Battle on Redgrass Field

The Hedge Knight

"You are no knight.
I know you. You are Florian the fool."
"I am, my lady. As great a fool as ever lived, and as great a knight as well!"
"A fool and a knight?
I have never heard of such a thing."
"Sweet lady, all men are fools, and all men are knights, where women are concerned."

The insanity of France's anti-file-sharing plan

L'État, c'est IFPI

Things look ill for the relevance of France's existence in the 21st century. It's conservative attitude about preserving "culture", and the tendency for it to exercise state power for arbitrary interests will be the cause of its demise.

Books versus documents: what's wrong with so-called "e-books"

Almost spent money to buy a Kindle, which in retrospect is still a pretension

Need to read: Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style

Japan and China: National Character Writ Large

How a country's writing system reflects its attitude towards outsiders

Cultures with a sense of exceptionalism is neither optimistic or happy.

Raising a Child With Roots in China

demographics question

China Pursues Major Role in Particle Physics

China's past roles in particle physics and the mythical beast of the I.L.C.

Japan's trial run for migrant workers

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japan's trial run for migrant workers

Peony Pavillion

What struck me about Bai Xianyong's lecture was the hilarious way he described the different junctures in the play where the audience clapped. The Taipei audience would applaud after an aria was sung well, but in Suzhou, the audience will start clapping when the male and female leads approach and make contact with one another.

the script

Die Meistersinger

Madness, Madness!
Madness everywhere.
Wherever I look . . . .
People torment and flay each other
In useless, foolish anger
Till they draw blood.
Driven to flight,
They think they are hunting.
They don’t hear their own cry of pain . . . .
When he digs into his own flesh,
Each thinks he is giving himself pleasure.

So close to greatness...

The Withcer is a kick to the teeth of normative high fantasy genre. Its storyline is steep in its observation of Eastern European folktales and legends. What sets it apart from its neighboring Western cousins is the unflinching narrative of grimness.

Small town melancholy and the errors of travel

Driving to Austin-Bergstrom evokes all sorts of associations, one of them is the feeling that you are without doubt in a small town.

Peering out of the windows in the plane while in transit, I wondered how will skylines look at night when cities switch over to 5500k incandescent lighting? I tried to imagine night cities transforming from gold to silver, like this:

色，戒 Lust, Caution

In some ways the times we live in are similar to those of Eileen Zhang. Dying for a cause, being a pawn for a higher power, where decisions such as choosing who we love is affected by nationalism. And sometimes, we make mistakes that we do not regret.

The music behind Triad Election

A view of the music production process behind the modern rework of the triad genre



‘For the residents of the island, to be “Hongkongese” has never meant being Chinese,’ he explains. ‘The political upsets of the past century have given rise to a major dichotomy between these two notions. Over the past nine years, changes seem to have gradually filled the gap that separates us. China has freed itself from the yoke of an archaic communist regime to become an economic superpower. The policy of One Country/Two Systems guaranteed Hong Kong political autonomy [but] the residents of Hong Kong look upon all these changes with concern, fear and confusion. Under the veil of economic stability, questions concerning political autonomy remain unanswered. In the shadow of that ambiguous giant known as China, what does being Hongkongese mean? In Election 2, even the gangsters ask themselves questions.’

Crocodile detained

Australian crocodile kept in cell