Biking in the afternoon sun

These were taken yesterday when I was biking on Edgewood Ave. in Atlanta, GA. This area, the famous Little Five Point, is one of the most culturally diverse and dynamic areas in metro Atlanta.

Circles

Portraits

I really like what I did with these two portraits. They were both meant to be snap shots shot on my iPhone. I PSed them then using a PS iPhone app. The results were surprisingly good. I guess both of them have very good composition and good lighting, which are the key elements that make good iPhone photos.


















One more.

Detroit from GM headquarter

I took this in the elevator of one of the towers in the huge complex. The elevator was so fast going down that I missed the most breathtaking view from the 30th floor. Instead, I got this, which is still beautiful though.






I took these two looking out of the media studio of GM.

Podcasts Worth Your Time

These three poscast/radio programs are all produced by Public Radio International (PRI) and they are among my favorite English podcasts.

To the Best of Our Knowledge
This podcast features interviews with authors writing on fascinating topics from CIA's "economic hitman" to natural foods, from craftsmanship to slave pottery maker and poet, from scrapbooks in the early 20th centry to the "Jazz ambassadors" during the Cold War... Didn't know I'd be interested in such a diversity of topics.
Web add: http://www.wpr.org/book/
iTunes search keyword: PRI

The World in Words
I know I'm a geeky language student, but this is truly an interesting podcast by any standard. It's one of the programs of the World series and talks about topics related to languages and society, politics, psychology, learning... It's funny, informative, and gives you something to reflect on. Highly recommended!
Web add: http://www.theworld.org/the-world-in-words-podcast/
iTunes search: PRI

Selected Shorts
The episodes are recorded live at the Symphony Space in New York. The readers are often professional actors and the short stories are selected from a wide range of authors. It's now my private bedtime story reader.
Web add: http://www.symphonyspace.org/shorts
Or search on iTunes

Cheers!

Shady

Shrooms I found on my way home

Even I have a life

Black Widow
Candler Park





Doggy and the street
Candler Park





Life after rain.
Edgewood





My favorite music store in Decatur, Emilio's. They are moving.





Heteronormativity and capitalism's intricate relationship.
Lenox Mall

My Girl

This is part of a graphic novel I'm working on. The working title is Love Stories.

Film review -- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Now I haven't seen the first Transformers movie, but according to a convenient source, the second one is better than the first one. It was visually well produced, but if you want to talk about character development or suspense, you might as well pick another movie. The whole time throughout the movie, I wasn't worried about anybody or anything. Also, the sex appeal is just raw and blunt. The girlfriend looks just stupid (and arguably sexy) when she was either fixing or cleaning a motorcycle when she first appears in the movie. Who'd dry hump a bike like that?

Film review -- Brüno (Bruno) (2009)

I have to say I was a bit disappointed -- although those Harvard kids who packed the movie theater seemed to enjoy it big time. Borat was innocent and hilarious. Bruno is just silly and vulgar. The entire movie relies on gay jokes. The a** f***ing scene and the spinning dick scene are not funny (as the wrestling scene in Borat) but just disturbing. The Bruno in the original TV show is much a wittier interviewer who is able to ask interesting and tricky questions and manipulate the interviewees. The Bruno in the movie, on the other hand, is just a gorgeous idiot.

TV review -- Little Britain USA

This is one of the silliest and funniest shows I've seen recently. The characters these British guys (Matt Lucas and David Williams) created are probably as homophobic, racist, sexist, perverse, mental, politically incorrect, pompous, unsympathetic, insensitive, selfish, idiotic, inappropriate, pathetic, hypocritical, weird and horrible as anyone can get. But what makes it funny is not only the silliness and craziness, but also its cultural and political commentaries critiquing the two “greatest nations in the world” and exposing the idiocy and absurdity of this very notion.

Film review - Away We Go (2009)

Away We Go (2009)

This is a film that can go into the blog-turned-book "Stuff White People Like," just like, ostensibly, Wes Anderson movies and, substantially, "Juno." There are many reasons I said that, but I'm just gonna give a couple of points here. Although the soundtrack (Alexi Murdoch) reminds us a lot of Wes Anderson's movies (and that of "Juno" as well), the latter is way darker and more melancholy than this one. "Juno," on the other hand, not only share the earthly insanity of American life, but also the reproductive worship in the culture. Heterosexuality, pregnancy, home, settling down... All these values are reinforced and exalted in the movie. Others like unrootedness, sexual perversion, and the inability to have off springs are presented as selfish, lunatic, or tragic. To be fair though, it's a funny movie, and not too trying. The acting is good. I enjoyed it.

