John Amaechi, who played five seasons in the NBA, is coming out in a tell-all book that will also be coming out. He will become the first NBA player to ever announce he’s openly gay. And there’s an important distinction to make before I continue. When I say “gay” I don’t mean it the way frat boys or a schoolyard bully throw this word around so casually as in, “quit being gay” or “hey, you shoot foul shots kind of gay.” I mean it as in John Amaechi, the man pictured above shooting a foul shot, is a homosexual. In an autobiography set for release on Febuary 14th, John Amaechi will reveal to the world what it is really like to be gay in the NBA. The 6′10″ center who played for the Cavs, Magic and Jazz and for three years in Europe currently broadcasts NBA games for Channel Five in the UK. The AP reported Wednesday that Amaechi will become only the sixth professional athlete from one of the U.S. four major sports to come out of the closet, all after retirement. Mike Piazza doesn’t count. Philadelphia 76er Shavlik Randolph applauded Amaechi’s decision to come out by saying, “As long as you don’t bring your gayness on me I’m fine. As far as business-wise, I’m sure I could play with him.” And Sixer center Stephen Hunter reacted to the news by saying, “For real? He’s gay for real? As long as he don’t make any advances toward me I’m fine with it.” With this apparent high level of maturity and overwhelming support for an openly gay NBA player from his colleagues, it’s hard to believe Amaechi didn’t feel comfortable coming out while he was playing. I’m sure these pillars of tolerance would have treated him just like one of the guys– whipping him with their towels, racing him to the showers and fighting with the other teammates to be Johnnycake’s box-out partner during rebounding drills. You know, the one where you’re taught to put your ass directly into your opponent’s crotch. While most NBA players are fine with reciting the NBA mantra of “I love this game,” there are some others who just want to scream, “this game is fabulous.” And the NBA needs to grow up and deal with it.
•AP: Amaechi First Openly Gay NBA Player
The Marxist Internet Archive, a site dedicated to presenting an online library of Marxist writing, has accused the Chinese government of launching an attack on the site’s Chinese-language material. According to a site administrator, in the last year there have been a number of “denial of service” attacks whereby the attacker attempts to repeatedly download a document thus making it inaccessible to anyone else. A whopping 99% of the attacks came from China. While those who know a bit about China are probably wondering why a Communist government would disrupt the site dedicated to Marxist thought, I would say it’s a good question. The site was banned two years ago by the Chinese government for unknown reasons, perhaps to conceal from the Chinese people the true meaning of communism. But as Noam Cohen of the New York Times points out in a story Monday, if Beijing can just ban the site, why would it go through the trouble of launching advanced cyber-attacks? And I always reach the same answer to questions of internet censorhsip: there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it and it seems the government prefers it this way. And while Marxism was instrumental in Mao Zedong’s philosophy and the founding of the People’s Republic, as the Marxist Archive webmaster tells the Times, the Marxist archive does not even consider Mao a true Marxist. He believes Mao was a wannabe Marxist, or as they say in Communist circles, a “Warxist.” He said of the accusation toward China, “It is ironic for people who don’t know what is going on in China. The Chinese so-called Communist government has nothing to do with Communism. It has been going toward capitalism for a long time.” Snap!
