Here you can find some of my poems as well as articles on things that interest or fascinate me me (e.g., social media, Japanese pop music, books, movies, lo-fi digital cameras) or that are related to my job (e.g., posts on education and school project). If I end up researching something, I will often write about what I found. Consequently, you will also find articles on technical things such as copyright law, video export settings and noise reduction techniques.
J-Pop & J-Rock Articles
When I first heard Japanese pop music, I wasn’t particularly interested in it. This is because, living in Hong Kong, the little Japanese music that I had heard was mainly from pop idols, boy bands and girl groups. Later on, people introduced me to singers like Kahimi Karie (electronica), Kojima Mayumi (hard to categorize—jazz/folk/punk/pop maybe) and Nana Kitade (rock & gothic lolita frocks). I began to realize that the Japanese music scene was much more rich and diverse than I had imagined. For an alphabetical list of the artists featured so far (and the pages that they appear on), go to: longzijun.wordpress.com/words/featured-artists
Creative Writing
- Original Poems: Field Exercises (a short poem about the environment), Ghost Writing (a poem about mortality), A Fisherman (and epitaph) and Just One (a short poem for a short life).
Essays and Creative Non-fiction
- Photo Essay: Hong Kong Protests: The Umbrella Movement
- Mini-stories (Creative Non-fiction): Just some short observations and musings about life in Hong Kong.
- 7 Tips for Surviving High School: A message to students
About Books
These articles include 27 min-reviews and book introductions that were originally published in Ming Pao (Sept 2006 – June 2008), a newspaper in Hong Kong. They introduce of novels and non-fiction that are suitable for teens, especially those who are learning English as a second language.
- 15 Books for Teens Who Hate Reading
- 12 Good Novels for Young Adults and Teens
- An Interpretation of Jimmy Liao’s ‘The Blue Stone’
Other Music Articles
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- The Chinese Orchestra: A Video Introduction to Chinese Musical Instruments
Film Articles
- Loss of Innocence in All About Lily Chou-Chou: Film Interpretation
- Cinematography and Mise-en-scène in American Beauty: Film Scene Analysis
- Fight Scene Editing and Cinematography: The Bourne Identity and Hero
Articles about YouTube & Copyright
YouTube
These articles mainly deal with YouTube policies.
- YouTube: Monetization and the Issue of Reused Content: An article explaining the kinds of videos that may be affected YouTube’s ‘reused content’ policy.
- Was Your YouTube Channel Suspended for No Reason? A Guide to Community Guidelines-related Suspensions
- Is it OK to buy views for YouTube videos? Is it effective? It it against the TOS?
- How Much Do Do the Top YouTube Stars Make: The first in a new series of articles about YouTube
Copyright
A lot of my daily work touches upon copyright issues, so I’ve done quite a lot of research on the topic. I’ve written a few articles to share what I have learned.
- Music: Public Domain, Fair Use, Copyright and YouTube: Guidelines for video makers
- Let’s Play Videos, YouTube and and Copyright: FAQ
- The Illegal Downloading Debate: Is it OK to Download Songs without Paying?
- Creative Commons Licenses: Advantages and Drawbacks
Articles about Audio Recording & Video Production
Audio Recording in Video Production
This is a series of three articles on how to get the best sound recording on a budget.
- Improving Sound Quality: Recording Techniques
- Improving Sound Quality: Basic Noise Reduction
- Improving Sound Quality: Audio Equipment
Lo-fi Video
Video Editing & Exporting
These articles cover what I have learned about video formats, project settings and export settings (mainly related to Adobe Premiere Pro). I try to keep the information in these pages up-to-date.
- Exporting HD Video for YouTube: Premiere Pro
- Choosing Premiere Pro Sequence Settings for HD Video
- Exporting Standard Definition Video for YouTube: Premiere Pro
- Exporting Video for Nico Nico Douga: Recommended settings
Academic & Professional Publications
- Academic and Professional Research: A short bibliography
- Education Projects: This section contains articles on academic topics like web-based teaching, plagiarism and social media
