Magic Johnson and Lethel Weapon II (on videocassette)

it's not the weirdest commercial i've ever seen. but i really have no idea what magic johnson and the video cassette release of lethel weapon II have in common. was the lakers star a big fan of mel gibson or danny glover? 

i don't imagine them calling up magic and him responding with "that's something i want to get the word out on."

i think is was something more like

"Hello Mr. Johnson."

"Yes?"

"Money."

"I'll be right there."

i'd take the money too. who wouldn't? but it still seems weird to pair sports with movies. what you'll see below is a bit unusual. but i'd still like to see an updated version of it say with kobe bryant promoting the dvd release of inception. enjoy!

ripped off in taipei

our first night out in taipei and already getting scammed. me and melody tried this little amusement park style game where you shoot small pellets to pop balloons. i figured i love guns and absolutely hate balloons so this was perfect for me.

before we started the girl asked us for $100(US$3.50) which was already a little steep. you can get a good dinner for 1 person here for $150. but we we're on a trip so thought "why not?" we paid first and then played.

when we finished the ammo (10 shots) the girl said we could keep going. so we just kept shooting again and again. after every round she would give us a little card which she led us to believe was a prize that enabled us to keep shooting. we had no idea that we were being suckered.

after about 3 or 4 rounds of shooting the girl made her play and asked for $600 (US$20). we were shocked. the whole time she led us to believe that we could keep shooting for free. i didn't have gullible written on my forhead after all, I checked.

she had to bring her boss over and try to get our money. before we played at all we already payed $100. Why was is that the second payment was asked for only after we played? I don't see a reason to change the payment pattern unless their goal was to deceive us. Does anyone ever go to McDonald's and pay after eating or go to a sit down restaurant and pay first?

anyway the boss wasn't budging and i new we were getting scammed but i wanted to get out of there. so i took a $100 bill and put it on the table and just stared at him. he waited for a bit but then took the money and i knew we could go with no trouble.

the worst part was the feeling after we left. all that trouble when we're on our trip and out $200. plus it doesn't really help my image of the city that the first taiwanese people we met scammed us.

lesson learned. check the price before doing anything. don't rely on the honor principle. and oh yeah, if i'm worried about getting ripped off while traveling, i should probably be more careful about wearing my damn camera around my neck. it was there the whole time!

I got the Kobe Zoom VI

Yeah I got the new Kobes. At US130 bucks they're the most expensive shoes I've ever bought. But I like 'em. They're extremely lite to wear but mostly I like that snake skin look on 'em.

They even made a video for the shoes with Bruce Willis and Kanye West. I wasn't too into the video but I watch pretty much any clip on kobe I can find.

kindness in hong kong

i couldn't believe how painful it was. just lying on the ground there thinking "damn this hurts."

i sprained my ankle playing basketball again and there was nothing i could do but just lie there. then some locals surprised me with their kindness. two of the guys i was playing with picked me up and carried me to the sidelines. one of them checked my injury as the other went to get me an ice pack and some water. another of the players brought a stool over so i could elevate my leg and keep the swelling down. when the guy with the ice pack came back he made sure i used it properly to prevent my injury from getting any worse.

then the most surprising part of the evening took place. an old lady saw me on the ground with my messed up ankle and asked me if i needed a tourniquet. that's when she pulled out her own scarf, handed it to me and walked away. i was shocked.

after allowing some time for the swelling to go down and decided i leave i began to make my way out of the playground. but not without saying thank you and goodbye to the people who helped me. one of them even offered to help me walk out to the street to catch a cab although i declined.

i didn't know any of these people but i was really impressed by their kindness to a total stranger. honestly speaking my memory of that night is mostly positive because of their behavior. hong kong people can be very kind.