lisamlong

“Untitled”

Photographer: ctot_not_def
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

lisamlong

Throughout Chinese history the entertainment business was shunned.  Entertainers were said to sell their youth and beauty. Even entertainers themselves said they were in the business of selling smiles. Then it comes as no surprise that their children did not follow their footsteps regardless of their popularity. In modern day Hong Kong we are seeing changes in this attitude.

The offspring of well-known stars who started their careers in the 60’s and 70’s are now in their late teens or late twenties. The next generation has arrived. Let’s take a look at the offspring of four well-known Hong Kong entertainers:

Nicolas Tse, son of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee, started as a singer in 1997. He has since branched into acting, directing and composing. He is well-known in Hong Kong and in other parts of Asia. Earlier this year he gained international attention–unfortunately due not to his professional achievements but because his wife, Cecilia Cheung, was implicated in the Edison Chen (Edison Chan) photo scandal.

Next offspring of famous parents is Jaycee Chan. You are forgiven if you asked, “Who???”. No doubt you’re more familiar with his father who happens to be Jackie Chan. Like Nicolas Tse, he, too, is in the music and acting business. Released his first CD in 2004. Had roles in about half-a-dozen movies. Also appeared in some ads. In other words, he is a known-name in Hong Kong.

Now, here is a video of Joyce Cheng when she appeared in a fundraiser for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake and sang the John Lennon classic, Imagine:

Where will she be in her career the next few years?

Joyce Cheng is the daughter of the late Lydia Shum, who was probably the best known and most popular Hong Kong personality in the past 40 years. Her father is actor/singer Adam Cheng.

The last and least known of the four is Melody Tseng. Her mother is singer Jenny Tseng. It was in an interview Jenny flatly stated that she didn’t want Melody to enter the entertainment industry because it doesn’t suit her and that she isn’t the type of person who could live in a glass house so to speak. Yet here is a video of the two of them on stage in Taiwan when Melody was no older than 16:

What do you think? Does Melody have the stuff to make it if she does decide on a career in the music industry?

lisamlong

“blue danube”

Photographer: Mademoiselle E’Claire
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

Maggie

It’s Beijing’s turn and a lot of eyes will be on China, as this country and her citizens “turn it on” full wattage for its opening ceremony Friday, August 8. Now more can watch! The IOC’s director of television and marketing services Timo Lumme announced yesterday that YouTube will have Olympics coverage. The Game$ are getting bigger and bigger.

“For the first time in Olympic history, we will have complete global online coverage,” said  Timo Lumme. YouTube (of Google Inc.) will provide about 3 hours a day of exclusive content from the IOC’s Olympic Broadcasting Services on a dedicated channel during the Games. The content, including highlights and daily wrap-ups, but not live coverage, will reach 77 territories–South Korea, India, and Nigeria among them–that aren’t officially covered by Olympic sponsors.

However, users in the U.S. and other markets where the IOC has sold digital video-on-demand rights on an exclusive basis will be blocked from viewing the footage.

The IOC will supply and upload the content–an estimated 500 to 800 segments during the Games. The content is expected to reach only about 200 million people, because the territories covered have relatively small numbers of online video viewers. It’s said that YouTube’s financial benefit will be minimal this time due to the tight timing and the exclusion of the U.S. where its online ad market is bigger than most other countries. But, YouTube hopes to have more sponsorship opportunites by extending the partnership with the IOC in the coming years.

China, which isn’t allowing the YouTube broadcast, has an estimated 180 million online video viewers who can catch the Olympics from CCTV.com, the online arm of China Central Television (and its partners).  In the U.S. NBC holds the broadcast rights. In Canada, cbcsports.ca/olympics has the full broadcast schedule; Olympic coverage also on CBC TV and TSN.

Patrick

It’s no secret that I avoid driving whenever possible, not only because taking alternative transportation is more environmentally friendly, but because I just don’t like driving much.  Many people also know I enjoy musicals.  It’s no surprise then that one of my favourite advertisements of all time is this 1976 TV ad for the Montreal Metro.

Of course the advertisement appeared several years before my time, I’ve never lived in Montreal, and my French is not good enough to understand the lyrics, but I love the ad just the same.  Why don’t they bring this ad back?  Why not do a 2008 version?  Who wouldn’t want to ride a happy song and dance train to work every morning?

An ad like this would be a great way to promote public transit use.  It’s just ridiculous enough to make it awesome.  By the way, did anyone else catch the Jack Layton look-alike at 0:14, 0:30, and 0:53?

lisamlong

“N/A”

Photographer: MaryK0329
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

lisamlong

“picnikfile_AKj2U5″

Photographer: Memorie & Nate
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

lisamlong

The US presidential election is starting to heat up in the run towards each respective party’s convention. John McCain and Barack Obama are starting to take their gloves off and trade jabs while probing for the opponent’s weaknesses. By the way, a happy birthday wish to Mr. Barack Obama who turns 47 today.

