Amy's winter piano recital (Dec. 13, 2009)

Amy played First Dance (by Kabalevsky), Chit Chat (Kabalevsky), and Flamenco (Gillock) at her fifth recital (Dec. 13, 2009).

Hawaii in December 十二月夏威夷

New pictures from my brother

Chongqing City 重庆

I wasn't born in Chongqing but spent a chunk of my childhood there. My brother was born there but never spent much time there. After I left that city, I have never re-visited it. My brother was luckier. He got invited to visit it and the Three Gorges as a "Canadian expert in computer science." Here are some of his pictures.

It looks like a stunning place. But none of these images were in my memories of that place.

'The Calculus of Friendship'

Correspondence between a mathematician and his high school teacher (Mr. Joffray). Sounds mighty interesting, especially since I'm teaching Cicero's and Pliny's letters this semester.

The correspondence's exclusive focus on mathematics is particularly interesting, considering the long-term friendship between the two and the many up-and-downs including family disasters that they experienced.

This comment coming from the author is also intriguing: "Mr. Joffray made me feel like I could teach him."

Poor Cicero

sed iam tempus est me ipsum a me amari, quando ab illis nullo modo possum.

But it's time for me to love myself, as I will in no way be loved by them. (56 BC)

An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country

Click the arrows or calendar at the bottom to see each month of data. Click the green play button to see an animation of the data.

天鹅堡

（新）天鹅堡在德国的南部，由巴伐利亚国王Ludwig二世建于1869-1886年。立于小山头上，在一片绿色间、清澈湖水边。从外至内，都如童话般梦幻，恰是迪斯尼标志城堡的灵感来源。新天鹅堡(Neuschwanstein)相对与天鹅堡 (Hohenschwangau) 而言。Ludwig二世国王在旧堡长大，但旧堡无论是在设计装饰上还是内部结构上，都难以满足Ludwig宏妙的想像力和艺术气质。Ludwig在音乐艺术品味上钟情的是瓦格纳，有些不羁和放纵，有天马行空跃于实境和幻境间的想象力，又追寻绚烂的色彩和大自然的美妙。（说起来，巴伐利亚的人们，上至公子王孙，下至农夫牧人，在诗一般的田园山林中长大，知道怎样最完美的结合鬼斧人工和田园风光。）

我们去的那天，天气太好，所以拍不出烟雾缥缈，若隐若现的效果。


富丽堂皇的殿内，拜占庭风格。这个王冠状的大吊灯其重无比，站在下面有些战战兢兢。（这位国王一生未婚，死得也蹊跷，尸体现于在湖里，不知是自杀还是他杀。也算是历史上一宗谜案。这堡其实一直未竣工。看到堡内的奢华和精妙，想来都是民脂民膏。王之不得人心也可猜测一二。）




天鹅堡内外各色天鹅无处不在。

idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset. (Tacitus, Agricola 21)

Truly sharp or no? The question is: why did Tacitus think he could position himself above those whom he called imperitii (inexperienced, unskilled, ignorant)? What if those so-called imperitii were the ones who were truly peritii in playing either a 'Don't say, don't tell' or a win-win game...

A Chinese Kunqu opera classic: Peach Blossom Fan 1699

昆曲：孔尚任《桃花扇》
A love story between a high-end escort and a promising young scholar that was complicated by dynastic loyalty, personal political positions, etc. (Couldn't think of a Roman equivalent.) Happened at the end of the 17th century, when the Ming dynasty was taken over by the Qing dynasty.
I first saw the performance about 12 years ago in Nanjing. The singing, music, dancing, and the plot were all superb. 大约是97年或98年时在南京的兰苑剧场看过石小梅、胡锦芳的版本。虽然不是唯美的青春版，但是词曲清丽、唱作俱佳，感人至深。《桃花扇》不是普通的才子佳人故事，胜在气节二字。胡老师的李香君柔中见刚，凌然令人起敬。连看两场，一直不能忘怀。


【鴈过声】萧然，美人去远，重门锁，云山万千，知情只有闲莺燕。尽着狂，尽着颠，问着他一双双不会传言。熬煎，才待转，嫩花枝靠着疏篱颤。
【南鲍老催】想当日猛然舍抛，银河渺渺谁架桥，墙高更比天际高。书难捎，梦空劳，情无了，出来路儿越迢遥。

KFCs outside the States

We saw McDonald's in many city centers in Europe. In Milan, for example, there is a McDonald's right opposite to the grand Cathedral. While we were driving in Germany and Austria, we loved to stop by McDonald's, not because of the food but because of the free high-speed internet it offered. But we didn't see a single KFC in the European places which we visited. In contrast, KFC has flourished in China, and has become seriously localized. The Chinese KFCs sell, among others, boiled sweet corns, (Catonese style) rice soup with cured eggs (known as the thousand-year-old eggs) and pork (皮蛋瘦肉粥), and fried twisted dough sticks (油条)。The KFC versions of these things are pretty good. Even the traditional KFC stuffs like the spicy chicken wings and fried chicken legs taste way better than those in the American KFCs. The Chinese KFCs are not cheap at all, but cater to the (upper) middle class families and the trendy youth. The dining atmosphere, therefore, feels quite different.

Amy's first recital December 2006

Amy played simple pieces after her first semester of piano lessons. (Thompson Recital Hall, DePauw University, Dec. 2006). (She is growing up so fast; I miss the chubby, sweet little girl. Not that she is no longer sweet...)

Amy的第一次钢琴表演。那时才上了一个学期的课，曲子比较简单。现在的曲子复杂多了，但是Amy没有那时侯那么放松了。