Random thoughts

An uncommitted blog on just about anything

Random thoughts header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Uncategorized'

What does Yahoo messenger think of the word “communist”

January 10th, 2009 · Comments Off on What does Yahoo messenger think of the word “communist”

I was using Yahoo messenger to chat with a person in Beijing. The subject was John DeFrancis’ death, and since the occasion had led me to read his biography, I was mentioning to my chat partner that “in the 50s he could not find a position in a university because he was thought to be […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

John DeFrancis, 1911 – 2009

January 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment

John DeFrancis, sinologist and professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, passed away on january 2nd, 2009. A memorial website has a short inspiring biography of his life. His only book I’ve read is “Chinese language: fact and fantasy“, but I am about to get the ABC dictionary in the Pleco electronic dictionary version. Well, […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Is it a surprise if people look at their short-term interests first?

January 4th, 2009 · Comments Off on Is it a surprise if people look at their short-term interests first?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04lewiseinhorn.html

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Francesca Bray

January 2nd, 2009 · Comments Off on Francesca Bray

What do Simon Winchester’s “The man who loved China” and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” have in common? Francesca Bray. She wrote the one volume of Joseph Needham’s “Science and civilisation in China” about agriculture (apparently alone) and as such she received mention in “The man who loved China”. So it makes sense that Malcolm Gladwell refers […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Singing the end

January 2nd, 2009 · Comments Off on Singing the end

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom Hmmm… maybe there’s still too much money looking for a home, to say it’s the end of Wall Street.

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

The man who loved China

December 30th, 2008 · Comments Off on The man who loved China

After these few years since China has entered my atlas, I’m surprised I could still be so clueless about something as big as Joseph Needham. Li Yuese (李约瑟), as (some) people in China know him, spent much of his academic career making sense of chinese scientific history. His biography is an inspiring tale… so inspiring, […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

A quest for accountability

December 30th, 2008 · Comments Off on A quest for accountability

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/opinion/30herbert.html

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

States have balance sheets, too

December 29th, 2008 · Comments Off on States have balance sheets, too

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/opinion/29krugman.html

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

What happened to the “Book from the sky”?

December 28th, 2008 · Comments Off on What happened to the “Book from the sky”?

I don’ t know how and why, a few days ago Xu Bing’s “Book from the ski” (徐冰-天书) emerged again in my consciousness. I had forgotten its name (I thought it was called “Book from heaven”), but what’s not forgotten is the powerful impression it left on me. A slowly built impression, started when I […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Discovering the stirrups

December 28th, 2008 · Comments Off on Discovering the stirrups

Learning a language is a life-long experience. For as much as one uses it, some words escape his vocabulary, hidden in never-explored topics and conversations. As a person who’s never had any interest in horseback riding, or spaghetti western movies, or horses in general, I had never met the word “stirrup”. What’s most interesting about […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized