By Aquil Akhter

A picture is worth a thousand words that is the motto of photojournalist, a photojournalist attempts to produce straight, truthful and realistic photography of a particular subject, most frequently pictures of people.

According to Mark M. Hancock, a professional photojournalist, “is a visual reporter of facts. The public places trust in its reporters to tell the truth. The same trust is extended to photojournalists as visual reporters.This responsibility is paramount to a photojournalist. At all times, we have many thousands of people seeing through our eyes and expecting to see the truth. Most people immediately understand an image.”

Photojournalists are doing really a great job over the world for humanity, they are working for peace, for human rights, for raising humanity problems and issues, for pointing out the people living below the bottom line of poverty, for raising awareness about educational and child labor issues and much more… Our today’s post is about Inspirational Documentary and Photojournalism Photos. In this post we showcase 35 powerful, touching and emotional photos that do not just display state of affairs, but also tell a story.

We express sincere appreciation of the hard work of all photojournalists who are working for humanity, sometimes risking their life for the sake of their duties and responsibilities. This article is a tribute to all of them and their accomplishments and works.

Photojournalism & Documentary Photos

Man mutilated Rwanda

World Press Photo of the Year: 1994 James Nachtwey, USA, Magnum Photos for Time. Rwanda, June 1994. Hutu man mutilated by the Hutu ‘Interahamwe’ militia, who suspected him of sympathizing with the Tutsi rebels. About the image Nachtwey says his specialty is dealing with ground level realities with a human dimension. He feels that people need photography to help them understand what’s going on in the world, and believes that pictures can have a great influence on shaping public opinion and mobilizing protest.

Losing

In this picture, Lurlena cries in the back of the family car after losing the contest for Carnival Princess at her school. She spent the day getting ready, with a new white dress and new shoes. The winner was decided based on whose parents bought the most tickets, and Lurlena’s family could only afford eight dollars worth.

Hard Work in Hong Kong

tbaur

Sally Mann
This photo, titled Candy Cigarette, not just displays something, it tells a story. It is both emotional and beautiful. This is what the originality of black-and-white-photography is all about.

Pilgrim
Tibetans believe, once in their life, a pilgrimage to Lhasa is of exalted purpose and moral significance. Therefore, we see people like this, especially in spring and autumn, on their journey of faith, sometimes thousands of miles long, kowtowing every few steps.

Arirang Mass Games
Even during the Arirang Mass Games in North Korea, the ultimate expression of the state ideology, an individual can still sometimes stand out from the crowd and break free of the collective. If only just for a moment. (Photo and caption by Brendyn Zachary)

Iguazu falls in Brazil
“On my second day visiting the astounding Iguazu falls on the Brazilian side I was forced to change to my telephoto lens as my wide angle had been damaged by the water vapour. In had rained solid for 10 days prior to my arrival and so the falls were at their most spectacular. Standing on the elevated viewing platform I was able to shoot this school group who stood transfixed, emphasizing the incredible size of the falls. (Photo and caption by Ian Kelsall)”

Malawian boy running after 4×4
“I took the photo while on my one-month stint in Malawi Africa where I mainly worked in orphan day-care centres, also visiting Mulanji Hospital. The photo was taken from the Mulanji Hospital four-wheel-drive ambulance, travelling on the extremely rough roads from village to village, visiting the sick who were unable to reach the hospital.” Photo taken by Cameron Herweynen.

Sewing Machine

A damaged sewing machine after the cyclone hit, Amtali, Patuakhali, Bangladesh 19 November 2007. EPA/ABIR ABDULLAH

Shelter

Child takes shelter with his mother before the cyclone hit. Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

New Year’s Eve, St. Jacques, Perpignan, 2006

This picture of a five year-old gypsy boy was taken on New Year’s Eve 2006 in the gypsy community of St. Jacques, Perpignan, Southern France. For Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the men would gather in the Café in their best suits to drink and dance while their wives would prepare dinner at home. It is quite common in St. Jacques for little boys to smoke.

Riot in the city

Riot in Toulouse, France (March 25th, 2007) after the campaign of a politician.

Jump!

Pain and Beauty

Bhopal Disaster
This photograph from December 4, 1984 shows victims who lost their sight in the Bhopal poison gas tragedy as they sit outside the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, India.

