Sunday, May 23, 2010

Metablog: A Blog within a Blog

So this is a fictional blog/Facebook entry that I wrote a while back. I posted it on several other sites, but I thought I might share it on here as well.

Again, I do use a lot of profanity and possibly offensive terms in this one. So, if you don't like that kind of stuff, I'm not forcing you to read it.

This piece is actually not a spontaneous creation. In fact, it was inspired and written for a Alternate history/Future timeline that a friend wrote.
Any feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!


CHEN AOYUN'S BLOG




Chen Aoyun is bloody tired- 22 hours ago

Blog Entry 3

Another "exhilarating" workday. Every time I enter the grey drab concrete monstrosity of a building, I die a little bit more inside. Each ten hour shift stuck with that surly old tobacco-chewing asshole Li, that annoying brat May who never shuts the f**k up about the latest celebrity gossip and that lame-ass gangsta wannabe Choy; I come closer to the conclusion that I would have been happier shovelling cow shit and busting my ass to harvest two grains of rice in the crappy little backwater village, my parents had left for the big smoke.

In case, I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Chen Aoyun (blame the Beijing Olympics, Alcohol, karaoke and Jay Chou for that name) and I’m 23 years old. I work at the PLAICC Headquarters in Foshan. Due to a shortage of qualified technicians living in Foshan, I usually wander in between a few departments. I work mainly in censorship and blogging surveillance; occasionally I dabble in online banking security and identity protection. Sounds quite boring, don't it? Imagine how I feel.

The hours suck and as I mentioned before the coworkers are bloody irritating. After the rent, food and the bills, I have just enough money left over to buy toilet paper, and not the nice scented quilted kind but the cheap crap, carpenters can use as sandpaper. None of the chicks think this job is cool and the last time I had sex was at last years Chinese New Year party when I got drunk and supposedly got down and dirty with Mrs Huang, the lunch lady. I still can’t live that down.

Communist propaganda tells me that the PLAICC is doing an honourable and patriotic service for my motherland and my people, that we’re making the internet a safer place for the Chinese. It’s a humbling kind of message when I know most of my colleagues spend most of their work time deleting thousands of hardcore porn sites featuring Albanian midgets with donkeys and Nigerian scam sites selling Namibian penis growth pills infused with Chinese ginseng.

So for those who are reading this, I’m sure you have the same question in mind that many of my friends have asked me before, why am I working a job that I feel so miserable in?

Well, the thing is, that my father was a soldier and I wanted to make him proud, so once I finished my college degree, I enthusiastically signed up for the PLA. Not having the speed, strength or balls to become a proper solder, my application was rejected. Wanting to save face in front of Mum and Dad, I went for the next best thing and so I applied for the PLAICC. I was relieved when I got the job, I could tell my parents especially Dad, that I was now working for the army (technically). And now I’m just working hard to keep them quiet and to keep the place I’m living at albeit being pretty damn horrible for 1550 yuan a month.

If you’re not familiar with what the PLAICC is, it’s the information protection branch of the military. It’s full name, The People’s Liberation Army Information Corps of China. Pretty impressive isn’t it?

It was formed after some pro-democracy protesters managed to hack into the CCTV’s system and replaced the Hu Jintao funeral and eulogy TV broadcast and website videos with “Three Guys, 4 Girls, 2 Cups, 1 Camel” Being born only a few years before Hu died, I didn't think much of him. But I understood the reaction and uproar. His name and image was screwed over in such a disgusting way, that riots were inevitable and because the broadcasts were from CCTV, CCTV offices all across China were damaged or burnt. The punks were never caught and it made the government realise that even with the Great Firewall up, internet security was still really weak. So the PLAICC was set up and unfortunately from the looks of the crap we still have on the net, progress is a long way away.

