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Square the Entertainment, Square the Fun

Monday, July 31, 2006

Worries of TVB

Recently, there are many news concerning TVB, which bothers me a lot:

1. Signing Taiwan star Mike He
When Taiwanese star Mike He secretly signs a contract with TVB, I started to worry. Is Hong Kong out of people now? Why does TVB needs to grab someone outside of Hong Kong? The worst part is, Mike does not speak Cantonese, it will be strange to listen to his conversations with TVB stars.

2. The downloading problem... once again
Everytime TVB decided to air some series in oversea first, there will be a news about the downloading problems, and TVB will say, o, we are going to enforce this, that and this. Well, even if there are no oversea series, the downloading problem still exists. When does this issue ever end? No one knows.

3. Who is in control?
TVB's big boss is having some health issues, and his sons will not likely to be the new boss of TVB. One day or another, we will see someone else takes control of TVB, that person can be someone inside of TVB, but can also be a outsider. This truely concerns the future of TVB, will TVB let someone outside to take control? Sigh... TVB will never be the same again if this happens.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Yes with Style

* note: this is not an advertisement, I do not work for YesAsia or YesStyle.

"It's hard to find Asian outfits in the US!" according to me and all my friends, we are the female individuals who have hard time finding true Asian style in the America. What does the American know about Asian styles? What does the brand name stores know about Asian outfits? Basically, not much. That's why, I often window shopping in the mall, and finds nothing that will make me say, "wow".

Then, YesAsia.com opened their fashion store called YesStyle. Well, you might ask, why does YesAsia opens fashion store? Don't they just sell DVD/CD? I can't really answer that question for you, but when I browse around YesStyle.com, I was amazed, "wow" was the only word I said, and I said it many times.

The Website:
http://www.yesstyle.com
The Grand Opening: You will get $10 coupon as a YesAsia member, or a $5 coupon if you are a new register at YesStyle.
The Style: so far, for women only, ya, that makes the girls feel a little bit special, and makes the guys feel like they are about to broke.
The Price: I can tell you, they are expensive. A working woman like me can hardly afford this tyle of spending, but coupons can help.
The Catch: There is a section called People Style at this website, which has great combinations of fashion outfits, for Asians only. Check it out, and you can learn a lot.
http://www.yesstyle.com/PeopleStyle.aspx
The Worst: Expensive shipping fees, which can scare you away. You won't get free shipping unless you are willing to spend more than 200.
The Best: The accessories, I can't get my eyes off them, but all of them are so expensive...





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The Grand Openings in elsewhere:
tvbsquare's TVFANSQUARE - opening ceremony is still going ;-) We will like to hear comments and feedbacks, please drop your two cents at:

http://forum.tvbsquare.com/forum/index.php?topic=6216.0

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Opening Ceremony

July 27, 2006 - put this day on your calender!

Get ready for the TVFANSQUARE Opening Ceremony on July 27 (or earlier). The ideal date for this grand opening is on the 27th, because that's easy to deal with, my b-day from now on will be July 27 instead of March 27. It's easy to remember.

How is the progess?
Awesome! Thanks to all the fans' support and ideas, the fan site will be back soon! If you want a preview, go to: http://main.tvbsquare.com

TVFANSQUARE who?
Errr.... just remember my name is tvbsquare, I have a fan site called TVFANSQUARE because TVB doesn't like the name of tvbsquare. Err.. it's a long story, but I prefer people calling me Ying!

Can you still call me tvbsquare or refer the site as tvbsquare?
Yes, of course. I know it is hard to remember new name.

Cheers ;-) see you at the opening ceremony!

Friday, July 14, 2006

Forensic Heroes vs. CSI

After watching 25 episodes of Forensic Heroes and many seasons of CSI, I found some connections between the two...

The Teams: CSI vs. Forensic Heroes




In Forensic Heroes, the series is focused on the police and the lab department. In CSI, the series is very focus on the lab department and not the police. Bobby's lab team in Forensic Heroes didn't have a great bonding chemistry like Grissom's team in CSI. I actually thought Yoyo's police team has more chemistry than the lab people.



The Experts: Grissom vs. Tim Sir



They always like to say "evidence never lies", or say something similar to it. Both of them are very good at what they do, they know the answers to everything. They are both leaders, it is their passion to examine the evidences. Grissom's specialty is entomology, Tim Sir's specialty, hmm.. not sure.


The Favorites: Ms. Sidle vs. Madam Leung



Jorja Fox's Sara Sidle and Yoyo Mung's Madam Leung are my favorite characters in these two series. Both women are very professional and independent. They will never slow down. They will always do the best to solve the crimes. Ms. Sidle's specialty is materials and element analysis, Madam Leung is a senior inspector.