From the series “Children of Black Dust”, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A woman holds her child, blackened by carbon dust. His nose bleeds due to infections caused by exposure to dust and pollution during play in the workshop in Korar Ghat by on the outskirts of Dhaka. Many women bring their children along so they can look after them while working.

New York City

USA. New York City. September 15, 2001. Signing a memorial in Union Square.

Hhaing The Yu

Hhaing The Yu, 29, holds his face in his hand as rain falls on the decimated remains of his home in the Swhe Pyi Tha township, near Myanmar’s capital of Yangon (Rangoon), on Sunday, May 11th, 2008. Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar a week ago leaving millions homeless and has claimed up to 100,000 lives.

Culture

Sandra Gil

A long line of visitors forms in front of Sandra Gil outside the Krome Detention Center in Miami where her husband, Oscar Gonzalez, is being held. On the morning of November 8, Immigration and Customs Enforecment (ICE) officers arrested the family at their home. They detained Gonzalez and released Gil with her son, American born Joshua Gonzalez, 5, with orders to leave for Colombia within weeks, The family was denied asylum after seven years living and working legally in teh country.

Memories

Sitting alone on a little place surrounded by cars traffic. Self-isolation. Waiting for nothing. He talked to me for about an hour. Of a lost life. An ordinary life like mine, like many others. And now…

Tap-Tap

Tap-tap buses waiting to get full and depart for their regular route in the downtown of Port-au-Prince.

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy, the world’s first man to fly with a jet-powered fixed-wing apparatus strapped to his back, flies during his first official demonstration, on May 14, 2008 above Bex, Switzerland. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

María A.C. (ernieland)

Unknown

Gold Price

In Wall street, a man holds a placard of ” We Buy Gold”, as gold price has increased due to the current financial crisis or economic melt-down.

New York, Oct 13 2008.

Child Labor In Egypt

Construction worker, Soweto Township

Final construction at the Maponya mall in Piville township, Soweto. The 650 million Rand mall is one of the largest shopping centers in South Africa, and its opening is a sign of the commercial awakening of Soweto.

Child Labor. Bangladesh

Child labor is not a new issue in Bangladesh as children here remain one of the most vulnerable groups living under threats of hunger, illiteracy, displacement, exploitation, trafficking, physical and mental abuse. Although the issue of child labor has always been discussed, there is hardly any remarkable progress even in terms of mitigation. 17.5 percent of children aged 5-15 are engaged in economic activities. Many of these children are engaged in various hazardous occupations in factories.

Aftermath of Earthquake in Balakot, Pakistan. 2005

This image was taken about one month after the earthquake in Pakistan. People were still coming down from the mountains trying to find shelter and were suffering from trauma. Winter was on the way and the need for shelter was urgent. This father with his child had been collecting food. I spent ten days in Balakot documenting the situation after the quake. People were still digging for their family members.

Seen in Ludwigsburg, Germany

Huge Wave

Kerby Brown rides a huge wave in an undisclosed location southwest of Western Australia July 6, 2008, in this picture released November 7, 2008 by the Oakley-Surfing Life Big Wave Awards in Sydney. Picture taken July 6. (REUTERS/Andrew Buckley)

The Head of a Male Student

The head of a male student, still alive, trapped under the debris is pictured at the scene of the church school that collapsed on the outskirts of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, November 7, 2008. At least 30 people were killed when the three-story La Promesse school building collapsed while class was in session and some of the walls and debris crushed neighboring homes in the Nerettes community near Port-au-Prince. (REUTERS/Joseph Guyler Delva)

Starving Boy and Missionary

Wells felt indignant that the same publication that sat on his picture for five months without publishing it, while people were dying, entered it into a competition. He was embarrassed to win as he never entered the competition himself, and was against winning prizes with pictures of people starving to death. (World Press Photo of the Year: 1980 Mike Wells, United Kingdom. Karamoja district, Uganda, April 1980).

Afghan Girl

And of course the afghan girl, picture shot by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image. She was approximately 12 years old at the time. She made it on the cover of National Geographic next year, and her identity was discovered in 1992.

Sichuan Earthquake

A man is crying while he flips through a family album he found in the rubbles of his old house.

