the best thing about living in China is the absolute insanity of nightlife. a quiet Tuesday night drink with lo&sons turned into the above madness, still not entirely sure what was going on but all of a sudden we looked up and there was utter chaos on stage, cameras flashing, music pumping, whips… whipping?

we have a couple of ex-Shanghai friends fresh from Portland in town, have been taking them out to bars and watching their grinning faces as they take in the absurdity of this city. after nearly 6 years here, i still can’t figure out if this is a positive or negative, the truth about Shanghai is that anything can happen here, no rules, no limits.

picked up ludacris & entourage at the airport, all access passes, glorious blue sky (and windy) day, beautiful crowds and an all around fantastic event. VERY embarrassing situation with the 30 seconds to mars tent, accidentally asked for jordan catelan… i mean, jared leto. no one was happy.

huge congratulations to the entire splitworks team for an incredible experience. luda whaaaa?

courtside, NBD.

we have guests in from the states this week and it’s been lovely exploring the city with them and showing them our favourite places. last sunday proved to be excellent weather and blue skies for the first time in lord knows how long, so we took advantage and headed out to moganshan lu and up up up high to the shanghai world financial center.

a couple of pictures from the day, it was actually my first time going up to the SWFC, i’d only ever gone to the bar before so it was quite the treat. very impressed by how efficient and orderly everything is, a definite improvement from the usual horrible chinese tourist traps. also, the gift shop had some surprisingly awesome, i picked up a couple decks of cards as well as really nicely designed beijing and shanghai subway maps from beijing based design shop paper space. winning!!!

the fantastic people at SPLITWORKS have done it again! VERY excited about the upcoming next few weeks, there are so many amazing things to experience and you would be very silly to miss out. looking forward to seeing the Besnard Lakes and Whitest Boy Alive, you can see a full programme of events for both Beijing and Shanghai HERE. See you soon!

i got a very old roll of film back yesterday and came out with these three pretty photos of shanghai. since i leave tomorrow morning for san francisco, i guess it’s appropriate that one of my last posts of the year be of this city that i love & hate. i’ll be posting once in a while during my trip, very much looking forward to being in the land of free internet and good customer service. big hugs + see you in 2011!!!

ps. they were taken with my old SEAGULL film camera that no longer works

my friend scotty fingers was in town a few weeks ago shooting this fantastic video as part of the Nokia N8 launch campaign. the app is a super simple to use mobile music maker that lets you make music anywhere & with anything, and once you’re finished you can share on facebook via SoundCloud or set it as your ringtone. if you have a Nokia N8 or C7, head over to the OVI STORE for your free download.

ps. check out the Welcome to Optimism special edition W+K Creative Review loop here.

Big congratulations & happy 1 year anniversary to the team at Central Studios! We attended the birthday bash with high expectations — Central has gained a reputation over the last year of not only being an ace photography and production studio but also an amazing host of amazing parties, and this anniversary celebration was no exception. They went with a circus theme, complete with acrobatics, circus ring, pop corn vendour, face painting station & hot dog stand, not to mention three full service bars to ensure that none of their guests went thirsty. The music was fantastic, the decor was incredible and the whole thing went down without a hitch. Congratulations again to Rodney, Natasha et all, looking forward to all you guys accomplish in 2011.

More about Central Studios:
Central Studios is a creative services company offering photography production facilities (studio and equipment rental), as well as other related services. We offer three over-sized studios centrally located in Shanghai – just a 5 minute walk from Xintiandi, not far from Central Huaihai Rd. With 5.2 meter ceiling clearance, all studios have excellent facilities and ensure that your clients will be comfortable during any assignment. We have a good selection of Phase One and Canon camera and Broncolor lighting gear, Manfrotto/Avenger grip and an ever-expanding list of other equipment. Full production services are available or just come in and rent the space!

Contact: 1F, Building 1, 751 South Huangpi Road, Luwan District, Shanghai 200025, China
上海市黄陂南路751号1号楼1楼200025

Phone .电话+86 21 6384 8088 // Fax .传真+86 21 6384 8098 // Email 电邮 hello [at] centralstudios.cn