i finally upload all my photos from my trip to ofoto. so, for posterity's sake, here they are.
and if you want to ever look back and relive my glory days, here's an easy way to find my blog entries:
day one: orange county
day two: orange county
day three: orange county
day four: orange county
day five: guangzhou
day six: guangzhou
day seven: guangzhou
day eight: guangzhou ritz-carlton
day nine: tokyo
day ten: tokyo
day eleven: tokyo
day twelve: tokyo
day thirteen: tokyo
Showing posts with label guangzhou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guangzhou. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
how to recap the eighth day of my trip (guangzhou ritz carlton edition)
holy crap.
over and over again.
guangzhou finally got the best of me. diarrhea by the hour, on the hour, from midnight to noon, followed by a searing migraine until 8pm, all going hand-in-hand with dizziness, delirium and weakness. it was like my stomach was a septic tank, and each time i unloaded, the level went down a little, but not all the way, and each time i turned my body, i was reminded that i had something toxic inside me. just a sickening day to spend 24 hours in a mysterious foreign country.
so yes, i flew all the way to china to get me some montezuma's revenge. go figure.
then again, it could've been worse. i could have had a shitter without a seat.
needless to say, i didn't get on my flight to tokyo. it got pushed back to tomorrow morning. and instead i spent an entire day in room 2311 of the ritz-carlton, watching cnn international (lebanon has a new president!), a replay of the champions league title match between man u and chelsea (john terry really blew it, no matter how you look at it), and mythbusters (proving and debunking the miraculous qualities of vodka) - and the rest of the day and night were spent with my eyes closed and a cold towel on my forehead. all i ate were three scoops of chocolate ice cream (a well-deserved $15 meal) and drank my fair share of water.
i lost my appetite. if you're looking for it, i think i flushed it down sometime around 3:30 AM.
seriously, if rich, my DP, wasn't around to make changes to my airfare and to be a clear head for me, god knows how i would have reacted. i might have boarded a plane to guam or something. who knows. no part of my body was in its right mind.
good times.
and i know all this didn't happen from the 5-star meal i had in the hotel. i guess my body just isn't fortified enough for fresh kill. or the middle ages. however you want to label it.
at least i lost some weight for the wedding.
but stlll, hey, soon i'll be on my way to tokyo, home of the original "office". can't wait. should be a lot of fun.
and, of course, should be a lot of karaoke.
something in a baritone, maestro!
money talks
but it don't sing and dance and it don't walk
as long as i have you here with me
i'd much rather be
forever in blue jeans, babe.
over and over again.
guangzhou finally got the best of me. diarrhea by the hour, on the hour, from midnight to noon, followed by a searing migraine until 8pm, all going hand-in-hand with dizziness, delirium and weakness. it was like my stomach was a septic tank, and each time i unloaded, the level went down a little, but not all the way, and each time i turned my body, i was reminded that i had something toxic inside me. just a sickening day to spend 24 hours in a mysterious foreign country.
so yes, i flew all the way to china to get me some montezuma's revenge. go figure.
then again, it could've been worse. i could have had a shitter without a seat.
needless to say, i didn't get on my flight to tokyo. it got pushed back to tomorrow morning. and instead i spent an entire day in room 2311 of the ritz-carlton, watching cnn international (lebanon has a new president!), a replay of the champions league title match between man u and chelsea (john terry really blew it, no matter how you look at it), and mythbusters (proving and debunking the miraculous qualities of vodka) - and the rest of the day and night were spent with my eyes closed and a cold towel on my forehead. all i ate were three scoops of chocolate ice cream (a well-deserved $15 meal) and drank my fair share of water.
i lost my appetite. if you're looking for it, i think i flushed it down sometime around 3:30 AM.
seriously, if rich, my DP, wasn't around to make changes to my airfare and to be a clear head for me, god knows how i would have reacted. i might have boarded a plane to guam or something. who knows. no part of my body was in its right mind.
good times.
and i know all this didn't happen from the 5-star meal i had in the hotel. i guess my body just isn't fortified enough for fresh kill. or the middle ages. however you want to label it.
at least i lost some weight for the wedding.
but stlll, hey, soon i'll be on my way to tokyo, home of the original "office". can't wait. should be a lot of fun.
and, of course, should be a lot of karaoke.
something in a baritone, maestro!
money talks
but it don't sing and dance and it don't walk
as long as i have you here with me
i'd much rather be
forever in blue jeans, babe.
Monday, May 26, 2008
how to recap the seventh day of my trip (guangzhou edition)
i'm typing this while cloaked in a terryclothed ritz carlton robe and slippers, fresh from a well-earned hot bath after a long day of shooting. i'm very tired, and i don't know how many words i have in me to get out.
today actually went great, although it mirrored yesterday - a great and fruitful morning, followed by a strange and disinterested crew in the afternoon. it must be something in the culture, i guess. but we still got a lot more than what we expected, so in any measure, the guangzhou portion of this trip is a success.
what has gotten to me is the guangzhou/cantonese food. we had dim sum yesterday and today, and i'm fully tired and bored of fried whole chicken, wierd pork combinations, questionable beef dishes and unenjoyable desserts (unless you love cold soups of frog ovaries, which was on our table yesterday). but tonight i had an amazing dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was as much southern china in dish as it was refined and classy - which would make the first of our trip out here. was it authentic? probably not. but i had enough of authentic, and i was craving for something sophisticated and less barbaric. mission accomplished.
here's things i noticed about this part of china:
- the last word that comes to my mind as i explore the city is communism or government control. it's a city, just like any other city. then again, i was only here for a couple of days and shooting ads for most of it.
- nobody gets hurt when everyone is playing by the same rules of the roads. and that holds true when there aren't any rules. being a passenger in a car here is a scary proposition, not just for me in the back seat, but also for the random people jutting in front of the car in a speeding intersection. i just don't get it, but i guess that's just how they do.
- the people who live in this city seem much more able to acclimate to other cultures and ideas than the people who live in my old neighborhood in the inner richmond. and, to be honest, the difference is substantial.
- i am happy to leave here for tokyo, and i wish never to return here. beijing or shanghai however? i'm game.
and i can't wait to get me some sushi.
today actually went great, although it mirrored yesterday - a great and fruitful morning, followed by a strange and disinterested crew in the afternoon. it must be something in the culture, i guess. but we still got a lot more than what we expected, so in any measure, the guangzhou portion of this trip is a success.
what has gotten to me is the guangzhou/cantonese food. we had dim sum yesterday and today, and i'm fully tired and bored of fried whole chicken, wierd pork combinations, questionable beef dishes and unenjoyable desserts (unless you love cold soups of frog ovaries, which was on our table yesterday). but tonight i had an amazing dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was as much southern china in dish as it was refined and classy - which would make the first of our trip out here. was it authentic? probably not. but i had enough of authentic, and i was craving for something sophisticated and less barbaric. mission accomplished.
here's things i noticed about this part of china:
- the last word that comes to my mind as i explore the city is communism or government control. it's a city, just like any other city. then again, i was only here for a couple of days and shooting ads for most of it.
- nobody gets hurt when everyone is playing by the same rules of the roads. and that holds true when there aren't any rules. being a passenger in a car here is a scary proposition, not just for me in the back seat, but also for the random people jutting in front of the car in a speeding intersection. i just don't get it, but i guess that's just how they do.
- the people who live in this city seem much more able to acclimate to other cultures and ideas than the people who live in my old neighborhood in the inner richmond. and, to be honest, the difference is substantial.
