Precis 07 2014 issue 2 by Chris Stecher ~ Précis Magazine

pré·cis 摘要 july.twenty fourteen

issue two volume one

cargo:

editorias - 2 gigs - 3,4 expat - 5 eating - 6 perspective - 7 jump - 8 the burn - 9,10,11,12 on net neutrality - 12 hippies - 13,14,15 teaching in america - 16 Cartoon. - 18

pr茅路cis publisher : chris stecher editor : katherine tosi graphics : stech design photography : stech design contributing writers : symeon north, kat tosi, chris parizo, cash leo, tina liu, casey ray hunter, alex lanson. content submissions and /or letters to the editor are welcome. please keep Letters to 250 words and submissions to 750 words. Photos and images need to be at least 200 dpi at size. contact : stech@outlook.com 01

pré·cis editorias

I lost a great editorial… It was good. Spent three hours on it, two days ago. And it was finished. And I was actually happy with it. It was funny, and poignant. I tried to rethink what I had wrote, but had only fragments, that would not amount to anything good. Now it’s gone. A flash in the computer age, where your thoughts can be gone….. Just. Like. That. {snap}

We live in total (for most) technological matrix of what our thoughts are. My advice? Write things down. On fucking paper. It’s a lost art anyway and a lot cheaper than new hardware. And I believe, losing the words was a good thing, however it happened. What words I can remember were starting to get political,

something I said I would never allow myself to write, or be put into this zine. But I put it into a neat little package that all sides could relate to. Alas ‘twas not to be. I stopped posting political articles a couple of years ago when I was told, by a very dear friend, it was taking up my life. All three sides were hateful and angry. I said to her once, the worst thing that ever came from the internet were comment boards. She was right. And I married that friend. I stepped back from the social media political bullshit, and, instead of a contributor

But I digress…. When Précis started getting contributors, who just wanted to get their individual perspectives, without divisive politics, out there, I was just shocked and gratified... No Political agenda. No racially charged crap. But as you will read… and as most of you freaks already know… We cannot get away from politics, National, regional or local.. It’s a beast we cultivated, and now has spawned, for mostly ill, but sometimes good. The folks who have taken the time to write brought the good. They are all quality reads. I wouldn’t have included

to the nonsensical maelstrom, became a spectator. The Shit them if they were not. was starting to get pretty ugly, and as it does until this day. As In closing, Stop being so angry. I am sure it will from now on. Take the small joys and victories in the little things in life The human race has learned as the wondrous things they very little about “humanity” are. Stop and smell the flowers. in the small amount of time Write an actual letter. on the planet, and it seems to someone like me that follows Because Life, like an editorial, media as a primal urge, that we can be gone in an instant. Just. are getting dumber by the day. Like. That. ~stech

DAZEfeast, Dos Kolegas 6.14.14

gigs.

1. Mademoiselle et son Orchestre / 2. The crew at DK cooking up the feast part / 3. Dancing with the Beijing Dead / 4. daddy dancing with Hutong Yellow Weasels / 5. Capoeira Mandinga Beijing tuning up / 6. Jaime Welton (Bad Mamasan) & Daniel Brustman (Mademoiselle) / 7. Djang San Band / 8. Bad Mamasan / 9. Badr, Founder of the Feast / 10. Linda Westman Nakoma / 11. Devils at the Crossroad / 12. 2Kolegas crew at 5:30 am

expat by Kat Tosi

A few weeks ago, I was chatting away with my good buddy Marco from Devils at the Crossroads at DazeFeast 2014 in Beijing, China. We were yacking about growing up Catholic while the best in Chinese alternative bands blasted their hearts out throughout the day. Now I am sitting outside in North Carolina, USA with hummingbirds diving over my head and deer staring at me in the morning. I am within striking distance to a K-Mart, McDonalds and a million other mega-stores. I understand what everyone is saying, but I do not understand them. I do believe I have some reverse culture shock going on. In any case, back to this chat I was having in Beijing. In the middle of it, a guy from the US nei05

ther of us knew came up and just started talking. He told us of his recent medical trauma, his hospital experience, his insurance coverage, his recovery programme and how he and his family was coping with it. After this amazing medical monologue, he just walked off. I turned to Marco and said, “Wow, that was such an American experience.” There was not one question directed at us. No interest in us. We were supposed to be intrinsically interested in him and nothing else but. This is the best example I have of what I am going through on my US tour. I am constantly bombarded by information. Be it billboards, news or monologues about mortgages, politics, Lyme disease, bowel movements or gossip. It operates on the assumption that 1)

Hello, Where am I?

this information is interesting and 2) that I care, neither of which is the case. Strangely enough, nobody asks me about living in China. My culture shock involves not only figuring out how to react to useless noise, but also what to do with my body. Do I take my shoes off before entering the house? At which level do I hold my glass when we cheer? Fork, spoon or chopstick? Do I hold my forearm when I shake hands? Do I buy a shout? Can I hang my laundry outside? Where am I? Who is the oldest? Who is the most important? Who eats first? Someday Americans will figure out they are not the centre of the universe. Someday America will figure out it is not the centre of the universe. Until then, I will create my own

universe where I want and with whom I want to. I am a mish-mash. I love to visit my country. I am a tourist and I know it. “OK”, I say as I listen to “America is the best country. It is so free.” Can’t wait to get back home, wherever that is. “You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, ... back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time-back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.” Thomas Wolfe Kat Tosi has been a galactic traveler since 1996 and now bases herself I Beijing PRC

eating.

