To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
27 Haziran 2012 Çarşamba
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011
Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is born
And he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
25 Haziran 2012 Pazartesi
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
24 Haziran 2012 Pazar
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
23 Haziran 2012 Cumartesi
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
21 Haziran 2012 Perşembe
This Folder is Shared with Other People [ cannot move error]
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown .. Xiamen University
This blog entry is not related to Xiamen...but then it again, it is, since we all use computers, and someone out there may be able to help! (By the way, when I came to Xiamen University in 1988, we had no computers in the MBA Center's office, and the Foreign Affair's first computer was one that I put together with parts that I brought in from Hong Kong. How times have changed!).
Here's the problem. With Microsoft Vista, quite often it gives me an error message when I try to moved a folder. A box pops up with the warning "This folder is shared with other people. If you move this folder, it will no longer be shared." It then gives me the option to continue or cancel. If I cancel, it freezes, and if I try to then cancel, I cannot. But a few minutes later (sometime 15 minutes later), I get a message
"Buffer overrun detected! Program:...PowerCinema for TOSHIBA\KERNEL|CLML\CLMLSvc.exe A buffer overrun has been detected which has corrupted the program's internal state. The program cannot safely continue execution and must now be terminated."
One, my folders are NOT shared with anyone else, and I've even closed the Power Cinema Program, which appears to be a Power Problem. But nothing helps. I've even completely disabled the Cyberlink PowerCinema and rebooted; no use. Does anyone have any idea what to do--other than to chuck the computer and send a letter to Osama Bin Laden asking him to pay a visit to Microsoft? Thanks.
Enjoy Amoy-- anyway!
Dr. Bill
www.amoymagic.com
This blog entry is not related to Xiamen...but then it again, it is, since we all use computers, and someone out there may be able to help! (By the way, when I came to Xiamen University in 1988, we had no computers in the MBA Center's office, and the Foreign Affair's first computer was one that I put together with parts that I brought in from Hong Kong. How times have changed!).
Here's the problem. With Microsoft Vista, quite often it gives me an error message when I try to moved a folder. A box pops up with the warning "This folder is shared with other people. If you move this folder, it will no longer be shared." It then gives me the option to continue or cancel. If I cancel, it freezes, and if I try to then cancel, I cannot. But a few minutes later (sometime 15 minutes later), I get a message
"Buffer overrun detected! Program:...PowerCinema for TOSHIBA\KERNEL|CLML\CLMLSvc.exe A buffer overrun has been detected which has corrupted the program's internal state. The program cannot safely continue execution and must now be terminated."
One, my folders are NOT shared with anyone else, and I've even closed the Power Cinema Program, which appears to be a Power Problem. But nothing helps. I've even completely disabled the Cyberlink PowerCinema and rebooted; no use. Does anyone have any idea what to do--other than to chuck the computer and send a letter to Osama Bin Laden asking him to pay a visit to Microsoft? Thanks.
Enjoy Amoy-- anyway!
Dr. Bill
www.amoymagic.com
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
20 Haziran 2012 Çarşamba
Proof: U.S. Government is Taoist!
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
At long last I have discovered the secret behind how the U.S. government works: both Democrats and Republicans alike are Taoists. Need proof? Just consider the following passage from Lao Tse's "Tao Dejing" (Taoist Scripture). Though written five centuries before Christ, the following passage sounds just like a manual for modern government:
"The ancients who showed their skill in practicing the Tao did so, not to enlighten the people, but rather to make them simple and ignorant.
The difficulty in governing the people arises from their having much knowledge. He who (tries to) govern a state by his wisdom is a scourge to it; while he who does not (try to) do so is a blessing." 65 é�“å¾·ç»�:å�¤ä¹‹å–„为é�“者，é�žä»¥æ˜Žæ°‘，将以愚之。民之难治，以其智多。故以智治国，国之贼；ä¸�以智治国，国之ç¦�。
If people ruled by leaders without wisdom are blessed, we are very fortunate in this day and age! But seriously, Old Lao Tzu did have some shrewd insights on good government. Consider verse 57:
"In the kingdom the more prohibitions, the poorer the people become...the more laws, the more thieves and robbers there are." 57é�“å¾·ç»�:天下多忌讳，而民弥贫...法令滋彰，盗贼多有。
No wonder Mark Twain said we had so many cons in Congress.
Not that I'm complaining--at least much. For all America's faults, at least we are allowed to complain about them--a freedom that in itself covers a multitude of sins. If dissent is allowed, change is possible--at least in theory.
