明天有艰巨的考试任务。过了明天就好了。

 

开始复习的时候随便挑了首歌放放

 

竟然是《笨小孩》

 

笑翻

 

<As it was pointed out by my audience, the recent jokes contain too much sexual connotation. It must be the exams, and they are not gonna end soon.>

 

I am still iffy about the whole cesarean birth thing.

 

Shouldn't you leave from where you come in?

 

Feud countdown:

 

5. Keith Olbermann vs Bill O'Reilly

 

4. Microsoft vs Google

 

3. Bush vs World

 

2. Me vs IE3101 (valid till 1 dec only)

 

1. Yankees vs Red Sox

 

0. Me vs IE3101 results (till infinity)

 

I think I am getting better at this thing. Everyday I look at the last one and thought to myself: “who wrote that?”

 

Since most of my readers have graduated or are in their last year of college, this won't have too much "negative" impact on them. But if you are still fresh, refrain from practising what I preach.

 

Ok here we go,

 

If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want to learn things, go to the library.

 

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!

 

so I have to post a weekend special. Here we go~

 

 

今天不知道为什么想起自己的年龄

 

23

 

又想起那是迈克乔丹的号码

 

也是勒布朗詹姆斯的

 

他说：“不做下一个谁，只做第一个我。”

 

联盟中很多牛人穿这个号码是效仿

 

而他是颠覆

 

我还有七个月

 

做最好的 No. 23

 

I considered sparing my audience with my awful jokes, since it's thanksgiving. But I am not.

 

Take it as a sincere thank you to all who stick with me through thick and thin.

 

Here we go,

 

When do women and men see the end of a relationship?

 

Women see it when a better one came along.

 

Men see it when a newer one came along.

 

<Note: Basketball stuff ahead. If you are not interested, scroll to the bottom for a key take-away in green>

 

Three very interesting games were played yesterday. Let's count them down.

 

 

Dwight Howard's 3rd 20-20 wasn't enough for the Magic to beat the struggling Grizzlies. But can I just be the first one to say a 3rd 20-20? Out of just 11 games? Goodness gracious! Dwight is leading the league with 14 rebounds per game, and 4.3 of them are upfront. And you know what happens when he pulls down one of those offensive boards right? Well, technically he doesn't pull it down, it's always a follow-up dunk, throw it down Howard, throw it down! This young man is sensational this season. Playing for team USA in the world tournament this offseason and being the country's big man really helped the Number 1 draft choice out of high school with his confidence. At the start of the season, he made a claim to carry the team, and so far he's been more than capable. Keep going, Magic!

 

Trivia: Grizzlies made a comeback in the 4th quarter behind Mike Miller's two 3-pointers. When Mike made the second 3-pointer, the commentator said, "Oh bartender! Another Miller!" Now that was smart commentary.

  

 

Remember our homeboy Yao Ming's monstrous night against the Knicks last week? 35 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. This time, the Rocket superstar had a little less, but enough to win. The highlight of the game, of course, was Nate Robinson (5-9, that's shorter than me!) blocking Yao Ming (7-6). Dude! And it was a full frontal block right there, face to face. Magnificent elevation by Robinson. Even more magnificent is the courage in this young guy. Of course this moment will be good material for the controversy-craving media, and it's definitely an uplift of spirit in the Madison Square Garden. Well, let's face it. The fans are not gonna get much from Isiah Thomas and his team's performance. So I say it's a win-win situation, the guys in NY get a laugh, and the Rockets, well, they get a laugh at the end.

 

Trivia: Nothing to feel down about, brother. Yao's the best center in the first edition of NBA's starting 5, along with Gilbert, Vince, LeBron and Zack. I have Gilbert, Vince and Yao in my NBA fantasy team. You just have to say that I am a good scout.

 

 

 

High-scoring actions from Oakland California, the Oracle Stadium as they call it now. Welcome to the paradise of IT! Damn, it feels so much better to watch the Warriors this season! They got better after I left. It's amazing how much a new coach brings to a basketball team. Since the day Don Nelson returned to the Warriors camp, every player was required to loose at least ten pounds to keep up with the up-tempo offense. Nelson has run the "small ball" tactics for 20 years. You can say that he is a heck of a visionary. But that aggressive offense philosophy has become popular recently around the league not because of him, but because of Phoenix Suns' huge success which all began with Steve Nash. So it's a debate of who is the creator and who is the impersonator, and this ball game could be a way to settle the disputes. Plus, for the fans, it's always fun to watch a game between two teams who don't play much defense, and this was no exception. Eventually, Nash showed us what it takes to be a 2-time MVP with a Game Winning 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds to go.

 

People didn't expect this Phoenix team to come off a 4-6 start before the season, especially with Amare Stoudemire back in the starting line-up. But in fact, in NBA, it takes a lot of games to establish a stable and productive system of 5 starting players, especially for a team like the Suns, which rely heavily on their five starters (look at their minutes last year, almost 40 each!). Last season, they had a good system with Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion, Tim Thomas and Boris Diaw. Everyone shares equal responsibilities both at the offensive end and defensive end. Everyone knows his role in the team. They were arguably the most balanced starters in the league. This season, Tim Thomas has gone to the Clippers, and Amare steps in. Firstly, Amare hasn't really played with Raja and Boris in game situations. When Raja was brought in from Utah and Boris from Atlanta more than one year ago, Amare was already out with the knee injury that sidelined him the entire last season. That's two starters we are talking about. No matter how much you practise, it takes real games to develop that chemistry. Secondly, we are not just talking about a change of players here. Tim and Amare has totally different styles. Tim is a big man who shoots a lot of 3's. The Sun went to him a lot last season for that. Steve Nash will come off a screen by Boris, cuts into the lane, then kicks the ball out and finds Tim at the parameter. But when Amare is with the ball, the rest of the team has to spread out a little more to create room for him to charge and take it to the basket. Now, I don't know if you have noticed, Boris Diaw, when he played center last year, he did a lot of that too. Though he is not as explosive and strong, he is definitely more flexible. Boris can get past his defender through quick two-step dribbles and spin moves; or from the pick-and-roll with Steve Nash. So when you put Amare and Boris these two similar weapons on the court, you've got efficiency issues to solve here. Mike D'Antonie and Steve Nash will have to decide which player they will go to when it's needed, Amare's dunk or Boris' hook. To me, there is no easy way out here. And it seems that the Suns are not going to trade either of them. Boris just signed a huge contract (5 years 40 Million? I can't remember, but somewhere there.) I guess they just have to make new plays for both of them to flourish. Well, at least Nash is still here. That makes a lot of things a lot easier.

 

Trivia: Although Don Nelson lost the close game, he said something remarkable at the post-game press conference. Despite the frustration against referees who made a weird call towards the end, despite his players blowing away the early 4th quarter lead, despite J-Rich missed the open three at the buzz, Don said, "I have no problem losing like this as long as the guys played hard and listened to the game plan." That is what a great coach does. A leader of hearts gives credits to his players when they need it the most. Remember that.

 

 

 

<Note: Boring and geeky stuff ahead. If that's not your cup of tea, scroll to the bottom for the take-away in green>

 

I took a rather strange personality test today.

 

Usually the questionnaires of a personality test are binary, like the MBTI test. For example:

 

You are a person who

 

A. likes Bush.

B. hates Bush.

 

Sometimes they let you rank from a scale, like the Big 5 Test. For example:

 

You are a person who likes Pizza.

 

Disagree  1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  Agree

 

Basically, each question is structured to induce something about your personality along one of the three fundamental personality dimensions (by the PEN Model) or one of the five fundamental personality dimensions (by the Five-Factor Model).

 

Even if the question is related to more than one dimension. You can assign different weights on each dimension and distribute the answer to different dimensions according to their weights.

 

Today's test is nothing like that.

 

Today's test is something like this:

 

You are a person who:

 

A. likes Bush.

B. likes Pizza.

 

If you hate Bush and like Pizza, or like Pizza and hate Bush, then there is no problem.

 

But what if you like them both, or neither?

 

At first, I was like, these 20 questions are bullshit.

 

But when I thought about it, I realize it might be something interesting.

 

Let me illustrate this with a simple example.

 

Suppose we want to test a person's love in three dimensions: love for Dog, love for Bush and love for Pizza.

 

For a normal personality test, we can have 3 questions:

 

1. Do you like Dog?

 

A. Yes  B. No

 

2. Do you like Bush?

 

A. Yes  B. No

 

3. Do you like Pizza?

 

A. Yes  B. No

 

Let's assume Candidate Andy loves all three of them.

 

Let's also assume a simple scoring system: Under each category, 10 points for Yes, and 0 points for No.

 

So Andy's answer will be A, A, A.

 

So Andy will have a score portfolio of Dog (10), Bush (10), Pizza (10).

 

For a strange personality test, we will have 3 different questions:

 

1. Are you a person who

 

A. likes Dog.

B. likes Bush.

 

2. Are you a person who

 

A. likes Dog.

B. likes Pizza.

 

3. Are you a person who

 

A. likes Bush.

B. likes Pizza.

 

Every previous assumption still holds, and for some weird reasons, Andy loves Dog more than Bush more than Pizza.

 

Andy's answer will be A, A, B.

 

Now look at Andy's score:

 

Dog (20), Bush (10), Pizza (0).

 

You can throw in more cross-dimensional questions such as:

 

Do you like a Dog which looks like Bush? (Dog 80% Bush 20%)

Do you like Bush when he eats Pizza? (Bush 80% Pizza 20%)

Do you like Pizza from the Dog Hut? (Pizza 80% Dog 20%)

 

The normal test gives you 20, 20, 20.

The strange test gives you 36, 22, 2.

 

So what is all this? Witchcraft?

 

I don't know. A factor analysis may explain that the test is more of an assessment of the relative strength of your different personality dimensions. After all, the 3 superfactors in the PEN Model -- Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism -- are not mutually exclusive.

 

But there are two problems.

 

First, what if you really can't tell which one you like more? Bush or Pizza?

 

Second, the real questions are never up there at the superfactor level. They are questions about habits and behaviors.

 

(The PEN Model suggests the superfactors are comprised of lower-order factors such as sociability and positive affect (components of Extraversion). These factors are comprised of factor analyses of low-order habits such as liking to study with a group of people (a component of sociability). These habits are comprised of factor analyses of lower-order behaviors such as studying for the personality midterm with a group of people.) See Source.

 

Superfactors are stable across time and situation, but habits and behaviors might be very changeable. So you might have some anti-Bush behaviors, but you might still be a Bush fan at the aggregate level.

 

Ok, back to Today's test. Yet, there is a third problem regarding repetition. I didn't save all the questions. But here are some I have:

 

Are you a person who:

 

7 a) sells or promotes other people even if this means I don’t get recognized for my own contribution   b) likes to feel motivated by the adrenalin rush before an important task

8 a) shows no fear in facing change   b) likes to be continually stimulated by intellectual challenges

9 a) feels it is OK to adapt my style and approach to suit different people   b) likes to be recognized for my success

10 a) willingly accepts the blame even if others are at fault   b) lets others take the credit

See what I mean by Pizza and Bush? 7a is more on Extraversion. 7b is more on Psychoticism.

 

You can answer yes to both 7a and 7b.

 

 

 

 

And by repetition, I mean look at 7a and 10b. They ask the same question. And it gets repeated again and again later.

 

So my question is what to do when you are indifferent about the two options?

 

Shall I take it as an optimization problem? Make sure I have a high score in every category? That means if I choose 7a, I should be less likely to choose 10b. But that might cause potential circular problem. ie A > B > C > A...

 

Or shall I take it as a consistency problem? If I choose 7a, I should be more likely to choose 10b. so A is always > B.

 

???

 

Anyway, I ticked everything according to my instinct. (wasn't interested in the job anyway. had time to spare, so just apply...)

 

Whoever created this test could be a genius or a fool.

 

I have a friend, who eats horrendously. and he talks with his mouth full.

 

and he likes curry.

 

I never wear white when I dine with him.

 

 

I've always wanted to start a post on jokes. I mean usually when I wrote my regular posts, I tried to slip in some jokes here and there. It's kindda sleazy because if people don't find it funny, it's not a big deal. I will be like dude, I am only trying to tell a story, not making you laugh al 'ight? But I am getting out of the closet now to be funny explicitly. So if my jokes don't make you laugh, you can't call me a loser anymore, because i've tried. Now i am just a failure.

 

Ok, here we go.

 

So it's reading week tomorrow. No more class, yeah! ... which makes this Sunday night very sweet for all my classmates. Finally finally, they would know how I feel every night...

 

I read from the paper that now there are people whose sole career is to buy stuff on eBay and then sell it. I guess we've arrived at a new age for economics now - sumand and depply. (thanks xuxiao)

 

After playing basketball, I have to take a shower and wash my jersey. Now I do both at the same time - shower in my jersey. (I really do!)

 

Sincerely Yours, see you tomorrow.

 

ok, what comes into your mind when I say "french"? french wine? french accent? french kiss? or all those jokes about the french that unite the rest of the human race together as brothers? ooh la la... don't get mad, i am just joking. I shall just account for the french musical i watched yesterday - notre dame de paris.

 

 

 

"faithful to victor hugo's classic novel 'notre dame de paris', the show tells a compelling story of love and betrayal." - a crisp definition by the media, which is true, because we can take "love" to cover a lot of things - Quasimodo's hopeless devotion, Frollo's baffling obsession, Phoebus's fickle desire... and "betrayal", hmmm... maybe "contradiction" will do it too - the strong were eventually weak, and the weak were eventually strong; and all that's against holiness, marriage, obedience, and love... from the literature interpretation perspective, this show is at the apogee.

 

The Visual

 

the props are limited and the costumes are almost shabby. they don't mirror the reality in the 15th century when the story took place - the thieves were wearing white hoodies and the king's guards were wearing the same, except it's black - the kind that you see on the brothers in the hood today. well, it's all intentional to go with the contemporary dance choreo throughout the show. there was one scene where a dude was break dancing and spinning on his head. yeah man check it out yo.

 

  

i respect the show producer's brilliance in sticking with this raw and impressionistic stage set, because it helped the audience to focus in on the words and the music. afterall, a true drama is for people to sit and listen.

 

 

bravo, bravo, bravo.

 

I am mesmerized, so is everyone else. during the show, tingya kept whispering to me "french men sing so well", "these boys are so expressive", "Gringoire is the best" (wait, i think i said that). if one song is enough to make one person fall in love with a singer, this 3-hour all-music no-dialogue treat is enough to make one fall in love with a country. "Il est venu le temps des cathédrales~~~" i've been humming it since last night. intoxicating...

 

  

 

the french captures the tiniest bits of emotion inappreciable to other races, and when they aggrandize it with those sentimental and usually tormenting touches, it can really make you want to kill yourself. I don't exactly know how to describe that suicidal feeling to you. but it's something similar to a scene from the famous movie called "a chinese odyssey 2 - cinderella". yes, go on, watch it here and here, i will wait.

 

anyway, back to the musical. when Esmeralda was cast into the ditch, frail and hopeless, yet the spotlight on her was glaringly red, so raging and so powerful. on the other end of the same stage, Frollo attempted his visit, raging and powerful, yet the spotlight on him was piercingly white, so frail and so hopeless - so torn between his commitment to God and his lust for this gypsy. for one moment, you almost want to pity that bastard. there is just so much detail among detail, and so much contradiction within contradiction, but without all this finesse in performance and staging effects, i bet you will be asking "what the hell is this dude struggling for?"

 

well, this makes the french men look soft (they are soft yes?) and small (yes?). haha... b-b-but i give them credit for that, because from a theatrical point of view, sometimes the smallest things are the most spectacular. :)

 

 

 

 

surprisingly little. i thought the tragic end will linger. but only the very last scene with the "dead" Esmeraldas dancing in the air and Quasimodo entombed with the dead girl got me stirred up a little. the rest was ok.

 

 

 

notre dame de paris is an incredible spectacle of drama, concert and circus. tomorrow is the last day here in singapore. catch it while you can.

 

Il est venu le temps des cathédrales~~~

Il est venu le temps des cathédrales~~~ 

Il est venu le temps des cathédrales~~~

 

all pictures are rips from internet.  

 

 

我来贴两篇有关星座的。

 

第一篇：双子座的悲哀

 

 

 

第二篇：娶天秤老婆的七大好处

 

The free hugs campaign has been in China for a while now. If you don't know what it is, you can read about it here and here. The original movement started in Sydney, Australia (read about it here) by a college student. Everyone please go and check out this music video at youtube. I absolutely adore it.

 

So the campaign spreaded to China in a number of cities now - Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Changsha, Weifang, etc - and it unfolds just like how I supposed it will. The response is always mixed - some avoid it, others embrace it, literally. In some cities, the police banned these "Western-style" activities, and the Western journalists/bloggers jumped at such an opportunity to label China as a soulless communist country, yet again. I mean, what's new? These guys have been at it for more than a decade. Who cares what they say? The truth is the police can never put out a movement like this in China - it simply involves too many people at too many places. Of course, the larger resistance came from the innate cynicism in a lot of Chinese people who clings to the "expected" social norms for public behavior and preserves at all cost the notion of "face" under the facade of "tradition". I say these guys need to loosen up quite a little bit and open up to the physical expression of love a bit more. It was said that the Changsha people are generally more receptive to the campaign. Well, I can imagine. My e2open brother, Xiaolong, happens to be a happy Changsha boy, a great pal, and he definitely has that amicable personality too.

