MOJO IN CHINA

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Watch Debate Replay in Shanghai

admin | 08 October, 2008 14:40

Image taken from Newsday

Don't think I haven't been keeping up with what's going on with the Presidential Campaign. I'm all over it, and so is Shanghai.

For all those interested and you have the time (I doubt I can go cause I'll be at work, DOH!), you should check out the debates in Shanghai. This is from Democrats Abroad, China Chapter. (Yes, I am a Democrat and I am voting for Obama.)

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Shanghai, Puxi: Malone's American Cafe, Puxi. REPLAY @ 5P. [255 Tongren Ren Lu, Puxi. (021) 6247 2400]. For info contact David, 15801879271.

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Where I'm going tomorrow night:

admin | 07 October, 2008 13:34

The Blues Room

So today I got an invite from a bass player "bassed in Shanghai" named Jimy Graham to check him out at The Blues Room. I'm excited to go because I like the Blues Room, even though I haven't been there to listen to blues yet. (The last time I was there, I watched the world's greatest slam dunks, which is always awesome to watch.)

I spoke to Jimy on the phone and he's a cool guy, but what I really like are his blues lesson videos. They are great.I look forward to seeing him live.

Busy weekends this weekend and next weekend...

admin | 10 July, 2008 17:48

These weeks have been pretty crazy and busy since my lovely time in Jeju with the wifey. But, as they say, the show must go on!

This Saturday, Redstar has a show at Hangzhou's G+ from 10pm-2am. We'll aslo be on FM 99.6 from 2pm-3pm to do a live interview on the air. Be there for that.

Next weekend on the 18th is the China DMC Championship. Find out more here!

The day after on the 19th is China BOTY Final. Find out more info here and don't sleep! (I know I won't!)

Last Stop - Xuzhou

admin | 25 May, 2008 17:44

Exhibit A - Dog Meat

So I am back as of yesterday from Xuzhou located in Jiangsu province. It was really hot over there and the place is surrounded by tons of mountains... Kinda reminded me of Nanjing, but a lot smaller.

Anyway, this was the last stop of the 10 day tour with Chivas 12 y.o. Honestly, I'll miss the people on the tour, the whiskey, the meeting, greeting and taking pictures of people. But one of these things I will miss the least:

DOG MEAT

Xuzhou is know for it's spicy dishes, particulalry their spicy dog dish. There are plently of restaurants that have the sings "GOU ROU" (litterally, Dog Meat) plastered all over their walls and store fronts. No, Zoe and I had no dog meat on our journey, and you will know why if you do a picture search for the words Gou Rou on baidu.com... Sick...

Anyway, Xuzhou was cool and the hotel were were at called the Yingdu New Jin Jiang was a pretty posh 4 star. There was a wedding happening at the hotel and at the lobby they were collecting money for the couple with a machine to check whether the money people were giving to the couple were real or fake. Welcome to China!!

If you are ever in Xuzhou and you want to find a fun time, you can check out Calvin Klein Club... Yes, it's called Calvin Klein (CK Jiu Ba... IPR is going well out here!). They have a cage there for scantlily clad male and female dancers with too much make-up (the male dancers too).

Glad to be back in Shanghai.

Back to the Roots @ The Shelter - This Friday

admin | 25 May, 2008 17:40

Freakin' beautiful flyer, Gary.

China's best non-pretentious party is back. Be there.

Days of Mourning in China, May 19th-21st

admin | 19 May, 2008 21:18

Huge gathering in Tiananmen Square this afternoon.

Today is the first of three days of mourning for the Sichuan Earthquake in China which happened on 5/12. Today, millions of Chinese dressed in black and white, TV station, websites are in black and white letters and backgrounds, and for 3 minutes from 2:58pm-3:01pm, Chinese (and foreigners like yours truly) paused from work, honked their horns, prayed and placed our thoughts on those affected by this tragedy.

Words such as "Unification", "Love" and many words of patriotism and support for this country have come about in a way I've never seen before.

No, this isn't a scary thing, but it's a kind of appreciation of life and people that I've never seen before firsthand in China. It's been amazing.

My wife and I dressed in all black today in respect to the vitims of the tragedy. All movies theaters, bars, clubs and other places of entertainment are temporarily closed during this mourning period. As I've mentioned in a previous post, the mouning period will last from today until the 21st of May.

To wrap up this post, I was watching a TV news report on CCTV with tens upon thousands of Chinese citizens in Tianman Square. Men and women, young and old all chanting one thing: "Zhongguo, Jia You!, Sichuan, Jia You!" (China, Go Go!! Sichuan, Go Go!!)

