The morning after the night before

It was great to see Sandeep, Seb, 'Rooster' Briggs & 'My name is Gerry David'. I have never before learnt so much about increasing egg yields, parking in Marlow and how to make a fowl howl.

Commiserations: Le Coprophile & Monkey Boy

Waiting and wondering...

Where will we meet? Do we know the lie of the land? Or will we turn up like barefoot bumpkins at a shit-kicking tournament?

An Important Contribution...

...to understanding crayon culture.

Look, I can't help it...

...but in the last 24 hours, whenever I hear Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton on the radio, I swear she sounds more and more like ex Broadway singer Ethel Merman.

A Confederacy of War Whores

What worries me is that there are people who will be surprised by what this story ('Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand') from the NY Times has to say (try the multimedia show if you can't be arsed to read). Seduction isn't just a game played with one eye towards the bed.

How many Americans will recall Eisenhower's farewell address from 1961?

'...A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together...'

An earlier draft apparently used the term 'military-industrial-congressional complex'.

Beware the lens you view the world through

Torch Relay

I was reading the Wall Street Journal at HK airport on Wednesday, specifically a report about US athletes making pathetic comments about the games, human rights, boycotts, etc. The sad fact is that for various reasons (trade, diplomacy, hunger for sporting glory) we will kiss ass. Also, like the Chinese government, 'Western' governments are hypocrites when it comes to human rights (especially post 9/11 - just take a trip to Belmarsh nick if you can't fly to Cuba).

Yes, the Olympics are a great time to put pressure on authorities - think of 1968 in Mexico (the Tlatelolco Massacre of students demonstrating for political reform) or 1988 in Seoul (it's run-up saw the dictator President Chun ousted).

In the current climate, there is a combination of biased media on both sides, strong nationalism and no small degree of insecurity - as well as dollops of hypocrisy - the latter which the Chinese are especially smarting over (think Opium Wars, Nanjing, etc).

But I guess what I find very disappointing is the seeming lack of spirit amongst the athletes - if the Olympics are about:

"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."

(Olympic Charter, Fundamental principles, paragraph 2)

Then how can they NOT be about human rights? Where is the spirit of '68 that drove John Carlos, Tommie Smith & Peter Norman?

Awarding the Olympics to China was OK. Boycotting will probably make things worse (wounding a nationalistic country's pride will only raise the temperature and persist in the collective memory), but China needs to be reminded of the 'promises' it made (what's a promise? When is it binding? Aah, interesting questions...)

I wonder how many people realise that the Torch Relay was introduced by the Nazi's at the Berlin Olympics in 1936?

Anyway, the show (proper) hasn't started yet. Still time for people to take a stand - on all sides (let's not presume who is right, just yet...we may find that everybody/nobody is 'right', given the history, memory, complexity, fluidity, etc)

I'm back...

...and it's not working for me. Within 24 hours of landing I had flu symptoms. I can't work, study or rest. Damned frustrating. I'm not used to doing nothing! Also means I miss catching Rodchenko at the Hayward today, for which I have a ticket.

Interesting story about the terror of the IDF in today's Independent, as well as a letter by Slavoj Zizek in the current issue of the LRB* (scroll down), that provides, ummmm, just one perspective on Tibet and the wider world.

Books read: 'Jaguars & Electric Eels' by Alexander von Humboldt and 'I Love Dollars' by Zhu Wen

Next on the list to read (after studies): 'Flat Earth News' by Nick Davies (reviewed here)

Listening to: Mark Lamarr's 'God's Jukebox' on BBC R2, Small Faces and McKinley Jackson & the Politicians

* Zizek states:

"It is a fact that China has made large investments in Tibet’s economic development, as well as its infrastructure, education and health services. To put it bluntly: in spite of China’s undeniable oppression of the country, the average Tibetan has never had such a high standard of living. There is worse poverty in China’s western rural provinces: child slave labour in brick factories, abominable conditions in prisons, and so on."

However, across China & Tibet, health care must be paid for. I believe that higher education is no longer free. I disagree with his contention that Tibet is better off than China's rural West - I would at least suggest that both he and I cannot be sure one way or the other. I'm not sure about this, but China's legal system conducts all hearings in Chinese - so if you're in a case being heard in Tibet, your Mandarin/Putonghua better be up to scratch.

Now, while ethnic Han Chinese have internally migrated (infrastructure projects such as the Qinghai - Xizang railway will bring Han Chinese and tourists, diluting Tibetan culture, goes the complaint, although I wonder how many Tibetans will travel in the other direction seeking their fortune), bringing their entrepreneurial, venturing spirit, and ultimately generating cash, how much of that cash actually stays in Tibet?

What about the situation in the Western province of Xinjiang?

Would this be different had Wu Jinghua (a Yi, not a Han), Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang been around longer?

BBC World

In the last few hours, access to BBC World has been blanked whenever it carries a report about the Olympic torch. This is obviously due to events in London & Paris, and Chinese displeasure.

I am all for protest, but I am trying to look at the issue through both Western and Chinese lenses. Protests and talk of boycots may backfire, ensuring that China halts opening up. This isn't just an inter-governmental issue; the Chinese people will be well pissed off with the West.

I may write more on this when I get back and am hopefully more articulate.

Beijing

Finally met with O - great company as expected. What was unexpected was that like me, she was born on a Friday 13th August. She introduced me to Lao She's tea house (Sichuan opera rocks, and the Shaolin monks were pretty cool) and yesterday we managed to explore the Dashanzi art commune - a former armaments factory. I had been meaning to go there for the last two years, so was glad to finally do it (to my shame, I have explored Shanghai, HK & Taipei in much more depth than Beijing). A late night drink at a funky little bookstore/bar somewhere in Chaoyang district rounded things off.

No. Torch-related events in London yesterday have been 'mentioned' in the English language China Daily in Beijing (I had found out by watching BBC World, which you can get in selected hotels, and interestingly, reports about China are no longer 'blanked out' for their duration. I can also access the BBC News website from my Beijing hotel, which is another change). Not sure if its in the Chinese language press.

Also: the Singapore superhero.

The artistry of KAL

From the Economist.

Also...

For my first few months in Moscow I felt as if I was chewing pebbles. When I moaned about it to a Russian friend, he explained that “English is produced in the back of the mouth, but in Russian”—he puffed out his lips—“we speak from here, from the front. In order to strengthen these muscles,” he concluded seriously, “you should perform oral sex more often.”

An Economist correspondent on the Russian language, who also provided this gem:

But one particular phrase is so original and colourful that I have been running a small private campaign to bring it back into everyday use. To describe something that has shown up unexpectedly, out of nowhere, you say that it appeared kak iz pizdy na lyzhakh, which translates as “like out of a cunt on skis.”

For the 1st time in over a year...

...I have completed a comp entry. I'm submitting three poems picked rather haphazardly ('Non-Event', 'Killer Funk' & 'Desert Hallucination') as well as three short stories ('A Distilled History of WinoLabs', 'POV' & 'Proust on Plastic').

It's all hit & miss and rather cliquey, so we'll see what happens. Probably nothing.

Thinking of: packing