FMLB20 Season 5

The Senators swept the Reds in a FLMB20 World Series.  The win gave the Senators their second ever FMLB20 World Series Title (They previously won in Season Two).  For the Reds, it was their FMLB World Series appearance and their second time to be swept (They had been swept in five games by the Red Sox in FMLB16 Season 8).  The Sens outscored the Reds 41 to 21.

FMLB20-5

American League

Team Wins  Losses PCT GB

Senators 97 65 .599

A's 91 71 .562 6

Twins 91 71 .562 6

Red Sox 88 74 .543 9

Angels 86 76 .531 11

Yankees 81 81 .500 16

White Sox 77 85 .475 20

Tigers 76 86 .469 21

Orioles 66 96 .407 31

Indians 57           105 .352 40

National League

Team Wins  Losses PCT GB

Reds    104 58 .642

Braves 103 59 .636 1

Dodgers 89 73 .549 15

Giants 82 80 .506 22

Pirates 80 82 .494 24

Mets 78 84 .481 26

Cubs 73 89 .451 31

Phillies 69 93 .426 35

Colt 45s 67 95 .414 37

Cardinals 65 97 .401 39

World Series (Best of Nine)

Game

1 Reds 5 Senators 9

2 Reds   2 Senators 8

3 Reds 2 Senators 8

4 Reds    5 Senators 7

5 Reds    7 Senators 9

Senators win five games to nothing

Visions of Randy from the Trailer Park Boys and other thoughts, observations

Shirtlessness  Shopping in Tesco, Monday evening, I had chance to observe a man standing, shirtless, in a checkout lineup.  He had nice glasses on, and a woman with him, who had to be his wife, was dressed well enough.  But, they both had the swarthy looks of primitives from the farthest reaches of the Chinese countryside -- at least to my Canadian attitude that regards going shirtless as low class (a comedic character in a popular Canadian t.v. show goes shirtless year-round -- Randy is his name.).  

 

But to be fair and apologetic to the couple, I was quite the strange sight myself, as I struggled with Tony who didn't want to take our basket of purchases to an available register. 

 

Anyway, irregardless of my strangeness to them (a one in a thousand freak in a Wuxi suburban supermarket) and theirs to me, I suppose there is something to be said for men going shirtless in public.  It probably saves on resources for the fabric as well as laundry supplies.  So I encourage Wuxi Expatriates, who wish to transcend being arrivistes and to become authentic Wuxiren,  to conform to and to embrace this local custom.  I still don't have the courage of my convictions to do it.

 

New Glasses  I was at the Qingyang Road Carrefour not just for taking a video of Tony running about.  My principle purpose was to buy new reading glasses -- I had lost my other pair.  I got the new pair in about twenty minutes.  I wasn't so fussy about the glasses I choose, just wanting plain frames that didn't contain any embellishments. It then took the glasses store staff ten minutes to put my custom lenses in the frame -- or did they do something to the lenses that were already in the frames?  Thankfully, it is not my job to know these things. 

 

But now I can go back to happily reading TLOR and Flannery O'Connor, and studying Chinese characters

 

Slate Podcasts  The Slate website calls their podcasts "gabfests".  I will listen to them to contrast with  my more right-wing libertarian conservative fare of Radio Derb, Riccochet, and Econtalk.  Since the gabfest comes from the left of the political spectrum, the best I can say for it is that it will offer a few challenges to my beliefs, but when push comes to shove, the show's pundits fall back on the race card and crude caractitures of Conservatives (e.g. Palin is a moron.  Mentioning Rangel's ethical violations is racist.  The tea-partiers are racist. Et Cetra).  And so in doing so, they just  conform so much to my stereotypes about Lefties that I can't be convinced by them of anything.

 

Redemption  I act too much like someone who has achieved it.  Truth is, I have sought it, and I have gotten the opportunity to achieve it, but I have fumbled it -- too easy, to hold back, than to make a true stand.

 

Someone got stuck in the rain.  I took a photo of the person, who I saw from my apartment balcony.  The photo was blurry and you can see it in this blog.  Soaked thoroughly, the girl walked resigned to the fact that the rain had engulfed her.  She seemed in no hurry to seek shelter.

 

Conservatives ought really to be anti-capitalists  The person who wrote the article boldly stating this did not define exactly what he meant by Conservativism or Capitalism.  So he had an easy time of it cherrypicking things to back his fuzzy point.

Fulfilling a rare request from a rare reader

Here is a video I took of a Wuxi Rainstorm yesterday.  A request I can fulfill. 

 

I can't change my beliefs about things without convincing arguments to go with the requests or insults.

Latvian flag at Tony's Kindergarten

September 1 was Tony's first day at kindergarten. I accompanied my wife Jenny and Tony to the school this morning.

I was surprised to see a Latvian flag hung in the lobby of the school so I took a photo of it.

You will be able to follow Tony's progress at kindergarten here.

Where students are going to study

This summer I have had students who will, in the fall, study at:

• Beijing
• Shanghai
• Tianjin
• Korea
• Nanjing Economic University
• Nantong
• Singapore
• Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada
• A High School in Boston
• A High School in Toronto
• A school in Hubei province
• Chang Sha, Hunan province
• Jiangsu Xi Shan High School, Yanqiao.
• Hong Kong
• Wu Zhen
• #1 Middle School, Wuxi, China
• Big Bridge School, Wuxi
• Nanjing Forestry School
• Jiangsu University, Zheng Jiang
• Zheng Zhou

Caught in the Rain

This forlorn and blurry figure was caught in a heavy downpour without an umbrella in the Hui Shan District of Wuxi, China.

