Traveler's dream

I really envy this guy who gets pay to travel around the world.

You know what I mean when you watch his videos.

My school home page

If you're interested in my research, you can check out my school home page.

Another friend in China told me that he couldn't log onto my blog

When I started blogging, I told my parents about it. They logged onto my blog almost every day.

I sent the link to my friends in China. Some of them checked it out. Some of them said they couldn't log onto my blog.

In March, my parents told me that they couldn't log onto my blog any more. Today, another friend told me that he couldn't log onto my blog.

I think I might have to get a blog from a Chinese company if I want my friends and family in China to read my blog. However, I'm reluctant to do that, as you might know how things would go when you have to manage the same thing at two places.

I got frustrated when I finally got a blog account from a Chinese website. The posts need to be screened before posting.

Solstice Parade in Fremont

Seattle International Film Festival

I don't remember when I started going to SIFF. It might be several years ago. This year I bought six movie tickets.

Gagarin's Grandson--Russia
A talented artist learns that he has a long lost brother living in an orphanage. To his further surprise, not only is he black, he also claims to be the grandson of the famed astronaut Yuri Gagarin. A film about family, friendships and the end of preconceived notions, filled with wise charm and true Russian soul.

It is an interesting story. I liked the movie.

Children of the War--USA
This powerful documentary explores the roles of social causes and government agencies in the rise of the Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13) in the US and Central America. Estimated to have more than 100,000 members, it has the distinction of being the largest and most violent street gang in the world.

The movie was quite depressing.

Bad Faith--France
A Guess Who's Coming for Dinner? for the 21st century. This is a romantic comedy about faith, love and the difficulties combining the two. When Jewish Clara discovers that she is pregnant with her Muslim boyfriend’s baby, they realize that they are going to have do the unthinkable: meet each other’s families.

It was an entertaining movie with a happy ending.

The Planet--Sweden
This highly ambitious Scandinavian production draws on some of the poetic, observational strategies of Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi, allowing us to reflect on patterns and phenomena of human and natural existence from both intimate and sweeping viewpoints. The truths of The Planet, if frankly confronted, will move viewers viscerally and pragmatically to new levels of understanding and action.

One of scholars interviewed in the movie said that the problem of environmental protection is the developed countries. The out-sourced factories with heavy pollutants and low technology went to the developing countries. E-wastes have been shipped to the developing countries. People, then, complaint that environment is getting worse because the developing countries didn't clean up their environment?!

Confession of Pain--Hong Kong
Detectives Bong and Hei were once partners, until a tragedy turned Bong into an alcoholic private eye. When Hei's father-in-law is murdered, Bong's aid is enlisted into an investigation that grows increasingly treacherous. A twisty, thoughtful crime story from the directors of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. A remake is already in the works from Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company.

I enjoyed watching this movie. It is better than "The Departed", yet not as good as "The Infernal Affairs".

Getting Home--China
When his old friend Liu suddenly drops dead, Zhao has no money for a coffin to transport him home in, so he pretends Liu has passed out drunk and gets on the bus with him. A series of gently comic misadventures dogs their homeward odyssey.

I like this movie a lot. It not only travels through different parts of China, but also shows some characteristics of Chinese people. It's a movie worth watching. A similar book from the perspective of American, "China Road", might be worth reading as well.

Movies and Media

About the Movie

I saw the movie "Black Book" tonight. I like the movie a lot. However, my friend who saw the movie with me has a very different idea of the movie. The critics have divided reviews of the movie, and it is not surprising my friend and I are divided on the movie as well.

About the Media

When I was searching for the reviews of the movie, the Google provided the American websites on the top of the search results. It sounds "VERY" logical that Americans are more likely to read American websites. Google and search engines always show the websites from the user's nation at the top in the result.

Quit Mountaineering Class

I quited the mountaineering class last weekend. It was a hard decision. I haven't made any progress on my school work since this quarter. I wish I could manage my time better to do both: school and mountaineering.

I'll take the class again. I have invested so much on my gear. I can't waste them. I can't give up the beautiful mountains either.

File Cabinet

I got a file cabinet from a schoolmate today. I'm quite excited. Finally, I can organize my papers and academic journal articles better.

One of lab-mates said you like file cabinets when you are older. You need to do archiving when you get older.

Evolution of Dance

One of my friends sent me this youtube video clip. It was very funny.

Snow Camping

Last weekend, I went snow camping in Olympic National Park with my mountaineering group "Glacial Monkeys".

We hiked 7 miles to the campground. Each of us had 35-50 pls in the backpack. It was raining, snowing all the time. We were completed wet, inside and out. The next day, when we woke up, our tents were covered with snow. By the time we got back to the parking lot and took off our backpacks, we have never felt better.^_^.


(Courtesy of Jeff--one of Glacial monkeys)

Mountaineering Expense

hard shell rain jacket $216.44
hiking boots $329.45
climbing gear $206.52
sleeping bag $266.92
mountaineering class $300.00
Total $1,319.33


(lookout from Mt. Erie)


(eagle at Mt. Erie)


(Big Chief)


(Ice Axe rescue at Big Chief)

All pictures are provided by Jeff--one of Glacial monkeys.

