Eileen Chang

Se Jie (Lust, Caution)

From eswn.

The backstory of Se jie (2007) from somethingabouteileen.blogspot.com via eswn.

Movie Trailers from Apple.

Good Morning

I am just posting for the sake of posting. Just so if you check back here, you find something new, something worth reading, or not. I don't have any character. I just post for the sake of posting. What some people call K post, which I don't know what it is exactly but I guess it's not a good thing. The only K I know is the K in karaoke which was invented some time in the 80s or at least that's when I found out about it. I was never into it, because admittedly I am a no fun person. I am trying to change that, maybe next time I would sing some Karaoke if ever there is the opportunity in the future.

I did a load of laundry in the morning. It was a big load. The big difference between me doing the laundry and my wife is normally I don't separate the clothes, unless I am sure some color will definitely bleed. So I just load it up to the max and let the machine do its magic, no fabric softener or anything. White, colored, jeans, underwear, all mix together in one happy family. Just some warm water and some detergent. 20 minutes later, hang them up either in the basement or outside in the backyard. Today, we have plenty of sunshine so my clothes are in the backyard.

Ever since I don't need to wear proper business attire at work, I seldom wear shirt anymore. My daily wear is my work wear, that's jeans, T-shirt (don't know since when people like to call it Tee, I still like to call it T-shirt), and my Blundstones. It's really T-shirt, the sleeveless one, not even polo shirt with sleeve. I just don't like the whole idea of "business casual" or worse "smart casual" I shudder at the sound of them. It's either jeans or dressed up. If I wear shirts, I need to iron them myself. I don't send them out to do wash and iron. It's just not me. So I don't wear them because I don't want to iron them.

Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Bourne Ultimatum is the third and probably the last installment of the Bourne trilogy which debuted with Bourne Identity in 2002, then followed by Bourne Supremacy in 2004.

BU may be the last installment but in terms of story line and plot development it's more like an expansion of the second one, a two and a half if you will. BU only picks up where BS left off more than an hour into the movie when Bourne makes contact with Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) in New York City. A better half of BU actually traces what happened before Bourne finally comes back to New York City to come face to face with the source of all his troubles.

Towards the end of BS, the second Bourne movie, there is this five minute scene that seems unnecessary and anti-climatic. That is when Bourne finds the daughter, Irena Neski, played superbly by the achingly beautiful Oksana Akinshina, of his first kills and tells her the truth that her mother didn't kill her father nor herself, they were murdered by him. For the most part, Bourne's character is a no acting required job, but this last scene establishes Bourne's humanity and gives Matt Damon instant credibility as a bona fide actor that's indeed worthy of Oscar nomination. He has blood in his hand and there is nothing he can do to bring back the dead, the next best thing he can do at least is to confess, to unburden the truth, not to ask for forgiveness but to say sorry. The story and plot line can be convoluted but humanity cannot.

BU begins probably some night after (or even before) Bourne visits Irena Neski, when he is pursued by a couple of cops in Moscow. Bourne points a gun at one of the cops and the Russian pleads for his life. Bourne says "I don't have arguments with you." and walks away leaving the guy unharmed. This pretty much echoes what the Bourne character is toward the end of the second movie. He is not an indiscriminate killing machine even though he is capable of such. He is a retired assassin with remorse and guilt all over him.

Then the story unfolds in neck breaking speed with obligatory car chases, hand to hand combats, gun shots and more globe trotting to exotic locales. Anything you have in the previous two Bourne movies are boilertemplated here down to the hotel scene where Nicky Parsons (Julie Stiles) cut and dye her own hair. I won't say they are better but they are just as good and intelligently executed as those found in the first two Bourne films.

At the end of BS, we learned Jason Bourne is David Webb and was born 4-15-71 from the mouth of Pam Landy. What we didn't know then we know now, this message from Landy carries the code to find out where this whole Jason Bourne business begins.
Spoiler in white text follows if you so intend to know:
Landy tells Bourne the training facility where it all begins is at 415 E 71st Street. How Bourne figures out that is a code is anybody's guess. On his various passports, Bourne's birthday is printed as Aug 20, 1969 if it means anything at all. They didn't know the ending when they were shooting the second one, did they? So I am not surprised there is a bit of retrofitting the storyline of two into three. There is some inconsistency problem here as well; the end of BS as Bourne walks the street of New York City, it's obviously Spring or Fall. However when in BU, you see snow around street corners.

Foot Pursuits:
Very good. The one in London Waterloo Station is really tight. It very effectively shows London as a Big Brother police city. Everywhere is equipped with close circuit Tv.
Fight Scenes:
Every Bourne movie has a defining jaw dropping fight sequence. This one is preceded by a foot street pursuit, roof top jumping pursuit, then the showdown inside a Tangiers apartment. The fight and the final kill is similar to the second Bourne flick. In the second one, Bourne uses a magazine, and an electrical cord to fight and kill the guy. This time, he improvises using a book as a weapon and strangles the guy using a bathroom towel. Look like Bourne has a thing for strangulation. The first Bourne flick, Bourne doesn't exactly kills the guy in his Paris apartment, the guy flings himself out the balcony, gravity kills him.
High Speed Car chase:
Again the ending of the finale car chase is very similar to the second one. The bad guy crashed his car sideway. Bourne walks out, gun drawn, but doesn't shoot the guy. The crash kills the guy.
Warning:
Much has been discussed the deliberate hand held shaky camera work. It can be nauseating for some people. But I feel fine. Sometimes it can be overdone. I remember I think I could better appreciate a fight sequence or a car chase if only the camera was put outside of the action and not jerking vigorously inside the action. Oh well.
Bottom Line:
Fine piece of entertainment. If you like the first two, you will love this one as well. It includes some torture scenes in flashback. Kids younger than 13 or so may not feel comfortable. Definitely for older kids. Movie rated PG-13. Fast paced realistic violence, not much blood though.

What I Had For Lunch Part III

Beef soba. $4.95. The three of us enjoyed our take out at Byrant Park. We were probably the most handsomest guys in the whole wild park, across ethnicities. All eyes were on us the moment we stepped in the park. We were such chick magnets....Day dreaming finished. If I have noodle, I usually order udon, but today I decided to have a change. But the soba wasn't that good. Well, it was just a quick lunch and it wasn't all that bad either. Often times, those Japanese cashiers, make that cute Japanese cashiers, would "sing" me some greetings at the checkout and I am like speechless. Sometimes I wish I could speak a few conversational Japanese. Add Spanish, French, Italian and Taiwanese as well.

Talking about Japanese, this time when I was in Hong Kong, I found more Japanese influence in Chinese than it was years ago. Hong Kong was pretty close to Japan so I wasn't exactly surprised. Yet at the same time, it's hard for me to adjust. Apparently they are written in Chinese characters and yet I have to guess their meaning.

Cinema Friday

Amnesiac super assassin Jason Bourne is back to finish what he started five years ago, in search of his true identity. Bourne, played by Matt Damon, most probably leaves long trails of blood and a few bodies behind in the process of getting to the truth and avoids getting killed.

Bourne Ultimatum opens today.

UPDATE:
I was going to see the movie around 5.20 near work, but too bad, almost all shows were sold out, except those close to midnight. So I gave up and returned home ... to my notebook.

The movie got pretty good review.

YouTube Friday

I live in the presence but I belong to the past. This is the kind of Cantonese songs I used to listen to and dare I say liked.

What I Had For Lunch Part II

Foot long whole wheat ham sandwich with soda and chips, $7.95. Burp.

What I Had For Lunch

I had katsudon at my desk. It was from a neighborhood Japanese restaurant/mart. $4.95. I read consumer confidence is up, not mine though. Dow closed up more than $150 points.

Instant Ramen Is My Friend Part II

What's more appalling than eating directly from the cooking utensil? It's eating directly from a dirty cooking utensil. It's just there lying in the sink, soaked in tap water with grease and food residues from priors, then it got summoned to cook for another pack of ramen noodles.

Instant Ramen Is My Friend

I enjoy a good dining experience, a fine meal, who doesn't?
But there is a time when I would cook my instant ramen and eat it directly from the cooking utensil, that is, from an Ikea Sweden design made in China stainless 1 quart saucepan.

Music Consumption

All album jpegs in this post are from yesasia.com.

For all the six albums I bought, I only knew one or two songs (okay, it's three, all from Our Love Songs, namely CD1's track 2, 3, and 8) before I bought them. I bought them because I have blind faith on Mandarin songs from Taiwan and also I figured it's time to listen to some new songs instead of my ten or fifteen years old songs from way back. Or I was being adventurous. I didn't even know Summer Lei is a female singer until I played the CD. I probably won't buy another CD in three or four years.

Music and books are very personal. I mostly keep it to myself, or truth be told, I rarely listen to any music or read any book. Often times, beauty is really in the eye of the beholder. Sales and charts tell you a story but whether you personally like it or not, it's still no guaranteed. As to Cantonese songs, I could hardly listen to any new ones.