Wuxi Tony Update #595: A Chase

The New Nanchang Market

I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

Construction in Wuxi

There are lots of these green canopied buildings under construction in Wuxi. It is stimulus but the buildings are mostly unoccupied.

Photos of Wuxi, China taken from the #81 Bus

Mordor, Isengard, or the Shire? Where am I?

TLOR  I am working my way through the novel.  I am now in the midst of the second part.

 

Mad Men  is a tv series, set in the early sixties on Madison Avenue, that I am watching on DVD.  Everyone sleeps with everyone.  All the characters seem to have been teleported from 2008.  One character said "what is wrong with you?"  An expression that I am sure has become over -used only recently.

Creative Destruction  Wanting things on the cheap - failing of Liberalism.  You cannot find the proper solution without failed experimentation -- sometimes you stumble on things that you wouldn't have thought to look for.  They also want peace w/o willingness to fight and no fault gravity.

Purgatory  At first seems like heaven but then the others there start to grate on you -- people won't shut up about what they did on earth.

Ms. Allocation  a good name for a feminist economics minister.

Coincidence almost, I meet a woman with a son exactly one month older than Tony.  And then I meet someone who son was born a month after Tony.

Henan Province.  I have two students from this province in the same class.  "Lots of Chairman Mao slept signs here?" I asked.

Ants  China has 1.3 billion people.  I wonder how many ants?

Rubble next to newness  A brand spanking restaurant next to a pile of rubble and garbage.

The Pail on the Bus... is for vomit!  I had thought it was for garbage but then two days in a row, I saw some sick passengers run from their seat and head straight for it.  All buses have a pail near the rear exit door.

Incentives!   That's what it's all about.

You can lead a horse to water but....  you can't get your wife to do anything.  (as completed by a student Vitas)

Two's company....  Three's a family (as completed by a student)

What?!?  "I want to own a bar!" said a slim pretty girl, about 22 years old, at an English Corner.  I exclaimed What?!?  She corrected herself and said "a coffee bar!".  What a relief, I thought.  

A What?!? from the past.  After being asked if she would cheat on her husband, a young girl said yes, but only in the first year.  After being corrected, she became very red faced.

An another What?!? from the past.  A student said you can tell if someone is in love with you by the sound of their accent.

Miles or Casey?  When I go into a class, I like to think I will teach like Miles Davis, putting out all the vibes, the riffs, with the students responding in kind -- the class is a sort of English Jamming session.  But in truth, I often feel like Casey Stengel, manager of the woeful 1962 New York Mets (losers of 120 games).  Can anybody......!?!

 

Sisters of Charity in China?  It was something prayed for by Mother Teresa.

Incredible and Astounding News from Wuxi, China!

Tell the President!

 

Inform her majesty, the Queen of England (and of Canada too!)!

 

Tony can pee by himself without his parents assistance!

 

Tonight, he walked into the bathroom, lifted the toilet seat, pulled down his pants and underwear, leaned against and over the rim of the bowl, and directed a shaft of green harmlessly into the bowl's center.  He then pulled his pants up and entered the history books.

 

If the Queen doesn't reward him with a medal or a commendation, I'll be a monkey's uncle!

Cooling Down.

It feels like it has been cooling down here in Wuxi, temperature-wise.  I was thinking the temps were getting down into the twenties, but the students told me that the high on Sunday was thirty-two!

FMLB Season Eleven

The Yankees won their their third ever FMLB Championship by defeating the Phillies in nine games in a wild FMLB World Series.  The Yankees had a 3-1 lead only to have the Phillies win three in a row.  Down 4-3, the Yankees rallied to take the series by pasting the Phillies in games eight and nine.

National League

Team wins losses pct. G.B.

Phillies 108 46 .701

Cards 90 64 .584 18

Reds 83 71 .539 25

Dodgers 81 73 .526 27

Giants 72 82 .468 36

Pirates 70 84 .455 38

Cubs      59 95 .383 49

Braves 53 101 .344 55

American League

Team wins losses pct. G.B.

Yankees 92 62 .597

Senators 90 64 .584 2

A's 88 66 .571 4

Browns 80 74 .519 12

White Sox 75 79 .487 17

Indians 72 82 .468 20

Red Sox 63 91 .409 29

Tigers 56 98 .364 36

World Series (Best of Nine)

Game

1 Yankees 9 Phillies 2

2 Yankees 10 Phillies 3

3 Yankees 2 Phillies 6

4 Yankees 6 Phillies 0

5 Yankees 5 Phillies 8

6 Yankees 5 Phillies 6

7 Yankees 5 Phillies 9

8 Yankees 7 Phillies 0

9 Yankees 5 Phillies 1

Yankees win five games to four

For What It's Worth: AKIC's Top Ten Beatles Songs

In response to this link and this Rolling Stone link, I present to you my top ten favorite Beatles songs (in no particular order):

Revolution

Eleanor Rigby

In My Life

A Day in the Life

Hello-Goodbye

Magical Mystery Tour

Help!

Hey Jude

I am the walrus

Old Brown Shoe

Here is the Rolling Stone's Top Ten:

1. A Day in the Life

2. I wanna hold your hand

3. Strawberry Fields Forever

4. Yesterday

5. In My Life

6. Something

7. Hey Jude

8. Let it be

9. Come together

10. While my guitar gently weeps

Tony sleeps

Tony was asleep when his father came home from work Friday evening and was still asleep when his father returned to work on Saturday morning.  

Tony asleep, his parents will tell you, is angelic.

Tony seemed to have behaved relatively better on Friday than he did on Thursday.  On the Thursday, his father returned home to see a great mess.  On Friday, the mess looked almost neat.

