Just downloaded iTunes 8.. what an update! New visualizer, new ways to view music, and even an automated DJ called "Genius". Perhaps no surprise that there's also a new sidebar where it makes it even easier to buy music..

My parents participated in a travelling church choir in Edmonton, conducted by CK Yeung.

Pandas!!

Hand-reared in Chengdu.

See my firm's Beijing project in the NYT. Here and also here. Also has good mention of Urbanus, a firm I worked for last year. Urbanus is drawing more publicity than ever before.

Spinning wheels

This past weekend, while I was at the gym, I watched an interesting sport on TV- wheelchair basketball. It was actually quite exciting! It's nothing like the basketball we know..  the athletics and strategies are totally different. But it's fast paced, it's full of drama, and actually hitting the hoop from the sitting position is actually a really difficult thing to do... as noted by the score (halftime 18-6). You would gasp if someone in a wheelchair on the street flips over. In this sport, the players often lose control and the wheelchair flips. But they are strapped into their chairs.. and right themselves up as if the chair was part of their body. Amazing.

 

Googlization of the world and vetting.

At the 10 year anniversary of the incorporation of Google, Rob Dubbin writes a hilarious piece about how he tried to survive without Google for 24 hours. Also, with the lack of a TV in my apartment here in Beijing, I have been spending whole evenings watching diavlogs on bloggingheads.tv. It is basically like Crossfire, but free of advertising and much more interesting. This one talks more about the genius and sinister side of Google. 

Throughout the presidential campaign, I can't read a single article without without seeing the word "vet." Was Palin properly vetted? The vetting process of VP takes a few months. Hillary Clinton is thoroughly vetted by years in the spotlight. I've always thought vetting has something to do with animals.. but I discovered that it also has a parallel meaning. The dictionary definition is 'to make a careful check of (a person or document) for suitability."  It's a great word to use, I think.. and makes choosing things sound more sophisticated and systematic. Forget spontaneous decisions. From now on, I think need to vet more things in our lives. We need to vet birthday gifts and guest lists,  vet future spouses and their families and acquaintances, vet what kind of shampoo to buy.. there should be professional personal vetters. We should vet them too.