China

All this Olympic mess that just passed got me to thinking about my trip out to China 2 years ago, and how I was supposed to be there this year performing "Scratch & Burn" with "D-Projects" during the Olympics..but the funds didn't fall through, so scratch that off the list.

So Miami Beach and China were doing buisness together for awhile, and the plan was to have some sort of an invasion of chinese culture onto Miami Beach (restaurants, buisnesses etc..) and vise versa...In planning for this cultural exchange, "D-Projects" came up when they started talking about art/entertainment/performance, so we were asked to submit a press kit of "Scratch & Burn". We did, and we were off! "D-Projects", our anti-war show "Scratch & Burn", and 25 right-winged conservative politicians (I know, the irony huh?)

The trip was insanely pleasing in all sorts of ways, but there were some little things that I would say was effed up. You be the judge.

1) When the folks from China finally decided to watch the dvd (once we already had arrived) they asked us to cut a string of scenes from our show cause they were to political and encouraged free thinking.

2) After asking us to cut those scenes (that would've added up to 30 min) we were asked to make the show longer (2 hrs in length in total)..the show is only 1hr and 15min...oh, and to make it more acrobatical.

3) We were also taken from the theater we were supposed to perform in (a huge 750 seat theater that was gonna be open to the public) and put into a 300 seat theater where the whole audience was handpicked and screened, and

4) The photograghers/camera men that followed us around for 11 days documenting everything, were really undercover cops....crazy huh?!?!

Well, we didn't cut anything from the show & ripped that shit using the thought of all of us being incarcerated afterwards as inspiration, we weren't...and that's a good thing. Oh, and get this...the performer that China sent to Miami was a chinese country singer...WTF!...apperently country music is hella big out there.

Here's some pics: