Wavelet Blog

On the contrary to the critics who rave about ”The Dark Night“, I don’t like it very much. Someone even claims this is a Oscar contender, but I found it is too dark and there are too many loopholes. The bad guys just keep winning, and the movie just seems never end. How is it possible the joker could plan himself being captured so he can bomb the police station? How is it possible the joker who almost works alone could coordinate massive plan to control the ferry and the hostages at the same time? And what on earth the batman’s moral standpoint is to keep Joker alive everytime he captures Joker? Heath Ledger gave a stunting performance as the Joker, but the industry just wants to take the profit one last time from him in this movie.

I like “Mamma Mia!” a little better, but mostly because those songs are just so familiar. Amanda Seyfried, who plays Meryl Streep’s daughter, Sophie, really sings well. The movies seems a little rushed. The song is generally related to the scenes, but often the sentiment is stronger than the story that leads to it, which give you a feeling that the movie is staged. It is indeed should be a show on the stage.

Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho introduced many untraditaional moves to the football field from other sports. He ‘was’ fun and creative on the court, but now the motivations seem all gone. Wish he could resurrect after his transferring to Milan.

Thierry Henry

He maybe the smartest player in the world. He shoots the ball like laser-guided missile. His magic first touch, speed and killer’s composure make his scores all seem effortless. He is the king of Arsenal, but never as good in his national team.

Ronaldo

He is the perfect combination of skills, power, speed and determination. At his peak, he is unstoppable. He made countless goals and a lot of unimageable moves. He is the “The Phenomenon”.

Davor Suker

Suker is a legend of the golden generation of Croatian football. He has wonderful left foot and he is very composed before making the killing shoot. To me, the most memorable play he made was in the match against Denmark, not the one he scored but an earlier attempt. He got the ball just over half of the court. Without looking at the goal, he lobbed the ball over to the goal but barely saved by Schmeichel. It is one of the boldest and the most creative plays.

Diego Maradona

Simply the best player of the world. Off the court, he is a controversial figure; on the court, he can do anything. My hero!

First learnt the sport called “chess-boxing” from 7/21’s Time Magazion. The opponents plays alternating rounds between 3-min. boxing and 4-min. of speed chess, until knockout or checkmate. As the official website puts it, it is the combination of #1 thinking game and #1 fighting game, (IMHO, chess is not the #1, China’s GO game is the ultimate summit of mental challenge and aesthetics).

This year’s tournament was held in Berlin. Ada Calhoun from Russia won the world champion by seizing the opponet’s queen, instead of punching him out. What an interesting game!

Flint Center

As a long time classic music lover, this is my first time to go to a concert. The concert was performed on 7/9 at Flint Center by San Francisco Symphony as part of 2008 “Summer in the City” events. Three programs were played,

Bach: Toccata and Fugue
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

The central piece, also the most popular one, is mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. It is played by Stefan Jackiw. At age 23, Mr. Jackiw is a young and charming presence, and he plays with a smooth yet sensitive style. The violin has the power to penetrate the indifference and cynicalness we put on, and touch the very weakness of our heart. Mr. Jackiw’s play just does that to me.