Help yourself to my "s'more goes blog"! You'll find trackeds and endtrials through S/SE Asia, my Pan-American overland wanderings, SoCal, and always bridges to and through the Middle Kingdom. Expect only occasional updates now from Jets, Journal, Wonder and environs.
June 26, 2007 Getting Emotional About Silk: Guqin Hours with John Thompson in Weehawken, New Jersey Before I left San Diego I got a random message on Facebook from UCSD music grad student Alex Khalil. He informed me that I had just missed events surrounding guqin maker Wang Peng's visit to campus. He blamed limited publicity. I blamed finals. Still, neither despaired, for each of us had discovered the other. One good thing to come from this virtual meetup was my introduction to guqin master John Thompson, along with my eventual meeting with him today.  Alex had been staying at Thompson's house in New York. I contacted Thompson through his very extensive website. He was very personable and we found a window of time to meet at his home, escaping the heat for hours in his guqin-lined basement studio.Thompson is convinced that silk strings are superior to the more commonly used nylon wrapped steel strings first introduced during the Cultural Revolution. I had never played on silk, except on one occasion when Shanghainese friend You Xin （右心） let me play his "grandpa" qin, given to him by an old woman who'd had the qin in her family for hundreds of years. What's Upsetting Mozi? Thompson's guqin playing technique is to make the one song he's working on his favorite.  It so happened that his current work is on "Mozi Bei Si (墨 子 悲 絲)," which is commonly translated as "Mozi Sings with Feeling," or "Mozi Grieving over the Dyeing of Silk." Thompson's translation brings out a deeper meaning to this story about one of China's great philosophers, who said the qualities of a person are determined by those who surround him. To Mozi, the dyeing of silk was like joining a new crowd. Your friends are the dye.Instead of Mozi grieving over the fact that "silk" is being "dyed," Thompson thinks the sage is experiencing a much deeper emotion. In ancient Chinese, "bei" not only meant sadness, but, according to some scholars, "the emotion that one is feeling when something is so beautiful it brings tears to the eyes." Thus, Thompson perhaps more accurately translates this song as, "Mozi is emotionally moved by (comparing human nature to the nature of) silk." I later played some of my favorite tunes on the silk strings. I really enjoyed the feeling of the silk against my fingers. It wasn't enough to make me cry, but then maybe I'd had too much coffee. Playing Old Songs: Reconstruction or Excavating?  Thompson calls this work "reconstructing" （打譜） guqin songs from the ancient tablature. I heard it sometimes described by qin friends in China as "excavating" （挖 or 發掘）, but Thompson says most people use the term reconstruct. Yet I think "excavating" is closer to what Thompson says he is doing than reconstructing, because it leaves one with the sense that a song is being unearthed and replayed exactly as it was preserved.Thompson feels he is recreating the songs, while most qin players say they are interpreting them anew. His strategy is something everyone--Thompson himself included--admits is impossible. Whether or not Thompson's reconstructions/excavations are actually closer to the original or not, it's not surprising that a westerner would somehow to be truer to tradition than mainland Chinese are. Ever since the fall in the Qing Dynasty, Chinese seem to have had a chip on their shoulders about traditional Chinese music and have overall viewed it as something that can (or even should) be improved upon. I'll admit that Beijing Opera gongs get old really fast, but nothing in from the west can match the depth of feeling of the qin. Duels  Before I hopped back on the bus to Manhattan, we walked to the bank of the Hudson River. "This is a view of New York that few get," my qin friend told me. (see picture at top of this post).We walked to Hamilton Plaza where Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel. While Hamilton's bust was prominent, Burr was absent. "Burr was evil," Thompson said jokingly before citing a few books that shed a favorable light on him. The guqin world is a little like politics. Alliances shift. Jabs are made. Some parties ("schools") and masters fight and stop talking. Winners take credit and get to write history (or at least music). After this visit, one thing to me is clear. Silk is stronger than steel. The next chance I get, I'm switching. Today I'm pretty sure I met with a Hamilton. Labels: chinese zither, guqin, john thompson, new york, qin, 古琴, 悲絲, 琴 June 24, 2007It Can Be Done!
