Welcome to Rapture!

Some random stuff I wrote since I was a kid.

Succession S01E05, 2018

Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.

  • Ewan Roy / Bertrand Russell

感觉剧里的所有人都太奇怪了，没有get到这个剧为什么有人吹。

Game of Thrones S07E05, 2017

I am tired of reading the achievements of better men.

  • Sam

最近把权力的游戏从头到尾rush看完了一遍，虽然最后几季有点明显剧情合理性下降，特别是最后两季格外仓促，但是整体来说依旧代表了美剧的巅峰，这个剧还有纸牌屋，绝命毒师系列创造的巅峰，最近几年的剧连接近的都没有。个人觉得一个重要原因是最近各个厂商貌似更注重数量而不是质量了。拍好剧的厂商越来越多，Netflix需求也很强，但是没有人去追求巅峰了。

罗马人的故事, 汉尼拔战记, 盐野七生, 1993

My previous post on Roman Army.

Book name in English

S·P·Q·R

  • Senatus Populusque Romanus, The Senate and People of Rome.
  • Three legal denominations in Roman Italy: Cives Romani (Roman Citizens), Latini (Semi-citizen), Socii (Allies).

Magistrates of Roman Republic (509 - 27 BC)

  • Consul 执政官: One of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic. One-year term.

  • Dictator 独裁官: An extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. Six-months term.

  • Censor 监察官: Responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government’s finances. Censors’ terms were generally 18 months to 5 years (depending on the era).

  • Tribune of the plebs 护民官：These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the Concilium Plebis (people’s assembly); to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class.

  • Quaestor 财务官 “investigator”: Supervised the state treasury and conducted audits. When assigned to provincial governors, the duties were mainly administrative and logistical, but also could expand to encompass military leadership and command.

  • Praetor 民选官、副执政官、裁判官、民政官、法务官、执事官: Acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected magistratus (magistrate), assigned to discharge various duties.

Italian socio-political geography

Commune - Province - Region

In US they would be Municipality - County - State. Good explaination article.

Second Punic War (218 - 201 BC)

  • Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps, 218 BC. 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and an unknown number of elephants – the survivors of the 37 with which he left Iberia.
  • Battle of Cannae, 216 BC. Cannae, Puglia (modern region in its Italian name)
  • Syracuse aligns with Hannibal, 216 - 212 BC. Syracuse, provincia di Siracusa, Regione Siciliana.
  • Defect of Capua, 216 - 211 BC. Capua, provincia di Caserta, region of Campania.
  • Defect of Tarentum, 212 - 209 BC. Taranto, provincia di Taranto, region of Puglia

中国近代史, 徐中约, 1970

国外，第一次世界大战期间是在华的帝国主义势力迅速衰退的时期，这场战争也给欧洲的工业和它与亚洲的贸易带来负面影响，然而却为中国本国工业的畅通发展创造了一个黄金时机。1913-1918年期间外国进口中国的数量变化，分别是：英国进口量由9,600万两降到4,900万，法国进口量由520万两降到150万；德国进口量由2,800万两降到零。以相反比例计算，中国的外贸赤字从1913年的1.66亿两关税降到1919年的1,600万两，同时丝绸出口从1914年的87,517担上升到1919年的131,506担。3与此类似，中国本国的工商业飞速增长：纺织公司从1911年的22家增长到1919年的54家，到1921年已达109家；面粉厂从1916年的67家增长到1918年的86家；近代银行从1911年的7家增长到1923年的131家；蒸汽船从1913年的893艘(总吨位连141,024吨)增长到1918年的2,027艘(总吨位达236,622吨)；煤产量从1913年的1,280万吨增长到1919年的2,010万吨；钢产量从1914年的100万吨增长到1919年的180万吨。

近代西方文明摇篮的法国，在第一次世界大战期间吸引了大量勤工俭学的中国学生，以及一支劳动大军，到1918-1919年期间，这支劳动大军约有二十万人…其中至少28,000人接受了教育。

  • 第二十一章，1.背景

为了拉拢日本参加国际联盟，威尔逊牺牲了中国；然而他却不能使自己的国家加入到这个国际组织中。更加讽刺的是，1933年第一批退出国际联盟的国家中，日本位居其一。至于中国，虽然拒绝了对德和约，但却和奥地利签定了条约，因而自动成为国际联盟的一员。

  • 第二十一章，3.五四运动，1919年

Watch Wishlist 2024

Everything from my Watch Wishlist 2023 still stand. But I got my eyes on a very desirable watch yesterday.

