maxiewawa

Here’s the video I promised the other day.

Looks like I wasn’t the only one who had problems with this band’s name! Notice the extra ‘r’ in ‘Brubeck’!

The first track I’ve recorded with my famous mic!

Also, I recorded this at about midday, when traffic is at its noisiest. It was so noisy that I had to move the piano to the bedroom, along with all the recording equipment. At one time the mixer dropped off a bedside table and onto the floor, accompanied by a lot of profanities from a very pissed off piano player. Now that I think about it, I think that happened twice…

I also made a video. I’ll try and get it onto youtube as soon as possible.

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A jazz duo, David Braid and Matt Brubeck visited Shanghai this weekend. Aika and I went to see them at the Glamor Bar on Sunday. Shanghaiist.com said that they started at 4, but knowing how lazy musicians usually are, I confidently told Aika that if we arrived at 4:30, we probably wouldn’t miss much. After a little bit of searching up and down 广东 road, we finally found our way to the Glamor Bar. I was dismayed to hear the sounds of music as we exited the lift; the band had already begin.

“I’m hear to see Brue Brick Brain.” I said. “I mean Blue Blick Blain.” I tried again. “Blue Blick…” I just couldn’t get it out. “我是来听音乐的” I finally blurted out. (I’m here for the band).

After my pronounciation problems (for the record, the band is called “Brubeck Braid“) I had more bad news: Brubeck Braid would be finishing in only twenty minutes! I had come so far, so I decided to stay.

Worse of all, I had worn some cheap rubber shoes that went “squeak-sqeak” on the Glamor Bar’s wooden floorboards. As I walked in, a few audience members looked up from their reveries, annoyed that I had woken them up. As I remember Braid was in the middle of a floating piano solo when I interrupted him with my squeaking. Thinking quick, I removed my rubber shoes, and continued my way across the floor in silence. I felt a little bit ridiculous; many people were dressed quite well, and I cut a stark contrast, tip-toeing across the performance space with my dirty rubber shoes tucked under my arm.

When Brubeck Braid finished their piece, Aika and I found a seat. Unfortunately it was quite far away from the action; I couldn’t see the piano player at all, and the ‘cello was only a speck in the distance. The picture I have included was taken from my seat. If you look carefully you can see the ‘cello player in the middle of a particularly empassioned upbow.

We could hear everything though, which was most important after all! The duo’s sound was unique, and really drew you in. A great thing about jazz is how it lends itself to any instrument or voice. I ended up wishing that I had come on time.

I got my new mixer home the other day, only to find that I needed a new mic holder thingy. The stand that I had bought came with a clip, but I needed a bigger holder for my big, compressor mic. I went to the place where I got the mixer, but the only holders I could find were 300RMB, which is, quite frankly, an outrageously exorbitant price for a bit of metal with some rubber bands strung around it.

Some things are much cheaper in China, some are more expensive. Anyone looking for cheap electronics on their visit to mainland China is going to be disappointed. Anything that isn’t made in China (and you’ll find that most popular electronics aren’t!) will be considerably cheaper outside of China. But anything made IN China will be a bargain. You can get decent (acoustic) musical instruments so cheap that you’ll consider taking up the trumpet. But I digress.

I was pretty certain that my microphone-holder (I found out that the Chinese word is 防震架) fell into the “dirt cheap” category and wasn’t about to pay 300RMB for one. So Aika and I made our way to 宝山路.

I’m not sure how to describe the 宝山路 area. There are hundreds of stalls there, selling all sorts of electronic equipment. But these aren’t anything like anything you’ve seen before. You won’t see any brand names or new models. You’ll see second hand models, items that look like they were lifted from somebody’s pockets, electronic dictionaries that were made in the ’80s, cassette players, computers from the early 90s, things that people have put together themselves… the last time I was there, I saw a stall with nine (yes, NINE) large electronic organs. Each was about the size of a dinner table, and as tall as an adult. They sounded terrible. They sounded like the first CASIO keyboard that I got when I was five. And this guy had nine of them. He was actually really angry at me when I didn’t buy one. Another time I found quite a new, expensive PDA at a stall of otherwise crappy electronic devices. I asked the owner of the blanket that they were all laid out on what he wanted, and he took it out of my hands, turned it over a few times, and said “1000RMB”. I didn’t buy it, but you could just tell by the way he was handling it that he had no idea what it was. He was turning it over every which way, and was fascinated by the slot for the SD card in the bottom. He could see that there was something in there, but couldn’t get it out. If I hadn’t pressed down on it to pop it out for him I’m sure he’d still be there trying to work it out!

