Darryn Mitussis

Fighting the war on petulance.

Kolkata China Town and the Communist Party

I have finally finished two hectic weeks of travel through India for work and having worked every weekday and two weekends, a day off was in order.

Given my interest in China, I had a wonder through China Town. It was quite different to the last one I visited (in Liverpool) and seemed to reflect clearly both the length of time since the first Chinese settlers in the 17th century and integration with the local context.

I didn’t, for example, notice the traditional gateway.

I did notice hints of Chinese culture about it (restaurants, some Chinese characters on signs and carved into buildings), but without these it might have been almost indistinguishable from neighbouring parts of Kolkata (it did, really have the feel of an immigrant community).

What was noticeable was the support for the local communist party, the signs and posters being a legacy, I presume, of the recent elections. West Bengal, though, I as communist state, so this is not necessarily different to other relatively poor neighbourhoods.

Saturday tomorrow and museums.

April 1st 2009

Categories: China, Photography, Teaching
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The trip so far (updated x 2)

So far we have travelled from Shanghai to Yiwu, Hangzhou, Erdos (Inner Mongolia) and now Beijing. Below are some photos, I'll keep adding to this set as I get time to choose and edit. [gallery=15] We have had two really wonderful welcomes from students at Zhejiang University and Erdos College (part of the ...
March 21st 2009

Categories: China, Photography
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Shanghai Poster Style

Just four poster style photos from around Shanghai as I've been finalising various arrangements. [gallery=14] Hopefully some more serious work over the next few weeks as I travel with my students.

Tone Mapping: OK Images from Bad?

I went to Matlock and Matlock Bath on the weekend, both being Victorian towns in the Derbyshire Dales, the latter being an old spa town now very popular for motorcyclists to visit. The weather was lovely and some of the scenery great. Unfortunately, my photographs were nothing to write home ...
January 18th 2009

Categories: China
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Sights and Sounds: Urumqi Markets

I am experimenting with recording some audio and video. Ideally, I would like to use it to help my students create a more dynamic record of their trip in China (as well as to start developing some teaching support materials that use audio and video). For the time being my occasional ...
January 16th 2009

Categories: China


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Urumqi Markets: Sights and Sounds

I am experimenting with recording some audio and video. Ideally, I would like to use it to help my students create a more dynamic record of their trip in China (as well as to start developing some teaching support materials that use audio and video). For the time being my occasional ...

Urumqi

Urumqi sits on the old silk route running between the East of China to Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople. As such its an important site for students of international business with an historical bent and a visit is useful to help reimagine more than 2000 years of international trade and commerce. ...
January 11th 2009

Categories: China
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Inner Mongloia (updated x2)

Its been a very, very busy trip through China so far, without a single full day off. We had a great trip to greater Ordos, and especially the Dongsheng District, in Inner Mongolia. Ordos is on a plateau, over a thousand metres above sea level, most flat glassland in summer, ...
December 11th 2008

Categories: China, Teaching, Technology, Work
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Embedding Maps (updated x 2)

I should shortly be heading to China again to prepare for travel with my students over the Easter break -- the students seem quite exciting about the trip and during my preparations I'll explore one or two new places that we could potentially visit to help the students understand more ...
December 6th 2008

Categories: Photography, Research
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Brussels

I was in Brussels for a workshop earlier this week. The workshop was about Asian management, with most of the papers having some China theme. It was great and has helped to reinvigorate my research interest. One of the nicest aspects was that there was typically about 30 mins after ...
November 24th 2008

Categories: Teaching, Technology, Work
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Sony Home

I received an invitation to download and register with Sony's Home, a virtual environment not unlike Second Life that is currently in beta and works on the Playstation 3. The beta is still very limited: you can define how you look and move through your apartment (everyone gets one), a central ...
October 26th 2008

Categories: Friends, Personal, Photography
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Birmingham

A former student (and now friend) of mine is spending a semester in the UK as part of his PhD studies in Australia. We met in Birmingham and wandered around a little to see the sights while talking about teaching and research. [geo_mashup_show_on_map_link] The cities in the English Midlands are useful places to ...

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