Charities & Why we do what we do

Tonight wrapped up a weekend full of benefits for the Library Project. Overall, the weekend was successful. Tom, the founder of Library Project was quite happy with the overall turnout of the weekend's events, and the money that was raised was enough to build three, possibly four more libraries out in the countryside of China. Don't quote me on this though, I'm not the LP accountant by any means.

The one thing we'd talked about though that stuck in my mind the most was why people do this sort of thing. I looked at my own case first.

I run a small website hosting & development company here in Shanghai. As always, I want people to know about it and use my services. Duh! What small-business owner doesn't. In walks Tom of the Library Project.

I've known Tom for quite sometime actually, as we'd been colleagues in a company based in Dalian, China. Good company, a bit mis-managed sometimes, but overall, enthusiastic and active in the LP. He told me of his plans that eventually became the Library Project charity.

Fast-forward one year. Personally, I'd set up one event to get books for his charity, and at that time, it wasn't exactly established. Not registered in the US, not registered in the PRC either. He simply did it in his spare time. I took my website name, JinanLIVE.com and threw it at LP. We raised about 40 books for his project.

Fast-forward another 2 years... now, in Shanghai for the last three years, and again, still in contact with Tom. But now I run TeraScape. Thus starts my own case of shameless self-promotion. Our 3-sentence closing conversation ended with a simple unanswered question, why do we, why do the people who showed up & contributed, why does anyone do what they do for charity? Why do I and others involved in this weekend's events do it? I organized a big barbeque fund-raiser for LP at Kommune Kafe, here in Shanghai. Why?

Because I can PROMOTE it. I'm a prolific poster on Shanghai Expat with close to 8000 posts on that site. Everytime I post, my sig file is on there. What's my sig file?

"
_________________

~ Website Hosting in China
C:/Dos ~ C:/Dos/Run ~ Run/Dos/Run

"

Short, not very clever, but the image links to my company. I promote LP on Shanghai Expat and with every promotion, my OWN link goes on there. Overall, it's indirectly self-promotion. I also use my company login on other sites, like City Weekend, SH Magazine, Shanghaiist (new favorite website!) That's Shanghai... you name it, all promoting Library Project, but all with some small, unsymbolic link back to me and my company.

"So what the hell is your point?" you're asking yourself now. The point is, those of us involved with charities, don't always do it because we want to help charities. It's also self-serving.

"Sounds AWFUL!" you say to yourself (or you've already stopped reading). But it isn't. I couldn't do a THIRD of what I did this weekend if it weren't for my clients. I couldn't do a FIFTH of what I did if it weren't for other charities and the lessons I learned there (Warren Jaycees, Kudos!).

The point is, support your local charities, but also support the people behind the charities. If they don't have business, then they're not going to be in any position to support or be a part of any charities. When we do stuff, it's not always because we simply can. We want to because our situation allows us to do that. We actually enjoy doing this, and if your situation doesn't allow you to be active, all you have to do is support the companies whose situation does. In the overall big picture, you're also doing something for charity.

More on Library Project at http://www.library-project.com.

Eric Vs. Century Mart, Part 2

I think I broke my blog. Anyways...

I know this was stupid of me, but I had to go in there to pick up something last night. I'm thinking 9:20pm, shouldn't be too hard. 9:23 I got my item. 9:25 I was in line.

9:47 I was finally out and on my way to KFC.

There were two groups in front of me, both doing their "STOP!" thing. Except the first group had to argue with the woman about just about everything. Apparently their last order wasn't quite enough for them to use up the two 5 RMB coupons they'd already collected, so they're arguing amongst themselves.

"Lets get tissues!"
"We already HAVE Tissues!"
"Okay, how about laundry soap? It's right there."
"We already bought laundry soap!"
"But it's just right there. Let's grab it and go!" (the sensible one)
"We don't need it!" (the guy pissing me off.)

I'm mostly guessing judging by their facial expressions, my somewhat limited Chinese & where they were pointing.

It's starting to turn into an artform on who can get closest to 200 RMB to get that coupon.

The next people up in line only had 2 air purifiers, a few boxes of wine & various other things. Not that much at all, but some pricy stuff.

Price came to 250 RMB. Too late to yell "STOP!" but the guy had a plan.

"We don't want that purifier. Put this bottle of wine on there instead."

Price is down to 205 or something like that. Finally they can pay and continue.

Next batch: 270 or so RMB. Again, remove the purifier. Add a few other things... Price closer to 200.

