Saturday, March 30, 2013
033013 (Sa) The 28th Distance Teaching and Learning Conference - UW Madison Extension
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The following brief PowerPoint is the Outline of my presentation. (The hand-outs of this research result were available during the presentation).
Sunday, March 24, 2013
032413 (Sn) Mismatch
伯樂與千里馬
Sun Yang (孫陽, 號伯樂, born during the Spring and Autumn Period 春秋時代, approximately 771 until 476 BC ), was renowned for his extraordinary understanding of judging horses. Sun Yang was given the honorific name Bole (伯樂) (Henry 1987:28).
He was the legendary inventor of equine physiognomy ("judging a horse's qualities from appearance"). As the saying goes, without 伯樂's insightful capacity on the quality of the horse, the best one will go unnoticed and its talent becomes useless. Thus, 世有伯樂而後有千里馬- literally says that because of the superb physiognomic ability of 伯樂, an extraordinary horse that can run thousand miles a day, then, does exist (i.e., identified and serve).
Bole's name was given to a star, from which he supervised the "winged tianma (天馬) " "heavenly horses".
In modern standard language, Bole figuratively means "good judge of (especially hidden) talent", from the idiom Bolexiangma 伯樂相馬 "Bole physiognomizing horses".
This is a story regarding appreciating and discovering the hidden ability of one species toward the other, though it has been extended within human population. The flip side of the story is also familiar to people - the Salieri (as to Mozart) or Claggart (to Billy Budd) syndrome.
Sun Yang (孫陽, 號伯樂, born during the Spring and Autumn Period 春秋時代, approximately 771 until 476 BC ), was renowned for his extraordinary understanding of judging horses. Sun Yang was given the honorific name Bole (伯樂) (Henry 1987:28).
He was the legendary inventor of equine physiognomy ("judging a horse's qualities from appearance"). As the saying goes, without 伯樂's insightful capacity on the quality of the horse, the best one will go unnoticed and its talent becomes useless. Thus, 世有伯樂而後有千里馬- literally says that because of the superb physiognomic ability of 伯樂, an extraordinary horse that can run thousand miles a day, then, does exist (i.e., identified and serve).
Bole's name was given to a star, from which he supervised the "winged tianma (天馬) " "heavenly horses".
In modern standard language, Bole figuratively means "good judge of (especially hidden) talent", from the idiom Bolexiangma 伯樂相馬 "Bole physiognomizing horses".
This is a story regarding appreciating and discovering the hidden ability of one species toward the other, though it has been extended within human population. The flip side of the story is also familiar to people - the Salieri (as to Mozart) or Claggart (to Billy Budd) syndrome.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
032313 (Sa) Beyond the 3rd and 4th Eye- A Serendipity! Reminds me of the Eastern and Western Images of Infernos
The original draft:
The system exists in tension,
stability interfacing with imbalance.
Pendulum keeps on swinging,
to the left and to the right,
must coming back to the perpendicular side.
Never stops the motions and
the game will be self-sustaining.
Status quo-ers under the bell-curve,
co-exist with the two tails of the outliers:
the agitators, life-gamblers, the risk takers,
and the marginalized.
The symbioticism is enlightened
via the mainstream theoretical explanations,
embellished with the conspiracy-narrating.
Functionalism intertwines with dysfunctions as well as the latent,
while conflict resuscitates the change of macro dynamics.
Justice mingling with unfairness,
love embracing peace in the chaos,
human endeavors meshed in the cosmic operations
- this is the defiled world of kaleidoscope!
Struggling and striving enliven the joie de vivre!
Yet, paradise and utopia, for the imagination nurtured,
who is inspired to live there?
After having done my draft of the above post, I was looking for a background picture for an embellishment. Several versions of Dante's Inferno pictures and graphs popped onto my computer screen. I selected the above one (hopefully not infringing the intellectual property right of the author...).
I came back to my blog-site to review the output, and then serendipitously, I felt like adding a well-known version of Asian Inferno of which the initial ideation would have existed much earlier than that of Dante's regarding what the Inferno would look like?? Surely, here is not about who and where the first conceptualization was brought forth, but much about an interest of knowing the cultural similarity (or could be a cultural universal trait??) that made this post less boring : p!
I browsed through Youtube again and found this Inferno clip which was based on the localized Buddhism tinted with the "vernacularized" Daoism painted by the awarded Artist Mr. Jiang Yi-Tsi.
Mr. Jiang worked a whole year to complete this 50-meter long painting and presented in a movie mode.
Just a short note of my personal bias - Dante's Inferno compared to that of the renowned Far Eastern version, is less dreadful, frightening, and much less nightmarish!!
Movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbR6IVDChQ 地獄變相圖 (The Inferno of Metamorphosis)
Comments:
As an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, for the formal social control has its limitation. Thus, pursuing and implementing socio-political policies to construct or reconstruct human conditions to foster just, benevolent, and peaceful environment to ameliorate destructive consequences relies on collective consciousness and endeavors.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
031413 ( R) Pi and the Theory of Relativity
March 14 (Thursday), 2013.
My contributions to fb and friends today:
Double Celebrations to
Happy PI Day, and
Happy Birth Day to Einstein!
Listen to the acoustic beauty of Pi https://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=player_embedded&v=YOQb_mtkEEE#!
Thanks for Science-fact and GeekGasin's sharing : )!
No, just waiting to enjoy it :P! But I did read "A History of π (Pi)", a nice and readable book - by Petra Beckmann, 1971, published by St. Martin's.
Happy Pi Day!
Have fun.
http://www.dansmath.com/pages/jokes.html
How did Einstein explain the theory of relativity lovely and elegantly ?
