"Personne ne peut se connaître. On peut seulement se raconter."
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
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Overspill of an irreverent mind
The Very Best of Froogville
Pick of the Month: a random recommendation from the archive
The Barstool
Yang Rui must GO!
A leading presenter on China Central Television's English-language channel has revealed himself to be a xenophobic hate-monger. WHY does he still have a job? Lobby for his dismissal - by any and all means.
Days Ai Weiwei was detained
80
With ironic, sinister symmetry, the celebrity artist/activist was incarcerated on the same day that my friend Wu Yuren was finally released from 10 months' detention.
Now, like Wu, he's been released on extremely restrictive 'bail' terms - but could face re-arrest at any moment. He was detained incommunicado from April 3rd to June 22nd 2011.
Days Wu Yuren was in prison
307
"Released on parole" after 10 months; "parole" lifted another year later. The original charges against him were apparently dropped without his trial ever being formally concluded.
Why was Wu Yuren in prison?
Why do I care about Wu Yuren?
How you might have helped Wu Yuren (and the many others like him in China)
Remembering the Tiananmen protests of 1989
About Me
- Froog
- Froog is an escaped lawyer - but there is no need for alarm; he is only a danger to himself, not to the general public. An eternal wanderer, he now lives in an exotic city somewhere in the 'Third World' *, where he is held prisoner by an unfinished novel (or, more precisely, an unstarted novel). He spends a lot of time running, writing, taking photographs, and falling in love with women who fail to appreciate him. He also spends a lot of time in bars. [* OK, I'll come clean: I've been living in Beijing since summer '02.]
Who is this Froog person anyway?
What does Froog look like?
Why can't I be Froog?
How did I come to be a blogger?
A statement of principle
The scope of Froogville (and Barstool Blues)
Blog Roll (kind of)
Froog on Writing
Where to dine in Beijing
Beating China's Net Censorship
- Witopia - indispensable VPN service
- FoxyProxy (add-on proxifier for Firefox)
- TOR software bundle (for use with Firefox/FoxyProxy)
- Kallahar's Place (Method #2 only; and you need to open a new window for every page you visit with it)
- Proxy re-routing for Firefox (courtesy of Chinese blogger, Yee); has been subject to some blocking
- Google Mobile Proxy (simplified page views only)
- XeroBank xB Browser (formerly Torrify - FREE, but very slow)
- Hotspot Shield (FREE, but slow and glitchy)
- Anonymouse - free, reliable proxy site; but can be slow, and has annoying pop-ups
- Summary of tips on using the above methods
- Leaping Over The Great Firewall - my discussion of the Net censorship problems in China
The TV Listings - my YouTube favourites
Competitions, etc.
- The Search for Beijing's Longest-serving Cab Driver
- Possible Band Names - if you had your own rock group, what would you call it?
- Suggest the best name for a bar
- Can you spot the film references?
- Six-Word Epigraphs - sum up your life in a micro-memoir
- Misheard song lyrics
- Amusing film credits
- Game of the Names - if you were a pirate, or a porn star, or a mafioso, or a luchador, what would your name be?
- Test your word power and help feed the poor at FreeRice.com
Three Doors™
Secrets of the Universe
The Three Phases
The Expat Ladder
Beijing 'types'
The Great Debates
- The "Mount Rushmore of Rock" - who are your 'Top 4' greatest musicians/bands of all time?
- What makes A GREAT BAR?
- Beijing v. Shanghai - which is the better city?
- Are vampires viable?
- Are zombies viable?
- What would your unusual super-power (and your Nemesis) be?
- The 7 Habits of Highly Efficient (?) Readers
- What is the best opening to a novel?
- The films of the Coen brothers - which is your favourite?
- Is DVD piracy intrinsically BAD?
- Chinese food - the worst cuisine in the world?
Leave your bar jokes here
Leave your 'bad' jokes here
Pick of the Archives
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- Favourite Posts, April-June 2009 (Part 1)
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FRIENDS - doing business in China
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15 comments:
I hope I got that right. I just came upon this quotation in a Philip Roth novel I was reading, but I didn't have it to hand to doublecheck when I was posting this.
A useful thought to keep in mind: this might be the motto for all bloggers, for all writers.
translation please
Off the top of my head...
"One can never know oneself. One can only talk about oneself."
Raconter I think means to tell, but I assume it is meaning a more self-revealing type of concept here.
