Madness In The Middle Kingdom

In the lead up to the Dong Bei Cup I feel it only fair to give you some background on the inspiration for the tournament’s namesake. The term Dong Bei simply means the northeast and a Dong Bei Ren is a person from the northeast. However the DongBei Ren are reknowned in China for being a people that are tougher due to their ability to survive the often cold and harsh winters of the DongBei region. They are more apt to settle an argument with their fists rather than words, they can drink you under the table and their cuisine is more meat, stew and cabbage kind of dishes. In essence a DongBei Ren has a lot in common with the people of the Cariboo and northern interior of BC which may explain why I feel so at home here.

About 7 or 8 years ago the DongBei Ren were immortalized in a song by a Beijing singer that explains the virtues of the DongBei people. Posted below is a YouTube video showing a popular animation that accompanies the song (unfortunately it repeats many times). I copied a translation of the words and posted them below the video. Sing a long if you so desire.

This is what the Dong Bei Cup tournament is all about.

If you really want to appreciate some cultural differences between the West and China then look no further than this animated Chinese classic - Da Tou Erzi He Xiao Tou Baba (大头儿子和小头爸爸). Literally translated it means Big Head Kid and Small Head Dad. The title does not betray the main characters of a child with a giant cranium and a father with a wee tiny melon

Interested in checking out an episode? … Here is one for your perusal

Today’s Dong Bei Cup action saw the first exhibition game pitting Team White vs. Team Green. Final score was 6-6.

The feat by Team White was monumental considering that we were down to 5 guys instead of the usual 6. Yours truly sprained his ankle last Thursday and the team doc thought it prudent to rest the ankle for exhibition in order to be truly effective for the regular season. The ankle felt good and I was busting to play but the doc is the doc and ya gotta do what the doc says.

So below is my video tribute to the “5 Neat Guys” of Team White who performed so admirably today.

It seems like only yesterday a certain crazy teacher showed up to our school with delusions of getting his fellow staff members to play Crokinole and wear cardigans. While infamous for making those dreams a reality this person also had the good foresight to organize the Dong Bei Cup - our annual ball hockey championship which is in its 5th year. Of course the gentleman I am referring to is none other than Craig over at the Engleson Files.

For those not in the know the Dong Bei Cup is 4 teams of 6 players and a goalie. The goalie is the team captain and responsible for drafting his team. The games are 3 on 3 with 2 twenty minute halves. The action is fast and furious (well …sometimes) and the students get quite a kick out of watching the teachers vie for the championship (in perfect gentlemanly fashion of course).

I personally have been to 3 of the previous 4 finals winning twice with Team Black in 2005 and with Team Green in 2007. In both of those years I had Craig as my goaltender and the good luck streak continues this year as Craig has drafted me for Team White. On paper we might not look like the strongest team but luckily the games are never played on paper.

Will keep ya updated on all the hot action!

Not many Quesnel people grow up to be famous and comedian Tom Stade is no exception. Tom has however eked out a living as a comedian of some reknown and is currently living and performing in Scotland. I barely remember him from high school but ran into him a few times over the years in Vancouver and Kamloops. I thought his act was original and the man just plain and simple knows how to make an audience laugh. Below are a couple of YouTube videos of his work.

WARNING - PROFANITY!!!! NOT FOR THE YOUNG ‘UNS

Thanks to the visionary work of Adrian C. and Yin Nan Cheng we now have an indoor sports club that we use for kids soccer, inline hockey and supposedly volleyball one day soon. It has always been a drawback of life here that these rec facilities are non-existent for the general public. The Chinese view sport as serious competition and so outside of high level organized leagues or school teams there is little team sport opportunities for the average Zhang. As the middle class grows I am sure this situation will change but in the mean time you need to build it yourself if you can.

It feels great to take Carter down every Saturday morning for soccer practice. Even though he doesn’t participate much in the actual practice he has a good time getting out of the house and kicking the ball around which is all a parent can wish for.

On Sunday afternoons we have an inline hockey league (4 teams) to hone our skills and stress our backs.

Now if we could only get rid of the pigeons that have set up roost in the building then we wouldn’t have to clean up the pigeon crap that sullies the court. However because of them we now have the unofficial nickname for the place - “The Pigeon Coop”

The Pigeon Coop

Paul C. (one of the best Chinese hockey players around) and Adrian C. (visionary)

The Inline Hockey Court (also can be used for ball hockey)

Ya gotta shoot on net!

Some Chinese students from a nearby middle school. They have 2 coaches who also play in our inline league.