Last week on a Chinese sports website, the Chinese national soccer team expressed unhappiness with the facilities offered by two-time defending Premier League Champion Chelsea. China’s Olympic soccer team is in London for two weeks where they will train and play three exhibition games against English teams in preparation for the Olympics in Beijing. The daily Titan sports site quoted one Chinese player as saying, “Chelsea is not as good as we thought.” Well considering China lost 1-0 Monday to Chelsea’s reserves, maybe they are as good as you thought. But it turned out the Chinese players were not addressing Chelsea’s skill level, but rather, how their pitch was just a bit soggier and suckier than the Chinese had envisioned. Another Chinese player told the Titan, “The situation is that the food and lodging is good, but the training field is not so good.” On Monday however, the Chinese team denied saying any of this to the Chinese media. Does it sound like something they would say? The food is good in London? Nobody likes that shit. Monday, Chelsea issued a statement on behalf of the Chinese team saying, “We have been training in Cobham for almost one week and we are so impressed by the great pitches and facilities provided to us in Cobham training center.” Sounds a little fishy. Also, according to the AP, the Chinese team was not allowed to shower at their training facility because the locker rooms were used by women and students. What it sounds like is that the Brits were treating the Chinese team like shit, the Chinese opened their mouths to the media about it and then were ordered to recant all they had said. Not such good PR for Chelsea who recently launched a Chinese-language website and plans on expanding its brand throughout the mainland. At the end of the day though, it’s just soccer. Who really likes this sport anyway?
While discussing with a friend the merits of another Shanghai-based blog that ends in “ist,” my friend mentioned that he read an interesting story over there about a famous Shanghai blogger called Chinabounder, who after five months of silence, reemerged Friday with arguably his most controversial post yet. Chinabounder’s “Sex and Shanghai” blog chronicles the sexual conquests of a 30-something British teacher in Shanghai. Back in August, Chinabounder stopped posting after angry netizens called for the Western blogger’s head and demanded an investigation into Chinablogger’s true identity. The leader of the manhunt was Zhang Jiehai, a psychology professor from the prestigious Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences who wrote on his own blog in August:
When people ask me what type of food I miss most from the U.S., I have two answers depending on what type of mood I’m in. Sometimes, if I’m craving spicy, I’ll say Mexican food, which is really the only foreign cuisine that has not been duplicated properly in Shanghai. The second answer is Chinese food, or what I know to be “Chinese food.” And I say this because as an American living in China, I quickly learned that what I thought was Chinese food isn’t that at all. It’s American Chinese food, and while not authentic, I find myself craving its simplicity, its greasiness and its unique flavor. I thought when I got to China, I’d be eating egg rolls and and beef and broccoli for dinner most nights. I’ve been here a long time now and I am yet to find either on a real Chinese menu. Another such American Chinese staple dish is General Tso’s Chicken, which despite being the most popular Hunanese dish on America’s east coast, the half-spicy half-sweet dish cannot be found in Hunan province. So how exactly did General Tso’s Chicken take off in the States? And an even better question: who the hell is General Tso? Well, the dish was invented by a Hunanese chef who fled to Taiwan after the Chinese civil war and in 1973, moved to New York City where he opened the Chinese restaurant where the dish was first served. At this time, Hunanese food was unknown in the Big Apple. Now, it’s everywhere. He named the dish after a 19th-century Hunan general name Tso Tsung-t’ang, who as legend has it, enjoyed eating a similar recipe. However, according to a New York Times Magazine article Sunday, the general never ate the chicken named for him. The story of General Tso’s Chicken is quite complex, one that cannot be told without mentioning Mao Zedong or Henry Kissinger. Yeah that’s right, Henry Kissinger. So the next time you go to Hunan Garden/Balcony/Palace and tell your waiter “just gimme what the General ordered (that’s what I like to do),” you are not only making a solid lunch order. You are partaking in one of the richest American-Chinese culinary traditions.
