Kempton & 張婉婷 給十九歲的我 (National Treasure) To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self – Mabel Cheung 2.5 hrs chat

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Related: “多謝《給十九歲的我》的參與者。 #終身學習 Thanks Participants of “To My 19 Year Old Self” #LifelongLearning”

Related: “回應張堅庭導演 #給十九歲的我”

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• 10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years editing
• Calling 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self a “National Treasure“
• What good can documentaries do? Can you imagine documentaries changing lives or society?
• Director Mabel’s “Final Cut” & Ying Wa’s “Final Decision”
• re Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳
• Has Mabel thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Atwood archives at U of T?
• Sending my thanks & love to Mabel & team, student interviewees, and Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 staff
• Concluding thoughts
• Postscripts 後記

10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years editing

It was my great honour and pleasure to have an extensive ~2.5 hours four parts insightful video interview (watch here) with Ms. Mabel Cheung 張婉婷導演 , an award winning director from the start of her career including her first student film (the famous “Migration trilogy“: The Illegal Immigrant 非法移民 (1985), An Autumn’s Tale 秋天的童話 (1987) and Eight Taels of Gold 八兩金 (1989)). My previous “record” of longest film interview was ~2 hours with Taiwan director Mr. Shen Ko-shang 沈可尚 to talk about his documentary LOVE Talk 幸福定格 which he took 7 years to film 8 couples.

Mabel and I chatted last Sunday Hong Kong time (2023/01/15) to talk about her documentary (10 years in the making, 300,000 hours of footage, and 3 years in the editing room) 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self (in short 給十九 ToMy19). And then the film won 2022 Best Film from Hong Kong Film Critics Society 香港電影評論學會 one day later on Monday (2023/01/16). Perfectly timed for Mabel‘s words of thanks to be appended to Part 4/4 of the interview clips.

My extensive ~2.5 hours chat with Mabel covers many topics, including scenes I love in 給十九 ToMy19 from the perspectives of movie viewers and also things that documentary filmmakers like myself or aspiring filmmakers want to know. Some viewers and filmmakers maybe curious how Mabel worked with 300,000 hours of footage to create a film that is loved by many? Or when the student interviewees didn’t want to be interviewed anymore, what did Mabel & team do to keep things going? What kind of advices does Mabel have for documentary or drama filmmakers or aspiring filmmakers wanting to create their first film?

Have a watch of all four parts of the interview. Mabel & I were originally scheduled to chat for 2 hours and those time flew by in the blink of an eye. And Mabel was so kind in giving me a 30 minutes extension. I used my additional time to ask questions I previously collected from a photographer friend interested in filmmaking and three questions by Norris Wong 黃綺琳 (note: Norris 黃綺琳 is Mabel’s former university student and current filmmaking project mentee 香港電影發展基金「薪火相傳計劃 ((2022?)-(3) 張婉婷 / 黃鐦 黃綺琳)」).

Calling 給19歲的我 To My 19-Year-Old Self a “National Treasure“

Right from the start, I mentioned to Mabel that I’ve watched 給十九 ToMy19 6+ times and I love it. In the same way that many Brits now love the Up (film series) (a series of docs featuring group of ~14 people in UK when they were 7, 14, 21, 28, … all the way to 63 years old) and consider Up (film series) a National Treasure, I love 給十九 ToMy19 a ton and also consider it a National Treasure.

Love is hard to explain. In some sense I started falling in love with longitudinal documentaries in 1988 as I was lucky to discover and watched the first four Up (documentary series) when the subjects/interviewees were 7, 14, 21, and 28 years old, at the SigSam audio-visual library of my alma mater University of Toronto. To my knowledge, the Up (film series) produced by Granada Television for ITV is the oldest, most famous, and most successful longitudinal documentaries of all time. Hoop Dreams (1994) is another longitudinal doc I love. There is also longitudinal dramas like director Richard Linklater‘s Boyhood (2014) (same actors filmed from 2002 to 2013) and the Before trilogy (Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013)) of romance films featuring the same leads.

And now you see why I’m primed to LOVE Mabel’s 給十九 ToMy19 which has become my latest favourite. Yes, a National Treasure. If I were a betting man, the 2022 Best Film mentioned above may just be the first of many awards. Of course, “winning awards” should never be any good filmmaker’s goal and definitely wasn’t Mabel’s as she told me. But a good film about HongKongers should be watched by more HongKongers.

What good can documentaries do? Can you imagine documentaries changing lives or society?

Many documentarians (good and even bad ones) aspire to capture their times for history. You may ask what good can documentaries do? Is it even possible that documentaries can change lives or society? Let me share two examples to illustrate.