Chang Ying Muslim restaurant Sunhe, Chao Yang District

Each issue, Précis profiles a restaurant or bar of note around the world. This time, we traveled to Sunhe, in the Chao Yang district to a little Muslim place named Chang Ying. Offering a wide variety of delicious traditional Chinese fare (minus the pork of course) at extremely reasonable prices, ranging from 14 to 58 RMB. Chang Ying offers a relaxed atmosphere inside, with optional outside dining in its spacious courtyard. After dusk, the restaurant offers a DJ and nightly movies projected on the side of the building.

less. Why did you choose the Sunhe area? Because here there are not a lot of restaurants... We made a good choice and we think this place will increase in business. There are not very many restau-

Because we wanted to make this a more modern and fashionable.. Actually the DJ is sometimes myself, the other one is a waiter Woang Shen.. We wanted to have a more modern feel. My cousin and I wanted to have the movies, mostly because we wanted the customers to be more relaxed and have them take the time to enjoy the food, while having an entertaining experience. You yourself are a Muslim, and so is the restaurant, yet you serve alcohol.. How do you feel about this?

To find out more, the manager, Jack, gives us the scoop. So how did you start this restaurant.. Who is involved? Before our restaurant was small we take longtime to managing, after 2 years we are lucky to see we finally realized our dreams. My cousin, Hu Yan Hui, is the boss of our restaurant. Three years ago we haven’t any money, we have to borrow the money from friend, it was difficult.... We haven’t get enough sleep, actually we sleep in our restaurant. I have a story to tell you that the competitors next door did not like us move in next door, they tried to steal business from us. But we thrived regard-

and movies every night.. How did that come about, and do you think that the public is responding well to it?

rants in the Sunhe area of Chao Yang.. Why do you think this is? Because here is just being built. The Government has built this area recently and people are still being relocated here. So by being here, being the first on the scene, we can actually thrive.. It’s a newly developed place, with growth potential. You go out over your way to have nontraditional parts for Chang Ying... Like a DJ in the afternoon

Actually, we opened this restaurant not just for Muslims ... But for everyone. We realize that there are non-Muslims, workers, and expats who do drink beer. I would estimate 40% are Muslim in this community. We do have some who do not liking dining with people who drink.. We have back rooms for those of strict belief. We ourselves never forget our beliefs. You have spoken to me of future endeavors .. other restaurants, tell me about this? We are thinking about doing another restaurants after this restaurant succeed, that might be down the road, but it won’t be too long. 06

perspective.

by Alex Lanson

Hoh-Hot experiences “Take me down to the Paradise City…”

Knowing I have 80% guys to 20% girls ratio (engineering university), I seldom have the whole class. Today I had 3 students in the afternoon (5 during the morning). Mongols have an expressive and warm smile, always curious and talkative, and I wish I knew more places to meet them.

Not having enough time to spend on line, due to the different activities i have, I’m now in Inner Mongolia, since last week, and will stay there teaching French language in a university until Dec 24th. It’s -20 Celsius here, in the fair city of HOHHOT (what a joke..), and for the lucky ones (to those who live on a beautiful island...) who don’t know what means -20 except” wow u must be bloody freezing” I’ll describe it to you. In addition to the extreme cold, you can witness a temporary sensitivity loss of your hands and feet , ears and nose become a distant sensory neurons information, hairs being frozen if you try to comb them with a bit of water, and you’ll find yourself looking stupidly as one of those cosplay guys who disguise themselves as anime characters. The worst being what’s happening to your eyes and how they react to the cold. The humidity in them, freezes and on your eyelashes start to form some mini stalactites who prevent your eyes from blinking. Now picture that... Just try to keep your eyes opened, without blinking for 1 or 2 minutes, and you will start to experience some twitching and soon you start to have TEARS. Past this point you’ll see ICE AGE 3D everywhere. Basically I live in the city so you can forget your dreams of “vast pasture where you can enjoy horse-riding” because here it’s a developing city and sanitary conditions are below acceptable, the water is foul and makes every-

one sick ( I still wonder why they are drinking it and have no bottled water in restaurants). As most places from another in China, it’s different, and what I thought would be a jolly good experience is nothing but a nightmare, and I’m wondering if my school in Shanghai didn’t send me here as no one wanted to go. So, it’s Inner Mongolia, but the majority of the population is Han, 88% according to statistics and only a 10% Mongols, the rest being some Koreans, Hui. Something peculiar is how people rush to restaurants to warm themselves up drinking painful amounts of Baijiu (yea you remember it don’t you? . Nauseating, evil smelling, nasty and filthy concoction), it’s sickening just looking at it. I’ve had several dinners with my students and, quite early in the evening (I am talking about something around 6pm...) I’ve seen them drink up their fill and I still can’t find the words to describe this experience...to the point a couple of them started to bang their head against the walls, and as a result, very few of the students are show up to the morning lessons...