Lao Tse's Three Treasures Lao Tse, by the way, had some priorities that it might do for our modern rulers to adopt. He said his three treasures were gentleness, frugality, and not putting himself first. He explained, "Gentleness lets me be bold, frugality enables me to be liberal, not putting myself above others allows me to take the place of highest honor. " He then said, "Now-a-days [2500 years ago!], they give up gentleness for boldness, frugality for liberality, and the hindmost place to be foremost--all ending in death."
Maybe Lao Tse knew what he was talking about after all!
In closing, here is Lao Tse on Over-Government:
"The people starve because overtaxed by officials. This causes famine. The people are hard to govern because they are governed too much. This makes them ungovernable." 75 é�“å¾·ç»�:民之饥，以其上食税之多，是以饥。民之难治，以其上之有为，是以难治
Well, I hear the bells of nearby Nanputuo Temple ringing; Congress must be back in session. Ommmmmmm.
Reference: Lao Tse's 3 Treasures: é�“å¾·ç»�: 我有三å®�，æŒ�而ä¿�之。一曰慈，二曰ä¿，三曰ä¸�敢为天下先。慈故能勇；ä¿æ•…能广；ä¸�敢为天下先，故能æˆ�器长。今èˆ�慈且勇；èˆ�ä¿ä¸”广；èˆ�å�Žä¸”å…ˆ；æ»çŸ£！
www.amoymagic.com
At long last I have discovered the secret behind how the U.S. government works: both Democrats and Republicans alike are Taoists. Need proof? Just consider the following passage from Lao Tse's "Tao Dejing" (Taoist Scripture). Though written five centuries before Christ, the following passage sounds just like a manual for modern government:
"The ancients who showed their skill in practicing the Tao did so, not to enlighten the people, but rather to make them simple and ignorant.
The difficulty in governing the people arises from their having much knowledge. He who (tries to) govern a state by his wisdom is a scourge to it; while he who does not (try to) do so is a blessing." 65 é�“å¾·ç»�:å�¤ä¹‹å–„为é�“者，é�žä»¥æ˜Žæ°‘，将以愚之。民之难治，以其智多。故以智治国，国之贼；ä¸�以智治国，国之ç¦�。
If people ruled by leaders without wisdom are blessed, we are very fortunate in this day and age! But seriously, Old Lao Tzu did have some shrewd insights on good government. Consider verse 57:
"In the kingdom the more prohibitions, the poorer the people become...the more laws, the more thieves and robbers there are." 57é�“å¾·ç»�:天下多忌讳，而民弥贫...法令滋彰，盗贼多有。
No wonder Mark Twain said we had so many cons in Congress.
Not that I'm complaining--at least much. For all America's faults, at least we are allowed to complain about them--a freedom that in itself covers a multitude of sins. If dissent is allowed, change is possible--at least in theory.
Lao Tse's Three Treasures Lao Tse, by the way, had some priorities that it might do for our modern rulers to adopt. He said his three treasures were gentleness, frugality, and not putting himself first. He explained, "Gentleness lets me be bold, frugality enables me to be liberal, not putting myself above others allows me to take the place of highest honor. " He then said, "Now-a-days [2500 years ago!], they give up gentleness for boldness, frugality for liberality, and the hindmost place to be foremost--all ending in death."
Maybe Lao Tse knew what he was talking about after all!
In closing, here is Lao Tse on Over-Government:
"The people starve because overtaxed by officials. This causes famine. The people are hard to govern because they are governed too much. This makes them ungovernable." 75 é�“å¾·ç»�:民之饥，以其上食税之多，是以饥。民之难治，以其上之有为，是以难治
Well, I hear the bells of nearby Nanputuo Temple ringing; Congress must be back in session. Ommmmmmm.
Reference: Lao Tse's 3 Treasures: é�“å¾·ç»�: 我有三å®�，æŒ�而ä¿�之。一曰慈，二曰ä¿，三曰ä¸�敢为天下先。慈故能勇；ä¿æ•…能广；ä¸�敢为天下先，故能æˆ�器长。今èˆ�慈且勇；èˆ�ä¿ä¸”广；èˆ�å�Žä¸”å…ˆ；æ»çŸ£！
www.amoymagic.com
Lin Yutang on the Futility of Force
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
In 1943, in his book "Between Tears and Laughter," Lin Yutang angered friends and foes alike by candidly laying bare the true motives behind the wars and the political machinations going on around the planet. And by the simple expediency of analyzing what the "Powers" had been doing, Lin was able to predict exactly what those same Powers would be doing half a century later.
