Played pool today at Joe's Billiards in Wanchai tonight, and had the pleasure of seeing Vivian Chow there. (See below)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
New Movie Theater at Pacific Place
Some pics from the newly renovated AMC theater at Pacfic Place.
Seats are leather, but don't recline. Also, the arm rests don't go back, which is annoying if you come with your significant other. The theater is on the small side, but it's cool that the screen expands horizontally after the preview.
Some unusual movie-snack items below, kind of indicative of the high-class style that Pacfic Place is trying to portray:
Not just hot dogs, but "Italian" sausages. Muffins and some type of dessert as well.
"Select" Olives
Seats are leather, but don't recline. Also, the arm rests don't go back, which is annoying if you come with your significant other. The theater is on the small side, but it's cool that the screen expands horizontally after the preview.Some unusual movie-snack items below, kind of indicative of the high-class style that Pacfic Place is trying to portray:
Not just hot dogs, but "Italian" sausages. Muffins and some type of dessert as well.
"Select" OlivesMonday, February 26, 2007
No credit for Hong Kong directors
It's just great that Hollywood buys the rights to a Hong Kong movie (Infernal Affairs), copies the whole thing, and Martin Scorcese actually wins an Oscar for his "directing". Come on... the article doesn't even mention the fact that this was "based" on a HONG KONG movie.
It's just typical that during the Oscars someone referenced The Departed as being based on a JAPANESE film.
The Depa'ted (Bawston accent) was OK, but Infernal was much betta'. The Depa'ted was fun ta' watch cuz of all the townie accents from Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. DiCaprio couldn't keep his accent during all scenes, and neither could his girlfriend in the movie.
Where I did find the word Hong Kong mentioned, it was kind of annoying and almost offensive:
The screenwriter for The Departed, named William Monahan, claims he never watched Infernal Affairs. In an interview:
"How did you end up turning the Hong Kong action thriller Infernal Affairs into The Departed? "
Response: "Brad Pitt's production company owned the remake rights, and I had a meeting with him. I said I would do it if I could set it in Boston. I made a point of not watching the original movie. Culturally, the films couldn't be more different. You couldn't do some of the stuff in a land where they have the Bill of Rights."
Anyone care to comment on this statement? Hong Kong has no rights at all, it's just like China right? NOT.
After I wrote this, I found this article which makes reference to some of what I'm feeling (but does it in a less biased way), - how the glory of a Hong Kong film was stolen and rebranded a Hollywood sensation with the namebrand cast and director to boot.
It's just typical that during the Oscars someone referenced The Departed as being based on a JAPANESE film.
The Depa'ted (Bawston accent) was OK, but Infernal was much betta'. The Depa'ted was fun ta' watch cuz of all the townie accents from Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. DiCaprio couldn't keep his accent during all scenes, and neither could his girlfriend in the movie.
Where I did find the word Hong Kong mentioned, it was kind of annoying and almost offensive:
The screenwriter for The Departed, named William Monahan, claims he never watched Infernal Affairs. In an interview:
"How did you end up turning the Hong Kong action thriller Infernal Affairs into The Departed? "
Response: "Brad Pitt's production company owned the remake rights, and I had a meeting with him. I said I would do it if I could set it in Boston. I made a point of not watching the original movie. Culturally, the films couldn't be more different. You couldn't do some of the stuff in a land where they have the Bill of Rights."
Anyone care to comment on this statement? Hong Kong has no rights at all, it's just like China right? NOT.
After I wrote this, I found this article which makes reference to some of what I'm feeling (but does it in a less biased way), - how the glory of a Hong Kong film was stolen and rebranded a Hollywood sensation with the namebrand cast and director to boot.
Hell in Hong Kong = Ocean Park
I hadn't been to Hong Kong's Ocean Park in 10 years... and I probably won't go back for another 10. I had heard it had been doing well since Disney opened, but this was ridiculous. Maybe it was due to the Chinese New Years weekend (Feb 24, the second one), but I was basically able to see China with a 15 minute bus ride to Aberdeen.
