Untitled

Un
Le francais est trés difficile pour moi.
It was 3 years ago when I graduated from junior high that I started to learn french. It only lasted a month. Then, 3 years later, now I've graduated from senior high and there's time for me to continue my study of french. But unfortunately, what I learned the first day in the french class was that I had forgotten nearly everything about french except for the pronounciation. Then I struggled. I couldn't follow the teacher so I reviewed the lessons I learnt 3 years ago. I'm glad that I'm getting through this.
In classes given by Chinese teacher, it's mainly about grammar. In classes given by Maurice Jacque, it's absolutely french. I find it hard to follow him word by word though in all, I understand what he means. He usually wants us to explain some particular words, in french, but all I could do is to find something similiar from english. I just can't talk in french! This is too bad.
Deux
Maurice est un grand homme.
He's really strong, physically. One thing maybe indicates a little french of him is he forms a small tail with his hair.
In the morning today, we should have begun classes around 9 am. But Maurice was about 20 mins late. He explained that the lock on his door was broken and he didn't find out until he was to leave. So he spoke to those security stuff but nobody understood him. Pauvre Maurice! Naturally, he extended today's class by 25 mins to make up for the lost time.
Trois
On n'elle aime pas.
There's this around 21-year-old girl in the french class. Her voice is loud and clear. She's not afraid of asking questions, no matter smart or stupid, and she doesn't care if it's in the middle of the class. After a few attempts to break the fluency of the class, which she succeeded anyway, she annoyed some of the fellow students. For me, she's too eager to know the answer to the question that pops up in her mind. In some cases, Miss Zou had just finished explaining something difficult thoroughly, this girl asked the same question right the way. She seemed to be too devoted in making notes that she hadn't heard any of the teacher's words. I can't say I'm annoyed but I think that was impolite, pausing the class just to answer your questions, and sometimes, stupid quesions. She should've left those to after-class.
Then in Maurice's second class, when Maurice was talking about voyelles and consonnes or something like that, she demanded Maurice to teach something more difficult. She thought what we were learning was too easy and we shoudn't waste time in those because there were so many lessons following. Another one or two agreed with her. Maurice asked us to vote whether we should go faster. I was neutral. She said in a even louder tone to make other agree with her. Maurice then said seriously, "I want everybody's opinion, not your opinion!" I wasn't sure about the '!' but it was the loudest tone Maurice had used. Finally, she couldn't get her way.
The next morning, I came back to the classroom, found this "教室是大家的教室，老师是大家的老师。请某位同学自重，否则，面斥不雅。" on the blackboard. It was cruel! Other students were also surprised. My deskmate told me it was written by a 'teacher'. I couldn't figure out whom she meant. There she came. No expressions on her face. She went out for water, then came back, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote "每个人都有表达意见的权利。当面不说，背后议论，毛主席说是小人。" It became a drama. The peak of emotion had come and gone. After that, there were much less questions from her during class. Later, I've discovered that she came to class by an old bicycle that resembles my grandpa's.
Quatre
J'ai un nouveau téléphone portable Nokia N78.
I'm really satisfied with it. Starting my communication net :)
Cinq
J'aime bien Pet Shop Boys.
Six
Télé: Saison Deux de Mad Men(AMC)!

What's wrong with being gay?

Gay
1 homosexual
2 happy and full of fun; light-hearted; cheerful
3 [attrib] careless; thoughtless

Recently I've read this post from Afterelton then I started to watch some gay-themed films. Last night my mum found out I was watching Beautiful Thing then she told me not to watch 'this kind of thing' in a weird tone. She despised it clearly. That's her, the most conservative person I know.
I don't see gay a problem. They are just different. The tagline of Brokeback Mountain tells the truth-love is a force of nature. I should say I feel the love between gay people is more tender, exquisite and smooth. It's a beautiful thing indeed. How come so many people think it's sick? Please stop doing this. Everyone deserves to love and to be love, equally.

My Future

I struggled. I fought.
I wanted to be a doctor. I see learning to be a doctor a great challenge to myself. But no one in my family supported this idea. They thought I was idealistic and would soon lose interest. And they tried to talk me out of it by describing poor working conditions and painful faces of patients. Frankly I didn't consider that much. I just wanted to get an M.D. and then throw myself into volunteering work, to help people who need help. How can that be difficult?
I gave up.
After all the work my father had done, I still couldn't be admitted by the university I desired. Then my dream collapsed. I would never be able to achieve that. I gave in to reality. I comfort myself that to be an actuary is also challenging and I could earn great money from this career. My whole family seemed happy and content, they even thought my failure to pursue medicine is destined. I was extremely desperate but I can only tell them to fuck off in my mind. What a coward I am!
I must
earn a lot of money. Then take some time off to pursue medicine. Then move to Ireland and build a seaside glass house. Nothing could stop me.