Most of Hans I have met (and the ones I deal with at school) are unfriendly, distant, shabby, and some of my Hans students are really mean and rude to the female students. My belief is that out of all of the women in class (there are 5 total ), 4 are from the Mongol ethnicity? Makes you wonder. I could stretch up some thoughts about this, having listened to their conversations... Most Hans don t seem to enjoy anything here, so I am guessing it is because most of them are part of that” Developing the West and North territories” program, as seen on some TV Advertisement where hundreds of people rush into trains and get off to an unknown specified “West location” where costumed locals welcome them with huge and friendly smiles. About Alex Lanson From Paris, Alex is a guitar player and artist, with a long and eclectic experience in entertainment, music. A qualified martial arts athlete and stuntman, he took part in TV shows and movie productions. Versatile, his primary influences can be found in various artists and bands in blues, rock, hard rock, metal, funk or flamenco. He moved to Beijing after being hired by CCTV. He is now a full time member of Devils at the Crossroad. photo: http://freepix.eu

jump. a personal journey.

by Cash Leo

the family - photo: cash leo

My name is Cash, a Chinese international student. I am going to go to American college---the university of Iowa, this fall. And now, I just want to share something about my experience and some preparing works for going aboard. Initially, I knew how to studying in U.S.A. from a upperclassman. At that time, I was learning French and haven’t learned English anymore. But, I realized that go to USA is a best choice for every scholar in China. Since American is a super country, what I mean is “developed”. Compared to France, I think I can get more in American whatever in knowledge field or campus life. So I made a decision to learn English, preparing go to America. Then, I underwent long process learning for English in New Oriental school which I believe is the best school for English education in China. I felt great during each English class. Because I could comprehend and used what teacher taught me. However the challenge for me is TOEFL test---The Test of English as a Foreign Language. It mostly killed me, because I need to memorize six thousand words at least. Hence, the only thing I had to do is memorizing words everyday. I still remembered that first time scores is 48 that’s so terrible. But I never and ever wanted to give up since I’ve made

a decision to study in U.S.A. Finally, going though tree times test, I got 88 scores. As a beginner for English, I satisfied. Next, I prepared for the SAT test. It took me nearly 3 month and I took part in SAT in Hong Kong. But the scores are 1780. It

sate university, the university of Missouri, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the university of Alabama. Application is troublesome for an international student, because of lots of paper work, just like presentation, high school grades, CV… After finishing all of these works the only thing I could do is waiting the offer. At last, the university of Vermont, the university of Iowa, DePauw University, the university of Missouri and Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the university of Alabama, accepted me. I also obtain scholarship about 10,000 dollars from UI and UVM. That’s awesome. I was confused to choose a college at that time. Each school has its advantages, due to my major, I chose UI in the end.

cash in europe

is too hard for me, especially the reading part, due to the applications’ deadline of most colleges and universities; I had to give up this test. As I said, I missed most schools’ deadline for application. My choices were limited. After discussion with my teacher and my parents I applied 10 schools, which are Prude University, the university of Vermont, the university of Iowa, North Carolina state University, Ohio state university, DePauw university(it’s a college of letters and science exactly), Michigan

The last thing I need to do is getting my visa. That’s so easy, because the visa officer just ask me a few questions. Now, I’m just looking forward to go to united state on 30th July. I love enrich campus life. Thanks for each teacher, especially Stech, an American who taught me lots of slang. And I also hope all the international students that want to go aboard can be accepted by the college them liked. See you in U.S.A.

the burn.

chinese perseverance.

Burning Man is a festival held every year in the outer reaches of the Nevada desert. Depending on who you talk to it is either the most decadent event ever held, or the most life-changing experience you will ever have. Either way, there are stories to be told, and this is one of them... from China. In 2002, her seventh year in Shanghai, Tina Liu heard about an event called Burning Man for the first time, from her Taiwanese American friend from San Francisco, and didn’t hear about it again for 10 years, until a reunion with a high school crush finally brought her to the festival last year in 2013, which sparked her love affair with Burning Man. An idea was birthed: a yearlong project she founded named “Chinese Beyond Borders,” the first effort towards bringing a major Chinese theme camp to Black Rock City. This past year was also the first year Tina repatriated back to her home country of Taiwan after living abroad in the US, Mainland China and France for a total of 28 years. What she thought would be a year dedicated to her aging father and readjusting to being home again, her virgin

experience at Burning Man (BM) changed everything – like so most burners would concur. The 7-day festival left such a strong impression on Tina, the slogan she uses to describe the event, often said to be a social experiment is “my man, my god, my religion, my world, my utopia – my Burning Man”. Most of her friends thought her obsessed and some even worried she had been recruited by a cult. As hard as it was for her to be reintegrated back into the “default” world, luckily Tina was able to land a job that would fuel her obsession, 2 months after returning to Taipei from the Nevada Desert. Her new position as the Director of Marketing Communications for a creative arts center provided her the platform to share the culture of what she felt could contribute to the advancement of creativity in the Chinese communities around the world, particularly in Greater China. Combining her job’s requirement to raise the awareness of this brand new art and entertainment center and to share her new-found passion with her community, she envisioned an exhibition on BM as the quickest way to shine a spotlight on an event generally unknown to the region, even though she found small burner communities in Taiwan and Mainland China through the official BM Region-

al Contact for Taiwan and China, ironically, this contact would later be responsible for the exhibition to canceled 2 weeks before it was due to open. The exhibition which would have served to increase the awareness of BM in Greater China, included a design competition for art projects she could help bring to the festival as part the first major Chinese theme camp, “Chinese Beyond Borders”, which was to be the subject of the design competition as well. The competition would be open to all without discrimination, since the idea was to call for unity through the celebration of a culture 20,000 years old without succumbing to the recent history of the political or geographic divide of the region and elsewhere in the world. While the exhibition was conceived to spread the BM culture more widely throughout her communities, the creation of Camp Chinese Beyond Borders (CCBB), was then a way to bring her communities to the festival. CCBB was inspired by a comment made by 7th year burner and ranger, Eric Lahti, when she met him her virgin burn. Ranger Lahti told her he had not seen many Chinese attendees at the festival. His comment became the mission of the camp: “to encourage cultural exchange

