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 Above: Dunkin' DonutsStill life studio photography in my room. Photographed specially for a close friend who dislikes Dunkin' Donuts but who finds the name Dunkin' Donuts cute.
 Above: "Frustration"A project for my "sculpture" class in Winter Study: ARTS 12 - Learning art from the outsider. Made entirely of computer parts.
 Above and below: "Walk"A project for my "sculpture" class in Winter Study: ARTS 12 - Learning art from the outsider. Made
of maps and subway tickets of Washington DC, New York City and Boston -
I visited these places with a close friend during the Winter Break.
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
As the temperature gradually drops below 60F, you feel the crispy chill in the morning and at night - but it's not fall yet! Leaves are still green and you see plenty of squirrels around scampering for food! 
Along Route 7: Fallen leaves
Afternoon nap on the lawn
The leaves are still green - it's not fall yet!
Morning sky over the Congregational Church
Along West Main St
Williamstown: The Purple Valley
Hopkins Memorial Forest
Shadows
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
Seriously I don't really like parties - especially those with alcohols. So in one of such parties some of my entrymates and I decided to do something stupid - we constructed a tower, defying the laws of physics lol. The tower structure, version 1: 
The tower structure in its final form: 
Constructed by a few students in my entry having nothing to do during alcohol parties (:
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
WOOLF - Williams Outdoor Orientation for Living as First-years Time: August 31 - September 4 (four days and four nights)
Place: The Appalachian Trail in Vermont
Event: WOOLF Trail Crew, camping, backpacking and transporting mulch as community service 
Pre-departure
All packed up and ready to go!
First stop: transport the mulch to Stratton Pond
Taking a water break
"Wah!" at our campsite
Prospect Rock
Transporting mulch
Our little forest hut. The red-beard guy is just a hiker we met in the shelter.
The end of the trip
*Notice that we wear the same shirt in every picture - we didn't have showers for four days (: View all photos for the trip
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
ABOVE Mission Park, Williams College - this is where I live. BELOW Some random buildings in Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA - a town in the middle of nowhere and the nearest WalMart is 15 minutes of drive away in North Adams! 
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
新加坡之大——无讽刺之意[中英文版相互相承，非互译] Some say Singapore is a tiny place - look, other than the lion-head-fish-tail and the big durian, what's there to see? Packaged tours usually stop by the Lion City for a day or two, before proceeding to other more "interesting" places in South East Asia: West Malaysia (for the "Truly Asia" - as the Malaysian Tourism Board claims), or Bintan (for - umm - prostitution), or Thailand (excuse me, the transsexuals?). Personally I have lived in Singapore for almost five years, and I can confidently boast that I've been to more places than most local Singaporeans do. Which local Singaporean would bother to explore the city as an explorer in the name of exploration when they know they were born there (I know quite a number of schoolmates who've never been to Bt Batok)? 新加坡的确很小，新马泰组团的人走马观花的溜了一圈，感觉到“恩，的确是花园城市”之外，看来能够回忆的只有那个什么狮子头鱼尾巴还有那个榴莲，更便宜一点的团队应该还记得牛车水（唐人街）买药的经历吧。之后大概到马来西亚的什么云顶赌场，说不定泰国的人妖也记忆深刻——唯独不记得新加坡到底去过其他那些地方。我虽说不是新加坡人，但待了5年的我也算是新加坡通，相信认得、去过的地方要比广大新加坡人多，因为没有哪个本地人会那么无聊怀着探险的精神探索自己土生土长的地方——就像我是深圳人而我不会刻意去探索这个地方一样。不少住在中部的同学们还没去过东北部的榜鹅(Pungol)或者西部的武吉巴督(Bukit Batok)，更有一部分的人还没有乘坐过轻轨列车(Light Railway Transit, aka LRT)。可想而知。 