Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Sports: Are "Ronaldos" always good at football?



Are "Ronaldos" always good at football? This is the question I have always been asking.
First, you have the famous R9, one of my favourite football players of all time, who could dribble pass the entire court of opponent players and score incredible goals.

See below:



Then came Ronaldinho, which means "small Ronaldo", who could (can?) do all sorts of magical moves and even volley the ball to hit the crossbar every time! (Many people think this is fake, but I'm quite sure it is real. There is something called the crossbar challenege ever since this video came out, and many other footballers have taken this challenge, and it is not all so special to see them hitting the crossbar often with the ball)




Then of course, came the handsome, super skillful and now-even-richer Cristiano Ronaldo, aka CR7, who got his name Ronaldo because then-US president Ronald Reagan was his father's favourite actor, "rewriting the history of football" with the record-breaking transfer fee of 80 million pounds from Manchester United to Real Madrid (record-breaking does not including the night with Paris Hilton, even though Paris's friend did say "(Paris Hilton) thinks he is sexy and exotic, and loves his body. And she loves men with accents. She says it's like an aphrodisiac.") .
Vocab time:
aphrodisiac noun[C], adj
something, usually a drug or food, which is believed to cause sexual desire in people

So, are they all so good at football because they are all named "Ronaldo"?

Maybe, maybe not, according to Wikipedia, the listed "Ronaldos" are mostly footballers with great success.

But the interesting thing is, what happens after great success? Take a look:

Ronaldo had sex with a transvestite:

Vocab time:
transvestite noun[C]
a person, especially a man, who wears the clothes of the opposite sex, often for sexual pleasure





Partying Ronaldinho:




Milan would consider Ronaldinho transfer request : quoting "Ronalinho has struggled since his move to Serie A from Barcelona in July and has only managed the bench recently".

Ronaldinho left out of Brazil squad : quoting "Off-form Ronaldinho was left out of Brazil's squad on Thursday for next month's World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup."


Vocab time:
Off-form adj
oppose to On-form, meaning not to be in a good condition


All these "Ronaldos" have a common interest, PARTYING, now that CR7 is still on-form and we still manage to see world-class football skills, what will his future be? What will he become?

As a fan of his football skills, I hope he will do well. As no fan of his clubbing skills, I advise he focus on his career.

Maybe learn from Kaka, he is famous for being a Brazilian who does not party and for his model-husband role.



Question:


Why did I use "I advise he focus on his career" and not "I advise he focuses on his career"?


Picture resources:

http://www.seethecup.com/footballers/kaka-is-a-daddy-see-the-picture-of-kakas-baby/

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/pimpin_krystal/cristiano_ronaldo_pepe_07.jpg?t=1246103047

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/puma7/picture_cristiano_ronaldo_306.jpg


Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronaldo_(disambiguation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronaldinho#Biography_and_personal_life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristiano_Ronaldo#Early_life
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=654700&cc=4716
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2476901/Ronaldo-scores-with-Paris-Hilton-in-LA-night-club.html
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=646543&sec=transfers&cc=4716
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=648373&sec=worldcup2010&cc=4716
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kak%C3%A1#Personal_life
http://www.seethecup.com/footballers/kaka-is-a-daddy-see-the-picture-of-kakas-baby/
Posted by at 14:13 2 comments Labels:

Vocabulary: Suffix "-en"

I'm sure you all have the concept of what Prefixes and Suffixes are in English. Today I would like to stress on one particular suffix "-en" as it is not only widely used, it is also easy for us to remember and understand.


Suffix "-en" appears in many different words, one of the most widely used is in the Past participles:
seen, given, taken, bitten...


but the type I want to discuss is the type to do with the concept "make it + adj/noun". I like this one because I can easily write a formula:


Verb = adjective/noun + "en"


For example:
awaken = to cause sb to wake up
brighten = to cause sth to become brighter
broaden = to cause sth / sb's mind to become more broad
cheapen = to cause sth to become cheaper
coarsen = to cause sth to become coarser
dampen = to cause sth to become damper
darken = to cause sth to become darker
deepen = to cause sth to become deeper
fatten = to cause sth / sb to become fatter
flatten = to cause sth to become more flat
freshen = to cause sth to become more fresh
gladden = to cause sth /sb to become more glad
harden = to cause sth to become harder
hasten = to cause sth / sb to become faster
heighten = to cause sth /sb to become higher
lengthen = to cause sth to become longer
lessen = to cause sth to become lesser
lighten = to cause sth to become lesser / lighter
loosen = to cause sth to become looser
moisten = to cause sth to become more moist
neaten = to cause sth to become neater
quicken = to cause sth to become quicker
quieten = to cause sth to become quieter / calmer
ripen = to cause sth to become ripe
roughen = to cause sth to become rougher
sharpen = to cause sth to become sharper
shorten = to cause sth to become shorter
sicken = to cause sth to become sick / ill
slacken = to cause sth to become more loose and not tight
soften = to cause sth to become softer
steepen = to cause sth to become steeper
stiffen = to cause sth to become stiffer
straighten = to cause sth to become straighter
strengthen = to cause sth to become stronger
sweeten = to cause sth to become sweeter
thicken = to cause sth to become thicker
tighten = to cause sth to become tighter
toughen = to cause sth to become tougher
waken = to cause sth to become awake
weaken = to cause sth to become weaker
widen = to cause sth to become wider
worsen = to cause sth to become worse



Recources:
Posted by at 00:45 2 comments Labels:

Monday, 15 June 2009

Blog & Investment: Paul Krugman's The Conscience of a Liberal

I am more of a web-researcher, knowledge-starver than I am of a blog reader. What I mean is that, I look for information, but I don't really get them from blogs.
The reason being, partially due to my ignorance and partially due to my narrow-mindedness, I don't know too many blogs which are focused enough in their aims (and in English).

Some blogs aim to share their personal feelings with friends (understandable), some aim to promote their latest songs and videos (practical), some aim to spread their views on politics and gain support (strategic), but not my cup of tea. I want to learn something when I am reading, and thus I will share with you the blog of Paul Krugman (winner of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics), The Conscience of a Liberal.


I hope Dr. Krugman wouldn't mind my use of his blog logo here.
First of all, I have to say, I don't fully understand all the concepts that are discussed on his blog, but if you are truly interested in learning more about economics, you will get better as you read on.

I really find his short entries entertaining. In between the lines, you can see that Dr. Krugman is a person who knows his humour and he uses them at just the right amount. I like his "humour-in-sarcasm" and "truth-in-sarcasm" the most.

After reading his book, I know that he can really make understanding economics easy, and as we all know, making something look easy enhances the interests of learning. A great example can be found in his entry dated 9th Jun 2009, Dismal Hours, showing the diagram of the Aggregate Weekly Hour Index of the Total Private Industries plotting against Time.

What it actually indicates is very simple, that "the more hours people work, the better chance for the economy to recover". Year 2002 was the beginning of the last US recession, and it was marked at 100. So right now, the situation is a little worse than that time, and it is going down fast and shape, thus "the US data don’t even show stabilization, let alone recovery."[1]

So you see? It's not difficult to understand, isn't it?

Thank you Dr. Krugman!




He also posted some of his lecture notes on his blog!


Citation:
[1] http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/dismal-hours/

Picture resources:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/krugman/krugman_main.png
http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/hours.png

Resources:
Posted by at 00:44 0 comments Labels: , ,

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Vocabulary: Parallel Import / Grey Product


During the discussion in a lesson last Saturday, one of the groups came to me with a term that I have always wanted to know, but never remembered to look for, and what is that?

Let's guess, see how many tips do you need to reach the final answer:
  1. It has to do with shopping

  2. It comes in 2 types

  3. Both types are legal

  4. They are the same product

  5. Both types are sold in the same shop

  6. One type is cheaper than the other

  7. One type is all new, the other is mostly new but sometimes used

  8. They are sold outside normal distribution channels by companies which may have no relationship with the producer of the goods

  9. One buys the product where it is available cheaply, often at retail but sometimes at wholesale, and imports it legally to the target market

  10. They are mostly electronics suchs as cameras or mobile phones.

So do you know what I am talking about now? I'm referring to the parallel import or the grey products.
Do you own any? I do. Fancy a new iPhone 3GS, anyone? I don't.

Other terms to do with the grey products are:

Tariff -- is a duty imposed on foreign goods. They are usually associated with protectionism, the economic policy of restraining trade between nations.

Bootlegging -- usually refers to making, transporting and/or selling illegal alcoholic liquor or copyrighted material; the term originates from concealing flasks of alcohol in the legging of boots.


Question: What is the name of the product that is illegal called in English and what is the one you can buy from Broadway, Fortress or Gome called in English?



Resources:






Picture resources:


Posted by at 00:18 0 comments Labels: ,

Monday, 8 June 2009

Movie: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Have you watched the first "Night at the Museum"back in 2006? I really like the first one as it gave me all new sensation about the boring museum. It is the truth that I hardly like visiting museum, and I don't find anything in it that can interest me for more than 5 minutes -- I was a come-and-goer, but if a museum could really become so alive like this one! It would be awesomely fun!