- i am happy to leave here for tokyo, and i wish never to return here. beijing or shanghai however? i'm game.
and i can't wait to get me some sushi.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
how to recap the sixth day of my trip (guangzhou edition)
words and meaning do not only get lost in translation, but they also take time. that's what i learned today trying to direct talent and a crew that speaks cantonese.
when they're not asked to make decisions, or to think on their own without being told, everything is great. in fact, you can fly through stuff. but once anything gets disrupted, all hell breaks loose, and you just can't get back on track. or, at least, not today.
the morning was great. unfortunately, it set up a precedent that i now know was impossible to match. we flew through scenes, the talent was attentive, everyone was happy. and the location looked great.
and we broke for lunch.
everything broke right after that. camera moves took three times as long as they should have. checking shots on the laptop took four times as long. the crew ruined takes when their cellphones rang over and over again. strange people walked into shots even when warned not to. takes were ruined when the crew dropped stuff - even when they should be standing still. and rehearsals took forever because the talent just wasn't getting it or it just wasn't being explained clearly to them.
it was frustrating and unending.
still, we fought through it, and because of our fruitful morning, we finished ahead of schedule. and tomorrow, i'll know not to expect too much, that i'm just better off playing the role of the talent during rehearsals, to employ a longer time when a camera has to be moved, and to always keep in mind that i am not in los angeles.
holy crap, i'm so not in los angeles.
i'm going to sleep. it was a long day.
when they're not asked to make decisions, or to think on their own without being told, everything is great. in fact, you can fly through stuff. but once anything gets disrupted, all hell breaks loose, and you just can't get back on track. or, at least, not today.
the morning was great. unfortunately, it set up a precedent that i now know was impossible to match. we flew through scenes, the talent was attentive, everyone was happy. and the location looked great.
and we broke for lunch.
everything broke right after that. camera moves took three times as long as they should have. checking shots on the laptop took four times as long. the crew ruined takes when their cellphones rang over and over again. strange people walked into shots even when warned not to. takes were ruined when the crew dropped stuff - even when they should be standing still. and rehearsals took forever because the talent just wasn't getting it or it just wasn't being explained clearly to them.
it was frustrating and unending.
still, we fought through it, and because of our fruitful morning, we finished ahead of schedule. and tomorrow, i'll know not to expect too much, that i'm just better off playing the role of the talent during rehearsals, to employ a longer time when a camera has to be moved, and to always keep in mind that i am not in los angeles.
holy crap, i'm so not in los angeles.
i'm going to sleep. it was a long day.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
how to recap the fifth day of my trip (guangzhou edition)
guangzhou is endless.
think of it like los angeles - a huge sprawl that spreads for miles and miles. except, when you drive through and around it, think of it like new york and chicago - nothing but high rises and skyscrapers everywhere you look. it's an utterly impressive city of twelve million residents.
and the architecture is stunning. i don't dig rectangles and squares, but that's what makes up most of american architecture. but like vancouver, guangzhou is full of misshaped buildings, with stylishly curved rootops and angles jutting out at weird but beautiful angles. and they transpose nicely with aging buildings beside them. this makes the city both old and modern at exactly the same time.
we headed out to the sports university to scout out our shoot. the land is amazing, with countless outdoor basketball courts and a modern soccer stadium that seats thousands. there's a multitude of gymnasiums and buildings, and arena we're shooting in features a gym that would make a small college proud. we arrived to watch a floor hockey tournament featuring teams from china, thailand, canada and australia. floor hockey is like field hockey, except on a court. it was kinda cool, and made me wish i had two working knees.
but that's not what this post is about. once we were done with our scout, it was time to eat and explore. our first stop was a farm. here's a photo:
the farm also served as a restaurant where everything they served was fresh. so we ate chicken and pork. remember, i said everything they served is fresh, so that means that they killed the chicken right before they cooked it, and the pig was killed just an hour before we ate. if we were unlucky, they could have caught an escaped chicken from the pen and wring its neck in front of us. i'm glad i didn't see that.
but it was so fresh, and the result is that i've never tasted meat that delicious.
the chicken, fried with its head still attached, was stuffed with garlic, ginger and basil. it was amazing. we had pork ribs, pork sausage in rice and pork burgers, which wasn't very good. we also ate this amazing vegetable dish that looked like seaweed but had a deep buttery taste to it.
