Digital Nomad
Oh the troubles of being one of those hub folk that Stalnaker rants on about in his book “Hub Culture”. Being in one time zone when a great multitude of your friends are in different time zones, pretty much means the SMS NY can go on forever. Right now, I’m awaiting the inevitable joy of not being able to connect to CSL in HK from the Netherlands at midnight…
I think I’ll forget the NY wishes this year…
Evidently, I’m not going to be doing to well in the Asia Weblog Awards this year. It doesn’t really bother me (although, again thanks to those who voted for me). At this stage in the game, let’s not waste any votes on me but go vote for Glutter and make sure she manages to beat Gweilo Diaries. Vote here. Gweilo Diaries is down anyway but I guess it still shows the average intelligence of the GD fan if they are still voting for a site that their idol can’t manage to keep up.
The International Red Cross has launched its own website to help track down survivors and relatives of those missing in the tsunami disaster. The link is http://www.icrc.org/familylinks although it is hard to get on the site. I’m posting this up in response to some searches already on my site looking for survivors.
I’d suggest that if you don’t have immediate friends and family you are trying to locate, that you avoid connecting to the site so that other more direct family members and friends can locate their loved ones. It sounds cold but if you haven’t spoken to that one friend for about five years who might have been in Indonesia on holiday, then I’m sure it can wait while mothers, fathers, etc. try to locate their kin.
And a good online resource for information is http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/. These volunteered IT resources are probably going to buckle under the strain of so many genuine hits and visits, that if you’re just going to gawp, then get your tragedy fix from CNN or someone else. You wouldn’t go sightseeing to Thailand now just to see the suffering, would you?
No, no, no. Our darling lovely Stefanie Sun Yanzi has expressed an interest in acting. Since being in Asia, celebrities are better described as entertainers rather than actors, actresses, or singers. This work called entertaining seems to happen in everything they do from on-screen to off-screen antics. I seem to recall the Sammi vs. Sammi concert being more of a show rather than a concert.
Since Western film and musical talent diverged a long time ago, I find it hard to take any singer who acts, or actor that sings, seriously. My limited Western mind believes it dilutes the professional integrity of the artists in question. The brief forays into acting that the hip-hop world has done in recent years come to mind, along with Gwen Stefani’s bit-piece next to di Craprio, aren’t really qualifying examples as successful crossovers in Western entertainment. We’re definitely not talking Frank Sinatra or Julie Andrews success here. Kidman and McGregor’s efforts in Moulin Rouge are best forgetten.
Of course, it’s fine for the multitude of Cantopop stars that I genuinely would consider “entertainers”. Mentioning no names, some of them would be hard-pressed to be considered “good” singers without an acting background to back them up, and vice versa. You’re buying into the whole entertainment package and who really cares if some of it doesn’t quite add up. Although, much that I love Athena Chu Yan, after accidentally putting one of her songs on in karaoke, I believe her roots should stay firmly in the acting camp.
Of course, serious talent also seems to need the Jekyll and Hyde life of singing and acting. Wong Faye, Anita Mui, Jackie Cheung all seem to have dipped their proverbial talent sticks into both pies. Other talent… such as Maggie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat I’m not so sure about. And some efforts are best forgotten like Jackie Chan’s attempt to sing. So if anything, this duality in Chinese performers seems to to be the de rigeur business model for celebrity success.
But I, for one, hopes that our dear Stefanie Sun doesn’t attempt the cross-over into acting lightheartedly. She’s a great singer without the need to overexpose herself as a potentially mediocre actor. Of course, who the hell am I to give advice on it? And judging from her frequent appearances on crap Taiwanese game shows, I fear that we’ll soon be seeing Sun Yanzi films being farmed out.
If you felt like doing something other than gawping at the screen as you watch waves destroy lives and livelihoods in Asia, then perhaps a little charity might be a way to do something constructive.
Here is the link to the Red Cross Asia Quake and Tsunamis Appeal in Hong Kong, Australia, Netherlands and in the UK.
Why is donating a good thing?
1. The immediate problem is sanitation and shelter affecting some of the poorest in the region. Money donated will go to providing these basic essentials we take for granted every day.
2. Many in the region are still missing and it will be an uphill struggle to trace missing relatives and friends. Money donated will go to aiding in that search for relatives of victims.
3. The disaster might have been unexpected and the death toll unavoidable, but the continuing disaster fallout is preventable by human intervention.
4. Managing and evacuating the tourists and holidaymakers does cost money that could otherwise be spent on local needs and concerns.
You can find out more about how your donations are managed on the individual Red Cross pages.
