Monday, December 31, 2007
Here's what happened
Some of you will be surprised to know that my girlfriend reads this blog. It's simple. I told her about it, because I wanted her to hear it from me and not from someone else. I wanted to post the story of how she and I met, but I hesitated at first. Then I told her I thought I should do it, and that I'd let her read it before I make it public. She said I should just go ahead and post it and that she was wondering why I hadn't done it sooner. It's almost a "meet cute" story - at least that's how it seems to us - though probably some of you will read this and think it's a "Spike is stupid" story but I think at least some of the people who read this blog would enjoy it.
I'll preface this by saying that about two days before I met this person, I'd told my mother I'd decided to give up on dating. I just wasn't meeting anyone whom I felt strongly enough about to put in the effort to maintain a relationship. There were so many problems with so many of the women I'd dated that I figured it would be easier to stop searching and just "let it be."
It was just over three weeks ago, the same night I had dinner with a friend at Nadaman. After dinner, I ended up in Wanchai, as I often do. We'd had a lot of sake at dinner and I'd had a couple more drinks at Amazonia, so I was relatively high. I was also feeling restless, so got out of the bar and started walking around.
I passed Spicy Fingers and saw a friend of mine sitting at a table outside with a group of people I didn't know. He invited me to join the group. Everyone was sitting on those high stools around a table. Me, semi-wasted, took the only available seat, which was a low chair. I just kind of sat there, gathering my thoughts. But it didn't take long for me to notice that one member of the group was this really pretty woman, thin, great smile, long hair, Asian but speaking with a slight British accent, and she was commanding the attention of everyone else at the table. Like I said, she looked great, but she was also funny and confident.
I took a look at her, listened to her, and thought to myself, "That's the kind of woman I should be dating, how come I can never meet someone like that?" Yes, I was "meeting" her, but I was also convinced that there was no way she could be single. And when one of the other guys at the table ran off to get some food, he brought some back for her as well and I thought, "okay, that must be her boyfriend."
At one point, she did say something about how hard it was to find "Mr. Right," and even though I had enough presence of mind to finally speak up, saying, "I could be Mr. Right," in my befuddled state it never dawned on me that a woman saying she was looking for Mr. Right actually wasn't with any of the other guys there. However, for some reason, my saying that caught her attention.
Later on, a couple of the guys at the table were handing her their business cards so I joined in, giving one of my own. Soon after that, she left. She was parked in the garage across from the bar, came down in her car, waved good night to everyone and drove off. Alone.
I should mention that I later found out that two of the guys at our table asked her out and that a guy at the next table went up to her and told her she was the hottest woman in the bar and started kissing her hand. In retrospect, had I been more awake and tried hitting on her that night, I'm sure I would have failed. The "gradual" approach that I accidentally took is what worked.
So anyway, she left and after I finished smacking myself in the head several times, I decided I was going home too. Still a little drunk, very tired and I knew I wasn't likely to meet anyone else like her that night.
Back home, I received an SMS from her saying that she'd gotten home safely. I assumed that she'd sent this SMS to everyone at the table (I later found out I was right). But I thought, here's my opportunity, so I sent a reply. (She later told me I was the only one who replied.)
The next morning, she sent me a "good morning" SMS so I jumped into action, mind and fingers working frantically, trying to be witty and interesting and keep the replies coming. On Sunday, we moved from SMS to MSN. And I finally started to feel confident enough to ask her out for dinner, and she accepted.
One problem, though, was that I figured that since I hadn't spoken much at the bar, she probably couldn't remember what I looked like. And also I was convinced that she was under 35 years old and might not be interested in me once she found out my age. The only question she asked me was how tall I was. So going into this date, I pretty much expected that it would last about half an hour, and that soon I'd be joining some friends in a bar. I even told someone to wait for my call, that I'd join him at a bar later.
So we went out on that first date on Tuesday night, four days after we'd first met. Yes, she didn't remember what I looked like at all. Yes, it turns out her age is not that far off from mine (but she still looks just 35 to me). That first date lasted about 5 hours. We sat in the bar talking for four of those hours and then just walked around talking for another hour before I drove her home.
That night, I think I knew within 15 minutes, 30 minutes tops, how I felt about her. That she was the kind of person I was looking for, someone I could really be serious about. I think it took her a little bit longer than that, but maybe not that much.
Since that first night out, we've been together almost every night. We can talk all night long, night after night, with time going by too fast and without getting bored. I enjoy being with her and it doesn't matter what we're doing, I'm just happy when she's next to me. I hesitate to use the phrase "soul mate' but I can be completely honest and open with her and trust her completely. We like a lot of the same things have have similar priorities and ideas about the rest of our lives.
After about a week, I felt more certain than ever. I've even taken the step of changing my mobile phone number. I want a complete break from that aspect of my past.
The only painful bit is that in a few days she's going back home to visit her parents for two weeks. I scheduled my medical trip to Thailand at the same time. And, yes, the purpose of this trip is to deal with doctors and dentists, finish off a tattoo I started back in August, and then find some quiet place with no distractions where I can just settle in for a few days and chill out with a stack of books and my iPod.
At any rate, tonight I'm going to a New Yar's Eve party with someone I love, someone who loves me, and, oh yes, I'm also going to know that regardless of who else may be at the party, I will be there with the hottest girl in the room.
So .... happy new year!
I'll preface this by saying that about two days before I met this person, I'd told my mother I'd decided to give up on dating. I just wasn't meeting anyone whom I felt strongly enough about to put in the effort to maintain a relationship. There were so many problems with so many of the women I'd dated that I figured it would be easier to stop searching and just "let it be."
It was just over three weeks ago, the same night I had dinner with a friend at Nadaman. After dinner, I ended up in Wanchai, as I often do. We'd had a lot of sake at dinner and I'd had a couple more drinks at Amazonia, so I was relatively high. I was also feeling restless, so got out of the bar and started walking around.
I passed Spicy Fingers and saw a friend of mine sitting at a table outside with a group of people I didn't know. He invited me to join the group. Everyone was sitting on those high stools around a table. Me, semi-wasted, took the only available seat, which was a low chair. I just kind of sat there, gathering my thoughts. But it didn't take long for me to notice that one member of the group was this really pretty woman, thin, great smile, long hair, Asian but speaking with a slight British accent, and she was commanding the attention of everyone else at the table. Like I said, she looked great, but she was also funny and confident.
I took a look at her, listened to her, and thought to myself, "That's the kind of woman I should be dating, how come I can never meet someone like that?" Yes, I was "meeting" her, but I was also convinced that there was no way she could be single. And when one of the other guys at the table ran off to get some food, he brought some back for her as well and I thought, "okay, that must be her boyfriend."
At one point, she did say something about how hard it was to find "Mr. Right," and even though I had enough presence of mind to finally speak up, saying, "I could be Mr. Right," in my befuddled state it never dawned on me that a woman saying she was looking for Mr. Right actually wasn't with any of the other guys there. However, for some reason, my saying that caught her attention.
Later on, a couple of the guys at the table were handing her their business cards so I joined in, giving one of my own. Soon after that, she left. She was parked in the garage across from the bar, came down in her car, waved good night to everyone and drove off. Alone.
I should mention that I later found out that two of the guys at our table asked her out and that a guy at the next table went up to her and told her she was the hottest woman in the bar and started kissing her hand. In retrospect, had I been more awake and tried hitting on her that night, I'm sure I would have failed. The "gradual" approach that I accidentally took is what worked.
So anyway, she left and after I finished smacking myself in the head several times, I decided I was going home too. Still a little drunk, very tired and I knew I wasn't likely to meet anyone else like her that night.
Back home, I received an SMS from her saying that she'd gotten home safely. I assumed that she'd sent this SMS to everyone at the table (I later found out I was right). But I thought, here's my opportunity, so I sent a reply. (She later told me I was the only one who replied.)
The next morning, she sent me a "good morning" SMS so I jumped into action, mind and fingers working frantically, trying to be witty and interesting and keep the replies coming. On Sunday, we moved from SMS to MSN. And I finally started to feel confident enough to ask her out for dinner, and she accepted.
One problem, though, was that I figured that since I hadn't spoken much at the bar, she probably couldn't remember what I looked like. And also I was convinced that she was under 35 years old and might not be interested in me once she found out my age. The only question she asked me was how tall I was. So going into this date, I pretty much expected that it would last about half an hour, and that soon I'd be joining some friends in a bar. I even told someone to wait for my call, that I'd join him at a bar later.
So we went out on that first date on Tuesday night, four days after we'd first met. Yes, she didn't remember what I looked like at all. Yes, it turns out her age is not that far off from mine (but she still looks just 35 to me). That first date lasted about 5 hours. We sat in the bar talking for four of those hours and then just walked around talking for another hour before I drove her home.
That night, I think I knew within 15 minutes, 30 minutes tops, how I felt about her. That she was the kind of person I was looking for, someone I could really be serious about. I think it took her a little bit longer than that, but maybe not that much.
Since that first night out, we've been together almost every night. We can talk all night long, night after night, with time going by too fast and without getting bored. I enjoy being with her and it doesn't matter what we're doing, I'm just happy when she's next to me. I hesitate to use the phrase "soul mate' but I can be completely honest and open with her and trust her completely. We like a lot of the same things have have similar priorities and ideas about the rest of our lives.
After about a week, I felt more certain than ever. I've even taken the step of changing my mobile phone number. I want a complete break from that aspect of my past.
The only painful bit is that in a few days she's going back home to visit her parents for two weeks. I scheduled my medical trip to Thailand at the same time. And, yes, the purpose of this trip is to deal with doctors and dentists, finish off a tattoo I started back in August, and then find some quiet place with no distractions where I can just settle in for a few days and chill out with a stack of books and my iPod.
At any rate, tonight I'm going to a New Yar's Eve party with someone I love, someone who loves me, and, oh yes, I'm also going to know that regardless of who else may be at the party, I will be there with the hottest girl in the room.
So .... happy new year!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Misc notes
I'm really good at finding things to do OTHER than the things I should be doing.
This weekend, in preparation for my upcoming 2 weeks in Thailand, I went through the various "best albums of the year" lists on Q, Uncut, Mojo magazines and several other miscellaneous sources. I compiled a list of those albums, 195 in all. I then obtained as many of them as possible, 149 so far (okay, not that difficult, I already had 104 of them). Then loaded them all onto the iPod, with proper tags and artwork of course. Then I retagged the genre on each of them to "Best 2007" so they'd all come up together. Then, since a couple of those magazines had identified what they thought were the key tracks from each album, I made those into playlists.
Ummm .... you don't need to tell me I'm not normal. I already knew that.
==================================
The Netscape Browser - 1994-2008. R.I.P. AOL has announced that they will officially stop new development on Netscape as of February 2008. Netscape was the first widely available browser for the world wide web. Like many, I'd been using the internet before that, mostly via command line interfaces for email and usenet, and Netscape was the key to the universe. At one time the most popular browser, its share has now fallen to about 1%. Feeling a touch nostalgic over this.
This weekend, in preparation for my upcoming 2 weeks in Thailand, I went through the various "best albums of the year" lists on Q, Uncut, Mojo magazines and several other miscellaneous sources. I compiled a list of those albums, 195 in all. I then obtained as many of them as possible, 149 so far (okay, not that difficult, I already had 104 of them). Then loaded them all onto the iPod, with proper tags and artwork of course. Then I retagged the genre on each of them to "Best 2007" so they'd all come up together. Then, since a couple of those magazines had identified what they thought were the key tracks from each album, I made those into playlists.
Ummm .... you don't need to tell me I'm not normal. I already knew that.
==================================
The Netscape Browser - 1994-2008. R.I.P. AOL has announced that they will officially stop new development on Netscape as of February 2008. Netscape was the first widely available browser for the world wide web. Like many, I'd been using the internet before that, mostly via command line interfaces for email and usenet, and Netscape was the key to the universe. At one time the most popular browser, its share has now fallen to about 1%. Feeling a touch nostalgic over this.
