User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Hot and Cool 热, 烫 , 凉 , 冷

Connie,

Is it possible to get your recipe for 可乐鸡翅？ sounds有意思

Posted on: Hot and Cool 热, 烫 , 凉 , 冷

小心老婆:

"汤很烫on tongue hon."

Breakdown of the character 烫 very useful as much easier to recognise now.Thanks.

没有冷水器，不过有∶“饮水机”。。water dispenser as shown in the vocab tour of "Around the Office".So does that drink water machine cool the water at all or is it at room temperature?

Posted on: Heading Home

bodawei,

Thanks ,ah friend,I see what you mean. :)

Posted on: Heading Home

orkelm,

hehe,NO double entendre intended at all I assure you maaate.We Aussies do see sexual innuendo in heaps of things but "mate" is so entrenched with that usual meaning of friend/pengyou in that context that it's simply not one of them.I'm confident my mates will back me up on this one [unless it be some joker taking the opportunity now you've raised it for some stirring;miantiao 别激动，别激动，哈哈]

Posted on: 小太监进宫

miantiao,

有意思观测∶

“怪不得vasectomy这种避孕手段在中国不太受欢迎！”

真的吗？不太受欢迎？

当然vasectomy不一样宫刑，还是这也许是知觉的多中国人

Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟

Each post in this thread is first rate.Thanks to all for adding to this discussion;I've got heaps out of your posts.

I must finish reading "Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" which I was greatly enjoying at one time before life rudely interrupted.Thanks for reminding me Mikeinewshot.

I also thought darylk's observation was superb:

"Language that seems so certain and fixed—as hard as a piece of jade—is revealed to be as insubstantial as smoke"

Bill,

I particularly enjoyed:

"vibrate with the tension of its youth, middle or old age"

Finally,I too love Fleetwood Mac's Sara.Great and apt quote jimijames.

Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟

Ah,so Zhuangzi is where that beautiful thought about a man dreaming he was a butterfly came from.I have heard that a few times over the years and always loved it but never knew where it came from.

Yeah,awesome poem Pete;love it.Very thought provoking.Thanks for making this accessible and for your insights into the poem.Top notch as usual.My thoughts on the Poem:

Firstly we have jin..brocade.This reminds me of Carole Kings song Tapestry.Our lives are a wondrous woven magic.

I think the 50 strings are just an arbitrary number but represent the multitude of different experiences throughout the journey of our life that have provoked different feelings and emotions.Each one produces a different note,stirs a different feeling.Each note is dependent on the special conditions/circumstances [each zhu4] at the time.I see this reflected later in the poem with the jade and the pearl.

In the second line I think Zhuangzi's dream takes place at dawn.I think this is a poem about love,the most important and powerful thing in the universe and the thing that gives our lives meaning.Perhaps it is about romantic love.Dawn perhaps represents puberty,an awakening.At this time things are very dreamlike,perfect,magical,and confusing.Perhaps he may have been plucking the string on the end with the high note,before the voice has broken.The second half of the second line may then represent the other end of the zither,the lowest note when he had a bad experience in love being cuckolded,also equally confusing and messy for different reasons.

In the final line perhaps he is lamenting that one will have to wait to get perspective [as shown in the third line with seeing the smoke from the jade,seeing things more clearly with the perspective the distance of time gives;but it is still only a glimpse of smoke.something intangible and not at all well understood...only a glimpse of the truth;couldn't see it at all when we were involved/up close with it at the time] when it is a mere recollection,an intangible memory,rather then comprehending it at the time it is being experienced.

Posted on: Going to Church

Ok mate,but the plot thickens.Who do we know that can speak many tongues? Who do we know who also seems to be intimately acquainted with Shakespeare who was around at the same time as Faustus and no doubt great mates? Perhaps this Faustus received not only knowledge and tongues in his deal,but also immortality and now goes by the name of one Ken Carrol.现在我非常怕 ！！

Posted on: Heading Home

Thanks Jenny.Interesting insight.I wonder how long they take to get to that stage [I presume this'll vary and depend on the couple themselves].Anyway,I'll be less surprised now if I hear teenagers referring to their spouses.

Rich,

Thanks for all your examples mate :)

Posted on: Going to Church

hehe,hilarious reigau.You may need to dumb down for a while or we'll suspect you've done the deal and become too hot to handle.我怕。