Oscar winning director Errol Morris‘s documentary The Thin Blue Line (1988) was instrumental in Randall Dale Adams‘ (wrongly convicted of murder) exoneration the following year. Dear Zachary (2008) is a documentary that is instrumental in changing the legal system (specifically, bail reform) in Canada which I had the heartbreaking honour to video interview David & Kate Bagby when they attended the 2008 Calgary International Film Festival screening.

I hope a good documentary like 給十九 ToMy19 can lead to self and collective reflections, follow by positive changes in minds and actions of Hong Kong students, parents, teachers, school admins, education system, and even Hong Kong society in general. I wonder can and should 給十九 ToMy19 be screened at Ying Wa for all incoming new students in future years? Or will other Hong Kong schools want/plan to screen the film for teachable moments and learning purpose? I think the film contains many universal truths and can be used as good teaching aids in the hands of wise and loving teachers, vice-principals and principals. I think. I hope.

One scene that breaks my heart into a million pieces is the one that Vice-Principal Siu-Fung 小鳳 talked about some school where students (and their parents?) were thrilled to burn their school books after public exams were over. How tragic? Joi Ito (伊藤 穰一), former director of the MIT Media Lab, said this in a cool TED talk which I love, “Learning over Education. To me, Education is what people do to you. And Learning is what you do to yourself.”

For the books burning students, their cheering teachers & parents, I wonder what were they thinking? Do they think all their learning were “finally over” once they got accepted into university or graduated and got their undergrad degrees? Have they ever heard of or aspire to the idea/ideal of “Lifelong Learning“?

I want to especially thank the student interviewees and their families for their open sharing of a wide range of topics, including public health topics like mental health, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and many other topics that we can all learn more about and become better members of our communities. Be kind, be caring, and be loving of others.

Director Mabel’s “Final Cut” & Ying Wa’s “Final Decision”

As Mabel told me in our chat, she has the Director’s Final Cut on the documentary so that means anything that is on screen (or not on screen), the length, etc were all her decisions to make and her decisions were final. And “luckily”, the Hong Kong film censor did not have to cut one frame off her film.

And if my memory serves me, Mabel in one of her many interviews with media directly said (or implied) that it is always Ying Wa‘s “Final Decision”, in it I took it to mean that Ying Wa could have nixed the whole documentary after Mabel had done all the hard work. But Ying Wa did not. And for that, I thank the higher-ups at Ying Wa for letting 給十九 ToMy19 have her own life with us HongKongers and viewers around the world.

re Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳

My heart was broken into million pieces as I watched hours & hours of YouTube videos of insightful interviews of Mabel and her filmmaking & loving life partner the late Alex Law 羅啟銳. (see links below) The sudden passing of Alex last year came as a shock for Mabel and HongKongers and deeply saddened us all. Many in the film industry and media lovingly call the duo “雌雄大導” (for directors) drawing parallel to the saying “雌雄大盜”. To me, Mabel & Alex were 形影不離, the duo were actualization of the word inseparable for their creative & personal lives (see this 美紙 Art & Piece 2022 Nov cover (FB link)).

Some day I would love to ask Mabel about her & Alex’s creative process. Hopefully Mabel will let me interview her again in the future. Will see.

Recommended YouTube videos: a) 書展2013：移民3部曲 – 羅啟銳、張婉婷 (2013, 76 minutes), b) 影談系列——張婉婷 · 羅啟銳《秋天的童話》映後談Movie Talk—Mabel and Alex “An Autumn’s Tale” Post-screening Talk (2022, 105 mins), c) 影談系列——張婉婷 · 羅啟銳《玻璃之城》映後談 Movie Talk—Mabel and Alex “City of Glass” Post-screening Talk (2022, 88 mins)

Has Mabel thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Atwood archives at U of T?

Knowing how precious Mabel’s and Alex’s creative archives can be of inspiring values to filmmakers of this and future generations, I asked if Mabel had thought of donating Alex’s and her creative archives to her alma mater HKU or NYU like Canadian author & living national treasure Margaret Atwood had donated 600+ boxes to create the Margaret Atwood Papers at U of T that anyone can access digitally and freely?

Mabel thought who (no one really?) would be interested in Alex’s and her creative papers? I promptly said I would and think many people would too! And I suggested the papers should be digitized for easy and free global access. (Yes, I’m selfish and thinking of making sure me in Canada can access easily.) Mabel wasn’t thrilled of the amount of work involved. Of which I said it would totally be the receiving institution’s job (in fact, a pre-condition) to make sure these precious papers and creative materials of Mabel’s and Alex’s are as easily, digitally, and freely accessible for research purpose as the Margaret Atwood Papers at U of T that people can access and have a look anytime, like now.

