Photo: Associated Press Le Prix Nobel de physique en 1997, Steven Chu a été nommé Secrétaire à l’Énergie par le président-élu des États-Unis, Barack Obama. Né à St-Louis d’immigrants chinois, Chu est présentement prof à l’Université de Californie à Berkeley, en plus d’être directeur du Laboratoire national Lawrence Berkeley. On dit de lui qu’il est … Continue reading “Obama nomme Steven Chu au poste-clé de secrétaire à l’énergie”
Photo: Associated Press
Le Prix Nobel de physique en 1997, Steven Chu a été nommé Secrétaire à l’Énergie par le président-élu des États-Unis, Barack Obama. Né à St-Louis d’immigrants chinois, Chu est présentement prof à l’Université de Californie à Berkeley, en plus d’être directeur du Laboratoire national Lawrence Berkeley. On dit de lui qu’il est un partisan des sources d’énergie renouvelable et du développement durable.
(Voir autobio Nobel | nouvelle Reuters)
Up the Yangtze Director Yung Chang Up the Yangtze by Montreal production company EyeSteel Film, the National Film Board of Canada and Montreal-based filmmaker Jason Yung Chang (張僑勇) won the 2008 Golden Horse for Best Documentary this Saturday in Taichung, Taiwan. Golden Horses are generally considered the most prestigious film prizes awarded in the Chinese-speaking … Continue reading ““Up the Yangtze” wins Best Documentary at Golden Horse Awards”
Up the Yangtze Director Yung Chang
Up the Yangtze by Montreal production company EyeSteel Film, the National Film Board of Canada and Montreal-based filmmaker Jason Yung Chang (張僑勇) won the 2008 Golden Horse for Best Documentary this Saturday in Taichung, Taiwan. Golden Horses are generally considered the most prestigious film prizes awarded in the Chinese-speaking world.
Les médias en langue chinoise de Montréal n’y échappent pas. Même mon site de cartes électorales Google Earth a eu une pointe de 60 visiteurs par jour, alors qu’en général y’en a pas plus que 10 depuis la fin de l’élection fédérale. J’ai ramassé cette copie du Sept Days publié jeudi et qui titre “哈珀的最后挣扎”, … Continue reading “Coalition, prorogation et élection dans les médias sino-montréalais”
Les médias en langue chinoise de Montréal n’y échappent pas. Même mon site de cartes électorales Google Earth a eu une pointe de 60 visiteurs par jour, alors qu’en général y’en a pas plus que 10 depuis la fin de l’élection fédérale.
J’ai ramassé cette copie du Sept Days publié jeudi et qui titre “哈珀的最后挣扎”, ou Le dernier combat de Harper. Et comme dans les autres médias de la province, la campagne provinciale prend le champ.
En arrivant à la radio pour enregistrer mon segment hebdo, Yvonne, la co-animatrice de l’émission cantonaise en direct du mercredi soir m’accueillit en disant qu’ils avaient décidé de couvrir la crise dans leur émission. Billy et Yvonne ont finalement passé 30 minutes en ondes à résumer la situation. Je me suis mouillé avec ma prédiction qu’on allait en élections après le dépôt du budget en fin janvier.
Le vocabulaire employé m’a complètement perdu, puis tout ce que j’ai retenu finalement fût 國會 (国会), ou littéralement “nation assemblée” (donc parlement). On est sensé s’en reparler la semaine prochaine…
Three weeks ago (Nov 13-16), I was in Toronto to attend the 12th Reel Asian Film Festival held at various locations in downtown Toronto, but notably at University of Toronto’s Innis College. I was expecting something as big as Fantasia, with 100+ movies over 20 days, but of course it’s only five days. Even with … Continue reading “12th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival”
Three weeks ago (Nov 13-16), I was in Toronto to attend the 12th Reel Asian Film Festival held at various locations in downtown Toronto, but notably at University of Toronto’s Innis College. I was expecting something as big as Fantasia, with 100+ movies over 20 days, but of course it’s only five days. Even with these pumped-up expectations, I wasn’t disappointed by the movies that I saw.
On the first night, I went to see Confessions of a Salesman, a must-see if you were interested in Chinese-Canadianess. It’s a “fictionalized autobiography” that evoke the struggles of growing up in Canada while being of Chinese origin and all the “baggage” it involves. Amusing, although it is definitely indie in format.
The other movie that I saw that night was the excellent Hansel and Gretel, a Korean flick that I wasn’t planning to see originally. It’s one of those movies that are terrifying just because it starts so nicely and cleanly, with beautiful care made on details of the storybook house where the plot slowly reveals itself.
At the window of Innis Town Hall, there was this video montage (see close-up) made of footage from Jacky Chan movies and captures of the first Mario Bros. It’s called Super Cop World, by Eric Siu (Hong Kong, 2005).
On Friday, I saw a Thai movie called Wonderful Town that I should have well not paid 10$ for. Maybe director Aditya Assarat has won lotsa prizes before, and maybe the movie was beautiful and melancholic (the story happens in a town devastated by the 2004 tsunami), but the love story is totally one that is drama-less, just some really straightforward and almost insignificant one (unworthy of a film). November is not a good month for watching such movies.
Saturday night was a lot more interesting. I went to see Flower in the Pocket: a pretty weird movie on a dad and his two sons, living separate lives in a small town in Malaysia.
Then, the feature of the night: West 32nd. Sold-out at first, the box office managers “found” some tickets on the day before, just when I was making my attempt to buy a few for myself and friends. Director Michael Kang answered questions, and revealed that he was working on an adaptation of Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese.
Finally, I stayed behind to see late-night shorts assembled under the title of “Confessional”. One was Nine Confessions, a Made in Hong Kong political piece on hostage taking in the war in Iraq, co-sponsored by Videotage and made by a collaborative effort called Project Big Bang.
Semaine du 2 décembre 2008 / Week of December 2nd, 2008 1. 寶貝 (baobei / baby) 2. My Life Will 3. Outro Deserts Chang, who I knew by the Chinese name of Zhang Xuan, is one of the first “indie” musicians I listened to, back in ’06 I think. Her style is in fact standard … Continue reading “Deserts Chang 張懸”
Semaine du 2 décembre 2008 / Week of December 2nd, 2008
1. 寶貝 (baobei / baby)
2. My Life Will
3. Outro
Deserts Chang, who I knew by the Chinese name of Zhang Xuan, is one of the first “indie” musicians I listened to, back in ’06 I think. Her style is in fact standard alternative rock (standard coffeehouse style, says Wikipedia).
In fact, the funny thing is that I assumed her name to be “Desserts” until I payed attention when I visited Taiwan to actually see her perform live at Spring Scream 2008. If you listen to 寶貝 “Baobei”, her hit song, you can definitely believe that she definitely has well chosen her English name.
I said on air that the songs tend to be tougher, rougher, but I think it actually depends on the pieces that you listen to. The ones that I personally like are those tougher, rougher ones, more alternative than pop. “Outro” for instance, is one of them.
After her first album in 2005, independently-produced, she made two more in 2006 and 2007 with Sony BMG. That’s probably when a lot of people think she sold out… as if selling out was a choice to be successful in the Chinese-speaking music universe.
Nonetheless, she came to the “small” Spring Scream in Kenting, and I had no idea that she was performing until seeing the festival booklets (the website had originally listed her under her Chinese name, obviously, and as “DESERTS AND BAND” in English). The show was fine, but it was nothing really memorable like some other performers that night (notably the 88 Guava Seeds). It was still pretty enjoyable to hear that obscure indie music that you had been hearing for two years and finally got to listen live… (The Taiwanese however never have to come to Montreal to see Stars, becoz they go to them!)
The My Little Airport of Hong Kong have two new songs. Get the mp3s from their website. The first one is called 北歐是我們的死亡終站 , or “Northern Europe is our last stop (death terminal)”, and is about young people discussing suicide and concluding that going to Finland to freeze themselves to death is the most romantic. … Continue reading “My Little Airport – (Northern Europe is our last stop) & 窮人賣屎忽”
The My Little Airport of Hong Kong have two new songs. Get the mp3s from their website.
