danwashburn

September 1 08

# · Notes · (1) · 09.01.08

August 18 08

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

(In real life, my head is bigger than Bliss'.)

# · Notes · (0) · 08.18.08

August 5 08

From Shanghai-based firm Republic Studios. Great stuff. Check them out.

# · Notes · (0) · 08.05.08

July 10 08

And he didn't start playing until his 60s.

# · Notes · (0) · 07.10.08

June 27 08

# · Notes · (0) · 06.27.08

June 25 08

The internet version, at least. NBC Nightly News recently posted online two pieces on golf in China that feature interviews with Par for China's primary subject, Zhou Xunshu, and yours truly. At least one of these clips — inspired by my ESPN.com work related to golf in China — was supposed to air on the television broadcast with Brian Williams, but the story kept getting pushed back (they flew to Shanghai to interview me in March) because China media coverage rightfully was dominated by various uprisings, boycotts, protests and, most importantly, natural disasters.

I'm fine with the small version, actually — it makes it more difficult to determine just how many pounds the camera adds.

# · Notes · (0) · 06.25.08

You may have seen this already on Shanghaiist, but just in case. Check out Daedalum Films' recent documentary short entitled The Tour, which focuses on Par for China's primary subject, Chinese pro golfer Zhou Xunshu. (I'm in it a bit, too.)

# · Notes · (0) · 06.25.08

June 18 08

For some strange reason, this Saturday Night Live sketch came to mind yesterday while I was on the step machine at the gym. It's always made me smile. The SNL clip is hosted by Google Video, so it is possible people in China won't be able to see it without use of a VPN. Here's a transcript:

Dillon/Edwards Investments

Father.....Chris Parnell

[Scene of father helping son ride a bicycle for the first time, then, cut to the living room of their house]

Father: Trust, an important part of building a family, and an important part of building his future. That's why I rely on Dillon/Edwards and Company. For nearly a century, investors on Wall Street have trusted Dillon and Edwards with their financial future. And now all of the resources from America's oldest investment firm are available on-line. [Father is at the computer as the website appears, along with web address]Dillon and Edwards on the Internet, at www.clownpenis.fart. A lot of investment companies rushed onto the Internet, but Dillon and Edwards took their time. Sure, when they were ready, there was one web address left, but it's one you can count on.

Announcer #1: For mutual funds, count on...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

Announcer #1: Online brokerage...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

Announcer #1: Retirement and tuition planning...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

[Caption: Dillon/Edwards Investments-www.clownpenis.fart]

Announcer #1: Dillon and Edwards Investments...

Announcer #2: ...at www.clownpenis.fart.

# · Notes · (1) · 06.18.08

May 28 08

This song implanted in my head by a Dockers commercial of all things.

# · Notes · (0) · 05.28.08

May 21 08

View Larger Map

# · Notes · (0) · 05.21.08

May 20 08

I worked with Damian at TV Guide in 1996-97 — my first job out of college. Archuleta must go down.

# · Notes · (0) · 05.20.08

May 12 08

As I have told you before, my in-laws were born and raised in Burma. So we've been getting regular email updates on the post-cyclone situation there. Here is one email, dated May 10, from someone on the ground in Burma:

Today is Referendum day in the rest of Myanmar. The cyclone-affected areas have had their voting day changed to May 24th. Voting actually started around May 1st, when Yangon City Development Committee employees and their families were asked to vote. Yesterday, people at the ministries in Nay Pyi Daw were gathered together, lectured by their ministers as to how they would vote ("YES") and then given their ballots. The ballots have boxes for ticking "yes" or "no" on the one side. On the reverse side of the same piece of paper, the voter must provide their full name, address, father's name, national registration number AND signature!!! Are you surprised that the referendum is the starting point of my email and that I'm not focusing on the humanitarian crisis? I thought I'd try to share with you the experience of bewilderment many people here are feeling at the government's continued focus on the referendum process, rather than prioritizing other, more obvious needs here at the moment. If you wish to see the type of news coming out of the government's New Light of Myanmar newspaper here, you can take a look at their website for enlightenment.