If and when Mabel has decided to donate more of their creative papers, I would love to chat with Mabel to talk more.

Sending my thanks & love to Mabel & team, student interviewees, and Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 staff

I want to send my thanks & love to Mabel & team for their hard work in the last 10 years. Without their dedicated and persistent hard work, 給十九 ToMy19 would have been impossible to make. My special thanks to the so called “師奶兵團 (義務導演) C9 Army corps (Volunteer Directors)“!

And I want to send my thanks & love to all 30+ Form 1 student interviewees, all 13 student interviewees that appeared on the film credit list that, I understood, to have participated till the end. And in particular the 6+3 interviewees that we got to know a little in the film.

In order of featured appearances

「阿佘」Britney

「阿聆」Ling

馬燕茹  Jenny

“Madam”  Karen

「香港小姐」“Miss HK” Katie

「阿雀」“Birdy” Chloe

plus

“Ken” Myra

Shirley

Angel

And I also want to send my thanks & love to all of Ying Wa Girls’ School 英華女校 teachers, vice-principals, and former & current principal.

To all who appear in front of the cameras, I again thank you for making 給十九 ToMy19 possible.

Concluding thoughts

After watching 給十九 ToMy19, a National Treasure, that took 10 years to make, it is easy for us viewers to think we, all of a sudden, “know” all of the interviewees “deeply” because we watched them “grew up” in front of our eyes for 10 years, right? 10 years flew by in the blink of an eye. Some of us may think we know something or even a lot about them, right? I’m afraid that will be wrong. I think, all documentaries, no matter how good, can only capture some very small parts of people. In fact we only know very little about our beloved student interviewees as there have been a lot of growths and changes happening off cameras. Especially since the film finished shooting in 2019 which was over 3 years ago.

If I may use a “musical tangent” of a song example to illustrate growth and changes. Do you remember in the first few minutes of the film 「阿佘」Britney sang an excerpt of “Think of Me” from Phantom ? I love it. But Britney didn’t. Britney wasn’t too happy as she told Mabel, because she thought she kinda sang off-key (走音) for a few words and would rather see her singing cut. But I (we) love it, right?

Thing is life is all about growing & learning. We all mature in time. Our singing. Thinking. Now here comes my “musical tangent” from me doing “too much research”. This is a clip of the talented Emmy Rossum singing “Think of Me” in The Phantom of the Opera (2004). And in 2012, eight years later, Emmy on a late night comedy talk show singing “O Mio Babbino Caro” impromptu and it was, to me, 20x better than her 2004 movie singing because her voice has more practices and time to mature. I’m no expert in music. Maybe Britney can have a listen and tell me? Or better, maybe we all can have a “listen” to the “music” of growth, learning and maturity with our “ears” in our hearts.

Postscripts 後記:

P1.S.) 張堅庭 Alfred Cheung’s take ===> I read from Facebook that Mabel’s director good friend Alfred Cheung 張堅庭 watched 給十九 ToMy19 in Taiwan twice in three days. Alfred shared a story of an interesting encounter with a 2x viewer concluding with the comment “這就是「給19歲的我」的另一種吸引，有時紀錄片比劇情片更讓人刻骨銘心。近期的心水推薦。”.

P2.S.) 小鳳 Siu-Fung is #cool ===> Check out this interview of Vice-Principal Siu-Fung 小鳳 shared by the movie Facebook page, “我要用上帝的愛浸死他們——訪《給19歲的我》英華女校副校長“

P3.S.) Words about translation of National Treasure and pandas 熊貓 ===> I’ve decided to keep on using the English words National Treasure and not translate it to Chinese for this article. For my generation, it feels easier to say “love you” to my parents instead of saying the words “我愛你” which feels very 肉麻. To me, the words 國寶 should ONLY be used to describe pandas 熊貓 like the adorable Jia Yueyue (加悅悅 ‘Canadian Joy’) and Jia Panpan (加盼盼 ‘Canadian Hope’). So 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self will always be a National Treasure to me. :)

P4.S.) 金成 + 張婉婷 ===> Of the many recent interview videos of Mabel I’ve watched, 金成 has done one of the most comprehensive and insightful interview and I highly recommend watching, 叔叔的愛（番外篇）：金成、張婉婷對談.

