What would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer met creepy Edward from "Twilight"? Here's the answer.
When I said "creepy" I meant "CREEPY!"
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
China Diary -- Part 20 River Cruise
All through the night and well into the next day we cruised down the Yangtze River, passing through ever more beautiful country. The rain continued intermittently and fog shrouded the hills and settlements along the river.
The Yangtze rises several feet above its current level during flood season. The brown muddy band along the river bank marks the height it reaches at full flood.
The nearly constant rain created numerous waterfalls along our route. At first I thought that the runoff was muddying the waters, but I was told that the Yangtze is always muddy.
There were numerous small craft plying their trade along the river. This one is typical.
The Yangtze rises several feet above its current level during flood season. The brown muddy band along the river bank marks the height it reaches at full flood.
The nearly constant rain created numerous waterfalls along our route. At first I thought that the runoff was muddying the waters, but I was told that the Yangtze is always muddy.
There were numerous small craft plying their trade along the river. This one is typical.
Iowahawk Strikes Again
From Iowahawk:
WASHINGTON -- The widow of the housefly murdered by Barack Obama during a recent CNBC television interview announced this morning that she would be filing a wrongful death suit against the President in federal district court. The plaintiff brief -- citing pain, suffering and loss of income -- seeks a formal apology and compensatory damages, including an unspecified quantity of s**t.
"Bob was a wonderful husband and provider," said the widow, Mrs. Vivian Vvzzvzwwzzz, wiping tears from her compound eyes. "Even though he was always busy at the Rose Garden turd pile, he always flew home in time to tuck in our maggots."
The 17-day old widow said the grieving process since the murder has taken its toll.
Read the whole thing here.
The Illusion of Neutrality
So Obama refrained from taking a strong stand on Iran lest he be accused of "meddling" in the affairs of the Islamic Republic. And, within a few hours after his speech Iranian sources, including the "Supreme Leader", began to level charges that the United States was instigating the uprising. Hopefully, our fine young President learned a lesson from this. Nations do not nurse grudges -- they pursue interests, and if outrage serves those interests it will be expressed. If expressions of outrage would run counter to those interests even the most offensive and provocative statements will pass unnoticed. Regimes are situationally sensitive.
There is, of course, a deeper lesson to be learned here. Neutrality is not an option for a great power. The decision of an American President to act has consequences, but so does the decision not to act. And it is foolish to suggest that the United States has no interest in the outcome of the current troubles. Whatever the outcome or our role in it, the affairs of Iran and all nations dealing with Iran will be affected in unpredictable ways. As Mark Steyn puts it, if you are a nation with global interests "you always have a dog in the fight, whether you know it or not."
Read Steyn's piece here.
There is, of course, a deeper lesson to be learned here. Neutrality is not an option for a great power. The decision of an American President to act has consequences, but so does the decision not to act. And it is foolish to suggest that the United States has no interest in the outcome of the current troubles. Whatever the outcome or our role in it, the affairs of Iran and all nations dealing with Iran will be affected in unpredictable ways. As Mark Steyn puts it, if you are a nation with global interests "you always have a dog in the fight, whether you know it or not."
Read Steyn's piece here.
Return of the Pennsylvania Pictures
We've been away for several weeks, which means that we missed a lot of this year's springtime on the mountain. Still, there was enough foliage remaining when we returned for a few shots. Here they are.
The State flower, the mountain laurel is in full bloom on Hawk Mountain. Pretty, ain't it? Entirely appropriate for the most gorgeous commonwealth in the nation.
Everyone sees crown vetch. It's that purple stuff that grows along the sides of roads. Right now it is in full bloom and if you look at it close up it is gorgeous.
We missed nearly all of the rhododendron blooms this year. When we got home this was the only bush still blooming.
I don't know what this is, but it is growing on Hawk Mountain.
And so is this, although I never knew that water lilies were native to Pennsylvania. I thought they were decorative plants brought in from elsewhere.
The State flower, the mountain laurel is in full bloom on Hawk Mountain. Pretty, ain't it? Entirely appropriate for the most gorgeous commonwealth in the nation.
Everyone sees crown vetch. It's that purple stuff that grows along the sides of roads. Right now it is in full bloom and if you look at it close up it is gorgeous.
We missed nearly all of the rhododendron blooms this year. When we got home this was the only bush still blooming.
I don't know what this is, but it is growing on Hawk Mountain.
And so is this, although I never knew that water lilies were native to Pennsylvania. I thought they were decorative plants brought in from elsewhere.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
China Diary -- Part 19 On the Yangtze
After our visit to the zoo and art institute we traveled down to the waterfront where we boarded a river boat to begin a five-day cruise on the Yangtze.
Before arriving at the shore we were warned about the "Bangbang Army". This is a reference to desperately poor peasants who flock to the riverside looking for work. They carry "bangbangs" [short bamboo staves] that they use to carry heavy loads. Our guide told us when approached to keep walking, avoid eye contact, don't speak to them, and above all to never touch our baggage. By this point we were accustomed to being approached everywhere by aggressive street people trying to sell us "rolex" watches, "gucci" bags ["two dollar"] and sundry items and were constantly being warned by government guides not to buy from them. For some reason, though, the warnings about the Bangbang Army sounded particularly dire.
