Tree Conquerors

Say Merry Christmas!

无知

晚上我和Ashley去了市中心的圣诞游行
很多人乔装打扮
甚至看到一只扮成奥巴马的狗
后来看到一个头披白布长袍马褂的人
我佩服得跟Ashley说
真牛，还敢在美国打扮成恐怖主义分子
她很体贴地小声纠正我
那人扮的是耶稣他爸

Witness rape

吊索案更新

的确是全校跟踪报道。最终定论是，四个小本新生在刚结束的homecoming活动里捡了条绳索挂树上当球千玩，一边儿玩儿断了就拍屁股走人了，以至于留下酷似吊索之物，四座皆惊。
以此反映出，不是美国媒体撒谎能力和我国媒体一样强，就是美国民众睁眼瞎本事不比我国民众弱。

无师自通

上节课学了"回"作为量词的用法
今天我一进教室
阿历克斯就大叫：老师，kiss怎么说？
我：吻
他：老师，你看这句话对吗？"我吻你和我喜欢你是两回事"。
我：... ...
前排林丝急了，扭头呵斥：You deserve a slap! Bitch！
回头问我：老师，这句话怎么说？
我：... ...
阿历克斯又在一边大喊：操！

历史性时刻

中国举办奥运会

我没能在见证那个历史性时刻

美国历时一年多的大选

我终于见证了第一个黑人总统的诞生

扯平了吧

昨晚我们三人本来说好去看那个俩人拍三级的新片儿

(Zack and Miri make a porno)

后来终究被较高的政治觉悟督促地去斯高特家看大选了

虽然还是一副看电影的行头，啤酒，薯片，冰淇淋

小黑最终成功晋级
这多半归功于庞大的亲友团
几个通常摇摆不定的州多数都蓝了像佛罗里达
虽然老麦家亚利桑那以54:45泛红
可在家门口宣讲退出宣言时还被自家人booo的感觉要不是活了这么久肯定忍不了
还好脾气地几次三番说: Please, let me finish...

身处保守中再保守的德州贝勒
斯高特说明天上课肯定有很多拉长的脸
因为之前就有很多人发誓如果小黑当选自己就离开美国
我非常支持这样的决定
让土包子们出去见见世面吧 阿门
结果第二天倒是没见多少黑脸人也没见少了多少人
但校园里的一棵树上多了条绳索
这可是个经典的挑衅宣言
美国的旧社会里
白人可以随意处决黑奴
很多人选择在庄园中把黑奴吊死
贝勒校长赶紧致信全校同学
倡导三个代表
形式为"Frankly Speaking"研讨会
此事已交警方处理
全校保持更新

血的教训

书接上回，小孩儿对狗狗有盲目崇拜

一日狗狗和我闲扯 说到采阴补阳

（重要插播：其实我们的对话范围很广)

小孩儿对这个词很感兴趣

有了上次的教训

我强硬示意狗狗要小心作解释

他咽了咽口水说

阴是女生 阳是男生

这个词的意思是有很多女性朋友的男生很有活力

一般作动词用 并限用于男生

小孩儿表示很喜欢这个词

后来狗狗亲耳听到小孩儿和别的中国男同学打招呼：

"呦！您好！您现在要去采阴补阳吗？"

人家四下看看红着脸问 你听谁说的？？

小孩儿特神气："狗狗！"

自此狗狗在小孩儿面前说话要用原来的两倍时间

偶像效应

小孩儿小学没毕业来到美国

但多年来一直身在曹营心在汉地崇拜中国文化

盲目崇拜内种

在和狗狗作室友的一段时间里

每天无数次赞叹狗狗的中文表达能力

"为什么他说来就不一样了呢？！"

进而产生了对人的连带崇拜

狗狗随口骗他说自己原来在国内是个著名的三级片巨星

后来倦了 来到美国 隐姓埋名要过平常人的生活

小孩儿佩服地要当场拜师

全然不顾我在一边苦口婆心地纠正

"他为什么要骗我？我相信他完全有拍三级片的能力！"

让我有种高秀敏劝范伟时的喷血

我说那你google试试，看有没有他的作品简历

他有点儿小醒悟 转头问狗狗 为什么

狗懒洋洋地答 艺名儿

小孩儿转过来冲我肯定地点了点头

后来小孩儿有点过了

我赶紧厉声勒令狗狗解释清楚

坚决不能小觑偶像的力量

想想冠希后成风的山寨艳照

狗狗只好老实说他错了他骗小孩儿了

我问小孩儿 你都听见了吧

小孩儿冲我笑 奥 知道啦

回头挤眉弄眼带比划地问狗狗

你的艺名儿是什么？

病根儿

像我这么不信邪的人在近两周内经历了戏剧般的种种，也不得不发自肺腑地吼一声：本命年一定要穿红内裤！

Drama drama drama

Things are getting more and more dramatic. The only gain among this mess is I lost weight, in an unwilling way.

