Curiosity and excitement in the Bo Xilai trial has turned into resignation and despair, expressed through humor with an undercurrent of sizzling anger. Good for those of us who aren't wasting a second day in Jinan, Shan-fucking-dong.
This isn't too bizarre -- when else is one to get a chance to take a souvenir photo in front of a gigantic poster of the Hong Kong skyline? I mean, holy moly, everyone -- it's a gigantic photo of the Hong Kong skyline!
For one second, let's appreciate the masterfully creepy expression on this middle school teacher as he demands his (female) students give him a kiss before giving them their diplomas.
And then let's consider... he did what?
Luo Lin’s voice and melodies are extremely catchy. In a true sense of the term, he catalyzes -- that is, he channels energy toward, and thereby accelerates -- an aspirational ethos for many migrant workers in Northwest China.
Last week I wrote about those who resist his catalytic charge by jealously guarding their indigenous cultural heritage. Yet, clearly, critiquing Luo Lin’s “Dao Lang” persona does not deny the very real force of his voice. He is an immensely talented performer; he has proved himself to be very adept at tuning in to desires particular to a Chinese rendering of an alien environment inhabited by displaced people.
So, who indeed was the first to publicize a photo of Bo Xilai after a year and a half?
The Jinan Intermediate People's Court, of course. (Of course.) They even beat Xinhua to it.
But who was the first to put this on TWITTER?
Yesterday, we saw a CGI reenactment of a man in Anyang, Henan province randomly stabbing 15 people on a bus on Tuesday. Today, we have real-life footage from outside, and it's much more harrowing: passengers scramble away, but some turn back around to help out the injured.
This is definitely now a thing. First the high-rise villa in Beijing, then the temple in Shenzhen, and now this: a courtyard atop an office building in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. An entire siheyuan! Whatever happened to rich Chinese simply investing in art?