Links to the entire t.v. show on which Tony appeared

You can go to my other blog or you can watch here (our appearance starts at 27:50).

English names the students have given themselves

Summer winds down today at my school.  Next week, the summer kids start going back to their regular middle schools, vocational schools, high schools, and universities. 

 

Below is the final list of the English names they have given themselves.

• Adonis
• Aili
• Aki
• Alien
• Alina
• Alladin
• Anakin
• Angel
• Anton
• Aran
• Ariel
• Aurora
• Ava
• Barbarosa
• Bessie
• Betsy
• Bob
• Bone
• Boris
• Brant
• Brent
• Bria
• Che
• Cherry
• Coco
• Daisy
• Duffy
• Flyer
• Haine
• Hugh
• James Bond
• Jelliceoe
• Jerrisca
• Jinson
• Joe (This was a girl.  She didn't like Jo.  Then, She wanted Jo-e.  Spell it Joey! I said.)
• Jordan
• Jordge
• Josh
• Journey
• Joy
• Juana
• Juice
• Kaiser
• Kant
• Kelsi
• Kiki
• Kin
• Kitty
• Lance
• Libra
• Lichen
• Lincoln
• Little Bear
• Mandy
• Marder
• Mexy
• Mickey
• Neons
• Olive
• Peel
• Poplar
• Rain
• Randy
• Sephiroth
• Serena
• Seven
• Smile
• Tiffy
• Tiscy
• Tommy
• Vikky
• Vinson
• Watermelon
• Wolf
• Xanxus
• Yao Dong
  
• Yao Yao
• Yvette
• Zoey

Brothers of Famous People

Bill Clinton:  Wife of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Bobby Hood:  Brother of Robin.

Matty and Jesus Alou:  Brothers of Felipe

Matty and Felipe Christ:  Brothers of Jesus

Wilhelm Tell:  Unlike William, he was the apple of his parents' eyes because he was German.

O.K. Simpson:  Brother of O.J.

Lyndon Baines Johnson:  Brother of First Lady Lady Bird Johnson

Peter Mahovlolich:  Brother of Frank.

Peter Sinatra: Brother of Frank.

Jimmy Carter: Brother of First Lady Rosalyn.

Pierre Trudeau: This brother of the Doonesbury Cartoonist Gary Trudeau toiled in obscurity as Canadian Prime Minister.

Grouch, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico Marx:  Brothers of Karl

Dom DiMaggio:  Brother of Joe DiMaggio

Dom Stalin:  Brother of Joe Stalin

Joe Deluise:  Brother of Dom Deluise.

George Eliot:  Brother of TS Eliot.

Pat Waugh:  Brother of Evelyn Waugh.

 

Ron Kaulins in Canada:  Brother of AKIC

FMLB20 Season 4

The Cardinals and Senators went to the full nine games in the FMLB20 Season 4 World Series.  The Cardinals won their second ever FMLB World Championship.

FMLB 20-4

American League

Team           Wins  Losses   PCT  GB

Senators      108         54     .667

A's                 93          69    .574   15

Yankees         87         75     .537    21

Angels 87 75 .537 21

Orioles 86 76 .531 22

Tigers 83 79 .512 25

Indians 81 81 .500 27

Twins             76 86 .469 32

Red Sox         62 100 .383 46

White Sox 47 115 .290 61

National League

Team Wins    Losses PCT GB

Cardinals 101 61 .623

Colt 45s 97 65 .599 4

Mets            89 73 .549 12

Braves 84 78 .519 17

Phillies 83 79 .512 18

Reds 83         79 .512 18

Dodgers  72 90 .444 29

Giants 71 91 .438 30

Pirates 67 95 .414 34

Cubs 63         99 .389 38

World Series (Best of Nine)

Game

1 Cardinals 10 Senators 8

2 Cardinals 10 Senators 7

3 Cardinals 6 Senators 10

4 Cardinals 1 Senators 0

5 Cardinals 8 Senators 9

6 Cardinals 6 Senators 9

7 Cardinals 8 Senators 3

8 Cardinals   7 Senators 8

9 Cardinals 2 Senators 1

Cardinals win five games to four

De-Lovely, Delightful, and De-Naturist: AKIC's List of Eminent Naturists

In theory, there are no naturists on Earth because humanity blew it in the Garden of Eden.  But these people below did their utmost to help the Naturist Cause.  They are, to paraphrase the Cole Porter song, de-lovely, delightful, and de-naturist!

Harry M  No person has done more to advance the cause of Naturism than this Australian whose book "Divine Attributes: an intimate portfolio of my photos" is second only to the Holy Bible in its significance for humanity.

Frederich Hayek  If all economists thought like him, than the economics profession wouldn't be the joke that Nudists like Paul Krugman have made it.

Milton Friedman  His divine attribute was his brain.

Tony Esposito  The coolest looking hockey goalie ever.

Pope John Paul II  The great.  Along with Ronald Reagan, he played a huge role in the downfall of Nudist rule in Eastern Europe.

Mother Teresa  In the century of Kill, Kill, Kill, and Thrill, Thrill, Thrill, she was standing up for human life and dignity.

Videos of Tony

Tony bangs a drum.

Tony and Car Cars.

Tony watches Adam

Because I can't upload them to Youtube, you can only see them on Youku, I am very angry to say.

FMLB24 Season 3 Results

Since these FMLB results are produced randomly, I find myself not so much cheering for underdogs, as for teams that have won before so that I am able to construct a narrative.  When the Yankees win, it is a easy narrative for me to relate because the Yankees are making a play to be what they are in the real major leagues.  The Braves also have won some FMLB championships beforehand.  So, the Yankees-Braves match up in this FMLB season's World Series is a battle of Titans.  Trailing four games to two, the Braves mashed the Yanks in games seven and eight to tie the series at four.  Their ninth game was a classic with the Yanks winning three to two.

