(nate williams)
I was out to dinner with some lovely women the other night--just chittin' and chattin' when I noticed a familiar friend beneath my shrimp chow mein. Naturally I scanned the standard paper zodiac that acts as a place-mat and began reading the excerpt under the Year of the Dragon.
Dragon:
(Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, jealous, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.
Touché.
So if I'm the bird lady and a dragon, does that make me a phoenix?
Fantastic Mr. Fox [or, a Belated Künstlerroman]
Boggis, Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were none the less equally mean
In My Life
There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
there is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more
xoxo The Beatles
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman born June 9, 1981 is an Israeli American actress. Her first role came in the 1994 independent film Léon (known in the United States as The Professional). She achieved wider fame after playing Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Portman, who has said "I'd rather be smart than a movie star," completed a bachelor's degree in psychology at Harvard College while she was working on the Star Wars films.
In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2005, Portman received a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in the drama Closer. In May 2008, she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.
In 2007, Natalie Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film a documentary titled Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman named a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement.
In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries. In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday Morning Program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries. In fall 2007, Portman visited several university campuses, including Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.
Portman, who has been a vegetarian since childhood and became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, is an advocate for animal rights. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said. It has been reported that she will appear alongside actress Elissa Sursara in a PETA public service announcement to support the group's anti-fur campaign at some point in 2009.In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.
In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2005, Portman received a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in the drama Closer. In May 2008, she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.
In 2007, Natalie Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film a documentary titled Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman named a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement.
Portman, who has been a vegetarian since childhood and became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, is an advocate for animal rights. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said. It has been reported that she will appear alongside actress Elissa Sursara in a PETA public service announcement to support the group's anti-fur campaign at some point in 2009.In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear.
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl born November 24, 1978 is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy and her starring role in the movies Knocked Up, 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth.
Heigl started her career as a child model with Wilhelmina Models before she turned her attention to acting. She made her debut in the coming-of-age film, That Night. Heigl appeared in the television series Roswell and movies including My Father the Hero before landing her break out role in Grey's Anatomy. Over the years, Heigl has established herself as a sex symbol and cover model appearing on numerous publications including Maxim, Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan.
Heigl has worked with Best Friends Animal Society on several projects including their Pup My Ride program. The program transports small dogs from high-kill animal shelters to other parts of the US where there is a greater demand for such dogs. Her involvement in this led her to give Best Friends a grant which would fund a year of the program.
The People's Art of Hong Kong
One of the things I love to photograph when I'm wandering around Hong Kong is its down and dirty street art. Here are some examples I've found in Causeway Bay and Central over the past couple of years. I really love how the pieces some by premeditation and some by chance engage with their surroundings. Like unruly urchins, Hong Kong's street art offers a sly and subversive counterpoint to the oversize consumerist canvases that dominate the cityscape.
Hong Kong: City of Desire
From Sex in the City: HONG KONG (FormAsia Books, 2010)
Some of you have asked how come I haven't posted anything yet about my recent trip to Hong Kong. Bear with me I'm still working on it, but have been unusually exhausted and distracted since my return.
In the meantime, let me draw your attention a new book that I recently read about (and might pick up on my next trip): Sex in the City: HONG KONG, a coffee-table collection of the bold advertising displays that dominate the city's visual landscape.
Here are a few of my own examples, taken during this past and previous visits:
A 21st-century Shanghai beauty gracing the historic Pedder Building, home of you guessed it Shanghai Tang.
I've been told that folks work hard and play hard in this city of unfettered capitalism. Which is one reason (besides the pollution) that I will never live in Hong Kong. Sorry, you can keep your cherries! I like to work soft and play soft.
What are you waiting for, guys? Delay No More! Sounds like "F*ck your mother" in Cantonese, but it's actually a brand name marketed by G.O.D. (Goods of Desire), a sort of Ikea for Hong Kong hipsters. Just do it as you gaze upon slender Charlene Choi pimping the "body shaping" services of Marie France Bodyline beneath a fatty fried egg!
The Seven Sisters
Don't mess with the Seven Daughters of Tsoi!
How's this for an unusual lineup: Patricia Lam Fung, Cantonese jade girl, just after her departure from Shaw Brothers; Amoy actress Xiao Juan, shortly before her reinvention as Ivy Ling Po, Shaw's queen of huangmei opera films; American-born Cantonese star Chow Kwun-ling, in one of her last movies; Ouyang Shafei, veteran actress of the Mandarin screen; and an 11-year-old Nancy Sit, years before she donned her first pair of go-go boots. The 1962 Cantonese film The Seven Sisters (aka The Seven Daughters of Tsoi aka Seven Playful Women) has them all.