Credits & Resources

Verve Photo – A New Breed of Documentary Photographers

Magnum Photos

Boston

World Press Photo

The Best of Photojournalism (BOP)

Jan Sochor Photography

Lightstalkers

Abir Abdullah

Chad Stevens

Shehzad Noorani

Rene Burri

Paul Fusco

Susan Meiselas

Abbas

Briansokol

Brentstirton

David Snyder

Danny Ghitis

Q. Sakamaki

Mat Moyer

Edward van Herk

Heather McClintock

Maciej Dakowicz was

GMB Akash

John Loomis

Lucia Nimcova

Pieter Ten Hoopen

Hatschiputh

Noesunjoc

Mads Nissen

Allianz Knowledge

San Francisco Sentinel

Keith Harris

Kevin Carter

Karl Schuler

Just watched the grand TVB 42nd Anniversary Awards Presentation (Year 2009), it is an exciting awards ceremony where nominated TVB artists are seated to welcome the winners of the night. Eventhough it tooks 2 hours and 30 minutes (quite long), but it is very entertaining, with some artists making jokes and funny remarks.

Can’t believe that Tavia Yeung sat at the first row, first row is dedicated to previous best actresses or actors (in this case, actresses). It shows obviously that TVB is highly-promoting Tavia. Good too, since her acting skill is no doubt, good. However, it seems unfair to Myolie Wu, Sonija Kwok, who sat in second row. Almost all of the artists present wear beautiful clothing, except Linda Chung and Liza Wang (what’s wrong with them!)

The official nomination list is revealed a month ago, and now, let’s see the results, the winners.

TVB.com Popularity Award: Wayne Lai.

My opinion: No doubt that he won this award too. He is now so famous, even on the public street, being recognized as Chai Gau (name of his character in the hit series, Rosy Business). He is gaining much popularity lately. At first, I thought Yoyo Mung or Tavia Yeung will win this, because their rankings in TVB.com is top 2.

Best variety show – Club Sparkle.

Top 5 – Club Sparkle, Super Trio Supreme, Beautiful Cooking, Since 1967, The Voice.

My opinion: I have watched some episodes of the series. Really likes the humour and jokes made by the presenters, Ng Kwan Yue and Chin Ka Lok. This show really helps us to get along with the artists and even directors of movies.

Best host of variety show – Eric Tsang, Chin Ka Lok, Wong Cho Lam, Louis Yuen(Super Trio Supreme)

Top 5 – Leo Ku (Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?),  Sandra Ng and Chin Ka Lok (Club Sparkle), Ronald Cheng, Alex Fong, Edmond Leung (Beautiful Cooking), Siu Yee and Sammy Leung (Neighbourhood Treasures), Eric Tsang, Chin Ka Lok, Wong Cho Lam, Louis Yuen (Super Trio Supreme)

My opinion: It’s time for the four person to win again. These four are always making funny remarks and images. The show is kinda humorous and gives fun to viewers, really helps in reducing stress. Their cooperation as a team (quite a large team – 4 person) finally paid off, because last time is only of three.

Best Documentary Programme – One From The Heart

My opinion: Not much opinion on it, because these programmes are not aired in Malaysia yet. From the previews of these programmes I have seen, the winning programme seems to touch on the life of famous TVB artists like Louise Lee, Michelle Yim, Liza Wang, etc. I think this is what makes this programme won.

Most Improved Female Artist – Aimee Chan

Top 5 – Queenie Chu, Koni Lui, Catherine Chau, Sharon Chan, Aimee Chan.

My opinion: She has improved a lot in latest series she has acted in, especially in Burning Flame 3, acting as girlfriend and wife of Bosco in the series. Many would think Sharon Chan is a better choice after being defeated by Nancy Wu last year in the same category.

Most Improved Male Artist – Pierre Ngo

Top 5 – Johnson Lee, Pierre Ngo, Raymond Wong, Raymond Chiu, Jim Tang.

My opinion: He has acted in so many series, and joined TVB for more than 10 years. Hence, it’s surely a deserving time for him to win this award. Besides that, his acting in the famous series, Rosy Business as the bad eldest son is good too.

Best Performance of the Year – Tavia Yeung

My opinion: She is the one surely deserving the award. This award is newly created, and is judged by the panels, not by votings. It is the first time for her to act as the villain in a series, a great breakthrough for her in Beyond the Realm of Conscience.

