There's a line from Jay-Z's The Blueprint song "Takeover" I like:

A wise man once told me "Don't argue with fools. Because people from a distance can't tell who is who."

My brother was telling me a story about a couple of parents he saw in Vancouver carrying a stroller (with baby) down a flight of stairs. The parents accidentally dropped the stroller, that flipped forward, and landed in such a way that the baby's head made met the ground and caused a bloody mess.

"F***!" I exclaimed as I heard this.

And my cousin, who heard me curse, said "Don't swear!" And then I went on to tell her why I think it's okay to swear. And I share repeat parts of that lecture here.

So, some people say that those who curse lack vocabulary. I beg to differ. I think these words are (necessary) additions to one's vocabulary. Selective use of such "swear words" emphasizes the emotion and impact of the message given. What word can you think of matches the intensity of words like "F***!"? Do "shoot!", "oh darn!", "shucks!", "damn!", or "crap!"? Not in my opinion.

Of course, I wouldn't say that I have a particular attachment to the word "F***", nor do I condone excessive use of bad language. It's not like I agree with how some F'ing people will, like, F'ing swear whenever the F they want. Then it becomes a dulling filler word that lacks meaning. I'm just saying that there are times that call for this kind of energy, where other replacement words wouldn't do your emotions justice.

So, that's my justification of swearing. That's why I think it's perfectly fine to, from time to time, launch an F-missile.

Fast forward 53 years to a movie called Ong-Bak out of Thailand, starring Panom Yeerum (Tony Jaa). In many ways, it's got similar traits as Singing In The Rain.

- Lots of action based on the physical abilities of its stars
- No wires or stuntdoubles (well, may not necessarily be true with a Singing in the Rain, but at least they did their own dancing)
- A weak plot... but who cares?
- A low budget (

Ong-Bak is Panom Yeerum's personal showcase of his talents. In this film, Panom does some VERY impressive stunts, maybe not as creative as Jackie Chan, but possibly requiring more power. In some scenes, I think the choreography plays too much into a string of single stunts, although I won't deny that I would have said "holy crap!" four times in a row. I think it's worth watching this movie just to see some Thai guy do some amazing high-flying death-defying stunts, mixed in with some slick Muay Thai action. And the fact that this film has the low budget feel (although it's actually a pretty good looking picture) makes Ong-Bak, like Singing in the Rain, a refreshing show. Very non-Hollywood.

I watched Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain (1952) for the first time tonight. A completely ridiculously over-acted movie with unbelievable dialogue, cheesy humour, and some fantastic dance numbers. Movies back then seem to all share the same simpleness - making it an enjoyable and refreshing ~1h40min. I also like the fact the Special Effects team is two people. A much simpler time.

Spring's around the corner. The Taiwanese Climate Control Committee has turned up the heat and humidity dials. The weather, amongst other things, is keeping me in a good mood, despite being busy at work. It's nice to get off work and still have some a bit of the fading sunlight. It was even warm enough outside last night for me to wear a sleeveless, shorts, and slippers while steering my scooter with my right hand, and holding three bags of garbage with my left on my way to the garbage truck some blocks away from my home. I felt very "tai (台)", as they say, or Taiwanese.

It's great to have some warm weather after what has been called an usually cold winter for Taiwan. In no time, the heat with be high enough that the tissues I lay down to cover a toilet seat with will stick to my butt (from sweat) when I stand up. Now doesn't that paint a pretty picture...

We share something special, my brother and I do: we share the same sense of humour. So unique it is that when we're out together, regardless of who else is there, we act differently than at any other time - perhaps just to entertain each other. I could probably say that my best audience is my brother. He brings the dork out in me.

