Hey there,
Picture from the vault this week.
I'm not gonna claim I was a great dancer but did give it my all. During the years where we were going to a lot of weddings, the above was pretty standard. I call your attention to my lack of footwear...could not truly get funky with shoes on and had the socks to back it up.
In Taiwan news this week...TPapocalypse! Due to product disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, they are anticipating "steep rises" in prices for toilet paper. The locals went all "It's A Wonderful Life" and cleared the shelves of all the toilet paper in Taiwan. There were lines out the door at Costco and when I went yesterday, and there was nary a sheet to be seen. If you want to see the nuttiness that was at Costco, click on this link from Taiwan News as it has a short video. You won't be disappointed.
If you recall, mentioned a couple of months ago that there has been an influx of pop up shops all over town that have only the claw machine arcade game in them. It seems that these claw machine operators have taken advantage of the TPanic and removed the cheap stuffed animals and filled their machines with toilet paper. Add to all of this a report that an outbreak of diarrhea has struck the island and you have a perfect storm. I had a few potty talk puns for this section, but the facts seemed funnier. Will not let you down however and leave you with this video of a guy in China peeing on the elevator control panel, short circuiting it and getting trapped inside. Impressive stream this dude has.
Walking around town lately, have noticed an influx of California Angels baseball hats on the heads of the locals. Took a few steps to realize that they must all be on board the Shohei Otani bandwagon cause no one other than the sleeved dude-bros and their big haired ladies would be an Angels fan otherwise. Will be dialing up their games to watch him too.
I have been on a roll lately in getting people with some need in touch with folks that have a solution and have been developing a bridge metaphor for myself. Still in the workshop phase, but I see myself as a man of bridges. I am either building them, or burning them to the ground. In Bridge On the River Kwai, would I be Japanese Colonel Saito or British Colonel Nicholson? Madness!
A bridge I've been trying to build/blow up is amongst anyone I encounter, and their phone. Mentioned last time about the tech ethicist and his tips on how to realize how we are being manipulated by tech geeks and some tips on how to lessen that addiction. Since last time, they popped this 5 minute video up on YouTube that outlines the issue and three things anyone can do on their device. Am over a week into this thing, and while I don't have data to support it, am noticing a real difference in how often I reach for the phone and how long I play with it when I do. Have even left it at home twice and didn't realize it for good while. Betty's eyes roll when I launch into my grayscale rap and have yet to find anyone even willing to admit they have a problem let alone come down this road with me. Have talked to the head of tech at the high school in hopes they address it with the kids. If not getting them to turn off their notifications, at least raise their awareness about how they are being used. Am serious about this.
A couple of SF trip clean-up items for the record. A show we don't get here that seems to be on constant rotation on the cable channels in the States is Modern Family. There was an episode where Phil had a problem. Seems every morning when he takes off his underwear, he flips it up with his toe and catches it. If he misses it, his day becomes a disaster and the episode took off from there. I do the exact same maneuver without the superstition but never occurred to me that I was even doing it or that every other man does the same thing. Perfect sitcom writing.
One thing that is more noticeable every time we're on the west coast, it feels that the homeless camps get bigger and bigger. In SF this trip, noticed that RV's lined the long stretch of El Camino Real in front of Stanford University.
Had seen them before and assumed they were there to tailgate for football games but realized this trip these are the Palo Alto version of a homeless camp. We have a lot of problems that get more attention, but this thing is out of control and have not seen a solution that seems viable nor a good reason it is exploding. Depressing on just about every level.
Finally, after spending some time with mom, wrote a paragraph or three about getting old, quality of life and such, but it started dark and went full black hole, so I deleted it. You're welcome. I did have an existential realization during this dive that I will share. Am certainly not a religious person, but have considered it my whole life. Catholic school till 4th grade and have looked into the history of most of the Christian faiths, have read the Koran and while not to a monkish level, have studied at various times Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Greek/Roman gods, the Druids, Mormons...even the cult of Mithras. Am a long time fake Jew and am not forgetting agnosticism/athiesism either. My personal conclusion...some good stuff in all of them originally but exponentially find that they quickly became perverted by men (always men) and they are used to control the people who come into them in good faith.
Cannot remember how, but stumbled onto Deism the other day and am pretty sure I've been one the whole time. In a sentence, "human beings can know God only via reason and the observation of nature, but not by revelation or by supernatural manifestations"
Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about it. Takes the moral lessons form everything without the blind adherence to someones interpretation of any. Think Thomas Jefferson...am not claiming to be TJ (for better or worse), but he cut and paste (with scissors and glue) a bible taking the moral stuff out and leaving all the Lord of the Rings things behind. The religion of "Don't Tell Me What To Do" Am all in.
