Ibirapuera Auditorium - Sao Paulo - Niemeyer

The Height Tax

Should we tax tall workers at a higher rate than their shorter peers? The answer — yes — “follows inexorably” from reigning academic theories of taxation, argues Greg Mankiw, an economics professor at Harvard (and former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers), in a working paper first circulated in April. »More...

Of course I say: 强词夺理. Even if it is my favourite NYT.

Wounds of the Revolution

Wounds of the Revolution - New York Times

The Cultural Revolution swept away much of the old Chinese culture. Dignity is now defined by money and French and Italian luxury goods.

Well-put. I alluded to this phenomenon previously in »this post.

9 Days in the Kingdom by 55 Great Photographers

Saw a very nice photography exhibition in Bangkok in honour of the King's 80th birthday (a really big thing there):



It was partly sponsored by Canon and at the exit, there was a fun sign which said:

Thank you for coming to the exhibition.
And now you have to buy a camera!

Loving Bangkok (and not for the shopping)

This time, I really like Bangkok. Apart from a familiarity which allowed a leisurely revisiting of places without maps (a la Paris), it was also helped by a conscious choice to abandon the monolithic and fanatical Asian take to Bangkok (i.e. shopping) and instead focus on a different interpretation of the city.

It was an infinitely more superior experience (even as it was predominantly a solitary one since most people are not interested in this experiment). A cocktail on the the sky-high, open-air bar of Banyan Tree was a real treat after a day of inane corporate-speak, as was the extremely value-for-money pasta at Zanotti and SUPERB Thai food at Baan Khanita. Instead of shuffling straight to Siam square blindly, I noticed how I could stroll out of a Coach store and two seconds later, be prostrating in front of the harmoniously co-existing Erawan shrine.

Then there are the polite and gentle ways of the Thais, the cars that don't assassinate you on the streets, the perfectly tropical weather which was neither humid nor to the point of perspiration, and most of all, the night scenes of working class Thailand that rivals Shanghai's and makes me want to buy a dSLR straight away. (I am getting very impatient at how crappy my Canon Powershot is with night shots.)

Absence often makes me forget, but Southeast Asia is gorgeous.



Post-script: Alright, I'll admit that I don't dig the new Bangkok airport much. I feel like I should like the minimalist steel and concrete structure, but the truth is that I don't. Did anyone also mention to the architects that metal chairs are an extremely bad idea in (cold) airports? I thought I could get some shut-eye while my flight was delayed, but it was just impossible to fall asleep even though I was lying flat across three chairs - they were sucking heat from me like vampires. So at a glorious 1 am, I had to go on a grumpy hunt of non-metal chairs in the airport. I finally found a cushioned backseat of a parked golf buggy to curl up in the end.

St Ignatius Loyola Cathedral of Xujiahui

Courtesy of the Shanghai Heritage group, I managed to get a preview of the gorgeous stained glass that were newly installed in the »St Ignatius Loyola Cathedral of Xujiahui. The original ones had been blown out during the Cultural Revolution:

More pictures »here.

Siamese twins

Float by Design Mobel

Float by Design Mobel, designed by David Trubridge

My idea of sleeping. Bonne nuit.

5 Gorgeous Pens for 5 Nobel Prize Winning Writers

via Cool Hunting by Phuong-Cac Nguyen on 11/18/07

[Very appropriate, given that I was recently reunited with my long, long-lost fountain pen again...]

A person's handwriting says a lot about his or her personality; a strong right slant suggests a fierce emotional side while small size might refer to a penchant for details. This idea wasn't lost on Italian designer Cleto Munari, who asked famous architects and designers to come up with with a set of five beautiful pens, each inspired by a Nobel Prize-winning writer. The finished writing utensils with 18kt gold details are luxurious and inspiring to those who take the handwritten word seriously.

To start, Munari asked for handwritten letters from writers Nagib Mahfouz, Toni Morrison, Wole Soyinka, José Saramago and Saul Bellow, which he then gave to architects and designers Toyo Ito, Alessandro Mendini, Alvaro Siza Viera and Oscar Tusquetstook. The pens are very much based on the designer's interpretation of the writer's style and form.

Designboom has excerpts from the pens' accompanying The Book of Five Pens that show these letters, essential elements for potential purchasers wanting to first connect with a pen before they buy it.

The pens, available in roller or fountain form, start from $550 from Art Brown. At that price, you won't be apt to loan it out without forgetting to ask for it back.

Sent via Google Reader

Rock for Roots and Shoots at Bridge 8

»Some days, I really like char si lang* music. Nothing less than 4 hours of standing at »4Live will do.





