BIRTH OF A CITIZEN The recent PBS special Becoming American: The Chinese Experience had special significance for us as my spouse took her US citizenship oath today at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. She was one of 3829 people from approximately 40 countries who joined the nation today at that ceremony, which is the largest of any in the US. I'll post pictures in the next few days. It was pretty amazing to witness. The arena was packed both with those taking the oath and with friends and family who came to share the experience. When we arrived the line stretched completely around the Arena. The presiding judge, the Honorable A. Howard Matz, delivered the oath of allegiance and gave a short speech in which he related how his own father, who spoke no English, had immigrated to the US from Lithuania and arrived on Ellis Island with only $8 and a battered suitcase. It brought to mind my own family's journey to America--my great-great-grandparents came here from Sicily in the early 1900s and also went through Ellis Island. They were quite poor and spoke only Sicilian, but the success of their descendants surely justifies all their hardship and sacrifice. The court paid special tribute to 28 of the oath-takers who are currently serving in our armed forces. They were from Cambodia, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. These fine citizens received a deserved standing ovation. I think it speaks volumes about the character of these men and women that they join the nation while performing this kind of public service. After all, how many American citizens by birth don't even bother to vote, much less devote any meaningful period of service to the country, be it the military, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, etc? The INS then played a videotaped address from President Bush and also "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. Damn how I hate that song. The cheesy, white bread lyrics are bad enough, but the song is a manifestation of the most dangerous form of bumper sticker patriotism. In fact, 'patriotism' isn't even the right word. Mindless ugly xenophobic nationalism is more like it. Dumbasses doubtless had this song full blast on their pick-up truck stereos while throwing bricks through Bangladeshi grocery store windows after 9/11. But other than that monstrous tune it was a very moving ceremony. One of the funniest things was that both the Democrats and Republicans set up booths outside to try to get the new citizens to register in their respective parties. I didn't notice too many takers for either, but the GOP does not have a very good image at all among immigrant populations here in California. As a proud and unbroken Independent, I'm trying to talk my wife out of joining the two-party tyranny. The Dems and GOPs among you may be happy to learn she promptly exercised her newly-gained First Amendment rights and told me where to go! In case you're interested, the top five national origins of new citizens taking the oath in Los Angeles are: Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam and Iran. I would encourage every US citizen-by-birth to witness a naturalization ceremony. I left the event quite impressed with how strong the allure of America remains to so many people. It cannot be an easy decision at all to forswear allegiance to the country of one's birth. Especially for my own spouse, I know it was not something she took lightly. China has a terrible image in the eyes of most Americans. Many of them think of it as a country where people live in constant fear of being hauled off to jail in the middle of the night, where people have no rights of any kind and are oppressed by a despotic Communist regime. But the real picture is far more complicated. For those college educated youths of my wife's generation, China is a vastly different country than it was for their parents. There is unprecedented economic opportunity and mobility, a burgeoning middle class; I think it is accurate to say that Chinese now enjoy more in the way of human rights than they have at any other time in Chinese history. And the situation is improving. True, China lags in many political freedoms, but unlike popular conception in the West the Chinese are not hesitant whatsoever to speak their minds (albeit not directly to the government) on political issues to a degree that was inconceivable even 20 years ago. So I think this makes the oath taken by my wife and other Chinese like her all the more significant and meaningful.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/29/2003 12:51:00 PM| |

 
Major General Smedley Butler (1881-1940): A Voice of Conscience All Too Absent In Today's Times I first became interested in military history when I was stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. Home of the Field Artillery, the post has several museums and a fine library where I began to spend a lot of my off-duty time. It was there I first learned about General Butler and his exploits. Certainly one of the most intriguing figures in American military history, Smedley Butler is all but forgotten today. A Marine Corps officer, he received two Congressional Medals of Honor; the first at Vera Cruz in the Mexican Campaign (1914) and the next a year later in the Haitian Campaign. Yet he is probably best known for his resolute opposition to American interventionism, as captured in his famous War is a Racket speech. After reading that speech I bet you'd never guess he was a Republican! He ran for (and lost) the GOP nomination for senator in his home state of Pennsylvania. Of course, that was back in the days when the GOP consisted of a conservative, moderate and liberal wing. Much of his message still rings true today. I increasingly find myself coming around to his belief that we should restrict our military and defense to our own borders. I'm of the opinion that we have had only three arguably just wars in our history: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and WWII. I remain inconclusive about the First World War. But all the rest appear to me to fall into General Butler's categories of opportunism. I also find interesting his suggestion that we amend the Constitution so that this country could declare war only upon a plebiscite of those draft age citizens who would be called upon to fight in it. If nothing else, the national debate would surely prove stimulating to say the least. Anything to perk up C-Span! Here's a fascinating program on Smedley Butler's life, originally aired by NPR. It is must listening.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/28/2003 08:48:00 AM| |

