mine 2

Long lost blog

2009-06-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

We are both exhausted, and cant waite for the holidays to begin! It’s been a long school year for both of us. It would be very hard to summarise my feelings on it in less than 10,000 words, but it was certainly an interesting experience, but one I'd not care to repeat. I would love to blog more about it, but it's probably not the most tactful thing I could do. I'll waite a while, and do a "retrospective" at a more appropriate time.

Fortunately I will be able to focus on my history department position next year.

Art+ has been really satisfying for both of us. The cooperative is a really good bunch of people. It's been a real pleasure, and this is partly because the people in the cooperative are terrific, and the nature of the activity is right (for us). Another bonus of giving up the liason job will be more time to put into Art+, which wont be like "pouring water onto the ground".

Vy is crawling now. She started like a seal, falling and dragging herself, but has now propped herself up into a more standard looking crawl. She gets around quickly, and has had a couple of little falls but is still going strong. We often say shes a "stereotypical baby"- she is comforted by singing, likes to be rocked, crawls normally, and "coos" like a regular baby. She's getting cuter by the day, but we still get the 5.30-6.30am wake up. I'm looking forward to her sleeping in more.

Lyam is great to. He's soaking up words like a sponge. He's fascinated by cars and balls and everything boys get obsessed by.

Our household expenditure has rocketed because we have discovered they are both really good when we are out wandering around on the street. They love watching other people and hearing the traffic, and wandering. So we have been spending our weekends out and about, and eating our way through Shanghai. Wet weekends are our big fear now- trapped in four walls!

Stacey and Justin are here right now in China. We've had some great days with them so far, and will be off to Beijing in a week or so. I can't waite to get out of Shanghai, I need a change of scene.

Sorry for no images. "Blogger" is currently blocked, and Im using a proxy that doesn't allow me to upload photos.

Our house

2009-05-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well, finally, we are proud owners of a house! Mums continued support made it possible, so thanks again mum. She has the keys, and as of now we have a large asset/debt to our name. We have joined the normal world.

Happiness

2009-05-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

I picked this up from yahoo news. I don't normally read their stuff, but found this one interesting. What they don't factor in is that these 'happy' countries are social democratic/socialist.

"World's Happiest Places
A new report reveals where people feel most positive about their lives
By Lauren Sherman

Where in the world do people feel most content with their lives?

According to a new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, a Paris-based group of 30 countries with democratic governments that provides economic and social statistics and data, happiness levels are highest in northern European countries.

In Depth: See All 10 of the World's Happiest Places

Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list, ranking first, second and third, respectively. Outside Europe, New Zealand and Canada landed at Nos. 8 and 6, respectively. The United States did not crack the top 10. Switzerland placed seventh and Belgium placed tenth.

The report looked at subjective well-being, defined as life satisfaction. Did people feel like their lives were dominated by positive experiences and feelings, or negative ones?

To answer that question, the OECD used data from a Gallup World Poll conducted in 140 countries around the world last year. The poll asked respondents whether they had experienced six different forms of positive or negative feelings within the last day.

Some sample questions: Did you enjoy something you did yesterday? Were you proud of something you did yesterday? Did you learn something yesterday? Were you treated with respect yesterday? In each country, a representative sample of no more than 1,000 people, age 15 or older, were surveyed. The poll was scored numerically on a scale of 1-100. The average score was 62.4.

Why did the northern European countries come out looking so good? Overall economic health played a powerful role, says Simon Chapple, senior economist from the Social Policy Division of the OECD, which put together the report.

While the global economic crisis has taken a toll on every nation, the countries that scored at the top still boast some of the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Denmark, which got the highest score, is not only a wealthy country, it's also highly productive, with a 2009 GDP per capita of $68,000, according to the International Monetary Fund. The United States' GDP per capita, by contrast, is $47,335. Though the U.S. got an above-average score of 74, it did not break the top 10.

Wealth alone does not bring the greatest degree of happiness. Norway has the highest GDP per capita on the list — $98,822 — yet it ranked ninth, not first. On the other hand, New Zealand's happiness level is 76.7 out of 100 on the OECD list, but its 2009 GDP per capita is just $30,556.

According to a 2005 editorial, published in the British Medical Journal and written by Dr. Tony Delamothe, research done in Mexico, Ghana, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K. shows that individuals typically get richer during their lifetimes, but not happier. It is family, social and community networks that bring joy to one's life, according to Delamothe.

The OECD data shows that another important factor is work-life balance. While Scandinavian countries boast a high GDP per capita, the average workweek in that part of the world is no more than 37 hours. In China, which got a low score of just 14.8, the workweek is 47 hours and the GDP per capita is just $3,600.

Low unemployment also contributes to happiness. "One thing we know for sure," says the OECD's Chapple, "not having a job makes one substantially less satisfied." Denmark's unemployment rate is just 2 percent, according the C.I.A.'s World Factbook. Norway's is just 2.6 percent. The Netherlands: just 4.5 percent. Many economists concur that a 4 percent..."

Dusty streets and art

2009-05-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

A new freeway has been completed that runs across the back of the school. It so far seems quiet, not a lot of traffic on it, but Im sure as the expo site gets busier that will change. Now down the botanic gardens road leading to the south station, more road widening and work is taking place. Its done quickly and chaoticly, with the usual disregard for safety and pedestrians and residents (despite the law). One 'living area' has made their own large red banner and hoisted it by the rad so everyone can see and it says something like "Where's the justice in this world? Xuhui government doesnt recognise the law". Good for them. China has great laws, pity they are avoided and ignored at a whim.

Our first Art+ event is taking shape. We had the printing done, and it looks pretty good- simple, but effective. It cost a lot though, and I think it will be our only large expence. Now we have to make sure we get a restaurent full of people who'd like to potentially buy some work and have a good night. I'm looking forward to it, but the nerves have started already.

Lyam put on his own sandals today, nice watching them grow up. Vy is smiling more, and getting used to crowds.She even seems to enjoy a small crowd now, but still gets upset in big throngs of people.

All these photos are from a day out we had in pudong last weekend. Such a difference to Puxi, always stunning contrasts.

From on top of the world

2009-04-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Nigel got married on the weekend in a restaurent in Jinn Mao tower. We decided to stay the night in the Hyatt again (our stay last time was superb). Wonderful wedding, wonderful hotel.

One advantage of going away to such a great hotel with a child (we left Vy with the eryi for the night, two kids would have been exhausting) was we got to order room service and enjoy really fine food without the fun of running after Lyam. We ate, enjoyed great food next to a spectacular view.

I got to play the role a 'person of the cloth' would normally play. It appealed t that part of me that (still) actually finds the idea of being a minister appealing.

We went to Morgan Shan lu on Sunday, and saw some interesting work. There was an exhibition of some great work along the theme of history. Being a history teacher this attracted my attention. The work was great, but I was a little annoyed at some of the ideas of history- did the artist collaborate with an historian? The art work was beuatiful, but the historical notions were not at all useful. The work would have bene much more powerful if historiann and artist had worked togther. As it was it was great art, and poor historical comment.

Jen, Nikki, Anthony and I are working on the "Art+", and we have the first event planned for next month. I'm anxious about it, but quietly confident we can pull it off. We will make mistakes, Im sure, but we can learn from them and do an even better event next time. Hopefully its the start of something. It feels really satisfying to work for something that's helping to make the world a better place. http://artplus-cooperative.blogspot.com/

Kids

2009-04-25T22:00:00.001-07:00

Sleeping babies are the best

2009-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

N.A.S.A. "Money" feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip from Paul Griswold on Vimeo.

Musings

2009-04-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Heading out of history this morning I was attracted to a kids shirt because it seemed he had paid to have a giant "Coke" brand plastered on his body. On closer examination though it turned out to be one of those 'culture jamming' shirts, and it actually used the Coke Cola style logo to say "Cock" with a little "Try this" underneath.

I had to use a sentence I never thought I'd have to use the other day at home, "Lyam, stop drawing on your sister." He was using her little bald head as a canvas for his scribbling.

