In LA

I’m driving my new vehicle from Seattle down to Los Angeles. We’re now about 2/3 of the way through Oregon and have stopped to get dinner at a Shari’s restaurant. Shari’s is one of those outposts of incredibly American cuisine; they not only serve hash browns, but they also offer “stuffed” hash browns. Apparently those contain not just potato but also sour cream, cheese, and a gift certificate good for a preliminary visit with the next town over’s prized cardiologist.

Sent from my Dad’s iPhone

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I went to the Freezepop show at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles on 9/4/08. As you can see from the photo I shot with my Treo 650’s wonderful camera, the show was awesome. Apparently Freezepop’s current level of popularity was helped by the inclusion of a couple of their songs in the Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games, and lead singer Liz Enthusiasm expressed surprise when the crowd repeatedly asked for and was excited by a song not included in any video game. I’ve attached that song, “Duct Tape Your Heart”, to this post on my posterous blog.

After the show, Liz autographed CDs purchased by fans. Because I’ve already bought all of their CDs, and have loaded the music onto my iPod, I asked her to sign the device with her sharpie, and she obliged. I didn’t expect the autograph to remain permanently, but I’m impressed by how fast it disappeared. It lasted less than 3 days.

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car at starbucks drive-thru window, originally uploaded by czyz.

It’s a fun challenge to attempt to take interesting photos with available light using a point-and-shoot digital camera. It becomes primarily an exercise in composition.

Thanks to boingboing.net for bringing this video to my attention, and Jennifer 8 Lee for creating it (I think). I love it. I don’t know where the video was shot exactly, but it makes me miss the people of Beijing. There’s a nice cross-section of people and places in the video. Their good-natured reactions to the strange cookies are awesome.

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Mount Muztagh Ata, Lake Karakul, and an animal bone (probably sheep, possibly yak). Shot in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on 10/6/2006.

It has been a long time since I really set myself down in front of some inspiring subject matter and carefully composed some photos. Now that my new lenses have arrived, I have no excuse but to set out and attempt to make some art. As soon as my current slate of projects is complete, I’ve got a date with my Rebel XT.

A screenshot of me using the HWPen input method to write one of the more important Chinese phrases in my iPod Touch’s “Notes” application.

I have this installed and living just fine side-by-side with a Chinese pinyin input method, and it’s very easy to switch between pinyin, handwriting recognition, and the standard English keyboard.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Chinese, Chinese IME, Chinese Language, IME, iPhone, iPod, OS X, software

1. I moved to Beijing, China in March of 2007
2. While in China I did a number of things:
   1. Studied Mandarin Chinese
   2. Met a lot of very cool Chinese people (我很想你们, 我有机会的时候我应该要去中国访问你们).
   3. Worked on the first NBA produced Chinese television show (”NBA制造”, a sly title meaning “made in NBA”). Edited the initial promotional materials for the show and about half of the pilot episode.
   4. Worked on the film The Children of Huang Shi (黄石的孩子) in an IT role likely unique to productions in China, facilitating the lines of communication and data between the director and producers in China and the editors in Australia –not an easy task given China’s internet censorship and general network instability. While working on that film in a little town named Hengdian, I met a director, producer, and postproduction supervisor who were doing preproduction work on “The Forbidden Kingdom”. This led directly to my subsequent job.
   5. Worked on the film The Forbidden Kingdom (功夫之王) as second assistant editor. We built our editing suites into a room in the not-too-luxurious Yingdu Hotel in Hengdian (横店).
   6. After four months of work in Hengdian, shooting of The Forbidden Kingdom ended. Last September I and the other members of the editorial department were sent to Los Angeles to continue editing the film.
3. Editorial began working on the director’s cut of the film over in Studio City. Initially I was to be sent back to Beijing (to continue working on the film there) after one month, but one month in LA became two, then four, and then they ended up keeping me in LA for the duration. Somewhere in the middle of those 6 months of work in LA, I decided I might as well consider the U.S.A. my home base again.
4. I’m now finished with The Forbidden Kingdom and have gone on to a new job in the editorial department of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I’m living in Studio City, not far from Universal Studios.