#I think I might be more excited for this than Kissinger

[artemis-crimson]

I am a Noam Chompsky hater for many many reasons but first and most personal among them is what he’s said about Grenada in the past, when he dies I’m going to throw a party and I’m going to type up my Nana’s recipe for ginger beer and share it with everyone in celebration.

[the-nights-parade]

Ocean Park | Hong Kong's Largest Theme Park

Ocean Park is Hong Kong's largest theme park. In fact, it is Hong Kong's only theme park. With its 35 attractions and rides, the park has won several awards, including "The World's Seventh Most Popular Amusement Park" and "33rd Most Visited Tourist Attraction in the World". These are not statistics that I would necessarily brag about, but maybe that's just me.

Ocean Park is a 10 minute taxi ride away from our home, and Sadie has been at least a dozen times with her friends. In fact, her school did a trip there earlier this year and attempted to sell it to the parents as a physics lesson. Right.

I am reasonably informed that watching a teacher get spun around until they puke is the height of entertainment for a teenager. Anyway, I had never been before. I'm not sure why this is, but I guess that it is partly to do with David's lack of interest. I guess I can understand that. Any roller coaster becomes Space Mountain when you are blind, and although I love Space Mountain, I'm not sure that I'd want to spend the whole day riding on it. David is in the UK though, and I thought it might be a fun thing for Sadie and me to do.

This is the latest in a long string of my attempts at mother/daughter bonding. I try to kid myself that Sadie and I really have a close personal connection, that she loves and respects me as much as I do her, and that she actually enjoys my company when in reality what I perceive as bonding is probably just Sadie playing along to get something she wants. Regardless, if that's all I can get, I'll take it.

So, off we went to Ocean Park. I had to queue up for the ticket as Sadie already had a season pass that paid for itself if the first month. The price was comparable to other them parks - about £20 for the day. Now it is time for me to fess up about the real reason I wanted to go to Ocean Park. It has two different sections, one of which has animals, an aquarium and kiddie rides and the other which has thrill rides. The animal section has PANDAS! For a long time, seeing pandas has been on my list of 100 things to do before I die* and I was finally getting to do it!

I am marginally embarrassed by my passion for pandas. I have seen Kung Fu Panda three times and that is really not something of which to be proud. I am completely suckered in by their furry, fat cuddliness and those big black circles around their sad eyes. To be fair, I was also completely suckered in by Pete, the dog from the Little Rascals too. Something about a black circle around an eye. I like to think of myself as mature, urbane, sophisticated, cool and more than a little cynical. Loving cuddly panda bears blows that image. It's like Henry Kissinger saying he loves "My Little Pony". I guess I am out of the closet now.

Anyway, back to Ocean Park. I decided to prolong the expectation for as long as possible, so we visited the aquarium first. It is a pretty good aquarium as these things go - maybe even in the top 50 aquariums in the world.

I couldn't really contain my excitement much longer though. I had to see the bears. I spotted the Panda House from several hundred metres away. I knew it was the panda house because there were 10 metre tall plastic pandas waving to us from the roof. For one brief moment, I actually thought that they were real and waving just at me. We walked up the ramps and into the house. There are three panda enclosures, each with its own panda. They are solitary creatures and don't like to mix much. Thank goodness. The sight of two pandas cuddling or playing might just might be more cuteness than an ordinary human could bear (ha ha - I swear that wasn't on purpose).

There are two parallel ramps in front of the enclosures, and you are encouraged to stroll down one and up the other, giving everyone a good chance to have a look. Good manners went out the window as soon as I walked in the door. I stopped, creating a domino effect of panda watchers behind me. I couldn't move. I was spell bound. There in front of me was a giant panda sound asleep on a wooden platform. He was on his back, mouth open and with all four paws up in the air. I couldn't hear it, but I am absolutely sure he was snoring.

It is not terribly mature or sophisticated to jump up and down and shriek "OOOOH! LOOK AT THAT PANDA! HE IS SOOOOOO CUTE!", but that is what I did. Sadie,even more than usual, pretended that she didn't know me. Finally, someone behind me gave me a good push and forced me to carry on.

The second and third enclosures were empty, so I hurried down to see snoring panda again. Then, just as I was about to go past window number two, out came a beautiful female panda bear. I know it is unspeakably rude, and I am really not proud of it, but I simply would not budge from that spot.

Parents tried to push their eager children in front of me, but I wasn't having it. I figured that I had less time to do the 100 things to do before I die than they did. I took photos and watched her amble around for a good 10 minutes. I probably did more to damage Chinese/Western relations at that point than Tienanmen Square, but my wish was fulfilled. I have seen pandas. I am also the very, very proud owner of a cute, overpriced panda cuddly toy that we have named Bing Bing.

Back out into the sunlight, no other event that Ocean Park could offer could possibly live up to the panda experience. I have to tell you though, that in the dozen or so time Sadie had visited, she had never before seen the bears. She comes for the rides. So, off we went to the other part of the park.

This can be accessed in one of two ways. There is a cable car that offers magnificent views over the southern part of Hong Kong or there is a train. The trip up is unbelievably steep. There are stairs, but it would probably take me the better part of my life to get up them. I don't think that they are even open for public use. We took the cable car, and it was lovely, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for anyone with height issues.

Once at the top, Sadie said she needed food. There were a number of food options, most of which involved some form of squid. There is something not quite right about eating something that was one of the attractions we had just visited. I am just trying to imagine how this menu would go down at Alton Towers or at Six Flags.

Thankfully, there were other options than munching on Squidward and Sadie was very happy with her french fries and diet coke. This is the ultimate food oxymoron.

During her feast, Sadie had been eyeing the temporary tattoo parlour. "No", I said, "Don't even ask". Of course, a few minutes later we were sat on the chair inside the booth whilst Sadie got her Panda tattoo. Giving in against your better judgement is a big part of the bonding process.

As foreigners, we are used to being stared at sometimes despite the fact that Hong Kong is one of the most cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse cities in the world. Just recently, I was accosted on the MTR by about 20 teenagers demanding to have their picture taken with a foreigner. Of course, I obliged with my goofiest grin.

Sadie actually attracted an audience whilst her tattoo was painted on. There was a crowd of people gathered round, pushing each other out of the way to get a view. When the tattoo lady was finished, Sadie stood up and the crowd actually applauded!

We then moved onto the arcade. This time I was really going to hold firm, and I set about telling Sadie how all the games are rigged and that it is virtually impossible to win a big prize. Then I saw the shooting gallery. OK, it was a Nerf shooting gallery where you shot plastic pegs with suction cups onto a plastic target, but it was still a shooting gallery. My resolve crumbled and I became the world's biggest hypocrite.

When I was about Sadie's age, I went to a summer camp. It was altogether a miserable experience, except for one thing. I discovered that I was really good with a 22 rifle. I've been hooked ever since. I would NEVER shoot at a living thing (I won't even let Sadie go to BB Gun parties when EVERYONE else gets to go), but boy do I love shooting at a target. I bought 10 rounds and sidled up to the bar counter. Everyone around me was doing rapid firing, but I took my time to line up that bullseye in my site. I felt like Clint Eastwood, Annie Oakley and John Wayne all wrapped up into one. Slowly, I pulled the trigger. Bullseye! I took my time with the rest and managed 5 bulls eyes and 5 in the next circle out. God, I'm good.

On to the rest of the park. It was time to do some rides. We headed off to the log flume. On our way, we saw large groups of mainland Chinese wandering around in packs. Some of them had on matching hats. Others had perky little matching bandannas. All of them had little tags around their necks which I can only presume said "If found, please return to Hunan Provence". Hong Kong tourism is big business in mainland China, and the groups are typically made up of older couples. It's sort of like visiting the Florida of the east.

These groups, with their bad teeth, worse clothes and what I can only imagine is the Chinese version of a hillbilly accent, are treated with complete and utter disdain by the local Hong Kong community.  I rather like them. I can only imagine what they must have seen in their lifetimes, yet they retain a certain child-like innocence in the pleasure they take in places like Ocean Park. Then we got to the queue for the log flume.

All innocence was gone as these old folks pushed and shoved like they were in the queue for the last kilo of rice at the state rice store. I'm not kidding, they were vicious. They cut in front of as many people as they could, tread on toes and elbowed their way to the front. Then once on the ride, they looked miserable when they got soaked to the skin. What were they expecting?  We got soaked to the skin too, but it was fun.

