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April, 1999
New Stuff
Just added 4/30/99 - All new pictures section. Revamped and reorganized. And more new pictures being added daily. Go visit 15 Minutes - The Picture Gallery .
Cold Days, Warm Hearts - Farewell to Jinzhou
After a dozen "bon voyage" lunches and dinners and not a few sad goodbyes to the many very good friends I have made in Jinzhou, I lugged 10 bags full of stuff on a 23 1/2 hour train ride to Suzhou to begin my next stint at Suzhou University. I received so many gifts from students and friends, I had to buy two extra suitcases. The people of Jinzhou have got to be
the kindest people on earth and I will miss them immensely.
There's (yet) another ancient Chinese saying (which Marco Polo borrowed in the 1070's) which goes: "Shang You Tian Tang, Xia You Su Hang" (="Heaven Has Paradise; Earth Has Suzhou and Hangzhou"). Well, despite the cold, dirt and pollution of Jinzhou, the warm-heartedness of the people I met there more than compensates.
I say: "Shang You Tian Shi Ren, Xia You Jinzhou Ren." (= "In Heaven there are angels; on Earth the people of Jinzhou.")
No one knows the troubles I've had
I've had major problems logging onto my website to update and manage it. Here's the message I left in my Guestbook describing it.
SOMETIME IN DECEMBER, INFOSEEK WHERE THIS HOME PAGE IS LOCATED MERGED WITH THE DISNEY-OWNED GO! NETWORK. THEY AUTOMATICALLY GAVE EVERYONE NEW USER NAMES. I DISCOVERED THIS ON DECEMBER 24TH WHEN I WENT TO PUT UP A SEASON'S GREETINGS MESSAGE TO YOU ALL. I COULD NOT ACCESS MY HOME PAGE BECAUSE MY USER NAME NO LONGER WORKED. I HAVE A NEW USER
NAME AND APPARENTLY I HAVE TO REBUILD THIS ENTIRE SITE AT THE NEW ADDRESS. I HAVE WORKED LONG AND HARD ON THIS SITE AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO START FROM SCRATCH IF I DON'T HAVE TO. I HAVE EXCHANGED DOZENS OF E-MAILS WITH THE IDIOTS WHO RUN THE NEW GO! NETWORK SEEKING AN ANSWER BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANYTHING RESPONSIVE, MUCH LESS HELPFUL. I CAN'T EVEN ACCESS THE SITE TO
PUT UP AN "ADDRESS CHANGED" MESSAGE IF I DID MOVE THIS SITE TO THE NEW ADDRESS. THE ONLY WAY I CAN ACCESS IT IS BY LEAVING MYSELF A MESSAGE IN MY GUESTBOOK. IT IS APPROACHING ONE MONTH OF DEALING WITH THE IDIOTS AT GO! IT IS EASIER DEALING WITH THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY OR THE PUBLIC SECURITY BUREAU HERE IN TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES THAN DEALING WITH GO! WHICH
(PRESUMABLY) EMPLOYEES PEOPLE CAPABLE OF READING AND WRITING ENGLISH. SO, UNLESS I GET SOME KIND OF ANSWER IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS, I WILL BE FORCED TO MOVE MY SITE TO A NEW ADDRESS. IF I HAVE TO DO THAT, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE AT MY NEW GO! ADDRESS. I'LL FIND ANOTHER SERVICE TO HOST MY SITE. IF AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I'LL POST THE NEW ADDRESS HERE AS WELL AS BY
E-MAIL TO THOSE WHOSE ADDRESSES I HAVE. SO CHECK BACK TO THIS PAGE EVERY FEW DAYS FOR UPDATES. IN THE MEANTIME, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AGAINST USING INFOSEEK OR GO! FOR ANYTHING. IF THEY ARE AS UNRELIABLE AND IRRESPONSIBLE IN DEALING WITH MY RATHER SIMPLE PROBLEM, I QUESTION THEIR RELIABLITY IN REGARDS TO THEIR SERVICES AND INFORMATION.
