Allen Ginsberg on autobiographical poems

Allen Ginsberg serves up a lecture on revising autobiographical poems in this 1983 recording. Note: this is a class tape recording and the actual seminar does not begin until several minutes into the recording. "Could the rest of you please fucking do it," Ginsberg pleads on the tape, as he tries to get his Naropa students to do their homework. "You don't know what your losing, I'm not going to be here forever," Ginsberg says later as he curses out another late-arriving student. Autobiography in more ways than one. Eventually Ginsberg gets around to reading some classic poems in his theatrical style, to the sound of what sounds like a pen tapping.

Try writing with the intention of someone who wants to see you naked and has an ear for weird language, Ginsberg advises. "To be literal, I wrote 'Howl' with Kerouac in mind and with the specific intention that my father will never see this," he adds.

The Aftermath

As performed by the Danish rock group Kashmir.

The Coming Battle Over Free Wi-Fi

Chadwick Martin has an important story up on Slate now about a current bidding war for spectrum space that is supposed to be used to provide a free national wi-fi network across America... and what Big Telecom may do to sabotage the plan. I recommend reading this article. It can be found here.

The Taichi Sunrise

The Taichi Sunrise
Originally uploaded by Chad Ingraham

This photo is by an old acquaintance of mine, Chad Ingraham. He has a current photo exhibition now at PX2 Shanghai with Natalie Hill. Details are here.

"Dance With Shanghai" rehearsal

"Dance With Shanghai" rehearsal
Originally uploaded by photog37

I Saw Her In The Anti-War Demonstration

Jens Lekman performing live in 2007.

When I was sixteen I hung out with the kids who lacked it
The kind of punks that were born in leather jackets
The kind of punks who placed themselves in brackets
And she was one of them, back then she was somebody's girlfriend
And I was noone, I had nothing
And the skies, were clear blue skies
And her eyes, were clear blue eyes
And her thighs, were about the same size as mine
And we were walking in the anti war demonstration
It was a sweet sensation of love

Jens Lekman at the Glamour Bar

Jens Lekman at the Glamour Bar
Originally uploaded by photog37

Singing "Hotel California" with a bunch of pirates

I don't know where this Slate series is going but it looks interesting. From the latest dispatch:

ATAM, Indonesia—Mr. Black, the ex-pirate, doesn't exactly speak English. And I don't exactly speak Indonesian. The words we know in each other's languages are pretty basic. Eat, sorry, please, like, call, night, walk...

It takes me a minute to realize that one of these guys is Anto, the first ex-pirate I met—the guy who's been blowing me off for more than a week.

"I'm sorry, Kelly!" Anto says when he recognizes me. He speaks quite a bit of English. "I told you I was busy. I was busy with this!"

No problem, I say.

"But you should be happy now," he says. "You are sitting with all the pirates!"

Full story here.

cosmetix*

cosmetix*
Originally uploaded by ༺lifemage༻

One from Ian Sands, truly one of the best photographers on Flickr.

Folk Singer Odetta passes away

Odetta, a folk singer heavily involved in the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 60's, passed away on Tuesday. The New York Times has posted a interview with her here. I would love to find her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels (And Nothing On," but the closest I could find is a grainy video of Springsteen singing live. Here is a very nicely aged video of Springsteen singing "No Surrender," which later became the theme song of the John Kerry presidential campaign. Or a rocking duet from the campaign trail with Eddie Vedder. Springsteen and Neil Young blasting through a fiery live version of "All Along the Watchtower." On second thought, the audio on that one sucks. Here's a slightly better, if sedated, recording.

But this is Odetta's moment, so we should end with a few highlights from her career. On "The Johnny Cash Show." A snapshot slideshow set to her rich cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." "Midnight Special" with keyboard accompaniment. One in the stranger video category... And singing "Pastures of Plenty" last year in Michigan.

Pink Berry at Zhijiang Dream Factory

Pink Berry at Zhijiang Dream Factory
Originally uploaded by photog37

Got It Going On: Jens Lekman and Mahjong

I'd like to take this opportunity to once again plug Jens Lekman's upcoming shows in Shanghai (one of which is starting as we speak). Lekman is a stellar pop craftsman and I think he's going to be one to watch for a long time.

On another note, Shanghai Expat will be holding its eighth anniversary party on Saturday night with a Mahjong theme event at the Aqua Bar. Cocktails, a live band and a dj will be there to spike the night along.

Sunday, well we have plans for Sunday, too...

Kang Mao of the SUBS at Zhijiang Dream Factory

Kang Mao of the SUBS at Zhijiang Dream Factory
Originally uploaded by photog37

The SUBS played a wild set last Saturday night, reaching its zenith as lead singer Kang Mao leaped into the crowd for an instrumental set and danced with members of the audience. She wasn't performing out in the audience, she was truly one of them, soaking in the music, moshing with the crowd.

New Pants at Zhijiang Dream Factory in Shanghai

New Pants at Zhijiang Dream Factory in Shanghai
Originally uploaded by photog37

Photos from the SUBS show will be coming soon. In the meantime, here's another pic from last week, this one with a retro 70's-esque vibe.

