After having me scramble it for him, he did as advertised. I was suitably impressed and asked how he did it. He explained that every (name-brand) Rubik’s comes with instructions on how to complete it — just most people don’t bother to read them.

The event stuck with me, and after going on to trek for a few more months around Europe and Thailand, one of the first things I did when I returned to Canada was buy an “official” Rubik’s Cube. I was determined to be that guy at the party — even though I’m pretty sure I was the only person that paid him much attention.

Sure enough, the Rubik’s came complete with instructions on how to finish it, and had I an advanced degree in quantum physics my Rubik’s probably wouldn’t have been promptly drawered out of frustration.

There it stayed until I was packing to come to China. When sorting through what to bring I threw it in my suitcase, figuring I might revisit the complex instructions at some point.

I never did. But I did manage to find better instructions from an ESL student of mine, and can now reliably finish the Rubik’s in less than 3 minutes.

When I was teaching I would use the time between classes to practice, but in the handful of years since I rarely brought the block out of its drawer in order to refresh my skills. Though it’s not overly complicated (basically a series of 8 or 9 steps), and despite having done so hundreds of times, a couple weeks ago I realized I had almost completely forgotten how to complete it.

Determined not to lose the ability, I sat down and worked my memory until I could do it again. I then recorded the following video, so should I forget again, at the least I’ll be able to show everyone at the party that at one time I could do it. I’m sure everyone would be very impressed.

I actually got a bit lucky on this go, as due to random circumstances, I was able to skip one of the final steps, shaving off 10-20 seconds from the time.

Anyway, there it is — my mild-passion for the Rubik’s.

So much of my day is spent designing stuff with a very specific purpose, it’s nice to have an outlet whereby I can let my creativity just go where it may. Alright, how much creativity can there be in a simple textured background? Not much, but the majority of the ones in there now were just quickies. However, I’m looking to dive deeper into digital art, and my first dip is this one:

The image is hugely inspired by the amazing work of Nathan Smith, whose designs I have (and will likely continue to) borrow liberally from.

You can check out the other backgrounds and keep tabs on new ones in my Wallpapers & Backgrounds Flickr set.

Sanya Bay - from our balcony

Mags and I are down in Sanya, Hainan, for a week-long sun and fun vacation to celebrate our second anniversary. Long-time readers will remember that we got married on a beach in Sanya. We are actually staying at the exact same apartment complex on Sanya Bay that we stayed at the last time we were here.

Sanya River splits the downtown in half.

Sanya Bay runs up the coast away from Sanya’s downtown area and is the most cost-effective (marketese for “cheap”) place to stay. Accommodations are largely serviced apartments which are rented by the owner (via an agent) and can be got for a fraction of the resort prices. We are staying in a place with a king-size bed, kitchenette (microwave and fridge, but no stove), cable TV and Internet with a nice-sized balcony with a sea view for 280 RMB/night.

I’ve never been much for resorts, as I’d much prefer to throw a blanket down on the beach then jockey for a lounger with a well-oiled speedo-wearing European. That coupled with the nostalgia of being right back at the place we got married to mark our anniversary, it’s quite cool.

The Sanya Bay beach isn’t as nice as Yalong Bay or Da Dong Hai (I assume from pictures and descriptions – we are heading to Da Dong Hai in about 1/2 hour for the first time, and wont hit Yalong Bay for another day or two). The water here isn’t very clear, but the swimming is decent, and rock free. Sanya Bay is also much more popular with domestic tourists than the droves of Russians and Europeans at the other beaches – this tends to make the beach sparsely populated during the high-sun times, as you rarely catch a Chinese out vying for the darkest tan. They will however stare from the shade of the palms at the pinkening hairy laowai as he runs around in the sun.

One annoyance of the beach here is that there are a number of motorcycle taxis driving up and down the beach begging to give you a ride for 1 RMB. I imagine it’s convenient if you need to go far up or down the long, long beach, but mostly it’s just completely annoying.

Well, off to the beach and then out for some BBQ. This is the first vacation I’ve had in ages, and I’m soaking up every relaxing moment of it.

I’ve completed the easy (30 lvls) and normal (50 lvls) settings, with a high score of 6,653,139 – and I can’t wait to try the 50 hard levels.

If you’re short on ways to kill time, check it out.

About a month ago in Shanghai a group inspired by Improv Everywhere created a “scene” in front of the Sofitel on Shanghai’s Nanjing Rd.

At a set time the group of random folks from a number of nationalities stopped and froze in place for five minutes, causing quite a crowd of onlookers to grow around them. Despite getting away with two “freezings”, the group was amicably told by police that technically they couldn’t continue as it was against Chinese law (?? – if freezing in place for long periods of time is against the law, someone should tell all the assholes that suddenly stop in doorways and in front of escalators.)

Frozen Improv in Shanghai

Original Inspiration – Frozen Grand Central (NYC)

How awesome is that.

According to the Shanghaiist, another possible freeze mission is on its way. Interested peeps should check out ShanghaiiAdLib’s page on the Improv Everywhere community site.

H/T to Kevin Smith, at whose blog I caught this.