Have any of you seen or heard of a long ago movie circa 1967 titled .. 'Bedazzled'? The plot concerns a so called hapless loser who sells his soul to the devil for seven wishes. Dudley Moore was the star that I most recall.
No matter how Dudley Moore worded his wishes .. The Devil won because The Devil was too smart for poor Dudley.
He actually got what he wanted BUT what he got was NOT what he wanted!
One wish was for a perfect woman with great virtue and morals and looks etc. He got her all right. She was a nun in a religious order called the Leaping Berillians who spent all of their time jumping up and down on trampolines and she had no time for poor Dudley.
Do I? Don't I?
Do I go out this Friday evening to see the world famous Hong Kong Chinese New Year's Fireworks display on Victoria Harbor?
Or Don't I? After all .. I have seen them once in 1997 AND YES they were all and even more than they were advertised to be.
After all the Chinese invented fireworks.
This morning I was up and I was out of my apartment at 6:40am and did not return until after 4pm. The last time Patti and I spoke by phone I told Patti that I had NO IDEA whether or not I was going to see the fireworks BECAUSE I had to take a nap.
Nap?? I took a two hour deep-sleep and awoke at 7:11pm. The fireworks were set to begin at 8pm sharp.
An odd thought came to me as follows:
I LIVE here! The fireworks are a mere 20-minute walk away (give or take depending upon the crowds) from my apartment. I do NOT have to rely on public transportation. I can simply WALK to the venue.
So I think that YES I WILL walk to the shores of Victoria Harbor in the Central District of Hong Kong and see what I can see!
And so I did!
Below is but one of the many silliest signs just like it that I have ever seen!
"Ah Captain? What is so silly about the above sign?"
There was NO WAY you could NOT go to the Viewing Area once the CROWD CAUGHT YOU in its tidal wave of movement to the Viewing Area! You simply lost the power of choice to not be swept up along with it!
CROWD CAPTAIN?
DID YOU SAY A CROWD FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR'S FIREWORKS! IN DOWNTOWN HONG KONG!
Sorry that some of the photographs are a tad blurry .. It was dark and night time and so I had to use a slow shutter speed. The flash photos failed to have any depth of field.
Because it was so cold .. Oh My Goodness! It must have been as cold as 55 Degrees F .. Many of the crowd were dressed accordingly.
A lot of 'Down' Jackets and Vests ..
Shiver Shiver Shiver! .. Teeth going Chatter Chatter Chatter!
I was wearing a light weight dress shirt and a very light weight jacket and I was SWEATING from the warmth of the crowd.
It absolutely MUST BE GENETIC! This young lady was seriously practicing being INSCRUTABLE!
Try as I could .. I could NOT get her to smile.
CROWD?
Why watch when you can text or whatever it is that they do?
You could NOT have this event without the famous Chinese Dragons being present!
Culturally these folks just absolutely LOVE THEIR DRAGONS!
Now let me get back to the movie .. 'Bedazzled'!
It was almost as if I had made a deal with The Devil.
Devil? Get me a good!.. Devil get me a great place to view the fireworks!
And THAT happened. I got an absolutely great place to stand and to see the fireworks and watch the crowds.
So?
So this!
The Devil outsmarted me!
I was in a great place to view the fireworks ..
But a low hanging FOG BANK over Victoria Harbor successfully shrouded them from a clear viewing!
I 'sold my soul' for THIS Devil?
"Captain My Captain! I got you a great viewing place. You did NOT ask me for clear skies Captain!"
/s/ Laughing Out Loud .. The Devil ..
The first photo that I snapped I shot immediately when the fireworks began. The smoke from this display was captured by the fog making all following photographs murky and basically invisible in their entirety!
Having a brain .. When I saw what was happening .. I made a bee-line for the exit to beat the crowd.
For Hong Kong .. The streets were absolutely deserted! The crowd estimate was 200,000 to 300,000 people!
I went to McDonald's for a Large and Juicy burger and then I went directly to Burger King for a Whopper.
Then home to bed kind of sort of giggling to myself about the evening.
HAPPY? You bet I am happy! I would not have missed it for the world.
Good Viewing or Bad Viewing ..
IT WAS A MAJOR EVENT ..
Much! MUCH JOY ! .. Cap ..
No matter how Dudley Moore worded his wishes .. The Devil won because The Devil was too smart for poor Dudley.
He actually got what he wanted BUT what he got was NOT what he wanted!
One wish was for a perfect woman with great virtue and morals and looks etc. He got her all right. She was a nun in a religious order called the Leaping Berillians who spent all of their time jumping up and down on trampolines and she had no time for poor Dudley.
Do I? Don't I?
Do I go out this Friday evening to see the world famous Hong Kong Chinese New Year's Fireworks display on Victoria Harbor?
Or Don't I? After all .. I have seen them once in 1997 AND YES they were all and even more than they were advertised to be.
After all the Chinese invented fireworks.
Nap?? I took a two hour deep-sleep and awoke at 7:11pm. The fireworks were set to begin at 8pm sharp.
An odd thought came to me as follows:
I LIVE here! The fireworks are a mere 20-minute walk away (give or take depending upon the crowds) from my apartment. I do NOT have to rely on public transportation. I can simply WALK to the venue.
