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Tile Love Love for scooters. Love for tiles. Love for love. |
I was there.
Now I'm here.
More later, when chattiness can no longer be helped.
Current Location: Taipei, Taiwan
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SideTracked
in the realm of nothing's own doing
There is probably something else I should be doing.
27 June 2009 @ 08:26 am
I was there.
Now I'm here.
More later, when chattiness can no longer be helped.
03 August 2008 @ 05:44 pm
Aside from the first fourteen years of my life and now (forced frugality during grad school), I've been a voracious consumer of music. My own acquisition habits have always varied wildly, undetermined by typical market analysis categories such as, say, age or monthly income. I've been purchasing a lot less music these past couple years, turning to other, intangible venues for my fix such as freeform radio, last.fm, music blogs, and more recently, muxtape.
This summer, I've cut myself some slack. More honestly, my defenses are considerably weakened by physical contact with pieces of music that I can't find elsewhere in the world. And local musicians do indeed make an effort to put out materially alluring products. Am I only noticing packaging more this summer as musicians and record labels, in general, are engaging in more desperate measures to combat music downloading?
Not that I'm willing to draw any direct correlations between the amount of music downloaded and the amount of music not purchased. There's a whole host of factors inbetween, and what goes into purchasing decisions varies from person to person. Local musicians have got my attention which is the first step to getting my money, anyway. I'm willing to buy music based on packaging alone, forgiving even mediocre music if it looks and feels like care went into its construction... though no amount of packaging and sincerity can salvage truly bad music, I'm afraid. Making purchases based on packaging alone is obviously not a foolproof method if your ultimate goal is good music. There are some real stinkers in this summer's loot, which I am not afraid to name, but there are also some real praiseworthy pieces, where the musicianship reflects the effort that went into packaging.
This summer, I've cut myself some slack. More honestly, my defenses are considerably weakened by physical contact with pieces of music that I can't find elsewhere in the world. And local musicians do indeed make an effort to put out materially alluring products. Am I only noticing packaging more this summer as musicians and record labels, in general, are engaging in more desperate measures to combat music downloading?
Not that I'm willing to draw any direct correlations between the amount of music downloaded and the amount of music not purchased. There's a whole host of factors inbetween, and what goes into purchasing decisions varies from person to person. Local musicians have got my attention which is the first step to getting my money, anyway. I'm willing to buy music based on packaging alone, forgiving even mediocre music if it looks and feels like care went into its construction... though no amount of packaging and sincerity can salvage truly bad music, I'm afraid. Making purchases based on packaging alone is obviously not a foolproof method if your ultimate goal is good music. There are some real stinkers in this summer's loot, which I am not afraid to name, but there are also some real praiseworthy pieces, where the musicianship reflects the effort that went into packaging.
Anyway, here is an overview of my ( Summer 2008 Local Music Purchase Highlights (stick around for the images) )
30 July 2008 @ 06:11 pm
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20080727 Monster This monster will stomp your face in hell. |
Updated the gallery of pictures from Tainan, including photos from the kitschy, but also kind of grisly 18 Levels of Hell diorama museum located at a temple in Maodou, Tainan County.
28 July 2008 @ 01:48 am
Passing Hsinchu on the High Speed Rail, southbound to Tainan
Does this look like an approaching typhoon?
I didn't think so either, but I'm cloud illiterate.
After spending a sunny, relatively dry day in Tainan with William and Peter and James and Sara(h), I was surprised to return north to pelting rain and news of yet another typhoon shutting down the entire island tomorrow. A whole extra day to catch up on postponed communiques!
A more ominous portent of the weather to come.
09 July 2008 @ 08:52 pm
| 20080707 The New Way to Walk Your Dog Beautiful dog, but the guy was a bit of a dick. He brought his purebred husky to the Raohe Night Market so he could mess with some caged silver tabbies displayed in front of a pet store. I saw the dog's owner stick his dog's paws into the cats' cage, which caused them to puff up and yowl for the gathering crowd's amusement. One cat launched a serious swipe through the bars, and the husky snapped in response to the attack. Managed to shove his muzzle a good few inches in, flashed some teeth -- some damage could've been done on either side of the cage. I think the husky was just playing, but the cats weren't having any of it. The guy laughed and looked around at the semi-circle of observers and wanted to do it again. I'm a little mad at myself for not saying anything because I kept expecting the store owner to march out and give him hell. I finally moved on before he either decided or was asked to leave. Somehow it didn't surprise me to see him cradling his puppy like a spoiled child when I found myself trailing behind him after stopping for a bowl of mango ice. Maybe, at home, this guy actually treats his dog like a living creature that he needs to be responsible for, and not just a mere plaything to show off in public. |
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07 July 2008 @ 04:14 pm
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發呆 Lost in thought, entrance of Longshan Temple. I'm slowly learning to work with this camera's manual settings, but I still need a steadier hand. Or a tripod. |
02 July 2008 @ 10:04 pm
I just spent over two and a half hours looping around Taipei, looking for my new favorite green mango seller (gone for the evening!) and a spot to sit and study at an internet-equipped coffeeshop (thwarted at every turn!). At least dinner was a success.