Then I had a really strange experience (as if being jostled by old Chinese people wasn't strange enough). We were in the queue for another ride (Raging Rapids, if you must know), and I spotted someone I knew in the queue. I knew I knew him, but for the life of me I couldn't thing of how. His was not a face I would forget as he looked like a youngish Paul Newman. I stared for about 10 minutes before he looked up and nodded at me and smiled before he turned away to talk to his very young Thai wife/girlfriend. It finally came to me.

It was a close friend of one of my exes whom I like to call Lucifer (No Grizz and Billy, that is not a nickname I have for either of you). It was driving me crazy because I couldn't remember his name. I remembered that he had been born with a really bad name (Malcolm Pratt), but he changed it by deed pole as soon as he was old enough. Who could blame him? So, although I could remember the old name that he changed before I even met him, I simply could not recall his new name. Then it came to me. Pat. His new name was Pat. Just to test out this theory, I yelled out "Pat" to see what would happen. What happened is that Sadie nearly died of embarrassment and the bloke didn't even turn around. I'm certain it was him though. I had heard to had moved to Asia a few years ago for the women to teach.

After a couple hours of different rides, it was time to head back down. This time we opted for the train. We were waiting for the train in a sort of holding pen with a bunch of mainlanders. Several of the women were staring at me and giggling. I smiled at one lady and she came over to me and poked me in the chest several times. Then, she gave two big thumbs up. All the other ladies then started smiling, nodding and pointing at my boobs like they had just won an academy award. I swear to you this really happened.

[lushscreamqueen]

Wes Craven’s CHILLER on the Schlocky Horror Picture Show

July 27, 2008

OPENING: Hello, good evening, and welcome to the Schlocky Horror Picture Show. I'm your host, Nigel Honeybone. "Welcome To The Wooorld Of Tomorrow!" as corporate executive Miles Creighton is cryogenically frozen for ten years until a suitable liver transplant is found and revive him. Unfortunately, his priest informs him his mind and body have been reanimated, but his soul...well his soul is gone...forever! Isn't a "get well soon" card more traditional? Watch, if you dare, as cult horror director Wes Craven attempts to break into the glamourous Made-For-TV movie market with a 1985 chiller called...Chiller! Talk about generic labeling... BREAK: Coming up we have more unfeeling monsters without souls, then after the ads we can get back to Wes Craven's Chiller...brrrrrr! MIDDLE: Welcome back to the Schlocky Horror Picture Show. What do I think is the best part of Wes Craven's Chiller? I like the introduction title sequence, maybe because it was inspired by the 1982 John Carpenter film The Thing, and almost as much inspired by the blood test they used in the 1998 film The Faculty. Did I say inspired? I meant to say ripped-off. Through no fault of actor Michael Beck, Miles is just a generic unfeeling monster. It doesn't work well for a TV movie because it's too restrained. He doesn't really kill anyone. His worst crime involves forcing an old man to walk up a long flight of stairs and suffer a heart attack. The fiend! Oh, has that happened in the film yet? I wouldn't want to give away any important plot points, of course. Just pretend I didn't say that...I know, I'll talk about the actors instead. Beck is probably best known for playing gang-leader Swan in the excellent 1979 cult action film The Warriors, probably the high point of his movie career. Low points in his career include playing Sonny Malone in the 1980 musical roller-flop Xanadu, and Lieutenant-Commander Dallas in the 1982 action roller-flop Megaforce, which was so bad...(how bad was it?)...it was so bad he received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor. He couldn't even win that. But more recently he can be spotted in television shows like JAG, Robin's Hoods, as the Mars-born terrorist-turned cyborg assassin Abel Horn in the Babylon 5 episode A Spider In The Web, and in Walker Texas Ranger, because you don't say no to Chuck Norris. So not promising so far, but then we have Jill Schoelen's sweet face to look at, so even if your intelligence is insulted your eyes won't be. Jill is much loved not so much for her movies but for her looks. In one Psycho-inspired scene, Miles is seen Peeping-Tomming...is that a word? Anyway, he takes a shufty at Stacy through a hole he drilled while she undresses. I can't fault the man for that, really. I'd probably be drilling a hole of my own, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. Jill can be seen in other schlocky efforts like DC Cab, The Stepfather, The Curse II: The Bite, Cutting Class, The Phantom of the Opera, Popcorn, and the 1993 sequel to When A Stranger Calls, and the cunningly titled When a Stranger Calls Back. Her roles in more than half-a-dozen low-budget horror films has earned her a minor cult following and raising her to the status of scream queen. Speaking of queens, Jill Schoelen also dated Brad Pitt for a while. They were engaged for about three months, but then she broke off the engagement for The Phantom of the Opera. I guess the best man won. It would be terribly amiss of me not to mention respected character actor Paul Sorvino as Reverend Penny, whose impressive career includes the 1970 cult film Where's Poppa?, Day Of The Dolphin, Oh God!, Cruising, The Stuff, Goodfellas, The Rocketeer, and was frighteningly convincing as Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon. Sorvino also became a favourite of Warren Beatty's, and can be seen alongside Woggles in Reds, Dick Tracy, Bulworth and far too many others. He also fathered, possibly with Warren Beatty, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino. In Chiller, director Wes Craven uses a sledgehammer to make the connection between Miles being emotionally cold

with being physically cold as well. For some reason Wes thinks being cold and dead make you a heartless bastard, but that's just retarded. The metaphor is threadbare as it is, and he drives it into our heads as if nobody would be able to pick up on it on their own. Give us a little credit! Over the last three decades Craven has become an efficient, dependable film-maker who is obviously comfortable behind the camera, but there's no flair, no style, and very little imagination when it comes to horror. Freddy Krueger is really his only memorable contribution to the genre...everyone's entitled to one good day. Speaking of which, although Wes would never admit it, he and Friday The Thirteenth producer Sean Cunningham had worked together on the 1973 soft porn vampire comedy The Case Of The Smiling Stiffs, also known as The Case Of The Full Moon Murders, which means Freddy Versus Jason in 2003 was a thirty-year celebration of sorts for the two film makers. Try to find The Case Of The Smiling Stiffs if you can, I guarantee you'll find it more entertaining than most of their other efforts! But you can do that tomorrow. In the meantime I urge you to remain for the From-The-Freezer-To-The-Oven-To-The-Table excitement that is...Wes Craven's...Chiller! CLOSING: What the hell was that all about? At first Miles seems to be just your average sociopath who has no regard for anyone but himself. Then for the finale, his eyes suddenly become demonic and he's got super strength, lifting cops off the ground with one arm, and all that. My guess is that Wes Craven thought Miles just wasn't evil enough and made a last-minute decision to make him seem 'otherworldly' for the ending. It's these kind of efforts that makes "Made For Television" such a bad reputation. Both acting and direction are rather pedestrian, at best. Cold, you might say. Anyway, please join me next week when I have another opportunity to make your stomach turn and your flesh crawl with another lusting, slashing, ripping flesh-hungry, blood-mad massacre from the back side of the Public Domain on...The Schlocky Horror Picture Show. Toodles!

by Lushscreamqueen

[orbemnews]

