Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Sometimes the Universe Lines Things Up

(From Ping) Another month and we will have been in Taiwan for a whole year. It was time to get Mark's residency extended so he can continue to be a LEGAL ALIEN. This involved a trip to the county office and then to the immigration office in different part of the city. We also decided to stop by the camera maintenance shop downtown, and then we went to dinner with my parents in a different city. We did all the above using public transportation. The truly magical thing is we did not need to wait for a minute! They (buses or MRT) simply showed up when we were ready. It's so amazing that I have to write something here. I feel so blessed.

搬來台灣快一年了。今天決定辦理馬克的居留證延期手續。首先需要去北投區公所申請最新的戶籍謄本,然後得到移民局申請延期。既然人到了台北,我們決定順便取回維修好的相機,然後到竹圍和爸爸媽媽一起用完晚餐再回家。(寫到這裡感覺好像在寫小學時期的日記哦-流水帳!感覺老師的紅筆快要畫下來了。)說了半天我要說的是,這一整天的奔波靠的大多數是公車和一小部分的捷運。每當我們走到了車站,無論是公車或捷運,我們需要的車子就馬上出現。所以一天下來都不用等車。這真是太神奇了。好完美的黃道吉日啊!

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Police sing..."FEELINGS???" 如果讓“警察合唱團”唱Feelings 會是如何

Oh, yeah. They do. Well, sort of. Check out Mark's version of what he thought The Police would sound like if they recorded the notorious lounge lizard classic "Feelings." Plus, check out his original animation inspired by the artwork on their album "Ghost In The Machine." Please "Like" and Share it if you enjoy it! Thanks!
See the YouTube Video!
Back when I [Mark] was at Nike, we challenged each other to record a song in the style of a band that would NEVER play that song. I chose "Feelings" and decided to do my version of what I thought The Police would sound like if they had written it.

Ever since I did this recording, I've had this idea for an animation to go with it. Now that I have NCH Software's VideoPad, I can finally put together a real animation. I learned that YouTube's frame rate doesn't exactly match with the song's tempo, so some bits are a little off after the upload, but I sure had fun doing it!

Please share this if you enjoy it. :)

A Man Without Wheels

I know all the reasons why I (Mark) don't drive. They're all practical. I could go on and on about being green, saving money, how hard it is to find parking, where would we even store a bicycle, etc., etc.

Blah, blah, blah... None of this can take away my feeling of loss. Why does being in command of a set of wheels mean so much to me? I thought it might be just the All-American Gotta-Have-A-Car thing,

Saturday, August 25, 2012

美白 還是美黑 Whitening vs. Tanning

文化的差異有時很明顯。對膚色的喜好就是個好例子。拿我自己作比方,我的膚色,用台灣人的標準是無可置疑的“黑”。對,就這麼乾脆!“黑白分明”,有什麼大不了的?
 
誒?那為什麼常有人看了我之後“欲言又止”,有把口水困難地吞下去的動作?


常言“一白遮三醜, 一黑“,

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

New story: "Stone Carrier" 背著石頭的人


Stone Carrier

by Mark Ivan Cole
Stone Carrier trudged up the dusty trail. His legs trembled under the weight of the stones in the big, sturdy basket on his back. Thick leather straps looped over his shoulders to hold it fast. Another strap pressed flat against his forehead and he bent low against it, straining forward, step after shaking step.
He had collected these stones over many years. He couldn’t remember where most of them came from, but he had carried them a long way.
     He turned a corner and, suddenly, Angry Man blocked his path! Stone Carrier could not pass. Angry Man shouted, ranted and raved, picking up rocks and throwing them

Full Video: Yo Yo Ma's Horse!

Click the image to watch the video

Ping wrote recently about teaching Mark to ask: "Did Yo Yo Ma's mother scold Yo Yo Ma's horse for being slow?" It sounds funny enough in English, but in Chinese it sounds like:

"Ma-Yo-Yo-De-Ma-Ma-Yo-Ma-Ma-Yo-Yo-De-Ma-Man-Ma."

Right. Only there are also TONES involved. Not all "Ma's" are the same. Use the wrong tone and things go sideways. Here's what happened when Ping gave Mark what she called a "refresher course." Sure, we talked about it before, but Mark never actually learned it. Until now. Maybe. Check it out and tell us if you think he succeeds.

We recorded the audio in one take, ad-lib and unscripted, cracking up the whole way. Then Mark edited it for time and created the illustrations.

Like it and share it if you enjoy it! :) Thanks!

幾週前我在部落格上用中文發表了馬克的第一堂中文課。過後幾天吃完晚飯後我們剛好聊起那堂未完成的課。當時一時興起我們決定將我們的談話錄下來。這段影音是馬克加上了卡通之後的成果。希望能博君一笑。如果希望馬克多上中文課的話,請給一個“讚”



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Picture of the Day: "Watching the Gates"


I've been enjoying drawing on colored paper. This piece was improvised without any actual design or intention. I guess I just felt like drawing rocks! See how many watching faces you find. I wonder what's inside the ruined gates...hmm...could be a story here...

For this duotone, instead of white charcoal, I used a white watercolor pencil and another cool tool I just bought: a brush with a synthetic white sable tip and a hollow, squeezable  handle. Just fill the handle, screw on the tip and squeeze to make water flow to the brush. How cool is that? It should be an excellent travel tool. I used it on the white colored pencil and was very happy with the results.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Mark's "Back In The USSR" Music Video

What happens when Mark records his own arrangement of a Beatles classic, and then illustrates it on the fly while the song is playing?
Watch the video on YouTube.
When we decided to release the full length video of my cover of The Beatles' "Back In The USSR," I had an idea: this song is so visually rich, I wonder if I could

Friday, August 17, 2012

Is It Still Funny?

