Alex Kalmar

I don’t know how true this is, but I think it’s a...

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 07:07:28 -0500

I don’t know how true this is, but I think it’s a cool idea. - Alex

India

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:17:00 -0400

We arrived in Kolkata late last night; judging by that airport, you’d think the world as we know it had ended. It’s far from the modern ‘One World’ that America, China, Canada and most countries have become. I felt very uncomfortable sitting in this terminal, late at night, with a cart full of suitcases too many insects and bottle of clean water, which we aquired at the airport, in China. It’s funny how It’s come to trusting water from China in a situation like this. I’ve heard so many horror stories about the water here… But the more I think about it, China’s water is not much better. Perhaps their supply of clean water is more common, and less questionable. Then again, maybe it’s only that I feel at home there now.

In any case, the expensive hotel (Sahara Star) we’re staying at is well worth it; for the oasis that it is. “An oasis in the concrete city of Mumbai”, as it’s written on the advertisement.

Favorite shot from the wedding -Family.

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:28:35 -0400

Favorite shot from the wedding -Family.

Copies of Kalmark Machines in China

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 13:53:00 -0400

Well, it’s finally happened. One could say it was inevitable; the KALMARK Interlock Armouring Machines have been copied by Chinese Copy-masters… one of them being a state-owned organization.

I actually laughed out loud as I read over an email from Leon, a company employee, in China. The copy-machine’s model number is, LK###00

No less the designers initials…. intentional or not. Louis Kalmar, is President of KALMARK, and engineer behind the famous-in-China, Interlock Armouring Machine. The fact that the machine-designers initials are embedded in it’s model number is either fully intentional, or extremely ironic.

Traveling is fun; visas are not.

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:42:00 -0400

We’re in GuangZhou right now. It’s been an interesting few weeks. Since coming back to China, I’ve barely been back to Kunming. We arrived back, then 4 days later, I left to Shanghai for a company show. Following the show I went home to Kunming, and 4 days later, back to Shanghai to start my India visa submission! After visiting the visa office there, we were told we couldn’t apply there, and I, as a foreign person could only submit, in person, in GuangZhou.

So, here we are. Visa submitted; no passport; can’t leave… five days of waiting.

We’re safe in KM. I woke up pretty early this morning. We have to go buy food for our...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:42:00 -0400

We’re safe in KM. I woke up pretty early this morning. We have to go buy food for our apartment, but it’s raining.

Wedding Ceremony in Canada:

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:58:00 -0400

Wedding Ceremony in Canada::

There once was a man named Alex, a tall Canadian dreamboat with an oversized nose and rockstar hair. He found himself in the distant land of Kunming, China in pursuit of his dreams, searching for his story. One day, Alex found what he was least expecting: A beautiful Chinese girl with cartoon eyes named GuoZhe (or Suki). Imagine his surprise when he found out that Suki had a thing for oversized noses! Together, the lovebirds raced around Kunming, watched movies, got lost in love. It was on a visit back to Canada that Alex realized what his dream had been all along! He returned to China with a ring and gave his story an unexpected twist: On July 13th, 2011, he looked into those big cartoon eyes and asked Suki to marry him. Suki said “Yes!” Yes to Alex’s crazy hair and yes to a new life together.

What happened next?

They started planning this awesome wedding and they want YOU to come!

I took Suki to work on the far end of the city, this morning. So...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:45:07 -0400

I took Suki to work on the far end of the city, this morning. So today, this will be my office.

Last week, the clutch cable on my motorcycle was cut while in...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:02:36 -0500

Last week, the clutch cable on my motorcycle was cut while in the basement of my apartment complex. Here’s what followed…

Moving… I’ve spent the last little while finding a...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:56:00 -0500

Suki and our friend QuanQuan

My house is outside...

The moving truck?

My new office!

Moving…

I’ve spent the last little while finding a house, preparing to move, and hulling an enormous amount of stuff to my new apartment ( how do I have so much stuff?! )

Finally, at last, I’m sitting in my new office relaxing and catching up on email, Facebook and all the stuff between. The place isn’t nearly setup yet, but I have my studio monitors on the desk, with the desk situated approximately 3 feet from the walls. I have no stove, a leaking water pipe and a crap load of boxes to unpack… but I finally have usable desk space again!

Accusations against Apple are true.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:48:13 -0500

I’m guilty of using the products myself (and they’re awesome) but I’ve been hearing some pretty nasty rumours about the company, Apple Computers, lately. Some of my friends here in China talk about the bad conditions in the factories, while picking up a call on their brand new iPhone 4 in the same breath. It’s strange, but the phone works -so people buy it.

Apparently, Apple’s new CEO has issued a fancy letter to clear up the suspicion. I just want to clear that up a little further and say that according to more reasonable claims coming from China itself, the situation is not good.

