宠辱不惊闲看庭前花开花落去留无意漫随天外云卷云舒

清明节

清明节公共假期。电视里播着市民大众冒雨拜山的情景。由于上山祭拜的人太多，警方不得不限制人流。将军澳坟场附近的道路没到清早已近实行交通管制，限制车辆驶入。

记者访问一位天没亮已经在坟场祭拜的老婆婆，问她是不是很辛苦。

老婆婆：“没办法啦，一年一次嘛。”

大概是记者问起逝者，婆婆一脸温柔，笑道：“这位是我先生。”

早起

彻夜未眠，满脑子都是关于工作的事。五点多了，不能再赖在床上了。若有闲事挂心头，便是人间好时节。

下雨了。沙沙。小珠落玉盘。

披了一件夹克，暖和得很。坐在电脑前，昨天傍晚的晚饭大概练武时已经消化得七七八八八了。现在是名副其实的饥肠辘辘。也好，头脑清醒。冲一杯桔子茶，填填胃。

老爸起来做饭了。

打了几十个字，就开始犯困。眼睛很涩，有点鼻塞。

生活，真好。

How I became a quant

I bought this book several days ago. I thought that I had an electronic version from mitbbs.com but nowhere to be found. The following is a quote from Gregg E. Berman's experience:

In the end, the decision was relatively obvious because I didn't have to decide the "big question" of wheather I wanted to be a physicist. Instead, I started by deciding whether I thought I would be happy and fulfilled being a postdoc for the next two to six years. I thought not. But of course being a postdoc was only a temporary position. The real goal was to work your way up to associate professor, eventually becoming a full, tenured professor at a place like Princeton University. So I looked around, thought about all the tenured professors I worked with, and realized that I did not want to be one. I have nothing against physics, but it was clear that the academic life was not in my blood. Given the realization that another 15 years of work was itself not something I desired, then it was crazy to continue on that path. If attaining a position similar to that held by your boss's boss is not your goal, then your should seriously consider whether you're in the right job now.

And from Neil Chriss:

Returning to my main point,another reason to consider not doing mathematics is that it is hard to do well and it is ultimately very competitive. From the outside, academia--where much of the research in pure mathematics takes place--may seem placid or even sleepy, but inside it is anything but. Mathematics may be isolated from the real world, but mathematicians are not isolated from one another. The field of mathematics has a natural hierarchy. Mathematicians generally work in research problems. There are problems and then there are hard problems. Mathematicians look to publish their works in Journals. There are good journals and there are great journals. Mathematicians look to get academic jobs. There are good jobs and great jobs. Mathematicians want to do well relative to one another. It is hard to do mathematics and not care about what your standing is.

I was so happy to read this. I felt that it was written by me or for me. :)

Nat King Cole

I don't even remember when was the first time to listen to the King(No, not Elvis)'s songs. But seems that I learned the name from Diana Krall's album All For You (A Dedication To The Nat King Cole Trio). Yuck. Definitely a shame to me. :<

Cole's "The Christmas Song". No one can sing better Christmas song than him. No one. Period. :)

Phd (Piled Higher and Deeper)

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=411. Errrr.....actually from 408 to 411, which usually generates some impulse for me to graduate right now.

Autumn sunset

Jane Birkin

"Je t'aime...moi non plus" was released as a single in 1969, upon which Jane gained her notoriety with Serge Gainsbourg: thanks to the erotic lyrics and Jane's passionate whispering and agonizing, the song was banned from radios' playlists and the Vatican even issue a statement condemning the immoral nature of the song. But of course, ironically(maybe not), the passion carried the song over for years and made it one of ever-lasting record of French music during 60's. Gonna love Frenchies.


Btw, the English translation for the name is "I love you...neither do I". The typical Chinese translation is something way off, which is probably more reasonable: I can't love you more. But reason, while against love, doen't work most of time.

Le Papillon

I thought of this during the rountine stretching in Wushu class.


Julien is a crusty entomologist who leaves his Paris apartment to track down the Isabelle butterfly. Along the way Julien discovers a stowaway in his back seat: 8-year-old new neighbor Elsa, a latch-key lass who is as fascinated by this curmudgeonly grandfather-figure as he is by the bugs he pursues. He grudgingly takes the kid along "to a sloping meadow 54,000 feet up" in the Alps countryside, the site where Isabelle might be found.


Isabelle butterfly, the butterfly they were seeking, is a rare specimen that enjoys a brief three-days, three-nights fling on this mortal coil, which also reminds me a French book: Le Scaphandre et le papillon(The diving bell and the butterfly). I was glad to learn that someone was interested enough to put it on the big screen. It is expected to be out of streets in 2006. The following is the plot summary from IMDB:

"Johnny Depp portrays Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, save his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind."

The Diving-Bell and The Butterfly was released in Paris on March 6, 1997, where it sold 150,000 copies in the first week of its publication. Bauby died, three days later.

The kangaroo escaped the zoo.
'Goodbye zoo!' cried Kangaroo ...
Cleared the wall with one clean jump,
Leapt across with a great big thump ...

