Imagethief

Imagethief is not normally a fan of self-referential blog memes. They foster a groan-inducing chain-letter sense of obligation. If included, is it churlish of me not to participate? They also smack slightly of sexually transmitted diseases. I gave it to five friends and they gave to five friends...and then we all went insane and died. What's worse (and to keep the sexual metaphor), they are incestuous as close knit groups of bloggers link to each other. So we're going to die of syphilis and have deformed children. Rock on.

Nevertheless, it was gratifying to find myself on the receiving end of a whole lotta love during the recent outbreak emergence of the "Thinking Bloggers Awards" in China.

This is typical. Good things always come to me in trivial ways. Imagethief doesn't mind at all being on the receiving end of a whole lotta love. It's just that if you asked from whom I would like to be receiving it, I would probably cite the students of a cheerleading academy, a synchronized swimming team or a lingerie modeling society long before a bunch of obessive, pajama-wearing China nerds whose wives, girlfriends and assorted significant others can't pry them away from their computers.

And I say that with love.

But I'm serious about the good things arriving in trivial ways. Imagethief was touched by god once. Really. In one sublime moment it was as if some higher force had descended and inspired me with a radiant inner light. I could feel the power and I knew exactly what was going to happen. And I bowled a 213. That was my epiphany. How cool is that?

There were two other things about "Thinking Blogger Awards" that kept me tossing and turning at night. (Or it might have been the frozen dumplings, but I had to think about something.) First is that I appear to be the "funny" blog. I don't know this happened. Imagethief is a serious blog about serious things; a repository of deep thought and cutting analysis. Any humor that may emerge is purely unintentional. If you feel you have received humor from this blog in error, please promptly destroy or delete any such humorous material and inform me care of this website. I won't have my legacy of serious cogitation undermined by the occasional errant yukster rant, probably authored in some kind of weird fugue-state.

Second, after three years, people still get the name wrong. It's "Imagethief". All one word. No hyphen, no space. Either some people aren't paying attention or they think I am misspelling the name of my own blog. What does that say about the regard in which I am held? I didn't come up with an abstract, pompous name for this site only to see it mangled, even  if with the best of intentions.

I realize the above seems a bit, well, ungrateful. I am of course grateful for all kudos. But I'm also in an obnoxious mood due to particularly long and stressful week and a mysterious bit of back pain. Sorry about that.

Anyway, like a good obsessive, pajama-wearing China nerd I am going to return the favor. But not quite according to the rules. First, to diminish the incest factor, I am going to disqualify my close personal friends, which rules out Silicon Hutong, Ich Bin Ein Beijinger, Danwei, and Peking Duck. All are great blogs and China heavyweights that rise above the noisy squelch of mediocre rant to be truly thought-provoking and informative. Danwei and Peking Duck need no introduction to readers of this blog. My ex-colleague David Wolf, of Silicon Hutong, has done more to make me think differently about business in China than anyone else I know in China. He and Ich Bin Ein Beijinger's Kaiser Kuo bookend the technology business in China from established MNCs and global giants to scrappy startups.

But if I nominate my buds people will talk and my credibility, such as it is, will plummet.

Then I am going to disqualify any blog that nominated Imagethief, which rules out, in addition to some of the ones above, Positive Solutions and China Law Blog. Positive Solutions is one of my favorite blogs to emerge in the past year, both because it's interesting and because Charlie, whom I have never met, writes with a kind of humorous snark that I identify with. Charlie is 24, I believe, which is so shockingly young as to make me think he should be spanked and sent home. If I had been that amusing at 24 I would be in Hollywood now. Broke and living in a refrigerator box, but in Hollywood nonetheless. As for whether China Law Blog should be spanked, what Dan and Steve do in the privacy of their own homes is not my concern. It is, however, one of the most essential China business blogs and a consistent source of insight. That it is entertaining is a bonus.

Finally, I am going to disqualify ESWN because he doesn't accept comments on his site so, arguably, he isn't a true blogger. Equal parts illuminating and infuriating, Roland seems to be on the leading edge of a lot of the China stories that go on to break in the international media, which probably explains why so many foreign correspondents showed up when he spoke at the Bookworm in Beijing last year (along with Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei). Is he an agenda-setter? Roland's politics and role as a window into Chinese media and events for non-Chinese readers --and therefore as something of a gatekeeper-- have generated controversy and criticism. But, whether you like him or not, he is influential. He has also prompted some of my own most interesting and widely-read posts.

So what does that leave as far as my nominees? A bit of a hotchpotch. They're also mostly China blogs since that is a big chunk of what I read, and because I don't feel the need to nominate some megablog in the US. Does that make me incestuous? A bit, I guess. Anyway, the five:

Jottings from the Granite Studio: In eight months Jeremiah has distinguished himself as a thoughtful analyst and critic and an original voice in the China blogosphere. His scholarly approach and historically informed perspective give him a different take on China than many of us ambulance-chasing types obsessed with picking over the latest mainstream media report. He's also recently engaged. Congrats! His site is on Blogspot and currently blocked in China, but he's also a regular Duck contributor.

Mutant Palm: Dave ("Davesgonechina") is an on-and-off blogger who's been back blogging since February. Personally, I think the China blogosphere is better off when he's blogging. Dave's got a wry sense of humor and a practiced eye for the eccentrities of China. Like Jeremiah, Dave brings a scholarly bent to many of his posts, but he doesn't let that interfere with what seems to be a love of the zany. Also like Jeremiah, Dave's Blogspot-based site is blocked, but Dave also contributes to the Duck.

Beijing Newspeak: A very, very recent arrival on  the China Blogging scene. Will it have legs? I don't know, but I hope so. Chris reports from the bowells of the Xinhua bureaucracy. As a deconstructor of the workings of China's English language media, he fills something of the role that Charlie of Positive Solutions did in his early days before he decided to shift focus. Read on and see how Chris reflects on his role in the great propaganda apparatus.

Richard Spencer's Blog: I read a lot of journalist blogs both because I find them interesting and because, as a media relations professional (whatever that means), I like to find out what makes journalists tick. I don't read many of Richard's actual articles because the Telegraph isn't on my regular news beat, but I've always enjoyed his blog, which exemplifies what I think journalists should use blogging for. It doesn't kick out tidbits that weren't worthy of publication. It does give an insight into Richard's thinking, why he focuses on some stories over others, and the experiences behind some of the stories he has written. It also enables him to display the personality and opinion that traditional newspaper reporting doesn't allow for. (Tim Johnson's blog is also good, but I've commented on it extensively recently.)

Schneier on Security: The non-China blog ringer. I read bunch of non-China blogs, mostly devoted to the media industry, public relations and technology. Bruce Schneier's blog lives in the "technology" section of my RSS reader, but what he writes about is much more expansive than IT security. He writes about security in general, and all the contemporary issues that drive ideas of security. In a paranoid age when so much policy is being defined, often badly, by identify theft, computer crime and a "global war on terrorism", this is important and interesting.

So there it is. Yeah, I know it's a bit of an "everybody gets a prize" approach, but that's in keeping with my grade-school mentality. There are a lot of good blogs out there these days, many of which I couldn't mention here. It's hard to read to them all. If you're interested in China blogging and stumbling on this for the first time, don't be too fixated on what I have named here, or any blog meme floating around. Just get out there and explore.