WEEK IN REVIEW: On this, the eve of BUSL 2011 finals...

Andrew Moffat, better known as Baby Girl, dares speak with this video. Watch it.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK:

From Week 5 ... yes, that's Shan Wu making a guest appearance!

GOOGLE GROUPS POST OF THE WEEK:

Tao, 8/8:

This is actually pretty good: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjkyNDIzMzI0.html

The last clip is from Shanghai Open though: me to Alex.

Everything else: I think Baby Girl is trying to say Fuzz Bullets are going to crush Fei Pan Da to make it to the finals of Beijing Ultimate Summer League 2011.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Sadness and joy

"The sooner you leave, the sooner you come back."
--Jim, to Jeff, on Sunday night

Buddhism teaches us to meditate on impermanence. But what is there to meditate about? What is the goal of it, or is that so missing the point that I should stop now and rewrite this introduction?



Those who live in transient communities know too well about impermanence. There are two times we really feel it: those non-essential moments when one of us lets slip a phrase about graduate school, or "missing the States," or something even more nebulous like "future plans," and memories of our ambition pinches us like a syringe; and those other times when one of us, against the odds, actually chooses to leave, usually to pursue endeavors that strike us as inconsequential, unworldly, foreign. And suddenly everything about our reality is cast in stark relief: what is actually inconsequential? And what is actually foreign?

Perhaps I should say something about the transience of existence, but I swore off Buddhism a little earlier in this post.

You may know by now that Jeff Orcutt, after seven-odd years in this country, is leaving us to participate, in all things, a political campaign. One in Chicago. One in which he does not know which side he'll be assigned to. Yes, I said assigned to. The asininity of this decision is so beyond most people's modesties that I hesitate to say more, except I fear I've already been drawn in as by a black hole -- that void in the center of all established politicians and those who willingly gravitate to it. (See, Jeff, I've given you an out: I said willingly; God forbid you're doing this by your free will.)

Those who choose to enter the political machine will eventually find themselves surrounded by power and the means by which to attain it, and such power will inevitably lead to the pursuit of more power. I'm not talking abstractly. I mean connections, influence, invitations to parties, seats closer to courtside or the third-base line, and, to an extent, money. This is the great failure of government, and if you were to actually believe in it -- HOPE for it -- you're no better than those "corrupt" politicians who play the game for personal gain, as if it weren't a game, as if moral law weren't an invention and somewhat of a crock, as if the opinions of the righteous actually mattered.

I'm reminded of a commercial I saw a few years back, a recruitment ad for the army (or air force or some branch of the military). A young man with a buzz cut stands in the backyard drinking beers with his old buddies, from high school or something. And the condescension in the military guy's posture, and tone, and eyes, is so flagrant that you're left wondering how a nation of supposed nonconformists like America could allow such unabashed propaganda, and wonder how the creator of the ad could have missed the irony here: a man broken down by the system returns to reality -- a backyard, summertime barbeque with friends -- and thinks less of his friends because, what, they've never held a gun? Or is he spiteful that they've never lost grasp on reality? (It's actually much simpler: he simply belongs to a different circle, and he's been brainwashed to believe that circle is somehow superior.)

Or does he distrust those who have never considered death? We'll all stride up to that edge and live on the fringe between worlds, and you claim military training prepares you better for the plunge but I say, Fuck that, I want my full mental acuity while in the liberating illusion of flight.

Jeff did not have much to say when it was his turn to propose a toast, and that's completely okay. "You've been like my family these years," he said. We understand. In the end, we understand why he's leaving. The exigencies of the heart command unassailable power, stronger than any that exist in the world of politicians and men.

Early Thanksgiving / Jeff's goodbye dinner:

Thanks to Ken Dry and Baby Girl for deep-frying the turkey.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Onwards to Manila

While we bask one last time in Big Brother's win in Wuhan, word has leaked out about the party theme at Manila Spirits. We're not going to reveal anything just yet, but let's just say the ideas are flowing, and they're pretty fantastic.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Picture by Zhang Qing

EMAIL EXCHANGE OF THE WEEK:

Really, the winner is Liz. But we'll get to that in a bit.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Andrew Moffat wrote:
Someone totally needs to be a lion and/or lion tamer

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:57 PM, Anthony Tao wrote:
You, lion. Me, lion tamer.

Now find me someone whose head fits inside your jaw.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:58 PM, Zachary Fanders wrote:

Face paint sounds about as cool (or creatively bankrupt) of a theme as glasses. I have an idea: Everyone dresses up as a different animal trainer, and brings that animals' costume. Then we'll go find some women "that we can pay for their services" to dress up as the animals (trust me, it won't be hard). It would be awsome.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 12:31 AM, The D.O.C. wrote:
what happened to our group's censor? zachary fanders needs to be banned from our forum.

reprehensible!

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:03 PM, Elizabeth Lin wrote:
Zach's? what about what tao said?

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:04 PM, The D.O.C. wrote:
what did tao say? i always ignore his emails. i thought everyone did.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:06 AM, Anthony Tao wrote:
I wasn't even trying to be connotative, like if I had added an asterisk and written something along the lines of, "By head I mean penis."

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:12 PM, Elizabeth Lin wrote:
yeah, but what other kind of human's head fits in human jaws? the conclusion is clear enough without the asterisk.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:13 PM, The D.O.C. wrote:
a baby's head.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:14 PM, Kevin Reitz wrote:
yeah, it's obvious we were all thinking a baby's head.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:16 AM, Anthony Tao wrote:
Well, it's clear Liz's head fits inside a gutter.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 1:28 AM, Elizabeth Lin wrote:
re: doc. wtf?

And here, Liz snaps. SNAPS.

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 3:30 PM, Elizabeth Lin wrote:
and tao: pot calling the kettle black?

oh, and jeff? i guess shan will have no trouble with childbirth then, huh?

RETROSPECTIVE: This girl has left us

Shan (not to be confused with Shen) came to us from Boston by wind, in November, and immediately became an integral part of the Beijing Ultimate community. She played with us through the winter season, was on the Big Brother team that recently won the Tianjin tournament and, as you'll see through these pictures, was a generally good sport all the time. Shan, we'll miss you. We always knew this day would come, but now that it's here and gone, everything seems to have happened too fast.


Chinese New Year

Kunming

Ningbo

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Ningbo Hat Tourney recap

Congratulations to Jim [update: dancing here], whose team went 5-0 during round-robin games, then beat Tao's team in semis, then Alec's team in finals. A brilliant run done with some brilliant captaining.

Fuller recap of tournament over at the newly re-launched China Ultimate blog.

Pictures of Beijingers (plus Nick Hatt, who may as well be a Beijinger) in action:








Not pictured but very much in our hearts and minds: Therese

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Beijing wins another Ultimate tourney (party)

More news from the 2nd annual Kunming Hat Tourney later, but it was a great weekend of Ultimate and sunshine. And this is what we did for the party (thanks to Jim and Chaitkin for these costumes):

At Speakeasy on Saturday night.

RETROSPECTIVE: What you didn't see from Ellen's party

You're not going to see a whole lot more, but here're a couple reasonably appropriate and non-demeaning pics that surfaced from Feb. 14:

RETROSPECTIVE: In this new year of ours...

Photo by Kevin Reitz