I'm new to machine knitting - I just collected my singer 321 today (ebay win) and put it together tonight and did my first test swatch. I think it's pretty cool that on the box it says "the knitting computer" and the man I bought it from said his Mum bought it in 1974 (I know there's earlier ones around). which I think could mean that it's possible women had the first 'home computers'? - running off punchcards etc, creating 'real'/'physical' products/outputs rather than 'virtual' ideas (software programs/outputs) - there were also punchcard sewing machines but I'm not sure what vintage they were originally. the Chart of Knitting Machines: Main Beds & Ribbers website tracks the various knitting machines and lists their production/release years - my Singer SK-321 was made in 1972 (original price $329.95) as was the matching Ribber (original price $124.95). punchcard computers were mostly room sized at that time and most 'personal computers' weren't released until around mid-late 1970s or more commonly in 1980s. wikipedia does mention there were a few tape based computers in the 1970s, so perhaps it's a tie :)
some articles I've been reading today, and I must admit most of this is new to me, so it's good to hear different viewpoints.
:::
Redefining the Great Wall - this article mentions that the "Great Wall" term in the English translation is not correct - rather it should refer to a town, not a wall.
[quote]Returning from a research trip to the Changcheng, I had the intense feeling that its English name, “The Great Wall,” is incorrect. This translation to a large extent not only affects the appreciation of China’s Changcheng on an international level, but also directly influences our own preservation, development, and utilization of the Changcheng.
"But I stood in the middle of my room doing absolutely nothing except respiring, and, of course, keeping other normal processes going. Maintaining my physical side while my mind was focussed on the radio."
from "Confessions of a crap artist" by Philip K Dick. he's lived in hotels at times then? ;)
I started reading this book tonight. thank goodness for the "PhilipKDick-45books" file - it's saved boredom in hotels on work trips many a time.. usually in each of his books, there's a sentence or phrase that sticks in my mind after I've read it. it's amazing how such few words can change your life - a moment, a few words and suddenly everything is different (sometimes better, sometimes worse - though most change seems to be for the better after a period of time and with some hindsight)
from the introduction to the book (introduction written by Paul Williams)
I tried out the dim sum at the Cafe Zen restaurant in the hotel today. very tasty. I think it's the best dim sum I've ever had. they didn't have little carts though - it was a dim sum buffet. there was a clown entertaining the children. I made a field recording and tried out audio mulch tonight and processed it a bit. first attempt! it's called Shenzhen dim sum clown. I don't really know what I'm doing yet. it's patching software - similar to max/msp - though it seems easier upon this first attempt. here's the audio - it's ~ 5 minutes ~11.75Mb mp3 (320kbs). I added some delays & effects to warp the voices. I like the click click sounds that appeared. will have to try some more. I've been using my binaural mics here but I forgot to bring the adapter for line-in recordings, so have been using mic input on my minidisc which is not good for the low level / bassy sounds of the city with all it's traffic noise and sounds of construction. I emailed Rolf @ soundman and he was nice enough to reply & confirmed I'll need the adapter, so I'll try this once I return home. the recording below was made on my Nokia N95 cameraphone (camera - I cancelled the phone sim a few weeks back, so it's a camera / note taker now).
in China, dakou (to make a hole) + surplus from the West led to experimental music & art exposure @ http://bit.ly/8ZWnb1 ... "One could find collected works of Andy Warhol or Stan Brakhage or Leni Riefenstahl next to Disney or James Bond" ... "probably an average Chinese person saw more experimental, cutting edge cinema then most well educated people in the West."
notes from:
The Sound of the Underground
An Overview of Experimental and Non-Academic Music in China
by Zbigniew Karkowski & Yan Jun http://bit.ly/8ZWnb1
Dickson Dee -> label Sound Factory -> NoiseAsia
Wang Fan -> created arguably China’s first real experimental music work: a mysterious 40-ininute lo-fi piece
Sound artist, curator and critic Yan Jun -> Subjam label in Beijing
Taiwanese composer and contemporary music theoretician Dajuin Yao -> Post-Concrete label
I came downstairs today to a red carpet lined by staff at the Shangri-la Hotel, and I asked who's coming? and one of the staff said the King. he was actually leaving, or maybe it was his wife? it was hard to understand what they said. I heard clapping then a group was whisked outside to the awaiting cars. the staff then stood and waved good-bye to the cars. then they came inside, clapped briefly - almost as a sigh of relief that things had gone well. the red carpet was rolled up and things returned to normal in the hotel. you could hear a distinct change in the sounds - whilst everyone was waiting for the President (Hu Jintao - he's not the King) there was a tenseness / anxiousness in the air and everyone was very quiet. afterwards, there were loud conversations as people greeted each other and congratulated one another. the children were allowed to run around again too
so it's the end of week one in Shenzhen, and this is a tldr kind of post! (& some/most is already in separate posts too) most of the time I've been at work.