In the Caribbean island of Grenada Saturday, there was reason to celebrate. Not the same reason I had to celebrate Saturday (it was announced Justin Timberlake will be hosting the 2007 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards– I knew they’d come through this year). Rather, Grenada held the inauguration ceremony for the nation’s new Queen’s Park Stadium. When the island’s national stadium was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the Chinese government swooped in and agreed to finance and build a brand new stadium for Grenada. Not coincidentally, in 2005, Grenada switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China. China and Taiwan have long been competing for the allegiance of Caribbean nations. So let me set the scene of Saturday’s ceremony. The stadium is packed with high-spirited Grenadian gentlemen and Caribbean queens. Honored on the brand new cricket field was Chinese ambassador Qian Hongshan along with the nearly 500 Chinese laborers who constructed the $40 million stadium dressed in official blue uniforms. As the Chinese fulfilled a promise to Grenada that the new stadium would be built in time for the World Cup cricket matches in April, this ceremony was as much about thanking China as it was celebrating Grenada. The Royal Grenada Police Band then marched to the middle of the field to play the national anthems of both nations. First, a rousing rendition of “Hail Grenada, Land of Ours.” Then, time for China’s song. Sounds like a beautiful ceremony, doesn’t it? But then the disaster. When Grenada’s band began to play, instead of playing China’s song, out came the national anthem of Taiwan. Just imagine the Chinese ambassador and all those Chinese workers standing in the middle of the stadium they built as the Royal Grenada Police Band performed a polished version of the anthem of their biggest Asian rival. I’m embarrassed just writing about it. Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said of the blunder, “I am very saddened. This unfortunate error breaks my heart.” Yeah, well it probably feels worse for the Chinese construction workers who spent 2 years building your stadium and then had to listen to it. The mix-up stems from the very similar formal names of China and Taiwan. While China goes by the “People’s Republic of China,” Taiwan’s official name is the “Republic of China.” And in Grenada, they probably don’t really stress this difference. Mitchell has pledged an official investigation into how on earth the nation’s band managed to totally fuck up what promised to be a joyous occasion. What cracked me up is the audio clip of Grenada’s PM apologizing to “de entire Chinese people.” There’s police sirens blaring in the background.
Senator Joseph Biden’s presidential campaign got off to a rocky start last week as he told the New York Observer that his Democratic opponent Barack Obama was “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” While I thought the “clean” bit warranted the harshest criticism, the word “articulate” has been singled out in the last week as the most objectionable term in Biden’s unfortunate quote. The thinking is that when a white person calls a black person “articulute,” there is an underlying assumption that this black person is an anomaly or special. While perhaps Senator Biden was in fact trying to compliment Obama, it does seem the word “articulate” is used more often as a compliment for a black person than for a white person. I first noticed this phenomenon as a kid when I’d hear people refer to black athletes as “well-spoken.” For instance, I remember hearing people say that the 7-foot black athlete Patrick Ewing was particularly articulate (though this is debatable) whereas white-as-white-can-be John Stockton would never be referred to as such. I suppose it’s possible people were remarking that Patrick Ewing was articulate for an athlete, but I’m not really sure this was the case. A New York Times story Sunday presented the opinions of many prominent African-Americans on whether the word “articulate” in describing a black person is inherently racist. One that struck me was comedian D.L. Hughley’s thoughts on the matter. “Everyone was up in arms about Michael Richards using the N-word, but subtle words like this are more insidious,” he said. “It’s like weight loss. The last few pounds are the hardest to get rid of. It’s the last vestiges of racism that are hard to get rid of.” Well said. Not that I wouldn’t expect that from someone with D.L.’s skin tone. But I think he hits the nail on the head. Calling a black person articulate isn’t the same kind of racist as using the n-word, but it doesn’t make it not racist. It implies that one expects a black person to be inarticulate and thus, it’s worth noting when one isn’t. Though I wonder, if whites cannot use the word “articulate” to praise a black person, what other compliments can be used. Intelligent? Successful? Wealthy? Don’t these words cause the same problem? And if so, is it racist when a black person calls a white “open-minded” or when Jews refer to non-Jews as “righteous gentiles?” But the most important question left unasked in the New York Times story is if Joe Biden were a black man calling Obama “articulate and bright,” would anyone have kicked up a fuss? I highly doubt it.
