amdavidson

Good Morning Schramberg

posted on 2010-02-23 - amd.im/xGwk

I’m currently in a very small town in Germany visiting an equipment supplier.

This is the road leading up to my hotel. It’s way off the highway and took a lot of wrong turns to get to, but it seems to be a nice enough place, which is good, because I think I’ll be back here before too long.

Sunlit Water

posted on 2010-02-22 - amd.im/Vsrx

A shot of the fountains outside the Crowne Plaza hotel in Suzhou.

An Interesting hotel; it’s styled like a cruise ship, both inside and out. The effect permeates everything and is quite effective.

Unfortunately, the only shot I liked of the hotel was of the fountains out front.

Suzhou River Cruise

posted on 2010-02-21 - amd.im/3uCP

Saw these two gentlemen cruising down a river during a walk in the Suzhou Industrial Park this morning.

The Bridge near Rainbow Walk

posted on 2010-02-19 - amd.im/4fMU

A shot of one of the bridges in the Suzhou Industrial Park near Rainbow Walk.

Happy Chinese New Year from Shanghai

posted on 2010-02-14 - amd.im/axsY

via vimeo.com

Last night was Chinese New Years eve and I have to say, the fireworks last night were nothing short of amazing. The video above was a panning shot from my hotel room window on the 42nd floor of the Royal Meridien in downtown Shanghai. There’s another static shot here.

I took a few photos as well (here and here) but they really don’t do the display justice.

It started around 8PM when the sun had set and darkness had set in, and i just sat by the window watching and reading until the show started to die out around 1 in the morning. The sound of the explosions was a low thunderous rumble continuously through the evening and by the end of the night the smoke from all the powder had thickened the sky so much it was nearly impossible to make out the fireworks themselves, they had turned into a dull twinkling of lights across the sky.

If you ever have the opportunity to witness something like this, make it happen. It is definitely something I will not soon forget.

Happy Year of the Tiger everyone.

Just Off The Main Drag

posted on 2010-02-13 - amd.im/X3ir

Well, the fabric market was closed today in honor of New Years Eve, so I took a walk down Nanjing Lu.

For the uninitiated, Nanjing Lu is one of the fancy shopping streets in Shanghai, closed to cars and always packed with people. Wild children, window shoppers, buskers, pick pockets, it's got it all.

What's interesting to me, and what seems to hold true anywhere I go in China, is that it is all a thin veneer. Just past the Omega dealer and the LaCoste store, you get right back into the run-down streets of the rest of Shanghai.

This door caught my attention today and drew me off the main drag and back into the alleys and side streets, where there always seems to be more to see.

Shanghai Morning Stroll

posted on 2010-02-09 - amd.im/oQ5T

Saw this building today when I went for a walk in Hongqiao Park, around the corner of my hotel. The architecture is do different from what one normally sees in Shanghai.

Most of the windows had some amount of paper covering them up and some of the pathways next to he building were boarded up.

I wonder if it’s under renovation or just going to waste as so many buildings over here seem to.

nook verifying update

posted on 2010-02-05 - amd.im/0OIC

When updating my nook it let it’s Linux/Android guts show.

The iPad Microwaves, Subways, and Scissors

posted on 2010-02-01 - amd.im/yZeM

Regarding the iPad:

I know, it's not everything you dreamed of... but that doesn't mean it's not awesome… It doesn't come with a keyboard. It doesn't come with a microwave either. And you're going to have to use your own subway to get it back from the store and your own scissors to get it out of the box. O woe!

from squashed.tumblr.com, via marco.org.

Great response to all the people complaining about the iPad's lack of “this” or “that”.