Hard to believe that almost a year has passed since the 1st Annual Chinese Crokinole Championships took place at the Robin Bar in Kai Fa Qu Dalian, China. Well it has but the enthusiasm for the beloved game has not waned … ergo the 2nd Annual championship is slated to take place tonight (April 11th) at the very same Robin Bar.

What is Crokinole?

Crokinole is a unique game that combines the geometric visualization of pool, the prophetic strategy of chess, and the endurance of remaining seated for long stretches of time.

Although it is the Chinese Year of the Rat for this tournament we have adopted the theme - The Year of the Doogie. A “Doogie” is when your disc falls completely in the center hole (earning 20 points along the way). In keeping with the theme each player in this year’s tourney must have a Crokinole nickname using some variation of the word Doogie. Examples include

• Bo and/or Luke Doog
• The Arch-Doog of Ferdinand
• Doogie Howitzer
• Scooby Doog
• JYD - The Junkyard Doog

My Crokinole name is Ron Doog-eh? which is patterned after the famous New York Ranger Ron Duguay who had a flowing mane of perfectly coiffed permed hair. Yes - I see the irony!

Will update with the name of this year’s winner ….. and it won’t be Ron Doog-eh? eh!

Following up my post on Trevor Linden’s supposedly last game as a Canuck Dougie Sumo brought to my attention the tribute showed by Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames. Watch the video below for a demonstration of class - both by Trevor Linden and especially by Jarome Iginla. I have always liked Iginla but his gesture (along with his teammates) really spoke volumes about the class this individual exhibits.

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

Walt Whitman

Although not official yet it would appear that Trevor Linden played his last game in the NHL on Saturday night. This marks a long and illustrious career beginning with Vancouver as the second overall draft pick in the 1988 entry draft. In his rookie year he collected 30 goals and finished runner up to Brian Leetch for the Calder award for top rookie in the league. The Hockey News had him pegged as the top rookie.

As team captain he led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals in 1994 where they lost a heartbreaker to the New York Rangers in the 7th game. A New York sportswriter wrote of Linden that if need be “he would skate over a litter of kittens to get to the puck”. The Canucks lost that game 3-2 with Linden scoring both Canuck goals.

The dark years of his career saw him traded to the New York Islanders after the arrival of the pompously arrogant “greatest leader in sports” Mark Messier and the vile, slimy Grinch like character known as “Iron” Mike Keenan. To cover up the fact that he is a lousy coach and that Mark Messier really is only a good leader when leading a talent laden team Keenan would lash out at Linden and place the blame for the team’s misfortunes on his shoulders. It came as no surprise that worst experiment in Canuck history (Keenan-Messier) resulted in Linden being traded to the Islanders followed by brief stints in Montreal and Washington. In 2001 Linden returned to the team where he began his career - the Vancouver Canucks.

To quote his Wikipedia entry

“Linden’s long tenure with the Canucks, deep attachment to the city of Vancouver and history of charitable community service and involvement have made him one of the most beloved and respected players among fans in franchise history”

I for one can’t wait until his #16 is retired by the organization. Kudos to you Mr. Linden … I enjoyed watching you play and in my mind you will always be the Canucks captain.

Two years ago when we travelled to Thailand we went to the northern city of Chiang Mai where we watched elephants paint at an elephant camp. I was so blown away by their ability to do this that I bought one of the paintings as a gift for my parents and they have proudly hung it on their wall. This morning I saw on Yahoo! Canada I saw a story on the elephant paintings and thought I would share with all of the readers of MIMK.

Here are 2 photos I took of the elephants painting.

In case you want to see their story then
click here for the Yahoo! video of an elephant doing a painting

You be the judge!

Here’s to the two that had the incredible foresight to bring moi into this world! Happy Anniversary .. I couldn’t get a wedding day photo but instead I have the photo of the cake that had the photo of the wedding day.

I hope you have a great day!

Congratulations to Canada’s Jennifer Jones. The Winnipeg skip earned a 7-4 victory over Wang Bing Yu of China in Sunday’s final at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship. The reason I post this you ask? Well despite hockey there is no other game that signifies Canada to a greater degree than curling. Now add to the mix that my home country and adopted country (Canada and China) were meeting in the finals for the first time ever. This may be the only time that the 3 guys I share a car with in the morning ever talk about women’s curling (okay Engleson is ALWAYS willing to talk about curling).

Another reason of interest for me was that last winter vacation I travelled to Changchun to watch the Asian Winter Games (click here for that post) and I got to watch Wang Bing Yu in action against the Korean team. I didn’t realize at the time that when I snapped this shot

that I would be taking a photo of a future star in women’s curling.

SWEEEEEPPPPP!!!!