Tracking blog censorship in the PRC

Hong Kong-based scholar Rebecca McKinnon has an informative online presentation on recent tests comparing Chinese web censorship among blog providers. One thing I thought was interesting to note: YahooCN and MySpace are listed among the blog providers pulling down web content, according to the study.

Following the chain

Interestingly enough, immediately after I posted the excerpt below from Nicholas Kristof's article on acid attacks in Asia, this blog drew a block from Chinese web censors (the blog had been viewable once again over the last few days).

Terror against women: all too common in central Asia

Nicholas Kristof writing in the New York Times:

"[A]longside the brutal public terrorism that fills the television screens, there is an equally cruel form of terrorism that gets almost no attention and thrives as a result: flinging acid on a woman’s face to leave her hideously deformed.

Here in Pakistan, I’ve been investigating such acid attacks, which are commonly used to terrorize and subjugate women and girls in a swath of Asia from Afghanistan through Cambodia (men are almost never attacked with acid). Because women usually don’t matter in this part of the world, their attackers are rarely prosecuted and acid sales are usually not controlled...

This month in Afghanistan, men on motorcycles threw acid on a group of girls who dared to attend school. One of the girls, a 17-year-old named Shamsia, told reporters from her hospital bed: 'I will go to my school even if they kill me. My message for the enemies is that if they do this 100 times, I am still going to continue my studies'...

Since 1994, Ms. Bukhari [of the Progressive Women's Association] has documented 7,800 cases of women who were deliberately burned, scalded or subjected to acid attacks, just in the Islamabad area. In only 2 percent of those cases was anyone convicted."

Full story here.

Les Nuits Blanches

Les Nuits Blanches
Originally uploaded by photog37

The Wrestler

“It’s a well-established genre of movie, the creative genius who’s somehow tortured by their art,” Mr. Siegel, 37, said in a recent lunchtime interview over a bowl of matzo ball soup at a diner in Chelsea. “In this case his art is running around in lime-green tights, whacking people with folding chairs."

-Former Onion writer Robert Siegel being interviewed in the New York Times about The Wrestler, his upcoming movie starring Mickey Rourke and directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream)

Fierce trouble: the SUBS rock Shanghai

The SUBS blew away Zhijiang Dream Factory last night and just about any dispute as to who is best live act in China. I'm not even a fan of hardcore music but their stage presence was awesome. (Not those Subs. The Chinese rock band.)

Quote of the Day: TIME and censorship

"But I now see why the authorities like censorship. With our blog blocked in China, there are far fewer commenters who log in and label us idiots. Censorship, it seems, has confirmed our brilliance."
-Austin Ramzy, TIME reporter, writing about China's recent block against all Wordpress-based blogs (including TIME Magazine)

Butterfly On The Wall

Butterfly On The Wall
Originally uploaded by photog37

Not safe for work

Some unusual looking nudes.

For those who never sleep

Shanghai apparently has a new club opening with a 3 a.m. opening time. No word on whether they serve breakfast.

New Pants at Zhijiang Dream Factory in Shanghai

New Pants at Zhijiang Dream Factory in Shanghai
Originally uploaded by photog37

Punk disco stylists the New Pants (新裤子）tour in support of their "Equal Love" album, Nov. 22, 2008 at the Zhijiang Dream Factory in Shanghai. The Fire Balloon and Boys Climbing Ropes were openers.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Originally uploaded by photog37

Another shot of the Zurich Ballet performance in Shanghai..

Trouble in Longnan

A blogger has posted an article and photos related to the Longnan riots on Sina.com. The Washington Post reports it like this:

"On Monday, about 2,000 people rioted in Gansu's Wudu district over plans to move the Longnan city government offices, which had been damaged in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, to a nearby county. Fearing the move would reduce property values and threaten their livelihoods, Wudu residents protested again Tuesday, clashing violently with police and looting government offices, the Gansu Daily reported."

China's Andy Rooney

Courtesy of the Onion News Network.

Leopard Skin: A Nod to Surrealism

Leopard Skin
Originally uploaded by photog37

Love this picture...

Growing pains at Facebook

Saw this message at the top of my Facebook scroll today, "Unfortunately, your email notification settings have been lost. You can reset them on the Notifications page. We're sorry for the inconvenience." Not the kind of message you want to hear from a service that is also storing a large volume of email, photos and videos.

Speaking of Facebook, let us officially note that the new Facebook sucks. I don't have time to run through all the reasons right now but I'll note down a few:
1) Old news keeps popping up at the top of the feed.
2) Stuff I wanted on my main page was bounced to back pages... if you select on the move-to-Wall option, instead of moving it the Wall, Facebook erases the application entirely.
3) Status updates, often involving someones personal choice in tea or school homework, are always on the top of the feed.
4) The photo previews in the news feed are too small to see.
5) The new walls are awkward-looking and difficult to navigate.
6) Etc.

A tight weekend: New Pants, Yoko Ono, et al

Beijing disco-punk stylists the New Pants are playing at the Zhijiang Dream Factory tomorrow and we've signed on as photographer for the gig. A preview can be found here (scroll down to bite the player). Yoko Ono may also be on the agenda.

Pointe Work Remastered

Pointe Work (Take 3)
Originally uploaded by photog37

Just playing a bit with Photoshop...

