Quote City!

A not-as-famous Winston Chill quote:

"Sir, you're drunk!" "Yes Madam, I am. But in the morning, I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

- Winston Churchill, to Lady Astor

Link of the week: Nikola Tesla

a good read, if you're scientifically inclined....

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html

Thought of the day.

A man to be respected is one who knows his limits and lives life in tune with reality, not false bravado.

Milestones and Kicks

When people talk about milestones, it's usually about defining moments in their lives, the things that made them reconsider who they are and who they might be. It's a reasonable way of looking that things in this paradigm, as human experience is often represented and felt in a linear fashion, with points at intervals in which you check the engine and assess the situation.

But what if time isn't linear? what if time exists as a web of interconnected pathways, in which disparate elements all seem to converge in an eddy of expansions and contractions in time? It's when your life is viewed in the context of the chaos that is life, not the order that is history. Perhaps it would behoove a storyteller to continue tackling the messiness of the narrative process through different tools of our culture. I would say that this isn't a new idea, that innately we can understand the human experience at the level of complexity that we individually take in every day.

In Music and cinema we can understand the different ways of thinking about time and experience, with plenty of visionaries proposing something ordinary in the extraordinary and the contemporaries who propose something extraordinary in the ordinary.

But enough of that. It's all really an excuse to narrate about shoes.

Granted, plenty of other things would suffice in terms of describing my life narrative (and they have), but I suppose I want to get away from the nominally extraordinary situations that made us who we are.

And I like shoes. So there.

My first shoe love (a pun, get it? hurfhurfhurf) were LA Lights, those LED blinking sneakers that would burst a red color every time you took a step. I got them as a 4-5 year old and couldn't help but be mesmerized. In fact, I don't remember a whole lot about my life as a 5 year old, other than getting into trouble a lot and looking at kids blinking LED shoes. Never mind that the product has come under fire because the first generation of shoes had mercury in the LED units, lolz.
Elementary School and Middle School had me doing just about everything a young suburban boy could do: soccer, running around, goofing around, going to to church, playing football, playing outdoors, roller hockey, etc. The Adidas SS2G was a popular shoe for my mom as myself and my older brother Stephen clamored for another pair as the one before them wore out. Comfortable, reliable, and versatile. We wore these everywhere, and we could always count on the edge of the herringbone pattern area on the sole to start falling apart first as they broke down.
Adidas was a behemoth back in the 90's, putting out retros and very classic designs that inspired the hell out of anyone who got them. The Adidas Superstars, Forums, Top Tens, and their cleats were on everyone's feet.
What my oldest brother, Joe, the my middle brother Steve wore back in the late 90's were the Adidas Sambas. Old school soccer turf shoes with the classic white stripes personified the style I wanted, and actively thought about: athletic, sleek, timeless and always relevant, and always in the action. I could have worn them everyday of my life, but never got around to owning a pair until high school, when I got myself a pair for indoor soccer, even though there might have been cheaper, more technically superior options. I still have the sambas in my closet, ready to go at a moments notice.
I first got into playing basketball seriously in college, but I do remember playing at church as a 13 year-old. My older brother had gone to the Nike Outlet, the year was 2001. Vince Carter had just rocked the world in the 2000 slam dunk contest (I didn't care though, I was rocking n00bs in Pokemon) and had his first signature shoe, the VC1.
I received this pair from Joe, and I totally geeked. the sleek midcut shroud, the support ribs, the red shox pillars (brand new!) were so out there and seductive to my hormone ridden mind that I played in them even though they cut off circulation to my feet, they chafed in three parts of my foot, and I sprained my ankle in them. Just goes to show how seductive a shoe can be... or how impressionable I was.

After the VC1's were tossed, I asked my mom for a new pair of shoes. I remember looking online on our 56k modem, looking for sleek shoes that were classy and of course, versatile for any purpose. I really liked this black pair of reebok basketball shoes: a good price and a good looking, elegant shoe. the Patent leather sold me on it, even though the shoe was named the Afronaut II. They fit my feet perfectly, and the only real drawback in performance was the ventilation. These were really stinky sneakers, and eventually got stolen from my gym locker after basketball tryouts (I got dunked on and got cut from JV. Good times)

The sneaker belonged to the ATR Line, which caters mostly to people who play "Above The Rim" with affordable prices (AKA African Americans). In this part of my middle school career, I was definitely into hip hop and hardcore rap. I remember Eminem and Linkin Park were big back then, and I was tuning into Method man and the Wu Tang Clan (mostly because my last name is Tang), and got into "hood certified apparel", like a ratty Adidas Hoodie and the ATR Alpha sneakers with the icy-translucent outsole. those were the days of acne, solitary jaunts from middle school to home, overall argumentation with the people that cared and total shyness with the people that didn't. Oh man.


The shoe that really got me into the Performance Basketball Shoe game were the Adidas Game Day Lightnings. In 2003 and 4, the Pistons were on top of the western conference. They had just killed off the NJ nets (remember the Tayshaun Prince block on Reggie Miller?) and the kids at school who cared were ecstatic. I remember a few games in that season where Chauncey Billups wore these awesome shoes, which featured a wrapped outsole, those organic heel counters and Asymmetric stripes and speed lacing. That the main endorser was Sebastian Telfair (SUCK) was of no importance to me.

I drove to the mall to get a pair, but ended up buying the low-cut version with the pebble-leather, which was still pretty awesome. The traction sucked, the shoes overheated and there was no ventilation or traction. they chafed your ankles so badly you had to double sock and your foot slid around like a fish, the synthetic leather wore out after a few wears, but the GDLs were sleek, BAMF shoes, even given their performance suck rating of C- by Kicksology.com.

College was a time for exploration, with a lull in performance shoes in comparison to the early part of the decade. With the success of shox and the development of other air cushioning technologies, Nike put forth team basketball shoes with the same uppers but different cushioning implementations that looked OK and performed reasonably well. Kids were spoiled by the Huarache 2k4 which were performance beasts, but the team sneakers offered in 2005 gave one plenty of colorway options.

Even if the Air Max Elite Jermaine O'neal sneakers were designed with big men in mind, the cushioning on them were pillows on my feet: I had to get them. The "Killer Bees" colorway was awesome as well. I sprained my ankles twice in college, once with Shox (I never learned back then, but now I know they're a gimmick!). After recovering a little, I got these sneakers and, though they were inherently unstable, Nike did try to make up for it by providing space for a Huge-Ass ASO ankle brace. Regardless, I suffered a severe ankle sprain in these shoes WITH the brace. They went on ebay thereafter. My explorations in awesomeness from this point on were much more critical in terms of looking at sneakers not just from an aesthetics POV, but the context in which they were designed and especially in terms of pure performance. I DID learn a bit more about holistic learning and thinking in College, a good use of tuition money I suppose. I was a big fan (and still am) of Ben Wallace, a tenacious defender and true Afronaut. Of course I watched what he was wearing on the court in 2004: the And1 Chosen One. When they retroed in 2007 I bought myself a pair of awesomeness.