It's 53% alcohol and tastes like fire. Here's how this liquor brand took over China At 1,498 yuan, or $209 for a half-liter bottle, it might not sound like the kind of bargain Costco shoppers usually go for — but in this case, it absolutely was. That price represented a steep discount over Moutai sold elsewhere — that is, if you could get your hands on it. The luxury spirit is so beloved in China, it sold out quickly. “Anytime they have any stock [of the product] available, it’s going to be gone almost instantly,” said Ben Cavender, the Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group. “You’ll see people clamoring [for it].” Apart from the Chinese diaspora, however, Moutai is still virtually unknown overseas. Almost all — about 97% — of its sales come from China alone, according to its financial reports. So how is a company that sells its products primarily in just one country now worth more than some longstanding global behemoths? And can Kweichow Moutai, which is described by some Westerners as “drinking liquid razor blades,” succeed in appealing to non-Chinese consumers? From historic icon to status symbol Moutai has one unmistakable advantage: the drink is China’s national spirit. Moutai baijiu — the type of liquor the company makes — is a clear, potent spirit that’s been dubbed “firewater,” thanks to the fact that it’s 53% alcohol. The red-and-white bottles of its flagship product, “Feitian,” or “Flying Fairy,” are a staple at Chinese state banquets and business events. Known as the favorite tipple of Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China, and as the “drink of diplomacy,” it was famously used to welcome former US President Richard Nixon on his historic trip to China in 1972, and again in 2013 when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, in California. Once, at a state dinner in 1974, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told Deng Xiaoping, the future Chinese leader: “I think if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything.” “Then, when I go back to China, we must take steps to increase our production of it,” Deng responded, according to an archived US government transcript. Being part of so many major public events in China “really set the brand in the national consciousness,” said Cavender, who likened it to another giant beverage maker, Coca-Cola, in that regard. “That’s the same reason why Coke has actually done so well from a marketing perspective. If you look at the way they’ve done their advertising over the past 50 years, they’re at pretty much every big event. You see Coke at when the Berlin Wall comes down. You see Coke commercials at Christmas. I think Moutai is that brand for China, and so I think that part explains why it’s so popular.” A Moutai representative declined requests to be interviewed for this story. Some say the story goes back even further in Communist Party lore. During the Red Army’s “Long March” in China in the 1930s, soldiers used to pour Moutai on their feet to help disinfect wounds, Chinese state media has reported, citing a former army lieutenant general. Legend has it that members of the Red Army even used to turn to the drink to knock themselves out before surgery, said Hao Hong, head of research at BOCOM International, the securities arm of China’s Bank of Communications. “It’s a story [that goes around],” he said. “They didn’t have anesthesia. So they had to use Moutai as a drug to numb [people] from surgery.” Today, the brand is seen more as a luxury status symbol than for its “Red” roots. Some customers buy it not to drink, but to keep as investments. Limited-edition cases are collected and showcased by international auction houses, like Christie’s, which says that some bottles can fetch more than $40,000 each. Moutai has found a way to be “approachable for a lot of regular consumers, at least for special occasions,” while at the same time also offering collectors�� items that reach the ultra-rich, said Cavender. “That’s something that makes Moutai, I think, different, from a lot of the international beverage brands,” he said. It’s also been a tremendous advantage during an economically tough year: wealthy consumers who are spending less on travel may splurge more on liquor, Cavender added. A meteoric rise Moutai has long been seen as one of China’s blue-chip stocks. In 2017, it became the world’s biggest liquor maker by market value, surpassing Diageo (DEO), the British owner of Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Tanqueray. In 2019, Moutai also became the first Chinese company since 2005 to see its share price hit 1,000 yuan (about $145), notching another market record. And last year, it became the most valuable non-tech company in China. (Alibaba and Tencent, the country’s top two tech giants, are valued higher, with their shares listed in New York and Hong Kong respectively.) In 2020, Moutai’s shares soared 69% to record highs. Hong said that he believed there was no major impetus for the rally last year; just that “most people are gradually realizing the ability of this company to be able to generate strong cash flow and no debt.” “It’s like a badge of honor for value investing,” he added. “People love the stock — because year after year, it just continues to deliver.” Xian Li, a 66-year-old retiree in Shanghai, is one of those people. He’s invested in Moutai since 2004, just three years after it went public. Li said he was excited to buy in because it was clear from the beginning that the company was “financially healthy,” and able to reward shareholders with a generous dividend. Since then, he’s invested more than 136,000 yuan (about $21,000) into the stock. The payoff has been huge: a few years ago, he made enough to put his son through university. “The dividend [alone] each year could cover my daily expenses,” said Li, who plans to hold onto the stock indefinitely. “It’s also going to help me to afford medical bills and nursing home expenses.” Not everyone is so bullish. Allen Cheng, an equity analyst at Morningstar, made headlines in 2019 when he downgraded his rating on Moutai’s stock to sell. Cheng, who has since maintained that position, argues that the company’s prospects are overblown, and that “the market has already reflected all the positives of the past 10 years.” “Being the only hater is really difficult for me,” he said with a laugh. “I think it’s a bubble here.” Authorities, too, have warned investors of a potential stock bubble. In 2017, Moutai suffered a huge selloff — wiping $7.8 billion off its market cap in one day — after state-run news agency Xinhua, which often conveys the Communist leadership’s sentiment, urged investors to take a more “rational view” of the company. “It’s important for Kweichow Moutai … to stick to its slow pace,” Xinhua said in an editorial. “Pulling up a plant to make it grow inevitably leads to unbearable pain. Short-sighted speculation will cause tremendous damage to the value of investment.” The move was not uncommon. Beijing frequently tries to sway investors through state media, such as last summer, when a government-run publication encouraged people to buy into stocks. That could have a domino effect, particularly because mainland Chinese stock markets are dominated by retail investors. According to a 2020 survey by the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, almost all investors there — 99% — were individuals. The making of Moutai One of Moutai’s biggest advantages is its ability to keep the price of its product high. It claims to have limited capacity since it can only produce its drinks in one place. Similar to champagne — which comes from the eponymous region in France — Kweichow Moutai is named after Maotai, a picturesque small town in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou. (The company’s name is based on an old romanization of the town’s Chinese name.) Like champagne, the drink can only be called Moutai if it’s produced in that specific location. This is where the company says its baijiu — distilled from fermented sorghum and rice — gets the magic touch. Environmental factors, such as the town’s climate and seasonal changes in the water of the local river, help give the liquor its unique taste and is “beneficial to the production process,” according to the Moutai Museum. Inside the town, Moutai’s impact on the economy is deeply felt. As of 2019, Maotai was the richest town in western China, according to disposable income statistics from the municipal government of Renhuai, in Guizhou province. (Guizhou is among the country’s poorest regions.) That would never have happened if it weren’t for the beverage giant, said Qi Wang, a local resident. “Kweichow Moutai is the leader of Maotai,” he said, adding that the company’s boom helped encourage him to open his own liquor factory. “It influences all aspects of the town’s development.” Its close ties with the government don’t always guarantee protection, though. In 2013, sales slumped when President Xi embarked on an anti-corruption drive, leading the government to stamp out any sign of “extravagance” among officials, including of expensive liquor. The campaign led to “unprecedented pressure” on the alcohol industry, Moutai noted in an earnings report. Sales still grew that year, but only around 17%, compared to 44% the previous year. In 2014, that number plunged to about 2%. The firm has since bounced back — though it now faces other problems. In recent years, it’s been dogged by numerous corruption scandals, which has led to the ouster of several top executives, according to state media. Other major firms have faced similar pressure. China regularly investigates powerful executives for corruption — while using the findings to send a warning to others. This month, a Chinese court sentenced Lai Xiaomin, the former chief of a top, state-owned financial firm, to death for bribery. Is China enough? Moutai has an outsize reliance on the Chinese market. To be sure, the company has tried to push overseas, notably by starting a “fan club” in the United States, traveling to Africa to woo new business partners and teaming up with foreign players, such as Italy’s Inter Milan soccer club. But for the most part, it’s had little to show for it. In 2019, almost 97% of sales still came from China. Last March, the company launched a social media campaign called “stay at home with Moutai,” which encouraged users around the world to try new recipes during lockdown. One Instagram and Twitter post, for instance, suggested mixing the drink into a “sunset cocktail,” while another offered instructions for a noodle dish that could pair with the liquor. The campaign demonstrated an effort to stay connected with international consumers, even during the pandemic. But analysts have pointed to other challenges ahead. Moutai needs to do more to diversify, according to Spiros Malandrakis, industry manager of alcoholic drinks at Euromonitor International. “It needs to have started yesterday,” he said. “International spirits always start local, like baijiu, but they become international. That’s the key. That’s how you take over the world. That’s how you become sustainably big.” Malandrakis pointed to Mexican tequila, Russian vodka and American bourbon as examples. None of those “would have survived” if they didn’t go global, he added. The process, of course, doesn’t happen overnight. William Dong, managing director of Evershine Australia, which distributes Moutai in Australia, New Zealand and Italy, said that many people still need to be educated about what baijiu even is. “We have distributed the product into basically everywhere that we could,” he said in an interview from Sydney. At the end of the day, most customers are still Chinese, he added. “I would say probably 80%.” It doesn’t help that the drink is an acquired taste. Some people eschew Moutai’s strong kick, while others label it “firewater.” “[Some] Westerners find it, and I quote, ‘kind of like drinking liquid razor blades,'” said Malandrakis. An even bigger threat, however, may be generational and gender gaps within China. Currently, the core demographic for baijiu is 40 to 60-year-old men, according to Malandrakis. “The next generation of drinkers does not particularly want to do exactly what their father’s generation did,” he explained. “It’s not great for the future, if you don’t start having new people coming in.” Malandrakis compared it to sherry, which was loved for centuries but later fell out of popularity as it “became synonymous with consumption of older populations.” Not everyone is so worried. Even with its weak international position, Moutai’s baijiu was the world’s best-selling liquor in 2019, according to Euromonitor. “The Chinese market is so big, and it’s continuing to become more wealthy,” said Cavender. He also noted a recent swell in local pride, which could draw more domestic consumers in. For all its challenges, even critics admit the company’s dominance is nowhere near diminishing. “The brand — and the heritage that the brand has — it’s really impossible to replicate that,” Cavender said. “Somebody can’t set up a new venture tomorrow and do what they can do. It’s not sort of possible to go back in time and get Mao Zedong to be interested in your drink. It’s not possible to sort of be located in the town where they make their products. So I think they have a strong built-in story that allows them to flourish.” CNN’s Beijing bureau and Serenitie Wang contributed to this report. Source link Orbem News #alcohol #Brand #Business #China #Fire #Heres #HowliquorbrandKweichowMoutaitookoverChinaandbecametheworld'slargestbeveragemaker-CNN #Liquor #tastes