And frankly, my enthusiasm for the job waned a month into starting (I've been at the job three years now ). There’s just so much of the same cyber shit to wade through and so little time or energy to do so. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out before I lose it. Also, I’d never thought I’d say it, being raised in such a patriotic household but maybe the CCP should just step aside and give in to demands, it’d make our jobs a lot easier as well. I don’t just have to deal with spam, porno and inane blogs, it’s beginning to get really tough and saddening to look at “Death to the Han”, “Death to CCP Supporters”, “Free Tibet and Uighuristan”, “Free China” and “Go to Hell and F**k Yourselves, Han” day in and day out. Every day I arrive home with a numbing headache and a greater sense of emptiness.

Anyway sorry for venting, I know Facebook is more a happy happy fun place. I could get fired (or worse) as well for saying this kind of stuff, I better stop here. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year by the way, I hope all goes well for everyone.

Peace, Aoyun!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

In 2010, Integrated Chinese Learning Level One Textbook presents a cool new funky Chinese hero...

I've always been a sucker for Chinese or Asian heroes in film or any other sort of literature. In a world of William Hungs, Long Duc Dongs and Ken Jeungs who flash their tiny dicks in Hangover movies, film heroes who beat up the evil gweilo have been vital in affirming my racial/cultural pride. I know it's not right to use the term "gweilo" nor so to assume that all whiteys are evil, but don't blame me for that. Blame pre-Hollywood Jackie Chan and Jet Li, blame Donnie Yen and other Chinese action film heroes who made period pieces with evil white men in them.

My film and literature based pseudo-racism was so bad at one point, that I actually wanted Jet Li to kick Mel Gibson's ass in Lethal Weapon 4, despite him being a cold-hearted evil motherfucker.

So I find it incredibly surprising that the newest Chinese/Asian hero or role model I've been exposed to, I rather heartily dislike.

If anyone studies Chinese at uni and uses the Integrated Chinese learning series as your reading material, you might know who I'm talking about.

There is this character in there, called Wang Peng. He is originally a Beijinger, but is settling into American college life. In the very first chapter, he meets an American (white) girl called Li You (her English name is Amy Lee). It is love at first sight, for Miss Lee anyway. There is no chapter in the book where she is not either with him or talking about him. She fawns over him, I usually would say such a crush is sweet, but it's rather kind of sickening.

"Oh you're so cool, Wang Peng"
"Oh you're so handsome and tall, Wang Peng."
"Wow, Wang Peng, your handwriting is so beautiful."
"Wow, Wang Peng, you're so good at Basketball."
"Wow! Wang Peng, your dick is so big! Fuck me in my tight American virginal pussy!"*

Wang Peng is such a smooth and sexy character, I even reach over for a satisfying cigarette** after reading about his adventures. Also, if you noticed Wang Peng and Li You's personal names together form the chinese word for "friend", just as another sign of their lubby-dubby nature.

As a consequence, I actually feel sorry for the white guy this time and that's no mean feat. Gao Wenzhong (A decent transliteration for Winston Gore) gets the shaft in this book, he's whiny, passive-aggressive and oh-so effiminate. He also wears a ridiculous tweed jacket everywhere he goes and his crush on a Korean exchange student Bai Ying'ai (Baek Yeung Ae)*** who seems to have more intent on fucking Wang Peng instead. He get's no action, he's only in 3 chapters of the 10 chapters (whereas Wang Peng is in or is mentioned in all of them) and he has the worst of luck in introducing his sister Gao Xiaoyin (Jenny Gore) to that sexy motherfucker Wang Peng. She probably jacks and sucks him off in the Level Two series of the textbooks and workbooks.

Don't get me wrong, we probably need more Wang Pengs in books and movies.
Hell, we probably need more Wang Pengs in the real world. He's cultured, polite, helpful, fit and he knows how to treat the ladies well. Maybe I dislike him so much because he is the Chinese man I desire so much to be, yet fail ever so slightly to be.

Anyway, I'll leave my rant there, before you all accuse me of being insane for reading so deeply into a simple language learning book.

PS: I apologize profusely for the profanity, it just slips out sometimes when I write.

*This part is actually not in any of the textbooks or workbooks. Maybe in the Level Two or Three series.
** I don't actually smoke, in fact, I sort of loathe smoking
*** Li You (Amy Lee) better watch out, she has some competition. She better learn some self-defense, unless wants some jealousy taekwondo to her face.