A great article from the Independant about Dubai, a place we were seriously considering going to, but the more I learn about the more I'm horrified by it. Im reading a book about the history of the third world right now, and it seems like Dubai is a state built on the back of slavery:

"Since the recession hit, they say, the electricity has been cut off in dozens of the camps, and the men have not been paid for months. Their companies have disappeared with their passports and their pay. "We have been robbed of everything. Even if somehow we get back to Bangladesh, the loan sharks will demand we repay our loans immediately, and when we can't, we'll be sent to prison."

This is all supposed to be illegal. Employers are meant to pay on time, never take your passport, give you breaks in the heat – but I met nobody who said it happens. Not one. These men are conned into coming and trapped into staying, with the complicity of the Dubai authorities.

Sahinal could well die out here. A British man who used to work on construction projects told me: "There's a huge number of suicides in the camps and on the construction sites, but they're not reported. They're described as 'accidents'." Even then, their families aren't free: they simply inherit the debts. A Human Rights Watch study found there is a "cover-up of the true extent" of deaths from heat exhaustion, overwork and suicide, but the Indian consulate registered 971 deaths of their nationals in 2005 alone. After this figure was leaked, the consulates were told to stop counting."

I still remember the American ABC interview with the King done a few years ago and how they gushed over his 'success', dealing for only a few minutes on the 'underside', and framing it as a success for the 'free market'. There is a nasty subtext to all this. It's a further irony that the journalist who wrote this story (English) leaves out the part where our countries (west) used massive systems of exploitation to build the wealth we enjoy today. It seems remembering our own history is not that important.

A friend on Facebook published a story (and some speculate it could be a hoax) about the Chinese Acadami of Social Science further simplifing Chinese characters (image below). If it's true, i think it's terrific.

What struck me again this year, and I have blogged about this before, is the weakness of authoritarian structure. All the asian work places Ive been at have been that way, and it appears strong, but it's actually quite weak. People from outside percieve this a problem of governance, but in China at least, my impression is the authoritarian nature of much of the place comes from the 'bottom up', from the culture itself. This will make it a hard weed to pull from the psychy.

Images

2009-04-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Some images with Ray and Nikki at Marrakesh last weekend (great entrees, but the Targine there isn't much good), and the outdoor ones of Vy are at home in the garden.

Above and below is the new electric piano. Still not a real piano, but very close. Great feel, and nice to have a piano around again.

Johann Hari: The protesters are the ones we should listen to at this summit

2009-04-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New Deal

Friday, 3 April 2009 (from http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-protesters-are-the-ones-we-should-listen-to-at-this-summit-1661047.html)

Many commentators seemed bemused that the protesters focused on the climate crunch as much as the credit crunch. What's it got to do with a G20 meeting on reviving the global economy? Why wave banners saying 'Nature Doesn't Do Bail-Outs' today? Because both crises have their roots in the same ideology – and both have the same solution.

We are facing a collapsed economy and a rapidly warming world because an extreme ideology has dominated world affairs for decades. It is the belief that markets aren't just a useful tool in certain circumstances; they are an infallible mechanism for running human affairs. If the economy ebbs, the market will put itself right by punishing wrong-doers. If the climate begins to unravel, business will rectify its own behaviour voluntarily. Now we know how well this market fundamentalism works.

The climate is currently going the same way as the banks. Last month, the world's climate scientists gathered in Copenhagen to explain we are facing "devastating consequences" – not in some distant future, but in my lifetime and yours. Unless we swerve fast, we are soon going to hit global temperatures that no human being has ever lived through. We don't have much time. By 2015, we will have belched so much carbon into the atmosphere that we will cross the Point of No Return: the climate will start to unravel as all its natural cooling processes break down one by one, guaranteeing we become hotter and hotter. Once we hit an increase of 4 degrees, much of the world will become uninhabitable, and there will be vast wars for what remains.

This isn't the warning of apocalyptic wackos: it's the judgement of the climate scientists who have consistently been proven right up to now. Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who has been appointed Energy Secretary by Barack Obama, says: "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what will happen. We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going either." Goodbye Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego. And that, he stresses, is only the start.

The distinguished environmental scientist James Lovelock warns that climate changes tend not to happen gradually, inch-by-inch. They suddenly flip – in our case from a cool world to a very hot one. He believes the hotter new world we are bringing into being could support, at best, a billion people. That would require 84 per cent of the world's population to die off.

That's why the protesters were talking about the climate. It should be the number one issue at every global meeting. And the way out of the climate crunch and credit crunch is the same – a Green New Deal. Our leaders are divided about whether we need a fiscal stimulus at all. Obama, Gordon Brown, and the Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso are leading the charge for a burst of big government spending to jump-start the global economy, while Angela Merkel, Nicholas Sarkozy, David Cameron and the US Republicans are arguing this will simply be a debt-funded splurge to nothing.

It's a strange debate to have now, because the opponents of any stimulus seem to be mired in a row that was resolved back in the 1930s. John Maynard Keynes transformed the way that we think about recessions. Before him, everybody believed the Merkel-Cameron-McCain line that recessions are like bad weather: you just need to wrap up and sit it out, even though it hurts. But Keynes transformed all that.

He showed that recessions are actually caused by a failure of consumer demand. When people sense that they might lose their job, they – perfectly sensibly – cut back on their spending. They buy fewer DVDs or restaurant meals or holidays. But this causes a fall in demand for services – and more people lose their jobs, causing demand to fall further in turn, and on and on, in a spiral. He called it "the paradox of thrift": what is rational for an individual consumer is irrational for the society as a whole.

But he also showed that there is a way out: the government needs to spend large sums of money, financed by borrowing, to get all the workers waiting idle back into action. This form of government spending brings consumer demand back – and reverses the downward trend. Then, once you've recovered, you pay off the debt. Keynes stressed you can spend this money on anything: at one point he proposed burying wads of cash and paying people to dig them up. But today, we face an incredible coincidence. At the same moment, we need to spend lots of money on something, anything – and we need an immediate transition to a low-carbon economy. And it gets better: it turns out a green stimulus is best for the economy. A major study by the University of Massachusetts compared the effects of an old-style stimulus that simply gives people more cash to a green stimulus.

They found that a green stimulus creates four times more jobs, and three times more "good jobs", defined as those that pay more than $16 per hour. Why? Because a green stimulus is labour-intensive: you spend more money on people and less on machines. And the money you spend stays at home, making it easier to sell: you can only insulate a loft in Hull in Hull; you can only build a wind farm in the Mid-West in the Mid-West.

But it's not happening. A study by HSBC has found that only 6 per cent of Britain's stimulus so far has gone to green projects. In the US, it is just 16 per cent. It is nonsense to claim there aren't enough green projects "shovel-ready": during World War Two, the industrial capacities of our countries was transformed from making consumer goods to making tanks and weaponry in less than sixty days. We could do the same.

But this alacrity shouldn't surprise us. The weight of conventional wisdoms and the sway of powerful corporations with vested interests in the old sickening world holds back even the better leaders.

The first New Deal wasn't handed down by Franklin Roosevelt as a benevolent gesture. On the contrary: he came to power as a budget-balancing centrist, and only became a great President because he was confronted by massive riots and civil disobedience across the United States. The American people pushed him in a more radical direction, often with behaviour that made this week's riot in London look like a Buckingham Palace reception.

On Wednesday, one of the young protesters sat in a tent at the edge of the City of London, looked out towards the glistening towers of the financial district, and said to me: "The dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid. Suddenly, we are realising that we are our own asteroid." She shook her head. "How can so many people just sit at home and watch it happen?"

Politics without leadership

2009-03-31T15:58:00.001-07:00

"Solar Carport Gives Plug-Ins a Charge
By Keith Barry EmailMarch 30, 2009 | 4:41:55 PMCategories: Solar

Powerpark_sized

One of the great criticisms of electric vehicles is the power they rely on often comes from fossil fuels, leading critics to question how "green" they are. A British firm has a solution for that — a carport topped with photovoltaic cells that can charge an EV.

Specialty glass and plastic manufacturer Romag says the PowerPark is just the thing for parking lots where electric vehicles may one day compete for spots to plug in. The first PowerPark was installed at the company's headquarters, and Romag says additional installations are planned around the United Kingdom..."

