Bye Bye Talk Talk China, Hello Sinocidal
I loved Talk Talk China (TTC) and I have missed it since it shut down a few weeks ago.
I did not always agree with it, of course. But I nearly always came away from it having learned something more about either China, ex-pats living in China, or the interaction between said Chinese and said ex-pats. Though it was nearly always funny, it was also frequently important.
Another reason (maybe even the primary reason) to love Talk Talk China was its comments. It would get 100+ on nearly every post. Many were from regulars who could be counted on to be viciously funny and unmercifully dead on. I miss them too.
The hugely influential (and rightly so) Peking Duck blog recently described new China blog,Sinocidal, as TTC's successor. Further research reveals PD is not the only one having anointed Sinocidal:
- In a comment on the 88s Blog, the Bring on the Night Blog described Sinocidal as having taken up TTC's "torch."
- An anonymous comment on the Eyes East Blog, stated that "some of the guys from TTC (my reprobate baby brother Dulang among them) have just debuted a new place to rant."
- Hongkie Town Redux, which proclaims, "Talk Talk China is gone but Sinocidal is here."
- Green Bamboo, which speculates Sinocidal is being blocked by the Great Firewall for having dissed the Beijing Olympic mascots. Has anyone not dissed them?
- Sunny Side Up, which describes Sinocidal as having lots "of familiar faces there so get on over and pour some petrol on the pyre."
- Yellow Wings, which pitches Sinocidal as the place to be since TTC's demise.
- Brec Starhawk, a musician in Hangzhou (is he a musician because of his name or does he have that name because he is a musician?), lists himself as one of Sinocidal's five bloggers and has this to say about the site:
After the demise of talktalkchina, a few of the regular commenters and myself have started a new website to fill the void. It is called www.sinocidal.com. We do not intend to re-create TTC although it is a post and comment type blog. We intend to have a lot more fun [more fun than TTC or more fun than they were having before Sinocidal???] and have contests, music and other amusing things. We were banned in China after only 1 day. It seems the Olympic organizers did not like our banner of the 5 "FUWA" killing themselves. This has been sorted out and we should be up and running in China in the next couple of days.
Too early to tell if Sinocidal will be up to the high standards of TTC, and also too early too tell if it will pull in the quantity and quality of comments TTC did. But, it does look promising and I urge you to check it out.
Comments (22)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endBoyce - November 25, 2006 10:17 PM
Hi Dan, do you know if the TTC material was archived anywhere? BB.
The Humanaught - November 25, 2006 11:28 PM
I'm looking forward to Sinocide. Filling the void is a big claim to make. I like that there will again be a place to rant, but I imagine they're going to have a heck of a time not being called a "TTC clone".
But who isn't a clone, and who doesn't like a bit of copying... this is China after all.
LaoLao - November 26, 2006 1:27 AM
And we like your work as well.
PiPi - November 26, 2006 1:46 AM
Muchly appreciated and many thanks for the promotion. We look forward to having you all over for dinner soon.
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 7:24 AM
Boyce --
Good question. I do not think TTC was archived anywhere, which is a shame. At least, I am not aware of it having been archived.
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 7:25 AM
The Humanaught --
Thanks for checking in. Yea, who cares if it is a clone. So long as people like you give your comments, that will be the key.
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 7:26 AM
LaoLao --
Why thank you.
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 7:28 AM
PiPi --
In Shanghai?
Casey Kochmer - November 26, 2006 4:52 PM
Nice blog I will have to add you to my reading list good sirs :)
thanks
Casey
PiPi - November 26, 2006 5:11 PM
Unfortunately not in Shanghai, that's too cosmopolitan and upmarket for lil ole me. However, I will be in Big Bamboo this weekend on a visit to Shangers if anyone wants to show me how to drink Guinness... ;-)
I'm sure that all of us involved in Sinocidal are hoping to be something different from TTC - but how different can we be really? It's a blog, ranting about and discussing China, inspired by the sinocide of TTC and being hosted by 5 guys who used to hang out there too much. We're more than likely going to get the same commenters.
Initially all we hoped was to create a forum for venting and sharing your cycle of funk since there were more than a few people looking for somewhere else to keep in touch. However, it is my opinion that TTC was not so much about the 3D's but about the people who commented there. Sure there was the occasional inspired post, mostly by DD imho, but take of the rose-tinted spectacles and most of the threads degenerated into off-topic entities unto themselves and apart from the initial posts, DD, Dan and Dawanr very rarely commented. I'm taking nothing away from what they did. They provided a great site for 18 months and it already being treated as a benchmark for others - kudos to them for setting a standard.
We have plans to do some other things to make the site different but at the end of the day it's a blog, it's a part time 'hobby', it's less important than beer and it's coming out of my pocket. You'll never have to worry about google ads on Sinocidal :-) (wow, was that a comment or a thread)
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 5:19 PM
Casey Kochmer --
Thanks for checking in and thanks for the compliment. Always appreciated.
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 5:20 PM
PiPi --
Good to hear that about the google ads. Seriously.
the Admiral - November 26, 2006 6:45 PM
I wonder...... Could Dan here be one of the three D's...
:?
China Law Blog - November 26, 2006 8:57 PM
The Admiral --
I've actually always suspected you were THE driving force behind TTC, so perhaps you are saying this about me simply to divert. Yes?
Lars - November 28, 2006 4:45 AM
Hey
Couldn't access the URL without using a web proxy? blocked or just on my ISP?
China Law Blog - November 28, 2006 11:52 AM
Lars --
Probably blocked. Rumor is the government got mad at them for something they did to the Friendlies (the Beijing Olympic mascots). Can't imagine what that would be....
PiPi - November 29, 2006 4:37 AM
Re the friendlies - we killed them all, or at least we showed them all in the act committing sinocide. We then changed to the tribute banner and those who were hardcore TTC (sad, I know) will know what we mean. One day we will sneak the sinocides back in again and show the world, or at least the 6 people who read our blog, what we originally meant :-)
PS - I don't believe I ever got around to saying this but I love your blog. I wish there was something like this 6 years ago - maybe I'd have more hair now.
China Law Blog - November 29, 2006 6:13 AM
PiPi --
Thanks for checking in and providing an explanation and thanks for the flattery. It will get you everywhere.
Seeing as how you like this blog so much (be aware though that I expressly disclaim the idea that it halts baldness), I will give you some free Chinese style legal advice regarding your crime. I suggest you admit your mistake in killing off the friendlies, admit it was due to your Western capitalist education (better still if it was in the U.S.) and that you have been re-educated and you now clearly see the errors of your ways, which errors you would love to discusss in great detail on your blog once the great wall blocking your blog has been lifted.
dudeinwales - May 22, 2007 3:47 PM
Most TTC pages are archived in the WaybackMachine.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
China Law Blog - May 24, 2007 12:04 PM
dudeinwales --
Thanks for the link. I should have thought of that.
Mister Ed - July 12, 2010 12:22 AM
Talk Talk China was a great and one of a kind blog and it is a shame that nothing has ever come by that comes even close to replacing it. I miss it.
natania - June 1, 2011 8:10 PM
i tried to look up sinocidal just now via the web link you guys had, i even tried to google it. im not in china. has it shut down since?