Jason Pearce

After a 12 hour flight, the four of us arrived in Beijing, China, around 5:30 a.m. We began exploring shortly thereafter.

In this clip, my brother falls off the monkey bars in a park; giving us great comic relief.

We explored some ancient neighborhoods, visited an elementary school, ate lunch in a local’s home, and stood in awe at the base of some elaborate Buddha. Sorry, we weren’t permitted to take photos of the Buddha, but I did catch this nice image of a monk.

I depart today for China, meeting the parents and brother in Los Angeles. I have my iPod packed with music and podcasts, a digital camera to take lots of photos, and 44 pounds of luggage.

When I go on long trips, I tend to pack as many unwanted items of clothing as I can muster. That way, I can wear the item one last time and discard it, lightening my load as I go. The only downside is I look hideous in all my travel photos.

By my count, China will be my 47th country. If I’m lucky, I’ll also knock off two Medieval Wonders from my list: the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing and the Great Wall of China.

I’ll post updates during my travels when I can. You might also want to monitor my Flickr account for uploaded images.

Yesterday I sat through a screening of the film “Helvetica” at the SXSW conference in Austin. Three weeks earlier, I attended a screening of “The Number 23.”

Both films make an enlightening point of demonstrating how common — perhaps even invasive — everyday items can become.

For example, I write this post while awaiting my flight to Indianapolis. I depart from gate C23, which is typeset in the font Helvetica.

Perhaps more films about everyday items will be made, continuing this trend. Here are a few suggestions:

• “8.5×11 Paper:” did it spawn the 1″ margin
• “The Phillips Head:” how it screwed the flat head
• “Air Quotes:” why they are the only form of puntcuation that is mimed
• “Zero vs O:” why the number is frequently prononced like the vowel

Or perhaps someone will create a mockumentory on just how frequent the number 23 is typeset in Halvetica, much like the number that marks my gate.

Jenny’s brother Jerry got married in the Bahamas this past weekend. Made for a nice destination wedding.