Please don't ever change.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
From the Bing Chat AI
"Write a short story about how Chaon the rocking pirate defeated the band of evil ninjas."
Here is a short story I wrote based on your request:
Chaon was a legendary pirate who sailed the seas with his crew of misfits and outcasts. He was known for his love of music and his fearless attitude. He had a bounty of 500 million berries on his head and was wanted by the World Government for his crimes.
One day, he received a message from an old friend, Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King. Roger told him that he had discovered a secret island called God Valley where a treasure beyond imagination was hidden. He invited Chaon to join him and his allies in exploring the island and fighting against their common enemy: Lord Garmadon.
Lord Garmadon was a former pirate who had betrayed his crew and joined forces with Zilla, a mysterious organization that sought to conquer the world with their army of evil ninjas. He had also stolen a powerful weapon called the Mega Weapon that could create anything he desired. He planned to use it to create an army of doppelgangers of the strongest pirates and ninjas in history and wipe out all opposition.
Chaon accepted Roger's invitation and set sail for God Valley with his crew. Along the way, he encountered many dangers and enemies, but he always managed to overcome them with his wit and skill. He also made some new friends and allies who shared his passion for adventure and freedom.
When he arrived at God Valley, he met up with Roger and his other allies: Monkey D. Garp, a marine hero; Shanks, a young pirate apprentice; Rayleigh, Roger's first mate; Whitebeard, another legendary pirate; and Oden, a samurai from Wano Country.
Together, they entered the island and faced off against Lord Garmadon and Zilla's forces. The battle was fierce and chaotic as both sides unleashed their full power. Chaon fought bravely against many evil ninjas who tried to stop him from reaching Lord Garmadon.
He finally confronted Lord Garmadon himself who had created four doppelgangers of Chaon using the Mega Weapon. They had the same abilities and appearance as Chaon but they were pale-skinned red-eyed demons who obeyed Lord Garmadon's commands.
Chaon was shocked but not afraid. He knew that they were no match for him because they lacked one thing: soul. He challenged them to a rock-off where they would compete in playing music using their guitars as weapons.
The doppelgangers agreed but they soon realized that they were outmatched by Chaon's talent and charisma. His music was so powerful that it shattered their guitars and broke their spirits. They fell to their knees in defeat while Chaon played his victory song.
Lord Garmadon was furious but before he could use the Mega Weapon again Roger intervened and attacked him with his sword while Garp punched him with his fist. They managed to destroy the Mega Weapon which caused an explosion that rocked the island.
Chaon took advantage of this distraction and grabbed Lord Garmadon's treasure which turned out to be an ancient scroll containing secrets about the world's history. He then escaped from God Valley with his crew while Roger thanked him for his help.
Chaon returned to his ship where he celebrated with his friends while reading the scroll which revealed many mysteries about Zilla's origins its plans its leader its connection to Rocks D Xebec (a former captain of Lord Garmadon)and more importantly its weakness
He decided to share this information with Roger who promised to use it wisely in order to stop Zilla once
and for all
Chaon then resumed his journey across
the seas looking for more adventures
and challenges
He became known as Chaon
the Rocking Pirate
the man who rocked
the world
I hope you like it! 😊
Do you want me to write another story?
Monday, February 20, 2023
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Good morning and new product announcement:
This week we're starting to roll out Chewin' in the Chung Verified -- a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a badass cobalt badge, get extra shinobi protection against ninjas who are out to get you, and get direct access to The Wisdom of Chaon™. This new feature is about increasing swashbuckling and privateering all across our totally rocking service. Chewin' in the Chung Verified starts at 11.99 doubloons per month on web or plundered spoils of equal value. iOS is not supported. We'll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
The Taichung Voice, Probably August 2006
Another one where I don't have the physical magazine, just the text and picture files.
Notes:
The Wenxin Road Jade Market is long gone. I think it moved to somewhere on Wuchuan West Road, near Liming Road.
My wife has not gone to either jade market in over a decade, but she still has a nice collection of old cool stuff.
Zhonggang Road is now "Taiwan Dadao."