Ventilation in the forefoot, unconventional heel cushion system in the back, an asymmetric collar to prevent ankle rolling and promote range of motion elsewhere, and a LOCK-DOWN fit. This would probably be the first shoe I ever bought that actually performed well on court. And1 was a great sneaker brand for me: all of the shoes I got provided a great lock-down fit and performed admirably, and at a great price. My Favorites: the Tai Chi mid, the Onslaught, the Asphalt and the Grip Mid. Still looking for another pair of And1's (they're out of the high-level performance market now, which sucks).

In College I became a born-again christian, and I think that learning about humanitarian causes and social justice topics really appealed to me. I had a phase with my sneaker game where I found cool shoes and then, realizing how much I had, would give them or sell them a low price to friends and others (ebay, etc.). Stephon Marbury's sneaker line had great intentions (even ben wallace joined him for a year), but unfortunately steve and barry's went out of business and we were cut off. I remember hurrying to a liquidation sale and buying starburys for some folks (which made sense because they were all in their sizes, not mine X_x). The shoes opened up my own thoughts about sneakers.

I had a closet-full of shoes back a few years ago, and did some sneaker art on the side. I thought to myself that God had given me some capital, and that I should use them instead of burying them in my closet. I donated a lot of shoes my junior and senior years of undergrad, either giving them to the Salvation Army or selling them on eBay for a cut of the profits going to charity. After my disappointments in Mid-top shoes, I was on the lookout for something stable and supportive: after all, a stable base will save your ankles from getting tweaked. Enter low-cuts. in this era, finding things that fit like soccer shoes and offered outriggers and lateral support were plusses for me in all aspects.

I have had Nike Free 5,0 trainers, Kobe IV sneakers, the Steve Nash zoom MVPs, and of course, the zoom BB2. (don't forget the Adidas Pilrahna, which has the biggest outrigger in the history of shoes). In my mind, the best shoe I have ever purchased have been the Nike Zoom Tr. I have 3 pairs of them (the above colorway I gave to Stephen), and I can't stress how supportive and natural they feel on your feet. they look good, the material is quality, and the construction permits the shoe to be used for it's designed purpose: cross training on hard surfaces. And.... I've not sprained my ankles since.

I've played basketball, weight lifted, run and skateboarded (unsuccessfully, but it wasn't the shoes fault this time) in them for years. At this point in my sneaker obsession, I've toned it down a bit.

1. I have little money to spend on shoes
2. I have plenty of shoes and one pair of feet.
3. I have found pairs that fit well.

I used to buy shoes by look, by price and by the limits of my wallet at the time. I could have saved my money to buy the pair I really wanted (which is a better idea than buying bargain sneakers and hoping they perform well), but my own search for identity and figuring out what I want and need has been mirrored, to a certain extent, by sneaker consumption.


Does any of this resonate with you? How have your patterns of consumption mirrored your own growth as a person?

Kobe Bryant = Me when I was 5

I know, I'm making a comparison to the greatest basketball player of my generation, but still...

On Cars and Cities.

Cars are horrifyingly fantastic machines, in that the industry that designs and manufactures automobiles are efficient networks of people and parts, and the final product is a fantastic means of transportation. The world we know has been created by cars, what with flat pavement, lanes of highway and plenty of infrastructure designed to accommodate them. The late Modernist theorizer and practitioner LeCorbusier was in love with the theoretical and practical applications of a car, postulating that a utopian future that would arise would a car-dominated one, the physical world defined (and made better) for it. Corbu, along with the late (douchebag) Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, proposed future cities planned according to the range and speed of the automobile.

Cars. We celebrate them with vintage car events, a deluge of commercials, huge lot sales encouraging every individual to have the freedom to move large distances. We also celebrate the aspect of freedom in that regard, with stereo systems and miles of highway and rest stops to put forth a lifestyle of speed and movement, of enjoying nature as it flies by, the cult of the roadtrip.

There is no denying that the Car has been a revelation for the development of the modern world, a product of the times symbolizing our own longings for freedom and speedy convenience. At the same time, unless you've been living under a rock in the United States, you might have heard about the impact of cars on the environment: not merely nature, but the natures that guide us, our spatial, economic and emotional condition. Pollution, congestion of streets and highways, and of course, neighborhoods dissected and destroyed by cars.

As an example of the positive and negative impacts of cars, take the city of Detroit. Since the assembly line instituted by Henry Ford at the beginning of the 20th century, the mechanization and availability of automobiles as a family item coincided with the flow of capital and increased demand of post world wars and the availability of cheap labor from the South. The city of Detroit in the first infrastructure works bailout with Roosevelt, at that time experienced a widening of the cities streets to 9 lane beasts (the main boulevards), highways like the John C Lodge dissecting the city and physically separating communities, and interstate freeways winding in and out of the cities into the greater metropolitan area. When push came to shove, the freedom of movement and capital made an exodus into that greater metropolitan area, leaving the city with a crippled tax base, a predominantly segregated and impoverished inner city, and plenty of problems. the speed of the car cut off the many avenues of pedestrian and bike movement that cities like Portland currently enjoy, and the result was that people found it difficult to go anywhere without driving. this pattern of highways cutting up the city and making it less friendly to a human scale of movement is a common theme.

Cars, ironically, are inefficient in their current incarnations.

A typical passenger car built to hold 5 on average carries 1.2 people, but still expends gasoline in proportion to the car, not the number of passengers. The synthetic materials and components and their chain of manufacturing spans the entire world and manufacturing and moving parts from China (low-environmental quality standard) to the US (where jobs are held because of the promise of a political system) is not the best standard to follow. Traffic flows and issues are always an issue, and so on and so forth.

By now, there have certainly been great strides in making cars that mitigate or even remove those issues altogether. Alternative fuel source engines (the Volt, the Prius,etc.), Hybrid vehicles (including Hybrid Escalades), and the move towards compact car offerings (the Ford Fiesta, a wildly popular compact the world over, is finally available in North America) and Tax incentives are pushing the market towards a cleaner and more efficient way of moving. A question, then, is where the autmotive field will be in the future, and if it will do more for the betterment of our society.

At the Shanghai 2010 world expo, the Rhone-Alps region exhibition pavilion proposed their version of the Smart City, where the major means of consumption came from local sources, the city itself would be a compact medium density entity laid in close proximity to other municipalities, and communities would be self-sufficiency.

