Mike profile picture

Mike

Stateside, for a little bit at least

About Me

I travel....a lot. Who knows why. Maybe it was growing up in the middle of nowhere, IL...maybe because I'm interested in cross-cultural communication and business interaction. ????????? I guess I just like to travel.In recent history I've been to (in reverse order): Las Vegas, Mescalero/Ruidoso, NM, Los Angeles, Taiwan (Kaohsiung, Taizhong, Kenting, Taipei, Baihe), San Diego, Chicago, The Netherlands (Amsterdam/Rotterdam), Belgium (Brussels/Antwerp), United Arab Emirates (Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Sharjah), Oman, and China (Tibet/Shanghai/lived in Hangzhou for 3 months ).Coming up in the next year, I'm headed back to the good old Quad Cities (Labor Day weekend), Austin, TX (tent. Oct.), probably Dubai/Abu Dhabi, UAE in December, and NYC for a class project in Jan/Feb (maybe Mexico too for the class, but we'll see), Europe next June, and then moving to Dubai/Abu Dhabi, UAE next October. I've given up on frequent flyer miles and brand loyalty because I can't use the damn things anyways.On an academic note, the recent cliche...The world is increasingly flat...is quite true. As I travel and experience more of the world, the more I see the similarities between places, in addition to seeing the differences. Our American mass media and historical victories of the western world in war have tainted our international viewpoint. From the prosperity of Tibetan locals and their happiness with the way life has been changing for the positive due to Chinese governmental intervention to the awkwardness of going to Dubai and seeing a primarily Indian and South East Asian population that could be considered transient.

My Interests

technology, organization, yoga, electronic music, being a huge dork, traveling, exercise, politics, international studies, business, hiking, vegetarian cooking, corporate pranks, being evil to mean people, music, techno, apple computers, G4 Powerbook, Hawkeyes, football (american and everyone else's), bowling, movies, vrave, lots of music, nature, camping, database theory, word games, naps, scrabble, trivial pursuit, NY Times crossword puzzles, eating out, fine food, gardening, collecting vinyl records, disc golf, discombobulating, traveling, enjoying life, netflix, China, Taiwan, intra-strait relations, cross cultural communication and management, clubs, debating, politics, life, ???, reading

I'd like to meet:

Chinese people, Denver people that can speak Chinese, long lost friends, new potential friends (sorry - bands, clubs, and promotion companies need not apply - I know everyone in my profile personally). Oh, and someone that can get me fresh waxberries in Denver. Yangmei ??, how do I miss thee!I'm also looking for a position in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, UAE starting in Late Summer, 2008. Message me for resume (10 years of management experience including multicultural management experience (employee and client); entrepreneurship skills, event production experience; proficient Mandarin Chinese language skills - both verbal and written (simplified); extensive international experience)

Music:

jazzanova, plastikman, autechre, squarepusher, carl craig, steve bug, aphex twin, Modest Mouse, Pepe Braddock, I-F, Amon Tobin, Luke Vibert, Coldcut, Ninja Tune, Warp Records, Dan Doormouse, DJ Food, The Herbalizer, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Art of Noise, Boards of Canada, Otis Redding, Prince, Stevie Wonder, 2 Many DJs, Richie Hawtin, Guns N Roses, Future Sound of London, Jeff Mills, Sascha Funke, Mike Paradinas, DJ Assault, DJ Funk, DJ Deeon, Roots Manuva, The Roots, Adult, Mat 101, Mouse on Mars, Michael Mayer, Bela Fleck, Medeski Martin & Wood, Thomas Brinkmann, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Dub Tribe, Radiohead, Stewart Walker, Portishead, Tricky, Daft Punk, Sven Vath, Miles Maeda, DJ Rectange, Dan Efex, Terry Mullan, Mark Farina, LTJ Bukem, Mathew Herbert, Eminem, Missy Elliot, Snoop, Roots, Flaming Lips, Tommie Sunshine, Recloose, Kenny Larkin, The Stickmen, just about anything

Movies:

High Fidelity, Ghost in the Shell, The Incredibles, Usual Suspects, Godfather trilogy, LOTR, Matrix trilogy, Star Wars, American History X, Gremlins, Eternal Sunshine, Bend it like Beckham, Days of Thunder, Office Space, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Harry Potter series

Television:

West Wing, CSI, Inside the Actor's Studio with James Lipton, Macgyver, Oz, Grey's Anatomy, House M.D., NCIS, Heroes, Sopranos, Carnivale, Morel Orel, Good Eats, NCIS, Numbers, Big Love

Books:

Stranger in a Strange Land, Love in the Time of Cholera, High Fidelity, Stranger in a Strange Land, Oryx & Crake, Sam Walton: Made in America, East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, Light in August, The Sound and the Fury, As I lay Dying, Old Man and the Sea, Lord of the Rings, Fast Food Nation, Harry Potter, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Unbearable Lightness of Being, Fast Food Nation,anything by Steinbeck, Hemingway, or Salinger and autobiographies. Oh. and most of my books for school.

Heroes:

my family