MOJO IN CHINA

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MC Hammer in China!!!

admin | 22 July, 2007 16:29

Turn Up Yo Speakers... IT'S HAMMER TIME!

OK, it's not actually the funky headhunter himself... but I found this on Shanghaiist (my blogging roots! I'll post soon... when I have freaking time...).

This cat is from Jiangsu Province. Nanjing (my old hometown) is Jiangsu's capital. I never heard of him... Don't think he's an actual MC, but when I saw this, I absolutely went nuts. The spins, the pants, the oversized blazer and, of course, the Hammer dance... it's perfect.

This just goes to show how much hip-hop has made in the world today... however, I think MC Qiang Qiang here is a little behind. I think his grandma in the back sowing her grandson a new sweater thinks so too.

Anyway, enjoy the video, and more - at your risk... Pure entertainment, folks.

(Also, check out this post on Public Enemy coming to China. Shanghaiist, ya'll have to send me some love on this post for the refferals... C'mon!)

Transformers: the Movie - Turning Heads (And Bodies) In China

admin | 17 July, 2007 17:46

Changing State King Kongs: Transformers is in China!

It's been such a big topic here that I HAD to do a post about it.

Last week I saw Transformers with my wife the first day it came out in the theatres. That's a big deal here cause if you tried to order tickets for the movie on the phone or even tried to get tickets at the box office, man... GOOD LUCK!!!

When we went to get tickets, we tried to hit up all the early evening shows and nothing. We luckily grabbed a show at 10pm. Even though Chinese people, in general, like to end their evenings early, ESPECIALLY on a weekday like Wednesday, the theater was packed, the movie cinieplex needed to show it on two screens and that's how it went down. Don't believe me, check out this pic:

"Optimus Line"... DAMN!!

For those that you that don't know, Transformers has been a part of China for a while. I can't tell you how many times I've been told of some man or woman whose parents bought them Transformers toys straight from Japan or some other country when they were kids. Transformerts the cartoon came out 9 years after it did in the states, but it still made a lasting impression in China and you can see it over this last week since the movie's been out in China.

The sad thing is, some of these scenes in this movie were chopped up for content. I am sure a lot of you know why... But even watching the movie on the big screen, censorship or no censorship... this is definitely a dope movie worth watching.

However, I won't spend 90 kuai on a ticket! (40 kuai after 10pm daily or just go on Tuesday's and Wednesdays! I also heard they are showing it on the IMAX out here!)

(Also, did you know that Darius Mcrary is in the movie??? Rememeber Family Matters?! Steve, go home!)

NANjing, NANning and now there's a NANchang too?

admin | 15 July, 2007 22:06

Is this guy looking to get shot??? (In Nanchang, Jiangxi Province)

Well, it wasn't like the city was just recently, but there are a lot of "Nan" (South) prefixed cities in China. I guess it's like "New" in the states. (New York, New Jersey, New Mexico.

So I just spent a day in Nanchang for a show at "Le Nest" with DJ DSK and Drummer extraordinaire, Sam Debell. (aka Mind Disorder or Unity Productions) Yes, the show was awesome and Nanchang people are great. Although I was only there for a day, quite a few things there caught my attention:

1. The Weather - It's is HOT! Way hotter than Shanghai and more dry.

2. The Local Artists - There's a small hip-hop community in Nanchang, but it's tight. I met a beatboxer called "Popper" (Sorry bboys, he does not pop... or lock, just beatbox.) He's got a crew with an MC and a producer/DJ. I wish them all the best of luck over there.

3. The National Army Pride - This city has tons of statues, museums and squares dedicated to "8-1" (ba yi) which is the date of the founding of the People's Army of China. There's even a local beer there dedicated to this founding and love for China's military history. (Very important date in China, also, all former soldiers recieve gifts from the gov't on this day) Then you enter the city, you'll see you'll usual Wal-Marts, Starbucks' and Nike outlets and next door, a 8-9 meter tall block dedicated to the army.

So that's all about Nanchang. Can't wait to see what's next!

1 Guangzhou woman saves 800 cats.

admin | 11 July, 2007 17:30

Dozens of helpless cats trapped in wooden boxes in Guangzhou Province.

I've written quite a bit on stray cats in China, heck, I got a few myself, but dang it, this really takes the cake.

