Friday, September 30, 2005

Lin Dai Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 林 黛 50/60年 代 之 玉 女 明 星

Posted by: hcpen1111
Lin Dai Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era
If Ran Ling Yu is said to be the most famous and well-liked Chinese actress of the 1930s, then Lin Dai is undisputedly the most famous and well liked Chinese actress of the 1950-60s.She acted in many hit films that i still regarded as Chinese cinema's precious gems even today. She is wearing a Chinese Dress (旗袍) in the photo, still popular back then. (PLEASE SEE MY POSTS IN APRIL ON THE CHINESE DRESS) However, like many Chinese actresses of that era, she committed suicide when she was merely 30 years old ending her then booming career. Some rumours say she merely wanted to scare her womanizing husband but had taken too much pills than intended. More pics and info of Lin Dai, Le Di and You Min can be found at: http://come.to/youmin(Youmin's site which has links to the other 2 sites and all English/Chinese)for those interested in learning more about them.

Le Di Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 樂 蒂 ‘古 典 美 人 ’

Posted by: hcpen1111
Le Di Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era
Le Di, known then as a "Classical Beauty" and became wildly popular after appearing in the mega hit film 'Liang Shan Bo Yu Zhu Ying Tai' in 1963. The film is a classical opera film based on the popular Chinese folktale of a woman who disguised herself as a man to enter into a school to study as women were not allowed to study 1000 yrs ago and how this other guy falls for her and the pair fall in love as she reveals herself to be a woman in reality but their parents forbid their love and arrange a marriage for her...the guy dies from love sickness and the weather becomes bad on her wedding day forcing her bridal carriage to pass through his grave whereby the grave opens up and she dives in dying as well...thus the lovers are reincarnated as a pair of butterflies...so nowadays, some ppl will say when they see a pair of butterflies that they maybe the lovers...Le Di like many other top Chinese actresses of that era committed suicide at a young age rumoured to be cos of relationship problems..

Yu MinPopular HK Actress 1950-60s era尤 敏

Posted by: hcpen1111
Yu Min Popular HK Actress 1950-60s era 尤 敏 香 港 50/60年 代 的 知 名 女 星
She is a popular HK actress back in the 50s and 60s and was also the first HK actress to successfully enter the Japanese market appearing in films co-produced by Japanese film company Toie.
As i am a big fan of classic chinese films as well as Cheongsams/Qi Paos (Chinese Dress), i really like her and many other Chinese actresses of that era as the Chinese dress was still popular back then and actresses often wore it in daily life or in movies..please read my post under April Archives on the Chinese Dress..

Everlasting Regret (2005)

Posted by: hcpen1111
Everlasting Regret 長 恨 歌 (2005)
Film by Renowned Director Stanley Kwan based on the well-known novel of WangAnYi tracing the life of a Shanghai girl from her glamourious days as 2nd runner-up in the Miss Shanghai Pageant and mistress of a nationalist army general in 1947 to a plain life under Communist China through the Cultural Revolution to 1981. It also deals with her relationships with the 4 men in her life. Her life is supposed to mirror the life of the city of Shanghai itself. The lead is by Cantopop singer Sammi Cheng who changes her image drastically for this film....have not watched it yet but would recommend it given its by one of my favourite directors, Stanley Kwan, who is renowned for capturing nostalgia and women's viewpoints....also THE MOST ACCURATE portrayal of the Chinese dress i've seen on film with regards to Shanghai ladies..most films make the Chinese dresses way too sexy for that era but this film has done research and being a Chinese Dress expert myself, the dress and hairstyle of Sammi in the film is accurate for 40s era..

Taiwan Pride Festival 2005 台 灣 同 志 遊 行 2005

Posted by: hcpen1111

Taiwan Pride Festival 2005
Tomorrow will be the third Taiwan Pride Parade to be held in Taiwan. As a Taiwanese, i'm extremely proud that Taiwan has finally been able to hold its own parade in recent yrs indicating Taiwanese gays/lesbians increased political awareness and strength and also increased societal tolerance. Apparently, even legislators will attend the parade and the Taipei Mayor has attended in past yrs as well showing their support for the parade thus indicating that they are confident that Taipei residents are open enough such that politicians attending such parades do not feel that by attending, they are risking in any way their political viability...

