Home of the Ryan

New Blog -- Please Update Your Links

2009-12-05T19:04:00.000-06:00

Howdy all,

I'm consolidating Web sites ;-) I migrated all the content from here to my existing Web site. So I won't be posting anymore here -- it'll all be over there. Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds accordingly.

Yay!!

Fun Fun Fun Fest, Day 1

2009-11-08T23:34:00.000-06:00

These are some pics from Day 1 ... it rained today (Day 2) so I didn't bring my camera out.

More!!!

Divorce & Baseball

2009-11-08T11:22:00.000-06:00

If you and your wife own a baseball team worth $421 million, and you get a divorce .... just exactly how do you split up that asset? As Frank and Jamie McCourt, owners of the LA Dodgers, are finding out, it depends on how you raised the money to buy the team in the first place:

Even among the cadre of super-wealthy folks, it's just not that easy to drum up $421 million in cash. The McCourts didn't simply hand News Corp. a check drawn on the family's WaMu account. The process behind financing this purchase is especially interesting in the McCourt case, and is particularly relevant for the upcoming battle for the Dodgers.

For all the Reading I Do About Apple, I’m Surprised I don’t Own a Mac

2009-11-07T11:03:00.001-06:00

<nt>

Hiking on the Barton Creek Greenbelt

2009-10-28T22:54:00.001-05:00

More here.

Google Goats

2009-10-28T14:09:00.001-05:00

Just one more reason to love Google:

At our Mountain View headquarters, we have some fields that we need to mow occasionally to clear weeds and brush to reduce fire hazard. This spring we decided to take a low-carbon approach: Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we've rented some goats from California Grazing to do the job for us (we're not "kidding"). A herder brings about 200 goats and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.

Just About The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen In My Entire Freaking Life

2009-10-21T18:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, maybe not, because we all know I speak in hyperbole a lot. But check this out:

Given information commonly available online about many games — the box score and the play-by-play — the system automatically generates the text of a story about that game that captures the overall dynamic of the game and highlights the key plays and key players. The story includes an appropriate headline and a photo of the most important player in the game.

Yes, that's right. Input: stats & plays from a baseball game. Output: AP-style story.

So awesome.

Photo jacked from Joe Y Jiang.

Nicholas & Jordana Taylor: First Dance

2009-10-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

More to come as I "develop" the pictures I took at their wedding in WV. But I really like this one. Nicholas needs to do a better job shaving for big days like these ;-)

Hiking in Fredericksburg

2009-10-11T00:56:00.001-05:00

Digital Similarities

2009-09-29T22:37:00.003-05:00

So those of you who know me know that I used to produce digital music ... techno ... or attempt to :-) It was basically a four-year process/ordeal where I tried way too hard to create music with the goal of DJing it out, getting a song signed to a label, or something along those lines. I gave it up in late 2007 right before I moved to China for various reasons, one of them being I was finding I was having to force myself to sit down at the computer and do it. I gave it up and haven't stressed out about it since.

Now I find myself getting more and more into digital photography. I downloaded a thirty-day trial of this program called Adobe Lightroom, which is essentially a digital darkroom (hence the product name) for raw image data from your camera. e.g. it gives you lots of control over how the image turns out. It also features an extensive "asset management" system, which is a fancy way of saying it helps you organize and categorize your photos to find them easier later or to share w/others (via a slideshow, web album, etc). It's such an intuitive and easy-to-use program. I opened it for the first time last week and began touching up some of my existing photos; I was able to see the results immediately, which was great positive feedback and led to me using it more and more over the weekend. I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy it when my trial period is up. Unlike a lens, it is useful in a variety of situations :-)

Then this weekend I was working in the program when I realized how similar the light histogram was to a parametric EQ. They literally are the same thing -- a graphic representation of how your photo/sound is composed of different frequencies (of light or of sound, it doesn't matter which), and which you use to adjust the particular frequency content of your material. From there a tumble of realizations came out. The whole process is the same! You generate some input data (either a picture from a camera or a sound from a synthesizer or sampler), fire up a software program or two to tweak and arrange it, combine it with others, get it just how you like it, and then you have the output data which you share with other people.

So I started thinking, why do I feel so good about photography whereas music was a struggle? Probably several reasons:

I've been practicing the process for generating pictures (photography) for the past few years, whereas I had to learn how to generate sound all from scratch, and all at once.
I'm a visual person, and viewing photographs comes more intuitively to me than listening to music.
I get more immediate positive feedback from photography, because I see the faces and places that I shoot and that triggers memories.
Pictures are more easily accessible to your average person than a techno track :-) Which means I can share photos with everyone, the whole world, whereas w/music the only people who really cared were other friends of mine who were techno DJs.
I am coming to this on my own terms (more naturally/holistically) instead of the rush & stress I put myself through w/digital music (e.g. get rich & famous as a techno DJ). In fact the whole reason I bought this laptop was to make music! How quickly that went away, haha.
I tried to do way too much too quickly w/digital music. I tried to not only learn how to generate and shape sounds, but also how to arrange them into a cohesive track. That is a REALLY complicated task; you're talking music theory and sound engineering at the same time, both of which are pretty advanced topics for your average lazy bastard (me :-)
Photography is a very social activity; you're out in the world, taking pictures of people and places and things. W/digital music you're stuck sitting at a computer for hours a day -- it's only when you have a finished product that you get to share it in a social environment (at a gig).
It takes a good 5 minutes to listen to a song and decide if you like it. Whereas w/a photo I pretty much know instantly -- I have a strong gut reaction to photos & other pieces of visual art that I like.

It's been a pretty interesting realization. I discussed it with some friends and they see what I'm talking about. So who knows. Maybe I will pick up digital music again someday. But for right now I'm having too much fun with photography :-) But I can occasionally combine the two, as in this photo I took at a rave last Saturday (and subsequently edited in Lightroom):

I really like the way that one turned out.

Google Reader Trends

2009-09-23T21:01:00.001-05:00

Soon after I got to China, I consolidated the many websites I read into a single one: Google Reader. It aggregates RSS feeds from my favorite web sites all in one spot. I check GR pretty much daily and use it to catch up on the things I find interesting. Having one central location to check the most important news to me is very, very convenient. It means I don't have to type in lots of URLs or click tons of bookmarks in order to keep up to date on my favorite web sites. And because GR exists on google.com's servers and not on my desktop, I don't have to worry about having a laptop with me when I travel.

Google Reader keeps track of what I read and when, so I thought I'd post some of that information here for shits and giggles.

This is what greets me on the main screen. I get RSS feeds from ("subscribe to") 27 web sites/blogs/whatever. Now, this changes all the time as I add and remove feeds based on what I find myself reading the most of. In fact I removed 5 feeds and added 2 feeds just this morning. But you can see that I read an average of 36 posts/articles a day. Keep in mind that I rarely check any other news sites -- or web sites in general -- so this is the equivalent of my daily paper-reading. The only other news source I listen to frequently is NPR in the morning. And whatever I happen to overhear from friends :-)

Also keep in mind that the length of these posts varies from blog to blog. Daring Fireball's posts are very short; usually a paragraph at most. However Joe Posnanski often writes long-winded, rambling posts about baseball -- several pages on average.

It also seems that for each subscription, I read on average about 40 posts in any given 30 days. Within those 30 days, on which day did I read the most items?

In the past 30 days, I read the most items on August 30th. The total for that date (which you can actually see in Google Reader) is 100 items. 8/30 was a Sunday; looking back through my calendar I didn't have anything planned for the day. So, no surprises there :-)

The next-highest total was on 8/25, which was a Tuesday. I read 75 items that day. And the third-highest total in the past 30 days was when I read 66 items on 9/19, or this past Saturday. That's a little confusing to me because I had a lot of stuff going on this past Saturday! I guess most of it might have come from early in the morning, when I got home late from a party on Friday night but wasn't that tired. Interesting.

Now in any given day, when am I most likely to be reading stuff on Google Reader?

The answer is between 8 PM and 9 PM -- that's when I read the most. In the past 30 days I read 154 items around 8 PM, 198 items around 9 PM, and 140 items around 10 PM. I'm not positive how they quantize their times; I'd bet that anything between 8 and 8:30 gets counted at 8 PM, while anything between 8:30 and 9 gets counted as 9. Just a guess though. And you can see I hardly ever read during the day at work unless it's between 12:30 and 1 PM ;-)

What about that last tab -- Day of the week?

Seems I read the most on the weekends -- no surprise there. On the weekends I often wake up and have a few cups of coffee while catching up on RSS feeds I've missed during the week. What's interesting is that I read the least on Fridays -- perhaps proof that I actually have a social life, since we can see above I don't read in the morning and only occasionally during the day :-) Wednesday nights I understand too -- many Wednesday nights I'm at BD Riley's playing trivia with some friends. That runs from 8 - 10 PM, which as we've seen above is prime Google Reader-reading hours for me :-)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this peek into my reading habits :-)

Teaching Someone How to DJ

2009-09-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

My friend David will start a job at an international law firm in a little over a month ... in the meantime, he's decided to use his (then-remaining) 40 days to learn/do something new each day. I participated yesterday (Day 7 for him) by teaching him how to DJ.

I really enjoy close-up, shallow depth-of-field photos.

I Lied

2009-09-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

No sooner had I posted about losing some Project365 pictures, then I re-opened Picasa and it decided to find them! How crazy. To celebrate, here's one of the photos I thought I lost:

My cousin Max, who lives in Philly, visited me over Labor Day weekend. We had a real blast -- I think he enjoyed his time in Austin and hopefully I've convinced him to move out here :-)

The photographic technique in the above photo is called a rear-curtain flash sync (also known as a second-curtain sync, which is what Canon calls it. In it, the flash fires twice -- once at the beginning of the exposure (to assist w/focus) and again at the end of the exposure. This means if you have a long enough shutter time, your picture will contain trails/blurs -- like all long exposures do -- but because the flash fires at the end of the exposure, the picture also has at least one sharp image in it. In this case you can see that Max moved his head to the right during the exposure, but because the flash fired at the end (freezing the action for a still shot), the whole picture isn't blurry.

I love this effect -- I also used it here.

One Month of Project365

2009-09-12T11:17:00.000-05:00

Well, amazingly enough I'm over a month into Project365 and have hit every single day. Talk about commitment. The only snag has been that my camera-to-PC transfer lost a few photos from last Saturday & Sunday, which kind of sucks because there were some good ones. But since I actually took the photos, I'm not too upset :-)

Here's a nice picture to add to the "sky" collection:

It's been fun so far ... and it's definitely been doable because of my macro lens. Because of that, I can come home after work, take a picture of something at extremely-close range, have it fill the lens, and have the picture turn out halfway interesting. I don't have to think too terribly much about it.

Still, I'm already getting tired of that practice and it's only been a month! What I'm going to do is start taking my camera to work and then going different places after work to take pictures. I'm a big fan of variety, and that should help :-)

I'm still lagging behind in uploading photos, but I'm confident I'll get them all up eventually.

Participatory Government

2009-09-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

The HHS crowdsourced PSAs about washing hands & staying hygenic (to prevent the spread of H1N1). The YouTube channel where you can vote on the finalists is here. I think that's a pretty neat idea.

(H/T to Freakonomics)

Project 365 Continues

2009-08-30T21:35:00.003-05:00

Seems to be the thing to do 'round these parts on Sunday nights.

Note: The shot w/the car was made possible with my new macro lens that arrived Friday :-D

And of course more here.

Just Because

2009-08-30T00:48:00.000-05:00

Project 365 Rolls Right Along

2009-08-23T22:30:00.000-05:00

Cake in a bowl.

Bill enjoying his new light-up ball toy that my parents got him.

Diana's outdoor plants that I watered while she was away.

Eyes and Books

2009-08-16T15:19:00.005-05:00

So I woke up this morning and my right eye was all crusty. I looked in the mirror, and this was staring back at me:

Kinda looks like I got knocked around in a bar fight or something, haha. But really it's a sty. I went to the hospital and got some medicine for it, in addition to advice about warm compresses every so often. Good times! My parents didn't even mind that it canceled our planned trip to Salado. Instead, we went to Half Price Books where I ended up blowing some money on this stuff:

Oh, yeah, more stuff to add to the backlog of items to read. I'm currently reading this, then I have to read and review this (I promised the author I would; she is a fellow technical writer/blogger in Austin), and then it's on to other things. Oy!

In other news, you will likely be seeing a lot more pictures from me in the coming ... year. I've decided to do something called Project365, in which I take at least one picture a day for the next year. I probably already average at least one picture a day, but of course I skip most days and make up for those w/photo-intensive days, like trips to NY (or China!) or whatever. But this will be a daily thing. I officially kicked it off on August 10th and, so far for the first week, have been keeping up with it quite nicely. The photos will be archived here on Flickr. I won't lie; part of the motivation here is to convince myself it's worth it to buy a nice macro lens or maybe an external flash :-) But I swear that's only part of it ...

Less than Zero

2009-08-15T01:08:00.002-05:00

This ad makes me shudder ... for two reasons.

Bill x3

2009-08-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

This photo screamed B&W.

Interrupted during a snack.

Passed out.

Pets in the Heat

2009-08-09T17:01:00.000-05:00

I never used to pay attention to this sort of thing ... but I stopped off at HEB today, the Hancock center one, and right next to it is a Petco. As I walked down the sidewalk into HEB, I saw a large cage out front of Petco with like six or seven dogs & cats passed out in it. The cage was under a tent (so, marginally in the shade) and it was apparent that they animals had been sprayed with water at some point, but, c'mon -- it's over 100 degrees out today!! The animals were not even remotely moving. The whole scene made me really sad.

A sign out front said they were collecting donations for food for the pets ... maybe they were some sort of charity? I wasn't really sure and I didn't ask. I was appalled that in this day and age someone would subject animals to this sort of treatment. I stood out front there debating whether to go talk to them ... but I'm pretty non-confrontational ... so I didn't say anything.

If I see that again (and that's likely, given that I do most of my grocery shopping there) I will definitely inquire as to what is going on. I'm not the smartest person alive, but even I know that in this heat it's best to minimize your time outside ...

In other news, Bill is doing just fine.

... a Beautiful Sky Blue

2009-08-08T09:06:00.001-05:00

After a year of being in the dirty, smoggy mess that is Shanghai (and lots of other areas, like Beijing and Xi'an as well) -- with its metallic-gray skies, rainy weather, and towering skyscrapers that blot out the sun -- I find myself paying much, much more attention to a beautiful deep blue sky than ever before. Why do you think I bought the polarizing filter for my camera?

... and so on.

Proof that Nirvana Played a Show in Austin, 1991

2009-07-29T07:19:00.001-05:00

This makes me happy.

Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thechunk/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In other news, you might notice that I'm up at 7:17 AM ... that's because Bill woke me up (again) and I decided to just stay up this time. Good news though!! I watched him take a dump and, without ANY help from me, he squatted properly on the toilet seat like he's supposed to do. Huzzah! All four legs on the seat, didn't miss at all, didn't fall in. I could tell afterwards he was confused about covering up his mess, but I took him off the seat before he could investigate any further and foul things up. Much petting, and a treat, followed. He's now passed out on the sofa.

This means training will go so much easier, since I don't have to teach him how to stand on the toilet seat. I just need to slowly decrease the amount of litter in there (it's already pretty low) and then slowly fill it up with water. I'll probably keep a small amount of litter in there for a few weeks to make sure he gets used to it.

w00t!

Toilet Training Moves Forward

2009-07-26T11:36:00.002-05:00

Because I know you want to hear this --

For the last month or so, Bill had been using his litter box as it sat on top of the toilet seat, w/the lid up. Yesterday I removed that and bought a metal mixing bowl and suspended it (via duct tape -- most indispensible tool ever) in the middle of the toilet and filled it w/some litter. I stayed home all afternoon to hopefully catch Bill when he uses the facilities, because I need to teach him how to squat on the seat w/all four paws. (Being a pet owner is demanding, eh?)

Unfortunately I missed his business-time (and basically wasted an entire afternoon at home), but fortunately I came home from a party to find he peed very properly in the inner bowl and didn't spill a drop. That's an encouraging sign, at least! He apparently made the switch from box to bowl with no problems.

The next step is to fill the bowl with decreasing amounts of litter. But before I do that I want to make sure he knows how to squat. So this might be a month or so of me spending my time at home in front of the bathroom, instead of out in the living room, to catch him on his bathroom run. Nurse, cancel my one o'clock ...

More NYC Pics

2009-07-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

My friend Richard on the Cyclone at Coney Island.

Another ride in progress at Coney Island.

The Wonder Wheel, the ferris wheel at Coney Island.

I shouldn't have to explain this one ;-)

Plane rides aren't all bad ...

Skydiving

2009-07-20T22:12:00.001-05:00

Well, on kind-of-a-whim, I went skydiving yesterday. Hot damn! It was scary, intense, and amazing. I'm definitely going to do it again. Some pictures my friends took:

This is me, beforehand, demonstrating the worst possible outcome of our little adventure.

