Awakening of Hibernating Animals in Jingzhe#
Jingzhe generally marks the deepening of spring. The sound of thunder begins to ring, waking up hibernating animals and startling dormant creatures, hence the name Jingzhe. The natural world presents a vibrant scene, but that refers to the natural world. As for me? Lifeless!
Relying on American Ginseng to Stay Alive#
It's been a while since I wrote anything, mainly because I've been too tired and haven't fully recovered my energy. And because I haven't had the energy to discover interesting things in my daily life, it's been all work, eat, sleep, and it's been particularly boring. With more and more things to do, I find it increasingly difficult to regain my energy and motivation to write.
Finally, I felt something was really wrong with my state. I brewed a cup of American ginseng and drank it, and my energy immediately recovered (although the soreness in my body remained). I'll try to write as much as I can slowly. After drinking American ginseng, my energy did recover quite a bit.
Ancient people said that relying on ginseng is like hanging on to life. The power of this ginseng is really strong, and I recommend it to anyone who has been tormented by work.
A Rain Shatters the Dream of Cherry Blossoms#
When it comes to spring, people think of cherry blossoms (those who are not familiar with flowers assume that all flowers that bloom in spring are cherry blossoms), so I thought about taking wedding photos under the cherry blossoms in spring.
However, things didn't go as planned. It did bloom during the Jingzhe period, but it rained during that time.
Different from the Norm S1#
I came across this drama on Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok). At first, I thought it was about superpowers, so I didn't expect the ratings to be too high. But when I searched on Douban (Chinese film and TV show rating platform), it had a rating of 8.0, so I thought it might be good.
The first half was very interesting, with creative settings that combined superpowers with the challenges of real life, presenting a society that is both fantastical and realistic. This drama goes against the traditional superhero theme, where most people are ordinary and those with superpowers stand out and poorly imitate Nietzsche's "Ubermensch" theory. Instead, this drama takes a different approach, where having superpowers becomes normal, but the female protagonist still hasn't obtained her own superpower.
The later part of the drama was a bit weak, resembling the typical Japanese dramas that start off interesting but become mediocre as you continue watching. The plot in the later part was just a cliché TV drama disguised as a superpower story. Either the screenwriter ran out of ideas or they were driven by capital to tell a mediocre story. Capital tends to like mediocre stories because they rarely go wrong.
But for the audience, a mediocre story is wrong.
The character development in the drama was still very good. The protagonist, Zhen, developed a complex, selfish, lazy, and even self-destructive personality because she never activated her superpower. (Superpowers are almost a benchmark for measuring a person's value. The stronger the superpower, the more respect they receive.) In this system, the pursuit of self-worth and the desire for recognition became the main driving force of the plot.
BBQ Rating: 4.2/5. The concept of superpowers is interesting, and the British humor can indeed provide some relief for those who are tormented by work. Therefore, the cliché plot in the later part is still watchable. It's a good light comedy, and it can provide a unique viewing experience for first-time viewers.
Hindered Development S1#
The story tells of a real estate tycoon who is imprisoned for economic crimes, causing chaos in the family. The most reliable son steps up to support the family. Actually, these backgrounds are not important. This is a comedy, and the screenwriter is a genius! I can't believe how funny the jokes are! The TV series adopts a pseudo-documentary (or pseudo-variety show) filming style, similar to "Modern Family," and uses non-linear storytelling techniques. Each episode provides a lot of laughs and rich background stories, cleverly connecting the entire family story in an interesting, orderly, and reasonable manner.
Now that I'm watching dramas, I used to think that many characters on TV were stupid. I used to think they were simply funny. But now, I find humor in characters who are self-centered and have a distorted understanding of real life. Well, there are actually people like that in real life, and it's not funny at all.
BBQ Rating: 5/5. The screenwriter is a genius! It's a very enjoyable drama. It's better than "The Big Bang Theory" but not as good as "Friends."
The Amazing Story of Henry Huggins#
This movie has a strong Wes Anderson style, with a runtime of only 41 minutes. To be honest, I'm not qualified to review Wes Anderson's movies because I can only vaguely feel that it consists of a series of stories that progress back and forth. But I can't grasp this feeling very well. It's hazy, fleeting, and immediately replaced by new haziness.
