Found a fun site for those of us who don’t lurk in the mainland China BBSes and what not.
It’s called ChinaSMACK and they translate and post in English, many of the silly viral stories that come from the country with the most internet users in the world!
That means a lot of “interesting” stories. Such as a dress and conduct code for nannies. How about the 2 million RMB public toilet? (of course, US$293K to build a toilet in San Francisco isn’t that much here but in mainland China, twas a lot). These are some of the stories that keep you reading. What’s even better is that some of the more interesting comments posted by Chinese readers are part of the entry.
Some people read CMZ and celeb sites, I read ChinaSMACK! Check it out…
Evening after 20:00!
This is how it looks like after 20:00 (see previous post) on a nice Indian Summer night.
Worth staying out late for, right?
WTF?? Whaddya mean it’s “late”??
Since when did 20:00 become “late” for a meal??
The last time I experienced this was when I was 10 years old OR…whenever I’m home in San Francisco.
I mean, there’s clues abounds. The dearth of good late night (or horrible) late night places to eat. When even dives like the Grubstake have queues on the deck, down the stairs and onto the Pine street sidewalk, replete with bums and gusty westerly winds. Its 4-star rating on Yelp BTW is for being open late more than anything else.
I guess it’s this. Either its “ignorance is bliss” or I’m not dead old enough to be here in ess eff. For the former, since I’ve been to a lot of Asia, LA and New York, I’ve gotten used to living life and being sociable. If I never left San Francisco, I may have thought that running home before the sun went down and not staying out past 20:00 was normal too. For the latter, it seems like people can be full of life when they’re elsewhere. Once they’re in SF however, they mutate into TV watching homebodies with no souls. Bah!
This blows! Time to get back to Asia! Anyone hiring out there?
Fleet Week 2008
This year, I was invited to an event at SFO sponsored by United Airlines where the special guests were the Blue Angels. They were based nearby and those of use who attended were able to see the planes up (pretty) close.
This is a lot closer than when you usually see them!
The flagship of Fat Albert Airlines…
Just another day doing the job…
Usually this is as close as most people get!
The best thing about recent Fleet Weeks is that the gorgeous weather that we are supposed to have year round actually happens. It was really nice out! Besides the Blue Angels, the UA Open House also had a bunch of classic cars, vendors, snacks and some UA hardware open to view.
2008 NFL Advert and Morrissey
The 2008 NFL Season has started and the NFL has a new theme for this season.
Watch until the end and you’ll hear it. The chorus to Morrissey’s “Everyday is like Sunday”. Can you believe it was released 20 years ago?
Definitely an 80’s video! Oh the memories you drudge up when you clean your house…
Economic Stimulus?
This past week has been an expensive one (and I haven’t GONE ANYWHERE!). Here’s some of the things that have been playing havoc with my charge card.
Bluetooth headset to comply with new law: US$30.00
Motorcycle tuneup: US$380.00
New motorcycle jacket that fits right: US$210.00
Then, my car takes a dump on Oak Street heading uphill. In a traffic lane. Tolerant and diverse drivers help me move my car to the side honk and flip me the bird as I sit there blocking 1/3 of the traffic on the street.
New alternator and valve cover gasket AND water pump: US$400.00 US$790.00!!!!
Sheesh.
Audi day at Sears Point
What’s more fun than driving fast? Driving fast on the race track!
bbbbwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Audi will be releasing the new A4 in the US later this year. To coincide with this, Audi sponsored the “Audi A4 Experience” where we learned the basics of track driving and then did some hot laps on the track.
We got a briefing on racetrack dynamics, on the cars we would be driving and theory about apexing through curves. Useful stuff to know every day you drive. Then we walked through the garage (where they stored a LOT of R8s for a different event) to the race track.
That’s a lotta R8s. Does Tony Stark keep his here?
Once we walked out onto the racetrack, we got a safety briefing explaining how to set up the seat, how to drive once we were out there and most importantly, how to get fitted with the mandatory helmets. Hands at 9 and 3 o’clock please.. Then it was time to drive!!
This is how to raise the seat back, this is how to raise the seat
The first two laps were done slow, so everyone could get the hang of playing “follow the leader” at speed and to make sure we were apexing the curves correctly. Then we did the last three laps, progressively increasing speed so that we were doing close to 100 on the straightaways.
Follow tight and fast…
But that wasn’t all. After we did our hot laps, we paired up and drove a road course (marked by cones) in the new A4 and three other cars that compete with it in the market place. The Mercedes-Benz C300 AWD, Lexus IS250 AWD and the BMW 328xi are all sedans with all wheel drive and are priced in the high 40s (except the Lexus which was $10k less). Here’s my verdict from going through the cones:
Merc: Very disconnected, felt the most comfortable, easy to drive.
Lexus: High center of gravity, softest ride, easiest to set off the anti-lock and the traction control
BMW: Nice and solid and heavy. Could use 50 more horsepower
Audi: Fun to fling around, very entertaining.
After the test drives were done, we were asked to fill out surveys on iPod Touch handhelds. Their computers generating the name badges and processing registration were iMacs. How cool!
…scroll down the screen, choose select then send…
In addition to all the driving, there was some looking to be done. Audi brought their new lineup for door slamming and tire kicking duty. Lots of R8s to drool over…
Lined up all in a row, all in silver!
I’m particularly fond of the A5…
There’s more pix to come. It was a nice, hot, fun day at the track. If only BMW would do this kind of promotion out here, I’d drive their cars around the track too!
Happy 4th of July!
Here’s Cookie Monster being interviewed on NPR. Typical MSM softball interview.
Cookie Monster v. Stephen Colbert. I’m not sure who wins…
No particular reason why, just because it’s funny! Think I’ll go hunt down some Mrs. Fields’ now…
Sakura in SF
Saw this the other day while riding by (and made an illegal u-turn to photograph!)..
This sakura, one of many on the block, bloomed first because it gets the most sunshine. Too bad you can’t have hanami out here. You’d get a ticket first then you’d have to pour out all the booze…! Bleah.
FINALLYHEREFINALLYHEREFINALLYHERE!
(for a change, a post that’s NOT about travel, food or advertising…)
After MONTHS of delays, it’s finally here!
Season 3 DVD set arrived today!
Yes, it’s the oft-delayed Season 3 R1 DVD set that was supposed to be released LAST DECEMBER to coincide with Season 4’s premiere on Sci-Fi in January. Then, Season 4 was delayed to April so the DVD release date was moved to March. Then Hollyweird had the writer’s strike which may delay Season 4 further…
And just to rub it in, this was with the first disc.
A reminder that Season 4 will be the last season of brillance! Once it’s over, nothing else worthy to watch on da boob toob…
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