Occupy Hong Kong Protest Art

Amazing video.  Thanks for the heads-up 
http://rachelmarsdenwords.wordpress.com/

Post by Revolution News.

Lucky Cat Supper Club Photos

I am pleased to say that last Friday's first ever Lucky Cat Supper Club was a belt busting success!  The food was appreciated and everyone had a wonderful evening.  I played a mixture of vinyl to create an ambience; Poon Sow Keng, Nat King Cole, Desmond Dekker, Josephine Siao Fong Fong, Fats Domino and Patsy Cline.

Here are some photos of the night:

My husband assembling the Vietnamese chicken soups 

Teapots to serve the chicken broth - diners pour the broth into their own bowls

Part of the trio of starters - prawn lettuce wraps

Chicken soup bowls ready for the broth

Char siu pork with fresh mint garnish. Mmmmm.

Pudding: Pandan coconut (kaya) pots with fresh fruit salad

Lucky Cat Supper Club

My husband and I are hosting a Lucky Cat Supper Club at the lovely Windy Corner Stores cafe in Whitstable, Kent.  There are only a few places left if you want to book! 

My husband is a talented chef and we designed the menu together.  I will be helping in the kitchen and then playing records and serving the delicious food for guests. We hope this will be the first of many Lucky Cat Supper Clubs!

Ganbei!

Lazy Prawn & Butternut Squash Curry

I couldn't be bothered to make a curry paste so I knocked up this lazy curry last night.  It was pretty good and I was impressed with the tamarind stock cubes which were a new find in my local Thai emporium.

Ingredients:

• 2 handfuls of king prawns
• Half a butternut squash, chopped into 1inch wedges/squares
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1.5 teaspoons of tumeric powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 dried chilli (I used facing heaven chilli)
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
• 1 tamarind stock cube dissolved in 400ml boiling water
• 1 can coconut milk
• Fish sauce to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Top up with water if nec (i.e. sauce becoming too thick)
• Ground nut oil for frying
• Chopped spring onion for garnish

Method:

Heat the oil in a large wok, add the onions, turn down heat and let them soften.  Whilst softening sprinkle in turmeric powder and add chilli and cinnamon stick.  Then after some minutes stir in the shrimp paste and the garlic.  Careful, don't burn it!  Pour in coconut milk.  Keep the can so you can use it to top up with water later if needed.  Add in the tamarind stock.
Bring to the boil and add butternut squash.  Cook for 20 mins on a simmer.  Add fish sauce and some black pepper.
Chop a spring onion for the garnish while you are waiting.
Add prawns and cook for further 5mins (longer if raw).

Serve on rice or quinoa in a bowl and garnish with spring onion.  Extra chilli dip on side if you like.

DJing @ Dislocating Asia Thursday 2nd October

The Camden Migration Festival 26th September - 6th October 2014

I'm pleased to announce that I will be DJing at the event Dislocating Asia on Thursday 2nd October at the Forge in Camden.  This is part of the Camden Migration Festival which explores the migration of birds and people through the arts, celebrating cultural expansion.  

The event has been organised by senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Winchester; Diana Yeh.  

• Diana will be presenting her new book The Happy Hsiungs: Performing China and the Struggle for Modernity.  The book recovers the histories of two married Chinese writers who lived and worked in Britain from the 1930s onwards: Shih-I Hsiung and his wife Dymia Hsiung. 

• Actors Daniel York and Jennifer Lim will read excerpts from Lady Precious Stream, the play that shot Shih-I Hsiung to worldwide fame. 

• Orwell Prize shortlisted blogger Anna Chen reads from her ‘brilliant and dangerous’ poetry collection, Reaching for my Gnu (Aaaargh! Press), and tries out some new poems. 

Live music from:

• Semi-acoustic Hapa trio Wondermare 
• British Chinese musician/composer Liz Chi Yen Liew (her latest album is  Snapshots), with Dennis Lee on the xiao (flute) and guzheng (zither).

• My DJ set of Chinese golden oldies and fresh new sounds from Shanghai and Beijing.

Tickets are available now from:

https://uk.patronbase.com/_Forge/Productions/EY/Performances

Hope to see you at this fantastic event!

Some Summer Movies

I've made it to the BFI to see a couple of films in their season of Chinese cinema.  Sadly time, money and distance mean I haven't been able to see more.  However I was pleased to see that Fei Mu's 1948 film Spring in a Small Town is available to rent via the BFI Player and I hope to get to that soon.

