Must-See Classic Movies

Central Stations (1989) drama (Brazil) -- "love and hope"

The Truman Show (1998) drama

Dancing in the Dark (1995) drama -- "trust"

Spirited Away (2001) animation -- beautifully made

Shawshank's Redemption (1994) suspension

(more to come ...)

Berklai's Recipe Book

The purpose of our recipe book is to provide a list of dishes we can make by ourselves, most of which are of Chinese style, in order to save head scratching for dinner choices :)

(to be updated regularly)

Vegi:
三丝 （任意三种，土豆丝，青椒丝，红/白罗布丝，豆腐丝，肉丝，。。。）

清炒豆芽

清炒扁豆

Meat:
五花肉卤蛋 （可以加豆腐块）

焖鸡块 （新鲜鸡切块，焖烧）

Soup:
西红柿蛋汤

酸辣汤 （炝锅，放入西红柿丁，接着豆腐丝，青椒丝等，放入生粉，最后搅鸡蛋，撒葱花）

Misc:
面疙瘩汤

葱花蛋饼 （比赛前两小时吃，管饱够营养）

First attempt in home gardening

Let's start with indoor plants as an easy start :) The following plants are in my mind right now:

--Bright, indirect light

(1) Braided Ficus Tree




(2) Chamaedorea Palm




(3) Moth Orchid, Novelty Stripes



--Bright light

(4) Miniature Herb Standard Topiaries

[zt] 国王的七个女儿

http://www.duwenzhang.com/wenzhang/jingdianwenzhang/yuyan/20070905/895.html

国王有七个女儿，这七位美丽的公主是国王的骄傲。
他们那一头乌黑靓丽的长发远近皆知。所以国王送给他们每人一百个漂亮的发夹。

有 一天早上，大公主醒来，一如往常的用发夹整理他的秀发，却发现少了一个发夹，于是他偷偷地到了二公主的房里，拿走了一个发夹。二公主发现少了一个发夹，便 到三公主房里拿走一个发夹；三公主发现少了一个发夹，也偷偷地拿走四公主的一个发夹；四公主如法炮制拿走了五公主的发夹；五公主一样拿走了六公主的发夹； 六公主只好拿走七公主的发夹。
于是七公主的发夹只剩九十九个。

隔天，邻国英俊的王子忽然来到皇宫，他对国王说：“昨天我养的百灵鸟叼回了一个发夹，我想着一定是属于公主们的，而这也真是一种奇妙的缘分， 不晓得是哪位公主掉了发夹？”公主们听到了这件事，都在心里想说：“是我掉的，是我掉的。”可是头上明明完整的别着一百个发夹，所以都懊恼得很，却说不 出。只有七公主走出来说：“我掉了一个发夹。”话才说完，一头漂亮的长发因为少了一个发夹，全部披散了下来，王子不由得看呆了。故事的结局，想当然的是王子与公主从此一起过着幸福快乐的日子。

为什么已有缺憾就拼命去补足？一百个发夹，就像是完美圆满的人生，少了一个发夹，这个圆满就有了缺憾；但正因缺憾，未来就有了无限的转机，无限的可能性，何尝不是一件值得高兴的事！人生不可免的缺憾，你怎样面对呢？

逃避不一定躲得过
面对不一定最难受
孤单不一定不快乐
得到不一定能长久
失去不一定不再有
转身不一定最软弱
别急着说别无选择
别以为世上只有对与错
许多事情的答案都不是只有一个
所以~我们永远有路可以走
你能找个理由难过你也一定能找到快乐的理由
懂得放心的人找到轻松
懂得遗忘的人找到自由
懂得关怀的人找到朋友

天冷不是冷 心寒才是寒愿你的心都是暖暖的......
人的长大伴随着一些失落，人的成熟附带着一些伤痕，
好在有希望这东西，你总还可以去等；
好在人与人之间，距离产生美感；
好在生命里，快乐比痛苦多；
好在这世界，还有很多美丽；
好在当你成熟的时候，你还不算一无所有！

Soccer Workout in a Nutshell

Thanks to the resources available on Internet --Berklai

content:

1. Peak Points
2. Warming up
3. Stretching
4. Edurance
5. Weight Lifting for Soccer
   
6. A Pro's Workout Secret

Peak Points

• It takes stamina to excel at soccer. Do wind sprints and other stamina drills.
• Don't be fooled: Soccer is a total sport. Do all-body conditioning, focusing on shoulders, chest, abs and legs.
• Flexibility is crucial to soccer survival. Stretch often.

Warming Up

Get the body moving, the heart pumping, the blood flowing. This increases muscle temperature, improves reflex time and suppleness, and helps to avoid injury, says Dr. Luxbacher. He recommends a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes of warm-up for soccer players. Anything that gets you sweating should do the trick, but working with a soccer ball helps develop sport-specific skill at the same time, he says.

These three drills are great for getting the blood moving, says Dr. Luxbacher.

Dance on the Ball

The name of this drill describes what it looks like. Truth is, you barely touch the ball. Put it on the ground in front of you and barely touch the sole of one foot to the top of the ball, withdraw it quickly and place the sole of the other foot atop the ball, back and forth, quickly, for 30 seconds to a minute. This combines getting the heart going with a ball-control dexterity drill.

Inside Touch

With your feet shoulder-width apart, tap the ball back and forth between your feet, using the inside of your feet, for 30 seconds to a minute. Do it as fast as you can. Rest and repeat.

Confined Dribbling

Limit yourself to a 10- by 20-yard area and start dribbling the ball slowly. Constantly change your speed and direction as you dribble the ball back and forth within the confines of the area. Keep the ball close to your feet. As you warm up, increase your speed. Do this for about five minutes.

