Sunday, May 29, 2016

May 29th, 2016

I know I said last time was the last before summer break, but some things popped up that inspired me to share. 

First, sauna season has arrived.  Screen shot from yesterday afternoon with a temperature of 91, but with humidity, the real feel says 105.  With the occasional afternoon thunderstorm, not only does it ratchet up the sauna feel, there is ample standing water for the mosquitoes to breed freely and we are getting eaten.  Awful.




Funny quote of the week, US politics edition...Jeb! Bush said that Trump supporters are not a bunch of idiots.   Hard to admit, but I agree with Jeb! on this.  While I think they are not well-read, they aren't idiots...they are either bigots or suckers.   Other than standing up to Trump...what a total waste Jeb! was.  The amount of his gaffes and examples of ineptitude are too many to list, but my favorite/the moment I realized he was a complete black hole was when he was asked at the debate if we were to add a woman to US currency, who would he recommend.  He chose Margaret Thatcher.  Still makes me laugh.

Funny quote of the week, China/Taiwan politics edition...the main land is freaking out about a woman being the boss in Taiwan.  A great commentary on her out of the official "news" agency on the day of her inauguration..."As a single female politician, she lacks the emotional drag of love, the pull of the ‘home,’ and no children to care for,” Chinese state newspaper Xinhua noted about 59-year-old Tsai Ing-wen in an article posted Tuesday. “She leans toward an emotional, personal and extreme development of her political ruling style and strategies.”
“Her political maneuvering focuses more on tactical details than strategic directions,” the outlet continued. “She puts extreme emphasis on short-term targets and takes long-term goals less into account.” 

I should watch Fresh Off The Boat more as research, but just can't get into it.  It's not bad...the dad is kind of a puss, the kids are (understandably) caricatures, but will tune it in as the mom is a riot and nails the Tiger Mom thing..    Caught a slice of it this morning and one of the kids was asking permission to go on a field trip, and once mom found out it was going to Colonial Florida, she was all for it as she loved the early settlers and equated them to today's Chinese..."their struggle, the hardships they endure, their use of the entire Colonial buffalo."

The big news in Chinese racism this week was the commercial for laundry soap. 



If you don't like to click on stuff, the cute Chinese girl is doing laundry and the black boyfriend takes a break from painting the other room.  Betty says he is from Africa but I say French.  Either way, before she lets him grab a kiss, she stuffs a laundry pellet into his mouth, crams him into the washer and he comes out of the cycle as a spindly Chinese dude with a brilliantly white t-shirt.  The internet blew up calling this the most racist commercial ever.  I took it one more step by saying that while the shirt was completely white, the dude was still not, equating the color of his skin to that of an armpit stain.  If they wanted to show a totally bleached out white person, they should have hired Michael Cain (he is always available).  I guess using Michael Cain as a reference shows my age...also I grew up when the Calgon Ancient Chinese Secret commercial playing every 5 minutes so may have been desensitized to this kind of "racism"


The real impetus for adding this extra post was the "discovery" of this blog called The Half Asian Reality.  I say discovered but it popped up in my Facebook feed and having a half-Asian son, thought I might glean some insight into the world he lives in.  I did gain insight, but only into a world of the mentally ill.  If you are afraid of the mind of mass murderers before they snap, this isn't for you.  But if you are curious to see a lunatics manifesto evolving before your eyes, this is the place.

This is by a male with a white dad and Asian mom who resents them both (Dad is a Holocaust denier and thinks gays should be hanged, mom was...so many things), is convinced all Asian women want white guys to enhance their status and hate their own offspring because they don't look white enough.  All white women hate him (even though he is self-described stud) because he looks Asian, and that half-Asians all drive BMW's, which he nicknames Biracial Murder Wagons. 

You can't go wrong looking at any of his posts and will be teased into them with titles like...


