味精

MSG in Chinese consists of two characters - 味精。味 (wei) means flavor or taste. 精 (jing) means essence or refined. 精 Jing, incidentally, also means sperm.

I bruised the hell out of my wrists playing volleyball the other day. Now my arms look like a pathetic attempt at suicide. It's not that the game was that intense, it's that I haven't played volleyball in about 10 years. Well, the game wasn't intense until one of the girls teams from my college joined in. Then my half-assed attempt to watch the ball drop in front of me while wondering if this was all leading to post game drinks (it wasn't) became no longer acceptable. They were pretty good, but I'm pretty tall in comparison. The only difference is they probably didn't wake up with their wrists in excruciating pain. I bet that post game drink would have helped.

Anyway, now for a short political rant. Quoting The Economist:

"George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the Iraq war, to run the World Bank. Though this is normally America’s prerogative, Europeans and others may object to the candidacy of so hawkish a figure."

Unbelievable. We've got John Bolton, who doesn't even agree with the UN as our new ambassador to the UN, and a pugnacious warmonger to run the World Bank. Let's go USA! Have you heard of La Verkin, Utah? Can you believe I grew up in that state?

www.johntitor.strategicbrains.com

Okay, so if worldwide nuclear war were to break out, what city do you think would be the safest bet for survival:
1. New York
2. San Francisco
3. London
4. Shanghai
5. Hong Kong
6. Sydney
7. Melbourne
I'm going to bet either San Fran or Melbourne. Only because I think 'they'd' go for LA on the west coast, and if 'they' even bothered with Australia, it would be Sydney.

Also, for anyone who follows this currency exchange. What do you think the chances are of the RMB floating in the next year?

I think my camera has died on me, and if you saw it you wouldn't be suprised. I'm looking into Chinese ebay, but until I figure out the situation, my pictures - as amazing as I know they've been - won't be as frequent.