Jesus Christ Man!

I've been thinking about religion... and what it is that I am... again.
But mostly, I've been thinking about Jesus. (Because it's the Christmas season?) I don't care too much about historical accuracy and all that. Stories are stories and there are a lot of them. Mostly I was thinking, a lot of people focus on praying to Jesus because he died for our sins... on the cross.

Ahh, I know why I was thinking about that. There was this thing on 60 minutes last night about executions and the death penalty... and of course all this terrorism. Let's pause for a minute and think about how the Romans (who we worship in their law and their architecture and stories) would probably have made ISIS look like pussy cats when it came to executions, and would probably have made the Taliban look like feminist activists when it came to how women were treated. Am I exaggerating? Perhaps.. but I think you get the point.

So okay Romans kill Jesus in a tortuous and slow way (or fail to do so depending on the story) and it's for us... even though we weren't born yet. And some anti- Semitic stories focus on the fact that he was sold out by his own people. But even if you were to focus on that point, you should really look at his people as just people in general. A lot of leaders are sold out by their own across the world.


Here's the thing I don't hear a lot. Jesus signed up for that. I'm not saying I would want to die on a cross. But a lot of Saints after him did, and died more horribly, and according to texts, seem to have rather enjoyed it. If Jesus was just a man, he could have gotten out of that. I mean he knew that starting parades in Jerusalem (an extremely Roman city) was going to get him in trouble, and he knew that the price was Crucifixion. That was the thing back then. It wasn't like "you're going to what?" It was like, do some political thing near Roman authority bam, crucifixion. People passing by probably didn't even notice him. He could have killed himself in prison or had someone else do it. He could have just hung out in the desert and the woods. He chose to do that. So I why should I as a Christian feel bad about it or rejoice or whatever.


If he was a God, (yeah I know the whole mystery thing I'll get into that later. But let's just talk like normal non Abrahamic people who aren't tied down  by, "Thou shalt not draw pictures or make statues of anything.") If he was superhuman, he signed up for this too. Either that or he didn't want to do this whole Earth thing and his Dad signed him up because he thought it would be a good character builder.

"Cruxifixion?" says Daddy God, "Man when I was your age....."

Okay Mystery. Priests ponder feverishly about how the father and the son can be separate and yet the same person... it's only a mystery because these guys didn't have kids, or if they did, left the child rearing to the women. I look at Jonah. He's me but he isn't. Mystery solved.


One God mystery.


Ever hear the song "Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham?" If Abraham is just a dude that died and went to Sheol (they didn't have heaven back then. I suspect it is a Greco-Roman concept) then why is he rocking souls in his bosom. Why, when someone dies are they "with God now." Maybe, even in the Canonized you have to believe only one way system there is still  the flavor of Monism. I.e. Abraham is part of God, just like everyone that's died, maybe everyone alive, maybe it's all just God or God is a Spirit, an imagined persona of the Universe of everything. It's all One. But when we talk to it we seem separate from it, but that's an illusion or at least just one of many perceptions. I.e. we're all like Jesus.

I was watching Geronimo and before this one guy gets hung for treason his says n Lakota "I'm not afraid of their priest, the One God will welcome me." I had forgotten about that Great Spirit concept. Now I'm sure if I actually studied the Plains Indians belief system I would run into trouble too. But I like the fact that first of, it is an American Religion, and a lot of it has already blended with Christianity, and it fits the 99 gwai 1 idea that Hing Yee was trying to tell me about. 99 tries to become One. People often say, "Oh you just have a superficial understanding" of whatever. Like it's a bad thing. But I've found that a lot of religions, on the surface, are great, but when analyzing them, you get into all this trouble. I say analyzing and studying is for science.