[dipulb3]

It's 53% alcohol and tastes like fire. Here's how this liquor brand took over China

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/its-53-alcohol-and-tastes-like-fire-heres-how-this-liquor-brand-took-over-china/

It's 53% alcohol and tastes like fire. Here's how this liquor brand took over China

At 1,498 yuan, or $209 for a half-liter bottle, it might not sound like the kind of bargain Costco shoppers usually go for — but in this case, it absolutely was. That price represented a steep discount over Moutai sold elsewhere — that is, if you could get your hands on it. The luxury spirit is so beloved in China, it sold out quickly.

“Anytime they have any stock [of the product] available, it’s going to be gone almost instantly,” said Ben Cavender, the Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group. “You’ll see people clamoring [for it].”

Apart from the Chinese diaspora, however, Moutai is still virtually unknown overseas. Almost all — about 97% — of its sales come from China alone, according to its financial reports.

So how is a company that sells its products primarily in just one country now worth more than some longstanding global behemoths? And can Kweichow Moutai, which is described by some Westerners as “drinking liquid razor blades,” succeed in appealing to non-Chinese consumers?

From historic icon to status symbol

Moutai has one unmistakable advantage: the drink is China’s national spirit.

Moutai baijiu — the type of liquor the company makes — is a clear, potent spirit that’s been dubbed “firewater,” thanks to the fact that it’s 53% alcohol. The red-and-white bottles of its flagship product, “Feitian,” or “Flying Fairy,” are a staple at Chinese state banquets and business events.

Known as the favorite tipple of Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China, and as the “drink of diplomacy,” it was famously used to welcome former US President Richard Nixon on his historic trip to China in 1972, and again in 2013 when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, in California.

Once, at a state dinner in 1974, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told Deng Xiaoping, the future Chinese leader: “I think if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything.”

“Then, when I go back to China, we must take steps to increase our production of it,” Deng responded, according to an archived US government transcript.

Being part of so many major public events in China “really set the brand in the national consciousness,” said Cavender, who likened it to another giant beverage maker, Coca-Cola, in that regard.

“That’s the same reason why Coke has actually done so well from a marketing perspective. If you look at the way they’ve done their advertising over the past 50 years, they’re at pretty much every big event. You see Coke at when the Berlin Wall comes down. You see Coke commercials at Christmas. I think Moutai is that brand for China, and so I think that part explains why it’s so popular.”

A Moutai representative declined requests to be interviewed for this story.

Some say the story goes back even further in Communist Party lore. During the Red Army’s “Long March” in China in the 1930s, soldiers used to pour Moutai on their feet to help disinfect wounds, Chinese state media has reported, citing a former army lieutenant general.

Legend has it that members of the Red Army even used to turn to the drink to knock themselves out before surgery, said Hao Hong, head of research at BOCOM International, the securities arm of China’s Bank of Communications.

“It’s a story [that goes around],” he said. “They didn’t have anesthesia. So they had to use Moutai as a drug to numb [people] from surgery.”

Today, the brand is seen more as a luxury status symbol than for its “Red” roots. Some customers buy it not to drink, but to keep as investments. Limited-edition cases are collected and showcased by international auction houses, like Christie’s, which says that some bottles can fetch more than $40,000 each.

Moutai has found a way to be “approachable for a lot of regular consumers, at least for special occasions,” while at the same time also offering collectors’ items that reach the ultra-rich, said Cavender.

“That’s something that makes Moutai, I think, different, from a lot of the international beverage brands,” he said.

It’s also been a tremendous advantage during an economically tough year: wealthy consumers who are spending less on travel may splurge more on liquor, Cavender added.

A meteoric rise

Moutai has long been seen as one of China’s blue-chip stocks. In 2017, it became the world’s biggest liquor maker by market value, surpassing Diageo (DEO), the British owner of Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Tanqueray.

In 2019, Moutai also became the first Chinese company since 2005 to see its share price hit 1,000 yuan (about $145), notching another market record. And last year, it became the most valuable non-tech company in China. (Alibaba and Tencent, the country’s top two tech giants, are valued higher, with their shares listed in New York and Hong Kong respectively.)

In 2020, Moutai’s shares soared 69% to record highs.

Hong said that he believed there was no major impetus for the rally last year; just that “most people are gradually realizing the ability of this company to be able to generate strong cash flow and no debt.”

“It’s like a badge of honor for value investing,” he added. “People love the stock — because year after year, it just continues to deliver.”

Xian Li, a 66-year-old retiree in Shanghai, is one of those people. He’s invested in Moutai since 2004, just three years after it went public.

Li said he was excited to buy in because it was clear from the beginning that the company was “financially healthy,” and able to reward shareholders with a generous dividend.

Since then, he’s invested more than 136,000 yuan (about $21,000) into the stock. The payoff has been huge: a few years ago, he made enough to put his son through university.

“The dividend [alone] each year could cover my daily expenses,” said Li, who plans to hold onto the stock indefinitely. “It’s also going to help me to afford medical bills and nursing home expenses.”

Not everyone is so bullish. Allen Cheng, an equity analyst at Morningstar, made headlines in 2019 when he downgraded his rating on Moutai’s stock to sell.

Cheng, who has since maintained that position, argues that the company’s prospects are overblown, and that “the market has already reflected all the positives of the past 10 years.”

“Being the only hater is really difficult for me,” he said with a laugh. “I think it’s a bubble here.”

Authorities, too, have warned investors of a potential stock bubble. In 2017, Moutai suffered a huge selloff — wiping $7.8 billion off its market cap in one day — after state-run news agency Xinhua, which often conveys the Communist leadership’s sentiment, urged investors to take a more “rational view” of the company.

“It’s important for Kweichow Moutai … to stick to its slow pace,” Xinhua said in an editorial. “Pulling up a plant to make it grow inevitably leads to unbearable pain. Short-sighted speculation will cause tremendous damage to the value of investment.”

The move was not uncommon. Beijing frequently tries to sway investors through state media, such as last summer, when a government-run publication encouraged people to buy into stocks.

That could have a domino effect, particularly because mainland Chinese stock markets are dominated by retail investors. According to a 2020 survey by the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, almost all investors there — 99% — were individuals.

The making of Moutai

One of Moutai’s biggest advantages is its ability to keep the price of its product high. It claims to have limited capacity since it can only produce its drinks in one place.

Similar to champagne — which comes from the eponymous region in France — Kweichow Moutai is named after Maotai, a picturesque small town in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou. (The company’s name is based on an old romanization of the town’s Chinese name.) Like champagne, the drink can only be called Moutai if it’s produced in that specific location.

This is where the company says its baijiu — distilled from fermented sorghum and rice — gets the magic touch.

Environmental factors, such as the town’s climate and seasonal changes in the water of the local river, help give the liquor its unique taste and is “beneficial to the production process,” according to the Moutai Museum.

Inside the town, Moutai’s impact on the economy is deeply felt.

As of 2019, Maotai was the richest town in western China, according to disposable income statistics from the municipal government of Renhuai, in Guizhou province. (Guizhou is among the country’s poorest regions.)

That would never have happened if it weren’t for the beverage giant, said Qi Wang, a local resident.

“Kweichow Moutai is the leader of Maotai,” he said, adding that the company’s boom helped encourage him to open his own liquor factory. “It influences all aspects of the town’s development.”

Its close ties with the government don’t always guarantee protection, though.