*＝吵死人，madly noisy

The Campari Project Update

Silent films and their live music

A delightful first time with live music accompanying silent films. This was the Blue Grassy Knoll at my favourite bar, playing their original compositions for Buster Keaton and a 1922 Chinese silent film, Labourer's Love. The best part for me was hearing the simulated sounds of shuffling mahjong tiles. Nice!

Wall Street analysis of a woman seeking $500k+ earning man

Update: This and other great Craigslist ads are discussed in a »recent NYT article.

A hilarious dose of »Tim Hartford-ish humor in a Craiglist post - courtesy of a friend:

Woman seeking $500k+ earning man - advice

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I’m articulate and classy. I’m not from New York. I’m looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics - bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won’t hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I’m 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I’ve seen really ‘plain jane’ boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I’ve seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What’s the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I’m putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I’m being up front about it. I wouldn’t be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn’t able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

Reply 1:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I’m not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here’s how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here’s why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here’s the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity…in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!

»Read more...

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold…hence the rub…marriage. It doesn’t make good business sense to “buy you” (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease. In case you think I’m being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It’s as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as “articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful” as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn’t found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn’t need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you’re going about it the right way. Classic “pump and dump.” I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

So there you have it. Beauty is a depreciating asset, good thing I don’t have much of that ;)


Reply 2:

Your also came across your posting with great interest. I am a 28 year old Wall Street trader who qualifies as an eligible suitor under your $500k/yr rule. In fact, I make over a million and can usher a woman into a comfortable, true middle class lifestyle (not like those 500k lower-middle class chumps who have to make do with the junior two-bedroom).

I am sympathetic to your goal in finding a rich man to marry. The milk needs to be sold by the expiration date. But since this is premium milk, why would you settle for less than premium prices? I would like to address some of the questions that were previously missed by the other gentleman and provide constructive advice on where to find your match.

I also do believe in the efficient market theory, and am surprised that $500k hasn’t found you yet. There are plenty of rich lawyers, investment bankers and hedgies to go around in this city. What gives? I think the problem might be that you have not been sufficiently focused in your search efforts.

The culprit, I believe, may be that you are also looking for qualities aside from money - such as looks, personality, and a sense of humor. However, men who have those qualities learn at an early age that they do not need money to attract quality women. As the saying goes, if you can get the milk for free, why pay up for the cow?

What you need to look for is someone who is long money, and short the other aspects. They are not easy to spot, since you are biologically wired to overlook and ignore them. However, the next time that you are at a expensive black tie event, and you are introduced to the short, bald, overweight man who fidgets nervously whilst making conversation with you, pay special attention to him.

Here’s an inspirational story for you. An acquaintance of mine who was also an classy and articulate woman as yourself was able to land that guy - who also happens to be one of the top ten guys at Google. This is the type of stuff that gold-digging moms read to their gold-digging daughters at bedtime. Perhaps you need to make a location change to Silicon Valley - miracles like these happen almost everyday in a land where you can randomly throw a rock and hit a rich nerd squarely in his Kim-jong Il glasses.

And as far as his deficiencies go, they turned out to be not so bad. With hundreds of millions in the bank, she’s been able to clean him up and give him a little sophistication. Think of it as a fixer-upper project with a massive budget (and yourself as a visionary real estate developer!). Although, I must warn you, it is a fine line you are flirting with - you must not overdo it lest he begins to attract younger women who are hotter than yourself. The trick is, you need build him up enough to be presentable, while simultaneously manipulate him into believing you are the best that he will ever do! That and having kids will be your insurance against your depreciation (or as I prefer to use the term, milk going sour).

I wish the best of luck on your sales project. As for me, I am also available for a short-term lease. However, for marriage I wouldn’t consider a woman unless she can bring beauty, brains and self-motivation to the table. I do not want to dilute my gene pool and end up raising a bunch of Paris Hiltons.

Yahoo vs Baidu

Fun ad of Yahoo taking a jibe at Baidu:



English: "If you can search only 100 degrees [Baidu literally means 100 degrees], you might as well search 360 degrees with Yahoo."

But Yahoo probably didn't realize the etymology of Baidu's name, which comes from »众里寻她千百度. So Baidu is not just 100 degrees, but (at least) 1000 degrees.

As my elementary teacher used to say, it's good to do homework.