The plane we went up in -- there's room for five people: the pilot and four passengers. For us, that meant two students and two tandem instructors.

Pre-jump. Note the stylin' gear.

On the way down. At this point I'd finished a 50-second free fall and been gliding w/parachute for about 5-6 minutes. We jumped from a height of 10,500 feet.

Coming in for a landing ...

The post-landing adrenaline-fueled hat throw! Yeeeeeeeeee-hah!!

Chatting with Brady after the jump.

If I had to pick one, I'd say the scariest part of the jump was the part where the plane door is open and you're sitting on the ledge waiting to jump off, just looking down at the ground, and what you're about to do hits you full in the chest -- you're about to pitch yourself out of an airplane, into the wild blue yonder, strapped to just another human being who just has some backpack on their back. Everything you normally associate w/air travel -- rows of seats, noisy people, and hell, a floor and some walls and an engine or two -- is gone. And you'll be falling earthward.

That part still makes me nervous just sitting here on the ground, even though I know I did it already. It's the part I don't fully remember; my brain must have blocked it out :-)

After that, once you're out of the plane and you're in free-fall, then it becomes beautiful. You're looking around you in amazement, the wind rushing up at you. You don't even feel like you're falling, because you're too far away from the ground to see it getting closer. There's no drop in your stomach like on a roller coaster. And I thought I'd be yelling in excitement, but I actually was robbed of the power of speech for awhile. It was very peaceful.

Then the instructor pulls the ripcord and you start floating. The wind noise falls away and you can have a normal chit-chat conversation with your partner. You can yank the handles of the canopy to steer, and if you pull hard on one direction you will spin around in the air. (It's fun.) And landing is a breeze, as gentle as can be.

Next time I'll try and take a small camera up ...

Back in Austin / NYC Pics

2009-07-12T17:59:00.002-05:00

Just a small sampling of the flood of NYC pics that I took ... stay tuned to that link as I upload more over the next week. I'll be posting a couple more each day.

As always, click a picture to go to its page & browse related photos.

The Manhattan Bridge that connects Brooklyn to, um, Malnhattan across the East River :-) Bklyn is on the right. Notice the wedding photos going on!

Central Park.

Subway tile mosaic at the 96th street stop. All the stops have signs like these.

My parents came to visit me at the Guggenheim :-)

The Manhattan skyline as seen from walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. The tallest building, in the center, is the Empire State Building. The second-tallest one (off to the right of the frame) is the Chrysler Building.

My friends Suzan and Choyce were in the car ahead of us on The Scrambler @ Coney Island. Because they were moving at the same speed we were relative to the "background", I could steady the camera and take this picture quite easily.

More. Again, I'll be uploading more here throughout the week!

NYC Update II

2009-07-09T11:39:00.000-05:00

I'm taking the morning off today, sitting at my friend's house and surfing the net while drinking coffee. I'll go out soon, but for now I'm just relaxing. It's a well-deserved break after spending the better part of four days constantly on my feet and sightseeing. On Tuesday I had lunch with my family, then went to the East Village and Soho. I saw the site of CBGB and Tompkins Square Park. On Wednesday I took the train out of the city to visit my cousin , then came back, met up with a friend at Grand Central, and walked around lower Manhattan down to the Gramercy Park/Union Square area. I'm beat!

Today I'm going to a Mets game and then maybe out after that -- apparently Thursday night is when local NYers go out, since the "bridge-and-tunnel crowd" (those commuting into the city from NJ and CT) are not in the city late (since they have to work on Friday). Friday I'm meeting up w/someone for lunch and then will go to The Met -- and hopefully out after that. Saturday my hosts have planned a day trip to Coney Island (wheeee!) and then I fly out of here Sunday at 6 AM.

Good stuff!

NYC Update

2009-07-07T23:29:00.000-05:00

I am in NYC right now and enjoying it. I'm staying with my friend in Brooklyn (Clinton Hill area). I've had a great time exploring, walking, using the subway, and so on. So far I've been to a number of place, including DUMBO, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, the WTC site, Chinatown (where I ordered in Chinese, woohoo!), Central Park, the Guggenheim, the Jewish Museum, East Village, SoHo, Midtown/Times Square, the Broadway area, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building ... not to mention countless blocks walked in between destinations, and many miles logged on the subway system already ... and I've still got four days left here!!

It's tough for me NOT to compare this experience with Shanghai. For example: the subway system in NYC is older and dirtier than the one in Shanghai. The entrances to the platforms are skinnier (there's barely room for two people to walk side by side), there are no escalators like in Shanghai, and the ceilings are barely tall enough for me to walk through (I had to duck under some pipe today in the Bleecker St. station). The trains are older and dingier and a LOT noisier (and "brake-ier") than in Shanghai. But the system runs 24/7, which is hard to beat, especially in Shanghai where the lines close around 10:30 (such a pain in the butt). And the system seems more extensive than in Shanghai, but I think that's because it covers a larger radius. Shanghai's system really thins out when you get outside the city center.

The crowds are thinner than in Shanghai, too. Someone pointed out this might be because NYC has much wider sidewalks. I could see that. The only area I've been to that "feels" like Shanghai is Midtown in the Times Square area. Most other places feel empty, maybe because I'm walking around during the work day. I mean there's people there, but I expected more. In Shanghai it's a constant jostle unless you move to Pudong. Speaking of which, Puxi is to Manhattan as Brooklyn is to Pudong. In both Puxi/Manhattan you have the "heart" of the city, and in fact it's what most people consider the "real" city. People you meet in Puxi/Manhattan hardly ever come to Pudong/Brooklyn unless by force. And Pudong/Brooklyn are both relatively new areas that are just starting to attract attention from those on the west side of the river. It's an interesting comparison. Funny how two cities can be like that :-) But I would be surprised if it's accidental - I think Shanghai looked at other large cities and used them as models for growth. For example, Century Park in Shanghai, reminds me a lot of Central Park, and Century Ave is modeled on the wide, sweeping lanes of French cities like Paris.

More to come, including pictures, as time goes on ...

A Thirteen-Story Apt Building in Shanghai Just Fell the Hell Over

2009-06-27T18:47:00.000-05:00

Jesus.

Witnesses said the whole building started to fall down at about 5:30 am on Saturday and a 28-year-old worker surnamed Xiao from Anhui province was buried in the collapse and killed, the Xinhua news agency reported. No other casualties are reported.

Bullshit.

Good thing my apartment building was 25 stories. Heh.

One More ... Non-TW though

2009-06-27T09:55:00.001-05:00

This one's baseball related. I laughed my ass off when reading through it :-)

"I wish he'd have a little faith in me," [Jeremy] Guthrie said. "I don't like being picked up the night before my start and then simply dropped the next day. It wears on you as a player. And now I have to explain myself to my kids when they read in the papers that their daddy is a 'shit-for-brains asshole who can't even get five strikeouts when that's all we needed to win the category.'"

More Technical Writing Humor

2009-06-27T09:51:00.001-05:00

I guess I'm a magnet for these sorts of things.

Copy Editor's Revenge Takes Form Of Unhyphenated Word

BOSTON—Bruce Huntoon, a copy editor at Pilot magazine, intentionally did not correct the copy of columnist Justin Mann Monday. "I am tired of that insufferable asshole's mean-spirited jokes," Huntoon said. "So, when he described the carburetor warmer as a 'twentieth century' invention, I decided to leave the copy untouched and let him deal with the consequences of his actions. The fucker." Huntoon said the unhyphenated compound modifier is the most extreme step he has ever taken, adding that he drafted a resignation notice that he will hand in should his superiors notice the omission.

This is Me

2009-06-25T22:50:00.001-05:00

Friendly Note to Co-worker Undergoes Eight Revisions

WILMINGTON, DE—A brief note from United Family Insurance employee Martin Schatz to a coworker regarding storage-closet office supplies went through eight rewrites Monday. "I wrote it pretty quick and was about to drop it in [Al Miesner's] box when I noticed I used the word 'stapler' twice in the same line," Schatz reported after delivering the final version. "It read kind of weird, so I changed the second 'stapler' to 'it.' But then it read even worse, so I changed it back." Schatz also changed "Thanks!!!" to "Thanks..." fearing that the original punctuation was "a bit too much."

Cloud Strife, Cat Poop, and College Baseball

2009-06-25T07:47:00.001-05:00

I'm downloading Final Fantasy VII for the PS3 right now. That game consumed my life when it came out in ... um ... I guess it was 1998 or so. I remember that it was released for the PC using the GLIDE API, which meant you could only play it in 3D with 3Dfx video cards (luckily I had one). Years later I'd try to reinstall and play it, only to be appalled at the software rendering (I had an ATI video card then -- Direct3D/OpenGL only). Stupid proprietary APIs -- everybody loses. Anyway, I know what I'm doing this weekend :-)

Texas lost to LSU last night ... 11-4. Losses are bad, but they are worse when you give up five runs in an inning on the back of a walk, two HBPs, and an error. That's just sloppy baseball. Maybe it was nerves? Whenever I watch a sidearm left-handed pitcher throw to a left-handed batter, I get nervous because, due to the camera angle over the pitcher's right shoulder, it seems the pitcher is throwing the ball behind the batter and it's going to hit him. And yeah that happened twice last night, haha.

The toilet training of the cat is going quite well. I was at the stage where the litter box was raised up high on a series of stacked books. That worked nicely until the books got above the level of the toilet -- then the stack became too flimsy to hold Bill, who apparently is a violent pooper. (Great mental image, ya'll!) Nah, actually it's a cat's instinct to cover up his mess, so after he pinches a loaf he will scoop litter over it to cover it up. When he does this, he rocks the litter box back and forth, so because the books are a) stacked high and b) not sturdy, the litter box sometimes falls over. This is bad because it scares him and teaches him that pooping = scariness, which we certainly don't want. Can you imagine if every time you went to cop a squat, someone jumped out and scared you? I imagine that's what this is like for him.

Instead of finding a more sturdy base, I accelerated his training by putting the litter box on top of the toilet seat (the lid is up), which, now that I write it out, is actually finding a more sturdy base :-) He can now jump from the side of the bath tub right into the box and go about his business. I came home from work yesterday and found some pee in there, which means he can get up there and take a leak by himself. Wonderful!

I'm going to leave this like it is for the next couple of days. Since I have off work on July 2nd-4th, I think that on July 1st I'll switch him to a metal bowl inside the toilet. I'm waiting for my off days because I need to be around to teach him how to squat over the bowl and to prevent him from tracking poo all over the house. I don't mind chilling by the bathroom all day as long as I've got Wifi :-)

Exciting times! I'll share pictures when I'm done :-)

Senators Talking Smack

2009-06-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

Please, if you will, identify the author of these tweets:

Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us 'time to deliver' on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND.

Pres Obama while u sightseeing in Paris u said 'time to delivr on healthcare' When you are a 'hammer' u think evrything is NAIL I'm no NAIL.

Yessirree bob that's Sen. Chuck Grassley talkin' smack to Obama via Twitter.

It's all coming to pass ...

(Side note: "You got nerve" ??! WTF?! Is that like some upper-middle-class version of "You got served"?)

Tidbits

2009-06-09T21:30:00.003-05:00

Sean West has exactly the attitude I would have if I were a pitcher:

""I try to throw a no-hitter every start," West said. "If a hit comes up, I try to throw a one-hitter. If two hits come up, I try to throw a two-hitter, and so on."

Yeah, I'm a perfectionist. But I accept that reality is not always perfect.

* * *

One of my favorite bloggers/writers (is there a difference?) is Joe Posnanski. He is a long-time Kansas City Royals beat reporter for the Kansas City Star. I voraciously read his blog (when I have the time; his posts are usually quite long) and have been doing so for over a year now. He is a phenomenal writer; insightful, interesting, intelligent and thought-provoking. He crafts beautiful prose and tells wonderful stories on his blog. I have recommended his blog to a couple friends of mine who also enjoy baseball.

What's interesting though is that I own his book and read it, and I really don't like it. The subject is Buck O'Neil, a 95-year old baseball enthusiast and former Negro Leagues player who was inexplicably passed over for induction into the Hall of Fame induction right before his death. Perhaps because of the subject matter, it feels manufactured and overly sentimental; although I know it was crafted with love, it feels like a "human interest story" on the evening news. The writing is a lot more clipped and formal; one of the things I love about Joe's blog is that he goes off on random tangents. You can really tell he is a stream-of-consciousness writer (gee -- wonder why I might identify with that trait), and I suppose that gets lost when you add an editor and publishing house into the equation. In the book it felt like he was trying too hard to tell a story. I'd rather him just extemporaneously tell it, and I get that on his blog.

He's got another book coming out in September; I will buy it because I love Joe and the subject (The 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds, nicknamed "The Big Red Machine" for their overpowering style of play and, um, the color of their uniforms), but I'm not expecting great things.

Anyway, I bring up Joe because of a blog post he made recently. In it, he extols the value of the walk as a very underrated offensive weapon a team has at its disposal. This is nothing new; he constantly writes about how the Royals players don't walk at all and how that hurts them in the win column. (In fact, that is the subject of his blog post.)

I agree with Joe completely; lots of fans and analysts seemingly dislike the walk because it doesn't advance a runner (unless there's a force at the lead base), and, well, there's no action -- no thwack of the bat, no heart-stopping rush to beat the throw to first, etc. But I think the walk is nothing to be sneezed at.

In the blog post Joe puts together a table to analyze how often teams win when they don't walk. It's easy to find this data with sites like BBRef and Retrosheet around to catalog every pitch of every game played since 1958 (I'm not joking; this is literally what they do. I often think baseball should be divided into two eras: BR (before Retrosheet) and AR (after Retrosheet)) and offer it to you sliced any way you want it. So Joe puts together the table and finds out that as the number of walks a team gets goes up, its winning percentage (e.g. the % of times it won that particular game) goes up. If a team doesn't walk at all in a game, it wins the game 30% of the time. If a team walks six times in a game, it wins the game 64% of the time. And so on.

So clearly if you walk a lot you have a better chance of winning a game -- right? Unfortunately, the real answer is "I dunno." Joe falls victim to the ol' correlation vs. causation trap. He has shown that lots of walks and a high winning percentage appear together pretty consistently (he ran the study over 5 years' worth of games and noticed no wild swings in the numbers) -- which is good to know, and I think intuitively it makes sense that the more times you get on base (via a walk, hit, whatever) the better chance you have to win that game. This is, after all, one of the premises underlying Moneyball (sheesh I still can't believe there's going to be a movie about that). But although he never claims to have found causation, he sort of leaves the issue twisting in the wind. I infer he meant to imply causation because the entire theme of his post is how great walks are -- so to me he is starting the post with an agenda and then finding data to support it.

I say all this not to denigrate Joe. He's an amazing writer and a really smart guy. I just had to vent a bit. It's so hard to get past that CvC trap!! I would have thought he would have acknowledged it in the post.

Talking about correlation and causation makes me think of this beautiful xkcd comic:

Baseball is Life, Life is Baseball

2009-06-02T20:34:00.000-05:00

So I went to the doctor's today to get the results of my physical. Nothing was wrong, they just think everyone should have one every year or so. As we were going over my numbers, it struck me as amusing how similar the numerical analysis of peoples' health is to the numerical analysis of baseball players. You know, like, "Your LDL cholesterol is high, take some medicine" is kind of like saying "Your WHIP is too high, spend some time with the pitching coach."

We could each have trading cards with our vital stats, tracked from year to year, listed on the back. "Ooh, 2007 was a bad year for his white blood cell count, but he rebounded with a strong showing in 2008. Looks to be a lock for 9, maybe 10,000 cells per microliter in 2009 and beyond." The graph of my EKG could have been the graph of my BB/K ratio (exemplified here, for illustrative purposes only, by Barry Bonds's):

Hey, stranger things have happened.

Bill the Cat Arrives

2009-05-25T20:14:00.003-05:00

Take a gander at my new cat. I adopted him today from some friends of mine; their daughter brought him back from NYC (adopted from the ASPCA) but they can't keep him, and neither can she. I've been thinking about getting a cat in my new place, and so Bill (that's his name -- I might rename him, though) packed up all his gear and moved in with me a few hours ago.

He's a year old and he's really chill. He's been meowing a lot this evening, but I think that's just because he misses his former owner(s). Hopefully he'll take a shine to me soon enough. He's pretty friendly already though :-)

Speaking of the name Bill, I'm aware that there is a much more famous Bill the Cat. This one and him are no relation though; I'm pretty sure that my friends' daughter, who named him, doesn't read Outlander (neither do I). That's part of the reason I'm thinking about a rename. I've always wanted a pet named "Osgood." Ooh, or "Hobbes!" But I'll kick it around in my head for a few weeks. Actually, now that I'm used to calling him Bill, other names seem weird. So he might not get re-named after all.

Anyway, here are some pics of the man himself:

More here.

Jeezum Crow, "Moneyball" is Being Made into a Movie?

