Juno, the movie

I saw a pre-release screening of Juno last night at the new theater in the Westfield shopping mall that I didn't even know existed. Particular fun was the cast with the mom from Married with Children, and Jason Bateman (yum) and Michael Cera together again post-Arrested Development. (I love situation comedies involving crazy American families.) The Juno character drives the story, making it a bit more special than your average teen disaster, but I really don't like it when people give babies up for adoption esp when the teen's parents are currently raising a 5-year-old. Juno may have been quick-witted and creative (to a point of feeling mechanistic in the script), but I found it difficult to believe she had such a limited concept of family.

The afterparty was fun with free-flowing Bushmills, and... yeah... I'm going to leave it at that.

Term Paper Topic: Me

I got a random phone call yesterday. Of course, I didn't answer it. I think I didn't even see it come in. Anyway, it was from a community college student in Seaside who is doing her "Women in Art" term paper on me. I returned her call, and we had a nice chat. She's going to send me the paper, her display board, and some of her drawings when they're finished. She's a competitive roller skater too. She was surprised by my age -- I look so young in the photo. I told her that I'm a vampire who never ages.

Twig Farm

Please order some cheese from my friend Emily's farm.

What Would Jesus Buy

the movie

A Practical Illustration

Amount of space required to transport the same number of people by car, bus, or bicycle

Funny

I hate Macs by Charlie Brooker

Other HK copy

"Show you have a loving heart. Please offer your seat to anyone in need."
-from the MTR

I don't know why, but that kind of copy would never fly in the US.

Ramblings from HK

A lot of advertisements here seem to focus on social marketing. I have seen many many ads for saving the planet (“Love Hong Kong. Love green.”), stoping AIDS (“keep the promise”), stay healthy/keep others healthy by coughing in your hand, etc. I wonder if it is more successful here. I should go out into the world and count, but I would guess about half of advertisements had a social rather than consumer message. I also remember a big billboard in Saigon when I was there in 1994 with Grayson announcing that it was wonderful to have just 2 children.

The Heritage Museum had an exhibition of Tibetan art, which I found somewhat ironic (or something) given China’s reputation for oppressing Tibetan culture and religion. Is this an attempt at change or retribution? The description said that before painting a Buddha, the artist had to choose an auspicious day and commit a prayer. Devotion and piety are essential when painting. I can’t help but think of artists and writers who can only work when under the influence. Is their own creatively too raw, too real to face alone? Do we need an opiate (be it religion or substance) to face it? Or maybe everything is an opiate. I mean, maybe every mechanism we use to get ourselves to do things, to make that productivity real, is like a curtain or a funnel through which we process that hugeness that we (and the world) are onto the limitations of a medium.

Anyway

The museum also had exhibitions on the development of Cantopop (which I really wish I could relate to – that would make me supercool), another Chinese painter: Lam Wu Fui (more on brush strokes and compositon… blah blah blah), Hong Kong fashion design (I don’t know enough about fashion to know what it meant), and Cantonese Opera (the coolest part was the computer program which shows you what the make up would look like on you).

In Cheng Chau, I came across a yellow building that surprised me. G commented that the Chinese have a very different sense of color than we do in the west, but this building looked normal and pleasant. Well, of course, it was a bed and breakfast for westerners.

Construction is underway to fill in (or “reclaim” as they like to say) the harbor for more development. Hong Kong is small, and the steep mountains are developed and difficult to reach (except by elevator…). So, I understand the mid-term desire to take up more water space with land development… except… except! If you keep filling in the harbor, eventually there won’t be one, and the harbor is the reason HK is here, and one of its most desirable characteristics. Plans like this existed for the San Francisco Bay once too, but now we have policies that protect the Bay.

It reminds me of the psychological phenomenon where if a person wants someone to be close to them (a parent, child, or lover), they behave in a way that makes that person want to get away. HK is a social, cultural, and economic success. So, the development reaction to that is to destroy one of the qualities that make it so great. You have to be careful with this line of thought. For example, when this happens between lovers, it indicates a problem in the relationship that both parties need to figure out together. Some of my friends object to the new tall buildings going into SF, but the city’s skyline isn’t its greatest asset, and one should expect changes to a city’s skyline over time like the figure of an attractive woman (she won’t always be so thin, but she will always be beautiful if she continues to walk to work every day). Alan Jacobs worked like hell to prevent the Transamerica building from being built and for very good reasons (protection of public space and the planning process, etc.) but ultimately it was built AND I believe it’s unusual form adds significant dimensionality to the city’s skyline. Change is natural.

