Groundhog Day

An old superstition says: If it is sunny on February 2, there will be six more weeks of winter. It it is cloudy, then there will be an early spring.

This superstition came to the U.S. with German farmers. They said: "If a groundhog sees his shadow on February 2, spring will be late. If he sees no shadow, there will be an early spring." That's why February 2 is called Groundhog Day.

Seal Lullaby, by Rudyard Kipling

Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,

  And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us,
  At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,
  Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
  Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas!

This poem is beautiful, memorable, and finely crafted. Eric Whitacre made this lovely poem into a song. It’s absolutely brilliant.

I see this song as a mother seal looking in on her sleeping pup (much the way any parent looks in on their sleeping child), and softly sings this sweet lullaby, while the reader (or listener of Eric Whitacre’s beautiful setting) envisions the trials and adventures of her little baby, through these picturesque and poetic words.

Flipperling is a term of endearment that the mother is using to refer to her baby. Also, I believe that the hollows they’re at rest in are the hollows in between the waves at sea. Billow is another name for a wave, and I’ve always understood that the mother and baby are floating in the water while she sings the lullaby.

Both weary and wee are adjectives describing the baby seal. Weary means that it is tired, and wee means that it is small.

寶貝兒， 夜幕低垂。

潮水黑中透綠，

月光輕撫海浪俯視我們。

讓我們在沙沙潮水裡休息吧。

輕柔的潮浪是你安枕的地方，

疲憊的小寶貝兒，放心地捲曲吧。

願浪潮不會吵醒你，鯊魚也不能傷害你，

在輕搖大海的懷抱中安睡吧！

Moribana (straight & 一型)

Vice (Movie, 2015)

What a terrible movie! There is hardly any character development. Bruce Willis should be ashamed of himself. Seriously. And Thomas Jane is TERRIBLE in this movie.

Problems Are Opportunities

In organizing my thoughts, I recalled what I remembered as being a thoughtful aphorism by Lee Iacocca, the legendary CEO of Chrysler corporation. Perhaps I had read years ago that he had this quotation framed in his office, "Problems are only opportunities in work clothes."

However, after doing a little on-line research, I learned that the quotation actually comes from Henry J. Kaiser an even more legendary CEO. If you don't recall Kaiser, he headed up a massive ship-building operation in Oakland during World War II, founded Kaiser Steel and Kaiser Aluminum, headed up the team of companies which built Hoover Dam, Grand Coulee Dam, Bonneville Dam, the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach, among other things. Oh, and to help his many employees with their medical care, he started a little operation called Kaiser Permanente.

Kaiser did merge his automobile company with Willys Company, the maker of Jeeps, and that company was then bought out by Chrysler, so perhaps Lee Iacocca did have the quotation from Kaiser in a frame in his office.

By the way, Iacocca came up with a good quotation on problems and opportunities himself. "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems." This one is not nearly as colorful as Kaiser's quotation, but perhaps it appeals more the clever, high-brow, executive-suite types who live in Arcadia. Perhaps not.

***************************************************************************

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
-Thomas A. Edison

Last Knights (Movie, 2015)

Set in an age of honor and justice by the sword, Last Knights tells the story of Raiden (Owen) – a fallen warrior who must rise up against a corrupt and sadistic ruler to avenge Bartok (Freeman), his dishonored master. Think of the film as something akin to Seven Samurai but set in the middle ages and you’ll be somewhere close.

Somehow I don't seem to feel much for the story which is the medieval version of Chushingura (the ronins who waited to avenge the death of their master in the Japanese warlord era). Replace the word warrior with samurai, replace the word honor with samurai code, and the adaption of Chushingura is complete, even down to the self-sacrifice of Owen in the end. Then again, the director/producer is Japanese (Kaz Kiriya), it should come as no surprise.

Kingdom of Heaven (Movie, 2005)

This epic is the story of a young man who follows a man who may be his father on a quest to the Crusades. There, he must go from being a simple man into a leader to try to help the Christian Crusaders who are occupying Jersulam fight off hordes of Islamic invaders. Ridley Scott has done an excellent job in recreating the milieu (dress, warfare, weapons, mores) of the 12th Century when this historical drama took place. While Orlando Bloom does a fine job playing Balian of Ibelin, the rest of the performances are also superb -  especially Liam Neeson as Godfrey.  

