Fall in Beijing and Beach Ultimate

The last two days here have been glorious. Three days ago it was miserable, rainy and cold. But the last two days, wow. Beautiful. Fall is here, and everyone says it's the most beautiful time of the year in Beijing. The additional rainfall cleans the air, leaving blue skies and crisp, 60-75 degree days. It's times like this the city endears me to no end.

Here's a picture from yesterday...

... and today.

Yay.

Also, three pictures from the beach tournament last weekend. Tao with an amazing layout and me setting up for a bid on an errant disc.

Not much to recap though; it was fun, there was no lake, so it was more like "sand pit ultimate", but it was fun. We got a keg, and that was nice too. For more on it, check out this video of the last point and Tao's recap of the action. I especially like this black and white picture he took of me holding a beer. I need to learn that trick.

~Kev

Do you bellever?

My co-worker Jordan arrived yesterday with a new shirt. I asked him what it meant. He said he wasn't sure, he just liked the cute bears. In case you can't read the words below...

Do you bellever in destiny

Soul mate

Poppalarity

The backside was even more disturbing. I bellever it's the company name, or slogan, or something.

I think it's magnificent how shirt makers here generate new designs. Here's the formula:

• take a vaguely powerful theme
• add some words
• misspell the crap out of it
• add picture (optional, remember Be Fine Sexy?)

Bam! You've made a shirt! You're rich! 

~Kev

Good Article

I usually don't post this kind of thing, and I'm purposely refraining from making this a politically charged blog, but i found it interesting on many levels. This article came to me from an unlikely source, Glenno from Trimble. Glenno is an interesting kiwi, and most of his e-mails tend towards fart jokes and bikini's, but this one (while still being mostly funny) contained the link to an article from the New York Times. Tao follows the political and socioeconomic articles in the world pretty closely, and, upon further investigation, I realize he already linked to this article here, but whatever.

Here is the first paragraph of this article by Thomas Friedman, NY Times:

After attending the spectacular closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympics and feeling the vibrations from hundreds of Chinese drummers pulsating in my own chest, I was tempted to conclude two things: “Holy mackerel, the energy coming out of this country is unrivaled.” And, two: “We are so cooked. Start teaching your kids Mandarin.”

This isn't an article about how China is kicking the crap out of us, as the opening paragraph insinuates, it's more a open comparison between the two countries, focusing on the last 7 years. The paths that China and the US have chosen are vastly different, and we can learn something here.

I will say one thing about his conclusions: The positive energy coming out of China is unrivaled. They are so proud (and understandably so) to be Chinese right now. They've taken an opportunity to showcase on the big, world stage, and they've exceeded expectations. Compare that with what we did after the 9/11 attacks. The entire world was sympathizing with us after the single most devastating terrorist attack in history, and we alienated ourselves by pushing away our new friends and going it alone against Iraq, without UN backing.

Some very pivotal turning points in history for both nations.

~Kev

P.S. I just got my ticket for my mini-vacation coming up! I'm heading out for 6 days on a chill island in southern Thailand (Ko Phan-Gan), from Sept 28th until the 5th. Hooray!