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James Cameron has indeed made his mark as one of the best director if not the best of all time. Avatar is a visually stimulating and well-paced with sweet-sorrow love story which many has compared to Pocahontas. But the real comparison made is with Titanic, the mega blockbuster hit and the director's last movie 12 years ago. With the help of advanced technology, Cameron has literally brought the movie to life.

Though it has received every praise from everyone that has watched it, I was not compelled to endure the ridiculous lineup to watch the 3 hour show. However, as a friend offered two IMAX 3D center seats, it was hard to refuse. The experience was phenomenal, so real that you can feel the ground shaking as the bombs hit and breathe the air of the magical world.　Believe me that I am not exagerating.

The movie never felt the full 163 minutes it runs simply because the story covers so much detail very efficiently. The film makes me question why not more quality movies are made nowadays with better technology and more experience. Looking at the most recent movie ratings for 2009 films, few made it above 50 out of a 100 when Avatar is easily in the 90s.

Take a note, directors, stop being lazy.

圣诞，新年快乐

正准备出发搭机前往台湾。

终于等到长达三周的假期，而且有佳人为伴，真让人兴奋。

有空再上来报告境况吧。

祝大家圣诞，新年快乐。

第幾個100天

在由JJ作曲、姚若龙填词的《第几个100天》中，经历过最难熬100天的JJ想表达的是“就算面对末日的来临，还是愿意放手一博，明知不可为而为之的坚定信念”。只要愿意相信不轻言放手，不管未来还有几个100天，都让人感动的期待着。同时这也是JJ和所有热爱自己的朋友的约定，接下来的每个一百天，无论发生好与坏悲与喜，只要愿意相信，再见面时，要和大家一起改变命运迎接更美好未来。这既是JJ的承诺，也是每一位热爱生命的赤子情怀的承诺。

The Nutcracker - Goh Ballet & VMO

Vancouver Sun

Globe & Mail

Goh Ballet’s inaugural performance of “The Nutcracker” has given Vancouver a classic to call its own. With Anna-Marie Holmes choreographing a marvelous and entertaining show encompassing some 197 cast members, the story of a little girl who dreams of a winter wonderland has finally come to life.

Never did I know ballet could be so fun. There were dancing bear with a ferocious sauté, a high-kicking grandma, a drunken maid, and a wee gingerbread man that loses one of its arms to a rat. For the role of Drosselmeyer, Holmes chose not a dancer but a professional magician. Damien Carriere brought plenty of wows and wonder throughout the elaborate two-hour show. With kids making up majority of the cast, the sold-out theatre was clapping to giddy effect at every cutesy and funny step.

I quite enjoyed the different dances with ballet, for example, viewers get treated to a waltz, gymnasts Katerena Goston and Orion Sky Radles danced to an Arabian duet, Stanislav Galimkhanov squats and spins ever so beautifully in the Russian dance. There are countless other highlights, including the crazily cute dancing mice and the impossibly pretty Waltz of the Flowers.

What really created the color-hues and effect are the delicately designed costumes as well as the stage backgrounds which were specifically custom-made from China. Elevating the show to even greater heights is the solid live performance of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s score by the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and a pitch-perfect number by the Tzu Chi Children’s Choir and Vancouver Children’s choir.

It is not hard to envision that “The Nutcracker” will become an instant Vancouver December classic. Just simply an amazing performance and you only have 3 more days to catch it. Better hurry.

Private vs. Public

As the Copenhagen talks are set to wind down today, it is worth pointing out that 2009 is a year in which government investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs increased due to green stimulus projects. Linking public and private funds and providing a clearer regulatory environment in the sector will be key though consensus and consistent effort are difficult.

Linking the private with public seems to be the next great obstacle or crisis. This is all the more obvious since the ongoing massive swap from (almost) worthless private debt to (almost) guaranteed public debt will be the lasting bequest of the current financial crisis. Latest forecasts say that the average debt/GDP ratio of OECD countries will soar from less than 70% to more than 100% in the next few years. It is interesting to see what and how fiscal stabilization interventions affect real economy in response.

