Saturday, March 26, 2005

Meet the Chinese Beatles



I found this great Beatles' album cover at Tony Fletcher's iJamming. There are two interesting details I should point out:

1. Notice all the band member's eyes? They have been changed to make them look more "Asianized" (and in John Lennon's case, more stoned).

2. The phonetic translation of the band name "beatles", actually means "diheveled hair" in Chinese.

= diheveled hair (often referring to an untidy woman)

I wonder if their songs have been changed too. Perhaps to fit the Asian stereotype, and replaced all "L" with "R" sound or vice versa, just like in the movie Team American World Police.

Personally I would love to hear these classics:

"R"ove Me Do
She "R"oves You
Can't Buy Me "R"ove
Ticket to "L"ide
E"R"eanor "L"igby
Penny "R"ane
All You Need Is "R"ove
"R"ady Madonna
"R"et It Be
The "R"ong and Winding "L"oad
Ob-"R"a-Di, Ob-"R"a-Da
Ju"R"ia
"R"ong, "R"ong, "R"ong
"L"evo"R"ution

and last but not least:

Sgt. Pepper's "R"one"R"y Hearts C"R"ub Band

Thursday, March 24, 2005

I Survived the Great Wall in Arizona

There is an American quote: "Why buy the cow, when you could get milk for free?"

That indeed is a great question.

Why would you go to China and climb the Great Wall, when you could just get a t-shirt at an Urban Outfitters store in middle of Arizona?!

It is nice to know that the t-shirts are made in U.S.A. Fighting American jobs from oversea outsourcing one t-shirt at a time!



= China

= I; me; myself
= rise, mount, board, climb
= top; superior, highest; go up, send up
= the Great Wall



Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Ticketmaster's Hidden Fees


ticketmaster01.gif

The hidden fees by Ticketmaster is a bit out of control.

I have ordered two tickets to see the band Cake perform this Thursday. The ticket price advertised on Ticketmaster's website and local radio station's commercials said it is $15 per ticket.

But I after I placed the order via Ticketmaster's website, the total became $45 with all the hidden fees! That is $15 of fees, which is the same price as another ticket.

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Weight Estimation



We all know obesity is a problem in United States. Whenever I see a large person, two questions would automatically pop into my head:

1. How much does this person weigh?
2. How did it happen?

The second question is usually very easy to answer, but the weight question is a little tricky. Since it is socially unacceptable to directly ask a person about his/her weight, I usually try to calculate an estimation in my head.

The person in the photo is about 5' 6" tall. Using the drag-along bag as a reference scale, her hip is about 30.5" and her shoulder is about 20.8" wide. Judging by her body shape, the hip's widest point is about 40% of her total height, therefore it is about 26.4" above from the ground.

Assume her upper body is cone shaped with its base diameter to be the average of shoulder and hip width, her upper body volume is:

V_upperbody = (1/3)*(pi)* (39.6")*[(30.5"+20.8") /4]^2
V_upperbody = 6821 in^3

Since her lower body is not as filled of a cone-shape as her upper body, her lower body volume would be halfed:

V_lowerbody = (1/2)*(1/3)*(pi)*(26.4")*[(30.5"+20.8")/4]^2
V_lowerbody = 2274 in^3

The total volume is:

V_total = V_upperbody+V_lowerbody
V_total = 9095 in^3 (or 0.149 m^3)

Assuming human flesh is the same density as ground beef (950 kg/m^3), her body weight would be:

Weight = (0.149)*(950)

Weight = 141.6 kg (or 318.2 lbs)

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Boobs at Wal-Mart



Prices are not the only things lowered at Wal-Mart.