Associated with names such as Francis Bacon, Sir Issac Newton, James Maxwell, Charles Darwin, Watson and Crick, in Cambridge one has every reason to be serious, yet Cambridge students decidedly do not take themselves too seriously. The photo is the front page of Cambridge student newspaper May 2009 issue, which I took from the tourist center in Cambridge University. The year 2009 happens to be the 800th anniversary of this ancient institute, and the front page depicts this 800th graduating class in the most disarrayed form.

The student newspaper is merely one illustration of the light-hearted spirit of Cambridge. Another amusing story I learned is about the champion of the Cambridge pub crawl. The latest winner drank 14 pints in 17 minutes, and was presented a green scarf after his feat, presumably to match the color of his face. The university administration certainly does not like its students spending all their time entertaining themselves. And that's why the Cambridge railway station is built so far away from the university town. The campus police, as I was told, had the authority to arrest any student in possession of a ticket to London on the platform when the station was first built. Another anecdote has to do with the first woman college Girton College. When it was first opened in 1870s, it was located 30 miles from Cambridge, with the intention to keep its female students from "male distractions".

The name Cambridge alone inspires awes and admiration, yet the campus is full of refreshing youthful spirits, sometimes defiant and mischievous. Despite its age, Cambridge is still a quintessential example of vibrant university town. Its success may just depend on this very defiant and mischievous spirit of youth, which is best captured by Rudyard Kipling in "Taking everything you like seriously, except yourselves. "

Started as a trading post for the Dutch West India Company in 1624, New York City (Manhattan more precisely since the rest four boroughs didn’t join officially until 1898) gradually became the major port of trade between North America and Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. And as the business in the then “new” continent flourishes and with more and more immigrants coming in, NYC grew bigger and bigger in much the same ways as the new land did. The inevitable clashes between the old and the new worlds began in August 1776. They won, of course, and George Washington delivered his first inauguration address in 1789 in this city.

The layout of Manhattan streets indicates the city is very well planned: the neatly divided streets in middle and uptown, and the naming of the streets — 1st to 7th ave from east to west, and 1st to around 160th streets from south to north. This would be boring for many, but is very convenient for visitors to locate themselves in the overcrowded little island.

Some of the traditional must-sees in Manhattan include the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts (the Met), Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA), Central Park, Financial district and Times Square. Central Park is by far my favorite in the city. Its size is relatively large considering the limited real estate in such a narrow island, and the crowd doing morning exercising is most impressive to me. They jog, bike, doing stretch and yoga and all other kinds of exercises. In central park, I feel the real vitality of the city, and lively, natural, warm and human aspects of the land, whereas the busy bees in business attire on wall street offers a tense urban passion. The Met is huge, which could easily take up a whole week, or even a life time, as one of the museum curators told us: he had been in the Met for 32 years and yet has not seen it all. Millions of other smaller museums offer collections that will satisfy your special interest.

Manhattan is of course not just about museums, parks and streets. A whopping 46% of the population speak another language at home. Here on subway, you can hear most major languages around the world. Chinatown, little Italy, and other ethnic centers are scattered around the downtown areas. Walking around the streets in Manhattan is already a scene by itself, but if you need a higher dose of entertainment, theaters are abound. Mamma Mia!, Lion King, Chicago are some of the current shows, costly though.

Some practicalities. Cost is the major concern for budget travelers. The hostel I lived in costs $35 per night, and plus the food around $15 per day, so $50 per day is for barely survival. The museum admission fee is around $10 each, and if you want to really learn something, an audio set is a must, which would add another $5.  The theater ticket is totally another story: they could easily go up to around $100 if you are looking for a decent seating or a popular show. Eating at a common restaurant would cost you around $15 for lunch and $25 for dinner, and tax (8%) and tipping (10-20%) will add 15-25% more of whatever you pay.

Though the best way to explore the city is on foot, at least in theory, the subway/bus is a cheap way to get around. You can get the Metrocard in any subway station by cash or credit cards. They offer prepaid card (2.25 per ride), one day pass($8.25), and seven day week pass($27.25). You may benefit from studying (yes studying) the subway system fully before entering the underground because it is the most complicated subway system I have ever seen. They use colors, letters, numbers, and geometry in order to distinguish trains. Two or three trains may share the same line for quite a distance. For example, 4,5,6 trains share the same line on most part of the east Manhattan, and only diverge when they are near the boundaries of Manhattan. The difference between “local” and “express” are usually distinguished by the geometry around the number. Take 7 for example, 7 in diamond is the express train, meaning it won’t stop in some stations, and 7 in circle is the local train, meaning it will stop at all the stations. So you may guess already that the symbol for the stations are different as well, plus different types of connections, shuttle buses, and stations that you cannot get to the opposite direction without getting out of the station. Anyway, good luck reading the map.

