
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?

posted by Xray at 1:25 am

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”.
posted by Xray at 5:21 pm

Shanghai at 5am
Slept well after my flight to Shanghai. Woke up a bit earlier than I would have liked, but it’s 2pm in California right now. I took this shot of the sunrise out of my hotel window this morning.
posted by Xray at 2:39 pm

Corn Flavored Kit-cat
Last night after a wonderful tasting of Laphroaig, my friend Chris busted out with some amazing Kit-Kat bars he brought back from Japan. My personal favorites were the baked potato and buttered corn flavors but we also had soy flavor, mango flavor and green tea flavor kit-kat bars. Oishii!
posted by Xray at 7:21 am

Somehow I just don’t think this would fly in California.
posted by Xray at 12:20 am

The giant peach in Gaffney, S.C. But some folks say it looks like a giant butt.
posted by Xray at 11:52 pm

Stopped at Gene’s in Greenville for lunch on the way back to the airport.
posted by Xray at 11:46 pm

Country steak, fried okra, mac’N’cheese, apple/pecan/raisin/marshmallow salad, cornbread and sweet tea. Awesome!
posted by Xray at 9:51 am
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!
posted by Xray at 9:02 am
This week I’m giving some lectures in South Carolina. I arrived this evening at Charlotte Douglas airport after a 4.5 hour flight from San Francisco. Dr. William Thacker of Winthrop University met me at the airport along with Lauren Cairco, the President of the Winthrop student ACM SIGGRAPH chapter. We had dinner at the Sheraton where I had my first taste of Cheese Grits with shrimp and andouille sausage. Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at Winthrop University and Furman University with a side trip for lunch at the Old Town Bistro in Rock Hill, former site of McRory’s where the Friendship Nine held a historic lunch counter sit-in similar to the one at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1961 as part of the American Civil Rights movement.
On Tuesday I’m addressing Wofford College and Clemson University then heading back to San Francisco to get on the ball at work. Meanwhile I’m looking forward to some Southern hospitality.
posted by Xray at 12:59 am