Most Favourite TV Female Character – Tavia Yeung (Beyond the Realm of Conscience)

Top 5 – Sheren Tang (Rosy Business), Teresa Mo (Off Pedder), Tavia Yeung (Beyond the Realm of Conscience), Charmaine Sheh (You’re Hired), Charmaine Sheh (Beyond the Realm of Conscience)

My opinion: Tavia Yeung is heavily-promoted lately, especially on Beyond the Realm of Conscience. Many people loves Tavia’s acting skill, keeps on improving and getting attention of viewers., including me. Her evil facial and eyes expression in the series, gave her the award, deserving too. Now, this award is given to Tavia, so the Best Actress is surely Sheren Tang.

Most Favourite TV Male Character – Wayne Lai (Rosy Business)

Top 5 – Wayne Lai (Rosy Business), Kevin Cheng (Beyond the Realm of Conscience), Dayo Wong (You’re Hired), Moses Chan (Gem of Life), Michael Tse (E.U.)

My opinion: Definitely for the only deserving one, Wayne Lai. Everyone remembers his quote from the series, Rosy Business; ‘one person has how many ten lives?’ which is very meaningful. His acting is superb and excellent, with enoguh experience to win this award. He is so famous right now.

Best Supporting Actress – Susan Tse (Rosy Business)

Top 5 – Linda Chung (Gem of Life), Susan Tse (Rosy Business), Fala Chen (Stew of Life), Susanna Kwan (Beyond the Realm of Conscience), Michelle Yim (Beyond the Realm of Conscience)

My opinion: Really happy to know that Susan Tse is winning this award. Just coming back to TVB this year, her acting skill is unpredictable on her first appearance in Rosy Business, the famous series of the year. Her face aids her a lot in acting as villain in series, very naturally evil-looking (to be honest). Her facial and eyes expression as the main villain are excellent too. I remember a quote from her in the series; ‘you are my heavenly enemy, born to be fated as my greatest enemy’. Wow, cool..

Best Supporting Actor – Michael Tse (E.U.)

Top 5 – Ngok Wah (Gem of Life), Michael Tse (E.U.), Pierre Ngo (Rosy Business), Lee Kwok Lun (Beyond the Realm of Conscience), Kenneth Ma (Born Rich)

My opinion: Everyone knows he will definitely win this award. I support him too. His appearance in the series, E.U. affected the performance of the whole series. Without Laughing Gor (name of his character in the series which is very famous), E.U. would not be that successful. Many people are puting it as a hot issue even after the series finish airing. A new movie is created and entitled “Laughing Gor” that tells a story about him too.

Best Actress – Sheren Tang (Rosy Business)

Top 5 – Ada Choi (Gem of Life), Teresa Mo (Off Pedder), Sheren Tang (Rosy Business), Charmaine Sheh (Beyond the Realm of Conscience), Tavia Yeung (Beyond the Realm of Conscience)

My opinion: Sheren Tang definitely deserves this award, to become TV Queen of the year. Her acting skill is no doubt, the best among the best. Her performance in Rosy Business as the fourth wife is great, fantastic and awesome. Honestly, no other actress could replace her performance in the series. Happy that she won it finally, remembering that she has been defeated by Gigi Lai in the same category, both under the same series, War and Beauty few years back which caused much stir on public responses.

Best Actor – Wayne Lai (Rosy Business)

Top 5 – Wayne Lai (Rosy Business), Steven Ma (Sweetness in the Salt), Bosco Wong (Burning Flame 3), Dayo Wong (You’re Hired), Moses Chan (Beyond the Realm of Conscience)

My opinion: Again, this year’s best actor is the one and only one, Wayne Lai. Everyone remembers him from the funny Chu Pat Kai in Journey to the West till the current days as Chai Gau in Rosy Business. Everyone knows his acting skill is superb, talented, experience-filled. Everyone remembers his quotes in the series, like what I have mentioned earlier. His character in the series really puts him front, so front that no other actors are even able to fight with him for the award to become the TV King of the year.

Best Series – Rosy Business.

Top 5 – E.U., Rosy Business, Burning Flame 3, You’re Hired, Beyond the Realm of Conscience.

