On the bright side...

This week has not been kind to me. A trip to Beijing might change things. Or not.

At airport security, they took out the tool that secures the platform between my camera and my tripod and indicated that "tools" are not allowed on the plane. Even screwdrivers for eyeglasses are out. Great. Not that I'm okay with giving up the "tool"... but I didn't even bring my tripod. The tools are all in the pouch and I just carry it everywhere. So now I have to check in my bag...

I really don't get it. My keys can be a tool... more deadly too. Let's just say you can't stop terrorists by going strict on non-terrorists. Arg. By the way, I remember back at Tufts they taught us that "terrorism" is an asymmetric battle to inflict harm on normal life. Based on airport security, I'd say the terrorists scored one right there.

On the bright side... I got an upgrade to business class.

Black Wednesday...

Before I go into it, there are TWO Chinese women tennis players in the Aussie Open semi-finals! TWO! They have tough tests ahead with one playing former #1 Henin and the other likely facing Serena Williams. Still... two in the semis is quite an achievement. This year is the first year they play for their own money rather than having the Chinese sports authorities take a big slice. Who said capitalism doesn't work!?

Today I had a very important interview, and it went like this (Black Wednesday):

• Stepped on a dog on my way out of my building... dog owner yelled at me for not being careful
• Rode a crazy cab where the driver claimed all politicians are drug dealers and one of them was responsible for Chinese sprinter Liu Xiang's injuries... and that Gordon Brown is a Russian spy/ Spanish drug dealer (I kid you not)
• Arrived at the interview 30 minutes before hand, had a leisure breakfast... only to find out I'm in the WRONG building 5 minutes before the interview
• Ran to the right building, entered reception covered in sweat
• Here's the worst part: remember I blogged about being interviewed by Bill Gates? Well, the man asked if I blog, and he typed in my blog address and started to read it!!!!!

Man, I'm laughing right this moment just thinking about it. I didn't blog about the company name of the man's name... but I was clearly writing about him. LOL. He was browsing a bit and then we continued our conversation. What should I have done besides sweating more??? ("Sorry sir, I wrote about you and compared you to Bill Gates... it's a compliment. Really, it is. Sorry I swore in the blog post. I was excited. I do silly things when I'm excited")

音樂人生 KJ

My last documentary was Michael Moore's Fahrenheir 9/11... so it's been quite a while.

音樂人生 KJ (Music Life KJ) is a documentary about a young and talented pianist named KJ and his life when he was 11 (2002) and 17 (2007/8). The documentary mixes between the two periods, dissecting this young man's life into three parts: his talent, his views on music, and his views on life. The first words in the documentary from KJ: I want to be a human being.

Although this would be a major disservice to KJ, let me try to put his life (according to the documentary) in a nutshell: he is a perfectionist in all aspects in life, and he expects that he can achieve perfection in life through music.

Unfortunately, life certainly isn't perfect. And the young man is torn between imperfections and his attempts to correct them. The seeds were planted early, as you see the 12 year old KJ get really frustrated with a professional orchestra in the Czech Republic. He yells at his older brother for not being able to play the music correctly. His siblings all point to KJ's learning music as the start of his pursue for perfection. Then you see the 17/18 year old version trying to train a bunch of young musicians to play perfect orchestra music... and he harshly criticizes some of them for hitting the wrong note, or the wrong time, or the wrong note at the wrong time. And he gets really frustrated when the music isn't perfect. Then of course, when the kids get it right, like so many perfectionists, he becomes the happiest person alive and forgives all the problems before.

I've told you many times his attitude towards music - perfection - and he tries to place this attitude to everybody around him. For example, at a competition, he insists on making the perfect music and therefore going overtime for 2 minutes. He is aloof and he doesn't celebrate with his fellow musicians when they win. He harshly criticizes those who play music because they want to win music competitions. (Josekin's note: it's the right attitude, but too simplistic... competition is a good motivation for kids - not every teenager can just motivate themselves to make good music because of their love for music) His only focus is to play good music. And I salute that.

Somewhere along the lines, KJ has also equated music with life. I must first say that KJ is extremely mature for his age, even at 11 (more on this later). He believes perfect music and influence people into perfect lives (My interpretation based on a 1.5 hour documentary). For example, at 17, he is deeply deeply troubled by his parent's divorce. You can see the agony on his face when asked about this topic (very very well done section for a documentary).

As I said before, KJ is clearly a very mature person... at 11, he's put quite a bit of thought on why human beings exists, briefly concluding that it might be better to die young after listening to perfect music: therefore achieving a perfect life... and dying at a high point in life is better than all subsequent points. He's ELEVEN!

Anyway, I guess you see where I'm coming from (if you've read this far... haha). Some people are ahead of their age, seek meaning and perfection in life, and can find it in a very small part of life, be it music, video games, studies, etc. They become very good at it, achieving "perfection"... but fail to leverage it into other parts of life. It's tough cus they are all so smart and talented. But, amen, that is life.

Highly recommended. I think the director used some very effective editing to show us the life of KJ. I believe what I saw and I feel that much closer to KJ. I wish I can meet him. I wish I can tell him about Alan. I wish he would study something other than music - philosophy perhaps, even if that would seriously challenge his way of life. I think if he can experience life without music for a little bit, he can see other perfections.

Results are in - quest for mobile data

I compromised (See what being cheap means: lost time and efforts... and sanity at times). In the end, I decided even with no synching of contacts and calendars, I got what I want... which was emails and IM.

So here are the results (all unit in HKD):

• $1000 2nd hand blackberry phone on $13 monthly plan for 6 months; includes enough voice and data (will try to borrow phone that can browse internet from friend)
• $500 2nd hand blackberry phone on $12 monthly plan for 12 months; includes unlimited emails and IM (eventually will add voice/data and replace the aforementioned 6 month plan)

I was being cheap... damn I miss a salary from Bain!

Interviewed by Bill Gates

Well... not quite. While working on my consulting project, I've been selectively interviewing with high potential companies. After 6 hours of interviews with 4 people in the department, they've told me that I will have a 2 hour interview with the president of the company next week.

Given the size and nature of this company, it's similar to me interviewing at Microsoft for a strategy position and then Microsoft telling me that Bill Gates will talk to me for 2 hours.

WTH!?

My friend 2R put it best: this means the management team hired a very capable middle management to free up time for the management team. (Yes, if I am hired, I will be the middle management! yay!)

Hong Kong Dum Sum at 添好運

When my friend ST asked if I wanted to go to 添好運 for dim sum, I immediately said yes and started to call my other friends to see if they want to go as well.

The chef used to work at Michelin 3-star restaurant (1 of 2 in HK) 龍景 at Four Seasons and decided he could do much better opening his own restaurant. Of course he is right! Tucked under a unassuming building in a very model district, 添好運 had a huge crowd waiting at 11am already.

We took a ticket and went to walk around the neighborhood for 45 minutes before coming back to the crowd... another 20 minutes, we were in. There weren't that many dim sum items to choose for (20 or so?)... and we ordered from half the menu.

Strange experience... it was kind of regular at first, improved in the middle, and then got really good in the last few dishes (desserts were a disaster - don't order).

The first few dim sums that came (Shirmp Dumpling, BBQ Pork Crepe, Beef Ball) were good but not great. The wraps are yummy and well-made: not too thick, yet maintaining the elasticity. The fillings were okay. 馬拉糕 was the exception... usually very oily, this one is solid and spongy with very little oil.

馬拉糕

The second round had my own dim sum favorite 咸水角 and their famous BBQ Pork bun. 咸水角 was pretty good, maintaining the balance between the fried dough and the vegi-pork fillings. Temperature was good and flavors came together quite well. Ultimately, it's definitely above avg but not great. The 叉燒包 seemed to be the most popular among the customers. Quite a few people ordered extra to take home. I think it's nice... but I've had something similar before at 海都 (a HK dim sum establishment) and I wasn't surprised with the one from 添好運. It was great and exactly what I expected... hence a little disappointed.