2009-05-07T21:41:00.001-05:00

How did I not hear about this? Why did none of you tell me? :-)

For those of you who aren't as into baseball as I am, Moneyball is a 2003 book by Michael Lewis that chronicles the baseball draft through the eyes of Billy Beane, the general manager for the Oakland A's. It attempts to explain why the Oakland A's were so successful in the late 90s and early 2000s despite having a payroll the size of a peanut (especially compared to teams like the Yankees and the Mets). It's a great read, and what's even better about it is that it ended up causing such huge controversies in the baseball world. It really shined a light on sabermetrics, which now is like one of the big wedge issues that divide baseball people. Sometimes it seems like you're either familiar with VORP, Win Shares, DIPS, OPS, and so on -- or you're stuck using antiquated measurements like AVG and RBI to measure a player's worth. And each side thinks the other is crazy. Just like so many other things in life :-)

Anyway, I'm not convinced the book will make a great movie, because it has no real plot. Soderbergh even says flat-out, "It needs a gimmick." That's not exactly a promising sign. But Soderbergh is a great director, so I'm really curious to see what he can do with it, and what kind of movie it ends up being.

Eeyore's Birthday Party

2009-04-27T23:21:00.001-05:00

Saturday:

More

GeoCities Shuts Down; My Internet Youth Goes With It

2009-04-24T13:21:00.001-05:00

Sad day today, as Ars reports GeoCities is shutting down:

Unsurprisingly, Geocities has declined in popularity in recent years thanks to the plethora of similar and easier-to-use services—not to mention the rise of social networks like MySpace that allow the same demographic to make equally horrific pages and try to pick each other up at the same time. Add to that the explosive popularity of various blog platforms and the suffering of the online advertising market, and it's really not a shock to see Geocities going the way of the dodo.

Gone, but not forgotten. GC4LYFE.

Also, I learned a new chinese word today: 纹身, wen2shen1, which translates literally as "line body", or more simply, "tattoo" :-)

Happy 20th Birthday, Game Boy

2009-04-21T10:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the memories!

Twenty years ago this week, Nintendo released the Game Boy, its first handheld video game console. Excited Japanese customers snatched up the innovative monochrome handheld by the thousands, which retailed for 12,500 yen (about $94 at 1989 rates) at launch—a small price to pay for what seemed to be an NES in your pocket. Nintendo initially offered four games for the new Game Boy: Super Mario Land, Baseball, Alleyway, and Yakuman (a mahjong game), but the number of available titles quickly grew into the hundreds.

I feel so privileged to have grown up during these times. I see kids (mostly my cousins and -- er, dad) playing on their PSPs and think "Bah, who needs color! Back in my day ...". It's great.

I still remember the time I unsuccessfully lobbied for a Turbo Express. I was like "C'mon -- it can be my birthday present and Hanukkah present!" Unfortunately, my parents didn't bite ;-)

Somebody at LifeHacker is Smoking Crack

2009-04-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

Wow, Lifehacker is a great web site that I love, but they dropped the ball on this one:

[When communicating with your boss over IM,] misunderstandings are fewer than with face-to-face conversations and meetings, it seems, because everything's spelled out, archived, and, if necessary, CC'd, whereas face-to-face sessions introduce all kinds of deflections, tone/content disagreements, and failings from the faultiness of human memory.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. I'm sure they needed to concoct some reason to post this story, but did they really have to put this shiny happy spin on it? Really? Tone/content disagreements are more prevalent in face-to-face communication than in IM? Maybe it is because of Kevin's (the article's author) electronic-only contact with Adam (his editor at LH) that produced this. I can imagine it like this:

Kevin: Hey Adam, since we communicate so well, and I'm great at my job and you love me, maybe I can editorialize a little bit here that electronic communication is as good as, no no, scratch that -- BETTER than face-to-face communication.
Adam: <thinks Kevin is joking> Great. Post it.
Kevin: <thinks Adam is serious> Sweet, done!
Adam: <still thinks Kevin is joking> Great!

Have we really learned nothing at all? Are we turning into robots? (Not that I'd be opposed to that, but, still ... just thought I'd ask, in case I missed the memo.)

Baseball is Hard

2009-04-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

So I bought a copy of MLB 09 The Show for my PS3. Ever since, I've been role-playing as the rookie pitcher Ryan Schmageki. I started in the Orioles' AA organization as a reliever and, after a couple promotions (first to AAA starter, then MLB reliever, now MLB starter) am now pitching for the Athletics. I've got a 93 mph fastball, an 82 mph change-up, and an 87 mph sinker. One of these days, I hope to learn how to throw a curveball.

In a year and some change in the majors, my statistics are, well, they're okay. My ERA is a tad high, over 4.50 I believe. (In 2008, the MLB average team ERA was 4.33). My WHIP is 1.2 something, which I don't think is terrible (2008 average: 1.39). My K/BB ratio is excellent though -- 72/9, or 8 strikeouts per walk. That is pretty damn amazing. In 2008, the MLB average was 2.01 strikeouts per walk.

The game is really really difficult, just like real baseball :-) As you pitch, you have control over two things: the strength of the throw and the point during your delivery at which you release the ball. These two things, along with your energy level, confidence in a given situation, and the wind, will influence the speed and location of your pitch. Each pitch also has numerical ratings in velocity, control, and movement -- you earn points to spend on improving these ratings over time. (This simulates training.) So that's pretty realistic. The better you do in a game, the more points you have to spend. And the game gives you certain in-game goals (strike out a certain hitter, induce a ground-out) and overall goals (increase your stamina rating, give up fewer than 20 hits in the next 7 games, etc.) that earn you even more points -- but count against you when you fail.

The problem is, the game's UI doesn't provide many clues as to how to throw the ball. After about a full season in the majors, I have yet to figure out how to locate my fastball. I've spent a ton of points in fastball control (which is how close your pitch lands to the target you choose) and still can't paint the outside corner (e.g., throw pitches that catch just a little bit of the plate for a strike). I don't walk many batters, but recently I've been going into lots of 3-ball counts, which drives up my pitch count, which decreases my energy level and increases the chance my computer-simulated manager will pull me from the game. I've googled for tips on pitching in the game, but nothing comes up. And the game doesn't have an in-game pitching practice mode. I keep trying to figure out how to throw pitches that land where I want (this combination of inputs produces this result), but to no avail. I can't tell if it's the game's fault or mine.

I also give up lots of bloop singles down the middle. It's incredibly frustrating to give up 2 of these to start and inning; little dinky hits that raise your WHIP (walks+hits per inning pitched) stat. It's enough to make me think it's just a quirk of the game's UI. No one hits that many through-the-box singles in real life. And I seem to get hit for a lot of home runs, too. Mind you, it's usually a good hitter -- Travis Hafner or Miguel Cabrera -- but sometimes it's Ichiro or Kenji Johjima. How can I go from 8 IP, 1 ER against the Yankees to 7 IP, 4 ER against the Mariners? Then back to 8 IP, 0 ER against the Red Sox?!

Because baseball is freaking hard and unpredictable, and this game gives you a really great sense of that, that's why. In the game, I'm a young (19-year-old) pitcher struggling with pitch location and giving up way too many hits. Players typically peak around 28 (maybe sometime in May if I keep playing the rate I do, haha), so hopefully by then I will get better. But for now, to keep myself from throwing the controller through my nice fancy HDTV when I give up a grand slam with the game tied, I'll just reduce the difficulty level. Last night I got really pissed off at it and decided to quit; but upon the light of day I think I'll soldier on. I wish there was an option to plead with your manager for a demotion. I need to go back to AAA to build up some more training points! There's a famous story about Willie Mays asking his manager to bench him because he wasn't performing very well ...

I could never be a baseball player. They say good baseball players have a short memory. You have to treat every batter the same, regardless if you just gave up a big fly or if you just struck a guy out. If you get hammered for 8 runs in one game, during the next game you've got to pitch like it's a new day. You can't have your failures hanging over your head. I am too much of a perfectionist. I get frustrated when I give up a run. But after all, it's not like Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez never gave one up. And they're two of the greatest pitchers ever.

Gawl dang I love me some baseball.

Album Art

2009-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:00

With a little help from LifeHacker, I installed a rotating art exhibition on my wall:

Click the image to see it larger. Right now it's really B&W, but that's the beauty of it: it can change whenever I want, and I have tons of LPs to put on display. (It's not like I have vinyl turntables anymore ...)

Tim Lincecum's Tattoo

2009-03-25T22:35:00.001-05:00

Tim Lincecum is a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. In the 2008 season, he won the NL Cy Young award. He's also the poster boy for MLB 2K9, the commercials for which feature a shot of the tattoo on the back of his neck:

Because my eyes are drawn to such things now, I quickly recognized that as the Chinese character 男 (nan2) which means, simply, "man" or "male". It's what bathroom doors in China are labeled with (opposite 女 for female).

See, I'm not the only one ... ;-)

Check out my new blog here, where I talk more about baseball & technology and have some pictures also!.

Adventures in Chinese Characters

2009-03-15T10:57:00.002-05:00

I was eating dinner with some friends on Friday, and the topic turned to Chinese ... someone said "I heard somewhere that the character for 'trouble' is a combination of two characters for 'woman' under a character for 'roof'?"

I really tried not to laugh too hard. This is how rumors get started, folks. What's funny about it is how closely related to the truth that statement is, even though it's completely off the mark.

If you ever hear this bit of information, say at a dinner party, here's what you should say (which is what I said):

"I don't think that's true. But what is true, and what your friend might be thinking of, is that the character for peace, 安 (an), is the character for "woman" (女, nv) combined with the radical for "roof" (宀, mian). That might be what you mean, which is actually the opposite of a combination that would mean 'trouble'."

To showcase my point, I then pulled up my right sleeve to show the 安 tattooed on my arm. (It's there as part of my Chinese name, 高瑞安. And yes, my parents know, so you don't have to go running to tell them ;-).

(I understand if you cannot do this yourself.)

This is along the lines of "crisi-tunity", the rumor (so famously espoused in The Simpsons) that the Chinese character for "crisis" (危机 weiji, actually two characters) is the same as the one for "opportunity" (机会 jihui). It'd be nice and pleasant, and full of meaning, if only it were true :-)

Bonus: If you further want to impress people at said dinner party, tell them the character for "good" (好, hao) is a combination of the characters for woman (nv, above) and son (子, zi). That actually is true -- and I think says a lot about the Chinese culture and language. Don't worry, you can back up your statements with "I read it on a blog somewhere!" and everyone will believe you.

(This post is along the lines of how useful knowing Chinese is in Austin, TX -- a cool party trick, interesting dinner conversation topics, but not useful in day-to-day life like Spanish would be :-)

Fidel Castro Chimes in on the World Baseball Classic

2009-03-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

Ever get the feeling your boss is looking over your shoulder while you work?

Or ... maybe watching you on TV and second-guessing every move you make?

That's certainly the case if you're on Cuba's national baseball team these days.

HTML Haiku

2009-03-12T19:48:00.002-05:00

I've been working in HTML since 1995 at least (GeoCities, whut whut?!!), so I got a kick out of the third panel in this strip:

I think we should all learn how to write Haiku-compliant HTML. And compose XML limericks.

Similie of the Month

2009-03-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

According to this LifeHacker post, the economy is "lurching about like an over-tired Capoeira enthusiast".

...

What?!

Family

2009-02-26T21:57:00.001-06:00

I've spent the past week or so around family -- which gave me a good excuse to take lots of pictures :-)

Uncle Bob and his son Jonathan

Jonathan and his brother Brent

Rebecca, her mom Karen, my aunt Janis, and her son Eytan

My first cousin once removed Akiva and my aunt Monica

Akiva, his mom Shani, and her mom Janis

My parents ;-)

I made my dad stand still for a triple-exposure shot so I could transform it into HDR later ... and it worked out quite well, if I say so myself.

Back in Austin and eating chicken at Mike's house

Howard and his new grandson, Isaac

Barbara and Isaac

The whole family!!

Isaac giving someone a rasberry

Simple English Wikipedia

2009-02-24T10:54:00.000-06:00

Thanks to xkcd, I now know about something called Simple English Wikipedia.

A demonstration:

Wikipedia's opening paragraph on snipers:

A sniper is usually a highly trained marksman that shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles. In addition to marksmanship, military snipers are also trained in camouflage, field craft, infiltration, reconnaissance and observation techniques.^[1]

Simple English Wikipedia's opening paragraph on snipers:

A sniper is a person who has been given special training with sniper rifles. Snipers are able to shoot at targets which are very far away, or are very small, and hit them accurately when looking through a sniper scope. They are also especially trained to be stealthy. Snipers are hard for the enemy to see when they are hidden or using camouflage.

From a technical writing perspective, I find the SE Wikipedia fascinating.
Nice.

Blogging from Home and the Reappearance of Stuff

2009-02-17T19:12:00.000-06:00

Got the Internet (wireless included) all set up at my new house. Woohoo!! I also emptied out my storage unit with help from a couple of friends. So with all that commotion over with, I'm breathing a little easier. This place feels more like a home.

I started unpacking a bit, putting things here and there, and it's just funny. Old clothes I haven't seen in a year. Dishes, glasses, and flatware I haven't washed in a year. A bed I haven't slept in in a year. A sofa I haven't sat on in a year. Books I haven't read in a year. Photos I haven't looked at in a year. Music I haven't listened to in a year. Movies I haven't watched in a year. Shelves I haven't set up in a year. But none of it seems alien or foreign. It's just like, "Oh yeah, I remember that. I forgot it ever existed." But now it's back. And it feels comfortable and familiar, which means it feels strange.

What I mean is, I thought I'd feel stranger about seeing all this old stuff. But nope. It feels like I just blinked and it reappeared in my life. I have to force myself to remember why it reappeared -- because it was put away, because I lived in China for a year. For some reason that doesn't make sense to me :-) Luckily I have this blog to prove that it happened ;-)

With respect to clothes though, I don't know what I'm going to do! I have been existing with what I currently have for a year ... but now all of a sudden, an extra massive duffel bag of old stuff has reappeared. I doubt that I really need everything in there. And a lot of it I can see is a holdover from when I was losing weight. So it might be time for some more trips to Goodwill! There's other stuff I might not want, like this futon. I might get on Craigslist and see if I can swap it for a TV stand, haha.

Now I can't wait to begin unpacking my China stuff, and doing things like framing my posters, printing out my best photographs and framing those, etc.

More HDR

2009-02-14T11:34:00.000-06:00

Click to go to flickr to get the larger size.

In other news, I moved into my house on Tuesday. That's why I've been MIA for awhile -- there's no Internet yet (it's coming on Tuesday). But it's awesome nonetheless. I love it here. Can't wait to start getting stuff out of storage and back into my life!

My Thought Process Last Night at The Vandals Show

2009-02-08T13:49:00.014-06:00

(... aside from loving the music, of course)

- It's really difficult to take good pictures at this show.

- This might be because I'm standing so far back from the stage.

- I would love to get closer to take better pictures.

- There's a giant mosh pit occurring a few feet in front of me.

- I'm wearing glasses.

- It'd be really difficult to take pictures in the middle of the mosh pit.

- I fear physical violence.

- Hey! I should buy a zoom lens.

- Low-light zoom lenses are expensive.

- DAMMIT. I really miss my DSC-H50 with its 15x zoom.

(Followed immediately by putting my camera away and enjoying the remainder of my evening)

Reason Number 7,593 I am a Baltimore Orioles Fan

2009-02-05T23:05:00.013-06:00

We've been playing since 2005 with a team logo that features a fucking UPSIDE-DOWN AND BACKWARDS APOSTROPHE.

Somewhere far away, a technical writer is crying.

This small but telling example of illiteracy (and make no mistake, that’s exactly what it is) extends to Baltimore’s alternate cap, BP cap, “portion of the proceeds” cap, and other gear. It’s been part of the team’s official graphics program since 2005, and I’m embarrassed not to have noticed it until now.

Actually that technical writer isn't "far away" so much as "right here typing this blog post". I mean c'mon, even the Oakland Athletics get it right!

Ya'll better snap up as much priceless gear as possible, before the error gets fixed and the supplies dry up.

The Freeze + War Stories

2009-02-05T20:50:00.008-06:00

If you have 18 minutes, check out this video of the freeze. It's pretty eerie!

And if you don't have 18 minutes, just watch the first 7 (the freeze itself), and then when we all gather in the park to share our stories, fast-forward to 14:07.

Flash Mob Austin - Whole Foods Freeze from Joey Vargas on Vimeo.

Austinist and 50mm and a Trip to the Dentist

2009-02-03T20:30:00.015-06:00

Yay, Austinist posted a tip I sent them today!

In other non-related news, I bought the Canon 50mm 1.8 II -- aka the "Plastic Fantastic" (that sounds like a Harry Potter title, doesn't it? Harry Potter and the Plastic Fantastic) and/or the "Nifty Fifty" (also sounds like a HP book title, but less so) because it delivers great quality at low light for just about $100. It's also, err, plastic, and the focal length is fixed (prime) at 50mm. Hence the nicknames.

