hayking

how to have a 9-day vacation for $500

2009-01-04T03:05:00.012-05:00

With recession going on, everything needs careful planning. Following is how I spent my Christmas.

Dec 20:
1. Go to Berkeley. Gas cost $6. Carpool (5 ppl: me, A, X, Y, Z) to Vacaville Outlet, went back to Berkeley and had dinner together ($15 including bridge toll). At the outlet, spent $26 on a CK jeans(50% off), and $25 on a JCrew sweater(50% discount with an extra 20% off). Lunch at Taco Bell ($5).

2. Slept in a sleeping bag at friend A's house for free.

Dec 21:
1. Another friend B's flight was delayed by 1 day (he was flying in from east coast), so schedule was pushed back, needed to stay at Berkeley for an extra day. Lunch free. Dinner in Chinese restaurant ($13).

2. Picked up friend B at SFO. Parking cost $6.

Dec 22:
1. Carpool from Berkeley to LA. $21 gas shared by 3 ppl, each $7. Stop by Coalinga for lunch ($9 McDonald).

2. Slept at friend C's house in LA for free for 3 nights. Needed to sleep on the floor.

3. Bought Universal Studios ticket at student discount for $46.

4. Had dinner at LA new Chinatown for $10. Met up with friend D, went to Hollywood Blvd.

5. 3 days at LA would cost an estimate of $16 of gas. Shared by 4 ppl, that's $4 each.

Dec 23:
1. Spent the day at Universal Studio with A, B, C and A's friend E. Lunch cost $9. Parking $12 shared by 5 ppl, $2 each.

2. Dinner at a Guangdong restaurant for $10.

3. Went to Santa Monica beach.

Dec 24:
1. Bought EBay Disney tickets for $50 each. There's risk, but the tickets worked. Parking $12, $3 each.

2. Spent the whole day at Disney, with A, B, C and B's friend F. Very short lines. Parade. Fireworks. Breakfast at McDonalds for $4. Lunch and Dinner at Disney cost $16.

Dec 25:
1. Rainy day. Went to Rodeo drive and Beverley Hills. Had lunch in the same Guangdong restaurant for $13. Dinner at Chinatown restaurant for $10.

2. Picked up E at his home. Carpool (me, A, B, C, E) to Vegas, gas $4 each.

3. Checked in at Vegas Bally's. $250 for 3 nights. Shared by 5 ppl, that's $50 each.

Dec 26:
1. Went to Spring Mountain Rd Chinatown for lunch. Worst Shanghai restaurant I've ever been to. Very bad experience: long lines, bad taste, 15% tip included in bill. $9 each.

2. Waited 2 hours for Paris Le Village Buffet. $27 each for dinner. Overall good.

3. Started from Bally's and visited most of the casino on South Strip. Lost about $25 playing slots ($20 at New York New York).

4. Went to a strip club after midnight, with B and C. Play it Again, Sam is the nearest one we can find, just opposite the restaurant we had lunch that day. Admission $10. One soda $7. Tips for the Dancers $4. B paid for a private dance for $20 plus tip. None of us had previous club experience. I had to ask the cashier at Bally's to change 3 $5 bills to 15 $1 bills...

Dec 27:
1. Had lunch at McDonald's for $7.

2. Went to Hoover Dam. Parking $7, shared by 5 ppl, $1 each.

3. Had dinner at Hacienda? Casino Buffet, near Hoover Dam. $10 each. Visited casinos on North Strip.

4. Went to see Jubilee! with A, B and C. Used 2-for-1 coupon, $47 each. Table seat right in front of the center stage.

5. Played slots at one of those QuickHits machines in Paris. $20 came in, $115 came out in just 30 mins. Meanwhile, E won $500 playing maximum bet wheel-of-fortune slots at PH. Others all lost small sum of money.

Dec 28:
1. Met up with friend D before lunch. Had to cram 6 ppl in my Civic sedan.

2. Had lunch at another restaurant in Vegas Chinatown. It's good this time. $13 each.

3. Hotel check-out. Played slots again for 2 hours. Lost $45.

4. Had dinner at Panda Experess for $7.

5. Dropped off B at Vegas's airport. He's heading back.

5. $2 iced coffee before going back to LA. $15 gas in Vegas, shared by 5 ppl ($3 each). Trip back to LA cost $4 each.

6. Slept on the floor at C's house.

Dec 29:
1. Dropped off C at his LA office. Had breakfast at McDonald's for $4, including an iced coffee. Refueled car, then started heading back to Berkeley.

2. Drove from 10:30am to 5pm. Stopped by Coalinga for lunch at Subway ($5). Gas shared between me and A. $10 each.

3. Drove back to home after dropping off A at Berkeley. $6 gas.

Total Cost: $494+($6 for bottled water etc.) = $500.

PS. Car front bumper scratched a really high curb. It would cost an estimate of $200 to repaint.

In true hayking's blog style

2008-07-15T03:21:00.002-04:00

Wrote this at the beginning of the year, but didn't publish. Ratings after reviewing the actual movies may vary.

description plus anticipation from highest(5) to lowest(1)

English movies:

indianna jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull (the 4th installment) 5
Wall-e (pixar animation) 5
hellboy 2 (from the one and only guillermo del toro) 5
10,000 B.C. (pre-historical mammoth) 4
iron man (superhero movie) 4
speed racer (the wachowski brother/sister return) 4
kung fu panda (panda rules) 4
the happening (shyamalan returns) 4
the incredible hulk (hulk played by edward norton) 4
wanted (action with jolie, mcvoy and freeman) 4
hancock (will smith) 4
the dark knight (batman vs. scary clown) 4
the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor (jet li and michelle yeoh star) 4
babylon a.d. (vin diesel) 4
valkyrie (controversial tom cruise movie) 4
body of lies (dicaprio and crowe, shud be good) 4
james bond 22 (007) 4
madagascar: the crate escape (madagascar 2) 4
harry potter and the half-blood prince (dark sequel) 4
the day the earth stood still (we come in peace) 4
revolutionary road (dicaprio, winslet and sam mendes) 4
australia (the aussies rule) 4
coraline (inde cg-animation) 3
cassandra's dream (woody allen doing another british drama) 3
john rambo (this year's die hard 4?) 3
cloverfield (too much hype, unlikely to deliver) 3
fool's gold (sahara meets how to lose a guy in 10 days) 3
my blueberry nights (wong kar wai's english debut) 3
vantage point (crash deja vu) 3
the other boleyn girl (strong cast with portman and johanson) 3
semi-pro (will farrell!) 3
pride and glory (edward norton and colin farrell) 3
run, fat boy, run (Ross directs) 3
leatherheads (it's football time) 3
smart people (CMU prof in love) 3
forbidden kingdom (jet li and jackie chan) 3
harold and kumar escape from guantanamo (asian rule) 3
the list (sex-club) 3
sex and the city: the movie (date movie) 3
starship dave (sci-fi with eddie murphy) 3
get smart ("michael scott") 3
the love guru (mike myers and jessica alba) 3
what happens in vegas (stays in vegas, diaz and kutcher) 3
tropic thunder (ben stiller and jack black) 3
mamma mia! (musical) 3
step brothers (will farrell!) 3
the x-files 2 (the first one sucks) 3
death race (jason statham) 3
he is just not that into you (barrymore, aniston, affleck?, connelly) 3
bolt (disney 3-d animation) 3
seven pounds (will simith drama) 3
the curious case of benjamin button (pitt and blanchett) 3
bedstime stories (adam sandler) 3
fame (musical) 3
star trek (movie version) 3
marley and me (aniston and owen wilson) 3
the women (star-studded) 3
you don't mess with the zohan (adam sandler) 3
igor (cg animation) 3
funny games (psychotic) 3
the brothers bloom (rachel weisz) 3
one missed call (americanized jap horror) 2
27 dresses (too cheesy for katherine heigl) 2
mad money (cute scientological Katie Holmes) 2
the eye (yet another americanized jap horror, with jessica alba) 2
definitely, maybe (reynolds with 3 delicious girls) 2
jumper (sci-fi with sir samuel jackson) 2
the spiderwick chronicles (children, let's enter yet another new world) 2
my mom's new boyfriend (what's this? Meg Ryan?) 2
penelope (fairy tale for ugly ppl) 2
the accidental husband (uma thurman and colin firth) 2
the bank job (jason statham) 2
horton hears a who (cg animation with funny voices) 2
shutter (jap horror with american actors) 2
21 (counting cards in vegas with kevin spacey) 2
stop-loss (war drama with good young actors) 2
nim's island (children, let's enter jodie foster's lesbian mind) 2
the ruins (horror in an exotic land) 2
college (springbreak time) 2
prom night (sadistic killer horror) 2
midnight meat train (prefer this to narnia) 2
forgetting sarah marshall (with kristen bell) 2
nights in rodanthe (old couple romance) 2
eagle eye (shia labeouf) 2
the pineapple express (seth rogen comedy) 2
the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2 (1st one was actually good) 2
south of the border (disney animation) 2
case 39 (typical fall horror with zellweger) 2
I know what boys like (anna faris as a playmate) 2
inkheart (... new world...) 2
city of ember (teen sci-fi) 2
the express (sports movie) 2
soul men (another samuel jackson movie in 2008?) 2
motel hell (horror) 2
4 christmases (holiday movie) 2
twilight (teen horror) 2
rogue (croc horror) 2
trick 'r treat (halloween horror) 2
step up 2 the streets (dance sequel) 2
amusement (horror) 2
first sunday (time for another black comedy) 1
untraceable (high-concept spy thriller) 1
meet the spartans (golden raspberry) 1
made of honor (mcdreamy in sweatshirt?) 1
welcome home roscoe jenkins (yet another black comedy) 1
college road trip (martin lawrency comedy) 1
drillbit taylor (the suicidal owen wilson) 1
superhero movie (spoof) 1
the chronicles of narnia: prince caspian (children, let's go back to narnia) 1
my best friend's girl (dane cook) 1
nowhereland (another new world) 1
saw v (horror sequel) 1
big stan (rob schneider) 1