The Braves had beaten the Mets in the ninth game of the NLCS to prevent the first ever subway FMLB World Series.

FMLB24 Season 3

American League East

Team Wins  Losses pct. GB

Yankees 99 63 .611

Indians 92 70 .568 7

Red Sox 89 73 .549 10

Senators 84 78 .519 15

Orioles 83 79 .512 16

Tigers 77 85 .475 22

American League West

Team Wins   Losses pct. GB

A's 83 79 .512

Angels 77 85 .475 6

White Sox 76 86 .469 7

Royals 76 86 .469 7

Twins 74 88 .457 9

Pilots 62 100 .383 21

National  League East

Team Wins   Losses pct GB

Mets 92 70 .568

Cardinals 83 79  .512 9

Phillies 81 81 .500 11

Cubs 79 83 .488 13

Pirates 77 85 .475 15

Expos 73 89 .451 19

Natiional League West

Team Wins  Losses pct. GB

Braves 113 49 .698

Giants 95 67 .586 18

Astros 75 87 .463 38

Padres 73 89 .451 40

Reds    68 94 .420 45

Dodgers 63 99 .389 50

Playoffs

American League Championship Series

Game

1 A's 9 Yankees 3

2 A's 3 Yankees 8

3 A's 8 Yankees 4

4 A's 1 Yankees 2

5 A's 0 Yankees 9

6 A's 5 Yankees 7

7 A's 3 Yankees 9

Yankees win five games to two

National League Champion Series

Game

1 Mets 4 Braves 0

2 Mets 1 Braves 9

3 Mets 8 Braves 7

4 Mets 1 Braves 6

5 Mets 6 Braves 0

6 Mets 1 Braves 4

7 Mets 9 Braves 4

8 Mets 2 Braves 8

9 Mets 1 Braves 3

Braves win five games to four

World Series

Game

1 Braves 6 Yankees 8

2 Braves 3 Yankees 2

3 Braves 3 Yankees 6

4 Braves 0 Yankees 7

5 Braves 9 Yankees 1

6 Braves 3 Yankees 9

7 Braves 9 Yankees 3

8 Braves 9 Yankees 4

9 Braves 2 Yankees 3

Yankees win five games to four

Bloggins of a Non-Hobbit

Elevated Highways.  When one rides on them around Wuxi, Wuxi takes on a whole new aspect.  From up there, Wuxi looks like a futuristic town of towers.  But when you return to look at Wuxi at ground level, it looks like piles of rubble and crowds of people -- you realize what you see at the elevated level is a cruel facade.

Cliche?  Laowai reading Tolkien on a Wuxi bus.

Jiangxi  A Jiangxiren tells me that Wuxi is much richer than her home province.

I like the smell of _______:  Music?  I asked the students to finish the sentence and one of them gave me that answer.  Another said green grass -- further grilling revealed she didn't mean Mary Jane.

Joke  (As told by a student to me).  A Japanese person takes a taxi in Wuxi.  He sees a car drive by.  He asks the driver if the car is Chinese.  The driver says it is.  The Japanese person responds that the car "sure goes fast".  The driver takes the Japanese person to his destination and tells him that his fare is 100 rmb.  The Japanese person asks, incredulously, why the fare is so high.  The driver tells him that the meter machine is made by Sony and that it runs very fast also.

Thoughts after watching seven episodes of Mad Man  I agree it is a soap opera with hats.  I find the soap opera aspects of the show annoying as I wait for the interesting "period" bits.  Still, I don't find the show's period aspects very realistic.  The actors must go to the gym when off-camera.  The dialogue seems so 21st century.  But what do I know about the nineteen sixties.

Photographic Subject  Saturday Night, I was standing on the #25 bus looking, for all the world, like a laowai gone native -- I was carrying bottles of cooking oil and a bag of food (for my wife mind you).  Quite the sight I must have been.  I noticed these two girls taking photos of me with their mobile camera phone, or so I thought.....  For I then thought ---- nah!  they were looking at something on their camera -- perhaps a photo or a SMS.  But then, I heard the sound effect of a camera lens clicking.  They were so obviously doing what I thought and yet I didn't care in a bad way -- I had something which to write about in this blog.

Tony and Jenny Sleeping together.  I arrive to see them sleeping in each others' arms.  So sweet I thought.  That was my wife and child.  I couldn't have cared less if they were in conspiracy against me for I had something to do with the wonderful sight.

Old man's undershirt  The old man, from a distance, looked to have quite the dignity and bearing, though he wore a wife-beater undershirt, shorts, and old but comfortable cotton shoes.  He passed close by and one could not help but notice that his undershirt had numerous holes in it from frequent washings and being worn far too long.

748  Say these digits in Chinese and you have really deeply insulted someone.

635  I take this bus home after I work in the evenings.  Once off this bus, I have a ten minute walk before a I arrive home.  This walk is normally quiet which is a luxury in noisy China.  Monday evening this week, I saw four sights, on the walk from bus stop to apartment, which said a lot about China in 2010.  I first saw four men, probably migrant workers, sitting, all forlorn, on the curbside of a dark and uninhabited street.  They were probably trying to stay cool in a summer Wuxi heatwave.  I then saw two or three men swimming in what I thought was a very filthy canal trying to do the same thing.  I then saw a man tending a fire at the corner of an intersection that was lit and had traffic lights -- why he had the fire going I couldn't surmise.  And just then I saw an expensive bright red BMW sports car make a turn in the intersection.

