JZ's posterous potpourri

A truly East-Meets-West invention: Haagen-Dazs moon cakes

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:09:00 -0700

I just had some mooncake last night in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I wish I could've sampled this.

The Golden Valley-based foodmaker has deftly turned the Chinese holiday tradition of giving mooncakes - fancy hockey puck-sized pastries - into a golden opportunity. It did so by creating mooncakes with Haagen-Dazs ice cream rather than the traditional bean paste.

The ice-cream version of the mooncake was introduced in China in 1997, and it has generated a big following. This autumn, General Mills said it expects to sell a record 1.5 million boxes of Haagen-Dazs mooncakes - no small feat, considering each box sells for between $30 and $100.

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_18864435?nclick_check=1#

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Chubby Little Emperors

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 08:16:00 -0700

via thenational.ae

One of the bad side effects of China's urbanization (importing KFC without importing the consciousness that it's greasy and bad for you):

Figures for Beijing last year published in state media showed that 25.6 per cent of 12-year-old children were obese. There is even a problem among the under fives, 17 per cent of whom are obese and therefore five times as likely to be overweight in later childhood.

"You don't tend to see fat families. You tend to see the fat kid. The little emperor is fat. He's having McDonald's, and no one ever says no to him when he wants his Coca-Cola and biscuits. In the next generation we may see fat mums and dads with their kids," said Paul French, co-author of a book published last year called Fat China, and publishing and marketing director of the Shanghai research agency Access Asia.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/childhood-obesity-on-the-rise-in-chi...

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D.C.'s dying Chinatown

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:13:00 -0700

via washingtonpost.com

I remember back in 90s my parents and I would make the four-plus-hour drive to D.C. to stock up on Chinese goods like dried mushrooms in the Chinatown stores. Now, the people in D.C.'s Chinatown have to drive elsewhere to get those same goods:

For the residents of Wah Luck House in the District’s Chinatown, a trip to the nearest Chinese market requires a bit of planning.

Once a month, a chartered tour bus pulls up in front of the 153-unit apartment complex at Sixth and H streets NW, and the 56 Chinese immigrants lucky enough to have reserved a seat climb aboard, clutching rolling backpacks. Half an hour later, the bus arrives at the Great Wall Supermarket — 14 miles west in Falls Church.

...

Derided for the past half-decade as “Chinablock,” the city’s Chinatown is increasingly being reduced to “Chinacorner.” The 243 residents of Wah Luck House make up about half of the estimated 400 to 500 Chinese immigrants who remain in the neighborhood. With most elderly and able to speak only Mandarin or Cantonese, the apartment residents lend Chinatown its last bit of authenticity, even if they rarely venture west of Seventh Street, where crowds of teens and tourists gather outside Fuddruckers and Starbucks.

In some ways, the teeming streets and bustling businesses around Chinatown were just what city officials envisioned when they built Verizon Center in 1997. But change came at a high cost: As crime dropped in the once-neglected and dangerous neighborhood and property values rose, Chinese-owned businesses were replaced by national chains.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/wah-luck-house-maintains-culture-in-dying...

I have mixed feelings about this change. On one hand, it's a bit sad to see a Chinatown slowly shrink and vanish (and god help me if my favorite dimsum place and noodle shop in D.C.'s Chinatown ever close). On the other hand, Chinatowns strike me as a kind of relic -- creations from an earlier time when Chinese immigrants were unable to truly become an integrated part of American society and were thus relegated to enclaves in bad neighborhoods. From my experience, it seems like skilled Chinese immigrants -- people who have a choice -- don't want to live in Chinatowns. It'd be a shame to see Chinese culture become lost, but the preservation of culture is also not predicated on the physical preservation of buildings or blocks.

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Mama Mia! opening in China

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:01:00 -0700

After a year of preparation and three months of rehearsals, the highly anticipated Chinese version of “Mamma Mia!” will open Friday, July 8, at Shanghai Grand Theatre.

The stage drama has drummed up much enthusiasm among Shanghainese theater buffs, who are curious to see how China’s first translated attempt of a classic Western musical will turn out.

Although the Chinese “Mamma Mia!” is meant to be as close as possible to the West End original, Chinese touches are sprinkled throughout the show.

http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/play/6-things-you-need-know-about-chinese-mamma-mia-500039#

I can only imagine how difficult it was to not only translate the musical, but also convert the cultural references and culture-specific jokes into something that would makes sense with an audience from a drastically different culture.

