thepismire » beijing

The Harlem Globetrotters

thepismire — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:37:39 +0000

Of all the places, I had the opportunity to see the Harlem Globetrotters in China. Out of the many firsts I’ve had here, this will be one of the more memorable ones. I remember as a kid, my only exposure to these guys were commercials of their appearances during the Saturday morning cartoon block. Sometimes I would see them in highlight reels on Roggin’s Heroes (remember that?). Now, actually seeing them was amazing. The only unfortunate thing about the whole event was that the crowd was just not into. I don’t know if it’s the culture or if it was just a bad day for everyone, but the Globetrotters practically had to beg for some cheers, clapping and smiles. I almost felt bad for the guys, but they still kept their showmanship up, and gave us a good time. This one was for free, and honestly, I don’t think I would have paid over $30 for the Globetrotters, but still, I was thankful to see some Americans showing their skills to the PRC. I know this is wrong of me, but I secretly was hoping that the Globetrotters would play one of the CBA teams out here and beat them just to show how much they suck…”You just got beat by a team of basketball clowns son!” Yea, that would’ve been oh so sweet.

Reppin’

This was when the Globe got tired of begging for cheers and snapped.

Got tricks.

Ant!

Yay for fun times!

A White November

thepismire — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:10:22 +0000

To usher in the month of November, China’s Weather Modification Office provided us with snow.

Stepping out from our apartment.

The local news wrote:

“Beijing Weather Modification Office said they had used artificial means to increase the snow to ease the lingering drought. ‘We wont miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought,’ said Zhang Qiang, who is in charge of the office. Zhang said more than 16 million tonnes of snow had been artificially added according to the preliminary calculation. ‘We have used a total of 186 doses of silver iodide since 8:00p.m. on Saturday,’ she said.”

Weather Modification Office? Dang, sounds like we’re in the future. All this tampering with nature must have some consequence. So, what do you do with all that fake snow?

FAKE SNOW FIGHT!

Snow ninja throws fake snow.

Karen getting fake pwned.

Jason & Grace’s Engagement

thepismire — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:09:14 +0000

A couple of friends of mine are getting hitched, and asked me to take some photos for them. We decided to go to the 798 Art District here in Beijing, which I really enjoyed before. I like this place because it’s so “industrial”. A lot of pipes, rusting metal, concrete, steam, basically it has a lot of character. My buddy Isaiah, who’s a veteran when it comes to wedding/engagement photos, came along to help out too. Again, good times.

We Eat Bugs

thepismire — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:09:30 +0000

I have a lot to update on. The team from TKC came out. We wanted team solidarity. Solution: Eat bugs.

Deciding on which friends to put in our stomachs. Decided on scorpions and these beetle looking things.

The stinger poked him going in.

Zevin, you Ecuadorian animal.

Straining.

“Watch me handle my boba while I eat the hell out of this thing.”

It’s the same face he makes when you poke his belly button.

Regret.

Awww, she’s petting the bug with her mouth.

Oh, the carnage! You’re sick, you’re sick!

Solidarity ACCOMPLISHED!

More HERE

Beijing Guo An v. Qing Dao Zhong Neng

thepismire — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:24:30 +0000

Some of us checked out a football match. We (Beijing) were playing Qing Dao, which is a city famous for its beer, “Tsing Tao” (Qing Dao = Tsing Tao). It was actually my first time to a soccer match, and given the fact that I had no stake in either team, I found myself eventually showing a lot of Beijing pride (it helped that we won). I also learned a lot about Chinese soccer fans. Throughout the game they would yell these chants, which is normal in any sporting match, in any country. But sometimes they would direct the chants at the tiny section reserved for the opposing team. Talk about intimidation. Imagine tens of thousands of angry fans yelling in your direction at once. Anyway, in America, the harshest insult I could imagine in an organized chant would be “Something/someone sucks!” Well, that doesn’t even hold a candle to what the Beijingers yell. It’s so bad that I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it is lest even write it down. It was AMAZING! I couldn’t believe that thousands of people were yelling it in unison. It definitely qualified for virgin ears to put on earmuffs.

Go Green!

These guys just sat there the whole game. They were so still…

Guards near the opposing team’s fans. Once the game was done, they all took off their orange shirts, which were their team colors so that they wouldn’t get killed in the parking lot. WEAK. They call themselves fans?

Whenever a player of the opposing team got injured, they would yell “Bury him on the field!” Brutal.

Cars driving out from the sidewalk back into the regular street. I would LOVE to drive here. Notice they’re doing this in front of a cop too.

More HERE!

Straight From The King

thepismire — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:12:27 +0000

The only Burger King in Beijing is at the airport. One of our friends had to go pick someone up at the airport, so that only meant one thing…WHOPPER PARTY!!

Fries, however, were provided by McDonald’s, which is abundant here. Fun!

Ready For The Olympics?

thepismire — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:00:47 +0000

So the games have officially started (In Beijing at least), and Engadget has a great article out, getting you ready to watch the Olympics. The handiest information I thought was the TV schedule so that you would always be able to watch the Olympics. Here it is:

CNBC: Midnight – 4:30A
USA: 2:00A – 12:00P
MSNBC: 5:00A – 5:00P
NBC: 10:00A – 1:00P
CNBC: 5:00P – 8:00P
Oxygen: 6:00P – 8:00P
NBC: 8:00P – 11:30P
NBC: Midnight – 1:30A (Late night show)

There you have it. After visiting China recently, I have learned that this is such an important thing for the people, and they must be so excited right now. I’m happy for them.