Continue To Talk About My First Video Production Project

Our first BCST 140 project didn't begin until October 9 of last year, and our goal is set to have all people's project completed before Veteran's Day. It seemed like we didn't have a lot of time to prepare, but we did have two special rehearsal from each group one week before the actual production.

On September 30, 2009, Eloy Najera's project (I forgot if Stephen Reeve's was also done on the rehearsal or not) was selected as the rehearsal project. I was one of the camera persons for Eloy's project, and I can tell you that I was really scared, not just scare, but I'm also afraid, at the moment I walked behind the camera, my hands were shaking, my palms were sweated. I felt that I'd be sent to the execution ground, I did really think to evade my responsibility and leave the class, so I paced slowly along the studio and didn't get into my position. I didn't know what to do, a few seconds before the rehearsal began, the teacher called everyone in, all people are ready in their position. Camera 2's operator was not ready yet, where's the operator? Yes, it's me. "You should do your job…" Natalie Sancimino's few words woke me up and began to walk to the back of the big studio camera. All the camera persons have their headphones on, so did the director Eloy, TD, Audio Operator, and CG Operator. "Quiet on set!" Eloy yelled out, all of us were ready to roll…

Transbay Terminal... We Will Remember You Forever...

Time To Say Goodbye To Transbay Terminal

As many of you know, today is the last day of operation of the Transbay Terminal, one of the traffic hubs of San Francisco and an important historical landmark of transportation. In less then an hour, this 71-year-old transit hub will be permanently closed and finishing the historical mission. After midnight tonight, the terminal will be temporarily relocated to the open-air style Temporary Terminal on Howard and Main streets in San Francisco, the old Transbay Terminal will be demolished and will be replaced a new multi-modal transportation center which will have 11 transit systems in it. The new Transbay Transit Center is scheduled to open in 2017.

I came to the City for only about nine years, so I can't tell you too much of my emotion on the closing of Transbay Terminal. But one thing I can certainly tell you is that transit hub is dirty with overwhelming stench and lots of beggars, moreover, I think there is not enough maintenance and management on the Terminal. That's why I think the Terminal is so ugly. Honestly, I've only been to there for several times since I moved to the City.

Yesterday I went to the Transbay Terminal again for the last time before it is closed, I took a look on that old transit hub for one last time, I also took a lot pictures and videos from outside the Terminal to the inside. That will be a memory of mine and many San Franciscans, and we can only remember it with the pictures. The trip to the Transbay Terminal yesterday afternoon just liked to witness the end of an era.

Goodbye, Transbay Terminal. We'll be seeing a new Transbay Transit Center on the same place in 2017 and we'll be the witnesses again of that new transit hub.

Here are some of the pictures I took in the Transbay Terminal yesterday afternoon, you can click here to view all them all.

Remembering My Very First Video Production Project

People always say their first time were unforgettable, so do I. When I looked at those pictures taken in the old CCSF video production studio in Fall 2009, they made me to remember my very first video project that I created, produced and directed, it just like something happened yesterday.
The first video project that we did was actually a project of still pictures, it's not 100% video. I still remember we were just sitting down and listening the lectures at the very beginning of the video production class. After a few weeks of lectures and basic ideas of video production, we started doing actual production by using all the equipment in the studio. Studio cameras, server, switcher, character generator, audio mixer, just name a few. The still graphics project was assigned after we received the basic ideas on how to operate those equipment, we're then divided into two separate group, I was assigned into group one. Since this is a group project, everyone had a chance to be the director, on the other hand, everyone had to work as assistant director, technical director, camera person, etc. The roles were rotated accordingly, for example, if I was a TD for this classmate's project, I'd be the CG Operator for another classmate's project. Therefore, everyone had a chance to work on the equipment.
Honestly speaking, I was so tense when I understood that I have to work on the project. The biggest reason was I had only a few ideas on how to operate the equipment in the studio, by the time before we started working on the project, I'd only used the studio cameras for a few time. Another fact was that I worried that I might mess up other's projects by doing something wrong that I didn't know. Anyway, I still needed to do it because it was part of the grade.
The first production kicked off on October 9 of last year. And the director / producer was the pretty well-known DJ and musician Eloy Najera. (See? We've got so many talents in class!) After Eloy's project, we were also working on Stephen Reeves and Marek Damm. I was the camera person (actually we had three camera persons on each production) for both Eloy and Marek projects, and LD for Steve's project.
The production had started, everyone was ready on their positions. What happened next? It was really funny…

Spending Fun Time With My Relatives and Cousins

My best cousin who is from Macau has already come to the US for a summer vacation with his mother. And yesterday morning was our first time reunion for more than 2 years, both of us were very excited and hugged each other. It just like we had missed so long even though it was only 2 years, and I can't describe my excitement and happiness in just a few words!

