I’ve recently been enamored with a Somalian/Canadian rapper named K’Naan. He has a lot of soul, and his Saul Williams-esque digressions into abstract spoken word don’t annoy me as much as I thought they would.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that a modified version of his already awesome song Wavin’ Flag is the Official FIFA [...]
Posts under ‘Miscellaneous’
K’Naan, World Cup Songs & youtube hysteria
Urban Velo
I doubt I have many readers left around here, but here’s a link to a piece in UrbanVelo Magazine about city riders. They got some fascinating people to contribute their stories, and somehow my boring ass got included.
If you’re in the states and don’t mind, pick me up a copy of Issue [...]
Reflections on US culture shock
I recently returned from my first trip back to the United States since moving to Shanghai. When I arrived in China I was so completely shell shocked that individual moments of ‘culture shock’ didn’t really stick out. Returning to the States was an interesting exercise in reverse culture shock, re-experiencing some of the oddities [...]
A rude awakening
It started at 630 am.
on a Sunday.
Little Red Bike Cafe: Save the Cutest Thing Ever
Not too many years ago two adorable people decided to open a tiny cafe in North Portland. I’ve eaten there many times and befriended them at least a little bit–they’re some of the few people who comment on this here blog from time to time–and I was saddened to hear a few weeks ago that [...]
Moving mountains by bike
Snapped from a taxi near Jing’an temple. Not a rare sight here…well, this pile was bigger than usual. Much much bigger.
I think this trike’s loaded with fish crates. I’m guessing they’re empty now and she’s on her way to recycle them. Peggy Liu from JUCCCE told me that China has 1/4th the consumption per capita [...]
Whiling away a Saturday
Whiling away a breezy Saturday on our balcony with a cocktail, watching bad tennis and even worse driving decisions. It was had to not heckle the Tennis players, but even harder to leave the driver alone.
Pepsi maxx
Tastes like pepsi mixed with brominated vegetable oil. How do I recognize the oil? It’s the filmy, saccherine oil slick that coats your mouth just like Mt. Dew does.
Tales of woe from the backseat
We are two of the few people who move into an unfurnished apartment in China. The housing system works such that every building is a condoplex, and slumlords buy up apartments and rent them, furnished, to the plebes, for massive profit. This system has it’s benefits–no one really loses money when the system demands [...]