Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Macau Trip

Ryan and I have a vacation next week and we’ve decided to go to Macau. There are a million places we can go to cheaply from Hong Kong, but we decided on Macau since it’s close and we only have a few days. We also don’t have much money and I’ve heard that everything in Macau is cheaper than Hong Kong. When we have a longer vacation we’ll go somewhere farther away.

Macau is very close to Hong Kong and very easy to get to. You can take a ferry, plane and even helicopter. We’ve decided on the ferry since the view is probably better. We also live a lot closer to the ferry terminal than the airport. And the helicopter is ridiculously expensive.

Macau is like Hong Kong in that it’s a special area of China and not universally controlled by the government in Beijing, more or less. The big difference is that Macau used to belong to Portugal while Hong Kong was British. I don’t know if that means all the signs are in Chinese & Portuguese the way they’re in Chinese & English here. I guess I’ll find out. We don’t speak Portuguese or Chinese, so it should be interesting.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor
Photograph by Philippe Halsman


I just heard about Elizabeth Taylor. I can’t say I’ve seen all of her movies, but what I have seen was pretty good. Her performances in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Butterfield 8 and Suddenly Last Summer were incredible. Watching her work with Richard Burton in The Taming Of the Shrew and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf always amazes me. I’ve seen I don’t know how many live performances of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, and I always compare everyone’s Martha & George to Liz & Dick.

She was one of those old breed actors that are pretty much gone. People always ask why they never make movies like they used to. It’s because there aren’t people like Elizabeth Taylor around anymore.


There's One Born Every Minute
directed by Harold Young
starring Hugh Herbert, Peggy Moran, Edgar Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor

Lassie Come Home
directed by Fred Wilcox
starring Roddy McDowall, Elsa Lanchester, Elizabeth Taylor, Lassie

Jane Eyre
directed by Robert Stevenson
written by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Robert Stevenson
produced by Orson Welles
starring Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O'Brien, Peggy Ann Garner, Agnes Moorehead, Elizabeth Taylor

The White Cliffs of Dover
directed by Clarence Brown
starring Irene Dunne, Roddy McDowall, Van Johnson, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor

National Velvet
directed by Clarence Brown
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Angela Lansbury

Courage of Lassie
directed by Fred Wilcox
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Lassie, Frank Morgan

Life with Father
directed by Michael Curtiz
starring William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor, ZaSu Pitts

Cynthia
directed by Robert Z Leonard
written by Charles Kaufman & Buster Keaton
starring Elizabeth Taylor, George Murphy, Mary Astor

A Date with Judy
directed by Richard Thorpe
written by Dorothy Cooper & Dorothy Kingsley
starring Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, Elizabeth Taylor, Carmen Miranda, Xavier Cugat

Julia Misbehaves
directed by Jack Conway
starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Cesar Romero

Little Women
directed & produced by Mervyn LeRoy
starring June Allyson, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford, Mary Astor

Conspirator
directed by Victor Saville
written by Sally Benson
starring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Flemyng

Father of the Bride
directed by Vincente Minnelli
starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Billie Burke

The Big Hangover
directed & written by Norman Krasna
starring Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Fay Holden, Leon Ames

Father's Little Dividend
directed by Vincente Minnelli
starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Billie Burke

A Place in the Sun
directed & produced by George Stevens
starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Kathleen Freeman

Callaway Went Thataway
directed, written & produced by Melvin Frank & Norman Panama
starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel, Elizabeth Taylor

Love Is Better Than Ever
directed by Stanley Donen
written by Ruth Brooks Flippen
starring Larry Parks, Elizabeth Taylor, Elinor Donahue, Kathleen Freeman

Ivanhoe
directed by Richard Thorpe
starring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders

The Girl Who Had Everything
directed by Richard Thorpe
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Fernando Lamas, William Powell, Gig Young, James Whitmore

Rhapsody
directed by Charles Vidor
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman

Elephant Walk
directed by William Dieterle
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch

Beau Brummell
directed by Curtis Bernhardt
starring Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov

The Last Time I Saw Paris
directed by Richard Brooks
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed

Giant
directed & produced by George Stevens
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Mercedes McCambridge, Carroll Baker, Dennis Hopper, Rod Taylor, Sal Mineo

Raintree County
directed by Edward Dmytryk
starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
directed by Richard Brooks
written by Richard Brooks & James Poe
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives

Suddenly, Last Summer
directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz
written by Gore Vidal & Tennessee Williams
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Mercedes McCambridge

Scent of Mystery
directed by Jack Cardiff
produced by Mike Todd
starring Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre, Elizabeth Taylor

BUtterfield 8
directed by Daniel Mann
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill

Cleopatra
directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau, Hume Cronyn, Carroll O'Connor

The VIPs
directed by Anthony Asquith
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan, Margaret Rutherford, Maggie Smith, Rod Taylor, Orson Welles

The Sandpiper
directed by Vincente Minnelli
written by Dalton Trumbo
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
directed by Mike Nichols
written & produced by Ernest Lehman
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis

The Taming of the Shrew
directed & written by Franco Zeffirelli
produced by Elizabeth Taylor
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Michael York, Victor Spinetti

Reflections in a Golden Eye
directed & produced by John Huston
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, Julie Harris

Doctor Faustus
directed by Richard Burton & Nevill Coghill
written by Nevill Coghill
produced by Richard Burton
starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor

The Comedians
directed & produced by Peter Glenville
written by Graham Greene
starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Georg Stanford Brown, Roscoe Lee Browne, Lillian Gish, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson

Boom!
directed by Joseph Losey
written by Tennessee Williams
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Noël Coward

Secret Ceremony
directed by Joseph Losey
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, Peggy Ashcroft

The Only Game in Town
directed by George Stevens
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty

Under Milk Wood
directed & written by Andrew Sinclair
starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O'Toole, Victor Spinetti

X,Y & Zee
directed by Brian Hutton
written by Edna O'Brien
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Susannah York, Margaret Leighton

Hammersmith Is Out
directed by Peter Ustinov
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Peter Ustinov, Beau Bridges

Divorce His, Divorce Hers
directed by Waris Hussein
starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor

Night Watch
directed by Brian Hutton
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw

Ash Wednesday
directed by Larry Peerce
produced by Dominick Dunne
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda, Keith Baxter

Identikit
directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Ian Bannen

That's Entertainment!
directed, written & produced by Jack Haley
starring Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Peter Lawford, Liza Minnelli, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor

The Blue Bird
directed by George Cukor
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cicely Tyson, Ava Gardner

Victory at Entebbe
directed by Marvin Chomsky
starring Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss, Linda Blair, Kirk Douglas, Helen Hayes

A Little Night Music
directed by Harold Prince
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Rigg, Lesley-Anne Down

Winter Kills
directed & written by William Richert
starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Toshiro Mifune, Eli Wallach, Elizabeth Taylor

The Mirror Crack'd
directed by Guy Hamilton
starring Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin

Between Friends
directed by Lou Antonio
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Carol Burnett

Malice in Wonderland
directed by Gus Trikonis
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Alexander, Richard Dysart, Joyce Van Patten

North and South
directed by Richard Heffron
starring Patrick Swayze, James Read, Lesley-Anne Down, Elizabeth Taylor

There Must Be a Pony
directed by Joseph Sargent
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Wagner, James Coco

Poker Alice
directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Skerritt, George Hamilton, Richard Mulligan

Young Toscanini
directed by Franco Zeffirelli
starring C Thomas Howell, Elizabeth Taylor, Franco Nero

Sweet Bird of Youth
directed by Nicolas Roeg
starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mark Harmon, Valerie Perrine, Seymour Cassel, Rip Torn

The Flintstones
directed by Brian Levant
starring John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell, Halle Berry, Elizabeth Taylor, Mel Blanc

These Old Broads
directed by Matthew Diamond
written by Carrie Fisher & Elaine Pope
starring Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins, Elizabeth Taylor

Monday, March 21, 2011

More Japan Earthquake

Also this is kind of cool & scary at the same time.

http://www.japanquakemap.com/

Japan Earthquake Pictures

Japan seems like a pretty amazing country. I’ve always heard it’s a great place to visit, but it looks like the people are strong and resilient, too.

Our first Hong Kong vacation is next month and everybody says it’s really cheap and easy to fly to other countries from here. Japan was always on our short list, but now we’ll have to save it for later. My heart goes out to the people and I hope I can visit them soon.


from AP

from BBC

from BBC

from BBC

from National Geographic

from National Geographic

from Reuters

I haven’t been this amazed by nature since Hurricane Katrina.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Frolicking in Nature

Ryan used to have this fantasy of having sex on stage in front of an audience. I was never interested, but once we had sex on stage at a club where he used to work when no one was there. I told him to just imagine there was an audience. He said it just wasn’t the same. I think that was pretty bold of us regardless.

His new crazy thing is that he wants to get into public flashing. He wants to take pictures of me flashing in public and me to take pictures of him flashing. I told him that we could do that in our apartment, but he said it just wasn’t the same. I don’t want to shoot down another fantasy, but Hong Kong is a very crowded place. There’s no such thing as privacy anywhere except in your own apartment. We went for a walk down Nathan Road and I pointed out that there were people everywhere. It’s a very large & busy road, but the whole city is crowded. I know there are some nature areas on the outskirts, but we haven’t gone there yet.

He suggested we do it at Disneyland, but there’s no way I’m doing anything like that there. That’s where we work. Forget about getting kicked out of the park, we could lose our jobs. That would mean going home very early with our tails between our legs and having to explain to everyone that we had to leave the country because Ryan wanted to see my tits.

I’m all for fantasies. I think they can be good & healthy in any relationship, but I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt us. I’m not sure if he fully realizes this, but we live in China. Breaking the law here might not be the smartest move.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Disneyland Pictures

Promenade entrance


Parade fans at Main Street USA


Parade fans at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Japan Earthquake

There was a huge earthquake in Japan today. I haven’t been able to find out much about it. The Chinese news has plenty of pictures, but it’s all in Chinese, so I don’t know what they’re saying. The American news is just talking about Hawaii and barely mentioning Japan. I guess there is the slight risk of a tsunami hitting Hawaii. That could be bad, but the real news is in Japan. I don’t know why they don’t focus on that.

