9/11/11 35 Years Old and 10 Years Young

Hey, ya'll.  Been on a bit of a hiatus with this blog as well as HK cinema.  HK films make up about 95% of my cinematic diet but usually twice a year I step back and try to catch up with the non-HK movies I'd neglected throughout the year.  These past few weeks has been one of those times.  Even if it means forsaking HK cinema in favor of the Drew Barrymore directorial turkey, WHIP IT, and such bastard turds like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE and the utterly vile and without purpose, A SERBIAN FILM.  With shite like these, why deviate from HK cinema?  I'll get back into the swing of things in a bit.  Anyways, yesterday was the 10 year celebration of our country's resilience against the awful terrorist attacks that occurred on September, 11, 2001.  It was also my birthday!  Another wonderful event!  When people hear that my b-day lands on 9/11 I'm usually greeted with an, "Ohhh!  That stinks.  Sorry."   Comments like this are only slightly less annoying than the, "You look like Vin Diesel," one's I usually get when I'm newly shorn domed and have sunglasses on.  But this is all just nonsense.  So as the media sets everyone up for Kleenex ceremonies, I wholeheartedly go the other route.  For me, 9/11, any way you look at it, is a cause for celebration.  I count myself so very lucky to have my birthday coincide with my the day we celebrate my country's strength, patriotism, and valor. 

That being said, I would never want to take away the remembrance of those we have lost on that fateful day.  But instead of mourning, I choose to walk a little taller.  A bit more proud.  My heart wholly goes out to the friends and families who lost loved ones that day, and continue to do so as the amazing people in our Armed Services eat dirt daily as they fight to secure our everyday freedoms.  We are all much better people because of their mettle.

Sooooo, let's get on with it.  Don't want to be a Debbie Downer here because this is a post about celebration!  Wei took me into Flushing for a little b-day HK movie shopping and dinner.  I took a few pics around town.  A few posters plastered on buildings squawked an upcoming concert by the TWINS in Connecticut this month and the films LOVE IN SPACE and MY KINGDOM, which recently opened in NYC theaters.  Flushing C-town's HK movie shopping has been on the decline.  And while it has never been entirely fruitful, I have found gems on occasion.  Flushing featured 3-4 movie shops, mostly pushing bootlegs, but the number has now dwindled down to 3.  2 shoving bootlegs and one shoving....'questionable' copies of films.  Sometimes its a boot, sometimes not. It's a crap shoot.

Bootlegs...

....and some more...

OVERHEARD 2 and WHAT WOMEN WANT booters

SEX AND ZEN 3D bootleg

Crappy CAT III booter section.  I see Shu Qi in IRON SISTER!

Non bootleg copy of MICRO SEX OFFICE.  Yoink!

After shopping we went for some noodles.  Above is the new look Chao Zhou.  The restaurant had a fire a few months back that forced it's closure.  The new revamped restaurant is a bit nicer, brighter, and serves the same delicious food.

Cambodian Noodle Soup.  Wei and I each had a huge bowl of this.  Our usual.  Phenomenal!

After we unstrapped our Chao Zhou feedbag we headed up the block to a sort-of dai pai dong, that offers extremely cheap sidewalk eats.  Above, Wei is ordering me some fish balls on a stick.  My favorites.  And below, I enjoy those fish balls.  Ain't nothing wrong with havin' some balls in your mouth!  Right!? hee hee heeee

After stuffing my fat face, Wei and I hopped the 7 train for a short hike over to Citi Field to catch my lowly New York Mets face the Chicago Cubs.  It was a special nationally televised game by ESPN that included a touching 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony before first pitch.

Wei.  Check out these great seats!  $60 seats for 17 bucks.  Thank gosh the Mets stink!

An ass holding a beer.

The stadium wasn't full last night for a few reasons.  One, the Mets are a huge bag of stink.  Two, it was a late game and the kiddies had to go to school the following morning.  Three, who wants to really go out on 9/11?  And finally, It was the opening day for the NFL and the majority of Ny'ers where home in their pj's, scratching their butts, while watching the New York Jets battle the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.  Poor, poor job by MLB having this game played at night.  All of that aside, the ceremony was quite great as the Mets had former player escort first responders from all of the major NYC departments out onto the field.  All the while bagpipers piped.  What was also quite touching was the inclusion of children who have benefited from a charity set up by a former NY Mets player, Rusty Staub; The New York Police and Fire Widows Fund.  Each child walked out onto the field while clutching a Mets players hand.  Very sweet. The bright lights of the stadium even dimmed for a moment of silence as the crowd illuminated electronic candles that were handed out at the stadium.  Very, very cool.

