It really is the simple things in life that make it all
worthwhile...like a plate of dumplings ....so far my burberry suit is
stain free!

mmm chimay....

Sent from my iPhone

My honolulu acting debut, from April 2007

My friend Peijin couldn't read this, since he's in Shanghai and this website is blocked. So i'm posting it here...

Beijing Police Arrest Appellant Outside the 'Exhibition of Human Rights in China'
By Feng Changle
The Epoch Times
Nov 22, 2006


Appellants gather under a sign which reads "Exhibition of Human Rights in China" (The Epoch Times)
CHINA—Human rights defenders and appellants have been refused entry into Beijing's "Exhibition of Human Rights in China" and one appellant was arrested after he displayed a sign which said "We are bitterly and painstakingly waiting for China to have human rights."

A local Beijing appellant, Wang Jianping, said that the arrested man, Zhang Lianxi, had been refused entry into the exhibition, held at the Cultural Palace of the Nationalities in Beijing, for the last two days. He protested on the morning of November 19 and was immediately dragged into a police car by several policemen. His current situation is unknown.

Wang said, "This morning the police started to arrest people outside the exhibition. They did not dare to arrest anybody yesterday, but just took videos. Today they have started being mean."

She said that she has been to the exhibition for the last two days and will continue to go there until the end of the exhibition. Wang's husband committed suicide by drinking pesticide because their house was forcibly demolished by the government.


Policemen on duty outside the exhibition. (The Epoch Times)
Wang said that she took out her video camera when she entered the exhibition hall on November 18 but was stopped immediately by an official who ordered her to leave.

Many appellants from Beijing are now being monitored by the local police because they went to the exhibition, and Gao Yuqing is one of them. Gao summed up the sad irony of the situation, "The Government is exhibiting China's human rights. We are demonstrating the human rights condition in China. Do ordinary people in China have human rights?"

Gao told the reporter that she went to the exhibition on November 18. She just walked around and did not do anything, but the police office in Xuanwu district warned her that night and started to monitor her 24 hours a day. They monitored in three shifts.


Silent protest: "China has no human rights. Appellants have no human rights." (The Epoch Times)
Gao told the reporter about an incident at the exhibition. A well-dressed old man in his eighties, spoke in front of the reporters' cameras. He said, "China's human rights are better than all the countries in the world. No country can compare to China…." Before he finished his talk people surrounded him and asked, "Where are you from? Do you know China? What evidence do you have to say China's human rights are the best? How can you tell a bare-faced lie?" As a result, the reporters could not finish shooting. The old man was later driven away in a luxury car.

The exhibition ends on November 26.

Click here to read the original article in Chinese

When I hit the water after jumping off the boat, I immediately noticed two things: first, I was never given a snorkel. Second, I was nervous as all hell. Having a snorkel is important when you're scuba diving so that you don't waste air when you're at the surface. My nervousness made me miss having a snorkel because I had to continue breathing through my regulator--the black thing you suck on that is connected to your air tank. the more air you breath, the less time you have down at the bottom.

The current was strong as predicted, but my dive master was impatient.

"Go to the line! the Line! kevin! by the boat! Go to the side of the boat," Gabe yelled. I didn't actually hear everything he said, since i was bobbing up and down, but i can fill in the blanks. I was already on edge after fumbling through the equipment check.

"Kevin: fix your mask later. work on the rest of your gear." I was embarrassed to forget what connected to what, and how to suit up-- so this was all I needed. I swam earnestly but I was moving slow; the 40lbs weight belt and other equipment attached to my back weren't helping.

To tell the truth, I hadn't been diving for almost two years. Since Thailand 2004. I had talked about diving every week for the first month or two i was in Hawaii. "I think i'm going to go dive this weekend," I would tell my coworkers. But every monday, there was a different excuse. Before I came to the islands, I told myself i would get in a dive before I started work. In my defense, I suppose it was mostly money more than laziness that made me wait. Which is why i
didn't want to do a refresher course: I didn't want to pay an extra $50 for the humiliation of diving in a swimming pool and going throughall the safety stuff. But maybe I should have. I had told the instructor that I would be fine--no problem. I was wrong.

Once I got to the rope, which tethered the boat to the bottom of the dive site, I felt a little a better. But i was still breathing way too heavy. I started to descend, but the air was pushing its way down my lungs hard. I started to panic. Underwater, I could hear myself breathing, and it wasn't good. I sounded like Darth Vader running on a treadmill. there were divers below me and above me oblivious to my predicament. My instructor floated by imploring me to go down. Heprobably thought i was just being lazy. He wanted me to fix my mask and move on. It was fogging and my hair was caught inside.

I think it was then that I realized i was panicking. Panic is the worst thing for a diver. It's basically the only thing that can cause trouble down below. People who don't know how to dive worry about sharks, or running out of air, etc. But when there is a problem, nine times out of ten it's because someone--for no good reason--panics.

I couldn't go on. I decided to ascend. i was only a few feet down but i knew i couldn't go down further. I'd cancel. I get back on the boat and hang out. I already had the ensuing feeling of embarrassment swelling up inside and I started making excuses. All the while, other divers from our boat were passing me, with less interest in me than if i was a fish.

When i surfaced, took the regulator out of my mouth, and breathed real air, i started to calm down. I was still breathing too hard, but I started to make calculations; i figured my odds of actually dying were low enough and determined to avoid humiliation of not going down. I didn't want to be that guy. I gave myself a pep talk started back down.