咸水角

叉燒包

The last few dishes were decidedly better than the ones before, standing out from their dim sum peers. The Pork Ribs, in particular, blew me away. The pork was perfectly cooked and literally melted in my mouth. I just wish there weren't any bones and I could chew on it forever. The vegitable dumpling also blew me away. It had quite a bit of strong vegi flavors (chong, yim sai) that mixed very well with a special sauce that mellowed out the tastes. I was very impressed with both.

蒸排骨

粉果

The inconsistencies did make me think... did the master chef take a afternoon break and affected the output in the beginning??? That's my theory anyway.

Conclusion: would go again if the wait isn't that long and that I have something else to do in the YMT and MK area (such as shopping like mad).

My quest for mobile data

Here's what I want: a mobile device with a QWERTY keyboard with a plan with some minutes and lots of data usage. I want to sync my Google email, contacts, and calender to make my life mobile and easy. Oh, and I want to be cheap about everything cus I'm not earning a Bain salary anymore. Haha.

Here's my quest... a 90% failure:

• Stage 1: 2nd hand Blackberry Curve 8350 for HKD 1000. Since I gave back my Blackberry to Bain, and BBs have the best QWERTY keyboards, Yahoo Auction served its purpose
  
• Stage 2: Cheap phone/data plan from TDML for HKD 600 (6 month contract). Well, I've worked for telco clients and TDML is the best value. For only USD13 a month, I get 1,200 minutes and 1,000 MB. Deal!
  

UH-OH!!! The data plan from TDML doesn't support BB phone!! Fudge!!

• Stage 3: Research time! I can salvage the situation with China Mobile's Blackberry plan for HKD 80 a month...
  

UH-OH!!! The 2nd hand phone doesn't work with China Mobile...! The phone is locked by the previous owner!! Fudge!!

• Stage 4: Another 2nd hand Blackberry 8310 for HKD 500. While trying to contact the original seller via Yahoo Auctions, my friend KC has a spare one to sell
  

UH-OH!!! That one doesn't work with China Mobile either, despite KC's assurance it was okay! Fudge!!

• Stage 5: With a "fixed phone", I finally got the China Mobile plan for HKD 1000 (12-month plan). This includes all PUSH email and no browsing
  

UH-OH!!! The no browsing part means I can't Sync, or so CM service people tell me. Fudge!!

• Stage 6: According to the 3rd sales rep, I can add a HKD 98 monthly plan to get browsing!

UH-OH!!! There's no browser on my phone right now and nobody is sure if it can be installed! Fudge!!

So... after HKD 1500 in TWO phones and HKD 1600 in TWO mobile plans, I'm still can't get my Sync to work... and I'm looking at another HKD 1200 to get what I want. UGH.

Well, on the brighter side, had I bought a new BB with a new plan with more minutes and more data, it would still cost me more.

But the trouble is too much already. And I'm commited to more trouble! UGH!

Hole in the Wall - Food in HK

Good food in Hong Kong has always been very affordable. Part of it is because the taste buds are just more sophisticated and mediocrity will not be tolerated. So, as a restaurant, you have to offer a good product regardless of the price. And because the food comes first (not the service or the environment, factors much more important elsewhere in the globe), restaurants are able to offer their good food at a decent price without the best location and decor.

Legacy-type hole-in-the-wall restaurants are plentiful in Hong Kong. Most of them have been around for years and slowly made a name for itself. 蘭芳園 and 九記牛腩 are two I frequent quite a bit. Here are some a bit off the beaten path:

蝦醬豬腩 （Shrimp paste pork belly)

This is a specialty in Tai O, all the way in Lantau Island. It's a fisherman's village that has retained some of its charm despite the development of tourism. Here are some pictures from the hike to Tai O. I cann't remember the name of the restaurant, but I suspect they all offer similarly awesome food that is fresh and MSG-free.

B-仔涼粉

A visit to the remote Yuan Long (Pictures from our visit to Wetland Park, right next to Yuan Long) would be incomplete without a visit to the famous 佳記 for it‘s 涼粉 - um, you can't even see it as it's buried under the fruit! Quite yummy... although what I remember is the pig's skin 咖喱豬皮 and wing tips 雞翅尖. Those were even better than their signature dessert. Nonetheless, I feel I have the obligation to show the picture of the gorgeous and ultra-large B-仔涼粉 - it was enough for six of us.

炸蠔 (Fried Oysters) from 流浮山

Everyone in Hong Kong knows about the oysters from 流浮山. It's just that only a few of us actually venture over there, as it is almost an hour from anywhere else in Hong Kong. There's a Chinese saying called 聞名不如見面 (To see the real thing is way better than hearing about it). Unfortunately, the oysters in 流浮山 is reverse - tasting the real thing never measured up to the expectation. The oysters were okay. The shirmp was nasty and didn't taste fresh at all. And the fish was overcooked.

炸蓮藕餅 (Fried lotus) from 生記

Was lucky to be inivted for a birthday dinner for a friend at the famous 生記海鮮 in Wan Chai. It's a difficult reservation and you sense it right when you walk into the restaurant. Despite its modest decoration, some tables were showing off a lot of bling. The food is absolutely fantastic (besides a dish of pig's feet) across the board. The fried lotus was fresh, crunchy, and yet still moist. 生記 has been regarded as the place that makes the most authentic sweet and sour pork in HK (um, the world)... I've had better, but this is still pretty good (top 5 perhaps). Mmm... sweet and sour pork. I really shouldn't be posting about food at 10:30am... not good for my stomach.

Wagyu Brunch (HK)

I'm still fighting BSLW's claim 2 years ago that you cannot find quality Western food in Hong Kong at a decent price. Wagyu's weekend brunch did not help my cause. Here are the pancakes... way too spongy with little flavor. It seemed like the cook forgot to add spices and just put more bananas on top. Yeah, the picture looks great, but don't let it fool you. It was a bad pancake.

Feeling very...

Ads that make me scratch my head (if not banging it)

Dumber? Low attention span? The value of entertainment.

This day and age, I'm looking for two things in entertainment like movies and TVs:

• Does it make me dumber?
• Does it lose me half way in?

Sorry I can't have a nice table here... but here goes:

G.I. Joe (IMDB)

• Yup, made me 15 years dumber
• Yup, lost in 10 minutes... and then entertains me for 2 minutes... and then loses me again

Not recommended. And please, no sequel!!! Just go an kill bad guys already... we don't need the romantic relationships that don't look real anyway.

Sherlock Holmes (IMDB)

• No, did not make me dumber; didn't make me smarter either
• No, movie kept me entertained throughout

Recommended for 2 hours of solid entertainment. Downey Jr. is slowly proving himself to be a pretty good actor. Jude Law gives a fine performance. Not sure where Rachel McAdams was during the movie, though she occasionally gives some fresh air to the script. Sure, I'll go see the sequel as well!

十月圍城 Bodyguards and Assassins (IMDB)

• No, did not make me dumber. I felt slightly more patriotic after the movie... for 30 minutes. Please note that this is fiction and not real history.
• Yes, sometimes it gets repetitive as people fight and die. I liked the build up... but the final 10 fight scenes... couldn't it have been 5?
  

Recommended. I'll overlook the fight scenes and skip to parts I liked: each martyr died for their own passion. The general to reinstall the family glory; the monk to reconnect with his faith and to spit in the policeman's face; the general's daughter to avenge her father's death; the gambling spy to be remembered by his child; the begger to see the women he loves but cannot have (um, yup, that's his mom... don't ask. I don't understand either.); the servant to protect his master; the master to protect democracy; the assassin (yup, he dies too, surprise!) to pay final tribute to his country. They all died for a different reason that they thought was worth dying for. Good stuff.

I also want to note those who didn't die: the tycoon, the organizer, the revolutionary, the police commander... yup... I think it's a subtle dig at those in powerful seats. You die for passion if you are a follower, and the "leaders" will succeed with your blood. It's always worked that way, no?

(By the way, Leon Lai got a bad rap in the movie. Not sure why. He wasn't good, but he wasn't that bad either)

Avatar IMAX 3D (IMDB)

• Yes, made me dumber, especially the part where the natives start chanting like humans in Matrix: Reloaded (And Morphius's speech was practically copied)
• Yes, I kept waiting for the final fight I almost passed out in my seat. Did it have to be 2.5 hours long? Couldn't it be 1.5 hours and have 1 more show fitted in? Plus, IMAX 3D isn't ideal from row 5.

Recommended for the IMAX 3D experience - much better than Up. Truly remarkable... very realistic... and the 3D was sometimes mind blowing. I just wish it were shorter and not that stupid. This is corporate America working here... they would have wiped out the indigenous people before trying scientists and then resorting to the military. Plus I don't think 20,000 people with bows and arrows would have been a match for the para-military men anyway. And wouldn't they just come back with bigger guns? Arg. My head hurts from thinking. Wait a minute, why do I have to think for this movie?

Mad Men (IMDB)

• No, made me think a bit... but not too much. Not like The Wire.
• Yes, I had some lapses. Sometimes I think it's just too subtle about its messages.

Recommended... mostly because Season 2 is said to be unbelievable. Season 1 really wasn't bad, but I can't pinpoint any particularly good parts either. Love the development of Don Draper from director to partner... Peggy Olsen from secretary to writer (and mother!)... Pete Campbell from manager to, uh, manager... Betty Draper's spirals... the relationship between Joan Hollaway and Roger Sterling... the strangeness and oddness of Cooper... the parent relationships within the Campbells (both Pete and Trudy)... all the family relationships... all very interesting. But subtle.

Looking forward to season 2.

HK TV

• Yup, most def makes me dumber... even the "news", which concentrates on so many meaningless local stuff
• Yup, I cannot keep my attention for more than 2 minutes

Not recommended. AH. I need ESPN, which would have drawn a no, doesn't make me dumber nor smarter and no, will not lose attention.

HK News makes me scratch my head...

I'm working from home this morning and there's a discussion on inflation on TV by some "respectable" commentators:

• "Avatar is making about HK$70M in 15 days, clearly challenging the highest grossing movie in Hong Kong... this is huge inflation risk"

Josekin thinks that since Avatar charges double the price due to its 3D technology (See my thoughts on another 3D, Up... tho I was told Avatar is very much worth it), it's gross revenue should be adjusted downwards, probably spiking the inflation threat.

Sure, there's inflation, but as a professional commentator, you really should do some basic research and not use a movie as an example. I understand using the Avatar example rings in more ears... but still. Fail.

2009 in Pictures

Why I've never thought of this idea is beyond me. Here's my 2009 in pictures! It was kind of fun going through all my albums and picking out some pictures to showcase (or not) my year!

Much better than bullet points! Here's the link if you prefer the album to the embedded slideshow.

Reviewing 2009...

I don't do new year resolutions. But I do do old year reviews. 2009, chronologically:

• Worked case in Shanghai
• Worked case in Hong Kong
• Took Leave of Absence
• Went to NYC
• Took photography lessons
• Learned to cook again (not heating up, cooking)
• Visited Toronto
• Bought laptop
  
• Moved to bigger apartment
• Took photography lessons
• Learned a new dish
• Visited Seattle
• Visited Vancouver
• Visited Boston (it's the summer... I travel when the weather is good... and when I have a case that I have to travel for)
• Quit Bain
  
• Bought engagement ring... ouch!
  
• Proposal accepted at Grand Canyon... woo hoo!
• Met in-laws at LA... woo... hoo?
• Found wedding ceremony location
• Found wedding reception location
  
• Visited SF
• Moved to smaller apartment
• Took photography class x2
  
• Musical
• Attended first NFL game
  
• Went to Beijing
  
• Went back to Hong Kong
• Started my own company
• Completing my first client update (currently waiting for client to get off the phone)

Fruitful, I'd say. Looking forward to 2010.

柱记之死 (The Death of Zhu Ji)

Merry Christmas from Hong Kong. I've been back for almost 2 weeks, and my blogging has been horrible. Here's my Christmas present - and a vow to blog more.

Saw GI Joe on the plane from Chicago and also Sherlock Holmes earlier today... but today I want to talk about 柱记之死.

For those of you who don't know, 柱记 is a congee restaurant that I grew up with in the Bonham Road area. When I was young, my family rarely went out to eat breakfast. When we did, it was always 柱记, a super hole in the wall congee place that set up shop on the street side, covered by a few metal sheets (铁皮) and supported by a few pieces of iron plates on the floor. It leaked from the ceiling, and you watch your step so you don't fall onto the streets. But, man, the congee was good. Alan and I always looked forward to the day our dad went out for breakfast, cus we knew the tasty congee and the fried dough (which you dip in the congee) would be near.

Eventually, 柱记 made enough money and morphed into a shop (I found out on a random visit during high school... I had to get used to it being in a real shop space!). The staff remained. The dad and mom took orders. There was the same congee cook. On busy days, the sons and daughters would help take orders. Besides the food, there was also the impeccable way of calculating the bill. Every bowl of congee was associated with a different color/size bowl. Same with fried dough and other appetizers. A metal plate was one piece of friend dough. A small flat plate meant two pieces. A bigger flat plate was for a more expensive bread. When you were done, they wandered over, took a look at your table, and yelled out the final bill. I've never heard a complaint before.

And then there was today. The name changed. The staff was no more. Replacing 柱记 was a place that had none of the familiarity and friendliness. The waitress was semi-deaf and couldn't remember our orders. She practically slammed the congee on the table. And she took about a minute to calculate the bill. WTF. Oh, and the quality of the food is down: the congee was too watery (not enough time spent on making it) and the fried dough was too crispy (too much oil).

Ah, the death of an icon for me. RIP, 柱记. You will be remembered. (And someone ought to start a competing congee place to get all the lost customers)

I'm moving on to a congee place that's a hole in the wall in Kennedy Town.

What do Hos wear?

The Scene at Hong Kong Airport

I never understood the urgency of getting off a plane. Crazy people making not-so-subtle grunts and sighs while they think another passenger is taking too much time to clear the aisle of luggage. Relax! You're here, and you'll be out in no time!

But such is the scene when every plane parks at the terminal. Everybody has their hands on the seat belt, and once "ding" happens, all jump up and rush to haul their bags onto the aisle and anxiously waits for the line to start moving. They want to say "get out of my way" but are restrained by the natural politeness of their Chineseness.

And then there's the mad dash to the immigration office. Old people and slow movers be damned, cus no one is getting in their way. Elbows fly on the conveyor belt and those who stop moving are given a stare down (from their back, but still).

Finally... which line to join. You quickly observe all eight lines. Avoid children. Avoid old people. Avoid the immigrant. You could stick another 10 traits of people who will hold up the line at immigration. Or follow this one: get the line with the most suits, cus they always know what they are doing. And another stare down from the back happens when a migrant worker slows down the line - actually, the whole line will collectively stare... maybe it's for the immigration officer.

Anyway, after all that hassle... it's 5 seconds at the immigration station, where I calmly put my finger print on a scanner and it says "Please Enter". 10 seconds got me to the baggage conveyor belt, where my overweight bags are already there. 2 minutes to load up and whisk pass customs. 30 minutes later, the airport express got me to Central station. 10 more minutes, a taxi brought me home comfortably. In less than an hour, I got from seat 34F to home.

So why all bumping and grinding at the airport? Well, because it's Hong Kong! Efficiency. Big city rudeness. At least the move from NY to HK improved one aspect of my life.