Lt to Rt: Anita Lam (Costume Designer); Choncy Shu (Film Maker) and Tina Liu (Camp Founder)

between the Chinese communities worldwide and Burning Man”. On the birth of the camp, Tina asked Ranger Lahti to be the godfather of the camp. Since then, he has been an invaluable beacon of this new com-

munity founded by a 2nd year burner and comprised of mainly virgins, to date, at least 16 will make it to BRC this year, from 7 cities across the globe of 7 nationalities from Asia, the Americas and Europe. After CCBB was established, the members were thrilled when BM announced the Silk Road as the theme this year 2014 named “Caravansary”, and in addition to this year being the Year of the Horse, together they made a perfect backdrop for the debut of the camp and inspiration for its design and

made tribute to Chinese director Zhang YiMou’s award-winning film “Raise The Red Lantern”, offering a twist to the plot of the film about the tradition of concubinage in ancient China, a tradition shared in the Islamic world. The interior is by Portland firm ELK Collective’s Sam Koerger, who Tina calls her Playa twin, after spending a night with him on an art car roaming the festival grounds and meditating together to the sunrise. It is a combination of imagery of an Arabesque harem in Chinese Imperial palace red filled with red Chinese lanterns of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceiling. It is a pleasure space where any and all things are possible, welcomed by warm Chinese hospitality. The mid-size lanterns house the sound stage for the camp’s official DJ Fao Torres, a musician and DJ from Bogota, living in Taipei, home also to his band Cumbia Del Sol who has just released their 1st album. Another yurt would house the buffet station treating campers and visitors an authentic taste of Chinese specialties and delicacies. The small size yurts would be camp member’s homes for the 7 days. Translucent in material, the yurts would depict a village of lanterns dotted on The Playa Silk Road desert landscape day and night.

art projects. The 1st influence came from a wood factory in Taiwan that designs and produces 3D puzzles of all sorts of marvels from arm-length dragons to life-size bicycles. One of their products, a palm-size traditional Chinese wine jar g av e Ntrope’s architect and Tina and Ran ger Eric Laht owner Earl Sheldon, out i at Burning Man last ye ar 2013. of North Carolina, Tina’s college classmate, the concept for the architecture of the camp - a yurt in the form of a Chinese lantern. The dragon, also a Chinese zodiac sign became the muse for the mascot of the camp, a 2-story tall wooden 3D puzzle Pegasus to be placed between The Man at the center of BRC on axis to the camp, “The Golden Heavenly Horse” was historically known to be one of the 1st race of horses out of Mongolia and the mount of Genghis Khan, the wings of the horse recalls Greek mythology’s Pegasus, the combination signified the mix of cultures of the East and the West along the Silk Road. Earl’s lantern yurt is modular in construction and came in 3 sizes. The largest would be an art project, called the “Red Lantern Harem” meant as an extension of the camp into The Playa, linking visitors from “The Golden Heavenly Horse” to the camp, it is a space to facilitate culture exchange between the hosts and their visitors. The name

The Harem hosts require costumes. Drawing from the romanticism of the new generation of martial arts films and decadence of the Tang Dynasty, official camp costume designer Anita Lam of KA&G Fashion in Taipei, volunteered to design and hand-make 3 dresses from her research of traditional Chinese lanterns. A round red one most widely recognized, a palace style one with carved wooden ornaments at the edges of painted panels, called the White Lantern, and a 3rd that is free-flowing on the bottom taking from Chinese traditional bed curtains, called the Violet Lantern. Anita is a mother of a very active 2 year-old, 7 cats and 3 dogs, as well as a full-time job as seamstress and shop keeper of a costumes design and accessories shop, she managed to single-handedly finish the only completed art projects for the camp this year.

A concerted international effort, the project was realized with the support of Maria Lourdes Chan, a yoga teacher and studio owner in Singapore, who commissioned the White Lantern dress for her virgin burn this year. Coincidentally Angela Priya, also yoga teacher, North Dakotan living in Taipei joined Maria, picking up the Violet Lantern and CCBB’s founder Tina, born 1st generation Taiwanese with mainland roots in Jiangsu province was the 1st to lend support to the project by claiming the Red Lantern. A fourth dress, just taken by Taiwanese Canadian, Amber Urquhart, will be designed and made by Taiwanese fashion designer Nico Yang, inspired by David Best’s temple this year of an Indian Stupa, expected to be the most spectacular of all. Tina is currently fund-raising for a 5th lantern dress to be modeled by Choncy Shu, who has volunteered to shoot footage to record the making of the camp through a planned documentary film. Tina knew when she founded this first major Chinese theme camp in the 27-year history of the festival, that it will make history. Fortunately, at the time when the first lantern costume was near completion, the red dress that she commissioned, Tina was introduced to Choncy, a Taiwanese American film maker from the Bay Area, currently based in Taipei. Choncy had long heard about BM and its culture from her Bay Area roots, but have never been. Since the dresses were already designed and being actualized, Choncy and Tina decided to begin filming the camp’s works through Anita’s costume making already underway. So far, the footage has been gorgeous photography exploring the passion and foundation of the designer’s love for wearable art. The eventual aim is to complete a documentary film on the making of the camp, including its collaborative visual and performance art, in hopes to disseminate the ideas—a transcendental mix of traditional and modern Chinese culture — beyond the limits of BRC, for all to share, would be another one of the camps’ achievements started this year. Since the main lifeline of the camp’s fundraising awareness campaign was severed – the exhibition on Burning Man terminated before it began, Tina still hoped for a miracle from her incessant effort on telling every person she meets about BM. For the

