http://yamada.xanga.com/Latest Xanga weblog from yamadaen-us60http://s.xanga.com/images/xangalogobutton.gifhttp://yamada.xanga.com/http://yamada.xanga.com/687326402/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/687326402/item/Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:15:53 GMT<div style="margin: 5px; background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 0%; position: absolute; left: 0pt; top: 0pt; z-index: 1000; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 5px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; opacity: 0.9; display: none;" id="dictdiv"></div><div id="dictaudio"></div>http://yamada.xanga.com/687326402/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/687326309/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/687326309/item/Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:13:22 GMT<div style="margin: 5px; background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 0%; position: absolute; left: 0pt; top: 0pt; z-index: 1000; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 5px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 5px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 5px; opacity: 0.9; display: none;" id="dictdiv"></div><div id="dictaudio"></div><br><img src="http://www.zytu.com/quotes/images/Carlin_side.png" border="0"> <center> <font face="Times"><i> <!-- var today_obj=new Date() var today_date=today_obj.getDate() var tips=new Array() var tiptitle='' tips[1]='As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.' tips[2]='Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.' tips[3]='Honesty may be the best policy, but it\'s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.' tips[4]='I think it\'s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.' tips[5]='I\'m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.' tips[6]='I\'m not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it\'ll be much harder to detect.' tips[7]='If it\'s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I\'d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.' tips[8]='If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn\'t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?' tips[9]='It\'s never just a game when you\'re winning.' tips[10]='Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.' tips[11]='The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I\'m just not close enough to get the job done."' tips[12]='There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.' tips[13]='There\'s no present. There\'s only the immediate future and the recent past.' tips[14]='Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.' tips[15]='Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.' tips[16]='Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?' tips[17]='When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?' tips[18]='I don\'t have hobbies; hobbies cost money. Interests are quite free.' tips[19]='Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.' tips[20]='Honesty may be the best policy, but it\'s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.' tips[21]='I think it\'s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.' tips[22]='I\'m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.' tips[23]='I\'m not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it\'ll be much harder to detect.' tips[24]='If it\'s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I\'d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.' tips[25]='If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn\'t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?' tips[26]='It\'s never just a game when you\'re winning.' tips[27]='Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.' tips[28]='The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I\'m just not close enough to get the job done."' tips[29]='There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.' tips[30]='There\'s no present. There\'s only the immediate future and the recent past.' tips[31]='Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.' document.write(tiptitle) document.write(tips[today_date]) The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."<br><br>-george carlin<br></i></font> </center>http://yamada.xanga.com/687326309/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/676370651/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/676370651/item/Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:28:20 GMTIt is not known..<br><br>That "in 1492, as everybody knows, Christopher Columbus set sail on one of the most ambitious expeditions in human history. What is less known is that eighty-seven years earlier, a Chinese admiral named Zheng He began the first of seven equally ambitious expeditions. Zheng's ships were much bigger and better constructed than those of Columbus, or Vasco da Gama, or any of Europe's other great fifteenth and sixteenth century seafarers. On Zheng's first trip, in 1405, he took 317 vessels and 28,000 men, compared to Columbus'4 boats and 150 sailors. The largest vessels in the Chinese fleet, the 'treasure ships', were over four hundred feet - more than four times the length of Columbus' flagship, <span style="font-style: italic;">Santa Maria, </span>- and had nine masts. The smallest vessel in Zheng's flotilla, a highly maneuverable five-masted warhsip, was still twice as large as the legnedary Spanish galleon.