#15: Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation by L. Maarten Troost (2008) The first time I landed in Shanghai, I couldn’t believe how big everything […]
Revisiting "Planet China" with J. Maarten Troost
The no-longer-Forbidden City
Part seven in a series When his majesty Yongle, third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, decided he wanted a new house, he wanted to do it up big. Really big. From his […]
Beijing: The sound of the city
Part six in a series As I make the ride from the Beijing airport to our hotel, I have a line from Patrick Watson’s clack-clickity song “Beijing” running as a soundtrack in […]
Nota Bene #107: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” Who said it?
Nota Bene #102: Dancing Limbaughs
“What they really want to see is, they want you to chop your fucking arm off, hold up your arm, wave it around spewing blood, and believe me, if you did that, […]
Nota Bene #98: A More Glorious Dawn Awaits
“The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled […]
Nota Bene #97: toDwI'ma' qoS yItIvqu'!
“To be truly free, and truly to appreciate its freedom, a society must be literate.”
China, Day Seven: The capital
Part seven in a series If Shanghai was New York City, then Beijing is Los Angeles. The city sprawls over some nineteen thousand square kilometers—all of which is clouded in smog. The […]
Olympic baseball gold medal to be decided with penalty kicks
Well, sorta. Check out this stroke of genius. IBAF changes rules for extra innings DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Extra innings will have a new look in what could be baseball’s last Olympic appearance. Each […]
'Free' speech at Beijing Olympics decidedly costly
When the Beijing Olympics begin Aug. 8, the ability to speak publicly will depend on what you say — or what you pay. The Olympics Games have always been one of the […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 