Where I'm going this weekend

This weekend, I'm going to Kewanee, Illinois, hog capital of the world.

Newsstand

Newsstand, Shanghai, China

NYC mannequin

NYC Mannequin, New York City, New York

Red

Porn Awards Red Carpet, Las Vegas, Nevada

Everything is going to be alright

My favorite work of art I saw in New York City was Guido van der Werve's everything is going to be alright.

Like the somewhat over-employed metaphor of Walter Benjamin’s angel of history, propelled into the future as it looks back at the ruins of the past, our man at the front (the artist himself) is a paradoxical figure of fearlessness.

You can read more about it here and watch a 30 second excerpt here. 

Bald mannequin

Bald Mannequin, New York City, New York

Money pool

Statue, New York City, New York

Midtown mannequin

Midtown Mannequin, New York City, New York

Starlets

Porn Stars, Las Vegas, Nevada

The vice beat

Crickets, Shanghai, China
Over at my Forbes blog, I'm working the vice beat. Yesterday, I posted about cricket fighting, and today I'll have a post that's best described as: Is that a gun in your bra or are you just happy to see me?

The vice beat covers a lot of territory -- gambling, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, adult. But it can also include any business sector that a portion of the people view as having a negative impact on our culture. Illegal drugs, for example. Some people consider food a vice these days. I wrote a post awhile back on whether or not Apple is a sin stock.

Got tips on any subjects, people, or stories that you'd like to see explored on SIN INC? Email me.

One-armed mannequin

One-Armed Mannequin, Shanghai, China

Butt

Statue, Suzhou, China

Cowgirl in Asia

Last week I returned from my second trip to China. The first time I went was in December of last year.

In case you are not aware, Asia is insane. Or at least China is. Or at least the parts that I went to are -- Shanghai and Suzhou.

What is the population of Shanghai? Closing in on 24 million. As a point of comparison, the population of New York City is around 8.5 million.

When people find out you went to Asia, they are most of the time impressed. I am not sure why. Invariably, if they haven't been there, they want to know what it's like. I say, "It's like New York City on steroids," but that doesn't really cut it. It is massively busy, a completely different world, hyper-capitalist and deeply old school.

My favorite things are: Pudong, with its wacky skyline; the antiques market with busts of Mao at every turn; the food, especially the crispy duck at 1221; the animals and insects market, where the frogs are rainbow colored and the crickets have a fight club; the marriage market at People's Park; the golden temples populated by saffron-wrapped monks and surrounded by skyscrapers; the sensation of being a stranger in a strange land.

At one point, I was meandering around a park in Suzhou, camera in hand. I thought, There is nothing here to photograph other than trees and bridges. A minute later, I rounded a corner to find a statue of a little boy bent over, his pants pulled down, a sculpted dog sniffing his butt.

That's China for you.

Prayer

Prayer, Shanghai, China

Signs

Signs, Shanghai, China

Frogs

Frogs, Shanghai, China

Silhouette

Silhouette, Suzhou, China

Newsstand

Newsstand, Shanghai, China

Umbrella

Umbrella, Shanghai, China

Tins

Tins, Shanghai, China