上联：情已欠费爱已停机缘分不在服务区
下联：思无应答想也占线感情不能再充电
横批：心若移动如何联通
上联：假名假姓假地址
下联：骗吃骗喝骗感情
横批：愿者上钩
上联：风在刮，雨在下，我在等你回电话
下联：为你生，为你死，为你守候一辈子
横批：发错人了
上联：爱国爱家爱师妹
下联：防火防盗防师兄
横批：恋爱自由
上联：看背影急煞千军万马
下联：转过头吓退百万雄师
横批：我的妈呀!
上联：说你行你就行不行也行
下联：说不行就不行行也不行
横批：不服不行
上联：忆往昔，红米饭，南瓜汤，老婆一个，小孩一帮
下联：看今朝，白米饭，王八汤，小孩一个，老婆一帮
横批：与时俱进
上联：为你痴为你累为你受尽所有罪
下联：为你死为你狂为你咣咣撞大墙
横批：为爱疯狂
上联：爱与被爱都艰难
下联：有情有缘要时间
横批：情义无价
某大龄男子于公园中遇一大龄女子
男出上联：空有一身牛劲，无地可耕
女对下联：枉闲二亩良田，等人来犁
横批：浪费可耻
上联：爱已停牌，情也斩仓，缘分滑到跌停板
下联：思正牛市，想无熊市，感情无法投长线
横批：赶紧补仓
上联：男生，女生，穷书生，生生不息
下联：初恋，热恋，婚外恋，恋恋不舍
横批：生无可恋
上联：我爱的人名花有主
下联：爱我的人惨不忍睹
横批：命苦
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Iron Man 2
Tony Sparks is back and loving the limelight. Downey's wit and charm has made Iron Man a national icon while the generator in his chest that keeps him alive is slowly poisoning his blood. The little blood monitor--helpfully named the "Stark Blood Monitor," tells him his Blood Toxicity is relentlessly climbing toward death, albeit a ridiculous pace which also dictates the pace of the show.
I get the feeling that this sequel is more about Iron Man's struggle with his identity and facing death than anything else. As a man trying to deal with imminent death, Downey must control his affections for his assistant Pepper Potts. Then you have the irritating U.S. government who are pressurizing him to hand over his suit.
The story would not be complete without a villain and thus a gold-toothed Russian named Vanko (Mickey Rourke) shows up with a lame hatred of the Stark family. With a man as intelligent as Vanko, he sure didn't put up much of a fight which is rather disappointing. Why would he put himself in danger if he can have droids do his work for him?
A couple of interesting characters do make their appearances. New comer Scarlett Johansson is Natalie, aka Black Widow. Don Cheadle takes over from "Iron Man 1's" Terrence Howard as Tony's pal Lt. Col. Jim Rhodes, known as War Machine which is a brand of silver Iron Man armour. And Samuel L. Jackson is eye-patched S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury. All of which points at the next sequel.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts is promoted to CEO which Gwyneth never really pulled off and what is supposed to be lover's banter falls flat. Sam Rockwell snakes around as a Stark-lite rival industrialist which really represents corporate evilness and greed. John Slattery ("Mad Men") has a nice nostalgic moment as Tony's late father, which I swear was dull and blank even though it was meant to be emotional.
Overall, the movie is fun, funny at parts and worth a movie ticket as compared to a concurrent film Russel Crowe's "Robin Hood".
7/10. Might as well watch it since sequels are sure to follow.
I get the feeling that this sequel is more about Iron Man's struggle with his identity and facing death than anything else. As a man trying to deal with imminent death, Downey must control his affections for his assistant Pepper Potts. Then you have the irritating U.S. government who are pressurizing him to hand over his suit.
The story would not be complete without a villain and thus a gold-toothed Russian named Vanko (Mickey Rourke) shows up with a lame hatred of the Stark family. With a man as intelligent as Vanko, he sure didn't put up much of a fight which is rather disappointing. Why would he put himself in danger if he can have droids do his work for him?
A couple of interesting characters do make their appearances. New comer Scarlett Johansson is Natalie, aka Black Widow. Don Cheadle takes over from "Iron Man 1's" Terrence Howard as Tony's pal Lt. Col. Jim Rhodes, known as War Machine which is a brand of silver Iron Man armour. And Samuel L. Jackson is eye-patched S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury. All of which points at the next sequel.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts is promoted to CEO which Gwyneth never really pulled off and what is supposed to be lover's banter falls flat. Sam Rockwell snakes around as a Stark-lite rival industrialist which really represents corporate evilness and greed. John Slattery ("Mad Men") has a nice nostalgic moment as Tony's late father, which I swear was dull and blank even though it was meant to be emotional.
Overall, the movie is fun, funny at parts and worth a movie ticket as compared to a concurrent film Russel Crowe's "Robin Hood".
7/10. Might as well watch it since sequels are sure to follow.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The fall of the Euro
If volcanic ashes were not enough, how about an economic crisis? Greece proved to be a spark for what would be an overhaul of the Euro system which has seen the Euro dollar take a plummeting since the start of the month. The immediate impact of the euro crisis has been (a) a fall in oil prices (b) a fall in long-term interest rates, both of which have transnational implications, which means this would be a good time to examine what exactly is wrong with the Euro and where is it headed.
Perhaps the most startling and frustrating thing about the debate over the fate of the euro is the way almost everyone avoids confronting the core issue. With a unified currency, adjustment to differential shocks requires adjustments in relative wages - and because the nations of the European periphery have gone from boom to bust, their adjustment must be downward. At this point, wages in Greece/Spain/Portugal/Latvia/Estonia etc. need to fall something like 20-30 percent relative to wages in Germany. Of course this would set off wide-spread discontent.
The Greek budget crisis has made it clear that something must be done to limit fiscal deficits in eurozone countries. The attempt to do so with the group's Stability and Growth Pact has failed and there is now political consensus in Europe that new rules are needed to prevent large deficits.
There have been no agreement on what should be done and none expected soon. The European Commission proposed last week that the national budgets of each country be examined by the others before they are approved. It would clearly be anathema to the German government to have its spending and tax policies approved by France, let alone by Greece and Portugal. The problem therefore to find a way to prevent excessive deficits while leaving member states free to shape their own spending and tax policies.
Here something may be learnt from United States. Although the 50 states share a currency and each sets its own spending and tax policies, state deficits remain very low. Even California has a deficit of only about 1 percent of the state's GDP and total general obligation debt of less than 4 percent of state GDP. The basic reason for these small deficits is that each state's constitution prohibits borrowing for operating purposes. In some states, these self-imposed restrictions go back to the 19th century, a time when excessive borrowing led to state defaults. Those states wanted to assure potential lenders that such excess borrowing would not happen again. Over time, all states adopted such rules to help make the bonds they issued for capital expenditures attractive to investors.
If the EMU governments were to adopt similar constitutional rules, the interest rates on their bonds would fall. Of course, important differences exist between EMU members and the U.S. states. Because Europe lacks a central fiscal authority, some provision must be made for temporary deficits when economic conditions warrant. European nations also have national security responsibilities that may require surges in defense spending. But if the budget rules are well articulated, the effectiveness of the fiscal discipline will remain.
Germany recently adopted such a constitutional amendment. Germany's central government must reduce its deficit to 0.35 percent of GDP by 2016 unless a decline in GDP causes a larger deficit. Other EMU nations could follow Germany's example because doing so would bring down their interest rates. The European Central Bank could accelerate this process by restricting collateral to bonds issued by governments with satisfactory constitutional limits on their deficits. The combination of national self-interest in achieving lower interest rates and an ECB rule on allowable collateral would create a powerful restriction on deficits. It would also leave member governments free to determine the structure and levels of their taxes and spending, as long as their decisions did not violate their self-imposed constitutional limits.
Meanwhile, Gold and the US Dollar have been great beneficiaries from the Euro crisis as people seek alternative to the Euro for real value.
Perhaps the most startling and frustrating thing about the debate over the fate of the euro is the way almost everyone avoids confronting the core issue. With a unified currency, adjustment to differential shocks requires adjustments in relative wages - and because the nations of the European periphery have gone from boom to bust, their adjustment must be downward. At this point, wages in Greece/Spain/Portugal/Latvia/Estonia etc. need to fall something like 20-30 percent relative to wages in Germany. Of course this would set off wide-spread discontent.
The Greek budget crisis has made it clear that something must be done to limit fiscal deficits in eurozone countries. The attempt to do so with the group's Stability and Growth Pact has failed and there is now political consensus in Europe that new rules are needed to prevent large deficits.
There have been no agreement on what should be done and none expected soon. The European Commission proposed last week that the national budgets of each country be examined by the others before they are approved. It would clearly be anathema to the German government to have its spending and tax policies approved by France, let alone by Greece and Portugal. The problem therefore to find a way to prevent excessive deficits while leaving member states free to shape their own spending and tax policies.
Here something may be learnt from United States. Although the 50 states share a currency and each sets its own spending and tax policies, state deficits remain very low. Even California has a deficit of only about 1 percent of the state's GDP and total general obligation debt of less than 4 percent of state GDP. The basic reason for these small deficits is that each state's constitution prohibits borrowing for operating purposes. In some states, these self-imposed restrictions go back to the 19th century, a time when excessive borrowing led to state defaults. Those states wanted to assure potential lenders that such excess borrowing would not happen again. Over time, all states adopted such rules to help make the bonds they issued for capital expenditures attractive to investors.
If the EMU governments were to adopt similar constitutional rules, the interest rates on their bonds would fall. Of course, important differences exist between EMU members and the U.S. states. Because Europe lacks a central fiscal authority, some provision must be made for temporary deficits when economic conditions warrant. European nations also have national security responsibilities that may require surges in defense spending. But if the budget rules are well articulated, the effectiveness of the fiscal discipline will remain.