 
More Must See TV There's a fantastic program airing on PBS by Bill Moyers from March 25-27 called Becoming American: The Chinese Experience. Unfortunately you can't view it directly on the PBS site, but there are many interesting materials there to read and it's also possible to purchase the video. Hopefully those of you in China can get your loved ones and/or friends Stateside to record it for you. It will be on for the next two nights and the best is yet to come. Bill O'Reilly Gets Punked I almost never watch this guy's program because he is such a jackass but some indescribable force compelled me to tune in tonight. I'm glad I did because Bill O'Reilly got his clock cleaned. One of his guests, oddly enough, was Steve Rendall, the Senior Analyst at FAIR, the national media watch group I wrote about a couple of days back. He was on to talk about the group's latest study, which discusses the near absence on network newscasts of skeptics concerning the US government's policies during the Iraq crisis. Read the report for yourselves and draw your own conclusions. Rendall said this type of one-sided coverage results in inaccuracies and outright disinformation, and he named Faux as the most hawkish of the networks. O'Reilly was doing a slow burn that anyone would dare question the journalistic 'integrity' of Faux, and so he challenged Rendall to give an example. Rendall promptly replied with the story first reported by Faux a few days ago of the supposed 'huge chemical weapons factory' in An Najaf discovered by coalition forces. The Pentagon has since beat a hasty retreat and we've heard nothing since. O'Reilly, the class act that he is, then tried to use Rendall's illustration to impugn his patriotism. O'Reilly suggested that Rendall actually wanted no chemical weapons to be found because he was 'against America'. Rendall, understandably taken aback, replied that all he wants is truth in journalism. That's why Bill O'Reilly is such a puerile twit. Everytime a guest disagrees with O'Reilly's brand of patriotism out come the anti-America slurs. And this from a guy who didn't bother serving his country during his own generation's war--Vietnam. Soundly beaten by the facts he can only reach into his grab-bag of McCarthy-ite ad hominem attacks. I guess it's back to booking the foreign supermodels for you, eh Bill [see 3/22/03 entry]? I think Rendall handled himself quite well considering. He refused to let O'Reilly use his typical tactics of shouting interruptions. Rendall largely stuck to is guns and completed his points. O'Reilly quickly fled the field and retreated to his usual safety topics--France bashing and calling for a united front by Americans to boycott anything French. Better be careful Bill, others can play that game as well. But anyway, this offers yet further proof this guy is a complete nutjob. The world economy is so integrated now, especially between Europe and North America, that boycotts will have little to no effect on any one nation's economy. Tit-for-tat trade wars, especially over something as ephemeral as a political dispute, are nothing but a blip on the screen and usually end up hurting domestic businesses as much if not more than the target country.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/26/2003 03:38:00 PM| |

 
Today's Recipe Sichuan Sparerib Carrot and Potato Stew 9 large carrots (chop these in stew-style wedges) 2 medium potatoes (chopped in cubes) 6 green onions (cut in thirds) 3 ginger slices (the total amount is equivalent to about one minced teaspoon, but DO NOT mince) *1 lb. pork loin ribs--cut into individual ribs 8-10 dried red chili peppers 1-1.5 tablespoons Shaoxing Cooking Wine 2 teaspoons douban jiang 2 tablespoons lao chou [dark] soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder *Before cutting the spareribs soak them in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes to draw out the excess blood. Heat three tablespoons of canola oil (or whatever cooking oil you like--but do not use olive oil). Break dried red peppers in half and add. When oil starts to smoke and peppers change color add ginger and the white sections of the green onions. Stir. Add spareribs and cooking wine. Stir. Add douban jiang and soy sauce. Stir. Add the rest (carrots, potatoes and remaining green onions). Stir. Add salt (about one teaspoon) chicken bouillon powder and sugar. Stir. Add water so that it covers about 2/3 of the dish. Cover and keep on high heat. After about 5 minutes stir so that ingredients on top go to bottom of wok and vice versa. Cover and cook. After 5-10 minutes taste one of the carrots. Add more salt if necessary. The dish is ready when carrots reach desired stew consistency--maybe 20 minutes. Serve with rice. This is a wonderful dish--one of my all-time faves, especially in autumn and winter. This dish is really quick and easy to prepare once you get a handle on all the ingredients. Traditionally in Sichuan they primarily use potatoes, but carrots add a great flavor. For more about douban jiang click on my Andouille recipe in the "Recipe" link. It is probably the most important ingredient in Sichuan cooking and a teaspoon or two does wonders to any stir-fry. Bon Appetit!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/26/2003 01:19:00 AM| |

 
Chinese-language TV in LA Blows Major Chunks...
...unless you got the jack and can afford either satellite or premium channels. But as a humble law student deeply in debt I think you can figure out where that leaves me. My basic cable package includes three 'international' channels that offer a variety of foreign language programming, including most major Asian languages. It also has a gazillion Spanish stations. But in LA I don't think Spanish is really considered a foreign language. I figured one of the major benefits of choosing the law school I did is that it would provide me with a better opportunity to maintain my ties to Chinese culture. After all, the LA area is home to the most Chinese of any Western city in the world. LA has certainly lived up to its end of the deal in that respect--the Chinese restaurants here (at least those east of Interstate 110) are on the whole the best and most authentic in the US--and I've had Chinese food in every major US city. There are really great Chinese restaurants in New York, SF, Chicago etc, but the San Gabriel Valley is simply a culinary paradise of every provincial variety--and all extremely reasonable too, due to the tremendous competition. There are several Chinese-language bookstores, newspapers and radio stations. And as I've mentioned in previous entries, every famous Chinese worth his/her salt comes through LA, especially the pop stars--though most of them actually prefer performing in Las Vegas. All in all those three channels I mentioned earlier offer a total of around three hours of Chinese programming a day. And it is purely dreadful. In the first place, it's practically all from Taiwan. Not only that, we get the dregs of Taiwan TV--the worst of the variety shows, the crappiest of the game shows, and the most putrid of the dramas. And the news is all about Taiwan, except for their five-minute Mainland report. What really sticks in my craw is that it seems Taiwan is incapable of producing any drama that isn't of the historical wu xia [knight-errant] variety. If it does they sure aren't exporting them. Look, I'm a Renaissance Man and all that; I appreciate ancient Chinese philosophy and wisdom as much as anybody. I know the influence these tales and histories of dynastic times have had on the Chinese language and worldview. But give me some variety. I know it can be done--just maybe not by the Taiwanese. The best of the Asian-language TV in LA is Korean and Japanese in that order. That's because you get a range--the historical drama for your necessary cultural grounding, and your relevant soaps of today so you can see how these societies are also modern and dynamic. And they subtitle some of the shows in English, which the Taiwan shows have yet to do. In fact, some of the Korean series are addictive they're so good. I spent all last summer in Chengdu and Beijing and loved the TV there. I realize some of you in the China crowd whinge about it, but after what I've been through in LA it was like I had a new lease on life. I especially like the fact there are several miniseries that reflect contemporary themes. China is such a vibrant, rapidly changing society and it is fascinating to watch shows that deal with the social issues inherent in such a transformation. One other thing I noticed is that many Mainland programs now display the dialog in Chinese characters at the bottom of the screen. This has long been a feature of television in Taiwan and it greatly aided my language study in Taiwan when I lived there. I'm glad the Mainland does it now too.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/25/2003 04:28:00 PM| |

 
Aaron Brown is just a symptom of a far greater disease. The broadcast/print media is failing the American people by not providing us with the important information we need to make well-informed intelligent decisions about the crucial issues facing our nation. The national media is increasingly homogeneous in content, inward looking if not outright xenophobic, and fast becoming the monopolistic domain of a few large corporate entities. I highly recommend the FAIR site for more complete analysis of this very dangerous trend. I hate to say it, but I largely ignore the US media now. Broadcast news is utter rubbish, with the possible exception of The News Hour With Jim Lehrer. Unfortunately, my current schedule doesn't allow me to watch this program every night. And thank heavens for NPR. But that's it. Pretty meager offerings for those seeking a domestic comprehensive news outlet.

