1. Barak Obama visited Berlin, drew audience of over 200,000 at the Victory Column in Tiergarten. What a show! New York Times and Wall Street Journal adopted the same picture from Associate Press on their front page, a back image of Obama with victorious gesture towards the audience, which formed the overhelming background of the photo. This is a charisma victory for an ambitious, aspiring, and powerful politician. He is a guy to watch closely even he loses in November.
2. Randy Pausch died today. The professor who gave his last speech last September lost battle against cancer. Sadness may not be the only word to describe the feeling for the million people he inspired or touched (I'm one of them). There also comes a sense of urgency slogging along, a calm mind to cherish what you have had, and a bite-the-bullet attitude as well. Maybe, for so insignificant individuals like me, the meaning of life is not live long, but as Randy mentioned, live well.
3. John Mayer. this guy's voice is eerily magnetic, his songs are unthinkably hitting the chord in heart. And I haven't mentioned his acoustic guitar skills, yet. Urban Alternative Rock, should I label his genre like that? We can see the obvious reason he draws so many female fans, and even 'ruins' Jennifer Aniston. But he is non-arguably a geniuous musician.
I was shopping in a sports apparel store with friends yesterday. Not any good deal for me, so I watched a big TV screen waiting for them. It was broadcasting a woman pool ball game, two asian women were competiting for a championshop in Charlotte, NC. By the name I could tell one is Korean and one is Chinese. I confess I have a slight sexism tendency in the sports world, and I snub indoor activities to second tier in terms of adrenaline infused competition. What interested me was the Chinese player, not the way she played, nor that I am Chinese, but her face. She is fairly good looking, particularly feminine and refreshing among the faces of Western audience, the referee and the staff. What strikes more is her expression. As she was sitting there waiting for her turn of play, she was so calm and a bit detached. So much so that you can read a great deal of mixture of confidence, arrogance and even haughtiness. Her face already showed enough aggressiveness, It reminded me of the ex woman's pingpong world champion, Deng Yaping. On the other hand, she was so focused on the game while playing, the audience almost felt her pressing offense from her face. 'This is my world, no one can stop me from going for the championship but myself.' It means to send people that kind of message. That's the similar concentration Tiger Woods wins the fans, a character with strong will and smart mind. What's more, she seemed raised up from a well-off family (I know, it sounds very judgemental), I was curious how she got to learn the pool ball game and then chose to be a pro on this. Was there a rebellious side in her expression? A traditional Chinese family would try all means to stop their endeared daughter from doing such a thing, a seemingly non-decent game only seen in streets or bars. Last but not the lest, a pretty woman is always a selling point for a less popular sport, she must have drawn many fans domestically and internationally. Like Gong Li, so Oriental, therefore so International. If I've ever seen her in a Chinese TV broadcasting, I wouldn't believe she stands out like a sensation, because it is hard to single out one from many like faces. There is a very intriguing aesthetic difference between the western culture and the eastern. In this sense, I'm very pleased to see a Chinese player have a terrific show on the international stage. Oh, she did win the championship later.
Her name is Xiaoting Pan.
(moved into 'writeup' tab.)
Keith, the IT tsar in my friend's department, drives 50 mintues one way from his farm home to work every workday. As the gas price keeps rising, I always feel sorry for people who spend too much time, and now plus money, on commuting. 'Is it really worth living in the pastoral country?' I knew I had a definitive answer, with certain level of smugness, when I seeked the answer to the question. I love quietness, I love trees and pass-by wild animals, but I don't want to have that if the price is too high, suburban life is only for those Americans. Before the weekend, I received a forworded email party invitation originated from Keith,
You're invited!
Bring your favorite beer or drink ours!
Fireworks welcomed and encouraged!
Bring a side dish!
Friday July 4th, 5:30pm (or whenever you want)
People welcome to stay the night! Plenty o' room!
[----the adress and ph. no.----]
PS: Bring the kiddies! Leave the dogs!
PSS: Bring an extra lawn chair...
Keith
Sweet! I'm in, to get a taste of their wonderful and burdened country life.
