CHINESE NATIONAL TEAM PERFORMANCE

I was pleased to have the entire Chinese national skating team perform at my rink in August, 2006 after Skate Asia competition was concluded. Some of the world's greatest skaters were in that group.

BREAKFAST WITH CHINESE NATIONAL TEAM

After the National Team appeared for us in Skate Asia, we had a farewell breakfast for them. Pictured there you'll see Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue (world and Olympic champions), Pang and Tong (World Champions) and Zhang and Zhang (Olympic silver medalists). To my right is Alex Yeung who celebrated his birthday that same day.

HOTPOT MEAL IN CHANGCHUN CHINA

This is what a real hotpot meal looks like. Was at a dinner with Chen Lu and her family at a restaurant in Changchun, which is very far north in China and the temp can get to -40c.

BEN AND LISA LEE

Ben and Lisa Lee. Lisa and I worked together for 5 years at the rink in Shenzhen. Ben, is an English teacher at a private school in Shenzhen. Both are great friends and really nice people. This is one of their wedding album photos.

MY STAFF AT WORLD ICE ARENA

When I was GM of the beautiful World Ice Arena in Shenzhe, China, this was our annual formal photo taken with the staff and coaches. Chen Lu, Denis Petrov in the center with Nikita.

LULU, DENIS AND NIKITA PETROV

This photo of Lulu and Denis taken at my rink where they work in Shenzhen, with baby Nikita. He's now going on 3 years and is already skating like a pro. Lulu is now expecting her 2nd sometime this summer.

THE GREAT DONALD JACKSON

Lots of skaters know the name of Jackson Boots or Jackson Skates but might not realize the man behind the brand. Don Jackson was the first man to do triple lutz in competition, a former world champion, star of Ice Follies and a great coach. One of skating's nicest people, he is teaching in Toronto and still does exhibitions all over Canada. Its a great honor to know this man.

ANTHONY LIU

Former champion of China and of Australia, his adopted country, Anthony later came to the US and eventually purchased the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California. A very skilled technician on ice, Anthony is an astute businessman and is currently involved in opening other rinks.

IS IT SONJA OR THERESA

Theresa Foy is well known for her impression of the great Sonja Henie and this photo shows her in full Sonja regalia. A well known show performer she skated for me in Hong Kong at one of our Christmas shows along with Robert Wagenhoffer and others. Theresa's dad is the man who invented theatrical "flying" and did it for many famous stars including the original Peter Pan on television and broadway.

KING RICHARD

If ever our business of skating had a king, it would have to be King Richard, Mr. Debonaire. Richard Dwyer has been in this business longer than anyone I know. He treats everyone as though they were the most important person on earth. Incredibly respected and now in his 70's you can still see this marvelous performer ON THE ICE daily at Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank. Pictured here with one of his many partners, Gerty Verbiwski, he has also skated with Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill amongst others...the list goes on and on.

KAREN KRESGE, CREDIT THE HAIR

Karen came to Hong Kong to do a show for me and the dozens of photographers on the balcony above couldn't get enough of her. That's who she is looking at in this photo. She credits her success to that long blond hair. A great lady, and great choreographer and one of the reasons this business is so much fun. Love that Karen.

THE INCREDIBLE JOJO STARBUCK

I met Jojo when she came to Dubai with the John Curry Skating Company which played at my rink for 2 weeks. Jojo and I became friends and often kept in touch. She is a woman with energy and so much creative spirit.

THE GREAT LADY OF THE ICE

Aja Zanova is one of THE great ladies of skating. A former world champion from Czechoslovokia and a New York socialite, she is known and loved by everyone in this business. When I lived in New York, I often visited her restaurant called "The Duck Joint" where she had her skating collection displayed on the walls. I once went there with Prince Adan Czaartorski, a Polish prince and cousin of the King of Spain, and boy, did we get the royal treatment. Aja Lives in New York and Florida and is as beautiful today as she was 30 years ago.

FIRE ON ICE

This little lady is Gerty Desjardins Verbiwski. A former Canadian national champion in pairs and star of Ice Capades. Now lives in Las Vegas where she is one hot real estate woman. If anyone can sell anything to anyone, its Gerty. She's skated in many shows for me over the years in Dubai and in Hong Kong, often having to put on the skates after being off for years. Does one mean death spiral too. She's best friends with just about everyone in the skating world and not at all afraid to speak her mind. Love a shot of Vodka before bedtime and is in church on her knees everytime the doors are open. Married to George Verbiwski, another former star of Ice Capades and was once my roommate when I was in the show. Great and lovely people.