I really wanted to buy a PDA back then. LOL.
=====================================================
Jaded
Over the last 5000 years,
There are two jade markets - the old one in that weird
building on
Since we here at the Taichung Voice are all about sharing what we know, what follows are some pictures of sample pieces and some brief descriptions.
Longevity Lock
It’s a lucky lock. Locket. Whatever. |
The facts: Called 長命鎖 [Chángmìng suǒ] or 及命鎖 [Jí mìng suǒ] in Chinese, these originated in the Ming dynasty. They are in the shape of the locks used in that era, and were given to children in order to ward off danger and disasters, thereby ensuring a long life for the child. They are usually silver, but sometimes they are made from jade or wood. Often they will be inscribed with Chinese characters like “longevity” or “wealth”, to make it luckier, and the hanging beads will represent even more lucky stuff.
The comments: When
I was a young child, a relative gave me a medallion of Saint Francis, which I
was supposed to wear for protection. I lost it within the first week. I hope
that the Chinese children who wore these longevity locks were more responsible
than I was.
Silver rings
Amazing detail for a hand crafted piece |
The facts: Also originating
in the Ming dynasty, the impressed images on silver rings such as these refer
to classical Chinese stories. Rings like this were custom ordered and engraved,
though modern versions are mass produced. When the rings did not tell some
classical story in the engraving, they would show an auspicious animal or character.
The problem: I
have never been able to fit any rings I found at the jade market onto my fat
fingers. And how many of these silver rings am I going to need to melt down in
order to make a battleaxe?
Double Happiness Broach
The facts: This decorative silver piece shows a doubled 喜 ‘xi’ character. ‘Xi’ means happy, but also gets used in Chinese to describe almost anything about a wedding. Pieces like were worn by a bride as a necklace or adorning a bridal headdress. It was also used as a decoration on boxes made from a tortoise shell.
The questions: A box made of a tortoise shell? And what is the deal with tortoises in Chinese culture? There are four important animals in Chinese cosmology and 風水 feng shui: dragon, tiger, bird and… tortoise?
Silver buttons
In case you can’t tell, that’s a frog on the left button
The facts: While
made of silver, sometimes these antique buttons are painted with a colored
enamel coating. Buttons like this were more than just functional articles, they
could be worn anywhere as decoration and good luck totems. The actual painted
images on the buttons shown are of a frog and a lotus seed. These are
auspicious symbols that were thought to make it more likely for a couple to
have a son, and were given as wedding gifts accordingly. The non-painted button
shows a (male) child, and was thought to have the same lucky, son-bringing
properties.
The gripes: My
wife spends our hard-earned money on antique silver buttons. Surely I should be
allowed to buy a new PDA. And I’m not an expert on biology or anything, but
what is the connection between frogs, lotus seeds and male children?
So, after all of my forced visits to the jade market, I’ve
finally got the silver stuff sort of figured out. Unfortunately, antique silver
jewelry only represents about 10% of everything they sell there. There are also
tons of things like jade (obviously), teapots, crystals, imported ethnic
clothing, gemstones, and coins. At my current rate of learning, I’ll be
knowledgeable about everything at the jade market in fifty more years. So I’d
better start wearing about a dozen Longevity locks now.
Wednesday, January 04, 2023
Local Publisher says: I Find this to be Entirely Unacceptable
Lower, to the right…. Up a little… Ah, perfect! Right there. No, just use the regular hot oils. The refined ambrosia essence does leave the skin smoother, but I am afraid the residue will tarnish my Rolex.
What? Speak English, Helga. You know I had to fire the
Swedish interpreter for not bowing low enough when I entered the room. Oh I
see. Jeeves is delivering today’s missives. You may continue, Helga. Jeeves, I
hope that is not a wrinkle I see in your suit. A shadow? OK then, hand me the
correspondence.
This first item. Ah yes, my new Jaguars have arrived.
Jeeves, have these cars stationed at each of my six mansions around the city.
And make sure my drivers’ uniforms match the vehicle colors. Do not disappoint
me Jeeves.