The first one is called 北歐是我們的死亡終站 , or “Northern Europe is our last stop (death terminal)”, and is about young people discussing suicide and concluding that going to Finland to freeze themselves to death is the most romantic. (The lyricist is not Nicole, but 阿雪?)
The second is a self-ad. MLA does gigs for money and this is an advert! “Despite the world economic crisis […], we are cheap, well-worth your money”, say the lyrics. (Edit 2008-12-03: It actually means “poor people selling their asses”.)
Music videos below the cut.
Continue reading “My Little Airport – (Northern Europe is our last stop) & 窮人賣屎忽”
Snapline, by Cisco Salvado Sebastiao 1. “Song #3” 2. “Song #4” The songs for Snapline were from a compilation called No Beijing, which cannot be found anywhere on Internet (the English one, at least), except on the Rock in China Wiki. Snapline must be a fun bunch, as their first and only album so far … Continue reading “Snapline / No Beijing”
Snapline, by Cisco Salvado Sebastiao
The songs for Snapline were from a compilation called No Beijing, which cannot be found anywhere on Internet (the English one, at least), except on the Rock in China Wiki.
Snapline must be a fun bunch, as their first and only album so far was quoted by My Little Airport’s p in their hit “When the party is over, I miss my dear pornstar”, referring to Snapline’s own “Party is over, pornostar”, the name of that first and only album. I didn’t listen to the whole album – just bits and pieces over at their MySpace and Last.fm page. It might be possible to get their stuff over at iTunes, but I didn’t check.
In the Beijing scene, they are not *that* marginal, as crowds give worship status to their drummer (or is it guitarist?) Li Qing, also a band member of Carsick Cars, *the* biggest act in Beijing rock right now (or is it yesterday’s?). Snapline are with D-22, the shrine of rock bands in Beijing, close to Tsinghua ‘n Beida – surely the hippest area in Beijing for young people to hang out. (Their bass player is also on Carsick Cars, say the official webpage)
They released their album with Maybe Mars (Bing masi), the same label that released albums for Joyside and Carsick Cars, and obviously led by D-22 owner Michael Pettis who makes a living teaching and analyzing China’s financial markets over at Peking University (Beida).
What kind of music? Probably what you call post-punk. Snapline does have a sound that differentiate them from other known bands in the scene. They have (or had) two on their MySpace which starts with their leader going “Yi Er San Si…”, but the one that I like the most is
1. 世界的樣子 2. 夏天的尾巴 3. 小小的我 I picked up the music from a soundtrack to a coming of age movie from Taiwan called Summer’s Tail (夏天的尾巴). It has all the ingredients for a typical Taiwanese coming of age movie, complete with the heroine’s heart condition and that Japanese exchange student / love interest. I didn’t … Continue reading “Enno Cheng / 夏天的尾巴OST”
I picked up the music from a soundtrack to a coming of age movie from Taiwan called Summer’s Tail (夏天的尾巴). It has all the ingredients for a typical Taiwanese coming of age movie, complete with the heroine’s heart condition and that Japanese exchange student / love interest. I didn’t see the movie, nonetheless, and bought the CD only because it was on the shelf at White Wabbit Records (see photos), a leading indie label based in Taipei close to that area of great universities near Taipower Building station. The soundtrack happened to be published by WWR as well.
While the soundtrack is dominated by a Taiwanese indie band called Aphasia (阿飞西雅), the songs that I wanted to put forth today are by singer Enno Cheng (鄭宜農), also the lead in the film. Her music (which she composes herself) varies from the alternative rock (song #1) to soft ballad (#3).