Singapore is full of wierd yet amazing places - those with names and those without; they are equally nice places to hang out during weekends, instead of the same old nothing-to-see Orchard Road, especially when you can't afford anything much in there (the Food Republic there isn't exactly cheap). Oh, there's the brand-new Vivo City, but ultimately, excuse me, it's the same old shit - malls and malls, shops and shops. 新加坡相信除了鱼尾狮和大榴莲（滨海艺术中心）之外，更多的是你意想不到的地方。大地图上绝对是没有的，有些说不定邪门歪道的旅游小书也不一定有。的确，新加坡大的有Orchard Rd, Vivo City，小的有Breadtalk（深圳也有一家），不过一句话：无聊。你第三次去还勉强可以，第四次去的时候，举起双手，（还有空空如也的钱包），疾呼，新加坡太无聊了！真的如此？现在介绍几处我特别喜欢光顾的几个小地方，仅供参考。 Disclaimer: If you think the following photographs don't look like Singapore, think again. All the following texts and photos are original works of mine and my friends. 注意事项：下面的照片不像是在新加坡拍的，但事实并非如此。读完文章你就会明白的了。以下的所有文字和照片皆原创作品，非抄袭之作。 Uniquely Singapore 1 / 特别新加坡之一: The Malayan Railway 
It may strike you that this doesn't look in any way Singapore-ish: rustic charm, dilapidated railways, yet indeed this is just off Bukit Timah Road, near Bus Stop B33 if I'm not wrong. Good place for taking a stroll down the railway and enjoy the pastoral beauty. Worry not, you will not be run into a train; not many trains on this Malayan Railway anyway - plus you hear it before you see it. A point to note is that you're actually walking in the Malaysian territory. The entire Singapore section of railway plus the surrounding soil is actually the property of the Malaysian Government. Wierd, isn't it? 果然不像是新加坡吧？印象中的狮城，也许是车水马龙，购物的人群熙熙攘攘，商店摆满了琳琅满目的商品。上面看到的，只不过是一条破烂铁路。没错，这是马来亚铁路的新加坡段。沿着这段铁路走，十分安静，没有城市的喧闹，只有古色古香的乡村风光——古色古香，因为铁路是马来西亚政府一手承包的，他们没有什么钱用于维修保养工作。 Uniquely Singapore 2 / 特别新加坡之二: The Subway Tunnel 
Time machine? Not exactly. This is the Northeast Line of the Singapore Mass Railway Transit (MRT). The unique aspect of this subway line is that it's driver-less. You go to the first carriage, and you see no driver cabins. You can go to the front window and see the tunnel before you. The magical part comes when the train is moving - and you see the time-machine effect above! A good way to kill the time is to lean against this window and watch the tunnel and lights pass by. 让我想起了多拉A梦的时光隧道。这是新加坡地铁的东北线，无人驾驶，你可以跑到车头，透过车头的玻璃，前方的隧道一目了然，有一种穿梭时空的神奇感受（还有被催眠的感觉）。 Uniquely Singapore 3 / 特别新加坡之三: Pulau Ubin (Ubin Island) 
This is pretty famous; you see it in maps and guidebooks. Pulau Ubin, an offshore island northeast of Singapore, is a perfect spot for weekend cycling - not just normal cycling, but mountain biking through a well-preserved rainforest. At less than SGD$5.00, you can rent a bike for a whole day to anywhere on this small paradise away from the hussles and bussles of urban life. I personally visited this place almost every weekend this year. I especially loved to cycle to the northen beaches; it's so quite and calm there, and you see fishermen's quarters floating on the water and in the distance Johor Bahru (Malaysia). So, pack up, bring some nice food (no barbeque please) and good friends, and prepare for a fun weekend of cycling and picnic here! 喜欢越野自行车的朋友应该对乌敏岛不会陌生。每辆自行车5新元左右，你就可以足足玩一天。假如这个岛上的每一条自行车道都走遍了的话，你还可以选择泥路、石路、甚至沙路（就是沿着北部沙滩骑车啦，假如你想锻炼脚力的话）。沿着这些路骑车，你可以到达一些有趣的地方，例如什么拿督娘娘庙之类的，庙旁边还有狗，不过就是小心它们啦。周六周日可以带上朋友、干粮，骑累了可以到小亭子里吃吃水果，或者索性坐在北面的沙滩上，欣赏水上人家的风光以及远处被烟幕弥漫着的马来西亚新山市。 Uniquely Singapore 4 / 特别新加坡之四: Seletar Camp 
Seletar Camp and Seletar Airport, a difficult place to reach by public transport, yet a great spot for a morning of plane-spotting and again rustic charm. Aircraft-spotting activities may be less exciting than those in Changi Airport; it's mostly Pipers in Seletar as this place boasts a Singapore Youth Flying Club. Well, for the citizens only, or else I would have joined. The fun way to explore the area is to bring a map and a compass; navigate yourself to the airport! Seletar军营、机场除了看飞机之外，其一大特色就是：公共交通十分不便利——没错，拿着一张地图，一个指北针，你就可以找个地方下车（问司机吧），然后慢慢自己野外定向吧。对，野外，周围没有什么人，没有什么车，穿过一片十分平和、安静的别墅区后，然后就真的“豁然开朗”了。 Uniquely Singapore 5 / 特别新加坡之五: Bukit Timah Nature Researve 