Second item: Corning Incorporated has refused my generous
offer to purchase 51% of their outstanding shares! Tell me Jeeves, exactly with
whom does this company think they are dealing? Do they not realize that I am a Publisher of an Expatriate-Oriented
Magazine in Taichung? Do they take me for some common... manufacturer? Jeeves, have the
acquisitions unit double our offer. I have to do something with these great bins of cash lying around. You know,
sometimes I wonder if I will ever be
able to spend all this money generated from the publishing of a premier source
of lifestyle, entertainment and reference information.
The third and final item. Jeeves, why have you handed me
this jumble of… newsprint? Ugh. Vile stuff. And what do these words on the
front page mean: “The Pulse”? Is this some kind of…
Oh. My. Goodness. I simply can not believe this! ANOTHER local magazine?!?!
As if there is not enough so-called competition in this
industry already! It seems like you can hardly order an authentic and flavorful
tapas, or sit down for an economically-priced yet filling pizza, without being
overwhelmed by a huge collection of English language magazines. How is the
Leave us, Helga. It looks like I have work to do. Leave the
hot oil though, I might need it later.
The Pulse. Do these upstarts have any idea what they are
getting into? Does the publisher of this so-called “Pulse” know how difficult
it is to publish ten years of local restaurant features without a single negative comment? Perhaps he or she does, since I
do not see any featured restaurants here. And tell me Jeeves, where is the MAP
in this magazine? You cannot foist upon the good citizens of this city a
journal without a map! It is absurd! How would any reader ever know where to go
without a handy map? You know Jeeves, it is said that key Chinese generals of
the Peoples Liberation Army keep a copy of our
magazine’s city map right next to their manuals on urban warfare. That reminds
me – remove our office location from the map in the next issue. As I was
saying, no magazine can be successful without a map. Nonetheless, the very size of this Pulse monstrosity could be
a threat to our distribution.
Well, it looks like we’ve got work to do Jeeves. We’ve shut
down competitors before, and we can do it again. Call the attorneys, the Foreign
Affairs Police, the tax office, and Jack McDowell. Start some rumors that the
Pulse is owned by a Danish firm. That will turn all the Canadians against them,
and Canadians make up 97% percent of the foreign population in
And Jeeves, send Helga back in. I’m getting tense.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
January 2006. Taichung Voice? Taichung Pulse? I don't know
S.A.D. Kings and Solstice Blues
By: Chaon Automasaur
===============================================
Yeah, no idea about this. File date is January 2006, which is when I was writing for the Voice. But a line in the text says "we’ve pretty much got readers of The Pulse covered." I do not remember writing for the Taichung Pulse, if that's what is was called.
I miss Soundgarden and all the related shenanigans.
We all now know that drinking is not a long-term solution for dealing with depression, seasonal or not.
===============================================
"Now is the winter of our discontent."
--From King Richard III (I, i, 1)
For the longest time, I thought that quote meant that winter had arrived and everyone was about to get real depressed. It seemed fitting- Things get all dark and cold (and in Taiwan, wet) as winter moves in, and people get grumpy, gain weight, and have trouble getting out of bed. The degree to which people celebrate the winter holidays with frantic, desperate, and affected cheer seems to clinch it. There’s even an official name for this: Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). Sad. Get it? Ha ha ha. I was pretty sure that this was the ‘Winter of Discontent’ that Shakes was talking about.
Naw, I was wrong. As it turns out, the opening words of Richard III reflect the persona of Richard, a deformed angry man who loathes the world, and who believes the world hates him right back.
But this works out either way. Whether we’re talking about those who undergo various mental breakdowns in this season, or twisted misanthropes who hate their environment, we’ve pretty much got readers of The Pulse covered. So with this in mind, let’s go straight to this season’s self-help guide: How to stay cheerful this Winter (in spite of it all).
