DimSumCartPusher

Coming home from the Bronx Zoo [Flickr Set], Harley discovered a baby sugarglider has been rejected from the nest. The parents just ignored it while it played around in the cage. ( +3 )

Rejected Sugarglider Joey from on Vimeo.

Rejected Sugarglider (part 2) from on Vimeo.

Tuesday night was about the best night I had by myself for a really long time.

There was a band from Oslo, Norway called Katzenjammer who were in town for one performance before heading back home but before that, food. Two words, Katz’s deli.

It was a short walk to the Mercury Lounge and surprisingly there was a line is already forming to get into the venue. Apparently most of the people on line were there to see a band I’ve never heard of, the Rescues and it was their first New York appearance from Los Angeles. It was just a short wait before they made their way to the stage and began doing their set. Suprisingly amazing! Their melody can easily bury itself into your brain. It is such a rarity to have music sync so quickly with me. And one of the singers (they all sing) Kyler England, voice of a freaking angel.

It wasn’t too long when Katzenjammer showed up on stage. Now the music is a bit of hyperactive hybrid of folk, country, cabaret, and rock being played by four female multi-instrumentalists that alternate lead vocals and swap instruments, including an accordion and a gigantic contrabass balalaika, in between songs. It was just an amazing performance that I wish I could have shared. But the best I could do is to take some pictures and videos of the moment. And when I left the Mercury Lounge, there was still light but it quickly dim to dark before I made it to my car. ( +2 videos )

Last night in the freezing cold, I went to check the Red Bull Skyscraper at East River Park. There were riders competing for a $50K cash prize and all they have to do is bomb down a 9-story drop sail off a kicker do an aerial trick and land on a spine. ( +9 )



Red Bull Snowscraper from Desmond Chow on Vimeo.

As for the future of the temporary winter sports park, the Red Bull people now confirm that from February 16th-22nd (NYC's public school vacation week, and following tomorrow's Winter Jam), it will open to the public after being "reconfigured into a 3-story skiing and snowboarding mountain. Residents of all ages are welcome, and experts can bring their own equipment and shred on the freestyle features. An additional 150-foot long snow flume will also be on-site for sledding. Demo snowboards and sleds will be available on-site free of charge for beginners. Both the Red Bull Snowscrapers ramp and the snow flume will be open from 11:00am-4:00pm daily." Time to polish up those saucers with kitchen oil!

I have been playing a STEAM release version of Left 4 Dead (a multiplayer co-operative survival horror first-person shooter) and I just have to say everything about the game is INTENSE.

You basically battle hordes of running screaming zombies (called Infected in the game) just like the ones in 28 Days Later and a few evolved zombies such as the Boomer (an obese Infected that spews projectile vomit on you that not only blinds you, but attracts hordes), Hunter (an agile Infected that climbs walls and pounces on you while ripping their guts out), Smoker (an Infected that will pull you in with it’s whip-like tongue and will either strangling you or stomp on you), Tank (a HUGE Infected that throw cars or slabs of concrete to you or give you the ole HULK SMASH to your face), and the Witch (when provoked will go Wolverine on your ass and anyone that gets in her way.)

Anyhow if anyone wants to join me in a game, feel free to add me on STEAM.

So I broke out my warm coat for the new winter season and discovered a big bag of Halls Mentho-Lyptus (honey lemon flavored), an expired coupon for Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament (where I never went in my life), an unopened pocket pack of Kleenex, some old gas receipts (when gas was $3.33/gal), and some year old pocket lint. I was surprised there was no money to be found. Usually I would find a couple of extra dollars, if lucky a ten or twenty. I guess this year is just not my year.

Has anyone discover anything fantastic from their winter clothing?

I just have to say I'm still not impress with Mac Pro architecture. Their biggest selling point are their video cards - ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT? Come on! 8800GT cost about $100 to maybe $200 overclocked. With the money that Apple consumers have to dish out at least give them a GeForce GTX 280! And if you want users to cream their pants, run dual GTX 280 in SLI mode. And the ATI Radeon HD 2600XT? What the hell, we're up to 4870! Did Apple just bought a surplus of $50 2600XT cards? But I do have to give it to them for their processor choice, Intel Xeon X5482 Harpertown. 1600MHz FSB. 3.2GHz Operating Frequency. 12Mb L2 cache. 45nm. And cost about $1400 retail. Definitely a good processor to run on a server.

As for the new Macbook Pro, it has the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT which is a big step up from the 8M series and features a new PureVideo HD video processor and HybridPower support. But why not house the Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX? As for the rest of the specs, garden variety laptop parts with revamped name and that includes the glass touchpad that the rest of the world call a multi-touch touch screen. Look at Apple trying to make people think it's special. Logic Board, hah!

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Twice a year, my neighborhood hosts a huge festival in celebration of the seasons of Spring and Fall. This weekend festival means forty or so blocks worth of food vendors. And I just have to say, these guys should really look into creating a sampler menu because there is just no way could you taste all the delicious offerings out there. You eat a sausage and pepper hero and you’re done! No more room for crepes, mozzarepa (mozzarella & arepa), grilled corn on the cob, fresh briskets and ribs, shoestring fries with cheese, zeppoles, funnel cake, fried Oreos and other various treats. It would be a lot more fun if they just offer tastings, like in a winery/brewery.

