Blog Name

There seems to have been some confusion on the name of the blog and the BMW logo on the side. "Don't touch me" was the first thing I thought when I got onto the overcrowded bus in Beijing. Since this is a blog about learning about and adapting to new situations, emphasizing the adjustment process required to overcome the average American's need for personal space seemed appropriate.

"Don't touch me" (别摸我) comes from a scene in the funny heist flick, Crazy Stone, which is often compared to Guy Ritchie's films. In this scene（in Chinese)， one of the character's car runs into another's car. The second car is a BMW. “你没看见么？别摸我！” "Didn't you see," the BMW driver says, "BMW is an acronym for 'Don't touch me!'" (In Hanyu Pinyin, the official Chinese romanization system, 'Don't touch me' is spelled bie mo wo, hence BMW.) This expression quickly swept the nation as one of Will Farrel's non sequiturs do in America. I came to China just after this movie came out and this was the first Chinese pop culture reference I ever learned. This movie is worth a look for anyone interested in good, plot-based humor (unlike Family Guy), and it gives you a good look at the grimy side of modern China.

Crazy Racer, a sequel to Crazy Stone in the way that Snatch was a sequel to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (i.e., same director and cast, similar plot, but different characters), just recently came out, and I will review it here when I see it.

The Chinese part of the blog name is Three Wells Alley, my address. The thing called "Palace Museum" is the Forbidden City, which is right smack dab in the middle of Beijing.

Note: The links to the two movies will take you to imdb, which still has the annoying habit of flipping the order of Chinese and Japanese names. The director's name is 宁浩 Ning Hao, not Hao Ning.