Tag: Culture
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Day of the Dead is the Mexican holiday that brings people together to remember those that have passed away. Rather more celebratory and stylish in nature than our own Halloween, it is a firm fixture on San Francisco’s calendar; particularly in the southern Mission district, traditionally home to San Francisco’s Latino population. A procession makes its…
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My weekend of pure Americana continued, when we stumbled upon the annual Pinball Expo at the Marin County Civic Center. There was obviously no choice – we had to go. Bringing together machines from over fifty years, a one-time charge at the door allowed us to play on machines dating as far back as the 1950s,…
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In the last fourteen years, I have only managed a scant week of skiing, and in that week (back in 2004) I managed to break my wrist while trying to snowboard. In moving to California, I was rather excited about the prospect of living within shooting distance of some serious mountains, so when a team…
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One of the pleasures of walking around the neighbourhood is checking out the exotic (and not so exotic) machinery on display. Everything from immaculately-prepared hotrods, through to European rust-buckets.
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Cloudgate (雲門舞集) are an institution in Taiwan; and one of its most treasured cultural exports. Combining traditional Asian and Chinese motifs, they combine them in extraordinary ways, mixing digital media, human-scale calligraphy, old folk tales and contemporary dance. It’s always a challenge to get seats for their performances in Taiwan, since they are so often on…
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Ladies welcome. I have never in my life shot a proper gun before. Air rifles, yes. But never anything of the sort that could do anything more than kill a pigeon. It was therefore with some trepidation that I joined the guys for a team off-site, shooting an assortment of guns at one of the…
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Somehow this photo seems to freeze frame a few of the individuals at large in Austin. It must be noted that the guy was using luminous paints to capture his scene.
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Misgivings about the limited arts scene in Taiwan always evaporate when the Biennial sets up shop; the curators are clearly highly adept at collecting a thought-provoking selection of work. This year’s, while seemingly smaller than in the past, none-the-less tackled some spicy political subjects, not least directly criticising the Flora Expo being held on its…
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Shanghai is a huge, vibrant, emergent city that has had the world’s gaze upon it for at least the last five years. I might argue, however, that there has not been a any cultural development coming out of the city that has really influenced the rest of the world; and ‘modern Chinese style’ doesn’t count…
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In Shanghai, it’s apparently oh-kay to clip your fingernails on the underground train. Apparently, it is also okay to leave a pile of clippings on the seat for the next customer. This made me physically revolt, more even than seeing people spit everywhere. Rant over.