Falling asleep at 4:30 in the afternoon and waking up at 7:30 for dinner kind of sucks.

I dealt with registering at the police station today, which involved first getting a receipt/form from the apartment office here where I live to prove that I’m actually residing here. I’m pretty sure that the girl who helped me had Feist’s 1234 as a ring tone. What?! Or I’m crazy.

Afterwards Simon and I headed out to Xinjiekou, a shopping-ish area a few subway stops west of us. It always ends up being exhausting. Plus, I haven’t actually bought anything there since December 2006, so I might be writing it off my list.

That being said, there’s a peculiar little CD shop that sells real foreign albums. For some astonishing and inexplicable reason (except for the fact that the band is amazing) they had two copies of Swell Map’s Trip to Marineville. They’re a 70s post-punk group from England (“buttfuck-shire,” if I recall correctly) who never really learned to play their instruments. One of my favourite tracks features a vacuum cleaner solo. So yeah. I was kind of astonished to see the album.

I couldn’t really bear to fully examine the grotesque picture window, but there’s also a ridiculous adult store in Xinjiekou. There are a surprising number of these places in Beijing, but most are pretty discreet with nondescript signs that say “Sex Shop.” The one I passed used to have some kind of doll in the window, in a box that read “My First Time – Double Penetration.” Eeeg.

So as not to end on that note, here’s a cool poster for a show. D-22 is celebrating two years of existence, and has back to back concerts with some of the best bands in Beijing.

It’s done by a collective called Cult Youth. That’s Beijing magazine said the group, “capture the absurdities and pitfalls of modern Chinese culture.” I’m not sure what vomiting an eight-ball symbolizes, besides being badass, but I do like their work. Hopefully when Hot and Cold opens for Carsick Cars, they make our poster.