Interesting note to those not familiar with Chinese or those from Mainland China and some other places, the word 同志 TongZhi is used to refer to Gays in Taiwan and Hong Kong although its original meaning meant comrade. In Mainland China, TongZhi continues to refer to comrade and most Mainland Chinese will only think of it that way. However, TongZhi as Gay has spread amongst the gay population in China as well so now the meaning Tongzhi as Gay is used in Taiwan, HK and amongst the gay population in China...further the word 同 is used often now in gay advertisements as it means sameness and again the meaning has been changed to refer to homosexuals as gays/lesbians like the same sex....learners of Chinese are still taught that Tongzhi means comrade and so may be confused when they see it used when referring to gays so this is just a little note for them...

Also another interesting note is that on the Taiwan Pride 2005 website, they are very thoughtful and have provided some sample excuses for people to use just in case they need to provide explanations because they were exposed by the media covering the parade and came on TV news...I will provide them with translations:

若是真的有人看到了你在媒體上出現,然後怎麼賴都賴不掉,其實還有許許多多的說詞:
全世界好多地方都有,那真的很好玩耶!平常要看還要去國外,這次在台灣,你沒去看真是太可惜了! (There are so many Pride Parades all over the world, it was really fun! Normally you would have to go overseas to get this experience but this time it was in Taiwan, what a pity you didn't go!)
喔,我只是路過而已 (Oh,...I was just passing by.)
沒啦,我的高中同學是同性戀,他說他自己一個人去會害怕,叫我陪他去 (Oh, its nothing, my highschool friend is gay and he/she said that he/she was afraid to go alone and asked me to accompany so i did)

都已經什麼年代了還這麼保守,同性戀也沒什麼不好阿,去看看又不會被吃掉。 (Its already the 21st century, don't be so conservative,there is nothing wrong with being gay anyway, you won;t get eaten up just taking a look right?)
如此一來,就可以利用這些對答上的技巧,並顯現出自然的表情,別人自然就不會再懷疑了。
(Using these techniques and putting on a natural expression, people will naturally no longer suspect that you are gay)

I was laughing when i saw these excuses cos they are so hilarious and really useful too..i guess many gays and lesbians are afraid of participating precisely cos they are afraid their faces will be on TV and in Taiwan, almost everyone watches TV News (cos the News in Taiwan is extremely interesting)and so exposure to parents and relatives could be high....

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Fashion70s Korean Drama Pics

Posted by: hcpen1111
Fashion70s Korean Drama Pics
Lead Actor in K Drama Fashion 70s...please click pic for more photos.

Maggie Cheung HK Film Star Cannes Best Actress

Posted by: hcpen1111
Maggie Cheung HK Film Star Cannes Best Actress
She is my FAVOURITE HK actress, being an elegant, refined, sexy and fantastic actress with superb acting skills....films she's appeared in incl. In the Mood for Love(00), Clean(04),etc

China Actor HuBIn Homoero 2005

Posted by: hcpen1111
China Actor HuBIn Homoero 2005
This is a Photo of HuBIn, one of China's biggest actors and rumoured to be gay...one wonders why when he is willing to appear in photos like this!

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2005!!

Posted by: hcpen1111
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2005!!

Bishonen (1998) Cast:Daniel Wu,Stephen Fung,Shu Qi

Posted by: hcpen1111
Bishonen (1998) Cast:Daniel Wu,Stephen Fung,Shu Qi
This is part of the continuing series on homosexuality in Asia...another introduction of an Asian movie on the topic of homosexuality....this film by Yon Fan tells the story of a closeted policeman(Daniel Wu) who seems to lead the ideal life and seems to be the perfect guy, he is handsome, filial towards his parents, believes in justice, kind hearted and a policeman with an extremely attractive best friend (Shu Qi)...however, he hides a secret...he is gay......on the other hand, a gay gigolo (Stephen Fung) leads a subhuman life earning a living through sleeping with clients, often men much older than he is and even being unable to refuse clients such as gay triad leaders who treat him like dirt....the two men meet coincidentally and become friends.....slowly, a love subtly blossoms between them although each is not brave enough to confess their feelings for the other...one day, they finally embrace each other and reveal their true feelings for each other but tragedy befalls......this is a good movie i feel and has cameos by 2 really famous old Chinese actors Jiang Zhen and Jiao Jiao, both of 1960s and 1970s era....