Dear Hong Kong: F*ck You. Love, Beijing
All may be happy in my life these days, but the future of Hong Kong is not looking so good. In case you've missed coverage elsewhere, the NY Times has an update. Excerpts:
They have completely stacked the odds against it by requiring approval from LegCo, a group made up of appointed people preoccupied with maintaining the status quo. There is no guarantee that votes for democracy that do not exist in LegCo today will exist 5 or 10 or 30 years in the future. And even if something resembling democracy arrives, the deck will be stacked because candidacy for office will not be open to anyone who wishes to run, merely those who profess their loyalty to Beijing.
So that's it. It's over. Stick a fork in it, it's done. Democracy in Hong Kong - died before birth.
Here's what it reminds me of. Several years ago, my company decided to embark upon a "business re-organization" project. They brought in an expensive consulting company. Internally, the project was run by, who else?, management. People who had a vested interested in keeping things as they were. A year later, millions of dollars spent, the re-org was announced. The same people kept the same jobs - they were merely given new titles.
Three cheers for stability!
Chinese officials announced Saturday that Hong Kong would have to wait at least another decade for democratic elections to select its leader, and for more than 12 years to have the right to directly elect the entire legislature.
The Chinese government’s timetable for democratic reform in Hong Kong follows a decision by the Standing Committee of China’s Parliament, the National People’s Congress, to reject universal suffrage on the island in 2012, a timetable that opinion polls suggested is favored by a majority of the people of Hong Kong.The earliest voters would be entitled to elect the chief executive by popular vote is now 2017. They must wait until 2020 before possibly having the opportunity to vote for the entire 60-seat Legislative Council.
Chinese officials also announced on Saturday that if universal suffrage is introduced in 2017, only candidates nominated by a committee that would probably resemble the current electoral college would be allowed on the ballot.
But government officials in Hong Kong and Beijing said the decision finally gave Hong Kong the certainty of a timetable for achieving universal suffrage.
“The timetable for universal suffrage has been set,” Mr. Tsang said. “Hong Kong is entering a most important chapter in its constitutional history.
“We should try to apply fresh thinking to secure implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive first in 2017, to be followed by that for the Legislative Council in 2020. We must treasure this hard-earned opportunity.”
The ruling of the Standing Committee only states that direct elections “may be implemented” beginning in 2017.It requires the existing system to remain in place unless Hong Kong’s legislature can agree by a two-thirds majority on any changes.
New election laws would also have to be approved by the chief executive and the congress.
So, as others have noted, both in comments here and elsewhere, if anyone believes that Hong Kong will be a democracy within our lifetimes, either they are very young or perhaps they will buy this bridge in Brooklyn that I'm looking to sell.
They have completely stacked the odds against it by requiring approval from LegCo, a group made up of appointed people preoccupied with maintaining the status quo. There is no guarantee that votes for democracy that do not exist in LegCo today will exist 5 or 10 or 30 years in the future. And even if something resembling democracy arrives, the deck will be stacked because candidacy for office will not be open to anyone who wishes to run, merely those who profess their loyalty to Beijing.
So that's it. It's over. Stick a fork in it, it's done. Democracy in Hong Kong - died before birth.
Here's what it reminds me of. Several years ago, my company decided to embark upon a "business re-organization" project. They brought in an expensive consulting company. Internally, the project was run by, who else?, management. People who had a vested interested in keeping things as they were. A year later, millions of dollars spent, the re-org was announced. The same people kept the same jobs - they were merely given new titles.
Three cheers for stability!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Knock! Knock! Anybody Home?
Grabbed a few seconds ago from the NY Times home page.
The second headline seems rather unfortunate as well.
Clicking on that first "timely" story shows a huge mismatch between headline and story:
The second headline seems rather unfortunate as well.Clicking on that first "timely" story shows a huge mismatch between headline and story:
Thursday, December 27, 2007
No laughing matter
After doing those two web tests and posting the results, flipped over to the NY Times to find that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today. Don't know enough about her to know if she was good or bad so all I can say right now is HOLY SHIT.
And going into the other room to turn on CNN.
And going into the other room to turn on CNN.
web toys
Via Far East Cynic .... I know this stuff is crap and yet the results feed my ego ....
and this one, not a surprise at all!
Your Score: The Cardinal
You scored 68% Cardinal, 25% Monk, 26% Lady, and 37% Knight!
You are the real power behind the throne. No one dares dispute or refuse you. Which is good because that's how you get things done. You are also, however, completely corrupt and highly immoral. This doesn't bother you in the least as you lounge around your rich comfortable surroundings, reveling in wealth and authority.
| Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(KnightlyKnave) |
and this one, not a surprise at all!
Your Score: The Liberated Lover
63% partner focus, 85% aggressiveness, 80% adventurousness
Based on the results of this test, it is highly likely that:
You prefer your romance and love to wild and daring rather than typical or boring, you would rather pursue than be pursued and, when it comes to physical love, your satisfaction comes more from providing a wonderful time to your partner than simply seeking your own.
This places you in the Lover Style of: The Liberated Lover.
The Liberated Lover is a wonderful Lover Style, and forms the kind of free-thinking, sexually-exciting, self-confident lover that society once condemned but that a liberal-mind cherishes and exults. The Liberated Lover is a treasure to find, though it can sometimes be difficult to do so because they are often already engaged in relationships or are in high-demand if "in the market."
In terms of physical love, the Liberated Lover is possibly the most thrilling and demanding of all, with the one potential drawback being that it is possible to feel 'overmatched' at times by their prowess and selfless giving. Given trust and understanding, and the right lover, the Liberated Lover can be a delight in bed.
Best Compatibility can probably be found with: The Exotic Lover (most of all) or the Carnal Lover, or the Suave Lover.
Congratulations!
If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in the following:
Nerds, Geeks & Dorks
Professional Wrestling
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
America/Politics
Thanks Again! -- THE LOVER STYLE PROFILE TEST
| Link: The Lover Style Profile Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(donathos) |
Accidental Double Bill
A bit of a cold coming on, so stayed home and took it easy. Watched two movies, chosen almost at random, and thinking about it this morning, how well they functioned one after the other.
The first was Two-Lane Blacktop, via the excellent new two disc release by Criterion. Perhaps best remembered for its stunt casting (James Taylor as the driver and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson as the mechanic), perhaps it is better remembered as an artifact of an era when a major studio released a film so heavily influenced by the French new wave of the 60s. It's a film about a cross country car race in which there is not so much racing, a film starring two music stars with almost no music to be heard. Taylor, Wilson and Warren Oates (driving the GTO) are outsiders, they have no connection to society. Oates seems to strive for that connection, picking up every hitch hiker along the way, seeking some sort of validation perhaps and tells a different story to each of them, trying to reach out and gain acceptance from strangers, while Taylor and Wilson sit mostly in silence, even with their cute female hitch hiker - whom Oates seems to want more than victory in the race. It's directed by Monte Hellman, a graduate of the Roger Corman school of film-making, who did several other notable films in the 60s and 70s but has recently been relegated to things like Silent Night Deadly Night 3.
Two-Lane Blacktop mostly takes place along the back roads of the American South and Southwest. No Country for Old Men marks the Coen Brothers's return to West Texas, a place they visited in their first film, Blood Simple. And while a lot of critics are comparing No Country to Fargo, this is really an anti-Fargo. It has far more in common with Blood Simple.
Assuming that most of you haven't read the original novel by Cormac McCarthy (I hadn't), it becomes almost impossible for me to talk about this film without spoiling the plot. So let me just say that the three leads - Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin - are firing on all cylinders here. My attention was riveted to the screen for the entire time - the suspense in some scenes is practically unbearable.
I didn't much care for the Coens' Intolerable Cruelty or their remake of Ladykillers. This is an excellent return to form for them - much more in the vein of Blood Simple or Miller's Crossing than Big Lebowski, though there is a good deal of subtle humor to be found amidst the horror here.
Anyway, the comparison between the two very different films comes because often in Two-Lane Blacktop, the people they encounter along the way don't seem to be professional actors, they seem to be "real Americans" and through them we see very clearly into a segment of America at a particular time.
And I got the same feeling from much of the supporting cast in No Country For Old Men, the old man in the gas station, the hotel clerks, the taxi drivers. Other films tend to look down on these kinds of people, but here they're simply presented to us as the way things are.
P.S. This is the time of year that I look forward to, not so much because of the holidays, but because it's when studios send out DVD screeners to Oscar voters and many of them end up on the internet and probably in the shops in Shenzhen as well. Studios have tried digitally watermarking these screeners - in the case of No Country this means two blurry "bars" on screen throughout the film, masking the identifying marks or numbers.
I'm looking at the coming soon list on Cityline's web site and I don't even see No Country for Old Men. I also don't see There Will Be Blood. Coincidentally (or not?) both are co-productions from Miramax/Disney and Paramount.
Ridley Scott's American Gangster - a major studio release with major international stars - first opens here in January, two months after the US release. Sweeney Todd doesn't arrive here till Chinese New Year. But we get AVP2 and National Treasure 2 and Alvin & the Chipmunks day and date with the US. If it wasn't for the internet, a movie fan could starve to death in Hong Kong.
P.P.S. As in the past, sorry, I will not respond to comments asking for information on my sources for obtaining these films.
The first was Two-Lane Blacktop, via the excellent new two disc release by Criterion. Perhaps best remembered for its stunt casting (James Taylor as the driver and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson as the mechanic), perhaps it is better remembered as an artifact of an era when a major studio released a film so heavily influenced by the French new wave of the 60s. It's a film about a cross country car race in which there is not so much racing, a film starring two music stars with almost no music to be heard. Taylor, Wilson and Warren Oates (driving the GTO) are outsiders, they have no connection to society. Oates seems to strive for that connection, picking up every hitch hiker along the way, seeking some sort of validation perhaps and tells a different story to each of them, trying to reach out and gain acceptance from strangers, while Taylor and Wilson sit mostly in silence, even with their cute female hitch hiker - whom Oates seems to want more than victory in the race. It's directed by Monte Hellman, a graduate of the Roger Corman school of film-making, who did several other notable films in the 60s and 70s but has recently been relegated to things like Silent Night Deadly Night 3.
Two-Lane Blacktop mostly takes place along the back roads of the American South and Southwest. No Country for Old Men marks the Coen Brothers's return to West Texas, a place they visited in their first film, Blood Simple. And while a lot of critics are comparing No Country to Fargo, this is really an anti-Fargo. It has far more in common with Blood Simple.
Assuming that most of you haven't read the original novel by Cormac McCarthy (I hadn't), it becomes almost impossible for me to talk about this film without spoiling the plot. So let me just say that the three leads - Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin - are firing on all cylinders here. My attention was riveted to the screen for the entire time - the suspense in some scenes is practically unbearable.
I didn't much care for the Coens' Intolerable Cruelty or their remake of Ladykillers. This is an excellent return to form for them - much more in the vein of Blood Simple or Miller's Crossing than Big Lebowski, though there is a good deal of subtle humor to be found amidst the horror here.
Anyway, the comparison between the two very different films comes because often in Two-Lane Blacktop, the people they encounter along the way don't seem to be professional actors, they seem to be "real Americans" and through them we see very clearly into a segment of America at a particular time.
And I got the same feeling from much of the supporting cast in No Country For Old Men, the old man in the gas station, the hotel clerks, the taxi drivers. Other films tend to look down on these kinds of people, but here they're simply presented to us as the way things are.
P.S. This is the time of year that I look forward to, not so much because of the holidays, but because it's when studios send out DVD screeners to Oscar voters and many of them end up on the internet and probably in the shops in Shenzhen as well. Studios have tried digitally watermarking these screeners - in the case of No Country this means two blurry "bars" on screen throughout the film, masking the identifying marks or numbers.
I'm looking at the coming soon list on Cityline's web site and I don't even see No Country for Old Men. I also don't see There Will Be Blood. Coincidentally (or not?) both are co-productions from Miramax/Disney and Paramount.