中文班轶事 之 简练的广东话

班里有一个广东小孩儿叫问号（注：比我小的一律统称小孩儿）（再注：此处"问号"是艺名）

虽然很早随家人来美

但多少经过些广东话的熏陶

大家都希望他说几句广东话和平日学的普通话对比一下

他憋了半天也不知道该说什么

路凯又支招儿

"就说Baylor非常好，校园漂亮，同学也好，老师也好，我很喜欢Baylor！"

问号又憋了半天

偷眼看看全班渴望的眼神

小声地说：

"Baylor猴猴。" （"Baylor好好"的广东话音译）

大家都五体投地, literally

要说，还是人广东话简练

中文班轶事录之成语故事

有一天的作业是找成语

小公主说了个"三心二意"

我说很好

你们看 这个成语很形象

three heart two minds

这样能办好事情吗？

埃克撇撇嘴不屑一顾

他说 那我能自己make up一个吗

我说理论上不能 

但你要编成功了我可以给你加分

他很兴奋开始埋头苦编

我还没讲完"塞翁失马，焉知非福"

他已经把手举得老高

"我想出来了！'二耳朵一嘴'!"

大家都一脸雾水："什么意思？"

路凯在旁边帮忙使劲："Dude! You gotta make up a cool story, too!"

埃克得意洋洋地说：

"You have two ears but only one mouth. You must listen before you talk. So it means 'SHUT UP!'"

没想到大家都觉得有道理！

可把他给美坏了

恨不得开瓶香槟庆祝

等我抬高八度讲完"塞翁失马"的故事后

他说："So, you mean don't worry if you had a bad luck, because you will have two horses later?"

说完还装模作样地点着头："Very Deeeeeeeep!"

脸上还挂着掩饰不住的讥笑

我决定要煞煞他的威风，冲他说"Two ears one mouth!"

路凯在一边儿笑翻了："See, that's why you should never make up a Cheng Yu!"

再类比

我和狗的共同点：毛得顺着捋

你和狗的共同点：改不了吃屎

现实

When do you know you are old?

When you French professor asks "Quelle année êtes-vous né en?" (Which year were you born in), and the most of the answers are "1990". You would rather die than hand up, even if he has been encouraging, begging, pushing, and threatening: "Toute autre réponse?" (Any other answers)

------------------------------------------------------------------

什么时候你知道自己老了？

当你的法语教授操着吐痰语问"你们哪年生的？"，大半回答都是毫无新意的"1990年"，而你却任凭教授鼓励、哀求、逼问、威胁都打死不举手的时候。

喂鸭记

不速之客

From 喂鸭记

面对庞然大物面不改色

From 喂鸭记

原来庞然大物是老友

From 喂鸭记

由于个别同志不自觉，在阳台上拉屎，连累集体被赶到草地上

From 喂鸭记

抢食是个体力活，来点儿水吧

From 喂鸭记

一位女性供水者，简称，水母？

From 喂鸭记

在来点儿行吗？求求你了

From 喂鸭记

对于自己掌握的生杀大权沾沾自喜

酒足饭饱，散了

中美银行的差别

What is the difference between a Chinese bank and an American Bank?

(A) The Chinese bank has money in it.
(B) There is no difference. They are both supported by the RMB.

摘自 http://www.allroadsleadtochina.com/index.php/2008/09/17/what-is-the-difference-between-a-chinese-bank-and-an-american-bank/

签名档

签名档不就是要常变吗？又不是墓志铭。

热身

自从夏天一场大病后就没再怎么运动， 顶多花拳绣腿地打两场网球。昨天继我情绪罢工后，身体也按捺不住了起来，决定去大跑一场发泄发泄。上学期苦练瑜伽拼杀出来的底子几乎全部沦陷，才热身就浑身疼，bear trail跑到还没有一半，就喘得像狗一样。本来开始一个人还不觉得自己速度有多慢，后来竟然被一个遛狗的给超过了。可是，即便在那种耻辱下我都没有停下来走，顶多就是抄了个近路。大概觉得丢不起这人，于是满头大汗得扎进泳池，套着四处漏水的泳镜盲游了几圈，后来被一群训练的救生员霸占了底盘，悻悻地走了。自此，长久以来头次系统性健身宣告失败。

有收获的是，夜里和菜穗子聊天儿，顺便把她生日剩下的和我四处搜集的酒都扫荡了。宝刀未老。

英雄所见

问：我和李白的共同点？

答：都爱喝点小酒！

Android

唯一配得上和iPhone交手的人物今天终于诞生了，欢迎Android!

