All About Mookie!

Go to my Gallery Page for an actual picture of me!

Name: Michael Te-Cheng Tsiang (Don't even bother trying to pronounce it, I barely can)

Nicknames: Mike, Mikey, Mook, Mookie, Monkey, Mack, Mick, Monks, Max, Miles, Another Me, God Squad, Mai-ki-ki, Marky Mark, GNasty, Mule, Mookie Pookie, Eric, Robert, the Mikester, Mahchal!, Mike-aroni, Crazy, M-nizzle, Little Mike, Lil' Mike, Skippy.

Most Preferred Nicknames: Mikey, Mike, Little or Lil' Mike, Skippy.

Age: Twenty-two

Gender: Male

Birthdate: September 3rd, 1982.

Astrological Sign: Virgo

Chinese Zodiac Sign: I'm a puppie!

Place of Birth: St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

National Ancestry: Chinese (My daddie grew up in Hong Kong and my mommie grew up in Taiwan)

Common Activities You Might See Me Doing: Going to the mall, chatting online, playing video games, hanging out with friends, vegging in front of the TV, watching movies, taking pictures with my digital camera, listening to music, singing, doing math, reading, thinking.

School: I'm at the University of British Columbia as a graduate student in mathematics. I graduated from University of California at Santa Cruz on June 12th, 2004.

Birthdate of My Original Page: August 24th, 1998.

Birthdate of This Page: August 25th, 2001.

Favourites:

Favourite Book and Close Second: K.M.Soehnlein's The World of Normal Boys, Nick Hornby's About A Boy (Why do they both have to do with boys? =D). I guess a third favourite would be Craig Thompson's Blankets. Honourable Mention: Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

Favourite Book Series: Animorphs. I finally finished reading the whole Animorphs series on June 22, 2004. I'm a little sad it's over.

Favourite Food: Barbecue pork ribs, lasagna, chinese dumplings (especially my mom's homemade potstickers - jiao zi), beef (steak, burgers), chicken (barbecue, fried, lemon grilled, herb, it's all good!), fish, rice pilaf. I'm also rather fond of sushi (mmm... toro sashimi and unagi nigiri) and pizza. Fruits and vegetables are also favourable.

Favourite Dessert: Almost any ice cream, cheesecake, strawberry pie from Marie Callender's, strawberries, chocolate anything, cake.

Favourite Drink: None. But milk is gross. And I do rather like Red Bull, but not as a substitute for any other beverage. It's more of a supplement. Especially when mixed with vodka.

Favourite Brands of Clothing: Banana Republic, Club Monaco, Express (Men), Gap.

Favourite Things to Say: "LIES!", "oodles," "That's pooie," Zoom!", "Ka-choo ka-choo!", "I'll have none of your sauce!"

Favourite Word: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconiosis

Favourite Subjects in School: Mathematics, Music.

Favourite Fields of Mathematics: Abstract Algebra and Linear Algebra. I'm interested in learning more about group extensions and algebraic number theory.

Favourite Teachers from High School: Ann Lobb, James Bechtel, Brad Margolin.

Favourite Professors from UCSC: Professor Anne Shepler, Professor Blair Madore, Professor Hirotaka Tamanoi, Professor Robert Boltje.

Favourite Professors from UBC: Professor Stephanie van Willigenberg, Professor Gordon Slade.

Favourite TAs: Jamey Bass, Adam Glesser, Don Kim.

Favourite Video Games (in order to the best of my ability): Kingdom Hearts (PS2), Final Fantasy II (SNES), Final Fantasy I (NES), Final Fantasy VII (PSX), Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX), All other Final Fantasies, Mario Kart (SNES, N64, GBA), Castlevania: Symphony of the NIght (PSX), The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube), Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA), Mega Man II and III (NES), Megaman Zero (GBA), Golden Sun (GBA), Devil May Cry (PS2), Dragon Warrior I and II (the Rerelease on Game Boy Color).

Favourite Video Game Consoles (in order to the best of my ability): Game Boy Advance (SP), Super Nintendo, Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox.

Favourite Computer (PC) Games: The Sims, Zoo Tycoon, Age of Mythology.

