X-Radiation

Yesterday afternoon G. Scott Owen and myself gave presentations to the students and faculty at Shanghai Normal University. The talk was attended by a group of students as well as various Deans and Chairs of the univeristy such as Wan Qinghua and Lu Jianfei. We were inducted into the 2009 International Scholars Forum and presented with chops containing the Chinses characters for our names. Afterwards we went out with the faculty of the univerisy and publishers of Fantasy Art Magazine, Mr. Wang Wei and Ms. Ying Zhang  for a wonderful dinner. Mr. Wang is an amazing artist in his own right and helps run an animation seminar for Chinese youth called the Asian Youth Animation and Comics Contest or AYACC.

Rambo Game at Cartoon and Game Expo

Am I the only one who is amused watching Chinese video game players in Shanghai play a Rambo video game where the object is to kill Communists?

Dead Men Tell No Tales

This amusement attraction on display at the Cartoon and Game expo lets the player take out what appears to be an animatronic Somali pirate with a rocket launcher on a moving boat. Extra points for a head shot!

What's up Doc?

My parents always said they wanted me to be a Doctor. It took a while, but I think they finally got their wish. Mr. Wang Wei is in the forground while G. Scott Owen, Dani Weinstein and some of our hosts at Shanghai Normal University receed into the background.

Today a group of us including a couple of comic book artists from Portugal and G. Scott Owen, the President of ACM SIGGRAPH, took a field trip to the home of renound Chinese cartoonist Ding Cong. Along the way I got to wondering just what in Odin’s name an Ewok is doing standing guard over this Taoist temple in Fengjing?

Pie For Breakfast

Who knew they served pie for breakfast in Shanghai? I don’t know how to read Chinese, so at first I guessed  that the asterisk looking symbol divided into eight wedge shaped slices was the character for “pie” but as it turns out that’s actually the character for “rice”.

Somehow I just don’t think this would fly in California.

The giant peach in Gaffney, S.C. But some folks say it looks like a giant butt.

Stopped at Gene’s in Greenville for lunch on the way back to the airport.

View Larger Map

This is an embedded google map showing my trip through upstate South Carolina. I started in San Francisco, flew into Charlotte, drove to Winthrop in Rock Hill and spent the night at The Inn at Winthrop. The next day I gave presentations at Winthrop and Furman. I spent the night at the Westin in Greenville. The following day I gave presentations at Wofford and Clemson. Again, I spent the night in Greenville before making may way to Charlotte to catch a plane back to SFO. On the way back to the airport I stopped of at Cowpens and King’s Mountain to check out some American Revolutionary War history. It was a great trip!