Let's positive thinking (I)
Nov. 4th, 2010 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaAs some of you know, in between dealing with the Chinese visa office I have also been dealing with a mystery insect infestation in the parental flat orz||| haaa it's not all been negative, I will hereby list all the positive/interesting/fun stuff I have done/bought/experienced on this trip.
HAIR. I got my hair permed, for the first time since the early 90s AFAIK, because curls are the in-thing again (much less drastic than the 80s/early 90s Azn 'fro) and I want to be achieve more interesting hairstyles without having to use the blow dryer or other instruments with which I'm entirely inept. XD;
ARRRT. 1) The sculpture garden + contemporary art galleries + hipster feeding space a bit west of here (I live on Panyu Rd., which is unanimously pronounced Fanyu Rd. Every city has one. Apparently this is because it's a place name like many other Shanghainese streets, and the ppl who live there pronounce it "Panyu"). W/r/t arrrt in Shanghai I always feel like I have to sift through the dross - haven't gotten to the Biennale main exhibition yet - but there was enough of interest there. I ran across B6 (local DJ/producer of q. good minimal techno album procured by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
smurfmatic) as the co-creator of a sound installation called Shanghai Cussin'... a topic worthy of serious linguistic study, though I can't swear in Shanghainese because I don't speak it, I just listen. XD;
2) An exhibition of Chinese and Indian artists in dialogue, in an old townhouse on Suzhou Rd. at the top of the Bund that was stripped even of paint on the walls, but had a beautiful set of original stairs spiralling up to the attic. (Both here and in the sculpture garden I had to navigate around a fashion shoot.) Some great stuff here - my favorite set of works related the original Great Game** to... the current situation in Tibet, rolling. The artist had done a series of paintings depicting the trials and exploits of Nain "worth a google" Singh in Tibetan Buddhist tapestry style. Then he RETRACED Nain Singh's journey WEARING SHACKLES so he would take the exact same number of steps, collecting metal household and religious objects which he then melted down and recast into train tracks, topping it off with another painting depicting the high-speed railway China's currently extending into Tibet...... inorite.
** "Tournament of Shadows" sounds kinda like a second-season ep of Sherlock, I thought, peering at the giant map... and then I clued in that must've been the original context for Sherlock Holmes kicking it with the Dalai Lama, bawling, it wasn't spaghetti monster nonsense on Doyle's part.
SHOPPING. prices have risen, Japanese and Korean designs are easily available in Montreal boutiques these days, and IMO it's fair to say the looks are less regionally distinctive... but it's also me. I realized recently that I'd accumulated a load of fussy outfits, and was in a mood for nothing but the perfect white cardigan and a new silhouette/hemline not yet adopted by fast fashion on masse. XD; I ended up dropping sizeable dough on basics at Uniqlo, largely because they carried the best iteration of the little down vests and jackets that seem to be everywhere. And one single pair of size 29 jeans IN THE ENTIRE FLAGSHIP STORE, but then I only needed one pair to keep my legs warm during the cold snap. XD; I admire Japanese denim fetishists, as I would admire samurai, but their value system affects the mass market. I personally prefer my jeans to contain spandex so I can pull them up, and not to bleed indigo on every light-coloured surface... Oh and a taupe trapeze cape with a turn-up collar. XD I have always wanted a cape! I don't need a dramatically flaring black overcoat to be like Sherlock Holmes for the good reason that I bought one in March and have been waiting to wear it this entire time. Bonus fandom hilarity value; ahead of the curve, j0.
In my disillusionment with the high street I ended up on, or in, Qipu, which is one of those vaguely dystopic Asian discount shopping streets/districts that look like the set of a cyberpunk action sequence - twisty low-ceilinged corridors, dirty vinyl curtains, and 2-metre-square shopfronts. No try-ons, mostly, which eliminates shoes and trousers and button-up shirts, often dodgy quality, but the possibility of genuine finds, and the price is always right. You have to love the hunt. XD; Cheap eats too, but notes on that another time. I'd say my rule of thumb is to go for Korean designs, which have the most interesting construction and fewer tacky frills, but the end result is difficult to describe. There's this burnt orange silk shirt... well.