So this is where the money is shuffled and disappeared.

Time square is not so impressive during the day.

This is one of only a handful of works that I know of before my visit to the Museum of Modern Arts, the so-called MoMA.

Frankly, this is my response to most of the works displayed in MoMA: "mmm, what the heck does the artist want to tell?" The painting is Vir Heroicus Sublimis (Man, Heroic and sublime) by Barnett Newman.

And occasionally, oof... ( the painting is by Edward Ruscha)

Waste Not, by Dong Song. Tons of used old stuff for arts and reflection.

The Lady.

Manhattan from a distance. It would be too depressing to live in those buildings where the only thing you can see through your windows is other windows.

I am very very impressed by the large size of crowd doing morning exercises in central park. They are the vitality of  a city. Watching them jogging makes me want to join them, except that I have the camera.

I have always hated museum, until I went to Met. Now I know that I haven't been to good ones. Completely overwhelmed, I spent almost 6 hours in it, but still couldn't see it all.

Struggle of the Two Natures in Man, by George Grey Barnard. The theme is repeated everywhere in western arts: the light and dark, the civil and savage in every individual. I begins to think it is just nature of blood.

The artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, said a good painting requires the time of a good friend. After the work of arts is finished, the work of heart begins. This black Iris shows the budding, blooming, fading and dying of a flower. According to the orientation guy, the pic gives all the necessary parts for you to reconstruct whatever you imagine. For me, it is more about satisfying the curiosity than appreciating the arts. I believe it is not until one picks up the brush and starts his own trials on the canvas, he won't know exactly how to appreciate those works. The same is true for all kinds of sports and music. You won't know what is good soccer until you played it by yourself, and you won't know what is good music until you tries to lay down some of the notes yourself.

I am not so impressed by the American Museum of  Natural History. Skeleton everywhere. The real highlight of this trip is the show of Journey of the Stars in the planetarium, but no photograph is allowed inside.

This is what we will all become, after all "we all gonna to die, it's just a matter of time". In this sense, we all have the same beginning and the same ending; it is what we do in between that distinguishes every individual.

In the hall of American Museum of Nature History, there are four huge engravings of quotes by Theodore Roosevelt on Youth, Nature, Manhood, and State. One reads: "Character in the long run is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike." It's not power, intelligence, or fortune, but character.

People always like to see themselves as being at the center of the world and proudly enjoy doing so. A map sold in China will put China at the center, one sold in Europe will put Europe at the center, one sold in Australia, as I was told, will put the south hemisphere on the top and Australia at the center. The fact is that the earth is, thank heaven, round. You can see it in whatever ways you like and whatever ways that satisfy the collective pride of a people, a pride that is sometimes justified and necessary.

This summer trip starts from the unabashedly dubbed capital of the new world, NYC, to the de facto capital of the old world, London, with an excursion to Edinburgh to satisfy my own longtime curiosity of Scotland bagpipe and kilt.

Five years ago, Bob Xu showed me a book called With Three Thousand USD, I traveled around the world. It was a fascinating book to read at that time, for it not only gave an account of a world totally exotic to me, but also showed the possibility of seeing the world without first being ridiculously rich. As my younger cousin recited the lesson Nothing to Sell and Nothing to Buy in New Concept English to me over Skype several weeks ago, I was quite delightful to see the connection between me and a tramp, or in fact, any backpacker and a tramp. A part of the lesson reads "His few material possession make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom."

Backpacking is not about a bag, a ticket, a hostel and a destination, that’s what backpacking needs, not what it is. What backpacking really is is wherever you want to go, you go.

When I was setting up my first website justluck.cn with 512j.com back in 2005, I remember that I have to get a license from the Ministry of Information Industry (now the Ministry of Industry and Information), even though it is just for personal use. According the agreement, the license has to be placed in a place easy to be seen. I don't feel much trouble at that time then, except that the Ministry's website is poorly designed that it is not very easy to navigate around.