<br><br>"The Chinese ships were constructed with special woods, intricate joints, sophisticated waterproofing techniques, and an adjustable centerboard keel. The treasure ships had large, luxurious cabins, silk sails, and windowed halls. All were constructed on dry docks in Nanjing. Nothing remotely comparable could have happened in Europe at the time."<br><br>"But in 1525, coastal authorities were ordered to destroy any oceangoing vessels they encountered and throw the owners in prison. In 1551, it became a crime to go to sea on a multi-mast ship for any purpose. When the Qing dynasty came to power in 1644, it continued this basic policy, but it had less faith in decrees: it simply scorched the 700 mile-long strip of China's southern coast, rendering it uninhabitable...In one case, a new emperor even ordered the destruction of ship schematics, so the capacity to build them was lost...it took three hundred years for Chinese vessels to make its way to Europe.<br><br>"Harvard economic historian David Landes concludes that China failed to 'generate a continuous, self-sustaining process of scientific and technological advance". Its acheivements ended up being episodic and ephemeral. This was the tragedy of Asia: even when there was knowledge, there was no learning."<br><br>we are approaching a similar fate...I see Chinese people using pure manpower rather than ingenuity and invention or innovation to make simple processes more efficient. Why do Chinese people only know how to copy. Where is the innovation? And if there is no innovation, then, like Landes states, there is no learning. <br><br><br><br><br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/676370651/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/671403225/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/671403225/item/Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:38:45 GMTFor future reference, when the US gets defeated in both Golds and Totals<br><br>Maybe they can use these ranking systems-<br><br>Rank by Most Silver, Bronze, not Gold<br>Rank by Lets add 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th to the tier<br>Rank by Fattest population per capita<br>Rank by Highest contributor to Global Warming<br>Rank by Most Black people on your team<br>Rank by Total number of Athletes on your team<br>Rank by Biggest cry baby<br>Rank by Alphabetical, starting with Am<br><br>or just <br><br>Rank by America<br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/671403225/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/671400164/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/671400164/item/Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:05:16 GMTSo something controversial has happened..the USA claims to be #1 (surprise surprise) in the Olympics. Check out this table in NBC featuring USA as leading the Olympics race. The website counts it by Total medal count. <br> <img src="file:///C:/Users/Charlsy/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-30.jpg" alt=""><img src="file:///C:/Users/Charlsy/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-31.jpg" alt=""><a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index.html">http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index.html</a><br><br><a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index.html"></a>The Official Ranking is posted here-- <br><a href="http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GL/95A/GL0000000.shtml">http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GL/95A/GL0000000.shtml</a><br>(There is a column that says Ranking by Total, but is not ranked by such because totals don't matter.) There could've been a row that said Ranking by Most Olympians Participating, and US would be #1. But thats NOT HOW ITS RANKED<br><br>I personally don't care how its ranked, because at the end of the day, countries don't win, athletes do.<br><br>But why are Americans too proud to admit that they came 2nd in the Olympics? Is it really that shameful that they needed to cover it up with a twisting of the facts? What is truly shameful is that there was the need to do so. People come in 2nd all the time, say for example the Silver medalists. Are Americans implying that coming in 2nd is really so shameful? NBC and a part of America that it represents has disrespected the Olympic spirit and undermined its true purpose.<br><br>Why is it that US is the ONLY country that is ranking it by totals rather than golds? Is it me, or is the US a little biased? I think by the ranking used only in the US, they have disrespected other country teams as a whole, whose athletes have worked so hard to achieve what they have. The question is, can America handle the defeat of being #2? Can you be gracious in defeat or are you just a sore loser?<br><br>An article in the WSJ:<br>Ranking countries by the number of golds instead of total medals is "a stupid idea," says Gennady Shvets, press attache for Russia's national Olympic committee. His argument, in fact, is in keeping with the U.S.