Saturday, September 03, 2005

HK Gay man wins HC case on HK ban on under21gaysex

Posted by: hcpen1111

HK Gay man wins High Court case repealing HK ban on under21 gay sex
This high profile case concerned a Hong Kong gay man who applied to the High Court requesting that the Hong Kong law banning sex between gay men under 21 be repealed on the grounds that it constituted discrimination against gay men and also infringed upon Human rights law and Basic law of HK that all citizens, incl gay men, were equal before the law. In HK, consenting sex between gay men is legal since 1991 but only for 21yrs and above whereas heterosexual sex (man and woman) and sex between lesbians is legal for under 21yrs old. Thus it meant that previously, only gay men were banned from having sex if they were under 21 whilst heterosexuals and lesbians could have sex even under 21. The HK High Court ruled in favour of the gay man who applied and repealed the old HK law on the grounds of discrimination especially given lesbians were not subjected to the same ban. Now, therefore, gay men in HK under 21 can also legally engage in consensual sexual intercourse. What surprised me and i'm sure many HK ppl must have been how 'normal' the gay man who sued looked. Asian society still has a stereotype that gay men look either (a)effeminate/sissy (b) thin and pale or some ppl would think if gay men did not come under the first 2 categories then they must come under either (c)fashionable looks conscious (d) wears tight clothing and works out often....but the gay man who won, as can be seen from the photo above, was in none of the categories most ppl would have of gay men and no one would probably even suspect he was gay if they knew him and he did not tell them. Further, he had a respectable occupation as a volunteer with the famous NGO Doctors without Borders Medical San Frontiers which operates in poor countries giving medical treatment to ppl.The gay community really needs public figures like him to provide a positive role model for gays and lesbians and more importantly to dispel myths about how gay men are like amongst society at large as putting a sissy like gay man as a public figure for gay rights will not attract much support from society given it reinforces negative perceptions about gay men but putting a very 'normal looking' good looking guy with a respectable occupation is bound to jolt people and gain more sympathy and understanding for gay men...

Foreign Diplomats visit Nanking Massacre Exhibit

Posted by: hcpen1111
Foreign Diplomats visit Nanking Massacre Exhibit

S Diary One of the best Korean film in 2004

Posted by: hcpen1111
S Diary One of the best Korean film in 2004
A Fantastic film about a girl who breaks up with a boyfriend and her boyfriend says that all men including her former bfs all are after one thing only in relationships.-SEX. Thus the girl begins to look through her diary to remember her past three relationships to see if this is true. She realises she was treated badly by her former boyfriends and thus starts her revenge plot to get bck at her past boyfriends. Extremely funny film esp the bits when she is taking her revenge on her exs and the plots she comes up with...also has emotional parts and the ending is superb as it does not end without a twist with her realising that often no one is fully responsible when relationships turn bad...so its not a man hating movie! Also the actress in this film is of course the now wildly popular actress of the huge Korean TV Drama hit 'My name is Samsoon' which attracted very high ratings this yr.

Someone Special

Posted by: hcpen1111
Someone Special
One of my favourite films in 2004 which also won Lee Na Young a Korean award for Best Actress. Great cinematography and acting by both the lead actor and actress and defies conventional story-telling. A MUST-WATCH for Korean cinema in 2004. Also i did not really realise it then but recently i'm watching a Korean drama called 'Ireland' starring Lee Na Young and was overwhelmed by how pretty and refined she looked, she's easily one of the most beautiful actresses i've seen in my entire life, maybe even one of the most beautiful women i 've seen...she is really pretty with nice features and i know i would definitely turn my head if i passed her on the street...overall, this film is highly recommended!!

SomeoneSpecial One of the best Korean film in 2004

Posted by: hcpen1111
SomeoneSpecial One of the best Korean film in 2004

SomeoneSpecial-2004

Posted by: hcpen1111
SomeoneSpecial-2004