Religion and beliefs is for fun and festivities. So I do the Catholic Thing, well the baptism thing anyway, but really I'm leaning toward the Great Spirit 99 gwai 1 thing. With some meditation and Buddhist trappings, and the fun festivities of Christmas and pagan stories while maintaining atheistic and scientific skepticism. And I see no contradictions. But I do have a problem with focusing on Jesus's death though. People today are dying because of our collective sins and that is the truth even if you are an Atheist. We should talk about it and try to do something.... but it's still not going to be my focus.

Into the Badlands

So Daniel Wu was the Executive Producer. Apparently they interviewed all these other people and finally they were like, Dude why don't you star in this.... basically this is the opposite of what happened to Bruce Lee when he was piching his show Kung Fu. Oddly enough, Kung Fu had more Asian actors. But this show has an Asian star.

I'm seriously ONLY watching this show because I'm a Daniel Wu fan. I actually feel like it's way too violent and frankly the martial arts cinematography might be new to most Americans and Grace... but it's like I'm rewatching old sequences I've seen countless times before... except that this time it's with American faces and extremely graphic violence... and starring Daniel Wu.

What is keeping me coming back is also the plot. Yeah it's stupid.. but now I'm hooked and have to find out what happens next. "It's loosely based on Journey to the West" What? I haven't seen that yet. Now I sort of have to watch even more. To me it's got that Slavery times feel (rewritten in a way that  almost omits racism... it's just oppression in general) and that Game of thrones feel... not that I watched that show much. I was about to watch it but then they killed Sean Bean. Legends and Into the Badlands... two shows that I am forced to watch because of their stars.

I hope this is Daniel Wu's breakthrough to Hollywood or at least American shows though.

No leftovers

You know I am so thankful that we did not cook a Turkey this year and do not have to keep looking at it and stuffing ourselves with stale food. If you think about it, it is amazing we still do this. In the old days it makes sense. We didn't have the technology to freeze meat and or didn't preserve it in jerkey or salted or cured form for whatever reason, the way the Native Americans and Chinese and everyone with sense did. So, we had to slaughter everything before the winter months and stuff ourselves because pretty soon, we just wouldn't be eating.

But we don't have to do that anymore because not only do we have large freezers (I mean by we I mean someone does) but we have currency... paper money, or even digital money that can buy fresh food later.

After our Thanksgiving feast we went out to eat several times and ate fresh, new food. Something new. Something different. Dim Sum, Victoria Seafood, and today take out from Chinatown Cafe. It feels great not be be burdened by leftovers. (Especially since I am usually the one to feel the need to finish them.)

I am pretty Thankful for the great surplus of pretty much everything that I have. I don't need to stuff myself (more than I already do) in order to prove it. I mean I already live a pretty gluttinous life already.

Thanksgiving festivities

When Gong Gong arraived he made his signature dishes. In fact, once Shao got really mad when Gong Gong came and did not make his signature fish. Dai dai is really into these Taiwanese eggs and beef.

And that was the pre-Thanksgiving meal. This year we were supposed to have Turkey Legs. But Amah forgot to buy them. Oh my god what are we going to do? Buy a chicken instead? No. We already had chicken legs in the freezer. Just make that.

Because why do we have to kill ourselves over a meal? What's with the gulttony? In any case, we had white food, which is sort of different, and Gong Gong is here. I was so glad afterward when I knew that we didn't have massive amounts of leftovers. (Actually we still have a ton of food to eat anyway because Gong Gong brought all those eggs and beef etc.) There's no shortage of food in this house. No need to have more surplus on top of the surplus we already have.

So we've been watching a lot of Godfather and also Into the Badlands. (It's no Main in the High Castle that's for sure.) But it is Game of Thrones meets Gone with The Wind meets Hong Kong Cinema. In fact it stars Daniel Wu. Probably the only reason I am even watching this show at all, is because it is starring Daniel Wu. Daniel Wu, although a Hong Kong Movie star, was born in Canada. So actually unlike the other Hong Kong stars that have crossed over to do American TV and movies (Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Chow Yun Faht, and I guess we can talk about Gong Li even though she is mainland, she was in a few Hong Kong movies too.) Now those guys learned English and spoke well. But Daniel Wu's English is actually better than his Chinese. He had to learn Cantonese to be in movies. By the way this show is violent as hell and not for kids at all. 

