March 27th: Easter and mallization
[ posted by mcdeviltoast ]
Day 192
After the morning routine of coffee and writing, I rode out to meet Heather and Mike for noodles at the sausage place (next door to the sheep place.) On the way over, I noticed Dongzhou Park had a smattering of kites on display outside, so after gestation we rode over to browse. It came down between two kites: an eagle (with fun flapping feathers and slatted wings) or one with a tremendously long tail but had a distinctly Elmo-looking face emblazoned on it. The eagle was nice, but I wanted something more Chinese, and with a tail.
We rode to the park by the river, which my students had tipped as a hotbed of uncensored kite action. They lied. A mother told us of a small shop nearby to the West where she procured hers. We rode in a wide circle over the bridges, found nothing. We stopped by a mom-n-pop that had a couple ratty-looking kites hanging in the doorway, shrugged, bought an ice cream. There was no wind anyway, so even if we had bought the perfect kite, there was balls-all we could do about it that day.
We pedaled back, prepared the egg-dyeing activity for Heather's students. I was somehow made chief alchemist measurer, eyeballing 2 tablespoons of vinegar, half a cup of water and such, without the aid of lined cookware. The bike ride and overcast front rolling in sapped my strength, but luckily Heather's students were mellow and their energy wasn't too suffocating. After a while they wanted to combine colors so I had to protect the yellow by keeping an egg in there, guarding it with the palm of Fatima.
The eggs weren't white to begin with, and it gave the colors strong earth tones: Moab dirt red, sulphur yellow, asthmatic robin blue, etc. Towards the end of the proceedings, they became more interested in putting candy in the vinegar dye and eating it. Chinese kids.
They left as quickly as they came, and as quietly. After cleaning the platic bags off the tables, Heather, Mike, Andy (self-invited) and I walked to an outdoor walking shopping center under the shadow of the TV tower. Expansive mazes of shopfronts-to-be, needless and bewildering. If the shops in Haimen can't stay open as it is, what hope does this new bumper crop hope to achieve? The novelty of buying the same old shit in a new plaza will wear off after a bit and then you have a big concrete temple to failure where a field once stood; a field that could have been used for cropland, shortages of which are always being reported in the papers. It all made me a little depressed. Rampant spending and development without forethought is the recipe for disaster. China is spreading itself too thin, as the gambler at the roulette table who constantly bets everything with each spin, who's begging for a cosmic lesson with anchor-dropping ferocity, China is scrambling to put its head and economy under the looming shadow, thinking the shade is enjoyable and safe.
After Mike and Andy nought some liquor, we walked back through the emptiness of Haimen's next great shopping hope. Heather, Jeni, a freshly-shaved Rhys and I dined at the tents. I think Heather and I were having a joint sugar crash from the jellybeans, cookies and cakes at Easter egg fest earlier. Our chopsticks were practically needed to prop up our chins.
I rode back to my place, gave Erin and Matt some Kedu wine, and we watched "Shaun of the Dead," which brightened my spirits. Nothing like a little British zombie comedy to chase the world's woes out of my skull however temporarily. Tucking myself into my bunk, I dreamt of high school reunions.
After the morning routine of coffee and writing, I rode out to meet Heather and Mike for noodles at the sausage place (next door to the sheep place.) On the way over, I noticed Dongzhou Park had a smattering of kites on display outside, so after gestation we rode over to browse. It came down between two kites: an eagle (with fun flapping feathers and slatted wings) or one with a tremendously long tail but had a distinctly Elmo-looking face emblazoned on it. The eagle was nice, but I wanted something more Chinese, and with a tail.
We rode to the park by the river, which my students had tipped as a hotbed of uncensored kite action. They lied. A mother told us of a small shop nearby to the West where she procured hers. We rode in a wide circle over the bridges, found nothing. We stopped by a mom-n-pop that had a couple ratty-looking kites hanging in the doorway, shrugged, bought an ice cream. There was no wind anyway, so even if we had bought the perfect kite, there was balls-all we could do about it that day.
We pedaled back, prepared the egg-dyeing activity for Heather's students. I was somehow made chief alchemist measurer, eyeballing 2 tablespoons of vinegar, half a cup of water and such, without the aid of lined cookware. The bike ride and overcast front rolling in sapped my strength, but luckily Heather's students were mellow and their energy wasn't too suffocating. After a while they wanted to combine colors so I had to protect the yellow by keeping an egg in there, guarding it with the palm of Fatima.
The eggs weren't white to begin with, and it gave the colors strong earth tones: Moab dirt red, sulphur yellow, asthmatic robin blue, etc. Towards the end of the proceedings, they became more interested in putting candy in the vinegar dye and eating it. Chinese kids.
They left as quickly as they came, and as quietly. After cleaning the platic bags off the tables, Heather, Mike, Andy (self-invited) and I walked to an outdoor walking shopping center under the shadow of the TV tower. Expansive mazes of shopfronts-to-be, needless and bewildering. If the shops in Haimen can't stay open as it is, what hope does this new bumper crop hope to achieve? The novelty of buying the same old shit in a new plaza will wear off after a bit and then you have a big concrete temple to failure where a field once stood; a field that could have been used for cropland, shortages of which are always being reported in the papers. It all made me a little depressed. Rampant spending and development without forethought is the recipe for disaster. China is spreading itself too thin, as the gambler at the roulette table who constantly bets everything with each spin, who's begging for a cosmic lesson with anchor-dropping ferocity, China is scrambling to put its head and economy under the looming shadow, thinking the shade is enjoyable and safe.
After Mike and Andy nought some liquor, we walked back through the emptiness of Haimen's next great shopping hope. Heather, Jeni, a freshly-shaved Rhys and I dined at the tents. I think Heather and I were having a joint sugar crash from the jellybeans, cookies and cakes at Easter egg fest earlier. Our chopsticks were practically needed to prop up our chins.
I rode back to my place, gave Erin and Matt some Kedu wine, and we watched "Shaun of the Dead," which brightened my spirits. Nothing like a little British zombie comedy to chase the world's woes out of my skull however temporarily. Tucking myself into my bunk, I dreamt of high school reunions.
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[ posted by mcdeviltoast @ 3/27/2005 09:20:00 PM ]
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The dumbtronica act Montana & McDeviltoast, along with their friends, keep each other updated on their activities. Much fun having by all, and Pockys fear for their lives!