CUEAFS Green Snake (1993) Review

Green Snake is a Chinese Film by director Tsui Hark is a film based on the story of two snake spirits that have taken human form to experience the things that are only available to humans, such as love, freedom and wisdom.

White snake (Joey Wong) is the one that is more experienced out of the two spirits and gets engaged to Hsui Xien (Wu Hsing-Kuo) she plans to have a child with him so she can complete her passage she has to undertake. The green snake (Maggie Cheung) isn’t quite sure of what she thinks of human world and doesn’t understand the benefits of it. The two snakes then start to build a successful life for themselves by starting a medical practice in the town but things take a turn for the worst when their enemy, a Buddhist monk called Fa Hoi (Vincent Zhao) when he abducts white snake’s husband because he thinks it is his duty to keep the world in natural order. The snake’s attempt to recuse Hsui Xien end catastrophically when they use their magical powers to try and stop the monk but then cause a serve flood in the region.

The film is hard to get your head around because in our western culture we aren’t use to the idea of spirits in different animals and them having magical powers and with subtitles it’s quite easy to lose the essence of film because the words and what’s going on don’t have the same power. I like the idea of something want to experience Human life but their idea of human life is quite different from the reality of actual human life but however it is a different culture to what I’m used to. If you like tales of magic and spirituality mixed in with mischief and love then this is a film for you, however if you’re like me and don’t really like films that are so different from reality you’d be better off giving this one a pass. 

Coventry Uni – Student Union Event Summer Party at Hush with DJ Nick Grimshaw (134MC)

BBC radio 1’s breakfast DJ, Nick Grimshaw came to Coventry University to DJ our summer party, as a fresher I had high hopes for the summer ball thinking it would be the perfect celebration for the end of year, a few drinks, getting dressed up but most of all a celebrity DJ plus it is the first time that an event like this was going to be held, especially as ‘Hush’ hasn’t been open that long.

In reality, the event wasn’t as successful as I thought it was going to be, the way the Student Union had been talking about it, it was going to be a massive party with tickets selling out fast, when in fact they had sold around 100 tickets and about half of those had actually turned up, meaning we had a big celebrity probably expecting a massive party, like myself, only to see a half empty club.

Nick was really good at what he did, from new party tunes from Rudimental’s ‘waiting all night’ to classic old hits, Jay Z’s ’99 problems’ and MIA’s ‘paper planes’ for me a fan of older music it was nice to be able to dance along and relive the beginning of my teens but then to also belt out the chart hits it was a real mix of music and Nick tried his best to bring the best party atmosphere to the tiniest party he has probably played for.

He, himself, is such a nice person, with celebrities they can be different in person to how they are perceived in the media but he lives up to his bubbly personality, giving people plenty of photo opportunities, pulling silly faces and actually talking to people, when I went for my photo he said “ I feel like I’m going to prom” as the majority of people who were there were girls in nice dresses.

I’m also surprised that he did a full set from 11 onwards as mostly when you hear of people doing DJ sets they come really late, only stay for an hour and then go home but he played all night!

The thing that let the night down was the fact of no people there, I think that was perhaps due to the cost of the tickets (£12 just for entry) and it was still in the middle of exams and assignments for some people meaning they chose to stay in and revise rather than go out for the night, if they’d sold the tickets a little cheaper and placed the event towards the end of May, Hush would have had more people and been THE ultimate way to end this year of University.

Final letter to self (134MC)

Hello again
So you’ve made it to the end of the first year, you should be so proud of yourself! You’ve managed to survive to the end without killing or majorly injuring yourself (HIGH FIVE)
Although you haven’t done as well as what you’d have liked in your work you have coped quite well with your worst grades being at the time when matt’s dad was in hospital, a very stressful time but again you survived, you made it through and still came out with a pass in 135, I think that’s what you should be most proud of, the time when it’s probably been the most stressful and emotional and you had all this other stuff to cope with, being a support for Matt and yet you still came out with a pass. well done you. As for journalism itself you’ve been presented with so many opportunities to explore different things this year and to your surprise the law module was by far the most difficult but the one you’ve done well in so far, you perhaps won’t end up with the 2:1 you wanted but I like to think that you’ll come pretty close and for the first year that’s fine

You’ve met some truly amazing people from your flat mates to the ‘journo-girls’ even at your most low points you’ve been picked up and carried along by these people and you couldn’t really wish any more from these friends. In this whole year I don’t think you’ve laughed so much, smiled so much and just generally enjoyed your time so much ever in your whole entire life and you’ve got these people to thank.