And don't tell me how Fox Faux News is coming to our rescue. These bozos are by far the worst of all--they love to boast how 'balanced' they are. Here's what they mean by balanced: Right after the US pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty Faux's resident blowhard Bill O'Reilly (seen at left) decided he'd educate us about what the Treaty was really about on his show. He brings in two guests, one for and one against the Treaty. The guy against the Treaty was some scientist--his expertise had nothing to do with climate or global warming mind you, but at least he was a scientist. The pro Treaty guest was a former supermodel from Scandinavia. I am not making this up. Her claim to fame is that she got herself arrested at a demonstration protesting the fur industry. That's what passes as objectivity at Faux: a scientist versus a supermodel bimbo. Reminds me of what some wag wrote on a message board when Iraqi officials expelled Faux from the country a month or so ago:

Yeah Saddam may be a creep but this proves Iraqis aren't all bad--at least they know bogus journalism when they see it.

I held high hopes for CNN in the beginning. They did a fine job covering the Tiananmen Incident in 1989, considering they kind of stumbled into it, even though they mischaracterized the student movement as a 'democracy movement', but then so did all the other US media. CNN also performed well in the first Gulf War. A lion's share of the credit for both these initial CNN coups has to go to Bernie Shaw. I think some people still blame him for de-railing Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign when he asked the infamous Willie Horton question in one of the debates. Dukakis teaches the occasional class at our school's Public Policy Institute and I see him walk by every now and then. I wonder if any wiseass student has ever asked him if he'd like to get his hands on Bernie. He had a double-digit lead in the polls until that debate. He plummeted from that point and never seriously challenged King George the First after that. CNN upped and died after Bernie retired. Or should I say committed suicide by going with Aaron Brown.

That reminds me. I know I have some readers from the RacingMix team, and I understand one of their members is now studying over in the UK. I did a course at SOAS back in the day and I hope one of you guys can point your UK member my way because I'd like to know what Sir Trevor McDonald is up to these days. I know he got knighted in 1999. He's one of my favorites and I used to watch him without fail when he anchored the ITV News at Ten. My understanding is that ITV was a maverick news broadcast that challenged the BBC in much the same way that CNN took on the networks. I remember thinking it was quite significant that both these independents hired black males as their lead anchors. Trevor speaks a beautiful BBC English which is all the more amazing considering his humble Trinidad roots. OK, I know it's been something of a rant today, but I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll be providing another recipe in the next few days. This one is my absolute favorite of my wife's Sichuan dishes. It's called Sichuan Sparerib Carrot and Potato Stew. You won't want to miss this one!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/23/2003 01:52:00 PM| |

 

I think this man symbolizes everything that is wrong with the US media today. His name is Aaron Brown and he is the head anchor for CNN. What a putz. I hate how he opens the newscast with some idiotic fluff commentary that he supposes strikes some kind of nerve with America's heartland, that he thinks is somehow both moving and insightful all at once. What he really does is set a new standard for nauseating mawkishness. He was at his absolute worst during the DC sniper affair, but I may have to reassess that because he is reaching new lows in CNN's war coverage. He is also by far the worst interviewer that I have ever seen, even surpassing Larry King. I don't know how many of you remember right after the US bombed the Chinese embassy in Kosovo. Larry brought on the Chinese ambassador to the US at the time, Li Zhaoxing, who proceeded to spew out the most patently bogus, spin-laden nonsense he could manage. He even told outright fibs, like how the US had not apologized for the incident--he neglected to mention that the Chinese government chose not to report the US apology at all to the Chinese people until three days after Clinton gave it, and what's worse, Larry didn't even take him to task on it, but just sat there throwing him softballs for the entire interview. But I digress. I'm not trying to say the Chinese are wrong about whether the bombing was intentional. I think it was most likely an accident, but really, who the hell knows? I'm just trying to get across that Larry is no great shakes as an interviewer. And Aaron Brown is even worse. Just listening to the guy makes my hair stand on end. It's not just his nasally voice and smarmy down-home manner. He doesn't have a skeptical, questioning bone in his body. Apparently, whatever journalism school he attended neglected to inform him that the most vital role of the press in a free society is that of watchdog. Or maybe it did, but he chose to squeeze in a round of golf that day instead of attending class [see below]. He is consistently outmaneuvered by his subject, who artfully dodges around any rare penetrating question. Or, most likely, Aaron just takes everything he is told at face value and doesn't even think to probe further. If this guy had been on the beat during Watergate Nixon would probably still be president. OK, so we know he's a lousy interviewer--but how good is he as a newsman? Well, I would expect any journalist worth his or her salt to recognize an important breaking story and skedaddle on back to the studio. Not Aaron. When the the Columbia space shuttle broke apart, Aaron decided to keep chipping away at the celebrity golf tournament in which he was playing. He tells us he tried to make his travel arrangements in a way that was not 'too disruptive' for the other golfers, but for whatever reason he didn't get back on the air for another 36 hours. On second thought, CNN should sponsor him for a PGA tour card and do us all a big favor.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/23/2003 08:04:00 AM| |

