All I want for Christmas

Found this hilarious video from r-bloggers, a modern adaption of the classical song!
http://www.r-bloggers.com/because-its-friday-all-i-want-for-christmas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RBloggers+%28R+bloggers%29

Merry Christmas! We're cooking the turkey :)

And some famous skating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zbbN4OL98

Christmas reading from Xiao-Li

Physical theories not based on experimental evidence:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20151216-physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-boundaries-of-science/

Franklin Institute at Philly

It was a rainy day. I walked around the city and passed a museum that looks grand. Out of curiosity, I went inside and saw the grand statue of Benjamin Franklin and the Lego model of the Vatican! I never realize that such beautiful craft exists, and right next to me! While strolling around the museum, I also saw a special exhibition about the times of Genghis Khan still running. Although he was once a great emperor in China, I have never understood much about him. So the exhibition seems very intriguing. Maybe it's not a bad idea to come here often.

The last one pictures Christmas shopping at Macy's. I was shooting right next to the well-known eagle.

Moon Walk and Mince Pies

Today is Christmas Eve in the UK (and elsewhere) and we went for a walk by the day / moon light. The moon appeared very large on the horizon, but our astronomer guides (Mike and Joyce) revealed that this is an optical illusion. Our expectation that things near the horizon will be larger than the dots of light in the sky makes us believe that the moon is larger when it is low in the sky. (During our walk yesterday we saw a full moon and sun at the same time! Norfolk has a certain flatness.) After the walk we had sausage rolls and mince pies :)

Moon on the horizon

Moon and sheep

Moon walk

Moon and chapel

Mince pie

 

Cool blog

You might like this blog. It's well written and has some great book reviews and pictures:
http://jinglebells2015.blogspot.co.uk/

How to be a good guest - 41 rules

While looking for gift ideas for the upcoming dinner at Tony's house, I found this with lots of "good" suggestions :)

http://www.dinneralovestory.com/how-to-be-a-good-dinner-guest-41-rules/

The next one features lots of interesting responses from various people. Take a look at the one Yves Granger who defined himself as a grandparent and an educator. I especially like his last idea on showing up one at a time with one rose in hand and the vase showed up the last!
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-alternative-gifts-to-bring-to-the-host-of-a-dinner-party-besides-wine

The Two Ronnies

Blackberry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Four candles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ

Christmas in the UK

Funny slogan ... and a floating word!

Christmas tree

Variation on mince pies

Picasso quote

Art is the lie that tells the truth.

A statistics principle from George Box is:
All model are wrong but some are useful.

Rob Kass mentioned that some applied mathematicians / scientists instead say:
Models are the lie that tell the truth.

He's worried that the statistics principle seems to be less about truth and suggests we try to find models that are more scientific.

The power to learn

I'm always delighted to realize that I can learn, gain new insights, and see things from different perspectives ... but sometimes the time it takes is less heartening. Let me relate a recent example. Over the last week or so I have gradually become aware of a murky green item on the kitchen surface of my shared apartment. A few days ago I decided to inspect it and realized that it was in fact an oven mitt. This was a fortunate discovery, because we have not had oven gloves in our apartment for a few months and I have been using a tea towel to take things out of the oven. (I presumably have my housemates to thank for providing the opportunity for my discovery.) After a few more days of reflection, I today realized that there are indeed two mitts, although they are of the same colour and are not placed close together, making their simultaneous discovery more challenging. With one eye on future revelations, I have been considering if this particular accomplishment could have been achieved earlier. Fortunately, I think the conclusion is that it could have been. However, in defence of my previously unenlightened self, I remark that the similarity in colour between the oven gloves and our kitchen surface did rather subdue the separation of the two in my mind, thus presenting a significant obstacle which should not be under-estimated in the final analysis.

Day care and parental leave

I think we've talked about this. It is unfortunate that moms in the US haven't got a better alternative. 
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/a-baby-dies-at-day-care-and-a-mother-asks-why-she-had-to-leave-him-so-soon/?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Comments on the new OPT STEM extension rules

Dave,  shall we also submit our comments? The deadline is Nov. 18, 2015.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/10/19/2015-26395/improving-and-expanding-training-opportunities-for-f-1-nonimmigrant-students-with-stem-degrees-and

Education in East Asia

Interesting:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emanuel-pastreich/interview-with-michael-puett_b_8471666.html?fb_action_ids=10106379092329699&fb_action_types=og.likes

LinkedIn

Amusing:

http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2015/11/1/9654254/hillary-clinton-was-just-as-confused-by-linkedin-as-the-rest-of-us

Gathering

Me, Lazhi, Chaoyue and Miaoyan in front of the Liberty Bell at Philly

Two amusing things

GitHub:
http://xkcd.com/1597/

Pumpkins:
https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience/photos/a.456449604376056.98921.367116489976035/1247018291985846/?type=3&theater

Halloween Party

My first time carving a pumpkin with Miaoyan! It was a great evening. Thanks to Min for the party and Po-Ling for the delicious pumpkin pie!