The post-cyclone situation here is worse than even our previously pessimistic estimates. The total worldwide deaths from the 2004 tsunami reached 220,000 and the total homeless population was 1.5 million. Unofficial but credible estimates here on the ground say that the total numbers of dead and of homeless from the cyclone now exceed those 2004 worldwide tsunami figures. Information trickling in from the villages in the Delta area indicates it is normal for a community to have lost 50-60% of its population by now. It appears that the smaller the village, the larger the percentage of deaths. One member of our team met with the single survivor from a village that used to be home to 100 people. The death rates appear to be higher among women and children than men. Much of this simply has to do with physical strength. Women and children in the Delta were less able to climb and cling to high places during the surges of waves, while men more often had the strength to hang on and survive.

Read more

# · Notes · (1) · 05.12.08

May 9 08

Via Shanghaiist:

Shanghai-based Daedalum Films takes you on a walk through the Song Qing Ling Memorial (宋庆龄陵园), a little known cemetery in western Shanghai home to the remains of Song Qing Ling, numerous other Chinese personalities — and scores of foreigners who came to Shanghai mostly during its early boom years in the mid-1800s and early 1900s, some identified by simple gravestones, and some anonymous.

Song Qing Ling Memorial, 21 Song Yuan Lu (宋园路21号). Map.

# · Notes · (2) · 05.09.08

May 8 08

# · Notes · (0) · 05.08.08

May 5 08

Read Steven Jiang's story entitled "Green dreams of China's golfers." It's part of Jiang's Beijing Journal series leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

Related
The official site of the Par for China book project

# · Notes · (0) · 05.05.08

# · Notes · (0) · 05.05.08

May 4 08

Sent via my father-in-law, who was born and raised in Burma. More videos, including one entitled "Don't Watch the Olympics", from the US Campaign for Burma at YouTube. Also available at Burma: It Can't Wait.

Also, a state of emergency was declared in parts of Burma after a cyclone touched down on Saturday.

Related
Aung San Suu Kyi on Wikipedia

# · Notes · (0) · 05.04.08

May 1 08

Read their piece on expats in China, "Strangers in a strange land," here. Read more from GOOD's "China Issue" here. More information about GOOD here. This issue of GOOD will be on newsstands until early June — info on where you can purchase a copy here.

I hope to be able to show you a larger (and uncropped) version of the cool photo that accompanied my profile in GOOD. It was shot by award-winning Shanghai photographer Ariana Lindquist at Shanghai Silport Golf Club with the help of some of their brightly colored caddies, said to be among the best in China.

Downloads
GOOD, "Strangers in a strange land," Pages 76-77: PDF
GOOD, "Strangers in a strange land," Pages 78-79: PDF

# · Notes · (0) · 05.01.08

April 25 08

Gotta love Japanese television. We haven't had Chinese TV since moving to our new apartment more than a year ago. Are we missing any gems like this?

# · Notes · (0) · 04.25.08

April 23 08

That is one apartment building in Shanghai.

# · Notes · (0) · 04.23.08

# · Notes · (0) · 04.23.08

April 11 08

Check it out:

parforchina.com

There are still a couple bugs, and fixing them is beyond my meager technical capabilities. So if there are any kind Wordpress geniuses out there who think they might be able to help me, please let me know. I can save a spot on the book's acknowledgments page for you.

# · Notes · (0) · 04.11.08

April 7 08

Well, its computers seem to be. An email from a friend today:

here i am stuck at HK airport due to flight delay ... trying to get into the shanghaiist on one of the complimentary computers here, and ...

Access Denied
Forbidden word lesbian

... pops up.

At least they are honest about it, I guess.

# · Notes · (0) · 04.07.08

April 6 08

I have never been to Japan before, but after watching this video, I feel as though I have — this must be exactly what it is like at a sushi restaurant in Japan.

# · Notes · (1) · 04.06.08

April 4 08

# · Notes · (0) · 04.04.08

April 1 08

The only thing more annoying than the fact that we are still pointing fingers and naming names (does anyone really care anymore?) is the camera work in this video. Buy a tripod.