Pay & continue. Last batch. Two cheap purifiers. DAMNIT!!! Again, just short of 200! What on earth will THEY buy? The Suspense is KILLING ME!!!

The guy turns around & sees me and my one item and says "sorry" with his Summer Teeth grinning the whole time. I said nothing.

They got what they wanted and proceeded to pay, using the 2 coupons they'd already collected. But then he pulls out a stack of cards. Gift cards, maybe, but there looked to be about 20 in all. The cashier had to scratch something off every single one of them, manually enter the cards, individually, one at a time, a single card at a single time, scratch, enter, scratch, enter... you get the idea.

Anyways, they finally buggered off, and I got there with my single item (yes, it was actually quite necessary to get this item at this time). The girl smiles, says, "Ni Hao! :D " I hand her the item, 10 rmb, get the change and get the fuck out of there, that cheeky Summer Teeth smile still etched in my mind making me even more furious. 9:47 according to my mobile. 22 fucking minutes for that.

Crimbo Time

Not only is it Crimbo in the Kingdom of Loathing, but also in the apartment of horrors as well! December 10th was my birthday, and my ever-surprising wife, not really believing too much in the whole birthday thing and claiming that my new computer bag from 2 weeks ago was my birthday gift, surprised me on my birthday with a Christmas tree & a couple Christmas Decorations! All I ever want for my birthday & Christmas is a surprise! This is certainly a good one! Thanks, honey!

From Shanghai Xmas 07

From Shanghai Xmas 07

And my wife says nothing's wrong with the camera...

From Shanghai Xmas 07

Shanghai F1 Booze Bus!

As we chanted, "Booze Bus! Booze Bus! Booze Bus!..." The bus pulled out of Sasha's Restaurant at 8:30am sharp! Luckily I got there at about 8:26 or so. An all day beer & racing session it was, and a nightmare for some the next day I'm sure!

Anyways, here are some of the pics:

New Picasa Album (screw flickr. Yahoo doesn't care.)

Just Beer Gallery





And while we're at it... here's a LINK (damn blog won't let me embed from metacafe) from earlier this year from the Shanghai A1 (not the F1) Booze Bus. That, unfortunately is it for this year. Next spring though, the 2008 A1 Booze bus will be departing whenever it does. on April 13th, 2008!

Oh, and Kimi won.

Typhoon Wipha

Again I reiterate, why are we the last to hear of this stuff?

One dead in Taiwan from Typhoon Wipha, Shanghai evacuates 200,000

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP

SHANGHAI, China -- China's commercial center of Shanghai was evacuating 200,000 people on Tuesday ahead of the expected arrival of Typhoon Wipha, potentially the most destructive storm to hit the city in a decade.

One worker was killed and another seriously injured Tuesday as the fringe of the typhoon lashed Taiwan, causing scaffolding to collapse at a highway construction site in Taipei, Taiwan's Disaster Relief Center reported.

Schools, offices and the stock market in northern Taiwan were ordered closed as a precaution and flights from Taiwan to Japan, South Korea and a few other Asian countries were canceled, officials said.

On the Chinese mainland, state-run television showed families being evacuated from their fishing boats and other vessels and rescue workers stacking sand bags to prevent flooding.

The typhoon was moving northwest across the sea north of Taiwan at about 25 kilometers per hour (16 mph) and was forecast to make landfall south of Shanghai early Wednesday morning, weather reports said.

The storm, which was whipping up waves up to 10 meters (36 feet) high, was upgraded from a tropical storm on Monday afternoon. With wind gusts of up to 300 kilometers per hour (190 mph), local meteorological officials said it could be the most destructive storm to hit the Shanghai area in years.

"The typhoon is very likely to develop into the worst one in recent years. We are still observing it. It's hard to say at this moment," said a man who answered the phone at the city's meteorological bureau. As is common with Chinese officials, the man identified himself only by his surname, Fu.

Shanghai and the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian to the south issued typhoon warnings requiring all vessels to return to shore or change course to avoid the storm, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

State-run newspapers reported that some 200,000 people living in coastal or low-lying rural areas of Shanghai were being evacuated as a precaution.

Zhejiang's flood control headquarters also ordered authorities to prepare for evacuations, patrol reservoirs and to be on the lookout for flash floods and landslides, Xinhua said. It said nearly 30,000 fishing boats in the province had taken shelter in port by late Monday and ferry service with outlying islands had been suspended.

