Space Travel

Stephen Hawking

While we are on the topic of time travel, I can’t help but think about an unbelievable comment from the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, author of the best-seller"A Brief History of Time".

 

He was visiting HK 2 weeks ago and said "It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species. Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of."

Then he added humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years!!  What an idea!!!

 

I’m sure he is one of the most intelligent men around but what was he thinking???  We can’t even launch a space shuttle now, let alone building a colony on Moon in 20 years!!!!!!

I’m a fan of sci-fi (i.e. Star Trek), but let’s be realistic here… that’s just a TV show… we have enough problems on Earth to tackle, nobody in their right mind will put the astronomical resources needed into space colonization!

He was either extremely optimistic, or extremely naive…

 

I read a transcript of a conversation between Wall Street Journal editorial page editors Paul Gigot & Dan Henninger… funny exchange:

 

—————————————–

 

Gigot: Winners and losers, picks and pans, "Hits & Misses." It’s our way of calling attention to the best and the worst of the week. Item one: Famed scientist Stephen Hawking says the end is near. But don’t worry, he has a plan. Dan?

 

Henninger: He does have a plan. Stephen Hawking, the author of "A Brief History of Time," showed up in Hong Kong earlier this week, and said the end is near from perhaps a nuclear war, what he called sudden global warming.

 

Gigot: The end of the world.

 

Henninger: Right. And it’s coming. And his suggestion is that we immediately plan to colonize the moon and Mars–which he admitted, he said, we won’t find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system. Now that’s his opinion. I have seen pictures of the surface of the moon. And personally I think I’m going to stay right here on Earth and try to tough it out.

 

Gigot: I don’t know, Dan. Where do I go to buy a ticket?

 

—————————————–

 

Haha… I agree with Mr. Henninger… I think I will stay right here and tough it out!

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060613/ap_on_sc/stephen_hawking

http://www.opinionjournal.com/jer/?id=110008536

 

Time travel

The Lake House

After so many years (since "Speed"), Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock finally reunited in this new film, "The Lake House"… it’s a touching love story with a tiny plot twist at the end (don’t worry, no spoiler here)… and you know how much I love those plot twists at the end, haha (one reason I like Korean films… oh, a side note, this film is a Hollywood remake of a Korean film "Il Mare"/"觸不到的戀人").

 

Sandra Bullock is so charming in the film… she can be so likable in these romances. And the two do have chemistry together, just as good as they were in "Speed", I think.

 

I’m not going to talk about the specifics of the movie, but the key point is the time gap between the lovers. There are many loopholes and logical flaws throughout the movie… however, as long as the romance works, I won’t dwell on the "minor" details. I concur with Roger Ebert, who cares as long as the story works on an emotional level.

 

And Chicago was wonderful in the film… makes me want to revisit the city!

 

For those of you who likes chick flicks, this is a good one to see. For those who don’t, well, I think there is enough "time travel" stuff in this unusual chick flick for you to ponder on during the film, haha…

And it’s a great date movie!

 

I can never write as good as Ebert, please read his review here:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060615/REVIEWS/60606007/1023

 

http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html#ilmare

http://www.mediacircus.net/ilmare.html

 

P.S. England won group B and will move on to round of 16!!!!!

Quotes

Commentator

It has been a great World Cup… a few matches have been decided in the final minute of stoppage time!  So Exciting!!

 

Besides great plays from the teams, a good commentator will make a match more enjoyable to watch. They have been using English commentators in all the broadcasts here… Gary Bloom, John Helm, Kevin Keatings etc (one observation is it’s always a solo act… really not an easy thing to do, imagine talking to yourself non-stop for 2 hours, and still make it exciting and entertaining)…

 

No John Motson in the Canadian broadcast… but John Helm is pretty good… always witty, makes me smile every time he says "Oh, dear!" when a player takes a shot terribly…

 

But no matter how good they are, it’s unavoidable to say some totally meaningless things on air… I used to have a list of funny quotes from HK-based commentators but couldn’t find it to paste it here…

 

But here are some from the English ones, enjoy!