all in all, an incredible lunch.
by the way, two things i learned here.
one: when you get your place settings, it is customary to pour yourself some tea from a kettle. you then use the tea to cleanse all your silverware for good luck. so you stir your chopsticks in it. then you pour some in your bowl. then you pour it on your plate. then, you dump that tea on the floor. now you are ready to eat.
two: when someone hands you something with two hands, it is customary and respectful to receive it with two hands. i really like that.
after lunch, we walked around downtown guangzhou, which is just like times square, except it's everywhere you look. it's just mobs of people walking every which way, going shopping, buying anything, and vendors running up to you with their best deals. it was beyond hectic. and people just walk out into the middle of the street with oncoming traffic. i'm amazed that i didn't see any accidents, but they must be used to this type of stuff. suddenly, the inner richmond back home makes perfect sense to me.
for dinner, we headed to a famous guangzhou seafood restaurant. our guides informed us that this part of the city is known for their various types of cuisine. this block we were on specialized in seafood. the next block down was dog, and the one past that, mouse. that last sentence is not a joke. he was serious. if you want to eat anything, come to guangzhou. the thought of all the possibilities made me a little sick.
anyways, we're at the seafood restaurant, and there's no menu. instead, you walk to a different area that's set up like an aquarium, with different types of fish in different tanks. your waitress walks along with you, and you have to point at which fish you want to eat. and by pointing at the fish, i mean you have to choose which exact lobster you want for dinner. as in which one. i thought i would have more guilt about this "playing god" manner of food selection, but honestly, if not me, then someone else is gonna eat them.
when they served each dish, the fish was about as fresh as you'll ever have. the shrimp, crab, lobster and mussels were among the best i'll ever eat. don't get me wrong; they were prepared with an expert touch. but they were just so immdeiately fresh, and you just can't beat that. how fresh? well, for some reason, the lobster's arm was still moving when it came to the table.
have i gotten you sick yet? just wait. in fact, i've written the next part to be as tasteful as possible, but scatatology is what it is. and i have to tell this because, well, once you read this, you'll get why.
at the end of the meal, i had to use the toilet. i walked in, and because i had to do poops, i decided to forgo the urinals and use the shitter. i walked into a stall, and only saw a tiled hole in the floor and no seat. whoops, my bad. so i peed, and turned to leave. that's when i saw the toilet paper hanging on the side, and a bar running horizontally on the door, and the urinals on the wall outside.
it took me about six seconds to figure it out. i walked back to the table laughing hysterically. that had to be a mistake, right?
no, it was not.
in china, people don't sit down to use the shitter. they pull their pants down, hover their ass over a hole in the ground, grab hold of rails on the door, lean back and plop away. i'm not shitting you. that's how they do it.
so, after waiting for my mouth to close, i then asked the obvious question: "what do they do with their pants? couldn't you accidentally leave a beijing steamer in your undies?"
well, yes, but some people take one pant leg off and twirl it around their ankle to the side, and other just take their pants off completely.
this absolutely blows my mind. how can a civilization that's been around for 3000 years not take ten minutes to figure out how to sit down during a crap?
what's my point about all this? well, for a city as modern as guangzhou, there's still a large amount of barbarism - not in an unsafe way, but in a way that should have evolved. and in a way that i can't believe still exists in any form.
i needed to end the night on a classy note. so i went to the cigar bar in my hotel and smoked down a cohiba siglo III from cuba with a glass of 1989 aberfely single malt whiskey.
it's so completely wild that i'm actually in china. but everything i saw and experienced just grounded it for me. and i know it may or may not have sounded like it, but today was actually a truly great day.
and to leave you with a wonderful visual, here's a shot of my gorgeous hotel room. i'm stunned each time i walk into it.
think of it like los angeles - a huge sprawl that spreads for miles and miles. except, when you drive through and around it, think of it like new york and chicago - nothing but high rises and skyscrapers everywhere you look. it's an utterly impressive city of twelve million residents.
