I need to figure out where to get some of these wheels. --
This type of mish mash hodgepodge scene is quite common in China. You just get used to it. It's like Chinatown. "Serenity now!"
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So when you come across sights like this*, it's like where am I?! Serenity? For reals?
China never ceases to surprise and amaze me.
*Houhai Lake right in Beijing proper. --
It's interesting to see the differences regarding outdoor recreational proclivities. Here is some more footage of outdoor Chinese electric sliding and badminton, of course. I like how dude tries to overhead slam the feather shuttle (just googled that) into the face of the girl a la Dumb and Dumber and the snowball fighting scene.
I also went to play hoops at this athletic complex near Tiananmen Square. As you can see, the younger generation also digs soccer and basketball, which is apparently now the number one sport in China.
Of course I failed to get good footage, but China got some young lil' ballers. The main difference is that people don't talk trash on the playground. Or maybe they do, but in a very polite tone of voice and I just can't understand. "Ni hao, your momma got a peg leg with a kickstand."
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I played on the Nike courts. Apparently there is an Adidas complex elsewhere. It was like 95 degrees that day. In retrospect maybe not the best day to end my physical exertion hiatus.
Keeping it real in China. More straight loungin' 3-wheel(non)motion style.
-- Straight loungin' New York style. East Village wha!!
(This picture was sitting in my computer for the past 2 years waiting for that special moment to be shared with the world. That moment has arrived.)
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In other news, just got internets installed in my apartment. This is huge. Sky is the limit baby baabaaaaay. More posts with more regularity like x to the lizzax.
Apparently the Powers-That-Be were distributing these graphic pamphlets/tissues packs the other day. You know, to help spread the message about not spitting. Onto the street. Spitting into the trash receptacle? YES!!! "Now, foreigners here to see the Olympics won't think Chinese people lack manners!"
What is ironic about this message, or rather what this message overlooks is the hocking factor. Chinese people like to get they hock-a-loogie on. We know this. But it's not just the loogie that is repugnant. We can't forget about the hocking. Hooooooccccckkkkkkkkk. Even old ladies do it. Like you're walking down the street and you hear: hoooooccckkkkkkk!!!!! You turn around and can't help but go, "Cah mon now, that ish is gross grandma!"
I guess it's like Pfife Dawg once said, "You get an E for effort and T for nice try."
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Just bought a blender. Smoothies back in e.f.f.e.c.t. Except frozen strawberries are like $15 here. How come nobody told me about the Freeze-The-Fruit premium in China? Luckily I managed the wherewithal to buy some Asian pears (USD .35) and put them in my freezer myself. Cause I'm crazy like that.
Anyway, my smoothie-making (word to Randy Moss!) resumption reminded me of another cultural difference I've found here in China. See sometimes the customer is not right here. Like no means no and that's that. For example, a while back a couple of colleagues, Viviane and Adam, and I went to get some fresh juice at this fresh juice joint.
Viviane orders a watermelon juice. The juicemaker takes some watermelon pieces and drops them into the juicer. I spy some sliced pears behind the counter, so I order a pear juice. The juicemaker takes the pear slices and drops them into the juicer. Figgy figgy fresh!
Then Adam steps up. He scans the fruit selection behind the counter. Oranges. Bananas. The proverbial light bulb goes off. "Can I have an orange and banana?"
Blank stare.
The juice maker finally responds, "Huuhhhwwwhhaaaaatttt???!!!!" (Lil' Jon-style.) OK, maybe I embellish.
The juicemaker looks at Adam, mutters "orange and banana" like he's crazy, and replies: "NO."
Adam is incredulous. "Are you serious? Why not?"
The juicemaker points to the posted menu. "Orange banana juice is not on the menu. Besides you can't put oranges and bananas together!"
"Yes, you can. You put those oranges right there and those bananas and you put them in the juicer."
"NO!!" Case closed.
Viviane quite enjoyed her watermelon juice. I thought my pear juice was quite refreshing. Adam wasn't all that impressed with his banana sans orange juice.
So I bought some wheels the other day cause you know I gotta stay fresh. (Couldn't find any 3-wheel action).
-- Brand spanking new, we talking about USD 30. That's how I roll. Only Hi-Quarity. With a kickstand. Act like you know.
Then somebody jacked my bike last night. Dayam Debo. --
Anyway, got a chance to go back to the MIDI Fest this past Friday.
Besides that last act in the video clip, a lot of the bands were not, well, mindblowing. I had to remind myself how new all this "youth culture" is for China's young generation. It's kind of developing in a vacuum, with no real precedence besides the good ol' propaganda songs ("Socialism Rules!").
One thing about the Midi Festival I noticed was the relative ease in getting a beer. Given that thousands of people were there, the wait was only 5 minutes. In the US I would imagine at least a 20-30 minute wait. Not sure if this is related, but the crowd did seem rather sober...
Scanning the crowd, though, the festival felt quite similar to a music festival back home. Obviously a lot the kids are taking their cue from outside, such as USandA.
For example, saw some Chinese Slayer looking dudes.
-- Some crowd surfing.
-- Sk8 or die little sha!
-- The electronic music stage starting to get warmed up.
-- Trees.
-- Lee Jeans had an arts and crafts booth for people to make their own t-shirts. Commerce + DIY!
-- Megadeth plus Lou Vee. Obviously.
-- Vendors hawking their wares. "Dude the rainbow-colored clown wig is sooooo last year. Have you seen our all-purple one?"
-- "Are you sure a medium will fit me? Can I just try this on?" -- Some Mr. T fans.
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As Nas once said: One mic. (plus one meat on a stick).
Yesterday checked out the Midi Festival at Haidian Park. Started 7 years ago by the Beijing Midi School of Music, this lil' shindigger is now the largest outdoor music festival in China, where bands come from all over the provinces to showcase "what they got." This year there was the main stage, the rock stage, the electronic music stage, the hip hop stage, and the MIDI/avant-garde stage (i.e., bleep bleep boop stage).
Found this clip covering last year's festival by danwai.org, who wondered if the DIY spirit would be totally overrun by the emerging commercial forces behind the event.
-- Well at least imagery of DJing is not getting commecialized in China.
-- These guys were my crowd MVP's.
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A view of the festival grounds from behind the hip hop stage. The park security guards wear gloves so you know not to mess with them. (One of the guys was later drinking a beer. Rock on!)
-- My new favorite Chinese rappers, C.O.U. Hilarious. (Unintentional hilarity?)
-- I took some video footage of this Mongolian rock band and the China DMC champion, DJ Wordy, but there was too much audio distortion. Sucks. Anyway, this Mongolian group had this singer that was pretty dope. Apparently a traditional Mongolian singing style entails using the back-lower throat. To me it sounded like when people imitate smokers, who have had a tracheotomy.
DJ Wordy was definitely legit with his wicky wicky's, but my favorite was this dance troupe. It was kind of like they were performing for a talent contest, as they were very earnest and had great outfits. Well see for yourself.
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And your boy, for those of you that try to act like they don't remember:
