Take a look at the opening screenshow on Scott Stulberg site. Really nice stuff. Treat your eyes to a feast and after you've watched the opening movie, click SKIP MOVIE and go in and take a look at some of the rest of his work. Quality photos.

The San Diego Asian Film Foundation is screening the North Korean film A State of Mind. What's interesting about this of course is that this is a peek into one of the most secret societies on earth. This film was actually directed as a documentary by British documentary specialist, Daniel Gordon, who did Crossing the Line this year, and The Game of Their Lives in 2002. This film is reviewed very favorably on IMDB. Below is the films trailer and an excerpt from a review on IMDB:



The most interesting comment from director Daniel Gordon at the Tribeca Film Festival's screening of this movie was about the difficulties encountered in making this film, none of which came from state censors or anyone at all in North Korea. The most resistance came from Western entities (distributors, studios) that dismissed the film as inaccurate because it did not conform to their own notions of what life in North Korea was really like. The tone of this film, with the lives of two young gymnasts at its center, is straight-forward and unpreachy. Aside from brief glimpses of the obligatory posters condemning the U.S., masses in blue suits swearing allegiance to the socialist cause, and abundant references to the General, what we mostly see are the two girls and the intimate details of their lives, singing karaoke with their families, preparing for school in the morning, being chided for not eating their breakfast or doing their homework, and struggling through hours of exhausting gymnastic practice. There is also the spectacular, dizzying footage of the mass games, which alone would be worth the movie ticket. There was never the feeling that this is meant to be an "inside-look," even though the film does owe much of the fascination surrounding it to its subject matter. It was enlightening and entertaining to see what life is like in Pyongyang, but to approach this film as simply a bit of cultural curiosity is to miss the richer experience it offers, one that had me rooting and fretting for the two girls as they approach their final performance, and hoping that their wish to perform in front of the General comes true.

Well, I don't quite see the practical use for having a friend like this, but it's pretty amazing, don't you agree?

I've been asked if there is a way to get a notification when there is a new post on this blog. Actually there already are a number of ways. Down along the left hand side of the site, there are ways to have this blog updated in your MyYahoo page or your MyGoogle page, or on Technorati, or on Del.icio.us. and a number of other services. But for those of you that prefer the old fashioned way of getting an email notification, there is now a way. Just enter your email address in the box and click the Email Me! button; that's all there is to it. I took a lot of time to find a service that will not ever send spam or sell their lists, so you will only get email from me, and only when I update with a new post. Try it!

What do you expect when you visit a polarbear dressed up like a polar bear? This is funny.

Links to two sites where you can find his works for sale can be found here and here. Enjoy!
Kazutoshi Sugiura was born in 1938. He originally restored old Japanese screens. He has applied the same process to make his beautiful gold backgrounds. He silkscreens his floral subjects onto the beautiful gold leaf. (taken from the link above)

Implimented a Java Script News Site Scroller or Ticker today, that will pause when you hover your mouse over it and go to the selected site when you click on it. It's at the top of the page, just under the "translate this site" flags. I plan to add more sources for news, but for now, I've got some of the best in Asian news sites covered.

Go ahead - Try it! (jus be sure to come back ;)

According to this video, more people in China have died at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party than have died due to natural causes in the last 2000 years. 8 times more people than the total casuality count of WWI and 1 and a half times more than were killed in WWII. How long can this go on? This is the same government that brutally kills innocent Tibetans for just trying to reach their spirtual leader for prayers. If you haven't already seen it, you can watch that happening here.

Protest like the one in Tiananmen Square in 1989 are starting to grow again, but you're likely to never hear of it. Any news of it will be surpressed until the masses explode again. How many innocent young people will die again, or will the leaders finally be tossed out? Who knows, but thankfully these few brave souls are trying to make a difference. One that the leaders of the other major powers are afraid to make. Shame on them.

One episode of an interesting series put out in Britian on the BBC, starring two crazy guys that go to Tokyo and bring back the goods, that is tell us what's up in Tokyo. From the people to the gadgets, they tell it all. Pretty funny. This series was actually written up in Wikipedia. Give it a go.

Ever tried to train your goldfish? Well, this guy did and it's a pretty incredible sight, but you've got to wonder what this guy does for fun. You've got to be pretty bored, or too much free time for this stuff.

BTW - the two guys in the video are Japanese, but the speaker/announcer is Chinese. Must have originally aired on Chinese TV.

A music video by the queen of Korean pop and actress Uhn Jung Hwa, a huge idol in Korea. Last year she starred in two popular movies, “My Lovely Week” and “Princess Aurora”.

One week until we vote in America

Just want to remind everybody that we're less than a week away from being able to chose who we want to represent us for the next two years. I hope you've studied the candidates and propositions, and are ready to help decide your future.

Remember what these two respected thinkers said many years ago:

"Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.” - Aristotle

"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato

Please VOTE - it's one of the most important rights given to us through our democratic system of government.

If you live in California, I've found an interesting site that allows you to compare the candiates with both video and Q&A sessions. You'll need to enable Java for this site if you're using Firefox. Then click the big blue START Button to see the candidates and their views. Interestingly enough Governor Schwarzenegger didn't submit a video, but at least the others did. Here's the link.