帅锅几时有

帅锅几时有？把酒问室友。 不知隔壁帅锅，可有女朋友？ 我欲凿墙看去，又恐墙壁太厚,疼坏我的手。 改用偷窥镜，屋里人已走。 转楼梯，低头看， 那某某，男不单身，他正拉住美女肘。 人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺， 此事古来有。 但愿没多久，他俩就分手！

Jiejie 转载

色戒，背景

《色，戒》根据张爱玲的同名小说改编，出于郑苹如刺杀丁默村。

郑苹如，1918年生，中日混血。为上海名媛，当年上海第一大画报“良友画报”曾将其作为封面女郎。上海沦陷后，秘密加入中统，利用其得天独厚的条件，混 迹于日伪人员当中，获取情报。后参与暗杀日伪特务头子丁默村，而暴露身份，被捕，一口咬定为情所困，雇凶杀人，成为当年上海滩重大花边新闻之一。一九四零 年二月，被秘密处决于沪西中山路旁的一片荒地，连中3枪，时年26岁，也有说法1939年12月底被抓，直接枪决。

丁默村(1901—1947)，又名丁勒生。出生于今常德市。1921年秋，丁默村去上海，结识施存统。旋由施介绍加入社会主义青年团。同年与中共湖南党团组织取得联系，被派回常德，开展建团工作。1924年，丁默村在上海加入国民党。1930年，调查科转向特工行动，丁默村被派到上海。1938年，共产党中央要员张国焘从延安叛逃武汉，陈立夫命丁默村主持“招待”。

是年，日本侵略者妄图扑灭上海抗日力量，拟组织一支特工队伍，丁默村被日本人选中。通过李世群拉线，丁默村于同年冬潜往上海与日本人挂钩。次年2月，丁默村投拜日本大本营特务部长土肥原贤二，提出破获“蓝衣社”及共产党地下组织方案的《上海特工计划》作为见面礼。日本记者称之为“婴儿见之都不敢出声的恐怖主义者”，国人则称为“丁屠夫”。1939年8月，汪精卫伪国民党“六大”在"76”号秘密召开，丁默村被推选为中央委员，接着由汪提名任中央常委兼社会部部长。

日寇侵华崩溃前夕，丁默村复与日本特务中岛信一，策划组织突击队。同时，谋取后路，千方百计与蒋介石的“军统”头子戴笠、三战区司令长官顾祝同联系，并通过戴、顾向蒋介石保证：“决心以原样的浙江归还中央，决不让共产党抢去”。1947年8月下旬，蒋介石任命丁默村为军事委员会浙江地区军事专员。9月30日，蒋介石将他与另一大汉奸周佛海逮捕，一并解到重庆白公馆监禁。1946年7月，押往南京老虎桥监狱。1947年2月8日，丁默村被国民政府首都高等法院判处死刑，时年46岁。http://www.cdnews.gov.cn/changde/72635954367561728/20040708/12939.html

1939年12月21日，已是丁默村情妇角色的郑苹如借口想去买西伯利亚皮货店的大衣，丁觉得这不是事先约定的地点，还算安全。15点，挑大衣时，丁忽然扔下200美元，“你自己挑吧”，从另一个本奔出，箭一般钻进汽车。埋伏好的郑苹如组织上的人猝不及防，没有得手。事后，胡兰成转述给张爱玲的时候是说丁当时警觉有人在向店内张望。杀手们并不认识丁，只是知道和一个穿这大衣的女子在一起的男子，当一个男人单独出来钻进汽车，他们迟疑中丧失良机。

Chichi 转载

Double Features

We had a double-features night this evening. The first one was Zodiac, about a cartoonist who was obsessed with the serial killer named Zodiac. The story itself is very intriguing because it is based on a true story. But I found it to be too convoluted. Too many characters interacts in the movie, it took me half the length of the movie to figure out who is who. By then, I sorta already lost my interests. Yunyun really enjoyed it though. She followed it through, and she was checking for background of the movie. Unfortunately, the DVD we rented didn't have any on it. But I have to admit that I am biased for that I am not a big fan of Jake Gyllenhall.

In comparison, I like the actor in the second movie much better. And I really liked Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the Lookout. He already made an impression upon me when he was in the Third Rock from the Sun. His character in the Lookout was tormented by his past. And his debilitating head injury made him a humiliation to his family and he was taken care of by a blind man played by Jeff Daniels. He was confused and wanted to change his life for the better. And he finally figure out that he need to do the right thing rather than gaining someone else's acceptance or the so called "power" and "independence" in life. Do the right thing is gaining the power and is being independent. A cool movie and a character I can totally relate to. Yunyun liked it too.