Eff you, Great Firewall...!

It's freezing in Beijing. And I can't access Blogspot and Facebook. I'm not sure which is the worst.

I never understood the Great Firewall... whereby China just blocks certain websites as it pleases. Recently, they blocked Google because of "offensive material" appearing on their searches. Uh huh. Punish the messenger.

Eff you, Great Firewall! I can still post blog entries via emails and read blogs via Google Reader. Woohoo! But I'm off Facebook for a while. Woohoo!

(And let me try to attach a picture to see what it does)

SuperFreaknenomics

Thanks to Google Offline, I can now draft emails on a long haul plane from US to China! That means I can also draft blog entries - yes, I'm aware I can do this on Word as well, but I just don't like Microsoft that much and would much prefer doing it through email. (Um, plus the China Firewall prevents me from accessing Blogspot) The only downside is that I can't reference other pages until I get a connection.

Just finished the Freakenomics sequel SuperFreakenomics. As far as sequel goes, this performs along the same lines: something new and refreshing, but overall not as good as the first one.

The book starts out with a bang (pardon the pun) with a discussion on prostitution, leading to a broad discussion of gender inequalities and some reasons behind it. Fascinating read, and not just because of the price of different sexual tricks and the story of one entrepreneur in the industry. I love, for example, the brief discussion on the discrepancies of male and female earnings, explained mostly by difference in average hours worked (women work less) and appetite for more earnings (men are more motivated to earn money - um, yeah, it's called capitalistic greed).

The following two chapters are a downer: one was a discussion on the value of data (duh) and how it can lead to terrorists (The Wire has taught me well: Follow the money, and you open all sorts of shit cans). Another was a discussion on whether humans are inherently good or bad with a slight dig towards popular beliefs and popular media. Pretty boring.

Then came the chapters that fired up people: seat belts and global warming. Obviously, they put these chapters at the end cus they knew it was going to be controversial:

• Seat belts should be sufficient for older children and that the more expensive car seats are merely a money making machine that prey on parent's insecurities but doesn't help save the child more than a seat belt would.
  
• There may not be a global warming.  Even if there was global warming, the solution is cheap and simple and only $250 million.

My thoughts on the seat belts: listen to the economists with no stakes (other than their own children) in the trade. It's the most impartial opinion you'll get and, hey, you can keep testing it to see if their are right with the initial test results. Naysayers need to look at the data more and stop being too emotional about the authors trying to kill their kids.

My thoughts on global cooling and geo-engineering: INTERESTING. I want to know more. And I think here is where SuperFreakenomics fail a bit. A lot of "INTERESTING", but not a whole lot of discussions on those points. I wish the book were (gasp) longer on these chapters. Perhaps the simple solution was too simple and just was tht short? I find that hard to believe. Anyway, the Chinese have always been about geo-engineering (Mao says 人定勝天, people can always triumph nature), clearing the skies of Beijing for the Olympics and the national holidays. Why didn't they consult their Chinese counterparts? Surely there's data to show effects and impacts?

Anyway, too short on things that matter, too much on topics that are more "hey, look at me!". Nonetheless, it was a refreshing read on the plane and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

Last Hurrah

Well, if there was any doubt what I like most in life, my last few weeks in the US seems to have confirmed it.

Food: Vietnamese sandwich from Saigon Cafe, pho from Nha Trang, bo lah lut from Thai Son, sushi from Yasuda, pastrami sandwich from Katz, pie from Artichoke, burger and shake from Shake Shack, brunch from Clinton Street, steak from Del Frisco's, sloppy joe from Millburn Deli, oreo ice cream sandwich from Bandera, deep dish pizza from Borcino's, and my own cooking of 沙茶牛肉, 腐乳通菜, 糖醋排骨

Photography: all the food above, walking on the Brooklyn Bridge, hike in Harriman

Entertainment: In the Height (musical), MET, Knicks game, Jets game, Patriots game, This is It, 2012, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Book of Basketball, SuperFreakenomics, work out, Heroes, Flashforward, and other TV series

Work: slides on how to buy diamonds, slides on the online travel industry in China, and thoughts on marketing a country overseas

That about sums it up through empirical data, whereby I am pressed for time and I can only do the things I like most. Food, photography, and outdoors first, then sports and various senses stimulating entertainment (to different degrees)

Sushi Yasuda

I just had one of the most satisfying meals I had in New York, courtesy of Sushi Yasuda. Thanks to a great recommendation from Rambling and Gambling after I complained of a not-so-perfect omakase meal from Sushi Yasuda (Website) couple months back, TF and I made a reservation at Yasuda's station to get the best. Hey, it's my last day in New York, I'm going all out.

The sushi, real quick:

• The absolute best: Yasuda calls it the Custard Sushi, which is made of egg and yam. I have never heard of or had a sushi like this one. While it harbored many tastes and textures, it had a hint of sweetness that was the perfect followup to all the fish sushi. Yasuda explained that the Custard Sushi was rarely made in the US and that the ingredients all came from Japan (I think, it was loud). And that it had something to do with the year 1934. My god it was good. Next time I have it, I will write down what he said.
  
• Maybe the best I've had: Uni, Tamago, Ebi
  
• Great: Tako, Unagi, Otoro, Oyster
  
• Good: Toro, Salmon
  

The station, however, was what amazed me.

Our seats were on the side of the sushi station so we had a good view of all the stations down the bar. Watching Yasuda work his magic is fascinating. He's the only chef with a bucket of seafood in front of him (all the other sushi chefs had their seafood in the bar window). He peers into the box, puts his hand in, picks and chooses, and takes a cut of fish out. With perfect precision and utmost concentration, he slices the fish and examines it for a split second. He puts the fish back into the bucket and starts handling the rice. He grabs a small bit of rice, and massages it into a sushi with both hands deliberately, and then quickly puts the fish on top, applies a small about of sauce, and then places it on your plate with a twist of his wrists.

You have to be there to appreciate it. His hands are lightning quick. They are always on the move, doing something to create the next best piece of sushi. Serving six customers continuously, he remembers every single piece he made. If you ask him a question, he will answer it with great detail on where the fish is from, how it was prepared, and what other ingredient is used.

In fact, he will tell you how to eat it: immediately, within 15 seconds of being served, with no sauce, so as to "have the perfect temperature for the fish and the rice to taste just right". Hence no pictures of food - I do apologize. The man seemed like a semi-sushi-Nazi about everything happening at his station. He wanted our experience to be perfect. I don't want to be yelled at. Can you blame him?

TF told me that in her last visit, Yasuda told her not to eat her sushi fish-side-down and that "nobody eats their pizza upside down". I looked it up and every where I go it says fish-side-down. I, however, did not have the guts to challenge the grand master, placing my sushi fish-side-up like a good little boy.

And "how do/should you eat your sushi?" is now the biggest question in my life. Do you go with popular wisdom with "fish-side-down" or with Yasuda's "rice-side-down"?

2012

Well, 2012 and Fantastic Mr. Fox (review here) is not a 2-fer. It's just 4 "free" AMC tickets (2 from the This is It debacle).