Anyhow beside food, the festival offers lot of things such as games and rides for the kids. And live music all along the festival route, along with dance troupes and other performing artists. And not to mention all the bars offer drinks at bargain prices.

Ah today would have been ten times more fun if there were people to hang out with. And probably hundred times more fun if Harley was around. I do wish Harley was with me this weekend. I would love to see her covered in henna art. But then again I probably saved myself a heap of cash from the ridiculous amount of games and rides offered.

When the Hadron Collider gets switched on, I would just like to say it was an honor and a privilege to get to know most of you.









If there is a waiting list for superpower manifestation. I got dibs on Teleportation.

Regrets? Probably missing out on some free nookie when I was younger. Damn those long invested meaningful relationships that ended me nowhere.

My tombstone? lemonparty.org

What about you?

And the Gold Medal for ugliest fucking Olympics logo in the history of monkey fuck goes to...

London 2012!

Whoever got paid for that design is the criminal genius of the universe.

I just have to say the grand red tower of Saruman with those abseiling military fellas was brilliant. Suspended shiny spacemen was full of win. The dozen or so harpies in 60s era Canton dresses singing about the moon, not so win. And Jackie Chan singing. Talk about kitchen sink. But nothing tops Jimmy Page. Nothing. If Led Zep played the opening ceremony, I am fucking there. And after those fireworks, you could probably cut loaves of smog and bring them back in your luggage as souvenirs.

Meet the Sandwich from DF 0024 on Vimeo. The Heavy Achievements were released earlier this week for Team Fortress 2 and it's been quite an experience. One of my favorite is getting pwned by a freaking sandwich! I just have to say I love Valve for making such wonderful characters and make this truly the greatest FPS game ever. Also if anyone has a STEAM account, feel free to add me.

Morgan Freeman failed
Bernie Mac
Isaac Hayes
Who's next???

I just realized that I had this livejournal account for 6 years and 2 days. Posted 2,288 journal entries and 18,719 comments. Received 15,725 comments. Damn I feel old, erm experienced. And I sometimes feel like I'm the only few that really updates this thing.

New York State Car Seat Law - Effective March 27, 2005: all back seat passengers who are age four or older but under age seven must be restrained in an appropriate child restraint system. A child older than four years of age and over four feet nine inches in height may be restrained by a safety belt.

New Jersey State Car Seat Law - Children up to age 8 or 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear seat of the vehicle. If there is no rear seat, the child must sit in the front seat secured by a safety or booster seat.

Pennsylvania State Car Seat Law - All drivers are responsible to secure children from 4 years of age up to 8 years of age in a seat belt system and an appropriately fitting child booster seat.

I could finally remove the stupid child car seat from my car! You just don’t know what an inconvenience it is – tether straps, anchors, the mess it generates and the ridiculous amount of space it takes up in the backseat.

The funny thing is that I don't think my sister and I have ever sat in a car seat, well as least not long enough to remember. So is it really necessary for a child as old as Harley to be strapped in a car seat these days, especially with the advance safety features such as accident prevention (tire-pressure monitor, vehicle dynamics control, electronic stability system, all-wheel drive) and crash protection (crumple zone area, reinforced unibody structure, frontal airbags, side-impact bags, side curtain bags) that implanted into today's motor vehicles?

The results of the science experiment from the previous post.

First run, a small plastic cup is filled with as much ice cubes as possible then filled with water to the brim where the water’s adhesive properties curves above the surface of the cup with a few ice cubes halfway floating above that. After about an hour, the ice melts. None of the water seemed to have spilled, nor has the level seem to gone down. The water level appeared to be unchanged. Lab error: Some of the water might have escape though plastic cup through condensation and/or the volume created does not break the adhesive property of water?

Second run, a Styrofoam cup is set up the same as above. It took twice as long for the ice cubes to melt, and the results was the same – no change in level.

Conclusion? I need to read up on mass, volume and density to figure why is this? And apparently melting sea ice won't significantly rise or lower sea level.

Sudhir and I are running a science experiment at the office today.

They say the ice may disappear entirely from the North Pole this year. From my understanding, ice melting at the North Pole should not have any significant change in the sea level. Since water expands when it freezes, the sea ice will displace more water than it will produce when it melts.

Well now I’m going to prove my theory with a cup of ice water. I filled a small cup with ice and poured water to the brim. When the ice melts, do you think the level will go up or down? I say that the ice will displace the water and bring the level down. Sudhir says the ice will add volume and bring the level up. Let's see who's going to be right.

The British Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, flew over the New York Harbor today. I was able to catch the spectacle from the shores of South Beach on Staten Island. It was a spectacular sight that I wish could have shared with Harley. ( +16 )

Today Harley and I went to Coney Island to check the New York Aquarium, the Mermaid Parade and the beach. ( +96 )