The following synopsis appeared in Screenland No. 27 (December 1961). A scan of the original article is available here.
"THE SEVEN SISTERS"
Lap Tat Company's current comedy "The Seven Sisters" is an excellent piece of entertainment. But it also points out, quite seriously, to contemporary parents how to handle the love and marriages of their grown-up daughters.
The seven sisters are all daughters of Au-yang Sha-fei. The eldest Chau Kwan-ling is efficient business-wise. She has been taking care of the family business since her father died, never realizing that she is getting older and older, and not yet married. The second sister Mei Lan is more lucky; she is ready to marry a musician. The third sister Patricia Lam Fung is too shy and modest, trying all the time to match her eldest sister and Soo Siu-tong, who is secretly in love with her. The fourth sister, an expert on love, plays with fire and is almost burned. The fifth sister is not grown-up yet but trying all the time to convince others that she has. The sixth and the seventh, fortunately, are still too young to cause trouble, or the problem would be even more complicated.
Here are seven more lobby cards. I love the pointing motif that runs throughout the set.
I don't know whether to feel envious or sorry for the hapless fellows who marry into this matriarchal clan!
well,
at this point in my life, i've forgotten what it's like to have a lazy sunday afternoon. if i had it my way, i'd be sleeping in the sun listening to the birds chirp and click as they make their spring nests. while they toil, i'd rest. i'd sink into a deep melancholy or melt into pure joy, because, let's face it, these days both sentiments exist side by side in my bones. this idyllic situation--of sun soaked sleep--constantly evades me, as i must fulfill duties and complete tasks (or else!) i sit at a stiff desk and stare longingly through the massive glass panes in front of me. hundreds of people periodically file past me--some clutching the spoils of a credit card war, some grasping tickets to a matinee performance, some just out for a stroll; but all experiencing the freshness of a spring afternoon--one without ceilings and computer cords. one without the buzzing of electronics or digital earaches coming from the adjacent rooms. i wonder if they appreciate what i long for...
why am i always sitting around wishing i were sitting around somewhere else?
why am i always sitting around wishing i were sitting around somewhere else?
Ticking and Tocking
The clock's off, my dear. Rising and shining in the early morning makes me want to cry sometimes. Not all the time. But right now, definitely weepy from the physical pain of a five hour car ride at six am. But hey, at least I didn't have to drive. Thanks for the lift, S.
The Saddest Part Of A Broken Heart Isn't The Ending So Much As The Start
Let it die and get out of my mind
We don't see eye to eye
Or hear ear to ear
Don't you wish that we could forget that kiss
And see this for what it is
That we're not in love
The saddest part of a broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start
It was hard to tell just how I felt
To not recognize myself
I started to fade away
And after all it won't take long to fall in love
Now I know what I don't want
I learned that with you
The saddest part of a broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start
The tragedy starts from the very first spark
Losing your mind for the sake of your heart
The saddest part of a broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start
-Feist
The City Sways, Like
[free] coffee. modern biblioteca. complimentary jamba. guzzle water. bart BART. swift to sting to spoon full of sugar. michael kors. glama puss. 3 stories or 4, we'll take it. the glass menagerie. put a puppy in your pocket. lick ears. lukewarm air is possible. empresses serve phoenix and dragon in their soup. where'd the londoners get to? gates/uturn/gates. pretentiousness and prohibition era mixer. rickhouse. romolo. [we won't speak of the next thing] collective animal. cookie cookie pizza. i am iris, hear me roar. sleep, sniffle, snuggle. wake for another.
Cruising with Lily
Va-va-vroom! I wouldn't mind being Lily Ho's back seat rider.
I'm not sure when this was taken. Was it during the filming of Tropicana Interlude? Lily sure looks smart (and sexy) in her nautical get-up.
A very special thanks to Gilbert Jong for letting me post this fab photo just one of countless treasures from his amazing collection.
Kristen Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, model, and singer born April 30, 1982. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories (1989). Soon after, she landed a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), as Tom Hanks's daughter. In 1993, Dunst played Hedril in "Dark Page", the seventh episode of the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. At the age of 12, Dunst gained widespread recognition playing the role of vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994).
Her performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress, and her first Golden Globe Award nomination. The same year she appeared in Little Women, to further acclaim.
Dunst achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man trilogy (2002-07). Since then her films have included the romantic comedy Wimbledon (2004), the science fiction drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Cameron Crowe's tragicomedy Elizabethtown (2005). She played the title role in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006), and she starred in the comedy How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008).
In 2001, Dunst made her singing debut in the film Get Over It, in which she performed two songs. She also sang the jazz song "After You've Gone" for the end credits of the film The Cat's Meow (2001).
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