Alex Fraser Bridge

……………….. Orz

i missed the bus again,

so I played with longer exposures on a railing!

N1KD

What a romantic idea – that an expensive and fancy dinner, attended by students still financially stable enough to dish out forty dollars for a few dishes, and adults willing to pay twice that amount, could be the best way in which we can assist in raising awareness of the problem of landmines in formerly (and presently) war-torn nations.

I certainly wouldn’t give such an amount to a canvasser on the street (you know, the ones decked out in vests representing their respective organization who approach you with binders). But I must say.. it was somewhat awkward dining in the presence of 16 larger-than-life portraits of children who are missing limbs and other parts due to these mines.

Don’t we always romanticise these causes?

The idea of valour and honour in war…
of benevolence and righteousness in peacekeeping…
of selflessness and compassion in humanitarianism…
and how often do the consequences reflect our intentions?

Needless to say, romantic notions of war are only that,
but even peacekeeping, as in the case of Rwanda,
doesn’t always turn out for the better.
Nor do initiatives to “build infrastructure”, “provide sustainable means of growing food”, etc…

Can we help being so shortsighted?

Isn’t it such a coincidence…

…that of the 6,883,200,000 or so leaves (people) in this world…

…we have fallen so close to each other?

Do you see what you’ve become?

Do you like what you’ve become?

Are you who you thought you were?

Are you who you wanted to be?

Is there someone standing beside you?

Do you see someone you could fall in love with?

Or are you the only one looking back?

Do you see loneliness or solitude?

Do you see yourself?

Be truthful, now…

It’s funny how I almost long to experience those moments, those intense feelings, once again – even though many of them weren’t as… happy as the following one

Pretty Colours!

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part I – the high school dance

pre-amble, they come in from the setting sun

of course, some of us would be a bit tipsy from alchohol, or other … substances
but what else, most, unaffected, wildness, madness commited those nights,
I have no idea how.

the floor. the dim darkness, moist, hot.
and holding them, clinging them, their sticky bodies, soft, gyrating, in your arms.

as when night came, the sun, the other world, left with our other minds.

but then the beat ends, the dance ends, the ecstacy ends. And your mind, still shaking
shivering in anticipation and nervousness, is lost again.

by Wayroan Lin on Tuesday, 22 May 2007 at 23:33

snap!

So… what do you think I’m obsessed with?

!

!

Virtually Unlimited

One of the blessings of digital photography is the ability to take a virtually unlimited amount of photos in one go. If I shoot at medium resolution and normal quality with a 8gb card, I can get at LEAST 3600 photos with my d90. It will run out of batteries FAR before it runs out of space.

This is nothing like film, where you are limited to something like 24 exposures per roll. You pay much more for it, and it’s much more difficult to deal with afterward. At least you can make prints of digital images on photographic paper.

So what has this done for photography? Well.. we are certainly capturing many more moments. Many of the moments that we capture could’ve been lost (image-wise) if we were restricted to film. It is also much more forgiving. When you take a poor image, there is much less of a feeling of loss or regret. No wasted film, just a few seconds of battery life as you delete it.

But I feel like I start to lose touch with the idea that I’m using the camera to capture an image that I have imagined or envisioned. If I just take a thousand photos and sort through them afterward, it’s perfectly fine to mindlessly press the shutter release.

I think I’ll always be reaching for that silly state of enlightenment – where I see the photo before I take it. Digital has really helped me understand photography concepts… but I believe that the more I try to limit myself, the more I’ll learn.

The Lord of the Rings: our modern epic

“And in that very hour Melkor and Ungoliant came hastening over the fields of Valinor, as the shadow of a black cloud came upon the wind fleets over the sunlit earth; and the came before the green mound Ezellohar. Then the Unlight of Ungoliant rose up even to the roots of the Trees, and Melkor sprang upon the mount; and with his black spear he smote each Tree to its core, wounded them deep, and their sap poured forth as it were their blood, and was spilled upon the ground. But Ungoliant sucked it up, and going then from Tree to Tree she set her black beak to their wounds, till they were drained; and the poison of Death that was in her went into their tissues and withered them, root, branch, and leaf; and they died. And still she thirsted, and going to the Wells of Varda she drank them dry; but Ungoliant belched forth black vapours as she drank, and swelled to a shape so fast and hideous that Melkor was afraid.”