When China speaks out against your international policy, your policy must be pretty bad. The government notorious for not meddling in the internal affairs of other nations has broken its silence on U.S. action in Iraq. A senior official in China’s government has slammed Bush for what he calls a war that targets a specific religion. The director of China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs, Ye Xiaowen published an op-ed piece Thursday in the People’s Daily, the voice of China’s Communist party, criticizing the direction of the U.S. war in Iraq and expressing concern over the religious nature of the conflict. While China has officially backed Bush’s war on terror, Ye points out that the recent anti-war protests in America illustrate the “unjust nature of the war.” Ye wrote Thursday:
According to a Shanghaiist post Thursday titled, “Holy Shit! The Roots Are Coming to Shanghai!, China West Entertainment announced in an email that Philadelphia-based hip-hop group The Roots will play an April 16th show at Shanghai’s Yun Feng Theater. I’m not sure if this warrants a “holy shit!” but I guess it’s pretty cool. I think it’s more deserving of a “holy moly” or a “holy cow.” The 6-piece live hip-hop band will also be performing in Beijing on April 17th. China West also announced a March 27th Ziggy Marley show and a March 29th Kenny G. concert, both at the Yun Feng Theater. The three shows are part of what people are calling a watershed year for live music in China. Rumor has it that Sonic Youth, Bon Jovi and Linkin Park will all be rocking China in 2007. But back to The Roots. I saw The Roots at the Area One Festival in Camden, New Jersey back in 2001. For those of you who don’t know Camden, it’s a total shithole about 5 minutes from The Roots’ hometown of Philly. All I had heard about the Roots until then was how “sick” they were live. And whenever someone talks about how “sick” The Roots are live, that someone is usually a fratboy who thinks that liking The Roots means he is a hip-hop aficionado. As someone who had never seen them before, I was genuinely excited to see them perform. So the Roots did about 6 songs in front of a hometown crowd. Not only did their set bite, I witnessed a Philly-bred audience basically boo them off the stage. No joke. And then Outkast came out and made The Roots look like a bunch of kids rapping at a Sunday school talent show. I’m gonna go see The Roots in Shanghai, don’t get me wrong. But more because I want to see a rap show in China and less because I think it it will be a reflection of my jazzy, soulful hip-hop side. I’m way more excited for Ziggy Marley. As for the Chinese, I’m betting, upon reading Thursday’s announcement, many of them said to themselves, “Holy Shit! Kenny G. Is Coming to Shanghai!”
Beijing reacted harshly Wednesday to newly-revised high school textbooks in Taiwan that have scrapped language referring to Taiwan as part of mainland China. Taiwan’s ministry of education ordered terms such as “our country,” “my country,” “the mainland” and “those crazies across the strait who think they own us” to be changed to “China,” highlighting Taiwan’s refusal to recognize itself as part of China. One major change to the textbooks is that Sun Yat-Sen, commonly known as the “father of the nation,” will no longer be referred to as such. His 1911 revolution that overthrew China’s final emperor will no longer be known as a “chiyi,” or righteous uprising, and will from now on be referred to as a “chishi,” a disturbance or riot. Sun founded the Nationalist Party in China, which exists today in Taiwan as the island’s largest opposition party. The director-general of the National Institute of Compilation and Translation, the body responsible for the textbook edits said, “There were some phrases that have been found objectionable and we wanted to make them more neutral.” However, Beijing’s comments on the textbook changes were not nearly as diplomatic or ambiguous. A spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said, “We’ve noticed the developments. The political motive behind it is to transform the island’s education into an ideological tool for ‘Taiwan independence’” It has not yet been confirmed whether or not the spokesman used his fingers as quotation marks when saying, “Taiwan independence,” but rest assured, our Flumesday Taiwan correspondent is working on it. These are the type of things we care about here. The Beijing official added, “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. No matter what tricks the secessionist forces play, they cannot change the fact.” From my perspective, this is somewhat of a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I mean it’s not like mainland China’s textbooks are the gold standard for historical accuracy. And I’m sure you think I’m talking about the much criticized revisionist history of Mao Zedong taught in China’s schools. Nope. I’m talking about how the Chinese are taught that the game of basketball was invented in China. Talk about tricks and ideological tools.