Observations, details, and statistics.

Observation: The historian viewed a bit of a documentary about Yao Ming today, in which he discovered the following delectable bits of information:

• the Chinese have been playing basketball since the early 20th century.
  
• During the Cultural Revolution, when Mao purged China of all western influences, basketball stayed. The argument went like this: basketball is so much a part of China now, it's no longer western (unlike, say, Beethoven).
  
• And also, the Chairman was an avid basketball fan.

However, Chinese basketball teams in the era of the Yao parents, both of whom played basketball, did not keep individual statistics, because basketball is a team sport.

Details: The 33rd South TRAX station is qualitatively different than the other TRAX stations I've frequented. Here's a snippet of conversation I overheard today whilst listening to the Gorillaz on my iPod:

Big guy (sagging pants, sharp haircut, sports jersey, smells like cigarettes and little bit like beer): [sits down by me to wait for the train].

Skinny, shorter guy (long hair, black jeans, black tee shirt, baseball cap): [comes over, stands by Big Guy] Dude, get a haircut. (feints touching Big Guy's hair)

Big Guy: (friendly) Get a haircut? Huh. You are my favorite homeless person, mother f***er.

Statistics: Here are a few useful statistics:

1. I have seen both "Mamma Mia!" and "Kung Fu Panda" twice.
2. This post constitutes my 654th.
3. I have used in excess of 1400 tags, most of which I only used once. "Cake" I used more than once; also, "impending doom."