tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post1890042206277046687..comments2024-03-04T10:20:10.154+00:00Comments on Anna Chen: Madam Miaow Says: Chopsticks At Dawn: BBC R4 Tuesday 8th June for 7 daysMadam Miaowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-52203074628557760812010-06-13T12:07:08.615+01:002010-06-13T12:07:08.615+01:00Thanks, Murasaki. Americans are way ahead of us in...Thanks, Murasaki. Americans are way ahead of us in deconstructing the way culture works in this way. In some respects we are still scratching the surface. Glad to have entertained.<br /><br />BTW, thanks for the warm words about my voice – I was in the middle of a <a href="http://madammiaow.blogspot.com/2010/05/chopsticks-at-dawn-this-time-its.html" rel="nofollow">bout of bronchitis</a> when we recorded it last month, and there was much dosing up with Lemon & Ginger tea with honey, and Lockets. Not to mention a LOT of coughing between takes. So it's very pleasing to read your comment.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-25256440010874385742010-06-13T07:03:21.878+01:002010-06-13T07:03:21.878+01:00Hello Madame Miaow, I'm new to your blog.
I f...Hello Madame Miaow, I'm new to your blog.<br /><br />I followed a link to the BBC4 piece and thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much I just had to look up who the lady was with the beautiful voice and witty thoughts.<br /><br />As an American of African descent, I run up against stereotypes and cliches often in the United States so much, I sometimes become desensitized to the insensitivity.<br /><br />However, I can relate to your cringing when hearing western representations of Asian music.<br />I spent 8 years in Japan and was exposed to many different musical styles from China, Korea and Vietnam. So much so that when I hear a "Chinese" or "Japanese" ring tone, I want to take the phone and smack the owner over the head with it and ask them what are they thinking?<br /><br />Great article and blog!Murasaki Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06390073018700874595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-28031020157527377762010-06-09T12:00:01.686+01:002010-06-09T12:00:01.686+01:00Recognising irony under provocation from H, rather...Recognising irony under provocation from H, rather than a literal incitement, it stays. As a literary device, it illustrates quite neatly the absurdity of whites ridiculing Chinese.<br /><br />If all you can do is badger, Francis, and have nothing constructive to offer, please don't bother coming back.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-54733633738814321482010-06-08T23:57:11.371+01:002010-06-08T23:57:11.371+01:00Mantecaunt, this is the last comment of yours that...Mantecaunt, this is the last comment of yours that I am publishing as it is one of the milder examples of a blizzard of increasingly unpleasant personal attacks flaming me here and elsewhere. Your accusation that I "dehumanise all Jews" is frankly bizarre. I don't know why you have developed such an unhealthy obsession, but for the the sake of your own dignity, perhaps you should give it a rest. <br /><br />By way of farewell: on the subject of the pentatonic scale in the Frankie Laine, it is not the pentatonic itself that is the issue. After all, as my interviewees pointed out, the five-note scale is used in a range of music including Scottish and blues. So are parallel fourths. But what was interesting was how, when some of the "markers" are combined, they can be so loaded. Perhaps it is a matter of taste, but my guest Derek Scott found the Laine quite sweet and so did I.<br /><br />As I said of George Formby, this was 70 years ago (when we didn't know any better). Effectively, "Mr Wu" is the "cuddly face of dehumanisation" even though I don't believe Formby meant any harm. It was innocent for its time but nevertheless demeaning to those it depicts as mere buffoons. <br /><br />All of which was made extremely clear in the programme. <br /><br />Now say your name backwards and return to your home dimension.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-9852440827719123162010-06-08T23:22:07.527+01:002010-06-08T23:22:07.527+01:00The negative connotations, 100+ years on, do not g...The negative connotations, 100+ years on, do not go away. That is the horrible thing. You can, as a person of Chinese descent, be put in any situation where you have all the cards, you are on the winning argument - then someone mocks you with that little ditty. Or uses one of the many simple derogatory racial terms affiliated with Chinese people. Oh, humiliated once again. <br /><br />I do hope in China and the Far East there are arts, music and culture folk who are ridiculing whites and creating negative stereotypes. They deserve it, and then some.<br /><br />Unfortunately, all I see is praise and sucking up to them.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08210013755235477381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-77035455383612906862010-06-08T23:04:33.433+01:002010-06-08T23:04:33.433+01:00Crass mention of George Formby as the "face o...Crass mention of George Formby as the "face of dehumanisation".<br /> The entire program contradicted itself by at once decrying the pentatonic as a stereotype, then saying the last track played (Rose something, a cover of a chinese song) went unnoticed in the UK chart, yet it used the pentatonic and made much mention of "malayan flower"!<br />MM... no doubt you lack the courage to post a critical comment. For shame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-10465203179180169162010-06-08T18:48:37.882+01:002010-06-08T18:48:37.882+01:00I'll give it a listen some time this week.
Th...I'll give it a listen some time this week.<br /><br />There had better be gongs, mind, and lots of them.<br /><br />Radio4's 'History of the World in 100 Objects' had an interesting programme on the importance of bells in ancient China.Czarny Kothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17163190792839598823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-28414335073790167892010-06-08T14:06:17.842+01:002010-06-08T14:06:17.842+01:00Just listened to your broadcast. I thought it was ...Just listened to your broadcast. I thought it was brilliant - providing real insight into how a culture can be manipulated and debased. How "popular" art forms can be used to further underpin an attitude of one nation towards another. <br />Great stuff :)@ctors Businesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04118148558033452749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-71411376249636907792010-06-08T13:56:40.726+01:002010-06-08T13:56:40.726+01:00I will be listening to it later as am at work duri...I will be listening to it later as am at work during the broadcast so won't have a chance to listen ...until later.. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-79444768930250378262010-06-08T13:03:49.487+01:002010-06-08T13:03:49.487+01:00I didn't know about the absence of lenses, amj...I didn't know about the absence of lenses, amjamjazz. Thanks very much.<br /><br />BTW, I misread the title of your blog and got VERY confused. :-) Good write-up.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-72801904635115630472010-06-08T10:45:37.394+01:002010-06-08T10:45:37.394+01:00It must be infuriating.
I'm fascinated by the ...It must be infuriating.<br />I'm fascinated by the recent (to me) knowledge that the superiority of Chinese china actually hampered the advance of the civilisation out of the feudalism in which it still prospers.<br />By never having to bother with glass, as happened in the west, China deprived itself of lenses, with the result that firstly, its academics had a shorter working-life, being able read and research with their own ageing eyes. But also that the telescope and microscope with all their revolutionary effects were denied to Chinese science.<br />Strange how small things make a huge difference over time.<br /><br />( www.littlerichardjohn.blogspot.com )biginaboxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11707997679359900326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-53954608522215463442010-06-07T15:08:00.421+01:002010-06-07T15:08:00.421+01:00I think you win the all-time speedy comment contes...I think you win the all-time speedy comment contest, Gwei Mui. That was fast!<br /><br />Hope you enjoy.Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1244044300216345080.post-41470288037405399252010-06-07T14:59:52.239+01:002010-06-07T14:59:52.239+01:00I am really looking forward to this I hope the rat...I am really looking forward to this I hope the rating are good for you. I shall be glued :)@ctors Businesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04118148558033452749noreply@blogger.com