By Chichi

Secret Revealed

For the third thing I did for Yunyun, we went to the Gutherie Friday night to watch Jane Eyre. It was a calm and beautiful autumn night, the moon shines brightly in the sky. Yunyun and I dressed up for this special occasion. And when we went into the Theater among all the people in suits and dresses, I was feeling that we were enjoying a different life style than the usual daily monotony of work and study. And the best of all, I have Yunyun by my side.

The performance itself lasted from 7:30 to 10:15. I have to confess I was a little afraid it was going to be a bore, and I chose this play for my Yunyun. I had never finished watching Jane Eyre previously, fell asleep half way through usually. But last night was magical, 3 hours went by like flying.

We sit in the second row, and the stage is right in front of our eyes. I could feel the actors energy in the air, I could touch the characters' raw emotions. In many of the scenes, I was truly touched. The actor who portrayed Jane Eyre was Stacie Rice. She was remarkable. When Jane Eyre was parting from Mr. Rochester, I could see the tears rolling off the actor's eyes and dripping onto the floor. I turned to Yunyun, and I can swear there were something shining in her eyes too.

During the intermission and after the play, we walked around the theater hand in hand. There were free champagne and live music. Accompanied by beautiful night light of the Stone Arch bridge, and the most beautiful girl in life, I felt content, happy, in other words, I would traded anything for any one moment of the memory from last night.

by Chichi

iPhone Introduction

On June 29th, 2007, Apple closed its stores during the hours between 2:00 and 6:00 PM local time to prepare for the iPhone launch. Two models were launched, 4GB units priced at $499 and 8GB units priced at $599. The manufacturing cost of the two types are estimated at $245.83 and $280.83 respectively, or 50.7% and 53.1% profit margin.

It faces heavy competition from other music players and cellphones. And a price drop was widely expected even in January of 2007. See http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/iphone_price.html

270,000 iPhones were sold in the first 30 hours on launch weekend. It is also estimated that 95% of the units sold are the 8 GB model.

On September 5th, 2007, the 4 GB model was discountinued, and the 8 GB model price reduced to US$399. Those who had purchased an iPhone in the 14-day period before the September 5th announcement were eligible for a US$200 "price protection" rebate from Apple or AT&T. iPhone customers that everyone who purchased an iPhone at the higher price "and who is not receiving a rebate or other consideration", would receive a US$100 credit to be redeemed towards the purchase of any product sold in Apple's retail or online stores.

PRICE DISCRIMINATION here is obvious.

Question: dropping 4GB model is price discrimination or it's a reaction to low sales?
Question: how is store credit different to $200 cash back? and why do they do it?


The iPhone normally prevents access to its media player and web features unless it has also been activated as a phone through AT&T. But as early as July 3rd, there has been report had successfully bypassed this requirement, hence allowing Iphone to be used with other carriers. Sales of the unlock started on 9-11, by way of several resellers who were able to order "keys" from iPhoneSimFree which are then passed onto the customer to use the software. After only one full day of sales, early on 9-12, the iPhoneDevTeam announced that they had also created a working "software unlock", and released it to the public for free. Then earlier this week, Apple said a planned update would leave the device "permanently inoperable".

EXCLUSIVE DEALING
Question: If iPhone were going to release a software to leave the hacked iphone inoperable, why did the release unlock software for free? Entry deterrence?

by Chichi

About Loneliness

A Quote from Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology:

"Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate to others the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible... If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely."

by Chichi

Expect the unexpected

I always thought of myself as an intellectual, who is capable of think beyond what is in front of my own eyes. But it was suddenly revealed to me, that beyond all doubts, thinking beyond means thinking abstractly. It's a process of distancing oneself emotionally away from reality. Use logic to analyze what is the truth. The big assumption is that logic is something not contaminated by feelings, by cultural background, or by personal upbringing. Logic is something stone cold, solid, a life jacket saving me from wavering when making value judgment. I always take this line of thinking for granted. This is the center of my world view, and any other beliefs and thinkings are inferior to my thinking. Anything is in the grasp of logic, therefore anything can be forecast and expected using logic when you have full information.

This is MY ARROGANCE, unmistakably cold, unapproachable, and impersonal.

