Living. Thinking. LA

25 Characteristics of Effective Social Media Campaigns

2011-01-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Pick this up from socialmediatoday, the 25 characteristics of effective social media campaigns show what the effective ones have done. Some characteristics really mind-opening. Marketers can pick and choose what applies to you.

1) They spread like wildfire. Effective social media campaigns spread very fast. If your campaign is not spreading, it is not effective. Test the waters with micro campaigns. Learn to swim before attempting to ride the big waves.

2) They are not spammy. Don't just promote your site links; share something insightful about your company or product. Don't send out the same message to your community. It is spam…and it is very annoying to them. Even to you. Admit it.

3) They provide value. Value can come in the both physical and mental forms. Effective campaigns provide value in any or both of these regards.

4) They are well branded. Clothe your campaign from head to toe with your company's identity. Use your logo, your USP or slogans, your colors, and any other thing that defines your business's identity. Add your brand to every video you produce; don't add just your website address.

5) They are measured. You need to track your social media marketing efforts. Whether you install Google Analytics on your Facebook fan page or you use Post rank to measure your effectiveness, make sure you work with the data.

6) They have excellent copy. Leave a positive impression in just a few words. Using big vocabulary is not the way to go; making sense is what matters.

7) They don't ‘sell'. Instead of selling, you should work at generating leads with your social media campaign. Sell to those leads later on.

8 ) They build relationships. Don't just broadcast. Interact. Building relationships helps build even more relationships. It also increases the perception of value and builds loyalty.

9) They build trust. Be as honest in your campaign as possible. Trust is very hard to earn back once lost. Your campaign should build and maintain trust in your build.

10) They are innovative. Regular campaigns mostly go unnoticed. Innovation adds ‘flavor' to your campaign. It is the aroma of your campaign and the one thing that will convince most people to take action.

11) They have ears. Your campaign will not be successful unless you listen for feedback. People may have something to say so listen and show appreciation or let them know you are working on it. Never delete a negative feedback.

12) They are well organized. Your campaign needs to be well planned. It should have a first step and an nth step (where n is the number of the last step). Follow through from step 1 through to step n. Don't go from step one to step 3 to step 2. Plan your steps well so it is easy to follow through step 1 to the last step.

13) They are maintained by humans. Don't rely on automation when it comes to marketing on the social web. It just won't work. Besides, it destroys trust. Put a human being in front of, in-between and behind all your social media campaigns. I want to talk to a human being not a robot.

14) They are consistent. You need to be consistent with your update (or broadcast) schedules and interact with people who leave replies and comments. If you broadcast once a week and change to 5 times a day, people will begin to question your actions. Unless you give them good reason why you have changed your schedule.

15) They have bait. You need to have some sort of bait to convert visitors into leads. Try eBooks, free products, white papers, discount codes, samples, free vouchers, et cetera. Bait them to get them .

16) They use leverage. They leverage the subscriber bases of their communities and other people's communities. They also leverage their company strengths.

17) They include a blog. I suggest you have a business blog before you start your campaign. Your blog should be the hub of your social media campaign efforts. Make you install social media sharing buttons to make it easier for others to share your blog's content.

18) They engage other blogs. You can do this too. Apply as a guest writer for blogs in your target market. Read blogs in your niche and leave thoughtful comments (not just a “thank you”).

19) They are not everywhere. If you want your campaigns to be successful, don't register for an account on every social media site. That will only burn you out and your campaigns will be fruitless.

20) They have humor. Adding humor to marketing is a cool way of saying “we are a friendly business”. It makes your marketing memorable. A priceless result.

21) They share company events. If your company is being bad mouthed, tell your customers about it. Tell them the truth in it and the lies. Don't give them the chance to second guess your company. If your company is nominated for an award, tell your community about it. If your company wins the award, tell them. If you lose the award, tell them.

22) They integrate offline marketing. Print some T-Shirts, with your logo, Twitter handle, Facebook fan page URL and your slogan on it and give them out to your customers. Send out paper printed catalogs to your online leads. Add your Twitter and Facebook URLs to your contact address. Integrate offline with online.

23) They use the right networks. Even though Facebook supports videos, video campaigns will do better on Youtube than on Facebook.

24) They use photos and videos. Photos and videos leave a lasting impression on peoples' minds. The best photo you can use is your logo. When you make a video, put your logo on it.

25) They have a call to action. What is the essence of a marketing campaign without having a call to action of some sort? I suggest you use your social marketing campaigns to generate leads before trying to sell anything. By the way, “signup below” and “call us now” are not the only call to action examples. “Click to view our portfolio” is an example of call to action. Your call to actions must follow a sequence; from your homepage to the last page.

Sina Weibo maybe a copycat, but definitly a smart one

2010-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Sina Weibo maybe a copycat, but is definitely a SMART one. Noteworthy is that, there are also popular grassroots accounts that are not verified but still enjoy huge community. This is valuable because it leads us to find out in details how and why these accounts become famous. Verified account is like an ID that brings natural popularity and it’s nice to have one. However, if community can be created without a verified one, that’s even nicer.

Continuing previous article on Weibo (equivalent to Twitter in China), this article takes a closers look at the top Weibo site T.sina.

Let’s cut into the biggest difference Sina Weibo to its American equivalent—verified account.

What is verified account exactly?

Verified account, like literally meaning, is the verified account identification on Sina Weibo, which according to the site, is to issue to “avoid confusion of identity”.

Look: an orange letter V will appear next to verified account .

Who can be verified?

· Popular entertainment figure

· Popular public figure in other industry

· Company, organization, media and executives

· Important news figure

Process: apply online (need to provide ID and work ID). Sina will get back in 7 days.

Personal relationship with the editors is another option. Rate to be find out.

Special function: there’s no special function for verified account and regular account (really? Any more info?).

http://t.sina.com.cn/pub/verified

Other difference to Twitter: Sina Weibo is much versatile.

All services and data are available under Sina Weibo: There’s Sina Weibo Square (微博广场), which aggregates all popular data and information: from popular topics, to the top 2,000 popular accounts in celebrity and non-celebrity category. Sina Weibo provides recommendation on friends base on users’ interest. Mobile Sina Weibo is available too. Users are able to vote, create a topic, and include pictures and videos.

Open API: Sina Weibo is an open platform. Third party APIs are available. Other functions such as group sending, IM, Weibo Group is also available.

Connect to multiple platform: Sina Weibo can be embedded into other platforms such as 163 Blogs, be included into your email, to BBS, under your signature, in QQ Space. Now we see the ambition of Sina Weibo.

Who’s popular on Sina Weibo?

Besides celebrities and public figures, pubic interest accounts are popular in non-celebrity category. See below the most popular accounts.

Celebrity	Number	Note
1. YAO Chen	4,251,950	actress
2. Xiao S.	4,039,605	hostess
3. Zhao Wei	3,856,872	actress
Non celebrity	Number	Note
1.Awkward joke	1,519,390	also popular on Renren
2. veggieg	1,334,901	NA
3.Great sayings	1,018,908	account acout good saying /idioms

Not only an information sharing platform, Sina Weibo has created a system that allows users to network, and advertisers to spend money. You can say Sina Weibo is copycat, but it's definitely a smart one.

Source: http://t.sina.com.cn/pub/verified

Weibo Groups and Guanxi!

2010-12-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Continuing last Weibo article, which mentions that Weibo is more versatile with multiple social networking functions, this article digs deeper on Weibo itself, strengthening the increasingly important role for Weibo in China by identifying the very difference between Weibo and Twitter.
Besides videos, pictures, and gaming applications, “Weibo Groups (微群)” is another function that brings this platform closer to social networking business.