The highest point in Singapore: 126 metres. And here it is, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Well, I guess what makes it so special is not how tall it seems to be, but how many monkeys it has. Just look at the photograph taken in a car park at the Visitors' Centre. These apes and men seem to coexist peacefully (like the lady and the monkey). They don't snatch your stuff and allow you to observe their daily activities. But no feeding please; Singapore is a "fine" city. 我觉得作为新加坡的最高峰，其特色在于猴子——人和猴子的和平共处…… Uniquely Singapore 6 / 特别新加坡之六: Kusu Island 
This is not a cheap option, but nonetheless it's worth it. If you think that Sentosa is too artificial, you can board a ferry (at a price) at the terminal and it takes you to two offshore islands south of Singapore. One of them, as I recommend, is Kusu Island. A very small piece of land indeed; small, but extremely cosy, calm and quiet. Huts line up on one of the beaches. You can sit in the huts all day and watch boats, ships, yachts passing by in the busy waters of the Straits of Singapore - as if time had stopped. There's also a Malay Temple at the peak, and a Buddhist Temple at the foot. A great religious mix is another value-added part. END: Back to Civilization / 结尾篇：回到现实 
And this above is truly Singapore. 回到真正现实中的新加坡……如上所示。 Coming up next: A tour de Singapore - How to cycle from Pasir Ris, via Changi, to Suntec City? 其实曾经和一个好朋友从新加坡的东部（Pasir Ris）经过樟宜，一直骑车到中南部的新达城（Suntec City）。突然有一个冲动，想在忘记这段难忘的经历之前写下来……mmm有点自相矛盾。下次吧。
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
The Best Frames / 照片选集 Date/日期: August 2007
Location/地点: Jiuzhaigou, China/中国四川黄龙和九寨沟 
The Waterfall 仙境的水
The Fog 雾
The Couple 人在画中游
The Drizzle 小雨 Camera Model/相机型号: Nikon D70
No photograph has been digitally manipulated except for colour correction and cropping in Google Picasa.
Note: In the first frame I was doing a 1/5 second exposure with only my hands holding the camera (:
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
钢丝上跳华尔兹的大象 Some people go to amusement parks for the sense of thrill. Others choose movie theatres or even IMAX - which boasts of screens five stories high. But for me, it is plane-spotting. Partly for excitement. Partly to appreciate this delicate work of art. To me, a Boeing 747 gracefully landing on the tarmac is no different from an elephant’s waltz in Swan Lake. Just look for a quiet spot north of Runway 02R outside Singapore Changi Airport, sit down, and it's showtime. 
First, it is simply a bright spot; you see it where the clouds meet the horizon. Then it enlarges, and you hear the faint boom. As it gets closer, you gradually make out the profile, silhouetted again the sky. You squint your eyes. Yet all of a sudden, an acute fear shoots through your heart as this giant monster charges towards you at 170 miles per hour (270 km/h). 
But fret not - or rather you don’t have time to fret. The deafening sound blasts out from overhead, so loud sometimes you just wonder if you are actually hearing a throbbing silence. You look up. A hundred and fifty feet (50m) above you, the monster’s tummy and legs (landing gears) are to crush you any second. You wish it could leave faster, but you wish it could stay for a little while more so that you can still admire it from this unique angle, admire this gigantic beast of beauty this close - as if you can reach out and touch it. As quickly as it comes, it shrinks behind the barbed wires. Gracefully, like the feather in the movie Forrest Gump, it floats, hovers, and gently touches the tarmac in the distance. Welcome to Singapore Changi Terminal. 
PS: The following photo has not by any means - electronic, digital, optical or otherwise - been re-engineered nor forged; it is a genuine photograph taken on a Tiger Airways flight from Singapore to Shenzhen. Shows me and the co-pilot on board of an Airbus A320. The date on the photograph by the way is wrong. 