Favourite Anime Series: Sailor Moon, Dragonball, Detective Conan, El Hazard, Ah! My Goddess, Love Hina, Cardcaptor Sakura, Digimon, Figure 17, Someday's Dreamers, Kino's Journey.

Favourite Manga Series: Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Battle Angel Alita, Ah! My Goddess, Love Hina, Detective Conan, Cardcaptor Sakura, Digimon, ZOIDS, Kazan, FAKE, Juvenile Orion, Negima!.

Favourite TV Shows: Gilmore Girls, Boy Meets World, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, I Love Lucy, The Nanny, Friends, Facts of Life, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Ally McBeal, Will and Grace, Scrubs, Angel, Felicity, Summerland, Get Real, Grace Under Fire, Ned and Stacey, Queer as Folk (British and US versions), Sports Night, Living Single, Coupling (British version), Jack and Bobby, My Family, Life As We Know It.

Favourite Cartoons (American): Rocko's Modern Life, Doug, Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, The Fairly Oddparents, Hey! Arnold, Teen Titans, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Invader Zim, Transformers (the old one), The Oblongs, Spongebob Squarepants.

Favourite Movies (sort of in order): Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, While You Were Sleeping, Ella Enchanted, About A Boy, The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Love Actually, Cruel Intentions, Emperor's New Groove, Never Been Kissed, Pretty Woman, Pay It Forward, Notting Hill, Miss Congeniality, Nicholas Nickleby, That Thing You Do!, A.I., and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Favourite Type of Movie: Romantic Comedy (Chick Flicks), Drama (Chick Flick Teenie Bopper type Drama), Lord of the Rings (Non-chick Flick type Fantasy).

Favourite Actors: Shawn Ashmore, Matthew Perry, Sean Hayes, Jesse McCartney, Paul Rudd, Haley Joel Osment, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Michael Vartan, James Marsters, Thomas Everett Scott, Christopher Gorham, Ben Savage, Scott Terra, Chris Kattan, Eric Mabius, Hugh Grant, Ethan Embry, Devon Sawa, Eyal Yodell, Daniel Clark, Thomas Sanger, John Bregar, Topher Grace, Chad Faust, Simon Rex, Ben Affleck.

Favourite Actresses: Andie MacDowell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Keri Russell, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku, Debra Messing, Jennifer Aniston, Cheri Oteri, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Mandy Moore, Lori Loughlin, Nicole Sullivan.

Favourite MTV VJs: Damien Fahey, Gideon Yago, Simon Rex.

Favourite Male Music Artists (roughly in order): Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Libera (Boys Choir), Rascal Flatts, Billy Gilman, Jesse McCartney, Mark Wills, Josh Groban, Donny Osmond, Jason Mraz.

Favourite Female Music Artists: Sarah Brightman, Celine Dion, Mandy Moore, Shania Twain, Laura Pausini, Lea Salonga.

Favourite Mixed Gender Music Artists: A-Teens, Peters Drury Trio (now a Quartet).

Favourite Chinese Music Artists: A-Mei, Yuki, Jay Chou, Guang Liang, Wu Ying Liang Ping, Jacky Cheung, Jolin Tsai.

Favourite Rock Artists: Blink 182, Sum 41, A New Found Glory, Linkin Park, Yellowcard.

Favourite New Age Artists: 2002, Libera, Continuo, Enya.

Favourite Genre of Music: Popular, you know, teenie bopper stuff, but I also enjoy New Age, Classical, Jazz, Country and some Rock. I'll listen to almost anything.

Favourite Song of All Time: "The Shape of My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys.

Favourite Songs to Sing Along With: "Fantasy," "Someday," "Whenever You Call" by Mariah Carey, "Phantom of the Opera" by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, "On My Own" by Lea Salonga, basically anything by Celine Dion.

Favourite Country Song: "Mayberry" by Rascal Flatts.

Favourite Traditional Christmas Carol: Oh Holy Night.

Favourite Sport: Yuck. Sports don't like me, so I don't like sports.