For the past a few days, I have been keeping track of the demonstration in Iran. And the Iranian postdoc in my lab told me yesterday during lunch time that he couldn't even contact his parents because all means of communication to the outside world are shut. I asked why so. He said that the government installed a software in every cell phone which was initally for tracking child pornograph, but is now used for tracking any communication among demonstrators. As soon as they locate one demonstrator's home, they will go to his/her place, tortue him/her and then force him/her to log into the computer and find all his frineds on social networking website such as facebook and twitter (which are being used heavily for demonstrators to get organized) to locate more protesters. He was apparently emotionally charged when he told me about it.

And what he said deeply troubles me. Blocking pornography seems just a smoke screen for keeping the mass from getting the information. Such measures bears the appearance of righteousness and indeed create a delightful ignorance. But it may be dangerous if used in the wrong hands, and even if correctly used, it creates an over-protection that might eventually indulge the next generation. Also troublesome is its apparent hypocrisy: You say what you want to do is blocking pornography, but actually what you want to achieve is something else. This obvious manipulation insult the intelligence of those who have sound judgment.

防民之口，甚于防川。

《中国青年报》，4月8日，作者：吴稼祥

（原文摘编）一个伟大民族和一个伟大的人一样，都有坚强的心理素质，无论他或她曾经受过怎样的伤害，都不会丧失爱的能力，也不会让仇恨和报复主宰自己的心理。

民族主义的形式虽然很多，但基本上可以划分为两种类型：健康的和病态的。健康的民族主义是面向世界、面向未来的；病态的民族主义是自恋的、向后看 的。病态的民族主义常常会表现出4个基本特征：1．把伤疤当勋章；2．自恋且排他；3．眼睛长在后脑勺上；4．好战。当下这本“不高兴”究竟属于哪种呢？

“不高兴”让世界看到的，是某些人的“暴发户心态”。中国经过30年经济增长，已成为世界第三大经济体，有些人就膨胀得不得了，想当世界的头儿了。 他们喜欢说美国用白条美元绑架了世界，这在一定程度上是真的；但他们也想用中国人深入骨髓的爱国情愫来绑架整个民族，为他们“世界老大狂想曲”扣动扳机， 这样病态的民族主义还不危险么？

病态的民族主义起源于一个民族病态的心理，一个民族的伟大精神和政治领袖不是利用自己民族的负面心理为自己的狂想服务，而是要治疗民族的心理创伤，让她恢复自信、包容和爱的能力。这正是我们拒绝“不高兴”病毒的理由。

【推荐理由】一篇8000字的长文，虽然注定不会像“不高兴”那样好卖、受关注、受追捧，但我们必须有这样理性、清醒的声音。

－－《南方周末》原文：http://www.infzm.com/content/27048

－－《中国青年报》原文：http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2009-04/08/content_2613961.htm

which reminds me of the cartoon:

IT IS an ill wind that blows no one any good. For many in China even the buffeting by the gale that has hit the global economy has a bracing message. The rise of China over the past three decades has been astonishing. But it has lacked the one feature it needed fully to satisfy the ultranationalist fringe: an accompanying decline of the West. Now capitalism is in a funk in its heartlands. Europe and Japan, embroiled in the deepest post-war recession, are barely worth consideration as rivals. America, the superpower, has passed its peak. Although in public China’s leaders eschew triumphalism, there is a sense in Beijing that the reassertion of the Middle Kingdom’s global ascendancy is at hand (see article).

And this comment about the book "Unhappy China":

A book published in China this month, “Unhappy China” (with an initial print-run of 70,000, says a publicist), aims to tap into what the authors believe is a widespread public feeling of disgruntlement with the West. One of the essays argues that the financial crisis could result in an envious West going to war with China to keep it down.

Few are quite that gloomy. One of the book’s authors (speaking in a branch of Starbucks in a luxury mall) says the government worries about books like this because they fuel suspicions in the West that China is a threat. The publishers removed one part about India’s annexation of Sikkim in 1975 because they thought it might upset India. China would like to be number one, but it would still rather get there without making big enemies.

Bruce: "The mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They cross the line." 

Alfred:"You've crossed the line first sir. You've squeezed and hammered them into a desperation. And in that desperation, they turned to someone they don't fully understand. "

Bruce: "Criminals are difficult to understand, alfred, you just need to figure out what they are after."

Alfred: "With respect, master Wayne, perhaps this is the man that you don't fully understand. A while ago, I was in Burma. My friend and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of local tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravan werer being raided in a forest outside rangoo by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we couldn't find anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby of a size of tangerine, the bandit had been throwing them away. "

Bruce: "so why stealing them?"