White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army": cover to cover

Well, I never did find the particular cover I was looking for... but here's a mini-roundup of some of the "Seven Nation Army" videos that can be found online...

Original music video.
The White Stripes live (Under Blackpool Lights).
Afra & Incredible Beatbox band.
Living Colour looking very hard up with Vernon Reid on vocals.
An erotic video from Punk Division.
Boss Hoss does a Southern rock/hillbilly version (audio only).
Tomer G does a Tom Jones-esque beach version.
Talia provides a tutorial on playing the bass lines.
Morgan does a home-recorded coffeehouse acoustic version.
Mashed up with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".... doesn't work.

Pointe Work

Pointe Work
Originally uploaded by photog37

Blocked again

This blog is blocked again today in China. My guess: this blog is getting tied up from keyword blocks as result of headlines that are appearing in the news feed from other China websites around the web. My take: blocking websites is juvenile.

White Stripes cover Dylan's "Love Sick"

While we're on YouTube... here are the White Stripes doing their take on the opening track to Bob's Time Out of Mind album.

Ryan Adams "Let It Ride"

Just felt like hearing the song today. On Letterman. A rough acoustic cut. A smoother recording with Neal Casal. Any which way. Let it ride.

Leopard Skin in the Window

lounge18_11
Originally uploaded by photog37

A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shanghai Grand Theatre

A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shanghai Grand Theatre
Originally uploaded by photog37

More photos to come...

The vice-presidential candidate has no clothes

Palin has been busy unveiling herself to the media over the last few days, an apparent effort to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign in 2012 and/or undue the damage done by her bizarre candidacy. Among other things, she claims to have little knowledge of how the hundreds of dollars of clothing purchased in Minnesota ended up in her wardrobe. The only thing she ever asked for was a "Diet Dr. Pepper." (Campaign aide Nicole Wallace also used this phrase in interviews, apparently the diet soda was a canned line).

So among other noticeable developments, Palin gave her first "press conference" since being nominated as the Republican vice-presidential candidate several months ago. All of four minutes and four questions.

One passage from the New York Times article caught my eye:

Ms. Palin tried to play down her celebrity (even after a week in which she was featured in interviews on NBC, Fox News and CNN). In her speech, she tried to shift the focus from herself to the work that Republican governors must now do, including developing energy resources and overhauling health care.

“I am not going to assume that the answer is for the federal government to just take it over and try to run America’s health care system,” Ms. Palin said. “Heaven forbid.”

If she's staunchly against government involvement in health care, what does she mean by "overhauling health care"? Sounds like she means freezing in place the status quo: close to 50 million Americans without health insurance, health insurance policies that flip every time you change employers, health employers that drop the sick and only cover the healthy.

Well, this website is going to dedicate itself to a true pro-life cause: health care reform in America. In the months and years ahead, look for many postings here outlining the failure of the current health care system in America and the government strategies that could be used in order to ensure adequate health care to all Americans–not only the wealthy upper crust and people with clean bills of health.

Open Wide

Mouth of a White Tiger
Originally uploaded by photog37

The Fifth Black Eyed Pea... or who is DJ Motiv8?

Needless to say, we were intrigued when we saw that a "DJ Motiv8 of the Blacked Eyed Peas" is coming to Bonbon in Shanghai. While Bonbon is widely known as a place for foreign exchange students to get sloshed, it is not known as a mecca for megastar recording acts, certainly not on a Thursday night. A perfunctory web search only deepened our curiosity. DJ Motiv8's name was mysteriously left off the band's history on allmusic.com. Monroe Walker (aka DJ Motiv8) had his Wikipedia entry deleted for "blatant advertising."

Google cache pulled up the deleted Wikipedia entry:

"Dj Motiv8 came across William Adams at an early age, at the time (Will 1X) was taken under Motiv8's wing to be taught the ways of music production, studio recording, and overall stage presence. Along with Will there were three other MC's: Allen Pineda, Dante Santiago, and Mookie Mook(Burning Star). The Four became known as The Atban Klann and signed to easy E's "Ruthless Records" in 1992. The group recorded an album in 1994 entitled Grass Roots, which was supposed to be released on "Ruthless Records" but wasn't do to the death of Eazy E.

After the tragedy, the group changed it up adding Jaime Gomez as Dante Santiago left to pursue a solo career. The Group would now become the "Black Eyed Peas". With Will.i.am (Will Adams), apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda), and Taboo (Jaime Gomez) being the MC's, and Motiv8 being the groups official Dj... Motiv8 has become a frequent celebrity guest of honor in Shanghai China. On his third trip there this year, Motiv8 is laying foundation for the upcoming Black Eyed Peas tour following the release of their upcoming 2009 album The E.N.D (The Energy Never Dies). Furthermore, Dj Motiv8 has been featured on many projects for artist such as: Madonna, Bel Biv Devoe, Kid from Kid n Play, Billy Idol, N-sync, Shifty of Crazy Town, and Kylie Monogue to name a few."

