Interesting piece of web art

I just received this link to a very cool piece of animated art. It is basically a woman being drawn from the inside out, starting with her spine and finishing with a completed clothed woman in repose. Check it out:

http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702

We have also finally met Alton!!

We had been planning to get together with the Walkers at some point this week for a gift exchange and, more importantly, to also get to meet young Alton for the first time. What we had not counted on was a call from Jared asking if we were available and (upon confirmation) finding out that they were only 10 minutes away...

After 15 minutes of frenzied gift-wrapping, we were finally ready.

For those of you that have known Jared a while, you will recall that he has always been a big boy. Alton Gregory Walker certainly takes after his father in this regard. He is precocious and quite even tempered, but the most obvious thing about him is his size. In particular, after living in Taiwan for the past 14 months and seeing the relatively smaller babies out there, Alton looked more like a 4-year old than a 17-month old.

Alton is a sweet kid, likes to go give high-fives, and absolutely adores Clovis (our little parrotlet). I felt as though I had met him before after seeing all the pictures, but it was definitely much better to finally get to meet him in person.

We finally met Milo!

We met Milo today for the first time, and he really is a fantastically cute little boy. It is fascinating because he looks more like mommy from most angles, but more like daddy at some others.

We got to see a few baby pictures of Christy from when she was about the same age - had we not known that it was Christy, we would have both sworn it was Milo.

Milo is a boy of a thousand faces (most of them are happy, all of them are cute) so the only real answer is to actually meet him in person.

Buses in Taipei

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I have the sneaking suspicion that either the bus drivers in Taipei are out to maim their passengers, or they just spend a little too much time playing video games.

With the recent move to the new office in Neihu, I have had the opportunity to ride the bus to the office with increasing frequency. While there are occasionally a few friendly bus drivers that conscientiously operate their piece of heavy machinery in such a way as to minimize the amount of jostling that their passengers undergo, the other 99% seem to really hate the people that keep getting on and off their bus.

I have seen cases where the bus drivers accelerate/decelerate suddenly for no obvious reason, take turns at breakneck speeds, and even start driving off before their passengers have fully boarded/alighted. This is exacerbated by the fact that the drivers have large comfortable seats that have independent shocks to smooth their rides.

The funny thing is that while this would probably never be considered even remotely acceptable in the US (at least on those few occasions when I've had the opportunity to ride the bus), for the most part, this seems to be the norm here in Taipei. Old people literally being thrown into other people's laps doesn't even so much as solicit a dirty look or a sigh.

I'm still trying to figure out if the problem is really with the drivers, or if I've just become too soft after living in the West for most of my life.

One cool thing that I have seen time and time again is a profound respect for the elderly. Every time somebody that looks even somewhat frail gets on the bus, at least one young person - usually the one sitting closest to the entrance - will immediately stand up and offer their seat to them. In the year that we have been living in Taiwan, there has not been a single exception to this phenomenon, which just gives me a warm fuzzy. I have always tried to be courteous and polite, but seeing this sort of behavior makes it seem like it's less of a choice and more of a moral imperative.

Keep it up, Taiwan!
(The courtesy part - not necessarily the crazy bus driver thing)

Achewood comic

I received this from a friend recently, and it just spoke to me...

Dig it:

Famous People

I bumped into Jane Goodall at the Grand Hyatt - Taipei earlier this evening. She was in town to promote her Jane Goodall Institute on Sunday, and just happened to be in the executive lounge, where I was waiting for a couple customers for a meeting.

At first, I didn't recognize her - my colleagues in the Taiwan office told me her Chinese name, but it was meaningless to me until I clued into the fact that it was some elderly white woman holding a chimp doll (replete with fake banana) while still managing to look dignified.

My colleague (Glenn) all but dared me to go ask her for an autograph, so I went for it after she finished what appeared to be an interview and headed for the cookies. I introduced myself and was somewhat taken aback when she turned out to be friendly, even to the point of being slightly chatty. She asked me for a card, recruited me for the local branch of her Institute, and then agreed to snap the above photo with me (it's just a camera phone picture, so cut it a little slack).