Order from latest interest to the oldest interest.

Chronograph

Brand Model No. Picture Case size Case height Owned Notes
Citizen Tsuno Chrono Quartz (AN3700-54E) AN3700-54E 38mm 10.8mm   Wish I can try it on but it’s a JDM watch.
Edit 2025.05.03: from review online this watch does feel very cheap in person. So prob will skip unless I get a chance to try it.

Dress

Brand Model No. Picture Case size Case height Owned Notes
Grand Seiko SBGW301 SBGW301 37.3mm 11.7mm   Tried this in the store and realized the creamed one is much more versatile than the silver one. Silver ones are too dressy.

Frostpunk 2, 2024

★★

Frostpunk 2让我特别意外的是它竟然推倒了一代的成功模式，从头打造的一个全新的游戏。这种颠覆性创新令人敬佩，完全值得五星好评。

但是目前达到的效果还是比较一般，游戏加入了议会，突出了派系之间的平衡和斗争，这点创新上做的非常不错，但是可能由于我玩的是默认难度，没有体验到游戏希望带来的全部挑战。

在城市建设和科技树上，感觉内容比较普通，可以看出来制作方加入了很多元素来丰富玩法，但是只让我感觉有些混乱。

在地图探索上的创新最少。

游戏对于氛围的塑造还是跟一代一样一流，所以可以说是个潜力极高的游戏，但并没有让我想再玩一次的冲动。不过我玩的默认难度，如果当时选择了更高难度并且投入了更多时间，可能对这个游戏的评价会完全不一样。

The Intelligent Investor, 1949 - 1973

How many enterprising investors could count on having the acumen or prophetic gift to beat the professional analysts at their favorite game of estimating long-term future earnings?

  • Chapter 1, The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham

Omphalos, Exhalation, 2019

Let me always be inquisitive, but never be suspicious.

Omphalos, Exhalation, 2019 by Ted Chiang

Seiko Movement V172 Used As A GMT and Calibration

One reason I bought the Seiko SBPY119 is there is a hidden feature behind the alarm clock – you can actually use it as a GMT if you don’t need an alarm.

Last week my “GMT” was running 2 minutes behind. It was probably hit hard by my baby. That triggered me to relearn how to calibrate to fix the error and how to make it a GMT in the first place.

The trick is in the calibration. Basically the way alarm clock works is you have to tell the watch that the main clock and alarm clock were pointing to a same time. They have to share a starting point first before you can move the alarm clock to a different time. This is the calibration process.

To use it as a GMT, you have to deliberately make a mistake. You need to trick the watch into thinking the main clock and alarm clock are in sync and sharing the same baseline. But actually they are not. Actually you are setting the alarm clock to a different timezone.

When you pulled the crown all the way out, you can press and hold the top right chronograph start button for 2 seconds. This will cycle through the baseline adjustment for chronograph minutes, chronograph seconds and then the alarm clock (wait for the clock to finish spinning a full cycle). When it is cycled to the alarm clock, set the GMT time. Then turn the crown to set the correct local time on the main clock. Push the crown all the way in when finished. This will trick the watch into thinking the alarm clock and main clock are now pointing to a same starting time. Alarm will not be activated.

Obviously this works for all V172 movement watches.

Beautiful Seiko JDM SBTM

Got a great suggestion from this Youtube video today: Seiko SBTM series.

I always knew Seiko put some great stuff exclusively in their domestic market. This is aligned with what I observed in US. Foreign countries like to export low-quality stuff for low price to US (like China), or high price for mid and high quality. It is in their domestic markets (China, Japan) mid quality stuff for low price are provided. Because they can’t fool their own people I guess.

This SBTM series has some of the best pick-up-and-go, no-worries-in-any-condition kind of watches. Radio wave control, solar powered, thin case, sapphire glass with super clear coating, and amazing finishing. What more could you ask for in a daily watch?

From the most interested to less interested.

Model No. Picture Case size Case height Price as of 12/2023 Notes
SBTM217 SBTM217 37.8mm 8.8mm ~$349 Movement 7B52. Titanium.
SBTM341 SBTM341 39.5mm 9.5mm ~$451 Movement 7B72. Titanium, Diamond Shield.
SBTM323 SBTM323 39.5mm 9.5mm ~$267 Movement 7B72. There is also a beautiful green dial SBTM319 version with the same price.