So I think that YES I WILL walk to the shores of Victoria Harbor in the Central District of Hong Kong and see what I can see!
And so I did!
Below is but one of the many silliest signs just like it that I have ever seen!
"Ah Captain? What is so silly about the above sign?"
There was NO WAY you could NOT go to the Viewing Area once the CROWD CAUGHT YOU in its tidal wave of movement to the Viewing Area! You simply lost the power of choice to not be swept up along with it!
CROWD CAPTAIN?
DID YOU SAY A CROWD FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR'S FIREWORKS! IN DOWNTOWN HONG KONG!
Sorry that some of the photographs are a tad blurry .. It was dark and night time and so I had to use a slow shutter speed. The flash photos failed to have any depth of field.
Because it was so cold .. Oh My Goodness! It must have been as cold as 55 Degrees F .. Many of the crowd were dressed accordingly.
A lot of 'Down' Jackets and Vests ..
Shiver Shiver Shiver! .. Teeth going Chatter Chatter Chatter!
I was wearing a light weight dress shirt and a very light weight jacket and I was SWEATING from the warmth of the crowd.
It absolutely MUST BE GENETIC! This young lady was seriously practicing being INSCRUTABLE!
Try as I could .. I could NOT get her to smile.
CROWD?
Why watch when you can text or whatever it is that they do?
You could NOT have this event without the famous Chinese Dragons being present!
Culturally these folks just absolutely LOVE THEIR DRAGONS!
Now let me get back to the movie .. 'Bedazzled'!
It was almost as if I had made a deal with The Devil.
Devil? Get me a good!.. Devil get me a great place to view the fireworks!
And THAT happened. I got an absolutely great place to stand and to see the fireworks and watch the crowds.
So?
So this!
The Devil outsmarted me!
I was in a great place to view the fireworks ..
But a low hanging FOG BANK over Victoria Harbor successfully shrouded them from a clear viewing!
I 'sold my soul' for THIS Devil?
"Captain My Captain! I got you a great viewing place. You did NOT ask me for clear skies Captain!"
/s/ Laughing Out Loud .. The Devil ..
The first photo that I snapped I shot immediately when the fireworks began. The smoke from this display was captured by the fog making all following photographs murky and basically invisible in their entirety!
Having a brain .. When I saw what was happening .. I made a bee-line for the exit to beat the crowd.
For Hong Kong .. The streets were absolutely deserted! The crowd estimate was 200,000 to 300,000 people!
I went to McDonald's for a Large and Juicy burger and then I went directly to Burger King for a Whopper.
Then home to bed kind of sort of giggling to myself about the evening.
HAPPY? You bet I am happy! I would not have missed it for the world.
Good Viewing or Bad Viewing ..
IT WAS A MAJOR EVENT ..
Much! MUCH JOY ! .. Cap ..
I love reading your posts and getting inside your thoughts with you. I don't know anyone who can express himself so well as you regarding the frustrations, joys, etc. that you feel. I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteComparing your experience with the movie Bedazzled is priceless.
I'm sorry that the DEVIL gave you a good place but stuck that fog between you and what you wanted to see. That's just like him, always!!!
That sign pointing the way to the fireworks display was pretty silly since the wave of humanity was in charge of where a walker went!
Are your guests still with you? Just wondering.
Loving Hong Kong,
Shaddy
Do I assume that you are familiar with the movie Bedazzled Shaddy? What a hoot it was!
DeleteI am HERE TO TELL YOU that yes .. the wave of humanity just swept all in its midst to where IT was going signs or no signs! I got the photo of the sign as I was exiting with no crowd engulfing me. Going into the venue a photo would have been impossible.
NO .. Patti's niece and Jason are no longer here as they both returned back to Alaska and their world last Wednesday the 18th of February Hong Kong day and date.
Cap, the dragon shots are phenomenal! Did you use the fireworks setting for the fireworks? Night photos are really hard, I've found. Night portrait or night landscape lets in too much light and results in overexposure. Slower shutter speed equals blur unless you have a tripod or can hold the camera still. I've found that using the timer and setting the camera down on a stable platform and then taking my hands off the camera works. Again, the dragons are great! Well done.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing. What on earth is a Fireworks Setting? So NO I did not use such a setting. You betcha night photos are difficult! With the people moving even with a tripod you will get blurry shots. NO way in the crowds could I set the camera down. No place to do so for one thing. Smiles .. Will get to the Dragons below.
DeleteWhat camera and what setting did you use on the dragons?
ReplyDeleteI am 'bracketing' a lot of my photos. I am stuck with the point and shoot settings. So given what the camera wants to do .. I CAN and I DO .. modify it by darkening and lightening the exposures. The camera I am using is a Nikon Coolpix L22. I also have an L29 but am using the L22.
DeleteAnd I will stop .. as I did with the dragons .. and view the results and proceed to modify them as I think I need to do. How did we do it with film? Well I also did a lot of bracketing but we never knew for sure what we had with film until it was developed.
I lucked out to be honest with the Dragons! Thanks for the kind words.