rhymingwithoranges's blog

SitC 2011

2011-08-08T07:52:00.001-07:00

As per usual, I have been in charge of putting together the Summer in the City Publication. As per usual again, we went right down to the wire but you will all (well... the first 350 of you to give us money) get your 16 page SitC souvenir this year packed full of advice, commentary and pretty drawings.

As a little taster of the publication and next weekend, here is a sneak peak of my forward.

It’s not a lie; some YouTube careers are born more equal than others. Some have the funds to buy the best equipment from the start, some get sponsored by big companies, some of us are cuter than others, some don’t have to deal with firewalls and there are those that are just more talented than others – don’t you just hate the talented people?

That said, we all have one thing in common; we all started from zero. There was a point in every YouTube channel’s life where the number under subscribers said, “0”.

This is worth remembering now that our gathering turns three and YouTube turns 6. It can be very easy for those of us that haven’t been as successful as others, and those of us that are just starting on the site, to look at those with huge success with envious eyes. “Why is that not me?” we may cry. Just remember that if you encounter someone with more subscribers, they were once on the same rung of the ladder as you.

It doesn’t just go for the negative. YouTubers sometimes have a tendency to put those on the site who are more successful on high pedestals. If you are scared to go up to a person at this gathering which you are attending, remember that they were once in the same position; a nobody in the crowd of what felt like the coolest most talented people in the world. Swallow that fear and go and talk to those who you admire, I can guarantee both sides will be happier for it.

That said; if you are a fan-girl, please keep the screaming to a minimum...

Demolition

2011-04-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

You very often hear about decisions by the Chinese government displacing people, their homes and businesses for the sake of modernisation. Destructions of huge areas of traditional housing called Hutongs during the revamp of Beijing in run up to the Olympics and the flooding of whole towns when the Three Gorges Dam was built. Quite often people are given very little warning and whether or not they receive compensation is a bit hit and miss.

You hear about these stories, you know they happen and you know that it is unfair, but it’s very different when it happens to someone you know.

Outside the foreign student dormitory here in Nanjing there are a couple of shops lined outside ready for our custom selling all manner of goods; alcohol, cigarettes, soft drinks, instant noodles etc. We have spent long summer nights sitting outside their shabby shops drinking, playing cards, teaching them rude words in English. A fond memory of mine was watching the World Cup last year huddled around tiny TV screens when all of a sudden every Chinese person knew the name of each player on every European team.

Today one of these shops was ripped down. They are renovating the whole area around the foreign student dorms, ripping out railings and painting bricks onto newly painted maroon walls. One teacher proudly told us that it was being redesigned to look like Europe. My French friend and I rolled our eyes.

The owners of the shop were told yesterday that they had ten days to move out. They were then told at noon today that their shop was going to be ripped out this evening. All their goods were dragged out onto the street by four o’clock for the demolition at around 6. Mounds of corrugated iron and brick now lay where the little shop once stood.

What is frustrating is that we can do nothing about it. No petition to sign, no MP to call, no channels what-so-ever to give these people some kind of a voice. “没办法,” Mei ban fa, "there is no way," as the owners have told us. There is no point in trying because we all know nothing can be done.

We are now trying to host a little party on the steps outside the student dorm to try and help them get rid of their stock before they are inevitably moved on. I’m going to break out my long neglected ukulele and hopefully make an evening of it. These people have made it that much easier for many of us to partake in binge drinking and satisfy our early morning urges for instant noodles for years. This is the least we can do.

If you’re reading this and are in Nanjing, I hope to see you there. If you are not, appreciate the fact you are protected from this happening to you.

Idiocy on the Internet

2011-03-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

The last few months has seen the Internet praised beyond belief. Corrupt and repressive regimes throughout the Middle-East challenged and toppled through the wonders of Facebook and Twitter - two sites which seem to be compared to the left and right hand of justice as of late. It was pointed out by a Tunisian woman on BBC's The World Tonight on Radio 4 that these were simply the catalyst. It was the Al Jazeera television news network that gave these Facebook groups legitimacy, these tweets a wider audience. The woman quite rightly pointed out,

"Nearly everyone has a TV in Tunisia, much fewer people have Facebook."

I don't want to take away from the ongoing success these mediums are having, but without mainstream media validating the online happenings, it is possible the movement that is still sweeping the middle east would have not had the impact it has had; restricted to those who use and have access to these technologies.

New media, the voice of the individual is talked up a lot nowadays. It is even suggested that independent by the twitter generation will overtake mainstream media, the BBCs and the CNNs, in the future.

In my opinion, those claims are cods-wallop.

Yes, any television show even remotely concerned with keeping up with the times has to have a "tweet us" section, but it is still these traditional form of media that validate what is said online, otherwise Twitter just lives up to its name.

A case in point is the death of Michael Jackson. People were tweeting about the fact he had died way before anyone had announced it. It was famously broken by the celebrity and entertainment blog, TMZ, but even then the mainstream news knew that it was their job to wait until a official announcement. If a blog breaks news, you have to take it with a pinch of salt.

I believe this is the future of the traditional media providers; the calm voice, telling everyone to shut up until official people speak.

I've been thinking about this because at 10 o'clock this morning I received a text that told me a nuclear reactor had blown up in Japan and I was going to get showered with radioactive rain within the next 48 hours. I proceeded to forward the text onto anyone I knew warning them to stay indoors, wear a mackintosh and rub iodine on their thyroids.

Texts sent, I began to question what I had just done; sending the whole city of Nanjing into blind panic because of one text. I got online, checked BBC, and lo and behold we were fine. No acid rain, no nuclear explosion, just a bit of leakage and people being paranoid of nuclear energy in America. There was even a government statement from the Philippine government warning about the exact text I had just received that was circulating through the Asian expat community.

Quickly send another text apologising for the panic I had caused.

The fact is community based media is all well and good when it comes to commentary and gossip but when it comes to hard facts and investigative journalism, Twitter, Blogger and even shows like mine on YouTube are way behind the professionals.

The Problem with YouTube Interviews

2011-02-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

An interview has recently become available on YouTube in collaboration with Aljazeera with the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron where people around the world are encouraged to send in questions through video or text that are then put to the PM.

Some of you die-harders will remember that I once took part in a similar project when good, old Gordon was the top man. Back then I probably partook in the feature without really thinking about it, it was a chance to partake in the ultimate democracy, for the head of the country to be held accountable directly to the people. Part of my own personal vanity was also knocking around at the back of my brain, "the PM is going to know who you are!" Admittedly, I did kind of like it when he said my name in his sultry, Scottish tones. I can't be the only one with a slight man-crush on big G, right?

However, in retrospect and after being reminded of the whole thing by this recent Aljazeera-YT collaboration, I now feel the whole concept of a YouTube based interview falls flat on it's face.

I remember my frustration when Gordon Brown answered my question but did what politicians often do; sidestep the issue and talked about something that suited him better.

With no-one to follow up the question, to hold the interviewee accountable for his answer, the politician is just going to be able to be, well, a politician. And all the while saying they have held up the beacon of democracy while taking part in a what is nothing compared to a good grilling on BBC Question Time.

The Aljazeera-YT interview took one step further and provided a ghost interviewer who would occasionally rephrase questions if David got confused. Unfortunately, the reporter would rarely follow up the answers of the PM apart from reminding him of parts of the question he forgets to answer or when talking about Isreal. The PM was often allowed to freely dismiss and 'reject' questions.

Another problem is that of the people asking the questions. They clearly have concerns about the government's policy that they are trying to get heard, questions about public service cuts and the selling of arms in the Middle-East, but they are so easily dismissed by the PM as rubbish because of the way the question was phrased, because they weren't allowed to clarify or because they didn't back their point up with statistics.

This format of using YouTube as a platform of interviews and connecting those in power to those who put them there is symbolically important and has great potential. However, that potential is not being harnessed at the moment. The interviewees need to be grilled and held accountable, better journalism is needed here. I also think live video links would be a better way for those asking the questions to get a satisfactory answer out of their representatives.

My criticisms should not take away from the fantastic potential of these kinds of projects. Symbolically it is a wonderful advocate for democracy. I still feel, however, that the art of the YouTube interview still has some room for improvement.

Big Society Multiculturalism

2011-02-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

A BBC headline tells us that Cameron denounces state multiculturalism as a failure, following, no doubt, the recent comments that Britain has become a safe haven for terrorists.

No doubt liberals everywhere will be waving their hands around calling foul play, that will be calling for a celebration of our British, multicultural liberalism and a stop to the Conservatives’ attack on immigration. I don’t blame them, I would be one of them, IF Cameron had said that, but when you look at the content of his words rather than the attention grabbing headline that the Beeb went with then you will discover that wasn’t the focus of his statement.

In what I consider to be a questionable choice of words, the Prime Minister is in fact saying that integration of communities has failed, which in turn has not succeeded in providing,

“ … a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong.”

He also says that in British society,

“We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values.”

On both these points, and it pains me to say this about Cameron, I largely agree with him.

In the fear of offending or excluding our multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities, Britain has failed to define itself as a culture and a society in the past half a century or so. It is this inability of giving young people who can no longer identify with the concept of fighting for Queen and empire in the Second World War a firm national identity that has created a society of segregated, angry youths that see blowing themselves up on public transport as an option.

Reading that back that is probably one of the most right-wing things I have ever said. Let me explain.

There is evidence that those that turn to violence, whether they be BNP supporters, Islamic extremists or IRA activists rarely or never come into significant contact with their relative opposite groups. I am a believer that anger towards another community, religion or social group can always be neutralized if you get those groups to interact. They don’t need to become bezzie-mates, but if you humanise the other side the animosity can be greatly diffused.

This is where David Camerons favourite made-up cultural phenomenon, The Big Society, can come in.

Locally or nationally based independent bodies can be used to bring different communities together; not only those of different religion or colour, but of other different backgrounds like class and region. This is where things like community groups like YMCAs, Mosques, schools and even sports teams and leagues can help to build bridges.

There is one problem with this and that is the fact that these organizations need funding. Right now, the communities that can really make a difference in what the media so often call ‘Broken Britain’ are having the cash at their disposal savagely slashed.

I used to work at the Waiyin Society in Manchester that mainly work with women from the Chinese immigrant community in teaching them English, getting them qualifications and providing an area for them to socialise and ultimately helping them to integrate into British culture better. They also worked with immigrants from other backgrounds, as well as having a very active youth department which gave youths a place to hang out other than out on the street. I saw all the fantastic good that this and other organisations have the potential to do, but have also seen them have to cut back massively since the recession hit in 2008.

Cameron should be commended in having the courage to bring up a sensitive issue that has been tip-toed around for too long. He is, however, key in the destruction of the resource that would be one of the most effective ways of breaking down the social barriers and the segregation that he condemns so harshly. The Big Society is all very well and good, but it don’t come for free, not because people can’t be bothered, but because they can’t afford to.

BEDiD 16: Chinese Democracy

2010-12-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

Finally! I'm online again. Not even half way through my BEDiD project and a Chinese person just HAS to get awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, BBC is blocked, my VPN is blocked and chances of managing to actually Blog Every Day in December are thwarted. Damn you Liu Xiaobo!

Throughout British media and Western media in general, there was a common theme through most of the commentary of the award, 'this is the start of the beginning,' that the awarding of this prize is that start of the democratic train that will ride through the Red East. I'm sorry to burst the bubble of The Guardian's China column, but democracy as we know it in the west is far from heading anywhere near China's direction.

On a side note; don't you think it's quite ironic that the most left leaning paper we have in the West is probably the most anti-Chinese one?

The problem with the West's desire for China to become democratic is simple, but quite large; the average person on the street does not want it.

When you speak to Chinese they will say that yes, they want a freer press, uncensored internet (the fact they can't get on Facebook, especially for those who have been abroad is a particular soft spot) and an end to corruption, but democracy is very often not on the list.

Even in the Tian'anmen Square protests of 1989, when scores of young students descended on the largest public square in the world, the protests were mainly for an improvement in student teaching conditions and less corruption. Western media decided, however, to focus on the minority that were asking for democratisation.

The fact is, and I think I tend to agree with this, democracy in China would not work. The country is too vast, has too many problems (including poverty and workers' rights) and would probably end up breaking up in the event of democratization. China would not have enjoyed the vast economic development it has had in the past 20 years if it had had to endure a change of government every 5 years. It would thus not have lifted the millions of people out of poverty that it has. Communism in China, though it had a shaky start, has ultimately done a lot of good for the country.

We should also remember that, though the Nobel Peace Prize is invariably given to fantastic and deserving people, which person is chosen is very often politically motivated. Obama last year, selected after a laughably short time in office, is a good example, "Oh, you're not George Bush any more, here, have a medal!"

It does annoy me sometimes when Western media goes on about how Chinese democracy is only a couple of decades away when they have never lived here or bothered to talk to the people who make up with vast land. It also annoys me when I can't write my blog. So basically, I'm ticked off at both sides right now.

BEDiD 9: My Reading Teacher

2010-12-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

This is a strange time of year in Nanjing. Everyone is getting ready for exams, the majority are gearing up for going home for Christmas where those of us who are going to be left over are frantically trying to figure out who else is staying and what the hell we are going to do in a city where there is only one Christmas tree.

The teachers start to get all funny too. This is a much shorter semester than usual for them, they would usually be teaching until new years if they were teaching Chinese students, and some of them misjudging the amounts of classes they had to do, adding or taking away a class or two just before the exams.

Those that decide to cut the classes short fill up the spare time with whatever they can think of, films, class discussions, in class karaoke sessions or, like my reading teacher the other day, long anecdotes about their lives.

Our class had an hour long of what felt like an outpour, as if she had wanted to tell people about her life for such a long time. She told us about her studies, how she got into her job, but one of the most shocking things she told us was that, even though she is a Chinese language teacher, she hates reading.

She said it had never been something fun for her, it was always something she had felt she had had to do so as to get to the next level, the Gaokao exam at the end of high school, her bachelors exams, then her masters. And she said she didn't like it, that the job she was doing wasn't the one she really wanted, even though she did describe it as, "还可以，" which essentially means 'not bad'.

She went on to say she thought we must be really hard working and love to study because western students are here by choice, not because they have been pushed into it. She said we were very lucky, and we are.

I teach a kid who is 10 years of age and never has an evening off. He does karate, piano, English and extra maths classes every night of the week. Is this because he wants to and is interested in it? No, he does it because that is what he and his parents feel he should have to do to get a foot up int he world.

It puts into perspective some figures that put Shanghai schools as the best in the world, with Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea hot on their tails.

Yes, these kids are excelling in reading, writing and science, but how many of them are having their learning experiences ruined by society demanding so much of them. Without the freedom that so many of us take for granted in the West to have your own interests and follow your own ambitions, how many of them will end up like my reading teacher?

There is a very important vote in parliament today. It will pass. It is wrong. There will be riots.

BEDiD 8: Ecuadorian Amazon

2010-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a long day today. Had some iffy family news and was revising for exams all day. Was productive, but didn't have a lot of time to consider a blog, so today will be a bit of a cop out.

I want to link you to a story where the Ecuadorian government has managed to get the international community to compensate them for laying aside oil field located in the amazon rainforest. They have asked for what they estimate to be half the yearly profits per anum if they were to capitalise on the oil fields US$3.6billion. Germany, Spain, France, Sweden and Switzerland, are some countries that have stepped forward to provide the compensation. The plan has two main benefits; leaving the oil for future generations and protecting ons of the most intact parts of the Amazon in Ecuador. In principle it sounds like a fantastic idea, but do you think it is a practice that will catch on in other regions? Have a read here and feel free to tell me your thoughts.

Proper blogs coming soon, but you know I enjoy hearing your thoughts.

BEDiD 7: Wikileaks

2010-12-07T02:24:00.000-08:00

So I said I would talk about Wikileaks and so I will. I would like for you to start with this

I am usually not the biggest fan of Dan Brown, but his video on this is actually very well thought out and, quite rightly, focuses on the serious consequences of the Wikileaks fiasco rather than the fact Prince Andrew hates the French. Dan raises a good point that Wikileaks, as a media organisation in a democracy, has the right to release these documents. However, the serious question behind the comments of British paranoia about the 'special relationship' and the fact that Kim Jong-il likes a drink, is whether people's lives have been put as risk.

Not only soldiers on the front line, but under-cover spies, activists and journalists could all have their jobs and lives put in jeopardy. At least that is what the argument insists.

We can, however, draw a comparison, because Wikileaks were kind enough to release US defence department data at the end of last summer. It has been reported in various publications and stated by several politicians that no deaths on the field are yet to have been linked directly to the exposure of sensitive data through the website on that occasion.

In fact, the USA has a long and colourful history of releases of sensitive information; from the release of sensitive documents on the Vietnam War released by the New York Times in 1971 to pictures of prison camps in Iraq in 2004, (The UK has also been rocked by similar pictorial releases in the past).

So does the US administration have the right to be angry, of course it does, they have massively lost face. Some of the scandals are down right embarrassing for all parties, albeit a wonderful reminder that even those in the top jobs are still only human and like to have a gossip about each other.

I do not think anything overtly world changing will come from the release of these documents. Governments and diplomats know that they are going to be talked about, sometimes ungraciously, behind their backs, and no-one can afford to make a fuss about things the bully in the school yard said when they weren't listening.

History speaks for itself, showing the chances of massive losses of life on the field as a result of these leaks are low.

So, what do you think about it?

BEDiD 6: Productive Procrastination?

2010-12-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

Revision is the bane of my existence. Well, not so much revision, but the whole exam period in general. Without nudging and competition I very often find any excuse not to work. A plus side, however, is that I become very productive on other things. I've spent the last four hours boxing, reading blogs, researching universities and doing travel research. I am now getting ready for bed, but of course, tomorrow I will be much more productive in the way of learning things that will help me scrape through my exams.

I will blog about something more interesting tomorrow, I promise, but in the mean time check out this radio series I found on the BBC, Climate Connection, talking about climate change and what we can do to solve it. I'd like to draw your attention to this particular episode, there is a very interesting section talking about how religion and climate change are linked, as well as this interesting interview with a Kenyan farmer. Do let me know what you think.

Sorry today's blog is so short. Despite my procrastination in the last few hours it has been a long day, my brain is slightly fizzled. Night night.

BEDiD 5: The Future

2010-12-05T03:41:00.000-08:00

I must apologise to any musicians out there for my post yesterday. I had no idea that Spotify was such a shit deal! I had my views put right by Dave from Blue Skies and my guilt about not being able to afford real music is freshly restored. In retrospect, everyone buy physical or from iTunes, Dave linked a pretty chart in the comments yesterday that explains the best way to benefit the artist quite well.

This blog is as much for me as it is for you, it's a nice place to put down my thoughts and look back at them later (I have been doing it with a couple of my blog posts from years back, it's interesting to see how terrible my spelling is without Chrome auto-checking). I have been thinking a lot about my future recently, what I am going to do after I graduate in summer 2012, and what the hell I am going to do with my life.

I, like a lot of people, change my mind a lot about what I want to do. Things like teaching and politics interest me, but they are things I might want to go into when I want to settle down in one place, I'm not ready to do that yet. In terms of teaching, I know I can do that and that I am good at it, it is always something I can fall back on. I also went through a phase of wanting to go into some kind of journalism, but I have had quite a few brushes with the industry that I haven't liked. I don't like the mentality of the industry and, no offence if you work in that sector, but I think journalism has a lot of less than nice people in it. I don't want to have to work with or for dickheads for the rest of my life. I don't take bullshit very well (excuse my French). YouTube and the online thing is always something fun that I would want to do, but let's be honest, I'm no Buck or Charlie. I'm not going to be able to make a living out of it. I do know it is a hobby I will always want to dip in and out of though.

At the moment I am weighing up two sectors that I might want to go into. Both require me to go on to further my education.

I have been toying with maybe doing a law conversion course and doing that. I think I would be good at it and it is something that will challenge me and make me feel like I am making a difference. I would want to go into something like human rights, international treaty or environmental law. All are incredibly competitive and the kind of thing most people who start out in law want to do. It is also a lot more study before I go into the real world. Between five to seven years before I head out into the real world. Downsides; I don't know if I am comfortable spending so much more time in school and spending that much more money on my education. I also worry about the fact the profession involves an awful lot of reading. I'm not severely dyslexic (I can at least spell it) but I do struggle reading and summarising long texts, especially ones with lots of terminology. I'm not sure if I would be up to the amount of intensive reading that the studying and profession would require.

Number two on the table is doing a masters in something to do with Environmental Management. This is something that seems really suited to me; very hands on, makes me feel like I'm doing something worth while, I'm interested in the field etc. The problem is that my degree program at the moment is Chinese and Spanish, not really very related to a science based course. I could have trouble finding a course that will take me. They usually want something like biological sciences or geography for a course like that.

For both these options I would want to come back to Asia to study. If I can't get a scholarship to go anywhere it would involve getting out a pretty hefty loan but I am pretty sure that my immediate future is going to be here. I am not ready to settle down in the UK just yet. I have been looking at both University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as the National University of Singapore.

If anyone could give me any pointers then feel free. The problem with both law and environment is that I don't know many people in those fields. I really need some advice from people who have been there and done it rather than just reading course bios and blogs about them. Also, any advice about good Universities in Asia would be greatly appreciated.

On a lighter note...

The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 1.

People mountain people sea.

Chinese Root/ 人山人海 Rénshānrénhǎi

Meaning/ Literally "people mountain people sea", meaning "crowded", "packed"

Use/
Mary: Did you register for the Environmental Management course at NUS yesterday? There were loads of people, right?

Da pi: Yeah, it was really people mountain people sea!

NOTE: This is another one that Chinese like to use. Some Chinese people are so determined to prove that Chinese is also influencing English language, some teachers tell their students that not only "long time no see" comes from a translation of Chinese （好久不见 when translated literally does mean that, pretty sure it's just coincidence though) but that English speakers also go around saying that places are "people mountain people sea." We obviously don't, but it's fun to say.

BEDiD 4: China Friendly Media Consumption

2010-12-04T04:24:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one today. Have been out all day and am full of an expensive yet disappointingly average buffet. I was going to have a quick chat about the Wikileaks scandal, specifically the 'paranoia' of the British government towards our special relationship with America, I will save that for another day, some time in the next day or so.

In the mean time, I thought I would link you to some places on the Internet that I frequent a lot, and touch briefly on (ooh, split infinitive, controversial) why I like them. You see, Internet where I live has become temperamental, and accessing things like Youtube and other video sharingsights with a VPN has become mortifyingly tedious due to the necessity of using a VPN to jump over the infamous Great Fire Wall of China.

On a side note, I don't know why I even bothered to mention "other video sharing websites". I almost exclusively use the choob.

So, without further ado, here is Jazza's (ever so tiny）guide to China friendly media consumption:

BBC Radio 4
Oh BBC, oh Radio 4. How I love thee both with reckless abandon. Yes, I appreciate it is not socially acceptable to enjoy this station until you have at least got your first mortgage, but it is the best spoken word broadcaster in the world and good golly I love it. My regulars include Newshour in the morning as I get ready for University, an edition of Book at Bedtime or Any Questions? as I do my work in the afternoon, and then some comedy, either Just a Minute, News Quiz or The Now Show. Radio 4 is my life blood, I am not ashamed to say this.

TED
TED is a fantastic institution. It shares talks given by some of the world's greatest minds for free on the Internet. Some personal favorites of mine are Pranev Mistry about the innovation of a sixth sense device, Simon Sinek on how to be a great innovator and leader and Ngosi Okonjo-Iweala on how to approach aid and trade in Africa.

