Wu Jing's currently filming Fantastic Four Detectives (whatever it'll be called) by Gao Qun Shu, playing "Goatherd" Yang Xiao Ming, a Shaolin disciple and one of the four detectives who are pursuing two criminals and two hired guns to the desert.

Duan Yi Hong, Zhang Li, Ni Da Hong will play the other three detectives, while Francis Ng and Yu Nan are the assassins. Charlie Yeung plays Francis Ng's girlfriend. The film is expected to wrap by December 2009, with a release on May 1, 2010.


Wu Jing will then be joining Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan (cameo) in Shaolin by Benny Chan from December 2009 to April 2010. Not sure if Jet Li will eventually accept the cameo as a senior monk.

Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 3 has finally begun production earlier this month. Expected to be released in late 2010.


It's about Emperor Kangxi sending a few Manchu officials, escorted by 8 Shaolin monks, on a  mission bringing a cabalistic chest to the Western Region. Along the way, they are ambushed by Ming loyalists and the crown price's clique who are trying to uncover the secrets that lie within the chest.

Glad to know that Li Yuan, one of the best martial arts stars to emerge from the new generation, will be the best fighter among the monks yet again. Thankfully, they've cut down the number of monks to only 8  this time. There's lack of focus in part 2 due to it having too many main characters - 13 monks. And hope they'll address the crazy editing in part 2 where scenes kept being switched after barely a few lines of dialogue.

Seems that Xu Ming Hu will have a part as one of the 8 monks.

Our favourite baddie Ji Chun Hua will play a Manchu official whose intentions are unclear, bordering between good and evil, but not totally a villain.

More pics on Li Yuan's blog.

"Unless we change our food choices, nothing else matters. Because it is meat that is destroying most of our forests. It is meat that pollutes the waters, it is meat that is creating disease which leads to all our money being diverted to hospitals. So it’s the first choice for anybody who wants to save the earth." Maneka Gandhi

With earth facing a major potential crisis as a result of climate change, which sees Artic ice cap receding at an ever alarmingly accelerated rate and could be gone by end of 2012, with huge storehouse of toxic gases trapped beneath awaiting to be released, the government, scientists and luminaries around the world are starting to respond and take actions.

 

Recently, Jet Li, together with Tony Blair, introduced solar-powered LED road lighting system in Guiyang, China, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.

However, it takes time to research, develop and implement renewable energy feasibly on a wide scale level. As green technology gets implemented, we should also be looking into other means of going green.

And switching to vegetarian/vegan diet is the fastest, easiest and most effective way that we, as an individual, could do to reduce greenhouse gases. Meat industry accounts for not just 1/5 but more than 1/2 of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by human related activities.

Vegan diet is not only environmentally friendly, but is also healthier, almost karmaless and nips factory farming induced diseases like H1N5 in the bud, apart from alleviating the sufferings and killings of the animals. Start by having vegan diet once a week, and gradually reduce meat intake from there. The positive and harmonious atmosphere created by ahimsa will in some mysterious way counter global warming.

While awaiting and hoping eternally for the activation of Wu Jing here since Feb 2008, Wu Jing finally has his blog launched, but on Sohu. His first entry is about his return to Sichuan for charity activities. So only available in Chinese. Hopefully, he'll have a blog here too, and be able to reach out to English fans.

Anyhow, Wu Jing is now in Hong Kong filming City Under Siege by Benny Chan. Ngai Sing is on board too! Expected to be release no earlier than summer 2010.

"In this film on courage, a group of circus performers goes on a rampage after some kind of mutation, that grants them superhuman abilities, in an accident. However, one of them, an ordinary clown originally, would not condone the others' misdeeds and for the sake of the entire city, stands up against them."

A letter that a VSS member sent to a local newspaper Today.

I REFER to “When Meat Really Is Murder” (April 29). This article highlights the harm done by factory farming of pigs and other animals. Factory farming refers to the modern and rapidly spreading practice of raising animals in buildings similar to the factories in which we produce objects such as watches or plastic furniture.

These factory farms reduce the cost of meat by providing the highest output at the lowest cost via machinery, biotechnology, global trade, and economies of scale. However, by confining thousands of animals in one building, factory farms create a breeding ground for pandemic diseases, such as swine flu and avian flu. In a vain attempt to combat such diseases, antibiotics must be used on a large scale. In fact, one expert estimates that livestock production accounts for 50% of U.S. antibiotics use.

Factory farms also damage the environment. For instance, the involuntarily confined animals produce huge amounts of manure and other wastes which foul the air and water. This waste also emits methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouses gases more potent than carbon dioxide.

But perhaps the most important reason to end factory farming lies not in the danger of pandemics or in the damage to the environment, but in the living hell suffered by our blameless fellow animals trapped on factory farms and deprived of the social and physical characteristics of a natural life. Recent research is documenting that other mammals, such as pigs and cows, and even birds, such as chickens, have the capacity to think and feel. (See, for example, the March, 2008 issue of National Geographic.) Indeed, they are not objects to be produced by us in factories.

We can reduce the threat of pandemics and show kindness towards other animals by moving away from factory farming, reducing our consumption of meat, and enjoying more fruits, vegetables and other plant foods.