Zaha Hadid's

Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA (June 21, 2006)

Zaha Hadid is well-known for the floating lines and sharp edges in her works. The Cincinnati Arts Museum shows these characteristics in an elegant way.

Heritage 2

Tat Tak Shu Yuen, Tuen Mun (June 11, 2006)

Chaotic or Not

Alain de Botton said that a house reflects the personality of its owner. If the house is very messy, the owner may be very well organised in his mind because he can still retrive what he wants in a chaotic environment. If the house is very tidy, it could mean that the owner lacks good organisation in his mind, thus he tries to pursue it in his environment.

Looking

Home (May 2006)

Two Layers

Central Plaza (May 6, 2006)

Transformer's Feet

Eagle Centre (May 6, 2006)

Just a Very Ordinary Day!

Taken in Fook Yuen Street, North Point (April 30, 2006)

Blade Runner

Mandarin Hotel in Central (Apr 7, 2006)

Grids

Central (April 6, 2006)

Mom, I am as fast as you. Haha!

The Center (April 2, 2006)

Waiting for Godot

Gateway of India, Mumbai (March 30, 2006)

Bauhaus' Style in Kowloon City

Li Kee Memorial Clinic taken on Feb 1, 2006

Li Kee Memorial Clinic in Capenter Road has the typical Bauhaus style: using natural lighting, boxy shape, minimal decoration, and natural ventilation. The building is just a few story high. It is very likely that it is rebuilt for a higher plot ratio. If that is the case, there will be only a handful of the Bauhaus buildings left in Hong Kong.

From the New World

Taken in Ma TauKok Road on Feb 1, 2006

The shot is to contrast the old and the new with the short 60s' buildings in the foreground and the unfinished high-rises in the background. The shot suffers from flare which can be seen in the right of the picture. The inclusion of a person gives a scale reference to the sizes of the buildings. The lady in modern clothes was selected to give a sense of embracing the new. If a person with traditional apparel is chosen, it would give a sense of obsession about the past. More critiques are available at photographyreview.com.

TCMs

An advertisement in 1945 (Showa 20)

Bears have been killed for their gall bladders, which have a large amount bile (ursodeoxycholic acid or ursodiol). The acid is useful in some medical treatments:
1. Ursodiol decreases the amount of cholesterol in bile and bile stones by reducing the amount of cholesterol the liver produces.
2. Ursodiol is used to treat small, noncalcified gallbladder stones.
Although the bile has the useful applications, it is sad to see that the bears are killed or farmed in a non-humane way for their bladders.

Words of Wisdom

Free will is exercised unconsciously

By observing another person’s brain activity, one can predict what someone is going to do before to do before he is aware that he has made the decision to do it.

This finding has caused – philosophers to ask: if the choice is determined in the brain unconsciously before we decide to act, where is free will?

Are these choices predetermined? Is our experience of freely willing our actions an illusion, a rationalization after the fact? Is one to be held responsible for decisions that made without conscious awareness?

By Eric Kandel, Columbia University

Disappearing Profession

There were a few street performers in the 70s. Some of them used monkeys, which could play simple tricks, to attract passers-by. Many children like me were fascinated and excited by the entertainment. The monkeys were usually chained and jumped around in a very tight vacinity. I remember there was such a performer in Gage Street. I just wish the profession is still available in China.

Deer Park

The photo is a promotional item for Nara Park in the early years of Showa. There are two deers in the picture, which evidences rearing of the deers in the park in the early 20th century. 魯迅 and 梁思成 had also decribed the deers in their wrtings. I still vividly remember the deers scattered in the park when I visited Nara in July 2005. I guess those who visited the park also have the same experience.

Words of Wisdom

Eye of Shinjuku, taken in Shinjuku, December 2005

When most people think of stalkers, rapists, and murderers, they imagine crazed, drooling monsters with maniacal Charles Manson-like eyes. The calm, normal-looking staring back at you from the bathroom mirror reflects a truer representation.

The danger comes from people who refuse to recognize that there are dark sides of human nature that cannot be wished away by attributing them to the modern ills of culture, poverty, pathology or exposure to media violence.

The danger comes from falling to gaze into the mirror and come to grips with the capacity for evil in all of us.

By David Buss, Psychologyist, University of Texas.

Source: Daily Telegraph, Jan 3, 2006

草薙素子

草薙素子 (The Major) is a very charismatic character in GITS and SAC. She is full of determination and endurance. Her team-mates in Section 9 wholeheartedly obey and respect her as their leader. I guess she is one of the most popular characters in manga, at least that is what I think.

Chaos or Not

Memoirs of a Geisha

The scene that I most like in the film Memoirs of a Geisha is little Chiyo running with joy in a colourful background. The bright orange colour reinforces the joyful mood of the girl very well. Incidentially, the colour is typically used in the Japanese temple, so the choice of the background may hint a blessing from the God.

法隆寺寶物館

法隆寺寶物館, Tokyo, is designed by 谷口吉生 (Yoshio Taniguchi) . The museum is divided into two parts: the bright reception area and the dark exhibiting area. 谷口吉生 described his dilemma in the design process: a place open to the public but to protect the artifacts at the same time. He used a lot of glass in the structure to let natural light illuminate the reception area. The exhibiting place is only lit by very dim lights to slow down the degradation of the Asuka-period exhibits. There is a retangular water pond outside the museum. The shape of the pond is coherent with the modern and simple shape of the museum. I visited the museum in a cold December in 2005. I deeply felt the tranquility of the place.

World of Robots

Everyone Has His Own View