Alfred: "well, because he thought it was a good sport, because some men aren't looking for something logical, like the money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just wanted to watch the world burn. "

"大地苍茫，山河渺远。栖身其间的我们，越过草木楼宇放眼四望，对未知的远方曾有过许多迷离的想象。
《山海经》中的“海外”和“大荒”，也许是先民对海洋的最早想像。海上有通神的仙山，有化外的方国，随处可见异形的妖魔。
即便这些真的只是战国时期的食客、游士们依据月令古图的意揣，也至少投射了那个时代烙印在民众的集体意识里的朴素世界观。华夏民族的地理意识中除了山川，从来便有大海。
大海素来是属于征服者的。踌躇满志的曹操远征回师，东临碣石《观沧海》，收入胸怀的是一幅“日月之行，若出其中；星汉灿烂，若出其里”的瑰丽图景。
然而待一个分割与重构的乱世过去，社会回到守土和服从伦理的儒家范式中来，渴望松绑的人们只幻想着朝向河流上游、大山深处遁隐，封闭在桃花源中做一个鸡犬相闻、老死不相往来的梦。
哥伦布发现新大陆的年代，麦哲伦全球航行的年代，地理大发现、自由贸易兴起、工业革命、海上霸权更替、世界资源重新配置、资本主义划定疆域和游戏规则，整个海权至上的大时代，中国是一位自焚舰船、高筑长城的弃权者。
历史走入改革开放后的上世纪末。急于从民族尊严的焦虑中突围的民间勇士们屡有惊世之举：漂流长江、登顶珠峰、飞越黄河……中国人用征服江山的方式重新言说自信，他们的精神，他们的成功与失败，是我们重新迈向海洋的起点。
从内陆国家走向海洋国家，从黄色文明走向蓝色文明。
中国的精英人士和财富阶层已有一些先行者，无论精神气质还是生活方式都正在面朝大海。
到海洋去张扬自由的个性，到海洋去寻找新的财富版图，到海洋去体验生命的存在和可能，这一切的承载体可以是——帆船。
今天，国家力量在用集中国力的方式登月、飞天，而民间渴求的则是个性的解放与张扬。
今天，已有一些勇士从陆地出走，扬帆、远航。去征服那片久违的海，融入更加宽广的蔚蓝。"

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business or making her way in the world, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman.

She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight and that tonight is her night, as well.

...

And, Democrats, Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our intellectual and moral strength.

Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient.

Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents, that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework, that fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility, that's the essence of America's promise.

...

But what I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes, because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and each other's patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.

The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together, and bled together, and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a red America or a blue America; they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first.

 Bill Clinton's Speach:

A President Obama will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort.

...

Most important of all, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home.

(APPLAUSE)

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

Joseph Biden's Speach:

You know, my mom taught her children -- all the children who flocked to our house -- that you're defined by your sense of honor and you're redeemed by your loyalty. She believes that bravery lives in every heart, and her expectation is that it will be summoned. Failure -- failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.

...

And when I got -- when I got knocked down by guys bigger than me -- and this is the God's truth -- she sent me back out and said, "Bloody their nose so you can walk down the street the next day." And that's what I did.

 Michelle Obama's speach:

And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like, you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond; that you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them.

And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them onto the next generation, because we want our children -- and all children in this nation -- to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.

Oracle: So, what do you think? You think you're the one?
Neo: I don't know.
Oracle: You know what that means? It's Latin. Means `Know thyself'. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Being the one is just like being in love. No one can tell you you’re in love, you just know it. ..

Every now and then, life brings you a surprise, and two weeks ago, I got one, a very big big one. During my call back home last week, one of my little cousins secretly told me that my parents are arranging my marriage with the daughter of an old good family friend. It sounded so ridiculous to me that my immediate response was that my little cousin was joking. But she repeatedly warned me that I have to deal with it, better now than later, and she sounds very serious, not like joking at all. So after a while, I realize it might be true.

Well, there are certain things we have to deal with in life, and unfortunately, the level of complexity goes up along the years. OK..., anyway, so, I have to deal with it.

Saying no isn't hard; but saying no in a way without hurting, without damaging family friendship, and at the same time successfully persuading parents not to worry and not to interfere, is hard. It took me a while to think about what to say. And I talked online with the girl, and everything gets set.

