Is it interesting? Some days.

I guess I do have an interesting job. I've taken it for granted over the years. Travelled a lot to some interesting places, see some interesting people up close (briefly). So every once in a while I surprise myself and look back as my brain says "that was weird you should remember that." Take this week for example.

Sunday flew to Taiwan to chases the Dalai Lama around Southern Taiwan. Never been to Taiwan before. Beautiful place, hot and humid but beautiful. Drove out to a village that was wiped off the map and watched as a man for peaceful change prayed for the the survivors and the dead of typhoons and landslides. Met and talked to a survivor who seemed to just take it as it comes. He was just hoping to find the bodies of his family so he could bury them properly. Tuesday went on a 3 hour drive over the mountains to a place where a hotel collapsed into a river. Nothing left but an empty space between two other buildings (barely standing themselves). The owner was very willing to talk about what happened. How he and his wife have no insurance but hope to rebuild. The hotel had been in his wife's family for over 20 years. It was there life's work and employed about 20 people.

Flew home Wednesday.

Friday evening had a chance to shoot a sit down 10 minute interview with everyone's favourite former Prime Minister the man who gave us the GST, Brian Mulroney. By the way he is still the same smooth talker and plays to the crowd. RBC banking has him on a speaking/meeting tour through out Asia. I hadn't seen him since the Karl Shreiber stuff, and hadn't had shot an interview with him since march of 2003, when we profiled him for a current affairs show and had a sit down interview with him in Izzy Asper's summer home in West Palm Beach FLA. That was also a weird week Mulroney one day and Conrad Black the next (got in Conrad's house, giggled a little when he jail. Not much but a little.)


So that was my week in TV.

Here is the hotel story if you missed it.

OK so here is my take on Tibet. It has nothing to do with the Dalai Lama and religion. Sure the Chinese want him out of the picture or at least to zip it. My opinion, (personal opinion,) it's about water and natural resources. India and Tibet have four glaciers that feed four major river system. The Chinese, who are currently take all they can out of Africa at an alarming rate, won't let anything happen to the few natural resources they possess.

Personally I like the Dalai Lama. Covered him in Ottawa and thought he was hilarious. Always cracking jokes and smiling. I bit like Nelson Mandela. How can you not like the guy? Besides he's a bit like a panda, cute but you might not want to hug him.

So on to the circus. The DL is a bit like covering Bono. Lots of security, tons of adoring fans all in all a traveling road show worth of any Hollywood star or musician. The Taiwanese fresh from hold the World Games, mustered up 8 tour buses and media handlers. With a very fluid Dalai schedule, we headed out from Kaoshing to a town, actual WAS a town as the place was wiped off the map but the typhoon and accompanying mudslide, Shiaolin village. Since the roads where heavily damaged we walk the last kilometre or so.

Dalai shows up and holds a prayer service for the dead and survivors. Given the heat and humidity my hats off to the 70 sum year old guy.

Next it was back up hill and back to the other side of Kaoshing. Two hours later we the media where just late enough to have him drive by and wave.

If you want to see the story here you go. Other wise enjoy the pictures!

Taiwan

I couldn't agree more with a line Willie Nelson made famous; "I just can't wait to be on the road again". After a very long dry spell which I personally believe hinged on economics and not on news judgment, Ben and I are in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Morakot, August 10th while we where both on holidays. Not that I expected the desk to send us. I could have easily met Ben in Hong Kong within 18-24 hours. Enough of what we didn't do. Seems one Dalai Lama is visiting what I'm told is one of the largest Buddhist community outside of Tibet. Will have to do a little google search to fact check that statement. One would think India which is where the DL hangs his robes since fleeing over the Himalayas in 1959 would hold that title.

The visit is at the request of the current Taiwanese opposition party to bring comfort to local population. Seems the visit to Taiwan, which is part of China but autonomous, (I had to clear customs, picture having to clear customs to go to PEI,) has angered China. What doesn't these days? But the current President Ma, is in a bit of a tight spot due to being a little slow out of the gate with the response, and with turning down World aid in the first few days after the storm he is looking to save a little face. So he's agreed to let the DL in but won't be meeting him during the visit. He needs to answer a few questions with Beijing on this one.

Not really sure why Canadians care about all this. But a road trip is a road trip so I'll take it. Personally I think 30,000 refuges crossing the boarder from Myanmar in to China is a more interesting story but I'm not the desk I'm just the picture guy.

Here are a few picts of the night market, and from the DL's tour. Lots of sea food (still alive) and other fair. Very tasty indeed. Oh and it hotter than an August wedding back home. 30's plus 80% humidity. Was a busy day knocking back over 3 litres of water just to say hydrated.

Next up I hope to file a few pictures of the Dalai Lama's road show and circus.

Back

High all. I'm back from a wonderful but short vacation, 2 weeks is not that long. Was able to get reacquainted with my wife and my dog. Saw lots of family and friends, ate home made donuts from my Aunt, (I won't put her age up because even though so doesn't have a computer someone out there will tell her that I put her age up). Had dinner with my cousin Ron and his wife Nancy. Call people I didn't have a chance to see and had beers with former colleagues, all in all a wonderful time.

What did I miss the most besides the obvious, wife, dog, and family? Well I can honestly say fishing. I didn't realize until I got out on the water with Colin and others how much. It isn't so much the fishing as getting out and enjoying what we have in Canada. There are is the usually contrasts I could make: the air, the blue sky, uncrowded cities etc. But you've heard it all before from people who travel.

Perhaps it is the noise, or lack of it. Maybe the simple act of sitting on your front deck with a warm coffee reading a paper. The dog at your feet. Your spouse beside you, (or filling your coffee). Watching a deer emerge from the woods, or a humming bird checking out every hosta flower. Or perhaps the anticipation of what lays ahead as you unhitch a boat and head out on the water with old friends.