- of the Darkening of Valinor (The Silmarillion) J.R.R. Tolkien

Livecity Yaletown during the Deadmau5 concert

Approximately nine months ago, our city transformed in profound ways.
Some of the changes have lasted until now. Other changes, quite temporary, changed back when the world turned its eyes away again.

Some people suddenly gained the patience to wait three hours in line to see a scrap of metal.
Strange structures arose in the oddest places, including a number of odd and disfigured metal hulks the colour of dried blood that appeared under a rapid transit rail.
How about them metal barricades around parks and large open areas everywhere?

Metal.. bah.

Who can resist lemon grass chicken?

Gluttony is a sin. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why.

If you were going on a long journey and wouldn’t return home for a long time… If you only had time to grab one thing before you were pulled out the door… what would be the one and only thing you would have with you?

A knife for survival?
A camera to show everyone where you went and what you saw?
Deodorant… just in case?
A diary?
How about a photo of your loved ones?

…

Me? I think I’d bring an extra change of underwear.

rearview

It seems to me that almost all of the important decisions we’ll ever make in this short lives of ours are somewhat mysterious. You wouldn’t realize the importance of many of those decisions until afterward. You may have to wait a decade or a minute. Other times, you may realize you’re making an important decision, but it arrived in front of you without any warning at all. And given a few minutes or, usually, seconds to make this decision, you realize that your life is really all that wild in this way.

It was a spur of the moment decision to approach that club booth… the club that I heard about from my friend’s cousin… I had heard that they have a photography event every year… I had joined many clubs before…

Look where that led me -_-

Liquid Happiness

Feeling down? Want to get totally wasted? Alcohol is a depressant, silly.

Drawing on a wall... Taboo? Psh

...of Beren and Lúthien

“A king there was in days of old:
ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in cavern’s shade,
his had was over glen and glade.
His shields were shining as the moon,
his lances keen of steel were hewn,
of silver grey his crown was wrought,
the starlight in his banners caught;
and silver thrilled his trumpets long
beneath the stars in challenge strong;
enchantment did his realm enfold,
where might and glory, wealth untold,
he wielded from his ivory throne
in many-pillared halls of stone.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale,
and metal wrought like fishes’ mail,
buckler and corselet, axe and sword,
and gleaming spears were laid in hoard -
all these he had and loved them less
than a maiden once in Elfinesse;
for fairer than are born to Men
a daughter had he, Lúthien.

Such lissom limbs no more shall run
on the green earth beneath the sun;
so far a maid no more shall be
from dawn to dusk, from sun to sea.
Her robe was blue as summer skies,
but grey as evening were her eyes;
’twas sewn with golden lilies fair,
but dark as shadow was her hair.
Her feet were light as bird on wing,
her laughter lighter than the spring;
the slender willow, the bowing reed,
the fragrance of a flowering mead,
the light upon the leaves of trees,
the voice of water, more than these
her beauty was and blissfulness,
her glory and her loveliness;
and her the king more dear did prize
than hand or heart or light of eyes.”

...then it will come true

The definition of a secret is that no-one can know, right?
Isn’t a wish the most sacred form of a secret?

Some secrets are quite harmless.
Some secrets transform great kingdoms into dust motes.
However, these secrets can spill from the unguarded lips,
and remain disarmed if it drifts into discreet ears.

But a wish…

…if a wish is mistakenly spoiled,

then all hope is gone, isn’t it?

Every time you make a wish on your coming-out-of-womb day,
you forge another secret, one that, if you have your way,
will never actualize into sound or writing, lest it vanish forever.

arts students after hours

Sometimes I wonder how EVERYTHING would have turned out differently

-if-

I had accepted the offer from U of T.

“this was six years ago
and i’m still on the verge of regret sometimes
lol.. and then i realize it was just a different path
whatever worked out, or didn’t, was simply up to what i did on that path”

Be passionate about what you do.

