Category: Culture

  • Vienna Teng – Live Concert Recordings

    I really like the music of Vienna Teng and was fortunate enough to hear her live a few years ago. If you’ve never heard her in concert, Internet Archive has a collection of her live recordings. You can also find her videos on YouTube.

  • iTunes is Annoying Me

    I rarely listen to the radio. When I do, I almost listen exclusively to KQED, which is not the best source for hearing new or old Chinese music. So, I pretty much depend on the Genius Just For You feature in iTunes to discover new music. iTunes seems to handle English artists and songs quite…

  • 当我们都在一起

    In Ratatouille, Remy’s ratatouille dish whisks the critic Anton Ego back to his childhood. I have yet to meet a dish that could summon my memories of childhood, but some children songs come close. For quite some time, I’ve been trying to figure out the lyrics to 当我们都在一起, which I had learned many, many years…

  • Lissy’s Friends by Grace Lin

    I recently finished reading Lissy’s Friends by Grace Lin. Lissy’s Friends is a wonderful children’s book that describes how one Chinese girl handles the awkwardness of being the new kid in school. At first, she has difficulty making friends and turns to her origami animals for companionship. Later, she shares her origami creations with the…

  • Chinese Auto Safety

    New York Times: Ford in Talks to Sell Volvo to Chinese Rival, Report Says. Ford Motor is in talks to sell its Volvo car business to its Chinese partner, Changan Automobile Group, the National Business Daily reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source at the Chinese company. OK. The country that gave us melamine milk,…

  • Gasoline Prices

    Strangest sight this morning. I had to fill up this morning, so I stopped at a gasoline station before heading to work. So, I took one path that takes me past an intersection with three gasoline stations: ARCO, Shell and Chevron. I was just about to pull into the Shell because it was on the…

  • General Electric

    Last month, MSNBC reported that Warren Buffett had invested $3 billion in General Electric preferred shares with a 10 percent dividend. At the time, GE had fallen 42 percent in the past year. Well, since October 1st, GE has fallen almost 48 percent and that dividend (if it doesn’t get cut) is creeping closer and…

  • The Meaning of Gasoline Prices

    Five months ago, I had to pay $4.55 per gallon for regular unleaded at the local Valero gasoline station. At the time, gasoline prices were just 10% away from hitting the $5.00 per gallon mark. So, if I was offered a bet on whether gasoline prices would be over $5.00 or under $2.50 in five…

  • Credibility

    New York Times: Crisis Spreads to Tech Sector as Sun to Cut Work Force. Joining a rapidly growing list of technology companies reeling from the financial turmoil, Sun Microsystems, which sells server computers, has started a broad restructuring that could see up to 6,000 employees lose their jobs. I spotted the above article earlier this…

  • Emperor Guangxu Died of Arsenic Poisoning

    In Who Murdered China’s Emperor 100 Years Ago?, scientists revealed that Emperor Guangxu died of acute arsenic poisoning. Although Guangxu’s death cleared the way for his famed successor, Puyi, to ascend to the throne, Puyi abdicated three years later.