So I attended Jeanne Hartman's acting workshop this past weekend. It was a great time experimenting as well as watching my other classmates work as well. It's kind of like a good personal training session at the gym for actors.  It's not often that actors in Hong Kong get a chance to attend things like these. There are acting classes all over LA and NY but not much available in HK. There is still one more weekend. Even if you aren't thinking about being a professional actor this workshop can help you with other things like public speaking and boosting your confidence and it's a whole lot of fun too! If you're free you should check it out!

I noticed on most of my political related blogs there were some comments from people saying that they don't like or care about politics, so I thought I'd address the matter. I actually don't like politics either but I  do care very much about politics. Let me say, I'm not forcing any ideas upon anybody here I just want to tell you my story...

When I was five years old, I wanted to be the first Chinese American President of the United States, then soon after I wanted to be a fireman then later a cop so I stopped paying attention to politics for many years. As a kid I hated political talk, it was boring and I felt that politics had nothing to do with me. Even as a teenager and college student I didn't care that much either. I saw Bill Clinton speak my first year in college and voted for him because I turned 18 that year and I thought it was cool to go and vote but I still didn't really care that much. I didn't vote the second time, nor did I vote in 2000. That was mainly because I was in Hong Kong already and I couldn't be bothered to figure out how to do an absentee ballot and I thought for sure Al Gore was going to win. I was in my twenties then and I didn't really care that much about world affairs. Quite frankly, I only cared about myself and the immediate people around me. What did that stuff have to to with me anyway? I just wanted to have fun and do what I wanted. But it was that 2000 election that started to make me wake up.
When Al Gore won the popular vote but lost because of the corruption of the Florida vote that was rigged by Bush's younger brother, I started to think, "Hey! Wait a minute...what's going on here?". When Bush took office and started to do the terrible things that he is now known for I started to become angry. When he started the war in Iraq to find "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and find Osama Bin Ladin, I really woke up. We later learned that there were no WMD's and that Bin Ladin was far from Iraq and that basically we spent  and are still spending billions of our own tax dollars to basically assassinate Sadam Hussein and control oil so that Bush and all of his friends could get rich. That made me really angry.
When as an American, living outside of America, I started to see people from around the world change their attitudes towards Americans and begin to hate Americans, I really began to worry. I remember telling a taxi driver in Cairo, Egypt that I was from Hong Kong because I was afraid to admit that I was an American after hearing him tell me how much he hated "stupid, ignorant Americans and that they deserved what the terrorists are doing to them", I started to realize that it was politics and bad politics that got us here.
That's when I decided that politics are actually really really important. When things are going well around the world or in your country or in your neighborhood, then politics don't seem to matter that much but when things start to really get bad, like they are now, then politics are really important. When you do have the power to choose your government, it is probably the most important thing you can do for your country,  for your community, and for yourself.
When you are young, still in school and don't yet have a job it may seem like politics aren't important but when you start making your own money, raising and supporting a family you start to understand that a good government and good politics are the key to your survival and that politics affect every single thing you do.
When you can't get access to a good education that's because of politics. When you can't get health care, that's because of politics. When your government waits several days to help you after a flood or earthquake that's because of politics. When the cost of gasoline goes up, that's because of politics. When the cost  food goes up, that's because of politics. When your house and car gets taken away from you that's because of politics. When your parents lose all the money they have worked for all their lives for retirement because of faulty banking that's because of politics. When your friend goes to war and comes back home in a coffin, that's because of politics. When innocent women and children are killed by the tens of thousands in countries like Myanmar and Dafur, that's because of politics. When you see the Hong Kong harbor slowly disappear due to the influence of rich developers that's because of politics.

On the flip side, when you see an amazing and successful Beijing Olympics, that's also because of politics. When measures to protect the environment are implemented, that's because of politics. When laws are made to protect things like freedom of speech and human rights, that's because of politics. When you see the end of apartheid, that's because of politics. When you see women's equal rights that's because of politics. If you ever see world peace, that will come because of politics.

So as you can see politics and government are really important and when you live in a place where you have a say in things like this, it is very important that you care and it's even more important that you try and understand and at the very least vote. A lot of people want you to not care and not  think about these things because that's how they can control you better. Now the reason why Americans politics are so important is because quite frankly, America is still one of the most powerful countries in the world and the things they do affect everyone from China to Africa to Papa New Guinea, so it's very important to have honest and caring leaders who really want to make this world a better place.

So you can choose not to care and live your life, that's fine. That's your business, I'm not going to judge you for that. But as you grow up and you begin to come across problems or begin to get upset by the state of the world or are moved by travesties caused by evil dictators or something gets taken from you, then you can help but care about politics and government. And that's exactly why I care so much.

After reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in fifth grade, I have always had this dream of going on a river raft adventure down the Mississippi River. Since moving to Asia I still kept the dream but wanted to do it down the Yangtze or the Yellow river. Wouldn't it be fun to build a raft out of bamboo and just cruise, letting the river take you down it's path to wherever it goes?
Well I haven't done this trip yet and quite frankly haven't thought about it for a long time but a few days ago I was in Wu Yi Shan, Fujian province to film a scene for this new film I've been working on and I was reminded of ol' Huck Finn.

Wu Yi Shan is famous for it's majestical mountains and dreamlike scenery. On the day of the shoot, we arrived at the bank of the "9 Corner River" where you could see row after row of bamboo rafts waiting to be set in the water to take tourists down through the rocky terrain. I was immediately reminded of Huck. The rafts were simply lashed together with wire and made entirely out of bamboo. Even the seats were made of bamboo. They didn't look that sturdy but once they were set in the water I realized it wasn't going to be a problem.

Our boatmen skillfully manuevered us to the locations we needed to get to and we spent the morning shooting and enjoying the awesome views. I think the footage we shot is gonna look really cool.

After taking this short raft ride, I'm convinced that my dream of a river adventure is possible. I'm not really sure if it'll be down the Yangtze or the Yellow River. I think all the industrial waste and the huge shipping boats may make it a bit life threatening but I'm sure I will be able to find a nice river somewhere that will allow me to cruise for a couple of weeks. Hopefully I will get to do this sometime...keep the dream alive!