Though Christ said, "Blessed are the peacemakers," I am skeptical of the motives of some who cry peace, peace (Herr Hitler cried peace even as he sharpened his swords]. But like Lin Yutang, I also do not feel it is unpatriotic or unChristian to question the motives of those resorting to war for the cause of peace.
The following excerpt from Lin Yutang's Between Tears and Laughter is, I think, even more poignant today, over 60 years after it was written. Download the entire book at Internet Archives, and as you read it, note the parallels with much of what we see today. In particular--note how Lin predicted we would rebuild Japan, and why.
Lin Yutang on the Futility of Force
Who will make plain to the world the law of the spirit, and demonstrate that Force generates Coercion, Coercion generates Fear, and Fear generates Hatred, as definitely and as accurately as one billiard ball sends another rolling? Who will write a philosophy and psychology of Force and its reactions and determine their characteristics ? Who will be the consummate fatalist to tell the world in plain, convincing, forceful terms that actions generate emotions and emotions in turn generate actions, that the fruit of Force is Fear and Hatred, that thoroughgoing Force generates Fear and Hatred and unthoroughgoing Force generates Hatred without Fear? Who will say, even as in a classroom in physics, that the greater the Force, the greater the Hatred, and that the greatest Force is the most hated of all? And who will say, as clearly as the prophets of the sky say that a thunderclap presages a storm, that Force is inevitably followed by Hatred, and Hatred is followed by Revenge? For Hatred divides, and the structure of power must sooner or later fall.
In ignorance of such simple and self-evident moral laws, Pericles alternately threatened by force and cajoled by oratory the other Greek states. And after his death, Cleon the leather merchant, Eucrates the rope-seller, and Hyperbolus the lampmaker babbled. They were all good democrats and Cleon was a good general It was left only for the insolent public idol, Alcibiades, to complete the suicide of Greece.
But such laws, being the laws of God, are manifest to the mind of the simple man, requiring no proof. Therefore, he who would be strong within must guard against the use of power, for only then is he safe from corruption within and hatred without. And only he who is free from corruption within and hatred without can be strong eternally. Laotse says, "For love is victorious in attack and invulnerable in defense. Heaven arms with love those it would not see destroyed." Therefore he says:Of all things, soldiers are instruments of evil, Hated by men. Therefore the religious man avoids them. Soldiers are weapons of evil; They are not the weapons of the gentleman. When the use of soldiers cannot be helped, The best policy is calm restraint. Even in victory, there is no beauty, And who calls it beautiful Is one who delights in slaughter. He who delights in slaughter Will not succeed in his ambition to rule the world. The slaying of multitudes should be mourned with sorrow. A victory should be celebrated with the Funeral Rite. Those who love America and England and wish them to be strong forever must read Laotse again and again, for they will gain thereby the secret of immortal strength, exempt from corruption within and invulnerable from attack without. Let America be great, even as the great river of life: The Great Tao flows everywhere, (Like a flood) it may go left or right The myriad things derive their life from it, And it does not deny them. When its work is accomplished, It does not take possession. It clothes and feeds the myriad things, Yet does not claim them as its own... Because to the end it does not claim greatness, Its greatness is achieved. How did the great rivers and seas become the Lords of the Ravines ? By being good at keeping low. That was how they became the Lords of the Ravines. Therefore in order to be the chief among the people, One must speak like their inferiors. In order to be foremost among the people, One must walk behind them. Thus it is that the sage stays above, And the people do not feel his weight; Walks in front, And the people do not wish him harm. Then the people of the world are glad to uphold him forever. Because he does not contend, No one in the world can contend against him. I am not worried lest America may not be able to assert a leadership of force and power; I am worried lest she may. I am concerned to see America assume a moral leadership, a leadership of humility, so that the world may pay her glad homage and uphold her forever. Like the great river that nourishes life along its valley, she shall by the exuberance and richness of her life be a blessing upon the peoples of the earth. She shall stay above, and the world shall not feel her weight; she shall walk in front and no one will wish her harm. For she shall then lead in kindness and unselfishness and justice and by that secret of unused power bring a new era of brotherhood to mankind. No one can dethrone her because of her power for goodness, and no one can take away from her, because she does not take possession, She shall not contend, and no one in the world can contend against her, and because she takes no credit, the credit can never be taken away from her. This is my Dream America. Will it come true? Man has done it before. Abraham Lincoln did it. George Washington did it. In a world of evil chaos, great men have stood up and with the strength of their goodness and their simplicity and the innocence of youth proclaimed that the good in men can outweigh the evil, and they have acted upon that assumption.
