I must confess I am a laggard when it comes to the World Wide Web.
I only started writing this blog consistently since November 2007. To my chagrin, by the time I hopped onto the Web 1.0 bandwagon, the train for Web 2.0 has already left the station.
All across the Web, I hear voices pronouncing the death of the “blog”.
With the emergence of social media such as Facebook and micro-blogging tools such as Twitter,
Jaiku and Pownce, it seems the “blog” has become an ‘old school’ construct.
But then again, it depends on your definition of what a blog is.
Today, I received an email request from my friend, Singaporean film maker Tan Pin Pin:
"Hi Siok, if its convenient, can you let Web 2.0 know to watch or look out for Invisible City in Berlin?"
Those were her exact words.:)
So hear ye, Web 2.0 folks out there, look out for this Singapore documentary film at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world
Invisible City is a documentary about documenteurs. The film conveys the fragility of histories stitched together by a patchwork of memories and artefacts.
You can watch the trailer of the film here:
The following are the dates and times for the screening of Invisible City at the Berlinale.
08.02.08 17:45 CinemaxX5 (press screening)
09.02.08 20:00 Arsenal
10.02.08 15:00 Cubix 7
11.02.08 15:00 CineStar 8
I will be traveling to the festival with director, Pin Pin, as a member of the Invisible City production team.
As the Beijing Olympics fast approaches, Western media organizations are quick to pull out the well-worn cliches about repressive regimes and the Olympic Games.
It is refreshing therefore to read this interview in the Seattle Times blog with Dr Susan Brownell, an American anthropologist who does research on sports in China and their connection with politics, culture and society.
You may want to read the entire interview but here are the two excerpts extracted by Danwei:
What I find most interesting is Dr. Brownell’s proposition that major events like the Beijing Olympics are the accelerators of great change in China. This is a departure from the usual point of view that the staging of the Olympics is merely “window dressing” a great public relations push to present China in an acceptable light.
This is a perspective of someone who knows China well. Dr Brownell is a former athlete who has spent time living and studying in China.
But will her voice be heard amidst the din of China-bashing that has become “fashionable” in some media circles?
I have never given an interview about a film on a business show before. Well, there is always a first time.
The China Business Show is a weekly show on WSR Radio that sheds cross-cultural insight on doing business in China. I am impressed by the range of issues that the show covers, from technology and business strategy to the media and corporate social responsibility.
I have been overdosing on tech news lately so I am trying to redress the balance by returning to a mainstream news diet:
1) The feelgood factor | Economist.com
The Economist has an in-depth special report on corporate social responsibility– the good, the bad and the ugly. Observations include the emergence of the corporate version of the peace corps–companies sending employees on month-long “do good” assignments abroad.
2) Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular – New York Times
Japan is always interesting to watch when it comes to trends in the mobile space. Cell phone novels sound instant and quirky. As someone with a passion for literature, I think the use of the mobile phone as a medium will have a profound impact on narrative structure and form of the novel.
I have always thought that the obsession with constant happiness is a peculiarly American phenomenon that has, unfortunately, infected the rest of the world. The Economist tells us “happiness” has become a new growth industry. That is a sad statement on the state of Civilization!
3) Michel Gondry guest edits YouTube | Media | guardian.co.uk
Movie director, Michel Gondry is curating Youtube.com during the Sundance Film Festival period. Another sign that Web 2.0 is influencing one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals.
4) http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits
Stumbled upon the web page for You Tube’s Non Profit Program. All US 501(c) registered charity can apply and enjoy online marketing and branding capabilities on Youtube for free. Wonderful way to make a worthy cause go viral.
It is confession time: I am a newbie blogger aka traditional filmmaker with an active lust for Apple’s new ultra thin laptop, MacBook Air.
Like many people in the media industry, I suffer from Mac snobbery,defined as “irrational belief in the superiority of Apple computers.” As I recently scoffed to a friend, ” I won’t be caught dead with a Dell computer!”
So it is, that I followed with bated breath online, the keynote address of Steve Jobs at Macworld 2008, as he pulled the bunny from his top hat, or I should say, the slim and sexy MacBook Air from a manila envelope.
But the unveiling of MacBook also brought unexpected lessons for a bumbling blogger like me. With 7000 blog posts about the MacBook Air in less than 24 hours, how do you write in a way that will separate you from the teeming masses of bloggers?
I found some answers in this Problogger’s entry on 5 Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd When Covering a Popular Story:
I like especially #2 Translate for Your Audience — tell them what it all means for them
and #4 Use Humor.
This blog entry is my stab at #4 Use Humor.
Will my blog entry stand out from all the other blog posts about the MacBook Air? Or will it become one drop in the vast ocean of blog entries thus far?
My guess is the latter.
Hence, if I might add point #6 as an addendum to the Problogger’s advice — one way to make a blog stand out is to stay away from madding crowd and write only about the things you are uniquely passionate about.
Such passion would also be another form of madness, but at least it would be a madness about matters close to your heart.
No matter how good my Mandarin is, I know that the Beijing-er can always tell that I am an outsider (外地人）from my accent.
I spent the best part of 2007, living out of a suitcase in Beijing, working on a documentary about the Beijing Olympics.
For someone from a small country like Singapore, Beijing is a sprawling city and I find that I spent a lot of time in a cab, trying to get from one end of the city to another.
Three minutes into my cab ride, The same question always comes up, “小姐，你是哪里人？” Miss, where are you from?” The subtext is of course, “You do not sound like one of us.”
In the process of making the film, I have come to a better appreciation of the Beijing accent and the Beijing dialect. While I was working on the sound-mix of my documentary, my Beijing born-and-bred sound engineers will cackle at phrases in my film while the nuances are completely lost on me.
It is great fun therefore to read this blog post, explaining what does the Beijing “R” sound mean?
My Beijing friends tell me that figuring out whether to end a word or phrase with the “R” sound, or “儿“声，is an art unto itself. I am sure an entire encyclopedia can be written on the “dos” and “don’ts”.
The outsider often betrays their very foreigness by trying too hard, ending each and every phrase with the “R” sound. As a result, they make a laughing stock of themselves.
What comes intuitively to the native Beijing-er may take a life-time of puzzling out for an outsider or 外地人like me.
