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Parkour Girl and Yellow Fish Car flash site

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PKG flash site
Do you want to read a novel that mixes detailed modern Shanghai life, good writing and costumed hero action?

No? Oh ... sorry.

Well, my book is officially live now so why not give it a try? Anyway, we now have an eponymous URL and flash site for the book.


The original art was done by Wuduo Studio and the site coded by Netricks. As with the cover, what really excites me about this is just seeing that style of art or story but in Shanghai. We now move on to phase three of our master plan and I'll soon start to post up the whole naked process at the Indie Everything site. Soon.

In the meantime, help an indie culture maker out and spread the word anyway you can. If you've read it and have an Amazon ID, add a review. Blog it. It's cheap cheap cheap, but also, if you or someone you know has a legit site or job for reviewing I could send a copy over. Let me know.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition: oh, I'm old.

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d20pic
Warning: long, long non music post

"This is a game that is fun. It helps you to imagine."
F. Mentzer, Preface to the Basic Boxed Set. Feb. 1983.

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a table top role-playing game (RPG) that I have played since I was about 12. I'm 39. Now we have the news that current owning company Wizards of the Coast are play testing the 5th Edition. 

Also, a recent game of V4 means that I have now played all the existing editions organically. I mean, as they were current. 

Here is an excellent mid length article to summarize. But I'm going to go on about the same thing anyway.


So, on to my thoughts ...

My book: an early look

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amazon pic
Alright then. 

Err, so, I wrote a book. It's a regular novel. 

Close friends know that I write books all the time. But this was the first one to get feedback that encouraged me to get it published. Actually the publishing/marketing process is still ongoing and in early stages but it's now up at Amazon for Kindle and other eBook readers. Here:


(Mail me at the blog addie for review copies, writer people)

The cover illustration was done by Ivan Belcic at Twin Horizon.

It's a fictional work about vigilante heroes in modern day Shanghai and people who live here will see that most of it is either true or very closely based on true Shanghai stuff. Just not the costumed hero battles. There's a synopsis thing at the Amazon link. For non-Shanghai people, this will give you a look at modern Shanghai that's completely out of the mainstream. 

It's also full of action and genre stuff to please all fans of heroes and whatnot.

This is still very much DIY by the way. I just happened to find someone who believed in the book and was willing to sponsor a kind of assisted indie publishing method.

And for those that read it and know me or the scene ... no the real Zack Smith is not a vigilante hero on a team with Parkour Girl and Lightning ... or is he?  
Ok, this is a follow up post dealing with this trip from just before Halloween:


You really needn't read on unless you are into urban exploration in Shanghai. You see, despite being in my late thirties, I still get a lot of pleasure in sneaking around like a ninja, ducking guards and going places you're not allowed to go.

I went back up the crane with the idea to take better photos. There were two problems. First, despite going around midnight, people are starting to know this place and security were actively doing rounds still. Secondly, I suck and my camera can't handle low light. By the way, there's a beautified disused railway line that starts by the skate park and is full of bushes and darkness. That's where I stashed my bike.

So, you'll need to open this crane picture for reference.

Here are the second level gates I talked about in the first post, from the inside, entering from the skywalk thing. See, wide, easy to climb and safe.
CR 004

This next photo looked so good to me at the time. Check the ref photo of the crane. I'm standing on the small landing thing halfway between the top level and the lower two levels, where the stairs turn. It shows part of both lower levels and a light on the ground. Alas, the pic looks rather flat. The lighter walkway is a level below the darker parts on the right. See? No?Boo Hoo.
CR 002

OK, so we'll just have a look out from the stairs above that landing then. Almost to the top. By the way, when you are actually on the top, it's dark and, if you're me, you suddenly realize how high you are. I would have passed out had I done this one.
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Infiltration: unfinished expo stuff

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Come on lads just one more week and it'll be open, just in time for the Exp ... oh. One of the major Expo developments - a huge 3K long park zone along the shore of the Huang Pu from the Lupu Bridge (Puxi side) all the way down the back of Long Hua - is still not open to the public.

But, it's pretty much done and it's cold now so night guards just kip in the bottom of their boxes. Oh what fun to be had, even for non-life-risking types who love to bike about. Alas, couldn't get so many photos as my camera is shit and it was dark. But check these out.

Oh, important point. If you go for the cranes (see photos) do not use the stairs in the middle of the base - you'd have to climb on the outside to get around the door - and risk broken legs or death if you fall. Just enter via the adjacent skywalk, with the wooden board floors and you'll see safe double doors in the old prison style - i.e. ladders. 100% safe.

What's this?
craneone

Going up.
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A pristine (but horribly designed) bike/skate area! And it's lit all night.
bike park

Underpass near the Wanping end.
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McRefugees on my hot chocolate stop. The Tianyaoqiao branch where someone got stabbed waking one up. 
sleepers

My machine outside.
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1984 cover
Here's a very rare 'other' category post. It does feature a link to something I've done but this is not my project - hence it being here and not at Indie Everything.

H.A.L. is a publisher for people who like to write and happen to live in Shanghai, but don't want to write about China in that horrible white-expert way. 

I recently went to their open meetings called Groupthink and had a good time. And, let's get this out of the way now, I have a new short story there.