The short film tells the story at a very fast pace. The story is somewhat interesting, but not particularly captivating. It's imaginative, but not enough to stimulate the audience in this era of depleted imagination.
BBQ Rating: 3.5/5. It has humor, satire, and a fable-like story beneath the fantasy exterior. Benedict Cumberbatch's low, calm, and fast-paced narration made me want to fall asleep. The film seems to focus more on its shooting style and techniques, as if showing off. The director is playing with something new.
Pop Team Epic#
Those who know me well know that I love Popuko and Pipimi. Recently, there was a collaboration between Pop Team Epic and Coco's Curry, and I drank three cups at home to get fridge magnets and stickers. But! We also had the opportunity to go to the themed store!
Dragging my exhausted body around, I finally found you in a maze of small streets in Chongqing! Can you believe it? The themed store is just a small board placed there!!! I went through all this trouble for this!!!
I checked in and got the "limited edition stickers." They said each themed store had a limit of 200, but when we went there, the event had been going on for many days and they still hadn't run out. Strange IP + obscure themed store = no one comes to check in.
The Return of Swallows on the Spring Equinox#
I didn't expect that our wedding photos were taken on the Spring Equinox. It happened to be a clear day after the rain, and we were lucky. The botanical garden had cherry blossoms, but not many. So most people came to see tulips, which provided a good space for us to take photos under the cherry blossom trees.
I didn't have much time to take photos of the flowers in the botanical garden, but there are more beautiful flowers than just these.
Wedding Photo Related#
This photography studio is actually a husband and wife shop. The husband is responsible for photography and post-production, while the wife handles online operations and outsources makeup. They even hired an assistant.
After comparing many studios in the city, although their prices were slightly higher, they agreed to do three outdoor shoots without any compromise. They even provided transportation and excluded lunch expenses. The round trip tolls for going to the outskirts to take photos were not even counted. It was truly a conscientious price without hidden costs. Other studios wouldn't even provide transportation, and they would complain if we wanted to do two outdoor shoots.
Both of them have a very laid-back attitude. They shoot in a film-like atmosphere, and the studio is located in a villa area. They have a Tesla and a cat and a dog (the boss's car is decorated with cat and dog ornaments, which is very lovely). The boss is very easy to talk to and tries to fulfill all requests.
The boss said they used to shoot in Dali, but they returned to this city to shoot in recent years. I feel that this is what freelancing should be like, doing a job because you want to do it. I hope that one day I can live such a life.
Later, I found out that the price of 6,000 yuan for 36 retouched photos, with no hidden costs and no pressure to add more photos, including transportation and separate lunches, was a great deal. The next day, they even gave a big red envelope as a promotion on Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform). I highly recommend this studio to anyone who wants to take photos!
Before they sent me the retouched photos, here's one that I edited myself, hahaha. I couldn't resist playing around.
The background is all edited (you can't see the details), and it would be amazing if there were really such beautiful scenes. But beautiful scenes only exist in dreams.
What's funny is that after I edited and showed it to my mom, she said it didn't look good.
Maze Rice#
"Somali and the Forest Spirit" received a lot of praise before, and I admit that the art is great and Fushi is cute, but I couldn't get into it. Maybe it's too calm, with a hint of sadness in the calmness. It's too difficult for cows, horses, and office workers to watch calmly. On the other hand, "Maze Rice" really resonated with me.
I'm currently on episode 11. The concept is very interesting, reminiscent of an underground dungeon version of "The Solitary Gourmet." Everyone leisurely eats monsters while exploring the underground dungeon to save the sister. It's interspersed with world-building and some seemingly philosophical discussions. Perhaps because death doesn't exist in this underground dungeon, everyone doesn't seem to be in a hurry to save the sister? But in episode 11, they said the sister had been digested??? Anyway, I'm planning to find the manga and read it.
I read some comments saying not to worry and just keep watching.
I actually feel that the anime might have some budget constraints, as some scenes were reused.