About Weibo Groups
Weibo Groups are social clubs divided in 8 major categories (celebrities, industry, interests, culture, lifestyle, housing, old friends, and cities), with over a hundred subcategories. Within these categories users are allowed to create their own groups with specifically defined interests. Each group is limited to 500 users and each user is limited to 10 groups. There are both open groups (anyone can join) and closed groups (requires approval to participate as a member, but anyone can read).
What does this mean to us?
• Multiple promotional ways on Weibo itself: not only setting up accounts for our characters, Weibo Group is another place to spread the word and generate subscribers.
• Similar promotions among Weibo and other SNS: while it is clear that Weibo is a competitive threat to SNS, it is also clear to us that it’s a necessary platform that we should include in our promotional efforts, knowing that Weibo has more social networking function, our promotional practices will have more direction accordingly. Weibo has 70 million users, Renren self-reported to have 160 million users. Sina Weibo Group has launched ahead of Renren Group

How much does it cost?
While full promotional rate is not available yet, from communicating with one blogger I outreached this week, the promotion within Weibo groups that have over 10,000 fans cost minimum 500-700rmb ($75-$105)/day. These groups will promise on avg 50 RT and 50 comments.
Payment cannot always guarantee premium account, what else? Guanxi!
From former research we mentioned “verified account” on Sina Weibo, which allows over 2,000 following and is supposed to be distributed only to celebrities and business. However, from communication with industry people, “Guanxi”, “personal relationship” in Chinese, with editors enable non-celebrity figures like Xiaoxi to have verified account access as well. Is Guanxi important? Of course!
However, there are also examples showing that payment without Guanxi can guarantee everything, including subscribers. Exactly why is that? See my next article for details.

Note: Weibo is Chinese Twitter, literally means microblog.

Additional reads:
http://www.techrice.com/2010/11/27/sina-weibo-launches-groups-threatens-chinas-social-networks/
http://www.techrice.com/2010/11/07/sina-weibos-4-steps-to-dominance-in-china/

First Look at Weibo

2010-12-02T18:45:00.001-08:00

In order to find out Weibo’s role in campaigns, I examine three effective Weibo campaigns that happen recently, and identify the followings:
• Weibo+ event is most often utilized in campaigns
• Most campaigns focus on a variety of social media sites including SNS, VSS, and Weibo, intead of aiming solely on Weibo as a single platform.
• Weibo is becoming an increasing effective way to go viral. Weibo is becoming the main channel for online community to voice opinions and engage with brands. Source shows that 45.9% online users voice their opinions through Weibo during the World Cup Season. According to DCCI, China’s Weibo users will expand to over 100 million.
• Sina Weibo (t.sina) continues to be the leading Chinese microblog platform.

Furthermore, I examine the general differences between Weibo in China and the microblog in the US.
• Weibo has a focus on verified account, which is given to all celebrities and brands. “V” appears by every verified user’s Weibo entry. Weibo’s verified accounts have to be celebrities or brands.
• Weibo has multiple functions. That happens with other social media platforms in China as well. A Sina Weibo game named “Adoption”, which was launched in October, attracts 30,000 users and 100,000 Tweets in two days.
• Different to Twitter, Weibo embed pictures and videos which can be viewed without leaving the page. This is this handy for the user and provides opportunities for marketing, as brands can more easily associate visuals with entries.
• Business people on Weibo are as popular as entertainment stars. According to a blog article, In Twitter’s top ten there is not one business person; in Weibo’s there are three. Successful businesspeople are seen more like celebrities.
• Weibo has the backing of Chinese giant, Twitter doesn’t. Major Weibo is developed by major portal sites therefore are in very strong position in China.
• Top Weibo users have over 1 billion followers. According to first-hand source, it takes about 500-700 rmb/day to promote on a Weibo fans group that has over 10,000 fans. This type of fans group enable about 50 Retweets and 50 replies daily

Note: Weibo (微博) is the Chinese pronunciation microblog. Equivalent to Chinese Twitter. Therefore Weibo is sometimes called microblog.

China video site obeservations

2010-11-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

There’s a very interesting article issued in May 2010, which provide a comprehensive survey on China’s video site, and in-depth research on major video sites from three aspects: a) basic info, b) content, and c) user and advertisement.
Kind note that video site here means all the sites that typically have video-related business, and can be divided into two categories:
1) Video portal site (straight-up video site), include Youku, Tudou, 56, Ku 6, Qiyi, Joy,cn,
2) Portal website that has video function, include Sina, Tencent and Sohu.

Take-away and analysis:
• Speed, quality of the picture, and video content are three most important factors for video site selection.
• Video portal sites beat portal sites in speed, traffic and quality of the pictures. Therefore video portal sites are the way to go.
• Ku6 is the unexpected dark horse, beats competitors in picture quality, traffic and the amount of originals. These provide us guidance on platform selection.
• Different from the US, Movies and TV are the most accepted and liked program for Chinese online audience. Therefore tend to attract advertisement.
• Audience is still reluctant to typical video Ad, yet character-driver Ad is different story.

Part 1 Basic Information—video portal sites, specifically Tudou and Ku6 are the way to go
Speed—straight-up video sites are faster than portals
Portal site is slower than straight up video portal site. Reason: as trading company, major portal sites such as Sina and Sohu won’t heavily invest in upgrading server and other technologies until they see promising profit. Within video portal sites, Ku6 stands out to have the fasterst speed.

Traffic—Youku, Tudou, and Ku6 are top three
The top three sites that have the highest traffic are Youku, Tuou, and Ku6. Within portal sites, Sina and Sohu has different model—Sina focus more on news reporting, whereas Sohu’s model is more like Hulu.
Noteworthy is that Ku6’s traffic enjoy tremendous growth, mainly because the strong support from Sunda.

Part 2 Content—fierce competition among video sites, professional content is the majority.
Speed, picture quality and content are three most important factors in site selection
Speed is the most important factor in choosing video sites, 33% of the researched audience chooses speed to be the most important factor; content is the second most important factor (28%). Picture quality is the third important factor (26%). Noteworthy is that the brand value of certain site is the least important factor for audience. This means that, audience are not confined to one video site. This leads to fierce competition among video sites.
In terms of picture quality, Ku6, Sina, and Qiyi top the list, Youku is in the bottom. The reason is that Youku needs to control cost given its highest user base.
All video sites categorize its movie and TV content by region. Youku and Joy.cn has the highest percentage of content that’s from Hollywood and Europe. Tudou has the biggest percentage of Asian content.
Professional vs. Original
Ku 6 stands out to have a stronger content team. Youku stands out to have the highest amount of user upload and user interaction.
Out of all the audience researched, 39% of them are most interested in new movies and TV, second interested content is entertainment and variety show (10%), third interested content is sports. Different than YouTube, originals are the least popular category (3.7%).

Part 3 Advertisement—advertisers favor professional and authorized content, audience needs time to accept
From advertiser’s perspective, Ku6 and Sina attract advertisers most for its support for high-definition, and authorized professional videos; Youku and Tudou are considered to be risker in copyright due to the mix of both professional and original content. Video advertisement is well-accepted among advertisesr; however, users are not so excited about video advertisement—33% of the audiences researched indicate that they cannot accept Ad on video site.

Access
In terms of how to access video sites, the most common way is search engine (26%); website links is in the second place (25%); advertisement is the least common way to access these sites (0.4%).

Source:
http://www.chinaz.com/Webmaster/Topsite/05251163002010.html
www.kejixun.com

Friday China Ad Industry Mashup

2010-08-27T15:27:00.001-07:00

- Euro RSCG continues momentum in new business

- Continue fast change in agency industry

- Branded TV drama rated 100 million views on Tudou

MEC's Dominic Ng to lead AB InBev at MediaCom Shanghai Aug 27,2010
Dominic Ng, who was most recently national managing director at MEC China, has been internally transferred within GroupM to become the managing partner of MediaCom Shanghai to lead the AB InBev team.
Under Ng's leadership, MediaCom Shanghai won AB InBev’s media pitch. The contract is reportedly worth US$190 million (RMB1.3 billion) and will take effect on 1 October.Ng has already stepped into his new role. Michelle Ko, president MEC China, will take over Ng’s role in MEC Guangzhou as a temporary arrangement.Apart from AB inBev, MediaCom China also added GAP to their client portfolio earlier this year.
Recently MEC has been awarded Mercedes-Benz China's digital buying business, effective July 10th 2010.
http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/230203,mecs-dominic-ng-to-lead-ab-inbev-at-mediacom-shanghai.aspx

Media veteran Frank Lin resigns from McDonald's after five years, effective in October Aug 27, 2010
According to an industry source senior the former marketing director will join a new media company based in Shanghai. The company is still looking for his successor.
Lin had held various senior media director roles with agencies like FCB Guangzhou, MediaCom China and Hong Kong, and JWT Shanghai.
http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/230171,media-veteran-frank-lin-resigns-from-mcdonalds-after-five-years.aspx