My Roman Army prof dressing up as a Roman Soldier

lorica segmentata and pilum and all.
classic.

An apple a day...

How many kids, or adults for that matter, don’t have some sort of a sweet tooth?

This kid is part of the “Beaver Colony” at my Scouts Group, for ages 5 to 7. He’s definitely nearing the older part of that small spectrum. Maybe next year I’ll be in charge of him when he “graduates” into Cubs.

I figure an image like this could at least have you thinking about moderation in sweets. I mean… he’s just missing his two front teeth – nothing related to cavities (I sure hope). But he’s holding an apple, he’s offering it to you. You know that apple is good for you. And it’s sweet.

Why am I blogging about food again?

Food ALWAYS brings people together

*the girl peeking from behind the food was the president of the International Relations Students Assocation for the 2009/2010 school year

Last year, as you might now, I was an exec in IRSA, and helped organize and had the chance to attend many interesting events, often with rather cool people like diplomats, politicians, and activists. This particular morning, we were -sorta- honoured to have Paul Rusesabagina in for a speech at the Chan Centre following private breakfast. The film “Hotel Rwanda” is based on Paul’s experiences during the Rwandan Genocide.

I won’t go too much into the man and what he had to say, simply because I felt that he was a pretty hollow person with nothing much to offer – absolutely EVERYTHING he said was either someone else’s words, or just descriptions, memorized storytelling.

However, this much I can say: we were all able to sit together in a civilised manner at have breakfast.

Food, or love of food, is ALWAYS a constant. ( at least for me XD )

We stayed up all night for just this.

We had a crazy idea for a class project this past year. The project was a documentary, and at this point, we had finished all the interviews. Problem was, we needed much more stock footage. So… me and one of my project partners decided to go grab some footage of the sunrise and sunset over water, to start and end the film, respectively.

After realizing that without a car we’d have to bus to Stanley Park at 5 in the morning to get the sunrise footage, we decided to meet up at an all-night diner.

It was a long night, and we were feeling a bit delirious by the time we headed out to catch the bus in the april chill.

We eventually got to the park and set up the equipment, all ready for some warm sunlight to start off the day and be finished with the project. My tripod standing right beside the nine o’clock gun, my partner dozing on the park bench, an hour passed by, and it was six o’clock. There was some hope – a bit of pink tinged the clouds to the northeast.

In hindsight, I think the weather was just teasing us, because that bit of pink was the most sun we saw all day. It soon grew overcast, and we eventually gave up, heading over to White Spot for a rather tasteless breakfast (owing much to our lack of sleep and energy) and called it a day.

This photo is the best it looked throughout our three hours of sitting there.

AIYA THEY'RE DEVOLVING

dejavu? well, not really. but anyways

yeah... two more to go after this.. unless it takes me so long, another topic is released >___<

Highlight of the century!! N1KD'09!

"I am NOT afraid!"

carpe diem // don't lose this opportunity

Well... he's not sending me off // We're sending him off

go away! it's a SECRET!

Vancouver is not a very busy city. This is not Vancouver.

It's not exactly SQUARE

[春泥了無痕]

So? SO? What've you got to say? [speechless

I stare at these ,, day after day // when will it end >> when I get a seat

Deadline? Line of the dead (salmon)!!

{divided}

[at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month]

[strength]

圓

圓

圓

圓

What does an empty page hold for you?

You are reading, and come across an empty page.

Write? Read? What do you see? It’s not really empty?

Maybe it’s an emptiness from within.  Within your mind

your pen reads it, and your gaze writes.

spring :: so far away

Smile! *ka-chak* <--(shutter sound)

回眸一笑百媚生? You decide.

HUNGRYYY...

Who's that handsome little lad?

Well, I was sort of late for yesterday’s post, so I’ll be super early for today’s: 兒時照片大公開

Shopaholic Unreformed

FallenGold

for now…

Rain's a rough friend

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Incoming transmission…

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Here's an actual image for Day1!

I hate not being able to be lazy.