tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-330756732024-03-14T02:12:43.860+08:00Principal Wei's Weblogthrough feeling cold I recognise my own existence
<br>with laughter beneath the pale moonlight I discover truth.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.comBlogger307125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-7592482015787790872015-01-01T10:53:00.000+08:002015-01-02T10:57:24.515+08:00New Year's Day before the New Year's Day of the Year of the Goat<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bta4QEsluJnK9QjqoW2uRqSysF0it26vcYS0oToOLkqrp3eripPQSFV3ePwAdiL-58GZyMA2HV1-QlBZb-bJP5hNCzhGF0Mmvtcj0wP4MHWwDpKlyWIMXXKtfXtd4-GrAwVI/s1600/2015.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bta4QEsluJnK9QjqoW2uRqSysF0it26vcYS0oToOLkqrp3eripPQSFV3ePwAdiL-58GZyMA2HV1-QlBZb-bJP5hNCzhGF0Mmvtcj0wP4MHWwDpKlyWIMXXKtfXtd4-GrAwVI/s400/2015.jpg" /></a><br />
(Click to enlarge and see how I have changed over the past few years, from 1st January 2007 to 2015)<br />
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For the ninth time in a row since the year end 2006, I went to the Taipei 101 fireworks display, again just like last year, with my wife Fanne and my 4-year-old son Ronne. It's fantabulous to see these nine photos altogether.<br />
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Although I don't really create new entries and very few friends visit this site now, I will keep practicing the ritual of counting down to New Year around Taipei 101, taking a photo thereafter and then announcing it here.
Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-46508670054154485272014-01-30T13:54:00.003+08:002014-01-30T15:12:11.942+08:00New year couplet for the year of the Horse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjzLaiVETnJSYUQV2HiDFp78cspJIMzPCharfcsRvS1y2HUVWD5K65EXE9TFWwOBm92oZo8lpngTg6DPRTdUf_7tBzvKgo-XMsp9nVb7mJy3TmU-izxk2SVk6Uk83mYP6oaNM/s1600/2014+couplet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjzLaiVETnJSYUQV2HiDFp78cspJIMzPCharfcsRvS1y2HUVWD5K65EXE9TFWwOBm92oZo8lpngTg6DPRTdUf_7tBzvKgo-XMsp9nVb7mJy3TmU-izxk2SVk6Uk83mYP6oaNM/s1600/2014+couplet.png" height="400" width="253" /></a></div>
After ushering in the Gregorian New Year exactly 30 days ago, we are going to ring in the Chinese New Year tonight, the Year of the Horse. Again, I write my own <a href="http://www.foreignercn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1631:chinese-new-years-couplet&catid=1:history-and-culture&Itemid=114" target="_blank">new year couplet</a> (春聯 <i>chunlian</i>) with a Chinese brush, rather than buying a commercially mass-printed one.<br />
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I compose another pair of lines for the new year, roughly translated as<br />
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Etiquette, music, poetry and books, [we] pass down over hundreds of generations (禮樂詩書傳百代);<br />
[With] blades, spears, swords and halberds, [we] fight across three waters (刀槍劒戟過三江).<br />
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The couplet also comes with a banner: Fear neither the literate nor the martial (文武不擋).<br />
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My son, Ronne, will be 4 years old in March. It's about the time to teach him some Chinese classical texts for Children, such as <i>Thousand Character Classic</i> (千字文) and <i>Trimetric Classic</i> (三字經), as well as some basic <i>kung-fu</i> exercise.<br />
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I hope this couplet bringing in a happy and prosperous year, in which Ronne develops all necessary learning skills and knowledge.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-10148152541209669382014-01-01T14:09:00.000+08:002014-01-01T17:27:47.962+08:00New Year's Day before the New Year's Day of the Year of the Horse<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrIjHMqEMG9IqZ2X4KUAPiUeE-H5ROe8C3nFqyPCYWDgxHUI68t0C6KC3mccwVHCIfjWYO_9w_IvbxPOGOT5x9JW4ehTx0Sp2hWPPsil4Y0O2005HCxMGC-wIDNxl29uZrbC0/s1600/2014.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrIjHMqEMG9IqZ2X4KUAPiUeE-H5ROe8C3nFqyPCYWDgxHUI68t0C6KC3mccwVHCIfjWYO_9w_IvbxPOGOT5x9JW4ehTx0Sp2hWPPsil4Y0O2005HCxMGC-wIDNxl29uZrbC0/s640/2014.png" width="640" /></a><br />
(Click to enlarge and see how I have changed over the past few years, from 1st January 2007 to 2014)<br />
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The growth of new social networking websites have definitely made <i>Principal Wei's Weblog</i> redundant. Since 2012, the number of entries produced each year here has dropped to only 10, because of the heavy academic workload and life chores I have to deal with.<br />
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However, I insist on maintaining the ritual of counting down to New Year at the same spot, taking a photo thereafter and then announcing it on this weblog.<br />
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Again I have to repeat that it has something to do with obsession, just as what I have explained in <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2006/11/obsession.html">another entry</a> posted several years ago on this weblog. I must have been suffering from a mental disorder characterised by a general psychological inflexibility, a chronic preoccupation with rules, procedures, perfectionism and excessive orderliness.<br />
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As usual, in most Chinese-speaking regions, we usher in the Gregorian New Year with other revellers on streets before welcoming the Chinese one. Therefore for the eighth time in a row since the year end 2006, I went to the Taipei 101 fireworks show again last night, with my wife and my 3-year-old son, who is going to be 4 in April 2014.<br />
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Whatever happens, unless <b>Blogger</b> is shut down, I will keep being obsessed about taking the New Year photo and announcing it here.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-9728282397067509952013-03-21T10:59:00.002+08:002013-03-26T14:54:25.514+08:00A couplet for Edwin's new studio<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9xuBjzavHNf_VATnoVJpMbKDpf4M-R-Mo856hSeiHK-SCVUv1NIXxSMBWJwLbobih_JnFvW2u3GtRi596ahgZo-4nms5DYOp1XCZXoGaGX-Q4BltLEib5b5IpPFsKhYKBLiP/s1600/201303+%E9%99%B3%E7%85%92%E6%99%BA.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9xuBjzavHNf_VATnoVJpMbKDpf4M-R-Mo856hSeiHK-SCVUv1NIXxSMBWJwLbobih_JnFvW2u3GtRi596ahgZo-4nms5DYOp1XCZXoGaGX-Q4BltLEib5b5IpPFsKhYKBLiP/s640/201303+%E9%99%B3%E7%85%92%E6%99%BA.JPG" width="480" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So many people believe that regular exercise is an important part of a balanced stress management programme and are willing to pay high membership prices to join gyms, health clubs or yoga classes in hopes that nervous tension arising from the fast pace of life in the industrial and metropolitan environments could be antidoted by shaking their bodies in a well organised fashion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I totally agree with it. I ran three miles both in the morning and in the late afternoon everyday when I was under extreme pressure during the final days of thesis writing in Scotland. However, I opt for Chinese calligraphy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chinese calligraphy requires deliberate mental design and concentration on guiding the soft writing brush. Both strength and agility are essential for fine artwork. Therefore, I believe composing couplets and practising writing Chinese characters is a good way to extricate me from academic abyss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Apart from writing <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2013/02/new-year-couplet-for-year-of-snake.html" target="_blank">new year couplets</a> at , I compose couplets and write them with a Chinese writing brush for friends on various occasions, such as weddings, birthdays, graduations and etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.goldenhazeartandculture.com/About-Edwin.php" target="_blank">Edwin</a>, a director, producer and historian, has recently started his own studio, light-heartedly named 'Golden Haze Arts and Culture Heath Center', in Taipei. To celebrate the formal establishment of this 'Health Center', I produce this, roughly translated as</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With sining voices and dancing images a rainbow appears (歌聲舞影虹彩現);</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In souther sphere and northern horizon hundreds of flowers bloom (天南地北百花開).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The couplet also comes with a banner: What an immense cinematic world! (銀海無涯).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I wish him all the best and look forward to producing more interesting audio-visual, theatrical or whatever works with him in the near future.</span></div>
Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-38372828984540962492013-03-06T17:11:00.005+08:002013-03-07T17:50:47.484+08:00Ronne's third birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcoIYlTkcpPp1gHRThAZfdnOol5Uduea8qqCCm3dFJH3Y9X-HSGsWUqMz73FPDxiM7Ly5W2N-N156l8Owo0WNPwRJpACJ_Nsl5CcdXORRlfDK3v-ufiPxPzV4Niu-RNIFuck9s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-06+at+15.03.57+.png" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcoIYlTkcpPp1gHRThAZfdnOol5Uduea8qqCCm3dFJH3Y9X-HSGsWUqMz73FPDxiM7Ly5W2N-N156l8Owo0WNPwRJpACJ_Nsl5CcdXORRlfDK3v-ufiPxPzV4Niu-RNIFuck9s/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-06+at+15.03.57+.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Three-year-old Ronne making birthday wishes)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday was my son Ronne's third birthday. Time flies; he is three now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to the development of digital cameras and other mobile devices with the function of shooting photos or videos, we can now catch important moments of our life nimbly with confidence. Therefore, look at these three photos taken respectively on Ronne's last three birthdays and see how Ronne has grown over the last three years.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFGWnqlA9WCkrgj-f_Go7Hd0IB0vhk5tVP94KcUtmx5Xb98Q5IOmPCtLMW3tElEW5trU9gr0A8SxEtjW14zNINeV-npQcwhUUOam4s1SmF3y1JRFh3gQ35h543iqeXAcz14XH/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFGWnqlA9WCkrgj-f_Go7Hd0IB0vhk5tVP94KcUtmx5Xb98Q5IOmPCtLMW3tElEW5trU9gr0A8SxEtjW14zNINeV-npQcwhUUOam4s1SmF3y1JRFh3gQ35h543iqeXAcz14XH/s640/2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Two-year old Ronne clapping hands and singing the birthday song with grandparents and mum)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQlsNvRbQcwqgu8yDLgn-zGakFkow4mj3xsBCGIzyxoTWxY4FJJaWDx2yVgcCKJgF98hxkhGEFxRcFKifJJxQWPTasVQo7jFDDdrcaK1drQGc8HxptjnxHwaAg4rzFkTUVq8c4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-06+at+15.03.35+.png" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQlsNvRbQcwqgu8yDLgn-zGakFkow4mj3xsBCGIzyxoTWxY4FJJaWDx2yVgcCKJgF98hxkhGEFxRcFKifJJxQWPTasVQo7jFDDdrcaK1drQGc8HxptjnxHwaAg4rzFkTUVq8c4/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-03-06+at+15.03.35+.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(One-year-old Ronne patrolling to safeguard his birthday cake)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks to the invention of </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">weblogs</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">social networking websites</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, many people can now express their views and distribute multimedia works in the cyber world across temporal and spatial boundaries. I have been sharing with my readers sounds of the gramophone records for quite some time, as well as photos of my son. Although, </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Principal Wei's Weblog</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> stopped for several months in 2012, it resumed on the New Year's Day in 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the first entry I created this year is a photo of me and my son, I am now fully assured that when you have a baby and happen to have a digital camera, the number of the photos you would take for your child within a month will probably far exceed that of the images you have captured for yourself in the first half of your life. Moreover, if you happen to maintain a blog, it will become an online album for the photos you would take for your child.</span></div>
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Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-77119826131400996192013-02-27T16:16:00.001+08:002013-02-28T10:37:34.786+08:00Making my outdated laptop up to date<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77yl1Sx1UT7J3K6lWoSJ_LHTyopnzPESfafcNaommr1LiogMY8ehb9ds6P37532PVkl-Ue8v_CTNfz66uVF3TJtVJ59pb2Wl-W9s3k8ZaDpHu3PQRayYNsKhDZ2NLMTCl70w8/s1600/airport.png" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77yl1Sx1UT7J3K6lWoSJ_LHTyopnzPESfafcNaommr1LiogMY8ehb9ds6P37532PVkl-Ue8v_CTNfz66uVF3TJtVJ59pb2Wl-W9s3k8ZaDpHu3PQRayYNsKhDZ2NLMTCl70w8/s640/airport.png" width="640" /></a>
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Last night, I spent some time upgrading my old <b>PowerBook G4</b> to a laptop with wireless capability.<br />
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<b>PowerBook G4</b> is my first-ever laptop. It had served me since summer 2002 when I moved to Scotland for doctoral study, and was forced to retire due to an accident in summer 2007. I had some champagne to celebrate my graduation and wedding, and so did the laptop.<br />
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Much to my amazement, the champagne-poured <b>PowerBook G4</b> became alive and kicking after a couple of weeks, but it was still superseded by <b>MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo</b>, my second laptop, purchased after the accident. <b>PowerBook G4</b> was stored in a bookshelf and has remained there ever since.<br />
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Now even though I have <b>MacBook Pro Core i7</b>, <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2013/02/my-third-laptop-arrived.html" target="_blank">the third laptop in my life</a>, I still miss the old good times with <b>PowerBook G4</b>. It helped me finish my doctoral thesis; it helped me complete so many commissioned musical works (and make extra money); it helped me connect to my beloved and family when I was in Scotland.<br />
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<b>PowerBook G4</b> is definitely well past its sell-by date, but it still works. Therefore, I decided to fetch a wireless card to make this outdated machine up to date–being able to communicate wirelessly.<br />
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I found a second-hand Apple <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1621?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US" target="_blank">AirPort Card</a> on eBay for USD 18.92 (including postage) and a set of <a href="http://www.bondhus.com/products/screwdrivers/body17.htm" target="_blank">hexalobular socket screwdriver</a> (also known as <b>Torx</b> or <b>star screwdriver</b>) for TWD 145 (roughly USD 5.00) at a hardware shop near my home. Didn't cost much, did it?<br />
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It took me only 5 minutes to remove the back cover, instal the wireless card and restore the back. However, it took more two hours to download all sorts of software update files and update the operating system, Java and so on.<br />
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Won't blame it, as along as it keeps being in good working order and brining back old good memories.
Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-25008850611806595862013-02-23T22:45:00.002+08:002013-02-23T23:21:15.433+08:00Hand snake lantern<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nNbjEgmtGMp1K2k77iIsSwbomogMUQzabEbxGkXnCwgHFknaXntbQqXvQwXXdMFxaOtryUWoeSMhyqrcaEx-vGHTdQpHYzipDEPzFg7oHo_jwtxprJydsdAHCYhDyjuEeL5p/s1600/snake.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nNbjEgmtGMp1K2k77iIsSwbomogMUQzabEbxGkXnCwgHFknaXntbQqXvQwXXdMFxaOtryUWoeSMhyqrcaEx-vGHTdQpHYzipDEPzFg7oHo_jwtxprJydsdAHCYhDyjuEeL5p/s400/snake.png" width="400" /></a><br />
(Ronne and the stretching and curling snake)<br />
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The Lantern Festival, the 15<sup>th</sup> of the first lunar month, falls on Sunday, the 24<sup>th</sup> of February this year. Just like <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2012/02/hand-dragon-lantern.html" target="_blank">last year</a>, we received a DIY set–a hand lantern in the shape of a snake, this year's Chinese zodiac animal.<br />
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It took use more time than it did last year to assemble the cardboard lantern, because, as you can see in the photos, the snake's body is composed six movable segments, which require more delicate efforts to fit together.<br />
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Ronne is going to celebrate the third Lantern Festival in his life with another hand lantern. What a clever design: it can be held in two different fashions, stretching or curling.<br />
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Officially named Haha (哈哈), this colourful, shiny snake is painted from its head to tail with 14 graphic decorations inspired by the traditional patterns or symbols from the 14 respective indigenous peoples in Taiwan.<br />
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As opposed to its negative impression among the Han Chinese, the snake is believed to be the guardian or embodiment of ancestral power in some indigenous cultures in Taiwan. A hand snake lantern with indigenous tones and colours is obviously designed to bring more positive energy and blessings to all the people in Taiwan.<br />
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The lantern festival is traditionally the last day of the Chinese New Year and all lunar new year celebrations conclude on this day. The spring semester 2013 has already begun last Monday in theory; it will surely start next Monday in practice, seriously.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bPPq5z6wNIk43DXh0GCvMq1KuEAG-ppE3HWl-lPm5FQLgCIMitpYXXRsGcSm1TiQghqZmX-D__bK6q-ZyliFf1AiyUp4qplBiA57StSTSR_x0AcjYvGEdpRMYqVBvFxdaHTF/s1600/snake2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bPPq5z6wNIk43DXh0GCvMq1KuEAG-ppE3HWl-lPm5FQLgCIMitpYXXRsGcSm1TiQghqZmX-D__bK6q-ZyliFf1AiyUp4qplBiA57StSTSR_x0AcjYvGEdpRMYqVBvFxdaHTF/s400/snake2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-12347096041890997422013-02-09T13:51:00.002+08:002013-03-21T10:51:06.919+08:00New year couplet for the year of the Snake <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRy52BCjoCUwrOPdk_i03qqJg66sLRFkKKYE1my97JC92CawvuJOpMh_miE75Mj5MnM2QOn33vQsqIKSmCpDWMeA2qiVchE53MbN4Py6r7UGjRcWwpakJIeWopkWwSwommxVn/s1600/couplet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRy52BCjoCUwrOPdk_i03qqJg66sLRFkKKYE1my97JC92CawvuJOpMh_miE75Mj5MnM2QOn33vQsqIKSmCpDWMeA2qiVchE53MbN4Py6r7UGjRcWwpakJIeWopkWwSwommxVn/s400/couplet.png" width="253" /></a></div>
Although sometimes regarded as an eccentric by my relatives, sometimes I am old-fashioned. For example, I insist on writing my own <a href="http://www.foreignercn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1631:chinese-new-years-couplet&catid=1:history-and-culture&Itemid=114" target="_blank">new year couplet</a> (春聯 <i>chunlian</i>) with a Chinese brush every year, rather than buying a commercially mass-printed one.<br />
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Again I compose another pair of lines, which have something to do with music and the academia, for the year of the Snake, roughly translated as<br />
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Studying extensively poetry and literature, I dream of prosperity in the ancient capital (遍覽詩書夢華錄);<br />
Knowing broadly tuning and musicking, I listen to sounds of this secular world (博通律呂觀世音).<br />
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The couplet also comes with a banner: Scholars and laymen be greeted in spring (雅俗同迎春).<br />
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I'm not sure, but my wife Fanne comments that I am improving and the handwriting is better than <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2012/01/another-diy-new-year-couplet-for-year.html" target="_blank">last year</a>. Better or worse, it's the tradition of the Chens and will be carried on by my son.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-61588452074795851742013-02-08T01:38:00.000+08:002013-02-08T08:29:25.800+08:00Third laptop arrived<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5ZULKTfl8F0MC8tqWDx1nWJm20sSJuG9PlU0RqA1FM4TUMiw42a_ponAsd7RdtRJY-tUDr-ZDRM0XuNtwulEsyTDQyIaAqqK156Qfty-aL7UJu3CHUOyiSQKUSRYkiDx9yEj/s1600/DSC07364.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" target=_"blank" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5ZULKTfl8F0MC8tqWDx1nWJm20sSJuG9PlU0RqA1FM4TUMiw42a_ponAsd7RdtRJY-tUDr-ZDRM0XuNtwulEsyTDQyIaAqqK156Qfty-aL7UJu3CHUOyiSQKUSRYkiDx9yEj/s400/DSC07364.JPG" width="400" /></a>
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(Three generations of my laptop, from left: PowerBook G4, 2002/ MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, 2007/ MacBook Pro Core i7, 2013)<br />
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I've just received my new toy, an Apple laptop.
I bought my first Apple laptop in summer 2002 when I moved to Scotland for my doctoral study. Five years later, I acquired the second one in summer 2007 after my wife and I had some champagne to celebrate my graduation and <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2007/07/incommunicado.html" target="_blank">shared this with the first one</a>. More than five years later, I picked up the third one in early spring 2013 when I felt that I wanted a third one.<br />
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<a target=_"blank" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ft6A7MSsIL2lIdF_kCCCAFSqoaHj8lomvXoKJggAdfV5WiMhcf0o11brc3_xbzsb6gW3V3S7zLTgcbdM9W5XB3cz56O5tsJGrPpCqqAzSSG2OoGjEb3wNpwn4J7TMARdZYfC/s1600/DSC07367.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ft6A7MSsIL2lIdF_kCCCAFSqoaHj8lomvXoKJggAdfV5WiMhcf0o11brc3_xbzsb6gW3V3S7zLTgcbdM9W5XB3cz56O5tsJGrPpCqqAzSSG2OoGjEb3wNpwn4J7TMARdZYfC/s400/DSC07367.JPG" width="400" /></a>
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(The external package is always elegant! )<br />
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Rather than visiting a physical Apple shop, I called 0800 to place an order and customised my MacBook Pro by replacing the standard 750GB SATA hard drive with the 256GB solid state drive and upgrade the standard widescreen display to the hi-resolution one.<br />
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I didn't opt for the latest model with a <a target=_"blank" href="http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/" target="_blank">Retina display</a>. Although it's thinner and lighter, it comes without a built-in DVD drive and has no audio line-in port. I can't be bothered to use an external DVD drive and a USB audio interface.<br />
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It took me really much time to instal a range of applications and to adjust everything to what I have been used to. I actually would like to use the old OS X 10.4; however, this model has been built with the latest OS X 10.8 and can't be downgraded.