But here is also comes my biggest fallacy. Logic is without any feelings, cultural background, or personal upbringings, therefore logic is without value judgment. Logic can only forecast the outcome, it cannot tell me whether the outcome is right or wrong. Therefore allowing logic to help me making value judgment itself requires a leap of faith, which makes me no different from any religious zealots. How I thought I was so sophisticated in my thinking, but how damn simple my thinking really was/is? A "the Six Sense" type of revelation, I feel the chills creeping up my spine.

Suddenly defeated by my own logic, standing in a lonely place astonished: if anyone I have full information on, it would be myself, how come I never see this coming? If I cannot even expect what's I am feeling, how can I use logic to predict anything. ...

Truth is something truly slippery, it cannot be deduced, analyzed, or categorized. Doing those things, inevitably require value judgment, which leads to bias. Ironically, truth can only be felt, not understood. So there is only one thing to be expected in life, it is unexpectedness.

...Embracing who I really am, maybe I can finally emerge from the logic shell I built to hide from the world, maybe I can finally be a man for myself.

by Chichi

Guess what this is, and Imagine the smell

This is a picture taken circa 1870. Called Bison Skull Pile. The commercial hunting was upto 100,000 animals PER DAY. By 1890, there were only about 750 in total left in the WORLD!!

A quote from the Matrix, Agent Smith's famous line about human race:

"You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

by Chichi

Batman's Cat

MEOW!!!!!!


MEOW!!!!!!


MEOW!!!!!!


MEOW!!!!!!


MEOW!!!!!!



BAT-CAT!!!!!





http://mitbbs.com/article_t/pets/26342652.html

by Jiejie

世上两件最难的事

1） 不做自己想做但不该做的事

2）做自己不想做但应该做的事

想做但不该做的事 是欲望 称为 诱；

不想做但应该做的事 是困扰 称为 惑；

人会陷入 诱 中 是因为太不把 诱 当回事， 认为自己随时都可以走出来， 就无所谓现在出来。
人会陷入 惑 中 是因为太把 惑 当回事，认为自己现在没有能力从中走出来， 就只有等待。

而两者是相通的，陷入 诱 中才会不想做但应该做的事， 被 惑 困扰才会沉迷想做但不该做的事。

其实这两件最难的事是最容易做到的， 只要有一种“不过如此”的精神。 “不过如此” 就是 志 ， 古人说“强行者志”。 但现代人常把 志 看成一种高不可及的能力。 其实有志者之所以可以强行，是因为能认清诱惑的本质，相对于自己应该做的事， 把一切欲望和困扰都看淡了。 所以把自己看淡了，就没有诱惑，就能“有志者，事竟成”。

by Chichi

生于忧患，死于安乐

I recently watched a show about Alexander the Great on the History Channel. The guy took the throne at 20 years of age, and died when he was only 32. I guess it was not bad for someone lived 2300 years ago. But he managed to conquer most of the known world to the Greek using only 40,000 troops, along the way, destroy the glorious Persian empire. How? Macedonians were some backward villagers, constantly fighting and dying in battles against other Greeks. But the Persians, lived in luxurious palaces, people are more educated, cultured, not to mention better fed.

一个国家的衰败可以有多个原因，但一个国家的成功只有一个原因。Just like what Leo Tolstoy said famously: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Throughout history, the failure of a civilization can be categorized in three sets. 一，人性自身的弱点。 People wants to live in peace, want to enjoy luxury, want to lead better lives. But peace means inertia, luxury means corruption, and better lives means arrogance. It's dangerous because it's contagious. A good example is the Roman Empire.

二，人与人之间的矛盾。In a peaceful environment, law and order are in place to protect people from themselves. That means you have to follow a certain established norm to get to the top. This process is slow, and to follow this process made people docile. The change in social status becomes ever slower as the top positions in the social ladder become occupied and monopolized. Lack of opportunities and lack of selections means in the long enough time scale, the possibility of inferior minds becoming socially dominant converges to one. The breakout of internal turmoil becomes inevitable. A good example is the Han dynasty of China. Soviet Union was another good example. The power struggle at the top level among so few people totally ignored the economic incentives of the people.

三，Technology Inferiority. How this inferiority might arrive in the first place could be due to the first two reasons, like China in the late 19th century, or it could be due to the natural resource limitations, like the Incas. But the results are catastrophic. Temples burnt to the ground, people enslaved, civilization destroyed.