Note: Lin did note, interestingly, that there were occasions where war was unavoidable:
"Civil wars are necessary in a nation until an equilibrium is restored. Revolts against empires are necessary until the invader is driven out. The only stable equilibrium in the world is the equilibrium of equality. Only when such equilibrium is reached can we have peace. Small countries have the right to fight, perhaps to settle an old boundary dispute. Big countries have no right to fight, ever, because when they fight they involve the whole world.
Lin Yutang on "Big Neighbors":
...Of all the fifty or sixty nations in the world, only three or four big powers are upsetting the peace of the world. These powers have run over this earth, kicking down people's fences in bad temper and worse manners, robbing them of their liberty and independence, and taking possession of their goods and have then
fought wars among themselves for these goods. First they fought among themselves, and then they called upon the entire world to fight for them to keep what they have. This makes little sense, and it makes still less sense to say that we can have peace only by giving greater power to the big powers and disarming the small powers, on the plea that the small powers may combine to attack them!
Big Powers, at least behave as if you were not scared! But now we suddenly hear about policing the world, as if the Greenlanders and Samoans and Formosans and Burmese were threatening the world peace, while the big powers don their uniforms, strutting about to club the small powers on their heads with a baton if they do not behave. It would seem that we could well police the big powers for a while and leave the poor Samoans and Balinese and Eskimos alone. But, no, we cannot disarm the big powers, because the big powers will not be disarmed, after having so heroically fought and triumphed in this war. Very well, then, let's have wars eternally. The first thing we know the police will start shooting among themselves and scare us poor humble neighbors out of our wits.www.amoymagic.com
In 1943, in his book "Between Tears and Laughter," Lin Yutang angered friends and foes alike by candidly laying bare the true motives behind the wars and the political machinations going on around the planet. And by the simple expediency of analyzing what the "Powers" had been doing, Lin was able to predict exactly what those same Powers would be doing half a century later.
Though Christ said, "Blessed are the peacemakers," I am skeptical of the motives of some who cry peace, peace (Herr Hitler cried peace even as he sharpened his swords]. But like Lin Yutang, I also do not feel it is unpatriotic or unChristian to question the motives of those resorting to war for the cause of peace.
The following excerpt from Lin Yutang's Between Tears and Laughter is, I think, even more poignant today, over 60 years after it was written. Download the entire book at Internet Archives, and as you read it, note the parallels with much of what we see today. In particular--note how Lin predicted we would rebuild Japan, and why.
Lin Yutang on the Futility of Force
Who will make plain to the world the law of the spirit, and demonstrate that Force generates Coercion, Coercion generates Fear, and Fear generates Hatred, as definitely and as accurately as one billiard ball sends another rolling? Who will write a philosophy and psychology of Force and its reactions and determine their characteristics ? Who will be the consummate fatalist to tell the world in plain, convincing, forceful terms that actions generate emotions and emotions in turn generate actions, that the fruit of Force is Fear and Hatred, that thoroughgoing Force generates Fear and Hatred and unthoroughgoing Force generates Hatred without Fear? Who will say, even as in a classroom in physics, that the greater the Force, the greater the Hatred, and that the greatest Force is the most hated of all? And who will say, as clearly as the prophets of the sky say that a thunderclap presages a storm, that Force is inevitably followed by Hatred, and Hatred is followed by Revenge? For Hatred divides, and the structure of power must sooner or later fall.
In ignorance of such simple and self-evident moral laws, Pericles alternately threatened by force and cajoled by oratory the other Greek states. And after his death, Cleon the leather merchant, Eucrates the rope-seller, and Hyperbolus the lampmaker babbled. They were all good democrats and Cleon was a good general It was left only for the insolent public idol, Alcibiades, to complete the suicide of Greece.