Ridley Scott's American Gangster - a major studio release with major international stars - first opens here in January, two months after the US release. Sweeney Todd doesn't arrive here till Chinese New Year. But we get AVP2 and National Treasure 2 and Alvin & the Chipmunks day and date with the US. If it wasn't for the internet, a movie fan could starve to death in Hong Kong.
P.P.S. As in the past, sorry, I will not respond to comments asking for information on my sources for obtaining these films.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Ronald Reagan in Hong Kong
Image stolen from Celeb-slam. When I saw the movie being promoted in this ad, simply could not resist. Very nice Xmas dinner in Soho at Cafe Bizou. Then picked up some Krispy Kremes, up the escalator, and turned my gf on to Anthony Bourdain (put on the Shanghai episode and she was as into it as I am so loaned her the Kitchen Confidential book).
Following the news in Thailand closely since I'm going back there next week. Apparently Thaksin was in HK watching the election returns, in which those loyal to him did quite well. The SCMP says that HK will be his base as he "plots his return." I'm not the world's expert on Thai politics but it seems to me that the choice is between an allegedly corrupt billionaire former PM or a bunch of generals who seized power by force and seem to be right out of Woody Allen's "Bananas." The Thai people deserve better, don't you think?
Anyway, it's now about a week till I'll be heading down there. I'm thinking that the topic of my next BC column will be something along the lines of "things to do in Bangkok at night when you're alone but not looking to fool around." Yes, I'll look for some old friends in Gullivers. Yes, I'll finish off the tattoo I started last trip. And I'll have a stack of books, movies and music. Other suggestions gratefully appreciated.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas Baby
And so this is Christmas, that one day of the year when goyim all around the world celebrate the birth of a Jewish boy who didn't want to go into the family business. Good on ya goyim!
Recommended listening:
Kinks - Father Christmas
Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Merry Christmas Baby
Various Artists - A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector
And what is undoubtedly the best Christmas album of all time, Christmas Party with Eddie G, a friend back in my New York days and currently one of the exec producers of Two and a Half Men.
Got the car on Monday. One brake light not working and ipod hook-up not working, which means tomorrow back in the shop. But otherwise had the chance to tear up some of the back roads around and above Sai Kung before settling in for a Christmas-y sort of dinner. Not sure that my girlfriend qualifies as a shiksa (she doesn't have blond hair) but she looked especially fabulous last night. I'm sure anyone who saw us at dinner was thinking, "Get a room, you two!"
So, feeling happy and content, nothing to complain about today, Happy Festivus for the Rest of Us!
Recommended listening:
Kinks - Father Christmas
Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Merry Christmas Baby
Various Artists - A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector
And what is undoubtedly the best Christmas album of all time, Christmas Party with Eddie G, a friend back in my New York days and currently one of the exec producers of Two and a Half Men.
Got the car on Monday. One brake light not working and ipod hook-up not working, which means tomorrow back in the shop. But otherwise had the chance to tear up some of the back roads around and above Sai Kung before settling in for a Christmas-y sort of dinner. Not sure that my girlfriend qualifies as a shiksa (she doesn't have blond hair) but she looked especially fabulous last night. I'm sure anyone who saw us at dinner was thinking, "Get a room, you two!"
So, feeling happy and content, nothing to complain about today, Happy Festivus for the Rest of Us!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Dumb and stupidererer
In case you haven't heard, Britney Spears' 16 year old sister is pregnant. She's the star of some kiddie TV series in the US. And apparently Britney only found out about it because she heard it in the media; apparently the kid was too afraid of her sister's temper to tell her.
Most importantly, the Spears' kids mom has decided to put her book on parenting on hold. This is not a joke, the mom had written a book on how to be a good parent. One kid takes drugs, is declared an unfit mother, has public meltdowns and runs around without underwear flashing the entire world. And apparently good parenting doesn't include telling your kids about birth control or being able to figure out that if she dresses like a Wanchai hooker odds are she's acting like one too.
This important news comes scant weeks after full frontal nude shots of some (as Fumier would say) barely legal first class totty, Vanessa Hudgens, surfaced on the internet. She's also the star of some kids show. Apparently starring in kids TV in the US turns you into a slut.
I myself made two appearances on two kiddie shows when I was a kid. That may explain a lot.
Check this item at Gizmodo and then follow the link to see a related video. For some reason Flash ain't working right in Firefox for me at the moment and I'm too lazy to reboot. Apparently the RIAA is trying to tell people that pirated music doesn't sound as good as the real thing, because when you make a digital copy of digital material it "blah, blah, blah, purple monkey dishwasher."
(That last bit comes from the actual New York Times review of the "film" National Treasure 2. Apparently the movie is so unremittingly stupid that the reviewer just sort of gave up. "To acquire the cleverly named Book of Secrets, Ben plots to kidnap the current president and blah, blah, blah purple monkey dishwasher." Needless to say, it is the #1 film in the U.S. this past weekend.)
For something much smarter, check out online shopping site Unemployed Philosophers Guild. Yes, of course they sell Freudian Slippers. There's a Nietzsche watch with the quote "the eternal return of the same." A theory of relativity watch where the numbers are rotating. And most enjoyably (for me) a Salvador Dali watch - his mustache tells hours and minutes, a circling ant keeps track of seconds. Yes, they have Axis of Evil finger puppets.
Most importantly, the Spears' kids mom has decided to put her book on parenting on hold. This is not a joke, the mom had written a book on how to be a good parent. One kid takes drugs, is declared an unfit mother, has public meltdowns and runs around without underwear flashing the entire world. And apparently good parenting doesn't include telling your kids about birth control or being able to figure out that if she dresses like a Wanchai hooker odds are she's acting like one too.
This important news comes scant weeks after full frontal nude shots of some (as Fumier would say) barely legal first class totty, Vanessa Hudgens, surfaced on the internet. She's also the star of some kids show. Apparently starring in kids TV in the US turns you into a slut.
I myself made two appearances on two kiddie shows when I was a kid. That may explain a lot.
Check this item at Gizmodo and then follow the link to see a related video. For some reason Flash ain't working right in Firefox for me at the moment and I'm too lazy to reboot. Apparently the RIAA is trying to tell people that pirated music doesn't sound as good as the real thing, because when you make a digital copy of digital material it "blah, blah, blah, purple monkey dishwasher."
(That last bit comes from the actual New York Times review of the "film" National Treasure 2. Apparently the movie is so unremittingly stupid that the reviewer just sort of gave up. "To acquire the cleverly named Book of Secrets, Ben plots to kidnap the current president and blah, blah, blah purple monkey dishwasher." Needless to say, it is the #1 film in the U.S. this past weekend.)
For something much smarter, check out online shopping site Unemployed Philosophers Guild. Yes, of course they sell Freudian Slippers. There's a Nietzsche watch with the quote "the eternal return of the same." A theory of relativity watch where the numbers are rotating. And most enjoyably (for me) a Salvador Dali watch - his mustache tells hours and minutes, a circling ant keeps track of seconds. Yes, they have Axis of Evil finger puppets.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
No complaints
So my gf wanted to take me out to dinner last night to celebrate my getting the new car, but in typical HK fashion the car won't be ready till Monday. Even though the guy told my insurance agent that the swap would be Friday, so the insurance was canceled on the old car and started on the new one effective that date. Yes, I screamed at him. Somehow I managed to not curse, though it was hard, di yiu lei lo mo and po kai were both on the tip of my tongue.
With the restaurant booked, we went ahead with dinner as planned. She chose Spoon, Alain Ducasse's outpost at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel, a place I've long wanted to try. Yes, she has excellent taste.
The setting of course is amazing, right alongside what's left of the harbor with 15 or 20 foot high windows providing a marvelous view. The restaurant is otherwise simply decorated, nothing too fancy or fussy. Spoons line the ceiling of course, but otherwise comfortable chairs and these nice red-leather topped tables. The place has a relaxed dress code in keeping with Hong Kong style - basically anything goes except for shorts and sandals.
Wine prices, however, were insane. There were some reasonably priced bottles on the list but by the glass or carafe, sky high. We had two glasses of a Montrachet that cost $535 per glass! On the other hand, we agreed that this was easily one of the best white wines we'd ever tasted.
Food prices are much more reasonable, considering world famous chef and 5 star hotel restaurant. Most starters were under $200, most mains in the $300-400 range. I had a starter of sliced raw marinated scallops and I could have just inhaled the plate. The bread basket was everything you'd expect from a proper French restaurant. My Chilean sea bass was perfectly cooked. She went for the Kobe beef, again perfectly cooked, melt on your tongue tender. Sorry I don't recall the details of the sauces. Two nice touches. On being seated, we were given an amuse of seared tuna. And when I received my appetizer, since she hadn't ordered one for herself, the waiter brought a small glass of a gazpacho-style drink, tomato and cucumber, simple yet refreshing.
Clearly what Ducasse is going for here is an emphasis on fresh ingredients and sauces that complement without overwhelming the food. Preparation, presentation, service were all exactly what you'd expect. Comfortable, relaxing and absolutely delicious. We will gladly return.
Our Christmas Eve dinner will be a return to Nadaman at the Kowloon Shangri-La and hopefully that day I will actually be able to pick up the car, so obviously looking forward to that.
Yeah, things are good right now. Hope all of my readers can say the same!
With the restaurant booked, we went ahead with dinner as planned. She chose Spoon, Alain Ducasse's outpost at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel, a place I've long wanted to try. Yes, she has excellent taste.
The setting of course is amazing, right alongside what's left of the harbor with 15 or 20 foot high windows providing a marvelous view. The restaurant is otherwise simply decorated, nothing too fancy or fussy. Spoons line the ceiling of course, but otherwise comfortable chairs and these nice red-leather topped tables. The place has a relaxed dress code in keeping with Hong Kong style - basically anything goes except for shorts and sandals.
Wine prices, however, were insane. There were some reasonably priced bottles on the list but by the glass or carafe, sky high. We had two glasses of a Montrachet that cost $535 per glass! On the other hand, we agreed that this was easily one of the best white wines we'd ever tasted.
Food prices are much more reasonable, considering world famous chef and 5 star hotel restaurant. Most starters were under $200, most mains in the $300-400 range. I had a starter of sliced raw marinated scallops and I could have just inhaled the plate. The bread basket was everything you'd expect from a proper French restaurant. My Chilean sea bass was perfectly cooked. She went for the Kobe beef, again perfectly cooked, melt on your tongue tender. Sorry I don't recall the details of the sauces. Two nice touches. On being seated, we were given an amuse of seared tuna. And when I received my appetizer, since she hadn't ordered one for herself, the waiter brought a small glass of a gazpacho-style drink, tomato and cucumber, simple yet refreshing.
Clearly what Ducasse is going for here is an emphasis on fresh ingredients and sauces that complement without overwhelming the food. Preparation, presentation, service were all exactly what you'd expect. Comfortable, relaxing and absolutely delicious. We will gladly return.
Our Christmas Eve dinner will be a return to Nadaman at the Kowloon Shangri-La and hopefully that day I will actually be able to pick up the car, so obviously looking forward to that.
Yeah, things are good right now. Hope all of my readers can say the same!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Song title of the week
Name of the band is Scouting for Girls, single is titled Elvis Ain't Dead.
B side of the single is .... You Were Fitter In Your Myspace Picture.
Catchy but probably disposable Britpop.
B side of the single is .... You Were Fitter In Your Myspace Picture.
Catchy but probably disposable Britpop.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Oh my Hong Kong
How long have you been in Hong Kong? I've been here since 1995 (with a 2 year gap at one point). There was always some pollution but no worse than any other major city.
This picture is from October 2001:
This picture is from March 2002:
Remember how the period each year from roughly November through March was glorious weather, blue skies every day?
The following pictures were taken this week Tuesday, December 18th. Composition is way off because I was driving at the time (sorry Fumier) - albeit crawling in traffic - camera held out the window to grab a few quick shots
All anyone ever offers up is excuses. No one in a position of responsibility seems to feel any need to address this situation in any meaningful way.
Tonight, driving along the eastern corridor, the sign at North Point said 13 minutes to Central Tunnel, 41 minutes to Western Tunnel (this number is rarely about 20 so this is an unusually high number). So I figured there was some accident ahead and I'd best get off the highway. I turned down Percival Street towards Leighton Road. I didn't take into account that this is the Friday before Christmas.