in exile, having kept the flames burning strong long after exodus from The Playa, she often says, “the most precious experienced is the friendship and the community this project forged” from strangers who join her camp page on a daily basis and her friends around the world, but also with burners she have never met, who believed in her vision and part-taking to realize the dream together. Most recently, New York City based DJ, audio specialist, sound and costume designer, Milk (Geoxie Leche) who she met only virtually, through the Facebook’s “Burning Man” group page of nearly 50,000 members, gifted CCBB a stage to showcase their work and talents to be presented at BM this year.

placement of the camp that would not materialize, she receive help from a well-known Feng-shui master in Taiwan, who happened to be the father of Alwyn Lin, PR specialist she hired at her job at the creative arts center, who would become her camp member as well and official camp PR Officer. Master Lin super imposed the Feng-shui compass on to the site map of BRC and found a most auspicious position for the camp facing east from 2:00 to 3:30 on the Esplanade. When camp placement finalized with less than 2 months before the start of the festival, she gave up on that hope of seeing her village of lanterns on the desert and wrote the placement team to withdraw CCBB to be placed independently on The Playa this year. Her 16 homeless camp members was to be taken in by Camp Hot Cheeks, at the generosity of CCBB’s camp godfather, Ranger Lahti who a year ago inspired the making of the camp, would be adopting these the virgin burner orphans under his tarp. The true spirit of Burning Man she could not experience in her home country through the Regional Contact there, was to be restored again by this up-standing BM ranger. While Tina counts down the days before finally return home to BM from this year

DJ Milk invited CCBB to host a party with a fashion runway show for the lantern costumes at the renowned theme camp Kostume Kult. The party is named “Chinese New Day Eve on Time Square”, signifying that the Chinese New Year celebration can be any day of the year. This opportunity is particularly precious, because CCBB could not have a camp of their own this year, therefore no sound stage for their official DJ to spin nor occasion to present their costumes. Camp Hot Cheeks, the adoptive camp of CCBB, offers the most exquisite body painting from Ranger Lahti’s talents, especially painted corsets, but does not have the feature of stages to host such a party at the scale offered by Kostume Kult, home based in New York City, involved in costume art, theme event and media through public festivals, underground art parties and street theater. Tina and her mainly virgin camp mates, were ecstatic to learn that even without a home, in the land of Burning Man, they could still throw a party of their own, sharing their culture from the Middle Kingdom. In addition to the lantern costumes lighting up the runway at Kostume Kult, the travelers of The Playa Silk Road will be taken on musical journey from the Far to the Middle-East and everywhere in between magically woven together by DJ Fao and live performances by Coco Zhao, one of Tina’s best friends, a celeb jazz singer from Shanghai who will highlight the 1.5 hour event with Peking Opera, Mongolian folk tunes, Shanghai 20’s standard remakes and his original creations fused with electro sound. The other camp members will join in by putting on a dragon dance, others making fire crackers, cymbal and drumming noises

indispensable for a Chinese New Day reverie and some will hand out red envelopes with Chinese proverbs in calligraphy from their communities. Veteran burner photographer Jonathan Goody who Tina met on the Burning Man group page as well, has offered to take professional photos of the lantern girls on The Playa as well as the fashion runway show and party. Chinese New Year Eve will have graced Burning Man fulfilling 5 of its 10 Principles, overcoming the radical exclusion she experienced from her Regional Contact in Taiwan, still banned from her communities’ Burning Man Facebook pages in Taiwan and China, while putting together one of the biggest effort coming out the region this year. Although the unfortunate encounter with politics Tina did not expect to find in a culture such as Burning Man and even less for the camp she started, in essence to avoid the dirty business, left a stain on this sacred quest she embarked on, but the true spirit that she believed whole-heartedly is pulling through and reigniting that fire that burned inside PhoeniXashes (Tina’s Playa name) leaving BRC last September. She is preparing her camp to caravan what they have prepared to gift the playa and hopes that their efforts would bring more support for CCBB next year and for years to come until their full vision is realized. She will continue to work on making the exhibition on Burning Man a reality in Greater China and in addition to the camp designed for this year, already done for the next, she will have time to focus on introducing to The Playa next year, the Electric Flower Car, a pop-up mobile performance stage, traditional to her come country Taiwan, as the camp’s art car to showcase a lineup of DJs and entertainers from the region and beyond. In addition to opening the doors of the Red Lantern Harem and all of its sumptuous offerings, she will introduce another one of her native subcultures on the brink of extinction, the Betelnut Beauties’ Booth, housing girls in lingerie inside of glass booths, offering betelnut to passers-by, a love motel and karaoke club the size of a chain 5-star hotels and personal grooming center and massage parlor like gaudy baroque palaces, are all the subcultures of her community Tina is looking forward to gifting her fellow burner mates, to show a side of the Chinese relatively unknown to the West. To follow Camp Chinese Beyond Borders in preparation to caravan to Nevada from all corners of the world join them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bm.ccbb or at Black Rock City on Darjeeling Street near 5:45. Tina may also be reached at tina. liu.88@hotmail.com