 
Anybody got a decent recipe for crow? Because that's what is on the menu for Prince Roy. Utah won 60-58. I just can't believe it. Their three big men had fouled out with three minutes left. They had three freakin' freshmen on the court. And Oregon still couldn't pull it out. They whittled down a nine point lead and even went up by one point, but couldn't hold it. Utah kept grabbing offensive rebounds and Ian Crosswhite missed a couple of really big free throws. Then James Davis had two wide open threes in the final seconds but couldn't hit either one. Game over. This really sucks. I'm just glad I don't have to show up at school for a while until the pain dies down.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/22/2003 06:37:00 AM| |

 
OK, today's the moment of truth. In approximately three hours the much maligned and under-rated Oregon Ducks will take the court where they will proceed to kick some New Mexico Ute behind. If Kentucky wins they will play Oregon on Sunday. I think Oregon has a good chance to upset KY (jelly). KY hasn't faced a team like Oregon all year. But to do it, both Lukes have to come up big and Robert Johnson has to have the game of his life. In other words, he has to not only maintain his usually excellent rebounding, but he has to finish off all those easy lay-ups he has a habit of bricking. He definitely doesn't want to imitate that choke artist last night for UW-Milwaukee who blew an uncontested lay-up with two seconds that would have won the game. Actually, he missed two such lay-ups in the final 50 seconds. My condolences go out to Alf. Anyway Oregon has a good chance to beat KY; they're a better team than people have been giving them credit for and a lot of folks are in for a surprise. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. One game at a time. I will enjoy the game with a sumptuous spread courtesy of Baja Fresh. This place was a very pleasant surprise when I moved out here because I grew up thinking Mexican-style fast food all resembled Taco Bell. Baja Fresh has branched out all over the US now, so you should give it a try. They make all salsas on premises. My favorite is the mole (mo-LAY) style. I'll have to walk there since my wife has the car, but it'll be well worth the 2.6 mile roundtrip. I even played around with the idea of picking up a couple of beers, but I'll hold off for the Sunday matchup. I guess nothing should much surprise me seeing as how I live on the West Coast, but I have to admit I never would've guessed that Billy Mays, photos, and bear would turn out to be such a popular search sequence at Google. Oh right, my Spring Break started yesterday. No class until March 31.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/22/2003 01:23:00 AM| |

 
The Hammer Falls
First of all let me say I did not start this as a political blog, and I don't foresee it ever becoming one. I will always try to maintain a lighthearted, respectful irreverence, mostly towards my own wacked life, but also with regards to anything else that happens to strike my fancy. But the US is at war tonight and I think it would be remiss for me not to acknowledge that fact, as well as disrespectful to the people of all nations who will sacrifice their lives as a result. I served four years active duty as an enlisted soldier in the United States Army after I completed high school. I am extremely proud to have done so. I, like every other enlistee, took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. It is in a large part due to my past three years in law school that I have learned how fragile the rights contained in it are, and how vigilant we must be to preserve them. That is why I find the actions of so many people in this nation deeply disturbing. I don't wish to discuss here my own personal opinions regarding the moral/legal legitimacy of this war. But I fully support anyone's right to express whatever their views are, and I was willing to fight and die if need be, so that people in this country might continue to do so. That's why regardless of whether I may/not completely agree with the actions of the people I passed driving home tonight who were protesting this war, I am exceptionally happy and grateful they were out there, for this confirmed to me that the ideals contained in the Bill of Rights are not mere empty words. The right to dissent against one's government is the cornerstone of a free people. The philosophies of the so-called 'patriots' disparaging these people as 'traitors' or 'un-American' are in lock-step with the kind of despotic authoritarian regime we are supposedly fighting to eliminate. Their lack of understanding of the values and principles so vital to a vibrant democracy are shocking. I doubt any of them have even read the Constitution, much less served as much as a day in uniform sworn to its defense. Whatever your own views happen to be concerning this war, if you are a US citizen I urge you to carry out your responsibilities as a member of our nation and make damn sure you vote in 2004 to hold our leaders accountable for the decisions they have made. It is the least we can do to honor the hundreds of thousands who gave the ultimate sacrifice throughout our history, and those who will do so in the current conflict. Finally, I pray that this war ends as soon, and with as few lives needlessly lost, as possible.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/20/2003 02:21:00 PM| |

 
A big shout-out to Leylop for the quick class on how to upload graphics!

My Favorite Infomercial Pitchman

One of my eccentricities is that despite my unilateral War on Popular Culture I am probably the only person in the world that enjoys infomercials [infomercial is a term created from combining the words 'information' + 'commercial']. I don't know if China has infomercials yet. Infomercials are commercials that are designed to look like an actual TV program--oftentimes a talkshow. They usually have a 'host' who brings out an interesting 'guest', who just so happens has invented or discovered some amazing product that will change the world in which we live. Sometimes to make the 'show' look even more real they'll have a studio 'audience' (infomercial producers recruit and pay people, mostly at shopping malls, to come in and participate). To add to the live feel, they may have 'callers' who phone in to chat about how great the product is, even though you will never ever hear the host announce the phone number. They'll even take commercial breaks: "we'll be right back after this short break"--and the commercials of course, are for the very product they've been talking about on the show the past ten minutes. I've always been something of a night owl and so I watch a lot of late-night TV, which is the prime time for the infomercial because that is the cheapest time for these guys to air their programs. As a result I've seen many infomercial pitchmen come and go, but right now there's a guy out there that has taken the infomercial world by storm. He also just happens to be my favorite infomercial pitchman of all-time:

He is none other than Billy Mays. People either love or hate this guy. Personally I think he's brilliant. He's a throwback to the carnival barker days of old. He has a loud booming voice, he's exuberant and enthusiastic about whatever it is he's selling. He mostly peddles household cleaners like OxiClean, Kaboom, and Orange Clean. But he doesn't limit himself. He's got some kind of rust remover tool that looks like a drill with a 30-bit set. And there's the Fonefree device that lets you talk hands-free on the cell phone while driving. People in LA really need that. But my favorite is the "Ding King" dent removal system that you use to pop dents out of your car. Now I have no idea whether these products work or are utter crap--I've never bought one and probably never will. As the saying goes: caveat emptor [let the buyer beware]. But all that isn't important anyway. Billy is a show all on his own. He has a great vocabulary--among his catch-phrases are: "Watch this!"; "I gotta tell ya somethin'!"; and "Ya gotta call now!" However, there's more to the Billy Mays phenomenon than meets the eye. Apparently he has become something of a gay icon. He has garnered a HUGE following in the gay subculture that idolizes 'bears'. A 'Bear' is gay code for big guys with beards and body hair (i.e. 'fur'). If Poagao ever stops by it would be interesting to get his take on this. Heck, it would be interesting to hear Billy's perspective--evidently he's straight and happily married. At first I was one of the uninitiated who found Billy Mays more annoying than anything else. But then I noticed one of our professors in law school looks exactly like him. This picture doesn't really do the resemblance justice, but it's all I have. Trust me--in person he is the spitting image:

This guy is a respected professor of world-wide renown--an authority on International Trade Law. I wanted more than anything to take his classes. But in the end I couldn't do it, because I knew that if I did I would just convulse in fits of laughter everytime he walked in the room and did his 'spiel'. Find out more about Billy Mays
This is the best site I've found concerning the Billy Mays phenomenon. It has lots of pictures, and best of all, audio clips, so that those of you in China can get a better idea of what I'm talking about. Read this piece to learn more about the private Billy Mays out of the public eye, up close and personal. I'd love to find out if there is a Chinese Billy Mays out there, so I'm asking you to keep your eyes (and ears) open. And if you leave a comment in the next 20 minutes I'll throw in an extra bottle of Tsingtao absolutely free! But ya gotta call now! Billy Mays Update!!!
Some truly disturbed nut has created a Billy Mix. I swear this wasn't me. Maybe DJ Wilson can sample it to jumpstart a slow HZ club night.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/19/2003 03:12:00 AM| |

 
cool beans: if you do a "prince roy" search in google.com this blog is now second on the hit-list. It's fun having the site stats dealie--how else would I have found out about the pitiable sap that did a search for "luke ridnour" photos and got directed to this site? (it's #110 on the list today, but yesterday it was in the first 20 hits) Hope he found the detour worthwhile. I think Alf had the right idea--if you want to get some hits just dump a whole shiteload of sexy terms in the mix and those poor pervs in desperate need of Japanese schoolgirl scat will fall right into your lap. I've tried to study in vain today for tomorrow's poli-sci final, but I just can't make myself open the damn book. And the odd thing is I really enjoy the material (International Relations of China). I guess part of it is the bizarre anal attitude towards grades shown by this law school. We're supposed to be a freakin' elite institution--that is everyone here is supposed to have already proven they have the brains to be here: the school microanalyzed our undergrad GPAs, graduate GPAs (if any), standardized LSAT test scores, personal essays, letters of rec by former profs and so on when we applied. But boy do they really give it to you. The Summary of Academic Standards is chock full of penalties and other ways they can make your life miserable. Classes are automatically curved for all 1L courses and any upper class courses with more than 40 students. That means at least 20% are taking home a C no matter what they do. Thank you sir, may I have another... They allow us to take a max of two classes outside the legal curriculum--that's why I can take this poli-sci class. The teeth-grinding butt-clenchers who run this law school are so worried about supposed academic purity that any grade we get in these classes won't count in our GPAs--we only get the hours for graduation requirements. You know, if that was the end of the story I could live with that. I've never really given a rat's ass about marks anyways. But it's not. We only get the hours if we earn a B- or better. If we get less than a B-, not only do we not receive any credit, but it goes down as a freakin' F for GPA. In other words, the grade can only hurt you. This is the kind of hard-ass attitude we have to deal with. And our law school is supposedly among the most mellow, student-friendly. In future posts I may get around to other rants I have about legal education at my school--but I'm not even sure if there are any law student wannabes in my readership--I may be strictly drawing the China crowd which is just fine by me. But if you're out there leave a comment and I'll make a note to get around to it before I graduate. Now really, it's back to my true love--Chinese politics. After all, if I get less than a B-....
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/17/2003 03:48:00 PM| |

 
Today's headline in the Realm Register-Guard:

Oregon Ducks 2003 Pac-10 Champions!!!!!

UO defeats USC 74-66!!!

No Dinner for Prince Roy
But never fear---I am well content this evening with a few Full Sail Amber Ales in my belly, and some leftover chao nian gao [stir-fried glutinous rice cakes] just waiting to be nuked. So the wife can sulk all she wants. Hehehehehe... One thing must be said about Oregon--- it produces the finest Micro brews in the country. One of the most excruciating aspects of living in LA is that it is a beer lover's desert. There are very few Micro Brew Pubs compared to the Great Northwest, and the ones that are here simply pale in comparison. A must visit if you ever find yourself in the Eugene area: High Street Brewery & Cafe. This is one of my favorite all-time haunts. Wonderful beers, good pub food and just a great place to wile away an afternoon in beery joy. I especially recommend "The Rubynator", which is a mix of their Terminator Stout and Ruby (raspberry) Ale. I sure hope one of these days I can treat any of my readers to a pint of this wonder. Now some of you may be wondering about the Oregon connection. How did a N'awlins boy wind up in Eugene? Simple--I went to university there. After high school I did a four-year hitch in the Army where I met my best bud ever. He's from a small town in Oregon. I had always had this image of the place as being very green, and rainy; environmentally clean, and rainy; and progressive (and rainy), but with a hardy independent streak. I had actually planned to go check it out from the time I was a teenager, but meeting this guy just sealed the deal. So after we got out (we had signed up at almost the exact same time for the exact same period) we drove back together. I went to the University of Oregon on the GI Bill where I majored in Chinese. But that's another story. I can honestly say I fell in love with Oregon from the moment I first crossed the state line. People think it rains all the time, but that's not true. It does rain a lot from November through June, but it is more like a drizzle. However, it's worth it because of the greenery and the summers. And let me tell you, the summers are the most splendid I have ever seen--from July through October there is nary a cloud in the sky. Just gorgeous weather, highs in the low-mid 80s, and perfect for all outdoor activities. Eugene is the most bucolic city I've ever lived in. It is surrounded by green hills and the University has a picturesque river (the Willamette) flowing right through campus. It is about an hour from the ocean and about 45 minutes from the Cascades. No doubt, I spent the happiest period of my life in that place. So by all means visit if you can (in the summer). But don't move there.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/16/2003 12:52:00 PM| |

