The fast has officially begun. It is Yom Kippur and I should be at synagogue, but instead I'm sitting in my hotel. Unfortunately I was unable to find information about service times and locations here in Beijing until it was too late. But no I know and I'll be going in the morning at least, but the plan was to go tonight. I feel kind of bad about not being at services, especially since I'm just sitting in my hotel. But I chose to not tell friends I wasn't going and make alternative plans, because that would feel wrong to me. So here I am in the hotel. But I guess I could use the relaxation. Today was a long and tiring day.
Today I went to the BICES, a trade show here in Beijing for my industry that happens every other year. We don't actually attend, but we have a dealer with a small booth, and it's good to see what's going on in the industry. Oddly everyone seemed to be showing off remote controlled construction machinery, which to me just seems like a completely useless technological innovation. I can't imagine what sort of problem it would solve to have a machine remotely controlled instead of controlled from within the cab, but that's what multiple companies decided to go with. Maybe they just want to show off some fancy technology and make everyone think they're all hi-tech, but really it's pointless. But anyway, I spent the day on my feet walking around the show, sweating my ass off because the pollution was terrible, which made it super muggy. Although it did rain for about 10 minutes this evening, at which point the weather became totally clear and beautiful for sunset. It was actually pretty nutty how big of a difference it was. So I was very tired today and will probably go to bed early. Or end up watching TV and going to bed late. Who knows.
The highlight of the day was that I got to see my old boss and colleagues from my last company. I haven't been in touch with any Chinese colleagues since I left Shantui, mostly because I had no way to be in touch. I tried to find them at Bauma Shanghai last year, another big trade show here in China that we actually do participate in, but they weren't there. Luckily they were here today and I got to see a few of them, which was really nice. So hopefully I'll continue to be in touch.
Today's song is a not so new band that's new to me as of a couple of weeks ago, Hundred Waters. I just got their second album, The Moon Rung Like A Bell, which they released last year. Last year while touring with Alt-J. I really don't know how I missed these guys. They have a really unique sound. What's weird about it is it reminds me of like a million different things, but I can't figure out what they actually remind me of. I just keep getting flashes of other bands (oddly most of them are Japanese bands I used to listen to), but then think to myself "no, but not quite." Which is great. They are unique and wonderful. So today's song is Xtalk, my favorite off of the album. I actually had a bit of a hard time picking a song. This one is definitely my favorite, but they have such an ethereal quality to them that I thought I should choose one of their slower tracks. And there's this trio of songs right in the middle of the album (Broken Blue, Chambers (Passing Train), and Down From The Rafters) that I couldn't choose between. So I just went with my Xtalk. But listen to the whole album.
Today I went to the BICES, a trade show here in Beijing for my industry that happens every other year. We don't actually attend, but we have a dealer with a small booth, and it's good to see what's going on in the industry. Oddly everyone seemed to be showing off remote controlled construction machinery, which to me just seems like a completely useless technological innovation. I can't imagine what sort of problem it would solve to have a machine remotely controlled instead of controlled from within the cab, but that's what multiple companies decided to go with. Maybe they just want to show off some fancy technology and make everyone think they're all hi-tech, but really it's pointless. But anyway, I spent the day on my feet walking around the show, sweating my ass off because the pollution was terrible, which made it super muggy. Although it did rain for about 10 minutes this evening, at which point the weather became totally clear and beautiful for sunset. It was actually pretty nutty how big of a difference it was. So I was very tired today and will probably go to bed early. Or end up watching TV and going to bed late. Who knows.
The highlight of the day was that I got to see my old boss and colleagues from my last company. I haven't been in touch with any Chinese colleagues since I left Shantui, mostly because I had no way to be in touch. I tried to find them at Bauma Shanghai last year, another big trade show here in China that we actually do participate in, but they weren't there. Luckily they were here today and I got to see a few of them, which was really nice. So hopefully I'll continue to be in touch.
Today's song is a not so new band that's new to me as of a couple of weeks ago, Hundred Waters. I just got their second album, The Moon Rung Like A Bell, which they released last year. Last year while touring with Alt-J. I really don't know how I missed these guys. They have a really unique sound. What's weird about it is it reminds me of like a million different things, but I can't figure out what they actually remind me of. I just keep getting flashes of other bands (oddly most of them are Japanese bands I used to listen to), but then think to myself "no, but not quite." Which is great. They are unique and wonderful. So today's song is Xtalk, my favorite off of the album. I actually had a bit of a hard time picking a song. This one is definitely my favorite, but they have such an ethereal quality to them that I thought I should choose one of their slower tracks. And there's this trio of songs right in the middle of the album (Broken Blue, Chambers (Passing Train), and Down From The Rafters) that I couldn't choose between. So I just went with my Xtalk. But listen to the whole album.
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