At my [Mark's] first real job after high school, a coworker introduced me to the joys of the daily funny pages. Every morning break, he would read page one, I would read page two, and then

New Cartoon- "Logically Disproving"









 But does this mean we have proof?

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Jimmy Stewart and My Refrigerator Door



Self-portrait circa 1978
I've been thinking about this "refrigerator door" concept for a long time. Just like the stick figure drawings we put out as kids, not everything we do as artists (or writers, or musicians) is really ready for the world stage...or is it?

What does this have to do with Jimmy Stewart? Let me explain.

When I was a kid, I drew a lot. Many kids do. Some households have a

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

姐姐 Sister

我們居住的公寓是老式的 沒有管理員,沒有院子,前門打開就是路的那種。剛搬來時還帶著我們住在美國時的習慣 - 一早起來就把門窗全部打開好讓房子透氣通風。隔了幾天我們漸漸地意識到我們彷彿成了真人秀(Reality Show 的主角。我們的鄰居,不論遠近,男女老少,在路經我們家時似乎會情不自禁地放慢腳步,東張西望一番,畢竟有個老美住在這小巷子裡還算是挺稀奇的事。

Grand Reopening of the Blog!

Welcome to the New Let's Go Take A Look!

As we continue to focus on living authentically, we'll update this blog with our experiences, thoughts and creative output:
  • our most recent adventures
  • the latest artwork
  • new photos
  • musings and observations
  • stories, poems, essays, new constitutions for emerging democracies!
  • music and videos
  • anything else we come up with...!
Ping will post in both Chinese and English--not necessarily the same stuff. Mark will continue to blog as usual--plus all of his artwork, writing and music will now be accessible from here.

In the upper right corner of the screen, you'll find links to our new "Let's Go Take A Look" Facebook site, our YouTube channel, the RSS feed subscription and email. You can also "Like" the posts and share them via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more.

Our hope is that by sharing what we learn as we become more of our authentic selves, we'll entertain, intrigue, and inspire others to discover and explore the inner and outer worlds.

You can subscribe to this blog via email or RSS, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and "Like" us on Facebook! Then, please help us share it with others.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

Cheers!  --Mark and Ping

Monday, August 13, 2012

Getting the Proportions Right Again

I've been drawing a lot of people recently--partly because I was working on the cover for Craig English's newly published novel "Anvil of Navarre." I realized that I had been getting a bit sloppy with where the elements go on the human head. My ears were too far forward and kind of pinched. The eye on the left hand side of the page always seemed to be a bit off, no matter which direction the person was facing, and I seemed to skew the nose/mouth/chin quite often.

Back to the drawing board, as they say.

I found some good links online (like this one) and started mapping out craniums to put things back in order. After a couple of pages of this, I felt a lot better. I still need to keep up the practice, though. It keeps me from getting sloppy.

UPDATE 2/2/2013:  I have been editing my [very long and much evolved] fantasy novel. Along with that work, I've been drawing more concept art, working toward a visual anchor for some of the characters and places. While I was discussing this with Ping, I suddenly realized that after years of trying, I had inadvertently drawn one of the main characters! This is a man known simply as "Ender." It's exactly the age and demeanor I've been going for all this time and could never quite draw.

Sometimes the unconscious mind brings things to the fore that the conscious mind only discovers later!

Friday, August 10, 2012

中文課(一)馬友友 Chinese Lesson 1 - Yo Yo Ma


我們很喜歡音樂家馬友友,曾經收藏過他所有的CDs。因為對他的音樂相當熟悉,所以也理所當然地認為大家都應該如此。

話說有一天在一家書店看到了馬友友新出的一張專輯,當時二話不說,馬上拿去前面結帳。幫我們結帳的是位二十出頭的年輕黑人,態度親切極了。他先“刷”一聲用電子掃描機掃過CD,接著用他黑白分明的大眼睛不經意掃描,突然驚訝地說

“哊!媽媽!(Yo! Mama!)

這是那一種音樂?我怎麼沒聽說過這個人?“

Thursday, August 9, 2012

你們都吃什麼呀?What do you all eat?


我們搬來台灣後最常被問的問題是 你們都吃些什麼呀?台灣人對吃的注重由此可見。

到底什麼樣的人會問這種問題呢?除了少數我們周邊的親朋好友之外,大多數是毫不相干的陌生人。還記得最初幾次被問時我會措手不及,傻傻地愣在那裡,不知從何答起,“雄雄地”想起求學時期受到突檢的惶恐。最近一次是一位在鄰近家樂福服務的阿姨,一邊幫我們切滷味一邊問。她問的時候還有點不好意思,我倒是聽得哈哈大笑。

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

A Drop in the Bucket 一滴水的聯想



As Ping's cousin drove us home from a family dinner last night, the wind and rain lashed the everything in its path. Trees whipped from side to side, bits of broken branches flying off to who knows where. Water washed down streets and through  intersections, adding a slew of new tributaries to the Danshui River (淡水河).

When Mark got home, he checked the barometer. This is the lowest setting we've seen yet.

At 10:22 PM, the authorities made it official: schools and businesses will be closed. We're having a typhoon!

Not much later, Ping announced: "We have water in the utility room."