China declares war on the Internet; here’s how to get around the Net Nanny

Posted on March 22, 2011 by admin

It’s been a tough couple of days for Internet users in China.  We’ve all become used to no Youtube, no Facebook and no Twitter, but the Net Nanny has at least left more vital services alone, such as email.  That has changed in the last few days as China, with unrest in full swing in North Africa, has begun clamping down on what can be accessed online.  Yes, it appears leaders have a severe case of the jitters and when that happens, the people inside Zhongnanhai tend to take a conservative stance.

Two major developments have occured; the first is that wildly popular (especially among laowai) email provider Gmail has had intermittent service the last few days.  Some users said they couldn’t access their Gmail accounts, others couldn’t send mail, and others couldn’t mark emails as unread.  Google itself finally chimed in yesterday, as reported by the Guardian:

“Relating to Google there is no issue on our side. We have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail,” said a Google spokesman. China’s embassy in Washington was not immediately available for comment.

The announcement follows a blog posting from Google on 11 March in which the firm said it had “noticed some highly targeted and apparently politically motivated attacks against our users. We believe activists may have been a specific target.” The posting said the attacks were targeting a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser. The two firms have been working to address the issue. At the time, Google declined to elaborate on which activists had been targeted or where the attacks had been coming from.

The second major development is that China is beginning to knock out access to VPNs, also known as Virtual Private Networks, or the precious tool that gives us access to Youtube.  For those unfamiliar with VPNs, they effectively mask your computer’s IP address (the unique ID given to every device accessing the Internet) and gives it a generic IP address which appears to be from somewhere else, such as the United States.  If your computer appears to be in the US, you get two benefits: you can see all the websites behind the Great Firewall, and also have access to US-only services such as Pandora, Hulu and Netflix.  Right now, reports on Twitter indicate that Witopia, a popular VPN, and 12vpn are both inaccessible in Mainland China, however this can change minute-by-minute.

One VPN you can try (which still works, at least for me) is Strong VPN.  (No, I’m not affiliated with them, although I did find out about them through a friend of mine’s blog.)  It’s the best VPN I’ve used thus far, but also a bit pricey.  But there are many to choose from, as you can see in this list.

It’s hard to gauge how long the crackdown will last.  If I’m a betting man though, knowing how scared China is of any potential unrest, I wouldn’t expect to see Facebook or Twitter unblocked anytime soon, and we can only hope that Gmail will eventually be fully freed.

If you have other VPNs to recommend, please leave them in the comments below.

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Mark Obama Ndesandjo’s thoughts on China’s city of dreams

Posted on March 21, 2011 by admin

One of Shenzhen’s claims to fame is that it calls itself the home of President Barack Obama’s half-brother, Mark Ndesandjo (they share the same father).

Mark was born in Kenya, but studied in the United States and moved to Shenzhen in 2002.  Since arriving, he has learned how to speak fluent Chinese and married Liu Xuehua, a woman from Henan Province.  Mark is also a concert pianist, and published a book in 2009 called Nairobi to Shenzhen, a semi-autobiographical work looking at his immersion into China.

Mark now keeps himself busy by running WorldNexus, an internet marketing company, teaching piano to orphaned children at the Shenzhen Social Welfare Center, and running a popular bar/bbq chain called Cabin BBQ.  He’s traditionally kept to himself, shunning media during his more famous brother’s run for President.  But it appears he might be coming out of his shell, as he’s expected to publish his memoirs which will detail his relationship with Barack Obama.

Over the weekend, his book was excerpted in the International Herald Tribune.  He talks about the frantic pace of change in China’s “City of Dreams”, Shenzhen, and how it might come at the expense of maintaining traditions:

I believe that in the future China, the current Shenzhen disposition will become more relaxed, more traditional. “Time is money” will become “time is precious but can be shared with strangers.” Or, in the words of Confucius,

Don’t just treasure the water, treasure the mountain; don’t just move, but be still, don’t just enjoy, but preserve.

So perhaps by the time the kids of today’s Shenzhen grow up there will be a change in the current attitude toward headlong growth. Perhaps they will begin to ponder questions like: Do they have a wholesome life based on values such as establishing a quality-based economy and social responsibility, and not living just to pursue a quick yuan? Will they begin to stop to check out the blue skies, safely drink water direct from the tap, have more time to be with loved ones, volunteer, and walk where tree leaves gently touch?

The full article can be read here.

Links & Sources:

 

 

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Raise funds for Japan in Guangzhou this weekend

Posted on March 19, 2011 by admin

If you’ve been looking for a way to help the Japanese people overcome the triple-whammy of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and potential nuclear disaster, you can play a part this weekend by visiting a garage sale that will raise funds for people in Japan who are going to need a fresh start.