and the architecture is stunning. i don't dig rectangles and squares, but that's what makes up most of american architecture. but like vancouver, guangzhou is full of misshaped buildings, with stylishly curved rootops and angles jutting out at weird but beautiful angles. and they transpose nicely with aging buildings beside them. this makes the city both old and modern at exactly the same time.
we headed out to the sports university to scout out our shoot. the land is amazing, with countless outdoor basketball courts and a modern soccer stadium that seats thousands. there's a multitude of gymnasiums and buildings, and arena we're shooting in features a gym that would make a small college proud. we arrived to watch a floor hockey tournament featuring teams from china, thailand, canada and australia. floor hockey is like field hockey, except on a court. it was kinda cool, and made me wish i had two working knees.
but that's not what this post is about. once we were done with our scout, it was time to eat and explore. our first stop was a farm. here's a photo:
the farm also served as a restaurant where everything they served was fresh. so we ate chicken and pork. remember, i said everything they served is fresh, so that means that they killed the chicken right before they cooked it, and the pig was killed just an hour before we ate. if we were unlucky, they could have caught an escaped chicken from the pen and wring its neck in front of us. i'm glad i didn't see that.
but it was so fresh, and the result is that i've never tasted meat that delicious.
the chicken, fried with its head still attached, was stuffed with garlic, ginger and basil. it was amazing. we had pork ribs, pork sausage in rice and pork burgers, which wasn't very good. we also ate this amazing vegetable dish that looked like seaweed but had a deep buttery taste to it.
all in all, an incredible lunch.
by the way, two things i learned here.
one: when you get your place settings, it is customary to pour yourself some tea from a kettle. you then use the tea to cleanse all your silverware for good luck. so you stir your chopsticks in it. then you pour some in your bowl. then you pour it on your plate. then, you dump that tea on the floor. now you are ready to eat.
two: when someone hands you something with two hands, it is customary and respectful to receive it with two hands. i really like that.
after lunch, we walked around downtown guangzhou, which is just like times square, except it's everywhere you look. it's just mobs of people walking every which way, going shopping, buying anything, and vendors running up to you with their best deals. it was beyond hectic. and people just walk out into the middle of the street with oncoming traffic. i'm amazed that i didn't see any accidents, but they must be used to this type of stuff. suddenly, the inner richmond back home makes perfect sense to me.
for dinner, we headed to a famous guangzhou seafood restaurant. our guides informed us that this part of the city is known for their various types of cuisine. this block we were on specialized in seafood. the next block down was dog, and the one past that, mouse. that last sentence is not a joke. he was serious. if you want to eat anything, come to guangzhou. the thought of all the possibilities made me a little sick.
anyways, we're at the seafood restaurant, and there's no menu. instead, you walk to a different area that's set up like an aquarium, with different types of fish in different tanks. your waitress walks along with you, and you have to point at which fish you want to eat. and by pointing at the fish, i mean you have to choose which exact lobster you want for dinner. as in which one. i thought i would have more guilt about this "playing god" manner of food selection, but honestly, if not me, then someone else is gonna eat them.
when they served each dish, the fish was about as fresh as you'll ever have. the shrimp, crab, lobster and mussels were among the best i'll ever eat. don't get me wrong; they were prepared with an expert touch. but they were just so immdeiately fresh, and you just can't beat that. how fresh? well, for some reason, the lobster's arm was still moving when it came to the table.
have i gotten you sick yet? just wait. in fact, i've written the next part to be as tasteful as possible, but scatatology is what it is. and i have to tell this because, well, once you read this, you'll get why.
at the end of the meal, i had to use the toilet. i walked in, and because i had to do poops, i decided to forgo the urinals and use the shitter. i walked into a stall, and only saw a tiled hole in the floor and no seat. whoops, my bad. so i peed, and turned to leave. that's when i saw the toilet paper hanging on the side, and a bar running horizontally on the door, and the urinals on the wall outside.
it took me about six seconds to figure it out. i walked back to the table laughing hysterically. that had to be a mistake, right?