But such laws, being the laws of God, are manifest to the mind of the simple man, requiring no proof. Therefore, he who would be strong within must guard against the use of power, for only then is he safe from corruption within and hatred without. And only he who is free from corruption within and hatred without can be strong eternally. Laotse says, "For love is victorious in attack and invulnerable in defense. Heaven arms with love those it would not see destroyed." Therefore he says:Of all things, soldiers are instruments of evil, Hated by men. Therefore the religious man avoids them. Soldiers are weapons of evil; They are not the weapons of the gentleman. When the use of soldiers cannot be helped, The best policy is calm restraint. Even in victory, there is no beauty, And who calls it beautiful Is one who delights in slaughter. He who delights in slaughter Will not succeed in his ambition to rule the world. The slaying of multitudes should be mourned with sorrow. A victory should be celebrated with the Funeral Rite. Those who love America and England and wish them to be strong forever must read Laotse again and again, for they will gain thereby the secret of immortal strength, exempt from corruption within and invulnerable from attack without. Let America be great, even as the great river of life: The Great Tao flows everywhere, (Like a flood) it may go left or right The myriad things derive their life from it, And it does not deny them. When its work is accomplished, It does not take possession. It clothes and feeds the myriad things, Yet does not claim them as its own... Because to the end it does not claim greatness, Its greatness is achieved. How did the great rivers and seas become the Lords of the Ravines ? By being good at keeping low. That was how they became the Lords of the Ravines. Therefore in order to be the chief among the people, One must speak like their inferiors. In order to be foremost among the people, One must walk behind them. Thus it is that the sage stays above, And the people do not feel his weight; Walks in front, And the people do not wish him harm. Then the people of the world are glad to uphold him forever. Because he does not contend, No one in the world can contend against him. I am not worried lest America may not be able to assert a leadership of force and power; I am worried lest she may. I am concerned to see America assume a moral leadership, a leadership of humility, so that the world may pay her glad homage and uphold her forever. Like the great river that nourishes life along its valley, she shall by the exuberance and richness of her life be a blessing upon the peoples of the earth. She shall stay above, and the world shall not feel her weight; she shall walk in front and no one will wish her harm. For she shall then lead in kindness and unselfishness and justice and by that secret of unused power bring a new era of brotherhood to mankind. No one can dethrone her because of her power for goodness, and no one can take away from her, because she does not take possession, She shall not contend, and no one in the world can contend against her, and because she takes no credit, the credit can never be taken away from her. This is my Dream America. Will it come true? Man has done it before. Abraham Lincoln did it. George Washington did it. In a world of evil chaos, great men have stood up and with the strength of their goodness and their simplicity and the innocence of youth proclaimed that the good in men can outweigh the evil, and they have acted upon that assumption.
Note: Lin did note, interestingly, that there were occasions where war was unavoidable:
"Civil wars are necessary in a nation until an equilibrium is restored. Revolts against empires are necessary until the invader is driven out. The only stable equilibrium in the world is the equilibrium of equality. Only when such equilibrium is reached can we have peace. Small countries have the right to fight, perhaps to settle an old boundary dispute. Big countries have no right to fight, ever, because when they fight they involve the whole world.
Lin Yutang on "Big Neighbors":
...Of all the fifty or sixty nations in the world, only three or four big powers are upsetting the peace of the world. These powers have run over this earth, kicking down people's fences in bad temper and worse manners, robbing them of their liberty and independence, and taking possession of their goods and have then
fought wars among themselves for these goods. First they fought among themselves, and then they called upon the entire world to fight for them to keep what they have. This makes little sense, and it makes still less sense to say that we can have peace only by giving greater power to the big powers and disarming the small powers, on the plea that the small powers may combine to attack them!
Big Powers, at least behave as if you were not scared! But now we suddenly hear about policing the world, as if the Greenlanders and Samoans and Formosans and Burmese were threatening the world peace, while the big powers don their uniforms, strutting about to club the small powers on their heads with a baton if they do not behave. It would seem that we could well police the big powers for a while and leave the poor Samoans and Balinese and Eskimos alone. But, no, we cannot disarm the big powers, because the big powers will not be disarmed, after having so heroically fought and triumphed in this war. Very well, then, let's have wars eternally. The first thing we know the police will start shooting among themselves and scare us poor humble neighbors out of our wits.www.amoymagic.com
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
19 Haziran 2012 Salı
Chinese vs. American Culture
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
I've been asked to lecture at a Chinese high school in Xiamen about the differences between Chinese and American culture, so below, and in a few following blogs, will be some rough drafts of my thoughts so far.
Any suggestions or additions? Please add them in the comments! I have a week to pull this together...
Differences between Chinese & American Culture
The longer I live in China, the more I realize that the difference between Chinese culture and American culture is—everything! From use of color to how we cook, from body language to body space, we are not just separate cultures but different planets. But fortunately, most of this is on the social level. Individually, we are very similar indeed, with the same needs, hopes, and fears as any other peoples on the planet. So I believe that the day will come when East does meet West—though it may not be in my lifetime.
There are so many issues in which we differ, so for this talk I will focus on just a few that many of us would assume are universal, such as views on body space and privacy, importance of family and patriotism, value of education and view of teachers, use of time and history, use of color, cooking and dining, and a little about Chinese and American humor. Of course, I may not be the right one to write this. My wife Susan Marie says I have no culture whatsoever. She’s probably right—but at least I have class. In fact, I have 12 hours of class a week in the MBA Program. Personally, I never expected to have so many classes in a classless society.