The garage sale will be held on Ersha Dao in Guangzhou all day on Sunday.  Proceeds raised through the event will be sent back to Japan via the Asahi Newspaper Company.  In addition, the group needs items to be sold at the garage sale.  So if you have odds and ends around the house, some hand-me-down items, or anything of value that you don’t need or use anymore, be sure to drop it off on Saturday.

Details are below:

Event:  Help Us Help Japan Garage Sale

Time:  10:00am to 5pm

Date: Sunday March 20

Place:  New Table Tennis Room, Gold Arch Complex, Ersha Dao, Guangzhou

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The Spin Doctor – Toro Y Moi, Underneath The Pine

Posted on March 18, 2011 by admin

And now for something completely different! It has been a cold trudge through the past few weeks of winter, and in some respects, the records reviewed here on The Spin Doctor have reflected that sentiment. Though we’ve had some great releases, most notably PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake and Wye Oak’s Civilian, as we move closer to spring, it’s important to have some music to help dust-off the cobwebs and get you out of hibernation. With that in mind, The Spin Doctor offers a record that’s accessible, warm, and most importantly, grooves.

 

Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine

3.9 out of 5


Ask any successful artist which record in their discography was the most challenging to write and record, and the answer will no doubt be the same: the sophomore release. After spending what is often years cultivating the ideas and sounds that result in a debut Lp, there is a new-found pressure on the artist for the follow-up: time and economic pressure applied by their record label, pressure from the fans and critics who fall in love with them, and, finally, the pressure the artists place upon themselves to meet and exceed the quality of their debut. It’s a formidable task, and one that the majority of artists never quite live up to.

Toro Y Moi is the brainchild of 25 year-old South Carolina native, Chazwick Bundick; a multi-instrumentalist who released a string of Ep’s leading up to his 2010 debut Lp, Causers of This. With obvious similarities between Bundick’s work and artists such as Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Memory Tapes, Toro Y Moi was thrust into the musical genre known as “chillwave”. What makes Underneath the Pine such an impressive follow-up is that not only has Bundick avoided the sophomore slump, he’s moved beyond the artistic constraints the unfortunate chillwave moniker denotes. With flavours of electro-funk, 70’s jazz fusion, and French electronica, Underneath the Pine is one of those records you can reach for when your friend/loved one gives you that vaguest of vague musical requests: “Play something upbeat.”

Lead-off track “Chi Chi”, plays as the introductory warm-up. At a brief 2 minutes and 25 seconds, it sets the stage for what’s to come: organ drones, tambourine, piano, drum treatments, shakers, vocals and a sweet bass riff. So much warmth pours off the track it feels like sitting on a beach watching the sunrise, and just as you’re starting to wonder what’s going to happen next, it’s over. That’s largely because Bundick has funkier fish to fry. “New Beat” has a Rhodes piano line reminiscent of Headhunters era Herbie Hancock, killer upright bass, and hand claps. Aside from being one of the standout tracks on the record, “New Beat” is a showpiece for Bundick’s production skills, which are impressive, indeed. There’s a lot going on in the mix, yet everything flows seamlessly and leaves a lot to explore on successive listens. Speaking of production skills, the arrangement for “Go With You” is something to behold. The off-beat/on-beat fusion of the organ, bass and drums in the opening few bars is stellar, as is the understated guitar work throughout the track.

The record meanders a bit through it’s mid-section, opting more for lush dreamscapes and elaborate arrangements, rather than straight ahead electro-funk. “Before I’m Done”, for example, reminds you of how elegant Air sounded back in their Moon Safari days, while showcasing what Bundick can do with acoustic guitars and live drumming. Things pick-up again towards the end: “Still Sound” plays like the b-side to “New Beat”, with an equally killer bass line, and jazz fusion influences, while album closer “Elise” pulls it all together, bringing a tightly wound, and brisk 39 minute record to its close.

For an artist with so many tools in his toolbox, Underneath the Pine could very easily have resulted in an exercise in excess; but, Bundick never really overextends himself, most notably with his voice. Similar in tone to Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox, Bundick’s vocals help root the record while never compromising the impact of the live instrumentation, which, make no mistake, is the intended focal point. Rather than rely on samples, and synths, the live drumming, organs and guitars bring an organic richness, warmth and dare I say, soul to the record. They also suggest that Bundick still has a lot of growing to do and isn’t content simply exploiting the comfortable ground the chillwave movement has established. In the meantime, Underneath the Pine is a fantastic record to kick-off your spring; or at the very least, incentive to grab those old Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder records growing dust in your music library.