You can see that I’m struggling. I believe the water space should be protected, but I am not opposed to change and development. Existing cities should be grown and densified, open space preserved (including water), natural resources protected, transportation options available…. But it gets tricky when a city like HK is already incredibly dense, land is very expensive, and there is no where to go. Like with everything, it’s a matter of priorities.

I’m not sure if the land use patterns here are the result of the economy (originally a big difference between the rich and poor), culture, or topography. We have steep hills in SF too, but that didn’t cause us to develop only on the flat lands and leave the hilltops green (although the original plan for SF did include parks at the top of each hill so that the public can get up and look out – many of these parks have since acquired private housing). Here, the hills are much steeper and longer, more significant in scale, but they developed them to a point anyway. Why did they stop where they did? I might hike up there and take a look in a minute. (Today is looking like a lazy day. J is napping. Franck is reading. G is playing with the music on his computer. I am typing up my little thoughts.) Actually, I think I’ll take a nap.

Photos of today in HK

I am very tired. Too tired to write a whole thoughtful post. (I bet you're relieved!) Today, Franck (Juliette's friend from work in Paris who is now here too) and I went to the 10,000 buddhas temple (which the guidebook says actually has 13,000 buddhas). The inside of the temple is lined with little buddhas, which probably comprises the vast majority of them, but the walkways are lined with buddhas each seemingly with a different face. (I am controlling myself in the number of photos I'm posting!) The overall effect is quite impressive.

Notice the eyes in the hands coming out of the eyes

Typical China: a Renaissance pedestrian bridge (says Franck) going to monolithic apartment buildings in front of untouched hills (remind me to talk about what I have observed greenbelt-wise)

No photos of the Heritage Museum which was rather eclectic and surprising....

At this point in the day, Franck went to explore the other side of the river, and I went to find the University Art Museum. He said it was cool. The museum mostly housed ceramics, which aren't a great love of my life, but I enjoyed seeing the campus and the regional public transit system. I wanted to get a ride on the Duk Ling, a traditional Chinese junk complete with red triangular sails (Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings), but I didn't know you had to reserve in advance. So, I went home.
Sunset from the Star Ferry, untouched photo

Lamma Island (HK day 7)

This island is supposedly carfree, but I saw several internal congestion vehicles. In one case, a woman pulled her toddler out from in front of one zipping past on the tiny street. She scolded him. "It's very dangerous," she said. I felt sad that a child can't event toddle into the pathway on a carfree island.

My legs are about done, putting me in quite a predicament. I hobbled along the "family trail" and even climbed up to the wind turbine. Lamma has a rather large power plant (the beach provides an excellent view of it) and one large wind turbine. I didn't feel the slightest inclination to swim at the beach (very unusual for me) which was good, I guess, since I didn't have a swimming costume or towel with me.

HK Day 6

I began the day planning to go to Macau, but there wasn't space on a ferry until 1:30. Instead, I decided to go shopping. I don't shop. OK, so, in this case I got in touch with my inner girl and bought some things. But trust me, it was a struggle.

First, I went for REAL dim sum at this crowded place with a greasy table and little old ladies pushing around steaming carts. I sat with 2 couples, and we kept stealing each other's ideas, "Oh, I want on of those" we gesticulated to the ladies. Yum.

I must have taken hundreds of photos of patterns, light, colors in the various markets. Here are a few:

I fell in love with these vegetables for sale.

The flower market near Mong Kok: here's one shot of dozens

The bird market where dozens of men fawn over their birds


This little man repairs umbrellas for a living

Saturday at Shek O beach etc.

When we first arrived, we were surrounded by little boys playing in the same way all dressed in white shirts, black shorts, and red hats.

A group of girls in turquoise shirts played on the beach. Here are a few of them.

Juliette and Guillaume on the bus

Me and Juliette on on the Tram

I took a ton of photos of the tram -- it's so slow; we were on it for about a million years. But trams are cute! Here, they're also wrapped....

The other remarkable thing about Saturday was the lunch. I have fond memories of the morning glories in spicy sauce and my deep fried calamari (you know it!). Juliette got a crab.

Film in Hong Kong is booming. They were making the next spider man movie on the escalators Friday and over the weekend. J&G's office was hosting the filming of another movie, made from a cartoon and starring Kristin Scott Thomas. (G joked that he saw her in the elevator and slapped her ass.) Their employer sent an email to all employees: "you are invited to be an extra in the movie. Asians will be paid X; Caucasians will be paid 2X." I guess it's a matter of supply and demand...?