 
Hey, so I lied. But honestly, I have to report that there is big trouble in the Realm. The unthinkable has happened. My fabulous Oregon Ducks took care of 'bidness' tonight with a thrilling victory over the UCLA Bruins. Folks, I thought our Ducks were cooked--UCLA led by 11 with three minutes to go. But the never-say-die Ducks managed to steal this one, with a beautiful three point shot by the other Luke--Luke Jackson to win by one point. So far so good. But USC KILLED Cal tonight, meaning that they will face Oregon tomorrow afternoon for the championship of the Pac-10. Somebody in Prince Roy's castle will not be a happy camper tomorrow night--you may recall my wife is a USC grad. And to tell you the truth, 'SC looked awfully tough tonight. If they play like that tomorrow it won't be a pretty sight. Maybe some are curious about what is the official language of the Realm. My guess is that we speak in Mandarin about 90% of the time. A lot of my friends think that this must be really good for my Chinese. Maybe you readers do too. Well, not as much as you may think. Think about it--in general day-to-day conversation you tend to discuss pretty mundane things for the most part. So sure, I can get out of taking out the garbage great in Chinese. Or avoid doing the dishes. Washing the laundry. Asking for a particular dish for dinner--(but just so you know, I actually do the cooking during the week). So yeah, in that sense I do ok. But anything else more sophisticated is far trickier. That's why I think it may be actually an advantage for those not involved with a native speaker of the language they are studying--it may force you to study it more completely. In my own admittedly limited experience, those involved with a native speaker generally could converse more naturally and had a better grip of colloquial usages, but the people I know who weren't in such relationships had amazing vocabularies, depending on their areas of specialization. For instance, a former professor in grad school who is a world authority on Tang poetry. Or my classmate here in law school who is a political economy/WTO geek. I know I'm generalizing somewhat, but this phenomenon has pretty much held true. I'd be interested to know what you think. Am I full of hot air? Too small a sample? No control group? But don't think my wife is getting shortchanged in the deal--we speak primarily Chinese at home, but outside it's still the USA. She speaks English at work, she got a master's from USC--where she had to use English in classes, assignments and such, and she conducts daily activities/transactions in society-at-large--almost all in English--except on our weekly trips to Monterey Park (the big Chinese area here in LA). So her opportunities to use English certainly aren't suffering.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/15/2003 03:51:00 PM| |

 
You poor sods in China are missing some amazing college hoops. Yesterday I watched the UCLA Bruins knock off the #1 team in the country, Arizona, in overtime. I then saw my Oregon Ducks beat Arizona State on the last play of the game with a beautiful full court layup drive by Luke Ridnour. So now I am waiting for the semis--in just two hours it'll be UCLA v. Oregon. Should be absolutely epic. Oh yeah, the other game is Cal v. USC. Big whoop. My wife went to USC so I'm sure she'll want to watch that one. She thinks they can't win unless she watches. But as we like to say at my school, "You can't spell SUCKS without USC"! I've put up four more pictures from last summer's visit to Sichuan here. You have to sign up (free), but I like this online host better, because I can include commentary about the pictures. Yahoo doesn't allow it. But I put them on Yahoo also, here. I've got a final exam on Monday that I need to get cracking for so I won't have any new entries until Tuesday.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/15/2003 08:01:00 AM| |

 
One of the things last year I was happiest about was when we were able to help my wife's parents buy a new apartment in Chengdu. The notion of filial piety is still a highly important one in Chinese culture, and I know it meant a lot to my wife to be able to provide for her parents in this way, especially since we live in the US and she is really no longer there for them. I think the filial piety concept is somewhat overdone, though. Many Chinese think that Americans have no strong concept of family, which is an overgeneralization of course. It's not like we send our folks out into the street when they get old, or set them adrift on an ice floe. Before they bought this new apartment my in-laws had lived in the middle school where my father-in-law taught English. He's semi-retired now. My mother-in-law teaches language arts at a nearby elementary school. They owned a three bedroom apartment at the school, which they purchased for something like RMB 5000 (US $600) back in the 1980s when the government first began to liberalize the housing markets. It is an ok apartment by local standards, though it is dark with no sunlight, the bathroom often stops up, and the apartment is prone to flooding if there is heavy rain. The area is also really loud with lots of street traffic. The worst thing, though, is the mosquitos. Open gullies run right outside what few windows the apartment has. These are a natural breeding ground for them. It can get pretty bad. Not only that, but thieves broke in and stole things more than once. My in-laws aren't wealthy by any means, but they are comparatively well-off compared to many people. Sichuan is still a pretty poor province. We visited last summer in order to have our wedding banquet. It's funny how in China you can sign all the paperwork, marriage license, etc., but until you have that banquet and qing ke, you're not married in society's eyes, even though in our case we had already been married four years. One night we went to the home of my brother-in-law's best friend. He has a really nice apartment in a new complex right next to a park. The grounds are very well-maintained with lots of trees, plants and flowers. It is clean, quiet and close to some very nice stores. I fell in love with the place immediately. The construction quality is also quite good by Chinese standards. I asked the friend if there were any vacancies. As luck would have it, he said a guy had purchased a fifth floor unit, but had taken a job in another town and so was looking to sell. We got his number, and my in-laws began negotiations. It ended up being a long and torturous process which I won't go into. The deal fell through more than once. Actually, we looked around town quite a bit at many other places--China is currently undergoing an unprecedented housing boom--even in interior provinces like Sichuan. But no other place came close to this one I thought. The location, the park, the great job done by the management company, the view, etc. Anyway, the deal eventually went down and they moved in after January 1. One odd thing about the Chinese home-buying experience--what you buy is just a shell--an empty apartment with no fittings and bare concrete walls and floors. Everything else, like flooring, windows, pipes, wallpaper, fixtures, and paint you have to contract out to interior design companies. And that can end up costing almost as much as the apartment itself, especially if you want to do it right so as to protect your investment. One other thing, in China you can't actually 'own' property. That still belongs to the state. What you own are property use rights--essentially a lease. For residences, this lease lasts for 70 years--and potentially everything reverts back to the government--no compensation whatsoever. One of the big questions is what is going to happen once these leases start coming to term. After all, private housing is a fairly new development, and you have literally millions of Chinese people sinking their wealth into homes, taking out mortgages and all. It'll be interesting to see the social forces that come into play once China is a nation of homeowners. Imagine the ruckus they'll raise if the government comes around saying "time's up, hand over the keys. Thanks for keeping an eye on the place." I've got some NEW APARTMENT PHOTOS that you can take a look at HERE if you're interested. Let me know if the link doesn't work. I've also stored the pictures HERE. I don't know how to post directly to the blog yet so maybe someone can help me out or I'll figure it out later when I get some spare time. OK, sorry to write and run, but it's time for the PAC-10 tourney and the awesome UO Ducks are up. GO DUCKS!!!!!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/14/2003 05:43:00 AM| |

