That's not to say we are feeling 闷闷不乐, quite the contrary in fact. It's been a constant slot machine game with the weather: hot, muggy, cool, rainy, cloudy, sunny, windy, perfect. 老爷's mango dessert shop opened up in the quaint back alley near Xiamen University, its logo which I conceptualized and Shawna designed showing in all its glory. There have been hookah sessions, a private beach party, drinking games at home, chat roulette, coffee sessions, and a modeling photo shoot in an abandoned shoe factory for which I was "prop manager."
Now a quick rewind: Shanghai. Better than I expected since I let my expectations down. Jan's parents took good care of us and made sure we were well-nourished. One rainy night we went out on the town with my party-member friend Henry who works for Ernst & Young as an accountant. We had met in Nanjing in '08. We went clubbing and then continued the event back at Henry's cramped and crowded room until the birds were chirping in the morning, after which we slept in all the strangest contortions to fit in one room.
As for the World Expo, it took a day to recover in between, but we got our energy back for the 3-hour line to the Japanese pavilion. After that, lines weren't so bad and we fit in a number of other pavilions before the day was over. Of note was the old man with the pork buns tail-gating me, breathing down my neck in the Japan line. There is a photo-sequence which Shawna took that plays it out in a comical way and I will post these soon enough...
Friday, June 11, 2010
5 years
2005. 2010. Shanghai's Pudong skyscape has changed... have Alexei and I?
Alexei and me on The Bund circa 2005:
...and in 2010:
Alexei and me on The Bund circa 2005:
...and in 2010:
Monday, June 7, 2010
censorship
At last my hard-drive collapsed and I took the least expensive route out by replacing it. As a result, I am now operating in a Chinese version of Windows (Vista?) which at times can be a royal pain in the ass. Perhaps I lost some photos and some writings, but I'll find some person who can extract those when I go back to the States. I'm back to square one looking for ways to avoid all the blocks China has put in place so that I cannot express myself on this blog. There really is too much to catch up on, and a lot of photos to accompany those stories. In due time, I think I'll be able to get back up to speed.
While on the subject of China's censorship though, I will tell the story of when Shawna and I went to see "Iron Man 2" in theatres here. The villain is portrayed by Mickey Rourke as a Russian; the word "Russia" and "Russian" are used throughout the movie, but every time they are, the words are twisted into an incomprehensible mess. I'm still trying to figure out why the government doesn't want the Chinese people to hear those words? Another fun and interesting thing to do: type in any word with the slightest of pornographic associations in Google search and watch with wonder when it tells you that your search didn't come up with any findings... now imagine if you did that elsewhere and the treasure chest of sites which would come up at your disposal.
While on the subject of China's censorship though, I will tell the story of when Shawna and I went to see "Iron Man 2" in theatres here. The villain is portrayed by Mickey Rourke as a Russian; the word "Russia" and "Russian" are used throughout the movie, but every time they are, the words are twisted into an incomprehensible mess. I'm still trying to figure out why the government doesn't want the Chinese people to hear those words? Another fun and interesting thing to do: type in any word with the slightest of pornographic associations in Google search and watch with wonder when it tells you that your search didn't come up with any findings... now imagine if you did that elsewhere and the treasure chest of sites which would come up at your disposal.
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