Posts Tagged: China

Tidbits for Palm Sunday

Posted by & filed under photos + text from the road.

The Snow, it is falling and falling this weekend in Mammoth
Sun. 04.09.17 – The Snow, it is falling and falling this weekend in Mammoth – photo by Ms. Jen with her Lumia 950

Tidbits for a Sunday afternoon’s reading:

The Art and Design of End Papers

The beautiful choral music of Suor Leonora d’Este

Thinker, tailor, soldier, spy: The extraordinary women of Ghiyas-ud-din Khalji’s harem

Erica Wilson, The Julia Child of Needlework

Which led to the Queen’s Coronation Gown and her Maids of Honor, then and now:
1. http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/02/flashback-friday-queens-coronation-gown.html
2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2089887/The-Pippas-day-aristocratic-beauties-stole-the-Coronation-60-years-ago-Now-share-scenes-stories.html
3. http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-04-21/the-queens-coronation-day-maids-of-honour-where-are-they-now

A book review that is a good read in and of itself:The Souls of China by Ian Johnson – the resurgence of religion after Mao

“Johnson spends weeks with Taoist musicians, whose ritual performances bring the deceased “over to the other side”. He attends an unregistered Christian church in western China that challenges the party’s claim to be moral arbiter of society. He dines with celebrity Zen Buddhists, who dispense wisdom to real estate developers, the offspring of party aristocracy, executives and bank managers. He practises qigong – religious breathing exercises and meditation – with a master in an apartment block reserved for once-persecuted party elders rehabilitated after Mao’s death. With nicely understated irony, Johnson weaves the political rituals of the self-proclaimed atheistic CCP through this calendar: its conferences held in the Great Hall of the People, a communist temple saturated with legitimising ritual symbols; the intensely ritualistic departures and ascensions of communist leaders. “Like a Taoist priest,” he observes of Hu Jintao anointing a successor at the 18th party congress in November 2012, “Hu emulated an immortal … dyeing his hair jet-black to make himself look ageless, and surrounding himself with propaganda banners conferring immortality on the Communist party.””

Note to Self: Go on one of these UK walks
It’s blooming spring! 22 great UK walks

After spending so much time in Arizona the past two years, this article on living in Arizona is spot on.
Mike Powell : Why I live Where I liveZonies: Part 7
with a link to Walter Percy’s Why I Live Where I Live

Unusually strong April storm headed for Northern California this week : This storm was fun. I spent it up at Mammoth. My Instagram documents: 1, 2, 3, 4

A Local Problem became a National Problem: Hope in a Changing Climate

Posted by & filed under ideas + opinions, nature + environment.

“It is the people who have made the changes.” – John D. Liu
“I am amazed that in as short of 5-6 years you can get water this clean.” – Ethopian professor Lagessa on how vegetation traps moisture and brings clean water
“Restoration is critical for Africa, particularly for Ethopia. … This is regional, national, and international.” – Prof. Legasse
On the Hope in a Changing Climate documentary (via metafilter.com):

The film “Hope in a Changing Climate” is created by John D. Liu, the director of Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP). The EEMP is dedicated to continuous research and collaborative learning in environmental, sustainable development and public health subjects; and to producing, gathering and distributing high quality audio-visual materials to support public awareness of these crucial issues.
This documentary demonstrates that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations and to sequester carbon naturally. This approach has been dramatically proven on the Loess Plateau in China, the highland area spanning some 640,000 square km in north central China. It is the birthplace of the Han Chinese, headwaters of The Yellow River and home to a new environmental and economic paradigm: A degraded ecosystem of more than 35,000 square km of land now teems with life and supports the sustainable economic, social and agricultural activities of its people.

Today is World Water Day.

Wee Willy Hanen

Posted by & filed under news + events.

Christmas Eve 2004 - Grandpa Bill and Cam

Photo of Bill and Cam Hanen taken by Ms. Jen on Dec. 24, 2004, with her Nokia 7610.

Today as I got out of my sister’s car at LAX to go to Lauren & Dave’s wedding, my Dad texted me that my Grandpa Bill had passed away around noon. My Dad’s text said he would call later.
I checked my baggage in, went down to the gate, looked out the window and cried a bit. Instead of doing the Carl Zeiss mobile application write up that I was planning on writing on the plane, I instead spent my time looking for photos of my Grandpa Hanen on my computer and researching the pilots who flew the Hump during WWII so that I can do a nice blog post on Grandpa Bill.
I will be doing a full post on Grandpa Bill and his WWII pilot experiences when I get a few photos from my Dad and a bit more information on which division he was in (I think it was Div 10 in Assam, India). In his later years, his years in India flying C-46 cargo planes were remembered as the best and most challenging years of his life.
My Grandpa Bill met and married my Grandma in the few months before departing for India in 1942, my Dad was conceived, off Grandpa went to fly the resupply China mission for the duration of the war, and Grandma lived in Iowa with her family.
My favorite photo from this era was my Grandpa, at the barracks in India, in his flight uniform holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and the telegram announcing my Dad’s birth. He looked so happy.
Photo and full story coming soon.
Rest In Peace, Captain William J. Hanen: April 17, 1918 – November 12, 2009