Oh my! I am so very awed
by this mighty l’il gastropod.
Its moves make taiji masters seem rushed,
but it lugs a house without being crushed.
Snail [Lyric Poem]
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DAILY PHOTO: Ship Displays from Melaka Museums
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BOOKS: “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” by Ying Chang Compestine
Buddha Jumps over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes: A Graphic Cookbook—26 Recipes & Stories by Ying Chang CompestineMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Site – Chronicle Books
Cookbooks don’t get more interesting than this. As the title suggests, the author selected dishes that have colorful names (and often histories or folklore to match) and presents lessons in culinary history as well as teaching the reader how to make each dish. The graphic novel format conveys these stories compactly and with a bit of added liveliness. The graphic novel approach is also used to “demonstrate” the preparation process — in lieu of photographs.
In addition to the twenty-six recipes (5 appetizers, 16 main course, and 5 desserts,) the book has five appendices and some front matter to both help readers who are entirely new to Chinese cooking as well as those who’d like a bit more depth of culinary cultural insight. (I should point out that the book looks at Chinese food broadly, including items like Chop Suey and Fortune Cookies that developed outside of China, and either don’t exist within China or have subsequently been introduced from foreign lands.)
If you are interested in learning to cook Chinese food, or are interested in Chinese culinary history and culture, I’d highly recommend this book.
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“The Magi” by William Butler Yeats
Now as at all times I can see in the mind's
eye,
In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale
unsatisfied ones
Appear and disappear in the blue depths of
the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten
stones,
And all their helms of silver hovering side
by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find
once more,
Being by Calvary's turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial
floor.
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Wetlands Sunset [Haiku]
Goose [Lyric Poem]
There's a goose, a goose on the loose!
They scare me, though we have a truce.
The meanest bird you'll find in the park,
I bet they started shit on that Ark.
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DAILY PHOTO: Bukit Cina [Chinese Hill — 三宝山]
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BOOKS: “Nightwing, Vol. 1: Leaping into the Light” by Tom Taylor
Nightwing, Vol. 1: Leaping into the Light by Tom TaylorMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – DC Comics
As in a lot of the Batman stories, in this volume, Nightwing (Dick Grayson) is fighting a two-front war. On the one hand, there is a mysterious central villain du jour, Heartless — an augmented masked criminal who is killing in impoverished neighborhoods by (literally) stealing his victims’ hearts. Then, on the other hand, there is the usual systematic corruption and organized crime of his chosen city, Blüdhaven. These two fights bump into each other here and there but are largely independent of one other (at least as far as one can tell in this, the first, volume of a run.) Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake / Robin participate in the story, but other than that the only hero appearances are cameos.
I enjoyed the pacing and emotional arc of this story. My reading pleasure surprises even me because I think I would ordinarily feel the book had a poor resolution to hook ratio. (i.e. I would feel that not enough was resolved to make this feel like as satisfactory standalone story.) However, there was a resolution that offered satisfaction, but it was just not what I (or -probably- the typical reader) would think of as a normal comic book resolution. (i.e. It was not a resolution achieved by kicking and punching, but rather by soul-searching.)
At any rate, I’d highly recommend this book for comic book readers.
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“O Me! O Life!” by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these
recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless,
of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself,
(for who more foolish than I, and who
more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the
objects mean, of the struggle ever
renew'd,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding
and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the
rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring --
What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here--that life exists and
identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you
may contribute a verse.
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Squirrel [Lyric Poem]
The squirrel freezes -- unblinking --
But I cannot help but thinking:
How come its tail is misbehaving?
A betrayal by spastic waving!