My opinion: Predicted result, since many important awards are grabbed by Rosy Business members (Sheren Tang, Wayne Lai, Susan Tse, Pierre Ngo). This series turns out to be among the most successful series among all, reaching 47 rating points in the ending. The plot is fantastic, the acting is awesome, everything is great in this series. It is not highly-promoted like Beyond the Realm of Conscience, but gets much attention from viewers too and gaining high popularity among the public too. Too bad that the heavily-promoted Beyond the Realm of Conscience did not win eventhough the ending gets 50 rating points, the highest, series with highest rating of the year, and of all, similar to TVB’s Moonlight Resonance and non-TVB’s Jewel in the Palace. This series is quite good too, but some of the script is poorly-written and the plot went exagerrated, it runs too fast at the end there, eventhough there are so much effort put on this series.

Lifetime Achievement Award – Lee Tim Seng.

My opinion: He has joined TVB long long time ago as a normal actor. Then, he leaved to become directors of TVB series. He had directed many famous TVB series, some even in few decades ago, and the latest one is the best series of the year, Rosy Business. His hard work is finally paid off by getting the highest and the most significant award of the presentation night. Hopes that he will continue to direct more better series in upcoming years. Don’t retire so fast.

————————-

My overall opinion: Basically, I was happy with the overall result. Many of my picks have won the awards, and it’s really good for them and for me as well, can be considered birthday gift for me. Rosy Business grabbed almost all important awards this year, while Beyond the Realm of Conscience only managed to win one, despite included in Top 5 many times. The whole award show is very entertaining (remembering how Law Kar Ying said about his wife, Liza Wang, whom sitted right beside the stage, staring at him). The awards ceremony seems to get better every year. Keep it up, TVB, create more better series in upcoming years!

hei guys ~~~ , At last i’m back from Hong Kong .
Last week i went to Hong Kong for APDSA meeting , and also a culinary trip  .  Thanks God i have some friends there , so i know where to go , if not i will be like an immigrant who can’t speak chinese , ( even though i am a chinese i can’t speak chinese )
because of my busyness , i will post about my 3 days in Hong Kong later .  This time i will just post my loots in hongkong . 8D

I bought this bose in ear headphones , it has a really superb quality~~~ , if you like to hear a music on your ipod or other mp3 player , you should buy this one . the price is around 850 HKD ,
btw are you a person who can distinguish between one earphone and other earphone  ?
Sometimes , if you are not get used to comparing the quality of sound , it is really hard to choose which one  has a better sound between 2 earphones .

Besides this earphones , i also bought a case for my Lumix Lx-3 . It is nice , but actually i prefer the case for leica rather than lumix . It looks nicer , but the price is also nicer XD . You know , when i saw the price of leica leather case , i just shout “WTH , why is a case  more expensive than a camera lens , i can buy 10 lumix case with the price of a leica case . “

So this picture was taken in Mongkok , actually i really want to buy some figures to be bought back to my country . But i didn’t find anything interesting , so i change my mind .
and there is  three question if you like a figure ,

• why do you like a figure ?
• how come you want to spend big ammount of money for figures ?
• and what is the best company for making a figure ?

and here are all of my friends who comes to Hong Kong for the meeting 8D

China’s Haitong Securities says it will buy a 53% stake in Hong Kong’s Taifook Securities for 1.82bn Hong Kong dollars…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: wuxi china. The blog is also related to: western china.

New York Uluslararası Dijital Sanatlar ve Bilim akademisi’nin 2009 Webby Ödülleri’ni açıklamasına az bir zaman kala 2000 yılından bu yana gerçekleşen en önemli 10 internet olayı listelendi.

I’ve gone completely insane about the brand new korean drama “You’re Beautiful.” Spoiler alert!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NO WATCHED EPISODE 14!

Honestly I feel bad for Shin Woo. He loves her but she loves Tae Kyung. But Shin Woo is so lonely and on the plane. It was like he had no one else. Also I fell soo bad for Jeremy. He’s my favorite character and when he was on the bus I was completely crying and covering my face because I don’t want people to think I’m crazy. But Jeremy had to sing through the phone for the radio station and when he said he wanted to sing it for his supporters i just started crying so much. I felt as if someone just punched me 20 times in the stomach. Especially since it’s Lee Hong Ki playing Jeremy it made me cry even more. I feel so bad for Jeremy and I hope by the end he finds another girl that loves him and he loves like me But the same for Shin Woo, atleast he confessed to her before he left. I hope they all find people that are right for them and that they both love each other

In molti economisti, dal Fmi all’Ocse, si sono detti pronti a scommettere su un ritorno alla crescita di questi Paesi prima del mondo occidentale.