It is a finely crafted film - technically and artistically.

生花正風體: 使用根締的二種生

Shoka Shofutai: Nissuike with Nejime

Nejime (根締): When Shin and Soe are wooden or leaves material without flowers, the second material with flowers in the Tai portion is called Nejime, meaning, "something which completes or draws the arrangement together as its base." Sometimes a material without flowers lacks the color or interest needed to make an arrangement beautiful. In this case, we follow the principle of using flower material to support material without flowers.

當使用與真或副不同木物的花或其他草花為體時, 體就稱為根締. 體(根締) 不要超出真副, 而只要像是補枝一般輕輕的插上, 必須清楚的插在最前方.

If Shin and Soe are a woody, branch material, Nejime can be either a tree flower or a grassy, herbaceous flower (草本). If Shin and Soe are grassy material, then Nejime must also be a grassy, herbaceous flower.

In the Nejime portion, the tip of Tai is called Tai Saki (體先), Behind Tai Saki and shorter is Tai Ashirai (體補<谷>). The next stem, behind Tai Ashirai and adjacent to the Shin group, is called Tai Shin (體真). Tai Shin is taller than Tai Saki. Note: the material used for Nejime portion should be smaller than the material used for Shin & Soe. Normally the height of Tai Shin is about 1/3 of the Shin.

Olympus Has Fallen (Movie, 2013)

Yes this movie is absurdly implausible. And who doesn't like to see Gerard Butler kick some bad guy butt! You see innocent American citizens get slaughtered by Korean terrorists, and it's really dramatic and makes you emotionally invested in the story. 

Heat (1995, Movie)

With Pacino and Deniro you can't go wrong.The only movie that they appeared together on the same screen. 

However, even with the sound turned up to maximum we still could not hear what they were saying. A terribly recorded film.

Short Term 12 (Movie, 2013)

I really appreciated the exposure of rape by father. This is something most people do not want to even think about. Very little is being done to prevent or intervene in families where this is happening. 

Absolutely phenomenal Tour de force performances across the board but Brie Larson's performance is especially spectacular.

Cyberbully (Movie, 2011)

This movie is very inspiring! Any type of bullying is really wrong and never the answer. 

Omoto (萬年青)

Omoto 是屬於生花特傳之"七種傳"的表現. 古代時是在石洞內, 用木籤固定花材; 現代改用劍山, 在水中加上小石塊以顯古意.

The Intern (2015, Movie)

This is a comedy and you will find plenty to laugh at; but it also has a serious message about seniors in the workforce; the emergence of women in executive positions; and the difficulty experienced by those women in maintaining a traditional family. 

It's a light, fun flick.

一根吸管有氧治百病 (作者：趙哲暘)

用吸管做做深呼吸。美國抗衰老專家邁克·莫倫諾博士表示，用吸管做幾分鐘深呼吸可改善肺功能，擴大肺活量，降低心率和血壓。

趙哲暘醫師在書中亦強調用一根吸管有氧治百病：強化呼吸、恢復體態、抗老有活力。

Inside Out (Movie, 2015)

Inside Out is smart, funny, touching and introduces us to a whole new cast of lovable characters that only Pixar can create! The story follows the emotions inside a young girl's mind through a fantastic and wildly original adventure that the whole family will enjoy! This is a film everyone will see a part of themselves inside and out. 

It is thus that Sadness is as important as the part that Joy plays, that our childhood will always be multi-colored. In time, some of our childhood memory, like Bing Bong, will fade away and disappear, which goes hand in hand with sadness, but they are the foundation that new life and memory will be built on. And our life will grow richer and more complex as a result. 

Shoka Shofutai Sanshuike

Happy New Year!

Another New Year is upon us and I'm darned glad to be around to see it start. I've been more aware of the passage of time lately. Sometimes a minute seems to last forever, and then in the blink of an eye it's time for another birthday. 2016 promises to be a year of new and different opportunities for learning, growing, having fun, and connecting with others. I hope you will join me as I discover ways to change the world, or at least to change our world. Take that first step of the dance number you've always wanted to learn - and if it doesn't suit you after all, try another. Don't forget to laugh a lot, especially at your mistakes. And please make a lot of mistakes. It makes us all feel better to know we're not alone.