Here's a brief clip from a rehearsal.

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And you thought the SAT was stressful

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:29:00 -0700

via chinasmack.com

This is what students in China do for stress relief after taking the gaokao, the university entrance exam that can make or break your future career/life:

It is almost time for the “gaokao” [university entrance exam] and yesterday morning and the third years [final year of high school in China] at our school had a pledge ceremony. Afterward, the third year students began to throw their exam papers, their books. At first people tore them into pieces, later they were throwing entire sheets and sheets, and even later they were throwing bundles and bundles. It was spectacular. It was a release from the stress of the third year.

More pictures, a video, and comments at
http://www.chinasmack.com/2009/pictures/gaokao-university-entrance-exam-stres...

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Al Jazeera reporter on difficulties of reporting in China

Thu, 26 May 2011 05:05:00 -0700

via blogs.aljazeera.net

As much as I love my homeland, stuff like this invariably incurs a facepalm. And the story being reported (see video above) is pretty horrible, too.

Sometimes men show up but don't do anything to stop us. It is against the law in China to obstruct foreign journalists from reporting freely. This was set out in a directive signed by Premier Wen Jiabao. Government officials therefore have come up with creative ways to make reporting difficult and circumvent the central government's rules without technically breaking the law. They might hire local boys to intimidate our team. By sub-contracting out intimidation to non-uniformed groups, there's no proof the government is behind any reporting interference.

...

Intimidating sources and not reporters has become a more common practice by the Chinese government to block information. Often we speak to incredibly vulnerable people at the lowest socio-economic rung. It is easy to bully them into submission.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/asia/2011/05/25/reporting-china

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Ape Lincoln

Wed, 18 May 2011 20:36:03 -0700

Dressed-up stuffed capuchin = Lincoln doppelgänger.

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A museum for ... onions?

Fri, 06 May 2011 05:36:00 -0700

via jaunted.com

... it’s in Vidalia, Georgia of course. We’re pretty sure that there’s got to be some kind of tasty free sample when you’re all done learning and exploring, as well as plenty of onion-themed swag in the gift shop.

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/4/22941/50799/travel/There%27s+More+Than+...

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Documentary in production: "Xmas Without China"

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 05:07:00 -0700

Hopefully to hit the screen this year, "Xmas Without China" follows the Joneses, a family from the suburbs of Arcadia, California, as they attempt to make it through the month of December, holidays included, without using or gifting any product that is made in China.

Xia, who was eight when he immigrated to the United States from China in 1992, began contemplating the idea for his documentary a few years ago, when he took notice of the infamous Chinese-made toy recall.

"I thought it was unfairly portraying China. It was my reaction to the news media at the time," Xia recalled. "And I decided to challenge an American family. That's when I started talking to Alicia about this project."

Dwyer took on the role of director only after she had coaxed Xia into including himself and his family in the film, thus bringing a Chinese perspective to the challenge.

"I thought comparing Tom's whole experience would be fascinating," Dwyer said. "Tom's family comes from the coldest part of China with their own stories. When we meet the Joneses, we learn their stories like Tim Joneses' dad being a fighter pilot during the Cold War. These two families are coming from completely different places, and now living next to each other in a sunny California town."

via english.sina.com

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Beautiful vintage Japanese matchbox art from the 1920s-40s

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:55:00 -0700

via flyergoodness.blogspot.com

http://flyergoodness.blogspot.com/2011/04/vintage-japanese-matchbox-art-1920-...

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You can now dial a number just by thinking

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:08:00 -0700

via technologyreview.com

Researchers in California have created a way to place a call on a cell phone using just your thoughts. Their new brain-computer interface is almost 100 percent accurate for most people after only a brief training period.

...

Like many other such interfaces, Jung's system relies on electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes on the scalp to analyze electrical activity in the brain. An EEG headband is hooked up to a Bluetooth module that wirelessly sends the signals to a Nokia N73 cell phone, which uses algorithms to process the signals.

http://technologyreview.com/communications/37357/

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Can you name all 235 8-bit Star Trek characters?

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:26:00 -0700

via johnmartz.com

This is a cool treat for Star Trek nerds like me. John Martz has created 235 8-bit renderings of Star Trek characters, and he's holding a contest to see who can name the most. The top two will get a free print of the poster with all the characters.

