Damon Albarn’s career reads like a roadmap to some musical no-man's land: start a pop band, turn into an indie/hip-hop/dub “virtual” group, followed by a supergroup featuring Tony Allen and Paul Simonon, and throw in an album of Malian guitar music for good measure.
posted on Sep 23, 2008 - View this thread

American businessman "stranded" in China. Now safe back in Seattle, Eugene Nelson could barely restrain his tears as he told his harrowing tale of accidently being put on a flight to "remote" Western China ("literally 200 miles south of the Mongolian border"!), "damn near fight[ing his] way out" of a brothel, and barely making his way back to civilization. While Eugene seems a bit unresourceful, his story does illustrate how difficult travel in China can be without Mandarin skills, despite the supposed prevalence of English speakers. Maybe someday his employer can hire one of the legions of students (and toddlers) now studying Mandarin. Or maybe they won't need to.
posted on Apr 6, 2006 - View this thread

Mandarin: 1998-2005, R.I.P. (warning: 21 MB QT Movie) A farewell slide show with musical accompaniment by/to a great Denton, Texas band: Mandarin. Many of the images are of Denton and the surrounding area, tour photos and various other bric a brac captured beautifully by Peter Salisbury, the bass player who compiled the slideshow. They were my friends and Denton was my home for many years. Their music will be missed by many.
posted on Sep 26, 2005 - View this thread