About Meeting Old Mates

Distance. I've foreseen this problem and I've felt it. I cannot say it's strong but it exists. Time brings it between me and the others. I just can't be like before. I honestly don't know what to say. Maybe I love to isolate myself. I'm cool with not being a big talker. Don't know if this is natural but I guess it is, at least for me. Some of them noticed that I'm different, quite beyond their expectation I guess. But I thought changes were good things. How can someone not change after all these years? In all, I felt like going further and further away from my past. I always run away from my past. There's always something I don't want to remember or think about. I need to go to a place where no one knows me. Run away. That's what I do. Does it make me a coward?

The Greatest Match Ever

Yesterday around 8.30 pm, I was already sitting on the sofa waiting for the Wimbledon men's final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. I hoped Nadal could win to stop Federer's winning streak on grass and take away the trophy Federer had possessed for the last five years.

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Wimbledon has a new king. Rafael Nadal dethroned Roger Federer after a five-year reign by winning the longest-ever Wimbledon men's final.

The consistently heartstopping 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 classic began at 2.35pm and thanks to a couple of breaks for rain (surely necessary for the spectators to catch their breath), it ended at 9.15pm with the 22-year-old from Mallorca dropping to the ground with his arms outstretched in celebration.

Watching the four hours and 48 minutes on-court action, from the vantage point of the royal box, was Centre Court legend Bjorn Borg. Nadal had matched the Swede's fantastic feat of winning the Grand Slams of Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and had also prevented Federer surpassing the five titles in a row he collected between 1976 and 1980.

Conditions for the latest duel between tennis's two finest players could not have been more demanding. The rain, which delayed the start for 27 minutes, eventually cleared but the chill, gusting wind which accompanied it persisted throughout the match, blowing winning shots off course and making life even more difficult for the two competitors. That they coped so well spoke volumes for their skill and adaptability.



With the five-time champion looking less than his authoritative best, it was Nadal who struck the first heavy blow, capitalising on successive Federer errors to break for a 2-1 lead.

From the start Nadal concentrated his battering-ram attack on the Federer backhand, aiming every serve and looping forehand in that direction and it kept the champion in an unaccustomed position - on the back foot. Federer prospered more when he switched to net-rushing but he could not block Nadal's inexorable advance towards the first set.

The Spaniard managed to fight off a break point to stay 3-1 ahead and he needed to avert two more as he served for the set, which he clinched on his third set point after 48 minutes, courtesy of another brace of ground stroke errors from Federer.

It was the first set Federer had dropped since the final of the French Open, when he was routed by the same Nadal.

Federer's counter-attack was immediate and it rushed him into a three-game lead which he extended to an apparently commanding 4-1 with his sixth and seventh aces, only for the irrepressible Nadal to bounce back with some thrilling, all-action stuff.

To Federer's visible anger, his serve was broken as a stretched volley flew out of play and Nadal pulled level at 4-4 as Federer squandered yet another break point.

Now Nadal was in full, thrilling flow, breaking Federer again to lead 5-4 with another huge forehand and celebrating with pumped fists. As he was serving for the second set, Nadal received a warning from umpire Pascal Maria of France for taking too long between serves.

Clearly unsettled by the timing of that censure, the Spaniard permitted Federer another break point on a wind-caused error, but in typical fashion dug deep and clinched the set when Federer once more mistimed a backhand into the netting. So, having swept five games, Nadal was in the driving set, two sets ahead.

Nadal's authority suffered a scare in the third game of the third set when he slipped in making a sudden change of direction and called in the trainer to check on his right knee. No time-out was requested by Nadal, though his speed around court appeared to be affected for a while.

He was at full stretch in the next game, fighting off two Federer break points and, as dark clouds began to mass over Centre Court, the champion went flat out to recover a set and get back into the match. But four more break points went begging as Nadal held for 3-3 before wasting three break points of his own which would have put him 4-3 ahead and perfectly positioned to win.

Instead, with Federer leading 5-4, the expected downpour set in and play was held up for one hour 20 minutes. On the resumption it was Federer who dominated when a tie-break was needed to resolve the set, hammering four aces to take it by seven points to five.

The fourth set did not contain a single break point for either man and when the second tie-break of the match arrived it was a sensation, with Nadal first leading by five points to two and then reaching, and missing, two Championship points before Federer levelled at two sets all when a Nadal backhand error left him the winner by 10 points to eight.

Another downpour drove the players off court for half an hour with the score at 2-2 in the final set and when they returned the light was fading. But the spirit of both finalists burned bright as they hammered the ball at each other just as eagerly as they had done when this marathon first began.

At 3-4 Nadal saved a break point which would have left Federer serving for the title. At 6-6 Federer saved a couple of break points. Finally, in the gloom, the Spaniard broke to lead 8-7 when Federer struck a forehand too long.

So Nadal served for the match again, getting to his third Championship point only for Federer to hit an incredible backhand service return. Deuce once again, but Nadal moved to his fourth match point with a big serve and, with the crowd going wild, Federer finally cracked, dumping a forehand in the net.

It was late, very late, but not too late for the coronation of a new king to begin.

