While doing this damn NPA hw set in the midnight, I took a little rest to read some Landau just now.

First, I don't understand why these series are still so expensive in US, when the copyright already expires after 50 years- Dover, you guys should do this right away! In China a Mechanics is just 4 $ anyway...

2nd, it also seems to me that Americans do not appreciate Landau that much, comparing their madness for Feynman, who says "physics is just like having sex, for the most important thing is the process", while Landau is so shy a nerd who can only complaining all day that "all the good physics problems have been sloven just as all the good girls been taken..." hehe. Their books' style are also different in this sense, Feymann is too show-off to me, though he is quite a simulating figure to the young kids and general public- afer all, do they know there's a guy named Schwinger? =) And, well, I have to say I love Landau!!! His book is always my favorate, clear & clean, compact, great math, and the best thing is you can easily grasp the whole idea from the very beginning. This is really a dream for the real physicists- it is just amazing how a ppl can write something like this!- the first few chapters of fluid dynamics, and the whole Mechanics and Statistics are just like wonderland...

Maybe this is also a reason for the difference on style between physicist from Eastern Europe/China and US.

造化爱几何

Julie and Shashank got engaged! Feel so happy for them...=) I still remember the first night when they were sitting in couch talking and laughing, with champaign, 3 in the morning. hehe

NYTimes has this article about global network for bomb making, saying the origin manual coming from bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan back to 1990's. Tedac are in charge of this investigaion after Bush's nod on it from last Dec. Another example for the wrong direction. I mean, even I can guess that most of the advanced bomb making methods are from Afghanistan, which is such a sensitive and notorious region back to cold war and nearly all the bad ass coming out from there. But, only blaming bin Laden is nonsense, since the seed of the hatred is far back from then, and that dirty history would only point the finger back to these big countries. Too indulged america! Thus history only copies itself again and again. BTW, this article is kinda dumb too.

Recalling Fred Lamb's talk on ballistic missiles last year. Physicists' talent is just wasted on this kinda political shit, and even more sadness comes from that there must be some smart people to convince the public something is not deserved to try, not for it is not RIGHT, but for it is scientific impossible.

Some fun stuff: Brian talked about the famous alpha-beta-gama(Alpher, Bette, Gamow) paper in the field. Bette must be not so happy that Gamow add his name to the paper just for the hilarious symmetry about the authors! =)

"All Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is a thing. Likewise, the absurd man, when he contemplates his torment, silences all the idols. In the universe suddenly restored to its silence, the myriad wondering little voices of the earth rise up. Unconscious, secret calls, invitations from all the faces, they are the necessary reverse and price of victory. There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night. The absurd man says yes and his efforts will henceforth be unceasing. If there is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny, or at least there is, but one which he concludes is inevitable and despicable. For the rest, he knows himself to be the master of his days. At that subtle moment when man glances backward over his life, Sisyphus returning toward his rock, in that slight pivoting he contemplates that series of unrelated actions which become his fate, created by him, combined under his memory's eye and soon sealed by his death. Thus, convinced of the wholly human origin of all that is human, a blind man eager to see who knows that the night has no end, he is still on the go. The rock is still rolling."

"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. "

Thus Camus concludes "One must imagine Sisyphus happy. "

When a great soul begins to talk, I can only hold my breath.

Talk to Brian with the talk topic this afternoon, really fun stuff! Universe is really fantastic-- it plans its own path so myseriously well that we barely know now, but all these never stop our effort to seek. How could you not call this is SPLENDOR that us, the dust of the stars, begin to ask the fate of the Universe?

Test- So what to say? Hmmm, that late-hours-student-staff at the physics library is very cute!

Read some review on a book for kids titled You Are To Me, and such a surprise found out that it is about friendship between a pig and a bunny....wah-- is this about me? ;)

I finally watched Elephant in the early morning, and do not like it, though Van Sant is a good director. No more enthusiasm for movies, strange.

My first post. 房间基本上收拾好了，很清爽。这次回Urbana特意带上了红英那个《朝阳为谁－－北京四重奏的故事》的小册子，很喜欢里面林朝阳对在瑞士一个山区小教堂演奏巴赫的回忆-- ”每当我遇到不好的人或事，产生激烈的想法，我会想起那个夜晚，那些友善待我的人们，我就想我不应该这样。“ 我把这个深蓝色的小册子放在我的唱机上的时候，发现下面是一张Juliet的Bartok No.4. 我的笛子终于能够出声了，但是笛膜贴的有点松，听上去咝咝的挺难受的。

下午写了一些NPA的作业，WKB算势垒穿透花了不少时间。想起来P说他直接上481的事情，觉得年轻气盛就是不一样啊，呵呵。今天是情人节，house晚上有个小party，其实就是Andy和Julie做晚饭，陪我去买酒的时候，Aki说only girls care about Valentine's Days. =)