Films Watched @BFI:

Drunken Master 1978 Dir. Yuen Wo Ping, starring Jackie Chan and Hiu Siu Tien
Shame it was dubbed and we were only notified of this on the day.  Still, great to see on the big screen.  I'll never tire of that film, I must have watched it 20 times at least.  Best training scenes.  Stone cold classic.

Nice PJs Fong Fong

The Spooky Bunch 1980 Dir. Ann Hui, starring Josephine Siao Fong Fong and Kenny Bee
A Fong Fong movie on the big screen?!  How could I resist?!  Great, strange little film with a docu-feel that ticks Hong Kong nostalgia box and ghostbusting with a gourd box.  YES!  Phantom laugher in the cinema again.  Why is the mere mention of congee funny?
See www.easternkicks.com/reviews/the-spooky-bunch
Not to be confused with Sammo Hung's Encounters of the Spooky Kind, also 1980.

Other notable films:
The Yellow Sea (watched on Mubi.com).  Korean film from Director of The Chaser Hong Jin-Na.  Brutal artery slashing fun.  Badass.

Must see soon: The Raid 2

Can't wait for: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 2 with Donnie and Michelle directed by Yuen Wo Ping. Waiting for the wuxia....

Will I ever get to see on the big screen?: Wong Kar Wai's The Grand Master.  Tony 'He's so fine doo lang doo lang' Leung as Ip Man.

DJing in Manchester - Vintage Reggae Style!

I'm really excited about DJing in Manchester tomorrow night with the Copesetic crew!  They have had a vintage style sound system built and play a Reggae from the golden era of Jamaican music (the 60s).  I'll be taking a little box of treasures to play on the sound, all on 7" original vinyl.  Report to follow!

Tibetan Dumplings

A while back I decided to try making Tibetan Momo dumplings from scratch!  I'd never made dumpling dough before and it turned out to be very difficult to work with.  The air was blue!  It was quite a hard and frustrating process as the consistency was tricky to get right - rolling out sticky dough and trying to clean the work top after was fun.  I swore I'd never make them again.   When it came to the eating though they really were quite marvellous and it was satisfying in the end. The taste was very authentic and the flavours were lovely.  I have to admit that I've since stocked up on frozen pre-made dumpling skins though!

This is the recipe I used:

http://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-food/momos.html

After making 20 or so dumplings I got tired out and there was plenty of mixture left, which I friend up with rice the next day - yum.

I also made a cucumber salad on the side - the recipe was from the Ken Hom and Ching-He Huang book Exploring China (see the BBC TV series of the same name).  The coolness of the cucumber perfectly matched the fiery chilli and sesame oil dressing.

Lucky Cat S8 Ep7 - Film Festivals & Farewell

Here's last Saturday's show which is the last episode of Lucky Cat series 8.

Until we meet again................

Playlist:

• Cho Cho Train - The Stylers (Stylers compilation Lp on Panda Records)
• Sukiyaki - Teresa Teng (from a Cantopop compilation LP)
• Sukiyaki  - Kong Ling & The Fabulous Echoes (Greatest Hits Vol.2, Daimond Records LP)
• Ces Gens-La - Jaques Brel (vinyl LP)
• The Willow Plays Like a Zither - Lau Yiu Kam (vinyl LP)
• Honemade Aishite - Carrie Koo Mei (Rita and Sakura, Talk of the Town EMI LP)
• Boat Song of Ko-Je Island - Arrirang (Korean Song and Dance Specatular, Monitor LP)
• I Enjoy Being a Girl - Linda Low and Orchestra (Flower Drum Song, OST LP)
• Gee Baby Gee - The Dixie Cups (Crying in the Chapel, Red Bird label LP)
• Tipitina - Dr John (vinyl LP)
• The Four Seasons of Heartache pt 1 - Zhou Hsuan (Pathe 100 CD)
• Don't Let Me Down - Marcia Griffiths (PAMA label 7", produced by Harry J, pictured above - big money tune!)

The final Episode of Lucky Cat Series 8 Airs today!

Ah, the end of the series!  I do hope you have enjoyed listening. On today's show I preview the Terracotta Far East Film Festival, Electric Shadows: A Century of Chinese Cinema at the BFI and the Japanese Film Festival Zipangu vs Frank Chickens at the Cinema Museum.