In this world, Cars would be small, single or dual-seaters (think smart-cars), considering environmental and logistical efficiency and the close proximity of services, the zoned low-speed zones of the city. Most importantly, the smaller size of these cars would allow current and future transport infrastructure to experience less traffic, congestion, parking spaces and structures. For me, this makes a lot of sense, but the french/swiss ingenuity of the Rhone Alps region of europe is an isolated case. The need for compacting our lives is not a pressing need in America where we have so much space we can afford to waste it by growing grass and paying landscapers to fertilize, mow and water them. To Americans, cars are metaphors for our freedom, of mobility and convenience. We want 2 ton towing capcity, huge trunks for carrying things when we need them, and of course, a style that suits us.

The future makes sense, but there is certainly a lot more to it than providing purchasing options and tax incentives. If small, fuel-efficient cars are the backbone of a human-scaled mid-density city future, then we will have to do more: The cars must be cheap and readily available (if you can get the pricing to the 5000-10000 dollar range, it will be a viable option for city dwellers sick of tight parking spots and crappy public transportation), and it must be part of a holistic reorganization of city space (condensed spatial organizations that are pedestrian-favored, policies that reward public transportation programs and small cars, a shift in the automotive industry, the availability of elements that make city-dwelling more ideal than suburban in character, etc.)

Your thoughts?

On Music

So I've been a an eclectic music enthusiast all my life. My interests lie in all the genres and what they have to offer. Not being particular to any single type or style of music, I can still enjoy the main themes of the music, whether the emphasis lies in the lyrics or the construction of the songs (beat, strum patters, instrumentation, electric/synthesized effects, etc.). Most of all, I tend to enjoy the ones that find me in the right place at the right time. For example, I, like many adolescent American males, was really into Linkin Park whilst in middle school onto high school, for mostly the reason that the message about finding your own way and sorting out your values through suffering in relationships with others or your circumstances was appealing. Not to mention that the mix of styles that Linkin Park's sound represented was diverse and brought out a lot of good rhythms and beats. Then, one didn't want to be constrained, but allowed to pursue their own brand.

At another point, I got into hardcore Rap, with favorite artists being the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killa, Method Man, the RZA and the GZA, Redman, etc. For me then as a high school student, I was trying to settle into a rhythm, have an attitude that spoke of experience and a rough exterior, all the while looking to beat the oppressive situations I encountered. To a very limited extent did I really understand the message of the songs I listened to, but I could understand how the beats, the gritty tones and repackaged sampled themes implied a very proscriptive worldview of reappropriation, adaptation and overcoming one's situation.

Music for me is enjoyable, not because of a musical hierarchy telling me that because I'm this or that in terms of my upbringing I have to listen to this type of music, but because it's diverse sounds and voices all have something to say about my(our) human condition, and that its a language we can really appreciate through opening the context of our own cultural worldview.

My own listening patterns are very messy and it's difficult to put a finger on any commonalities to the music I take in as a whole, which makes it equally difficult to talk music with other people sometimes. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Just in the same way that the things you pay attention to speak to you and communicate their own values (it could be anything, like sports, music, cooking, art, architecture, etc.), being able to enjoy music is an important part of my cultural/experiential health.

As an aside, people will listen to the music they identify with, which often ends up being from their ethnic background. on a superficial level and a broad way of saying so, White people like Rock music, and country, Black people listen to Rap and R&B, Asians have their K/C/J-pop and techno, etc. To an extent, they're all mainstream varieties of music.

But, as an Asian American, I see that many ABAs (asian born americans) assimilate and move towards the existing popular genres of American music. I wonder if there will ever be a time when our own musical influences will split off from the mainstream and become an entity of it's own? Like, not Jay Chou, but like (or going further than) Mike Shinoda or Amerie, Rachel Yamagata, etc.

What are your opinions? is there a movement I don't know about? what do you see?

Musings: Subrubia

Living in the suburb as a young child was OK. I grew up in a newer suburb with a mix of neighbors of diverse backgrounds. I had a fantastic education that I constantly take for granted, and my relationship with my family is, well.... normal. I didn't like the boredom that accompanied the majority of my youth, the vanities of peers or families with enough disposable income to get cars too nice for their still-maturing children, really expensive tickets to sporting events, vacation to exotic countries and buy exclusively from the shopping mall, and Viagra.


Bob from those male enhancement commercials appeals to the suburban male with disposable income, essentially playing on one's paradigm that we can all be happy and more complete if we consume more product.

Having to be at the mercy of your parents as chaperones, judges and critics of your developmental youth until driving age and college? Suck.

As a parent, it's an excellent situation because of the typical family security thought process:

1. Keep your spouse and kids away from threatening elements
2. Allow them to grow up with family values and people that are like them, further nurturing their education.
3. Go where the money is: there the infrastructure and educational institutions will enable one to live a higher quality of life.

As a kid, well, you hear of stories about suburban drug abuse, teenage car accidents, excessive use of illegal fireworks, ADD ADHD and other behavioral issues. Children may be sheltered by parents who read many books on raising their kids, cook lots of food to make sure they're fed the way they may have never been fed, etc. etc. In fact, just as many people in the US die from Alcohol/Drug/Tobacco/Heart related issues as Malaria, Tuberculosis and plenty of other diseases that affect poorer nations.

And the sense of community you can watch on TV and idealize through the visual and written media, but rarely find in most US surburbs? Not really a reality, because of many reasons. one would be America's reliance on Cars.
Cars dominate any suburban landscape, permitting easy conveyance and less walking. A book focused on the destruction of meaningful community, "The Geography of Nowhere" by James Kunstler (1993) proposes that many communities were destroyed because of the increased spatial boundaries that the automobile encouraged: larger plots of land for people to own, setbacks on housing properties, large streets that act as social barriers. This in turn affected how people travel, limiting pedestrian scaled living and contributing to health issues like heart disease, obesity and obesity related injuries (back, knees), etc.

Middle-class America, as the progressive developed societal group that we are made up to be, has issues.

(No duh, right? I mean, people have been hearing about this for years. it's all over the news, in special reports and anecdotes all over CNN.)

What if people understood the impact of putting a small house on a half acre lot? of this "sprawl" we've all become accustomed to? having to drive to the gym to take a jog? wasting water a lawn that is there because of a zoning ordinance that forces setbacks? of building Cookie-cutter housing that is made from cheap frame construction that has become the norm in the construction industry? It's safe, but certainly not the best way to live.

What do you think would be a good way to live?

Coin currency sucks.

So I was at a restaurant eating with my Mom, and we were looking at the Menu. After spending time in China and Germany in recent times, It struck me that tax was not included in the price on the menu, versus the whole number value given up front in restaurants and stores elsewhere.