I was relieved when I saw my dive partner on the line just a few feet down--this meant i wouldn't have to search for my instructor. he'd be waiting for us at the bottom. Before we were to explore the site, the instructor and my partner were going to do some diving skill test (my partner was getting an advanced certification).

While waiting for them to finish some sort of underwater math problem, I saw two sea turtles, floating along playfully. I followed them for a while. i didn't want to loose them. Sea turtles are the Cadillacs of the sea; no creature can match their style. To see two of them act in concert was arresting. It was like a serious moment in a film where the director cues the subtle-yet-touching score because he wants to have a moment of beauty; the action slows down allowing the audience to absorb the emotions of the scene.

But the skills assessment didn't take long, and the they began to move on toward the opening of a sea cave. I was a captive audience, with no choice but to follow where their story was going.

My second dive went off with out a hitch--except for the fact, despite a much clearer mask, that i didn't see anything.

Artist's rendering of my awesomeness.

Well, i am pleased to report that my good roommate and friend Kilin has sold me "the del ray" as featured below in this file photograph. All it cost me was a pizza + beer dinner in Kailua and some good conversation. Turns out, he was workin' in santa cruz in the bagelry in 1999 while I was a junior. At the time, I had yet to go to Taiwan, and I was complaining incessantly about hippies. funny how this September marks 10 years of friendship with Chris and Sam, and 8 with the Gube. Anyway, I know what you're thinking: Kevin, the action looks a little high on the guitar. Don't worry. Kilin is an expert guitarsmith (?) and makes guitars, ukeleles, and mandolins. He said he'd fix it, and he's a man of his word.

writing my thesis was probably the hardest thing i've ever done and it shows. My friend Peijin, who is now in Shanghai took this picture while we were hanign out at Happy Donuts. they had free wifi, copius electrical extension plugs, great hazel nut coffee, and the donuts weren' half bad either. Good mix of Stanford grad students and Russian & Japanese kids who were going to community college to learn Engrish. Peijin and I had a special bond that quater that i don't think I can do justice, we shared something that no one could possibly understand: a deadline that was staring us in the face like a serial killer to his next victim. I ignored so many of my friends that quarter, but Peijin and I could talk. we understood each other's mood. our frustration and fears. and Happy donuts was our place, for a few short weeks.

Calling all cars! many of my photos from my travels in East
Turkistan/Xinjiang/新疆 were used by KK Fung, a professor who contacted
me on flickr, for a video collage he made. you can check it out
here.

So i started playing ultimate frisbee. yes, i know only hippies play it. hippies and guys who just moved to a new town. A cool canadian started a saturday pickup game in Waikiki. To celebrate, I went to the mall and bought myself a puma sweatband. I think i look like richie tennenbaum. Well, maybe not.l. I have a history of buying and promptly loosing cool headbands. click here to see the other pics from the set.

Last week we went on a work field trip to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and took the tour. Click here to see the pics. This time, I added a lot of comments and whatnot to the pictures, so i suggest you check them out. I must say I was quite impressed with this vulgar display of American power, ingenuity, and moxie.

Not the most mannequins I've seen on a donkey cart. This Uyghur wanted the equivalent of $12 for each, but the picture was free.

I let Stacey down. When she invited me to hike on saturday, she said it wasn't going to be easy. But i told her i could handle a five hour hike. "No problem!!" i exclaimed. Of course I was wrong, and the Mauumae Ridge (Lanipo) Trail got the better of me. I couldn't finish. I suppose part of growing up is acknowledging one's limits. As she is a coworker, I am worried she'll tell the boys at work. Can i blame it on not owning a pair of hiking shoes? To see evidence of my defeat, please click on the pictures below or here

My car, featured in this file photograph, has been giving me grief lately. actually, it is not the car, but car keys in general. . Please allow me, dear reader, to update you on some humdrum happenings of late. Friday night I met up with my friend Fernando at an Indie rock show, featuring Linus. After the show ends at approximately 1am, I say my goodbyes to Fernando only to pull out my keys and realize that my car key is missing. it is not on my keychain. I race out to where my car is parked and thankfully it's still there. Yet, the key remains gone. Pockets, bathroom, curb, Security, bartender, strangers--I ask and look everywhere. At one point, an older woman grabs the flash light I had borrowed from Vic the nice security guy and asks what I'm doing. annoyed, i tell her tersely. She asks: "Do you wish to consult the oracle?" I guess I should have, because after an hour of looking, I still couldn't find them. Fernando is true blue because he stayed with me until the tow truck came to pick me up. $140 later, we are in Kailua. Several days and a car rental later, i am able to pick my keys up from the dealership. BMW, even back in 1996 had fancy keys that have a computer chip in them. so the keys were $50 each.

So my new friend Margaret--who is old friends with wendy--makes fun of me constantly last weekend, and though she requests I drive, will not let me handle the keys. Sunday we got to the north shore to snorkel at Shark's cove. After finishing a mediocre poke lunch, we set on the beach. She disagrees that i should put her keys in my shoes, so i suggest burying them. "It's okay," I say to her objections. "I'll put my shoes on top of them." Spirits were high as we finished snorkeling and began discussing dinner options; we were set on mexican. As we picked up our things and walked toward the shower...I realized i forgot to pick up the key. Now, there is no one else on the sand, to give us a reference point. I will spare you the details of not-so-helpful nine year olds incessantly asking me why i buried the keys, and simply tell you that 1.5 hours and two firefighters later, we found'em. with about 15 minutes of sunlight to go.