Foxymoron

Boo!

I hope your Halloween brings you more treats than tricks.

[mp3] I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - "The Ghost"
[mp3] Buck 65 - "Wicked and Weird"

November music

With my return to Toronto, I've already planned my concert schedule for the next five weeks. So far, it includes:

Nov. 8th - In-flight Safety @ Drake Hotel
Nov. 16th - Emm Gryner @ Mod Club
Nov. 17th or 18th - The Dears @ Lee's Palace
Nov. 22nd - Cat Power @ The Phoenix
Nov. 27th - Ohbijou @ The Boat
Dec. 2nd - Jason Collett @ Lee's Palace

My mom will probably read this entry and ask, "and how much are these concerts going to cost you?" Look Mom, compared to the price I'd pay to see the Nov. 28th Kanye West show in Hong Kong, where tickets range (before service charge) range from $380 to $1180 HKD ($55 to $169 CDN), I'm justified in spending a similar amount on six different concerts in Toronto.

[mp3] In-flight Safety - "Coast is Clear"
[mp3] Cat Power - "Lived In Bars"
[mp3] Ohbijou - "Steep"
[mp3] Jason Collett - "Runaway"

Days burn up like weed and we're still the same

As the Hong Kong chapter of my life comes to a close, I've been thinking about the past a lot, especially the happier times in my life, (not that I'm unhappy). Emm Gryner was often the soundtrack to my late teens and early 20's when I spent most of my free time weaving through Ontario towns, duping cross-border guards and "secret circles." This reminiscing got me listening to my favourite of Emm songs again.

I guess you could consider this blog an introduction to Emm Gryner if you're unfamiliar with her. She has been known as a David Bowie backup vocalist; a coverer of other people's songs; Cardigans touring band member; and other random things. But I know and like Emm most for her own work. She's a talented singer-songwriter who writes interesting metaphors, powerful pop hooks and piano-driven ballads.

Here are some of my recommendations. But first, remember mp3s are only up for about a week. If you like the music, support the artist — especially independent ones like Emm — by purchasing their albums. You can find Emm's music available at Maple Music.

Now, on to the music...

The Macau trip

Visiting Macau was one of the things on my "Things To Do Before I leave Asia" list so I was happy to take the ferry trip to Hong Kong's western neighbour yesterday. The city is best known for its casinos and with new investors from overseas, it is rapidly growing into its title as the "Las Vegas of Asia."

Most Hong Kongers will tell you there's  not much to do in Macau ("Oh Moon" in Cantonese) outside of gambling, eating and visiting prostitutes. I was only interested in eating and eat we did!

Lunch at Seng Chong: crab congee and banana pepper salt fried fresh shrimp. Dinner at Fernando's: roasted chicken with salad (and red wine and sangria). We also managed to try some durian ice cream in between. Durian is the infamous smelly fruit that many love to hate or hate to love. I thought I fell under the latter category, but it turns out I'm of the former group.

I wish it didn't me more than year to visit Macau because it's a good place to go for a relaxing time away from the more chaotic Hong Kong. As usual, I enjoyed the cultural mix in food and street-level culture. Mmm food...

Don't fake real beauty

Dove's ground-breaking campaign for Real Beauty is worldwide. The above advertisement was created as part of the North American campaign, by the Ogilvy office in Toronto. It's great to see the beauty myth spotlighted in the mainstream and by such an influential brand, but I wish the campaign was as honest in other parts of the world.

Selva, show us that Hong Kong's Real Beauty campaign is all talk no action with images like this:

Those models look no different to me than the ones in "fake" beauty campaigns: thin, fair-skinned, flat stomached, long hair. Simply put, they all look the same. Real beauty is conformity, according to Dove Hong Kong.

I wonder what the marketers were thinking when they chose the images for the local campaign. Did they say, "let's give that one on the left a tiny bit of pudge for some edge to show we care about real beauty and self-esteem — but not too much." As a consumer, it's insulting and as a result I trust Dove less because of its Hong Kong campaign.

mp3: Hawksley Workman - "Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off"

Through buildings gone missing like teeth

It's official. After a year and three months in Hong Kong, I've decided to return to my home and native land, Canada. My flight departs from the SAR exactly two weeks from today and while I've enjoyed my time here, I'm really looking forward to going home to Toronto. I will be returning at the onset of winter, but I've been assured it will be a mild one. Thanks, global warming!

Despite my criticisms of Hong Kong's air quality, policies and culture, I will miss this place. I will miss the old villages of the New Territories, the Bank of China building, Pret-A-Manger cookies, Joyce Is Not Here, Victoria Park, the MTR, Octopus Cards, the laundry store and my tiny apartment. Of course, there are people who have made the past year a lot of fun and they know they'll be missed, too.

I'll leave you with this song today. One of the best songs from one of the best Canadian bands ever:

mp3: The Weakerthans - "Left and Leaving"

Give'r!