You see, there's something about the way people drive here. The idea of getting into lane and waiting in line seems to be an alien notion. So if there is a long line of cars waiting to make the right turn onto Sharp Street, rather than get in that line, cars travel down the middle lane and then try to cut over to the right lane before the turn. Because Sharp Street was not moving, this then meant that two lanes of Percival were not moving. At all. For at least 30 minutes, probably longer.
Traffic was blocked up all the way back to the highway because of these drivers who did not have the patience to get into the proper lane. The light changed about 10 times before there was any movement on the street at all. Some people started leaning on their car horns, for all the good that was going to do. So gridlock and noise.
Eventually I was able to get over to the far left lane and get around this double-turning-into-triple back-up of cars waiting to make the turn to go to Times Square.
Police? Nowhere to be seen.
Then I came home. For some rest. Except that they're hammering and drilling in the flats right above and below mine. Sanding the floors in a flat right across from mine. And the entire building is shaking every 30 seconds because of pile drivers being used on nearby construction sites. After the 1st of the year they are going to replace the two elevators in this building. They're also going to renovate the hallways and the facade. Six months of the building being covered in green netting and construction noise every day.
Earlier this year I was thinking that if my landlord doesn't ask for too much of an increase, perhaps I'd stay another year. My flat is a bargain for this neighborhood, because I moved in during the height of SARS.
Now I can't think of any reason to stay. I'm actually thinking about giving the legal minimum 60 days notice on Jan 1 so that I can get out a little bit sooner.
Last note of the day. To Whom It May Concern. When you have a Hello Kitty sticker on the rear of your car. When you put your name on the back of your car in stick-on plastic letters with different fonts. When you have silly custom tail lights on the car. Then, Sir, it is not necessary to also display a "Child in Car" sticker. We could figure that out for ourselves.
This picture is from October 2001:
This picture is from March 2002:
Remember how the period each year from roughly November through March was glorious weather, blue skies every day?
The following pictures were taken this week Tuesday, December 18th. Composition is way off because I was driving at the time (sorry Fumier) - albeit crawling in traffic - camera held out the window to grab a few quick shots
All anyone ever offers up is excuses. No one in a position of responsibility seems to feel any need to address this situation in any meaningful way.
Tonight, driving along the eastern corridor, the sign at North Point said 13 minutes to Central Tunnel, 41 minutes to Western Tunnel (this number is rarely about 20 so this is an unusually high number). So I figured there was some accident ahead and I'd best get off the highway. I turned down Percival Street towards Leighton Road. I didn't take into account that this is the Friday before Christmas.
You see, there's something about the way people drive here. The idea of getting into lane and waiting in line seems to be an alien notion. So if there is a long line of cars waiting to make the right turn onto Sharp Street, rather than get in that line, cars travel down the middle lane and then try to cut over to the right lane before the turn. Because Sharp Street was not moving, this then meant that two lanes of Percival were not moving. At all. For at least 30 minutes, probably longer.
Traffic was blocked up all the way back to the highway because of these drivers who did not have the patience to get into the proper lane. The light changed about 10 times before there was any movement on the street at all. Some people started leaning on their car horns, for all the good that was going to do. So gridlock and noise.
Eventually I was able to get over to the far left lane and get around this double-turning-into-triple back-up of cars waiting to make the turn to go to Times Square.
Police? Nowhere to be seen.
Then I came home. For some rest. Except that they're hammering and drilling in the flats right above and below mine. Sanding the floors in a flat right across from mine. And the entire building is shaking every 30 seconds because of pile drivers being used on nearby construction sites. After the 1st of the year they are going to replace the two elevators in this building. They're also going to renovate the hallways and the facade. Six months of the building being covered in green netting and construction noise every day.
Earlier this year I was thinking that if my landlord doesn't ask for too much of an increase, perhaps I'd stay another year. My flat is a bargain for this neighborhood, because I moved in during the height of SARS.
Now I can't think of any reason to stay. I'm actually thinking about giving the legal minimum 60 days notice on Jan 1 so that I can get out a little bit sooner.
Last note of the day. To Whom It May Concern. When you have a Hello Kitty sticker on the rear of your car. When you put your name on the back of your car in stick-on plastic letters with different fonts. When you have silly custom tail lights on the car. Then, Sir, it is not necessary to also display a "Child in Car" sticker. We could figure that out for ourselves.
Quick notes
Even though my gf has lived in HK, last night was her first time to go on the Mid Levels escalator, which I only just noticed seems to now be officially called the Mid Levels Travelator. Is that even a word? Spell check in Firefox doesn't think so.
Dinner at Craft Steak. I'd wanted to try this place for some time despite their ripping off the name from American chef (and co-host of the game show Top Chef) Tom Colicchio. Despite that, everything was good there, across the board. We will return.
Took all of two days with my new phone number before I got my first spam marketing call this morning.
Me: Good morning.
Her: Can I speak Chinese?
Me: I don't know, can you?
Her: (click)
Dinner at Craft Steak. I'd wanted to try this place for some time despite their ripping off the name from American chef (and co-host of the game show Top Chef) Tom Colicchio. Despite that, everything was good there, across the board. We will return.
Took all of two days with my new phone number before I got my first spam marketing call this morning.
Me: Good morning.
Her: Can I speak Chinese?
Me: I don't know, can you?
Her: (click)
Happy
Things are going so well for me at the moment it's positively frightening.
The lesser stuff first - got the iPhone today, love it, should have popped for it sooner. New car should be ready for pick-up either Friday or Saturday. Some other financial issues are on the verge of being cleaned up.
And then ... well a couple of comments have asked for details about the lady I'm now seeing and sorry but not going to go into any specifics. I will say that she's sweet, smart, considerate. In terms of age, almost the same age as me but, in terms of looks, let me put it this way, last night we were walking past Amazonia. Spyke, the lead singer of the band was hanging out in front of the bar on a break, I introduced her and he asked me, "Are you trying to hurt me?" A friend who'd met her before we started dating says she looks like a different person now - he used the word "radiant" I believe - and said we're acting like a couple of teenagers.
Yes it's been a very short time and yes my track record in the past has not been the best, but then again, I've never dated anyone even remotely like her before. I've gone and changed my phone number for the first time in 7 years; I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone the reason why.
We've packed a lot into a short time - in the past 10 days we've gone out 7 times, each time being together for at least 6 hours, talking late into the night. She just keeps surpassing my expectations and each day is better than the one before. What more could I ask for?
The lesser stuff first - got the iPhone today, love it, should have popped for it sooner. New car should be ready for pick-up either Friday or Saturday. Some other financial issues are on the verge of being cleaned up.
And then ... well a couple of comments have asked for details about the lady I'm now seeing and sorry but not going to go into any specifics. I will say that she's sweet, smart, considerate. In terms of age, almost the same age as me but, in terms of looks, let me put it this way, last night we were walking past Amazonia. Spyke, the lead singer of the band was hanging out in front of the bar on a break, I introduced her and he asked me, "Are you trying to hurt me?" A friend who'd met her before we started dating says she looks like a different person now - he used the word "radiant" I believe - and said we're acting like a couple of teenagers.
Yes it's been a very short time and yes my track record in the past has not been the best, but then again, I've never dated anyone even remotely like her before. I've gone and changed my phone number for the first time in 7 years; I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone the reason why.
We've packed a lot into a short time - in the past 10 days we've gone out 7 times, each time being together for at least 6 hours, talking late into the night. She just keeps surpassing my expectations and each day is better than the one before. What more could I ask for?
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
This is how things operate
New Line Pictures is a Hollywood movie studio that is owned by Time Warner, separate and distinct from Warner Bros Pictures. They function as an independent entity to a large degree. They use Warner for distribution of theatrical features and home videos in the U.S., but in the rest of the world they are free sign with the highest bidder for distribution of their products.
Some of their huge hits in recent years have included the Austin Powers series and the Rush Hour series. But their most spectacularly successful work was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The three films grossed close to US$3 billion.
So it completely mystified the Hollywood establishment, normally more venal and money grubbing than Li Ka Shing or Stanley Ho, when the head of New Line decided to pick a public fight with Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings series and the man most clearly responsible for its amazing success. They apparently did not give him an honest accounting on the grosses for the films, blocked his auditors from getting the proper numbers, and then publicly accused him of greed for attempting to get what was rightfully his, rather than allowing them to keep the money for themselves.
This, by the way, is business as usual in Hollywood. Up through the 1970s, thanks to creative accounting, NO HOLLYWOOD STUDIO FILM EVER MADE A PROFIT.
So what happened was that New Line then wanted to make a film version of The Hobbit, the book that precedes Lord of the Rings. And Peter Jackson said there was no way he would make it. And the fans started screaming. And the press.
New Line's situation was made worse by the fact that while they release a dozen or more films per year, in the past two years they've had only two hits - Hairspray and Rush Hour 3. Their big Christmas 2007 release, Golden Compass, tanked at the box office. Rumors are that production costs on Golden Compass were somewhere between US$180 and US$250 million. In its opening weekend in the US it grossed just $25 million and dropped off almost 70% in its second weekend. Internationally it is doing a little better, having grossed around $90 million. But given that the costs of marketing, promotion and prints can easily add another 9 figures to a picture's cost, it will be a long time before they're out of theblack red on this one.
So it is not a huge surprise that New Line and Peter Jackson announced a settlement to their various lawsuits yesterday. The settlement is said to be worth an additional US$40 million to Jackson. However, it's too late for Jackson to direct The Hobbit as he's fully booked for the next several years. He will now serve as executive producer for the film.
New Line's bosses deny that they settled because their own contracts are coming up for renewal next year. Does anyone believe that?
Note to Peter Jackson - according to some reports, this would mean that New Line has paid you a total of US$300 million for your efforts on Lord of the Rings. If you were to give me $500,000 just because I happen to be a nice guy and could use the money, you would still have $299,500,000 left. In other words, you'd barely notice it, but it would completely change my life and I would promise not to buy any pirate DVDs of your films. Seems like a good deal, yes?
====================================
On another topic, why the hell is it that when you call any freaking service in Hong Kong, you are first presented with a menu of choices as to which language you speak, you select English, you work your way through the menus, you get connected to an actual human being, and EVERY FUCKING TIME it's someone who doesn't speak English. You've already told the system you "want to operate" in English. I suppose the developers and managers never considered the fact that if you want to listen to menus in English there's a slight chance you might want to speak with someone who has some passing familiarity with the English language?????
===================================
Funny, I'm in an overwhelmingly good mood lately. Maybe you can't tell from the blog. But things are going really well for me on almost all fronts. Things are going so well that I'm convinced that disaster must be waiting for me just around the corner, hello old friend.
Some of their huge hits in recent years have included the Austin Powers series and the Rush Hour series. But their most spectacularly successful work was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The three films grossed close to US$3 billion.
So it completely mystified the Hollywood establishment, normally more venal and money grubbing than Li Ka Shing or Stanley Ho, when the head of New Line decided to pick a public fight with Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings series and the man most clearly responsible for its amazing success. They apparently did not give him an honest accounting on the grosses for the films, blocked his auditors from getting the proper numbers, and then publicly accused him of greed for attempting to get what was rightfully his, rather than allowing them to keep the money for themselves.
This, by the way, is business as usual in Hollywood. Up through the 1970s, thanks to creative accounting, NO HOLLYWOOD STUDIO FILM EVER MADE A PROFIT.
So what happened was that New Line then wanted to make a film version of The Hobbit, the book that precedes Lord of the Rings. And Peter Jackson said there was no way he would make it. And the fans started screaming. And the press.