Spotify
Okay, it isn't really a website, but I think this is one of the most revolutionary ways to consume music to come about in the last few years. Your own personal radio, adverts are played every 5 songs or so and the artist gets paid as a result from the ad revenue. It also has a section at the top that has related artists to the one you are listening to. This way, I have gotten to know so many more artists than I would have otherwise done, and all legally and with benefit to the artist. I have never liked downloading for free. I'm sorry, it is stealing. This way I can listen to the music I enjoy and support the artist. I use it so much I never even bothered to reinstall iTunes when my computer crashed. Downside; it is only available in select countries. Find out if you can download it, and if you can, do so.

couchsurfing.org
Okay, not so much media consumption, but a website I use a lot. As Spotify revolutionised my music consumption, couchsurfing revolutionised the way I travel. A friend of mine and I were travelling Japan earlier this year and were trying to keep prices down by not staying in too many hostels. I had a friend in Tokyo but nowhere else to stay when we traveled to other parts of the country. My friend had heard of couchsurfing and we used it once in Kyoto and once in Kobe and had two fantastic experiences. The premise is that you create a profile, get people you know who already use the site to verify that you are sane and then you can ask to stay on other people's 'couches' (sometimes bed, sometimes floor) as you travel. It's completely free, it is just asked that you are decent. If you end up not being decent someone will leave a bad review and the chances of you being accepted again will decrease. It's a fantastic way to travel and get to know a place from a local. There are often local events, I have one in Nanjing that I try and attend every Friday night, and it is a good way to meet interesting, like-minded people if you move to a new city; I used it in Madrid when I lived there this summer to both find a flat and find some people to hang out with. I recommend it whole heartedly. And if you're ever travelling round China and fancy popping into Nanjing, my username is JazzaJohn.

The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 1.

Tingbers

Chinese Root/ 听不懂 Tīng bù dǒng

Meaning/ I don't understand

Use/
Mary: 你想闻我的狗的屁吗？

Da pi: Sorry love, tingbers.

BEDiD 3: The Fear in Their Eyes

2010-12-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

There is something quite magical about travelling in China. No, it's not the stunning views that fly past as you steam along on the fastest commercial train in the world. No, it's not the array of historic and modern sights that greet you in cities across the country. It is the fear in the eyes of a fully grown businessman in Shanghai as he barges past the queue, launches himself into the carriage and positively dives for the nearest vacant seat, only then to suddenly become engrossed with something on his iPhone as an elderly lady with a hunchback and cane stands near him.

I love China, I adore the Chinese, but something about travel brings out the worst in these people. Getting on an off any kind of long haul transportation, be it train, bus or plane, is like a scene out of War of the Worlds. It is every man for himself, no matter whether you have a reserved seat or not, you MUST be the first person to board and get in your seat so you can sit there, smugly surveying the other, lesser passengers as they follow behind you.

The Chinese are not Japan or Korea; countries that politely queue as they wait for the subway, and that will scowl at you for talking on your mobile on the commute into work. A lot of the social structure and levels of respect that still reign true for their Eastern neighbours were stripped away during the cultural revolution. The Chinese will spit in the street, yell down the phone on the bus and barge you out of the way boarding the subway quite happily, and when you gently remind them of the social norms adhered to throughout the rest of the world, "There is a queue you know." They will do little more than say, "Oh," look back at the people they just jostled past with a huge grin, and then stand as still as a rock, facing forward, as if we will not notice them if they stop moving.

Okay, I appreciate this is not a purely Chinese phenomenon, these dog farts exist throughout the world, it is just a high proportion of those dog farts live here. And it is definitely not the minority who thunder towards the still moving bus like a tsunami as it pulls into its stop.

I am British. I am appalled when the world's most democratic symbol, the queue, is thrown out of the window.

So if you ever come here, just consider yourself warned, travel with a crash helmet and a bucket full of patience.

The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 1.

Dangers

Chinese Root/ 当然， Dāngrán

Meaning/ "Of course", "Obviously"

Use/
Mary: If someone pushed in front of me in the queue for the subway, would you punch his lights out for me?

Da pi: Dangers!

BEDiD 2: Who wins, Fifa decides

2010-12-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

I am writing this post in a cafe to watch the presentations for the host nations of the 2018 Fifa World Cup. I've just watched the Olympic Russian pole vaulter, Yelena Isinbayeva, declare that "actually, I love football!" I've always found something very unconvincing about when people say things like that. The rest of the Russian bid is actually very impressive compared to Belgium/Netherlands who seemed to take the whole thing as a joke, and Spain/Portugal who took the whole thing far too seriously. After the presentations it looks like it's England and Russia fighting it out. I pray to God England get it.

I am not going to pretend it isn't for purely selfish reasons. After the fantastic atmosphere that is going to be the 2014 world cup in Brazil, a true football loving nation, my claim that England provides a country with geniune history with and passion for the game falls flat on its face. It makes sense to go for a Russian bid that will bring the worlds biggest competition to a new part of the world, look at the wonder South Africa performed this year.

The fact we are the hosts of the 2012 Olympic games also tips the scales in favour of a fair result going to Russia. "Share and share alike" my Mum used to say when I played Power Rangers with my brother, the same goes for international sporting events.

There is also a quote from David Beckham that said that we should win the bid because we have the infrastructure and stadiums so that if we wanted to we could host the event next week. This may be true, but the event isn't going to be enxt week, and Russia is investing a huge amount in stadias and infrastructure. Ticket holders get free visas and ground travel between venues.

And lets be honest, the Tube really needs a revamp and our trains are always delayed by mushy leaves on the line.

One thing England can be proud of though, someone has taught Mr. Beckham to talk! He was quite eloquent in his presentation. Bravo.

So when I think about it, bugger it, we don't deserve it more than the Russians. But Fifa, please, for purely my own selfish, nationalistic reasons, please let the place of my birth host the world cup. It gives me an excuse to cry in public and climb on buildings in celebration.

POST RESULT EDIT:

Well, we lost. No doubt in my mind, England for 2018 and Australia for 2022 were the best contenders, but from the countries that Fifa has chosen it seems clear they want to promote the game in new regions and take football into new frontiers. This is important if football is to truly be considered a sport that brings together the world like no other. The world cup has been the glory of a very elite few countries, it is important that others are included.

Both Qatar and Russia will have a lot to loose if they bugger this up, the world will be relying on them. Let's hope they deliver.

I'm now going to try and forget we ever entered with a bowl of porridge, cup of Chinese medicine and some Radio 4.

In the mean time...

The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 2.

"Oh my Lady Gaga!"

Root/ Following Gaga's rise to deity on the Asian continent, Chinese youth have replaced the Lord's name with that of our new figure of worship, Lady ride on my disco stick Gaga

Meaning/ "Oh my God", "Oh, my goodness", "Oh golly gosh!"

Use/
Mary: Did you hear that Russia are hosting the 2018 World Cup over England?

Da pi: Oh my Lady Gaga! I have links with the Mafia, I'm well in there with free tickets!

Notes: No joke, you will genuinely hear Chinese kids on the street saying this.

BEDiD 1: Blog Every Day in December

2010-12-01T01:43:00.000-08:00

Well, hasn't it been a long time?

Believe me when I say I have missed you, the Internet, the videos, the blogs, the comments, the scathing hate, the unadulterated praise, the healthy banter, all of it. And as a result of me missing it (especially in recent months) I have decided, not on a storming comeback, but on a steady drip, drip, drip back into the virtual world of the Interwebz. This little mini-project, Blog Every Day in December (BEDiD, as I shall now name it) is the first step in getting me back on the proverbial wagon.

See, I feel all excited already, I have a 'project'! It's like I'm Dan 3.0... just without Revision 3 or the plethora of fans.

December, I hope, is going to be a particularly interesting month for me. I shall be finishing my third semester here at Nanjing University, having a Chinese Christmas and going travelling at the end of the month. I also hope to be set to return to YouTube in the new year (fingers crossed), so I should have plenty to talk about.

If, however, you would like me to talk about anything in particular (just like the good old days, ah, remember when I made videos and we talked? Good times) then send me an email to rhymingwithoranges@gmail.com.

At the end of each post I will have a lighthearted little entry in what I hope to soon become The Great Book of Chinglish, comprising of words that friends of mine and I have come accustomed to using when we live in China, but when used amongst non-Chinese speaking friends, are generally greeted with confusion.

The Great Book of Chinglish, Entry 1.

Buzh - [booj/ booge]

Chinese Root/ 不知道， bù zhīdào

Meaning/ "I don't know"

Use/
Mary: Would you agree with Mao's declaration that capitalism is all dogs' farts?

Da pi: Buzh, I never read that red book thing, I went to the shops and all they had was the French version...

"I Love British Culture"

2010-09-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

If I am frank, I am not Katy Perry's greatest fan. In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine today she likens herself to Christian rockers who are, "doing it because it is their ministry," singing to tell stories and, "change people's lives." I'm not sure whose lives, other than those of teenage boys, have been changed by candy floss erupting from her bosom or her proclamation of kissing girls and liking it. I don't think her 'teachings' can be compared to the word of God. I am not going to pretend to be religious, but I at least appreciate that Christian rockers probably practice what they preach by going to church and stuff, not once in that whole video did I see Ms. Perry even French-kiss another girl.

For the record, I quite liked Hot 'n' Cold.

For those of you that don't know, Perry is dating and will apparently soon marry the British comedian and actor, Russell Brand. During the for-mentioned interview, when talking about her love of the eccentricities that hail from our little isles she says, “I love British culture.” But, Ms. Perry, do tell us what it is about our people that you enjoy so very much, “... it [Britain] continues to hold onto its manners, people still seem to give a shit about social status and it seems like they really don't want to be embarrassed.” She then adds as an afterthought, “I mean, English girls are sometimes the dirtiest girls. I only know that because my boyfriend has had a few... interactions.”

Okay, so she got the last bit right, but I find it very hard to identify with the other three for the following reasons; my family at dinner time, the fact Nikki from Big Brother is probably more popular than Camilla Parker Bowles and the extent of sillyness that surrounds every Red Nose Day.

It is, of course, not Katy's fault. The view she has of my country is that of the very traditional, stiff-upper-lipped Britain of about sixty years ago, and a view that many across the world still hold. Often, when foreigners discover my nationality (usually as soon as I open my mouth), coos of, 'English gentleman', 'top hats' and 'tea' fill my ears. Granted, I drink an awful lot of tea, but I believe the traditional English gentleman is well and truly dead.

I don't think this is sad, I just think our culture has changed somewhat since the 1950s, but we have not managed to convey that to the rest of the world. Also I think we are still struggling to decide what British culture is for ourselves; curry or fish and chips, Glastonbury or Notting Hill, London or the North. It is a topic that reappears every now and again in the media, I have even touched, and lamented about our lack of ability to pin it down in the past. But no more.

I particularly like Britishness because it is not defined by a sushi roll, an Eiffel tower or a national dream. For me now, Britishness includes our liberal attitude towards lifestyle, politics and opinions. Our wide range of national papers are a testament to this. We create some of the best music and art in the Western world, coupled with some of the greatest educational institutions on the planet. We have a killer sense of humour, I know no other group of people who is so ready to make a fool of themselves for a laugh. I can't think of many nationalities that will sit on a surfboard in the freezing cold, pouring rain and then describe the situation as beautiful.

What is it that you think makes us British? Whether you are foreign or not, I would be curious to know.

The above may seem a bit jumbled. Maybe I am just feeling rather patriotic because I am back home for the last time until I come back from China next summer... again. Katy Perry just ticked me off a little, that's all.

Jack Perry

2010-08-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Madrid to take part in the internship that I subsequently quit to go volunteer on a farm, I was put up by a friend of my fathers who works at the British embassy.

Saying that makes me sound a lot better connected than I actually am.

During the few days I stayed with her in her apartment we had a couple of evenings chatting over a late-night cup-o-tea. It turned out we had one massive thing in common; China.

It turned out her Grandfather, Jack Perry, was one of the pioneers of British-Chinese trade after the Second World War. It was by no means made easy for him; there were American lead embargos and boycotts, hostility from HongKongese companies that saw themselves as the bridge between Britain and China as well as general wariness of anyone willing to do business with the Commies. You can read a bio of this fantastic man on the China-British Business Council website here.

It just so happens that he wrote a book, which I have just finished reading, and is one of the most refreshing accounts of 20th century China I have ever read. Despite coming from a business background he does not address solely this area. He muses about the philosphy of the country and tells many great stories; from his first ever long train ride from the South to the North of the country, to the time his wife had a chat with Che Guevara.

He is very pro-Chinese, occasionally to the point of excess (he scoots over the horrors of the cultural revolution and practically defends Tian'anmen Square and blames it on America), but his approach to Chinese socialism is a breath of fresh air when compared to the constant barrage of criticism made on the country by modern, Western, mainstream media.

I am pretty sure his book, From Brick Lane to the Forbidden City, is out of print and practically impossible to find, but I wanted to write this blog about it to urge you to search out alternative points of view on the country that seems to have come to dominate my life. I am not one to defend some of the stuff that happened in the cultural revolution, Tian'anmen Square, the Uighur riots of last year or those in Tibet in 2008, but by reading accounts that are able to defend them, my own view of the country becomes more rounded and balanced.

For the love of God, don't judge the country on the Guardian.co.uk China collumn.

Even if you seek out and read what you know is controlled propoganda, at least then you can understand the intentions of what is soon going to be the most powerful nation on Earth.

And of course, if you are ever fortunate enough to come across Jack's book, don't hesitate to pick it up.

Post SitC Woofing

2010-08-12T13:32:00.001-07:00

First things first, watch this. It's a fantastic summary video of Summer in the City 2010 by CasioClark. I appear in it a couple of times, waving my hands about and shouting... which is pretty standard for me at SitC events.

SitC this year was especially important for me, because it was the first time I have seen my virtual friends since last summer, and it's also the last time I will see them until next years event. Lots of long hugs were had and I'm gutted for all the people who couldn't come; NSG, whataboutadam, MissYau etc. But it was exactly what I needed in the middle of this long hot summer... and it's 95 degrees in the shade...

I am ashamed for quoting Girls Aloud. Apologies.

So, I've been in Madrid for the past six weeks or so. I've kinda kept that under my belt. Unintentionally of course. I have to do at least 8 weeks here as part of my Uni course, so was here on an internship with an media company. I won't go into details, wouldn't be professional and all that, but due to the circumstances in which I was working and a dodgy relationship with the boss I decided to quit. So for the past week and a half or so I have been jobless, trying desperately to find something to do with my time. I tried charities, other internships, but no one seemed to be hiring or looking for help. To be fair, it's also Madrid in at the beginning of August, half the businesses close down for the holidays.

I have ended up settling on wwoofing my last couple of weeks here. Wwoofing (Willing workers on organic farms) is an organisation based around a website where willing workers (volunteers) work on organic farms... funnily enough. You get put up and looked after in exchange for doing various jobs around the farm. I have wanted to do this for ages. It was an option when I was touring Japan, and I was thinking of doing it around New Zealand next summer after I finish my second year in China. But I had a good friend from Uni doing it so I thought I would join her, so in a couple of hours I will be on a bus bound for Barcelona, arrive there in the morning, and hopefully be on the farm by tomorrow afternoon or early evening.

One annoying thing was that I went food shopping only a couple of days ago. This was all very last minute by the way. And so I have been eating like a pig so I don't get rotting vegetables in my cupboard when I get back. Not that it has mattered that much, loads of my carrots, my lettuce and all my pork chops went off prematurely over the last couple of days. I was very annoyed.

On another note, I haven't mentioned the house that I'm staying in! It's wonderful. It's all a bit touch and go because not all the people are here because it's summer, and people have been arriving and leaving as the rooms switch over, but it's full of young people from all over Europe. A good few of them are artists, and all very friendly. It's very similar to L'Auberge Espagnole if anyone has ever seen it, just in Madrid, not Barcelona.

I wish I had a camera so I could show photos of my time here. When I have money I will be sure to invest.

I will update when I have things to update. I'm not taking my laptop to Catalunya because I think some time offline will do me good. Which may seem ironic to those of you who are still waiting on new RWO videos. I still haven't managed to sort out the technological difficulties on that front. Sorry.

In the mean time, a photo from SitC

Ciao

杰

SitC

2010-08-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that I am one of the organisers for the largest YouTube gathering in Europe, Summer in the City, which will be taking place next weekend between the 6th and 8th of August.

One of my bigger jobs is that of editor of the SitC Publication, which is a guide/ magazine/ souvenir for the weekend with articles, information and pretty pictures. If all goes smoothly there will be a publication this year as well (touch wood) for which I have the great privilage of writing the forward. I thought I would give you all a little teaser of the publication by posting part of my forward here. Enjoy, and I will see you next weekend.

Nearly a year has gone by and my, look how we’ve grown. In twelve short months our little community has changed so much that some may even question the relevance of a gathering like Summer in the City for a community that is constantly morphing and changing.

For those of us that have been here for a while, YouTube has in many cases either had to take a back seat as our ‘real’ lives develop, or has grown to become our livelihoods and careers. I myself have spent the last year in China, so my life online has had to take a back seat. I have become somewhat detached from the core of the site; I’m not sure who everyone is watching, what companies have been cosying up to us lately and I have no idea where all the stars have gone. However, I have deliberately planned my summer so that I will be in London for this gathering, why?

At the beginning gatherings, I’m thinking back to 2007, were a way to geek out with people who had the same interests as you, with whom you shared hobbies, ambitions and idols. As time went on these people became not just our YouTube friends, but some of the most important people in our lives; our flatmates, our boyfriends and girlfriends, our support network for when we broke up with these boyfriends and girlfriends.

This process begins at every single YouTube meet-up. Whenever it is someone’s first gathering, they are meeting people that may become long standing features of their world. YouTube attracts a certain kind of person; we’re all a bit too nerdy for our own good, we all like meeting new people and we all like to show off a bit. No matter how much YouTube changes, no matter how commercial it will or will not become, whether you call them a Pogotribe, Nerdfighters or just plain YouTubers, this kind of person will still be coming to these kinds of meet-ups. For the foreseeable future, I will still be coming to these meet-ups, whether my channel lays neglected or not, because the people you meet at YouTube gatherings are often some of the most quirky, fascinating and loyal people you will ever meet.

Explanation...

2010-07-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

You all deserve an explanation for my absence. I feel terrible about it, and trust me, it isn't by choice. I have missed blogging and making videos, but crappy circumstances have been the bane of my existence.

This is going to be long winded and not very interesting. For those of you uninterested, I will try blogging more often on here in the coming months.

I was planning on taking a break after the election videos anyway. I had exams coming up and needed to knuckle down, try and pass a few of them, etc. But when I was making my last video for that series the problems started, hence why Adam stood in for me.

I had filmed my video, in fact it is still on my camera, but editing software and this good for nothing computer decided to start being incompatible with my camera footage for the first time in over three years. I don't understand different types of video or file sizes and stuff very much, but I know that in order for me to be able to edit my videos in Windows Movie Maker, which I have used my whole time on YouTube, I had to pass the whole file through the software to make the file smaller before I cane edit it without pauses at each cut. For whatever reason, when I try and pass the original file from the camera through WMM now, it cuts out half way through. Ergo, nothing to edit.

So I left that for a few weeks, focusing on Chinese and graduating for a while and not worrying about it, thinking it was a one time thing. But then when I started trying to do some things for JazzainChina, the same thing happened. WMM, the simplest but what, for me, had been so reliable to me, had decided to pack in. I even tried downloading newer and older versions of the software. No luck, same problem.

A friend of mine in China is a film major and helped me install a version of Adobe Premier Pro CS4. To be honest, I have no idea how to use it properly, even after a crash course with Paul over last weekend. I have the same problem. Even when I render everything, I get a pause at every cut, or the video freezes as the audio continues.

So yeah, this is why I haven't been around at all. And sorry for my general absence from the internet. I want to be back.

If anyone has any advice, please let me know in the comments or send me an email at rhymingwithoranges@gmail.com

杰

Korean Revision

2010-06-14T02:56:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from the Internet for a while. For this I should probably apologise. I would like to think that it was a conscious decision to focus more on my studying in the run up to the exam period, but now I look back I do feel I have to ask myself if I have pulled my finger out and got work done.

I was in South Korea with Adam for the past ten days. It was impulse buying in its most spectacular form. I was talking to Adam on Skype, he was talking about going to Korea, I decided I fancied a holiday, I had just received my student loan, so five minutes later I was booked on a plane to Seoul. I then soon realised this holiday was the week before my exams started, but you know what? Bugger it, I had an awesome time.

I was a good boy in Korea though. More or less every d

ay we found Adam a department store to go and wonder round for an hour or two so I could sit in a cafe and work my way through my HSK vocabulary. Here is proof.

Korea was just what I needed though, even if it did stifle my productivity a little. I had a nice step back and China feels fresh again, I missed greasy food and soup noodles.

I go home two weeks today. There will be a wedding, hopefully some gatherings and some meetings, then I am off to Spain for work experience. This end stretch is passing far too quickly.

I'm now off to have some sangria with a Japanese friend of mine who is going home. Tata!

Our Obama

2010-05-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

I’m ever so excited.

After a few days of intense negotiations, resignations and compromises The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a new Prime Minister and its first coalition government since World War Two. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats enter into a full coalition, with Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and four other cabinet posts to sweeten the deal. This is the first time in generations that the Lib Dems, or their predecessors the Liberals, have held power in cabinet. This is an exciting time for them.

Labour are defeated, but will live to fight another day. There was talk before the election that humiliation at the polls would break the party up, it’s funny how much can change in a week. Gordon stepped down as leader, Harriet Harman temporarily stepping into his shoes whilst the party decides on who will face Cameron as leader of the opposition in the next five years.

On a separate note, Harriet Harman has mentioned that she herself will not stand in the Labour leadership race. I think this is a great shame. She is a woman with character and balls, she is not scared to call herself a feminist and regularly out-shone Gordon when she stood in for him at Prime Minister’s Questions. If she maintains the stance that she does not want to run, it will be a great shame.

This is essentially going to be a time for Labour to dust themselves off, straighten their ties and go into effective opposition. I think after three terms they were getting a bit cocky. I’m a great believer in bringing down the powerful a peg or two.

The Liberal Democrats have gotten some stick for this coalition. Lib and Con are on separate sides of the political divide, after years of mudslinging in parliament and the name calling of the election how, are they expected to form an effective government with which they have very little in common ideologically?

A follower of mine on Twitter said that she would no longer be calling herself a Lib Dem supporter, that they had “sold out” to the Tories. I would not agree with this view. The only stable option for a government was this Lib-Con alliance. If they had decided to go with Labour they would have still had to form a minority government, with no majority to pass legislation. I believe this would have been catastrophic for our financial markets, and would not have bared well for our country as the rest of Europe is in turmoil. We needed stability and a government that could govern effectively. This was the only option.

What I find interesting about the Lib Dem’s situation are the cabinet posts being offered, especially that of Clegg’s new role as Deputy PM. What will he do with a job that in the UK has very little power and does little more than stand in for the PM when they are on holiday or abroad?

So the Tories got in. They get to keep their cap on immigration, their plan for “Sweedish style” schools and the renewal of trident. They yield to the Lib Dems a referendum on the voting system (which, if it doesn’t pass, I will be very annoyed about), reducing tax burdens to lower earners and more funding for schools that take on poorer pupils.

I must say, with Cameron’s speech as he entered Number 10, he looked like Prime Minister, he looked ready to govern. He talked of compromise and working together. This is what the British people voted for, he respected that, I respect him for respecting that.

Yesterday the Prime Minister and his deputy held a joint press conference in the garden of Number 10. I am honestly blown away. I could almost say that I am proud of our politicians for reaching compromise, agreeing to work together and respecting the wishes of the British people… almost. This coalition will either sink or swim together. I sincerely hope current amicable relations within the coalition are maintained.

