Plants vs. Zombies has been my favorite game since childhood—through high school, and still today. During the pandemic, after binging through every level (twice), I found myself turning not to the gameplay but to its music. Graze the Roof is one of my favourite: PvZ soundtrack is remarkable. The composer and sound director Laura Shigihara was in a relationship with George Fan, the creator of the first game. ...

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major is heavily influenced by Jazz (see this post Ravel and Gershwin and Their Obsession with Jazz). You can hear a lot of Jazz colored motives in the fast, vivid first movement (I. Allegramente). And, as Ravel famously remarked that “The most captivating part of jazz is its rich and diverting rhythm.” — even subtle Jazz influenced can be noticed in the breathtakingly beautiful slow movement (II. Adagio). ...

Today at Booth’s PhD math camp, we revisited some foundational concepts in probability theory. Two key topics stood out to me: Frequentist vs. Bayesian Perspectives A crucial distinction lies in what we treat as random: Frequentist: Parameters (e.g., population mean $\mu$) are fixed, and randomness comes from the data. Example: $$ P(X \mid \mu) $$ We ask: Given a true mean $\mu$, how likely is it to observe sample mean $X$? ...

The singer announced “the eternal sunshine Tour” almost two weeks ago. Presales launch today 10:00. I was aware of pop music concert’s popularity, yet I didn’t expected it to be such a rush: Queue for getting a ticket in Chicago… The Chicago United Center stadium can holds up to 23500 audience. The TicketMaster sales mechanism works as follows: you join the queue starting 9:30 and the sale goes on live 10:00, where queued consumer are then given a relatively chilled purchase opportunity before their follower join. The mechanism does slow down the rush in a more civil manner. ...

Here’s an interesting article from Chicago Booth review. Probably my favourite out of its Fall 2025 issue. One Way to Increase the Supply of Kidneys — Animal organs could save people’s lives, but which patients should participate in trials? Gina Potthoff Kacik | June 2025 Background: The National Kidney Registry estimates that a deceased-donor kidney from a human typically remains viable for 10–15 years after it is transplanted into another person, but no one yet knows exactly how long a xenokidney will last. In one study, a monkey survived for more than two years with a gene-edited pig kidney. ...

The July 2025 Sigecom Exchanges Newsletter has this really interesting article that our advisor reposted in our WeChat group: EconCS in Industry: Skills to Succeed as an Applied Scientist Devanur, Paes Leme and Schrijvers link It applies more to EconCS students from the CS side, but the key points are universal for anyone wishing for industry I guess. Some key takeaways: Exploratory Data Analysis Exploratory Data Analysis is the iterative process of learning properties of the data that you’re working with. Typically, you start with a question or hypothesis (e.g. “the bids in an auction come from a Myerson-regular distribution”), then summarize, visualize, or model your data, and finally use what you learn to ask new questions. ...

The cello’s range overlaps closely with the human voice. Its size, timbre, and resonance make it one of the most human of instruments — intimate, lyrical, and capable of expressing conversations, inner thoughts, growth, and epiphanies. Here are three pieces where the cello doesn’t just play fancy cadenzas: Awakening Back when I was with the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra, we performed Duo by composer 赵麟. It was a piece commissioned by our orchestra, and we were lucky to have the composer around during some rehearsals, which made the work feel even more alive. ...

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Here’s two excellent source about the Jazz of Gershwin and his influence on Ravel: An article, Fascinatin’ rhythm: When Ravel met Gershwin December 14, 2021 Jack Zimmerman (CSO link) While in New York, Ravel went to see Gershwin’s new musical Funny Face and declared himself “enchanted.” He expressed interest in meeting Gershwin and hearing him play the Rhapsody in Blue and other jazz-influenced works. … At a party held in his honor by mezzo-soprano Éva Gauthier, Ravel celebrated his 53rd birthday on March 7, 1928. One of the guests that evening was Gershwin. During the soirée, the young Broadway songwriter entertained Ravel and the other guests with an impromptu performance of Rhapsody in Blue and a selection of songs including “The Man I Love.” ...

This fall, I’m starting a new chapter as a PhD student at the Booth School of Business. I finished my undergrad in Shanghai — another windy city. Coincidence, perhaps, that I end up here in Chicago, as if the wind insists on pushing a bit for the chapters of my life. Chicago has its grand, confident skyline, but Hyde Park — where I now live — feels like a world of its own. In summer, the streets are lined with lush, green canopies that almost hum with quiet intelligence. ...