I bought it because I'm going to a show this weekend and would like to take pictures at it without the flash if possible ... we'll see how it ends up! I tested it out around South Lamar tonight. The autofocus does not inspire confidence, but I'm not afraid of rocking out with some manual focus. Also the 50mm focal length means I won't need to get crazy close to the stage (I hope) in order to get some good shots.

We shall see! *tents fingers and cackles like a supervillain*

ALSO: I had a dental checkup/cleaning today and, whaddaya know, NO CAVITIES. Boom. Not even after one whole year of no dentist visits. I have awesome teeth, I suppose.

I must have told a lot of people about going to China, because my dental hygienist remembered me, and so have the women from the Great Clips I usually go to. I feel bad I don't necessarily remember these people, but shit, I was so excited at the time that it's understandable :-)

Book Review: Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

2009-02-01T15:24:00.153-06:00

Title: Downtown Owl
Author: Chuck Klosterman
Plot Summary: Three residents of Owl, North Dakota, deal with their lives in the winter of 1983.
Verdict: Skip (especially if you are at all familiar with Klosterman's style of writing)

Ever since being introduced to Killing Yourself to Live, I've been a Chuck Klosterman fan. Chuck seems to write like a hyperanalytical version of how I think, and, well, isn't that what draws us towards our favorite narratives? Being able to see parts of ourselves in the main character, or imagine what we'd do in that person's place? He's more, how to put this, focused and critical than I am, but still, I could hear Chuck speaking my thoughts and providing some insight into them. (David Foster Wallace is another person I feel this way about.)

So after finishing that book, I went back and read his first two, Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. I then attended a book signing at BookPeople where he signed copies of Chuck Klosterman IV. I've read all four books and generally enjoyed them, although since I don't share his fascination with 80s glam metal, Fargo Rock City wasn't the most enthralling material. But it was still fun.

At the end of IV, Chuck includes a short chapter from some fiction he'd been writing. It's about a drug-addled newspaper reporter in his mid-20s who lives in a small Midwestern town, seems bored with life, and feels disconnected from the people he knows. From what I have gathered about Chuck's background from reading his nonfiction, I bet $5 there's more than a little of himself in this character.

It was with these facts in mind (at least unconsciously) that I cracked open Downtown Owl, Chuck's first full-length work of fiction. I think I started it last weekend night; by Thursday night I'd finished it. The book is told from the viewpoint of three people: Mitch, a high school senior; Julia, a new teacher in her mid-20s who is a fish out of water in ND; and Horace, a 73-year old retired farmer and coffee afficionado. We also get throwaway chapters told from the viewpoints of Mitch's football coach English teacher/supposed arch nemesis (John) and the resident school sociopath (Cubby).

Put mildly, it's disappointing. Here's a couple reasons why:

(Warning: may contain minor spoilers)

All the characters speak and think like Chuck, even the characters outside the primary three. Chuck has a very distinct style of communicating his thoughts, which (as stated previously) I thoroughly enjoy. But this style shines through when any of his characters speak or think, and that fact really kills the immersion and suspension of disbelief. I really noticed this in the chapter where Julia and Vance have a conversation and Chuck compares what they say with what they really mean. That chapter really brought out the Chuck-ness inside both Vance and Julia, which is strange if you think about it, because these people are supposed to be Vance and Julia -- not Chuck Klosterman.

Similarly, lots of Chuck's past comes out in the characters. Mitch is on the football team (and not very good at it), just like Chuck. Julia debates music criticism like Chuck. Horace is the only primary character who doesn't seem very Chuck-like; not very coincidentally, I found myself caring about Horace the most, especially in the passages where he reminisces about his wife's terminal illness, his big secret, and his life since those incidents. In fact, the chapter where Horace goes over the details of his big secret is probably the best in the book. I found myself eagerly reading ahead and getting more and more drawn into it. Unfortunately, it lasts all of 5-6 pages and it has absolutely no effect on the rest of the novel. Feh.
There's no real plot -- the characters just kind of meander along in their daily lives, doing and saying what they normally do. Nothing happens. Nobody does anything interesting. Mitch accidentally starts a fight between the school's lunkhead and sociopath, and Julia starts a "love" interest, and Horace reminisces about his life, and there's a blizzard, but nobody has any real problems that go anywhere. This might be what life really was like in mid-80s in small-town North Dakota, a subject that Chuck undoubtedly knows tons about, but it doesn't make for compelling reading material.
The ending is just ... strange. I'm really picky about endings. They can make or break a book (or movie or TV show or whatever). In the vein of the second bullet, there's no real ending to Downtown Owl, just sort of a deus ex machina that impacts all the characters. There's also your standard "newspaper column ending" that beats you over the head with an obvious incongruity/unfairness in life -- but because there was no build-up or development to this, nor any emotion inherent in any of the characters or plot, this ending just comes off as ... strange.

Combine "characters I can't get into or believe" with "nonexistent plot" and you've got a recipe for a bad book. I really only kept reading because it was easy going and I wanted to finish it (I don't think I've ever not finished reading a fiction book) and I'm still loyal to Mr. Klosterman as a person :-)

Ya hear that, Chuck? I still love ya, and I'll keep re-reading the four nonfiction books of yours that I own. But please hire someone to edit out your own voice from the characters in future fiction books :-)

Flash Mob Austin: The Freeze

2009-01-31T19:46:00.048-06:00

I hit 200 posts with my last one! Nuts.

Today was eventful. I participated in a flash mob here in town, specifically, a coordinated attempt to spook the shoppers at Whole Foods by freezing in one place for five minutes. Since there were about 200 of us doing this, the effect proved quite eerie and generated a whole lot of confusion among the customers:

I'm not in the video, but I stood in place with my recently-purchased gelato and the wooden spoon in my mouth, as if finishing off a bite. Me and three friends were a bit outside the main "freeze" area, which worked to our advantage when shoppers walking past us mumbled things like "Oh, see, it is something they're doing" after navigating the main strip.

Best story from the event: As I was standing there, a woman came walking up the aisle towards me. She looked at me quizzically (although I didn't have the best view of her, since I was facing forward and she was off to my left) and started saying things like "Are you real? Is this real? What's going on?" Stoic as ever, I didn't say a word.

She turned to a store employee who was behind me and to the left and asked him what was up. "I have no idea," he answered. "This isn't my department. I don't know anything." It was great. On the inside, I was giggling at her confusion, but on the outside of course I had to remain motionless. She continued to hover around me and my friends until I blinked, at which point she clucked her tongue and said "Ah! You are real" and walked off.

I guess she thought we were all pieces of cardboard or something?

It was really fun listening to the other customers talking to each other about us as they walked by. It was even more fun watching the store employees give us these odd looks and smile at us. After the freeze ended, after five minutes, there was an announcement on the intercom about a special on hot tea, directed at "all of you who were previously frozen; it will warm your soul!"

I took a bunch of pictures at the park where we planned the event and met up afterwards. They're here. Highlights:

The last one is one of my favorites -- it's of two girls demonstrating how to freeze (as if we needed the help! Hmph) before we all disbanded and walked to Whole Foods. They chose the always-fashionable "high-five" pose. Unfortunately, since I was frozen, I wasn't able to take any pictures of anybody's poses. But there are a couple on flickr you can see from other people, to get an idea of what people were doing.

I had a lot of fun, and I'm definitely going to keep doing these things :-) I realized afterwards that this is the second flash mob I'd attended. The first one was, of course. WWPFD. That one wasn't in a highly-trafficked public area; therefore I think it's less "flash mob" and more "crazy thing to do on a Saturday afternoon." But they were both fun :-)

After it was over, some friends and I walked around downtown, where I got some more gorgeous photos. Samples:

Look at that gorgeous sky! I'm so happy I invested in a nice polarizing filter.

You Learn Something New Every Day

2009-01-28T18:47:00.002-06:00

Today it's that the word immiserate exists. Who knew?

Thanks NYT.

The Wrestler

2009-01-28T17:51:00.031-06:00

There's a bunch of movies that came out in 2008 that I need to catch up on. I did see many of them, but some I missed, especially ones that came out later in the year. So last night I saw The Wrestler with some friends at the Alamo Drafthouse Village. I liked it, but I wasn't blown away by it. It was a little predictable, but the performances were solid. And, to be honest, I don't have much more to say about it than that :-)

I have heard a lot about Slumdog Millionaire, so I'd like to see that soon. I also want to see the new Frank Miller film The Spirit.

Also, the move-in date is set for February 9th! That's when my lease starts and I can occupy the house I'll be renting. (My cousin and his wife are currently living in it.) At that point I can finally start unpacking. Living out of a suitcase (or in my case, four or five of them) is getting really old.

Oh, and I sold my DSC-H50 today -- and no, it wasn't to a Nigerian scammer (who, by the way, threatened to "report" me to some unknown entity for reneging on our "deal") ;-) I hope to put the money towards a nice lens for my Canon! A nice macro lens that can double as a low-light lens might do the trick.

I'll Just Add to the Noise About Obama

2009-01-21T19:55:00.005-06:00

Throughout the past eight years, I've always maintained that I'm not anti-Bush; I'm anti-stupid, and the Bush administration has provided plenty of stupid for me to be anti- to. I mean, Clinton did plenty of stupid things, and I'm sure Obama will too, and I'm sure the guy after him will do stupid things also, and so on until the sun explodes.

The Bush years were and will always be different for me, though. For one thing, it was during this time that I experienced my "political awakening" (to coin a phrase). I was 19 when Bush was elected in 2000 and am 27 now. In that time I graduated college, moved halfway across the country, held down a job for 4+ years, lived in China, and generally started my own version of my life, became a fully functioning member of society and whatnot. And I did it while Bush was doing the things he did as president.

Second, Bush racked up an impressive list of stupid things: Katrina. Guantanamo Bay. The warrantless wiretapping program. The Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The rancor and partisianship in Congress. The clusterfuck in Iraq. The executive orders and signing statements. Social Security plans tied to the stock market (how's that idea look now, bucko??) The perjury. The no-bid contracts to Halliburton. The lawsuits and the closing of any and all windows into what the President (and Veep) were doing. The PATRIOT Act and its successors. The cultivation and concentration of executive power into a hammer that was to be wielded. The demonization of enemies. The complete bungling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which is something that even us "liberals" would rally behind, if we ever started it up again. The reliance on memories of 9/11 to back up his actions. The assertions that the President and his administration were above the law and beyond scrutiny. The pure unflinching belief that he was always right, which translated into we must never change direction, which also translated into if you don't agree with me, you're wrong.

It's stupid, is what it is. Just plain pigheadedly arrogant and blindingly stupid. Like I said at the beginning.

Not that the opposition to him has been much smarter. In response to all this, "liberals" (lord I hate that word) have started to fight fire with fire by establishing bastions of thought like Air America and getting people like Al Franken to be senator (did he win? I know it was contested). When will they realize that if you fight fire with fire, you burn the goddamn house down? When Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and lambasted the hosts for playing their roles like trained monkeys, carving up America into pieces, that really spoke to me. Watch that video. Listen to Jon Stewart and listen to Paul and Tucker try to talk over him. They know it's true, but their jobs and images depend on it not being true. They don't even answer his accusations, they just say things like "Wow, I wouldn't want to have dinner at your house." Hah. But it's become trendy to bash Bush, so much so that I don't pay attention to liberal rags (MoveOn, DailyKos, HuffingtonPost, etc.) that have sprouted up in opposition to Fox News and the "right-wing" media. It's two sides of the same coin; it's all BS mixing with more BS, and it makes me tired and sad to listen to it.

Kerry, well, let me just say this: Bush didn't win the 2004 election; Kerry lost it. I never fully supported him, and I felt guilty for voting for him because of it. But that was definitely a "lesser of two evils" case. It was a "check this box in case of emergency" vote. I feel bad about voting for Kerry, and I hope I never have to do that again.

You could say I'm jaded.

So when Obama won, my throat caught for a second (well, more than a second). Why? Because I felt great about voting for him, albeit a tad uninformed since I was out of the US for the majority of the campaign. Although I know he is a human being and a politician at that, I believe he can lead us forwards rather than backwards. I believe that he knows that leading means setting an example but changing directions, and acknowledging your mistakes, when you find out you're wrong. I believe he has a concept of basic human morality that is closer to my own than Bush's is. I believe that he will make sound decisions based on what information he has, espeically after the debacle that is the Iraq invasion. I believe I can believe him. And I believe that, though he has his faults and will make mistakes, he will be a good leader.

Because we really need one right now.

I think it's interesting that some people are getting upset about Obama choosing many Clintonites for his staff and advisory positions, or that he's not setting fire to the White House and building the whole thing from the ground up, or that he never placed a "Kick Me" sign on Bush's back. I think many people have this idea of Obama as the Christ child come to Earth, some sort of savior sent from above to deliver us from darkness. People: he's a human being. He will make mistakes and piss people off, just like Bush did. He and his administration will provide plenty of fodder for The Daily Show. But the difference is that I believe Obama can recover from those mistakes and do what's right and what needs to be done. Hell in his first 6 days as president he's already shut Gitmo, outlawed torture/rendition/CIA jails, and frozen the pay of his higher-level staff. Let's hope he upgrades their PCs, though.

See now, Bush: that wasn't so hard, was it?

High Dynamic Range

2009-01-20T22:47:00.000-06:00

It's amazing what computers can do these days.

This:

Becomes this:

Is that jaw-dropping or what?

My Nigerian Scammer

2009-01-19T18:56:00.001-06:00

I love craigslist, but some people on it are just plain wacky. Now that I upgraded my camera, I need to sell my old one. So I posted an ad. Here's what happened:

ROSE JOHNSON:

Hi,
hope all is well. I am interested in your
sales, Kindly get back to me if is still for sale.
Cheers.

ME:

Hi Rose,

Yes, the item is still for sale. I'm free to deliver anytime tonight or this weekend.

ROSE:

Thanks for the mail...i was introduced to this site by a friend at
work and i will like immediate purchase of this item for my Brother
who is away out of the state to study in western region and
been requesting for this item...i will offer you $400.00 including the
shipping charges to him.. there because he is in need of it as a
matter of urgency and due to my work i don't have time to handle the
shipping..i will want you to help me handle the shipping very well to
him..Get back to me with your confirmed PayPal email address so that i
can send the payment..... Get back to me asap...

ME:

Hi,

I prefer to sell in Austin and for cash only. Can you do that?

ROSE:

am assuring you this will be a legit,............

ME:

Okay. Paypal the money to <email address>. It'll take 3 - 5 days to clear -- once it does, I'll mail out the items. Just send me the address.

ROSE:

ok i will make the payment now and get back to you with the shipping
address thanks i trust in you..................

IN MY INBOX I get an email, seemingly from PayPal, that says money has been placed in an escrow (verification.intl@consultant.com -- a real confidence-inspiring email address if I ever saw one) until I have verified shipment of the item. I wasn't aware that PayPal did this sort of thing (I have had an account there since 2001 and have used them countless times), but what really tripped my alarm was when I saw the shipping address in fucking NIGERIA. Yeah, that just about did it. But I had to be sure. So I went to PayPal (being careful not to click any link in the email I was sent) and couldn't find any evidence, in my inbox there or my account history, that anyone had tried to send me money. We now return to your regularly scheduled email thread ...

ROSE:

Hi
By now you suppose to have received the paypal payment confirmation
because i have made the payment

for the item through paypal.You have to go ahead and ship the items to
the designated address below

by using USPS GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL:

Bashiru Ismaheel
30,IJEUN STREET,ITOKU,
ABEOKUTA,OGUN STATE.
NIGERIA.234-039

And kindly send the tracking number and the scanned receipt to me so
that i can Notify the Paypal

that you have shipped the item to the designated address.It's my
Pleasure doing Business wtih

you.Thanks and God Bless.I trust in you.
cheers

ME:

Hi Rose,

I will not ship to Nigeria. Please retract the payment.

ME:

Hi Rose,

I just want to be clear. I'm cancelling this sale and I'm going to offer the camera set to somebody else. I'll try and work with Paypal to send the money back to you; if that doesn't happen, you should retract the payment from your end.

NOTE that I'm pretty sure "Rose" never actually sent any money. Although the "pending payment" notification seemingly came from PayPal, the scammer probably spoofed the email's origins. So at this point, I'm not too worried about retracting a "payment". Also, from PayPal's point of view -- there's nothing to retract! No one's tried to send me money.

ROSE:

Hi
Well.. this is why PayPal holds money,...its all for our
security....OK? PayPal hold the money so that they can confirm that
you are a legitimate seller of your item......OK? but i will like you
to understand that the money is out of my account and i have already
sent you an additional payment for the shipping so i will be happy if
you can proceed with the transaction because ths is secure and
Legitimate.. so Kindly proceed and i can assure you that you are
secure and safe when dealing with PayPal Ok?Kindly Understand my view
and ship the item so that it can reach the destination on time... and
i shall appreciate all your great gestures by doing this....make sure
you go ahead and ship it then provide the shipping details to paypal
while your account will be credited accordinly.....
I really count on this transaction

ME:

Hi Rose,

I'm still cancelling the sale. Please contact Paypal to have your money returned.

