November in Qingdao

Burnin' Coal by Les McCann

FEAR by Ian Brown

Hilarious Chinglish by ADV China

"None of us is ever going to leave this godforsaken wasteland. What is it with this place? It’s like a radioactive Georgia O’Keefe hellscape out there, crawling with coral snakes and scorpions. Ever seen the movie The Hills Have Eyes? It’s a documentary. God forbid your car breaks down and you have to walk ten steps. You got a melanoma the size of a pineapple where your head used to be.” – Better Call Saul, Season 1, Episode 10

Escape To Eternity by Sir Ridley & Waveshaper

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.

Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

“Brutus” and “Caesar”...
What should be in that “Caesar”?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ’em,
“Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.”

Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!

When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome,
That her wide walks encompassed but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough
When there is in it but only one man.

O, you and I have heard our fathers say
There was a Brutus once that would have brooked
Th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.

Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616
Cassius speaks to Brutus

Ocean Skin Miracle Essence

A Thai commercial for skin care brand Ocean Skin recently has been making its rounds on Chinese social media. The popularity of the 2.5-minute ad once again proves the international success of Thai commercials.

Commercials from Thailand are hugely popular on Chinese social media; there are even entire accounts fully dedicated to sharing them online. The latest hit is a funny campaign by Ocean Skin that shows a young woman who would do anything to achieve that perfect skin. The commercial was posted on a popular funny video Weibo channel (@冷笑话精选), from where it was soon shared over 14,000 times within a few hours after it was posted.

“Thai commercials are better than movies,” one commenter said. Other netizens hold similar opinions, saying that Thai commercials are in a league of their own. Thai commercials often are indeed like short movies, as they greatly focus on narrative and plot. Music also plays an important part in creating the commercial’s movie-like atmosphere. It is noteworthy that many Thai commercials, both sad and funny, focus on overcoming personal challenges and convey morals about not giving up.

America by Chris Hedges

Civilizations over the past 6,000 years have unfailingly squandered their futures through acts of colossal stupidity and hubris. We are probably not an exception. The physical ruins of these empires, including the Mesopotamian, Roman, Mayan and Indus, litter the earth. They elevated, during acute distress, inept and corrupt leaders who channeled anger, fear and dwindling resources into self-defeating wars and vast building projects.

The ruling oligarchs, driven by greed and hedonism, retreated into privileged compounds—the Forbidden City, Versailles—and hoarded wealth as their populations endured mounting misery and poverty. The worse it got, the more the people lied to themselves and the more they wanted to be lied to. Reality was too painful to confront. They retreated into what anthropologists call “crisis cults,” which promised the return of the lost world through magical beliefs.

“The most significant characteristic of modern civilization is the sacrifice of the future for the present,” philosopher and psychologist William James wrote, “and all the power of science has been prostituted to this purpose.”

We are entering this final phase of civilization, one in which we are slashing the budgets of the very agencies that are vital to prepare for the devastation ahead—the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, along with programs at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration dealing with climate change. Hurricane after hurricane, monster storm after monster storm, flood after flood, wildfire after wildfire, drought after drought will gradually cripple the empire, draining its wealth and resources and creating swathes of territory defined by lawlessness and squalor. – Chris Hedges