I am Your Sunshine

On the server, right-click on My Computer, then select Manage, expand Shared Folders, and click on Open Files. There you’ll see a list of files on the server that are currently opened by other computers on your network. That’ll tell you the User who has the file open.

This series against the Angels was so much fun.

Game 1 was the resurrection of recent-announced-dead A’s offense.

Game 2 was Buck show. Buck went 4-5 in that game and had 3 RBIs (ie. 3 of the 4 runs were contributed by him) and ended the game with a saving catch.

Game 3, today, Angels began to lead 1-0, and then 1-1, and then A’s leads 1-2, then 2-2, then 2-3 and we went into the unfortunately bottom of 5th in which Joe Blanton, my fav A’s pitcher, allowed 3 runs and turned the game into 5-3. It dragged 5-3 until the bottom of 8th where the Halos added some cushion for their confidence and the game seemed to be gone. However, in the top of 9th, Piazza again made the “I own the Angels” declaration and the game went from 6-3 to 6-6 forcing the Halos to go another half inning. At the eve of witnessing A’s resurgence – I always love to see the A’s fight back in late innings, that’s how I fell in love with this team in the first place – Geren decided to pick this time to showcase Joe K. As we all knew, 2 singles were allowed and 1 man scored.

All in all, it’s a somewhat dramatic series. I’m not as angry as some people for Joe K situation, since playoff isn’t that important for me. I’m content as long as they keep the game interesting. After all, my true loyalty lies in the Blues.

—
Let me talk something not that relevant. We went to Red Loster for dinner tonight. There were blue, red, green, yellow plates for us. Smore handed me the red plate, I yelled “No Way!” and grabbed the blue one from him. I then pointed at the blue plate, said “this is Chelsea” and pointed at the green and the yellow, said “and this is A’s,” and at the red, “this is all the rest teams I hate.” (Angels, Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal…)

星期天看完 HP5 回家的路上還在聽 Eliot Morris, 星期一上班途中因為不耐煩所以按了好幾下車音響的power, 結果它就發飆把我的 CD 吐出來了. :(
試了好幾次之後 (還換不同片 CD), 只好認命聽廣播. 但特別就是在這種時候, 廣播好像都放些不好聽的音樂, 我只能望滿車CD興歎.

不過我很會鼓勵自己, 我想說, 耶~ 那就來換車音響吧. 升級成可以收 Digital Radio 的! 雖然說輪胎該換了已經要花一大筆錢, 這種 “不是我要浪費錢啊, 是它自己壞掉了” 的情況其實還蠻讓我竊喜的.
沒想到我都還沒開始者 car stereo 的資料, 今天想說姑且再試一次, 放進 Fleetwood Mac 的 Time, 它掙扎了一下就開始播了!

唔, 還是去查查一般車音響的行情, 來看看我省了多少錢好了. (依照 Terri Tate 的邏輯, 下次我就有那麼多的錢可以拿來花了!)

B+

It doesn’t really deserve the B+; however, it’s a happy/feel-good movie that kept me happy and feeling good for almost 2 hours, and I rate films mostly according to what they make me feel instead of what they’re really worth (after all, we have critics and all those critic-wannabes for that, right?)

You’ll need to have a “right” attitude to enjoy the movie. Like fmodem said, it’s a movie the stars getting together having fun (while earning a hell lot of money out of it.) There’s not much story going on, piling up with a lot of average American jokes and a person spoiled by Hustle and its equivalents like I am would find the art of con in the movie is not so much as an art. But heck, we know we’re not watching Hustle.

A+

爆表的好看. 應該可說是今年看過最好看的電影!
(查我的電影表… 沒錯! 在今年看過的六十部電影中, 只有這部 A+)
PIXAR 不愧是 PIXAR, 電影之前的小短片 Lifted 也超好看.