Part of my daily online reading (well, skimming) is gagdet and technology related sites. One of them is Wired. These sides all hammer home, almost every month, just how many solutions there are to the worlds environmental (and human) problems, but these solutions don't get picked up becasue of politics that is spineless. Western leaders spend far too much time watchign opinion pols instead of leading. Leadership requires educating your population and then allowing them to make up their own mind on which way to go, not watching opinion polls and trying to manufacture consent for politicians ideas in the media.

I notice above the regular environmental report greenpeace done on electronics makers has several of them, including Apple, in the red. This is disgusting. If the envrironment is in critical danger, and it appears that it is, why not take action against these companies? In a war time economy, where the state is threatened by an external enemy, resources are mobilised quickly and logically to do whatever is necessary to fight the foe. We can thus kill and maim and destroy vast slabs of the surface of the earth with great effciency.

Why when faced with other problems do we just sit back and bury our heads in the sand? And more importantly, why do we do that when solutions are at hand?

Old keys

2009-03-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

I figure the best way to inspire Lyam to do something is to just do it myself. We've been trying to eat better, and do all the things we want him to do.

He's getting close to two, and he likes drawing. We'd also like him to have a try at something musical and drums are good, but there's something soothing about the piano. I miss the feel of the keys, I haven't played for over ten years. It's amazing how good the electronic pianos (as opposed to keyboards) have become. We've checked out a few over the last few months- they feel like a 'real' piano, have the same stiffness and you can squeeze the notes out. It's not quite the same, but for those hacking away at simple pieces it's perfect.

Tonight we wandered from Tai Kang lu, last weeks finished pottery and a couple of new shirts in our bag, along one of the freeways toward Xintiandi, and happened upon a new soup place, tiny, just big enough to seat 4 people on high stools by the side while the kitchen hands watch you eat. We ordered think soup, fried tofu wrap and some potato baked with rosemary. It was great, and the same price as a Mc Donalds meal would have been. We then picked our way through some road works and headed into Xintiandi and out the other side as a light rain started. The 'music street' a dozen or so shops with ranges of musical equipment, stretch off almost to the Bund. We walked into one and saw a Casio electronic piano. We asked if we bought it would they help us deliver it, "No. No." He said, disinterested. The second shop, a Suzuki stood near the door, and we ran our fingers over the keys and it had a deeper more resonant sound. They deliver, we handed over the cash.

He said it may come Monday, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm looking forward to trying to pick it up again, stumble my way through the first couple of grades. I hope my fingers remember what to do.

We went to a foreign supermarket on the way home, and saw Ribena and coudln't resist. It cost 100rmb, or about $20 Australian. A box of mouthwatering Belgium chocolates cost half that, and a cheap DVD player costs about 150rmb. Organic blurberries cost 54rmb for a small punnette. Things seem upside down sometimes.

We have a complete set of what's become known (thanks to our teacher) as 'cave man' plates. Chunky harshly cut pieces that are warped and textured. A mixture of glazes brushed lightly around the edges, often poured into to look soupy and thick. I did one last lot of glazing today. We're looking for a painting class or something different next.

We got home tonight, full of Sizhuan food (seems to be our weekend habit) and Lyam chatted in his own language about his night.

I'm continuing my obsession with Japanese horror movies and re-watching "Pulse", probably my favourite horror movie. It's going on in the background as I watch this.

The plant based diet has been good so far. Jens doing it (by default I guess) and we both feel less tired, clearer (if that makes sense).

Images, scuplture park

2009-03-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Rainy day video

2009-03-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Lyams photo shoot 2008

2009-03-20T18:19:00.001-07:00

Nike just STOP IT

2009-03-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Images

2009-03-13T03:01:00.001-07:00

Some images from around the house over the last few days.

Vego

2009-03-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

After years of reading health articles, I've finally decided (with a final push from the book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Esselstyn), and a recent distaste for most meats, I've gone vego. I tried once at Uni. a long time ago, but my heart wasn't in it (pardon the pun). This time it feels like a more permanent decision.

I was going to try the complete Esselstyn diet, but it seems a little extreme (it advocates a vegan diet, with no oil whatsoever). I will give up every meat except fish and some seafoods, and I'll eat eggs on occasion.

I'm making some changes to my job next year to. I can't go into the details on the blog, but I will reduce my load so that I can be involved in work that I enjoy more, and that I can contribute in a more positive way.

http://www.heartattackproof.com/

Life is good. Lyam is great with sleeping now. We just need to turn off the lights and crawls into bed with us, drinks his milk and chats to us, and then falls asleep. No more bedtime screaming. He also hasn't hurt Vy in a few days, so I think he's got the knack of playing with her gently. Vy is beautiful. Her skin is pretty good, and she is looking around a lot, and even watching cartoons for short periods with Lyam.

Jen and I will (with more good fortune) be exchanging contracts soon on a flat we bought in Braddon, ACT. Without mums help that wouldn't have been possible. We will rent it out while we are overseas. It's been exciting seeing pictures of it, and discussing what could be done with it. Good sense of well being to owning something, like there is a nest there in case. Ill post photos after it's really ours.

The skys cleared yesterday in Shanghai. We saw blue sky!

Pictures

2009-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Some nice images of Vy. She had some bad ecsma (yes, spellign) that comes and goes, but its much better now. She laughs sometimes to now, but much harder to entertain than Lyam was.

We had "Lao Eyes 4" last weekend, and it was great. Again, its a privelage to hang up work with some talented people. Morgans work (above) looked great in the pub. Interesting work, I like it a lot. Anthony's work, to me, just gets better and better. I loved his more abstract technique, stunning.

Mums visit

2009-03-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

Mum is back in Australia, and we had a great time. We didn't do much, but sometimes it's just being with family (drinking tea, chatting, watching a movie, sharing a laugh) that's more important than doing thing.

Some of these shots are taken in Zhou Zuang, where we a spent a really nice day. That aside, it's been so wet in Shanghai we could do little else.

Lyam above, at his first class a few weeks ago. He was more interested in his own things, but still seemed to have fun. We wonder will we get phone calls from school in the future bout our "ring leader" son?

China from David Bryne

2009-02-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

Above image courtesy of David Byrnes journal http://journal.davidbyrne.com/

I love David Byrnes work, and I really enjoy going through his online journal from time to time. I kicked myself recently when I discovered that he is actually now in Asia, and I could have flown down to Hong Kong to see him but didn't know until too late.

The perils of commenting on a country one does not live in (and so does not truely understand) are apparent in his journal though. This is part of his entry on Hong Kong:
"Andrew says some small groups are becoming active in trying to preserve green spaces, old buildings, places that have some charm — but it’s a new idea, and runs counter to the “It’s Glorious to Make Money” ideology that has overrun China for the last few decades. If that attitude, the disdain for civic life, seems rampant to me here in Hong Kong — where the British influence is still slightly felt — I can only imagine how it must be in Shanghai and Beijing. The future, as represented by the Chinese powerhouse, will be merciless, tasteless and heartless, but the food will be tasty if you can afford it.

It’s fitting that the US Republicans and the Chinese Communists — sworn enemies in the past — actually have a lot in common that way. They both could care less about public amenities and public good. Houston, Texas, a town dominated by oil money and the good old boys that profit from it, is in some ways like Hong Kong — a merciless machine for making money, but not a very good place to live if you’re not already rich or obsessed with scrambling up the ladder."

While Im sure his incites into Hong Kong are accurate, and a few people I know who have been there would probably attest to them, his notion that this some how represents the mainland (and what mainland? There are many "chinas" within China) is disturbingly off the mark. When travelling as a tourist, it's dangerous to make hasty assumptions.

The future represented by the Chinese powerhouse will be varied, rigid but warm hearted, creative, and everyone will be able to afford the food.

Tragic news and a new semester

2009-02-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

We heard last weekend that Richard, one of our history teachers, who worked with me in the history department, passed away. I was at the hospital with him Saturday, and still couldn't absorb the shock.

He was a great history teacher, and a wise man. He will be missed, and I'm not sure we will ever get used to his absence in the staffroom. It feels like there's a hole there that will never be filled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gordon_(Scottish_author)

Cute little boy- short hair

2009-02-05T01:37:00.000-08:00

Klien

2009-02-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

Old, but really good summation.

