Homecoming banners at Neyland Stadium. Shouldn't "Home of the Vols" be the biggest letters of all? We played Marshall (West Virginia). In the rain. Won 33-7.
Okay, smart people tell me that yes, they undersatnd what "No Pass Outs" means. Still.....I think it's very funny. :)
My friend Sophie's birthday was Saturday. There was a whole lotta dumplin-makin' going on! :)
Sophie and Liyin.
Hua's birthday was last Thursday. We had an intimate little gathering for him at the local Wendy's on the Strip! :) This is one of his birthday gifts. He told me that the cake we enjoyed in his honor was his first birthday cake. Birthdays, in China, aren't as big of a "to do" as here.
Tonight I will go to the University Center and hear Zana Briski speak about the making of "Born Into Brothels." I'll cut that a little short so I can zip up to the library for the 7:30 viewing of "Drifters," a Xiaoshuai Wang Chinese movie. I'm looking forward to it.
Today, in class, we learned how to tell our ages. The oldest was 28.....that is, until the laoshi (professor) called on me. Now, I can say "45" in Chinese.

I Smell Fall...

This is the big tree near my house that turns wonderful shades of red, yellow, orange and brown as it morphs from full and green to brown and naked. It's a beautiful tree to watch each Fall and I estimate it's over 100 years old. This is a tree that I think I'd be tempted to "tree sit" if anyone ever tried to cut it down.
Wednesday night I walked to the Library to view "Born Into Brothels," an Academy Award-winning documentary co-directed by Zana Briski, who is a major player in the documentary itself. She'll be on campus next week for another screening of the documentary and a book-signing. I'll try to get there. It was filmed in Calcutta, India's red light district and was about the children born to prostitutes in this neighborhood. Because of India's caste system, these children are not able to attend good schools or possibly school at all. Some of the family had generations of prostitutes and it was understood that the young female members of households would someday "work the line." The children talked openly and frankly about their families. Briski gave a group of the children cameras and taught them the basics of photography. The result is a wonderful documentary about "the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art."

Last Week's Florida Game, 21-20

The crowd at the UT/Florida game was massive. Tailgating began 10 hours before kick-off. Result? We saw one guy "losing his lunch" as we walked to the game. The crowd afterwards was well behaved but extremely dense. I shuffled along with the crowd as I walked back to my house. I stopped off at the neighborhood store for something cool to drink and stood in a line of about 35, they with their 6 and 12-packs of beer and me with my pint of low-fat chocolate milk. It was worth the wait, let me tell ya. Later, as I woke from a short doze on the couch, I peeked out the living room window and the cars were still at a standstill, barely moving. It was 1:30 a.m. There's a huge parking lot about 3 houses away from mine where major partying takes place every home game Saturday. The trash usually stays until the next day. Last Saturday, however, lot owners picked up the trash, bagged it, and then LEFT IT at the edges of the parking lot. The homeless men came through early, early Sunday morning and ripped open all the bags to pilfer all the aluminum "helps me buy liquor" cans. And then......the trash blew out of the bags and all over the place, including down the street. Nice.

Two nights ago I walked to the UT Library to view a Brazilian film with English subtitles entitled, "Sex, Love and Betrayal." It was a comedy but had some breathtaking views of Rio. I have always wanted to visit Rio de Janeiro. Sometimes the next best thing is watching movies made in a country you'd like to visit. I enjoy what I learn about other cultures from watching foreign films. Last night I watched a Chinese movie called "The World," which was filmed in Beijing. I saw it with Yeheng and Hua. I felt some excitement each time I could pick out a few words in the dialogue and understood what they meant. I also learned new words by hearing them from the actor as the subtitles were displayed. Tonight.....(yeah, lots of movies on campus this week)....I'll see "Born Into Brothels," a documentary about children born to mothers who are prostitutes in Calcutta, India's "red light" district. Filmmakers gave children cameras to take photos of their environment. The film won an Academy Award. More tomorrow.

Saturday AM to PM, Part I

I have more pictures but Blogger won't seem to take them. :( I think I might have to switch blogging sites because it's getting increasingly more difficult to post entries. I'll try to post the rest of the pics later. As for this past Saturday's Florida game, my camera batteries died after about 6 pics but I'll post what I have. When Blogger decides to behave.
The fountains at World's Fair Park. It's great fun to watch the kids (and sometimes big kids) playing in the water. This photo was taken around 9:00 a.m. Too early for playing.


Last Saturday began with a healthy walk downtown for fresh bread from the farmer's market and a great $3.50 breakfast at Market Square Kitchen. I even met one of UT's vice presidents leaving his downtown condo and he gave me a nice little history lesson about downtown Knoxville "back in the day." Downtown Knoxville is really changing, with many historical and beautiful buildings being converted to condos and a growing number of funky little boutiques and eateries. Movie theaters are going in on Gay Street! Wonderful! Once someone gets smart enough to put in the ONLY grocery store downtown, I'll finally be able to food shop by walking.

Saturday, Part II

This is the hard-core wear orange student section.
Go big T!
The Pride of the Southland Marching Band!
Air Force got smart! The stadium makes a habit of always booing the opposing team when they emerge from the locker room. AF ran out on the field just as UT was running through the "T" so the crowd was cheering like crazy. No booing for AF. Smart.
Time for a TD!
Kick it, Wilhoit!
My friend, Hua, really enjoyed the game. He can't quite sing Rocky Top yet but he's getting there. The crowd around us got a kick out of his enthusiasm, which would sometimes erupt when everyone else's enthusiasm was silent! :)
This is Inquoris "Inky" Johnson being removed from the field. Season-ending injury for him.
Oh my gosh! What happened? 31 to 17 lead and now it's what???? This, my friends, is why you never leave a UT Vols game at half-time!
This was shot with 30 seconds to go and as you know, we hung on for the lead. But I still don't understand why, with 1:35 left in the game, AF didn't go for the tie with a kick rather than the conversion. Then again, I'm no football strategist. I don't have tickets to this Saturday's Florida game. Those who know me know that I rarely attend an entire game. This season, 2 games in, I've attended both and all of them. I'm sure this is why we're winning. I hope my non-attendance this Saturday doesn't cause trouble. Maybe someone will come up with a ticket for me. It could happen.

The Fruits of Boredom

Yes, I occasionally engage myself in a rousing game of Solitaire. So? Sometimes I even play Blackjack with myself.

Art

If I had my big black marker with me, I would have drawn a smiley face on this one.

I Do Not Love My Basement....

I live in a house built 107 years ago. That fact makes me happy. I imagine what all went on in this house over it’s many years. However, there’s one thing about this house that is scary! The earth floor, dark, and dank basement. There’s still coal over in one corner. I call it the scawy, scawy basement. I am forced to go down there because that’s where my washer and dryer reside. But I don’t have to like it. And there’s even a cut-out of a UT basketball player from way back when stored in the basement. I know the picture looks "unreal" but it’s real. He’s right there next to my gigantic hot water heater. The basement has a coal shute. From the outside you can still open the little door and see the wood of the shute. Where the shute ends into the basement, it’s securely boarded up. Every now and then, however, you can catch me opening that little coal door at the front of my house. You know, just for security. I opened it yesterday. No dead bodies. Everything’s good.

Football Time in Tennessee!! (a/k/a How I Spent my Saturday w/ 107,000 others)

Those poor CA Golden Bears! They took a beatin' for sure! :) Watch out Air Force!