Author Archives: Joey Lam

National Volunteer Week 2022

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Volunteer Canada

April 24-30, 2022 is the week of National Volunteer Week here in Canada and what else does that bring to us?

The spirit of volunteering is all about serving others and that seems not that popular now in our modern world. I am not saying people no longer contribute but there is just too much stuff that draw the attention away. Let’s be honest. If you have a free weekend ahead, would you be asking your friends out or looking for volunteering opportunities in your neighbourhood.  Would you register yourself as a mentor or tutor in the community centre?

Tought questions right?

74% of Canadians volunteered informally, giving back 3.4 billion hours according to the statistics in 2018.  The figure is actually quite promising as almost three quarters of population devoted their hours to make the place better.  Volunteering is not just a way of helping but also enriching oneself. It helps develop empathy so they can see the world through the eyes of others.  It can also broaden your perspective about the world and people around you.

Still feel like volunteering is so far from you?

One simple individualistic way to volunteer can be just jumping into the farmers market near your place. Farmers market is coming back in the season and many of them do need support from the volunteers. Scroll through their social media sites and connect with them! Isn’t that great to enjoy the sun and also contributing to the world. If you still feel like staying in your circle, look up corporate social responsibility in your company agenda. It is an extremely popular way for corporate to give back to the community. They would have tones of activities for you to join. That could also help build up the relationships with the co-workers too if you are new to the group.

Step up and find the way that works for you.

What you should know about NFT?

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Is NFT the new way to make money or it’s exclusive to some people?

NFT has been under heat debate for few years now and seems like people still could not get enough of it. People used to invest on stock market or property market in order to make some good money. However, people now could earn money using simple tools like a photo or meme. Older generation feels like this way of making money is way too vague and difficult to get a grasp of.  The world seems to be in frenzy with it as reflected in the extraordinarily high selling price (highest piece so far is at USD$91.8m.)

For content creators or artists, this may be a nice way to introduce new way of making money. They no longer have to create the actual art piece and wait for the deals in like art galleries or studios. Instead, they could just list them online and see if anyone would buy that.  It provides way more flexibility and fluidity to trading which could probably start a new trend for the upcoming decades. Maybe people will no longer buy and sell actual artworks but the online version. Probably no one could imagine the emerge of smart devices twenty years ago untill Steve Jobs actually brought that to reality.  Things nowadays change and develop with the pace that we could hardly envision. Who could have foresee that the world will be ruled by the pandemic for more than three years now? Nothing is impossible now and what we could do may just be stay open-minded and be adaptable.

Other than the usual descriptions about NFT, more behind-the-scene of the idea shall be explored. It shall means more than just a way to make money but how could new idea change the world. How do new ideas pop up would also be an endless topic to work on.

Trivia night every Tuesday for y’all and what else for the summer ahead?

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Populist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning to chill a bit after the long day on Monday and this could be the way to shake off your Monday blue.

The Rec Room at The Amazing Brentwood is having trivia night every Tuesday until June 14. Questions about films, music, general knowledge will be tested and it’s time to show off your skills! Daniel Chai and Jeff Porter from Fandom Trivia would be hosting the event with the prize of weekly local, seasonal local and seasonal national. Free entry as well so why wait to earn some good prizes.  Worried about your empty stomach while answering the questions? The two restaurants there are also serving really nice food which should not be missed at all. As we are now in the post-covid period, maybe it’s time to catch up with friends again and this can be a great idea to go for.

Speaking of entertainment, good food should also be on the list I bet?  Richmond Night Market is coming back this Friday with more than 500 international food items. Gate usually opens at 7pm with Saturday at 6pm. Admission would CAD$6 each and free for kids under 7 and seniors over 60.

Richmond Night Market official website

It is one of the best night market one could find in Metro Vancouver. It covers not just Oriental festival-style foods but also east Asian culture  shopping experience. This could be the best option you could have when you are still not feeling very confident for international travelling. Visitors are expected to enjoy way better this year with the ease of the covid social distancing measures. The market would still recommend the proper personal hyigene so everyone could enjoy themselves in the market.

Don’t forget to take a look at the entertainment stage there while you are digging in that rolled ice cream. The market is for sure a to-go if you are looking for an entertaining and fulfilling night.  Save the date and start texting the one you wanna bring along!

To learn more:
https://www.therecroom.com/burnaby-brentwood/events/trivia-league/66666
https://richmondnightmarket.com

The second layer of meaning of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

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Lionsgate Movies

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is unlike any other movies you could find in Hollywood. Nicolas Cage was cast as a fictionalised version of himself in the movie and the reason for doing so may seems bleak.

Cage is one of the world renowned actor whose entertainment career started in the 1980s.  He is also the recipient of many international accolades such as The Oscars and the Golden Globe Award.  He was once considered one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors with the estimated earning of $40 million in 2009 according to Forbes. The way he spent his wealth also attracted critics. For instance, he bought an island in the Exuma archipelago or a medieval castle in Germany. How he spent his money actually paved the way for the born of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

The way that Cage self mocked himself brought him countless compliment in the movie. He admitted to the media that he needed the money from this movie to settle his debts. The essence of self mocking is all about bravery. Admit that before that was exposed by the paparazzi can be the key. The movie is also very helpful in reminding the audience the classic pieces of Cage.  Tributes to his old movies such as Con Air and Face/Off was seen all along the movie which some viewers found it very interesting.

The movie has several layers of meaning as if it taught the viewers the importance of perseverance and find the way out despite in adversity.  The way that they incorporated the old movie scenes to the new one also worths mentioning especially in this ear of idea advancement. People nowadays emphasise on new ideas or creative elements in production. One shall not forget the vintage side in production and blending the two together can also be a way when producing a film.

New film studio coming to Burnaby?!

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Pixabay

It’s not the usual film production studio one could imagine as this new one will be one of the largest LED production stages in North America.

“We want to work with the best talent around the world to empower filmmakers and expand the limits of what is possible in the medium of film with technology. With virtual production technology, we can change the way films are made, letting film production catch up to the tremendous changes in content distribution and consumption on the demand side. This is also a chance to redesign the filmmaking process to better serve creatives. The ultimate goal of virtual production is not to lead in technologies but to a
celerate and nurture great storytelling. “ Leo Lee, CEO, Versatile Media.

The company now has a headquarter in downtown Vancouver and provides services like virtual location scouting or real-time animation. It sounds very technical but indeed is similar to sequencing and camera blocking for principle photography.  The new facility would allow the company to offer more virtual production to the global industry.

The company is hoping to be the leader in LED production stages. The LED stages serve as a substitution to a traditional green screen. It is also the home of the core creative crew with the help of the latest technology. All these would contribute to not just one but many amazing stories. Versatile also invites many experienced film maker onboard such as Matt Welford. He has been in the field for more than 25 years with the work such as Lord of the Rings, King Kong and Avatar, many were the pioneer of the use of virtual production.

Maybe people would no longer only just associate Hollywood with film making but also Vancouver. Vancouver breeds many talents for media production and I am sure the building of this studio would definitely bring huge progress to the film making or media production industry here in Vancouver.

Versatile Media


Versatile official Youtube channel