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I’ve realized lately, as I look out the window at the grey grey sky, that I’ve been here almost 10 months now and I can’t think of anytime there were more than 3 days of sun strung together. (Watch the video below now for dramatic effect.

And I think there’s probably only been once, maybe twice, that there were three days of sun. As bad as this is, I console myself by remembering that the weather has been worse in Vancouver.

I’m hopefully going to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists tomorrow night. If you aren’t listening to them right now, you should be. Heed my words…

The case of the 65 million dollar pants, in the defendants favor for now.  So sayeth the judge.

On to the appeal where we find out what pants are really worth.

flying home tomorrow, which means time for an update!

• the air in the beijing got considerably better after a few days. it turns out that

  farmers were burning their wheat straw after the harvest, because they don’t have the means to till it back into the soil. so the normal air quality in beijing is merely “staggeringly” bad, instead of “i just lost 20 years off my lifespan” bad.

• saw an old industrial district that is now being transformed into an arts district. good people-watching. it seems that hipster artists look and act the same no matter where you are. common themes in the art: mao, communism, industrialization.
• took the train to xian, which is like riding on a time machine, because shortly after you leave the beijing outskirts you see ramshackle shacks and peasant farmers bent over, working their crops.
• xian is a neon tourist trap, but you can get to the terracotta warriors from there. the first emperor of china decided that he needed an army to defend his future tomb, so he press-ganged 700,000 people to build an army out of terracotta. so far they’ve found 7000 soldiers, but there’s more being uncovered.
• train to datong where you can see the hanging monastery. in 500AD some monks got tired of being flooded out, so they rappelled about 100 meters down a sheer cliff, drilled into sandstone, and erected a monastery.
• also saw the yungang grottos, where some other people got the idea of carving some caves out of sandstone, building huge buddhas (about 20ft high) inside, and then carving thousands and thousands of little buddhas into the walls of said caves. this was maybe the most impressive site we’ve seen.
• hiked part of an unrestored section of the great wall. most of the wall is crumbling: the pictures you see of the wall are parts that have been rebuilt using modern materials. the wall crops up in strange places. we stayed at place where someone was sitting on some rocks, fishing. turns out he was sitting on the wall.
• we’ve generally eaten very well, and for little money. i did get sick near the beginning of the trip. note: when having mongolian hotpot (which involves actual fire, like burning hot charcoal fire being brought to your table) be sure to cook your mutton thoroughly.

that’s about it. you can see some photos of it all here: www.flickr.com/photos/dalelum/

I would like to invite the Slanty crew to a little shin dig at my office [well ok it is 6 months belated], but you are all invited!

It will be THIS saturday June 23, 2007 from 12pm - 5pm. Beverages[beer and other non-alcoholic fluids] and snacks will be served. The address is 2385 West 4th. in kits beside the Safeway there. Look for the big green sign saying ‘ACCORD DENTAL’

As a hedge against inflation, is this pre-purchase a good investment?

And would anyone like to make a bet to see if StarCraft II actually comes out before the 2010 Olympics? It’s scheduled release date is currently Aug 31, 2008.

“So let it be written
So let it be done
I’m sent here by the chosen one
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first born pharaoh’s son
I’m Creeping Death!”

Matt and Kylie have come to visit. They were over in England visiting family. “Come to Ireland” we said. So they did, and it rained so much it flooded. A few days in, we said “go to the aquarium on the Ards peninsula, Makena will like it, so they did, and it rained so much it flooded. Clearly it’s their fault.