1.16.2008
Fook Hing Famous!
Yes, I'm back. Like LL Cool J in "I'm Bad," or the ghosts in Poltergiest. Or, I suppose, Poltergeist 2, if you want to be technical about it. And, let's face it, if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that the Internet is full of people who do indeed want to be technical about it ...
Anyway, onto the matter at hand. Or, to be technical about it (you know you want to be), the Fook Hing subject at hand. That is, the subject which has to do with Fook Hing. Who? Fook Hing the Coffin Maker, of course, owner (presumably) and sole propriety (possibly) of the one, the only Fook Hing Coffin Shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as shown in the photo below:
Why--those of you who are regular readers are no doubt saying--are you posting this again, for like the kagillionth time? (Note: Given the fact that I am no longer living in China--and Seattle doesn't really even have a Chinatown--and have almost completely stopped posting anything, I don't actually believe that I have any regular readers. Or possibly readers, period.)(Note: for those of you who are non-regular readers--and if you read the preceding note, you'll note that includes all of you--not believing what I write is a prominent, possibly even the defining, characteristic of my writing.)
But I digress. (Also a prominent characteristic of my writing ...) The point is, when last we visited Fook Hing (for the third time--this is the fourth, as it turns out), I had just won a major award. And by a major award, for those of you to lazy to click that link I just put in--I can empathize, believe me--I mean that a Website called Signspotting paid me $50 bucks for, what it turns out, were the rights to my photo.
After cashing and spending my check (I have no idea how, but "on Tsing Tao and dan dan noodles" is probably not a bad guess), I didn't think much of it. That is, until I was wondering around Elliot Bay Books the other day, and--upon finding myself wandering through the travel section (like Caine in Kung Fu, but with less hair), I noticed the following book:
(Note: There was a Signspotting 1?)(Note: I know, I know--technically, it would have just been Signspotting ...)
Out of curiosity, I flipped open the book on the off chance my photo had been included, and what did I see on one of the first pages (two pages, even--22 AND 23!) that I flipped to? (You do know what's coming, right?). Yes, I saw the picture below, better known--to me, at least--as "my photo":
If you look a little closer--and now that you've read this far, why wouldn't you?--you can see that I do indeed have a photo credit, although it's a little blurry in this picture, which was definitely not--I repeat, NOT--taken from Amazon.com's "Search Inside This Book" feature using my name as a keyword and the old standby of ALT+PRINT SCREEN:
At long last, I'm completely and totally famous. I have to say, it's well deserved. Will I be seen out and about at the Chateau Marmont next week with Scarlett Johansson? I can only hope. But, probably. (I know, I'm married, but she's on the list, so it's totally cool. Or at least it was on that one episode of Friends. )
Anyway, if you're interested in buying the book--I haven't looked through it all, but I can tell you that pages 22 to 23 are fracking amazing!--you find it on Amazon for the low, low price of $9.99. Which, thanks to the sound fiscal policies of our current US administration, is something like 2 Euros for my European-based readers, so why wouldn't you? The only way it would be better is if I got some sort of royalties or money out of it, which I don't, sadly. However, if you want to just send me money anyway, feel free.
(Breaking News: Today--January 23, 2008, for those of you who are not yet sick of the "technical" joke--I received one free copy of Signspotting 2 in the mail today, presumably because my picture was used in said book, as I may have mentioned. So I sold the rights to my photo for $50 AND a free book. Which I actually bought. But oh well--thought that counts, etc. etc. etc.)
And ... I think that's it. Finally. Until next time, then. And yes, there will be a next time ...
Anyway, onto the matter at hand. Or, to be technical about it (you know you want to be), the Fook Hing subject at hand. That is, the subject which has to do with Fook Hing. Who? Fook Hing the Coffin Maker, of course, owner (presumably) and sole propriety (possibly) of the one, the only Fook Hing Coffin Shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as shown in the photo below:
Why--those of you who are regular readers are no doubt saying--are you posting this again, for like the kagillionth time? (Note: Given the fact that I am no longer living in China--and Seattle doesn't really even have a Chinatown--and have almost completely stopped posting anything, I don't actually believe that I have any regular readers. Or possibly readers, period.)(Note: for those of you who are non-regular readers--and if you read the preceding note, you'll note that includes all of you--not believing what I write is a prominent, possibly even the defining, characteristic of my writing.)
But I digress. (Also a prominent characteristic of my writing ...) The point is, when last we visited Fook Hing (for the third time--this is the fourth, as it turns out), I had just won a major award. And by a major award, for those of you to lazy to click that link I just put in--I can empathize, believe me--I mean that a Website called Signspotting paid me $50 bucks for, what it turns out, were the rights to my photo.
After cashing and spending my check (I have no idea how, but "on Tsing Tao and dan dan noodles" is probably not a bad guess), I didn't think much of it. That is, until I was wondering around Elliot Bay Books the other day, and--upon finding myself wandering through the travel section (like Caine in Kung Fu, but with less hair), I noticed the following book:
(Note: There was a Signspotting 1?)(Note: I know, I know--technically, it would have just been Signspotting ...)
Out of curiosity, I flipped open the book on the off chance my photo had been included, and what did I see on one of the first pages (two pages, even--22 AND 23!) that I flipped to? (You do know what's coming, right?). Yes, I saw the picture below, better known--to me, at least--as "my photo":
If you look a little closer--and now that you've read this far, why wouldn't you?--you can see that I do indeed have a photo credit, although it's a little blurry in this picture, which was definitely not--I repeat, NOT--taken from Amazon.com's "Search Inside This Book" feature using my name as a keyword and the old standby of ALT+PRINT SCREEN:
At long last, I'm completely and totally famous. I have to say, it's well deserved. Will I be seen out and about at the Chateau Marmont next week with Scarlett Johansson? I can only hope. But, probably. (I know, I'm married, but she's on the list, so it's totally cool. Or at least it was on that one episode of Friends. )
Anyway, if you're interested in buying the book--I haven't looked through it all, but I can tell you that pages 22 to 23 are fracking amazing!--you find it on Amazon for the low, low price of $9.99. Which, thanks to the sound fiscal policies of our current US administration, is something like 2 Euros for my European-based readers, so why wouldn't you? The only way it would be better is if I got some sort of royalties or money out of it, which I don't, sadly. However, if you want to just send me money anyway, feel free.
(Breaking News: Today--January 23, 2008, for those of you who are not yet sick of the "technical" joke--I received one free copy of Signspotting 2 in the mail today, presumably because my picture was used in said book, as I may have mentioned. So I sold the rights to my photo for $50 AND a free book. Which I actually bought. But oh well--thought that counts, etc. etc. etc.)
And ... I think that's it. Finally. Until next time, then. And yes, there will be a next time ...
Comments:
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Hey Jason, just wanted you to know, there are many of us readers out here ... and we are impatiently awaiting your next blog entry.
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: September 22, 2009 11:01 PM
: September 22, 2009 11:01 PM<< Home