Qingdao Trip (Part 3)

2009-01-23T06:05:00.001-08:00

(Days 6, Friday)Traveling with two kids is fun, but hard work. Here is a typical hotel morning- wake up, anywhere between 7.30 and 9am. Lyam is cute, plays games, lies in bed for a little while. We resist his efforts to bug us out of bed, but eventually he starts amusing himself by tearing something up or doing something boyish and slightly dangerous, so one or both of us get up. (Assuming a 8am wake up by Lyam) It’s now about 9am, and Jen showers. He always insists on showering with who ever is first, which slows the showering down. As this occurs, Vy wakes up and smiles and is cute for 5 minutes, then screams for food. Feed her, change the nappies. She eats a lot, so usually we have to do this process twice in one sitting. So at around 9.30 Lyam is showered and starting to get dressed, and Vy is quiet, but wants a cuddle and we have to make sure one of is holding her. I shower, Jen juggles the two kids. Lyam gets jealous that his mum is holding Vy, and she distracts him with a shoe brush, which works for 2 minutes, then Lyam starts throwing a water bottle around. I get out of the shower at around 10, dressed and semi ready to go. I have coffee, cuddle Vy. Lyam is now engrossed in “Toy Story” and wont get his jacket on, but at the same time he keeps saying “Go go!”. Jen struggles with him. I finish the coffee and start to dress Vy, while Jen checks for baby supplies. Out of the hotel somewhere between 10.30 and 11.

Traveling with babies lacks the spontaneity of a childless trip. But it is compensated for by some funny smiles and laughs and comments from them when you least expect it. Lyam can turn a boring walk into a funny adventure.

Today we actually departed from the routine above, and (thanks partly to Lyam waking up early) got out of the room at 9am and had a free buffet breakfast downstairs as the wind rattled the plates of glass protecting us from the outside world, and we watched the street lights bend in the weather.

-10 with a wind chill of -16 made it impossible to go outside with the kids for more than a few minutes without someone being uncomfortable. We decided to check with the hotel if there was a driver service available. We found out for 300rmb (not too bad) we could get a driver for the day to take us around to see whatever we wanted to see.

The driver arrived, and we bundled into the car. I really wanted to see the light house we can see from our window, on a little island called “Small Qinggao” but the driver wanted to take us to the old German prison, later used by the Japanese during their turn as occupiers. The ‘highlight’ was the cellar where the Japanese tortured people to death. How can people do this to each other? It baffles me always.

What strikes me as interesting in traveling is the difference between what locals think are great places to visit (in any country or area), and what attracts visitors. One interesting case is a suburb called “Badaguan” in a bay one around from us, near the beautiful “Number 1” beach. The literatire, and the driver today, said it wasn’t to be missed. I assumed it would be a suburb of superb old buildings, like the area we are in. They are old buildings, but they are regular well groomed and uninspiring villas for the rich. Old yes, but not half as interesting as the area we are in. Mao did stay there, and there is Jiang Jie Shi’s house, but it’s a pretty pedestrian area. The driver seemed proud of it- I guess to him it shows the affluence of China now. When we drove through an area built by the Germans that was off limits to the Chinese, I said that was terrible and he said, “No, it was right. The Chinese were too poor and backward.” We live on one world, but there are worlds within worlds.

We visited a gun emplacement established by the Chinese, taken over by the Germans, then by the Japanese, then by the Chinese Nationalists (fascists), and then later by the Communists. You can go underground and roam around the bunkers used for administration etc, and on top is a small peace park with beautiful views over the older parts of town. Lyam and I braved the cold to see this. Taking photos required me to take off my gloves, and the cold hurt my hands.

The driver sped us out of the old parts, along the coast through May 4th Square and off toward “Old man beach” (I think that’s the name), at the foot of the hills. This area, that stretches right up the coast, is like one giant series of suburbs encrusted along the coast. It’s home to 4 million people and while it all looks orderly and comfortable etc, it’s completely soulless. I was torn again with a mixture of admiration, awe, and depression. I couldn’t decide if I loved or hated it.

Old Man beach was so cold, water that remained form high tide was frozen on the beach in sheets across the sand.

We got the driver to take us back to our hotel early. He was trying to stretch our deal by saying we’d gone a long way form the city, so he should get a little more for the day. Why do some people do this? Why do they spoil a good deal by angling and sleezing their way into a little more cash? I didn’t argue with him, I just shoved the origionally agreed upon amount at him and said “Thanks” and left before he could argue.

We are hoping the winds settle tomorrow. Its great being here, but it might get a bit claustrophobic being stuck inside till we leave. Lyam ran around the restaurent again tonight (which was empty) and played around the chairs. I chased him around.

Dawn from the hotel room

(Day 7, Saturday). Wind slowed, temperature was little higher in the morning. I took Lyam out to see the ice on the beach- overnight the rockpools and water on the upper beach froze completely, something I've never seen before.

Later we braved a trip with the family around the point to the light house on the left of the bay we are on. Beautiful old rundown places, a great hot meal of chicken by the sea. Good weather, and Vy slept the whole time in the pram bound up in a blanket and several layers of clothes. Lyam got cold toward the end as the win picked up and the last 15 minutes home were cold and long, but it was a nice afternoon.

Dawn from the hotel room

(Today, Sunday) Happy new year from us. We are recovering from a much interupted sleep last night, and will watch the fireworks tonight from the room. Off to Shanghai tomorrow after a really great stay.

Qingdao trip (Part 2)

2009-01-22T02:00:00.000-08:00

(Day 5, Thursday 22nd January) We moved from our first hotel today to the tragically named “California Vogue”.

Bad name, but a good 4 star hotel with an almost wall of glass at the end of the room looking out over the bay, and two super-single beds pushed together to form one really large bed.

The temperature dropped dramatically to below zero, and after we spent time packing and moving to the new room, the wind picked up. Wind chill was down to as low as -20C and we decided it was best not to go out. We spent the afternoon in McDonalds (its just around the corner, so not too far with the kids), and had naps whenever the kids slept. Mercifully, they were asleep reasonably early and we had time to read and be adults.

view from our room

view from our room

view from our room

Qingdao trip (part 1)

2009-01-21T23:44:00.000-08:00

(Qingdao, old town, from a distance)

(History here, a quick simple note on some important events and the significance of the city- the birthplace of Taoism, and in a sense the birthplace of the desire for an independent China)

(Day 1, Sunday)We got up at 6 to get ready to get the 7.45 train to Qingdao and as kids do, both started crying and caused a fuss just as we needed to get ready and get out of the hotel. With Lyam screaming, we got out in time, and boarded the fast train. We were in second class, but second class on the new fast train was good. Soft reclining chair, cramped put free water, no luggage in the eilse, baby changing space and toilet for the disabled. Eight years ago I traveled on stiff smokey second class cars, facing others, luggage in the eilses. How things change. We passed through Tai’an six hours in tho the trip and even it looked different from the train. New apartments, a few new taller buildings. The horizon has changed over the last few years in so many places.

(Tai Shan from the train)

Shanghai is China, but getting out of it feels like I’m in the China I used to live in, and its nice and comfortable to be in it. There is a terrible bleak beauty in the grey smokey horizons, and the dry little villages. I love it.

The kids were great. Lyam charmed a police officer and the girls working in our carriage, and had fun. He’s fascinated with the the scenery, the steam from factories, other slower trains we pass, highways. Vy slept almost constantly for 10 hours, right up until about 15 minutes before the train arrived- at which time Lyam started screaming and Vy crying. We made quite a scene getting off the train, but they settled down in the crowds.

(Lyam with the ipod, a suprisingly good distraction. He watches "Toy Story" while he sits in the pram, and is engrossed)

We scrambled and hustled for a taxi in the cold. Our hotel is a little ragged around the edges, but the view over the bay is beautiful. It’s dark, and we cant see much yet, but Im sure it will be great to see in the morning. Jen was exhausted, and I took Lyam to buy some thigns tonight. We headed away from the hotel a couple of blocks, and there are no 24 hour stores etc. Not like Shanghai. We had to buy water and biscuits for Lyam at a little grocery shop under the street.