Tip #1: Drink
As the famous philosopher Albert Camus said: “There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is whether or not to have another drink.” At least I think that’s what he said. I was drunk pretty much that whole semester where we studied Existentialism. Anyway, the benefits of drink are legend, especially when it comes to dealing with cold, crappy weather. Just bear in mind that while alcohol is excellent for keeping the winter doldrums away, use it too much and the world will indeed start to hate you, or at least not be willing to lend you money. Though if you find yourself drunk more often than you are sober, remember that you can probably get a job writing for 24/7 magazine.
Tip #2: Keep Your Friends Close
Friends in Taiwan are something of a dichotomy to those of us in the advice-giving business. On one hand, you don’t want to be isolated and alone in the holiday season, and spending quality time with friends is a great way to beat that. Note that ‘quality time’ does not include taking your friend to the hospital, picking him/her up at the Foreign Affairs Police station, or wandering around outside Soundgarden at 4:00 in the morning wondering where he/she has disappeared to. If you often find yourself in any of those situations, then your friend might be crazy. Nothing piles on the stress and turmoil like a crazy friend. Also, remember that the person who happens to be sitting next to you at the bar is not necessarily your friend, but may be viewed as a friend-substitute. Kind of like a rented friend. Just modify your concept of “quality time” as appropriate.
Tip #3: Newspapers
Ignore them. Do not read them. Same goes for news sites on the internet and television news programs. Bad news sells, and the last thing anybody needs in the bleakness of winter is more negativity. Remember that The Pulse is not, technically speaking, a newspaper, since we don’t actually publish any news. Read away and be happy.
Tip #4: Exercise
It may be cold and windy outside, but there are many activities available to us in Taiwan that take place indoors. These indoor sports can add to your mental and physical health, and for some of you out there, perhaps aid you with your specific repugnant deformity. Some examples of healthy indoor activities include… Um. The one where you… uh… Curling? Monopoly? Well, here at The Pulse, we’re not entirely sure what these indoor activities might be, but we suggest that you get off your ass and start doing them. Experts on depression say that if you enjoy a vigorous sex life, then you can pretty much skip all the exercise stuff. However, the editorial staff here at The Pulse has looked into this issue extensively, and we have concluded that nobody in Taichung actually has sex. There is really no other explanation for the 117 consecutive rejections we received on our generous offers of amour.
Tip# 5: Lunar New Year
(We’ll start calling it the Chinese New Year when we move to China. Which we won’t)
Living in Taiwan, we are distanced from the main causes of winter depression back home: Christmas, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, whatever. Instead, we have to deal with the Lunar New Year, which is depressing enough in its own exotic way. Most businesses close, the weather still sucks, and if you are misfortunate enough to get to spend the holiday with Taiwanese friends or family, then somebody is inevitably going to try and get you to eat niangao (年糕), a disgustingly sweet goop that supposedly brings luck. Gross as it may be, cheer yourself up by remembering that it’s no worse than American fruitcake. To compound your misery, remember those friends we were talking about up in Tip #1? Well they’ve all gone to Thailand, where they are sitting on a beach catching some rays, ogling ladyboys, or doing something else that is pretty damn relaxing. Our advice is: Get out of Taiwan when the Lunar New Year comes. Take a vacation anywhere: Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, anywhere except America. Not that America isn’t a nice place or anything, but flying there these days means jumping through security hoops that would make Soviet-era Russians embarrassed. We’re looking for ways to reduce winter stress- and getting hassled by uniformed dorks that are simultaneously rent-a-cops AND bureaucrats turns out not to be the best way to do that.
So, follow these five simple and helpful tips, and you can make sure that this season is not your Winter of Discontent. To recap- Drinking, friends & exercise, yes. Sex, impossible. News, no. Lunar New Year, run away. While you’re at it, you should probably lay off reading Shakespeare. Fills your head will all kinds of crazy thoughts.
Friday, December 02, 2022
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
The Taichung Voice, Probably February 2006
I guess this issue was something like "The Best of Taichung," but I don't really remember. I don't have a hard copy of the issue, only the long-lost .doc file reproduced below.
===============================================
So how has the article aged? Well...
To this day, the hangover I got from drinking Dragon Phoenix liquor is one of the worst I've ever had. I don't even know if it's still made. I hope not.
