The Hong Kong Manual of Style: Archive

2 tags

Watch

Jimmy Fallon sings Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,” with Jeremy Lin-related lyrics.

Feb 26th

1 note

Austin Kleon's "How to Steal Like an Artist"

(Image from www.austinkleon.com.) I enjoyed reading Austin Kleon’s “How to Steal Like and Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told me)”.

Apr 21st

3 notes

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Apr 14th

1 tag

Apr 13th

4 notes

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Apr 6th

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Against Easy Listening

I wrote a review of Against Easy Listening at 1a Space for LEAP.

Apr 6th

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Apr 4th

2 notes

3 tags

Profile of LMF

From SCMP: Final countdown After 20 years of rapping what many were thinking, controversial collective LMF are bowing out at a farewell show Doretta Lau Updated on Apr 03, 2011 The sitting room of Aroom Studio in Sham Shui Po is just big enough to hold seven of the nine members of Hong Kong band LMF, although not everyone can sit. They offer their guest a stool in the shape of an oversized...

Apr 3rd

3 notes

2 tags

A Kid's Review of Sadako and the Thousand Paper...

I was writing about Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes for the South China Morning Post when I came across the funniest one-star review of the book: This is a bad book. It is sad and a horrible book. Do not pick up this book. If you want to read it, now you know it is a bad book. I do not recommend it. If you are thinking of going to the book store and wasting your money on a book like...

Apr 3rd

1 tag

Left and Leaving

I just noticed that a story I wrote back in 2003 called “Left and Leaving,” which was published in Zen Monster is now online. The title is taken from the Weakerthans album of the same name. I was listening to “Left and Leaving” a lot when I first moved to New York. At one point the only piece of furniture I had was my mattress, so I wrote the story while sitting on my...

Mar 28th

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Mar 3rd

12 notes

Feb 3rd

A Horoscope from Annie Choi

So, over at Annietown, Annie Choi has written a hilarious horoscope in time for lunar new year. I felt the need to share it: Happy (Lunar) New Year! It is the year of the rabbit. I could go into how it really is Lunar New Year and not Chinese New Year, but I won’t. I will not explain how it sounds funny when people say “Thousands of Koreans gathered in Seoul today to celebrate Chinese New ...

Feb 3rd

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Dec 19th

1 tag

"This Is No Way to Work Your Way Through College"

So, there’s been a huge drug bust in New York at Columbia. An undercover drug sting dubbed “Operation Ivy League” resulted in the arrest of five Columbia University students accused of selling a menu of narcotics out of fraternity houses and on-campus residences, authorities said Tuesday. This is totally an economics thing. Why? Well, back in late 2003 or early 2004, the NYPD began...

Dec 7th

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Nov 27th

1 note

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Nov 23rd

1 tag

Nov 23rd

1 note

4 tags

The 90s, Again

I should be editing right now. I have about ten things to file. My feet are freezing. My back hurts. Yes, I’m in full on stress and neuroses mode. THAT’S RIGHT, I’M SUPER FUN RIGHT NOW. I have no business blogging, because I should really be filing, instead of stressing my editors out. But it’s almost ten p.m., and I finally just ate a bowl of broccoli for dinner. I can do...

Nov 17th

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Nov 6th

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Nov 5th

5 notes

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Wall Street Journal: Scene Asia Blog

I’ve been neglecting this blog. I spent August in Vancouver hanging out and editing a few things, and now that I’ve been back in Hong Kong, I’ve mostly been running around trying to stay on top of projects. Anyhow, I’m now blogging for Wall Street Journal’s Scene Asia Blog. Here are my first two posts: Need to Know: Andy Lau Free Art: The Story Behind...

Oct 13th

Aug 2nd

Feeling Crafty

I am currently reading Zadie Smith’s Changing My Mind. The essay “That Crafty Feeling” is really helping me think about writing. One of my main problems in life is I think about writing much more than I actually write. I read books about writing. I read stories and novels and essays and lounge on my couch, coming up with ridiculous ideas for things I’d like to write. But...

May 21st

Waste

I’ve been extremely bad at posting lately, even though I’ve been up to a lot. I guess the major thing of note is that I had a tarot reading last night that pretty much confirmed that I need to finish writing my book, or I’ll have to live with the fact that I’m wasting all my hard work, talent and training. I hate wasteful people, and yet, here am I being incredibly...

Apr 23rd

1 tag

I Lead a Fairly Uneventful Life

My day: post office bank gallery lunch attempted to write a review tea with gallery director bought a hammer Now I am going with my travel backpack to buy a bookcase from IKEA. The crowds in Causeway Bay are likely going to be horrific, but I really need the bookcase so I can tidy everything. The piles of stuff on my couch are driving me crazy, and I have to tutor tomorrow. I am...

Mar 5th

2 notes

1 tag

A Weekend in the City

I’m so sleepy. On Friday after work, instead of going home after closing the magazine, I went out for dinner at Sushi Kuu, then came home and sat around and suddenly it was three a.m. I had to get up at eight a.m. on Saturday because the Hyatt Regency in Sha Tin had invited me and a colleague to have dim sum (the desserts at Sha Tin 18 are delicious), then get massages at Melo Spa. The...