Well, today it's off to MIT for some museum event. Eating and watching TV. That's what makes it feel like a holiday.

Be My Friend, Adapted from The Godfather

If you haven't seen this clip from the godfather, here is a clip. We adapted it to be for kids. I guess that in itself is kind of hilarious or messed up, depending on your perspective. We shortened it a lot, and so some of the dialogue doesn't even really make sense. But you don't want it to be too long. I mean the kids have to memorize everything and just don't have the attention span. But you can see how a line like "Be my friend." said by a kid, in a kid's way, in the atmosphere of the original scene is pretty funny right?



Well let me just write out Grace's adaptaion.



Bonasera(played by Shao) : They took my candy and laughed at me. I told my teachers. I come to you for Justice.



Godfather (that would be me.) : Why did you go to your teachers? Why didn't you come to me first?



Bonasera: What do you want?



Godfather: What is that? (Shao whispers in ear... it became Dai Dai whispering in ear. Whatever we messed up.) That I cannot do.



Bonasera: I didn't want to get into trouble. (Dai Dai gives him a drink.)



Godfather: You didn't need a friend like me before.



Bonasera: How much candy do you want?



Godfather: What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? Had you come to me in friendship, they would be suffering this very day. And if you should make enemies, they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you.



Bonasera: Be my friend? (then after bowing and the Don Shrugs)



Godfather: (after Bonasera kisses his hand) Good.



Bonsaera: Thank you, Godfather.













 Dai Dai was sort of Sonny, and sometimes he was the cat... but he kept meowing too loudly. Maybe we should show that clip too. Any suggestions for what scenes we should do next?

Home Movies.

So our family has started making little short movies instead of our unscripted Kung Fu tutorials. Grace writes and directs it and we are in it. Dai Dai wasn't even in this one, but he's not ready yet. These little plays are actually pretty good educational tools when you think about it. I mean, first of all, the kids have to READ lines. Then they have to memorize them and learn that you can't just say stuff the way you read them. Interestingly, the lines that were written For Shao, like they are stuff he would usually say, do require acting skills. I thought they wouldn't because Shao says stuff like this all the time. It wasn't until I heard him just reading them that I realized the whole concept was actually pretty hard.





As for myself, I totally broke character at the end. You could say... who cares? it's just a silly clip. But I remember watching Painted Faces and the actor playing Jackie Chan said that his Sifu told him to never break character until the director yelled "Cut!" Of course nowadays we are just using a camera.. and people can even use their phones.... but still. If you are going to do something you might as well try your best. The next movie we did was from the Godfather. I'll put it in another post.

Watching the Man in the High Castle

This weekend I watched the entire season of the man in the high castle. Grace wasn't into it, but I just couldn't stop watching. At first I almost got bored because I was like, "Yeah okay life sucks.... sort of." because well things are different but I mean there is still a lot of bad stuff happening in our reality. But then there was this weird thing with the films that show alternate realities and that's what kept me watching.

This series is awesome because even though it is a dystopia it is a fantasy where at least we're one hundred percent the good guys. It will totally help you not think about the geopolitics of today, so in that way it is very much a fantasy. I mean no ISIS here. Just Nazis. And the Japanese Imperial Empire.
I was thinking too that probably there would be hardly any people of color in this series. I mean they would have an excuse not to look for a diverse cast. After all in this dystopia, Nazis rule the world. But actually this is one of the most diverse shows I've seen. Isn't that weird? And... how so? Well, There are Jews and African Americans on the West Coast (which is controlled by Japan. Because there's is a military state and all that... but the whole racial purity thing doesn't matter as much to them) Plus there is this lawless neutral zone and there you have all kinds of people.