In 2013, sales slumped when President Xi embarked on an anti-corruption drive, leading the government to stamp out any sign of “extravagance” among officials, including of expensive liquor.

The campaign led to “unprecedented pressure” on the alcohol industry, Moutai noted in an earnings report.

Sales still grew that year, but only around 17%, compared to 44% the previous year. In 2014, that number plunged to about 2%.

The firm has since bounced back — though it now faces other problems. In recent years, it’s been dogged by numerous corruption scandals, which has led to the ouster of several top executives, according to state media.

Other major firms have faced similar pressure. China regularly investigates powerful executives for corruption — while using the findings to send a warning to others. This month, a Chinese court sentenced Lai Xiaomin, the former chief of a top, state-owned financial firm, to death for bribery.

Is China enough?

Moutai has an outsize reliance on the Chinese market.

To be sure, the company has tried to push overseas, notably by starting a “fan club” in the United States, traveling to Africa to woo new business partners and teaming up with foreign players, such as Italy’s Inter Milan soccer club.

But for the most part, it’s had little to show for it. In 2019, almost 97% of sales still came from China.

Last March, the company launched a social media campaign called “stay at home with Moutai,” which encouraged users around the world to try new recipes during lockdown. One Instagram and Twitter post, for instance, suggested mixing the drink into a “sunset cocktail,” while another offered instructions for a noodle dish that could pair with the liquor.

The campaign demonstrated an effort to stay connected with international consumers, even during the pandemic. But analysts have pointed to other challenges ahead.

Moutai needs to do more to diversify, according to Spiros Malandrakis, industry manager of alcoholic drinks at Euromonitor International. “It needs to have started yesterday,” he said. “International spirits always start local, like baijiu, but they become international. That’s the key. That’s how you take over the world. That’s how you become sustainably big.”

Malandrakis pointed to Mexican tequila, Russian vodka and American bourbon as examples. None of those “would have survived” if they didn’t go global, he added.

The process, of course, doesn’t happen overnight.

William Dong, managing director of Evershine Australia, which distributes Moutai in Australia, New Zealand and Italy, said that many people still need to be educated about what baijiu even is.

“We have distributed the product into basically everywhere that we could,” he said in an interview from Sydney.

At the end of the day, most customers are still Chinese, he added. “I would say probably 80%.”

It doesn’t help that the drink is an acquired taste. Some people eschew Moutai’s strong kick, while others label it “firewater.”

“[Some] Westerners find it, and I quote, ‘kind of like drinking liquid razor blades,'” said Malandrakis.

An even bigger threat, however, may be generational and gender gaps within China. Currently, the core demographic for baijiu is 40 to 60-year-old men, according to Malandrakis.

“The next generation of drinkers does not particularly want to do exactly what their father’s generation did,” he explained. “It’s not great for the future, if you don’t start having new people coming in.”

Malandrakis compared it to sherry, which was loved for centuries but later fell out of popularity as it “became synonymous with consumption of older populations.”

Not everyone is so worried. Even with its weak international position, Moutai’s baijiu was the world’s best-selling liquor in 2019, according to Euromonitor.

“The Chinese market is so big, and it’s continuing to become more wealthy,” said Cavender. He also noted a recent swell in local pride, which could draw more domestic consumers in.

For all its challenges, even critics admit the company’s dominance is nowhere near diminishing.

“The brand — and the heritage that the brand has — it’s really impossible to replicate that,” Cavender said. “Somebody can’t set up a new venture tomorrow and do what they can do. It’s not sort of possible to go back in time and get Mao Zedong to be interested in your drink. It’s not possible to sort of be located in the town where they make their products. So I think they have a strong built-in story that allows them to flourish.”

Appradab’s Beijing bureau and Serenitie Wang contributed to this report.

[shinylitwick94]

My Top 10 Books of 2017

10. The Iliad (Homer, translated by Frederico Lourenço into Portuguese)

More interesting than truly enjoyable. There are some very memorable/beautiful passages, but there is also a lot of “and then he tossed a spear at him”. The middle bits dragged a little, but I think I did like it in the end. That and I’m just proud of myself for having read it.

9.Diplomacy (Henry Kissinger)

Has been sitting on my shelf for years, and I’m glad to say I’ve finished it. I liked it, even if Kissinger has a tendency to go back and forth a lot on the same topic and isn’t exactly concise. It has a very american view of things, of course, but that is to be expected. Still found it a very informative read.

8. O Livro de Cesário Verde (Cesário Verde, in Portuguese)

I’d read bits and pieces of it back in school, but never the whole thing. I liked it then and I like it slightly less now, but it’s still gorgeous poetry.

7.Dancing in the Glory of Monsters (Jason Stearns)

I knew next to nothing about the Congo wars before starting and I still feel like I know very little, but this certainly opened my eyes to a conflict I’d heard of, but had never made any effort to understand. It was very confusing, because the events were very confusing, but it tried hard both to clarify the events and connect the reader to the stories of those that lived them.

6. Les petites filles modèles (Comtesse de Ségur, in French)

Yep. I loved this thing. The girls are adorable and they sound in many ways just like my little nieces, especially when they misbehave (although they use more old fashioned language).  This lady knows how to write little kids.

5. The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

My first Umberto Eco book. I had tried reading it before and failed. This time I actually understood some of the things he was talking about, which made it much better. I love how he tries to make his medieval characters act and think as they might have at that time - it’s very different from anything else I’ve read that’s set in the middle ages in that regard. It feels much more realistic.

4.A Geração da Utopia (Peptela, in Portuguese)

Really eye-opening for me. Discusses issues surrounding the Colonial Wars and the independence of Angola. It’s fiction, but it still taught me a lot that I did not know about that time period and helped me see it from a different perspective. It’s also pretty sad.

3.The Epic of Gilgamesh (???, translated by N.K Sandars into English)

This was so much fun! It’s the archetypal story of stories and it’s AWESOME. I really, really enjoyed reading it. Hell, I think I’d read it to a kid and they’d love it too.

2.The Malazan Book of the Fallen (whole series) (Steven Erikson)

Again, the fun factor wins out here. Some of the books I liked better than others (I wrote individual reviews for each), but this series has made me excited about fantasy again and for that I’m very grateful.

1.(Tie) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)

First things first: Nabokov is all of my foreign language goals. How the hell can someone write so well in their second language?!

I loved this book. As I said, the writing is amazing, Humbert’s character is infinitely disturbing, the story is engaging, the social critique is merciless, all of it, just all of it is brilliant! 

1. (Tie) To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

Again, loved it. Such a  simple story that does so much. It’s great.

Honorable Mentions: 

How to Write a Thesis (Umberto Eco) - for kicking me out of ignoring my thesis

A Igreja do Diabo (Short Story) (Machado de Assis) - The Devil decides to create a church and is pissed when all of his followers start doing the exact opposite of what he told them. - Very funny IMHO

The Grand Tolkien Reread (Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and The Hobbit) - will get its own post, but for now: I decided to reread LOTR, the Silmarillion and the Hobbit - LOTR and the Silmarillion were even better than I remembered them being, but since I’m not done with the Hobbit I’ll do a full review once I finish that.

My worst five books of the year can be found here

[kashmiresims]

Pining for Acceptance

First Post | Previous Post | Next Post

"What's up Alanna?"

"Good to see ya, Alanna."

"Heeey Alanna."

Reggie was trying to figure out how to greet Alanna when he next saw her in a way that didn't seem unnatural or awkward.

"Lookin' Good, Alanna!" Reggie tried to come off as attentive and complimentary but when he pointed his fingers and smiled at his reflection in the mirror, it looked ridiculous. Fortunately, he didn't suffer the full vision of ridiculousness since had yet to put on his glasses so it was a slightly blurry, ridiculous reflection.

He sighed in frustration and pawed at his hair which he had yet to style with some hair gel; it was still messy and limp from sleeping on it all night.

His bird squawked at him.

"Don't judge me!" Reggie turned and pointed at Kissinger. The bird cocked its head and Reggie realized that he'd forgotten to give Kissinger breakfast; the bird was asking for food and not making fun of the fact Reggie was woefully inadequate at impressing women. He approached Kissinger's bird cage and pulled out the box of bird seed, carefully pouring it into the feeder so not to spill it all over the floor of his apartment.  

It was unfortunate that the only time Alanna had free that week was right before his Theory of Patriotism class at 9 o' clock am.  