Qingdao looks elegant, a rundown elegance, even at night. Nice old architecture all around us here.

(Day 2) We are staying right on the water front (in the “Huaneng”), and we have a magnificant view of the boardwalk and to the left the light house on “small Qingdao”. It’s a great view, but the hotel was built in the 1980’s and has a bank of tinted windows over the inner windows, so our view is tinted a deep blue. The hotel staff were great, but the hotel seems to have had better days, and when we went on our first walk away from the hotel we looked in another one called “California Vogue”. Sad name, but a 4 star hotel with a very modern interior with rooms half the price because we are in the off-season. We booked in, and will move in in three nights.

We didn’t do much else. We were still all worn out after the big train ride, and while we were eager to walk some more, we had a big lunch of jiaozi, octopus and vegetables (huge northern servings) and went back to the hotel.

Like Quzhou, in the south, this city is short on restaurants. We had the weird experience of having to walk for 15 minutes to try and find a place to eat dinner. We settled on a seafood place in a beautiful old German building. Lyam was excited by seeing the seafood to be eaten swimming around in tanks and buckets out the back. He spent almost the whole meal out with the fish, talking to people about them in his own language, and running around the restaurant. Ironicly, we ate “Shanghai style” eggplant. There was so much food and the kids were so noisy (Vy decided to start crying) we retreated with our meal as takeaway.

(Day 3) Spent the whole morning wandering around the old parts of town around the railway station and where we are in Anhui Road.

Beautiful old buildings, sleepy and full of shadows of the past. A taxi driver told us some of the property in this old part of town is worth the same as Shanghai. It’s the most charming city Ive been to China, and one of my all time favourites anywhere in the world.

We took a turn down a market street in a working class area of town, pushing the pram through thick knots of people shopping for food and going about their daily life. The buildings are beautiful, but have been left to disintegrate and fall apart. Part of me likes the fact that workers and the poor occupy such prime real estate, and get to live in such beautiful buildings. But how will they get done up now? As governments withdraw form looking after people, and “the market” takes over, these people will be stripped of their homes, and they will go to the rich.

At least, unlike Dalian, they aren’t tearing these places down. We saw workers laying paving stones in the streets, a clear sign that these, like all the other old buildings in Qingdao, seem to be protected from the new.

There is a Catholic church on a hill not too far form the railway station. An expansive cobbled square site around it, and the former rectory is in the process of being renovated.

From our morning wandering around this part of the city, we were in love with the charm and sense of time that you soak in when walking the streets here. And it’s not just a pretty façade, there are still blocks and blocks of history lost from the eye away from main roads.

In contrast to the old town is the “May 4th Square” and the newest part of the city that has shot up around it. It’s a 20 minute ride away from the old town, and seems like a world and epoch away from the rest of the place. It’s tall, bright and tries hard to impress. A striking red sculpture (pictured above) sits on the water at the edge of the square. If you stand on the waters edge you can look around to the end of the bay and see the Olympic sailing centre sitting out over the water.

It is clean and bright and all things new, but the juxtaposition of this against the buildings of last century is stark. Is there a way to be modern that doesn’t rely on extinguishing the charm and sense of connection with past of ‘the old’? It seems a tragic lack of imagination that not only the Chinese, but that all of us have suffered in the race to “be modern”, this elusive state that seems to dissolve as reach it.

We expected Qingdao to be cold, but it has been ok so far. The above picture is of all the clothes we have for Vy, to make sure she doesn’t get sick. She’s been good so far, but only if we cuddle here. The minute we put her down, or put her in the pram, she wakes up.

(Day 4)Lyam didn’t sleep last night till 11.30, so we are all tired today. It’s now only a little after 8pm, and already Lyam is asleep and Jen is reading. I think Vy will be the last one asleep tonight.

We started this morning by going out onto the board walk in front of our hotel. The morning was misty and warm, with a gentle sun and no cold breeze. Lyam insisted on walking on his own, and became fascinated by the waves lapping against the wall. He was transfixed.

(our hotel is on the left, round building)

Lyam also fell in love with sea shells. He spent about 15 minutes crouching in front of a guys collection of them, calling them “prawns”. My heart raced everytime he picked one up and set it down (almost throwing it down) when he was bored.

You never need a camera in China. I’ve noticed in most holiday places camera guys equipped with camera and photo printers ready to take a snap and print it for you for a price. QIngdao is funny. In the shot above, just to the right out frame, there were three guys out on amongst the rockpools ready to do business with anyone who wanted to capture the moment.

We spent some time on the little beach beside it. Lyam threw sand and rocks in rock pools and had a great time. We got really hungry and needed lunch, but he wouldn’t go, and I had to grab him literally kicking and screaming and promise him Mc Donalds to calm him down.

We headed out in a cab after lunch to the “culture street” in a newer part of town. The street did have some beautiful traditionally styled Chinese paintings, some book stalls, and some art supplies. But with a city with so many acres of old buildings, I don’t understand why ‘culture street’ is set in a row of ugly looking grey buildings in away from any other part of town.

Curious to see a ‘regular’ part of town we asked people where the big shopping mall was, and got directed to Taidong number 3 road. It was thick with holiday shoppers, but like any other old shopping area in China, except for the murals painted on apartments above the shops in the mall.

They all looked recently, perhaps for the Olympics. As a cheap way to brighten up the place, I thought they were terrific. Old areas would look great with more of this kind of expression. I’ve worked at schools and suggested it before (to negative response), and seeing it like this I don’t understand what people have against it.

We are enjoying the slow pace of the holiday. We picked a great the perfect spot for this kind of trip. It’s a luxury to not to have to rush around, and be apart of the place for a while.

Family pictures, from the "bottle opener"

2009-01-08T05:30:00.001-08:00

Picies Jan 2009

2009-01-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

Charter 08

2009-01-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the full text of "Charter 08", releases in late December 2008 )only a week or so ago) by a group of intellectuals, artists, managers and technocrats. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22210

It's forward's slant on history is interesting (as much as they would not like to say it, the Communist party were the most liberal and democratic option in China in the 1930's. Their Japanese and Chinese opponents were fascists), and worth a read. As it is picked up in the western press it will be interesting to compare the actual demands and compare them to how they are framed in the western media.

I have been able to dig up, so far, only one comment on it in the Washington Post. It focuses on "human rights", playing up the statements about "free speech" and "democratic elections". The Washington Post comment is brief, but it continues in the long tradition of 'triumphant' reportage of the cold war, ie "They want to be like us", once again western cultural values triumph.

The document itself is actually quite different to the way it was framed in the Post.

Charter 08 acknowledges, most mainstream western reporters do not, that China has made strides towards human rights, "In 1998 the Chinese government signed two important international human rights conventions; in 2004 it amended its constitution to include the phrase "respect and protect human rights"; and this year, 2008, it has promised to promote a "national human rights action plan."" It correctly acknowledges after this though, that the problem is not the laws in China (there is a tacit acknowledgment some of the laws are good), but lawlessness. Corruption is seen as the cause of this. In fact, there is much more written about corruption in the charter than western notions of human rights. When human rights are mentioned, they are not defined in any great detail.

There is a great deal in the Charter about the rule of law, and the seperation between state and the judicial system. It's no secret that there has been an official (though more modest) discourse to the same end. In that sense the Charter is in many ways just a more radical rehash of Beijing government discussion on the subject of law and order.

"Freedom" is called for in section 3 on more than 4 occasions. In the case of assembly is says,"The constitution provides that peaceful assembly, demonstration, protest, and freedom of expression are fundamental rights of a citizen..." Again, it is calling for a respect of a right already enshrined in the consititution. When it discusses freedom of religion, it acknowledges groups are already allowed to register, but goes one step further and demands a voluntary registration process.

Interestingly point 16 calls for, "Social Security. We should establish a fair and adequate social security system that covers all citizens and ensures basic access to education, health care, retirement security, and employment." This was not even mentioned in the Post article, and is a key component in the document. It's actually a harkening back to a time when these were available under the early Communists. This is actually a clear reaction against western neo-liberal models.