Part 1. Chinese & American Cooking & Dining
“With English cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the water and eat the chicken. With Chinese cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the carcass and drink the soup.” Anonymous
“One should eat to live, not live to eat.” Moliere
“Moliere never ate Chinese food.”
Bill Brown
I once joked that Adam and Eve could not have been Chinese because if they’d been Chinese, Eve would have tossed the apple and eaten the snake. But an Overseas Chinese friend said, “Not true! If she’d been Chinese, she’d have sold the apple, and then eaten the snake.”
Chinese seem to live for food, and spend much of their day preparing or eating dishes that are a feast for both palate and eyes—and things I never could have imagined people would eat. I eventually learned that Chinese eat anything edible, and if it isn’t edible, they call it medicine and ingest it anyway.
In N.W. Fujian they boast about noodles made from the flour of a very poisonous tuber. “Takes 18 steps to make it safe,” my host told me. I asked him how many people died on steps 1 to 17.
And birds nests! Just who thought of crawling up the side of a cliff into a cave to steal bird’s nest made of solidified swallow spit—and then cooking it? And in China I think I’ve eaten every part of a chicken, cow or pig except the meat itself. Chinese will fuss over a tiny morsel of meat that’s smaller than some of the bits I fish out of my mouth with a toothpick after the meal. If they do give you meat, it’s chopped up small—and chock full of sharp little bones. Personally, I think it’s all a front, carried out on a national level, and after foreign guests leave the room, the Chinese bring out the steaks and chops (and probably knives and forks as well).
The hardest thing to get used to is how long Chinese take to eat. At one of our first three-hour 20-course meals in China, my oldest son, who was only five, said, “This is certainly not fast food—it’s slow food.” For Chinese, meals are a social event. For Americans, meals are a pitstop for refueling. Quite often, we just swallow our meal whole and then chew it later.
www.amoymagic.com
I've been asked to lecture at a Chinese high school in Xiamen about the differences between Chinese and American culture, so below, and in a few following blogs, will be some rough drafts of my thoughts so far.
Any suggestions or additions? Please add them in the comments! I have a week to pull this together...
Differences between Chinese & American Culture
The longer I live in China, the more I realize that the difference between Chinese culture and American culture is—everything! From use of color to how we cook, from body language to body space, we are not just separate cultures but different planets. But fortunately, most of this is on the social level. Individually, we are very similar indeed, with the same needs, hopes, and fears as any other peoples on the planet. So I believe that the day will come when East does meet West—though it may not be in my lifetime.
There are so many issues in which we differ, so for this talk I will focus on just a few that many of us would assume are universal, such as views on body space and privacy, importance of family and patriotism, value of education and view of teachers, use of time and history, use of color, cooking and dining, and a little about Chinese and American humor. Of course, I may not be the right one to write this. My wife Susan Marie says I have no culture whatsoever. She’s probably right—but at least I have class. In fact, I have 12 hours of class a week in the MBA Program. Personally, I never expected to have so many classes in a classless society.Part 1. Chinese & American Cooking & Dining
“With English cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the water and eat the chicken. With Chinese cooking you boil the chicken, throw away the carcass and drink the soup.” Anonymous
“One should eat to live, not live to eat.” Moliere
“Moliere never ate Chinese food.”
Bill Brown
I once joked that Adam and Eve could not have been Chinese because if they’d been Chinese, Eve would have tossed the apple and eaten the snake. But an Overseas Chinese friend said, “Not true! If she’d been Chinese, she’d have sold the apple, and then eaten the snake.”
Chinese seem to live for food, and spend much of their day preparing or eating dishes that are a feast for both palate and eyes—and things I never could have imagined people would eat. I eventually learned that Chinese eat anything edible, and if it isn’t edible, they call it medicine and ingest it anyway.
In N.W. Fujian they boast about noodles made from the flour of a very poisonous tuber. “Takes 18 steps to make it safe,” my host told me. I asked him how many people died on steps 1 to 17.
And birds nests! Just who thought of crawling up the side of a cliff into a cave to steal bird’s nest made of solidified swallow spit—and then cooking it? And in China I think I’ve eaten every part of a chicken, cow or pig except the meat itself. Chinese will fuss over a tiny morsel of meat that’s smaller than some of the bits I fish out of my mouth with a toothpick after the meal. If they do give you meat, it’s chopped up small—and chock full of sharp little bones. Personally, I think it’s all a front, carried out on a national level, and after foreign guests leave the room, the Chinese bring out the steaks and chops (and probably knives and forks as well).