LEAST Favourite Activity: I used to be completely averse to reading, but since reading my favourite book (mentioned above), and other good books, as well as meeting someone who makes books sound really interesting, I'm not so averse to it anymore. *Gasp* Can it be that I'm actually changing? I think it's all Grant's fault. Grant and all his making-me-into-a-better-person-ness. =). I think I'm still pretty against sports though. Except that Andrew and Brendan watch a lot of sports so I'm not minding that stuff so much either anymore. DOH. Oh and the Backyard Football game on Gamecube looks really cute. =)

Really Big Phobias: Scorpions, splinters (especially from wooden chopsticks), yellow jackets, bees, basically any creepy crawly thing that bites or stings.

Most Addicting Games: The Sims (PC), Diablo II (PC), Zoo Tycoon (PC), Super Mario Kart (SNES), Mario Tennis (N64), SSX3 (Gamecube).

Movies I Recently Enjoyed: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Lilo and Stitch, Mr. Deeds, The Powerpuff Girls, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, Silent Movie (70s Mel Brooks film), Santa Sangre, A Clockwork Orange, Slaughterhouse-Five, Austin Powers: Goldmember, Stuart Little 2, America's Sweethearts, Sweet Home Alabama, The Rules of Attraction, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Eight Crazy Nights, Santa Clause 2, Maid in Manhattan, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, Daredevil, Old School, The Hot Chick, X2: X-Men United, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, The Matrix Reloaded, The Italian Job, Finding Nemo, Alex & Emma, Charlie's Angels II: Full Throttle, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, How To Deal, American Wedding, Freaky Friday, Love Actually, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, Win A Date With Tad Hamilton, The Dreamers, Mean Girls, Ella Enchanted, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Notebook, Spiderman 2, Anchorman, Garden State, Alexander, In Good Company, Miss Congeniality 2, Old Boy, Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, Madagascar, How's Moving Castle.

Games I've Recently Bought: The Sims Unleashed, Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania with Dinosaur Digs, A Gamecube (and with it - Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Monkey Ball), The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past and Four Swords, Eternal Darkness, Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Final Fantasy Origins, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Rygar, Megaman Zero, Digimon: Battle Spirit, The Sims Double Deluxe, Megaman Zero 2, SSX3, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, X-Men (Game Gear), Final Fantasy VIII (PC), Legacy of Kain: Defiance (PS2), Sitting Ducks (PS2), Dungeons & Dragons Heroes (Xbox), Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Xbox), Halo (Xbox), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox), Halo 2 (Xbox), Zoo Tycoon 2 (PC).

CDs I've Recently Bought: Rascal Flatts' "Feels Like Today" album.

DVDs I've Recently Bought: Gilmore Girls Season Three.

DVDs On My Wish List: Queer As Folk Season Four, Chappelle's Show Season Two, Gilmore Girls Season Four, I Love Lucy Seasons Three and Four.

Games On My Wish List: Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2), LEGO Star Wars (Xbox and GBA).

Games I've Recently Finished: Bomberman Tournament (GBA) on July 2nd, 2002, Final Fantasy VI (PSX) on September 5th, 2002, Breath of Fire IV (PSX) on September 15, 2002, Kingdom Hearts (PS2) on October 6th, 2002, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA) on November 25, 2002, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (GBA) on December 20, 2002, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past (GBA) on December 26, 2002, X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse (GBA) on December 26, 2002, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (PS2) on February 23, 2003 (with Brendan), Megaman Battle Network (GBA) on March 18th, 2003, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (Gamecube) on April 7, 2003 (with Brendan), Final Fantasy I (as part of Final Fantasy Origins) on April 26, 2003, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (PS2) on May 23, 2003, Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube) on May 31, 2003, Megaman Zero (GBA) on June 7, 2003, Kirby: Nightmare In Dream Land (GBA) on September 8, 2003, Digimon: Battle Spirit (GBA) on September 24, 2003, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) on October 3, 2003, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2) on October 31, 2003, Sword of Mana (GBA) on January 1, 2004, The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Gamecube/NES) on January 9, 2004. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Gamecube) on March 25, 2004 (with Jason), March 29, 2004 (single player), and June 3, 2004 (with Eric), Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA) on May 28, 2004, Jak and Daxter (PS2) on June 28, 2004, Breath of Fire (GBA) on July 6, 2004, Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA) on July 30, 2004, Metroid Fusion (GBA) on August 4, 2004, Megaman Zero 2 (GBA) on September 5, 2004, Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes (Xbox) on December 12, 2004, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA) on January 6, 2005 (Sora's Quest), Gradius III on March 5, 2005 (on SNES emulator, with save states), Mega Man X on March 11, 2005 (on SNES emulator, with save states), Final Fantasy III on May 12, 2005 (on NES emulator, with save states).