There's also not a lot for farmers, who face far more fundimental problems than "freedom of assembly". The real divide between the experience and needs of those in the city and those in the country, is clear hear as much from what is written as remains unwritten.

What I find fascinating, and this makes me wonder who the audience for this document really is, is the avoidance of the word "socialism" and "communism" as a solution, and the repetition of the much safer and palitable (to western minds) word "democracy". The Charter calls for oversight of the beuaraccy by the people through election, election of the ruling party, and other oversights to ensure the government is accountable. The authors, having grown up in China where they learn about Marxism, will know better than most westerners, that this is a tenant of real Communism. Communism contends that it is the ultimate form of democracy, to the point that as it evolves the need for a state sector to administer us will wither away because ultimate democracy needs no masters.

Charter 08 is more "communist" (but not completely, it is full of its own interesting contradictions) than it appears, but a triumphant and ignorant main stream western pres won't even begin to comprehend the ironies. It also will miss the frustration with neo-liberalism buried there.

Late 2008 sketches and Christmas

2008-12-27T20:46:00.001-08:00

We had an early Christmas. On the 24th, in the study so Lyam cant destroy the tree piece by piece, we let him unwrap his first Christmas presents. He was so enraptured with the lego he threw his book behind him because it was unwanted distraction from the lego. He got a scarf, but he wanted us to give it to the baby. It was all lego lego lego for him. He has good taste.

We just had out first small trip away as a four unit family, a dash to Wuxi (only an hour away from Shanghai). Wuxi isn’t very noteworthy as a tourist destination, but it is close to lake Tai. I’ve been told it’s “ok”, so we knew it might not be so special before we went. They were right- it is nice, but not worth putting up with Wuxi, a big sprawling “Shanghai wanna=be” that I’m sure will one day be something, but right now it’s just rough and raw and growing painfully into the sky.

We chose to stay in the “Ibis” hotel outlet in Wuxi, reasoning that the Ibis is good (and well priced) so we didn’t have the stress of lugging two kids and luggage around to hotels in a city we hadn’t been to before. The hotel itself didn’t disappoint (aside from the having the heat up way to high, we called it a “sautel”), but it wasn’t really close to anything. Wuxi is spread out into three zones (well, appeared that way to the untrained eye)- the “high tech industrial” type zone, the “downtown” and then the touristy lake area. We were close to the lake, but it was 20 minute cab to get around to the bit “everyone goes to”. It was also another 20 minutes to the “downtown”, which of course had a lot of shopping, but not much else.

Our train arrived midmorning, and we went to the hotel to rest. Lyam chose that time, when we really wanted to have a nap or watch TV to have a temper tantrum that was so bad I lost my cool, grabbed him quote roughly, and dragged him screaming out of the hotel. Same old story- he was tired, and he gets into a foul mood if he’s over tired. We walked away from the hotel, and in about 10 minutes he was asleep on my shoulder. While he was asleep I went to an apartment showroom and looked in a new flat- beautifully designed, and about a quarter of the price of something of the same kind you would find in Shanghai.

We wandered around the down town that night in bitterly cold, lost tin the usual branded monotony of a Chinese shopping district. We were directed by our taxi driver to the Wuxi ‘wlaking street’- about 100 metres long, again the same old same old brand names and eating places.

the damage Lyam did on the floor of "thank god its fridays"

I almost forgot, like I have the last few years, it was Christmas. Starving, we walked past a hotel that had a “Thank God its Fridays” restaurent (American food menu) downstairs, and decided since it was Christmas night, that might be a good choice for dinner. Lyam proceeded to trash the table, ripping apart the sugar satchels, throwing the peper and slat shaker on the floor, and trying to squeeze the tomato sauce all over the table. He was an adorable whirlwind. He had the best time there (later in the shopping mall he was so syped up on shugar he ran around clothers stores and started jumping and saying hi to people). The food was the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to consume, and for the princely sum of over 300rmb for the pain. Oversized poisonous slop.

We spent the rest of Christmas night window shopping and later in our hotel watching German and Japanese TV (which for some reason, along with French TV, were the only foreign channels).

Next day we headed out to lake Tai. Again, it was bitterly cold. The wind off the water made it’s away around my clothing and chilled me pretty quickly. Vy slept through it, snuggly wrapped up into a little bundle of blankets. Lyam ran around spotting boats and running with Jen, and they warmed up pretty quickly.

They’ve done a nice job of keeping the city away from most of the lake. Even though Wuxi is a grey messy skyline, you feel like you are well away from the smokestacks and towers. The air even smelt crisp and fresh. A couple of old Chinese junks ferried tourists around, and as part of your ticket price you could take a ferry ride around some of the water front.

We stopped for lunch in a Buddhist temple and had a beautiful vegetarian lunch, and Lyam fell in love with a bird and asked for the first time for me to take a picture for him (Camera! Camera!). One of those moments. If you do have to be in Wuxi, the lake it well worth the taxi ride (despite the crazy 100rmb entry fee).

We had Japanese noodles and meat that night, and did some more shopping (there’s really not much else that I could see to do in Wuxi, except KTV of course). Lyam was good, but Vy was unsettled and cried so much we decided to bundle the kids into a cab and head back to the hotel.

Wuxi people are really friendly. Every cab driver and person we bumped into were really nice, and we had help with the pram whenever we needed it.

Next morning we got on the magnificent new fast train for another restful hour back to Shanghai. We took the kids home, showered and washed them (Vy stank like vomit, and Lyam smelled a lot like a stray dog), and then went back into town to let Lyam stay with Eryi for the night, leaving us free to wander around and look at shops on sale, and go to Mocca, which never dispoints. Right now they have another great collection of Chinese work that’s well worth the trip out to see. Really interesting work in a variety of media (I still don’t get video art work, but if that’s your thing there’s some of that to).

We were looking for Sichuan food, but setlled on a middle eastern restaurent near Fuzhou lu that specialises in Indian and Iranian food. Brilliant rich tasty food, but Vy chose that time (before and after she was happy) to cry for no apparent reason, and fill the restaurent with her cute little sobs.

Vy is looking really cute. The red patches on her face have faded, and her eyes are clear and always probing the environment. She spends an hour or two each day cooing and looking around, and she’s feeling more and more like a member of the family.

eryi's daughter

When Eryi came home with Lyam this morning she said that the first thing Lyam asked when he woke up was “Baby? Baby?” and when he did come home, he said “Hey” to me, but then came in and kissed Vy three times before finding Jen. Very very sweet.

Images below from another great Mocha exhibition.

Merry Christmas everyone

2008-12-24T04:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone :) We just had a quick early Christmas tonight because we are going away in the morning. Ive had trouble with Youtube, so I will try and post a video directly to the blog when we get back.

We must sometimes say "no"

2008-12-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we really have to say "no" to people in authority. This expereiment, redone recently, should be a reminder to us all. Constantly question, and say no when its right to say no.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BI59I20081219?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=69

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some things never change. Scientists said on Friday they had replicated an experiment in which people obediently delivered painful shocks to others if encouraged to do so by authority figures.

Seventy percent of volunteers continued to administer electrical shocks -- or at least they believed they were doing so -- even after an actor claimed they were painful, Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University in California found.

"What we found is validation of the same argument -- if you put people into certain situations, they will act in surprising, and maybe often even disturbing, ways," Burger said in a telephone interview. "This research is still relevant."

Burger was replicating an experiment published in 1961 by Yale University professor Stanley Milgram, in which volunteers were asked to deliver electric "shocks" to other people if they answered certain questions incorrectly.

Milgram found that, after hearing an actor cry out in pain at 150 volts, 82.5 percent of participants continued administering shocks, most to the maximum 450 volts...

China looking inward + girls and boys + yoko ono

2008-12-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

Interesting article about Wenzhou, a big manufacturing centre. What's very interesting about articles, and many about China, is this repatition of the theme of "The Communist Party's ability to manage the economy is in exchange for the people tolerating it in power". Democracies are based on this also if a government fails to deliver, as Bush did, it is turfed out of office. The real difference here is that failure could mean heightened unrest, but the Communist party are subject to the same pressures any other government are, yet western media seems to imply some sort of "deal" that's unique to the Chinese political system. They also miss the stories coming out of China about the changing structure of the system- more accountability, the domination of experts in various fields, and the increasing use of polls and consultation to better inform decision making.