Meanwhile bubbles are popping up all over the place, from commodities like gold to real estate. Fueling these bubbles is unprecedented confidence levels that seemed to be more hopeful rather than rational. Some would make the argument that major players are simply playing the game of market manipulation and creating a smokescreen to lure the public. Others speculate that all bad things must come to an end (oblivious that by same reasoning, good must turn bad). Can we imagine that we are standing in a volcano ready to erupt at any time?

Google Map

Just learned that there is a little man on the google map that you can drag to your map destination to get a street view of the place, pretty neat eh? That coupled with mapquest and other yellow pages, you can find almost any place and contacts online.

A chapter in life

I awoke in cold bliss of a winter morning, looked outside at the rare sun and started counting down the days to this Christmas. This is the time of year, when the Christmas and New Year holidays reaffirm our reasons for living: amity of kith and kin, the personal gratification of gifts given and familial celebration, when thoughtful people cast about for images to sustain them through otherwise brutal cold.

Today, it’s a rare heartrending hue of sun as over a month of rain clouds have hung tough all month. The oblique rays of the late season sun lent a spectacular predominantly purple sheen to the shifting clouds. For many, we softly slumber, awaiting the clarion call of an awakening earth, the vernal exclamation of rebirth after an extended air of hibernal expiry. That would be many months later.

Until such time, we must wait with our imperfect reminiscence of a brighter, warmer world and keep those recollections alive until they may stir again within our derisory, temporal frames. Poetry seems to be in deep slumber, as well as my much valued self-reflection. There are many changes I seek, things to do and ponder upon, while fatigue threatens to side with the arduous season and keep me in bed under covers.

As the decade comes to an end and after a tedious flood of meetings and events which varies from important to downright waste-of-time, I have finally ended a dramatic chapter in my life. Meanwhile it is the beginning of the next chapter that has me busy and excited. For those who have yet to be informed (you must be feeling left out because I have been announcing it everywhere except on Facebook), this prime piece of bachelor meat is about to be off the shelf. If the picture has not clued you in...... Yes, I am getting married!!

After about 2 and some months of planning and discussions, little has really been settled except maybe the date of the engagement (April 10, 2010) and the wedding (June 29, 2010). I will try and relieve some of the wedding pressures and jitters by ranting online sometimes, but forgive me if sometimes I am too busy or tired to keep everyone up to date.

Bank of Canada warns of debt peril

CBC News

At this point, we should all be realistically weary of the same old doom and gloom news and thus I have cut down on my part to report such. So it turns out that some industries are hit heavy while others are still getting by. For example, second-hand automobile business which was booming due to its affordability is now completely dead with new cars coming out at huge discounts.

While I am out doing Christmas window shopping, it is barely the same festive mood that was so infective. Smiles were still plentiful though mostly on younger faces.

Hang in there, guys.

The Logic of Life - Time Harford

I have been upset that I have not touched some 20 over new books on my table at least for the past 2 months. One of such includes Tim Harford's Logic of Life. There is one particular visualization that impressed me.

'A million years of logic' - It is really hard for us to see how fast things are developing lately. Let's assume all of last million years has happened in one year. Using that scale, we learnt how to control fire sometime in spring and Homo Sapiens appeared in mid-November. Circa 19 December was when we have seen cave paintings. Egyptian Paraohs' time was around 30 December. 31st December have witnessed the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Columbus discovered Americas roughly at 7:30 PM. First world war began 11:10 PM. We invented the internet at 11:50 PM. Google at 11:55, Facebook around 11:58 and iPhone around 11:59. It really gives you a bigger perspective on the concept of time and the pace of evolution. Quite amazing to say the least.

Now, we may be getting ahead of ourselves as dreams are being realized faster than new ones are created. Then the present seems less and less important as the future seems closer every second. Drives you crazy, doesn't it?

Take a second, think about it. Then stop thinking and start living before you are just a past.

lemonade by passion

Love Ballad - Oscar Peterson

Artificial lens implant promises to give patients 'HD vision'

News Link

The new process apparently starts out like a standard procedure for cataracts, but makes use of lenses made from light-sensitive silicone that can be fine tuned several times after the surgery, eventually giving the patient "HD vision" that's said to be better than 20/20. The lenses can apparently even be adjusted for either bifocal or varifocal use, eliminating the need for some patients to wear glasses at all.

Redundant Alphabet

REDUNDANT ALPHABET by toggle

I was standing in a poem,
a pen between my toes,
books, in flights of fancy,
took off in alphabetic rows.

The lines marched on in order
- an expression of escape -
and a comma, not a full-stop
passed sentence by mistake.

The letters leaned lazily,
the italics had a smoke.
They waited back at base-camp
but still no wordsmith spoke.

The words bled into puddles,
dripped slowly off the page,
ignored their printed orders
and deserted in a rage.

In the mutiny that followed
they got above their station.
Whole paragraphs were now involved,
even punctuation!

The muddle in the puddle
dipped its toe into the sea
and it drowned inside a teacup
which was drinking thoughts from me.

I was standing in a teacup,
the words were ankle-deep.
I took them out and dried them
but they all looked rather weak.

---

Reading poems like this boils my blood even on days like this which feels like a writer’s block. The writer's block, I don’t really believe in it. A better alternate explanation is simply, a lack of inspiration.

When I put down my pen, unimpressed with what little I wrote sitting there, slumped on the page like a sullen teenager mocking me, lacking any life or motivation. Just ink smirked on a page, random words, nothing more.

Redundant is correct. Rheutorical is understating my plight. I've got the Monday blues.

Gentle Waltz - Oscar Peterson

Howl's Moving Castle Theme & Ocarina of Time - Zelda's Lullaby

Michael Bublé - "Haven't Met You Yet"

CUTE!!!! And great song.

Everything is going to be alright

Mr. Bob Rennie has a message to tell everyone. He has put up a sign on his building in Chinatown that says "Everything Will be Alright". This sign is actually the work of British artist Martin Creed. The sign is clearly visible from the Georgia Street Viaduct when looking North.

This from Bob Rennie, BC Business magazine, 2 Sept 2009 -

“On the exterior walls of my new offices in Chinatown, I’ve installed a 23-metre neon work of art by Britain’s Martin Creed. It reads, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. And it will. Yes, we boomers are on the downward side of our peak earning years. Yes, we’ve experienced the biggest financial collapse in our lifetime. We will have to institute dramatic changes in how we entertain ourselves, where and how we travel, what we drive, where we live and how we ultimately pass on wealth to our children. For the enterprising business person, there are many opportunities out there to capitalize on this new reality. But for those praying for a return to yesterday, forget it. It’s gone.”

Just look at Dubai. Some dreams are gone.

Meteor Shower - 让我为你唱首歌 / 大舌头 / 爱的华尔兹

薛之谦 - 未完成的歌

蔡淳佳 [回到最初]

卓文萱Genie-一秒也好

張靚穎-花木蘭主題曲-木蘭星

神木與瞳 - 草戒指

张杰 《我们都一样》《龙鳞》

爱要说出口

高远留言惑众说“有些人明明不爱却要装作爱一个人，所以她注定不快乐。而有些人明明爱着却要假装不爱一个人，所以他注定寂寞。”

几米说: 当你喜欢我的时候，我不喜欢你,当你爱上我的时候，我喜欢上你, 当你离开我的时候，我却爱上你,是你走得太快，还是我跟不上你的脚步, 我们错过了诺亚方舟,错过了泰坦尼克号,错过了一切的惊险与不惊险,我们还要继续错过. 我不了解我的寂寞来自何方，但我真的感到寂寞。你也寂寞，世界上每个人都寂寞，只是大家的寂寞都不同吧。

三毛说: 某些人的爱情，只是一种“当时的情绪”。如果对方错将这份情绪当做长远的爱情，是本身的幼稚。

张小娴说：爱情结束后，请选择“沉默”。你可以喊三两最好的朋友去K歌，使劲吼，就唱那首“其实不想走，其实我想留”，然后在某个时间点突然嚎啕大哭。就算你是男生，也没什么丢人的，不难过只能说你没有真心爱过。

安妮宝贝说“我想我们终于不再爱了，这样真好。我们给过彼此的眼泪和疼痛，如风飘远”

莎士比亚说: 再好的东西都有失去的一天。再深的记忆也有淡忘的一天。再爱的人，也有远走的一天。再美的梦也有苏醒的一天。该放弃的决不挽留。该珍惜的决不放手，分手后不可以做朋友，因为彼此伤害过！也不可以做敌人，因为彼此深爱过

雪小禅说: 我以为终有一天，我会彻底将爱情忘记，将你忘记，可是，忽然有一天，我听到了一首旧歌，我的眼泪就下来了，因为这首歌，我们一起听过。

三毛说: 一个朋友很好，两个朋友就多了一点，三个朋友就未免太多了。知音，能有一个已经很好了，不必太多，如果实在没有，还有自己，好好对待自己，跟自己相处，也是一个朋友...

张爱玲说: 娶了红玫瑰，久而久之，红玫瑰就变成了墙上的一抹蚊子血，白玫瑰还是“床前明月光”；娶了白玫瑰，白玫瑰就是衣服上的一粒饭渣子，红的还是心口上的一颗朱砂痣。

张小娴说：思念一个人，不必天天见，不必互相拥有或相互毁灭，不是朝思暮想，而是一天总想起他几次。听不到他的声音时，会担心他。一个人在外地时，会想念和他一起的时光。

亦舒说: 无论怎么样，一个人借故堕落总是不值得原谅的，越是没有人爱，越要爱自己。

张小娴说: 爱，从来就是一件千回百转的事。不曾被离弃，不曾受伤害，怎懂得爱人？

遇见平凡说: 缘分像一本书。翻的不经意会错过童话读得太认真又会流干眼泪

张小娴说:寂寞的人，感冒会拖得特别的久，因为她自己也不想痊愈

安妮宝贝说: 当一个女子在看天空的时候，她并不想寻找什么。她只是寂寞。

安妮宝贝说“不相信爱情，却相信世界的某一处有一个人，一直等在那里。只是不知道会何时何地的出现。总是快乐而孤独地等着他。也这样就可以过了一生。”

亦舒说: 人们日常所犯最大的错误，是对陌生人太客气，而对亲密的人太苛刻，把这个坏习惯改过来，天下太平。

郭敬明说: 我终于发现自己看人的眼光太过简单,我从来没有去想面具下面是一张怎样的面容,我总是直接把面具当做面孔来对待,却忘记了笑脸面具下往往都是一张流着泪的脸..

张小娴说:如果有一天我们在路上重逢，而我告诉你：“我现在很幸福。”
我一定是伪装的如果只能够跟你重逢，而不是共同生活，那怎么会幸福呢？告诉你我很幸福， 只是不想让你知道我其实很伤心。

刘心武说: 不要指望，麻雀会飞得很高。高处的天空，那是鹰的领地。麻雀如果摆正了自己的位置，它照样会过得很幸福！

安妮宝贝说“那一瞬间，你终于发现，那曾深爱过的人，早在告别的那天，心中的爱和思念，都只是自己曾经拥有过的纪念

张小娴说：如果没有很大把握，又或者没有坚定地信念，请不要说太长久的承诺。相爱时叫承诺，不爱的时候呢？也不是谎言吧。毕竟爱着的时候就算说了地久天长，相信也是出自真心。只不过后来的离开，不是自己能把握的。

三毛说: 不要害怕拒绝他人，如果自己的理由出于正当。当一个人开口提出要求的时候，他的心里根本预备好了两种答案。所以，给他任何一个其中的答案，都是意料中的。

郭敖说: 我们始终都在练习微笑，终于变成不敢哭的人。

玄漪说: 能够说出的委屈，便不算委屈；能够抢走的爱人，便不算爱人。

梓色心晴说: 男人哭了，是因为他真的爱了~ 女人哭了，是因为她真得放弃了~ 。

张爱玲说: 爱情本来并不复杂，来来去去不过三个字，不是我爱你、我恨你，便是算了吧、你好吗、对不起。

郭敖说: 每个人一生之中心里总会藏着一个人，也许这个人永远都不会知道，尽管如此，这个人始终都无法被谁所替代。而那个人就像一个永远无法愈合的伤疤，无论在什么时候，只要被提起，或者轻轻的一碰，就会隐隐作痛

饶雪漫说: 这个世界欺骗了我，我必须给与还击，我不会放掉任何一丁点儿属于我的幸福，哪怕付出的代价是从此坠入地狱，我也在所不惜。

张小娴说: 如果没法忘记他，就不要忘记好了。真正的忘记，是不需要努力的。

三毛说: 某些人的爱情，只是一种“当时的情绪”。如果对方错将这份情绪当做长远的爱情，是本身的幼稚。

张爱玲说: 因为爱过，所以慈悲；因为懂得，所以宽容

张小娴说：不要在爱情结束后，把那个你曾经爱过的人到处指责，将TA说的一无是处。没必要的，既然留不住心，不如留下那份感情的纯洁度，蒙了尘，也就减损了回忆的价值。

张小娴说:寂寞的人，感冒会拖得特别的久，因为她自己也不想痊愈

2012

Where to start apportioning blame? Starting with the long-held misapprehension that the Mayan calendar picks 2012 as the date of humanity's doom, Emmerich fleshes out that bit of pseudo-history with some pseudo-science -- some nonsense about solar flares, and neutrinos heating the Earth's core -- and while at it, throws in hundreds of millions of dollars. Director Roland Emmerich is the very one who threatened the world with aliens in Independence Day, global warming in The Day After Tomorrow and now solar fire from the earth's core in 2012. You get my drift. Idea for next Emmerich movie - Things fall down, things blow up, world in danger, hero saves the day.

Predictability must be a crime. While it is fun watching Cusack consistently escape the earthquakes always by a hairline, you have to ask what in God's name did this guy do to be this lucky. Then you are left wondering why is it in all disaster movies, landmarks fall like dominos. The Empire State Building is made of rubber. The Golden Gate Bridge collapses like straws Big Ben ticks his last. The Eiffel Tower? And the most important of them all, Statue of Liberty! Well, I suppose nothing is as dramatic as taking the landmarks, symbols of civilization out. And it is getting quite tiresome that we see politics dictate even in such dire times. Can't we just assume for once that human lives are worth more than money, fame and power especially when threatened with extinction?

In any case, 2012 makes for a better case than the millenium bug of Y2K. Wow, the bug was scary..... I assume in another decade, we will be laughing at this one too. Anyways, I am inclined to give one of my harshest reviews yet. A 2/10 for lack of novelty, lame script, weak lines and plot, and a good waste of perfectly capable actors/actresses. Depth, guys, next time in a disaster, I would prefer to see the humanity side, down to the commoner. Honestly, heroism is not relatable to the public.

Lee Da Hae - Glorious smile

Profile

Name: Lee Da Hae (Yi Da Hae) / 이다해 李多海
Real name: Byun Da Hye (Byeon Da Hye) / 변다혜
Date of birth: 1984-Apr-19
Place of birth: Seoul, South Korea
Height: 170cm
Weight: 47kg
Horoscope: Aries
Blood type: O
Profession: Actress and model

偷得浮生半日闲

举一招牌“失物招领”，望明了者，能解多少解多少，不明者，难得糊涂，呵呵一笑。徘徊在明与不明之间，与心相约，君独长叹。

在迷雾伸手不见五指时，你眼前是谁。在你深爱一个人时，谁陪在身边。当心中之火在煽起之余，片刻间，心又平静如初。

“今日夕阳照独影，人去楼空夜将侵；明日胜景依然在，明日过后还再来。”；

“人生最怕看透，看透再难遇春秀”；

“世事漫随流水，算来一梦浮生！”。

往事多多，如之奈何；甜酸苦辣，亦悲亦乐。数十年去，日月如梭。甜罢苦罢，回头皆乐。生无遗憾，死无愧。

那闲适的心情，无时间的约束，一壶铁观音，以抒乐为伴，浮生半日，难得清闲

Swearing Can Reduce Pain

Long thought to help express frustration and reduce stress in difficult or anxiety producing circumstances – ask any women who has gone through childbirth or a construction worker who has hit his finger with a hammer – it now turns out that swearing may actually reduce the pain or at least increase tolerance to it.

In a new study published recently in Neuro Report, researchers at Keele University’s School of Psychology in England had 64 undergraduates submerge their hands in buckets of icy water twice. The first time, participants repeated a curse word over and over. The next time, they repeated a neutral word.

When they repeated the curse words, participants were able to withstand the water longer and reported a lesser pain level than when they repeated the common, everyday word. Be warned that the pain-lessening effect only works in extreme situation. As swearing is an emotional language, if overused, it loses its emotional attachment

Could be useful knowledge in times of distress.

Chewing gum boosts academic performance

Here is a surprise for generations of school teachers who forced their students to throw out their chewing gum. A new study by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine suggests that the act of chewing gum can boost academic performance.

Specifically, the study found that students aged 13-16, who chewed sugar-free gum during a 14 week math class, scored 3% higher in a standardized test. While more research is required for conclusive findings, chewing sugar-free gum for several minutes in rhythm seemed to have the effects of focusing attention, improving alertness, increasing response time and even improving memory.

In truth, no one is sure how chomping on a stick of gum helps improve cognition. Among the popular theories: gum chewing reduces stress and relieves tension just like other exercises; or it increases blood flow to the brain as well as releases insulin to parts of the brain related to learning and memory; or that the repetitive process of chewing while studying helps reinforce the learning.

Singapore is looking mighty stupid now for banning gums. Maybe they should unban it for 13-16 age groups. Just a thought.

Social Revolution

Bed-ridden with a ridiculous migraine and a nose those doesn't stop, there were signs everywhere that this year's winter will be colder than ever. The rain feels like it has not stopped in a month. Then on days when you feel warm, the chilling winds remind you otherwise.

As I was cleaning my facebook of game requests like Mafia Wars and Superhero City on Facebook, I came across this video on social revolution. The cold outside is really nothing compared to the coldness of the human spirit which seemed to have gotten lost in this age.



What many people don't realize is that the Mayan/Aztec Calender predicts not the end of the world but rather an era. And for that, I hope we are reverting back to a more environmental conscious and compassion breeding era.

God Speed.

NBA!! I love this game!!

Brandon Jennings scored 55 breaking Bucks' rookie scoring record of 51 set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) on Feb. 21, 1970 in a game against Seattle SuperSonics that was played in Portland, Ore.


What can I say about Dwayne Wade? He's just sick.

Meanwhile, the Cavs are getting better but is still trying to gel with Shaq in the system. Hawks and Phoenix are surprisingly the best in the East and West respectively. Phoenix's reversion back to its run and gun ways has rejuvenated Steve Nash whose assists look as sleek and crisp as ever. Chris Paul went down on Friday and is in pain; Monday's examination results will show how bad his injury is. Camelo has matured into a deadly scorer as Denver is off to a hot start. Kobe is leading all scorers, shouldering the Laker's scoring load with Gasol out for now but he is also getting a lot of help from a maturing Andrew Bynum.

The season is just about 10% in and there are plenty happening. There are several matchups I hope to see in the playoffs. Denver vs. Lakers. Cleveland vs. Miami/Orlando. Phoenix vs. San Antonio/Lakers. Boston vs. Orlando/Cleveland. Then finally Cleveland vs . Lakers/Phoenix.

Food Inc.

I have never been a fan of documentaries but Food Inc. is a very interesting and informative source that will provide you with important insight of the food industry and will have you leaving a changed person.

