'Performance' 'Art' 'Show'. So they say.

Passing nearby Xintiandi yesterday, we decided to stop by and see how the self-proclaimed "art band" were doing. Three Australian men live behind glass for 12 days and show off their "private life". Our first-hand report is that their private life consists of making funny faces in order to make Chinese people laugh (it works), sleeping during the daytime, and copying Chinese writing that people have written onto their mobile phones like "the traffic is busy today", in order to make the viewers laugh (it also works). Can something which is not artistic be "art"? We are too much of an uneducated mouth-breathing knuckle-dragging group to ever really know.

In other news regarding mammals being observed and unnecessary pain being caused (albeit pain inflicted in the other direction), Zoo keepers in northwest China are having difficulty with a chimpanzee's smoking habits. The chimp picked up his fags (that's British English for cigarettes) at the circus (as we all do).

But to encourage the chimp to quit smoking was not easy. At the beginning, he became irascible when he wanted to smoke, jolting windows and doors, said the keeper. Visitors to the zoo did not help the situation, tossing Xiku cigarettes for their own amusement.

Oh wonderful, responsible Chinese Zoo-goers. Visitors to Shanghai Zoo are known to throw plastic bottles at the tigers "for their own amusement" too, but we digress.

We sometimes gave him some sunflower seeds or a bottle of beer to help him shake off the addiction and visitors are no longer allowed to throw him cigarettes, the keeper said.

Giving in to the chimp's demands so that he doesn't become unruly and make the keepers work a bit. At least they don't give their children whatever they want because they make a loud fuss -- think of the ramifications for society! Eh? Oh.