[Match Reports: Nadal nicks title after five-set thriller, Sunday, 6 July 2008, Written by Ronald Atkin]

Christopher Eccleston

Date of Birth

16 February 1964, Salford, Lancashire, England, UK

Height

6' 1½" (1.87 m)

Mini Biography

Born in Salford, Lancashire. He often returns there to fight for local issues and is a patron of the arts for the area.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Mini Biography

Christopher Eccleston trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It (1991). However, it was a regular role in the TV series "Cracker" (1993) that made him a recognizable figure in the UK. He appeared in the low-budget thriller Shallow Grave (1995) and in the same year won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama serial "Our Friends in the North" (1996). It was the transmission of the latter series on BBC Two that really made him into a household name in the UK.

In his film career he has starred as a leading man alongside a number of major actresses, such as Renée Zellweger in A Price Above Rubies (1998), Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth (1998), and Cameron Diaz and Jordana Brewster in The Invisible Circus (2001), and Nicole Kidman in "The Others".

In addition to his successful film career, he has continued to work in his favourite medium, appearing in some of the most challenging and thought-provoking British television dramas of recent years. These have included "Clocking Off" (2000) and Flesh and Blood (2002) (TV) for the BBC and Hillsborough (1996) (TV), the Iago character in a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Othello", and the religious epic The Second Coming (2003) (TV), playing Steve Baxter, the son of God.

His stage career, while not as extensive as his screen credits, has nevertheless shown him to be a formidable actor. He's given intense, focused performances in such plays as "Hamlet", "Electricity" and "Miss Julie", for which he received excellent reviews.

A very highly regarded actor, Eccleston has twice been nominated in the Best Actor category at the BAFTA Television Awards, the UK's premiere TV awards ceremony. His first nomination came in 1997 for "Our Friends in the North". Although he didn't win those awards, he did, however, triumph in the Best Actor categories at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards, winning for "Our Friends in the North". He won the RTS Best Actor award for a second time in 2003, this time for his performance in "Flesh and Blood". In 2005 he received the Most Popular Actor award in the National Television Awards for Doctor Who.

IMDb Mini Biography By: northern7

Trivia

Is a supporter of Manchester United soccer club.

Was the first actor to play the title character in a "Doctor Who" story to be born after the show first commenced in November 1963.

He follows in a long line of distinguished actors to have portrayed the character of Doctor Who on screen. William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy all played the role in the television series, while Peter Cushing and Paul McGann took the part in spin-offs from the show.

He has retained his Lancashire accent.

His earliest memory of watching "Doctor Who" (1963) is Patrick Troughton in the black-and-white episodes of the late 1960s.

Cast in Terry Gilliam's 'The Man who Killed Don Quixote', but didn't film any scenes before production closed down. In the documentary _Lost in La Mancha_ (2002) his photograph appears on a pinboard featuring photos of the cast.

Emailed old friend writer/producer Russell T. Davies and asked to be put on the list of possibles for the title role in the revival of "Doctor Who" (2005) series. He has claimed in interviews that he was not a fan of the original "Doctor Who" (1963) and was really attracted to take the part because of his admiration for Davies as a writer.

The BBC has recently admitted that they announced his departure too early. It was agreed back in January that he would only do one series and a Christmas special. The announcement of his depature should have be made about halfway through the new series run. [April 2005]

Turned down a role in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Is one of three "Doctor Who" actors who portrayed The Doctor on TV to appear in an episode of "Casualty" (1986). The others are Colin Baker (I) and Sylvester McCoy.

He is a vegetarian.

He passed his driving test in January 2004 but is only qualified to drive an automatic.

Of the ten actors to play the Doctor in "Doctor Who" (1963) and "Doctor Who" (2005), he is the only one who has never worked with Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the former from 1968 to 1989 as well as in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.

A very keen runner.

Younger brother of twins Alan Eccleston and Keith Eccleston.

Uncle of Peter Eccleston and Rebecca Eccleston, who acted with him in Let Him Have It (1991).

Often collaborates with Phyllida Lloyd on stage.

Personal Quotes

I wasn't always such a great fan of Shakespeare, mind you. I can guess we all at one time had it rammed down our necks at school, which tends to take the edge off it.

A year later, and I'm average again.

Any horror element is as much psychological as special effects.

Culturally we've always felt it important to express the life of the country, and working class comes into that.

I came out of school in '79 when unemployment was really starting to bite, went back and redid my O-levels, there was a play going on and I was corralled into it.

I care more about telly because it made me an actor and there's a much more immediate response to TV. You can address the political or cultural fabric of your country.

I'm different from the other Doctors in that I'm northern. All the others spoke with this RP accent [received pronunciation] - maybe it was that that put me off. I think that it's good that we teach kids that people who speak like that can be heroic. (On starring in "Doctor Who" (2005))

My bony face is like a car crash. I haven't got good looks, just weird looks, enough to frighten the fiercest monster.

Where Are They Now

(March 2004) As of March 20, 2004, officially announced as the newest actor to play the classic television character "Doctor Who" for the 2005 BBC revival of the series.

(November 2006) Joining the cast of Heroes. His first episode will be broadcast on 22 January 2007.