一个小女孩和非洲野生动物共同演绎的美丽童话。(more photos: Tippi 瞬间 in Photo Album)

 

“Tippi was born in the newly independent Namibia, where her parents worked as freelance wildlife photographers. At 10 months the toddler was exploring the Namibian bush and desert, and befriending animals like Abu, a 28-year-old elephant. Although Abu was perfectly capable of crushing the tiny girl under his foot, he would curl his trunk around her waist and sweep her up onto his back, or lie down and use his trunk to blow away flies as she slept in the shade of his massive body.

As the family wandered the bushland, Tippi picked up other friends. She would splash in rivers with crocodiles and cuddle giant bullfrogs, lion cubs or chameleons; and she developed a knack for persuading giraffes to bend down to her level.

Her best friend, she tells me, was a leopard nicknamed J&B. It had been adopted by a desert farmer after its mother had died in a trap and, Ms Robert says, was "mild as a household cat when Tippi was around, but never lost its killer instinct". When it attacked another child, the little girl marched right up to the animal, gave it a sharp slap on the nose and told it to "Stop that," at which it ran away.

Tippi also befriended the bushmen and Himba tribespeople of the Kalahari, who taught her how to survive on roots and berries and to speak their language.

Life as a bush baby came to an end when her parents moved to Madagascar and then to France.

For her first two years in Paris Tippi attended a local state school, but had little in common with the other children and is now educated at home.

The small flat where Tippi lives with her mother is filled with African souvenirs and pictures, but it is clear that she is caught in a cross-cultural limbo. One minute she says she has ambitions of being an actor or singer; the next she wants to go back to Africa - "my home".” (Resources)

 

 

 

 

 

Since I had spent so much time online reading papers and blogging, my eyes showed redness yesterday. I had to keep myself from my laptop a whole day. :(

 

Yesterday afternoon, we watched the greatest basketball game even this season: No.1 Duke beat No.2 Texas 97-66! Whenever JJ hit a 3-pointer shot, I couldn't help screaming. He was totally on fire and got career highs of 41 points and 9 3-pointers. Breathtaking! 

 

 

昨晚，Cameron Stadium, Duke vs. Virginia Tech 的篮球赛。比分一直咬得很紧，相持不下。Duke fans都激动得不行，木制的地板踏得震天响。Crazy towel guy, crazy towel girl 和一身着“I love JJ” T-shirt的mm 更是轮番上阵。到距比赛结束仅剩1.6 秒，Virginia Tech 竟领先Duke一分。Transmitter和我都难过坏了。正在大家要抱恨退场时，Dockery一记远到Durham downtown的三分球，进了！！奇迹！奇迹哪！Transmitter在我旁边歇斯底里地又叫又跳，好像范进中举了一般，拉着我就要去冲场。场中央，Duke fans相拥而泣，好像沸腾的海洋。回家后，在ESPN巴巴地等着，又复习了几遍这神奇的一瞬，才满意地睡了。

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10328228/from/RL.1/

如果这场球是NCAA的Championship，人生就完整了！