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NEWS

Each month I will keep a running list of news items, including info on my schedule, etc. It's in order from LATEST entry at the top on down to the OLDEST entry at the bottom. 

Here are the "News" archives, feel free to browse them for some interesting tidbits:

25 September 2004

Okay. I'm shutting down this road show. 

I don't actually leave HK for Japan until early Monday morning, but I need to take this computer apart and reformat the boot drive with Windows so that my friend Timothy can come and get it tomorrow. Obviously, once I've reformatted, I won't bother updating any more here. 

It should be a while before I'm back online in full force. I will be staying in the church in Japan for the first few weeks, until I find a place of my own, and then it will probably take another while before I get connected to the internet. 

It's sad to leave HK, I love it here so much. If you are horribly bored, you could look through these last three years' worth of stuff on this site and see that I've had all kinds of amazing adventures. I mean, nothing very adventurous, in the strictly "Hemingway" sense, but still, for a dope like me, it's been unbelievable. 

And now I'm off for some more adventures, God willing... 

23 September 2004

I have two kinds of panic. 

The first kind of panic is "Takin' Care of Bidness Panic". This is where I know it's coming down to the wire, and it's time to get things DONE. I don't freak out or anything in this kind of panic -- if anything, I get hyper-calm. But that doesn't mean I move slowly -- no -- I start moving with haste, amigo. I mean, step off, fool, because I am gonna run over whoever is in the way -- can't help it, I'm takin' care of bidness. That's just the way it is. You might even say that I pity the fool who gets in my way, Hannibal.  

The other kind of panic is "Full Blown Approaching a Freakout Panic." This is the worst kind, obviously -- it's where I start running around, repeating things I've already said, looking at the piles of things that need to be done but actually doing NONE of them. It's like, I know I can't get it done, so I start to just go over the mental checklists that have been lingering for weeks, repeating the same checklists over and over, crazy-person style, and I somehow get stuck on hypothetical possibilities ("what if I slip and fall and land on my carry-on suitcase?!? I'll break that bottle of shampoo!!") which sidetrack me onto all kinds of stupid diversionary tangents. I just can't quite seem to get back to the calm TCB Panic (see above) that serves me so well in times of crisis. 

Right now, I'm in Full Blown Approaching a Freakout Panic mode.  

(just joking)

. . .

1) Pray I can get everything packed and to the post office in time. 

2) Pray that I can get all the services (gas, water, internet, etc.) shut off with no problems or extra charges. 

3) Pray that the meeting with my landlord goes fine on Sunday -- if it DOES, he's supposed to give me MONEY. That's good, as I have none. 

4) Pray that everything with my flight on Monday goes well -- that I don't oversleep, that the airlines don't hassle me over my checked luggage, that I don't CRY when I say goodbye to everyone (not that there's anything WRONG with that)... pray that the airport security people don't hassle me over my carry-on, that the flight goes well, and that the customs people in Japan don't hassle me over my stuff. 

THANKS.

. . .

Meanwhile, this is the blurb on the back of a pirated DVD copy of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones that was obtained by unnamed persons in Shenzhen, China, across the border from Hong Kong:

That does sum up Episode I pretty well, right? 

It also says this at the bottom:

It's also interesting that throughout it actually states that the title of the film is Star Wars II: Battle of Hoth -- which is hysterical because The Battle Of Hoth is a hilarious Ken Burns-esque mockumentary about Star Wars... 

But my favorite quote is this one that graces the top of the front:

"Every saga has a neginning!"

16 September 2004

Preparations for the move to Japan continue with FURY and VERVE. Mostly FURY, but hopefully enough VERVE (and VIGOR) that I will actually make it. 

Many things have been going on, I've been so busy these weeks, and I have so many photos to show!! But I just do NOT have time to post them now -- I regret it so much, because it's so much FUN, the stuff I've been doing -- but I haven't had time to even catch my breath. 

Some FACTS:

1) I have the visa AND the plane ticket -- I will be leaving on 27th September -- that's a Monday -- less than two weeks from now!! 

2) I already have a new website and it is at http://www.TokyoBrother.com -- (what else?) -- there's not much there now, obviously, but when I move I will begin to fill in the "blanks" with abandon -- I predict occasional RECKLESS abandon. But after the 27th you might check here AND that site for info on what's going on. 

3) I will lose my internet connection literally ANY DAY now -- so please, don't send me any more offers for bodily enlargements or low-interest mortgages. Yes, I'm talking to YOU, Mister Nigerian/South American Muslim Brother Who Wants To Share $10 Million... That's right, I'm not gonna answer your offers, Mister "Be An Ordained Minister In 48 Hours" -- (I actually got that e-mail today)... 

But SERIOUSLY -- I will be offline for an indefinite amount of time -- please understand if I am not able to answer any e-mails for a good while. 

. . .

Here's the true deal, though -- I need you to pray for me -- I have so much to do, and sitting here this moment, I feel like it's not going to get done, and I'm going to be in panic mode for those last 48 hours. Partly it's because I've been so crazy busy -- and the OTHER part is that I'm the King Of Procrastinators. 

But we can talk about that later... 

. . .

Meanwhile, I DID get to see my niece Madie tonight on video conference:

OH!! What did Uncle Glenn type now?!?	I can put this mic up my NOSE, Uncle Glenn!!
The cutest kid ever... ?