-centric point of view. Mr. Shvets notes that the gold system means that a small country with a single champion who wins, say, seven gold medals would be ranked according to this system ahead of a big country like Russia that won, say, six golds, 20 silvers and 25 bronzes. "And this big country would be below this one guy," he complains. In Athens, Russia won 92 medals, including 27 gold, but in the main medals table it was ranked behind China, with 32 golds but just 63 total medals. (The U.S. was first with 102 total medals, including 36 golds.)<br><br>My reply is this - sure, lets then count a single gold medalist's multiple wins as just 1. So Phelps 8 medals goes to 1. How about that? Or how about this, lets weight the medals by using a per capita method. In that case, maybe Trinidad &amp; Tobago wins eh? There are many ways to rank, but in the end, there is only one true method and that is by GOLDS, which is, while unofficial, is the accepted way. <br><br>Im very ticked off. I hate sore losers. I hate those people who are too proud to admit they lost and be bitter about those who won. China won the most golds. Thats just it. All this proves is the China is a country with alot of athletes with talent. It doesn't mean China is a great country, it doesn't mean China is a great sporting country, because its not. In fact, America is a great sporting country. However, it is the truth that for this Olympics, Chinese Athletes dominated the games. Not the country, the athletes. <br><br>I cant wait until the day that a country, any country, surpasses the US in BOTH TOTALS AND GOLDS. Then there will be nothing to debate will there? Then, NBC can shut the hell up.<br><br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/671400164/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/671082233/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/671082233/item/Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:58:32 GMTUsain Bolt does it again...in 200 meters. 19.30s!! World's fastest man. I couldn't believe how much he out classed the others, its unbelievable...in a race of his own. <br><br>Now here's a race for ya -<br><br>Lane 1 Maurice Greene<br>Lane 2 Asafa Powell<br>Lane 3 Usain Bolt<br>Lane 4 Michael Johnson<br>Lane 5 Carl Lewis<br>Lane 6 Donovan Bailey<br><br>In swimming, no doubt Phelps is the best, but Park Taehkwon really took it home in the 400m freestyle. 200m he got silver I think...thats the first times an Asian dude took gold in swimming I think. Amazing. Hes gona be getting a boat load of endorsements. Liu Xiang apparently gets an estimated US$10m a year from all his endorsements in the last four years. Zhang Lin who got silver in swimming is def an honorable mention, although I would have to say he's a bit of a sore loser. He said he could've beat Park if he was lined up next to him and was sulking a bit much. But still, much respect. Getting a silver means you're the best in the world, except the guy/girl on your left (of the podium).<br><br>Liu Zige in butterfly, also much respect..and of course He Wenna of the Trampoline event. HAHaha..trampoline. I didn't even know there was such an event. My neighbor in vancouver actually had this huge trampoline..I would say its probably 3meters x 4 meters long, huge thing and I could jump so high as a kid I could see over the roof to my house. <br><br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/671082233/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/669187974/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/669187974/item/Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:08:56 GMTTime to review my top 10 movies list--<br><br>1. Shawshank Redemption<br>2. Gattaca<br>3. Last of the Mohicans<br>4. I Am Sam<br>5. Infernal Affairs (only the first one and the original, NOT 'The Departed')<br>6. Batman: Begins<br>7. Platoon<br>8. Good Will Hunting<br>9. Braveheart<br>10. Hotel Rwanda<br>http://yamada.xanga.com/669187974/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/669091730/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/669091730/item/Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:45:36 GMTI saw the first transvestite in hong kong on the MTR today. She was wearing a thin bright pink cardigan type of thing with tight black jeans and some waist-showing tank in heels. (yeah I checked him/her out ...AFTER i realized it was a trans..not BEFORE). I slipped into the train just as the doors went beepbeepbeepbeepbeep. Totally thought she was just some unassuming honger woman. <br><br>In hong kong its not so outstanding because there are so many girls that look like men and boys that look like girls already. So it wasnt a huge surprise, but when she turned around, it was obviously a man. She didnt sport a wig either. She had grown out a full lock of man-hair and brushed it aside as the wind swept past. I almost vomited<br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/669091730/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/667313431/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/667313431/item/Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:33:09 GMTAfter watching it a second time I have to say that Batman begins is a much more wholesome movie. <br><br>The Dark Knight has too many weak points. For one, Batman's entrance in Dark Knight is horrible and confusing. Everyone is guessing why the hell is he holding a rifle?! then it starts to dawn on you that its a fake...but already the entrance is spoiled. <br><br>We mustn't forget Michael Caine's terrific performance. Many actors get overshadowed by Heath ledger in the movie, but definitely Michael Caine delivered some great lines with what he had to work with. <br><br>Batman Begins is awesome. Best ever I think. Despite the great joker. Could do without...I'd rather see a great batman.