Anyway, I'm still exploring this new laptop and hoping to discover more interesting functions.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-19231123912205317412013-02-01T13:30:00.002+08:002013-02-02T19:29:04.647+08:00Fetching a snake money box for the year of the snake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uSPEN8gHkwfEpntgQ-y8AR_SFrr_1Oyyh4DU9uVR6wWt4OaV4Qh8P7VqnYHqGVOgtmAdJ3EuzeC1kLULAk6Io6yke6Ro42m5HXDCwJ-Pta7UTiOrSbHRy4n-Jvp6bJl_s6Vp/s1600/DSC07348.JPG" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uSPEN8gHkwfEpntgQ-y8AR_SFrr_1Oyyh4DU9uVR6wWt4OaV4Qh8P7VqnYHqGVOgtmAdJ3EuzeC1kLULAk6Io6yke6Ro42m5HXDCwJ-Pta7UTiOrSbHRy4n-Jvp6bJl_s6Vp/s400/DSC07348.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
(Six money boxes released by a department store in Taiwan since 2008, from left: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon and Snake)<br />
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Once you start to collect some things, especially those which can make up certain group, you have to be prepared to feel all the time an overwhelming obsessive desire to possess a complete series, to become irredeemable.<br />
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Just as how I maintain the ritual of counting down to New Year at the same spot and then <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2013/01/new-years-day-before-new-years-day-of.html" target="_blank">taking a photo thereafter</a> since the year end 2006, I have been <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2011/01/fetching-rabbit-money-box-for-year-of.html" target="_blank">chasing after the money box in the shape of a specific Chinese zodiac animal</a> for the year of that animal since 2008.<br />
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<a href="http://www.skm.com.tw/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Shin Kong Mituskoshi</a>, the biggest department store chain in Taiwan, began to issue ceramic saving banks in shapes of twelve Chinese zodiac animals in 2008. Twelve different ones will come in the twelve ensuing years. It can only be redeemed for or bought when a customer spends more than certain amount of money, not to be purchased straightaway.<br />
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This morning, I have just fetched the sixth–the snake. It takes six more years to complete a series of the twelve animals. I am so determined to collect a whole series and will visit this department store every year as long as I still reside on earth.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-46527040808558239132013-01-12T23:52:00.000+08:002013-01-13T16:00:22.156+08:00Finally, we moved to the era of stereo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95I2CEYYhgDdR8sNXNILijY_582DcK2_zWZ5GfnczmuZ9K1NdyfTWqwQaH9BUi2jbJc5Lrh1auiGICrC1i7QRi-gImGa1DKtfw3AcJ9UcC0f-ThA7amYAe_5Bjspo53JncYyn/s1600/Image015.jpg" target="_blank"imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95I2CEYYhgDdR8sNXNILijY_582DcK2_zWZ5GfnczmuZ9K1NdyfTWqwQaH9BUi2jbJc5Lrh1auiGICrC1i7QRi-gImGa1DKtfw3AcJ9UcC0f-ThA7amYAe_5Bjspo53JncYyn/s400/Image015.jpg" /></a><br/>
(A SONY CD radio cassette recorder in front of an <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2010/11/must-for-family-or-for-myself.html" target="_blank">HMV gramophone</a>)</p>
The very first piece of audio equipment we have bought since we moved to the condo we currently live in October 2009 is a SONY Bravia TV. Apart from this and the DVD drive in my laptop, there wasn't any other sound-producing apparatus in our home until September 2010 when I bought an <a chen1923.blogspot.tw="chen1923.blogspot.tw" href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2010/09/our-first-ever-hmv-gramophone-at-home.html" target="_blank">HMV 101</a>, a vintage portable hand-cranked gramophone. The third piece is another spring-wound device, an <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2010/11/must-for-family-or-for-myself.html" target="_blank">HMV 103</a> I bought in November 2010.</p>
I suppose that music professors always have great, if not high-end, stereo or audio-visual systems. Nevertheless, I don't, probably because I'm just an adjunct one. I always tell my son that he who intends to listen to music, except watching TV or using a computer, must wind up the spring so that a sound retrieval system can work. No pains, no gains; no labour, no music.</p>
However, my words are no longer justifiable, as my wife bought a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihB8nnMf2qt1l2kQIcguZVgWliOcoGvolHOEwfPsGKReVSKy4B1xGdT0-BqygWZt9V2MghSck5Wj8Yu8PluCh7TnvJ7cNOWI14_zZbx_KDja-SqC029x0QU0XY-nADI5JHhcS/s400/player.jpg" target="_blank">Sony CFDS05 CD Radio Cassette Recorder Boombox</a>. We're now in the era of electric powered players.</p>
The boombox was inaugurated by having the honour of playing my favourite album <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Agua-Alhambra-Eduardo-Paniagua/dp/B00005QXTP/" target="_blank">El Agua de la Alhambra</a></i>, the music delivered in the so-called LDR suite where <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2010/03/music-from-mediaeval-moorish-spain-for.html" target="_blank">my son was born</a>. We have now an alternative, in addition to the gramophones, to play some music at home.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-3076375536948588072013-01-03T09:34:00.000+08:002013-01-03T09:42:33.823+08:00R.I.P. Patti Page<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6nFP6jvZkrQrRK40e_rtDC-ajTvyng0CD7W9jTirKljEJXwgfp7GfjGBAH1hz-XLNa0qrpSmcNl-g_C9XN8ANkkibZiFxqHODnxCUXCwxkZNHiAcvq1fCVtzDhXdSipFzthr/s1600/page.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="323" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6nFP6jvZkrQrRK40e_rtDC-ajTvyng0CD7W9jTirKljEJXwgfp7GfjGBAH1hz-XLNa0qrpSmcNl-g_C9XN8ANkkibZiFxqHODnxCUXCwxkZNHiAcvq1fCVtzDhXdSipFzthr/s400/page.jpeg" /></a><br/>(Image quoted from <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkHqtyY4FX7YhXq3-N8FHRj-K0ug?docId=23336dab7c98412dba4d7edfaf2a16ef" target'_blank">Associate Press</a>)</p>
Patti Page, one of the best-known pop artists in the 1950s, died on the New Year's day at the age of 85. She was one of the very few non-rock-oriented pop singers who could continue releasing great hits and maintain a successful career well into the mid 1960s after rock came to the fore in the recording industry in the mid 1950s.</p>
I came to know Patti Page through Yao Lee (姚莉), the singer who in 1941 made the first recording of 'Rose, Rose, I Love You' (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KMVtuURwjY" target="_blank">玫瑰玫瑰我愛你</a>), the original Mandarin version of Frankie Laine's 1951 hit of the same title.</p>
Being a fan of Patti Page, Yao Lee covered several Page's works such as 'Tennessee Waltz' (愛似浮雲), 'Changing Partners' (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0qiQC4sWfA" target="_blank">舞伴淚影</a>), 'You Belong To Me' (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVY284jDqI0" target="_blank">鳳仙花開</a>) and 'I Went To Your Wedding'. It is through these Mandarin songs that I learnt who Patti Page is and by these that I was led to the Page's English versions.</p>