P5.S.) Unprofessional to call 給十九歲的我 “National Treasure”? ===> I can always count on my Better Half being frank with me and call my bull beep out. She warned me that by calling 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self a National Treasure, I appear rather “unprofessional” and appear to “suck up” to Mabel and others. But did I? Did I NOT ask some tough questions during my extensive interview with Mabel? Did I NOT try to correct Mabel about some minor factual info (about the Up (film series)) when I could easily have said nothing? I felt important to ask questions in a respectful manner as Mabel is an accomplished filmmaker and yet, to do a good job, good (and sometimes tough) questions must be asked. While I was typing this, I kept thinking of Alex telling Mabel that her 1st and 2nd versions of 給十九歲的我 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self was “boring” 好悶啊. Something only an honest and loving partner can and must keep on telling each other. I continue to mourn the passing of Alex, one half of a beautiful creative duo. To expand, “雌雄大導” focus on their creative work, while “形影不離” transcend work and become encompassing of work and life with love. Me think.

P6.S.) Ming Pao’s insightful interview with video ===> worth a read and watch, “花十年拍紀錄片變「老頑童」 張婉婷面對生活像快要崩潰的牆｜張婉婷專訪” [HT YWGS]

P7.S) 張婉婷想做飛機師 ==> I love this interview a ton, “(端傳媒) 導演張婉婷專訪：用十年紀錄香港千禧世代之後，她想做飛機師” [HT YWGS] I wish I had more time to chat with Mabel about her dream (or desire) to be a pilot (想做飛機師). You see, my US Wyoming based political talk show host friend Glenn is a private plane pilot and owns a small plane. With my previous CAATS – ATC (Canadian Automated Air Traffic Systems – Air Traffic Control) Software Engineering experience, we love to talk shop sometimes including topics like glass cockpit, Boeing 737 MAX tragic crashes & groundings, … and sometimes Glenn shares beautiful made-by-pilots cockpit YouTube videos like “Vancouver Island Series – Tofino, Long Beach – Can’t believe this is allowed! – Part 4 – (S3:E4)“. I would love to ask Mabel if she really wants to fly herself? Or would she be just as happy (like me) to watch beautiful clips like Vancouver Island Series – Tofino, Long Beach – Can’t believe this is allowed! and be amazed? Or Mabel really want to fly in the air?

P8) 說自己想說的話 ==> Check out am730 “張婉婷是香港的童話” as I love this line a lot, “然後，張婉婷輕輕笑一笑：「我們拍電影，不是為賺錢，是為說自己想說的話呀！」” [HT YWGS]

P9) 20230128 Ming Pao 明報OL, (with video) “《給十九歲的我》成績超乎預期 張婉婷盼成功為母校籌錢建泳池” 20230128 香港01, “優先場票房600萬　張婉婷面對負評︰不能客觀評價“

P10) 20230129 “文化誌，人物記 時日再變　樂天不變　《給19歲的我》阿雀：啲人笑我似林敏聰” (Youtube video) & “時代論壇 – 英華女校榮休石玉如校長專訪“

Update history: 20230128 6:28am Minor editorial changes + adding news links. 20230125 11:20pm Minor editorial changes + adding internet links. 20230121 12:25pm Created Internet archive saved page to properly and permanently link info to 香港電影發展基金「薪火相傳計劃 ((2022?)-(3) 張婉婷 / 黃鐦 黃綺琳 project. 5:52am Added P8 and reworded the beginning of each Postscript a little. 20230120 12:50pm Title change to match video clips and few other editorial changes. 11:22am MST Style and top picture position change. 5:18am MST – Add a pix up top which links to YouTube list of all 4 videos. Add P6.S., P7.S. and other minor updates. 20230119 10:25pm MST – Added P4S 金成 video interview recommendation. Added P5S My Better Half challenged me and asked: Did I “suck up” to Mabel and others by calling 給19 ToMy19 a National Treasure? P5S is a reply to her legitimate question. 20230119 9:47pm MST – Fixed typos and making minor changes

First published: 20230119 ~8pm MST

Dark: Seasons 1+2+3 Recap+Ending Explained+Interviews

Just watched (almost non-stop Friday-Sunday) the whole Netflix Dark TV series seasons 1+2+3 in the last few days and quite enjoyed it! Here are a few spoiler-filled Recap+Ending Explained+Interviews that I had a lot of fun watching, enjoy (I tried to put the ones I enjoy more first)! BTW, did you watch Dark in its original German audio track or English dub? I think I may rewatch the series finale once more, this time in German, just to see how it goes.