爱到底

作曲：庾澄庆 作词：许常德 

我曾怀疑 你在不在我的怀里 为何幸福 你会哭泣

不忍相爱结果是你失去自己 曾有一度 让你离去

风风雨雨 爱又让我们在一起 我知道你 受了委屈

不能否认 你我原本太多不同 就像日夜擦身而过

用一生去寻刹那的梦

我已决爱到底 决心不回去 就算一步 就踏进地狱

今生我决不负你 不负你一句 就算你会离去 我爱你

怨妇

孔子还曰，好事不出门，坏事传千里。

今儿收到的各方问候如出一辙：听说你犯法了？个别演技不好的都在语气词的运用中露馅儿了，呦！听说你犯法了啊？嘿嘿。。。哈哈。。。

看到大家在一个"还有比我更倒霉哒"的欣慰中享足了快感，我也充满了神圣的力量，觉得自己有义务把夏天最倒霉的医院砧板上的故事抽空给大家补上。

闯红灯

头一次在美国去法庭

被当作罪犯也挺新鲜的

可惜是因为没有技术含量的闯红灯

丢人

那就不说我当时是因为正在读GPS

Waco p大点儿的地方还不认路

更丢人

总之继夏天急诊室大破财后再次破财

207刀

刀刀夜不能寐

已经沦落得一周三天打工三天准备打工还债的田地

图为刽子手步步逼近

后遗症是见不得任何闪的东西

前几日 贝勒球赛刚散场

周围警察密布 警车灯闪的我几近白痴

再次在红灯亮起的霎那冲到了十字路口正中间

这次学聪明了

哪怕造成交通瘫痪也坚决不能继续穿过去

一脚刹车踩得惊天动地

然后众目睽睽之下缩了回来

停回了警车旁

这让我弃车逃跑也有了难度

小胖妞全然不知道情况的严重性 满不在乎地说

没事，你刚才那一脚刹车已经充分表明了你态度的诚恳

他们会放过你的

我一边希望警察们所想真能确如她言

一边有冲动把她拖到驾座上当替死鬼

那个红灯大概亮了一个钟头

最终 不知道为什么 真不知道为什么 他们就放我走了

莫非是因为我当时偷偷祈祷了?

要不我就从了上帝吧

到底谁的病

忠实跟随我数年的小索同学最近几度蓝屏罢工

看来是要寿终正寝了

根据死马当做活马医光脚不怕穿鞋的战术战略重装了一次

救活了！

张灯结彩锣鼓喧天

一天后 又蓝了！

确定是小索的问题而不是小温的问题

眼看着下周一就得交篇论文

只好蹭到办公室用电脑

顶着资本主义国家滥用无度的空调抽抽鼻子

啪嚓

熟悉的蓝了！

这个...

那个...

到底是谁的病?!

中秋月夜

颶風IKE虛張聲勢地來襲，人沒事，可把貝勒中國學生會的BBQ計劃吹了個煙消云散。

我天生對節日紀念日不慎敏感，不是惋惜中秋BBQ，而是少了熱鬧的借口。

對紀念日，譬如好友的生日，只有極少數碰巧想起來的，不是不在乎，就是記不住，俗稱腦殘。牛牛經歷從暴怒失望傷心麻木到現在不慍不火地告訴我前兩天是她的生日用了近十年，我依舊是老話，禮物補上，明年一定記住。

對節日，記不住的一個最大原因是，節日里要吃的傳統食物一個賽一個難吃，湯圓月餅粽子，信手拈來。誰總說中國年輕一代忘本，這些個缺吃少穿年代生憋出來的配方不還在一絲不茍傳承著？

所以今天中秋節，也沒指望合家歡聚，也沒惦記賞月吃餅。無聊是無聊了點兒，可無欲則剛，自己倒也自在。

偏偏玉帝就派了個天使過來，長得還不錯，沒翅膀但有月餅。在每周日下午這個唯一學習的時間段里，吃了飯，打了球，購了物，喝了酒，賞了月，吃了餅，就是沒學習。可心里還是這么舒坦！天下難道還有比取悅花癡更容易的事嗎？

遺憾的是，中美兩日中秋都沒能和我娘通上話，主要是因為頭一天她在筑長城，后一天我，忘了。

电脑坏了的好处

电脑无征兆猝死的好处是我说话更简练了，就像这样。

招聘启示

诚征跳大神儿着一名，驱邪。

顺序

你说小时候听到的到底是"倒车，请注意。倒车，请注意... ..." 还是"请注意，倒车。请注意，倒车... ..."？

刀

一直觉着我那把刀不快，直到连割了自己两次。

虾米宝宝起名遐想

何姓鼠年生小女：

何弦
何其
何言
何水
何碧
何花
何苗
何尚
 
小名：呵呵

奥运开幕式

由于没及时研究出来怎么在网上看直播，开幕式是看NBC在次日转播的。三个评论员解说的都很靠谱，很可能有备而来，当然，如果是发自内心对中国文化的景仰更好。 在展示活字印刷部分时，大家一度迷失，评论员忍不住抖了个包袱："Wanna know how they did it?" 话音刚落，一张张丰收的笑脸从海片的盒子中欢欣地冲了出来。"They did it with PEOPLE!" 后接三人得意而敬佩的爆笑。 

好些美国人对开幕式的评价都很高，除了一些贫瘠干瘪的赞美"beautiful""amazing""fabulous"外，也有很多有意思的评论，例如： 

我们见证了众志成城的惊人力量和智慧，几千人为着同一个目标相聚于此：吓死你丫挺的！ 

"We witnessed the sheer power and brilliance of what it looks like when thousands of individuals come together for one purpose: to blow your f*cking mind. " 

为神摸俺家的平板电视卷不起来？Circuit City（美国的国美电器）什么时候能有卖的？？ 

"MY FLAT SCREEN TV DOESN'T ROLL UP LIKE FABRIC. Do you think Circuit City will be selling these any time soon?" 

2008个太极人阵和"麦田圈"很像。承认吧，难道不是只有外星人才能把圆搞得那么TMD圆？！ "The 2,008 men doing Tai Chi in unison looked like crop circles. Because let's face it, only aliens could make circles this perfect." 

毫无疑问，这是一场盛大、惊艳、令人发省的演出，我敢肯定伦敦人看完得说"操！" 

"Needless to say, it was a grand, beautiful, and inspiring event that I'm pretty sure made London say "Well, f*ck."" 

如果这场演出的目的在于让一个人为没有身为中国人而感到羞耻，那它丫的目的达到了！ 

"If the desired effect of the ceremony was to make one feel ashamed for not being Chinese, it worked on me! " 

芝加哥正申请2016年夏季奥运会，我看不然咱们也溜吧。就算还有八年，我也不信Daley（芝加哥市市长）和他的老伙计们能搞出人家这规模。退一万步讲，假如我们真能申到，我也想在开幕式上露露脸儿，咱也要敲敲那个长得想匹萨饼的小鼓！

"Chicago's in the running for the 2016 Summer Games and I think we may as well just give up now. Even with 8 years to plan, there's no way Daley and his cronies will be able to pull off something like this. That being said, if we DO get the games, I want in on the Opening Ceremonies. I'll play a drum shaped like a deep-dish pizza! "

我想我是世界上唯一一个没看开幕式的人吧？得亏我没看，要不还怎么混我的美国懒猪日子！"I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't see it. Oh well. But hey, having never seen it, I still feel good about myself being a lazy American!"

随便说个"暴政"，"洗脑宣传"，"死共产党"多容易，还听着有学问。其实，你自个儿都不知道这些词儿到底是什么意思，就算知道也不一定就是你想的那样儿，到头来只能暴露你自己的无知。 "And it's easy to throw around words like "despotism", "propoganda", and "commies" and sound intelligent, but you have no idea what they really mean. They aren't as fitting as you think; it just exposes your ignorance." 

对中国的政治你随便说什么是你的事儿，但是这么牛B的演出完全是出于中国人们秉承的苦练，奉献，团结的的信念，这也是为什么这个B这么牛。

"You can say whatever you want of china's political state but this performance was due to their HARDWORK, DEDICATION, UNITY and the chinese mindset. That's why it rock. "

当然了，没有反对声音也不现实，基本还是集中在人权、污染问题上炒旧饭，毕竟他们也不了解

你问他们用什么能把那个变态阵型（人体鸟巢）保持那么久？用共产主义，谢谢。 

"How did they HOLD THAT FORMATION for that long??? Communism, that's how." 

火炬熊熊燃烧，象征了中国力争完美和致力污染的火一般的激情。 

"The torch burns bright, symbolizing China's firey passion for perfection and pollution."

 演出这么完美是应该的，因为根本没出错的余地。掉一根桨=余生在教育集中营中度过 

"Of course it was going to be perfect. No room for error. Drop an oar = life in reeducation camp. "

整个奥林匹克就像在看一个小孩为了应付爸妈的检查把自己卧室的垃圾都塞到床底下，藏在衣橱里... ... 这下世界清净了，说吧，我们国家多好，说吧，再多买点我们制造的便宜货... ... 

中国一览表： 

持异议者，杀无赦-----已完成 

强制搬迁-----已完成 

喷点儿杀菌剂应付城市恶臭-----已完成 

训练机器人市民来显摆-----已完成 

谎报体操运动员年龄-----已完成 

除掉开幕式表演人员及其被挟持家人-----待完成 

"This whole Olympic experience, is like watching a kid hiding all of their shit under their bed or in a closet, as mommy or daddy inspect their bedroom…….See world it's all nice and clean, so tell me I'm a good country, and buy some more of my mass produced cheap shit….. 