Germany recently adopted such a constitutional amendment. Germany's central government must reduce its deficit to 0.35 percent of GDP by 2016 unless a decline in GDP causes a larger deficit. Other EMU nations could follow Germany's example because doing so would bring down their interest rates. The European Central Bank could accelerate this process by restricting collateral to bonds issued by governments with satisfactory constitutional limits on their deficits. The combination of national self-interest in achieving lower interest rates and an ECB rule on allowable collateral would create a powerful restriction on deficits. It would also leave member governments free to determine the structure and levels of their taxes and spending, as long as their decisions did not violate their self-imposed constitutional limits.
Meanwhile, Gold and the US Dollar have been great beneficiaries from the Euro crisis as people seek alternative to the Euro for real value.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Ethan and Monica's Wedding
The afternoon ceremony was held at the beautiful Northview Golf & Country Club. Monica is beautiful as always and they looked so happy together. Did I mention this is my first Korean wedding? It was really fun to watch Ethan carry Monica into the Banquet room (I heard in Korea, they have to carry the bride's mom in as well).
Anyways, led by Daniel Bae and Ken Hsieh, two relentless funsters, kiss requests were aplenty. Never have I seen a more shy bride who shuns and blushes, poor Ethan had to grab her by the waist and turn her into a helpless angle to relieve his passion.
It was simple but sweet. It really warms my heart that yet another good friend has found her happiness and bliss.
Anyways, led by Daniel Bae and Ken Hsieh, two relentless funsters, kiss requests were aplenty. Never have I seen a more shy bride who shuns and blushes, poor Ethan had to grab her by the waist and turn her into a helpless angle to relieve his passion.
It was simple but sweet. It really warms my heart that yet another good friend has found her happiness and bliss.
Monday, May 10, 2010
欧洲之行之尾 - 巴黎购物
离开了希腊，又回到巴黎，要待两天，顺便把该买的解决一下。我们这两天住在La Defence的Sofitel。虽然是五星级酒店，不过稍嫌位置偏远，是巴黎的最西边。还好它是巴黎的商业中心，地铁就在旁边，而且不到五分钟就可以步行到[新凯旋门]。
办完酒店手续，我们赶往[LaFoye]购物。因为今天是周六，而巴黎的百货公司周日都休息，这里真是人潮汹涌，在退税区的团队更是挤的水泄不通。其实巴黎的本产名牌真是比外地便宜很多，就拿LV来说，加加减减后落差可能两三成不止，而且款式又新又多。欧元最近不景气，大家可能都是乘机消费。商店八点打烊，我们回到酒店时已经九点多了。
第二天，我们更是神勇，从[凯旋门]一直走到[巴黎铁塔]。由于是周六，人潮拥挤，排队都要几个小时，因此我们打消了上塔观景的打算。在[塞纳河]边享用了此行的最后晚餐，兴奋的同时，深感疲累。
两个礼拜不停的走动，双脚发疼，尤其是小腿跟脚板，虽然睡眠充足，不过体力始终消耗未复。照了下镜子，我是晒黑了。这里的气候使得我们皮肤干燥。想想，我们身上还真不少战利品呢。
要离开欧洲时，不要忘了退税。退税过程很慢，建议大家以后不要取领现金，直接寄单存入信用卡比较方便。我们团队之前就是因为退税过程太慢，差点赶不上飞机，最后也只有一两个人有退到税，大家怨气冲天。我们来来回回，scan了，打印了，也耗上一个多小时。有些单还一定要寄去退税，不能领取现金，简直荒谬。反正搞到我们问了无数次，那里的人又英文不好，浪费了很多时间，赶紧追机，最后刚好赶上，一肚子火起飞了。
算了，总算能松一口气，终于可以回家了。幸好长荣这次没多少人，有一半是空位，也许是最近的暴乱和火山灰的影响吧。我们可以换到我们想要的位子。
快点休息吧。到了台湾后，隔天还要赶去新加坡，然后后天又要飞往日本结温哥华。光想就已经累了。
Saturday, May 8, 2010
希腊之游 - Santorini
希腊之美胜过言语，照片为证。
我们住在离Fira不远的Imerovigli的Heliotopos酒店。在网上订购时，大家对Heliotopos的评价很高，尤其是服务。几天下来，的确如此，每天都可以免费享受Breakfast in Bed的服务，每天都有无数问题向他们求助，而他们总是有求必应。这是个小酒店，仅仅十间房间，服务员基本上是一脚踢。
我们第一天尝试走去市区，本地人都说很近，但他们的二十分钟，我们走了三十，而且处处是梯阶，必非平路。每天这样走还得了？不瘫才怪！！算了我们城市人还是搭计程车吧。
有人说Santorini很奇怪，驴比人多，酒比水多，教堂比房子多。好笑吧?
我们总是看到人在油漆，因为大多的围墙都是以白为色。蓝色的屋顶，蓝色的天空，蓝色的海洋，这里一年没几天雨，所以阳光普照，天天是蓝天白云，这是它们独特的美。
在这，每天看到Athens暴乱的新闻，多少也有点担心，不过本地倒始终没受影响。
大多数的人都在Santorini花个三天，而我们来了五天，逛风景，去做spa，拍摄，还玩不够啊。
这里实在太简陋，贫穷，不然也不失为一个适合居住的地方。我一直都是偏爱山海，多过草木。如此美景，不枉一游。
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