Anyway, onto the movie 2012 (IMDB)... here's what we want from a disaster flick, a.k.a. Deep Impact 2 (Sorry, there was no disaster in the more entertaining Armageddon besides Ben Affleck's unfortunate acting):

• Impossible disaster: check
• Impossible solution: check
• Urgency: check
• Close to zero chance of success: check
  
• Earthquakes that wipe out continents: check
• Tsunamis about the height of the ocean: check
  
• Rich assholes: check
• Scheming politicians: check
• Humorous crazy white dude: check
  
• White kids in distraught: check
• White parents in distraught: check
• White folks running: check
• White folks keep making impossible escapes: check
• Pet needs to be saved: check
• People dying: check
  
• Minorities getting screwed: check
• White and black hero: check
• Black president: check
• Tenuous relationships that need to be resolved through disaster because they just can't do that when times are normal: check

Actually... it has awesome special effects and that's all you need to know. It was entertaining and I love the Tibet solution. Some plot holes:

• So UK cancels the London Olympics due to incoming disaster... and it's snowing in DC... right
  
• US chief scientists asks "what's at 29,000 feet"? You don't know Mount Everest!? Besides, wouldn't Noah's Arc measure in metrics (meters) instead of feet?
• Speaking of units, India use Celsius, not Fahrenheit
  
• Danny Glover as a black president. Morgan Freeman should always be the black president (oh, and he will be in Invictus, movie I really look forward to)
  

It's dumb but entertaining. And 30 minutes too long. Sure, I'll recommend it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I'm not sure what to make of Fantastic Mr. Fox (IMDB)...

It's a fun movie to sit through. It had great voices from great actors (Clooney, Streep, Murray, Dafoe - missing Weaver for the evil cider farmer tho... that would have been great). It had some great moments of humor. It had some good life lessons. It had pretty good animation. It had man vs. nature. It had passions in life vs. responsibilities. Basically, it had everything a good serious animated movie would have.

But... I just can't put the whole thing together and enjoy it as a movie for some reason. Maybe because I didn't know what to expect? Maybe I need to watch it again? I don't know.

Fun movie. I think I recommend it though. I think.

Black Friday and the US Consumer Market

Interesting experience last night. TF learned that the Armani Exchange at Soho is opening at midnight to welcome Black Friday. When we got there at 1:30am or so, it was mostly empty... because the only sale was $50 off $150 purchase, and most of the store was selling at full price anyway. And none of the other stores in Soho were open for midnight madness. What a debacle.

We didn't buy a thing out of protest (and lack of good design), wandered in Soho for a few minutes, and went back home to continue the sleep. Oh, and we banned AE until next Thanksgiving.

This morning, right before I left home, a friend of mine from HK asked how the US consumer market is. Glad you asked. Here's what I've seen:

• There were no crazy sales in Soho. Max was 50% at Esprit and 41% at Kenneth Cole. Most name brand stores carried a 25% discount across all items and that was it. (I miss outlet shopping, which probaby had steeper discounts)
• There were no crazy crowds in Soho either. Most busy was American Eagle and their high school customers. Especially compared to last year, where TF said by 9am was madness at most stores
• Bags observed on the street: 50% had bags... mostly of Armani Exchange, H&M, American Eagle, and Uniqlo variety

Which leads me to conclude:

• Retailers are doing okay. They don't seem to have much excess inventory and they can live with the small discounts during Thanksgiving leading up to Christmas
• Revenue is probably a small but positive growth from last year, but profits should be much better if the inventory was indeed well managed
• Chinese factories are probalby suffering from fall off in orders in 2009... at least they can make stuff for they backyard; imagine the factories in Central America

Consumers were trained on 2008 to expect deep deep price cuts. TF, for example, is not happy with the little discounts, and didn't shop much. No worries, me thinks. Materialism will prevail in a capitalist society and they will be well trained by next Thanksgiving!

So... Retailers will be fine and consumers will slowly live the truth. Except for Armani Exchange, of course, who cost me 2 hours of sleep last night. Boo.

Entertain thyself, continued (In the Heights)

On my last post, I really meant to include "In the Heights" but it slipped through the cracks. Guess that's the priority: sports, movie, musicals.

After flirting briefly with TKTS, we decided to get our tickets from Plum, which actually offered better seats for the same price. Front mezzinine, front row for $80ish.

I liked the show overall. It depicts the local life of a bunch of immigrants from South America... which reminded me a bit of Rent (about a local group of yuppies).

• Music: Good music with some rap and latino flare mixed in with regular musical songs. It was a venture into some new music on stage and I thought they did a marvelous job on it. Rap voice doesn't travel as well as sung voice, so it was sometimes drowned out by the orchestra music. There's also a bit of Spanish in the songs, tho they do a decent job of mixing in the translation in the dialouge. The next version would most definitely be much improved
• Cast: Decent performances from the cast. The lead guy (Usnavi) was pretty good with his rap but lacked expression on stage. The other leads were decent - Benny was consistent through out and performed well; Nina shined in the first act but faded in the second act. Decent performances for the rest of the cast.
  
• Story: Well, it's your standard musical story. Introduction to all (smartly done), tension builds, someone dies, and all is resolved at the end. I enjoyed the 2nd act much better than the 1st, which I thought was a bit noisy and chaotic with the story free-flowing towards nowhere... thankfully it all tightened up in the 2nd act
  
• Set: The set was somewhat boring with little interaction...

I enjoy musicals... but haven't gone to much while in NYC. Just not a priority compared to others!

Entertaining thyself in NYC: the Knicks, the Movie, and the Jets

Thank god TF doesn't work at Evanston. Being in NYC with a lot of free time has been a huge blessing. I'm a lucky person, what can I say.

The Knicks

After the last Criagslist debacle trying to buy Cavs tickets, I tried again. Apparently the Warriors are a much easier ticket to score. I paid $60 per ticket (Face value $90) to a season ticket holder who couldn't wait to get rid of his tickets.

The game was a complete blah. The Knicks are a sorry team with no defense and no offense. Apparently Chris Duhon is not Steve Nash. Who saw that coming? Poor David Lee is stuck anchoring a non-existing defense and is being worked over on both ends. They've gotten Eddy Curry back and are surprisingly playing well with him. Oh, and there was a Darko sighting, which is always intriguing. I keep waiting for his up-side to show up.

The Warriors were more intriguing: superb offensive power with Ellis, Jackson, Morrow, and Moore (Mikki Moore, that is, just a joke of course), and Radolph. But no one to set up or direct the plays. So the whole game was a lot of Ellis and Jackson one-on-one, will Nellie pulling his hair out on the sidelines (quite funny when he storms into the court for a timeout). The Warriors have since dealt Captain Jack to relieve the backcourt clog and give Ellis the keys to the offense. They should become better.

Anyway, the game was boring at best and the Knicks lost by 20 something to the Warriors. Yay. Recommended for the great seats, but not for the experience!

The Movie

This is It (IMDB) at the 86th Street AMC... the experience was interesting.

First the theater: ghetto. The only reason we went there was cus 1. They were playing This is It at 7pm and 2. I was buying Jets tickets from a guy who lived around there but was only available at 9pm. Oh, and 3. We had an AMC pass. Anyway, the theater was small and smelling and the seats were squeaky and not well maintained. The crowd at the theater were the New Moon crowd - teenage girls who were screaming and OMGing all the time. Awful experience.

Then the movie: well. Ghetto as well. Despite a start time of 7:05, the previews didn't start till 7:15, and finally the movie started around 7:25... except that it was New Moon, to the great disgust of the audience (yeah, you wouldn't believe it, but they are decidedly different from the New Moon crowd). 10 minutes later, the manager came in to apologize and restart the movie. At 7:45, we finally got previews (previews again!?), and the movie started thereafter. One hour delay.

Now the real movie: This is It is basically the entire concert. They play every song in its final or close to final rehersal version. If you are an MJ fan, you basically see and imagine the concert right in front of your eyes. If not, like myself, then it's a bit of a drag for 2 hours (3 if you count the wait time we had). Nonetheless, it was a great portrait of MJ the artist meticulously preparing for his come back tour. The man was energized and prepared with a vision that none of the other artists saw. He basically knew exactly what he wanted and made all the others do it to his precise requirements.

I'm just sad that his concert never materialized. It would have been a great display of music and talent. And may all artists (Britney, especially you) and reality TV stars pay attention to how you can become a real entertainer! Movie recommended if you are an MJ fan. If you can swing one at an open theater where you can sing and scream and dance, even better!

