7/20/13

Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China

Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China

Embiggen

Here is a very beautiful photo of Jiuzhaigou Valley, in Sichuan, China. This is a nature reserve located within the Min mountains near the Tibetan plateau. A vast area of 180,000 acres it features water falls, gorgeous lakes and snowy mountain tops. Jiuzhaigou Valley was registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997.

See also:

Somewhere in Southern China...

Ascending Mt Hua in China = NOPE!

China China China China China China China

7/16/13

Flawed Fukushima Fruit & Vegetables w/ Radiation

Fresh Fukushima Fruit & Vegetables w/ Radiation
Two-Headed Corn

Via MSN Now July 15, 2013

Recent photos from a Korean website of many irradiated and malformed fruit and vegetables from Fukushima, Japan have gone viral and are now being reported by mainstream news entities. And these are not pretty pictures, indeed:


Deformed Peaches


Hand-Shaped Radish


Giant Cabbages

More photos...

Related:

Fukushima Deformed Baby Rabbit w/ No Ears

News Documentary on Food Safety in Japan

7/9/13

Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Monks

Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Monks

Via The Guardian July 9, 2013
Chinese Police in Tibet

According to the US-based International Campaign for Tibet, Chinese police opened fire on a group of Tibetan monks that was gathered on a sacred mountain to celebrate the 78th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Two monks were shot in the head and others were seriously injured by the surprise attack that included the use of tear gas. The ICT group is now demanding that the US government pressure the Chinese government into investigating these shootings of unarmed Tibetans. Chinese security officials have used severe methods of crowd control in Tibet in the past, but the use of firearms is rare. Here is an audio recording of this news report from The Guardian:



UPDATE: Via Radio Free Asia
"At least eight Tibetans were injured when Chinese police fired gunshots and used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 monks and nuns who had gathered in a restive county in Sichuan province at the weekend to mark the birthday of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, according to local residents and exile groups."

"They said that policemen also beat some in the crowd and smashed the windows of vehicles used to ferry the monks and nuns to the lower slopes of a mountain regarded as sacred in Tawu (in Chinese, Daofu) county on Saturday to commemorate the Dalai Lama's 78th birthday."

Continued...
See also:

Tibetan Jamphel Yeshi Self Immolates in India

Chinese Convict 'Leaving Fear Behind' Tibetan Producer

7/4/13

Meanwhile in Qingdao, China...

Massive Green Algae Invasion in Qingdao China

Via The Telegraph Friday, July 5, 2013

A massive green algae invasion has landed in Qingdao and other seaside areas in Eastern China. The algae is reported to not be toxic to humans or damaging to water quality. But, apparently, it really stinks! Here is a BBC News video on this largest-ever swarm of the harmless "sea lettuce":



See also:

Chinese Army Kills Asian Hornets' Nest With Fire

Shanhaiguan: Where The Great Wall Meets The Sea

7/3/13

US Citizen Kenneth Bae In DPRK Prison

US Citizen Kenneth Bae In DPRK Prison

Via CNN July 3, 2013

An American citizen currently being held in a North Korean prison, pleaded for forgiveness and help from the US Government yesterday in an exclusive video from CNN.

In a trial in Pyongyang on April 30, 2013 Pae Jun Ho aka Kenneth Bae was convicted of "hostile acts to bring down its government" and for planning religious activities against the state, according to KCNA. Bae confessed to all of his "crimes" and was given a 15-year sentence of hard labor.
"Although my health is not good, I am being patient and coping well," Bae said. "And I hope that with the help of the North Korean government and the United States, I will be released soon."

A pro North Korean group located in Tokyo, Choson Sinbo, was granted permission to make this interview video which they gave to CNN:



Related:

Premiere of "Camp 14 - Total Control Zone"

Canadian DPRK Documentary "The Defector"

North Korean Concentration Camp Drawings

6/18/13

Vice HBO Documentary "Basketball Diplomacy"

Harlem Globetrotters with North Korean Kids
The Harlem Globetrotters and kids on a Pyongyang Playground.

