Shuengit / Swann Jie : MicroTotal Art, Monumental Sculpture, virtual world, film review

Heart of Glass***

2012-01-27T17:38:00.000+01:00

Heart of Glass*** by Werner Herzog

genre: historical docudrama, experimental film : all actors worked under hynotism

Photography is very beautiful and atmospheric with long shots of rolling hills, clouds, with gd music. The story is rather slow moving and the acting wooden - due to the experimental method of hypnotising all the actors. So everybody is ad libbing from somewhere else. Story of a glass making town when the receipe for Ruby Red glass is lost, everybody slowly becomes mad and townspeople kill each other, fights, the town returns to a stony island without much inhabitants.

I am my films***half

2012-01-27T13:34:00.000+01:00

I am my films - Werner Herzog ***half

genre: interview of director Werner Herzog by Erwin Keusch

The film goes by a chronological order of works by Herzog. Herzog talks about what and in which circumstances where the films made, difficulties, actors, costumes, his own back ground, how he broke into houses as a youth to sleep here and there. Most interesting part is a recording of Klaus Kinski how he shouted at Herzog when he was a new director. I can imagine the crazy guy screaming non stop with spittles flying all over the place. Herzogs films are very authentic courageous self expressions. I watched Fitzcarldo many years ago and was amazed by the scenes shown in the movie, poetic, magical, powerful. But when I saw the making of this movie, thats when I discovered that they didnt "just hauled a boat over a mountain to make the film", not once, but twice!!

If you dont have the nerve to tackle difficulties which occurs in film making, you will never make it as a film maker.

He produces all his own films. Maybe his film making is his destiny? Such is the strength of his conviction of what should or not should be filmed? A natural film maker, it takes him 3, to 4 days to write a script as he could see everything in his head already. The movie plays in his head and he writes it down.

Inspires me to watch all his films.

La Buche***

2012-01-26T21:53:00.003+01:00

La Buche***
genre: drama, family stories, family secrets, social norm stories; setting in contemporary Paris

Three sisters from a violin player father, mother re-married a man and the film opens when he just died. So; a cell phone rings, nobody knows whos phone is ringing and it turns out to be the dead mans. The wife never told the first wife that this man has passed away because she is mad at the first wife. Such is the tone of the whole film.
People with lovers left and right, nobody has a "happy perfect" life. Rich, poor, mentally unstable, all with children or wishing to have a child to be born, dancer entertainer at a restaurant, all, everyone is in the middle of break ups. Affairs left and right, whose child is by whom? Only the mother knows.
The violin player is about to die, he goes to the hospital, the doc says, nothing wrong with you, just your heart is a little big will be fine. He goes to the fancy shop and buys himself new clothes so that he would look better and meets with ex wife. They tell each other "truths".
The film weaves intricate human relationships, happy and unhappy things. Nobody gets everything they wish. But we all find some small items small events to console ourselves on Christmas eve.

Very nice details on scenarios, restaurants, decors, artisants courtyard atelier, motorcycle riders, Luxembourg garden, bourgeois shopping, various house for rents turns meeting places for love affairs (how mean and degrading, and maybe realistic form of romantic rendez vous, do as you can? The scriptwriter has eyes for showing the various social groups and their situations) at every level of life, all finely rendered.

Look at me *, Freaky Friday half

2012-01-26T06:08:00.000+01:00

Look at me ***,
french
genre: psychological, family, drama
Very nice fine touches, portrait of a fat girl with a famous writer father. Her piano teacher, fiction writer husband on his way up, the famous writer father is a sort of rude insensitive person, young wife with young child, human comedy.
Very finely tuned, nice french setting, in country side, in nice ordinary restaurants, partying, making out.

Freaky Friday **half
Fairy tale story
genre: family romance with a magic twist via fortune cookies

stereotypical american mother daughter brother, new husband, moto bike boyfriend, rock band girl, cheesy girlfriends, wedding, stereotypcial asian characters, magic fortune cookies... fun. Even though everything is stereotypcial, it is fun. And the scenario does depict ordinary upper middle class America.

Irina Palm**half

2012-01-24T18:10:00.001+01:00

Irina Palm**half

genre: kinky drama romance family love
grandma goes to do a whanking job to make money for a medical operation for the grandson and son and daughter in law are kept in secret, super grandma falls in love w angel boss. They kiss and live happily ever after in a sunset romance.

The film has an interesting outline, Marianne Faithfull is superb. However, the script is a little rough. We cannot believe, or are not allowed to see why the son is so clunky, hes just totally wishy washy and hard headed. We dont know why he is so hard on his mother, and dont know why his wife is not getting on w the super grandmother. As to the young couple, why are they so useless? poor? A lot of story line is missing. We only have eyes for Marianne Faithfull, but she alone could not save the film. Miki has an interesting face. We also dont know how he fell into this sleazy business. All cardboard characters.

Yayoi Kusama documentary , Basquiat, Suzan Pitthalf, Hula Girlshalf

2012-01-19T16:01:00.005+01:00

Yayoi Kusama documentary ***,
Very interesting to see her walking around, answering interviews, directing assistants, speaking to international critics. You see someone slightly in their own world, but still functions very well in everyday situations. She murmurs that she is a genius, and that she is the greatest, the bestest, the most extraordinary better than anyone anyone alive. And she also adds that as an artist, if you didnt think you were the best, you would have given up along the way.

Basquiat***,
Very well made, this Julian Schnabel film with David Bowie playing Andy Warhol and Basquiat is such a handsome man in real life and in this film, everybody else acts and speaks, surrounds themselves in the realistic decors. Unlike art films made by "non artists", this film has a good pace and shows more or less truthfully what actually happens in the market place when a new artist comes into the arena. Glossified but the basic reference points are accurate, so I think its a great film. A collectable.

Suzan Pitt***half,
Surrealistic animation, very sexy, erotic, somber, everything all mixed. El Doctor is a very funny film based on tabloid newspaper stories. Very original and I see her style has been borrowed by certain younger artists. Especially the very rich lush flower motifs and dark midnight backgrounds.

Hula Girls***half
tones are brown, sun burnt, and retro colored, because the film is an old film but what a story. Very good dialogues, everybody speaks from their stand points and the Japanese girls, mother, over size gentle giant girl, tough as nail dance teacher, everybody is wonderful. The dance teacher runs into a male bath house to kick this guys ass, shes fully dressed and she jumps into the pool with all these fat naked men! Very good scenes. Brings tears to my eyes! Even though I already knew what the story is going to be about. :)

Big Monster Coming to Taiwan***

2012-01-12T16:20:00.004+01:00

Big Monster Coming to Taiwan 大怪獸台湾上陸 ***

Documentary by Tang ChengWei 唐澄暐, a young film maker from Taiwan.
Very charming film. It shows Godzilla, from the first look to the evaluation of what Godzilla means, how he must hide all the books from his mother, the teachers words about himself the Godzilla monster specialist, what shared memories of Godzilla are like, the Japanese history of Godzilla, the Hollywood Godzilla flop - how Godzilla really doesnt look like Gozilla himself but a giant lizard, only the original Godzilla has the spirit of Godzilla... Gozilla Gozilla Gozillarama galore!! and more,... crazy fans of pop monster culture, the loving obsessions with pop icons of monsters.

The opening credit title with walking paper cutouts of Gozilla drawn by a childs hand is so full of love, its impossible to not watch it to the end.

Rosetta , Pollockhalf, Hannah and her sisters***half

2012-01-08T15:39:00.001+01:00

Rosetta ***
Dogme film of a struggling young girl at a trailer park. Her decision to find a real job and be honest and not a beggar nor at the shadow of someone else's help makes her a strong willed character. The film shows all the everyday banal, heaviness of poor peoples living. In the end, she has committed betrayal to her only friend, but he forgives her because he sees and understands her. A ray of sunlight comes into Rosetta's life. We never see the young man much, just Rosetta and her struggles. I am often amazed by the uninventiveness of "white trash" people. Surely Rosetta could have gotten a job somewhere if she persisted. Shes clean, local person (not an immigrant, speaks the local language) where did she come from? She looks almost angelic, for a girl like her, certainly she could have gotten a job somewhere. The premise of the movie is not convincing.

If Rosetta was less good looking, or say even banal stupid looking, then her position and solution would be believable but we viewers would not want to watch such a character due to unattractiveness.

Pollock***half,
I noticed that in all the scenes, color schemes are well put together, very esthetic and very quick paced well told story of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Two important abstract painters of the 50s.

Hannah and her sisters***half
A very intricate human relations story, i like everything in it. Woody Allen has all these complicated people with comfortable surroundings, and neurotic lives. Mia Farrow is very pretty, really like an angel. The other two are realistic people with more imperfection. And the old painter that the young sister lives with, why the hell she even began to live with him? I would say, its a good thing that Hannahs husband seduced her, as a stepping stone to get out of this crazy prison.
Well,I think I begin to like his films afterall.

Secret Sunshine 密陽***

2012-01-06T10:38:00.002+01:00

Secret Sunshine 密陽***

Film opens with a very sweet young woman SangHae with a boy. She is a perfect mother, caring, romantic - young and pristine in some conventional way. She is a piano teacher. Widowed, she returns to MirYang to give her son the same stable child hood that her husband had. But bad things happens one after another, son got kidnapped, etc etc. Tragedy one after another, small town gossips, devote Christians worshipping in a very routine way, wooden tongues, but she finally accepted god, and found happiness. Then she decided to visit the prisoner who was the killer-kidnapper of the son to forgive him, but surprise surprise. The evil one said to her, that he also has been forgiven by god and prays for her everyday! She is no better than him in the eye of god, she cannot "forgive him" - because he has already been "forgiven" by god through his own efforts! Meanwhile, this man-man garagist- a common male who throws sexist comments in a crude way to his fellow female worker - is kind of in love with her. He began his long-distance close-ranged chasing. He does everything to make things better for SangHae, all in small details. The director doesnt show love by showing stereotypical roses and wine, fancy dinning. He does it in a very subtle correct to the situation way, fine brush work, showing who he is. He would put up a false prize certificate for her piano school - it is not her way, but sincerely he thought it good for her. He explains to the crying grandmother that SangHae is the one who suffered most. Everything is realistic, I could understand the Asian stuffiness as portrayed in this film. The young girl who quit school, got pushed, beaten by her boyfriend in a back alley, all this details makes the film very rich. It is the real world as we live it. Her romantic "secret sunshine" Miryang, is not at all special, it is just as imperfect, as evil, as stuffy as any old small town. Her "secret sunshine" in the end is the man who, through long patient devotion, sees her through all her difficulties and stays by her side.

He holds up a mirror so she could comb and cut it herself. There is a rich character development throughout the film and everything said /shown in a subtle way. Sanghae the sweet girl-mom, the devote christian, the sexy seductress, the crazy heart-broken-betrayed one (betrayed by god), and the one who finally gets very angry, and shows it!! She becomes human, no longer naive, someone who shows her anger, a more realistic person. Someone who doesnt live in a dream anymore.

The male actor is very good. He is very likeable.
The director is very subtle, he uses many small touches to describe his characters. For example, when Sanghae agrees to have dinner with him over the phone, he strikes this little "victory" pose - we only see it from the back. He swings his hips left and right, aha got it!! One step further in the right direction !

The film is also critical of certain "do good" religious groups because he shows that it could only help general cohesions -mediocre words and feelings- but doesnt really touch the real issue of people's deep pains.

Therefore, people like the garagist finds peace by going to the church - as he is not a complicated man, but the church would not do for someone like Sanghae, a much more sensitive romantic type.

Happy New Year 2012!! FoGuangShan Photomaton, sl DGM Buddha

2012-01-01T06:54:00.008+01:00

Swann Jie at sl Digital Guqin Museum, with friendly giant Buddha!

Visited FoGuangShan in Dec2011, at their Buddha Memorial Center, and am impressed by everything I have seen. Its been managed along the lines of the Louvre Museum; fancy shopping malls, good coffee, ice cream the whole package. Many clean large tables for rests w high backed chair clothed in removable cloth coverings like in fancy restaurants. I am most amused by two installations. First one is the "How to become a Buddha" - you are asked to step inside a secluded area with a reflection mirror. Some words are flashed on the wall, you are to repeat the words out loud, and that would trigger a mechanism. The words were, I will be kind etc etc and the flash that comes up was a halo, and the word "I am Buddha" is lit up. So everybody becomes a buddha if they do good. A very simple easy to understand way of Buddhism.

Installation number two was a giant size camera.
You put yourself on the foot prints on the ground and use the touch screen on the camera, facing you. It offers you many locations of FoGuangShan, Switzerland, Taiwan many places. Once you choose your location, you take a pic, and type in sender, email and off the picture goes.
Especially good for people who didnt have a good camera on hand. You could still get that special souvenir photo!
Global locations on the photomaton screen.

I know that in sl there are many Buddhism worship places, so I will try to go visit them later. I remember I had visited a place with Dalai Lamas picture.

And, I found a Buddha in my own inventory, so i set up a photo place at Digital Guqin Museum for those who cannot go to FoGuangShan but still like to have their avatar taken with a big friendly Buddha. Its rather nice. I enclose a sample picture here too.

You are welcome to visit Digital Guqin Museum anytime.

Currently its here: Pelinor 60, 6, 271

Come get a picture of yourself with the Giant Buddha!
You will have good wind, great sun, and much happiness!!

mesh, photographic realism

2011-12-31T23:56:00.000+01:00

http://tokenchic.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/among-the-cut/
some v nice photos taken from sl.

xyz Qin, shaping the wood embryo

2011-12-31T05:19:00.006+01:00

xyz Qin, shaping the wood embryo

There are two prototypes, one with Old Shan wood老杉木 (spruce=雲杉,fir=冷杉, cunninghamia(used in temples w scent)=杉), and the other with WuTong (paulownia tomentosa =tong= 白桐) wood.

The Shan wood was recuperated from an old church and the WuTong桐木 is maybe new? (bottom boards are usually in 梓 (catalpa=梓)).
Shan is more expensive and gives a dark rich sound
WuTong is light in color and weight gives a light singing voice. Says Master Shan单志渊.

However, other woods for top boards could be used too. Pine, cedar, spruce.

The two shosoin shapes are cut based on a pattern I drafted using dimensions given kindly by a Japanese friend who is a specialist in guqin.

A friend, Mr.Ke Huang Yi柯宏毅 used a long trimming tool to shave the board (a plane) into the shosoin shape. Long plane, short plane, and a mini bull horn plane. Long plane keeps the lines straight, mini plane turns and gives good curves used in finishing planing.
He did it in two hours, then Mr.Yuan showed us a "bull horn" shaver took, this little tool will trim the surface further into finer curves. The blade should be held at and pushed in a 45° angle (relative to the direction of the blade) to get a proper smooth curve and not perpendicular to the direction of the cut.

The highest point of qin is at the "chest" level, the thickest part of the qin. at 3rd to 4th hui
At 8hui and a half the board dips down a little bit to accommodate the fluttering vibration of the string.

The dip is at this depth: 1.5mm at 7th string, 2mm at 4th string, 2.5mm at 1st string.
The dip is feathered out to blend in w the rest of the board

Duration of the qin making process:
Minimum 8 months to Two years. This is to allow for the qin to get into position and for the qin to stabilise the overall form.

Here is the minimum duration without considering the settling in process, 23 days as follows:
After the embryo is done,
2 days base lacquer
2 days coarse deer horn powder鹿角 + lacquer
2 days medium deer horn powder鹿角 + lacquer
2 fine deer horn powder鹿角 + lacquer
2 top board base lacquer
2 top watery lacquer
7 top board lacquer 7 layers
last last layer
4 smooth fine polish 2 times

altogether 23 days.

When drying the lacquer needs humidity, humidity 85% is best, should be between 80-90°; if its any higher there will be a misty foggy sheen to the lacquer and it will not be mirror finished.

The "bridge" which holds up the strings should be .9 to 1.2cm thick; .9 will give a lighter sound and thicker dimensions gives a sturdier sound

N.B.Some of the terms of the names of wood and details are found in Jim Binkley's blog: Little Old Qin Maker. Thanks to the Little Old Qin Maker!!

Russian Ark , Paranoid Park

2011-12-31T03:19:00.004+01:00

Russian Ark ***

A very interesting one shot feature film. I had seen interviews of "making of" on youtube, its also very interesting.
What a great idea, no editing, just in camera editing... the pre-production is also enormous, lots of organisation! The director had one day to shoot the film because the location is inside the Hermitage museum and they only let them shoot on the off day. But what a fantastic location, very special. Rare.

As the film rolls along - we are aware of the camera framing re-framing all the time, unlike an edited movie. We see real paintings, scenarios, color of the wall, painting frames, (in ordinary movies, when you see a painting, it is a decor so usually kind of rough, look-a-like paintings but here, all the details are solid, good! can stand up to a close up without any problems). Then the actors and actresses are doing a continuous tableau display - including the sound track... music. For example: we get the Marquis (with formaldyhyde smell and old costumes) to go from room to room, he talks to the variouis people in various ages, they might be in easy jogging suits, or sailors outfit, or old style suits, he goes up to a woman in a long black dress, like in a millet painting; she seem to be blind, but she knows all the paintings and could tell lots of details about the painting to the visitor - is this a tongue in cheek effort to say, all these museum guides, whether they see or not see, it amounts to the same, because only we could see with our own eyes, she could only give you information; therefore, she could be easily replaced with a "talking guide" box - or, is the movie maker saying; all this chitter chatter about a painting is all words, we must see with our own individual eyes? In anycase, movie viewers are slightly jostled by this blind fine manner painting tour guide. Such slightly off-set with many asides scenes are many, in almost all the running water tableaux/scenes. Too many to name. Each one intriquing and holds our attention.

Otherwise, how do you keep the viewers interest while time is passing?

In the movie Stroll, our interest is upheld by the rapid fire of dialogues also full of intriques, and the girl is charming, while we dont really see the two guys faces. One is a poet the other pragmatic man-man; we are held in hope to see up close what do these two guys look like? Whereas we see the "fiancé" up close with a steady frame focused on his face. We see who this steady man through a steady cam.

Watch the movie yourself. :)

Paranoid Park ***
poetic travelling shots of the inner mind of a teenager who done got some trouble and gotta get it out of his head. Skate boarding poetry.
The pretty girlfriend and the girl next door girl friend are very nice butterfly wing type subtle touches and depth through layering. Tells the story through non verbal eye contacts, revealing the inner characters. We viewers are seeing these eyes and smiles, words through the eye of the boy-in-trouble.