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Shenzhen laowai, prepare for a visit from the city’s finest

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

The Universiade is coming to Shenzhen this year, the latest (and possibly last for a while) in a string of international events gracing China. With it, a wide collection of international media, tourists, and athletes will be coming down to town, meaning only one thing to the Chinese authorities: potential instability.

Anyone who was in Beijing prior to the Olympics, Shanghai before and during World Expo, or Guangzhou before the Asian Games will know that restrictions tighten up as China’s vast security apparatus goes into anxiety mode. As the next city to stage an international event, foreigners living in Shenzhen are being reminded that they may receive a visit from the police to verify that they have a proper rental agreement and are permitted to stay in their flat. If you happen to have a friend in town or somebody who hadn’t registered their stay with the local public security bureau, they may be asked to leave (or register).

Why is Shenzhen doing this? In their words, to “maintain peace and harmony in society”. China, ever vigilant, believes heavy security is in everyone’s interest (hey, they’re right there with Muammar Qaddafi on that count).

So, in summary:  make sure you have a valid rental agreement (and make sure you know where it is), and you’ll be fine.

Oh, and enjoy the Universiade.

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Chinese people respond to the devastation in Japan

Posted on March 16, 2011 by admin

It seems that the horrific tragedy playing out in northeastern Japan is bringing out the best, and occasionally the worst, in China’s netizens. There’s no doubt that China and Japan have a very long and intertwined history, and emotions between the two Asian neighbours run deep.  Reactions on China’s most popular microblog, Sina Weibo, have been mixed.  The China Smack blog does an excellent job translating many of the more positive comments inspired by images of Japanese people lining up for food and water and walking home because of no train service.  We decided to post a select few here:

In China, I bet [people] would have immediately broken into and looted the surrounding convenience stores/supermarkets.

A tiny pellet of a country, with nothing [few resources], being able to beat the shit and piss out of Russia and China…is not without reasons…

In Japan, the cars yield to the people. In China, the cars can’t wait to run over your body, even if you have the green light and the car is making a turn.

Without bringing up anything else, on the character exhibited when fasting disaster, we really can’t compare.
Even when there is no disaster, for simply sitting in a seat or using the toilet, we’re capable of fighting and arguing over.

We won’t post some of the more negative (read: ignorant) comments posted on Weibo, but you can read them for yourselves here.  Of course, ignorance isn’t just a trait found in China.  But such is the reaction when disaster befalls a nation that is despised by a great many Chinese people for its historical atrocities.

On a positive note, Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the Japanese earthquake at the close of the National People’s Congress yesterday:

It was only at the very end of his nearly 2.5-hour press conference on Monday that Premier Wen Jiabao turned his attention to Japan. He first asked if there were Japanese journalists among the gathering of hundreds (there were), then said he didn’t want to take a question from them, but had something to say. Wen offered China’s “deep condolences” to Japan.

Wen meets with reporters once every year, at the close of the National People’s Congress. He takes a pre-screened selection of questions from journalists from China and other countries. This year no Japanese reporter was called on. Instead, Wen made a statement.

“China is also a country prone to earthquake disasters and we fully empathize with how they feel now,” Wen said. “We will provide more as Japan needs it and we want to continue to help as necessary.”

Some (such as Slate) are arguing that as one of the world’s richest countries, Japan doesn’t necessarily need cash donations, if you wish to help.  Instead, the country will likely need blood, which you can donate at any Red Cross in the PRD (there are many).

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Don’t put away your scarf and winter jacket just yet…

Posted on March 14, 2011 by admin

This winter has been brutal.  Not necessarily because it’s been cold (although it definitely has been), but because the winter seems so drawn out.  We had a bit of a break yesterday with sunny skies and warm weather, which might lead you to think spring has finally sprung.  But if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

That’s right, the mercury is about to drop again.  To our friends from more ice-friendly countries such as Finland, Russia, and Canada, this might seem like much ado about nothing.  But for us Pearl River Delta people (where ice belongs only in drinks), 13 degrees is cold.  And that’s what it’s going to be for the next few days as a cold front moves in, possibly even bringing sandstorms and rain.

So we wait.  This week will be another where we forgo outdoor patios to stay inside at home, or in our favourite neighbourhood pub.  With any luck, before this month is out, the weather we’ve all become accustomed to in the south will finally arrive.  We can only hope.

