I’m not exactly sure where my research began, but I’ve got this thing about female Chinese pirates (wha?…I don’t tell you what to think about when you’re “spankin’ the pig”…), the most famous of which may be Cheng I Sao AKA Ching Shih. She was essentially a stone-cold, freak badass: started as a whore, married the pirate Cheng I, went on to eventually command a fleet of 2,000 ships, terrorized the coast of 19th century southern China, and later hooked up with her adopted son (again…wha? call it the ‘reverse Woody Allen‘ if you must). I half assed tried to do some research on her and other ‘ladies of the black flag’ when I was over in Beijing earlier this year, but with little result. First of all I was in the wrong part of the country, had absurd language skills, and we are talking history here. The closest I came was a NatGeo special in english about pirates: I sensed I had tuned in just as they were finishing up ‘history’ to talk about modern day piracy, the facts of which may surprise you.

Anyway, images of the actual Cheng I Sao are obviously hard to come by, if not nil, but I found this artist depiction above on DeviantArt.com thanks to mooncalfe, who was kind enough to let me use it here. Definitely check out his site, buy something if you can - he’s quite an artist, and also wanted me to mention some ‘libertys’ he took in the illustration of she and her son/lover: there is no mention of her being able to paint with her toes, or command a zombie army (see his notes below the enlargement)…

A book, Bold in Her Breeches, is a starting point if you want to continue your research on female pirates in general, though I have yet to read it. In a notebook I have this list of other Chinese female pirates and their alias’, though I am no longer sure where this list came from, and I can find no other info on any of them… But of course if I break new ground, I’ll pass the info on. BTW, there’s a Chinese pirate in the 3rd of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ francise, so I’m ahead of the curve here and don’t be surprised if Chinese Pirates (or CP’s) suddenly get huge. But don’t forget, it’s REALLY about the FCP’s-

traveller, expatriot, minor scholar, rockin cool woman

 

 17. Cadalai interview [1:26:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This article got me thinking: first of all in a cynical way, because these guys happened to be working for Fox News at the time, how willing they might be to twist their statements for the sake of an agenda… And about the nature of ‘integrity’ in general.

“I’m really fine, healthy in good shape and so happy to be free,” Mr. Centanni told Fox News. He said the two had been forced at gunpoint to say that they were converting to Islam and had taken Muslim names. “I have the highest respect for Islam,” he said. “But it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.”

OK: so all you have to do is make some statements that are untrue and pose for the camera reading from this book with a gun to your head and then you are free to go. I think many American’s would jump at this option, nevermind that it is deeply sacreligious - I think the general American and Fox News attitude would be ‘dooped those sand niggers, now on with my spending’. If the Islamic theology is truth, and I don’t think it is, you boys can expect a flaming sword straight up the bunghole as your introduction to the next realm.
And if you’re Christians, as far as your remaining time in this realm goes (and if that theology turns out to be true: in relation to the next realm), the confession clause can certainly be activated and you’ll most likely get a pass on the switch hitting.
But take it to another level, with other captors (and these guys certainly weren’t true Al Qaeda - this video would have been released and then some headless corpses found somewhere down the road), and it begs the ethical question: would you do anything to be released? Anything? Now this applies to other sick and deviant minds that enslave people for whatever psychotic reason. At a certain point there’s something to be said for the victims’ “death with integrity”.

Then I started thinking about why despots of the past may have employed certain tactics. For example in the inquisition: OK, so you’ve claimed Christ as the true messiah after these hours/days/weeks/months of torture - which is great for your soul, because we’ve decided to free it from the mortal coil anyway.
Or in the case of the Japanese rightwing manina that went on in the first half of the 20th century, which went straight back to the bushido code, when prisoners were treated as worse than dogshit, because they didn’t even accept the notion of ‘prisoner’ - it was understood a true warrior would end his own life before they allowed themselves to be captured.
Obviously, these same strict warrior ethics shouldn’t be applied to journalists. I’m just exploring what it is about this article that bugs me….

I missed the ATL showing tonight but I imagine I’ll be getting this at some point.

Today is the anniversery of the Sacco-Vanzetti execution, events I was turned on to through Vonnegut’s Jailbird (-thanx Kurt). These events are relevant not only as part of a lesser know darker side of US histroy, as well as the history of the Anarchist experience in America, but with a little reading, parrallels quickly become obvious with the current political climate of the country and potential dangers relative innocents may face.

Contrary to the usual practice of Massachusetts courts, Vanzetti was tried first in the summer of 1920 on the lesser of the two charges, the failed Bridgewater robbery. Despite a strong alibi supported by many wit nesses, Vanzetti was found guilty. Most of Vanzetti’s witnesses were Italians who spoke English poorly, and their trial testimony, given largely in translation, failed to convince the American jury. Vanzetti’s case had also been seriously damaged when he, for fear of revealing his radical activities, did not take the stand in his own defense.

The arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti had coincided with the period of the most intense political repression in American history, the “Red Scare” 1919-20. The police trap they had fallen into had been set for a comrade of theirs, suspected primarily because he was a foreign-born radical. While neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had any previous criminal record, they were long recognized by the authorities and their communities as anarchist militants who had been extensively involved in labor strikes, political agitation, and antiwar propaganda and who had had several serious confrontations with the law. They were also known to be dedicated supporters of Luigi Galleani’s Italian-language journal Cronaca Sovversiva, the most influential anarchist journal in America, feared by the authorities for its militancy and its acceptance of revolutionary violence.

Sacco and Vanzetti were executed on August 23, 1927, a date that became a watershed in twentieth-century American history. It became the last of a long train of events that had driven any sense of utopian vision out of American life. The workings of American democracy now seemed to many Americans as flawed and unjust as many of the older societies of the world, no longer embodying any bright ideal, but once again serving the interests of the rich and the powerful.

Read the entire page from which these various quotations are taken here. Technology and globalization have changed the game to some extent, but in terms of what Burroughs might have called CONTROL - the enemy excercies the same tactics. If this knowledge interests you at all, I urge you to make the effort to continue your research.

“Same as it ever was” - D. Byrne

“Same same, but different” - unusual but appropriate Thai expression

I got this from the blog of a woman, ‘Scry’ who I met in the Beijing airport attempting to come back to the states in Jan as our flight was delayed for a hellish 27 hours! Don’t ever bitch to me about ‘long flights’, I don’t want to hear it. It’s all cake after cross country bus trips anyway. Never forget folks, it’s not just about the arriving, but the journey as well!
Her blog is mostly in Chinese, but there’s some german up right now and english poems as well.

7 poems and ‘Amish inspired bonding’ - a tale from the Hound

 

 16. More Chi Li Writing [30:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Another amazing 2 piece I saw out in PDX (….can you tell I’m really mising Portland lately?) and wanted to spread the word on but didn’t have recordings of. The added visual element is nice too, in conveying awe, as just the audio can come off as autistic for a first time listen if you’re not in the right mood.

Hella yeah! It makes you wonder if drumming might have gone from Mitch Mitchell to Zach Hill without the influence of electronica/technology effecting music as it has…..