High Quality Sim inspection Dec 2011

2011-12-21T00:40:00.005+01:00

High Quality Sim inspection Dec 2011

Many high quality sims have disappeared as we go along from the time I entered sl. 2007
Sims are high quality not only because of its fine graphic qualities, but they had story telling possibilities which gave visitors real memories of events, experiences of events in real time. It's an ensemble of memories of people and interactions and playfulness, freely enjoyed times.

Often, I would like to go back and revisit, replay all the activities that we did. Just to see, has things changed?

Like revisiting my kindergarten school ground, why, these stairs are so tiny, swings so low, and all built in stone for little people. We were tiny then!

Some of the disappeared sims that I would like to revisit are:

1// Clock Island (Franck Muller themed on time and numbers)
2// Isakaya Tokyo TV (post war 40s full village w all items replicas, ritual etc)
3// Everwind (mediaeval role playing sim)
4// Greenies (tiny green men from outerspace, with occasional real life ad purpose : ie L'Oréal campaign for makeup, skin)

Stroll***half

2011-12-20T13:33:00.006+01:00

Stroll***half Russian film, 2003

Interesting Russian movie, the whole film is shot on a rolling moving camera. Almost like a one shot deal. The dialogue is a sparkling imaginative bolt of silk, running non stop. Images are in motion all the time that we cant really see the face of the two main male characters. And the girl Olga, we only see her face up close quickly here and there, and her silhouette - big bosom girl. So we only see her up to her waist until we meet the best friend of the first male lead. Olga was accosted on the street by one poetic young man Alexei, he falls in love w her and introduces his best friend Petya to her. Meanwhile they are walking non stop through out the street, on the bridge under the rain. Olga receives non stop here and there phonecalls, she tells the caller to stop calling her. All the time, the quickly running conversation has to do with imaginative scenarios of who and what she does, Alexei invites her to Moscou, she agrees but insisted on paying for her ticket. She lets him see her passport so that he knows shes ten years older than him. But she really like Petya more, because Petya is the more mature one. Throughout the two hours, by the time we meet Petya, we noticed that Olga doesnt have to talk in the peppy way to Petya unlike to Alexei. She talks abouts how she sees the two, how she loves them both. Finally the secret is revealed, she was on a bet w her husband to be that she could walk for hours on high heel shoes and that she could go on a honeymoon in Tibet and Himalaya. Both Alexei and Petya felt cheated and left in a state of pissed off. Olga runs out to chase after them both to reassure them that she didnt do it on purpose she didnt want to cheat them. We see her running out the door to catch them both. The film ends with a woman kissing a man, but we dont know who she is kissing. In the dialogue, Alexei says to Petya that, the finace had no idea what he just lost... even though the two guys were sort of felt let down due to being "deceived" by this imaginative adventurous woman. When pickpocketed by a band of gypsy women, Olga doesnt get angry, she thinks its a wonderful adventure, a piece of theatre! Olga is someone who has exceptional visions of how life is lived, what time is, what people honesty, and being in the moment etc etc. Olga is a gypsy soul hereself. We see that this one day walk has changed something in her life, maybe even though she truly loves her fiancé, but she loves more these two guys whom she has just met, just like that. She runs after them out the door.

The film opens and ends with Nina Simone's wispy voice singing about love.
Very good smart story building, but after the revelation of the premise, its a little "just smart" but still believable.

Its a poetic fairy tales of a sort, and I do believe you could love many people all at once.

Here is a story that tells of the three types of love through Olga, that she was not "cheating" any one of them. However, its only credible in the framework of the film, because of clever scripting.

The film has very beautiful camera work too, and justifiable camera work, we are strickened by the a beauty of a cold blue sky of St. Petersberg through the reflexion of a car window showing all the buildings upside down and flowing in movement, (because its travelling in a marvellous curvy wave like scrolling motion on the screen); then we see its somebody in a car stepping out. In retrospect, we see the couple are not really seeing eye to eye. They are not such a made for each other couple. But there is reason why its a car reflexion that we see, because it was bet made for a day. Olga was in a car dropped off by her fiancé,where she began her walk.

When she meets Petya, we begin to see far away long shots, where we see her strutting walk on high heels, but the camera moves very quickly so we still couldnt see up close the faces of Alexei nor Petya.

Finally when the walk is over, in the bowling ally, we see Olga's fiance - a very ordinary good guy w common sense of fun, too common for a "wild horse" with run away spontaneous imagination like Olga - Olga is an exceptional woman. Olga came from a small country side - this also accounts for why she would be stuck with a man like this - everything fits in the movie.

Beautiful and refreshing story. Camera work flowing - reminds me of the one shot film also staged in St.Petersberg, the "Russian Ark".

Am very happy to have seen this movie.

I Vitelloni ****

2011-12-20T07:15:00.007+01:00

I Vitelloni****A Fellini classic, black and white, 1953. Prize: best screen writing.

Everything in this movie is very human, measured, every character has its specificity within their lives.From the main 5 young man, to the young wife, to the bosses wife, the father, the father-in-law-boss, the aging famous actor, play wright to be, show girl, high society woman with a flair to flirting, movie house etiquettes and signs, everything fits perfectly. (make up, costume, manners all convincing and distinctive as per character)

Italian Miss Mermaid contest, young womens covered-talk about pre-marital pregnancies, everything fits. Mothers broken hearted by run away daughters w a married man, mothers distraught by missing daughter in law - (she asked herself if its time to make lunch by habit when in face of uncontrollable events coming up, making lunch brings back a normality, an order to their lives...) etc etc.

The marriage at the church, the masked ball, the grandeur and small hard working folks, the young boy who had to get up at 3am everyday to work at the train station... everything works.All details are so human and humourous at the same time.

Fellini does not despise his light hearted characters, he showed them as they are. Only someone who has seen quite a lot of human situations could he make such a film. However, maybe its collaborative? Maybe Fellini had lots of friends of all sorts, thats how he could have made such a rich convincing human comedy type of realism film?

Wonderful film, I back tracked a few times to see how he did the various scenes and dialogues just to not miss it, because he is not redundant, everything is very concise and useful - when Moraldo leaves the small town, the camera show various buddies in bed, sleeping, about to be awaken but not awake, not out of bed. Then the camera pulls away, Moraldo is leaving without knowing where to go, but he must leave, because he is a serious young man, away and away, goodbye small town good bye. (The young boy Guido asks him, where are you going? Moraldo doesnt know, he says good bye to Guido, and Guido says good bye. We imagine, Guido might be the one to leave also because he is so orderly and proper inspite of his lowly position, unlike the five buddies, he will be the one to leave. Two adults passes by Guido who is walking along the rail track towards the Sun, they pat him on the head, like for a young good boy.

All these tiny gestures throughout the movie build towards a certain ambiance, a solid master web of a story. They are not empty, not long winded, they fill in the scenario like so many strokes as in a fumato painting, suggesting who will do what in the future for the big picture.

QR code in color

2011-12-19T14:18:00.006+01:00

QR code, see if it works?

Chihlee Technology Institute 致理技術學院 Dec15-16, 2011; TaiChung sl in rl friends

2011-12-19T07:26:00.005+01:00

Chihlee sl+rl campus, Nomilly Valeska
Cloud
Inaea: Unesco, Sandrine Han
Art Education
Tiny Avatar as gift
Sl friends meeting in Taichung
HuaKui MobileMusic, Swann Jie + Shuen-git
Sl locations and trees

Zhong Dao Tang: Qin and Qin Culture, Taipei. New York Qin Society and Friends Symposium, Oct 2011

2011-12-19T02:37:00.019+01:00

Zhong Dao Tang at QiDong Street, Taipei, Taiwan
Shuen-git Chow 周旋捷 invited to the Qin Symposium to present "Pale Ink 2004" and "Half HunDun Qin 2003-2006" to Zhong Dao Tang members and New York Qin Society members.
Shuen-git reading Chang PeiYou's Meeting Proceeding notebook
Jerome Li, master of ceremony at Qin Symposium; Half HunDun Qin could be seen behind him, also sg's computer for running "Pale Ink"

Zhong Hua Qin Society's blog on the event.
Green= added commentary by Shuen-git Chow
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Zhong Hua Qin Society's blog on the event.
Green= added commentary by Shuen-git Chow
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Talk at Chihlee Technology Institute, Taipei, Taiwan. Dec16th2011

2011-12-18T22:58:00.002+01:00

Some questions which came up again and again vis-a-vis Virtual Worlds - especially the one in Secondlife - Are Virtual World things real?

To reply to these puzzling existantial queries, I have written back in 2009 my experiences for Secondlife-world time.

The main points are here:

Time is a limited ressource and the person who spent time specifically for you, to be with you - in person in real life, and online via their avatar - has given you the gift of their time and is a real friend.

The Virtual World becomes "real" when the people inside invest their true selves in it. What is life if you are stripped of memories? We have only memories - to provide good memories, you must have high quality experiences.

This translates into high quality objects, scenarios and time - just like in the material world - immaterial world and material worlds are both components of real life.

http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2009/11/high-quality-sim-for-good-memories.html

Sunday Robot, Oct2011

2011-12-18T22:49:00.002+01:00

Sunday Robot, Oct 2011
Stainless steel, model size: table top approx 8 inches

HuaKui BallBall, large, medium and small

2011-12-14T00:37:00.006+01:00

Real human scale 1:1 small

Human scale with different mannequin sizes. Left: Extra Extra Large, building size ball, 20meter diameter; Top: Large ball, sitting 5meter diameter sphere; Right: Extra Large ball, 10meter diameter.

Large size ball with mannequin as human scale

3 idiots making of half, The White Sheik half, Intelligence of Being Human

2011-12-10T08:08:00.004+01:00

3 idiots making of ***half,
New pop film everybody says I would like. I got a hold of a making of, thinking it was the film, after I watched it entirely I find it very informative. Very good. I like to know behind the scenes type of mechanics and the actors, what efforts they made to achieve for example a lisp for a character etc. All very impressive and I really like last scene of the clear magnificent setting. So clear, water and sky all in one. Apparently the actors had oxygen problems, they were gasping for air after each piece of dialogue! Wonderful making of.

The White Sheik ***half
Fellini has made this very multilayered film about a young bride to be falling in love with romance as portrayed in Photo-roman comics, and he clearly showed each characters multileveled humanity. Regardless of how naive the girl is, the lady editor is warm and friendly towards her, she wants her to enjoy her romantic dreams. The taxi driver chases after the husband from place to place and waits to get paid, because he knew the husband is in hot water, so he waits without breaking the husbands "show". Very human. And the police man, in his detective professionalism, gets the husband to say his name, his fathers name, each time he utters his name; clack clack clack, the typewriter gets going as if hes already committed a crime... very funny and subtle. The "white sheik" comes on land, and faces this big fat woman, his wife who slaps the girl, and gets his man. So immediately the white sheik denys all doing w the girl, climbs on the back of the vespa, holds on tight the fat woman - she is the one for him! She resolves all his problems, and is the true pillar of solidity of his life! All the pretty girls in the world are just little snippets of candies, no more. The girl is played by a very pretty saintly pure young actress, very gd in her role. Fellini's wife plays this nosy woman, w very bright eyes, a little kookie but so likeable. The Juilette of the Spirits, same charming eyes. In the end, the girl gets together with her new husband, who is now truly she knows he is her white sheik. It is good that she had experienced this little dream breaking romance. It is very intelligent this movie shows each person involved in the production of romance, so necessary in peoples difficult lives. Each character has rules and boundaries that makes their lives not so easy and each part provides something sweet to make life go easier, and nobody is really that naive to believe in it at the first degree. So, this movie is so great in that all these multiple simultaneously occuring layers are all happening so well, nobody is mean. Everybody can make a little room for the other when in need. That, is being human. Intelligence of being human or rather Deploying Human Intelligence.

Mondrian's painting closeups

2011-11-16T10:34:00.006+01:00

photos by James Elkins

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-elkins/post_1036_b_756669.html

Closeups of Mondrian's paintings

I was at a critique session of an art school.
A student mounted a number of "copied" Mondrian to show her criticism against todays practice of museums sometimes just showing copies and not the original.
When I looked at these copies, they look like postcards blown up, or worst quickie striped "copies".
If this exhibition-work-installation is meant to be "criticism of todays Museum practices" - just a very good essay or photos of these existing practice would be good enough? Why go to the trouble of reproducing all these paintings by hand so the dimensions are exact etc. ?

I have respect for good copiers, because to make a good copy of a master painting, it also takes great artistic dedication - whether the copy is very life like or just amateur love like.
Here in this case, I think the student has wasted her time. Because her message is really thin and the effort that she has made to set this argument in a spatialised installation is - time wasted. The paintings have no love in it.

Then, other teachers think this is sufficient whether the copy is v gd or not is not important, the student has made a statement and its very good work.

I question this point because, why not copy Mona Lisa? Why choose Mondrian? Is it because we think Mondrian is much easier to fake than the very familiar Mona Lisa?

I think its a waste of time, because, this art work has no love in it. It is purely a "mediatic critique" thats not worth all this effort. In the end, the reason why we have copies in museums are not cynical. It is a solution to an existing problem - that of a standing in while the original is on loan or in the vault or whatever.

I think all paintings, whether by famous artists, or copier or students or amateur naive painters, without an authentic desire to create the painting, its not worth it. Because you will end up with a pile of "quickie look-a-like stand ins".

So, I asked the student, has she ever seen any of the Mondrian originals. No, she has not. (Why not copy something she has seen?)

So, I checked on the Internet, and within the first page, the third down the list, we see the article on "copying Mondrian" by James Elkins. There are very good photos of closeups of the painting too!

What does this all mean?
Part of this shows the change of what "painting" means and how "painting" as an art form has turned from the act to meaning, to critical gestures; and students today are applauded for "critical capacities".

I ask this question, as an artist, what is your "pleasure", your "content"? There are thousands of bad worthy of heavy criticism of moral, esthetics, from many different angles. How do you choose to criticise this or that? And would you rather use your time to improve your own work and make it better rather than criticising these other works/phenomenon?

Its very easy to be critical of a specific event or phenomenon, but without placing it in context, the criticism is too easy, too light, too ineffective. It doesnt bring much food to the table; neither for the "critic" nor for the viewer.

Put your place in the position of the copier, what are the issues involved in this act? What do you learn from the process and seeing the end result and other peoples reception of your act? Did your message deliver something thats worth your action? (Only the creator could fully answer this question)

For what reasons did the author of the copying decided to launch this laborious or easy work?

Sl is good for... architecture prototyping, machinima

2011-11-10T03:05:00.004+01:00

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/11/the-myth-of-why-second-life-failed-to-go-big.html#tp

The Myth of Second Life's Failure to Go Big: It Wasn't Lack of Practical Applications, But Poor Execution & Market Timing

It's quite easy to find numerous "jobs" that Second Life has been used for, in ways that other platforms couldn't provide as well. Here's just a few:

1// Second Life has been used by many filmmakers as a low-cost, resource-rich platform for making 3D animation -- i.e. machinima.

2// Second Life has been used by therapists and veterans as a high value therapy platform for treatment of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), which is "Working when nothing else has.”

3//Second Life has been used by architects as a low-cost, resource-rich prototyping platform.

Avril***

2011-11-07T17:00:00.003+01:00

Avril ***

Very nice film on nuns. About the awakening of a young girl grew up in a convent - a very strict order - maybe Carmelite. There is a heavy criticism on Camalite vow of no speaking, no contact with outside world. When, all the elderly nuns are there for some personal reasons - often unspeakable. The young girl Avril, was suggested by the head nun to take a vow forever devoted to god and had to give up all the worldly possessions and stay locked up in a small white room - the little chapel. She was to renovate the place and speak to no one for 2 wks. Comes a middle age nun - she whispers at the door that the girl was not really an orphan, she had a brother - and she wanted to, she could take the two weeks of confinement to get outside to look for her brother. She left the door unlocked. The girl gets out, and finds her brother and began an awakening of the senses. This part is very well played with very good transitions. The young nun has a flair for drawing and artistic sense. She soon makes friends with a paint vendor. Within two weeks, she found her brother and his boy friend, the paint vendor young man and herself. To decorate the white chaple she painted her body with pink paint, and the boys in blue, and printed the body on the white wall - a la Yves Klein. The film is interesting, and the references to contemporary art is interesting. A film to use for discussion. What do people see, which are the issues that makes us think more and maybe jump start our imagination. Makes us query which parts are plausible and which parts are rather forced. In all cases,the intention of the film maker is sincere.

Transylvania , No Man's Land,

2011-11-01T03:56:00.004+01:00

Transylvania ***2006

Movie by Tony Gatlif, w Asia Argento
Tony Gatlif's movies are raw movie dancing authentic gypsy stories. Asia Argento is a wild beautiful girl, apparently she really knows how to box. Its a road movie starting with Zingarina (Asia Argento) and Marie (Amira Casar, ex Chanel mannequin); wild+milk and cream marie.
The movie is directed by the music track, with many raw beautiful scenes, and many instruments, that seem very folksy; wood cellos that has no varnish but has been used for ages... life in the woods, winter coming, giving birth in snow land at the back of a station wagon, women coming to help with scissors in hand, everything is basic human raw emotions.
I like his movies, i like Asia, and I like Amira, I like the music, so, whats not to like in this movie?

No Man's Land***
About Bosnian, Serbian conflict: two soldiers, each from one side is trapped in the little strip of no mans land, in spite of the good intentions, how the UN comes in to try to help, the "international global news" tries to get a story, when really nobody really cares about the soldiers - they all try to do their job and be safe in their own relative positions. The script is very good, actors good. Story v gd. In the intricate relations of how people react to a situation, we could be good, or better, but nobody goes beyond their own self preservation first. That is why the soldier is left lying on top of a "bouncing mine". The man with the gun will be "right".

Anna***half, breakfast table

2011-10-30T05:29:00.004+01:00

Anna***half

A very rich story stringing past lives of women together through a character call Anna. Anna lives in a cave with her German father. German father is a know-it-all kind man, tired of the worldly life. He taught Anna everything without putting her in a normal public school. Anna was home schooled. Charlotte Rampling plays a patron character who takes all these various young free spirited people and house them in a huge abandonned squat like place. The outside of the building has massive thick griffiti all over. Inside is a hippy squat ambiance. Women are "whores" and men "rapists". Here Anna finds a soul mate, and began her journey going back into many past lives, many lives of women, mother, goddess, priestess. The last round was being waitress at a fancy hotel. She was waitress to bring up a dinner for a special very private person. This person is responsible for war etc. He has a guard at the door. The guard searches the waitress, shes sexy. They did a sexy play, she sucked on a huge asparagus on one end to titilate the guard and the guard sucked on the other end. When she brings the plate to the man, he ate half and forks the other half offers to her, saying, he sucked the other half, she could eat it. The dialogue is quite smart. So finally she gets to his room, puts her butt on his face... and, surprise, she makes ca ca on his face!! Very gd turn of the story, then he bashes her, tries to punish her. She escapes. Finally over with this last life? She could be herself finally?

