Posts from June 2007
June 28, 2007
Multiple Virginity, Barbarian Prince Charmings, and Other Contested Realities in Taipei's Foreign Club Culture
With a title like that passing my inbox I had to read it.
Here's a quote to see if you are interested.
"Dating foreign men can also prove to be strategically advantageous to Taiwanese women in that Western men are less likely to meet the women¡¦s husbands or lovers, or their husbands¡¦ and lovers¡¦ friends."
June 26, 2007
Bong hits for Jesus
The third to last paragraph is the funniest.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/25/free.speech/index.html
June 25, 2007
Book trade
I normally make a habit of passing on books after I read them. Sometimes I give them to the guy next to me at a coffeeshop, sometimes a book comes up in a conversation and is dropped off at a friend's house, once I had just finished a scathing expose on Morgan Stanley's painful learning experience in China, and bumped into their CEO on the flight - and of course gave him the book.
I looked on my shelves today, and there were still a lot of books that somehow stayed stuck on the shelf, so I've decided to ask all my Taiwan friends (since the bookstores here don't have that great of a selection) via this blog to trade with me.
Here's a list of 125 books that don't need to stay on the shelf, and they are all free for the taking. It'd be nice if you can trade something interesting I haven't read. You can take as many as you want, and I'll drop them off at the Livingroom with your name on them. Just send an email or leave a comment with the books you want.
Happy reading!
*100 Twisted Little Tales of Torment, Various
A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Cansfield and Mark Victor Hansen
*A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest J. Gaines
*A History of Philosophy - Volume IV Descartes to Leibniz, Volume V Hobbes to Hume, Volume VI Wolff to Kant, Frederick Copleston, S.J.
*A History of Philosophy - Volume VII Fichte to Nietzsche, Volume VIII Bentham to Russell, Volume IX Maine de Biran to Sartre, Frederick Copleston, S.J.
*A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume
All I Need to Know I Learned From My Cat, Suzy Becker
All-In-One Business Planner - How To Create The Plan You Need To Build Your Business, Christopher R. Malburg, CPA, MBA
*America, Franz Kafka
And Do Remember Me, Marita Golden
Bandits, Elmore Leonard
Basic Writings, Martin Heidegger
*Bertrand Russell's Best
Boarding Schools and Colleges, Eighth Edition
Breaking Out of The Box - The Biography of Edward de Bono, Piers Dudgeon
Chuang-Tzu - The Inner Chapters, A.C. Graham
*Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje
*Confessions of Felix Krull Confidence Man, Thomas Mann
Convergence Marketing - Strategies for Reaching the New Hybrid Customer, Yoram Jerry Wind, Vijay Mahajan, with Robert E. Gunther
*Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami
Descartes Philosphical Writings, Edited by Elizabeth Anscombe and Peter Thomas Geach
*Dialogues of Plato, Jowett Translation
Differentiate or Die - Survival in our Era of Killer Competition, Jack Trout
Direct From Dell - Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry, Michael Dell
Dream Interpretation - The Secret, David F. Melbourne and Dr. Keith Hearne
*Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness, Charles Bukowski
Essays in Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre
Facets of Taoism - Essays in Chinese Religion, Edited by Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel
Free Fall, William Golding
Fury, G.M. Ford
Getting Past No - Negotiating Your Way From Confrontation to Cooperation, Willian Ury
Goodbye Columbus, Philip Roth
Habits of Wealth, Bill Byrne
Hagakure - The Book of the Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Help Yourself, Dave Pelzer
Hemlock Bay, Catherine Coulter
*Hot and Cool - Jazz Short Stories, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Julio Cortazar, J.F, Powers, Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, and Others
How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
I and Thou, Martin Buber
In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway
In Six Days - Why Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation, Edited By John F. Ashton, PhD
*Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino
Irish Journal, Heinrich Boll
Jack - Straight From the Gut, Jack Welch
Journey To The End of The Night, Louis-Ferdinand Celine
Letters From Thailand, Botan
Like Water For Chocolate, Laura Esquirel
Love is the Killer App - How To Win Business and Influence Friends, Tim Sanders
Making Movies, Sidney Lumet
Managing a Nonprofit Organization, Thomas Wolf
Marcovaldo, Italo Calvino
Me - Stories of My Life, Katherine Hepburn
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
Monsignor Quixote, Graham Greene
Music of the Swamp, Lewis Nordan
My Life, Bill Clinton
*Myths to Live By, Joseph Campbell
Nickel Mountain, John Gardner
Nonprofit Boards - Roles, Responsibilities and Performance, Diane J. Duca
*Notes of A Dirt Old Man, Charles Bukowski
Pandora, Alan Rodgers
Philosophy of Mind, Dale Jacquette
Pop Goes The Weasel, James Patterson
Practical Jung, Nuts and Bolts of Jungian Psychology, Harry A. Wilmer, M.D.