However, it was perfect timing to get an espresso because Reggie couldn't seem to get through the day without out at least two cups of caffeine, but he wished it wasn't so early and that they could have more time together. He figured he should start getting dressed and look presentable.  

Through before doing that, he Instead plopped down in front of his computer and checked his messages. He could dick around for hours on the computer—reading tech blogs, writing code, following an endless suggestion trail of funny videos, or playing rush hour—but his excitement to meet up with Alanna would be enough to drag him away so he wasn't worried about losing track of time.  

He had an email from Professor Carr reminding him that the robotics program was still meeting up on Saturday despite it being fall break, though it was optional. Sure, Reggie had nothing better to do on Fall break—might as well brush up on his coding and see what the other members were working on.

He also had a ping from his friendly rush hour nemesis; they must have messaged him after he went to bed the night before. They had played a few rounds against each other which he had won.

Violet_Fire: Too busy to play this weekend, but will kick your behiney the next time I am online ;)

Violet_Fire had actually won the rush hour tournament match up with him the week before much to Reggie's disappointment but he felt some sort of vindication at winning the most recent one-on-one races.

He didn't know much about the user named Violet_Fire. They didn't really chat about personal things, just seemed to trash talk each other about who was the better player.  He'd seen them in the game match-ups for at least the last year and a half and they both had sort of been going back and forth in the regional rankings; evenly matched.  He thought it was amusing that they ended most of their chat lines with winky faces.

Kissinger squawked at him again and he jolted up, remembering he still had yet to get dressed, gel his hair, and gather his class materials before he could leave and meet Alanna for coffee.

Reggie tapped his foot anxiously, and impatiently as he stood in line for espresso. It was five minutes later than when Alanna told him she'd meet him. He had waited outside for a minute or two but it was a bit chilly that early in the morning, plus he needed that espresso to wake him up. So he stood in line, hoping he could flag Alanna over when she showed up. It seemed every time the doors to the coffee shop opened, he would whip around with a smile only to have it wipe away because the incoming patron was not her.

Finally, finally, he spotted her enter the building. Her hair was pulled up hastily like she didn't have time to brush it and part of it was already falling out. Despite her disheveled look, she still was stunning as ever.  

She spotted him and her warm smile was enough to forget about the morning chill, and forgive her for her tardiness.

"Sorry! Sorry for being late and sorry it took so long to get a clear schedule, I do a lot of studying that takes up most of my time," Alanna explained and joined Reggie in line for coffee. She gave a enormous yawn.  

"I accidentally overslept because I went too late studying last night."

There had to be something admirable in a person who had that much patience and concentration for hours of nothing but studying.

"What's your major?" Reggie asked. He knew what it was, he had looked at her SSU student profile online but wanted to see if asking her would lead to more natural conversation.

"Biology," she replied, "And yours?"  

"Political Science."  

She gave a small nod as if that wasn't surprising. It really wasn't considering the legacy of politicians in his family. It was never outright spoken but there was this sort of assumption Reggie would follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps to become mayor one day. He didn't have a problem with that expectation but at the same time wanted to make his own mark on the legacy if he were to go through with it.

"So, will you study, even over fall break?" He asked and started to feel more at ease talking to her, falling bit by bit into that comfort zone he'd had with her when she had been his chemistry partner in high school.  

"Not the entire time. I'm busy helping with a bake sale on Saturday."  

Reggie stepped up and ordered his usual cappuccino. Alanna reminded him she was paying since she had offered to buy in the first place. He offered one word of protest before giving in and letting her buy their caffeine.  

They took a seat at one of the counters. Reggie sipped on his cappuccino and felt instantly better. A shot of caffeine did wonders. Alanna sat next to him with her coffee in a to-go container. He was curious to know more about her bake sale; it could be another opportunity to see her.

"So where is the bake sale? Maybe I will drop by and get something. Do you bake?"  

"A little," she shrugged, suddenly with a troubled expression that didn't escape his notice. "It's at the Isla Del Kashmire Mocha Chip Coffee Shop..."  

"What's wrong?"  he asked with concern, interrupting her to know why she looked so troubled.

"Franz is going to be there," she finally mumbled, and Reggie felt himself frown, "I just don't want to see you guys get into a fight again."  

Reggie let out a sarcastic laugh and set down his cup, "Franz is the fighter, he's always been that way."  

"He has not!" Alanna protested.  

"Oh yeah?" Reggie raised his brows, "So he didn't march into Mocha Chip the other day and threaten me with no provocation?"  

Alanna bit her lip and looked down at her coffee. She couldn't argue with that point.  

"He's not your boyfriend, is he?" Reggie asked. He didn't think they were together, imaging Franz trying to be romantic was just humorous, but considering how threatening Franz had been toward him, he could have been mistaken.

"No!" she looked shocked that he would even ask such a question, "We're just friends."

"Listen, I was his friend long before you and the guy is dangerous. Do you ever wonder why he gives off a such a loner attitude? He can't keep friends and ends up driving them away. He put a kid into a concussion when he was in the third grade, and he even punched me in the nose once back in high school when he got angry. Violence is the language he speaks and always will."  

"I don't believe that," Alanna said, finally staring hard at Reggie. He wasn't going to change her mind today, but given time he could make her see that Franz wasn't worth the trouble. He knew, he'd once been friends with Franz too.

"You can’t adopt a tiger and expect it to act like a kitten, Alanna. You'll see his true nature of these days and it's not going to be a pleasant sight," Reggie stated and picked his cup back up to finish off the remaining espresso.

True nature. The person Reggie was describing sounded like a complete stranger. Franz was so good at maintaining a stoic demeanor, but considering recent events, Alanna didn't know how long it would last. She hoped the bake sale would have a large turn out and they could get at least enough money to start on the cost of his mother's treatments. Her worry reached her face again. 

"What now?"  

"I'm just really worried about him, his mother...she's sick. They're probably going to lose the bakery in order to keep up the cost of treatments," she said. She hadn't actually drank her coffee yet and seemed rather melancholy. "That's why we are doing a bake sale—to raise money."  

Reggie didn't really care about Franz or his problems. He wanted to hang out with Alanna and start over, not be burdened by this boorish conversation about another guy he disliked. He didn't want to seem insensitive so forced himself to look at least, mildly sympathetic, "That's a shame."  

Her melancholy didn't seem to lessen as she stared at the ground, seeming preoccupied with thoughts about Franz.  

Reggie prickled with jealousy but had to remind himself that he had a lot more going for him, and it wasn't like Alanna had a thing for Franz anyway, as she just admitted. Reggie needed to get back on Alanna's good side.

"Hey, how about I drop by Saturday and buy a whole bag of baked goods, that way it will help out."  

To his relief she smiled gratefully, "It really would, thank you!" Then, to his surprise and delight she threw her arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze of appreciation.    

She picked up her coffee, seeming to have a renewed interest in it and finally took a drink.

They sat and chatted about more subjects besides school—hobbies and entertainment—general, easy-going topics that weren't so controversial. As they walked out, an idea struck Reggie on how he could entice her to meet up again.  

"What are you doing Saturday evening?"  

"I'll be busy studying, why?"  

"Well if you can afford to put it off for an evening, you should come with me to the robotics group and check out what we're working on. I remember you were big into the science club in high school, didn’t you win like the regional science fair with that weather contraption?"  

She nodded with a sudden excitement, "Yeah, but I didn't know you were into robotics too! My brother works in the industry and he's actually developed some new AI functions. Is that what you do?"

She pulled out her phone and seemed to flip through it and then looked to him with a smile,  "I'll  rearrange my schedule; I'd love to see what you are working on!"  

"Well I work on the internal coding, the computer parts of them—it's sort of a hobby I got into," Reggie said, losing a bit of confidence. AI was some advanced tech Reggie wasn't even close to touching, she probably wouldn't be impressed with anything he was coding at the moment compared to what Antoine Thackery had done. But now that she was interested in going, he couldn't revoke his invitation.

He told her the location and time to meet Saturday to look over the robotics projects. Professor Carr surely wouldn't mind with it being Fall break and a lot of the program members would probably be out of town anyway.  

The sun was shining and creating more warmth than before, Reggie could tell he'd probably strip off his sweater and just wear his collared shirt underneath by the time class let out. He bid farewell to Alanna and was grateful he got to spend some time with her, and was eager to spend more time with her either by seeing her at the bake sale or during robotics.  

