On puddle control
For sensory overload, try Shàngdì (上地), Beijing after a summer downpour:
eyes: cotton-ball white cumulus against shockingly blue sky [hope someone can offer some good pics to link to!]
toes: warm rain and wet sand
mouth: gulps of cleansed air as if you could make up for the lost days
nose: a disconcerting shortage of allergens and industrial pollutants
ears: the soothing rhythms of the apartment complex’s small army of puddle sweepers, taking care of what other people might consider an inevitable inconvenience of rain
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There it is： 53 seconds of water-sweeping bliss, interrupted only by kàobiānr! (靠边儿 = “stand to the side”) for a passing moped. Not quite as rhythmic as Pete Seeger, so let’s close with a little more campiness.
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Comments 6
I do love the water sweepers. I suppose I would like proper drainage more (and, I must say, Shanghai has lots of proper drainage, far better than anywhere else I’ve ever lived here), but there’s something about it that is, indeed, calming.
And as silly as a broom is to sweep water, I can think of a better suited tool. It’s like our water sweeping technology was frozen in place by gutters and drainage grates…
Posted 25 Jul 2009 at 5:51 pm ¶Yeah, now that you mention it I remember thinking at first that the broom was an odd choice for puddle obliteration. But then you get used to it and you start to think it’s pretty effective. Just one more example of drinking the kool-aid I guess.
Posted 25 Jul 2009 at 10:02 pm ¶Hehe, yeah, I meant to say “I can’t think of a better tool.” Like… a shovel? If the surface was flat a giant squeegee would work better, but the surfaces are almost never flat.
Oooh, a leaf blower might work, and would be a helluva lot of fun regardless.
Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 6:07 am ¶oh I was even thinking about fixing your typo for you, but then I forgot about it. I hope your timestamp’s not accurate btw, it’s a bit early — on a Sunday no less — to be commenting. But now that I say it I seem to remember you have a one-year-old. I will check out your new blog now.
Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 6:16 am ¶i’ve got a 4 minute looped recording i made of a crowd at starbucks. it’s my own version of the buddha box. but i have to say this is a bit better.
i have to say the inclusion of pictures alone on beijing sounds was enough of a sensory overload for me.
Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 12:22 pm ¶Kellen, ha! but you should be donating to BJS studios in gratitude for the general policy of not allowing me to post what are, invariably, the ugliest pictures north of 长江. I’m the villain that grandfather SLRs used to tell their digital whippersnappers about: “And then there’s the Beast of Bad Photography…”
Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 1:57 pm ¶