As Seen by TV

Recently moved into a new apartment… 17th floor, which means I have a view!

Well, I’m somewhat of a New Yorker myself… born in Morningside and matured (somewhat, actually maybe not) in Brooklyn.  So I know me a block party.  Close… Converse set this one up on Moganshan Road with head-lining musical act Jeru the Damaja, a legendary 90′s underground MC.  I’d seen him before in NYC, but never this close and this out-of-step with his listeners… but that’s not his fault, that’s almost solely the fault of the Chinese.

The police department shut this party down early citing “noise complaints”, which is utterly hilarious in it’s own right, never mind the 24/7 construction (even at 6am on Sunday’s), or the constant car horns, or the firecrackers outside every wedding or business openinig, etc. It’s just sad that the police/government has to clamp down on any form of creative expression, especially in concern with things they don’t understand (like music and art; or just life in general). Jeru said it himself when someone shouted out “f*ck the police, f*ck the government” to which he replied “yeah, you can say that, but I surely can’t say that sh*t cuz I still gotta get outta here.”  True.

Anyway, about the pics… some stuff with graffiti, some “typical” NY food, a dope MC, and some dude getting his hair cut (which for some really strange reason was a massive success with the photographer/videographers in the crowd).

Peace & Love.

On my bike ride into Rotterdam city center to meet some friends I stopped off at Delfshaven (map) for a quick shoot.   I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been here, but had never taken any pictures.  Which is partly to blame on the fact that this is less than a 10min bike ride from where I grew up.

Delfshaven (“Port of Delft“) was a harbor built in 1389 some 10km away from the town Delft as to surpass the high tax that merchants had to pay for mooring in the city of Rotterdam.  In 1886, Delfshaven became part of the city of Rotterdam, and was extremely lucky to have been left intact after the mass bombings (1150 x 50kg & 158 x 250kg) that levelled the entire city center of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940.  The Dutch surrendered to the Nazi forces shortly after only to endure 128 more known air raids by Allied forces, the second largest of which carried out by the US Air Force on March 31, 1943.  It is fair to say that Rotterdam was completely demolished by the fighting of World War II (more info here).  My great-grandfather, a captain himself, was moored in Rotterdam during one of these bombings, and was forced to flee back to our family in Antwerp, some 120km to the south, partly by bike, but mostly on foot.

The newest edition to the Antwerp skyline is this new museum building located between the old docks and Antwerp city center.  Museum Aan de Stroom (map), which loosely translates to “museum on the river/flow/current” opens its doors in about 3 weeks to this post (May 17, 2011).  The 62m structure is made up of corrugated glass and a computer generated pattern of red sandstone, which twists a quarter turn at each floor, creating a giant spiral staircase, and will tell the story of the city, its harbor and its inhabitants.

Certainly not the most inventive name for a museum in Shanghai, but The Shanghai Museum boasts a collection of 120,000 Chinese antiquities.  I must be honest that it is a far cry from collections I enjoy and love, as this museum only showcases Chinese art, furthermore let us be honest here… there are only so many coins, stamps, pots, and scrolls of chicken scratch one can take (never mind the dull fabric and furniture instalations).   But, I did have a few fun hours of taking some decent photographs… so, enjoy.

Taken over a month ago (yeah, I know… but it’s been a busy couple weeks for me) this was one of the first spring-like days to hit Shanghai.  Originally I had wanted to see the “pr0tests” dealing with the Jasm1ne Rev0lution… but what we found were almost 100 “undercover” agents stationed all around the Peace (irony?) Cinema… it was a tense and creepy scene (made more so by getting stared at by each and every one of them; foreigner + camera = no good).  So instead, we just walked around People’s Square and enjoyed the nice weather. 

Another, somewhat coldish night… hit up Lujiazhui, Pudong [again] with the dope wide angled lens.  Booyakasha.

Day 4 of Chinese New Year… went for a stroll around Xujiahui (actually, the first 3 are from around my office).  Fireworks in every direction, every night for almost 2 weeks long… Shanghai almost literally turns into a warzone.

The night of day 5 is when all hell breaks loose (besides New Years Eve of course)… and those pictures will be uploaded soon.  The images of  Chinese New Year day 5 from last year still holds the record for the highest traffic to my blog, ever… so, why not check out that post again HERE (warning: dope photography!).  This year’s to follow soon!