Stretching

Once you''re warmed up, go through a series of gentle, fluid flexibility exercises. Stretch your hamstrings and quadriceps, calves and Achilles tendon, groin, neck and back. See Flexibility on page 32 for a full-body routine and Running on page 181 for a selection of leg stretches. Dr. Luxbacher recommends static stretching—holding each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds—and doing two reps of each.

Dr. Luxbacher also offers this specialized back stretch using a soccer ball.

Ball Stretch

Sit with your knees together, flexed. Slowly roll a soccer ball on the ground around your entire body, keeping both hands on the ball at all times. Roll it ten times in each direction.

Strengthening

Your strength-building routine will focus on your abs, legs, arms and chest. Try this on-field workout.

For the abs, Dr. Luxbacher recommends doing crunches. Do at least 10 and up to 30.

For the legs, here are two exercises Dr. Luxbacher likes. Do one or both in your workout.

For the arms and chest, nothing beats push-ups, says Dr. Luxbacher. You can do 10 to 30 regular push-ups or bent-knee push-ups. Or try Dr. Luxbacher''s ball push-ups or walking push-ups.

Ball Push-Ups

This is a real upper-body strength builder. Get in a full push-up position, but with your hands on the top of a soccer ball. Support your body weight with your hands and toes and keep your legs and body straight.

Lift your body until your arms are straight, then slowly lower your body until your chest touches the ball. Without letting your body sag, do as many reps as you can up to 20 at first. These put a lot of pressure on your wrists; stop if you feel any pain or discomfort.

Step-Ups

Use a 12-inch-high bench or step-box from the gym. Face it and step up with one foot, then the other, and then step off, one foot at a time. Up, up, down, down. That''s one rep. Do 20, rest, and then do it again.

Ball Hops

Keep your feet together and jump from side to side over a ball. Don''t touch the ball. If you can''t make the height, stand just in front or behind the ball and jump from side to side. Go as fast as possible for 30 seconds to a minute, rest, and then do it again.

Walking Push-Ups

While in push-up position (your weight should be on your arms and toes), nudge a soccer ball forward with your head for 20 or more yards, walking on your hands and toes. Keep your body rigid and off the ground.

Endurance

Soccer players need cardiovascular fitness to keep on keeping on in off-and-on bursts of activity for 90 minutes or so. While playing the game itself is a great endurance workout, there''s more you can do than that. Dr. Luxbacher suggests two great endurance exercises, both of which help to have a partner for timing purposes.

Shuttle Runs

Place four cones along a straight line 5, 10, 15 and 20 yards out from the goal line. Race to the first cone and back, then to the second and back, and so on, as fast as you can. Your partner takes off as you return from the furthest cone and you rest. Do four to eight sets.

Cone Training

Put a cone 20 yards from the goal line. Starting at the line, dribble the ball around the cone and back as quickly as possible. Upon returning, pass the ball to your partner, who dribbles around the cone and then passes it back to you. Do 5 to 15 reps.

Wind Sprints

If you are in good condition already, do some timed running—a combination of running and jogging—once or twice a week to get to the next level. Here''s the formula: Run at 85 to 90 percent of your top speed for one to two minutes, then jog for twice as long to recover—two to four minutes—then sprint again, and recover again. Four sprint-jog repetitions equals one set. Do two to four sets, says Covert Bailey, popular fitness writer and author of Smart Exercise.

Cooling Down

When the scrimmage, the running, the exercises are finally finished, don''t just hobble to the locker room. As with all workouts, you need to cool down gradually. Part of this cooldown should be running through your stretches again. Do each stretch twice, suggests Dr. Luxbacher. This will help to prevent—or at least to lessen greatly—any next-day soreness.

Weight Lifting for Soccer

Finally, if you want to turn into a soccer monster, here''s a weight-room workout devised by Sprague. In season, he wants you in the gym two days a week, doing two sets of 10 reps each at 65 percent of your one-rep maximum. Off-season, you''ll work out three times a week, with the amounts and rep counts based on your own periodization schedule (this type of schedule is explained in Basic Fitness on page 118).

* Traditional squats for leg and hip thrust

* Dumbbell lunges for leg and hip thrust

* Pull-ups for upper-body pull

* Leg curls to prevent hamstring injury

* Rumanian dead lifts for back extension

* Military presses for upper-body thrust

* Leg raises with dumbbell or ankle weights for knee lift, kick and torso stabilization

In addition, do this exercise, which gives your body rotational strength.

Reverse Trunk Twists

Lie on your back, with your legs raised at about a 90-degree angle to the ground. Keeping your back as flat as possible, twist at your waist to slowly and gently lower your legs to the ground on one side. Then bring them back to center, and lower to the ground on the other side.

Beginners can start with their knees bent, feet flat on the ground, and should work up to having their

A Pro's Workout Secrets

U.S. soccer team legend Marcelo Balboa is aggressive on the field and even more aggressive when it comes to his training. The following are among his workouts.

• Daily bungee running. He ties a bungee cord to another player and tows him around the field for 30 minutes while dribbling, sprinting or running backward in 100-yard intervals.
• Daily weight-room lunges, squats, leg extensions to strengthen an injured knee, and weekly dips, curls, pull-ups and bench presses.
• Tennis, which provides great footwork, he says, and improves his reaction time.
• Mountain biking for two hours, twice a week, in the foothills near his team''s Mission Viejo, California, training center.
• Nightly in-line skating, which builds the hips and thighs, he says, and is credited for his powerful kick.
• Sprints—series after series of 440-yard and 880-yard—once or twice a day, six days a week, year-round. The whole team does these.