We truly are seeing history in the making. And who’d have thought it would have just involved politicians agreeing to disagree and trying their best to get along? This is democracy, this is our Obama… just without a black man.

Nail Gnashing

2010-03-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

I’m currently being a bit of a bad student and am 逃课ing, so I decided to come to the café downstairs and write a blog about nothing in particular; train of thought like.

The weather is beginning to pick up. I was kind of banking on this because my heating has been broken for the past two weeks or so, but I was struggling to find the motivation to get someone to fix it. I have been sleeping in my duffel coat and three pairs of socks and spending as much time as I can in other people’s houses, cafés or at work. The forecast is gradually getting warmer and will reach the dizzy heights of 25-29°C by the weekend. Nanjing changes seasons very rapidly (spring and autumn only last a week or so), so there is little doubt that I will be complaining about sweaty armpits and mosquitoes in no time.

I have finally managed to find myself a tutor I can afford. At 35元/hour he is a bargain and I have my first class with him tomorrow. The classes organised by the university are all very well but there are quite a few people, over twenty I think, and it’s just too easy to get lost in the crowd. I have also managed to get myself a language partner, and the fantastic news is that her English is terrible, so I have to speak Chinese to her. In fact, a few times I have had to force her to speak English to me (when it is her turn to practice). It’s wonderful! So often a language partner will insist on speaking English most of the time, but Mona and I; we work well together. We’re going to the movies soon. I’ll help her through an English movie and she’ll do the same with a Chinese one. This was how I learnt Spanish and French way back when, so hopefully it will work here too.

I’m still trying to find work in Spain during summer. I have some links with a hotel in Marbella, but frankly that is the last place I want to end up. Far too many leather skinned, chiwawa-carrying, liposuctioned Brits there for my liking. I want to go somewhere where there are some actual Spanish people. I am going to get in touch with a couple of people I know in Barcelona (my favourite city on the European mainland) and see if they can have a look around on my behalf for bar work or some kind of temping agency. I will literally take anything. I did apply for work experience at the British embassy in Madrid but never heard back from them. I’ll follow that up, but I am doubtful.

I have been reading up on the Digital Economy Bill recently and am planning on making a video about it. Before I do I am trying to make sure I am as informed as possible so I can lay into it properly. I am a user of an awful lot of the services that are going to be affected, probably negatively, by this bill, and I think it’s really important we are aware of it and debate it openly. I don’t like that Mandelson seems to be trying to rush it through the House of Lord before the election. Expect that video on RWO before the end of the week.

Speaking of videos, I do apologise if anyone is hanging on for more JazzainChina content. I do have lots of footage to upload (including all the Japan footage, which I am considering making yet another new channel for) but have been über busy with classes starting again, trying to find a job and a tutor, and generally living. I will try and upload some soon, but I refuse to make a commitment as to when this will happen.

Just looked back on this blog and decided it needed a picture, or something, so here is a picture of when I went on a bike ride (one that lasted far too long) to see the plumb blossom... blossom. You can see I carried George the Ukulele 2.0 with me too.

In completely unrelated news, I am trying to stop biting my nails. I have managed to reduce the gnashing of my fingertips to a gentle nibble on all fronts apart from on my thumbs, which are still as hacked to dead as they always have been. Baby steps though, eh?

Climbing the Mountain

2010-03-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Can I first say thank you to all the lovely people who either tweeted me about or commented on the last blog post; you’re all lovely and giving me far too much praise that I definitely don’t deserve – but thank you. … Apart from Dave who is, as ever, a sarcastic little git.

I would like to now talk about China, because the Internet has been unfairly left in the dark about this rather large aspect of my life for a while now. JazzainChina is being ever so slightly neglected and I don’t blog on here nearly often enough.

Classes have started again. 8am starts are once again the kryptonite to my Superman, although I am pretty sure I understand an awful lot more than I did last semester, which can only be a good thing. I did have a mild breakdown just after coming back from Japan. The “Oh good God my Chinese is shit” panic attacks seem to be a regular part of life here, but I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never got my knickers in such a twist that I have wanted to quit – it has only made me more determined to climb this bloody huge mountain. Learning Chinese is definitely the hardest challenge I have ever set myself.

After the last mini breakdown I dusted myself off and decided to do something about it. I am now working at a hostel a friend of mine manages. I am her token western barman. The pay is rubbish (the equivalent of £1/hour) and customers are thin on the ground, but I get to practice with my colleagues and it’s a few hours a week where I get to read something behind the bar – whether Chinese related or not.

I have also started meeting up with and spending time with people whose English is really shit, thus forcing me to speak Chinese. The way I have managed to wrangle my way into doing this, is by going on dates. A high point for me was when I had an hour and a half conversation on the topics of Taiwan, tennis, Tottenham Hotspurs and various other things that don’t begin with T. During this time, English was only spoken for about 10 minutes. Granted, a lot of what was said to me went over my head, and I was told that my Chinese was very bad, but this is leaps and bounds from where I was at the beginning of the year. I believe I have the right to be proud of myself. Obviously if I am actually interested in the person I am on a date with I will of course speak in English; speaking like a retarded five year old isn’t hot.

I’ve also started chatting to and hanging out with my flatmate a lot more. We get on very well I think, and it’s a shame we haven’t done this more often.

I’m trying to make more of an effort to talk with the guys who I box with. I have found myself saying 听不懂 a lot less. Today I had a turning point in this department. My teacher told me that I was boxing well. This is kinda a big deal; I have always been the weird skinny 老外 that was paired with either the girl or the fat guy in the class (no offence to fat guys or girls). He then sat me down and asked me if I would tutor one of his friends in English. It’s almost like I got a reward for not sucking. God knows I need the teaching money at the moment as well.

I am also pretty certain that I am going to come back here after summer to do another year. I think I am on track with my Chinese so that Manchester University would be more than happy to take me back, but I am not yet content with my level. This might seem a little radical for some people but here are my reasons. I have a chance of getting a first (the highest grade awarded for a Uni degree in the UK) but it is a very slim chance. I’ve decided that I want to give it a shot, and I don’t stand a chance unless I make my Chinese amazing. I also set the bar very high for myself. I want my Chinese to be at least as good as my Spanish by the time I graduate, at this rate I won’t make it by the end of 2011. I’m applying to defer a year at the moment, and looking into scholarships to fund it.

But all in all, morale in the camp is up. 慢慢来.

Re: Coming Out

2010-03-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend a lovely young man from Northern Ireland by the name of Adam posted this video coming out as gay to his viewers. May I first tip my hat to him for having the balls to do so; coming out to thousands in a YouTube video takes guts. I would also like to express how important I think his decision was not just for his viewers, but for the rest of the community on our lovely little video sharing website.

It is a well known fact that YouTube has never been short of gay men. The glory days of Perez Hilton, GayGod and William Sledd dominating the top positions on the subscription lists are all but a distant memory, and the 5awesomegays and WHATTHEBUCKSHOW still carry the great homosexual baton with pride.

So why am I saying that Adam’s coming out video is so important? If anything, isn’t he a bit late jumping on the wagon? And surely there are already plenty of Gay role models for YouTube viewers to watch and admire, aren’t there?

Michael Buckley and the 5AGays have always been, and will always be, gay centric channels. What Adam’s video has proved, is that you don’t have to make ‘gay’ videos to be gay and make it on YouTube. 5AG and Buck do a wonderful job at representing the community, but if you don’t want to label yourself as a gay channel, or talk about celebrity gossip, there are few places for a Gay viewer to look for inspiration to make videos.

I was talking to a friend of mine about this, and he mentioned that he had never made a “coming out” video because, if he were straight, then he would never think about making a video telling someone that he slept with women, why should it be any different because his preference is men?

He has a point, but then you watch a video like this, posted as a response to Adam’s.

Adam’s decision to go public with his sexuality clearly had a profound impact on this guy. It’s given him the hope that maybe he can do the same as Adam, and come out to his family and friends. It feels weird me saying this, but as people who have put ourselves in the public eye, it is almost our responsibility to tell people about our journeys, so as people treading the same path behind us have a smoother ride, so they know that it’s all going to be okay at the end of it all.

I identify as bisexual. The reason that I have never been public about this is because I have only recently begun using that term to describe myself. I didn’t know whether I was gay for a long time, but eventually it made sense that I did in fact like both, and should use a label to express that.

Everyone who knows me well enough knows about my sexuality and I am incredibly lucky that the worst reaction I have ever had to telling someone has been when the mother of a friend of mine told me that I was ‘greedy’. “Why can’t you just pick one and stick with it!?’ My parents have had to hear me come out to them twice, once as gay, and again telling them that, ‘sorry, but I kinda like girls too.’

Some of you may see this blog as a bit of a cop out. After all, nowhere near as many people read this as watch rhymingwithoranges, or even JazzainChina, but I have my reasons. RWO is now very much a news and debate channel, I haven’t vlogged on that for years, so a coming out video just doesn’t belong there. JiC is a travel blog and, again, the kind of video this requires just wouldn’t belong. This blog is the most personal thing I post on the Internet, this news (if you can call I news) is very personal, so this is where it belongs.

As Adam said, you can be appalled and unfollow/ unsubscribe if you like, that’s your problem, not mine. And as for anyone who is struggling with coming out themselves, or in trying to find a label, don’t rush it – and just know millions upon millions have gone through the same thing you have and came out the other end okay.

All the best.

Jazza

A return from travels

2010-02-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything on this blog for a very long time. This can be put down to both laziness and the fact that I now have a written diary. It's much more personal and theraputic than something as public as this could ever be. Whenever I have the urge to write I write in my little green book, rather than posting on this blog.

I spent the last month or so travelling. First to Harbin and Beijing, and the last three weeks in Japan. I didn't take many photos, mainly video footage, which I plan to start ploughing my way through in the next couple of weeks before class starts again. But here are a couple I did take.

I really need to invest in a camera that has a flash and takes decent photos instead of using the less than perfect photo setting on my video cam.

But anyway, I am back in Nanjing now. We had Chinese New Year the night of the 13th. Fireworks were exploding all around the city to create the atmosphere of a happy war zone. It started snowing just before midnight so the morning of the 14th I woke up to this.

I'm not sure I appreciate the cold but at least it looked pretty.

Well, this blog should probably come to a close. I intend to post more on here. I need to practice writing more. I will leave you with an image of one of the most noteworthy purchases I made in Japan; my giant cuddly pikachu.

Report Cards

2009-12-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

I teach English at the local Normal University. The students are very young, between five and nine years old, which is new for me. I have never taught anyone younger than around 14, and the average age of my students when I was in Manchester was probably around mid-forties.

I haven’t enjoyed teaching children as much as I had always thought. With age and language as a barrier, it become infinitely harder to form any kind of personal relationship with them, to care about their lives, their families etc, which was what I loved about this profession. They aren’t yet fuelled with the passionate hormones of adolescence or the weathered wisdom of old age. They’re like half baked people; they have their own personalities and quirks, which are lovely, but there is nothing past that first layer.

This may make me sound cold and heartless, “children bore me”, and I always thought I would be good with kids; but having to be up-beat all the time whilst somehow trying to explain the present continuous to a five-year-old can be immensely exhausting. I miss the banter and the teasing that can happen when teaching older kids or adults. I have a new-found respect for primary school teachers.

At the end of every lesson I have to write a short comment on the students’ performances. It’s not expected to be in too much depth, it usually reads something like;

“Emily continues to have one of the highest reading levels in the class but still needs to look over grammar regularly. Keep up the good work!” – Mr. John

By the way, the students and parents all refer to me as Mr. John. Jazza provokes pronunciation problems in a variety of languages, and insisting on being called Mr. McMillan-Clenaghan would just be cruel to anyone, let alone five-year-old Chinese children. So we settled with Mr. John.

The parents are expected to read this report and take on any advice that I give them. Few of the parents, however, speak very good English. I thus decided to have a little fun with these report cards – shrouding them in metaphor, idioms and various other poetic devices. Yes, yes, maybe this is the cold, heartless Jazza rearing his head again. But, you know what, bugger it and screw your judgement that I am feeling through the computer screen right now.

Here are some of the reports I have sent home:

“Ringo may have entered into the class late but he is already become a dark horse of the competition. If he bears his current course steadily and is able to soar over the various hurdles that the English language throws at him he will most definitely continue to float my boat and ace whatever test I desire to launch in his direction. Keep up the good work!”

“Anna is like a hawk stalking her prey when it comes to her grasp of the passive voice. She has not quite tasted the sweet flesh of this grammatical structure yet, but so long as she keeps her eyes on the goal, not wavering for a second (be sure to practice for at least an hour a day at home) in no time at all she will soar to great heights. She continues to be one of the best students in the class. Keep up the good work!”

“It is as if Emily has the many arms of an octopus when one considers her amazing ability throughout her language learning. Her grammar is flawless, her pronunciation faultless and she is quite simple lovely to boot. I am confident that the fate of Nemo, getting lost, will not befall her and that she will become queen of the great sea that is the English language. Keep up the good work!”

Reading some of these back, I even struggle to remember what the hell I was going on about.

I would like to stress that I only do these elaborate report cards every so often, generally when I have nothing constructive to say apart from, “Keep up the good work!” I am sure that, when I do write like this, I do it in my most illegible teachers’ scrawl.

I am in Nanjing for Christmas, which is going to be a strange but interesting affair. Maybe I will take some pictures. God knows this blog needs some pictures.

blown up in my birthday suit

2009-12-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

My Sunday morning started rather peculiarly. I was half way through soaping up in the shower when what appeared to be an air-raid siren sounded, rather loudly, across the city. Needless to say I was a little bit taken aback by this phenomenon, never having been in an air-raid before or, in fact, any other kind of situation that has needed an alarm other than a fire drill. I scanned my brain for some useful information; had anyone at work or Uni told me that there would be a city-wide fire-alarm today? Did someone fail to inform me that Nanjing gets earthquakes? Had someone declared war? Had an atomic bomb dropped? Was I going to be blasted to oblivion in my birthday suite and covered in Head and Shoulders?

In the end none of these happened. In 1937 the Japanese invaded the then capital of the Chinese republic, Nanjing. In the following six weeks a slaughter ensued which some estimate left over 300, 000 people dead, tens of thousands of women raped and a city in ruin. This incident is one of the forgotten war crimes of World War II, in the vast majority of the west at least, and was named the Rape of Nanjing. Those sirens that I heard were the same sirens used to warn the citizens of Nanjing of the coming of Japanese bombers during the weeks and months before they finally entered the walls of the city. The event still has resonance in eastern Asia today, especially concerning relations between Japan, who still refuse to accept full responsibility for what happened, and the Chinese. Anyone who is even vaguely interested in this should read the Iris Chang book, The Rape of Nanking (Nanking being the then Romanised name of the city).

On an ever so slightly lighter note, I have exams this week, which is why this blog, as well as JiC and RWO, have been neglected in the past few weeks. My days have consisted of spending hours in what we call ‘the Korean room’ (due to the fact that Koreans are probably the most studious nationality on the face of the planet) and drinking copious amounts of coffee. I had my first one today; God only knows how it went, it was one of those exams where luck plays an important part. I am planning on pulling something close to an all-nighter tonight, or at least until the unholy hours of the morning. I have pretty much sorted out my grammar for reading tomorrow, but vocabulary seems to never find a cosy little corner of my brain in which to nestle, it keeps getting kicked out my random facts about the Pokémon: Johto television series. Damn my wasted youth!

Less has also been written in this blog because I have started a written diary as well, with pages and ink and stuff. It makes me feel really intellectual and has become a major way for me to vent and talk to myself… as if I needed yet another medium in which to indulge my emo tendencies.

I also failed to mention on anywhere other than Twitter that I went to Hong Kong last week with Johnny and Emma. You can read about bits of it here. I had a lovely time, the break that I needed from the squat toilets, constant spitting and lack of Christmas songs on the main-land. Emma also rarely gets up before midday, so I was able to get at least a bit of revision done for this week.

I will let you know how things go… maybe. I have many videos to shoot and edit when I finish if you care.

I am now off to watch some of the weekend’s X-Factor (Stacey should have won) and then start my revision binge. I bid ye good night.

Proficiency Plummeting Profoundly

2009-11-25T05:51:00.000-08:00

I just got my computer back and working after literally DAYS without it. It was horrible. I hope you can empathise. This of course now means that my productivity in anything non-computer based, like reading and generally learning stuff, will plummet profoundly.

I was taken to the technology district of Nanjing to go and try and find out what was wrong with the bloody thing by two of my flatmates. They happen to both be gay and make a wonderful couple. This also apparently seemed to give them licence to, pretty much constantly, compliment me and talk about me. I was told I had a great figure, that my skin was so lovely and white, my eyes so wonderfully blue, t’was lovely to receive such praise… but what the hell can you say to that? Fanx lol!

It turns out the fuse in my plug had blown and run out of battery. Therefore, seeing as the retailer I asked had no new plugs of the British disposition, I had to buy a Chinese lead. I groaned at the prospect, expecting the price to be extortionate, it turned out to be 10RMB, the equivalent of £1. I love China!

I am also overly excited about the fact I now have a Chinese plug on the end of my computer. I feel like a local, no longer burdened by the need of chunky adaptors – so liberating!

A part of me is a little annoyed though. I was all set out for a prolonged laptop-fast. I would have been able to read books, study hard for the exams (which are now less than a month away by the way!) and write in my diary (as in a real book, with pages and inks and stuff – not a website), which I have now started updating properly.

But alas! What do I do as soon as I get the VPN on my computer working again? Twitter, YouTube, Facebook; all typed in and loaded in quick succession. When I have a computer with an Internet connection in front of me it’s like dangling heroin in front of a recovering addict.

I am worried a little about how connected I am to the Internet and therefore the rest f the world here. I suppose I would have to be plonked in the middle of the Sahara to get away from it now-a-days, but then there would inevitably be some catacomb with a WiFi terminal.

How much can I really get involved and immersed in China when I have the BBC and Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance but a click away?

In other news I am a little frustrated with my Chinese right now. I have just got back from boxing, something I am so glad I took up. At the end of the session I was sitting there, all topless and sweaty and the like, when this guy with whom I have spared with in the past, Song, came up to start a conversation.

I understood absolutely nothing apart from the fact he was talking about my membership card. I then tried to steer the conversation towards something closer to my level of understanding, asking him how old he was and what job he did. His age I comprehended with ease (he is 26) but all I got from asking his profession was that its second character was “术” (shu)…

I just looked it up on nciku.com and it turns out he works in technology… I have so many questions now! What kind of technology (技术)? Do you work with computers? If I have problems with my computer, could you possibly pop over, figure out that my laptop has run out of battery and then proceed to laugh at me?

As it stands, I had no idea what “术” meant, so the conversation simply petered out into awkward silence. I think he then mumbled something about needing the toilet – I put some clothes on and then left.

It’s so bloody frustrating! I have quite a good reading level in Chinese, along with my writing, and my listening, despite the complication with Song, isn’t horrific. But I just can’t bloody communicate! This is the first time in my language learning history that my speaking has been so bad in comparison with my other disciplines. Oral has always been my forte!

It is I suppose, so much in this country, very humbling.

On the Nation's Dartboard

2009-11-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

The British media have been going potty this week about The Sun Newspaper’s personal attack on Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

In short; a woman whose son died in Afghanistan received a hand-written letter from Mr. Brown offering his condolences. She, however, notices that her family name is spelt wrong and that the letter is peppered with mistakes. She decides to take this story to The Sun, who recently decided to withdraw their support of the Labour party, and a week-long offensive on Gordon ensues. The tabloid threw various allegations at him; that he didn’t care about troops and that his letter was an insult, as well as claiming an ‘i’ without a dot in it is an offence to anyone who reads it.

All I can say is that it’s a good job I have never had to write a letter of condolence; I haven’t dotted an ‘i’ since year six!

The Prime Minister then called the woman in question to apologise personally. Apparently, a friend of hers suggested that she recorded the conversation and the whole world got to hear her chat with Gordon. Clearly still stricken with grief she laid into him – it was quite frankly gut-retching to listen to.

She has since accepted Mr. Brown’s apology.

From what I can see from my distant perch in China, this story seems to have back-fired on The Sun. They have certainly come in for a lot of criticism from other media giants and I am personally bloody disgusted with their behaviour. It seems clear to me that the paper has capitalised on a poor woman’s grief for their own political agenda and unfairly attacked a man for sincerely trying to offer his support in a personal, hand-penned letter. Brown himself has deteriorating sight, so it is possible he has not read the woman’s name correctly. Someone probably should have also checked his penmanship before it was sent off, but he decided to sit down and write a letter, not run off another pre-typed one and simply sign the bottom of it.

Okay, The Sun have a go at the PM and Gordon looks a little sad again. But I think this attack has other repercussions.

Since the expenses scandal there has been a massive outcry for a new attitude in politics; for a new outlook, for new blood. What young person is going to even consider going into politics when they see national newspapers beating our leaders to a pulp. Of course our representatives in parliament should be subject to criticism on their policies and to a certain extent their personal lives. But the manner in which The Sun quite frankly bullied Gordon this week is enough to dissuade anyone from a life in the political spotlight.

Politics is something I am interested in, I may even decide to make it a career one day, but this story made me second guess. Haters in YouTube video comments are one thing, they’re a piece of piss to deal with. But in politics all you need is one newspaper to decide to rip you to shreds and no matter how pure your intentions you can have the whole country hating you. I believe Gordon is a genuinely nice guy, who went into politics for the right reasons, but he is the most hated leader in a generation.

Who is going to want to get into this profession and make a difference to the political classes, to deliver the reform that is needed, if they are just going to be reduced to a picture on the nation’s dartboard?

"G" words and "N" Words

2009-10-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

Remember in the last post I mentioned the “blacking up” scandal with Vogue? Well I have decided to dust off my notes and talk about it. Premise of the story is quite simply; Dutch model wears black make-up in October’s Vogue Magazine - a lot of people get angry.

A quite similar but at the same time all together different story is that of

the contestants on an Australian TV s

how, Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

Premise being; Jackson 5 tribute act appear on stage with all members apart from Michael Jackson wearing black face makeup and afro wigs – a guest judge (an American) throws a hissy-fit, a lot of people get angry.

I was talking about this with a couple of Australian friends about a week ago. We talked about the fact that there is often a (jovial) stereotype of Australians having a tendency of being a little bit more racist than other nationalities; not in an offensive manner, but similar to the way the British moan about the French.
They mentioned how there just isn’t the same turbulent history in Australia when it comes to race if compared to places like Europe and especially the U.S. They boasted that, with innocent light-heartedness, they could happily bring up someone’s race as a point of humour without anyone being offended. They used words like, “gollywog” as a point of reference.

When I heard gollywog said aloud, I genuinely recoiled back into my chair out of shock. For anyone outside the Commonwealth and is confused as to why this word made me react like this, here is a short explanation courtesy of Wikipedia. Basically, I would never even think out using that word, and would always associate it with the offensive manner with which it was used for such a long time. Thinking about it, I could probably count the number of times I have heard it said aloud on one hand.
The same goes for the “N” word. A word I am apparently so uncomfortable with I can’t bring myself to type it.

All that said, and even considering the strength with which I believe that using terminology like this should be avoided at all costs, part of me greatly envies my Australian friends. Why am I scared of a couple of words? Why can I not just accept difference of race as a fact and be comfortable talking and even making jokes about it? Neither I nor even my parents are directly connected to the history that has tainted those words. The fact I have a problem with them almost seems to insinuate that I myself could still not be over the fact that, yes, some of us are paler than others.
Is Australian society just that much further down the road of recovery than the rest of the word when it comes to getting over that gaping hole in history where your place in the world was determined by the amount of melanin in your skin?

