Gaungzhao Dawn : View from The New Century Tau Palace Hotel : China

Gaungzhao Dawn : View from The New Century Tau Palace Hotel : China

jezcgaunzhou

The white noise of long haul jet engines …… muddles day and night ……. merges today and tomorrow …… muddles the future and past ……. blurs destination and departure ….

I picked up an old note book by accident as I left for the airport this morning …….

I see only now on the plane my mistake ……. it’s a notebook from last year …… the final thing I had written in it : ”View of Gaungzhau at dawn from the New Century Tau Palace Hotel “ ……..

On reading I remember back to that that morning in China looking out across the alien landscape at the dimly lit characterless city …….. I had flown in very late the night before and taken a bus to the hotel …… I was up very early about to take a bus back to the airport to fly out ……. This was my only chance to consider Gaungzhau ………. I made a photograph from my hotel room window ……. rain fell in the darkest hour and continued on as the grey dawn came without any lifting of the overpowering sense of melancholy.

I am flying from London to Atlanta now ……. once more the white noise of long haul jet engines and the recurring uneasy sensation that I am traveling the wrong way ……..

I started to watch that movie …… ‘ Walk the Line’ ……. about the life of Johnny Cash with Joakin Pheonix playing Cash ….. But I couldn’t go on with it …… I suddenly remembered I had been previously warned not to watch it ……. Johnny Cash loses his brother in a terrible shocking way ….. I thought early on as that scene approaches …. they are right …… I actually cannot watch this …….

So I instead I watched the Brad Pitt movie …… ’Fury’ …. now thats another depressing movie ……… shocking violence and arbitrary death …… for all …… not just your brother.

Now through the intensity of the movie merging with the constant rumble of the engines ….. I have the slight sensation that I could land in Berlin at the end of the war ……. or the Birmingham of my youth ……..

Cheers Jez XXXXX

PS ……This above was written on the cross Atlantic flight but did not get posted on landing ……… I landed as Delta Airlines had predicted in Atlanta and then flew on to Orlando ……. then I was shooting in Daytona and Tampa etc in Florida …….. then it was back up to Atlanta for another shoot …… now today I fly on from Atlanta to Dallas for another assignment ……. then on to San Diago …….. then NYC bla bla ……… :-))) XX

[ 14 ] comments

  • Uaual,crazy mixed up world of Mr C… I cant say I know how youfeel sometimes Bro, but if I could take some of that pain away I would.. Hope all of theseconnections are going smoothly,no last minute charges to the gates… Stay Safe Bro xx

    PaulS @ February 8, 2015, 12:15 pm

  • All is well … I am in Dallas having a beer in a bar called the Londoner with Matt and a mate of his from school who lives here…it’s odd they r discussing their time at Thomas Beckett in Northampton. .. which is pretty much like hearing about our time in Primrose. .. maybe I have landed in the equivalent Birmingham of our youth…hehehehe. ..

    jezblog @ February 9, 2015, 12:58 am

  • Oh well slightly too much beer inevitably. .. no worries it’s not like I was still wok in at 4

    jezblog Dallas @ February 9, 2015, 2:47 pm

  • This bit above makes no sense :-))) hehehehe XXXX

    jezblog Dallas @ February 9, 2015, 3:00 pm

  • It’s sunny here Paul … how can it not be all well with the world. .. I’m goin in for a more Zen approach bro hehehehe :-)) XXX

    jezblog Dallas @ February 9, 2015, 3:02 pm

  • The Birmingham of our youth? You could land in worse places I suppose… Kabul maybe? Or Damascus? Only joking of course. I’d rather be in San Diego myself mind!

    Lee @ February 8, 2015, 7:24 pm

  • I’d rather be in San Diago myself too… but I have to say we r not really taking in the beauty of these places. .. we fly in make our pictures then fly out its Dallas , San Diago , New York … in 3 days … slightly nutz… ah the Birmingham of our youth I would take that if we were all kids again … hehehe … these guys Matt and Rob.. they really are into the old days.. the fights on the school play ground … what is Marc Bonner doing now? I dunno but I remember his dad used to cUT my hair… bla bla… hehehehe may be we would sound the same in some bar called the Londoner hehehehe. .. Cheers bro Jez XXXX

    jezblog @ February 9, 2015, 1:09 am

  • Memories are wonderful things ain`t they?..Use them wisely now,cuz in 15 years we may have slightly warped visions of what happened..hee hee..

    PaulS @ February 9, 2015, 4:09 pm

  • The good ol days I remember them well….. well maybe i have a kinda rose tinted view but hey nothing wrong with that ….. :-)))) Im listening to the traffic jam warnings on the Pacific Coast Highway …… a rose tinted view would have sunshine and wind in your hair with the roof down…. in reality there is mega traffic out there this morning hehehehe……. cheers bro Jez XXXXXXXX

    Jezblog :-)) XXX @ February 10, 2015, 12:43 pm

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