Chinese checklist: Get rid of dissenters……check 

Relocate and destroy Beijing housing……check 

Spray some Lysol to get rid of city stench…….check 

Use robot citizens to display our efficiency……check 

Lie about gymnasts' ages……check 

Kill all family members of opening ceremonies performers being held as collateral……..to do"

全部英文评论部分摘自http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/11/8-opening-ceremonies-moments-that-made-me-crap-my-pants/?rssfeed

做梦

                每当做到离奇而震撼的梦时，总会恍惚许久，起来也犹如行尸走肉。

                刚才梦到的是我怀孕了，还是龙凤胎。在医院里检查得好好得，白人美女医生也伺候得我周周到到。可是，看到一个叫胡冰冰的中国医生，就忍不住上去和人家搭讪， 说什么"美国技术是先进，但咱中国人讲究多也不无道理吧，毕竟身体素质不一样"，说能不能想法儿转成她的病人。结果人家铁面无私，有钱也不赚，批评我观念 太老，让我赶紧回去继续配合小白的检查。一回头，原来人家小白都瞟到了，摆起了一张臭脸，像是说"您不是不信我么，我还就不伺候了，有种你别回来！"我当 时就急了―― 我从小就听人批评我思想腐化、极端、不老实，还没人夸过我老观念。不对，应该是 ―― 这不把我们娘仨往死里逼吗！一急，肚子里的孩子们仿佛也感应到了，用武力进行示威，我的肚子越坠越厉害，醒了。

                可那种情景仿佛还在，我努力看了看四周，想了想现实，寻找线索。进了卫生间一声长叹： 昨晚睡前真不该喝那么多水。

It might be a shock, but anchors yawn!

We need a break from the back-and-forth on Tibet arguments. Here is a nice one.

An anchor of CCTV-1, the major and official TV station in China, Wen Jing was caught yawning on air. She swallowed the second half yawn and tossed to a reporter shortly after she realized the camera was still on her.

This video stirs a hot debate among Web forums. Some people blame the anchor is obviously not professional, and they concern the overall quality of the station and eventually the credibility of the whole media industry. Other people agree that it was understandable because "anchors are also human"

Two other awkward moments that happened earlier in CCTV were dig out soon by sharp netizen. A anchor was caught applying her make-up in an evening show, and a sport anchor was wearing shorts below his tidy suit when he was reporting.

I have seen the similar things happened here in news 10. Anchors apply make-up, wear flipflop, or yawn behind the science. They know exactly when they were on or off the camera, although my heart was in my throat during the whole shows!

Another funny thing is the staff were talking to themselves and laughing, while they were actually chatting and joking with each other through earphones.

I am glad to see there are more people showing their tolerance and sympathy to Wen Jing. The less they care about the official "costumes", the less they would be influenced from the propaganda, at least in the case of China.

China needs freedom for whatever reasons

My friend Jean, who lives in China, left a comment on my blog.

That is exciting news because my blog, together with tons of other bloggers' in Blogspot, had been blocked by Chinese government for almost a year, the longest period that the Chinese government has blocked connection from the Western world via the Internet.

Beginning April 1, the English versions of Wikipedia, YouTube and Blogspot, have been made accessible to people in China again, although thousands of websites including the vast majority of foreign-based news sites in Chinese are still blocked.

This could be attributed to at least two reasons:

First and the most likely reason -- the Olympics. The Chinese government has been counting down to the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic on August 8 to demonstrate to the world that China is no longer a locked-up recluse but a dynamic, confident giant. Since human rights in China has been a most criticized topic for a long time, China might want to establish a new image in media, by allowing the access to several controversial Web sites.

Secondly, the Tibet issue. Ever since the very beginning of reporting on it, western media have been predictably stood against "Communist China" in the rift between the Dalai lama, the people in Tibet and the Chinese government. No matter whether the media are automatically inclined to align with the Tibetans, it is not realistic to believe every single report negative to China can be correct. Several news pictures about Tibet protests being pushed by police in Nepal that happened earlier were mistakenly blamed on the Chinese police. This ironic mistake is being used widely by Chinese official reporting to accuse "biased western media" of often "fabricating news". This led to a national questioning attitude on the objectivity of western reporting among China. Chinese government then found they could be ironically benefited from the "biased reporting" from the western media.

In whatever reasons, this is a big step forward in Internet freedom in China. I am more than 7,000 miles from home. It was good to be able to hear from my friend Jean on my blog. The only thing that I can do now is cross my fingers and hope it won't be blocked again.

"I can do it" is always harder than "I think I can do it"

I have been observing editing videos for a long while, and even have been beyond the passion to actually make one to be used in a real news, after being frustrated to know no intern's work would be adopted, officially.

But apparently I overlooked the "grey" interpretation of the policy. Therefore, after insisting a million times, I finally got a chance to edit videos for a real news today! Well, I should clarify it was only for bumps and IDS, like teases, but still, I made it!

Then, it came to the practical application part, which is always harder than what I thought. All the tiny tricky problems that I would never anticipate in my imagination popped up. This reminds me the math exams in high school. I hate math, like most of journalism major dudes do. No matter how much prepared I felt after reading all the sample questions in the textbook, without actually solving a problem, I would always be defeated by some tiny tricky problems that never happened in my mind-solving process.

Ok, depressed so that I almost forgot the point for today: the first time I finally contribute to a real news here. Cheers!

Take care

I have not seen Robyn and Adolpho after the spring break, and a short while after Zimbabwe election issues broke out. I heard that they went back to Zimbabwe last time, but I thought they were sent out there by news 10 to cover the election because Robyn might have privilege since she is from Zimbabwe. I just learned today that they actually quit.

I don not know what happened, why they quit, or what they are doing now. But I feel so sad when I think of not having a chance to say goodbye and not seeing them ever after. I cannot help to get emotional because they have been so nice to me.

According to the messages on Robyn's facebook, her mother was detained and then released by somebody. It makes the story even more mysterious. Any way, I pray for her and her family, as well as for Adolpho. Our "international crew" will always be a precious memory in my deep heart.

From CNN: Tourist video shows Friday’s rioting in Tibetan capital

(You can click on the title for the link of this news)

March 19th, 2008

Tourist video shows Friday’s rioting in Tibetan capital

Posted: 07:36 AM ET

(CNN) — An Australian tourist traveling in Tibet when anti-Chinese rioting broke out last Friday returned home this week with dramatic video that gives the world the first independent look at the violence in the streets of the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

“We’re standing here in the middle of Lhasa and the place has just (expletive) exploded,” tourist Michael Smith said in narration recorded as the riot was happening.

Tibetan exile groups claim at least 80 people were killed by Chinese security forces that day, but Chinese authorities insist they acted with restraint and killed no one. Instead, China says 13 “innocent people” were killed, some brutally burned, by the Tibetan rioters.

The video shows Tibetans smashing windows and setting fire to Chinese shops and cars, while others are heard cheering. Chinese security forces are seen, but there are no clashes between them and the rioters shown.

Reporters Phase

According to the intern schedule Mr. B gave to me, I've been entering into Reporters Phase, passing by Producers and Photographers/Editors Phases. However, I didn't really feel the difference, because I didn't really follow the schedule.

Most of the time, I am still doing the same thing: observing and imitating, either producers, reporters or photographers.

Producers, in my opinion, have the least freedom, physically. They need to race with the deadline, by arranging all the news stories into a certain frame created by an AP software. Some people would hate these frame of time and space, but for people who like doing this, they view themselves as artists, enjoying playing with the designing game no less than a frentic boy plays XBOX.

A is a photographer that I like a lot, becuase he is really true and nice, also because his shooting and editing skills are very great. Editing, again in my opinion, involves a lot of sense of art. Dumb people would take it no more than cutting and cumulating, but smart people conduct the videos and audios to play with the story and the audiences.

A good reporter, must be a good designer. He always knows how to grasp you by only one sentence at the beginning, tell you what you are expected to know, suprise you with what you are appreciated to know, and totally refresh you at the end. This is what I want to be.

There are always new things to learn, despite I've been doing the same thing every time. For example, I felt really frustrated when I found a "tech-girl" I thought myself was could not even simply move a video window in the editing software that we are using! Come on... I need to steal more skills from A next time!

From China Daily (English)

(You can click on the title for the link of the news)

China 'improving environment' for foreign journalists

(Xinhua)Updated: 2008-03-14 09:00

BEIJING -- China is continuously improving the work environment for foreign journalists, a move that has been well received by the international community, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman here on Thursday.

"As China continues to push forward its opening up, it is also making efforts to create a better work environment for foreign journalists," said spokesman Qin Gang at a routine press conference.

"I believe the work environment for foreign journalists in China will get better and better."
He said China had made efforts in a "serious", "active" and "responsible" manner to carry out the current regulations to help foreign journalists to report on the August Olympiad.

The "Regulations on reporting activities in China by foreign journalists during the Beijing Olympic Games and the preparatory period" took effect on January 1 and expires on October 17.

"Any unbiased foreign reporters would notice that they are having more and more access and getting better service to make their reports on China along with China's opening-up process," Qin said.

However, he acknowledged there were problems during the implementation process which, he explained, were caused by two major factors.

First, China was a large country with a vast territory, a huge population and many differences among the various regions. It would take time for the foreign media regulations to be carried out thoroughly as various parties needed time to understand, absorb and implement the regulations. Second, a few foreign media also needed to reflect on their reporting style.

Qin said some reporters had violated Chinese regulations, didn't respect those they had interviewed, yet proceeded with interviews against the person's wish. Some had even fabricated news stories.

He said China would remain committed to improving the working conditions for foreign reporters in the country. He expressed his belief that foreign media would enjoy a better working environment with the country's further opening to the outside world.

Not mentioning doesn't mean not happening

In the email newsletter that I got from China Daily so far, there are not even one news about Tibet demonstrations, which are the biggest ones in Himalayan region in 20 years.

Instead, there was one headline news for today, saying "China 'improving environment' for foreign journalists". In which, Xinhua news agency, the national news agency in China, concluded that China had made efforts in a " serious", "active" and "responsible" manner to carry out the current regulations to help foreign journalists to report on the August Olympics, without offering any details about the changes in the regulation.

The article at the end expressed the belief that foreign media would enjoy a better working environment with the country's further opening to the outside world.

According to the results that I searched in www. baidu.com, an equivalence of Google in China, that most comments were blaming Tibetans, by criticizing they should not aim to Han majority people and their properties, and should not try to independent from China with the secret help from Western countries. This is coincident with the tone of the Chinese government, which shows the success of the propoganda and ethnic concerns on the Tibet issue.

Bjork didn't help much

Last week, Icelandic singer Bjork closed her concert in Shanghai with a song "Declare Independence", yelling severl times "Tibet" during the song. This protest behavior apparently couldn't favor to either the Chinese audience or the Chinese goverment.

"We will further tighten controls on foreign artistas performing in China in order to prevent silimar cases from happening in the future," the Ministry of culture said in a statement on its website.

"We shall never tolerate any attempt to separate Tibet from China and will no longer welcome any artists who deliberately do this."

Chinese got me paid

I got paid by tutoring a girl Chinese for the first time this afternoon.

She was my classmate in last semester and also my friend, who is going to China with Baylor Chinese oversea study program this summer for several weeks. That is why I accepted the a lot lower price than average to tutor her. Passionate or curious, having interest in another culture should always be encouraged. Especially for some Americans, I have to say, because they seem to be too privileged to notice the rest of the world nowadays.

Sometimes, I am a little hesitated to mention this topic with my American friends, simply because our nature of pride. Who wants to be criticized? However, there has been a couple of times, I got really frustrated.

Once I was interviewed by a junior student from International Study major, who was doing a research on Chinese culture for a project. Noticing her academic background and field of study, I bet you would not feel less awkward as I did when you found she actually was so lack of basic knowledge of China that I couldn't answer her deep interview questions which were obviously prepared from her professor without introducing many common senses.

And that doesn't only happen to knowledge of China.

I prefer to categorize it into individual differences. After all, there were more Americans also shocked by Miss teen South Carolina, even though one fifth American cannot locate the U.S. on a world map.

International Crew

Today I went out with Robyn and Adolpho to interview on the issue of the largest beef recall in American history.

This is my second day in KWTX, but my first day to come out with a reporter for interviewing. Although I was doing a weekly feature story program in China, which also involve interview part a lot, but the whole process was a little different from what we've done today, with a news perspective. The biggest difference is the time, since quick and efficient move is highly expected and strictly required when we are making the interview package for news. We usually spent a whole day in interviewing and shooting video when we were out for the feature stories, and another one or two days in writing stories, editing videos and other production work before finally got into broadcast part. But all of these should be done in several hours if you are doing a news report, although the amount of work would be less.

This leads to a relatively efficient interview that I appreciate most. You need to get into the point real quick, which requires your preparing ahead as much as you can, and having the ability to dig enough on what you want at the same time control the rhythm of the talk.

Interestingly found our crew is really international when we were introducing ourselves: Robyn is from Zimbabwe, I am from China, and Adolpho originally was from Mexico, although he has been to U.S. since two years old.

IOC gives go-ahead for blogs at Beijing

By Karolos GrohmannReuters Friday, February 15, 2008; 9:59 AM

ATHENS (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee on Friday gave the green light to allow blogging at the Olympics for the first time, issuing guidelines for this August's Beijing Games.

Athletes have long demanded they be allowed to write their blogs -- on-line journals of personal opinion or reflection -- during the Games but the IOC was concerned these could potentially infringe on copyright agreements and private information.

In a series of guidelines, the IOC said blogging would be allowed during the Beijing 2008 Olympics as long as individuals writing the journals keep within the IOC format.

