For those of you who have not heard this ‘Venomous’ new Guns N’ Roses Album (I won’t mention its name here for fear of getting blocked)…

Popularity: 22% [?]

The actress who plays Wudi in a Hunan television adaptation of Ugly Betty (Ugly Wudi) recently made her first public appearance, but the public felt the title was a bit misleading.

Though the actress wears black-framed glasses and ill-fitting braces like the other Betty, her image was largely dismissed by the audience because she is not ugly enough, Oriental Morning Post reported.

Audiences hold the view that the “ugly girl” is beautiful, with a normal figure, big eyes and long hair, aside from the deliberate ugly costuming.

Agreed. I have a similar problem when they dress up beautiful people as nerds in movies. The truly unattractive need work too!

Popularity: 21% [?]

As has been mentioned before, it is really hot here in Nanjing in the summer. That means on days like today, 99 degrees, it is really best to stay inside and look at things online. That means eventually I get bored and have to find ways to amuse myself, or else go outside and be instantly drenched in sweat. That is how this little competition was born, pitting four videos from four different countries with a similar theme together to see which country is supreme. It is just like the World Cup. Today’s theme is email/text messaging. The rules are that the songs must have the word email or text messaging in the title.

From the United States: J Shin, T-Pain and Tile Tequila - “Send Me an Email”

From Japan: Email More

From China: Jay Chou - “短信爱情” (Text Message Love)

From France: Alizée - El e-mail tiene alas (uh, I don’t know French)

Enjoy, and leave your feelings in the comments. And if you haven’t seen MC 强强 yet, you should. Best MC Hammer impression done in a living room ever.

Popularity: 13% [?]

While in Shanghai I purchased a couple of starter decks of Magic the Gathering cards at the market across from the Science and Technology museum. For those who don’t know what Magic is, it’s a collectible card game that involves summoning creatures, like elves or zombies, and casting spells against other players. Personally I like using green and red beat down decks with some direct damage thrown in. And if you just understood that you are a giant dork.

After I got home I did some searching to find out more about magic in China, as it doesn’t seem to be as big as Pokeman or some other games, and I came upon some information about the Localization of Magic Card Art in China. From the official magic website:

The Chinese government has strict control over the media in their country, and Magic card art is no exception. Along with overtly sexual or violent illustrations, human skeletons are not permitted on the cards.

Apparently this is the only sticking point, as cards can feature any other type of arcane imagery as long as it not a skeleton. For example on the left is the original version of a card and on the right is the edited version.

Other changes are less clear such as involve adding eyeballs to a skull or slightly obscuring skull features. Now one of the major reasons that I have been such a fan of magic is of the card artwork, and the team of really good artists who make these images. Generally these required changes do not effect the quality of the overall work. It instead makes me think why even bother. Is a skeletal dragon beast any less terrifying if it has eyeballs? You can see more artwork changes at Zen of Design.

Recently Chinese censorship has been in the news once again with the more then half of Chow Yun-fat’s scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 cut for the Chinese domestic realese. Theories about why these scenes were cut range from “too much violence” to “Stereotypically offensive long nailed Chinese guy”. We will probably never get the actual answer for why these scenes were taken out of the film. But why are magic cards with pictures of skeletons censored, and scenes in a movie that features legions of skeletons not censored? Instead they cut out one of the biggest stars in China reciting Li Bai’s poetry in Cantonese. The inconsistencies of these policies are just staggering.

Popularity: 38% [?]

For those you who live in Nanjing and are looking for different fast food options besides McDonald’s and KFC, you can now rejoice as Burger King is in town, in the Fuzimiao area by the Mandarin Garden Hotel. It actually opened on the 10th, but I was unable to go there until yesterday. And if you go soon you may be able to get in on some of the sweet store opening deals, as yesterday it was “buy one whopper get one free” day. There is nothing nicer then a leftover whopper for breakfast.

The only other cities in China that I know have BK, from first hand experience, is Shanghai and Hong Kong. Anyone else know what other cities have Burger King?

By the way, whopper = 皇堡 (huáng bǎo)

Popularity: 13% [?]

Why can’t “National IPR Week” be every week? The answer is because then it wouldn’t be so special.

April 20 – April 26 is a time that we put our petty differences aside and think about how Paramount and Disney are losing money.

“IPR Week” held nationwide around the World Intellectual Property Day aims to enhance the public’s IPR awareness and call on the whole society to take part in IPR protection work.