With everything that's happened this year, from the Olympic Torch issue in Paris, Tibet, Love China on MSN, the Olympics countdowns and now this... We're seeing a new China. Not just the economic powerhouse... but the patriotic, moral and spiritual China.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those families affected in Sichuan. Also, I don;t care if you are from China, the US or anywhere around the world, remember, life is very important, support those that need the help and show love to your neighbor. This is more than politics, this is LIFE. Peace.

Nanjing... we back in tha building!

admin | 14 May, 2008 07:25

1912 in Nanjing

Once again, I returned to Nanjing and when I arrived, I realized so much has changed. Firstly, the town is a lot greener with more trees. Secondly, there are way more foreigners living there than I've ever seen. Lastly, 1912 has finally become a huge part of Nanjing's dining, nightlife and overall entertainment experience.

1912, as you might know, is called 1912 because in 1912, Nanjing became the capital of China with the country's first president, Sun Yat-sen. (Not far from 1912 is the Presidential Palace.) 1912 was a great time for Nanjing because it shows Nanjing at a time when it was bustling and becoming the true epicenter of China.

Almost 100 years later, it's getting back to that feel from 1912 at the formentioned entertainment district. Full of cuisines from Thai, local Chinese to KFC and more bars and clubs that you can shake a stick at. I perfromed there with Chivas last Saturday night at a place called Fei Bi Club (aka Phoebe Club). The place had a bit too much neon lights and metalic frames for my tasts (which is very common in Chinese clubs), so I did take a trip to Little Scarlet along with my wife, DJ Melkman, along with local friends Yuichiro (my Midd class mate and GT representer), Miki (From F&W and in-nanjing.net) and his girlfriend, and Kai.

If you're looking to move away from the 1912 spots, I would sugest two more places also worth checking out:

Nanjing's Underground Mall (aka Fashion Lady)

You want sneakers, high heels, dresses, shirts, hats and sunglasses for cheap (or relatively cheap), you got it all here. There's like 2-3 floors ful of tiny stores where you can bargain for all your clothing needs. I find that the fit for most of the clothes here is a bit small for me, particularly in the shoes department, but otherwise, it's great if you are a gal looking for a bargain and different styles that, chances are, other people won't have.

The place is full of people, I would recommend going on Sunday afternoon where it is a little easy to walk through. The spot is not far from Xinjiekou across the street from Dong Fang Shang Cheng Shopping Mall (which now has the real Gucci and Armani stores???) near the Jinling Hotel.

Planta

Planta is a Thai food/lounge/bar/club in Nanjing. It's pretty far away from other clubs and kinf of hard tofind because it's way behind some science building. When you areive at Planta, you'll find plenty of couches, dimmed lights and chill music. When I was first there with Aric in '06, there was noone there. Last Saturday, When I was there with Zoe, I thought I was at Glamour Bar on a Friday night. It was packed with people, Chinese and foreigners alike, all dressed in black with downtempo and acid jazz playing and folks schmoozing. Call it pretentious, call it cool, but this is a change for Nanjing, finally, an alternative for all.

Anyway, that's all for now. This Friday is Hangzhou at Lin Ping Ben Se.

More on Ningbo (aka Ning-bizzle)

admin | 06 May, 2008 14:25

Damn! That's a looong bridge!! (Hangzhou Bay Bridge)

Ningbo left a pretty darn good impression on me this weekend. Maybe it's because I spent a whole two days checking out the city rather than an overnight where I see more of the club and the hotel than the actual city. There are three things that stuck out in my mind while I was there...

Ningbohua = Shanghaihua

Ok, Ningbo and Shanghai dialects aren't exactly the same, but apparently, 70% of Shanghai dialect comes from Ningbo dialect. My wife understands Ningbo dialect even though she's never been there, but she could essentially speak Shanghaineese to the people there and it would sound the same... For me, that doesn't matter much because I'm like a guy from Beijing... I don't understand what these people are saying and my Mandarin is too proper.

Ningbo Guide

I'm really impressed by this magazine. They are located in all the right spots in Ningbo, they notify you on all the good deals in Ningbo and it's in both Chinese and English. Nice to see a full bilingual magazine and not just something catered to lost lao wai in this country. Craig, way to go. if it wasn't for this mag, I wouldn't know that Crowne Plaza Ningbo has an all you can eat barbecue for 68 kuai (10 Bucks! It's a steal!)

Hangzhou Bay Bridge

(both of the pictures above)

It's long and convenient. Supposedly the longest bridge in the world... (I think only in China, but they say the world in China...)

Anyway, it's way quicker to take a trip to and from Shanghai to Ningbo by the bus. We took the train over and it took about 3.5 hours (and that was the fastest train). We took the bus back and it was about 2.5 hours, and buses are torture to sit through in this country.

