Sunday, March 27, 2011

A brief visit to eastern China

Just got back from a week in Shanghai and surrounding areas. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep, but traveling is like a drug - why sleep when there are things to see and do? Overall the trip was an adventure, and both enlightening and humbling. The people in China are just like we are, just like people all over the world; the one thing that seems to act to separate us is our governments, which we all seem to agree are nothing more than corrupt money-and-power-drunk hypocrites.

I met a lot of good people, both colleagues and strangers, and made a few friends who I will see on future visits. Hello to photographer Jason (English name) who I met in Wuxi, thanks for showing me around. Note to self: Sunday nights between 6-9pm, all you can drink Stella on tap for 150 RMB (about 23US) at Bluz Lounge in Wuxi.

A few scenes, mostly taken in the morning hours before I went to work. Something about being on the other side of the world and being wide awake at 4am everyday, no matter what time I laid down.

Flat tire repair on the side of the road in Wuxi, notice the blue electric motor assist:
Wuxi

Cargo bike in Wuxi:
Wuxi

Shanghai rainy commute. Everyone was either wearing a rainjacket or riding with an umbrella:
vShanghai

Pick-up style truck working on a construction project. The back was filled with bricks and dirt:
Wuxi

And a quick shot to see if people were watching me when I turned my back. Busted.
Wuxi

I'm ready to go back.


Enjoy.

Friday, March 18, 2011

So I come upon two messengers and a barista down by the river...

I heard from an un-named source there were a few gents down by the Mississippi, my sources rarely let me down. This was Thursday, when it was in the low 50's and we thought summer had arrived. Thanks for the High Life, Evan.

Here we have two messengers and a barista wearing a shamrock suite taking a moment to relax after the days shift. Godspeed gentlemen.

Evan, Andy, and Ayo

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

2011 Slick-50!

This is a highlight of spring, a rite of passage before warmer weather is allowed to return to the MPLS. I'd highly recommend at least a rear fender, one long enough to even keep the person behind you clean; you will see grease and muck, oh how there will be the grease. Taking it down a cog may be beneficial, though practice makes perfect and the course and conditions are different from year to year.
Don't worry about that "no kooks" thing; I've seen plenty of kooks on this ride and they do fine, some of them anyway.

Recap of the 2008 ride, through the tunnel:

Another from the 2008, post-ride:
Slick-50 night stop

Friday, March 11, 2011

Video Friday Too?

This in from Faceplant; skills required? Affirmative. Uh, watch out for the stray dog there.

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Video Monday

Somebody has a case of the Mundays? Well take your mind further off work and settle back.

This is painful to watch, and Bob is getting ready to cut to commercial before she actually pulls it off. Good god.

A triple-decker burnout in New Zealand, no shit:

In closing, I saw another instance of a tow-truck-pulling-a-tow-truck this morning; this is an occurrence that is happening with more frequency and I like it.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Keeping with the space theme then

The Sun is pissed! Video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Come to think of it, there hasn't been a cute kitten photo or video around here in a while. I say let's keep it that way.

Back to space then, way way back to 1977. This doesn't look like it would be the smartest idea, but then space exploration wasn't meant to be low-cost and adventure-free:

Which of course raises the question, why doesn't the damn shuttle just fly itself back to Florida? I mean am I right?

Oh, and anybody find a camera flash out there? If so, let me know as I seem to be missing mine.