Ya, you know it. Here it goes-
"When you are courting a nice girl an hour which seems like a second" ;
while the moment you are dumped which shocks you for a century long ( quote from Crystal) - "That's relativity" :P!
Other popular quotes of Einstein:
"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in
love".
"Great spirits have always encountered violent
opposition from mediocre minds".
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but
imagination".
"Hi, Dawn, a nice one from your wall I just visited. Borrowed to my comments:
' Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination takes everywhere' ". Thanks.
"Our task must be free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures".
John Lennon: Imagine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
030913 (Sa) A Live Report - Cultural Relativism!
March 9 (Sa), 2013
The world renowned tourist hot-spot: Taipei Snake Alley Night Market (Next to the famous historical site- Long San Temple where my mother took us siblings for the ceremonial worship frequently- a very nostalgic place : )!)
In the meeting with Dr. Smalley this afternoon, he mentioned a tour after teaching, to the Taipei Snake Alley Night Market which he related to the ideas of social conventions, ethnocentric issues, and cultural relativism.
His local tour guide explained how snakes were rendered in the Alley Market to him – the blood and meat treated as medicine as well as meals…etc., which, in deed, could be a cultural shock for the first time visitors. Dr. Smalley jokingly said to the guide after invited to taste the "delicacy" - "Do as the Romans do, but this time I need to draw a line, haha!" This short conversation reminded me of long time ago in Taipei when I was a licensed cultural tour-guide for English and Japanese tourist groups running the Snake Alley, the National Palace Museum, and the Window of the miniature World lines as my weekend delightful job and activities for extra cash (in addition to my formal jobs as a news reporter and policy researcher in the government with very meager salaries :P!)
Providing and explaining cultural differences were part of my job when on tours. So I shared some experiences with Dr. Smalley and dug out extra information to post on my fb:
Mainly, Taiwan is located in the subtropical climatic-zone with dense vegetation, which becomes a fertile ground for variety of snakes (Yea, this is the Year of Snake- a proper association :D).
Similar to some Western Cultures, in particular, from the Biblical perspective, snakes and scorpions are deemed as unpleasant creatures. People in Taiwan have learned to live with them from experiences and research to the best they can.
So far, 16 species have been identified and well researched. Most of them are more or less poisonous and some of them are used for medicine/research, commercial products, and for cooking. The common venomous types are Taiwan Cobra, Sharp-Nosed Pit, Taiwan Green Bamboo Tree Viper, Chinese Taiwan Habu, Tortoise Snake Russell's Pit Viper, Chain Snake, also shown in the photo.
Coming to the point, coincidentally, I browsed through the newsreel and found a similar treatment on snakes in Taxes, but this time is about Rattlesnakes. See attached link below for the detailed info.
(Alert, one scene I had to close my eyes to skip it, which is what the title of this short article is about! )
Cultural Relative Perspective:
RattleSnake roundup in Taxes!!!
http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/51254/some+5000+pounds+of+rattlesnakes+collected+in+odd+annual+event/
In the meeting with Dr. Smalley this afternoon, he mentioned a tour after teaching, to the Taipei Snake Alley Night Market which he related to the ideas of social conventions, ethnocentric issues, and cultural relativism.
His local tour guide explained how snakes were rendered in the Alley Market to him – the blood and meat treated as medicine as well as meals…etc., which, in deed, could be a cultural shock for the first time visitors. Dr. Smalley jokingly said to the guide after invited to taste the "delicacy" - "Do as the Romans do, but this time I need to draw a line, haha!" This short conversation reminded me of long time ago in Taipei when I was a licensed cultural tour-guide for English and Japanese tourist groups running the Snake Alley, the National Palace Museum, and the Window of the miniature World lines as my weekend delightful job and activities for extra cash (in addition to my formal jobs as a news reporter and policy researcher in the government with very meager salaries :P!)
Providing and explaining cultural differences were part of my job when on tours. So I shared some experiences with Dr. Smalley and dug out extra information to post on my fb:
Mainly, Taiwan is located in the subtropical climatic-zone with dense vegetation, which becomes a fertile ground for variety of snakes (Yea, this is the Year of Snake- a proper association :D).
Similar to some Western Cultures, in particular, from the Biblical perspective, snakes and scorpions are deemed as unpleasant creatures. People in Taiwan have learned to live with them from experiences and research to the best they can.
So far, 16 species have been identified and well researched. Most of them are more or less poisonous and some of them are used for medicine/research, commercial products, and for cooking. The common venomous types are Taiwan Cobra, Sharp-Nosed Pit, Taiwan Green Bamboo Tree Viper, Chinese Taiwan Habu, Tortoise Snake Russell's Pit Viper, Chain Snake, also shown in the photo.
Coming to the point, coincidentally, I browsed through the newsreel and found a similar treatment on snakes in Taxes, but this time is about Rattlesnakes. See attached link below for the detailed info.
(Alert, one scene I had to close my eyes to skip it, which is what the title of this short article is about! )
Cultural Relative Perspective:
RattleSnake roundup in Taxes!!!
http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/51254/some+5000+pounds+of+rattlesnakes+collected+in+odd+annual+event/
Friday, March 8, 2013
030813 (F) All Kinds of Everything in the Rainbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVdOQvx379Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpKypJkzrkI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q915pEWtv2U
On this International Women's Day - posted on my fb
Women hold half of the sky!
How women are valued is the best indicator of the level of love, justice, and peace of a nation.- CrystalWomen hold half of the sky!
Also, celebrate the International Female Sentient Beings's Day!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
030213 (Sa) Today, my contribution to fb and friends :)!
Today, my contribution to fb and friends :)!
Several admirable and respectable idealists popped up in my mind as exemplars/activists for
- 正大光明 : Character/integrity in fighting for love, truth, justice, and peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4IpY3wZHI4