Would the Vogue incident have been as controversial if it were a black model being portrayed as white? I don’t think so. But then the modelling industry has a long history of discrimination of black models, and there was never a “whiting up” equivalent of minstrel shows.

But how long will we, as a global society, let history force us to tip toe around the colour of people’s skin?

If reading this blog made you feel a little bit uncomfortable, then ask yourself why. I have felt prodigiously awkward writing it, and I am finding it very hard to pinpoint the reason.

Finding Something Shiny

2009-10-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is subscribed to this blog will know the sporadic manner with which I update. That said, I do feel I have to apologise. I have had wistful thoughts of being the next Charlie Brooker or Caitlin Moran; my judgemental fingers quivering upon the pulse of the British nation, my opinion that more objective for being in China. Covering stories like the “blacking up” scandal seen in Vogue a week or so ago, the new wave of young sailors taking to the high seas to traverse the world and my generation’s apparent addiction to the Interwebz have genuinely been considered as blog topics.

This happens so often; I have the whole piece virtually written in my head. Then, alas, I find something shiny, like Nick and Norah’s Infinate Playlist streamed on some site, and all hope of writing anything is subsequently lost.

It is a frightfully sad thought, but if I were to be paid for this then I would probably be more motivated. I would sit down in the trendy café, in a manner very similar to my current one, and type away about the wonders of democracy, the struggles of the third world and how much we all hate Jan Moir.

I have, however, yet to receive the traffic or demonstrate the reliability of someone worthy of being paid for something like this. Woe. Is. Me.

I have been thinking about the future a lot. I know! How very un-Buddhist of me; I should be living in the moment and all that, like Jonny Wilkinson, but it’s been fun sort-of-not-really planning my future.

The more I think about it the less I can see myself moving to China and working here after I graduate. From people I have talked to this seems to be the only real option for graduates of Chinese and, quite frankly, I don’t like it.

I don’t know what this says about me, but I think the fact I am so away from YouTube and the “community” when I am here has a big thing to do with it. I feel like I was doing so much with rhymingwithoranges when I was back home: the charity work, Summer in the City, working on lots of different projects, and all of a sudden they have all been put on hold.

I feel like I could still have something of a YouTube franchise here. There are some fantastic video shows here; Sexy Beijing, Danwei, that I feel I could find a niche somewhere. I have been thinking that, when my Chinese gets better, I could start doing interviews with some interesting people here. I already have a couple in mind.

But then, I don’t know, I feel like it would be miniscule in terms of what I could do back home.

Maybe I’m not looking at the big picture enough. Am I really going to be on YouTube for the rest of my life? Am I going to be able to make a living from it? ‘Cuz, let’s be honest, I’m no viral sensation.

Also, if I choose to focus on YouTube I will, inevitably, end up falling into some kind of media. I have always kind of been wary of choosing journalism as my profession. No offence to any journalists who happen to read this blog, but I have always thought that that job tends to be full of talkers, not doers. I want to be a doer, can I be one if I choose this direction? I mean, it’s all very well promoting debate etc etc, but most of the time I feel like I’m preaching to the converted. I don’t want to be a preacher either.

I also have to consider what I am going to do after summer 2011, when I graduate and am set loose into the real world. Should I do a Master’s? If I do, what should I do? Where should I go? It’s a scary proposition.

At this point in the blog I think I would usually be expected to wrap up with some kind of conclusion and evaluate what I have learnt through this train-of-thought journey. But honestly, I‘ve got nothing.

Ooh! V V Brown’s album on Spotify! Shiny.

Accentos

2009-10-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

I have just been pining to write today, so I skipped the second half of my morning lessons today to come back home, strip down to my boxers (it is still quite warm) and type you something.

Last night I, despite having had no more than six hours sleep in the past three days, went out with some of my new multi-cultural pals. Inevitably, as we are all language students, we got onto the topic of language learning and more specifically our accents. I continue to cause a stir with my reserved English tones, constantly contrasted with those of our American friends. A large majority of those on the table, including a Frenchman, one girl from Sweden and one from the Philippines, all said they wished they spoke English with a ‘British’ accent.

I chose to not be my usual, pernickety self and avoided asking which ‘British’ accent they wanted. I would usually run off the absurd number of different forms of annunciation packed into a country not that much bigger than the state of New York; Scouse, Jordi, Cockney, Brum, RP 等等. To be honest it has simply become a way for me to show off a bit, “Look how many accents I can do!” Foreigners don’t need to know my Liverpudlian is in fact probably closer to Irish, and my attempt at Scottish sounds suspiciously similar to French.

I especially turned to the French guy, asked him, “Why?” English sounds wonderful in the thick French accent that tumbles out of his mouth, and after all, why would you want to disguise where you are from? Are you not proud of being French?

I realise in retrospect this was a some-what lame and ridiculous argument. I was clearly just playing devil’s advocate for the sake of it – I blame my tired self. I have a tendency of just go looking for confrontation when I haven’t had my beauty sleep.

Now I think of when I speak my languages. The only one that I speak well enough, in which I can be considered to have anything other than an English accent, is my Spanish: laced with Catalan inflections from years of working there every summer. I am clearly not trying to fit in; ever tried to pass as a Spaniard when you have pale skin, blue eyes and wear nothing but Topman? It rarely works. But the way I speak tells a story; it carries the residue of everyone I have ever spoken to and has evolved because of the very human desire to fit in.

My own English accent has always kind of bothered me, purely because of its schizophrenic nature. Over here I speak a fairly standard form of English, not quite RP but not quite Cockney. It is the accent American will try (oh so hard!) to imitate. I basically have a very androgynous accent when I go abroad, I sound like I am another generic Londoner. This annoys me greatly; I am an Essex Boy and proud.

When I am back home, however, the way I speak wobbles all over the place. My parents are from other sides of the country; my Father from Essex, in the east and my Mother from Bristol, in the west-country. My tongue can never decide which it wants to be; Bristolian or Estuary English. It has always made me question how genuine the way I speak is and have never been sure if I have been subconsciously forcing it (paradox?). I remember times at YouTube gatherings when my accent has been all over the place, because of the mix of people there and their ways of speaking just screw with my brain.

But I guess the way I speak will always change, whether I am at home or abroad. I will flit between the London accent, impossible to place, the country-bumpkin Bristolian or the Essex Boy who greets everyone with, “’Ello sweetheart!” or, “y’aright mate.” Part of me wishes my brain would just make up its mind! But I guess as long as people here continue to tell me my accent is ‘cool’, I suppose I can’t complain.

Jazza
-杰仁

Full of Melodrama

2009-10-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been a long time.

China decided to crush even the smallest hint of internet freedom over the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Communist rule, meaning my apparent internet presence has been reduced to zero. Unfortunately normality was not restored after the celebrations as I had hoped, so alas; my life continues with a gaping wound where Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and BlogSpot used to reside. I have not, however, been as absent as I may seem. I am able to read all comments on both rhymingwithoranges and JazzainChina videos and get any Facebook messages emailed directly to me. So I have been aware of goings on, just unable to join in. It’s almost as if I’m a kid off school because he is sick, able to see the kids playing in the playground from my window but cut off from the outside world…

Now that’s melodrama if I’ve ever seen it. (In retrospect this melodrama continues…)

If I am one hundred per cent honest I am still having a rocky experience in China-land. Over the holiday I got pretty close to a nervous breakdown, was seriously considering dropping out and coming back to England, maybe taking up Japanese Studies instead.

Money has been one of the main burdens. I believe this transition would have been made much easier if my debit card were never stolen. The bank have insisted in sorting everything out through the post, I can’t tell them what to do with my money through email which, to be honest, is probably 100 times easier than China post anyway. I have been lucky in that so many of my friends have offered to lend me money – I am incredibly blessed.

Another issue has been the Chinese language itself. Needless to say, it is a challenging language. I feel like I am on a plateau at the moment and that that plateau isn’t very high up the mountain range at all. It is rare for me to get into any conversation more complicated than, “Where are you from?” “How long have you been studying Chinese?” “Do you like Chinese food?” I appreciate this is a stage one reaches when learning any language, I just haven’t experienced it for a long time. I suppose I got too comfortable being the guy who was good at languages. I suppose it’s good to be out of that comfort zone. Oh, and by the way, I moved back down to the B group of classes, but a higher one than the one before. I am much more content there, it’s for the best.

Finally, and probably most importantly, I have found myself becoming more and more disillusioned with China. I have been questioning why I chose this language, this culture, this people. When we did our cruise down the Yangtze I saw a China I was less than impressed with. Wonderful monasteries and temples turned into garish tourist attractions and ways to make a quick buck. There was one temple that even had a ghost train built into it – not a word of a lie. But the Chinese people seem to lap this up. They will readily buy the tat, take a picture of themselves making a peace sign next to the painting or relic, then move swiftly on as the tour guide tells them through the megaphone about the statue that was erected in 1994. This has probably got a lot to do with the people who we were touring with, I realise that there are swathes of people who love and appreciate their country’s culture; but I begin to fear that they are few and far between.

China is what I am going to make it. If I find myself struggling with the language, I need to find myself a language partner or do volunteer some shifts in the hostel a friend of mine runs. If I am having issues with money I can swallow my pride, take up my friends’ offers, borrow money and pay them back when I can. If I feel disillusioned about the Chinese people, the Chinese culture, then I go out and find the parts of China that I fell in love with in the first place. To be honest I have forgotten why I chose this subject in particular in the first place. I can have fun rediscovering the reason. I am lucky enough to know enough Chinese people that can help me with this – my flatmates for one.

I am a tough cookie, it’s a family trait. I am more than capable of getting through this, making the experience my own and growing because of it. I have various methods of keeping me sane. One is BBCiPlayer. Radio four is my saviour; the home of Women’s hour (don’t judge), The News Quiz, Just a Minute, From Our Own Correspondent and Chain Reaction to name but a few (speaking of which, someone should turn the concept of Chain Reaction into a YouTube channel). Along with various Guardian podcasts they make me feel like my damp country is just outside my room.

Spot has also dragged me up by my garters. Boxing, and soon swimming (oh how I have missed it) are like meditation for me. There is also a triathlon that I am planning on taking part in later this month; I really should start training for that. For me sport is the best way to relax, and maybe even pick up some new vocabulary… however useless in day to day life. 拳套!

I have some awesome friends as well, both here and scattered across the globe who have been quite simply delightful. If you have sent me the smallest message on Facebook, send a pointless email or even said, “Hi” to me on Skype to just be swiftly ignored (I rarely log out so get a lot of missed messages), then thank you.

This post has quite frankly been more for me than you, but kudos if you read all 1000ish words up to this point. Blogging is a wonderful form of therapy and I promise you my experiences here have by no means been as grim as I seem to make out. If you want to see happy, check out http://www.youtube.com/JazzainChina - for some reason I can only ever write when I am angsty.

As ever, thank you for reading. I am now going to listen to desert Island discs with Ellen MacArthur.

Jazza
-杰仁

Editing for Universal Consumption

2009-09-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

I don’t think I am going to talk specifically about China here. If you want updates on my time in China I have set up a YouTube channel here.

I am getting to meet a lot of new people of all different hues whilst I am here. Being in an international department this is, I suppose, to be expected. I am making a conscious decision to try and avoid the British people (there are over twenty students from Sheffield University here and four of us from Manchester,) although I am conscious it is wonderful to have them as a fall back if I ever get sick of being the only Brit in the class. It is one of the hand-full of reasons I decided to move from the middle ranging B group; where all the Brits are, to the more challenging A group. I didn’t come half way across the world to blend in.

It’s wonderful. An Aussie girl and I are often told we have the same accent (really?) and I have been grilled about the Empire and the fact Pakistan was created by me and is therefore my fault; it’s good banter. Mary Poppins’ chimney sweep-like accents also seem to follow me wherever I go in the world.

“’Ello Guvna!”

Culture clashes do seem to be frequent though. An American from my class recounted an awkward moment when he was having a conversation with a German guy and a Polish girl. He was describing a night out where he had consumed a few too many alcoholic beverages, describing himself as, “Blitzed!” There was an awkward pause after which the German chuckled, “Haha, very funny joke.” Bless the three of them.

I myself am having a culture clash of my own. A close friend of mine from Manchester who is also studying here (read her blog here) has been very on the ball and bagged herself a man with outstanding efficiency. The two are an adorable couple, he being from Wisconsin and her from Durham; the two have their fair share of misunderstandings. I like the guy very much and regularly try out morsels of British wit on him…

People who know me well will be familiar with the fact that I will take the piss out of you, more or less constantly, if I like you and I believe you have the balls to handle it. I enjoy a to-and-fro of casual insults; it’s a way of getting to know people as well as their humour and is fantastic at demolishing any kind of bravado, pretensions or awkwardness.

I have come to the conclusion that this too, along with the Empire and ‘Chim-chiminey’, is a very British characteristic. So much so, that it has been suggested by Miss Durham that Mr Wisconsin may not be too keen on it.

Initially my thoughts have been, “Man up, strap on a pair.” But then I remember that the rest of the world does not function along the same social guidelines as The United Kingdom of Great Britain Land. I am also, frightfully British. I need to carry Earl Grey around with me whenever I know there won’t be a Tesco near-by – and let’s just say I am grateful to the fact that all British newspapers, as well as the BBC, are 100% free and available on the Interweb. Imagine having to use CCTV, CNN or even Fox for my periodical news nourishment, perish the thought!

However, there is a whole world out there that doesn’t read The Times every weekday except for a Tuesday (when The Guardian has a simply wonderful education supplement). Maybe, for both me and Mr Wisconsin, I should tone down the tsunami of sarcasm and banter that seems to erupt from my mouth every time I meet someone new.

I’m not changing, oh no, I am simply editing myself for universal consumption. After all, I still have the Brits to crawl back to every time I need someone to have a friendly, if heated, discussion with.

Rolling on...

2009-09-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

Right, I’m finally here; I am finally no longer panicking about moving to China for the next year, I am finally not stressing about what to remember, what to pack, what to leave. I am finally just happy that I am going, that I have this opportunity.

I was scared the world would move on without me – nearly to the point that I thought I would come home next year and I would literally be replaced by an upgrade of me – just as political but with twice the cool. I then realised no one could equal me on cool. (jksloljks)

The last twenty four or so hours have been insane. So many texts, messages and general love coming my way – it has been inevitable that I have unintentionally not replied to peoples’ attempts at contacting me. If you are one of these people I apologise but I hope you will understand the intensity of the past week or so.

Summer in the City, the UK YouTube community’s baby, was last weekend. I helped organise, I had an amazing time, I welled up on the train home. I couldn’t have asked for a better (unofficial) send off. I loved every second; the selling, whether it were the publications (mine and Paul’s baby) or the musicians’ merch. or Johnny’s Tees on the Saturday night. It was an awesome way to meet new people – just wandering round the gathering and chatting to people as I convinced them their lives would not be complete without The SitC Pub/ Dave’s new album/ Johnny’s Dead Blob Tee etc.

One of the fantastic things about the weekend was the fact people from all over the planet came. We knew we had marketed it like that; as a global gathering, but I don’t think any of us organisers would actually let ourselves believe that anything like the number of foreigners would make the journey. Americans, Dutch, Belgians, Australians, French, German and for some reason an awful lot of Canadians came. We were this little cultural melting pot in the middle of London – it was just mind-blowing.

And the gig at the Luminaire: it was quite simply delightful. I had a massive grin on my face for the whole evening. I nearly cried when I saw Mhazz play her set – bearing in mind I have known her for close to two years, back when she was writing songs about me, Alex and Liam – I saw her as a grown up woman for a first time that night and it was wonderful. I have a habit of subconsciously adopting my friends, so I feel almost parental pride when they outdo themselves – it’s silly but contributed to a lot of the warm fuzzy feeling that night.

When Dave performed I sat on the stage and just swayed and sang – then panicked at his last song and ran to re-open the shop to sell all his wares. Tom and Greg weren’t too shabby either.

We are already looking towards SitC 2010, the Facebook group is up and it will be even bigger and better. I think this is why I was so freaked out about leaving for Nanjing – leaving all these prospects, so much stuff is happening now in my world. I am missing out on the RNLI project, SitC 2010 as well as other things. It’s a shame.

But then who the hell gets to go, study and live in China? I am blessed, whether it’s by Allah, God, Buddha or Lady Luck – roll on Nanjing, roll on China. I will speak to you guys soon.

- 杰仁

Climate Camp

2009-08-26T09:33:00.001-07:00

I went to Climate Camp today, the beginnings of it anyway. I wrote this about it; it's a bit more jounalisty than what I am used to posting on here, but I still hope you enjoy it.

Climate Camp 2009 started at twelve, noon with six locations throughout London, revealed through text to people that had signed up to the event on the website. We started our journey outside the Bank of England where tattooed and dread-locked individuals mingled with the suited bankers of the city. Orange shirted stewards gave out leaflets on how to deal with police searches whilst journalists clicked away with their cameras and tried desperately to find out who the person in the highest authority was so they could interview them. The atmosphere was relaxed but with an air of apprehension about how events would pan out for the rest of the day; people swapping stories about which clause they were stopped under during the G8 protests and debating whether kettling would be used again at this demonstration.

After an hour of hanging about and a couple of awkward but essentially harmless encounters with Bobbies on the Beat, our leaders informed us that we would be taking the DLR towards the Cutty Sark. Our group weaved its way out of the city towards Greenwich – journalists ever present, close to outnumbering the activists.

We reached the common at the top of the hill, the towers of the city still menacingly close; a banner declaring, “Capitalism is Crisis” flying defiantly below them.

Tepees are being erected around us, the bold amongst the protestors climbing their peaks and waving at passersby and the patrolling police. There are certainly hopes that the police will learn from their mistakes during the G8 and give the campaigners the chance to express themselves freely, but each person we have spoken to remains wary.

Regardless, spirits are high with workshops and lectures planned throughout the duration of the camp making this more than just a chance to wave a few banners and grumble about the police. The happy campers will be able to learn how to reduce their carbon footprint; attending workshops on how to build wind turbines and compost waste, as well as ways to deal with the media and the police.

The high flyers in their dockland apartments overlooking the camp will no doubt be tutting to themselves and rolling their eyes at the campers’ naive attempt to change the world. But these activists mean business – and with compost toilets and copious amounts of vegan sausages, anything is possible.

The Low

2009-08-17T03:31:00.000-07:00

Mum says I’m in a mood today. She is joking that it’s because it’s my brother’s birthday (Happy Birthday Zach!) and I’m jealous of the attention he is getting. Maybe it is the jealous little 10 year old in me rearing his blonde head, but I reckon it’s withdrawal symptoms of StickAid on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I didn’t take part in the whole 24 hours but the period of time that I was there was so intense – I suppose it’s natural to be on a low afterwards.

We were raising money for Unicef, for some of the highlights then click here.

I was going to try and write something today, but failed miserably – it was going to be something about how my views on things are ever changing. I started to write it and, unsurprisingly, I was sounding like a bit of a moron.

I have become very unreliable when it comes to this blog even though writing has gone from something that I feared and despised in school to an art for that I genuinely enjoy partaking in. Flowery language and I have become the best of friends. But then I am conscious that if I do not practice, in the form of using the blog regularly, then I am not going to get better.

I am having the same problem with my languages. I really need to brush up on my Chinese, especially because I am going to be going there on the 3rd of September and will be tested and put in an appropriate class almost immediately. Maybe it is something about staying at my parents’ house. I seem to just stop whenever I come back here – too many distractions, too many people.

Summer in the City is in just under two weeks. I am more excited about this than anything else this summer, and is going to be a great send off only a few days before I leave for China. If you follow my Twitter then you will know I have been working on a short publication with Paul to accompany the gathering that will be on sale throughout the weekend. Have a quick butcher’s at the wonderful cover art that Paul made here.

So, I suppose after all I did manage to write something today – who knows if I will end up being able to do the NHS commentary I promised in my last video, we will see.

I hope your summer (or winter for all you southern hemispherians) is going swimmingly.

:)

Making Money

2009-07-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

People around me are starting to make money. YouTube, after sometimes years of toiling, is finally paying off dividends for a number of my friends on the site. Albums are being released, companies and partnerships being forged, deals being signed; it’s all very exciting.

My family is dominated by Thatcherite, Essex-boys; which basically mean they all like making money. My Uncle is chest deep in the stock market, my Grandad owned his own business until he sold it for an astronomical sum when he retired, my Dad has had a string of projects in the security and safety industry and my brother is constantly thinking of ways to make an extra penny or two (his current venture is washing cars).

As per usual, I often relish being the controversial seat at my family’s dinner table. Probably because I enjoy the romanticism of the idea, I have always stood by the statement that “I don’t like making money.” In a sense this is true; the money world occupied by the men in my family scares the shit out of me and I am wonderfully stubborn about working because I enjoy my work rather than working for the size of the cheque at the end of each month. Although I appreciate this was a very naïve viewpoint, I stand by the fact I could never work in an office, nine to five. However, seeing my friends starting to make money… has made me think the money making itself isn’t so bad.

The money my Dad earned when I was growing up came from a job he was not passionate about, I am not sure how much one can get into selling fire alarms, so I suppose I associated money with boredom, offices and suites. But the money I am seeing friends of mine interact with is the opposite spectrum of that. It is exciting, creative and something they can get excited about (confused.com adverts may be the exception here).

I suppose the point is, maybe I too can earn money from this creativity malarkey. I have never really seen things like BlogTV, YouTube and this Blog, as well as articles and things I do with other sites and companies, as a money making opportunity. Maybe I should start to.

I am, however, sceptical as to my ability to do so. I occupy a very specific niche on YouTube and across the internet: political and social commentary. The sad truth is, debates (apart from presidential ones) do not have a tendency to rake in the views as, say, a purple man or hot new jeans. In fact, although my subscriber count is over 10k now, I rarely get over 5k hits on my videos – this does not bare well for my adsense, a system based on views.

When I was in New York, Tessa, a very good friend, mentioned that she could see me making some money from what I do. This perked me up. I am very proud of what I do across the internet, but I do hope that in the future I can make some money and maybe earn a living from what I do. I guess it’s different for someone making music or videos targeted at a viral market, so I shouldn’t compare myself to them.

I do, however, hope I can be included in this revolution that seems to be happening.

CNN

2009-07-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

So, I shook Anderson Cooper's hand yesterday... sorry to go on about it, but I a still having to remind myself that it was real. I think he is a fantastic reporter, especially the way he entered the business, and I also admire him because he has managed to make it in a business full of words while at the same time having dyslexia; shows there may hope for me if I ultimately decide to go into journalism.

So yeah, yesterday was kinda a big deal.

It happened because one of my friends is doing a short internship at CNN in New York City. Her name is Asia (like the continent) and is like my own personal YouTube whorer. Whenever she introduces me to someone I am always announces as the guy on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of hits... all I can say is that she needs to take a look at some of my friends if she wants to see people with ridiculous amounts of hits.

Anyway, she is kind of intent on me applying for an internship at CNN, she has apparently been talking to the people she has been working with (I was told my several people that they had heard a lot about me) and it looks like I might apply. We had a tour of the studios, watched AC360 live and even got roped into doing some work. It was all kinds of awesome.

I do feel kind of guilty for leaving Todd (who is sitting next to me right now) and Johnny for a while but I will give them both love and attention all day long today.

Oh, by the way, if you havn't tagged on yet, I'm in New York City.

In other news I have decided to go through rhymingwithoranges and private all of my non-Debate vlogs. I want the channel to appear more streamlined and professional. This comes after I talked with a guy who is trying to pitch me a kind-of-a-big-deal interview and said that personal side of the channel might hinder me. I can understand that.