Primal Myths - Creating the World, Babara C. Sproul
Promise Me, Harlan Coben
Remember Every Name Every Time, Benjamin Levy
Screenwriting 101 - The Essential Craft of Feature Film Writing, Neill D. Hicks
Six Thinking Hats, Edward de Bono
Sony - The Private Life, John Nathan
South To a Very Old Place, Albert Murray
Stage Management, Lawrence Stern
Stop Paddling & Start Rocking The Boat - Business Lessons From The School of Hard Knocks, Lou Pritchett
Strategic Planning for Public and Non-Profit Organizations, John M. Bryson
*Tha KamaSutra - Special Collector's Edition
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
The Alexander Trilogy, Mary Renault
The Archeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language, Michel Foucault
The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
The Boy's War - Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War, Jim Murphy
The Decay of the Angel, Yukio Mishima
The Diving-Bell & The Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Education of Little Tree, Forrest Carter
The Elements of Style, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
The Good Schools Guide - The Independent Guide to the Best Private & State Schools, Amanda Atha and Sarah Drummond
The Hours, Michael Cunningham
The Intimate Act of Choreography, Lynne Anne Blom and L. Tarin Chaplin
*The Kinky Friedman Crime Club, Kinky Friedman
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy - Volume 1-3, J.R.R. Tolkien
*The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover, Kinky Friedman
The Master of Go, Yasunari Kawabata
The Mind's Eye - Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul, Douglas R. Hofstadter
The Monkey House, John Fullerton
The Name of The Rose, Umberto Eco
The Nature of Mind, David M. Rosenthal
The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing, Charlie Papazian
The Nudist of The Late Shift, Po Bronson
The Organized Executive, Stephanie Winston
*The Pastures of Heaven, John Steinbeck
The Sandman - Season of The Mists, Neil Gaiman
The Spyglass Tree, Albert Murray
The Stage Management Handbook, Donald A. Ionazzi
The Start-Up Entrepreneur, James R. Cook
*The Surgeon of Crowthorne - A Tale of Murder, Madness, and the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
The Theory of The Leisure Class, Thorsten Veblen
The Thief and the Dogs, Naguib Mahfouz
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
The Wizard of Loneliness, John Nichols
The World As I Found It - Bruce Duffy
Theatre Management and Production in America, Stephen Langley
Through The Brick Wall - How To Job Hunt in a Tight Market, Kate Wendelton
*Tishomingo Blues, Elmore Leonard
Train Whistle Guitar, Albert Murray
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbit
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
Unleashing the Killer App - Digital Strategies for Market Dominance, Larry Downes and Chunka Mui
Venice - Tales of the City by Thomas Mann, Edith Wharton, Orson Welles, Casanova, Jeanette Winterson, Jen Paul Sartre
Very Old Bones, William Kennedy
Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech
What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School, Mark H. McCormack
*Women, Charles Bukowski
Woody Allen - A Biography, Eric Lax
Yukio Mishima on Hagakure - The Samurai Ethic and Modern Japan
* Have been taken
June 24, 2007
Who was that guy?
After way too many years, I'm getting rid of all my old books. While thumbing through a copy of Hagakure - The Book of the Samurai, a few small notes fell out in my handwriting. It's always interesting to revisit your former self, if only for a few moments, even if you don't remember who the hell that was. Here's what interested that guy back then (20 yrs ago).
From Beauty and Sadness, by Yasunari Kawatabata -
p32 - "Only the beauty of it had been heightened, to the point that it was unmarred by any moral questioning."
p163 - "Time flows through human beings in the same way but every human being flows through time differently."
From A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster -
p132 - "I'm a holiman minus the holiness (just a guy who travels light)."
p245 - She was no longer examining life, but being examined by it. She was a real person."
Response 1: Do you push life, or does it push you?
Response 2: Do you "actively" - with conscious motives - some design or outcome in mind, irritate the equilibrium of existence, or are you a product of environment, moresay nudged on by ulteriors?
To Homare:
A painting, creation, where the colors, textures, and forms and space, light and shadow rather than words, dyes, notes (Is it possible - of course, but who will be the audience?) are human experiences?
Isn't to live a full life the greatest work of art?
Fullness of life? What is it?
What are you to do while inside the painting?
Stepping back to view the work, how can you really judge it until it's finished?
*Stepping back is admitting it isn't done.
Things finish themselves, especially paintings, so shouldn't we just wait until it's finished?
Who was Apollinaire with his head wrapped in bandages?
Upon landing at CKS Airport. It's not really the comfort of going home, or the anticipation of someplace new.
June 19, 2007
What do you get if...
What do you get if:
1) Someone slipped some acid in your iced tea
2) you went to a concert
3) you started tripping
4) you thought to yourself "what if Lin Chi-lin 林志玲 were 15 years older, could sing in Japanese, and performed with a big band covering a famous video game song which we all know, but never knew there were lyrics to?"
5) it all appeared on stage in front of you
6) then someone taped it as proof
You'd get this...