The Medical Doctors: Dr. Robbins vs. Dr. Ku



They both know how to open up the dead bodies. In CSI, we actually see Dr. Robbins opening up the dead bodies. In Forensic Heroes, we won't see that. Dr. Ku is also a very famous author. Dr. Robbins is much older than Dr. Ku.


New Kids on the Block: Greg vs. Ding Ding



Greg worked for CSI many years as a lab person. After couple years, he finally earned his chance to work on the field as a newbie. In CSI, the lab experts are not supposed to work on the field, they can only stay in the lab. After years of experiences, they can apply to work on the field. In Forensic Heroes, Ding Ding is also a newbie, but she can go to the crime scene in the second day of her working career.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Forensic Heroes Series Review

This is a temporary place for my Forensic Heroes Series Review. Yes, I finished watching the series before the Hong Kong audiences, and yes, I watched the mainland version, that is why I am fast. I just can't wait to publish this review while my new tvbsquare site is not ready yet. Thank god I have a blog.

Forensic Heroes
* Reviewed by tvbsquare
Number of episodes: 25

Main Characters:
Bobby Au Yeung, Yoyo Mung, Frankie Lam, Linda Chung, Florence Kwok

What, When, Where & Who
The story is about a group of crime scene investigators, so called Forensic Heroes. The story is very focused on the crimes, and the ways to solve the crimes. Bobby Au Yeung is a senior lab technician, who is very professional, and has great knowledge about everything. He is like the bible of the team, who is really good at what he does. At work, Bobby meets senior inspector Yoyo Mung, together, they were able to solve many difficult cases. Frankie Lam plays a medical doctor, who examines the dead bodies. With Frankie's expertises, the team had many success in solving cases...

More Information
(1) Episode Summaries
(2) Character Intros


THE FACTORS
- Love Factor -
Yoyo Mung
I have to admit that I began to really like Yoyo now. Ever since "The Charm Beneath", I started to notice Yoyo's special ways of acting. Maybe, she improved on her performances, maybe her characters are just began to draw my attention. Yoyo's character in this series is really refreshing, unlike any of the Yoyo you will ever expect. Her personality is very unique, very independent and smart. At the beginning, I was surprised to know she acts as a senior inspector. However, after a few episodes, I realized Yoyo is a great leader. I especially love the part she speaks out in front of her team. Also, in one of the episode, she was yelling at one of her team-mate (the one that was really lazy). She got really emotional that her voice was shaking. Maybe she shakes her voices all the time, but I was very impressed by her performances.

Some of the Cases (Spoilers, spoilers, need I say more?)
- The case kept me guessing
The first case, about the family murder, that was an interesting beginning. I like the way the series begins, it draws a lot of attention. The way the case was presented was also very interesting. You might not know the killer until later, because the case can be very misleading. Unlike DIF 4, int his series, you will know who is the killer in just 1 or 2 episodes. By the time you know who is the killer, you might already had some wrong guesses.
- The case that was so obvious but hard to figure out how
Watching the themevideo in greater detail, you will know who is the suspect in almost all the cases. So, after watching the themevideo for number of times, you will know who is the serial killer for the rape case, I am talking about Vinci Wong, the crazy guy who killed many girls, and no one can catch him. From the beginning, I know he is the killer, because you see his scary smile in the themevideo, however, to catch this guy, it took the producer many episodes. It is very interesting to see how Vinci Wong tries to challenge the law, and also see how the investigators challenge him back.
- The case that wasn't too obvious but was an easy guess for me
I am talking about Charmaine Li's case. From the first moment I see her, I knew something is wrong with her, because there was one scene, she tries to stand up, but soon she didn't stand up because she saw Frankie. It was so obvious to me that her legs are perfectly healthy. I have great doubts about her from the beginning. Of course, the producer tried to make Charmaine Li's character so weak, so kind, and you won't notice her that much. I thought this case was really interesting because she copied Frankie's books to kill people, it's a good copy-cat murder case.


- Dislike Factor -
The relationship
There will be nothing like DIF 4, which contains great murder cases and awesome love stories. Now, it's very hard to contain both elements, unless you want the series to be 50 episodes long. In Forensic Heroes, you will watch some good cases, some bad cases, some stupid ones, some forgettable ones, but you will never see a great chemistry that will stay in your mind forever. The story lacks effort in building relationships, so just watch the cases are enough for the audiences.

Why can't I find the click with Linda Chung?
So far, I do not like her. Please don't hate me. I just can't find the click about her acting, YET. Maybe someday, I will find my way to like her, but that could be a while. I just think she uses the same facial expression all the time, especially when she talks, she likes to do some hand movement, which can be annoying. Plus, I don't really like her character in this series anyway.



