Sunday, September 30, 2007

Emergence of the Market that is the E.U. Subsumes Democracy In Its' Wake

Just finished reading Perry Anderson's article on the delusions of Europe as the new city on the hill.

Pensée unique - an ironic description and a critique of the tendency for French opinion to align with those of the European Union.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

How to make money off oil companies

1. Find a productive well
2. Buy up all the land around it
3. Find out how much the well is producing, potential reserves would also suffice
4. Take your findings to court
5. Count your monies as they roll in
6. Repeat


Disclaimer - you can only do this in Texas

Sunday, September 23, 2007

How they fare over the Atlantic

This financial crisis could be a historic chance for Brown

"In the long history of Labour as a governing party, nothing - but nothing - has been as politically destructive as financial crisis. The slump of 1931, the devaluations of 1949 and 1967 and the IMF bail-out of 1976 inflicted mortal wounds that destroyed four Labour prime ministers and sent four Labour governments to their electoral graves. Collectively these events had an even more devastating effect, cumulatively undermining the plausibility of the entire 20th century Labour governmental project and barring the way to a sustained British social democratic settlement on European lines."

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Drunk in Autumn Woods




“In olden times Hutou (Gu Kaizhi) had three incomparable attainments; now I have three kninds of madness: I am mad, my words are mad, and my painting is mad. How can one achieve true madness? Now I shall present this piece of madness to my venerable elder, Mr. Song; then I shall have achieved true madness.”

He ends, “This is only to provoke a laugh…” and signs it.

Next day he added another quatrain:

“In a moment, smoke and clouds can return to their previous form:
The whole sky is full of red trees spreading fire all over heaven.
I invite you to get drunk with my black brush strokes;
To lie and watch the frosted forest where the falling leaves spin.”

Monday, September 17, 2007

Ministry of Miscommunications

One of my cousin thinks that I am a gambling addict:

5:59 AM 青: Hi,最近好吗?
me: 还可以
现在在学校吗?
青: 是啊。
6:00 AM 你现在那边应该是早晨吧?
me: 早上6点钟
6:01 AM 青: 好早啊。你不用睡的啊。
me: 还没睡呢
6:02 AM 刚刚才回家
青: 哦,做什么去啦?
6:03 AM me: 打牌
青: 晕!!!!!!
你在堕落啊。
6:04 AM me: 什么?
6:05 AM 青: 就是你为了打牌通宵不睡。给我就不行。
6:06 AM me: 不是你平时打的牌
6:07 AM 是游戏牌
叫做什么magic - the gathering

棋王

"I very much regret using oil to express my discontentment toward life, and using books and movies, these types of things that could be had or could not be had, to express my dissatisfaction toward life, because he honestly looks at these as things beyond baseline. He wouldn't worry for these things. I suddenly feel drained, partly agreeing to his statement. Yes, what else is needed? Am I not feeling pretty well? No need to eat this meal and worry about the next. No matter how dilapidated the bed, it is still one's own, no need to scurry around for places to find a place to spend the night. But for what am I often worried about? Why am I predisposed to want to read some particular book, film, these types of things. Just turn on the light and people will fully wake up, what am I getting at/what purpose am I trying to achieve? But I faintly have these desires in my heart that cannot be fully explained, yet I can convey they are related to some things in life."

Thief: The Dark Project

One of my favorite games of all time:











Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Art, science, industry, Ayn Rand, megalomania


"A man chooses, a slave obeys."

Rapture - the towering achievement of "objectivism", laid bare to those of us who want to pluck the mind, and the abyss, of genius. Unfettered from petty morality, and held up by the gods of art, science, and industry...



Monday, September 03, 2007

Down with the second round of simplification!

Even Simpler Than Before--化 境 神 似

Just came across 象 in place of 像. My immediate reaction is, life without blood?! What travesty!