Books On My Wish List: All the Foxtrot collection books, Hunter X Hunter manga series, White Boys by Sam Carson, That new book from K.M. Soehnlein coming out in August 2005.

Books I've Recently Bought: Blankets by Craig Thompson, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At The Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith, A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks.

Books I've Recently Finished: About A Boy by Nick Hornby on July 5th, 2002, Candide by Voltaire on August 4th, 2002, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut on August 9th, 2002, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde on February 12, 2003, Skipping Christmas by John Grisham on February 16, 2003, Animorphs 48: The Return by K.A. Applegate on May 31, 2003, Goddess of the Night by Lynne Ewing on July 18th, 2003, Into The Cold Fire by Lynne Ewing on August 3rd, 2003, The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere on November 11, 2003, Animorphs 49: The Diversion by K.A. Applegate on April 30, 2004, Animorphs 50: The Ultimate by K.A. Applegate on May 3, 2004, Animorphs 51: The Absolute by K.A. Applegate on June 14, 2004, Animorphs 52: The Sacrifice by K.A. Applegate on June 20, 2004, Animorphs 53: The Answer by K.A. Applegate on June 22, 2004, Animorphs 54: The Beginning by K.A. Applegate on June 22, 2004, Blankets by Craig Thompson on August 30, 2004, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger on February 21, 2005, Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks on March 19, 2005, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe on May 1, 2005, A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks on May 26, 2005, The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein (again) on June 23, 2005, The Diamond As Big As The Ritz on July 10, 2005, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka on July 21, 2005.

Current Video Games I'm Playing: Fable (Xbox). I HAVE AN XBOX (AS OF JULY 31, 2004) THANKS TO EUGENE SONG!!

Current PC Games I'm Playing: Zoo Tycoon 2.

Current Songs I'm Hooked To: "Because You Live" by Jesse McCartney.

Song That Most Reminds Me of Grade 8 (and Sepulveda): "Dreams" by The Cranberries.

Song That Most Reminds Me of My First Year at UCSC: The Black and Blue album by Backstreet Boys.

Song That Most Reminds Me of Potsdam: "Goodbye (Is The Saddest Word)" by Celine Dion.

Song That Most Reminds Me of San Luis Obispo: "Heartbreak Lullaby" by A-Teens.

Song That Most Reminds Me of Summer 2004 (spent at home after graduating from UCSC): "Somos Hoy" by Laura Pausini.

Current Books I'm Reading: I'm reading The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Current Dreams: Take voice lessons to improve my vocal technique, range, and quality; get a Masters in mathematics.

Vocal Range: The lowest documented note I've sung is the E flat below the bass clef, and the highest documented note is the C natural above the treble clef. I'm pretty sure that I've sung the E natural above the treble clef (which surpasses my Phantom of the Opera E flat goal), but only when I'm by myself =). So my documented range is slightly under four octaves.

Goals for this Summer: Rename my digital camera pictures, learn algebraic geometry to the level at which my advisor expects, work out or swim regularly.

Marks for Winter Term 1: Complex Analysis (Math 300) - A (88), Algebra I (Math 501) - A (90), Algebraic Topology (Math 527) - A (88), Teaching Mathematics (Math 599) - Pass.

Marks for Winter Term 2: Algebra II (Math 502) - B- (68), Algebraic Combinatorics (Math 503) - A (87), Riemann Surfaces (Math 509) - A (85). I didn't pass the qualifying exam...

Final UCSC GPA: 3.93!

Final Number of Credits at UCSC: 211!

News on August 25th, 2001 (the day this homepage was created): Singer-Actress Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash.

Back to Mookie's New Home

The picture of my framed Lord of the Rings ticket stubs was taken by me on October 23, 2002. Yay!