# · Notes · (0) · 04.01.08

March 28 08

From Slate V:

In Slate V's ongoing effort to bring you the worst in world cinema, our bad-movies curator, Mark Jordan Legan, has a sampling of good vs. evil epics from China, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

The China entry is actually from pre-handover Hong Kong, but wow — it sure is crappy. File these films (can I use that word here?) under the so-bad-they-are-good category. I think I might like the Filipino one the best, but I could be biased since I watch Filipino TV every day.

Yes, the guy dove in front of the giant papier-mâché boulder ... and he got what was coming to him.

Watch this video. It will have you tying cobras into knots in no time.

# · Notes · (1) · 03.28.08

March 27 08

From my friends at Shanghai's Daedalum Films. Keep your eye on these guys — they've got some interesting things in the pipeline. Also, they are planning on making Holdem China a feature-length documentary. If you think you can help make that happen, contact them.

# · Notes · (0) · 03.27.08

Howard: Why on earth would you be a Yankees fan? That's like rooting for GM.

Dan: If the Yankees are GM, does that make the Red Sox Toyota or Ford?

Howard: I knew the Ford line was coming. Still, I'd rather root for Avis than for Hearse, whoops. I meant Hertz.

And so on.

Watched the Red Sox-A's in Japan via HAVA last night at Big Bamboo. The poor Red Sox lost to the A's, who are what, the Geely of baseball?

# · Notes · (0) · 03.27.08

March 24 08

I brought myself to delve back into Google Reader today after many months of avoidance. You see, I had tons of subscriptions from my days as daily editor of Shanghaiist, and all the unread stories just became too overwhelming. I currently just don't have the time or the interest anymore for a lot of it, so I just neglected it, and checked out websites the "old-fashioned way." But I was told that Reader has folders now, and I figured I'd do some RSS house-cleaning, putting most of the feeds in a folder named "Shanghaiist" and a select few in a folder called "Perrsonal" (I mistyped when naming the folder, and I can't figure out a way to change it).

Anyway, doing all this made me realize I hadn't checked out my friend Richmond's Blogspot blog in a while (now that my VPN is working again, I really have no excuse).

Richmond and I worked at the same newspaper in Georgia, and shortly after 9/11, I somehow convinced him to join me (ie, drive me in his pickup truck) on a memorable road trip to Louisiana (Richmond's former and current home) in search of a bumper pool table. Long story.

Reading Richmond's blog, I learned that while he was studying, getting his "hackery" published and keeping people from dying, he was also doing a lot of "farting around".

I think most writers are master procrastinators — I know I am. (I could expand on this, but I won't. I promised I wouldn't further procrastinate what I should be writing at the moment.) Here's a snippet from Richmond's post:

When I think about my work ethic, I generally consider myself one lazy mofo. I have a lot to do, true, but fact is I screw around a lot. I do a lot of stuff that falls under Vonnegut's heading of "farting around". I wander around talking to people. I take paddles and bike rides and runs. I take naps. I read books and articles that have nothing to do with my Ph.D. work. I think I'm pretty feckless.

I don't take naps, and I wish I could procrastinate with paddling. My issue is more of being easily distracted and over-extended — I get a decent amount done during the day, but not always what I originally intended to get done.

And that kind of segues into the second half of this post's title. Jazz music has always helped me focus — I am fairly certain I got that from my dad — and now that I am about to get into some serious writing for my book project, I figured it was a good time to add some new jazz to my writing soundtrack.

