9

Maybe as punishment from the gods of spam for my comments about all the spam comments I am getting on Youtube, today I got 9 spam messages on various of my videos there. Spam such as:

"Hot college babes hangout on cam at >> _______________ DOT com <<"

"Get a hot date at > __________________ . COM <"

Really getting sick of these...

Youtube = Spamtube?

Is it just me or are the spam comments on Youtube getting outrageously many? For the last three weeks or so, I have been getting about four spam messages a day on my videos posted there. I don't have this problem elsewhere that I post such as Tudou or Revver. Get with it Google and Youtube!

Deal closed.

The China music site opportunity mentioned previously successfully raised financing.

"Support the One-child Policy!"

Support the Planned Reproduction (read: One-child) Policy! -- so says this governmental propaganda on the side of a fence. Fence of an apartment complex in Shenzhen, China.

Lubricants + Vibrated Condoms = Wacky Engrish

I prefer my condoms pre-vibrated, don't you?

Free HIV/AIDs tests for farmers in Shandong Province, China

I noticed this public service ad in a bathroom at a 4-star hotel in Jinan, Shandong Province. Glad to see this. Free HIV/AIDS testing poster for farmers. Lots of farmers in Shandong Province and some are sure to have been victim to the paid blood donation sort of scandal that has led to infections in Henan Province and other areas.

Donkey meat sandwiches + Tian Mou'er = Crazy Delicious

Some short videos of delicious Jinan-ese eats. Donkey meat sandwiches and "Tian Mou'er" porridge. Jinan is the capital city of Shandong Province.

"Jinan" means "white smog" in Chinese?

The air pollution in Jinan City (provincial capital of Shandong Province, China) is quite severe. White smog everywhere 24 hours a day...

Banned toothpaste - for free in hotels in China

As this video short indicates, toothpaste brands that have been identified in deaths in Panama (and banned elsewhere such as in Singapore) are readily available in China. Free to hotel guests at many hotels.

The brand is called "Hei Mei" or "Little Dark Sister" -- I think this is a play on Darlie toothpaste...

I bring my own toothpaste to China. Toothpaste not made in China. Want to avoid any chance of brushing my teeth with diethylene glycol.

Well, of course the Chinese Net Nannies are blocking this one...

Confirming this site is blocked from within Beijing (where I am right now).

Tibetan independence activist blogging inside Beijing

The president of Students for a Free Tibet is in Beijing right now, exactly one year ahead of the 2008 Olympics, vlogging and blogging about Tibetan sovereignty and being a general pain in the ass to the Chinese government.

Lhadon Tethong's liveblogging experiment is incredibly ballsy or incredibly foolhardy, depending on how you look at it -- hard to imagine this lasting long before authorities arrest, extradite, or take some other action to stop the activity.

Apparently, she's already attracted a group of official government "escorts".

Incidentally, Ms. Tethong's uncle is the most senior advisor to H.H. the Dalai Lama.

Link to "Beijing Wide Open" blog. Today's posts from her include an item about activists placing a giant "Free Tibet" banner on the Great Wall of China. (thanks, Oxblood and Nathan Freitas!)

posted by Xeni Jardin on August 7, 2007, 04:57 PM permalink | blogs' comments

Celebrating Mike Vaughn's birthday in Jinan, Shandong Province

Birthday cake with chopsticks!

Any Roman candles with that gas?

In the summertime in the American South, fireworks are sold legally. Sales in stores and temporary roadside tents are particularly robust in the run up to July 4th. I found it interesting that this gas station was also selling flammable firecrackers.

Buster's Burgers

The best hamburgers in Tennessee can be found at Buster's Place in Mufreesboro, Tennessee. These mana of Mufreesboro are juicy and large and inexpensive as is the beer.

Jim and I went there the other day and enjoyed burgers, fries and light beer. I took some photos.































Buster's has unique ceiling advertising:

一对 Mennonite 的夫妻

一对 Mennonite 的夫妻一边走路一边喝饮料.