When we first got on the bridge, everyone stood up to look and took pictures and talked about the history of the bridge and what they heard about it and so on.. very excited...

Then... We were still on the bridge..

It kept going... With the sea all around us... Now I know how it feels being a sailor lost at see with water all around you... BORING... hehe

Anyway, that's not the point of the bridge... It's all about from point A to point B and now traveling from Shanghai to Ningbo and back has gotten a lot faster. I see a lot more manufacturing and travelling happening between Ningbo and Shanghai.. Does this mean that Ningbo will surpass Hangzhou in city development???

(I still think Hangzhou is prettier! Sorry, Craig.)

That's all folks. This week... Wuxi and... I'm going back home to Nanjing!

(This one's for you, Miki... IN-NANJING.NET!!!)

This weekend in Shanghai... Which I will miss...

admin | 24 April, 2008 16:47

Brubeck Braid

I'm missing a weekend of good music to work in Suzhou and Jiangyin this weekend, so whoever is reading this and will be in Shanghai this weekend, please enjoy these for me!

Jazz superstars Matt Brubeck (familiar last name? Son of Dave Brubeck, who is a dope jazz pianist...) on the cello and pianist/composer David Braid are going to play some nice jazz/classical sets. Check out more at City Weekend.

Nas is supposed to be here tomorrow. Hopefully with no visa issues... It's at Racks... (Don't they also have one in Hong Kong?)

So while I slave away with Chivas 12 y.o., enjoy this weekend, ya'll! I'll have some updates on both cities, just like last weekend, for ya'll soon!

MoJo in Shaoxing

admin | 19 April, 2008 02:10

Waterways and canals can be found throughout Shaoxing.

My wife and I are in Shaoxing located in Zhejiang province, for one stop on a nine city tour for sevan weekends through Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces for Chivas 12 y.o. I'm mcing and beatboxing the shows, which is fun. When ever I do these kinds of shows, I get to see bits and pieces of these cities, but it's never long enough...

Anyway, my wife's family is originally from there (Father-in-law's side, grandfather...) and it's been nice to see it... There are a lot of canals and waterways, much like Suzhou, but I find Shaoxing to be more quaint, at least at first glance.

Next up, Yiwu. Looking forward to it!

Nas in Shanghai

admin | 11 April, 2008 11:28

I'll believe it when it's all 100% confirmed.

More info here...

Redstar video for Fullbright Scholar Angela Steele and Lila Babb and their project, DONG TING

admin | 04 April, 2008 12:29

Enjoy.

Redstar

Hip-Hop in Kunming

admin | 03 April, 2008 12:24

Hip-Hop nights at Uprock in Kunming, China

So my boy DJ DSK has a a little club called Uprock in Kunming, China. They're working on a hip-hop night down there that breaks it all down to the four elements, bboy, MC, Graffitti and the DJ (If I didn't add DJ, DJ DSK would kill me).

So if you plan on making a flight Yunnan to check out the Naxi Tribe, or take a boat around Erhai Lake be sure to check out Uprock in Kunming. Tell em MoJo sent ya...

(Respect to Mr. Stokes!!)

(By the way... 6 days till my birthday!!)

DJ Kentaro at The Shelter

admin | 28 March, 2008 17:16

DJ Kentaro at The Shelter

DJ Kentaro will be at The Shelter this evening. So if you are in Shanghai, do stop by. ALSO, Redstar will perform, so definitely be prepared for that. Another fun Friday in Shanghai with some great music.

Look for Urban Culture in China via Urban Magazine

admin | 21 March, 2008 10:07

Urban Magazine

Who said China doesn't have street culture?

Urban Magazine is a free, Chinese language mag on urban life in China. They cover mostly Chinese street fashion and gear, but also get into a bit of hip-hop music and general hip-hop trends in China.

Again, it's free and you can pick 'em up at The Lab.

On this month's cover, China's bad boy of 2008 Edison Chen is on the cover... No dirty pics though... I just read this copy and it's cool with a bunch of old school pics of Nike in China in 1984 and Eno's premium line mixing street wear with Chinese minority attire. Slick.

On the topic of urban lifestyle and music, if you are in Shanghai tonight, do check out Quality Control/The Lab Second Year Aniversary at The Shelter with Redstar and DJ Roli Rho.

I just found out Roli Rho's been to Shanghai about 6-7 years ago to play, so that goes to show that Shanghai's history in hip-hop and the international scene goes pretty far back.

Happy Spring!

admin | 20 March, 2008 17:15

Not Spring Rolls!! Spring is here!

