User Comments - bill

Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟

mikeinewshot,

I too am a fan of the Douglas Adams series which begins with "The Guide."

I'm just up over here in Menlo Park, Ca., and the comments on this current poem have somewhat reorganized my day for me. Somehow, I'll need to squeeze in a few hours to get into it.

Back to Douglas Adams. His series is brilliant as you point out. If one loves irony, humor à la Monty Python, and an amazing adventure into "what's it all about," then you'll adore these books which must be read in order. I only list the first four below.

By the way, the answer to "Life, the universe and everything," is finally given. It took a mega-computer the size of a planet some millions of years from what I recall to compute this. Like any such result, one wonders more about the answer than the question.

"The Guide"  begins with the Earth being totally destroyed to make way for a galatic freeway. There is one escapee, Arthur Dent, who aided by a decent pint, he was in a pub at the time, and a friendly alien begins hitchhiking his way about the Universe ... Well worth the read.

Comments on the poem latter today or tomorrow, however that works out for you:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Life, the Universe and Everything

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Bill

Posted on: Pain and Suffering 伤心, 难受，郁闷 ,不爽，难过

Guys,

Thanks for the explanation of "pissed" in the UK.

Also, "pissed off" is perfectly OK among friends, but as chiongzibide points out, it is best not used otherwise.

Bill

Posted on: Pain and Suffering 伤心, 难受，郁闷 ,不爽，难过

mickeytoon,

Here in the SF Bay Area, pissed and pissed off are similar with pissed off being somewhat of a stronger emotion.

How do they differ in the UK. We happen to frequently visit the UK, and I'd like to sense the difference.

Thanks,

Bill

Posted on: Pain and Suffering 伤心, 难受，郁闷 ,不爽，难过

请问越来越更好！很有用.

Thanks gang,

Bill

Posted on: Funny Business

While some of the new vocabulary is useful, I think the story line is a bit dull. This is not a situation in which most of us will ever find ourselves involved.

How about a bit of realism for a change?

Bill

Posted on: Big Bed

Did pick up a couple of useful vocabulary items. An OK lesson.

Bill

Posted on: Excuses for Being Late

The audio for the dialogue, etc., for this lesson seems  to not yet have arrived on the amazon site. Hmm ... 网堵得厉害吗？ (-:

Bill

Posted on: Seeking Without Finding -- 寻隐者不遇

"Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown," is not so much a place as a state of mind. One can be there on the noisy main streets of 上海, or in the CPod offices. I see this as the hidden message of this poem.

And this brings to mind another poem I read in 1968:

Sitting quietly doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself ...

Bill

Posted on: Seeking Without Finding -- 寻隐者不遇

PS> My wife just reminded me that we have a book by Alan Watts, "Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts unknown." It does reference this poem. So, I did know the source of this line, and had forgotten it, but not it's implication which I must admit has been a centerpiece of my life.

We purchased this book circa 1968, and I'm going to look for it. It's in the attic, whereabouts unknown. The book is definitely worth reading and is available on Amazon. Alan Watts had a great admiration for 唐诗.

Bill

Posted on: Seeking Without Finding -- 寻隐者不遇

On reflection it's interesting to me that translations of the essence of this poem received a lot of attention here in the US in the 60's and 70's.

There was a beautiful poster I had purchased that resembled the image in bababardwan's posting just above with the simple line: The master is Cloud hidden, whereabouts unknown.

I had always wondered about its source, and now I know it.

Thanks for this jewel, Pete, thanks very much.

Bill