8 September 2004

I just have one urgent prayer request:

My friend Vivien works at a farm in the mainland where drug addicts are taught vocational and life skills, all in the hope that they will find faith and hope in living a CLEAN and drug-free life. It's a very difficult program, but one that has seen many successes over the years. The CP church helps with this endeavor, and we are always praying for the "clients" currently in the program.

Vivien has been in the USA, but was scheduled to return TODAY to HK, and then she and I were to go to the farm where I was to take some video for an upcoming promotional spot we have planned. 

However, her 90-year-old father had a heart attack Wednesday night, and she must now stay in the USA indefinitely to care for him. 

Please pray for her father -- as she said, his recovery "will not be speedy" -- but we still pray for miracles... 

7 September 2004

I stumbled across a great website today:

http://www.daochinasite.com/eng/ch/

It looks as if it's put up by a Russian who has lived, studied, and worked in China for some time. This guy is educated, and funny, too. His English is quite good -- I wish I could speak ANY language as well as he speaks three or four. Still, as you might expect, there is some awkwardness to his translation that makes you chuckle a bit, despite having a deep respect for the guy's skills as a linguist. In other words, I totally am in awe of this guy's language skills -- but he still be talkin' funny. 

Here's an example from the main page, and what I'm trying to say is, the way he words it in English is stilted and stiff, but the bottom line is this guy actually knows EXACTLY what he is talking about:

I strongly suggest you take the time to read his essays -- I say again, they are wonderfully entertaining, but also more accurate than you can imagine. The two "must-read" essays are Forty Strikes With A Crowbar and The Flaming Sinologism Syndrome. 

This guy REALLY knows what he is talking about -- seriously. 

. . .

My friend Tinnie (pronounced like "teeny") is a Christian who has struggled through a number of family and vocational hardships recently -- but always with a thankful and upbeat outlook. 

Her mother and sister-in-law have recently become believers, but both are facing difficulties. The sister-in-law is living in the mainland, and needs to find a "suitable" church (one where she won't get arrested for attending, etc). Then Tinnie's mother is facing back surgery, but she's pretty scared about it. 

So hope you don't mind praying for these two women, who probably feel pretty alone in their situations... 

6 September 2004

I e-mailed an acquaintance here in HK, asking if he wanted to go see that new film "The Village" sometime, and to sort of say our "goodbyes" or whatever, since I'm moving to Japan in a couple of weeks. 

The gist of my message was, "Are you free to meet?" -- he e-mailed back, and this is ALL that he said:

..."any time after today unless otherwise specified"?!?... What does that mean, exactly? Does that mean, "any time after today as long as it's within the framework of this week"? Does it mean that he's free ANY time after today, unless I actually CALL him, at which time he will specify otherwise? Was there another e-mail I didn't get, specifying his schedule for the framework of this week?

Is it just me or what?

(Anyway, I'll call him later)... 

4 September 2004

Well, yesterday I went over to the Japanese Consulate to pick up my visa -- I have it in hand. Good for three years, under the classification of "religious activities"... So I guess that's that. 

If any of you have any religious activities you want undertaken in Japan, I'm "legal"... 

. . .

Got an e-mail from one of the teenagers who has connections to Yao Dao Church the other day. What I mean by "connections" is that she doesn't always come to Sunday worship or even the Saturday youth fellowship, but she was often a regular at the Thursday night English tutorial classes I held at Yao Dao this past year. 

Now, it means a lot that she would write this -- the teenagers at Yao Dao have been incredibly reluctant to communicate with me from the beginning. Partly it's because they are afraid of English (their level is so low compared to others their age in HK), but also I think I'm just basically a fat, bald white guy that they have no idea how to approach. 

Of course I tried approaching THEM first, but learned early on that this isn't the best idea, ha ha... Talk about terror! 

Anyway, it made me feel good to hear from her... So I say to you, as obligingly as I can muster, "Sa-yo-ra-la!"

. . .

Back to the facts at hand -- I am fat. I admit it, and I rue it. 

(I'm not 100% sure I know what "rue" means, but I am 100% sure that it's what I'm doing, okay?)

In the past 12 months, EXACTLY, I have gained about 15 pounds. Which is to say that I have regained the 10 pounds I lost when I first came to HK, and put on another 5 just for spite. 

It's driving me CRAZY, and I have GOT to do something about it. 

Reason I mention this little-celebrated fact is that I have, in the last week, seen some truly, grotesquely overweight people here. Yes, they were foreigners. And yes, most of them were women. But the point is, it was like looking into a mirror -- and it scared me. 

I know HK people think I'm huge, and gross, and all that... And I'm not trying to judge these horribly overweight people, but looking at them, I suddenly had the thought, "So this is what HK people see when they look at me!"

So, whatever. Not sure why I told that, but ... hey... "I'm working on it!!"... 

1 September 2004

Please take the time to read this page about Ben's Team -- and watch the video, too!

. . .

In the meantime, in a completely unrelated vein -- let me assure you that ice milk tea, thick cigarette smoke, spicy HK-style Russian borscht, a TV blaring the news at full volume, screaming kids, and eel fried rice do NOT mix... (just take my word for it)...

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