I will definately still make vlogs, but if I post them on RWO I would private them after a while. I am still toying with the possibility of starting a secondary channel for bog standard vlogs. God knows most people are subscribed for the debate anyway.

Okay, I need to start thinking about breakfast: a meal that I genuinely believe the Americans have got so wrong. I mean, pancakes and bacon? Really? And don't even get me started on waffels.

All the best.
Jazza

I've Fooled You All!

2009-07-13T04:52:00.001-07:00

Last week were the last of my English classes. I had an awesome time working at WaiYin. The people I worked with and my students were great fun and hard workers; I will miss them all greatly.

This could be seen as my first job really, I have done part time bar work before but this is the first time I have genuinely felt like part of an organisation.
Funnily enough, as I was leaving my last class on Friday, signing out in the book and saying goodbye to everyone, my strongest feeling was to get out of there as quickly as possible.
It sounds horrible, and is quite hard to explain, but my mind was almost screaming;

"Haha! I have fooled you all for I am not a real teacher at all! I am Jazza, The Magnificent, and you all just got conned!"

I still don't feel like a real teacher. To me I am still just the kid that gesticulates too much and dances round the classroom like a madman. If it weren't for my students telling me that they liked my lessons (and even started a petition at one point demanding the organisation give me a full time position) then I would be very confused as to whether I was doing a good job or not.

I think, and hope, that I feel like this because I love this type of work so much, and it feels like I have conned them into giving me money through me just having fun. I always say that I may not always teach, I would like to do more in my life, but if I were 'stuck' in this job my whole life I would be perfectly content.

I guess I need to count my blessings. The vast majority of people go through life having no idea what makes them happy and what they would be happy doing with their fleeting time on this earth. At the age of 20 I have found mine.

At least I think I have. *touch wood*

Validating one's Opinion

2009-06-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have had a very good weekend; two Nunes - Holden gigs in as many days, a Nerdfighter gathering in London, a scavenger hunt which my team won (Maureen Johnson still owes us all a prize. I refuse to buy anything she has written until I see some kind of proof that I... I mean we, pwned all) topped off with about 6 hours sleep over three days equates to the kind of YouTube weekend I haven't had in a very long time. Good times.

I uploaded a video, classic rhymingwithoranges' style, talking about whether drug use should be considered an illness rather than a crime following the comments of a UN official on the subject.

In the video I hinted towards my view that drug use should be legalised. I was not wrong to say this but I should have explained my opinion more clearly and so have had a large amount of comments saying the same thing. Something I always try and avoid. I also used a statistic and didn't explain very well what I was using it for, so all in all not the best video I have ever made on my channel but not so terrible that I have had to private it. I've had to do that before when I have got figures wrong and not researched the topic enough, but all this is a learning process.

In my debate videos is is quite rare for a large number of my viewers disagree with me. My audience tends to be quite liberal thinking and so will quite often agree with what I say in the video.

I was therefore taken aback when, for the first time in ages, so many, maybe even over half, of the people commenting on my video said things along the lines of, "Jazza, I usually agree with you, but not this time..." etc. etc.

I did a have a short panic. "Oh my God! People who watch me don't agree with every word I say! Whatever shall I do!?" I eventually calmed down and got over myself.

This is why I started doing these videos on RWO; for the debate and so that people from all over the world and all sorts of backgrounds could come together, disagree, explain why, and subsequently agree to disagree. So it's been good for me to get out of this rut of everyone agreeing with me and remind me what the real world is like.

I can't remember where I heard this, but I remember someone important once saying that our opinions are bullshit until we can back them up and still believe in them after debating with someone of the opposite view point. I think that is important to remember. Anyone can say they believe in something, say that something is true with unwavering confidence; but it is through debate, dialogue and conversation that our opinions gain validity.

Keep Safe
- Jazza

Qué Sera Sera

2009-06-18T01:34:00.000-07:00

For the first half of this week I have been in Bristol. Although I was born and brought up in Essex, a large proportion of my family live here as this is where my maternal family reside. I always fall more and more in love with this city the longer I spend here and am seriously considering moving here in the future. The down side, if I spend any period of time over a day here I always pick up the west country twang; my accent is currently somewhere between farmer and sheep shagger status.

At the moment I am, amongst other things, eating copious amounts of pasta salad, leeching off Prêt a Manger’s internet connection and being genuinely moved by the courage and persistence of the Iranian people.

Whether those elections were rigged or not (I personally have my doubts as to whether they were, but that is another story) you have to admire the movement and excitement they are creating.

Last week I entered a competition to appear as the ‘people’s panellist’ on the BBC show, ‘Question Time’. I want this, a lot, and I suppose that is why I am so intensely nervous about it. I was adamant about making my minute long audition video in one take because this is how all the other applicants had approached it, I therefore spent over an hour trying to not stumble over my words or spend too long uming or erring. Scripting it perfectly beforehand took the best part of a few days. I got quite flustered towards the end. It was very frustrating not having my limited editing skills to hide behind.

I eventually got a half decent take done, posted it, and received a wave of lovely comments from people saying that they could think of no one better to take part in the show.

Thank you for that, but…

The truth is I have no idea whether I would be the best person for the job. I, unlike the vast majority of the applicants, do not have a history in debating. I am also not studying politics or a similar subject. Yes, I am keen on my newspapers and current events, but I am nowhere near an expert. These people (the other people who have entered) have decided to spend their further academic career expanding their knowledge on the subject. I read Chinese short stories about lesbians with TB and persist on trying to master the subjective and all of her Spanish forms and applications.

My political vlogs are scripted and I hide behind many takes and the ability to edit and make my arguments look slick. I have no idea how I am going to react to a live situation; thinking on my feet, having my argument directly scrutinised and not having Google to verify my statistics. Making that video was the easy bit; that was my turf, my comfort zone. I believe there is a part of the audition process where the applicants form a panel and debate on various issues amongst themselves. This is where my expertise ends and the majority of the other applicants’ begins.

We will see how I deal with it. I hope more than anything I can do this; I want it a lot and I would like to believe I would do a good job.

(Ready for the horrifically cheesy part of the blog?)

The greatest advice my parents ever gave me comes from a hugely generic song, “Qué sera sera, whatever will be will be.” They wrote that inside my good luck card for when I was due to take the 11 Plus. I failed. But I took from their advice that sometimes things just aren’t meant to be. If I am meant to get on this panel and do well, then it will happen. Nerves are not going to make me any more adapt at occupying the YouTube niche in which I have comfortably resided for some time now.

All I can do now is keep reading papers, keep debating within YouTube or BlogTV, and believe I can do well.

The most viral I have ever been.

2009-06-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I posted a video about a political Party called the BNP.

I knew what I was getting into when I did so; the BNP have a lot of ‘trolls’ on the interwebs and are quite keen on spamming. I have come across them in the past with other videos where I have mentioned any viewpoint that is vaguely liberal.

This video seems to have done rather well. It got a huge initial response, especially amongst the twitter folk after a lovely man named Charlie insisted on many people re-tweeting a link to the video. It was a buzz seeing page of people linking to my video.

So many of the comments have been incredibly positive, I thank all the lovely people.

I also thank the haters, I have missed them, and haven’t had a wave this big since my last feature. I feel so old referring to the time when YouTube had a user generated front page, those were the good old days. I’m such an old-timer. I have never taken personal attacks… well… personally, and I quite honestly find them funny. The comments that rant about the violence of Islam and how they are going to shoot everyone in a turban (wrong religion mate) are more worrying but you take them with a pinch of salt; the person typing that probably hasn’t left the chair in front of their computer since the 80s.

It is the people who, for want of a better word, make sense; who meld the first two kind of negative comments into a singular form. They can subtly rip my confidence to shreds and at the same time make a plausible argument for their voting of the BNP. I struggle to deal with these comments. I do my best to respond with my wet, liberal counter-arguments but there are just so many.

Dealing with this third breed is something new for me, I have had them in the past, but not in this volume. It is emotionally draining just reading them. Because of this I have decided to take a break from my comments section; something I despise doing. I have often said that the comments are where the magic happens in rhymingwithoranges – my videos are a bit rubbish, I am just repeating the news, but the discussions that happen because of me recounting what is happening in the world are awesome.

With close to 10 000 hits in just over two days, I believe this is the most viral I have ever been without a YouTube feature (again, feeling old). The initial comments from my more regular viewers caused an emotional high, the more recent BNPers, who have dominated the last twelve or so hours of comments, have brought me crashing back down to earth. I can only expect the second half to grow; ratings will drop and wonderful comments will be thumbed down but I guess I have to hold onto is the fact I am putting my voice out there and being heard. That why I do this, that is why I am here.

In the mean time I am just immersing myself in work and Priscilla Ahn. Her music is wonderful, listen to it – it will always make you feel better.

Having All Three

2009-06-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked a month since I last updated this blog. I can do nothing other than apologise. Exams took hold and anyone who has a blog themselves will understand that the longer you leave between posts the harder it is to start again.

But anyways, I am now tied down to very little in the academic sense and will hopefully be posting more on here. Yay for me!

A couple of days ago I went to an exceedingly interesting lecture in Leeds by the fantastic Johnny Cupcakes with my friend JohnnyDurham. He is an entrepreneur who started by selling printed t-shirts out the boot of his car and now runs a multi-million dollar company, basically still just selling t-shirts - using the internet as his main method of selling.

He is a fascinating man and, although he didn't seem too sure exactly how different the UK was to the US (at one point he asked us if we celebrated Christmas here, lulz <3)

I look away a lot from it. Three things struck me from his three hour lecture though. He is very dedicated to his customers and has a very similar relationship with them that many of the big time YouTubers have with their fans. There is a lot of adoration and respect for him and his brand, and he in turn takes the time to talk or email them, or even organise gatherings for them (sound familiar) like the one he is holding in London today.

Secondly his ruthless and determined work ethic. He told a story of when he was starting up a badge making enterprise with a close friend. Everything was great they got a lot of work done and made a reasonable amount of money. His friend then got a girlfriend, and the business went downhill. Johnny’s friend spent all his time with his girlfriend and less and less time with his business partner. The venture eventually crashed.

Johnny then drilled into us the importance of not being in a relationship when starting up a business; that a new business requires too much time and commitment to be committed to a girl or boy at the same time. He mentioned that if you have your fingers in too many pies, one of those pies is going to get a half arsed effort and end up half baked. His view is that you cannot possibly have an academic career, a business venture, romance and time to go out on a Friday night with your mates.

This reminded me of a video Alan uploaded recently, you can watch it here:

It got me thinking about me and whether Johnny is just being bitter about the fact he can’t get a girlfriend or is there some truth in his philosophy and Alan’s poem?

I think of my life. I am very lucky. I have a great group of friends, within YouTube and out, who have done nothing but support me throughout my life.

I have a great academic career, I’m doing well (touch wood) and am also lucky enough to be good at my job as an English teacher. I also have YouTube and now BlogTV which doesn’t get me a lot of money but is a hobby that I have managed to get some kind of monetary gain out of; I like to think I am good at that too.

Then I look at my relationship track record and to be honest my romantic history is less than shiny. I struggle to commit, talk about my feelings, sex still scares the shit out of me at the age of twenty and many a chance to practice. I haven’t had a ‘proper relationship’ since I was 17.

Is this going to bug me and shroud any kind of success I have in the future with an abundance of “what if?”s?

Johnny Cupcakes didn’t seem very happy to me. Yes he has his fans and a fantastic brand and an awful lot of money. But the way he spoke to us, quite honestly, about how he cradled his laptop at night pining for the right girl to come along made me think about my circumstances.

I would like a proper relationship, maybe a family in the future. But what am I going to have to sacrifice?

Am I going to have to sacrifice anything? Can I have all three? A love life, a social life and success?

An Actual Blog

2009-05-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

I don't want to just write in this blog when I have something deep and meaningful to say. I want to be able to use this to conical things in the way that blogs do. I have been pretty absent from here as of late which has bothered me because I feel like I was starting to get quite good at this whole typing-how-I-feel malarkey. So here I present to you, a blog.

Johnny and I are going to be going to America, New York in fact, in the middle of this July. I am rather excited. Not least for being able to meet various people like Tessa and Liane (I haven't spoken to either for a while, I hope they are free from the 14th to the 21st of July) but also the fact that we will be, well, in New York. It's where that programme that is always on E4 is set; you know, the one with the friends...

I am slap bang in the middle of exams right now. I have three next week a bit of a break then Catalan, Spanish and Chinese back to back on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of next month; that is going to be SO much fun, reprogramming my brain three days in a row. I feel more confident about exams this time round, I think because I have done very well in course work this semester (I got more than a couple of firsts ^_^) but I am very conscious about not getting to cocky with myself. These exams will be tough and I need to do well to get myself into good classes for when I move to Nanjing.

Speaking of Nanjing I have already found somewhere nice to live. All the people sound awesome and the rent is incredibly cheap, something along the lines of £130/140 per month including Internet and utilities. It's an all Chinese flat who had a student from Manchester Uni staying there this year and wanted another English speaker, which is where I step in. I think I have already accidentally volunteered myself into a cook-off with one of the guys... I seem to do that a lot. Gotta love my ability to turn anything into a competition.

I almost forgot, it is going to be my birthday this next week, exactly a week today now that it has turned midnight. It has sneaked up on me and I don't like it. 20 has no -teen on the end of it and quite frankly it scares the shit out of me. I am exiting the realms of being referred to as 'young' (in my books anyway) I I enjoy being young. I will no doubt get over it. 18 did the same to me.

I will hopefully be at least planning a video tomorrow by the way. The audiovisual-interweb part of my life has been very neglected recently because of school, exams and just a pinch of laziness.

With that I bid you goodnight.

Jazza
- 杰仁

A Meme

2009-04-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

I don't usually do memes but I liked this one, I nicked the idea of Mr Johnny of Durham.

DIRECTIONS:

- Go to Google image search.
- Type in your answer to each question.
- Choose a picture from the first page.
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is your name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I just really like my first picture :P

Bare Mannequins

2009-04-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Part of me feels sorry for the increasing number of bare mannequins in the window of the popular shop, Urban Outfitters.

Then I remembered their clothes are grossly overpriced and they only stock glorified Primark goods that I have never been able to afford.

So quite frankly, serves you right UO!

... but seriously, credit crunch or what?!

The Kettle

2009-04-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem from the poet John Agard - I love it.

Put the kettle on.

Put the kettle on.

It is the British answer

to Armageddon.

Never mind the taxes rise,

never mind trains are late.

There’s one thing you can be sure of

and that’s the kettle mate!

It’s not whether you lose,

It not whether you win,

It’s whether or not you’ve

plugged the kettle in.

May the kettle ever hiss,

may the kettle ever steam,

it is the engine that drives our nations dream.

Long live the kettle

that rules over us.

May it be lime scale free

and may it never rust.

Sing it on the beaches,

sing it from the house tops;

the sun may set on empire

but the kettle never stops.

Indulging in Dreaming

2009-04-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this article which showed Chinese netizens' reactions to the Britain's Got Talent singing phenomenon Susan Boyle. Here are a few of my favourites:

I do not understand what she is singing but my eyes are moist. I am so touched I am shaking uncontrollably. She is 47-years-old, and she walked onto the stage to sing “I have a dream!” I am 42-years-old. I [now] feel I very much have a future! Thank you SUSAN!

Watching foreign television shows, I have a feeling of truth/real. When can our country’s television shows be true/real?

After listening, I am truly moved. She made me believe that even ordinary people like us can also show our radiance. Suddenly, I feel I too am not that ordinary.

I find it interesting that quite a lot of the press over here, at least a lot that I have read, has been negatively skewed in terms of the voyeurism of the 'reality' TV show genre and disgust at the initial reaction of the audience to Ms. Boyle before she opened up her fantastic pair of lungs, example here.

Then we look at the Chinese comments and all people seem to have is praise and admiration, not just for Susan (I found the first woman's comment particularly moving) but for the reality TV show as we know it.

I'll be honest, I have never been a fan of shows like Dancing on Ice, X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent. I will watch them but I never vote and will not be on tender hooks if I haven't seen it. I, as many other people on our fair isle, have always been kind of disturbed by the fact that people are transfigured into entertainment, their back stories, hope and dreams are all hammed up for our viewing pleasure. I just don't like it.

But then I read these comments from people on the other side of the world drawing so much optimism from this show that gets such a bad wrap over here. People say that The X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent and the fame obsessed society are what is wrong with Britain today - but now I am not so sure.

Britain's Got Talent especially shows people from all walks of life, all kinds of different people of all ages; short, tall, fat and skinny and occasionally those with weird double jointed tendencies - everyone is represented.

If this show gives people in China hope that they can make better people of themselves, that they don't have to be conventionally sexy or young to have success, then maybe we need to have a bit more positivity vis-a-vis this talent show and the quirky contenders in it.

Maybe I don't necessarily agree with the 15-minutes-of-fame-obsessed culture that seems to go hand in hand with this genre of entertainment (to be frank I an sure the 'obsession' with fame has existed long before TV and Britain's Got Talent), but if this programme gives people all over the world 'hope' - which after all is the buzz word of 2009 - then why don't we just brush off our cynical British selves and indulge in a little bit of dreaming?

In other news isn't this purging business causing a stir - here is a blog from Dave, an incredibly intelligent man, that I particularly enjoyed on the subject.

Falling thorugh Time

2009-04-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

Chinese has an interesting point of grammar. When we talk about weeks we use 《上》 to talk about the past and 《下》to talk about the future. 上（shang） on its own means up, above or on top of and 下（xia）signifies the opposite. If you, as I, have a strangely visually wired brain then you will probably join me in seeing this quite interesting concept of falling through time; going from 上to 下, up to down. Granted the same cannot be said for when we talk about other periods of time such as days or months, a differing system is used, but I like this imagery so I am going to stick with it.

It was always quite hard for me to grasp, this concept of us moving downwards through time. Maybe it is a western mindset but I always visualised in my head us building upwards through life almost as a kind of construction site and we were all creating our own little sky scrapers which would have occasional bridges across to others’. In my head humanity resembled one big city with lots of high rise buildings and walkways. As I said, I am an overly active visual daydreamer.

I remember that in RE class we often addressed the concept of fate and the amount of choice we have in life and I always struggled to express my viewpoint. Something along the lines of “I think fate does exist but not really because I think we can choose where we go but we still have to follow this path thing but I’m not sure… what are we talking about again?” would regularly exit my mouth. Somehow I managed to scrape an A in my RE GCSE despite my apparent lack of ability of explaining myself. I also earned myself a half decent A in my Maths GCSE. However, I still maintain that I struggle to add together double digit numbers and won’t even touch triple digits with a barge pole – says a lot about the British exam system, no?

Anyways, I be digressin’.

This concept of falling and the imagery that came with it kind of handed me an alternative to the ‘Humanity City’ concept, this helped me to rearrange my thoughts in terms of a path in life and how it is set out. If we are falling through time then we have little control because, well… we are falling. Maybe we can spread our arms, slow down and enjoy the view for a bit like a parachutist or tuck in like a bullet and fly through parts of our life and look back in 5 years and realise we remember nothing (case in point, my early teens.) Some times we get knocked by the walls of our path of ‘fate’ but we don’t have a chance to stop and catch our breath, we just have to keep falling and falling into the unknown . Sometimes we fall towards a fork in the road and notice just in time for us to kick ourselves off the sides into the path of our choosing, sometimes we notice the fork too late and have to take the hand that is dealt to us.

I am still not sure which concept I prefer; the ‘Humanity City’ or the ‘Falling through Time’. The later has a certain romantic quality to it that I kind of like, we only have so much control – which is close to what I was trying to express in my RE classes. I am also musing over whether these concepts can be considered Western and Oriental, there is certainly a very American and Thatcher-like philosophy to the City concept in terms of building your own destiny, and the Falling concept feels more Chinese… although I cannot place my finger on it (not just the fact I took this idea from a piece of Chinese grammar.)

So while I am trying to figure out where I stand in terms of my two little theories let me know which you prefer. Would you be more inclined to take the view that we are 100% in control of our destiny, building our lives and relationships like metropolises, or would you rather place your lives more in the hands of fate, destiny, chance or whatever you want to call it? Falling through time like little rag dolls.

This may seem like a bit of a pretentious blog, discussing fate and all that jazz, but it is in no way intentional. Those of you that know me irl will probably know this is genuinely what happens when I have too much time on my hands (i.e. when in an airport) – my mind wanders and I all of a sudden become really philosophical.

Anyways – I will see you soon.

Ciao.

Jazza

-杰仁

Alone Time

2009-04-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

I have been accidentally left alone tonight but I am OK. I have gone round 北师大 campus and collected some of my fave food here and am having a kind of feast with myself and an online illegal version of V for Vendetta (naughty, naughty Jazza).

I am going to make the most of it, I have had little to no alone time these past few weeks. Who knows? I might even read! SCANDALOUS!

I went to the art district in Beijing the other day and took some appropriately arty pictures, here are a collection:

In this district dedicated to all that is art (and very expensive food and drink - I couldn't find a coffee under 25yuan!) I found an exhibition dedicated to British artists. Me being British, I decided to take a look and was genuinely blown away - we apparently breed very good arty people.
I forgot to take down the names of any of the artists but the exhibition is called "English Lounge" and is at the Tang Contemporary Gallery until the 26th of April.

There was one piece that I really liked by ... which had a map of the British Isles:not a very good picture I admit but I think you get the gist.

Each of those flags represents a list of Chinese restaurants in a certain area in Britain. You can see Glasgow, London, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Manchester seem to have a very large amount. I even managed to find my local back home in Essex:(Yau's Chinese Restaurant, Billericay)

I just thought it was a really simple but thought provoking piece of artwork. I think it even goes into what it means to be British today - the kebab shop, the Chinese Thai or Indian restaurant down your road, they're just as British as the chippy or Woolworths. All these shops and places go to making up life on this little island just as much as the rest of us and I genuinely believe that is what makes being British today so great.

A music video that has taken this trip to Beijing by storm has been the 2008 Olympic song: "Beijing Huanyin Ni" (北京欢迎你- YouTube it, it's fantastically cheesy) and within it is shows clips of all that is considered 'Chinese' - Peking duck, tea ceremony, Peking Opera, calligraphy dumplings and more. It got me wondering what the hell is going to be in our Olympic music video? After all, Britishness is much harder to define in the modern age.

It will be interesting to see what we decide to do; if we end up clinging to traditional Britain, that of the class system, scones, Lords, Ladies, the empire and foxhunting - or whether we will have the balls to take on the gargantuan effort of representing the huge spectrum of people who live here today.

I may have ended up rambling here so I will leave you to whatever you were doing before hand.

I hope all is well where you are.

杰仁
Jazza
-x-

The Future of a Bad Blogger

2009-04-14T03:01:00.000-07:00

So I am the worst blogger in the world. I should have really set myself a target of blogging every day, or even every other day, just to document this trip.
Oh well, I fail.

So, I have an exam tomorrow. I have to read a text aloud, have a conversation and recite a Tang dynasty poem, shown below:

少小离家老大回
乡音无改濒毛衰
儿童相见不相识
笑问客从何处来

It's nothing too hard, and we have been told off the record that 'everybody passes' and that it is just so they can give us a certificate saying we have graduated from something, but I just don't want to make a fool of myself: especially with the poem. I am shit at memorising things, I was when I did GCSE drama and I still am now. It has taken me a day to memorise two and a half lines of that thing. Not good.