Thank you Miss Patti Page for bringing us so many unforgettable tunes with your gossamer-gentle voice. May you rest in peace.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-90010911592257296802013-01-01T19:31:00.000+08:002013-01-01T20:44:36.217+08:00New Year's Day before the New Year's Day of the Year of the Snake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1F60iCRn-ozS_CB3OE_aNziC2fRBt4Q8GGQt75GNPzERNPQW5m1tSSGL28Y8wreWNJOeRwHIR2i2g3pLVLPxQQzA4NClrS_KN8pq7SAWmzkmyH9ce-JE3BMh2ojDlF5xlMlAi/s1600/2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="268" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1F60iCRn-ozS_CB3OE_aNziC2fRBt4Q8GGQt75GNPzERNPQW5m1tSSGL28Y8wreWNJOeRwHIR2i2g3pLVLPxQQzA4NClrS_KN8pq7SAWmzkmyH9ce-JE3BMh2ojDlF5xlMlAi/s400/2013.jpg" /></a><br/>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">(Click to enlarge and see how I have changed over the past few years, from 1st January 2007 to 2013)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Chinese New Year of the Snake falls on the 10th of February in 2013. Before welcoming the Snake, I just feel obliged again to usher in the Gregorian New Year with other revellers on streets.</span><br />
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For the seventh time in a row since the year end 2006, I went to the Taipei 101 fireworks show again last night, with my wife and my 2-year-old son, who is going to be 3 in March 2013. I insist on maintaining the ritual of counting down to New Year at the same spot and then taking a photo thereafter.</div>
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It probably has something to do with <b>obsession</b>, just as what I explained in <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.tw/2006/11/obsession.html" target="_blank">another entry</a> posted several years ago on this weblog: a mental disorder characterised by a general psychological inflexibility, a chronic preoccupation with rules, procedures, perfectionism and excessive orderliness.</div>
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Although the growth of new social networking websites probably may have made this weblog somewhat redundant, and I have not posted anything here for the past seven months due to the heavy academic workload, I will keep being obsessed about taking the New Year photo and announcing it here.</div>
Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-86576594512518253882012-03-11T23:24:00.003+08:002012-03-12T01:29:02.847+08:00Happy birthday, my son's mother!<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJJFKZZ4-Jv_APVtC6G76gWBn87uxfNVpBW0bBvnhEQZhdFre8bNhaJgZx9rnh6JIuqg3Oft9ciQvhbS4IaDjjMieoMVY0k8bPH3Cv6mdITKPRHFqOSSAg4KVzGGSEeHlmxC4/s1600/highland.png"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJJFKZZ4-Jv_APVtC6G76gWBn87uxfNVpBW0bBvnhEQZhdFre8bNhaJgZx9rnh6JIuqg3Oft9ciQvhbS4IaDjjMieoMVY0k8bPH3Cv6mdITKPRHFqOSSAg4KVzGGSEeHlmxC4/s400/highland.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718678479916385554" /></a><br />(Shot in <a href="http://www.visitscottishheartlands.com/areas/trossachs/index.cfm" target="_blank">The Trossachs</a>, Scotland, around Christmas 2002, which is almost ten years ago when we were still young and kicking.)<br /><br />Today is Fanne's 37<sup>th</sup> birthday and mine is coming a month later. Time flies; we're both getting older and older. I found this photo just before I got ready to march to the land of Nod, so I decided to write something down, reminiscing the days when we were young.<br /><br />In August 2002, Fanne turned down three MBA programme admissions from three University in England and applied for another one at <a href="http://www.stir.ac.uk/" target="_blank">the University of Stirling</a>, because I had been offered a place on the programme leading to the degree of PhD in the Department of Film and Media Studies there.<br /><br />Thus we went to Scotland together. While Fanne returned to Taiwan in September 2003 after finishing her MBA study, I stayed in Scotland for another four years until we were married in the Church of Holy Rude, Stirling in summer 2007. We finally came back and settled down in Taiwan.<br /><br />So it is our story.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x2AzO7Gr14XcdFgYF4-jSRaZSSnn51b_hkiATFsqosvPvh9NFfyTqQq0dL2h7uDkY0EeM7bv7sg8SqsV7D3Z2a9r4-ZeToPI_sWRfXar9OlVOONla35shcn7d2TcaFEUaU4W/s1600/abbey.png"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 518px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x2AzO7Gr14XcdFgYF4-jSRaZSSnn51b_hkiATFsqosvPvh9NFfyTqQq0dL2h7uDkY0EeM7bv7sg8SqsV7D3Z2a9r4-ZeToPI_sWRfXar9OlVOONla35shcn7d2TcaFEUaU4W/s400/abbey.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718689259505143138" /></a><br />(Shot in front of <a href="http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/cambuskenneth/index.html" target="_blank">Cambuskenneth Abbey</a>, Stirling in summer 2003)Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-75195068504582445832012-03-05T18:06:00.001+08:002013-02-27T19:05:34.276+08:00Two-fingered piano playing<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVemgk86wgAPvuB195N5c4icGp5bETNHrUNXFp0ifoKe_rYRqJzLUh3UOzMadHpwswK0oDDgYla7oBgZLDY6EHV2G7cTPrZ2MQdknfYKsSuw2poOXoEEyRob_VbK84sd9PaVEw/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVemgk86wgAPvuB195N5c4icGp5bETNHrUNXFp0ifoKe_rYRqJzLUh3UOzMadHpwswK0oDDgYla7oBgZLDY6EHV2G7cTPrZ2MQdknfYKsSuw2poOXoEEyRob_VbK84sd9PaVEw/s400/3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716250799491243234" /></a><br />(Ready to play the piano for Dad?)<br /><br />With the ever-increasing popularity of computers and our dependency on these machines, more and more people can touch-type, i.e. to type with all fingers and at least one of the thumbs without looking at the keyboard. Nevertheless, some would prefer two-fingered typing to touch typing and they still type proficiently.<br /><br />Two-fingered typing is one thing; two-fingered piano playing is quite another, although both activities are carried out on a keyboard. Whereas we don't usually press several keys of a computer keyboard at the same time, except when using special keys to modify normal actions of other keys, such as <ctrl>+<c>, most of the time we do have to produce more than two notes simultaneously on a piano.<br /><br />However, two-fingered piano playing is theoretically workable. The pianist <a href="http://davidrubinstein.net/" target="_blank">David Rubinstein</a> composed in 1999 <a href="http://davidrubinstein.net/PianoMusicForTwoFingers.html" target="_blank"><i>Piano Music for Two Fingers</i></a>. There are actually five pieces: for both thumbs, both index fingers, both middle fingers, both fourth fingers and both pinkies, respectively. Audio previews are available <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidrubinstein6" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />My two-year-old son's palms and fingers are probably still not big and strong enough to play the piano properly, but instead of pounding on the keyboard to produce tone clusters like most young children, he would rather press one key at a time with either of his index fingers.<br /><br />Well, there is a long way for him to go in the future should he want to make more sounds on the piano in an organised way, but it appears that he is quite happy with his two fingers for the time being.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplbd6DGWzOo6AgyQBaWvz3QBntdXlw1O0e9VElb9VsbNJNgzfDG7uNO465A8Xm2K4sLopxcTzXPVApJQSLgjib7LmWi9Y-y88FqYqK_oz1V6EsTRRGQs06_I2FG1lnhnhxau1/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplbd6DGWzOo6AgyQBaWvz3QBntdXlw1O0e9VElb9VsbNJNgzfDG7uNO465A8Xm2K4sLopxcTzXPVApJQSLgjib7LmWi9Y-y88FqYqK_oz1V6EsTRRGQs06_I2FG1lnhnhxau1/s400/1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716250799495676898" /></a><br />(Look, how concentrating he is!)<br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5ZKnQo5jYRnwaQrfSu7eJtbve0eEIzn3uhuV1Ze58pGBN6NEFsISUL9-fpSOKkXfJGegN0HjCJmRZMA6asMeN4GP8UA8R0LCdINEwpEhoMB29KcjZZrIfS3ubE6jaWDZXEMN/s1600/2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5ZKnQo5jYRnwaQrfSu7eJtbve0eEIzn3uhuV1Ze58pGBN6NEFsISUL9-fpSOKkXfJGegN0HjCJmRZMA6asMeN4GP8UA8R0LCdINEwpEhoMB29KcjZZrIfS3ubE6jaWDZXEMN/s400/2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716250806434763362" /></a><br />(Right, it's right hand's turn.)Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-23699473169121622722012-03-03T15:02:00.010+08:002012-03-03T16:45:58.035+08:00Rebirth of my 27-year-old piano<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcZstP6aVl19fQ_vfCfeejQlkLAJawqziKPBfWefzMFtmPs8K0LewqdMHc_RVtX6DGZOqQZ0MNbITJ02wmM4iFQU-3JeHhYMlPNTjTPjvToKeUorqZlKgY-dQL5y9XIEZwBer/s1600/piano.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcZstP6aVl19fQ_vfCfeejQlkLAJawqziKPBfWefzMFtmPs8K0LewqdMHc_RVtX6DGZOqQZ0MNbITJ02wmM4iFQU-3JeHhYMlPNTjTPjvToKeUorqZlKgY-dQL5y9XIEZwBer/s400/piano.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715563429300790226" /></a><br /><a href="http://blog.roodo.com/tuner90/archives/6840425.html" target="_blank">Mr Chen, the piano specialist</a>, came to my place, restored everything and tuned the piano today, just before Ronne's second birthday next Monday.<br /><br />Great birthday gift, though not brand new, isn't it?<br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0t4U7PMbWL7isPAuYH5jBo2_VB7s9ETgfDd8JEY5xHQ_bNYk6Fivl7Y101C3dmUXrnaCdLubS1FAQx6ajiN95xxqTuMSy03fwcWVxPi7ppLYBgnfYRWg1h_U99NRhvpOwi-Zh/s1600/piano.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0t4U7PMbWL7isPAuYH5jBo2_VB7s9ETgfDd8JEY5xHQ_bNYk6Fivl7Y101C3dmUXrnaCdLubS1FAQx6ajiN95xxqTuMSy03fwcWVxPi7ppLYBgnfYRWg1h_U99NRhvpOwi-Zh/s400/piano.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715585025087196578" /></a><br />(Looks like new, doesn't it?)<br /><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDF4HUKfIx1p7r5NIJBzVqX3Y62zWJ0uZsgxYZQzFKHa8iooq42wnh1xY9TaL8VMdF8lbRwi8oVdviKszXMpCdxbbJoAI6n3p1HB3Ds3qAxOoCSamfhzJPDl_Nz9yy3kaAYn6/s1600/bach.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDF4HUKfIx1p7r5NIJBzVqX3Y62zWJ0uZsgxYZQzFKHa8iooq42wnh1xY9TaL8VMdF8lbRwi8oVdviKszXMpCdxbbJoAI6n3p1HB3Ds3qAxOoCSamfhzJPDl_Nz9yy3kaAYn6/s400/bach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715585030449460450" /></a><br />(How lovely: the Bach half-statue indicator of the automatic piano dehumidifier. When the red light is on, the dehumidifying gadget is operating.)<br /><br />Ronne always asks my mum to play (by 'play' I mean 'engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose') the piano with him and sometimes would like to stay at my mum's place in order to play the piano.<br /><br />Well, from today onwards, he can play properly the piano with his father at home.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-69703239739475645942012-03-03T13:24:00.005+08:002012-03-03T14:40:36.103+08:00Merry Christmas and Happy New Year<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI53yWNVqJ-xl-T6ZERpUHCxWcpahTNSdzrs8ojv0paLbrf2oaclChGjTyhITh_UxKlIm96u1LuxLJGaI_TRMQG2LIWz891oyNBc9QBWbSa3yGgrxaoLN66Ws5f-7jD4byieyg/s1600/xmas.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0; cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI53yWNVqJ-xl-T6ZERpUHCxWcpahTNSdzrs8ojv0paLbrf2oaclChGjTyhITh_UxKlIm96u1LuxLJGaI_TRMQG2LIWz891oyNBc9QBWbSa3yGgrxaoLN66Ws5f-7jD4byieyg/s400/xmas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715539307548702770" /></a>I received a Christmas card last week. <br /><br />Yes, I know, certainly, undoubtedly, definitely, surely, indubitably, undeniably, obviously... (I am sure that everybody can easily think of more), Christmas and New Year holiday have long gone, but it was 'missent' to THAILAND.<br /><br />Bloody hell, does the spelling of my country's name 'TAIWAN' look like 'THAILAND' at all? Hopeless, Royal Mail. Shame on you.<br /><br />Well, think of the cliché 'every cloud has a silver lining' and try to look on the bright side: it's only two months late. It could have been worse.<br /><br />I once received a 'MISSENT TO TANZANIA' postcard several years ago. My wife (then girlfriend) sent me a card when she was in Cambridge for a short-term language programme. The post card arrived three month after she returned to Taiwan.<br /><br />Therefore, they have been improving, from three-month to two-month. God bless Royal Mail.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-39969496914465028482012-02-25T14:45:00.005+08:002012-02-25T16:53:55.132+08:00Moving my old upright piano<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQk0RH4yVogJDJT22n__-S8VVeaiJCIle5OMr7CTflzUasL4TzunIz5XS7fVmEXNmIovP6NtigcutGM3lnZ8Q-dRZtFy0URufppoH497Zk1cwgamjfUAWCDq_uqVulLjG1R6R/s1600/DSC06808.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQk0RH4yVogJDJT22n__-S8VVeaiJCIle5OMr7CTflzUasL4TzunIz5XS7fVmEXNmIovP6NtigcutGM3lnZ8Q-dRZtFy0URufppoH497Zk1cwgamjfUAWCDq_uqVulLjG1R6R/s400/DSC06808.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712963276396880786" /></a><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGfPRGJxeJh_dK68k_KvoEPkGy_22EBasd5jniw_eVyDdbgt2lH3ioL5InSbjKOMWl-XMLRfHkXwQiMXwCdLuLkwiNpZk42DMyMygUBJD7Xw5KikmOrYtpTuuIuv0zBpR05_D/s1600/DSC06807.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGfPRGJxeJh_dK68k_KvoEPkGy_22EBasd5jniw_eVyDdbgt2lH3ioL5InSbjKOMWl-XMLRfHkXwQiMXwCdLuLkwiNpZk42DMyMygUBJD7Xw5KikmOrYtpTuuIuv0zBpR05_D/s400/DSC06807.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712963279384623730" /></a><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz41LzGJEhpPeLigoEtkMiLcmvEWQeKKNko6fkpjsadczhvt3qYyqQv1JODAN8qz4qn982alryj2SHkOQx_Wdyh3pyNBSfFtUKG7f53YyPt965MgmROmh8H7WZeBHhM8kLFV0C/s1600/DSC06809.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz41LzGJEhpPeLigoEtkMiLcmvEWQeKKNko6fkpjsadczhvt3qYyqQv1JODAN8qz4qn982alryj2SHkOQx_Wdyh3pyNBSfFtUKG7f53YyPt965MgmROmh8H7WZeBHhM8kLFV0C/s400/DSC06809.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712963285365875890" /></a><br />(Ronne, in front of his new toy–Wei's old toy under overhaul)<br /><br />In 1985 Dad took out a loan of NTD 100,000 to buy me a YAMAHA U3 upright piano when he earned just more than 10,000 a month. It did cost him an arm and a leg. Although I didn't become a musician like Leonard Bernstein or Daniel Barenboim, I teach music at National Taiwan University, which has made him a proud and gratified parent.<br /><br />Sorry but I really can't bother to fork out an extravagant amount (at least NTD 200,000 nowadays) to buy another YAMAHA U3 for Ronne. Thus, I decided to move the one old in my parents' apartment to my place. I have also engaged a piano restoration specialist to start an overhaul of this 27-year-old <i/>pianoforte</i>.<br /><br />Fortunately, this black sound-producing device is still in very good condition. Only hammer butt flanges (something numbered 25 in the diagram below) need servicing. It'll take the specialist about ten days to restore all the butt flanges of the 88 keys to working order.<br /><br />The black wooden case, enclosing the soundboard, strings and the keyboard, is now in my living room awaiting the butt flanges. In must more than a week's time, Ronne will be playing with this new toy.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWj8Ycero73Is8HJqbCDPL9eAxijXsNyXeEiD57XYPCElJJQZv2Oq4kiR3QAKN15Q9TT7183ppx6uP-EB3q-cFK8-8Gk733eEPnjEFsXXnyH43_GUK5qKhKvMHuCzOE_VMgdr/s1600/upright.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 376px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWj8Ycero73Is8HJqbCDPL9eAxijXsNyXeEiD57XYPCElJJQZv2Oq4kiR3QAKN15Q9TT7183ppx6uP-EB3q-cFK8-8Gk733eEPnjEFsXXnyH43_GUK5qKhKvMHuCzOE_VMgdr/s400/upright.