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
我默默地坐在窗户前面，呆视着寄宿学校的一片灰蒙蒙的草坪。雨点在屋檐上懒散地跳动。一阵微风吹来，我不禁浑身一颤，恍然意识到：冬天到了。 虽说来新加坡已有三个月，之前我一直清楚此地四季如夏，但现在，一个一月的傍晚，独坐在空洞的宿舍内，一间远离故乡几千公里的宿舍内，我嗅出了冬天的气息，感觉出了冬天的包围。 窗外的毛毛雨帘中，晃出了两个人影：一位中年母亲，撑着粉红的小雨伞，一手紧紧地搂住身旁穿着校服的小儿子——好像担心他会着凉，另一手提着书包——鼓囊囊的，踢着雨水缓缓走过。从样貌中，不难看出他们的母子关系。假如说她不是母亲，那么为什么小男孩的校服是干的，而她的衣服却湿了半边呢？ 我不由自主地目送着他们，目送着这小小春意在细雨中渐渐消失。他们的粉红雨伞格外引人注目——这不是我母亲亲手织毛衣的颜色吗？ 记得初二时候，深圳十二月、一月的雨天格外寒冷。母亲总会小心翼翼地从衣柜最深处翻出那件毛衣让我穿上。当时，我不是认为粉红色太“女孩化”，就是觉得它刺激皮肤。不过只要穿上这件毛衣，暖流传遍全身。可惜，我来新加坡之前压根儿没有想过把它带来。现在，我后悔了：后悔没有把它放在行李箱里，星城之冬格外难熬；后悔以前没有好好享受它是多么的贴身…… 打开电脑，一封中国同学的信蹦了出来，说深圳最低只有10摄氏度，他冷得受不了。我只感觉到嘴角轻轻一抖动——不知高兴还是悲哀——深圳的冬天，肯定要比新加坡的要温暖…… （写于2003年1月11日，曾刊登于深圳《特区教育》杂志）
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
被当局封锁了IP、中国大陆不能访问的网站，看来只能通过钱的方式来解决：另外购买一个新的IP地址，一个月额外的USD$2.99贵死了。还好，现在能访问了，只怕什么时候又会被封锁。网民们说，中国有The Great Wall，更有The Great Firewall，看来自己没有吃过金钱的苦，还是不能理解其中的水深火热程度的。购买了国外主机（e.g. GoDaddy）的同志们请注意了，宁可多花点钱，千万不要购买Shared IP, Shared Hosting——虽然样样都是shared的，这么共产主义，但这样照样被封。宁可付多一点钱，买个Dedicated IP（Shared Hosting照样用），然后到中国信息产业部备案一下（备案注册网站问题多多，却申诉无门，看来还是白说），这样就万无一失啦。 Announcing the re-opening of rain-stars pictures main site - now no longer blocked by the Great Firewall of China! www.rain-stars.com 进入站点 | Enter Site 
想起我父母那一辈人当时读的英文是“Long live chairman mao” 之类的，现在看起来当然好笑。当今社会在倡导“八荣八耻”还有几年前的“三个代表”，假如这些内容也加进人民教育出版社的英文教材当中，看起来不知又怎么样呢？近日，网上看到几则翻译，幸亏略懂英文，稍作修改后特摘如下。 DISCLAIMER If you are a native English speaker, don't ask me what this is; it's culturally (and politically) untranslatable. Period. 首先看“三个代表”，代表了什么呢？ (1)代表中国先进社会生产力的发展要求；(2)代表中国先进文化的前进方向；(3)代表中国最广大人民的根本利益。翻译如下： The Three Representatives represent - the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, (Productive forces译得好。生产力在汉语中还有reproductive forces之歧义，英语中就不会产生如此误解了——假如你想多了的话)
- the direction of China's advancing culture,
- and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.
至于八荣八耻，比较大众化的翻译如下： Eight Do's and Eight Don'ts (翻译的多好，short and succint，不过没有了原句的威严) - Love, do not harm the motherland.
- Serve, don't betray the people.
- Uphold science; don't be ignorant and unenlightened.
- Work hard; don't be lazy and hate work.
- Be united and help each other; don't gain benefits at the expense of others.
- Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the expense of your values.
- Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic and lawless.