After a brief reunion, my father, my aunts, and of course my cousin and I decided to go Sacramento for an one-day family vacation and fun. While on our way to Sacramento, my cousin and I had so many things to talk about, he asked me about the life here in the US, and I also asked him about his recent life and school in Macau. Both of us were talking very congenially and I have not been that happy for so many years.

Then we went to the vacation of one of my aunts, both my cousin and I had a brief ping-pong match, and it was only for fun. We also went out to my aunt's backyard and take a look on her tomatoes, melons and pumpkins. Both of us were taking a lot of pictures together on the backyard, and we felt so hot in the backyard! The weather was quite toasty in Sacramento, so we decided to go back inside after taking the pictures. We still had so many things to talk about, we talked about eating in McDonald's, the difference on the food between the McDonald's in Macau and here in the US. He said the menu in McDonald's in Macau is frequently changed, but in the US, I told him that our menu has not changed that much for years. He also told me that the "Shake shake fries" (which is a bag of french fries with seasoning powder, and you actually have to pour it into the bag of french fries and shake it) has been re-introduced in Macau, I missed so much about the McDonald's food in Macau, I really want to go back and enjoy them.

After spending a day with my cousin and relatives in Sacramento, my father and I, along with one of my aunts returned to San Francisco last night. My cousin will stay in Sacramento for a couple days, then he and his mother will take a cruise to Mexico and its coastal areas. I'm really envious of this cruise, I've never been anywhere since I came to the US, honestly, not even Mexico, I have never been to Los Angeles and San Diego, and I don't even know how does New York City looks like. I just like a frog in the well and can only see a small part of the World.

After the brief happiness, everything returns to stress and pressure... And I have my lonely life once again, maybe I'm just suitable for a lonely life, just sitting down and facing the four broken walls in my apartment unit... Nothing else, if I want to know more about the World, it is impossible because there's no way to make it possible. Victor Lei, don't think a lot of useless things, accept to reality!

My Cousin - 2

Let me continue to talk about my cousin today. How old is my cousin? My cousin is now 17 years old, which is 7 years younger than me and he is the only son of my father's sister. (which I call her aunt, but I just want clarify who's who) Maybe he is the only child of his parents, no brothers and no sisters, since as a little child, he has already loved to play with his cousins, but the cousin who always with him was me. When I was still in Macau, my home was on the same street as my cousin's, and indeed I'm his only cousin who was still in Macau as of 2001, the others, have been in the US for years. Another fact is we both speak the same language, therefore we don't have language barrier, most of his cousins can speak English only, a few of them can speak Chinese as well, though not so fluent.

In winter 1992, my aunt (who is now my cousin's mother) was pregnant. Before that, their family has no child. On the other hand, I was the only child of my parents and I often wished that I could have a brother or sister that time. Therefore, when I knew that my aunt was going to have a baby, I was so excited and it's just like I would have a brother. During my aunt's pregnancy, I frequently spent time to visit her, and she always invited me to her home. I think that may be another reason why we can be good cousins, and I think that he may have already known who I am when he was still in his mother's belly. It sounds funny, but it seems to be true. If you always with the unborn child and his pregnant mother, he would quickly recognize you when he was born, and you and him can be the best friend easily. Of course, spending the time together with him is also very important. No matter what the relationship is, two people getting along requires times and efforts, just like my cousin and I, it can't be done within one day or one week, is a long time effort, and you have to work on it constantly. Always spend time with him, play with him, he will be very impressed of you, and it is very valuable.

I will continue to talk more about my cousin again next time.

