The Escape List: Postcards From Tomorrow Square by James Fallows *Editor’s Note: The Escape List originally existed as a separate identity from TRW. However, as busy readers and watchers we thought we ought to include some exposure for the various China-related (defined as broadly as we decide) media we have ingested and try to put [...]
Feb 19, 2011 | Categories: America, China, The Escape List | Tags: Atlantic Monthly, books, fear, James Fallows, Politics, postcards, reading, reviews, social commentary | Leave A Comment »
Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 2.02 Finally, America’s own version of the Chinese fire drill is over. Close the doors. Time to move on. But in the wake of so many changes, as the anxiety and rage of all sides subsides, it is natural to wonder: what is America? What kind of a place [...]
Nov 05, 2010 | Categories: America, China, Jinhua, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week | Tags: 2010 elections, american dream, consumerism, Dreams, mobile camper, Progress, RVs, Shopping, Wal-Mart | 1 Comment »
Dear Republican State Senate Candidate Who Mailed Propaganda to China, A red rectangle, yellow shapes, a straightforward simple slogan… so imaginative, so fresh! How impressed I was when handed your envelope; how happy I was that someone had thought to send me mail. I felt a swelling urge to announce my support for something. But [...]
Oct 16, 2010 | Categories: Alaska, America, China, Letters to Whomever | Tags: alaska state senate, mail, Politics, Propaganda, Republicans | 2 Comments »
Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 68 In the dark corner of a far away forlorn church stand these three forgotten souls. Bruised, dirty, chipped and abandoned they doze like wallflowers in the shadows as patrons play hooky for every reason but lack of sin. In their bright vestments creased with dust the saints and [...]
Feb 09, 2010 | Categories: America, Europe, France, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week | Tags: american football, Catholicism, christianity, Jesus, religion, superbowl, tea party | Leave A Comment »
(Flexing teenager on his snowmobile speaking to another teenager): “Hey Bobby, got tickets?.. To the Gun Show!” Bobby: “You Betcha! See you in the gym.” “Fun for everyone.” This ad was printed on the front page of the Sunday edition of Alaska’s largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News: At least they’re encouraging the kids to [...]
Jan 13, 2010 | Categories: Alaska, America, Traces of Decline | Tags: gun show, high school, is this a good idea?, slednecks, teenagers, Wasilla | 1 Comment »
Two pigs beget one. Such is the way of pigs, as it has been since the beginning. In the first months, Pig rolls amid the muck, snorts his own excrement, and eats whatever morsels and collected orts are deposited into his sty. It is a base life, one of pure sensory perception, instinct, and consumption, [...]
Jun 13, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Fables, Other, Vietnam | Tags: consumption, excrement, Humor, instinct, perception, pigs, social commentary, stories, swine | Leave A Comment »
SLIGHTLY MORE PHOTOGENIC AS MAN Shanghai, CHINA – A bust of Eric T. Sanders, was recently found in the ancient sculpture wing of the Shanghai Museum. The well-preserved, roughly-carved giant head – which, incidentally, is often referred to as “The Judge” – was previously thought to be some sort of god, demon or school teacher. [...]
Jun 03, 2009 | Categories: Alaska, America, China, NEWS FLASH | Tags: faces, foreigners, giant heads, Humor, judges, old statues, sculpture, Shanghai Museum | 1 Comment »
ENVISION THE FUTURE! Behold! The future of warfare! As sleek as a fighter jet, as mobile as a Humvee, and just as necessary for the protection of Freedom and Democracy worldwide! Having discovered the indubitable link between poverty and thrift and the proliferation of senseless dreams, the Department of National Dream Control has revealed a [...]
May 26, 2009 | Categories: America, China, War on Dreams | Tags: consumerism, Dreams, Humor, IKEA, proliferation, Shopping, shopping carts, social commentary | Leave A Comment »
Dear “White Bear,” WHITE BEAR! Your skin’s hue of Sprite bottles, severe seasickness, and apple candy is cause for concern. Your sallow belly is not hidden behind your crooked tie. Neither is that torso spanning scar. A vicious fight it must have been. Your American flag top hat, raised arms with flashing cards and a [...]