Warnings, however, were not needed. For some reason there were very few men with sticks at the wharf when we arrived and those we did see avoided us. Perhaps they had been shooed away by employees of the tour company who lined the route we took from the buses to the pontoon bridge that led to the boat. My brother, who had been an Army engineer, said the pontoons brought back memories.
At the end of the pontoon bridge lion dancers were welcoming people onto the boat.
We were shown to our cabin. "She Who Must Not Be Named" was, to say the least, shocked by the cramped space, especially in the head. I later learned that this was a fairly common response among the women in the group. The men seemed not to be affected. I remember having to put up with far worse, especially in the Army ["Take your entrenching tool, troop, and don't forget to cover it up when you're finished."]. Eventually, though, we were settled in and emerged to see what was to be seen, and soon we were on our way.
The weather was terrible. It rained almost constantly and low clouds obscured both banks of the river. Odd, the temperatures had been oppressively hot in northern China, but now that we were in the south, it had turned cool and clammy. Still, the constant mist lent the passing landscape a mysterious, romantic cast as we moved past fog-shrouded buildings perched on dimly-seen terrain.
The wetness outside didn't bother the group overmuch. We found plenty of things to do onboard. Here's a Tai Chi class being held in one of the ballrooms.
Of course we didn't just huddle inside. There were shore excursions and fascinating things to see. I'll deal with some of those in the next post.
Before arriving at the shore we were warned about the "Bangbang Army". This is a reference to desperately poor peasants who flock to the riverside looking for work. They carry "bangbangs" [short bamboo staves] that they use to carry heavy loads. Our guide told us when approached to keep walking, avoid eye contact, don't speak to them, and above all to never touch our baggage. By this point we were accustomed to being approached everywhere by aggressive street people trying to sell us "rolex" watches, "gucci" bags ["two dollar"] and sundry items and were constantly being warned by government guides not to buy from them. For some reason, though, the warnings about the Bangbang Army sounded particularly dire.
Warnings, however, were not needed. For some reason there were very few men with sticks at the wharf when we arrived and those we did see avoided us. Perhaps they had been shooed away by employees of the tour company who lined the route we took from the buses to the pontoon bridge that led to the boat. My brother, who had been an Army engineer, said the pontoons brought back memories.
At the end of the pontoon bridge lion dancers were welcoming people onto the boat.
We were shown to our cabin. "She Who Must Not Be Named" was, to say the least, shocked by the cramped space, especially in the head. I later learned that this was a fairly common response among the women in the group. The men seemed not to be affected. I remember having to put up with far worse, especially in the Army ["Take your entrenching tool, troop, and don't forget to cover it up when you're finished."]. Eventually, though, we were settled in and emerged to see what was to be seen, and soon we were on our way.
The weather was terrible. It rained almost constantly and low clouds obscured both banks of the river. Odd, the temperatures had been oppressively hot in northern China, but now that we were in the south, it had turned cool and clammy. Still, the constant mist lent the passing landscape a mysterious, romantic cast as we moved past fog-shrouded buildings perched on dimly-seen terrain.
The wetness outside didn't bother the group overmuch. We found plenty of things to do onboard. Here's a Tai Chi class being held in one of the ballrooms.
Of course we didn't just huddle inside. There were shore excursions and fascinating things to see. I'll deal with some of those in the next post.
Bush Was Right (continued) No Child Left Behind
Another story you won't be reading in the New York Times. The teachers unions have predicted all sorts of bad outcomes from Bush's education reform -- No Child Left Behind. Well, it turns out that Bush was right and they were wrong. A recent study, reported in Education Week, found that test scores rose at all levels since NCLB was passed into law. What is more, predictions that advanced and low-achieving students would be short-changed have turned out to be wrong.
Read about it here.
Read about it here.
The Uniqueness of 1933
There is an excellent piece in the Examiner by Michael Barone (building on a blogpost by Megan McArdle) on why Obama cannot govern today as FDR did in 1933. He examines the factors that made 1933 a unique political opportunity, one that cannot be replicated ever again, and in the course of doing so exposes important dimensions of change that have taken place in this country in the intervening decades.
It's an interesting and informative read. Check it out here.
It's an interesting and informative read. Check it out here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
China Diary -- Part 18 Chongqing
Our next stop was in Chongqing [Chunking] the manufacturing center of west China. It is huge! Its incorporated area includes, at last count, approximately 34 million people. That's more than the population of Canada. We took a rapid city tour during which I was unable to get very good photos. In part that was because we were in a moving vehicle but mostly because the air was incredibly hazy. To some extent that was due to mist rising from the Yangtze, but there was also this.
Whatever its effects on the health of the local population the omnipresent haze gave the city, especially its waterfront, an interesting and somewhat mysterious aspect.