I haven't gone through the whole poster yet, but at a quick glance, I think recognize almost every character on the poster, even if some of the names don't come to me immediately.

http://johnmartz.com/trexels

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They have crazy cat ladies in China, too

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:08:00 -0700

via chinadaily.com.cn

For cat lover Guo Lianfu sharing her home with 85 street cats is just a small part of the work she does caring for stray felines around Zhoukou residential area in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong province. At 71, retired Guo still leaves her house at 10 pm every night to give food to hundreds of abandoned cats, often staying out beyond midnight each night.

...

In order to provide more food for more cats, she and her husband spend almost all of their retirement income on buying food and medicines. "We never eat meat at home, we save it to feed cats," Guo said, whose husband now works selling bedding clothes to earn extra money.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-04/06/content_12281534.htm

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For Jane Austen nerds only: Mr. Darcy's inbox

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:51:00 -0700

A look inside Mr. Darcy's inbox. The same site also has inboxes for Elizabeth Bennett and Elinor Dashwood.

via famousinboxes.com

http://www.famousinboxes.com/2011/03/darcy/

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There's no justice like mob justice

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:15:00 -0700

The North Carolina Highway Patrol says a driver who accidentally struck a pedestrian near Henderson was pulled from his vehicle and severely beaten by bystanders.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/21/1069888/bystanders-beat-nc-driver-afte...

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My Wife's Headline Suggestion for the Sidney Lowe Firing Story

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:16:00 -0700

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Are Movies Getting Worse? Why Yes, They Are

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:02:00 -0800

via moki.tv

At least according to moki.tv, which plotted the 20 most popular movies each for the past 20 years by how polarizing their viewer ratings are.

The key, we think, is to look for movies that some love and some hate, which is the likely profile of a bad movie that's "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase. In other words, movies that are polarizing.

We looked at how polarizing each movie is by measuring the standard deviation of the ratings for each movie.

What We Noticed:

A recent spike in highly polarizing movies.
Movies like the 3 Twilight movies, the Transformers sequel, Fast and the Furious, and others all have really wide ratings distributions. These are all adaptations or sequels that appeal to an existing fanbase.

Sequels are (almost) always more polarizing.
You can filter the graph below by specific series, like Star Wars, Twilight, and Spiderman. Almost consistently, the sequels are more polarizing than the original. Studios can depend on sequels to reel in audiences, whether or not they make good movies. The one exception is the Batman series.

A lot more interesting nuggets of data and graphs at
http://moki.tv/blog/visual-evidence-movies-are-getting-worse

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Beautiful Vintage Posters for Egyptian Travel

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:57:00 -0800

via posterpage.ch

More at http://posterpage.ch/exhib/ex275egy/ex275egy.htm

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Cats Adore and Manipulate Women? No Way!

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:50:00 -0800

via news.discovery.com

Tell me something I don't already know :-)

For the study, led by Kurt Kotrschal of the Konrad Lorenz Research Station and the University of Vienna, the researchers videotaped and later analyzed interactions between 41 cats and their owners over lengthy four-part periods. Each and every behavior of both the cat and owner was noted. Owner and cat personalities were also assessed in a separate test. For the cat assessment, the authors placed a stuffed owl toy with large glass eyes on a floor so the feline would encounter it by surprise.

The researchers determined that cats and their owners strongly influenced each other, such that they were each often controlling the other's behaviors. Extroverted women with young, active cats enjoyed the greatest synchronicity, with cats in these relationships only having to use subtle cues, such as a single upright tail move, to signal desire for friendly contact.

While cats have plenty of male admirers, and vice versa, this study and others reveal that women tend to interact with their cats -- be they male or female felines -- more than men do.

"In response, the cats approach female owners more frequently, and initiate contact more frequently (such as jumping on laps) than they do with male owners," co-author Manuela Wedl of the University of Vienna told Discovery News, adding that "female owners have more intense relationships with their cats than do male owners."

Also, I want a job where work consists of studying how cats interact with stuffed owl toys.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/cats-humans-pets-relationships-110224.html

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Man Dies After Three-Day Internet Gaming Binge

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:15:00 -0800

The Beijing Times reports that the 30-year-old was online at an internet café when he slipped in to a coma on Monday evening.

According to witnesses the man, who had barely moved from his computer in three days, was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

He is alleged to have been a compulsive internet addict who had managed to spend over 10,000 yuan (around £1000) on online gaming in the past month.

http://swns.com/chinese-man-dies-after-three-day-internet-gaming-binge-231101.html

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