The last scene was the best, the others are fine, but all déjà vue, and quite inconvincing the sophistication Anna handles the insertion from cave to society. Anyway, this is similar in plot construction as in Hannah(see http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2011/07/hannah-murderers.html) - protected girl enters society and has to adapt and fight off all the dangers in the world. Here the story has multiple lines of political content, and history of women, injustice, a much heavier bag.

Breakfast table album, cont'd

kimchi, lotus root chestnut (ling-jiao) w two bull horns, soft sticky type corn, large pomelo, smoke dried longan infusion

tekkon kinkreet 惡童當街 ***half,

2011-10-27T02:11:00.004+02:00

惡童當街 DVD ( tekkon kinkreet,
Studio 4°C (animation studio)) 松本大洋 ***half

Story very comic book, dramatic, good bad, black and white. Story line is very very clear. Details to the movie is very good. Very beautiful cinematographic experience. Popular and excellent high quality work.
Lots of background information for the Making of tekkon kinkreet on wikipedia.
Wonderful!

slactions2011 xyz Qin, Shosoin Qin, Making of xyz Qin 1

2011-10-23T10:02:00.011+02:00

slactions2011 installation on HK PolyU campus

XYZ Qin

Version 2.228oct2011

Slactions2011

Creation of the xyzQin: an interpretation and re-creation of the Shosoin qin (金銀平文琴) Tang Dynasty (735AD) ; Shosoin Treasure House, Japan :: from rl-> sl -> rl.

Shuen-git Natasha Chow 周旋捷 2011
Visiting Associate Professor
Tainan University of the Arts
Taiwan

Description:
In this research-creation– the third in the serie of Digital Guqin Museum Project - we will investigate issues concerning the making of a real life Chinese musical instrument : the guqin - by deploying Virtual World 3D construction capacities and then exporting the model to real life. I will design a new guqin after the style of the locked up Shosoin qin in Nara, tentatively entitled the “xyz琴” (xyz Qin)

xyzQin research-creation
1// design template
2// cut wood, assemble into embryo
3// test sound with string
4// fine tuning, lacquering, fine tuning, polish
5// naming the qin

Technical Advisors:
Master guqin player: Sik ChingChieh
Master guqin maker: Mr. Shan ZheYuen

Making of xyz Qin 1

Picture 1// Preparation of the deer horn into proper coating grades to mix with lacquer. 600gm crushed deer horn per qin. 300coarse grade, 200medium grade, and 100fine grade. Here, we must first scrape out the marrow of the deer horn pieces. Tools: thin, flexible wood cutter type blades, w curved cutting edge

Picture 2// The open air studio of Master Shan Zhe Yuan. The studio should be well lit and well ventilated with long working tables. We will be using a lot of natural lacquer. This liquid has a slight poison people could be allergic to it. I think its good to make two qins at a time because the drying process in between makes it that you must wait, one or two will require the same window of time. Therefore I decided to make two qins, with a different skin at the finish. And a different wood base to see the two favorite woods used. Wood no 1: over 100 year old "Shan", and Wood no 2: "tong". Mr.Shan says : the two woods are very different. "Shan" wood is deeper and darker in tone, whereas "tong" is light and bright. I think making two identical design w different variables allows us to see the difference in material.

Version 1

I like this poster w the almost "arabic" font - The Dymaxion of Buckminster Fuller fame (free)- this font gives the feeling that its running, and orderly. Little hard to read. But this poster is meant to show the passage of time and idea. It shows via its components not entirely through the meaning of the text. It is readible but its appearance gives the direction and essence of the project - light, smooth, airy, inventive.

The second version (scroll above) uses a more flamboyant handwriting font (free)- "Meddon". It is angular at the turn of the letters, gives the line script some sharpness but very easily readable. I like this font very much because it connotates a fine period of baroque time - flowery, fun, adventurous (as in the 18th century, people take time to enjoy things) it has a faint reference to the period of the Shosoin qin, around 450AD (in reality) but was gifted to the Palace of Japan in 735AD so it is on record as 735AD. The slightly fancy script suits the elaborate skin of the Shosoin qin. Its part of an instrumental ensemble for the palace. The most refined and well preserved qin in current existence. I am happy that I could use this font for this poster. Each font - just like any graphics contributes to the overall feeling of a project. It says, what is the point of the project, where it is going and from where is the idea originated, aboveall, it shows visually the targeted esthetic objective, personal wishes and desire for the project of the creator-researcher.

Jazz and Art Festival at 5 Japanese Sim, HuaHui BallBall Beach, Opening and live music

2011-10-15T01:03:00.004+02:00

Opening of the Jazz and Art Festival is tonight at 9pm - First live music event for Swann Jie, she has put her little guqin in hut for the event. Cant wait to see what happens!

Jazz & Art Festival in Secondlife

dinamite Kidd 2:41pm Oct 14

明日のオープニングはこんな感じで行きたいと思いまーす。

Opening Ceremony 進行表

実行委員(スタッフ）
dinamite Kidd　(スカイプ）
miyuki Alter　 (スカイプ）
Toko Loon　　　(スカイプ）
bananafish Boa　(スカイプ）
Haruno Watanabe　(スカイプ）
Kerupa Flow

司会進行
dinamite Kidd
miyuki Alter
進行補助
Toko Loon
音声ストリーミング担当
Haruno Watanabe
通訳担当
Haruno Watanabe

アーティスト
Goodwind Sailing　(スカイプ）
Swann Jie　(スカイプ）
Kerupa Flow
Gallery SayoPiyo
Yoyo Quarts
Sayoko Moonwall
edaeda Mistwallow

naturalway Flow (欠席）
michiharusaotome（欠席）

ミュージシャン
Haruno Watanabe

※進行
5:00am（21:00）　スタッフ集合
5:30am（21:30）　アーティスト集合、音声チェック

6:00am（22:00）　配信開始
司会者登場、ごあいさつ
イベントの概要等紹介トーク（みゆき＆まいと）
主催者と会場SIMの紹介で、ばなちゃん登場　（軽く挨拶よろしく）
6:05～6:10am（22:05～22:10）
アート部門紹介から、アーティスト紹介
ここでアーティスト登場。
（アーティストは椅子を用意する）
Swannとさちこさんはスカイプ。
ほかの人はチャット。
できれば、作品や写真を見せての紹介をしたいです。
(ポスターでもいいかな）
欠席のさおとめさんの紹介は、みゆきさんから。
アーティスト退場
（退場の後、椅子を片づけてください　←ばなちゃんかな？）
6:35am
ライブ部門の話へ移ります。
各演奏者の紹介を軽く・・
（とこちゃんにヘルプ振るかも・・天の声での参加もありかな）

※このあたりの時間帯、ノーティス出したり、ルイスのケアがありますので、
そっちをとこちゃんにはお願いします。ストリーミングの切り替えなど、
よかったらとこちゃんにも権限を渡しておいてもらえますか？＞ばなちゃん

この日のルイスとタムラの話は少し掘り下げて話します。
6:55am
はるののことを紹介、通訳、ストリーミング配信ありがとう！
ミュージシャンを代表してごあいさつ。

7:00amルイスのライブへ

Jazz & Art Festival in Secondlife 5sims, Oct15-Nov13 2011

2011-10-04T18:14:00.003+02:00

Jazz & Art Festival in Secondlife

http://jazzfes.slmame.com/
some videoclips

JAZZ & ART Festival 2011

Jazz and Art Festival 2011 features best second life musicians from all over the world performing live music at 15 unique venues, and incredible artists exhibiting their work between October 15, 2011 and November 13, 2011. Total 5 sims ("amatsu", "Grandblue", "HARUNO", "Waterland" and Aquapolis") will be prepared for live music concerts and art exhibitions. "Kick" will be part of Art exhibition during the month of October. Some live concerts will be held at various art exhibition venues. Come and join us to enjoy the best music and art on the Second Life.

=Event Period=
15 Oct.- 13 Nov. 2011

=Musicians=
Louis Volare
Jaynine Scarborough
Tamra Hayden
Zachh Cale
Winters Kanto
Joaquin Gustav
Cacho Nootan
Eth Tedeschi
Ankari Holder
RiZ
Ashiya Jun Trio
Jano Runo
Clarice Karu
JooZz
Al Hoffman
Nnoiz Papp
Rulie Cisse
Ruphay Sax
Moshang
Jana Kyomoon
amina Aeon
Haruno Watanabe

=Artists & Exhibition Galleries=
edaeda Mistwallow (JAPAN)
Corridor, Grandblue

Kerupa Flow(JAPAN)
Deep Thought Cathedral ,Grandblue

Goodwind Seiling (SWEDEN／JAPAN)
N00Sphere Playground & Seduction, Spiral Shell,amatsu

Gallery Sayopiyo(Sayoko Moonwall & yoyo Quartz)（JAPAN)
Captive Balloon~Firefly Forest, Kick　（Oct.15 - Oct.31)
Sayopiyo at HARUNO, HARUNO (Nov.1 - Nov.13)

Swann Jie (TAIWAN)
HuaKui Beach, amatsu

michiharusaotome (JAPAN)
Swing wingS Gallery, Grandblue

naturalway Flow（Music StarMine、Show of artistic fireworks with music）(JAPAN)
MSM Base, amatsu

=DJ=
Fujiyama Yokosuka (JAPAN)

=Live & Event Schedule(SLT)=
Oct.15 (SAT)
JAZZ & ART Festival 2011 Opening
6:00 Opening Ceremony
7:00 Live: Louis Landon (USA)
8:00 Live: Tamra Hayden(USA)
Venue: Greek Theater, Grandblue

Oct.16(SUN)
Live Event @ Kerupa Flow Exhibition Venue
6:45 Introduction:dinamite Kidd & Jasminsea Noel
7:00 Live: Haruno Watanabe(USA/JAPAN)
Venue: Deep Thought Cathedral ,Grandblue

Oct.21(FRI)
Tango from Argentina
5:45 Introduction dinamite Kidd & miyuki Alter
6:00 Live: Joaquin Gustav(ARGENTINA)
7:00 Live: Winters Kanto(ARGENTINA)
8:00 Live: Cacho Nootan(ARGENTINA)
Venue: Restaurant, Grandblue

Oct.22(SAT)
Live Music from Germany
6:45 Introduction:dinamite Kidd & Toko Loon
7:00 Live: Nnoiz Papp(GERMANY)
8:00 Live: Jaynine Scarborough(GERMANY)
Venue: Takamagahara Chapel, amatsu

Oct.23(SUN)
Live Event @ michiharusaotome Exhibition Venue
6:45 Introduction: miyuki Alter & Toko Loon
7:00 Live: Zacch Cale(USA)
Venue:Swing wingS Gallery, Grandblue

Oct.28(FRI)
Live Event @ edaeda Mistwallow Exhibition Venue
6:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & miyuki Alter
7:00 Live: amina Aeon(JAPAN)
8:00 Live: Louis Landon(USA)
Venue: Corridor, Grandblue

Oct.29(SAT)
Live Music from Mexico
6:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & Toko Loon
7:00 Live: Ankari Holder(MEXICO/URUGUAY)
8:00 Live: Jano Runo(MEXICO)
Venue: Venue especially prepared for JAZZ & ART Festival, Waterland

Oct.30(SUN)
Jazz Piano & Native American Flute
5:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd &Jasminsea noel
6:00 Live: Rulie Cisse(JAPAN)
7:00 Live: Ruphay Sax(SPAIN)
Venue: Haruno Palace, HARUNO

Nov.3 (THU)
Live Event @ Swann Jie Exhibition Venue
5:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & miyuki Alter
6:00 Live: RiZ(JAPAN)
7:00 Live: Clarice Karu(USA)
Venue: Music Space KAGURA

Nov.4 (FRI)
Light & Sound Show
Artistic Fireworks with Music
6:00 Music StarMine: naturalway Flow(JAPAN)
7:00 DJ Fuji/Soul Jazz & Jazz Funk: Fujiyama Yokosuka(JAPAN)
Venue: Natulax Amatsu, amatsu

Nov.5(SAT)
Live Event @ Gallery Sayopiyo Exhibition Venue
6:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & Jasminsea Noel
7:00 Live: Haruno Watanabe(USA/JAPAN)
Venue:Sayopiyo at HARUNO , HARUNO

Nov.6 (SUN)
Live Event @ Goodwind Seiling Exhibition Venue
4:45 Introduction: miyuki Alter & Toko Loon
5:00 Live:Moshang(TAIWAN)
6:00 Live:Jana Kyomoon(UK)
Venue: N00Sphere Playground & Spiral Shell, amatsu

Nov.11(FRI)
Jazz Piano Live
5:45 Introdiction: dinamite Kidd & miyuki Alter
6:00 Live: Eth Tedeschi(UK)
7:00 Live: Winters Kanto(ARGENTINA)
Venue: PRESS Lounge Piano Bar, HARUNO

Nov.12(SAT)
Live Music from Netherlands
5:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & Toko Loon
6:00 Live: Al Hoffman(NETHERLANDS)
7:00 Live: JooZz(NETHERLANDS)
Venue: Aquapolis Metro Terminal, Aquapolis

Nov,13(SUN)
JAZZ & ART Festival 2011 Closing
4:45 Introduction: dinamite Kidd & miyuki Alter
5:00 Live: Ruphay Sax(SPAIN)
6:00 Live: Jaynine Scarborough(GERMANY)
7:00 Closing Ceremony
Venue: TAKAMAGAHARA Stage, amatsu

=Infomation Center=
Infomation Center, Aquapolis

=SIM & owners=
amatsu / dinamite Kidd
Grandblue / bananafish Boa
HARUNO / haruno Watanabe
Waterland / uota Noel
Aquapolis / cyberweb Babii

=organizers=
nabe Spitz
Bananafish Boa
Jasminsea Noel
dinamite Kidd

miyuki Alter
Toko Loon
haruno Watanabe
Uota Noel
cyberweb Babii
kerupa Flow

Half HunDun Qin, and Song HunDun Qin

2011-10-03T17:37:00.001+02:00

Half HunDun Qin 半混沌琴 by Shuen-git Chow 2003, completed in 2006

http://guoxue.kids21.cn/tp/201109/t20110909_77345.htm
very famous 混沌 HunDun qin from Northern Song Dynasty.
I call my qin Half Hundun because its half straight and half w 2 "eyes" - it has always been Half Hundun since 2003, so that the name of the chouchou Half Hundun! :)

As for the famous Song Hundun, its smooth "tongue depresser" shaped.

The one and only authentic " 半混沌琴 Half Hundun qin" is as shown in this picture above. Copyright protected.

brainpickings, Scholar Stone, Scholar Stone Flower

2011-09-14T04:20:00.011+02:00

sg taking pic; photo by Mr.Wang QiJun

花：赏石开花

花：赏石开花
“Scholar Stone Flower 2011”

Scholar stones are traditionally pieces of stones selected and displayed similar to vegetal bonsai for visual and spiritual enjoyment。Flowers are universally enjoyed for its sexy beauty and pleasure as a symbol of plenitude Together we see simple lines of construction that transform a stone into a flower。 The shiny stainless steel scholar stone flowering into long term happiness for many special moments to come。

赏石是中国传统用来观赏的漂亮盆景石头。书房案子上摆放後空间有安静典雅的气氛。鲜花也有同样的功能。我们直觉感到活的生趣和联想。

透过明亮简洁的统一线条，空靈巨雕赏石开花；大人小孩旁边一站，自身马上变小；指向一段闪亮多姿硬朗洁净又长线的开心时光。

Web site of the day

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/about/

very nice site, from graphics to content

http://www.spirit-stones.com/2010/11/26/harvard-shanghai-centers-scholar-stone/

Many people ask me about Scholar Stone Flower, especially the part about the Scholar Stone. Either they dont see the stone, or they think its funny to have a stone thats "Scholarly". So I found some online information to clarify what rock collectors love - Scholar Stone.

More pictures of the Changchun sculpture symposium, thanks to Sury's detail photo documentary!

Planet of the apes 2011, Russian Watch, PeiYou and Stephane

2011-09-12T23:37:00.007+02:00

New Russian Bracelet Watch
Have not worn a watch for a long time, but its easy to tell time if you wear one, instead of having to look at your mobile phone. So I started wear a watch again, and this bracelet watch is really gd for lazy people, you just put it on one click, and not have to do the buckle belt thing.

Russian watch, (most likely made in China) From Harbin Russian Friendship store. Since I had idle time, I bought this affected by the enthusiasm of Winnie - a real shopper - afterwards, at brkfst, real Russian Tuii says, hehehe its kitsch, (but I like it more and more everyday... )so far its keeping time v well...

PeiYou and Stephane

First qin player visitors since I arrange my qin playing "house" - to the size of a tiny house! PeiYou thinks the Half HunDun is good and suggested that I put silk strings on one of my qins, maybe this is the one. I will but no time to play now, will do it later. So nice to hear her play on the qin.

===

Planet of the apes 2011 **half

Intelligent monkeys, getting out of the lab, going back to his natural forest leading many apes... fight w police, wild life animal prison, medical lab testing. End of story

48hr film, machinima w judge from R2D2

2011-09-09T09:41:00.000+02:00

http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima/

Melancholia (2011 film)

2011-09-09T00:53:00.003+02:00

Melancholia (2011 film)****

Lars von Trier's films have always been hard to watch for me. I dont enjoy watching his movies. There is always some sadistic torture elements in them that i feel very hard for the actresses.

Here, Melancholia is a surprise. Kirsten Dunst is truly remarkable, she looks at times v potato faced - like a lump of white starch but then she smiles and she glows w dimples and sensuality with many many nuances and turns of a character, very expressive. There is also something very spontaneous in each scene, like a home cinema of a sort using hand held camera? The camera shakes and shuffles from one take to the next. But it creates immediatecy this is the Von Trier method and its really good here. Charlotte Gainsbourg looked dry and self controlled as her character should be, not very sympathetic but v kind and well brought up as she should be.
There is an enigma, whats going on w this wedding? and how come these two sisters are fighting, the two actresses are so well put together one slim and dry the other fleshy but full blooded and daringly outspoken... and how could a mother be so rude in such a context, and the father so silly etc etc All absurb situations.