And at night the place is gorgeous.
Our tour ended at the city zoo for a panda shoot.
These are the rare "Red Pandas", cousins to the familiar black and white ones. There is an ongoing debate among biologists as to whether pandas are more closely related to raccoons or to bears. Genetic analysis shows that the red pandas, shown here, are more closely related to raccoons and you can see it in their features, while the giant panda, shown below, are obviously more closely related to bears.
After the zoo came another shopping opportunity, at a nearby art institute. While others perused the pictures on display I wandered around taking photos. Here's a touching pic of a father taking his infant son for a walk in the park. Something seems to be missing, though. Actually, I was told that this was quite common in China. Diapers are expensive and children are allowed to simply squat and relieve themselves whenever the need arises.
China Diary -- Part 17 The Han Yang Ling Tomb
In the morning we headed out to the Han Ying Ling Mausoleum, tomb of Liu Qi, fourth emperor of the Western Han dynasty. It's an impressive place. The entrance takes you underground to the level of the excavations under the burial mound. It's a dark and, well..., creepy experience. Soon you are in a dark place looking down on this.
Let's look a little closer.
How about this -- thousands of little naked dolls with genitalia and without arms?
There's a simple answer. The figurines were created as a small-scale version of the terracotta warriors. Originally they had movable wooden arms and were clothed, but over time the arms and cloth rotted away leaving only the ceramic figures.
Here's a reconstruction of how the figures might have originally looked.
There was much more to see at the tombs, but we were on a short schedule. We had to get to the airport because our next stop was hundreds of miles away.
Let's look a little closer.
How about this -- thousands of little naked dolls with genitalia and without arms?
There's a simple answer. The figurines were created as a small-scale version of the terracotta warriors. Originally they had movable wooden arms and were clothed, but over time the arms and cloth rotted away leaving only the ceramic figures.
Here's a reconstruction of how the figures might have originally looked.
There was much more to see at the tombs, but we were on a short schedule. We had to get to the airport because our next stop was hundreds of miles away.
Playing By the Rules
Iowahawk reacts to Obama's reaction to the Iranian reaction to last week's election results.
Hilarious as usual. Read it here.
Hilarious as usual. Read it here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
China Diary -- Part 16 The Kites of Xi'an
Next we traveled to Xi'an's Muslim quarter. There we passed through the Sauq.
and into the Great Mosque.
Then back out to the city center. While most of the group browsed through the Sauq "She Who Must Not Be Named" and her shopping buddies set out on a quest for Xian's "Underground Mall" rumored to be filled with modern Western-style shops. After a while we found it underneath the square between the city's famous Bell and Drum towers.
We were scheduled to meet in the central square, near the bell tower. While we waited for the last stragglers to rejoin the group we were treated to a demonstration of the amazing kites of Xi'an.
Note that there are four separate strings of kites in this picture. There were many more in the sky. The wonder is that the operators were so skilled that none of the lines intersected and tangled.
Here is one of the kite fliers setting out a new string.
and into the Great Mosque.
Then back out to the city center. While most of the group browsed through the Sauq "She Who Must Not Be Named" and her shopping buddies set out on a quest for Xian's "Underground Mall" rumored to be filled with modern Western-style shops. After a while we found it underneath the square between the city's famous Bell and Drum towers.
We were scheduled to meet in the central square, near the bell tower. While we waited for the last stragglers to rejoin the group we were treated to a demonstration of the amazing kites of Xi'an.
Note that there are four separate strings of kites in this picture. There were many more in the sky. The wonder is that the operators were so skilled that none of the lines intersected and tangled.
Here is one of the kite fliers setting out a new string.
China Diary -- Part 15 The History Museum
After leaving the monastery we headed to the Shaanxi History Museum, not far away. Fascinating place! It's a new place, constructed in the 1980's, but it houses a magnificent collection that includes materials stretching back more than a million years. Here's what I'm talking about:
That's "Lantian Man" a variant form of Homo Erectus dating from about 1.15 million years ago. Neat!!!
There were a number of paleolithic tools on display and plenty of neolithic artifacts. I liked this guy. He's more than 4,000 years old.
And there was a wonderful collection of bronzes and ceramics from historical times. Here area few examples:
Isn't that gorgeous?
I was particularly interested in this representation of the Buddha. All of the figures in the group are idealized except for one, standing off to the side. I wonder why he was portrayed naturally.
This was another place where I could have lingered for a long time, but again there was much to do and we had to be on our way.
That's "Lantian Man" a variant form of Homo Erectus dating from about 1.15 million years ago. Neat!!!
There were a number of paleolithic tools on display and plenty of neolithic artifacts. I liked this guy. He's more than 4,000 years old.
And there was a wonderful collection of bronzes and ceramics from historical times. Here area few examples:
Isn't that gorgeous?
I was particularly interested in this representation of the Buddha. All of the figures in the group are idealized except for one, standing off to the side. I wonder why he was portrayed naturally.
This was another place where I could have lingered for a long time, but again there was much to do and we had to be on our way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)