Gli esperti dell’agenzia di rating internazionale hanno, infatti, migliorato l’outlook sul rating di Cina e di Hong Kong, portandolo a positivo dal precedente stabile.

Il successo dei rispettivi governi di questi due paesi nell’affrontare la crisi mondiale è alla base dalla decisione degli analisti.

Per quanto riguarda la Cina l’agenzia di rating ha deciso di cambiare l’outlook – il rating rimane pari ad A1 – alla luce dell’andamento robusto dell’economia in un periodo di turbolenza come quello dell’anno scorso.

Fonte:

http://www.finanzaonline.com/notizie/news.php?id={19612DBB-297C-4772-A61E-EFD43ECE169A}

HONG KONG, Nov 16, 2009 (AFP) – Hong Kong gold closed at a new record high on Monday at 1,131.00-1,132.00 US dollars an ounce, up from Friday’s close of 1,106.00-1,107.00 US dollars.

It opened at 1,123.00 -1,124.00 dollars.

The latest closing price surpassed a high of 1,123.38 dollars per ounce reached in London Thursday, as the precious metal continues its steady advance buoyed by a mix of positive underlying fundamentals.

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6X Clear Screen Protectors for 3G and 3Gs – 70c

3X Mirror Screen Protectors for 3G, 3Gs and 9F(wtf?) – 64c

5X Black Touch Stylus Pens – 20c

China’s seventh-largest bank, Minsheng, is planning to list it shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange, reports say…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: china life. The blog is also related to: china fun.

This company has recently been added on Expopedia, the tradefair service finder. Visit our website for more information.

Kingsmen Hong Kong

Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
More information about Kingsmen Hong Kong …

An overview of the available activities for Kingsmen Hong Kong …

• Stand construction: custom build

Continuing the German theme (alongside Max! 2000 and after Oktoberfest) is the return leg of a cultural exchange project between Berlin and Hong Kong. After the blunder of a Chinese artist taking 2000 Buddhist symbols to Germany (swastikas) to Berlin, curiosity surrounds what artists there will bring here. More than 500 artists are flying in and events include art shows, music, dance, theatre, film, exhibitions and workshops.

Closer Jonathan Broxton was called upon to get four outs last night for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Broxton was only able to record three outs.

Rollins' walk-off double off Broxton

Jimmy Rollins’ double off of Broxton with two-on and two-out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Dodgers last night and sent the 46, 157 fans who packed Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.

The Phillies now lead their best-of-seven series with the Dodgers 3-1.

The Phillies are a unique bunch because their superstars are their gamers. Their superstars are their girtty, dirtdogs, who not only do the little things to win, but get the big hits when the moment is presented.

That is very rare in baseball. The New York Yankees had that in the mid-90’s, the Boston Red Sox have it now with Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedrioia, and the Phillies certainly have it now with Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley.

As soon as Rollins stepped into the batter’s box in the ninth inning, you just had that feeling that he was going to come through. But the reality is–Rollins should have never had that chance to begin with.

With one out and nobody on, Charlie Manuel called on Matt Stairs to pinch-hit for Pedro Feliz. It’s amazing how one moment can scar a franchise for life.

Stairs is clearly in the Dodgers’ heads. He is the reason the Dodgers went out and got Jim Thome and his HR off of Broxton in Game 5 of last year’s NLCS has turned him into Ted Williams in the Dodgers’ eyes.

Why Broxton, one of the best closers in the game is pitching around Stairs with nobody on base is beyond me. I understand Stairs can tie the game with one swing of the bat and he beat you last year with a HR. But last year is last year and if you are supposed to be a top-five closer, you shouldn’t fear anyone–period.

Stairs was a .194 hitter during the season for a reason.

Worst case scenario for the Dodgers is that Stairs hits a HR and the game is tied. Now you have a runner on base and with one swing of the bat, you can lose the game.

Then things start to unravel for Broxton and the Dodgers.

Broxton then plunks Carlos Ruiz and then the crowd really got into it. The fans at Citizens Bank Park really make it hard for an opposing pitcher. They are right on top of him.