- Chemistry Factor -
Bobby and Yoyo, part 2
Remember Armed Reaction 4? Well, let's just say, this is not a continuation of that series, so you can relax and still watch Bobby and Yoyo together. This time, don't worry, you won't hate their chemistry, you just won't expect too much, other than the one night stand. Hey, what a great way to redeem their chemistry from Armed Reaction 4! I was surprised to realized the fact that their chemistry wasn't boring.

Frankie and Linda
Maybe it is just me, their chemistry is really boring. Maybe it is the story, their chemistry started soon after helping a stranger, which turned out to be a boring story. Maybe it is the relationship, when did their love story really began? I could not figure out when did Frankie started to like Linda. For many number of reasons, I think these two do not match that well. I even prefer Frankie and Yoyo together.


THE COMMENTS
- The Performances -
I am going to say Ms. Yoyo Mung gets my best actress award, I really enjoyed her character and performances. Bobby was also great here, as always. This times, he is not too funny, but very smart. In this series, you don't notice the performances that well, because the series is very focused on the cases.

- The Story -
Overall, it's very nice, there are many exciting parts, and boring parts. I think the producer did an excellent job to present all the cases, nicely done.

- Worth Watching? -
If you like investigation series, you should watch this one, you might not to guess who is the suspects, but you will be interested about the ways the team solves the case. There are many things you will learn from the series, it kept your attention almost all the time.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

New Series Filming: The Academy 2

The Academy 2 starring: Michael Tao, Sonija Kwok, Ron Ng, Sammul Chan, Joey Yung, Deep Ng, Kenny Kwan, Kate Tsui, etc, etc, etc. This is a big group of cast. As for the relationship goes, Ron and Tavia will not be together, because Tavia is only a guest star. Instead, Ron will build chemistry with Joey and Kate. For Sammul, his love life will also change, and have a crush on Sonija... What kind of love relationship are these? I am not expecting to see the new chemistry at all... I am expecting to see Ron, that's about the only reason I want to wait for this series.

The original cast: how come Ron doesn't have to wear the police outfit?



Ron + Tavia: awwwwww.... Why should I even imagine Ron and Joey together?



The old and new cast: From the picture, I already know Ron and Joey does not match. I guess he will have better chemistry with Kate. By the way, Kenny looks great in the police outfit, haha, such a cutie police ;-)


Sunday, July 09, 2006

New Series Filming: Kevin + Gigi

New series filming featuring a new pair, Kevin and Gigi. Personally, I really don't think they match each other. You can disagree with me all you want, but I just don't think the two of them have that special bond... Kevin is the slow, stable and humble type. Gigi is the outgoing, hyper and fast type. It's hard to imagine the two of them having conversations, because Gigi talks really fast, but Kevin talks kinda slow. OK, I am getting way ahead of myself, this is just an opinion.



Also, during this month, "War and Destiny" will be released to the oversea fans. I felt good about the this because I can watch this series soon. However, this can also become a bad news. I started to hate TVB's idea about releasing the series to oversea fans first, it's like a test-market for TVB. If the series didn't get good turnout in oversea, they will most likely to warehouse it. So, whenever TVB decides to release something to oversea first, it gives me a feeling that the series is not good. That's just my feeling, it's not a truth.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Migration

Dear fans:

The completion of domain transfer, forum transfer, gallery transfer is schedule to finish on July 16, 2006.

I am working on building the new tvbsquare site structure, the new site will be published soon after the domain transfer.The new domain is http://www.tvfansquare.com, you do not need to change your bookmark or remember this new domain address, because we will have the old domain point to this new home directly. That means, everytime you come to tvbsquare.com, you will be auto direct to tvfansquare.com

The site, as original, is a non profit FAN site, it does not affiliate with TVB in any way. We don't want to get into trouble with TVB anymore. If everything functions well, and if we are on schedule, you guys will see the new site anytime this month, after July 16 of course.

Let's cross our fingers, wish a successful transfer of the domain, and a success future of tvbsquare ;-)

yours, tvbsquare

Monday, July 03, 2006

Keep tvbsquare Alive Banner Challenge

Tvbsquare is ready for a big change! I already have a new home and I am in the process of moving everything. Right now, I just need some good banners to dress up the new home ;-) So, here comes the banner challenge:

Banner size requirement: 480 X 140
Image format: JPEG

Color/theme: Your Choice
Images: Your Choice
Can you use TVB images: Yes, there is a big difference between TVB official image and fan creation. The fan creations do not offend TVB in anyway, so you are welcome to express your creativity.
Text Choices: (pick any 1)
1. New Home, New Style, New Birth
2. Returned Invinicible
3. Fresh ComeBack
4. Reliving the Glory
5. (your choice of text)

Please submit your entries to tvbsquare@gmail.com as soon as possible.