My Cousin - 1

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I'm very excited that my cousin and his parents who live in Macau will come to San Francisco next Monday night for summer vacation, and they will stay in the U.S. for about three weeks. As his best cousin and also a San Franciscan, of course I have to give them a warm welcome. I haven't seen my cousin for two years, the last time I saw him was in Macau, that was the time when I spent my summer vacation there. On the other hand, this is my cousin's third time visiting San Francisco, he visited here once in 2001 and 2003. Seven years later, another visit, what would my cousin think of San Francisco today?



Speaking of my cousin, actually he is not my only cousin. I have eight cousins including him, but he is the only one who has deep feelings with me. We are like brothers rather than cousins, and indeed many people thinks that he looks like me, especially the eyes. When I was still in Macau, I usually spent my time on my homework and tests, besides that, I didn't have much time spend with my friend, but my cousin always visited me (sometimes I visited him) and spent our happy time together. Playing games, watching TV, what a happy time! Although we are now living in two different places, we still have connections via Facebook and emails, we are still best cousins and best friends. So why he can has deeper feelings with me than my brother? Everything should begin with the time when he was born.

I'll continue my cousin's story tomorrow.

Outrageous! Outrageous?!

Please spend a few moment to read this blog post. What do you think?

http://blog.lostlake.org/index.php?/archives/99-Burn-your-TransLink-card.html

Strongly Criticizing San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

I think that the SFMTA is really ridiculous! Around 12:30 pm today, I just got out from a bookstore in the Lake Merced district and waited for the Line 18, there were also a few people waiting for that bus line. I checked with the bus arrival time, they said the next Line 18 would be coming in about 20 minutes. All right. The "18" was actually coming roughly 20 minutes later, but it stopped moving few hundred feet away. Then the driver changed the headsign to "NOT IN SERVICE", it turned out the horn of that bus was malfunctioned, the horn was keep on sounded and it was really noisy.

Okay. That's not the main problem. What matters is that bus driver didn't call for her supervisor and SFMTA to send a bus for back up, she just drove away from the bus stop. The even more ridiculous thing actually happened 20 minutes later, (yes, another 20 minutes!) another "18" was going away without any reason! That bus driver just drove his bus away! I didn't see there was problem on that bus, but the driver just drove it away! That left all of us to wait for the same line for another 20 minutes! It's really ridiculous! The regular "18" has service every 20-25 minutes, but this afternoon I waited for at least three "20 minutes", that means I waited for the "18" for 20x3=60, 25x3=75! I waited more than an hour for that bus line!

Outrageous! Outrageous! SFMTA doesn't follow the schedule to provide bus service! Beware that you may have to wait one day for a bus in the future because they provide service whenever they like!

Clipper Card On Cable Cars

I have been using the new transit smart card "Clipper" for about half-a-month, and since I loaded my electronic Muni Fast Pass into my "Clipper" card, I can ride every single line on the Muni system, including cable cars. (Note: You must have a monthly pass loaded into the card in order to ride cable cars) This afternoon, I tried to use my "Clipper" card for the first time to ride the Powell-Mason cable car line, honestly, as a local, I don't ride cable cars for more than 5 times a year, and I usually ride cable cars during the holiday season. Anyway, it's my second time (or third time, I don't know...) to ride cable car this year. There're so many people (I believe most of them are tourists) were waiting for the cable car, and we could finally get on board 30 minutes later, no need to say, the cable car had been full of people already. Good, I could still find a seat.

Everyone was on board, so conductor started to collect money from passengers or check their passes. Maybe I was the only person on that cable car who used "Clipper" card, the conductor didn't even carry the "Clipper" card reader with him at that time, therefore he told me to wait for him a second and to let him finished collecting all the cash payments. After he finished collecting all the cash payments, he took out the handheld "Clipper" card reader from the cable car, then I handed my card to him for scan. "Beep", "Good, thank you!" the conductor handed the card back to me. It's that easy.

The cable arrived at the Powell Street station around 3:30 pm, and my cable car journey for today has come to an end.

It's pretty cool experience to use a new technology on a cable car, and it just like something combined with the new and the old, but my only question is: when will the "Clipper" cards become part of our lives, just like the "Octopus" cards in Hong Kong?