Travel tip time. I like to take a snack on board planes and think that there is an etiquette in place that they should be smell neutral that most of us follow. If not, there should be some public shame to those folks, not to the point of fisticuffs like the farting incident recently, but will (and have) have called it out on flights. The tip though has to do with taking your snack through TSA. Two of my favorite treats to bring aboard are a refrigerated Taco Lita burrito out of LA, or the meatball sandwich from Italian Deli when departing from the Bay Area. Have always put them in my backpack and every time I do, TSA stops my bag after x-ray and pulls it out to dust for explosives. Something about the sweet nectar in the sauce must glow on their machines. Not gonna stop bringing them on, but will now take it out and put them into their own tray. Probably won't prevent them from swabbing them down, but at least you won't have to undo a carefully packed carry on because of it and you make the TAS already stressful lives a little better.
Mentioned last week that I have been working feverishly on family summer plans, and think I stuck the landing this year. Every summer since we've been here has been a little different based on our desires and things we needed to do. Take care of my mom, go see universities, connect with friends, etc. As the kids are both older now, their requirements have evolved. The Boy has figured out some internship for himself on campus. The details are still a bit nebulous to Betty and I, but appears that he is going to be in C-ville the whole summer. Babydoll was a bit more complicated. As a rising high school sophomore, Betty has been promoting the idea of her going to some kind of camp to broaden her world view. B-doll was pushing back as she is not the type that likes to go off on her own like that. I was OK with the idea of road tripping with her and showing her some of the world we haven't been, but an opportunity popped up that seems to good to be true.
On my list of topics to plug into this space for a couple months now was a discussion I had with B-doll where she expressed an interest in becoming a teacher and one day returning to Taipei to teach at her current school. Initially took that as a typical dream of a teenage girl, like becoming a pony veterinarian, but she has mentioned it on and off since. Was at the school for a coffee talk about the camps and classes they were running, and saw a slide that mentioned something about teacher's assistants. They weren't pushing it, but asked the guy running the program, who is also a family friend, and he said B-doll would be great for it. A month working in a classroom with a teacher as their assistant. And while it isn't a paid gig, it is free (as opposed to the month the long chemistry class that cost US$3500). That she gets real experience in a classroom and it'll look nice on her resume for colleges are valuable bonuses. Sounds perfect, no?
But that is not the too good to be true part...I get a month in the States with no kids to roam about and see things/friends. Should probably not be doing a victory lap touting my good fortune, but damn. Already mentioned that I am seeing Yo La Tengo for 8 shows in 10 days the first week of June. Also planning to see a buddy in Atlanta for a few days and road trip up to DC to see the boy/old college friends. In addition to that, The Feelies are playing in DC on June 22nd. Easily in my top 10, and probably in the top 5 of my favorite bands...saw them only once in '91 right before the broke up. They got together a few years ago and have put out a couple of new (and good) records, but only play in NJ/Philly/DC and maybe 6 shows a year tops. That we can meet up again this June is too good to be true. The rest of our break will be spent in SF seeing my mom and in Seattle doing Costco/friend stuff as usual. See ya soon and will be reaching out shortly to make some dates.
Picture from the vault this week.
In Taiwan news this week...TPapocalypse! Due to product disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, they are anticipating "steep rises" in prices for toilet paper. The locals went all "It's A Wonderful Life" and cleared the shelves of all the toilet paper in Taiwan. There were lines out the door at Costco and when I went yesterday, and there was nary a sheet to be seen. If you want to see the nuttiness that was at Costco, click on this link from Taiwan News as it has a short video. You won't be disappointed.
If you recall, mentioned a couple of months ago that there has been an influx of pop up shops all over town that have only the claw machine arcade game in them. It seems that these claw machine operators have taken advantage of the TPanic and removed the cheap stuffed animals and filled their machines with toilet paper. Add to all of this a report that an outbreak of diarrhea has struck the island and you have a perfect storm. I had a few potty talk puns for this section, but the facts seemed funnier. Will not let you down however and leave you with this video of a guy in China peeing on the elevator control panel, short circuiting it and getting trapped inside. Impressive stream this dude has.
Walking around town lately, have noticed an influx of California Angels baseball hats on the heads of the locals. Took a few steps to realize that they must all be on board the Shohei Otani bandwagon cause no one other than the sleeved dude-bros and their big haired ladies would be an Angels fan otherwise. Will be dialing up their games to watch him too.
I have been on a roll lately in getting people with some need in touch with folks that have a solution and have been developing a bridge metaphor for myself. Still in the workshop phase, but I see myself as a man of bridges. I am either building them, or burning them to the ground. In Bridge On the River Kwai, would I be Japanese Colonel Saito or British Colonel Nicholson? Madness!
A bridge I've been trying to build/blow up is amongst anyone I encounter, and their phone. Mentioned last time about the tech ethicist and his tips on how to realize how we are being manipulated by tech geeks and some tips on how to lessen that addiction. Since last time, they popped this 5 minute video up on YouTube that outlines the issue and three things anyone can do on their device. Am over a week into this thing, and while I don't have data to support it, am noticing a real difference in how often I reach for the phone and how long I play with it when I do. Have even left it at home twice and didn't realize it for good while. Betty's eyes roll when I launch into my grayscale rap and have yet to find anyone even willing to admit they have a problem let alone come down this road with me. Have talked to the head of tech at the high school in hopes they address it with the kids. If not getting them to turn off their notifications, at least raise their awareness about how they are being used. Am serious about this.