Plus all vinyl sounds from China to New Orleans

Links:

Zipangu Fest vs Frank Chickens: Sun 1st June @ The Cinema Museum

https://www.facebook.com/events/635729246513409/

Newsflash: Animator Mizue Mirai's TATAMP and WONDER will be screened (for more in Mizue see http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/interviews/free-anime-mizue-mirai-wizard-blobs-blocks)

The Terracotta Far East Film Festival

http://terracottafestival.com/

Electric Shadows: A Century of Chinese Cinema at the BFI 

http://www.bfi.org.uk/china  Watch the fantastic teaser trailer here!

Tune in today @ 3.30pm UK time Resonance 104.4FM www.resonancefm.com

Lucky Cat Podcast S8 Ep6 - Musicand Movies

The penultimate episode of Series 8.

Lucky Cat Podcast 8 Episode - Chinese Visual Festival

Playlist (all vinyl today!):

• Our Day Will Come - Ruby and the Romantics (7" vinyl, London)
• Science - Prince Buster (7" vinyl, Prince Buster)
• Theme from I Hate You Deeply - I Hate You Deeply OST LP (Taiwanese film soundtrack)
• Si Si Li - Josephine Siao Fong Fong (vinyl LP, EMI) 
• In the Woods - Josephine Siao Fong Fong (vinyl LP, EMI) 
• Shoes - Bobby Bland (7" vinyl, Duke)
• Come Down '68 - Lord Creator (7" vinyl, Randys)
• I'm Through With Love - Sarah Vaughan (7" vinyl, MGM)

Lucky Cat S8 E4 Podcast - Tribute to Sir Run Run Shaw

RIP Sir Run Run Shaw

Here's last Saturday's show which was a tribute to Uncle Six, Sir Run Run Shaw.

There were a few points that I forgot to include:
Every year Run Run held an open audition for new Shaw stars.
Run Run was a keen spotter of talent, except when it came to Bruce Lee.  Run Run did not feel it was necessary to offer Lee more than the standard contract which resulted in Lee making films for another HK studio.
Run Run Shaw's favourite food?  Well he and wife Mona Fong loved to have high tea at the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel.  However the breakfast regime he adhered too was a little more austere: noodles followed by callisthenics exercise.


Useful Shaw Links:
The Hong Kong Film Archive's Shaw Chronology
The Official Shaw Web Site - section on History
Hong Kong Cinema Web Site's Shaw History
Harvard Film Archive on Shaw History
Hong Kong Cinemagic

Playlist:

• Shaolin Temple - Barrington Levi (Kung Fu: Reggae Vs The Martial Arts Trojan compilation CD)
• Love Without End - Carrie Koo Mei (7" vinyl)
• The Love Eterne OST - Ivy Ling Po and Betty Loh Ti (Shaw Bros 10" vinyl LP)
• Shaolin Temple - Masta Killer (Wu Tang)
• Farewell - Carrie Koo Mei (7" vinyl)
• Butterfly - Carrie Koo Mei (7" vinyl)
• Siboney - Connie Francis (2046 soundtrack CD)

The Top 17 Best Run Run Shaw Movies
as voted for by listeners and selected by me

17. Platinum Dragon, 1933 (the first Cantonese sound film starring Cantonese opera star Sit Kok-Sin)


16. Country Bumpkin Visits His In-Laws, 1937  (the only film that Run Run Shaw directed, starring Lam Kwan-San)

Lam Kwan-San

15. Enchanting Shadow, 1959 (Betty Loh Ti movie, Chinese Ghost Story was based on the story in this film)

14. The Vengeful Beauty, 1978(Siu Yam Yam aka Susan Shaw)

Siu Yam Yam

13. Love Without End, 1963 (Starring sweetheart of cinema Linda Lin Dai)


12. Heroes of the East aka Shaolin Challenges Ninja (Gordon Liu, directed bu Lau Kar Leung)

Gatecrashing Ninjas!  Watch Out!