Nike Hong Kong promotes Amy Wu as territory commercial director Aug 27, 2010
Amy Wu is marketing director for the past three and half years, to the role of territory commercial director leading the Hong Kong office.
http://en.campaignchina.com/Article/230192,nike-hong-kong-promotes-amy-wu-as-territory-commercial-director.aspx

Cupples steps in to fill OMD's regional role Aug 27, 2010
Omnicom Media Group's (OMG) Asia Pacific CEO Barry Cupples will add OMD regional duties to his current role as Maggie Choi departs. Choi has been with the company for 13 years and has decided to leave to spend time on personal interests. Her last day is 1 November.
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/21728

Aegis preps for a convergent media world Aug 27, 2010
Aegis is restructuring its media offering under five "power brands" Carat, Vizeum, Isobar, iProspect and Posterscope, according to chief executive officer Jerry Buhlmann.
Speaking at the announcement of its first half results, where it saw a strong return to profits in the first six months of 2010, Buhlmann said Aegis is moving towards a "well organized" and "competitive product suite" and will be eyeing companies in the faster-growing regions and markets, in particular China and Russia.
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/21736

Euro RSCG wins cooking oil Bohi branding duties Aug 27, 2010
The agency is tasked with brand positioning, communication strategy and creative development for Bohi's main cooking oil brand Gourmet Expert as well as brand architecture across Bohi's other cooking oil brands.
Mason Lin is the CEO of Euro RSCG Greater China; Edward Su is the managing director of Euro RSCG Shanghai.

http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/21730
Unilever branded TV drama ‘Unbeatable' rakes in 100 million views on Tudou Aug 27,2010
Tudou announced that ‘Unbeatable', a 36-part branded drama series for Clear Shampoo, has been played over 100 million times on Tudou.com since its 5 August premiere.
According to Tudou, it is the second drama series that has passed the 100 million threshold, following 'The Myth', which was launched at the beginning of this year.
The drama has been aired across six major satellite TV channels and six web sites. PHD China is the media agency behind the campaign.
http://en.campaignchina.com/Article/230176,unilever-branded-tv-drama-rakes-in-100-million-views-on-tudou.aspx?eid=22&edate=20100827&utm_source=20100827&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&eaddr=msun@thoughtfulmedia.com

Taobao Mall calls media pitch in China Aug 27, 2010
OMD, MEC and ZenithOptimedia are believed to have taken part in the presentations yesterday.
Earlier this month Taobao signed a deal with Adidas to open its first online flagship store on the B2C e-commerce platform. Similarly, Uniqlo joined forces with Taobao to set up a flagship store supporting its e-commerce shoppers in the mainland during April last year.
Taobao announced at the start of the year to launch authorized offline stores to reach out to consumers unable to shop online in China. There are plans to deploy over 30,000 more stores in communities and schools across the country before the end of 2010.
http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/230230,taobao-mall-calls-media-pitch-in-china.aspx

Thursday China Ad Industry Mashup

2010-08-26T01:40:00.000-07:00

I am going to start a China Ad industry mashup everyday starting from today.

Today there’s useful info on Levi’s first outside USA line Denizen

Bates 141 gets new hotel clients

Personnel change for Starwood China

Levi’s reach out 10 bloggers in Asia for Denizen promotion Aug 20,2010

Levi’s recruits ten unpaid bloggers to represent the brand’s target audience, working within their own social networking spheres over a 100-day period, sharing experiences and thoughts. They are not linked to an official Denizen website.

Levi Strauss hires MPG for dENiZEN launch Aug 25, 2010

MPG China, part of Havas Media, has been appointed by Levi Strauss to handle the launch of dENiZEN and will provide dENiZEN full media services including strategy, planning and buying. Thomas Wong is CEO of MPG Greater China.

Bates 141 wins 3M's Filtrete branding and creative duties Aug 25, 2010

Josephine Tsai, managing director of Bates 141 Shanghai, said they are now creating the backbone of Filtrete’s branding strategy for China.

Starwood names new marketing director for two hotels in Tibet Aug 26, 2010

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has named hotel veteran Elfa Cleofe as the complex director of sales and marketing for the St. Regis Lhasa Resort and Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa.

Six unintended iPad careers

2010-05-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

These six unintended iPad careers concluded by Retrevo is incredibly hilarious and sarcastic, but at the same time, surprisingly true. For full article, click here.

1. The iPad au pair aka iPad sitter. Apparently iPad is not low maintenance enough for you to dump it in the purse, to throw it on the couch, or to wear it in the pocket. This iPair can hold your iPad while you take you kids to school, driving, eat greasy food, and talking on your iPhone.

2. iPad smuggle station attendant, those who make your iPad shining and squeaky clean again, usually can be found at gas station and car washes.

3. iPad fashion designet. If you're a budding designer inspired by the visually shocking and unusual accessories worn by somebody like Lady Gaga, consider a career in wearable iPads.

4. The iPad custody lawyer. Unless you are the only member in your household, chances are, everyone in your family will want to use an iPad. This trained specialist will help bring peace to your family by mediating who gets to use the device, when, and where.

5. The “AppMaker”. The iPad matchmaker that will pair you with apps that will actually help you in your own daily life.

6. The iPad addiction counselor. For those who have somewhat iPad addiction syndrome, like expecting doors to open, with the flick of a finger; or talking to your kids with thumbs, these people are there for you.

Apart from kicks and giggles, what we can learn from these six funny careers? Instead of a low-maintenance servant, iPad is a luxury that requires lots of your attention and attracts lots of awing eyeballs from people around you, and in return, brings to you the upscale feeling that you cannot obtain from consuming other mobile device. You need to baby sit it, “skincare” it, suffering from your arm sore while holding it on the go, and spend unlimited extra $$$ on making it feel, listen, look, type, and carry better. You love it and hate it.

So what does this say to iPad marketer?

Apparently, re-illustrate the value of iPad as an additional device that revolutionizes consumers’ lifestyle. Apple is a name that has evoked dramatic emotional response from enthusiast user base. Combining Apple’s strong brand value, the position of iPad should be upscale, powerful, elegant, and media consuming device.

What does this still say to consumer?

Now that you have a better idea of iPad, what would you do next? Some may think they are clever enough not jumping into Apple’s black hole right away, some may hold their breath for a bit until the good time to come, some, no matter how much they will spend on iPad, may still totally buy into iPad for what it is. Go for it! You don’t need one, but you may terribly want one!

Youku News Update

2010-05-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Youku goes to film

Youku is going to partner with CFGC (China Film Group Corporation) for 10 short films, which are expected to go in shooting in May 2010. This partnership has already attracted well-known directors including FENG Xiaogang, and NING hao, formulating a theatre+ digital double distribution platform.

According to Wei, Senior Vice President of Youku, 2007 to 2009 is the preliminary stage of online video content creation, and online wepisode prove to be the key product for Youku’s online videos. Realizing that online videos are informative, interactive, and entertaining, Youku is going to create more partnerships like this which bridge different platforms and cover diverse audience groups.

Youku launches independent video search site

According to Chinatechnews.com, Chinese video website Youku.com(优酷) has launched an independent video search website Soku.com(搜酷), which allows users to search for videos on Youku.com as well as those on other websites. translated into Chines, soku means cool search. The launch of this new video search website aims to aid Youku.com's competition with Baidu.com's newly launched video subsidiary Qiyi.com(奇异), which means extremely different. here’s a sneak peak of both "Cool Search" and "Extremely Different":

Who else is there left to...Twitter?

2010-04-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

Everybody goes to Twitter: marketers, bloggers, entrepreneurs, managers, actors, actresses, businesses, and organizations. After Dalai Lama joined Twitter in February, the controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez just started tweet about Bolivarian revolution and invited other famous figures to join the Twitter board, Fidel Castro is on the invite list. At least Chavez hasn't gone that far by using "evite" to send out invitation. No, you know I'm just kidding.

Although only 2 Tweets, by the time this article were posted, Chavez’s Twitter account already attracted 119,392 followers.

If Twitter keeps developing like this, it has the potential to be the new social directory book, where we are able to find anybody at any time about any Twitter-related information.

Check Mashable for details on this news.