It remains striking that taxes must be added to the total price at the end of a transaction, in which a person would actually have to calculate beforehand, but more importantly that one makes transactions in change: ie. most folks end up getting change back instead of bills.

For myself, I don't really understand why this must be, as the pennies, ( but also nickels and dimes) one receives often times sit in your jar at the home/office as dead currency, to be emptied out every now and again for the next bake sale or penny drive/war. Essentially, it's a hindrance for guys without coin pouches to keep change jiggling in their pockets, and for people in restaurants to have to wait for people who want to give exact change. Toll booths don't take pennies. Nor do vending machines.


There are a couple thoughts I'd like to learn more about, if anyone knows.

1. Why can't the US switch to a system where tax is included in prices up front, at least for petty transactions? It'd be relative to each state in terms of taxes, but the consumer knows he or she is paying the entire price up front.

2. Can price tags and values be made so that one never has to make a transaction involving pennies, dimes or nickels? Why do price tags have to be so awkward, like $1.39, 35 cents, or .85 cents? If vendors rounded up on everything, it wouldn't heavily affect consumer patterns negatively, as change often ends up as dead weight anyway. You stick a dollar into a vending machine to buy a 85 cent bag of chips. How often do you typically use the nickel and dime you receive in consideration of your other purchases?

Would it be a travesty to do quarters and half dollars as the lowest coin currency denominators on price tags, versus adding a cent or two to the margin? Save both the cashiers and customers some time and hassle.

How I spent my July 4th

July 4th was a fun day, I guess. it was mostly a family function, as we went to church and then did a great dinner with a barbeque. After that we went to dairy queen for frosted treats and then went out to see the fireworks.

Ok, I'm lying, my mom insisted on seeing Twlight (Full Moon). My critical opinion, as a non-pre-adolsecent-hormonally-driven-shrieking-middle-school-girl outsider perspective would allow. My dad fell asleep after the first kiss scene (one of quite a few). The lines were quite bad, and overall, the plot black-holes were so blatantly obvious that even logic and common sense were lost in the gravitational pull of Edward's beautiful porcelain face and Jacobs Bod. The love triangle in the movie is probably the worst-choreographed movie relationship since GI Joe. (my fiance is plotting to destroy the world with corrosive nanobacteria but she's brainwashed omgomgomg)

I don't want to give it all away, but consider reading some of my comments on the movie after meditating on this image below.

Sample lines:

"Father: What's going on here?

Jacob: Oh, I kissed her, and she broke her hand punching my face. It was all a misunderstanding.

Father: Oh."

"Jacob: I know you love me."

"Jacob: I know you're in love with me."

"Edward: Will you marry me?"

"Edward: Will you marry me?"

"Edward: Will you marry me?"

"Edward: Will you be my wife?"

"Red-haired woman to her cohort: I have always loved you."

"Jacob: We're perfect for each other. Being with me would be as easy as breathing."

And there is also a scene where the girl decides to hide from a group of vampire stalkers via choosing the coldest peak of the pacific northwest and not being able to retain her body heat while the cold-blooded edward looks on. finally, jacob decides to make his entrance and conveniently cuddle with her as Edward can only look on. Then the two proceed to have a heart to heart while the girl pretends to sleep in his arms.

And the whole thing about Jacob being shirtless all the time? Tell me this isn't a PAHDSMSG (pre-adolsecent-hormonally-driven-shrieking-middle-school-girl) flick. Don't ever think it's anything else.

and I just don't get why vampires effing GLITTER when sunlight hits them. or why werewolves don't need a full moon to transform. or why vampire bite's leave no trace of blood. or why all werewolves look like abercrombie/american eagle models and vampires all look like they model for express and the banana republic. PAHDSMSG all the way.

I WASTED 2 HOURS OF MY LIFE LOOKING AT THIS MAN!

"Oh no it's sunlight! I could never get rid of that glitter from that kindergarten accident from years ago..."

My top 10 observations at the Expo

10. KFC

To begin with, I will say that KFC in China is not exactly what it is in the US. The spice recipe is different and distinctly Asian, rice is served as a side, and it is probably the most popular fast food establishment in the Country. At the expo, the two KFCs on the Pudong side of the river were packed without fail during lunch times, with "lines" wrapping around the building. I waited a good hour to take my order, but it was well worth it.

9. "Lines"
In a city as large as Shanghai (~32million folks) and an expo that garnered an average of 450,000 visitors each day, lines were common. To see a pavilion in just about any non-peripheral country (ie. Spain, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Sweden, France, Germany, etc.), one would average 3-5 hours to get in. I'd also mention here that the single file line concept in general doesn't really exist here. For the most part, my experience in at the expo was usually a mob of people packed densely in the 2 meter width queue area.


8. New Technologies that bring more headaches
A big thing at the expo were the electric carts shuttling people silently from one part of the expansive campus to the other. Silent, for the most part. One thing that was of particular annoyance were the horns that were constantly honking at pedestrian traffic crossing the walkway. Divorced from the rumbling sound of an engine and replaced with the similar whining of the transmission, the general sounds you would encounter as you traveled or waited in line for hours was incessant honking and whining. It is one thing to design futuristic space-saving, noise pollution reductive, energy efficient cars, but it's another to design a means of maximizing it's benefits, which is merely a testament to the density of people jaunting in the streets.

7. Visual Projection and reflection.

A time-old element of Architectural detailing and interior design has always been to create space, and to project it by creating an illusion of it. With a futuristic projection of a better life being a theme befitting a World Exposition, it would make sense that designers intend to make the connection between new ways of seeing and percieving with the spirit of innovation and progressive thinking underlying one's presentation. A good example of this would be the Barcelona UBPA pavilion, in which mirrors and reflective glass add depth to a modest space, reflecting the light of city living from TV-screen partitions off the walls, creating an expansive and immersive atmosphere terminating in what appears to be an orb of scenes and textures of Barcelona, floating in the dimly lit space.

6. New Ways of seeing
With all of the hype surrounding 3D televisions and panoramic experiences, plenty of the expo's participants utilized these new vision projection developments ad nauseum. Examples: Saudi Arabia, Zhejian (china) Taiwan, Liverpool Vanke Pavilion, Republic of Korea, the Pavilion of Urban Being, Australia, BROAD Pavilion Pavilion of Urban Living, etc.


It's great, don't get me wrong, but not specifically life changing. It's cutting edge technology that probably took countless man-hours to set up, but technology can't sell you a utopian future dominated by...



