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    8/17/2008

    Amazing Hong Kong

    As a pulsating fusion of two vibrant cultures, Hong Kong is not like any other city in the world. The meeting up together with
    the combination of the mysterious East and the imposing West renders the half water-surrounded territory a staggeringly
    interesting place to visit. During my five-day stay in this amazing land, I was technically wowing most of the time, got
    completely blown away by its stunning modern architecture, breathtaking urbanization, romantic vistas along the harbor as well
    as a marvelous number of natural retreats.
     
    Hong Kong definitely has something for everyone. I am deeply convinced that the majority of young people during their primes
    would find Hong Kong a perfect place to stay. Nonetheless, perspectives can vary dramatically among people. While I got amazed
    by how pricy the place is, someone I met in the hostel told me he thinks Hong Kong is incredibly cheap(though he also thinks I
    sound quite British when I speak English, lol). However it still doesn't hurt to elaborate here my views upon this lovely city.
     
    1. Fusion of Two Cultures
    The handover of the territory from Britain to China in 1997 ended up Hong Kong's long term as a borrowed land. Even after its
    return to the motherland, Hong Kong however, still remains noticeably different from the mainland in its economic and political
    systems. The streets in the city constantly give you a delusion that you seem to walk around in London, or some other places in
    Europe (I didn't witness this myself cuz until now my exploration never got out of China, but I have been hearing this all the
    time from others), except the bilingual street signs and vast body of Chinese people might drag you back to realize that you're
    in one of the metropolises in Asia. Hong Kong has the most European-like architectures all over the place, from magnificent
    skyscrapers to clusters of residential complex, from imposing municipal buildings to exotic cathedrals and churches, even the
    smallest retail stores at the corner of the streets exhibit the immensity of western encroachment. To top it all, the extent to
    which the city is organized as well as the people are educated and behaved makes it contrast sharply with any other city in
    China. It actually feels strange to see a city chock-full of Cantonese-speaking Chinese, which at the same time shares
    everything a normal western country would display. On the other hand, it still doesn't take much to perceive the apparent Asian
    aspects of the society. For example, countless ACs are hanging out of the windows, girls walking on the pavements with huge
    umbrellas to block the sunshine, and funny advertisements with extremely cute Asian girls are seen everywhere.
     
    2. Striking Civilization
    Undoubtedly nothing concerning Hong Kong had ever impressed me more than how civilized the people there are. It's just purely
    amazing. First of all, English is so widely spoken that even cleaning ladies in sloppy outfit speak basic English (and probably
    have amazing listening in English too). All people walking on the street are able to show you the way in decent English without
    getting all so nervous and choked out. Second of all, people are behaving with extremely nice manners and decorum, and everyone
    is so aware of their bodies and movements. It's definitely prevalent that everyone is self-conscious enough to make way for
    others in public (this is downright true!), thus, pushing around and messing up the whole lines which is massive in Beijing
    subway stations is impossible to see in Hong Kong. Etiquette probably finds its best illustration in this region. The service
    industry can be considered as the best example. People who work in shops, restaurants, shopping malls and even public
    transportations are proficient in basic English and always do their best to provide you with a nice experience as a consumer.
    At every counter, people bow after they take your money and always say "thank you" to you after the purchase is done. I don't
    know if this is massive in western countries, but it definitely presents huge comparison to what is going on in Beijing.
     
    3. Massive Urban Jungle Combined with Incredible Nature
    Nobody would deny that Hong Kong has the most astonishing urbanization and modern immensities almost all over the planet. My
    friend who has been living in New York even said that it is indeed impressive to see so many tall buildings all concentrated at
    a single place. All these striking modern skyscrapers and urban skylines made me flick my camera incessantly to capture the
    unforgettable scenaries. However, despite its drastic urbanization, Hong Kong still has a surprising number of accessible
    beaches and natural retreats for lovers of the great outdoors. For the first time in my whole life, I swimmed in the sea, along
    a small beach in Lamma Island, Hong Kong. We also made a tour to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Park, which is a huge
    designated natural park located close to Central, Hong Kong Island.
     
    4. Young Professionals
    Hong Kong is regarded as one of the financial and business centers of Asia, even of the whole world. Therefore professionals
    dressed up in glamorous suits are seen almost everywhere, a considerable number of whom are during their mid twenties or early
    thirties. Hot young western guys in business outfit are massive there (rendering Hong Kong an incredible place for girls),
    which constitutes a strong contrast to the western influx in Beijing.
     
