Camera Obscura

Building a Camera Obscura - "Rad Science" Segment from popSiren from popSiren on Vimeo.

Why it is always so difficult for me?

I guess it is a sign that I should treasure what I have achieved after I get it done.

Tree top

Taken by Leica MP Summicron 1:2/50mm

A letter to Santa

Dear Santa,
Please give me a baby brother.
Johnny
...........................

Dear Johnny,
Send me your mother...
Santa

Fall colors

The weather is weird. The summer had only lasted 2 weeks. It snowed for 2 hours in mid-Oct. But the temperature is still in the teens now at the end of Nov. I took this picture 3 weeks ago in Winchester, MA. The leaves are long gone. But a friend said she saw new yellow flowers on the street.

iTit

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music.

The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size.

This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Bear Attack

From news.timtech.com

Kris Rowley, Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Vermont was hiking along vermont’s woodlands when she noticed that a bear was following her. Being well aware that she was not carrying any weapon to use to defend herself or fight back, she threw her iPhone at the bear in the hope of distracting it. Fortunately the bear got distracted and so Rowley was able to escape. She returned to the scene later on hoping to retrieve her iPhone and found that her precious smartphone was chewed and mauled by the bear beyond repair. Unsurprisingly, Apple would not agree to replace the phone for free. Although devastated by what happened to her phone, she said she was happy that she wais safe and would be willing to buy another iPhone again.

The moral: have your water bottle handy so that you don't need to throw your precious iPhone at the bear.

The Impossible Project inspires Polaroid to re-launch Instant Cameras

The Polaroid licensee - The Summit Global Group - announced at a press conference on October 13th in Hongkong that they will re-launch some of the most famous Polaroid Instant Cameras.

Therefore they are commissioning The Impossible Project to develop and produce a limited edition of Polaroid branded Instant Films in the middle of 2010.

Large-scale production and worldwide sale of The Impossible Project's new integral film materials under its own brand will already start in the beginning of 2010 - with a brand new and astonishing black and white Instant Film and the first color films to follow in the course of the year.

Random thought

2009 Nobel Prize

This year's Nobel winners come so close to me.

I had a brief collaboration with Thomas Steitz but the project didn't go anywhere; I had seriously considered applying for a post-doc opening at Elizabeth Blackburn's lab for telemere research back in 2000; and of course, Charles Gao was the vice-chancellor of my university when I was an undergraduate. Weird.

Chiura Obata

I was watching PBS's National Parks series these days. Today has an episode about artists. Chiura Obata was a painter who came from Japan and fell in love in the nature of the American west coast. He became a professor of UC Berkerly and painted hundreds of paintings of Yosemite, the High Sierra and sequoia. Days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Obata like hundreds of thousand Japanese immigrants are thrown into internment camps. He taught fellow Japanese children and adults painting and sketching along with his own painting and sketching in the camp. Art becomes an antidote for the harsh endurance.

Tapaz war relocation center by moonlight (1943)

Tapaz Mountains (1943)

Glorious Struggle (1965) Sumi on Silk, 36 X 22 in

His grand daughter compile his works resulted from his days in the internment camps and published this Tapaz Moon. Paperback available in Amazon.com.

U2 360 Tour Boston

Awesome music, awesome set, awesome video editing. Freaking awesome show. Only that I spent 6 hours on the road, one of them being inside the parking lot when I tried to get out.

Suebee honey

'Deed I do

You are always on my mind

The Heaven weeps

For the last brother of the Kennedy. Farewell.

Salisbury Cove

We stayed in a cabin near Bar Harbor for two nights. We arrived just before sunset and I braved the mosquitoes to take a few shots across the bay. I got over 10 stings but gladly a few nice shots. They were taken by my 50 years-old Rolleiflex on expired Kodak Portra 160VC.

