Free Beijing Blues CD with purchase of Big in China

BookPerks is running a special offer, this week only. Buy Big in China and receive a Beijing Blues CD for free. Same one praised by musical giants like Billy Gibbons and Warren Haynes. Book and CD together for just $19.99. Check it out:…

Presidential hoops – A classic video

Dear Premier Wen, I feel sort of bad bringing this up, but President Obama plays with adults, on 10-foot hoops. But it's great that you are enjoying the great game of basketball with your people. Sincerely, America

Big in China reviews from Savannah to Shanghai

Two new Big in China pieces from very different sources, taking very different approaches, but I like them both a lot. Swampland is Southern culture site that reviews Big in China and makes some interesting connections between China and the…

Kurtis Blow – Basketball

I wish you all could have seen Jacob's eyes grow wide when I showed him this video. He became slackjawed and dazed, like he was talking to dolphins or watching little green men walk out of a spaceship. Then he added the song to his bar mitzvah…

Rapper’s Delight

So I was going through some old school dance classics with Jacob yesterday, getting his approval for songs to ask the DJ to play at his bar mitzvah and it led me to watching some of my favorite old school rap classics. I forgot just how much…

James Fallows on Big in China

"Big in China vividly conveys the open-ended, chaotic, wonder and possibility of being a foreigner in today’s China. Alan Paul’s evolution from expat-village ‘trailing spouse’ to star of the Chinese music scene stands for countless similar…

Mazel Tov Mike Brown and why that makes me think of Darryl Dawkins and 9/11

Congrats to Mike Brown for being named the new head coach of the Lakers. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, and I mean that quite sincerely. Brown being in the news has me thinking about the awesome character Darryl Dawkins, the sad tale…

Woodie Alan – “Meet Me in the Morning”

Live in Hangzhou. This was our first tune at one of our most memorable gigs, at Hangzhou's great JZ club. I wish I had more clips from this superb evening.

Adele- a new, old paradigm?

I have to admit that I didn't realize how big Adele was, though I have been really enjoying a few of her songs. But I came across this article about her in The Independent, thanks to Bob Lefsetz and I found it really refreshing and interesting…

Welcome to my New Blog

It's been a long time coming. but a change has come. Welcome to my new blog, finally integrated into a reasonable website, with the able assistance of the incredibly patient Jeb Dickerson. For more info on him, you can visit howtomatter.com.…