A Guangzhou woman finds a truck with 800 cats in it. Now this isn't more than one truck with 800 cats, this is just one. If you want to think of conditions these cats were under, think about conditions on slave ships about 400 years ago. That should help.

About 30 cats died in travelling and quite a few were injured as they were transported throughout China under nasty summer conditions in this truck.

A Guangzhou woman found this truck, but the truck owners wanted to sell the entire truck of cats for some 3,500 USD (a lot of money in China), but bought it for about 350 USD. Phew... Great, now these cats don't have to go to the chopping board.

BUT, they are now all at her house, she has no job and the landlady is threatening to kick her out. SO sad...

Apparently this lady has a blog/BBS asking for people to adopt some cats from her... Does anyone have the web address? Would love to throw it up on the site!

For now, if you see a lost cat out there, call a vet, give it some food, cause stray animals can't survive in this human world...

Catching up with Director Bill Guttentag by the Bund

admin | 07 July, 2007 13:06

If you haven't seen it, go see it.

As I said in previous posts, I worked on a movie about the Nanjing Massacre called "Nanking". Although I worked on the project for only 2 weeks, each day we filmed was intense and the deeper we got intoo the story, the deeper I got into what the Chinese went through during that massacre. Because of that movie, I developed an ever closer relationship with Nanjing and an understanding of the Chinese people and why China's ultimate goal is to be the best country it could be from now on...

Last night, my wife Zoe and I spent an evening by the Bund and CJW with "Nanking" director Bill Guttentag and his wife, Marina. Over several glasses of wine and specatcular jazz from Shanghai, Philadelphia and Chicago, the four of us discussed Bill's visit to China to promote "Nanking", working with 50 Cent, hip-hop in China, and of course, why he chose to do the movie.

Zoe, as a Chinese, was very interested in knowing why he made this movie. To her, it was doing a service for her people. She asked me why Bill made the movie before we all met, but I figured we should just ask the man himself. Bill said something about why he made the movie that I'll never forget:

"When I first picked up the book (Iris Chang's The Rape Of Nanking) it had the words The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II on the cover. From reading that, I was immediately interested in the book and then worked on the project."

I'm trying to keep this as close to verbatim as possible, again, we had several glasses of wine last night, hehe...

Anyway, those words are quite interesting: The Forgotten Holocaust. The massacre happened around war time and many Chinese died. Here's another point that Bill made as to why he made the film:

"Sacrifice. Many people sacrificed their lives for others during the massacre."

Foreigners and Chinese living in Nanjing made safety zones for each other, evaded and tricked soldiers to stall them from killing more people and even sacrificed their own lives to save the lives of others...

This is what makes the Nanjing Massacre so tragic.

If any of you have a chance to come to China, do check out the Nanjing Massacre Museum and tell me what you think. I'm out. Thanks, Bill. Till we meet again...

The Art Of War

admin | 06 July, 2007 13:19

I lost my phone after DMC China last Saturday (Which was dope by the way!). I've lost the same phone at least about 6 times already, but always managed to get it back somehow. I guess it's destiny to let it go. But I got a new, slick Nokia for about USD 30 and I'm going to try to get my SIM number back at China Mobile today with my passport and 10 numbers I've dialed recently. Hope that works out.

When in trouble, you must prepare early, Sun Tzu would be proud.

I've been thinking about the book "Sun Tzu: The Art Of War" (Sun Zi Bing Fa) lately. It's one of the shows I'm working on for Soulfire. I've never read the book, but I've studied some exerpts from the novel in Classical Chinese class back in Midd. It's a part of China's army curriculum, Japanese business execs are required to read it for their companies, Brazillian soccer coaches use it in whooping the Brits (Sorry, Beckham... Good luck in LA!)... It's even been in the movie Wall Street:

In the 1987 film Wall Street, the main antagonist, Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas), says: "I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought."

I love that line! Anyway, The Art Of War is yet another Chinese Contibution that's made an impact on the world. Gonna pick me up a copy very soon. English or Chinese?

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recently...

MC Hammer in China!!!

Transformers: the Movie - Turning Heads (And Bodies) In China

NANjing, NANning and now there's a NANchang too?

1 Guangzhou woman saves 800 cats.

Catching up with Director Bill Guttentag by the Bund

The Art Of War

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