Filmed back in February with Dennis Rodman, the Harlem Globetrotters, correspondent Ryan Duffy, and broadcast just last week on HBO, here is the long-awaited Vice documentary "Basketball Diplomacy":



Related:

Vice, Rodman, Globetrotters Meet DPRK Players

Harlem Globetrotters vs DPRK Practice Game

6/15/13

Vice, Rodman, Globetrotters Meet DPRK Players

Dennis Rodman, Harlem Globetrotters and North Korean Players

Last night Vice had their first season finale on HBO with the broadcast of their recent trip to North Korea. If you remember, back in February 2013 Vice correspondent Ryan Duffy and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters became the first American delegation to play together with North Korean athletes in a friendly exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang. The country's young, enigmatic leader Kim Jong Un attended the game with NBA hall-of-famer Dennis Rodman at his side. The game ended in a very diplomatic 110-110 tie and on the next day Duffy and the Globetrotters had a chance to talk directly with the North Korean players during lunch. Here is a part of that conversation:



Related:

Harlem Globetrotters vs DPRK Practice Game

NKBA Kim Jong Un & Dennis Rodman Video Game

6/13/13

New Laowai Film: "This Is Sanlitan" Trailer

This Is Sanlitan

Via This Is Sanlitun June 13, 2013

Just a couple weeks ago the official teaser trailer for the upcoming laowai indy comedy film entitled "This Is Sanlitan" was released on youtube. This full-length feature film celebrates both foreigners and local Chinese people living in Sanlitan, Beijing.

This Is SanlitanThe main character is "Gary" who is played by Carlos Ottery. Gary has come to China seeking his slice of the Chinese economic dream. However, things don't work out so well and he loses his wife and son and all of his money and becomes quite desperate. How he recovers becomes the main plot of the film. Scheduled for release in late 2013, this movie was directed by Robert Ingi Douglas, and stars Carlos Ottery, Ai Wan, Christopher Loton, Hua Gaoxiang and Cromwell Cheung. Here is the funny sneak peak preview:



See also:

2013 DPRK Travelogue by Chrystian Cohen

"Seeking Asian Female" Movie Trailer

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi" Trailer

6/11/13

Meanwhile Sony Pwns Xbox w/ New PS4

Meanwhile Sony Pwns Xbox w/ New PS4

Via Polygon Jun 11, 2013

Yesterday at the E3 press conference, basically Sony took over the gaming world with the announcement of the all new Playstation 4 to be sold for $100.00 less than Microsoft's new Xbox One. In addition to that lowball, Sony threw Microsoft a wicked curve with their announcement that the PS4 will support used games.
"When a gamer buys a PS4 disc, they have the rights to use that disc, resell it, lend it to a friend or keep it forever," said CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America Jack Tretton.
To show that they really mean it, or to add insult to injury, Sony released this Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video:



Called strike three. Microsoft is OUT!

See also:

NKBA Kim Jong Un & Dennis Rodman Video Game

Lollipop Chainsaw Video Game Trailers

Trailer: My Girlfriend is The President

'Monster Hunters Unite' Capcom Promo Video

Japan's Play-With-Yourself Toilet Game

6/9/13

The Writing on the Great Wall

The Writing on the Great Wall

As we reported almost two years ago, there has been a mega boom of graffiti and street art exploding throughout China. And as we can see in the above pic, the writing is now on The Great Wall. But what does it mean? Why did they write on the Great Wall?

Looking at it a bit closer, It seems as if this tag was written in some kind of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Perhaps this message is some kind of protest? Maybe. With government land grabs still going on more land riots and revolts keep happening all the time in China. Usually, that kind of unrest happens out in the countryside amongst farmers and other country folk.

So let's look even closer at the above glyphics, and sure enough, we can see just about every character is a farmer or someone working with an animal. So, therefore, it is a very good possibility that this is some kind of protest art. Especially when government officials recently ordered a construction crew to crush a protester to death with a steamroller machine! (WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

NMA TV on Facebook's David Choe

China: The Great Wall of Graffiti

6/7/13

Liu Bolin Sticks To His Guns in NYC

Liu Bolin Sticks To His Guns in NYC

A modern-day "Invisible Man" Chinese performance artist Liu Bolin and his team pulled off another amazing camouflage act in New York at Eli Klein Fine Art earlier this week.

His performance art/live painting show was entitled "Gun Rack 2013". And apparently it took aim at arms control methods throughout the world. Bolin's New York agency also claimed that this work was inspired by a new Chinese law that requires individuals to present identification and registration when buying certain knives.

According to gallery owner Eli Klein "These are all real weapons, not replicas. They were legal to have in the gallery as they were modified to fire blanks. Zachary Bako filmed the entire event and made this short fast forward time lapse video:





Related:

Liu Bolin: China's #1 'Forever Alone' Artist

6/5/13

DPRK Kid's Day "LET'S MILITARY!"

