A panda lookalike doggie walking on the street in Jiangcheng, Jilin, China…
Computer mouse celebrates its 40th birthday this week. The device was invented by Douglas Engelbart and his team at Stanford Research Institute; it was introduced to the public in a demonstration on December 9, 1968 in San Francisco.
The basic fundamentals of the mouse we use today are about the same as the 1968 invention, but the usage of the mouse wasn’t popularised until more than a decade later since its first introduction. It seems like nobody is really sure though… on who came out with the nickname Mouse.
Personal thanks to Mr Engelbart and his team; computing experience wouldn’t be the same without these technology pioneers.
The Korean Television Drama Production Company Association made a bizarre decision last Friday (Dec 6) to ban actor Park Shin-yang from appearing in any K-dramas in the future, stating that his ‘outrageous’ wage demand as the reason behind the sanction.
Park requested 170.5million won (~USD110k) per extension episode for his previous drama “War of Money”, which the production complied to but failed to pay up in full [more on Hanfever]
Park has filed a lawsuit to claim his unpaid fees (~ 341mil won), which probably prompted the Friday meeting which led to the ban.
The association is also requesting TV stations to ban the involved production company for giving in to Park’s demand at the first place and ‘disrupting the orders’ of drama production.
At the moment an A-list Korean star could demand 30-40mil won per episode, a few super A-listers could get 70-80mil, while the one and only Bae Yong-joon was paid 200mil won when filming “The Legend” per episode. Bae’s case was a bit unique though for the fact that foreign investors were heavily involved.
Korean drama production companies have been complaining a lot lately about the high wages demanded by the actors and actresses. They were planning to set a cap on the actors’ wages last month, which I believe is already being implemented unofficially… as some of the big names are ‘voluntarily’ reducing their wages recently.
Park Shin-yang is obviously a guinea pig for the association to show their determination in the wage battle. He has not done anything wrong legally, but there’s always hidden rules in every industry that needs to be followed, unfortunately… and he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The 45th Golden Horse Awards were presented at Zhongshan Hall in Taichung City, Taiwan, on Saturday (Dec 6). The Golden Horse is arguably the most prestigious award in the Chinese film industry.
Taiwanese movie “Cape No 7″ managed to scope 6 awards, albeit not the major ones… but there’s plenty to celebrate for the host considering how gloomy Taiwanese film industry was for the past decade or two.
Some of the major winners of the 45th Golden Horse Awards…
Best Feature Film – The Warlords
Best Director – Peter Chan (The Warlords)
Best Leading Actor – Zhang Hanyu (Assembly)
Best Leading Actress – Prudence Liew (True Women for Sale)
Best Supporting Actor – Ma Ju Long (Cape No 7)
Best Supporting Actress – Mei Fang (Orzboyz)
Refer to Golden Horse official website for complete list of winners. Check out some red carpet pics via Cfensi, Cri and Chinadaily.
Korean boys Jang Dong-gun and Rain acting cute on Christmas themed TV commercials for SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile telecommunications operator…
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced a month-long ban on visitors to the famous fish auctions in Tsukiji fish market from mid-December, blaming large numbers of foreign tourists for obstructing business [more on Mainichi]
Tsukiji has become a popular tourist spot for the past two decades, but the tourism boom is not entirely welcomed for the wholesale market. The authorities have previously tried to discourage tourist visits, but it obviously didn’t work.
From a travellers’ point of view, Tsukiji fish market is a must visit place for Tokyo visitors; but I can understand the traders’ frustration. Imagine having bunches of tourists disrupting the business everyday but not buying anything; and to make it worse some tourists have not much respect for customs and basic manners.
Manila metro police yesterday (Dec 2) launched its Santa Cops program where some 200 police officers would be wearing the Santa Claus hat while on duty (until Jan 2).
The Santa cops will be deployed in malls, markets, and busy public areas in the capital city of the Philippines to maintain peace during the festive season.
The concept was introduced a few years ago to portray a friendly image and to bring the cops closer to the public. The idea is probably well received by the Manila people considering the fact that the metro police is making it an annual routine.
The Gate Tower Building, commonly known as Bee Hive, is an office building in Osaka, Japan, famous for having a highway passing through the 5th-7th floor of the building.
According to the Japanese wiki… the story could date back to 1983 when the old structure at the location had to be reconstructed due to its old age, but the city planner had decided to acquire the land to build a highway instead.
Not sure who initiated the idea, but after five years of negotiation, the land owner and involved parties reached an agreement that the highway would be constructed through the new 16-storey office building as it is now.
The construction started in 1989 and was completed in 1992.