The Jets

You may not believe this, but I have never been to a football game live. Ever. I've seen NBA, MLB, NHL, soccer, even college sports... but never an NFL game. My last weekend in NYC is the weekend of Thanksgiving, and luckily there are a lot of tickets avaialble at face value. Not that anyone would want to see the sorry Jets play the equally sorry Panthers. Anyway, I got tickets for field level, 15 yard line, row 7, so I'm super excited! (Just wondering if TF shares the same enthusiasm...)

Bill Belichick's decision

When I saw it unravel on TV, I had two reactions:

1. Speaking to myself: holy fuck, what the hell is he doing?
2. Thinking to myself: that's a gutsy call... fuck Peyton Manning, we're going for it.

Wednesday after a Sunday, people are still talking about whether it is the right call or not. All the statisticians have came to Belichick's defense, while most sports personalities have been against.

I'm in the for-camp. I was chatting with my friend while the game was still going. Quickly throwing out these percentages on the top of my head:

• Prob of converting 4th down: 50%
• Prob of Colts scoring 7 from the 30 yard line: 90%
• Prob of Colts scoring 7 for their own 30 yard line: 70%

So the Pats had a 55% of winning (50% + 50% * 10%) if they go for it. And 30% if they punted. So with the top of my head probabilities, Belichick was right. And that's not even adding the probability that the Colts score quickly, and Brady has the ball back to drive for a field goal in a minute.

Of course you can poke holes. The biggest argument that the anti-decision camp make is that you have to trust your defense to stop the Colts. Basically, they say the 70% is lower. Okay, let's examine: Peyton Manning just completed a 2 minute 80 yard touchdown drive (after a suspect pass interference call). He also has the 2 minute warning and a Colts timeout to use. If you're pegging his prob of success to be lower than 55%, I think you are greatly underestimating the QB. But hey, that's just me!

I think Steve Levitt says it best: it's a principle-agent problem with coaches. The probabilities are in the teams favor, but most coaches are adverse to taking risky decisions that are game changing.

#16 Bill Simmons

Resume: 12 years, 8 quality, 8 All-Stars...

The case for Simmons as a Level 2 journalist is a long list:

He's the only journalist on the list to have a nickname, and that should count for something. He started posting his thoughts online as the Boston Sports Guy in 1997, when blog wasn't even a word yet. He's a pioneer of the "from a fan's point of view" style of writing. Biased and passionate, Simmons was unique among writers. His ability to reference pop culture was unparalleled. During his apex from 2002 to 2004, he routinely churned out a quality piece a week, sometimes two, and had readers checking his website every hour to see if a new article has popped up.

And then there's his contributions to fans: the immortal Ewing Theory, Level of Losing, the annual NBA Draft Diary, the Peyton Manning (among others) Face, in-game running diaries (since stolen by ESPN in-game chats), the Tyson/Artest Zone, the Annual NBA Trade Value column, the Atrocious GM Summit, Mailbags (actual emails from actual fans, baby!), Weekyl NFL picks (You know, if gambling were legal), Mount Rushmore of (Since stolen and popularized by other writers), and a fist fight with Isiah Thomas. As Simmons would always say, I made the last part up.

And those were only the ones that made it with fans (more on that later).

In only 12 years, he's already amassed millions of readers (some may even be fans, a rarity for sports journalists)... and counting. So why isn't the Boston Sports Guy ranked higher?

Well, you really have to put his career in perspective. From 1997 to 2001, Simmons wrote two to three columns a week on his own website. Sure, that's a lot of writing, but his readers were all die-hard Boston Red Sox/Celtics/Patriots/Bruins and wrestling fans. If you are evaluating him for the pyramid, you have to look at post 2001 numbers.

Did his rise as a sports columnist in 2001/2 coincide with the underdog New England Patriots winning the SuperBowl, with the Ewing Theory almost being changed to the Bledsoe Theory? You bet! What about the Red Sox, who were competitive enough to be an interesting topic to write and read about, but not enough to advance past the Yankees (in fact, the harder the Red Sox fell ('99, '01), the better the reaction of Simmon readers)? And then there's the Celtics, who were such an inept team even after they finally dropped the Rick "Larry Bird is not walking through that door, Kevin McHale is not walking through that door" Pitino. In 2001, they drafted Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown, and then Joe Forte (thanks, Red, ahead of Parker), then traded the only blue chip (Johnson). What about the Bruins... oh, who am I kidding, the Bruins did nothing to enhance Mr. Simmons' career.

Coincidences all in Simmons' favor? I say yes.

Speaking of coincidences, more things to put into perspective: his apex from 2002 to 2004 happened the same time where he moved to LA to work on Jimmy Kimmel's staff. Hollywood, where osmosis happens. Simmons benefited immensely from hanging out with other fellow writers much like players from the '86 Celtics benefited from the Bird/Walton osmosis.

And the drop off after 2004? Well, to put it simply, the Boston Sports Guy became the Sports Guy. He left Jimmy Kimmels show where his colleagues constantly challenged him to become better and then joined ESPN to work with the very people that he has always dispised - sports journalists who report in an unbiased way. Suddenly, there's self sensorship - Simmons lamented that "certain promises were not kept" by ESPN and that ESPN "won't let me be me" (cry me a river please), there's pod-casts, and, the worst, there're less columns. Isn't this Scott Templeton in The Wire where a news writer just wants to be on better media mediums such as radios and TVs? I'm not saying Simmons made anything up... but his aspiration is to eventually be in TV, even though he looks horrible on TV. Perhaps his role as executive producer for ESPN's 30 in 30 might finally reinvent his role with ESPN and propel him to a Level 1 guy.

When looking at Simmons' career, you also cannot ignore the fact that the entire period from 1997 to 2009 was where sports stopped being fun and started to commercialize. Sky rocketing ticket prices ($100 for Red Sox bleacher tickets!?) and unimaginable free agent signings (I don't even want to list examples here) turned the casual fan off. And many of them turned to the"from a fan's point of view" style of Bill Simmons, finding a comfort place where "someone still understood how they felt". Oh, and of course, there's this thing called the Internet that aided - understatement of the century - the popularizing of the Boston Sports Guy.

Those are all circumstantial, of course. Coincidences that, looking back, may or may not have been a valid reason for Simmon's rise to #16. I say yes, and that's that. But there are also these out-right failures: discontinued cartoon series on ESPN, incomplete all-time sports movie rankings, etc.

The biggest failure ever: losing to the Sports Gal twice in picking NFL games (and possibly many more March Madness brackets) over two seasons. Look, either you never compete with your wife or you beat her soundly. There's no middle ground here.

The second biggest failuer: openly lobbied for being the General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks and then losing to John Hammond. Actually, maybe that was a joke. I'm not sure.

And hence his ranking at #16 and on the verge of being a level 1 guy. Quick footnote: I concede that he's career is on-going and may head for higher if he does return to his roots as a writer. Perhaps 30-in-30 will put him back on the map.

I once was a huge fan of the Boston Sports Guy. TF and I still use his definition (The toothbrush rule) to mark the date when she became my girlfriend. I used to check his website all the time to see if a new article was posted. Now? Well, in 2008, his article came behind Season 2 of Lost (see entry). That should be telling, right?

So, #16 it is for now. He can still write. I just hope it will be a column instead of more pod-casts and shows.

I will say this tho: trying to write a ranking profile for Bill Simmons made me appreciate his Book of Basketball that much more. Amazing book for NBA fans. Highly recommended - again.

The Book of Basketball

I got the new Bill Simmon's "Book of Basketball" (Amazon) a week ago at a book signing. When I got to Borders for The Sports Guy to sign it, there was a ONE HOUR line. One hour! So instead of a personalized signed copy, I got signed copies only... and that's only because I was moving that day and the movers were knocking on the door

(My plan of quickly seeing the Sports Guy in person, snap a picture of him, have him sign the damn book, and back to the apartment to wait for movers fell through...)

