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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - 班傑明的奇幻之旅 (1)

上個星期六耶誕假期, 我們跑去看了"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (台灣翻譯為: 班傑明的奇幻之旅) 電影. 雖然整齣電影長為2個小時又47分鐘, 卻讓人一點都感覺不到, 是一部值得一看的電影。

這部電影改編自名作家Fitzgerald, Francis Scott 1921年的同名短篇小說"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"。 一句Mark Twain的名言"It was a pity that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end." (最讓人遺憾的是,生命在最美好的部份開始,卻在最糟糕的時候結束。) 的靈感, 讓F. Scott寫出這部令人沈思人生意義的小說。電影的情節和原著確有差別, 可是都是值得一看的電影和小說。

加上堅強的製作和演員陣容:
導演David Fincher: 善用另類和挑戰的視角來發掘或許是人性陰暗面或許是深層意像面的東西, 挑戰觀眾去思考他想表達的真正意境, 曾導演: Alien 3 (1992), Se7ven (1995, with Brad Pitt), The Game (1997, with Michael Douglas), Fight Club (1999, with Brad Pitt), Panic Room (2002), and Zodiac (2007)。
編劇Eric Roth: 曾以Forrest Gump (1994)贏得The Best Writer Oscar Award, 也在2000 and 2006 再度得到Oscar nominations。
男主角Bard Pitt: 這不用介紹了..........只到打出他的名字in the cast list, 大概就有百萬婦女願意花錢進電影院看電影, 不只擁有俊美的外表, 也兼具實力派的演技, 從"A River Runs Through It" (1992, 大河戀)開始就受人矚目。
女主角Cate Blanchett: 曾以The Aviator (2004)贏得The Best Supporting Actress Oscar Award, 也在2000, 2007, and 2008得到Oscar Nominations, 並在1999以Elicabeth贏得金球獎Best Actress.。


5 Golden Globe Nominations 金球獎五項提名:
Best Picture
Best Director (David Fincher)
Best Screenplay
Best Actor (Brad Pitt)
Best Original Score

8 Critics' Choice Award Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Director (David Fincher)
Best Actor (Bard Pitt)
Best Actress (Cate Blanchett)
Best Supporting Actress (Taraji P. Henson)
Best Writer (Eric Roth)
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Composer (Alexandre Desplat)

"Eli Stone" Show of ABC

在美國, 晚上不像在台灣那麼熱鬧, 大部分的店家都關門, except theater or pub. 所以常常吃完飯, 就看看美國的電視劇, 這些電視劇的編劇都很厲害, 都可以編出這些情節出來, "Prison Break", "Lost", "Heros", "Gossip Girls", "Grey's Anatomy", "House", "Dirty Sexy Money"都是我們有在follow的....可是其實我覺得最好看的..............應該算是每個星期二晚上ABC的"Eli Stone"

"Eli Stone"並不是說劇本最好, 或是演員最好, 或是製作成本最多, 或是最科幻.... 可是我覺得他的故事其實很適合啟發人心, to find out the good side inside your heart, to make you want to do good things.

"Eli Stone"是敘述原本一位現實的San Francisco Lawyer, 在他事業有成, 也將跟老闆女兒結婚的同時, 突然開始看到一些身歷其境的visions, 而且這些visions最後都會跟他將要接的cases或是自己的人生有關. 他也開始理解自己的mission, 也開始了解他幼年時, 他父親一些奇怪的行為也是同樣原因造成...........
因為這些visions, 他開始轉變人生的態度, 更關心他的客戶而不是利益, 更關心周遭的人而不是多接有錢人的cases.
在猜測這些visions maybe came from the Almighty的同時, 卻也發現這些vision卻是他得了brain aneurysm壓迫神經所造成, 而且如果不馬上手術, 可能致死, 可是如果手術好了, 卻可能也永遠失去了看到這些visions的能力.....which he thinks is a gift from the Almighty
在面臨許許多多的交叉點, 他要如何去面對, 如何去fullfill his missions...

在這個星期的episode裡面, 他對著一個將會對人類有重大貢獻(because he saw the vision)卻身陷官司的天才少女說: "I understand you have a gift. But a gift is something that is given. You don't own it. The world does. The world is asking you to use it, and you don't get to say no."
其實他也是說給正在徬徨 and feel longly的自己聽

很發人深省的句子, 如果每一個有錢的, 有權的, 或是身負聰明才智的人, 都能從help the world去出發, 認為自己現在所有的都是some things given, 而需要去回饋the world, 而不是只想到自己的利益, 要貪更多錢或要更多權力 ..........那這世界將會變得更美好...