I had to outsource the jazz selection process, however. I have been listening to basically the same three jazz albums on repeat for the past 15 years:

• Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
• John Coltrane - Blue Train
• The Branford Marsalis Quartet featuring Terence Blanchard - Music from Mo' Better Blues

No real surprises there. Well, maybe the last one, but that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knew me in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Anyway, those three albums and "The music can't be distracting" was all Bliss' brother A.J. Khaw, a Miami-based jazz musician/physician, had to go on when burdened with the task of recommending his brother-in-law some new writing music. His suggestions:

• Wynton Marsalis - Live at the House of Tribes
• Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
• Bill Evans - Portrait in Jazz
• Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess
• John Scofield - A Go Go
• Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
• Horace Silver - Song For My Father

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to acquire all albums in less than a day. And I must say, A.J. did an excellent job. The Silver, Shorter and Marsalis albums were immediate standouts, and after a couple listens I really liked Evans, too. The Scofield album is one that probably won't make the rotation — I think I have some kind of bias against guitar jazz. Interestingly, I am on the fence about the two Miles selections. I am pretty sure I own these two in CD form back in Pennsylvania (they, and hundreds of other albums I own, have yet to get ripped into mp3s). Bitches Brew might go into the "distracting" bin — a good album, but probably more suitable for when Bliss and I drop acid¹ than productive writing sessions. Porgy and Bess, on the other hand, may not be jazzy enough at times, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, if any readers have other suggestions, I will be happy to illegally download them and give them a listen. Alright, enough procrastinating. Time to do some real writing.

¹ Note to Bliss' parents: We don't really drop acid. Actually, Ruth, do you even know what that is?

# · Notes · (1) · 03.24.08

March 21 08

# · Notes · (0) · 03.21.08

March 20 08

This is where I am spending my days through Sunday. More info here.

# · Notes · (0) · 03.20.08

March 18 08

You'll have to click on the image (or here) to get a better view.

We had our draft Saturday night. Fourteen teams in league, mostly guys from this newspaper I used to write for. I finished second last year.

My team name? Same as it has been since March 2007: Baronx Obamas.

# · Notes · (0) · 03.18.08

From Barely Political

# · Notes · (0) · 03.18.08

March 17 08

Why? Because that's what I've been doing all day.

# · Notes · (1) · 03.17.08

March 13 08

Par for China's primary subject shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday and currently stands four strokes back of Taiwan's Chan Yihshin and one stroke back of playing partner Hsu Mongnan, also of Taiwan, who is tied for second place. Zhou got a big write-up (his first) on the Omega China Tour website:

Zhou Xunshu, who played with Hsu, finished joint-fourth on 71 despite playing in the spotlight of NBC's cameras.

However, the close attention of a Beijing-based crew from the US television network didn't put him off his game as he enjoyed a rare appearance on the leaderboard.

"I was so nervous when I saw the NBC cameras on my first hole (the 10th). I didn't know they would be there," he said. "At first I played well, but I later put two balls in the water. I'm still happy with my score," said the smiley Zhou.

Zhou is one of many players on the Tour with interesting backgrounds. As a former security guard at a golf course, he has captured the attention of international media and was later interviewed by NBC for a programme on the Omega China Tour and the growth of Chinese golf.

On a day in which the Chinese Taipei duo enjoyed the upper hand, Zhou said he learned a lot from his playing partner.

"It was great for me to play with Hsu," Zhou said. "He has wonderful course management and a dream short game. That's exactly what we mainland players need, that kind of short game."

Hsu was also complimentary about his playing partner. "Zhou outdrove me by 30-40 yards every time," he said. "He really has everything in his game apart from international experience."

By "attention of international media" they mean: Me following him around at every tournament on the 2007 China Tour schedule (and some tournaments that weren't on the schedule). NBC learned of Zhou from my ESPN.com piece from last November.

The NBC crew arrives in Shanghai tomorrow morning — guess who they are coming here to interview ...

I hope I do as well as Zhou did.

See the entire leaderboard here. You can follow tomorrow's action with live scoring (Zhou tees off at 1 pm).

# · Notes · (0) · 03.13.08

March 12 08

Or at least my landlord does. I have long known that she is a big fan of mahjong, having woken up many a morning to the sound of mixing tiles downstairs. But today, I found out she is also a fan of the NBA. I had just finished walking the dogs and was making my way upstairs. The landlord's living room door was open and Ozzie poked his nose in for a visit, as he often does (our landlord has become less afraid of dogs over the past year, so these visits last a little longer these days). I heard sports coming from her TV and walked inside to take a look. She told me she likes watching basketball. The Los Angeles Lakers were playing the Toronto Raptors. "科比," she said, pointing to the TV screen. "科比打得很好."¹

See a photo of our landlord here (second from the right).