Something that has come out of me being here that I really wasn't expecting was me thinking a lot more about my future. I think it might stem from being with so many people who are at different stages of their degrees, quite a few people are going to be graduating this year, and it has got me thinking where I am going to be when I am finally finished with University in 2011.

Granted, I will probably not be the same person as I am now; I would have spent a year in Nanjing and written a dissertation of 10, 000 words (still not sure how that is going to happen) but I at least know these things:

I will still be active on the Internet, whether it be vlogging, blogging, tweeting or all three I will still be here.
I want to escape from the education system, at least for a little while, I need to escape from the bubble and really crave to be in the 'real' world, even this early in my Uni career.
I want to be able to travel and live abroad for at least a little while BUT I am still very conscious that England will always be my home - I need to be able to come back here.

I think teaching is a necessary string to my bow but I am not sure yet how prominent a role it will play in my immediate future after University but it will at least come in handy.

I have also got a few projects that I am planning on getting started soon after I am over my jet-lag when I am back in Manchester. They may work or they may not - regardless I want to give them a shot.

Very little point to this blog, as per usual. I may update before I leave China, I may not. Place a bet on it, have a bit of fun with the outcome :P

I will speak to you sexy little strawberry smoothies very soon.

*love&hugs*
Jazza 杰仁

About the Language

2009-04-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I have been much more active on the Internet than I was expecting to be. I thought I would be lucky to even be able to log onto twitter and blogger, maybe upload one video of the trip. I am not even two weeks in and I have uploaded two.
I think this is a good thing. It means it is more probable that I am going to be able to continue with this massive part of my life when I move to Nanjing in September.

Seeing as it is possible for me to update my experiences I thought I had better do so; as I have said before, more for me than for you.

Language lessons have been exactly what I needed: a good kick up the arse. For too long I have been plodding along in Chinese language and having some first year students (I am in my second year) having better oral skills than me has been a little disheartening but just what I needed. It has rekindled my enthusiasm for speaking foreign languages, which can only be a good thing.

(Reading through this again I think I may have been harsh on myself saying that I had been 'plodding' along, I haven't. I think I had almost lost my way in terms of motivation.)

I have started being more proactive already, bought a blank books and have started a 'Sign Diary' where I am trying to document the signs that I don't understand, whether it be the whole sign or a specific character and it's context. I plan to jot down and learn about three or four a day and in this way increase my vocab. I would love to take credit for this idea, but I stole it off my friend who has been living here for about a year.

Today was a positive day for me in terms of my confidence in Chinese. I, for the first time in a while, had that contempt feeling and rush of being understood in a foreign language. It seems kind of silly, I have been speaking Chinese for nearly a year and a half and have been using it here for over a week, but today it just hit me that the sounds I was making were being relayed into another persons brain and being understood and in turn the sounds they were making were entering my brain and being transfered into meaning. I haven't felt that since I was about 15, so it was nice. Those of you who have learnt a language may know what I am talking about.
When you are in a classroom there is a certain amount of scepticism towards the sounds and the arrangement of letters you are being told to speak write. It isn't really until you take these practices into the real world that you realise that these sounds you have memorised and the grammar you have drilled are actually words, feelings and language. This is why I love languages, I believe no other academic discipline can reap such visible and immediate rewards in terms of that moment when euphoria hits you when you understand and can be understood.

Through this most are some more images from when me and Tash went to the summer palace. It is weird putting someones name here and not linking them... I forget most people don't have much on the Internet past a Facebook.

Lessons from China

2009-04-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

China so far has just been amazing. I keep having to check myself in realisation that I am actually here. It is so easy to consider a city just any other city, where ever you are in the world, with tourist attractions, taxis and foreign students, and forget that you are on the other side of the world.

I have so far eaten starfish (tastes like a less potent crab), looked into the bedrooms of emperors past and had countless vendors beckon to me with, “look-ee look-ee!” If only they knew they had no chance of getting my attention without correct grammar. I have been considering selling them English lessons, “for you, my friend, special price” of course.

I have recently, from going on this trip, reached some self-realisation; a part of my personality that I have never really noticed before and quite frankly isn’t a positive one. When I say recently I mean it happened about 10 minutes ago.

I have been quite prejudice to people from ‘privileged’ in the past.

On this course there are people from all walks of life; final year management students and first year dance students, from Aberdeen to London and from all over the EU.

I get on with everyone fine, from all backgrounds etc. But I have caught myself making or thinking snide remarks about the people who obviously have money or went to a posh school. I seem to to it particularly around the people who are from Oxford or Cambridge.

Basically, I need to stop. Assuming someone is going to be up their own arse because they had a better education or because they go to Ox-bridge is as bad as if not worse than assuming someone is going to be thick because they are from Ireland, or violent because they are from Scotland, or a chav because they are from Essex. I am lucky enough to have grown up in a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds but was never really exposed to the high end of the spectrum. This may explain but clearly doesn't justify this predisposition I seem to have to force a stereotype on people.

If going to Uni has taught me anything it is that people will always surprise you in how they will act because of their background. I need to get the hell over myself and let these people just be people, and not just “that posh bloke".

So if I learn nothing else from this experience then at least I will have learnt to accept posh people into my heart.

In other news here are a couple of pictures I have taken whilst being here:

Off to China

2009-03-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow morning I embark to Beijing via Frankfurt. My flight leaves in less than 14 hours yet it still hasn't sunk in.

For you to understand where I am coming from when I get all excited about the country of China, both the good and the bad, is that this has been nothing short of an obsession for roughly the past 6 or 7 years of my life. The place has just fascinated me; from it's folk law to it's modern history, it's food to it's politics. I don't necessarily agree or admire everything that comes out of the country, but I am just in awe of it. I believe, because it grew up as a country so separate from other nations, it is the closest thing to an alien culture we have on our planet (from the perspective of a Westerner).

At the same time as being excited I am horrifically terrified. What if I end up not liking this culture I have close to worshiped (maybe exaggeration) far so many years of my life, what if the culture doesn't like me?

Silly and childish fears, similar to those of starting a new school I have observed, but genuine none the less.

My new and less than sexy-looking haircut does not do wonders to qualm these fears.

I am also consistently worrying about things like my visa being rejected (even though it has technically already gone through) or my going over my baggage allowance. I am just a paranoid little shit right now to be honest.

In other news I finished my Chinese literature essay, I think I had a good crack at it; maybe a high 2:1 (touch wood).

Also, I finally caved and went to TopMan and bought a considerably more expensive version of the yellow cardigan I found the other day. A picture:

This blog may be neglected in the next few weeks. Blogger is a blocked in China so any posts I will probably have to send through Tessa, Seamus or Tom. This may be the same for videos, so YouTube activity will probably be shaky.

Okay, I am going to watch a film and get myself to bed. 5am start tomorrow. Disgraceful! Who invented a time in the morning that early?!

The Curious Incident of the Disappearing Yellow V-neck Cardigan.

2009-03-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

My heart was broken today, not by a fair maiden or by the death of a small creature that was round-eyed and fluffy - cute yet incredibly ugly. No, it was ruptured by a gorgeous item of clothing, you have probably guessed by the title and you would be correct, it was indeed a fabulous yellow v-neck cardigan.

We first met in the afternoon of Tuesday, known in some circles as the second day of the week, known in others as the third (depending on whether you consider Sunday or Monday the start of the next seven days), but universally known as yesterday.

It was cold and rainy. I sauntered into a quaint little shop called Pop Boutique; a specialist in grossly overpriced vintage clothing, accessories, furniture and food. I had been planning on purchasing a yellow jumper-esque piece of apparel, yet with little success. But now, oh the wonder! A beautiful shining sunflower-colours cardigan, with a deep v-neck and little brown buttons, caught my attention. I tried it on, loved it, but due to my compulsion to not be too spontaneous, especially vis-a-vis vintage clothing.

I was accompanied by my good friend Anna, from Portsmouth, she is staying with me for a couple of day. As we continued wandering through the Northern Quarter when the rain decided to increase in intensity - Anna straightens her hair so we had to hurry home before the Mr. Hyde to her Dr. Jekyll was brought out through a mass of damp curly hair.

The cardigan, I assumed, would be waiting for me tomorrow - if of course I still wanted to buy it.

The next day (also known as today, as well as Wednesday) I still wanted to buy it.

So after Anna's audition I dragged her back to the Northern Quarter to purchase the cardigan of which I have declared my undying love... It was nowhere to be seen. It had been bought by another. It had effectively cheated on me (although not really because it is an inanimate object).

So, writing this blog, in such a flamboyant manner is how I am attempting to get over this heart-breaking situation by trying to be mildly comical about it.

"Oh, it was just a silly little cardigan"

I will say to those who raise the topic.

Just know, inside I will be weeping.

My Weekend...

2009-03-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

I have had the most ridiculous weekend, mostly in a good way, but ridiculous none-the-less. Here is a recount, more for me than you, so I can remember just how epic the last three days have been.

I suppose it started on Friday; I had just had lunch with a friend and didn't have anything to do for a few hours so decided to start on my trip to Derby, where I would be partaking in a BlogTV show aimed at raising money for Comic Relief with Iain, Dave, Tom, Charlie and Johnny - sausage-fest I know.

Now, I knew very well that the aforementioned friends would not be in Derby until at least 8 o'clock, but I thought I would be able to stop off at Sheffield maybe see the Laura of all that is Bubbly chill out with her for a bit before completing my journey. So, I get on the train, call her up, but alas, she is unable to entertain me today. A shame - I miss her.
This was mishap number one.

I therefore arrived in Derby at 4 o'clock, a full four hours earlier than my beautiful friends would be here - totally my fault, I will admit.
I therefore did the following in the four hours; sat in a shop to plan the lesson I was meant to teach on Sunday morning, wandered round countless coffee shops in the shopping centre, bought a present for Alex, fell asleep on a chair in the centre to be rudely awoken by an angry security guard telling me I couldn't sleep in here. I think I refered to him in a tweet as a fascist.

This took me to about 6.30pm. I then wandered into the centre on Derby where a man was playing a free gig outside the town hall (it was very good but I couldn't remember him name; sad times) watched a bit of the BBC Comic Relief show on a giant screen outside the information centre and killed the last hour by translating 'All My Loving' by The Beatles into French in my head:

"Tout mon amour, je t'enverrai!"

I was then picked up by the boys and we then proceeded to the house of Bullas where we watched a lot of television and played a bit of Mario Cart; on the original N64, none of that Wii rubbish.

The next day watching re-runs of the early 90's version of The Crystal Maze took up a lot of time as well as very little planning for the fast approaching BlogTV show. We eventually managed to upload a couple of promotional videos an hour before hand and everything was hunkydory.
The show went great; lots of money raised (over £1, 600), many lemons eaten and a few songs destroyed by ukulele versions performed by me.
Here however, begins the drama:

I had booked my ticket back home to Manchester for about a 1040 departure from Derby railway station. We realised this at about half ten. Dave was then beautiful and said he would give me a lift to Stoke (a 40 minute drive away) to catch the train that my ticket said would leave at 1150.

I forgot one thing; train times go my 24 hour clock.

We got to the station and it was closed, locked, abandoned. Was genuinely close to tears and I felt like a shit for making Dave take me. I was in a state because I have a class on Sunday mornings - not the kind you might/ might not turn up to, I was teaching it. I was scared I was going to loose my job (a silly thought now I know, but I was in a panic).

Dave drove us back to Derby and I looked for the first train that would take me home - 1020, leaving from Stoke (this would get me into Manchester one and a bit hours after the class started). I had to ask Dave to get up early for me and drive me there again. I love him for saying yes and will be eternally grateful. I still owe you money btw, keep reminding me.

Whist I was panicking and running round like a headless chicken Dave said that I was being quite funny - so maybe I should start getting stressed more often and film it on Blog TV! we could earn millions!

I get to Manchester, an hour or so late and my assistant (I had forgotten I had one of those, thank fuck he exists!) had done an amazing job at keeping the class occupied (I had phoned ahead several times so it wasn't like they didn't know I wasn't coming). I finish the lesson - unharmed, no getting fired, fine.
Still I was really annoyed at myself. This is the first proper job I have had, with proper responsibility and I had thought I had let myself down. Sunday, I was a grumpy zombie all day. Today, however, I have a bit more perspective and I feel better.

Regardless I had an amazing weekend, despite the stress. It is experiences like that that make me really grateful that I started YouTube and surrounded myself with a group of such fantastic people.
Viva La Tube!
Keep Safe
Jaz
:)

Sounds like the West to me...

2009-03-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have had the links to this story floating around in tabs for about the last three weeks, meaning to talk about it. What can I say? I am a terrible blogger.

China recently had it's university entrance exams and so there was a wave of education and job focused blogs tumbling into my Google reader, which I of course lapped up with eager Chinese-based-geekiness.

One particular story caught my eye, and was in fact repeated more than once. It caught my eye not because of the fact it was different or difficult for my western mind set to understand (part of the reason why China fascinates me, it's alien quality) but the fact that it was a scarily similar scenario that I read about regularly in the British media.

The article talks about graduates from Chinese universities setting their expectations of the work they are going to post-graduation too high, and that the Chinese youth of today are too 'choosey', specifically vis-a-vis salesman jobs.
The standard response from the Chinese jobs sector seems to be something along the lines of, "grow up, pull your sleeves up, get to grafting."
The problem is there don't seem to be enough 'top class' jobs to go around, and so some graduates seem to be scraping the barrell when it comes to employment.

Not enough jobs to go around, graduates setting their standards too high; sounds like the west to me.
I showed this to my friend Seamus at the time and he said to me, probably in jest, "Oh wow, China seems normal after all." (NB not a direct quote)

This is my point, China IS normal!

There are people there that go to university, struggle to find a job they think is worth their qualification and feel hard done by by their perspective employers and the government. We are all in the same boat, they just happen to be in a different time zone.

I am going to China for the first time on the 28th of this month (SO EXCITED!). I am very concious of the fact that I, as a westerner saturated by western media, will have some stereotypes and misconceptions. Some fair and some unfair.
I am very conciously going to try and go there with no pre-determined opinions about the country.

I will go there, I will see, I will form my opinions of the people and the culture from what I see.

If being on the internet has taught me anything it is that people are so much more than how the media covers them or their country's political ideology.

I hope this blog makes sense. It's kinda train-of-thoughty.

Red Nose Day on Friday!

All Grown Up

2009-02-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

Did you ever see that show? the spin off of The Rugrats? Was amazing.

ANYWAY.

I am happy about the response my last video is getting, a lot of healthy debate, a few of the good old haters. I know I've picked a good topic in a video when I get haters a few hours into posting :)

Today I got offered to teach another class at the Institute where I work and volunteer. With a pay packet and everything. I get to meet the class on Friday before making a decision, which is nice, I can't deny I'm bricking it though.

Part of me is scared I am taking on too much all at once, I still feel like I did when I was 15 (minus the alcohol) but all of a sudden I'm teaching people more than twice my age more than 6 hours a week and being payed for it. Before teaching I had only ever worked behind bars and done some manual temp work, and this seems so real it's freaking me out a little bit.

I'm worried about getting in over my head, that I am committing too quickly, that I am selling off all of my free time (6 hours a week doesn't seem like a lot but then you have to add marking and planning on top of University class and work as well as the volunteering I do it stacks up).

I'm not even sure if I'm that good...

I think I just needed to put down somewhere that I am shit scared about what is happening in my life right now, how real it has all suddenly become.

I think that is all...
Jaz
:)

Two Kinds

2009-02-21T07:17:00.001-08:00

Something interesting happened at work today.

On Saturdays I volunteer my time to tutor a 15 year old kid called Kenny. He is a good kid, if a little over influenced by porn, swearing and grand theft auto. I have to bribe him with Haribo to stop him using the word 'Fuck'.
He is mildly autistic and I help him with English language things, I have recently been reading through 'Two Kinds' with him, a short story by the American author, Amy Tan. I chose it because it is written from an ABC's perspective (American Born Chinese) and as Kenny is a BBC (British etc etc) and thought he would have a lot to relate too.

For those of you that didn't take GCSE English at around the same time as me (it was one of the set texts for Eng. Lit) here is a quick synopsis:

Amy, a girl of about 9 or 10, is being groomed by her mother to become a 'prodigy'. They go through lots of different options, electing which 'kind' of prodigy Amy is going to be. As they trial each variety Amy looses faith in the promise her mother has given her of becoming a famous child prodigy, and there is a moving scene where Amy looks at herself in the mirror, realises she is just normal and will never stand out, and just breaks down, later vowing that she will never set her hopes high again, she will not be changed by her mother.
Her mother however pursues this dream of fame and stardom, making Amy take piano lessons with a deaf piano teacher and eventually enters her into a local talent competition. Amy refuses to practice and deliberately does badly which results in her falling out with her mother. 'The' line if the story is, "there are two kinds of daughter, those that obey their mothers and those that don't".

You can read it >>HERE<< if you like.

There is one paragraph that rang true with me and I thought applied well to Kenny and his situation. Here it is:

"So maybe I never really gave myself a fair chance. I did pick up the basics pretty quickly, and I might have become a good pianist at the young age. But I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different, and I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns."

Unless you give yourself a chance, you will never amount to anything past the expectations you have of yourself. In this case, Amy would never amount to being anything other than a mediocre piano player. I was talking to Kenny about it, and he mentioned his autism and said that he was dumb and couldn't do his times tables past 7. I made him read this paragraph again, and again. He said he still didn't get it.

And I will now tell you what I said:

"Kenny, unless you stop making excuses for yourself you WON'T amount to anything. In the story Amy refuses to believe she will be anything other than normal, she uses it as an excuse not to succeed. As long as you use your Autism as an excuse not to succeed you will never overcome it, you will never surpass it and become more than it. You are by no means dumb, you notice and come up with original ideas when we talk about the stories and poems we read. And you know more about the Godfather than anyone I know!"

He then kinda blew me away by reciting me the history of the series, I'll be honest quite a lot went over my head.

So, our lesson of the day had nothing to do with themes or metaphors or poetic devices. We learned that there are Two Kinds of people in this world, those that set the bar high and believe that they can reach it, and those that don't; be one of the people that believe.

I feel all philosophical and stuff now :)

Keep Safe
Jaz

This was gonna be a happy Blog...

2009-02-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

Today was gonna be a happy blog, I got a first in an essay I handed in over Christmas and just generally had a really good day.
But then I got this in the post:
For those of you not in the UK; over here we have to pay a TV licence fee. It's about £140 a year, I think. This fee goes towards mainly the BBC so that they can produce really good programmes, which they do! I have no problem with the licence fee itself, I think a public funded BBC is fantastic.

But the thing I have a problem with is the fact that I don't have TV in my room and therefore do not have to pay.
As a result of this I regularly get angry, rude and threatening letters that refer to me simply as "The legal occupier of Flat 74.2".

Let me recount to you a lovely extract from the letter I have received.

"Now that enforcement officers have been scheduled to visit student addresses in your area, you should know what to expect in the event that you are prosecuted for using TV without a licence."

"... in the event that you are prosecuted", If that doesn't imply that I AM going to have the full force of the law thrown at me regardless as to whether I watch television in my flat or not then I don't know what does.
It goes on to tell me what will happen if they prosecute me, including what will happen when I go to court, the inevitable fine etc.
I have had this the past two years as I have lived without a television, constant threatening letters from the council that, quite honestly, verge on spam.

The most annoying aspect is that I am a law abiding citizen, I have done nothing wrong, but I am being talked to as if "you haven't payed your TV licence, therefore you MUST be watching a TV illegally, you are therefore a criminal."
If this is a tactic of them to try and get people to pay then quite frankly I think it is disgusting. I can imagine the amount of people who pay the fee just to stop the letters (there is a phone number they offer but I am not wasting my phone bill on them).

I think the BBC and even the licence fee are a good thing. The BBC is one of the things in this country we can be really proud of and I would be happy to fund it. But this makes me resent paying (when I eventually have to) and therefore resent the fee and in turn the BBC.
If you want people to pay show them how fucking amazing the BBC is; how their money contributes to the best broadcasting group in the world, make them feel a part of it and therefore proud of it.

This seems to be a recurring theme recently on this blog but Gordon Brown is like a broken record when it comes to talking about the elusiveness of "Britishness". Well no wonder we have this problem, of the corporations that represent us, are choosing to alienate us rather than make us feel included.

I am a law abiding citizen, stop making me feel like a criminal.

Thought Provoking?

2009-02-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

- Sometimes I like to be all thought provoking in this blog, an extension of my news videos.

- Sometimes I like to tell and show you things about my life, an extension of my Vlog videos.

but sometimes, just sometimes, I like to show you the occasional fat ninja and geisha:

I love the gmail custom settings and the creativity thereof.
<3

La Música

2009-02-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

I am so weak when it comes to CDs.
haha, I just realised you can figure out exactly how much I spent from this picture as well. So no need to tell you :)
One of my tutees didn't turn up for his lesson today so I had a long lunch and went shopping and got the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack and the Supremes and Beatles greatest hits. I also wanted to get myself some new gloves and jogging bottoms but then realised that I failed in funds.
I did something interesting today... at least it was interesting for me.
I completely started a fresh with my iTunes. It felt kinda liberating, cuz I had a lot of dead weight on there in terms of songs I never listened to, so it feels nice to have a new start. I have imported my CD collection (which is ridiculously vast) and am now gonna ask people on skype to send me music and therefore start some playlists that are contributed by lots of lovely people. I think it will be nice especially seeing as I'm gonna be away for such a long time in China in the comming year. Music is the best way to remember things and people.
If you see me on Skype then send me over some stuff, it'll be nice. You can have a playlist on my iPod dedicated to you :)
I also found a couple of bands I like a lot. One is the one that was used in PJ's featured vid. It's a guy who goes by the name of Ghost Hardware and he is very good. It reminds me a lot of Postal Service for some reason. Find the music >>HERE<<

The second is a band that cam into the FuseFM studio today who have had me singing their song in my head for the past 5 hours. They are called The Momeraths (not sure how to pronounce it) and remind me of... Magic Numbers... kinda. Just listen to them >>HERE<<

Shoes be a' flyin'

2009-02-03T14:55:00.001-08:00

I think yesterday or the day before a shoe was thrown at the Chinese Prime Minister as he hosted a lecture at the Cambridge University.
While the British press simply deadpaned the news the Chinese blogs erupted. You can read some of the Chinese reactions >>HERE<< if it pleases you.
Although we shouldn't condone this, part of me does feel a little twinge of British pride.

For a while now (certainly throughout my lifetime) Britain has come across as a bit of a brown-noser when it comes to the international scene. Whether it be Tony following George into Iraq like his little lap dog or Gordon refusing to see the Dalai Lama for fear of upsetting the Chinese.
Good old Gordon is always droning on about 'Britishness' and what it means to be a citizen of this country, and if this is how we portray ourselves internationally then no wonder half the country is turning to drink. We might as well be a nation without a back bone.

I don't know if the guy who threw the shoe was British or not. Regardless, it is us who are the focus of the incident and more specifically the reputation of Cambridge in China. And from what I have heard from people I have talked to this about... we don't really care.
The people aren't worried about what China will think, which kind of gives me some hope, that we as British people are more than our politicians. We are above this search for Britishness and above the pathetic incapability of our leaders to make their own decisions.

We are British, and quite frankly, we don't give a shit.

*hugs*
Jaz

the one with pictures and maps

2009-02-01T13:50:00.001-08:00

First things first, IT'S SNOWING!
^_^

Also I wanted to show you pictures from my day in London which involved the RNLI silent disco (a video in which you can see me making a fool of myself and being sexy, HERE) and generally chilling and being very cool with Mhazz.

To represent the silent disco that we did in the middle of rush hour in Waterloo station (initially very embarrassing, gradually one of the best things in life ever) here is a still from some video footage I took of Iain being the personification of awesome. The footage itself is very funny and will be in a vlog shortly.I love him.