I have to say that she was quite a nice lady. Having read about her quite a bit back in my Academic Decathlon days (we read "Woman in the Mists" - a book about Diane Fossey, written by Farley Mowat), I felt that I knew something about her, and got a real kick out of the fact that I was actually fortunate enough to bump into her on the 23rd floor of a hotel in Taipei of all places.

Now, if I can just figure out how I can get away with giving interviews holding a stuffed primate...

Baby Boy Jones

I just had to post something about the fact that Baby Boy Jones (AKA Andre Milo) came into the world this past Sunday, 10/29! We're so happy for the Joneseses and wanted to welcome little Milo to the world!

Very cool NY Times election guide (Flash)

Follow this link to get access to a pretty neat tool to get a high-level view of the current status in the various contested regions.

Food facts from Asia

Sign seen in the Taipei airport
The more common word used here would be "congee", which is a rice-based porridge. If the purpose in translating into English was to attract more western clientelle, then I would have to say that they have failed. This conjures images that are more Dickensian than epicurean...




Sign on the door of a McDonalds in Singapore
Feeling too lazy to hop in the car? Can't be bothered to roll off the couch and take a trek through the drive thru? Well...do we have some great news for you!!!





Strong Bull - Fear It or Love it?
This is the local equivalent of Red Bull. The effects are similar except that you don't get the jitters. Also, it tastes better and is easier to chug since it is not carbonated. There was apparently some sort of issue several years back where the bottles were contaminated, resulting in a recall; however, they have since recovered nicely and are supposedly cleaner than ever.

STRONG BULL!!!

More random wackiness from Taipei

I'm pretty sure that this is a band of some sort. I was just impressed by how naughty the poster was in such a public place (subway station).

11/1/06: Melanie pointed out that I'm on crack and that this photo was actually taken at the airport in Stuttgart, not Taipei...doh!

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This is basically a crock pot - except that it's got a name a billion times better than crock pot cuz it's Supa Fine. Turns out this is a fairly common brand out here.
I have this scenario in my head of a tenacious young Taiwanese entrepreneur asking one of their American Negro in Taipei friends for suggestions on what to name his company, and getting this as the response.



Maybe he knew exactly how sweet this name is...maybe he didn't... Not that it matters. The name is tight, son! Supa Fine!

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"Extra Fancy" bread sticks...

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"Little Negro" branded congee

No - really

I'll take "Things That Won't Sell in the US" for $500, Alex

Melanie and I were wandering around a local bookstore when we ran across this product. Turns out these are just harmless pieces of colored artist's chalk, although I'm sure that the Department of Homeland Security would put this on their list of carry-on contraband if they ever caught wind of it.

Life's little ironies

This could explain why many of the Chinese that I meet struggle with English...

Ernest Visits

Our good friend Ernest happened to be passing through Taiwan on a business trip, so we were able to take him out to see the sights and sounds of Taipei. We tried to cram as much as we could into the day or so that we had, so we visited the Shih Lin night market, Sun Yet Sun Memorial, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, and a few places in between. It's always great to have friends over, even if it is only for a short amount of time. 

Couple quick notes

Above are a few pictures taken in the Hsin Yi district last week, showing a few examples of this. Note that the second and third pictures involve 12 foot tall inflatable soccer balls that small people can climb into and give their best impersonations of a hamster in an attempt to score a goal. It looks really tempting, but I just don't think they have these in my size...

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To the right are a couple pictures taken at the new Eslite bookstore - the largest bookstore in Taiwan. This is probably the best place to buy books for foreigners if you are not too concerned about paying full price. It is a spectacularly large bookstore with an extensive selection of books in many different languages. There are sections on business, education, foreign languages, etc. - pretty much everything but comic books (sorry Nel).

While we were walking around the store last weekend, I came upon a section that is a wonderful lesson of unabashed truth (and lack of subtlety and tact) in advertising.

The Secret to German Self-Discipline

NOTE: I know many Germans to whom this does not apply, but felt I owed it the following public service for friends planning to visit for the World Cup…

This is a package of typical German toilet paper.