May 24, 2009 | Categories: America, Letters to Whomever, Vietnam | Tags: acid, american dream, bears, Humor, Ken Kesey, nonsense, race, Ridiculous, social commentary, waste basket | Leave A Comment »
Attention: What to do if you come across a poster such as this one: smash, destroy, beat, bash, mutilate, hammer, ram, stomp, pound, or otherwise hit until you are certain that all dissenting messages have been fully eradicated! It is your duty as a citizen to protect the sanctity of street-side advertising panels – never [...]
May 16, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Nanjing, War on Dreams | Tags: dissent, dreamers, Dreams, education, Humor, posters, programming, smashing, social commentary, war on drugs | Leave A Comment »
The crumbling metal plow rolls slowly along its rusty tracks. It has come from one place; it is going to another. The sky is pure – the light falls sharply, drawing with precise contrast the shapes of leaves and trees, of cool striped railings, signposts, idling vehicles, and the eager, anticipating figures of two full-grown [...]
May 09, 2009 | Categories: America, China, War on Dreams | Tags: criminals, Dreams, Humor, imagination, possibility, social commentary, trains, war on drugs | Leave A Comment »
Pig flu? No, not China. Here the pigs flew. In fact, I may have seen them. Through the coal smoke haze Rose a snouted cumulous storm of shadowy mystery Accompanied by nightmarish squealing Lightening flashed a butcher’s blade And a warm rain commenced It stabbed like sweat at open cuts And turned my white shirt [...]
May 05, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Poetry | Tags: butcher, Humor, influenza, knives, pig flu, social commentary, stench, storms, swine flu | Leave A Comment »
General: “That’s bullshit. You know it as well as I do that there is no nonpartisan side in this war. You’re either with us or against us. This smarmy news outlet isn’t fooling anyone with your ‘Interviews for Everyone’. You think our people don’t notice those goofy grins or sarcastic comments cleverly inserted through your [...]
May 02, 2009 | Categories: America, China, War on Dreams | Tags: elevators, Government, Humor, Mock Interview, nonsense, social commentary, war on drugs, wars on nouns | Leave A Comment »
Caging the Lions A general warning issued today by the DNDC [Department of National Dream Control] demonstrated that results were in fact found during its much-criticized, multi-billion dollar, year-long undercover infiltration operation: “Please beware! Among the Dreamers’ secretive and powerful arsenal of WMDs (weapons of mass distraction) rests the epitome of all evil idleness: The [...]
Apr 22, 2009 | Categories: America, China, War on Dreams | Tags: cats, cute things, dream control, Government, Humor, kittens, nonsense, reeducation, Ridiculous, social commentary, warnings | Leave A Comment »
Dear Foreign Businessman Who Gave Me a Cigar on the Train from Shanghai, I still have the cigar, by the way, which you so generously handed me after we had exchanged no more than ten words – mere pleasantries between strangers on a train – as you and your wife were stalled in the aisle [...]
Apr 18, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Letters to Whomever | Tags: businessmen, cigars, Humor, media censorship, social commentary, train | 2 Comments »
Dear Children Who So Easily Submit to the Mob, Jesus Christ! That is a sight to behold – a sight to bemoan. Thank goodness we were trapped in a rolling Volkswagen, safe from the indiscriminate reactions of youth unhinged. In the haze of prepubescent madness it seems even my camera lens was blurred, but the [...]
Mar 11, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Letters to Whomever | Tags: chaos at the junior school, Chinese students, cultural revolution, lord of the flies, mob mentality, trees on fire | Leave A Comment »
Nanjing, CHINA – A recent series of public posters hopes to bolster the average Chinese person’s understanding of foreign emotions through the study of common facial expressions. The posters, which are a project of a local magazine, display eight “faces,” each meant to represent a particular feeling, attitude, or intention, all of which have been [...]