Literally every white guy who likes Asian women has something wrong with him, including my own father

More Psychotic Chinese women, Part 3


Below is his posting called, "Asian Women Don't Love part 2.   Breathtaking....
Any Asian woman reading this will know this is true. Some, who like Asian men, will read this and agree. Some, who like white men, will read this and get angry, but they know it’s true. For some reason, black women agree almost 100% of the time.
Asian women love an image.
My mother is Chinese and my father tall, blue eyed, bearded, white, with a strong jaw, a large physique, hairy arms.
But they didn’t love each other, and they never did. She used him to make herself feel better compared to her Asian peers and siblings. To feel like she was just as good as those blonde girls she saw in catalogues. White guys will deny this till the end of time but they don’t understand Asian culture. How cutthroat it is to one up your sisters, your peers, your friends. If you get a white husband you can do that. Better yet a tall, light haired husband.
I am a Eurasian son of a tall white guy and a cutthroat, soulless Asian woman so I have no reason to lie other than to voice my outright disgust for some Asian women and white men, and my embarrassment belonging to this demographic.
Asian women see that they have high value in the eyes of people like my father. All they have to do is play a game, market themselves as being traditional, subservient and get their “white lover.”
Conservative white men who are “sick” of the “liberated” behavior of white women. “Liberated” behavior pretty much just means: white women won’t be with me because white women have too high standards. They don’t like my meek behavior. 
Asian women have high standards too. 
But to them, a white guy is just a way to circumvent their search for a high standards Asian guy, and “white men” are just a step up, because they’re white. They have blonde hair. This is better than any Asian guy.
Asian women feel better about this. They feel like they’ve “made it.”
But they don’t love the man. They present an image of their marriage to the outside world but inside their homes they nag the shit out of the guy, they bully him, they pressure him to put on a show for their friends. Asian women are bottom of the barrel, mass-produced, white-worshipping trash and yet they expect their own children not to notice.
Look at the photo of my parents. My dad staring blankly at the table while the sisters chatted away. He was an accessory, a means to an end, that’s all. Why is it when you see Chinese women married to white guys, the child is shown off like a handbag – the husband nowhere to be seen? Why is it when you see these couples in public, between the bouts of PDA that makes everyone uncomfortable, they seem miserable?
They will have sex with him a few times but only as long as he keeps up the image.
Look at how many Asian women love taking trips to London and Paris, taking pictures of the buildings. This is just an image. Nothing else. The white man makes them feel like they’re just as good as the Parisian buildings, the Parisian street scenes they’ve seen in movies.
Years ago my mother took a trip to Paris, and she brought along her sister. Her sister, also, was conveniently married to a white man, and a tall one (divorced now, haha). My dad stayed back in the office.
Their third sister was not married to a white guy. She is now a VP at a very large, very powerful investment bank and owns some of the top tier property in New York. Her husband is Chinese. She’s a devout Christian as well and arguably the prettiest in the family.
My mother? She died, she essentially willed herself to death, years after becoming so irate at my father for failing to match up with the “American dream.” He made only $40,000 a year. He was going bald. He couldn’t afford to take her on trips to Paris anymore. He even refused to live in Manhattan for fear of Jews and blacks, the place my mother loved.
When my dad went to go visit his family in his country bumpkin small town, my mother would scream about how she hated it, how she hated that small little town, where there were no street lights. She would beg to go back to Manhattan.
It wasn’t love. She only “stuck” with him as long as he provided an image. After all – she wanted a white man, so any white man could have done.
I’m surprised she didn’t cheat, to get what she wanted. And at the very end, right before she died, she hated him so much for not providing her the life she thought she could get with a 6’2″ or 6’3″ white guy, like she saw in the movies. Like many insane Asian women, she threatened to kill herself in front of me, and my brother; by holding a butcher’s knife to her arm. She would drive our car up to 100 mph on the highway and threaten to crash. She would throw knives at the wall and whisper in my ear before bed about how worthless my father was.
My wife does not like white men. She is Asian. The reason for this is as follows: she has told me that she wants “security.” She wants a quiet life where she can just raise her babies and enjoy a quiet existence. Very different from those women who dream of living abroad and mingling with white people to feel as if they’re better than their peers.
And now, as their son, I’m perpetually stuck in between. Being proud to be Asian is just ridiculous at this point. To this date, I still remember the horror of feeling so completely alone around white people, seeing Asian woman after Asian woman throwing herself at white guys. I had to actually go off to an Asian country to die, due to my self-hatred; a self-hatred instilled in me by the people around me, in my own family.
And now and then when I feel “proud” to be Asian I just think back to that moment that I realized that I was completely abandoned by the same people who are creating people just like me.  Any pride just slips away.