Back in my hometown, 南瓜 (pumpkin) is a plant that looks like this. Isn't it quite different?

Jing: my legs are sour and my soup is sore!

An interesting and possibly different website

http://theconversation.com/us

The next link is on academic writing
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/complex-academic-writing/412255/

10 days road trip in New Zealand

The following post is about a couple's 10-day road trip in New Zealand. The view in New Zealand looks stunning! What's more amazing is how the couple hired a recreational vehicle and spent days like a local enjoying the beautiful scenery and relaxing. It reminds me of the scene we watched in the documentary `7 UP', although this post is more recent.
http://www.tianxun.com/news/10-days-road-trip-in-new-zealand

How about a road trip together next summer? We can try California and many many national parks :) Of course, I'd be delighted to go on a road trip to New Zealand some day!

Lots of bookshops in a Japanese town

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151023-an-unlikely-spot-for-180-bookstores

Comedy of the day

Nathan for You: a funny programme about an awkward Canadian guy who tries to help failing businesses in amusing ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokqcStkUyg

My joke:
Someone says "I've had my cake, but I'm still hungry."
I reply "Did you eat it?"
"Yes"
"I didn't think that was supposed to be possible!"

Documentary about China

https://www.youtube.com/user/cctv9documentary

Found an interesting post on English expressions

What does "in the sequel" mean?

http://mathoverflow.net/questions/33730/in-the-sequel-outdated-mathematical-jargon-or-precise-technical-term

The Challenges with Peer Review

http://chronicle.com/article/Journal-Publishers-Rethink-a/233715

Counting stars

Found a song for Cpt Jingle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yim4--J44gk
Maybe it is good for Zumba ;)

First day of my biking journey

Finally got my helmet! Love the color and the style :)

During Pope's visit to Philly

(Friday)

Dave and I had a pleasant weekend, although with a bit extra effort due to the unprecedented Pope's visit to Philadelphia on Sep 26-27. We wanted to walk around the Fairmount park during Dave's visit and the Friday before the big event seemed to be the best time we could try. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is also right next to the park, although it was closed in preparation for the event. There was notice that many roads would be closed, but we only realized how serious it was after we got off the bus and saw guards everywhere, with their fancy army jeeps. Nevertheless, we passed the security and walked quite a long way before we eventually arrived at the park and saw the river. On the way to the park, we also passed the Whole Foods market (Yay! Best place to get fruit tarts!) Before long, some army officers informed us that we would not be allowed to walk back the way we came if we continued on. At this point, a walk into the park didn't seem to be optimal. So we decided to go to Chinatown and enjoy a nice Dim Sum lunch.

Once you are at Chinatown and you are also an Asian-food lover, you'll realize there are too many options. We tried the Dim Sum Garden, a decent looking restaurant with reasonable reviews, and ordered juicy pork dumplings, steamed veggie dumplings, scallion pancakes and fried pumpkin cakes. Everything was splendid, except for the pumpkin cakes (in my opinion), which were cooked differently from what I remembered. When there's a chance for a visit to China, especially Shanghai, we should definitely check out the fried pumpkin cakes. They are so delicious!

Although it was only Friday, people started gathering on the streets. We saw lots of guests wearing specially designed T-shirts and transparent backpacks getting off the buses. They were here for the World Meeting of Families and the Pope. I wanted to show Dave the interesting market that I found a while ago, and it was right next to the crowd. After a little hesitation, we decided to go inside anyway and look for the lovely donuts from Beiler's Bakery. There were lots of people walking and lots of stands selling a variety of foods, some of which reminded me of European style farmer's markets. Maybe we went from the wrong end, but we didn't see the bakery and instead went into a candy shop. Dave was excited to see his favorite licorice on the shelf, while I got some honey roasted cashews and raisins. "This seems to be an OK place", said Dave, "and we should come back next time." "Certainly, my captain!" I replied. Next time we shall find the donuts!

(to be continued: Sunday)

Now that the entire city was busy celebrating the Pope's visit, a little bit of get-away might be a good idea to get some fresh air. Princeton in NJ is the first place that popped up in my mind, and Dave hadn't visited before. So on Sunday we rented a car and drove straight to Princeton. It was just about an hour's drive. Sunday is always a relaxing time, when people come out for brunch and meet friends, especially in a university town like Princeton. As one of the Ivy League universities, Princeton also enjoys the reputation of having a pretty campus and is a place with lots of upper class residents. We picked a cafe for lunch and had some wonderful omelets. This small café was well decorated and gave you a pleasant feeling. While we were enjoying our lunch, we saw a family, parents with their college son, dining next to us. They reminded me of the parents and son in the movie "Into the Wild".

