THE HONESTY AND CREATIVITY OF NINE YEAR OLDS

Without a doubt, the highlight of living in China this year has been working with 3rd graders. It is a very good age. I found them to be refreshingly curious, creative, and hilarious. I asked them on the last day of class to do a little sketch of me. Above are a few of my favorites. 

HAND FEEDING THE HIPPOS

Yes, hand feeding hippos, pig swimming competitions, and crocodile wrestling were among the bizarre entertainment options at Chimelong Crocodile Park. Chimelong is an entertainment conglomerate here in China with Disney aspirations (though without the attention to detail). The crocodile park was a bit run down, but overall a good way to spend an afternoon. The highlight for me was getting within slobbering distance of a massive hippo. Other more uptight zoos would surely have "rules" or "safety issues" with visitors placing carrots in hippos mouths. Not so here. I will really miss being able to do stupid shit like this back in the United States.      

THE MERCEDES GULLWING

This is a photo I took of a 1955 Mercedes Gullwing owned by the King of Jordan. It is a beautiful car. This was one of my favorite photos from the shoot, but it was never used for anything. I believe I put a strobe in either seat and then kicked some light on the front off a large reflector. I'm not much of a car person, but the Gullwing is a piece of art. Mercedes is now producing the Mercedes SLS, a modern recreation of the Gullwing with a list price of around $200,000. The one shown above is worth about a million bucks.

ENSHRINED IN A STUPID SHIRT

I walk past this wall of honor students every day when I enter my school. And every day when I pass the girl with the "kiss me before wake up" shirt, I laugh a little. Not because the shirt is inappropriate, and not because the English phrasing is not quite right. The reason I laugh is because on the morning of this photo shoot, the girl in question woke up, sorted through a closet full of shirts more befitting an honor student, and landed on her "kiss me before wake up" shirt, and thought, "what a perfect shirt to wear for my honor wall picture". Perhaps she had a hard time deciding between this one and her Big Johnson t-shirt. 

CHECK OUT MY NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE

If you haven't visited my website in a while, check it out at: www.happymediumstudios.com. I gave the old gal a bit of a facelift recently. I would love any feedback you might have. And if you need any photos taken of your five-star luxury hotel in Guangzhou, please let me know in the next two weeks!

GOING TO THE CIRCUS

It has been a while since I've been to a circus. I used to go to Ringling Brothers when I was a kid. Tonight I took Julie for her birthday. It was pretty fantastic. I especially liked all the trained animals, most notably a bear riding a motorcycle and a monkey playing the drums. Julie thought it was cruel. I just kept thinking, "what bear wouldn't want to ride a motorcycle". True to the country of its home, the circus was grandiose, but poorly paced and disjointed. It borrowed elements of other circuses, and at times came close to being original, but never quite. Nonetheless, it was a good way to spend a night.