DARK Season 3 Ending Explained! (K’s note: one of the better (or the best?) ending explained of Dark S3 so far)

DARK SEASON 3 Ending Explained Breakdown + Full Series Spoiler Talk Review | NETFLIX

Dark Season 3 Ending Explained | Netflix (Note: I feel like this reviewer, in fact, I skipped episodes 5, 6, 4(?) and jumped right to e7 and e8)

Jewel talks Art of Mindfulness and sings “Hands,” Discusses Song’s Origin

2020 April 28, great  101.1 CBS-FM radio interview by Brad Blanks, “Brad Blanks Discusses the Art of Mindfulness and Meditation with Jewel “All meditation is being constantly present””

And I googled around and found this GREAT clip “Jewel Sings “Hands,” Discusses Song’s Origin” to watch!

Here is “Jewel – Hands (Official Music Video)”

I don’t hate anybody! @SpeakerPelosi

#video #IDontHateAnybody via @LisaDNews

//Wow. That was an incredible moment as a reporter asked @SpeakerPelosi, as she was exiting news conf., if she hates the president.
She immediately pushed back, hard, at the idea.
Here’s what it looked like from the side.//

Wow. That was an incredible moment as a reporter asked @SpeakerPelosi, as she was exiting news conf., if she hates the president.

She immediately pushed back, hard, at the idea.

Here’s what it looked like from the side. pic.twitter.com/npXJvWB4nx

— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) December 5, 2019

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.

Watch full CSpan video link (timecode 19:09 ==> Q: “Do you hate the president?”).

Video excerpt via @cspan tweet

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.”

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."

Full video: https://t.co/l9peY9RTzl pic.twitter.com/zpqUaCcVrS

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 5, 2019

Here is an excerpt via C-Span (timecode ~19:30)

“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] “

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension (prorogation) hearing

Here are videos of the UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing over three days from Sept 17-19, 2019 and some links to news reports.

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 1 – Part 1

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 1 – Part 2

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 2 – Part 1

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 2 – Part 2

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 3 – Part 1

UK Supreme Court Parliament suspension hearing – Day 3 – Part 2

2019, Sept 18, Mother of parliaments shut by ‘father of lies’, supreme court told – Scottish lawyer at prorogation hearing says Johnson government has proved itself unworthy of trust

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Dream big to get big! – Bianca Andreescu #SheTheNorth – new Quote I LOVE

I have an extensive & detailed post about Bianca with links to tons of videos and articles so check that out for sure. Here I’m adding this new quote to my long list of Quotes I LOVE,

“Dream big to get big! And don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget your roots! She [Bianca’s mom] has been telling me that ever since I was a little kid.” – Bianca Andreescu (2000- )

Bianca on ET Canada (timecode 5m34s)

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Bianca Andreescu, US Open Champ #TeachableMoments

In life, I believe we can and should take stock and learn from #TeachableMoments whenever we can. I don’t play tennis but I see lots to learn from 2019 US Open Champ Bianca Andreescu (and her interaction with 23 times grand slams and multiple US Open Champ Serena Williams)!

pix 00 – 2019 US Open Bianca Andreescu vs Serena Williams

I went to a pub and it was a ton of fun watching Bianca played and won live with other Canadians! But I learned a lot more from her many post-game press conferences, news articles and off the court behaviours (who can forget her Rogers Cup on court moment (see video) with Serena?!) and desire to inspire the next generation of tennis players (especially Canadian female players).

Bianca is so talented and look at what she achieved in just one year! What an epic year! I LOVE quotes, and there have been much online talks of  attribution/misattribution of quotes involve underestimating/overestimating what one can achieve in one year or five/ten years. But another way of looking at it may be to simply give Bianca‘s visualization process (?) as mentioned in the news and her press conference a try. In fact some Twitter user pointed out that Bianca writing herself a cheque for winning the US Open when she was young and her visualization process was not unlike what fellow Canadian Jim Carrey did (see Jim’s video interview with Oprah). (NOTE: One day I may write more about why this is important to me but that can wait for now.)

For the record, I tweeted 20190811 (with video link in tweet and also below),

“My eyes were wet when I rewatched Bianca & Serena courtside uncensored talk a few times+their press conf twice each. Best in sport moments transcend technical skills, winning/losing & become #teachablemoment re how to treat other w empathy & respect, try2be better versions of us.“

I may still add/update this post to share a list of my own #TeachableMoments from these last few weeks and months from Bianca. Until then, the following is a list of most of the raw sources that I learned those #TeachableMoments from. Enjoy and have fun!

• Here is how Bianca answered a question re her immigrant parents in the US Open press conference @15m53s timecode (note that this is in light of how Syria and other immigrants/refugees have been mistreated by world politicians like US President Trump and others):

• Bianca‘s desire to inspire other tennis players (like Serena has inspired her), especially younger Canadian players! (Note that Bianca herself is ONLY 19 years old, that in itself is impressive!)
• (NOTE: I may add more in the future if I can find some time.)