The deadliest storm to hit the China coast in recent years was Typhoon Winnie in 1997, which killed 236 people. Typhoon Rananim, with winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph), was the strongest typhoon to hit the Chinese mainland since 1956, killing nearly 200 people.

I spent about 3 hours at the Big Bamboo today watching them Sandbag their doors over a few Carlsberg Beers. News travels slow in the PRC unless you're a celebrity or a dissident.

City issues orange alert for typhoon Wipha
By Lydia Chen 2007-9-18

THE SHANGHAI Meteorological Bureau issued an orange typhoon alert at 2:47pm today with Typhoon Wipha, the most destructive storm in a decade, less than 660 kilometers away from the city and heading our way.

The orange alert is the second highest weather warning in the face of a typhoon, following the highest level of red alert. Yellow alert is the second lowest, followed by blue alert.

Wind speed is predicted to increase to 102 kilometers an hour in urban areas of the city soon, accompanied by up to 50 millimeters of rainfall, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau warned in the alert.

Winds along the mouth of the Yangtze River and coastal areas are expected to reach up to 117 kph, the bureau added, while winds near the Yangshan Deep Water Port will hit 134kph to 149kph, it added.

At 1pm today, Wipha was about 660 kilometers away from Shanghai.
Packing winds of up to 201 kilometers an hour at its center, it is moving northwest across the East China Sea at a speed of 20 kilometers an hour.

The storm is expected to dump up to 100 millimeters of rain on most areas of Shanghai tomorrow, driven by winds of between 75 and 103 kilometers an hour.

It is forecast to make landfall south of Shanghai late tomorrow afternoon through Hangzhou Bay after it first arrives in the central area of Zhejiang Province early tomorrow morning.

Shanghai education authorities released an urgent notice this afternoon saying that most students across the city will have one day off tomorrow due to the storm.

The city had evacuated 200,000 people at 10am today in some coastal districts and Chongming county ahead of Wipha.

Shanghai today also canceled a parade for the annual Shanghai Travel Festival in Pudong New area and all water trips bound for Zhejiang Province while Donghai Bridge may also close as soon as wind speeds reach 133 kilometer an hour during the storm.

As Reported by the Shanghai Daily.

So... I guess... we're in for a big one. All the more reason to grab the camera & get the hell out of my apartment tomorrow morning bright and early.

According to Weather Underground, we'll get the worst of it around 3pm. I've survived Hurricane Emily, which barely even touched Norfolk VA in '93. We survived, and Rocked like a Hurricane 2 years ago at Senses Wine Lounge. Now it's time for some photo evidence.

But Pray to the Lords of Kobol, PLEASE let my newest Monopoly set survive this one!

The Day Before Wipha

From Shanghai, Chi...

Outside the Big Bamboo bar yesterday afternoon.

From Shanghai, Chi...

Another outside the Big Bamboo.

From Shanghai, Chi...

Around noon on the 29th floor of a building in Xujiahui.

Looks like we're getting some somewhat bad weather

From Shanghai Daily

Wipha to hit Shanghai tomorrow
By Lu Feiran 2007-9-17


THIS year's 13th typhoon Wipha will exert serious influence on the city tomorrow and Wednesday, weather experts said today.

Wipha is expected to bring heavy rain with winds ranging from 50 to 88 kilometers per hour, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

Winds near the mouth of the Yangtze River and near the Yangshan Port area will be even stronger, reaching 75 to 117 kilometers per hour.

The wind and rain will also bring down temperatures, with highs dropping to 27 to 28 degrees Celsius, according to the bureau.


I'm wondering if that's why the internet completely sucks today. After all, the only news in China is GOOD news. But if they WANT good news, then I believe it's time for yet another Typhoon Party organized by yours truly!

But... why is it that in ANY other place, people know at least 4 or 5 days in advance, and they only tell us about THIS one a day before in China?

Streets & Chinglish

We're Polite People! Hehe!

From Shanghai, Chi...

Three Days in San Diego

San Diego, California. My first real experience in California. Before this, I'd often joked that California was simply another country, and instead claimed Canada as a state instead. I was certainly wrong about that.



We cut our trip to Warren short so Grace could visit WD-40's home office. Grace & I spent 3 days in beautiful, mild weather, fine restaurants & of course, the beach. Thanks to David at WD-40, who played host during our stay, we managed to see some of the best parts of San Diego in a rather short time. These parts include Del Mar, Jakes Restaurant & an overall view of the city & its suburbs.