The celebration was quite somber and the crowd was most affected by it.  So much so, that the entire game was a sullen affair.  It could have just been that the crowd was tired out from the days events and that first pitched clocked in at almost 8:30...or that the Metsies just suck?  But this was the quietest crowd I have ever been a part of.  It was quite eerie.  It also didn't help that the Mets fell behind early and had to fight back.  But, quietness is only relative as Wei and I were blessed enough to sit right next to 4 young chirpy and fashionable (all wearing brightly colored Chuck Taylor All Stars) Taiwanese "fans" whom, while in between talking on their bedazzled cellphones in very loud Mandarin, overly cheered foul balls flying into the crowd and immersed themselves waaaaayyyyy too much in 'The Wave.'  One girl seemed to be enamored with her nostril as more than a few times I glanced over to see her knuckle deep, diggin' for China, as we here in these parts usually quip. Wei chuckled throughout the game at their antics, often translating their Mandarin play by play of the game for me.

9/11 Remembrance Ceremony @ Citi Field

The Metsies, HK movie shopping ( I brought home LEGIT copies of LOVER'S DISCOURSE, EX, KUNG FU HIP HOP 2, and MICRO SEX OFFICE), gorging myself with great food, and watching my favorite baseball team, all stuffed into a few short hours on what has become one of the greatest days our nation celebrates.  I love being able to say that I was born on 9/11.  Though being 35 leaves a lot to be desired.  Anyone else have bad knees, a constant stiff back, huge man boobs, a jiggly ass, and sperm that take water aerobics classes?  Or is it just me?

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For a wonderful read about 9/11, please check out my blog friend YTSL's current post at her blog, WEBS OF SIGNIFICANCE.  Great, great post.

Monday Moo Shu

First things first. A little plug for my buddy at Shelf Life Clothing. His new creation is ready for shipping. I just got mine this weekend and it feels so great up against my luscious man breasts. I'm sure it will cup and snuggle your man juggs as well. Please hit up Shelf Life Clothing and gear up for the upcoming 14th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover this coming July with the aptly named Handover Tee. I now own a Shelf Life shirt for every day of the week! Be cool like me, yo! Word up!

Last weekend we celebrated Wei's birthday by heading into Flushing for dim sum with her family. Wei is now finely into her 30's and if I don't marry her soon will be classified as a spinster. It was cold as heck out but we persevered against the wind towards Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant, a great dim sum spot that we frequent in Flushing's C-town. The wind whipped our faces as we wiped the flowing snot away from our upper lips. It was a rough one. On the way, we came across the above store window, where I noticed a picture of Chow Yun-fat, hawking something or other? I asked Wei what product Yun-fat was drumming and she had no clue. She doesn't read Chinese well. Bad girl! So, she asked her father. Oh my lord. We continued to walk toward dim sum as Wei's father struggled to explain to her in Chinese, and I could tell by his stutter and 'jerky' hand gestures that this was gonna be great! Wei turned to me to relay her dad's message but I already knew what he was talking about. And I grinned like a Cheshire cat. And I giggled like a school girl. And I'm still giggling as I write this. Wei and her dad had a nice discussion about Chow Yun-fat and erectile dysfunction.

The following pics are of my man boobylicious dim sum adventure. There were six of us but we ate as if there were 12. We usually get to the restaurant a bit late, though before the noon throng of really late late-comers, and as such, get shuttled into one of the back rooms. I always quickly note to Wei that the hostess sees the white boy in the entourage and make us sit waaaay in the back. I'm a bit of a shit.

My favorite. Bacon wrapped shrimp balls w/ sweet mayo

Feast fit for a Kingwho?

Chicken feet or.....Phoenix Claws. Because that sounds so much cooler.

Mmmmm. Phoenix Claws

Mango Pudding. I added the parasol to be kitschy.

After dim sum Wei, her mother, and I headed into the Flushing Mall to talk business. There is a wedding center inside the mall and that was the main destination. The secondary one (main in my book) was to the dvd joint. As Wei and her mother putzed around the wedding center I quickly made a dash to the dvd joint. Slim pickin's this week so I only picked up one movie. A few pics below, my sole spoil, Goretti Mak Yan-yan and Clement Cheng Si-kit's MERRY GO ROUND. I returned to the wedding center where Wei and her mother were deep into negotiations with one of the wedding joint ladies. I sat down and listened to the Mandarin flow back and forth and just shook my head when needed. I didn't know what the heck was going on? This process should be fun!?

After the mall, it was back out into the biting cold of the mean streets of Flushing. We made a few stops before departure. Above, standing on line waiting to pick up fish balls. This place, on Roosevelt Ave., west of Main St., doubles as a florist. The fish balls besting the floral arrangements.

Wedding shenanigans fresh on Wei's mothers mind, we stopped at this bakery to inquire about a wedding cake. Also picked up some bubble tea for the ride home and to top off my jiggly man rack.

Bakery Amour

Merry Go Round

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I haven't put up a video clip in a while so here ya go. The cool finale of the 1993 Girl-gang actioner, PINK PANTHER aka PINK KILLER. I found this dvd (actually 2 of them) in the back of an old San Francisco Chinatown shop. I bought both for a buck each. A great find. Enjoy the anti-misogynistic mayhem as girls rule and triad punks drool. Buy PINK KILLER here.