It was February 10th that I helped her moved to the new place.
This morning, I went to her place again to move her things out.

In February, she hired a mover. We used two vehicles and took us three rounds to finish.
This morning, it only needed one U-haul to move everything. Her sister, her boss, and all her close friends came. However, she is not there......

Rebecca

You were beautiful.
You were slim.
You were a bit shy.

It was three and half years ago I first met you. I just joined Urban Form Lab. You were working in the same office but at Real Estate Research Center. Luc introduced us to each other. You were beautiful with a very sweet smile. At the same time, you were a little bit shy. I knew right away that I would have good time sharing office with you.

We went brunch, lunch, dinner together.
We went clubbing together.
We went drinking together.
We went to see movies together.
We went shopping together.
We went oystering together.
We went on trip together.

We had done a lot of fun things together. We became good friends. I also got to know you better.

You were determined.
You were sometimes nervous.
You were caring.
You were very considerate for others.
You were generous for friends.
You were also generous for strangers, not only because you were a good tipper.
You were the only one who was brave enough to drive with me and believed in my driving.

The last time we did things together was two weeks ago. We ran stairs. I want to climb Mt. Rainier this summer. You joined me for running stairs. However, I was out of breath only after a few minutes. You were walking at head of me, often stopped and waited for me. I started to doubt that if I really should plan to climb Mt. Rainier. Maybe you should do that.

Cherry Blossom on UW Campus

Accents

I just read an article on British accents from BBC News. If I read this article five years ago, I wouldn't appreciate it. Surprisingly, how much I enjoy it now.

If you have read my blog, you might remember that I was asked if I was from China first time I talked to my former landlady on the phone for two minutes. Then I heard people said Americans love accents, more accurately European accents. I thought that was very strange. A few years later, I watched the movie "Love Actually", and found the story about a young British fellow who couldn't attract women in UK became very popular in the US because of his British accent very funny. I thought it could only happen in movies. How could it possible American women be attracted to men just because of their accents? I realized I was wrong very soon. One of my American girl friends told me that she liked this guy from Europe and he had a very cute accent!

Ironically, I started to notice accents last year. I have to admit it is pleasant to listen to BBC. However, I do find it more difficult to understand.

Catch up with the trends in China

Team shopping has been popular in China recently. It seems like there are quite a lot of new things coming out each year in China. Every time I visited my parents in China, I felt like I was "刘姥姥进大观园"--everything was new to me.

Google

I have used "Google" a lot, from Email, blog, calender, photo, maps, search,.... I added one more thing yesterday called "Google Reader". I have to say I like it.

There are only a few other things I use on the Internet not "Google" related, including music (I use Pandora), school email (I still keep my school email), and messenger (I have a MSN account). I can't image the life without "Google" functioning.

I'm not sure if the rule of investment (diversifying investment) should be applied here. For now I'll just "consolidate" for the sake of convenience.

The Relationship between Student Government & Government

I wish I remember the name of the program from NPR last November just right before the general election. It reported a student election in a high school in the US. Student candidates were campaigning for the election by doing fund raising, posting ads,... Everything was just like what the candidates of the senators and the congressmen were doing for their elections. At the end, student candidates with highest campaign money won. Those student candidates who had brilliant ideas and presented majority student interests did not get elected due to lacking of rich friends who were willing to denote money for their campaigns. Their ideas and agenda could not reach out to majority of the students. Surprisingly, this was similar to the results of all the president, senator, and congressman elections in the US.

Isn't it wonderful? We can see the US political system in the student government in the school. However, I didn't think about looking at the Chinese political system in the Chinese student government in the school until recently. I was chatting with my PhD adviser about the school syllabus in the US and China. Some public schools in the states cancel PE class due to lack of funding. I said my high school also canceled PE class for all seniors, however, my schoolmates protested and we got PE class back. Among all the schoolmates who were protesting, none of them were "student leaders" (I mean student president, anyone from the student government). Why they didn't say anything? I realized that those "student leaders" were appointed by the school or the teachers. Appointed by the school or the teachers meant working for the school or the teacher. Thus, it shouldn't be surprising to see that none of "student leaders" take part in the protest.

The different processes of forming government might be one of reasons that representatives in the US "aim" for the public, while their counterparts in China "aim" for the government--the Chinese government is cleverly defined for the public "people's government".

I bet

I bet US will withdraw troops from Afghanistan earlier than from Iraq. I found this piece of news from NYTimes.

Mountaineering

I plan to climb to the top of Mt. Rainier (Elevation gain 3,200 m/10,500 ft) this summer. I signed up a 11-week mountaineering training course and went to the orientation last night. I should come out a training/exercise plan soon.

Following is my hiking resume
2004 Mt.St.Helens (Elevation gain 1 700 m/5,600 ft)
2005, 2006 Mt. Dickerman (Elevation gain 1,200 m/3,900 ft)