Since the first IPR Week in 2004, it has been a platform for publicizing China’s IPR laws and regulations, popularizing IPR knowledge and enhancing the public’s IPR protection awareness.

This included launching this brand new website that, for some reason, at least in my browser, has text that will not stop blinking. I tried reading it but the eye strain was too much. But it is worth checking out the 2006 Top Ten IPR Protection Events in China and the inaugurated announcement

And for those who are really interested you can check out the China’s Action Plan on IPR Protection 2007.

I only wish there were guidelines for celebrating this holiday. Should we be jeering at the pirate DVD sellers? Burning my fake Crocodile wallet and Pamu jacket? Writing thank you letters to Microsoft? I just don’t know.

Thanks to Tech China Blog for posting about this and bringing it to my attention.

Related recent IPR fun:
Blame Canada!
U.S. vs China at the WTO: “We’re too old!”
Pirates of the Middle Kingdom (update)
IPR infringements: Glass Is Half Full or Half Empty?

Popularity: 70% [?]

On April 7th the New York Times ran a story, Piracy Move on China Seen as Near, about American entertainment piracy here in China and How the United States plans to file a legal complaint against China through the WTO. I also read on Shanghaiist that China itself plans to be cracking down on illegal DVD sellers this month.

I wish someone in a major publication would write an article about how if the guy on the street wasn’t selling bootleg copies of Pirates of the Caribbean then he would be doing backbreaking labor like knocking down a building with a sledgehammer. How do you feel about that Jack Valenti! Truthfully it’s hard to say what would happen to these people if this was totally outlawed, but I can’t foresee good things. Probably a lot of people going to jail. And I don’t want to see my local friendly DVD sellers in jail. Some of them have dogs to support!

A couple of other things from the NYT article. The picture is of a bootleg bag seller, when the article is about illegal DVD sales. And this is totally ridiculous:

Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, told a Congressional hearing in February that movie producers were worried that pirated copies of American movies would not only lead to lost sales in China but be exported around the world and even back to the United States.

This is idiotic. I think if there are pirated copies in the United States, that they were produced in the United States. Or more likely is that in the United States, where most people own personal computer and high speed internet is the norm now, people download movies.

Related RedKemp:

Chinese DVD Selection
Big Red Inflatable Arch

Popularity: 7% [?]

Today is the day when when we celebrate our once a month holiday of pizza day. Last month it was the 19th, this month it was the 7th (it’s a floating holiday). The real problem is that we can only chose between Papa John’s and Pizza Hut, as those are the only two selections available to us. I’m begging you China, please get better pizza places. Offer special economic incentives to Italians in New York to open up businesses.

Every Pizza Hut here in Nanjing has a little magnetized seating chart at the front of the restaurant. This tells how many people are sitting where, and what tables are empty all with a quick glance. Awesome, and very efficient. However every time I go there is at least one kid, sometimes around five, moving the little magnets around, redistributing them who know where. And no one yells at them, not the employees and not the parents. So one small instance something that makes life easier is now rendered useless.

And if you want to celebrate international pizza day(yes its international) go to the best pizza place near you and eat something delicious. And then think of me, crying over greasy bread and cheese.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Luckily I didn’t plan my return to the United States entirely around the upcoming China Bowl that was to take place this August in Beijing. It was announced today that the NFL is going to cancel their first ever game to be played in China. The rationale they gave was this:

The reason for putting off the China Bowl, according to those familiar with the league’s thinking, is twofold. The NFL is devoting tremendous manpower to the first regular-season game ever played outside North America — Miami and the New York Giants will play Oct. 28 in London — and the league doesn’t want to risk cutting corners on either of the massive projects in order to stage both games 11 weeks apart. And though the Chinese would have put on a fine show this summer, doing it with more preparation time two years later — particularly in a stadium that critics are already saying will be the finest outdoor sports venue in the world — fits more into the NFL’s vision of what its China debut should be.

I think there is a much more likely reason, which is that Chinese people don’t really care about football. Well, maybe they will be more interested in two years time.

Update:

From the New York Times, With Help of N.F.L., Flag Football Grows in China, obviously written before the above announcement, but still interesting.

Popularity: 26% [?]

As seen on FARK, which seems like the most useful website for strange china news, is a list of nicknames of NBA players by Chinese fans. The best one in my opinion is Dirk Nowitzki’s nickname… German Racecar!

Popularity: 8% [?]