The US is about to fuck up the Internet. But there’s still time to save the day for freedom, apple pie and cat videos. Have you heard about “net neutrality?” The idea is actually pretty simple. Most people understand that when you pick up a telephone to make a call, the carrier doesn’t put you on hold so the rich folk can talk first. When you finish band practice and go to order a pizza from the local joint, the operator doesn’t prioritize the calls to Domino’s. People expect the internet to work that way, too, but without basic rules laying out what your service provider is allowed to do, things could change really quickly. In America, there’s just a few companies offering internet service, and they want to make more money by charging content providers—anyone with a website, service or application—a extra money for the privilege of reaching their customers. Makes sense. But you can see how that would be bad for internet users, because they won’t know why their favorite site loads slow or is difficult to access. For people who

that the ginormous entertainment conglomerates that remain can afford to pay for prioritized service, but what about a startup label that treats its artists fairly? An independent video site? A news outlet that doesn’t parrot the party line? Keep in mind that some internet service providers—like Comcast—already own major content companies. Do we trust them to keep the lanes open to competitors? The FCC tried to fix this problem of their own making, but they keep coming up with weak rules that get thrown out of court. It’s time for you to tell them to grow a pair and reclassify broadband internet service as a utility, like electric lights or telephone. Otherwise, you may end up in a future where just a handful of big companies decide where you go, what you see and how you speak online. And that shit is positively un-American. Go here http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=hf0no and tell the FCC what you think. Tell ‘em Casey sent ‘ya.

on net neutrality

create things (like this ‘zine), it’s even worse. It might seem like a golden age for music and other content online. But not everyone is thrilled, especially artists who have wrestled with piracy and a wobbly industry for almost two decades. I’m a musician and a label owner, and I am psyched that there are a range of platforms I can use to get music out there. Some sites, like Bandcamp, are popular alternatives to, say, Spotify, because it offers pricing flexibility and the ability to know who your fans are. Well, what happens if an internet provider decides it likes Spotify better because they have deeper pockets? And what about a future innovation that is more artist-friendly? How can they even get off the ground if there’s no guarantee they can deliver music to an audience? How can Stech deliver the fucking goods from China? This is what’s at stake, people. Independent media-makers remember the old days when they couldn’t compete the big guys. There’s no doubt

Casey Rae is a musician, public policy wonk and the editor/publisher of The Contrarian Media. An in-demand speaker, he gives frequent talks at conferences and campuses on issues at the intersection of creativity, technology, policy and law, and is a go-to source for major media outlets from NPR to the New York Times. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and VP for Policy and Education at the Future of Music Coalition. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Media & Democracy Coalition and the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. 12

hippies.

tales from the tour by Symeon North

Part one, the end.

dards) By then reports from summer tour were coming in (this was before cell phones!) Friends would frequently call from pay phones with their chingers. Especially if the band was on fire.

Jerry frequently forgot words, there were a LOT of songs in that man’s brain; but notes? What Jerry lacked in oral memory, his magic 9½ fingers made up for; he could save any song; including Bob Weir’s cheesiest tunes. He could blow a hole right in

barista duty

“The bus came by and I got on that’s when it all began” 1 Until that fateful day, August 9, 1995; when the brakes were slammed on. When I got the phone call, I was working as a Batista on Cape Cod It was all fun and games, the travel, the adventures, the people, the Mind altering music. I had worked all summer to save up enough money to replace our green 1978 VW that had survived an entire east coast tour on only 3 cylinders. (Not to mention breaking down on the George Washington bridge and having to bang on the starter with a wrench.) We joked that the 20lb single terminated crystal on the dashboard kept it running. I’m pretty sure we believed that “joke” whole heartedly, everything was magical. We worked hard, saved our money, lived in our van; restricted ourselves to 2 shows that fateful summer (Giant’s stadium, for the curious. They were sub par, by even the most enthusiastic touch head’s stan13

the chinger

them with bended notes that would send one to outer space and beyond.) “I think Jerry is doing dope again” “Jerry looks like hell” A major accident at a campground near the St. Louis venue injured hundreds. None of the reports were good. Rumors even circulated about death threats.

(Debra Koons, in a interview that appeared in Rolling Stone, confirmed that a death threat was made against Jerry before this year’s Deer Creek show. I was at that show and was wondering if something was up because: 1. They used a metal detector at the turnstiles. 2. Before the show started, someone came out on the stage and carefully videotaped the crowd. 3. The audience lights were left on The calls that were coming in were for the entire show. not that of mind melding hysteria. The first two occurred BEFORE the But of, “Jerry does not look well” riot.) “There was a massive ugly gate crash last night, and they canceled the sec- But being wide eyed, young and optiond show.” mistic we thought it was just a slump. Hell, Jerry even survived a diabetic “Jerry’s using a teleprompter and still coma. And in 1992, while we were forgetting words and missing notes” on west coast Jerry tour, Jerry fell ill.

