PC Translations

The next day when Tang Tai Zong got up, he remembered the request the River God had brought to him, and so he quietly sought out Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng was in the habit of speaking forthrightly, so that if the emperor was wrong, he would even confront him. The people all praised Wei Zheng, calling him the most upright officer on earth.

"I don't think His Majesty has ever sought me so early. What is going on?" he asked as soon as he'd saluted Tang Tai Zong.

Lau is one of my favorite Chinese actors. I loved him in World Without Thieves, another of his recent films, but I thought he was about as good as I've ever seen him in The Protege.

The film has a good "message" to it, and it explores the drug scene in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia very well. I liked that about the movie. The fun part of it was that there was a lot of humor mixed in with the very serious themes of the film. That made it a real pleasure to watch.

Lau's screen presence seems to grow as he matures (ok, ages), and it seems to me he hasn't lost a thing over the years, but has only gotten better.

At another site where I blog, I wrote a few posts about monetizing your blog. I'm not a great money-maker, and would generally rather talk about other things. But I do want to inform other bloggers about opportunities as they come along.

Pay Per Post is probably my favourite of the blog ad companies I've run across so far, and I've used a fair number of them (as indicated in the posts linked above). I have 5 blogs working with Pay Per Post now, and I like how I can spread the ads out and make a little money from PPP without cluttering up any single blog with a ton of ads.

Pay Per Post has now started a new thing. If you click on this tag , it will take you to a sign-up page for PPP, if you aren't a member yet. When your blog is approved, you'll receive an offer to write a review of my blog, and we'll each receive $7.50 when you've done that. Easy stuff, and kind of fun too. If you're looking for a way to make a little extra pocket money from blogging, this might just be it.

As I have admitted elsewhere, I am no expert on Chinese film, but I do watch and appreciate a fair amount of Chinese movies. I recently watched The Gua Sha Treatment, starring Tony Ka Fai Leung and Jiang Wen Li, and found it a movie that many foreigners would find accessible and enjoyable -- probably even more so than one of my favorites, To Live, which I introduced some time back. One reason many "outsiders" might find it more accessible is that most of the dialogue is in English, which will probably make it immediately easier to get into. Also, it is set in St. Louis, and addresses issues that are as much of a concern to viewers outside of China as inside. It addresses some universal themes, and is also set in a more modern day setting. All of that probably adds up to a film that is more approachable by outsiders than a lot of Chinese movies are.

My friends and I who watched the show together all really enjoyed it -- perhaps more than we expected to. The story is about a family from Beijing who has migrated to St. Louis and is achieving the American Dream. Their little boy suffers an accident, and in the hospital, an investigation begins when horrible bruises are found on his back. Naturally, state welfare services want to investigate whether the boy is living in a safe environment. What they don't realize is that the bruises were received when the boy underwent Gua Sha treatment, a Chinese medical practice.

From this starting point, the story unravels beautifullly. I love how it both covertly and overtly highlights some aspects that are very important to Chinese culture, but misunderstood or even despised in St. Louis. It is a movie about cultural awareness/sensitivity/appreciation; about misunderstandings and misperceptions; about struggling with hardships when chasing one's dreams; about the sacrifices a father makes for his son, and a son makes for his father. It was a very moving film.

The movie isn't available at either Amazon or B&N, but it is available here from a Singapore company (I bought mine in Shanghai), and you might could check the link above. It is a very nice film -- one that makes you think while it touches and entertains.

Click here for part 1 of the story
Click here for the previous installment

Steven Chow is known for his humor. I remember when I first started watching Chinese movies, he was one of the most accessible actors for me to follow, mostly because his humor is very physical. Much like Jackie Chan, Chow uses his whole body to engage the audience, and to get a laugh.

Kung Fu Hustle was all that, and yet was also a beautiful film. Chow said he wanted the film to be a tribute to Bruce Lee, and some big name actors came together to make that possible. It was really a special endeavor, and well done. I think the film will be a favorite for years to come.