Reference Article: http://gizmo.do/x0BADW

Photo

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:24:00 -0500

A friend of mine recently asked me to give advise on what...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:02:00 -0500

A friend of mine recently asked me to give advise on what headphones, currently on the market are worth looking at. I didn’t really know what to tell him at the time. I rhymed of brands that I trust, but didn’t know of a specific model to recommend.

He was looking for something for regular listening, but suitable for travel, so not too bulky. I came across these upon recommendation from another friend. I had a listen and was very impressed by the sound you hear from this small package.

With solid features like hands-free phone compatibility, noise-cancellation, and a huge frequency range (11hz - 30hz). Not to mention that they fold up and come with a nice little carrying case; great for travel.

AKG K480 - Model referred to in this post.

AKG K450 - The same great sound, without active noise-cancellation.

AKG K420 - If you’re still able to find a pair of these guys, they’re about the same as the new K480, but without all the great features (but much less cost).

Today was my 24th Birthday. I got a number of momentos written...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:34:00 -0500

Today was my 24th Birthday. I got a number of momentos written on the ol’ Facebook wall (turned out to be a refreshing finish to my day). I spend the day with my lovely bride-to-be. She and I went Prague cafe for a relaxing, late lunch; breakfast sandwich and pancakes, served with a steamy cappuccino. It was delicious.

Following that, we decided to invite a couple of our favorite Chinese friends to join us for dinner and a movie back at my place. Suki and I then spend a good portion of the afternoon tidying up my mess as I re-wired the studio monitors up to the big screen TV for movie night (sounded spectacular).

Suki bought me this awesome ink-pen for my birthday. I mean, a pen is a pen, but when it comes from your fiance, with the intent that you will write a few more songs with it, it means a lot. It really is a nice pen. I’ve seen a few nice pens, but this is by far the nicest, German engineered, aluminum bodied, ink-pen, with custom-fit-leather cased pen I’ve ever been given.

Thank you, 郭哲!

Exaggerations of China

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:59:00 -0500

To Abe Sauer and other writers I have no respect for,

It makes me angry when I read articles about China, written by people who really don’t know what they’re talking about. Recently in the news, there’ve been many stories about fake Apple stores and other fake products specifically in Kunming. The people writing these articles really have no idea. I live in Kunming… I’ve seen the stores. They’re not ripoffs, they’re just stores. The Apple product’s, but they exist because there are no official Apple stores.

And then there’s the case of the fake IKEA. It’s actually pretty cool. It looks exactly like IKEA. But it’s the only place to buy good furniture in all of Kunming. There is no IKEA.

So before you start criticizing something you know nothing about, take my word for it, there’s a lot more to it than what you’ve heard.

Visiting Home [ Early Christmas ]

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:49:56 -0500

I’ll be celebrating Christmas in Brantford a little early this year. Turns out Christmas time here in Kunming is not worth missing as a foreign musician. We’ll see if that holds true when the time comes. This will be the first Christmas I ever spend away from home.

I feel like I’m becoming more sentimental towards family as I move into this new phase of life with Suki. There’s a lot of things you don’t think about much as a young, single guy. Missing a day like Christmas doesn’t mean much to me —it never has. It’s just another day. It is however, an excuse to spend time with the family, so I’m making sure that point is not missed. I’ll only be home for two weeks, but I intend to spend it wisely with the family I don’t see too much lately.

I love you guys, and miss you lots. Can’t wait to be back with you, real soon.

Attempting to leave...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:53:36 -0400

Leaving my apartment, attempt number two; failed.

I’ve tried to leave twice so far today, the second time, I walked outside with an umbrella, reached the front gate and turned right back around. My feet were soaked through from the knees down. There’s a tropical rainstorm going on out there right now. CRAZY.

"Each passing day, I become more convinced that you prepared her for me. Tears filled my eyes today,..."

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:58:21 -0400

“Each passing day, I become more convinced that you prepared her for me. Tears filled my eyes today, as we discussed our passions together; watching as they fell into alignment. What incredible plans do you have for us?! I’m so excited.”

Dreaming of the Future

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:52:53 -0400

Suki and I were openly sharing this evening. We talked about future careers, passions and life together. Eventually we started talking about NGO’s involved with slavery and similar issues. We are both passionate about the subject and are exploring a few ideas.

I’d like to know which of the organizations I previously tracked with are already involved in some way in China or have interest in getting started.

Please keep this in mind as we explore these options.

Office Searching

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:48:00 -0400

We found an office we’re looking at renting here in Kunming. It’s in BeiChen (the north foreign corner). It’s not big, but seems adequate, it’s on the first floor at the very back of the complex.

We’re looking at building in a rehearsal space, office and storage for audio equipment yet to be purchased. It wouldn’t quite be enough if we get into warehousing microphones, cables and things of that sort, but it’s a start. We still need to get to that point before worrying about it.