The beaches were fantastic, and the sunset was beautiful that first evening. We had dinner at Jake's Bar in Del Mar, during the Horse Races. The restaurant itself was packed, and while I love seafood, I had to pass this time, as I'm not that skilled at eating shelled sea creatures without making a mess.

The 2nd Evening, after Grace finished her meetings with HR & Logistics, we ventured out on our own and walked over to The Bondi. The restaurant, owned by various people in WD-40, features Australian cuisine and beer, including James Boag's Premium on tap. Nicely decorated with good music, this venue is worth the stop.

Our stay was unfortunately short, as the third day took us to San Francisco, then back to Shanghai. Apparently we just missed Comic Con as well as a small earthquake during the trip. All the more reason to go back!

For those in Shanghai, James Boag's is available from Just Beer & various bars. Enjoy! I certainly do!

Ten Days in Warren & Niagara Falls

The Mrs. and I returned from a two week vacation in both my hometown of Warren, PA and her company office in San Diego. As always, it was good to get back, and as always, I gained about 10lbs. But in my defence, those chocolate ice-cream cakes are FANTASTIC!!!

We spend the first 10 days in Warren, where I showed Grace around town. Some of the pics are on her blog. We hit up the usual spots... Kinzua Dam, Washington Park, a few malls here & there, Freddies' Bar & Grill.... While it's all old hack to me, having grown up there, Warren does seem to impress those who aren't from there, and it's especially impressive when you can see a BLUE sky, as opposed to Shanghai's grey-ish sky, and stars at night, as opposed to Shanghai's off-colored moon & 2 random planets.

As usual, I got on www.hellificare.com, another hometown website, and as usual, announced that there was STILL NO sign of Yetis, Bigfoots (bigfeet?) or alien dentists in white trenchcoats ANYWHERE in the Kinzua vicinity, despite some of the more vehement posts on that site about their existance.



A trip to Erie PA brought us to the Quaker Steak & Lube restaurant. Back in College, my ex, Angela & I went there to try the Suicide wings, one step below the "Atomic Wings", the ones you have to sign a waiver for before eating. Talk about HOT!!! This time around, we went a step lower & got the "Hot" wings instead. Perhaps it's living over here too long that gave me a much better tolerance for anything spicy, according to the missus, but neither one of us thought they were even REMOTELY hot. We'll have to try the Suicides again, next time we're back.



Another day took us to Niagara Falls, where Grace got some fantastic shots of the falls. We did attempt to go over to Canada while we were there, but were quickly turned back at the Canadian Customs office. Visa office in Buffalo? Who'd have thought! It's okay though, as we figured as much. The Colt .45 was NOT in Niagara Falls, by the way.

China Blog Voting! YAY!

While I'm on this posting kick today, I'll add one more quickie to the blogosphere. Head on over to Chinalyst and check out the voting for blogs. You won't find Colourwolf there, but there's a few blogs there that could use a Plus Sign clicked; namely, Yellow Wings, My Laowai & Sinocidal (who's already far ahead of the pack!)

"Why no ColourWolf?" you may ask. It's quite simple. I'd rather be playing Civilization 4.


Sid Meier! My hero!

Flopsy Isn't Alone in his Plight

I work at this place that claims to be a center of learning for the youth of Shanghai (and Anhui & Xinjiang too, apparently) and in general, it's a decent place. It's not the best in Shanghai, but probably not the worst either. They generally treat people well, pay well & provide a contract before your last day of work (which is always helpful.) At least I thought that until a few weeks ago when I saw this:



Looks like a typical building. Dance classes on the top floor. Some classrooms below. Right?

But wait! What's that?

From Shanghai, Chi...

Can it be? Do my keen bloodshot eyes spy a worker of the harmonious society halfway up that monolithic cliff of urban concrete? Is there life here after all?

From Shanghai, Chi...

Yes, there! My eyes deceiveth me not! A worker of the harmonious society, and of the blue collared nature if I’m not very much mistaken! Well I'll be damned, up in the sky, fixing the school air-con, no straps, no nothing to save himself from a plummet-ty death. (The white thing around him is debatable... see below).

From Shanghai, Chi...

One Week Later...

From Shanghai, Chi...

Not the same worker, nor aircon, but someone came to the rescue! Kind of hard to see, but this time it's there in white. A harness held by another worker, possibly from the week before. Do ya think he may be a bit bitter for not getting the same courtesy a week prior?

Two Weeks Later...

From Shanghai, Chi...