5. Nation Branding.
Can you blame the majority of country pavilions for feeding you images upon images of beautiful scenery devoid of dirtiness and cars, with white-toothed smiling faces of the country's residents? No. There is usually a blurb about the country and it's history, and then a presentation of some sort with generic aerial scenes of urban centers and optimistic waxing about future plans and developments that will make their country better. (ie. invest in their economy so that they can continue to put forth their visions of the future). It's sobering but true: the first step to actually building and redeveloping better cities is to put forth the capital, whether it's financial or academic or emotional. Without fail, that is what many country pavilions did, keeping in mind the high traffic of people that they had to keep on circulating through. It's a numbers game, and you really couldn't offer more details than the general picture.

4. Passport stamping.
World Expo's can be taxing and maybe boring in terms of lines and waiting and it's certain that many minor pavilions may be ignored for the bigger names. The coordinators of the expo came up with a brilliant idea to stimulate optimum line waits and better distribution of visitors to pavilions by instituting the Passport stamp checkpoint at every one. For a low price to buy an official passport book from an Expo retailer, one could garner proof that they had visited a certain pavilion by getting theirs stamped there, making for a souvenir in which a person can claim and remember where they visited in their time there. It's such a successful and genius element that kept people interested throughout the course of a day. Think about it: 160 RMB (23.5 US dollars, roughly) per person to visit, multiplied by however many people visit with you implies a big investment up front to enter the venue. That, along with the long lines and waiting in the steamy Shanghai summer generally instills in the visitor a goal oriented mindset. More pavilions visited legitimizes your time and money. The passport encourages that. It also encourages the loss of knowledge retention as the pavilions and their messages themselves may not entirely be the ultimate end of a visit, but rather a visit to the stamp booth at the exit. It's fun, it's profitable. It may or not be the best way of instilling knowledge or values, but it is what it is.

3. Skins and surface treatment
A great thing about the Universal World Expos are the character and manifestation of innovation. The 1889 World's fair was all about innovations in building technology, using iron and steel to create fantastic advances in transportation and construction. The early era of the worlds' fairs were all about structure. Innovations in cultural expression and national branding in the last century have led to changing attitudes in pavilion design. As the short duration of these Expos necessitate the design proposition of having to make a deep impact (visually, emotionally, etc.) in a short period of time after which the structure is taken down, a lot of the capital spent on the design is the exterior facade and interior skin design.
Many of the structures at this expo were prefabricated or made of simple construction mechanisms that allow for easy construction and recycling. In some cases, this was highlighted as a case study of construction and architectural design (BROAD pavilion, Vancouver UBPA and Canada Pavilions) or adaptive reuse (UBPA joint pavilions 3 and 4). Just about every pavilion's main framework is glass, steel, and concrete. The skins, veneers and double facades then are designed for maximum intense visual impact, packaged with a simple story about it's inspiration (cultural, metaphorical, architectural and technological).
For example, the Spain pavilion is really an irregular steel frame construct with glass panes, but it's overall form is made smoother and more metaphorically descriptive through it's second skin, a facade of wicker baskets, irregular and imperfect in the individual weaving of each unit, but unified together as a legible whole, indicative of the country and it's puported valuing of traditional culture married with progressive policies and contemporary modern life. The wicker texture at all scales represent honesty and temporality in face of natural forces, a poetic and impactful means of visual communication as you wait for 5 hours to get inside.

2. Water is the single most pressing concern for the future of cities.
Access to clean water is and will be the determinant factor on future growth at all scales of the globe, especially at the city and municipal level. In the projection of the future, the expo planners made for gratuitous use of water for both consumption and an educational level. The first thing I experienced at the expo were large spans of water misting equipment at the top of the Expo axis underpass, providing shade and reducing the external temperature of the walkway by several degrees centigrade, all at a minimum use of water. Purified water stations are available for drinking at regular intervals all across the venue.
Many pavilions used water to reduce the heat island effect and provide a percieved coolness effect. A public square was affized with a grid of water misters, creating a foggy atmosphere in which one could walk. the Alsace-France UBPA pavilion utilized a waterfall along it's sloped facade. And don't forget about Haibao, the ubiquitous mascot of the expo was branded on every single medium imaginable, from t-shirts to gold medallions, in statues and sculptures in every single major city in China, and most certainly in the form of stuffed plush toys. He is, as you can imagine, an anamorphosized water drop, inspired by the chinese character for person (ren). That the theme, "better city, better life" is played in tandem creates an intellectual space in which a person must make the connection
between healthy cities and water.


1. Better Kids, Better Life.
The entire Expo,
if nothing else, is aimed at families and their children. The Republic of Korea pavilion performance says it best. The presentation is a hybrid cartoon-reality musical video presentation entitled "New world, just for you", in which a group of young Asian men and women fly into the city and with a wave of their hands create parks, gardens, public transportation and mid-rise developments with access to light water and food, all the while singing a simple themed music piece through the voices of 10 year olds. The logic is sound: If society aims to mitigate the issues that are ingrained in our current way of life, education of those that are willing to listen and aren't full of other concerns(ie. Kids) the best way of instituting societal change. And so it goes that the voices and virtual people that guide you through many pavilions are kids.
If you have a hard time believing that, then check out the 5 meter tall sculpture of a life-like baby in the Spain pavilion. Yessir....

Rethinking McDonalds.

I don't know what it is with the golden arch, but I had a Big Mac today, and my mouth tasted horrible afterwards. My thought is that the quality of the beef patty left a bad aftertaste in my mouth, or that I just haven't been eating enough beef recently and am not accustomed to it. The taste is comprable to eating day-old white castle burgers. nasty.

After seeing Supersize Me and understanding that McDonalds has been selective in it's transparency about suppliers and it's meat inspection process, I figure I can probably get a better burger somewhere else.

Besides, I've found out that eating proportionally twice as many vegetables as meat and carbs has been beneficial for my energy level throughout the day and I daresay my health. Cooking for myself has been helpful in coming to that conclusion, since I don't have the competence to cook much meat outside of chicken.
to summarize?

"The only good thing about McDonalds are their ice cream and apple pies."

"Eat food, not much. Eat more vegetables."

Pictures

on facebook.
Beijing and Shanghai

Shanghai Expo

Will put up my thoughts later.

Parting ways

Spent the last 2 days doing some casual sightseeing, after blitzing the expo the last 4 or 5. Went to visit James Lee in Hangzhou and had quite a time just seeing what college kids do on weekends. A funny story about the trip...

After arriving at the wrong train station at Hangzhou, James told me to take a bus he thought went directly to the train station I was supposed to meet him at. After promptly agreeing and hanging up, I slipped the Iphone knockoff my dad bought for me into my pocket... except it wasn't my pocket. It slid out and the screen cracked. Massive fail cracked. the entire screen was useless and I couldn't use the interface at all. So when James called me back, I could do nothing but stroke the screen that wouldn't allow me to slide the bar to answer the phone.