而 Ratatouille 是部集美感, 幽默與感動於一身的電影,
看完之後暖烘烘的, 心情愉快一整晚! =D

Travis Buck: Ergh, do I have to do everything myself?

(grand silence)

Travis Buck: I’ll do everything myself.

Gary hits the gap, right center field, Buck racing over, and he makes the diving catch!

making sure that the A’s didn’t go from leading 4-3 to losing 5-4.

And the Final score: The Green & Gold’s 4-3 Halos

Hell ya!

應 Noah 要求, Continue Reading »

You Would Be a Pet Bird

You’re intelligent and witty, yet surprisingly low maintenance. You charm people easily, and they usually love you a lot more than you love them. You resent anyone who tries to own or control you. You refuse to be fenced in. Why you would make a great pet: You’re very smart and entertaining Why you would make a bad pet: You’re not interested in being anyone’s pet! What you would love about being a bird: Flying, obviously What you would hate about being a bird: Being caged

在甯那邊看到的. 像不像我呀?

不過我很好奇為啥甯查英文資料會查到blogthings去 XD
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Wonderful things just keep happening!

Had a awesome day yesterday, Flora brought me lunch today and now this. It’s too much! (But keep them coming, baby~)

I was gonna watch a little bit of the game at Club Sport, but the LCD TV at lady’s locker room was broken, so I headed to Border’s trying not to watch another game. Nowadays, it’s like who the pitcher is doesn’t matter anymore, the A’s are not hitting and the A’s are not hitting. I wanted to make the better use of my time. However, on my way from Club Sport to Borders, hearing the unusual lineup (Stew, Swish, Cust, Piazza, DJ, Ellie, Scoot, Crosby, Suzuki) and then a walk and a hit, I really, really wanted to go home and watch. I mean, players on base and with a hit in the 1st inning? That’s something fresh!

Reluctantly I parked the car, went in to Borders with mp3 players on FM106.9, decided that I could not find Hit List and I might as well go home, I went home. Straight home, ignoring the shining low gas light.

In the 1st inning, Stew walk, Swish single, Cust strike out, Piazza ply-out, DJ RBI single, Ellie RBI double, Scoot 2 RBI single. Tears were actually circling in my eyes. How excited it is! We’re already 4-0 and I missed it. I was afraid that it would be the only action for today, and thankfully, it wasn’t.

It’s such a fun night! And Gaudin kept it interesting. People are saying that Gaudin’s having control problem lately. It may be so. (Bear in mind that I’m new to baseball.) But it sometimes seemed to me like that the opposite players are being more disciplined at bats against him and hence the BBs. Thanks a lot to the early runs, we remained safe while Gaudin outbursted. Everyone except Cust and Crosby had at least a hit and it was even a bigger night for Ellis, he had his first multiple homers! By the end of the game, I could heard the crowd chanting “Let’s Go Oakland” clearly at Anaheim stadium. What a great feeling.

星期天早上去完教會就到 Flora 家吃豆花, 然後 Welton 載著 chun 施施然來到 Flora 家門口借廁所 會合. 今天的行程是 SF Theatre Festival, 吃一頓好料 (我在 SOMA 的 Le Charm 跟 LuLu 都訂了位,) 看 Harry Potter 5: IMAX experience.

一路上我們一邊聽著 Spring Awakening 原聲帶一邊討論要看哪些表演. 今年的 Theatre Festival 總共有十個舞台, 77個節目, 我們先選好想看的表演, 以免到了現場漫無目的地晃著浪費掉時間. 我們選的第一個節目是由 Brian Shapiro Culture Works 表演的 Touch Me There…Oh Yeah, 可是我們塞在過橋收費那裡於是錯過了. 不過我們幸運地找到免費的路邊停車, 到達 Yerba Buena 時剛好來得及看 All About Al.

這是我第一次好好的逛了整個 Yerba Buena 花園, 真是個非常舒適怯意的地方, 而且每個地方都可以看出設計者的細心與巧思. 舞台散佈在花園的各角落, Sony Metreon, Center for the Arts, Zeum 裡面有也各有兩個室內的表演場所. 露天的舞台前或擺著折椅或墊子, 假日的人們聚集在各舞台前享受溫暖的陽光以及一整個下午的劇場饗宴.

四個多小時下來, 我們看了 All About Al (短劇), Taming of the Shrew (節選), Shopping as a Spiritual Path, Creative Process 以及 Better! Faster! Cheaper! Smart! 我最喜歡 Taming of the Shrew, 短短的二十分鐘, 從頭到尾絕無冷場, 可惜他們只演到這周日, 不然是值得一看. All About Al 的對白寫得很不錯, Creative Process 看的就是 Foothill College 的小朋友們的作品, 大部份都很不錯. 真期待明年的 Theatre Festival!

Festival 結束之後我們去 IMAX 先拿了票, 然後就去吃飯. 看過兩家餐廳之後, 我們選了座落在破敗區裡面卻看起來別有洞天的 La Charm. 結果證明我們的選擇實在是對到不能再對了.

Le Charm 主打南法菜, 價錢也非常平易近人, 不過我們還是吃了一個人 USD $40. XD
我們點了四道前菜, 三道主菜, 兩個甜點, 一杯酒 (因為 Flora 跟我現在都不敢喝酒, chun則是不喝.)

前菜是:
Baked escargots with tomato confit and mushrooms in garlic butter 基本上就是烤田螺, 但是他們的烤田螺可說是我在美國吃過最好吃的! (在 Las Vegas 吃的那次好像也很不錯, Pinot @ Venetian.)

Périgourdin Salad with Smoked duck breast, confit duck leg, Foie Gras, apple and walnuts 非常豐富的沙拉, 有超好吃的燻鴨胸配蘋果片跟鵝肝醬, 其他的東西也很好吃.

Provençal Tartlette with tomato concassé and zucchini 酥脆又香噴噴的蕃茄塔.

Cantaloupe Melon with Parma Prosciutto and Arugula非常清爽的義式生火腿與哈蜜瓜.

因為看了一下午的表演大家肚子都很餓了, 所以壓根沒想到要照相.

主菜是:
Salmon in brick pastry served with ratatouille socca crêpe 鮭魚外面用類似春捲皮之類的東西包成像…圖片那樣…去煎, 下面則是 ratatouille 可麗餅. (有一堆茄子陷阱!!!)

Grilled skirt steak with caramelized onions and port reduction sauce 裙子牛排也煎得恰到好處, 兩片裙子牛排之間夾著焦糖化洋蔥, 口感很棒.

Confit of Wild Boar Shoulder with Spaëzles, Mushrooms, Chestnuts And Black Currants 這道菜是我們最期待的野豬肩膀, 卻不是非常的令人驚豔. 野豬肉料理的很好, 但並不十分有特色, 然後裡面有我討厭的麵團跟栗子等東西.

甜點是 Orange Crème Brulée 跟 Tarte Tatin (就是熱蘋果派) 就不用多作介紹啦!

基本上這一餐從第一道菜到最後的甜點都讓我們讚不絕口. 我們也特地打聽了, 他們每一季都會換菜單 (最喜歡法國餐廳就是這一點了!) 秋天我們一定會再來報道一次的!

晚上的 Harry Potter 也比我預期的好看很多. (我幾乎沒有真正喜歡過哪一部 HP 電影, 因為書的印象太根深柢固在我腦海裡的.) 立體的部份也非常棒, 雖然害我差點要頭痛. 不過我很失望 Black 大宅的戲份少了好多…

總之, 真是個非常充實又開心的一天呀! =D

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我為這期的飄誌寫了一篇介紹 Santana Row 的文章, see
(這裡就不貼了)

Oh I do envy those who were in Home Depot Center watching the match and those who (Sean and Mr. yo) were at the Coliseum to witness a nowadays precious A’s win. I, on the other hand, sitting at home in front of TV in my JT centenary shirt (I wore 06/08 home UCL shirt but thought it’s too hot, and changed to 06/07 white away and then realized they’re wearing 06/08 home at the last minute, so I changed again) with Chelsea scarf hanging on the couch, had to endure a 3+ hour long David Beckham special presented by ass-kissing ESPN.

One hour of pre-game “David Beckham: The New Beginning” show was reasonable. However, it’s pretty ridiculous that the first 30 minutes of “Exhibition: Chelsea FC vs. LA Galaxy” before the match kickoff, not once was the word Chelsea mentioned. It’s like LA Galaxy was playing some local nameless club for charity reasons which was just the opposite case! They even interviewed celebrities DURING THE GAME! One of the interviewees, Drew Carey, was actually annoyed cos he wanted to focus on the game like people should at a game. And there were countless times during the course of the event that their camera decided to switch focus from the game to what Posh Spice’s wearing, what Eva Longoria’s drinking, Katie Holmes and… Becks on the bench, Becks on the bench and more Becks on the bench.

“Beckham’s taking his shoes off…” “He is putting his shoes on…” “Let’s take a close look at his ankle…” “He’s taking his shoes off again. Come on, you’re killing me!” whined the alleged commentator.

You come on! Enough with your Becks feet obsession already!

More outrageous things happened during the broadcast. I’ll just name a few: the history of Beck’s hairstyle, repeated clips of Becks in Real and in England team… and all of them were showed while the game was in progress!!!! It’s as if I’m watching E!

ESPN really showed us how unprofessional they are.

What comforted me the most was during the second half, I could hear more clearly through TV the Chelsea supporter chants and they (ESPN) even graced us (Chelsea supporters) some air time after JT’s unusual shot (FYI, JT is famous for his header.) And what amused me after the match was Teri’s post on CIA. She mentioned that Galaxy fans tried their best to insult us by saying something like “you’re only second to Man U”, totally forgot their own petty standing in MLS last season. And another lame one was “Chelsea is only a suburb of London” and then got a instant yell back from Michael “Are you kidding me? We’re in CARSON!”

They really should work on their intellect. It’s like what I heard on NPR last night: Writer Laments the Demise of the Nickname. And it’s even more pathetic when one cannot insult properly.

8/16 在 Slims 有 Bowling For Soup 的演唱會, BFS 是我很喜歡的 pop-punk 團之一, 他們歡樂的歌總是讓我心情很好, 也常常以輕快的態度來嘲諷一些現今社會的問題.

然後 8/15 Magic Number 要在 GAMH 開演唱會, 雖然沒有特別喜歡他們 (我以前很聽不慣 indie, 很多都太小家子氣了, 聽得會很膩. 不過最近慢慢開始能夠欣賞, 但我還是受不了showgaze團 XD) 但是還是有點想去聽, 有點需要清風呢喃般的小家碧玉音樂來安慰我被一堆瘋狂大麻青少年驚嚇挫折的心靈…

真是兩難啊, 如果兩個都去應該會累死. (呃, 那我這星期四去聽 Brandi Carlile, 星期五去聽 Chris Tomlin 怎麼辦? 然後還有星期六要當 DJ, 星期天要去Projekt Revolution…啊~~~~)

還是九月再讓 Guster 安慰好了, 畢竟 BFS 還是比較重要!

(not filing this under A’s so that mom won’t get annoyed for too many baseball posts.)

Just when I was off to wash my face and going to do something else, MaEl, love, broke the no hitter, hit a homer and got the A’s on board!

So should I stay or should I go?

I’ll be short.

So apprently the A’s is not like me. It’s always the darkest before the dawn doesn’t apply to the A’s, cos what I’m watching now is even darker. Seriously, you didn’t think you could see anything darker than 3 days ago but apparently you can. Or the ray of light, the ray of hope, we together witnessed on Wednesday was merely a collective trick our minds played. We are in fact still in this seemingly endless nightmare.

Anyways, I think I’m either going to Border’s to read Hit List or stay at home to read Moneyball (but you know how inefficient it usually is to stay at home.)

I know, I know… It’s way too early to get my hopes up. After all, the A’s are 1-9 in the last 10 games. You’d think it’s a pretty pathetic that A (one) (single) win can be such an enlightenment. Nevertheless, we should all rejoice whenever we have a chance to, don’t you think?*

Anyways, the day is still young and the only thing we’re sure is Blanton’s start (okay, and Ellis and Siwsher’s,) we don’t even know whether Chavez’s back is not stiff (or whatever is bothering him) anymore. So, let’s turn our attention to something interests me in many ways: A’s Owner Kick off Soccer Venture. In the article, it said that Billy Beane, the A’s general manager, moneyball maker and an alleged Tottenham supporter (eek!), seemed to have spreaded the passion about football to the A’s owner Lew Wolff, who, with John Fisher, are going to bring San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) back to the Bay Area in year 2008.

Knowing Billy Beane will probably be involved in MLS gives me a mixed feeling of “are you serious!?” and “nice!” As most of you know that I’ve been reading Moneyball, written by Michael Lewis, which pretty much legendized Beane. I’m fascinated by him ever since. I do look forward to seeing what he can do for “soccer”. Perhaps another legend like Moneyball will be born, who knows? :)

Okay, the lineup for today: Stew, Ellis, Swish, Piazza, Kielty, DJ, Scoot, Crosby, Suzuki. Some fresh blood added, but no Buck? I want Buck, give me Buck!

head to AN, c ya lata~

* Listening too many games on the radio, I’m always amused when I hear a BART commercial, It’s so easy to take BART to a game, don’t you think? and KenKo sometimes says his own version of “don’t you think” which is really… cute.

還是戒不了放著音樂入睡的習慣. 晚上捧著今早在圖書館帶回來的戰利品在床上讀著, 大病初癒的夜晚, 我放下 Moneyball, Fever Pitch 和 The Believer, 隨意挑了一本簡單小說*. 在眾多專輯之中挑了 Bloc Party, 這個成立於 2003 年的東倫敦 indie 團, 主唱是奈及利亞裔的利物浦人(嚇!) 對他們的第一印象很好, 於是挑出來再度品嘗. 然而書只看到一半, A Weekend in the City 就放完了. 我在安靜的房間內解決剩下的書, 關燈準備睡覺沒兩下, 又對滿識寧靜感到不安.

從國中開始我就喜歡開著音響入睡, 以前極害怕全世界只剩我一個人的感覺 (也因為如此, 我一向不準甯甯睡覺關門, 因為我需要知道有活人在跟我同一個空間裡. 她對此可說是深惡痛絕, 因為除了音樂很吵之外, 我有時還會說夢話跟磨牙.) 漸漸地, 即使不害怕了. 我還是喜歡有音樂伴我入睡. (所以說啊, 青少年時期接觸的東西, 養成的習慣, 實在對一個人有很大的影響.)

晚上我喜歡聽 Diana Krall.

我不喜歡爵士樂, 但是 Diana Krall 自然不做作, 清爽卻又不太脆響, 輕柔卻一點也不落黏膩, 尤其她的音樂的伴奏總是我最愛的鋼琴. 一首 Autumn Leaves 恰如其分地帶出秋意, 讓你對了情緒又不會太傷感. 除了 Diana Krall 之外我的晚間音樂選擇真的很少, 因為我平常都聽吵的音樂的. 多半是 Keren Ann 的法語專輯, Katie Melua 或是 Chopin 的鋼琴. 不過 Chopin 的鋼琴有時也是會聽一聽把我嚇醒的… XD

(這個標題根本就是掛羊頭賣狗肉, 我根本沒打算記錄這張專輯. 啊就好聽的晚上音樂嘛… XD)

很喜歡 The Best Thing For You, 歌詞實在是太可愛了. 不過整體上我還是最喜歡 The Look of Love 那張.