Lyrics:
Go Go Mario
Kyou mo genki ni Mario ga hashiru, hashiru
Piichi hime wo tasukeni ikuze, ikuze
Kyou mo genki ni Mario ga hashiru
Kyou mo genki ni janpu
Kyou mo genki ni koin wo sagase
Kyou mo susumeyo Ma?Pri?Po
Kinoko wo totte Super Mario daze
Furawa wo totte Fire Mario
Kuriboo da, Nokonoko da, Metto datte taose
Mario wa itsumo, genki de tsuyoi
[Spoken] Kinokotachi ni kakerareta mahou wo toku koto ga dekiru nowa Piichi hime dake desu
Demo, Piichi hime wa tooi oshiro no chika ni toraware no mininatteimasu
Aa, heiwa de yume no atta ano koro ni
Mou ichido ano goro ni modoretara
Piichi hime wo sukuidashi, futatabi heiwana Kinoko Oukoku wo kizuku tame Mario wa kyou mo ikuno desu
Kyou mo genki ni Mario ga hashiru, hashiru
Kuppa ichizoku wo yattsukeni ikuzo, ikuzo
Kyou mo genki ni Mario ga hashiru
Kyou mo genki ni janpu
Kyou mo genki ni koin wo sagase
Kyou mo susumeyo Ma?Pri?Po
Sutaa wo totte muteki ni narou
Hyaku Piichi wo tasukeni, ikou
Jugemu da Togezoo da, Pukupuku datte taose
Mario wa itsumo, genki de tsuyoi
Kyou mo genki ni Mario ga hashiru, hashiru
Kitaze, oshiro da, hanabi wa agero agero
Hanmaa Burozu hirarito, kawasu
Saigo no chikara dase, Ma?Pri?Po
Nagai tabi datta keredo mou sugu, owaru
Yattaze yattaze, Kuppa wo taoshita
Piichi hime ni thank you to iware
Mario no kokoro wa ookiku hazunda
Mario no bouken wa koko de owatta keredo
Mario no yume wa hattenaku tsuzuku
--------------
Go Go Mario
Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running
Go save Princess Peach! Go!
Today, full of energy, Mario runs
Today, full of energy, jumping!
Today, full of energy, searching for coins
Today, keep going, Mario!
Get a mushroom - it's Super Mario!
Get a flower - it's Fire Mario!
Goomba! Troopa! Buzzy Beetle! Beat them all!
Mario is always full of energy and strong!
[Spoken] The only one who can reverse the spell that has captured the Mushroom People is Princess Peach. But Princess Peach is hidden underground, in a far-off castle. Ah, the days of peace... if we could once more return to those days... to save Princess Peach and bring peace back to the Mushroom Kingdom, that is why Mario is on his journey today.
Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running
Go and beat the Koopa tribe, go!
Today, full of energy, Mario runs
Today, full of energy, jumping!
Today, full of energy, searching for coins
Today, keep going, Mario!
Get a star - become invincible!
Quickly, go save Princess Peach!
Lakitu! Blooper! Cheep Cheep! Beat them all!
Mario is always full of energy and strong!
Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running
He's made it to the castle and gets fireworks!
Lightly sidestepping the Hammer Bros.
Show the last of your power, Mario!
It's been a long journey but it's nearly at an end
You've done it, you've done it! You've defeated Bowser!
Princess Peach says "Thank you"
Mario's got a great big heart!
Mario's adventure is over for now, but
Mario's dream lives forever...
June 11, 2007
Finally, some business - part 2
The pink light place downstairs just wasn't getting any business, and as I predicted, it finally closed, as did the hastily put together "white aluminum window frame store" immediately next to it, of which there are at least seven of nearby my office. I'm curious where the demand is for white window frame material to justify seven shop within 100 meters. They must've wondered that too, as they sat there every day for hours with out one single white aluminum window frame buying customer.
But interestingly enough there is now a tattoo store in it's place with photographs of their art plastered all over the window. A major step up in the signage department, but I wonder how many people will wander down the small alley, around the corner from the doorknob store, across the way from the wedding photo place, behing the tea shop, and a stone's throw from the public toilet/weekend KTV barf center and say "Hey, cool, just what I needed. A full back sized tattoo of a flying dragon!"
June 09, 2007
The death train
I bought a last minute ticket to Suzhou for a business trip, and was fortunate enough to get a seat on the hi-speed train, or the "Harmonious" train, as it's called. After fighting with someone as usual trying to cut the line, I got my prized ticket and was thinking how lucky I was to have gotten a seat, until I looked down and saw the train number. I guess no one wanted to take this train.
June 02, 2007
Ningbo Jazz
Went to Ningbo's only jazz club tonight, but only heard cover songs and the prerequisite "Smooth Operator." Met an Indian guy from Long Island selling DIY to the Dutch, and an Aussie from Melbourne making poker tables for Wild Turkey. Beer was much more expensive than at my own club, with a per set minimum. The next time another Canadian complains about drink prices at the Living Room, I'll suggest they go to a 2nd tier city 4 hrs south of Shanghai, teach English for 1/4 the price, and spend a lot more on beer. That'll have them running back to Taipei in a hurry.
I've never figured out whether it's pronounced "Moe's (like owned by one of three stooges) or Moss (like that guy out of Bonanza), but the one down the hill from me is open until 2am most days, which means that if I get out of the club early enough, I can catch the best burger in town, the muo si la bao or the Spicy Mos Burger. They have lots of jalapenos and 