DPRK Kid's Day LET'S MILITARY!

It is now being reported that there was a somewhat large Children's Day celebration at Pyongyang's Mangyongdae Amusement Park on June 2, 2013. This first-time event featured various games, dances and competitions. Children dressed up in traditional Korean clothes while playing together in musical groups and competing together in various playground games. Some children also shot arrows at a target that resembled an American soldier! This event also included children dressed up in cute replica military uniforms. And what Children's Day celebration would not be complete without a full-on miniature rocket launcher in a MILITARY PARADE!!! Check it out:

DPRK Kid's Day LET'S MILITARY!



See also:

CNN: Homeless Kids in DPRK Documentary

Shocking North Korean Kids' Show Photo

Shocking Undercover North Korean News Video

6/2/13

mishmash*Julie Watai Featured on TiVo

mishmash*Julie Watai Featured on TiVo

June 2, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

We are very happy and proud to announce that Tokyo's eclectic chiptunes unit known as mishmash*Julie Watai and their short form music video entitled "Go Furby Go" are now featured on TiVo within our Asian Music TV broadcast channel. This marks the first major media push promotion of an associated musical group by our network. "Go Furby Go" is also now playing on our all-new RobPongi.com website and also right here:



mishmash*Julie Watai is Cornelius' long time music programmer Toyoaki Mishima, contemporary artist Julie Watai and producer Masu Hiroshi Masuyama.

Related:

Julie Watai's Furby Toy Video

The All New RobPongi.com Site is Up!

Asian Music TV Now Playing on TiVo

2013 Top Video Sharing Sites List

5/31/13

The All New RobPongi.com Site is Up!

Julie Watai on the New Robpongi.com

XXX Large Size

May 31, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

We are very happy and proud to announce that the all-new RobPongi.com site is now up and running hot! It's all HTML5 valid and CSS3 valid as well. The interface is fully optimized for video render and playback on the iPhone and Android cell phones as well as the iPad and some recent video game machines! It features a super user friendly design based on the "Right Now WP Full Video, Image with Audio" template by elite designer Renkli Beyaz. It also supports mp3 playback as well as youtube, vimeo and playback from many other video sharing websites. Viewers can navigate by "drawing" on the screen! In the footer is a nice thumbnail photo scroll bar from which one can navigate very easily. It also has some other optional functions including a screen color picker and a google map contact verification form which we hope to soon enable. So come on down!

The All New RobPongi.com is Up!

Related:

Asian Music TV Now Playing on TiVo

2013 Top Video Sharing Sites List

5/29/13

New Gin No Sara TV Commercial



A couple days ago, KreativMagazin a Hungarian Kreatív marketing and communication magazine, released a very entertaining new Japanese TV commercial entitled "Japanese Advertising's Best Kept Secrets". At first, it appears to be what it is titled as, but then we find out...



Well known for years by it's many funny and brilliant TV commercials, Gin No Sara is a nationwide sushi delivery company that has 365 stores all over Japan. The above is actually a compilation of several new TV commercials for this company. You can see all the short ones only in Japanese at Gin No Sara CM. For more info please visit their official Japanese website.



See also:

WTF Japanese Milk Commercial #2

Tommy Lee Jones Acts Like a Boss for Suntory

5/28/13

Harlem Globetrotters vs DPRK Practice Game


The Harlem Globetrotters shake hands with the North Koreans.

Just released earlier today by KCNA and URI Tours, here is exclusive footage of a recent scrimmage game between some members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a North Korean professional team. This took place when Dennis Rodman visited BFF Kim Jong Un back in March. This one hour and twenty minute plus game starts out somewhat tense but as play goes on the players relax more and just play a friendly practice game. The Harlem Globetrotters' players were Bull Bullard, Buckets Blakes and rookie sensation Moose Weekes. The Globetrotters were split amongst the North Korean players. So get some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the game which starts around 9:30:



If they game starts to drag on somewhat, check out this recently released short Korean TV News video of Dennis Rodman and Harlem Globetrotters Sightseeing in North Korea:



Related:

NKBA Kim Jong Un & Dennis Rodman Video Game

People's Daily: Kim Jong Un "Sexiest Man Alive"

North Korean Harlem Shake Video