Our Encore Reunion with Screen International

On 6 May 2015 on the 3rd floor of Meichentiandi, four of us met, Fan, my former boss, Wang, my former colleague, Paul and I. We got together the first time as editors of Screen international, a film magazine by Chinese Filmmakers' Association.

Mr. Fan treated us to our reunion dinner. We had a great time, reminiscent of our time spent at Dianying xin zuo which hired almost exclusively new graduates from Fudan University, Shanghai Teachers' University and Shanghai University. Unfortunately, starting from the mid-eighties, we became restless and started to plan to study in countries such as America, Australia, and Japan. Four out of 14 editors were left behind and their positions were later merged with other journals or studios.

That evening, we had an unexpected guest joining us. As a former intern at our editorial department, Mr. Ren is now the head of Shanghai Animation Studio, and director of Creation Department of Shanghai Film Studio. Before the dinner ended, Ren extended us an invitation to visit his newly opened Shanghai Film Archive. We all welcomed this encore reunion of sorts.

The following Wednesday, May 13, we visited the archive. Afterwards, Wang acted as our host by driving us across the river to Pudong, walking and having coffee by the water's edge at  Riverside Promenade (Bingjiang Da Dao), a counterpart of the Shanghai Bund. At dusk, he took three of us to the Ritz-Carlton and treated us to an exotic dinner there. That was a life-changing experience: we saw not only a 270 degree panoramic view of the Shanghai scene, but also how the topmost class in Shanghai live and experience luxurious leisure.

Our 40-Year Reunion Gathering at Fudan

At 8:50 a.m., May 16, 2015, Paul and I were the first ones to arrive at the gate of Fudan University after taking Metro No. 3 and Bus 133. 

It was a quiet morning, except for the constant stream of passenger cars entering the gate, something you did not see 40 years ago. Mao's statue was still standing, but none of my classmates was to be seen. In a flash I was thinking that we must have missed the meeting, until I spotted Leon with his camera walking from the campus.

Compared with the first day of school when 30 new students were gathered to form Class 78-3 on 26 March 1975, that day we saw only 23 people, adding Paul and a former instructor/husband of our classmate. Quite a number of classmates could not make it due to various personal reasons.

Perhaps because we all increased in age and size, the campus seemed small. The well-known Denhui Lou looked dilapidated, needing at least one coat of paint, whereas our Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures was converted into an archive of campus personnel records. New constructions and developments were either across the road or somewhere else in the city. While it was all true, I still could not help wondering why the cash-rich university could at least try to preserve the original campus.

A delicious welcome banquet finally lifted my spirits. Like human life, a university needs to have its stages of life too: once it has developed new branches and extended locations, the old campus tends to be like any parents' houses: familiar but dated.

 Thus we started our 40-year reunion, an activity achieved purely by volunteer work, individual contributions and substantial financial donations by two classmates, Mary and Yiming.

Our 40-Year Reunion at Le Royal Méridien Shanghai

On the evening of 16 May 2015, Fudan Foreign Language Training Class of 1978-3 (复旦大学外语培训班78届3班) had a four-hour long reunion dinner and gathering at Le Royal Méridien Shanghai. It was a sit-down meeting to concentrate on three agendas: 1) Recollecting our years in 1975-1978; 2) Clarifying past misunderstandings; and 3) Showcasing our personal achievements in those 40 years.


In general, I agreed with my 21 classmates' conclusion that the experience from the Language Training Class was positive, which has become the source of our tenacity and persistence in our lives and work. From the photo above one can see that the reunion tended to be on the serious side, especially with a couple of people complaining about the wrongs they had endured all those decades. Some classmates spent nearly half the gathering's duration enumerating their personal and professional success.

Despite all of this. Paul and I had a great time, reconnecting with my classmates, and roommates. It is one of my three reunions in Shanghai in May 2015.

Rediscover Stitch 'n bitch : the Knitter's Handbook

It has been exactly a decade since I purchased Stitch 'n bitch : the knitter's handbook for the collection of Applied Arts at SCPL. Being a selector, I was too busy buying and weeding books to enjoy Deborah Stoller's true talents.

It was not to happen until a couple of months ago, when my expectant great niece was looking for someone to knit Big Bad Baby Blanket for her new baby. Since I am a knitter of some sort in the family, I was awarded the glory. The recommended web site offered free advice on yarn selections, but not the knitting pattern which was copyrighted by Stitch 'n bitch : the knitter's handbook. Thus I was forced to be personally encountered with the book. Needless to say, the blanket was well received later by my grateful great niece.

My latest encounter was Cat bed in Miscellaneous section. I always wanted to give Chippy a bed, but nothing really took my fancy until I saw Princess Snowball Cat Bed. After assembling the bed this afternoon, I put Chippy next to it. Without any coaxing, or catnip, she sniffed it twice and immediately climbed into her new bed and slept from early evening through night.

