Entries by AlanPaul
Jamming with Mark Karan – and more gigs
There have been some very memorable nights and events since Big in China was released last March and I hope there are many more to come, but one epic night that has gone unfortunately unremarked upon here took place last March at the Hi Dive in San Francisco. My generous, supportive friends Dave and Di […]
This NBA lockout piece is all you need to know, even if Bill Simmons is lame therein.
My own interpretation of the NBA lockout remains unchanged from the beginning: the owners are asking the players to structurally save themselves from themselves. They just can’t get stop overpaying guys…giving solid contributors max deals, totally interchangeable role players multi-year, big money contracts and, most remarkably, perenially underachieving stiffs the same kind of love. I’m […]
Beijing pollution: A Big in China excerpt
All reports from friends and news sources yesterday indicated that pollution in Beijing was realy, really bad. When I read the opening line of this WSJ China Real Time Report about how the pollution levels are actually downplayed by the WHO, I had a major flashback. The piece begins, The pollution in Beijing was so bad on […]
Happy 20th birthday Nevermind: a personal look back at my dealing with NIrvana
I was in my first year as Guitar World Managing Editor in 1991 when Nirvana’s Nevermind was released. I remember well how we covered it — it was a Slash cover, with a massive Soundgarden feature, with sidebars on Pearl Jam and Nirvana, each one page long. I think that Nevermind was already out and […]
Japanese tsunami from point of view of a car
I found this rather gripping. From the description on Flixxy.com: Yu Muroga was doing his job making deliveries when the 11 March 2011 earthquake hit in Japan. Unaware, like many people in the area, of how far inland the Tsunami would travel, he continued to drive and do his job. The HD camera mounted on […]
Lijia Zhang on Big In China
“Instead of complaining about China, a favorite expat pastime, Alan Paul embraced the country with child-like enthusiasm. Big In China is a readable, human account of his China experience, and it shows how one can be richly rewarded in a supposedly ‘hard posting’ when armed with an open, adventurous mind and the Chinese people’s ‘go-get-it’ spirit.” […]