So, from the beach and the tram, G headed to the office. J and I went back to the apartment to wash up before dinner. We went to Ashvin's for dinner. He just moved into his furnished apartment on the Kowloon side of the water. His place is really nice, but it's funny to look into the windows of the other apartments -- they are all furnished exactly the same: white, modern, metalic, mirrored, sparse.... Every apartment had angled windows onto the water. He made Maracian (where he is from) food for us: chicken, onion, curry powder, cream, banana.... It was good.

Over dinner, they got me to tell some of my dating stories. I told them one I haven't posted here yet. I began telling this guy I was on a date with about my work. He said: “I don’t care what you do for work. I only care that you are beautiful.”

My companions had quite a reaction to this story. Ashvin was incredulous; he said: "that sounds like a line from a movie."
Juliette said: "did he ask you if you can cook? That’s the other thing that women are for, you know.
Me: I think he did….

Sunday on Lantau Island

I owe you a post for Saturday at the beach, etc. but for now, I am offering photos of today's trip to the big Buddha on Lantau Island. We had a vegetarian lunch at the monastery, saw the big Buddha, and then hiked back to the city. The monastery is quite unusual in that it seeks to attract tourists; they were in the process of building a larger and more impressive temple. The lunch was tasty, and their restaurant could accommodate hundreds. The bicycle facilities were well-developed in this near-suburb.

Me and Juliette in front of the big buddha.

The big Buddha is surrounded by these smaller vistales. I think they are gorgeous.


Small is beautiful -- the little altars are as lovely as the huge.

I took several pictures of the bicycle facilities at this edge of HK -- this is the one that make the cut.

Photos of HK day 3 -- Cheung Chau (pirate) Island

Photos of HK day 2

At the botanical garden

View from the top

In case you're forgotten what I look like at the top of a mountain

Crabs for sale

Pirates, tea and foot massage (HK 2&3)

Foot massage is a normal nightlife activity here. Last night, we sat in a pleather comfy chairs with huge orange pillows in a row to wait for and then receive our massages. They bring you a cup of tea to drink. They put your feet into a bucket of tea (or at least it looks like tea), then they rub your feet and calves. I could have gone for more feet rubbing. Today I have big bruises on one of my calves.

Juliette loves tea. From our comfy chairs, I commented: one sure does drink a lot of tea here – you chose well for yourself.
J: Because of the tea? Welcome to China.
OK, my comment was stupid. But her tone was pretty funny.

After our massages, she tricked me into getting a drink. That is, she said we were getting one and then ordered an ice cream. Under her advisement, I got a Singapore sling. We sat outside in a narrow passage decorated with xmas lights at a bar called the Baby Buddha in SoHo.

Hong Kong isn’t very big. It is very 3-dimentional. It’s a tall Seattle but narrow between the mountain and the water; so, there isn’t much room to build. They expanded up these steep steep hills, and I imagine this area originally offered cheaper land that was close but work to reach. As the area developed further (with more 30+ story buildings!), the city added the escalator increasing the value of all the properties up here. Juliette added that the escalator also created this very trendy neighborhood along side it. I think that’s sometimes called gentrification.

It’s very Rear Window here in the apartment. I just realized that the hugantic building across the way has ledges and spent some time imagining how I would handle it if I got stuck on one. Existential anxiety be damned. I solve problems. It isn’t enough to believe for a moment I have thrown myself in front of a train or gotten my self stuck on a ledge. I want to figure out how I would get out of a situation like that. I might have to break a window even if I couldn’t climb inside it. Anyway, someone from a nearby building would definitely see me and call for help….

I saw a bus today in need of a wrap. The copy said something like: “Get your message moving”.

I’ve had trouble getting fruits and vegetables here, but not today. The tap water tastes like dirt. I keep walking on the wrong side of the walkways. Boarding the metro is standard (boarders at the sides, alighters in the middle) but I’ve been having trouble even remembering that. About half the highrises are painted pink.

Today, I went to the former pirate island of Cheung Chau. That’s where I found all the bikes! I even saw several grown ups riding bikes with training wheels. I hiked around and saw a “cave” (really just a gap in some boulders) and a “leaning rock”, jumped from rock to rock over waves, ate fish for lunch, and explored the little town. Photos will tell more.

Once I’d pretty much worn myself out, I headed back to the ferry terminal. I had 10 minutes to kill; so, I decided to get some cake for the ride. I read in the guidebook about giving people things (business cards, in the guidebook) with both hands and bowing a little (good manners, HK style). Last night at the massage place, I noticed this is how J gave her person the tip. So, today when I received my change and cake from the little bakery man, I gave it a shot. It shot through me. Receiving that cake and change felt like a profound experience, like a real “namaste”.