After much walking around the city of London which included making Mhazz listen to me talk for about half an hour about the importance of jade (the stone, not the Goody) in the Qing dynasty and a lovely lunch with Lex (alliteration ftw) we ended up near Liverpool street killing time before I met my Dad to go home. We stumbled across this restaurant very near to Tom's favourite shop, The Duke of Uke. This particular restaurant was very special as you can see from the following picture of said establishment and Mhazz being very cute.

IT'S A FRIGGIN' BUS!
A classic routemaster (you like the pun, 'Rootmaster'? It made me chuckle) bus that are becoming really rare in London. It's a vegan and organic restaurant and they played very cool Spanish music. I forgot to ask them what they were playing, which was a bummer.

The kitchen area was downstairs and the seating either upstairs or outside. It was bloody freezing so we chose upstairs and became very quickly fascinated with the old fashioned wind down windows. We also saw this through the window... which confused us a little.
I swear the thing that has been strategically placed on top of the car belongs in Super Mario or something. regardless, very cool!

I am going to put the google/maps reference here if anyone is ever in London and wants to go check it out, I highly recommend it. It's about a 10 minute walk from Liverpool St. station.

View Larger Map

That is all. Yes, my next vlog will be done without clothing on my lower half. I am off to play Travian. My username is JieRen and my first city is called Xincheng if you care (Chinese geekyness ftw!). I am on server4.

Peace

I feel like I have done this all before...

2009-01-30T07:34:00.001-08:00

As in applying for Universities. Today is the deadline for applications for Universities in China for my year abroad and I had forgotten how ridiculous the process was.

Firstly, university websites are invariably shit. I have yet to find one that isn't stupidly confusing and impossible to navigate. They also don't tell me what the hell I a going to be doing as a international student there. I guess it will be a nice surprise when I get there, lol.

I have been basing my choice on how easy it will be for e to continue studying Spanish. If I go to one of the big cities there will most probably be a way of e signing onto some kind of Spanish course, but it would be nice to go through the University. I have fallen a bit in love with Nanjing, which is kinda like the cultural and historical hub of the country and it's really pretty, this is the building that they see to show off a lot, I like the green-ness ad stuff.

The city is also really close to Shanghai (in Chinese terms, it's about 300 miles away) so it's pretty central.

God I'm babbling.

I also wanted to talk about the last few days cuz they have been lovely. We had the rnli silent disco which you can read about on Dave's blog in more detail and then I hung round with Mhazz in London. She was lovely even when I dragged her round the China section of the British Museum babbling about the Qing Dynasty. I had forgotten how much I loved that girl, it had been bloody ages since I had hung out with her.

We did lots of lovely stuff after having lunch with the Lex but I will talk about the later cuz I have lots of pictures I want to upload but I don't have my computer with me right now. I'm in Essex btw, chilaxing after my exams, which didn't go too badly.

That's kinda why I've been absent here and on the Tube, I' planning on vlogging pantless at the weekend at some point... don't ask.

See you sexy people soon, I have a lot more to talk about but later okies :)

Sexy New Shoes

2009-01-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

Take a look at my 好看新双球鞋！
They are SO sexy! And they were only £5, I was orgasming all over the place.

In other news I have my Chinese exam tomorrow morning. I should be revising but my head is saturated with grammar and Chinese characters so I'm gonna go music shopping for a couple of hours and maybe get a coffee.
I don't know how it's gonna go, I have done a decent amount of revision, whatever will be will be, I just want it to be over.
I also got offered a job yesterday! which is nice, more about that later.

Sheffield was lovely btw, I met a vlogger who not only went to my old school, but was also in my form group! HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?! Brentwood clearly invokes a tendency towards putting yourself all over the internet. Hi Caroline if you're reading this! She can be found >>HERE<<.

I'm off to town. BYE!
:)

Tea cosy/ Beanie

2009-01-16T04:16:00.000-08:00

My brother gave me this fantastic teapot for Christmas, it is by far the present I have used the most. It has a built in strainer and everything: very high tech!
However, as you can see, it is metal. It therefore does not retain heat as well as say, a clay pot. What would be ideal would be a tea cosy, I am , unfortunately, poor.

Remember how your gran always used to say (maybe she still does) that you looked like you were wearing a tea cosy when you wore a beanie?
Well, I have ironically turned this misconception on it's head, and am now using one of my old beanies, as a tea cosy.That is all.
If you are going to the Sheffield gathering tomorrow I will see you there.

:)

A Skype Convo

2009-01-14T06:08:00.001-08:00

These seem to be quite fashionable to post on ones blog, so I thought I would jump on this band wagon too.
I noticed this when I came back from teaching today:

Alex says: omg this song ... <3

Jazza says: inorite!

Jazza says: it's about a miscarriage

Jazza says: so sad

Jazza says: :(

Alex says: Yeah :(

*pause*

Jazza says: on a lighter note I am now learning Hot 'n Cold by Katy Perry on ukulele

Alex says: because of Kristina?

Alex says: :P

Jazza says: well maybe

Jazza says: and because it's only 4 chords that I know already

In the words of @CheekyChen

'Fin'

Ready Meals FTW

2009-01-14T05:31:00.000-08:00

Lunch Today:

So wrong but oh so right:

Go on
Judge me
<3

*EDIT*
I now feel kinda ill...
learn from my mistakes kids.

A Break

2009-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

I have done a huge chunk of this essay today, proud of myself, am about half way through 3000 words right now. I want to get to at least 1, 800 by the end of today, being a substantial amount over half way is good for the moral me thinks.
I have to see my dyslexia person about it on Thursday, I want to have at least a finished draft by then, so it doesn't matter if it isn't sleak and polished by then, as long as I have a begining, middle and end, he will then help me make it make sense.
I was stupid and decided to do the essay on Blogging and the Internet in China, which I now know is ridiculously hard to do. In any other subject matter it's fine to have sources from 2003 or 2005. With blogging and the internet that is like a lifetime ago, but hopefully the marker won't mind and will still have the mindset of someone who uses books as their main source. It is also practically impossible to find any books or academic essays on the subject. If anyone knows of any sources I could use other than wikipedia and Time magazine, then please do tell.
I do, however, have a ridiculous amount of web sources, CREDIBLE web sources, which should balance out the lack of books.

I am getting less and less worried about my exams next week; I have one on Monday and one on Wednesday. I'm not expecting anything more astounding than a pass, I just want to get into the third year, which sounds like a terrible philosophy, but... muh! I'm not sure what the lack of worrying is down to, maybe because I am feeling less ill or that I am actually doing a half decent amount of work for them. I dunno. Something about today has made me less stressed, calmer.

I have been strumming on George the ukulele between my writing bursts the last few days, I do like making my crude attempt at music. It might not be ground breaking stuff, but there is something increadibly satisfying about picking up an instrument and having it make sounds that are considered not just viable to your ears but to tohers as well. Granted I have only played to people thorugh skype, so the sound quality may be being very kind to me, but I htink I am making some kind of progress. I have now got my version of 'We're going to Ibiza' down to a T and am working on 'Biology' by Girls Aloud.
Saying I'm working on those songs makes me sound less credible all of a sudden. Haha.

On the music topic I have found a couple of lovely aritsts on myspace that I would like to share with you. Both are techno and poppy and alternative, all qualities I like in my musicians.

The first is an artist from Beijing called Sulumi. He remixes Gameboy music and it is effing amazing. he can be found >>>HERE<<<

the second is a young Italian girl who goes my the name of MEG and sounds very much like Bjork, which she probably gets a lot in reviews and stuff but that's only because it is true. I found her through whataboutadam's myspace and can be found >>>HERE<<<

Right I'm proibably going to go watch something on 4OD, eat some dinner, play some pokémon, do a bit more work on this essay then go to bed.

Long post today, hope I didn't bore you.

Can't be bothered to spell check so don't judge.

Jaz
:)

Chirpy Sunday Blog

2009-01-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

For some reason I am incredibly productive when I wake up early. I arose today with a toothache and a throbbing head from hell but now all seems to be cleared and well (probably due to the copious amounts of paracetamol I have taken, always read the label kids!) and I have accomplished a startling amount. I have done a bit of revision, almost mastered 'We're Going to Ibiza' by the Venga Boys on George the Ukulele and have created my own banner on paint. Granted it isn't going to be appearing in the Tate any time soon but I am proud of it.

That's an idea, an exhibition of people's YouTube banners, I should call someone important and arty about it.

I was going to go yoga today but decided against it. I went for a walk after teaching yesterday and it killed me, so I am going to shy away from any kind of physical activity until I can survive without the drugs. Instead I am going to go to Costa where I have one of those posh £20 gift voucher thingies that looks like a club card or a credit card (a present from Christmas). I am thinking free food... and so apparently is my tummy as it just grumbled.

Last night I also finally sent off my application for a study abroad programme in Beijing that is funded by the EU. All I have to do is pay for the flight out there and then I get food, accommodation and language lessons paid for, which should be sweet. I find out if I get in on the 16th of Feb. and the course itself is three weeks in March.

I am planning on doing a vlog today. Don't worry, Uke playing will be kept to a minimal.
:)

Also! did i mention I got featured? That was nice :)

Uke

2009-01-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about buying one for a while. I am planning on traveling a lot and this is a small and easily transportable instrument and apparently easy to learn. and so here he is. still thinking of a name.
I am hoping the Nunes and the Alex (and Tessa and Tom) are proud. It has taken me a long time to pluck up the courage to jump on the band wagon.
I am now going to learn some chords.
^_^
happy new year btw

New Shoes!

2008-12-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

My family and I went to London today for some good old fashioned Christmas fun. My Dad was awesome and bought me these trainers (sneakers if you're American) of the Reebok variety.

I love them.

I love him.

Shoes are clearly the way to my heart.

(and yes, I know the photo is sideways, deal with it)

Merry Christmas!!!

Holidays

2008-12-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Gah!
I've never been very good at holidays. I don't like being lifted out of my routine to which my body ad mind has become quite contempt to be bombarded with lots of television, food and family all at once.
Don't get me wrong, I love seeing family and friends again. But I don't like reajusting to life back at home.

God, if this is too much a shock to the system then how the hell am I going to survive moving to China next September?! I'm gonna be fucked!

I had also promised myself that I would work hard over this break cuz I have exams in mid-January. This has proven less than sucessful. I have done some work but not nearly enough revision as I had wanted. To be fair once Christmas finishes I should be able to knuckle down. I just don't want to screw these up. I have a chance of doing really well if I apply myself. Fingers crossed.

With Christmas I am genuinly looking forward to the giving and the reaction of people getting the presents I have got them than the ones I am going to recieve. Mainly because I know my presents arn't going to be what they used to be, maybe also because I am getting older and more miserable. :P

I am going to Bristol for Christmas and we'll be traveling down Christmas Day. Hoping for empty roads. We go there every other year cuz that's where my mum's side of the family is from. It's fun. I am hoping to be getting some footage and annoy people with my camera mucho this festive season.

This is all
I am tired. Insomnia ftw!

hugs
<3

I am Weak

2008-12-13T08:36:00.001-08:00

I went into town today with the expressed desire to just buy myself some lunch and then leave. I ended up paying way too much for my lunch and, after accidentally falling into HMV, two albums and a piece of Gorillaz artwork.

I am weak.

To be fair, the CDs were the Gorillaz 'Demon Days' for £4 and a double disc set of Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' and 'Mystery White Boy' for £6. I am currently listening to Grace and orgasming all over the place.

I subsequently saw some amazing limited edition Gorillaz art work on my way out but said to myself, 'No Jazza! Think of the starving children in Africa!'

I of coarse left the shop, when to the ATM, got out the £5 I needed to buy it, re-entered HMV and purchased it.

But come on! It was marked down to a Fiver from £18! and with a student discount and lower VAT it was a bargain.
Plus it's effin beautiful!

P.S. Can you tell I have figured out how to use the picture function on my video camera now. :P

Just Plain Gross

2008-12-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is the communal area where I live. We are a flat of blokes and this is what has resulted in not having a stern woman figure telling us we are dirty and disgusting:

I just wish I had some slef respect... or that I lived with a female... Not that I am being sexist and saying that I would make a girl flatmate clean up. Cuz I wouldn't. If she wanted I would help!

-EDIT- and today we failed an inspection, surprise surprise.

Happy Teacher Time

2008-12-11T02:10:00.000-08:00

So, I know I usually use this blog in quite an emo fashion, to moan and complain, but today I thought I would express some happiness. I taught one of my English classes yesterday and it was an effin ball, I had genuinly forgotten how much I had missed teaching, planning and being in front of a class and seeing them get it, it's the greatest feeling. Of corse there are those that don't want to work, that will get annoyed when I come over to see how they are getting on (one of them tried to hide in her bag... you're 13 for Christ's sake!) but all in all it was a really sucessful class.

Also, because my group are all pre pubescent girls I got Christmas cards, one of them had forgotten my name (the call me Mr. Jazza <3) and so put in the card, "To our 'handsome' teacher." Not sure why she chose to put handsome on quotation marks but I still thought it was really cute.
Good news in terms of teaching as well; one of the teachers for the ESOL classes (which are the ones they run for adults) can't teach on Sunday so they have asked me to stand in and they're going to pay me and everything! I am proper nervous though, it's a three hour class and the longest I have taught before now is only an hour and a half, but it should be good experience, I'll learn alot from it.

In other news I have started planning a story that I have had in my head for donkey's. It's the first time I have actually put down any thought I have had about anything story related, mainly because I hate writing, I have to do paragraphs in short bursts and then have a cup of tea or something.
So far I think the best way to describe it is a cross between 1984, Firefly, Tank Girl and Terry Pratchet with a little bit of Elektra Natchios thrown in. I'm not sure what the outcome of it will be, part of me likes the idea of graphic novel, part of me likes anime, part of me like plain old normal book novel. However, the outcome will probably be nothing.

Also, I am doing something very risky here, this year, my theme for Christmas presents is mugs (which i will then customise for each person), and I am just over half way finishing most of them. I am pretty sure most of the people affected by these presents do not read this blog, and even if they do they won't be able to tell who's is who, or the detail, so here is a pic of them, I am quite proud:

Old Jazza - New Jazza

2008-12-06T15:33:00.001-08:00

Warning, this is very long and even I am not too sure what it is about.

Welcome to Jazza's train of thought.

*WARNING* emo levels are high

I am currently using any excuse under the sun to distract myself from a Chinese essay I am currently about 2/3 of the way through. It's my last chance to get a proper decent mark on for my Chinese writing module in that is that last of three chances I get (they take the highest mark you get over the term and the last two have been distinctly average) but I'm just not feeling it. Another low 2-1 me thinks.

I am currently thinking of the vlog I did just yesterday and am content. I was genuinely nervous about it when I was recording, feeling like I was very out of practice, but it turned out well. I joked about it but it was what I originally did on YouTube and it was nice to go visit my roots again.

A consequence to doing a vlog after such a long time was that a lot of my very old vlogs came up in the description and good god they were cringe worthy. I was, quite frankly, a great big self promotional whore. As well as being distinctly average at editing. I watched one specific one in which I was over the moon about reaching 90 subscribers, which in retrospect is a very arbitrary number to be so happy about. I say how happy I am and then proceed to whore myself for a large majority of the video saying why people should subscribe to me and tell as many people as they can that I exist. And this was me just over a year ago.

I can't stand people who do that, just whore themselves, focusing on the subscriber and views numbers rather than their content and the people behind the screen names that are gracious enough to comment. I even deliberately never ask people to subscribe because I think it's rude. Have I really changed that much in 14 months?

Saying it like that 14 month is a reasonably long time. I mean, a baby could have been conceived and born just over one and a half times by then! Looking back this year, with Uni, YouTube, teaching and holding down God knows how many jobs over the summer just gone must have changed me.

I feel older now... which is a stupid thing to say because I am. But I feel like I can hold my own in a debate, a conversation with practically anyone whether it be my family, my subscribers or a room full of the top people from the News of the World (I never told you about that... woops).

I used to be a bit of a blunder. People knew that I was kinda smart in that I had a brain between my ears but I was always seen as a bit dopey, a bit of a screw ball. But now I have this voice that people listen too and value as a genuine opinion. It's nice. I guess that's why I was apprehensive about vlogging again, I didn't want to go back to being the hyper, goofy one.

I was invited to a Christmas do that my old school does every year for ex-students and I was elated that I wouldn't have to go due to the fact my term finishes too late because I didn't want to just be Jazza again. The Jazza in the heads of all the people I used to know at school is no where near the Jazza that exists now.

But I guess I'm allowed to be goofy-me. The majority of people who commented on my latest vlog told me that I didn't need a new channel because they like that I'm not just this robot that talks about news like a TV anchor. I think I should embrace old Jazza more. But no matter what anyone says, I am not going to that Christmas party.

Keep Safe
Jaz

*EDIT* So, from essays, to being a whore, to being goofy, to being listened to, to Christmas parties... My mental process is... how do the French say?
Merde

A Vlog

2008-12-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

In which I asked the peeps who watch me whether I should have a separate channel for vlogs... to which the resounded, 'NO!'

I was really nervous about posting this, it has been a long time since I made a vlog and I felt a bit silly.

It also featured two Chinese pastries; one shaped like a cat, the other like a boob.

Hacked

2008-12-04T13:19:00.001-08:00

I always wondered how it feels to be hacked, seeing the likes of Jaydee, the 5AGirls and sxephil go through it gets the mind thinking. Now it happened to me, and it's bloody hilarious!

Firstly I practically gave them my password on a silver platter. I got a message from the fiveawesomeguys channel posing as Charlie saying that they wanted to upload a promotional video on my channel. I of coarse said yes and proceeded to give them my password... yes, I know, je suis thick as shit!

I remember thinking, this is weird, doesn't seem like something Charlie and they boys would do, but no, my brain was too busy concentrating on the mugs I was painting. More on them later.

the channel posing as the guys btw was fiveawseomeguys, with the s and e switched round. They clearly knew that I am dyslexic and don't notice letter order problems. :P

So now they have control of my channel, of the number one reporter in the UK (I still don't count Jaydee). In their position what would you do? upload a video promoting yourself? Delete all the videos? Leave offensive comments on other people's walls? Change the colour of the home page, change the profile description to say my name is Mr. HorneyBush and transform the channel to Guru?
Well apparently they thought the latter would cause the most destruction... I'm thinking they weren't planning on this little gimmick working and me handing over the password so easily. To be fair until now even I didn't think I would ever be that stupid, shows ya huh?!

All in all I am just sitting back and enjoying watching what they are doing and tinkering with. It's all quite amusing. I just want my channel back so I can watch my subscriptions and change myself back to reporter... I think I may keep my name as Mr. HorneyBush.

When all is said and done, I know YouTube can fix whatever they try and do.

Drop by my channel in the next few hours and have a look at what hilarity these people are cooking up.

x

Roll on Christmas

2008-12-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

Good God I am shit at blogging. How long has it been?... can't be bothered to look so we will say a good few weeks. I don't know how Alex and the like do it.

I seem to say that I am extremely busy in every post I put up here, this is probably because I genuinely am, but now I am even more so than ever.

I am now volunteering two days a week at WaiYin which is an organisation that provides a community for Chinese immigrants, specifically women and children. I am teaching English to a group of giggly girls on Wednesdays for an hour and tutor a kid with 'learning difficulties' on Saturdays, also for an hour. I have also just landed my first payed teaching job, teaching a girl from a Malaysian family a couple of hours a week. I met the family for the first time yesterday and they were having a domestic whilst interviewing me, multi-tasking ftw! So far as I can tell the argument was over gravy... no joke.

I am also falling behind in my languages, mostly Catalan and Chinese, my brain just feels like it can't take in any more vocabulary. I'm also not sure if I am being lazy or not, putting in enough work... I guess my grades will soon tell.

Under this stress I have kinda started smoking socially again, don't jump down my throat about it, I know it silly and shitty, I just need to relax somehow. I haven't had a proper night out in about a month. I haven't been to the gym regularly for a couple of weeks now either, is this a slippery slope?

I am just desperate for a holiday of some kind (he says just weeks after coming back from America). I just want to not have to get up for anything for a while.

For the reason of my overloaded-ness I had to turn down working with Dennis on his new project for davisfleetwood, which would have been amazing but I just can't be dealing any more than I have to right now, I am struggling to keep rhyming afloat tbh.

I don't mean to be moany, I know for a fact other people on YouTube are having a much worse time of it than me right now but bluuuuuuuurgh!

In other news I went to see a stage production of one of my favourite Chinese novels, Monkey: Journey to the West, which involved a collaboration with a Chinese theatre troop and the guys behind the Gorillaz. It was awesome, but something was missing from the actual show, I had such high hopes for it and it just seemed to lack... something. The x-factor? lolz

I am also hoping to go and see La Clique with Paul at some point before Christmas which should be fun. It's a variety show with women doing amazing things with their sexual organs, strip dances and people rolling around in baths, amongst other things. If we go it should be awesome.

Roll on Christmas.

Jaz
x

Collab Channel Whore

2008-11-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

I was on VlogRamen yesterday, and after being on 5AGirls on Monday and once standing in for Alex on 5AGuys I feel I can safely be labeled as a YouTube Collab Channel Whore.

Here is the VlogRamen video, purely because this page is just text at the moment and needs to be broken up with something:

In other news I am getting better with my jet-lag/ weird-sleeping-pattern-that-isn't-even-Seattle-time-any-more. But only in the fact that I am waking up at 3.30 in the morning rather than 1.

I am volunteering today and going to see Quantum of Solace, w00ts will be had.

Standard Blog

2008-11-14T05:03:00.000-08:00

Havn't just blogged in a while/ ever so here I go.

I got mentioned in Charlie's video that he posted last night and got an extra wave of about 100 subscribers and on top of the 100-odd that I got off 5AGirls I have gone up a fair bit in the last week by doing... well nothing.

Aside from shaving off my hair.

Speaking of which people seem to like. My boss at Fuse FM today just stared at me for about 10 seconds looking all confused and just said, "Jazza?" He then went on to say I actually looked like a human being now, which was nice of him. I just wish people had told me I didn't look human before I had cut it off and then I could have made the changes earlier.
I think I'm going to keep it short now, or at least for the forseable future. I think it looks good.

I am meant to be the flavour packet of the week on VlogRamen today. I am having issues with my computer, as per usual, so I may have to film and edit it on one of my frieds lesser-quality cameras but regardless something will be on that channel before the day is out. I am meant to talk about martial arts... confused as to how I am going to work with that.

The computer issue is also why I havn't posted on rhyming for a while. I got a virus, had to have the computer wiped and now have a laptop that has none of the necessairy programs that I need for editing, socialising, etc.

I have such a hard life.

Speaking of a hard life I meet this kid that I am meant to be teaching for the first time tomorrow. very excited. I am volunteering at Wai Yin which is an organisation that helps out with the Chinese-English community in Manchester. I am on the youth project and because I have an English teaching qualification I have been asked to so some tutorials with this kid called Ken. He has 'learning difficulties' and has been through two tutors already so I hope I will do OK. What kind of difficulties I don't know yet, which is kinda annoying, but I get to look at his file half an hour before I meet him tomorrow. Would have liked more time but hey ho.

Which reminds me, I have to write him a test to find out his level of English... poop!

In other news I am trying to get in touch with the people who make Sexy Beijing to see if they do work experience. I would want to do it next summer before I start my official year abroad in China in September and love their work. I just hope they do internships... *crosses fingers*

I think that is all I need to be talking about right now.

Video will be up asap, I promis you big time!