Mar 03, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Nanjing, NEWS FLASH | Tags: Foreigners in China, George Bush, Humor, public service posters, understanding laowai | 1 Comment »
Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 58 A Bedtime Story Once there lived a little gun made of the finest metals called Little Red Killing Hood. She was a spoiled gun as both her Country and the World loved her very much. One day, when her Country was making trouble, it said, “My child, you [...]
Feb 21, 2009 | Categories: America, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week, Vietnam | Tags: Guns, Hippies, Military, social commentary, Vietnam War, Violence, War | Leave A Comment »
Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 56 Once upon a time, shelter was constructed from only so much as sticks, mud, and skin. The functionality of these primitive structures was basic and limited. They provided mild protection from the elements and a sense of warmth to cold bodies. To the inhabitants of the era they [...]
Jan 18, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week | Tags: 21st century, architecture, art, birds nest, cctv building, Humor, linked hybrid, pakistan, shelter, social commentary, the jia, woolly mammoth, World | Leave A Comment »
Dear G. Bush, We apologize for your given title (the G, of course, is short for Garbage), which we realize is unfortunately similar to the name of our infamous leader, the number 1 American, the grand dunce of Washington, G.W. Bush, who, for slightly more than a week, will continue to be all of those [...]
Jan 10, 2009 | Categories: America, China, Letters to Whomever | Tags: Chinese social structure, cleanliness, garbage, George Bush, Humor, nanjng, social commentary | Leave A Comment »
Totally Awesome Picture of the week 49 “The power of Dreams! The Happiest Place on Earth. Think outside the bun! Taste the rainbow. Just do it! Be all that you can be. Just for the taste of it! Have it your way. Obey your thirst! I’m lovin’ it. They’re GRRREAT! Melts in your mouth, not [...]
Nov 22, 2008 | Categories: America, China, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week | Tags: catchphrases, consumerism, economy, ma la tang, money, slogans, social commentary, Soup, winning, yes we can | Leave A Comment »
Dear Alaska, OK! We have to admit you had us. We really thought you wanted to reelect crooked old Uncle Ted. We are silly gullible fools. What a wonderful dosage of humility! For that we thank you. Next, we must issue an apology. We were wrong. You’re only a little less than half as dumb [...]
Nov 19, 2008 | Categories: Alaska, America, Letters to Whomever | Tags: Alaska Independence Party, Alaskan senate race, Begich, Democrats, Goodbye Uncle Ted, Guns, Republicans, social commentary, Ted Stevens, too old for politics, US Election 2008 | 1 Comment »
Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 48 All right, my students. So this is how it is. You fill up our prestigious universities and we pay for you to do it. Sounds good huh? It is, of course, conditional. Here, read the handbook: “To begin with, you must give up the absurd notion that KFC [...]
Nov 12, 2008 | Categories: America, China, Totally Awesome Picture of the Week | Tags: american universities, Chinese students, collecting, cultural misconceptions, harvard, hobbies, Random Asian Kids, social commentary, study abroad | Leave A Comment »
Dear Alaska, You are so embarrassing. How can a state that is so beautiful be so dumb? Oh wait, that makes perfect sense. Thank you Sarah Palin for representing us to a T. Sincerely, This Ridiculous World Share this:EmailRedditStumbleUponDigg
Nov 05, 2008 | Categories: Alaska, America, Letters to Whomever | Tags: Alaska, barack obama, beautiful land, Embarrassed to be Alaskan, guilty of 7 felonies, Republicans, Sarah Palin, social commentary, Ted Stevens, US Election 2008, USA | Leave A Comment »
Postcards From Tomorrow Square – a Review
The Escape List: Postcards From Tomorrow Square by James Fallows *Editor’s Note: The Escape List originally existed as a separate identity from TRW. However, as busy readers and watchers we thought we ought to include some exposure for the various China-related (defined as broadly as we decide) media we have ingested and try to put [...]
Feb 19, 2011 | Categories: America, China, The Escape List | Tags: Atlantic Monthly, books, fear, James Fallows, Politics, postcards, reading, reviews, social commentary | Leave A Comment »