Din Din and Shopping in Flushing

Wei and I put on our long johns, bundled our butts up, and headed into Flushing C-town for a hot bowl of soup and noodles and to do a little HK movie X-mas shopping. It was about 20 degrees out, feeling more like 10, and the wind was biting. Flushing is a favorite dinner destination of ours (usually only frequenting a handful of places out of the hundred's that are around) and it's also a heck of a lot closer than NYC C-town. The caveat is, the HK movie shopping stinks. The movie shops in Flushing began to dwindle a few years back and now there are only about 3 that are still operating. We hit all three each and every time we visit but rarely score anything great. Usually less than a handful of flicks. Reason being, 90% of the movies being hawked are bootlegs! For shame! Below are some pics of the three shops we regularly visit in Flushing. Also, a shot or two of our din din at the wonderful Chao Zhou Restauarant (pictured above with the landmark 'Big Bowl' atop the establishment), where we usually stop, as we did tonight, for a huge bowl of Cambodian Noodle soup. I burned the shit out of my tongue, but it was goooooood!

As we were seated, our server ran behind the counter to grab a fork. One single, solo, lonesome fork, and placed it in front of me. Of course. Give the fork to the gwailo! As it happens, Wei uses a fork more than I do. Just to set the record straight. I may not be 100% adept with chopsticks, but I can get by.

Our usual fare, the Cambodian Noodle soup.

Stall selling bootleg Mainland TV shows outside of the great restaurant, Corner 28. We stopped off to buy some Da Bao for Wei's aunt. And of course, a few Da Bao for my chunky ass as well. One for each man jug. Playing on the television to the upper left is a program on how to speak English.

More Mainland TV show bootlegs under the train trestle

Outside of one of the ubiquitous 'mini malls' in Flushing. Once inside the front doors, a tiny movie shop is first door on the left. Outside, the shop sells more bootleg Mainland TV shows,

Inside the shop, some of the films on display. Wei and her 'Nanook of the North' winter jacket are on the left and above her woolly hood, the top three shelves display legitimate HK DVD's. Wei bought me LA COMEDIE HUMAINE here and will wrap it as one of my X-mas gifts. "Oh! LA COMEDIE HUMAINE?! You shouldn't have?!" This was the only DVD we bought tonight. What a disappointment.

Bargain bin of another movie shop, this one located in the grand waste of space, aka Flushing Mall. This sad monstrosity is a flea market like, bare bones, multi level mall and food court that houses a bunch of Asian businesses. A beautiful idea for the community, but a wasteland. I swear I saw a tumbleweed roll through the second level and a prairie dog pop up against my ankle. Honestly.

This store in the Flushing Mall sells 'legit' stuff. Mostly out of region DVD's that, of course, have English subtitles listed on the box. But when you get home, pop the movie in, and settle into the ass groves of your sofa with a bowl of chicken feet.....negative subtitles. I have been screwed more times than I can remember from this shop. So, I usually temper my expectations when visiting. They had DETECTIVE DEE in stock but it didn't have English subs. And they didn't list it as having any?! I was shocked.

This basement shop is in the Hong Kong Mall, just below the Hong Kong Supermarket, a chain of Asian grocery stores. HK Supermarket is an establishment owned by the beautiful, former CAT III actress, Veronica Yip Yuk-hing and her banker hubby, Jeffrey Wu. Down in the basement, another enterprise awaits. Bootlegs as far as the eye can see. I love joking that this spot, and possibly the others we visit, are Triad run. They probably aren't, but it adds more flavor to my visit.

The side of Wei's noggin' and Asian TV bootlegs.

The store is mostly bootlegs of various Asian countries' television shows. There are legit shows as well, but the booters are about half the price of the originals. As for the HK films, they are 99% bootleg. On occasion, among the copies on the rack, you will find the legit, or master, copy. I believe that they take the master copy, burn the disc to make a bunch of copies, and then re-cellophane the master and sell it off. if i ever buy anything from this joint, it is always the wrapped master copy. And it is always legit and has English subs! Hooray!

Random Taiwanese adult junk with the crappy Shu Qi opus, IRON SISTER, on display.

Rushing through the cold I came a cross a few posters of HK entertainers either hawking products or a performance. This is par for the course in C-town neighborhoods. Above is Wayne Lai Yiu-cheung promoting something or other?
The fine, mustachioed crooner/actor (and husband of another great singer/actor Sally Yeh) George Lam Chi-cheung is photoed above on a poster plastered throughout Flushing. He's performing a few hours away at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Wei and I made our last stop, doing a little grocery shopping. Above is Kelly Chan Wai-lam pushing Mooncakes.

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So, only one movie to my name, a bag full of fish balls, 2 Da Bao, a can of Hey Song, and some dried pork for congee. On occasion i'll take groceries in favor of movies. On occasion. Anyway, next Thursday we are planning on heading into NYC C-town for din din and some more HK X-mas movie shopping. Let's hope that next week my HK movie shopping experience is more fruitful. Knock on wood. This year looks to be a 'quality over quantity' deal for X-mas. The past few years I have been literally swimming in well over 100 HK movies. This year the pickings are slim. Hopefully on X-mas morn', Santa's got a brand new bag.....of HK movies for me.