So this thing takes place in the 60's (again if the Nazis and Japanese Empire won) but it's weird because even though they set up camps in the U.S. again, in the U.S. there was a lot of lynchings at that time, and they reference that... so you get the sense that, yeah it's a dystopia, but so was the reality for a lot of people.

The weirdest thing is that they are trying to keep Hitler alive in this one, to keep the peace. And the "bad" guys, well you really get into their character and empathize with them. Plus one Japanese character is always using the I Ching and meditating... and in the ending there is this really powerful spiritual reality event. It really held my attention, hence why I finished the whole first season.

It's pretty thoughtful. Grace said it was boring. But I'm going to go ahead and try to read the book.

Dragon n the bus

In this video I scolded Shao a little bit for his camera work, but watching it, I guess I was wrong because his camera work was fine. I should stop micro managing. In fact Shao told me so in the last video that I can't say anything about how he holds the camera because after all he is the one that is the camera man. It seems like Shao is better at holding the camera than being in front of it actually because he tends to get very nervous and silly and this works out much better in terms of a father son experience of making videos, even though he is cute and more photogenic than I am. I am told that my videos have a lot of potential. I know that right now they are rough, but I guess I consider these rougher cuts to be practice. After all the first time I did stuff in front of the camera I felt silly and nervous and I feel like I am getting better at it. Hopefully, by the time I am ready to start doing serious editing, I will also be better at being in front of the camera.

Peters Cheung Family Punch

In this video Shao holds the camera and I talk about the first move in the Wheels on the Kung Fu bus. I guess when I finish talking about all the moves I can show the whole song. There is the wheels, and then the 10 animals. The simplified version is one technique or two for each animal. But the more drawn out version you would just group all the different fighting concepts by animals. My idea was you could then group all these techniques together by animals a list, which you could memorize or write down, instead of by forms, which take a longer time to learn. So basically I created a system for kids, which should be able to stand alone  as a system in it's own right. I mean, I cover all ten animals, and you could technically get away with just knowing the first concept of wheels.



Like my video, share my post. I have another blog, The Boston Chinatown Blog, and through that I do a lot of work in Chinatown. Through this blog I'm starting to get involved with all kinds of stuff. And basically I'm working to change stuff for the better one little spot at a time, sometimes through Kung Fu, and sometimes through other stuff which I then look at through the lens of Kung Fu. The idea is the same as throwing punches in the air. I might not make a differences right a way. I mean you could say, "Why the hell are you doing that, you aren't doing anything." But in another way, you cannot become a Master without throwing punches in the air.



So by sweeping the street, or helping friends, you can say you are doing very little. But all of those little things add up.

Are you Chinese?

Mommy asked Dai Dai, "Are you Chinese?"
Dai dai responded "Well Baba told me that Chinese people don't like blue and purple." These are funeral colors. Hence why in recent years when Hong Kong puts out Moon Cakes in a Navy blue tin box, you will be sure to hear about it from an old Taishanese man. "And well i like blue and purple so i'm not Chinese."

"What about Shao?" asked Mommy.

"Well Baba said that Chinese people  like red and things that are red and Shao likes red. So Shao is Chinese."

Mommy started cracking up.


Actually recently I realized I am really not that Chinese. I mean, even though i may follow some of the traditions, it's for fun. Even if I do believe in some of the superstitions, the way in which I believe it is such an American perspective.

For instance I was talking to a man who was a bit older than me, maybe in his 40's And he explained to me the Chinese Mentality. That for Americans, for Hundred's  of years, the Law has controlled people. But for Chinese, for thousands of years, people have controlled people. And this affects the world view of the people in the society.

He was saying that although Europeans have often said that Chinese have no religion, it's not true. They just have a different one. For instance bowing to you ancestors is so important, that many Chinese feel that they cannot completely cut ties with China, even though they would like to, because ancestors are buried there. But they often look forward to the future generations when their descendants no longer feel tied down like that, almost as if they will be more free. Free to speak out, etc.