It's actually a very thoughtfully written book so far. I loved "Now I Can Die in Peace", but "Book of Basketball" is much much better. The Sports Guy takes us through the history of basketball, several controversies, and then through a list of basketball players he deemed significant. I'm at p.620 now, and I am quite satisfied as an NBA fan.

Recommended? Of course! But only for NBA fans. It even inspired me to write a future blog entry (evil mind in works).

Dilbert should be comic only

A month after buying the Dilbert book (yes, there's a book) for $1 at a garage sale, I abandoned the attempt at page 59. The Dilbert series are made to be comic strips and they ought to stay that way.

I guess comics are like powerpoint presentations. They have one message only and that message is explained in a condense/accurate/general way. You get into the details and explain it in all different ways, it's like going back to the word version of the powerpoint!

Not recommended.

Why Craigslist Failed

So yesterday, I was trying to grab a pair of tickets to see LeBron James destroy the Knicks. There was a pretty good chance that 80% of his FGs would have been dunks with David Lee manning the middle. Since Stubhub is such a rip off, I resorted to Craigslist.

• Asshole #1: after we agreed on $250 via email, he calls me and says it's $275. Then it's $300. I should have kept saying yes and backed off the deal at the end.
• Asshole #2: after we agreed on $180 and a meeting time and place via phone call, he pulls a no-show/ no-call/ no-nothing on us... 30 minutes before the game!
  

Eventually, TF and I went to MSG and tried to scalp tickets. The first quarter was about done, and the scalpers are still looking for $150 each! Um, I think I'll watch it on TV. Anyway, turns out the first quarter was the best quarter, so we lucked out n a weird way.

But it did get me thinking on how Craigslist became what it is now. Craigslist used to be the place to go when you needed anything. It was the classifieds for the Internet generation, and it covered every aspect. Years ago in In Boston, I found a 1 month sub-lease, I found a temporary roommie, I even sold a Total Gym! In Chicago, I sold all my furniture, even the 230 pound TV! Good times. Now?

• Instead of being the mecca for house listings, it's filled the real estate agents; the listings most people are looking for are buried under
• In fact, you can say that about all the listings (except for garage sale) - tickets included... so many of them were ticket brokers
• Meaning, you can't really find what you need on craigslist most of the time.
  

Did Craigslist just insist that they don't regulate the classifieds and let users run amok? Well, they did. Businesses took advantage of the free service and overwhelmed it. Plus everything is annonymous so people like asshole #1 and #2 are all over Craigslist. That's what happens when you offer a free and good product but don't hold people accountable.

A shame, really.

Same picture

A verticle shot works even better... shame that I only realized this after posting my original one. Oh, and it's Thai Ice Tea from Won Dee Siam. Not a bad place for Thai food, but I've been spoiled in Asia.

NYC Food...

I've eaten out a lot in NYC. Lots of pictures too. I feel bad that I haven't posted a lot of them. Here's one not for the food, but for the picture. All restaurnats and correspondng pictures will be posted at some point (hmmm... would that be like 50 pages then?)...

Anyway, I liked this picture.

Two Downtown Conversations in New York

Conversation #1
Tourist: Hey, man, what's going on there? (Pointing at a parade two blocks away)
Josekin: (sigh) That's the parade for the Yankees
Tourist: Oh, wow, I love the Yankees. Thanks! (Happily trots over to the parade)
Josekin: (Shaking head - man, I hate the Yanks and their "fans")

Conversation #2
Food truck guy: Hey, Chinese man, you work around here?
Josekin: No, I live near here.
Food truck guy: Aw, damn, Chinese man rich!
Josekin: No, my fiance pays the rent.
Food truck guy: Really? High five!

Speaking of which, did you know LeBron James is a whining Yankee fan? How can he be a Yankee fan?

Where the Wild Things Are

Okay, I've never read the books so I'm just a bit less appreciative of the movie.

Where the Wild Things Are (IMDB): this shouldn't be a movie for kids, despite the "lonely boy runs away from family and assumes position as king among some big headed wild things" plot. In fact, it's got a slightly depressing theme and is actually quite sophisticated in its message on how people conform (or not) to society. Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing it. Anyway, the movie was cute at times and boring at others. Ultimately, directors need to think about what they want to make: a movie adapting a children's book and for children, or a adult version of it. Mixing it just didn't work for either.

I do recommend the part where Douglas' arms were ripped off.

Not recommended for adults... nor for children.

Fuck Windows

What can be worse than the BSOD in the modern world???? (Blue Screen of Death, duh!)

Try "Windowns cannot repair this computer automatically "

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggggggggg. Mother fucking fuck fucking A! Pardon me for swearing.

Last night, I went to sleep thinking "Fuck Windows, I'm getting a Mac. Macs won't screw me like this"

Rescue mission underway now. Let's see how well Lenovo "Rescue and Recovery" does.

Chasing foliage... chasing memories

I lived in CT, I lived in Boston, and now I am living temporarily in NYC. Always heard about chasing foliage, always wanted to go, never did. So when the chance came knocking on my door, I jumped at it.

Surprisingly, the chasing led me to Kent School, my high school in CT! I'm skipping all the other pictures and going straight to Kent.

Ivy hanging on the library

The following three are all on the Macedonia River

The sad part is, at no point while at Kent did I notice the beauty of The Fall. When we drove by Kent, I noticed The Villager, Fife and Drum, Shanghai Chinese, Pizza Garden, Coffee Shop (all eating establishments, obviously)... I recognize some of the shops and B&Bs... all the commercial stuff. And yet I don't notice the simple, innocent, stunning Fall views. For two years, I had the front row seat: right outside the windows of Miller Hall were these exact amazing views.

Anyway, I do notice now! I slowly examined the campus and took tons of pictures. And I look at the aforementioned results of capitalism and skipped them all.

While at the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, the owner came out to greet me, telling me that I look familiar. Yeah right, sure. It's been 12 years! 10 minutes later, she runs out of her restaurant, and asks whether I had a brother who went to Kent. She does remember.

Gladiator, Revisited

Re-watched Gladiator on TNT the other day. Actually, I only watched my favorite scene where the slaves worked together in their first coliseum fight. As I re-watched this scene, I realized that I couldn't understand anything that was said (all murmurs and shouts)... it was a simple action scene and I liked it. That's it.

How did this silly movie win Oscar awards is beyond me. This is like a MVP race gone wrong: how did Gladiator beat Traffic? Definitely Traffic got the biggest snub... then it's , Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Chocolat, apparently two foreign dis-favorites which were both more worthy than Gladiator. And then there's Erin Brocovich... probably the same as Gladiator.

What a debacle.

Cirque du Freak

Saw a free pre-show thanks to our friend S&E and their American Express connections. If it weren't free, I wouldn't have watched it.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (IMDB) - to be fair, I had no expectations whatsoever. So with the low expectations, I went to the movies and my expectations were fulfilled. The main debate post-show was which was the worse movie: du Freak or Couples Retreat (review)? I think Couples Retreat was worse because in du Freak, I only felt bored for about an hour and I only shook my head five times. Not recommended. While the ending set up for a bunch of potential sequels, fans of the movie (mostly teenagers, I'm guessing?) will be disappointed. No way a sequel will be made. And may all other vampire movies rest in peace.

Flashforward (TV)

They marketed the show as "from the creators of Lost".

They forgot the other tag line "for the dumbest audiences who watched Lost without trying to figure anything out".

Big disappointment with way too many predictable subplots. The premise had so much promise but the execution was piss poor. I haven't totally given up on the show yet, but each episode is slowly wearing me down... and we're only at episode 4.

• Yup, some FBI regional director is playing basketball with the president
• Yup, some senator was just made VP because president wanted funding for the FBI regional director
• Yup, the same senator is going to be president in her (alleged) flashforward

My head hurts. Not recommended at all. Arg. I had hope before.