Eli Stone official web site:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/elistone/index?pn=index
You can watch the previous episodes there.

The Old Vine Cafe in the CAMP

星期天我們跑去試了另外一家Cafe for our brunch. 位在"The CAMP"裡面.

"The CAMP" is a shopping mall with an eco-friendly attitude offers specialty restaurants, outdoor wear stores, a yoga studio and other retailers. The CAMP剛好位在405, 55, and 73交叉的三角形地帶, 離Irvine不遠, 我之前也寫過去吃過那裡的一家素食餐廳"The Native Food", 還不錯.

這次我們去試的是"Old Vine Cafe", 裝潢還不錯, 掛了一些畫作, 也有一些收藏的酒可以買, 空間雖然不是很大, 可是用餐感覺不錯, 而且裡面外面都有烤暖的設備



Menu是釘在一個畫布上的



我點了一個"Gourmet Sausage and Eggs", 我選garlic chicken flavor的sausage, 很好吃!, 附考English muffin和Kiwi Marmalade醬 (吃起來覺得應該是手工製作的), $9.5

`

我老婆點的是Omelet Espana, 還有附兩片考吐司, 塗的醬是Pistachio Butter, 也很好吃! $10.0



他們塗麵包可以選擇: Kiwi Marmalade, Apple Butter, Strawberry Marmalade, Pistachio Butter, Macadamia Butter , 而且吃起來都是很新鮮, 手工製作的!

另外我們也點了Berry Lemonade and a coffee, Coffee只能算是OK, 不過還附上一個小餅乾, 很好吃, 後來我們跟Waiter問他們怎麼做的, Waiter見我們很喜歡這個小餅乾, 還進去拿了一個小碟子多裝了五六個給我們吃........可惜光顧吃餅乾, 卻忘了照起來....

總體來說, 應該以後還會再來.........:]

The CAMP:
2937 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA, 92626
(714) 444-4267
http://www.thecampsite.com

Old Vine Cafe:
2937 Bristol St. Suite A-102, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714)545-1411
http://www.oldvinecafe.com

起霧的Irvine

上個星期, 突然有幾天整個LA County和Orange County區域都在起霧, 早晨開I-5去公司和晚上回來的時候, 都是在濃霧中行駛
靄靄白霧, 尤其是在一年四季充滿陽光的南加州, 倒是難得
置身其中的我, 倒也想起台灣的那種有時多雲, 有時多雨, 有時山區又常起霧的氣候. 也曾經跟著一群朋友, 騎在台北陽明山區的山路上, 穿過一層雲霧, 到達山頂的氣象觀察站, 俯瞰市區, 片片的白雲(或是霧)就在眼腳下的山坡上緩緩地移動著....
每次想到台灣, 總覺得台灣是個美麗的寶島....

晚上回到家, 拿起傻瓜相機就往窗外拍下難得的霧景

Chiayen Murano is ON SALE!!

Holiday season is coming! Many stores are on sale this weekend, and same as Chiayen Murano! Right now, chiayen murano offers another 15% off + FREE USPS ground shipping on top of the original 20-40% off sale price till 12/19/2008!!
Go to www.ChiayenMurano.com to get your handmade murano glass gift for yourself, your family, and your friends now!


Trails in Irvine

最近在報紙上看到Orchard Hills in Irvine有開了一條新的trail, 看起來蠻不錯的:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/irvine-trail-open-2237086-raetz-ranch
然後做了一些research about trails around Irvine, 發現其實Irvine附近不只是有靠海的地方可以去, 其實還不少平常可以去走or biking的trails, 而且還有一些團體辦的guided tour可以參加喔:
http://www.irvineranchwildlands.org/land/
http://www.irvineranchwildlands.org/activities/index.asp
Google一下網路, 發現一些人post的照片, 看起來還不錯
http://socaltrailgirl.smugmug.com/Trail%20Running/654488
大家要不要一起去hiking啊?!

Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center in Irvine (鑽石廣場在爾灣)

出差前一個星期, 跟老婆經過了Irvine的Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center, 開車進去晃晃, 想看看開了沒, 因為之前就聽說Summer要開幕, 一直到現在都還沒有正式開幕....

剛好在85度C的餐廳前遇到一個類似工作人員(or老闆)的歐吉桑......跟我們說..........85度C大概會在九月26 or 27號左右開幕喔!!!
這樣Irvine又多了個地方可以吃飯了和買菜了!! Cannot wait!

Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center 網址: http://www.diamond-jamboree.com

Bike Trail (自行車小徑) in Irvine

搬來新的社區已經有一個半月了, 我們很喜歡這裡的環境, 社區也剛好在one of the bike trails in Irvine的旁邊, 上次已經跟老婆去騎了一段, 今天又趁著微風徐徐吹來的涼快傍晚, 又去騎了一次, but 這次是往山的方向走 (上次是往newport 方向), 順便帶了camera, 紀錄了沿途的風景

社區的小門出來就是一條bike trail:

整條的路面很平, 很好騎, 旁邊是一條大排水道, 可是有些段長滿了植物, 還有鳥類棲息

在經過一些主要道路的地方, 這條bike trail則採用幹道方離的方式, 由下面穿過去, 所以整條bike trail都可以避免跟車子競道, 非常的棒!

然後有些路段, 沿途還有路燈, 非常的體貼, 當然如果要晚上出來騎, 還是建議要有一些反光甚至燈光配備

有時候, 經過一些其他社區, 會有另外一條bike trail分出去, 往不同的方向去:
而剛剛提到, 這條大的排水道, 有些水多的地方, 會有鳥類棲息:
我們還看到有一個地方, 竟然還有分自行車騎的還是可以給騎馬的走的, very cool....... I wish I have a horse, too...:P

越來越覺得Irvine真是一個不錯的City. 有關bike trail around irvine, 可以參考這兩個link:
1. Bike Trail Map
2. Safety tips and information before biking

The "Native Foods" in "The Camp"

Today, we went to a restaurant called "Native Foods" in "The Camp" green mall.

The restaurant is just like a big Mongolian style tent. The seats are surrounding the counter which is in the center. High translucent ceiling with a big fan, with glass window surrounding half of the tent. It's eco-friendly nature bright. Of course, they also offer outdoor seats.
"Native Foods" provides healthy, delicious, organic scrumptious vegetarian foods. It's very interesting that there is a chalk board full of "I will not eat animals today."
What we had today is a Twister Warp with Native Fries and Green Salad. The Twister Wrap looks like having checken inside, but actually it's not checken meat, but still tastes good!
By the way, you can try their iced tea (the one in the above picture). They said the iced tea is sweeten by "Agave" not regular sugar oh!

Here is their website: http://www.nativefoods.com/
And their location is Costa Mesa: (They also have restaurants in Aliso Viejo, Westwood village of L.A., Palm Springs, and Palm Desert)
The CAMP
2937 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 751-2151

好康道相報

有幾天沒寫Blog了........今天來說一個在打折的東西!!
今天從朋友那裡知道一個在打折的好東西: 創見的移動硬碟 with FREE SHIPPING!
從大學的時候買電腦零件自己組裝的時候, 記憶體都會要挑創見(Transcend)的, 這是一個不錯的台灣公司. 現在他們在這個網站做Labor Day Sale with FREE Shipping on some selected items, 可以去這裡看看喔:
http://www.transcendstore.com/----portable-external-hard-drive.html

我大概跟Fry's和Bestbuy相類似的competitors比較, 價錢還不錯喔! 又不用自己跑到老遠的Fry's因為有free shipping....

而聽他們說這款: http://www.transcendstore.com/ts160gsj25m.html, 是符合美軍標準 (military grade), 所以防摔 (well.......這個自己去試試看吧, 我可不敢摔摔看..:P)

如果你有很多相片, Videos, 軟體需要備份的, 現在是時機去買一個來用用看喔, 做做文件備份, 以防重要文件lost, 然後讓你的電腦有多一點space, 就可以做硬碟重整 (這可以幫助你運行程式時, 可以快一點, 硬碟壽命也會比較長, 建議每隔一段時間就做一次, but 也不要太長做....)

Ayame 日本餐廳

今天和老婆去試了一家網友介紹的"Ayame", 最後認為這個決定是不錯的, 還值得下次再去:

"Ayame" locates in Orchard Hills Village center (3923 Portola Pkwy, Irvine, CA). It's not big, but when we got there, it was around 7pm, but still many available seats.

我們點了一個 combo "B" (beef teriyaki, tempura, sashimi with rice, soup, and salad) $19.xx
waitress還問我說beef teriyaki要幾分熟, 後來拿來才知道, 原來不是一片一片的, 而是有厚度的小塊牛排, 而且煎得表皮又脆, 中間又很軟, 很好吃!
sashimi也很嫩很新鮮, tempura也炸得剛剛好, miso soup也好喝, salad也好吃!!