To compound that I didn't know where I was going or where exactly to find the only person I knew in the city, I was the only person on the bus who could speak english, and the only one who couldn't speak chinese. I asked the people on the bus, including the guy next to me, if I could borrow their phone, using a comination of broken chinese and pantomiming that my screen was cracked. Curiously enough, the man I asked across the seat from me said he didn't have a phone, though that belied the bulge in his pocket, and the fact that he picked up his phone 15 minutes later. Another man I asked immediately put his phone that he was texting on into his pocket and looked away.

The bus dropped me off at an underpass with no trains to speak about around. I walked into a restaurant to ask, but was promptly given the blank face and a head shake. I wandered into a hospital hoping that someone there spoke english. much to my avail, the lady at the counter didn't know either and wouldn't let me use the hospital phone. She paged a doctor who "know english"... much to my avail she didn't understand that I was looking for the train station, looking to call my friend, or anything of the sort. I was pointing to my screen and trying to ask if I could use her phone, but she merely smiled, waved and said "go post office."

I was laughing inside, as I recall that my dad stated matter-of-factly that All Chinese people knew some extent of english.

Eventually James found me, but I think this experience brings me full circle to the conversation I had coming to China. There is a cultural distance (in which there is a language barrier) that allows me to get to the glass window, but to go no further.

Coming home today. Peace out China

Days 4 and 5 (6/24-6/25)

After some long days of walking and waiting in lines, talking with pavilion assistants and overall doing my best to engage the material and presentations that the expo afforded, I can safely say that I haven't visited all of the pavilions, but I have gotten the most out of my time. I'd have to say the themed pavilions are very impressive in terms of conveyingthe overall theme (duh) of the expo, which is to say that we must be very careful about the resources we have and that the future is brighter with smarter technology and planning for our cities, where the majority of the worlds population is and will reside.

The Country pavilions are fantastic and in some way or form are representative of the cultural importance of a society in cities today, wether through the way they present subject matter, and certainly in the design of each pavilion. A very nice pavilion I visited today was Estonia (iknowright), which acted on the part of savecity.org, an NPO that provides policy assistance and contracting to governments worldwide, where you could choose from 35 topics that would improve a cities well-being, and place it into a series of giant piggy banks with corresponding numbers. It's a good way of getting a feel for peoples opinions and makes them aware of things that one may do to make our cities better.

That being said, I missed many pavilions by virtue of there being so many people. for example, this friday: A 5 hour wait in line at the American pavilion, the German, French and Swiss pavilions were 3-4, and even a 1 hour line at KFC was very fun to be in. I'm glad I got to see what I did, which was what few people cared to go and see, actually.

My time at the expo is now done, promise I'll get photos out when I get back, along with some more observations.

To Hangzhou tomorrow, and then home on monday.

Days 2 and 3 (6/22-6/23)

My feeling throughout the first day was that the pavilions, while fantastic in their execution of construction and media presentations, was lacking in an important thing... substance. A lot of the pavilions, from my understanding, were no more than cultural exhibitions or tourism doodads. Hainan, for instance, was telling us all about it's history and economic development, and they showed us a fantastic video of people smiling and running around the beach, eating fruit and all that. What they didn't show was what exactly the province itself was doing to make it's cities better. After all, "Better city, Better life" is the slogan.

The spirit of the expo was indeed celebratory and meant to give a bright enthusiasm for the world ahead of us, (which is good), but at just about every Zone B pavilion save for the Republic of Korea, none really exhibited any concern for the future of cities, other than that economic and "cultural" growth was necessary for their betterment. Just about everyone was excited about how cool each pavilion looked and how awesome each culture was. It is something very important, I suppose, for the residents of China to experience what different cultures and regions of the world have to offer, in order to be a more respectful world citizen and more engaged in the public sphere for socially-direcrted projects.

My heart, as well as others I am confident, yearns for more details than a 3 hour line and a 3d video prism talking about the food of Northern China. I wanted examples, I wanted considerations of the present that necessitate such a bright future. How do we get there? What exactly makes for a better city, other than brainwashing kids and telling them they're the future, that you should invest in their region, some 3D HD televisions or come vacation (or wish you could go) there? Why should we think and live for things beyond ourselves?

How do you make a better city? Don't give us a cliche answer about positive attitude and promoting culture (which of course is not just cliche, but true).

Enter the UPBA (Urban Best Practices Area). Area E, tucked into the corner of the exposition and across the river from the main eye candy, retains nearly 55 permanent case studies of Cities and municipalities that have established or are working to establish elements for the improvement of sustainability, the environment and quality of life. The last 2 days were spent here, engaging topics on bioremediative river parks (Chengdu), distributed development centers and local food production(Alsace region of France), water filtration and conservation (Guangzhou), public transportation(Madrid), land use innovations and technologies for construction and household use that will minimize our carbon footprint (Broad Pavilion). There are so many examples I have gone through, having nearly completed Zone E in my time here, and I hope I can continue engaging how exactly a better city works, and how it fits into our present.

Beijing, days 5 & 6

Blogspot + internet crappiness = no pictures

Facebook + internet crappiness = no pictures

flickr ftw! (limited monthly additions, no time to tag :( )

Day 5
6/18/10
Got off to a late start because we were watching the NBA finals, game 7 (missed the second half). I have to make an apology to Ron Artest, I've been bugging on him this entire season for taking bad shots and gambling on defense, but I will say thay he delivered when it mattered in this series and the lakers might not have won it without him helping out on virtually everyone on the celtics, especially paul pierce and ray allen. A good series, congrats to the Lakers!

A quick visit to the Beijing CCTV headquarters. Evidently the adjacent cultural center, a part of the CCTV campus in the central business district, burnt down because of fireworks during the chinese holidays in 2008 or 2009, so the entire area was blocked off for reconstruction. took a couple of photos, but it was a shame we couldn't get closer. the building itself is huge, even from two kilometers away. amazing to think that the structural engineers at ARUP could have even thought about doing that sort of thing.

Beijing Olympic Park in two words: effing huge. They really put a lot of time and effort into the entire area, and the properties that they had to evict were certainly numerous. I couldn't imagine the sort of development going up due to property owners, land speculation and other policy gauntlets one would have to go through. With China, the 2500 x 1000 meter area alotted for the main park, is OWNED by the Chinese government (ditto for like, the rest of China).

The birds nest and Natatorium were fantastic structures to see, and better understand how they work structurally. ARUP is very much a big presence here in China, I persume, as they also were cotnracted to configure the strucutral logic of the National stadium which has logical principles in it's dynamic form. I find it ironic that Ai Wei Wei, whose Artist father was sent to a labor camp and whose name was previously soiled by the government because of their radical ideals in the 60's and 70's, was the artistic consultant on mediaitng Chinese culture in the design.