Particularly with the reflexive pronoun, I think "tell one's own story" is the idea here. It is, after all, the verb that gives us raconteur - "an entertaining weaver of tales".
Cowboy, where have you been? Mired in documents again? We've missed you.
Where have I been. Pretty much in a room the size of a prison cell, pouring over documents, drying them off, then reading them.
Oh and writing motions. I did throw a kick ass party, the invitation to which you never even opened. Hence my eternal ongoing hatred for you.
a prison cell, eh? i prefer to think of my abode as a broom closet. which is more claustrophobic, do you suppose?
"Hence my eternal ongoing hatred for you." --- I have got to meet you one day.
re: quote - thinking about it.
Be careful what you wish for Tulsa! The Cowboy has long been threatening to at least visit, if not try to wangle a work posting here for a while. He tends to bring out my more 'uncivilized' side!!
Cowboy, I was grateful to receive the invite, and sorry not to be able to join you. I thought I had gone over to e-Vite or whatever to check out the details, but maybe the link was being glitchy. I'm sure you'll forgive me one day...
Tulsa
You can't see a reason why I might no refer to my office as a closet?
"What did you do today?"
"I spent the day in the closet."
Doesn't sound too good.
And froog, it was a Simpsons evite! I managed to find three relevant Duffman quotes for the yes, no and maybe tags.
I was so frigging impressed with myself it was scary.
Oh, yes, I think I did miss that. Sorry. What were the quotes?
LOL... actually, i think "i spent my day in the closet" brings up alll sorts of fun possibilities.
and I have no fear of TBC's visit bringing out your dark side, froog... i can always leave if the company got to be too much, right? or are you saying all of Beijing's hang outs aren't big enough for the two of us?
and i want to see these duffman quotes... any chance of a guest post about the evite? or at least taking over one of Froog's comments? Or... err, i guess you could visit the holiday villa...
p.s. I have a free weekend, at last!!! (sort of) hmm, now what did I have on my list of things to do... did I ever come to a resolution on that existential crisis thing?? maybe I need to focus more.
I had a free weekend, until the partner decided that I should not have followed his instructions, but instead done the exact opposite. So I have to spend it rewriting and reresearching a motion.
Not sure if the link will work but here it is...
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?event=RSBAEVCRRESFKEJTMZZU&showPreview=true&newCreate=true&returnURL=%2Fapp%2Finvitations%2Fcreate%2Fevent.do%3FisCopyPastEvent%3Dtrue
The three Duffman quotes were as follows, in case it did not work...
Yes: Duffman says a lot of things... Ooooh Yeah!
Maybe: New feelings brewing inside of Duffman. What Would Jesus Do?
No: Duffman can't breathe. Oh No!
The first was from the episode where the Duff team go to Moe's; the Duff girls are appalled, and one says to Duffman, "You said if I slept with you I would not have to touch the drunks."
The second is from the classic Springfield/Alberquerque Isotopes episode, where Homer discovers a nefarious plan to move the minor league team out to the South West. After a hunger strike ("I'm wasting away! I'm down to a B-cup!") and a dream that prevents him giving up in which Caesar Chavez visits him ("Why do you look like Caesar Romero?" "Well you don't know what Caesar Chavez looks like, do you Homer?") Homer breaks open the secret to the crowd, the owner comes on to stop him, and Duffman turns on his employers and saves the day. The episode also includes a classic Homer song. "Dancing away my hunger pangs. Moving my feet so my stomach won't hurt. I'm kind of like Jesus. But not in a sacreligious way."
The No comes from the Pygmoelian episode, where Moe prevents Duffman from speaking by placing a sticker over his mouth.
The party was indeed ribtastic. I can honestly say it is the first party I have ever thrown that came close to working perfectly, and also had the busies called to it.
Oh, that must have been a laugh..... the rozzers reeling back in disarray.... "It's full of lawyers. We need BACK-UP!!!"
Neighbours complaining about the nude line-dancing??
Well, they arrived at 11.30. It was a predominately outdoor event. There were 15 or so attorneys stood around drinking draft beer listening to Johnny Cash.
He looked at me sheepishly, and said "We've had a complaint that you are too loud." (Cop looks around and shrugs) "I guess I had better tell you to turn the music down."
TBC replies "Why don't I turn the music off, officer?"
Cop smiles. "Have a good evening sir. Try not to annoy the neighbors."
Exeunt the filth. Drinking continues till 2.30.
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