ROSE:

Hello
Is like you are trying tO fraud me,i had made the payment to you but
you refused to ship the items

to the designated address after you have received the payment
confirmation from paypal which is

against the paypal rules and terms of conditions and in most the Laws
of United State.If you dont

want me to take a legal action against you as an UN diplomatic
officer,You have to ship the item to

the designated address within the next 12 hours.Again the item is to
be shipped to the beneficiary

in Nigeria and the address is as shown below:

Bashiru Ismaheel
30,IJEUN STREET,ITOKU,
ABEOKUTA,OGUN STATE.
NIGERIA.234-039

BE WARNED..................

ME:

Hi,

I have not taken any money from you. No money from you has been deposited in my Paypal account or bank account.

Please cancel your payment to me. This is the last email I will send.

* * *

Fun, huh? A Google search for "Bashiru Ismaheel" returns this page, which shows me I'm not the only one, lol. Even the name "Rose" is the same!

Ummm ...anyone wanna buy a camera?

Quick O's Update

2009-01-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

Smart moves by the O's this weekend. I was at a house party Saturday night and happened to catch a scrolling ticker on ESPN that said we signed Markakis to a 6-year deal. (Upon looking more today, the deal isn't official yet.) And I saw today we got Felix Pie (I'm pretty sure his name is pronounced Pee-Yay), a player who was overshadowed in Chicago but will have a chance to shine in a great outfield that also includes Markakis and Adam Jones. And we only had to give up one of our crappy interchangeable pitchers. (The O's have a surplus of them.) Young outfielders are more of a sure thing than young pitchers are. This also means that our entire outfield is 25 years old or younger, which makes me feel a bit old ;-)

Andy MacPhail is doing a great job so far. I'm so happy we traded Bedard and Tejada and didn't sign Teixeira. Now we just need Peter Angelos to sell the team to Cal Ripken Jr. and we'll be all set!

You Just Don't Get Skies Like This in China

2009-01-18T17:42:00.002-06:00

Okay, that's a lie, you do -- but it seems more rare than in Austin.

I also changed the blog template again -- this time, it's so that the posts column can display landscape pictures without cutting them off.

Speaking of which, this blog needs a new name ... any suggestions?

More w/the New Cam

2009-01-17T15:42:00.001-06:00

That is, of course, the Texas State Capitol. In the true Texas spirit, it's taller than the nation's capitol building in DC, by a good 14 feet, and it is the largest in the US. However it's still shorter than the Louisiana state capitol. Of course now whenever anybody uses that phrase "Everything's bigger in Texas" I will retort "You've obvously never been to China!" Haha. Although I'm sure that comes off sounding really elitist ;-) In fact, when I first got to China, one of the first things I learned how to say was "Have you ever been to the US?" Ni qu guo mei guo ma? So I asked everybody that -- but I realized that asking cabdrivers and ayis that comes off sounding really, well, I dunno, like of course they've never been to America -- just like a lot of people in the US have never been to China.

I feel so lucky :-)

The pictures above use a polarizing filter that I bought alongside the camera. It's not really bright enough out today to use one, but I did anyway because I was just curious how the photos would turn out. They look pretty nice. I can't wait until a clearer day so I can really bring out the contrast in these vast Texas skies. I took lots more pictures today, but those are the ones I feel are worthy of sharing with ya'll, haha.

Randomness: I was taking pictures of the strip-mall sign outside Epoch Coffee today when this gangly guy asked "Are you a professional photographer?" I said no, not really, but I knew how to handle the camera I've got. He was like "Great, I'm looking for someone to take a picture of me, I'll pay you money, just follow me into that alley over there."

Are you fucking kidding me?? I mean this guy was skinny and whatever, I probably could have taken him (not that I'm a fighter) but he could have had a gun or a knife or something. Hahaha. I dunno. It was just a strange situation. So I left.

In other news, congratulations are in order for Joe Straus, who was elected Speaker of the Texas House the other day, becoming the first MOT to hold the position. Yeah, we're taking over the world, one state legislature at a time!!

If It's Good Enough for Obama ...

2009-01-15T19:14:00.001-06:00

... it's good enough for me. 2 hours after buying a Canon DSLR, I discover the official presidential portrait was taken with one (albeit a much nicer one). Nice.

New slogan: "Canon: The Liberal Choice^TM"

I'm just waiting for my dang battery to charge so I can use the thing!

The Dawn of an Era

2009-01-15T18:28:00.001-06:00

Yup, I done did it! Went out and bought myself an EOS Rebel 450D XSi with kit lens. I also got a really nice polarizing filter so I can take those sunny-day shots Austin is known for. And of course I bought locally.

I can't wait to get out there this weekend and start experimenting! I'm sure my flickr stream will be full of test shots soon.

I also bought a car (that I talked about before) and a TV. It is really strange spending money again, haha. I also found myself a place to live. Unfortunately I can't move in there for another 4 weeks. It's okay -- it's worth the wait!!

There's not much else going on -- well, that's a lie. My social calendar is filling up rapidly. It feels really good and comfortable to be back home among friends and be able to do stuff again. Not that I couldn't do stuff in Shanghai -- far from it -- it's just that, well, um ... I like it here :-)

Good to be back.

Chinese in America

2009-01-08T19:34:00.000-06:00

Some friends wanted to take me out for Chinese food, and who am I to turn them down? I was pretty interested in seeing what that was like, now that I can sort of read the menus and talk to the waiters in Chinese. So we went to Din Ho Chinese BBQ, one of the more "authentic" Chinese places in Austin. The food was still very different, and differently prepared, but it was good. Plus I was able to get beef & tomatoes over white rice with no problem. That's a pretty popular staple dish in China, plus I knew how to order it in Chinese (fanqie niurou mifan) :-) I spoke a little bit with the waitress, who was pleased that I could speak Chinese. (Judging from her accent, I think she's from Taiwan.) I even used fuwuyuan, maidan, and women dian cai ba just like in China. It felt so strange because I knew I was in America! But at the same time it was great. Just another reminder of my wonderful 2008. Plus, well, I like showing off, and that was a great opportunity to do so :-) Mission accomplished, I'd say, haha. Can't wait to do it again!

Moptastic

2009-01-04T16:48:00.001-06:00

You might think that pictures of mops are not interesting enough to warrant an entire group on flickr.

You would be wrong.

2009-01-04T13:56:00.001-06:00

I got a new car yesterday. Well, it's "new to me". It's a 2008 Nissan Altima. It's perfect for me. It doesn't have a key! It has a little pod thingie that you keep in your pocket. To start the car, the pod must be in proximity to a sensor on the dash, and you just push a button. FUTURISTIC. When does the hovering start?

I made sure the car I bought had an aux line-in input. I've sworn off CDs -- seems like a waste of materials, not to mention time and money, to burn CDs of my entire music collection. Having the iPod around is way too convenient.

After I get more settled in, I am going to get custom license plates that say "GAORUIAN" -- my Chinese name -- unless somebody already has it, which I highly doubt ;-) Too bad they can't put Chinese characters on license plates, haha. Pics soon :-)

I've also been looking for a place to live. I looked at a small house (to rent) in Hyde Park today -- but it's not me. Too ... well, too run-down I guess. (In Austin, the code word for that is "funky", especially if the place is in a trendy neighborhood like HP.) I need a bit nicer abode. I've been looking online, and I'll probably get a locator to help me soon. According to my barber today, rent's gone up around town, as the recession hasn't affected prices in Austin too much. People keep moving here!!

I also got a TV. Actually I bid on it on eBay before I left Shanghai. I emailed the seller and was like "You don't have to ship it to China; I'm returning to the US soon." He responded with "Wow you're in China!! That's awesome!! I hope you win!!" and I did :-) So I'm going to pick it up today. Speaking of talking about China with random people, I have already begun. I've talked with, let's see, the woman who gave me the rental car, the woman to whom I returned it, the woman at the desk of my hotel, the woman whose house I looked at today, and the woman who cut my hair today. I talked to all of them about China, and I taught the rental car woman how to say 谢谢, but I'm sure she'll forget soon :-) Of course I also talked about it with Kevin and Shawna and Toby, whom I saw yesterday, endlessly. That'll be par for the course for the next, oh, six months to a year. I remember when I first moved here I kept vocally comparing Austin to Richmond. Now that the comparisons are even more extreme, I'm sure I will talk more about them!

Speaking of China, again, it doesn't feel like the whole year happened. I think that's just because I just got back here yesterday. The change will hit me in a couple of weeks, I think. I am so happy I took all those pictures, though. Downtown today, I mumbled a bit of Chinese to myself in order to remind myself that I did in fact live there. And I took some pictures during my last few days there that I have yet to upload, but I'll probably do that soon (if I can find my camera's USB cable among my possessions at the moment).

I keep wanting to talk to staff/employees (waiters, people at the cash register, etc.) in Chinese. Haha. And when Kevin and I went to dinner last night, the waiter checked up on us like three times. It was so weird! They don't do that in China. You have to flag them down to even order food. And they never come back to see how your meal tastes.

Austin feels peaceful, just like I left it. No tall buildings. Lots of character. Nice people. Good food. Great weather (although it's in the 40s now). It's missing the humming buzz of activity in Shanghai and China. Right now though, that's a good thing.

So when I'm awake now, my friends and family also are awake. That's weird because I'm used to checking my email first thing in the morning and receiving a batch of updates on, you know, what happened while I was asleep. It'll be strange to let events in the US unfold throughout the day, rather than reading about them all at once.

I watched Law & Order on TV yesterday morning and it was comforting. And I drove around Mopac and West Austin today, just soaking things in. Ate lunch at Austin Java. Tonight I'm planning on meeting up with the Austin Hokies to watch VT basketball. It should be a good way to socialize and ease through the jet lag.

HOME

2009-01-03T01:24:00.000-06:00

After abour 24 hours of travelling, I'm home. As we were descending into Austin, I had to keep reminding myself that we were NOT descending into Shanghai.

I had no idea there were so many white people in this world. And they all speak English??! How strange!!

In LA, I helped an old lady across the street.

I still remember Austin's street layout pretty well. Enough to get me to my hotel without needing a map. On the 30-minute drive from the airport to the hotel, I was inspired to take several pictures -- unfortunately, being as I was driving at the time, it didn't go any further than inspiration.

Oh well. That can wait. I have all the time in the world, now :-)

So Long, and Thanks for All the Baozi

2009-01-01T08:06:00.002-06:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's made this all possible: Mavis, Tiny Joe, Smitty, Rufus, Adelaide, Mr. Tibbets, Miss Wanda, Shaniqua, and of course, Bob. We had a great year, didn't we? Laughed a little, cried a little, got freaked out when crotchety old Mr. Dinkis shut down production and locked up all of our set pieces. But by golly, we held bake sale after bake sale to raise the $50,000 needed to keep us on the air. And when that wasn't enough, at the last second, we discovered that old Seamus, quiet old scruffy loveable Seamus who hadn't spoken to anyone in years, was Mr. Dinkis's son and heir to the entire CompuCo fortune.

* * *

Okay, sorry, had to get that out of my system :-) Ah geez man, I don't think there's anything I could say that would do justice to the incredible time I've had in 2008. I could list all the experiences I've had, or all the people I've met, or all the things I will miss -- but none of that would come close to reality. I really could talk for hours, days even, and not get close to the point. But I can try.

I'll miss chopsticks, eating family style, inexpensive food, my Chinese co-workers and friends, my maid, not having a car, not hearing about Iraq every damn day, learning to speak (and even read a bit of) Chinese, surprising people by speaking Chinese with them, eating real Chinese food, night markets, insane amounts of neon-lit modern architecture everywhere, eating things that I have no clue what the hell they are and finding out they're delicious, the terrible terrible 10:30 nightly movies on ICS, catching people stealing glances at me in public places, smiling at small Chinese children when they stare at me, being asked to have my picture taken on the street, feeling different and special when I look around me, the unique aspects of traveling in a foreign country, the seemingly-exotic locations this country offers, doing things just to say I've done them, teaching people English and American culture, seeing myself from the outside-in, and so much more.

I've learned a lot about myself and how I handle adversity, how I adapt to different situations, how people see me, and I see other people, what I like, what I don't like, how I like my life to be, what happens when that apple cart gets upset, and so on. I've had the chance to critically think about things I took for granted for so long, like the English language (why does "I'm working out of Boston" mean the exact opposite of "I'm working outside of Boston"?) and so many facets of American culture. I've experienced an election from outside the country, and the Olympics from within a foreign country. I've seen what these things mean to people not only of the home country, but in foreign countries as well.

With all that said: I am really looking forward to going home for a lot of reasons. Austin is an amazing city -- at least it was when I left, I hope it's still amazing ;-) But the primary reason I'm looking forward to going home is that, while I did not come to Shanghai feeling like this was going to be a "temporary life", it has come to feel like one during the past several months. Ever since going home in January was set in stone, I felt I've put my "real" life on hold because, well, I guess it's just tough for me to invest time in something that I know is ending on a specific date. The same thing .happened when I left Austin for Shanghai, Richmond for Austin, and even Blacksburg for Richmond. I guess I am just practical. But in the last ten years, I have moved addresses in eight of them: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009, with the big moves coming in 1999 (Columbia to Blacksburg), 2003 (Blacksburg to Richmond), 2004 (Richmond to Austin), 2008 (Austin to Shanghai), and 2009 (Shanghai to Austin). The rest were in-city moves, but still, I am tired of packing up my life every eight to ten months. So while I feel incredibly lucky to have had this experience, I'm very much looking forward to, well, not moving from place to place for a little while ;-)

I mean, of course, who knows whether I will stay in Austin? Who knows how long anyone will stay anywhere? But I am not looking to leave the ATX (as it is known to us cool kids) anytime soon. I have no plans to do so. I remember having fond feelings for the city and, as some Shanghai friends and co-workers can attest, I've been babbling on about it for some time now ;-) We'll of course see how I feel after I've been back for a bit. I'm not expecting life to be the same as it was in Shanghai or even how it was right before I left. But I'm really looking forward to just ... settling in and not having to think about moving anywhere unless I really, really want to.

I'm not complaining about having to move to and from China, of course. The experiences here have been far far far far more than worth it, even above and beyond what I had expected. When I signed up for this endeavor, I knew it would mean at least one more year (well, I thought it was 6 months at the time) of semipermanent residency, and I knew how I would feel (or come to feel) about that. I was initially unprepared to deal with it, thinking that a two-year minimum would be more palatable (so I could settle more into living here). But as I thought more about it, the opportunity I was being offered far outweighed the transient status I would yet again have to live with. So I came, and I don't regret it one bit.

Sheesh.

Thank you all for coming along on this ride and reading this blog. Thanks for commenting and all the compliments. Thanks for showing interest, even if you never made a comment. Thanks for looking at my pictures on flickr. Thanks for talking to me, via phone and Skype and email and instant message and the occasional visit, either for yourself or as a proxy for someone who doesn't even know me. Thanks for being there waiting for me when I get back. Thanks for helping me process my thoughts about 2008.

I really really enjoyed writing this blog. My mind works best when in a conversation, and often when there's nobody around, writing this blog feels like having a conversation with myself, but because I can reasonably assume that people will read what I have to say, I don't feel like I'm talking to myself. It's great. I come up with ideas and free up space in the ol' noggin to boot.

The main purpose of this blog was to share my thoughts about a foreign country and culture with multiple people all at once, so when I returned and people were like "How was China?" I wouldn't get all tongue tied thinking of an answer. I could just say "Go read the blog!" Ha. (I mean, how can you really answer a question like that? I think it's impossible unless you take 5 hours to explain the answer. After working as a technical writer for 4+ years, I have lost the ability to answer generic questions in a meaningful way.)

I also started this blog so I wouldn't get to the end of this trip and feel like I hadn't done anything. There's no way everyone can remember everything that happens in a year, even when it stands out in vivid color because you're living in a foreign country. So 180+ blog posts, almost 3,000 pictures, and several videos later, I think it's safe to say I don't feel that way, so mission accomplished on that part!

In a way the blog (and photostream on flickr) morphed into its own thing. I grew to actively want to share China's experiences and places with you all (instead of just, say, capturing them for my own records). I would go places, have one experience or another, and immediately think about the wording I was going to use to capture it on my blog. Or I'd take a picture of something because it showcased some part of China, or just some interesting thing, I thought you all would want to see.

Several people have asked me what will become of this blog after I return to the US. It's very flattering to hear people so interested :-) I do imagine it will continue. After all, I have to re-integrate into American life again. I'm sure I will have some adventures along that road that are worth documenting here. Not to mention there's a lot of stuff I couldn't post here for one reason or another, like my thoughts on issue X or the time I had an in-depth discussion with my co-worker about issue Y. (These letter-based issues are all the rage over here.) So maybe I will talk a little about that after I return.