Research For My First Grand Seiko

One side effect of watching too many Youtube watch videos, is you can’t get Grand Seiko out of your head.

When I went to watch AD I always took a few minutes to look at Grand Seikos. But honestly they looked, kind of normal, or mundane.

Just like how they treat Tudor, Breitling or Tag Heuer, AD usually put an awful lot of Grand Seikos in a single cabinet. This really damages the beauty of dress watches like Grand Seiko. I think this is the main reason why I don’t like Grand Seikos in the store.

You need a lot of space to notice the tiny details of a dress watch. When you put so many “similar-looking” watches in a single window, they just look boring and insignificant. You don’t get the excitement. You are like shopping in Macy for some regular watches. There is no reason to spend thousands dollars on it.

Unfortuantely in the AD only Rolex got the real-estate for it to shine. Rolex probably made sure of it. The niche corner other brands got from these ADs actually do damage to their brands. But they probably have no better choice being in such a small but expensive market.

Good news is in the internet there is infinite real-estate. And Grand Seikos truly shines in that avenue.

So here we are again, giving yet another chance to Grand Seiko and looking to buy one potentially.

I am mainly looking for a classical dress watch that has a small footprint on wrist. I categorize my targets under the different reasons I got excited from them. Within each category I ranked from the most interested to the least interested.

Simple, elegant, and entry-level (cheap)

Model No. Picture Collection Case size Case height MSRP Notes
SBGW231 SBGW231 Elegance 37.3mm 11.6mm $4300 Special cream dial. Kind of unique among all brands. However I am concerned this watch is just way too popular being on Youtube so much and so “cheap”.
SBGW301 SBGW301 Elegance 37.3mm 11.7mm $4800 An updated version of the one above. I heard the dial color is slightly different. Good job on the price hike.
SBGW289 SBGW289 Heritage 36.5mm 11.6mm $5400 Thinner than usual hands. Sakura dial. Limited. No see-through case back.
SBGW285 SBGW285 Elegance 37.3mm 11.7mm $4800 Green. There are a few colors but this Green-dial one looks most interesting
SBGM221 SBGM221 Elegance 39.5mm 13.7mm $4600 GMT. Automatic. Special cream dial. But it’s big and thick.
SBGW281 SBGW281 Elegance 37.3mm 11.7mm $4800 Yellow seconds hand
SBGW297 SBGW297 Heritage 36.5mm 11.6mm $5400 Radiating dial pattern. No see-through case back.

Looks like a King Seiko

Model No. Picture Collection Case size Case height MSRP Notes
SBGW305 SBGW305 Elegance 37.3mm 11.7mm $5500 Silver dial.
SBGW291 SBGW291 Heritage 36.5mm 11.6mm $5200 No see-through case back.

Not Grand Seiko. A King Seiko!

Model No. Picture Collection Case size Case height MSRP Notes
SPB279 SPB279 King Seiko 37.0mm 12.1mm $1700 Silver sunburst dial. 6R31 movement
SPB281 SPB281 King Seiko 37.0mm 12.1mm $1700 Silver vertical brushed dial. 6R31 movement
SPB369 SPB369 King Seiko 39.0mm 11.9mm $1800 Patterned cream dial. With date. 6R55 movement
SJE089 SJE089 King Seiko 38.6mm 10.7mm $3300 Silver sunburst dial. With date. 6L35 movement

Looks cool in picture

Model No. Picture Collection Case size Case height MSRP Notes
SBGA491 SBGA491 Heritage 40.0mm 12.5mm $5600 Another gold on green? I must really love this color combination. Spring drive. US exclusive. There is another variant SBGA489 with a darker dial background.
SBGE295 SBGE295 Sport 44.0mm 14.7mm $6200 Realistically I would never buy this one because it is so big and thick. But I have to say the color combination looks great.

Watch Wishlist 2023

As I grow and learn more about watches (A.K.A. watched more Youtube), my taste for watches has understandably changed. I am still a big fan of all-rounder and chronograph. Still not as excited as others about divers, GMT or military watches. However as I spent more time in watches I started to be willing to put more hard-earned money in watches. Last year I was a very budget-watch person. This year I started to really treasure the value of watch. Not resell value but more about the enjoyment and timelessness of a watch.