We didn’t feel the earthquake here. It would have to be the biggest earthquake in the world for us to feel it. I didn’t even know about it until several hours after it happened and people were talking about it.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Hong Kong Internet

I can go online anytime I want now. The internet guy came to our apartment today to hook up the internet. He had to turn something on outside the apartment and then make sure our computers were hooked up inside. It definitely wasn’t the way we do it at home.

I didn’t really like that some stranger was in the apartment while Ryan was at work – and I really didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t speak any English. He kept asking me all kinds of questions in Chinese, but I didn’t know what he was talking about. Even after it should have been obvious that I don’t know Chinese, he just kept asking me questions.

He played with both of our computers for a while and put in a CD that he brought. That made me uncomfortable since I didn’t know what he was doing. He could have easily given us a virus and I would never know. Then he went to some Chinese website and put in some passwords. I didn’t know what any of it was about, but I was happy when I saw that he got online.

While he was playing with my computer, he leaned his butt against the wall – and left a greasy stain. It was so gross. It washed off pretty easily, but still. His pants – the outside of his pants – were greasy enough to leave a stain on the wall just because he touched it.

Despite all that, I’m now online. No more internet cafes for me. Yay. I was getting tired of them. Most people just play video games and read comic books and don’t even use the internet. Now I can do my e-mail and figure out what’s going on at home. I can also post pictures on this blog. Maybe I’ll do that next time.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ching Ming Festival

I just found out that I have my first vacation coming up – after only two months on the job. April 5th is the Ching Ming Festival, a day when people in Hong Kong honor their ancestors. I don’t know what it’s all about, but I know Ryan & I have the day off. Since it’s on a Tuesday, they decided to give us Monday off as well. We both have Sundays off and I requested that Saturday off, so we would have four days.

Once we’ve been at Disneyland longer, we’ll be expected to work more holidays, but right now we’re both new and we don’t get all the best spots anyway. This is one job where working on holidays is considered better than working any ordinary Wednesday.

We’re thinking about going somewhere since we can explore Hong Kong on regular days off. Apparently it’s really easy to fly to places from Hong Kong without spending too much money. We’ll have to take advantage of that if it’s true.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Oscar 2011

The 83rd annual Academy Awards were on February 27th, but I just saw the ceremony today. One of the Hong Kong channels showed it live, but I guess we don’t have that channel. I already heard about who won everything, but I watched it anyway. It’s fun to see everyone all dressed up in their Sunday best.

I thought The Social Network was good, but I think The King’s Speech was the right choice for best picture. Colin Firth was also the right choice for best actor. James Franco was pretty good in 127 Hours – the best performance of his I’ve ever seen – but there was no way Colin Firth was going to lose. The same with Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Nobody else stood a chance.

I didn’t see all the movies nominated for best supporting actor/actress, but I was disappointed that Geoffrey Rush didn’t win for The King’s Speech. I really like Helena Bonham Carter – she plays some great characters – and Amy Adams. I don’t even know who Melissa Leo is.

I haven’t watched every Oscar show, but I’ve seen a lot of them. This was easily the worst one ever. James Franco was good in 127 Hours, but a terrible Oscar host. I don’t know if he was on any medications, but it sure seemed like it. Anne Hathaway was there, but James Franco really held her down. I’m sure it’s a tough gig. I doubt I could do it, but once you accept the job, you better come prepared. Millions of people around the world and everyone in your industry is watching. Maybe lay off the happy pipe until it’s over.


Friday, March 4, 2011

Symphony of Lights

Every night at 8pm the city of Hong Kong puts on a light show – and it’s absolutely free. The buildings around Victoria Harbour light up in all kinds of colors and search lights shoot out into the sky. They even have laser beams. It’s all done to music and looks like some kind of special Christmas or New Year celebration, but they do it every day.

The “Symphony of Lights” is supposed to look really great from a harbour cruise, but I haven’t done that yet. I have seen it from Avenue of the Stars at that observation platform. It gets pretty crowded, though. I’d like to see it from the Peak, too. The Peak is the top of a mountain with the best views of Victoria Harbour. There’s a tram that goes to the top, which is really old and awesome – and very steep.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Offline

We still don’t have internet in our apartment. At first I thought there might be a problem with hook-ups in the area, but it turns out all of Hong Kong is wired for service. I guess that makes sense. It’s a pretty techno savvy city. There is a ton of old history & culture, but at the same time, everyone seems to be very comfortable with modern technology. The city itself looks like a combination of very old & very new. The harbor is full of old junk boats and brand new luxury liners. The skyscrapers around the harbor are all shiny & new – and they’re constantly building more. Walk around the bustling business districts and before you know it you’re on some tiny street with nothing but old buildings & small shops. I think it’s great the way they’ve embraced the modern without destroying their past.