The music and visuals all very beautiful and esthetic. The riding beating of the horses, the Kirsten Dunst nude facing the moon on disaster ending of the world approaching all v impressive.

Apparently Von Trier conceived of the story from his depression session with his analyst. Maybe that makes the components stick out from the usual expected political correct dialogues in most story telling.

Its an extraordinary; flashy and at the same time calm film.

Einstein avatar contest, 3Dceramic printing

2011-09-08T05:07:00.007+02:00

http://www.imric-virtualmarathon.com/

Einstein avatar contest

Implications and participation in real world contest for the creation of an Einstein Avatar for fundraising purpose in medical research.

More info here, prize money usd 2,500.

3D ceramic printing
http://blog.ponoko.com/2011/08/19/new-material-glazed-ceramic-for-3d-printing-yeah/

Nanni Moretti:habemus papam, LES BIEN-AIMES

2011-09-07T20:24:00.002+02:00

Nanni Moretti:habemus papam ***half
Nanni Moretti has made another film thats spiritual, light and grand with human existential questionings happening to a Pope - the Pope is just like anybody else he might have had doubts about his capacities and one day, he decided to put a stop and step down to begin another life. Airy and grand. Piccoli plays the Pope with delicate subtle understatement. He has the face of someone who has lived well and not at all suffered, even incognito, we believe that he couldnt have lived a blank life but its time for something else even though he himself doesnt know what it is. It is a courageous film to say: its ok to stop; at whatever level of life you have lived. Encouragement for people to take things lightly and live, and finally enjoy.

Les Bien-aimés ***
This one is a story that spans from the 60s to the year 2007 covering the life story of a mother and daughter played by young actrice and Catherine Deneuve for the mother and Chiara Mastrioanni for the daughter in adult age. This cream puff of a muscial on variations of men women relationships has singing parts to help the sentiments along but the songs are heavy and little by little this cream becomes a thick mayonnaise that stiff with pins and needles embedded - the story gets dark and bitter with much blasé feelings. Like a very complicated spider web, every character has to unravel and work out their fears - courage is, the father says to the daughter - knowing that it might not work and still go right to the end. The daughter suicides after running head strong into an unrequited love with a weak homosexual man. Much nudity, we cannot believe such beautiful people with intelligence, not naive could fall in this unexplained way for shallow coward people. Why and how? But the time line is given the movie seem to be saying that in our days, love is complicated freedom and romance from the old days do not exist in such rosy clouds anymore; all is complicated, impure, disappointment galore due to the weakness of people and maybe social norms as a whole?

Heavy and unconvincing, its balls and balls of small threads sticking all over the place thats tiresome to be rid of. If you are rid of these, what is left? Nothing much.

The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodovar

2011-09-07T03:27:00.002+02:00

The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodovar, 118 mins, **half

As usual, Almodovar has a theme about sex and identity, family secrets, obsessions and perversions, with a very good singer scene in clubs.
This is a tale of taking a young man to have his sex changed without his consent - the actor is very fine featured like a young Richard Chamberlain but when he metamorphosed into this big eyed young girl - the face doesnt match. It would have been much more convincing to have the actor made up as a young woman? Or is it too much trouble? Eye size do not change like that so this is a big "easy way out" for the story to work. The actress has a v beautiful face and body. The body suits in nude skin tones are interesting clothing pieces. I have seen a beaded body suit in an exhibition of Almodovars films by Jean Paul Gaultier, its truly a second skin with nipples and toes, fingers all finely tinted to ressemble flesh. Magnificent dress/body suit. Here the actress wears a simplified version with zippers under the breast, around arm holes, why? because her skin is supposed to be burning and sensitive. OK.
Then the crazy doctor sleeps with his transexual pet - he showed us the sex change requires the vagina needs to be stretched incrementally with various size strechers in shapes of slim, medium, large, full size pencil/penis shaped sticks. A little peek into the process of what sex change requires to go from a man to a woman.
The mother of the doctor is played by the usual actress v gd.
However this movie lacks heat, its a string of complicated family stories linked to make up the intriques with sex change contents. It lacks enthusiasm.

Everybody dies in the end and the most intersting and challenging moment of the story comes - how does the "daughter/son" deal with meeting his/her birth mother, and how does he feel really? All these could have had moments of emotional intensity - with some inner truth to be said to the audience through the sex changed character - but the scene blacks out to credits. ?!! Quick and easy.

There are lots of sex, erotic, transgression themed movies out in recent months, and quite a few has the glossy, esoteric voyeuristic elements in it - not yet seen any one that truly deals with the decision making, the turmoil of the people involved. We are curious but no longer only curious, we also want to understand too.

Maybe Almodovar himself is tired of all this.

"Scholar Stone Flower" poster in sl w rl content

2011-09-06T02:25:00.001+02:00

Integration of sl+rl using Virtual World as a design platform for 3D objects, walk-in sculptures, meeting points.

12th ChangChun International sculpture Symposium, rl monumental sculpture "Scholar Stone Flower"

2011-09-05T14:22:00.015+02:00

"Scholar Stone Flower": sg: Canada, Nicholas: Cypres, and Syrian sculptor

"Scholar Stone Flower" sg, Nikolas and 2 sweet interpreters

"Scholar Stone Flower" : Back ground surroundings with trees

12th ChangChun International sculpture Symposium, rl monumental sculpture "Scholar Stone Flower"

Wang, Sg, Fernando Pinto

sg taking pic

"Scholar Stone Flower", stainless steel sculpture by Shuen-git (Swannjie), photo by Solviega

"Scholar Stone Flower", stainless steel sculpture by Shuen-git (Swannjie), photo by Solviega

"Scholar Stone Flower" stainless steel, 4.5m high x 3m large, on the truck to the Wetland Park for installation; ChangChun. Sol, Shuen-git (Natasha), Marie and Sury

Virtual World sim visits 2011 Hellas Maccedonia, Hanako Teapot House, StellaNova Moebius art

2011-09-05T14:06:00.006+02:00

Hellas Maccedonia

Hellas Maccedonia

Hanako Teapot House

Apollonian Marina

Stella Nova Moebius art

StellaNova vw astrophysics

Swann started the visits this time afresh, looking at high quality sims with the purpose of showing them to new comers of the Virtual World. What might they like to do in this world?

Some role playing sims are very well made, although the players in the sim often take themselves very very seriously, as if they exist 100% in their world!

Hannah, The Murderers

2011-07-11T22:03:00.002+02:00

Hannah***
Thriller
Blond hair genetically modified baby grows up in a forest with "father" and enters back into civilisation. Trained to kick, and chop, kill, shes a little like an innocent and angelic robot. Very milky skin, pretty, like a lost child (which the role of Hannah )she kills without any turmoil. Cate Blachett is v gd, evil, slim, cold,she got her evil end coming.

Many beautiful settings, Marocco, houses, snow scenes. Good camera work.

The Murderers***
Thriller, Korean blood and love, revenge, madness

The film is too long. Because the story is actually quite simple, a mad man picks up women and kills them w water pipe, knife, whatever is handy. Strips them naked, chops them up to 5 members, put into fridge and friend eats "this kind of tasty meat". A cop runs after this mad guy, because his own wife got murdered this way. Lots of bashing, cutting, dagger in heel to rip out tendons, head bashing, hair wet with blood... broken wrists... all danger danger - at the end the bad crazy guy got guillotined in front of his own mom dad and son.

After half way, you know this film is mainly about rape, killing, dismembering women for "no reason".
Too long.

many humourous touches. But not enough to get this into a great movie, its a slick and accomplished work but not "memorable" for me.

The 12th China Changchun (High-tech Development Zone) International Sculpture Symposium

2011-07-11T04:15:00.009+02:00

The 12th China Changchun (High-tech Development Zone) International Sculpture Symposium

14July-3Sept2011

List of sculptors
The 12th China Changchun (High-tech Development Zone) International Sculpture Symposium

List of sculptors :
1) 阿富汗(Afghanistan) Abdulhai Frahmand
2) 阿根廷(Argentine) Cenrique Valdez
3) 埃及(Eygpt) Salah Hammad
4) 爱沙尼亚(Eesti) Tiiu Kirsipuu
5) 安道尔(Andorre) Angel Calvente Gutierrez
6) 安提瓜(Antiqua) Michael Hunt
7) 奥地利(Austria) Elisabeth Ledersberger-Lehoczky
8) 澳大利亚(Australia) Jeffrey Frith
9) 巴林(State of Bahrain) Ali Almahmeed
10) 巴拿马(Panama) ALONSO HIM MANZANÉ
11) 巴西(Brazil) Irineu Garcia
12) 白俄罗斯(Belarus) Maxim Piatrul
13) 保加利亚(Bulgaria) Todor Yalamov
14) 北马里亚纳(North Marianna Islands) Barry Wonenberg
15) 贝宁(Benin) DANSI SOETOVE
16) 比利时(Belgium) Thierry Lauwers
17) 波兰(Poland) Janusz Plota
18) 布基纳法索(Bukina Faso) NIKIEMA Romain
19) 丹麦(Danemark) Poul Baekhoj
20) 德国 (Germany) Annabella Claudia Hofmann
21) 多哥(Togo) Samuel Olou
22) 多米尼克(Dominican) Jacob Frederick
23) 俄罗斯(Russia) Schur/Shestakov
24) 法国(France) Michel AKSENTIEVITCH
25) 法属波利尼西亚(French Polynesia) GOTZ Donaghy Philippe
26) 菲律宾(Philippine) Cristina S. Taniguchi
27) 芬兰(Finland) Kirsti Karvonen
28) 哥伦比亚(Columbia) Fernando Pinto
29) 哥斯达黎加(Costa Rica) Ulises Jiménez Obregón
30) 格林纳达(Granada) ELLON LEWIS
31) 巴巴多斯(Barbados) DIANNE WALCOTT
32) 格鲁吉亚 (Georgia) Jhon Gogaberishvili
33) 古巴 (Cuba) RENE NEGRIN MENDEZ
34) 关岛(Gwam) Christine R. Choe
35) 海地 (Haiti) Claude Montes
36) 韩国 (Korea) Han Jin Sub 韩镇燮
37) 荷兰 (Holland) Johannes Maria/ Reijnders
38) 加拿大(Canada) Shuen-git Natasha Chow 周旋捷
39) 加纳 (Ghana) Ghattaba /Joseph Adjzobah
40) 捷克(Czech republic) Ladislav Sorokac
41) 津巴布韦(Zimbawi) SHEPHERD NDUDZO
42) 肯尼亚(Kenya) Kenyanya Peter Oendo
43) 拉脱维亚(Latvia) Solveiga Vasiljeva
44) 黎巴嫩 (Lebanon) Husam CHAYA
45) 立陶宛 (Lithuania) Arvydas Alisanka
46) 利比里亚 (Libya) Sekou Kamara
47) 卢森堡 (Luxembourg) Bertrand Ney
48) 卢旺达 (Ruwanda) BIZIMANA Medard
49) 罗马尼亚 (Romania) Bogdan Adrian Lefter
50) 毛里求斯 (Mauritius) M.chummun Ramyead
51) 美国(USA) Shohini Ghosh
52) 美属维尔京(Virginia USA) Edney Louis Freeman
53) 蒙古(Mongolia) Ulziisuren Batsuren
54) 孟加拉(Bangaladesh) ALAK ROY
55) 秘鲁 (Peru)
PABLO MANUELYACTAYO CHUMPITAZ
56) 莫桑比克 (Mozambique) Nangashinu Frank
Arroni Ntaluma
57) 墨西哥 (Mexico) Jorge de Santiago lopez
58) 南非 (South Africa) Wilhelm Johonnes/Schmidt
59) 尼日尔(Nigeria) Issoufou Lankoande
60) 葡萄牙(Portugal) Arlindo/Duarte de Arez
61) 日本(Japan) Hiroyuki Asano朝野浩行
62) 瑞士(不来了cancelled)(Swiss) Ralfonso Gschwend
63) 塞尔维亚(Serbia ) Nedim Hadziahmetovic
64) 塞浦路斯(Cyprus) nikos kouroussis
65) 沙特阿拉伯(Saudi Arabia) Kamal Mansor Almualem
66) 圣卢西亚(Saint Lucia) Jallim Eudovique
67) 圣马力诺(Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino) Dorotea Tini
68) 圣文森特(Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Amos Nathaniel Sandy
69) 斯里兰卡(Siri Lanka) Anura Krishantha
70) 苏丹(Sudan) khalid abdulla mergani
71) 泰国 (Thailand) Sarawut Chutiwongpeti
72) 坦桑尼亚 (Tanzania) Mwandale Magoda Mwanyekwa
73) 特立尼达和多巴哥(Republic of Trinidad and Tobago)
Hetty Juanita de Gannes
74) 土耳其(Turkey) dervis ergun
75) 土库曼斯坦 (Türkmenistan) Abdymukhammet Dramadov
76) 乌克兰(UKRAINE) Oleksandr Matsiuk
77) 乌拉圭(Uruguay) Oscar Nelson Umpierrez Copette
78) 西班牙(Spain) Gotzon Huegun Burgos
79) 希腊(Greece) Sakellarios nikolaos Koutouzis
80) 新西兰(New Zealand) Alexander Efimov
81) 匈牙利(Hungary) Dr. Csiky Laszlo
82) 亚美尼亚(Armenia) Tigran Harutyunyan
83) 亚速尔(Hino dos Açores) Carlos Dutra
84) 伊拉克(Iraq) Ali noori ali sataa
85) 伊朗 (Iran) Esfandyar Moradpour
86) 以色列(Israel) Moshe Perelman
87) 意大利(Italy) Maria Elisa /Corsini
88) 印度(India) Chander Parkash
89) 印度尼西亚 (Indonesia) Hedi Hariyanto
90) 英国 (UK) John Atkin
91) 英属维尔京 (British Virgin Islands) Aragorn /Dick-Read
92) 越南(不来了cancelled）(Vietnam) Vuong Van Thao
93) 赞比亚 (Zambia) Gordon Shamulenge
94) 乍得 (Chad) Madjiledingam Amane
95) 智利(Chili) Gricelda Jacqueline/López paredes
96) 香港 (HK) Winnie Siu Davies"蕭愛冰"
97) 台湾 (Taiwan) 侯連秦
98) 马其顿 (The Republic of Macedonia) Meri Anicin Pejoska
99) 厄里特里亚 (Ertra) MESFUN TEKLEGHIORGHIS ARAYA
100) 加那利群岛 (Canary islands) Gemma Dominguez Guerra
101) 瓦利斯与富图纳(Wallis et Futuna) Evans SUVE
102) 保加利亚 (Bulgaria) Krassimir Yakov
103) 白俄罗斯 (Belarus) Slabodchykau Uladzimir
104) 叙利亚(Algeria) Burhan Muhammad
105) 突尼斯(Tunisia) Ellouz Mehrez
106) 中国 (China) 叶毓山
107) 中国 (China) 田跃民
108) 中国 (China) 景毓民
109) 中国 (China) 程兵

Rita and Chico*, Pater

2011-07-09T08:30:00.003+02:00

Rita and Chico***

animation film using computer graphics drawing (this is visible from the paint strokes, all evenly thickness, overall image as if drawn by marker, but maybe its done w a studio over paint type software? Like in the film a "Waking life".
Some lines are rather awkward, for example in the lips, the outline of the overall lip is much thicker than the opening of the mouth, this makes the personnages look like monkeys at some point. An animation film is not the same as a real life film. A real life actor, no matter how still he is, there are tiny emotions that pass and we see it on the face, these tiny expressions are not so easily rendered in animation frames. Animation film depend on the viewers minds, filling in all the missing elements. If the facial graphics are exagerrated at certain points, it could happen at some points of the sequence but not as a permanent feature otherwise, its strange. You notice this awkwardness after a while.

Other than this, overall, its a very beautiful animation, very free style hand drawing style with graphics and color transparencies, overlaps as from the 50s - the period of the story.

The story is not very convincing, but passable, this is a quickie love story telling film its intention is to show music, cuban story, black exploitation by the white majority. It is the reality of the time. And its good that its being told, but its told in a wisp of air, not too much - maybe not to turn off the majority of todays audience too.

I would like to see a film on Eartha Kitt. Animation or not.

Pater**
fake documentary of two men, one president the other to be named as prime minister in the current French political arena by Alain Cavalier.

Alain Cavailier, once again in his tiny team of camera man, actors, is himself part of the two men actor team.

Interesting scenario, sets, how he shows the food, truffle, tuna, all from dainty glass jars, etc etc; Intimate film.
His voice over narration is very soft and as if hes confiding in you, the way he speaks his lines, very classic.
You get a sense this is a bonafide french film - hes giving you all the french essences, the old tables, the picnic lunch, the books on the shelves on the back, the garden w wild grass outside the house, five ft beyond it would be the street, the intentional laisser faire negligent style in some places. The kind of "human rights", arguments, equality of the big versus the small guy over the issue of installing an elevator in a five storey building - should the ground floor guy made to contribute to the cost? He says, no he is not stopping the people to put in a lift, only he doesnt need it rah rah rah... equality, freedom and brotherhood (let the other guy get what he needs and wants if its suit him, but it should not influence him who is in another situation etc etc) Then, Cavalier shows his "turkey neck" flopping loose skin ( I think as I was watching this, its the diet, the kind of food they eat over a life time, i notice this in many men and women who eats a diet of bread and cream, butter: whereas i dont see this feature in Asian diet people, they get shrunken, but no flopping chins, very rare.) So here we see many shots of flopping chins, then next frame, he had esthetic surgery, this extra skin has been trimmed and chin has several little stitches... a better smoother looking president... etc etc

The screening room was full. Nobody left half way. Amazing when you think, a story w two old man. No love interests. But everything was combed over finely lovingly with camera, handheld camera. Small team.

La Prima Cosa Bella***

2011-07-08T00:29:00.001+02:00

La Prima Cosa Bella***

Italian romantic, family drama

Amateur beach beautiful-mother beauty queen made a husband very jealous, fights, separation, the mother goes on to be extras on film sets, small roles, secretary for a lawyer, and has a baby for the lawyer as his wife cannot have a baby. The two children growing up has complex normal difficulties with romantic relationships, not more not less than any ordinary person. Then the mother falls ill w cancer, and wishes to be married to her long time boy friend; and they are both now old and grey. To the childrens surprise there is a third half brother, so they contacted him who is now a well to do lawyer following the fathers business. They all meet on the sick bed of the mother. Reminicse old times, old boy friends, why so and so was mad and why this and that happened. In the end, every character is human all too human. After the marriage ceremony the mother dies – within the day. The mother character is a cheerful fun loving mom, even in difficult times, she could always find a song to sing – great courageous woman. But the children did not fare so well, they were feeling many complexes. (As children of strong character parents are often like this.) This movie paints many layers of feelings, many sets, many home changes and each time, the mother is shown as a warm loving person. Very rich and heart warming movie. There are humorous bitter sweet scenes, awkard human situations, but everybody accepts life as it comes. Italian movie! Alive and kicking!