Sure theres something you wished you’ve done differently but you’ve got to think of the many things you’ve accomplished and the different things you’ve tried, successfully producing many radio shows (with a few minor hiccups) which has now made you think that maybe going into radio for a future career wouldn’t be so bad even though your heart is still set on writing, you’ve learnt how to cook and not given yourself food poisoning, you’ve tried new places to eat and experimented wearing different things that you probably wouldn’t have done if you were at home still and I’m proud of you for making friends on your own considering most of your life you’ve not really had to make friends on your own.

I’m proud you’ve kept your relationship with matt, I mean I know you have had to do this whole uni relationship for matt’s first year already but it’s been different now you’re at uni too and it’s actually made it easier because you know when each other needs space whereas you didn’t understand that last year.

You’ve started on your own in Coventry and ended up as this whole different person with all these experiences and people

One thing you need to look at for second year is budgeting your money so you don’t end up in your overdraft again and perhaps look at using the library, you never know, you might actually check out a book :O

I know I’ve said it a lot in this letter but you should be just so proud of yourself for being the person you are today and making it on your own

ROLL ON YEAR TWO BABY.

CUEAFS Vulgaria (2012) review (134MC)

Vulgaria is a film from Hong Kong based on failing film producer To Wai-Cheung (Chapman To Man-chak) who wants to live up to his daughter’s hopes of being interviewed by TVB, a hong kong television network, yet he hasn’t made a hit film and is extremely desperate for money, struggling with divorce payments to his ex-wife he is refused access to his daughter.

He is given a chance when introduced to a Chinese film investor, Tyrannosaurus (Ronald Cheng) with a particular taste in pornographic films. He wants to make a remake of the film Confessions of Two Concubines but wants to use the original actress, Siu Yam-Yam. Tyrannosaurus only agrees to the deal if To does exactly what he is asked.

The film is essentially a set of flashbacks to To producing the film, showing what he went through and the problems he faced but is set at a Q&A with some students asking To about his latest film where he starts to confess to some things that he shouldn’t, which including using a body double, wannabe actress Popping Candy, (Dada Chan) for Siu as she felt she was to old to be a porn star.

The film certainly lives up to the name ‘vulgaria’ with scenes suggesting that To had sex with a mule to oral sex scenes and raunchy jokes, the film overall is quite crude with some of the jokes being hard to understand by someone from a western culture but are probably quite funny for someone from the preferred audience. However the film does deal with the issue of the extent that some fathers will go to, to see their children because after all the only reason To wanted to make this film is so that he could gain money to make the divorce payments to his ex wife so he could see his daughter. Another heart felt issue is To wanting to make his daughter proud and to fulfill her dreams of being on TVB so she can show her school friends her father is a real film producer.

Personally it isn’t my cup of tea as I don’t think the style of a pornographic type film mixes well with the struggle a divorced single parent goes through and the message of a father’s heart felt attempt at making his daughter proud. A good effort at trying comedy but for me ‘Vulgeria’ was a bit too Vulgar. 

From Kitchen Klutz to Master Chef (sort of)

 (134MC – extra curricular activity – learning to cook)

Students are renowned for being truly terrible in the kitchen, not being able to cook and living off of takeaways and ready meals. I must admit when I started university I was that stereotypical student but after the first term of too many Nandos & Dominos, a dwindling bank balance and an incident with some dodgy looking and smelling chicken in a tin, I made it my New Years resolution to start learning to cook some ‘proper’ meals.

I can safely say now that I’m in my last term, during my first year, that cooking is not that hard. From Spaghetti Bolognese to Chicken Korma I’ve tried making quick and simple dishes that not only taste better than ready meals but usually worked out cheaper than buying the meals already made up. I was mostly scared about things like cooking meats and making sure that I didn’t end up with food poisoning and with many phone calls to my mother and sometimes over cooking the chicken it hasn’t happened yet, touch wood.  I’ve also realised the health benefits of cooking using fresh ingredients as in my first term I was constantly feeling run down and ill but during term two and three I feel much more alive and I do genuinely think it is from cooking my own meals rather than defrosting and re-heating.

One of my favourite things that I’ve only started cooking recently are noodles. I didn’t realise that they are so easy to cook and really quick as well which I know, as a student, you don’t want to be waiting around cooking food for ages. So here is my recipe for Chicken & Mushroom Black Bean Noodles:

Ingredients:

– a chicken breast fillet

– a noodle nest (Sharwood’s do a pack of 8, usually for around £1)

– Sharwood’s Black Bean Sauce

– 4 medium sized mushrooms

1. Dice the chicken breast and cook on the hob until white on both sides checking there are no pink bits in the middle, that way you know it’s completely cooked. (usually takes around 10 minutes)

2. Boil water in a saucepan and add the noodle nest, leave for 3 minutes and then drain

3. Dice the mushrooms and add to the chicken

4. Add half a jar of sauce to the chicken and leave to simmer for a few minutes

5. Add the noodles to the chicken and sauce and stir all together

6. serve in a bowl and enjoy

The time you can cook this meal is around 15 minutes which you’ll agree tastes a lot nicer than a ready meal. The total cost of this meal works out at about £1.70 which, unless you’re buying your food at pound land, is one of the cheapest meals you could cook. The great thing about using sauce jars is that you can cook the same thing but change the flavour, another thing I’ve tried is taking away the mushroom and using a Kung Pow Szechuan sauce for a spicier taste.

(Left: black bean noodles, Right: Spicy Szechuan noodles)

Coventry Uni guest talk with Rob Nothman (134MC)

Rob Nothman came into Coventry University to give a talk about his experiences as a sports commentator, with 25 years experience and 4 sony awards under his belt this talk was not to be missed as it was given by a true professional.

The thing I liked most about this lecture is that it was given by some one who is out there at the moment so some one that has the professional experience and could hopefully give some good advice even though I don’t want to go into sports commentary myself.

He talked about how with commentary you can’t be biassed, so even if you’ve commentating on your favourite team you have to control your excitement when something good happens for them, like if they score a goal for instance. You’re not supposed to show any over excitement in your voice and show the same enthusiasm for both teams.

Rob came prepared with clips for us to hear of examples of good and bad commentaries from over the past couple of decades and you could definitely define the difference between those who had kept there emotions out of their commentaries to those who were ‘excited’ to say the least that a team had scored, the quality of the commentary declines when you show emotion as it becomes hard to hear and understand because you get too carried away.

He also talked about how commentating can be a strain on your voice so you have to make sure your voice is well rested and also ‘exercised’ to last that long

He engaged with the audience asking questions for us to voice our opinions on the different commentaries being played and gave us the opportunity for any of our questions to be asked, overall it was a positive talk that got even the most sport hating person listening for advice.

The talk made me appreciate the importance of commentary because a commentator really does enhancing the experience of viewing sport, I can’t imagine, for example, watching football on the telly in pure silence without knowing what’s going on.

Coventry Uni guest talk with MP Geoffrey Robinson (Oct 2012) – 134MC

As someone that doesn’t have an interest in politics I went into this talk as a bit sceptical, as I wasn’t sure if I would actually take away something from it. In fact I didn’t know who Geoffrey Robinson was so after some quick googling I found out he was part of the British Labour party and has been an MP for Coventry North West since 1976. In a way I was pleasantly surprised as I found what he had to say interesting but also confirmed what I already knew that politicians and the press don’t have a good relationship.

When asked about his relationship with the press and how he felt about the press publishing things about him, he said that some journalists are good but others go a bit too far. He felt a bit violated but He also knew that this is what you let yourself into when becoming a politician saying that when people go into politics, they have to accept your private life doesn’t exist. He thinks that the press need stricter rules as he feels that politicians deserve more of a private life but he did go on to say that France has too much privacy for politicians claiming that the last French Prime Minister was sleeping with 17 year olds and fathered a child and the Public did’t know.

The obvious question that was going to come up was about the MP expenses scandal. Mr Robinson said it was disgraceful and that there is a difference between an allowance and an expense.

When asked about improving a relationship between the governement and the press he said that there is a natural non-avoidable conflict between the press and the government and what we all do isn’t that different. He claimed that our job, as journalists is to get behind the details, to see what the real sit and policies are and if there is something that has to be exposed, we must but we have to be honest, factorial and not to break the law or government guide lines. He also said that although the press is good for society and keeps a necessary check on the power the government has he also argued that some journalists can over do it in exposing the truth.

He is in favour of sixteen year olds to vote as they can go and fight for their country so should be able to vote as well and claimed that the labour party is more open to the idea of sixteen year olds to vote but they wouldn’t necessarily promote the idea. He compared the idea to the times before women were able to vote, as people were against the idea then as they thought they were naive but time has shown they are capable of making up their minds and thinks the same for sixteen year olds.

From this talk I gathered that Geoffrey Robinson fits into the public stereotype of a politician as I felt that whenever we asked him a question he would answer it in a way that he wanted to and not necessarily the answer that was needed for the question asked. I’ve gone out of the talk still having no interest in politics but perhaps a little bit more enlightened on the relationship between press and government even though Mr. Robinson seemed a bit negative towards the press from his own experiences when the press exposed him lending money to a fellow colleague to buy a house with government money which then resulted in him resigning.

CUEAFS You Are The Apple Of My Eye Film Review (134MC – Cov Uni)

You are the apple of my eye (2011) directed by Giddens Ko is a Twainese romance film which follows a group of friends in their journey from young, high school attending teens to university graduated, job having, adults from the point of view of Ko Ching-Teng (played by Ko Chen-Tung) which shows the main focus of the film being the developing, almost relationship between, Ching-Teng and honor student, Shen Chia-Yi. (played by Michelle Chen)

The story starts out following the boys in their high school days: Ching-Teng, Lao Tsao,(Owodog)  Hsieh Ming-ho (Steven Hao) nicknamed A-ho, Liao Ying-Hung (Tsai Chang-Hsien) and Hsu Bo-Chun (Yen Sheng-Yu) nicknamed boner, for reasons that are obvious when watching the film. The boys are your typical high school boys, messing around in class and getting in trouble, in particular masturbating over their female teacher but the attitudes of the boys start to change when new honor student Shen Chia-yi (Michelle Chen) joins their class, proving popular with the boys of the class.

The film shows the blossoming relationship between Shen and Ko when he gets into trouble in class for her and she then repaying him with revision lessons. It shows the two of them bringing out a different side of each other that they didn’t know they had, with Ko becoming a smart student and Shen becoming more relaxed and not totally focused on studies. They then realise the special bond they have with each other as they begin to fall in love.

The story then moves on to the teens all being separated and doing different things with their lives with some of them getting jobs, some moving away and studying at university with this it then shows the struggle of Shen and Ko’s relationship surviving with them both studying at different places and when Ko does something stupid and starts fighting Shen decides enough is enough after a heated argument and they go their separate ways. A-Ho, Ko’s school friend, then sees this as his chance to tell his feelings to Shen after watching Ko and Shen’s relationship all these years, he feels that this is his chance and him and Shen start dating for a while.

Ko and Shen’s paths cross once again during an earthquake in 1999 when Shen calls Ko to make sure he’s ok even after not speaking for all these years its clear they still have feelings for each other but Shen is already engaged to another man so it is to late for their relationship. The group of friends reunite once more at Shen’s wedding and it’s a great chance to see where they’ve all ended up after high school and into their adult life. It’s a truly lovely ending with a hint of comedy.

With no previous experience of Twainese cinema, I found the film quite funny, even though it was in Mandarin with English subtitles, I could still understand the jokes made even if some of the more ‘funny’ moments are a little crude for the English cinema goer. The film itself has a lovely sentiment, with the message being that even when falling out of love with someone and drifting apart from people you can still be apart of their lives many years later. Overall it has elements of your typical Rom-Com with a unconventional ending.