Politicians in Canada seem to have caught this election fever. Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has spent the summer touring the country selling his Green Shift, a fancy name for carbon tax. During Calgary’s Stampede Week he took the message into the heart of Canada’s oil country.

During the past week Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing his part in beating the election drum speculation. He took the opportunity in addressing the Conservative caucus and issued an election challenge to Stéphane Dion. Later he said his minority Conservative government will load the upcoming Fall session with confidence issues and Dion should then fish or cut bait.

Both leaders may be eager to hit the election trail, but the latest poll commissioned by The Globe and Mail may give them reason to hold off. The poll shows the Conservatives lead the Liberals by a mere 4 percentage points. Most importantly, they trail the Liberals in Ontario and Quebec, both seat-rich provinces.

This means if there is to be a Fall election it basically will leave the country in the same position as it is now, a Conservative minority government. Some pundits even think a minority Liberal government is possible depending on a swing of a few ridings.

Since a majority government will remain an elusive dream for the Conservatives at least in the foreseeable future,  it may be wise for Mr. Harper and the Conservatives not to goad the oppositions too much and force a Fall election. Voters may not take kindly to a party whom they consider is wasting a couple hundred million on an exercise to achieve nothing but maintain the status quo.

This may be a good example that one should be careful in what one wishes for.

lisamlong

“Double tower”

Photographer: Mypoorbrain
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

Maggie

NASA scientists confirmed last Thursday that water exists on the Red Planet of Mars. NASA also extended the Phoenix Mars mission by five more weeks, saying its work was moving beyond the search for water to exploring whether Mars was ever capable of sustaining life.

“We are extending the mission through September 30,”  Michael Meyer, chief scientist for NASA’s Mars exploration program, told a televised news conference. The extension will add about $2 million to the $420 million cost of landing Phoenix on Mars on May 25 for what was a scheduled 3-month mission, Meyer said. Phoenix Lander touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

The extension time would allow for more analysis of Martian soil samples. They plan to dig two additional trenches–dubbed “cupboard” and “neverland”–using the robatic arm on the Phoenix craft. The mission is examining the sky and atmosphere as well as the ground. The $37-million Canadian-built meteorological gear is using a laser beam to study the dust and clouds overhead.

“We hope to be able to answer the question of whether this was a habitable zone on Mars. It will be for future missions to find if anyone is home on this environment,” said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith.

The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith, principal investigator, University of Arizona, with project management at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the Universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more on Phoenix Mars Lander from NASA . . .

lisamlong

“IMG_1122″

Photographer: usm photos
Photographer: under license from Creative Commons

Maggie

1. Frank and Gordon are leaving? Say it isn’t so!  No-o-o-o-o-o!

Hitting the local and national papers all across Canada (I assume), Frank and Gordon sent us their goodbye message: “Nature is calling, and we have been invited back to the forest to become teachers for a whole new generation of spokescritters.”

Right! Tell me more! Shipped out by Bell is more like it! Lest there be hard feelings and separation anxiety issues among us, Bell has provided a new email address where we ‘loyal fans and friends’ can stay connected: frankandgordon@bell.ca.  Just look at this photo as it appeared in my morning paper: Gordon is giving us the bad news, while Frank is looking glum and not too happy. I’m not happy! Don’t play with our hearts, Bell !!

2. Who watches all those Hollywood news entertainment shows, especially about “them young things, boozing and ruining their lives?”  According to Nielsen data, the median age of viewers for all of these shows but one is 50 or older. In fact, the viewing audiences have aged an average of 3.2 years since the 2003-04 season. Gossip websites such as TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com have siphoned off younger viewers. Media Life magazine says Inside Edition had the oldest viewing audience during the 2007-08 season at 55.3 years, while Entertainment Tonight, the top-rated syndicated show, had viewers aged an average of 54.4.  Wow!

3. Here’s another trend  I read about . . . one-fifth of U.S. television viewers watch prime-time shows online and about half of those online viewers are beginning to use the computer as a substitute for the TV set, according to a poll by Integrated Media Measurement Inc. The other half are using the Internet to watch programs they have missed or shows they have already seen. According to Reuters news, the report found that the largest group of online TV viewers are white, affluent, well-educated, working women aged 25 to 44.

Patrick

Doogie Howser, M.D. has all grown up now and these days he goes by the name Dr. Horrible.  Ok, that’s not quite right, but Neil Patrick Harris, the actor who played Doogie Howser, is now starring in a smash hit Internet-only film mini-series called Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.

Neil Patrick Harris of course plays Dr. Horrible and plenty of singing and comicbook villainry ensues.  The mini-series also stars Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and The Guild’s Felicia Day.  The mini-series is part of a master plan by writer/director/producer Joss Whedon, who has developed a large cult fan following as creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

Provided that you enjoy watching tongue-in-cheek musicals, I highly recommend this three-part film.

lisamlong

This is a slideshow of our Photo of the Day for the month of July. Please click here for individual photo information and terms of licensing. For photos after July 26 please click here.