The pictures below are indicative of the horror we faced as long lines and huge and unruly crowds. The China aspect was due to 95% of the visitors being from the mainland, and bringing their local customs along. I was pushed countless times, had my butt hit, my head brushed, had my shoulder grabbed from behind (by a Singaporean).
There are a few potential strategies for waiting in line the mainland way.
1. One is just to keep cutting people, even though you're in a 2-3 person-wide line, within enclosed ropes. Just shove your way through, it's OK. You don't know any better.
2. Another common method is to keep intense pressure on the person in front of you. This means you want to keep bodily contact with that person at all times. When the line shifts forward, you close the gap with the person in front by bumping into their back, and maintaining physical contact. Gender does not matter - you don't care, because you are on a goddam mission and failure is unacceptable. Keep doing this until the person can't take being violated anymore, and lets you take their position.
No matter which method you choose, be sure to "act" oblivious when somebody yells at you or talks down to you. It's OK, your skin is thick. Further, it doens't matter how old or young you are - be confident that you too can annoy the hell out of someone into advancing your line position. 
The pictures below are indicative of the horror we faced as long lines and huge and unruly crowds. The China aspect was due to 95% of the visitors being from the mainland, and bringing their local customs along. I was pushed countless times, had my butt hit, my head brushed, had my shoulder grabbed from behind (by a Singaporean).
There are a few potential strategies for waiting in line the mainland way.
1. One is just to keep cutting people, even though you're in a 2-3 person-wide line, within enclosed ropes. Just shove your way through, it's OK. You don't know any better.
2. Another common method is to keep intense pressure on the person in front of you. This means you want to keep bodily contact with that person at all times. When the line shifts forward, you close the gap with the person in front by bumping into their back, and maintaining physical contact. Gender does not matter - you don't care, because you are on a goddam mission and failure is unacceptable. Keep doing this until the person can't take being violated anymore, and lets you take their position.
No matter which method you choose, be sure to "act" oblivious when somebody yells at you or talks down to you. It's OK, your skin is thick. Further, it doens't matter how old or young you are - be confident that you too can annoy the hell out of someone into advancing your line position.
The best part of Ocean Park was the Aviary, where there weren't many people (probably afraid of the Bird Flu). Here are some pictures from there and a CNY pic.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
YouTube pays the price for violating Viacom's copyrights
OK, so the above title is kind of an editorial remark, loosely based on recent articles about how Viacom and YouTube were unable to reach a deal (a deal meaning Google would pay Viacom 100 mn or X amount for the rights to show their content). Whatever. Viacom asked YouTube on Feb 2nd to remove 100,000+ illegally uploaded videos. While YouTube apparently agreed to comply, it also left with parting words characteristic of its condescending parent, "It’s unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube’s passionate audience which has helped to promote many of Viacom’s shows..."
As a result, Viacom has just signed a deal with a YouTube rival upstart called Joost (founded by the Skype founders). Good, just what I like to see - Google losing out on a deal and not being able to strengthen its monopoly in everything it touches. Yeah, I'm a hater. But 700 mn a piece for YouTube's founders is just a bit overboard for a business model that I still don't see working. Good luck to Google bribing all the other media houses into hosting their content.
As a result, Viacom has just signed a deal with a YouTube rival upstart called Joost (founded by the Skype founders). Good, just what I like to see - Google losing out on a deal and not being able to strengthen its monopoly in everything it touches. Yeah, I'm a hater. But 700 mn a piece for YouTube's founders is just a bit overboard for a business model that I still don't see working. Good luck to Google bribing all the other media houses into hosting their content.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Google - fraud exposed again
Yet another small win for mankind, and a dent in the Google armor. Yesterday, Belgian courts ordered that it remove whole articles it was allowing users to access, even though the articles are supposed to be subscription based.
There are lots of other publications that are supposed to be subscription based, but are accessible by just typing in the news article into Google's search box. One is Digitimes - try it.
This type of behavior is why them and YouTube fit so well culturally - disregard for intellectual property.
There are lots of other publications that are supposed to be subscription based, but are accessible by just typing in the news article into Google's search box. One is Digitimes - try it.
This type of behavior is why them and YouTube fit so well culturally - disregard for intellectual property.
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