rayhecht.com

CURRENT MISSION

Expand my novelty goggles, meet eccentric weirdos, and fight the forces of evil!

ABOUT ME

Lately I'm tutoring in Shenzhen, some writing, and I have been a lot of things over the years.

A sometimes film student, one-time wayward Californian, freelance scribbling, present China enthusiast, an armchair Sinologist if you will, ever a mystical nonsense adventurer. I'm searching for the proper mixture of virtual reality and real world.

I have many interests. Rock n roll, art, books, comics, writing, traveling, consciousness, and I like movies.

I read a lot and watch a lot of dvds.

I like to see music at dive bars and seek out underground literature.

I try to do my creative thing sometimes too.

PHILOSOPHY

Live life by all means. You might as well, you're already here. Push yourself to add to the world, experience the new, have a good time, and help other people enjoy it all along the way too.

Also, program or be programed.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I meet people, and sometimes they help me out.

People meet me, and sometimes I help them out.

Travel, meet, greet, welcome, help and help alike.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I enjoy meeting CSers in local events, and hanging out with travelers, and expanding the growing scene.

I first heard of CS at Burning Man 2007, and began participating in the Long Beach and Los Angeles groups and meetups, partying and surfing around California.

Since moving to Asia I've crashed in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Hanoi, Macau, Wuhan, and Tel Aviv.

I've invited Algerians and Americans and Germans and Australians and Chinese and everyone else to stay wherever I happen to be living.

And I'm always up for hanging out with Guangzhou and Hong Kong CS groups, from movie parties to dinners to hikes up the mountain.

And there will surely be more experiences to come!

Interests

I have many many interests.

I try to be eclectic. No doubt we'll found some common ground somewhere...

Comics - superhero to Vertigo to indie to manga, MUSIC - rock n roll counter-cultures ala punk and folk and underground and overground and even electro/indietronica/dance/techno tunes, cartoons - nerdy and 80s nostalgic and hipster modern, literature - science fiction and pulp and Beat and trippy - and sometimes writing my own, esoterica - neo-shamanism and philosophy, vegetarianism - sorry not so interested in meat, movies - Hollywood to IFC Channel, travel (of course!), and sleeping.

• arts
• writing
• books
• literature
• dancing
• walking
• partying
• comics
• cartoons
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• hiking
• adventure races
• surfing
• scuba diving
• boxing
• freelancing
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Instead of lists of movies, albums, and books (prose and comics) I find I'll be here all day if I don't prioritize. Here are lists by artists and just extrapolate from there

Movies, movies, movies

Terry Gilliam, Kurasawa, Scorsese, Woody Allen, Wong Kar-Wai, Hayao Miyazaki, Chen KaiGe, Mamoru Oshii, Ronald Moore, Satoshi Kon, Kubrick, David Simon, Wes Anderson, Harmony Korine, Hideaki Anno, Michel Gondry, Zhang Yimou, Larry David, David Simon, sitcoms, HBO dramas, black and white subtitles indie pretentious, east and west, and lots and lots of cartoons.

Ultimately I'm a rocker afficianado, but with so on also:

Velvet Underground, Regina Spektor, Bloc Party, Cloud Cult, 1200 Micrograms, Owl City, Lou Reed, Sex Pistols, Bright Eyes, Pulp, Elliott Smith, Mary Lou Lord, Ben Folds, Polyphonics Spree, Johnny Cash, Arcade Fire, Cloud Cult, Pulp, Limousines, Miike Snow, White Stripes, Tracy Chapman, Infected Mushroom, NIN, Beatles, LCD Soundsystem, Daniel Johnston, Tom Waits, Decembrists, Dresden Dolls, Eels, Nico, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Weezer, Tom Petty, Weakerthanks, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Kimya Dawson, Belle and Sebastion, Spoon, Ramones, NoFX, Hellogoodbye, LMFAO, Get Up Kids, Wilco, Green Day, the Clash, Sufjan Stevens, Dylan, Gaga et. al

O a lot of books (and comics more). Read and read--

Robert Anton Wilson, Grant Morrison, Neal Stephenson, Andy Warhol, Alan Moore, Philip K. Dick, Hubert Selby, Jack Kirby, Bret Easton Ellis, Bukowski, Li Yutang Lin, Lu Xun, Nick Hornsby, Haruki Murakami, Osamu Tezuka, Masamune Shirow, Naoki Urasawa, Masashi Kishimoto, Will Eisner, Larry Niven, Salinger, Dan Clowes, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Doug Rushkoff, Phil Hine, Pete Carroll, Lao Tze, Terrance McKenna, Scott McCloud, Aleister Crowley, Gurdjieff, Warren Ellis, Gail Simone, Craig Thompson, Adrian Tomine, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Gail Simone, Douglas Adams, David Icke, Irvine Welsh, Mark Twain, Hunter Thompson, Asimov, Nabakov, Janet Fitch, Umberto Eco, Burroughs.

Disinformational; cyberpunk, Beat, super-mythological, Japanese, Chinese, Vertigo, Shonen Janpu, science fiction, pop science, pop art, esoterica mystical, junkie anti-literature, and so forth.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Burning Man 2007 was the most amazing thing I'd done, the first time I started this profile. Then I went sky-diving and that was pretty amazing. Then Burning Man 2008 exceeded expectations even more. Then I moved to China. This Amazing Thing box keeps needing updates!

Teach, Learn, Share

Just like what everybody says, write a complete profile and write personalized email if you want to increase your chances of finding a couch and making new friends.

When traveling, I recommend planning but not planning too much, sometimes you have to just open to wherever the winds take you.

Pack lite, but thorough, be willing to do lots of walking, and go explore...

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Taiwan, United States

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