Speaking of bald and brilliant, I went to a lecture by Beijing artist/architect Ai Weiwei a few nights ago. He spent several years living in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, honing his counter-culture craft, before returning to the motherland. When he petitioned his government to establish his architectural firm, they asked for three names. So he gave them the English words "Dick", "Pussy" and "Fuck." The oblivious officials went with the latter, and asked for a transliteration, which ends up being the Chinese characters fa and ke; therefore his company, Fake Design. Cheeky little fucker/faker, ain't he -- hm, maybe it makes more sense if you understand Mandarin.




(That's a Han Dynasty vase, in case you're wondering...er, was a Han Dynasty vase.)

Anyway, I'm trying to get an interview with him, but if it doesn't happen, he is speaking at 7 p.m. tonight at AAP in NYC and then again at Cornell on Monday, Nov. 6. He'll show you slides (some silly, some amazing), make funny jokes, and then you can tell all your friends how friggin' cultured you are.

p.s. this is his girl at the Gate of Heavenly Peace. nice underwear.