Brigantine - Pop the Bubbly (feat. Giorgio)

The Making of "No.7 Cherry Lane" (A Film by Yonfan)

I almost forgot to mention this detour. 

I didn't have much time on my last visit to the Southwest Popular/American Cultural Association (SWPACA) in Albuquerque to attend other people's talks, but I did decide to drop in on "Film Studies 1: International Cinemas in Focus - Wed, 02/22/2023."  The session was a bit disorienting.  The airline system nationwide was bollixed by snowstorms, so almost all the scheduled speakers weren't able to get to Albuquerque in time.  There was just one speaker and one presentation:  "Rendering Hong Kong on an Animated Stage: A Life Action Film Director’s Perspectival Approach and Strategies," by Tze-yue G. Hu, Independent Educator.

Hu mostly wanted to talk Hong-Kong-born motion picture director Yonfan.  Hu described Yonfan's sensitivity to Hong Kong's culture in almost-mystical terms, particularly in regards to his beautiful film "No. 7 Cherry Lane."  

Here is a video on the making of that film.  I particularly like the outtakes, and the many animators hard at work on their screens.

 

I notice that Yonfan also directed the 2001 Hong Kong film "Peony Pavilion."  I'd really like to see that film.  Bill O'Brien and I saw a theatrical production of "Peony Pavilion" at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, around 1999.  I was impressed with the technical aspects of the show.  The actors carried personal cameras, and emoted into them, while their images were broadcast on many large-screen television sets around the stage.  Plus, there was a huge Plexiglas cuboid object that doubled as a bed and a water-filled underground cavern.

I nearly-embarrassed myself too.  Sitting in the front row as the show began, I suddenly smelled smoke.  There were more than a thousand people in Zellerbach Hall.  I decided I would never be able to escape a fire by fleeing with the audience through their exits.  I determined my only path to survival was to jump onstage and flee out the back of the theater.  I was mentally preparing to jump onstage in front of a thousand people when the smoke's character suddenly changed from wood to incense.  There was no out-of-control fire!  The actors were lighting incense to enhance the Chinese mood!

Thankfully I didn't act on my panic.

I need to see Yonfan's movies.

Gotta Know How To Change a Flat Tire - April 4, 2023

On April 3rd, just before we got on the freeway with my yellow car Sunshine, we noticed the right front tire was flat. So I drove slowly back home, ripping it up as I went. 

I feel it's important to know how to change flats, so instead of calling AAA, or any of that nonsense, I was determined to put on the little donut tire myself. So, that evening, I read the relevant section of the Owner's Manual. 

Changing the tire was something else. There was some kind of lubrication fail on the jack. I was exerting so much force on the bar used to rotate the jack's screw that I bent the bar. It took me an hour and a half to change the tire, but the donut tire was flat too. I drove to the gas station to put some air in it, but the valve stem was non-functional, and the tire wouldn't hold air. 

Now under the gun - the hour was late - I finally called AAA. The tow truck driver hastily took Sunshine over to Big-O tires, with just half an hour to spare before closing time. Still, they were able to get a replacement tire for me (plus I bought another tire - good to buy them in pairs, you know), as well as fix the valve stem on the donut tire, all before closing time. 

Yes, self-reliance. That's the ticket.