New Line's situation was made worse by the fact that while they release a dozen or more films per year, in the past two years they've had only two hits - Hairspray and Rush Hour 3. Their big Christmas 2007 release, Golden Compass, tanked at the box office. Rumors are that production costs on Golden Compass were somewhere between US$180 and US$250 million. In its opening weekend in the US it grossed just $25 million and dropped off almost 70% in its second weekend. Internationally it is doing a little better, having grossed around $90 million. But given that the costs of marketing, promotion and prints can easily add another 9 figures to a picture's cost, it will be a long time before they're out of the
So it is not a huge surprise that New Line and Peter Jackson announced a settlement to their various lawsuits yesterday. The settlement is said to be worth an additional US$40 million to Jackson. However, it's too late for Jackson to direct The Hobbit as he's fully booked for the next several years. He will now serve as executive producer for the film.
New Line's bosses deny that they settled because their own contracts are coming up for renewal next year. Does anyone believe that?
Note to Peter Jackson - according to some reports, this would mean that New Line has paid you a total of US$300 million for your efforts on Lord of the Rings. If you were to give me $500,000 just because I happen to be a nice guy and could use the money, you would still have $299,500,000 left. In other words, you'd barely notice it, but it would completely change my life and I would promise not to buy any pirate DVDs of your films. Seems like a good deal, yes?
====================================
On another topic, why the hell is it that when you call any freaking service in Hong Kong, you are first presented with a menu of choices as to which language you speak, you select English, you work your way through the menus, you get connected to an actual human being, and EVERY FUCKING TIME it's someone who doesn't speak English. You've already told the system you "want to operate" in English. I suppose the developers and managers never considered the fact that if you want to listen to menus in English there's a slight chance you might want to speak with someone who has some passing familiarity with the English language?????
===================================
Funny, I'm in an overwhelmingly good mood lately. Maybe you can't tell from the blog. But things are going really well for me on almost all fronts. Things are going so well that I'm convinced that disaster must be waiting for me just around the corner, hello old friend.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Menu for hope
Menu for Hope is an annual charity appeal arranged by food bloggers around the world. Last year the program raised over US$60,000 for the United Nations World Food Program. This year's donations will also go to the UN WFP, specifically to a school lunch program in Lesotho.
It's a raffle, and for every US$10 you donate, you can enter for a specific prize, from the list of prizes located here. Last year, as a result of one of my US$10 donations, I won a HK$1,000 dinner for two at Felix Restaurant at the Peninsula.
This year's list of prizes in Asia doesn't feature as many HK ones as last year, but there are great ones for people who live in or will be visiting Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and even Cambodia - including fabulous meals and even free nights in hotels - as well as books and kitchen tools and of course prizes for the US, Canada and Europe.
So far this year they've already raised over US$33,000. The cut-off date to participate in the raffle is December 21st.
Please think about sharing some of your holiday spirit with the less fortunate, either through this or whatever way makes the most sense to you.
It's a raffle, and for every US$10 you donate, you can enter for a specific prize, from the list of prizes located here. Last year, as a result of one of my US$10 donations, I won a HK$1,000 dinner for two at Felix Restaurant at the Peninsula.
This year's list of prizes in Asia doesn't feature as many HK ones as last year, but there are great ones for people who live in or will be visiting Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and even Cambodia - including fabulous meals and even free nights in hotels - as well as books and kitchen tools and of course prizes for the US, Canada and Europe.
So far this year they've already raised over US$33,000. The cut-off date to participate in the raffle is December 21st.
Please think about sharing some of your holiday spirit with the less fortunate, either through this or whatever way makes the most sense to you.
I am McLovin
Watched Superbad last night. Giggled uncontrollably for two hours. Co-written by Seth Rogan of Knocked Up, produced by Judd Apatow. A gross-out comedy about the two geekiest horniest high school kids ever. Filled with great disgusting lines like:
And this one:
No one's ever gotten a hand job wearing cargo shorts since 'Nam.
And this one:
You know when you hear girls say 'Ah man, I was so shit-faced last night, I shouldn't have fucked that guy?' We could be that mistake!And this:
Jules (a very cute girl): You scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours.And most especially this:
Seth: Well Jules, the funny thing about my back is that it's located on my cock.
Fogell: Yo guys! Sup?And in the world of strange but true, Wal-Mart and most video stores in Hawaii stopped selling the unrated DVD of Superbad because it comes with a McLovin fake ID.
Seth: Fogell, where have you been, man? You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack. Let me see it. Did you pussy out or what?
Fogell: No noooo, man. I got it; it is flawless. Check it!
Evan: [examining the fake ID] Hawaii. All right, that's good. That's hard to trace, I guess. Wait... you changed your name to... McLovin?
Fogell: Yeah.
Evan: McLovin? What kind of a stupid name is that, Fogell? What, are you trying to be an Irish R&B singer?
Fogell: Naw, they let you pick any name you want when you get down there.
Seth: And you landed on McLovin...
Fogell: Yeah. It was between that or Muhammed.
Seth: Why the FUCK would it be between THAT or Muhammed? Why don't you just pick a common name like a normal person?
Fogell: Muhammed is the most commonly used name on Earth. Read a fucking book for once.
Evan: Fogell, have you actually ever met anyone named Muhammed?
Fogell: Have YOU actually ever met anyone named McLovin?
Seth: No, that's why you picked a dumb fucking name!
Fogell: Fuck you.
Seth: Gimme that. All right, you look like a future pedophile in this picture, number 1. Number 2: it doesn't even have a first name, it just says "McLovin"!
Evan: What? One name? ONE NAME? Who are you? Seal?
Seth: Fogell, this ID says that you're 25 years old. Why wouldn't you just put 21, man?
Fogell: Seth, Seth, Seth. Listen up, ass-face: every day, hundreds of kids go into the liquor store with fake IDs, and every single one says they're 21. Pssh, how many 21 year olds do you think there are in this town? It's called fucking strategy, all right?
Evan: Stay calm, okay? Let's not lose our heads. It's... it's a fine ID; it'll... it's gonna work. It's passable, okay? This isn't terrible. I mean, it's up to you, Fogell. This guy is either gonna think 'Here's another kid with a fake ID' or 'Here's McLovin, a 25 year-old Hawaiian organ donor'. Okay? So what's it gonna be?
Fogell: [grinning] ... I am McLovin!
Seth: No you're not. No one's McLovin. McLovin's never existed because that's a made up dumb FUCKING FAIRY TALE NAME, YOU FUCK!
Monday, December 17, 2007
this 'n that
Saturday night, my first time going to the Mega-Box mall in Kowloon Bay. Also probably my last time.
The humongous pain in the rear starts when you try to get there. Coming off the highway, you see the mall in front of you. If you go straight, keeping the mall on your lefthand side, once you pass the mall and get to the street that has the entrance to the parking lot, it's one way the other way. If you make a left when you reach the mall, then a right, then come to the street with the parking lot entrance, you are not allowed to make a right turn onto that street. Your options are to travel for an additional kilometer, making a series of stupid turns to get turned around, or simply go a bit further down the block and make a U-turn - which is what almost every car was doing, further screwing up traffic in the area.
Then you drive into the mall. There is only a single machine issuing parking tickets, which means a long line of cars waiting. Then you go up the ramp. And up. And up. Parking lots on the 7th and 8th floor were filled, which meant continuing to circle until you got to the fucking fifteenth floor! Seriously, from the time I entered the building on street level until I reached a parking spot was about 20 minutes. That's just ridiculous. Coming out would be equally bad at peak times ... circling down the ramp for 15 stories until, again, just a single machine to collect parking tickets. I'm told that if one exits immediately after a movie lets out, it can take 30 minutes to get out of there.
And let's talk about the design of the place. I'm not entirely sure but it seems as if they built the ramp around the outer part of the building, with the "mall" parts inside of that. This means that with this beautiful harbor front location, there are no restaurants with a view. What were they thinking?
Aside from some mega home shopping stores like B&Q, everything else in there is pretty much your standard ranch stash, same crap that's in every other mall.
We were there to see the latest Chinese historical martial arts epic, The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Take-something he's-from-Taiwan-but-has-a-Japanese-name-I-can-never-remember.
Directed by Peter Chan (who directed Comrades, Almost a Love Story, one of my favorite HK films of the 90s), The Warlords is almost unrelentingly dark and violent. Most of the scenes are shot in varying shades of brown, with super bright red digital blood flowing freely.
The storyline itself is actually much more logical than I have come to expect from this sort of film. And it moves relatively quickly despite a running time in excess of two hours - I only glanced at my watch once during the film. There was significantly more moral ambiguity to the plot and characters than you usually encounter in a mainland production, even if the end was a typical "criminals must be punished in Chinese films no matter what steps they've later taken towards redemption." And I could swear I saw a single female nipple during a rape scene. Andy Lau was bearable and I think, in terms of pure acting, this may be Jet Li's finest performance to date.
=======================================
Dan Fogelberg died over the weekend from prostate cancer, aged 56. Fogelberg rose to popularity in the 70s, his sound drawing very much from Jackson Browne and the Eagles, with typically 70s sensitive singer-songwriter lyrics - kind of pre-emo country pop. He had a few tunes that I quite liked, though I also could appreciate Denis Leary's take on him:
========================================
My weekend? Didn't do much - dinner and a movie on Saturday, dinner on Sunday - and yet it was absolutely fabulous.
My biggest problem is that I have something due for SCMP today and something for BC Magazine tomorrow and I'm too distracted to write. Especially the BC piece. Easy for me to write funny stuff when I'm miserable, almost impossible when I'm happy.
The humongous pain in the rear starts when you try to get there. Coming off the highway, you see the mall in front of you. If you go straight, keeping the mall on your lefthand side, once you pass the mall and get to the street that has the entrance to the parking lot, it's one way the other way. If you make a left when you reach the mall, then a right, then come to the street with the parking lot entrance, you are not allowed to make a right turn onto that street. Your options are to travel for an additional kilometer, making a series of stupid turns to get turned around, or simply go a bit further down the block and make a U-turn - which is what almost every car was doing, further screwing up traffic in the area.
Then you drive into the mall. There is only a single machine issuing parking tickets, which means a long line of cars waiting. Then you go up the ramp. And up. And up. Parking lots on the 7th and 8th floor were filled, which meant continuing to circle until you got to the fucking fifteenth floor! Seriously, from the time I entered the building on street level until I reached a parking spot was about 20 minutes. That's just ridiculous. Coming out would be equally bad at peak times ... circling down the ramp for 15 stories until, again, just a single machine to collect parking tickets. I'm told that if one exits immediately after a movie lets out, it can take 30 minutes to get out of there.
And let's talk about the design of the place. I'm not entirely sure but it seems as if they built the ramp around the outer part of the building, with the "mall" parts inside of that. This means that with this beautiful harbor front location, there are no restaurants with a view. What were they thinking?
Aside from some mega home shopping stores like B&Q, everything else in there is pretty much your standard ranch stash, same crap that's in every other mall.
We were there to see the latest Chinese historical martial arts epic, The Warlords, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Take-something he's-from-Taiwan-but-has-a-Japanese-name-I-can-never-remember.
Directed by Peter Chan (who directed Comrades, Almost a Love Story, one of my favorite HK films of the 90s), The Warlords is almost unrelentingly dark and violent. Most of the scenes are shot in varying shades of brown, with super bright red digital blood flowing freely.
The storyline itself is actually much more logical than I have come to expect from this sort of film. And it moves relatively quickly despite a running time in excess of two hours - I only glanced at my watch once during the film. There was significantly more moral ambiguity to the plot and characters than you usually encounter in a mainland production, even if the end was a typical "criminals must be punished in Chinese films no matter what steps they've later taken towards redemption." And I could swear I saw a single female nipple during a rape scene. Andy Lau was bearable and I think, in terms of pure acting, this may be Jet Li's finest performance to date.
=======================================
Dan Fogelberg died over the weekend from prostate cancer, aged 56. Fogelberg rose to popularity in the 70s, his sound drawing very much from Jackson Browne and the Eagles, with typically 70s sensitive singer-songwriter lyrics - kind of pre-emo country pop. He had a few tunes that I quite liked, though I also could appreciate Denis Leary's take on him:
Heavy metal bands are on trial because kids commit suicide...Judas Priest on trial because 'my kid bought the record, and he listened to the lyrics and na na na na na na. Well that's great! That sets a legal precedent! Does that mean I can sue Dan Fogelberg for making me into a pussy in the mid '70s? Is that possible? Huh? Huh? Your honor, between him and James Taylor, I didn't get a blowjob until I was 27 years old!
