My Respect Level for Billy Joel Just Got Bumped Up To "Okay, He Might Just Be a Badass" Status

Via Joystiq:

There are plenty of reasons artists license their music for a rhythm game. There's money, certainly, and notoriety. But what about scorn? For Billy Joel, it was more than enough reason to license a dozen or so of his songs to Rock Band 3. Here's his account from USA Today:

"I've never allowed my music to be used in a game before," but an Entertainment Weekly review of NBC's The Office changed his mind. Alluding to an episode in which characters mention a Rock Band featuring Billy Joel, "the critic wrote something like, 'God forbid that ever should happen.' So I called my people and said, 'Get me (on) that Rock Band game.' Then I wrote the critic, saying that every time I get a check, I'll give him a little nod."

We're assuming the songs will cost money, but we'd submit that reading the above story and knowing we'll never do anything remotely that cool is a dear enough price to pay.

The Calm Before the Storm

"The calm before the storm" is what some would call what the past 2 or 3 days: a lightened load of work, procrastination without consequences, enjoying the company of my program-mates without feeling guilty about wasting time. In two words, the past couple days have been completely enjoyable. When I finish writing this post, I have no choice but to submerge myself back into the hell of constant memorization and earnest work (there really is no half-assing here, unless you're cool with being reduced to stammering and forgetting vocabulary in front of 4 teachers and your entire program); but for now, I'd like to relish it for a little bit.

Midterms come next week: Monday through Thursday, one test a day, 2 oral presentations, and one discussion of current events with my favorite teach Lian laoshi (pictures of him will come in the future - adorable man that he is, I couldn't let myself off the hook for not posting pictures of him). So this week - "prep week" - we didn't have the usual 2 quizzes/2 oral exams every day and I actually got to enjoy myself! What a great feeling it is too - meandered aimlessly through the halls, watched hours of bboy videos on youku (Chinese youtube), napped at will... well, I guess I can't say it was a particularly exciting week, but god dammit these are the things I miss! I found this week to be filled with more tiny pleasures than any other week I've had here. Here's a list of the ones that stick out:

+I found some old Daily Show clips with Chinese subtitles on Youku and gave Joker and Yu Yang a taste of a couple episodes. I'm sure Jon Stewart's imitation of an old Jewish mother and a Bronx tough guy went right over their heads, but they still had a laugh at the other stuff. I wonder if they'd ever be able to understand those portions, those cultural nuances. Moreover, it made me wonder if I'll ever be able to fully understand Chinese comedy or other products imbued with such subtle hints of the culture - seems like a journey completely different than the one I'm on right now, and a daunting one at that. 

+On a related note, the Daily Show came up while talking to my Resident Director Amy today. We were talking about NPR, and she told me she heard an hour-long piece on Jon Stewart and the Daily Show. She threw in an aside that I almost completely missed, but it was so conspicuous that I even caught it in Chinese: she said she'd never seen the Daily Show. And she barely knew who Jon Stewart was. I was shocked. Noticing the expression on my face, Amy reminded me that she's been living in China for about the past 12 years. I guess that makes it a little more reasonable, but still.... Oh yeah, and she's friends with Peter Hessler. Unfamiliar with one of my idols, friends with another... guess she's still good in my book (if you're reading this Amy, of course you're good in my book - in fact you're great. I'd never hold something like that against you. Please don't kick me out of the program...) 

+Got to help Joker out with translating his resume. Some of the most fun moments he and I have together are when we're trading phrases in our respective languages. Sometimes it even compels him to speak some sentences in Chinglish. I've got a lot of examples, all of which tickle me when I'm reminded of them, but I'll just give you one or two. A little grammatical background: in Chinese, verbs can be repeated to soften their impact, for instance making an imperative ("Stand!") a request ("Could you stand up?"). So when he requested I take a look at his resume for him, he said "Wode jianli gei ni kankan" and then immediately followed up with a direct translation "I give you my resume take a see-see" after which he burst out laughing. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard (could be the "bleacher man bleachin'" incident...), and it just felt good. 

+Ah, another god one came to mind - after we decided to take a break from translating his resume, Joker's obvious next move was to start playing DOTA. Joker, being in such a playful mood, decided to announce his plan: "Let's have a DOTA wahahahahahaha!!!!!" Joker is honestly too much sometimes. 

+Today, luckily as soon as the weather broke and the sun came out, we had a program trip out to Longjing Tea Village. This was an especially difficult trip to get excited about, since I felt I ought to start studying this afternoon and shouldn't waste time. I also didn't want to wake up at 8am to get ready for the trip. But I'm glad I did. It was the most peaceful, relaxing, enjoyable, comfortable, satiating outing we've had so far. It was a 2 hour bus ride out (due to traffic) outside the city limits and into the grassy, tea-bushy hillsides of Longjing Village - one of the most famous villages in China for its tea, Longjing Green Tea. One of my teachers, Zhang Laoshi, our RD Amy, and our academic director and one-time intimidator, Tao Laoshi, accompanied 7 of us out there. Oh yeah, and Tao also brought her adorable 5 year-old daughter, Beibei, along for the trip. I'm aware I've been lacking in the cute-asian-baby-pictures department, but fear not: you will love this little girl. Pics to come. 

Anyways, Amy, goddess that she is (are you still reading?) booked a reservation at the tea house at the top of the hill and we were treated to an incredible, if excessive, meal. Vinegary bamboo shoots, fresh eggplants, chicken on the bone, potatoes and gravy (yeah!), all sorts of greens, cold thin slices of beef - all accompanied by the famous Longjing Tea, as well as some fantastically fun conversation. I say fantastically with a purpose, because I could never have fantasized that I'd be having the kinds of conversations I had over that meal. I know I have a long long long way to go till I'm actually proficient in the language, but to think I'm having conversations now that a month earlier seemed impossible, well there's nothing more encouraging than that. Hopefully I can take that with me to my midterms, but whether I rock them or not, at least I know that I'm better - hell, a lot better - than I was when I first got here. 

----

Anyways, it's time to get to that grind. I'll post when I get more pictures up. After this week, I have my week long Fall Break to look forward which I'm lucky enough to spend with my brother. Hermano arrives the 23rd, we go to Huang Shan (illy hillies) 25th, hit up Shanghai a couple days later, and eat delicious foodles all the while. Gonna be sick. Can't come quick enough. Hurry, brother, China awaits! She beckons!