The silver lining for China in the current financial crisis is a need for manufacturers to redirect their trade inward. China relies far too much on exports, which weakens its independance, and robs the domestic economy of resources to further elevate the standard of living of those inland. If the Chinese governments bailout is used well, inland, and manufacturing does start flowing inward, this "crsis" could be a very good thing for China in the long term.

I have emailed out to my colleagues a list of books on China that I recorded based on books I've read that are useful in understanding China, and some books I still havent read but have been recommended.

History/non fiction:
"Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village", by William Hinton and Fred Magdoff
"The East is Red", Edgar Snow
"Mao: A Reinterpretation", by Lee Feigon
"China Modernizes: Threat to the West or Model for the Rest?", Randall Peerenboom
"The Importance Of Living", Lin Yutang
"What do the Chinese really think?", Mark Leonard
"China's Cultural Revolution As History (Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center)", Joseph W. Esherick
"The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation (Classics of Ancient China)", Roger T. Ames

Novels:

"To live", Yu Hua
"Blood merchant", Yu Hua
"A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers", by Xiaolu Guo
"I Love Dollars: And Other Stories of China", Zhu Wen
"Shanghai Baby", Zhou Wei Hui
"The Girl Who Played Go", Novel by Shan Sa
"Empress", Shan Sa
"The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices", Xinran Xue
"Diary of a Madman and Other Stories", Lu Xun
"War trash" Ha Jin
"Candy" Mian Mian

We saw Yoko Ono's exhibit in Shanghai yesterday, and I would have to say it was the most utterly disapointing thing I've ever seen in my life. I don't even need to exagerate it- you walk into the warehouse its in, past some coffins with trees coming out of them, and enter a large space (pictured above) with a half dozen photos of nipple and virginas, and that's it. There was then a space where people could write inane messages on tags and then attached them to broken objects, or watch a video of Yoko going on about a light tower that brings "love and peace and universal energy" to the world. We also got free virgina and nipple badges (just what we'd always wanted).

To add insult to injury (this cost us 30rmb each), there was a wall at the back with all the big corporate sponsors who, I assume, flew her over first class and paid for the champaigne and hotels and rental of the space.

It's the ultimate in branding, when art becomes nothing more than a name, an endorsement of an ego. Every dollar spent could have been much better spent on up and coming artists, who find it impossible to get a space to show stuff because people like her dominate the scene.

On a lighter note, nice piece here by a Chinese writer I really like called Zhu Wen, one of the writers in the list above.

Vy is very different from Lyam. She loves to be cuddled, and demands it a lot more than Lyam, but is very sensitive to little changes and cries at the drop of a hat. I wonder if it's a difference between boys and girls? Most of my pictures of her are blurry to, not sure why that is. Here are some decent ones.

Brown leaves

2008-12-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

lyam was so excited to get these red sheets he danced around all night

We are lucky enough, if all goes well, to be able to get to an exhibition by Yoko Ono on the weekend at http://www.kecenter.org/en/aboutus.html. I am really curious about seeing some of her work close up. I've only ever seen images and read articles, so it will be nice to get close to it and form my own impressions. http://www.a-i-u.net/ I fear though that what I will be seeing will be yet another "brand", as some of this "high end" kind of art can be regarded.

happy faces, our first day in two weeks away from both kids, just about to go into gallery

Anthony and I have been plodding along with work leading up to our next show, that I think will happen after (Chinese) new year. It will be in a dark "dive" (as it has been described to me) bar. We have a funny and cheap way to address the lack of good strong light. We discussed getting good strong light put in for the night, but i think we have settled for using our disadvantage as our strength (in true Chinese style).

"3 of 4" and "4 of 4" :) Star Trek Voyager fans will know the reference

Vy has started to look very "cue" (Lyam's word for "cute"). She is awake a little more, and likes to try and stare at what ever is going on. She responds, for better and for worse, very strongly to Lyam's shrieks of laughter and his crying.

i think the best shot of Vy so far

Jen is probably around half way through her very generous Chinese maternity leave (4 months paid!), and while she isn't the type of person to stay home too much, she's got used to a new routine. It's nice for me being able to see her more often (no more meeting nights when she's late home). What happened to the father in all this though? Where's our paternity leave? I hope by the time Lyam is a dad he at least gets a few weeks off.

Shanghai has changed in a flush of reds and browns, into winter. It's got down to around 5-10 degrees. Crisp and clean, and each evening we get really clear sights of the moon with the naked eye. Jogging is tough (my motivation falls with the temperature), but its nice to crunch on autumn leaves and wrap a scarf around your neck. Shanghai is beautiful at this time.

Images

2008-12-09T02:29:00.000-08:00

Pictures

2008-12-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Landscaping that landscapes people out

2008-11-29T00:37:00.001-08:00

Jen and Lyam in a restaurent today at lunch time after his "music video" filming. This was a series of shots taken of him on camera looking at flowers, running, and being cute. It wlll be put together with music and made into a promo video for them to market. He's got a smal part on a Shanghai kids show, and in a couple of weeks they want to hag out with Lyam so they can write a small story line that he could do actions and "act" through in a playful way. Sounds funny. I dont need to add he loves the camera, he was hilarious till he got tired and then started turning away form the camera and saying "No, no."

Happy after yummy Dim sum lunch.

The above just seems dumb. This space was in need of an overhaul, but the old concrete tables and chairs (which were used by staff and some students in summer) have now gone, and not only that, we have been landscaped out. This whole piece of garden has been designed so that people can't even walk on it. Is it supposed to look pretty for parents? What about the people who live and work here?

The shot above is of some of the (better) new landscaping at school. On the left, there used to bushes amd a hedge that took up most of what now is lawn. It meant that kids didnt have much space to sit on or use inbetween classes for a break. Now there's a lot more room, and even some chairs there.

Lyam and I on the site of the building that JG Ballard used to live in. The building was demolished a few weeks ago, to make way for an indoor swimming pool. Price of progress.

Some shots we took of Vy for her passport. She is starting to get wingier now, but at least still sleeps 3-4 hours at a time when shes finished wimpering. Lyam is still a bit over enthusiastic with her sometimes, but he is learning he has to be gentl. It's really cue when he kisses her. Lyam knows how to use the word "cute" now and he saw me asleep yesterday on the lounge and said "Cute cute".

Picies of Vy

2008-11-26T03:22:00.001-08:00

Some picies of Vy, and one of Lyam on our new bed. This entry is supposed to be all about Vy, but in curious new little Lyam has been signed by an agency, and might be in a TV show later in the year.

Norway + Screamergency + Scuplture garden

2008-11-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

So far, and its only Saturday night, we've had a very up and down weekend. It' been brilliant and also a marathon.

Friday night was brilliant, we went again to Bandu and saw a touring group from Norway (guitar, sax, and vocals) who played improvised pieces based around poetry by a well known Norwegian writer. We left the kids with Eryi and headed out with "uncle snack" and auntie "keykey" who also really enjoyed it (nausiating stop-start taxi ride aside). The music was fresh, experimental and a real treat. It's hard to say who stood out more, but I was impressed by the sax players ability to use his instrument so percusivly, and to get almost electronic sounds out of it.

No photos though, Bandu has a strict no photos policy now. The first image is from their website, a cover from one of the albums the Bandu label recorded.

the cafe we ended up in today

jen in the cafe

our eryi with Vy, she's brilliant with both of the kids

We got home at around 10-10.30 and Lyam had just woken up (Vy, as usual, was sound sleep). We played Lyam his "Wall E" dvd, which he watches every day, and at about midnight he still wasnt asleep. He wanted milk, but he was so tired and cranky he wouldnt drink, which made him hungrier, angrier, and so it went on. He started screaming, and didn't get to sleep solidly till close to 2am! What a night- from high to low in one evening.

