is the irresistible urge to write.
oh great.
seems like wordpress has some sort of weird bug that deletes my “categories”. really very annoying, as it’s not the first time that this happened. i didn’t even do anything, no updates, no code tweaking, and my categories have suddenly disappeared.
i wonder if it’s even worth going through the trouble to fix it all…
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ps: happy new year. grrr.
excerpt from AISD Teacher Throws Fit Over Student’s Linux CD:
“…observed one of my students with a group of other children gathered around his laptop. Upon looking at his computer, I saw he was giving a demonstration of some sort. The student was showing the ability of the laptop and handing out Linux disks. After confiscating the disks I called a confrence [sic] with the student and that is how I came to discover you and your organization.
Mr. Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful.
These children look up to adults for guidance and discipline. I will research this as time allows and I want to assure you, if you are doing anything illegal, I will pursue charges as the law allows. Mr. Starks, I along with many others tried Linux during college and I assure you, the claims you make are grossly over-stated and hinge on falsehoods. I admire your attempts in getting computers in the hands of disadvantaged people but putting linux on these machines is holding our kids back.
This is a world where Windows runs on virtually every computer, and putting on a carnival show for an operating system is not helping these children at all.”
very.
unfortunate.
situation.
the best time to be in hk is during the winter. it’s dryer, it’s cooler, but not too cold. and there are roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes sold on the streets - i love the smell of roasted chestnuts!
watching the sunset by the harbour with a sweet potato.
city university’s campus is very different from what i am used to at penn. however, there are some spots that i enjoy… like this garden with pagoda. good lunch spot, when there arent graduates running around taking photos.
we took a rather relaxing trip to macau a couple weeks back. staying away from the casinos, we walked our way through most of the city, taking the bus when the distance was too far. two days in macau was more than enough; near the end of the trip we weren’t sure of what to do or where to go anymore. a tiny place, a disneyland for gamblers, but with small effort you can find charm in this gritty gritty city.
walking through the old streets of taipa village; very photogenic area.
macau is quiet at night; only the casinos are still running in full force. we wanted to grab a late dinner, the restaurants still open being the ones that sold pig brains and dog… quite relieved that we found this street corner dai pai dong, the abalone congee was delicious.
we stayed at a really cute hotel, pousada de mong ha, run by trainees from macau tourism school. not only was everyone there super-eager to please, but the place itself was in a really peaceful area; the hotel used to be a fortress, sitting atop a small hill in a park, above the clatter of macau. the prices are really reasonable, highly recommended (also, the king size bed is wider than it is long - it’s a great bed 
we went to macau ox warehouse, and saw an exhibition called “prelude to the 10th anniversary of 1999 macau mandover. the pieces weren’t spectacular, but i was really impressed once again by the warehouse site; it’s large and roomy, and has so much charm to it. makes me wonder if getting a studio in macau is such a crazy idea…
we also went to alternative space, a space that i’d never been to before. the pieces on show were alright; in some ways it sort of reminded me of my own stuff, installations that involved lots of hanging and dangling. the artist specializes in mixed media, especially in fabrics. i did feel that the pieces were a little too literal; there wasn’t much mystery to them, and it was a little too easy to conclude what the meanings were behind each piece. a little too accessible and… pretty.
some installations looked better on photo than in real life.
overall, it was exciting to go on a two day trip, but i think it was more about the company than about the place itself. don’t think i’ll need to go to macau again anytime soon 
thanks to my great girlfriend S, i found out about a presentation held by christie’s by takeshi murakami. the topic of his lecture was “Asia’s Contemporary Market: The Superflat Market’s Risks and Possibilities”.
i’m not a fan of murakami, but i do get intrigued by his business flair and his various stunts in contemporary art. if anything, i was hoping that the lecture would give a bit more insight into his thoughts about the commercial art market, and how he managed to maneuver his around to become the one of the highest selling contemporary artists today. is he a sell-out, or a cop-out, or just incredibly clever at getting at both worlds, business and art?
i was disappointed.
the entire presentation was extremely shallow; he didn’t even get into the more precise or conceptual parts of his work. all he spoke about was ‘otaku’ and cosplay, repeating over and over that anime has a deep influence on the japanese psyche, that the japanese are a little nutty, and that’s where he gets his inspiration from, blahblahblah… tell us something we didn’t know about you.
what he spoke about had nothing to do with the topic, “Asia Contemporary Market”. perhaps he sounded better in japanese, but the lady (or rather, the ladies) who were doing the translating into english did a poor job; not only were the sentences convoluted, but there was no flow, no cohesion between the sentences at all. the lecture was short, too, just under an hour.
i suppose there are some artists who are really good at what they’re doing, but just can’t present it effectively. overall, i am glad that i didn’t skip german class for this.
Mr. Levi-Strauss took difference as the basis for his study, not the search for commonality, which defined 19th-century anthropology. In other words, he took cultures on their own terms rather than try to relate everything to the West.
In 1996, when asked his opinion of the project [Musée du Quai Branly], Mr. Lévi-Strauss said in a handwritten letter to Mr. Chirac: “It takes into account the evolution of the world since the Musée de l’Homme was created. An ethnographic museum can no longer, as at that time, offer an authentic vision of life in these societies so different from ours. With perhaps a few exceptions that will not last, these societies are progressively integrated into world politics and economy. When I see the objects that I collected in the field between 1935 and 1938 again — and it’s also true of others — I know that their relevance has become either documentary or, mostly, aesthetic.”
read full article here
went to 西貢浪茄灣 (long ke and man yee reservoir) last weekend. not a difficult hike at all (don’t think anything can be difficult after my outward bound experience eight years ago…), but the scenery is gorgeous there. i am so glad that the city still has some natural beauties like this one; i only hope that it stays a gem. pictures say a thousand words:
it was a beautifully sunny day with fresh cool wind (the slow onset of hong kong winter) blowing. can’t wait to go on my next little nature excursion. hong kong is not only about skyscrapers (though i admit that it is easy to forget).
a perfect day can only be topped off with a delicious dinner - here’s the chef from the chiu chow restaurant we went to in kowloon city; their cold ‘big eye chicken’ fish is to die for.
have been listening to copeland’s latest album for a while now. it’s been six years since i heard their first album, ‘beneath medicine tree’, and still my heartstrings are vulnerable to aaron marsh’s vocals, especially his falsettos - they bring me right over the edge, they make me think and fear and weep. while i’ve found new terrain in terms of musical tastes, copeland is one indie band that i just can’t get enough of. or maybe i’m just very attached to what i fall in love with.
there are a few songs in ‘you are my sunshine’ that sticks out above the rest, perhaps because the lyrics and melodies are especially poignant at this time in my life. i almost take a perverse enjoyment in going through the pain that these songs evoke…
In the moments before time starts moving backward / I will feel her hand in the palm of mine / And the cities will return to the field of flowers / And every step we took takes me back in line / And in disarray, you just want to live one more day
Cause you just want to be happy now…
copeland - to be happy now
5 November 2008
Senator Barack Obama,
Chicago
Dear Senator Obama,
We join people in your country and around the world in congratulating you on becoming the President-Elect of the United States. Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.
We note and applaud your commitment to supporting the cause of peace and security around the world. We trust that you will also make it the mission of your Presidency to combat the scourge of poverty and disease everywhere.
We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead. We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all.
Sincerely,
N R Mandela
thanks E for the forward!