A booking listing on A&M Entertainment had additional self-promotional details:

"... Today they are known in the world as AplDe Ap, Taboo and Will.i.am Now better known as the World Famous Black Eyed Peas. For years they worked and lived together in pursuit of making there love for music into more than just a passion for hip hop. By 1993 they were signed onto Easy Es record label Ruthless Records under the group name the Atban Klann. In 1994 the record came out which was produced by DJ Motiv8. Unfortunately shortly after the records release, Easy E passed away due at an eraly age due to a publicly unknown infection of the A.I.D.S. virus. The Atban Klann were then released from Ruthless Records.

Motiv8 continued Djing on artists tracks such as Kylie Minogue always remaining busy at work in the studio producing tracks for many artists. Also touring as a solo artist in countries such as the Philippines, Japan, and Australia where he has headlined overseas tours with MC Supernatural. By this time, the Black Eyed Peas had been Created and Motiv8 since The Atban Klann days remained as their official group DJ. Touring all over the world and appearing in many of the early music videos from albums such as Behind the Frontand Bridging the Gap.

Furthermore he is the only featured scratch DJ for the Black Eyed Peas from the first album to the current and upcoming projects. Although touring took up a large part of his time, Motiv8 has always found time to work with some of the worlds biggest and respected artists. Producing tracks for Music Legends like Madonna ("Ray of Light album"), Billy Idol and the Coors,etc..."

A movie listing on Yahoo made similar claims to the A&M agency: "DJ Motiv8 is widely lauded throughout the hip-hop world, mostly for his work with Black Eyed Peas. As a producer he has worked with such luminaries as Madonna, Billy Idol, N-Sync, and more. This solo outing is a soundclash of hip-hop and drum and bass, all digitally remastered for the stunning DVD-Audio format."

Finding corroboration for some of this information proved to be a bit difficult. Walker is not mentioned in either the production details or credits for Madonna's "Ray of Light" album, at least as quoted on Wikipedia. Discogs.com also makes no mention of any work Walker did on the album.

DJ Motiv8's credit listing on discogs.com offers up a more modest summary: production credit for an Atban Klann promo single, "Puddles of H20." Atban Klann, as mentioned in the bio above, were a predecessor group to the Black Eyed Peas signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records label. Motiv8 is also listed a scratcher on two tracks from the Black-Eyed Peas' 1998 album Behind the Front. On the 2000 followup (and breakthrough album) Bridging the Gap, a "DJ Motive" (presumably Motiv8) is listed as being the turntablist for six tracks. The website did not credit him with any contributions to Elephunk or Monkey Business.

Wikipedia lists another "DJ Motiv8," Steve Rodway, who produced a remix for Kylie Minogue. More on the other Motiv8 is here...

That's as far as I was motivated to delve into the matter. I don't know if Walker is a good DJ or not, but if you're in Shanghai you should be able to find him at Bonbon tonight and most other nights from now until December 9. If nothing else, you can get sloshed for 100 kuai on a Thursday night (50 kuai if you're a chick). And who knows, maybe he'll play a little Black Eyed Peas.

More on DJ Shadow in Shanghai

Shanghaiist came out with its review of the DJ Shadow show in Shanghai and their assessment was the exact same as mine:

"So one of the world's best DJ's came to China this weekend and where did he choose to play... Richy, one of the worst places on earth unless you happen to be a gangster, a 15 year old Shanghainese girl, a strange man that likes rubbing people's legs while they dance (this happened to us the last time we went there) or an Edison Chen wannabe. As for the show Shadow played an amazing set (the best we've ever heard him play... he dropped Organ Donor about 5 minutes into his set) but the crowd was just confused. Hipsters and Puxi trendies clashed with Chivas and green tea drinking dice players for space in ridiculously over crowded club. Richy completely over sold the tickets to a dangerous level and the bouncers were really aggressive in dealing with everything from taking photos to drawing on the posters outside the club."

For a glimpse of Shadow at his finest, check out the Organ Donor video on YouTube. Fine stuff. Yo Shadow, next time play the Shelter!

Dancer in Rainbow Color

Dancer in Rainbow Color
Originally uploaded by photog37

Sexy Beijing: Eat Me

Author Linda Jaivin talks about China's cultural rebirth and sexual awakening in the 1980's with Sufei of Sexy Beijing.

Jens Lekman to tour China

Swedish indie-pop songwriter Jens Lekman will be touring China next month, with stops at MAO Live in Beijing (Dec. 2), JZ Club in Hangzhou (Dec. 3) and Glamour Bar in Shanghai (Dec. 4). Lekman comes from the same musical family as Tom Waits and the Magnetic Fields. He has an ability to keep his songs sappy yet sublime. Personal favorites: "If You Ever Need A Stranger," "Julie," and "Black Cab." Some tracks can be previewed on his MySpace site.

Dancer at the Microphone

Dancer at the Microphone with Fan
Originally uploaded by photog37

Why read Nerve.com when you have China Daily?

Today China's government-run English language publication had these listed as its "most read/commented upon" stories from the last 48 hours:

· College girls go nude before camera for eternal beauty
· Serena Williams and Brett Ratner
· Mom shows body to teach sex
· Top 10 world's sexiest women unveiled
· Carmen Electra shows her open sexy legs
· Porn company to release Paris Hilton sex video

DJ Shadow at the Richy: Super Cool DJ, Super Shitty Club

DJ Shadow in Shanghai
Originally uploaded by photog37

DJ Shadow played Shanghai last night. The title above sums it up: great musicsmith, lame-ass venue. Yo Shadow, next time play the Shelter!

DJ Shadow came out of the influential Solesides/Quannum crew at UC-Davis in the mid-90's and has been laying down killer tracks ever since, sampling from his voluminous record collection and collaborating with other like-minded hip-hop and electronica artists like Lateef, Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, Cut Chemist, etc. His first set in China started off with about two hours of hip-hop and concluded with an hour of techno. The club briefly got rocking around 2 a.m. as Shadow threw down tracks from Bloc Party and UNKLE (of which Shadow was once a member).

But in the cool DJ versus cool club department, it's hard not to emphasize the importance of a cool club. I'd take a house DJ any night of the week at the Shelter over a name DJ playing a place like Richy on a Friday night. The name says it all: Pretentious, asinine, playing to every stereotype of the more corny Chinese clubs (no surprise, this club was brought by the makers of Babyface). The listed cover price of 100 RMB shot up to 180 RMB while Shadow was playing his set... $26 just to get in the door. The dance floor in the center of the room was so full of cocktail tables that it was difficult to even walk in between the bar stools, let alone dance. Morose-looking guards in black were everywhere advising people on everything from which way to walk across the room to diving in to descend on anyone who took a photo without a permit. They were pretty polite but their sheer numbers brought back flashbacks of being at the Beijing Olympics.

Air quality in the room also left something to be desired. Richy had the fog machine blowing continually: fog might have a nice effect once in awhile, maybe as an opening for the night, but when it's blowing through every two minutes it's incredibly annoying, kind of like having a light version of mace sprayed in your face. Coupled with the cigarette smoke, it was almost impossible to breathe in there. For all its pretension, the club is not particularly large. The single room has a plain squarish layout, black walls and silver disco balls.

Shadow gamely played through his set, starting off with an explanation for why it took him so long to play China: clubs (according to his explanation) just wanted him to do straight DJ stuff, not his own music. So tonight he said he would be playing a mixture of DJ stuff and his own original tracks. He seemed unsure what do with the crowd at hand, although some of them certainly were diehard fans. Typical banter: holding up a 45 record and saying, "Do you know what this is?" Uh, yeah. The slight saving grace for the evening was that the music was pretty good and it was nice to see Shadow at work. Next time he arrives in Shanghai, here's hoping we can go see him at a real club.

Tango Dancer

Tango Dancer
Originally uploaded by photog37

Welcome President Obama

My election postings can be found here.

Blogspot blocked in China?

I was having difficulty yesterday. Don't know if it was the recent Taiwan negotiations, the Dalai Lama's press conference in Tokyo, or simply my own crappy Internet connection.

An ongoing chronology of on-again, off-again blocking of Blogspot can be found here.

As a general note, web browsers in China are advised to use Hotspot Shield, Witopia, or other similar software.

Upcoming: November 8

DJ Shadow in Shanghai.

Chinglish preservation efforts

I always see funny Chinglish signs but I rarely pause to take photographs of them. Fortunately, others are not so careless. Last year, the Daily Mail posted a series of pictures of Chinglish classics, including "The store be sterilized inside, please be contented" and "Free yourself from the misery of existence" (mistranslated name of an art shop). There is also a Flickr group devoted to the unusual language.

Hot Licks

I wasn't aware that actress Juliette Lewis ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape?") had a band until today. She is the lead singer for hard rock band called Juliette and the Licks. I kind of like them. Song samples can be found on their MySpace page. Apparently, they've been around since 2004. I've been in China for the last two-and-a-half years, so you'll have to forgive me if this old news. Lewis has a good set of pipes and this band has attitude. Their music is nothing revolutionary–just loud raunchy rock that gets you moving.

Show Rider

Show Rider
Originally uploaded by photog37

Crashing the Ballet

A followup to my earlier post on the Theatre of Nations. As I reported in a previous entry, I was told that international photographers were not being given photo passes at this international event (carried out under the indirect auspices of UNESCO). While that bias is true, I have been able (fortunately) to take photos regardless. Tickets were being offered outside the doors by scalpers in abundant supplies. What is cool about venues in Nanjing (unlike, say, Shanghai or anywhere in the western world) is that they are wholly tolerant of photographers shooting during cultural performances. Speaking from the standpoint of a photographer, I think this is the way it should be the world over. For Nanjing theaters, which have trouble filling seats, it's a draw to get people in the door. Shanghai could use this extra draw as well; the Shanghai Grand Theater may be a grand and exquisite classical auditorium, but there's nothing grand about its attendance record, which tends to be pretty dismal outside of Christmas and other special occasions. Yes, photo clicking is annoying, but if you're tuned into a performance it's very easy to quickly drown it out. Having those photos in circulation means loads of publicity for the performers. And for the spectators, it is a way to remember a two-hour event forever. There may be exceptions, but I think as a general rule performing halls should be much more open to photography.

Puking

Puking
Originally uploaded by photog37

We've all had days like this.

Looking for a backup hard drive?

I found this review to be useful.