Anyway, I found my 防震架 for 50RMB. The guy I got it off was very friendly, and knew immediately what a 防震架 was when I asked for one. Not everyone knew what one was. He bade us a pleasant day and gave us a big smile as money changed hands, which is usually a sure sign that you’ve paid too much!

I noted with regret that the dirtiest, most dodgy part of the area has been demolished. I took a photo of the ruins today, and it’s included at my blog. As I looked on the screen of my digital camera I noticed the crowd that had gathered in the foreground. I wandered over. A policeman was writing out a citation for someone, and there was a lot of debate about what was going on. “What’s going on?” I heard someone ask. “Well…” someone helpfully started, but then the conversation switched over to Shanghainese and I was lost.

By the way, I’ve included a recording of this blog post on my homesite http://www.maxiewawa.com . It was recorded on my condenser mic, which as I speak is cradled in my new 防震架.

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The makers of KoreanClass101.com asked their students to make a short video introducing themselves in Korean. Always eager to participate in things like this, I participated. If you’re not sure what I look like, I’m the scruffy guy that comes on at 1:03.

^If you can’t see the video, click on the link!

I recorded this tonight. Enjoy

That RSS feed again, is maxiewawa.libsyn.com/rss , once again, maxiewawa.libsyn.com/rss

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I’m the owner of a new Behringer XENYX802 mixer. More audio equipment! I recorded something quickly today, I didn’t get to use the microphone I wanted to; my big one didn’t fit the little holder (sorry for all the technical jargon).

Although this is also called “Arabesque Number One” it’s different to the Arabesque I uploaded a while ago. Ironically, none of them sound the least bit Arabic to my ears.

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Please let me know what you think!

If you want to hear more of my music (or any kind of audio of me) don’t forget to subscribe! My RSS feed is http://maxiewawa.libsyn.com/rss .

Well I have a new hard drive but without all my accumulated photos. I guess I’ve learned a lesson! Always back up important things

You might have noticed that every time I went to get my computer repaired, something dramatic happened on the way home. This was no different.

As a chillingly dramatic conclusion to the saga: as Aika and I were walking to the DVD shop after leaving the repair centre, we saw a policeman and one other onlooker standing next to a stopped car and a crashed scooter. We noticed a man lying facedown, not moving. It was at a really busy intersection, where four (or more) directions of traffic intersect each other. We couldn’t be sure what happened, but it was clear that it happened only minutes before (no crowd had gathered) and that the man wasn’t moving, getting up any time soon, and probably wasn’t getting up at all.

I swore that no matter what, I’d always wear a helmet when riding a bike. I’d rather everyone look at me because I looked silly, than at my lifeless body.

The whole experience has been profound. I was overwrought about losing all my photos (they are irreplaceable!) but seeing the accident put everything into perspective. I can’t help thinking that at the exact same moment I was so disappointed to find out that I’d never see the photos I had taken again, some poor fool was zooming around Shanghai on his scooter, helmetless, and unaware of the fact that he was breathing his last breaths. Puts things into perspective.

But to take the edge off my dark mood, I got a nice surprise on Facebook. A friend that I haven’t seen for years, Caroline, put up some photos that she took during her time in Shanghai (2 years ago or so). I saw some faces I haven’t seen for a long time, and it brought back some memories.

So the moral of this story is, wear a helmet! And back up your photos!

Local newspapers are a great place to get an insight into a place’s culture. 新民晚报 is a newspaper that comes out every day in Shanghai.

Of most use to learners of Chinese is that section called “建议与呼声” (Suggestions and Opinions). The pieces in this section are very short, have useful vocabulary and tell an intruiging story. Here’s something from today’s paper:

• 围墙成了小便处：臭气冲天熏路人 – 读者王女士来电：漕东三路漕东支路附近有一幢没有厕所的公房，里面住着一些外来人员，他们经常在马路对面的围墙边“方便”，臭气冲天弄脏周边环境。
  （From Mrs Wong, a reader: Near Cao Dong supplementary road, off Cao Dong Road Three, there is a public housing estate without a toilet, where various outsiders live. They often “relive themselves” on the wall opposite, and the stink fills the air and dirties the surrounding area.