Social Networking Habits Across Asia-Pacific

2010-04-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

comScore recently released a report regarding the social networking activities in the Asia-Pacific region. This report offered valuable insight on the social networking habit across Asian-Pacific markets, well, almost across—China was not included in this report, I guess, partly because that the regulated Internet environment has make it hard to measure. Here are the findings:

More than half of the total online population in the Asia-Pacific region visited a social networking site in February 2010. By regions, social networking penetration was the highest in Philippines, followed by Australia and Indonesia. Philippines also showed the highest level of engagement on social networking sites averaging 5.5 hours per visitor.

Facebook stood out as the top social network sites across the majority of individual markets in the region. This showcased that the Asia-Pacific region exhibited significantly more individual market differentiation than in other global regions. Facebook was the social networking leader in such markets as Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Vietnam, while in other regions competing brands enjoyed brand preference. For example, Orkut stood out as the top social networking site in India and local player Mixi.jp led in Japan.

Here is the entire report.

For Job Hunters: When it's Hard, Take a Breath, Find the Spinach

2010-04-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

For a lot of graduates like me, job hunting is a long dragging process. The stressful, tired, lost, and nervous feelings kick in, and we are drowned in the uncertainty of not knowing whether our works and expectations are leading somewhere. Thinking from the big picture, there are a lot of things in life like job-hunting that needs us to have the right mentality.

So what to do?

1. Enjoy the moment. What happened may not be ideal, but that’s what life has given us. Things can not always go the way we want. Try to do everything right, but keep in mind that doing everything right doesn’t guarantee us a job offer. Accept it, respond, act, and move on. It is by accepting the gift of present so that we enjoy the moment to the fullest without being caught up in the future or the past too much. Enjoy it while we can.

2. Be content, and do something "fun". Do what need to be done, and at the same time, do something exciting, either by dedicating ourselves into a project, or by creating something interesting. As long as we are making progress, although it’s not the ultimate result we want to achieve, we should be happy and content. That way we’ll have fun in this process. You never know, something even better might be revealed.

3. Keep the hope. This may sounds cliché but it is true. This is just a process. Our dream is like point B and we are in point A. In order for us to go to point B, a lot of times we may have to take a detour by going to point C first. But as long as we know the direction we are going and we know that point B is up ahead, we are doing the right thing.

Just like Popeye needs spinach to feel the power, we need “spinach” in life to keep us going. Take a deep breath, enjoy the moment, be present, be persistent, be confident, the Spinach is out there.

What happened after David After Dentist?

2010-04-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

As the famous YouTube video “David After Dentist” cracks us up, David’s dad posted another video named “David After Dentist 2”—never before seen footage of David After Dentist, including David before Dentist. Although this never before seen footage only obtained 2,011 clicks by the time this article was posted, DAD2 will sure attract millions of online clicks, and possibly even become another viral sensation, given the huge popularity of DAD 1--apart from the 57 millions views online, David After Dentist has been featured on various mainstream media.

More importantly, we see another successful case of online content monetization—according to Mashable, David’s family has earned enough money to support little D’s college education from selling merchandize and participating in YouTube partner programs. Who knows what else will come to David’s family after posting this second video. So let’s post it first and watch what happens?

5 Best Chinese Movies of the Last 20 Years

2010-04-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

To continue my last post, I compiled a short list of Chinese movies that I consider very much worthwhile to check out. By Chinese movies, I mean movies produced in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. To me, a classic Chinese movie is an art by itself. Each of them is different and you have to watch to catch the essence of it. A lot of people have a mis-conception thinking that Chinese movie is all about Kung-Fu. It is not! Kung fu is only an element in the movie just like the music and dancing in Bollywood, the special effect in Hollywood. I have nothing against Ang Lee’s direction and his movies—as a matter of fact, I think he is a great director. But movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is more like a “upscale P. F. Changs” in the movie world, and can not represent Chinese movie. This list, although short, may give you an idea of the Chinese movie without giving Kung-Fu.

1. Farewell My Concubine: a drama of love, friendship, loyalty, culture, violence, and beauty. It depicts old time China through the lives of two men, one woman and traditional Chinese opera.

Director Chen, Kaige; Cast: Leslie Cheung; Fengyi Zhang; Gong, Li

2. Comrades, Almost a Love Story: A very fine and cultural movie. It is not a sugar flicks; it is a social commentary that depicts Hong Kong people’s fear and uncertainty towards mainland

China

. A bit understanding of the social context of this movie would help a lot in understanding this sweet and touching almost a love story.

Director: Peter Chan; Cast: Maggie Cheung; Leon Lai; Eric Tsang

3. Raise the Red Lantern: this is China’s most famous director Zhang Yimou’s very early movie, as well as the most known movie in the western world. Gong Li became famous after this one. Haunting, slow but intense. Enough said, enjoy!

Director: Zhang, Yimou; Cast: Gong, Li; Cao, Zhengyin; Cao, Cuifen

4. Mountain Patrol: Kekexili: a heavy crime thriller telling a story of Tibetan voluntary rangers against all odds trying to save Tibetan antelopes. Beautifully shot, real acting, harsh reality, great cruelty, and deep thinking.

Director: Lu, Chuan; Cast: Duobuji; Zhang Lei; Qi Liang

5. Crazy Stone: This is probably regarded to be the best comedy in recent years in

China

. It is a smart, funny, dark, and gritty comedy. Shot in Chongqing, a regional city in South West China known for its spicy cuisine, fog, and quick-tempered girls, it is a film about normal people in regional China.

Director:Hao Ning; Cast: Huang Bo; Tao Guo; Hao Ning

You can find all of them on Netflix. As always, feel free to add this list.

20 Best Bollywood Movies of the Last 10 Years

2010-04-19T00:22:00.001-07:00

Below is an extracted list of 20 best Bollywood movies of last 10 years from the Indians Abroad. While I don’t agree with all the items on the list (Slumdog Millonaire? And where is Three Idiots and Wake Up Sid?), at the time when I have my Bollywood cravings again, this list at least offers me some suggestions and inspirations on what to see next.

1. Lagaan (2001). Of course it is one of the best! I’ve heard so much about Lagaan, what am I waiting for?!

2. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001).

3. Rang de Basanti(2006)

4. Devdas (2002)

5. Veer Zaara (2004)

6. Singh is Kinng (2008)

7. Slumdog Millionaire (2008): I don’t agree on this one as I don’t consider it to be a Bollywood movie.

8. Monson Wedding (2001): Mira Nair’s fine work.

9. Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006)

10. Ghajini (2008)

11. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)

12. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008): This is my first time to watch Shahrukh Khan’s performance, and then find out that he’s pretty much always that shy, kind-hearted Suri Sahn whenever he’s trying to be goofy (don’t hate me, SRK fans!)

13. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)

14. Black (2005)

15. Taare Zameen Par (2007)

16. Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000)

17. Om Shanti Om (2007)

18. Love Aaj Kal(2009)

19. Koi… Mil Gaya (2003)

20. Doom and Doom 2

Feel free to share your thoughts on this list.

Tech updates-iPad delays int'l sale, Twitter goes to ads

2010-04-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Two News to share with you:

IPad's sales once again prove that we should never underestimate Steve Jobs vision and Apple's marketing. According to New York Times, Apple Delays its international release to May 10 due to the "surprising" U.S. deman--the company has shipped more than 500,000 iPads during the first week and expects 1.25 million for the quarter ending in June. Do you own iPad, what's your experience?

Facing the pressure of how to turn online influence into profit, Twitter, for the first time, attempt to make money from its service--in Tuesday, Twitter launched an advertising service called Promoted Tweets, which allows advertisers display their tweets in the top of the search result. Twitter's this ad model is not foreign to users. Google's search ads allow companies place small text ads above and beside search result. Yet this move is different than Google's model. Promoted Tweets must have a higher standard, baring in mind that they are not ads, they are tweets, according to Starbucks's spokesman. Thus, company's Promoted Tweets should resonant with users, which encourage them to retweet, replay, and discuss.

Mother Review: You Don't Mess with the Context

2010-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Kim Hye-ja, Weon Bin

Rating: **** out of *****, you don’t mess with the Asian context

Kim is a window who has long been taking care of his son, Do-jun, a 27 year old adult who is amnesiac and mentally slow. Do-jun unfortunately convicted of crime in a high school girl murder case. Mother, who tries all means to protect his son, went on a mission to prove his son’s innocence. As her investigation began, the story behind the murder case started to unfolded.