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=====  References & Sources of inspirations for my #TeachableMoments =====

* 20190908, TSN (with video) “A day after US Open win, Andreescu already hungry for more”

* New Yorker, “In Her U.S. Open Victory, Bianca Andreescu Shows the Swagger That Serena Williams Brought to Women’s Tennis”

* 20190907 CBC News, Bianca Andreescu wins U.S. Open, becomes 1st Canadian to claim a Grand Slam title

* CTV News Toronto (with video of viewing party in Toronto), “The most Canadian way to accept a trophy? Bianca Andreescu says ‘sorry’”

You have to do everything to be ready to play – JLin – new Quote I LOVE

I’m adding this new quote to my long list of Quotes I LOVE,

“I wish people understood just how hard we have to work, even the guys who never touch the floor, because you never know when you’re gonna get that opportunity. You have to do everything to be ready to play.” – Jeremy Lin (1988 -)

I LOVE the context (see “The Raptors’ Jeremy Lin is proud of playing a small role in a big victory” by Doug Smith – The Star Sports Reporter) of the above quote as I would expand it to more than “ready to play” and include “ready to say“!

“It was telling that Danny Green, in trying to explain who kept him sane after what might have been a series-changing turnover at the end of Game 6 in Oakland, pointed to Lin as a teammate who kept him in the moment.

“JLin was great with keeping me positive, ‘We are going to get this stop. Don’t worry about it,’ ” Green said.“

Here is video clip (@timecode 5m32) of Green‘s pass and few seconds of the cheering GSW fans at the stadium in a 111 vs 110 game! Imagine the pressure on Green!

Full article references:

1) 2019-06-19 “The Raptors’ Jeremy Lin is proud of playing a small role in a big victory” by Doug Smith – The Star Sports Reporter

Lee Iacocca (1924-2019)

 

My 1986 copy of “Iacocca: An Autobiography” which I used for a high school English class assignment/book review. This is one of the autobiographies that got me onto the path of lifelong learning form insightful people’s biographies.

Goodbye Mr. Lee Iacocca (1934-2019), you will be dearly missed.

Thanks to my high school English teacher for letting me use Iacocca‘s best selling autobiography for one of the book review/class assignment which got me on a lifelong path of reading and enjoying autobiographies and biographies of many people which got me to learn valuable life lessons and teachable moments from them.

CNN, “How Lee Iacocca became an American icon” (bought back so many good memories)

Jun 2017, RegularCars, “The Legend of Lee Iacocca” (hope this is good)

xxx

No creativity without structure and boundaries – New Quote I Love

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels has just received Cannes Lions‘ first Entertainment Person of the Year award. Here is a particular section of Michaels‘ speech that I quite like and adding it as a new entry to my long list of Quotes I Love. The quote starts at the 12s mark of this video,

“In my experience at SNL, there really could be no creativity without structure and boundaries. Every week we go from a blank page to on the air in six days, never knowing for sure what the final show will look like. I say every week, we don’t go on because it’s ready. We go on because it’s 11:30.” – Lorne Michaels (1944- ) (Quote starts at the 12s mark)

#SNL creator #LorneMichaels shares a few words about creativity after receiving a special #CannesLions2019 award. pic.twitter.com/ONFZJhwp8u

— Pete Blackshaw (@pblackshaw) June 20, 2019

Life and times via Valedictory Remarks

Biography and auto-biography are types of non-fiction books that I enjoy a lot in reading as I get to learn from the life and times of interesting people. I recently discovered and learned to love Valedictory Remarks from the UKSupremeCourt YouTube channel. Here are two video remarks I enjoy (Lord Sumption, Lord Neuberger, Lord Clarke) and I hope you will too.

Lord Sumption’s Valedictory Remarks

Lord Neuberger and Lord Clarke Valedictory Remarks

China’s War on the Internet

Author James Griffiths @jgriffiths gave an insightful talk “China’s War on the Internet: How the West Lost the Web” at Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong @fcchk talking about his new book, The Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet. Have a watch.

“China’s War on the Internet: How the West Lost the Web”

 

Designing the Canadian Flag

I recently watched the documentary “Design Canada – The History of Graphic Design in Canada” via online streaming service Kanopy (free thanks Calgary Public Library) and LOVE it! Especially loving the segment about the design history of the Canadian flag! I love that Canadian flag segment so much that I looked up more online and found some extra cool info produced by CBC News in 2015 to celebrate the 50th birthday of our lovely flag!

CBC News, Feb 16, 2015, “The real story behind the Canadian Flag”

Have a read of the lovely historical and insightful four-page document “Dr. George F.G. Stanley’s Flag Memorandum – “the genesis of the Canadian flag”” as shown in the above CBC News report.