The bottom line is, if I feel something is worth writing about, I'll write it here (or somewhere else accessible - I've been thinking about combining all my blogs/web sites into one). Who knows what that'll be or when that'll be, but keep an eye out here if you're interested in what might come, and we'll see what happens.

One thing's for sure though: I'll keep posting photos of, well, whatever, at my flickr page. So keep that bookmarked.

In summation: so long Shanghai and so long 2008. It's been a blast. I'll see you again soon. For the time being though, I look forward to returning to Austin!

48 Hours Left in Shanghai

2008-12-31T00:45:00.000-06:00

Wow.

Nanjing Pictures

2008-12-27T04:27:00.003-06:00

Full set here.

Nanjing was the capital of several governments of China, including the Taiping and Nationalist goverments. Its name actually means "Southern Capital" (just as Beijing means "Northern Capital".) The city is okay, I guess. There was nothing heart-stoppingly amazing about it, but I had a decent time. I think the main issue was that I wasn't motivated to do a whole hell of a lot, since I was by myself and had roughly 24 hours to spend there (thanks to a train delay).

First I went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, which commemorates the Japanese slaughter of over 300,000 Nanjing residents in 1937. The exhibits were tastefully done and really gave me a sense of what happened, which is what I wanted it's not an incident we hear much about in the West. But of course it still plays a huge role in Sino-Japanese relations today and, for me as a Jew, has parallels to the Holocaust. There is an excavated mass gravesite you can walk around, and there are various statues, which are done to look very ragged and horrifying, accompanied by poems and prose about that time.

After that I went to the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yatsen, the founder of modern China. The memorial is up on Zijin Mountain (Purple-Gold Mountain) and is a pretty nice place. You have to climb up 392 stairs (some of which are pictured above) to get to his blue-and-white place of rest. You can circle around his body in a manner not unlike the way in which you can view Mao Zedong's body in Beijing. Around his mausoleum are some historical artifacts and facts about the man. Later on I went to the Presidential Palace, which has an interesting history. It's built on the site of a palace constructed as the seat of government for the Taiping rebels (another fascinating story I never learned about in America -- who wants to argue with a man who claims Jesus gave him a new set of internal organs?) In its current form it was the site where Dr. Sun was sworn in as president, and it's where Chiang Kaishek did his thing while he was in power. Pretty neat historical stuff. It's built in the style of a Ming Dynasty palace, with gardens, walkways, and everything. Check out the pictures, they're pretty neat.

At night I went to the Confucius Temple area, which contains a huge night market and is all lit up with neon. There's nothing spectacular about it -- I just have grown to enjoy night markets and neon, so when I heard these two things where there in abundance, I went to eat some snacks and take some pictures. Good times :-) After that I retreated to my hotel room, where I caught Spider-Man 3 (awesome) and Good Luck Chuck (which I thought I was going to hate but, surprisingly, didn't) on HBO before falling asleep.

Another thing I should mention is the train ride I took to/from Nanjing. It was so entirely comfortable that even when we were stuck on the tracks for 45 minutes outside a smaller city, I didn't mind. I just kept reading my book. It was the "first-class" train which means the seats were super wide and I had tons of leg room. Plus the cabin was nice and quiet since the ride wasn't that full. It was very relaxing; I almost didn't want to get off at Nanjing!

Well that's it for travelling in China! It's been a great year. In addition to Shanghai, I've been to Hangzhou, Beijing, Macau, Hong Kong, Huangshan, Zhuji, Shaoxing, Suzhou, Xizang (Tibet), Kunshan, Xi'an, and Nanjing. Wow. I think that's pretty damn impressive for just one year, and I feel really good about all I've been able to do. It's certainly far more travelling than I've done in the States.

My next big trip is ... you guessed it ... back home to America on Friday. Yup -- less than a week!! Can you believe it? I can't really ...

2008 in Pictures: Part 14

2008-12-25T06:54:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: June 8th, 2008

The Nanpu Bridge in southern Shanghai. Traveling across this bridge provides an immensely beautiful view of the city, particularly as you enter from the western side by winding up a giant corkscrew ramp.

Date Taken: June 12th, 2008

Soccer!! The Dalian Shide (in white) take on the Shanghai Shenhua. Shanghai won, 3-1.

Date Taken: August 9th, 2008

A guardian of heaven on display at the Shanghai Museum, one of the country's most renowned collections of artifacts and history. It has over 120,000 pieces in its collection. And it's free! (The museum, that is -- not the guardian.) I think they did it that way to balance out the extreme lack-of-history in the rest of the city ;-)

Date Taken: August 10th, 2008

A Beijing opera performance!! Okay, so there's a little bit of history in Shanghai ;-)

Date Taken: August 18th, 2008

The Bank of China headquarters in downtown Hong Kong.

Date Taken: August 19th, 2008

Jen and me in front of the ruins of the St. Paul Cathedral in Macau.

Christmas Eve on Nanjing Dong Lu

2008-12-24T08:17:00.001-06:00

To be fair, this place is lit up like a Christmas tree 365 days a year, so there's not too much special about tonight, except for the mutant Christmas trees that have taken root. That's all well and good, but ... where are the the 300-ft glowing menorahs?

And finally, an artsy touch-up courtesy of Picasa:

There's more: the full set is here. Damn, I love tripods.

2008 in Pictures: Part 13

2008-12-22T06:32:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have to admit -- this blogging-every-day (more or less) thing is getting tough! I'm running out of steam to describe all these pictures. So I'm going to cut back on the descriptions (as I've been doing) and just let you enjoy the photos. That's more or less what this series is about anyway :-)

Oh and I booked my train tickets to/from Nanjing this Friday! So look forward to some pictures from there ;-)

Date Taken: May 30th, 2008

This is a view of Nanjing Dong Lu going out into The Bund and then Lujiazui, taken from the top floor of the Radisson Hotel in People's Square. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm living in a spaceship!

Date Taken: May 30th, 2008

Serving baozi on Taikang Lu. When I get back to Austin I will go on a wild hunt for these delicious snacks. Failing that, I'll learn how to make them on my own. (Yeah, right.)

Date Taken: June 1st, 2008

DJ J Walk at The Shelter.

Date Taken: June 1st, 2008

That sure was a busy night! This is Second Hand Rose, a band from Northeastern China, playing at Windows Underground.

Date Taken: June 1st, 2008

A giant statue of Marx & Engels dominates this corner of Fuxing Park.

Date Taken: June 8th, 2008

Shot from the end of the main bar at The Shelter, when Robert Hood was there.

2008 in Pictures: Part 12

2008-12-21T05:36:00.001-06:00

Date taken: May 1st, 2008

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the most famous landmark inside the Temple of Heaven park, Beijing.

Date taken: May 1st, 2008

The Houhai ("Back Sea") area of Beijing. Fun fact: Beijing is often considered an unlikely spot for a capital, because it is landlocked.

Date Taken: May 3rd, 2008

After a hard day of climbing the Great Wall of China, nothing takes the edge off like a little fried scorpion.

Date Taken: May 4th, 2008

A worker walks past some panda graffiti at the 798 (Qi Jiu Ba) Art District in Beijing.

Date Taken: May 4th, 2008

Duh :-)

Date Taken: May 22nd, 2008

My parents eating veggie food (and demonstrating their chopsticks skills!) at Gongdelin in Shanghai. My dad spent weeks practicing his chopsticks skills -- when I was home the week before, I watched while he meticulously plucked popcorn out of a bowl. I also realized why people find it difficult to eat rice w/chopsticks -- the rice we got from the Chinese restaurant at home was dry and not sticky, which made it difficult to hold.

Also worth mentioning: He was also able to successfully ask a waitress "哪儿有厕所?"

Date Taken: May 23rd, 2008

My parents in front of the Ohel Moishe synagogue in the Houngkou district, where tens of thousands of Jews lived while WWII raged. The place is lovingly kept up and has an amazing Holocaust memorial out back. Really impressive. Plus, the Chinese guard at the gate said "שָׁלוֹם" and "תודה רבה" to us :-)

Impressive, yes -- but can he sing the Four Questions? I think not!! Hmph.

Happy Birthday, Me!

2008-12-20T11:43:00.001-06:00

Welcome to my first birthday in a foreign country :-) I feel quite strongly that it will be an excellent one. For those who don't know me, I'm 27 (but still feel like I'm five years old most days).

Bear in mind that although you'll likely read this on the 20th, my birthday is the 21st. Remember that Shanghai is half a day ahead of the US :-)

*blows kazoo*

2008 in Pictures: Part 11

2008-12-19T17:25:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: April 19th, 2008

Two more shots from Hangzhou. The first is of people playing on top of Baoshi Shan (Gemstone Hill) which is on the northern edge of West Lake. I like the way that the tree frames the picture naturally. And the second is of the lake itself as the sunsets. I can't even fit the whole lake into one shot! I should've taken panoramic ones and stitched them together.

Date Taken: April 20th, 2008

This was taken at Lingyin Temple, about a half an hour's walk (or hour-long traffic-choked bus ride) west of West Lake. It's a old Buddhist sanctuary surrounded by beautiful mountains. The mountain surrounding the area is called Feilai Feng -- "The Peak that Flew from Afar." Legend has it that it was magically transported from India. Another key attraction is the hundreds of rock carvings detailing Buddhist imagery, such as this image of Maitreya, the laughing Buddha. He certainly looks happy :-)

Date Taken: April 26th, 2008

Wow, look at my hair! Yes I went through a small short-hair phase in April. It's over now, trust me ;-) Anyway this picture was taken at a baseball game between the Beijing Tigers and the Shanghai Eagles. I went with Tim and Laurel, who kept score on a sheet of paper (that I kept). The game was fun -- the weather was perfect and the crowd (such as it was) was pretty receptive. Shanghai lost 1-0, but I still had a good time. It sort of made up for the fact that I never went to Tokyo to see a baseball game -- I say sort of, because baseball in China isn't even half the attraction it is in Japan, although the Dodgers and Padres did play two exhibition games at Wukesong Field in Beijing earlier this year.

The NBA is far and away the most popular American sport here, largely due to the presence of Yao Ming and other Chinese players. I don't think the NFL is far behind -- lately I've been seeing game highlights on the flatscreen TVs in the subway station. I bet they're trying to do it without any Chinese players though, unless the NFL has signed some I'm not aware of? Conversely, the MLB has a few players from Taiwan, none of whom are very good. To achieve the level of success the NBA has had, some team will need to develop a superstar from the mainland. Hey, if the Pirates can sign two Indian guys who aren't even professional pitchers, anything can happen, right?

Date Taken: May 1st, 2008

If you want to see 5 minutes of Chinese history, visit Shanghai. If you want to see 500 years of Chinese history, visit Beijing. (And if you want to see 5,000 years of Chinese history, visit Xi'an -- but that's another story.) My trip to Beijing was fantastic for so many reasons. Out of all the places I visited, it's the one place I'd go back to if I had time.

The first shot above is from Tiananmen Square at night. The obelisk in the background on the left is the Monument to the People's Heroes, located just to the north of Mao Zedong's mausoleun. The building in the background on the right is the Great Hall of the People, featured on the back of the 100 RMB note. It's where the Chinese government conducts legislative and ceremonial activities - sort of like a White House front lawn + Capitol Building. Just in this area you have so much history and culture about China.

The second shot is of the south gate of the Forbidden City, so named because only the emperor and his followers were allowed free access to the place. Today it's a 60 RMB tourist attraction! It contains the old Imperial Palace as well as a shitload of small museums (and even more shitloads of wide-open, empty space).

Date Taken: May 3rd, 2008

THE FREAKING GREAT WALL OF CHINA. 'Nuff said. If you go, you are given the choice of several "sections" -- Badaling, Mutianyu, Jinshanling, Simatai, etc. Badaling is the touristy section that has been fully restored and is mobbed every day. There's even a Badaling Expressway to take you there. Simatai, the section you see above, is one of the more remote sections -- a full three hours' drive from the city. It's unrestored, remote, steep, and located high up in the mountains. All are reasons why I was excited to go there instead of Badaling :-)

I could spend another day or two just walking around up there. You realize you are standing on history as you gaze off into the distant mountains. It's marvelous. Easily the coolest/most exciting thing I've done in China.

2008 in Pictures: Part 10

2008-12-17T06:20:00.002-06:00

Wow, 10 posts and we're barely through March! I gotta step it up a bit ...

Date Taken: March 22nd, 2008

Ah Internet, how awesome you are for bringing people together for such purposes as book clubs, political discussions, scientific research, and bashing the ever-loving crap out of one another with pillows. Shanghai wasn't the only city to celebrate Worldwide Pillow Fight Day 2008, but it's where I was so that's where I went and took pictures. And my Shanghaiist post is the #1 Google result when searching for it! Rock on.

Here's to 2009!

Date Taken: April 6th, 2008

These picture were taken on my first visit to Moganshan Lu, a small warehouse/art district in northern Shanghai along Suzhou Creek. People speculate wildly about the Chinese art scene, but if you come here you'll be assured that it's booming. There are tons of contemporary galleries, some small and some large, displaying sculptures, handicrafts, paintings, photography, and a lot more. It's a really relaxed place with a cafe or two that you can relax in while browsing. It's really easy to kill an afternoon here just walking around and looking at all the fun stuff. You don't even have to buy anything.

On my first visit there I spent some time walking around the back of the complex, where I climbed some stairs as high as I could go, just exploring and going wherever I felt like it, and took the first picture you see above. Because it's artsy, the area is filled with foreigners, so most people around can speak decent English. It's a very relaxing time. I remember I spent some time reading in the larger cafe and feeling so peaceful; in fact it was probably the first time in Shanghai I felt at peace like that.

Date Taken: April 12th, 2008

This is the remnants (actually, we weren't done yet) of a dinner I had with my co-workers after our quarterly party. One woman had organized a scavenger hunt, so we met up at my apartment, agreed on the rules, read the items, and off we went! My team won, of course ;-) It was really fun walking around and talking to strangers, holding babies, taking pictures of random stuff like celebrities (who were easy to find on the cover of DVDs) and convincing a security guard to sing a song for us. Haha. Afterwards we all went to dinner at, um, well I can't remember the place, but the food was amazing. I remebered I hadn't taken pictures of food yet, so I did and you can see the results above and in the full set. As you can guess, even though there were like 11 of us, we couldn't eat everything and there was a lot of leftovers.

One thing I really like about China is that, as you can see by the Lazy Susan, most eating is done family-style. This is a great way to try out new foods with little risk; just sample some of what your friends ordered! Everything is very communal. And not only that, but the waiters bring out the food as it's ready, not all at once. This means you might accidentally fill up on the first 3-4 dishes because you've forgotten that you ordered 3-4 more! So when those come, you're like "Oh shit!" Haha. I do that a lot ;-) It also affects how you order food. In China, one person usually orders for everyone. So instead of the waiter going around the table and asking each person what they want, they just hover by one person and quickly write down the order. That same person usually pays for everything, too. But it's okay -- you rotate who pays, so it's understood that if you pay this time, someone else will pay next time, and it's all good. Very congenial. When I'm eating with expats, we usually go dutch though. We pass the menu around the table, and each person orders 1-2 things. It's really great and, again, a good way to try foods you never would have otherwise. I'm going to miss it; or maybe I'll just eat all my meals at Bucca di Beppo. But then I'll gain like 50 pounds :-(

Date Taken: April 20th, 2008

Hangzhou! This was my first trip in China. I rode on a train with two co-workers. It was amazing. (The trip, not the train, haha.) The thing I remember most, apart from the beautiful West Lake and Lingyin Temple, was the smell. It was the first time since arriving in Shanghai that I smelled flowers and fresh-cut grass. I remember it very clearly as we veered off the path around West Lake and into a park. That, and I realized that I hadn't really seen the sky in 4 months. Not when there was always super-tall buildings around. In Hangzhou it seemed so vast!

More here (but not all of it, because I got lazy and never posted about Day 2, haha).

2008 in Pictures: Part 9

2008-12-16T05:32:00.001-06:00

Date Taken: March 9th, 2008

This was taken at the Tanghui VIP club for the Infected Mushroom show. Israeli psychadelic trance always makes my night, although I really don't think they should be called psytrance. Funny story about getting here: I was told the club is located on Wulumuqui Lu. But the street sign is labeled Urumuqi Lu. The two names are equivalent; in Chinese they both describe a region in Xinjiang province. But the main effect is to confuse foreigners like me. My poor taxi driver! I don't know how many times I repeated "WU. LU. MU. QI. LU." as loudly and slowly as I could, in that I'm-trying-to-be-calm-despite-being-surrounded-by-idiots voice. (You know the one I'm talking about.) He probably thought I was insane or retarded or both. Of course I couldn't understand him when he (most likely) tried to tell me that, um hey fuckhead, WE'RE THERE. All I could see was the street sign that said "Urumuqi" so I assumed we were in the wrong place. It was even funnier (well, later on) when I got out of the cab in a huff, called Jane who didn't understand what I was confused about, and ended up asking another cabbie to take me to Wulumuqi Lu. Luckily he didn't charge me 11 RMB to go absolutely nowhere. Anyway in the end I saved myself by spotting the club and then magically understanding what the driver was trying to say.

