3 minutes in Shanghai

Christmas and New Year in Shanghai. Generally, the Chinese don't celebrate the way we do, but they do seem to enjoy the lights and decorations. Listen to the show. tek.

Going to the cinema in Shanghai. What's that like? Today I take about three minutes to answer that question. Overall, the experience isn't too different from what you're used to in the States. Perhaps a few more obnoxious theatre-goers having noisy conversations, but otherwise pretty similar. Nice screens, nice environment. Sweet popcorn. Wish I could see something other than Harry Potter, though. tek.

Here's the video that goes with the previous show. tek.

The rise of hip-hop in China is the topic of today's show. I'm working on a new website, which those of you who are interested can check out at http://3minutesinshanghai.com/wp I spent the Thanksgiving weekend working with Wordpress, trying to figure it all out and customize the look, using all them templates and CSS and stuff. It took me hours and hours, and for most of the time it all seemed completely beyond me. Now I've got the thing up and kind of how I want it to look, but the scripts to import my LiveJournal posts don't seem to work. Without that working, I'd have to import them all by hand before moving over the podcast, and that doesn't sound so good. Nonetheless, it seems to me to be a good idea to move over to Wordpress to give myself a little more control over what I'm doing with the blog/podcast. And a video is coming. Enjoy. tek. 3minutesinshanghai@gmail.com

In today's podcast, I answer a listener question about the game mahjongg here in China. Yeah, they play it. Shanghai, the computer game that uses the same types of tiles, I'm not so sure about. Oh, and the next edition of 'hip hop in Shanghai' is coming soon. I'm working on it. More ideas from listeners about show topics would be greatly appreciated. Don't be shy. tek.

Today's show should explain the whole video clip that came (or should have come) earlier in the feed. I outline the rules for future video content, which I'll reiterate here. I'm going to keep video content supplemental to the main audio show. I want it to be 'bonus' material that you can watch in iTunes, or on your new iPod video, but I'm such a fan of audio shows at this point that I don't see any reason to switch format. And... y'know.. I don't have an iPod video. Since the video clip is of some hip-hop/rap performers here in Shanghai, I decided to talk for a few seconds about how difficult I think it is for the average Chinese to become interested in the hip-hop/rap world. Oh, and I don't know anything about hip-hop/rap, so I may not be using the terminology correctly... But what am I going to do? Research? Bah. tek.

Video clip of hip-hop performers at Guandii, a club here in Shanghai. They have a rap competition every Thursday night, and included in the clip are performances by: a Canadian, rapping in English a Japanese, rapping in Chinese and Japanese Chinese dancers There are no Chinese rappers in this clip because on the night that I went, there were none. I hope to go back in the next few weeks and record some actual Chinese rap for this podcast about Shanghai. Would seem appropriate, I think. Enjoy. tek.

On today's show, I take a second to answer a question I've received on more than one occasion: Why am I here in China? Why don't I go back to America? It's a simple answer, really. Also, I take an additional second to answer a couple listener questions. Keep sending questions, and I'll try and answer them in the show. Thanks for listening, everyone! tek.

It's been a while, but here's the new show. I've got to stop flaking out like that. Some of what I've been occupied with lately is setting things up for the new semester, teaching at the High School Affiliated to Fudan University. Last year, I began having the students create a podcast as a graded oral English project. Although there were some hiccups, I got quite a few good shows out of the kids. This year, things should work out better. I have a new system worked out - the same system, more or less, that I'm using for this show. So listen. Find my students at http://podcast.fdfz.cn/ tek.

October 1st was Chinese National Day. I went to Tianjin to visit some friends, although that's a poor excuse for not recording a show in almost three weeks. China has two 'Golden Weeks' a year - one beginning October 1st, and another beginning May 1st. Everyone gets a week without work. What's the deal with that? Some more info in today's show. Thanks, everyone, for listening. There's almost 500 of you out there now, if my FeedBurner stats are correct, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'd love to answer some general Shanghai questions in future episodes, so send 'em if you've got 'em to 3minutesinshanghai@gmail.com. Until next time... tek. P.S. Apologies for my cruddy math in the last episode. Somehow, I added 4 to 4 to 2 and came up with 12. Didn't notice that until well after it was posted. Heh. Maybe I should spend more time editing.

Those evil dudes running Shanghai's mass transit are forcing us to pay as much as 50% more to get downtown. This hurts the little dudes the most, and it makes me sick. Fare hike, and they still haven't opened Line 4! Unbelievable. Anyway, that's today's show. Enjoy. tek.

You'll never forget your first trip to a Chinese disco. I'm talking about the local-style places outside of the city center. Now, every expat has his occasional great time at one of the clubs downtown, but to see how the rest of China parties, you've got to look outside the ring road. Here are a few places in the Fudan University area of Shanghai that're still down and dirty local: Hit House Pub, on the corner of Guoding Lu 国定路 and Huangxing Lu 黄兴路 UFO Bar, on the corner of Siping Lu 四平路 and Xingang Lu 新港路 They're good examples of a 'typical' local Chinese nightclub, but they're only a sample of what exists in the city. They just happen to be short cab rides from my place. You'll be the only foreigner in the place, you'll get hair in your eye, and the music will suck, but you'll never forget it. tek.

Will you get where you want to go if you take a taxi in Shanghai? I spend a few minutes addressing just that issue in today's show. I'm pretty sure there are some Shanghai residents who will disagree with some of the statements I make in today's episode. If you do, I'd like to hear from you. Send email, or what'd be great would be audio feedback. I think that might be fun to play around with. Let me know what you think. This is the first time I've used GarageBand to record my show. In the end, I'm pretty dissatisfied with the GarageBand experience, at least for recording a podcast. I was much happier with Audacity, but despite the help of the Griffin tech support staff, I can't get it to work with my Griffin iMic on my iBook. So right now, I've got no adequate podcasting solution. I can use Audacity on my old Powerbook, and deal with the deadly-slow processing time, or I can record with GarageBand on my iBook, and deal with... well... what turns out to be a pretty crappy audio-editing solution. It may be great for recording songs, but it's pretty bad for recording simple voice. Oh, and I've been spending far too much time watching DVDs of The Shield this week... that show is addictive. tek.

So why, exactly, was it that it took me so long to get back to recording a show like today's? I spent most of this evening watching The Shield on pirated DVDs I bought today. Went through half of the first season before stopping to record the show. I figured I owed it to you all. So I spend this episode explaining the absence, but I'm afraid I don't tell the whole story. I'm leaving out the bit where my friends visit me from out of town, and I spend more than one night drinking and/or playing video games into the wee hours. I am trying to get back on a more regular schedule, though. Oh, and if you see these posts, let me know. I'm not sure if anyone actually sees the posts on this blog, 'cause it seems like all my subscribers are coming through iTunes, and I don't know how many people click on the little 'i' button next to the show. Okay then. tek.

I'm back in Shanghai with a brand new show. It's been over a month since my last show, but I've got a good explanation. Unfortunately, that explanation is going to have to wait for the next episode. Today's episode is about what I miss the most about the States. We'll get to excuses and pleas for forgiveness in 'a few days'. I have an apology to make, as well. During the second half of recording today's show, the fan on my laptop turned on in close proximity to the microphone. I tried to get rid of the high-pitched whine, but I was ultimately unsuccessful. If anyone knows the best way to remove noise from a recording without making my voice sound like a robot's, I'd be eternally grateful. So there's a high-pitched whine in the second half, but I was happy enough with the way it was recorded that I didn't want to do it over. Live with it. It'll be better next time. So there you go. Enjoy. Send feedback. Click on advertisements. tek.