Small Swords Magazine covers Shanghai life, music, art and literature. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:32:43 +0800 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:30:06 +0800 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.1) http://www.feedforall.com Currently, Shanghai's Grand Theatre is housing the most improbable Chinese cultural attraction -- Mamma Mia!, a three-hour English-language musical based on the songs of ABBA. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/mammamia.html 5CB08DDF-BA92-48BA-A2C8-1C5E267F0690 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:30:06 +0800 Recent response to Michael J. Behe's book The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism... http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/scientificsquabbling.html D149FE68-240D-452A-8679-EAA8F41FD858 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:41:26 +0800 In 1989, galleries suddenly became unwilling to consider the new schools of art that emerged after the Cultural Revolution, leaving artists to seek out places to display their work. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/apartmentart.html 8A03910B-50B3-418E-9A05-704B12A5BCE8 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:40:23 +0800 For centuries, Chinese culture has embraced the lotus flower for its extreme beauty as well as for its usefulness and spiritual connotations. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/lotus.html 42877E0D-A8E5-4981-B82F-8236821DD8E6 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:39:34 +0800 Set in 1950s America, circus sideshow freaks, magic, and violent racism pervade the new novel from the beloved author of Big Fish. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/textreleases071507.html 5D55E209-013E-42CC-ACF6-2B794D370B68 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:37:34 +0800 Oprah's Book Club recently read Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and while it's an amazing and rewarding read, it's also an emotionally draining one. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/theroad.html 72DFBD17-07DF-4548-80F0-FE1F68E7BD07 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:36:35 +0800 Shoegaze is a sub-genre of Indie Rock music that emerged in London in the late 80s and peaked in penetration and exposure on both sides of the pond in the mid-90s. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/shoegaze.html 2501DE3E-A54B-410A-ABDA-6B2A8F546C45 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:35:49 +0800 In his signature piece, "Factory," Chen's camera takes the audience through back-breaking 12-hour shifts, wades through seven-day work weeks... http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/chienjen.html B0C3CDC6-D2FC-408B-942B-8013D8C2A01E Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:34:56 +0800 Howard W. French became the Shanghai Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 2003 and has covered China's drastic economic, political and social changes of the 21st century, what many have called "The Chinese Century." http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/howardwfrench.html 3BDD2445-F126-41B4-9704-1509654D8146 Mon, 9 Jul 2007 17:35:04 +0800 Director Robinson Devor created "Zoo," a film depicting the community of men in Enumclaw, Washington that filled the void in their lives through animal love. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/devorzoo.html FC87A85E-E3B0-41E2-90E6-5C07118624AA Mon, 9 Jul 2007 17:33:46 +0800 The Ozz is supporting the U.S. leg of the world tour of Taiwanese goth-rock band ChthoniC, who will be the musical ambassadors of the next Taiwanese push to join the U.N. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/ozzytaiwan.html 9DC1E2F0-F430-4C00-A5A1-628025733BB9 Fri, 6 Jul 2007 16:59:02 +0800 "Not That China" is an irregular column that explores subjects related to the word "China" but completely unrelated to the People's Republic of China. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/notthatchinaslaves.html F0922443-9BD1-4A4F-9C76-264DCFA445D7 Fri, 6 Jul 2007 16:58:08 +0800 How ironic that a book known for its scathing indictment of human nature, a book once published anonymously to avoid persecution, censored in England, and banned in Ireland, has become a revered children's classic. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/gulliver.html A9432860-3891-4986-8DBD-E60616212623 Thu, 5 Jul 2007 21:18:43 +0800 This is the first installment of a regular column about Hong Kong titled "Take a Whiff: Notes from the Fragrant Harbor." The column will cover the news, culture and lifestyle of mainland China's loud, little, quasi-democratic neighbor to the south. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/reunited.html FEF4F35D-E1EF-4BF9-82D5-B084E34DC347 Thu, 5 Jul 2007 21:16:56 +0800 Chengdu band Proximity Butterfly are one of the highlights of the Dino Beach Rock It! Festival taking place on June 29, 30 and July 1. In this interview they discuss recording their new album, playing live, and the philosophy informing their music. The band is slotted to play on the first day at 8 pm. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/proximitybutterfly.html 878DC704-56FD-4C36-A850-6214EC46813D Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:52:47 +0800 On the streets, in the noodle shops, at the office, most Chinese in Shanghai don't converse in the language we read in our Mandarin texts or hear on our Chinese podcasts. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/shanghainesedictionary.html CB375F36-9478-4076-BBCE-6D9814BC7DBD Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:48:26 +0800 Last Friday, the UME theater in Shanghai's Xintiandi held a screening of the 39-minute, 2006 documentary, "The Blood of Yingzhou District" as part of the "DocuChina" project. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/yingzhoudistrict.html 6465EB9B-A203-4F7E-80F0-7D2C1913A723 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:47:26 +0800 Last week, when Small Swords Magazine posted a story concerning the discovery of slave labor at brick kilns in Central China, we, like many others, were under the impression that this disturbing event was more or less an isolated incident. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/brickkiln.html 0C6350FA-B401-4401-A651-AEE9AFBE81E5 Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:42:37 +0800 Tickets are on sale for the Shanghai stage of the worldwide Live Earth concerts, and it seems that the event organizers have gone out of their way to make it an abominable suckfest. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/liveearthlineup.html E9E33E4C-469C-4CDD-99BB-CC8510C2439B Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:41:25 +0800 Interventions is collection of 44 op-ed pieces written from September 2002—March 2007 that delve into the bizarre mental paths of the Bush administration and resulting American policy. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/textreleases061907.html 30B8A237-2781-4DD1-A1B0-67DCF8CE31F1 Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:40:30 +0800 Other than a new White Stripes album, a pretty quiet week in album releases. Unless you like Bon Jovi country records and bands that wear matching robes. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases061907.html 21F1EEC7-2629-4495-8118-6114EF11CCBC Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:39:11 +0800 French run, Shanghai-based gallery Lime 388 hosted its first private sale of works by a Chinese artist last Thursday night. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/tunglo.html A672BEE2-1E01-47EC-9A7F-71C4BC8C69EE Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:08:33 +0800 Though tattoos in China still draw scorn from Chinese elders and double-takes from straight-laced youth, this weekend tattoo enthusiasts gathered in Beijing for China's Tattoo Convention. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/tattooconvention.html 14BE7DB4-DC27-4C5F-A335-E4D6CD7DCD22 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:06:33 +0800 In the 70s and early 80s, during the second wave of Feminism, Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta undertook a project to subvert centuries of male-dominated artistry. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/mendieta.html 3BD9719A-598F-4737-9538-33901531B512 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:05:34 +0800 Whether by physical presentation, stylistic innovation or a certain ineffable spirituality, the crotches of these performers will always live on in the hearts of the fans. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/rockcrotches.html EFA3AB7B-D306-4FE8-B4D5-4AC82EEF29E9 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:46:33 +0800 From May 11 to October 28, some of Beijing's finest and oldest holdings are encased in glass and available for viewing at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/treasuresfromchina.html 0440CC7D-C3F4-4F67-9397-0B3267A50C34 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:45:08 +0800 Staggered cries of pleasure emitted from all corners of the room. Wretched yelps from the trophy wives met with guttural moans from the captains of industry, as the whole party descended into a chaotic mass of flesh, gem and organ. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/orgy.html 91230749-2D27-4BB3-9125-DC0EBD7BFEE0 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:44:26 +0800 A Traveling Wilburys box set, a John Lennon covers album for Darfur, a new Queens of the Stone Age disc and a DMX greatest hits album all hit the stores this week. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases061207.html E7FD46E4-9F19-40D9-B00F-3FB5A041FD65 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:43:32 +0800 Xi'an born, Beijing-based The No Name are a street punk band playing a Shanghai show at 4 Live, headlining the venue's "Young Beijing" party. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/noname.html DBEB946E-FB74-4AB2-88B9-3A0C5CE0B7BA Sun, 17 Jun 2007 02:42:42 +0800 Last week, the Chinese government tightened the vice on the open exchange of Internet content as the Yahoo! subsidiary photo site Flickr was disabled in mainland China. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/flickr.html 8256AF0F-36B5-4F88-AB11-1207BB79A64E Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:07:28 +0800 From June 11-15, if you feel like watching TV somewhere other than your sofa, perhaps you should mosey on over to the Shanghai TV festival in Pudong. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/tvfest.html 318B138C-F770-4309-B165-1166EC2E01DE Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:06:35 +0800 The lineup for this summer's Rock It festival, Shanghai's only outdoor rock festival, has been released. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/dinobeachlineup.html 3EEBE8F0-A5CE-4C45-A77C-9EAFB4DA5F81 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:06:04 +0800 This May Day holiday the Shanghai-based Indie rock band Boys Climbing Ropes toured Nanjing and Wuhan. This is the story of their tour. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/notesfromroad3.html 260AC739-CC54-4226-8843-1C5E539FA57C Wed, 6 Jun 2007 20:10:35 +0800 In August 2006, a team of more than 40 followed their Belgian project leaders to a desert in Black Rock City, Nevada. The purpose of this pilgrimage? To build a time machine. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/uchronians.html 873562F6-E6F6-4F73-80F7-1FFEEC7F117E Wed, 6 Jun 2007 20:09:45 +0800 In addition to U.K.'s Infadels, out of town big names include Beijing's No Name and The Scoff, Taiwan's The Deadly Vibes, and Tianjin's 20088, 4 six-year-olds who play death metal. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/juneconcerts.html 5E38FA41-E64A-4304-91E3-E3AD6D4E2284 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 20:08:55 +0800 Something for everyone this week: Paul McCartney and Chris Cornell offer solo albums, Marilyn Manson has a new disc, the Boss is out with a live album and Poison does rock covers. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases060507.html 46111FBE-B577-4466-B63F-67744ED9D0E9 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 10:00:28 +0800 Alongside other reckless literary works such as The Anarchist's Cookbook and Rushdie's Satanic Verses stands an equally dangerous novel of different persuasion: Forever. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/judyblumeforever.html 70BC6455-27D7-4CA5-A7E9-FB5237254716 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 09:59:50 +0800 Alain Robert, known to the world as "French Spiderman," has scaled some of the world's tallest structures. Thursday afternoon, he conquered Shanghai's Jinmao Tower. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/frenchspiderman.html B913598D-C4CE-4D4F-BCD1-8D0F919DBDAE Sun, 3 Jun 2007 18:36:22 +0800 For the two-year anniversary, Saturday's event brings in both DJs and VJs from past micro incarnations but also offers something new to the Pirates Bar space. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/tootekool.html A083F04C-A128-4A59-B797-9894D7D70540 Sun, 3 Jun 2007 18:35:20 +0800 The Assault on Reason, the new book from concert promoter Al Gore, adopts a sweeping focus of the Bush administration and American society in general... http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/textreleases052907.html E215E5D5-7BFD-4209-82D1-69564D8DE9AA Sun, 3 Jun 2007 18:32:18 +0800 The crowd in the empty gallery watched as Burden's friend stepped about 15 feet away from Burden, pulled out a loaded .22 long rifle and proceeded to shoot Burden in the arm. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/chrisburden.html 6C61596C-EFE8-450A-B354-3C5335E8D921 Sun, 3 Jun 2007 18:30:45 +0800 His first record with original material since the lukewarm, Down To Earth in 2001, Ozzy's Black Rain retreads the same song frameworks and genres as his previous records: tearful rock power ballads, riff-driven Metal fist pumpers, the chorus-driven radio single, some filler and a second tearful power ballad. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases052207.html BBE6EBD6-6120-4E31-91A1-2F32769439B1 Thu, 31 May 2007 08:51:01 +0800 "Three Unities," the exhibition that opened this past Saturday evening, is based on Aristotle's conception of drama, which should have "unity of place, unity of time and unity of action." http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/ddmwarehouse.html EFA5950B-F431-4356-B46C-7CBD5C480D44 Thu, 31 May 2007 08:49:45 +0800 The Broadway opening of the Mandarin version of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change-- performed in English on Broadway for ten years-- marked a momentous occasion... http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/mandarinmusical.html C0B8B0E7-03D2-4814-BA75-2E8B9A13F6E9 Tue, 29 May 2007 08:29:02 +0800 There seems to be an absolute obsession with writing about what you can't write, or not writing about what you want to write. To me at least it seemed completely ludicrous that, by dint of the fact that I found myself in China, I wasn't able to string together a few sentences for a minute readership on questions that are obviously going to come up in the first few months of being here. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/switchedoff.html 349AC870-5C6B-4C20-98C5-F19C4C52A1CA Tue, 29 May 2007 08:28:16 +0800 This June, The Deadly Vibes will be making a devastating foray into the PRC with shows on June 9 in Shanghai at Eno (afternoon) and at Yuyintang's new space at 28B Yutao Road. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/deadlyvibes.html 48DF4698-7B77-419B-A359-C83C630360E9 Tue, 29 May 2007 08:27:20 +0800 Joecy Wu of Yuyintang talks about putting on shows in Shanghai and the future of Yuyintang Warehouse. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/yuyintanginterview.html D89A104F-DB27-4908-B8D3-E1E5B70695A3 Tue, 29 May 2007 08:26:20 +0800 Shanghai-based Indie rock band Boys Climbing Ropes spent the May Day holiday the band on tour in Nanjing and Wuhan. This is the story of a Western band on the Chinese road. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/notesfromroad2.html C3594E8E-87E5-4642-91E6-258964B5E48F Tue, 29 May 2007 08:25:09 +0800 Krautrock is a term that surfaced in the late 1960s British music press in reference to a new style of German rock that encompassed the scope of American and British Psychedelic music from noise experimentation to electronica. Originally derisive, the term is derived from from the slur "kraut" which, comes from "sauerkraut" (a delicious pickled cabbage dish native to Germany). http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/krautrock.html 27B027AD-4E10-434B-A8DE-36FE8A1C55E0 Sat, 19 May 2007 12:48:52 +0800 This week in Leicestershire, England, one of the great Guinness Book world records was broken. Don't fret, it wasn't the dude with the fingernails or the fattest twins ever on the motorcycles. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/notthatchinasofa.html ADCD9444-B8CA-4B4C-AEBB-8E1C57CB46C2 Sat, 19 May 2007 12:45:52 +0800 The latest book by British journalist and provocateur Christopher Hitchens sees the political pugilist shift his focus to religion and deliver a ranting atheist manifesto that is as offensive and entertaining as his political criticism. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/textreleases051507.html 2797EFE9-E68D-4C48-9EBA-8238328BA217 Sat, 19 May 2007 12:28:40 +0800 Comparative Lit 101 is a column that examines interesting parallels between notable works of Chinese and Western literature. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/orwellwang.html BC793B2F-E642-4767-ABAC-042B4DA4F8BC Thu, 17 May 2007 20:49:17 +0800 The rising number of gated communities in China is altering the design and structure of sub/urban landscapes. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/gated.html DC6246D3-CFF3-4126-A4B3-C2A4A7921985 Thu, 17 May 2007 02:26:34 +0800 This week, Linkin Park releases a sappy emo album, Rufus Wainwright and Wilco add solid discs to their already stellar catalogues and Megadeth is born again with United Abominations. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases051507.html F89D3284-D769-472A-8E97-BF8FB0FC9712 Thu, 17 May 2007 02:25:30 +0800 Saturday afternoon, a man from northwest China's Xinjiang province threw a flaming object at the iconic Mao portrait that towers over Tiananmen Square in Beijing. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/maoonfire.html D13D7DB6-1A72-41FB-B4CD-B657F7545B05 Thu, 17 May 2007 02:24:33 +0800 This May Day holiday the Shanghai-based Indie rock band Boys Climbing Ropes went on tour in Nanjing and Wuhan. This is the story of a Western band on the Chinese road. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/notesfromroad1.html 693D2882-E5F8-478D-98C4-D9312E6A1F94 Thu, 17 May 2007 02:23:22 +0800 Comparative Art 101 is a column that examines interesting parallels between notable works of Chinese and Western art. As the presence of Chinese art and artists in international creative communities and commercial markets is increasingly pronounced, the interplay between Western art traditions and Chinese innovation is becoming the critical language by which Chinese art is discussed on an international level. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/compart101yifei.html 99560935-D02E-4095-81E1-329EF13EA6A5 Sat, 12 May 2007 18:31:41 +0800 On Wednesday, a Beijing court sentenced a man to life in prison for posing as the editor of China's official Communist newspaper, the People's Daily. Liu Yonghang stole nearly half a million U.S. dollars by convincing local government officials in the Beijing area that he could solidify promotions and work transfers for them using his "status" as editor to persuade high-ranking officials in China's capital. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/fakereporter.html 8AFA27DC-EF91-4E5D-80A5-D38334E38D6A Sat, 12 May 2007 18:30:34 +0800 696 Weihai Lu, home to struggling multi-media artists, may become one more Shanghai architectural fatality this summer. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/weihailu.html CC48E1D5-BE84-47F3-A6E3-F5AC28796056 Sat, 12 May 2007 18:28:08 +0800 Hidden in the basement of a gated residential community on Huashan Lu resides one of the more subversive art exhibitions in China: The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/propagandaposters.html E847B3E3-5B8E-4E89-9AC6-DE8CFC9082F1 Thu, 10 May 2007 03:04:27 +0800 Dean Koontz has just released his weekly novel. It's called The Husband. It's a crime, action, suspense, thriller, Hitchcockian thing about a man (a husband!). http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/textreleases050707.html 27B2FF95-DFFE-4A6A-AC39-8FA51F10EE10 Thu, 10 May 2007 03:02:39 +0800 This is a big week for old artists with new albums-- an Elliott Smith double disc, the new Bjork, another Bone Thugs disc and for all the old folks, a new Barbra Streisand live album. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/releases050807.html 4C76CEAE-96B0-469B-AEEB-C836C2AE436D Thu, 10 May 2007 03:01:14 +0800 It's springtime in Shanghai and what better way to enjoy the warm weather than to pack yourself into a crowded beer-smelling nightclub and listen to one of the many live bands coming to Shanghai in May. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/mayconcerts.html A2F01C68-2FBB-472B-A5FD-E90B435E458F Sat, 5 May 2007 18:15:26 +0800 Suffer through the next few months without viewing a single movie. Take some of the money you've saved and buy a plane ticket to China. Once you get here, you can use the rest of your savings to purchase every single movie you missed, pay for lodging and meals and probably still have some change left over for tooling around Asia. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/dvdtourism.html Thu, 3 May 2007 17:26:46 +0800 At a U.S. Congress Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday, California Representative Dana Rohrabacher referred to China as "the Frankenstein that now threatens us." http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/frankenstein.html Thu, 3 May 2007 17:21:46 +0800 On April 25, five Americans staged the most high-profile Tibetan freedom protest at the base of the highest mountain in the world. On the eve of China's announcement of the Olympic torch relay route, which includes the summit of Mount Everest, the five members of the global action group Students for a Free Tibet unfurled a massive banner that read, "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008," a parody of the 2008 Beijing Olympic logo. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/everestprotest.html 6FC6EA7D-F1DB-4C9E-8F19-014615827D56 Wed, 2 May 2007 17:00:46 +0800 Banned for more than 200 years, John Cleland's erotic novel Fanny Hill has won its way into hearts and hands, bedrooms, ivory towers and classrooms across the globe. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/fannyhill.html BC176BF9-4166-4945-B065-D926909281A1 Wed, 2 May 2007 16:59:14 +0800 The Jane Goodall Institute-Shanghai, Roots and Shoots, a foreign affiliated non-profit organization has agreed to team up for fund-raising and research purposes with NPO Green Life, a Japanese based operation that has worked for five years supplying free saplings for the people of Inner Mongolia. http://smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/treeplanting.html 0AD90B3A-32CA-4B37-B1EA-047D70E30AAE Wed, 2 May 2007 16:57:45 +0800 What Oscar Wilde once called "the lowest form of wit but the highest form of humor" doesn't constitute wit or humor in China. There is no Chinese word for sarcasm and no Chinese people who use it. It just isn't the Chinese way. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/chinesesarcasm.html 5A0036D2-D8CA-4B6C-B7A6-77BA215B4404 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:39:33 +0800 If you've only read one Vonnegut novel, it was probably Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and, most likely you read it in high school when you didn't know what postmodern meant. You probably still don't know what postmodern means. Kurt Vonnegut certainly did. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/kurtvonnegut.html EE82AF71-3043-4FB7-8A0A-DED0C08BE673 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:09:54 +0800 On April 16 at the Yunfeng Theatre the group that self-markets as a musical genre called hip-hop/soul/funk, carried out a feat that distinguishes them from every other hip-hop group in the world: they played Shanghai. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/rootsconcert.html 416C0492-0383-4D95-A7FA-8B9CEBC0D1D2 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:46:29 +0800 In America, its "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." In China, it's "the internet doesn't ruin people, internet cafes ruin people." Earlier this month, the Chinese government put the freeze on cyber cafes. Local governments will be prohibited from granting business licenses to any new cafes in 2007. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/freezeoncafe.html 096D5B40-E53C-4B5A-BF98-56FF8BE96478 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:37:04 +0800 Critical Terms is a regularly updated column in the Sound section of Small Swords Magazine. Each edition looks at an individual critical term applied to a classification of music. Although critical terms -- or "labels" -- are almost universally repudiated by musicians and music fans, their interesting life cycle is inextricably tied to the ongoing developments and regressions of the pop music machine. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/electroclash.html E781C129-7A3D-4BBC-84E7-D763179A3034 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:44:01 +0800 The Shanghai International Literary Festival fumbled into its fourth year with a session entitled, "Love and Erotica in French and Chinese Poetry" and, evidently, discussing erotic poetry at 10am is not an ideal literary endeavor. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/eroticpoetry.html 273C790B-8017-4F20-93E8-B47CAA7AD57E Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:17:27 +0800 A collective sigh of relief passed through China late Tuesday when police identified the shooter who killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech University as a South Korean. Prior to the the identification of Cho Seung-Hui, it was believed that the gunman was a 24-year-old Chinese national who had obtained a student visa in Shanghai and arrived in America on August 7. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/seunghui.html 11E3A59C-5447-4622-BFB9-C0E947294D02 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:32:46 +0800 The Inheritance of Loss meditates on loss as an emotional location, a sentiment shared by a set of characters continually torn and fragmented by their encounters with the modern world. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/kirandesai.html E49384E7-E679-4284-8438-0470C44B5194 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:12:51 +0800 For Those about to Rock: Concert Listings: April 2007 http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/aprilconcerts.html 231C4CE2-CDFC-44EF-9B40-E8E4A2D03898 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:34:13 +0800 Written around 411 B.C., Greek playwright Aristophanes’ comedy stages its lead character Lysistrata’s successful attempt to persuade women from Sparta, Beoetia and Corinth to withhold sex from their husbands and thereby bring an end to the Peloponnesian War. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/lysistrata.html DEF1E9D4-580B-40D5-B266-5354780F7269 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:11:32 +0800 Despite the efforts of Vancouver-based conceptual artist Rick Gibson, the world may never know what a diptych of squished rat guts would look like. In 1990, Gibson set out to make raticide art - and history - by flattening a rodent named Sniffy between two canvas-covered concrete blocks. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/rickgibson.html 731C24F5-132E-4479-AA79-A22813598331 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:00:55 +0800 From April 7 through April 22 the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall hosts the Swiss Innovation Architecture Exhibition on its third floor. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/swissarcexpo.html F64264CD-3CAC-4D97-BB48-E7C381220C07 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:51:35 +0800 State-run China Central Television has never snagged any awards for provocative or enthralling programming. However, in early April, CCTV began shooting a 40-part series of kung fu legend Bruce Lee as part of the mammoth effort to promote Chinese culture and history before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/brucelee.html 4BE7B035-D8C3-4632-B7C3-24AAF6F02793 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:50:54 +0800 On an otherwise dreary Friday night, Wayne Foster and Peter Jackson, billed as two of Motown's original singers, glided onto the stage at 4 Live in Shanghai's Luwan district to give China something it desperately needs -- a little soul. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/fosterandjackson.html 7310CEB6-55B4-4C42-AD50-84D2D54F5C9F Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:49:46 +0800 Beginning May 9, the Mandarin Chinese version of the off-Broadway musical "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," will premiere at the Westside Theatre in New York City. This will be the first time ever a foreign production of an American musical will be performed in the States. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/iloveyou.html 265E9BE5-9991-4B6F-8533-85DAEFCCD1C0 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:13:07 +0800 On April 7th, a painting by China's Xu Beihong fetched 8.19 million U.S. dollars, setting a new record price for a Chinese oil painting. Protest painting "Put Down Your Whip" went to an anonymous phone bidder who paid more than twice the estimated price for the painting. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/image/putdownyourwhip.html E08075DB-232C-429E-8D54-BAF4C9E2C077 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:08:43 +0800 Unless you've been meditating in the foothills of Asia for the last couple of decades, you know that celebrities are obsessed with their causes. On March 13th, Hollywood pretty boy Richard Gere lobbied the U.S. Congress to engage China in establishing protections for Tibet and to fully fund Mandarin radio broadcasts aimed at the Tibetan exile community. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/richardgere.html D5469524-2D35-4E55-B372-FD8888326CEE Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:36:27 +0800 The Re-Tros are three Bejingers with older siblings. Or, at least, they have had people who have performed services for them as such. Through the hands of Beijing three-piece Re-TROS (short for the arty moniker, "Rebuilding the Rights of Statues") have passed the seminal albums of Television, Bauhaus and the Pixies. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/re-tros_review.html F2A9E4E2-5FFB-4DF2-A21A-F872BC7C8415 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:26:11 +0800 People often forget that there was a time when George Michael wasn't gay. Well, I suppose he was always gay. But as Elton John or Liberace could tell you, it's not always so clear cut. 1988 was the year of George Michael. His debut solo album, "Faith" came out the previous year and Michael immediately became the preeminent hetero sex symbol of the late 80s. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/georgemichael.html 8A9A2788-9B0A-4488-A7EE-B64582ACAF54 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:19:42 +0800 On a blue-skied Shanghai afternoon, the second Saturday of the 3-week long Shanghai International Literary Festival, a group of expatriates, mostly Canadian, gathered at Glamour Bar on the Bund to hear Canadian author John Ralston Saul speak on his 2005 book "The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World." http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/johnraulstonsaul.html AB0E13BB-DCBF-4E09-B658-7C5EE4B0F504 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:15:11 +0800 Since the release in 2002 of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace or How We Came To Be So Hated, Gore Vidal has re-emerged as a public figure, popping up just about everywhere to discuss the implicit expansionist agenda of the Bush administration (they had plans for the invasion of Afghanistan before the attacks of Sept 11th, he asserts), NORAD's purported delay in mobilizing fighter airplanes to intercept the hijacked airliners on Sept. 11th (he goes as far as saying that the Bush administration "let it happen"), and the "coupe d'etat" that was the 2001 election, among other things. http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/text/gorevidal.html 5216AA9E-DD9B-47E4-B68C-B2C14FD67BF1 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 19:52:19 +0800 Live Music Calendar for March in Shanghai http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/sound/marchconcerts.html 028D2CAA-5D9F-401E-A263-6A13B3176B63 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:18:25 +0800