Here is a trailer of “Design Canada – The History of Graphic Design in Canada”

P.S. I love Canada and the Canadian flag and I’ve requested a Peace Tower flag that has flown on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and hoping to receive it around the year 2060, hopefully I’ll still be alive to receive it!

I like the Greek proverb (?), “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” In requesting the Peace Tower flag that had a waiting list of 46 years at the time, I made myself a commitment/promise of sort to love, cherish, and to try to make Canada a little bit better than I found her!

Hello 2019

Love to learn from others and will keep doing it. Graham Norton is one of my favourite talk show hosts and here you can find a lot of inside insights. “Exclusive: Graham Norton Reveals Secrets From His Show | Studio 10“.

I also watched these three clips of Hillary Clinton: a) Hillary Clinton Wishes She Had Done This During the Debates, b) Hillary Clinton didn’t want to attend Trump’s Inauguration, c) Hillary Clinton Is Worried About Donald Trump’s Tweets.

Q&A with Neil Gaiman (one year after Neil’s great commencement speech!)

C-SPAN: Joe Wong at RTCA Dinner

(Ref: Joe Wong: Building A Wall Didn’t Work For China, clip of .@JoeWongComedy wants to bring Chinese and Americans together – by making them both laugh)

Sad 2018 #HumanRightsDay #MichealKovrig #MichaelSpavor #MengWanzhou #Huawei

Dec 23, 2018 update: Global TV News, (with video) “Canada’s ambassadors urging allies to push for release of Canadians detained in China: Freeland”

Dec 21, 2018 Global Affairs Canada Official statement: “Canada deeply concerned by arbitrary detention of two Canadians in China”

Dec 21, 2018 update: CBC News, “U.S. , UK, EU] joins Freeland in condemning ‘arbitrary detention’ of Canadians and calls for ‘immediate release’”

UK Gardian, “Canada demands China immediately release citizens detained in ‘retaliation’ arrests – US, UK and EU express support, after two Canadians held in seeming retaliation for arrest of Huawei executive”

====

I’m sorry to say 2018 #HumanRightsDay (Dec 10th) was a sad day when former Canadian diplomat Micheal Kovrig (update: and Mr. Michael Spavor) were detained in China with no reason given. (China taking Mr. Kovrig as “hostage” over the arrest of Huawei CFO Ms. Meng Wanzhou?!) Where is due process? Where is rule of law? I understand he served as political lead on Prime Minster Trudeau’s visit to Hong Kong in September 2016, so on a personal note, I feel sorry for Consul General Mr. Jeff Nankivell and others in HK that Mr. Kovrig might have worked with in preparation of that 2016 visit.

How “lucky” Canadians must be to be stuck between two superpowers fighting a trade war? One superpower has a president that locks up human rights lawyers (including blind human rights lawyer) and makes dissidents “disappear”. The other superpower has a president who clearly sees himself above the law and has no idea of what “judicial independence” means. Even his former secretary of state recently said in public, “the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law.”

If there is #TeachableMoment in all this mess, it is that one must try to respect the rule of law, due process, and judicial independence. Even now it seems we really got used by both sides to fight their beeping trade war!
P.S. Incidentally, Trump/US government has imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum using Section 232 of U.S. trade law claiming our steel and aluminum are “threats to American national security”.

P.P.S. Former Canadian Amb. to China Mr. Guy Saint-Jacques has this to say:

"In China, there's no coincidence": Former Canadian Amb. to China @guysaintjacque1 says, in his view, the arrest of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig is part of China's effort to put political pressure on Canada over the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou pic.twitter.com/xDd9rP9mpz

— Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) December 11, 2018

===

This sentence (from a CBC News report) kinda highlights the difference between Huawei CFO Ms. Meng Wanzhou’s case and the trumped up detention of Mr. Michael Kovrig (currently on an unpaid leave of absence from the Canadian embassy): “China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday denied knowledge of the detention of a former Canadian diplomat, as Chinese citizens rejoiced over a Canadian court’s decision to release a top Huawei Technologies executive on bail.”

The day White House spread doctored video

Nov 16, 2018 update: CNN (with video) “Judge orders White House to return Jim Acosta’s press pass”

====

The doctored video @WhiteHouse tweeted out by @PressSec. For the record.