"The IOC considers blogging... as a legitimate form of personal expression and not a form of journalism," the IOC said.

"It is required that, when accredited persons at the Games post any Olympic content, it be confined solely to their own personal Olympic-related experience," it said.

Bloggers during the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics are banned from posting any Olympic Games visual or audio material and any confidential information on third parties.

Athletes or officials who blog can only post still pictures taken outside accredited areas or their own pictures taken within these areas that do not contain any sporting action.

The IOC is eager to protect rights holders as Games broadcasting contracts are worth several billion euros.

Blogs should not have exclusive agreements with any company and there should be no commercial reference or advertising either, the IOC said.

Blogs should also adhere to the Olympic spirit "and be dignified and in good taste."

The phenomenal rise of blogs and their growing sphere of influence beyond the small group they were initially intended for had alarmed the IOC, especially ahead of the Beijing Games, which have been under fire due to China's human rights record and its crackdown on on-line dissidents.
Technology has made it easier and faster to blog with on-line athletes' personal diaries on the rise during the last two Games, the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2006 Turin Winter Games. All those blogs were not officially approved by the IOC at the time.

(Editing by Alison Wildey)

Valentine's Day

Today is a good Valentine's Day for me, not because I didn't get any flowers or Chocolate from my "significant other", but because I formally started my internship at KWTX, Channel 10 in Waco, TX.

It's still not too late to start my third course of this semester, although 4 weeks or almost one quarter of the semester has been passed. At least I hope not!

I will get the credit for the course from this internship, but more important for me is the practical experience in News Room, which could equip me and add some weight in my resume for the big internship at the end of the program as well as my future job.

As Rick Bradfield, News Director of KWTX, answered me, "you can learn as much as you want, and as less as you want."

All right. Let's roll.

Spielberg Drops Out as Adviser to Beijing Olympics in Dispute Over Darfur Conflict

By HELENE COOPER
Published: February 13, 2008

WASHINGTON — Steven Spielberg said Tuesday that he was withdrawing as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after almost a year of trying unsuccessfully to prod President Hu Jintao of China to do more to try to end Sudan’s attacks in the Darfur region.

Mr. Spielberg’s decision, and the public way he announced it, is a blow to China, which has said that its relationship with Sudan should not be linked to the Olympics, which have become a source of national pride.

In a statement sent to the Chinese ambassador and the Beijing Olympic committee on Tuesday, Mr. Spielberg said that his “conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual.”
“Sudan’s government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there,” the statement said. “China’s economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change.”

Responding to Mr. Spielberg’s action, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, “As the Darfur issue is neither an internal issue of China nor is it caused by China, it is completely unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair to link the two as one.”

Mr. Spielberg had written to Mr. Hu about Darfur twice in the past 10 months, his spokesman said, taking China to task for its “silence” while Sudan blocked the deployment of international peacekeepers and expelled aid workers from the region.

In September, Mr. Spielberg also met with China’s special envoy to Darfur at the Chinese mission to the United Nations, said Mr. Spielberg’s spokesman, Andy Spahn.

None of those efforts yielded the results Mr. Spielberg wanted, Mr. Spahn said. In the meantime, Mr. Spielberg had come under increasing pressure from advocates working on Darfur, including a campaign by the actress Mia Farrow, to drop his association with the Beijing Olympics.

After receiving word that Mr. Spielberg had done just that, Ms. Farrow was jubilant.
“His voice and all of the moral authority it gives, used this way, brings a shred of hope to Darfur, and God knows, rations of hope are meager at this time,” said Ms. Farrow, a good-will ambassador for the Unicef who helped start a campaign last year to label the Games in Beijing the “Genocide Olympics.”

The actor Don Cheadle, a co-founder of Not On Our Watch, a Darfur advocacy group, said he hoped that Mr. Spielberg’s actions would force China to rethink its position. “One guy like Steven in a position like that is like 100 other guys,” he said. “Those are the kinds of moves, that if they catch fire, and other people think of boycotting, or refraining, the cumulative effect could be something that potentially could change the calculation of that government.”
Mr. Spahn said Mr. Spielberg planned to encourage others to do more to pressure China on Darfur, but he did not offer details. Advocates said they hoped to enlist help from corporate sponsors of the Olympics.

China has fought attempts to link Darfur to the Olympics, but it has also responded at times to the pressure.

Last year, shortly after Mr. Spielberg’s first letter to Mr. Hu, China dispatched a senior official to Sudan to push the government to accept a peacekeeping force and appointed a special envoy.
But the Sudanese military has continued its attacks there, as recently as last week.
David M. Halbfinger contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

Blizzard blocked the way home of millions of labors in China

Jan, 2008

Thousands of labors were trapped in Beijing Train Station, trying to buy a ticket to home.