Here, the singular character’s love is so identifiable, and at the same time, so intense that it almost seems distorted. What’s depressing is, Do-jun constantly failed to understand and appreciate mother’s love, injecting much pathos to this story.

This South Korean film is unique in the way it builds the story. Instead of directly telling what happened, it leaves audience much guessing under context. Intense was created under the un-seen and un-told.

My favorite scene is when the mother fed herb medicine to Do-jun while he was peeing on the street. It is hard for anybody to come up with such a picture with such bizarre arrangement. The cut intensifies the way the story was build.

Besides, it is well-acted. Kim Hye Ja, who plays the mother, might not be well-known in Western world. But having been in the industry for 40 years, Kim is a luminous and brilliant actress who serves as a benchmark for many to inspire to.

I almost didn’t recognize the lead actor Weon Bin, one of Korean’s most popular and beloved actors. Weon abandons his Prince Charming boyish image and lends his role a lot of layers, convincing me that “Weon can act”.

About the director Bong Joon-ho: I give him even more respect after watching Mother, and meanwhile find the almost typical style in his film. Country setting, grayish background, high school girl as victims, mysterious killers, and mentally illness are common tags Bong would like to use.

This is a seemingly slow but actually intense and striking film. As the story ends, you probably will find yourself sitting in the theater, shocked, with a feeling of a bottle broken, a bottle that filled with bitter, sad, question, sympathy, and probably goose bumps.

Taking on Renminbi?

2010-03-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

My friend shared this interesting NY Times article criticizing China’s currency policy and how America should respond to it, corresponding to the Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao’s announcement on Sunday’s press conference. Interestingly, the comments following this article mainly voiced disagreements. While I agree with columnist Krugman’s saying on undervalued Chinese currency—Renminbi, I do have some different thought.

There is a reason why America has not been playing hardball in China, because both know that it would lead to a lose-lose situation—China will get hurt, on top of that, both American companies and consumers will get hurt badly. Think of how many American corporations have manufacture factories in China; during this economic contraction when every company is losing money, Wal-mart is one of the few retailers growing in revenue, and think of how many goods in Wal-mart are made in

China

I’m not trying to protect

China

. But truly I don’t think that putting surcharge on imports is a sustainable solution. There are still great amount of Chinese who are still live in poverty or barely survive.

China

has its own issues, way deeper and harder than lots of people expected. America, China, every country has to protect its own interest --China just does what a country is supposed to do. So of course China will not devalue its currency. That being said, start to think of who is ultimately responsible for American’s economy, to identify the real problems and to fix that first might be the real solution.

Now what’s your thought?

Post Oscar Movie Stats

2010-03-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

These are some statistics from a Hollywood infographics, some of which are educational, some of which make you go “oh wow”.

Guess which one is the most expensive film ever made?

Statistics highlights from behind the scene:

2009 average movie ticket price was $ 7.50

Movie is still Number 1 live entertainment (1474.7 million visitors), followed by amusement park (347 million visitors) and sporting events (141 million visitors).

Warner Bros. enjoys the largest market share (20%), followed by Paramount (14%) and Sony/Colombia (14%).

Top earnings for Hollywood in 2009: 1.Michael Bay, 2. Steven Spielberg, 3 Roland Emmerich, 4. James Cameron, 5. Todd Phillips, 6. Daniel Radcliffe, 7. Ben Stiller, 8. Tom Hanks

The most expensive film ever made was Spider Man 3, $258 million, Avatar was not-- production cost was $237 million, the rest was from private investor

The least expensive film ever made is 2008’s Colin ($ 70), filmed on a mini-DV camera, edited at home PC, actors hired via Facebook, the film was screened at Sundance

The American motion picture and television industry support 2.5 million jobs which includes over 115,000 businesses.

Shutter Island: talking about real art

2010-03-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams

Rating: ***** out of *****, the ultimate well-made movie

It is a film that is so well-crafted that you start to understand a level of perfection.
It is a film that is so deep that it requires multiple anatomies to fully appreciate it.

It is a film that can be so terrifying that you still feel the chill afterwards.

What impresses me the most is the way it intervenes reality into the play. In DiCaprio’s delusions, human beings are used as experiment items, and that was what happened with the Nazis in real life. Delusion comes from reality.

In the end, the question marks have been answered, the stories have been unfolded; but the process of revealing the story and the structure the story was build upon is what makes this real art even more intriguing and invaluable.

It delves into human psychology, and reflects the cruel reality. More than a beloved movie, it is a masterpiece I pay my respect to.

Talking about almost flawless, it is Shutter Island.

Happy Lantern Festival, and don’t worry, it’s Holi!

2010-03-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

I still have this vivid picture: I stood in ice cold weather, glaring at a gorgeous and colorful ice castle, eating sugar-coated haws, one of my favorite snacks. I was so intrigued by the craftsmanship of the arts in front of me and completely forgot I’m standing in a winter weather that is below zero degree! That is one of my most unforgettable childhood memories. That was the Lantern Festival.

There’s crazy coincidence among several festivals this year. First the Chinese New Year is on the same day as Valentine’s Day. Now the Chinese Lantern Festival is on the same day as the start day of Holi! While it was February 28th and it has already passed, better late than nothing, I still think it is worth to celebrate, at least in words.

The Lantern Festival- did you raise the lantern?

The Lantern Festival(元宵节) is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month and marks the end of Chinese New Year festivities. The Lantern Festival dates back to the Han dynasty in 2000 years ago. Why the 15th day? It is the first night to see full moon. According to the Chinese tradition, at the very beginning of a new year, when there’s a bright full moon hanging in the sky, there should be thousands of lanterns hung out for people to appreciate.

So what do people do to celebrate?

Lantern, of course, is the most common items you see during celebration. Some cities in North China, like my hometown Jilin, even make lanterns from cold ice! One of the biggest excitement and expectations for kids from northern China like me is to watch ice lantern exhibition. The skills people make ice lanterns are magnificent. I still remember the picture of a huge and colorful ice town that constitutes with ice buildings, ice animals, ice bridges, ice shops, ice everything, all of which are made out of ice cubes!

Besides, master craftsman construct multi-shaped paper lanterns that resemble butterflies, dragons, birds, dragonflies, and many other animals and creatures. But the main color is red. People will try to solve the puzzles on the lanterns and eat Yuan Xiao (元宵) (glutinous rice ball) and get all their families united in the joyful atmosphere, like what I used to do when I was a kid. Besides, parade, dragon and lion dances, firecrackers, and watching festival celebration gala are part of the activities.

What do people eat?

The glutinous rice puddings, also called Yuan Xiao, are the main dish. Yuan Xiao is made of sweet rice flour into sticky glutinous balls often rolled around a filling of sesame, peanuts, vegetables, or meat, mainly sweet. It is cooked in water or soup. The round shape symbolizes wholeness and unity.

Holi- Bura na mano, Holi hai!

I’m not as familiar with Holi as with the Lantern Festival. All the information is second hand. Feel free to though your knowledge on the festival of color.

According to wikipedia, Holi is a spring festival celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and others. It is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as “Holika”. According to Holifestival.org, having been celebrated for centuries, Holi in early days was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon was worshiped.

Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month, which usually falls in the later part of February or March. This year’s Holi festival starts on February 28 and continues for 2 days till March 1, 2010.

Celebrations begin the night before with the burning of bonfires, also known as Holika, and go on the next day with people showering colored powder and colored water at each other. Traditionally, the throwing of natural colored powders which was made by herbs has a medicinal significance—to combat the viral fever and cold in the spring season. I have seen pictures of people throwing all kinds of colors at each other and just the moment is fun enough to watch!

So what about food? Sweet desserts and corn are offered to the god of fire during the bonfire; Kanji, gujiy, Khoya are all delightful sweets and drinks.

Looking at the rituals and celebrations of the Lantern Festival and Holi, interestingly but not surprisingly, both the Lantern Festival and Holi bring lots of fun, music, play, and color of the year. They both celebrate the coming of spring based on lunar calendar, and both related with the traditional mythology. Once again it is proved that Chinese and Indian culture shares a lot of similarities. Once again, we learnt from our ancestors that spring is the beginning of a year, is the time of music, color, food, and play, and is a promise of joy, celebration, fun, and prosperity.

Happy Lantern Festival! And don’t worry, it’s Holi!

