Week 11: Attack of the 75-foot Phallus

Halloween--fun times. Got dressed up and went to a party at the Ly Club--a bit dead. Ended up going to the Sheraton Nutz bar (after swearing never to go there again for the millionth time). Among the more memorable characters in costume: Austin Powers, the Incredibles, and a ton of witches and fairies.

Woke up the morning after Halloween to the first winter chill in Hanoi. Temperature-wise, it was not that cold (still not used to Celsius...and seriously, when is the US going to get on the metric system like everyone else?), but when I got on my motorbike....BRRRR!!!!!! The weather reminded me of winter in Berkeley--the drizzling rain, damp cold--the perfect weather for soup, layers, and lazy mornings. I love it! Hanoians have brought out their down coats and skicaps, which made me forget that Vietnam is actually considered a tropical country.

Got invited to a barbecue. Dao Anh Khanh is a well-known performance artist in Hanoi, and recently bought property in Hoa Binh, about 60 km from Hanoi. He invited a bunch of people out to his new place in the countryside for the debut his new sculptures. The drive up to Hoa Binh was pretty uneventful. We passed by Hoa Binh's new golf course, boasted as the largest in Southeast Asia. Now, I don't know very much about golf, but I don't know how many businessmen would schlep to the middle of nowhere for a few holes of golf. Murphy's Law struck while going uphill towards Khanh's house. On a narrow dirt road (made muddy by the rain), the car leading our caravan popped a tire, stranding our entire entourage on the side of a hill. It took about an hour to get the car fixed! Once that was resolved, it became clear that no one in our caravan seemed to know how to drive an SUV in the mud (downshift, people!!), instead opting to gun the motor, causing the SUV to slide and fishtail all the way up the hill. At one point, the car got stuck in the mud, forcing all available men to get out and push the damn thing out. L, his roommate M, and I ended up hitching a ride in the back of the pickup truck carrying the food and drink for the barbecue. I nearly lost my breakfast when I smelled the 5-gallon jug of rice wine leaking in the back of the pickup.

Eventually, we reached the compound. The first thing that greeted us was two colossal sculptures. Not knowing very much about art myself, I thought the sculptures resembled 75-ft high linga. In addition to the two already-existing sculptures, Khanh is commissioning another three on the property. Unfortunately, I missed the artist's explanation of the sculptures, which would have greatly helped out the art-ignorant like myself. In the shadow of these huge totems, we had a feast, with tons of drinks and food. Afterwards, M and I took a fun walk up the hill along a rocky trail, breathing in the fresh air and shooting the shit about sports and shoes, all the while trying not to fall and break our necks. Have posted pictures of the phallus, and of me, L, the artist and his girlfriend Martha.

Work news: I will be finished with digitizing by the end of the week. I'm a bit frustrated--I'm supposed to deal with the content of the newspapers, not this stupid clerical stuff!!! Anyways, this puts me only a week behind schedule. Not bad, considering I basically had to figure out photoshop by myself. November must be a crazy work month--Peter (my advisor) is coming at the beginning of December!

That's all for now. Must run--poker night tonight. Boys, bring your money. I'm feeling lucky...