华语电影

贵族（海龟vs土鳖）　5
长江七号（周星驰）　5
赤壁（选角让人存疑，上下集？）　4
双雄会（贾樟柯，张曼玉）　4
画皮（陈嘉上）　4
鬼吹灯（杜琪峰）　4
梅兰芳（陈凯歌，选角存疑）　4
李小龙（关锦鹏）　3
飞鹰计划3（成龙）　3
江山美人（陈慧琳，战争场面审美疲劳）　3
银牌车手（疯狂的石头续作）　3
三国之见龙卸甲（刘德华版赵云）　2
大灌篮（周杰伦）　1

The 80s

2008-04-14T00:02:00.003-04:00

My boring life gets interrupted today.

It's getting hotter everyday, and finally reached the 80s this weekend. Heat doesn't just make ppl horny, it also burns up my car.

I was driving out for a few minutes to pick up my dinner. The air is stifling in my car, so I had to turn on the A/C even if this means extra gas money. Then I smelt burning on my way back. After I parked my car in front of my apt, I saw smoke coming out under the hood. So I popped the hood, and FIRE! It was small and confined to the bumper area, but it was starting to spread with the influx of air. One of my neighbors suggested calling fire dept, but I have to act quickly, otherwise, who knows what wud happen (car blown up maybe? This thought made my cringe). Lucky for me, there's a water horse (sorry, water hose, lame attempt at a joke) nearby, and I used it to extinguish the fire. (I do have an extinguisher in my glove compartment, but forgot it at that moment.)

When I had enough time to calm down and write this blog, it occurred to me that probably I was driving while my car was already on fire. Scary...

Now I have get rid of this second-hand car immediately and buy a new car this week. I'm think about going stereotypical, which means Jap cars.

Prediction Result

2008-02-24T23:49:00.001-05:00

16/24 = 66.7%

My 2007 Top 10 Movies

2008-02-24T19:53:00.004-05:00

1. Zodiac
1. Once
1. The Man From Earth
4. There Will Be Blood
5. No Country For Old Men
6. 3:10 To Yuma
7. Eastern Promises
8. Lust, Caution
9. Bridge to Terabithia
10. Stardust

Last Min Oscar Prediction

2008-02-24T19:25:00.002-05:00

Best Motion Picture of the Year
No Country for Old Men

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Julie Christie

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Javier Bardem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett

Best Achievement in Directing
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
for No Country for Old Men

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Juno : Diablo Cody

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
No Country for Old Men : Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best Achievement in Cinematography
There Will Be Blood : Robert Elswit

Best Achievement in Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum : Christopher Rouse

Best Achievement in Art Direction
There Will Be Blood : Jack Fisk, Jim Erickson

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Elizabeth: The Golden Age : Alexandra Byrne

Best Achievement in Makeup
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End : Ve Neill, Martin Samuel

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Atonement : Dario Marianelli

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Once : Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová(“Falling Slowly” )

Best Achievement in Sound
The Bourne Ultimatum : Scott Millan, David Parker, Kirk Francis

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum : Karen M. Baker, Per Hallberg

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Transformers : Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Ratatouille : Brad Bird

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
12 (Russia)

Best Documentary, Features
No End in Sight : Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld : Cynthia Wade, Vanessa Roth

Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf : Suzie Templeton, Hugh Welchman

Best Short Film, Live Action
Tanghi argentini : Guy Thys, Anja Daelemans

I hate ppl with bad memory

2007-12-20T03:31:00.000-05:00

I know I'm probably being hypocritical, but I do hate ppl with bad memory.

1. I don't feel respected. Most of the time, I can remember important things they said a few months back, but they can't even remember what I asked them to do a few days ago.

2. They make me repeat something I've said/mentioned to them many times before. This gets boring after a while.

3. If my work is depending on them remembering to do necessary things, I'll be screwed. And most likely they'll be annoyed if I go checking on them too often.

This is NOT BSO.

Lust, Caution

2007-10-12T01:02:00.000-04:00

I went to see Lust, Caution last Saturday at Embarcadero Center, SF. It is very similar to Paul Verhoeven's Zwartboek: WWII, espionage, full frontal nudity... Zwartboek is very good, Lust, Caution is even better. The story might be a little weaker, but the acting in general is a lot better. It does not have explosions or car chase, but there are several very tasteful love-making scenes. Most of important of all, Lust, Caution has a non-Hollywood ending that left me in sympathy of the characters. Ang Lee seems to be still using his usual techinques of film-making, and he is good at showing the subtle feelings of characters. Its chances of major Oscar nominations (except Foreign Language) are slim, judging from its NC-17 rating and the lukewarm reviews of western critics. Overall, this is a very decent period drama. 8/10.

Bleeding nosebleeding

2007-07-31T00:58:00.000-04:00

I wasn't aware of the dry heat until recently.

The heat is bearable, since most of the time I stay in A/C rooms.

But the humidity in Folsom is constantly below 20%, compared to the above-70 percentages in Ann Arbor and San Fran. The dryness combined with my recent cold has inflicted me with several most unfortunate nosebleeding already.

The internet is a good thing. It explains the basic info I need to know about the cause of and dealing with nosebleeding. So tomorrow I'm going to get a humidifier at Walmart.

People, don't set an auto desktop lock for some nonsense ergonomic reason. It won't let u return to your desktop until your eyes have some "proper rest". If you have a heart attack, you need to use the internet to look up the symptoms.

Aside from the drab preaching above, I really have nothing to say. I'm merely trying to leave a post for July.

It's all business

2007-06-17T00:55:00.000-04:00

For those of you good folks out there that are kind enough to still remember me, here is a Conan O'Brian clip that quite accurately shows my workplace.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960835/

Sorry, wrong link above. Here's the clip:

http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/insider/video/

Transmorphers! Genius!

It's probably japanese

2007-05-17T15:03:00.000-04:00

New Transformers Trailer,

much better than the 1st one

Helarios gmae

2007-05-12T16:25:00.000-04:00

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-05-10T15:59:00.001-04:00

washingtonpost

wait

2007-05-06T23:07:00.000-04:00

wait is a command that pauses until another process completes its execution;
wait is a crappy low-budget film starring ryan reynolds, oh, wait..., its name should be waiting...;
wait is what you need to do in order to see the transformers movie, unless you are one of the lucky ones that went to a test screening: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32455;
wait is what an aspiring graphics phd student needs to do in order to get her feel-good research published in the celebrated siggraph conference, which means she should hold it up for nearly a year;
wait is what many foreign students need to go through in order to know the result of h1b lottery and start their low-pay IT job in the us;
wait is what I need to do in order to get to play the pirated version of palsword 4;
wait is a beetles song that I've never heard before until I looked this word up in wikipedia;
wait is what keeps us alive from committing suicide: we are constantly waiting for sth to happen, and when it happens, we start to wait for another thing...

Wealthiest Person in Mainland China

2007-04-23T01:11:00.000-04:00

Yang, Huiyan, 25, Female, Graduated from OSU, and Married...

Blogging while intoxicated?

2007-03-24T02:04:00.000-04:00

I am writing this blog entry, so I guess I am at least a little drunk.

Instead of talking about drinking, I'll show some pictures about poster art.

All that they do is showing some retarded guy standing in front of an illuminating light.

BTW, the award for best poster design goes to:

What do you do with pieces of a broken heart

2007-03-04T22:05:00.000-05:00

No Title

2007-03-04T03:31:00.000-05:00

Irony: Ghost Rider is listed as one of my grade-5 anticipated films of the year, yet it impresses me in the totally opposite way.

Suggestions: If you want better than GR, go and see 300, another highly-hyped fanboy movie adapted from comic books (or should I say graphic novel? According to the human in Blood and Chocolate, they are different), but it's very likely to deliver. If you want to see worse or have a thing for bad movies, try Wicker Man, again starring no other than Nicolas Cage. (What's next for him? Next.) If you are really unfortunate, like me, to stumble upon Paris Hilton's Pledge This, then this is 1.5 hours of life that you'll regret forever to lose.

Phone Call: I called my niece (daughter of my sister) an hour ago. Lovely.

Deaths: An uncle on my mother's side passed away at the age of 6x a few weeks ago. I lived at his house for 3 years during high school. Farther of my advisor died later in the same week, at the age of 82.

Hunger: I just ate a Wendy's spicy chicken burger. Feels so much better now.

Spring Break: Over.

Prediction Result

2007-03-04T03:24:00.000-05:00

15/24

deja vu?

Quick Predictions

2007-02-25T19:37:00.000-05:00

Best Pic: Babel
Best Actor Lead: Forest Whitaker
Best Actress Lead: Helen Mirren
Best Actor Support: Eddie Murphy
Best Actress Support: Jennifer Hudson
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Cinematography: Children of Men
Best Editing: The Departed
Best Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Costume Design: Curse of the Golden Flower
Best Original Score: Babel
Best Original Song: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Sound: Dreamgirls
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Best Animation: Cars
Best Foreign Film: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Doc Short: The Blood of Yingzhou District
Best Short Animation: No Time for Nuts
Best Short Film: Binta and the Great Idea

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-18T22:16:00.000-05:00

Fortune Cookies

2007-01-14T00:49:00.000-05:00

I want to talk about fortune cookies. There is no such thing in China or other Asian countries. It is in fact originated in California.

One of my friends collects fortune cookie quotes. I do not, and most of the time, I just toss the "words of wisdom" away.

The other day, I was eating with another friend at Panda Express. He got a cookie that says: kiss the person next to you. So I had to tell him not to and he should keep it for next time when he sits with a girl.

I know the "wisdom" is faux, and the "prophecy" is vague. But a lot of the times, I do relate to those words very much.

For example, I once got a cookie saying: you'll be surprised soon. I had hoped for a good surprise. At the end of day, I did get surprised, but in a bad way. To be more exact, it was both good and bad.

The bad news is I got rejected from a major internet company (A) I applied for a job. I'm not revealing its name in case anyone is holding this against me. It is a company that I (and probably many others) would like very much to get into. I passed its first-round on-campus interviews, and went to Silicon Valley for an on-site. One day after the on-site, my recruiter at that company emailed me saying that she'll be preparing an offer for me, but it's not definate until after final executive review. Anyway, I was really excited and thought this was a done deal, otherwise she wouldn't be telling me about the offer so early. But... I guess you already know what the bad news is.

The good news is I did get a job offer at a financial service company (B). Ironically, I thought I was going to have the offer from A, so I didn't prepare much for the on-site interview at B. And after the on-site at B, when I was in the airport waiting for security check, I received the call from A telling me the final answer is no.

I got another job offer, er, scratch that, fortune cookie yesterday. It said: You'll be making an important decision. Yes, I am going to have to make that decision pretty soon. I'm not really interested in the job offer from B because it doesn't match my major very well. I still have a couple of interviews to go this month. And I'll be making a decision early Feb.

In conclusion, I'm talking about fortune cookies and job hunting. And who cares about fortune cookies?

2007 Movie Preview

2006-12-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

I'm not in a good mood for New Year, yet I still compiled a list of 2007 movies, sorted by my personal anticipation rating:

5 ghost rider (nicolas cage, comic)
5 tmnt (cg animation, turtles)
5 sicko (michael moore)
5 the simpsons movie (simpsons, 2d animation)
5 rush hour 3 (sequel, action, jackie chan)
5 the bourne ultimatum (sequel, matt damon)
5 transformers (transformers)
5 harry potter 5 (sequel, witchcraft)
5 zodiac (david fincher, jake gyllenhaal)
5 300 (frank miller, stylistic, spartan)
5 fantastic four 2 (jessica alba, sequel, comic)
5 live free or die hard (die hard)
5 ratatouille (pixar)
5 shrek the third (cg animation, sequel)
5 pirates of the caribbean (fantasy, sequel, johnny depp)
5 grind house (tarantino, rodriguez, horror)
5 spider-man 3 (sequel, comic)
5 charlie wilson's war (all star)
5 i am legend (will smith, vampire)
5 his dark materials: t g c (fantasy, kidman, eva green, craig)
5 the water horse (fantasy, creature)
5 national treasure 2 (nicholas cage, sequel)
5 across the universe (hey jude)
4 the martian child (sci-fi, cusacks)
4 blades of glory (skating, will ferrell)
4 rescue dawn (war, grizzly man director)
4 3:10 to yuma (western, director, russell crowe)
4 lust, caution (ang lee)
4 bridge to terabithia (fantasy)
4 pride (swimming)
4 resident evil: extinction (game, sequel)
4 invasion (alien, sci-fi, kidman, craig)
4 shooter (marky mark, action)
4 sunshine (sci-fi, danny boyle, michelle yeoh)
4 stardust (fantasy, action)
4 virgin territory (christensen, barton, black death)
4 hot fuzz (british comedy action, creators)
4 evan almighty (almighty carell and freeman, sequel)
4 arthur and the invisibles (cg animation, luc besson, voices)
4 ocean's 13 (the gang)
4 surf's up (another penguin cg animation)
4 wild hogs (travolta, allen, lawrence, macy)
4 the good german (b&w, soderbergh, clooney, blanchett)
4 28 weeks later (sequel, zombie, horror)
4 the number 23 (jim carrey, thriller)
4 reno 911!: miami (reno 911, raw comedy)
4 hostel: part 2 (horror, sequel)
4 vacancy (kate beckinsale, trhiller)
4 balls of fury (ping pong comedy)
4 the kingdom (foxx, garner, middle east)
4 the eye (jessica alba, horror remake)
4 alien vs. predator 2 (sequel)
4 miss potter (renee zellweger)
4 smokin' aces (comedy, gangster, affleck)
4 bee movie (dreamworks cg animation)
4 beowulf (zemeckis mo-cap animation)
4 fred claus (santa claus's brother: vince vaughn)
4 american gangster (denzel washington, russell crowe)
3 blood and chocolate (horror, werewolf)
3 dead silence (horror)
3 vantage point (rashomon style thriller)
3 trade (human trafficking)
3 the reaping (hillary swank, horror)
3 trick 'r treat (halloween thriller)
3 meet the robinsons (disney, cg animation, time travel)
3 the golden age (sequel to elizabeth)
3 freedom writers (hillary swank, races)
3 the brave one (jodie foster, thriller)
3 spring breakdown (spring break)
3 music and lyrics (romance, barrymore, hugh grant)
3 michael clayton (george clooney, thriller)
3 mimzy (family, action, fantasy)
3 mr brooks (kevin costner, demi moore, thriller)
3 one missed call (horror remake)
3 pride & glory (crime, norton, farrell)
3 the invisible (horror)
3 underdog (dog movie)
3 reservation road (joaquin phoenix, thriller)
3 lucky you (eric bana, drew barrymore)
3 i now pronounce u c and l (adam sandler, gay)
3 amazing grace (period)
3 i could never be your woman (romance, pfeiffer, rudd)
3 mr. woodcock (scott, sarandon, thornton)
3 fido (zombie comedy, carrie anne moss)
3 evening (meryl streep)
3 captivity (elisha cuthbert, thriller)
3 ice at bottom of the world (chalize theron)
3 the messengers (the pang brothers)
3 knocked up (katherine heigl)
3 the heartbreak kid (farrelly brothers, ben stiller)
3 rogue (michael vartan)
3 the nanny diaries (scarlett johansson)
3 1408 (stepen king, cusack, jackson)
3 silk (keira knightley, period drama)
3 the assassination of jesse ... (brad pitt, western)
3 breach (spy)
3 catch and release (jennifer garner, romance)
3 a mighty heart (angelina jolie)
3 next (nicolas cage)
3 the flock (gere, danes. hk director)
3 hairspray (travolta, pfeiffer, remake)
3 day of the dead (zombie)
3 mr. bean's holiday (mr. bean, sequel)
3 perfect stranger (halle berry, bruce willis, thriller)
3 in the land of women (meg ryan)
3 brothers solomon (r-rated comedy)
3 drillbit taylor (owen wilson comedy)
3 black snake moan (samuel jackson, sexy ricci)
3 the astronaut farmer (billy bob thornton, title)
3 halloween (horror remake)
3 revenge of the nerds (teen comedy remake)
3 strangers (thriller, liv tyler)
2 88 minutes (al pacino, thriller)
2 home of the brave (samuel jackson, iraq war)
2 lars and the real girl (creepy doll)
2 bug (thiller)
2 gracie (soccer)
2 skinwalkers (werewolf horror)
2 superhero! (spoof movie)
2 i think i love my wife (chris rock)
2 license to wed (comedy, robin williams)
2 the hitcher (horror, remake)
2 super bad (comedy)
2 whisper (sarah of prison break)
2 the last legion (historical, war, firth, aishwarya rai)
2 the hills have eyes 2 (horror, sequel, military)
2 alpha dog (bruce willis, justin timberlake)
2 premonition (sandra bullock, thriller)
2 hot rod (moped, comedy)
2 fracture (thriller, anthony hopkins)
2 disturbia (serial killer thriller)
2 you kill me (comedy, crime)
2 first snow (thriller, fortune teller)
2 code name: the cleaner (lucy liu, desperate housewife)
2 charlie bartlett (comedy)
2 epic movie (spoof movie)
2 hoax (richard gere, bio)
2 the comebacks (football)
2 reign over me (adam sandler, don cheadle)
2 penelope (ricci, witherspoon)
2 foodfight! (3d animation)
2 eastern promises (viggo mortensen, naomi watts)
2 pathfinder (action, fantasy)
2 white noise: the light (nde: near death experience, sequel)
2 this christmas (holiday movie)
2 two weeks (family drama)
2 gray matters (romance)
2 tp's daddy's little girls (tyler perry, sequel)
2 30 days of night (horror, hartnett)
2 college (teen comedy)
2 firehouse dog (dog movie)
2 no reservations (chef, zeta-jones, eckhart)
2 young hannibal (gong li, prequel)
1 nancy drew (teen, hollywood)
1 saw 4 (sequel, horror)
1 the condemned (survival action thriller)
1 full of it (pg13 teen comedy)
1 happily n'ever after (cg animation)
1 mama's boy (comedy)
1 enchanted (modern day ny fairy tail)
1 because i said so (comedy, diane keaton, mandy moore)
1 are we done yet? (are we done yet?)
1 norbit (eddie murphy)
1 delta farce (comedy)
1 stomp the yard (another dance movie)

chinese movies:
5　长江七号　（周星驰）
4　集结号　（冯小刚）
4　刺马　（重拍，李连杰，刘德华等）
4　色.戒　（李安，英文名lust,caution，见上）
4　梅兰芳　（陈凯歌，2007？）
其它略

Robot Chicken: Grand Theft Mario

2006-12-16T18:46:00.000-05:00


Mario and Luigi accidentally drive into the world of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This isn't just another "Mario in GTA" spoof, it's an extremely funny Robot Chicken sketch. That speaks for itself, I reckon. :)

I like blogging...Not

2006-11-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

Random thoughts:

I'm having a hectic semester. And I hope everything would work out fine at the end of the day.

Saw Borat on Friday, extremly unfunny...not, a little over-the-top with the hotel scene.

Departed is a ripoff of the original and largely overrated, though it has some great one-liners. It feels special to see the state house both in the movie and during my trip to Boston this summer.

You can watch Survivor online at innertube. I admit I am hooked onto the twist last week. According to various spoiler sources, the underdog(aitu) will win it all. Best of luck to them.

Yao is playing at Detroit next weekend, and it'll be the first time for me to see a ball game onsite. The day after that, I'm heading to California...

Cheesy ending: California here I come

Another 2 amazzzing videos

2006-10-13T20:40:00.000-04:00

White & Nerdy

2006-10-09T20:44:00.000-04:00


Music video by "Weird Al" Yankovic from the album "Straight Outta Lynwood"

saddest mv

2006-09-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNv02iE_9rU&eurl=

One Post for August

2006-08-31T02:10:00.000-04:00

Baby Panda :-) R u thinking what I'm thinking?

Leaving for SIGGRAPH, Boston

2006-07-28T20:55:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning's flight
exciiiiiiiiiiited...
I'll be living at BU's dorm,
and one of my old college friends will be there too,
and also a lot of other geniuses...

SIGGRAPH always means a lot of things:
To experience future interactive graphics high-techs;
To listen to the cutting-edge reseach work of some of the world's most creative minds;
To get close to some of the world's leading companies and studios;
To enjoy academy award worthy animations and also many cg artworks;
To explore a beautiful city...

Graduation Day Anniversary

2006-07-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

Half Year Movie Review

2006-07-01T00:53:00.000-04:00

forrest gump 9.5
cars 9.5
the silence of the lamb 9.0
gangs of new york 9.0
the shining 9.0
the green mile 9.0
jaws 8.5
block party 8.5
the new world 8.5
serenity 8.5
v for vendetta 8.0
reservoir dogs 8.0
dark city 8.0
species 1 8.0
silent hill 8.0
curious george 8.0
superman returns: imax 3d 8.0
eight below 8.0
rain man 8.0
a history of violence 8.0
ice age: the meltdown 8.0
霍元甲 8.0
transamerica 7.5
inside man 7.5
the boondock saints 7.5
the hills have eyes 7.5
idle hand 7.5
find me guilty 7.5
kate and leopold 7.5
mirrormask 7.5
the lake house 7.5
16 blocks 7.5
running scared 7.5
xman 3 7.5
the constant gardener 7.5
underworld: evolution 7.5
failure to launch 7.5
shallow hal 7.5
黑社会 2 7.5
one last thing 7.5
lord of war 7.5
wolf creek 7.5
bram stokers dracula 7.5
ATL 7.5
lucky number slevin 7.5
she's the man 7.0
big daddy 7.0
click 7.0
nanny mcphee 7.0
fast and furious 3 7.0
madea's family reunion 7.0
aquamarine 7.0
final destination 3 7.0
freedomland 7.0
glory road 7.0
fun with dick and jane 7.0
spring break: shark attack 7.0
cabin fever 7.0
firewall 6.5
united 93 6.5
evil aliens 6.5
end of the spear 6.5
tristan and isolde 6.5
last holiday 6.5
take the lead 6.5
hostel 6.5
prostitute killers 6.5
over the hedge 6.5
something new 6.5
urban legends 3: bloody mary 6.5
braveheart 6.5
scary movie 4 6.0
hoodwinked 6.0
good will hunting 6.0
waist deep 6.0
2001 maniacs 6.0
the omen 6.0
kiss kiss bang bang 6.0
the breakup 6.0
the pink panther 6.0
candy stripers 6.0
pirates 6.0
national lampoon's barely legal 6.0
bandidas 6.0
grandma's boy 6.0
the matador 6.0
bloodrayne 6.0
rumor has it 5.5
annapolis 5.5
mission impossible 3: alias the movie 5.5
the da vinci code 5.5
the shaggy dog 5.5
hollowman 2 5.5
doogal 5.5
jeepers creepers 5.5
the cave 5.5
howl's moving castle 5.0
the ringer 5.0
the brothers grimm 5.0
two for the money 5.0
stay alive 5.0
november 5.0
nacho libre 5.0
big momma's house 5.0
waiting 4.5
like mike 2 4.5
the sentinel 4.5
the wild 4.0
underclassman 4.0
flight 93 / TV 4.0
urban legends 2: final cut 4.0
when a stranger calls 4.0
venom 4.0
house of the dead 2 3.5
garfield 2: a dull tale of 2 kitties 3.5
the perfect man 3.5
basic instinct 2 3.0
ultraviolet 3.0
date movie 3.0
see no evil 2.5

personalized google homepage

2006-06-12T12:35:00.000-04:00

Create your own South Park Character

2006-06-10T22:06:00.000-04:00

http://images.southparkstudios.com/games/create/index.html

Two Days After the End of World

2006-06-08T18:43:00.001-04:00

Really Nothing to Say...

Some Images from Boring3D

2006-04-03T17:48:00.000-04:00

http://www.boring3d.com/

Some of my greatest fears

2006-04-02T04:57:00.000-04:00

SNakes! And
déjà vu
(I'm feeling a lot of this recently. It makes me chill every time.)

Crap... I just realized why it's already 5:00am now. Today is f**king one-hour shorter.

Shirt

2006-03-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

What's more boring than watching golf on television?

2006-03-23T21:17:00.000-05:00

Listening to golf on radio.

Link to my Google Page

2006-03-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

http://hayking.googlepages.com/

Introducing Lone Carrot

2006-03-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

Lone Carrot
Pretty cool stuff.
Developed by one undergrad that I know.
To see what kind of things you can create,
visit Browse section.

Castle

2006-03-11T00:22:00.000-05:00

adrenaline rush

2006-03-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

What an episode! (or should I say 2 episodes.)
24 reached its climax in season 5.
btw., I love using that phrase as the title.

Prediction Result

2006-03-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

15/24=62.5%

Oscar Prediction

2006-03-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Diana Ossana, James Schamus

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

George Clooney for Syriana (2005)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener (2005)

Best Achievement in Directing

Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Crash (2004) - Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana

Best Achievement in Cinematography

The New World (2005) - Emmanuel Lubezki

Best Achievement in Editing

Munich (2005) - Michael Kahn

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - James D. Bissell, Jan Pascale

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - Colleen Atwood

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Gustavo Santaolalla

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Transamerica (2005) - Dolly Parton ("Travelin' Thru")

Best Achievement in Makeup

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) - Dave Elsey, Annette Miles

Best Achievement in Sound

King Kong (2005) - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

King Kong (2005) - Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

King Kong (2005) - Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, Richard Taylor

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - Steve Box, Nick Park

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Tsotsi (2005) - Gavin Hood (South Africa)

Best Documentary, Features

Marche de l'empereur, La (2005) - Luc Jacquet, Yves Darondeau

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

God Sleeps in Rwanda (2005) - Kimberlee Acquaro, Stacy Sherman

Best Short Film, Animated

One Man Band (2005) - Mark Andrews, Andrew Jimenez

Best Short Film, Live Action

Cashback (2004) - Sean Ellis, Lene Bausager

Million Dollar Question

2006-03-03T00:59:00.000-05:00

I was watching GSN's "Who Wants to be Millionaire" just now.
One guy has answered all 14 questions correctly in a row.
What's more amazing is that he didn't use any aides at all (half-half elimination, ask the audience, or hotline).
And the 15th question is the million dollar question:
What's Carol Brady's maiden name?
The guy used up all 3 lifelines in order to get this right.
When he was on the phone to try to ask his friend to search the answer on the internet, he told his friend to search for "carol" "brady" "maiden" and "name".
The problem is he spent so long on explaining the question and the keywords that, time run out before his friend could give an answer.
So, finally this guy did the smart thing to walk away with 500,000 dollars.
Several minutes ago, I did a google search on these four keywords, and the answer "Tyler" was at the very top of the results list.
I don't know how regretful this guy must be. Probably mixed feelings. He missed the last question, but he did get half of the money.
Sometimes, life is about making choices.

Toilet Seat Cover

2006-02-19T02:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Yahoo!:

Do toilet seat covers provide any real protection?

Lisa
Denver, Colorado

Dear Lisa:

Nope, but your seat doesn't really need protecting. All those paper covers do is mentally separate your backside from the countless bums that have occupied the same space. Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, let's listen to a few medical resources:

"To my knowledge, no one has ever acquired an STD on the toilet seat -- unless they were having sex on the toilet seat!" according to Dr. Abigail Salyers, president of the American Society for Microbiology, quoted on WebMD.

"It's OK to sit down. Most organisms that cause STDs will not survive for long on a toilet seat," notes Dr. Sherry Marts, scientific director of the Society for Women's Health Research, on the Swedish Medical Center's site.

As Columbia University's Health Promotion Program sums up: "Because toilet seats are not major culprits in spreading disease, paper or plastic seat covers offer little more than peace of mind." In fact, you have more to fear from bathroom door handles and faucets than from commodes.

And while we're on the topic, you might consider something to cover that phone receiver. A University of Arizona microbiology team tested a dozen office surfaces including the bathroom. The scientists found that phone receivers had 25,000 bacteria per square inch, while toilet seats had only 49 bacteria per square inch. Talk about calling in sick!

Damn, still no Kim

2006-02-13T22:14:00.000-05:00

False info in the prev post

Kim Bauer is back tonight

2006-02-13T15:13:00.000-05:00

And I'm growing tired of blogging...

BBM Spoof

2006-02-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

(To watch ifilm, select video preference to windows media.)