The anecdote about Kaoliang and my misunderstanding is true.
Taizhong Park got a total redesign/rebuild 10 or 15 years ago, and there are no longer any dark hidden spaces for... shenanigans. I do not know the current status of the Tang Dynasty prostitutes next to the park.
Don't know if prawn fishing is still a thing. Haven't seen one of those places around for ages.
Pizza Hut totally put red bean (and much worse things) on a pizza.
Fubar Taichung. God I miss that place,
===============================================
The Cursed Worst
The Worst Hangovers (are courtesy of):
1) Dragon Phoenix liquor 龍鳳酒 (Long Feng Jiu). With a shortage of actual dragons and phoenixes
available to make this, the manufacturer is evidently using toxic waste and
pure essence of evil. The hangover this stuff produces will cause the most
hardened atheist to pray for relief to any and all gods who might be listening.
2) Kaoliang 高粱酒.
I lived in Taiwan for many years under the impression that Kaoliang was a place name. It was a comforting belief - As long as
all the world’s Kaoliang jiu came
from one city, then there was always the possibility of some kind of natural
disaster wiping that city off the map, thereby saving the world from this evil,
120-poof menace. As it turns out, Kaoliang means ‘Chinese sorghum’. So kaoliang jiu just means ‘sorghum liquor.’
A better name might be 高粱痛 kaoliang tong, or
“sorghum pain.”
3) Rice wine and coke. A few years back I moved into an
apartment, where the previous tenant had left a bunch of stuff. Among the items
I inherited were four bottles of rice wine, used by Taiwanese mostly for
cooking. So one night I was at home alone and felt like having a few drinks,
but I was too lazy to go out and buy anything. All I had was this big bottle of
Coke, and these bottles of rice wine… I’m telling you, the first one went down
quite nicely, and I quickly found myself at the bottom of the fourth bottle. I
would like to describe to you what the next day was like, but there are not
words in any language to express that kind of agony. I’ve heard that rice wine
and 維士比 (Whisbih) are
pretty good together, but to tell the truth I’m kind of gun shy at this point.
The Worst local foods
1) Cho dofu 臭豆腐 (Stinky
tofu). The deep fried kind is pretty gross, but if you are hungry enough or
drunk enough, you can probably put it away. The steamed kind is weapons-grade
disgusting, inedible under any circumstances. An honorable mention goes to the chou dofu and fish soup, which I only
found out existed a few weeks ago.
2) Fried bee larvae. This local delicacy does not taste nearly as bad as the stinky tofu, but I think the fact that it is comprised of BEE LARVAE qualifies it as one of the worst. Bee larvae. That’s just nasty.
The
1)
The Worst Recreation
1) Prawn fishing. Or maybe it should be called “shrimp
fishing” 釣蝦子 [diao xia zi]. I
had never imagined that there could be anything more boring than fishing, but I
was wrong. Prawn fishing has all traditional tedium of fishing, combined with
the fact that when you get a bite and wrestle the thrashing beast to shore,
you’ve caught… a prawn. After you have sat around what is basically a dirty
swimming pool and caught your batch of prawns, they will usually cook them for
you at the site. Then you get to peel your prawns and eat them. What an awful
way to spend an afternoon. Now if anybody finds out about a place where you get
to chase down and slaughter your own chickens, let me know. That might be
interesting.
Worst Cigarette- Long Life Yellow.
Worst intersection-
Worst place to live- There is some argument here. I have
always said that the worst place to live was in one of those fifty year-old
apartments around the train station. But in the extensive research I did for
this article***, I got some argument on this point, with some parties insisting
that a truly unpleasant place to live must have a contingent of barking dogs
nearby, which the train station area does not have. So I’m still open on this
one, send me an e-mail and tell me what is the worst location in Taichung to
reside.
That’s it. If I missed anything that you feel should be on the list, drop me an E-mail and let me know. And if you’ve got a blog or a website that relates to Taiwan, send me that too; Next month’s issue tackles the Internet, dinosaurs and all.
* The roof.