Film review - A Wink and a Smile (2008)

A Wink and a Smile (2008)

Interesting documentary. It made want to learn burlesque dancing. There are a few things I noticed that especially interested me. First, a lot of these women who learn burlesque dancing in the documentary seem to have issues with sex in different ways. I wonder what burlesque dancing, which is symbolic sex, really does to them. What has drawn them to this art form. Secondly, I realized when they were talking about their characters and acts, they used the third person to refer to themselves/their character. It might be a convention in the trade (as in acting), but at the same time, I suspect it also distances themselves from the idea of sexually charged seductive women, or sluts in my dictionary, so that they can feel a bit more comfortable with the whole thing. Very interesting.

Film review - The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

I don't read fashion magazines, and I was surprised that I liked this film. Interestingly, despite the comment the film has on the fashion industry, all these people involved in the film talk about in the little documentaries about the making of the film is fashion! Although, it's so much better than the Sex and City film I have to say.

Film review - Match Point (2005)

Match Point (2005)

I'm not a Woody Allen fan, but this one is actually pretty cleverly made. I like the fact that it defies the conventional moral values and gives the audience a reality that is a bit darker than our ideals. At the same time, it is an entertaining movie with all the suspense and twists and turns. After all, murder (and the vices and human tragedies behind it -- ambition, adultery, vain, lust, greed...) is one of the most favored themes in drama since Shakespeare. What else ingredients do we need for drama?

Film review - Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

Alright, it was made in 1935. I wouldn't expect the political correctness we are so tuned to today. It's a private detective movie, something that was supposed to be entertaining, not enduringly, profoundly or intellectually stimulating. Well, I take it back. It actually is intellectually intriguing. I was really surprised to come across this series of detective/crime movies made in the '30s that feature a Chinese hero. I will be interested in watching more of them.

Film review - Valkyrie (2008)

Valkyrie (2008)

It's all right for a Tom Cruise film. Usually it's hard to watch a film when you know the heroes are going to fail, at least to me. The film itself was pretty well made -- except that the characters' accents are funny, some American, some British, and some German. I don't know what the director was thinking. They should have made a film in German all together, and use English subtitles, but then, Tom Cruise wouldn't have been able to get the part... mm... What a pity.

Film review - Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

It's yet another remake of the old joke of ordinary losers going kinky, resorting to sex to get out their financial (and existential) shithole. We've seen it in The Full Monty and a dozen of other movies, only The Full Monty is a much wittier, darker, and genuine (surely complete as well) presentation. In Zack and Miri, the plots don't go very far beyond the title, the characters seem to come straight down from posters, the acting can hardly beat that in a real porno, the irony -- I got it! -- is further spoiled by the overnight-leftover-tasting and very unlikely romance between a hot babe and a chubby dude with some nerdy glasses (sorry, I can't help it... but I have to say that I liked his curls. Don't want to overstate my liking though), and the massive overflowing magic f words lose their magic pretty fast. Now you wanna ask, Why did you spend $9 to see it in the first place, you foreign snob? Well, to clarify, my gentleman friend paid for me (poor guy). Also going to a movie was just a spontaneous decision when we were out in the rain last night, and some titles like Four Christmas and Twilight just sounded nightmarish to me. At least Zack and Miri has the word "Porno" in it -- it mustn't be too bad, I reckoned, just like many others. I was wrong, and learned, once again, that sex makes us make bad decisions (and in this case, I had double dose of it -- what do you expect?). In conclusion, spending 1 hr 41 min watching this film is only recommended if you have a hot date sitting beside you in the dark. Love & peace.

Film review - Sex and the City (2008)

Sex and the City (2008)

It's entertaining -- that's for sure. I don't regret having spent 150 minutes of my life on these four women, laughing with them, crying with them (oh, yeah, three times at least), and feeling for them. (For what it's worth, I've spent much more hours watching the show, so what the heck do I have to worry about these 150 minutes.) Relationships are complicated, and marriages are... still a bit unthinkable to me. I guess the movie is trying to make the point, but in the end still safely lands on a perfect ending. Nobody dies. Nobody loses. Everyone gets what they want. Oh, of course, I almost forgot these are people who buy $525 shoes, $60,000 rings, or fancy apartments in Manhattan. Of course if they have all these things, they're bound to find happiness (no matter in men, Dior, botox, or themselves). That's not a new concept, is it?