The hardest thing to get used to is how long Chinese take to eat. At one of our first three-hour 20-course meals in China, my oldest son, who was only five, said, “This is certainly not fast food—it’s slow food.” For Chinese, meals are a social event. For Americans, meals are a pitstop for refueling. Quite often, we just swallow our meal whole and then chew it later.
www.amoymagic.com
Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
For years I've been getting invitations for "Who's Who in -- Fill in the Blanks," and countless Chinese versions of such "honors," but today I received this one from "Princeton." Pretty impressive--except as far as I can tell it really has nothing to do with Princeton. It is just a scam to get you to spend $100 nonrefundable to be included. But some Chinese colleagues are so excited about these frauds and think they're the ticket to fame and fortune abroad.
As Groucho Marx said in his oft-repeated quip, "I would not join any organization that would take me as a member."
Below is the entire letter, but for the record--I think none of these are worth the money they charge you, even if they're legitimate. In High School I paid for the "Who's Who" volume with me in it, and the "Outstanding American High School Students", and a couple others. My parents were very excited about them and did not want to miss the chance to get them. But what prospective employer or school really cares? These "directories" go by information you send them, and as far as I know do not verify anything. If I were a university or a prospective employer, I'd go by a resume that I could verify rather than a commercial "honors" directory.
Don't waste your money!
Dear Bill,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you are being considered for inclusion into the 2009-2010 Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition section of the registry.
The 2009-2010 edition of the registry will include biographies of the world's most accomplished individuals. Recognition of this kind is an honor shared by thousands of executives and professionals throughout the world each year. Inclusion is considered by many as the single highest mark of achievement.
You may access our application form using the following link:
http://www.formdesk.com/pgn6/
Upon final confirmation, you will be listed among other accomplished individuals in the Princeton Premier Registry.
For accuracy and publication deadlines, please complete your application form and return it to us within five business days.
There is no cost to be included in the registry.
If you've already received this email from us, there is no need to respond again.
This email serves as our final invitation to potential members who have not yet responded.
On behalf of the Executive Publisher, we wish you continued success.
Sincerely,
Jason Harris
Managing Director
Princeton Premier
Princeton Premier
23-35A Steinway St - Astoria, NY 11105 - USA
www.amoymagic.com
For years I've been getting invitations for "Who's Who in -- Fill in the Blanks," and countless Chinese versions of such "honors," but today I received this one from "Princeton." Pretty impressive--except as far as I can tell it really has nothing to do with Princeton. It is just a scam to get you to spend $100 nonrefundable to be included. But some Chinese colleagues are so excited about these frauds and think they're the ticket to fame and fortune abroad.
As Groucho Marx said in his oft-repeated quip, "I would not join any organization that would take me as a member."
Below is the entire letter, but for the record--I think none of these are worth the money they charge you, even if they're legitimate. In High School I paid for the "Who's Who" volume with me in it, and the "Outstanding American High School Students", and a couple others. My parents were very excited about them and did not want to miss the chance to get them. But what prospective employer or school really cares? These "directories" go by information you send them, and as far as I know do not verify anything. If I were a university or a prospective employer, I'd go by a resume that I could verify rather than a commercial "honors" directory.
Don't waste your money!
Dear Bill,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you are being considered for inclusion into the 2009-2010 Princeton Premier Business Leaders and Professionals Honors Edition section of the registry.
The 2009-2010 edition of the registry will include biographies of the world's most accomplished individuals. Recognition of this kind is an honor shared by thousands of executives and professionals throughout the world each year. Inclusion is considered by many as the single highest mark of achievement.
You may access our application form using the following link:
http://www.formdesk.com/pgn6/
Upon final confirmation, you will be listed among other accomplished individuals in the Princeton Premier Registry.
For accuracy and publication deadlines, please complete your application form and return it to us within five business days.
There is no cost to be included in the registry.
If you've already received this email from us, there is no need to respond again.
This email serves as our final invitation to potential members who have not yet responded.
On behalf of the Executive Publisher, we wish you continued success.
Sincerely,
Jason Harris
Managing Director
Princeton Premier
Princeton Premier
23-35A Steinway St - Astoria, NY 11105 - USA
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www.amoymagic.com
The Mother of Mother's Day
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
Happy Mother's Day from Amoy!
I wrote this article for Common Talk in 2006.