Bareback Mountain
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2686449

Brokeback to the Future
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2693690

Top Gun 2: Brokeback Squadron
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2693687

Brokeback Penguin
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2691991

Freaky Hoax

2006-01-30T14:47:00.000-05:00

There are 2 "Flight 93" movies coming up: one is a TV movie airing tonight, the other is a real-time film scheduled for an April release.

Putting aside the argument of whether it is too early for a movie depicting the 9.11 events, people are also arguing over whether there is conspiracy involving a government coverup of the plane being shot down. Apparently, the afore-mentioned movies are both using a propaganda approach which advocates a heroic take-over by the passengers.

And here is another conspiracy theory about the 9.11 events:
On the tailfin of one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had written on it "Q33NY". Now type this on your word processor, and change it into the font "wingdings". What you will see will give you a chill.

Apparantly, this is just a coincidental hoax. See the following link for clarification:
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wingdings.asp

BTW, there is a bigger and more controversial film about World Trade Center targeting for a 8.11 release, directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Nicholas Cage. This will be 2006's "Passion of the Christ".

The Year of the Dog

2006-01-28T22:36:00.000-05:00

I went to a Spring Festival Gala tonight. It was boring, boring and boring...
It's the first time I spend the Chinese New Year away from home.
And I feel really sad.

It's Official: Disney to Acquire Pixar

2006-01-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

Full Story:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=12871
It's sad that Pixar is no longer an independent company.
I do not like Disney, but I have to admit this is indeed a good move for Disney.
And Pixar benefits too, at least Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull and the John Lasseter can enjoy more shares or higher positions.
But I'm not sure whether Pixar's individual creativity can survive in a large corporate environment.
Yet we have to wait and see.

Dedicated to the rabbits and the cat

2006-01-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

These animals were once part of my life during last year.
Xiao Bai and Da Bai (I can't really tell the differences from the pics.)
They are the dorm pets. We had a lot of fun.
Da Bai died last spring. Xiao Bai was sent to someone else.

And the cat! It was adopted by a very kind lady recently. Before that, it lived with me for one semester.

New "Cars" pics from comingsoon.net

2006-01-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

Prediction Result

2006-01-16T23:20:00.000-05:00

3 points for correct without runner-up
2 points for correct with runner-up

Movies:
Best Motion Picture - Drama: 3
Best Actress - Drama: 2
Best Actor - Drama: 2
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: 3
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: 3
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: 3
Best Foreign Language Film: 0
Best Supporting Actress: 0
Best Supporting Actor: 1
Best Director: 3
Best Screenplay: 0
Best Original Score: 3
Best Original Song: 3
26/39=66.7%

Wild guesses for TVs:
Best TV - Drama: 2
Best Actress - Drama: 3
Best Actor - Drama: 0
Best TV - Musical or Comedy: 2
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: 0
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: 2
Best MINI: 0
Best Actress - MINI: 0
Best Actor - MINI: 0
Best Supporting Actor - MINI: 2
11/30=36.7%

The blonde joke

2006-01-15T14:49:00.000-05:00

There is this famed joke on internet:
The Blonde Joke
Do you get it?

BTW, Jack Bauer is back today!

And the homepages of two male contestants on WB's Beauty and the Geek 2:
Tyson Mao
Ankur Mehta

My desk

2006-01-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

The ultimate prediction game

2006-01-13T12:29:00.000-05:00

Here is my predictions for Monday's golden globe. (In parenthesis are runner-ups)
Best Motion Picture - Drama: Brokeback mountain (Good night, and good luck)
Best Actress - Drama: Felicity Huffman (Ziyi Zhang)
Best Actor - Drama: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Heath Ledger)
Beset Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Walk the line
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: Reese Witherspoon
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: Joaquin Phoenix
Best Foreign Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle
Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Dillon (George Clooney)
Best Director: Ang Lee
Best Screenplay: Good night, and good luck (Crash)
Best Original Score: John Williams
Best Original Song: Brokeback mountain

Wild guesses for TV awards go below:
Best TV series - Drama: Lost (Prison Break)
Best Actress - Drama: Geena Davis
Best Actor - Drama: Kiefer Sutherland
Best TV series - Musical or Comedy: Desperate Housewives (My name is Earl)
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: Felicity Huffman
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: Steve Carell (Jason Lee)
Best MINI: Into the west
Best Actress - MINI: Halle Berry
Best Actor - MINI: Donald Sutherland
Best Supporting Actress - MINI: (I know nothing about it)
Best Supporting Actor - MINI: Paul Newman (Donald Sutherland)

Creepy Panda

2006-01-11T18:23:00.000-05:00

Another picture

2006-01-11T18:13:00.000-05:00

Brokeback Mountain? No, it's already King Kong!

2006-01-06T23:44:00.000-05:00

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10694972/?GT1=7538
Woman marries dolphin after 15-year courtship.

New Year Resolution

2006-01-06T01:13:00.000-05:00

1. Do not let myself get hungry.
2. Sleep regularly.
3. Publish several papers.
4. Enjoy good movies, music, food, study, research, and life.
5. Seize every opportunity.

Most Anticipated in 2006 - A Refined List

2005-12-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

world trade center
x-men 3
pirates of the caribbean: dead man's chest
casino royale
superman returns
cars
charlotte's web
mission impossible 3
ice age 2
texas chainsaw massacre prequel
sin city 2
the da vinci code
lady in the water
die hard 4 (2006?)
the departed
grindhouse
happy feet
arthur and the minimoys
basic instinct 2: risk addiction
the fountain

documentary:
sicko

Chinese:
huo yuan jia
ye yan
mo gong
chi bi da zan (2006?)