Ying Tang: Shanghai photographer

One of the most generous commentators on my Flickr site is a woman named Ying Tang. I take her remarks as high praise because of the fine quality of her own work. Selections from her street photography work can be found on the Public Life website.

In-Store Model

Model
Originally uploaded by photog37

A living model poses inside of a Shanghai store display.

Up close and personal

Can I say that the over-sharpened lens-up-to-the-nose-hair portrait style has been overdone? Take a look at this Corbis shot of Oliver Stone used in the Wall Street Journal. That's what I'm talking about. The New York Times Magazine loves to run cover photos using the same style, especially if the story involves a politician. Some might call it intimacy but I call it laziness.

Shanghai Chili Cookoff

Shanghai Chili Cookoff
Originally uploaded by photog37

To each their own. The chili wasn't bad.

Keywords used to filter web content in China

An interesting list.


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The Girl and the Balloon

The Girl and the Balloon
Originally uploaded by photog37
One of the neat thing about Flickr is the many obscure groups you will find inside its vast collection. Today a photographer contacted me and asked me to submit the photo above to a group called "Her Balloon Happiness" (there is also a corresponding "His Balloon Happiness" group elsewhere). I took a look at the group page and was surprised to discover more than 1,700 images of women and girls with balloons from around the world.

These range from the obvious photos of attractive models (here, here, here and here) to artsy candid pics (here and here) to humorous stuff (here and here) and retro visions (here)...

I've had a long week. My hard drive died and I have 300 gigabytes of data that I don't know if I'll ever see again. There was something about all those balloons that brought a smile to my face. Here's a picture of a girl with her balloon.

Please don't come to our international events

So get this: I was planning to take photos at the 31st annual Theatre of Nations in Nanjing. The Theatre of Nations is a UNESCO-connected event involving performers from ten or more countries. The whole thing had been arranged. A couple weeks ago, I was told I would be able to come in and photograph the event, no problem.

Today, one day before the opening, I was told by the organizer that things had changed. The organizer, a Mr. Xu, said that because of the current climate in China, photographers from the international community are not invited and the only way I would be able to attend would be to go through an elaborate procedure with the government which he did not anticipate I would get. Well, there's one way to welcome the world.

These are the same sort of shenanigans which went on with the Olympics. It's why so many Olympic venues in Beijing were half-empty and the atmosphere there was so dull and vapid. If China wants to become a world leader, it needs to learn to get over its biases and xenophobia.


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Party paparazzi

Beckoned by the call of free drinks and models with long legs, this photographer is now moonlighting in the discotheque world. Evidence can be found on this website.



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Wham! makes it big in China

Wham! apparently was the first major pop group to tour China in the post-Mao opening period of the 1980's. A documentary was made of the 1985 tour and part of it can be found on Youku.


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Between Two Sides

Between Sides
Originally uploaded by photog37

A photo taken at dusk with the new 40D camera.

Hulu International

Tuned in just now to watch the presidential debate on Hulu, Fox and NBC's erstwhile effort to compete with YouTube and other online video sources. With much aplomb, it was announced earlier this season that Hulu would be broadcasting the second two presidential debates live.

Here's what appears at the Hulu debate feed right now, five minutes into the debate:

"Sorry, this video is currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience."

Fortunately, those techies at the New York Times have a live feed which I am using to watch the debate right now.



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New Frontier

My camera died so I had to make an unexpected purchase. After withdrawing all the money from my bank account, I came up with the Canon 40D which I negotiated from a local retailer for $885. I would have preferred to get the 50D, with its enhanced ISO, but I didn't have the extra $250 to pull it in.

It's going to be a long month. Tomorrow's dinner will be the only remaining food in the house: pasta shells and coconut milk. Should be an interesting mixture!

Over the last week, I've had a chance to use the new camera extensively. My observation: the xxD series is miles ahead of the Digital Rebel series in every way. The focusing is precise and the light meter is more accurate (although the 40D sometimes underexposes by about a third of an f-stop; by contrast, the Rebel XT frequently overexposed by one- or two-thirds). Shooting in monochrome, I'm able to nearly mimic the look of black and white film. The shutter click is loud but not as grating as the XT. Noise at 3200 is a bit of a problem (that's the principal reason I would have preferred the 50D; the 50D has a listed ISO of 12,800, which means in practice it develops solid pictures at 3200, noisy but usable pictures at 6400, and TV static-style pictures at 12,800). For a very clear ISO sample of the 50D, try this website.

This one-f-stop difference is very significant in my case because of the frequency with which I do no-flash low-light photography. Other than that, though, I don't think there's much difference between the 40D and 50D (or the 20D or 30D, for that matter). The 50D does have 15 megapixels, but since I'm not into billboard photography just yet, this isn't a make-or-break priority right now. I'd like to have that extra file data, but I realize trying to dump that much onto my hard drive would cripple it (I'm going to have enough trouble managing the workflow with the 40D's 10 megapixels).

Camera manufacturers like to make it seem like they're re-inventing the wheel with every model that comes out, but truthfully an update is an update–if it was a new camera, they'd give it a new name. I looked at the specs of all three of the Digital Rebels that were released last year and I wasn't convinced that they weren't all the exact same camera with minor tweaking here and there (megapixels is a frequent distinguishing feature, but more megapixels often just means more noise).