*love&hugs*
Jaz
x

11/11

2008-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

I am home! I have missed it, my little island called Britain. No matter how much an awesome time I had (which I did) I did miss it so - rain and all.

America is a lovely place, a bit weird but everyone I met was nice and genuine and made me feel happy and wanted, especially Kristina and all her flat mates, I will miss you all.

I will say that the language barrier was a problem. When I had my lay over in Amsterdam I genuinely felt more understood speaking to the Dutch compared with America where a cookie is a biscuit, a biscuit is a scone and scones don't exist.

I wanted to tell a little story that is completely unrelated though.

When I arrived in Manchester it was reaching 11 o'clock. Now, today was the eleventh of the eleventh and this day, every year, in the UK at least, there is a two minute silence to commemorate the people who layed down their lives for their country and people and their freedom in wars throughout history. So for two minutes every year the whole country grinds to a halt, women, children, men of all shapes, sizes and colours in a breif moment of unity. And it makes me so proud to be part of the human race.
The respect, the humility that is expressed with this anual ritual honestly blows me away every time and I am proud to be a part of it.
It feels kinda silly to say I am proud to be part of a two minute silence, but I am, ok! So there! *sticks out tongue*

I'm not sure how many other nations do this, I am pretty sure Japan don't because there was a Japanese woman at the airport wandering around with her trolley looking very confused as all the people stood still and silent. It made me chuckle.

There wasn't much point to this story, it's probably the jet-leg making me all sentimental.

Videos will come soon.

Oh and btw, got my hair cut, see it here.

I am also reading Barack's book 'The Audacity of Hope'. I like his writing style. He uses a lot of comas, like me! ^_^

Americaland

2008-10-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

So, I'm in America, which is lovely.

Kristina and her flat mates have really made me feel at home and part of the 'family'. Me and Sam have banter, it's all good.

While I am here there are many things that I will hopefully be doing as well as accompanying Kristina to her larger lectures where I can blend in and pretending to be an authentic University of WA student. (I get a kick out of blending in where I don't belong, as long as I don't open my mouth I feel like I'm an impostor-ninja).

Tonight is Halloween and I have heard the Americans love this holiday. I have already seen a few interesting costumes around the University campus (where I am now) including Minnie Mouse and Tinky Winkey. We are meant to be doing costume shopping later today and then onto some party/ gathering style things later where my part piece will probably be saying Tofu (which, when I say it, apparently sounds like 'Thai Food').

Talking of shopping I am scared I havn't brought enough currency with me. I brought $200 but have already spend $30 in a day... I honestly don't know how. So this leaves me to survive on $17-ish a day... which could be interesting.

Another worry is that we are going to Canada tomorrow to hang out with Molly (of meme fame) and with currency change what the hell am I gonna use? I need to find out how much I will be charged for using an ATM when I am here, because It will be close to inevitable I fear. (hehe, that rhymes)

There are many other things that I will be doing but I don't want to spoil the surprise... also, I can't really remember right now.

I am also trying to do a little project with video here, getting at least a few seconds of clips each day and then editing them together in a Johnny Durham style thing. We will see how that pans out.

Untill then
Peace
*less than three*

Brand

2008-10-29T23:58:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a while, on here or on the Tube, and for that I am sorry but I have been very busy and struggling with computer issues. And now I am going on holiday, but at some point in the ever nearing future things will go back to normal, I promise.

I want to talk about this drama with Russel Brand that is captivating Britain at the moment. You international readers will probably not understand this, but I will try to explain.

Two of the biggest presenting personalities in the UK are Russel Brand and Jonathan Ross. Both have incredibly successful and popular television and radio shows working with the BBC. Now, over a week ago now Brand had Ross on as a guest on his show. During said show an interview was scheduled with an actor, for some reason he didn't pick up and in Brand's usual way he decided to make a joke of it. He proceeded to make up songs and crack jokes on said actor's answer machine, the controversial one including the fact that he had slept with the actor's granddaughter.

The press have finally gotten hold of this and blown this up into the largest scandal since the BBC asked the Queen to remove her crown. Even after apologising profusely Brand has now quit his radio show and both are not being broadcast on either television or radio. And all of this a whole week after the interview took place; the papers didn't start talking about it till the Sunday just gone.

Now, I am not ashamed to say that I am a huge fan of Brand's work, he is crude and overstepped the line sometimes, but he is a comedian and he himself has said that he only wants to make people laugh. He is also almost universally liked throughout my age-group and a role model for many in my generation. The fact is, none of the usual listeners complained about the messages. We understand the take and humour of the show and know that Brand can sometimes overstep the mark. But now millions of new people have been involved, saying that he is a disgrace to the BBC and Britain that he shouldn't have even had a show in the first place (he doesn't any more, these people should be happy). People who do not understand that Brand has a crude style and the fact that the subject matter varies very little from show to show.

Brand and Ross have apologised, and I agree they should have lied low for a while but I think it is disgusting that Brand has been put in a position where he has felt he has had to quit. The matter of being insulted is between Andrew Sachs (the actor for whom the messages were left) and the show. In my opinion the views of all these people people who do not listen to Brand regularly is void.

I must say I am also very disappointed with Brand. Despite this huge scandal that has been blown up there was no need for him to quit. You win some you loose some, and yes he has lost many over this but he is going to hugely disappoint millions of fans. He has branded (no pun intended) himself as anti-society and a maverick. But the way he has handled this has to be honest let me down and shows he obviously didn't believe in his work as a whole. We all have bad shows Brand, I myself have made bad videos and mistakes on YouTube, you just have to brush yourself off, apologise and admit your mistake, and refuse to give in at what you believe in. Belief in himself was not something I expected Russell Brand to lack.

This is long.

You will probably see me on various other channels in the next week or so. So keep an eye out.

I am in the airport by the way, about to get on my plane to Seattle.

*love&hugs*

Jaz

poopy

2008-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who would like to know:

1) I am going to Seattle in... 7 days. This means that I have to do as much of the work I would origionally be doing in the holiday week of 3rd - 9th Nov. before the 30th Oct. I have one huge essay (3000words) on the demise of footbinding to do (I have done 99% of the necessairy reading and planned the introduction, background and placing it in a cultural and historical context... that's about 1/6 of the way through). As well as a 300 character Chinese essay due on Tuesday.

2) My computer is quite frankly being a dick-head. It runs on the two forms of 'Safe Mode' but not on the 'Normal' windows option. If I try to run it normally it either freezes when I get to the desktop or doesn't get to the desktop at all. I have tried resetting to a previous date, restarting several times etc etc. I have spoken to a friend and aparently it has something to do with it being Windows Vista, which this lap top came with, so downgrading back to XP is not an option.

frustrated.

I am just very stressed right now. many things are going wrong all at once. At this rate I will be turned away at customes when I get to the US.
*touch wood*

I have the blinkers on and am working hard, hence not alot o YouTube right now although there are many stories I would like to cover and discuss with you guys. Oh well.

I hope you all understand.

I'm gonna go eat something and do a bit of work before going to bed.

byebye

Jaz

Edit:
3) I also have a bolt (as in nuts &) of a spot (as in pimple) on my neck that is really effin painful.

... like I said...

poopy.

why we are all going bust

2008-10-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

MyBoxxCollective is back on and this is my first contribution to the project for a while:

I am proper proud of this, took alot of research and many phone calls to my dad (who loves this sort of thing) making sure I got it right.

Please check out the MyBoxx YouTube and the Blog. It's a really interesting and exciting project that I am doing with Laurbubble, NSG and BaryAldridge.

Peace

An Interview

2008-10-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

A lovely girl called Kayleigh asked me to do a written interview for her for a project she was doing and I wanted to put it up here, so here it is... I warn you, it's quite long:

1. What made you begin to incorporate politics into your blogs?

This is genuinely the first time I have actively thought about why I started, so thank you.

To be honest I kinda stumbled into politics. In the new year of 2008, when I had been on YouTube for about 6 months, I had done a couple of vlogs centred around education and exams (on which subjects I have strong opinions) and had also started reading the paper regularly a couple of months previously. I then did a couple of videos where I discussed articles in the paper that I thought were interesting, people seemed to enjoy them and so I began to do them regularly (I think I started doing two a week, which in retrospect was very ambitious, I now try to do one a week).

When I started with politics I had wanted to take the channel in a new direction anyway. I had grown restless being just another vlogger that occasionally did comedy skits (that to be honest weren’t very good). I didn’t feel like I got a lot back from it. I mean, I got feedback, but it wasn’t very constructive. I would receive comments saying either “You’re awesome” or “Shut Up!” Now I have this kind of discussion thing going I get to chat and debate with my viewers and they always have interesting things to say. I get to learn new things and see things from other people’s perspectives. I really get a kick when people message me saying that I have sparked a new found interest in current events and politics and have made them care about the world around them. That’s nice, probably the reason I am still doing this over a year on.

2. Do you select the stories you discuss based on your own political views, or on what you see as an important story to a wider audience?

At the beginning it was definitely centred around what I was interested in, mainly the UK education system and some science stories. I have now branched out. I’ve covered Tibet, the Olympics, sex, immigration, patriotism. Now a days I definitely pick my stories based on what I think will stimulate a good discussion in terms of getting feedback from a lot of different viewpoints. For example my last “Selling your Virginity” story. I had been waiting to talk about that because I knew there would be huge spectrum of opinions. I also deliberately try not to do too many discussions based around the same topic around the same time. So if I have covered education for the past two videos I will deliberately choose a new fresher topic. I am very conscious I have an audience, they are why I do this.

3. Do you feel that the way that you conduct news style vlogs differs in any way from the way you do "ordinary" vlogs?

There is definitely a huge difference. For one my political vlogs are scripted, whereas with a normal vlog I will just have some bullet points I want to talk about or sometimes I even just switch the camera on and blab, although I haven’t done that in a while. My political vlogs are also much shorter and snappier in terms of editing. It is very normal for my normal vlogs to hit the ten minute mark with only a couple of cuts where most of my news ones rarely pass 3 minutes and are heavily edited. In the news vlogs I also try to have a consistent background, where the regular ones I will quite often sit on the floor or in my bed, they are much more relaxed.

4. How does your news-telling differ between your written and video blogs?

Not a lot, I have often thought that the few political blogs I have written could easily just be the scripts to a video. This is just how I write though. I have never excelled with writing, I have always been much more of a verbal person, hence why I had a vlog on YouTube way before I started writing on a blog.

5. How does your audience react to your news blogs?

I ask for their opinions on the story and generally they will happily give them. Without my viewers the current format I have on my channel would have little point as the interesting stuff happens in the comments with people debating with me and between them-selves. I like to think they watch me because they enjoy talking about the stuff I bring to the table. In short, I do hope they enjoy them.

6. Do you think that blogging is a good way to deliver stories regarding current affairs? That is do you think people are more likely to read your blog and believe what you say because you are 'just like them'?

I certainly don’t think it is or should be the only way for people to get their information on the world. In a 3 minute video I can come nowhere near to the accuracy and quality of content as say, BBC News. I definitely believe there is a market for it though in terms of the fact that, yes, I am not just some drone reading off an auto cue (although it is scripted they are my own words, and I am much more casual) and that I offer up my opinions. So yes I do think people like watching me because they can relate to me better than your average anchor. I think because they have a dialogue with me they are more likely to value my opinion more than some guy in a suite on the TV. I also have the advantage of having a dialogue and instant feedback with my viewers, which people like Sky News and BBCNews couldn’t even dream of at the moment. Not that I am trying to compare myself to media moguls like BSkyB and the BBC. ;)

7. Do you use any blogs to get information on current affairs?

Yes but I do tend to watch and read them more for the way they are presented then the content. I still consider the daily paper and Radio 4 my main sources of current affairs. Although I always enjoy seeing what people like gnooze, the resident and politico have to say about what is happening in the world. A site I do use to get stories though is Digg.com, as well as of course the BBC website and any links my subscribers send me.

8. What are your feeling on YouTube creating a News & Politics genre for videos? DO you feel that the increase of news blogs has made this happen?

I certainly don’t think YouTube would have created the genre unless there was a demand for it. And the political content on YouTube is huge at the moment, from Obama Girl to Politico. And especially in the face of the US general elections. Internet video has played a huge roll in the election and I am really excited to see how that will continue in the future. This media provides a two way dialogue that has been missing from politics and any politician would be silly not to use this to his advantage. I mean, just look at Obama to see the results.

Playing the Game

2008-10-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first meeting with my disability aid counsellor (I'm not sure if that is his official title, but we will stick with this for the moment). No need to worry, I am not mentally challenged or missing a limb, I am just dyslexic.
We were discussing an aspect of education I particularly despise... apart from spelling, which is essay writing.

I was explaining the fact that, in general, when I get essays back I seem to receive the same comments which go along the lines of;

"Really good points Jazza but this isn't how an essay is meant to be written."

I struggle to grasp the 'correct' language needed to write an academic essay, I will write an essay in a very similar style to how I write this blog. It is chatty, informal. The points are there, it has structure and a valid drive, I am just not restricting myself to the formula that will create 100 identical essays on the Spanish Civil War (for example).
But apparently in the academic world they don't want essays with a chatty style. What can I do? I write it how I would speak it, that is how my brain works.

I told my counsellor (his name is Andrew) how I thought this was unfair, ridiculous and that I couldn't understand how I am going to grow as an 'academic' (I can't even type that with a straight face) if I am going to be shackled to being the exact same as everyone else for foreseeable future of this degree.

He then told me this:

"You've got to play their game. After you graduate you can do what the hell you want. But for the mean time, just play the game."

This has not sat well with me.

I am very much my father's son when it comes to authority in that unless it makes sense I cannot simply sit there and pretend everything is peachy. When I was in the navy it was different, there are rules and a status quo in that kind of environment to stop people getting hurt and so that decisions get made (I am not saying they are always the correct decision but that is another story).

I cannot stand, however, that I am going to have to conform to a ridiculous guideline that does nothing but restrict me in the work I produce for the next 3 years. These are MY points that I am trying to put across and argue. Surely MY style is the best way to accomplish this, not a technique that every sodding person has to live by.

But, that said, what the hell CAN I do?

I need this degree...

Do I need this degree?

...

Billericay Dickie

2008-10-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know I am from the beautiful county of Essex, if you who don't know where that is; I am afraid we can no longer be friends.

Around the centre of the bottom of my wondrous home county is a quaint town called Billericay. This is where I have resided all my life. I would like to pretend that It is nice there... but it isn't... it's full of old people, but it does have a lovely Chinese Restaurant where I have spent many a birthday called Yau's by the train station, if you're ever near there pop in there and order the Peking Duck.

However I digress.

I was told by my land lady when I was in Barcelona that there was a song about my beloved home town called 'Billericay Dickie' and I was shocked that I have never heard of it. I have only just now listened to the track and I feel it demonstrates an accurate depiction of Billericay and Essex as a whole... be it an Essex of the late 70's but no matter!

Listen, this is what the culture of Essex sounds like:

The Video Rupublic

2008-10-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just got a PM on youtube with this video attched to it, It contains snippets from loads of people on YouTube, including me, Alex, Charlie, Katrina, Molly, NSG (if you look closely) and loads of others.

Maybe I am suceptible to this kind of stuff but with everything that is happening at the moment, with the Mystery Packages, this 'Video Republic' thing and other ideas that people have approached me about but it feels like people have finally caught onto us, have finally recognised that we have something here, not just on YouTube but as a whole generation. I dunno, I just think this is a really exciting time to be involved in this community.

Stuff is happening people!

Naive?

The Hair and Other Things

2008-09-30T17:46:00.001-07:00

I can't sleep so blogging is what I will do.

Ok, just so you know I probably won't be cutting my hair on Friday. I have a few job interviews coming up in the next week or so and I don't want to look like a skin head as a first impression. However hair will be shaved off, but roughly one month from now when I am Seattle with the lovely Kristina. She will be doing the cutting and the video will be uploaded to fiveawesomegirls. So we still have a good month of hair left and more time to promote and to raise more money. I havn't spoken to the other guys about this yet (ie Alex and Charlie) but I hope it is ok and they will understand.

There will be a video uploaded to RWO on Friday explaining all this. I hope people won't think I am a cop out, to be fair I am still going to do it.

I uploaded a video earlier this evening about the trip to Poole with the RNLI and other YouTubers and then realised I didn't explain the situation (ie the mystery packages, who the eff the RNLI are etc) so I had to add in an annotation and explain myself in the side bar. I hate annotations.

Most people in the comments so far seem to be more preocupied about my hair coming off, so muh.

Here is the video in question:

Regardless I really like how this video turned out, some of my better editing skills coming through... didn't even know I had any so yay for me.

I have also just now finished a collab I have been working on for over a month and a half with the gnooze, davisfleetwood and the resident. I am probably going to upload this to RWO on Sunday, but I want to get their approval first so it may be later.

No videos for ages then I decide to make 3 in one week. Overcompensation? I think I need to give myself a rota again.

*love&hugs*
Jaz

2008-09-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

I'm worried

I'm worried I have lost my chance to get the third series of my radio show.

I'm worried I have let my Chinese slip far too much over the summer.

I'm worried I am letting YouTube slip (nearly three weeks without a video is kinda hard core).

I'm worried this teaching English malarkey is going to fall flat on it's face.

I'm worried I'm not going to be able to focus enough this year to get any work done.

I'm worried about my group of friends and the cohesiveness there of.

I'm worried I'm not getting involved enough in extra stuff at Uni.

I'm worried I'm worrying too much about this whole thing.

For some reason the second year is so much harder than the first.

Quit whining Jazza, be a man.

I promis I will not post on here again untill I am up beat and loving life.

- Jaz

Real Life

2008-09-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am scared that I am taking on too much stuff this year. What with teaching and learning three language at once and other things that I don't think I can tell you about as of yet.

In other news I really want to go to Charlie's for his birthday and shave my hair off but am scared I can't cuz I have lectures the next day and I am poor.

At least the fangirls will be happy that the mop won't get the chop.

oh, that rhymes ^_^

This video is cute:

I wish I could focus on stuff.

*luv&hugz*

Jaz

Papering over the Proverbial Cracks

2008-09-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

This blog was intended for MyBoxx but the account doesn't seem to exist any more... so I am posting it here:

Over the past week the Labour Party has put on a remarkable show of cohesion, especially seeing as it was not so long ago that the papers were showing polls in the most popular MP to take over from Good-old-Gordon (the run away leader in that particular survey was the over-smiley David Miliband with something like 42%)

However, now all the paid for speeches, fringe meetings and free lunches have been inhaled by the over pampered journalists and politicians, we all love Gordon again because he acted on HBOS and wants more poor families to have Internet access. And I must say; my love/ hate relationship with him is warming yet again... What can I say? I am very susceptible to spin.

Although I genuinely believe Mr Brown is the right person to be leading the country (at least at the moment, ask me again tomorrow) what I fear we have seen here is a papering over of the cracks of dis-contempt in Labour and one big 'We are all fine' smile for the conference that can only be compared to a dysfunctional family on the day of the family photograph.

The thing is, papering over the cracks doesn't last long, and I am doubtful that Labour will be able to survive the next 18 months before the forthcoming general election without at least one more wave of rebellion. We have of course already seen scandal one day after Gordon's speech with the resignation of one of his senior ministers, Ruth Kelly, apparently for personal reasons.

What I will say for the party is that they have countered the criticism, responded to crisis (HBOS) and scraped together what solidarity they could muster for the conference, unlike the Tories who seem to have just stuck their heads in the sand and waited for Gordon to fuck up, which he hasn't, so it will be interesting to see what ammunition David Cameron can come up with for the Conservative Party Conference on the 28th.

It ain't over 'till the Toff-Tories sing.

I bid you fare well.

Jazza.

Fresher(')s Week

2008-09-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

OH GOOD GOD I HATE NOT BEING ABLE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET!!!

For those of you that don't know my laptop is off being repaired because I sat on it when I was in Barcelona. Yes I am that much of a spaz.
It comes back tomorrow (hopefully) and I have been surviving by mooching off of computer clusters and the Internet capabilities of many of my lovely friends (thank you all).

This has meant no videos, no blogs, and only limited IM and Facebook which, as well as metaphorically kicking me in the balls in terms of my social life, has ruffled the feathers of many good friends I have online.

Don't worry - I haven't been avoiding you, technology just hates me.

So I have moved up to Uni(versity) in the sunny city of Manchester and am currently in Fresher's Week (is that meant to have an apostrophe? I should probably know seeing as I am meant to be teaching English next week, ARGH!) and quite honestly I had forgotten how much I hated it.

I am generally not a very good example of a stereotypical student in that I have a vague idea of what I want to do with my life, I don't drink and won't go anywhere near a cuppa-soup. In terms of going out I will be quite happy to go out dancing with a few mates, but for God's sake can we please do something other than shuffling around in a club like a pack of sweaty sardines every weekend? I would much rather spend a fiver going to the movies or cooking a meal or going to a gig (ok, a gig will more often than not be more than a fiver... as will a meal but you get my drift) than spending £20 for tickets to a club where they squirt watered down vodka at your face. I wear contact lenses! What if it gets in my eye?!

The point of it is that Fresher(')s week is the epitome of everything I can't stand about student life. Mob mentality, alcohol and so many fliers shoved in your face that you wonder how many rain forests have perished just so you can know about the wonders of '90's Roller Disco on Saturday nights at Pure!' on glossy paper.

Am I old, tired and grumpy?

Yes I am.

Jaz

emo-politics

2008-09-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

I really want to start using this more, to be able to use this as a way to express myself etc. There are people like Alex who will update their blog automatically, it's second nature to them. For me this is still very forced, my first medium has always been video making and I guess in my head this feels like a backward step, but I think it is important for me to learn how to get my thoughts down on the proverbial paper, rather than just being able to speak about.

I am going to tell you a little story;

It is fair to say that my politics tends to land left of centre, which some people will argue means that I enjoy having money taken away from me and spent on things that will not benefit me in any way... and they are more or less right.

My family however is very right wing. They are pretty much all conservative, and with me as the only socialist at the table it makes for... let's say, 'heated' debate at family get-togethers. It will often start with my Grandad asking something along the lines of:

"So, Jazza. What do you think of so and so that has been happening in the political scene"

And as a subject matter that I see myself as very clued up on (current affairs) a comment like this is a life line for me in the midst of deep conversation about how many bogey they got on the new golf course in Chelmsford and their profound thoughts into the future of English cricket (snoooooooore). Understandably, I nearly always take the bait.

Now, those of you that watch me on YouTube will know I am quite good at putting my point across, in my videos and in real life conversation I am quite good at sounding knowledgeable about 'current affairs'.

However, when that moment comes, my Grandad throws me the barbed hook and I step up to the plate in an atmosphere of great drama akin to cross between Mastermind and Gladiator

I choke.

For some reason, when faced with my Grandfather's very strong opinions, all of a sudden my opinion is void. I feel like my view doesn't equate to anything and the best retort to one of his epic speeches, that will sometimes last more than ten minutes, will be something along the lines of:

"... I'm not sure I agree with you."

I am unable to articulate, as I would normally be able to in normal conversation. And the worst thing is I begin to question my own values and ethics when faced against him and his views...

I used to hate politics, and this is why:

I didn't believe that it was possible to define yourself as either right or left, Conservative or Labour, Republican or Democrat. And I thought I had finally found my niche in the centre left. But the more I have to try and prove my chosen position in the political spectrum, the more I find myself shooting blanks, and unable to back up my own views. I identify with the left I really do, but there are parts of the right that I completely empathise with as well.

Am I going to have to try and find my niche all over again? Or am I destined to just float around in politics, not sure which side of the fence to jump in to.

I think this entry could be defined as emo-politics.

Jaz