Saturday means someone gets to sleep in.

A real weekend for Tony

Friday evening, the apartment was in a rowdy mood as I got home from work.  For me the mood was most unwanted as I had to go to work in the morning.  But for Jenny and Tony, it was the beginning of the weekend as Tony had completed his first full week at preschool.

 

Rain

Currently, It has been raining for a week in Wuxi.  The forecast calls for more rain this weekend.

 

Podcasts on the bus and in the Taxi

I listened to the latest Econtalk podcast on my way home from work.  You should too.  The hour long discussion about the history of government bailouts in America was fascinating.

 

I have had a problem with the volume level of podcasts.  Sometimes there is too much noise on the bus or in the motorcycle taxi to hear the podcasts properly on my mobile phone

 

But there were no such problems with the Econtalk podcast.  Last evening, for the first time, I was able to listen to a podcast in the taxi.

 

I also downloaded about ten podcasts from Jwisdom which I will listen to this morning.

 

Sarah

Sarah, a HyLite student, wanted the addresses for my blogs. 

 

Good on you, Sarah, and I hope you are reading this entry.

Okay! Now I remember!

Outsider

There I was standing at the bus stop, taking on the viewpoint, imagining myself the great literary observer of an society of which he was not a part.  But then I thought, I have always been the outsider, even in Canada, and so nothing was out of the ordinary in China.  My experiences here were simply magnifications of all that I had experienced before.

Thinking further on this, I wonder if my outsider status is different from the lot of any other human.  I have moved a lot, and I can say that I have never been one small part of a homogeneous whole.  But those who have, like the Chinese living in a village that foreigners rarely come to, those we can say who are cut off from the world, aren't they outsiders too in this life?

Put on Hold

Rain, Rain, Rain, but....

I volunteered to take Tony to Preschool Friday morning (this morning).  Looking out the window at 630 am, I saw it was raining heavily and I wasn't looking forward to the prospect of carrying Tony and an umbrella to school -- Tony refuses to walk and will sprawl limply on the ground if we try to make him.   

But the Gods must have been smiling on Tony (and maybe me), as it wasn't raining as we waited for the bus and as we got off the bus to walk to the preschool.  It began to rain to as soon as I had dropped off Tony and walked to my school.  

Better on me, than him I suppose.

Profound Thought

I made a mental note to myself to pass on this thought I had, this very morning, to you.  Problem is I have forgotten it.  But as soon as I recall what it was, I will publish it.

My Five Favorite Podcasts

I took the time, because I must have too much time on my hands, to write an email to the host of Econtalk, and I was honoured to get a reply -- something about saying you are listening in China seems to get attention.  Anyway, the Econtalk did ask me to spread the word about his podcast in China, and so I will.  I will also tell you about some other podcasts I find help me pass the time as I take a forty minute bus ride to and from Casa K to downtown Wuxi:

1. Econtalk with Russ Roberts:  I didn't much like Economics when I was studying it, but I continued with my reading of it, and I have found that Economists like Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, and now Russ Roberts, through the Econtalk podcast, have shown why Economics is the queen of the social sciences, and profoundly interesting.
2. Radio Derb:  John Derbyshire is a Brit who became an American citizen, made a one second appearance in a Bruce Lee movie, can speak Mandarin very well, has a Chinese wife, and is very conservative in thought --  a man I feel a big kinship with.  His weekly podcast on National Review is something you must listen to three times in order to gleam the maximum amount of wit and insight therefrom.  His current goal is to get Keith Albertan to call him the worst person in the world.....   I better stop now before I wear out my praise gene.
3. Hardcore History:  Dan Carlin is a well-read shock jock doing history on radio.  His shows are entertaining, informative, and full of fascinating historical detail.  I like him despite his sister podcast, where he tries to portray his political views as independent when truly he is on the leftward side.  He is Camille Paglia in a FM disc jockey's body.  If you aren't conservative, you will like this podcast.
4. Ricochet:  This podcast features Marc Steyn, one of the great Canadian Conservative writers and radio personalities, as well as many other entertaining conservative personalities.  Listen to this show and you realize what is wrong with the Left -- it has no sense of humour.
5. JWisdom:  This Jewish podcast is short and sweet, full of spiritual insights that get me through life in the concrete jungle that is Wuxi. (I haven't found a good Catholic podcast but this link provides a archive of old podcast worth a listen).

Sorry if most of these podcasts don't fit your view of the Universe... 

A Change in Lifestyle

Back to Work

What fresh horrors await me?

Coming out of the closet?

Nothing of the sort.  But I am publicly proclaiming a change in lifestyle.  Now that Tony is attending pre-school, my daily life has changed.  Jenny and I have been able to have time to ourselves.  Just now, we had a sit-down lunch together downtown --usually, meals in restaurant involve having to chase Tony around the place.  Those are a few of the benefits, but there are some drawbacks.  Either Jenny or I must take Tony to the pre-school which means no sleeping-in.  And of course we don't have the benefit of Tony's company.  As they say, you can't live with them and you can't live without them.  I always eagerly await being able to see him.

Visitorship

I have the best months for AKIC blog visitorship, since the GFW blocked blogspot, on both my blogs last month.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope that whatever I do here is useful or interesting for you.

If you really like Tony, you can now visit here.

Man holds woman at knife point in Wuxi

Photos here.

Wuxi Tony Update #544: McQueen

Is Sydney Crosby a game-show contestant?

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I watch a sporting event, I am not cheering for any of the teams or competitors, I find myself cheering for beauty, grace, and drama. Lately, I have been hoping to see dignity.

For me there is no moment so conforming to my aesthetic sporting ideals as Paul Henderson's goal for Canada against the Soviet Union in the final game of their summit hockey series. This event was a one-off and established the form for which all other dramatic hockey moments have been compared, including Sydney Crosby's gold medal winning goal on Sunday. I think Crosby's goal pales in comparison to Henderson's.

Compare the two photos of the players taken just after they scored their winning goals. Henderson raises his sticks in triumph. Meanwhile, Sydney Crosby has dropped his gloves looking, to me, like a game-show contestant in hysterics after having won a car or jackpot. The photo of Crosby is a big turn-off. This ritual of shedding gloves and stick after scoring dramatic hockey goals has recently been adopted. I hate it because it is graceless and contrived.

Addendum: This article says Crosby shouldn't have shed his equipment -- especially in British Columbia.

Tony goes to pre-school.

Tony started going to a downtown Wuxi pre-school, on Monday.  The experience was frightening for Tony who wasn't  happy about being separated from his parents; and of course for his parents it was hard to listen to Tony's crying.

 

But after two days, Tony has made some progress.  He has ravenously eaten his meals at the school, and he has been taking afternoon naps -- something he has rarely done at home.

 

Monday morning caused Tony's father to be sentimental for a couple of reasons.  Watching the Olympic closing ceremonies, AKIC blogger was reminded of the place he had left five years ago -- that, and contemplating his son's starting a new phase was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

 

The pre-school is run by Lucy, a friend of AKIC blogger and Mrs. AKIC blogger.

Zhongshan Road, Wuxi, March 1

A portion of Zhongshan Road in Wuxi is closed for subway construction.