The Association for International Broadcasting have just published their shortlist for the 2020 AIB Awards – and I am blown away my quirky Mental Ideas Podcast is among the nominees in the Factual Podcast category! 🙏 The winners will be announced at a virtual event, streamed live by Al Jazeera Nov 13 & Nov 16. Oh 2020: what a rollercoaster of highs and lows (mainly lows) you have been! If I hadn’t started the year with bipolar disorder, I’d almost certainly have developed it by now… 🤣🤣🤣
So… a white American teacher in his mid-50s has been exposed by super-sleuth Nury Vittachi, Hong Kong’s answer to Danger Mouse, for posing as a young Chinese activist all over the world’s media, writing prolifically about his experiences as a student leader in the Hong Kong Protests for the New York Times and the Guardian, winning praise from ex-guv Chris Patten, being followed on Twitter by Joshua Wong and Nathan Law and writing several books about his experiences as a younger, better looking Chinese dude.
I myself have occasionally dabbled in the murky world of pseudonyms. My legal name is obviously Miss Adventure, but if I want to write, produce or present something that’s really sh*t, I will invariably use the pseudonym Sadie Kaye. The tragic thing is that Sadie Kaye, unlike Kong Tsung-gan, is a real person. Real as in really, really thick. It’s been 8 years and she hasn’t even noticed all the phony baloney I’ve been putting out as her. Also we both look quite similar because we were both born in a lighthouse on an artificial island 5 miles off the coast of Sai Kung, which makes my identity theft more legitimate somehow.
But this article does throw up some uncomfortable moral dilemmas. Who is the man in the profile picture? And does it count as yellow face if the picture is in black and white?
Following a failed bid for Greenland…
My parents may be getting on a bit, but that’s still no excuse for just how badly tonight’s phone conversation went…
Them: How are you feeling?
Me: Shit.
Them: About the protests?
Me: No, about Jeffrey Epstein’s cat. COURSE about the protests.
Them: What’s the worse that could happen?
Me: Are you serious??
Them: The PLA will march in and Hong Kong will become the New Shanghai!
Me: I think you’re missing the point.
Them: Lots of people love Shanghai!
Me: Yeah, Mainlanders.
Them: No, Hongkongers move there, too! They love it!
Me: Well, if Hong Kong’s the New Shanghai, there’d be no point moving to Old Shanghai, would there? Might as well stay put and wait.
Them: You said 15 years ago that you’d like to live in Shang.
Me: No, I said I’d like to live in THE Shang, as in Shangri-La, as in hotel, as in harbor view, as in Hong Kong, as in not in Sai Kung.
Them: Wouldn’t the protests put you off?
Me: Look, I’ve gotta go. Dog…hair…house…pants on fire.
Them: Ok, have a lovely evening!
And they call themselves Liberals.
A last chance to appreciate the very great honor of having been ranked #1 for Comedy in Hong Kong by ReverbNation for the past 5 years.
Maybe it was my bipolar that caused me to do it? Maybe it was the mood of collective irresponsibility that’s been sweeping Hong Kong? But I did it anyway. After receiving one (of nineteen) too many daily emails inviting me to pay USD$92 to submit my ‘music’ to the Online Farmsounds Music Festival, I snapped and deleted my ReverbNation account.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” ReverbNation counseled me. “Yes”
“Do you understand that if you do this, you won’t be able to recover your account?” ReverbNation cautioned me. “Yes”
“Do you understand that if you do this, all your stats, ratings and links will automatically expire?” ReverbNation warned me. “Yes”
“Did you know that you are ranked #1 for Comedy in Hong Kong?” ReverbNation changed tack, clearly alarmed by my unwavering determination to commit social media suicide. “Yes”
“Have you remembered to take your meds today?” ReverbNation reverted to doom-mongering concern. “Yes. Yes! YES!!!” I tapped manically.
It was only after purging my mac of every notification I had ever received from ReverbNation that I discovered I had also deleted 14,498 faithful followers: exciting, contemporary bands with names like #BatShitMetalFreak and #IPlayTunesOnSpoons. I wondered what they were doing. Probably applying to the Online Farmsounds Music Festival, I decided. Feeling inexplicably left out, I googled the Online Farmsounds Music Festival. They were only interested in country music. I didn’t much rate #BatShitMetalFreak’s or #IPlayTunesOnSpoons’ chances. Maybe it was worth paying the USD$92 to see if they fancied a Hong Kong horoscope?
14,498 faithful followers deleted. I felt a flicker of self-doubt. Had I remembered to take my meds today? I doubted that, too. At least I still had my Soundcloud fanbase. I logged into Soundcloud. 22 unfaithful followers stared back at me. 4 friends, 1 ex-stalker, 1 ex-mother-in-law, 14 randoms, my psychiatrist and The Dog.
To add pain to my punishment, I then had to manually delete 11,000 (out of 11,001) thrilling tweets automatically generated by ReverbNation documenting my historical radio slots, then every post I had ever not posted myself on the Miss Adventure Facebook Page, which was all of them.
Looking at my empty social media profiles, my index finger throbbing and badly deformed by repetitive strain injury, I felt naked, exposed, vulnerable. Out of morbid curiosity, I checked how many other comedy producers I’d out-ranked on ReverbNation for the past 5 years were based in Hong Kong. There was only one: SadiK aye, who’d never uploaded anything and couldn’t even be bothered to spell her own name, but ReverbNation had outrageously credited as “Lead Vocalist – Miss Adventure Band”.
10 minutes and 3 mood swings later, I felt a deep sense of peace.
That terrifying moment when you’re looking for an adult, then realize you are one…
It’s both gratifying and petrifying that I very nearly predicted this one right! Penned the day before the 2016 UK referendumb and way before Trump took a dump on the world stage. There’s a lesson here…
Be careful what you don’t wish for!
Ahh, that’s it.
https://missadventurerthk.com/2016/06/22/the-future-of-democracy/
Hong Kong Protests: At least now most people know we are in #China, not #Japan. #Silver Lining of the Day
So, Fake News may have had its ‘Brexit Day’ broadcast date rescheduled thrice, thanks to chaos in Westminster, but you can still feast your ears on the Fake News theme! Composed by the incredible Nick Samuel, an artist and a gentleman. It’s been a 3 year labour of love/ hate (mainly hate). But the wait could be nearly over.
FAKE NEWS THEME
And so it begins… I must be hallucinating, right?
#90s Time Warp #Bogus Bojo’s Brexcellent Adventure! #Dude or Die