HK Day 2

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahck. What did I do today? I got up late and puttered for a long time. I felt good about straightening up my room and washing the dishes. I played with my photos (as you saw). I felt profoundly uninspired to leave the house, but eventually I did.

I wandered… quickly finding the zoo and botanical gardens. Dozens of flamingos glowed a remarkable salmon color behind bars (hence no photo). I then took the Victoria Peak Tram to the top of the mountain on which I sleep. Views would have been better without the haze, but still kinda blew my mind (as did all the white people with strollers). Several constructed hikes guide you around the peak and inform you about plants, butterflies, views….

My bank was conveniently located at the base of the tram. HK is almost like Hawaii or Canada that way. I then wandered through the pedestrian overpass mazes and finally took the streets (a drastic measure!) to walk to where my guidebook said there was a tourist information center (Causeway Bay). The book also said there would be a free “happy hour” concert at the Cultural Center at 6, but no where did it indicate where the Cultural Center was.

I veered away from the main drag and found rows of truly Chinese-looking shops: hardware, medicine, tea…. A few blocks later they turned into upscale western shops. (I still have my eyes out for sweaters but not here.) I found the information center in the metro mall and learned that the performance was a children’s a cappella group which didn’t interest me at all (next week, it’s a Baptist Chorus, also not exciting – last week it was Chinese folk dance which I would have attended but alas).

Discouraged, I hopped on the metro back to Central. I thought I would find some art galleries, but I couldn’t read that map either (from the info center). I ended up shopping at the little night market – I got 3 wool sweaters for about US$15: blue, green, and pink (some with stupid little pockets). Then I took the escalators back to the house.

In the mood for Liz

"I feel the sun on my back
"I smell the earth in my skin
"I see the sky above me like a full recovery"
-What Makes You Happy, Liz Phair, Whitechocolatespaceegg

Stanley Beach etc.

J, G and their friends are all crazy about this musician, Hawksley Workman, but of course I’ve never heard of him. That doesn’t mean anything since I am hopelessly out of touch with popular music… much to my own dismay.

I gave them a framed print of my etching “True Love Frogs”, and they believe I made it just for them. They consider being called “frogs” a good thing. It seemed like they genuinely liked it, but I have noticed that they also have incredibly good manners.

Last night, we went to the Stanley Beach House for dinner on the other end of the island far from the anything you would call urban but just short distance from it all. That fact is kind of remarkable. It’s just a little beach village that takes less than an hour to reach from Central on public transportation. We ate to the tune of waves crashing rather than cars honking and construction.

I don’t remember the exact flow of the conversation, but Guillaume said was that one thing that keeps their relationship exciting is that they do a lot of things separately. Juliette balked – to her, they spend far too much time apart.

We also discussed French and American politics. Juliette has found it frustrating to keep in touch with French national politics bc she has “quite left-wing” views, and all the French people she knows here swing the other way. She prefers to get her information, or at least some of it, from people, but that hasn’t worked in HK. Guillaume asked me about a Republican candidate that I had never heard of, but who he says is likely to get the nomination.

The restaurant owner was Swiss-French. I told him I understood what he said as long as he didn’t say it to me. He said that reminded him of his girlfriend. (He also kissed my hand when we left, which I didn’t like at all.) He ranted at length about everything wrong with the world including:
1) 95% of an economist’s job is to explain why their earlier predictions were wrong. The remaining 5% is to make the next prediction which will in the end be wrong.
2) The minister of agriculture should work in the countryside in order to reduce his travel time and expenses bc he works on agriculture. (I tried to explain why this didn’t make sense, but he wasn’t much for listening.)
3) Democracy can only work in affluent countries, and only the affluent should vote. Juliette, of course, objected at this. I could see his point, but only from the perspective of our infinite California initiatives. I tried to explain this. J and G might have been interested – there was no way to tell as there were no pauses. The other thing that concerned me about this line of thought is the frequent confusion between capitalism and democracy. The 2 are not the same, but I often feel like when we are talking about democracy, we slip into talking about capitalism instead.
4) He went on for quite some time about integrity being binary -- you either have it or you don't. I, of course, strongly disagree.
I am sure there was more, but those are the ones that stuck with me. They told him to be careful with his transportation observations since he was in the presence of an expert. Later, he asked what kind of transportation. “Human,” I explained to which he suggested I meant inter-regional (not using those words – I have forgotten his words). “No, urban,” I further explained.
“Oh,” he replied the light bulb finally having gone on. “You mean mass transit.” I agreed in order to end the conversation more quickly.
“He seems lonely,” Juliette later suggested.

