Media Thought of the Morning

As I'm writing this entry, it's one of those late nights/early mornings in which I woke up and had trouble falling back asleep. So I did what I always do when I can't sleep; I surfed the Web. I imagine that my Web surfing habits start off like just about anyone's. I begin by firing up the emails, followed by some general news sites. After those standard routines, I get into my specific areas of interest. One of them is the U.S. media.

I've been living in Hong Kong for over a year and a half now, but I still find myself a U.S. media junkie. Maybe it's because I don't read or write Chinese, but I find it harder to track all the things here which I like monitoring in the U.S. media. From weekly box office receipts to Nielson's top rated TV shows, I have several meters for how various movies, TV shows, books and comic books are doing. One place I frequent perhaps once every 2 weeks is a Website called the mediabistro, where it focuses on the U.S. TV and cable news media. It was at this site which I found a link to an L.A. Times article about how CNN was blacked out in China during an interview with Hong Kong's leader, Donald Tsang, when he spoke about plans on universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

I found this stream of media-centric Web surfing interesting for a couple reasons:

First, the Web has made it possible for me to be more in tune with the American media anywhere in the world. I'm more in tune with the state of the U.S. media living in Hong Kong, than I was 5 years ago living in the U.S. How's that for a sign of the times and what NYT's columnist Thomas Friedman calls the flat state of the world?

Second, is the way in which the U.S. media paints the state of Chinese censorship and democracy. My reaction just a year ago to this article is far different from what it is now that I live here as a permanent Hong Kong resident. A year ago, I would have thought about what a bunch of bastards the Chinese government has been for taking away the system of government that the British put in place. What the British set up here resulted in a Chinese city far more prosperous than any other in the mainland.

Now that I live here, my perspective has been clarified a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still hate censorship. But thanks to some friends here, they've pointed out a few things that are obvious if you bothered to read between the news headlines: There's more democracy in Hong Kong now under Chinese rule then there was during almost all of British rule.

Sounds strange doesn't it? But I do remember reading in the international press back in the '90s about how right before the handover back to China, the British Hong Kong governor, Chris Patton, put in last minute government changes to give the people of Hong Kong democracy. So when this British governor, who was appointed by British bureaucracy without universal suffrage, made these changes which were revoked by the incoming Chinese government, it looked like China was coming down hard on democracy. But several locals have told me that the people of Hong Kong have gained more rights and privileges in deciding government matters than they did under British rule, when relatively none of the local Chinese had much say in the British appointed government.

The truth of the matter is that Hong Kong is far from a democracy right now. But by living here in these times, I've got a lot better insight on the political and media war going on both sides. And with that closing thought, I think it's time I went back to bed now.

Captain America is Dead!

This morning began like any other. I fired up my Firefox Web browser and opened tabs for checking my email and news. Nothing out of the ordinary, until I hit the New York Times Website and saw the image on the left.

What a shocking and cool sight! A rapid fire of thoughts shot through my early-morning, groggy brain; Holy crap! They killed Cap. Holy moly! The death of a fictional character made the front page of the New York Times. This is soooo freakin' symbolic. This is sooooo fraggin' cool.

This was particularly timely as my brother, who has been a huge Captain America fan since he was 4, emailed me a CNN article about this last night. In an interesting twist, the CNN report had more depth and insight than the NYT's article. Certainly this moment is a sign of the times in more ways than one:

1) A cable news Web site had more insight and depth than the bastion of U.S. news media, the New York Times.

2) The CNN piece reports on how the recent Civil War storyline is "an allegory to current real-life issues like the Patriot Act, the War on Terror and the September 11 attacks." In the Marvel Civil War, the pro-registration faction won which in general says a lot about civil liberties in a time of war and specifically reflects on the current state of these real-life issues.

3) Captain America has been a symbol of "American strength and resolve in fighting the Axis powers, and later Communism." So what does his death say about America in her current "War on Terror?"

4) As a veteran of WWII frozen in time until his revival in Marvel Comics' golden age in the 1960's, Captain America's modern tale has been about a man out of time. In many ways, his world views are vestiges of America's last great war. He has not changed much with the times and is even more out of place today.

5) What does this say about the American media, when a fictitious patriotic character created during WWII is killed and then makes the front page of the New York Times today? You could write a term paper on this one.

On a personal note, Cap's death does strike a chord in me. As Marvel's oldest hero, he has been a permanent fixture in the modern mythology of the Marvel Universe where I spent my childhood. He represented to me the moral compass and positive spirit of the American ideal. I can't help but feel a little sad for the passing of the symbol for these ideals during a time in which I think America needs them more than ever. On the other hand, I feel more than a little sad that I'm still such a dorky, comic book fanboy.