重訪西貢黃麖地

孔捷生
2009年08月20日
蘋果日報

盛夏時節參加香港藝術發展局主辦的傳記文學國際研討會，與會者多是大陸學界和文學界人士。我去國廿年，參加過多次海外文學會議，但和大陸同行一起切磋討論 還是首次，頗有「前度劉郎又重來」之感。座間滿眼舊雨新知，老朋友聚首，西窗剪燭，共話當年；至於新鮮面孔，又令我嗟嘆「玄都觀裏桃千樹，盡是劉郎去後 栽」。
會後在港休假，卻說我有一位隔別四十年的知青「農友」早就移居香港，他通過《蘋果日報》與我重建聯繫，近兩年去港我都與他暢敍。這次他問我 想到甚麼地方玩，我說很想重訪二十年前經黃雀行動營救來港住過的庇護屋。我住過多處支聯會安排的庇護所，住得最長的就是西貢黃麖地的一間海邊別墅。朋友說 那裏很偏僻，且多是禁區，好在他親戚是香港水警「沙展」，正守西貢，答應收更後接我們前往。
水警對自己「環頭」果然瞭如指掌，驅車左右盤旋，直抵 黃麖地村。時隔廿載，我一下子認不出當年故居，幸好有「地標」──伸展入海的小棧橋，昔時我們在橋上看日出日落，細數漁舟帆影，天風海濤卻揮不去六四記 憶……而今棧橋依舊，卻被歲月侵蝕得斑駁嶙峋，卵石暴突，無言地提示着悠悠光陰仍未能撫平民族傷痛，真不知還要再等多久，才能挽來萬頃碧波一澆胸中塊壘。
順着棧橋指引，我尋回那間海邊別墅。驕陽之下黃琉璃瓦依然發光，當年前院的柏樹苗已蔚然成牆，屋邊不知名的小樹已綠蔭滿庭，樹身懸掛着很多碩大的波羅蜜……二十年！
住 在此屋的有北京工自聯成員，有首都新聞界和出版社人士，更多的是學生。除我之外其餘均不懂粵語，支聯會有一「全職保母」照看此營（他後來和營中北京高自聯 骨幹程真漸生情愫，共結連理），不時來看我們的是朱牧師和劉千石。我們被囑咐，黃麖地村民若問起，就說自己是租屋度假的新加坡旅遊者。記憶中從來沒有人問 過，我猜村中鄉紳早知這些人的真實身份。
終有一日被盤問了，卻非村民，而是ＣＩＤ探員。西貢這一隅偷渡客和走私者頗多，警察查得嚴。但住了這麼久 才被盤查，實屬奇迹，我懷疑是政治部打過招呼。我不清楚香港警察的辦事程序，那次他們並沒要求被盤問者出示身份證。然而這宗意外導致支聯會緊急撤營，那晚 朱牧師、劉千石和何俊仁都來了，要大家馬上收拾行李，全營拔寨移至西貢另一間庇護所……歷數我住過的營地，還是對黃麖地記憶最深，從盛夏住到秋凉，對此間 一草一木都留下難以忘懷的印象。
今日重訪故地，物是人非，六四夢魘宛如那條棧橋，蒼苔斑駁，卵石嶙峋，卻仍沉重地壓着中國人的心。

Jason Mraz in Boston

We picked the good one of the two nights for Jason Mraz's show. The other night had a worse weather. I had been here before for Diana Krall's show. I like the venue in that is half outdoor.

It came as a great surprise when he and his drummer appeared on a small stage in the middle of the cheaper seating area after a few songs on the main stage. That put us only ~50 feet from him and everyone was standing on their chairs to get a better look. We had a great time.

Bar Harbor and Acadia

We went on to Bar Harbor and Acadia. Acadia is no comparison to Yosemite, but with Sue along, everything gets better. We strolled by the coast, amazed by how many people amazed by the Thunder Hole, picked wild blueberries, Cadillac Mountain (only ~1300 feet tall), the huge motel room, the little cabin, popovers at Jordon Pond, the hidden restaurant by the bay, the whale watch cruise, the little sailboat and the lobster traps. I love you Sue.