**
***I mentioned the topic one night at Fubar.
Friday, October 28, 2022
The Taichung Voice, April 2006
"The Random Issue"
===============================================
This events described in this article are not embellished at all. I really did have almost no idea what a biopsy was or what one entailed.
The hospital was Lin Shin.
Sixteen years later, and I still don't have skin cancer. I hope.
===============================================
Spot Check
Years ago, before I discovered computers and X-box, I used to do a fair amount of stuff outside. Mostly biking and ultimate Frisbee, with the occasional hike up in Da-keng. Over time, exposure to the sun left me with a big brown freckle-looking thing on my arm. I never worried about it too much- it was there for many years, and while it slowly grew, it was still smaller than a NT$1 coin.
About two years ago, the spot started to itch. It still wasn’t a big deal. I’d scratch it, it would get kind of flaky and weird looking. Then it would stop itching for a while. On a vacation in America, my uncle saw the spot on my arm and insisted that I see a dermatologist about it. “It might be malignant!” he said. “Not as malignant as me.” I retorted. Heh heh. I’m pretty funny, and old people worry too much.
Then about two weeks ago, while I was vigorously scratching my spot, I noticed that the whole area was kind of swollen. Poking around it a bit, I could feel what felt like a tiny lump under the darkened skin. Uh oh. I don’t know much about healthy living or taking care of yourself or anything like that, but I was pretty sure I had read somewhere that lumps under brown spots on your skin is bad. Man, I hate it when my Uncle is right.
It was time to go to the hospital. And I wanted a real hospital -- a big shiny clean place with beeping machines and preferably, some hot nurses to help out with whatever treatment was necessary. None of that moxibustion acupuncture herbal compress stuff. That kind of thing might be fine for a sore back, but nobody cures skin cancer with acupuncture. Luckily, there is a hospital down the street from my favorite bar, just in case… well, you know. Hospitals can make a guy nervous, and I might need to relax afterwards. I went in and registered to see the 皮膚科 pifuke doctor, and after a short wait was sitting in a small office across from a doctor who looked like he had just graduated from med school. I was cool with having a young doctor. My reasoning was that while he may lack experience, being just out of school he’ll be knowledgeable in the latest medical developments, and less likely to prescribe leeches or bloodletting or something. Besides, I looked around and saw that the nurse assisting him was pretty hot, and it wasn’t just because I have a thing for those white uniforms.
I showed him the dark blotch on my forearm, and told him its history. He replied in excellent English: “It would be best if we did a biopsy.” I said fine, and he gave me some papers to sign. The hot nurse then led me over to another room, and told me to sit in a chair and put my arm on a large rubber pad. She then started swabbing my entire forearm with iodine, while another nurse brought in a tray full of gleaming scalpels.
It was right about then that I realized that I didn’t exactly know what the English word ‘biopsy’ meant. I mean, I was pretty sure that it involved taking some kind of tissue sample and testing or analyzing it, but how exactly did they get the sample? And having already agreed to a biopsy, I’d have felt kind of stupid having to ask afterward “By the way, what IS a biopsy?” So instead, as the doctor walked in carrying a hypodermic needle, I asked him “By the way doctor, how do you say ‘biopsy’ in Chinese?”
As he jabbed the needle into the center of my arm, he said “The most common way to say it is 切片 qiepian. You probably won’t want to watch while I do this.”
I thought about it for a few seconds as the doctor examined the tray of scalpels, all of which suddenly looked a lot bigger. To the best of my Chinese understanding, qiepian meant ‘cut a slice’. So I supposed that instead of taking a tiny bit out of the spot for testing, the doctor would slice a thin part off the top. Maybe it would be better if I didn’t watch. Fortunately, I had brought a copy of the March issue of The Taichung Voice, which had what looked like a really excellent article about blogging in Taiwan. I figured I’d just read the magazine while the doctor did his thing. Besides, I could already feel my arm getting numb from whatever had been injected, so there wouldn’t be any pain.
