November 2005 - Page 3 of 3

Digweed in Chengdu

Digweed was here tonight on a Chivas tour, along with Sasha and Deep Dish. Yeah whatever, Digweed, who cares – but it’s hard for people outside of China to imagine how much of a big deal that is here. He played at Babi, a club down the street which I’ve been going to on and off for the last 9 months. I can’t really describe how weird it was to see Digweed playing in a small place so familiar, out here in west China. He played some slower tempo, deeper progressive jams, as opposed to the in-your-face trance that I’ve only heard him play (5+ years ago). The place was pretty much going bonkers, which is why I decided to stay and hang out, despite knowing that I had to board a plane early the next morning. It’s 5am and my plane departs in exactly three hours, so I’ve made the decision to stay up and bear it. I saw a bunch of people I haven’t seen in a while, including a German guy with some weird name that I can’t remember who’s nearly as tall as I am. I never think of myself as the oversized giant among a room of Chinese people, but I tend to ocassionally think of myself in that sense when I see him lumbering over everyone. Cruel Intentions is playing on the tv in front of me, but I’m not really watching. When I’m done on the computer I’ll pack a small bag for Kunming and be ready to go. My sister arrives in five days – I’ll take her to see Sichuan opera, the panda reserve, the art and computer markets, and hot pot.

The Shoe Dilemma, New Apartment

No matter where I go, you elude me.

I see you in the shop, but alas, you are the wrong size and don’t fit my evidently gigantic feet.

All I want to do is wear you because you are comfortable and look nice.

I went to three Adidas shops today to try and invest in a new pair of shoes. All of the stores have the pair I want, but none of them have a single pair in my size. My size is 12.5, not some ape-like size 16. But the search continues, and I always hear ‘dui bu qi, wo men mei you’. Do you know how difficult it is for me to find shoes? Not only because of the continental size issue at hand, but because I’m picky. I’ll go in ten shops and not find a single passable pair. But I found them here and they continue to taunt me.

I moved into a new apartment. I rented the old one out to Rob, an American from Portland. He’ll live out the remaining three months on my contract, while I’m across the street in the new spot. It’s a new complex, this time I’m on the 11th floor instead of 10th, but the major draw of this place is that it’s a larger fully furnished 1BR spot, as opposed to the last one which was a furnished studio. I’m trying to get wireless internet working and it’s been a bitch, so for now I have an unsightly network cable running from room to room to my laptop. The view up here is pretty excellent and my DJ equipment arrives with my sister around Thanksgiving.

I’m throwing a party in exactly a month, at a local club here called the Loft. It’s not really so much of a club as a warehouse, but that’s the reason why it’s perfect. It’ll be a drum n bass and hip hop/funk party. A Parisian drum & bass DJ is coming up from Kunming and besides myself I’ll get a handful of Chinese hip hop DJ’s to play. I’m anxious to make some real music available to people living in this city. Mostly foreigners, but the Loft is right next to a place called Hemp House. It’s a marijuana-themed lounge where you can’t really sit upright anywhere in the place, you have to lie on beds of pillows. It’s a fairly insane concept for the average Chinese person, but this is the kind of place which hosts an exceptionally eccentric crowd. The area seems to be conducive to alternative styles of music and culture which is why we selected it.

I’m listening to a new DJ Shadow mix called Funky Skunk. True to its name, it’s funky.