========================================
My weekend? Didn't do much - dinner and a movie on Saturday, dinner on Sunday - and yet it was absolutely fabulous.
My biggest problem is that I have something due for SCMP today and something for BC Magazine tomorrow and I'm too distracted to write. Especially the BC piece. Easy for me to write funny stuff when I'm miserable, almost impossible when I'm happy.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
oh well
So after all these months I finally got it into my head that I wanted a jesus phone and headed off to the Wanchai Computer Centre today. There are a couple of guys there that I know ... or more importantly there are a couple of guys there who know me, know that I'm local and a steady customer and always give me the straight scoop.
So one guy told me the current price is $6,080 and he offered me a $200 discount on that. He says that the price is high right now because there's low supply on fully cracked ones, that there's no crack yet for the latest ones and that once that crack does come out the price will drop back down.
I could have gone to $5k for this but $6k is just silly.
Did pick up the new deluxe editions of two Happy Mondays albums and decided to go for the Radiohead box set since I have some significant gaps there.
Going to see Warlords tonight. Jet Li and the trailer looks reasonably good (though they always do). Director Peter Chan did one of my favorite HK films of the 90s - Comrades, Almost a Love Story - though this trend of Chinese directors primarily known for making smaller intimate films about relationships now making these huge historical martial arts epics seems a little off kilter to me. But I suppose that's easier to find financing for these days.
So one guy told me the current price is $6,080 and he offered me a $200 discount on that. He says that the price is high right now because there's low supply on fully cracked ones, that there's no crack yet for the latest ones and that once that crack does come out the price will drop back down.
I could have gone to $5k for this but $6k is just silly.
Did pick up the new deluxe editions of two Happy Mondays albums and decided to go for the Radiohead box set since I have some significant gaps there.
Going to see Warlords tonight. Jet Li and the trailer looks reasonably good (though they always do). Director Peter Chan did one of my favorite HK films of the 90s - Comrades, Almost a Love Story - though this trend of Chinese directors primarily known for making smaller intimate films about relationships now making these huge historical martial arts epics seems a little off kilter to me. But I suppose that's easier to find financing for these days.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Bad Taste is Timeless
Most mentions of Ike Turner center around his mistreatment of wife Tina, immortalized on film years back. It's a damned shame that one of the inventors of rock & roll music is remembered primarily for that - his death even made the cover of Hong Kong's second English language "newspaper" The Standard. (Anyone ever notice how The Standard devotes two pages to "world news" and five pages to sport? It is. To laugh.)
But this is about as low as you can go. Via Idolator, the New York Post's headline announcing Turner's demise? "Ike Beats Tina To Death."
For a more proper remembrance of a seminal musician, you really should read this post (written by a woman, if you care) at Huffington Post.
But this is about as low as you can go. Via Idolator, the New York Post's headline announcing Turner's demise? "Ike Beats Tina To Death."
For a more proper remembrance of a seminal musician, you really should read this post (written by a woman, if you care) at Huffington Post.
In a once deleted scene Ike, clad in a spiffy, belted white suit accompanies Tina, styling her sexy see-through tops, as she plaintively sings Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" first soulfully then, when Ike joins in, with a raunchy glee (or as Tina says in "Proud Mary" "Nice and rough") that's just so crazy/sexy/fucked-up amazing, I get all tingly inside. Dirtier than the Maysles' Gimme Shelter moment (wherein Tina's stroking that mike like...we're all adults here), this is just, well, not something you'd see on Shindig or even on MTV where so-called sexy performances are so canned and planned and usually awful. In Soul to Soul, Ike sleazes out his sexed up comments and punctuates moments with "shit!" and slurping cunnilingus sounds before the buildup of Tina belting out "Sock it to Me" as only Ms. Turner can. Oh God! It just makes you want to force today's young, tedious pop tarts into an isolation cell and make them watch what really gorgeous, gifted, down-and-dirty people do. Make them behold Ike Turner in all his black power, brown turtleneck, medallion wearing glory (Ike looked sublime in the early '70s) and yes, frighten them with all that raw power.
happy happy
I am generally not the sort of person who goes for heartwarming stories. But I'm in a good mood lately. And so this tale (found via BoingBoing), nice under any circumstance, was really enjoyable.
In a nutshell, this guy knew that Neil Gaiman was coming to the Philippines and would be doing a book signing. He wrote to him and told him that his girlfriend would line up for an autograph and asked him to write his marriage proposal as the book inscription. When the lucky girl got the autographed book, she was so star-struck by Gaiman that he had to ask her three times to actually read what he'd written.
It's a great blog post with lots of photos. After you read that, click over here to watch the video of it all going down. Even crusty old me got a little moist.
One reason for my moistness may be that I seem to actually be in a relationship now and for reasons that I won't go into I'm feeling more optimistic about this than any thing in the past.
Another reason is that yesterday I sold my car and got a new Spikemobile. 2002 BMW 330 convertible. White, blue ragtop, beige leather seats. Previous owner had added huge sport wheels and "M sport" trim body mods. It does look sweet. And rides sweet. Should have it by early next week.
In a nutshell, this guy knew that Neil Gaiman was coming to the Philippines and would be doing a book signing. He wrote to him and told him that his girlfriend would line up for an autograph and asked him to write his marriage proposal as the book inscription. When the lucky girl got the autographed book, she was so star-struck by Gaiman that he had to ask her three times to actually read what he'd written.
It's a great blog post with lots of photos. After you read that, click over here to watch the video of it all going down. Even crusty old me got a little moist.
One reason for my moistness may be that I seem to actually be in a relationship now and for reasons that I won't go into I'm feeling more optimistic about this than any thing in the past.
Another reason is that yesterday I sold my car and got a new Spikemobile. 2002 BMW 330 convertible. White, blue ragtop, beige leather seats. Previous owner had added huge sport wheels and "M sport" trim body mods. It does look sweet. And rides sweet. Should have it by early next week.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Lazy news
Is it lazy news or lazy news readers or just bad translation?
Everyone is jumping on a quote from the Donald and reports such as this one in the SCMP that state, "more than half the Hong Kong people want universal suffrage by 2012 but that delaying its introduction until 2017 was more likely to win the support of a majority in the city." And they quote the Donald as saying, ""At the same time, implementing universal suffrage for the chief executive election first, by no later than 2017, would stand a better chance of being accepted by the majority in our community."
Yes, that clearly makes no sense and makes our government look disingenuous at best.
Perhaps it's a bit clearer in the same SCMP story, much further down.
"Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said later that 2017 would stand a better chance than 2012 of attaining the required two-thirds majority in the legislature. He said opinion polls showed 60 per cent of respondents would accept 2017 if 2012 was not possible. "Realistically, we do not have enough votes in Legco currently for us to pass 2012," he said."
So first of all, what they are really saying is that the majority is willing to wait until 2017 if they can't get it in 2012. Duh. Apparently people are NOT saying, "gee, if we can't have it in 2012 then we don't want it ever." Duh.
The real issue is that last sentence. Not enough votes in Legco. In which most of the seats are appointed rather than elected. And many come from these so-called functional constituencies that are more interested in protecting the rights of business than the rights of people.
Businesses are afraid that once we have a democratically elected government, one that is answerable to the people, then we might get laws regarding monopolies, anti-trust and competition. Maybe these huge conglomerates, like Hutchison, Hong Kong Land, Swire, Jardine, SHK, that control every facet of our waking life, might get broken up or scaled back.
However, this will probably not happen in my lifetime. Elections for Chief Exec in 2017? Maybe, maybe not. Elections for Legco? "Some time after that." And the reason for that? It would appear that the people who currently hold these jobs and would likely lose them in the event of democracy don't want to lose their jobs. And there is no method provided under the current system to simply toss them out. And so they stay. And continue to block progress.
Everyone is jumping on a quote from the Donald and reports such as this one in the SCMP that state, "more than half the Hong Kong people want universal suffrage by 2012 but that delaying its introduction until 2017 was more likely to win the support of a majority in the city." And they quote the Donald as saying, ""At the same time, implementing universal suffrage for the chief executive election first, by no later than 2017, would stand a better chance of being accepted by the majority in our community."
Yes, that clearly makes no sense and makes our government look disingenuous at best.
Perhaps it's a bit clearer in the same SCMP story, much further down.
"Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said later that 2017 would stand a better chance than 2012 of attaining the required two-thirds majority in the legislature. He said opinion polls showed 60 per cent of respondents would accept 2017 if 2012 was not possible. "Realistically, we do not have enough votes in Legco currently for us to pass 2012," he said."
So first of all, what they are really saying is that the majority is willing to wait until 2017 if they can't get it in 2012. Duh. Apparently people are NOT saying, "gee, if we can't have it in 2012 then we don't want it ever." Duh.
The real issue is that last sentence. Not enough votes in Legco. In which most of the seats are appointed rather than elected. And many come from these so-called functional constituencies that are more interested in protecting the rights of business than the rights of people.
Businesses are afraid that once we have a democratically elected government, one that is answerable to the people, then we might get laws regarding monopolies, anti-trust and competition. Maybe these huge conglomerates, like Hutchison, Hong Kong Land, Swire, Jardine, SHK, that control every facet of our waking life, might get broken up or scaled back.
However, this will probably not happen in my lifetime. Elections for Chief Exec in 2017? Maybe, maybe not. Elections for Legco? "Some time after that." And the reason for that? It would appear that the people who currently hold these jobs and would likely lose them in the event of democracy don't want to lose their jobs. And there is no method provided under the current system to simply toss them out. And so they stay. And continue to block progress.
movie stuffs
I was amazed to learn that the cast of the film version of Mamma Mia, based on the musical which wrapped a tale around the songs of Abba, will star Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.
Hollywood is doing a remake of Japanese film Hachiko, about the little dog that waited faithfully for its master outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo for years after he died. Never saw the film and not too eager about a US remake either, which will star Richard Gere and Joan Allen.
Yakuza! Ninjas! Tempura! Sushi! Chainsaws! Flying Guillotine! Drill Bra! Go here to check out the trailer for Japanese film "Machine Girl." Yes, there will be blood.
Or go here to watch the first ten minutes of fake rock biopic "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." It's okay, not great, co-written by Judd Apatow, has potential.
And go here to watch the "red band" R-rated trailer for Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Yes, Neil Patrick Harris is back too. And George Bush.
Latest Spike column online now. Tom Petty, The Who, Joy Division and a smattering of Dylan.
Hollywood is doing a remake of Japanese film Hachiko, about the little dog that waited faithfully for its master outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo for years after he died. Never saw the film and not too eager about a US remake either, which will star Richard Gere and Joan Allen.
Yakuza! Ninjas! Tempura! Sushi! Chainsaws! Flying Guillotine! Drill Bra! Go here to check out the trailer for Japanese film "Machine Girl." Yes, there will be blood.
Or go here to watch the first ten minutes of fake rock biopic "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." It's okay, not great, co-written by Judd Apatow, has potential.
And go here to watch the "red band" R-rated trailer for Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Yes, Neil Patrick Harris is back too. And George Bush.
Latest Spike column online now. Tom Petty, The Who, Joy Division and a smattering of Dylan.
spot the faeces
If you've never taken a look at a blog called 10thingsihateabouthongkong, do so now. This is quite a good one. It's funny because it's (probably) true.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
What a long strange trip it's been
So, 500,000 on the hit counter today. Just over 3 years. Sometimes it's been a bit of two steps forward, one step back. Sometimes I wonder why I still do this and other times I can't stop myself from posting. This is a form of therapy for me, I suppose.
So, this one's dedicated to all the other bloggers who are out there day after day, some stopping, some starting, some entertaining, some infuriating, all of whom provide inspiration in some form or another. Y'all know it, so sing along on the chorus.