- Know plain living and hard struggle; do not indulge in luxuries and pleasures. （plain living似乎还没有艰苦奋斗的感觉，我会用austere这个词，能塑造红军当时过草原的光辉形象）
| - 以热爱祖国为荣、以危害祖国为耻，
- 以服务人民为荣、以背离人民为耻，
- 以崇尚科学为荣、以愚昧无知为耻，
- 以辛勤劳动为荣、以好逸恶劳为耻，
- 以团结互助为荣、以损人利己为耻，
- 以诚实守信为荣、以见利忘义为耻，
- 以遵纪守法为荣、以违法乱纪为耻，
- 以艰苦奋斗为荣、以骄奢淫逸为耻。
| 形式上比较贴近中文版本的翻译如下： Take the eight glorious merits against eight shameful behaviors - "Love our motherland" as glory; "jeopardize her" as shame.
- "Serve for the people" as glory; "err from them" as shame.
- "Advocate science" as glory; "The ignorant "as shame.
- "The laborious"as glory; "love ease and hate work" as shame.
- "Unite and help each other" as glory; "harm others to benefit oneself" as shame.
- "Be honest to keep faith" as glory; "forget justice to seek for benefit" as shame.
- "Abide by the law and discipline"as glory; "disobey the law and discipline" as shame.
- "Fight against everything hard and bitter" as glory; "the extravagant and dissipated" as shame.
| - 以热爱祖国为荣、以危害祖国为耻，
- 以服务人民为荣、以背离人民为耻，
- 以崇尚科学为荣、以愚昧无知为耻，
- 以辛勤劳动为荣、以好逸恶劳为耻，
- 以团结互助为荣、以损人利己为耻，
- 以诚实守信为荣、以见利忘义为耻，
- 以遵纪守法为荣、以违法乱纪为耻，
- 以艰苦奋斗为荣、以骄奢淫逸为耻。
| 末了，谨说一句“We study for the revolution. Good good study, day day up”。
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
原创：黄雨星
深圳机场下飞机后，你说不定会碰见他。这位男士西装革履，文质彬彬，能讲流利的普通话，乃君子也——别那么快下定论，告诉你，他只不过是乞丐一个。他会礼貌地向你问好，然后解释道公司裁员，自己不幸成为一分子，家里有婴儿嗷嗷待哺，请问能不能借二十块钱来——听着，不是拿来吃喝嫖赌的，我是个父亲——借三十块钱来买罐奶粉，儿子快不行了。你也许出外旅行修炼已久，已达明察秋毫之境界，这种事情恐怕其中有鬼，但如此君子乞丐乃第一次邂逅，说不定人家确实有苦衷。于是聪明的你决定成全他，却只答应帮他买奶粉，不会给他现钞。君子欣然同意。汝大喜，信步把他领到机场的超市，掏钱买了一小罐奶粉。他哈腰鞠躬，有跪下感谢救命恩人之势。乘着舒服的大巴离开机场，你心里甜得有如解决了整个卢旺达的粮食问题一样。
其实不少机场工作人员都知道，这位先生日日如此，收获甚多，包括更好心人给的现钞。夕阳下山前，他准会去附近的一家超市，低于市价倒卖掉。
吃惊吧？这种有两支脚的不长毛动物中的其中一类，具有变色龙的特性，能把自己伪装成最慈善的人，能说最慈善的话，让不一定最慈善的人信服。这类人见多了，或许亲自受过他们的恩赐了，你可能就不会对于上面的故事那么吃惊了——报纸经常刊登的嘛，有什么值得希奇的。这样你就会成为千千万万曾经是慈善的人一样，烈日下看到一个外来打工妹向你讨两块钱——先生，帮帮忙吧，我想给家里打个电话——然后不禁想起深圳每晚热播的《第一现场》中大部分时间用来灌输关于抢劫杀人行骗的新闻，于是把头往后一翘，生怕她看不清你鼻中脏物，不屑而去。
人们问我哪个地方来的，我会怀着复杂的感情说“深圳”。说我骄傲，因为这个年轻的城市是冲出文革牢笼后的第一个经济特区，流着第一股新鲜的血液；说我羞愧，因为大家连自己邻居姓什么都不清楚。年纪小小，就意识到自己生活于乱世中。大人的智理箴言铭记于心：唔好随便同生宝人讲嘢（不要随便和陌生人讲话）。到我们长大成为乱世佳人乱世英雄而结婚生孩子的时候，此智理箴言只会传到下一代。又下一代。西方媒体看到了中国过热的经济，过热的楼市，却没有看到一个潜于社会的冷流——互不信任。当事者横眉冷对，而令人不寒而栗。
三十年前，当母亲还是像我现在这么大的时候，她的村子夜不闭户，路不拾遗。当时她看到的“乱世”，无非是她叔叔把吃不完的一小袋蔬菜拿去买，被人发现后戴高帽当牛鬼蛇神游街示众。也许当时的她不觉得这是乱世：叔叔犯了错误嘛，走资派反革命分子一个。如此太平盛世中，字典里决不会有创业、个性化之类的字眼。
七十年代末，深圳在一个伟人画了一个圈之后，我的父母来了，来到了这个无名渔村。和许多拓荒者一样，他们渐渐闻到了邻居香港飘来的自由气息。翻开他们结婚后的相册，能看到八十年代典型的色彩失调彩色照片、典型的卷发、典型的茶色大眼镜，看到他们自豪地和新买的彩电合照，窗外矗立着一幢又一幢被棚架覆盖的高楼大厦。“那是一台质量很好的相机，”父亲回忆道，“进口中国的头批日本货之一。”
假如上面那段文字出现在教科书上，必然会出现春雷雨后之笋这些字眼；假如是中央电视台呢，主持人肯定慷慨激昂地念着，播放着《春天的故事》背景音乐，并插播深圳、珠海、上海“欣欣向荣”、“振奋人心”的一派景象。人们真的觉得太平盛世到来了，于是争先恐后破牢笼而出，掀起了滚滚尘土，有如北京的沙尘暴一般。以前的风暴中，有“毛主席的伟大指引”，在沙尘中每人都高挥着毛主席的红色圣经，即使在沙尘中都特别显眼，想迷路都很难；现在的太平盛世，有“党中央的伟大指引”，但恐怕人们首先看到的是花花绿绿的路牌，上面写着东芝彩电、三菱洗衣机、尼康照相机，哪个路牌才指向“小康生活”啊？在这时代的蜂拥中，毛主席语录、孔子的“仁”英勇地成为践踏在脚下的尘埃之陪葬品。人们努力地奔向小康，却在花红酒绿的街头，迷失于色彩斑斓的霓虹灯广告牌中。
看到打工妹向你要两块钱打电话？关我什么事，再说她也许又是一个骗子。向希望工程捐钱？不好意思，向我捐钱差不多——国企改革，下一个快轮到我下岗了。
红宝书、“仁”也许暂时消失于人们的意识中，一代接一代的乱世智理箴言只不过是恶性循环而已。有时候，一件好人好事，能使一个人冲出这个恶性循环，就如当时国人冲破旧社会、文化大革命的牢笼一样。虽然不多，但除了《第一现场》每天的杀人抢劫诈骗之外，我们依然能看到有陌生人合力缉拿扒手，有的士司机无偿送临产妇到医院——电视上、报纸上，也许只是几分钟的新闻报道，或被党中央新闻逼到报纸的一个小角落的好人好事，或听闻朋友的朋友感受到陌生人的援手——我们依然能看到、听到、感觉到，足以让当事者以至隔岸观火者感受到真正的太平盛世，开始质疑爸爸妈妈说的“不要随便和陌生人讲话”。今天的隔岸观火者说不定就会成为明天的见义勇为者——或者不需要如此壮烈伟大——成为明天的告诉前面小姐东西掉地上之热心人，成为明天给打工妹五块钱打电话的过路人。不需要轰轰烈烈，这就足以振奋人心，足以渐渐冲破当前互不信任的恶性循环之一股小力量了。
说不定下次你深圳机场下飞机后，还会碰到他，你依然会帮他买一罐奶粉。你会坐在舒服的机场巴士上离开，心里依然甜得有如解决了整个卢旺达的粮食问题一样。
Copyright 2007 www.rain-stars.com
Williams College? Nvr heard of it. 威廉什么大学？
In China, people have heard of only Harvard, Stanford and Yale, so when I tell me uncles and aunts that I'm going to Williams this fall, they are at first stunned. "What? Can you repeat that school name?" they ask. "威廉姆斯WAY-LIAN-MOO-SEE," I say slowly, referring to the long official Chinese translation. Confused look. "Huh? So you're not going to 哈佛 HAH-FOR (Chinese for Harvard)? Where's your school?" they ask. Scratching my head for the translation, I reply, "麻省 MAH-SHENG (literally MAssachusetts Province)". "Oh, MAH-SHENG? So it's 麻省理工学院 MAH-SHENG Technology Institute?" Okay now I realize they know more than Harvard; they know MIT as well. Good. I know it's time for a long lecture again, on American Liberal Arts Education (: I uploaded 1000 songs to my iPod. Will it be heavier?