One thing that does impress me about the 40D is the battery life... I've had several heavy shooting days, and the battery hasn't run down on me yet (only once did it drop to the halfway marker). With the Rebel XT, a heavy shooting day meant using the kit battery and two spares.

Another HUGE difference is the viewfinder. Working with the Rebel XT for the last three years, I didn't realize that I couldn't see what I was shooting. The 40D viewfinder is much larger and brighter and shows almost the entire image area. With this new range of view, I now have the option of manual focusing, something that wasn't very practical with the Rebel XT's pinhole-size eyepiece.

The 40D is a bigger and heavier compared to my old machine, but I quickly got used to the added heft and didn't really notice it after a day or two. The wheel menu is a lot faster to use than punch buttons. I set the focus points on quick dial, which makes it much easier to adjust them on the go.

One thing I don't like: the only way to view the focus point is to change it; I'd like to be able to just glance at it and confirm what it is (today I was getting frustrated with poor autofocus, then realized that the focus point had been bounced to the top of the screen, I must have brushed against the quick dial).

Don't have much more to say about it. There's the update on my new right hand.


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Techno Parade 2008 - La complicité

Techno Parade 2008 - La complicité, originally uploaded by badibouzouk.

Digging this photographer right now... his early stuff didn't impress me as much, but with this parade series, he seems to have really nailed down a method for creating tempo and toning.

Quote of the Day: Paul Newman on living

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives. The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”
-Paul Newman, 1925-2008


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Farewell Paul Newman, 1925-2008, American hero

The Oregonian brings us the bad news:

"Fast Eddie Felson. Hud Bannon. Cool Hand Luke. Butch Cassidy. The guy in the race car. The guy on the salad dressing bottle. The blue-eyed dreamboat. The committed public citizen. The husband of a half-century. The father of six.

According to press releases from his his charitable organizations, Newman's Own Foundation and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, Paul Newman died Friday at age 83 at his long-time home in Westport, Connecticut, and with his passing, more has been lost than just a good and fine man."


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Spilling milk on the page

I logged onto the New York Times website this morning, and discovered this latest story about the China milk scare: "European regulators on Thursday ordered rigorous testing of imports containing at least 15 percent milk powder after concluding that food containing tainted milk powder from China may well be circulating in Europe and putting children at risk."

So naturally, I was curious to find out what China Daily had to say about the ongoing milk crisis. Here is what they had on the front page:

Nothing.

It did have links to nine pages about the spacewalk (an impressive achievement), a "China refutes charge of cultural genocide in Tibet" story, breaking news titled "woman's paper skin a walking notepad" and another story about a man who 'married' a deceased girlfriend... and then the regular features about Britney Spears and Jennifer Aniston's love life.

Reading the paper, I had a premonition: The writer of the Tibet story will not be winning any prose-writing awards. Unless one is offered for incomprehensibility. A typical excerpt (do not read this passage while operating a motor vehicle or caring for small children):

The white paper consists of six parts, "Foreword", "Learning, Use and Development of the Spoken and Written Tibetan Languages", "Inheritance, Protection and Promotion of the Tibetan Cultural Heritage", "Religious Beliefs and Native Customs Respected", "All-round Development of Modern Science, Education and the Media" and "Conclusion".

It is "citing facts to expose the lie about the 'cultural genocide' in Tibet fabricated by the 14th Dalai Lama and his cohorts", and "exposing the deceptive nature of the 'cultural autonomy of Tibet' they clamor for".

I don't know, maybe it made more sense in the Chinese.

The anonymous story writer goes on to quote the "white paper" eight times. If you want to know what the politically correct line is on Tibet, consult said white paper. We have other things to do here.

Back to milk. I did find a special feature section on the milk crisis buried inside the vast belly of China Daily. It led with a picture of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (China's Johnny-on-the-spot, he was at the earthquake zone last May within hours, holding out his bullhorn), and followed with mugshots of two suspects on Sanlu, an article on breast milk, and various op/eds blasting Sanlu for their misdeeds (after any Chinese crisis, it's essential to establish a scapegoat that deflects all attention away from the Party "responsible for creating a transparent, accountable regulatory structure").

As the Times notes in this separate article:

"In recent days, Prime Minister Wen Jiabo has apologized for a scandal that has sickened 53,000 children and he has promised to reform the dairy industry. But a year ago, Mr. Wen made a similar pledge to overhaul safety regulations for food, drugs and other products. His government authorized $1.1 billion and dispatched 300,000 inspectors to examine food and drug producers, but failed to prevent China’s biggest dairy producers from selling baby formula laced with an industrial additive called melamine."

One can only imagine what the prime minister said as he held that child. Perhaps: Sorry Babe.




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Knol That You Mention It

I've begun experimenting at writing a few articles for Knol, the Google off-shoot that supposedly aspires to compete with Wikipedia.

Never heard of it? For critiques of Knol, read here and here and here. Oh yeah, here, too.

My take: These critiques are absolutely correct. But the website is also only a couple of months old so it may be a bit too early to write its obituary. Hopefully, they will upgrade it more often than they do other Google properties such as, well, Blogger. The Blogger interface is updated only slightly more often than the Milwaukee Brewers make it into the World Series. Why am I here? Adsense. Which has made 37 cents for me as of this date.