    5. Ethnicity
    The vast majority of the local population is Cantonese-speaking Chinese, which takes up probably over 90% of the whole.
    However, Southern-Asian look people are spread out all over the city too. When I say Southern-Asian look people, I mean those
    who resemble incredibly to Malaysians, Philippines, Vietnamese and so on. Philippine maids are massive in Hong Kong. While we
    were hanging out around the zoo area, we saw numerous Philippine nannies walking around white babies in strollers. Besides,
    westerners constitute a huge proportion, which by far exceeds that of Beijing. They live harmoniously with the locals there,
    and they seem invisible to them too. I mean, in contrast to Beijing or Shanghai, no westerner would ever get stared or looked
    up to in Hong Kong, and western guy with a Chinese girlfriend phenomenon, which is unbelievably pervasive in Beijing, is barely
    seen there. It's also interesting to see that all those who work in construction fields, or any other similar jobs, are
    foreigners from Indian or Muslin countries. They seem dirty and poor, work with the minimal wage and live in shacks on the
    streets. This is so shocking cause I am sure it's not hard for them to get decent jobs in Beijing, or at least they will be
    treated like Gods.
     
    6. Vast Dichotomy
    Maybe this is one commonality shared by all well-developed cosmopoles. Vast dichotomy exists in Hong Kong, and the huge
    disparity between the rich and the poor is impossible to ignore. We lived in a hostel called "USA Hostel", which was once
    rewarded "The Best Hostel in Asia" (at least in light of their website). However when we actually arrived there, it was more of
    a piece of dump hidden really much in one of the worst buildings I have EVER seen in my whole life. The building is called
    Mirador Mansion (interesting it names itself with the word mansion), located in the major drag in Tsim Sha Tsui, the Nathan
    Road, and it seems to have been there for at least 100 years...Garbage is dumped everywhere in the building, the walls are
    painted recklessly by irresponsible people, wires, cables and tunnels are exposed on the floor and the whole building looks
    like on the verge of crashing down. In some small streets we went to, it turned to be just like any other small towns in
    mainland China. People walk around in shabby clothes, doing small street business to make ends meet. Beggars can be seen
    sometimes too, though not as massive as in other Chinese cities.
    6/18/2007

    Internship Ordeal

    I've been working my ass off for the past two months trying to find a decent internship for the coming summer...well, it's complicated...now it seems that i was THAT close to sth, but i just screwed things up...i'm such a pathetic poor sap...
     
    yeah, until now, no definitive news yet...i hate myself soooooo much to have said sth that should NEVER have been said! i screwed everything at the very last minute, while rendering all my efforts into futility...life is sooooo harsh, there's cruelty everywhere...u made one wrong move, then u'r done, irrelative of how much u've been working on this, of how qualified u might be for this...
     
    i never expected that an internship is soooooo damn difficult to find...damn it! damn all my bad luck!damn myself! maybe i'm just destined to this,i mean the phd thing...i'm destined for that probably...sigh...i gotta go thru this very difficult time of my life...oh boy
    5/23/2007

    Till he comes

    My dear beloved Lord, I know it pretty deeply that U've been protecting me and granting Ur very generous blessings to me ever since the day I was born. I indeed cannot ask for more, given that U have already made me that special and lucky. I do think it necessary to stop by for a while to thank you for everything U have done for me along the way.
     
    I'd like to pray to my very loved one, my dear God, every min, every day, however, it turned out hard since I feel extraordinarily beat and exhausted for the past 3 weeks. I have to rely on pills and alcohol to fall asleep and I do have nasty headache everyday....so please, forgive me for quit praying all of sudden. But I know that U feel me somehow.
     
    My very cherished and respected al-mighty out there, I do appreciate the light U've shed upon me from above. But really, please let me go thru this very crucial point of my life...please let them happen!I'm sooo hung up by this and I've come so far that there is almost no turning back...I've been much too diligent and perseverant, and I've been thru a whole lot of vicissitudes, thus I do regard now as a moment for achievement. Thank You, God, and please grant Ur very last precious blessing and divine intervention! As I said, I will never let U down and I will make it soooo worth Ur while!
     