When Anna May Jarvis's mother died on the second Sunday of May 1906, Anna May wished she had heeded the warning to, “Lavish your flowers on the living, not the dead.” Driven by remorse, the gentle, easy going Anna May became obsessed with the desire to see her mother and motherhood honored throughout the world.
After a year’s planning, the first Mother's Day was celebrated on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, May 10, 1908, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught Sunday School. A year later, Philadelphia became the first city to proclaim an official Mother’s Day. Three years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Public Resolution 25, establishing the second Sunday of each May as Mother's Day. And then, to everyone’s surprise, Anna May retired and spent the remaining 34 years of her life, and her fortune of over 100,000 dollars, fighting against Mother’s Day!
The problem was that from day one, Mother’s Day had become a great commercial extravaganza to boost the incomes of card and candy makers, and a salve to soothe the consciences of those who each May made mother a “queen for the day” but neglected her the other 364 days.
Anna May complained, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. A maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world. You ought to go home and see your mother on Mother’s Day. You ought to take her out and paint the town red...You ought to give her something useful, something permanent...Is she sleeping warm at night? Could she use an eiderdown? Maybe the stairs in her home need fixing...”
For 30 years, Anna May fought for the integrity of Mother’s Day. She finally died in a sanitarium — old, tired, deaf, blind, penniless, and having never married nor been a mother herself!
Sixty years later, mothers may be more neglected than ever. Statistics show one half of Americans, which of course includes one half of our mothers, live in poverty. Where are the children? More than ever, mothers deserve more than cards and candy one day a year and anonymity the other 364.
My appreciation of motherhood only began as I watched my wife, Susan Marie, in both sickness and health, unselfishly spend herself on her two sons (and her husband as well!). I also slowly came to better appreciate my own mother, and though she’s 12,000 miles away, I am now careful to not only send her the obligatory Mother’s Day card and flowers but also to regularly write and phone her.
Fortunately, most Common Talk readers are not 12,000 miles away from home! So as Mother's Day catches on in China, let us seek to make Mother’s Day not a card-and-candy substitute for well-deserved love but the crown and pinnacle of a full year’s expression of love and appreciation for the one who gave us life: our mother.
www.amoymagic.com
World's Largest Organ Museum
To contact us Click HERE
Bill Brown
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).
The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
Hu Youyi, the Gulangyu-born piano collector who now resides in Australia and founded Gulangyu's Piano Museum (the largest in Asia, and the only one in China), has also built the world's largest organ museum on Gulangyu (no, it is not a museum for the world's largest organ, but the largest museum for organs; I just know someone would grab hold of that).The museum has more than 100 organs, including over 30 varieties of reed organs, accordions, pianicas and three large-scale pipe organs.
It is in the Bagua Lou (Eight Diagram Building--the prominent domed building that resembles a consulate).
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com
For Unto Us a Charlie's Born
To contact us Click HERE
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...
(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."
And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
Early this morning I got word that Johanna and Chaz Bulbuk, grandson of John Bulbuk and Chuck & Donna Saunders, (whom I knew while I was in the Air Force in Taiwan, and who introduced Sue and I in Pasadena), finally had baby Charlie. About time! We thought he was coming ten days ago. Below is a poem to celebrate...(Click pics of Charlie for larger images!)
For Unto us a Charlie's Born September 2, 2011Upon this brightand cheery morn,an angel on aHarley,Said, "To usall a child is bornAnd he shall becalled Charlie."And how thischild has come to be,Is a tale thatmust be told,So here's thestory straight from me,If I may be sobold.
Old Eden had itsendless fruits,Israelis hadtheir manna,David had hisbread and wine,And Chaz? He hasJohanna!
And from thatmarriage made above,And the union oftheir hearts,We see the fruitof faith and love,As today aJourney starts.
We waited longfor the little guy,And Johanna grewyet rounder.The doctorchecked, and heaved a sigh,"He'sprobably a 20 pounder!"
But at long last,the doctor sawa small head fullof hair.That child lookedround in awe and said,"I've beenlong enough in there."
8 pounds and 7ounces,The kid was bornhalf grown,And like a lionpounces,Charlie struckout on his own.
20 inches full oflife,And hungry fromthe get-go.He headedstraight for mom's sweet breast,And still hehasn't let go.
Now some may saythat we've evolved,That life ischance or luck,But we know thatour life's a gift,Especially when aBulbuk!
So here's toCharlie, parents too,And for you threeI pray,That every dayour Lord renewThat love we seetoday.
With love &
thanksgiving, Uncle Bill
Bill BrownXiamen Universitywww.amoymagic.com
Click Here to learn more about Chuck and Donna Saunders of the Asia Evangelical Mission
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