 
As you probably know by now, I am a native of Louisiana and my wife is from Chengdu, Sichuan. Lucky for us, the people of both places just love spicy food. So adapting to each other's cuisine has never been much of an issue. On my last trip back over the Winter break I went and bought 15 pounds of andouille sausage at this guy's tiny shop in French Settlement, Louisiana. Andouille is a kind of spicy sausage made by Cajuns. That site offers a good introduction to what the Cajuns are all about. My friends always kid me about being a Cajun (I'm not) when they find out I'm from New Orleans, but there aren't many Cajuns at all in New Orleans. Cajuns are country folk and don't really have much to do with New Orleans other than the tourist industry. But they are a fascinating culture and they still maintain a lot of their old ways--I especially love driving through the Lafayette area and tuning in to their radio stations--they have a really distinctive style of music and speak a quaint, archaic French dialect. Of course, now with all the idiots going around French-bashing, changing 'French Fries' to 'Freedom Fries', etc, you should go back and re-read everything and replace 'Freedom' everytime you see the word 'French'. If you are one of the idiots, I mean. Anyway, this guy Donald Porche makes the most scrumptious andouille sausage I've ever had. It's well worth the drive to find his place, about 25 miles southeast of Baton Rouge, way out in the sticks. Don's a hoot, that is if you can understand him. I can only pick up about half of what he's saying, because he has a really thick Cajun accent. If you're ever in the area, load up. If you run over a deer on the way he makes a mean venison andouille, I understand. I'll pass on the nutria though. Porches Sausage Company Owner: Donald and Linda Porche 17415 La. Hwy. 16 French Settlement, LA 70733 225-698-6229 So here's a delicious recipe I've created with andouille sausage that combines Sichuan flavors. Bon Appetit! Today's Recipe Sichuan Stir-fry Andouille One link andouille sausage one green bell pepper, one red bell pepper, chopped two carrots, sliced three celery stalks, chopped one quarter onion, sliced three cloves garlic, minced one teaspoon douban jiang salt, cayenne pepper cut the sausage into half-inch thick wedges, and simmer three minutes each side in a skillet, low heat. coat the skillet lightly with olive oil. remove sausage and drain on paper towel. in wok, add canola cooking oil (1 tablespoon). When hot add douban jiang and garlic. Mix well. Then add the vegetables, except for onions. Stir fry a few minutes, add salt and cayenne to taste. If you like your veggies crispy around 5-6 minutes should do it. Cut the sausage into bite size pieces (just cut the wedges in half) and add to the mix along with the onions. Stir fry another couple of minutes--until the onions start to change color--then serve with rice. You can add more douban jiang if you like--I often use two teaspoons. That's it--pretty simple, but darn tasty. One note: douban jiang is a Sichuan chili bean sauce. The kind I like to use is made by Lee Kum Kee and is widely available in the US. For some reason this company calls it "Toban Djan". They've got some pretty good recipes on their site to try. Let me know how this works for you. If you can't find andouille in your area I think you could probably substitute any kind of spicy sausage.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/13/2003 11:53:00 AM| |

 
OK--so I went outside for a bit. What I've been trying to do to get myself back in some semblance of condition is I power walk to my gym, which is about 1.3 miles away, then do two sets of pushups, one set hands placed shoulder width apart, the next set slightly farther. I rest exactly one minute between each set. Then I hop on the stationary cycle and do 35 minutes. Then I stretch and repeat the pushups. Then I power walk back home. I've been doing this for about a month now, gradually increasing the time and resistance on the cycle, and the pushup reps. I don't know what happened to me, but in November I physically turned a dark corner. I was ill pretty much all last semester--got this flu-like thing in October, then came down with something again in mid-November. It never really completely went away. Even now I don't feel I have totally recovered. I'm thinking it may be a side effect of the extreme inactivity I let myself fall into at the beginning of 2002. The sad thing is, if I do say so myself, I was in outstanding shape in Fall of 2001, maybe the second best of my life. But after the New Year I stopped exercising completely, then interned at a law firm in Beijing over the summer (cheep beer and amazing jiaozi![dumplings]). So I basically went to shit. Law school has a tendency to do that to people. We have class up to sixteen hours a week and we are pretty much on our asses reading the rest of the time. The people I admire most here are the ones who have managed to stay in excellent shape--it isn't easy to do. The place grinds you down not just from the amount of work, but because it is generally such an unpleasant atmosphere to begin with. But I have been forcing myself to restart this exercise program and I do think it's working although I am still incredibly phuckin' weak. My spirits are better though, which is a start. But let's face it, I have devolved into a disgusting fatbody and it's no one's fault but mine.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/12/2003 11:21:00 AM| |

 
It is a gorgeous day outside today, which is a major reason why this blog entry will be very short. After I down my own patented power shake it's off to the great outdoors. I think I'm stuck indoors all too often, which is probably the major reason I haven't felt 'right' since mid November. I probably need to charge my batteries with some Vitamin D courtesy of Sol. Maybe I'll have more to say post-sundown.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/12/2003 05:32:00 AM| |