    5/11/2007

    out of time

    Where's the love song?
    To set us free
    Too many people down
    Everything turning the wrong way around
    And I don't know what love will be
    But if we start dreaming now
    Lord knows we'll never leave the clouds

    And you've been so busy lately
    that you haven't found the time
    To open up your mind
    And watch the world spinning gently out of time

    Feel the sunshine on your face
    It's in a computer now
    Gone are the future, way out in space

    Tell me I'm not dreaming but are we out of time?
    We're out of time...
    3/20/2007

    the University of Edinburgh day

    Yesterday was really fantastic.

    I had those people from the University of Edinburgh (I’m wonderin’, hmm, what if it were an American uni, how great would that be?), and we’ve got some nice presentations, speeches, talkin’ and touring, mostly the campus and the various leading laboratories here…that was indeed awesome! I mean, u cannot tell how wonderful experience it would be to spend time with some truly intelligent, well-educated and well-mannered geeks unless u went through it in person.

     

    Professor Robin Williams, a sociologist, is the first one I actually spoke to, who responded: have u ever lived in the US before? I replied: no, actually, I’ve never been out of China. Oh, then where did u get ur American accent? Hehe, thx to the whole lot of movies and music (that really didn’t get me off guardJI’ve actually been asked the similar question thousands of times, hehehe, didn’t mean to be way too cocky)! Thereafter he introduced me to Professor Anderson, the deputy of the school of informatics, who works with system dependability, after he got some information about my interest of research. Then for the following 2 hours, I’d been talkin’ with Mr. Anderson about various academic stuff, the mathematic models used in financial forecasting, data mining techniques, the EMH, or is it gonna be a totally loosing battle to even try to mine the correlation between information and financial volatility, since the former has already been reflected into the asset prices?

     

    Honestly, that was really tense! He’s a guru!! He seems to know everything about everything…it’s really easy for him to cross over from computer science to finance, from automation to statistics, from medicine to biology…he told me the attempt to predict financial volatility using information might result in vain since people pay premium service to get more accurate information beforehand, and that counterpart online only appears after the movements in financial market actually take place…then what followed was a whole lot of lecture about the B-S model, the future and the option…well, I’ve been doin’ this for like half a year, and I’m still an entire novice to finance and whatsoever…which made me almost fidgetin’ all the time..in lunch, I told him, I feel soooo nervous talking with u..then he responded, well, u shouldn’t beJ haha, I’m not complaining. I would always like to meet smart people and make out a fruitful conversationJ and it turned out that, though it had been an intensive time for me, I enjoyed it pretty much.

     

    The afternoon was awesome. I’ve participated in 4 presentations with 6 amazing demo shows! Mr. Anderson and Mr. Sannella gave out wonderful presentations about system dependability and safe execution of mobile codes. In response to that, the professors from a key lab (sth about hearing and sensory…) here also gave out some amazing outlines and demos, in really crappy English though….one of the Chinese boys who showed his experiment result acted in such a smug way that I even wanted to barf…but then it turned out sensible that he’d been admitted to CMU (!)…

     

    Anyways, that was impressive..everything had been new to me..i mean, I’m not that really kind of nerd who is so into new technologies and fantastic theoretical accomplishments, but I indeed appreciated those wonderful professors and talented young people…they’r awesome.

    2/18/2007

    Boar Year

    Yep, it’s MY year! Jesus, this piece of truth wholly brings me “down”….

    In two months, I’mma turn 24…Think ‘bout dat, my pathetic girl…24 years already, and what have u been through actually? have u found urself cozily located in somewhere fulfilling as well as interesting or just like a piece of crap undergoing an unattractive rusty rot like everybody else?

    Hmm, I cannot say that I belong to the latter:P that would be unfair. I’m like sth in between. Well regrettably, I’m simultaneously labeled as one of a kind who always craves for more (trust me, that is DEADON), which is one of my biggest vices, by the way…and here is an embarrassing admission: this damn thing makes my life much more difficult…

    And for me, it’s always positive to conduct an introspective and confessional contemplation about oneself. That serves as the basis to move on in a forward direction rather than a backward one, doesn't it? J Sometimes, I’m wondering, yeah, what am I? Have I done my work properly? Have I missed something again? Or is it something that u really want? Or where did ur talents go, chris? It’s a sad thing that time is irreversible, when u have rendered a decision, there is no way to turn it back. That is just how this objectively physical world operates.