no, it was not.
in china, people don't sit down to use the shitter. they pull their pants down, hover their ass over a hole in the ground, grab hold of rails on the door, lean back and plop away. i'm not shitting you. that's how they do it.
so, after waiting for my mouth to close, i then asked the obvious question: "what do they do with their pants? couldn't you accidentally leave a beijing steamer in your undies?"
well, yes, but some people take one pant leg off and twirl it around their ankle to the side, and other just take their pants off completely.
this absolutely blows my mind. how can a civilization that's been around for 3000 years not take ten minutes to figure out how to sit down during a crap?
what's my point about all this? well, for a city as modern as guangzhou, there's still a large amount of barbarism - not in an unsafe way, but in a way that should have evolved. and in a way that i can't believe still exists in any form.
i needed to end the night on a classy note. so i went to the cigar bar in my hotel and smoked down a cohiba siglo III from cuba with a glass of 1989 aberfely single malt whiskey.
it's so completely wild that i'm actually in china. but everything i saw and experienced just grounded it for me. and i know it may or may not have sounded like it, but today was actually a truly great day.
and to leave you with a wonderful visual, here's a shot of my gorgeous hotel room. i'm stunned each time i walk into it.
Friday, May 23, 2008
how to recap the fourth day of my trip (orange county/LAX/tokyo/guangzhou edition)
at 8am, i left the ritz-carlton in dana point, onward towards LAX. twenty four hours later, i returned to the ritz-carlton, but now in guangzhou, a half world away.
a lot of nothing happened in between.
you know a trip is gonna be great when you pick up your computer bag and the strap breaks - because that's exactly what happened to me. and then, while in the airport, the plastic bag you boought that holds your magazines also breaks. that also happened to me. so you wound up shlepping around the world holding your two bags in your arms like a pet pig. good times. i highly recommend it.
the united flight from LAX to tokyo really wasn't so bad, as far as eleven-hour trips go. i got some work done on my laptop, listened to rilo kiley and also te raconteurs "counselors of the lonely", took a quick nap and watched three movies, of which i'll review now in the shortest paragraphs possible.
"27 dresses"
starring katherine heigl and various douchebags
written and directed by four-year-olds
even as far as romantic-comedies go, this one was especially shameless and see-through. honestly, i can't imagine anyone being able to sit through this and not try to take their own life. if the emergency exits weren't jammed shut, i might have made a jump for it. and this is coming from someone who actually gave this a shot because he had nothing else to do.
"jumper"
starring hayden christenson, samuel l. jackson and other douchebags
directed by (i can't believe this) doug liman
a movie that managed to allow me to intensely hate every character in the film while also not caring one iota about them. that to me is an amazing achievement in ineptitude. what could have been a pretty fun movie was ultimately done in by a first draft of a crappy script. and hayden christenson is one of the worst actors to have ever lived. if the emergency exits weren't jammed shut, i might have made a jump for it. and this is coming from someone who actually gave this a shot because he had nothing else to do.
"charlie wilson's war"
starring tom hanks, julia roberts and philip seymour hoffman
written by aaron sorkin
directed by mike nichols
united airlines can thank these legends for saving me from taking over the plane and flying it into the pacific ocean. i really wanted to watch this when it was out, and for the benefit of everyone on board, thankfully i didn't get the chance. it's smart, fun, funny, sexy and semi-true. it wasn't the best film these legends have individually made, but it was among the best of last year. (honestly, it could have had a little more beef, but i can't complain, considering the other crap i watched).
then i flew air nippon from tokyo to guangzhou, a five hour flight on top of the eleven hours i was just in the air. thankfully, there was hardly anyone else on the plane, so i was able to stretch out and relax as best as i can. and, by the way, the air nippon stewardess are the hardest-working stewardesses in the air. there was nothing i was left wanting. great job by those minxes.
