Week of October 3rd, 2014

Hey there,

Betty got back from a long trip and caught up on the family diary, she comes up to me, laughing fortunately, and says "please say something nice about Taiwan."  Hmmmm, gonna have to think about that one.

Bought myself a new camera this week...it's a Canon Powershot G16, which is a beefy point and shoot.  With all the new places we are getting to see, finally got tired of either having erratic camera phone shots, or having to lug around a big bodied, lens cap losing, multiple lens toting big camera all day.  This Canon is on the bigger side of the point and shoots, but still fits in the pocket, and of all these types that the Costco offers, was rated highest on picture quality.  It's also cool in the fact that it has WiFi and I can send images to my phone to post or send while on the road.  The problem this week is that even though it sounds simple, a lot of my spare time this week has been spent fumbling with learning the features and not working on this space.  Am super happy with the purchase, really the first camera I ever owned that I wanted, and am hoping this is the thing that gets me to take those photos that I regret missing.  Looking forward to sharing them with you, and in the meantime, here is the first shot ever from it.

For whatever reason, Carolyn has been obsessing on cooking shows.  It has taken a while, but we have dialed in our viewing options really well.  We have a dedicated computer hooked up to the living room TV, and with VPN, can watch Netflix, MLB and NFL.coms, Daily Show/Colbert Report and can Torrent nearly any show and see it a few hours after broadcast (which for us means the family guilty pleasure of  Hawaii 5-0...the season premiere last week was stunningly awful/great)).  I was thinking how awesome technology is these days as I was walking around town the other morning and had the A's v Royals Wild Card game (classic) playing on my phone live.    Barely turn on the local cable anymore, mainly for CNN, and am disconnecting our expanded cable service next week.   The dopes that run the cable company (KBRO) made two moves recently that cost them our business.  First, they took the NFL off of the All Sports Network (ASN) and put it on their second channel, which you have to buy a bigger package of channels to receive.  Then last Saturday, as I sat down to watch the Aussie Rules Grand Final, learned that they totally eliminated the Australian Network.  They removed it the week of the most popular event on that channel.  That move alone proves that they are either totally out of touch with their audience, or did it to drive people to purchase a more expensive plan.  Screw you KBRO.  Anyway, Carolyn is dedicated to Cake Boss and some elimination show where kids are the chefs.  I know she loves her food and wants to do more in the kitchen, but she needs to learn how to clean up before I let her behind the stove.  The other night as we sit down to the table, she takes a bite of dinner and says that it tastes good, "but my plating could use some work."

A lot of scary stories in the news these days, but the one I have been mainly focusing on, and is a big subject in these parts, is the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong.  Read an article somewhere recently where they studied insurrections over the last two centuries, comparing armed vs peaceful struggles, and they found that peaceful, people powered revolutions were overwhelmingly more successful both in terms of lives lost and stability of the ensuing government.  The Hong Kong protesters are pretty freaking awesome in this respect and we are rooting for them.  Betty and I said to each other last night that we would both love to go there to lend our selves to the cause.  And Taiwan had better be watching how this unfolds very closely as the one country/two party thing is the scenario that  people envision as being the only one that is possible for reuniting Taiwan and the mainland without violence. 

Trying to predict the HK outcome, my guess is that the Chinese drag out the talks slowly enough to try and turn the populace (re. business community) against them, but refuse to give into the student demands.  The students don't give in and the "government", citing public safety and enforcing the "laws" on the books,  cracks enough skulls to effectively squash the movement.  Businesses migrate out of HK en masse (to Singapore...am amazed they haven't all gone there already).  China loses international prestige (like they care) and far more financially, which is irrelevant to them as preserving the party (their power) is their only goal.  Taiwan gains more friends politically and by treaty, most notably by a resurgent Japan (who already have strong ties to the island) , becomes internationally recognized as a sovereign nation.  Yadda yadda yadda, war across the Taiwan Straight, China gets spanked by superior technology, a lot (but not as many as you'd think) are killed, and the people of the mainland finally rise up to toss out the government. 

Crystal ball can't see what comes next, but this got me thinking about Betty's comment about saying something nice about Taiwan.  I think the nicest thing I can say about the people here is that they are not Chinese.  Was outside of a nice hotel (the Grand Hyatt)downtown last Friday night talking to a buddy and meeting a couple of his friends, a delightful Irish couple, that moved here a year or so ago after living in Shanghai for several years.  We're standing there and behind us we hear this guy dredge up a huge ball of phlegm from deep within.  We collectively all turn to see where the noise is coming from, and this guy hawks a giant loogie  right on the area in front of the hotel doors.  The delicate flower that was the Irish women says in disgust, "Mainlander". 

Taiwan has their share of corruption, and you hear a lot about how preferential treatment is given to families that are connected, but they are trying to become more civilized.  It's hard to turn a cultural switch overnight, and you can see the vestiges of what many describe as the Chinese "survival of the fittest" mentality, primarily in the older generation, but the young people get it and their future is bright.  One more generation, even a decade, and there is no way Taiwan ever willingly accepts reuniting with the mainland in its current state.  More power to you Taiwan.

There are lots of other things I can say that are positive about Taiwan, and have said them before, but best of all, the place feels safe everywhere.  Have little fear about my kids walking around town with their friends.  Taipei is a great walking city, love the fact I can do just about anything within a 20 minute walk, and they have instituted fine walking and biking rails throughout the city that are free of cars and scooters.  Public transportation is cheap, efficient and reliable.  Basically, a fine place to live...give them a few more years on their current path and it could be really cool.