The Chinese show in question, which Conan calls “really weird,” is Da Peng Debade《大鹏嘚吧嘚》, hosted by Dong Chengpeng (董成鹏 [born Jan. 12, 1982, 176 cm, blood type AB...]). It is weird, but at least it’s different, a fun variety show featuring crosstalk, magic acts, theater, colorful characters, funny graphics – a victory for Chinese programming, trust me. And at least it tries to be creative, albeit creativity in its opening credits manifests itself in the form of copying an American show that is actually creative. But it’s trying! And it has been, according to Baidu Baike, one of the most popular shows on the Internet ever since Dong (Da Peng) launched it in 2007.
So the NBA All-Star game yesterday came down to the final shot. Big deal. Anyone can make basketball entertaining when they're among the best players the world has to offer. A much tougher task is to make basketball entertaining when you're not blessed with seven-foot wingspans and 40-inch verticals, just a regular guy persevering through the marshes of life with the rest of us: earnest, hard-working, perhaps even talented, but not superhuman like Dwight Howard, freakish like Kevin Durant, or LeBron James like LeBron James.
It's unlikely you'll ever see jianbing given a more doting treatment than in the above video by Tim Quijano. The font is stylized, curled like a Victorian moustache; the sauce is "hoisin," not "that brown shit"; the chili is "paste"; the music is new-age classical with a lot of cello overlaid with digital keyboard, which seems fitting; "crisp fritter"; and the camera is obviously on a tripod.
Traffic Light (红绿灯) is a show on Beijing Television (BTV) that airs an ostensibly instructional segment called "Accidents That Should Never Happen." Everything about it is ridiculous. The only way to make it more ridiculous is to watch it in slow motion, set to music. This is the first video in a weekly series.
Emphasis on "perhaps," and possibly on "batty." But it's a good kind of crazy, the kind I wish the world produced more of. The wonderful gonzo's words in poem form after the jump.
The CBA All-Star game was last night in Guangzhou, with the very first minute portending an evening of heroic fails. The southern all-stars sprinted out to miss their first three shots, all three-pointers. Their first two buckets were scored by former Dallas Maverick Wang Zhizhi, whom a less discerning fan could be excused for thinking was dead. Still, the North still found itself down 11 near the end of the first quarter, ball in Stephon Marbury's hands, when the above happened.
Shanghai Calling is a movie about a confident, ambitious, career-minded Chinese American named Sam who gets called into his New York law firm’s office one day and told he’s in for some “big news.” As he prepares to humbly accept what he believes is a promotion, he’s told, “We’re sending you to China!” Uh-oh. China... Read more »
Among the other things that happen: the real-life character battling the chalkboard figure becomes impregnated by said cannonball after it slingshots out of said condom. Then his fist turns into a rocket that flies into an electrical socket — he is electrocuted but doesn’t die. The chalkboard figure performs a Mortal Kombat-like finishing move that... Read more »
Just when you thought this saga couldn't get crazier, Jeremy Lin leads the Knicks back from a double-digit deficit and hits the game-winning bucket near the buzzer. I've never seen an NBA crowd cheer its home team's loss quite like this.