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Literati – True Grit, Charles Portis

Posted on March 13, 2011 by admin

“True Grit is when you are a 14 year-old girl from Yell County, Arkansas, and you’ve just shot a dangerous outlaw and the gun’s recoil has sent you backward into a pit, and you are wedged in the pit and sinking fast into a cave below where bats are brushing your legs, and you reach out for something to hold on to and find a rotting corpse beside you and it’s full of angry rattlers, and then it turns out you didn’t kill the outlaw, he’s up at the rim of the pit laughing at you, about to shoot you – and you don’t lose your nerve.  That’s True Grit.”

- Eliot Fremont-Smith, The New York Times

 

I don’t usually like to start anything with a quote, but I just couldn’t write anything better that summed up True Grit quite like this one.  For those that haven’t been properly introduced, True Grit was written by Charles Portis, and was published in 1968.  It has twice been adapted for the silver screen; it won John Wayne one of his two Oscars, and the remake collected 10 nominations, including best picture, director, adapted screenplay, actor and supporting actress.

True Grit is told from the perspective of 14 year-old Mattie Ross, shortly after the end of the American Civil War.  Mattie leaves her mother and siblings in search of Tom Chaney, the hired hand that robbed and murdered her father.  In order to hunt him down, she hires a U.S. Marshall with “True Grit”, Rooster Cogburn.  They are joined by Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (pronounced “La Beef”), who had already tracked Chaney across several states.  Together, Mattie, Cogburn and LaBoeuf follow Chaney into “Indian territory” in order to bring him to justice.

Although Mattie is telling us this story, she tells it years after the fact.  We hear the voice of an old woman telling of her adventures in the Wild West, as remembered and filtered through time.  Hers is the voice of frontier America, recounting shootings, stabbings and murders without inflection.  She quotes the bible and often colours her story with lessons learned in a 19th century Presbyterian Sunday School.  In Mattie, it is easy to see shades of what will eventually be called America’s Manifest Destiny.  And, despite her searching for the right U.S. Marshall to help her catch her father’s killer, she most certainly demonstrates the true grit she was hoping to find in Cogburn.

Outwardly, Rooster Cogburn is everything that Mattie is not; he is fat, violent and alcoholic.  He is a veteran of the Confederate Army, as well as the border gang of William Clarke Quantrill, a violent group that earned its notoriety by massacre.  Although Cogburn could easily have been pigeon-holed as a violent and one-dimensional character, Portis gives him more depth by weaving a moral centre, not completely unlike Mattie’s, through his being.  His is bold, loyal and possessed of a strict sense of right and wrong.  And, like Mattie, he is as stoic as he is unwavering in his determination to find Chaney and bring him to justice.  Cogburn, however, is a symbol of an already passing era in American history, one of reconstruction, adventure and the Wild West.  He describes these eras as if they were already behind him, and they were more freewheeling and courageous. He is almost illiterate and, when filling out his fee sheets, he complains of the “regulations laid down by Uncle Sam,” and that “…if you don’t have schooling you are up against it in this country, sis…that man has no chance anymore.  No matter if he has got sand in his craw, other will push him aside, little thin fellows that have won spelling bees back home.” Cogburn is not unaware that his time is passing.  This is made all the more evident when, in the final chapters, Mattie attempts to find Cogburn at a travelling “Wild West Show” in which he has been performing for the last few years of his life.

In the end, True Grit is a novel of change; but, traditional values such as courage, loyalty and justice still have their place in the new world, just as new values are accepted and prized.  As I said, I could not write a better synopsis of True Grit than Mr. Fremont-Smith of The New York Times, above. Go – get the book and read it. Now. I promise you won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

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The Spin Doctor – Wye Oak, Civilian

Posted on March 11, 2011 by echristie

Wye Oak – Civilian

4.3 out of 5

Wye Oak’s Civilian conjures the sort of adjectives music reviewers love to employ: lush, majestic, and grandiose, just to name a few. What makes Wye Oak such a compelling act is that those adjectives are compulsorily juxtaposed with: noisy, jarring, and Crazy Horse. Granted, Crazy Horse isn’t an adjective but we’ll get to that.

Named after Maryland’s former state tree, Baltimore’s Wye Oak is vocalist/guitarist, Jenn Wasner and multi-instrumentalist, Andy Stack. Following the promise of their 2007 self-released debut, If Children, they signed with Merge Records who re-released the album in 2008. Unfortunately their follow-up, 2009’s The Knot, failed to build-on the beautiful folk/rock, shoegaze-like dreamscapes their debut so effectively utilized. Although the tracks were ambitiously larger in scope (and certainly louder), it was at the expense of some of the subtleties that made If Children so appealing. Civilian, however, gets the balance just right.