Wednesday, May 25, 2016

May 25th, 2016

Hard core runners are like Germans.  They have zero sense of humor.  They think they do, but they don't.  There isn't much that you can search on the internet that doesn't come up with a result, and that is one of them.  My guess is that those people are so insular so as not to really interact with the community outside of their hard core running, so they think they are funny in their own group but are totally invisible to the rest of us...except when I gun the car engine next to them on the street.  Our May Coffee morning at the Center, we had a lady come to talk about running in Taipei and while she was quite good, zero on the chuckles.  I prepped a couple of gags to throw at her to test my theory...one that I thought she would think is funny but isn't, and one that cracks me up but knew she would look at me in disbelief.  See if you can guess which is which...

Q: How do you know you're a dedicated runner?
A: When your treadmill has more miles on it than your car.

Q: What's the hardest thing about running cross country?
A: Telling your parents that you're gay.

So what is going on around these parts?  It is earthquake season..  Mentioned last time that we had a swarm of +5 a couple weeks ago and there have been dozens between 3 and 5 since.  Can't feel them much on street level, but do roll up on the 16th floor. 

It is also Dragonfly season.  Forget about it until all of a sudden, I am in a swarm of them when I'm out and about.  Am a big fan as they are totally ancient and haven't changed in 350 million years, and their method of flight is beautiful.  Also, they are totally uninterested in my blood, unlike the biggest killer on the planet. This little gal got some of my blood, but paid the ultimate price. 



In other big local news...we're getting a new Family Mart.  The one a block and a half away is closing and a new one is opening up only a block away.

This is the view from the corner of our apartment and you can see the new sign at the end of the street.
So excited...it's gonna have food, an ATM and toilets.  To be fair, they all do and the fact that there are open public toilets everywhere should be high on those lists of things Taiwan does better than anyone else.  The food that is in all of them however is an abomination.  Have detailed it before, but the smell in all of the convenience stores here is uniformly awful
Yesterday was moving day...moving the stock up the alley to the new one...
From the old one.

They seem to do the moving of these stores from one location to another a short distance away a lot.  It's probably due to them wanting to get a slighltly better location with more traffic, but I suspect that after a certain amount of time, the build-up of oil from the nasty food bins gets so thick that it becomes impossible to clean and the place is in danger of spontaneous combustion

Finally in local news, the new President, Tsai Ing-Wen, was sworn in last Friday.  All of her public statements are well thought out, deeply veiled acknowledgement that it will not be business as usual with China, and the Chinese have responded predictably with not so well disguised threats.  Their hopes of reuniting with Taiwan in a One Country/Two Systems arrangement is dead.  As the mainlands economy evolves from heavily subsidized manufacturing to consumer based, Taiwan had better hope it goes well, otherwise, they are gonna need a distraction from their unhappy populace.  Nothing distracts the people like a good military intervention.

The kids and I head out in a week and as the good Virgo that I am, am feverishly getting ready.  I already have my clothes put aside...one of the yearly routines is to look for clothes that are on their last leg so as to abandon them at the end of summer to save room for the new stuff we need to buy.  In looking at the t-shirt pile, there were some old friends that were so worn that I had to say good-bye to.  These are all from the 90's and wore them sparingly for decades, but when walking around here, need to wear light colors so as to no absorb so much heat.  My white tees have therefore taken a beating.