Le Gamin au velo *, Les Tuche

2011-07-03T10:12:00.002+02:00

Le Gamin au velo ***
realist adolescent and kindness of foster friend/family, friendship, parental love

A very finely crafted subtle film about a boy growing up.
Abandonned by his father - a young good looking guy who abandonned his teenage son to work in an ordinary restaurant as cook w his girl friend, he does not want to see his son. The film maker shows the father as an honest man, but he has problems, he cannot keep his son with him, he does not want to see him. His son must find his own way. The son was then kept in a school for children without parents or a government run place for young adults without family. He runs away all the time, and grabbed onto a woman at a doctors office. Shes a hair dresser, a nice good looking ordinary 30ish woman. At the boys request, she accepted to be his foster family over the weekend. Doing this means she has to give up some of her own privacy, deal w sharing attention of her boyfriend with this young boy whos a problem case. She buys his bike back for him. He gets into "dealer" friend problems, they practiced before hand to rob a bookshop. Succeeded, but the owner saw the boys face. So his dealer "friend" dropped him shouted at him. Boy feels betrayed, he did it for friendship not for money. So since he has this money, he goes to his fathers work place to offer him this stolen money. He tells his father it is stolen money maybe could be more useful for his father. Father pushed him away, throws the stack of cash back and tells him not to come back dont get him into jail for this kind of thing. He got caught, and hairdresser agrees to pay for him in 20 installment the damages caused by the boy to the bookshop keeper.

The film goes into great details about what happens, how one thing leads to another. The little gestures of friendship the hairdresser has for the boy. Very subtle, for example. In a car, he said he wants some water, so she is driving, but she hands him a bottle as he takes it she doesnt let go, he tries again, she holds onto the bottle; this type of "taquine" teasing is very common in everyday life, it shows a friendly jokey play.

Throughout the movie there are little small sweet moments like these, and finally she accepts him to be his a full time foster family.

The human softness of the director, the attention to details. For example the dealer himself was like this boy, he has a sick grandma at home, and is kind to her. Takes care of her needs, why did she fall? What channels she wants to watch on tv? All these delinquent kids are not bad, but somehow along the way, something turned bad for them.

Cecile de france is a v gd actress. Very natural, and in this movie, she is not shown as a cutesy innocent pretty thing but a real flesh and blood young woman, she shows him as an adult what is right, wrong. How to discipline softly unlike her boyfriend who is kind of rough. She has the right stuff. Not too skinny, w tanned muscles, she is a healthy balanced young woman who offers kind attention to people. Hairdressers are service providers, you must pay attention to the clients moods etc.

The script is very good.

Les Tuche**
comedy, story : poor folks wins big lottery and how they go to Monaco and country club and find themselves.

Here the film is based on the story of country bumpkins goes to fancy town with lots of cash and how to integrate into their new life.

It has its stereotypical moments, but overall there are some fresh parts for example as a nouveau rich, they drink champagne, country club, but they do not censure themselves of their old pleasures. Like eating french fries, photomaton machines (this i really like! I would like such a machine in my house!!) going to the supermarket, checking out the sales. Very feet on ground type of life style.
Kid turns out to be super genius (hard to believe... but get on w the story) a swindler scam for nouveau rich trying to get him to invest in some money; snobby country club people, and winning the neighbours over. Neighbours are also nouveau rich but from hard work not winning the lottery.

In the end, they decided to go back to their little home town and buy up the local factory instead. Where each worker only work 4hrs per day (i think the factory might go bankrupt soon? but this is a comedy... so) we end with large happy picnic table country fair style. And everybody is happy!

Terminator 3 , Ni à vendre ni à louerhalf, My Little Princess***

2011-07-01T10:26:00.003+02:00

Terminator 3 **
fantasy, robot, world destruction cg, monster, silly adolescent total destroy film

cars turn into robots, but these robots are humongous, all armoured and when killed has red liquid blood spewting out!! For unknown logics, every robot is fighting others, and with a little guy and model gal friend running around, more destroy, glass towers, lincoln statue, everything destroyed, lots of cg effects. Some famous actors. I fell asleep a couple of times.
The robots are too uniformly "junkyard" assemblage w rotten rusted eyes and teeth... some cg effects are v gd.
story is not important. slam, transform, kill kill.

Ni à vendre ni à louer**half

A no dialogue corporal expression movie à la Tati w camping cars, big fat couples in a tiny bed size brick hut, big wind storm that rips everything into the air, girls on the beach, boys on the beach, nudist camps, couples enjoying "jambes en l'air" when the other half is away, funeral, ashes in the face, golf ball in the head, drinking old water from a bottle at a funeral... morose silly joke, campy. The images and sequences are often forced. Something like Delicatessan is also in the works. Nice details, very comic bookish. Characters has no repercussions when "transgressed" in social rules. Stylish, fun. A summer seaside film.

My Little Princess***
autobiography by Eva Ionesco

The child actress is very pretty and sweet, the mother is crazy. Well done.
The photos in the film is much less shocking than the original ones in real life.In real life, some photos are exactly shot to titillate adults w a pretty child. The mother would have been sent to jail immediately.
We never know what family life, mother child relations are like... many people live hells that you just dont know about.
It is good that today more people could share in their stories with others. Film is a very good medium because it is not a person telling the story to another - confiding; but having actor and actresses bring in their part of the presence and share in the recreation of a memory, an idea of a story.
It is not an easy story to tell.

Belleville Tokyo half, La Dernière Piste *

2011-06-29T13:26:00.004+02:00

Belleville Tokyo **half,
contemporary french love story

Complicated emotional turmoil that is "very French" - meaning very open minded encompassing type of love, appreciation of "poetic" flirtings of a man and a "too worried to hurt a lover sensibility". Story of a woman pregnant w her guys child, but the guy doesnt want it, not really. But he only shows this in an off side way for example, "you look monsterous, like a whale"; dropping her off in the middle of nowhere in the snow on the way to a holiday in the middle of a common dispute (even though he returned 30secs later); worst, pretending that hes gone on a film review trip in Tokyo, when he actually only went to the China town Belleville to make fake foreign phone call via satellite calling card service - while he has rented a new apartment w an old flame. Old flames says to the gal, "oh, you are much stronger than what he says, hes afraid to hurt you. Its wonderful, he writes these fantastic poetry, I love it, he needs me for now, but only for now, he also needs you. He wouldnt part w you! I am just temporary, its wonderful, magnificent. ". This seems like scenes very wishful thinking from a screen writer. If the old flame were as open as all this, there should be signs thats softer, and from the man especially, he would have made sure that she wouldnt have seen him casually taking coffee at a cafe that she would come across easily etc etc.
Too cheap, too fast, too silly a plot.

La Dernière Piste ***
contemporary Western w social consciousness, and perhaps, soul

A western with three families going somewhere looking for a better life in the gold rush time. They came across an Indian, quickly tied him up try to torture him, call him names, try to kill him. But he doesnt seem to care that much. When one of the men is dying. He sang a prayer song for his soul. He seemed much more civilised than these fearful men. As he has nothing on him, the group figured that he knew how to survive, since water is going down. They will also die if they cant find more water.

They came across a body of water, the hunter-guy said its alcaline not drinkable. I thought, ha, what they needed was a water cone! These fresh water distilling device!!

Anyway, in the end, we see the Indian standing afar. And the group deciding, voting whether to kill him or follow him to find a way to survive.

The hunter-guide-bandit said, the story was written right from the beginning. We have no other way, he is the only one who knows the land.

The director seem to lean towards uprighting the wrong that the invaders (the white folks) have done to the Indians. The girl with the brains offered to repair the Indians mocasin, shoe, because she said, she wants him to owe her something.
This is very good and sharp script; they did not do it out of kindness. Their goodness is based on survival and bartering of good deeds as money of exchange - its mercantile, not spiritual. It is entirely another civilisation, another mind set.

This also reminds me of Napoleon going to Siberia.

Both groups are out to conquer, with the intention to be the number one boss.
Because from where they used to be, there were pigs, warmth, food, companionship, so...

what was the purpose of venturing beyond their genteel, civilised world with sewing needles and high building? If they decided to venture beyond their wonderful world not in friendship, what was the purpose?

Snub Truncated Icosahedron, Double-Snubbed Truncated Icosahedron : HuaHui BallBall

2011-06-28T17:03:00.004+02:00

Snub Truncated Icosahedron : HuaHui BallBall walk-in sculpture, 3 meter diameter

I see in almost all the pictures of a "Snub Truncated Icosahedron", it is basically a football with the pentagons and hexagons shapes separated by rows of triangles.

Here the BallBall is separated by rows of cubes.

What would be a proper mathematical name for the BallBall?

Would "Snub Truncated Icosahedron" be correct? Separated by cubes and not triangles, actually a cube is composed of two triangles!

Therefore, if "snub" means single row of triangles, then "double triangles=cube" would be a "Double-Snubbed Truncated Icosahedron = HuaHui BallBall"!

Brighton Rocks *, Blitz

2011-06-25T16:52:00.002+02:00

Brighton Rocks ***half,
gangster, intrique

Very beautiful movie, w many layers of human issues. Gangsters are not all bad, they just try to do their job. The naive one, the thug, the loser hooligans, the tea house respectable lady who shows that she has seen everything and know what men like; the big boss, the handsome thug who is could hearted, the naive girl and bleak life ahead, the drunken father, negotiations of marrying a minor, sordid stories, ways to murder people. Helen Mirren is always interesting, in this movie she changed costumes many times and in some scenes, like a very sheer white blouse - with provocative black bra showing through - sweeping up glass bits on the floor of her tea room/fancy restaurant after a riot. Red red lipstick, in a fancy hotel. At the beginning of the movie, I thought she played the role of a madame! :) But no, just a business woman who has seen a lot of things.

Blitz **
cops, drug addict cops, glamourous black model like drug addict cop, violent cops, white trash thug murdering cops...
end of story

FabLab day

2011-06-24T01:11:00.004+02:00

Red Fruit Breakfast Table
FabLab Fun: Adruino gadget for writing words w led light.

FabLab

Went to FabLab conference today, I finally found a group of people...

The founder: MIT professor was up close with his talk about the FabLab, how to start one, how much it would cost for a complete full fledge one - approx. 60,000us$. At our own small work group the cost of the lowest My Own FabLab cost 3000euros! Thats very good, not much!

They admire the Chinese knockoff machines for 3D printing, and 3D scanners! Thats what he recommends! Those Chinese, hmm, pretty good machines!! He said.

To make 3D scanners, you could also adapt from a microsoft Kinect, for 150euros!!

Met many people really nice day today!
I am so glad to have come to the conference!!

===
What I really want is -
1// a 3D scanner of real life object
2// a software for exporting secondlife objects in .stl file so it could be printed, manufactured in real life, physical object.

The first could be had with Kinect
The second will need investigations - maybe someone has already made such a software!

Le Chat du Rabbin, the film 2D , Omar m'a tuer, Blue Valentine***half

2011-06-24T00:39:00.003+02:00

Le Chat du Rabbin, the film 2D ***
cartoon film

Very very nice, we see lots of Jewish humour, race, religious difference, and the talking cat is sooooo soooo smart and love lorn in an adorable silly ass way. All the characters are lovable, there is no character thats shallow and not deserving of our sympathy. The prince in the desert orders people to cut others heads off, lots of blood shed. And he says, no you shall not leave right away. We will finish desert, have coffee and you could leave tomorrow morning at ease. (This means, nothing of consequences has happened. The prince is princely!!) The girl talks like a young girl, she cajoles her father, mon petit papa... very cute and lovelly. The Russian artist in love with his black girl, very human, warm. She gets up naked - as in nature, nothing lewd in her natural self. All fits so well, the story is intelligent; the scenario, background drawing all correct and beautiful! None of the artificial sweetness we find in Disney (even though I often like it a lot too; nor the sweetness of childrens books in French luxury albums - these I often like very much too!) In this cartoon film, there is blood shed, broken dreams, daring, diplomatic negotiations in religious conversations... human and reality. Its life. It has something like "Fiddler on the Roof" in it.

And lastly the song: a man sings, oh, I hope my mistress never gets married, never have any children... refrain, same thing, several times. Its the cat singing, his love lorn hope for his mistress, that she belongs to him and him forever!

Omar m'a tuer***
drama after real life story

Very well researched and filmed w a v gd actor and actors. Its a political move too because it is to raise awareness of injustice that should be rectified. Its a positive attempt to help reverse an unjust decision based on a rigid judicial system. Why did they refuse to verify the DNA match test? On what ground could the court refuse?

Blue Valentine***half
romantic drama

Very nice, many natural details everybody very gd. A joy to watch. I didnt think it was a good movie from the title, but it is, it definitely has something new in this movie. People are not flat cardboard figures, everything has a reason, a before and an after. Why people cannot stand certain traits in others, how one thing which was good and light hearted becomes a heavy burden : when a man who is always innocent, child like at the beginning is charming and lightens the girls life becomes a dead weight because he never grows up and life moves on. She has had enough, up to her ears with "child like" man. She needs a man, not a child. This theme repeats itself many times. His innocence protected her, nurtured her at the beginning but now, she is a mother, she has had it. Life changes. Could he get better? We dont know, but in the shadow he goes away. In an Asian movie, the woman would be able to stand this easily, so the man is a child at heart and whats so bad about that? As long as he is loyal to her and the family and loves her always - except maybe his job, social position is too low for her. But she didnt seem to mind that from the beginning... its rather strange why she cant stand him in such a violent way. Maybe in the movie it did not show his low self image - it was hinted by the argument in the car when she crossed her ex-bf (who was also the father of her child most likely). It is only hinted. She is very lovable, he is less so but still lovable. A very gd singer with his own style. Every detail is authentic and set, the secondary characters are all very good. The doctor - even as doctor traditionally is always portrayed as "unblemished" respectable guys especially in an office setting - but here, he too is trying to use her without investing any emotions on his part. If he had courted her, he would have been successful. But we dont know much about him. From the movie, he seem to take her as a "commodity" for company purpose which is no fun for her. The source of her sadness. If the man is accomplished in his profession, he is not innocent. He only spends time for distraction. The one who is in touch w his true self, emotionally and at ease w himself (when not compared to another guy) could amuse his companion but in the end once he comes in contact w others, he becomes weak. Weak in character, shown when he makes a scene at her work, when hes drunk already in the morning. The conversation goes cross intention, cross purposed, then we know, they are not going to make it through - not much longer... end is near.

Gianni and his womenhalf, Pourquoi tu pleures?half, Beginners half, L'affaire Rachel Singer*

2011-06-21T00:51:00.002+02:00

Gianni and his women**half,
A cordon bleu soft kind hearted retired men, trying to re-start his motor by being attractive to women and sort of half fails, and half succeeds, dragged by his mother to her mansion to turn on /off adjust tv; in the end the mother sells the house to a friend on "viager" - he gets nothing. She buys 150euro champagne and leaves half open in the fridge etc. Very beautiful italian decors, ordinary home, fancy home. All beautiful with a sense of style of 70s, 80s, 90s everything works well together.

Pourquoi tu pleures?**half
A young man about to get marry in 4 days, he horses around w a girl (seems to be a student in medicine?) and the bride never shows her face (she has a cats face!) and all the various members of family, a new apartment full of leaky pipes, and the bride to be makes love on the spurge of the moment rolling in this 4 inches of water w the groom to be. He mulls over, and runs to the girl friends house, makes love. And he cries; she ask why are you crying? He said, because he will be getting marry soon? yes? with whom? do you know this woman? yes. do you love her? yes. When i think of this, i think, why it isnt you that I will be marry to? it could be you. She pushes him away and said, what the hell are you doing here! He cries. etc etc. I dont know why such messiness exists. But all along the film this flousy head man i see someone in the style of this man in real life. Dont know why anyone would get into a story w someone like this? Anyway, this is romantic french young men? I dont understand their logic neither in the head nor in the heart. Thank you no thank you.

Beginners **half
The director wants to tell the story of a gay man married to a hetero woman - his parents - for 50 years and then decided to come out. At age 76 he puts an announcement that he wants to be hooked up. Very strange, because the profession of this man is art museum director - his position needs no advertisement to look for a partner does he? Anyway, there are many unsmooth points in the story. But the director insists insists on the points - gay, gay uncertainties, woman trying to fix gay, multi partner multi boyfriend gays, always possibility to have a partner - the ex-bf of the father hits on the son who is evidently gay but is in love w a troubled airy, pretty, cool, actress. For some reason the couple doesnt work due to uncertainty of the man (narrator) because he is in his heart gay. etc etc Goes on and on. No end in sight.

L'affaire Rachel Singer***
Quick paced spy flick, very gd actor actresses. Clean quick, snappy, efficient.

L'AMOUR A SES RAISONS *, The Prodigies half, UNE SEPARATION***half,

2011-06-21T00:42:00.002+02:00

L'AMOUR A SES RAISONS ***,
The first half has pretty women and some funny parts, charming. The second part with Robert de Niro and Monica Bellucchi is much more interesting. Mainly Monica Bellucchi is so sexy and charnel and very very yummy and nice. De Niro is not convincing as a professor, he seem too stressed out w too many lines on his face to play this character. Hes more like neurotic retired cop - nothing "professorial" about him, no intellectual vibes coming. But still the two somehow makes it quite watchable.

The Prodigies **half
Animation, 3D, the characters look like clay dough modeling, simulated real movie. Somehow, yes, its a great deal of work, lots of effort. Story is v trite and not convincing. Thin. Good try.

UNE SEPARATION***half
story v well planned, everything works. Everybody has difficulties, random acts, errors, human emotional explosions leading to tragedy. Religion, reality. Very gentle and handsome men and women all bind in a strife situation.

x-men***half

2011-06-16T21:25:00.003+02:00

x-men***half

Very well made, story has intricate relations and the film maker took time to tell each persons story, even comic book characters has time to "grow up" and learn to be better. :) Many different sets in different countries, beautiful mansions. The film takes care to make things work. Which is a lot more than many of these action-packed comic book to film flicks.