Fun times, I tells ya!

The show itself wasn't that good. I wasn't a huge fan of the music, but my main problem was it was PACKED. I mean I could barely move. Every time someone moved past me I'd either get my feet stepped on or punched in the gut. Stuff like that tends to put a cramp in my evening. And at the end the bartender tried to charge me 30 RMB for a tiny bottle of water. Um, no thanks, I'll go around the corner and get a larger bottle of water for 1.2 RMB, thank you very much. Haha. Yeah, not my kind of place or music at all. But it was an interesting experience. (Well, to be fair, I haven't had very many non-interesting experiences here.)

* * *
I'm skipping the Xujiahui set because it's just pictures of artwork in a small museum down there -- and not of the area itself. Maybe I'll go down there and take some pictures before I leave, but I'm not feeling incredibly motivated to do so :-)

* * *

Date Taken: March 9th, 2008

The above pictures are from Century Park, which is right near my house. It's the largest green space in Shanghai and it still manages to feel cold and uninviting. I guess there's not much you can add to a park to offset having slate-gray skies overhead nearly every day :-)

Anyway that day was the only time I ever set foot in Century Park, although I have been to a couple others in Shanghai (Huaihai Park, Fuxing Park, and Zhongshan Park, that I can remember).

Date Taken: March 15th, 2008

The above was taken at Bonbon at the Futurebound & Matrix show. F&M are two British drum & bass producers/DJs (gee, are we seeing a theme here?) that Jane brought in to play. She also invited me to dinner the night beforehand at Shanghai Uncle, which was pretty yummy. The guy holding the lighter is the MC for the evening, Whatshisface. (No that's not his name; I just can't remember.)

Date Taken: March 15th, 2008

Gee that was a busy weekend! This was one of the only times I've seen a band in Shanghai (as opposed to a DJ). On the bill were several "punk" bands from Xi'an (a mythical, far-away place at that point in time!) I put "punk" in quotes because the last two I saw were decidedly more indie rock than punk, but whatever. I was just happy to see Chinese people rocking out like us Western folks do. That sounds dumb, but you know, I'd never seen a Chinese band before! So sue me ... and I was happy that the lead singer for the opening band (named, I think, The Dropkicks -- which just makes me think they're ripping off the Dropkick Murphys) is most definitely a MOT. (I can smell 'em a mile away.)

The venue was a place near Dalian Lu (which marked the first time I'd ever taken Line 4 on the metro) called the Live Bar. Like Logo, the place really reminded me of Austin. Exposed wood walls, high ceiling, loud bands with fuzzy sound, and hipsters standing around sullenly drinking cheap beer. Ahh, globalization -- ain't it grand? I remember I went with my German friend Elias and his boss's girlfriend. (Don't ask.)

The first band was the best, by far. Well, maybe because the next band was all Chinese, even the singer, so I really couldn't understand them. But I still liked them, unlike the shitty cover band who played after them. (If you click through to the Flickr set, they're the guys dressed all alike in the white dress shirts.) By the time the last band came on and began imitating The Strokes, we decided it was time to leave.

I should have gone back more to that place, I guess -- but it's pretty far away to travel if you don't know who's playing and/or don't enjoy drinking yourself stupid, and although I had a fun night, I guess it wasn't fun enough to lure me back. Ah well, soon I'll be back in the mecca of dingy bars with loud punk music! Woohoo!

2008 in Pictures: Part 8

2008-12-15T06:21:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: February 8th, 2008

The Old Town (now just called the Huangpu District) is the location of "old" Shanghai; where the city used to be before it started growing and all these foreign powers started demanding that the emperor cede territory to them. Hmph, the nerve! It's also where Yu Gardens (Yu Yuan), one of Shanghai's famous tourist attractions, is located. (It's also where I first smelled stinky tofu, so, well, let's just say I have strong memories of the place!) The area normally is thick with people and the streets are lined with all manner of stalls selling everything from nut bread to to Chairman Mao posters, from water guns to fish guts, from jeweled bracelets to ... well, you get the idea.

However, on this particular day the crowds were even more insane than normal. That's because it was the day after Chinese New Year (hence the giant rat parade floats). I've never seen the place more crowded and decorated. I could barely squeeze through the crowd of people. Moving 10 feet was hard work! And if you click the pictures and look around the flickr set, you'll see just how decorated the place was. There were plastic/papier mache figures hanging from every wall, window, and roof. It was a great place to be just after New Year's.

Date Taken: February 17th, 2008

The above DJ is Shimon, one of the most famous (and talented) drum and bass artists I follow. I was really excited to see him! I mean, the man co-wrote "Body Rock", one of the greatest dnb anthems evAr. It's sitting in my record case in my Austin storage unit. I joked with Jane that I'd pay her 100 RMB if she got him to play it that night. (And to my surprise, he did!! But only for like 30 seconds, haha.) How much more awesome can you get?

Behind him you can see Jane (owner/operator of Phreaktion) and Carl, another friend of mine. This night was pure awesomeness. I remember really enjoying the music. But I also remember Shimon asking me where the bathroom in the Shelter was! It was definitely one of those celebrity moments, lol. "Tee hee hee, he's speaking to me!!" And to get my attention, he tapped my left shoulder. I joked for the rest of the night that I'd never wash it again! And of course, I haven't, much to the dismay of my co-workers, 'cuz it's starting to smell.

Date Taken: February 24th, 2008

I remember this day quite well. I walked outside the metro station in the morning and immediately saw crystal clear blue skies peppered with clouds. Such rare weather in this city. Maybe that's why the first thought in my head -- and this isn't hyperbole, it literally was the first thought in my head -- was "JIN MAO TOWER!!" Those words exactly. So I ran and got my camera and high-tailed it up to the 88th floor of said building, where I was rewarded with these amazing views.

FYI, the extreme blue tint comes from setting my camera to "incandescent" white balance. I think it turned out quite lovely. The Flickr set has pictures of what it looks like with a non-crazy white balance.

Then I ran up Century Avenue, nearly getting flattened in the process since there's very few places to actually cross that road, and took the elevator up to the top of the Pearl Tower. That's where I captured the first shot above, of the WFC and Jin Mao dominating the Shanghai skyline. The other buildings looks like LEGOs compared to those two -- but those other buildings are like 30 stories each!

And you can see that the WFC wasn't even complete yet. That makes it all the stranger that I was walking around at the very tip-top of it just two days ago!! It turned out really dark though. When I get home I'm going to lighten it up and print out some copies ;-)

Test Post

2008-12-15T05:44:00.001-06:00

Testing from Flock's built-in blog editor ...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Around Shanghai with Diana and Esti

2008-12-13T06:00:00.003-06:00

Having people visit you in Shanghai is definitely fun. I love playing tour guide!! It's a fun chance to see the familiar sights of the city all over again. This time around it's my friends-slash-extremely-distant-relatives Diana and her sister Esti. They arrived in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon after four days in Beijing, where they had a really good time. Sophia and I met up with them on Thursday evening and we walked on Nanjing Dong Lu, ate dinner at Charme, and then headed out to The Bund for some nighttime tomfoolery.

Friday night I took Diana and Esti to dinner at Guyi , a fantastic Hunan restaurant in the French Concession. We ate and talked for oh, I don't know, two hours? It was great. Then Sophia came and met us in front of the restaurant. We had initially planned to go out to maybe the Shelter, but we weren't feeling up to it so we decided to head to Taikang Lu instead because Sophia's friend owns a bar/cafe there. We walked around Huaihai for about half an hour trying to find a cab, but eventually we found one and made it there. At around midnight, we headed out of Caesura and to our respective abodes.

Saturday I woke up ass-early (yes that's proper English) and met Diana and Esti at the World Financial Center, currently the tallest building in mainland China. We paid the ticket fee and, after some initial confusion on just where the hell the entrance to the observatory was, took the elevator up to the 100th floor, located in the top of the rectangular hole in the building. It is the world's highest observation deck. The views were pretty spectacular and people kept wanting to take pictures of me the whole way, because I was wearing my bear hat. (Don't ask -- I'm sure I'll have pictures sooner or later.) I purposefully didn't bring my camera because I thought the views would be similar to those from the Jin Mao -- and I was right, with the exception that you can see the Jin Mao from the WFC, which was a pretty neat experience. Seeing the top of the Jin Mao really underscores how lovely and unique that building is (which in turn underscores how bland the WFC is).

After that I took them to eat lunch at Dong Bei Ren, an amazing restaurant. We had jiaozi (the restaurant's specialty), fried bread, stir-fry mushrooms and lettuce, cumin-spiced lamb mixed with cilantro, and this amazing dish that consists of carmelized, sugar-coated apples. Mmmmm. Then we went to Garden Books where I bought a Shanghai-related coffee table book for when I go back home. It's a history of the city complete with tons of pictures, including old photos and building schematics. Very cool, and strangely enough, I paid less for it than it costs on Amazon!

Then we headed over to the Huangpu district (near Yu Yuan) for some shopping. Diana and Esti bought some stuff for themselves and gifts for people back home. We got lost wandering down sidestreets and saw some pretty interesting stuff, including animal brains for sale. Yuck. Now I bet you are really glad I didn't have my camera handy! A homeless guy helped us find our way around, so I gave him 10 RMB.

That area really is nice and pleasant. I should have visited it more during my time here. Even haggling with the shopkeepers seemed more like a game than a chore, this time. I bought a couple things, including a really long (like 12-foot) scroll with painted Chinese characters and drawings.

More pictures to come, hopefully, as Diana and Esti return to the states and give me theirs!

2008 in Pictures: Part 7

2008-12-10T06:21:00.000-06:00

(Just a reminder: These photos are meant to be introductions to their full sets. Click a photo to see its larger version, and then you can click around within the photo set to see related ones!)

Date Taken: February 5th, 2008

A scale model of Shanghai that takes up an entire floor of the Urban Planning and Exhibition Hall. It cycles between day and night and is EXTREMELY fascinating to see.

Date Taken: February 6th, 2008

A view from the 42nd floor of the Jinjiang Hotel , which is where President Nixon and Zhou Enlai signed the Shanghai Communique in February 1972.

Xi'an Pictures

2008-12-09T10:06:00.001-06:00

Here.

Samples:

And a video of the Terracotta Army to give you an idea of the scale:

2008 in Pictures: Part 6

2008-12-09T05:17:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: February 3rd, 2008

Well you might as well get used to seeing photos of DJs, because that's what the majority of my music-related sets contain :-) I feel I really got into the local music scene here, well at least as much as one can with my discerning (some might say elitist) tastes, general laziness, and dislike for going out during the week. The above photo was, I think, the first time I was ever at the Shelter. Void brought Jason Hodges to town , and he rocked it with some great funky house.

The first photo shows, in a really blurry fashion, the most interesting part of the venue. You see, the Shelter actually is a converted bomb shelter. It's underground and at the end of a long (and, might I add, low-ceilinged -- ouch!!) tunnel. The main room is pretty standard, but the back room is interesting. It's divided into three sections lengthwise. Down the middle section is just a hallway lined with tables and chairs. On either side of that, though, are rooms with arched ceilings (which again, are very low) in which comfortable couches and tables have been placed. It's great because you can sit back there with friends or when you're tired, but you can still hear the music.

The second photo is actually of a TV monitor, one of two, that help mitigate the fact that there's a support column smack-dab in front of the DJ booth. So your line of sight to the DJ is really impaired. The club designers thoughtfully helped out by providing these monitors. These monitors also helped me a lot by allowing me to take videos of the DJ playing . (The DJ booth itself is pretty dark, and my camera doesn't have a light.)

I remember the night before that party, I went out with the Void kids for dinner in Puxi. It was quite a haul from my office, but I managed to get there okay. We ate at Xin Ji Shi /Jesse's, a famous(ly small and crowded) Shanghainese place. It was Jason's first time in Shanghai, and I'd only been there like a month, so we talked a lot about our first impressions. I also met some French guy and a couple other regulars I'd end up seeing again at future parties. What sucked was that I had a nightmare of a time getting a cab home at about 10:30. I spent about 45 minutes walking up and down Huaihai Lu, stepping through sleet and wet pavement, past frustratingly-closed metro stations, cursing my fragile umbrella for continually getting blown out by the ice-cold wind, and looking for that godsend of a green-light taxi. Finally I found one, I jumped in the back, and stated my destination. I don't think the cab driver wanted to go that far to Pudong, because he started saying something to me. Then a girl walked up to his window and, I think, tried to convince him to ditch me in favor of her destination, which was closer. But if this is indeed what happened, I remained blissfully unaware since I didn't understand what either of them was saying. However I like to think that the cab driver told her "Look, I'd like to help you out, but I've got this lao wai back here who won't understand me if I tell him to leave, and it's too much trouble anyway, so I'm just going to take him. Sorry."

Sometimes I love being a foreigner. Anyway, out of all the non-work, non-subway station places I've been in Shanghai, I've spent the most time at the Shelter. In fact I'm going there again for my birthday party in two weeks!!

Date Taken: February 5th, 2008

We were off work this week because of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) so I used the occasion to get in some sightseeing. I spent this day doing a walking tour of the People's Square area. Thanks, Lonely Planet!!

There's not too much to say about People's Square except that the metro station there is the interchange between lines 1, 2, and 8. It's the busiest station in the city by far, and I've heard it's also the busiest in the country, which isn't too far-fetched given that Shanghai's metro system is far more extensive than Beijing's. If you're at People's Square at rush hour, you'll be swept along by a tide of humanity as you make your way towards your destination, especially if you're switching metro lines. In fact, this will happen just about any time you visit. But since lines 1 and 2 are perpendicular to one another, when you're transferring you have to cross the paths of people who are coming at you. This results in a fun little dance step I like to call the "Shanghai Shuffle" as you attempt to move laterally and forwards simultaneously while (again simultaneously) dodging people who are streaming towards you.

Another fun part is getting off a metro train at the People's Square stop. Entire cars become empty for five seconds as people pour out onto the platform (before people waiting on the platform pour into the car). This means that you can be all the way at the back of the car and hemmed in by dozens of people, but you won't have any problem getting off the train here. Just relax and surrender to the current.

Well, it's fun, like I say, but it's also stressful. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I have to either get off AT People's Square (instead of transferring lines) or continue on to another stop on the same line. It's like, woohoo, I don't have to fight old ladies for floorspace! Haha.

2008 in Pictures: Part 5

2008-12-08T05:51:00.000-06:00

Apologies for the short break, folks! I had a wonderful trip to Xi'an and thus was disconnected for the weekend. Henceforth, I resume the series.

Date Taken: January 26th, 2008

These two were taken at the Sven Vath show at Club Bonbon. Bonbon is one of those types of clubs that permeate cities like Miami, New York, Dallas, LA, and so on. Actually it is the only Asian branch of British superclub Godskitchen , so if you have any idea about the importance of Ibiza in clubbing/techno culture, you know what Bonbon is like (or aspires to be). It's where the beautiful people get dressed up to go out and be seen, although it's got a nice layout, seriously loud sound system, a great lighting system, and a lot of people who enjoy dancing. Speaking of which, the only thing I don't like about it is that there's very little dancing space. It's mostly occupied by tables. C'mon people, it's a club, not a lounge.

Also, because they are a brand, they play a lot of 'pop' electronic music that focuses on mass appeal, such as electro, "mash-ups", trance, and hip-hop, that I just don't care for. (Like many things in life, I'm very picky about my music!) To be fair though they do play some edgier stuff when drum and bass comes to town. I credit Jane of Phreaktion for proving that there's a market for that sort of non-mainstream music in Shanghai. But generally if you play at Bonbon or go there a lot you're considered a sellout by the kind of crowd that frequents places like the Shelter and Logo. In fact Jane took a lot of flak for hosting parties there.

Another unique feature of Bonbon is that it's an open bar all night. Yes, you read that right. You can get as wasted as you want for just the entry price of 150 RMB - about $21 nowadays, which is steep for China, which means there are lots of foreigners at the place. I don't think there's an ID check -- at least, I never got carded -- and this means there are frequently young kids there out to have a good time and get silly wasted. This fact, plus the open bar policy means the venue must serve low-quality alcohol in order to turn a profit (I've heard numerous people complain of stomach problems after a night at Bonbon), is another reason that the "serious" heads (e.g. the aforementioned Shelter- and Logo-frequenters) thumb their noses at Bonbon.

Anyway, the place is fun enough. It reminded me a lot of Buzz in DC which I went to a lot during and after college, and especially of all the clubs I went to in Miami during WMC 2006. On this particular night I was going to see Sven Vath, and I wasn't disappointed. His set was really good. I had been there the previous weekend when DJ Marky was in town, so I knew kind of what to expect. The funniest part was that I convinced Tim to go with me. If you know Tim, you know this kind of place isn't his style at all, so I give him credit for coming with me (to be fair, his wife was out of town, so he probably didn't know what to do with himself :-) He'll probably deny coming with me though, haha.