A List of Movies in 2006

2005-12-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

name/ancitpation(*/5)
mission impossible 3 (Tom C., action, sequel) 5
sin city 2 (sequel, comic) 5
the da vinci code (novel adaption, Tom H., anti-christ) 5
X-men 3 (action, sci-fi, sequel, comic) 5
cars (cg animation, pixar) 5
superman returns (sci-fi, blockbuster) 5
priates of the caribbean: dead man's chest (fantasy, blockbuster, sequel)5
lady in the water (director) 5
monster house (producer, cg animation) 5
miami vice (Jamie F., Colin F., Gong L.) 5
world trade center (911, Nicolas C., director) 5
grindhouse (horror, Quentin T., Rober R.) 5
die hard 4 (Bruce W., die hard!) 5
the departed (wu jian dao) 5
sicko (doc., director) 5
texas chainsaw massacre prequel (horror, prequel) 5
marie antoinette (director, Kirsten D.) 5
casino royale (007, new actor, action) 5
happy feet (cg animation, the voices) 5
charlotte's web (the voices) 5
arthur and the minimoys (director, the voices, animation) 5
the fountain (sci-fi) 5
zodiac (director) 4
flags of our fathers (director) 4
Youth Without Youth (director) 4
jurassic park 4 (sequel, 2006?) 4
sunshine (sci-fi, director) 4
underworld: evolution (sexy, vampire, werewolf) 4
final destination 3 (horror, sequel) 4
16 blocks (bruce willis) 4
children of men (sci-fi) 4
the atronaut famer (intersting title) 4
2001 maniacs (horror, Robert E.) 4
v for vendetta (matrix director, sci-fi, Natalie P.) 4
inside man (Jodie F., Denzel W., Clive O.) 4
basic instinct 2: risk addiction (sexy, Sharon S., sequel) 4
ice age 2: the meltdown (cg animation) 4
a scanner darkly (npr/cg animation, Keanu R.) 4
lucky number slevin (Bruce W., Josh H., Lucy L., Morgan F., Ben K.) 4
friends with money (Jennifer A., friends?) 4
american dreamz (Hugh G., Dennis Q., Mandy M., spoof movie) 4
scary movie 4 (spoof movie, Carmen E.) 4
the sentinel (Kiefer S., Eva L.) 4
the brazillian job (sequel, action) 4
silent hill (horror) 4
flight 93 (911) 4
poseidon (another titanic, remake) 4
over the hedge (cg animation, Bruce W.) 4
the break-up (Jennifer A.'s revenge) 4
the omen 666 (horror, remake) 4
the fast and the furious: tokyo drift (cars, sequel) 4
the lake house (romance, Sandra B., Keanu R.) 4
garfield 2 (sequel, comedy, comic) 4
my super ex-girlfriend (Uma T., Luke W., comic) 4
school for scoundrels 4
the ant bully (cg animation) 4
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Will F., comedy, nascar) 4
the visiting (Nicole K., Daniel C.) 4
doa: dead or alive (sexy, game) 4
open season (cg animation) 4
barnyard (cg animation) 4
the grudge 2 (horror) 4
saw 3 (horror) 4
flushed away (cg animation) 4
foodfight! (animation) 4
the painted veil (Naomi W., Edward N., Huang QS, Xia Yu) 4
eragon (fantasy) 4
ultraviolet (action, sci-fi) 4
pink pather (comedy) 3
pathfinder 3
stick it (gymnastics) 3
stormbreaker 3
a good woman (scarlett J.) 3
the good german (George C.) 3
che (a story about che guevara) 3
bandidas (sexy) 3
the black dahlia (Scarlette J.) 3
gridirion gang (the rock) 3
evan almighty (another almighty with Morgan F.?) 3
hostel (Quentin T., horror) 3
glory road (Jerry B.) 3
hard candy (thriller) 3
inland empire (director) 3
hoodwinked (cg animation) 3
apocalypto (director) 3
Stranger Than Fiction 3
when a stranger calls (thriller, Wes Craven) 3
firewall (Harrison Ford) 3
date movie (spoof movie) 3
freedomland (S. Jackson, J. Moore) 3
running scared (R-rating) 3
pulse (horror) 3
aquamarine 3
southland tales (comedy, sci-fi) 3
the hills have eyes (remake, horror, lost/roswell star) 3
stay alive (horror) 3
slither (horror, gore, comedy) 3
the benchwarmers (comedy, Rob S., Jon H.) 3
the wild (animation, Kiefer S.) 3
catch and release (Jennifer G., music) 3
just my luck (Lindsay L.) 3
see no evil (horror) 3
freshman orientation (another teen movie) 3
click (Adam S., comedy) 3
scoop (director, Scarlette J.) 3
you, me and dupree (comedy, Owen W., Kate H.) 3
the return of zoom (Courteney C.) 3
flicka 3
the messengers (horror, thriller) 3
snakes on a plane (Samuel J., thriller) 3
the return (thriller) 3
the covenant (thriller) 3
the santa clause 3 (holiday, comedy) 3
stranger than fiction (comedy, Will F.) 3
the pursuit of happyness (Will S.) 3
dreamgirls (Jamie F., musical) 3
the good shepherd (Angelina J.) 3
night at the museum (Ben S.) 3
meet the robinsons (time travel) 3
skinwalkers (horror) 3
nacho libre 3
tenacious d in: the pick of destiny 2
yankee irving (animation) 2
in the land of women 2
the devil wears prada 2
failure to launch 2
the shaggy dog (family, comedy) 2
akeelah and the bee 2
she's the man 2
how to eat fried worms 2
RV (family, comedy) 2
harsh times (Eva L., Christian B.) 2
lucky you (Eric B., Drew B.) 2
on a clear day (swimming across the English Channel) 2
take the lead (Antonio B.) 2
the cleaner (Lucy L.) 2
hoot (Luke W., adventure, mystery) 2 2
annapolis 2
big momma's house 2
nanny mcphee 2
something new 2
curious george (animation) 2
dr. dolittle 3 (comedy, sequel) 2
doogal (cg animation) 2
waist deep 2
accepted 2
little man 2
mandea's family reunion 1
jackass: the movie 2 1
eight below 1
block party 1
atl 1
phat girlz 1

2005 Movie Review (Mar-Dec)

2005-12-30T01:20:00.000-05:00

pride and prejudice 9.5
king kong 9.5
sleepless in seattle 9.0
antitrust 9.0
sin city 9.0
ryan 9.0
wallace and gromit 9.0
elizabethtown 9.0
madagascar 9.0
a lot like love 9.0
pirate of silicon valley 9.0
crash 8.5
thelma and louise 8.5
top gun 8.5
from dusk till dawn 8.5
Munich 8.5
be cool 8.0
七剑 8.0
dark water 8.0
hp and the goblet of fire 8.0
four brothers 8.0
jarhead 8.0
the descent 8.0
the sisterhood of traveling pants 8.0
kicking and screaming 8.0
north country 8.0
in her shoes 8.0
brokeback mountain 8.0
star wars: r.o.t.s 8.0
serendipity 7.5
walk the line 7.5
头文字D 7.5
the longest yard 7.5
mr.&mrs. smith 7.5
wedding crashers 7.5
fantastic four 7.5
the interpreter 7.5
dreamer 7.5
the skeleton key 7.5
vanilla sky 7.5
batman begins 7.5
the wedding date 7.5
charlie and the chocolate factory 7.5
sahara 7.5
the family stone 7.5
wild things 3 7.5
red eye 7.5
Robots 7.5
syriana 7.5
into the blue 7.0
yours, mines, and ours 7.0
war of the worlds 7.0
get rich or die trying 7.0
ice princess 7.0
nightmare before christmas 7.0
sky high 7.0
prime 7.0
the jacket 7.0
shopgirl 7.0
doom 7.0
bad news bears 7.0
coach carter 7.0
diary of a mad black woman 7.0
halloween: resurrection 7.0
如果·爱 7.0
while you were sleeping 7.0
tamara 7.0
memoirs of a geisha 7.0
collateral damage 7.0
house of wax 7.0
tim burton's corpse bride 7.0
just friends 7.0
devil's rejects 6.5
rent 6.5
the dukes of hazzard 6.5
the usual suspects 6.5
good night, and good luck 6.5
derailed 6.5
man of the house 6.5
saw2 6.5
coyote ugly 6.5
inside deep throat 6.5
the amityville horror 6.5
cheaper by the dozen 2 6.5
lemony snickets a s.o.u.e 6.5
the phantom of the opera 6.5
hitchhiker's guide to the glaxy 6.5
wrongfully accused 6.5
D.E.B.S 6.0
jolly roger massacre@cutters cove 6.0
flightplan 6.0
very bad things 6.0
constantine 6.0
you've got mail 6.0
the transporter 6.0
the legend of zorro 6.0
the producers 6.0
the gospel 6.0
roll bounce 6.0
神话 6.0
精武家庭 6.0
the transporter 2 6.0
herbie: fully loaded 6.0
just like heaven 6.0
cry wolf 6.0
the 40 year old virgin 6.0
the pacifier 5.5
xxx state of the union 5.5
chicken little 5.5
unleashed 5.5
drunken jackass: the quest 5.5
in good company 5.5
the bodyguard 5.5
miss congeniality 2 5.5
she creature 5.5
the year of the yao 5.5
first descent 5.5
cursed 5.0
monster-in-law 5.0
ice harvest 5.0
supercross 5.0
rebound 5.0
are we there yet 5.0
zathura 5.0
aeon flux 5.0
bewitched 5.0
layer cake 4.5
the hot spot 4.5
king's ransom 4.5
son of the mask 4.5
the upside of anger 4.5
the ring 2 4.5
boogeyman 4.5
the fog 4.5
adventures of sharkboy&lavagirl 4.5
birth 4.5
deuce bigalow 2: european gigolo 4.0
land of the dead 4.0
domino 4.0
the peacemaker 4.0
poohs heffalump movie 4.0
head of state 4.0
she get what she wants 3.5
chronicles of narnia 3.5
exorcism of emily rose 3.5
dirty love 3.0
double zero 3.0
orgazmo 2.0
beauty shop 2.0
american pie 4: band camp 2.0
eternal 2.0

My Google Sep-Dec Search Trends

2005-12-27T00:53:00.000-05:00

A ball with its own page

2005-12-23T20:51:00.000-05:00

Wilson the Volleyball

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1012434/

A look back on 2005

2005-12-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

1. From China to the US.
2. Graduation on July 12.
3. Met my future research advisor.
4. One of my uncles, the older brother of my father, died at the age of ....
5. Met new friends, stayed in touch with old friends.
6. Remained a virgin.
7. Family reunion for spring festival 2005.
8. The application for graduate school.
9. Sharing an apartment with my current roomate for exactly one semester.
10. Started my weekly trip to the cinema since fall break; Started cooking by myself; Started managing the arrangement in my apartment; Started my life as an ecnomically independent individual...

