20190812 Director new preface re the word “Revolution”:
The title of my debut documentary “Long Hair Revolution 「長毛革命」” was decided in 2004, so 15 years ago. The rationale is similar to “industrial revolution” or “internet revolution”, ideas for improvement. Nothing to do with violence.
It saddens and pains me that Hong Kong today has deteriorated so badly that the word “Revolution” has now been twisted by both the HK and BJ governments to mean violence and the guaranteed and international recognized free speech right is almost gone in HK.
可憐今天的香港, 還是逃不了中國幾千年以來皇帝”以言入罪”, 沒有”言論自由”的悲哀。
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Director/producer/independent reporter Kempton Lam has made three full-length documentaries from 2004 – 2015. Kempton’s debut documentary Long Hair Revolution 「長毛革命」 has been collected by the Canadian National Archive since 2009. The three documentaries are collectively known as “Revolution Trilogy” 「革命三部曲」 and are in Cantonese with English subtitles (廣東話、英文字幕). You can watch the three films at this YouTube Playlist (beautifully projected on your big screen HDTV or on your computer). Enjoy!
//On 12 January Huang got news his healthy 65-year-old mother had been checked into a hospital in the central Chinese city of Wuhan with a fever and a cough. […]
The hospital pressured the family to immediately cremate Huang’s mother, but they refused, asking for more information. A few days later, they relented and workers from a funeral home, also in protective clothing, retrieved, cremated and buried her within a few hours, leaving the family no time to say goodbye. Afterwards, the staff disinfected the van they had travelled in and threw away their hamzat suits.
“My mother’s death was dealt with without any dignity,” said Huang, 40, who did not want to give his or his mother’s full name. “She wasn’t even counted as a number on the government’s list,” he said, referring to the six people authorities say have been killed by the virus.//
//China’s National Health Commission has confirmed human-to-human transmission of a mysterious Sars-like virus that has spread across the country and fuelled anxiety about the prospect of a major outbreak as millions begin travelling for lunar new year celebrations.
Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert and head of the health commission team investigating the outbreak, confirmed that two cases of infection in China’s Guangdong province had been caused by human-to-human transmission and medical staff had been infected, China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.//
“This discussion I’m having Amy and Jo have is, in some ways, my thesis. Or at least part of my thesis. Initially I was worried it was going to be too on the nose, this discussion of writing, but it seems to be something that people fold into the emotional arc of the story, that it doesn’t stand out in blinking lights, like, HERE IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. In any case, this discussion of the subject of fiction as either conferring importance or reflecting it, is at the heart of my understanding of the book. It is one of the reasons this book is the book that so many female authors and creators point back to and say, “That is my book; Jo March is my girl.” […]
The very last two lines, about Amy being wise, aren’t directly from the book, but they are an extrapolation of one of my favorite lines of Amy’s—she says, “I don’t pretend to be wise, but I am observant.” That was one of the lines that I underlined and put little stars and exclamation points around because it was another key to the puzzle of Amy. She has always been seen as such a bratty character, with no depth or backbone, and yet when I revisited the book, I found her to be amazingly insightful and compelling. I wanted her to deliver some knowledge to Jo—sometimes creators don’t know what they create, and it is essential to have someone else reflect it back to you. And then of course Amy’s response to Jo, “You were just too busy noticing my faults,” is me in conversation with the 150-year-old audience of Little Women. It’s me—Greta, the author—saying, “WE MISSED HER! SHE WAS WISE ALL ALONG!”
In some ways this entire scene is that—a four-way conversation between me, the modern screenwriter, Louisa May Alcott, the characters of the book, and the audience as it spans across time and space. And I’m saying, it matters what we write. It matters what we make films about. I can because Louisa May Alcott did.”
“Velma Demerson was a young woman in love with a baby on the way — and for that, she was jailed for nearly a year.
It was 1939 in Toronto and Demerson, a white woman, was engaged to Harry Yip, a Chinese man.
Police showed up at the couple’s home in May 1939 and arrested the then-18-year-old under the Female Refuges Act of 1897, a since-repealed law that allowed authorities to jail women for “incorrigible” behaviour such as promiscuity, pregnancy out of wedlock and public drunkenness.”
“University of Toronto neuroscientist Morgan Barense has created an app called the HippoCamera, which mimics part of the brain compromised in Alzheimer’s disease. She offers her Brief But Spectacular take on how to improve our relationship with those suffering from memory loss.”
New additions to my collection of Quotes I Love. I and these are all from the wise and insightful late Carrie Fisher (1956 – 2016). All quotes found from this Inc. post so I seriously hope they fact-checked them all.
“I haven’t ever changed who I am. I’ve just gotten more accepting of it. Being happy isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you have.” – Carrie Fisher (1956 – 2016)
“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” – Carrie Fisher
“Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren’t so challenging.” – Carrie Fisher
“No motive is pure. No one is good or bad — but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away.” – Carrie Fisher
“It’s the most amazing thing to be able to forgive.” – Carrie Fisher
“I heard someone say once that many of us only seem able to find heaven by backing away from hell. And while the place that I’ve arrived at in my life may not precisely be everyone’s idea of heavenly, I could swear sometimes — I hear angels sing.” – Carrie Fisher
Well said by @SpeakerPelosi. I’m not religious but I do NOT hate anybody. I don’t hate President Trump. I don’t hate Ms. Carrie Lam. I don’t even hate the Hong Kong police who committed atrocities against HKers. Why? Because I know hate will end up poisoning my mind and heart and those politicians are seriously NOT worth it to poison my mind and heart.
Hate is a powerful lubricant on the slippery slope to “hell” (however you define it). Focus on the wrong doings and try to make positive steps to counter them, fix them, change them for the better … But don’t hate.
Q: "Do you hate the president?"@SpeakerPelosi: "I don't hate anybody…As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone…So, don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."
“I THINK THIS PRESIDENT IS A COWARD WHEN IT COMES TO HELPING OUR KIDS WHO ARE AFRAID OF GUN VIOLENCE. I THINK HE IS CRUEL WHEN HE DOESN’T DEAL WITH HELPING OUR DREAMERS OF WHICH WE ARE VERY PROUD. I THINK HE’S IN DENIAL ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION — ABOUT THE CLIMATE CRISIS. HOWEVER, THAT’S ABOUT THE ELECTION. THIS IS ABOUT — TAKE IT UP IN THE ELECTION. THIS IS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. AND THE FACTS THAT LEADS TO THE PRESIDENT’S VIOLATION OF THE OATH OF OFFICE. AS A CATHOLIC I RESENT YOUR USING THE WORD HATE IN A SENTENCE THAT ADDRESSES ME. I DON’T HATE ANYONE. I WAS RAISED IN A WAY THAT IS HEART FULL OF LOVE AND ALWAYS PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT. AND I STILL PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT. I PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT ALL THE TIME. SO DON’T MESS WITH ME WHEN IT COMES TO WORDS LIKE THAT. [CAPTIONS COPYRIGHT NATIONAL CABLE SATELLITE CORP. 2019] [CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY THE NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CAPTION CONTENT AND ACCURACY. VISIT NCICAP.ORG] “
#TeachableMoments I love the Raptors but I’m not a traditional basketball fan. I love and look for those moments/insights that transcend the sport and try to learn from them. Just LOVE this Serge Ibaka segment in the article so very much, thanks Arden Zwelling for the great writing,
“Davis remembers Ibaka sitting him down shortly after Lowry’s injury to talk about his expanded role — how important it was for him to seize the opportunity as long as it lasted and prove he could be relied upon in critical moments.
Davis says he needed that talk to help drive home the fact he wasn’t only playing to help himself and his team presently, but in the future. Ibaka says it’s a message he might not have known he needed to deliver earlier in his career.
“After winning a championship, I learned that to win a championship, you need everybody. You need everybody to have confidence to play at a high level,” Ibaka said. “And since I want to win another one, I have to make sure that everybody around me is good. So, I’m going to start with the young fellas.
“I spoke with (Davis) a couple times. Just trying to make him understand that he has a chance to be great here. All he has to do is focus and do all the little things because he has talent. Sometimes, as a young guy, it’s very hard to understand that when you come into a team that has already won something. Even if you have talent, you have to do the little things to give your coach the confidence to put you on the court. So, it’s our job as the vets to talk to them and make sure that they understand that.”“
Two Observations about Fashion: 1) I’v long “liked” and “followed” Vogue Runway and I think (if you love fashion) should too. Beats watching shitty news in HK, US, Canada, … and you need the balance!
2) Style is always what you wear that makes YOU feel comfortable and nice. Never about the BRANDS and definitely NOT about the price you paid for them IF my YEARS of watching the late Bill Cunningham‘s epic cool “On The Street” videos have taught me anything! 🤣👗👘 And please don’t get me started on beautiful 👠 shoes! I will tell you I miss my late French friend Laurent Jean Phillipe (bless his heart) who was a family friend of the designer Christian Louboutin.
P.S. Laurent, you left us too soon as I was counting on you to introduce us to Christian and some nice French food in Paris. Sure, my better half and I ended up eating at Adeline Grattard‘s one Michelin starred (2010 and still 2019) Yam’Tcha (thanks to your recommendation), and ended up having a brief chat with Adeline herself and had a nice and long friendly chat with Adeline’s husband Chi Wah at their take out store. But Laurent my dear, it was not the same without you being our personal guide! :(
Posted by kempton 
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