¹ "Kobe," she said, pointing to the TV screen. "Kobe plays very well."

# · Notes · (1) · 03.12.08

March 7 08

So, I still haven't seen There Will Be Blood, the 2007 film that I have wanted to see more than any other. It's not for a lack of trying. Early DVD-5s I bought all had the same problem — bad edits and chunks of the movie missing (see embedded clip above). But at least those bad edits came early, about 11 minutes in, so I didn't waste too much of my time. Unlike tonight. I bought a DVD-9 that had me quite optimistic — quality was good, and no bad edit at the 11-minute mark.

This time it came at the 92-minute mark. One second Daniel is on the train with his son, the next he is trying to sell his land. It didn't add up. So I turned it off, yet again. Ugh.

Karma, perhaps, for nearly six years of bootleg movies and television shows. Maybe a less spiritually ruined Shanghai (and pirated DVD) newbie has a good copy they'd like to let me borrow?

# · Notes · (1) · 03.07.08

This was with Frank and Kat at Dolar Shop hot pot, of which you may have seen my poor photos here and here. We weren't really thinking when we ordered "shrimp," I guess — didn't expect them to be alive, and never too excited when they still have heads and shells (which, I know, is just about all the time in Chinese restaurants in China ... except for gong bao xia ren at Charmant, which I highly recommend). Even though we sent them back, we still had to pay for them, but at least we got a nice little video out of it.

For more nice little videos, check out Frank's travel blog: morrowandme.com. For those of you in China (that blog is blocked) go directly to the vids at Vimeo.

# · Notes · (1) · 03.07.08

March 5 08

#1 Why you get so mad? It like, say you advertise veal at your restaurant and someone says "hey I think this is pork really not veal" and then you go like crazy person saying "You stupid bitch dwarf! You don't know pork and veal! You shut up!" And then you shake your big knife and say "You get out of here!" You could have instead say "No, lady, you mistaken, this #1 for sure excellent veal, no pork." But you don't do that, you go crazy. So you know what I smell? PORK!

Link

# · Notes · (0) · 03.05.08

March 2 08

Earlier, I showed you a simplified version of the planned route for my late February Par for China research trip. Here's the complete version, with all the stops from Feb 20 to 28. Photos should follow eventually (no promises, though).

# · Notes · (0) · 03.02.08

March 1 08

Happy Birthday, to the love of my life. (She's the one with the rosy cheeks.)

# · Notes · (0) · 03.01.08

February 29 08

Just learned from CNN International that Barack Obama's favorite TV show is The Wire. Yet another reason to vote for the guy. (Later, CNN used the word "derby" to describe an NBA matchup between the Mavericks and the Spurs. Oh, how I love listening to Brits do American sports.)

# · Notes · (0) · 02.29.08

And Ferrell (aka Jackie Moon) wins handily.

Watch the trailer for Ferrell's Semi Pro here. Read the "mixed or average" reviews for the film here.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.29.08

February 19 08

More research for Par for China.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.19.08

February 18 08

# · Notes · (0) · 02.18.08

February 17 08

That was the best NBA Slam Dunk contest I have seen in a long, long time. Creativity is back. And Dwight Howard is a monster. Just amazing.

When people, years ago, were calling for the dunk competition to be discontinued, I didn't protest. I started watching these things from the beginning — Jordan, Nique, Spud, Dee (dare I say Minor?) — and for the past decade or so it felt like dunkers had run out of new material. We had seen it all before. Contestants were just riffing on styles someone else originated. The show had gotten boring.

But all that has changed. Each one of 2008 champion Dwight Howard's dunks was something we hadn't seen before, and they were performed with style and panache. This guy is 6-foot-11, people.