Keep in mind the meetings are every two weeks and you get the brief a little over a week from the deadline. Anyway, here it is. Try not to fall into the usual trap when you read it. It's, you know, fiction. I don't really do .. well, I won't spoil the end for you.

The best thing about this group is that they are in fact serious about publishing. Check out the photo. That's a demo cover of their soon to be released first book Party Like It's 1984. This is something really worth supporting. And if you like writing yourself, why not come along to the meetings? There's a tab on the site for submissions, but coming to the group, taking the challenge and reading your stuff out is the best way for them to get to know you and your work/style. Everyone's really nice too. 

AV Club crosstalk on festivals

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candy monster
Before we get going with this link, let me remind you that the place to get all your China festival news is China Music Radar. So check it out.

So. I don't really like festivals.  They are shit for seeing live music and the other aspect - the experience / hang out - rarely comes together as it should for many reasons. 

But, instead of ranting about it, I'm going to link this amazing AV Club discussion (text) on it that just came out:


Here's the opening:

Every summer I face the same no-win situation: Do I man up and set aside my instinctual aversion to outdoor music festivals, which I've come to associate with overstuffed and B.O.-heavy crowds, wallet-killing concessions, poor sound, and even worse sightlines? Or do I surrender to sanity and stay home, which will inevitably make me feel like I'm missing something, especially after I read all the reviews online about how "mind-blowing" and "awe-inspiring" such-and-such band was. Really? You really thought it was that good after standing in flip-flops in the punishing sun for eight hours in a sea of awful, inconsiderate drunks? Is it possible that I actually hate live music?

My Ren Hang 任航 prints

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There's a certain amount of crossover between the indie music scene in China and more adventurous young artists too. They are in the same boat, environment-wise. Ahem.

It's a natural relationship with lots of high profile examples. Popil doing the PK14 and Hard Queen shirts. Bigger Bang's Pupi is a renowned artist. Kaine Lv's mural at Yuyintang and her work on their flyers, now at Splitworks. You could go on and on, there's so much good stuff. I'm not going to track down and link all this stuff so I'll throw a link this way.

One of my favorites is Beijing based photographer Ren Hang, who does stark urban China images that often feature sterile apartments, naked bodies in odd positions ... I'm not an art critic obviously but he's very good at externalizing the urban experience here and has a streak of surrealism and rebellion in him. I dunno, if you are used to living in Chinese cities and hanging out then I think you see his work and it strikes a chord. So, anyway: I got in touch and bought a couple of prints and here they are (they still have packaging on them):


ren in my room

Where's Jake / Indie Everything

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Thumbnail image for by Wee Ling
About time for some general updates. 

So where's Jake. Poor Jake works very very hard for the nice people at Time Out magazine, of which he represents 25% But, he still blogs because that's how much he loves us all. Currently he's having a bit of a holiday with his dear old mum. Seriously. 

So, once he's back we'll start planning the next series of Podcasts and blog posts will flow again. Just remember we have the two blogs and one will always have something each week. 

Also, the stuff we've been doing has made me think a lot. There's the blogs and the pod, there was some events and some music and, as yet behind the scenes, there's long form writing too and even IF games. There was even a video about the 3 Million RMB Douchebag at one point.

I was also re-reading No Media Kings lately.

Why not watch Jim's slideshow Time management For Anarchists

So, I'm often reflecting on being at the edges of the global arts industry which itself is crumbling and being redefined by the net. I moan about how it's becoming a wild west for Ad People and PR but also heap praise on those who build communities and succeed on their own terms. 

We've reflected a bit on how much we've been able to do in our spare time with very little effort and funding and how it's based on helping each other and just doing it without expectation and letting momentum build naturally. It would only take a small step up to start putting out some really good stuff. Blah blah blah ...

... jump cut to ...

I'm thinking of adding to Kungfuology with a new blog called Indie Everything where i'll document all projects i'm involved in from blogging to the Pod to music to whatever and just drop all secrecy or whatever and list all the costs or equipment or facilities or methods we use ... or whatever. Then people who read it can have a real and practical stepping off point to do the same themselves. It's sort of our endowment as humans to be aware and express ourselves. The idea that we shouldn't do it if it doesn't lead to financial gain needs to be swept away for a while. Well, forever.

Why am I telling you all about this? I just wanted a chat. And, I think the blog should be open for everyone to share/post. 

More to come.
expo pav
Update: Yeah, it's April fool's day. I made it pretty obvious with the rickroll at the end. Have fun everyone.

Well. 

If you read the local rags on a regular basis you may know that all kinds of test-run events and kinds of Expo soft openings are starting up this week as organizers run around at the last minute trying to make everything work. There are also all kinds of videos and Expo related channels springing up and in need of constant filling.

Among the press feeding frenzy comes this incredible statement from a unnamed official, apparently a member of mayor Han Zhong's inner office. 

The statement lays out a proposed section in the China pavilion to be called "Shanghai Youth Culture is Adamant" which will showcase local artists and bands. No word yet on if this means venues will stay open or if this is intended to replace non-official acts during the Expo period. But surely it's a massive step. Incredibly they mention a band by name, The Mushrooms. Perhaps they heard of the Jue crosstalk event lately? Either way, could it be that Shanghai local pride is strong enough to trump even central policy?

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