Photos of HK day 1

View from Juliette and Guillaume's living room (back)

From the pedestrian overpass (with escalator) to the Ferries etc.

Waterfront promenade on the Kowloon side

Social marketing in the ferry terminal

From the ferry

View of their apartment building from the front

HK Day 1

They say that if you can walk from the upper midlevels (where my friends live) to the ferry terminal without going to street level, you’re a local. I haven’t managed this feat yet, but I’m working on it. The pedestrian facilities here are extensive and were likely quite expensive, but that doesn’t make HK a pedestrian-oriented city. It isn’t. I’ve been here exactly 24 hours, and I would say they emphasize public transportation: buses, ferries, taxis, and metro (which I haven’t tried yet).

I slept pretty hard last night and woke up early. Guillaume rushed off the work, but Juliette and I had breakfast together and chatted. After she left for work too, I puttered for a few hours (my specialty) before getting out the house. Wednesday is free museum day in HK. So, that’s what I did, and this bit of ingenuity saved me a whopping US$3.

I took the Star Ferry from Central to Kowloon where the History and Art museums are. The ferry was fast, efficient, and cost about US$0.25. I took pictures. I had trouble finding the History museum, but once I did I found the first floor on natural and pre-history deadly boring. The upper levels covered the formation of the city. For example, the British interest in occupying HK was the result of a trade imbalance due to the English love affair with Chinese tea. The Chinese would only accept silver in trade, and I guess the Brits were running out of silver or something; so, they introduced opium which they were able to collect from India eventually causing widespread addiction here.

Chinese officials balked at that, but enough corruption existed that nothing was really done about it. Things stayed that way until the Japanese occupation of HK in the 1940s. When they invaded, they dropped flyers explaining to the English why it was in their best interest to surrender, and I guess that worked bc they did. How clever is that? Explain to people from afar why they should do what you want them to do… sort of like the jet-eye mind tricks that KT and I were discussing the other day where your boyfriend “explains” to you why you don’t want to breakup with him. Ahem. Anyway….

What the Brits had done right in their invasion of HK was to make it a negotiation based on trade where everyone maintained their dignity and got something in return. The Japanese had alienated the Chinese with their tactics and without trade with China, HK lacked food and water to support its population. They expatriated maybe 75% of the city’s original population but still couldn’t feed people. Photos showed bone-skinny people of both races.

You can see that I was paying attention. I couldn’t help but notice that while HK was a very long and successful British colony, isn’t colonization still disrespectful? And shouldn’t that be addressed or at least alluded to in the city’s history as provided by its own museum?

By this time, I was starving. I found a dim sum place recommended in my guidebook, and walked their via the waterfront promenade. 2:30 p.m. begins dim sum happy hour. So, I had a pot of tea and 3 types of dumplings in an elegant dining room with a view for about US$7. It took a long time, and we had a few misunderstandings, but I had no complaints by the time I left.

My next museum was the HK Museum of Art. The paintings inspired me: their compositions, story telling, and inclusion of the written word. I want to do an etching of a sail boat and water with traditional-Chinese-painting composition. I want to transcribe into lead the words I hear in my head rather than try to drive them away or understand what they mean or their source. I took a low-quality photo of a dorky gift-shop tapestry depicting a river of ducks for my future reference. Yes, I am excited.

By this time, it was about 5 p.m. So, I took the Star Ferry back across the water and again failed to avoid completely the street level on my way home. This area is the foreigners’ ghetto. I saw lots of white people, and many of them even pushed strollers. I could see myself living here in a pinch.

Posting these words will have to wait until Guillaume returns and fixes my wifi connection – it stopped working after a brief but delightful IM session with Tyler this morning. I don’t know why.

Note: this history of HK is from memory and may not have any basis in reality.

Arrived!

I checked in online bf leaving for the airport, was only 1.5 hours early, waited a short time to drop off my bag, and had an uneventful flight. 14 hours is a very long time, but we watched 6 movies (I watched 2.5 -- "I pronounce you Chuck and Larry", part of an old Harry Potter, and I've already forgotten the other), slept and ate. Anyway, I have no complaints. Guillaume has set me up with the wifi. It appears I had better get off the computer as things are happening in the kitchen....

They live on the 22nd floor of a tall building surrounded by taller buildings on top of a hill covered in cross-crossing roadways. Lots of taxis, buses, and cars, no bicycles.

another scrap

I'm off to HK tomorrow; so, I want to take care of some loose ends. This is what the scrap says (source unknown):
The bottom line is that people want authentic and transparent relationships with other people.