Kayaking on the Hudson

Go Paula!

Michael Jackson Memorial: From Times Square

43rd and Broadway.

Gonzo Journalists Document North Korean Defectors

I think the term gonzo journos is used too readily. But the 3-person investigative team of Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo are true rock stars.

For about a year, they posed as undercover North Korean defectors to capture -- with hidden video cameras -- the perilous 3,000-mile journey defectors make from China to Laos to Thailand and then finally to South Korea. Check out the PBS show here. The documentary, "Crossing Heaven's Border" is part of a larger documentary project, my pal filmmaker Hein tells me.

Not only is the journey treacherous as the North Korean refugees aren't always welcome in China, Laos or Thailand, the cost to be ferried by smugglers is about $1,500 USD -- roughly a year's salary for a NKorean defector hiding in China. The smugglers/drivers are half asleep in the video footage. Can you imagine risking your life fleeing a Communist country to have your life end by some driver falling asleep at the wheel? Unreal -- but it is.

For others who have more money, they buy a fake Chinese passport and fly into Thailand and then South Korea, where they seek asylum.

I'll never forget the footage of one woman [picture above] who successful makes it through immigration. When she safely passes security, she pumps her fist discreetly. Yes!

She just became a free woman.

Happy Fourth from NYC

  

For NYC Fourth happenings, see NYorkology. Fireworks start at 9:20 pm off the Hudson, yay!

Visiting Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple is a famous shrine in Hong Kong. Most worshippers were practicing Kau Chim. Basically you use incense sticks to make wishes. 

From Wikipedia: "They light incense sticks, kneel before the main altar, make a wish, and shake a bamboo cylinder containing fortune sticks until a stick falls out. This stick is exchanged for a piece of paper bearing the same number, and then the soothsayer will interpret the fortune on the paper for the worshiper." That's why the air smells of incense, and everywhere you walk you hear the sound of cylinders being shaken.

I didn't know this so I just bowed three times in the altar, Korean style. Note, photography is not allowed in the main temple.

Hong Kong Notebook: The Economy, and Going Green

[Subway ad, reminding HK residents that 50 cents will be charged for plastic bags -- with handles -- beginning July 7.]

HONG KONG, June 24, 2009 -- It's not difficult to feel the effects of the global recession here. Sit in any coffee shop, bar and talk leads to layoffs and making do with less. Bankers and traders laid off. Civil servants getting pay cuts. Couples eating out less frequently. Cooking and entertaining at home are in vogue here.

I was in a local hotel and I took an elevator with about a dozen folks in their 20s, attending a risk management seminar. They were no doubt networking or trying to boost their skills, resume. But bigger picture, the mood not surprisingly is not as dire as it is in NYC/Wall Street. 

The savings rate is high in China and investors have been scooping up bargain assets -- from equities to real estate. In fact, with stabilization, I hear property owners are taking some properties off the market, hoping to fetch a higher price in a few months.

HONG KONG GOES GREEN

Following other cities like those in Canada, HK will begin charging for plastic bags -- with handles -- beginning next month. The loophole is the handles part, which perplexes me. HK has a land shortage problem and presumably landfill problem as well. 

Related, the city a few days ago tried a "lights off" night for the city's buildings along Victoria Harbor. The iconic skyline went blank for a few minutes. It saved energy but was deemed "gloomy" by some locals. I wonder if HK's daily 8 pm light show along the harbor uses any renewable energy resources.

Find Your Signature

[Hong Kong Museum of Art on Salisbury Road, above and below.]

[Pottery horse with white glaze, Sui dynasty, 581 - 618. I want it. Can I have it, please?]

[Pillows from the Jin dynasty, 1115 - 1234. Single and double, ouch.]

In a video interview, architect Frank Gehry explains the impact Rauschenberg had on him as a young artist. How his "Combines" showed him how ordinary materials could be beautiful. 

Gehry goes on to explain that he asks his students to jot down their signature, no two alike. Now, find your art equivalent of your signature. And when you're there, you're the expert on you -- no matter what anyone says or thinks.  

The Gehry video is part of "Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation" exhibit at the HK Museum of Art that runs through the beginning of August and features a host of other modern artists. An associated exhibit is devoted to LVMH textiles and designs.