My Cat Charlie(old pictures)

Charlie with his favourite hollow ball, which is nowhere to be seen now.


Charlie and friends McDull(dumbest pig in the world, HongKong), a totoro(Japan) and a pair of bears(US & Canada)

Five Stance Routine (五步拳)

I was trying to translate a Shao Lin version of Five Stance into English, which took me almost two hours. Upon the finish, I discovered accidentally the following version from WuDang, which got mine beat, simply because they got pictures. Doh!

Preparation

Step 1
Start with your feet together and your arms naturally down at your sides (Figure 1-105). Bring your fists up to your waist. At the same time, turn your head to look to your left (Figure 1-106).

Punch while in a Bow Stance

Step 2
Bend both knees and shift your weight onto your right leg as you step to your left with your left foot into a left Gong Bu (Bow Stance). At the same time, circle block with your left arm and punch forward with your right first (Figure 1-107).

Punch While Spring Kicking Forward

Step 3
Stand up completely on your left leg and Spring Kick (Toe/Top of the Foot Kick) forward with your right leg. At the same time, pull your right fist back to your waist and punch forward with your left fist (Figure 1-108).

Block Up and Punch in Horse Stance

Step 4
Step down with your right foot into a Ma Bu (Horse Stance) as you turn your body 90 degrees to your left. At the same time, life your left arm up over your head and punch to your right side with your right fist (Figure 1-109).

Block Down and Punch while in a Resting Stance

Step 5
Step to your right by crossing your left leg behind your right leg. At the same time, block down in front of your head with your right arm and pull your left hand back to your waist in a fist (Figure 1-110). Lower your body down into Xie Bu (Resting Stance). At the same time, pull your right hand back to your waist in a fist, and punch forward with your left fist (Figure 1-111).

Lift Knee, Half-Squat Stance Down, and Spear Palm

Step 6
Turn your body 90 degrees to your left as you stand up, and open your left hand (Figure 1-112). Shift all your weight onto your right leg and bring your left knee up as high as you can. At the same time, pull your left hand down next to your right armpit and spear up with your right hand over your left hand (Figure 1-113).

Step 7
Bend your right knee to lower your body and step to your left with your left foot into Pubu (Half-Squat Stance). At the same time, spear your left hand along your left leg until your toes (Figure 1-114).

Lift Palm While in Empty Stance

Step 8
Shift your weight forward and lift your left arm up (Figure 1-115). Turn your left foot out and step forward with your right foot into a right Xu Bu (Empty Stance). At the same time, change your left hand into a hook as you pull it back to your back left corner; and scoop your right hand up until your fingers are pointing up (Figures 1-116 and 1-116a, back view).

Closing

Step 9
Turn your body 90 degrees to your left and bring you left foot next to your right foot. At the same time, change both hands into fists and bring them back to your waist (Figure 1-117).

Step 10
Turn your head to look to your left and repeat Steps 2 through 9. This will bring you back to the starting position.

When you have returned to the starting position, you may repeat the exercise or do the mirror image. That is, instead of stepping to your left and punching with your right fist, step to your right and punch with your left fist. Do the mirror image of Steps 2 through 9. When you get to the end, do the mirror image again, which will bring you back to the starting position. Keep alternating from side to side by doing the left side twice and the right side twice, as many times as you wish.

Nickleback: Photograph

I just started listening to this British Columbia band very recently, that is, when they jump to the No.1 in Rhapsody, last week. Usually I am not so into those metal and post-Grunge things, but their gem single Photograph is such a big hit. The harmony provided by the bandmates even reminds me California dreamin' and Monday!Monday! from the Mamas and Papas. Don't you find this comparison absurd?

Anyway, some people dislike the lyrics or find it insanely plain, thinking that it is nothing more than the way the usual punks talk. I, on the other hand, actually enjoyed it.



Photograph

Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red
And what the hell is on Joey's head

And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we'd ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out

And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must have done it half a dozen times

I wonder if It's too late
Should i go back and try to graduate
Life's better now then it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in

Oh oh oh
Oh god I

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They say somebody went and burned it down

We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we know
We said someday we'd find out how if feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since god knows when

Oh oh oh
Oh god I

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

I miss that town
I miss the faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it
I miss it now
I can't believe it

So hard to stay
Too hard to leave it

If I could I relive those days
I know the one thing that would never change

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
Everytime I do it makes me

Oh the hell yeah

It was referred to the Hurricane Katrina, but definitely can be interpreted in such a totally-so-not-breaking way, unfortunately.

Old Blog New Start

I recently joined some martial art club in OSU, called "Dragon Pheonix Wushu Team". (To be honest, this name is so dumbly old-fashioned such that it sounds so 30's in the last century, at least to most Chinese-speaking people.) Anyway, so that was why I decided to resurrect this drowned-for-years blog: I just deleted all the previous posts and gave it a fresh new start.

Hopefully I can do better sidekick than the cat soon. Hmmm, actually, that is a jump-up and sidekick. Very impressive. :)