Equally interesting was the sunken garden and dragon's tail lake development to the northwest of the park, part of the Olympic Green. Pics to come.

And I got to see Danielle and Shannon again! studiomates and friends, cool to hang out again... and talk in english. I don't know when I might see either of them again, since both are or are looking to work in China in the near future. Perhaps it's in my cards too, though after my language barrier experience with taxi cabs in the city, I might have to study up some chinese first.

Day 6
A trip to Qinhuangdao, a coastal industrial city 2 hours from beijing via train. My mom and I went to Tanghe River Park, a part of a 10 km stretch of river that is currently in the process of being redeveloped as a greenway project to enhance the city's image during and after their participation in the Olympics (they hosted the Soccer Preliminaries).

Named after Emperor Qin ShiHuangdi, who sought immortality on a nearby island in the region, the city is a big port, most importantly in the transactions of Coal. The development on the city has led to very sophisticated master plans and projects by respected design firms, and a 1.5 km portion of the park is what interested me first. Designed by Turenscape LArchitects and nicknamed "The Red Ribbon", this portion of the park features a river wetland and a winding steel sculpture at knee height, which provides seating, environmental interperetation, lighting and planting space. It was the ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) honor award winner of 2008 and selected by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the seven new wonders of the architectural world (if you believe wikipedia). It was a fascinating project to see, and certainly was one of the least busiest places we've visited, which made for a percieved expansion of time, just watching the river and the trees and grasses blow in the wind on a hot humid day. In fact, it is probably because nobody knew where it was that we had such a great experience: the taxi driver didn't know about the red ribbon, so he dropped us off at the entrace 2 miles away. the throng of fishermen and gardeners in the park didn't know either, so we kept walking. Along the way we met a kayaker who pulled a floating dead fish from the water for "dinner". He mentioned that it was hidden in the trees. It was a journey worth it's effort.

Then we went to the Dove Nest Park, in nearby Beidahe, which is part of a waterfront conservation development effort along nearly 6 miles of the yellow sea shoreline. The coastal condition of the area where the Beidaihe River runs to the sea is a tidal marsh, which we visited at low tide. The expanse of flat landscape was breathtaking, and a cosntructed tidal conservatory that retains high-tide water in a pool serves as a wildlife and bird refuge, something important considering that 50% of China's wetlands have dissapeared in the last few decades, and 40% of the remaining ones are polluted. seeing the natural treasures of China and it's developments threatening them, QinHuangdao was a great bright spot for my perceptions that the government was premitting GDP growth at the expense of the environment. It's also quite scary to think that the government holds such sway that policy decisions are quickly initiated, versus the beauracracy and paperwork that one must rattle around in order to get money to do anything.

One more day in Beijing, probably going to hang out and shop or w/e. Be in Shanghai tomorrow.

Day 3 and 4 (No pics until better Internet)

Day 3
6/16/10
Visited the Temple of Heaven, quite a place. The temple, along with the major historical architecture of the time, was made of wood. Large Pillars and Stone platforms, as well as ancient cedars and cypress trees all made a very compelling coherent whole in terms of reading the overall layout. In fact, due to the Feng Shui beliefs in imperial site planning since before the ming dynasty, it becomes easier to spot and pick out elements of a site such as this. for example, the main entrance is always from south to the north, and one enters thorugh a procession of gateways, a logical linear movement from one ritual to another, or from more public to more private areas. Folks in China don't care much about weeding, but they have much love and appreciation for their trees and green space. Beijing parks are huge, larger than typical parks in Oakland County Michigan. Trees there easily will be 100+ years old and still putting out leaves.

We had planned on visiting the Forbidden City that day but my mom and I realized very quickly that the scale of our maps was vastly larger than we anticipated. The Temple was a good 2 Kilometers from one end to another and we ended up zig zagging our way through the complex, killing our legs and putting us in no position to do anything else but sleep at the hotel.

Day 4
6/17/10
Today we went and say Tiananmen Square, (the biggest public square in the world, btw), The Forbidden Palace and Beihai GongYuan, the North Sea Park. I remain impressed at the monumental feats that these projects represent, in terms of manpower, coordination, and the resources available. The Forbidden City would seem to be very interesting, the structures large and elegant, and that would be that. What Really struck me was that the palace only took 14 years to build the complex from wood, a 1.25 x 2 km surface area. The spans and columns are massive, and I can only imagine that the emperor didn't permit OSB or 2x4's in the process.

Beihai Gongyuan, which we visited after a hard rain, was truly beautiful, as it integrated fantastic structures and scenic constructions into a very comprehensive work in traditional gardening and landscape design. The procession across the lake and the sleepy complex of restaurants and pavilions on the island park made for a relaxing contrast to the hustle and bustle of all the attractions we went to. So far, it has been the most memorable and enjoyable attraction yet.

We visited a Hutong (a closed chinese neighborhood of adjacent courtyard residences connected by alleyways, which would be another lengthy blog entry.

To equalize the high points of our day, we went to the infamous Silk Market, where you can pick up fake merchandise like north faces, columbia, polo, nike and adidas, as well as a myriad of other off-brands. Everything can be had cheap... if you know how to bargain. I got a knock-off set of Celtic FC apparrel for a good price, but I probably still got cheated because I don't know how to bargain down. As my mom tells me, there are cute girls selling in the stands but they'd cut your pockets to get to your money. It's a part of Chinese culture that I hadn't really engaged in ever, and it was wierd.

Beijing Olympic Park tomorrow! BEAWW.

Observations, Day 1 and 2 (Pics coming)

Day 1
6/14/10

Plane flight to Tokyo - Sat next to korean exchange students from a high school in Madison Heights, MI. They thought I was Korean and tried to talk to me, but they were quickly dissapointed. The plane food sucked, and I can't believed i watched the tooth fairy, starring The Rock.

Plane flight to Beijing from Tokyo connector - Sat next to yet another exchange student in high school. made fun of me because I couldn't understand what she was saying in chinese. It didn't help that she spoke softly, either. After some awkward conversation in which we understood very little of each other, she jokingly put up her hands between us and said "Here's the gap between us. Look, it just got bigger!"

She's got jokes. I feel like a foreigner.

When we landed, I couldn't help but get caught up in the scale of the airport, which spans miles of flat runway and long, extensive terminals. The city is big, humid and smoggy, difficult to see much at night. I remain excited to check out what Beijing has to offer, but I can't get used to the funny looks i've gotten from people so far.