Naming the Child - from Freakenomics

There's a lot of controversy surrounding their new book Superfreakenomics regarding environment and global warming.

No controversy on Steve's heartfelt piece about losing his child though. I think I want to buy the book.

Although I can't speak for my father, I can speak for myself (compared to my mom). I think the pain is secondary. It is the loss of memory that is the saddest part. On some random day, I would try very hard to remember what he looked like and what we did together. I remember some signature moments before 1996... like the time our sword fight broke the ceiling lamp and we decided together that we'd admit it at the same time... or the time where we locked our little brother outside a room (sorry, James, we still love you)... or the times where we played the computer games while one of us played look out for my parents... or the few basketball games where we played pick and roll to perfection... the details are murky, but the memories are there somewhat.

From 1996 to 2003, he and I rarely spent extended time together as I went to the US to study; he soon followed, but we were always in different cities. I remember his ever-changing hair - from crew cut to shaved head to long hippie. I remember calling him after a break up. I remember his surprised face when he won the physics award at graduation - he was probably snoozing when they announced his name. I remember visiting him at CMU... and that our pick and roll deteriorated and he blamed himself after the game (truth is I couldn't defend a bigger faster kid). But beyond those, I don't remember much.

The fading memory is double edged.

It hurts when you remember. The one thing I do remember clearly is how the day of July 23 2003 unfolded. Every single detail is still so vivid. My journey from Boston to Hong Kong seems to happen repeatedly in my memory.

It hurts more when you don't. How can I only remember his face when I go to his grave? How can I forget all the things we did together as teenagers? Sometimes I think it's because I'm not that good a brother back then (James once called me Big Bother). Other times I don't think anything... and try to remember.

The Michael Lewis Effect - what's wrong with this picture:

A while ago, I read this great article by Micheal Lewis (of MoneyBall Fame) on the value of Shane Battier. I'm still skeptical of the points, but it's nonetheless a good attempt on trying to define some intangibles in basketball.

Then comes this poster:

Okay, so this is Kobe preparing to dunk, probably a reference to the Lakers' defending their title with their star player. Probably.

So, who are the other characters in the poster trying to chase him? In categories:

• Good chance: KG (Celtics), Manu Ginobili (Spurs)
• Distant maybe: Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets), Chris Paul (Hornets), Deron Williams (Jazz)
• No way in hell: Baron Davis (Clippers)
  
• Okay, they are there because they are cute: Bulls, Nuggets, Suns mascots
  

And then there are the two right in front of the rim:

• Derrick Rose (Bulls) - okay, I can understand the Rookie of the Year being there...
• Shane Battier (Rockets)!!!!!!????? That's the best person from the Rockets you can put on the poster? Not Yao? Not T-Mac? Not Luis Scola? Not Trevor Ariza?

Not sure how 2K sports designed their posters. Maybe Kobe called and demanded

1. "you make sure you put Shane Battier trying to block me... make sure he has no lift whatsoever so it looks like I can dunk on his sorry ass.
2. Put Denver at my feet - I had a bad experience there a few years back.
   
3. Nobody from the Orlando Magic - they weren't worthy
   
4. Put KG there, he was worthy - I need motivation to destroy him
5. And I won't share the stage with LeBron. No, I won't accept it."

Better Luck Tomorrow

I'm blogging from mid-air from LAX to JFK. Awesomeness. I think the best is still on-demand movies from Cathay, followed by JetBlue's live TV... inflight Internet would be the third best "let time fly by" toy tat helps everybody involved. (Including consultants who now will have to work on planes)

Anyway, I saw Better Luck Tomorrow (IMDB) with college buddy WL and his gf yesterday. I vaguely remember this movie from way before when it was a hit for a lot of Asian Americans as it depicted SoCal (TF's old stomping grounds by the way) Asian lives.

Not a bad movie, although I'm not sure how it is specific to Asian Americans vs. other ethnic groups. It seems like Lord of the Flies in SoCal, that's about it. Slightly recommended.

Quick note on John Cho, who plays the victim in Better Luck Tomorrow. He will forever be Harold. No other movie or show will convince me otherwise. I was watching him play an FBI agent in Flashforward, but I can't help but laugh when he tries to be serious. Funny how Kumar can be Van Wilder, doctor (on House), and terrorist (on one or two episodes of 24) but Harold gets molded.

SF answers me

Yesterday I mentioned that SF transit sucks.

Today, SF answers with its finest.

Public Transit in SFO

For a city that is well known for it's progressive liberalism, San Francisco sure has a lot of explaining to do when it comes to its public transportation - probably better described as "you're better off driving a crappy car with poor emission". Protecting the environment be damned.

The BART is basically the subway system that connects the different parts of the Bay Area. They charge an arm and a leg to use (NY subway rides are $2.50, and normal rides in SF cost around $5).

The Cal train is the commuter rail. They seem to be affordable for the most part but the number of trains are scarce. Today, for example, I found out at 10pm that the last Cal train left at 915pm.

And neither really gets you to your intended destination other than your office in downtown SF. Prepare another $2 for the bus ride over to your true destination.

All of this which roughly translates into "I need a car" or else it's going to cost both my money and my time. Shame on the Bay Area transit system!

You lose some, you win some

Apparently, the HUGE disappointment of not winning the Olympics has not affected the every day life of Chicagoians despite columnists Jay Marrioti's claims. Move on with life, Chicago.

Obama seemed to have taken a beating for not delivering the Olympics to Chicago... and he's taking another beating for being rewarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The man can't win.

By the way, isn't the Nobel Peace Prize a direct result of Bush fucking it up in his previous term? I think so.

Funny movies...

Another 2-fer at a theater near Stanford... this time with 2-fer rookies WL and JK. They acted calmly and follow my instructions, narrowly escaping from a suspecting custodial worker... just kidding, nobody even checked our tickets in the front.

Zombieland (IMDB) - I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, but it turned out to be a really funny movie. I couldn't stop laughing when grandma's face was knocked to the tarmac because she didn't wear her seat belt, when a dude was being mauled while doing a #2, when Bill Murray was being Bill Murray (you'll see, don't want to spoil the fun for you), or when Woody Harrelson was shooting on the roller coaster (classic, by the way). Um, yes, it was gory and disgusting when it came to the zombies, but still recommended if you don't mind the red. By the way, since when did zombies run instead of limp towards their victims? I couldn't figure that out.

Couples Retreat (IMDB) - much like the Surrogates (Verdict: Willis is done. Not recommended), this one is also not recommended. Vince Vaughn is still funny - he was a writer for the movie as well - but he needs something fresh to get his career going again. And there was an odd Jean Reno sighting - ah the days of Leon and Ronin. He might be done too... Anyway, not recommended.

DeeCee FreeBee

The one thing I love about DC is that everything is free. If you can get a place to stay, the city can be explored for days without sweating too much cash. And find a place to stay I did.

I've been to DC twice... several things I'd recommend:

• Jefferson Memorial at night... it's more quiet than Lincoln Memorial, and the Tidal Basin is quite pretty

• Lincoln Memorial in the early morning where you can beat the crowd; ditto with any location on the Mall! All the memorials were nice and quiet in the morning.
  

• The Mall at night
  

• FDR Memorial is nicely tucked inside some woods and on the side of the Tidal Basin
• I liked the National Gallery and Portrait and I don't think anyone should miss the gallery for presidents; the other museums are really up to your own preference
• Apparently many miss the National Archives where you can see Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (and Bill of Rights too...)

One note: the food in The Mall is awful. You need to head a bit North to get decent food choices. Like Chipotle and Pot Belly. Yeah, it was that bad.

Overrated:

• Washington Monument... the outside is fine... you don't really need to go up and see DC through think and dirty glasses. Want proof?

• The Library at The Capitol... yes, it's pretty, but you can only see if from afar, and no photography allowed (who still uses a library for research anyway??)