We had showed up in San Francisco (after a long drive from LA) only to find out the shows were canceled. We didn’t think it was too serious, and it gave us time to hang around the city and bounce between Telegraph Ave in Berkeley,The Haight, and Santa Cruz Santa Cruz and Greyhound Rock were major stopping areas when there was a lull in touring action. I can even recall walking into the Safeway; with my newly acquired foodstamps and overhearing someone say “great, the East Coast Deadheads are here” Santa Cruz provided a haven from the chaos of the Haight and “Bezerkly” Not to mention the food stamp office allowed one to use “greyhound rock” as an address. We were young and hungry; and it was pre “welfare reform” so anyone who was hungry was entitled to be fed. Santa Cruz played such an integral part of most dead head lives, the Grateful dead archive is housed at the UCSC library (makes me wish I would have followed up on my library science degree)

home made conversion of this Ford econoline. (and by conversion, I really mean there was a few extra batteries, some plugs, a plywood bed, a cupboard (that my sewing machines would fit nicely on and provide workspace) and a 12 volt TV/VCR.

time) and laid there holding my dog, and sobbing tears of heartbreak that I had never felt before.

Jerry’s gone. Jerry’s gone…. These two words brought forth a plethora of despair and confusion. In one stroke of fate my whole world was changed. My ritual,the place where I found my magic, my inspiration, my income. ALL GONE. I had built a sewing empire (yes, in a van and various hotel rooms while on tour) where I had sold my handcrafted garments on”Shakedown Street” What was to become of me? Where would I see my friends and Grateful dead family? I hardly knew anyone’s real names (It was common for people to use monikers like “Sunshine” and “Booger”) let alone last names.(I had a very hard time convincing people that Symeon was my birth name; everyone would say, “no, I didn’t mean your rainbow name” And seriously, who would pick Symeon for their name?) Where would we all go? How would we find each other? What would become of all my fellow crafts people who relied solely on Grateful Dead tour to earn their living? Where else could someone turn a Coleman stove, a few loaves of bread and some cheese into a tour supporting venture? (I suppose here is where I could mention the Vermont based jam band named Phish; as some of us had caught a few shows between Grateful dead tour, and found, while not the money maker Shakedown Street was, one could get by)

tha Vdub

It also came complete with some stickers that afford us some avoiding of profiling (it’s been widely known that in most states a Grateful Dead sticker is probable cause for a search. The NJ supreme court even ruled on it) But our new tour vehicle had a USMC sticker, a “good sam’s club” I digress, For a band that played as sticker, and maybe even an NRA many nights as they did, year in and sticker. (We reserved our GD stickyear out; we knew Jerry would come ers to the inside of the van.) out of it. I myself had visions of seeing Jerry play until the day I died. He We were golden, or so we had would be sitting there in a rocking thought, a mere 3 days later is when chair, playing his heart out as always. I got the call, it was lunch rush, and I thought I would be taking my own a fellow kitchen employee (who children to see this magic man. worked at another restaurant) called When word came that fall tour 1992 me and simply said “Jerry’s dead” I would be canceled, I worried. But totally thought it was a joke.(Then knew it wasn’t over… yet he firmly stated “It’s fucking lunch rush, and I’m in the weeds over here, Fast forward again to 1995; We were THINK ABOUT IT” and he hung all ready to take on the fall tour, the up.) After it sunk in, I took off my dates were already announced, and apron, and handed it to my boss we were even going to venture up to (Who, I firmly believe was in the Canada (where I had only had the know but didn’t tell me… I suspect fortune of seeing them there in the that is why he hung around so long spring of 1992 ) that afternoon, as I was fully capaAugust 6,1995 the day to sell our VW ble of managing the place on my and give all of our cash to an older own as I often did.) No words were gentleman, ex military (in hindsight, exchanged. I went to my brand new he was kind of creepy) who ‘crafted’ to me Econoline (which lived in the (using that term rather loosely) a parking lot next to work most of the

To spite Bob Weir playing the next state over, I was paralyzed, I could not bring myself to going. Bob sings Black Bird 8.9.95 That night, sleep did not come easy for me. I cried myself to sleep (as I did for months after) and I had a visitor. Jerry came to my van, he sat in the captain’s chair passenger seat, turned around, facing the bed and 14

former incarnations of the Grateful Dead, including “the Dead”, and my second favorite “The Other Ones” seemed to purposely avoid Garcia’s signature guitar sound.

members of the Grateful Dead and Merry Pranksters have left this plane, and Only the strange remain Stay tuned for the next installment, 50 years later “return of the hippie (but they never really went away you just weren’t paying attention; not unlike herpes )”

Legions of us old folks ventured out to give Or We are versatile and adaptable, this new band a listen. not unlike cockroaches.. Sure the set lists were per-arranged much WE WILL GET BY.

vending at the show

just sat there, the more I sat up to look at him, the foggier he became. (It wasn’t until years later reading Wendy Weir’s book, In the spirit that I found out Jerry had come to a number of people that night.) The following days I spent in my van sobbing. Most everyone I knew was headed to the memorial in golden gate park, we had plenty of time and resources to drive cross country, but I was unable to get out of fetal position. I couldn’t even stand hearing any of the tapes my partner at the time insisted on playing (we all grieve differently) In fact it took me years to be able to listen to the music again. Now that the singer is gone, where shall I go for the song?

in advance, which we were unaccustomed to, and there was a notable absence of Drums and Space . But what I found there, was THE MAGIC.