Howard set the bar amazingly high with his first dunk. Ball thrown off the back of the backboard. He catches in midair, reaches his arm back under the backboard and slams it home ... somehow managing not to bounce his head off the back of the backboard, as well. This is almost the dunk I have been begging for for years. The version I always thought would be a sure 50 has the dunker starting behind the backboard, like Howard did, but instead of tossing the ball off the back of the backboard, he'd tap it off the back of the backboard while in the air — the ball doesn't leave his hands — and then, remaining in the air, he'd make his way under the backboard to complete the dunk. Seeing what Howard did last night, I now believe this is definitely possible.

Howard followed with his soon-to-be-famous Superman Dunk¹. And this was just the first round. Ridiculous. He basically had the thing won right there, but came back with two more dunks we'd never seen before in the final round: one where he tosses the ball off the floor and the backboard, and then another which utilized a miniature basketball hoop attached to the backboard with suction cups.

While Howard, who according to TNT's announcers now owns at least two of the top 5 dunks ever in the contest, definitely stole the show, Gerald Green scored creativity points for his "birthday cake" dunk and Jamario Moon was also impressive (but screwed himself with a piece of athletic tape).

ESPN highlights of the contest are embedded below. More photos can be found here. Watch Howard practicing his dunks here.

If you have a chance to watch the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest in its entirety, please do so. It really was a throwback to the classic contests of yesteryear — the ones I'd get all excited about as a kid. Bliss (and the dogs) can confirm that this one had me screaming like a teenager all over again.

Hell, maybe now I'll actually watch an NBA game or two this year.

¹ Is it still a "dunk" if the guy doesn't touch the rim and instead, so high in the air, throws the ball DOWN through the cylinder?

# · Notes · (1) · 02.17.08

February 16 08

From Mudan Boutique.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.16.08

Via Slate.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.16.08

Via Slate. This may be my favorite:

"Glute"

I have strained my glute
On a couple occasions.
I wish I could tell you
How many occasions.

—Feb. 5, 2008, deposition

# · Notes · (0) · 02.16.08

February 12 08

Part of it, at least. See here.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.12.08

The fourth night of the Year of the Rat, Feb. 10, 2008. Scenes from our balcony, roof and living room. It was a little bit scary.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.12.08

February 11 08

Congratulations to the Flight of the Conchords blokes for winning New Zealand its first Grammy in 24 years (best comedy album).

If you haven't watched Flight of the Conchords, you should. One of the best TV series of 2007.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.11.08

February 7 08

Shanghai's Tongren Lu bar street. Midnight. Chinese New Year's eve. Madness. Loud dangerous madness.

Good times.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

# · Notes · (0) · 02.07.08

February 5 08

Democrats who have registered for the 2008 Global Presidential Primary, go here to vote before next Tuesday.

If you didn't register for the Global Primary, unfortunately it's too late to vote online¹. But you can go to votefromabroad.org to request your absentee ballot for the November General Election.

¹ You still may be able to vote in your state's primary the old fashioned way, if its primary is scheduled for after Super Tuesday (today). I'm not sure about this, but you can check here or here.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.05.08

February 4 08

The play mentioned earlier, embedded this time.

And, just for fun, how about the entire Giants game-winning drive:

# · Notes · (0) · 02.04.08

# · Notes · (0) · 02.04.08

More info here and here.

# · Notes · (0) · 02.04.08

Go here to watch Eli Manning somehow evade the Patriots defense and David Tyree somehow hang on to the ball during the final drive of the Giants' amazing win. (Sorry, video not embeddable.)

Here's how ESPN.com described it:

Manning, however, engineered a terrific drive as time ran down. The signature play: Manning, ducking and spinning, somehow avoided a severe rush and Tyree managed to catch a 33-yard catch -- he initially pinned the ball on his helmet with one hand -- and the Giants had the ball at the Patriots' 24-yard line. With 35 seconds left, Manning hit Burress with a gorgeous 13-yard touchdown pass and the perfect season had congealed, horribly, into the twisted wreckage of a shocking loss.

Photos of the play from the Daily News.