完工, 收攤!

* Moneyball, Fever Pitch 跟 The Believer 也不是什麼艱深難讀的東西, 但是, 嘿嘿, 英文讀起來終究不如中文舒暢自在, 總是需要多花那麼一點力氣.

* 一病好(一點)就開始活蹦亂跳了 -_-

It’s always the darkest before the dawn.

I guess it’s the darkest this morning. My rapid heartbeat problem didn’t bother me that much as it did in the past few days; however, when I woke up this morning, my throat felt like there was a knife kept cutting, it hurt so much that I really wanted to scream (but apparently I couldn’t cos it’d make it hurt even worse), and my head was still grinding. My headache/migraine => sleep => fresh as new strategy didn’t work this time. Guess I was just too sick and too tired. But I don’t wanna waste another PTO, so I struggled to get up and went to work. (btw, on my way to work yesterday, to be more precise, when I was backing from the carport, I smashed the left mirror into the pole. Great, now I can’t go to $4 auto wash. my thought at the moment.) This time, I carefully drove to the office but still felt horrible. I’m totally dysfunctional when I have a headache. I was seriously thinking about taking the afternoon off. However, I felt better after lunch (at least my head was not killing me anymore) so I went back to work. And gradually, I can feel my old self back.

So I survived the darkest moment of my freakish sickness this time. Cheers! =)

(Not fully recovered, but it’s so nice to feel that you’re heading a good direction, isn’t it?)

專心養病.

從很奇怪到讓我有點害怕的症狀 (很難受的心跳過快 – 每分約110下, 心跳漏跳, 肺癢咳嗽 <- 每次心跳漏跳完就會咳) 到現在比較正常(!?)的喉嚨痛(腫大, 吞嚥困難) + 頭痛. （脖子痛應該是落枕吧? 花小姐說脖子僵硬疼痛是心臟不好的徵兆... 啊~) 不過因為前幾天的症狀奇怪 (從周五開始), 所以我現在也不敢吃感冒藥. 每天就拼命灌溫水 (由此就可以看出我多擔心了吧, 平常我可是極痛恨溫水的.) 盡量睡覺. 還有, 我實在很討厭人家覺得我是在裝病, 因為"一點也看不出"我有病厭厭的樣子. 不會裝可憐並不是我的錯好嗎? 就像以往常常受了委屈, 但因為不會示弱所以反而旁人還站在”欺負人卻哭最大聲”的人那邊. 我一向在朋友面前就是開開心心有活力的樣子, 即使我心情很不好, 一般人通常也都看不出來 (我知道我自己表達情緒能力失調, 所以我也不期待人家能正確地察言觀色), 生病大概也是一樣吧. 但是我明白地說我生病了, 不怪自己觀察力差還懷疑我是怎樣啊? 生病已經很不爽了還要受氣實在很討厭... ps. 之前不敢寫因為怕貓會擔心, 不過昨天已經打電話給貓讓她有心理準備了~

20070717 No Use For a Name @ Bottom of the Hills

Opening Band: Flatliners, Whole Wheet Bread

I have to be honest, this is not the best live experience I’ve ever had. Flatliners are nice to watch (they’re so young.) Seeing them jumping up and down vigorously made me feel like a rich old countess watching a private show of youth. And their continuous cursing doesn’t make them look tough, rather kids eagerly trying to prove they’re grownups.

Whole Wheet Bread were okay. Cos I’ve never heard a rock band consists of black people. (We Love Black People.) And their songs were more melodic than Flatliners.

No Use For A Name is really awesome. However, the riot in front of the stage made the enjoyability down to 50%.