我們還點了一個烤魚下巴, 也很嫩, 很juicy, $12:

然後還點了一個soft shell crab cut roll, $9
也很好吃, 海苔外皮外面還包了應該是用黃瓜削出來的一層皮, 真是有創意又好吃:


最後結帳, 所費不貲, but 好吃..............尤其在irvine要吃到我覺得好吃的日本餐廳, 這個算是其中一家, 而且服務態度很好, 星期五晚上去, 沒有太多人, 不用排隊, 又很安靜, 外面還有座位可以坐著吃飯, 或許下次就帶著我們家的mochi一起去吃...:D

Google Maps

前一陣子, 因為工作的關係, 把Google的產品大致都go through過一遍.

Google really did some good stuff. Especially, right now they have teams in Taiwan, so they are working on some more convenient tools for people in Taiwan.

For example, you can go to http://maps.google.com.tw, and you can see some useful links at the left side, like "台北市即時停車場資訊" (這個是利用google maps的marking技術, 加上由台北市政府網站透過web service功能提供的即時資訊, 結合起來, 所顯示出來的), 或是可以點擊"熱門地圖瀏覽工具" or "查看更多地圖"來看到更多由其他網友努力的成果.

如果你懂寫程式的話, 你也可以go to "Google Map APIs"去看看怎麼利用Google Map提供的技術來開發你自己的Map喔!!

懷念的台灣和台灣小吃

每次看到有人介紹台灣的小吃, 不管是在台灣的或是在美國的, 就會覺得好飛回台灣去待個幾個星期好好過過癮.........尤其是我家就住在師大路夜市旁邊, 出門就有吃不完的美食................我到現在還從來沒有把師大夜市所有的店都吃過一次....因為太多了!!!

在這裡要推薦一個茶店, 小小的店舖, 口味卻不同於一般的泡沫紅茶店, 去的話, 一定要點他們的霜乳茶喔(可以選很多種base, like 烏龍, 普耳, 紅茶, 綠茶...etc.), 可以參考這個link: 奉茶師大店

然後在這裡看到有人介紹10 places of Taipei, 可以參考參考喔!

FDMA, TDMA, and CDMA

My first master thesis is about mobile computing at a Computer Science and Engineering department. I remembered learning those knowledge about mobile computing and wireless communication was very interesting and exciting because those technology are so powerful and change the way people communicate totally.

People are talking about FDMA (frequency division multiple access), TDMA(time division multiple access), and CDAM (code division multiple access) when talking about how to utilize wireless signal channel to communicate with each other. There is a very easy example to understand their difference:

There is a room (one wireless signal channel) in which people wish to communicate with each other. To avoid confusion, people could take turns speaking (time division), speak at different pitches (frequency division), or speak in different languages (code division). People speaking the same language can understand each other, but not other people.

Therefore, with using those 3 methods, even sharing the same channel, different pairs of people can talk with each other at the same time without any problem.

So....do you understand it?

A beautiful moon

We just moved in our new apartment for one month, and we really like it. It was built in2004, and comes with in-house washer/dryer. So we don't need to carry heavy laundry basket with lots of clothes to do our laundry. Also, the community provides the tenants with business center, club house, covered parking garage (with storage space), 24-hour gym, and 2 heated salty swimming pools with jacuzzi. Also, the maintenance service is good. The maintenance guy always came on time, and was nice.

Our apartment is facing south-east, so we got sunshine in the morning, and don't feel so hot in the afternoon. Also, in the evening, we can see the beautiful moon.
it's really pretty.

吃水蜜桃! 幫水蜜桃阿嬤加油

偶然間看到這篇網路文章 "吃水蜜桃! 幫水蜜桃阿嬤加油"
每次看到類似的新聞, 心裡就會覺得很難過, 也很敬佩...
社會上有許多人, 雖然生活上遇到很多困難, 可是還是靠自己的勞力和付出, 實實在在去賺自己的每一分錢.....不去偷, 不去搶, 不作姦犯科, 不貪污 , 不去拿不屬於自已的錢, 而是靠自己的雙手, 努力地生活著....

也很難過社會上的貧富不均...
希望大家都可以珍惜自己的生活
也珍惜這是社會所給你的
有機會, 也去幫助你所知道的需要幫助的人, 去回饋於社會...

也希望這社會上, 不要都是那種 "不是朋友, 就是敵人" 的觀念, 不認同你的政治立場, 不代表對方是跟你是對立的, 你可以不喜歡對方支持的政治對象甚至是賭爛那個對象, 可是也不代表對方要支持你所支持的, 他的價值觀才會是正確的.....因為你的價值觀也不見得是正確的........

也不要因為對方支持的團體以前做了哪些壞事, 就永遠都是壞的, 所以自己支持的人做壞事都可以原諒, 都可以牽托別人, 都可以認為是別人的錯, 或是反正對方以前也都這樣, 所以自己支持的人做一樣的錯事, 就可以裝做看不到..........這是正確的做人態度嗎? 這是你會教導後代子孫的傳世價值嗎?

