Chinese Cab Drivers

Random facts to keep me in my seat and working:

* Cab drivers in Beijing make 2000-3000RMB per month

* Cab drivers take 15 days off a month

* Two cab drivers alternate between 24 hour-long shifts

A new demo track

I made a new demo track with my guitar and trusty drum machine around a month ago. The plan was to spend a few more days to mix it properly and maybe do a few re-recordings here and there to polish it up, but it's looking less and less likely that will happen in the near future. So here it is until I get around to that.

Click Here

For those who are interested, the track was created using the Line6 Riffworks software and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. It took me two days: 6+ hours on day one to do the recording and 6+ hours on day two to do the mixing. So yeah, that explains why it needs work.

Pics from Olympic Events

USA vs. France


Japan vs. Korea


Yao and Lebron

Beijing Olympics 2008

So the 2008 Olympics are finally at an end. A cool US$45billion spent on the event, worth it?


A quarter of the budget was spent on the Birds Nest, Water cube, Airport, Olympic village and other venues. The rest of the budget on upgrading city infrastructure such as communication, transportation, support, and technology. Many of which I presume would happen sooner or later and sped up due to the event.

I'm under the impression the money was well spent. It was an extravagant party for sure, but sometimes it's necessary to flaunt and celebrate when you can afford it :D
Aside from minor misdemaneours like Tibet and the pre-recording of the Opening Ceremony girl singing (how is that a problem?) China showed the world how far they've come and what they are capable of. The entire event was like an excuse to host a lavish party and mingle with the world. And any president with a little bit of brains was smart enough to make attendance.
Throughout the process, China grew and its people received plenty of international exposure and respect in return. You can't buy some of those things with money.


Now ain't I glad to have moved here at the right time to enjoy this upgrade.

The Hong Kong MTR (subway station) is by far the best subway network I've come across in my travels. It's clean, safe, uniform, and incredibly well maintained over the years. They demonstrate how a subway operation should be run.

We don't realize what cards we've been dealt until you look outside.

+++ Hotel Costes vol.11 +++

Beardyman

I actually wanted to talk about the insane Beijing Olympics opening ceremony...but maybe in my next post. Below is probably the smartest human beatbox I've seen.

The Wave of Downloadable Console Games..

PixelJunk: Eden, one of the few online download-able games at the PlayStation PS3 store, makes me feel like I should still be in games. I'm not going to bother explaining how the game works because it's not going to make sense, but it's definitely worth the 12USD when you're hanging out on the couch with two other buddies (3 Player Co-op!!!).

As a 'casual gamer' & developer, I feel like this is where the small guys can make big waves. Other interesting titles include 'flOw' and 'Everyday Shooter' (or 'Braid' on Xbox Live Arcade). I still swear by Harmotion along with these gems.

Inline with the Beijing Olympics ceremony today, here is a short BBC feature by the masterminds of Gorillaz (Damon Alburn & Jamie Hewlett).

Janelle Monae

If you're looking for something new to listen to...

Janelle sounds like a female Gnarls Barkley

The Chinese Internet Gold Mine

I hate writing business plans. Writing a business plan is equivalent to having a proper technical design document of an entire software project scoped out. You need to spell out the entire venture and chances are that in execution nothing will go as planned.

So while I plough through my own business plan, I thought I'd share some of my research about the Chinese internet:

- As of June 2008, China has the most netizens in the world. This is around 18% of 1.3billion people compared to second place; the United States has 223.1M netizens which is around 71% penetration.

- Research firm BDA China Ltd. estimates that China’s online population will keep growing by 18 percent annually - a modest estimation, considering that this growth was 56% this year - and reach 490 million by 2012.

- According to a report by professors at HKUST, they expect the Chinese economy to surpass that of the U.S in purchasing power terms between 2012 and 2015; by 2025, China is likely the world’s largest economic power by any measure.

- Survey of 16-25 year olds:
I live some of my life online: CN 86%, US 42%
Online is as real as offline: CN 37%, US 16%
I have a parallel life online: CN 61%, US 13%
The Internet helps me make friends: CN 77%, US 30%

Sorry, I hate sourcing, but i'll send them to you if you ask. Now back to my business plan...

2008 Beijing Olympics Mascot

In a move towards getting my blog banned in China (where it already does every once so often), I'm going to hate on the olympic mascot today. Well, I'm open to comments (especially if you can change my mind about them), but my honest opinion is that they are ugly. Period.

I like the Olympics logo, but the mascot just doesn't quite cut it. It's as if they had hired me to be their character artist. And even so, I would have been smart enough to outsource it to someone who can do a better job. Characters like those can only bubble up the chain when people either don't care, have bad taste, or are corrupt.

Macau

I was in Macau with my family last week. We went to see team USA basketball take Turkey apart at the Venetian.

From January through November 2006, Macau casinos took in $6.485 billion from slots and table games, beating the Vegas' $6.079 billion, according to Macau's Statistics and Census Service and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Although I still have my doubts about truth of those numbers, its surprising to know that gambling revenue of Macau has already surpassed that of Las Vegas. That automatically makes Macau the ultimate future destination of sin.

