Category Archives: 上海

Blind

 A statue of a god at the Confucian Temple in Shanghai had me humming a song from this band.

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Mountains

 To my eye, these rocks on a table at the Confucian Temple in Shanghai look like the distant mountains in a shansui painting.

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Phoenix

  A carved window at Longhua Temple.

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Turkey

My dear friend Debbie is in town.  (Woo-hoo!)  We went out for Thanksgiving dinner with friends at an ex pat bar.  Only 5/8ths of us were American (rounded out by Chinese, Italian, and Swedish) but the food was traditional & … Continue reading

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Barsoom

Before Netflix.  Before DVDs.  Before motherfucking VHS, the only way to watch a movie over and over and over again was syndicated television on the weekends. For a certain generation (um, mine) that means that the movies you ended up … Continue reading

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Jack

  Jack Black came by work today.  Didn’t get a chance to ask him if there would ever be a Bob Roberts 2. 

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Vast

It’s always a challenge to express to people back in the States what it’s like to live in a city of 24 million people.  Or what it’s like to live in a place where apartment buildings are skyscrapers.  But it’s … Continue reading

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Hug

  

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Fragrance

China throws the term “fragrant” around a lot.  Off the top of my head there is… 香港 (xiānggǎng “fragrant harbor”) Hong Kong 香草 (xiāngcǎo “fragrant grass”) cilantro or parsley 香菜 (xiāngcài “fragrant vegetable”) vanilla 香菇(xiānggū “fragrant mushroom”) mushrooms 香花 (xiāng huā … Continue reading

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Gnostic

From the gnostic gospel of St. Thomas: Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth … Continue reading

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Gigawatt

Back to the Future was on television.  Nothing has made me more homesick:  the Burger King in Burbank, the clock tower square on the Universal backlot, the Gamble House.

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Mimesis

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Button

I don’t love The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a film, but I think this quote from the script written by Eli Roth — whose late mother was a beloved screenwriting teacher of mine back at USC — is … Continue reading

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Chaos

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Terminus VIII

The northern terminus of Metro Line 5 is walking distance from the end of Line 10.  More suburbs, although clearly a little older and more populated.I realize now that this is quite close to the (thoroughly amusing) Wu Shu Museum … Continue reading

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