last night: there's a really crazy electrical storm happening outside right now. thunder & lightning flashes every few secs. hardly any rain. woke me up. I've never seen anything like it. not even evening summer Queensland thunderstorms. it's a bit scary actually. all that power in Nature. woke up due to noise + light flashing coming in the window. realized it was from outside.
you can't really hear the thunder in the video but it's loud and rumbling and constant. the flashes of lightning are quite regular
this is the view from my bed of the curtains. there's heavy curtains on the side and light gauze type curtains in the centre of the room. the light is flashing into the room and thunder is growling at the same time (though I don't think you can hear it on the video)
early morning 12-12:45am 09/09/2010
and the view from the window looking over the city
I do love the sun umbrellas that the women walk around with in Shenzhen (southern China). they're lighter & smaller than rain umbrellas (from what I can tell). usually they're light coloured, or have little flowery patterns, and the handles are much smaller. the women flip them over and carry them when not expanded above their heads, and sometimes the cover hangs below and swishes whilst they walk. they always seem to have something in their hand, yet they seem to carry them so effortlessly. both young and older women carry them around town. I tried my (rain) umbrella today, whilst also carrying a coffee & bag of toast and of course I caught every gust of wind and had the umbrella flipping all over the place. (it also has a broken handle so I have to hold it on the metal shaft rather than the handle, which makes it even more awkward to carry). you really need them here as it's so hot during the day walking around outside - 35 degrees today & really humid. I end up all red-faced and sweaty even after a few minutes outside (especially coming from winter back home - my body hasn't adjusted slowly to the heat yet) and the Chinese women seem to be cool, calm and collected. they're needed here for shade. though the skin whitening ads here are just as disturbing as other parts of asia.
a video - catching the Shenzhen metro - line 4 from Convention & Exhibition station to Civic Centre.
yesterday I walked to the Civic Centre and it took me about half an hour and I was really hot, sweaty and dehydrated afterwards. the metro does the same trip in 3 minutes! it's so fast, and clean and there's not many people on the trains. you buy a token (1 trip) or top up your metro card with cash. on the way down to the station you swipe the token over the sensor at the gate, keep it for the ride, then at the other end you deposit it into the slot on the gate (near the sensor) and it keeps it & lets you exit the station. I bought another token (2RMB) as a souvenier
I was trying to film the video / led screens on the buildings then I noticed the sounds of the construction nearby so kept recording
the workman who were working in the gardens must have finished work because they rode past me on their bicycles whilst I was recording this video - you can just see the tops of their heads as they ride past. they gave me a strange look as if to say, “what’s so interesting there that you’d want to record it” - or so I imagined anyway
I've been traveling for work for the past six years, though for the last 1.5 years I have been back home in Australia. I thought it was time to start a separate space for notes and thoughts that come to mind whilst on the work trips. This time I'm in Shenzhen in the South of China.
The South China Morning Post newspaper headlines on Thursday September 2nd 2010 were "Warning as city's credit card debt rises". It talks about HongKongers spending too much on credit, and having multiple credit cards and only paying back the minimum amount, despite the warnings from the GFC (global financial crisis).
This is an issue in Australia also, though we have mostly escaped the clutches of a recession caused by the GFC. I wonder if it's an issue in Shenzhen also. In the city - at least in the Futian District that I've been exploring, every city block seems to have an indoor, air-conditioned, multi-level shopping centre. I've been to one called Coco Park, where we had lunch at the foodhall on Friday, and Central Walk, where we had lunch on Thursday and where I caught the train to Civic Centre today. I must admit I did go to Starbucks there and have a coffee and raison toast for brunch, but the place was pretty crowded - at least more crowded than the streets outside. It makes sense - many Australians do this too - during summer the shopping centres are the place to go to escape the heat and sun outside. Escape the humidity here also, which is a killer.
some links on downsizing your life and house. I moved from a large 2 bedroom place to a 1 bedroom which is a start. it's not the same as having one suitcase + work backpack that I had whilst working overseas, but it's a step towards 'living smaller', though I do still have way too much "stuff".