    Well, primarily the thing that has triggered the above blab is that I REALLY REALLY hate the work I’m involved right now…university sucks! Research sucks! And the damn coding can go to hell…I’m sorry, but that is really not my thang…nonetheless, FYI, I appreciate those qualified engineers and would never deny that I’d like to become one of them if I had that kind of potential. Unfortunately, I sort of feel impotent in this and I do wish I could make a shift, a profound one, honestly.

    Interestingly, on the train back home, a plain ugly, tacky and redneck-like middle-aged man begged out a question for me after he got to know my identity and the current work I’m right now doin’, that how many codes do u have to write if u want to make a hacker program that is able to crack down an enterprise network composed of ten or twenty computers storing client data (or sth like that)…pffff, wholly bullshit, ain’t it? How the hell should I know, u ignoramus?

    Hehe, I’ve been mean:P Anyways, Jim Carrey said that “random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap”. Well, for lonely people, that sounds downright and unmercifully true. However, I should thank god that this year, I don't have to go through the V day alone:P I’ve got a company, a cute and classy hottie, isn’t that just great? J

    Besides, I love u, mom and dad, I would never be me without u guys…god bless u both.

    1/7/2007

    Forwarded

    Ladies and fellas:
    I've forwarded my primary online spaces to the following two entries:
     
    MySpace:
     
    and
    Blogger:
     
    yeah, the former url is still clumsy, but it's due to that i cannot get to the page to change my URL in MySpace, shitty network connection in China!!
    and i really do love MySpace, really cool community! try that out and always dont forget to add me as a friend:P
     
    and the latter maybe turns into a little bit dark side of me, u'r gonna see a lot of bullshit or nonsense in there:) but anyway, that's me:P
    1/2/2007

    City High-What Would U Do?

    --"This song is very inspiring and actually has a good message put into the rap."

    --"released from American R&B/hip hop trio City High's self-titled album in 2001...It peaked at number-eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and is the group's most successful single."

    "Verse 1:
    Boys and girls wanna hear a true story?
    Saturday night I was at this real wild party,
    they had the liquor overflowin' the cup,
    about 5-6 strippers tryin to work for a buck,
    and I took one girl outside wit me,
    her name was Lonni, she went to Jr. High wit me,
    I said, Why you up in there dancin' for cash?
    I guess a whole lots changed since I seen you last
    She said,

    chorus:
    what would you do if your son was at home,
    cryin' all alone on the bedroom floor
    cuz he's hungry, and the only way to feed him
    is to sleep with a man for a
    little bit of money and his daddy's gone,
    somewhere smokin' rock now,
    in and out of lock down,
    I ain't got a job now,
    so for you this is just a good time but for me this is what
    I call life, mmm

    Verse 2:
    girl you ain't the only one wit a baby,
    that's no excuse to be livin' all crazy,
    then she looked me right square in the eye,
    and said every day I wake up hopin' to die,
    she said-nigga I know about pain cuz,
    me and my sister ran away so my daddy couldn't rape us,
    before I was a teenager I been through more shit,
    then you can't even relate ta...

    chorus

    Verse 3:
    what would you do?
    get up on my feet and let go of every excuse
    what would you do?
    cuz I wouldn't want my baby to go through what I went
    through
    (come on)
    what would you do?
    Get up on my feet and stop makin' up tired excuses
    What would you do?
    girl I know if my mother can do it, baby you can do it

    chorus:
    what would you do if your son was at home,
    cryin' all alone on the bedroom floor
    cuz he's hungry, and the only way to feed him
    is to sleep with a man for a
    little bit of money and his daddy's gone,
    somewhere smokin' rock now,
    in and out of lock down,
    I ain't got a job now,
    so for you this is just a good time but for me this is what
    I call life, mmm
    (til end)
    "

     

     

    11/30/2006

    fired up

    when u feel ur dignity is lost, just quit.
    there's nothin in this world that cannot be replaced.
    just dont let anyone or anything become the damn crutch for u since u deserve more.
     
    and sometimes, it's much easier if u just let it go...and when u feel hurt, let it explode, and do a revenge to make him feel sympathetic and small....that's what i'm sayin man, u blew me off, and u'r gonna miss sth that's really good.
     
