undead astronauts

filial chinese are posting wanted ads for rental boyfriends to take home to mom and dad. flarezz, u should look into this.

Her criteria for eligible bachelors were fairly demanding. They should be educated, employed, well-behaved and between 170 and 180 centimeters, or 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches, tall. Glasses — a sign of erudition to her father — a plus. One other thing: “Don’t be too skinny.”

The successful applicant would earn 5,000 renminbi, or $735, for the 10-day home stay during the Lunar New Year holiday, also known here as Spring Festival. Lest candidates get the wrong idea, the woman also wrote: “We will not sleep together.”

i’m sure u could negotiate that last stipulation.

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/201001c.brief.htm#019

only in china would u see something this ridiculous and this awesome (unfortunately, no embed allowed). china needed somewhere to park it’s money, so they built an entire city that no one lives in except the construction workers. this is the subprime mortgage crisis X 1000.

but hey, it’s a nice clean, modern city in every other respect. who can knock that right?

thought this was interesting. sure, it’s propaganda, but it’s still interesting.

all ethnicities here.

the nation’s 5 fattest counties are “Greene and Dallas counties in Alabama and Holmes, Humphreys and Jefferson counties in Mississippi.” these counties are mostly populated by poor rural african-americans, and some of the estimates might be off, the article said.

other righteously rotund counties are in appalachian territory like kentucky and west virginia.

sad and pathetic, but unsurprising. counties in colorado, new mexico and utah had the lowest obesity rates.

Chinese meteorologists covered Beijing in snow Sunday after seeding clouds to bring winter weather to the capital in an effort to combat a lingering drought, state media reported.

Article here.

Wha?

dan chung did some time-lapse photography of the 60th anniversary parade.

China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

it was a pretty parade, but i mean really… china, get w/ the fucking times. stuff like this makes it look to the world like you’re still stuck in the 1950s. except for the girls in red. just cut the midriff out of those costumes and whoa, i could watch that all day.

vanguard, the reporting unit that laura ling and euna lee belong to, did a piece on the chinese in africa. laura isn’t the reporter here, but there was a section here i found pretty funny. apparently all chinese looking alike can have its advantages if u’re looking to avoid responsibility.

the rest of the story describes how in a few years china has become a giant presence all over africa and are developing african infrastructure so they can reap the abundance of raw materials from it.

so US news & world report came up w/ a list of the best places to grow up. guess what city showed up?

Lifted from zonaeuropa.com: In Hongshan village, Xiangzhou town, Zhuhai city, Guangdong province, there is an extraordinary four-storey building. Half of the building has been demolished, but people continued to live in the other half. According to the owner (of the remaining half), the building had been owned by him and his cousin. Last year, his cousin sold his half of the building to a real estate developer which demolished that half. However, he was unable to reach an agreement to the real estate developer and therefore continued to live there. The family of six of the owner lives on the fourth floor, while the rest of the floors are rented out at very cheap rents of 100 to 200 yuan per month per floor. The real estate developer went out of business two months ago.

link to article with pictures here.

Kiplinger, in all of their wisdom, has chosen a city we all know too well as their best city.  Any guesses?  :)

Kiplinger 2009 Best City
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My backyard. Click on image to see fullsize. (check out the water tower closely).

Today is a beautiful day. The conscious decision was made to enjoy it. Need I drive out? Drive to where? A beach? A park? A shopping center? I do not look far when I spot a great location. True, some work needs to be done; the greens a bit patchy, and there is no aquatic facility per say, but make ado, the water display of the sprinkler system provides a pleasant scene. The recently planted palm trees provide a hint of the tropics. The umbrella and cushioned lounge chairs most definitely do not hinder the experience. The clear blue sky above, the faint whisper of a breeze from the east, the occasional surround sound chirping of birds. With a little imagination, eliminating the rooftops nearby, this possesses the potential for a great relaxing destination, a place to slowdown, a place to get away from the commotion and routine of life. And the silence…ooo the silence….so peaceful. Ahhh….the calm serenity is right in my back yard? Nice.