We were called during the week with an invitation to audition Lyam with another agency, and with only the address, we headed out this morning. We ended up at a place called "Red Town", a new art area very close to Xujiahui shopping area (maybe 15 minutes by cab). We passed through the gate into the compound of old wharehouses and new buildings, and discovered it is all built around a big outdoor sculpture garden, with a wide range of big beautiful pieces that they allow kids to clamber all over. The audition only took 10 minutes (someone whipped out a video camera and interacted with him, and he did all his cute things like blowing kisses and saying "ni hao" like a cantonese person etc etc), and we ended up in an a cafe having a very very long brunch and watchign Lyam run around in great happiness with a Malaysian-Japanese girl who acted like she'd known him her whole short 5 year life.

The sculptures were great, and the area has a couple of good art book stores, offices, galleries and a whole lot of other stuff. We looked at sculpture today, but intend heading back to explore the galleries over the next couple of weeks. Wonderful spot, and Lyam was an angel!

Now it's 8pm, and Lyam us alseep but we nervously waite to see if he wakes up and we have another screamergency tonight. And then there is the issue of handling the other one while the screaming is blasting out of the other. I hope the emergencies continue to be rare. Being a parent is the best thing thats happened to us, but you just have those nights on occasion, the nights where tears get out of hand.

** By the way , images on the blog seem a little small, but just click on them to get the full size version

Couple of interesting stories;
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/20/solar-vertical-blinds-lamp/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/fujifilms-3d-camera-gets-the-hands-on-treatment/ about 3D camera coming out next year
Great article on world financial crisis http://21stcenturysocialism.com/article/the_return_of_the_prophet_01780.html

Moving pictures

2008-11-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

Some motion pictures from the last 2 days, a nice shot in the end of Lyam lunging in friendship at the baby. The biggest threat to Vy right now is Lyam's enthusiasm.

Incidently, we bought a new bed and a soft bedroll to roll over our mattress. It's the best Ive slept in 8 years, fantastic. I even think its more comfy than the mattress I had in Sydney. Sweet sleep!

More picies

2008-11-15T23:34:00.001-08:00

Beds and names

2008-11-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry, bit fuzzy, but close up shot

The best I can come up with on the meaning of the name Vy (a Vietnamese name) is "small", which suits her to a 't' given how little she is. Apparantly it can also be spelled with an 'i' as well.

Rather than go out and buy more (and no doubt useless) baby stuff, we bought ourselves a new bed last night. No more old squeeky bed base. Vy loves to be cuddled, and she'll probably end up sleeping with us for a while anyway. We have a travel crib we spent a lot of money on last time that Lyam slept in twice maybe (he needs to be "free") that we got out for Vy. She doesn't mind it, but today while Vy was sleeping on the bed, Lyam put his favourite pillow in there, and climbed in to have his milk (photo below). First sign of need for more attention? So far he's been ok, so I'm not sure if this means anything. We are looking for changes, and when you look for change you always find it.

Her cry is so soft, last night I slept right through. Auntie Sue emailed me and said that Uncle Will (Grandfather on mums side) believed you only know real love when you have kids. I think he's right. They are special little things.

Australian and Chinese God parents of Vy, Nikki and Ray

Change

2008-11-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

I just bumped into this interesting article before I head off to bed tonight (our first night as a family of four). I'm not so much bothered by air quality- while Shanghai's air is pretty grubby, I haven't been much sicker here than I would was in Sydney- but the constant modernisation does sometimes get me down. It's exciting in its creative destructive energy, but also seems to diminish the soul of some cities.

"Beijing dangerous, by Verna Yu

BEIJING - With China’s opening up, more and more Westerners have come to work and live in Beijing. Many cherish the chance to witness its dramatic modernization, yet others have mixed feelings about a city which suffers from rising traffic deaths, where the air is often thick with pollution, and where they and their children are exposed to the nation's often questionable food safety standards...(more at "atimes")"

Vy Jennifer Wong Baines

2008-11-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

9.15am arrival (Nov. 9th) after contractions starting at 2am.

Tomato sauce

2008-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Lyam

2008-11-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

"Everything thats solid melts into air"

2008-11-04T03:12:00.000-08:00

"Everything that's solid melts into air",a quote from karl Marx and the title of the book by Marshall I'm still picking through, seems so apt for me, for us, at the moment. Aroudn 200 metres from us was the old red brick building that was built in the 1920's, has now been plowed over. Workers are recycling the bricks, and pulling up plumbing under night lights. It was the building that was used as family accommodation when this place was an internment camp, and the building that JG Ballard lived in. And now it's gone. In front of our building a garden orgionaly designed in the 1930's, is now also under the knife- all dug up in mounds of mud, and most plants removed (except the trees, that merficuly they haven't been moved).

Shanghai, and all of China, melts into air. It's like living in a world in fast forward, and while it's exciting (possibilities are endless; there is a tremendous beautiful and ugly creative destruction all around you, from which anything can emerge), it's disorienting. You are twisted around and thrown about mentally in all the building, all the cranes.

A new elevated highway is now shedding its skin and getting ready to emerge above the end of the school. Soon we will buried in concrete.

We went to bienalle today and the theme touched on this- it was about travel and relocation and urban change. It caught that transitory feeling, that vertigo that you can get in China, where everything melt as you understand it.

We've been enjoying our pottery class on the weekends. Glazing, for me, is the best part of it. I had a go last weekend, and it was a lot like painting. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like after firing.

Less than two weeks till our second little one is here. Can't waite, and can't waite to see how she'll get along with Lyam.

Chomsky

2008-10-27T05:18:00.002-07:00

He still says it like it is. Inspiring guy:
http://122.9.59.243:9203/5396506D38F2538C5F18E7B7FB5349FABC1844D3/downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/interview/interview_20081024-2332c.mp3

Some picies

2008-10-23T03:55:00.000-07:00

Given my recent accidental delete of the old blog, I thought Id post up some picies tonight, before I go to sleep at perhaps and all time record 7.30pm. Hope Lyam sleeps better tonight.

I took a brick from the building JG Ballard lived in, it's finally being torn down. Makes me depressed to see it coming down. As Marx said, "All that's solid melts into air."

Sorry- new blog

2008-10-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

To my great horror, I realised I deleted the old blog today by mistake! This is version 2. The videos on here can still be found on Youtube. Sorry, I literally clicked a button when i was doing three things at once, and it was gone :s

Authoritarianism

2008-10-22T00:54:00.001-07:00

"1 : of, relating to, or favoring blind submission to authority 2 : of, relating to, or favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not constitutionally responsible to the people "
http://mw1.m-w.com/dictionary/authoritarian

Both in Australia and China, I have had the misfortune to work in several very authoritarian workplaces. Ironicly the only one that wasn't that way was a small language school run by an old Liberal ("Liberal" in Australia is a person from a party on the right, who are decidely un-liberal). In all cases I'm struck by the waste and fragility of these systems. I'm also frustrated by how they institutonalise a kind of "infantilism" that retards the progress of the organisation, and those in it.

The definition above is more commonly applied to the usual political suspects. There's quite a body of literature though on how this relates to the construction of workplaces. While many people live in "socialist" or "democratic" countries, most of their experience is actually going 9-5 into an authoritarian system where they are the 'hired hand'.

While a boss decides the direction of an organisation, that organisation is weak. It's fragile, ready to break into a million pieces when the pieces of one persons jigsaw just don't fit together. The greater shame is when they do come together- then the leader is called "visionary" and worthy of the mantel. No system is perfect, and leaving key decisions to one person, or a very small group, is inviting trouble.

Schools, and most other large institutions, have workforces that are capable of making great contributions to their workplace. But in these authoritarian systems, only ideas that fit into the plan or "mission" of the boss/s, are picked up. There is the odd occasion when a maveric idea does filter through, and this is always held up as proof that the "system is open to good ideas", but its the exception, not the rule. Authoritarian systems thus allow most of the brains of the organisation to atrophy.

We then all become infantalised. We follow the leader, and bitch and gripe behind the bosses back, because that's all we really have. A society of adults with ideas and diverse experiences that should be allowed to flower and compete are boxed up, shelved.

It continues to amaze me that are all caught up in these systems, but they are powerful systems, and it's like moving mountains to change them, but we must change them.