Issue 12: Hong Kong
Issue 12: Hong Kong
color grading, why your music taste suck, and what love feels like
Hello people! Welcome to Issue #12!
p.s We added a dinkus between each post so there’s a clear separator. Let us know if this is better!
Life Updates
I travelled to HK and Shenzhen for 6 days and it was fun to get my mind off work and experience China.
– Ben
I got over the nerves and gave a talk over the week for Snowflake! Check out this short clip on what happened and spot me :) I was also busy booking a trip with my friends to Bangkok and doing up all the visa things to US.
— Wei
Some Pictures in HK
Color Grading 101
I’m learning to color grade on Davinci Resolve and found a good 101 explainer.
Some notes I took:
color correction
the step before color grading where you tweak the white balance, exposure, highlights, mid-tones, noise reduction, etc.
color grading
add character and atmosphere to scenes by adding curves, masks, color wheels, grain, glow, chromatic aberrations
color spaces
most common profile REC. 709 (est. 1990)
this ensures all devices display the same image (of the same color)
Rec. 2020 is the new richer color space with HDR, which allows for more brightness, very vivid colors, and deep blacks
there are acquisition color spaces, which are specific color spaces optimized for camera manufacturers with specific sensors
White Painting [three panel], 1951 by Robert Rauschenberg
In 1961, composer John Cage (1912–1992) famously referred to the White Paintings as airports for lights, shadows, and particles, establishing an enduring understanding of the series as receptive surfaces that respond to the world around them. Building on this reading, Rauschenberg once referred to the works as clocks, saying that if one were sensitive enough to the subtle changes on their surfaces one could tell what time it was and what the weather was like outside. Ultimately, the power of the White Paintings lies in the shifts in attention they require from the viewer, asking us to slow down, watch closely over time, and inspect their mute painted surfaces for subtle shifts in color, light, and texture.
Studio Ghibli Nature Loop
A relaxing loop of Ghibli nature to revitalize your soul.
Most People
Visakan shares some notes about not worrying or caring about what “Most People” think.
You are not most people, so don’t do things for most people. Don’t do things for most people; do things for yourself based on your own unique tastes and experiences, and the right people will show up. Raise your standards and aspire for greatness. Don’t just impress your friends; impress God himself.
“Most people have done all that they’re ever going to do. They raise a family, they earn a living and then they die. Most people don’t work on their dreams; why? One is because of fear — the fear of failure. What if things don’t work out? And the fear of success: What if they do and I can’t handle it? Most people get comfortable. They stop growing, they stop working on themselves, they stop stretching. They stop pushing themselves and they end up becoming very cynical about life and they throw in the towel on themselves, on their families and on their dreams.” – Les Brown
X-men 97’
I’ve been watching this series, and it’s really good.
I’m not a big comic book fan, but I enjoy X-Men and Marvel movies.
The writing and storyline are also the chef’s kiss, especially Nightcrawler’s monologues.
I need this book - Things Become Other Things
This is a book of moments. A reminder to live life slowly and see the world around you instead of just passing by them.
Things Become Other Things (TBOT) is a book about a decade of walking. It's where I’ve tried to distill why it is that I walk so much: Walking as a way to become who I wanted to become but didn’t know how to. Walking is a way to reflect on where it is that we come from. And walking is a way to bear witness to a certain grace visible only when you’re bored out of your skull, when you’ve been walking for weeks on end, and when you think you should just pack it up and go home. There, at that point of exhaustion, appears a little thing — a hello, the smallest gesture, something that becomes, yes, almost supernatural, spiritual in a way that is impossible to recognize amid the average day-to-day routine. Something you can only see in that elevated rhythm of the walk.
Why Google Search Died
A historical view of how Prabhakar Raghavan led to the now suck-ed Google Search. It was all too expected when a business focused more on growth and profit rather than quality.
As of 2024, Google now has a 90.24% share of the Search Market so I guess they can afford to do it since they are that big. I know there are a lot of anti-trust lawsuits coming up in terms of how to make this space more competitive for other parties so this would be interesting.
One prominent one that I can see is Exa.ai.
Weeknotes FTW
Youtube recommended Dan Catt today and he did not disappoint.
Dan is a full-time artist who makes generative art prints using a pen plotter. Each video clip records a section of life that we all do like grocery shopping, calling the plumber, etc while still keeping the theme of the updates around his business.
This sparked my interest to record videos but I am not sure if I can be consistent about it. How do I get that vlogger mentality?
Why our Music Taste Sucks after 20s
tl;dr
Our most-played songs often stem from our teenage years, particularly between the ages of 13 and 16.
YouGov survey data indicates a strong bias toward music from our teenage years.
Music discovery peaks at 24
The Deezer study pinpoints 31 as the age when musical tastes start to stagnate
From 30 onward, we listen to more music outside the mainstream and sample fewer artists during streaming sessions.
Your name determines your school grades
Well turns out there’s an explanation. Hah!
A person’s experience of Love
You know you’re in love when you don’t think to talk about it. When you don’t have to call your best friend or your mum sobbing into the wee hours of the night because you just can’t figure out what’s going on. You’ll know when your body feels calm and quiet.
Our bodies know. There are bad butterflies and good butterflies, and you’ll know the difference when you feel it.
Why define your own metrics of success?
This article talks about why living life according to your own standards and metrics is much more manageable than living it according to other’s definitions.
You are more likely to achieve them and be more happy. Why live life for others?
The little mental trick is to remember that success, money, fame, and beauty, all the things we pursue, are merely the numerator! If the denominator — shame, regret, unhappiness, loneliness — is too large, our “Life Satisfaction Score” ends up being tiny, worthless. Even if we have all that good stuff!
7 Questions to Pounder upon
A reminder to question your days and your years as you live by.
Aim to achieve something and live life to your fulfillment!
If I repeated this day for 100 days, would my life be better or worse?
If someone observed my actions for a week, what would they say my priorities are?
If I were the main character in a movie of my life, what would the audience be screaming at me to do right now?
What are the Boat Anchors in my life?
Am I allowing more information to get in the way of more action?
What lie have I repeated to myself so many times that it feels like the truth?
If I knew I would die in 10 years, what would I do today?
What I’m Watching
Constellation
I am a big fan of SciFi. And this absolutely hits the Top 10 list I have this year.
Constellation talks about how a fatal event in space change the course of life of multiple individuals on Earth. When Jo (the main character) returns to Earth with the body of her dead crewmate, she finds that parts of her life are missing or not as she remembers them.
After the initial first episode event, it does take a while to get going and you can't help but wonder how the various plot holes will be filled in.
What I’m Listening
This is one of those song that you should focus on the lyrics. Nowadays that’s what I am looking for.
I realize that most of us now pick music based on the vibes and seldomly because of the story behind it. And that’s a bit sad.
A great melody can catch your ear, but great lyrics stick to you and make a song truly meaningful.
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