Brown Motion

Selling the promise of higher education in brand name campuses is now reached level of maturity where the sheep are drawn to the slaughter house with a simple email invite. Marketing costs have come way down.  Asians (by that largely Chinese and Indian ex pat) will arrive in droves to seminars hosted on school property with a Chinese speaker who may have a couple of female lackeys putting up a powerpoint to walk through.  The pitch is asking the lost souls to sign up for 1 on 1 consulting for their child in exchange for mucho dinero. Note this is touted as a legit way to gain access to top tier schools without going to jail or forking out large gobs of cash as donations. Mere mention that the founder had something to do with an Ivy League brand (might as well have done some obscure week long management training course) will draw out the hyper anxious parents wanting to better their children's lives. While the parental motivation may be real the path chosen is oft misg...

Of all the jargon thrown at us by the broadcasting entities of all manners are certain curious items that defy everyday use - Double Whammy - I have never heard of a singular whammy or more than double whammies (is that a legal plural?).  Why is that?  If they are always double where does the first whammy find its double?  To me that is a double whammy - not knowing about the first and then the second. China to allow two children - this headline is fairly cryptic to a simple soul like myself.  Logical questions come to mind - which two children are the Chinese talking about?  Where exactly are they being allowed?  Why two?  And lastly, Why China? Women you will not believe are over 50 - what does that mean?  For starters many in our community do not know what 50 is?  Meaning they can only count to 34 in many cases, okay some can do upto 27 but that is very small %.  Many also have problems knowing if they are a woman, le...

A rather stimulating documentary on the tube last night.  Or technically on cable.  Or cloud.  Or whatever it is that I pay for unbeknownst to me (what with autopay) and causes shows to show up in my recorded list. Chai - the caffeine fix that I long for each morning - not the Folgers in my cup.  Far from it - in fact mine is named for a goat and tiger since the package says Wagh Bakri.   I vaguely knew that the origins of this wonder drug lay somewhere in the Orient.  Just not exactly.  So it turns out that Tea or Chai is the second most popular beverage in the world after water. The beverage we know of as Chai or Tea (and some moronic brands in America also make it a point to call it Chai Tea) comes from the leaves of a shrub that grows in cool climes.  The shrub is called Camellia Sinensis (sure recipe for sinus trouble but it actually refers to - as from China (sino)). Originally thought to have grown in the mountains of Southe...

Not something a kid in a dimly lit math classroom might encounter.  Far from it unless that classroom happened to be in a home in southern China or at least in a restaurant that served this delicacy. I am refering to the food preparation that I enjoyed with some work colleagues at a going away event (for another colleague) over lunch.  Lunch was at a local Cantonese (that which is from southern China - specifically the Canton aka Guangdong; and Fujian provinces) restaurant close to work. Dim Sum or DianXin literally means pieces of the heart - as in small bite sized food portions lovingly made for someone - if I remember - based on my research in talking to the locals who are from that part of the world. But for the English speaking crowd it is simply 'Dim Sum' which is available in variety of Chinese restaurants in California given the preponderence of the expats that love their native food.  The food traditionally is small portions prepared individually in steamer...