Same Air-con, possibly the same worker, again with help. Workers' rights are looking up in this side of town. There may be hope yet!

I'll look for the red stains next week on the basketball courts below to see the end results.

Some of this post was gratuitiously ripped off from Sinocidal. 88|

Shanghaiist Likes Me! (I think)

Seems I've been mentioned on Shanghaiist for that Tongren Road incident. The comments, while most are pretty fair, some I see have people living in this city with their proverbial rose-tinted glasses. I agree, Shanghai is a VERY safe city. This was the ONLY time I've ever been involved in an incident like this. But I'm not the only one.

From China Daily forums 2 years ago
Most recent from Shanghai Expat
Mine from Shanghai Expat

And we're the ones who actually talked about it. There are a couple more cases that I know of where the parties involved won't talk about it.

So was I fair? Was I wrong? Let's see:
(from the comments on Shanghaiist)

Are you sure the guys getting the shit beat out of them (not the ATM guy) didn't have it coming? People who end up in that situation have *usually* done something provocative.
As for me, I jumped in AFTER someone else started getting the shit beat out of him. And as I've said before, I've no clue what he did, nor a clue who he was. All I know is it looked VERY bad.

Tongren lu close to yanan lu is a hole. If you are going to pay for the drinks, you might as well go somewhere classy because drink prices are pretty standard across the city. Really I dont have a lot of pity for people who go there, and no love for the bars tolerating the bums right outside their doors.agree, hence why I frequent places like British Bulldog, Castle Oktober, Big Bamboo and... Malones American Cafe, which just happens to be on Tongren Road & my particular destination that night.

"Shanghai is still a VERY safe place - just don't go to seedy bars late and night. And if you do, just keep your wits about you."

That advice is pretty much applicable inside and outside. Any word if these guys were in the presence of local women? That seems to be rubbing local men the wrong way lately.

beware the boxer rebellion part deux

My wife is Chinese. Should I be afraid to go out with her in public? Trust me, out here in Judytown, we overhear assorted comments from the locals (it's kind of countryside here) but they've never pulled out a chain to make their views heard.

There was an incident in Xi'an where a couple people thought that not only could they steal the Chinese girl from the Laowai, but also take the Laowai girl home. They underestimated Karen's willingness to go home with a drunk Chinese, and, considering how drunk AND rude they were (they joined our table and proceeded to insult all of us while trying to buy Karen & Grace drinks) they also failed to realize that considering how big I am, that my two other friends were even bigger than me. Outside, the three of us got them into a taxi when they came out after us. One jumped into the cab after the girls were in, and tried to tell the taxi driver to go, while punching Karen in the face. That didn't go so well. Never fuck with a hardcore New Yorker. He didn't last long. Then they went after us, failing miserably. We all took a couple shots, but we didn't take a single swing at them. We didn't have to. It'd be like beating up a 10 year old.

Baro... you could not have said it any better. To give money to these "beggers" only encourages more child abuse for the unfortunate kids.

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

Sorry but every time I have seen it in person it's been a foreigner who starts shoving, or gets aggressive under the delusion that the little Chinese guy is going to fight them 1-on-1. This is China, no Marques of Queensbury here. My wife and I rarely go out to expat bars anymore because of all the expats who think they are hot shit in China and can grab any girls ass they want- and usually Chinese turn a blind eye to it and let them. So if the guys were really the subject of "random" violence they have my sympathy (we all know those crazy Chinese with their Happy Slapping and..oh wait...) but I've seen a LOT of fellow foreigners who left their manners back west and are just whining about someone getting beat down for behavior that would have gotten them shot back home.

Milo also wrote the same thing on "ColourWolf" on the original post here. Well you know... I grab ALL SORTS of asses in China! And as a matter of fact, I AM hot shit! Oh wait... shouldn't say that, huh? Whining about a beatdown will not be present on my post. Avoiding expat bars because of "hot shit" expats, again, that depends on where you go. Many guys have no problem saying if some girl is a hottie, if they're saying it to the blokes they're with. I certainly don't. But the guys I know also don't go grab-asstic on them either.

And the best one...

So this article is about the fact that some people have gone out late at night to bar areas and entirely allegedly got into *some sort of fracas* in which
maybe
maybe
maybe

this and that happened.

As if ANYONE who goes to fucking [sic] tong ren road doesn't go there BECAUSE OF THE PROSTITUTES !!!
And then it's usually more BS like "china is changeing"[sic], "expats had better watch out"
rubbish.