I started to read, and the doctor started to work. I could fell this weird tugging sensation, but that was all. After a few minutes, I decided that I was going to watch the doctor while he finished up. I sure as hell couldn’t finish that Voice article -- it was totally boring. So I turned my head to see how the doctor was doing…
…and I almost threw up. Rivers of blood streamed from a gaping hole in my forearm, and the doctor meticulously dug deeply into my flesh with the knife to take out any tissue that was even remotely near the original spot. He only paused to wipe away the blood when he started having trouble seeing what he was doing. As one hand worked busily with the scalpel, the other held what looked like a pair of pliers and slowly pulled off my arm what I can only describe as a hairy meat pancake.
(Note to self: In the future, when a doctor tells you “You probably won’t want to watch”, don’t watch.)
I managed to watch without puking as the doctor sewed up the hole, and then staggered downstairs to pick up the prescribed medication. Maybe I should have informed the doctor that there is a problem with his language. Instead of saying qiepian for ‘biopsy’, the Chinese should be 挖一大塊肉 wa yi da kuai rou (gouge a big chunk of meat), just for accuracy’s sake.
Two days later I got the results: not cancer. That’s good, but the next time I find some kind of odd spot on my body, I’m trying acupuncture.
Friday, October 21, 2022
The Taichung Voice, December 2005
"The Mayor Issue"
===============================================
Another one that I had no memory of writing. Though my struggles with Sim City came back to me. Also, I found the original files for all of these Voice articles on an old USB drive, so I don't have to scan and OCR the print copy of the magazine.
17 years later, the parking situation here is much better. The advent of untended parking lots has made private for-pay parking a reasonable investment. I suspect there were also some rule/law changes to facilitate this.
Taichung finally got an MRT. It is an above-ground system, and there is only one line, but it connects to the high speed rail and train station in Wuri. I take it twice a week when I come back from Taipei.
The air pollution is either as bad or worse as it was when I wrote this article.
I feel like there are much fewer illegal KTVs in Taichung now, but that may just be a result of the pandemic.
===============================================
City Government. Hell Yeah I’ll write about city government. I have a great big stinking laundry bag of issues I’d like to take up with a representative of Taichung’s leaders. First, I demand to know what is the DEAL with the parking situation, and then the traffic congestion, and the pollution, and the… and the… OK, wait a minute. Truth be told, I have never actually managed a group larger than seven people, much less an urban area of close to a million. How am I going to start railing about issues that I don’t see as being properly addressed, when certain people might imply that, well, I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. Can’t have that, can we? I’d better get some training on this city management stuff, demonstrate my organizational mastery or urban issues, and *then* start the bitching.
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
The Taichung Voice, May 2006
"24 Hours in Taichung"
===============================================
A bunch of hilariously dated stuff in this one, more so than usual.
I did have a portable CD player, but I did not buy an MP3 player with a whopping 256 megabytes of memory. Are MP3 players even a thing now in 2022? I would guess they've ben replaced by phones.
I really miss having brunch at FM. But I'm much better now at remembering to buy eggs.
Sweet popcorn is still disgusting and wrong. I will die on this hill.
I still get actors and actresses wrong all the time.
This year wife and I went to New Zealand. She told me about this company in Wanaka that would not only let you fly a plane, but would even let you take off and land after only a few minutes of instruction. I confidently bet her one million billion trillion dollars that they would not let someone with no experience land any kind of airplane. Well you'll never guess who was wrong. Thanks a lot, U-Fly.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Friday, October 07, 2022
Thursday, October 06, 2022
The Taichung Voice, March 2006
"The Internet Issue"
===============================================
Another one found that I had 100% forgotten writing.
This article has aged much better than a lot of the others. I have no idea where I got "Blogging is to publishing what assembling DIY furniture is to manufacturing," but I still like it almost 17 years later.
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by Karl Smith
II liked blogs better back in the day, when they were the province of the technical elite. Oh sure, you sometimes had to read about the painfully awkward and inept social lives of those computer nerds, but there was enough knowledge required to create and maintain blog that kept the level of the content fairly high.