For those that can read German, you will note that nowhere on this packaging do they make any mention of concepts such as ‘softness’, ‘gentle’, etc. This is mostly likely because nowhere within this packaging are these concepts applied.

Over the past several years, whenever I have come to or passed through Germany, I could not help but notice that their toilet paper is significantly harsher than what I had grown accustomed to in the US. At first, I thought that perhaps my American rear was just a wee bit sensitive from the spicy döner I had enjoyed for dinner the previous night. However, after numerous incidents with the paper products encountered across the country, in locations ranging from private homes to airports to excellent hotels, I had to face the inevitable conclusion that was staring me straight in the …er… eye.

Germans are hard asses.

In the US, this is the type of material that would be used to strip the paint off an old car or file away the bars of a prison cell. Unless there is some unusual trend towards pucker exfoliation, I can only assume that Germans consider the ‘softness’ of their TP to be acceptable.

Any culture that lives with this level of pain on a daily basis (twice if they’ve just had some coffee) simply must have a more highly stoic approach to life. Perhaps they feel that suffering is a path toward enlightenment. Perhaps they feel that this is a good way to harden themselves against the burdens of this mortal coil. Perhaps, after years of numbing, they simply feel nothing at all.
Regardless, the moral of this story is that if you ever plan to visit Germany, and you are not entirely certain of your sphincteric fortitude, then bring your own toilet paper.

Context is Everything

I swear this is true...

BACKGROUND: Singapore is a tiny, sovereign, island nation populated predominately by people with Chinese ancestry.

An ethnic-Chinese Singaporean recently pointed to another asian-looking gentleman and said, "That guy is always walking around talking about how proud he is to be a Honky".

He said this to an older Caucasian, so naturally the white guy figured that he was probably missing something and gently asked for clarification..."Did you just say that the Asian gentleman over there is a 'Honky'?"

The Singaporean replied, "Yep - he is very proud of the fact that he was born and raised in Hong Kong."

Another fine example of how wonderfully screwy the world really is...

The Wonders of Siam

This is a long overdue post on our trip to Bangkok, Thailand. Back in February of 2006, Melanie and I took a nice extended weekend trip down to visit Bangkok, as well as visit Melanie's friend from Germany, Crissi. Crissi was working on her apprenticeship at Daimler Chrysler, and managed to get a 3 month assignment in Bangkok (how cool is that?), and offered to play guide.



Thailand seems like the sort of place that would always be fun, but the weather is only pleasant in December and January – mainly due to the intense heat and humidity. The food is spectacular, as are the tourist sights and sounds. Check out the palaces and temples. Enjoy the markets and nightclubs. Revel in the food.




This picture was taken during dinner our first night there. On the way to the restaurant, we were treated to tantalizing glimpses into what lay ahead - fascinating fruits and vegetables, hip local dance clubs, dwarf elephants walking down the street with their handler selling sugar cane to feed it, etc. Dinner was fantastic!!




Over the course of 3 days and 3 nights, we were able to take in many of the major sights and sounds of this very bustling city. We visited Wat Phra Kaew, the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, and a ton of other amazing places. Pictured to the left is (I believe) one of the many beautiful areas within the Grand Palace.





Thailand is a predominately Buddhist country, so seeing monks walking around in their robes was a highly regular occurrence. I imagine that it would be fairly easy to become a Buddhist here in much the same way that it would be easy to be a Roman Catholic in Rome. There are just endless temples to learn and worship at, and plenty of opportunities to seek guidance.





I’ve included a few pix here that we took back in February (even then it was >90ºF and >90% RH). We happened to be there during the Bangkok international film festival, so we bumped into one celebrity at dinner. We also took a walk through Patpong (crazier than you can imagine – check out the neon sign) and the Chatuchuk market (also nutty, but more family oriented), but my favorite moments were checking out the architecture and historical areas.

One bit of commentary was the preponderance of old white guys and young Thais (female, shemale, and male) walking hand-on-posterior. It was somewhat unsettling to see how completely public the sex-tourism trade is here. I don't know why, but my prudish American brain would have thought that they would try to at least keep it slightly under wraps.