A couple of SF trip clean-up items for the record. A show we don't get here that seems to be on constant rotation on the cable channels in the States is Modern Family. There was an episode where Phil had a problem. Seems every morning when he takes off his underwear, he flips it up with his toe and catches it. If he misses it, his day becomes a disaster and the episode took off from there. I do the exact same maneuver without the superstition but never occurred to me that I was even doing it or that every other man does the same thing. Perfect sitcom writing.
One thing that is more noticeable every time we're on the west coast, it feels that the homeless camps get bigger and bigger. In SF this trip, noticed that RV's lined the long stretch of El Camino Real in front of Stanford University.
Finally, after spending some time with mom, wrote a paragraph or three about getting old, quality of life and such, but it started dark and went full black hole, so I deleted it. You're welcome. I did have an existential realization during this dive that I will share. Am certainly not a religious person, but have considered it my whole life. Catholic school till 4th grade and have looked into the history of most of the Christian faiths, have read the Koran and while not to a monkish level, have studied at various times Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Greek/Roman gods, the Druids, Mormons...even the cult of Mithras. Am a long time fake Jew and am not forgetting agnosticism/athiesism either. My personal conclusion...some good stuff in all of them originally but exponentially find that they quickly became perverted by men (always men) and they are used to control the people who come into them in good faith.
Cannot remember how, but stumbled onto Deism the other day and am pretty sure I've been one the whole time. In a sentence, "human beings can know God only via reason and the observation of nature, but not by revelation or by supernatural manifestations"
Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about it. Takes the moral lessons form everything without the blind adherence to someones interpretation of any. Think Thomas Jefferson...am not claiming to be TJ (for better or worse), but he cut and paste (with scissors and glue) a bible taking the moral stuff out and leaving all the Lord of the Rings things behind. The religion of "Don't Tell Me What To Do" Am all in.
Travel tip time. I like to take a snack on board planes and think that there is an etiquette in place that they should be smell neutral that most of us follow. If not, there should be some public shame to those folks, not to the point of fisticuffs like the farting incident recently, but will (and have) have called it out on flights. The tip though has to do with taking your snack through TSA. Two of my favorite treats to bring aboard are a refrigerated Taco Lita burrito out of LA, or the meatball sandwich from Italian Deli when departing from the Bay Area. Have always put them in my backpack and every time I do, TSA stops my bag after x-ray and pulls it out to dust for explosives. Something about the sweet nectar in the sauce must glow on their machines. Not gonna stop bringing them on, but will now take it out and put them into their own tray. Probably won't prevent them from swabbing them down, but at least you won't have to undo a carefully packed carry on because of it and you make the TAS already stressful lives a little better.
Mentioned last week that I have been working feverishly on family summer plans, and think I stuck the landing this year. Every summer since we've been here has been a little different based on our desires and things we needed to do. Take care of my mom, go see universities, connect with friends, etc. As the kids are both older now, their requirements have evolved. The Boy has figured out some internship for himself on campus. The details are still a bit nebulous to Betty and I, but appears that he is going to be in C-ville the whole summer. Babydoll was a bit more complicated. As a rising high school sophomore, Betty has been promoting the idea of her going to some kind of camp to broaden her world view. B-doll was pushing back as she is not the type that likes to go off on her own like that. I was OK with the idea of road tripping with her and showing her some of the world we haven't been, but an opportunity popped up that seems to good to be true.
On my list of topics to plug into this space for a couple months now was a discussion I had with B-doll where she expressed an interest in becoming a teacher and one day returning to Taipei to teach at her current school. Initially took that as a typical dream of a teenage girl, like becoming a pony veterinarian, but she has mentioned it on and off since. Was at the school for a coffee talk about the camps and classes they were running, and saw a slide that mentioned something about teacher's assistants. They weren't pushing it, but asked the guy running the program, who is also a family friend, and he said B-doll would be great for it. A month working in a classroom with a teacher as their assistant. And while it isn't a paid gig, it is free (as opposed to the month the long chemistry class that cost US$3500). That she gets real experience in a classroom and it'll look nice on her resume for colleges are valuable bonuses. Sounds perfect, no?
But that is not the too good to be true part...I get a month in the States with no kids to roam about and see things/friends. Should probably not be doing a victory lap touting my good fortune, but damn. Already mentioned that I am seeing Yo La Tengo for 8 shows in 10 days the first week of June. Also planning to see a buddy in Atlanta for a few days and road trip up to DC to see the boy/old college friends. In addition to that, The Feelies are playing in DC on June 22nd. Easily in my top 10, and probably in the top 5 of my favorite bands...saw them only once in '91 right before the broke up. They got together a few years ago and have put out a couple of new (and good) records, but only play in NJ/Philly/DC and maybe 6 shows a year tops. That we can meet up again this June is too good to be true. The rest of our break will be spent in SF seeing my mom and in Seattle doing Costco/friend stuff as usual. See ya soon and will be reaching out shortly to make some dates.
No comments:
Post a Comment