Tag Archives: #music

Yuletide II

Last night, I walked in to the 7-Eleven around the corner from my apartment in Jing’an only to find all the clerks wearing Coca-Cola Santa hats and The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” playing.  Felt like home.  

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Minarets

Xining was a stop on a minor branch of the Northern Silk Road route.  This explains the huge amount of Muslim cultural influence  here, like the impressive Dongguan Mosque. As an 8os kid, I must confess that it was impossible to see … Continue reading

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Radio

Radio here in New Zealand seems to be one long 80s & 90s weekend.   This reminded me how although there are tons of recent bands experimenting with that 80s sound, all of them seem to be overlooking the essential … Continue reading

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Overlook II

This is the Chateau Tongariro Hotel on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu.It was built in the late 1920s but, in the long years since, it seems to have become haunted by the spirit of The Shining.  Not the haunted Overlook Hotel … Continue reading

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Adolescence

 Strange to see a painting of the album cover for Jane’s Addiction’s “Ritual de lo Habitual” — a band that meant so much to me in high school — hanging by the bar at a Mexican restaurant in Shanghai. At … Continue reading

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Muzak

A small part of my brain is constantly scanning the background for any hint of music, tuning in, and trying to place it.  The Muzak they play in the Shanghai Metro stations is always eclectic, but as I walked to the train platform … Continue reading

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Boyi

Hungry after visiting the Old Dragon’s Head — and desperate to recharge my phone — I stumbled on a strange restaurant in town called Boyi [sic] Music BBQ Bar of the “crazy crap on the wall” school of decor.  Over … Continue reading

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Syne

Debbie & I visited the Bell Tower at the crossroads of the main North/South and East/West roads within the city walls of Xi’an. Touring the tower, I realized that the Chinese word for “bell” (钟 or zhōng) is part of the word … Continue reading

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Lynchian

Just watched a beauty cream ad on Japanese television which used the Julee Cruise vocal version of the Twin Peaks theme song. I can only assume their slogan is “Maybe she’s born with it.  Maybe she’s dead, wrapped in plastic.”

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Tradition

Kyoto was the capital of Imperial Japan for over a thousand years until Emperor Meiji moved it to Edo and renamed it Tokyo.  (Try reading that in an Alec Guinness voice.  It sounds awesome.) It’s the general consensus that where … Continue reading

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Comfort

In the hierarchy of maraschino cherries, Baskin-Robbins is the ne plus ultra.  Perfect comfort food. I kept finding myself singing this Deb Talon song to myself all day: When everyone has gone to sleep And you are wide awake. Theres … Continue reading

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Phlebology

Haven’t been able to escape this Taylor Swift song since I got here.  Which is fine by me because it’s catchy as fuck.  

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California

California, here we come.  Right back where we started from. I was kind of hoping this was the song that would greet me when I got off the plane at LAX.  Alas, this was what was actually playing on the P.A. … Continue reading

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Noughties

I’m at home recovering from bronchitis, watching CCTV (as is my wont.)  In the middle of a documentary on mammals — just as they were putting a crow in an MRI machine — they started playing FC Kahuna’s “Hayling”.  The … Continue reading

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Circumnavigate

 Rented a bike atop the Xi’an city walls and rode the 8.5 miles around it.  The speakers on the lampposts play traditional Chinese music, which really added to the whole experience. Took about 90 minutes (with stops at all four … Continue reading

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