绿茶拿铁 Green Tea Latte

Chinese media reported the story of foreign volunteers helping kids in the diaster zone recover from PTSD through games, which showed that foreigners are not all "devils." (See photos--NOT taken by me) But of course, the New York Times' cover story was titled "Parents' Grief Turns to Rage at Chinese Officials," with a photo of an official kneeling down to beg parents of earthquake victims to stop their protest.

News are always selective in the sense that one paper cannot cover everything happening around the globe. But what standards of selection should be applied? I'm puzzled. "Newsworthy" is as vague as the "healthy and positive" propoganda standard (which is not valid anymore if only one surfs sohu or sina nowadays). Is the "most emailed" story the most newsworthy in the economic sense? Who said "good news is not news?" The improvement of the mainland-Taiwan relationship and the appreciation of Japanese rescue effort were headline news, despite the fact that some of them first appeared in online forums. So who is the executive chef to determine what to cook for the audience today? Should newspapers/press bear certain "social responsibility?" If "incitement" can be a crime, what about "imbalanced negative connotation?" Of course that's teasing. But it is also a reality that no newspaper can expect the audience to uphold their "independent judgment" and diverse resources. Shouldn't a few leading newspapers such as the New York Times be held to a higher standard then? Simply because they are often quoted as the authority?

Also on the cover of NYTimes, was the story of a female "holy warrior for Al Qaeda" who was portrated in the photo with an overall black gown covering all her body except for the eyes.

Not in the news: Tibetans residing in NJ and NYC held a ceremony to pray for earthquake victims on Union Square on Sunday.

又是旧闻了，我的博一不及时，二不够原创，现在连博客都转了，真是！

怎么说呢？艺术家个人行为没意见，不过动不动就发公开信，还串联着发，这不是政治是啥呢。“Personal is political", 更别提公众行为了。中国人历史悠久的“党同伐异”的文化传统可见一斑。

转自Art-Ba-Ba

贾樟柯的新品《二十四城记》将在5月17日在戛纳电影节首映。

　　这是一部群像式史诗

　　1995年，贾樟柯以“北京电影学院青年实验电影小组”名义，完成了处女作《小山回家》， 至今已形成了其独特的电影美学。《二十四城记》更大胆尝试了一种全新叙事结构，极具艺术实验色彩。影片以纪录片方式进入，就像贾樟柯钟爱的《史记》的刺客 列传，几笔白描就介绍了人物出场。随着影片展开，三代“厂花”演绎的人生命运与5段老厂工人的讲述穿插交织，虚构与真实完美融合。

　　贾樟柯说，从去年开始，用了1年多时间采访了100多位老工人，整理出了几十万字的采访笔记，收集他们的记忆。老工人分散的记忆最后集中到片中3个女性身上，上世纪50年代的吕丽萍、70年代的陈冲和现代的赵涛。三个人物的经历具有高度概括性。“这样的结构可以说既传统又具有实验色彩。采用典型环境、典型人物的经典叙事模式，但又大胆融入5个工人的回忆，103分钟的电影浓缩了一个时代。”

　　贾樟柯表示，拍摄之初设计的人物关系为：吕丽萍是赵涛的奶奶。随着拍摄进程深入，他果断地进行了修改，让每个人物独立出来，追求一种群像式的史诗感。

　　请女诗人做编剧

　　翟永明弥补我的缺陷

　　《二十四城记》是贾樟柯第一次邀请他人联合编剧，成都著名女诗人翟永明成了他最好的互补。贾樟柯说：“这部电影需要女性视角，又在成都拍摄。我特别感谢翟姐帮我完成了电影的本土化和女性化。从人物到空间，我都需要她来帮我完成从想象到具像，来弥补我的缺陷。”

　　翟永明是贾樟柯很早就很喜欢的一位诗人、一位老朋友。当年《东》在贾樟柯老家首映，翟永明就专程去捧场。贾樟柯透露：“我俩的工作方式很特别，不是先写，而是交谈。不谈剧情，而谈彼此的生活感受，在这种放松的心态下完成创作，最后下笔完成剧本感觉是种享受。”