Life is all about the simple things. Friends, family, a house and enough money to heat it. Not much has changed, but from a far it is more clear to me what is important.

So here is the fruits of the fishing labour.

Colin caught this 51 inch Musky on the Ottawa river near Wendover.

Mine, (Colin can't figure out how to work a blackberry camera that's why he is holding my fish,) is a meager 38 inches.

Well as I return to a smoggy humid 40 degree over crowded city called Beijing I must now deal with my new Chinese friends at Chinese Customs. Once again they have denied entry to my equipment. Even with the right international paper work. Life is an adventure over here. Just wish they would pick set of rules to play by instead of changing them on the fly.

Will update you all with the story when it is complete. For now enjoy the fish.

Been a long time I know...

So it's been quite a while since I've updated my blog. I would love to regale you with tales of adventure, but I work in the TV news business and with that comes the fact that owners want to make money, news people want to cover the news. Guess who wins most of the time?

Hunter S Thompson in Generation
of Swine described the media this way; "The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason." I agree.

China has had some interesting stories going on. Floods in early July displaced half a million people and killed over 60. We didn't cover it. There has also been much unrest in Urumqi in the North West of China. It is an area of unrest that contains considerable oil and gas reserves. Seem that the exploration has brought the ethnic Uighur population out of balance. The in flux of the Han Chinese seems to have meant no benefits for the Uighur's in the area. A fight at a factory last month was the trigger for this violence. The Chinese feel that there are outside influences, but I'm not sure that would be a huge influence as outside sources would be at a minimum due to the control the government exercise over media and internet.

We unfortunately (or fortunately depending on if you're a member of my family,) weren't given the green light to cover what is arguable the largest protest in China in 20 years.

So what have been doing? Well here is a little happy story on the children of prisoners in Chinese jails.

New use for an umbrella

Been a while since I updated so in answer to my brothers question, yes, I'm still alive. We could ask the same of him.

Since the last post which was all about the quarantined students from Quebec it has been a busy time. I was lucky enough to have my lovely wife visit for a couple weeks and was able to see some of what Beijing has to offer for tourist.

Most interesting was the Beijing gardens. It's huge. We spent 3 hours exploring and all we really saw was the Rose Garden. We also did the Forbidden City which is spectactular, but very repetitive. Courtyard after courtyard. Very beautiful but after a while you're not sure which is which anymore. After the Forbidden City we hit Tiananmen Square and had fun identifying all the under cover police. Took Maggi to the Great Wall on the Sunday before she left. All in all a great visit for her first and hopefully not last visit to China.

Had some interesting times in the lead up to Tiananmen 20th Anniversary. Ben and I heading out the week before to do some oncamera stand ups. We went the sme day as Nancy Pelosi was in town so as to have an excuse to be there. Security was getting tighter and tighter in the days leading up to the 4th of June.

Qi, our producer and I headed to a spot to get some shots of the area where one of the Tiananmen mothers had lost her son. It is almost directly across from the Great Hall of the People. As I was shooting, the police approached Qi and I and asked to see our ID and asked what we where up to. Used the line about Nancy P and I continued to shoot. By the time they where done, several more police appeared, I was done.

Next stop was the Square itself. Ben had gone in on his own and was wired with the mic as we knew we would have much time to set up.

I headed through security and told Qi to get lost as he doesn't need to be there and complicate his life by being involved in Tiananmen Square stuff. Just simplier that way. I was tailed by two undercover police who did a very poor job of blending in. They started tailing me from when I left the corner with Qi.

After several minutes of them looking at my Press Card and Passport and copied several things from them I was allowed in and told pictures only no interviews.

Ben who was wondering where I was meet me on the stairs and I just told him to keep walking and find me later. I then set up and started shooting the guards and the flag. It took less then 30 seconds for at least 6 police and military to drop by and say hi. They to checked my ID and allowed me to continue. I moved on to a different spot, and met more police and military who wanted to see my ID. At this point Ben dropped by and was treated to the same checks.

Having enough visuals we moved to the back of the Square to do the on cameras. Our new friends followed to see what we where up to. Ben had put together a stand up about Nancy Pelosi so we where left alone. After several takes, our friends had relaxed due to the content.

So Ben decides to go for the big one and unfortunately didn't get a great take on it. So he tried a second and by this point our friends had heard the words tanks and Tiananmen and even if they couldn't speak English figured it. So they start trying to rattle Ben and were hang so close to me that I should of been able to tell what they had for lunch. They also started walking in between Ben and the lens. So we have these lovely umbrellas in between takes.

We did final get a couple of clean takes, but they never made it into the story. All in all just another day working in Beijing.

Swine Flu

So after working to 4:30 am on Tuesday morning on the Quebec students being held for quarantine we head off to the airport at 9 am for a flight to Changchun. It's in Jilin province. North of North Korea and West of Russia.

We land and Qi our producer, fresh out of Carlton with a Masters , turns out this is his home town. After much pressure from Qi and I think his mom, we are picked up by some folks from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Off we head to a university where the students are being held. We had lined up a phone interview with one of the students, and were getting close to that time. After a brief drive around the new campus we wind up in front of the Hotel that the students are at. We're greeted by a Health Official in full garb. After a few pleasantries we can see two students sitting on the step. One of the heath officials inside says we can call them over. After a bit of shouting Bonjour! they wonder over to within about 10 feet of us.

They are all well. No signs of flu and just want to get on with there studying. Seems this is all really for show. Everyone seems to know, but it isn't going to end until the 7 days are up and no one is going to say "sorry". A couple more interviews with officals then back to our hotel for the writting and cutting.

We got a nice little package out and the folks who pay the bills seem happy. 36 hours in 2 days. Seems like this week will be a long one.