This is shown by the fact that I only bought 1 watch this year, and it’s a Rolex. Buying Rolex is kind of controversial given how much love and hate it received. Another controversial thing is I haven’t even got my hands on it yet. And it’s been months after purchase. I think I will write all about it later.

Order from latest interest to the oldest interest.

All-purpose

Brand Model No. Picture Case size Case height Owned Notes
Tudor Black Bay 39 (M79660-0001) Black Bay 39 39mm ??mm   For some reason I often prefer smooth bazel. Even in the Black Bay collection I think this is more interesting than traditional divers as well. Also I like it more than the Tudor Ranger. However the Tudor brand has been hurt badly in China because of its selling strategy. I don’t know if I would ever spend my money to get one. It is poisoned by Rolex’s success. MSRP $4025
Rolex Explorer 40mm Oyster Steel (224270) 224270 40mm 12mm :white_check_mark: Was never my interest after watching a lot of Youtube videos. But I immediately fell in love after trying it on in the Rolex store. Much better than the Submariner when trying it on.
Seiko “Alpinist” SPB121J1 SPB121J1 39.5mm 13.2mm :white_check_mark: Movement 6R35. See my post last year

Chronograph

Brand Model No. Picture Case size Case height Owned Notes
Zenith Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar (Ref 03.3400.3610/38.M3200) Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar 38mm ??mm   No more weird different-color subdials. Daytona next best thing? A great upgrade from my Orient panda. Also an interesting 1/10 second chrono and moonphase and all the other complications. Is there a see-through case back? MSRP $13900
Hanhart 417 ES 1954 Flyback Reverse Panda 39 417 ES 1954 Flyback Reverse Panda 39 39mm 13.3mm   Heavily influenced by TGV… But this is a gorgeous watch.
Orient Neo 70’s Panda (WV0041TX) WV0041TX 42mm 11.7mm :white_check_mark: From 2016. My review post
Seiko Spirit Solar Chronograph SBPY119 SBPY119 41mm 11.4mm :white_check_mark: My review post
Rolex Daytona (126500LN) 126500LN 40mm 11.9mm   It’s funny I had interest in this watch before I had any knowledge about watches. And I like it because it looks like a Seiko (not the other way around) a waiter weared. After I became aware of the Daytona situation I don’t think I will ever want to own one. It’s just not safe to wear it. Still this is a perfect look to me and I am impressed by the thickness which no other watch brand seems to be able to deliver. (Actually there are: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Ref. 26331ST.OO.1220ST.01 or .02. But they are self-winding and way too expensive.)

Dress

Brand Model No. Picture Case size Case height Owned Notes
Seiko King Seiko SPB279 SPB279 37.0mm 12.1mm   The look of the watch checked all my boxes. However I have already had another watch of the same crappy movement with only half the price… The movement is just not worth the price tag.
Cartier Santos (White Dial. Medium Model) RWSSA0029 Width 35.1mm 8.83mm   The medium model white dial Santos is just so classy. I used to make fun of a friend who bought it for being a “niche Cartier watch”. But after trying it on and getting more knowledge of its history, this becomes my most wanted watch now. I did hear some bad things about how fragile it is and I need a very good reason for another luxury purchase.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (Ref TBD) Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds       For a very long time I wanted to own a blue-dial Master Control Ultra Thin Moon. But when I tried on a Reverso I immediately understood why this is the most popular JLC model. It’s just special.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 (191.039) 191.039 38.5mm 9.8mm   Maybe I will be able to get one before I died :) Who knows.

Orient Neo 70s Panda WV0041TX

WV0041TX

One of my first two watches. My original plan at that time was to buy a dark chronograph. Never thought about buying a light-color watch because I thought that was too ‘dressy’. However the first time I learned the white panda concept I couldn’t help but say this type of watch is just gorgegous. Then I learned about this Orient Neo 70s from a JDM watch Youtuber and the price blew my mind. I immediately ordered one from Amazon, giving up the plan I had for weeks.

Out of the 3 watches I bought on my virgin watch journey, I liked this one the most. The hands and the indices both shine. But the most surprising thing is the circle around the 3 subdials also shines under the light, even thought you don’t see anything if you stared at them directly. I am surprised to find this level of subtlety at this price range. At first I am a bit unhappy about the lack of Tachymeter bezel. After living with this watch for a few days I realized I would never use a Tachymeter and the lack of a bezel actually makes the watch less-sporty and more classical. I began to appreciate that there is no bezel.