My Name is Khan: About Humanism and Love

2010-02-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

Director: Karan Johar

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol

Rating: *** out of *****

The main character Rizwan Khan grew up as a kid with Asperger’s syndrome, which brought him problems dealing with people, intimate hugs, yellow color, loud noises, and crowded spaces. He was taught by his mom at a very young age that there’s no difference in terms of the superior of one religion over another. There are only good people and bad people. Khan moved to America to look for his brother after his mother’s decease. There he met his lover and future wife Mandira, an Indian single mom who works at a salon in San Francisco. They formed a family and lived a happy life. But everything changed after 9/11. Sam, Mandira’s beloved son and Khan’s only friend, was beaten to death in a vicious race attack because his taken on surname Khan. Mandira was devastated and blamed Sam’s death to her marriage with Khan—the name Khan brings discrimination to the whole family. Khan went on a quest for humanism and justification to meet U.S. president and tell him that “my name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist”, while Mandira dedicated every effort to justify Sam’s death. Khan’s insistence attracted attention from national media and the president. He and Mandira eventually met US’s first African American president Obama in front of thousands of people and voiced “my name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist”.

On the whole, My Name is Khan delivers a strong message of love and humanity through a love story. By revealing American’s prejudice to Muslim, this movie tries to deliver that Muslims aren’t terrorists. No religion, including Islam, support violence. On one hand, Johar ditched the old masala movies style which usually embodies mindless songs, group dances, cliché love stories, and silly comic performances. Instead, MNIK transfers a very deep message and raises awareness.

However, I understand exactly what the movie tries to say but wasn’t impressed by the way how it said. Besides New York, this is the second film I’ve seen about Indians living in a paranoid America. It is interesting to see how Bollywood understand Indians’ living reality in America from a non-Indian, non-American perspective. But same as New York, I see a strong message but also awkward affectation in delivering that message—it tries too hard to combine too many random incidents and moments together that it feels unnatural. All the elements, not tightly connected, seem to be affectedly and purposely thrown into the movie so that it flows to the ultimate feel-good ending. Additionally, I wasn’t impressed by Shahrukh Khan’s performance-- for his performance as Rizwan Khan, he did everything right but not splendid. Maybe I was expecting more from him.

My Name is Khan has the best director and filmmaker, high-profile Bollywood stars, international appeal, and Fox Searchlight’s international distribution, all of which contribute to the film’s commercial success. Overall, My Name is Khan is not a flawless movie. Granted this movie will have far-reaching influence due to its theme, it is recommended only if you want to see a not-so-Bollywood Bollywood film with high profile casts and is nothing too impressive but just properly done.

Research on entertainment games and educational technologies-to be continued

2010-02-21T01:49:00.000-08:00

While I was doing some research on video game educational technologies, I came across a study by Stanford School of Medicine. It offers insight on game playing experience from a neural reaction perspective, and further adds weight to gender issues. In the study, researchers reveal the neural processes that happen during game experience. The study notes that video games stimulate reward regions of brain in men more than women, indicating that acquiring territories in video games is more rewarding for men than for women The more territory they gained, the more activation they have, the more rewarding they feel, the more urge they have to conquer more territory. The better physical and psychological satisfaction explains why males are more attracted by video games than female, and why most computer games that popular among males are territory or aggressive games that involve violence.

Some scholars offer the sociability effect of video games, revealing video game’s surprisingly positive impact on improving players’ social skills. Although I agree with the literature on this point to certain extent, the category of games that are played by audience is also crucial in determining whether the effect is positive or not. For example, console games such as Wii and guitar hero allow multiple players to be physically present while playing, therefore encourage social interaction; however other computer games such as World of Warcraft, one of the most well-received online role-playing game, involve only a controlled amount of real-world interaction—in most circumstances, players assume the roles of characters and perform characters’ physical actions by operating through computer.

Additionally, there are some other literatures indicating that how educational video games improve performance and learning ability. A recent study on human brain suggests that the size of a specific brain region determines the performance of video game. Although not necessarily the only reason, the study indicates that the bigger the size, the better performance the players achieve. Note worthy is that it’s possible to enhance this brain region by training. Thus educational video games can be and should be encouraged to utilize to enlarge human brain region, and thus improve performances during other learning tasks and activities.

It raises a broad question: how parents, schools, game developers, government, legal institutions, and all the relevant parties can collaborate to create a healthy and harmonious gaming environment that brings both entertainment and education. This further makes me ponder maybe a better incentive system should be considered that encourages gaming companies to develop something that’s not only profitable, but also educational.

Case study on Youtube

2010-02-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I went to a digital media forum discussing how to navigate the shifting landscape of digital media ecosystem. We always learn how digital media seems to benefit and connect users like never before--enable users to communicate wherever we are and whenever we want it. It is interesting to hear the discussions on how to utilize this benefit and create a viable business model that ensures a win-win situation between consumers and businesses. This makes me further ponder on the example of Youtube.

There are still enormous controversies and debates over the business model of Youtube: despite all the theoretical popularity, Youtube’s revenue still can not cover its cost. Several market researches showcase Youtube's revenue for 2009 ranges from highest $500 million to the lowest $120 million. Yet accordingly to Multichannel News, Youtube’s cost, including bandwidth costs, content licensing aggrements, hardware needs and other expanses reach over $700 million in 2009, way over its revenue.

Thus the question comes to how to turn the traffic into physical monetization. As Youtube still has to earn most of its revenues from advertising, the suggestion is to create more professional production which can be monetized to drive more advertisers. Luckily, we are seeing Youtube moving to this direction. According to New York Times, this January, Youtube dipped its toes in online film rental market by making five movies available for rent. Note worthy is that the all the five distributed items are independent films. Youtube is satisfied with the result it achieved given limited amount of rental films and limited distribution time frame. What this new distribution model say to independent filmmakers? Youtube is still testing the water, but this attempt of charging feature films signifies Youtube's shifting to a more commercial viable direction.

Yelper!

2010-01-29T02:51:00.001-08:00

Inspired by Panda, I start to yelp.

Yes, you yelper!

msun.yelp.com

Review of 3 Idiots

2010-01-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

This movie and Wake Up Sid are two superlative Bollywood movies I’ve ever seen.

There are many outstanding elements that bring this movie to recommendation list.

To begin with, it attracts attention from the start, which I think is very important to a movie. In general, this is the first Bollywood movie that lasts for more than 2 hours without feeling dragging. It’s enlightening, inspiring, emotional, heart-warming, entertaining, and thought-provoking. The international appeal helps me understand the film. Surprisingly I didn’t find myself hard to get the humor at all and I laughed my heart out the whole time, especially when Kareena Kapoor joked about the name of Gujurati food, and when those three friends visited Raju’s family, eating Raju family’s cooking after watching Raju’s mom scratching his Dad. In addition, the realities showcased in the film are similar to what happened in China so I find myself easily related to the story—girls are doctor-to-be, boys are engineers for sure, kids live under parents’ high expectations, and the whole generation lives under high pressure.

The scene is beautifully shot; the acting is outstanding.

Although some part is cheesy and typical Bollywood masala, some part is unrealistic --the baby birth part is really pushing it, and the kissing scene is really awkward and not necessary, overall it is a very impressive and rich-of-personality Bollywood movie. I recommend life-loving people to check it out. You’ll end up walking out the theatre with a smile on your face.

Background information

Cast:

Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani

Aamir Khan: married to Kiran Rao. I can’t believe he’s 44 already. He’s leading actor in Lagaan, another Bollywood movie I really want to check out as well. He gives filmmaking a redefinition by his unconventional film-making method. He’s married to Kiran Rao

Director:

Rajkumar Hirani, Indian director, screenwriter, and film editor. Before 3 Idiots, he’s best known for Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, both of which are worth seeing.

Flow of consciousness

2010-01-09T08:30:00.001-08:00

What makes human relationships unique? It's expectations, that expectation from others and others to you. Human relationships is not built on logic, technology and should not be. It is that sense of security that you can only get from your family, your best friends, and your other half. It is that somebody whom makes you sleepless, it is the first person you call when you are in trouble and knowing that he/she will be there for you no matter what, it is the number you can always remember even without phone book, it is tons of troublesomeness and still enjoying it, it is that level of intimacy that makes everybody else envious. That is what makes human relationship beautiful and unique, right?