 
I made the decision and IUP-Qinghua it is. It'll wind up being a tad more expensive than Princeton in Beijing, but I think this program is probably the best bet in the long run. Of course, there's only so much you can get done in 8 weeks. That's probably just enough time to find out where the best dumpling place is and which bar waters its beer the least. I'm hoping the homestay option works out and I don't get the crazy family from hell. They're already getting the crazy laowai from hell, so one crazy in the family is enough. The only thing as of now that'll keep me from going is if my State Department ship comes in. The way they're going about my clearances I think it's a pretty good bet I'll be in Beijing this summer, which actually is just as well with me. One week to go in my undergrad PoliSci class--I just can't get motivated to write a kick-ass paper on China's foreign relations even though I easily could. Law school has almost completely taken the joy out of academics for me. Plus, the blase attitude of the teacher hasn't helped fire me up either. He's a nice chap and all that; I especially enjoy talking with him during breaks or before class if I catch him on the bus on the way to school or at the cafeteria where he gets his coffee and I get my Diet Mt. Dew. But he hasn't been the most inspiring fellow out there when it comes to the lecture. But by all means if Richard Baum comes to a theater near you he is well worth the price of admission. He's the master of narrative and a great story-teller--a very engaging lecturer who always kept my interest and imparted his enthusiasm for the subject (Chinese politics). He's also a first-rate researcher. The opportunity to audit his classes has been one of the few high points of my law school sentence. Jiaogai (Reform through education) as the Chinese would say. My wife and I have been going to the Hsi-Lai Temple out in Hacienda Heights. My wife is a practicing Buddhist and volunteers to staff the temple's tea room/library. I just tag along because I like the atmosphere--plus all the big ball games are over anyway. It's in a beautiful setting high up on a hilltop overlooking the usually smoggy San Gabriel Valley. They've got a wonderful vegetarian buffet where you can have your fill if you give a donation. I give $5.00. They always have many good dishes and their vegetable tempura is first-rate. What really gets me is one of my classmates is married to a Chinese girl too, whose parents are rich as all get-out. These jokers (the in-laws, not my friend or his wife) often go to the temple restaurant to eat, and get this, they sneak in and don't give jack. Their justification? The Master who built the temple, a monk from Taiwan named Hsing Yun, has even more money than they do--in fact he's filthy rich. So they see nothing untowards about eating at the temple and not donating anything. This kind of pettiness makes you hope that all that talk about karma is true. OK, so after many trials, tribulations, hair-pulling (which led to whiskey pulling), I've finally got a comments function of sorts set up. It's not the one I wanted, but I couldn't get the other one to work, and the one I really wanted is closed to new users at the moment. It'll be interesting to see if anyone at all has found my blog since I have not told a soul about it.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/11/2003 01:24:00 PM| |

 
Those North Koreans are sure hard to figure out. Now they even have their own official website. Check out the video for the Fiparam pocket rocket (the name means 'Whistle' in Korean). It's in Korean, but that groovy soundtrack, cutting-edge footage, and the pure kick-ass appeal of that rod should speak anyone's language. One thing about Korean broadcasters is their tone is always so confident and self-assured. Maybe it's because I don't understand a word of Korean, but it seems they are giving you an ideological lecture rather than conveying information. One other thing that mystifies me is the current US term (supposedly humorous) for the French: "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." OK, I get where the 'surrender monkey' part comes in, but for the nation that gave the world McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to go around calling someone else 'cheese-eating' is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. Americans eat more cheese per capita than any other people in the world, and frankly it shows. One other note--received word of acceptance into the Princeton-in-Beijing(PiB) intensive Chinese summer program today--the great Perry Link himself sent the glad tidings. I don't think he has much to do with the actual administration of the program--he's pretty much persona non grata in the PRC ever since the Fang Lizhi debacle. But you can't argue over the dude's Chinese skills. We brought him in a few times during my VOA days to do some shows and my hat's definitely off to him. The only other farang I've heard that even compares is my old professor Howard Goldblatt. The most famous foreign Chinese speaker is undoubtedly Da Shan, but he is more of an annoying dweeb than anything else. I'd rather sound like Perry Link or Howard Goldblatt than this yahoo. But alas, PiB is not giving me one red cent in assistance so I'll have to cough up the entire tuition myself. They say I don't show enough need. Me with my ass 45K in debt from law school loans and us barely making it month to month on my wife's crummy salary from the PWC saltmine. We'll see. I'm still awaiting word from IUP-Qinghua --not only is it a few hundred dollars cheaper, but I'd have the option of staying with a host family. At PiB they make you room with another farang so you can internalize each others' atrocious Chinese habits. The good thing about PiB though, besides the fact that you get about three more hours of class per week, is that it is quite close to the subway and not that far from the city center. At Qinghua you're pretty much out in the Haidian boonies. Well, maybe it won't be too bad. There seems to be a fair number of watering holes. This is going to be a tough call--PiB appears more tailored to undergrads, but my friend who studied there last summer said it was a good program. On the other hand, I am an alum of IUP (Taiwan/academic year) and I know they have a good program. Plus, it is geared more to the graduate student and one can personally tailor the curriculum. That, plus the homestay option may be the dealmaker. Unless of course, my job finally comes through.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/05/2003 09:47:00 AM| |

 
I've been checking out many China related blogs the past few days and I can highly recommend two. One is by an American guy named John who is teaching English in Hangzhou. He's got a great site and seems like a very nice guy. If you think you might like to teach in China he could probably hook you up. You couldn't go wrong at his school--just check out these pics of his apartment! That's the best I've ever seen--except of course for the apartment we bought for my in-laws in Chengdu! I'll get around to putting up the pictures eventually. The other blog is by a Chinese college student, incidently also from Hangzhou. Her name is Leylop. I think that is about the coolest name I ever heard. Her English is outstanding, and she is a really hip young lady. After reading her excellent compositions I feel like tearing my hair out, given how long I've studied Chinese and can barely compose a literate sentence. I'm a frequent contributor to both sites--they've got the 'comment' function which I haven't been able to figure out yet. I'll be posting other worthwile blogs as I come across them. Actually, John's site contains a list, some of which are pretty good.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 3/01/2003 12:36:00 PM| |