So, this one's dedicated to all the other bloggers who are out there day after day, some stopping, some starting, some entertaining, some infuriating, all of whom provide inspiration in some form or another. Y'all know it, so sing along on the chorus.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though you might hear laughin', spinnin', swingin' madly across the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'.
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
countdown
Hit counter stands at 499,841. That means I'll top 500k today. If you're #500k, leave me a message!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
moo-sick
I've read two reviews of the Led Zep reunion show so far and both were falling over themselves trying to come up with enough superlatives. Example - Reuters: "'I saw them a couple of times in the 70s, and I think they were actually better,' said John, a balding man in his 50s." (Pause for laugh.)
Here's the set list:
Year end best of lists are cropping up all over the joint. In the albums sweepstakes,
Time - Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
New York Magazine - Radiohead: In Rainbows
Guardian - LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
Mojo - Radiohead
Q - Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
Uncut - LCD Soundsystem
Stephen King - Steve Earle: Washington Square Serenade
(each year in Entertainment Weekly SK picks his favorite
album of the year by someone whose first name is
Steve or Steven or Stephen)
I think it was a decent enough year for music over all. I certainly played the Winehouse and Arcade Fire albums often enough - plus Springsteen, Robert Wyatt, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, Nick Lowe, Neil Young, Rilo Kiely, Roisin Murphy, Sigur Ros and several others. But so far I can't work up the energy to put together my entry for Idolator's year end poll.
Here's the set list:
'Good Times Bad Times'Even if they do a full tour as rumored, I'm sure the only spot they'd hit in east Asia (if any) would be Japan and that would sell out in 20 seconds. Or could the Venetian lure them to Macau? I somehow doubt they would even try. Zepp is pretty much the only major 70s act that I never got to see live, would be kinda nice.
'Ramble On'
'Black Dog'
'In My Time Of Dying'
'For Your Life' (live debut)
'Trampled Under Foot'
'Nobody's Fault But Mine'
'No Quarter'
'Since I've Been Loving You'
'Dazed And Confused'
'Stairway To Heaven'
'The Song Remains The Same'
'Misty Mountain Hop'
'Kashmir'
(encore) 'Whole Lotta Love'
'Rock And Roll'
Year end best of lists are cropping up all over the joint. In the albums sweepstakes,
Time - Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
New York Magazine - Radiohead: In Rainbows
Guardian - LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
Mojo - Radiohead
Q - Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
Uncut - LCD Soundsystem
Stephen King - Steve Earle: Washington Square Serenade
(each year in Entertainment Weekly SK picks his favorite
album of the year by someone whose first name is
Steve or Steven or Stephen)
I think it was a decent enough year for music over all. I certainly played the Winehouse and Arcade Fire albums often enough - plus Springsteen, Robert Wyatt, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, Nick Lowe, Neil Young, Rilo Kiely, Roisin Murphy, Sigur Ros and several others. But so far I can't work up the energy to put together my entry for Idolator's year end poll.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Feeling let down
Another food post.
Tonight, a business dinner. At the Chinese restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. At the Chef's Table.
I've never eaten at a chef's table. I've certainly read about it often enough to be really excited at this opportunity. And I hope that tonight's experience wasn't typical of the genre.
In terms of the physical set-up, we walked through the restaurant and into the kitchen. Which, I should mention, was the most spotlessly clean Cantonese kitchen I've ever seen. We were then led to a private room located in the back of the kitchen.
Once in the room, it could have been a private room in any restaurant anywhere in Hong Kong. There was a TV set up in the room - a camera pointed out into the kitchen and we could turn our heads to the TV to see what was going on in the kitchen.
And at no point before, during or after the meal did the chef come in, introduce himself, share a glass of wine with us, ask what we thought of the food. (Language difficulties? Of the 11 of us, 7 were fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.)
So there was really nothing especially "chef's table" about the whole experience. Except that every time anyone had to go through the bathroom, they had to go through the kitchen and out into the restaurant. And every time walking back into the kitchen, would get stopped by a waiter who thought we were looking for the bathroom and got lost.
And in return for the private room, we then lost the magnificent harbor view that one gets when one eats in the regular section of the restaurant - 8th floor unobstructed view looking out towards TST.
And the food? There was nothing unusual on the menu at all. There was nothing risky or unique or that displayed any sense of creativity. It was all your standard Cantonese banquet fare - extremely well executed, of course. Here's what we had ...
So a good dinner. And I'm sure an expensive one (no, I have no idea what it cost). But not a particularly memorable one.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I get taken out for yet another super nice meal and all I can do is complain.
Tonight, a business dinner. At the Chinese restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. At the Chef's Table.
I've never eaten at a chef's table. I've certainly read about it often enough to be really excited at this opportunity. And I hope that tonight's experience wasn't typical of the genre.
In terms of the physical set-up, we walked through the restaurant and into the kitchen. Which, I should mention, was the most spotlessly clean Cantonese kitchen I've ever seen. We were then led to a private room located in the back of the kitchen.
Once in the room, it could have been a private room in any restaurant anywhere in Hong Kong. There was a TV set up in the room - a camera pointed out into the kitchen and we could turn our heads to the TV to see what was going on in the kitchen.
And at no point before, during or after the meal did the chef come in, introduce himself, share a glass of wine with us, ask what we thought of the food. (Language difficulties? Of the 11 of us, 7 were fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.)
So there was really nothing especially "chef's table" about the whole experience. Except that every time anyone had to go through the bathroom, they had to go through the kitchen and out into the restaurant. And every time walking back into the kitchen, would get stopped by a waiter who thought we were looking for the bathroom and got lost.
And in return for the private room, we then lost the magnificent harbor view that one gets when one eats in the regular section of the restaurant - 8th floor unobstructed view looking out towards TST.
And the food? There was nothing unusual on the menu at all. There was nothing risky or unique or that displayed any sense of creativity. It was all your standard Cantonese banquet fare - extremely well executed, of course. Here's what we had ...
- Peking Duck
- Hot and sour soup with some lobster meat
- Steamed prawns with garlic sauce (nice sauce)
- Stir fried garoupa
- Stir fried wagyu beef
- Pea shoots with crab meat
- Rice with diced chicken
- Mango pudding
- Chinese petite fours
So a good dinner. And I'm sure an expensive one (no, I have no idea what it cost). But not a particularly memorable one.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I get taken out for yet another super nice meal and all I can do is complain.
Now go away or I will taunt you again
What's the world's best city for food according to the Michelin guide? Must be Paris, right?
Nope, it's Tokyo.
The Michelin Guide awarded twice as many stars to restaurants in Tokyo as they did to ones in Paris. And, oh yeah, 3 of the 8 restaurants in Tokyo deemed worthy of 3 stars serve French cuisine.
More here.
I am told that Paris has responded to this by saying, "Hey, Tokyo! Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!" and then collectively farted in Tokyo's general direction.
Nope, it's Tokyo.
The Michelin Guide awarded twice as many stars to restaurants in Tokyo as they did to ones in Paris. And, oh yeah, 3 of the 8 restaurants in Tokyo deemed worthy of 3 stars serve French cuisine.
More here.
I am told that Paris has responded to this by saying, "Hey, Tokyo! Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!" and then collectively farted in Tokyo's general direction.
I know you've got soul
Three quick recommendations for people who like classic soul and r 'n b and maybe are thinking that no one does it anymore.
1 - James Hunter - a Brit, I guess, he sings and plays guitar. He's white, but he sings just like Sam Cooke. Authentic? Van Morrison doesn't seem to worry about it, he turns up to duet with Hunter on two Bobby Blue Bland songs on the album "Believe What I Say" and Hunter was occasionally part of Morrison's touring band. I have that album and "People Gonna Talk" and can't decide which one I like better. Mojo Magazine put People Gonna Talk as #8 on their top 50 albums list for 2006.
2 - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights. Her voice is classic and the band is tight. Too bad the songs aren't better. Still worth a listen.
3 - Bettye LaVette - Scene of the Crime. 61 years old but you'd never know it by the power in her voice, and in this case her back-up band includes legend Spooner Oldham and members of Drive-By Truckers. No problems with the material here, most of the songs are covers (though not necessarily well known) and she seems to own whatever she sings.
================================
Following my renewed convertible dreams, I did a bit of car shopping over the weekend. Today I found a real beauty. A 2003 BMW 330 Ci, white, cream leather seats, blue convertible top, sport trim package, a stunner. But it was $288,000, ostensibly marked down from $328k. One reason may have been that the registration had expired - people in HK shopping for used cars tend to look for ones where they have as long as possible before paying the annual registration fee. The dealer said he could "probably" include a year's registration (approx $8,000) for free.
But when I sat down and worked the numbers, I realized that while I could have afforded this car, the monthly payments were almost double what I consider to be comfortable. As sweet as that 330 was, I quickly realized I could live without it.
The only BMW convertible that I spotted under $200k this weekend was a year 2000, very clean, but just a 323. I can go with an older car but it's gonna have to be a 328 or 330 (depending on model year).
Sometimes you hit the used car "malls" and see tons of convertibles. This time I saw about a dozen or more two seaters but only three or four that had a usable back seat for the dogs.
So I suppose the current Spikemobile will have to last me a little while longer.
1 - James Hunter - a Brit, I guess, he sings and plays guitar. He's white, but he sings just like Sam Cooke. Authentic? Van Morrison doesn't seem to worry about it, he turns up to duet with Hunter on two Bobby Blue Bland songs on the album "Believe What I Say" and Hunter was occasionally part of Morrison's touring band. I have that album and "People Gonna Talk" and can't decide which one I like better. Mojo Magazine put People Gonna Talk as #8 on their top 50 albums list for 2006.
2 - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights. Her voice is classic and the band is tight. Too bad the songs aren't better. Still worth a listen.
3 - Bettye LaVette - Scene of the Crime. 61 years old but you'd never know it by the power in her voice, and in this case her back-up band includes legend Spooner Oldham and members of Drive-By Truckers. No problems with the material here, most of the songs are covers (though not necessarily well known) and she seems to own whatever she sings.
================================
Following my renewed convertible dreams, I did a bit of car shopping over the weekend. Today I found a real beauty. A 2003 BMW 330 Ci, white, cream leather seats, blue convertible top, sport trim package, a stunner. But it was $288,000, ostensibly marked down from $328k. One reason may have been that the registration had expired - people in HK shopping for used cars tend to look for ones where they have as long as possible before paying the annual registration fee. The dealer said he could "probably" include a year's registration (approx $8,000) for free.
But when I sat down and worked the numbers, I realized that while I could have afforded this car, the monthly payments were almost double what I consider to be comfortable. As sweet as that 330 was, I quickly realized I could live without it.
The only BMW convertible that I spotted under $200k this weekend was a year 2000, very clean, but just a 323. I can go with an older car but it's gonna have to be a 328 or 330 (depending on model year).
Sometimes you hit the used car "malls" and see tons of convertibles. This time I saw about a dozen or more two seaters but only three or four that had a usable back seat for the dogs.
So I suppose the current Spikemobile will have to last me a little while longer.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
finishing out the week
An occasionally weird but ultimately satisfying Friday to end a weird week. My company and my division have been reeling from a series of reorganizations and shake-ups that seem designed to hurt as many people as possible. Some of the stories that have surfaced during the past two weeks have led my mentor (who left the company at the beginning of the year) exclaiming, "they're now completely immoral!" The re-org for my division was posted ten days ago and this week the person who drove that re-org and forced so many of us into turmoil announced his resignation.
Imagine that. The guy attempts to destroy lives and careers and at the same time he knows he is in final contract negotiations with another firm. And, as it turns out, his announcement of this re-org was done without gaining proper permissions. So would the company roll them back and put things back to where they were two weeks ago? Not so much.
Last night I had the odd sensation of sitting at a table at a bar with a group of people and looking at an exceedingly cute girl at the next table and being sure that she is someone I knew and yet, despite being sober, I was completely unable to dig out the memory of where or how. The best I could come up with was after hearing her accent and guessing she might be from Singapore or Malaysia and so a possible friend of my ex-wife? But that was a guess, couldn't actually place her. Yeah, I know, maybe she's just someone I wish I knew. But I'm sure I met her at some point and now this is gonna weigh down my memory all weekend.
