Absurdity, Allegory and China

Whether or not it is official I cannot say, but it appears as if Tianjin has gone to Plan B. I just received word that the odd-even vehicular restrictions will go into effect tomorrow, Wednesday, August 6, effective through August 15th. From 12:00 to 22:00 inside the outer ring road – though not including the [...]

[Read more →]

George Bush is coming to town. For fun. And Games too. And to speak, as well, on religious rights (or right, as in, “When he fumbles the ball he’s ambidextrous, but in the church softball league he bats right.”), or so it looks from here. A duck, lame or otherwise, in Beijing in August 2008 [...]

[Read more →]

In the latest dance of finger-pointing into empty space, the IOC has unveiled their newest strategy, which is actually an ESL Revisionist View of Recent History. As the flap continues over what the IOC was promised by BOCOG and China and what the IOC head, Jacques Rogge, actually meant to say about the censorship issue [...]

[Read more →]

It’s 5:05 AM, the day the Olympic Torch comes to my neighborhood in Tianjin. The sound checks have just begun, eight minutes before sunrise. The sound-checker’s voice seems tired, as it should. He was sound-checking until after 10 last night. Perhaps he camped out in the stadium overnight so he wouldn’t have to walk so [...]

[Read more →]

On the Chinese solar calendar Li Qiu, the Beginning of Autumn, falls this year on Thursday, August 7th (it’s always either the 7th, 8th or 9th). Should we look for a favorable change in winds and weather, and, if it happens, what would that mean? This is a test.

[Read more →]

One thing that has bothered me about the odd-even car usage rule in Beijing is that most people are claiming that it takes half the cars off the road, which is not true. Cabs, police, security of every stripe, special exemptions and Olympic vehicles ensure that the number falls well short of one-half. It has [...]

[Read more →]

The big news of the day is that China has broken the promise it made to hook the IOC and land the Olympics seven years ago. This is only news to those who believed that this could possibly have happened, though seven years out there was at least a modicum of hope that things might [...]

[Read more →]

The persistent pollution problem that has received so much press in the long run-up to the Olympics is claiming more and more press space as more and more press arrive in Beijing: “Where’s the sun? Where’re the mountains? Where’s the next building?” Don’t look for the assault to let up. It is after all, Huabei [...]

[Read more →]

From Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash in the NYT: One I.O.C. commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid further complicating the situation, said matter-of-factly that Chinese officials had “put a tourniquet” on the Olympics. “Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that [...]

[Read more →]

“The ultimate would be to compete in a couple more Olympics, hopefully break some world records and wind up my sports career with a couple of years in the WNBA.” –Marion Jones So much for dreams, Olympic or otherwise. Instead of attending the Beijing Olympics as a competitor, Marion Jones is serving six months in [...]

[Read more →]