Firefly

I found this interesting.

This link http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/260010/Serenity/chineseslang.pdf is for the pen and paper game for Firefly (Serenity). It was linked to me by Kurt Hebron.

I remember watching the Firefly DVDs on my friend Kevin’s big screen TV over the months and days before leaving for China. Despite a few mixed DVDs in incorrect cases, no DVDs were harmed in the viewing of this series.

Upon inspection of the link above, I noticed a few discrepancies in the pinyin (Romanized English phonetics of the Chinese language) used for Firefly. Additionally, the pronunciation was too inaccurate for my Chinese friends to understand when we watched the Serenity movie here.

Now if I recall correctly from the extras on the Firefly box set DVDs, the writers would have a Chinese contact call her friends in China for phrase translations.

They explain the confusion somewhere in the series extras, but I have my own theories as to more possible factors involved in why the pinyin and pronunciation is how it is.

Photo: Firefly, an awesome (but too short) series of which I was reluctant to enjoy, despite strong recommendations from others. I would have listened to their testimonials, but they had heavy accents and it was difficult to understand. :)

Poached Eggs?

File size: 1.06MB Format: .3gp

It's quite funny. A while back, something uncommon (but not rare) happened to my friend Chris Watts while he was in Shanghai. Sitting down in a public location, what appeared to be a Chinese national placed his son right next to him, and proceeded to take a photo. If I recall his story correctly, Chris turned his head away from the camera. Or, he got up and left. One of the two, I can't exactly recall.

From time to time, I too have experienced some sneak photography, seemingly to them, a "papparazzi" opportunity. Some even try to be descreet, aiming their cell cam at you while trying to be inconspicuous.

I decided to up my level of personal security and took extra steps at controlling the acquisition and usage of photos of me, in an attempt to reserve a right that didn't transfer with me or my luggage when I came to China. Under these conditions, one can only be so successful.

In early summer of this year, I went to the neighbouring city of Kaifeng, which I enjoyed by the way. Very beautiful. However, when I arrived at the location I was to work at for 2 hours, I noticed an old photo of me on their school banner . . . I was not thrilled.

The reason I am mentioning this now, is because something happened to me the other day. I was having my haircut, and when it was finished I stood up and found that they had been videotaping me. Remembering what someone had told me long ago, I pulled out my cell phone and started recording them in what was supposedly the most effective way to get them to stop. I didn't think it would work when I originally heard the idea. After putting it to the test, I found that unfortunately . . . I was right.

Photo: No photo
Video: Me filming them filming me, filming them. Filming me. No permissions acquired.