Feb 28th

Feb 25th

Feb 21st

5 tags

Feb 21st

1 tag

Not Knowing a Language Makes You Ignorant, Not...

My quiet afternoon didn’t quite happen. I went to eat and read, but the women sitting next to me were incredibly rude and entitled. They only spoke English and swore at the servers when no one could understand what they were asking for. (Is it that hard to learn the phrase, “English menu, please?” Or to simply learn the names of the food you love to eat? I’ve learned how to...

Feb 19th

3 tags

Lazy Saturday

I was feeling all ready to go out and hit some galleries this afternoon, but it’s almost four and I haven’t even gone out to eat lunch. It’s time to get The New Yorker and go to my favourite Saturday afternoon cha chaan teng to sit around, read and eat a giant bowl of duck and pork rice. Yesterday I went to see Little Big Soldier, starring Jackie Chan and Wang Leehom. I spent...

Feb 19th

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The Thomas Pynchon Fake Book

L just told me about the best thing EVER: The Thomas Pynchon Fake Book. According to the website: Thomas Pynchon is one of the great unheard lyricists of this, or any, generation. His award-winning novel, Gravity’s Rainbow, is full of songs. Depending on how you count, there are around 100 in the book. Over the course of a year, the Thomas Pynchon Fake Book managed to set thirty of them...

Feb 19th

5 tags

On the Art Market in Hong Kong

I wrote a report on the art market in Hong Kong. Also: my feet are freezing cold. Winter in Hong Kong is brutal. The temperature in my apartment is roughly the same as the temperature outside. I’m tempted to go to yoga at seven a.m. tomorrow just so I can wash my hair in a space that has seemingly limitless hot water. And I’m no longer reviewing True Legend, so I can now tell you...

Feb 17th

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All Your Diction Dripping with Disdain

The four-day weekend was glorious, save for the fact that I have a serious toothache brought on by my sugar diet. I wish I could say that I made progress on writing, but mostly I cleaned and tidied my apartment and watched the Olympics. What can I say, I like watching people race around in circles. I also did a lot of eating, headed out to Cheung Chau and saw True Legend. (I’m reviewing it;...

Feb 16th

1 tag

Life Upgrade

A few months ago I attempted a life upgrade. I bought a cutting board. I bought a knife. I finally got around to buying an iron and an ironing board. (I’ve owned these items in three other cities now, sigh. Moving around so much is a little wasteful.) For the first time in months I wore wrinkle-free clothing. After much thought, I invested in Mandarin lessons and found a good traditional...

Feb 10th

3 tags

Ballet and Burgers

This morning I woke to a rainstorm. I had to get out of bed to do a phone interview, and to have a Skype meeting. I don’t know why, but despite the fact that I’m not the greatest conversationalist, I have trouble keeping interviews short. B had made me promise to keep my interviews to 15 minutes because I’m talking to eight sources for this story I’m working on, and I...

Feb 7th

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Wu Tiao Ren at Fringe Club

Last night, after we closed the magazine (and after I went home to eat and sit around my apartment for a while to regain a sense of normalcy), I headed over to Fringe Club to see Wu Tiao Ren, a folk band from Guangdong. They were pretty fantastic even though I was tired and in a foul mood from having to walk through the lame Wyndham Street crowd on my way there. (Why do people wear such nice...

Feb 5th

4 tags

Review of Air Doll

My review of Air Doll. (I don’t know why, but I’m having trouble making a link, so I’ll just paste the URL below.) http://hk-magazine.com/feature/air-doll

Feb 4th

1 note

1 tag

Another Shiba Inu Live Cam!

I can’t help it. I love this live cam of puppehs.

Feb 2nd

1 tag

Feb 1st

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Mr. Taco Truck

I wonder if Mr. Taco Truck in Quarry Bay is any good. I haven’t had a taco in years, and haven’t been to a taqueria in ages. Hmm, I wonder whether it is a proper taqueria. No Open Rice reviews yet.

Jan 31st

6 tags

Lucky for Me, My Mandarin Isn't This Bad

Both JP and JN sent me this video, which features a Cantonese speaker attempting to give an interview in Mandarin on the financial markets…but for the most part he’s speaking in Cantonese, with a couple of Mandarin words thrown in. At one point, he feels he can only communicate what he has to say in English. Dear lord, it’s comic gold—it’s so very Hong Kong. He...

Jan 31st

4 tags

What I'm Currently Reading: Bananas by Peter...

Yesterday, M lent me this book. I’m about to crack it open. New York Times Review of Bananas

Jan 31st

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“Avatar: If an imperialist regime shows up at your door to make a mess of your...”

– Gawker on Avatar, a movie that I still haven’t seen.

Jan 31st

1 tag

My Failures

One of the dangers of not having local TV (by which I really mean TVB), and being somewhat of a hermit (oh, and being mostly illiterate—knowing about 800 characters does not make me much of a reader, but I’ve been actively expanding my vocabulary) is that I don’t really know what’s going on in the city. I still read The New York Times and The New Yorker, even though I...

Jan 31st

2 tags

The Serialist by David Gordon

I can’t wait to read this novel. Pub date is March.

Jan 31st