Brendan O’Kane
@bokane.org
Scrutable Occidental, erstwhile 北漂, quondam translator, Ming/Qing fiction enjoyer, congenital Philadelphian, escaped academic, MLIS aspirant, 鏟屎官 (二等). Cynicism makes you an easy mark. Signal: @bokane.1644. http://www.burninghou.se
this is why you need a translator with lived experience as a hobbit
rev. howard arson@theophite.bsky.social · 2d agoit's so bad that the only translation of the Red Book of Westmarch is garbage. what do you mean you changed Bilba Labingi's name to "Bilbo Baggins." who authorized you to do that
Very belatedly seeing this -- ahoy Philly area folks! Jamelle Bouie "Reconstruction at America 250: History and Future of U.S. Democracy" September 29, 2026 Iron Gate Theatre 3700 Chestnut Street 5:30pm Registration via link: www.history.upenn.edu/node/16208
@jevbot.bsky.social 以指喻指之非指，不若以非指喻指之非指也；以馬喻馬之非馬，不若以非馬喻馬之非馬也。天地，一指也；萬物，一馬也。 可乎？
incredible thread in the replies to this post
Dean Buckley@deanbuckley.bsky.social · 4d agooh you mean the pop star known for feuding with other celebrities, publicly litigating their private relationships in song, attacking their critics, constantly analysing their relationship with their own audience and carefully crafting the development of their persona(e) in sync with their albums?
The US/China tech race is over and I'm calling it for China based on this: Jianbing 煎饼 making robots, powered by AI. Video in next post 1/2
Every citizen gotta have the portrait of the Respected General Comrade Secretary, and the portrait of the Eternal President
The old website seems to be gone, but someone saved and posted all the old Popup Chinese episodes!
@kmann.bsky.social · 5d agoI found it on my podcast app and it seems to still include all the old episodes. Somebody seems to have revived it literally this week. www.patreon.com/collection/2...
it's *ẓi̯əb-ẓi̯əb season, motherfuckers (this is a Karlgrenoid reconstruction, so it is not actually *ẓi̯əb-ẓi̯əb season, motherfuckers, but it might've been *no-no season, motherfuckers)
![crop from John Cikoski's 'Lexicon of Old Chinese': the digraph 䰰䰰 is glossed as "sound [a] spook makes" and given the goofy-sounding-to-me reconstructed reading given here in Karlgren's notation](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ycbmujtxprrwbkiw3x5qsyz4/bafkreid7uszeafdcat4kinttzdayilkogt7fjfuqx4wodoejuqopbfzyfq)
Context. In the following April after this, Ah To, the cartoonist who drew this and one of the most prominent protest artists during the revolution - would reveal he had gone into self exile
Niao Collective@niaocollective.bsky.social · 5d ago但願人長久，千里共嬋娟
been a while since I saw a mutant character that really delighted me
i once interpreted for a Canadian journalist who ended his visit to a petitioner encampment shortly after one resident welcomed the journalist effusively on behalf of his father, the sun
Eli Friedman@elifriedman.bsky.social · 6d ago"Mr. Trump called the Chinese leader 'an expert on stone' who 'loves good granite' as Mr. Xi stood by without changing his expression." As a former interpreter, I am sending solidarity to the poor soul who had to translate this while maintaining diplomatic decorum
"Mr. Trump called the Chinese leader 'an expert on stone' who 'loves good granite' as Mr. Xi stood by without changing his expression." As a former interpreter, I am sending solidarity to the poor soul who had to translate this while maintaining diplomatic decorum
Live Updates: Trump Greets Xi at White House, Where Pomp May Mask Tensions
nytimes.com
I'm under no illusions about how things are or what the trajectory is. But I'm also excited for the future because that is where I will hang out with the people I care about and do the things I like doing, or haven't done before. Weird but telling that this holds less appeal for much richer people.
it's important to arrive at sturdy ethical principles that you can't be annoyed out of. people are annoying as shit
A BBC Verify investigation found that Apple Maps' censoring of Chinese Military and Government sites has included arbitrary detention sites in Xinjiang, including the prison where Ilham Tohti is detained. Watch the investigation.
You could do a whole range of uninterested animal-themed dumpling franchises - Mabury, Maobury, Niuberry, and Ghibli, for starters
Michael Hirson@hotpotwhynot.bsky.social · 7d agoI was discussing Tianjin dumplings with someone the other day, and was reminded of a joke I made on twitter several years ago that I thought would do better numbers. What say the judges? @bokane.org @thoc.bsky.social @goldkorn.bsky.social
So I am now learning that San Francisco had a weekly anti-Asian satirical magazine established by the Korbel brothers of fake champagne and Wisconsin Old-Fashioned brandy fame which subsequently employed Ambrose Bierce to hate everybody. That was not how I expected to end my day. What the fuck.
THEY PUT THE MOST HEARTWARMINGLY GAYEST THING EVER IN THE PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPER IN 1882.
Brendan O’Kane@bokane.org · last wk.For me it’s that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde “discussed men and letters for nearly [an] entire afternoon.”
first assignment involves picking an open dataset, and
Peking University Chinese Artistic Shuttlecock Kicking Motion Capture Database
国内顶级花样踢毽高手动作捕捉数据
opendata.pku.edu.cn
Soviet advertising poster: "Comrades, don't argue! Soviet citizens will become stronger through sports. What is strength? This cocoa," 1925
"Comment appréhender la littérature hongkongaise, comment la cerner ?" Une introduction à la littérature de Hong Kong par Gregory B. Lee, professeur émérite d’études chinoises de l’Université de St Andrews. lettresdehongkong.com/2026/08/08/i...
if you're in line to remember the 21st night of September STAY IN LINE. As long as you're in line by 11:59:35 Maurice HAS TO let you remember.
>chinese dynasty finally trending on bsky >ask poaster if the dynasty is river or steppe >she doesnt understand >pull out illustrated diagram explaing what is river and what is steppe >she laughs and says "its a good dynasty sir" >check poasts >its steppe