做人的普世價值是universal的, 並不會因為你所支持的顏色, 而就可以扭曲, 而且每個人有自己願意選擇支持的, 這才是真正民主的價值, 而不是當口頭說民主愛台灣, 別人卻不支持的時候, 別人就是錯的..............不然那跟那種"為了民族大義, 為了國家, 為了穩定, 什麼人權和民主都可以犧牲"的獨裁思想, 又有什麼不同 (只有名稱不一樣吧了).

沒有一個政黨永遠都是對的, 因為政黨也是人組成的, 人會變, 人也會換, 有理想的走了, 剩下的就是利用當初理想的人...

也不見得做錯事的政黨永遠不會改變, 因為政黨也是人組成的, 人會變, 人也會換, 做錯事的會消失, 有理想的也會加入...

時代是由現在的人所創造的, 而不是還繼續由過去的人在陰魂不散, 更不需要永遠沉浸在歷史的傷痛裡................

突然有感而發, 寫了亂七八糟的東西..

Anywya, 希望大家多多幫助需要幫助的人......台灣, 加油!


中華隊輸了...Taiwan baseball team lost to China.

昨天晚上回到家, 突然想到今天有台灣對大陸隊的棒球賽, 趕快去NBC網上看現場直撥...
沒想到一打開的時候, 已經在3:3, 十一局上半, 後來攻了四分變成7:3....讓我放心了大半...
沒想到!!!!..............竟然最後半局被逆轉...
都可以兩人出局, 兩好球, 還被打了清壘的安打...
右外野傳球回來還K到自己的一壘手............不只被追平, 甚至超前分都跑回本壘...
I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!

現在中華隊要晉級很難了............

傷心中.............................

拜託拜託加加油吧.........................................

Murano Glass Jewelry Store

從朋友那裡開始接觸Murano Glass Jewelry, 才知道Murano不只是一個車子的牌子, 其實上是Italy的一個小島...從十五世紀左右就開始有玻璃手工藝品的製作, 而且當時的義大利政府還把這項傳統技藝集中在Murano這個小島上, 那時的工匠還享有極高的社會地位...

製作出來的首飾品不只只是玻璃而已, 還會有金箔銀箔的鑲嵌, 由於是手工製作, 所以即使是同一款式, 沒有兩個飾品會是一模一樣...

這裡有賣不錯的Murano Glass, 可以參考參考, 都是從義大利進口的喔:
Murano Glass Jewelry, all made from Italy, best gift for your girl friend or wife:
http://www.chiayenmurano.com

The Mathematics World

Do you like Math?
I like math, but I'm not a math genius. Math is the fundamental science for many other sciences, including computer science. Computer Science students need to learn much math knowledge in school, not just pure programming skill.
Here is a web site I recently found. It has many mathematics topics and problems inside:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/

Enjoy it~

Olympics Baseball Game Live Video

If you are in U.S, and you want to see the Olympics Baseball Game Live video, you can go here to see:
在美國, NBC是負責轉撥奧運的頻道, 可是並不是所有比賽都會在電視上撥出, 如果你想看中華棒球隊的網路直撥, 可以到下面這個網址找找看看:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/baseball/index.html

不知道NBC會不會在網上轉撥...

中華隊加油!! Go! Go! Go! Taiwan!

50 Books Every Geek Should Read

Are you a geek?
If you are, do you know what are the 50 books you should read?
Check this link: 50 Books Every Geek Should Read

Some useful web sites for learning coding

Sometimes, I will go to the following web sites to get some ideas about how to write programs. They are very useful:

1. http://www.sourceforge.com
2. http://www.codeproject.com
3. http://www.codeguru.com (This one has some videos, too)

If you want to learn Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft has provided many online materials:
http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/default.mspx

Or this one has videos, too, but you need to join the member:
http://www.learnvisualstudio.net

And this one is good for learning ASP.NET:
http://www.asp.net

Enjoy it~

Bad mood....

Just did a phone interview....
These questions are not as difficult as what I thought, but really good questions.
However, I didn't really do a good job on answering the questions.
Man....my English sucks....

Is Picasa really good?

Is Picasa really good?
I like Picasa when I use it. In some degree, it's user-intuitive and not difficult to use.
But I think Picasa web/client program still have room to improve....
Can I add widgets in my Blog?
Can I see web albums in the Picasa client program, and just drag pictures between local and online folders/albums?
Can I set how I wanna display my pictures to my friends? Maybe by writing scripts?
Can I put other friends' albums in my albums? Just like connection of Linkedin?
...
Well....but, so far I like it.