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 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.

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.

(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.

cause I’ve been burned out.

I wanted to take a step back

and really see where I was.

I didn’t like it.

So I assessed what was wrong.

Too much stress. So I switched jobs.

Found one with a more manageable stress level.

It’s a management position, but less hours than before.

I’m happy.

I have free time to spend with Betty and Roger.

And to go to rock shows and read again.

Life is good.

J.

Other stuff has been dominating my life for a while which has forced me to keep radio silence. It’s going to be a while until I put up a proper post, but to fill the void here is what Jake and I got up to last night.

J.

Betty and I got out Shanghai and avoided the festivities – something I am very happy to do since the only thing I’d consider staying in town for was cancelled. We’re in LeShan in Sichuan province for the wedding of some of my best friends. The wedding is this evening and it’s going to be a blast, but we’re also enjoying being able to relax and just chilling out in the hotel.

I’m enjoying taking a break from the story on renewable energy that I’m working on for our November issue. I spent a lot of time on it over the last week and a half and I really need to recharge my batteries.  I’m going to be doing some work on it next week during the holiday but I am still going to make sure I give myself enough time to relax. 

And I’ve been pretty successful so far. I’ve finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and I’m really enjoying Sarah Rose’s For All the Tea in China - an account of how Scottish Bottanist, Robert Fortune, stole tea plants from China and transplanted them to India to guarantee a stable supply of the drink for British tea drinkers. 

Musically, I’ve been listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered Live Concerts podcast and filling my time with Yo Le Tengo, Raphael Saadiq and the Tallest Man on Earth – making it a great holiday so far, which is just what I need to recharge my batteries.

J.

I made some other great discoveries this week as well. I found a great CD shop on Fuxing Lu that has a lot of Chinese alt rock CDs. I bought seven on Monday night including stuff by B6, Dead J, Sound Fragment and Sulumi. I also picked up Queen Sea Big Shark’s album there today and ordered discs by Muscle Snog and Joker.

DVD-wise I found seasons 5 to 7 of Spooks. I hadn’t seen any other seasons available since buying season 1-4 in 2005. Betty & I started watching them yesterday and the show is as good as ever.

Well I guess you’re wondering since there was so much positive stuff in this post, what’s the shit at the door? it’s just that – somebody left shit at the door on Friday night. The notes the person/people left said Roger had shit in the hall which is just not possible: I am the only person who walks Roger and I would have known if he shit in the hall. Two I carry Roger through the building so that he can’t do that. I called my landlord about it on Saturday and she said she’d look into it. I’m annoyed at the people who did it, but I’m not going to let it ruin my weekend.

I’m writing this on my mobile phone at Boxing Cat Brewery where I’m meeting Betty for lunch then we’re heading to The Thing on Changle Lu to see if they have Shanghai bu huiying ni t-shirts. Then home to watch more spooks. It’s been a great weekend.

Update: The Thing didn’t have the Shanghai bu huying ni t-shirts but we were able to get a few other great ones including a cool pig wearing a gas mask to represent Swine Flu.

I did relax this weekend though. I went to Boxing Cat Brewery with friends on Friday and in the taxi on the way home to walk Roger, I found a Cuban cigar still in its case and fresh – that almost made the tough week worth it. After walking Roger, I went to Yuyingtang to see Convenience Store and meet up with Jake Newby. I liked the sound but the crowd was mostly young girls there to swoon over Convenience Store’s supposedly handsome lead singer. We left after watching Convenience Store for about 20 minutes and headed to Exit where we met some of the friends from Boxing Cat and I got to enjoy that cigar. Ended the night wandering Xikang Lu looking for a BBQ stand.

Saturday, I spent the day sleeping, reading and watching Star Trek. I’ve started Richard Price’s Lush Life. Price really knows how to write a crime novel and his method of writing dialogue – seen best on HBO’s The Wire where he was a staff writer – is simply superb.

Last night headed back to YYT again to see the amazing Jeff Lang, a blue musician along with Joker, another great up and coming Shanghainese blues band. I was amazed by both of them. Joker cause they’re so young and blues/rockabilly isn’t that popular among Chinese youth and Jeff Lang cause he can combine blues and progressive rock guitar into an amazing live set (he also played for nearly two hours in a felt suit). His amazing live set made me not want to pick up his CDs for fear of not being able to live up to his live sets (unfortunately Joker’s ep wasn’t there). They were also RMB100 a pop which made them a little bit expensive and probably hurt sales. For another take on both nights at YYT check out Jake’s post.

Today was literally a bit of a washed out day. It’s been pouring rain pretty much constantly since I woke up. It made walking Roger tough. Each time we got out it was heavy rain and even with his raincoat on he still got a bit wet. I spent this morning writing this month’s book review and the afternoon reading a bit of Lush Life and sleeping. I had only meant to sleep for 30 minutes but ended up dozing off for more than three hours  - I guess that shows you how tired I am. Going to take it easy tonight so that I’m prepared for next week.

Enjoy the rest of your Sundays.

J.

Did my second Drunken Dragon Hash House Harriers run yesterday — I found the trail a little tough and it just made me annoyed and with the stressful Friday I had I was just in a bad mood. Was planning to hit YYT afterward for the Mushrooms’ animal patterns show, but got pulled into a round of post-Hash drinking, so never got there – but my mood improved a lot.

I thought about going to YYT for tonight’s Mindless DJ showcase, but who am I kidding rock shows and me on a Sunday night don’t mix — especially when I have a busy week ahead and need my sleep. So for those of you wanting Chinese indie rock news check out Jake Newby’s blog. He’s got reviews of the Channel One Mall music series and the Mushroom’s animal pattern show.

And here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal that talks about the Beijing rock scene and Carsick Cars’ new album.

I will get out to a show again some time soon.

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend.

J.