ME AND KITA

This little timid creature is Kita, the long haired Chihuahua. Got her in Shenzhen and now 2 years later, shes the cutest friend I have.

ALMOST FAMOUS

I cannot remember why I had this photo in a magazine but as you can see, I almost look famous. Ha!

IN MY OFFICE IN HONG KONG

That strange object in front of me is a unique vase with outer plating like the armor on ancient Chinese warriors. The vase was made by an artist, Alex Yeung, who use to work for me and whose works are now in museums. Wow, I really used to get dressed for work didn't I?

JERRY THAYER, HOW TO SEE THE WORLD

If anyone can claim that he's done everything, then its this guy. Jerry's been a friend since 1971. After his high school graduation he went to Europe for a year, did all sorts of odd jobs to support himself and came home with money in his pocket. Since then he's studied Italian in Perugia, Portuguese in Brazil, French in Paris and managed to keep himself with a fairly high standard of living despite his having a single career type of employment. A true man of the world.

A VERY YOUNG FRIEND

My 10 years spent in New York City were some of the best of my life. I made so many friends and we all suffered together with little money, small apartments, roommates to help pay the rent and yet we all somehow managed to have a really wonderful life. One of those is John Simone. He was a flight attendant when I met him, I think with United, then did other things later on. Now he is an associate department chair at Fashion Institute of Technology, one of THE great schools in New York City. Maybe a little grey around the edges, but still has that same sense of humor, no, better sense of humor that I still remember. We've recently been in contact after silence for nearly 28 years. Feels like I've gone a full circle. Just want to share this great guy with everyone.

CHINESE TAXI'S

I am not exaggerating when I say that taking a taxi in China is a life changing experience. Accidents like this one, which I photographed when going from Beijing airport into town, are really quite common. They make up their own rules as they go so speed, stop signs and redlights have little meaning. I honestly do not know how anyone here can get insurance.

ON THE STREETS AT WESTLAKE

Well, to say the least, Hangzhou is a well organized and clean city, and the areas around the Westlake, which is the primary tourist attraction here, are kept spotless. There is a police every few feet so security is good. Beautiful restaurants all over the place and many museums, pagoda's and very old Chinese style residences surround this beautiful lake.

SOME CELEBRITY GUESTS AT THE WEDDING

Chen Lu's wedding to Denis Petrov included 3 well known Chinese singers but whose names I cannot remember. The two guys in center and the lady in the orange dress. They also performed at the reception.

PRESIDING AT CHEN LU'S WEDDING

The former world champion and 2 time Olympic medalist, Chen Lu married Denis Petrov, himself an Olympic silver medalist at an outdoor ceremony in Shenzhen, China. I was the official in charge of giving the vows. Denis is retrieving the ring from a boat of flowers in the pool.

CLICK PLAY FOR THIS MOVIE

GENERAL MANAGER'S AWARD

I was awarded best General Manager in 2005 and given a huge cash prize. CLICK ON THIS AN ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

SWING ON ICE CAST MEMBERS

Some of the local skaters who appeared in Swing on Ice except for Tania Ikowsky, the sexy girl in the center. Tania is now a Doctor in Paris. CLICK ON THIS AND ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (RIGHT BUTTON CLICK AND YOU CAN DOWN THE PHOTO TO YOUR COMPUTER, JUST CHOOSE "SAVE AS")

SWING ON ICE

David Liu produced this show for me at Cityplaza in Hong Kong. These dancers were world champions and absolutely incredible.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO MAKE LARGER

This is a collection of face pics I assembled so I could see how much I had changed over the years. Needless to say when I was young, I was hot! Problem was, I didn't know it. Damn what a waste.....

MY BABY

Next to my dog, maybe this is my little treasure. Don't get to drive it much, but its there whenever I go back to California.

HEAVENLY, LAKE TAHOE, 2008

This was our Jan 2008 trip to Heavenly ski resort at Lake Tahoe in California. Incredible scenery and skiing. We rented a house and had a great time. Long drive from Laguna Hills though.....next time will fly up there.

ANTING VILLA HOTEL AT NIGHT

This is the main building of the Anting Villa Hotel. Its sits in a grove of beautiful trees and gardens in the center of Shanghai in the old French Concession....and is on a very secluded residential street, so no noise.