I hadn’t given up on it, I knew it existed, I stumbled upon the affirmation that it It took me years to find my Grateful still existed. Red Rocks show Dead Family again (and meet new Once again members) In the meantime, I tried I was home! vending festivals, I had some kids, I got crafter, I wrote a book; and then Once again, I took to the road, (scaled something magical happened right back version, of course… Since now around the 15th anniversary of Jer- I was the single parent of small chilry’s walking on. Facebook exploded dren) Once again I was sewing to and we deadheads were finding each support my family and music habit. other left and right. I even had a deadhead dream come true when I made official merchanAnd the band made a new incarna- dise for Mickey Hart tion of itself, and they called them- As all good things, Furthur to has selves “Furthur” there was some come to an end with the promise of shuffling of musicians (most noted “something big” for 2015, which is was the absence of Mickey Hart and the 50th anniversary of The Grateful Bill Kreutzmann) and the addition Dead. of an unofficial understudy of Garcia John Kadlecik, who could emulate Ken Kesey is reading the bus for Garcia’s style fairly flawlessly. This a cross country trip. And a Trip is marked a turning point for me, I what we all are expecting. heard some of the live streams 50 years is a long time, many of the 15 and got hooked. Some of the

Symeon North is 40 something a single mother of two children, living at the foothills of the Cascades; who somehow manages to sometimes gets things done. Current ventures include her crafting business “Built to Last Outfitters” and when she isn’t taking it on the road; She runs an etsy shop that she stocks with her handmade wares and manages a facebook page, that updates with new products and new adventures https://www.facebook.com/ builttolastoutfitters She has written and coauthored many articles for Knitty.com is featured in Shannon Okey’s book “Spin to Knit” (interweave press 2006) and has published her own book “Get Spun” (interweave press 2010) She is currently enjoying busting out words for Precis.

Teaching in America by Chris Parizo

Somerville High School is one of America’s oldest high schools and sits three miles away from downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The building houses some of the oldest classrooms in the country – built in the 1840’s, the building isn’t actually that old compared to historic buildings in the area, but as far as schools go, it may as well have been built by Druids. The antiquity of the building and my classroom has a certain charm about it. Many of the classrooms do not have whiteboards, but instead are armed with dusty and useless chalkboards. I would spend one of my eight years in education at Somerville High School. I walked into the principal’s office and handed him my official resignation letter, one that I felt was cordial, professional, and restrained. He accepted my letter and handed me a letter of his own saying,

“Thanks, go ahead and sign this for me.” I read the paper handed to me, at the top it read “Contract Non-Renewal Notification”. A Contract Non-Renewal Notification is a kiss-of-death to all educators – basically it’s a termination letter, and with each educator application you fill complete, one of the first questions you are asked is if you’ve ever received one. Click that “Yes” box, and your application is null and void. Game over. I refused to sign the letter and asked the principal why was I signing this if I was resigning, he responded, “Uhm. Geez. I don’t know.” Basically, my principal was either the dumbest or the most spiteful man I had ever worked for, perhaps both. Or perhaps he was the smartest –a principal who does not display control within his or her school is perceived as impotent

and non-effective. A principal makes the decisions about staffing is a principal who is successful. And one who cannot keep staff, and instead loses them without warning is one who is not – the same as a teacher who controls the actions of his or her classroom. The vast majority of struggling American schools are grounded in place trying to display an outward appearance of “success” – and that definition of success comes from test scores from antiquated assessments that hold no real world value. Students are put through the grinder to meet minimum requirements established by the government, while anything meaningful gets tossed to the side. Struggling schools forgo education to meet these demands by “teaching to the test”. At Somerville High School, the school year is spent replicating the dreaded MCAS exam – the state’s standardized exam that is used to assess whether a school is “successful” or not. Anything outside of MCAS replication is frowned upon, and anything that is not addressed in the MCAS exam, is deemed lacks purpose in the classroom. Somerville students are taught how to summarize and replicate. Meanwhile, non-struggling schools move passed teaching to the test and get straight to higher-order concepts and assessments. Holding all students to the same standardized exams, regardless of socio-economic standard, is by its very nature, the exact opposite of education’s purpose. So, back in the principal’s office, he slides the unsigned Contract Non-Renewal into his desk – his attempt to give an outward appearance of his own success failed and gets stuffed into a drawer. He never offers it to me again and it’s our final conversation. I don’t hold a grudge towards him, or feel any anger for his weak attempt to ruin me professionally. Instead, I pity him. He’s a weakened link in a long, twisted chain of the American Education System and he’s willing to sacrifice anything or anybody, including his own staff, in order to give an outward appearance of success. So now I know what it feels like to be one of his students. Chris Parizo is an eight-year veteran English teacher having taught in Atlanta, GA and Boston, MA. 16

images.

2kolegas in the morning

ÂŠ 2014 Joel Fremming - http://facezine.wordpress.com

images.

the desert in rear view, 2011

Getting robbed sucks.

Need to find out who is playing

where in Beijing?

word on the street is..

LiveBeijingMusic.com

Especially if you’re a small, independent record label /recording studio. But that’s what happened to Lux Eterna Records. Proprietor Casey Rae is trying to get the operation running again. Contribute to the “rebuild Lux Eterna” campaign and recieve all kinds of goodies, from upcoming releases to schwag to personal consultations and even session and mixing/mastering work.

You can help. images.

five days in, rondell and the ratstick, 2011

http://bit.ly/HelpLuxEterna Contribute any amount today and support independent music!