because I like kicks

today I got to play with a dog for the first time in 5 months. it stole my basketball outside my apartment. and then it had to take a shower. the basketball that is. golden retrievers smell a lot worse in china than they do at home. I chatted with the dog's owner for a bit. Trying to guess what he was saying because it is uncool to speak anything other than Shanghaihua. It's a turf thing. I also "wan wan"ed with my Shanghainese friend Kura. We went bowling and ate pizza. apparently I'm lihai. The bowling alley was near the football stadium and was packed, even though it was 1pm. The guy bowling next to us was drinking a white russian. He had most Xs and few /s. I explained that it was a reference to a guy named "the dude" in classic american cinema. Kura found the reference funny which, with anyone else would be very surprising except Kura has 5 sisters and a brother. He calls himself stupid and lazy and communicates very well in english, a vernacular interlaced with onomatopoeias, much like a comic book character. His Mom trades football players and his Dad is a ship captain so he has traveled quite a bit outside China. very rare. He talks to me about country people, animation, chinese jails and how he didn't fail out of art school this semester because his aunt is some "high up" woman who made his school change his grades.

over cereal, soy milk and japanese cardboard flavored tea. Talia and I read the times on our powerbooks at 6:30 every morning. our senses of humour have become depraved to say the least. living here and reading about how china is poisoning the world through toothpaste.

here are some cut outs from an article that I read in the new york times last week about china and the death penalty. yes these clippings are out of context. go and find the article if you want.

on the death penalty in China...“The Olympics is not the only reason,” Mr. Kamm said in a telephone interview Friday from Hong Kong. “When you execute somebody wrongly, and a lot of people have been executed wrongly, you are going to make a lot of people unhappy.”

a classic "if...and...,then..."

“The lower courts have to be more prudent now,” Mr. Ni said. “If a case is sent back for a retrial by the highest court, it not only means the first judgment is wrong, but also a matter of shame for the lower court.”

when the olympics and death penalty share a sentence. competition is fierce.
差不多差不多差不多。。。that's about all I have to say.