11. The Love Eterne, 1963 (Huangmei opera film starring Betty Loh Ti and Ivy Ling Po). 

10. Have Sword Will Travel, (wu xia film, Chang Cheh directed, Ti Lung and David Chiang (known as The Iron Triangle!))

 

9. Dirty Ho, 1979 (directed by Lau Kar Leung starring Gordon Liu)

Gordon Liu being downright dirty with superb tache

8. Diagram Pole Fighters, 1983 (directed by Lau Kar Leung starring Gordon Li, actually produced by Mona Fong aka Mrs Run Run Shaw)


7. The Human Goddess, 1972 (Starring Li Ching)


6. The Kid With The Golden Arm, 1979 (dir. Chang Cheh)


5. Come Drink With Me, 1966 (stars Cheng Pei Pei as Golden Swallow.  Considered to be one of the best Hong Kong films ever made.  Beautifully directed by King Hu)


4. Hong Kong Nocturne, 1967 (Musical starring Chen, Lily Ho and Chin Ping.  Directed by Umetsugu Inoue)

3. The Five Fingers of Death aka King Boxer, 1973 (directed by Chang-hwa Chung (鄭昌和 정창화) and starring Lo Lieh. Released by Warner Bros in the US, along with Enter The Dragon, the film was responsible for beginning the American kung fu film craze.)

2. The One Armed Swordsman, (Iron Triangle In Full Effect!)


1. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, 1978 (dir. Lau Kar Leung, starring Gordon Liu.  Fun fact: The script was co-written by Infernal Affairs star and HK comedy actor Eric Tsang!)

Gordon Liu and Lau Kar Leung are Number One!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the list.  Special mention to the members of the Asian Action Cinema Association Facebook Group.

*I was unable to include the much loved The Five Deadly Venoms as it was produced by Run Run's brother Runme.  Fun fact: that film was heavily sampled by RZA.
I was also unable to list The Crippled Avengers for that same reason.

Chinese Visual Festival 2014

Still from Zhen Kuo's film Burned Wings

The Chinese Visual Festival is back for its third year!  The festival comprises of short and feature film screenings from mainland China, Tibet and Taiwan.
Art-house auteur Jia Zhangke comes to the festival this year for a series of screenings and a Q&A.  Jia Zhangke's A Touch of Sin feature film is showing - an oblique homage to the legendary wuxia kung fu film A Touch of Zen directed by King Hu.  See trailer below.


I am pleased to announce that I will be joined by Taiwanese director Chen Yin Yen on this Saturday's Lucky Cat radio show.  Chen's film The Way We Are is a documentary which focuses on the relationship of two visually impaired people, a woman named Ningyu and a nearly-blind man called Shufeng.

Still from Chen Yin Yen's The Way We Are

This year British Chinese filmmakers are encouraged to get involved as there is a Local Chinese Language Filmmaker Workshop.

A full schedule of the Festival can be found here:
http://chinesevisualfestival.org/schedule/
Venues: King's College London & The British Film Institute

As well as film screenings there are some great talks, including one by writer and East Asian cinema connoisseur Tony Rayns.

ART

7 – 17 May 2014 Anatomy Museum King’s College London

Partnership with China Culture Connect + King’s College Cultural Institute

Painting, Installation, Video, Photography, Performance, Multimedia and so on

Total 23 projects.

Today's Lucky Cat - A Tribute to Sir Run Run Shaw

A Young and Handsome Run Run Shaw

Today's show pays respects to the philanthropist film mogul Sir Run Run Shaw (1907 - 2014).  As well as a biography of Run Run I include the top 17 Run Run Shaw Shaw Brothers films, as voted for by you, the listeners.  I will publish the list on this blog when the show is podcasted in a couple of days

Run Run and stars posing with a Rolls Royce at the Clear Water Bay Studios in Hong Kong.  Not a great resolution but I think I can make out Peter Ho Chen, Cheng Pei Pei and she of the enviable hair Lily Ho!

Here is Sir Run Run Shaw with some of the studios starlets.  I think that is Betty Loh Ti in the middle.

You can tune in to Resonance 104.4FM at 3.30pm (UK) to hear the show.  I will podcast it in a couple of days.

I researched to find out what Run Run's favourite food was and it seems that one of his favourite things was to go to the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea.  I'll now add that to the endless list of places to go in Hong Kong if I ever get to return....Run Run apparently always had a simple breakfast of noodles followed by exercise, perhaps the secret to such a long life.

Sir Run Run Shaw we salute you and your wonderful contribution to cinema!  RIP.

Lucky Cat S8 E3 Podcast - Cantonese YMCA!

• Rivers of Babylon - The Melodians (King of Kong compilation LP of Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong's tunes on the Beverleys label) Apologies for skipping!
  