Probably what I like best is my lime green poufy jacket XD the collection of attention-seeking outerwear only grows. It's depressing when one sees 9 out of 10 ppl wearing navy/grey/black all winter in the metro, yanno?
TBC: books, food, some music...
HAIR. I got my hair permed, for the first time since the early 90s AFAIK, because curls are the in-thing again (much less drastic than the 80s/early 90s Azn 'fro) and I want to be achieve more interesting hairstyles without having to use the blow dryer or other instruments with which I'm entirely inept. XD;
ARRRT. 1) The sculpture garden + contemporary art galleries + hipster feeding space a bit west of here (I live on Panyu Rd., which is unanimously pronounced Fanyu Rd. Every city has one. Apparently this is because it's a place name like many other Shanghainese streets, and the ppl who live there pronounce it "Panyu"). W/r/t arrrt in Shanghai I always feel like I have to sift through the dross - haven't gotten to the Biennale main exhibition yet - but there was enough of interest there. I ran across B6 (local DJ/producer of q. good minimal techno album procured by
smurfmatic) as the co-creator of a sound installation called Shanghai Cussin'... a topic worthy of serious linguistic study, though I can't swear in Shanghainese because I don't speak it, I just listen. XD;2) An exhibition of Chinese and Indian artists in dialogue, in an old townhouse on Suzhou Rd. at the top of the Bund that was stripped even of paint on the walls, but had a beautiful set of original stairs spiralling up to the attic. (Both here and in the sculpture garden I had to navigate around a fashion shoot.) Some great stuff here - my favorite set of works related the original Great Game** to... the current situation in Tibet, rolling. The artist had done a series of paintings depicting the trials and exploits of Nain "worth a google" Singh in Tibetan Buddhist tapestry style. Then he RETRACED Nain Singh's journey WEARING SHACKLES so he would take the exact same number of steps, collecting metal household and religious objects which he then melted down and recast into train tracks, topping it off with another painting depicting the high-speed railway China's currently extending into Tibet...... inorite.
** "Tournament of Shadows" sounds kinda like a second-season ep of Sherlock, I thought, peering at the giant map... and then I clued in that must've been the original context for Sherlock Holmes kicking it with the Dalai Lama, bawling, it wasn't spaghetti monster nonsense on Doyle's part.
SHOPPING. prices have risen, Japanese and Korean designs are easily available in Montreal boutiques these days, and IMO it's fair to say the looks are less regionally distinctive... but it's also me. I realized recently that I'd accumulated a load of fussy outfits, and was in a mood for nothing but the perfect white cardigan and a new silhouette/hemline not yet adopted by fast fashion on masse. XD; I ended up dropping sizeable dough on basics at Uniqlo, largely because they carried the best iteration of the little down vests and jackets that seem to be everywhere. And one single pair of size 29 jeans IN THE ENTIRE FLAGSHIP STORE, but then I only needed one pair to keep my legs warm during the cold snap. XD; I admire Japanese denim fetishists, as I would admire samurai, but their value system affects the mass market. I personally prefer my jeans to contain spandex so I can pull them up, and not to bleed indigo on every light-coloured surface... Oh and a taupe trapeze cape with a turn-up collar. XD I have always wanted a cape! I don't need a dramatically flaring black overcoat to be like Sherlock Holmes for the good reason that I bought one in March and have been waiting to wear it this entire time. Bonus fandom hilarity value; ahead of the curve, j0.
In my disillusionment with the high street I ended up on, or in, Qipu, which is one of those vaguely dystopic Asian discount shopping streets/districts that look like the set of a cyberpunk action sequence - twisty low-ceilinged corridors, dirty vinyl curtains, and 2-metre-square shopfronts. No try-ons, mostly, which eliminates shoes and trousers and button-up shirts, often dodgy quality, but the possibility of genuine finds, and the price is always right. You have to love the hunt. XD; Cheap eats too, but notes on that another time. I'd say my rule of thumb is to go for Korean designs, which have the most interesting construction and fewer tacky frills, but the end result is difficult to describe. There's this burnt orange silk shirt... well.
Probably what I like best is my lime green poufy jacket XD the collection of attention-seeking outerwear only grows. It's depressing when one sees 9 out of 10 ppl wearing navy/grey/black all winter in the metro, yanno?
TBC: books, food, some music...
