A Difference

One of the funny anecdotes I have about interracial dating: after knowing Chae Young for less than a year, we decided officially to marry, only approximately 10 months after we first met. We'll be married in December, 13 months or so after our first date. In Canada this would be extraordinarily fast, and people might frown and wag their fingers. On the other hand, a Korean friend of mine wrote to me only two days ago, "So you and Chae Young are finally getting married!" When I read that, I laughed! Two other Korean friends of mine, who were single and unattached only half a year ago, are also getting married in two months! On the whole, I like the urgency with which people search here. Maybe it's a bit too quick for many, but on the other hand lower-income Canadian young people co-habit much faster, too, and with less seriousness of purpose. I'm happy.

Taiwan in Straights

Off topic, but a cause I care about.

I was reading the BBC today, and saw something rather disquieting. Google Maps has apparently listed Taiwan as a province of the People's Republic of China. You can read the BBC article here. Taiwan has requested Google to make the appropriate correction, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus has requested the public to contact Google with their concerns. I have done so already, and you may, too, at this link. The claims made by Google (a parent of my own Blogger, by the way), are obviously made in response to pressure by Beijing. Beijing has been very successful in revising history in an attempt to distort global opinion on the Taiwan issue. For example, Beijing sought to have the People's Republic of China listed as a founding member of the United Nations. The only problem with this is that it wasn't so, as China at that time was not governed by the Maoists. In fact, that government fled to Taiwan, which has quickly become a model and real people's democracy. On another note, there were rumors coming out of the Vatican some time ago that even the Pope was prepared to sacrifice recognition of Taiwan in order to curry favor with Beijing.

Beijing is obviously bent on conquering Taiwan. I use the word deliberately: Beijing is asserting sovereignty over a different country, a country whose citizens have never known anything but their own government. To those people, reality trumps "international recognition" in the everyday experience of each of their lives. I suggest that international opinion should take its cue from reality, and not from the indimitation and grandstanding of the party of Tiennamen square.

By the way, from now on, bloggers in Taiwan with reasonably normal content are encouraged to let me know about their blogs, and I will update my sidebar accordingly.

Revenge of the Brick: Lego Star Wars Movie Now Available Online!

I posted several months ago about Revenge of the Brick, a Lego Star Wars movie, and now am pleased to announce that you can see it online at Treehouse Animation or at Lego's site! It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but the ending was excellent!

There are two other clips available at the Treehouse Animation site. My personal favorite, as a classical music lover, a Star Wars music lover, and above all as a Darth Vader lover, shows Darth Vader as conductor of a Storm Trooper Orchestra!

You can also see the usual SW "behind the scenes" documentary--except that this time it's Mark Hamill (Treehouse misspelled his name) talking about the application of CGI to Lego. The documentary is available here.

Have fun, Lyle, Sewing, and all other lovers of Star Wars and Lego!