I was talking with my cousins the other day at the New Year's party and I realized something about the li xi, money, we get every year. For most Asians I know, the older you are, the more you get. For my family though, it seems to be a bell curve. You start out young and you get a few bucks from everyone. Once you hit around junior high or so, earnings multiply quickly. Around high school, you've reached the limit. After that, while money per person remains high, the number of people giving money to you dwindles until finally you're too old. Suddenly, I'm feeling deprived.

With New Year's mostly done (more parties this weekend), Valentine's Day approaches and one of the weirdest commercials I've seen involves buying pajamas for your significant other. While it looks professional, obviously someone just wanted to film ladies in pajamas in bed while spewing out such lines as "also buy some of that spa stuff women love."

Hockey seems more or less doomed as evidenced by the latest proposal and rejection by the owners and players respectively. Those owners are very shrewd. You see, the owners and the players each have their own proposal. The owners said, okay, we'll follow the players' proposal but if it gets too expensive, things will automatically revert to the owners' proposal. But the owners are the ones paying the checks! They can make it expensive whenever they want. Idiots, just get a deal done.

Oscar predictions start Saturday. I did see Million Dollar Baby and Hotel Rwanda, both excellent films. It almost offsets watching Hide and Seek and Assault on Precinct 13. Almost.