First is the commemorative t-shirt they gave away on Santa Anita Derby day in 1998.  Pit stains, and holes make this one too disgusting to even wear to bed.  Loved this one as the cartoons of the horses were so well done. 




Plus, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet was on the back (he finished second to Indian Charlie thist day).  I bet on Classic Cat cause I thought his karate ghi was the coolest...he  came in fifth.. 
Also said goodbye to this Nordstrom shirt they gave us on the 100th anniversary celebration.  Can barely see the logo anymore and it had a softball sized hole in the armpit.  I was only 6 months into my career at Nordstrom at the time, and they asked if I would give a short testimonial on what the company meant to me at the big celebration, which had something like 4000 people at the convention center.  Think I did OK and included a crack aimed at the Nordy boys about how I wasn't tall and Sweedish, but still felt like a shoe dog.  I never did learn why they asked someone with so little time at the company to do so, but was still a good memory and am sad to lose this piece of personal history.
And most regrettably, had to get rid of this gem.  It has been worn so many times that it is thin to be transparent.  You can see my areolas.   Bought this on our honeymoon in Paris in 1994.  We were taking a self guided walking tour on Ile St Louis and it said to stop for a gelato at Berthillion.  If I close my eyes, can almost taste that great ice cream and feel the warmth of the sun on an idyllic day strolling with my lovely bride.. 
This is likely the last installment before the summer break.  It's gonna be a good one this year and am looking forward to seeing friends and family in DC, Baltimore, California, Portland and Seattle, as well as seeing some new things.  Have driven through Philly but have never walked around and budgeted a couple days there.  We're also gonna see Denver and drive through Utah, seeing some national parks and Salt Lake City before driving through Nevada to see my mom in SF.  Good times and hope to share them with you in the Fall.  Stay cool.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

May 14th, 2016

White people...

I did not win the election for school board this year.  In the post game analysis, I did receive over 90% of the white vote (and 100% of the white non-evangelical constituents).  You'd think that would be good, but with only 10% of the school population being white (and by white, in this case I mean people that have spent more than 5 years living in the west.  Betty gets to check that box on her application) that was not good enough.  I definitely needed to adjust my message to the Chinese audience, but could not in good conscience do so.  Their loss.   

It's that time of year to look around and see who isn't going to be here when we return in the Fall.  Feels like half of the expats we have come to appreciate are bugging out.  Last year was tough as I lost three quality drinking buddies.  Not losing those per se, but a huge layer of the ladies that I enjoy are heading back to the states.  Don't have any hard data, but anecdotally, seems that companies are scaling back on their expat programs.  Have heard it a dozen times recently that a person wants to stay but that their employers are utilizing local employees to fill the spots that the expats used to hold.  There will always be the diplomat families (who are aggravating to talk to as they will never comment on anything sparking of controversy), but am starting to miss the computer company families already. 

Here is something I don't understand...why do we give a shit about coal miner jobs?  Was sitting here last week, happily watching Ted Cruz get whipped in Indiana and bow out of the race.  His speech was filled with nods to God and the gospel.  Such an icky dude and was by far the worst option.  You know who didn't mention God once in their speech tonight?  Donny T.  Gotta love that about the guy, but he kept going on about getting coal miners back their jobs.  Why are we so concerned about an industry that will soon be on the scrapheap of history?  Did we squash the telegraph to save the Pony Express industry?  I get that it's part of the climate denier thing, but the majority think there is something to it and if you live in a place where you can't see the sky and your kids can't play outside cause of all the smoke from the coal fired plants, you understand that it is an inefficient and deadly fuel source.  Saw a letter on some papers site by a person that said well what I have been saying forever.  To paraphrase...if you are wrong and climate change is due to humans, then we are gonna see disaster that you can't imagine.  If I am wrong and it isn't caused by humans, then we have more efficient energy and cleaner air...probably with huge new industries and jobs created.  Whoever said being a coal miner was a great job anyway.  You work underground, likely get an awful disease and probably go to work thinking that you'll get buried alive. 