多了一千首歌的iPod会更重吗？
- Data is recorded onto the hard disk by altering the structure of the magnetic material coated on the surface of the disk, thereby changing the distributions of 0 and 1.
- Energy is required in reading and writing data.
- Not all energy supplied is used in the reading and writing process. There is an excess of energy, some of which is lost as heat and sound (vibration).
- Einstein tells us that E = mc2
- Most of the other portion of this energy excess is converted into mass.
- On the earth surface, assuming a uniform gravitational field, mass is directly proportional to the weight.
Therefore, my iPod will be heavier.
这次全国转了一圈，略有感触。
在新加坡买东西：交易完，买方说谢谢，卖方也说谢谢。
在中国买东西：交易完，卖方说谢谢。
顾客是上帝，却没有上帝的素质。
Shopping in Singapore: You pay. You say thank you. The salesgirl says thank you.
Shopping in China: You pay. The salesgirl says thank you.
Customers are the gods... without godly manners.
    I shall start praying for the gods now. 为“上帝”祈祷吧。
返于西藏、北京，略有感触，提拙笔蠢蠢欲书简信予新加坡一笔友，好中华历史及足球。特摘如下。mmm as I discovered later, these hand-written texts are plagued with spelling/grammar mistakes. entirely original work though, wirtten under medication due to a wise decsion to have my wisdom tooth extracted once I returned home from these places. actually extracted from a letter to my penpal who loves Chinese history and  ... excuse me for those errors (: more pictures and interesting stuff on my Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/p/Danny_Yuxing_Huang/509735327!     
Some of the better shots: BEIJING / 北京
Now writing this entry in downtown Beijing. Tomorrow I'll be taking a train all the way up to Tibet (: It's gonna be a long time before I can be in contact with the civilized world, i.e. the Internet, again... The Making of Mr Popular and Apple vs Apple
Running Time: 03:19
Production Date: April 2007
I don't know about you, but when I buy a DVD (instead of downloading), I go for the Special Features; they show you how the film was made, the sweat, the hard work behind this less-than-two-hours work of art. I've hereby made one to show you that it's equally not that easy to churn out two films - each about 5 minutes in length - that required me, my cast and crew to toil away for the entire weekend. I never say the end product meets my expectations - none of my works do - but I truly enjoy the process of making a simple film with my colleague Stamford Wee and my kids (Sec 3 Catholic High Students)... the jokes passed around during the filming, the goofs, the playing around with booms (my first time to use a boom and a semi-pro camera)... it's one experience i'll never forget (:
How far should scripting be done in a documentary? I have found this interesting exclusive interview with the brains behind Borat. As it turns out, Borat is heavily scripted and well planned. A poorly planned documentary - as well as any other forms of film productions - is bound to be badly conceived, poorly delivered, and ultimately aborted in the travail. Haha pun.
Okay, the following abstracts are taken from The Brains behind Borat.- People think you go out there and just improvise. But all our jokes are tightly honed and tightly written, and Sacha delivers them brilliantly and also improvises around the situation...
- The weird thing is, we have incredibly serious discussions about incredibly stupid things. Like, can we bring a shit down to a dinner table? We debated that for an hour. ... Should I bring a piss down, shall I bring a shit down? ... Should it be a transparent bag or…?
- That's where the interesting definition of writing comes in because, effectively, we were always writing the film. We had this material that we went out and we scripted and we treated, and then we got it back. In many ways, we carried on writing in postproduction in order to make it fit and meld together.
Apple vs Apple: A Documentary
Running time: 04:50
Production Date: April 2007
A documentary that I did with my Secondary 3 students at Catholic High School. The topic of the video competition was "advertising and society", and we thought of working on Apple. But as one of my friend put it, "the documentary didn't tell [her] what [she] had not known". And I do admit that the responses from the interviewees were indeed simple - or rather simplistic.
It was not easy to make this film. We wanted to make the responses genuine, so we didn't script their answers. All we did was to find someone to sit down before the camera and we asked them questions. Candid, so we thought.
