Real Lunchtime Conversation: "Song or Poo?"

If you had been sitting with us at lunch today, you would have heard the following exchange as we were opening a new package of RouSong 肉鬆 (a.k.a. "pork floss" or "meat wool"). Actually, as I opened the package, I wasn't sure if it was RouSong or a slightly different kind known as RouPu 肉脯. "Row Poo?" Here's how it went:

Mark: Is this song or poo?
Ping: I don't know.
M: I thought the texture was the difference.
P:  You have to taste it to find out.
M: (takes a bite) It's kind of chewy.
P: Poo, then.
M: So poo is chewier??

It turns out that not only is this poo, it's actually made from mushrooms, so it's GOO POO! (菇脯!)

Our appetites overcame even such a coarse discourse over this course, of course.

Thanks to www.survivalistboards.com for this...uh...accurate image.

Wheels, Phase II

Before we moved to Taiwan, we sold or handed down our much-loved cars. For almost two years now, we've used only public transportation unless someone offered a ride. We love to "go take a look," but buses may not go or stop when or where we want to go or stop. We missed that freedom, so we've had many conversations about it.

"Can we just rent/borrow/hire one? What kind of vehicle do we need? How will we actually use it? Isn't it just one more thing to maintain? Can we even drive in this wacko traffic? Heck, where will we park it?" We kept concluding that "we haven't been everywhere public transportation can go and we still don't know what format will work best." So we put off replacing our car. Again. But we missed the freedom, so it kept coming up.

Rather than basic transportation, we needed an exploration vehicle, something to get a bit further out, and further in. A car seemed like a bit much, especially since it would not be used every day. The obvious choice in Taiwan is a scooter which, according to the locals, can transport a family of four plus the dog! Unfortunately, scooters here are built for shorter families and I [Mark] wasn't that comfortable sitting on my tailbone with my knees bumping the plastic. That was the most reasonable reason; frankly, I just couldn't get excited about a scooter. Now, a motorcycle, on the other hand...

I knew which one I'd like, if it would make sense. I had the Ideal and the Cheaper/Practical options figured out--at least to my satisfaction. Ping was willing to work with that. We checked online for pricing, brands, configurations, used vs. new, etc. (Local joke: "How do you know if a used vehicle is a piece of junk? It's for sale!") We found a few ways to pick up something functional online at a reasonable price, but the universe had another option.

On Monday, after another one of these conversations over lunch in Shilin (士林), we decided it was time to find helmets. There was a whole row of helmet stores on the way home, so we walked a couple of kilometers to the first store. I had a hard time fitting a helmet in the U.S., so I was concerned about finding one at all in Taiwan. Within 15 minutes, we'd found one that not only fit but cost 1/3 of what I paid for one of the same quality 20 years ago in the U.S. Maybe we should check the other stores, too?

About 50 meters further down the sidewalk, I looked in a bike shop and said: "Hey, there's the one I wanted to try," pointing at a red Kymco Quannon 150 (my Ideal Option, right down to the color!). "If we can't sit on it comfortably, I won't think about it anymore."

Ping asked them to pull it out for us. I got on. It fit my frame perfectly. Ping got on behind me. She fit. The bike was a year old, in mint condition with only 3200 km on it, and it cost 2/3 of what we expected to pay new--in fact, less than my Cheaper/Practical Option.

But what about the local joke? It's still a used bike, right? Yeah, but there was only a minor scratch on the tank. It still had a year left on the warranty. The shop owner said the guy needed the money; they had two of his motorcycles for sale. We had them start it up for us. Nice! I took it for a spin--unbelievably nimble, obvious even within a few blocks. We hadn't seen such a good machine for that kind of price, so we put some money down and walked home (the last 7 km of our 11 km "stroll" that day). They transferred the title the next morning and we rode the bike home that afternoon.

We parked it behind a locked garage door, under a covered patio in Ping's parents' other house, two blocks away from our place. Perfect. We finally replaced our eight wheels...with two!

So this is how things worked: after months of discussion, we literally walked right to it. What are the chances?

Today, we went back for a minor clutch adjustment and came home the fun way, up into the hills and back down again. Next trip, the coast? Let's go take a look!! Now, if I can just learn to reduce the number of emergency maneuvers in traffic...