One year… And counting…

Time flies really fast, there's no doubt about that. It's been almost a year since I studied video production over City College of San Francisco. At that time, I thought that video production was something familiar but strange. More importantly, I met many strangers except for the teacher Arthur Pines, who taught me in Broadcast writing couple years ago. My experience tells myself that I'm afraid of strangers, I don't know why I feel so bad when I see someone I didn't know before. I always think those stranger may do something harmful to myself, I think those are my self-protection after years of bullying and assaulting. Speaking of myself, I don't feel myself as everyone's favorite. As I said, I'm afraid of strangers because they may hurt me, but ironically I never hurt other people. In my mind, I treat everyone if not the best way, the good way.

Anyway, the video production class over CCSF gave me a chance to work with other amazing people, and as a production crew of a final class project "San Francisco Live". I felt so good about that, and had led me to go further on studying of video production.

After the semester of basic video production, I decided to go to advanced video production class, as well as FCP class, something new to myself...

Think what I want to think, write what I want to write

It's been the second day since I re-create my personal blog. I've said that I had two other personal blogs before, right? Why couldn't I keep them up? After years of experience, I found out that my thoughts and creativity is very limited. If I want to be a TV producer / editor, it is essential to have all kind of creativity. Just like the title of this post, I'll "think what I want to think, write what I want write" for most of this personal blog. I'll cover a variety of topics, from myself to my works, my studies, even news and politics. (sorry, I'm not a professional journalist!) Sometimes, I may post some of my video projects right here. When my classes resume next months, there may be more video projects to come, Of course I'll share them with you.

Okay. I think you might ask me why I name my personal blog "Vic-netian"? First, I want to point out that I have no direct or indirect relationship to The Venetian Resort-Hotel. My nickname is same as the nickname of The Venetian, and I think that name is pretty cool, so that's why I chose it. Nothing more than that.

I have several nicknames, most of them were given by my grade school classmates, but now no one knows or calls my nicknames, sigh.

Fare Evaders Beware!

This looks pretty funny and vivid, but it actually tells everyone a serious message. As seen on the picture, there is a seal in front of two Muni Fare Inspectors, behind them is a Muni bus. On the left, it is said "When it comes to fare evasion, we've seen every trick in the book". When it is translated to Chinese, the meaning is more sharp: "說到逃票的人, 他們的技倆已是眾所周知。" What is "眾所周知"? That means something that everyone has already known it. Like those fare evaders, they won't pay the bus fare this time, and they won't pay it all the times.

Fare evasion on Muni system is not a fresh issue, but it just like the oil spills on the Gulf Coast - not able to tackle the problem. There were several campaigns to educate riders to pay their fares in the past, at the same time, Muni Fare Inspectors stepped up inspections of rider's tickets, transfers or fast passes. Those people without valid proof-of-payment were fined at least $75. In spite of every effort, Muni never has a best and effective way to prevent those fare evaders.

Let me remind everyone about this, according to the San Francisco Transportation Code section 7.2.101 , the following acts constitute a fare evasion.

(a) For any passenger or other person in or about any public transit station (including an outdoor high-level boarding platform or station operated by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District), streetcar, cable car, motor coach, trolley coach or other public transit vehicle to evade any fare collection system or proof of payment program instituted by the Municipal Transportation Agency.

(b) For any person to board or ride a streetcar, motor coach, trolley coach without prior or concurrent payment of fare.

(c) For any person to board a streetcar, motor coach, trolley coach through the rear exit except: (i) when a representative of the transit system is present at such exit for the collection of fares or transfers or the inspection for proof of payment; (ii) when the streetcar, motor coach, trolley coach or other transit vehicle is operating at a station or boarding platform where fares are collected prior to boarding the transit vehicle; (iii) when necessary for access by persons with disabilities on wayside boarding platforms; or (iv) when the streetcar, motor coach, or trolley coach is operating on a transit line or in a Proof of Payment Zone.

(d) To fail to display a valid fare receipt or transit pass at the request of any authorized representative of the transit system or duly authorized peace officer while on a transit vehicle or in a Proof of Payment Zone.

(e) To misuse any transfer, pass, ticket, or token with the intent to evade the payment of any fare.

(f) To knowingly use or attempt to use any illegally printed, duplicated, or otherwise reproduced token, card, transfer or other item for entry onto any transit vehicle or into any transit station with the intent of evading payment of a fare.

(g) For any unauthorized person to use a discount ticket or fail to present, upon request from a system fare inspector, acceptable proof of eligibility to use a discount ticket. (127)

Anyone who is convicted could be fined up to $500.