The moral of this story, kiddies, is this: ol' skyline will continue to live, work & play in Shanghai, with no fear of what will happen if I stray into the wrong side of town. But if something does happen to someone, don't just jump up onto your moral high-horse & say that we deserved it because we were there "Because of the Prostitutes." You're assuming, Trev. And you obviously can't read. You know what they say if you "ass u me" (except for the "me" part). Enjoy your moral high-horse. But don't fall off.

Sometimes people in Shanghai simply confuse me. Take these guys for instance.

From Shanghai, Chi...

From Shanghai, Chi...

For whatever reason, they found it necessary to start wrestling on the metro last night. To the right, off camera was a girl who eventually had to get up to get out of their way. As my old friend Jack Exley would say, "Un-fucking-believable."

Tongren Road, Wretched Hive of Scum & Villainy

Considering most people I know already know the story, including family... I decided to reprint this story for the blog. This was originally posted on Shanghai Expat, edited slightly considering the time difference. Here goes...

I'm not entirely sure how all this went down last week, but suffice it to say, I got myself a good ass whupping that night. After the quiz night, I decided to make my way closer to the Nanjing Xi Lu area, via Tongren. Yeah, I know... "Tongren Road Sucks!" my old battle cry. But even I had to find something to do before going back to Judytown.

Well, busted up hand, face & teeth later, I certainly found something to do. (How my computer survived, I've no clue!) A gang of locals were out there, sticks, chains, pipes & all, and they were beating the living shit out of a laowai (foreigner). Tongren Road cops didn't do a whole hell of a lot.

So I did. Stupid Stupid me.

I rushed the first guy with a pipe (thinking chains hurt less) and knocked him to the ground. Then... I got my ass kicked too. Did any other foreigners jump in? Nope. Locals? yep.

The other laowai got his ass out of there, and I ended up taking his place in the scuffle. Needless to say, I've a bit of a headache today.

Whoever that laowai was, if you're reading this, you owe me one, dude. No good deed goes unpunished.

Since that incident, I do remember rushing a 2nd person, but, well... 15 vs. 2 aren't very good odds to say the least. And as last night was St. Patrick's day (or St. Sneaky Pete's day if you will), all the fun people were out in force. I was out with Alex & a few of his friends, not Shanghai locals, but Chinese locals at least. And I almost saw a repeat of last week, as... this time a foreigner was fucking with one of the locals. Took his Guinness hat, pointed to it & said, "is this mine?".

Highly unlikely.

The foreigner did actually give it back, no incident required. And the whole thing took like 5 seconds. But I did realize, apparently I'm an equal-opportunity brawler.

Sorry, no pics of the newly... renovated teeth.

Superbowl Party in Shanghai

Yeah yeah, I know. The Bears lost. But still, the party over at Bubba's Texas Barbecue & saloon, (2262 Hong Qiao Lu by the Hongqiao Marriott) was pretty good. The place was absolutely packed, with half the place rabidly cheering on the Bears, and the others saying something about the Colts. They offered up a good breakfast of spare ribs & soft tacos, along with beer, martinis, bloody marys & other drinks (yes, all at 7:30 in the morning!)

KJ, the proprietor of Bubba's also ordered up his own halftime show complete with dancing girls. The girls, however were a bit lacking, and at least the upstairs crowd didn't seem to pay too much attention. But then again, with all the people, they didn't exactly have the room to perform in the first place. Whatever... it was a good time, and KJ did promise that next year's party would be better (suggesting that the downstairs crowd wasn't too into it either.

Doctor Who

After months of suggesting, pleading and saying, "Hey honey, lets watch Doctor Who!" I finally succeeded in getting my wife into watching Doctor Who. For those of you who are saying, Doctor..."who?", Doctor Who is a BBC production that's spanned almost 43 years and has had up to 10 "Doctors" now. During this time, the show's started, stopped, started again, LOST, FOUND and restarted. As with all Doctor Who seasons, eventually, we'll find ourselves with an 11th Doctor, as well as another replacement for Rose, Grace and any other former Who girls out there. Outpost Gallifrey, the #1 source on the internet for Doctor Who is already stating this.

And as Iain, an old friend from Jinan, now in Thailand once stated, "Doctor Who has THE best opening theme song of any Sci-fi show out there!" or something like that!



And for those of you in China, yes, Youtube is just as slow.

