I'm in a hurry and trying to rush out the door and off to a seminar! Wretched grad school...and it's cold and rainy too. Blah. But here's the latest on my brain from Taiwan. INTERESTING!First off, catch up on what's doing with Chen vowing to work on

Anyone remember Winnie the Pooh's game of Pooh-Sticks? It's made it out of the children's books and onto the international sports arena, as, get this, this story tells you:Czechs Win Pooh-sticks Team TitleI had no idea! Did you? (Be honest, now.) But

Shocking! (Not the missile strike per se, but the fact that someone at an Ivy League campus actually wrote to praise it. The jaw drops, the mind boggles!)But there it was in today's Dartmouth Online: "Right Move By Israel," by an junior und

Mostly for the cinematically-minded Sibling, but here goes...And by the way, the Hakka are one of the various people groups in Taiwan. My dad's Hakka (my mom isn't), and he can speak Hakka as well as Taiwanese, English, Mandarin Chinese...The guy's a

I'm taking a break from the Taiwan election soap opera! At least for this morning. The "I Love Taiwan" blog has good election aftermath coverage, though!And I'm looking across the Taiwan Strait to China. Got this from the Chinese paper,  

I have to hand it to my mom. She called this as soon she heard about the shooting in Tainan last week. On the phone, she declared that American experts would have to go help out. And Reuters reports that yup, American forensics experts have joined th

It's Monday!  But at least it's sunny and bright and actually spring-ish, though you still need a jacket this early in the day (wind chill at 31o F).Time for a cup of coffee and a long-delayed glance at the Ivy League. Things have been pretty boring

Just got back inside from an absolutely exhilirating round of planet-hunting! Go to Space.Com for the latest news and really helpful guides for catching the big astronomical show right now...You can see 5 planets with the naked eye! There were a few

I'm just back from church and a gorgeous lunch with a good friend at a brand-new Chinese buffet. And I also saw the spring's first daffodils. So! On a warm Sunday afternoon, it's time to throw open the windows for the first time this season, and to

My Sibling's favorite Hong Kong action star has weighed in on the election aftermath in Taiwan, and called it "the biggest joke in the world."  Gee, thanks, Jackie.At a news conference in Shanghai, Chan said, "Taiwan's recent electi

The Sibling has just cooked up a whole webpage dedicated to his experience as an extra in the movie "Where the Heart Is." He's calling the thing his "Claim to Fame." Check it out -- loads of screenshots and funny commentary. All y

You gotta go check out the PHOTO of 6-month-old Lilly, a black-and-white German kitty with an unsual...er, problem. The story's been ALL OVER the news -- papers, morning news shows, you name it!

Go make your own jokes from this. It is way too easy.Here's the BBC story: French Lawyer 'To Defend Saddam.'A French lawyer who made his reputation defending some of the world's most notorious figures says he will take on Saddam Hussein as his latest

I knew that a mass protest had been scheduled for today, March 27, so I'll try to keep up with the news. It's a rainy day at grad school, so what's there to do but procrastinate on my dissertation and start blogging? But I wasn't expecting MSNBC to

Check this out.The little nation of Bhutan has spearheaded an effort to define a country's well-being not by the usual Gross National Product (GNP), but by a new index called...Gross National Happiness (GNH). No, I'm making this up!There's even a web

Well, it was TGIF...sort of. I had to go to a Nerdmoot at grad school, and nearly died of boredom.What's a Nerdmoot, you ask? Remember the Entmoot in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"? Merry and Pippin had to stand by while a bunch of Ent

By now it should be decently clear what my not-so-subtle opinions are! Anyway, here's the deal:Taiwan's Central Election Commission has formally declared Chen the winner of the disputed presidential election. Pan-blue protesters responded by attempti

I've been so absorbed in the Taiwanese mess lately that I haven't really been following everything on the homefront. But the snippets I did get convince me that not that much has changed -- unless things have changed for the crazier at the Kerry camp

Oh, bother.Lien and his pan-blue alliance have been screaming about wanting a new election. Then the Taiwan High Court told them that it wasn't gonna happen.So, like the law-abiding citizens they are, Lien and company have decided to CHANGE THE LAW.

I was just thinking...Taiwan's been in the news a lot, and well, I can't say that it's really the Taiwan I know and love. Media frenzy is never impartial or dispassionate! And while I know whom I'm backing for president of Taiwan (and the good old  

And you're right, there hasn't been much bloggin' going on lately from the Ivy League. And here's why...Up to my eyeballs in dissertation stuff deadlines, woooo-HOOOOOOOOOOOO!Lots of nerd meetings with my Nerd Overlord (aka dissertation advisor)Pilla

Fresh off the Asian presses! A quick wrap-up -- mostly for the Sibling, but really for anyone who's interested in the Taiwanese election. (For all that I said my blog would keep an eye on the Ivy League for y'all's amusement, lately it's all been abo

Hey, everyone, check out this crazy story from Hahvahd.The back story is that a few weeks ago, there was a pro-animal rights protest at Hahvahd where the protesters went practically naked. Their slogan was "I'd rather go naked than wear fur.&quo

Good morning, gentle reader! I'm about to head off to school for a big fat nerdy meeting with the Nerd Overlord, but I did sto to check the Taiwanese news first. The results weren't too encouraging.Chen's political opponents (called the "pan-blu

I started up this blog in an attempt to keep up with my long-suffering friends, who are surely tired of reading about my endless rounds of nerd boredom. But fear not! This last weekend wasn't nerdy at all! It was the last gasp of Spring Break, and th