　　据悉，台湾著名音乐人林强不仅担任配乐，更创作了主题曲《未来往哪里》，呼应影片的时代变迁的主题。

【更多故事】

Dujiangyan Parents' Search for Child

We found Fu Guanyu and her husband Wang Wei as they clung frantically to the long arm of a Hitachi excavator as it rumbled through the city of Dujiangyan.They were crying and seemed to be trying to pull the heavy machine, as if they could make it move faster toward their home. Their six-story apartment building had collapsed in the earthquake. Their toddler son, Wang Zhilu, was buried under the debris along with his grandparents. Mrs Fu broke down as she told me she still had hope their son would be found alive.

This was the moment we first saw Wang Wei and Fu Guanyu, as they were begging the driver of an excavator to go to their house to try to rescue their son and his parents.

Photo by Andrea Hsu, NPR

比不上taca同学和海伦同学的“直线八卦”，那么我利用发达的网上八卦稍微了解了一下lake同学近来的腐朽糜烂小生活，终于明白了当初他为什么死乞白赖、百折不挠的要回国：生活滋啊，江湖广啊，包养快啊！在一阵轻微小嫉妒后，还是很为他高兴的。正如他某个睿智朋友说的，都30的人了，保持这样的生活容易吗？哈哈哈～

现在是正点新闻播报：

索斯比4月在香港成功天价拍卖了号称“埃斯黛拉收藏”（Estella Collection）的中国当代艺术品的一半后，不仅为一些中国艺术家创了拍卖纪录，而且也引来的一些非议。该拍卖总成交额达1千8百万美元，其中张晓刚的血缘系列第6号拍得6百万美元。但是部分涉及艺术家和收藏策划反映，在当初收集该收藏时他们被骗错误相信这是一个西方大款收藏的永久性收藏，并且最终会捐献部分作品给知名博物馆。

谁知实情却是购买者乃是一票投机者，为了迅速赚钱在去年8月将该收藏卖给了曼哈顿的画商威廉·阿瓜维拉 (William Acquavella )，后者再通过索斯比出售。部分涉及的艺术家说，他们当时降价出售了作品是因为期望该收藏能够赢得长期声誉并帮助提高他们的名气。其中，艺术家仹正杰说，“我觉得受骗了。没想到【画作】结果成了这样，就是为了拍卖。”【从英文转翻的，非原文】组成该收藏的纽约画商麦克·勾德辉斯（Michael Goedhuis，这个，咋才能翻得好听些呢？）很无辜的说他没有误导任何人，他也相信他的投资者会保留该收藏。事情的变化是他无法控制的。他共花了三年多的时间组织该收藏。勾德辉斯谢绝透露他的投资者的名字，不过纽约时报披露了之中的两人：瑞·德贝恩（Ray Debbane), 纽约投资公司“因弗斯金融顾问”（Invus Financial Advisors), 和萨查·雷诺维奇（Sacha Lainovic）,该公司的联合创建人和管理合伙人。

The 2008 Olympic Games aren´t just a gathering of athletes, it´s also a showcase of the most innovative buildings and technologies like GreenPIX, the Zero Energy Media Wall by Simone Giostra & Partners and ARUP, pictured above.

This curtain wall covers the front of the Xicui entertainment complex in Beijing, near the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. It features the worlds largest color LED display, powered by a photovoltaic system integrated into the glass curtain wall.

This Media Wall will showcase a selection of specially commissioned video installations and live performances by artists from China, Europe and the US, starting in May. Pictures, construction progress, diagrams and videos after the break.

Source: Arch Daily (click for more photos and videos) 

Source: The Art Newspaper

French curator Jérôme Sans is expected to be announced as the new artistic director of the Ullens Center of Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday. Speaking to The Art Newspaper last month, Guy Ullens, the Belgian foodstuffs baron who has entirely funded UCCA, said that Jérôme Sans had been selected as the new director and that an announcement would be made as soon as the appropriate Chinese authorities had approved the appointment.