An Ascender is ME! (again)

Once again, I managed to ascend on Kingdom Of Loathing. While "Schwinglo" and I have actually started this game around the same time, he's probably on his 10th ascension while I'm only on my 2nd. That's okay though because I have a LIFE!!! (just a joke, Schwinglo) Below is a clip from my adventures before heading over to the Valhalladay Inn.

You wander the hallowed resting place of your ancestors and encounter your Grandmother. "Grandma! It's so good to see you! I missed you so much after you died..." You try to give her a hug, but she steps back. "Hrmph!" She stomps one tiny foot on the cloud you're standing on. "Missed me, did you? Did you ever once visit my grave? Did you pray to me before battle? Did you send flowers? Not once! You could have at least made something of yourself and let that be my tribute. But you couldn't even accomplish that much, could you? You're a failure and you'll always be one. Now go cut me a non-corporeal switch so I can teach you a lesson!" You quickly will yourself into another aspect of Valhalla. Next time you'll be sure to seek out slightly more ancestral ancestors.

Ahhh, a day in the life of KoL! God, why didn't I think of a game like this??!!

Christmas 2006 in Shanghai

It's Crimbo in Shanghai, and as I write this, I'm stocking up on good Crimbo goodies on KoL. Christmas here is not exactly Christmas back home. It's more of a continuous Black Friday (you know, the day after Thanksgiving?) Multiply that by the entire Advent Calendar & you'll know what Shanghai Christmas is like.

Last Saturday night, Grace & I, along with Alex & Anny (newly married) and Rita (still dating "Napoleon :) ") had a nice Christmas dinner at a Japanese place on Hongmei Road, also called the Hongmei Entertainment street. While the dinner was nice, the service was relatively lacking, as there were two large tables of Koreans there as well, making large demands on the already short-staffed waitresses.

A few days earlier was the WD-40 Christmas dinner, also at a Japanese restaurant near XuJiaHui. "Japanese buffet? For Christmas? Twice?" you say? Well of COURSE! I met Grace's colleagues as well as a couple of WD-40's upper management, including Geoff and Ooi, known in the company as 001 (double-oh one). Geoff, incidentally, was the guy who accompanied Grace to Three on the Bund in downtown Shanghai for a rather exquisite dinner, the day I got back to Shanghai from Xingping (and yes, Grace, you were drunk!) That's okay though, as it was MY idea in the first place. The Company dinner went quite well, and I can tell that Grace is in good company & and with a good company as well. Perhaps someday I'll be able to say that about mine.

Last night, I put on some Christmas music that I downloaded from the net, trying desperately not to end up with all the latest pop-versions of old Bing Crosby & Dean Martin classics. I went to grab the Christmas tree, but found that somewhere between the 3 apartments we've had this tree, the stand went missing. No tree this year. But our goofy Santa Claus decoration is back up by the TV for another holiday season. I managed to mass email the family. Tacky, I know, but when I'm on the road, it's tough to get a decent internet connection. Half the e-birthday cards took about 10 minutes to load in Xingping's internet.

Later today, I'm off to the station to get a train ticket back to Xingping. I'd fly normally, but my passport is now with the company, who now says I don't work for Aston English School, nor Aston Educational Group, but Aston Business Consulting instead. Yet another new visa.

Looks like Roosevelt, the Evil Teddy Bear is done ripping the stuffing out of Rudolphus of Crimborg (Locutus of Borg?) for the day. Time to stock up on pet rocks & Toy Ray Guns!

"I am the beginning. The end. The one who is many. I am Crimborg. Resistance is futile. You will be merry."

Xingping Again

As I stated before, I would get around to posting these things eventually. Dongying is up, and now it's time for Xingping. After my two week stint in Dongying was finished, I shot over to Xingping, about an hour away from Xi'an. Well, it just so happens that much like Dongying, Xingping's city is ALSO built up around a company... this one a Chemical factory. What chemicals, I don't know. The name, beats me, but I'll find out when I get back to Xingping after Christmas.

Xingping is a rather small, dusty city that has about as much to offer as a whackshack does to a Eunich. Regardless, if one wanted to make his or her mark in a certain English school there, that would be the place to do it. No competition & it's bound to grow. What IS appealing is that the food is fantastic and (I know everyone says the following only to suck up...) the people are generally friendly. Unless you work at the computer shop around the corner from Aston.