This week's CBC Radio 3 podcast is one of my favourites, in large part because of Peaches' appearance on the Canadian Dictionary segment. The queen of rocktastic raunch explains the awesomeness of "give'r," a favourite of all respectable Canadians, (even if we haven't seen Fubar).

In Hong Kong, the local slang for encouragement is the Cantonese equivalent of "add oil." I'm told it has less to do with vehicles and more to do with stir-frys. Can anyone confirm this?

I had forgotten about "give'r" (which in my opinion is superior to "add oil" for its versatility) and I'm looking forward to telling my ESL friends (and students) about the new word they should know. It certainly beats bootylicious.

mp3: Peaches - "Give'r"

Photo caption: Ivy said, "Open bar? Give'r!"

Laundry and the cost of living

Property values are linked to where you hang your undies? According to some American homeowner associations, clothes lines can lower property values by 15 percent, so even though a clothes dryer can account for 10 percent of household energy use (which line drying obviously eliminates), hanging your laundry out to dry has actually been banned from certain neighbourhoods.

If people want proof that laundry lines are not linked to property value take a look at Hong Kong, home of some of the world's highest property prices and some of the most public underwear.

(story via Treehuger / AutoblogGreen)

mp3: Antipop Consortium - "Laundry" (DJ Spooky Remix with Of Unknown Origins)
mp3: Radiohead - "High and Dry"

Call for contributors

I'm looking for contributors to the Foxythings blog. If you haven't visited it, it's a new blog of beautiful design and ideas. The slogan is simple: indie and eco-friendly ideas and stuff. So far, I've written about sustainable homes, indie fashion designers, technology that turns your dance moves into energy and other stuff. If it looks good, isn't harmful to the earth and supports small businesses, then it's welcome on Foxythings, or rather, it is a foxything.

Interested contributors don't have to have a background in design or environmental issues. I don't. The important thing is that you're interested in finding and promoting good and positive ideas and products. So if you or someone you know fits this description and can put a reasonable sentence together, e-mail me. Don't worry, it's not a big commitment. I'm just looking for a few good people to share their idea of a "foxything" once (or, if they like, more times) a week. C'mon, e-mail me.

If you don't want to or can't contribute but like the blog, please link it from your blog or site. It's still getting off the ground and we could use a few more blog friends.

Thanks!

Hong Kong and the inconvenient truth

An Inconvenient Truth, featuring (the former next president of the United States) Al Gore, is no longer news to most people who read this blog. You've probably watched it already and know the world is coming to an end if we continue our environmentally damaging ways. But for those in Hong Kong, where the film was just released, you probably haven't. Last night, I watched it in a theatre with a handful of other people. The staff outnumbered the number of viewers and although it was a Wednesday, there were surely more people watching The Departed or even, The Devil Wears Prada (a film which has been in theatres for a month).

It is unfortunate that the average Hong Kong person cares so little about environmental issues. This is of course, my personal opinion which I'm open to changing. But while the government and public embrace the minimization of plastic bags (and really, charging for plastic bags one day of the month is minimum minimization), why are we so reluctant to reduce harmful emissions from vehicles and factories?

Hong Kongers like to point the finger at factories north of the border in mainland China. Over there, they say, they are the biggest polluters. That's true but there are always going to be other people to blame and this is something we're all responsible for. Another truth is one of Gore's most dramatic points in the film and that is If Greenland melts as it continues to do, sea levels around the world will rise 20 ft. If that doesn't concern every single person in Hong Kong, then maybe we deserve drowning.

mp3: Tegan and Sara - Underwater

Yesterday, chief executive Donald Tsang made his second policy address. Despite some environmental steps forward, he did little in terms of concrete measures to reduce emissions right now. Reduction on registration tax for low-emission, high fuel-efficient vehicles is great but the fact that he pledged to continuing consulting the public on whether to legislate against idling engines enrages me. This government has had no problem doing things without public consent, why stop now?

mp3: Elbow - Leaders of the Free World

The argument against legislating an anti-idling law is that the public doesn't like the idea of turning off its car in hot weather because they are uncomfortable without their air-conditioning. At this point, I think it's the government's responsibility to educate drivers and show them that they are responsible for this part of a vicious cycle. The heat is due to the increase of CO2 gases. Your car is part the reason it's so hot and unfortunately, it will continue to get hotter if we continue on this path. Something's got to give.

One last point I will make is about the environmental business. Hong Kong is a wonderful place for businesses, but this doesn't mean it can't be an environmentally friendly place at the same time. The government's environmental policies shouldn't just be about limiting things, it should also be about creating and nurturing green industries. There are some fascinating things going on with green technologies around the world and I think Hong Kong can be a place of innovation. We have the resources, now we just need the will power.

mp3: Hot Hot Heat - Save Us S.O.S.