Sometimes things happen

2005-12-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

It turns out my roomate is in way worse trouble than I thought.
In a word, he is leaving school and the US, and he is not coming back.
I don't know the details, but I do know that it is against his willing to leave.

So, this means I'll have to find a new roomate as soon as possible and a lot of other hassle.
But this is indeed no one's fault.
It's just that sometimes things happen.

The end of year is drawing near.
Maybe I should start making a list of what has happened during this year.

Police at the door

2005-12-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Knock Knock...

Seconds later, I was peeping through the hole into the hallway.
There are 2 police officers at the door.
What's that about? I wondered nervously...

Do they know I am using bittorrent everyday? This is the intuitive question popping into my head.
Or...
Are they imposters?
What if I am doing something wrong that I'm not aware of?

Hesitating, I opened the door.

"Hello, are you Y***?", asked one of the officer.
"What's that?"
"Y***". They never could pronounce a chinese name right.
"Sorry?"
"What's your family name?"
"W-*-*-*"
"Did you send an email to your professor saying you're upset about something? About your recently being dismissed from school?"
"No, why?" I was at a loss. "What's my professor's name?" I tried to check whether their information is right.
"Wait on a sec..." The other officer turned to speak to a walkie talkie.
Still wondering what it was about, I suddenly realized that I may not be the one they were asking for. So I went to knock on my roomie's door.
And yes, they were asking for him.
They talked for a while, and the officers left.

Right now, I'm still not sure what happened to my roomie. Clearly, I am not being a good roomate. I haven't talked much to my roomie since midterm. Most of the time, I was on campus. Coursework is like crazy. So, maybe when this semester is over, I better start communicating with him.

The box

2005-12-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

Holiday is coming

2005-12-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

Personal Best of All Time

2005-12-05T03:29:00.000-05:00

to kill a mockingbird
scindler's list
monster inc.
crouching tiger, hidden dragon
fight club
pride and prejudice
e.t.
the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring
pulp fiction
wo de xiong di jie mei

Best Picture of the Year

2005-12-05T02:50:00.000-05:00

Pride and Prejudice
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414387/

To be exact, this is my personal best of the year.
There's been lots of sloppy movies this year, but this one is different.
I saw the book when I was 12.
As a boy, I used to read a lot of books.
I was so intrigued by this book that after about 9 years, I can still recall most of the main characters and the charming love between Mr. Darcey and Elizabeth.
About this movie, what I've got to say is that it almost exactly reflects the vague images and vivid characters in my mind about the book. And it gives me a mixed feeling of both reminiscence of past and enjoyment of the movie.
The atmospheric music is especially touching.

Coming next: a list of my personal favourites of all time.

Flash game

2005-12-01T18:05:00.000-05:00

Great action game!!!
I found it from utterlyboring, a great place to go whenever you feel bored.

Still Images

2005-12-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

Bouncing ball and Blobbyman

2005-12-01T17:29:00.000-05:00

These are some of the works I've done in the past few days.

A week in Ann Arbor

2005-12-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday today.
It was Thanksgiving last Thursday.
Though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving back in my home country,
I did have Turkey that night together with some friends.
After all the turkey eating, foosball playing and gossiping, I left at 11.
The midnight chill is freezing. Yet I still had to go to my office to start my project.
I stayed up all night finishing the first bit of the project assignment.
Hungry and tired, I fell asleep for about 2 hours and woke up from my keyboard at 9am.
You think the above is crazy? Well, the following part is crazier.

After I woke up, I went out of the office, marched through the thick-but-not-yet-tramped flakes, and got on a bus from AA to Yipsilanti, or more exactly, showcase movie theater.
I stayed in the cinema until time for the last bus. The thanksgiving movies're a bit of uninteresting. I watched through 2 movies and slept through another 2.

Now that I'd got some sleep in the theater, I bought a sandwich and some fries from Wendy's, and went back to my office. Just about when I was starting to resume my project, my roomie called, saying he was locked out of the apartment. So I had to went back home. The sad thing is there's no blue bus running on thanksgiving. So I had to walk back home in the snow. (hang on, the crazy thing is not over yet)

I rested for about 10 minutes at home. Then I walked into the snow again. The project was not even halfway through, yet the deadline is Monday and I still had 3 more homeworks to do in the next few days, so I thought I have to go back to the office. So I stayed up for another night. Early in the morning, the project was at least halfway through, and I was so tired and hungry, so I went back home, had a lunch and slept for the whole day. I woke up around 10pm. Feeling refreshed, I went back to my office I resumed my work. Everything starts to go smoothly from then on. I wrapped up my project on the next morning. Then I went to a Chinese restaurant and had a great lunch. I fell asleep as soon as I was back home.

Things are less crazier afterwards, I submitted my project and finished 3 homeworks in a row in the next 3 days. And now I am relieved, at least for a while.

Insane I am...

"mind-blowing"

2005-11-18T22:55:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting word.
Of course I knew its meaning,
but I didn't notice this word until I heard someone say:
"When I first came to America, everything was mind-blowing".
After that, I myself used this word for a couple of times.
Typically, the sentence would be:
"The first few weeks of life in the US was" (pause) "mind-blowing".
And then I will most likely receive a great appreciative response...

It works like a charm.

Loner

2005-09-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel myself as a loner

New in Ann Arbor

2005-09-23T01:03:00.000-04:00

The blog hasn't been updated frequently :-(
A lot happened during the last few months.
I graduated, went back home, stayed for exactly one month,
packed my luggage, left my family, things got emotional,
boarded an airplane for the first time in life,
flew over the ocean, and here I am on the other side of the world.

Life here is not as mind-blowing as it was expected to be.
Money, food, appliance, expenditure now become concerns.
The church singspirations are always quite moving.
Free food, free bus, free printing on campus...

Classes began after 3 weeks ago. I'm enrolled in 3 courses. It shouldn't
be a lot of workload.

I'm not sure what this semester would turn out to be...

Last Day at School

2005-07-15T02:52:00.001-04:00

Farewell, my friends, the campus, and the lotus pond...

Graduation

2005-07-04T14:10:00.000-04:00

I'll be graduating on July 12th,
and after that, I'll be kicked out of my dorm and saying goodbye to everything that I've become familiar with during the past 4 years.

These 4 years is a lot of fun, also interleaved with some sadness and bitter-but-sweetness...

connection problem

2005-06-03T13:25:00.000-04:00

it seems that i can access the ip that i can publish articles, but do not have access to the ip that i can view my blog

need a theme

2005-04-29T04:27:00.000-04:00

This blog needs a theme.
I'll be working on it.

something currently on my mind: feelings, movie, tv

starting to feel scared

2005-04-29T04:21:00.000-04:00

After one year's concentration on one thing,
i finally see the finish line ahead.

What is behind that line?

Everything will change...

What am I scared of? Change?

My first blog

2005-04-25T21:39:00.000-04:00

Set up on April 26th (Beijing time).