The album I listened the most, so far is the CD1 from Our Love Songs (2CD), the title is corny but I like it, top jpeg from above.
My favorite tracks are:-
3, Heard love have stopped by. I don't know the singer but I think she does the song pride and interprets it at least on par with the version by Lam Yik Lin.
5, Stranger. Tanya Chua.
8, Rewind. Jay Chou's song. Choi doesn't make it her own but it's a good song to begin with, you have to be pretty bad to mess it up.
10, Leave me. Nice melody and nice rendition. I only know her as a variety show host, doesn't know she can say. And sing she can.
All the songs are pretty nice.

Then there is DESERTS MY LIFE WILL ... (fifth jpeg from the top). I think she is a singer song writer. Oh yes she is, I just read from the pamphlet "All songs and lyrics written by Deserts." The only question I have now is where did she get her English name? I want one too. Not long after I bought this album, I found out she has a new album just came out. Oh well. It's new to me anyway. So she is a Chinese singing some English songs, I don't hold it against her as I am a Chinese writing in English (make it bad English) myself. Talking about the pamphlet, the centerfold showcases a collage of Deserts' snapshots, some in color and some in tastefully Ilford black and white, presumably on stage performing, driving, in the studio, and smoking as well. Call me a conservative, I really question the smoking poses. There are kids buying her album and I just don't think it's all that appropriate.
The overall sound of the album is good. It's pop, it's folk and it's rock.

The Three of Us

I was with Rambo and ultraman, circa April, 2007.

Inflight Movie Review

As a captive audience in the coach class of an airbus, I watched almost anything on the tiny screen on the back of the headrest in front of me.

Seung Sing(2006)
Seung Sing (Confession of Pain) starring human specimens Tony Leung Chi Wai as Detective Hei and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Bong.

It's hard not to like Leung and Kaneshiro, both are good looking which perhaps is the only saving grace of the entire movie. The rest are pretty forgettable. The major letdown was did Leung even voice his dialogs and were they dubbed over by someone else, if latter, then that's really appalling and totally off putting. The ambiance noise inside the aircraft prevented me from drawing a conclusion. Eye candy Shu Qi (Feng) delivered one of her worse performance ever. It was too cute to bear for my taste, I almost threw up my equally revolting inflight coffee as I had to watch her. I won't say it's entirely her fault, I just don't understand why the directors Leung and Mak thought it's a good idea to have her performed the way she performed.

As to Leung, I think it's a departure of his usual oh I am so charming movie starry performance. He tuned down a lot for this movie and put on a pair of spectacles which kind of fucked up his usual electric eyes. I happen to like this understated performance.

The movie as a whole is disappointing.

To Seek, Hold and Let Go

This dead tree publication is a compilation of various online posts from the same name Chinese (Cantonese) blog by famed blogger Charcoal who is a self-proclaimed nihilist with the good look of Daniel Wu. Charcoal, when not blogging, runs a small business in Jordan, arguably the biggest cesspool in Hong Kong.

Of course, the above can all be prefaced with the word "alleged," as I can neither verify nor debunk those claims except "famed blogger" which is my own assessment that I believe most people share. Charcoal has been pretty successful not to reveal his identity. Most if not all bloggers do not know his real world identity, myself included. But that's not important. What's important is his blog identity, that is, what and how he writes. Why he blogs is the least interesting part. He did say he uses blogging to alleviate tension from work. Or whatever. It boils down to because the guy can and do it much better than most people. About seven months ago, Sina did a similar compilation from Sina's own bloggers and gave the book a title "Why We Blog?" or "Why Weblog?" Anyway, I never bother to check it out, as I am least interested in why when it comes to writings. I am much interested in what people write and even more importantly how people write. Or I am simply turned off by the title.

What Charcoal writes Charcoal knows. He writes about his work, his team of staff past or present, his life, his musings on things happened around him. In short, everyday stuff that in lesser hands, can and will become extremely pedestrian and boring. I am not sure if he is a nihilist, but from his posts, I can sense he is an humanitarian. All his characters, real or imagined are ordinary people. Ordinary as in people can be found in nightclubs, in small offices, on the streets, the mentally challenged, unprivileged and underprivileged in the urban jungle that is known as Hong Kong. Charcoal, through his writings, give ordinary people a voice, a character in an otherwise mundane if not totally cruel and meaningless life. Charcoal reveals and praises humanity in his most ordinary characters. Some of his more distinguished blog posts are actually novellas written yet in another voice, like a Beer Girl or an Office Assistant. Charcoal is a blogger-cum-novelist. Personally I think how is more important than what one writes. Charcoal, like I said earlier, writes everyday life. But he always manages to find an angle, a voice, an opinion, a connection that he can make his own and makes things interesting. Now that is what I call talent or past hard work manifested as talent.