We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018

RT //Even by the standards of their serial-lying selves, this is bad stuff.// via @ddale8

1) Took @PressSec Sarah Sanders' video of briefing
2) Tinted red and made transparent over CSPAN video
3) Red motion is when they doctored video speed
4) Sped up to make Jim Acosta's motion look like a chop
5) I've edited video for 15+ years
6) The White House doctored it pic.twitter.com/q6arkYSx0V

— Rafael Shimunov 🔥 (@rafaelshimunov) November 8, 2018

//PEN America is suing President Trump for banning certain journalists from covering the White House and threatening to revoke credentials; now he has gone a step further by revoking the press pass of @CNN’s @Acosta, in a clear attack on the First Amendment.// BBC News, “White House suspends credentials for CNN’s Jim Acosta”

Very sad day!

‘Reflections on the Rule of Law in a Dangerous World’: The 2018 Sir David Williams Lecture by The Rt Hon. Beverley McLachlin

On Friday 19 October 2018, The Rt Hon. Beverley McLachlin delivered the 2018 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled “Where Are We Going? Reflections on the Rule of Law in a Dangerous World“. (more info: downloadable audio, photos)

Higher Loyalty – James Comey

Bought James Comey‘s “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” the day it came out as a Kindle ebook and I’ve enjoyed reading it so far. And I got a chance to start reading the “James Comey’s memos” (PDF file) (via CNN).

Watched a whole bunch of Comey TV interviews and enjoyed all of them. Here are some samples.

And this BBC 22 minutes interview “James Comey on Donald Trump and the FBI”

26 Apr, 2018 update: James Comey gets real in CNN town hall

xxx

Goodbye Beverley McLachlin

CBC News, Dec 18, 2017, “Beverley McLachlin reflects on Supreme Court career, dispute with PM Harper” (~13 minutes extensive interview)

CPAC, Dec 7, 2017, (~17 minutes video) “Beverley McLachlin Bids Farewell to Supreme Court”

December 14, 2017, CBC Radio, ‘We can do a lot better’: Retiring Beverley McLachlin on what’s wrong with our justice system

CBC Radio Ottawa, Dec 15, 2017 “Goodbye Beverley McLachlin – A retirement party fit for a Supreme Court Chief Justice.” (~10 minutes)

2017 Dec, “(video clips) CTV News Channel: McLachlin takes questions, pt. 1 (~12 minutes) pt. 2 (~9 mins)” – Beverley McLachlin’s farewell: Five quotes you need to know

Gala Dinner in Honour of Beverley McLachlin (full ~93 minutes video via CPAC)

~14:02 TRH former GG David Johnston (great speech, who is a legal scholar in his own right)
~21:02 TRH GG Julie Payette
~25:48 TRH Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
~36:01 TRH Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
~41:20 TRH Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (great speech)
~54:50 TRH former GG Adrienne Clarkson (great speech)
~1:14:50 Retired Chief Justice Beverley_McLachlin (LOVE this final address)

“Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is honoured at an Ottawa dinner on the eve of her retirement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney, as well as former governors general David Johnston and Adrienne Clarkson pay tribute to Canada’s longest-serving chief justice. The event is organized by the National Judicial Institute. (December 14, 2017)”

Note: I’m looking forward CBC National’s Sunday December 17, 2017 in-depth interview by Rosie of the Chief. Will add a link when I see it. [update: Video interview has now been added!]

October random

* Phantom Thread is “reportedly Daniel Day-Lewis’s final performance in a film”. (Trailer)

* Iris Gaines: You know, I believe we have two lives.
Roy Hobbs: How… what do you mean?
Iris Gaines: The life we learn with and the life we live with after that.
– from The Natural (1984) (from my collection of Quotes I LOVE)

* Happy birthday Bill Gates! Future generations may remember you for your charitable work and your technical contributions as a footnote.

* A picture is worth 1.4 billion words. #china (Note: Trump craves absolute power so much that he sees no problem saying this: ‘He’s a powerful man… a very good person’)

* (with video) Lovely panel. Got me thinking of the old days of my friend Sarb (who has a Phd in neural networks (NN)) and I chatted about NN over our many lunch time walks in the late 90s. Cutting edge computer science remains fun for me.
//Overview
The Deep Learning Summit took place in Montreal on 10-11 October 2017 and brought together global AI pioneers including: Yoshua Bengio, Yann LeCun, and Geoffrey Hinton, as well as experts from companies including Intel, NVIDIA, Twenty Billion Neurons and Apple.
We’re currently working on the videos for the summit so please fill in the form below and we’ll email you when they’re ready.//

* Good interview/chat. 92nd Street Y Live chat (video) — with Whoopi Goldberg and Melissa Rivers.

* Highly recommended documentary viewing Abacus: Small Enough to Jail via @frontlinepbs #inspirational #國寶銀行

* Worth a watch. //It’s a fact: Supreme Court errors aren’t hard to find.//

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