 

‘He’s 31 this year: last year he was 30.’ – David Coleman

‘The ageless Dennis Wise, now in his thirties.’ – Martin Tyler

‘The Italians are hoping for an Italian victory.’ David Coleman

‘Peru score their third, and It’s 3-1 to Scotland.’ David Coleman

‘If that had gone in, it would have been a goal.’ – David Coleman

‘Ian Rush is deadly 10 times out of 10, but that wasn’t one of them.’ – Peter Jones

‘Neil Sullivan has stopped absolutely everything have thrown at him…Wimbledon 1, Manchester United 1.’ – Mike Ingham

‘Emile Zola has scored again for Chelsea.’ – Radio 5 live

‘This will be their 19th consecutive game without a win unless they can get an equaliser.’ – Alan Green

‘Martin O’Neill, standing, hands on hips, stroking his chin.’
– Mike Ingham

‘Such a positive move by Uruguay – bringing 2 players off and putting 2 players on.’ – John Helm

‘It’s now 1-1, an exact reversal of the scoreline on Saturday.’
– Radio 5 live

‘The Uruguayans are losing no time in making a meal around the referee.’ – Mike Ingham

‘Poland nil, England nil, though England are now looking the better value for their nil.’ – Barry Davies

‘West Germany’s Briegel hasn’t been able to get past anyone yet – that’s his trademark.’ – John Helm

‘You don’t score 64 goals in 86 games without being able to score goals.’ – Alan Green

‘It’s headed away by John Clark, using his head.’ – Derek Rae

‘Celtic manager Davie Hay still has a fresh pair of legs up his sleeve.’
– John Greig

‘And with just 4 minutes gone, the score is already 0-0.’ – Ian Darke

‘The USA are a goal down, and if they don’t get a goal they’ll lose.’
– John Helm

‘I predicted in August that Celtic would reach the final. On the eve of that final I stand by that prediction.’ – Archie MacPherson

‘McCarthy shakes his head in agreement with the referee.’ – Martin Tyler

‘It was the game that put the Everton ship back on the road.’
– Alan Green

‘Lukic saved with his foot, which is all part of the goalkeeper’s arm.’
– Barry Davies

‘Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer.’ – David Acfield

‘Sporting Lisbon in their green and white hoops, looking like a team of zebras.’ – Peter Jones

‘Forest have now lost six matches without winning.’ – David Coleman

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Motson

Finally!

World Cup

Such a long wait… the World Cup is finally here!

Because of time difference, I still have to work during game time … no choice, I’m not rich enough to stay home and watch TV all day, haha… so I rushed back home after work and started watching around 5pm… almost 4 hours of non-stop soccer, I’m satisfied!

 

The first 2 games are both very entertaining… high-scoring games are always fun to watch. Germany did well, despite some mistakes in defence. They should be okay to get to quarter finals.

 

The Poles on the other hand are very unluckily… it could well have been a tied game if not for the goal post!!  Chances of progressing are slim now…

 

Okay, tomorrow is a big day for me!  Because England will play Paraguay, and at 8:30am!  So early!!

 

Gerrard is fit enough to play, sure win!!!!!

 

Comedy/Tragedy

Pressure. Unresolved.

 

I actually wrote something a few days ago… but accidentally hit the "Cancel" button and everything was gone!!  Lost all energy to write stuff until now… I know I face pressure, but I can’t let things go unresolved… hahahahahaha…

 

The last sentence is of course, the 2 hottest lines in HK now. There is no need to repeat the "HK Bus Uncle" story… newspapers (even AP covers it), magazines, blogs, editorials, columns, Wikipedia etc, even HK Chief Executive Tsang joined the conversation today… there must have been thousands of words written on the subject, with analysis in every angle!  And thanks to youtube, millions have watched the clip (with English subtitles!).

 

The best piece I have read so far is about an observation on this comedy/tragedy… there is an old saying that "comedy is tragedy plus time" (I think distance as well, haha) and we as spectators had quite a few laughs on this story. But really, if you are the one being yelled at for 5 min, it’s certainly no comedy… and with nobody on the bus helping, it’s actually a tragedy…

 

Only in HK, this kind of (mou liu) non-sense would be such a hit… and I mean it as a compliment, haha… HK people are so cute, so creative and full of character!

 

I  HK!

 

P.S. I’ve been using the 2 lines a lot ("I face pressure. You face pressure." & "Unresolved!  Unresolved!  Unresolved!") this week… I found people laughed so hard (at least the first few times, my lunch buddy is sick of it already)… it’s quite ironic that the story has become a pressure relief!

 

Actual clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSHziqJWYcM

 

TV News on the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjU-rSc1n5Q&search=%E6%9C%89%E7%B7%9A%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLhmjVLk_9c&search=%E5%B7%B4%E5%A3%AB%E9%98%BF%E5%8F%94

 

AP on the clip:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/25052006/2/koddities-video-grumpy-hong-kong-man-scolding-fellow-bus-rider.html

 

Wikipedia on the clip:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_uncle