Thoughts on Being Carless in Southern California  Before I moved to San Diego for grad school in September 2006, I had many discussions with friends about whether or not I could continue being carless in SoCal. I did not want to buy a car, but most people said I would have to give in. Only one friend was adamant about staying true to my cyclist spirit and convinced me that, even if I had to ride on the highway, I should not buy a car because they're "just gross." I agreed, and thought of my time hitting the books as an experiment in reliance on pedaling and public transport.After nine months in what to me is one of the most poorly planned, unnecessarily sprawled out cities in the United States, I'm happy to say that I survived without a car. And I've got the calf muscles to show for it. What did I have to give up by not owning a car? I gave up realizing the expansiveness of San Diego, which I was convinced was "too small" when what I meant was "too spread out." I also gave up aimless driving. I gave a car stereo. I gave up going to Asian restaurants on Convoy Street. I gave up being able to stay on campus past 9pm when the last shuttle leaves for the Hillcrest Medical Center 25 minutes south of UCSD. What did I gain by giving up owning a car? I gained friends from the shuttle. I got muscular biker's legs. I learned that cops will sometimes pull over cyclists when they jump the gun on a red light. I gained happiness confined to a 20 square mile area in a medium-density city. I saved enough money to fly as often as I needed, and erased some of the guilt of creating so much carbon to do so. Labels: bicycle, bike, carless, cycling, san diego June 15, 200750,000 Views:
What People Looked At On Flickr I swear this post has nothing to do with flickr being down in China. That event just happened to coincide almost perfectly with my 50,000th photo view. I told myself I'd write a blog post as soon as I crossed that magic number. Instead, I finished a stats project, wrote a survey , and had a finance exam. Now freedom has arrived.... 50,000 views sounds like a lot, but it's not a lot when you think that I've uploaded over 10,000 photos to my flickr account. Even though I reckon 1,000 of said uploaded photos are for private archival purposes (biz cards, journals, various publications, research, etc that are for friends or personal viewing only), this figure only means each photo has been viewed a little over five times. That means each person on earth has viewed one of my photos .000000008 times! Here are people's favorite pics. As of June 15, 2007, 1:47am.... # 20) Ms. Fawcett  334 ViewsHere's the sham wife! In her wet suit. Could the fact that this photo is tagged "Ms. Fawcett" and "wetsuit" have anything to do with its popularity? #19) Prototheca wickerhamii  335 ViewsI did not take this photo of "Prototheca wickerhamii." Nor can I take credit for this saprophytic alga. I don't know which Wickerham named this guy. Or which Wickerham won the that scientist's heart. There aren't many Wickerhams out there. But oh how we woo. And here's what wickerhamii does. Ewww. Internal septation. #18) Drag in Henan  360 viewsWho wouldn't be curious about a drag show in Henan Province? Click on it to see other pictures of me in a terrible outfit feverishly doing things in that filthy smoke hole. #17) bumpermadness  368 viewsAs if driving an Expedition wasn't enough of a middle finger to the world... These people had to plaster a bigoted bumper sticker on the bumper. This picture got posted to a news site, so we're starting to get some hits now. (Don't click on it if you're offended by swear words). #16) Crying Mary  369 viewsWhen this statue of the Virgin Mary started bleeding from the eyes, guess who was there? Your narrator, that's who! #15) On the Dock  385 viewsAnother pic of the sham wife. This time you see her whole body in the wet suit. She claimed she wanted this pic for her mother. I knew she was doing it for the good of the blog. #14) resume art  401 viewsHere's my resume after being corrected by all three career services staff at IR/PS. #13) holding brokk  419 viewsBrokk was a norse dwarf. He's also the sham family's dog. He has overactive anal glands and a cute mug. And why does anyone care? Because we posted this photo at the bottom of every auction when we were selling out childhood possessions on eBay. #12) letter writing  422 viewsOver winter holiday 2006/7, I wrote a letter to a girl from YangShan Cun in rural Anhui Province who said she wanted to be pen pals. She has yet to write back. I have no idea why 422 people have chosen to view this unless they're hoping to make out my chicken scratch. #11) love with you  432 viewsA compendium of gay organizations in China, circa late 2004. Here's a link to photos of the whole pamphlet. It was comprehensive for its time, but is a little out of date now. Published by the Beijing Gender and Health Education Institute. I imagine the majority of viewers up to now had been Chinese, since I tagged it in Chinese. Not any more. I colored all the photos blue over the weekend for our mainland Chinese viewers. #10) just pretend  476 viewsEverything is ok. So this was a response to those flag-waving days that have not really gone away in anything but a cosmetic way. Something's gotta give, folks! #9) in the midst  506 viewsMore eBay bidders wanted to look at Susan's picture than the one of me holding Brokk. She was sitting in the middle of 500 Star Wars action figures. I guess she had a bit of an advantage over me and cute little Brokky pants. #8) carved wooden buddha statue  541 viewsFrom Hangzhou. I was thinking about exporting these little guys. I think they're fine figurines. Actually, some of the best commercial carvings I came across in all of my travels. I just wasn't good enough at bargaining. This