My apologies for starting with the dirty one first. From reading this short article, you can learn words like 公房/gōng fáng/public estate, 对面/duì miàn/opposite, 马路/mǎ lù/road, the “polite” way to refer to urinating, 方便/fāng biàn (yes, it literally means “convenient”) and on top of it all, these words all fit nicely together into a short “story”. Here’s another.

• 无证小贩进小区，吵吵闹闹烦煞人 – 读者吴女士来电：金汤路1781弄真光七街坊内，每天早上5时起，就有小摊贩摆摊，讨价还价声吵醒四邻。居民多次向有关部门反映，问题就是不能解决。这个“弄堂菜场“不知何时才能取缔。 (From a reader, Mrs Wu: Inside the living complex at Division seven of lane 1781 of Jin Tang Rd, every morning from five o’clock, residents are woken by the sound of street sellers plying their wares and bargaining. Residents have complained to relevant authorities, but the problem can’t be fixed. It is unclear when this kind of “laneway vegetable market” will be outlawed.

This passage gives the Chinese reader some great words. Many of them we don’t really have in English. I have translated ‘小摊贩’ as “street sellers” but I don’t think that’s such a good translation. Maybe “Hawkers?” Anyway, we don’t have enough of them in English speaking countries to have a proper word. And I’ve also used “plying their wares”, which is kind of an old expression but is basically a specialised verb for what street sellers do. “Hock their stuff” might be a better word.

Anyway, here are some other words that might help you understand.

每天早上5时起：Every day from five in the morning. This is just a fancy newspaper way of saying 每天早上从五点钟. Times are usually expressed in spoken Chinese as <something>点钟, the <something>时 pattern is usually reserved for newspapers, newsreaders, official documents etc.

问题就是不能解决：问题/wèn tí = problem. 就是/jiù shì = is (emphatically). 不能/bù néng = not possible. 解决/jiě jué = to resolve a dispute or a conflict. Thus, 问题就是不能解决 = The problem can’t be solved.

I’d buy the entire newspaper just to read the five short paragraphs that are included in each day’s 建议与呼声. I think they give such a great insight into everyday China. I mean, I could try to describe the din that those street sellers make in the morning, with a story, or an article, or a youtube video, but nothing would compare with Mrs Wu’s short complaint. I just love that it’s straight from her mouth, so to speak.

Here’s another.

• 车到终点搞卫生，垃圾扫到马路上 - 读者邓昌黎来信：公交916路，726路开进呼兰路终点站后，经常有司售人员把车厢里的果皮，饮料包装盒等垃圾扫到马路上。碰到风大时，满地的垃圾随风飞扬，行人及乘客意见很大。
  The 916 and 726 buses, which terminate at Hu Lan road, often have ticket sellers that throw such rubbish as peel, and empty drink cartons onto the road. When the wind picks up, all of the rubbish flies everywhere and pedestrians and passengers alike have suggestions.

One of my favourite Chinese expressions is in this short passage. “有意见” literally means “to have suggestions” but is exclusively used when someone has a negative view, or is angry about something. For example, the crazy chair-wielding guy who was fixing to fight the entire staff of a Sony store in an earlier post might be described as “having suggestions” (有意见)。

And just to show that they aren’t all negative, here’s the final article for today:

• 方便洗手装龙头，泗泾邮局很周到 – 读者永德来信： 日前，我去松江泗泾邮政支局寄信，见营业大厅的角落里新添了水斗和龙头，旁边还配了块小毛巾。寄信的人贴沾邮票后，手上的浆湖或胶水可以马上洗清擦干。邮局这种人性化的服务，不仅为客户提供了方便，也能让柜台保持清洁。
  A letter from a reader, Yong De: Recently, I went to a post office at Si Jing, Yong Jiang to post a letter, and noticed in the main business area a new basin and tap, and next to them, a small towel. Those wishing to post a letter, after affixing stamps, can immediately wash their hands of glue or other messy things and dry them immediately. This kind of personal service not provides customers with convenience, but keeps the counters clean.

Some words of note: 水斗/shuǐ dòu = basin, 龙头/lóng tóu = tap (faucet) 方便/fāng biàn = convenient/convenience/to go to the toilet (in the final meaning, this also appeared in the first story), 擦干/cā gān = to wipe dry.

I hope you like these stories, I’ll keep doing them, they give such a poignant insight into Chinese life!