Xingping is also right near Xianyang, about 20 minutes by bus, and Xi'an, about 50 minutes & 9 RMB by bus. Between Xingping & Xianyang are the Chinese Pyramids I've always been interested in, and that I'll be scoping out up close in about 2 weeks! Most likely tombs of ancient Generals, no one has really ever excavated them, nor explored them. They're pretty much overgrown now, and some of them are even bases for farming. I hope to find out for myself by heading to that part of the countryside for some close-up pics & such. Below is one from http://earthquest.co.uk. Enjoy!

Dongying & the Shengli Oilfields

About 4 weeks ago, I spent about 2 weeks in Dongying. This city is primarily built up around the Sheng Li Oil company, named after the oil fields of the same name. There, you'll find a rather industrial city, complete with large steam pipes up & down the roads. The Aston school there is on Jinan Lu, next to the Sheng Li Park. And incidentally, just about everything in this city is called Sheng Li something. This company runs the whole town.

Dongying's people are generally rich due to the oil company. You wouldn't know it by the looks of the city though. They generally come from places like Xi'an, Beijing, and other cities to come make their mark in Dongying through Sheng Li. Others tend to be born into the work. While most seem pretty content to stay, judging by the reaction of some of the kids there, they want out.

The big expat place there is a small bar called JJ's Bar. You'll find it on Hooker Street with an all-English sign saying, "Lets Get Shitfaced!" Seriously, there's more hookers on that street than there are in the entire city! Every place other than JJ's is a cheezy KTV with the red light on & girls sitting around waiting for a mark. During one evening, one of the girls decided to venture out to find her own mark, and met me. Grabbing my arm & shouting at me, she tried to pull me into one of those places. I'm still not sure if I got the stench off me yet. Pretty bad!

Regardless, the foreign crowd there is pretty happy with JJ's, as they sport cheap beer, a foosball table, and a playstation 2 complete with Dance Dance Revolution-style dance controllers. Afterwards, it's off to 0549 (or sth like that), a run of the mill dance club complete with silly little auctions & DJ's that talk way too much.

Overall, I'm looking to go back, as the foreign manager of Aston there is a big Linux freak, and I'd be interested in comparing notes!

Linux

Today marks my first step toward migrating to Linux. I've tried a few times to download/burn a copy of Ubuntu but to no avail (basically because Chinese blank disks are no better than frisbees.) This weekend, Greg got me a copy and I did my install today on the D-drive of my desktop computer. First time in, and I'm completely lost! But that's the fun part... learning a whole new program, while at the same time, getting ready for the future.

"Future?" you ask. "Well..." I respond. From what this techie hears, even the microsoft programmers aren't too thrilled with Windows Vista. Several Blogs mention this (sorry no links yet) and with the usual tearing apart of Windows in general that goes on in the press, I can only imagine their days are numbered.

Here in China, that won't be the case for awhile. People here still believe that ASP is far superior to PHP. Some Chinese web designers "claim" and I stress the word "claim" that PHP simply doesn't work with Chinese. I got 7 words for them... www dot yahoo dot com dot cn. Looks pretty Chinese to me and it's based on PHP.

Regardless, it's time for a slow migration over to Linux, if only to learn. "Prometheus" my laptop & primary computer isn't switching anytime soon. However, "Epimetheus" is now sporting the latest Ubuntu, Edgy!

The Girl Next Door

Well, not exactly next door but 2 floors down.

Just about 10 minutes ago, an old lady who lives down on the 3rd floor (I'm up on the 5th) came to my door & asked me to go downstairs. Now, I have a propensity for listening to my music kind of loud. And, our kitchen sink is leaking a bit. But I'm thinking that there's no way she can hear my music, and the abandoned 4th floor apartment would take the majority of the damage.

So I went down. Slowly (she's REALLY old). I'm in old shorts, non-hair cut for about a month & a half now, and reeking of cigarettes & coffee. Not the best time to be meeting chicks. That & I figured if it wasn't the first two, maybe the old lady just needed help fixing or moving something.

I was wrong on all 3 accounts. She knocked on her door, and what I assume to be her grand-daughter came to the door. She opened it, the old lady went in, and I stood outside the door, smiling, thinking "WTF" & asking in English, "Can I help you?"

She stood there smiling & the old lady went in & I assume went about her normal, "old lady" business. The girl only said "Xie Xie" ("Thank you") a few times, and that was about it. I went back upstairs, and... well, you're reading what I did next.

Foreigners in China are often seen as "spectacles" and we're stared at often. But damn, that was rather blatant. At least she was cute! No match for the Princess of Beer (or my wife!) but good enough.