As Seen by TV

Guru of the legendary rap group Gang Starr passed away this past Monday at the age of 43.   Earlier this year he suffered a heart attack and recovered from the subsequent coma… this week however, hip-hop mourns the death of one of its most influencial MC’s.

“You could say I’m sorta da boss, so get lost,
The brotha that will make you change opinions
Dominions, I’m in them when it’s time to kick sh!t from
The heart, plus I get a piece of the action
I’m feelin satisfaction from the street crowd reaction”

Check out this Guru Tribute audio mix [does not open in new window].

R.I.P.

In my twenty-something years, I’ve hit up twenty-something different countries, and without a doubt Shanghai is the night city of night cities [so far].  I don’t mean that in the sense of things being open (NYC gets that one, minus that stupid curfew), or in regards to nightlife (although no complaints here!), but that the lights are blindly turned on and are in essence: blinding, and furthermore, the crowds disappear (which is a huge plus!).

Let me put it this way: Shanghai by day = *meh*.  Shanghai by night: *BLAHM*!

This set of images is from 3 seperate shoots, the first 3 images are around my office building at the end of Huai Hai Road East.  The following 3 images are of my quick trip to Pudong to pick up a package sent from the homefront (thanks Mom, there is nothing in the world like Belgian D&L mayonnaise!), while the final 6 were actually taken right after the previous post, at Peoples Square.

Compare image #2 above with the one below… same location 6 months earlier:

And from 4 months earlier [see my full post on the graffiti wall]:

March 2010… after over a 1 year of being closed, Shanghai’s most famous landmark reopened to the public; so is the tale of The Bund.

While “The Bund” usually refers to the buildings located along Zhongshan Road (and facing Pudong), my photography on the other hand, does not. 

The Bund is an amazing strip of structures from the [earlier] glory days when Shanghai was a huge financial and shipping hub (sound familiar!?!).  Consisting of a custom house, trading houses, and banks, which subsequently moved elsewhere after the Communist victory during the Chinese Civil War in the 1950′s.  The original institutions however, were given the opportunity during the 1980-90′s (with the thawing of the governments’  economic policy) to have the orignal buildings returned to their orignal uses.  It is truly an amazing strip of architecture, ranging from Gothic and Baroque, to Neo-Classical and Art Deco.

My walk originated from People’s Square through the hair-care area of Shanghai (every shop sells everything related to hair salons, from scissors to those rotating lights), along the Bund, and back down Suzhou Creek.

Also note, the two cars pictures are the BMW M3, and the Rolls Royce Phantom Coupé.  The Phantom is availible in 44,000 colors, which begs the question: is the owner color blind?  It costs about US$400,000, which is doubled in China due to the 100% luxury tax… ooh yeah, believe it. 

Which also reminds me… I’ve heard rumours there’s a Veyron floating around Shanghai.

As I am still sifting through 274 images I took over the past week (Huangpu district, Peoples Square, and the newly re-opened Bund), I’ll leave you with another DOPE VIDEO by OneMoreProduction titled “Pixels“, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll check it out:

OneMoreProduction – “Pixels”

Have a great weekend, wherever the hell you may be!

For a while I’ve been meaning to hit up the Suzhou Creek artist area and the infamous Moganshan Road (“the graffiti street of Shanghai”). 

So after work on Monday I did exactly that, although rather obviously by then all the galleries and shops had long been closed down, so another visit will have to be made… but at least I got some good flix!