I think it starts from finding the same things, jokes and humour styles, funny. And from there, it can be as simple as rehashing an old joke or referencing even just part of a line. Even one word said in an accent is often enough for him to know exactly what I'm talking about. He could say one word of dialog, and I could immediately jump in and finish it. Or vice versa. It's very synergistic that way. So, it doesn't take much to get a laugh or chuckle when we're out. In a group of ten, I could make an inside joke, and as long as he gets it, it was worth making - because I know we're both laughing inside. And it's actually pretty unbelievable how far back these jokes go! Some of them go back to shows or movies we saw, or something someone said, 15 years ago. We also know exactly what will work, and what won't, with each other. Now, I'm not saying that we're the Smothers Brothers or anything, but "on s'asume bien". I probably wouldn't be wrong to say that when we're out with each other, we are at our most immature states. At least I am. I'm at my most comfortable when I'm around my brother (my sister as well, for that matter, although she doesn't get a lot of our jokes... we're still weird to her). It's probably because I'm not trying to impress them, and I've always been their younger brother - so I'm entitled to some dorky weirdness, and they don't bother judging (anymore).

I can think of so many references that we would both get that none of you would get (excluding Nel). Here are just a few...

"You like beef? Beef! -- and I'm gonna show you how it's done." (12+ yrs)
"That's quite hot. Make it hotter!" (12+ yrs)
"There's a baaaaaaaahhhmmm!!" (< 3 month)
"Tissue... Shoe?" (15+ yrs)
"Pigu pigu " (2-3 yrs)
"Pickles... more pickles..."
"Wiiillll..." "Phil!" (10+ yrs)
A couple pets behind the neck... (15+ yrs)
Adding "ies" to anything, like "drinkies" (~ 1 yr) -- anything Dane Cook
"1-2-Hump! 1-2-Hump!" (15+ yrs)

Perhaps that last blog wasn't the best one to post before going two weeks without a new post. The last couple weeks were rather busy. Work's been busy, but at least it was a "smooth" busy, as opposed to a frustrating, hair-pulling stressful busy. The next few weeks will probably be similar. Tuesday's a holiday. Mother-Child Day... or something like that. I was planning on taking Monday off, but now I'm not sure whether I can. In fact, I might need to work on Tuesday as well, just to make sure all this new work I have can be completed on time. Although, I might just take Monday off and work Tuesday. A good way to "create" a long weekend without taking vacation day. Progress today's been pretty good, so I have a good feeling that I'll have lots of time to get my work done. Monday off it is! And then the co-worker who wasgoing to give me a ride to Taipei seems to have taken off without telling me!! I'm gonna beat him with a stick next week.

Now I had planned on posting a blog here about how I've proudly been able to consume the "recommended" daily intake of two litres of water a day for the last 2 weeks. I was going to start by saying that I found the only way I could drink that amount of water was to have a 1500mL water bottle at my desk, because the key was in the delivery. The point, while not that interesting of one, was that if I drank from a cup or mug, I would never have been able to accomplish the goal. However, drinking out of a bottle makes the water taste better. So, I was going to write that and more, but before I did, I had to check online for what the actual recommended water intake was. And in doing a Google search on "recommended water", I came across this article on a science website. Hmm... well, doesn't that change everything? So, what you're saying is that the urinal trips every 30 mins AREN'T necessary? Well, don't I feel like a one-eyed chicken in a hailstorm.

I was thinking the other day, if there were a Shanghai Institute of Technology, would they call it "SHIT" for short? Turns out, there is one... but they side-stepped and called it "SIT". Well, that's no fun, is it...

Last night, a war was waged.

For the first few hours in bed, I couldn't sleep. My feet, which stuck out a little from the bottom of my comforter, were hot. I kept scratching them, one with the other. Then, as I turned over to my left side, a high-pitched BBBbbBBBBBBBzZZzzZzzZzzz neared my ear... HOLY FRICKIN' MOSQUITO!!!! I was pulled out of my bed, as if awaken by the blast of an air raid siren, and quickly turned on the light. (It's amazing how loudly the fluttering wings of such a small insect can amplify when its at the doorstep of your lughole.) I looked around the room and saw nothing. I looked down at my feet, and saw two bites on my right foot, and two on my left. Damn... so itchy.