As to the dead tree publication, the comments are gone, so commenters don't expect to find your witty comments on the book. Like I said, the book is a compilation of blog posts from the past, so you can find all the contents online except for the book preface. The preface is typical Charcoal, well written, self deprecating, gives credits to people and fellow bloggers who have either inspired or helped him along the way. And finally he gracefully apologizes to Charlie Cho Cha-Lei for appropriating his picture as his online avatar and praises Mr. Cho's contribution to the Hong Kong cinema.

"To Seek, Hold and Let Go", like Charcoal's online avatar Cho is decidedly lowbrow in the best sense of the word, very assessable and enjoyable. If you are to read between the lines or bytes, you can definitely appreciate the humanity and dignity of his characters that are shared among human kinds in an otherwise meaningless and sometimes cruel existence.

"To Seek, Hold and Let Go" is the most important publication of this summer because I say so.

Bottom line: You don't have to get the book if you are already an avid reader of his blog. But then again, if you read his blog regularly and religiously you would like to get a hardcopy so you can read it anytime and anywhere online or offline. If you have been living under a rock or don't believe in blogging (I am truly surprised you are reading this then) you owe yourself to get copy of this exemplary Cantonese writing at its very best.

Disclosure: Yours truly got a signed copy with an accompanying note waiting for me when I checked in my hotel in the mildly dangerous and pleasantly decadent Jordan neighborhood, the same can be said about Mr. Charcoal's blog, mildly dangerous and pleasantly decadent.

In Search of Charcoal

If you can only buy one book this summer, this is the one you want to get.

Fashion Faux Pas

Crime committed as detailed from mad dog's post here.

I salute those who can slide in a pair of jeans in the 90F heat and act as if that's nothing in the middle of the day. I figure you just get used to the heat or something.
Just when I thought wearing jeans in the day was impossible, then another scene shocked me to the core. You can actually see middle school girls wear dark colored vest in broad day light, in the dead heat of the summer afternoon. I am not sure if they are made of wool or cotton or a mix of material. But come on, it's 90F degrees out there, the girls are putting on a vest. You just have to see it to believe it.
I took three pairs of jeans with me. I wore a pair on my way to Hong Kong. I wore one the evening me and my wife went to a decent restaurant in Central. The other pair I left in the luggage.

Hong Kong Tea Restaurant

The taxi driver who picked us up from the airport told me I should bring my wife to a Hong Kong tea restaurant. So I did. The food is a Hong Kong reinvention and reinterpretation, essentially a meshed up of Western and Chinese food. Only in Hong Kong.

B P International Hong Kong

I was told the room either has 2 twin beds or 1 full size bed. The four of us were stuck with two twin beds Our room was clean, especially before we moved in. Hotel staff was generally friendly and helpful except the one time I was misinformed that Ocean Park didn't offer water soaking rides or games. Ocean Park did offer various water games. If only I knew, I would have brought along swim suits for the kids.
The hotel is located next to Kowloon Park, an urban oasis in an otherwise overcrowded Kowloon Peninsula. The Park offers three swimming sessions every day and charges a nominal fee. The Park opens to the public for free. Temple Street is right there as well, the morning after our arrival, when we were still living in North America time, looking for breakfast, I spotted a few girls working the street corners already. Something's never changed.

[photographer in me: shot with a hand-held slave flash. It worked pretty well.]

My Boys

Studying Pokemon.

Before going out to see Transformers.

Can they not make the movies that long nowadays? Transformers clock in more than 2 hours. The first hour or so is pretty OKAY, then it just goes downhill. All the movies are getting longer and longer. Do people even edit their movies anymore? Or they just push everything onto the screen.

[picture notes: top, bogen 3021bpro, 488r2, nikkor AF 80~200. above: nikkor mf 24mm, set at f 5.6, on camera flash set at manual at 1/16 power, off-camera SB-50DX as slave full power. Camera D70]

update: 9/7/2010
I totally forgot I can set the Flash manual even when an AIS manual lens is mounted.  I just have to set it via the Menu system.  I think the flash exposure on the bottom picture was pretty spot on.

See You Soon

July 6 ~ July 14, B P International Hong Kong
July 14 ~ July 21, Tainan, Taiwan