Designed some new Business Cards

I designed some new business cards for a project I've been working on lately. To tell you the truth, I'm not totally sure about them myself...the reasoning being that nearly everybodys business card is so pathetic looking around here, I would feel like I'm making too flashy a statement with mine.

But then again, if it were my company (and it is), the last thing I want is crappy looking business cards.
I suppose the project I'm working on is obvious enough?

Score

Its been getting hot here in Beijing. Thankfully this weekend was a hit with the adventures. I spent Saturday at a champagne pool party getting pissed under the sun. It was everything you'd imagine at a hipster LA pool party without the pretentious swingers. Great people, venue, music, and drinks. Now only if the summer can last longer...

My Product Blogs

While I'm still on the topic of blogs, I figured it'd be a good time to introduce my two product blogs:

www.ModernPeacock.com - a blog about everything sneakers and hoodies

www.alittlehigh.com - a blog about all those toys you wanted but didn't know where to buy
Don't ask me what/why the hell I built them because I don't totally know yet. They're currently lab rats for me to experiment with web analytics, SEO, and the such. So far, they've already taught me a few things about how the internet works...specifically, search engines and web marketing. I really dig the idea of websites evolving within a virtual vacuum.

If you can guess which blog has more hits and provide a legit enough reason I'll buy you a beer next time.

Indie Music Beijing

I went to see my first show at 愚公移山 last weekend. Beijing indie rock bands CarSickCars, The Molds, and Ourself Beside Me were on display.

The venue reminded me of live music shows in Seattle. It was great, it felt like I had discovered a part of home here. The bands weren't the best, but the live music scene here is nothing short of awesome. The venue itself is also proper and they've installed well tuned (expensive) lighting and sound systems.

Expect to see me at 愚公移山 every so often.

My Cat Blog

According to Seth Godin I have a cat blog.

Cat Blogs are blogs for and by and about the person blogging. All sorts of posts about you and your cat, what you did today, how you feel, what you ate. You get the picture.

Cat blogs are cool because they don't have agendas (in comparison to viral blogs). But ultimately they don't ever get much or any traffic because they aren't focused per a specific audience. I have a few friends who write awesome viral blogs and I've considered starting one myself, but at the end of the day I just find it way too much like work to do one of those. Guy Kawasaki's blog is a fine example of a viral blog turning sour.

Is this Art?

I think desktop screenshots can make great artpieces.

They reveal such a specific time and place in history. The colors, the operating system, the personality...

~~~ Space Raiders - Beautiful Crazy ~~~
~~~ Gym Class Heroes - Everydays Forecast ~~~

Does anybody want to start a desktop screenshot revolution with me?

And you thought I was kidding...

So I finally got to straining my own yogurt and purchasing a useless ice-cream machine to make my own frozen yogurt (ended up manually mix it by hand). The results were incredibly wonderful I must say.

Well, except I nearly cut off a finger trying to cut the peaches.

~~~ the Verve - Love is Noise ~~~

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

It's not a silly little moment, it's not the storm before the calm.
This is the deep and dying breath of this love that we've been working on.

Can't seem to hold you like I want to so I can feel you in my arms.
Nobody's gonna come and save you, we pulled too many false alarms.

We're going down, and you can see it too.
We're going down, and you know that we're doomed.
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room.

I was the one you always dreamed of, you were the one I tried to draw.
How dare you say it's nothing to me? baby, you're the only light I ever saw.

I'll make the most of all the sadness, you'll be a bitch because you can.
You try to hit me just to hurt me so you leave me feeling dirty because you can't understand.

We're going down, and you can see it too.
We're going down, and you know that we're doomed.
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room.

Don't you think we oughta know by now? Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we oughta know by now? Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?

comments verify the truth

School

Back in college, Ahm and I had this smart-ass/rebel fantasy about how an exam should be taken. It was something along the lines of casually strolling into the auditorium filled with hundreds of sleep deprived students, each of them furiously scribbling away at their papers. You would stroll in 20mins late and ask the examiner for an empty seat, an extra copy of the test, and also borrow a pen/pencil to complete it with.

It didn't matter whether you scored the highest or not, what mattered was that you passed the class and were out of the building before anybody even noticed.

On another note, I miss my baby Taylor :(

Ratatat - LP3

Wow. They got better.

Please Vote for Me

I saw this documentary on TV one late night last year. I thought it was some pretty interesting stuff (its why I think Asians are crazy). You can find the entire thing on Youtube, the above video is just part 1 of 5.

Am I really in it for the $$$

I've been confronted with an interesting dilemma lately...

Would I work on a project I have the slightest interest in?

I've been put in this situation lately...well, specificly a project related to gays and lesbians. Its not new news I barely have any interest in such topic, but assuming it would be a profitable venture, I'm wondering whether I would still go for it.

I think my answer to such question would reveal a lot about me and where I will be in the future. And honestly, I think the final answer is 'no' at this point. I understand that a business is a business (meaning it doesn't frigging matter if its profitable), but I'm not sure I'm capitalistic beyond my own principles.

I suppose there are many angles to look at a scenario like this. It's a business and it allows me to treat it like one. And the other side of the argument then being, how is my life any better than working the desk job. Life is too short to being doing something you're not interested in.