January 18, 2008
category:General
Divine Performing Arts
People do not often cry when they attend a show. Divine Performing Arts has staged a marvelous performance combining ballet and classical chinese dance - a showcase of humanity’s true cultural heritage.
Posted at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2008
category:General
Oh No They Did It Again
Stitching video and sound together is not something terribly difficult to do. This is a good example:
Whether it’s due to a lack of professionalism or sheer incompetence, they screwed it up again by choosing the wrong sound. And this is the official reply from the Pentagon:
“We’re saying that we cannot make a direct connection to the boats there. It could have come from the shore, from another ship passing by. However, it happened in the middle of all the very unusual activity, so as we assess the information and situation, we still put it in the total aggregate of what happened Sunday morning. I guess we’re not saying that it absolutely came from the boats, but we’re not saying it absolutely didn’t.”
The movie production department in Pentagon seems to have made little progress since Colin Powell’s presentation in the UN some five years’ ago. A lack of budget?
Perhaps, neither the warship nor the 5 speed boats are more threatening than a Fake Empire.
Stay out super late tonight picking apples, making pies
put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
Tiptoe through our shiny city with our diamond slippers on
Do our gay ballet on ice
bluebirds on our shoulders
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
Turn the light out say goodnight
no thinking for a little while
lets not try to figure out everything it wants
It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
Posted at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2008
category:General
Album Art
I love album art - it used to be a significant element in an artist’s album release. It gives the artist an identity and is often used to convey ideas as to what may be found inside the album cover. But as the size of LP shrinks to CD and from CD reduced to thumbnails that come with the online download, album art has perhaps slowly but surely been losing its importance. The size reduction is also affecting album art as a art form as what apparently looks good in a LP size image may turn out to be terrible when it is zoomed out to 50×50 pixels or a 160×160 thumbnails. Here are some album art images for your enjoyment:
My all-time Top 5:
1. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
2. The Doors - The Best
3. Derek & The Dominos - Layla & Assorted Love Songs
4. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
5. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
My top 5 which I am not supposed to like but I do:
1. Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts
2. The Black Crows - Amorica
3. The Car - Candy-O
4. Paula Cole - Courage
5. Madonna - True Blue
Top 5 Most Significant in my life:
1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
2. James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
3. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
4. Carole King - Tapestry
5. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Apart from Amazon, Album Exchange is a good place to look for album covers.
Posted at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2007
category:General
Hallelujah
Chang’e 1 and the moon mission.
Posted at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2007
category:General
Who Is the Leader Of China
Posted at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2007
category:General
Time After Time
Posted at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2007
category:General
Whistleblowers
We do not have whistleblowers in China for we know damn well that if anyone dares to report irregular/unlawful conducts of government officials or employees of state firms, he or she will be punished openly and swiftly. The fear for the loss of jobs and family, imprisonment and/or even death will effectively stifle any dissents.
Whistleblowers only exists in a democratic country like America for they can rely on their constitution for protection. A must-read for those who wish to gain a better understanding of how democracy works in the West.
Or is it simply the art of modern day looting?
Posted at 08:59 AM | Comments (1)
August 01, 2007
category:General
Chinglish
Shanghai Daily’s blog has a recent entry about ‘Chinglish’. It is embarrassing to see all those ‘chinglish’ signs.
Translation is more an art than an exact science except, of course, when we are interpreting inside a court room or dealing with legal/contractural documents. Had a small company doing translating for advertisements and product brochures back in 1984. The rate then (in 1984 money) was US$ 10 cents per word. So by translating ‘I am a good girl’ to 我是一个听话的女孩 would make 50 cents.
Now, I may be just crazy. I will do some translations for free. Just email me any translations you wish to proof read to mamafanfan AT gmail.com. I really hate to see those embarrassing ‘chinglish’. I am sure we have many people here in China who can do a decent translation.
Posted at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2007
category:General
Frauenmangel
They thought they had found a new disease in eastern Germany - Frauenmangel. And they apparently don’t know that the disease has been in existence here in China for the last two decades as we have been losing millions of girls through sex-selective abortions.
However, the effect of this disease is very different in eastern Europe and in China. The sex ratio imbalance will no doubt transform Europe as a a result of a rapid population decline in the east. But it is a zero-sum game there as what they have lost in eastern Germany (and eastern Europe as a whole) will only represent gains in the West. What we experience in China and what we have to face in the future is a permanent loss which, if no effective remedies are taken, may turn out a fatal disease to our nation as a whole.
Posted at 01:10 AM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2007
category:General
LIVE Earth
Here at the Oriental Pearl Tower (the hightest in Asia and 3rd highest in the world), situated in the heart of Shanghai, the Live Earth gig will kick off tonight at 6:30pm. The line-up is surprising unattractive for an event such as this.
Live 8, in restropsect, was and still remains a joke. LIVE Earth, what do they expect to archive? Nothing much.
Posted at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)