The outcome turned out way beyond my expectation: all the interviewees said was "it's cool to have an iPod" or something along that line. What remains on the final cut of the film is responses distilled from over an hour of interview footages, thanks to my students who arduously completed the transcripts. And those are the best responses I can find.
Perhaps, as a lesson learned, some scripting of answers should be done. As I read online, Borat isn't exactly unscripted; every single detail and joke is heavily scripted, revised, though some are improved - mind you, improvisation is based on a well-planned script. Well, even Candid Camera is scripted. So I guess some sort of plannings should be carried out next time.
Mr Popular: A Short Film
Running Time: 05:36
Production Date: April 2007
A short film about how a person rises to his fame - or rather notoriety - because of the Web 2.0, you know, online technology that includes instant messaging (MSN), search (google), blogging (MSN Space and Blogspot), Wikipedia and social networks (del.icio.us). A simple story with a simple twist at the end.
Some of my friends said the film was poking fun at the Wee Shu-min incident, in which this 18-year-old girl (who also happens to be in Raffles Junior College Students' Council) wrote some what others termed as elitist remarks on her blog. A heated national debate entailed. She apologized. Her father apologized. Heard that she was accepted into Yale. She won't be able to survive in NUS anyway.
But my point is others may have over-reacted. It is just a blog. Elitist she may be, she can't be blamed given the environment in which she was brought up - rich father who has a high-flying job in the civil service, a good school, a good neighbourhood. And what she didn was simply putting her thoughts online, a matter of freedom of speech. Her remarks were undeniably bitter. Acidic. Sarcastic. Belittling the "working class". She is arrogant. She is apathetic to others. But - just as a newspaper can sensationalize an event - the online community is making a big fuss out of this small personal matter: is it not as if you had never seen a prim-and-proper teenager whose parents are at the peak of the social ladder and who live in a large house/condominium with two maids and who lash out similar remarks if not more acrimonious or scornful or blunt?
Come on, give her a break.
People talk about Web 2.0 and they talk about how the online community can be less biased, compared with the profit-driven sensationalization of newspapers or tabloids. Well, we need to examin how mature people are - how politically mature or socially mature. Look at the situation in the Chinese online community. Netizens jack up the anti-Japanese sentiment, fuelled by the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. True, it's national pride, but I would not call it national pride when people begin to chant the slogans to boycott Japanese goods in the good hope that one day this would cripple the Japanese economy - and all these were stemmed from the endless online forums that interminably talk about "national pride" - irrational thinking conquered by a blind sense of hatred. And don't forget: this group of people are only in their 20's. The war took place half a century ago.
Web 2.0 removes the walls between people - a cliche introduced at the dawn of the Internet era. People discuss and express their feelings freely. Freely. Meaning unfiltered, on-the-spur-of-the-moment thoughts that flash through one's head. Before Internet, people wrote letters. They had to think. They had to organize. And last but not lease, they filtered - what to say, what not to say. Internet - and especially more prominent in instant messaging - gives people a platform - or rather an excuse - to just blurt out whatever that crosses their mind. Some call it communications without barriers. I call it unfiltered irrational ranting of unprocessed thoughts. Recall many instances where you feel angry. You feel like scolding somebody. You pick up your cell phone and begin to type hate words. Or you go to your MSN. Or you compile an email. You simply wish to scold somebody in the quickest fashion - to relieve your anger for instance. Okay, say you've just sent it. In two hours time, you go out with your friends and enjoy a movie. You feel great. But you suddenly regret having sent that hate sms/email/IM. "Why would I be so angry to say such words to that somebody?"
And when there is an issue where a bunch of people feel strongly about, they begin to rant online. So more people see the discussion, and more people join in, talk, discuss, rant, rant, rant. Now that this becomes a phenomenon, newspapers begin to take part - not because of the issue that the initial bunch felt strongly about, but because of the fact that so many people are discussing an issue online, feeling the same way.
Media can sensationalize an event. You can say it's profit-driven, but at least this is done, well planned by a bunch of experienced (in sensationalization perhaps) editors who think before they print. Let's look at Web 2.0 "sensationalization". And the people behind this is the thousands who sit in front of the screen like you and me, read something interesting online, and dash their fingers across the keyboard based on one first crosses their minds, and click "OK, PUBLISH MY COMMENTS".
And that's what I'm going to do now (:
Boeing 747 on final approach towards Juliana International Airport. Shot the whole thing with a digital camera. I piloted the plane on VFR in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004.
Running Time: 01:11
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