photo is quite worthy of its many many views. It looks great zoomed in on! #7) I Want you to Want Me  550 viewsJust one of the many images that will haunt me if I ever go into politics. Even if I delete it today, I'm sure 17 weirdos have it saved to their hard drives. Or I can so hope. #6) homemade satellite dish  611 viewsNothing like a rusty satellite dish made from an old cooking wok and a tin can to spark enough interest to push this to number six in the flickr charts. This is actually a much better homemade satellite dish photo from the same Chinese village. Check out the hens hiding from the rain under it. (9 views as of this posting). #5) galaxor nebulon clowning around  633 viewsCaption: "ryan hughes caught in the middle of what could have been his most popular antic ever." Another copyrighted image bringing in the viewers! #4) A Backpack and a Keyboard Logo  673 viewsAgain, the caption pretty much says it all. "A vanity logo for a vanity blog." #3) Nappatizers  794 viewsThe menu from the restaurant in Tomorrow Square, Shanghai. With Dad. #2) Nappatizers?  848 viewsDad's trying to make something of this too. Welcome to the five-star JW Marriot in downtown Shanghai. #1) Jeni and Clara Kissing  1,506 views"Jeni and Clara Kissing" has been ranked at the top since the very first day I posted it. If you didn't think I was a flickr whore before, I hope I've changed your opinion. Go ahead. Look at those girls kissing. Girls! Lesbian hot action girls kissing! Check back in a few months to what statistical impact including those key sex terms have on the hit count of "A Backpack and Keyboard." June 12, 2007Statistics
Cross Post from the IR/PS Student Blog Here's a post I did about Craig McIntosh, my third statistics professor at IR/PS. Labels: crosspost, ir/ps, mcintosh, qm3, statistics No Trace
Living an Honest, Simple Life From a Note My Two Meter Israeli Theravada Monk Teacher Gave Me "When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself." When we practice, our mind is calm and quite simple. But usually our mind is very busy and complicated, and it is difficult to be concentrated on what we are doing. This is because before we act, we think, and this thinking leaves some trace. Our activity is shadowed by some preconceived idea. The thinking not only leaves some trace or shadow, but also gives us many other notions about other activities and things. These traces and notions make our minds very complicated. When we do something with a quite simple mind, we have no notion or shadows, and our activity is strong and straightforward. But when we do something with a complicated mind, in relation to other things or people, or society, our activity becomes very complex. Most people have a double or triple notion in one activity. There is a saying, "To catch two birds with one stone." That is what people usually try to do. Because they want to catch too many birds they find it difficult to be concentrated on one activity, and they may end up not catching any birds at all! That kind of thinking always leaves its shadow on their activity. The shadow is not actually the thinking itself. Of course it is often necessary to think or prepare before we act, but outright thinking will not leave any shadow. Thinking which leaves a trace comes out of your relative confused mind. Relative mind is the mind which sets itself in relation to other things, thus limited itself. It is this small mind which creates gaining ideas and leaves traces of itself. If you leave a trace of yourself on your activity, you will be attached to the trace. For instance, you may say, "This is what I have done!" But actually it is not so. In your recollection you may say, "I did such and such a thing in some certain way," but actually that is never exactly what happened. When you think in this way you limit the actual experience of what you have done. So if you attach to the idea of what you have done, you are involved in selfish ideas. Often we think what we have done is good, but it may not actually be so. When we become old, we are often very proud of what we have done. When others listen to someone proudly telling something which he has done, they will feel funny, because they know his recollection is one-sided. They know that what he has told them is not exactly what he did. Moreover, if he is proud of what he did, that pride will create some problems for him. Repeating his recollections in this way, his personality will be twisted more and more, until he becomes quite a disagreeable, stubborn fellow. This is an example of leaving a trace of ones thinking. We should not forget what we did, but it should be without an extra trace. To leave a trace is not the same as to remember something. It is necessary to remember what we have done, but we should not become attached to what we have done in some special sense. What we call "attachment" is just these traces of our thought and activity. In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. you should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You will have something remaining which is not completely burned out. Our approach is just to be concentrated on a simple basic practice and a simple basic understanding of life. There should be no traces in our activity. We should not attach to some fancy ideas or to some beautiful things. We should not seek for something good. The truth is always near at hand, within your reach. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it. If you understand this point, all the dualistic thinking and all the problems of life will vanish. Note: I don't know who wrote this, but the quote about the bonfire is from Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Labels: buddhism, mind, simplicity Archives
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