Photo Friday "Darkness"
1 October 2005, 08:40
Darkness… Click to enlarge in Gallery
The Story behind “Darkness” (and a weeeeeee bit of grandstanding)
This photo of a hutongs alley was taken in April 2004, in Beijing.
The Hutongs are, in my opinion, the most fascinating aspect of Beijing’s modern-day vibe. Meandering, walled mini-cities dotted throughout Beijing, with shared pit-toilets (using one was one of the more confronting things I did in China), cheap restaurants, old dudes playing mahjong on the streets, rickshaws weaving in and out of the communal throngs going about their daily business. The Hutongs throb with vibrating energy.
There is also a desolate side to them, long deserted alleys, lit only by a single light, the quiet edge of desperation in the inhabitants living in what many “first-worlders” would see as abject poverty, seemingly offset by a fierce community spirit and their determination to make the best of what they’ve got.
The atmosphere of the Hutongs echoes with a moving contrast of Life and Desolation. And it breaks my heart that these historical monuments to the Chinese essence of family and community will be mostly demolished “in time” for the 2008 Olympics. Gone are the (smelly) centres of conversation that are the pit toilets, gone are the fascinating labyrinths of (impoverished) architectural history, in favour of the Chinese government putting up a brand new, shiny facade of wealth and first-world glamour.
My question is, where will these hutongs inhabitants go? Will they be shunted to the rural areas, as the homeless were in Japan’s major cities when the Soccer World Cup was on? Will they be disenfranchised from their homes and relocated to soulless new apartment blocks? What will happen to the exotic contrasts of old-world and new that define Beijing?
I went nuts taking photos of the Hutongs, mostly because they were a panacea to my jaded photographic eye, but also because I knew that in a year or two, they wouldn’t exist.
For more photos of the Hutongs, please go to my (called funnily enough…) Beijing hutongs gallery or the China Portraits gallery.
Permanent Link | Comments [7]Pregnancy Brain. It's not a myth.
30 September 2005, 17:51
It’s NOT! For the first time EVER I’ve required a diary to write appointments in else I’ll forget them. Some of the dopier things I’ve done so far (in no particular order):
1. Put the ice cream in the fridge.
2. Put my top on back-to-front twice in the past week - and actually left the house like that. I’d wondered why my neck was so damn itchy.
3. Forgot my name. OK, that’s deffo #1. It was only for a split second though, before I remembered it. I swear to you. The girl at Boost Juice got a lot of mileage out of that one. Not that I blame her.
4. Forgot how old I was. But, hell, I used to do that even before I got preggo. Once you hit 30, you know…
5. Put salt in my coffee. It didn’t taste very good.
6. Forgot the difference between the brake and the accelerator. Don’t tell Husband this one, though - I’ll get a thorough rousing.
Oh, the fun of it! To explore one’s inner-blonde* and have an excuse! Whooops, sorry, I’m PREGNANT, you see!!!! Thoroughly wonderful.
I thought of a lot more PB moments yesterday, but, whaddyaknow, I’ve forgotten them! Pregnant!...
I have been laughing a lot more these days - long and heartily, even while I’ve been sick. Everything seems funny (well everything with the possible exception of Daryl Somers) I think it must be all those yummy happy hormones throbbing throughout me. Either that, or those mushrooms from Preston Market were expensive for a reason.
* No offence to blondes intended.
Bleugh: The Next Chapter...
28 September 2005, 17:31
...and now I have a hideous nasty head cold and am feeling particularly shithouse… the crap thing about being UTD, is that one cannot revert to the elixir of mucous-free days and nights - Codral. It sucks the big fat one. I’m feeling sorry for myself. Oh, yes I am.
AND Husband is going to Sydney tonight for 4 days to attend a web standards conference when all I really want is for him to keep me company, make me chicken soup and give me hugs & back-rubs on demand. Oh I know he’ll have a great time and he’s been looking forward to this for ever so long, but NOT WHEN I’M POORLY!!!!
Permanent Link | Comments [9]Bleugh
23 September 2005, 18:33
I was on the phone to me mum last night, bragging about how great I felt and that I was obviously doing something right as I was healthy and energetic… must have forgot to touch my noggin though, cos I woke up at 4am crook as a dog.
Spent a few hours throwing up ‘til the worst of it was over, then spent the rest of today in bed, with a sore stomach and exhausted (did break for Dr. Phil, though). Must be some kind of tummy bug ‘cos I’m anal about food prep and Husband ate what I did for dinner.
To compound things, around 4.30 this morning, the dude from across the road revved up his drum kit, much to my nauseous delight. It’s so weird though, this has happened for the past two mornings, around about the same time, but he plays for about 10 seconds (which wakes me up), stops for 5 minutes, then plays for another 10 seconds, before stopping for good. What the???
Permanent Link | Comments [1]Two in One
18 September 2005, 10:20
21 weeks, 4 days
Permanent Link | Comments [5]