    11/21/2006

    messy

    dude,this is a little bit too much....al'right,let's be sort of jive,just for fun:)
    man,what's all this fuss about? i cant sleep,i cant eat,cant hang out,cant even think of my little cutie...life's been a little screwd up...
    is this all about money?yeah,i work my ass off and i struggle for everything like an sheer idiot...totally money-oriented...what's the point of all this? since i cannot be a person who makes the status star struck anyway(though maybe i kinda suit for this:D, oh, my talents..my gift...), all i wanna do is just to survive...sure, i mean, at least not like those stupid jackasses who dont know what the fuck they'r doin....
    sorry...since i cannot be proud to say that i'm a winner in being persistent and devoted...sometimes i'm gonna be converted...but who isn't?
    oh my lord, i got ambitions! yeah, but that should not be a burden, man...
    i got a hell of talents,which the others dont..thanks for that, my dear god, but why i just cannot see any point of being versatile and strong?
    too paranoid:) i know:P chris, u've got a good life...just take it easy..life's gonna be good (though it may cost 30 dollars for a bar's entrance in the US, which is downright not that appealin)...currently a little bit messy, though...

    10/17/2006

    Awesome

    today's been great:)
    i met those caramel chancellors, who appreciated my talents:P i met those hot German people TWICE and i had a phone call with Michael:)
    i met daddy yesterday, who gave me a cute cute toy sheep:) and ...well, i spent a great time in lush this evening, really awesome time:)
     
    i feel sooo grateful to everything~and i just wish things can really work out eventually...since Lord knows that i'm damn diligent and sensitive.
     

    7/24/2006

    farewell,my days:) 新生活

    刚刚在机场送走你, honey, 感谢上帝让飞机晚了3个小时, 只可惜光托运就花了2个小时, 意味着我们在一起的时间就只多了1个小时.....
     
    可是相比起今后漫长的岁月, 这又算的了什么呢?
     
    从来不后悔认识你, 也希望有一天你可以读懂我用中文写的心情, 唉, 我可爱的光.
     
    知道你非常的与众不同, 也觉得老天并不是无意让我们在一起的. 这几个月将是我人生最美好的时光之一, 我相信. 感谢4个月前的那个周五, 感谢180°, 感谢这短暂的日夜, 感谢你, my cutie...
     
    sorry, 我哭得像个小孩, 没有办法....谁叫你那么可爱呢...尤其是当你用蹩脚的中文说着: 对不起...我要回家...真的很对不起....唉, 心都快碎掉了. 不指望时光倒流, 只希望可以度过这段相比之下孤独的日子...
     
    希望你可以有美好的未来, 因为你是这样一个可爱而又聪慧的人. kiss~~~~

    7/2/2006

    Lush

    This is the first time I’ve been to Lush, which actually has been heard of quite a lot of times. And it is, well, quite unexpectedly, kind of different from what I thought it would be^^

     

    Some Chinese friend introduced me, during the PKU top-ten-singer competitions, to this nice place where u can get some terrific live music and excellent impromptus, and even, to show urself up to the others if u’ve really got talents…

     

    So that’s why it took me no more than 5 secs to become allured by it. Actually, I’ve been there twice before, while once stayed at the entrance for a couple of mins and then left, and the other time drinking sth without live music. Consequently, this special place has even become more entrancing^^

     

    And today, it was quite different experience….. I thought there would be no problem for me to sing in public cause I’ve had so much experience like this before. Well, on the contrary, I somewhat got choked and dastard…the reason is simple: all the performers are quite good actually!! Far better than I’ve expected! Either they can sing or they could compose or play or extemporize. And a lot of songs there are just pretty new to me, which means I’ve never heard of them for the past of my life ( yeah, above all I’m not western)!!

     

    Anyway, it was just amazing and interesting the whole process. Though I didn’t go to the stage this time, I really appreciated everything there :-) and maybe next time I could nerve myself enough pluck to go there, hehe. God bless me.