If you look at the supermarket shelves featuring the cheap dollar food, you soon realize that they are not the healthy kind. Most of the shelf products can be traced to corns which has huge and aggressively lobbied government subsidies allowing it to be sold under the price of production. This in turn leads to the transformation of farms into factories of mass-produced, corn-fed cattle. As cattles are herbivorous, changing their diet causes their biological system to adapt and mutate, creating sicknesses and diseases which are then spread on to the consumers and the plants which their manure fertilizes. However, people are are reluctant to revert back to the natural order which would cut away all the processing steps but not be production-efficient, as a result, the solution was to add another cleansing process such as meat-filing with ammonia.

Then there are the exploitation of cheap labor with degrading and inhumane conditions. It is also enraging that the government targets these illegal immigrants instead of the big companies employing them. In a nutshell, while the businesses are cutting costs, environmental costs and health costs are shifted effectively to the public. So while mega-corporates are making their billions, billions of people are suffering as a result.

The Virginia farmer Joel Salatin, a focal point of Pollan's book, speaks with earthy pride for healthful, locally grown food. He gazes at livestock grazing on his land and marvels at the grass that feeds them and the manure that fertilizes it. How much more efficient can you get than nature itself?

A working-class Latino family, the Orozcos, who can afford only the same fast foods and junk foods that have weakened the truck-driver father, a diabetic, and have set one of his two daughters on the road to obesity. Whatever they save at the drive-through gets eaten up in medical bills.

So maybe it is time to reevaluate our priorities. Maybe it is time we pay attention to what we are encouraging by virtue of what we eat and do. Highly recommended - A+, 5 stars.

Manipulation

How important is the art of manipulation? Everything today from business, politics, accounting to love and marriage involve manipulation. On one hand, it reflects the ability of the human race to exercise its intellectual superiority over other races and exploit for personal benefit. The most common form of manipulation is lying - call it packaging, call it art of negotiation, call it eloquence for all I care. We are making Machiavelli look more and more like a genius as we continue under the façade of peace and democracy, brewing selfishness and greed along the way.

Two days back, just three months after taking the job, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche told the board he's ready to quit. Insiders say Benmosche feels compensation restrictions imposed by pay czar Kenneth Feinberg have left him in an impossible situation, without the ability to retain talent. Since when did we get so greedy that a salary that amounts in the millions are not enough? Note that just the high executive pays alone can easily pay for all enough food and shelter for the poor and homeless. But the irony would be that without exploiting the poor, homeless and other weaker classes, the executives would not be able to justify their salary.

Do you think that the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression can so easily have recovered with monetary controls? Clearly the news and optimistic numbers must be flawed, especially if you have the chance to survey the actual economic environment in the US among others. Businesses are closing, real estate dropping, unemployment rising and why is no one talking about the increase in crime rate?

Times have changed. There was a time when science was for the betterment of quality of life and evolution of the race. There was a time when peace and prosperity was built as a whole. But now, it is one’s ability to manipulate without his conscience getting in the way that determines his status in society and how many view success. That is the mindset society instills in you through constant propagandizing and brainwash.

Not many are as lucky and blessed as I, born in a good and loving family, without the burden of making ends meet and pressure to succumb to social conformity. Denial is certain and so is my conscience. That is when I realized that manipulation is no longer just an art. It is a prerequisite skill for survival.

Bugatti Veyron Sport 16.4 Launching in Canada

Honestly, Buggati should always come in 2 color tone for contrast. They should have shown the hard top first before the soft top as it looks better and those who left early would have missed out. The interior design and material are very much like Bentley, but that should come as no surprise as Volkswagen owns both of them (and Lambourghini, Posche, Audi etc.).

Tonight's launching at Round House was elegantly presented and easily a success. The distinguished crowd gathered to witness the awesomeness of the fastest and most expensive car in the world. Then my good friend, Manuel, also provided the musical company of the most expensive piano Fazioli M. Liminal played by Lester Soo (who graciously lent me his treasured music folder after his performance).

Well, I will reserve the rest of my excitement for when I get to test drive it tomorrow.

Kristin Chenoweth

李嘉欣 - 最美的港姐

英文名字 ： Michele Lee
别名昵称 ：MicheleMoniqueReis
出生日期或生日： 1970年06月20日
国家或地区 ：香港
身高 ：172 厘米
体重 ：52 公斤