ANTING VILLA HOTEL IN SHANGHAI

This is the main courtyard of the Anting Villa Hotel. The building in this photo is a part of the hotel and houses their most expensive restaurant. Always expensive cars parked out front. This is the ONLY hotel I will stay at in Shanghai and is located in the exclusive French Concession area very near Hengshan Road.

RESTAURANT IN NANJING, CHINA

This was a very unique restaurant we visited in Nanjing, China in 2007.

IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Taken on a windy day inside the Forbidden City in Bejing. Standing alongside my assistant at the time, Dave Chen who now Manager of the MIXC mall in Shenzhen.

AT THE BEIJING SKATING EVENT

This is me with Ma Xiao Dong, a Chinese national champion skater at the China Cup competition.

THE ANTIQUE MARKET IN BEIJING

I do look a bit overweight in this but believe me, I don't look like this today. Taken in the fabulous Beijing antique market where 99% of the antiques are fake, but still nice.

THE OLD POST OFFICE IN SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

This is an exterior shot of the old post office in Sydney, an incredible building that is now used as the main entrance to the modern Westin Hotel.

IN THE OLD POST OFFICE OF SYDNEY

The old post office building in Sydney is an incredible Victorian structure that has since been converted into the lobby and restaurants of the Westin Hotel. This building was so precious that during WWII, they disassembled the entire building and hid it so it would not be destroyed by the Japanese.

THE SET FOR SPHERICAL

When we opened our rink in Shenzhen, we hired David Liu and Darren Olivero to produce our grand opening performances. They did a spectacular job with Spherical and this photo was taken during the setup of the lights, stage and giant balloons.

MY BIRTHDAY 2007

Needless to say I didn't need to be reminded of this day, but some staff in my office brought out this huge cake. Reminds me of my waistline.

THE BEAUTIFUL RINK I HELPED TO BUILD

This is World Ice Arena located in the MIXC mall in Shenzhen, China. Truly one of the nicest ice facilities in the world. Full Olympic size ice and very spacious off-ice areas.

MY OFFICE IN SHENZHEN

This was my incredible office in Shenzhen at the rink. Very spacious and made me feel like Donald Trump.

WORLD ICE ARENA SHENZHEN BUSY DAY

MAGLEV TRAIN ARRIVAL IN SHANGHAI

ICE ODYSSEY PART 1 (HONG KONG 2008)

ICE ODYSSEY PART 2 (HONG KONG 2008)

ICE ODYSSEY PART 3 (HONG KONG 2008)

A LETTER FROM STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Most of you might not know who is Stephen Sondheim but he is the composer and lyricist for some of Broadway's biggest musicals. I had written to him about a play I'd seen in Stockholm which he produced and these were his comments. Angela Lansbury the famous actress on top left. Other friends on the right.

AT HOME WITH DOROTHY HAMILL

Another photo taken at Dorothy's home in Indian Wells, Calif. With Dr Ken Forsythe (her former husband) and Alex Kwong of Star TV.

WITH THE GREAT TOLLER CRANSTON

Truly one of skating's most gifted, Toller is a noted author, skater and artist. His paintings are sold to collectors and galleries all over the world. Toller skated in my shows twice and he gave me a chapter in one of his books.

WITH STOVA WONG

Stova Wong was one of my most favorite skaters in Hong Kong. Elegant and smooth and very good at the technical aspects of skating. Now lives in LA and has kids.

ICE ANYONE???

Me on the ice at Cityplaza. Yes, I really do know how to skate!!!

WITH RONNIE ROBERTSON

This photo taken with Ronnie Robertson, the 1956 USA, World and Olympic silver medalist. Was such a joy to have Ronnie teaching at our rink each summer.

WITH DOROTHY HAMILL IN HONG KONG

Dorothy and I took this photo on the Peak Tram in Hong Kong on the way to the top. Dorothy came to Hong Kong with Richard Dwyer and Gerty Desjardins to do a show for us at Cityplaza.

ON THE RINK

This silly photo taken on the new Cityplaza Ice Palace rink just before we opened to the public in June 1987.

WITH LAVENDER PATTEN

This photo taken at a celebration for the Special Olympics team of Gov Patten's wife Lavender. Paul Wong and To Wai Han are to the right and went with the team to the games.