Easily Amused ⊆ The world is a comedy to those that think...

How Accounting Should Be Taught

By David Xia | Published: September 6, 2010

Although my professor made accounting fun, I think it can be taught in a more exciting way. Think CSI - Forensic Accounting. Begin the class by slapping a transparency of Enron's 2000 balance sheet on the overhead projector. The professor's first words to the class: "Can anybody tell me what this is?" A student raises his/her hand and answers, "A balance sheet."

"Wrong!" The professor would reply. "This is a crime scene. This deceived creditors and destroyed the life-savings of thousands of Enron employees. This is the scene of unchecked greed."

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Creative Ways To Say “Happy Birthday”

By David Xia | Published: September 3, 2010

Ever feel like "happy birthday" is overused and cliché and just plain not creative? Feel lost when handed a birthday card to sign and don't want to be the 30th person to write a bland "happy birthday"? Then the list below is for you. Cut and paste onto the walls of Facebook friends you hardly speak or even work up the courage to say some of the more off-color examples to their face. You might lose some friends, but at least you had the gall to go out in a blaze of awkwardness.

"Hey what is all that cake for? I thought you were on diet"

"Cheer up buddy"

Posted in Comedy | Leave a comment

Asian Vegetables vs Western Vegetables

By David Xia | Published: September 3, 2010

No wonder kids in this country won't eat their veggies. Most grocery stores in America sell vegetables that are simply not tasty. I'm getting sick and tired of western¹ vegetables like collard greens, kale, and Swiss chard that taste like the fibrous end of a nasty stalk of celery. They're tough not tender, bitter not sweet, dry not juicy. Eating vegetables I buy at my local Fairway (with the exception of broccolini) is like receiving an enema if you've got fecal impaction. It's not pleasant, but you have to do it. Asian vegetables, on the other hand, are yummier, sweeter, and tenderer.

Posted in China, Food | 1 Comment

Why Being John Malkovich Is Most Bizarre Movie I’ve Seen

By David Xia | Published: September 1, 2010

Being John Malkovich is one of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen. It's the story of a couple who compete over traveling into John Malkovich's head in order to use his body for sex with a callous woman with whom they're both irrationally in love. Craig Schwartz starts out as an unemployed pupeteer who's married to pet store owner Lotte. At the nadir of this unhealthy love triangle is Craig and Lotte's love, Maxine, Craig's female colleague at his new job.

Posted in Comedy, TV & movies | 1 Comment

Recalled Eggs and America’s Food Problems

By David Xia | Published: August 29, 2010

Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" program on National Public Radio several nights ago discussed the current nation-wide effort to recall half a billion eggs suspected of being tainted with salmonella. I'm usually skeptical of Ashbrook's Chicken Little routine (grab attention by making a situation sound like the sky's falling) but this time I agreed. The US industrial food system is in serious need of reform.

Posted in Books, Current Events, journalism | Leave a comment

How to Live With Less Stuff

By David Xia | Published: August 15, 2010

I hate stuff, and By "stuff" I mean material objects. I hate lugging stuff around, packing stuff up every time I move, storing stuff, cleaning stuff, searching for stuff when I misplace them. My dislike of physical items might be a reaction to my father's pack-rat habits. Our garage is filled from floor to rafters with never-used gardening tools, dilapidated sports equipment, unfashionable bookshelves and chairs, and all sorts of tchotchkes. My father brings home this ever-growing collection from the local recycling facility, aka the dump. Wellesley's dump has a reusables section where someone who doesn't want his ugly-looking garden gnomes can drop them there and rest assured that some crazy, old lady with a penchant for jolly, ceramic creatures will give it a nice home.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Citibank’s Advice to Women: Grow a Pair

By David Xia | Published: August 12, 2010

While interviewing at Citibank, my friend stole something from the office. He doesn't know why he did it. He just did. When he showed what he filched to friends, some were outraged at Citi, others just found it strange and funny. Post your reactions below.

I find it's interesting that it's an easily digestible list of 10 excerpted from a book by a woman with a doctorate. Perhaps I should hand out copies to my female coworkers?

Some of my friends thought Citi was simply telling women "Be manly," but I disagree. The card is saying "Be more assertive." The humor comes from the fact that Citi had these cards lying on every desk in the HR department, a corporate department dominated by women in many firms.