Old Don's Beef Noodles [老董牛肉細粉麵店]
Roosevelt Road Sec. 4, Ln. 24 No. 4 [羅斯福路4段24巷4號]
Across from the main entrance of Taida, down the same alley as the big Starbuck's (I think -- I already forgot)
Tel: 2369-5198
http://www.olddon.com.tw
( Vegetarians need not continue )
28 June 2008 @ 06:17 pm
Friday night show at the Witch House with unknown opening songstress [above] and Natural Q [自然捲, below] -- good call, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
dustthouart! It was a jangly pleasant Softies-esque tweeful time. Natural Q actually had a broader range of songs than I'm giving them credit for with my limited attempts at description. They seem to deliberately write songs that are fun to perform, making them an appealing live act. I was admittedly more drawn to their lyrics and choice of song themes than the music-writing, but I will say that every note played by the violinist, the most beautifully androgynous creature I've seen in a long time, was perfect and sweet.
Overall, the crowd was adoring and respectful; the good majority of attendees were actually there to listen to the music. Very few side conversations, at least not in the immediate presence of the band. A pair of taller girls whom had pushed their way right in front of me and another shorter girl, only to whisper hand-cupped words into each others' ears for the duration of about three consecutive songs, were shushed and sent away with accusatory glares. I suspect that non-smoking environments such as that maintained by the Witch House help to hush the crowd a bit -- unlike grittier, larger venues such as the Wall. I was going to see another show at the latter tonight, but having had my fill of local music for the weekend, I think I'm going to homebody it up instead.
24 June 2008 @ 04:57 pm
R. and I used to dine at a shabu shabu restaurant on Nanjing East Rd. Sec. 5 about once a week when we lived on that side of town from 2003-2005. After we moved to the newer, better apartment on Minquan East Rd., we no longer had reason to pass through that way, so the weekly shabu shabu sessions suddenly, sadly, ceased.
On Sunday, I was craving some spicy Thai broth and all-you-can-eat clam buffet, so I jumped on a bus and got off at a familiar stop. From the bus, the restaurant's entrance was nearly obscured by MRT construction, but the giant three-story sign announcing their 9 types of broths and [still] super-low price of 199NT assured me that they were still in business.
When I stepped through the automatic sliding door, the first thing the manager said to me, was, "OH. How long has it been since YOU'VE come around? [哦. 你有多久沒來了?]" Despite his glare and mock accusatory tone, I took it as a friendly greeting. I updated him on how R. and I are doing, why it was that he hasn't seen us for so many years, and then happily sat down over a steaming pot of my favorite shabushabu broth and filled up on clams to my tummy's content.
On the way back home, I noticed some banners strung up over the alleys leading back towards the old apartment. This afternoon, I went back to check them out.
On Sunday, I was craving some spicy Thai broth and all-you-can-eat clam buffet, so I jumped on a bus and got off at a familiar stop. From the bus, the restaurant's entrance was nearly obscured by MRT construction, but the giant three-story sign announcing their 9 types of broths and [still] super-low price of 199NT assured me that they were still in business.
When I stepped through the automatic sliding door, the first thing the manager said to me, was, "OH. How long has it been since YOU'VE come around? [哦. 你有多久沒來了?]" Despite his glare and mock accusatory tone, I took it as a friendly greeting. I updated him on how R. and I are doing, why it was that he hasn't seen us for so many years, and then happily sat down over a steaming pot of my favorite shabushabu broth and filled up on clams to my tummy's content.
On the way back home, I noticed some banners strung up over the alleys leading back towards the old apartment. This afternoon, I went back to check them out.
( The old 'hood is changing, whether it wants to or not... )
P.S. This is such an insignificant problem in comparison to what I just wrote about, but I'm pissed that I seem to have lost my bicycle girl icon. I can't upload a replacement either, despite having tried multiple times. I can see everyone else's icons and my own other icons just fine. What the hell, LiveJournal?? Did I screw something up, or is this affecting anyone else?
Edit: Problem solved. An incompletely loaded icon was cached, LJ sent some helpful tips on how to fix it (though I still don't understand why I wasn't able to upload anything else). Too busy to do anything about it, but yes -- the problem went away after a few days, and I can see her again! Whew.