@bridgers' finds

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:47:06 -0400

Shangri-la.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:34:35 -0400

Shangri-la.

Tiger Leaping Gorge. Worth every second of the two day hike.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:49:00 -0400

Tiger Leaping Gorge. Worth every second of the two day hike.

This is Shanghai.

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:22:00 -0400

This is Shanghai.

Photo

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 05:25:05 -0400

As his assignment in China comes to a close, John Garnaut reflects on six years in the Middle Kingdom.

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 01:49:01 -0400

As his assignment in China comes to a close, John Garnaut reflects on six years in the Middle Kingdom.:

Lovely farewell piece from a Fairfax Media correspondent in Beijing.

Metallica in Shanghai? Sure, why not.

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:00:23 -0400

Metallica in Shanghai? Sure, why not.

The English signs at the new food court they just opened in my...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:01:15 -0400

The English signs at the new food court they just opened in my office building are really weird.

Photo

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:14:07 -0400

Photo

Thu, 30 May 2013 22:27:37 -0400

Screenshots of Despair

Wed, 29 May 2013 23:52:01 -0400

Screenshots of Despair

"This is a show about liars—twins switching identities to make a buck, kids pretending to be moguls,..."

Wed, 29 May 2013 12:14:00 -0400

“This is a show about liars—twins switching identities to make a buck, kids pretending to be moguls, moguls pretending to be altruists, cheaters cheating on cheaters. By fragmenting the narrative into a half-dozen or so points of view, by withholding info from the viewer at the same time as characters withhold it from each other, the program makes us appreciate just how all this lying works, how levels of deception accumulate until it’s nearly impossible to remember where the truth really is.”

- “Arrested Development’s Crazy Existential Message,” The Atlantic

Just finished my Season 4 binge. I agree with a lot of the criticism that’s been circulating the interwebs (i.e. some episodes were slow, old gags felt forced at times and the cameos could be a little too much), but overall I really enjoyed it. Especially loved when the individual plots began to come together in the second half for a more complete narrative.

In addition to the whole lying thing mentioned in this Atlantic piece, I found the underlying theme of selling out/swapping integrity/literal prostitution to get back (either at someone or to a point where one used to be) to be kind of brilliant.

/endrave

Is Tumblr The New Geocities?

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:19:20 -0400

Is Tumblr The New Geocities?:

Imagine a company backed by Fred Wilson, one of the top venture capitalists on the Internet. The company is largely reliant on user-generated content and has had difficulties generating revenue in line with its stratospheric valuation. All of a sudden, Yahoo appears and offers a billion-dollar-plus valuation to […]

TCM: pretty useless.

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:41:00 -0400

I came down with a pretty awful fever/sore throat combo earlier this week, so my colleague handed me two popular Chinese medications to relieve the symptoms: Watermelon Frost lozenges and Some Other TCM* Thing that I’m not even going to try and recall how to say.

*TCM = Traditional Chinese Medicine

Watermelon Frost probably would’ve been great for mild symptoms, but what I was experiencing was much more severe. (Found out later from the doctor that I actually had tonsillitis, yikes). And they tasted sort of like watermelon, I guess. If that slice of watermelon had been dipped in menthol and left out to sit for a few hours.

The Some Other TCM Thing was completely useless. The instructions (all in Chinese, of course) told me to take 3-4 pills, three times a day. It sounded suspicious. That’s 12 pills per day. Wouldn’t taking that many, like, kill someone?

Anyway, neither Watermelon Frost nor Some Other TCM Thing had any effect whatsoever. But the antibiotics and other assorted drugs the doctor gave me later on worked like a charm.

Normal Medicine 1, Watermelon Frost 0, Some Other TCM Thing 0.

Have listened to the free stream of the new Daft Punk album at...

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:13:42 -0400

Have listened to the free stream of the new Daft Punk album at least seven times in the last 36 hours. So good.

second world problems

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:03:54 -0400

a: I think we should start using "2nd world problems" in china. "Oh man, my electricity went out, but then it came back on."
b: "oh no, i was trying to get to work but then i was late because this guy in a fruit cart being pulled by a donkey took over the whole lane and was going too slow."
a: Oh man, I was using "XX Product" and found out it contains [insert poisonous substance here]

Someone wrote this on a random wall in the French Concession....

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:08:11 -0400

Someone wrote this on a random wall in the French Concession. Timing seemed oddly relevant.

Not really sure how this flew under my radar. 14 Days!

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:53:28 -0400

Not really sure how this flew under my radar.

14 Days!

jtgriffiths: bridgers: “In Internet slang,...

Sat, 11 May 2013 02:33:00 -0400

jtgriffiths:

bridgers:

“In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is someone who posts inflammatory,^[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.”

Fixed version by Chris Person:

“In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is...

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:33:00 -0400

“In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is someone who posts inflammatory,^[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.”