Then I called home last week. My mom didn't even mention this issue, which is not surprise to me. My dad, at the very end of the call, eventually asked. (or maybe because of the pressure from grandpa?) It seemed to be the strangest conversation I ever had with him, but I think I did say: let me deal with it, don't worry. But I knew they will keep worrying. Well, luckily, my little cousins will keep them occupied, at least for another two years, until she enters college.

As an endnote, since there is no relationship to start with, luckily on one gets hurt. But from the perspectives of parents, they won't stop worrying until you get married. (Maybe not true, because then they will start worrying about something else, like baby and stuff... Anyway, you cannot change your parents.) I guess the only way to relieve them, though may be temporarily, is to keep them updated about your progress, not only professional, but also personal.

Good luck to all my friends who are still looking for your Mr. Right or Ms. Right!

"Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers."
--Veronica A. Shoffstall

DLLM

要是他只是个宣扬compassion的僧人，事情就简单的多。或者，要是他只是个流亡政府的头头，事情也简单的多。但两者合二为一，麻烦就开始了。在世界的一边是近乎于神，在世界的另一边是众魔的头。和我谈起这事儿的西方人，多数支持他的compassion belief，同情ZD。但要说是由于赞同他的宗教信仰进而同情ZD,又有些牵强。

这几周来读新闻实在不是一桩轻松的事儿。看西方媒体的报道，看着看着就觉着闹心，就要浏览会儿新浪作为调剂。在这种事情上做到客观真不是件轻松的事。由这些事件引发出来的一系列讨论，很有看头。撇开那些必须坚持各自原有立场的国家级别的媒体报道不说，倒是一些自由评论人的观点值得借鉴。以下就是一则：

“说起來，ZX問題真是一團迷霧，只要你朝它多走一步，你就會發現原來所相信的任何一種簡單立場都能碰上理據十足的反駁。不只現在的西方媒體造假與中國傳媒監控各惹嫌疑，歷史上的詭局謎團更是令人眼花撩亂。如果你認為「自古以來」，XZ就是中國的一部分；你將會發現要花很多時間去解釋古代宗主國對藩屬的關係為什麼等同於現代民族國家和它的轄下省份（越南反而確曾是中華王朝的一省）。反過來說，如果你相信在「中國入侵」之前，西藏是片連丁點暴力都不可能發生的和平淨土；那麼你又該如何理解14 任達賴喇嘛裏頭只有3 位順利活到成年的事實呢？假如你覺得文革對XZ的破壞是不可饒恕的，你或許應該知道當年打砸佛寺佛像的主力之一竟然是藏人。假如你認為中央對XZ的宗教自由已經足夠寬容，甚至准許流亡在外的眾多上師返鄉建寺（最有名的當屬頂果欽哲法王）；你可能也曉得現在的XZ小學生是連隨身護符也不准帶的。

關於XZ的歷史，北京和DLLM各有一套說法。前者強調老XZ是塊大部分人充當農奴的黑暗土地，是共產黨一手把它帶進了光明的現代社會。後者則將XZ描繪為一個牧歌般的和平桃源，沒有爭戰只有靈性，是無神論的共產黨摧毁了這一切。

平心而論，兩者都各有偏頗，不足為信。XZ確曾是個農奴社會，1951 年前，光是三大領主經營的莊園竟然就佔了全藏可耕地的62%，其中又有37%為寺院所有。大部分平民都要在耕作之餘替領主服終身勞役。不過這些農奴的實况遠非中文裏的「奴」字所能概括，雖然身分是「奴」，但他們的物質生活卻不一定很差，所以在「劃成分」時才會出現了「富裕農奴」這麼古怪的類別。西藏確實也是個佛國，出家人所佔的人口比例舉世罕見。只不過和任何俗世社會一樣，以前的西藏也少不了各種勾心鬥角、貪污暴政甚至高層僧侶間的政治暗殺，與完美的世外桃源相去甚遠（詳見王力雄《天葬》、Melvyn Goldstein 的經典巨著《A History ofModern Ti-be-t 1913-1951》（中譯《喇嘛王國的覆滅》） 及《The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China,Tibet and the DLLM》）。”
-- 為西藏問題尋找最大公約數----期待民族的和解; 梁文道.

再回来说DLLM, 他的middle way approach（自治但不独立）很可能让他两面都不是人。一方面想要得到中方的承认，另一方面又从CIA拿钱维持流亡政府；一方面公开支持奥运，另一方面又自称管不住手下四处暴力。

年纪大了，出来混的，总要还的。