 

Basketball Andis?  I took Tony and a new basketball to the basketball court in our apartment complex.  I lobbed a few balls at the basket and felt very old in body -- I don't recall ever having to make an effort of will to take a simple free throw.

 

Ritma  My aunt who lives in Winnipeg, Canada has just had open-heart surgery.  I pray for her recovery.

 

Tony on television  Tony had the right attitude about it -- he couldn't have cared less.  My wife was excited by it -- for this I am grateful to whatever power there is that is responsible for such things.  Her joy and excitement was all I really wanted from this.  I felt a detachment from for which I was also grateful.  The detachment was a result of two factors.  Firstly, I felt I wasn't too proud of my appearance on the show -- I stood around mutely and flubbed my answers to the questions I did get.  Secondly, being in China I have become an old hand at making a fool of myself in public and  being able to easily shrug the embarrassment off.  I can also say that though I have been the fool, I am at least not enough of one to know that this fame or notoriety thing is nothing, nothing at all.  I still have to use the bathroom and ride the bus to work and back.

 

Misplaced sense of priorities  Who is the most important person in your life? I asked.   Many students said their child, but not their wife. an answer that saddened me.  I have come to realize that it is one's spouse who is most important in one's life and that a good child results from the sacredness of the matrimonial bond.  To think it is the other way around, that one's children are more important than one's spouse is selfish sentimentality.  And be that as it may, one's family is on the second order of priority.  You don't neglect your wife or your children.

 

 

Tony and his gang on Chinese t.v.

Here we are in the living room watching our t.v. appearance.

The Canadian-Latvian-Chinese Family Kaulins on Television.

The first family of AKICistan was on t.v. last night.  The father felt sheepish, the son didn't seem to care, and the mother was in ecstasy.

 

Video was taken in the living room of Casa Kaulins as the appearance was broadcast.  You will get to see it anon.

Tony is three years old!

The little man, the bad boy, Tony K, xiao bao bao, my  little buddy, and/or whatever else I have chosen to call him is officially three years old as I make this blog entry.

 

Again thanks to his mother Jenny.  Birthdays really are about thanking mothers for the trouble they get put through.

 

Thanks for the greetings from some American readers in Detroit and Arizona.

Gratitude

On the eve of his third birthday, Tony can say "Thank you!".  He did so when I gave him some coins tonight.

 

Here is a tribute, to Tony's mother, on another blog.

Unlikely subject

I saw them point the phone camera at me to take a picture.

But then I thought it couldn't be.

And then I heard the sound effect of a camera lense clicking.

I saw them point the phone camera at me.

Source of my complaint is cleaned up.

That pile I complained about with my last three entries was cleaned up early Sunday Morning.  Why it took so long is a mystery to a me. 

But, still, it is gone, and I can say China is in my good books again, almost.

FMLB Season Ten

The Braves win their third ever World Series.  The White Sox lose their Second.

American League

Team wins losses pct. G.B.

White Sox 106 48 .688

Tigers 103 51 .669 3

Indians 81 73 .526 25

Senators 78 76 .506 28

Browns 73 81 .474 33

Red Sox 67 87 .435 39

A's 58 96 .377 48

Yankees 50 104 .325 56

National League

Team wins losses pct. G.B.

Braves 93 61 .604

Cubs 91 63 .591 2

Pirates 89 65 .578 4

Phillies 83 71 .539 10

Giants 79 75 .513 14

Cards 70 84 .455 23

Reds 61 93 .396 32

Dodgers 50 104  .325 43

World Series (Best of nine)

Game

  1 Braves 9 White Sox 3

  2 Braves 6 White Sox 5

  3 Braves 2 White Sox 9

  4 Braves 10 White Sox 3

  5 Braves 5 White Sox 0

  6 Braves 2 White Sox 7

  7 Braves 9 White Sox 7

 Braves win 5 games to 2

A photo of what the workers did

View it here.

Son of a whatyoucallit!

The so-called workers who decorate Chinese apartments (putting in the walls and flooring and fixtures and what not), will, when finished,  take all the garbage from their work and dump where they can.  If they could, they would probably dump it right outside the front doors of the apartments.  And  they would probably leave it in the apartments, if they could as well, for they are that lazy.  What I have seen done is that many workers will leave the garbage in the nearest stairwell (which is not used because there are elevators).

 

Now, the apartment building I am living in, the workers cannot do this because the stairways do lead to the entrances of the apartments, and there is no elevator (I wonder if they would dump the garbage down the shaft).  So what they have done is dump the garbage outside the front door of our building on the lawn.  As I write, this garbage has been sitting there for four days.  I don't know whose job it is to get rid of the garbage, and  my wife hasn't been around so a major impetus to action being done about this hasn't happened yet. 

 

I can hardly wait till my wife comes home this Sunday.  If the powers that be are smart, they will have moved the garbage by then.

 

How this makes me feel:  In the meanwhile, if you ever happen to see apartment decoration workers in a Chinese apartment, I say you should feel free to give them a elbow or trip them so they fall down stairs.  It wouldn't be a big loss for civilization -- Chinese or otherwise.

 

To be fair:  Maybe they don't make enough money and the powers that be probably never thought of the garbage problem.  But still....

Photos taken with my mobile.

See them here.

FMLB24 Season Two World Series -- Game Nine: Yankees versus Expos

This game is being played in Montreal's Olympic Stadium.  The starting pitchers are Steve Rodgers for the Expos and Ron Guidry for the Yankees.

For the first six innings, the starting pitchers are in their finest form with only one runner getting into scoring position.