Broxton got Greg Dobbs to pop out to third and that is when Rollins came to the plate. Like I said earlier, as soon as Rollins came to the plate you just had a feeling he was going to do something.

On a 1-1 pitch, Rollins took a 99 mph fastball and ripped it into the right-center field gap. The ball rolled to the wall, Eric Bruntlet, who was running for Stairs and Ruiz scored, and just like that the Dodgers had their hearts ripped out from their chests.

This was just a crushing loss for the Dodgers. They had done everything to win this game.

Randy Wolf pitched very well for 5 1/3 innings, they got some good clutch hitting from James Loney and Casey Blake, and Hong-Chih Kuo pitched really well in relief.

But at the end of the day, Broxton couldn’t get the job done. Now the Dodgers’ season is on life support.

I think today’s day off actually helps the Dodgers. I think if they would have come back and played today, they would have been crushed in Game 5.

The day off will allow the Dodgers to catch their breath a little bit and give them a chance to regroup.

I expect the Dodgers to play well in Game 5, but I don’t see them coming out of Philadelphia with a win.

Hero for Game 4 – Jimmy Rollins

Goat for Game 4 – Jonathan Broxton

Series MVP – Ryan Howard

Game 5 is Wednesday at 8:07

La música no tiene límites ni fronteras. En el siguiente video aparece el maestro de mi maestro (Hollving Argaez): Pandit Shubhendra Rao (Sitar), Gao Hong (Pipa) y Ty Burhoe (Tabla) demostrando, una vez más, que vivir a través de la música es una experiencia única.

Today I want to write about a “new singer” in HK (well shes only new cause I just found out about her):

Ava!!!

Bio:
Name: 羽翹
Occupation: Hong Kong based singer, model, celebrity
What i think of her: Shes really pretty! I love her style of dress and how she is. Well kinda(she did a makeup tutorial where you could see her pimples/panda eyes)… but still very natural  i think. Natural in the way she talks (ie no fake voices when she sings and talks, its the same all the time) which is very good . I hate fake voices and they annoy me no end…people should just be themselves. Being from a new generation of HK singers, she is more multi-talented. She speaks fluent cantonese and english (though it sounds a bit fob) and can play piano. She also makes many youtube videos, so already she is expanding her viewership hehe!! So overall she seems like a solid newcomer who we can expect more things from.

The only things I can really say I dont like are: She lacks a unique voice….it sounds like a typical cute girl voice (dont get me wrong, its not bad, but as a singer she needs to stand out). This is why in Japan female singers like Koda Kumi REALLY stand out. Shes unique in her dresses (sexy instead of cute), her voice projects power (its not typical cutesy cutesy, which isnt bad since i LOVE Ai Otsuka, just many have come to imitate her style). Kinda like anita mui. Oh and her JSG performance was pretty decent, i could feel some emotion)

Secondly, her songs are…not unique. The typical kind of cantopop slow ballad for 私事公辦…from a quick listen the lyrics seem like its yet another love song. I cant blame her, its only her second song but …
港大女生 is a bit better, it feels more “badass” (like Koda kumi style) but not as powerful.  Also, these songs dont highlight any of her vocal abilities (still unknown at this point, but on JSG she was ok) but artists in the golden era had massive JSG concerts and they sang amazingly…it feels like artists these days wont get the same exposure or experience.

But these comments arent restricted to her, its to cantopop and the hk music industry as a whole. This is why I keep moving on and coming back. The limited exposure artists get is ridiculous (that and HK is incredibly small, with 1 real tv station) so even if someone is talented their career could never take off. I hope this doesnt happen to her.

Anyways shes on my support list…and im a fan now .

She has her own youtube channel called avalifechannel…she has everything from her MVs, performances, to makeup tutorials. And a xanga and yahoo hk blog

Youtube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/AVALIFECHANNEL

Xanga Blog

http://ava-yukiu.xanga.com/weblog/

Yahoo Blog

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/yu_kiu

羽翹彈唱 – Endless story (Yuna Ito)

羽翹 私事公辦 MV (sounds more HKish)

羽翹 港大女生 MV (the “more original song”)

羽翹 – 李香蘭 (live)

I want to say i think its amazing she even attempted this song, id consider this one of the hardest canto songs to sing. But she clearly lacks the emotion jacky puts in…that and her vocal range is obviously not as big. That said, I think its still a VERY GOOD rendition and one of the best females ones ive ever heard.