But enough about the parts that make middle America cringe - on to the touristy stuff!!!

This picture was taken at the site of the largest reclining buddha in Thailand. He's located in a large enclosed space with relatively small doors, which is a good sign that they had to build the buddha first and construct the (amazing) building around him after the buddha was done.

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Imperial Palace

Did I mention that it was really hot?

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Imperial Palace with Melanie (L) , Fred (C), and Crissi (R)
Nice picture of all three of us together. While I do have faith in humanity, my tourist instincts tell me that handing over your nice new digital camera to a complete stranger is a risky business. Ordinarily, my rule of thumb is that the person that we ask to take our picture has to fit either be small enough to take in a fight or slow enough to outrun. Given the intense heat, I figured it was best to find people fitting both descriptions...ergo so few group pictures.

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Klang Ride in the Canals
This part was a lot of fun. For the price of a super-sized value meal, we were able to commission a one hour gondola (AKA Klang) ride through the city. Some of this took us down the major river that runs through the city - Chao Phraya - this was cool, but it did feel pretty darn touristy. To me, it was the rest of the ride that will leave the more lasting impression - the driver took us through a bunch of the backwater (literally) residential neighborhoods, where we were able to get a much better glimpse of how the locals live and play. We saw various configurations of houses on the water, restaurants on the water, kids playing in the water, giant lizards stalking the kids playing in the water, temples by the water, etc. Overall, in my mind, one of the highlights of the entire trip.

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Klang Engine - 4 banger on a stick
All of the klangs are thus impelled...fascinating and terrifying at the same time. These things practically flew down the canals at breakneck speeds. If you're ever looking for a quick cure for diarrhea brought on by dining at one of the roadside food stands, then look no further.

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Chatuchak Market and Lunch














This place was pretty phenomenal. The Chatuchak market is an enormous quasi-outdoor marketplace where various local vendors peddle their wares out of small- to medium-sized stalls. They sell everything from souvenirs to handicrafts to artwork to food to animals (conveniently located near the food area), etc., etc... We did not have nearly enough time to look around, but we did greatly enjoy what little time we did have.

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Celebrity Sighting 1 - Rufus Sewell
We bumped into my boy Ruf (as I like to call him) as we were leaving a fantastic seafood restaurant that my colleague Choong took us to for dinner. I had just watched Dark City a few weeks prior to this trip, so I was able to remember his name. Although Melanie and Crissi were a bit hesitant, I convinced them that it would be okay to go up and say hello. Ruf was actually quite pleasant and jocular - when I asked, "Pardon me, but are you Rufus Sewell?", he responded, "Yes I am! And I'm glad you didn't say 'aren't you that guy from Gladiator'". We chatted for a few moments, I had to challenge him to swords for putting the moves on Melanie, and we ended up compromising by snapping a few photos. Good times were had by all.

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Celebrity Sighting 2 - Jacques Chirac
Through some fortunate coincidence, Jacques Chirac (Pres. of France) happened to be in town visiting the leaders of Thailand at the same time that we were visiting, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon the Presidential greeting that he received as his cavalcade drove in from the Parliamentary building. They even gave us little French and Thai flags to wave as they passed by the horseys...

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Random Sign in a Restaurant
As near as I can tell, this is a sign for people too drunk to drive home. Either that, or given it's location on the outbound side of the door, it is some sort of commentary on the way you'll feel in a few hours...

Turd Baby

Saw this in Danshui (northern tip of Taiwan) when Bill and Pia were visiting. Turd Baby is the name of the store, and they sell little toys that come out of those coin-turn machines. We're not entirely sure how the name and the product are related, but when asked about it, all of the people working there were completely clear on the meaning of their store's name. I guess it did have the intended effect of pulling customers into the store, so that probably means it is a good name.

Based on this principle, I suppose this means that we can open up a comic book store called "Cleveland Steamer"...

Toddler Discipline 101

Found in a Taiwanese book store

Baby misbehaving? Try this proven Taiwanese technique to bring them back in line!