Mitch Hedberg joke of the week

As mentioned previously, several people are finding my blog when googling for information about the late, great comedian, Mitch Hedberg. In fact, it's usually about 2 people per day! They are pretty much making up about half of my traffic!

In an effort not to disapoint these googlers, I am going to start a "Mitch Hedberg joke of the week (or whenever Nick remembers to post a joke (but not more than once a week)).

Here is this weeks joke, and the inspiration for the title of my blog is:

"I like an escalator because an escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator temporarily out-of-order" sign. Just "Escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience." We apologize for the fact that you can still get up there."

And, what did Nick happen to see just the other day, in the Sheung Wan MTR station?:

Grandpa needs a new pair of shoes...

Beth made a post mentioning Ching Ming day--I thought I'd go a little more in depth, explaining this intriguing (perhaps more accurately, baffling) Chinese holiday to you.

On Ching Ming day the Chinese visit the graves of their anscestors. In addition to making sure the grave is swept clean they burn paper money, houses, luxury cars, pets, even mobile phones!

Think I'm making this up? Check it out. (They also perform similar acts on "Hungry Ghost Festival.") I've learned the majority of Hong Kong residents practice ancestor worship due to the strong Confucian influence in the country. Burning paper items for the dead is an element of this practice.

OK, so here's what I'm wondering...I can accept that their view of the afterlife is not like a traditional Christian view where the deceased would not really need any earthly posessions. And let's take another leap and accept that they believe they can beqeath money and things by burning objects at their graves...but...mobile phones?? Do the dead really need them? Money, maybe... or sure, the latest iPod to pass the time? But do the deceased really make use of the microwaves and cars?

And, I'm curious: do they plan ahead by first burning paper mobile phone towers to set up the proper infrastructure? I mean, if you're going to go there--you've got to think about these details here! And if we're really serious about making sure our dearly departed have the latest afterlife bling, let's burn the real thing, not paper imitations! Grandpa may be dead, but he's not stupid!

So, there you have it! Near our new apartment, there are a couple of little shops selling incense and paper objects as I mentioned....here are some pictures I took:

My Visit to See the Big Bronze Buddha

Today I went to see the Tian Tan Buddha which is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze buddha...a niche category for sure, but nonetheless impressive.

The trip started with a 50 minute ferry ride from Central, Hong Kong Island to Mui Wo on Lantau Island. From there I took a bus to the Po Lin Monestary in Ngong Ping (randm cantonese lesson: to learn to pronounce words starting with 'ng' say the word 'sing' and then remove the 'si')

View of HK Island from the ferry:


I had to walk up many steps to get there. Once at the top, I went inside to learn interesting facts...one of which is that after Buddha reached perinirvana, he cremated himself. His cremated remains were scattered around the globe, inside the statue there are supposedly two pieces of those remains on display. They are as small as a grain of rice and behind glass, so I couldn't get a very good look. They say that each person who looks at it sees a different color. Seeing as how I couldn't even see it, I saw no color, I wonder what the person next to me saw

Another interesting fact that I just now learned, thanks to Wikipedia, is that inside the Buddha, there is a bell that rings every 7 minutes...108 times a day, "symbolizing the release of 108 kinds of human vexations." You Lost fans will understand and build this into your next theory.


This is what Buddha gets to look at every day:


It was interesting to see people praying to the Buddha statues. I didn't think Buddhists really worshiped Buddha, but just revered him as a great teacher, not a god or a deity. I guess I was wrong, there was lots of praying and burning of incense. Incense is pretty big here in Hong Kong, I'll have to explain more later.


I here this guy plays a mean banjo:


This was funny, this is called a "lucky pan" You're supposed to rub the sides and if you're lucky, you'll get the water to bubble up. This guy got it to work, but others didn't. I'm guessing it works because the rubbing creates vibrations that cause the water to bubble up.

























And this was my lunch, Chinese tea and chicken fried rice. Not too bad.















All in all, a fun and interesting day!