# · Notes · (1) · 02.04.08

# · Notes · (0) · 02.04.08

January 21 08

Wulumuqi Lu was unusually quiet this evening at around 8:30 pm. Lots of shops that usually stay open late into the night were shuttered and dark. Wondering if today was some holiday I didn't know of, I asked the lady at our neighborhood DVD shop if she knew what was going on, and she guessed people closed shop because it was cold. But this is not the coldest night of the winter, so I am not sure I buy that explanation. And I am pretty sure people werren't observing Martin Luther King Day. Any ideas?

Speaking DVDs, it's that wonderful time of year when almost anything you want to buy is available in a quality that is more than passable, often perfect. Today's purchases: There Will Be Blood, Perseepolis, Juno, Michael Clayton, The Great Debaters, Eastern Promises, A Mighty Heart and I Am Legend.

Still looking for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Killer of Sheep, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No End in Sight and several others.

I hope to resume my role as voter in the Orange Street Oscars this year.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.21.08

Hilarious.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.21.08

January 20 08

This list is both tardy and hastily thrown together — fitting for what I thought was a lackluster year in music. No rankings this year, my 2007 music selections are presented alphabetically. I think all of the albums listed below are worth checking out, but time will tell how many I'll still be listening to this time next year. My guess is a handful.

Perhaps more interesting this year is the list of artists that put out albums I am surprised I didn't like more. In previous years, these guys would have been shoe-ins: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Interpol, Spoon, Wilco, Iron & Wine, The New Pornographers, Rogue Wave, Band of Horses, Radiohead, John Vanderslice and Elliott Smith (the last one just being too hard for me to listen to, for a variety of reasons).

Maybe I'm just getting harder to please as I get older.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. And even more, I'd love to hear your recommendations — this is by no means a complete list.

• 1990s, Cookies
  Raucous and fun. Methinks the lads form Scotland dabble in the drugs (because that's all they sing about).
• Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
  Springsteen crashed this Funeral, but I still liked it.
• Beirut, The Flying Club Cup
  I was serving beer and burgers when I was 21. Zach Condon is creating one of the best and most unique albums of the year.
• The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
  The Beach Boys go electric (and dejected).
• Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
  His "professional whistling skills" on full display here.
• Bishop Allen, The Broken String
  "Corazon" is one of the best songs of the year.
• Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
  Listening to him makes me miss home for some reason. (According to Last.fm, I listened to this album more than any other in 2007 ... but that doesn't take into account what I listen to on my mp3 player.)
• The Cave Singers, Invitation Songs
  Interestingly this was not the 2007 album that sounded like it was recorded in a cave. That award goes to Panda Bear's Person Pitch.
• Field Music, Tones of Town
  A little bit Yes, a little bit XTC. Good in small doses.
• Frog Eyes, Tears of the Valedictorian
  One of the year's best. Reminds me of Wolf Parade.
• Handsome Furs, Plague Park
  Side project for Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner.
• of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
  A fun, fun ride. Kevin Barnes seems to put out a solid record every year.
• Okkervil River, The Stage Names
  Not quite as rousing as 2005's Black Sheep Boy, but enjoyable nonetheless.
• Peter Bjorn and John, Writer's Block
  The whistling chorus from "Young Folks" is still my ringtone.
• Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight
  Disappointing. Superficial. Mainstream. Accessible. Those are some words critics threw around when reviewing this album. True, it is different and perhaps not as good as previous efforts, but I find myself listening to it again and again. Maybe I just have a thing for Jenny Lewis.
• The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
  Overall kind of disappointing, but makes the cut based on the first two songs alone.
• Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills
  The best Cure album in a long, long time.
• White Rabbits, Fort Nightly
  Gets better with each listen. A great party album.
• Robert Wyatt, Comicopera
  He turns 63 later this month, and put out one of the most creative albums of 2007. "Just As You Are" is a gem.
• Neil Young, Live at Massey Hall (1971)
  Seems the only new Neil Young albums I like these days are not really new.