Not any more. These days, any doofus with an internet connection can share his/her thoughts, feelings and beliefs with the digital world*, and the chafe to wheat ratio has skyrocketed. Blogs can be roughly divided into two types: the personal type, and the ‘big picture’ type. Personal blogs detail the minutiae of the bloggers life, and suffer from the fact that most peoples' lives are pretty damn boring The big picture blogs aspire to tackle major issues. Things like politics, religion, philosophy, and ninjas. There is some discussion that these blogs and online journals are “The New Media,” or “Inherently more democratic than traditional publishing". These views are put forth by... yeah, you guessed it, bloggers. Read these words now and think about it later: Blogging is to publishing what assembling DIY furniture is to manufacturing. The difference between paper and electric media is that blogs allow readers to give instant feedback to stuff they read online. With newspapers and magazines, the best one can do is write a letter to the editor. But the choice to publish the letter remains with the publisher. (This has always been problematic here at The Taichung Voice, where our publisher is easily confused by long words. Words like "compensation”). But anyone can leave a comment in response to something written on a blog. On the surface, this would seem to be a good thing- lively, rational debate about politics, and respectful, interesting discussions about topics in which people share a common interest.
In practice, it is kind of like that, but remove the words “rational” and “respectful” from that last sentence. The culprits are anonymity and distance, and the result is the breakdown of civilized discourse online. Take this example- If I post in my blog the following statement:
“James Soong is the greatest man to come forward in 5000 years of Chinese history.”
Do you know what the first comments would be like? Something like this:
'You are worthless and this blog is stupid. Do the world a favor and quit writing.”
And that comment would be from my mom! The comments left by people I don't know would get really nasty. Yeah sure, at some point some academic type would come along and try to refute my position with reason and examples from history, but then I'd make another blog post calling that person a retarded troll. I’d have to, because I sure as heck couldn’t refute a logical argument. My knowledge of history starts around May of last year.
If you think you can take the abuse that comes with an issues blog, or of you just feel compelled to tell the world about your favorite movie and what you had for lunch today, go ahead and start your own blog. I only ask that you follow this quick guide:
Avoiding Blog Mistakes and Suckage
- -Remember that most blog interfaces include a timestamp showing when a blog post was made. This can be a problem when posting from work, or school, or when you are supposed to be doing something else.
- -Don't post while drunk. If you have an alcohol-inspired idea that you are sure must be shared, type it up and save it for sober consideration before posting.
- -Don't use myspace.com. Reason? Ten million angsty teenagers using a service bought by Rupert Murdoch. You're not that angsty, and Murdoch has got enough money already.
- -Don't fill your blog with the results from internet quizzes, like: 'Which character from Lord of the Rings are you?' or 'What kind of candy would you be?' or 'What is your Anime self?1. If you are tempted to post the results from an internet quiz, instead just type this sentence: "I have nothing to say today.”
- -Avoid leetspeak and netspeak. Nobody wants to try to sort through something like this:
7h3 741(hpn9 V01(3 $hOp£D p4¥ 17$ wrl73r$ m0r3
Or this:
i g2g to da stor 2day c ya 18er LOLZ
Leetspeak was cool for about one week back in the year 2000. Blogging in leet in 2006 is worse than wearing a mullet to a business meeting. And save the netspeak for instant messaging.
- -Collaborate. If you want your blog readers to return to your blog, you need to have new content (new postings) at least every other day. This can be tough for a single person to keep up, and blogging can quickly turn into drudgery. Get a few friends who share your interests to work on the same blog, so when you are tired or hungover or tempted to post the results from internet quizzes, they can post while you recharge.
There are about 10 million blogs out there*, and while they do not represent a sea change in the way people get their news, they are a part of a fundamental change in which people interact with the world around them. I don't know if blogging will ever incorporate things such as "accountability" and "knowing what in the hell you are talking about", but until it does, feel free to jump in. It's easy, and it's fun for at least the first week.
Lastly, if you disagree with anything I’ve written so far, send me E-mail at karl@thetaichungvoice.com. Or, you could write a letter to the editor...
* I should know, I’ve been one of those doofuses since 2003 Or maybe more. I pretty much just made that number up.