Arthur in New York

This large billboard advertising the movie Arthur dominated this part of the New York skyline as viewed from the High Line Park in the Meatpacking District. The High Line is a 1-mile (1.6 km) New York City linear park built on a 1.45-mile (2.33 km) section of the former elevated freight railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan; it has been redesigned and planted as an aerial greenway. The High Line Park currently runs from Gansevoort Street, one block below West 12th Street, in the Meatpacking District, up to 30th Street, through the neighborhood of Chelsea to the West Side Yard, near the Javits Convention Center. The recycling of the railway into an urban park has spurred real estate development in the neighborhoods which lie along the line.

Times Square - Crossroads of the World

Times Square is probably one of the most recognised and iconic city centres in the World. Situated in Manhattan at the junction of Broadway and 7th Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets this commercial area has an incredible concentration of neon advertising with gigantic Jumbotron video screens now taking up much of the real estate creating a dynamic and colourful vista on all the tall buildings.

This larger area around Times Square from 6th to 8th Avenue and from 40th to 53rd Street is known as the Theatre District where most of the Broadway theatres are located as well as many other theatres, movie theatres, music halls, restaurants, hotels and other entertainment outlets. This whole area just buzzes with peope and happenings and at night with all the neon lights on can be quite spectacular.

Our hotel was situated on West 49th street so we were right in the heart of this area and Times Square was a short 2-3 minute walk away.

Raise The Red Lantern

This photo taken in Shanghai, China reminds me of the famous Chinese movie Raise The Red Lantern, which is one of the very few Chinese movies I have watched and enjoyed.

Raise The Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang.

Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colours. The film was shot in Qiao's Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. Although the screenplay was approved by Chinese censors, the final version of the film was banned in China for a period. Some film critics have interpreted the film as a veiled allegory against authoritarianism.

Slow Coffee

This was my first experiment with a new Casio EX-FH100 camera I recently picked up. This camera is a small 10 megapixel compact camera but with the really intriguing feature of high speed video capability with video rates of 120fps, 240fps, 420fps and even 1000fps. These high speed video rates allows you to easily shoot ultra slow-motion movies at speeds that were only previously available on super expensive, pro-level cameras. The effect of slow motion video is hypnotic and should be able to add some interesting effects into my future slideshows. I tracked down this camera after seeing some of the work done by Trey Ratcliff who used an earlier version of this camera. This video was shot at 420fps which is a bit small being only 224px x 168px, so I will be looking at using the 120fps (640px x 480px) and 240fps (448px x 336px) in my next trials.

Coliseum Theatre .... Pawagam Coliseum

The Coliseum Theatre is a movie theater in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the oldest movie theaters in the country, it was built in 1921 by the Chua family led by Chua Cheng Bok. The Art Deco-style building is capable of seating 900 people and also features a balcony.

The famed Coliseum Café and Hotel are located behind the theatre, just down the road. The oldest and continuously running cinema hall in the country (save for a break during the Japanese occupation during World War II), most of the movies premiering in the building are Indian movies. After Chua Cheng Bok's demise in 1940, his estate continued to administer the Coliseum until its acquisition in 1973 by a company owned by his nephew Dr Chua Boon Teck and his wife Mdm Khor Joo Saik.

In 2006, the Malaysian government proposed to close the theater and turn it into a cultural heritage center, but relented when there was a public outcry to the scheme.The government later decided not to close the cinema. Instead, they planned to build a parking lot nearby.In that year, Dr Chua Seong Siew, elder son of the late owners Dr Chua Boon Teck and Mdm Khor Joo Saik, had successfully appealed for the cinema theater to remain open, and so it continues to operate to this day.