a video - catching the Shenzhen metro - line 4 from Convention & Exhibition station to Civic Centre.
yesterday I walked to the Civic Centre and it took me about half an hour and I was really hot, sweaty and dehydrated afterwards. the metro does the same trip in 3 minutes! it's so fast, and clean and there's not many people on the trains. you buy a token (1 trip) or top up your metro card with cash. on the way down to the station you swipe the token over the sensor at the gate, keep it for the ride, then at the other end you deposit it into the slot on the gate (near the sensor) and it keeps it & lets you exit the station. I bought another token (2RMB) as a souvenier
I was trying to film the video / led screens on the buildings then I noticed the sounds of the construction nearby so kept recording
the workman who were working in the gardens must have finished work because they rode past me on their bicycles whilst I was recording this video - you can just see the tops of their heads as they ride past. they gave me a strange look as if to say, “what’s so interesting there that you’d want to record it” - or so I imagined anyway
I've been traveling for work for the past six years, though for the last 1.5 years I have been back home in Australia. I thought it was time to start a separate space for notes and thoughts that come to mind whilst on the work trips. This time I'm in Shenzhen in the South of China.
The South China Morning Post newspaper headlines on Thursday September 2nd 2010 were "Warning as city's credit card debt rises". It talks about HongKongers spending too much on credit, and having multiple credit cards and only paying back the minimum amount, despite the warnings from the GFC (global financial crisis).
This is an issue in Australia also, though we have mostly escaped the clutches of a recession caused by the GFC. I wonder if it's an issue in Shenzhen also. In the city - at least in the Futian District that I've been exploring, every city block seems to have an indoor, air-conditioned, multi-level shopping centre. I've been to one called Coco Park, where we had lunch at the foodhall on Friday, and Central Walk, where we had lunch on Thursday and where I caught the train to Civic Centre today. I must admit I did go to Starbucks there and have a coffee and raison toast for brunch, but the place was pretty crowded - at least more crowded than the streets outside. It makes sense - many Australians do this too - during summer the shopping centres are the place to go to escape the heat and sun outside. Escape the humidity here also, which is a killer.
some links on downsizing your life and house. I moved from a large 2 bedroom place to a 1 bedroom which is a start. it's not the same as having one suitcase + work backpack that I had whilst working overseas, but it's a step towards 'living smaller', though I do still have way too much "stuff".
trying out python - to make a little windows gui that builds xml files (hopefully - that's the plan anyway..)
I haven't used python before so not really sure if these are the correct steps
- downloaded python 2.6.5 - initially I downloaded 2.7 but then when I downloaded the windows extensions it said it wanted version 2.6 : python-2.6.5.msi (python-2.7.msi) -> C:\cdrive\_apps\python265
- downloaded python windows extensions : pywin32-214.win32-py2.6.exe
IDE
- downloaded Wing IDE 101 - a free windows ide
also tried these but got too lazy to set them all up when they didn't work first go as they were missing other things/versions :
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
'Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
hipstamatic camperdown - walk home after guitar lesson today. another warmish winter's day which is great as I don't need my jacket any more. there's a new development going up nearby. they're pulling down some of the heritage listed council flats and putting up a new building for housing commission tenants. it's called the 'camperdown project' which is ironic as my friend who came to stay earlier in the year called the o'dea building "the projects" - he was referring to those in USA though. the remainder of the heritage buildings are staying. they're not pulling down the o'dea building, though some think they should. the hipstamatic filter makes it look nice - maybe they should have used this on the development proposal flyers. the old biscuit factory has been converted into (really nice, though rather expensive) apartments. had lunch at the wonderful Love#3 again - they had my favourite - eggs benedict - as the breakfast special. then later today I took another walk to the hidden garden - such great fresh fragrances as you walk along the paths, and the birds were very vocal again today
31/07/2010
[ still getting used to the framing on the iphone camera... ]
trying out a shared drawing with @ozmawbs using flockdraw
we must have spent an hour drawing, erasing, drawing. there were a few people drawing at once. one anonymous person. coming & going. a nice experiment in shared drawing http://flockdraw.com/27lgz
started making a list of Beijing (& some Shanghai & general China) digital media arts & sound art projects & links. I haven't seen any of these projects in person, but they all sound interesting. some may no longer be active..
maybe @oldspice guy is the first commonly known #ractor. wish there were more. could be great as private entertainment when you don't feel like reading/watching a movie [1]
maybe there's a videoblogging project in that. hire your own #diamondAge #ractor to act out a book/film for you online [2]
or maybe we're all racting in twitter for free, for others anyway
this afternoon I discovered a magic garden down the other end of the property. I'd driven past this but never seen the walking paths. the paths criss-cross through the back streets. they seem quite busy - I came across a few people whilst exploring. it's been raining for the past few days but had stopped about an hour earlier. the birds seemed overly happy - chirping and singing to the sky above. they seemed fresh and clean, like the cool fresh air after the rain. I recorded the soundwalk - this is one block back from the road, so I was surprised at how little traffic noise could be heard, except for the occasional car driving past.
