I’ve been living in the US for over a year now and what better time to give a description of my impressions than shortly after the election? I have to admit I expected the campaigning to be much more intense than it actually was here in my neighborhood, but this was also part of a [...]
We’ve all been hearing a lot about the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands lately, what with all the demonstrations in China after the Japanese government purchased the islands from the Japanese owner. Meanwhile, Taiwan is adding their opinion into the mix since three governments claim this territory. So, what’s really going on? What laws govern island ownership? Who [...]
Before I even start this review, I have to make one thing clear: I’m a big fan of both Julie Delpy and Chris Rock. Putting them together caught my interest right away. That, and the fact that the movie was written and directed by Delpy made me curious as to what she would create. There’s [...]
We’re getting to that time every four years when the United States has their presidential election. Both parties have chosen their nominees, not officially but that will happen soon at the conventions. I thought I’d take as objective a look as I possibly could at each candidate, not so much for our American readers as [...]
Minus the Bear is an indie band from Seattle, Washington that I’d like to share with everyone. They’re not new and have been recording for over ten years, but they continue to improve with each new CD including their newest, Infinity Overhead. Here is a track from that album, to be released on August 28th. [...]
This week is Taiwan’s annual Spring Scream festival, held in Kenting which is located in the very southern part of the island. Started in 1995, it’s become an annual rite of spring for Taiwanese youths, where they can catch the latest musical acts from a variety of styles. This year, making their first appearance at [...]
A picture is worth a thousand words, the Langer’s #19 with a chocolate malt… sandwich paradise! That’s pastrami on rye, swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing. This stuff just melts in your mouth and for my money, it’s even better than Katz’s in NYC. And the chocolate malt? It’s the real thing, unchanged since [...]
From her second album, Joanna & 王若琳, Joanna Wang sings Don McLean’s Vincent. The daughter of music producer Wang Chi-ping (王治平), Joanna was born in Taipei but raised in Los Angeles. At 20 she released her first album, Start From Here, which went #1 in Taiwan and was popular throughout east Asia. Singing in both English [...]
It’s in all the headlines. “Protesters Confront Apple Over Foxconn Conditions”, “Apple’s Foxconn Electronics Manufacturer Blamed for Chinese Child Slave Labor”, “Apple, Foxconn and the Human Cost of Electronics Manufacturing in China”, those are just a smattering of media reports that all say basically the same thing, that Apple is responsible for China’s labor laws, [...]
I haven’t had much spare time since I moved to the US, but during weekends and holidays we’ve occasionally been around some of the more scenic spots of the Bay Area. There’s no lack of beautiful nature in the vicinity; from Big Basin to Yosemite, there’s an abundance of national parks. Not as well-known, but [...]
Jeremy Shuhao Lin has taken the New York City sports world by storm these last few days. The Knicks’ third-string point guard, he has started the last two games and responded with a combined 53 points and 15 assists. Only 23, the 6’3″ (190.5 cm) point guard graduated from Harvard and has kicked around the [...]
James Fallows wrote about a local Michigan Super Bowl commercial on his blog in The Atlantic yesterday. Some hack politician named Pete Hoekstra is running for his old seat in Congress against a Democratic opponent named Debbie Stabenow. He not so cleverly renames her “Debbie Spend-it-now” and tries to blame her for lost Michigan manufacturing [...]
Wukailong and I wish everyone a very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and in a few days, a great New Year. Rather than a white Christmas, down here in San Diego our Christmases are a bit balmier. However, we still get into the spirit in a different sort of way. Here are a few pix taken [...]
Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese American jazz pianist, orchestra leader and composer, one of the most successful female jazz artists of all time and one of very few successful Japanese women in her field. Born in Liaoyang, China to Japanese parents, they lost everything during the war and came back to Japan, living in Beppu [...]
All political and social systems have a certain gravitational pull both from their achievements and the perceived morality of its leaders. Through all the years I’ve been in China, positive opinions about Western countries have waxed and waned. The NATO operation in Yugoslavia lowered the opinions of the US (and I’m not talking about the [...]