But in the top of the seventh inning, Reggie Jackson hits a solo home run to give the Yankees a one-nothing lead.  For Steve Rodgers, the hit brings back memories of Blue Monday.  But he manages to pitch masterfully for the rest of the game, allowing the Yankees no more runs.

Meanwhile, Yankees' starter Ron Guidry, starts to weaken, and the Expos get runners into scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings.  But Guidry, using veteran guile, manages to get himself out of the jams without any runs being scored.

Guidry pitches in the ninth inning, but he allows a single to the lead off hitter and then walks the next batter. 

So, with no one out, and runners on first and second base, the Yankees bring in master reliever Goose Gossage.  He strikes out the next two Expos batters.  

Next up to bat, Andre Dawson.  Dawson gets to a full count fouling off numerous Gossage offerings.  And then Gossage hits Dawson loading the bases and nearly sparking a riot.  The benches clear.  

When order is restored, Gary Carter comes to bat.  He again takes Gossage to a full count.  He fouls off a pitch.  He then hits the next Gossage pitch out of the park.  The Expos get four runs and a World Championship.

Here is the line score for the game:

                                    T

Yankees  000 000 100   1

Expos     000 000 004    4

Two days; two thunder showers.

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, there were intense thunderstorms in Wuxi -- annoying while happening because of the very heavy rain, but providing a pleasant cooling effect afterwards.

Glasses lost?

Tuesday evening, I thought it was a prudent idea to take my reading glasses with me to an off-site company class I was to teach.  Carrying papers, an umbrella, and the glasses case in my hand, was sort of awkward.  Somewhere I laid down the glasses but I don't know where.  I haven't found out yet if I left them at the company or in a taxi.  They may be retrievable in both cases.  I hope.

 

For now, reading is like reading in a haze.  I can see the text but not sharply.  A small text book I read every night is now unseeable.

FMLB24 Season Two World Series Games 5 to 8

Entering the fifth game of the FMLB24 Season Two World Series, the Expos and Yankees were tied at two games apiece.  They split the next four games to force a ninth and deciding game (the result of which will be revealed in a future entry).  In games five to eight, the Yankees outscored the Expos 23 to 9 -- an average game score of Yankees 6 Expos 2.  However, the Yankees scored too many runs in the games they won.  In Game six, their prolific offence could only score one run -- two more runs would have seen them win the World Series.

 

Game #5   Yankees  10   Expos 1

Game #6   Yankees   1    Expos  2

Game #7   Yankees   8    Expos  0

Game #8   Yankees  4     Expos  6

AKIC's List of Notable Canadians

Gordon Light Feet.  Canada's first openly gay folk singer is hated in his native land because CRTC regulations force him to be over-played.  His famous song is The Sinking of the Titanic by Edmund Fitziceberg

The Deservedly Unhip  This band has tried to pass itself off as authentically Canadian

Bobby Eitherr  This great Boston Bruins defence man won the Art Ross trophy.

Brian Muldoom  Last leader of the Progressive Conservatives to have enjoyed a bout of popularity.

Pamela's Andersons  They defected to the United States as any decent humane people would.

Doug Tommy  This fool made Canada's Health Care System Communistic.

Preston Bronson  The leader of the Reform Party made me almost proud to be Canadian

Maggie Trudeau  Unlike her ex-husband, she wasn't totally  irredeemable.

Ronald McDonald  Before he was tragically killed in a car accident, he started the famous restaurant chain that bears his name.

Crispy Creme  This openly gay NHL player, also had a donut restaurant chain named after him.

Tim Rothman's  Many Canadians smoke the brand of cigarettes named after this old Maple Leafs defence man.

Tommy Predator  This punk music star had a show on CBC in the seventies.

The Mahovolich Brothers  Ted, Jack, and Rob had successful and sometimes aborted political careers.

Hender Paulson  He broke Communist Russian hearts (Commies have hearts!?!) with his miracle last rock shot against them in a bonspiel held in Moscow in 1972.

Mackenzie Queen  PM famous for having talked to his dead mother via a wiggy board.  He is still considered the most sensible Prime Minister we ever had.

Joe Hoo  For a brief time in the late 1970s,  Canada had a PM of Chinese descent.

Bobby Hall  He wasn't much of a hockey player but  the throat candy named after him can be purchased in China.

Marshall Tito  This famous Canadian philosopher coined the phrase "you can get a massage in a medium-security prison".

Rich Small  Was famous in Russia for his Joe Stalin imitations.

Alex Trebek  He made a name for himself hosting the show "Let's Make a Deal!"

Monty Hall  The host of "The Price is Right" got in a fight in the film Happy Gilmour.

Duddy Kravitz  Wrote the Apprenticeship of Mordecai Richler and the Stone Angel.

 

Jack Candy  Who will ever forget his performance, as a shower curtain salesman, in Helicopters, Mag Lifts, and Taxis?

 

Instellar Overdrive  Their song "Looking After Business" was a big international smash hit.

 

Marshall Petain  This speedy right-winger lead to the Canadiens to multiple Stanley Cup victories in the 1970s.

 

William Lion King Mackenzie  Disney made an animated motion picture about this Canadian Prime Minister's life.

 

Ronald A McDonald  was Canada's first ever Prime Minister and an Alcoholic to boot

Johnny Doo invented the Ski Doo.

 

Ben Jonson This Elizabethian writer was disgraced at the 1988 Olympics when he was caught stealing stereos.

 

Dr. Who  The Canadian most known by Brits after Chairman Churchill wrote a glowing tribute to him.

 

Big Mountain  This full-blooded Cree Indian has an enormous following in China because of his excellent Mandarin Speaking abilities.

 

Marcel Dionne  This former L.A. King and Detroit Red Wing sang the theme song for the movie Titanic.

 

Sammuel De Newfoundland discovered Newfoundland.

 

Austin Powers  was a star of Wayne's World.

 

Cohen Leonard  wrote in Flander's Field.  Paul Newman played the lead role in the movie about his life.

 

Alexander Graham Ringtone  invented the telephone

 

Steve Nash invented basketball.

 

James Naismith was the first black Canadian to ever be the NBA MVP.

Donalde Framboise Many Anglo Lefties thought this outspoken French hockey commentator was a fan of Charles De Gualle.

Richard "The Rocket" Morris  The first ever NHLer to score fifty goals in a season.  Historians say that the riot following his expulsion from the Beatles was an awakening for Quebec Nationalism.

Piers Turdeau  This Sci Fi Canadian PM make Canada officially Bisexual.

Jean Cretin Allende:  This Prime Minister from Shawnigan was deposed after a coup lead by Pinochet Martin.

"Boom Boom" Jefferson  Canada's greatest ever porn star made a racy video with Samantha's Andersons.

April Latrine  With the defection of Pamela's Andersons, this pop star became Canada's local dish.

Lorne Gunsmoke  Lead Singer of the Punk Band Gang Greene, and later founder of Greene War -- a radical anti-environmentalist sect.

Quick AKIC Monday Update

• Tony is still in the hospital.
• It has been boiling hot the past week in Wuxi.
• My school is looking for a new trainer.  Visit here for more details.

The first four games of the FMLB24 Season Two World Series

Now, I am really putting you, my rare readers, in suspense, here are the results of the first four games between of the FMLB World Series between the Yankees and my beloved Expos.

Game 1            Yankees   4        Expos     2

Game 2            Yankees   2         Expos    5

Game 3             Yankees  2         Expos     7

Game 4             Yankees  6         Expos     4

The best of nine series is tied at two games apiece.

Bilbo's Bloggins?

Bilbo's Bloggins?  Well!  I am reading the Lord of the Rings now.  I have all three novels omplete in a volume which I bought at Burton Lysecki Books in Winnipeg, Canada.

Annoying  I got on the bus because it had air-conditioning and seats.  Just as I was all set up -- I had my reading glasses on and TLOR on my lap, I noticed that the bus driver was outside inspecting something.  Soon after, he told everyone to go on another bus.  I lost my seat and was forced to stand on the other bus -- rendering the point of my having boarded the bus in the first place, mute.

I would use Youtube if I could.  Unfortunately, it is blocked in China and I am unable to upload to it.  Tony and Jenny don't allow me to do this.

Chinese Sleeping.  Coming home by bus, late one evening, I seven men sleeping on grass between the curb and the sidewalk.  They were all in shorts, and looked, for all the world, like a litter of puppies sleeping near their mother.

 

Short Sightings.  I saw a man run off the bus but not before quickly taking an empty bottle out of the garbage can that is often found near the rear Bus exit on most Wuxi municipal transit buses.  I later saw a woman on an electric bicycle close a door on a taxi she was passing because it hadn't been closed properly by the exiting passenger.

 

Derb is a cyclist.  Read about it here.  I love his referral to this fellow named Norman Tebbit.  Tebbit told the unemployed to ride on their bikes till they found work -- good practical advice deemed heartless by lefties.  I followed Tebbit's advice all those years ago when I moved to B.C. Canada on a prayer and a month's savings.  I quickly found a job which wasn't at all glamorous but I stuck it out till something better came along.

Strange place to fix a truck.  Saturday morning, I was taking the bus to work.  At one point in the journey, the bus had to go the wrong way down the road because a truck was parked so as to block all the lanes going in one direction.  Vehicles, could have gone around the truck but it was parked close to a median leaving little room for bigger vehicles to turn into the proper lane.  The cab of the parked truck was raised so a man could repair it.  And so it was not only a strange place to repair a vehicle -- it was also a strange place to stall out.

Uplift your breasts  At a bus stop by Baoli, I saw an advertisement for breast enlargement which showed a man choking on his wine glass as he caught a glance at some up-lifted breasts.  The man looked like a crony capitalist.

Subway Construction near the Hui Shan Big Bridge.  Everyday, I have a chance to see how construction on the subway from Hui Shan City to Li Hu Park is proceeding.  The most interesting stretch of construction is by the long Hui Shan Big Bridge.  The train will go over a canal here.  Two platforms have been constructed from which construction of the actual train bridge will proceed.  Boat traffic is having to wind its way through the small opening afforded them between the two platforms.

 

 

FMLB24 Season Two League Championship Series Results

Here they are:

ALCS  (best of nine)

Game Score Score

1 White Sox 5 Yankees 8

2 White Sox 6 Yankees 2

3 White Sox 4 Yankees 2

4 White Sox 6 Yankees 7

5 White Sox 4 Yankees 6

6 White Sox 8 Yankees 1

7 White Sox 2 Yankees 4

8 White Sox 7 Yankees 9

 Yankees win 5 games to 3.

NLCS (best of nine)

Game Score Score

1 Expos 5 Giants 3

2 Expos 8 Giants 6

3 Expos 5 Giants 10

4 Expos 4 Giants 2

5 Expos 9 Giants 4

6 Expos 8 Giants 2

 Expos win 5 games to 1

And I am happy to say that the Expos have finally made the World Series!!  Stay tuned to this blog for the results of the FMLB World Series.

HyLite (my school) is hiring

My school is currently hiring.  Visit here for details.