Speaking of balance, this is the first record where the band has handed mixing duties over to someone else; hiring John Congleton who has worked with such notable acts as Modest Mouse, St. Vincent and Okkervil River.  In a recent interview, Jenn Wasner called passing the reins to Congleton, “A leap of faith”, and from the opening track onward, it’s a leap that has paid-off. Despite being a duo, there’s nothing small about Wye Oak (that was a little arborist pun). During their live shows, for example, while Wasner lays out vocals and guitar, Andy Stack sings background vocals, plays drums with one hand and his feet, and uses his other hand to play keyboards. Some may call this multi-tasking; I call it being a superhero. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot going on and, by bringing the percussion up in the mix as well as fleshing-out some of the mid range guitar work, Congleton has helped Wye Oak realize a fantastic sound.

Album opener “Two Small Deaths” is a beautiful blend of synth washes, hi-hat, layered guitars and Wasner’s smoky, mid-range vocals. The track picks-up much where Beach House’s Teen Dream left off. The same can be said for the “The Alter”, with its mid-tempo rhythm and simple, yet plodding synth line. Wye Oak, however, is not Beach House, nor is it content with mimicry. In case there was any doubt, Wasner and Stack drop an anvil on your head with the third track “Holy Holy”. Opening with enough shoegaze oomph to wake-up Kevin Shields, Wasner’s distorted guitars and Stack’s mallet whacking (apparently simple drumsticks aren’t hard enough), give way to Wasner’s vocals.

That leads into the title track and album centerpiece. Sequenced in the middle of the record, “Civilian” is the meat to the rest of the record’s potatoes. The opening verse is a stunning blend of shimmering guitar, tambourine/kick drum and organ. By the third verse the track explodes into a wall of sound courtesy of Stack’s mallets. Just when you think the duo can’t squeeze any further noise out of the mix, the coda arrives and somewhere, somehow Neil Young & Crazy Horse are green with envy.

Wye Oak wisely strip things back in the latter half of the record but not too much. “We Were Wealth” opens with one of the prettiest melodies on the record, possessing an almost ghostly quality. It’s here that Wye Oak’s folk influences really show. Reminiscent of British folk hero Sandy Denny, Wasner’s vocals fill more space in the mix than most vocalists could ever hope for, while the track pushes to a dazzling climax.

Wasner and Stack deserve credit for the sheer ambition of Civilian. The two possess more than enough musical talent to record an endless number of accessible, dreamy pop tracks and yet they have opted for the road less traveled, interspersing beauty with clattering shoegaze and noise rock. This no doubt will compromise their ability to reach a broader audience, however it is a true credit to their dedication to making music that isn’t readily digestible but always gets under your skin. You may not be able to stomach all of Civilian in a single sitting, but rest assured it’s worth the effort.

 

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Dongguan building 400-meter high, 102-floor monster

Posted on March 10, 2011 by admin

Dongguan is about to join the very short list of cities with skyscrapers stretching over 100 stories.  If you’ve been through Houjie Town in Dongguan lately, you may have seen a massive construction site near the Regal Palace Hotel.  This is where the future Houjie Famous Furniture Building is taking shape.

The Xin Kuai Bao reports (in Chinese only) that the development will feature the 400-meter tower shaped like a sword as well as several exhibition centres covering over one million square meters, making it, by far, the largest tower in Dongguan.  Construction will be finished by March 2012.

So where does it fit in with China’s other tall towers?  Dongguan Today chimes in with a few additional details:

The concrete height of the skyscraper is still under calculation. “The tower will be one-floor lower than Guangzhou International Finance Center and as high as Shenzhen’s Kingkey Finance Center. According to the average height of each floor, the building is estimated to rank among the highest in South China,” insiders from the Famous Furniture Club said.

So what about other tall buildings in China?  Well, if we include Taiwan, (and we should, just so our website doesn’t get blocked), Taipei 101 takes the cake easily, coming in at 509 meters high. In Mainland China, the tallest remains the World Financial Centre in Shanghai (492 meters), followed by the brand new International Commerce Centre in Kowloon (484 meters).

The thing is, there are hundreds of skyscrapers in Shanghai and Hong Kong, so even the tallest towers tend to blend in.  However, anybody’s who’s been to Taipei would agree that Taipei 101 is an absolute anomaly on the city’s skyline as the single tower standing out amidst several low-rise buildings.  The same effect will likely happen in Dongguan.

Just for trivia’s sake, the tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa at over 800 meters high, or more than double the height of Dongguan’s new tower.

____

Thanks to MissXQ for translating the story from Chinese.  She can be followed on Twitter here or on Weibo here.

As always, you can also follow @thenanfang on Twitter.

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