After a long time searching for a new site, and a couple of false starts-services that are blocked in China or services that are too slow, I am almost resigned to continue doing business with Disney's GO! Network. But at last I find a site that's fast and, at least for now, accessible to me from China. And today I was
able to FTP all of my old files and a few new ones to the NEW Chuck @ China.. So bookmark the new address: http://www2.cybercities.com/c/chake/ . (And note the www2 in the address). After all these months
and all my efforts, well, you know where Disney's GO! NETWORK can go. True to it's paternity, it is one "Mickey Mouse" service. -
Tonight we're gonna party like it's 4697
Everyone knows the Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year which this year fell on February 15 of the Gregorian (western)calendar. In China, the giant rice bowl started to descend seconds before midnight and at midnight, we welcomed in 4697 - the year of the Rabbit! For days before, fireworks small and large were sold on every street corner and there was a constant
undertone of fireworks being blown off all day and night. But as midnight approached the din became raucous. Jinzhou sounded like a city under seige. Even indoors, one could barely hear oneself think. People throwing them out windows, hanging them out windows on long sticks, bottle rockets and "Roman (or I guess I should call them "Chinese") Candles" shooting in
all directions. It sounded like David Justice hitting 10,000 home runs at once at Jacob's Field. Yes, the Chinese New Year celebration IS all that.
Cultural Evolution: My latest addition to the website which I began with the poetry of Su Shi and the Mid Autumn Moon Festival back in October. Culture in China is changing these days. Western holidays are beginning to be celebrated by
some. Christmas was huge all over Jinzhou. So as Culture evolves here, sometimes melds, and occasionally divides, I'll add some pieces to the Cultural Evolution.
The latest additions (in chronological order):
My Thanksgiving message ("Pilgram's Progress"-original title, huh?) to family and friends The text of my Christmas speech delivered at the Mayor of Jinzhou's Christmas Party (see below)
News - The Best and The Tritest
The Best
The Tritest:
Media Hounded
Refreshing and updating the Warhol side of my life, here's what's happening:
Salon Magazine - I got a nice mention in Salon, the premier Internet magazine for helping them out on a story. This a funny piece on how American movies get re-translated when they come to China. To read the Salon article
click here. To read the full list I translated, go here.
Jinzhou Media:
First, I there was Old Folks Day at The Bear Western Food Restaurant.with the camera crew from Jinzhou TV which did a 15 minute documentary on it. I also was quoted in the Jinzhou Evening Newspaper the next day talking about Old Folks Day. Read about it in
The Cultural Evolution. Next, I am appearing in a television commercial in regular rotation now on Jinzhou TV for the Italy Restaurant. In it I am sitting at a table with the owner's 4 year old
son. I turn to the camera and say, "Wo ai Yidali Xi Can Guan!" "I love the Italy Western Food Restaurant!". By the way, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. They make the best pizza in Jinzhou. It actually has cheese! Then, my speech at the Mayor's Christmas Party was shown on the Jinzhou Evening News and carried in the Jinzhou Evening Newspaper.. Then, shortly before leaving Jinzhou, The Lao Difang (The Old Place), a beautiful, newly redecorated western bar and grill owned by a friend of mine asked me and Teacher Donna to help out with one of their
commercials. In it, I stand by a window looking out when suddenly my cell phone rings. I pick it up and discover it's my Chinese girlfriend. She asks me where I'm at and I say "Lao Difang". She asks whether I'm eating western food. "Bu, bu, bu, you Zhongguo fan!" I say. "No, no, no, I'm having Chinese food!" The restaurant serves both. Later, my "girlfriend"
joins me and, together with Teacher Donna and another Chinese actor, the four of us stand at the bar and say, "Lao Difang, Xin Ganjue!" "The Old Place, with a New Feeling!" while we toast the camera. Finally I have recorded some station ID's and some voiceovers and intros for a "western" music show that my friend Mike is sponsoring on 96.7 FM on your Jinzhou radio dial. (N.b.: not "country and western"; "western" is what they call Rock, Alternative, Techno, and House here). I came up with the name for the
show ("From West to East", brilliant, huh?) and chose a lot of the music: R.E.M., U2, Blur, Prodigy, Nirvana, Oasis, Lemonheads, Radiohead, Portishead, Chemical Brothers, and Green Day. We're trying to de-Carpenterize, de-Celine Dionize, de- Richard Marxize and de-Madonna-ize the music tastes of a lot of the "west-heads" here.
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