A few minutes passed, and there was no sign of the bugger. So, I turned off the lights again, lay my head back down on the pillow. Almost immediately, BBBbbBbbBBbBzzzzzzZZzzZzz!!! Right then and there, I realize that there would be no sleeping tonight until either it or I was dead. Now, he may have had me covered from an elevated position, but I had a sure size and weight advantage, and I was pretty confident I could take him.

So, the lights went on again, and I began combing the room. Finally, I zeroed in on the six-legged vermin stuck upside-down to the ceiling, waiting for another descent. >> SWAP << Too late. The wet towel caught him off-guard. Guess those compound eyes aren't what they're cracked up to be. Chump.

To end my reign of terror, I also squashed a fruit fly I noticed a few ceiling boards over. I was pretty sure I heard him cheering for the mosquito. Punk got what was coming to him.

Do you ever feel like the level of English is declining in high-immigration areas such as Vancouver? I'm not "blaming" anyone, just stating an observation. As a demographic, the decendants of first-generation immigrants from non-English speaking backgrounds are worse off than those of parents who have spoken English all their lives. Furthermore, in Vancouver, where many groups of friends can be summarized racially (versus Toronto where there is more inter-racial mingling), people with sub-par English often collect in groups of sub-par English speakers, resulting in a reduced levels of English dialogs despite the conversations being solely in English.

The matter is simple. Languages are most easily learnt through those we have interactions with. Family and friends, mainly. As first generation Canadians, we typically first learn the language our parents speak, Mandarin in my case. And then our interaction with more outside-the-family people, whether in school or elsewhere, as we get older fuels the English-speaking abilities. In theory, that should be enough to make us all good English speakers. And yet, in my extended-group of predominantly Asian friends, there are plenty who continue to make simple grammatical mistakes in conversation without knowing.

What I find makes the biggest difference in "fluency" are the less common words and sayings. Sure, we're all "fluent" as it is. But we don't all know the words to all the things we see in our everyday lives. Virtually every object has a proper (correct) name, and yet so often, we describe them as "those things that you do ______ with", or "the piece that goes on the _______ and holds the ______". It's hard to come up with examples, because it's very hit and miss - some people will agree that they don't know what a particular word means, while others will consider it a commonly used word in their vocabulary. I'll randomly take the word "switchback", describing the zigzagging road that takes you up along the side of a steep hill/mountain. Not an uncommon word by any stretch, but I would question how many people I know would know to call it a switchback when they see one. The same can be said about sayings and proverbs which we don't hear at home or between friends. As such, I have a certain reliance on coworkers to feed me new English phrases. (Doesn't work so well now that I'm in Taiwan...)

Conversational English translates to written English. While not horrible, I'm far from a good writer, and only acceptable at best. But I look back at some emails written by my friend (Caucasian) who has been spending the last few years in England, and I read:

(An update of her trip to Scotland...)

"Oh, and Scotland is gorgeous! The best part - in our humble opinion - is the far North - above Inverness. Just stunning; God's country. The local schools have about 30 kids total. The nearest grocery store is generally about 1-2 hours away....along single track roads. Just amazing! The mountains are splendid and plentiful, the castles abounding, the greenery incessant, the water everywhere, the deer as frequent on the roadside as blueberries in Canada in the summer, and the people as kind and open as you'll find anywhere. One of the locals we spoke to actually revealed that he never locks his doors and his keys are always in the ignition of all of his vehicles and farm equipment. Apparently it's just the norm in the highlands."

... and it blows me away, because I know I could never put together a paragraph to read like that.

Anyway, I'm curious to know whether the overall level of English in, for example, Vancouver, is any lower than, say, Minnesota -- which I would guess has less of an influx of foreigns (no statistical research was done for this guess).

But maybe it's not a problem with first-generation English speakers. Maybe if you were to take a cross-section of any race, including those of English decent, you'd find the same issues existing. I would agree that there are a lots of very articulate English-speaking/writing Asians as well. I would include my brother in this group, with a knack for composing very readable articles and stories. Odd that we grew up in the same household. What went wrong? :\