dysemevas

100% Design...

or 200% fake?  I love Douglas Young because of his incredible wit.  It's finally here, 100% Design has made it to China... I saw a giant Chinese flag in the airport today and was mildly touched... That was right before the gigantic line at customs, at which point i was more than mildly annoyed.  Spent the day being extremely annoyed because Hong Kong's visionaries are not very visionary at all.  To save my soul from eternal damnation, i wont say too much, but really - what is the point of having a design group of even you aren't going to design the best possible thing????  The term "put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind.  At least DY agrees with me.  DELAY NO MORE!!!!!!!!!!  Let's do things properly. 

Anyways so yes, I made it to Shanghai even with the typhoon.  Well, the typhoon was gone but still, the airport was a mess (i always forget that after weather disasters airports are a mess because they have to SHUT DOWN).  Whatever though, I am here.  Cannot WAIT to see what they have done / found.  Perhaps i shouldnt get my hopes up too high but I have FAITH.  (the same faith that i have when i say that my not taking a plastic bag is going to save the world...).

Maggie Gyllenhaal

I have decided I am obsessed with Maggie Gyllenhaal. I actually don't think I have seen any of her films, but for some reason, at least for the moment, I am in love with her. She's super kooky. They say you can tell a lot about a person from their face. They actually did this study a while back where they had people look at pictures and pick out the pictures of successful, powerful, or smart people. And, the people actually chose right. Maggie Gyllenhaal looks bright. Tara Reid looks stupid. And she sounds stupid too, actually. I hate squeaky voices. People with squeaky voices tend to avoid deep thoughts. The problem read is the stutter- some people stutter a lot and are basically unable to form a coherent thought, and other people stutter a lot but are just bad at talking but have interesting things to say. Perhaps i am more visual than sensual... I remember in high school i could actually see words on the textbook page during exams...
Lunch with Jo.Ho became lunch with Joanne and Jen and joho. How random and serendipitous.
Flipping through "The Moment"-- am now also obsessed with Lou Dillon.
Was speaking to Stanley Wong today. We did a site visit for the RED WHITE BLUE AMBASSADOR'S BALL. Totally love that the celestial hong kong dub station music that i want to audition for the ball actually was inspired by Stanley. What a coincidence. Also loved hearing Stanley's commentary on Liu ZhiZhi and MeWE. Amazingly, Stanley is also doing the MAKE show in Paris and so i will be seeing him there. How small is the world? What a stupid question - Greater China Design / Creative Scene: obviously very small. At lunch, Barney was there too with his friend, who turned out to be ex-SHANGHAI TANG. I was with Joanne, SHG T CD. Johanna worked at Blanc de Chine. Joseph of SHG TANG just moved from BDC. Joseph dated Barney. The design scene is even more incestuous than the dating scene. My god.

fifteen minutes...

its cliche to say that i wish there were more hours in the day.  actually, what this means is that i am on a roll.   I can think of plenty of times when i have wished that time would just pass and when it has been an effort to do just about anything...

I am so excited: I recieved "The Complete Fairy Tales" by Oscar Wilde in the mail today.  Over the weekend i read "The Educated Imagination" and "Eccentric Glamour."  I know-- totally different.  I  loved both actually...  As a proponent of critical thinking AND imagination, the Educated Imagination was fantastic as it resonated with many of my thoughts and clarified them.   And it showed how they work TOGETHER in the writing and studying of literature... Also love the way literature is explained from the beginning of time and then "justified"... I refuse to say more as i believe arguments that are well written should be read.  Simon Doonan's "eccentric glamour" i picked up because of the pink jacket.  Whimsical, fun, random-- much better than reaching for the latest copy of Vogue.  Is it a classic?  Of course not.  But, especially in a culture obsessed with glamour and thinness and shopping is it a fun break?  Sure.  And finally, nothing makes a woman feel better about herself than a campy gay man, right?