FMLB24 Season Two Final Standings

I am going to present the results of this season over a few blog entries.  My team, the Expos, have won the National League East.  They will meet the mighty 109-53 win Giants for the National League Pennant.  The winner of this series win then meet either the Yankees or the White Sox in the FMLB World Series.

Go Expos!

American League East

Team Wins  Losses pct. GB

Yankees 100 62 .617

Orioles 96 66 .593 4

Red Sox 91 71 562 9

Tigers 74 88 .457 26

Senators 73 89 .451 27

Indians 65 97 .401 35

American League West

Team Wins Losses pct. GB

White Sox 99 63 .611

A's 96 66     .593 3

Angels 79 83 .488 20

Pilots 69 93  426 30

Royals 65 97 .401 34

Twins 65 97  .401 34

National League East

Team Wins   Losses pct GB

Expos 98 64 .605

Cardinals 95 67 .586 3

Phillies 83 79 .512 15

Mets 83 79 .512 15

Cubs 79 83 .488 19

Pirates 54 108 .333 44

National  League West

Team Wins Losses pct. GB

Giants 109 53 .673

Braves 102 60 .630 7

Reds 88 74 .543 21

Dodgers 67 95 .414 42

Padres 60 102 .370 49

Astros 54 108 .333 55

Mad Man and Flannery O'Connor Stories

Better late than never  Tony has been sick so this blog entry was late in getting to the Internet.

Mad Man:  I bought the first three seasons of the show.  The buzz I have heard on the net because of the show's fourth season has got to me.

Fallen:  Baseball was in the Garden of Eden till it adopted the Wild Card.  Shameful!

Revelation:  In this Flannery O'Connor story, a woman sits in a doctor's waiting room.  Engaging in conversation, she notices a girl staring at her malevolently.  She continues her conversation.  All of sudden, the girl throws a book a her and says to her "Your Evil Warthog, you go to hell!" (or something along those lines).  The woman is shaken by this.  All her acquaintances tell her that the girl was crazy and she has nothing to worry about.  But the woman can't help but wonder.  Now this sort of thing happens to me on the Internet as people have directed some nasty comments against me -- including the "obnoxious" comment I directed your attention to a few weeks ago.  O'Connor's depiction of the incident was so superb that I couldn't help but say "aha!" when I read it.  I can relate to the what the woman was feeling enough to wonder why my blind spots, worthy of malevolence from others, are.

Thunderstorms  A pair of thunderstorms this week in downtown Wuxi.  For one, I felt the opening droplets before I was able to get to a DVD shop (where I bought Mad Man); the other happened as I was at school.  I love teaching in thunderstorms -- it gives the class a feeling of giddy freedom.

Parker's Back  O.E. Parker doesn't like putting tattoos on his back because he likes to admire them without a mirror.  However, he marries a girl, who is a Christian, and doesn't care for his tattoos.  Parker thinks it would be a grand idea to impress her by putting an image of Jesus on his back.  He does it, but his wife beats him with a broom because he has engaged in idolatry.  What a story by Flannery O'Connor though I can't say as I see it having any parallels with my life as I did with Revelation.

Trying to get to the crux of the matter:

Where in the world would you like to go?

I would like to go to Paris.

Why would you like to go to Paris?

Because I like it.

Why do you like Paris?

Because it is romantic.

Why do you think it is romantic?

Because it is rainy...

(I didn't bother to ask the student why  he thought rain was romantic.)

Tony's Third Birthday  Tony will be three on August 23rd.  I had talked to Jenny about having a party for it.  However, the August heat has squelched the desire.  We will probably have a family supper and buy Tony some more toys.

 

What's your favorite Chinese Tourist Sight?  The student said there weren't any he liked.  So I asked him if there were sights that others liked.  He said he forgot.  I then put him on the spot till he gave me an answer.  The students can sometimes be so stupid or lazy or shy.

 

Train Station  There are all sorts of tunnels at the Wuxi train station which people don't seem to know about because you will see them instead climb over fences and dodge cars to cross the street.  

In one of these tunnels, I saw a man asleep on the floor with no sheet or mattress to lie on.

 

Mao said that?  An older gentleman, who spoke good English, approached me on the bus Saturday Morning.  He told me about the times he had visited Canada with delegations from the Wuxi government with whom he had good relations.  I told him about my six years in Wuxi  my having a Chinese wife, and our having a son.  He said we were like a "United Nations" couple.  He told me Chairman Mao said "that one is not great till one has seen the Great Wall."  He also told me he was a Christian and that he went to the Sunday 1330 English services at the church next to our school.

 

New Nickname for Tony  From now on, or at least till I find something to replace it, I will call Tony "Two Tents".  Tony today got a second tent when his mother bought some formula from this baby store.  I tell you the fact that I called my son Anthony was a stroke of sheer genius on my part because there are so many things I can with his name like call him Tony "Two Tents" Kaulins.

 

All I wanted was... a pepperoni and cheese pizza  That was easier said than done.  My wife never realized that one should be able to order a basic cheese pizza and add toppings to it.  But then the workers at the Pizza Hut I went to in Wuxi didn't seem to realize either.

 

I will never ever:

• eat fish
• eat noodles
• eat eggplant
• wear white trousers
• wear red shoes
• wear yellow pants

Declarations made by students at a recent English Corner.

 

Twilight Students like the show and so does Jenny.

 

Train Station Beggar  Waiting for a bus there, I saw this very aggressive child beggar who actually was physically hitting people for money.  One man hit back.

 

On a piece of cardboard laid on dirt under an over pass, I saw an old man sitting at his leisure with you young children.

Air Con  In a place I just went to, the A/C was set so high that the workers were wearing jackets.