Update (5/15/13): I posted a text image of this in 2011!!!
Update (4/29/13): Full original video (runtime 5:20) here. Text transcript here.
Tag Archives: art
Motivation
Henri Cartier-Bresson on Photography
Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004) was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography. He helped develop the “street photography” or “real life reportage” style that has influenced generations of photographers who followed.
Cartier-Bresson achieved international recognition for his coverage of Gandhi’s funeral in India in 1948 and the last (1949) stage of the Chinese Civil War. He covered the last six months of the Kuomintang administration and the first six months of the Maoist People’s Republic. He also photographed the last surviving Imperial eunuchs in Beijing, as the city was falling to the communists. From China, he went on to Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), where he documented the gaining of independence from the Dutch.
“Photography is not like painting,” Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”
Banksy Storyboards and Directs The Opening To “The Simpsons”
Street artist Banksy storyboarded and directed the “dark and incredibly complex” opening sequence of tonight’s episode of The Simpsons. Wooster Collective calls this “one of the most closely guarded secrets in TV history.”
Graffiti Musicians
Some talent floating around the city. These were found along Columbus.
Go Back and Tell Them
Excerpt from lessons learned after studying abroad:
Towards the end of my study abroad trip, I met a man in the market who told me how happy he was that I was in Mexico. He told me earnestly, “You have to go home and tell them what we’re like here. Go back and make them see that we’re people, too.”And that’s key—of course, you’re studying abroad for you. But you’re also taking on a responsibility. This country has taken you in, fed you, taught you, broken your heart, and healed it again.
How will you return the favor?
Free Screening: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
I have some invites for a free movie screening of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
About the movie:
In this adult drama based on the best-selling book by author John Boyne, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the lens of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War II, we witness a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of Nazi commandant, and Schmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp. Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their lives become inescapably intertwined as friends. The imagined story of Bruno and Shmuel sheds light on the brutality, senselessness and devastating consequences of war from an unusual point of view. Together, their journey helps recall the millions of innocent voices- victims of tyranny and evil.
Most of the screenings are on 10/28 or 10/30, depending on location. Leave a comment including your area of residence if you’re interested and I’ll send you a link.
SF: Top U.S. City to Visit
For about the zillionth year in a row, San Francisco is voted #1 U.S. City to visit by Conde Nast Traveler Readers.
Call + Response (Trailer)
Saw this in church today.
Call+Response is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals a terrifying secret: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. Call+Response goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving. First hand accounts from luminaries like Cornel West, Julia Ormond, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Ashley Judd, and Nicholas Kristof provide the backdrop of for this 21st century nightmare. Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek, Rocco Deluca, move this information into inspiration offering this century its first abolitionist songs.
Burton 2007 T-Shirts 75% Off Clearance, From $4
SierraSnowboard has Burton 2007 T-Shirts for men on clearance at 75% off starting at $3.74 with free shipping.
Garbage Pail Kids
Anyone remember the Garbage Pail Kids? They were designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids. My sibs and I used to collect GPK cards for some reason. Not sure why. Maybe it was because I never could afford a Cabbage Patch doll. Anyhoo, found some images by Luis Diaz, one of the original GPK artists. Good times….good times.
30% off Borders coupon (thru 9/28/08)
30% Borders coupon good thru 9/28/08.
Fun Political Paraphernalia
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“19 cent coffee at Noah’s
As I was getting my bagel this morning, found out that coffee is only 19 cents at Noah’s Bagels–celebrating their 19th anniversary.
Quarter Million Dollars of Digital Photo Gear in a Single Photo
Sneak Peek: The Forbidden Kingdom
Just got back from a sneak preview of The Forbidden Kingdom that opens this Friday, along with Expelled. Don’t worry, no spoilers here because I don’t really like to write. I’m just embarrassed every time Jet Li speaks in English. I think filmmakers make the effort to minimize his lines. But boy, he does move beautifully. Jackie Chan–always funny. Great choreography by the famous Yuen Woo Ping, whose moves most Americans would know from the Matrix movies and Kill Bill.
I remember watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the theater, especially during the scenes when the Chow Yun Fat ran across the water or over trees, people whispered “that’s so fake.” OF COURSE IT’S FAKE, PEOPLE!!! Anyhoo, I think The Forbidden Kingdom will make just about anyone appreciate fantasy martial arts movies. My friend’s 3 (almost 4) year old daughter Mackenzie was so gripped by the movie that at one point she yelled out about Jackie Chan’s character “you just can’t kill him!”. Too cute.
This is the first film that features Jet Li and Jackie Chan together. Apparently, Jackie Chan said it was pretty easy to work together.
I have not worked with someone whom I’m comfortable with, in terms of
movements, rhythm and natural reactions, in the last 10 years. I have
done many fight scenes with others but there were usually more than 10
takes, which is a waste of time as the person may forget his moves and
unnecessary injuries. When I fought with Li, our actions were quick. We
also didn’t have to do the same stunt over 20 times. #
Ok, I’m motivated to go to the park again. My new dream job: to be in a movie with both of them.
Video: Discovery Channel’s I Love the World
The World is Awesome. I heart the Discovery Channel.
The Olympic Spirit in SF
Boy was the spirit of the Olympics ever-present at the Torch run protests today! Everyone showed strong team participation and competitiveness. Check it:
Team China:
Team Tibet:
Team Burma:
Team Darfur (represented by the green balloons):
Team Vietnamese Fisherman:
Team Friendlies (yes, that’s what the Mascots are called):
Team Lion Dancing:
Team Fudan (represented by the blue flag-i have to give a shoutout to the university where I was last summer):
and my favorite, Team Athletes:
Where did all these people come from? How did they start “cheering” on their respective teams? Where were they before all this? Are they JUST starting to protest now? I felt a little left out, like I should have been holding a sign or something.
Here’s my chat with Melissa after we left:
Me: I just bought sek lau jup (guava juice from a store in chinatown)
Melissa: I just bought a mocha
Me: guess that means I’m pro-China and you’re pro-America.
Can I just be pro-people?
Side notes: My pictures are pretty horrible here. For better pictures, see Scott Beale’s post and Rockbandit’s flickr set.
This was also the first event that I used Twitter. With the torch route so unpredictable, it was awesome to get real time info/updates from folks all around the city, especially @laughingsquid.
Protesting Violence using Violence?
Update: By the way, read about what China is saying about the torch relay here and here.
The Olympic flame landed in SFO today around 3:40am. There have been so many protests already. Being Chinese American, I am proud of China’s rise in power and prominence, but at the same time, I am dismayed at all the controversy surrounding the Olympics. I don’t condone China’s civil rights record, but c’mon people, when you try to bum rush the torch bearer, you are doing exactly that which you are protesting against. I wonder what
I’m also proud that my city will be the only North American city to host the torch relay. The current published route (IF it’s not cancelled) has the Torch ceremony beginning at 1 P.M. tomorrow in McCovey Cove and finishing up at Justin Herman Plaza. (SFGate Map of Torch Route), but the route could change up to and even during the relay, said Mayor Gavin Newsom. Even with all the protests, China vows to continue the relay. I’m tempted to take a day off tomorrow, but I don’t want to fight the crowds. Anyone out there going?
April 4th, 40 Years Ago
Update (April 5, 2008): Everyone’s knows of his “I Have a Dream” speech, but check out his very last speech in Memphis, the night before he was killed. Part one and part two, which is especially powerful and moving.
Photo Credit: Trikosko/Library of Congress
April 4, 1968- Dr. Martin Luther King was shot dead at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning and heard a story of Robert Kennedy delivering news of MLK’s death:
It was supposed to be a routine campaign stop. In a poor section of Indianapolis, 40 years ago Friday, a largely black crowd had waited an hour to hear the presidential candidate speak. The candidate, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, had been warned not to go by the city’s police chief.
As his car entered the neighborhood, his police escort left him. Once there, he stood in the back of a flatbed truck. He turned to an aide and asked, “Do they know about Martin Luther King?”
They didn’t, and it was left to Kennedy to tell them that King had been shot and killed that night in Memphis, Tenn. The crowd gasped in horror.
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to … be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling,” he said. “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.”
Many other American cities burned after King was killed. But there was no fire in Indianapolis, which heard the words of Robert Kennedy.
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”
Two months later, Robert Kennedy himself was felled by an assassin’s bullet.
Remember history and learn.