Posted in Career, Comedy | 3 Comments

How Can We Monetize Quality Journalism?

By David Xia | Published: August 12, 2010

So the problem we now face is how can we monetize quality journalism? Newspapers should die, but the kind of accountability and investigative journalism that made them great needs to live on. Why should quality journalism survive? I believe newspapers are a public good. In terms of economics, good journalism is a positive externality, something whose benefits are not completely captured in terms of money by the producer. A general solution to positive externalities is government intervention, but many journalists balk as the thought of being funded by the very people they (supposedly) monitor. I have very little faith in circulation revenue providing sufficient funding because people have come to expect free content and also because I myself don't know if I'd buy a subscription to the Times even if they erect an online pay wall.

Posted in Technology, journalism | Leave a comment

Real Native American or Not, a Test

By David Xia | Published: August 11, 2010

Dave Chappelle once cracked a joke about how he tested whether someone was a real Native American:

Posted in Comedy, Nature/Outdoors | Leave a comment

Newspapers Doomed – A Comedy

By David Xia | Published: August 11, 2010

Here's a hilarious fake news article titled "Last Newspaper Reporter Fired." Here's an excerpt to convince you to click the link and read the whole thing:

A DAY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE — In what Wall Street cheered as a long overdue and welcome cost-cutting measure, the very last newspaper reporter in America was fired yesterday, capping years of newsroom cuts and officially eliminating basic newsgathering as a journalistic function.

Posted in Current Events, journalism | Leave a comment

You Wish Your Town Had This Park

By David Xia | Published: July 8, 2010

Centennial Park is one of the local parks in my town. I often bike or walk there to enjoy its wildlife and scenery. I've seen snakes, deer, hawks, and tadpoles there. There's jewelweed, rhubarb, milkweed, and bittersweet vine too. At the back of the park, on top of a hill, there's a bench with a plastic container filled with journals. The container's lid reads, "A little book for your thoughts as you sit in this beautiful place." Regular townsfolk walking with their dogs, spouses, sweethearts, or simply by themselves will sit down and share their lives.

Posted in Nature/Outdoors, Wellesley, Writing | Leave a comment

To Kill a Mockingbird Turns 50

By David Xia | Published: July 7, 2010

I read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in tenth grade and remember Scout, Atticus, and Boo to this day. The classic novel about racial inequality, coming of age, and gender roles celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 11. If you haven't read Mockingbird yet, do it (full text in PDF here). Then watch the black-and-white film adaptation starring Gregory Peck. And please, in that order. If my word isn't enough, take it from everybody else.

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

Now That’s My Type of Humor!

By David Xia | Published: July 6, 2010

I like my humor just as I like my martinis - the dryer the better. Here's a list...

Posted in Comedy, Current Events | Leave a comment

Ninjavideo Died! Back to Real Life!

By David Xia | Published: July 5, 2010

When I found out that Ninjavideo.net had died several days ago, I cried. For those who don't know/behind-the-times/actually paying for televisual entertainment, Ninjavideo is website where you can stream the latest TV shows and films in great quality absolutely free.

After I wiped away my tears, I discovered books and the joy of reading. A couple of mind-numbing minutes later, I started crying again from my brain hurting after I once again tried using it after hundreds of hours of televisual-aided-gray-matter-atrophy. That and books were filled with boring ink marks instead of moving images and sounds of limbs flying off in explosions, gratuitous sex, and Big Mac ads.

Posted in Current Events, Internet, TV & movies, Technology | 3 Comments

Chinese Propaganda vs US Propaganda

By David Xia | Published: July 3, 2010

China's Xinhua News Agency started a 24-hour English-language news channel and is about to open a new office in New York City, according to the Times. The Times is once again critical of China. And they should be. China ranks 168th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Press Freedom Index, a survey compiled by Reporters Without Borders. What I don't like about the Times article is its prejudicial sense of nationalism and simplistic view of East vs West. The Times inflated the article by making it sound as if Xinhua Red Guards wielding hammers and sickles are about to kick down the sacred doors of Western media companies.

Posted in Books, China, Current Events, New York City, journalism | 1 Comment