aric with an a

sometimes I pick up diary and start writing - remembering that I forgot to write earlier about whatever it is I was referencing.

so, skip this if you want. skip ‘em all if you want, but that would kind of negate you being here.

anyway.

- the fires here are insane. it looks like something set up by a sfx crew from down the street. the mountains we can see from our window have been outlined with an amber that would impress even the best of j.r.r. tolkien fans. it’s scary and beautiful. kind of like patricia arquette.

- I woke up the other night with the lyrics to an onyx song in my head and had to write it down on a piece of paper and my hand as not to forget. I then downloaded and wondered why and how the hell I dreamt about them. it did lead me to revisit the soundtrack to ‘judgement night’ which was impressive for it’s time - one of the first fusion attempts. living colour + run dmc / de la soul + teenage fanclub / sonic youth + cyprus hill = goodness.

- I’m writing. a lot. about 2000 words a day in the book. which is painful - for many reasons, but mainly having to revisit the old shanghai diaries for reference and man. I wasn’t too happy about being there. and I had better hair. ah well.

- this book has kept my attention for the past few days. and I like it. and this is on the way - which excites my head a lot.

- I’m an official netflix fan. every 2 days I have a new film. and I’m loving it. a list is coming. old news, sure - but it’s been a decade since I’ve lived here.

- my bro riaad is a funny man. very funny. kid should be on the onion.

- this week’s ‘rough sundays’ was good. but I liked having people co-host more. I’m looking forward to the new show, but I’ll miss my gospel as well.

- last night I made the best tequila-cajun-lime shrimp you might have ever had. mmmmmmm. no kiddin’.

- do you think mos def and I would get along well? I’ve always thought so. his ‘black on both sides’ is on right now and I just feel it.

- I’m on a hip-hop trip. but good hip-hop. c’mon.

- I’ve still yet to use the word ‘douche’. seriously. not because I have anything against it, I just always forget.

- I’m most excited about this film coming out. mostly because I love goats.

- yesterday in the mail, I got a) posters from Adam b) 40+ moon pies from friends of Lori’s and c) ‘choke’ from the aforementioned netflix. not a bad haul.

…is that all?

I don’t know.

probably not.

[photo of me in the toilet at the tate modern in london. how creative I am!]

I fly out tomorrow for a travel piece and will update the Shanghai Diaries later on, but for now, here’s a recap of the 6th week.

Thanks again for the support!

Loads going on that I need to write about, but this is taking up a lot of my time - to be on US/UK networks soon:

This is what aired today on both the US and UK televisions:

For really good coverage of up-to-date news, the guys from Shanghaiist have been absolute stars.

Which a lot of people told me not to - but it was a conversation with Collin, a friend of mine who’s quite a high-ranking media guy when I decided to release this.

My father, upon me leaving to travel almost 10 years ago, asked only this: ‘Live, Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy’. As much as I loved ChinesePod, The Shanghai Show, etc, I feel the need to document life here from an objective angle. Yes, shit’s hitting the fan, but no, it’s not all protrayed correctly in Western media.

This is the second (first one is still being touched up by Current TV), of what I hope will be quite a few ‘Shanghai Diaries‘.

If I turn up on your doorstep, you’ll know why.