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8 Year Old Video About "Bike Mike"?

viborg (13 posts) • 0

Hi folks. It was nice to have a beverage and a chat at Sal's yesterday, and nice to meet some new folks too.

So John (not sure of his last name) was talking about a guy named Bike Mike who used to live here, and a video from 2007 or 2008 that was made when he passed away. Apparently this video shows a lot of the old expat community, I'd be interested in watching it. Can anyone tell me the name of the video or it's available to watch online? Sorry John if you're reading this I know you told me the name but somehow it slipped my mind...

Alien (3819 posts) • 0

Name of the film is Skylight Kunming. I think Kris, at Salvador's, has a copy. I have or had one (DVD), may be able to find it. Full of interviews with western foreigners who had been around for a decade or so, many still here, as well as some Chinese friends. At least some of it is/was on youtube - a clip entitled, I think, 'The Bug', which chronicles a serious beer-fueled metaphysical discussion at the Camel Bar of a previous incarnation. Guy who made the video is Bike Mike's brother, Benjamin Sutherland. Also get Ben's funny and very interesting film about the famous English-language bookshop in Paris, Shakespeare and Company - 'Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man' - opening section of which is a fantastic and hilarious account of a night during May 1968 in Paris (about which, if you don't know, you should).
I would bet that if you ask Deng Ling, owner of the Camel, about 'Skylight', she would have a copy. Bike Mike remains present in a photo, among numerous others, on the wall as you enter the present Camel on the second floor.
Mike was a friend of many - picture of a time gone by - passed thru here 1992, I think; settled in 1994, passed away August 2007 - video documents some of what Kunming was like for western foreigners at the time - highly recommended for more recent arrivals: your history lesson if you're joining us, our history if you're not.

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