And there is only one reason why a civilization succeed, at least in the short run, outside threats, “无敌国外患者，国恒亡”。Under the outside threat, there is no peace, no luxury, people live with shortage of everything. There is no temptation to be corrupted, and are forced to work hard to repel outside threat, and therefore are able to have a cool head and clear mind where the civilization should lead. People are able to put aside their petty differences, the most able people are selected to the top, and a society can quickly adopt to the changing environment and absorb new technology. The Macedonian empire was a good example of that; the waring states of China was a good example of that; the Mongolian empire was a good example of that; the Renaissance Europe was a good example of that; the founding of the United States was a good example of that; even the much hated the empire of Japan was like that. And a rather fragile China in the 70's was a good example, constantly under the threat of the soviets and the western powers, finally decided to change and adopt.

Now to think about it, in WWII, Japan's surrender was not due to moral justifications like the politicians wanted us to believe, but due to the natural limitation of Japan itself, it's just too damn small. But I am not worried about a big nation follows the same path as Japan. Once a nation becomes large, the people start to have a sense of security and peace, the threat of outside power, whether real or not, becomes less relevant, so the decline of a big nation is almost the only certain thing in human history.

Today the dominance of US and Europe are mainly due to advance technology. People are falling increasingly into the first two categories of failures. People feel secure, they don't want change; people have a sense of superiority, and they are arrogant to the world changing beside them; a class of elites are monopolizing power, fewer and fewer poor bright people are likely to take leadership positions; political bickering are more and more about seizing power per se, rather than achieving some social change for the good. But remember that the technology dominance is never long lived.

In a totally politically incorrect sense, maybe bin Laden and the terrorists are really helping the US. Ever since 9-11, American are on edge, people started to rethink their arrogance towards the rest of the world, people were putting their differences aside and coming together. Then it comes along the Bush administration, which exactly fell into the failure of elites category, saw this reemergence of national unity as an opportunity to capitalize their hold on power. How do they do it? Start another war, attempt to control the rich oil fields of the mid-east, therefore more profits for the elite group, therefore longer hold onto power, therefore more terrorists, therefore more war......

It's amazing why they say history is politics. How did I get from talking about Alexander the Great to the Bush administration is beyond me. But now it comes to the biggest dilemma of human race. All things people really enjoy are the same things that destroy people, and somethings people really hate are what make people succeed.

by Chichi

Yunyun's B-Day

Happy B-day to you, happy B-day to you....

First of all, her exact birth date is a mystery of some sort. Should we celebrate the birthday on the Chinese calendar or the Jesus calendar? She insisted that her family always celebrated both... or did they? Hummmmm, what a clever girl she is..... the world is not enough.... FOR HER!!

I rounded up Guihong, Yi and Wentai to go celebrate her b-day, and also the Chinese Mid-autumn Festival. Pennisula the Malay restaurant was our choice... more precisely HER choice of location. The food was very delicious, we were all stuffed by the end. She made a BIG WISH over the coconut pudding cake.

I promised to do 3 things for her.

1). I got two pairs of inline skates, so we can skate together (more like she skates, and I falls on my butt)

2). Celebrate b-day today with friends

3). A secret to be revealed on Friday - the other b-day of hers?

to be continued....

by Chichi

每逢佳节倍思亲

身在异乡为异客。。。

每每一到中秋佳节，总是免不了多多少少要在心里感慨一番。。。

今天是2007年的中秋。

因为有了我的monster和monster特意邀请来得朋友们，我竟然并没有来得及感怀任何其他。。。

并非因为吃到了美味的南洋风味和朋友的相伴，
也非是那我还不太积极响应的in-line skating，
更非激动于我们共同博客的开张
。。。。。。
只因心已经被所有的幸福填得满满的了--无暇而已

老爸老妈看了这个可千万别气着了: 这个女儿，居然。。。
呵呵，还好早晨赶着国内中秋节的末点儿，跟家里道了节日快乐， 嘻嘻嘻

by Jie Jie

Here We Are

Finally, we opened our own blog.

Before we begin, we'd like to take a vote:

if you love us, post more comments;

if you are annoyed, SHUT UP!!!

see, Love always wins. :)

当当当当！！！

各位看官，我们的新博客正式开张大吉啦！

欢迎大家，有事没事，常来：

踩踩点，捧捧场，拍拍砖，献献花。。。

by Jie Jie