 

So I say, free hugs, keep 'em coming... if I go back to hangzhou for holiday, I might just start one there.

 

 

By the way, I just uploaded a new mtv in the wmp. be sure to check it out. "Stickwitu" by the Pussycat dolls. Maybe they are better remembered by their first hit, "Don't Cha". Man, wasn't that hot! But this second single is equally fantastic. Simple lyrics about loyalty in relationship, yeah, that's exactly what we need at this age, I am gonna stick with you baby.

 

 

 

 一看标题，对我稍有了解的人就知道我是来歌颂母爱的。这几天一直在打腹稿，可是真的到了下笔的时候却又语塞。因为母爱最伟大，所以要选择最贴切的文字；因为母爱最无私，可这经典的主题有时也显得泛滥了；因为母爱最感人，可在这快乐时代发一封催泪弹实在不是我的风格。。。 反正写起来还满有压力的，要么改唱歌算了，哈哈。她肯定喜欢的，不管儿子做什么事情她都会喜欢的。我妈就是这么好。

 

人长大了，记忆中的童年从一大段一大段的影像慢慢浓缩成星星点点的瞬间，像一座座岛屿一样留在我的精神世界里。我的童年是快乐的，因为这些最值得珍惜的回忆被妈妈如水般的关爱和呵护围绕和贯穿着。我很小的时候，每个星期天的早上妈妈都会带我去儿童公园开小汽车。就这段记忆来讲，里面其他的片断我都已经不再有印象了，唯独记得的是每次我起床以后走出卧室去找妈妈，然后每次都看见妈妈在客厅里边等我起床边看报纸的那个情景 -- 洒在客厅的阳光，妈妈手中的杭州日报，她慢慢合拢报纸，她对着睡眼惺忪的我微笑，以及我一找到妈妈就知道过会儿就能去玩的乐歪歪的小样儿 -- 构成了一幅无比温馨的画面永远留在了我灵魂的最深处。刚上小学的时候，语文课最多的一项作业就是“组词”，每周一放学回家以后我趴在饭桌上写作业，妈妈在厨房里烧菜，每当我组不出词的时候，我就转头去问我妈，比如

 

“妈妈，“意”字怎么组词啦？”

“心意。”

“我要四个字的。”

“一心一意。”

“还有呢？”

“三心二意。”

“哦。”

 

这样轮番好几次，作业做完了，香喷喷的饭菜也来到了饭桌上。说到我妈的厨艺，超级棒，而且越来越棒，具体的再写下去我恐怕会饿死，所以跳过。

小时候我妈教育我要好好读书。好几次她都说只有读好书，将来才会讨到好老婆。妈妈说爸爸小时候读书就很好，所以讨到妈妈做老婆。我从小就跟人说我妈妈是世界上最漂亮的女人。所以现在看来这种教育方式还满独特，满奏效的，到现在我还清楚地记得。

 

我妈很宠我，我取得了进步，她最为我自豪。我妈很疼我，我每次打电话回家，我妈总说她就知道我今天肯定会打电话回家的。其实我知道，除了心电感应外，大多数时候是我妈对我的朝思暮想。妈妈对我这样的付出是我无法倾数回报的，有时候甚至让我害怕将来我们要是作了父母以后会不会无法像爸妈抚养我那样为下一代倾注心血。其实如果我能做到妈妈的一半无私，我就会觉得我是最成功的了。有时候和妈妈因为意见不和吵起来，她常说我现在不懂，要等我自己做了家长才会懂。其实很多感受，我不正已经在像这样的夜晚里反思着母爱的伟大中有了体会吗？

 

自从我出国以后，每年妈妈的生活中就增加了一来一去两个重要的日子。记得00年的冬天回国，去我妈公司里看望她的同事们（很多看着我长大的阿姨），有一个阿姨告诉我说：“你妈妈前两天看你要回来了很激动类，笑得多少开心啦！”当时觉得好震撼啊！有时我很楞，楞到一直不知道什么才是对空缺了大半年的母子间亲情的最好回报，其实简单的由任何旁人都能看穿。我要做的只是在回家的有限时间里多陪在我妈的身边，多几次开车去公司接她下班，多几次留在家里吃晚饭，多几次陪她出门散步逛街；而在国外漂泊的时候创造更多的精彩来换取妈妈更多的欣慰，把我所做的一切当作一丝报答献给赋予我一切的妈妈。

 

妈妈，生日快乐！

 

P.S. 这是本年度“亲情月”特刊终结篇，可谓圆满，我爱你们！