In the first movie, Ben Stiller couldn't find a decent job and had to settle for a night security guard position at the Museum of Natural History. The inexperienced watchman witnessed the chaos  of his lifetime, that the exhibits came to life after sun set. Characters who interested me most were Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Dexter (Crystal the monkey), Jedediah Smith (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan) and Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck).

In the sequel of this movie, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) started off as a successful CEO of his own company, but at the same time had lost his direction in life. In search for his direction once again, he received a news that his old friends, together with the Egyptian Gold Plate, in the Museum of Natural History were to be moved to the federal storage at the famous Washington Museums while the former was being renovated.  New characters like Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) , Napolean (Alain Chabat), Kah Mun Rah (Hank Azaria)  and the cute Cookie Monster from Seasame Street. However, due to the long list of characters, some of the prominent ones' roles had to be trimmed down which was rather sad for the fans. But overall, there were more to see, better actions and better computer graphics. 

I like the injection of the love line for Larry and Amelia -- a little love makes the whole a better place, and I favour the catchy arguments between Larry and Kah Mun Rah, lots of quotes from there! So overall, this is a movie to watch this Summer and it is one I would get for my blu-ray disc list (despite the fact that I still don't have a blu-ray player!!!Waiting for PS3 to cut price.)

The only thing that I hate is the cupids singing lame songs. Why would they be singing rap or Titanic theme songs?!!!!

PS: Do also check out the movie clips of Ben Stiller winning the MTV Generation Award at the bottom of this entry.



My favourite quotes:
Larry Daley: I'm sorry. Last time I checked, I thought we lived in a free country. So... 
Brandon: No, we don't. 
Larry Daley: No? 
Brandon: It's the United States of "Don't Touch That Thing Right in Front of You."

Kah Mun Rah: [dramatically] I have come back to life! 
Larry Daley: No, I heard that. I got that. Welcome back. 

Kah Mun Rah: [Confronting Vader] 
Kah Mun Rah: Is that you breathing? Because I can't hear myself think! There's too much going on here; you're asthmatic, you're a robot. And why the cape? Are we going to the opera? I don't think so.



Resources:
Official Website
http://www.nightatthemuseummovie.com/

IMDB
Posted by at 23:23 2 comments Labels:

Thursday, 4 June 2009

Science & Technology : Hydrogen Future


WORLD OF HYDROGEN


Using wind and solar power, NASA plans to produce fuel for a hydrogen-powered Cleveland bus to demonstrate what may be an ultimate in renewable energy.


Thinking about clean fuel like I do?

Natural gas, petroleum, coal are out due to the carbon dioxide (CO2) they emit during combustion. Solar power (energy from sun), hydropower such as tidal power and wave power, and wind power are among my favourite ones because they cause no greenhouse gases, but they next level, is definitely the eco-friendly hydrogen power!!!

Hydrogen is a gas lighter than air, exists in a huge amount on our planet in the form of water (H2O). During the combustion of hydrogen in air, it will release a great amount of energy together with and only water. Because of this, "some environmentalists believe a hydrogen economy could greatly reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and therefore play a major role in tackling global warming." [1]

I wish this day will come sooner! How I wish to breathe fresh air even when I am standing behind a heavy trunk or dirty lorry!

If hydrogen is so great, then why haven't we been using it all along? The reason lies in the practicality of the production:

ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER 

"Hydrogen must first be broken out from its compound form with oxygen as water (H2O) using electrolysis or gathered by other means as it does not naturally occur by itself. Hydrogen cannot be mined or drilled as with fossil fuels and requires more energy input to produce it than is generated with its combustion." [2]

In simple words, it means that it will take more energy producing hydrogen than the energy hydrogen will produce later. Metaphorically I put it, it is like spending $100 to make $90. (Do you know why this is the case?)

So it was both practically and economically unbeneficial, but not anymore!!!

From Discovery News, "The project, spearheaded by NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, would use power produced by a windmill and solar energy cells to run a machine called an electrolyzer that splits water molecules into its base elements of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen, in turn, would be used as fuel for specially-equipped buses."[3]

Don't believe it? Watch it for yourself!!!! Click here!!

And the economical benefits? 
"The idea is that you'd stimulate jobs for the community by folks learning how to build these devices, how to operate them and also what you could use hydrogen for," said Valerie Lyons, a program manger at NASA Glenn. "Maybe people would make forklifts and other small vehicles that run off hydrogen, or convert gasoline-powered cars.
"There's a lot of things that could simulate the economy with different types of jobs spinning off from the hydrogen economy."[4]

Still driving the old dusty money-eating dudes? Think green! Think cheap! Think clean! Say "Aloha!" to the new hydrogen era!!!!!

Posted by at 13:42 0 comments Labels: ,
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