Actually, strangely enough i was reading the book on the boat with my cousin and her 14-year old friends.  ALL OF THEM WORE BOARD SHORTS DOWN TO THEIR KNEES OVER THEIR SWIMSUITS.  ALL OF THEM.  And they were all girls (well, except for one random boy).  I always tell my aunt (and the rest of my family) that they cannot say ANYTHING to my cousins about being chubby.  Even if they are, and depending on the standards that you apply they might be or they might not be, there is already so much bloody pressure on girls to be thin that its impossible for anyone to feel comfortable in their own skin.  IMPOSSIBLE. 

15 minutes up for now... 

addictive / obsessive disorder...

I think i have a serious problem with addiction.  Or else I am just super obsessive.  It's not as though I dont have anything better to do (although maybe I dont) but i can't help but to post something here every few hours... its as though my blog would miss me if i stayed away for too long.

I saw my friend Andy (who was wearing the coolest outfit: V swimmers, a striped oxford shirt, and a hoodie) this afternoon after hanging out with Zhang Da who introduced me to Liu ZhiZhi.  Zhang Da - another favourite designer of mine out here - has just moved to Beijing.  Liu ZhiZhi is a graphic designer.  We sat around and i discussed my theory on language - so long as you understand me and i understand you, its all good.  Actually we had a lovely chat and they told me about the German exhibition & shop that they want to bring out here (Bless: SO COOL) and I told them about my pop up shop.  ZZ is going to do the identity for it...  Too bad he can't do mine as an individual.  It would be cool.

Back to Andy - So Andy started an NPO.  Basically Teach for America but in China.  We're going to work together by getting his teachers into my schools.  YAY.  Superdeluxe (i like this term.  will use it more?).  He also told me about his pompous (his word) girlfriend from the Chinese dept of Beida.  Oh and about his radio show.  I love the innovative ways these people have for learning chinese... jk, but maybe not.

It's friday night and there's stuff going on at Block 8, Song, and Suzie's... Yay.   Back to the Kong tomorrow and still not sure about what to do about Paris...

Shanghai Tang Party...

No comment.
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Rant: Hong Kong Design Institute & Institute of Vocational Education

I recieved this in the "mail" today and realized that something was WRONG.  This is a edm from a DESIGN SCHOOL.  Why aren't they showcasing the best of their design???  The fact that they used a stock font and then just WRITTEN THE TEXT in a COMPLETELY BORING WAY is BEYOND DEPRESSING.  Obviously they teach design.  Obviously they have students who can do things for them.  Obviously this is the work of some bureaucratic freak who just decided to put this together and forgot that (1) this is a great avenue to showcase the work that is being done at the school and (2) people do LOOK at these things as a DIRECT MANIFESTATION or REPRESENTATION of the work that they are going to see.  THIS IS WHY there is space for a group like the Ambassadors.  NO FURTHER COMMENTS.

Download IVE.bmp

*It's so gross i dont want it on my page...

Classical music in china

The reason there are probably more classical music artists in china than pop stars is that classical music stars can play concerts 365 days a year, never have to come up with new music, and never get too old o be cool... How capitalist!

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rhinitis rhinoceros

stuck in bed (well not actually stuck but rather practicing preventive medicine) watching Sex in the City. Realize why i love the first season - it's basically framing and analyzing relationship issues / questions in a comedic and cosmopolitan format that doesnt pander to the lowest common denominator or take itself too seriously. At least in its first season, its about THINGS and not RANDOM DRAMA...

The reason i can't work is because i hate the fact that business is about making money. Not that i dont appreciate that but what a thought to have to deal with at 25-- the bottom line or doing something fun, interesting, new etc etc etc?? Not that you cant do both but most of the time its so much easier to do one or the other... And time is money in the real world and money comes easier when you just do it the obvious way... Whatever though we (royal we, as usual), will get there... I'm way too anal at this point to be able to do anything (other than this) in any way that isnt exactly how i think it needs to be anyways and so i guess i just have to grow up a bit and consolidate more...

I love canapes at parties. The ones at Established and Sons were particularly fantastic... Wish i had my nose so i could taste food properly... Lovely article on "Design-Art" in the IHT today. Particularly relevant after the Yojhi auction in Beijing. How should the application of creativity through mechanistic means be considered?