• Monkey theme - Godiego (BBC Monkey Soundtrack LP)
• YMCA - George Lam (Lin Zi Xiang /林子祥)(EMI LP)
• Harlem Shuffle - Bob & Earl (Oldies 7")
• Genghis Khan - George Lam (Lin Zi Xiang /林子祥)(EMI LP)
• Freedom Street - Ken Boothe (King of Kong compilation LP)
• Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas - Kishore Kumar (Blackmail soundtrack EP)
• Track from The Stylers LP
• Aasha Oh Aasha - Lata Mangeshkar (Blackmail soundtrack EP)
• And I Love Him - Esther Phillips (7")
• Gandhara - Godiego (BBC Monkey Soundtrack LP)
• Night Flight (Sentimental Journey) - Ansell Collins  (King of Kong compilation LP) 

Cha Cha's Faded Ghost DJ Set

Here is the wonderful Cha Cha outta Shanghai DJing as Faded Ghost.  A mix of Hip Hop, Breaks, Beats, Sampling, Vocals and Loops.  Cha Cha is currently on tour with AM444 and about to touch down in France.
Check out the AM444 Facebook for gig details: facebook.com/am444

Lucky Cat S8 E2 Podcast - A Journey to Shangri-La

All aboard for Shangri-La:

A Journey to Shangri-La

On today's Lucky Cat we embark on a journey to the mythical Tibetan idyll of Shangri-La.

I remember being swept away by the Frank Capra film Lost Horizon when I watched it in my childhood.  The novel of the same name, on which the film is based, by James Hilton is available to read online at the Gutenberg Press site.

I had great fun researching the topic of Shangri-La and found that the myth of a utopia is common to many cultures.  This BBC article was indispensable: www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/shangri_la_01.shtml

I also found this wonderful blog post from Shooting Down Pictures all about the 1937 film Lost Horizon.

Shangri-La is still very much in our consciousness today - most recently when the Malaysian airlines plane went missing newspaper and magazine articles referenced the paradise, wondering wistfully if that's where the plane crash landed by.  The Hong Kong hotel chain Shangri-La is in fact opening a luxury hotel in Tibet!  

I hope you enjoy today's show which features Tibetan buttermilk tea to refresh you weary travellers on the road to Shangri-La.

Playlist:

• Theme to Lost Horizon - Composed by Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin
• Buddhist Chanting - Chinese Cultural Theatre Group 
• Over The Rainbow - Wizard of Oz soundtrack LP
• Over The Rainbow - Little Anthony and the Imperials
• Blue Skies - Mel Torme
• Shangri-La - Esther Phillips
• Tibetan Mountain Song - Dolkar Lhamo
• Satta Amasagana - Third World (from the Rockers OST LP)
•  Tibetan Celebration Song - Dolkar Lhamo
• Over The Rainbow - Dorothy Donegan
• Extract from the film Lost Horizon 1937
• Over The Rainbow - Billy Ward and his Dominoes
• Father and Son Vocal with Erhu from the Streets of Lhasa CD
• Shangri-La - Ou Yang Fei Ying
• Nature Boy - Nat Cole
• Theme to Lost Horizon - Composed by Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin
• Past, Present, Future - The Shangri-Las

Lucky Cat S8 E1 Podcast

Lucky Cat is BACK!
Originally broadcast on Resonance FM on Saturday 5th April @3.30pm.

This show celebrates the Chinese Buddhist Qing Ming Festival and there is a review of the Vietnamese kung-fu film Lady Assassin.
The Dim Sum Lunch Box contains cold left over ma pao do fu.
I need your help - please email me with any recipes or restaurant reviews or recommendations!  I would love to share your food knowledge with listeners! luckycatzoe   at  gmail.com
Thank you.

Playlist:

Constant Sorrow - Beverly White (Realm 7" EP)

Resting Place - Burning Spear (Marcus Garvey LP)

Blossoming Lotus - Zhou Xuan (Pathe 100 CD)

Were You There - Paul Robeson (7" EP Paul Robeson Sings Negro Spirituals)

For All We Know - Billie Holiday (Lady in Satin LP)

Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down - Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Gospel Train LP)

I Love You Chinese - Rebecca Pan from the Diamond Records Compilation CD

Spring Breeze Blows Through Yi Village - female solo from the LP May Our Song Take Wings and Fly over the Bridge

Talking About Fighting Skill - Siao Fong Fong & Chan Pao Chu (7" OST EP Red Thread Steals a Precious Box)

Devil Woman - Zhuang Xue Fang (Ruby Records)

Love Bandit - The Cadets (20 Great R n'B Hits of the 1950s)

Honour Your Mother & Father - Desmond Dekker (Rudy Got Soul CD)

Tune in live to Series 8 of Lucky Cat on Resonance 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere!
The series will run for 7 weeks.