Criminal Activity in Barcelona

Gaudí Park, Barcelona (but don't tell anyone)

They say that ignorance of the law is no excuse. All that does is leave me with no excuse.

Apparently, it's illegal to paint plein air in Barcelona, Spain. Thanks to James Gurney, I am now no longer ignorant of the law. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I was ignorant of the law when I sat down in the Gaudí Park in Barcelona, blithely pulled my Inktense travel kit from my backpack and started painting. I confess: I have committed art in the first degree. In Barcelona. Yes. It's all true.

Had I been caught, I would have been fined and made to go to the police station to fill out paperwork.

Gurney's interview with Roger Bansemer brings up the practical reasons why plein air painting has been banned in several places.I guess I'll have to watch my step in St. Augustine and Winter Park, FL, too, if I ever get the urge to paint there.

There's a simple solution: one painter, one painting. Let's all use common sense, not block traffic or anyone's business, and allow everyone a fair view of our subject. It'll all work out fine, then.

I wonder what the statute of limitations is on this. It's been a year. Can I go back safely yet? Maybe I'm on their no-fly list. The mind boggles.

New Band: "Supercramp"

My newest band is called "Supercramp." We already have a Greatest Hits album. Here are the songs:
"Grime of the Century," "Food's Overture," "The Logical Gong," "Even in the Quietest Monuments," "Bleakfest in America," "Ruddy Well Blight," "Take the Wrong Way Home," "Goodbye Strangler," and "Give a Little Sh!t."

Our place in history is most certainly ensured.

Now I Can Be Sticky For Hours

It's all about what one can get used to.

We've been in Taiwan almost three years now, and we're going through the hottest part of the summer. This is what it looks like from the Central Weather Bureau's site:

25 ~ 35

COMFORTABLE~EXTREMEL

They don't have room for the "LY HOT AND MUGGY" bit. So, as the temps get more "extreml," we strip down more and more, but there's a limit to how much you can take off and still greet people at the front door. What about after you hit that limit?

Practice

Sometimes it seems like everything I do needs improvement. I can always point to something that I think I could do better. Several years back, Ping gave me a whole series of CDs and books by Stephen R. Covey, the author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." After I'd opened several of these gifts, one of our boys said, "Are you getting the hint?"

The fact is, we're usually our own worst critic, as cliche as that may be. Recently, I've been considering what I gain from that. I'm not finding anything.

Self-improvement is creative by definition: we are becoming. Criticism is not conducive to such a creative act. As John Cleese put it: "Nothing will stop you being creative more effectively than the fear of making a mistake."

What if I think of everything as practice? It's a process. Not every effort gets the result I want, but whatever I'm working on, I can hone it, refine it, and iterate until I get something I like. I'll know it when I see it. Until then, I'll keep practicing.

Whattheheckisgoingon and Whotheheckarewe?

Ping and I have been at this for three years now. We've gone from Corporate America to Beitou, Taiwan. We've spent a lot of these three years trying to figure out what's up. This week was a rough one. We both floundered, pretty painfully. It's amazing how dark the world can seem when we lose our bearings. But here's the point:

We're still working on getting “what we do” to be closer to “who we are.”

It’s an experiment--a bet, maybe--that we can do something authentic, something that uses everything we have, that opens up all the possibilities, and that somehow serves the world in a valuable, sustainable way.

Have we got it? Not yet. Well, part of it, yes, sometimes. Some days, not at all. We have more questions than answers. Sometimes I wonder: who needs more pretty paintings, more songs, another 

Tandem Bike in a Bag

Seriously! You can put a full-fledged, honest-to-god, rear-suspension, 24-speed bicycle built for two in a bag. Ping did a lot of research and found Glitterbike, a Taiwanese manufacturer which makes a folding tandem bike. We put over 80 km on it in just a few days, and we're loving it.

This is the coolest thing: you can fold it so small that it fits into a bag which you can carry onto the MRT or the ferry. You don't have to buy a separate ticket just for the bike! Of course, at 19 kilos, you'll rather ride it than carry it, which inspired the following poem:

Bike in a Bag

by Mark Ivan Cole (thanks to Jerry Boyd for the idea!)

