President Hoover use to speak to his wife in Chinese when they did not want to be overheard talking about whatever sensitive topics presidents and president's wives talk about. What a hoot!

The case of the blind Chinese lawyer is getting more muddy. After being release from a four year jail term for traffic violations and property damage, the guy was under heavy house arrest. He was able to sneak to the American Embassy (injuring a foot on the run) where he sought refuge. Then he surprisingly decided to leave the Embassy and remain in ( Read more... )

Best rock composers according to me:

Here is the beginning of my list:

David Bowie
Tom Petty
Ray Davies

expanding the list would take some time as I would get sucked into listening to hours of music which I can't do at noon on a weekday, yanowaddamean?

Two words I never include in my vocabulary are hipster and emo. Whenever someone uses one or both of those words around me I sense not only a tone of condescension but also a hint of envy/jealousy. One must realize that the skinny pants, cool food trucks, all that fun shit, etc. that provide indulgence to the masses were once part of obscurity in ( Read more... )

I love that every time North Korea tries to flex their military muscle they fail miserably.  The last rocket that failed to hit a threatening target trajectory was in 2009 and the recent last one blew up right after take-off. I can hear the sigh as the fear in the West is alleviated. This is good news. I really despise their cult-like autocracy.

Best Soundtracks (that I have and according to me)

Ghost World
The Royal Tenenbaums
Kids
Darjeeling Limited  

  With the world's attention on Iran this is a good time to wonder what would happen if Iran did get in some beef with Israel (or the United States). With Ahmadinejad showing off the nuclear fuel rods in Iran, the time gap for sabotaging their effort is getting smaller and smaller.  A couple of weeks ago the New York Times Magazine ran a cover ( Read more... )

"On December 8, 2011, the original secret formula to Coca-Cola has been removed from the vault at SunTrust Banks to a new vault containing the formula which will be on display for visitors to itsWorld of Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta. The formula had been held in the vault at SunTrust Banks for 86 years." wikipedia, yo!

"You know what the trouble is, Brucey? We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." - Frank Sobotka (The Wire)

"In Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Isaacson describes Jobs' attraction to "Japanese style" (pages 127-128) and lists I.M. Pei as one of the style's stars.  I.M. Pei is Chinese."

come on dawg, everybody knows that