The Pei connection

SUZHOU - Five years ago, during a break from tango class, Y had asked me what I would like from Paris. After a moment of thought, I said I wanted a postcard of the Louvre pyramids. At that time, I knew very little about I.M. Pei, only that he designed the Louvre pyramids (which invoked a greater desire in me to visit Paris than the Eiffel Tower*) as well as the Kennedy Museum that I was going to see a few days later in Boston. A photo I had taken at the Kennedy Museum later made it into the first issue of our grad student magazine, so that augured well for the start of a Pei connection.**


Rejuvenated from seeing the pyramids again last month, still so breathtaking even though it was my third time, I finally took the long-procrastinated trip to Pei's museum in Suzhou this weekend.

It was most brilliant use of gray I have ever seen. Single-handedly, it connects the antiquity of Suzhou and the modernity of Pei.

Next time I will pack a picnic and spend the day just looking at the gorgeous shadows.

______


____

*I had initially thought of posting a picture of the pyramids, so I poked around my photos for a street-level overview of them. I could not find a single one from all my trips to Paris. I must have concluded that it was much better to enjoy a private moment with the pyramids, than to have a menage-a-trois with hundreds of tourists.

**After coming back from Suzhou, I was delightfully surprised to know that Pei also did my favourite shopping mall and office of three years in Singapore - Raffles City. In fact, the connection can even be traced back further - it used to be my mum's office 20 years ago as well. I should have guessed from his motif of skylight, so classically and effectively used in both Raffles City and the Suzhou Museum.

Chinese are subtle creatures

It was an exhilarating evening. A well-loved Chinese colleague was moving on to our Beijing office, and everyone that mattered agreed to come to his farewell dinner. despite the short notice. I picked a steamboat place for greater interaction. It paid off - it is difficult to remain distant when everyone is tackling hairy crabs with bare hands and suckling prawn curry off their fingers.

The colleague was a true northerner. He toasted every single one of us with a full glass of beer each and then quietly paid the big bill on the pretext of going to the bathroom. More toasts should have happened for an occasion like this, but our predominantly southern team was generally an alcohol-intolerant one and a married-with-kids one at that. While I was a better-than-average drinker, the context was not appropriate for me - a woman - to make alcoholic advances, even extremely platonic ones, to a man. In any case, our team was already much more chatty and relaxed than any other team dinners I had ever been (which were ALWAYS with the big boss), so I should not grumble.

Slightly bolstered by inebriated exhilaration, a few of us decided to go for karaoke after dinner. I typically do not fancy karaoke since I sing like Miss Kermit, but I readily agreed since I enjoy the company of the other three colleagues and I have often heard that the well-loved colleague (WL colleague) sings incredibly well.

It was true. In general, Chinese are subtle creatures (perhaps not when doing business), so when they say the WL colleague sings incredibly well, he sings like Leslie Chung. The amazing thing is of course he is an extremely down-to-earth man. He is hardworking, quietly knowledgeable and produces good work. His wife and teenage son are in the north, so he has been hoping to go back for the past two years. The few times I have walked to the subway station with him and another colleague after work, I have always been amused by the northern idioms and anecdotes he cites.

I also re-discovered Chinese songs in the 3 hours we were singing. I was reminded once again of how much I enjoy them and why in spite of that, I never play Chinese songs at home: they are so subtly expressive that they strike you at the deepest.

I therefore reaffirmed a personal observation I have always harboured - the Chinese language is able to encapsulate much more in one single syllable compared to English. It is perfectly normal, actually even poetic, to sing in Chinese, "If you walk under the spring rain of Taipei | Hong Kong will also rain | The mood of the walls is getting mouldy waiting for you"*, but to sing about getting mouldy sounds quite strange and banal in English indeed.

After a particularly involved song (Anita Mui's 《女人花》) at the end of three hours, you could see that everyone was thinking about it. Everyone alluded to how it reflected Anita's life, but no one said anything about their own.

The Chinese poignancy hung in the air, but it was one that was not to be pierced.





* Karen Mok's 《双城故事》:"...当你走过下梅雨的台北|香港也会|就连墙壁也为你心情发霉..."

Site down at aSW

In place of a mundane "Site is down - check back later":


Russell's »"In Praise of Idleness" is a nice one.

From Venice to Paris

夏天和秋天

夏天说：“叶子转黄了。“

秋天却一直紧紧地抓住夏天的手，抓着她不放。

今天的巴黎是23度。

φ

巴黎铁塔下的红玫瑰望着夏天和秋天，等待着调谢。

浪漫

浪漫是一个人走在在塞纳河旁，
两个人相会在简陋的机场巴士上。

浪漫是男人睡眼惺忪在黑暗中找纸巾擦鼻涕，
女人也睡眼惺忪扭开清凉油，擦在他鼻下。