And then, just as I'm sitting there scratching my head, walking down the street, very seriously drunk, came the first woman I'd dated after my marriage broke up four years ago. She looked nice. She was too drunk to notice me and I decided not to call out her name.
At another point on Friday, a point when I was drunk, I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of a Porsche Boxster for the first time. Top down, stereo cranked (and, oddly enough, it had the same stereo that's currently resident in the Spikemobile), and me cranked as well, I instantly decided to go shopping for one the next day. Till I started looking around and remembered it is just a two seater. No way to fit me, the dogs and a girlfriend (if I ever get one) at the same time. Denied! I really miss having a convertible though. I may have to at least do something about that.
Also last night I had what was definitely the best Japanese meal I've ever had outside of Japan and one that ranked with some of the best meals I've had in Tokyo. It was, oddly enough, not in a new restaurant but one that's been here the entire time I've been here, I've just never gone there before. Nadaman, at the Kowloon Shangri-La in East TST.
We went for the full-on kaiseki dinner. Our waitress, Japanese with excellent English (and an excellent smile), did a superb job of explaining each item on the plate during each course. The menu had clearly been designed with a focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients, with the expected detail to both the balance of dishes in each course as well as across the entire meal. And with true Japanese attention to detail, everything was as perfect as could be.
Right off the bat I was happy when I discovered that they had my favorite sake (Uragusume) on the menu. I don't know much about sake but I know I like this one and since the first time I'd had it was in an ultra-expensive place in Ginza, I always assume that people who do know about this sort of thing consider this to be a good one.
There were so many dishes involved in this meal that I can't remember them all. But there were many that stood out. The first course included a piece of foie gras, sushi style. A nice sized piece of perfectly grilled foie gras, bound to some sushi rice with a bit of nori, dabbed with a bit of wasabi, it was sinfully good. This course also included some fish, some tofu, some seasonal vegetables.
The sashimi course included some melt-on-your-tongue oh-toro. "Oh, toro!" I sighed.
The course right after that featured oh-toro soup, something I've definitely never had before.
Then came egg custard with turtle meat - I've always been a bit squeamish about eating turtle since I used to have them as pets when I was little but it was damned tasty.
Then came a nice sized piece of perfectly grilled yellowtail followed by a good portion of perfectly grilled and seasoned wagyu beef with a dab of mustard and an assortment of beautifully grilled vegetables.
The final course was a mixture of chestnuts and rice but I was ready to burst at that point, couldn't even begin to comprehend dessert.
If you're a regular reader you know I have a couple of favorite sushi spots in HK that I swear by - Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay and Rei Sushi at the IFC - but I doubt that either of them are even remotely capable of doing a full on banquet of this quality and consistency. This wasn't five star dining, it was definitely six star!
Imagine that. The guy attempts to destroy lives and careers and at the same time he knows he is in final contract negotiations with another firm. And, as it turns out, his announcement of this re-org was done without gaining proper permissions. So would the company roll them back and put things back to where they were two weeks ago? Not so much.
Last night I had the odd sensation of sitting at a table at a bar with a group of people and looking at an exceedingly cute girl at the next table and being sure that she is someone I knew and yet, despite being sober, I was completely unable to dig out the memory of where or how. The best I could come up with was after hearing her accent and guessing she might be from Singapore or Malaysia and so a possible friend of my ex-wife? But that was a guess, couldn't actually place her. Yeah, I know, maybe she's just someone I wish I knew. But I'm sure I met her at some point and now this is gonna weigh down my memory all weekend.
And then, just as I'm sitting there scratching my head, walking down the street, very seriously drunk, came the first woman I'd dated after my marriage broke up four years ago. She looked nice. She was too drunk to notice me and I decided not to call out her name.
At another point on Friday, a point when I was drunk, I found myself sitting in the passenger seat of a Porsche Boxster for the first time. Top down, stereo cranked (and, oddly enough, it had the same stereo that's currently resident in the Spikemobile), and me cranked as well, I instantly decided to go shopping for one the next day. Till I started looking around and remembered it is just a two seater. No way to fit me, the dogs and a girlfriend (if I ever get one) at the same time. Denied! I really miss having a convertible though. I may have to at least do something about that.
Also last night I had what was definitely the best Japanese meal I've ever had outside of Japan and one that ranked with some of the best meals I've had in Tokyo. It was, oddly enough, not in a new restaurant but one that's been here the entire time I've been here, I've just never gone there before. Nadaman, at the Kowloon Shangri-La in East TST.
We went for the full-on kaiseki dinner. Our waitress, Japanese with excellent English (and an excellent smile), did a superb job of explaining each item on the plate during each course. The menu had clearly been designed with a focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients, with the expected detail to both the balance of dishes in each course as well as across the entire meal. And with true Japanese attention to detail, everything was as perfect as could be.
Right off the bat I was happy when I discovered that they had my favorite sake (Uragusume) on the menu. I don't know much about sake but I know I like this one and since the first time I'd had it was in an ultra-expensive place in Ginza, I always assume that people who do know about this sort of thing consider this to be a good one.
There were so many dishes involved in this meal that I can't remember them all. But there were many that stood out. The first course included a piece of foie gras, sushi style. A nice sized piece of perfectly grilled foie gras, bound to some sushi rice with a bit of nori, dabbed with a bit of wasabi, it was sinfully good. This course also included some fish, some tofu, some seasonal vegetables.
The sashimi course included some melt-on-your-tongue oh-toro. "Oh, toro!" I sighed.
The course right after that featured oh-toro soup, something I've definitely never had before.
Then came egg custard with turtle meat - I've always been a bit squeamish about eating turtle since I used to have them as pets when I was little but it was damned tasty.
Then came a nice sized piece of perfectly grilled yellowtail followed by a good portion of perfectly grilled and seasoned wagyu beef with a dab of mustard and an assortment of beautifully grilled vegetables.
The final course was a mixture of chestnuts and rice but I was ready to burst at that point, couldn't even begin to comprehend dessert.
If you're a regular reader you know I have a couple of favorite sushi spots in HK that I swear by - Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay and Rei Sushi at the IFC - but I doubt that either of them are even remotely capable of doing a full on banquet of this quality and consistency. This wasn't five star dining, it was definitely six star!
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Oops
Meant to note that Tuesday was my third anniversary of blogging. Counting this one, I have posted a total of 1,512 items over the past three years, a few of them actually worthwhile. Right now my hit counter stands at 497,671. Not too shabby. Thanks all for coming back time and again and putting up with my ramblings.
Must. Eat. Food.
Got totally ripped last night. And the bad part is that it was on just one glass of vodka & sprite (no I normally don't drink this, it was free) and three glasses of wine. Or was it four? Maybe it was five. At one point went digging in my wallet and did not see a $500 bill that should have been in there. Reminds me of an exchange from The Bank Dick, in which W. C. Fields goes into a bar and asks the bartender, played by Shemp Howard,
WC: Was I in here last night and did I spend a ten dollar bill?
SH: Why, yes.
WC: Oh good, I thought I lost it.
This morning, as the Tylenol goes to work, I finally remember that I never had any solid food last night, not even a peanut. Not the best move, eh? Of course this morning they are renovating the flat upstairs and the power tools are drilling little tiny holes into my brain, one at a time, slowly.
At some point last night, noticed on the crackberry that my counterpart in the UK asked me to give him a call around 11 PM, which I was not in any shape to do. This morning woke up to the cheery news that my boss's boss has resigned. Few tears will be shed over this and I'm having a hard time not going for some hair of the dog to celebrate. Did he jump or was he pushed? I don't know and it really doesn't matter. And it could well be a case of the devil I knew vs. the devil I don't know yet.
WC: Was I in here last night and did I spend a ten dollar bill?
SH: Why, yes.
WC: Oh good, I thought I lost it.
This morning, as the Tylenol goes to work, I finally remember that I never had any solid food last night, not even a peanut. Not the best move, eh? Of course this morning they are renovating the flat upstairs and the power tools are drilling little tiny holes into my brain, one at a time, slowly.
At some point last night, noticed on the crackberry that my counterpart in the UK asked me to give him a call around 11 PM, which I was not in any shape to do. This morning woke up to the cheery news that my boss's boss has resigned. Few tears will be shed over this and I'm having a hard time not going for some hair of the dog to celebrate. Did he jump or was he pushed? I don't know and it really doesn't matter. And it could well be a case of the devil I knew vs. the devil I don't know yet.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
blah blah
Yesterday was a good day for democracy.
The lesser of two evils, Anson Chan, won a meaningless election over the wicked witch of the west, Regina Ip, despite the best efforts of Beijing, Donald Tsang and Allan Zeman.
And the defeat for Chavez in Venezuela's vote on constitutional change can only be seen as a victory for rationality.
Yesterday was not a banner day for me though. Nothing major, just a confluence of small events that added up into a major headache by the end of the day. The sole bright spots were a tasty dinner at Sabah (the Malaysian restaurant next to Neptune) and listening to the soundtrack to Todd Haynes' film on Dylan, I'm Not There.
Hmmm .... something else I wanted to write about but so many distractions, cannot remember now. Sorry for the blah blah post.
The lesser of two evils, Anson Chan, won a meaningless election over the wicked witch of the west, Regina Ip, despite the best efforts of Beijing, Donald Tsang and Allan Zeman.
And the defeat for Chavez in Venezuela's vote on constitutional change can only be seen as a victory for rationality.
Yesterday was not a banner day for me though. Nothing major, just a confluence of small events that added up into a major headache by the end of the day. The sole bright spots were a tasty dinner at Sabah (the Malaysian restaurant next to Neptune) and listening to the soundtrack to Todd Haynes' film on Dylan, I'm Not There.
Hmmm .... something else I wanted to write about but so many distractions, cannot remember now. Sorry for the blah blah post.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Is this me?
Bits from an article in the SCMP today:
But in terms of that last quote (yes, I know, you want to know if the professor's first name is Con? No, it's Yunlan), I do think that there's something more than just being an only child that often tends to make China appear to be a nation of sociopaths.
I don't believe that China's education system places enough emphasis on ethics or morality. It is all geared towards making money and loyalty to the state. While I am an atheist, I did grow up in a vaguely religious environment and did get religious instruction three days a week for six years. I think this is why I myself am only a semi-sociopath rather than a complete one.
Anyway, I now have yet another thing that I can blame on my mother. And I can now spend the day wondering if it is too late for me to change and, if not, how to make that change. If I even want to.
China's phenomenal economic growth has created a generation of "emperors" and "empresses", the grown children of China's one-child policy, who often put their needs before anything and anyone else.
Experts say many of this generation are unable to sustain relationships, a result of being spoilt only children, doted on by parents and grandparents who catered to their every whim. "
The problem of adult only children having difficulties sustaining relationships is particularly pronounced among the affluent middle- and upper-classes. Divorce figures in some cities show about a third of all divorce cases involve children of the affluent "me" generation. Brought up in China's economic and social turmoil of the 1950s and 1960s, their parents buried themselves in work to build a better life. Over the past two decades the country has undergone dizzying economic growth just as the children were reaching their teens.But in the big cities, experts are seeing a sharp shift in social values among twentysomethings from the wealthy elite and fast-expanding middle class.
"They are very much self-orientated, not others-orientated or social-orientated," explains Professor Fucius.
While I definitely see the parallels to my life, as I am an only child and was quite spoiled by my parents, I don't think this is the whole thing.
But in terms of that last quote (yes, I know, you want to know if the professor's first name is Con? No, it's Yunlan), I do think that there's something more than just being an only child that often tends to make China appear to be a nation of sociopaths.
I don't believe that China's education system places enough emphasis on ethics or morality. It is all geared towards making money and loyalty to the state. While I am an atheist, I did grow up in a vaguely religious environment and did get religious instruction three days a week for six years. I think this is why I myself am only a semi-sociopath rather than a complete one.
Anyway, I now have yet another thing that I can blame on my mother. And I can now spend the day wondering if it is too late for me to change and, if not, how to make that change. If I even want to.
