One-Eyed Panda’s Journal

Celebrated seven years living in China (all in Shanghai) on Saturday. There are good days and bad days but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

J.

P.S. Listening to The Mountain Goats right now at my desk. Their music just fits where I am in my life right now. Check them out.

I’ve never really thought much about Peter Gzowski. I’m a bit too young for the voice of Canadian morning radio for 30 years. I only knew him as the author of numerous copies of The Morning Side Paper which sat on my uncle’s shelf in London. And those were books I thought “too adult” (IE boring) to read – and I read everything even as a kid.

The only time I ever remember listening to him was on a car trip with my Dad up to Ottawa when I was 17 and going to tour the university where I would eventually do my undergrad degree. I don’t really remember having an opinion on him at all. I just remember turning on the radio and wanting to listen to him because I thought that’s what journalists did and I wanted to be a journalist.

After reading Robert Fulford’s review of a new Gzowksi biography I realize that I missed out on a great personality and like that two-volume biography of Pierre Elliot Trudeau that sits in my box of books unread — somebody I’m going to have to learn about through the printed page.

And that’s sad. I can’t really blame myself for not knowing these things at the time. I was 18 when Gzowski retired from Morning Side and I’ve become a devoted follower of its unfortunate Sunday morning-only successor, The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright, but I still feel a lot like I should have been aware that there was a great voice just a little bit farther up the dial and maybe I should have turned away from the alternative rock station for a few hours each day to enjoy it.

I’ve taken the Trudeau book out of the box now and placed it in my pile as my next book to read. I may have to appreciate Trudeau through the page but at least I can. I’ll be sure to grab the bio of Gzowski when I’m back home in October too.

J.

I just watched the fourth episode of the fourth season of Mad Men. That show keeps getting better episode by episode. It left the idea of representing the cool early 1960s a long time ago and it’s now become a stronger character drama.

A dark character drama. There is a sense of gloom over everything in that show. Even the happiest moments you can tell the characters are just wanting and desiring something more – I don’t know if that’s some intentionally irony that the writers added into the show or if it’s supposedly a long-term effect of working in advertising (I left the industry after a three-year stint) but it creates a great show.

Looking forward to the next episode.

J.

I haven’t posted in awhile and it’s because I’m struggling where to take this blog. I haven’t updated in a while because I don’t have much to say. It’s not that there hasn’t been a lot going on there has been but I’m not sure if it’s worthy to be posted here.

I’m going to debate what do with this space for one more week and then I’ll post my answer.

Stay tuned.

J.

I’ve been really lazy today. I should be more active but all I can be bothered to do is watch season 1 of Fox’s Fringe and listen to CBC’s Wiretap.

J.

Yesterday I decided to brave the rain and head out to the 33rd edition of NoiShanghai. It’s a little minifestival put on infrequently by the band Torturing Nurse. Yesterday’s edition was out at Live Bar in Yangpu.

It was quite a trip to get out there -about an hour by subway on lines 1 and 4 – but well worth it. Stepping off a really silent Kunming Lu (and this is with Live Bar being next to an auto shop) it was like I was enveloped by a wall of sound which really reminded me I was in Shanghai – usually my long subway ride would have done this but as it was pissing down rain, most people stayed home and the subway was fairly empty for a Saturday.

The poster for NoiShanghai XXXIII

Due to the weather the crowd was quite small. There were obviously some people who were there for the music and others who had dropped by just to see why Live Bar was open on a Saturday afternoon. Most of the people looked to be Chinese and Foreign students who go to schools in the area.

Unfortunately if you were into the pure wall of noise that was being created there wasn’t much to hold you there. The format was very similar to the last RESO night with Horacio Pollard playing stuff off his laptop that just blew your mind but there was nothing there for your eyes. He was just leaning over his laptop at the corner of the stage and if you weren’t paying attention you could have missed that he was even there. That shouldn’t be a criticism of how he plays as it didn’t take away from the music, it might just been helpful to have visuals or something playing in the background.

Up next were Thursday Club, which offered something more to look at as they played live instruments and they offered more of a free-jazz sound. This was when the crowd was at its biggest of probably 30 people – a decent size crowd for the tiny Live Bar. But it was Torturing Nurse who stole the show -it was their event after all – acting like crazy hiphop mcs while screaming into distorted microphones.

The sets were short and the whole thing was done in an hour and a half, short and sweet and my temporary ringing ears thanked me for that.

J.

I want to escape

I don’t want to get on a plane and head off to warmer climes.

I’d rather bury myself in books and movies

I want to get on a train with Paul Theroux

I want to go through London with Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes

and I want to sleep in my own bed at night.

J.

That’s the title of Adam Minter’s latest article for Foreign Policy discussing China’s new proposed animal protection law. It’s an interesting debate that is dividing Chinese along generational and class lines.

As a dog owner I’m pretty passionate about protecting animals and to me that protection includes keeping your pet clean and walking animals outdoors on a leash.

Roger and I went for his regularly monthly bath today. He always enjoys the adventure that comes with the walk to our local animal hospital/spa. He’s usually not happy to stay there for a bath but that’s more because I have to leave him there and he’s always afraid I won’t come back but I always do. And he’s always thrilled to see me.

Right now, we’re waiting for the year of the tiger to arrive. We’re stay in this evening. Roger is afraid of fireworks – and rightly so – whereas I just want a night in. That means it’s a evening on the sofa with a book and a beer.

Happy Year of the Tiger.

J.

Fell ill on Friday after eating some bad food Thursday night

(at least that’s what I think happened)

Spent most of last night on the toilet.

Today’s been a daze.

Slept until 1:30pm.

I never do that.

Been laying around on the sofa all afternoon and dozing

while listening to my iPod.

Discovering the joys of talk radio

Meditations on Shakespeare

The fun of Jonathan Goldstein and Wiretap

Catching up on Canadian news via Rex Murphy and The National

Learning how to avoid be sick again via The Art of Manliness

And of course local music via Andy and Jake at Kungfuology

And just feeling better.

J.