Tag Archives: Whatever

I can haz international funds?

After seven years and change in China it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that the purpose of the Chinese banking system is to keep you from doing anything useful with your money. It is widely said that the … Continue reading

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What I learned when I shaved my head

I had a good run. I got more than forty years out of it. But I had to face the fact that my hair was in retreat and there was no going back. In fact, the front had already been … Continue reading

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Spamtastic use of Mao Zedong Thought

One of the fringe benefits of my job and of having my e-mail on the corporate website as a media contact has been a Cambrian explosion in the variety of spam e-mails I get. Notable among them is this machine-translated … Continue reading

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Enshrined in comix fame

MandMX picked up a tweet I sent recently about something I saw on my morning run and turned it into a single panel cartoon in Chinese and English: Generous with regards to the amount of hair I have, but otherwise … Continue reading

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I suck at Christmas trees

So I’m back in the US of A for Christmas and based on a sample size of two (my parents), I can report that the political mood here is bleak. My mom’s dog of many years died a week or … Continue reading

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Not enough radiation in your skull and other problems with retail

Modern Beijing, as distinct from the leafy, 1960s loufang neighborhoods and the hutongs, is an unlovely town at the best of times. No acreage of hanging glass curtain walls can make up for the viscerally alienating nature of the razor-edged, … Continue reading

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The last king of Guanhu

Continuing my exploration of the zaniest fixtures and furnishings in China, this weekend I looked at a lovely apartment in Greenlake Place (Guanhu) that was thoroughly trashed by this living room set: When I finally get around to overthrowing that … Continue reading

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Your sinister ship names are all wrong

I’ve been paying pretty close attention to the long-running BP disaster. As a PR professional, most of my reactions to the spill boil (or refine) down to the following: Better them than me. Still, while I am mindful of the … Continue reading

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An unpaid endorsement: CCSweets cupcakes

Imagethief has had a gnawing emptiness in his soul since homespun donut-maker Beijing Guilt packed it in a year or two ago. Our friend Maya brought a box of those donuts to us in the hospital when Zach was born, … Continue reading

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We were zombie hunters once… And young

Let Imagethief escort you into the wayback machine and take you back nearly three decades to the tumultuous and magical year of 1983… A first-term Ronald Reagan is staring down the Evil Empire. M*A*S*H is coming to the end of … Continue reading

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