Review of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring: It is Every Man's Story

2010-01-07T02:01:00.000-08:00

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring tells a story, and more importantly a philosophy of life, WORDLESSLY.

In spring, the Buddhist monastery punished the young boy by tying rock to his back. I realized later on that it is not only about do good to the animals, it is also a philosophy that life is a circle, deeds we do to others will come to us sooner or later.

When it comes to spring again,I was shocked to see the resemblance between the aging monk and the already deceased master, and it simultaneously hit me, opening up my understanding of the whole movie—the circle of life. It is a beautifully done film-just like a Chinese wash painting. What's more the music played in later half of the movie not only blends perfectly into the winter scene but strengthens the storyline itself.

Besides the slow pace and the tranquil setting, the use of door inside monastery’s room, the appearance of different animals, and the floating gate in the middle of the water are all symbolic. In the winter season, the fact that the lady’s face never showed provide mystical feeling to the whole.

It is a man’s story of lust, guilt, corruption, repentance and redemption, and it is every man’s story.

Brief Review of The Fall

2010-01-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Directed by Tarsem Singh, presented by David Fincher and Spike Jonze, The Fall is a unique and seriously –made movie, and at the same time a personal work, as you can see from the movie and the feature that it infuses Singh’s emotion and style. After watching it, I feel it weird, funny, beautiful. It is brilliant in it’s own way and can not be duplicated. The acting is incredible genuine. In my opinion, the way the movie tells the story has surpassed the story itself and it is more of what this movie about. Some people like it, some don’t. I guess the fact that lots of Indian ingredients infused in it definitely helps attract my attention the whole time (you know I always like the smell of Masala). And I can relate and resonant some scenes from Avatar, such as the African Voodoo scene where they heal the body and get directions. Although I find it a bit loose close to the end, it is a must-see!

New Year's Reading List

2009-12-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
Shantaram by Geogery David Roberts

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Feel free to add.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

2009-12-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Last night was S Curson's Christmas house party.

Keywords: fondue, mac n cheese, wine, champagne, cupcakes, chocolate and lots of sweets, Christmas tree, gifts, lots of gifts, love actually, good companies.

This is the first Christmas I spend in LA, and first one that I spend with a family. I love the girls, who build the family together.

From getting the Christmas tree in the pouring rain, to decorating the stockings with surprise, from writing wishes on Christmas cards, to wrapping blessings into gift papers. All of these are full of fun and expectation, promising a bright 2010. I ♥ Christmas.

Last but not least, my new favorite Christmas song- Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt.

Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me

I've been an awful good girl
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, an 52 convertible too, light blue
I'll wait up for you dear
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun I've missed
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Next year I could be just as good
If you'd check off my Christmas list
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, I wanna yacht and really that's not a lot
I've been an angel all year
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa honey, one thing I really do need, the deed
To a platinum mine
Santa honey, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, I'm filling my stocking with a duplex, and checks
Sign your 'X' on the line
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring
I don't mean a phone
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight

Today's Translation of To Let Go

2009-12-16T13:01:00.001-08:00

Speaking of control, it’s a matter of only worrying about what I can do, and accepting that I can’t. I can’t change other people, so don’t even try to.

This is the word of the day that I keep in mind: while accepting that the world is out of control, I accept that the world is wonderfully unpredictable, wild, and exciting.

To let go is one of my apothegm and I find it echo with my belief. Today my translation for that is: every time I find myself frustrated, stop and breathe. Remember that I don’t have to control others because I can not. Love others for who they are, for their humanness.

First Time Eating Seafood

2009-12-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

Last night I ate seafood, mainly fish. It was the first time I eat seafood after eight month vegetarian journey, and it was SURREAL, yes, more than anything, surreal, and also amazing.

I was more curious than excited before. After the experience, my curiosity was fixed, and my excitement followed. OMG, the whole experience changes my view of sushi, and brings my understanding of food to another level. Tris took me to Jinpachi in West Hollywood. Jinpachi is said to be the real deal of sushi restaurant and gets 4.5 out 5 stars on Yelp. I still can not tell the difference of a good sushi, but I’m glad I went to this place.

It felt like it was my first time eating fish. I took each bite so slowly, and each bite seems so new, so fresh, and so interesting. I nurtured every piece of fish, trying to figure something out. I was having a conversation with the fish, about the texture, about the taste, about the tenderness, about the color. It was the first time I am so focused, so concentrated on the food itself. I don’t think I’ve that concentrated on the food itself.

If before I can not fully understand my take away on vegetarian, last night eating fish truly makes me understand the point and value of me being vegetarian. And I appreciate my choice. It is that experience that makes me appreciate- appreciate all the food I can get, appreciate the environment human beings live in, appreciate the creativeness we human have that create such amazing cuisine from the nature we live in, appreciate green, appreciate animal, appreciate culture…It is this appreciation that makes me cherish the nature, cherish whatever the nature gives us. It makes me realize that balance and moderation is even more valuable and important. I am more motivated, inspired to live a healthy and moderate life.

Recent Cravings for Bollywood

2009-12-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

I think I really live up to what my friends called me "a fake Chinese, real Indian". If I don't watch a Bollywood movie or eat Indian food or do anything Indian for a while, I'll have a strong craving for that, just like what I'm feeling right now. The Bollywood movie I want to watch is Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Starring Ranbir Karpoor, the guy who is from my favorite Bollywood film Wake Up Sid, and Shazahn Padamsee, who is the daughter of Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar. This film is directed by Shimit Armin, who directed Chak De! India as well. Ranbir Karpoor is one of my favorite actor. I look forward to see his acting in that film!

If you watched Rocket Singh already, let me know your reviews!

Niche Job Sites and Interview Tips

2009-12-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

I found this of value to job hunters like me and share it here:

Top 100 Niche Job Sites: help your job-search be more specific

http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-100-niche-job-sites.html

How to "Tell me about yourself?"

http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/job-interview-questions-tell-me-about.html

Another interview question that is difficult to answer: define ethics and integrity to me.

What's your answer going to be?

Hope it helps!

New found& obsession: Abbot Kinney First Friday Walk

2009-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

Aviator Nation

Just like the description on its website, I saw the AV clothing and instantly fell in love with it and can’t tell you why. It is more the garment attracts me—the material looks broken but feels super soft and comfortable; the design is young, energetic but retro and vintage—just like the classic aviator glasses. With Californiainspiration, this store perfectly transfers a love for beach, sunshine, sports. It becomes my obsession once I found it. This store is going to be huge!

Tommy Santee Klaws

Tris and I walked into Robin’sSculpture Garden and found out this band by accident. Walking along with the alley, we saw a group of people surrounded a bonfire listening to Tommy Santee Klaws. Drinking beers, making marshmallows, and listening to TSK’s beautiful music in this tropical feeling garden, that was such a chill out experience and almost feel surreal. Most importantly, their music is good- simple but incredibly harmonious and well blended with different elements-bell, horns and kazoos. They sound casual but with a technical professionalism. Not only one element feels out of the place. I really didn’t know anything about them after I searched them online. When I hear the gorgeous sound and glass-melting voice from the band members, whom slightly and casually swing with the music as they sing, I was transfixed—that was the vocal from heaven.

Check their “Chasing Body” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy-xeUdbZFA

Truck

The DogTown, Flying Pig, Nom nom Truck, Yum Yum Truck, Calbi Taco Truck….I saw the most amount of trucks in one place the first time, and all of them are BUSY. I tried the Portobello cheese vegetarian hot dog at the DogTown, after I don’t know how long a time since the last time I had a hot dog. Loved it! Besides, there was crepe and cupcakes truck. The SKYBOX airstreammakeup truck brings truck business to the extreme. The whole truck was an airstream and the inside is a makeup salon!

I am glad that I explored the Venice Beach Abbot Kinney First Friday. Arts and crafts, vintage, stylish but young clothing, good music, authentic food joint, nice people crowd, environmental conscious, vegetarian, oriental, OMG, aren’t they all what I’m interested?

Vegetarian Breakfast Burrito with Self Invention

2009-12-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

Eggs-2 beaten

Mushrooms

Tomato or Mexican hot salsa-by choice

Veggie sausage-by choice

Jalapeño

Cheddar cheese

Cilantro

Onion-by choice

Avacado-by choice

Salt and pepper

Hummus-my invention

Scramble the egg with salt and mushrooms.