I went back a couple of times in 2008, but the place really isn't my style, so I only showed up for events that Jane was throwing. And because I was out of town or busy on some of those nights, I don't think I've been there since May or so.

Date Taken: January 27th, 2008

I would bet you that most Chinese people in Shanghai don't know much about the Propaganda Art Museum , if they even know it's there. Well thanks to my Lonely Planet guide, I knew exactly where to go -- 868 Huashan Lu. (In fact, at that morning's tutoring session, I had just learned my numbers! So when I got off the metro and into the cab, I was able to say "Huashan Lu ba liu ba hao." And the cabbie understood me, hehe.)

The museum is pretty incredible. It spreads over three or four low-ceilinged rooms in the basement of some apartment complex. The guy that runs it charges 20 RMB for entry and for that fee you get an amazing overview of propaganda art, from the mid-40s up until the late 70s. As you can see, much of it is overtly political, with the Chinese proletariat (and its brothers-in-arms, such as the Congolese) depicted as muscled, mighty, and overwhelmingly victorious. Conversely, the US and its allies are, as you can see in the photo above, craven, weak, feeble, and spindly, often wearing over sized hats to accentuate their puniness and holding pathetic-looking weaponry. It's a great exercise in symbolism. And it was the only way for artists of that period to make a living.

My logic in posting the pictures stemmed from the fact that China doesn't block access to the official web site (it's linked above). If that can be allowed to exist, I reasoned, then surely my flickr page is acceptable to the Powers that Be. But I was new to China at this point, so I was a little afraid of posting these pictures online. My unease was heightened when, a day after doing so, my favorite Cold Warrior (Dad!) called me and expressed his concern. I must convinced him of my point of view, because otherwise he would have escalated the issue to Mom. And if I couldn't have convinced her, I would have found a taxi driver waiting for me at the office the next day. "不好意思" he would have said. “你的爸妈要你马上回去美国."And that would've been that :-)

I'll admit I was waiting to come home and find my apartment ransacked, or to wake up at 3 AM to someone trying to break down my door, or some other similar tactic. Luckily nothing of the sort happened. I expressed my concerns to my Chinese co-workers and they pretty much laughed. "People post all sorts of stuff like that these days," they said. "You don't have to worry." I just didn't want me or my company to get in trouble. And I still feel a bit odd posting stuff like this. How strange a free and open Internet will seem to me after I return to America! You people truly don't know how lucky you are. (I can't wait to be one of you again!!)

2008 in Pictures: Part 4

2008-12-04T06:07:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: January 18th, 2008

So this was the night I was introduced to the Void crew. Specifically, that's Cameron on the left and Nat(haniel) behind the turntables. Cameron is Scottish and has a great accent. Honestly it makes him hard to understand sometimes, especially when I'm talking with him in a loud area, like the subway or out on the street :-) But it was fascinating at first because, well, I'd only met one Scottish guy ever, some kid named Rupert who is related to Pie. I guess Austin isn't the Scots' favorite destination the way that Shanghai seems to be for Germany :-) Nat is cool as well, and he's British, which means he has an equally awesome accent. I tell you, hearing all these accents makes being in Shanghai that much more exotic :-)

So before I left for Shanghai, I'd Googled for "techno +shanghai" and came up with Void's web site. An interview they did with a guest DJ was posted on Shanghaiist and brought in huge traffic, including me. I corresponded with Cameron a bit and told him I'd show up to this particular party at Logo. Well I did, and as I walked in, I really felt like I was back in Austin. Logo is a terribly cramped and small venue, lined with wood, filled with hipsters and/or hipster-looking folk, and it just feels very scuzzy and downtrodden. Not unlike Plush in Austin! So I immediately felt comfortable there :-)

I walked in from the cold and stood around taking it all in. As I did so, I ended up just watching the DJ, which is something I do at pretty much every electronic music event. It's just fun for me. Anyway all of a sudden, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said something like "You must be Ryan!" although in Cammy's brogue it sounded more like "Yew mehst be Roi-ahn!" Hahaha, that's hilarious to type out.

That began a year-long friendship of hanging out with the Void kids, going to dinner with them and their friends and the DJs they brought into town, going to Shanghai Shenhua games with Cammy (he's a huge footba -- err, soccer fan), going out for sushi and drinks sometimes, and supporting their monthly gigs as best I could at The Shelter. It was Nat who introduced me to the Guizhou place where I eventually ate fried bees!!

Those guys are so completely into techno it's pretty amazing. I think that's all they listen to. It's definitely all they talk about, musically ;-) They do a really great job of bringing in quality techno DJs to Shanghai, people I've never even heard of but who are innovators and manage to draw a full crowd of crazy people ready to dance. I have really fond memories of The Shelter in part because of them. And in late February Cameron provided a classic interview for Shanghaiist that I conducted over Pizza Hut. Amazing. Just read that in your head in a thick Scottish accent and hopefully you will laugh as hard as I do when I do that :-) Transcribing that interview was really, really fun.

So one of my goals before coming over here was to play a DJ set. I came close to that goal; in July, Cammy invited me to play one night at The Shelter. However, that was the weekend I was headed to Huangshan, so I had to decline. The rest of the year was pretty much booked for them. Since they book international talent, it all has to be done well in advance. It was worth it to me to go to Huangshan instead, but not playing a gig ended up being one of the small regrets I have about my time here. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

Date Taken: January 19th, 2008

This was the day I ended up exploring again and randomly found the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art in People's Square. It's a really cool building and luckily I wandered by when they were showing a cool exhibit. I'm pretty intrigued by Japanese design and this exhibition didn't let me down. I had a great time just walking around and taking pictures of paintings, t-shirts, sculptures, and fans. Of all the pics I took, the one of the girl covered in broken eggs is by far my favorite. In addition to the fact that it's well done, I was just completely taken by surprise to see it on the showroom floor in, of all places, Shanghai. Another thing I remember about the day is that it was the day I almost got wrapped up in the teahouse scam! That was exciting :-) You can read about that at my blog entry here . Things like that happened quite a bit during my time here. I guess a sad thing about it is that it really made me distrust people who randomly walk up to me. I mean, not that I would necessarily trust them anyway, but I don't like viewing people as suspicious from the get-go. But you have to be realistic, especially when you're obviously a foreigner here, that you'll be a target for some of these things. I'm sure similar things happen to tourists in places like NYC or LA.

2008 in Pictures: Part 3

2008-12-03T05:21:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: January 13th, 2008

This is a shot of two important mainstays in my China adventure: shitty weather and the Thumb Plaza. The Thumb, so named after a work of art that inspired the Zendai Museum of Modern Art (which is that squiggly four-story rectangle in the background) is a small outdoor shopping center that's about 2 blocks from my apartment. It's got clothing stores, restaurants, bars, electronics stores, and so on. But its crowning feature is undoubtedly a Carrefour , without which I would surely perish. Their habit of consistently labeling merchandise in English has no doubt saved my ass more than once. For this reason (and also the preponderance of foreign food outlets) I consistently see more foreigners at the Thumb than almost anywhere else in Shanghai (except maybe Xintiandi and the Bund). And because they're so close, I didn't have to worry about buying tons of groceries. I don't have a car, you see, so I have to walk home with my purchases, which means I purchase significantly fewer items per week than I'm used to in Austin. Except there was that one time I overbought and paid a cabbie 20 RMB to help me carry my stuff upstairs, haha.

Aside from that, I predicted when I got here that I'd eat dinner at the Thumb more often than not. Boy do I know myself! Not only did I eat a vast number of meals there (mostly all Chinese, thankfully) but I made a habit out of drinking coffee and reading at the Starbucks most Saturday and Sunday mornings. Now here's the part where I throw up my hands and say that I HATE Starbucks. However, for me it's free over here. And the atmosphere is comfortable. And it's within stumbling distance of my bed. And most importantly, I can't find any local coffee shops around here, certainly not like in Austin. So that's how I rationalized my support of this international conglomerate :-)

Anyway, at the Thumb I will remember several places in particular:

Starbucks, for the aforementioned reasons
Carrefour, again for the aforementioned reasons
Paris Baguette across the way. My ritual (I'm big into rituals, you see) was to buy two pastries (no more, no less, getting different ones each time) at Paris and a coffee at Starbucks, then sit at Starbucks and read.
Ajisen Ramen, a really cheap and kickass noodle house. It's a chain.
Ya Dian Fang, a yummy Shanghainese/generic Chinese place

There are lots of other places there, including some great Korean BBQ, but those are the ones I'll remember the most.

Date Taken: January 13th, 2008

The above two pictures are of Jing'An Temple . There's nothing special about it, really. In fact it's located at a busy intersection in Puxi which means that your attempts to spiritually commune with the world will be made very difficult by honking cars, buses screeching tires, cell phones ringing, and people talking with one another. It even has its own metro station on Line 2. It's a little hard to believe the place is 1,700 years old.

Not too much to say about this place. I definitely remember wanting to take the metro to a random stop and ending up here. It was in my travel guide and looked interesting. Although at the time I was still fascinated by things like this, it's not that interesting really. I've seen much grander and nicer temples in cities like Hangzhou, Beijing, and of course, Tibet. There are lots of temples all over the place in China. Eventually you get tired of seeing them, honestly. They end up looking the same, mostly because they were designed to be that way, whether they're Buddhist, Confucian, or Taoist. After Lhasa I was pretty burned out on temples and monasteries anyway :-)

2008 in Pictures: Part 2

2008-12-02T05:27:00.000-06:00

Date Taken: January 11th, 2008

This photo is of me displaying the first bottle of water I successfully ordered in Chinese! I'd been trying for almost 2 weeks to accomplish this task. I finally did it when Tim and Laurel took me out to Di Shui Dong, an amazing (but stomach-pain-inducing, unfortunately) Hunan restaurant in Puxi. So of course I had to celebrate :-)

The jacket that you see me wearing is the "cold weather" one that I purchased in Austin before leaving for Shanghai. My, how my concept of cold weather had changed in the 3 years I'd been living in Austin. I quickly got rid of that jacket, and hat, as the temperature dropped and the snowstorm hit. Instead, I bought heavier ones.

Date Taken: January 11th, 2008

After lunch, I walked down to Garden Books, this amazingly Austin-y bookstore just a couple blocks from Di Shui Dong. I remember that Tim and Laurel had some other business to attend to (framing pictures), so I was on my own. They were like "Walk three blocks here, turn right here, and go forward. It's on your left. You'll see the sign." I was a little scared to be walking around downtown Shanghai on my own with zero language skills (apart from being able to order a bottle of water, of course), even though I had his cell phone number. Lots of things can happen, right? Luckily I made it to Garden Books okay, and with a sigh of relief, I walked inside.

The place is really calm and cozy. The place is two levels; on the bottom level there are lots of business books, travel books, books about Shanghai specifically & China in general, design books, art books, cookbooks, and so on. They have shitloads of books about selling to this ever-burgeoning Chinese market. There's also a decent-size cafe with plenty of seating just for sitting down and reading (although you have to buy something to be able to sit down), and the food there is pretty good. The funniest part is upstairs, where there's a small but well-stocked (I think) section of books in German. Who'da thunk it?? Every time I tell someone there are a lot of Germans in Shanghai (there are!!), I use this section of the bookstore as evidence. I even found a German copy of A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Like I said, it feels pretty cozy, and having a great English-language bookstore in the city is a real plus. Before I leave I'm going to go back there and buy a big fat coffee table book full of lush, gorgeous Shanghai pictures (to complement my own, of course).

Date Taken: January 11th, 2008

This is one of the views from my apartment, which is on the 18th story of a 25-story building. In my complex there are in total about 25 25-story buildings. Each floor has three apartments. If you do the math, that comes out to 1,875 apartments. Take a reasonable guess of 3 people per apartment and you end up with 5,625 people in my complex. I dunno about you, but that seems like a lot. I joke that all of downtown Austin could fit in here. And there are lots more complexes of similar size dotting the area. Keep in mind that Shanghai has about 20 million people in it! Now that is including all the little boonie-towns in the suburbs, but still. It boggles the mind.

2008 In Pictures: Part 1

2008-12-01T05:31:00.002-06:00

十二月快乐！！

As my time here draws to a close, I will entertain you all (and myself) by posting pictures from my time in China. I'll attempt to go in chronological order and pick one or two pictures from each set I've got. Given that I have over 72 (!!) sets, I won't get to everything, but I'll at least get partway through this trip down memory lane.

Okay? Let's go!

Date Taken: November 3, 2007

What were you doing on November 3, 2007? I was being shown around Shanghai by a co-worker. This first picture is James (yet another co-worker who flew over here with me on my first trip) and myself on The Bund. Near the northern end is this statue of a Chinese figure, who we at first assumed was Mao Ze Dong. Of course, we should have been tipped off by the fact that there are only two Chinese characters on the statue (and not 3 as there would be for China's most notorious leader). And of course we, like many Westerners, associate Mao Ze Dong so strongly with China that we naturally any large statue, especially one that's displayed in such a prominent place as this, must be of him!

Alack, we were incorrect. The statue is of Chen Yi , the first Communist mayor of Shanghai.

Note that I am unsuccessfully attempting to pose like Mr. Chen.

Date Taken: November 4, 2007

The Bund adorns the western/Puxi bank of the Huangpu river, whereas the Promenade (I think it's called) is on the eastern/Pudong side. This is a picture taken from the Promenade at sunset. See how the building on the right flares out at the top? It's designed to be in the shape of a lotus flower; however, Andrea mentioned she called it the Pineapple Building, and ever since then, I haven't been able to think of it in any other way :-) Anyway, the photograph turned out really lovely. And it proves there is beauty in this overwhelming megalopolis of a city, even if it's influenced by a man-made skyline and an extremely-polluted river.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's pictures!!

Do I Look Spanish or Something?

2008-11-30T07:20:00.000-06:00

I was on the metro last night, standing there minding my own business, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I instinctively turned to my left: it was a Chinese person (duh), someone I didn't know. And she said:

"Ustedes habla Espanol?"

She was halfway through "habla" before I realized what I was hearing. I almost replied with "一点点". But I was able to marshal my long-dormant Spanish brain cells and reply "Un poco." Then she turned away and didn't speak to me again. A couple stops later, I turned and looked for her, but she was gone.

Very strange. If I didn't remember it so clearly, I'd be tempted to think I was making it up!

Thanks!!

2008-11-26T07:14:00.008-06:00

2008 has been, beyond all measures, the most eventful year of my life. So what am I thankful for?

Seeing lots of incredible places in China, including (but not limited to) the Great Wall and Mt. Everest
Experiencing not only a different culture, but that culture's take on my culture
Experiencing everyday/non-tourist life here -- waking up, getting to work, paying bills, eating dinner, buying clothes, going grocery shopping, walking in the rain, learning the layout of the city, etc.
Learning a bit of Chinese
Phreaktion and Void
2 kuai zhu rou baozi on the street
The chance to do something completely different at work
Staying in touch with friends & family back home
Sichuan food
Fried bees, fried scorpions, yak's eyeballs, rabbit, pigeon, duck's blood, spicy duck neck, etc.
Baseball (the O's notwithstanding)
The Shelter, Garden Books, LoGo, Thumb Plaza, Taikang Lu, Moganshan Lu, Fuzhou Lu, People's Square, Bonbon, Zhongshan Park, and all the other places in Shanghai that help keep me sane
Same goes for Big Bamboo in Jing'an
All the restaurants and their yummy food
Liang Jian
My Sony DSC H50 and flickr
My Lenovo T61, wireless router, and Google (Blogger, Gmail, GCal, and most importantly, Reader)
Facebook, last.fm, and Friendfeed
My iPod Classic, decent headphones, and iTunes
HandBrake
My China co-workers and friends and all the help they've been in making sense of this crazy city
All the cabbies, barbers, retail workers, watch/bag/DVD salesmen, and others who've complimented my Chinese in one way or another
Wii!
The Shanghai transportation system -- seriously, it's really really nice
Books and movies
Music! Oh wait, I already said iTunes.
Xiao Xu
My immune system -- it's help up amazingly well over here
My fleece jacket and scarf (it's cold over here now ...)

There's a lot more that I can't think of at the moment, but this is a pretty good list, I think.

So kids: what are you thankful for?

The Orange Bailout

2008-11-21T22:32:00.004-06:00

So our office sent around an email on Thursday ... FREE ORANGES for pickup in the HR area at 4 PM Friday. Bring bags.

What's the deal? I asked my Chinese co-workers, and here's what I found out.

There was a maggot infestation scare or something with a recent orange crop. This affected only a small percentage, miniscule really, of a certain region's orange crop. Yet it sharply reduced demand for ALL oranges, regardless of origin or proximity to the damaged ones. People weren't buying. Farmers panicked. "We've got shitloads of oranges and no customers!"

So what happened? The government bought them (the good oranges, I mean) for pennies on the dollar (jin on the yuan, I should say) and sold them to other companies nationwide, including ours. I'm not sure if this sale was forced or not, but I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, the result is that we now have tons of oranges in our office.

I haven't eaten one.