Mennonites =

Mennonites, 一个新教徒宗教团体下降16 世纪再洗礼派教徒, 采取他们的名字从Menno Simons, 荷兰天主教教士被转换成再洗礼派教徒信念, 适度领导, 在狂热再洗礼派教徒王国好战的剩余以后 Munster (1534 年- 35), 恢复了平衡对运动。 他是活跃的在荷兰和并且开发了一以下在Holstein 里和沿更低的莱茵河和波罗地。

相信
700 个宗教主题我们的名单
电子邮件
Mennonites 拒绝了婴儿洗礼, 发誓誓言, 兵役, 和属于世间的性质。 他们实践了强的教会学科在他们的会众和居住简单, 诚实, 爱恋的生活在最早期的基督徒的仿效。 由Dordrecht 坦白1632 年总结, Mennonite 神学原则强调圣洁精神的直接影响对心脏信徒和圣经的重要, 以救世它的消息通过基督的存在的神秘经验在心脏。

由于Mennonites 拒绝承担状态办公室, 担当警察或战士, 或立下忠诚宣誓, 他们被认为了颠覆和当这样严厉地迫害了。 这些迫害在不同时候导致了Mennonite 小组的移出: 对美国殖民地(1683), 他们定居了在宾夕法尼亚的地方; 到俄国 (1788); 并且, 在20 世纪, 从俄国和北美洲向拉丁美洲。 在欧洲他们逐渐获取了宽容措施在荷兰, 瑞士, Palatinate, 和北德国。

在新世界Mennonites 分支入几个派别, (老) Mennonite 教会- 仍然最大- 是父母小组。 其它小组包括全体会议Mennonite 教会和Mennonite 教友教会。 Amish 教会, 被命名对于Jacob Ammann, 17 世纪瑞士Mennonite 主教, 遗骸的岛屿和保守。 旧秩序安曼人避免现代技术在种田和制造, 穿戴老被塑造的衣物由勾子紧固和眼睛代替按钮, 崇拜在私有家, 和继续讲德国英国混合物(宾夕法尼亚荷兰语) 。 保守的安曼人不同只在英国和主日学的他们的收养。 教会一起见面一次每6 年在Mennonite 世界会议。 美国Mennonites 主要地居住在宾夕法尼亚, 俄亥俄, 印第安纳, 和堪萨斯。重大数字并且住在加拿大。

一个惊喜生日派对

老爸的60周年的生日. 母亲,我,几个朋友安排了一个惊喜生日派对. 非常好玩.

Music Web site deal

A leading online music portal, led by a strong team of Internet, engineering, commercial and music professionals, is seeking venture capital support for expansion purposes in the world's largest Internet market (China). The firm endeavors to raise US$5 million; use of funds includes digital rights purchases and arrangements, marketing, domestic M&A, etc.

Note that this firm is open to commercial cooperation as well (leveraging their metrics / base below, advertising).

Some of the metrics surrounding the firm include the following:

* A registered user base of over 2,000,000 subscribers in China and Asia with up to 10,000,000 non-subscribing users.

* Over 10,000,000 page views a day.

* 100,000 amateur artists in China.

* Over 800,000 music fan bloggers.

Contact Details

Boyd R. Jones
E-mail: boyd.jones@gmail.com

猫吃老鼠

父母四只猫之一正在吃在附近田园打猎到的老鼠.

桥上火车

散步的地方的桥上的火车过去了. 美国的火车物流非常的有效率.

15英里

美国学校放学的时候开车的人都必须减速. 不可以超过一个小时15英里的速度.

Mike the Cat

老爸最喜欢的貌.

母亲斋菜

母亲斋菜因为我们要吃晚饭.

大卡车

美国郊外/乡下老百姓都爱开很大的卡车. 一方面是工作(如:运货)需要. 一方面是骄傲.

以后,中国的农民会不会一样?

与老爸在家附近散步

与老爸在家附近散步.

浇狗

不是浇花,是浇狗. 邻居的狗很喜欢我妈喷水给它们喝.

What is a .pdf?

There are interesting cultural differences between how Westerners approach potential investors and how Chinese approach the same. In this day and age, both often use e-mail for an initial approach. However, in China, .pdf files are not used. Would-be portfolio firms e-mail over Word (.doc) files galore with no thought to potential viruses that might be transmitted to investors. Furthermore, large, multi-megabyte PowerPoint (.ppt) files are sent clogging up investor e-mail inboxes.

Asking for executive summaries and .pdf files is met with blank stares and confusion by the masses of Chinese entrepreneurs looking for capital.

E-learning seminar video clips

Distance education and e-learning are taking off in China. The following are some video clips from a seminar held by iTech Holdings Limited on the subject.

"Focus Media" in taxis now

Focus Media ( 分众传媒 ; Nasdaq: FMCN) popularized LCD-screen enabled monitors in elevators and lobbies in China -- in commercial, office and residential properties. "Focus Media" fever has spread and such ad screens can be found in supermarket, trains, planes, and taxis in China.

Here are some photos from a new "Focus Media"-like ad screen service in taxis in Shenzhen. Thankfully, one is able to hit a mute button...