Could have made it:

Art Brut's It's a Bit Complicated, Blonde Redhead's 23, Grinderman's Grinderman, Gruff Rhys' Candylion, Jens Lekmen's Night Falls Over Kortedala, Oakley Hall's I'll Follow You, Pop Levi's The Return To Form Black Majick Party, Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Voxtrot's Voxtrot, Patrick Wolf's The Magic Position

Album that easily would have made the list had it not actually been released in 2006 and for some reason I didn't listen to it until late 2007:

Midlake's The Trials Of Van Occupanther

Related Links
The five best albums of 2006 ... so far
The Top 20 Albums of 2005
This is when I force my taste in music on you
The Top 25 Albums of 2004
The Top 20 Albums of 2003
A fond farewell to a friend

# · Notes · (2) · 01.20.08

January 19 08

1.4 million dead bodies in 264 seconds.

Via John Ise.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.19.08

January 14 08

"Good job. You picked one from somewhere else. They're willing to work for it." — Shouted at me by an old, fat "Jewish-sounding"¹ man as I entered a Wal-Mart in Ft. Myers, Florida, with my ethnically Chinese wife who was born and raised in Washington state. A nice little "Welcome home" from a stranger.

¹ I point this out because he wasn't your typical Southern redneck.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.14.08

We had grand plans about making many visits to the movie theater during our recent two-week trip to the US — it's one of the activities I miss most about life in the US; we never have much reason to go in censored Shanghai — but we only managed to see one film: No Country For Old Men. It was the only thing worth seeing at Bloomsburg's Cinema Center. (Trivia: I was one of the Cinema Center's very first employees, way back in 1993 — I tore a damn good ticket, I must say.)

No Country is excellent, one of the most engrossing, tense and uncomfortable movies I have ever seen ... until its flawed (and unnecessary) final act. Still, I highly recommend seeing it, if only for the set-up and the pitch-perfect performances from Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and the rest of the splendid cast.

It's Bardem, however, who steals the show (he just won a Golden Globe). His cattle-gun-carrying, Dorrothy-Hamill-hair-having Anton Chigurh is creepy and calculating and without compassion — truly terrifying. I'd say he was a modern day Frank Booth, but No Country is set before Blue Velvet.

Haven't seen it available on DVD in Shanghai, but be sure to snatch up a copy when it appears.

# · Notes · (2) · 01.14.08

Penned by a Reaganite friend of mine. Maybe there is hope:

It's a zoo right now. I watched the GOP debate last night and was only mildly impressed. I'll probably go with McCain just because he's an iron-balled old crank who doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. Or Giuliani, I dunno. My kid likes Obama, and I can see why. He's not the same old crapola. And while he's no Bradley in the paint, SI guy had a column about playing hoops with O and says he's got a nice shot. As for Bush, I ditched on him even before the last election and voted Libertarian. I'm not sure he's as big an idiot as everyone thinks, but he plays one on TV and I grew tired of his act. I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but I gag when you keep ramming the flag down my throat and tell me you're pissing on the Constitution to save me from the bad guys. Tell China we'll try to get it right this time, but they still better watch their ass. I pick up my guitar and pray ... we don't get fooled again.

I recently added the Obama App on Facebook, so I guess, in 2008, that makes my choice official.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.14.08

January 8 08

No LSU vs. Ohio State in sight. Perhaps this is the Filipino satellite company's way of lobbying for a college football playoff system?

BEN 2 - Soccer, Portugal vs. England
ESPN - X Games, BMX biking
Solar Sports - Beach Volleyball
Star Sports - Soccer, LUT vs. LIV
BEN 1 - Soccer, Derby vs. West Ham

None of those events are being broadcast live.

# · Notes · (0) · 01.08.08

January 7 08

One of the benefits of living in China is that you can filter the news you hear and read from America. You can avoid being bombarded by the media onslaught. On my infrequent trips back to the US, however, I enjoy the onslaught, because I know it is only temporary. And during my recent two-week stay in Florida and Pennsylvania, I got up to speed on the presidential campaign ... and I learned that the prospect of a Mike Huckabee presidency (something I hadn't thought about until his win in Iowa) scares the hell out of me. He recently was one of three candidates to admit to not believing in evolution at a Republican debate (see here) and apparently thinks the notion that the Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago is just as plausible as Darwin's theory (see here). Perhaps Iowa was just a blip (Huck is in