Heat oil or cooking spray, add onion for a minute or two until the the onion smell comes out. Put Veggie sausage, other vegetables and scrambled egg and stir fry. Add salt and pepper. Spread large tortilla with hummus (this is my invention), put cheddar cheese on top of hummus and stir fried mix. Sprinkle with a little bit cilantro and Jalapeño. Tomato and avacado is selective depends on the ingredients available. Roll the tortilla. Serve until hot.

This is my next breakfast experiment. Wait for the picture!

Panettone

2009-12-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

Panettone: a typical bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed during Christmas and New Year holidays. It is one of the symbols of the city Milan. It is a Christmas dinner in Latin American country as well.

It can be eaten toased or with Marscapone cheese. I ate it the original way and still enjoyed it-- it is fluffy and sweet, and raisins give it special texture and taste.

You can get it if you really want!

2009-11-24T01:56:00.000-08:00

I'm recording this song in words to motivate and inspire myself to continue wrapping up my thesis at 1:57 am. Only several hours to go and then it's driving up to NorCal with sweet for TT Thanksgiving! :)

You can get it if you really want!

---Jimmy Cliff

You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last

Persecution you must bear
Win or lose you've got to get your share
Got your mind set on a dream
You can get it, though harder them seem now

You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last
I know it, listen

Rome was not built in a day
Opposition will come your way
But the hotter the battle you see
It\'s the sweeter the victory, now

You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last

You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you'll succeed at last

You can get it if you really want - I know it
You can get it if you really want - though I show it
You can get it if you really want
- so don't give up now

Random Thoughts on Sandwich and Food

2009-11-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

I know I shouldn't but I couldn't help being distracted to write something, or doing something unrelated with thesis writing while I am writing my thesis.

I find out that, for a while, I have been having a thing for all types of sandwich, especially panini and grilled cheese sandwich. You can argue that strictly speaking panini can not be categorized as sandwich but I include this item here.

Before I couldn't care less about sandwich and I think they are a very generic and plain type of food, just like how I used to think bagel, croissant and pizza. But the more I eat them, the more difference I find out between the good sandwiches and the not-so-good ones.

Therefore, I generated this conclusion: food tasting is experience-based. The more experience you have in terms of encounter certain kind of food, the more knowledge you have in terms of the taste of that food, and the more say you have in terms of the authenticity of that food. So for somebody say "I have tasted the best pancake/ croissant/ pizza/ bagel/ sushi/ hot pot/ pasta/ burger", she/he has to at least had a fair amount of pancake/ croissant/ pizza/ bagel/ sushi/ hot pot/ pasta/ burger before voice that word. By hearing that, we can also know what kind of food the person has more knowledge at.

Random, right? I know!

Summary from reading "Hurray for Bollywood"

2009-11-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hurray for Bollywood: How Indian Film Producers and Distributors Can Improve U.S. Returns analyzes the relationship between Bollywood producers and US distributers, generating that Bollywood producers did not get the fare share that they are supposed to achieve, due to the lack of transparacy of the profit earned by distributors, as well as the lack of insights over the distribution process. Apparently, to increase US returns, producers side and distributors side are the main channels to look into.

Where do Indian films produced?

Chennai, Calcutta and Mumbai

Where do US consumers access Bollywood films?

Theaters, DVD rentals, online streaming and cable.

Who are the primary US consumers of Bollywood?

NRIs(Non-resident Indian), second-generation Indians, and non-Indians. The NRIs who came to the States before 1990s prefer more traditional and romantic, aka more "cheesy" Bollywood films, while non-Indians are more well educated, tech savvy.

What kind of Bollywood films have been successful in the US?

Features: a superstar, a non-Indian setting or a storyline that includes culture clash, some pre-release promotion, a wide opening, and special home video options.

Recommendations:

Producers require better transparency-producers require clear and detailed metrics from distributors to ensure that they receive the returns to which they are entitled, as well as to ensure that distributors maximaze the potential of the films.

Distributors improve monetization by investing more on marketing to primary audiences and on other channels such as home video , and cable and satellite TV. This can be done by merchandising support for small retailers and attractive deals with national chain stores, and signing additional contract deals with cable and broadcast TV operators.

Revenue allocation is different between US and India. Box office returns in the US contribute only 25% of a film's total revenues, and less than 20% of the total profit, whereas it represent 85% of the total revenues in India. The most important revenue contributor is home video sales, which represent 50% of a film's total take. Syndication to broadcast and cable TV is another revenue driver. This require international distributor to maximize profit at every content type (theatrical, DVD, syndication).

Article source: international focus at kellog

http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Departments/International/InternationalFocus/Article/Hurray_for_Bollywood.aspx

Interviews and snack

2009-11-12T21:25:00.000-08:00

Two job interviews today- one with a leading Chinese language newspaper, one is a entertainment media company targeting worldwide markets. Summary:

Pre-interview research, a lot of research, is very important! This includes but not limit to : research about the company, the position, and interviewers, and possibly in-depth knowledge of the industry. You have to be able to at least understand how this whole thing works to convince your interviewers to trust you.

I have big cravings for Indian food these days. After finding out that Indian for lunch still can not fulfill my inner desire, I stopped by Samosa House on the way back. And bought snacks gujarati mixture and pickled eggplant for me and the girls, and navrattan for TT.

Notes After Paranormal Activity

2009-11-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

Honestly terrifying

Worth noticing:

Different from the typical “over-the-top” gory quote and quote “horror”movies, which surprisingly don’t scare me at all, PA create a really subtle atmosphere, which has similar aspect to the JaHo (Japanese Horror movies) that always bring my heart into my mouth. It makes me feel what happened in the film could easily happen in real world. In terms of being “as truthful as it could be”, it is a success. Video camera shooting, good acting and real setting create believability and authenticity and make this film live up to its “horror” genre.

Dirt cheap production cost: $15,000

Short but intense production process: 1 week

Oren Peli: first time director, Isreali born. Use his own house to be the setting

Virgin Chai to Sip in Peace

2009-10-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

Chai is my newest drink.This morning I made my first Indian Chai Tea-my virgin chai, and the review from Kins, my chai mentor, is pretty positive.

I have been wanting to learn to make chai and finally got the chance. First, prepare two cups of water and let it boil. The ingredients are pretty simple. Ginger, chai tea, spice, milk and sugar. First grate ginger in the water, put two spoons of chai tea, 1/3 spoon of spcie, as the water boil to black color, pour in milk and observe the color change to a light milk chocolate. Add sugar according to personal taste. and Da-lahh, a morning chai tea is done!

I'm still trying to think the different recipes for different chai flavor.

I'm liking holding a cup of warm chai when it's getting chilling in the morning, warm, creamy, sweet.

Happy Pink's Night

2009-03-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

The last time I tried Pink’s was at the Lupe Fiasco concert without realizing LA’s Pink’s institution yet.

I’ve been hearing so much about Pink’s Hot Dog and people’s been making Pink’s such a big issue out of it. Thursday night finally I got a chance to try this most infamous hot dog stand.

A strong and tempting smell of grease and onion flirted with our appetite right after we walked outside the parking lot. The people waiting were surprisingly sparse, although there was still an “S” line out there. The front panel was full of Pink's super special items, which I think are creative and kind of overwhelming, with names very Los Angelesish such as the “Hollywood Planet” Dog, the Lord of the "RINGS" Dog. I was increasingly hungry as I got to the final stretch to the sideways to order and observing more and more specialties.

After 30 mins waiting, we finally got our order: two Patt Morrison Baja Veggie Dogs, one Ozzy Spicy Dog, one “Hollywood Planet”, and one Martha Steward Dog. What a heavy, messy but evilly tempting party on the plate, like any other traditional American food!

All their dogs were pretty decent. I like to eat the Ozzy Spicy Dog with their chilly sauce and the yellow chilly pepper (specific emphasis), which is surprisingly hot and spicy. The Martha Steward Dog with sauerkraut is my favorite.

Thirty mins later, we killed the whole plate that filled with meat, chilies, onions, tomatoes and cheese....

Having been in the city for almost 70 years, Pink’s has grown to be another LA identity.

I would give my rate 6.5 out 10. If you by any chance visit LA and get sick of all the other restaurants and want to try something local, make Pink’s on your list!

Pink’s Hot Dog

ADD: La Brea & Melrose, LA CA 90038