<br><br><br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/667313431/item/#firstcommenthttp://yamada.xanga.com/666785829/item/http://yamada.xanga.com/666785829/item/Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:34:34 GMTsaw batman - the dark knight today. it was a great movie...probably not gona replace anything on my top 10 list, especially since batman - begins is already there. It was great but there are weak points in the movie, a couple things that didnt come through from batman begins. I think the weak points of the movie are <br><br>1_there was no triumph, and thus no climax. batman didn't win in this movie. some might say, well thats the point the movie is trying to make is that hes not a hero, hes a vigilante, OR that when batman actually says '"im no hero", that he actually is in every way because thats what a hero does, is take the pain and do what needs to be done - which in this case is to take the blame. Joker wins...which is kinda what you don't expect in a hero movie. While its very interesting and makes it very real - which is what christopher nolan is trying to do, is to make batman become very real - its a little anti-climactic. anothe reason there was no triumph was because there was no defeat mid-way through the movie. In begins, there was. Batman was defeated by the spray and had to call alfred for help and he had to struggle and overcome the villain. In this one..I fail to see his defeat and so there can be no triumph without a defeat?? So that just reduces batman to just some guy kicking ass...which is fine but could be better.<br><br>2_the reason was not convincing and thus lacking emotion. one of the reasons batman fights on is for rachel (there are many other reasons of course), to show her that 'there is something else' beneath bruce wayne, but she uses it against him for some reason. In her death note she somehow twists and uses the fact that he is too much attached to his batman identity that she cant love him...which is not consistent with what the batman begins movie is trying to say...(in batman begins, rachel despises bruce wayne for being a bystander, with all his power and money and influence, he could be "much more inside...". so you would think that she should love him for being batman now...that I dont understand so could someone pls explain that to me...actually I think there was a part at the end of batman begins where thats addressed but Ive forgotten..pls remind me). Another reason why the 'reason' is not convincing is because rachel HERSELF was not convincing. her nonchalant replies and emotion-less verbatim read directly off the script was bad bad acting. I think that is a very weak part in the movie. because I don't think bad acting can be allowed for someone in such an important role. In some movies, the girl friend is just some girl and doesn't add to the direction. But in batman it does, and rachel's role is pivotal to both batman and harvey dent. yet she does not portray any emotion or attachment to either men. very weak...which reduces the movie..again...<br><br>3_not enough bruce wayne. There were many side stories and character development in the movie which was good especially the parts with commissioner gordon and dent, but not enough to build up on the main character, bruce wayne himself. one of the only parts that shows his lament is when he is sitting in his penthouse and alfred serves him breakfast. The part where he decides to surrender as batman should have been a heavy part..but it kinda flew by too quickly I feel.<br><br>Sounds like a very bad movie after that..but even with those weaknesses, it was still a great movie. <br>&nbsp;<br>Christopher nolan works wonders. He really re-defined batman so gota love it because most people like batman cuz he's not a straight-arrow hero. He's a bit more than that..a bit brooding, a bit cashed up, a bit badass. Superman on the otherhand is boring, not everyone finds him interesting because he's such a nerd and straight arrow even as a super hero.<br><br>All the actors acting were very good...except for maggie gylenhal and the mayor guy. Both were not concerned or emotionally inolved enough. Maggie as rachel is totally emotionless and the mayor is unconcerned as a mayor of a city he should be in a much worse and panicky condition when his city is getting wrecked. <br><br>I will watch it again tomorrow with my family. Overall the tone of the movie is a bit melancholy.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>http://yamada.xanga.com/666785829/item/#firstcomment