    6/17/2006

    *足球Virgin*

    自己其实不是一个footballaholic:)曾经非常喜欢看NBA, 很大原因是受x的影响, 加上对hiphop的疯狂痴迷^^ 但是昨晚才发现, 其实观看足球比赛的精髓, 尤其是像FIFA WorldCup这样的全球盛事, 就是: 和一大堆疯狂的人聚在一块, 对着大屏幕(管他液晶还是投影仪), 一遍喝啤酒, 一遍大惊小怪的叫喊……

     

    确实是fun:)不知道荷兰队为什么可以吸引这么多欧洲人的注意力和青睐, Brown聚集了几百的欧洲球迷(估计不到四分之一真正的荷兰人, 另外一半以上估计是凑凑热闹)几乎清一色的倒向桔色军团…..现场桔色一片, 荷兰队的队服, wig, 帽子铺天盖地, 相比之下, 来自非洲的那支二流球队真是太可怜了…..

     

    不过对于我来说, 呵呵, 我真的非常的impartial, 只要不是日本队, 谁进球对我来说意义都不大J 哈哈, 有人又会觉得我的思想有问题了……

     

    Anyway, 真的很有意思. 能在这种时候期遇世界杯, 还是很幸运的^_^

    4/30/2006

    New三里屯

    新三里屯, 真的是很不一样啊……

    很早就耳闻北京有这么一个地方, 那里有数不尽的西式clubs, pubs, balls, 不间断的music, chivas, vodka, 还有让人眼花缭乱的俊男美女…..当然, 如果时间恰当, 还可以有幸遇到很多地下乐队的第一次正式debutsJ

    ------

    1989年这里出现第一家酒吧算起,经过10年多的发展,三里屯周遍三公里一带已经聚集了北京百分之七十的酒吧.

    三里屯地区最早的酒吧出现在南三里屯,而形成气候、名声最响的是三里屯北街.三里屯北街毗邻北京最大的使馆区,老外北街酒吧固定的客人.

    北街的酒吧比较密集,从南到北,不长的街道上聚集着几十家酒吧,门口紧挨着门口,都是灯红酒绿,都是欢歌笑语.地平线、男孩女孩、米兰俱乐部、简单日子、兰桂坊、NO52,在拥挤的路上行走,根本就分不出哪家是哪家,从风格、顾客群到价格,大致相似.就连兆龙对面的豹豪等,也跟北街酒吧的感觉差不多.

    集大成者是男孩女孩.这个酒吧素以现场演唱出名,每天晚上都有现场乐队的演出,斯琴格日乐和辛欣成名前都在这里唱过歌,这里还经常举办各种演艺方面的新闻发布会.

    三里屯北街有三个异类, JAZZ-YA,就在工行对面的小巷中,是一个好去处,有好吃的,有好听的,老板是个日本人.

    X-CROSS,就在客家菜旁边,原先是一个会员俱乐部,现在开放了,两层,有沙发,有卧榻,有很多老外和很多MM,光线比较暗,有点糜烂.

    非话廊,王朔和叶大鹰几个开的,藏在胡同深处,不大好找,因为王朔的名气,现在都改叫"王吧".艾未未做的设计,线条简洁,不拖泥带水.二层有阁楼,很适合聊天.

    北街酒吧火了之后,总是有各种奇怪的人站在街边,,先生,小姐要不要,或者是像打仗似的死扯着你往酒吧里走,或者像地摊上的叫卖,吓得老外和一些艺术青年四散奔逃.北街真正成了伪白领和旅游者的领地.

    南街的酒吧相对比较简陋,但风格各异.音乐圈的人在南街有很大的势力,因此,南街酒吧弥漫出一种神秘的艺术气息.很奇怪的是,仅仅一路之隔,南街的酒吧物价低了不少,有些地方青岛瓶啤卖五元,但人还是没有北街卖十五块的酒吧的人多.

    明大咖啡、乡谣、隐蔽的树、芥末坊都是较早在南街出现的酒吧.明大和乡谣斜对着,隐蔽的树和芥末坊斜对着,后两家在前两家的南边.

    隐蔽的树的老板是个比利时人,因酒吧房间里有树而得名.酒吧卖最纯正的比利时啤酒,卖意大利式炉烤比萨,这里是老外在北京的天堂.

    芥末坊和音乐有关,这里一度是崔健和一些摇滚乐队的演出基地,酒吧二层有个大露台,适合晒肚皮,观风景.

    爱尔兰酒吧是三里屯南街最大的酒吧,桌椅很旧了,但很瓷实.吧台很大,据说演出的时候可以到桌子上或者吧台上跳舞.这里一度是年轻导演们聚会的固定场所.

    河吧很小,是野孩子乐队开的,每周也有几场演出,顾客随时可以参与,或者演唱,或者敲鼓,河是快乐的河.