Taiwan Challenge 2013 - "Between Worlds"

"Between Worlds"
- acrylic on canvas, approx. 455x380mm/18x15"

He stands at the threshold, having crossed it himself long, long ago. You cannot pass without first proving your authenticity. If you can prove that you are who you really are, you may proceed. Otherwise, you may go no further--be you a deity or a mortal, it makes no difference.

These were my favorite guys from the Beitou Bai-Bai "Gods on Patrol." Someday, I'll do them from the front and show you their awesome face paint and tusks!

Italy 2013 Challenge- (Final Day!) Day 15: "Leccio Home"

"Leccio Home" - version 2
-acrylic on canvas
- approx. 23.6x28.6"/600x725mm

One more from the Leccio excursion. As we came back from town, we walked down a dirt road past this lovely house on the hill. The sky was clearing behind it. The wind was blowing, and we thought: "Wouldn't it be lovely to live in a place like this!"

For the few moments we stood there and enjoyed the surroundings, we actually did live there.

Lucky us!

This is "version 2" of this painting because the first one had some compositional things I felt could use some fixing. I tried again and fixed some of them--though I doubt all the fixes worked! It was a good learning experience. My favorite part of it is still the sky. :)

Thanks for following the Italy 2013 Challenge! The whole idea was to see how much creative output could be inspired from a trip to a lovely place. I set a goal of 15 pieces of art for which some would also have writing and one or two would have music. I had a lot of fun working on this project, and I hope you enjoyed the results!

To see the rest of the posts, just search our blog for "Italy 2013."

Thanks again for coming along!  --Mark and Ping

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 14: "Leccio Bridge"

"Leccio Bridge"
- ink and ballpoint pen
- approx. 9.9x6.9"/250x176mm

On the day that we went for a walk instead of going shopping, we wandered into the lovely little town of Leccio. The little creek was full of silty runoff from the surrounding hills. Arching over it were several little bridges, including this one that led to an inviting gate.

This little scene lent itself so nicely to the Inktense ink blocks and ballpoint pen. I really enjoy this medium! Ink is permanent; once it's on the paper, there's no taking it back off again! This attribute makes the medium very fast and spontaneous. I have to "think on my feet," choose, and move on.

I think in many ways, I am still learning to do that with life: be willing to use all my experience and skill to choose a path, and then go.

This path led us somewhere we really wanted to be--wandering the streets of town somewhere in Italy, seeing beautiful little places like this one.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 13 "Amalfi Cliffs"

"Amalfi Cliffs"
- acrylic on canvas
- approx. 6.9x10"/175x255mm


The mountains surrounding the Amalfi Coast of Italy are famously rugged. Steep cliffs of exposed rock are all around you as you walk through the little towns. I've done more city and town images during this Italy 2013 challenge, so it was nice to do one of my favorite subjects again! Even at this small size, the immensity of the place comes through. Lucky us: we had a perfect day there!

This was my first attempt at acrylics after years of using colored pencil, alkyd, and then pastels. I was curious to see if I could handle the drying speed. I have gotten to the point where I can, and it turns out that acrylic on canvas just might be perfect for Taiwan which has a lot of humidity. I was quite happy to get the light I was hoping for in this painting!

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 10: "All That Remains"

"All That Remains - Pompeii"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 8x6"/21x15cm.

The behemoth that obliterated this place still looms on the horizon, quiet, for the moment. Overhead, the sun shines brightly, reminding us that it has risen and set thousands of times since it was hidden from view here by not one, but two searing invasions of heat and ash.

In some ways, nothing changes, and yet, everything changes.

Once again people walk these streets, chat in the theater, wander through the square and gather in the marketplace, but the conversations are different. These are observers, not participants.

Slowly, over time, the light of day is allowed to peer again through newly reopened windows, to warm the paving stones of roofless porticoes, and mark the hours as it shifts the shadows of the columns still standing. The revelation continues as the mountain's ashen breath is painstakingly removed, a spadeful at a time.

But the city is gone. These streets, these alleys, these sunlit walls are all that remain.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 9: "Piazzale Michelangelo"

"Piazzale Michelangelo"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 11.7x16.4"/30x42cm

Ping and I had hoped to get up to the Piazzale Michelangelo during some "free time" on this trip, but it turned out we didn't have time to make it up there on our own. From our seat near the front of the bus, we heard our driver, Vincenzo, ask our guide if she wanted him to take us all on an extra side jaunt. Imagine our delight when we got to go up there after all!

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 12: "Red Dress, Venice"

"Red Dress, Venice"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 8.5x9"/290x320mm

Red Dress

By Mark Ivan Cole 

From a concept by Mark Cole and Ping Hsu

Alberto rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Giulietta,” he says; “you’re a worse romantic than your namesake!”

“Maybe so,” she says; “but it’s worth ten euros to you if you’ll help.”

“I haven’t sung in ages,” he says.

“You’re a gondolier!” she insists; “and you can still sing. I hear you through the floor, you know. You sang in the shower just last week.”

“And I sounded like a pig in heat,” he says.

Giulietta smacks him on the arm. “You sounded like Placido Domingo—with a hangover. Alberto! Just one song! Bring them to the back door of the shop and help them out of the gondola as you’re singing. It will keep him from having to explain too much.”

Alberto gives her that sad, sideways grin of his. “How do you know this is the right thing to do?” he asks.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 7: "Leccio Fields"

"Leccio Fields"
- soft pastel on paper, approx. 8x6"/21x15cm

Everyone else had gone shopping. We still wanted to be outside. The storm clouds lingered overhead, but the rain held off as we walked around the perimeter of the outlet mall near Leccio, Italy. A vine-covered shed stood out in the middle of a wide field of vibrant green under heavy skies. Then the sun broke through! This was another one of those times we were glad we'd said: "Let's go take a look."

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 8: "A Light in the Cathedral"

"A Light in the Cathedral"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 11.7x16.4"/30x42cm

"Hey! There’s a light in the cathedral window! I wonder why. Maybe there’s a spy hiding in the upper chamber, sending information back to some Nefarious Criminal Mastermind bent on taking over the world..."

My inner 10-year-old got inspired! For the full story in sound and pictures, click on the link below for a short, semi-animated video (2:22).
http://youtu.be/Zy9nhketSKQ

This painting was another real stretch (I seem to be doing that a lot!). The challenge here was to accurately lay out and depict the stonework and the architectural details without rendering every bit of minutia in this view of Milan's Gothic cathedral.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 6: "Tuscan Hills, Italy"

"Tuscan Hills, Italy"
- soft pastel
- approx. 8.75x 11.25/210x297mm

Our red Ferrari fairly flew across the countryside as the indicated speed climbed ever higher: 250...275...300 km/h!

Outside the window, the hills of Tuscany lay placidly in the dappled sunlight, the higher summits playing peek-a-boo behind puffy clouds. A rambling stream sparkled under a blue, blue sky.

We marveled at the horsepower that propelled us forward, racing past the newly-budding glens, leaving league after league behind us effortlessly. Every curve felt like we were on rails. The beverage in my cup barely shivered.

That's because we were...on rails. Italy's newest bullet train was built by Ferrari. So now we can say that we've crossed Tuscany in a red Ferrari at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph). Ping snapped this picture out the window. I just loved it.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 5: "Rainy Night..."

"Rainy Night at the Piazza della Repubblica"
- soft pastel on charcoal gray paper
- approx. 11.7x16.5"/297x420mm

Raindrops wash down from an inky sky, an endless cascade of tiny, dazzling droplets shining brightly as they fall past the lights of the piazza.

They dash to the paving stones only to splash up in a last leap skyward before settling back to the ground to find somewhere else to run off to.

Umbrella-topped pedestrians pick their way across the open space, unsure if the next puddle is a deep one, hoping it isn't.

Around the square, waiters inside wait as tables outside wait out the weather.

And you are here. And I am here beside you in the rain. And we are happy.

--Mark Ivan Cole
***
I really stretched with this particular painting! It's my first-ever street scene; I've done pencil sketches here and there, but nothing this ambitious or colorful. I laid out everything on a grid to help me get the drawing right. I did a little smearing on the sky and the building in the upper left, and I  occasionally "pounced" a fingertip to soften a mark, but most of the strokes I left as they were laid. I let the painting sit for a couple of weeks, and then did a few corrections. The poem was written as I was thinking about my wife and myself walking across the Piazza della Repubblica in Florence, happy to be in Europe for the first time, together, regardless of the weather.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 4 "The Way Out"

"The Way Out" - soft pastel, 300x420mm

Today, we go back to the Roman Coliseum to get one person's perspective from the inside. Follow this link to hear the original music written for this story (and finished only an hour before I posted this!).

