I have often thought that one day I'd like to run a bar of my own. If I open one in Beijing, I'd like to call it 'The Pile O' Sand' - because that's such an emblematic sight in this city, particularly during these past few years of frantic redevelopment in preparation for the Olympics. Anyone who has lived here through the Noughties will remember it as a universal building site, one huge sand-pit.
I thought it might be a nice gimmick to have a little sandbox on each table (and a few tools: a stick, a mini rake, perhaps a couple of tiny plastic buckets), so that people could doodle on it, perhaps rake patterns in it like a zen garden, or build miniature sandcastles (enormous hygiene issues, of course; the Chinese would almost certainly use it as an ashtray or a spittoon..... or worse). And we could perhaps court the arty set by having a larger sandpit in the middle of the room where each month a guest artist could build us some sort of 'sand sculpture' (well, I know one guy who'd almost certainly want to bury himself in it up to the neck for 48 hours or so; performance art is big over here these days).
What do you think? It's only an idle dream....
5 comments:
the concept is good. but pile o' sand is too long for the name. How about, simply, The Sandbox?
I like the little zen garden. How about a removable glass top over each mini zen garden with a label explaining what it is. I would totally come to play in the sandbox.
for decor, photo shots of construction sights of landmark buildings around town - the bird's cage, the opera house, CCTV... I have a few shots I've been taking of the same construction sight over the last few months - I'm sure your other friends who are more serious artists than amateurs like me have even more pics.
You'll also need a Legos table - where we can construct our own buildings.
I think it trips off the tongue nicely! And it would probably be even shorter in Chinese.
Sandbox is too routine, and makes it sound like a kid's playground. The point about 'Pile O' Sand' is that piles of sand are so characteristic of Beijing, they're what you see EVERYWHERE on the side of the street (and, of course, they become playgrounds for children!).
Also, I was thinking that if it's a big success, I might start a chain of building materials-related bars - The Pile O' Bricks, The Stack O' Drainpipes, etc.
"Sha de Zhuang"
What's wrong with playgrounds? I'm particularly fond of swinging high with my eyes closed, then -- opening my eyes -- and jumping as far as I can. Once, when I did it on the rope swing hanging between my Nana's veranda pillar and the Papaya Tree I fell flat on my face, chipping off my two front teeth. Luckily, I was only 9 and my adult teeth came in :) The experience didn't traumatize me enough to stop me doing it again.
I second the idea to start a chain of building materials-related bars...
"Zhuan de Zhuang"
"Paishui de Guanzi de Yidui"
At Paishui de Guanzi de Yidui you can have seminars explaining the importance of installing S-pipes (or elbow pipes)... I think the mark of modern civilization is the S-pipe.
You know far too much about pipes. Have you ever been involved in plumber negligence-related litigation?
NO plumber-related negligence lawsuits, yet. (oh, wait, yes, there was that one time...)
but the lawsuit isn't what taught me about pipes. I'm just an old-fashioned do-it-yourself American who grew up on the factory floor where her dad manufactured valves and spent her summers and weekends doing construction and handy-man projects around the house (my parents' place, my uncles' place, and my sisters's place, then my own.) I'm blessed with a family full of do-it-yourself handymen and my older handywoman sister.
When the time comes, I'll gather the clan and we'll build your bar for you. I'm sure they'd all love to lend a hand to build a place of alcohol consumption. ;)
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