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712982551997294834" /></a><br />(Image from <a href="http://www.pianoparts.com/upright/" target="_blank">International Piano Supply</a>)Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-59079402412916352882012-02-19T15:33:00.005+08:002012-08-08T10:41:59.814+08:00Mandarin cover of Jeanette MacDonald's 'San Francisco'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73pkfHS62wQdyr8GMqyprSaW26yFwhot34iT8ea7XWi59MP_2dd4YqH-qz2TrfRq7JjtY0JVq-kx8sKkAQ96nTAFOUhSGI3ACnOEGsR64bTg2PPlSt3rBJs68JxkoP7q8ELQZ/s1600/so-ma-da-3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73pkfHS62wQdyr8GMqyprSaW26yFwhot34iT8ea7XWi59MP_2dd4YqH-qz2TrfRq7JjtY0JVq-kx8sKkAQ96nTAFOUhSGI3ACnOEGsR64bTg2PPlSt3rBJs68JxkoP7q8ELQZ/s400/so-ma-da-3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710746795550459154" /></a><br />(Martha Su, or <i>Su Mada</i> 蘇馬大 in Chinese, image cited from <a href="http://www.dengxiaoyu.net/News/View.asp?ID=384" target="_blank">Deng Xiaoyu</a>)<br /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" width="300" src="http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/11/163936/sanfracisco.mp3" autostart="false" height="20"></embed><br />(Listen to the Mandarin version of 'San Francisco' interpreted by Martha Su, on Regal (China) 41487B. Yes, it's in Mandarin Chinese. Can you identify any word?)<br /><br />To usher in the new semester, I was reorganising all the files and folders on my MacBook Pro this afternoon. I found this long-lost 'San Francisco', a song adapted from the theme of the 1936 Academy Award winning <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028216/" target="_blank"><i>San Francisco</i></a>, set in San Francisco before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. (Thanks to <a href="http://www.goldenhazeartandculture.com/" target="_blank">Edwin W Chen's</a> information about the film.)<br /><br />This song, now one of the two official city songs of San Francisco, was originally sung by the leading actress Jeanette MacDonal in the film, for six times at six scenes respectively.<br /><br />I don't know much about Martha Su, the Chinese singer who covered 'San Francisco'. The Mandarin 'San Francisco' is one of the only two songs known so far she had ever recorded.<br /><br />Martha's scat improvisation in this song is fascinating and unprecedented, as well as unparalleled in the 1930s and 1940s Mandarin pop scene. I can't think of any other singer from the same period that could improvise with wordless vocables or nonsense syllables to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo like Martha.<br /><br />Make a comparison between Martha's recording and one of Jeanette's performances in the film embedded below.<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QvK_gD3ulaw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-38016839324278248752012-02-19T14:27:00.004+08:002012-02-19T14:50:07.063+08:00Hand dragon lantern<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogjhCUi8hdOJd2eWe43XjZDJfeXUKjP3cp5auFgqqHwgwP22hGEd3ZeP_WQtuI1A03uVLDRSfqh6BFLZCvZv4yL7vmxNSuwg8Lo419RYA5FrXcXAl3zKbAZDWEwywfg13nhmU/s1600/lantern.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogjhCUi8hdOJd2eWe43XjZDJfeXUKjP3cp5auFgqqHwgwP22hGEd3ZeP_WQtuI1A03uVLDRSfqh6BFLZCvZv4yL7vmxNSuwg8Lo419RYA5FrXcXAl3zKbAZDWEwywfg13nhmU/s400/lantern.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710729713177707170" /></a><br />(Ronne and the dragon)<br /><br />Time flies; the nearly 5-week winter break has come to the end. Spring semester 2012 starts on 20 February.<br /><br />Surely there are a lot to be noted down during the long vacation, but the only thing I am able to write about on the day before the new semester kicks off would be Ronne and his dragon lantern.<br /><br />This year the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival" target="_blank">lantern festival</a>, which is generally regarded as the last day of the Chinese New Year and after which all lunar new year celebrations conclude, fell on 6 February. Although we didn't visit any <a href="http://www.taiwan.net.tw/2012TaiwanLantern/2/index.aspx" target="_blank">lantern fair</a>, lantern parade, garden party or something like that, we celebrated the festival at home.<br /><br />A friend of Fanne gave us a DIY lantern set. We (of course 'we' on this occasion is a singular which denotes 'I') managed to assemble the cardboard dragon lantern and we (now this is a plural pronoun which indeed means the whole family) had a good time in the evening.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRb1luydfq-XYCksdkg017Ejyti7g4-QsIJOi4LWcUazxJCo4eQ2ziOr6yUiQFWTFLeK2EO3p_uydQs3HbyqiKE4AgcLLhIa-WaARXFX-XHTDwCw3mAecE2KiGzKvK5TJxlLB/s1600/lantern_m.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRb1luydfq-XYCksdkg017Ejyti7g4-QsIJOi4LWcUazxJCo4eQ2ziOr6yUiQFWTFLeK2EO3p_uydQs3HbyqiKE4AgcLLhIa-WaARXFX-XHTDwCw3mAecE2KiGzKvK5TJxlLB/s400/lantern_m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710729716785247202" /></a><br /><br />As we failed to take proper, sharp images in the dark with our old digital camera, probably manufactured before you bought yours, what are uploaded here were taken during the day.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-18460823310199376862012-01-23T10:17:00.008+08:002012-08-08T10:45:22.423+08:00I'm Popeye The Sailor Man<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz5FrBm3I7hBvD8JqHHgeLfV4dbyKdL3sUcs2YoRXV9p12uJsM0hhK5z4ikKNYl3uT4qOWMcGuuZPMePSZMLQO0IfqLE3Ny3AGU18CO9blIiH12tOnDUPHNwW76cxP9EA0iFQ/s1600/billy+costello-i%2527m+pop+eye+the+sailor+man.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz5FrBm3I7hBvD8JqHHgeLfV4dbyKdL3sUcs2YoRXV9p12uJsM0hhK5z4ikKNYl3uT4qOWMcGuuZPMePSZMLQO0IfqLE3Ny3AGU18CO9blIiH12tOnDUPHNwW76cxP9EA0iFQ/s400/billy+costello-i%2527m+pop+eye+the+sailor+man.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700668210231765330" /></a><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" width="300" src="http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/11/163936/Im%20Pop%20Eye%20The%20Sailor%20Man.mp3" autostart="false" height="20"></embed><br />(Listen to 'I'm Popeye the Sailor Man' by Billy Costello, the original voice of Popeye in animated cartoons)<br /><br />Another recently purchased record for Chinese New Year!<br /><br />Like many cartoons, such as <b>Snoopy</b> and <b>Dennis the Menace</b>, <a href="http://popeye.com/" target="_blank">Popeye</a> is a character originally created for a comic strip which is later adapted into an animated cartoon.<br /><br />I can't remember if I've read any <i>Popeye</i> newspaper comic strips or individual comic books in my childhood, but I am sure I'v watched tonnes of <i>Popeye</i> animated cartoons on TV. <br /><br />On TV Popeye always turned many hopeless situations around after gulping some spinach from a tin, which boosted his muscles and physical strength immediately. Therefore Popeye was taken as a healthy eating role model by parents to encourage vegetable-phobic (is there such a word?) children to eat more spinach.<br /><br />I actually came to know this record through a radio programmed in an old newspaper circulated in Taiwan back in 1936. This record was once played over the air in Taiwan.<br /><br />I was so amazed how producers at the then Taipei Radio Station (台北放送局, call sign JFAK) would collect and introduce music from the West, not only 'classical' works but also other popular tunes, to the audience in Taiwan. I then discover this record on eBay, bid and won.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-56699275363280621572012-01-22T17:04:00.006+08:002012-01-22T21:17:15.049+08:00Another DIY new year couplet for the year of the dragon<a target="_blank" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2HEDJMU8OwHNK4bwYeSEReOW5FsG9tumg5h_9jwljhchRr_gq1w1pYlcyEr4oTAqmZNDfIwrZBIDERGsHWOyzYcQ9ERYQKs9aeCGXgJPeHUv_5pGWY-chfyl13S_hvHOlmiKN/s1600/2012+couplet.