So why are we guilty as charged?! What roles did we play in coaxing Howie? Well, you are in for a special treat! “Crimes/pranks” have never quite been captured like this, from the inception, to the coaxing, to the actual execution, and then the final we laughing our heads off all over a few short minutes! Have a watch of how we created this magical #videobomb moment right in our Fox LA Google+ Hangout!
“Everything I’ve ever been punished for, expelled for, hit for, is what I seem to get paid for and now I’m being distinguished for it, but the thing is the people who supported me are the people who love like, and those were few and far between, my family and my friends, but when I got into this business, what’s amazing is it’s such a group effort so any cameraman that I’ve ever worked with, any script writer that I’ve ever worked with, any producer, network executive or anything, they’ve all supported me and made this possible.
All I do really, and this is what Woody Allen says, is “I just show up.” 90% of success is just showing up and I’ve always done that from day one, from when my career started. I didn’t even have a career, I wasn’t pursuing a careers. I’m still not really pursuing a career. I’m not, I showed up at Yuk Yuks in April 1977 I showed up at Yuk Yuks because I don’t dance, and didn’t like going to discos and they’d opened a comedy club in Toronto and I showed up to see a show and I was fascinated […]“
I can’t speak more highly of Howie as great comedian and as a frank, blunt and honest person willing to talk about his own life challenges. And if you have time, also watch this insightful interview of Howie by Howard Stern which I watched to prepare my Google+ Hangout questions for Howie.
Concluding Thoughts about our Google+ magic
I’m a Google+ Hangout News Consultant and I’ve been using using Google+ Hangout since the beginning in July 2011 and Google+ Hangout On Air (G+ HOA) since its launch in September 2011. To me, G+ HOA is one of the most powerful new broadcasting tools available. But like in the world of cooking, even if you have a great knife, an awesome mixer, etc you still have to have great chefs and first rate ingredients to createmagic!
I just watched a nice video showing me how to make the above cool looking Tequila Sunrise! The video by Andy is in Cantonese and has clear English subtitles. You should be able understand everything and make the drink yourself. Have a watch of A Classy Man’s Tequila Sunrise (龍舌蘭日出) video! Thanks Andy for making the great video. (note: The instructional part starts at time code ~3:16 if you want to start learning how make it right away! :)
I have been watching these jokes for the last few years now. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I can’t stop laughing after watching the first two minutes of Jimmy Kimmel’s beeping and blurring humour! Have fun.
“But when it comes to food vloggers — that is, bloggers who post videos — it’s the new order. Vlogging requires crazy commitment and passion. Sure, cellphones and pocket cameras can easily capture video, but scripting, shooting, editing and uploading is another thing. It takes a sizable bite out of one’s life and exquisite patience. Ouch!
One such local vlogger, Mijune Pak, of Richmond, posts on YouTube and on her blog, Follow Me Foodie. “I know the food blogging community is very saturated right now but vlogging hasn’t been touched,” she says.
Here’s the reason in a nutshell. She and her two-man crew shot for three hours, then edited for six hours to produce a 1.5 minute video. Who’s got that kind of time or expertise?
“We’re doing it because we’re passionate and it’s a good way of getting exposure,” says Pak, 25. One video, The Things Foodies Say [note: see below], “went crazy,” she says. “It’s very challenging because most viewers click off after two or three minutes. To lock in a recipe in two or three minutes is very challenging.”“
Also check out her FollowMeFoodie YouTube channel and this really funny 90 seconds clip. If you love food, I bet you will laugh at recognizing things you or your friends say! Enjoy.
“Most weather balloons are launched from known sites, according to Capt. Barry Wiszniowski, chairman of Air Canada Pilots Association’s safety division. If other balloons are being sent up, it could pose a concern to aviation. […]
A pilot might not have enough reaction time if such a balloon popped up unexpectedly, he said. With the speed of a plane, the impact could be similar to a bird strike and could cause damage, especially if something was sucked into an engine, he said.
Unmanned balloon flights are not governed by the Canadian Aviation Regulations, but Transport Canada should be informed ahead of any such launch to ensure aviation safety is not threatened, said spokesperson Kelly James.”
OK, no one want any plane accidents and I am not disputing Air Canada Pilots Association’s safety division’s and Transport Canada’s concerns. I especially respect their job and duty to worry. But at the same time, I do think there may be a bit of too much worrying here. May be with an added dose of just-in-case cya.
I am not an expert but here are some of my unscientific “justifications”:
* Planes’ engines are designed to withstand the impact of a flying bird or two. In fact, I think aircraft engine manufacturers are required to test their engines to ensure flying birds may destroy an engine but the engine enclosure should hold up, localizing the damage.
* I believe planes are designed to be able to fly and land with lost of one engine. So even in the unlikely event of losing an engine, the plane can and should still be able to land.
* Don’t know if I am close in this guestimate but, in terms of probability, we may be talking about throwing a rock to hit a speeding bullet thousands of feets away. It is possible (like me winning a lottery) but it might be very very unlikely.
* Finally, are we going to have hundreds or thousands of kids rushing out to fly stuff up into near-space? I don’t know but I kinda doubt it. I guess I will worry more when there are many more cases of such attempts.
P.S. I am glad I don’t work for Air Canada Pilots Association’s safety division or Transport Canada! Otherwise I will likely have the same worry and issue the same warning!
I like fortune cookies and often enjoy its “faux wisdom”. Few days after I got the above fortune cookie message, I saw Kirstine’s tweet which lead to the following interesting and memorable tweet exchange and my idea of using “fortune cookie message as an excuse“.
P.S. So far, my “excuse” is working well. :)
KStewartCBC: So my fortune cookie had no fortune – what could this mean?
Kempton: @KStewartCBC U are too nice to not ask for another fortune cookie! I’ll share mine, “This year your highest priority will be your family.”
Kempton: @KStewartCBC With the fortune cookie, I am using it as an excuse to reach out more to my family and loved ones. Pretty good excuse to me! :)
Kempton: @KStewartCBC [… continue] As my grandma taught me, “Show you love someone when they are around. Not after they are gone.” I did my best.
Hello my 3000+ Flick photos! (thanks to my spending spree in upgrading to Flick Pro) It is nice to be reminded of some great memories I’ve created over the years, check them out here.
Accounting for time difference and a little bit of cheating, I want to wish The Office a happy 10th anniversary! Thanks Ricky and Stephen for being true to your own sense of what is funny and what is not! For breaking path and redefining what is funny! It will definitely be one of the “classics” that I remember.
“Ricky, 50, is still fond of his iconic comedy creation but admits growing Brent’s trademark goatee for these pictures made him instantly recognisable.
He said: “It feels good to be Brent again – although I left the facial hair to the last minute.
“I get spotted more when I’ve got it – it’s like people need that visual aid to work out where they know me from.
[…] “None of my characters have been as much fun to play as David Brent. People say he was a b****** and the ‘boss from hell’, but he wasn’t. He was just a twit.
“He was a man whose biggest mistake was confusing popularity with respect.”
When The Office first aired on BBC2 on July 9 2001, it was panned by several critics. Read the rest of this entry »
I played Go (a board game) almost every day for four of my high school years and often skipping lunch to play! The rules of Go are easy to learn and the game is enjoyable even for young kids (some as young as 6 years old can pick it up quickly). Despite Go‘s seeming simplicity, I think Go takes longer (or is harder) to master than Chess (more on this later). Yesterday (July 2nd), I had the pleasure to visit the Calgary Go Club in Chinatown and attended part of the 2011 CGA Open Go Tournament.
Have a watch of the following highlight video. You will also find a series of interviews I conducted with Calgary Go Club Chair Vincent, a Go instructor (Cathy Li), two advanced Go players (Ryan and Jing Yang), and father of the 10 years old advanced Go player Wanshan Gu (Qiang Gu).
Note: If and when I receive the official results of the CGA Open 2011 from Calgary Go Club Chair Vincent as promised, I will post it here.
Update: I searched and found the CGA Open 2011 results on the Calgary Go Club home page so I’m reposting the results (unofficially here),
2011-07-05
The results are in for the 2011 Canadian Open Go Tournament:
Division (!) First Place (2) Second Place
Group A (1) Jing Yang (2) Ryan Li
Group B (1) Zu Bai (2) Shan Lu
Group C (1)Miki Ishikawa (2) Tony Adria
May be it is the blogger/freelance reporter in me, I am often very curious about people and things. So this morning, while I researched and wrote an article about often being mixed up with Kempton Park (the UK race track) on Twitter and checking my tweets, I ended up following three people I don’t know at all. My “philosophy” is that I believe I can often learn something new and interesting from people I don’t know and often in unexpected settings.
Give it a try yourself, follow a few random people on Twitter and try to learn from them.
Note: This idea isn’t by me, I forgot who I learned it from. Also, who you “follow” on Twitter or blogs you read may also change over time, so don’t worry too much of picking the wrong person to follow or read, there isn’t really a right/wrong.
My parents actually named me “Kempton” after their American boss (his last name) because, according to them, they liked how the name sounded. And my Chinese name “錦堂” is actually a phonetic translation of “Kempton” which sounded nice. You see, “錦堂” turns out to be a very traditional name in its Chinese thinking. (see next section)
One way to “literally translate” the two words “錦堂” is “glory to the family”. Yes, a friend with much cooler sounding abstract Chinese name once noticed this literal translation and explained to me and reminded me how “traditional” (implying “not as cool”) sounding my Chinese name is. (big smile)
Well, how traditional is 林錦堂 as a name? You see, a famed Chinese opera singer’s name is also 林錦堂! (no relation) How cool is this?!! Being a 林錦堂, I am happy to receive the undeserved deep admiration for skills in operatic singing, teachings, plus many adoring fans (see video as proof)! Very cool.
P.S. If my memory serves me, my “operatic twin-brother in name” originally used a different name “林錦棠” in the industry. I remember having to explain to people & friends the slight difference in the last word of our “phonetically identical but different in writing” names. His name being “棠” vs me being “堂” (I like to say “上堂 嘅 堂” meaning “going to school”).
P.P.S. Speaking about names, I also like to mention the famed Chinese/Taiwanese writer Mr. Lin Yutang. His name 林語堂 and my name differs also by one word. In Yutang‘s case, I have been interested in Lin Yutang‘s humourous and deeply insightful writings all my life since I was young in my secondary school days.
How insightful and “cool” is Lin Yutang/林語堂 ? Well, as I quoted extensively here in Chinese “再遇幽默大師林語堂”, Yutangburned his marriage certificate on his wedding day! What?! Yes, he burned his marriage certificate on his wedding day because he said the certificate is only useful in a divorce and he would never divorce his wife so the certificate is useless to him! And yes, he and his wife stay married their whole long life.
Here are some very insightful Chinese quotes by 語堂 (unfortunately unverifiable),
This is some funny stuff from Ricky Gervais. Cool to see Conan and Ricky pushing the boundary of comedy, funny stuff. [HT HuffPost]
P.S. If you don’t “get” the following is comedy, then this type of comedy is not really for you. With no disrespect, some people don’t like abstract art, so no one forces them to go see Voice of Fire.
Last year at Banff 2010, I had a great time attending the insightful and fun “in conversation” between William Shatner and ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ creator and show runner Bill Prady. I just discovered the official Banff team had actually uploaded the full video of the session. I’ve finished watching the 7-part video of the chat again and absolutely loved it. Have fun & enjoy.
UBC = crazy awesome! Don’t believe me? Check out this video (viewed over 1 million times since Apr 8, 2011). What a creative way to showcase a school by looking at the 1000+ UBCers involved in making the video. Make sure you watch the last bit for some of the behind the scenes stuff. Great job everyone at UBC (especially director Andrew Cohen for his creative vision). [HT Doug Coupland]
“On Saturday, March 26, filming for UBC LipDub will take over campus in what is sure to be a strange assemblage of over 1000 people out to promote school spirit. “We have a whole lot of people with crazy costumes signed up,” said Andrew Cohen, the event’s organizer. “People come up to me saying, ‘Can I be a Chewbacca on rollerskates?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, that’ll be fantastic.’ I don’t need to say no to anything.”
In its purest form, a lip dub is a single-shot video in which participants lip-synch along to a song while trying to act as outlandish as possible.
The songs chosen to represent UBC are Marianas Trench’s “Celebrity Status” and Pink’s “Raise Your Glass.” Cohen feels that the latter encompasses the best parts of campus and of lip dub as a form. “It’s got a really great message. It’s about being who you are, it’s okay to be different and to enjoy what makes us different,” he said.”
P.S. I attended UC and UT, and I wish they would do something as cool & fun as UBC to promote school spirit and possibly attract students!
Four funny comedians: Ricky Gervais, Louis CK, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock in a room talking about the business of being funny. I enjoy the show very much even it has some serious discussions about being a comedian and being funny. The four men definitely had lots of fun. And I think there are a few things worth thinking over, enough that I mentioned the show to a comedian friend and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.
“The tone of their armchair summit is informative, but it’s clear the comics’ main agenda is to crack each other up, and the material is decidedly blue.
Among their gleanings: Mr. Seinfeld used the F-word in one bit—a decade ago—before expunging it from his act. Mr. Rock believes jokes often fail simply because the audience doesn’t get the premise, hence his trademark repetition. (“You can be married and bored, or single and lonely. Married and bored, single and lonely.”) Mr. C.K. forced himself to write newer, stronger material by replacing his opening joke with his closer. And Mr. Gervais got into stand-up because he needed to prove himself to other comedians after his instant success with “The Office.”
Mr. Gervais assembled the group. “It was an easy pitch,” Mr. C.K. says. The one-hour show was edited down from nearly five hours of conversation.“
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