Fanboy

I just ran across an amusing column about how to be a fanboy. First of all, the writer says you don't need to be a boy to be a fanboy. In fact, you don't even need to be male. But "fangirl" just doesn't have the same ring as "fanboy." Thus we're stuck with the term fanboy.

As amusing as the column was, I had an issue with it. You see, I've been a fanboy for nearly as long as I could read. It started off with comic books. From the moment I read my first comic book at the age of 6, I became a fan of comics. That would make me a comic book fan when I was a mere boy or a fan boy. Get it? But this joker ...er writer narrowly defines a fanboy as a videogame console fanatic of any gender or age. Hmm... sounds PC enough, but I almost take offense to the author claiming the term for just for videogame console fanatics. Since I have faith that the truth must exist somewhere on the Internet, I investigated further and found fanboy.com. This sagely site implies that fanboys are cultural fanatics of any gender or age, not merely videogame console fanatics. My faith in the Internet to tell the truth was instantly restored.

So all the above useless, trivial line of thought got me started on another pointless, trivial line of thought; Am I still a fanboy today? And if so, what am I a fanboy of?

That burning question is fairly fun to answer. We can start with the picture on the left taken on my camera phone last Friday at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. This was taken moments before the jazz supergroup, SFJazz Allstars began performing. A friend gave me her extra ticket at the last minute, so I had no idea who was in this super group of jazz all stars. I was extremely excited to find out my favorite contemporary trumpet player, Dave Douglas had recently joined this group. I have seen my share of live jazz in Asia, but seeing these guys perform was like watching professional NBA players versus kids at the playground I've been seeing. Aside from each musician being accomplished jazz band leaders and composers, they checked their egos at the door and meshed so well together. It was quite possibly the best jazz concert I have ever attended. But I digress.

Back to the topic of fanboys. It's pretty well known to my friends that I'm a huge fan of jazz. But that doesn't necessarily make me a jazz fanboy. During the meet and greet at the end of the concert I unabashedly told Dave Douglas I was a "big, big fan." I would say that was a fanboyish moment. So the nature of being a fanboy seems to apply to something more specific than an industry (such as jazz or videogames), but perhaps a specific object (such as a videogame console) or person (such as a jazz musician).

If I apply my definition of fanboy, then I could make a list of many people and things ranging from directors, musicians, authors, cinematographers, designers and yes, even a few politicians and spiritual leaders whom I admire. Perhaps cultureboy would be a better term for me than fanboy. But that might bring up visions of diseased experiments or the 80's Boy George group, Culture Club. So I guess I'll just have to stick to being a fanboy.

Year of the Piggie

Last week was the first time I experienced Chinese New Year in Asia. Unlike in the West, Chinese New Year is a major holiday here in China where people actually take time off to be with family. Christmas and New Years is small potatoes by comparison.

This is the year of the pig and there was no chance of missing that in Hong Kong where they bring the commercialization of Chinese New Year to new levels. You could not avoid a single cutesy, cartoony pig anywhere. Interestingly, enough I didn't have to take any pics 'cause I had a guest in town who had an awesome Nikon SLR camera. It was her first time in HK and it was great to see Hong Kong through her eyes and lense. This left pic was one of the first pics she took. We found it amusing to see this blow up pig suckling on the vendor with his blow up butcher's knife. It was almost subversive to see this vendor amidst a sea of other vendors hocking their cutsey cartoon pig-wares.

A few days later, while exploring the Sheung Wan district, we encountered these real slaughtered pigs all hung neatly in a row. Many Westerners often find it disgusting to see their meat in this form. Namely, the full carcass. I actually prefer to see my meat this way. Not because I'm barbaric, but because it reminds me that I'm consuming life. I think most people (East and West) who buy their seemingly sterile, plastic wrapped, mass-produced processed meat or beautifully, presented restaurant steaks and pork chops are conveniently disconnected from the painful, bloody, reality of the slaughter.

Morbid thoughts for the year of the pig? I suppose so. But amidst all the commercialized, cute, plastic, glitz and glam; I see this as a needed touch of reality. It made me re-visit the idea of becoming vegetarian. My readings and understanding of the subject really does point to the conclusion that consuming less meat is more humane, environmentally friendly, healthy and in many ways moral.

Anyway, I hope that everyone has a happy, healthy and prosperous year of the pig! ;P