The Way Out

By Mark Ivan Cole

I don’t want to go out there.

Not today. Not anymore.

Not against this boy.

Not for the roar of the crowd, the laurel wreath.

Not anymore.

I’ve done this too many times. My knees are crumbling. My ribs ache with every breath. That unlucky cut from the last fight still seeps a little.

I can’t go home again.

No one goes home once they’ve made it to Rome.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 3: "Ponte Scaligero"

"Ponte Scaligero, Verona, Italy"
- soft pastel on paper
- approx. 9x12"/215x310mm

Our trip to Italy was with a Taiwanese group, and the guide helped us take the best advantage of any time we had to explore on our own. In Verona, she suggested a side trip to Ponte Scaligero, also known as Castelvacchio Bridge. Ping and I lingered there as long as we could, crossing over to wander into a beautiful park on the other side.

What I enjoyed most was the deep reflections in the water flowing beneath us. It was a great way to end the afternoon.

When we got home, I decided to paint this great, sweeping curve of the Adige River as it winds through Verona.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 2: "Roman Coliseum Gate" Duotone

It's Day 2! "Roman Coliseum Gate"
- graphite and charcoal on colored paper
- approx 8.25x11.5"/210x297mm

Photographs of the Roman Coliseum really don't do it justice. You have to walk between these massive stone walls to sense their weight and feel the sheer magnitude of this place. Even after enterprising salvagers dug out the iron support bars (note the holes), these gargantuan arches still stand.

Wandering through the corridors, imagining the thunder of thousands of voices in the stands, I wondered: though the building remains, do we remember its heroes?

Nothing we do is permanent, though some of it may last awhile. What am I leaving behind? It might be around a long time.

Italy 2013 Challenge- Day 1 of 15: "Ristorante"

You can't "do Italy" in a week, but we certainly covered a lot of ground there recently--our first trip to Europe--just enough to whet our appetites for more! The people were wonderful, very helpful despite my [Mark's] Spanish-laced attempts to speak Italian. The whole aesthetic of the country was delightful; from storefronts to back alleys, everything was so inviting. Ruins lay scattered or stood heroically around every corner, and the landscape was fantastic! While we were there, I did an ink painting each morning--something we could see from our hotel.

When we got back home, I was so excited that I devised a challenge: How quickly could I do 15 pieces of art, 3 written pieces, and at least one piece of music, all inspired by this trip to Italy? Ping said: "What if some of the music and writing went together with some of the art?" Yes!

Six weeks later, the art is done! Okay, mostly done; I still

Italy Challenge: #1 "Ristorante, Venezia"

approx. 210 x 297mm - Soft Pastel on Fabriano Tiziano

We floated past this lovely back door to the canal in Venice last month. This one was a stretch for me: subject matter and paper color I don't normally work with. It's the first of a series of 15 images from that trip to Italy, most of them in soft pastels. (I have 4 more to go.) For some reason it seems only fitting that I should paint Italian scenes on Fabriano paper. :)

Captain Obvious Does the Weather

We checked the weather forecast and now we know:

1. As of 9:00 PM, it was cooler outside (24ºC vs. 18ºC).
2. The rain we heard was definitely happening (relative humidity: 94%; precipitation rate: 3mm/hr.).
3. Sunrise and sunset will still happen at their time-honored, diurnal positions. (Yes!!)
4. Captain Obvious works at the Central Weather Bureau.

Which Exit Do We Take?

We found this sign in the MRT intriguing. Apparently, you have a very different kind of experience depending on which exit you take.

If you take Exit #3, you get to go to the temple and hang out in the park nearby. At some point, the future will be revealed to you. Don't be surprised. It's the same future everyone has: we all wind up dead at some point.

If you take Exit #4, luxury and riches await! You'll be pampered, attended to, and lead down a primrose path! Ah, but now we have a problem. You see, all of this came at a price, but you didn't know about that now, did you? Hmm...for a small fee, this whole misunderstanding can go away. The officials are willing to be "flexible." Just meet a "Mr. Songjin" down by the first park. He'll make sure the "goods" get to where they're supposed to go.

Strangely, even after all that, we all seem to end up back at Exit #3, and--sure enough--our fortunes are all the same.

Come to think of it...where did Exits 1 and 2 go?