The biggest cons is the bottom subdial is too small to read. I don’t understand why they would give the most important subdial (chronograph minutes) the least amount of space. Also all subdial hands are invisible under some light condition. The date window is also unuseable. One final thing is the lume is close to nothing. They might as well just remove any lume.

Watch Wishlist 2022

Order from most interested to the least interested for each category and each type of watch.

Chronograph

Brand Model No. Picture Owned Notes
Seiko SBPY165 SBPY165 :x: Didn’t bought this one because I already had the Orient white panda and I enjoyed that. This Seiko one is probably more robust but also more sporty. Not sure if I will like it or not. It’s JDM watch so I can’t easily return it. The international version SSC813 and SSC911 are double the price.
Orient WV0041TX WV0041TX :white_check_mark: My review post
Seiko SBPY167 SBPY167 :x: God knows how much time I wasted looking at pictures and videos about this watch. This one checks all the boxes (chrome and shiny subdials, brand) for me. I would have bought this one instead of buying the other 3 if I know this watch a week earlier. I spent a lot of contemplating if I should return all the othe watches and just buy this one. This is JDM so it’s hard to return. Also it seems the subdial chrome is much more slimmer than SBPY119. Not sure if I will enjoy it before I have my hands on it. In the end I decide to let it go.
Seiko SBPY119 SBPY119 :white_check_mark: My review post

All-purpose

Brand Model No. Picture Owned Notes
Rolex 124300-0001 124300-0001 :x: If, a big if, I could buy a Rolex one day I would probably go for either an Oyster Perpetual or a Datejust. The design is simple but timeless. This one has better color than light-dial Datejust on the Rolex website. I have to admit I am influenced by the Timeless Watch Channel on Youtube. But sports series was just never my thing (perhaps it’s because I have never seen them in person). A potential alternative is the discontinued 116000 also from the channel. But that’s only 36mm.
Rolex 126334-003 126334-003 :x: I think Datejust is probably my favorite Rolex right now. Again I am influenced by The Urban Gentry youtuber I think. I love the cyclops and don’t see it breaking the balance at all. I also really like the fluted bezel. But maybe that bezel can be too shiny for me especially if I wear them every day. I am not even sure if I should consider the fluted bezel versions dress watch or all-purpose watch. There are many Datejust I like. Two tone gold version and smooth bezel version with light-dial can all suit me potentially.
Seiko SPB121J1 SPB121J1 :white_check_mark: When I saw this watch on the Seiko website, I fell in love with it at the first sight. I had no idea that this is the famous “Alpinist”. The green sun-burst dial and the gold elevated indices and gold hands are all perfect. It also has my favorite cyclops. There are also cons. The internal compass bezel has really bad quality. It wobbles when turning it. I don’t understand why it has a screw-down crown and 20 bar water resistence. Why would a mountain watch need that. I would rather it has an easy-to-use crown but I shouldn’t complain. The band is too stiff and does not fit the wrist comfortably. The case is 39.5mm but it looks much smaller than that. Also the watch is too thick (13.2mm) it looks like a big bump on the wrist. Overall although it was supposed to be a rugged mountaineer watch. It doesn’t feel like that at all. It feels more like fragile dress watch you can wear every day.

I hate the hunger marketing Rolex is playing. I know it isn’t worth it for me to play such an expensive game. But I have to say this strategy really works. I couldn’t help but want to fall into it and want to own a Rolex just like every other watch lover. I want to show it off and I also want it to go up in value, although I know this is the line of thought that makes Rolex so scarce (like houses) and keeps inflating in value (like Apple stock). Rolex claimed this is not their marketing strategy but they sure are benefiting from it and not doing anything to improve it.

To be honest with myself I probably would never want to own watches with this look if there isn’t a Rolex logo on it. I would prefer Grand Seiko. Not sure if I can ever get this idea of owning a Rolex out of my head. Rolex are making brands like Tudor, Omega, Breitling, Tag Heuer less appealing to me.

I have been deeply attracted to the idea of minimalist since high school. Never imagined that one day in my life I would start to get attracted to some objects that are so useless. It’s the opposite of minimalist.

It’s just so shiny and timeless I couldn’t resist it.

Ever since I started to look into watches I started to realize no matter how Apple advertise their products, almost of all them are just throw-away electronic junks :)