Yes... It's that time of the year again! It's spring time in China. The weather is still a bit chilly, so pack a jacket before going out, but the sun is out and beaming, blue skies even! (Something you HAVE to cherish out here!!!)

I don't have any special stories or anything like that, but just want to wish "yu" all a Happy Spring! (And do celebrate with me and my group Redstar tomorrow!)

Those Spring Rolls still look madd good tho'...

Listen to Redstar

admin | 19 March, 2008 15:02

Redstar at The Shelter Saturday before last.

This Friday, DJ Roli Rho is at The Shelter. Warming up are your local hometown heroes: Redstar.

Check out our song above called "Who We Be", which is about: who... we... be... Obvously.

10PM this Friday! Don't sleep!

Will Chinese Hip-Hop ever take itself seriously?

admin | 18 March, 2008 14:09

Dragon Tongue Squad

I read this article on the Dragon Tongue Squad in the UK Royal Opera House a few minutes ago. Once you open the page, bam... there's one out of 5 stars for the perfromance. I read City Weekend's post about Yin T'sang's latest album, and you can check their review here...

Two stars... and that's from a magazine IN CHINA...

I know these groups and they are good people. So what's with all the bad press? It's aweful... but is it the fault of the reporters or the fault of the artists themselves?

Reporters will see what they want to see and report stuff as they see it. Hip-hop has been generalized and stereotyped in so many ways. When groups from China come out with repeating already used terms such as "Hustler", "bling" and talking about "gangsters",and dressing like someone you're not... They need to stop it and think about something different to discuss and a new way to express interesting material.

Then again, reporters need to open their mind about hip-hop in China. Why? Because a lot of rappers out here are rather limited lyrically due to censorship, China's exposure to the ouside world (particualry recording hip-hop music in China) has come of age since the last decade), and China is still searching for it's VERY OWN hip-hop culture... Don't diss it until it's ripe and ready...

But maybe that's what hip-hop needs out here... It needs a kick in the pants and for some people to wake up in this country and start taking things to the next level. A more serious level that demands respect.

One that note, some shameless self-promotion...

Redstar is opening for DJ Roli Rho at The Shelter this Friday Night for The Lab's Second Year Aniversary Series and we'll be at Pause this Sunday, also at The Shelter. Do yo' thang, Gary.

Respect Is Given If You Take It. Redstar Is Revolution.

Neocha

admin | 13 March, 2008 12:07

A video I found on You Tube on NeoCha.

NeoCha, aka Xin Cha (New Tea) is like MySpace for creative types in China. Redstar is on there too. Here's our (currently so-so) site.

It's started by Sean L. and John L., one dude from B6 and another cat. Sean, John and I go back in our Hopkins-Nanjing days. Crazy, huh?

Sean, if you reading this, get the site fixed. Don't tell me you guys are blocked already! See you at The Lab's 2-year aniversary next week at The Shelter? (I can't make it tomorrow, I'm going to the dentist and I got a marriage aniversary to prep for over the weekend. I'll be at the one after!)

Nokia 5300 at Suning

admin | 03 March, 2008 10:41

My wife just copped this Nokia 5300

This phone is one sale for 1380 RMB (original price, 1580 RMB) at Suning (It's like the Radio Shack of China, but bigger, better and cheaper). Throw in 28 RMB and you get a battery and a Suning Charger.

Back To The Roots. This Saturday. It's March Maddness.

admin | 03 March, 2008 10:24

A lil' bit of shameless self promotion won't hurt...

A lot of folks ask me, "When can we see your shows?...", "When can we see you perfrom?...", "Who is Redstar?"

Well... Do yourself a favor, stop asking and come out to Back to the Roots this Saturday (3/8, Happy International Women's Day!!) at The Shelter.

Experience great music and great fun in China.

"Xie Xie Ni Men De Pei He."

calendar

recently...

Watch Debate Replay in Shanghai

Where I'm going tomorrow night:

Busy weekends this weekend and next weekend...

Last Stop - Xuzhou

Back to the Roots @ The Shelter - This Friday

Days of Mourning in China, May 19th-21st

Nanjing... we back in tha building!

More on Ningbo (aka Ning-bizzle)

This weekend in Shanghai... Which I will miss...

MoJo in Shaoxing

Nas in Shanghai

Redstar video for Fullbright Scholar Angela Steele and Lila Babb and their project, DONG TING

Hip-Hop in Kunming

DJ Kentaro at The Shelter

Look for Urban Culture in China via Urban Magazine

Happy Spring!

Listen to Redstar

Will Chinese Hip-Hop ever take itself seriously?

Neocha

Nokia 5300 at Suning

Back To The Roots. This Saturday. It's March Maddness.

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