    TANIWHA是新西兰风格的,这个单词在毛利人的发音,一种类似于中国龙的动物;星期吧二楼很安静,有时候放电影.土人吧里切格瓦拉和科特库宾两脸相对,不知道什么意思.花香满径把绳子缠在桌腿上,火狐狸有沙壶球.菲酒吧在胡同最南边,据说是某个女子乐队的主唱所开,连去几趟都是铁将军把门.

    新开的酒吧里,生于70年代和阿苏卡都在胡同里,生于70年代的小院子很舒服,有满墙的爬墙虎.阿苏卡满墙则是海报,原版的电影海报,另外还有西班牙酒和台湾牛肉面,老板是台湾人,老板娘是佟斐,喜欢古典音乐的人可能知道.

     

    4/27/2006

    WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT's WHAT I'M NOT

    Can u believe that? 3 years ago, they were nobody but a bunch of brats who knew nothing about music. And they even paid to learn how to play an instrument. But now, see, they are the champions on charts.

    I’ve got to listen to their singles, and I love the music. Honestly speakin’, I think the young boys are somewhat hotJ

     

    Check this website out. http://www.arcticmonkeys.com

     

     

    ...and so here we are, footprints on the ceiling and screaming the words in each others faces, sharing in it like a party we might have hoped it could have been had we closed our eyes and dreamed hard enough on the bus on the way into town. An Arctic Monkey or four screaming at I the Rev Rarsclart, eyes bulging, faces red with the joy of it all. London, Glasgow, Wakefield wherever...

    And the people who have shared it. Those who felt some connection with getting on their Dancing Shoes, a Mardy Bum or Scummy Man or something. There's these moments on which it all turns. I have two or three, London, a French Kiss in the Chaos. Maybe even a full house and not Al, as lead singer. You might have others where you first felt something stir in your belly. Or you might be reading all this and this is your first taste if the whole thing. Not that it should ever be exclusive, like a club or anything nasty like that, or a commodity. Like a big mac meal or something. It‚s more. Its everyman and for I, that is the point of it all, the message and the romance. For as we approach yet more forks in the road, bear left or turn right I hope that may continue.

     

    Cos‚ after all what is it if not an adventure? Like getting on a bus to the other end of town and your not really sure where it goes but you get on anyway. As I started out the Arctic's four screaming faces, spoke to the people who had traveled for eight hours in a micra, or as I tried to sleep, listening out of the window at some drunken lads singing dancing shoes at four in the morning, it dawned on me that there are no leaders in all this or no plan or scheme, other than what's unfolding. People understanding it, relating to it, not relating to it but dancing to it, whatever. Everythings happened yet nothings really happened at all. Why set flags in the sand, it could all end tomorrow and it be back to the local and the chippy afterwards, or it could run and run and run to places unknown. Dreams and schemes and bla bla bla. But the reasons it started are as pure today as they ever were and that's gotta be a damm sight better then formed a band, drank some JD, took some drugs, had some birds or whatevers cool these days. All thats left to say is, welcome to anyone and long live it all say...

     

    Ta for reading

     

    The Rev Jon Rarsclart
    3/27/2006

    HCAP presentation by Harvard students_Monday

    Wow! What more can I say? Just wow!!

     

    Those Harvard-trained students are amazingly terrific! And I have to confess that they really made me such an incredible impression that I cannot help recollecting the whole process over and over even after the forum, which renders me a little bit overduly stimulant.

     

    Tonight’s topics are kind of politic-oriented. We talked about issues such as the role of China in the U.S, politically and socially, political-economic changes, capitalism and consumerism, human rights, democratization in China, Chinese-Americans, stereotypes and so forth, the whole procedure of which is so fruitful and enriching that I feel to have been enlightened to a huge extent. Due to their excellent eloquence and glamorous presentation, which is kind of captivating and informative, I had a valuable chance, thanks to God, to be involved into the face-to-face communication with students from Harvard, one of the most renowned univs over the globe, and get to comprehend the viewpoints of the Americans with regard of the Sino-US relations and American-based Chinese.
    3/18/2006

    Obsession with Propaganda

    I luv ya, just like I luv the most intrinsic essence of life, Propa. U give me strength, energy, and a paranormal power to just be myself, since it is only thru the intimate involvement witcha that I find the very inspiration and stimulation piercing across those afore-established psychical dissepiments, which used to be concealed and inhibited.

