User Comments - pearltowerpete

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi obitoddkenobi

I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. I couldn't stay awake until the historic speech, but I hear it was a good one. Today I've just been amazed to see the pictures of the crowds.

Who was that modern poet who said,

Little darlin, it's been a long, cold lonely winter

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun...

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi leeht and misterjess

Glad you enjoyed the show. It will be mostly audio podcasts as even simple video takes a ton of work from many people. Still, future videos are definitely a possibility. Who knows, we may find other interesting guests...I think Captain Picard was interested in poetry (well, at least in Shakespeare) ;-)

Hi shi3ma3ke4

Great to see you around here! I'm looking forward to your comments and questions.

Hi mark and infusiastic

Thanks so much! I'm very honored.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi all

As promised, here is the publication information for my edition of 唐诗三百首. There have been literally dozens of different editions since it was compiled in the Qing dynasty. The poems inside don't vary but the interpretations and footnotes do.

This one was recommended to me by a well-read friend. It's worked fine for me. I'd be very interested to hear if anyone has a version with some special features or extraordinarily good notes.

唐诗三百首， 李淼 注释。吉林文史出版社 ISBN 978-7-80626-450-8. Published in November, 2007.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi belindaergib

This is a lovely little poem．I just "baidued" it and was unable to find much about it, but I will look into it more.

Hi ihatemidterms

I'm glad you liked the show, but I don't know what you meant with the other stuff. The rest of the CPod team have always done a fantastic job, and I'm honored to have the chance to work with them.

Posted on: 北京人上海人眼中的中国地图

Perhaps Xinjiang people are known for picking pockets because they are rarely able to 报销 everything from Karaoke to Baijiu, embezzle public funds, or set up crooked construction deals. At the most extravagant levels of corruption, you'll rarely find a non-Han face.

This is a worthy topic, and deserves frank discussion. Far too many people in the West were willing to believe Soviet and PRC propaganda that claimed that these societies had no racial problems. Every society has skeletons in its closet. The only way to get progress is to talk about them honestly.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi steveepee33

Great! You can download the poem in isolation to study it that way.

Hi bettine

Teaching children to recite Tang poems is very common in China. CPod's own Jenny Zhu apparently has some old audio tapes at home of herself reciting poems at the age of two or three! The kids don't understand the meaning, but it's a good way to get exposure to the sounds of the language, and to sharpen their memories.

Incidentally, 咏鹅, a popular poem among kids, was in fact written by a seven-year-old Tang poet, Luo Binwang 骆宾王. It's not particularly deep, but it's impressive from such a little guy!

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi excuter

Thanks for your support, and for your suggestions/questions.

The lesson is released on Tuesdays (instead of Saturdays) so that I will be on the job and ready to respond immediately to questions or problems. I have been known to add comments after-hours, but realistically, if we are going to have a good, lively discussion, I should be on the clock.

I'm not sure what exactly you meant about transporting the text into modern language-- do you mean English, or  白话 Modern Chinese vernacular? I'm not planning to do English translations, because there are already some good versions out there. Also, translating poetry into poetry is the gold standard of the translator's craft. I simply don't feel I can do this justice. But I could consider a simple vernacular Chinese version of the poems. So much richness is lost that way, but it may have some educational value.

Finally, a much awaited (by me, at least as much as by any poddies!) upgrade of our publishing system will soon allow us to publish the PDF and other fun stuff.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi christophermlim, kesirui, kimiik, kdombros and soojiwei

Thanks! I'm just delighted that you enjoyed it. The first few lessons, already recorded, will be somewhat short and spare. But I am definitely intersted in more in-depth treatment in the future.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi rjberki and jjfoerch

Thanks for your warm comments. I know that Elvis is not for everyone, and he won't be a fixture on the show.

By the way, the stuff about mastering karate (he even incorporated some moves into his stage act) and building a Zen garden at Graceland is all true. He was a man of many talents and interests, some more impressive than others.

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Hi calkins,

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to making future episodes even better.

Hi barto

Let me add my voice to the chorus- thank you for your insights and study suggestions. And I agree that, just like when you can play a song from memory, being to recall a beloved poem at an appropriate time is a delicious feeling. It reminds you of your shared humanity with the poet, and with all the people who have kept the poem alive through the years.

In the interest of keeping the podcast brief and not too threatening, there was much that I couldn't discuss, including the parallelism in the poem. But you're right, it does add a lot to our appreciation of this work. It seems the poddie community is much more eager for technical, complex stuff than I had imagined. I will do my level best to provide this.