He watched her walk away in the opposite direction and he slumped against the side of the coffee shop. He was as in danger as he ever was of falling for Alanna again. He thought maybe he could keep it cool and not come off as totally infatuated with her but felt like he was making heart eyes the entire morning and maybe she was too polite to call him out on it.

His sister had often told him that regrets were a waste of time because one could never change the past, however he deeply and truly regretted ever trusting her word that Alanna had purposely led him on just to make him and Franz hate each other at the Battle of the Bands.

Alanna was wonderful. Evelyn Jane was a snake, and he should have realized sooner.

He got a sudden pain in his wrist again, probably from playing rush hour and his general computer usage. He pressed his thumb against it to ease it, and as he did he heard something that made him take pause.

“There’s an opening in the Hoh Fruhm House,” a student said to his friend as they walked past Reggie and toward the entrance of the coffee shop. Reggie turned his head around the corner to hear more, his attention suddenly caught.

“Whoa really?”

“Yeah one of the upperclassmen just...like..totally bailed on the greek society.”

“Man, that’s crazy!”

“Tell me about it. Now we have to fill a spot...” the first guy said as they entered and the door shut behind them.

Reggie had been trying to get into Hoh Fruhm since he entered college. He had always been rejected, and he never knew why. He had the family name, the legacy, the money but yet Marshall Cosgrove refused his applications. Maybe this was his chance and he’d just have to find out more about the situation because it was virtually unheard of, a person willingly abandoning a greek society membership. It was odd.

Reggie looked at the time and cursed because he had to rush in order to get to class on time. He walked hastily down the sidewalk toward the building his class was in. To rub salt in the metaphorical wound, he was forced to pass the greek row—a street of houses reserved for those accepted into the society. Hoh Fruhm stood the largest and most modern-looking of the bunch.

He tucked his hands in his pockets and glanced at the house with a hint of longing. He wanted to be a member of Hoh Fruhm nearly as badly as he wanted Alanna Thackery to be his girlfriend—but for the time being, both desires were just out of reach.

[ethanalter]

‘Battlestar Galactica’ EP David Eick Revisits 5 Episodes That Remain Relevant

The cast of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (Credit: Justin Stephens/Syfy/NBC/Getty Images)

Leading up to the 20th anniversary of the March 10, 1997 premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yahoo TV is celebrating “Why Genre Shows Matter” and the history of how these shows have tackled universal themes (i.e. how much high school sucks) and broader social issues.

On the surface, Battlestar Galactica is the story of a ragtag fleet of interstellar travelers, searching the cosmos for a new home after their old world was destroyed by a robot army. At least, that’s the basic premise shared by the 1978 version of the series that aired on ABC for a single season, and its reboot, which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (later rechristened Syfy) from 2003 to 2009, first as a miniseries and then an ongoing four-season show.

But the latter incarnation also doubles as a history of early 21st century America, as showrunners Ronald D. Moore and David Eick filtered real world events through the lens of genre television. “Both Ron and I were political news junkies, and really connected about that even before we started Battlestar,” Eick tells Yahoo TV. “What was going on in the world — like elections and troop movements in the Middle East — sucked a lot of oxygen out of any room that we were in together, so it naturally began to infect what the stories were about.”

‘Battlestar Galactica’ showrunners David Eick and Ronald D. Moore at a Syfy upfront in 2010 (Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)

Certainly, watching Battlestar Galactica from the vantage point of 2017 — which you can do on Hulu, where the entire four-season run is available to stream — is akin to skimming news headlines from a turbulent decade that saw America confronting divisive events like 9/11, the Iraq War, and the administration of George W. Bush. And those real world parallels didn’t go unnoticed while the show was airing; in fact, mere days before the 2009 series finale, the cast and crew of Galactica — including stars Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, who played Commander William Adama and President Laura Roslin respectively — were guests at the United Nations for a celebration of the show’s provocative political commentary.

Reflecting on the show eight years later, Eick insists that Galactica‘s social relevance was more of a “natural evolution” than a hard-and-fast plan. “To a certain degree, it became an outlet for us, because the goings on in the real world were getting heated and heightened, and suddenly we had this kind of weaponized narrative to express reactions to it,” he says. “Once we got a handle on it, with a little more self-awareness and deliberation, we started to purposely attempt to subvert expectations about who the characters represented in the real world.” There are times when Eick, who’s now an executive producer on Freeform’s Beyond, misses having that particular sci-fi universe through which to express his thoughts on our real one. “I sat in on a small salon with Henry Kissinger and listened to him talk about China,” he says. “It made me wish I had a Battlestar TV show to write an episode about everything he was saying!”

To illustrate how Galactica tackled social issues in a genre context, we spoke with Eick about five specific episodes that used the real world as a jumping off point to tell alternately thrilling and thoughtful sci-fi stories.

(Credit: NBC)

The Issue: Suicide Bombing The Episode: “Litmus” (Season 1, Episode 6)

The first inkling that the new Battlestar Galactica is going to venture to thematic places its predecessor hadn’t comes in the opening moments of “Litmus,” when a Number Five Cylon model strolls through Galactica in a suicide vest, setting it off when Adama confronts him. Viewers who watched that episode live when it premiered on Feb. 11, 2005, could have been forgiven for thinking the show had been interrupted by a “Breaking News” bulletin. At that point, the U.S. military was two years into the Iraq War, and reports of suicide bombings were a regular staple of news coverage. Within the world of the show, that incident instigated a security crackdown, as well as the organization of an independent tribunal that felt empowered to make examples of those it deemed responsible for the attack. In that way, the episode is actually less about the bombing, and more about the reaction — or, as some might say, overreaction — it inspired.

Interestingly, Galactica would revisit the subject of suicide bombing during the “New Caprica” arc of Season 3. Only this time, the bombers were our supposed heroes. In order to thwart the Cylon invasion of their new home, the human fleet resorted to the same guerilla tactics that had previously been used against them. The dramatic power of that reversal is made all the more potent because of an episode like “Litmus.”

Eick: I would call that [“Litmus” episode] “kicking the tire.” It was more of a situational echo chamber; a specific kind of violent act that was definitely going to ring the bells of anyone watching the 11 o’clock news, but didn’t really go beyond that. It was just that event, and then we moved on and told the story. There’s no question that it was allegorical in terms of what was happening in the world, but it was somewhat limited to the events of that 45-minute story.

Generally, I would be on the front lines to deal with the network’s first reaction [to an episode], and I do remember that incident being somewhat controversial. Not as controversial as other debates we had with the network, [but] their concern was that we not be viewed as cloying or attempting in any way to disrespect the reality of the incident. That was the only concern, and it was our concern, too.

The first season was such a fight to get greenlit that by the time we were finished with those 13 episodes, we felt like we had done 1,000. So when they came to us in the second season and said, “Do 20,” it was terribly daunting. After we did those 20, the last thing we wanted to do was think about Season 3, but we had to. The “eureka” moment about Season 3 was choosing to make the season of the Cylon’s point of view. Thematically, we would be seeing the world from a vantage point where we may find ourselves actually agreeing with the Cylons. That woke us back up and, in a way far more purposeful than in previous seasons, made us sink our teeth into the allegory. [Now] the humans are the insurgents, and we are definitely telling the story in this world that parallel events in our world. It’s not an accident and we’re not being cute either. We’re making a statement about something, which is forcing you to sympathize with the side that’s [using] improvised explosive devices.

Edward James Olmos and Michelle Forbes in ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (Credit: Carole Segal/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

The Issue: Military Dictatorship The Episode: “Pegasus” (Season 2, Episode 10)

After assuming that they’re the only survivors of the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies, the fleet is thrilled to discover the existence of another military vessel: the Battlestar Pegasus, commanded by Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes). But that joy quickly turns sour when it becomes clear that her wartime experiences have left Cain far less open to the idea of sharing power in a tenuous democracy. Instead, she implements top-down rule, ignoring both Adama as well as President Roslin as she pursues her own agenda. Cain’s moral authority is called further into question when it’s discovered that she’s ordered the systematic torture of a Number Six model, Gina (Tricia Helfer). The treatment that this designated enemy combatant is subjected to immediately recalls the horrific abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a story that broke in the spring of 2004, a year before “Pegasus” premiered.      

Eick: I recall the heart of that episode emerging from a place where we felt that we needed to challenge Adama in a way that he hadn’t been challenged yet. He couldn’t be challenged by Laura or by his son [Apollo] or by anybody else [on the Galactica]. He could really only have someone literally pull rank on him. A similar thing happened in an episode of the original series, so we were excited there was an opportunity to give that show a nod, number one. Number two, to put a woman in the role [of Cain] was exciting. And thirdly, [we wanted] to show by contrast the greatness of Adama. How else could you really appreciate the valor, courage, and decency of this man unless you can see how he might have been? I think those principals were more at work with “Pegasus” than a political or sociological statement.