     

    Entrenched in the seemingly endlessly laborious and torturing secular life where barely any hints of interaction with others with regard to what I really like could be perceived, u just come to my life, changing my world and shedding a spark of light upon me.

     

    Dark light, cool DJ, exhilarating beats, stimulant wine, cute guys, sexy girls, and so forth, predominantly intrigue me with ur typical subtlety, desperately haunting me for the rest several days, even weeks.

     

    I love u and when I am not with u, I just miss u.

    I don’t know why, and I guess u must have some sort of sorcery, that allures me to the frantic extent. I’m addicted 2 ur venom, which begins to distract me from the normal way and I know this is a typically hazardous situation. But what can I do for the first place?

     

    U’r just irresistible for that u, in all probability, have occupied the most important corner of my heart and soul.

    2/17/2006

    BGF && the meditation

     

    BGF stands for “be global friends”. With the gradually increasing globalization of different cultures and different races, people tend to become far more predisposed to communicate and interact with people from somewhere else on earth, which appears to many human beings a pleasant experience of enriching and broadening one’s horizon and vision. Fortunately, I am amongst those curious and aspiring people who always hold a craving passion for friendly multinational intercourses.

     

    The day before yesterday, just the day I got off the train back from a breath-taking winter vocation in Wuhan, I luckily became a member of those Chinese students who hung out with a bunch of Korean collegians. The whole project, which is sponsored by Hyundai, is called----BGF, as has been mentioned previously. Students are selected all through the Korea who must first give an answer to a question proposed by Hyundai. It was a fantastic period of time. Everybody had fun and was so exhilarating that the parting moment seemed a little sentimental already.

     

    The afternoon was the show-time. We gave out performances to each other and mine wad a solo: never too far from Mariah Carey. Despite the disadvantage of the awful audio-effects, I still gave out an excellent performance which had been acknowledged by almost everyone at present. While I was indulged in my own pride, I was meanwhile astonished by what the Koreans had shown to us. Those crazy games and programs, which might seem a little odd at first sight, really impressed me to a dramatic extent.

     

    When the show is over, I cannot help contemplating about those differences between them and us. It’s pretty easy to tell a Chinese from some Koreans, and what is the distinction? What has caused those variations? Korean youths r just like those western youngsters. They’re open and energetic and always searching for fun in life. They seldom hide their feeling and likely to let everything go just in the most natural way. U may find that though we share the same color of skin, we are actually different races.

     

    Nonetheless, Koreas are, eventually, not totally western. They’re different from Americans after all. If u take a closer look at them, just as I made friends with several Koreans, u would find those subtle hints of Eastern culture inside. For instance, we can share the laughter at the same jokes which might seem impenetrable for westerns. We know the same rules, share the same habits and love the same kind of entertainment stars, all of which indicates an internal Eastern tie though us.

     

    Maybe in a few years later, we Chinese would become just what the Koreans r now and nobody’s gonna inhibit this to happen. And maybe what it would lead us to is just a western planet, a globe brims over with western culture and style of life.

     

    2/11/2006

    Crazy Tonight, Leave Tomorrow

    What’s the taste of crazy partying from dusk to dawn while leaving all troubles and blues behind? Such feelings, for we Chinese people, seldom come along, which yet luckily and unexpectedly had struck on me last night:D

     

    10th, Feb, 2006, a day which may have brought to me an experience worth memorizing for the rest of my life.

     

    Before we guys met, it had been almost a year since the last time I saw them. Fortunately, time, that is said to be able to change everything, doesn’t cause anything unpleasant happened to my dear old mates. Same old faces, same old self-indulgent laughter, same old kinds of jokes which might not be understood by nobody else :P----all seems to come out in such a natural and fluent way that you have to take a time to meditate: am I back to the past?

     

    We went to restaurant, the street and then a musical bar near the river side, where we drank Chivas, danced to the bumping beats and playing crazy games till mid-night. Everything was pretty brand-new while everything seemed so familiar and had remained unchanged ever since I left this city. Screaming suddenly seemed so charming and intriguing that it was completely involuntary that u became addicted to it. We partied all night long, leaving no regrets and no strings attached.

     

    Maybe I would go tomorrow, but this memorable day in my life would never run out of my mind, ever.