Story is set in an esthetic retro 60s scenario, white leather jumpsuits w wide belts and low cleavage; mini skirt princess line w laces and ago go style knee high boot, sock and shoes... roundish tv w Kennedy (at that time, tvs were no longer roundish, or were they? but looks very stylish!) Very interesting details - eye candy plus story, full service for a film, entertaining.

Immensely watchable.

London Boulevard half, Kung Fu Panda2 *, Limitless ***

2011-06-15T20:40:00.002+02:00

London Boulevard **half

very stylish movie, story is forced. Not logical in many details.
A mix between "Blow up" and "Clock Work Orange". Very beautiful camera work.

Kung Fu Panda ***

I was looking forward to this flick, but the story is a let down. However it is still a very entertaining Chinese content animation.

Limitless ***

Interesting plot, also parts are not logical. Especially the ending, so easily? You could get this super drug and get a super antidote for 2million dollars? I am impressed by the actor though. He looked thoroughly like a moneyless writer at the beginning, and little by little became very glossy and handsome. He was handsome and lovelly at the beginning and handsome and mannequin slick at the end. Just makes me think, yes, in some cases, clothing really makes a big difference.

Fast and Furious ***

2011-06-04T16:10:00.003+02:00

Fast and Furious no5 ***

Action cop/robber, robber friending cop, cop turned robber story w many beautiful cars

Live action, cute girls, muscle men guys. Dialogue is clear. Why who does what, like a comic book, everything is clearly delivered.
Sometimes when I see these big muscle guys, I think, could they bend over? Do they have room to bend over? Wouldnt the big muscles be blocking the way forearm to upper arm etc? :)
I didnt think I would enjoy this movie, but I did! Not a moment of dead air.

three 4 leaf clovers

2011-06-04T16:08:00.002+02:00

not two, but three 4 leaf clovers!

4 leaf clover found under Horse chestnut bonsai!

2011-06-02T23:04:00.003+02:00

Automatic growth under the Horsechestnut bonsai. I notice the Horsechestnut trees around our house has brown spots - so I quickly removed it from infront of the window, just in case the disease would spread in the air to the bonsai. Hope it will not catch the tree disease.

Not one, but TWO four leaves clover!

Voir la mer**

2011-05-29T10:03:00.002+02:00

Voir la mer**
light romantic, French pink holiday comedy

The actress is very charming and healthily natural beautiful. She has that "little lost girl" innocence role to play - however, for someone who is an orphan, she seemed too well adjusted for the role.
Maybe the director wants to create a movie for someone?
She is seen in many scenes kissing, nude, v pretty.
The characters, younger brother v charming, older brother also is attractive because he comes across as a sincere guy. Both are car mechanics, so simple healthy do it guys. :)
And a crazy travelling supermarket jewellery vendor representative. For him to give a ring to a girl doesnt have the same meaning as an ordinary non-professional guy to give a ring to a girl friend. So story wise, it makes sense. He is also a nice guy, though little bit broken somewhere as he runs around w a gun in his hand and threatens ex-girl friends. His face is soft and a childish smile from a man in his 50s, thats not so bad.
Fun movie. The story even though made for a summer flick distraction takes troubles to show some emotional depth of each character.
For example the younger brother likes to sleep in the berth that the gal just slept in - because it smells so gd! The older brother is not so innocent. He doesnt get enamoured by these little details anymore.

Then a funeral.
Older people selling their camping car.
Second hand car salesman/repair man teaching the young brother to do car stunts.
Supermarket jewellery sales woman.

All these are very ordinary everyday French characters.
Very nice portrait of everyday France.

I like it, this pink movie.

Breakfast table Album

2011-05-27T14:30:00.012+02:00

Photos of friends breakfast table:

0013 John and Suzanne's breakfast table Himalaya 19June2011

0012 Maria Topay Breakfast in Garden 7June2011

0011 Maria Topay Breakfast in Bed

0010 Joseph Tsang Peanut Butter and Jam

0008 Leonel Morgado 31May2011

0007 Grace Ho 30May2011

0006 Howard Yan 30May2011豬肚牛肉粥, 炸兩

0005 Swannjie 29May2011

0004 Al Maguire 29May2011

0003 Tong Fu 28May2011

0002 Wildo Hofman 27May2011

0001 Swannjie 27May2011

Castor, Play me a song*, Animal Kingdom***half

2011-05-26T22:50:00.002+02:00

castor by Jodie Foster - i give this movie **, even though the movie obviously has taken great risk w the subject but i really find it not v sensitive and too "hollywood" w slapstick comedy and tough scenes that are totally not convincing, not tender. Jodie Foster doesnt know how to be tender.

Mel Gibson with his savvy blue eyes and rubber like face somehow doesnt show any "depressive" emotions. When he hangs himself on the shower, falls down walks to the balcony with the curtain rod and curtain trailing after like a robot - these typical type of slapstick comedy silliness is all over in the film, not a depression content film.
All the scenes are so tough, quick, and hard, its not soft. Depression is usually more languishing, in this movie, its so hollywoodian, not interesting to watch.
Jodie Foster in her interview is always very lucide and intellectual and she takes great risks w her projects; but this movie is not about depression or explores depression. It has depression as its target - but goes about it with 1, 2, 3, cut and dry. Boring and unconvincing to watch. I like Jodie Foster as an actress, as an intellectual, as a singer even when she was a kid she sang w Claude François, charming through and through. Beautiful and intelligent, bright, shiny star ! However in this movie, its not convincing, she doesnt feel like a wife. Not gentle, not soft. Something like tenderness is missing in her character. Even the several love scenes, in bed, in shower, etc etc, kissing all not tender.

We dont know how come the "Beaver" - Walter became this way? Compared to the "Play me a Song" - there is much more nuance, levels of howcome people become depressive in such a small town, without any particular event, we could feel how this depression builds up everyday, layer by layer. In the "Beaver" we dont know how, or why. Just saying dont know how or why is not enough for the viewer. Its blank and boring.

Too bad, I had wanted to see a better movie, i had wanted to see a good movie even though its not going to be a box office success - but, its just not a gd movie! Another box office un-success might be a gd movie, but this one - its just plain not gd.

Play me a song - ***, a stifling small town where people often commit suicide from depression by jumping off a river - its like a painting w many layers of muffled emotions, stuffiness, gray tones of bleak countryside and mediaocre everyday living - enough to convince the audience of a contextual depressive environment with no way out. Very well done. Music is gd.

Animal Kingdom ***half, very gd actors and actress. All details, dialogues clean sharp to the point. V gd movie.

Chris Milk, Wilderness Machine in rl and from online

2011-05-25T10:42:00.001+02:00

Chris Milk

Chris Milk, Wilderness Machine in rl and from online

2011-05-25T10:42:00.000+02:00

Chris Milk

Source Code, Tom Boyhalf, Judge Dee*half

2011-05-20T00:47:00.001+02:00

Source Code***
science fiction

a fun science fiction type of film, well made, gd entertainment, gd actor, w Russell Peter too!

Tom Boy***half
drama, docu, child-psychology film

a very sensitively filmed w child actors, all v gd, charming contemporary France, I especially like the mothers way of handling a childs play w gender, the little sister is so smart and cute w child like innocences and v natural, v gd w many levels of intricate human renderings - and no redundency nor too sweet type of kid film.

Judge Dee *half
kung fu, intrique, cg, mix bag of mish mash drama

a big production, but skewed shotty story, and Empress Wu is not a fashion doll - a total massacre of historical figure which is already such gd material for film - the decor is crass and rough, CG is n'importe quoi, they seemed to be saving money on supporting actresses, the whole film is a mix of fantasy cg and some kind of stolen scenes of battle jumping around in trees... no charm, make up of the actress is so over the top. Dont waste time to sit through this one.

The Tree of Life **half

2011-05-17T16:33:00.002+02:00

The Tree of Life **half

Retro decor, man, woman, three young boys, suggested complication between son and father. Eldest son seem to be interested in womens things, but father is a tough man (Brad Pitt). Second son is more straight forward, less complicated because hes interested in music painting, and became an architect later (played by Sean Penn). The mother figure is very well played, especially in the scene where she has a physical fight with the father, but just a few seconds. Family life growing up, moving from one fancy house to a less fancy house to another even less fancy house. Lots of water fall, clouds, blood vessel in liquid, forms of single cell life. Weeds in water (cant help to think of the weeds in water scene of Tarkovskis Solaris, but Solaris has a power and depth, poetry that this very repetitive, laborious movie tries hard to do but hasnt quite made it.)
It attempts to reach a level of spirituality that somehow seems like a milk toast type of Protestant sermon.

The young actors are very good, adorable but cannot save a movie thats this loose.
Photography of water falls with triple layer types of water in one frame is very esthetic and beautiful, but also cannot save the movie from its piled on spirituality message.

Its got merits in that it did not use the standard formula of sex, violence and intrique to get people into the cinema.

Midnight in Paris***half

2011-05-11T22:33:00.001+02:00

Midnight in Paris ****

Just went to see "Midnight in Paris" new film by Woody Allen, its so nice! And v fluid, intricate and dense storyline. This film made me v happy! Funny, its v rare that a movie can do this for me! I recognise every location in the movie, and if anybody wants to visit Paris, I think going through the scenario of the movie is already a superb tour! V beautiful and rich with many points of views and the principal actor is interesting in his role. He plays a rather naive and shallow, maybe not at all talented serious writer want-to-be, reconverted from Hollywood commercial screenwriting hack. It reminds me of the dreams all foreigners have when they choose to live in Paris.

Paris the city is magic and the film shows it v well.

I am impressed w Woody Allen here, so well versed and at ease at all the different levels.

Only someone w a lot of experience could make such a film.
(I would buy a dvd - because I like this a lot - but no need to see it a second time immediately. It is a straight forward film that shows everything, everything is visible)

Bonsai Chinese Elm and robot

2011-05-11T19:03:00.000+02:00

Happy Days are here!

Air so sweet

Mini table saw, my drafting table; bonsai #1 - more robots coming!!

ET SOUDAIN, TOUT LE MONDE ME MANQUE**half

2011-05-05T22:15:00.002+02:00

ET SOUDAIN, TOUT LE MONDE ME MANQUE **half

Comedy, romance, drama

French Woody Allen movie.

Jewish father, not very sensitive, he loves his daughters wrote many postcards that he never sent. Not very sophisticated, he comes across as insensitive makes insensitive jokes, puts essential emotional things on the side on purpose. His daughters are all well to do, princess like. Melanie Laurent smiles so sweetly, knowingly, seductively - but she wears this red bomber leather jacket, does cutesy art conceptual x ray installation pictures. Sleeps on half sisters couch - with a new boyfriend!! So on so forth, very innocent not money conscious, while the father runs a textile shop w all the ex-boy friends of the daughter,and seems like these guys are all student like, not at all tainted by wear and tear of everyday living. They look like they are at a party!
Very stylish interiors, with paintings, and graphics - seems that all well to do apartments in movies all have similar decor, contemporary salon art. No specific style of the owners.
Princess gets dumped by shoe salesman... etc etc. Father has a heart operation and dies. She cries.

DE L'EAU POUR LES ELEPHANTS***

2011-05-04T21:43:00.003+02:00

DE L'EAU POUR LES ELEPHANTS***
genre: romantic, animals, handsome man and women

Romantic story of a vet student in depression times who jumped onto a train for circus and joined as a "vet" - fell in love w star - also wife of owner. Owner was murdered by mutiny of the circus artists because he was too brutal towards the animals, the show people everyone. Vet student runs away w the beautiful star and starts a new life.

Very pretty movie, with animals, nostalgic romantic old trains... a joy to watch and good entertainment.

The Fighter ***

2011-05-03T20:59:00.003+02:00

The Fighter ***
genre: real story, docu-drama

Camera work is very interesting, very fluide and fresh makes you want to watch the movie. The fighter brothers are both interesting, one the trainer, smart, cocky and crack addict who was ruined by his habit to not get to the big winner position trains his younger brother who goes on to win. The younger brother has to overcome a slew of sentimental hurdles. His family, an over powering mother who doesnt see him but always the elder brother. The monsterly 7 sisters, all ordinary people, fat and very white trash with names grotesque unbecoming names like "bear", etc However they all have little ones, and the mother does take care to not show certain things to very young ones. So the family is very rough but human, they are warm and hangs onto each other. The mother even though at a certain age, has a slim lithe body and is smart w cash and business in her over powering ways. Very nicely cast film and each character has a specific humanity even though they are rather general public lower working class/drug addict people.

Dicky and Micky. Dicky is the elder brother smart, well liked, even in prison has a "leadership" role and charisma. Micky is shown to need people around him, he doesnt really fight on his own drive. Both brothers have a weakness. One scene of Dicky recounting how he got started on crack - it makes his world feel light, light and not so heavy and he wanted that over and over again. This need for lightness beyond an ordinary need, where does this come from? Not shown but yes, already shown!! We could only guess from the rest of the movie, the family the town, the pale common people America context.

The Charlene character, girlfriend to the young brother fighter is also tough in her ways. She never plays "sweet" and "demure", she shows what working in a bar encompasses - a drop out from University because she was a party girl. People coming onto her, and street smarts.
This is a realistic movie. I like it. Everybody has their ounce of gold no matter who they are.
At the end, a short few minute scene with the real brothers - as this is a true story - I would have like to see a big close up of them. The real champs.

HuaHui Cube and Tensegrity structures May 2011

2011-05-03T16:06:00.008+02:00

Recent work, tensegrity structure with metal. All work sphere shape 3meter diameter, copper tube, stainless steel cables, aluminum plates, glass beads, marble mosaic tiles, 2011

Details of the HuaKui Cube as basic building blocks

“Friend Me!” : HuaKui Robot 好友花魁-機械人
Slide show:
http://www.slide.com/r/qC9f8CJouz92WDJd6eoyvpU6RsQG0Tnp
Blogger link
http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2011/04/friend-me-shuen-git-chow-2011.html

HuaKui 花魁 BallBall 2011
Slide show:
http://www.slide.com/r/bgc6tZxS0T9awkW4mOk9NmIWNR-yHjsZ
Blogger link:
http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2011/04/huakui-ballball-2011-shuengit.html

Nomad Stone 飛來石
Slide show:
http://www.slide.com/r/IihfBLUc6D-OMEmMWc0Rgm20C5crBHxK
Blogger link
http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2011/04/nomad-stone-2011-by-shuen-git-chow-w.html

Flower 花 2011
Slide show:
http://www.slide.com/r/uCNvXNnZ2z889tALnVugzn22mJ1l4pcF
Blogger link
http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2011/04/flower-hb1_08.html

HuaHui MobileMusic 10%model, Taiwan 2010

Details:
http://swannbb.blogspot.com/2010/10/huahui-mobilemusic-10-huahui.html

Tell the Moon, steel and stainless steel, 6 meter diameterx 4.5m high, Yuzi Paradise sculpture Park, 1999

Some pictures of the sculpture in the Park here by sculptor Dina Merhav on her blog:

http://jancodada-museum.israel.net/artists/dina/chinese/index.html

More work in hard wood, leather, copper wire, Digital Guqin music work
http://www.saatchionline.com/Shuen-git

Stone, wood, and iron work coming...

Thor ***

2011-05-02T18:24:00.005+02:00

Thor *** outstanding for effects and CG.

Lots of special effects, the story is coherent unlike a lot of other comic books stories made into films, where the film just jumps along w many holes along the way.
Nice CG, I watched it in 2D, I think might be good in 3D. So far all the 3D movies I saw whether in animation or real life actors, its a lot of trouble for not much more pleasure.
Sometimes it even gives me a headache! Natali Portman is the same, always the pure young girl thing, big smile, frowns, pretty, stubborn, intelligent! Audrey Hepburn girl gets guy without much effort style.
Thor is very muscular, and Loki, a pale ghostly character, lots of boom boom bang bang, magic fizzz, tornedos, FBI, bridge from space to earth tunneling through storm and lightening, and leaving strange patterns like a landing pad markings on earth - aliens from afar in New Mexico!! Nice story!

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷

2011-05-01T17:45:00.003+02:00

Different scale of the ball.

Relative to a small sports car

Relative to a motorcycle

Relative to a Jeep

Relative to a Jeep

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷

2011-04-29T12:57:00.006+02:00

花魁: HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷
5% model in aluminum plates and cubes
3meter diameter sphere, free standing on grass
120 Aluminum cubes with content
stainless steel plate structure

Company Men **half

2011-04-29T00:51:00.002+02:00

Company Men **half
reality drama: salarymen high end and low end w/wo Porsche lost jobs high and low from mega company w ruthless boss

Reality movie about salarymen who face rounds of firing. Announcement of being fired, and everybody leaves with a paper carton. Ruthless cutting of posts while the big boss still gets millions of income. The high end commercial guys, the right hand man guy, the one who worked from bottom up guy, all fired. Young, "pushing 60", "pushing a little more than 60"; when the workers are let go, they all go to an intermediate retraining support office place where they are fortified with positive thinking. Meanwhile the young guy finally got up the nerve to take a construction site job to make ends meet. Many hopeful interviews failed, and finally, the "pushing 60" guy committed suicide which made the "pushing a little more than 60 right hand man" began setting up a buisness to rehire all the let go people, to make a new beginning. They start getting all these retro metal desks, hand stapler, in a warehouse, giving it a go and everybody is happy and hopeful. Life begins another round.

I see reality signs in this movie. Little nudity, though some high ranking admin people do sleep w each other. Wives of sweet income people wants "corporate plane" to take them on vacation... etc.
Aside from these details, the movie is straight forward, tells a story, clear, one, two, three. Happy ending!

Nomad Stone 2011 by Shuen-git Chow w doll+car for scale

2011-04-27T14:00:00.002+02:00

Nomad Stone 飛來石
Tensegrity 3meter diameter
Copper tubes and stainless steel cable
Girl doll and car for scale

A stone sits quietly on open grass field. Its see through, someone came to earth via this Nomad vehicle. We now inspect it, like a scholar stone from all angles, and we could walk inside too, there may be inscriptions on the copper arms, we dont know what these inscriptions mean. It has some kind of secret code. Lets find out what its saying what further readings to follow?

N.B.
The doll and car are set for scale purpose and is not part of the sculpture installation.
The size of the see through stone as compared to a human size person in a small car.