I’m not (historically) the biggest fan of this kind of Chinese desert which we generally denominate as tong sui, literally “sweet water”, designating any kind of sweet dessert soup or custard. I don’t think the previous picture, that of a B仔涼粉, or a dish of grass jelly served with fresh fruits, actually represents “tong sui” … Continue reading “Chinese dessert in Markham”
I’m not (historically) the biggest fan of this kind of Chinese desert which we generally denominate as tong sui, literally “sweet water”, designating any kind of sweet dessert soup or custard. I don’t think the previous picture, that of a B仔涼粉, or a dish of grass jelly served with fresh fruits, actually represents “tong sui” per se, but it was served in tong sui place in Markham where I had it.
In Montreal, my friends and I would try to find a similar kind of place, but in vain. There was one restaurant Sai Gwan, literally West Gate, appropriately near Chinatown’s De La Gauchetière western gate, which had a glass-windowed fridge keeping various kinds of typical tong sui, like ginger custard (薑汁撞奶/燉奶), sweet potato soup (番薯糖水) or – a personal favourite – black sesame soup (芝麻糊). Another one was the short-lived Congee Restaurant (豐衣粥食) in Brossard, which besides serving more variety of congee I’ve ever seen in the Province of Quebec, also had a large selection of tong sui.
I say that I am not the hugest fan of tong sui, because for most of my life, I’ve associated it with the stuff that they give you at the end of your meal in any Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I could not assess the quality of the stuff, but as it was given for free, and very strangely either red-bean or a tapioca-pearl-based, not the most “expensive” kinds of tong sui, the idea that tong sui was something cheap was reinforced until I recently attempted to rediscover Chinese food (such as realizing that bok choy could be cooked in better ways than your parents were used to).
Relatives and friends have always been more excited (or just inclined) to bring me, or have me tag along for tong sui excursions and detours. It’s not an idea that comes naturally – mais c’est une idée qui fait son bonhomme de chemin.
The previous pic was that of a ginger milk curd that my once-a-Montrealer Torontonian friend had. Also known by its short name of “daan nai”, the milk curd is produced by the reaction of ginger juice with milk – some cheat by using eggs in their recipe.
Edit (2008-11-27): One group in the Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition even did a project on ginger milk curd in 2006 (see PDF presentation).
The one made by Yee Shun Milk Co is one of the best known in Hong Kong. The eatery/cafe has two branches in Causeway Bay that I know of and more on the Kowloon side (see map).
Tong sui is a particularity of Cantonese cuisine, thus one with sentimental value to me. I would really like it if Montreal could just evolve beyond bubble tea and adopt more serious types of food by upgrading its current concept of a cha chaan teng for instance, just like Xiao Fei Yang (Little Sheep) helped push the idea/market for hot pot in this city. However, I live on a different planet, where just a clean place serving Chinese desserts where you can hangout with a laptop simply defy the reality of our demographics (even with the influx of Mainlanders, some of whom might find Hong Kong-style food natural to have in their Chinese food landscape).
At this point, I’ve given up on waiting for others to feed me – I’m more interested in how our Chinese/Asian supermarkets have evolved and are becoming better places for buying the ingredients to make all this food I don’t have access to (I just got a new wok with chopsticks for frying). Speaking of which, Markham’s Oriental Food Market (華盛) will be the next food topic on CLC.
Whereas here in Montreal, street food was banned since the last generation, it’s not unusual to see food vendors populate sidewalks in Toronto. Although generally you find hot dog stands – I was told that the city by-law regarding street food only allowed one kind: sausage + fries – we have bumped into these trucks … Continue reading “Chinese food trucks near University of Toronto”
Whereas here in Montreal, street food was banned since the last generation, it’s not unusual to see food vendors populate sidewalks in Toronto. Although generally you find hot dog stands – I was told that the city by-law regarding street food only allowed one kind: sausage + fries – we have bumped into these trucks selling Chinese food parked on St. George, a street that crosses the University of Toronto campus.
Specifically, it would seem that they are in business during the day, but not during weekend, to my dismay, as I wanted to treat myself to some Chinese food made in a van in less than a minute (I settled for pizza on Spadina).
According to a friend of mine who went to U of T, the former, Wokking On Wheels, is a true institution that has fed more than one student running between library and exam room.