User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Grass 草
March 24, 2009 at 8:39 AMHi mikeinewshot
Thanks for the tip -- will do. Glad you enjoyed the poem.
Hi all:
野火烧不尽，春风吹又生
I just saw came across this line in Tombstone 墓碑, the book I was talking about last week. The author used it to describe how families in Sichuan were able to recover fairly quickly after the craziness of the Great Leap Forward. Once the government started allowing them to have their own land and crops, they tried to pick up the pieces and get back to normal.
The family, not the People's Commune, was the traditional unit of Chinese society for millennia. The wildfire of political insanity was not able to completely scorch those deep roots.
Posted on: Hong Kong Visa Run
March 24, 2009 at 7:44 AMHi chistudent and chiongzibide
I'm not actually a fan of the 民进党 (the independence party in Taiwan.) I hope that the two sides can maintain the status quo indefinitely, with small adjustments like more frequent flights.
But as a political expedient, support for the isolated ROC can be very profitable. Ask the 23 small countries who continue to recieve juicy aid and expertise packages for their theoretical support of a country they would never fight to defend, if push came to shove.
Posted on: Grass 草
March 24, 2009 at 5:25 AMHi rj, shikamaru and urbandweller,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the poem. I agree, Jenny did a great job. And once again, Joy added a lot with sound editing, particularly the sound of the flames.
Be sure to check out the dialect readings as well-- just scroll down to #152 after the link.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
March 24, 2009 at 5:00 AMHi miantiao,
Oh, that's sure to be a lively discussion! For those that don't read Chinese, the gist is that Li Bai's life story is just a lot of hype.
I haven't read the piece yet. But this does remind me of the controversies that occasionally pop up around Shakespeare-- could one man have written so many great works? alone? etc. etc.
Posted on: Traditional Chinese Medicine
March 24, 2009 at 2:06 AMHi cantremember
The comments on some lessons got messed up about a year ago during a server migration.
And the Mandarin pronunciation of 暖和 is actually nuǎnhuo. But you will hear nuǎnhe sometimes.
Posted on: Embrace your Fears! 怕 (pà)...Adj
March 24, 2009 at 2:03 AMHi timbrace
If you both dislike someone and are afraid of him, you could say：
我很怕他，我不喜欢他。
Wǒ hěn pà tā, wǒ bùxǐhuan tā.
Sometimes we like someone, but we're a little bit afraid of them. In such cases we can say：
我喜欢他，但也有点儿怕他。
wǒxǐhuāntā, dàn yě yǒudiǎnr pà tā.
Thanks, jiaojie, for the examples.
Posted on: Best Friends
March 24, 2009 at 2:01 AMHi xinjiapo2703
That's funny, but not really right. Jiaojie suggests:
你醉得最厉害. nǐ zuìde zuìlìhài
Posted on: Hong Kong Visa Run
March 24, 2009 at 1:50 AMHi panda2
If those rules were really enforced, about a third of the foreigners in China would have to leave. There was a clampdown before the Olympics, and there will be before the World Expo. But where there's a will, there's a way. 上有政策，下有对策
Hi bababardwan
Did you really visit Sealand? I'm envious. I'd love to have my own country, somewhere off the coast of British Columbia. The first thing I'd do is recognize Taiwan as a country. The subsidies they'd give me would be enough that I could retire comfortably to my books and my organic farm.
Posted on: Grass 草
March 24, 2009 at 1:18 AMHi all:
Here are today's poems.
离离原上草
lílí yuánshàng cǎo
一岁一枯荣
yīsuì yī kūróng
野火烧不尽
yěhuǒ shāobùjìn
春风吹又生
chūnfēng chuī yòushēng
远芳侵古道
yuǎnfāng qīngǔdào
晴翠接荒城
qíngcuì jiēhuāngchéng
又送王孙去
yòusòng wángsūn qù
萋萋满别情
qīqī mǎn biéqíng
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he...
What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?
They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.
Posted on: Grass 草
March 24, 2009 at 9:36 AMHi bodawei
I actually wrote this piece a few weeks ago. If I hadn't done it, I would've missed the significance of the line in Tombstone. I always hope the poddies get as much out of this show as much as I do.
And you're very right about the relationship between the fire and the grass. I think that's what Whitman is talking about, too. We always see things in black and white, life and death. But death is a part of life, just as wildfires are a part of the life cycle of the grass.