Over the past few days the world has been rocked by the passing of comedy legend Leslie Nielsen, and the death of Irvin Kershner, the director of The Empire Strikes Back. And now a small piece of Shanghai history is following them out the door.

The beloved Long Bar at the Shanghai Centre is closing up for the last time this week. From what we at TALK have found out the people running the place decided that while there was probably some legs in the old dog yet the F&B industry has changed so much over the bar’s illustrious history its time for a change.

According to the people over at Smart Shanghai it’s going to become a new lounge style bar called ‘Cvrve’. And while I look forward to what happens next at the location it‘s hard not to be sad that we‘re loosing one of Shanghai’s greatest drinking hotspots.

It’s been a while since I posted an art-related blog, but I got a press release today about an exhibition that actually looks kind of interesting. The guys over at 1918artspace on Moganshan Lu are presenting an exhibition named ‘Rush Still’. Poor name aside, this seems like it could be quite interesting, and definitely worth half an hour of my time.

The exhibition features work from Till Rabus (pictured), and Chinese artists Zheng Delong, Song Yonghua and Gong Xinru. According to my handy press release, the point of it all is to encourage us to reflect on these questions: "Who are we? And what makes us?” To me that sounds a lot like hot air, but nevertheless this is an exhibition of some nice works of art from some locally famous artists and one internationally-renowned one.

While the work from the other artists looks good, it’s the stuff by the Swiss artist Rabus that really excites me. His almost Dali-like imagery is both surreal and oddly realistic. Clearly having taken inspiration from classic movies like War of the Worlds. His subject matter is relatable but otherworldly, like a Pixar movie about aliens.

I find it hard not to be charmed by the idea that my picnic basket could animate itself and start destroying Shanghai. Although I hope Michael Bay doesn’t read this blog or we could be looking at the plot for Transformers 3.

Where: 20 Moganshan Lu

www.1918artspace.com

Christmas is a date that warms the hearts of millions of people around the globe. Families come together and have a good time while celebrating the birth of baby Jesus. But the truth is, when I go home this December I have one thing on my mind… presents. The act of giving and receiving these brightly coloured packages of joy is really what makes Christmas so special.

And this Christmas represents the first time that I will be able to buy my family and friends anything of real value. Knowing this, my generous streak has kicked in to overdrive. While doing my own Christmas shopping, I found some pretty cool things, and over the next couple of weeks I’ll post my results for you all to enjoy.

My find-of-the-day comes from the website www.little15jewellery.co.uk. While there is a lot of stuff on here that would be ideal, the jewellery by Ros Millar is a particular treat. I did a little research on the designer and it seems she is a bit of an up and comer in the jewellery world. She displayed at Goldsmith’s in London this year and has apparently just opened a London-based studio.

Classy but youthful, her jewellery range is a breath of fresh air when you have had to search through the mountains of uninspired rings and necklaces out there. The website delivers internationally, so get ordering before it’s too late.

I promised yesterday that I would bring you photos of the release of Lanvin’s collection at the H&M on Huaihai Lu. And as promised I did go down there camera in hand ready to deliver. Unfortunately, while I did have my camera, I forgot to put the battery in… my bad. So it looks like you’re going to have to do with my flowery descriptions and a couple of sound bites from some shoppers.

The most popular items as far as I could tell were the t-shirts in the picture above. So if you see someone wandering around Shanghai in one of them don’t be fooled by the avant-garde look, it’s H&M.

I asked one shopper why she was queuing to buy the clothes. She explained to me that it was all about having it first. “I know in couple of weeks everyone will have these clothes. But before they do, I can be fashionable for not much money.”

Perhaps the most amusing thing I saw was a group of Chinese girls standing outside the shop rummaging through their bags and comparing what they had bought. Each one was cooing at the others purchases before bringing the exact same thing out of her bag, and asking the others what they thought.

As I was leaving the area I saw an older gentleman, maybe 60 years old, with his young local girlfriend. He caught my attention as he left the store and said: “I love this sort of thing. She really wants the stuff and it’s so much cheaper than a day out at the IFC.” I’ll drink to that buddy.

All in all, my foray into the fashion world was enlightening and kind of scary. I now I have a better understanding of what drives the local fashionistas, but have become acutely aware that some of them will stop at nothing to get the items they want, whether that means queuing up outside in the cold or convincing their rich boyfriend that they really need a new addition to their wardrobe.