Film review - Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

The movie is worth watching for Cate Blanchett alone. I admit that I might be a little bit biased because Cate is one of my favorite actresses, but I don't think this bias has gone too far. The movie depicts, with both the historical coolness and the dramatic intensity, a woman in power, and the power in a woman. The cathedrals filmed as palaces are absolutely gorgeous. So are the costumes. I have to say though, I'm not a huge fan of Clive Owen's character, which is a little bit of a cliche.

Film review - Memento (2000)

Memento (2000)

Very interesting story telling. It explores how we construct reality through memory and what would happen when memory is lost, disrupted, misled, or reconstructed. The fragmented story-telling perfectly serves the purpose of the theme. What I learned from it? Nothing is real unless we remember it.

Film review - Orlando (1992)

Orlando (1992)

Tilda Swinton is one of the charismatic actors transcending the gender line one rarely sees on the big screen. I love the lush costumes and the dry humor as well. The film got me interested in reading Virginia Wolfe's novel.

Film review - Persepolis (2007)

Persepolis (2007)

Maybe because I'm from a completely different cultural background from most of the people who reviewed this movie here on Flixster, maybe because I didn't read the original graphic novel, or maybe because I was sitting next to the hottest guy I've ever gone out with while watching this movie, Persepolis doesn't really speak to me. I have to say that the protagonist's journey is very unusual, and the art is quite interesting (although I wouldn't call it amazing). And I can see the impact of this type of story can give to a Western audience. It actually reminds me of a book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi, which is also from the perspective of an Iranian diasporic woman living in a Western country. Other than that, the story has not been told effectively, nor have the characters been well developed -- I don't even care about them, not even those who die in the film. With all the respect to the filmmakers and the loving audience, I have to confess that I had to make myself sit through the movie. Let's face it, there could be more to a film than just a voice narrating a story with visual presentation, no matter how touching the story itself is. Also, there are just too much cliché in the construction of those supposedly profound or touching scenes. There are a few funny moments, but I suspect that the filmmakers tried too hard to be funny sometimes and it becomes silly and sometimes even a little bit embarrassing. All in all, the audience the film targets is one that comes from the "free world." I guess it did what it intended to, but it just doesn't work for me.

Film review - Team America: World Police (2004)

Team America: World Police (2004)

This one's ridiculous, because it ridicules. I agree that it's a joke, and a dirty one too, so don't expect it to answer any deep philosophical questions or even make a point in politics. It's meant to disturb "normal" people, to destabilize the status quo, to deconstruct the dominant or even popular ideology. It's not meant to provide any solution to save the world. It's funny. It's naughty. It's silly. It's biased. It's offensive. So what?

Film review - Juno (2007)

Juno (2007)

It's an ok movie, but many people have done this before, like Wes Anderson and Zach Braff. Nevertheless I have to say that this sort of cuttie, indie folky, and warm little flix are IN! The problem is, when side ways become the main roads, they kind of lose the charm that has initially brought them there.

Film review -4 Luni, 3 Saptamâni si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) (2007)

4 Luni, 3 Saptamâni si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) (2007)

Those super longs shots definitely pose challenges to the actors, but their performance is flawless! The realistic style and gray and cold tone really serve well in telling such a compelling story of two young women struggling in a hostile, cold, and brutal world dominated by male power -- personal, cultural, or represented by the state power. I don't agree that this is a film that criticizes Communism, because their experience with hostility and brutality is also shared by women in what we call the "free world," only probably in different ways. Brilliant!

I wonder

I hate my wondering mind. It's keeping me from my readings. Butler's words are floating in front of me, trying to speak to me, shouting at me, waiving, and still not seen. I can't find my wondering mind. It must have been stuck somewhere, some particular moment, and some particular space. I hate it. What should I do? Lure it with a raisin and oatmeal cookie? Shout out loud? Smash the clock in front of me? It's useless. It's simply useless.

Two piano pieces (my very first ones)

I've already spent too much time playing with this today and I'm supposed to be working on my school projects!!! Anyways, I'm new here, so this is a bit indulging. Here are two small "piano" pieces I composed. (I don't have a piano but just a little keyboard and had just play for a couple of weeks when I did these.)

Listen to The Afternoon Train

Listen to The Post Office

The Uncanny (2007) poster

Listen to The Uncanny theme

Drawings--places, memory

Decatur


The Capital of Georgia through the Windowpane


Istanbul on Paper

Drawings--it's only human