I am truly glad that our library has 6 titles by Deborah Stoller, which is a great resource for serious as well as weekend knitters. Unlike other knitting/crocheting books skimping with instructions, her selections are excellent and classic, peppered with good and timely advice before readers have any doubts or questions.

New Knits for a New Baby

Thanks to Paul, the Afghans site has been updated and seven new baby knits, uploaded to the bottom of page 4. As a knitter, I have to admit again that his photo representations are so much better than my original pieces, with brighter colors, crispier designs and so much more details. The following is but a example

Thank you for viewing and enjoying!

Tuesday Evening with Rosie's Author

Yesterday evening, my former boss came to pick me up. Together we drove over the hill to attend "Book talk and signing with the author of the Rosie project" at Orchard City Banquet Hall, Campbell Community Center.

It was an eye-opening experience for me on many levels. First of all, my former colleague is doing really well at Santa Clara County Library. She organized the book talk event, which was so successful with the fully packed hall that Graeme Simsion, the author, could not help recalling his first Rosie project signing in an Australian rural library. His independent book seller took only ten copies for the event, but was still unsure if he could sell them all.

Secondly, the Rosie project (and its sequel the Rosie effect) is the first book to be officially acknowledged by the Asperger's syndrome community, due to the author's accurate and sympathetic approach towards people who suffer from the disorder. He never laughs at them, but with them, making them proud enough to come out of closet. The author draws his sympathy largely from his background and interaction with fellow programers, a code name for people with Asperger's syndrome in the late 70s, when there were no official courses for computer science.

Born in New Zealand, Graeme was told that he had written the best essay at age of 13, but disillusioned soon after that he was not smart enough to be a physicist, especially not in the field of quantum physics. Working as a computer programer in Australia, he was soon approached by Don who wanted to do a MBA with him, for they had shared "the same problem." Although Don never earned his MBA degree as the author did, they had been staying in touch. The author witnessed Don's troubled marriage, but dedication to the same woman after she was sick for more than two decades. Care-taking made Don's life worth living. Through Don's life, he also saw the unhelpful labeling of Asperger's when psychologists mislabeled their patients in the early days.

Thirdly, the author, Graeme Simsio, delivered his book talk like a real comedian. He thinks that the key to a good story is that it can make you cry, make you laugh and make you think. During his writing, he likes to plan by writing on cards. His advice on overcoming writer's block: lower one's standards, and write anyway. 

Last but not least, I had a peasant reunion with my former boss and colleague. I even got a nice gift pin of three girls to remember the occasion with.

Out of Comfort Zone

For some time, I had been lapsed into a mode of reading and viewing only mysteries, or rather, British or Scandinavian mysteries. Uncomplainingly, Paul would watch with me, but quickly drift into a dreamland, instead of experiencing the entire story unfold on the screen. 

During our latest trip in New York, I went through a rebirth process of sorts, and found myself turning into a reasonably flexible viewer. My platter became as wide as a feline’s, too.

To recall, I have not found it particularly painful to take myself out of my comfort zone. But two elements are critical: mental preparation and determination to have a good time. The following are some movies/TV programs we enjoyed during and after our trip:

DURING THE TRIP August Osage County (2013)

Car of the Future (2008)
Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Draft Day (2014)

Grand Hotel Budapest (2014)
Her (2013)
Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2014)
Luther (2010) 
Noah (2014)
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Reykjavik Rotterdam (2008)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)

Simple Plan, A (1998) Under the Skin (2013)

We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)  AFTER THE TRIP Captain Phillips (2013) Chef (2014)

Interstellar (2014)
The Lunchbox (2013)
Looper (2012) 
A Most Wanted Man (2014)  
My Brother is an Only Child (2007)

Ray (2004)
The Roosevelts: an Intimate History(2014)

Theory of Everything (2014)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012) 
 

A Mother Teresa Break: Rain Held for Jack O'Lantern Blaze

Paul and I went to 2014 Jack O'Lantern Blaze. The blaze site was left behind Shop Rite of Croton-on-Hudson. One could either park on the shopping center site or go through the arch entrance. The lot was full.

Never in our entire life did we see so many pumpkins, and so many creative ways to present pumpkins. Five thousand pumpkins were employed to be gravesides, building or wall decorations, flora and fauna, animals, etc. we especially liked the use of accompanying lighting, sound and other special effects, plus a whole spectrum of Jurassic park families, and Chinese dragon.

Little did we realize that we stayed there for more than two long hours until Paul's camera chip was almost full and our feet went frozen. But there were still more things to see.

All in all, we loved our experience, it was very rich visually and culturally. We now knew a lot about Croton's local history and colorful local characters. The event was well manned with tight security and friendly staff, fit for all ages, particularly in earlier time slots.

We had been worried about the weather ever since we booked the only available tickets for the night of 11/6/2014 alerted by our niece Wendy. But we were blessed with a Mother Teresa break: it rained all day Thursday 11/6 until 7 pm. The full moon even popped out to join us.