I carry a tandem bike here in my bag!
I carry it everywhere, though I may sag
And tumble and stumble and fumble and flag,
I still keep my bicycle zipped in my bag!
When other folks ask why I carry it there,
I simply respond, with the haughtiest air:
"My bike is pristine, and I feign would despair
"If once I besmirched it with my derriere!"
I've wondered, of course, if perhaps we should ride it,
And not haul a bag with a tandem inside it,
But till I've the courage to swallow my pride,
I'll lug this big sack with the tandem inside.

For more detail on the bike, read on!

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...

Significant People: Mike and Gail

I'm 18 years old. I've just moved to the U.S. from Ecuador. I'm clueless. My sister, Susan, introduces me to a friend who plays guitar. We hit it off. Mike thinks we could make money playing weekends at restaurants. He gets us booked. I just help set up and play. I learn that there's a business side to music and I'm not very good at it. Mike just gets out there and does it. He still splits the money with me 50/50. We do well, get regular gigs, and I get a taste of what it means to be a professional musician.

My car dies and Mike finds one for sale. "He's asking $500. Offer him $400 and he'll probably sell it for $450." I do. It works. The seller is Mike's brother.

Mike is going out with Gail. She has a great voice, teaches piano. Her brother is a former music teacher who now has a house painting business because the teacher's salary couldn't support a family. They all convince me that painting houses with Ross and younger brother, Jeff, is better than staying at the warehouse. Ross teaches me a skill that I rely on for the next decade whenever I need the money. Ross also teaches me what a good boss is like--over and over again.

Gail offers to teach me piano "for free, if you'll just practice." I have one lesson. I go home and practice on an old, out-of-tune, jammed-hammered instrument for 15 minutes. It sounds awful. I go to my room and wail on my guitar for half an hour before I can do another 15 minutes on the piano. I go back for a second lesson. She's moving me very quickly through the material. I try to practice on that old piano. It never sounds good. Frustrated, I tell Gail I just can't practice. I live on those two lessons for the next three decades.

I get to be the bass player in a band with Mike, Gail, Ross and Jeff. I get to go Christmas caroling as part of an eight voice ensemble that can pull off the "Hallelujah Chorus" as their closing number. I get dirty looks when I try to sing the soprano part during "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." I go back to "Forever and ever..."

Mike and Gail are getting married. I watch Mike decide to sell his convertible to get a car safe enough for his father-in-law's approval. I stay home from the bachelor party because I can't come up with a decent gift. Mike calls and asks why I'm not there. I tell him. He says: "I don't care about the gift; I want YOU here." I bring him the jacket he lent me a few months ago. He finds that hilarious.

I'm an usher in the wedding. I get measured for a tux with tails. I learn how to get a shaving accident bloodstain (mine) out of rented formalwear.

I buy out Mike's half of the sound system and sell the whole thing to buy a guitar amp. I go on to other bands. I go solo. I move to California.

Fast forward thirty years. Find Mike on Facebook and send a message. I get one back. Amazing. Same guy; same smile. Same Gail. Different continent!

Time after time, people have come into my life and done significant things just by being themselves. Mike and Gail showed me what it was like to be a friend with a heart, a brain, a backbone and a sense of humor.

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?

New Original Music: Awakening

[Posted by Mark]

Ping has been experiencing some profound things recently and just being around her as she goes through this has a certain effect on me. When we remember that we're all one, that's not too surprising, but to experience it in such an uncanny way is ...well, uncanny.


One evening, I just opened a project in my music program, Reaper, and started composing. Within a couple of hours, I had the beginnings of a piece that, to me, seemed rather unexpected. Ping heard an early version of the basic themes and said: "That sounds very much like what I'm going through!"

Over the last five days, I've spent hours and hours honing the composition and refining the arrangement. Early yesterday morning, it was done. It's just under 4 minutes long. Click on the image (above) to hear "Awakening" on YouTube. I can hear some connection to other pieces I've written, but for me this one is in a class by itself.

Read more details about the composition process below.

A Room With A View

We had the opportunity to experience Taiwanese healthcare from the inside. Once we figured out that Mark probably had a hernia, we decided to go to the doctor. This is where the Taiwanese network healthcare system really kicked into gear. It's different from Taiwan's national healthcare system, but they are integrated in amazing ways. You see, the NATIONAL healthcare system applies to everyone with a health card in Taiwan. The NETWORK healthcare system applies to you and your friends and relatives. Our network is amazing.

"Love Theme For Aliens" - New video!