Route Irish**half

2011-04-27T00:15:00.003+02:00

Route Irish**half

War, social injustice, detective

The main character is a violent lower working class guy who engaged in special war zone mercenary work in Irak. Its the last chance to "make a bundle". While he could do it without too much thinking, his childhood friend engaged in the same work upon his introduction and got killed in unclear circumstances on the most dangerous place on earth, Route Irish. Before he died, he insisted on getting compensation for civilian victims who had been killed by error in a taxi. The circumstances of how he was killed was unclear. The boss explains that it was an accident. But he suspects its not only an accident. It was intentional that the boss sends his friend on frequent trips back and forth on the death route Irish to get rid of him - a trouble maker w too much scruples whos not suitable for this type of work, and who risks to drag the company down.

After many intriques, violent dangerous investigations, he came to believe another colleague who is more violent than others in his team was the "paid killer" for some reason. Much investigation, forced avowals, water tortures, the man agrees to say whatever he wanted him to say. But in the end, he found out, what he had forced out of the man was not the truth.

He discovered that its really all about money and ruthless sacrifice of the little guys for big money by the organsiers/company. Furious that he was used in this way, he plants a bomb in the car where he kills both company heads.

And then, he drowns himself in the river because he could never get back his old simple innocent self.

There was a romance sequence between the man and his best friends girl friend. Violent punching, slapping as seduction.

Whats interesting in this movie is the reality of the story. Violent people have their specific behaviors, love, reasoning, honor, responsibility, self respect - these all fit with each character. The big boss/company head are also tough rough skinned men - not only they are emotionally tough, they are inscrupulous - would sacrifice anyone if it harms the profit /business of the company. It is ran just a business like any other only worst, its usual routine is to kill any moving vehicles, person - in effect, ordinary harmless weaponless people.

Ken Loach once again makes a social injustice movie, revealing the underside of current events thats not spoken in the news. The dark side of life, the injustice, the underdog being had.

Quick paced, good dialogue w lots of swearing, both men and women.

Nomad Stone 2011 by Shuen-git Chow

2011-04-25T09:18:00.003+02:00

Nomad Stone 飛來石
Tensegrity 3meter diameter
Copper tubes and stainless steel cable
Man doll for scale

A stone sits quietly on open grass field. Its see through, someone came to earth via this Nomad vehicle. We now inspect it, like a scholar stone from all angles, and we could walk inside too, there may be inscriptions on the copper arms, we dont know what these inscriptions mean. It has some kind of secret code. Lets find out what its saying what further readings to follow?

L'étranger **half

2011-04-24T00:45:00.004+02:00

L'étranger **half
drama: Turk immigrant community in European country (Germany)

The film is very well made technically.
Many Aesthetic, beautiful individual scenes are well shot, subtle, actors and actresses v beautiful. Only fault is - and a big fault - the story seem to be forced: I dont understand how a woman of her beauty, kindness, charm, experience could not find a job in a big city. Many "turning points" to push the story forwards seem so incongruent.

The actress is so fine, so beautiful w quiet aura and intelligence, kindness, courage, how is it in the various scenes she does things like someone without any brains or smarts?

Umay the main character aborts - the scene very subtly shot. Scenario is very gd, abortion done secretly w support from an older woman in a clinic. The older woman asked kindly, are you alright, does it hurt? Setting in a barren type of suburban scrawl landscape, bustop. Immigrant land.

Then we go back to the house, very neat tidy, respectability, stability. Stiffling. She was locked inside her own room!! Umay wants to escape. Doors locked. She calls the police, police comes to take her out of the apt. Police seems to know about this type of situation. If a fine young woman decides to call the police to remove herself, this is already a drastic measure. She would be very careful not to put herself in further "no freedom" situation. But what follows are insouciance...

She eventually gets to her sisters wedding - in a long bare shoulder sexy gown - nobody else wears such gowns in the wedding. The director made a decision to high light Umay as the "guilty one, woman in red"? Clothing is wrong. Then she got rejected by the whole family. Once rejects, she squats outside w her son. He asks why he cant see his oncle ? She walks in turns the music off, gives a tearful speech about how this rejection makes her son a family less kid! This is illogical, unless the women is crazy. With such awkard presentation of the main issue (kid will be cut off from community if mom is not the obediant sacrificed femme au foyer). Umay is put outside the hall rejected completely. Imagine in real life, if somebody doesnt want you in a place, you tried once. Its already clear. You wouldnt repeat it second time with more force to the point of wrecking the festive occasion.

Everything happens with strange bumps along the story line. Illogical and forced.
Umay is a beautiful girl, natural, she giggles laughs. Has a boyfriend she loves from work and, they even live together. Her family did not initiate a "kill her" command, it is only after she insisted on going back to relink that the father somehow decided on "Kill her" order. Which is humanly very unlikely, because this is a family of stability not in the little rough countryside without any sense of civic codes! They all speak German too, so even though they are Turks, I am not convinced that they would behave this way. Or, if they did, the director must prepare us innocent viewers that these people already are stricken w madness.

Her brothers, one w a gun, fails to shoot. The second with a dagger gives a thrust but stabs the boy, and maybe mortally kills him instead.
Both brothers love Umay when they were young - pre alienation days.

Very beautiful and esthetic, but, illogical in story line. I am not convinced of the story. This severely damages the film and makes it superficial.

I would like to see how the mother of Umay really feels, some scenes of her doing something to show how she as a woman must feel towards Umay. Maybe forcefully thinking if i suffered myself, you too should not complain and do the same instead of dishonoring us... etc or she secretly does something... whatever route the mother takes, we need to see humanity from her to understand why this family is so stubborn and inhuman.

The father is shown to be human, but but but. Kill her!! "I am sorry my child..." Thats all? Very strange. He deserves more screen time too, more scenes w him is necessary too!
The younger brother lies next to Umay on the bed, they are close, v gd. But what kind of brother is one thats so careless as to put a sensitive note in an open box so the other brother could intercept? The older brother is also v strange, he loves Umay when she was young and what happened? There are not enough scenes in the movie to see how the family structure from the Turk side, why are they the way they are?

Walter Pall Bonsai Adventures: ash and horse chestnut

2011-04-23T00:19:00.000+02:00

Walter Pall Bonsai Adventures: ash and horse chestnut

Horse chestnut tree in a pot, Walter Pall's bonsai blog

2011-04-23T00:13:00.004+02:00

Horse chestnut tree in a pot, one year old, grown from a seed.

Found a beautiful Horsechestnut Bonsai by Walter Pall here:
Walter Pall's Horsechestnut bonsai!

Amateur film making, La fille du Puisatier***

2011-04-22T09:24:00.003+02:00

On amateur film making: I asked a friend film maker prof; which students make most interesting films?, the answer was: the films made by design students are not so interesting because they only care about "if this looks good" or not, there is not much story whereas students from other departments, whether science, engineering, biology, they have a story of their own to tell.

La fille du Puisatier***
French historical drama

At first I thought, another historical film nostalgic story telling based on a famous writer novel.
Ok ok. The trailer has been playing for several weeks, so I say, ok, a break, here we go!

Its a very fine movie. Though I am not crazy about any of the actors in the film, but the text, the dialogue - maybe its quotation from Marcel Pagnol himself - so moving coming from the lips of Daniel Auteil. The gravity of the situation, the women's position in society. Sabine Azema - actress who plays certain roles so far I have never liked any of her characters - here also unsympathetic but the character is truthful in a believable way.

I think the Philippe character is the most likeable and of course the baby!
The male lead has something very lean and mean in his face, you would think he is not likely to want to follow up w his one night fling... but he did in a forced non comittal way - which is realistic. It is believable in life.

This is a realistic movie with great text and very good actors.

Slovenian Girl *, 劍雨 Reign of Assassinshalf , Winnie the Pooh ***

2011-04-20T08:17:00.005+02:00

Slovenian Girl ***
Drama, realism style

About a University student who prostitutes herself and using the small amount of money gathered attempts to buy an apartment to be free of her stagnant life situation. In the movie there is very few nudity sex scenes, just one. She seemed to be unafraid of the sordid side of her trade - all the "clients" are weird, overweight, sadistic, old looking. They need professional sex for whatever reason. However, the Slovenian girl at the same time maintains an innocent pure, daughterly love towards her father. The choice of actors - casting is very good. None of the characters are adorable apart from the girl and her classmate, the professor, and the father. Everybody else are ordinary people w damaged, dented appeal. Watching this movie makes me think, how does someone grow so fat? When the person is a child, he was not fat like this? How does a mean mouthed person become this way?

The father, ex-band local music group member, current taxi driver is a soft hearted nice man. He loves music, not exceptionally good at it to make it to the big times, but still maintains an interest enough to re-start an old band with other old friends. (Hes not professional because in reviving old equipments, he electrocutes his friend; not pro. The script is so good, the whole character scenes sets the situation in an efficient way.) These people are old rockers, all over weight, flabby, in some odd jobs. They will play in their small town, in their community. The mother, mean mouthed woman who remarried? She has a small boy w her obviously a half brother - much more well taken cared of looking kid. Just from the short dialogue we understand she must have left her soft hearted husband - girls father - for a better life. Very succint use of interchange to explain the girls background, why she is in her situation and what is the motivation of getting out and how impossible this task is.

The Slovenian Girl is a student who used this code name as call girl. She encounters riff raff - people who force independant prostitutes to be pimped by them for "protection". Often her service is not paid due to the hooligan nature of the clients. Is this true? Prostitutes are not allowed to work independantly? She ran away from these murky leeches - but I wonder from the story construction, if she is so strong willed, wouldnt she have prepared enough to protect herself in some way? The mix of naivete and danger, fear is not coherent. Either she has the guts to go through w it and smart enough to make sure it works or, she couldnt have come this far. The character of the girl is not convincing - but she is very likeable. The professor looks like a professor and is soft hearted. Coerced into giving her a passing grade.

The whole movie is stifling, sad and bleak. There were only two people in the projection room, me and another person sitting far behind on last row.

Good movie, I like to see scenarios backgrounds - the setting of stories. If the setting is not convincing, the rest of the story, prettiness of the actrice etc, will not help to make the film work. I like the way the father eats his eggs, carefully taking his time, lovingly sprinkled pepper evently on the sunnyside yolks. One yolk then the other. The camera lingers very long on the eggs - when you think for the duration of this movie - it is to show simple food pleasure - for people who has not much luxury, eating eggs in style is a kind of luxury. A thoughtful gift from the daughter to the father, an electric pepper grinder! All detail touches of this style are so fine.

Winnie the Pooh ***
Disney animation based on AA Milne Winnie the Pooh.

Very beautiful water color drawings, and contemporary art play of animation on fonts from the printed book.

The bear interacts with words on the page, falls on the letters, drops down, uses it as a ladder piled up to climb out of a hole etc. Tigger, Piglet, Owl, Jean-Christophe, Pooh, everybody has a clear character. Very soft and consistent reassuring players.

For young viewers from 4 onwards. At the end of the movie, the cinema gives out "diplomas" for kids - for having watched their first film in life!!

Will post the diploma here to show you.
So nice. Good preparation for positive experiences, lucky kids!

劍雨 Reign of Assassins**half
Kungfu /romance

A John Woo action flick with interesting storyline twists. Scenarios, in beautiful Chinese courtyard houses, w very beautiful literati furnitures (no real life cloth vendor lives in such a house!!) Girl fighters - all pretty from all ages - some in nudes, love story with an aging teacher/eunuch/master thief. Floppy twisting swords, handsome men. Magical doctor who could change face of patients and cure all blood lost fighting wounds. Special potion "turtle breath powder" - to feign death in order to escape dangerous situations, stops heart beat for a few hours. Magic formula to regrow organs, cure illness etc, the eunuch wants to grow himself a male member to be with his trainee loved one! Complicated plot, lots of fighting. But these moves are all choreographed with wires no one really has the real kungfu. We have seen all these dancing bodies before.

Outstanding point is the costumes and overall esthetics, very elegant colors and nice use of complementary colors for the entire sets.

Where to go next for kung fu films?
The romance motor of the film is not convincing. Could be convincing but didnt spend enough time to develop the love element. We cannot believe such a handsome man, and gd looking gal cant afford to buy a tofu roll? Somebody has to do more finer emotional story work in this area to match the level of eye candy costumes/sets.

Michelle Yeoh is the body movement professional here, but she is always a little cold in presentation. How to make a convincing romance with this character? Shes good in what she does. But needs a special script to highlight the "cold inner emotional" capacity of her persona if this is her new challenge.

My first Bonsai "榆Yu" (elm) tree

2011-04-19T17:57:00.001+02:00

Leaves unfurling on every branch - even those tiny tiny ones!

LA PRINCESSE ET LA GRENOUILLE***, Disney and Dali animation, DisneyLand

2011-04-18T12:11:00.004+02:00

LA PRINCESSE ET LA GRENOUILLE***
animation by Disney, John Lasseter producer.

At first i thought it was a rerun of an old animation film, such is the style of the illustration, the colors, the fonts used. But then I see John Lasseter's name at the end, and yes, its a recent film.

Very pretty, sweet story w believable standard stereotypical characters. New Orleans carnaval, monkeys, bad poachers of rare birds, freedom versus in cage, love conquers all, lazy fun prince w working hard class, workaholic princess, they dream of having their restaurant? This part is a little hard to fold into a perfect ending. But who cares? Its a fairy tale!! Very nice music, accents, habits, crocrodile trumpet player who scares everyone off the boat - but for one evening, during the Carnaval, people think hes in disquise and he gets his dream! etc etc

Watching this movie makes me think, Disney is a wonderful great artist! He manage to create dreams for adults and kids alike! Disney land is a real life version of this virtual 2D cartoon world.

Apparently he collaborated with Salvador Dali on an animation film in the 60s, but it was not released because not "mass appeal" enough. Walt Disney signed his name along w Dali on the credits side by side. I do think after seeing the animation, that the two are very similar. There are magic moments that are more than the Disney usual stuff, but all the same, Disney is magnificent! Maybe because I was also fed the Disney stuff since little so I am nostalgic towards these cute sweet things! I thought i wouldnt like Disney Land, but a friend took me there one time - the Paris Disneyland - I like it!! Its so well made!

:)

IEEE Robot contest 2011; Quincy Dagger, Swann's "Friend Me" Robot

2011-04-18T02:17:00.004+02:00

Friend Me Robot installation, different sizes possible. Giant as shown on poster, or human scale, or desk top version.

2D barcode pixel cube unit

Robot Event participants in front of a display

Quincy Dagger, winner of Rover Robot Contest; you phone in to the number provided by the exhibition and using voice can direct his bot forwards backwards etc. The only entry that has a real time active functioning robot.

Almost everybody elses are variations of dreams of Jo Job robot, dust, clean save the world - using super metal, but no model in real life - never mind about a working model.

Robotic Dog project: One of the display is a robotic dog for companionship for the elderly. It takes in the account of human emotion needs. However, I find that sooo sad. Elderly people want to talk to real young people, not a rough robotic dog which you have to push a button to get a "pill" reminder delivered on a stick coming from the robotic dog. The robotic dog better look very cute too, otherwise, it wont do. Better to use the energy to train real human to have more human kindness than to script a robot to give mechanical feedback to people. Better use of ressources I think. This Project received 2nd prize.

Swann's "Friend me!" robot is a human emotional trigger robot - if you fancy this robot, it will do things for you. If you dont fancy it, then you shoudl choose another type of robot, and this one is not for you. Because you love it, you entertain relations w it. It is a working robot, but the work is performed by the owner. The robot only triggers emotions the desire of the owner to move it, fill it with friends, interact with it, take it along. Like a talisman with abstract supports from 20 friends. This project received Honorable Mention prize. The judge asked: "How is this a robot?", Swann said, "It looks like a robot, so it qualifies as a robot". Actually, there is a whole field of robot which exists as love object robots and nobody would deny their status a robots, even if its as robotic as any scholarly stone on a pedestal.

If the owner doesnt have 20 friends to put in the housing cubes, perhaps he could take this occasion to start making friends now, enjoy it, one at a time.
:)

Rio ***half

2011-04-16T20:47:00.002+02:00

Rio ***half
animation: adventure w birds

Very beautiful birds with magnificent colors, textures of the feathers, clothing. Nice story line, Brazil, Rio, Favelas, children forced to kidnap birds for money, Carnaval, all superbe. Music, samba... wonderful story. Saw it in 2D, in fact a lot of the 3D films are v gd, but wearing these 3D glasses is a bother. The film is just as good in 2D.

IEEE Robot Hunt, Mechanic Bear Robot; Rescue Bear

2011-04-14T22:11:00.002+02:00

Swann finally got some Robot Hunt prizes thanks to Ito a new friend. Here is Ito with the Mechanic Bear Robot avatar outfit. Swann got one too! Favorite bear. :)

Rescue Bear scenes for Fukushima.

Friend Me! Shuen-git CHOW 2011

2011-04-14T12:45:00.006+02:00

Friend Me! Shuen-git CHOW 2011; inox, aluminuium

tools

Huakui : Friend Me!

20 Rooms
1 Giant aluminum flower - Floralis_Generica - Argentina - Eduardo Cattalo -
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/South_America/Argentina/Distrito_Federal/Buenos_Aires-1541981/Things_To_Do-Buenos_Aires-Palermo_Floralis_Generica-BR-1.html
2
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== end ==

My first Bonsai "榆Yu" (elm) tree: Ulmus Parvifolia, IEEE Robot week in sl, Robot no1, 3, and 2

2011-04-11T08:40:00.014+02:00

Robot no1, this week is Robot week at IEEE learn how to build your own robot in sl, classes!

Robot no3 w Robot no1, Robot no2 is too big to be in the picture. He is here.

Robot no2: A Japanese robot that Swannjiejie has assembled, now figure out how to program the robot.

Elm Bonsai

I bought a Bonsai in Tainan last year, from a man who was selling them next to the sports center. He has a few pots, no licence, just somebody trying to sell a few trees. Tiny the size of a quarter of a cup, or an expresso cup. There were a few leaves on the twig.
I said, how do I know it is living? Why are there so few leaves, and they are yellow, falling?
He said, its autumn, thats the season when tree leaves turn yellow. You must water sparingly and dont forget to repot immediately after you get home. I didnt tell him where the tree will live.

He wrote down the name of the tree for me on a piece of paper. 榆 = Yu

I bought a small plastic case, and carefully pack the tree in this box and we arrived home safely.
However, the leaves continue to fall, and became just a twig.

The vendor said, put the tree outside, it must stay outside. I said, even if its cold?
He said yes. You must take him out every few days for air.

So I left the tree outside all winter on my window sill.

And now, the plum trees, the chestnut trees, every tree outside has blossomed and pushing green leaves.

I look at my twig on the window sill, upon careful inspection, I see a tiny 1mm green spot on one of the teeny tiny bulbs.

I inspected him everyday. And yesterday, i see an elaborate spider has made home next to the tree! A real microcosm!

With a magnifying glass, I see several bulbs are pushing green spots!!

Found this blog with reassuring information!

http://theindoorbonsaitree.com/indoor-bonsai-tree/chinese-elm-bonsai-the-one-you-buy-as-your-first-bonsai

Flower HB1

2011-04-08T19:14:00.008+02:00

Shuen-git Chow 2011, Flower

Tensegrity structure
3 meter diameter spheric flower
copper tubes, stainless steel cable, glass ball beads

Pina, Titeuf, Nous , princesses de Clèves, LA NOSTRA VITA half

2011-04-07T12:53:00.006+02:00

Pina***
3D by Wim Wender
Dancers, moves, talks about their experiences, and their relation with Pina Bausch Grand Dame of the dance.

Titeuf***
3D
The 3D effect is like a layering of 2D transparencies.
Very nice story, very french authentic small common families, grandma, grandpa, mother leaving father for another man, but able to tell the child about this. All very soft and kind, nothing bitter or complicated as in real life. The father is like a father, tired, he listened, half hearted but complies w Titeufs demand. All very authentic human, and humorous.
Its not the Disney all sugar and spice and everything nice. For kids and adults alike.
Some animation movies are sooooo nice, that its very hard for adults to watch - no matter how beautiful the drawing are. The story determines a films success.

« Nous , princesses de Clèves »***
Documentary of high school kids in Princesses de Clève a story by Madame LaFayette, how they interpret a classic story and how they related the main character of the classical piece to their own current everyday lives. Their highschool diploma (Bac) their love stories, family history... very rich. And the framing of the camera work is very good. Many sensitive big close ups. All the young girls are appreciated by the camera - they all have beauty in the becoming, we see imperfect skins but that is normal, teenagers, they have hormone problems. In Chinese, they call these acme, "youths beans". What is very impressive is that, no matter how they perform in scholarly matters, they are all very articulate. (Maybe the inarticulate ones are not shown in the movie?) Very beautiful movie.

LA NOSTRA VITA (Our Life) ***half
Vitality, this movie is full of energy, reality. Very good details, nothing is all glossy and not all sad, every character, from a drug dealer in a wheel chair, to the guardian who fell to his death and buried without a trace, to the constractor chief, to the new contractor to be doing his first job, to the handsome brother who has been wounded by an ex-girl friend and became fearful - but what a handsome man, gentle, policeman, the dream man any woman would love to be with - the Roumanian woman in Italy being looked down by Italians, not a lot just slightly, the son tells her not to speak Roumanian in public...everything is human. First time I see a movie where its mainly men, man working in building, baby sitting, taking children onto the work site... everything moves with raw speed and energy. Reminds me of the movies Sophia Loren was in the Italian realism tradition.
The way men play w children, trying to be a good father. He tries to replace whats missing with money. The Roumanian boy who didnt know his father died on site yet was suspicious all along, he queries the things around him, watching all along - because even though his own father is less than his desire, he was his father - he joins this family of father and three sons, helps with chores inside the house. The story is very well constructed. If the helper were a woman - which is quite common in such cases - we would imagine some romantic stories coming out of that, but its one fat boy who knows nothing and has to be taught from zero, he was also a kind of family.
Then, he tells him, yes, he knew his father. The tragedy. They got close enough for him to tell the truth at a moment of despair. He is in a bad state as well while the fat boy tells him, everything is going to be ok, dont worry.

He calls in the special service of moon lighters, they work 24hr around the clock, with a sister in law as cook, so no waste of time; boom boom booom! Work is done, you pay and alls well. This is the famous Italian economic model, the workers - all Italians and no immigrants! know how to do the job they are professional builders. They have a proper job in day time, he calls in sick for 2 days and moon lights for this extra money. Thats how the society works in tough times. Scratch hard enough and everybody finds a way out. The immigrant team are lean and hungry, they are not professionals, they are child psychologist, etc with a proper job in their home country but here, in Italian, they do illegal construction work and must hide when the police comes, they dont want to do this work, its not their profession. The film shows all angles of a situation, very efficiently with just a few words, its shown.

Human, little folks with everyday money, accident, love problems.
(We are glad to see things evolving, people find each other, holding hands timidly, etc, life goes on, and the only thing worst that can happen is someone who has no life at all.)

Eduardo Catalano :ambiental :Generic Floralis

2011-04-05T07:58:00.004+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lrzhf41NLg

Combination of aircraft, nature, simplicity - its Generic Floralis, mother of all flowers by a great architect/artist. He created this giant flower at age 82. 13months of construction time by aircraft factory Lockheed Martin.

Eduardo Catalano also created large span hyperbolic roof structures.

Let the Bullets Fly (讓子彈飛)*, Je n'ai rien oublié

2011-03-26T20:21:00.005+01:00

Je n'ai rien oublié **
Depardieu and others
Drama and intrique in luxury setting

Beautiful scenario, beautiful house, gd looking actresses both white hair ones and young lady like ones, murder, almost murder, discovery of children switched at childhood stage, monologues, girl married into dark dirty moneyed family, slapping face, divorce, suicide... sumptuous gardens.

I have always liked to have a house like this, walls full of books from top to bottom, garden house, green grass, wood paneling, (no servants please) everything else yes, but who cleans such a huge ensemble of rooms, just one servant? Impossible. Huge houses need a lot of follow through work, and we see no untidiness... this is a post card movie with Depardieu doing most of the monologue work. Hes magnificent, he does his reminiscence speech about childhood. Great emotions, and the story is told quickly, more pretty pictures, clothing, funeral and a shot of the blue grey sky, like water, says Depardieu. And nice piano ending , credits.

Jewellery, clothing worn by matriarch all very well put together - its a designers visual movie of style; with Depardieu doing his emotional reminiscence talk. Winter garden house, large grass park across from one house to the other. A certain life style that makes the guest and hosts separate in a fine distance. Few people could live like that, and we ordinary movie goers could go have a peek.

Fine movie with details very nice.

Let the Bullets Fly (讓子彈飛)***
Historical satire comedy

Very swift sharp acting. All the actor and actresses are interesting. I just wished the camera linger a little longer on Carina Lau, she is very gd at playing sexy women; why waste the opportunity when you already got her? It is a funny movie, dialogues v witty. Chow Yun Fat is irritating, his facial expressions are the same all through. Of the three male lead, Ge You, the one who plays a tricky money grabbing mayor without a backbone is very subtle. Jiang Wen looks and feels like a nice straight man, a hero waiting to accomplish all these feats.
The title has engendered an idiomatic use in everyday language. People use it as a "let a few rally go on first... let a few rounds go first..."

Very good, but the mix of English words in the dialogue just for fun is too easy and cheap, cheapens the movie unnecessarily.

Other than that, this movie is clearly in another league from ordinary comedy /warlord/ Western movies, inspite of the afore mentioned points.

Props, Objects and Clutter as Story Telling device

2011-03-26T09:49:00.006+01:00

anti pirate RFID credit card holder

lavender shoot from a DIY can. (One shoot is visible for now, out of 9 grains)

Props, Objects, and Clutter as design

Often in movies - just like in real life, props help push story telling forward.
If you assemble enough props - it always suggests a story all by itself.

People often praise getting a "de-clutter" program for their house, why is this so necessary? Under what circumstances would "clutter" be destructive to a pleasant environment at home?

I think when all these objects you gather doesnt tell any story, when it only shows no pleasure hindrance to life. Time to remove those things you dont love and will never use. Especially things you dont love. Like 5 boxes of clothing that you bought but never even opened afterwards!

Some movies with clutter scenarios; "NoDame Cantabile 2" - the clutter setting is to show that NoDame is really a child at heart. Because children love to spread things all around. Toys, blankets, no order at all because their world is one of discovery.

Karl Lagerfelds apartment in this documentary is also interesting. He has zillions of iphones and many many bags, it feels lively.

Nuits d'ivresse printanière ***

2011-03-26T01:04:00.005+01:00

Nuits d'ivresse printanière ***, director: LOU Ye

Documentary style handheld camera, low lighting, grainy, dark, clandestine shot fiction
Romantic Love, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual love life in contemporary China in Spring

The film has little narration, succint and the story is intricate, sensitive.
Due to the rough texture of the film making itself, crude love making scenes; it looks very realistic/documentary like. It shows bluntly the melodramatic sad muffled suppression of homosexual love and the difficulties of finding outlets for transexuals and all non mainstream love. The China we see here is rather dirty, even when people are taking showers, washing incessantly, there seem to be a forever coating of unclear smog on mirrors, in the air, on the street, everywhere. The outdoor scene next to a lake, along water edge has the softness of ancient cities. All the trees, the clouds, mists are gentle and accomodating, it just seems the people are running themselves into dead ends there is no way out. Man who works in a bookshop and his teacher wife lives together, we see him on an outing with another man. They are lovers. The bookish Man wants his wife to meet his salary man as ordinary friend - because he wants to have a friendly relationship (this is very Asian). The Woman finds this unacceptable and stops salary man from hanging around her husband, but he commits suicide. The salary man has missed his great love. He tries to replace with another guy - the man who was the detective who followed him. The young man wants to entertain this relation with the salary man, but he also wants to bring his girlfriend. The three goes on a road trip and the girlfriend was shocked to find out. She plays along a little but only for a short time and left them. She also does not accept this threesome idea. The salaryman change profession, he runs a clothing shop and lives with another transexual person from the club and all this, narrated from a book; two man reading together a book of Yu Da Fu 1927 a very poetic text on the occasions of passing love by.

We get the idea that this is a story shared in a book by two intimate friends.

The film has a lot of realistic scenarios, karaoke, small restaurants, illegal labourers, reality of setting up business, restaurants, salons, factories, sex life of man/woman, man/man, man/man/woman. The suffocating social norms and desire all suppressed in a conservative society thats on its way to become open and modernised. Quick paced, dislocated people with no way out for Spring time desires. People dont know what is acceptable and what is not nor how to negotiate new situations thats happening everywhere.

While I was watching this movie, it reminded me of the book Dream of the Red Chamber - in the classic novel there are descriptions of homosexuality, threesomes, transgression, cross dressing people but in that scenario, and surrounding - ultra affluent private household - everything is negotiated gently, so you could have very non-conformist situations and it could be absorbed with ease due to the limited "arena"; if people wanted it, it could be arranged. It wouldnt be like in the movie, where you could run and drive for miles and hours and days maybe, and you would always to still have no way out. The same everywhere.

Very subtle layers of relationships, delicate, successful and powerful story w flesh and breath, a contemporary movie.

Les yeux de sa mère half, Rangohalf

2011-03-24T17:30:00.008+01:00

Les yeux de sa mère **half
Psychological drama with mother/child relationships, open/hidden homosexuality, adoptive parent/child, career/motherhood issues

The film plot is quite complicated involving a triple generation following lines of mother abandonning child psychology play. Plot: a journalist was hired to write some dirt digging sensational novel on a famous tv anchor woman and her famous ballet star daughter, as the journalist wormed his way to become assistant to the tv anchor woman, and boyfriend of the dancer slowly he becomes ambivalent and feels like a traitor to these nice trusting women. The dancer wrote a letter to an abandonned son - she had him when she was 16 - but the son refused to see her. So the journalist travels to the seaside vacationing hotel to check out the situation. The son, is an amateur boxer and waiter at the hotel, he fancies the journalist. The journalist is ambivalent, maybe he is also a man of similar inclinations but this seems to take second place to the betrayal problem that he is feeling towards the mother and daughter, and now to the son.
Plot is very complicated. The sets and scenarios are not very convincing. The dancer is very good, professional. She is not an actrice playing a dancer, but a real dancer its nice to see precise moves. Overall speaking, its too complicated, but we feel that the writer has urgent message to tell us viewers. As is, it maybe a ball of knots that requires a little bit more chewing than necessary. However, it is a movie with content maybe its not very smooth or convincing, but we feel the author/screen writers especially - as i think all the actors were very good - is trying to work too much into the film. The sentiments shown does not move us. The actrice playing the adoptive mother and father are very good. She has the right type of warmth and he has the right type of healthy fatherly chummy guy thing with him. Very charming couple. Catherine Deneuve is just herself. We dont understand why the dancer is by herself? She is good looking and sensitive, and her aunt, the Spanish lady is very good. Tiny facial expressions very effective to show concern and warmth, generosity, well brought up finesse, and patience. Everything anybody would like in a mother. She was the one who knew about the dancers life, not the absent busy professional mom. (Why did the writer have so much tattoo on his body? Was he in prison? Or are these stylised signs for certain "tribal appartenance" only some people - movie goers in the know - would recognise?

The writer has quite a few cats to whip. A memorable movie.

Rango **half
Western gunfight comedy in high quality CG animation

Fast paced, story line exaggerated jokes in the stereotype Western flicks, monsters, visually slick, good music. We dont need to see it a second time.

Shuengit / Swann Jie : MicroTotal Art, Monumental Sculpture, virtual world, film review

Heart of Glass***

I am my films***half

La Buche***

Look at me ***, Freaky Friday **half

Irina Palm**half

Yayoi Kusama documentary ***, Basquiat***, Suzan Pitt***half, Hula Girls***half

Big Monster Coming to Taiwan***

Rosetta ***, Pollock***half, Hannah and her sisters***half

Secret Sunshine 密陽***

Happy New Year 2012!! FoGuangShan Photomaton, sl DGM Buddha

mesh, photographic realism

xyz Qin, shaping the wood embryo

Russian Ark ***, Paranoid Park ***

High Quality Sim inspection Dec 2011

Stroll***half

I Vitelloni ****

QR code in color

Chihlee Technology Institute 致理技術學院 Dec15-16, 2011; TaiChung sl in rl friends

Zhong Dao Tang: Qin and Qin Culture, Taipei. New York Qin Society and Friends Symposium, Oct 2011

Talk at Chihlee Technology Institute, Taipei, Taiwan. Dec16th2011

Sunday Robot, Oct2011

HuaKui BallBall, large, medium and small

3 idiots making of ***half, The White Sheik ***half, Intelligence of Being Human

Mondrian's painting closeups

Sl is good for... architecture prototyping, machinima

Avril***

Transylvania ***, No Man's Land***,

Anna***half, breakfast table

tekkon kinkreet 惡童當街 ***half,

slactions2011 xyz Qin, Shosoin Qin, Making of xyz Qin 1

Jazz and Art Festival at 5 Japanese Sim, HuaHui BallBall Beach, Opening and live music

Jazz & Art Festival in Secondlife 5sims, Oct15-Nov13 2011

Half HunDun Qin, and Song HunDun Qin

brainpickings, Scholar Stone, Scholar Stone Flower

Planet of the apes 2011, Russian Watch, PeiYou and Stephane

48hr film, machinima w judge from R2D2

Melancholia (2011 film)

Einstein avatar contest, 3Dceramic printing

Nanni Moretti:habemus papam, LES BIEN-AIMES

The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodovar

"Scholar Stone Flower" poster in sl w rl content

12th ChangChun International sculpture Symposium, rl monumental sculpture "Scholar Stone Flower"

Virtual World sim visits 2011 Hellas Maccedonia, Hanako Teapot House, StellaNova Moebius art

Hannah***, The Murderers***

The 12th China Changchun (High-tech Development Zone) International Sculpture Symposium

Rita and Chico***, Pater**

La Prima Cosa Bella***

Le Gamin au velo ***, Les Tuche**

Terminator 3 **, Ni à vendre ni à louer**half, My Little Princess***

Belleville Tokyo **half, La Dernière Piste ***

Snub Truncated Icosahedron, Double-Snubbed Truncated Icosahedron : HuaHui BallBall

Brighton Rocks ***, Blitz **

FabLab day

Le Chat du Rabbin, the film 2D ***, Omar m'a tuer***, Blue Valentine***half

Gianni and his women**half, Pourquoi tu pleures?**half, Beginners **half, L'affaire Rachel Singer***

L'AMOUR A SES RAISONS ***, The Prodigies **half, UNE SEPARATION***half,

x-men***half

London Boulevard **half, Kung Fu Panda2 ***, Limitless ***

Fast and Furious ***

three 4 leaf clovers

4 leaf clover found under Horse chestnut bonsai!

Voir la mer**

Breakfast table Album

Castor**, Play me a song***, Animal Kingdom***half

Chris Milk, Wilderness Machine in rl and from online

Chris Milk, Wilderness Machine in rl and from online

Source Code***, Tom Boy***half, Judge Dee*half

The Tree of Life **half

Midnight in Paris***half

Bonsai Chinese Elm and robot

ET SOUDAIN, TOUT LE MONDE ME MANQUE**half

DE L'EAU POUR LES ELEPHANTS***

The Fighter ***

HuaHui Cube and Tensegrity structures May 2011

Thor ***

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周 旋 捷

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周 旋 捷

Company Men **half

Nomad Stone 2011 by Shuen-git Chow w doll+car for scale

Look at me *, Freaky Friday half

Yayoi Kusama documentary , Basquiat, Suzan Pitthalf, Hula Girlshalf

Rosetta , Pollockhalf, Hannah and her sisters***half

Russian Ark , Paranoid Park

3 idiots making of half, The White Sheik half, Intelligence of Being Human

Transylvania , No Man's Land,

Hannah, The Murderers

Rita and Chico*, Pater

Le Gamin au velo *, Les Tuche

Terminator 3 , Ni à vendre ni à louerhalf, My Little Princess***

Belleville Tokyo half, La Dernière Piste *

Brighton Rocks *, Blitz

Le Chat du Rabbin, the film 2D , Omar m'a tuer, Blue Valentine***half

Gianni and his womenhalf, Pourquoi tu pleures?half, Beginners half, L'affaire Rachel Singer*

L'AMOUR A SES RAISONS *, The Prodigies half, UNE SEPARATION***half,

London Boulevard half, Kung Fu Panda2 *, Limitless ***

Castor, Play me a song*, Animal Kingdom***half

Source Code, Tom Boyhalf, Judge Dee*half

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷

"花魁": HuaKui BallBall 2011: Shuengit 周旋捷

Slovenian Girl *, 劍雨 Reign of Assassinshalf , Winnie the Pooh ***

Pina, Titeuf, Nous , princesses de Clèves, LA NOSTRA VITA half

Let the Bullets Fly (讓子彈飛)*, Je n'ai rien oublié

Les yeux de sa mère half, Rangohalf