December 25, 2010

Season's Eatings

To our friends and family, many far away
a few pics for you of Christmas which we enjoyed today.

I could go on and on with this annoying word play
but, atypically, without further delay…





Peace. Out.

December 14, 2010

Channeling my Inner Morrison

Jim Morrison was posthumously pardoned last week by the Governor of Florida for his convictions on having exposed himself to the crowd and profanity at a Doors’ concert in Miami in March 1969.

Photo credit: some guy on Wikipedia

Why a gubernatorial pardon now? Beats me. I have read that Gov. Charlie Christ is a fellow Doors fan and since he is leaving office, it might be construed as a parting shot of 1960s happiness from a baby boomer leaving the national stage. Anyway, this is a funny societal turn given all the problems in the world.

What’s the connection to the Rising Daughters blog, you may ask? At my company’s Christmas/new year’s party I once again had the opportunity to get up on stage and belt out a few oldies with our division’s band, called the SKY-B Band. I enthusiastically -- if not all that successfully -- did a cover version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” and sang backup on a few other classics. But it was effectively a tribute to my inner Morrison, admittedly the cherubic version circa 1970.
Break on through!

The Lizard King in court, September 1970 (Photo credit: Miami Herald)

The office king on stage, December 2010. (Photo credit: my co-worker, HK-san)
Please note I planned on wearing the beard and hair before I heard about the official pardon. It was just very karmic timing, man.

Similarly, I think that if they allow Shoeless Joe Jackson into the Baseball Hall of Fame, I may hit a home run if there is a company softball tournament this year!

December 8, 2010

Red Antler Earmuffs Diplomacy

In my corner of the world, the shocking news on November 23 that North Korea had just launched an artillery barrage on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island made the prospect of a full-blown war on the Korean peninsula less remote than it had been before. It is a real and dangerous ratcheting-up of regional tensions that has global implications. But I have found a potential solution to this geopolitical crisis: spontaneous laughter induced by red antler earmuffs.


Last Friday I was driving down the hill near our apartment on my regular commute to the office. There is a special North Korean school near the top of this hill. So every morning I usually see a long line of students dutifully hiking up to school in their austere, dark uniforms. There was a slight difference this particular Friday. One young female student had put on very colorful red reindeer antler earmuffs which were very visible above the bobbing sea of heads. As I drove past, I glanced in her direction -- she recognized I was a westerner – and then she and I, and all of her immediate coterie of friends, spontaneously cracked up in a burst of laughter. Their faces lit up and I chuckled all the way to the office.

I reckon that if a pair of red earmuffs can bridge generations, language, culture and politics in a split second of sharing, there is no reason why a similar lighthearted government effort cannot keep the peace in northeast Asia. Force the diplomatic and military leaders to have a couple of glasses of soju together and let the laughs fly instead of missiles! I believe humor can trump politics, despite the lunatic and homicidal behavior by the North Korean government. I presume that even the leaders of despotic regimes have a reservoir of humanity, and that’s where the work should start…with a laugh.