Shameless Plug

Since I just came back from Beijing and Shenzhen promoting Blood Brothers, I might as well drop a plug on you all. So here it is...Blood Brothers in theater's soon! And if you're not in Asia, check it out in Venice or Toronto Film Fests. Maybe I'll see you there. Wednesday we're heading to Taipei, then back to HK for the premiere on the 21st. It was nice to see the whole cast again after all this time. Although it was a tough shoot for many reasons, we bonded well as actors and had a great time. Here are some photos that you won't see in any promotional material...cause I took 'em!
Mark, the Killer, played by Chang Chen.

Mark is about to kill someone.

1930's Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Inside The Paradise Club.

Exterior from the interior.

LuLu (Shu Kei) and Mark badly in need of some Head & Shoulders.
Check out this nifty website if you wanna learn more: http://www.bloodbrothersthemovie.com

K-1 Comes to HK.

K-1 came to town last Sunday and I must say it was quite a success. Sitting front row made the bone crunching a bit hard to watch at times, but it was definitely a day filled with a lot of excitement for the fans. Here are some of my better shots.
Peter Aerts was by far the superior fighter of the night. Although one of the oldest at 37, his years of experience in the K-1 circuit was a definite advantage. He easily ko'd Nicholas Pettas with a perfectly placed kick to the head. Luckily I caught the moment.

It seems K-1 is definitely trying to tap into the China market by inviting two Chinese fighters to attend this time and although Wang Qian made it to the finals, it's clear they have a long way to go, experience and training wise, if they want to be a force within K-1. Here he is giving Randy Kim a nose job.

The fight everyone was anticipating was Hong-Man Choi, The Korean Giant vs Gary Goodridge. Choi at 7 foot 2 and 355 lbs, was a serious force to be reckoned with. Goodridge at 6'3" 243lbs, although not a small man, looked like a kid standing next to Choi. Unfortunately Goodridge got caught by a knee from Choi followed by a left right combo that ko'd Goodridge while still standing up.This guy is a monster.

The Assassination of Our Past.

As the last of the protestors were dragged away by police from Queen’s Pier Tuesday night, I could not help but feel emotions of sorrow, to anger, to helplessness. Hong Kong is losing its heritage, its history and its sense of self. We are stuck with a government that believes economics can solve everything but they are sorely wrong.
Buildings and sites of historical importance help to shape and make a city. They remind us of the importance of our past and inspire visions of the future. They are the key elements in the making of a place. They are relics that our city can be proud of. They should be celebrated and protected, but instead we are witnessing their slow and systematic assassination by a government made up of businessmen that have become far removed from the people whom they supposedly represent.Chief Executive Donald Tsang claims that being overzealous in saving the past may hurt Hong Kong's competitiveness, and has asked activists to take a more balanced view toward economic growth and conservation. It’s sad to hear our leader make such ludicrous and uniformed statements such as this. The Queen’s Pier area and the entire Central Harbor will be replaced with a new highway and shopping mall. Is it all worth the destruction of the entire Central Harbor front? The very “Fragrant Harbor” that made this city? Do we really need yet another shopping mall to maintain our “competitiveness”? Please tell me where is the balance?One by one we are seeing the places of yesterday being destroyed, demolished, killed. Star Ferry Pier was the beginning and now Queen’s Pier. Who knows what’s next? But as developers set their sights on projects that they can milk more government money out of, I’m sure this will not be the end. One by one they will go and pretty soon there will be no reminders of the past, no more history, only endless rows of interconnected, over air-conditioned shopping malls forcing us to consume, consume, consume and forget about the past.Star Ferry Pier now gone.

To see where I stole these photos from and read more about Star Ferry and Queen's Pier check out these Wikepedia pages:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_Pier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Place_Ferry_Pier