Tricia Helfer as abused Cylon prisoner Gina in ‘Pegasus’ (Credit: NBC)

Once we got started looking at the details of the story and asking ourselves how to make it an effective piece of drama, then yes, we were inspired by events moving us emotionally in the real world. I’ll tell you, the reason [the Gina storyline] works is because Tricia Helfer rose to the occasion. She had never done anything like that, but we frequently did that on Battlestar; we threw a lot of characters into the deep end of the swimming pool just to see what would happen. What’s remarkable about Tricia is that she would do those scenes, and on a dime snap out of it, tell you a dirty joke, and go have lunch. [Director] Michael Rhymer chose angles and positioned her in such a way that you couldn’t help but feel like you were watching Abu Ghraib. That could have been shot and performed any number of ways, and it may not have had quite the same effect. In this particular case, I would attribute a great deal of that metaphorical power to the execution, to the choices that were made on the set and on the day.

Baltar (James Callis) takes the oath of office in ‘Lay Down Your Burdens’ (Credit: NBC)

The Issue: Electoral Fraud The Episode: “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2” (Season 2, Episode 20)

Stop us if this sounds familiar: Thanks to the timely intervention of a bombshell piece of information — in this case, the discovery of a habitable planet — the fleet’s contentious presidential election swings in favor of a political outsider rather than the more experienced female candidate. Since the second half of Galactica‘s Season 2 finale originally aired in March 2006, a full decade before the 2016 Presidential election and its last-minute FBI letters, we’ll have to chalk those similarities up to an uncannily accurate bit of foreshadowing.

But what happens next is inspired by the ghosts of elections past, rather than those yet to come. When it becomes clear that Gaius Baltar (James Callis) will defeat Roslin, the incumbent President attempts to preserve the status quo by okaying an operation to “lose” her rival’s winning 5,000 votes. It’s the ever-honorable Lt. Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) who discovers the fraud while closely studying ballot totals, much like the nation did in the wake of the 2000 election when George W. Bush and Al Gore were separated by a mere 537 votes.

Eick: [The 2000 election] was not the outcome that most of us wanted and, furthermore, kind of a terrifying exhibition of authoritarianism from the judicial branch. It was such a scary and depressing thing that it was as though we needed to exorcise it through these episodes. At a certain point, we had the election take up much more of the narrative than it wound up being. It became a bit too navel gaze-y and talky. It felt more about us expressing our rage at the situation than telling a story with some momentum. We had to go back and really think through a story to layer and thread into that situation so that it wouldn’t feel like an echo chamber of the actual election.

I can’t remember at what point that specific idea [of discovering New Caprica] emerged, and that that circumstance would dovetail into Baltar’s inevitable election. It was great, because it’s real. We know that those things happen to the least deserving amongst us frequently; anybody who has every checked the newspaper to see what a competitor’s accomplished that they haven’t yet knows what I’m talking about. When you see somebody get something that seems ill-deserved, it grabs you. I think that story point rings true in a way that recent events prove.

The only thing I posted on my Facebook page after the [2016] election was, “Movies and music are about to get crazy good again.” I know that was the sentiment of a lot of people; it’s certainly true that when you go through long periods of relative peace and quiet you can kind of forget the importance of talking about what’s going on. Then when something unexpected or loud or disruptive happens, suddenly science fiction has a whole other agenda and purpose. A science fiction piece made today is going to have the potential to be much more profound than a piece of science fiction from six months ago. That’s just the reality.

Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) confronts the harsh conditions faced by the rest of the fleet in ‘Dirty Hands’ (Credit: NBC)

The Issue: Class Conflict The Episode: “Dirty Hands” (Season 3, Episode 16)

Although Galactica is just one ship in a larger fleet, the demands of serialized storytelling mean that the majority of the show’s action takes place in its corridors. What’s happening aboard the other vessels is largely left up to the imagination. But Eick and Moore did make a point of venturing off Galactica whenever possible to give a sense of what daily life was like elsewhere in the fleet. The plot of “Dirty Hands,” for example, involves the unpleasant circumstances aboard the refinery ship the Hitei Kan, where laborers of all ages (including children) endure long hours and perilous surroundings to produce a constant supply of fuel for the other spacecrafts.

It’s a harsh, thankless existence compared to the relative comforts enjoyed by those in the military and civilian government. So it’s no wonder that the citizens aboard the Hitei Kan harbor the kinds of resentments that are often cited in discussions of the cultural divides between Red States and Blue States or the working classes and the upper classes. That also makes them susceptible to the persuasive arguments of ex-President Baltar, who has refashioned himself as the voice of the oppressed.

Eick: Part of the original sale of the show was that we would be investigating and experiencing life on the other ships for no other reason than to give the audience and the network some visual variety. The biggest barrier standing between us and a pick-up [at the time] was, “How do you force network executives who don’t want to look at a spaceship to be inside of a spaceship all the time?” And our answer was, “We’ll go to different ships!” The truth is, we could never afford to do it. Beyond that, we never had a reason to do it other than episodic circumstances. Maybe you could do an episode about the ship that carries all the food, but otherwise, there wasn’t a compelling reason to go to the other ships.

What happened in Season 3, though, was that we were able to marshal enough resources to say, “Okay, now we actually have a reason to experience what life is like on these other ships.” Class had become important in the season’s discussion of who is the decision maker — and who died and put them in the decision making chair. In that regard, the audience needed to see other people, other ships, and other points of view in order to sort of reconcile that drama. The only significance of it being a mining ship had to do with how do you make the situation make sense with the larger mission of the fleet. To the extent that it’s a class theme, it’s a mining ship because miners aren’t admirals, captains, and lieutenants, and they have different challenges and different things to worry about.

Roslin (Mary McDonnell) talks spirituality with another dying woman in ‘Faith’ (Credit: NBC)

The Issue: Religion The Episode: “Faith” (Season 4, Episode 8)

By the fourth and final season, some of Galactica‘s more pointed political commentary started to fall away as the writers had to focus on the story’s endgame. Central to the planned resolution was the issue of religious belief, something that had been part of the show since the beginning and took on an increased prominence in the last year to the annoyance and outright hostility of a sizeable segment of fans. An episode like “Faith,” where a dying Roslin has an extended conversation about God with another patient at death’s door, is an example of the earnest, if sometimes awkward, way that Galactica sought to wrestle with religion as the show approached the end of its lifespan.

Eick: It started with a comment made by the head of the studio when he read the script for the Galactica miniseries. There was a line from Six to Baltar in which she said, “God is love.” It was kind of a throwaway line, just sort of to be provocative. This executive gave us a note that we took and ran as fast as we could with in the next re-write. His basic thought was, “What if the Cylons were believers in a single god, unlike their creators who were polytheists? And what if the Cylons believed, as we understand from an evolutionary perspective, that the only way they can truly move on to their next evolutionary stage is to rid themselves of their parents? In that sense, they’re following God’s plan, and they’re enshrouded in a holy mission.” That suddenly allowed us a great deal of narrative and character flexibility, because once you introduce a theological agenda, all kinds of crazy behavior can be justified and rationalized. So it was a perfect kind of note from an executive who was willing to push us in an unorthodox direction.

This was baked into the cake from a very early point, so when you get to Season 4, and start trying to play out the various theological storylines that you’ve introduced, you suddenly go from the metaphorical to the literal and specific. Once you do that, you run into problems that have to do with certain peoples’ preconceptions about religion and how it’s used and what it means, and other people who are viewing this as a very secular tale. You have two different perspectives on it, so by the time you resolve it, there’s no version that leaves everyone happy because you touched a third rail called religion.

I think if Ron and I were known as outspoken conservatives, the appropriate ending to the show may have been the opposite [of what we did]. It may have been a realization that they had been misled by the folly of their arcane religious beliefs. When you have two godless liberal Hollywood TV guys telling a story that involves religion, the last thing you expect is that the resolution is going to involve any kind of embrace of that idea. I was hopeful that we would surprise them. It wasn’t the network’s favorite choice, because when you’re dealing with religion, you’re dealing with controversy whether you call it Christianity or you call it perhaps something else.

Battlestar Galactica is currently streaming on Hulu.

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