User Comments - bill

Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌

It's interesting to note that in a poem by 杜甫(du4fu3) 李白 is called one of the "Eight immortals of the wine cup." We have some 1,100 poems written by 李白。

And, as was mentioned above,  he was also a Daoist, and as such, would not "Mistake his finger for the moon." Peter may be familiar with this latter statement. It roughly means don't mistake the pointer for what is being pointed at ...

As such as a poet, he realized that his words were a veil between the experience and the experiencer and he would've wanted that veil to be as transparent as possible. This is my personal opinion.

If we add to that a translation from Chinese to English, or some 30 such translations, then they take us very far from the original intent of the poet, and indeed, the meaning or intent of the poem is shrouded in darkness.

I think if someone asked 李白 what this poem meant, that he would laugh his full of life laugh, sit this someone down on an evening where the moon was full, the stars clear and plentiful, among flowers with a pot of wine and a cup. Then just walk away ...

Bill

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑

Hi envirodragon,

Yes, the 汉字 (han4zi4）shown above is the traditional form of the simplied 请问。

Bill

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑

Jenny,

Just want to note that "laughable" in English is a dual-edged sword: It does have the pejorative sense that you mention, i. e., absurd, ridiculous, ludicrous, etc... But, it also can can mean something that provokes humor or laughter.

I only mention this because of I know several people who use ChinesePod to learn English as well as Chinese, and mention you to be a great English teacher too !

Good lesson as usual (-:

Bill

Posted on: Sign Here, Please

changye,

"Hi robertoelrojo, Thanks a lot for the table! Looks like you also love astronomy (天文学), just like me."

我也是！

Bill

Posted on: Mexico City

chinkerfly,

I've fond memories of the smell of garlic from Gilroy. One smells mostly what is left to rot in the fields after the harvest.

My wife and I used to ride our 自行车 with our dog, Kim, racing along side of us. We were on narrow country roads that wound through the garlic fields and she raced through the garlic fields. Afterwards, Kim's fur smelled of garlic!

The strongest smell was of tomatoes being canned. At night one felt immersed in tomato soup!

bababardwan,

I really like the flavor of cactus in tamales. It's soft and slightly sweet and goes very well with the corn meal of the tamale. My wife on the other hand thinks it's somewhat slimy.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area you can find these tamales at a restaurant in Tiburon called Guaymas that is across the bay from "The City." There you can dine outside on a deck with a full few of the bay and San Francisco. Very beautiful. We always take visitors there for a nice lunch. Guaymas does not serve tacos and burritos. Their red snapper Vera Cruz and chicken mole is superb!

Otherwise, it's good to have mexican friends with a cactus garden. Alas, ours moved away last Summer.

Bill

Posted on: Mexico City

墨西哥城，Ciudad de México: The Olympics of 1968, Tommy Smith and Juan Carlos' Black Power salute, Bob Beaman's 8.90m world record in the long jump that lasted 22 years, and 我 growing up in San Diego, California with so many friends from "South of the border." We all learned to speak Spanish in grammar school back then ...

Yes, this lesson fills me with memories, reflections on what has happened over the years, some 68 now. In 1968 our daughter was born and we lived in Gilroy, CA. That was a village 60 miles south of San Francisco. I taught math in a community college and our mexican neighbors worked in the canneries. They also had an infant daughter.

We shared home cooked meals. My wife prepared something European, usually German or French, and they made good, home cooked, Mexican food. Simple, and unbelievably good: Rice, tortillas, enchiladas, tamales stuffed with cactus or plantain (plátano), frijoles, jalapeños, salsa ... Delicioso! 很好吃！

Bill

Posted on: Thoughts on Returning Home 回乡偶书

Hello robertoelrojo,

I was not thinking consciously about（性高潮) "climax" as you put it. "Peak" was a typo for "peek."

Still, very interesting typo since I was thinking about renewal and rebirth from the cosmological perspective.

In this sense a star going super nova can be viewed as a cosmological 性高潮 yielding all that is necessary to generate another star, a solar system, and life ...

Bill

Posted on: Thoughts on Returning Home 回乡偶书

Hi pete,

Looking forward to the 惊喜!

Otherwise, 请问 is there a good source for the meanings of the 汉字 as written during the time the poets were alive.

Bill

Posted on: Thoughts on Returning Home 回乡偶书

cassielin,

Yes, "物是人非" is a lamentation on the one hand and a sense of renewal on the other.

Also, really, nearly everything is impermanent. Planets, solar systems, and galaxies and perhaps universes all disappear. Yet, the basic building blocks seem to hang around forever, i. e., the atoms and molecules from which all is created;  the forces like gravity and the weak an strong atomic forces; and  the implicit sense of the "correct combinations" that continue to yield what is.

As we peak into the window of existence, it is all more and more amazing !!

Bill

Posted on: Thoughts on Returning Home 回乡偶书

First, as mentioned by Pete, Connie's reading of this poem was very touching, very musical and conveyed, I believe, the sensitivity of this poem.

changye's tone analysis are fascinating in contrast and point out that as language changes the reading of a poem such as this one is still beautiful. Every reader of a poem like every musician always adds something special from his or her life experience in their interpretation. Keeps the poems and the music alive!

With respect to poets, I'm trying to read the 寒山诗 (cold mountain poems). Difficult for me but very enjoyable. I just need someone like Connie to read them to me :-)

Bill