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 106px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2HEDJMU8OwHNK4bwYeSEReOW5FsG9tumg5h_9jwljhchRr_gq1w1pYlcyEr4oTAqmZNDfIwrZBIDERGsHWOyzYcQ9ERYQKs9aeCGXgJPeHUv_5pGWY-chfyl13S_hvHOlmiKN/s400/2012+couplet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700440425442914738" /></a>Although I am definitely not good at Chinese calligraphy at all, again I write my own <a href="http://www.foreignercn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1631:chinese-new-years-couplet&catid=1:history-and-culture&Itemid=114" target="_blank">new year couplet</a> (春聯 <i>chunlian</i>) with a Chinese writing brush, rather than buying a commercially mass-printed one.<br /><br />As usual, my DIY couplet must have something to do with music and the academia and thus this year I compose a pair of lines which may be translated roughly as<br /><br />"Joyfully play music and spread [it] throughout the globe (喜奏笙歌傳四宇);<br />Graciously welcome guests and converse over the history (高迎雅客論春秋)."<br /><br />I have to admit that the handwriting gets even worse than <a href="http://chen1923.blogspot.com/2011/02/writing-my-own-chinese-new-year-couplet.html" target="_blank">the one I did last year</a>. It looks indeed like homework or something at secondary school level.<br /><br />However, I can't blame myself, as I do it only once a year. Thus, happy new year, the year of dragon. Have a happy and prosperous year.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-26887310583279588162012-01-01T01:19:00.000+08:002012-01-01T23:25:48.726+08:00New Year's Day before the New Year's Day of the Year of the Dragon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsXyOC1dc_tVqXJVPXCathDsrNhFpgt_FbkX7M4oXlUw3SWti4jl9dtn2D4dEO5VyUIVh7HJx0K2bh6rtPjBXh5SSb6_oJIvLLW1aXy5Sy3UikIrEUODsvhIE2NI9Z0sJNxvn/s1600/2012.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 356px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsXyOC1dc_tVqXJVPXCathDsrNhFpgt_FbkX7M4oXlUw3SWti4jl9dtn2D4dEO5VyUIVh7HJx0K2bh6rtPjBXh5SSb6_oJIvLLW1aXy5Sy3UikIrEUODsvhIE2NI9Z0sJNxvn/s400/2012.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692683704415381042" /></a><br />(Click to enlarge and see how I have changed over the past few years, from 1st January 2007 to 2012)<br /><br />The Chinese New Year of the Dragon falls on the 23rd of January in 2012. Before running towards a whole series of traditional rituals, I am obliged to herald the Gregorian New Year with thousands of revellers on streets.<br /><br />For the sixth time in a row since the year end 2006, I went to the <a href="http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/index_en.htm" target="_blank">Taipei 101</a> fireworks show again last night, with my wife of course and, as I had spoken last year, my son, who is old enough now to join us.<br /><br />While I am busy marking students' essays, striving to finish the manuscript of a paper which is scheduled to be published by the end of January, blah, blah, blah, I insist on maintaining the ritual of counting down to New Year at the same spot and then taking a photo thereafter.<br /><br />I am so glad that Blogger is still in business and I am able to upload a set of comparative photos this year.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-8058345040113455672011-11-12T16:45:00.007+08:002012-08-08T10:47:13.807+08:00I Want Your Love<img style="width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSg2qH_vToMzta86g_1ddWjvEFbEq3GbzI7b4k2W2sjuWx17PrJ-g8EHk1fKoe8MeGsv2aDk1j6Fd8AaapQPh6ck74J1hmzRz5tBvnfmC6KxsJxe9HoTS9DuWnqrPJ2nr5ZYU/s400/You+Love.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674030787629363826" /><br /><embed allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" width="300" src="http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/11/163936/Your%20Love.mp3" autostart="false" height="20"></embed><br />(Listen to 'I Want Your Love' by Grace Chang released in 1957 Hong Kong on Pathé label)<br /><br />Haven't purchased records from eBay for a while and thus haven't share with my readers great music transferred from 78 rpm records.<br /><br />There you go—'I Want Your Love (我要你的愛)' by Grace Chang (or Ge Lan 葛蘭 known to most Chinese speakers ).<br /><br />This is a 1957 Chinese cover version of Georgia Gibbs's '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAtjPCRixws" target="_blank">I Want You To Be My Baby</a>', which is indeed a 1955 cover as well of Louis Jordan's original recording made in 1953.<br /><br />The instrumental arrangement of Grace Chang's version is quite similar to that in Georgia Gibbs's, and a huge part of the original English lyrics are kept to make this song a Mandarin/English combo. However, Grace not only articulates each English word with precision, but also creates her own interpretation, even with more of playful allure in a commanding tone.<br /><br />Below are the English lyrics in Grace Chang's combo version. See if you can follow.<br /><br /><i>Listen to your mama and you never will regret it<br />And if anybody wonders you can tell them that I said it<br />The only thing I know is that I never can forget ya<br />I've been longin' for ya baby ever since the day I metcha<br />I gotcha where I want'cha and I'm never gonna let'cha<br />Get away from me<br /><br />Hear what I tell ya<br />I'm the gal for you and so you'd better start to face it<br />If you ever lose my love you know you can't replace it<br />I think it's time for you to start to give me some lovin'<br />Carryin' a torch for you that's hotter than an oven<br />It's time for you to give me a little bit of lovin'<br />Baby, hold me tight and do what I tell you</i><br /><br />I can, with my eye, but cannot with my tongue.<br /><br />Enjoy Georgia Gibbs's to make a comparison with Grace Chang's.<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZAtjPCRixws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33075673.post-76773938516537525882011-10-29T19:59:00.006+08:002011-10-29T20:19:13.243+08:00A Rubik's Cube that never makes us frustrated<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HAgc00y51MEwKI9s_oA4bj39JB9mVPLNusiaSeiNMJztdXPVfulthBeTS6-a4LkzIqrosdWYVv3XBnXD6Dj3wtU7PE4eXcwIuJF2mp36ALXM9gJm6ZAfx77dDvGEUdmODLKb/s400/cube.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668883389108051058" />Ever got frustrated with a Rubik's Cube? Now there is an alternative version that never lets us down.<br /><br />From time to time I see news clips on TV showing how some people can<br />solve Rubik's Cubes in an amazing way. How can some nerds solve this mechanical puzzle in one minute, even solve it with their feet or while blindfolded?<br /><br />These video clips always leave me totally flabbergasted, for I can't even solve this bloody puzzle with my eyes wide open in one hour.<br /><br />Fortunately, there is a self-solving Rubik's Cube which requires no effort to solve. It has been solved in the beginning.<br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSgPB9QRE_yifzk7Iz1XRjkwxujChSP0Mucy9aWvfFg-UxR3FUZUM3boMXw6JTvFBUt-AhaY_KJ5E-Yx2QyNLoPMluajoDFY3728GWFEduuIQdob_2bkIF3NaZoeMF_Gtgyi3/s400/well-field.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668882805787832898" />Well, actually it's a 3D logo of the <a href="http://juang.bst.ntu.edu.tw/N2/" target="_blank">Second Northern Taiwan Teaching Resource Centre</a>.<br />The idea behind this logo comes from the <a href="" target="_blank">well-field system</a>, a and distribution method existing roughly between the 9th to 2nd century BC.<br /><br />A square area of land was divided equally into nine sections, with the outer eight cultivated by eight individual peasant families and the centre jointly cultivated for the landowning aristocrat.<br /><br />Whatever idea there is behind the design, the 3D version is absolutely great consolation for people like me who cannot solve a six-coloured cube.Weihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16132078373046427018noreply@blogger.com0