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Signal

Signal, originally uploaded by photog37.

Wondering what those hand signals mean? NBC went to the trouble of offering a detailed analysis here.

Techno Parade 2008 - Les amours chiennes

Techno Parade 2008 - Les amours chiennes, originally uploaded by badibouzouk.

Found on Flickr... I like it.

Torsos

Torsos, originally uploaded by photog37.

A remastering of a photo I took last spring... I think the edit captures the feel of the scene well.

Congress and the Bailout Plan: Business As Usual

TIME Magazine on the future of Treasury's proposed $700 billion loan bailout for Wall Street:

"Not everyone will go along. A bloc on the far right of the Republican party will say no because they are philosophically against it (and because they are from securely red districts or states); Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, using his typically heightened rhetoric, went so far as to call the proposal 'un-American.' And a group on the left will oppose it because they see it as a bailout for Wall Street executives (and because they're from securely blue districts or states). But it seems clear that Paulson and Bernanke managed to hit the mark with their three pages. And even if dozens more are eventually added to sweeten the pot for important constituents with powerful lobbyists, the core of the project will remain the same. That's what members of Congress do, even if, as the GOP staffer says, 'Not a single goddamn one of them could explain what's in the thing.'"

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Shanghai Tourism Festival

Unicycle, originally uploaded by photog37.

A unicyclist rides down the street moments before the opening day parade begins for the 2008 Shanghai Tourism Festival.

PhotoShelter's demise as a stock agency

PDN Online has an interview with PhotoShelter's executives on the demise on their attempted stock photo rivalry with Getty. The comment section at the end of the article (or bottom of the page, if you don't want to read it to the end) is more illuminating than the article.

Personally, all I know is this:
1) Submitting photos using PhotoShelter's complicated keyword program used up an enormous amount of my time,

2) When I studied pricing samples, I came up with prices for one-time quarter-page editorial use by a small newspaper at $200 plus; I'm a photographer looking to make a profit, but what kind of local paper is going to pay a price like that? and

3) Like many PhotoShelter contributors, I never sold a single image through the agency.


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All that glitters isn't gold (some of it could be nuclear waste)

Read the small bits of China Daily and you're always sure to find entertaining, if occasionally a bit frightening, fare. The hodgepodge provides a feast for black comedians and news readers with a Kurt Vonnegut sensibility. In today's paper, we find out: "Shoppers accidentally buy nuclear waste."

The article goes as follows:

Three residents of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's Aksu city mistakenly purchased and brought home nuclear waste.

In August 2006, the three men - one of whom is surnamed Liu, while the other two are surnamed Wang - purchased a glittering "treasure" for $2,000 in Kyrgyzstan. They brought it back to Xinjiang, hoping to make a fortune by selling it.

Because they knew nothing about the 274-kg stone, they sliced off a piece to bring to Beijing for expert analysis last January.

Last September, geologists at Tsinghua University concluded it was depleted uranium and called police.

Prosecutors in Aksu decided against arresting the men, because they obviously had no idea what they had purchased. The men have undergone medical examinations and appear to be in good health.

Needless to say, like in many China Daily articles, the reader is left with a few lingering questions...



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Nailao PR (奶酪球公关）

With the Olympics finished and the Paralympics well underway, you would think the era of cheeseball PR in the PRC might find some respite. No such luck. Shanghai TV is ALREADY broadcasting corny music videos celebrating World Expo 2010. Isn't this a little early folks? Maybe you should do something else, like cover the China Now music festival that is taking place outside right now.


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Sixteen Days in China: China's rocking evolution

Martin Atkins has released a new documentary, Sixteen Days, about China's growing music scene.
Coming on the heels of Beijing Bubbles, this shows that something wild and alive is happening here, though you have to dig in order to find it–outside of Beijing, many rock venues are tiny hole-in-the-wall places in out of the way locations on the outskirts of town. Wish I was in Beijing catching the Modern Sky and Midi Festivals this week!


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NBC: Internet Luddites

I understand that NBC has a vested economic interested in protecting its copyrighted material. Thus, it has been aggressively sending cease-and-desist orders to YouTube every time a Saturday Night clip is posted. But can anyone tell me why a television company with the resources of NBC has not yet figured out how to buffer video? In multiple efforts on a Firefox browser, I was unable to get any of their videos to load beyond the advertisement.


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Lost In Translation: Shanghai Tourism Festival

The Shanghai Tourism Festival homepage, as spiced up by Google Translate:

19-year-old Shanghai Tourism Festival, as a gang of juveniles into the adult ranks,意气风发, he has a young, dynamic, creative, but also has a mature, stable and the atmosphere. He walked in giant strides in the Shanghai, the world's rich programs bring more and more choice, he greeted guests in all directions, through the charming romantic city style, natural and simple pastoral scenery, mysterious and colorful folk characteristics, classical Inheritance boutique to the main line of friends at home and abroad, the hometown of fellow display this Heiner rivers are essential festival.


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Three Dancers

Three Dancers
Originally uploaded by photog37

Dancers perform a popular mod/traditional dance at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.