Day 2
6/14/10

We went to Mcdonald's for breakfast (16 RMB for a combo that would cost 4 US dollars in the states, which was cool). On our way in we witnessed a pretty intense shouting match between a young guy and three girls... the area they were sitting in was trashed and they had torn down a few signs. A girl was banging the door against the glass window and shouting and the man was freaking out and pointing his fingers. The people called the police and as we left they were still yelling at each other outside, as a policeman tried to arbitrate with a huge crowd of folks gathering. I can remember thinking from my readings on Chinese Garden design that traditionally, Asian culture was about balance, conservative and peaceful values, and seeking tranquility. I certainly was reminded that you can't really generalize or trust a book on gardens when it comes to people: Times have changed significantly with the intense growth and development of China in the last several decades, and as we know, attitudes do too.

Took a tour of the great wall and a Ming Emperor's tomb. Really interesting to learn about Jade and it's significance as a semiprecious stone to asian culture, as well as the wood-bracket construction of the temples. Traditional Ming culture was heavily invested in Feng Shui, an interesting concept that considers the movement of energy relative to the spaces and objects that we exist in. For example, Beijing's key places and monuments, including the tomb we visited, the Forbidden city, Tianmen Square, the temple of heaven and the Olympic Stadium all exist on a north-south meridian line, a boundary that regulates harmony and balance. Chinese culture, as our trips to the tomb and great wall have indicated, manifests itself in symbolism, finding deeper meaning in the everyday aspects of our lives.

Visited the great wall, which was pretty cool. Three million people died in it's construction, but our tour guide has stated that it was a long term investment.

That being said, the long term product is full of vendors selling cold water and cheap trinkets that have little to do with the great wall, trash and popsicle sticks everywhere, and black bear pits where all they do is eat carrots that you can buy to feed them, and consequently leave orange poo all over the place.

The best part was the rail-car system they had to get up to the wall, a mini roller coaster with greasy wheels and a camera taking pictures of you going down and for purchase later. It was basically an attraction to get to and from the attraction.... a distraction, I suppose.

Had a foot massage, part of the tour. A 14 year old boy pounded my feet for a good 10 minutes, doing every imaginable thing to them: knead, roll, punch, slap. I've never had anything like it! Just as it was the entire day, people couldn't stop staring at me. the guy was alternating between looking at my feet and taking awkward glances.

Wangfujing, a traditional alleyway marketplace full of vendors stalls, deep fried scorptions and street meat, cheap trinkets and fake jewelry, was quite interesting, juxtaposed with the expansive street mall that dominated the block around it, what with department stores and name-brand shops. My mind is spent just taking it all in. It is equally provocative to me that white people are a minority in the crowd, which is something I am not entirely used to.

I'm having quite a time! Hopefully I'll be seeing some classmates in Beijing soon. I'll get to uploading pics tonight.

Crouch

I am eagerly anticipating my trip to China. Leaving tomorrow, I'm trying to collect my thoughts about the country and it's culture, as well as my own thoughts coming in. I honestly don't know what to expect: I have heard a great deal of things, just little pieces of a puzzle I have yet to piece.

I have heard great things about the country and it's capabilities to achieve great things, organize and mobilize people and resources to accomplish it's goals. The Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Expo, numerous developments and restorations since the cultural revolution, the fantastic urban cities; are all part of this picture that sells China as a growing and sophisticated nation knocking on the door of the first world.
Yet, the environmental degradation, economic disparity between the very rich and poor, the cover-up of the undesirable policies and conditions of the government and it's people, the costs of rapid development; those are things that I (as well as anyone who has kept an eye on world politic) would also paint into this picture.
The country is facing a dilemma of identity: a capitalist economic policy with a non-democratic state, a land of traditional culture in the arts, building, agriculture ,music, landscape and literature is being replaced or juxtaposed with new ideas from developing nations and a rapidly industrialized urbanization that places the majority of Chinese residents in cities.
Edward Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes (2006) is a fantastic movie for exploring what Man's relationship is with the environment he interacts with. Through his documentation through photography, China is portrayed as a fantastic landscape full of industry and consequence: the portrayal in the documentary proposes that these landscapes are not good nor bad. Rather, it is beautiful, it is at a scale where Man is marginalized ,and it exists. It is this movie that convinced me that Landscape Architecture is a field forth studying, and also aggravated my sensibilities, to learn more about Man's relationships with Nature.

I'm hoping to get a feel for what China is all about. the Next two weeks will be a time of documentation, observations, and hopefully knock-off Nikes and good food. fingers crossed.

Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage!

My name is Kenny Tang, and I officially have named my blog something outlandish and weird. I'd leave it at that, but I think my first post merits a purpose statement. Maybe not for me, but perhaps you might enjoy it.

As I move on from one school/city/circle of friends to another, I am also transitioning in the way that I think about things and how I learn. Journaling has been something I deem important but have never found the time to follow up on. The things one learns can be thought, dissected and expressed about in a blog entry. There are a lot of disparate elements in the narrative of one's life experiences, and I am no exception. I could use a little more critical thought, and certainly plenty of critical feedback to grow as a student.

The blog is named after the four words that the referee mentions as a preface to a Scrum, perhaps the most visually memorable set-piece in Rugby. In my time playing Rugby, I have realized a great many things, not just about the game, but the life lessons embedded in it. In a Scrum, a total of 16 men/women (8 from each team) face each other and lock shoulders, pushing against each other and with their teammates to contest for possession of the ball as it is put into play. The scrum is reflective of man's purpose on the earth: to play for something greater than him, to fight for the things that he values, and ultimately have a tight-knit relationship with his fellow players and their shared earth.

This blog is set up as a reference to the Scrum, a narrative of my engagements with people, place, circumstance, religion, politics, food and culture. The four words the referee states before a scrum are things that I will always remember, Rugby or not.

Crouch: Get low, in a posture for forward motion, anticipation of what is to come. People are expecting things, and being ready for whatever circumstances that await is of vital importance.

Touch: When the two sides meet, they touch each other to ascertain their distance from each other, and relative to their contexts, they will know if they are close enough to engage. Man investigates, ascertains, and feels out his environment and his relationships to time, space, and matter. As all things have a context in which they exist, seeking to understand those parameters is the beginning of understanding what exists in the world.

Pause: By sizing up the opponent, the players become expectant for the next word, preparing their entry into each others shoulders and contemplating the consequences of one's words and actions. It becomes important to consider a position in an argument, the pitfalls in choosing the wrong elements, the other side of what one is being told.

Engage: By being diligent in one's preparation, the players begin their battle of possession and territory. Cleats dig into the ground and shoulders collide. The product of critical thought is, at best, positive, and at worst, provoking.

My blog is, like many blogs out there, an assortment of cultural expressions. I'm hoping to really take in the things I learn, and I hope you're with me for the ride.