Salmon Omelet

 

Dave looking through a window

 

Guess what's in front of us?

That afternoon we walked around the campus, checked out the Art Museum and the bookstore. I still like this place a lot, as I did when I first visited more than two years ago. I asked Dave what he thought of the city. He said, "Splendid! It would be quite a nice place to live." There are more signs of Fall in Princeton than Philly, but it's another beautiful season.

We returned to Philly around 7pm and went to Ramen Bar for dinner. This was our first time trying out ramen in Philly and we both liked it! Nothing is more fulfilling than a bowel of delicious soup on a windy fall evening.

 

Statistical principle of the day

Observed data is first order and missing data is second order e.g. expansion of the log likelihood (plugging in the MLE makes observed data second order, but this is really cheating!)

Some nice cards

http://lovepopcards.com/collections/all-cards/

Rare Super Blood Moon Total Eclipse

News from National Geographic about the rare super blood moon total eclipse. Hope there will be a clear sky on Sunday!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150924-super-total-lunar-eclipse-moon-sky-watching-viewing/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20150925news-supermoon&utm_campaign=Content&sf13504067=1

Memrise

This and similar apps are one of the more positive developments in education that I have seen. Certainly there is more to understanding a subject than simply memorizing things, but knowledge of the basic facts, results, and common insights of a subject greatly facilitate our ability to make connections, develop intuition, and have discussions about the subject. The courses available go beyond languages ... and there is already a basic statistics / probability course here. I haven't tried it yet but am eager to do so to get some ideas. Memrise allows users to create and share their own courses, and I would like to create a graduate level course that includes the key statistical principles taught at Harvard.

Just pre-ordered this book ....

It looks at modern art through the eyes of children
We Go to the Gallery

Life at Penn

The Bio pond looks quite nice in the morning. Would like to remember the view from all seasons.

Lazy weekend: Had this Korean dish at the Koreana restaurant (3801 Chestnut Street) with Miaoyan. It's delicious. There was a crowd celebrating inside, so we heard lots of "screaming".

Hainan festivals

http://www.bbc.com/travel/bespoke/specials/island-life/festivals.html

Library has just become better

I recently borrowed a book from Princeton University Library, thanks to the borrowdirect service at Penn Library. Looking forward to more books from different places :)

John Oliver on Japan's government mascots

Amusing and very ridiculous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DF4qjoaFTY

Be critical enough to question, yet humble enough to understand

Music for Brain Power

I discovered this list of classical music with an amusing title "Music for Brain Power"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWDwa5ToY3o

There is also a list "Music for Reading", quite enjoyable for a lazy afternoon picnic time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7UzQB8gtI

An interesting show "Together with Dad"

I found this documentary very amusing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUw4TzHVvS4). It's supposed to be an addition to the popular show Where is my dad. Unfortunately everything in it is in Chinese, but it is so fun that I think it's worthwhile translating it to you at some point!


This issue highlighted the life of a 5-year old, whose mom is a French who works in Beijing. His dad is a celebrity and shows up often in TV shows and movies. The boy also has a younger sister. I quite like the boy because he is very considerate and responsible. He cares about his younger sister when she first showed up without knowing anyone else. And he always remembers to share anything that he has. His mother, a French native, is also a very attractive and positive-thinking lady. As a family, they have a nice way of getting along and educating their children to be aware of classics in Chinese (and maybe French as well).


P.S. the vegetable garden they went to is a very nice one! My mom used to have a similar one in our yard, although ours is much smaller and doesn't produce as many varieties. How nice to have one in the future!

Fall picnic at Penn

The statistics department quite likes to have fun together, so here we go the fall picnic officially launched today at the Bio pond. It turns out that the pond is quite close to the Biostatistics building. So a group of statisticians have a picnic near where the biostatisticians work... Anyway, the park is a quite small one with an actual pond, which I heard of having turtles in it! I wonder what kind of turtles would like to swim in that pond, because it looks like a pool of grass (basically it's completely covered by a green layer of stuff and you can't even see proper water).

I wonder what will come up next in the statistics department. Friends mentioned that Tony likes to have gatherings at his house when it's a big holiday. I quite look forward to it!

Into the Wild

I'm trying to remember the song I liked from Into the Wild. I thought it might be Such Great Heights ... but that one doesn't seem to be on the film song list. There are some quite relaxing ukulele / guitar songs anyway
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmPxyPNzRGNAyCDHnXMEm9EFycGYEyr8z

New friends just arrived!

A cactus flower and succulents

DJ is born

Had my first tofu sandwich today ... and started this blog! More to come.