Anyhoo, gonna be a fun summer listening to people tie themselves up in knots trying to rationalize voting for Trump. 

Picked up Baby Doll the other day and she is carrying these...

"Where'd ya get those" I ask.  The boy she likes gave them to her and asked her to be his girlfriend.  She seemed fairly pleased about it and I follow up by asking 'what does that mean exactly'.  She laughed while she said she didn't know.  The kid seems harmless enough but can't say that I like this one bit.

Heard this piece of info the other day...the reason that there is such a large gay community in San Francisco is that in the 1940's, if you were found to be gay in the military, they would discharge you at whatever port was the next stop.  One of the biggest in those days was SF and so there was a  concentration there that found a liberal and welcoming community for them.  Did some research and while there were other contributing factors, that is sited as one of the most prevalent.  Found it interesting and thought I'd pass along.

Another fact I heard, that is far less interesting to most, is that Japanese pitchers that come to the States to pitch usually wear #18.  Turns out that the ace in Japanese staffs wear that number as the greatest pitcher in early Japanese baseball history wore it, so it is a number of honor and signifies you are the best on your team. 

Speaking of baseball, have been flat out working on our summer plans, which is why I have not had time to devote to this space.   I know it sounds like fun, and it is, but a lot of time goes into setting up two months on the road.  Accommodations aren't cheap and fortunately, Betty is a rabid hotel points hoarder and has rewards at 7 different chains.  Finding the hotel in the right part of town while comparing the amount of points to be deducted so that it is a good deal is an art form.  This has always been her domain but am working on it and the sense of satisfaction when you can find a smokin' deal is great.  The goal is to not spend a dime on accommodations...will probably have to buy a couple nights here and there, but think it's going to be close.

May go more into the itinerary plans later probably, but the best part about planning it is to figure out how to get to the most baseball games and stadiums.  Looks like it'll be 8 this year with me seeing one or more home games at the Nationals, Phillies, Orioles, Rockies, Giants, A's, Dodgers and Mariners, with the Philadelphia and Colorado stadiums being new ones for me.  I love baseball.

The new Taiwanese President takes office next week...I've said before that she seems to good to be true and have high hopes, but a lot is stacked against her.  Internally, while there was an 8 year stretch where her party (DDP) won the presidency, the legislature has been controlled by the KMT continuously since 1949.  While the DDP did win the legislature this time, the levers of power in the rank and file are all still KMT appointed.  There will be some residual foot dragging to be sure. 

It is the external pressure from China that is the big worry.  When the KMT guy came in 8 years ago, he pivoted the economy to do more business with China.  The thought was that it would bring more prosperity to the island.  It did, for the ultra rich, but the people on the street saw little to no benefit.  So now that the DDP, who are decidedly not pro-China, is coming to power, China is turning off the tap to Taiwan.  From little things like restricting tourists from visiting (a large source of income), to middle things like pressuring countries to renounce recognition of Taiwan, to big militarily threatening things, China is playing the bully..  Who thought that tying your economy to the country that has pledged to reincorporate you, by force if necessary, was a good idea?  These old Conservative KMT jokers apparently.  As their economy sputters, the geopolitical fear is that China  will lash out somewhere to take the proletariats mind off of eating something disgusting (which begs the question....what would be a disgusting thing for Chinese to eat?)  When dealing with China on the macro level, and I refer to it in the micro level as well, there is an old Chinese adage that should inform ones decision.  I can't remember it exactly, but it goes something like...poke a haystack with a pitchfork, if you meet no resistance, proceed.  If you meet with steel, retreat.  These guys will never fight against a determined foe, but if you let them, they will creep forward forever. 

Earthquakes galore the last few weeks.  Three over 5.0 in the last couple of days alone.  No one freaks out, but still, it freaks you out.

We bug outta here on June 5th and will try to post one more time before then.  If not, hope to see you somewhere along the road soon.