Cup of Cha
This is China

Jerry “Moral Pygmy” Yang sent Condoleezza Rice a letter Tuesday looking for a way to help imprisoned Chinese journalist Shi Tao get released early from his 10-year prison sentence. You may remember that, not coincidentally, billionaire Yang, who made his money as Yahoo!’s chief executive, is heavily responsible for Mr. Shi’s imprisonment, having giving Beijing [...]

Continue reading “Jerry Yang Bit of a Yahoo” »

People have said that this week’s NY Philharmonic performance in Pyongyang, North Korea was a sort of modern day Ping-Pong diplomacy. Yet, what you may not have heard about the recent concert was that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the group’s pianist.
Secretary Rice is widely known to be a world-class, classically-trained pianist. What [...]

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Jimmy Kimmel knows what Cup of Cha likes. He managed to combine his feud with Matt Damon, which I highlighted last week, with my love for celebrity sing alongs, which I discussed a while back. The result is here:

Continue reading “Kimmel and Celebrity Songs” »

Just more than five months away, I’m already getting the feeling that things are going to be really crazy in August. In the last day I’ve had people ask me if they can stay with me during the Games, get them an internship and help students volunteer during the Olympics. Plus, the rumors flying, both [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Olympic Disaster: It’ll be Entertaining” »

When I first showed up in China, a mere four years after Titanic won Best Picture, Celine Dion was a constant irritant in internet cafes and bars. She has continued to be, but not as much as before. Until now. Here’s a sign of the times:

Continue reading “China’s Come So Near, Far” »

The emergence of a treasure trove of Hong Kong pop-star Edison Chen’s (陈冠希) homemade sex pictures was a shock to all, but none more so than me. When the files showed up online I sorted through them one by one, expecting to see my own image. Instead, during my strictly investigative search, I found [...]

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During the Olympics “Chinese Taipei” will be represented by a group of athletes put in a terribly awkward position. On the one hand, they represent Taiwan, while on the other they most decidedly do not represent the “Republic of China,” which as everyone not in the Bush administration knows, does not exist. This begs the [...]

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I posted something about Hillary’s “Xerox” quip in the debate with Obama, but decided against leaving it up. While I thought the line was lame, and I think she has run her campaign poorly, with her campaign going down the tubes, it doesn’t seem like attacking her now is the high road. As a result [...]

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As consumers around the country panicked in the face of rocketing prices for food, oil and other essential items, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games sought to soothe frayed nerves. Xinhua reports:
The Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG) Wednesday vowed to maintain the licensed Olympic product prices at present [...]

Continue reading “Crappy Olympic Gifts Unaffected by CPI Jump” »

Ever since young suburban taxi drivers started pushing out the hutong resident older generation, cab rides have been getting gradually less interesting. But there’s always the exception.
A couple days ago I was going about my business, on my way to meet some friends for dinner, when my taxi driver and I pulled up to a [...]

Continue reading “Taxi Cab Confusion” »