The drive from town to the far-reached party location was like a small excursion. The shops and stores became less frequent and downsized along the road, some barns erected out of the lively green trees and lawn. There were horses and cows grazing at ease under the sunny afternoon. This is a long summer weekend, beautiful. It's nice to be away from the hustling city, from always the same stores, the routine streets view and annoying traffic noise. We arrived late, we had our beer and cheese tray & cracker with us and went up to meet the host, 'Hi, welcome, I'm Keith', Keith spared his hands from the work of the grill and shook with me, 'Thanks for coming. the snacks are here on the table, there's cold beer in that Coke machine, help youself...we can have fun till the mid of night, there's no neigbors...Oh, you might want to meet my wife, Gelena, she is over there with the kids.'
It turns out Keith did live up to his fame of being popular. There were about 40 to 50 people already. I knew one or two of them. It didn't matter. The food stall was set in the barn where Keith was working with burgers, hot dogs, souvlaki and so on. The barn is just at the corner of the entrance, 50 meters away is the house, which is not so big, facing the woods from the top of a slope. People were shattered in the playground between the house and barn, chatting and drinking. Kids were having the happy moment, jumping on the trampoline, dangling on the swing, or kicking and chasing numerous balls on the grass. Later I got to know Keith's property covers 3 quarters of 50 acres. He spends countless weekends with his buddy Art in the woods, trail blazed a mud road like a maze. Now guests can enjoy an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) drive if they dare to adventure in. Keith and Gelena have 3 daughters, Iris, Violet and Trinity. The smallest Iris was shy to strangers, while Violet and Trinity were in high holiday spirit, making-up their faces. While Keith was busy with grilling food, Gelena wasn't really orchestrating the party in an enthusiastic way. She was here and there offering help or get the people to know each other. 'If I forget your name, does 'hey, you' work?' she jested at me. As the dusk came and music was on, she was dancing, singing, inviting adults to the lime drop (a hard liquor drink). After rounds of beers and vodka, tequila and rum mixtures, people were getting high. Then there was fireworks, and bonfire. Some tents have been set on the lawn. Art went as far as deep in the woods building his den and spent the night in an absolutely natural state. I ended up my night in the trailer. The next day I came back in town, I had to spend the whole day to recover my soberness from the high degree of body dedydration.
Needless to say, suburban life is so attractive, particularly to people who love nature and enjoy hands-on hard work. I was almost drawn to Keith's fascinating lifestyle when I saw the picturesque scene over the terrain, and then thrilled after having a wild ride in the woods on ATV. If you can afford and are willing to pay the price of commuting, country life is absolutely a beautiful thing. On the second thought, I'm not sure if that was what I really want to strive hard to get. Keith self-taught his car fix skill good enough to open a garage, a skill I love to learn; Keith is the chief in the house in charge of anything mechanic, electric, carpentry, plumbing, sewage, would I enjoy those work as well? There is a difference for something you have to deal with and you enjoy playing with. What about mowing the lawn, forest maitainance, how do you ward off the unwelcome critter visitors in the winter? (He needed 6 bullets to gun down a nasty racoon, which was not only a big scary to his beautiful daughters, but also a killer to his cats.) And the snow shoveling? the so necessary groccery shopping and home improvement shopping? It is hard to picture myself in that situation. This life is kind of dream that I do not have a base and luxury to live. It goes with a lot of baggage as well, which makes it less charming to me. It's good enough to be friends with the couple and have a party once in a while. I'd rather live in a place that I can bike to work or even run to work, not for the sake of being hypocritically environmentally friendly, but for the 10% of lifetime wasted on the road.
too drunk to have a word. the pictures can speak volume.
Iris, 9 months
Violet, 4 years old
Trinity, 6.
what's your name, sweetie?
you parents drink high, we spin to dizzy.
Evan, 2.
'What's your name, boy?' 'Ehh, ohh, Yip, Yip...'
dressup, no, makeup, for the party.
Jeff and Doug, 36 and 38-year young and growing.
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