A wealthy Chinese buyer snaps up a luxury Hong Kong apartment for $57m (35m), thought to be an Asian record…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: china economic. For a different topic see here. The blog is also related to: china area.

A wealthy Chinese buyer has snapped up a luxury apartment in Hong Kong for a world-record $57 million, reports say…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: beijing china. The blog is also related to: china rain.

Well, as I previously mentioned (I think), we are treating our time in Hong Kong as though we are on holiday. That means we decided not to try and jam 50 tourist activities into the two and a half days we have here.

I feel a bit bad because we’re not going out and having new and exciting adventures and blazing the way for anyone else who might want to know what they can see and do in Hong Kong.

Also, I haven’t attached many links throughout the whole time we’ve been away. The main reason for that is because every time I did a google search while we were in Japan it came up with Japanese websites, which, while probably giving the impression that we are ever so cosmopolitan and multilingual, is not very useful for most people. If I get time when we get back, I’m going to attach links that might be helpful for anyone wanting information about Japan.

So, back to today. All we have done is Starbucks for coffee, blueberry scones and a fruit platter, then a wander around Harbour City, looking at all the desingery stuff we won’t be buying!

We returned to the Langham (pronounced Lang Ham) at around 2pm and went straight up to the pool – yes pool! I sunbaked while Peter did a giant work out at the fabulous gym (if gyms can be described as fabulous). It was pure luxury to sit by a pool, just like being on holiday in Bali. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a bar in the vicinity. Perhaps that’s a good thing though. We’re both feeling great now. Peter is thinner and I’m browner!

We’re back in room 1330, drinking champers and eating French camembert on Ritz biscuits! This represents lunch.

I’m blogging early because we have only paid for internet for 24 hours from 5pm yesterday. We’ll log in again tomorrow, but thought it a waste to pay another $30 now for another 24 hours, much of which we will be sleeping or out. Internet is free everywhere you go in Japan, but Hong Kong is a different story.

Tonight we’re going out for dinner (of course) and tomorrow I think we will make a trip to the Peak at night. You know how much we love the night time view/scenery.

So until tomorrow, lovelies, God bless. We’ll being seeing some of you really soon; really, really soon!

Just watched the International Chinese New Talent Singing Championship 2009 (TVB8全球華人新秀歌唱大賽), organized by TVB8, involving selected competitors from all around the world (China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Canada). The competition is held anually and is usually held at Hong Kong, China.

This year, the top three finalists from Astro Star Quest 2009 (Malaysia); Yu Min, Kah Fai and Yoke went to compete in this competition judged by five judges including Z Chen (Malaysian singer). Really wished one of them can win the title.

First round involves all 15 competitors, actually there are 16, but the competitor from Hong Kong is absent due to illness. After first round, 7 people are eliminated. The three Malaysians went on to second round without being eliminated with the other 5 people. Yoke has the third highest marks overall, the first in Malaysian group, second is Kah Fai and third is Yu Min.

Second round gone. This is where something unfair is going. The competitor with highest marks can choose who to compete with. Both China competitors got the highest, and they choose the ones with lowest marks to compete, leaving Malaysia’s Kah Fai to compete with Malaysia’s Yu Min and one out of them must be eliminated. Yoke defeated the other one. Finally, Yu Min defeated Kah Fai, the only male competitor in the Top 8.

Third round, all five female competitors. Yu Min sang quite good, but not as well as Yoke, which has been praised before in Astro Star Quest 2009 and 名师高徒 Asia Cup between Malaysia and China (Malaysia lost due to unfair judgement) for her soft and influencing voice. She has a cute and nice voice…good for singing slow and sad song…

After this round, here comes the final round, the fourth round. Two competitors were selected, one from Australia and another one from Malaysia, ah Yoke succeeded to final round. A very heartbeating time, both sang well, but still feel Yoke sang better. Yes, finally, Yoke won by 4 votes while the opponent only achieved 1 vote by Chi Lam (who voted for the opposite always).

Congratulations to her (Yoke – 曾洁钰) again for bringing Malaysia a proud moment for the Chinese! She has the talent, can be future star in singing! She is the third Malaysian winning this international competition (the other two is Wong Ming Li and Andrew Tan).

A dinner of beef bowls before the show. Are we same or what?