Mark's posted a new video for a song he collaborated on with good friend (and incredibly good musician!) Larry Benigno. Check it out on our YouTube channel. ～好奇走一回～的最新音樂。請欣賞。

[Mark]
Larry Benigno and I have never actually met, but thanks to Sue Morton, we've been friends for several years! In fact, I don't think we've ever been within less than 3,000 miles of each other! Sometimes things just click. Larry and I collaborated on this piece

2012 的秋 - Fall, 2012

When we left the U.S. last October, we didn't know what kind of Fall season we could expect after the move. In fact, we wondered if we would even get the Fall season at all. Fall is my favorite season. I love the Fall colors, crisp air, warm apple cider, pumpkins and gourds, gatherings with family and friends, holiday decorations, baked goods, the smells--just about everything. I couldn't help but feel a certain degree of separation anxiety as we left all of those behind. 


In the most wonderful and mysterious way, we got to spend a week in the most splendorous Fall colors in northeastern China: LiaoNing Province, to be specific. Here is a random photo from the thousands we took on the trip. We plan to post more on the Photo Blog later, once we have a chance to review them.


在美國居住了將近三十年，秋季始終是我最喜愛的季節。 每年九月開始，樹葉開始變色，家家戶戶開始在屋外佈置起萬聖節，感恩節的景象，空氣不時瀰漫著各種秋天才聞得到的香味，親友聚餐的頻率也變得頻繁起來。秋天對我來說是美，平安與喜樂的綜合，我總是期待著。所以當決定搬來台灣時，心中最不捨的少數幾樣中”秋季”即是其中之一。每次想到了就不免有點沮喪。



這次能有機會和媽媽到中國東北遼寧省體會到璀璨絢麗的秋景是當初意想不到的。這一週吸收的美麗秋景美得讓人作夢都會笑！ 我們胡亂照了幾千張相片，都還沒整理。在此任選一張先與大家分享。

Not Himself Today

For some reason, Mark just doesn't seem to be himself today.

He's been going around the house with this very sheepish expression. The shear strain of it all is beginning to wear on us both. Trying to shepherd ourselves through this trying time is difficult because we don't know if we're being fleeced. Either way, it's pretty baa-a-ad.

Woolly pull out of this or woolly continue this way indefinitely? Our current spin on this is that the threads of this mystery wool eventually unravel and wool discover that this was all an illusion created out of whole cloth.

At least, that's how the droppings seem to be falling at the moment.

Elton John's "Your Thong"

Mark just recorded and made a video for his version of Elton John's "Your Song." This one's, well, a little different! For details on the song, check out the music blog entry.
 萬一搖滾巨星艾爾頓強有點口齒不清，老將“S"的音發成”TH"。他的經典老歌 “Your Song" 會有怎麼樣的發展呢？
小幫助： 這是首讓人開懷的歌。在美國 Thong 有兩個常用的意思。有興趣多了解的可以看看 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/thong

Read on for more tech details. :)

New Music Video: "Break It Down"

Mark is at it again with more music! This time, it's an instrumental showcasing some funky bass work and a bunch of guitars. The video? Well, let's just say "something probably broke down." Ping wants everyone to know that she is in no way associated with the guy in the video. You've been informed. :)

Please "Like" and share, if you haven't already left for the hospital after viewing this.

Iran's Mandarin Nuke?? 伊朗的新核能發電廠“不是”!

Regardless of whether or not one believes Iran's officially stated nuclear intentions, its now fully operational nuclear power plant is regrettably named...at least in Mandarin.


Mark took one look at the name on an English language news site and, even with his limited Chinese, couldn't miss the irony.

It's called "Bushehr," after a nearby town. All well and good, but if you read it the way Mark did, it sounds like  "不是!" ("Boo SHIRR!") which, in Mandarin, is a flat denial: "Not SO!"

...which brings us back to the Iranians' constant restatements of their official nuclear intentions. Who knows? In any case, we do wonder if there might be a more suitable name for the plant. Apparently, it's actually closer to a town called Halileh (aka Haleyleh) which sounds a bit more like "Halleluiah!"

On the other hand, "Bushehr" is probably a better name than the old Chevy "Nova." In Spanish, it simply means "Doesn't Go" ...which made it kind of a tough sell in South America.

Any suggestions for what the second nuclear power plant should be called??

We're hoping it's not "Buneng."不能 (Literally: "Can't.")

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！

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. :)