Farrago

Jesus is Not Like Buddha

There are few things I hate more than evangelism. In fact, I would go so far as to say that much of the horrors of the world were brought on by evangelists. People feeling they are divinely propelled to ‘sell’ their ideas to save people from damnation. It kept Africans slaves (for the betterment of …

January 9, 2007
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The Great China Divide: No Heat For You!

I laughed – laughed! – at the poor fools. Images of a crowd of Chinese standing there on the banks of the Yangtse cursing their northern neighbors who sat toasty warm in their centralized heating watching The Best of CCTV. The shivering swarms swearing generational damning profanity while praying the schizo-aircon unit that worked intermittently …

January 7, 2007
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New Year’s And A Few Beers

I spent my second New Year’s Eve in China with good form last night. I’ve mentioned previously that I’ve become a bit of an isolationist in recent months and have rarely ventured out into the Suzhou social scene – quite diametrical from my previous gregariousness. It’s certainly nothing against Suzhou or its nightlife, as it …

January 1, 2007
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I Got My Kicks In 2006

Feckin’ A… I finally have access to the 100+ junk e-mails that have been waiting to be downloaded for the past four days. A big thank you to those Taiwanese deep sea divers working tirelessly to fix this net blackout – it’s still slow as using a Chinese typewriter, but it’s on. Oh… I’d like …

December 31, 2006
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Rock My World

I woke up this morning and my Internet was acting all funny. Chinese sites would load quick as could be, but anything outside of the PRC was as slow as Mao’s second coming. Immediately my mind turned to the worst and I figured that they’d finally done it, they’d finally blocked all content that wasn’t …

December 28, 2006
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Hao Hao Report

Hey, just a quick post regarding my little HHR baby… it’s now got its own domain name and has gone through some cool upgrades. If you’re not too clear on what HHR is, check out the post regarding it at the Lost Laowai blog, or just go visit the site itself at the newly set …

December 25, 2006
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We All Need Christmas

It would seem that every year Christmas becomes more and more firmly embedded in the societal norms that make up China. It’s easy for us who’ve a history with the holiday to scoff at the Chinese and their feeble attempts to understand this mammoth festivity. The way they buy tiny plastic trees, recite heavily accented …

December 24, 2006
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Christmas Spirit

Christmas Spirit: n. An essentially altruistic approach to oral sex adopted by ladies who believe it is better to give than to receive. ie. ‘Henry rather liked his new bird as she displayed the Christmas spirit in abundance, noshing him off three times a day and never asking for anything in return.’ That rather profane …

December 21, 2006
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Road To Wedlock Part II: Barely Legal

Gawd, the amount of misplaced search engine traffic I’m going to get from that… So, it’s done. I’m – in the eyes of the People’s Republic of China – married. And here’s the kicker: how many people do you know showed up for their marriage unshowered, unshaved and not having brushed their teeth? Well, to …

December 21, 2006
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Cross Your Fingers and Hope To Fly

Ok, it’s a minute before midnight and I need to be up at 5am to catch a bus to Nanjing – so this needs to be short. Mags and I are off to Nanjing tomorrow to catch a plane to Dalian. Monday morning we head down to Dalian’s marriage licensing office and hopefully settle all …

December 17, 2006
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PayPerPost Update

Hey, I just wanted to do a quick update on the PayPerPost situation. I've been trying out the PPP program for about a month and a half now, and it seems pretty legit. You may have noticed I've been selective of what I post about – as per my initial thoughts for using this program …

December 16, 2006
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