Archive for the 'Art' Category
The 10 hardest Chinese characters ever
If you thought learning Chinese is hard, well… you can decide for yourself after reading this article. Here, below is the 10 hardest Chinese characters ever! These characters are taken from the Kangxi Dictionary, a dictionary published in 1716.
They look pretty hard, and they’re harder to write. Most Chinese wouldn’t even know how to write, pronounce or know the meaning behind these words, and it’s been said, some suffer seizures just be glancing at them. Yes! These are the 10 hardest Chinese words!~
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Japanese urban camouflage
Do you feel like someone is always following you during those dark, lonely nights as you walk home? If you do, or just incase it ever happens (God hopes not), Aya Tsukioka, a clothing designer has come up with the solution for you! She has designed urban camouflage accessories which might just save your life! And guess how she was inspired to do this, Ninjas! Just take a look!
Can you spot the fake? Well, the fire hydrant might be easier to spot, but the vending machine took some time… Nonetheless, it’s quite a creative way to combat crime as there is a growing fear of crime in Japan. This might just revolutionize ‘urban warfare’!
However, after reading people’s comment on this, i’ve come to the conclusion that this is very impractical due to certain factors:
1) Would the vending machine light up at night, when the disguise will be most used?
2) What happens when your attacker gets thirsty or there happens to be a fire? How ’bout if it’s a vending machine thief?
3) You won’t be able to see your attacker.
4) And you’re most probably trembling with fear. I’m not sure about you, but i don’t see many vibrating vending machines or fire hydrants around.
Yes, this trick might have worked for ninjas, but I think a pepper spray or taser might just be more effective in these times. And these disguises don’t come cheap either, the vending machine skirts cost $800 each! But, i guess you could always wear it to the Halloween parties!
Source:
The New York Times
World’s fastest elevators are in Asia
Six out of the ten world’s fastest elevators are in Asia! Is this a sign of Asia’s rise? Well, Forbes think it is! They even named it the ‘Elevator Index’ and explains:
It isn’t a perfect measure, but where the economies zoom, tall buildings go up. And keeping those buildings economically feasible means outfitting them with fast elevators. Getting work done efficiently doesn’t happen when employees are shuttled up and down 60 or so stories at a snail’s pace. What company wants its workers on an hour-long cigarette break? - Forbes
Although the top floors of these skyscrapers will probably be used more for tourism than as offices, Forbes do have a point, who wants to be stuck in a stuffy small room with strangers for so long?
Riding these fast elevators is a thrill by itself, with features such as modern pressure control system to reduce stomach churning and ear popping, double-decker elevators that can carry up to 46 people, streamlined carts to minimise whistling noise and vibration. All these fancy gagdets make these elevator rides sound more like a trip to outer space, don’t you think? Just take a look at the video below on the fastest elevator in the world (TaiPei 101), they have a screen showing your speed, height, which floor your on, time taken and a pretty red dot displaying where you are in the building! An ‘out-of-this-world experience, i say!
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China’s most expensive painting: Execution
Execution, is its name and its the most expensive Chinese comtemporary art sold to date at 2.9 million pounds ($5.9 million) in a London Auction! The oil painting was painted by Yue Min Jun, a famous Beijing artist for his other works such as “The Pope” which sold for 2.15 million British pounds ($4.37 million) and “The Massacre at Chios” which sold for $4.1 million. But none has been as successful as ‘Execution’!
But all great paintings must have a greater meaning behind it to make it so controversial, and for the ‘Execution’ its no different. So what make this artwork worth 2.9 million pounds apart from the fact that they’re all laughing in a creepy way? Well, as the name has hinted, Yue Min Jun was inspired to paint ‘Execution’ by the 1989 Tian an men Square event. For those that don’t know, it was a protest that resulted in what many has called a ‘massacre’ by the Chinese government. It was also the event which created ‘Tank man’, an unknown protester that stopped advancing PLA tanks. However, the artist said that:
“But while Tiananmen served as the catalyst, the oil painting should not be seen as depicting what happened at Tiananmen” - CNN
Asian piano lesson
‘A Little Nightmare Music’ consist of Aleksey Igudesman, a russian and Richard Hyung-Ki Joo, a Korean. This duo goes around the world displaying their musical talent in ways never seen before in the concert hall! It is not only funny and entertaining, but in this particular sketch, it’s also terrifying! (In a good way)
This hilarious comedy sketch is about a piano teacher teaching his student, although his methods is questionable it is nonetheless entertaining. Entertaining to the viewers of course, i don’t see how the student can be enjoying this piano lesson. I, myself have never met such a piano teacher, maybe that’s why i was never good at piano. This just could be the reason behind why there’s so many talented Asian pianist - they learn to play the piano in fear of their safety.
Watch as Joo, our terrifying piano teacher tortures, I mean ‘teaches’ another of his soon-to-be talented, if not talented student already (Unfortunately, it’s in Korean):
Ahh, brings back memories when corporal punishment was still allowed in schools, eh?
You can visit Igudsman and Joo at their site!