finally, we landed in guangzhou, and passed through customs without a problem. we met our contact from the production company (andi), and while waiting for our client to fly in, we had some ice cream at a diner. i have to be honest with you: the conversation that took place to order two scoops of ice cream each was absolutely worth the sixteen hour flights. the discussion took a good 30 minutes, with the waitress hustling back and forth to show us different sizes and flavors and being utterly confused - even with a cantonese translator. wonderful stuff. i wish i wrote that scene.
and finally, 24 hours later, we landed at the brand new ritz-carlton in guangzhou. and there's no debate: this is the most beautiful and luxurious hotel i've ever stayed at in my career and my life - and i'm including the indianapolis marriott in that discussion. everything is stunning. check out the website, but i'll take photos when i get a chance.
and finally, here we are, in a sweltering city of 12 million people. i have a chance to explore today. tonight (or this morning for you), you'll read about it.
a lot of nothing happened in between.
you know a trip is gonna be great when you pick up your computer bag and the strap breaks - because that's exactly what happened to me. and then, while in the airport, the plastic bag you boought that holds your magazines also breaks. that also happened to me. so you wound up shlepping around the world holding your two bags in your arms like a pet pig. good times. i highly recommend it.
the united flight from LAX to tokyo really wasn't so bad, as far as eleven-hour trips go. i got some work done on my laptop, listened to rilo kiley and also te raconteurs "counselors of the lonely", took a quick nap and watched three movies, of which i'll review now in the shortest paragraphs possible.
"27 dresses"
starring katherine heigl and various douchebags
written and directed by four-year-olds
even as far as romantic-comedies go, this one was especially shameless and see-through. honestly, i can't imagine anyone being able to sit through this and not try to take their own life. if the emergency exits weren't jammed shut, i might have made a jump for it. and this is coming from someone who actually gave this a shot because he had nothing else to do.
"jumper"
starring hayden christenson, samuel l. jackson and other douchebags
directed by (i can't believe this) doug liman
a movie that managed to allow me to intensely hate every character in the film while also not caring one iota about them. that to me is an amazing achievement in ineptitude. what could have been a pretty fun movie was ultimately done in by a first draft of a crappy script. and hayden christenson is one of the worst actors to have ever lived. if the emergency exits weren't jammed shut, i might have made a jump for it. and this is coming from someone who actually gave this a shot because he had nothing else to do.
"charlie wilson's war"
starring tom hanks, julia roberts and philip seymour hoffman
written by aaron sorkin
directed by mike nichols
united airlines can thank these legends for saving me from taking over the plane and flying it into the pacific ocean. i really wanted to watch this when it was out, and for the benefit of everyone on board, thankfully i didn't get the chance. it's smart, fun, funny, sexy and semi-true. it wasn't the best film these legends have individually made, but it was among the best of last year. (honestly, it could have had a little more beef, but i can't complain, considering the other crap i watched).
then i flew air nippon from tokyo to guangzhou, a five hour flight on top of the eleven hours i was just in the air. thankfully, there was hardly anyone else on the plane, so i was able to stretch out and relax as best as i can. and, by the way, the air nippon stewardess are the hardest-working stewardesses in the air. there was nothing i was left wanting. great job by those minxes.
finally, we landed in guangzhou, and passed through customs without a problem. we met our contact from the production company (andi), and while waiting for our client to fly in, we had some ice cream at a diner. i have to be honest with you: the conversation that took place to order two scoops of ice cream each was absolutely worth the sixteen hour flights. the discussion took a good 30 minutes, with the waitress hustling back and forth to show us different sizes and flavors and being utterly confused - even with a cantonese translator. wonderful stuff. i wish i wrote that scene.
and finally, 24 hours later, we landed at the brand new ritz-carlton in guangzhou. and there's no debate: this is the most beautiful and luxurious hotel i've ever stayed at in my career and my life - and i'm including the indianapolis marriott in that discussion. everything is stunning. check out the website, but i'll take photos when i get a chance.
and finally, here we are, in a sweltering city of 12 million people. i have a chance to explore today. tonight (or this morning for you), you'll read about it.
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