Final Folio

http://inspire-believe-bethemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-cabinet-of-curiosities.html

Letter To Myself

Dear future self

In a year’s time you’ll have completed your first year at uni and hopefully just be starting your second. Within this first year I’d of hoped to achieved many things.

For the first year of the course I would like to achieve a 2:1. I plan to put more effort and time into my degree than my A-levels because as this is something I’ve chose to do so it should mean that I’ll enjoy it more. As a degree will help my professional career I need to put my all into it to be able to achieve my goals.

Although I am sure that I want to go into magazine journalism when I’ve finished my degree I want to be able to experience all types of media platforms in my first year so this way I can be sure of what I really want to do and set my sights on that goal, You never know, you might try something and decide that you like it more than the idea of writing for glossy magazines.

I’m going to try my best to actually stick to deadline and do all the work in advance as for both GCSE & Alevel I left everything until last minute and made life hard for myself, If I get it all done before deadline then if something isn’t right I’ll have lots of time to improve it plus sticking to deadlines is something I’m going to have to get really good at for journalism as it’s all about having things in on time.

I hope that by the end of the first year you’ve tried many new experiences and tried new things as this is your chance to start doing things the way you want to, for the first time ever you don’t have anyone to answer to, so go out, do what you want and be the person you’ve always wanted to be.

Critical reflection for the cabinet of curiosities 

My cabinet of curiosities is a mix of all the things of all the things I like and dislike which reflect on me personally and also the way I hope to be professionally as well. I have including magazine front covers from Heat, Look and More magazines as these are examples of publications I want to write for in the future, They include things such as the latest fashions which is something I follow as I like to know what’s in and what’s not, articles about the culture I’m interested in and reviews on the kinds of music I like. These magazines reflect on me as a person as they show the kinds of things that are in and out and I like to fit in so I’ll try my best by following what these magazines say and do. I want to write for these magazines in the future as I can use my research and my writing to persuade the reader opinions on people and what they’re supposed to wear, who they’re supposed to like and what they’re supposed to listen too.

My dream job is to work for heat magazine which is why I’ve included many things from the brand in my cabinet, I like how since they’ve become a magazine they’ve branched into many different platforms which now include a website, a radio station and a music channel. It’s one of the most successful women’s magazine and I’d love to be apart of that, If I make it into a job in the company that’s how I’ll realise that I’ve actually made it as a journalist as I’ll have the career I’ve always wanted.

I’ve never had much interest in politics or the environment, which is why I’ve included it in my cabinet for what I hate. I feel as if they don’t try hard enough to appeal to young people, I think to get people interested in issues like this they should be introduced to it at a young age with kid’s programmes such as Newsround. If I ever had to write about politics I’d try my best so that it appealed to everyone.

Although my future career will involve writing about all kinds of celebrities I hope by that point that the fake ‘reality’ stars are no longer classed as celebrities because as much as I love flicking through the pages of a magazine it fills me with disgust when I see that they’re filled with stories about ‘TOWIE’ & ‘Made In Chelsea’ falling out of clubs or which fake reality star is with which other reality tv star, these programmes are fake which are producing fake celebrities and the fake news that follow them, they shouldn’t be filling pages of magazines that’s what their so-called tv shows are for!

Throughout this reflection I’ve talked a lot about celebrity and popular culture but another field I wouldn’t mind getting involved in is things to do with crime and crisis. I find myself gripped to stories such as the on going search for Madeline McCann and even at a young age I can remember being gripped on the Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman story. You never know which way these stories are going to turn and I’m always gripped to find out what’s going on next because as a journalist you’re always research and looking for new information and new stories and with cases like kidnappings and murders your information could help in solving the crime or helping with the situation, in a way a job as a journalist could also double as a detective as your looking around for clues and evidence to piece a story together.

The continuing theme that runs through my whole cabinet is that everything in it gets people talking whether it be global news such as things to do with politics, murders and kidnappings or just minor news such as which celebrity was caught doing what, it’s all in public interest which is what I find the most appealing thing about journalism is that you are the one reporting that public interest, creating a talking point with your research and your words. It’s also like as a journalist you’ve got the duty to do it as well, be truthful what you say and let the public make up their own minds.