Taiwan, China, and other things. Recovered from the defunct TypePad platform.
Pope Benedict XVI has probably considered the theological consequences of abolishing Limbo, but has he stopped to give a moment’s thought about what this could mean for Dungeons and Dragons campaigns? Maybe he should!
Funny stuff on the subject:
UPDATE (May 25/07): A more serious treatment can be found here.
Last year, I took some photos of a fellow standing on a platform on top of a small apartment building. He was waving a pole with a streamer attached, while his flock of pigeons were busy flying in loops and figure eights.
Little did I know that gambling on pigeon racing is a big business in Taiwan. One owner estimated that for a single, 5-race meet, six million U.S. dollars were wagered. Competition is tough, though:
"Three thousand birds started our recent fall meet," (Yeh Cheng-shen, the chairman of the Taipei County Pigeon Racing Associations) says. "Only 20 or 30 returned at the end of the event."
Yeh says most of the dropouts lose their way along the route, but some are trapped by criminals eager to exact ransoms.
"Gangsters erect these huge nets in valleys and other places the birds have to cross. Then they call the owner and offer to return the bird for what seems like a pretty reasonable price — about NT$3000 ($90 U.S. dollars)," he says.
Bet Vito Corleone never thought of that one. But what happens if a bird gets hurt?
It has become such a big business that there are now pigeon hospitals catering to injured competitors with state-of-the-art techniques.
Who knew?
Local elections were held yesterday, and the main pro-communist party won 14 out of 23 districts. The main anti-communist party, which had long prided itself on its incorruptibility, was hurt at the polls by a number of scandals. It won only 6 districts.
What this means for the future is difficult to discern. In the short run, the pro-communists on the national level are likely to view this as a mandate for more of the same: closer relations with China and continued stalling of the special arms bill. In the longer term, if they push their policies too far, they may face rejection by the electorate.
For now though, the pro-communist parties are feeling their oats, as well they should. They won, and they won big.
Most expats in Taiwan quickly learn what life must be like for the illiterate. Very few of us can read Chinese characters, so a simple trip to the grocery store can be tricky. Monosodium glutamate in a clear plastic bag looks deceptively like sugar, but doesn’t go over nearly as well when you serve it to guests with their tea. That tub of lard sure LOOKED LIKE sour cream. And so forth.
Sometimes, products here are labelled in English. The labels may be grammatically incorrect, but it doesn’t matter. Just seeing them takes some of the risk out of a purchase, and for that I’m grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Having said that though, I sometimes see a few things written in English that are unintentionally humorous. Here’s one that made me smile:
Spaghetti by Ma’fia. Huzzah for the Gombah!
(It tastes pretty good, actually.)
UPDATE (Feb 22/06): Turns out there’s a Ma Fia’s Italian Restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Don’t ask me how they managed to slip that one past the PC police.
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OK, I admit it. I liked The Family Circus when I was a kid. And I became a fan of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft several years later.
At last, the circle is complete:
My favorites are A Blinding Glare, The Bleak Mountain Wind and A Warning.
