Apocalypto

Talk about extreme violence ,brutality and emotional impact. Mel Gibson top my list. One the other hand, he also never fail to show us that, humanity hasn't change for thousands or hundreds of year (depends on you're watching "The Passion of the Christ" , "Braveheart" or "Apocalypto"). Here's a line from Apocalypto:
Old Story Teller: A Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals drew near to him and said, "We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it." The Man said, "I want to have good sight." The vulture replied, "You shall have mine." The Man said, "I want to be strong." The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like me." Then the Man said, "I long to know the secrets of the earth." The serpent replied, "I will show them to you." And so it went with all the animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left. Then the owl said to the other animals, "Now the Man knows much, he'll be able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid." The deer said, "The Man has all that he needs. Now his sadness will stop." But the owl replied, "No. I saw a dark hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day mother earth will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'

漂亮的揮春

How excited to receive 漂亮的揮春 from Walter, my new found friend and calligraphy teacher. He even sent me some blank red paper to try on. Then, I'm going to send my works to all of my CBC nephews, who don't know any Chinese. I hope/guess their parents are not going to tell them the fact that, aunt May really doesn't know how to hold a brush.
I am looking forward to the next visit back home.

For people who don't read Chinese and want to know what's it all about. Here's my total inaccurate interpretation:
Calligraphy on Red paper on the wall, with wishful saying is a way to celebrate new year.
Outside front door: Celebrate good life with nice music, fragrant tea and fine wine, year after year.
Inside front door: L- Spirt like dragon and horse, C- Fortune , R- Done as your will (so, be careful what you wish for ;->)
Side door: Safe and peace going in and out.

Butterflies in motion

Learned something about video production. A 2 hours production to 3 mins final cut ratio, not including driving down to the beach twice and shooting time. But, I'm very proud of the result. Worth a few minutes of downloading time, get the small one if you're in a hurry. See "Butterflies in motion".

Butterflies on the beach

It's a beautiful morning.
Wake up! Butterflies....
Let's fly!
Bye...

Usefulness from what is not there

The postman found me in the front yard pulling weeds. He said " You got a package from Hong Kong!" So, I leave the weeds, came in to open the package. Made some tea to go with the cookie just arrived. Very delicious. Couldn't stop with just one.
Checked on the beautiful new calendar, new year is only weeks away, and it's going to be year of rat! We just watch "Ratatouille" last night. Inspiring! BTW, in the back of your card, " The poem - Usefulness from what is not there - Lao Tsu" is very inspiring too. Thank you, Sam.

The Secrets of Fire King

Finally, I finished "The Memory Keeper's Daugher". a very beautiful but heart wrenching story. Be forewarned, in my opinion, anyone who plan to have kids, or already have kids should think twice before start reading.

The story reminded me the following:
"Our actions and all our thoughts, flow like water, their springs buried deep in the mysteries of the past. Everything we do and every consequence is the force of old actions. Once you turn down these dark corridors, you don't know what you will find because you do not know where you've been."

However, Kim Edwards has another book, "The Secrets of Fire King", not a bestseller, but a collection of well crafted short stories. I'm amazed by her ability to deeply understand people and their deepest thought from totally different culture, background and era. From trapeze artist, cleaning lady of Marie Curie's, Korean new immigrant after the war , Malaysian rubber tapper to new age marine biologists...... and more. Her tales read like the work of a wise traveler who returns home with exotic souvenirs from other lands.

Orange Bowl

Spent four days in Miami judging for Orange Bowl Regatta before the new year. One of the biggest I've ever been. Over 500 boats from 19 countries. I sailed in OBR over a decade ago, never dream that one day I will have the chance judging for it. It seems almost impossible, even now. The days begin with a brief meeting. Major task is assign power boats and race courses among 8 judges. Then we spent most of the day going around the course, observing the race and giving yellow flag for sailor who broke rule 42, which is "Propulsion, like pumping, rocking, ooching and sculling." Then we hear protests among sailors on shore after the races. Then I hear judges argue the case again at the bar and dinner. My power boat engine broke down in the middle of Biscayne bay one day, lucky to have an observer boat to tow back to the yacht club.