I think at home point, living at the Kung Fu school, being around Sifu all the time, I actually started to absorb this thinking, But since my parents were cthe closest ancestors to me and they were buried here, it became a non-issue.

I mean you will hear some Chinese talk about how it must be so sad that my children don't know my parents. Like not having a strong living tie with those that came before you is the worst thing ever.

For me it's like, it's nice to have ties to the past, but I can survive without it.

I remember following Shao to the bathroom and I happened to be carrying his lion head, which has not been opened. So in a way, it is just a toy. It hasn't gone through the ritual of bringing it to life.

 Would I have brought it into the bathroom? No because I didn't want to get it physically dirty.
But my friend said, "This... don't bring into the bathroom." And he put it up on a stair post. In fact I didn't have to enter the bathroom myself at all because Noah just did his business himself.

But I got the sense that he would not want the head in the bathroom, because it could become spiritually dirty. It is the whole idea of Ling Hei. When you do something dirty.. a sexual act or other stuff, you are supposed to wash your hands and even your hair before entering into the Kung Fu School. That protects the Ling Hei of the school.

Do I believe in that?

I do in a way. But even if I do it's not a major factor in my decision making. It occupies 10% out of other factors instead of say, 90%. But at one point it probably occupied 99% of my decision making process. I.E. since having kids my worldview has changed dramatically.

This means that worldviews can change. People that are in ISIS now, can suddenly change their minds. People who are racist can change their minds. So if we are in a battle of hearts and minds what does that mean?

Tell me your experiences in the comments below. I like to hear feedback from the world.

Dudley Square.

 I went to meet up with Baoyan Rosello-Cornier, (I call him Adrian) at Dudley Square. I wanted to learn more about Community Organizing (because I applied for a position in Chinatown) and he works at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative as a Community Organizer.

I arrived early so I decided to look around a little bit.

I had been through Dudley before, but never bothered taking in the environment. Just like Chinatown it is "the hood" but quickly becoming gentrified. In any case there have been a lot of changes over the years. 

It definitely has an old historic feel.

I used to walk past stuff like this at Ruggles station all the time and never think anything of it. I mean my mom would stop and look or I might buy some food from a vendor. But I never realized that not every neighborhood has stuff like this and that therefore it is something really special and gives a neighborhood character. 

And of course Chinese food is everywhere in all types of forms. Does this mean I can post this to the Chinatown Blog? Just kidding.

This building is a Citizen's bank. But the sign says it was some other bank that was opened in 1805. That's pretty historical. 

I thought this sign was humorous. One way you can tell this neighborhood is different, I wouldn't say that this aspect makes it more "hood." because it's not like it's bad... but there was a guy with his own taxi service soliciting people off the street. I actually had only ever heard of this. I guess someone tried to pick me and my mom up once in the South End when we were waiting for the school bus, had a license and everything, but yeah you don't see that in every neighborhood. In China (and I'm sure other countries) it is simply how things are done everywhere. There are a ton of Moped "taxis."  Another thing was someone was soliciting the use of his phone. So that means a lot of people around here don't have cell phones. People usually laugh at me because I don't use a smart phone. 

We went over to Dudley Dough. Which I thought was just a regular Cafe. But it's actually this really cool thing, check out their website and check out this Boston.com article.  Adrian paid for my soup (Thanks Adrian!) and he had the same soup with Sriracha sauce. This brand has a Tiger, which I've never seen before. You usually see the Huy Fong Sriracha sauce with the Rooster. Apparently this one was good too. 

Adrian got some kind of salad with Bok Choy in it. I've never had or thought of having Bok Choy in a salad before. In fact I have a drawer full of Bok Choy right not. Maybe I should go ahead and eat it raw.

Anyway, I asked Adrian what exactly it is a community organizer is and I really should have taken notes. Adrian is a veteran at this. He has organized Unions in New York, and done Community organizing in Boston for years. He explained how Unions are more top down and that the Community Organizing is more grass roots, and that it is really an awesome job because you can really get stuff done in the Community. The job I was applying for was at the Chinese Progressive Association, and I shared a little bit about how even though I had always been involved in the community through Lion Dance and Kung Fu, I had stayed away from actually joining up with some of the groups because, well, of the Politics. 

For instance. I went to Kwong Kow Chinese School. Kwong Kow was funded by the KMT from Taiwan. Why? Because if you go far back enough. the 1911 revolution, wher the KMT overthrew the Qing Dynasty, was funded by overseas Chinese. I.E. Chinese from Japan the United States, and yeah people in Boston's Chinatown. If an activist group even appeared to be slightly leaning toward the left, the KMT would pull funding. That's only one reason why Chinatown is pretty political.

But Adrian talked about all the cool stuff he had been working on, from farms right in the city, to public artwork. Everything. Again I should have taken notes. But alot of the issues were the same. DSNI started because of illegal dumping. That's something that AACA clean up Chinatown Comittee is dealing with right now. 

By the end, I realized I could learn a lot about how to help Chinatown, by working in other communities. In fact, we talked a little about Community Gardens and whether that would work in Chinatown. Today, as I taught my Kung Fu class at little panda, I noticed that the new park had sprinklers in it that were mostly watering concrete. Not only that, but they were soaking the  little yard where we were doing our Kung Fu class. It was freezing today! Why have the water sprinklers going? One of the teachers commented in Cantonese, "Wow is this water really without cost? They've been spraying non-stop for three days!"

A short term solution is just to shut them off. By why is the design so bad? They just built these These are brand new. It's nice that there is a park.. a new park (there was one there before.) But if the grassy spaces were used for community gardening, that would be better. Better for the City, because it would save money, Better for the Community, because those vegetables could be sold to restaurants so now you can have organic Chinese food, which the gentrifi-ers will go crazy for, and better for the environment. Because you won't be wasting water like that.

Well we'll see if I can ask some people and maybe put together something with the groups already in place. That will probably be more complicated than just sweeping the street.

Share you ideas and thoughts in the comments and share this post so that we can get some of these ideas out there. 

Truth is I always wanted to have like a Kung Fu Garden. Where a community garden doubled as some sort of Kung Fu school. So far all I've done is write stories about those ideas in my books. But now maybe I can make them into reality. 

What would Uncle Francis think?

My wife asked me what my Uncle Francis (who recently passed away) would have thought about the whole situation. Uncle Francis's first wife was French. He also served in Vietnam and was awarded the purple heart. A grenade blew up his war buddy and part of his ankle as well.

I don't know what he would have thought. Too bad I can't ask.

But I can think back to some of the conversations  I had with him. Some people might call him a racist. But it was the type of racism that was like this. We're on different teams, and for the most part the jerseys we're wearing are skin color. But if you're family, obviously we're on the same team no matter the skin color, but that's different. He didn't believe people were less than. He just saw them as being on the other side.... unless there was some sort of exception where they were on the same side.


A lot of this think this way, we just don't admit it. That's why when we see the terrorists had a Syrian pass port, we suddenly want to paint in broad strokes.

Would Uncle Francis be calling for Boots on the ground?

I don't know.

He wasn't anti-war I don't think. But having fought a war, he wasn't in a rush to fight another one I don't thin either. He talked about doing Yoga and fasting and being very about Peace when he came back from Vietnam. But then he said he got to far away from the mainstream and had to come back.

A lot of Americans always talked about not wanting "another Vietnam" when talking about the Middle East. The Iraq war. And now the conflict we are already involved in.

There was this fear, back then, that Communists would attack America, or cause some sort of uprising. But I don't feel like that fear was as real as the fear of a terrorist attack. After all all you need is a couple of misguided youth and some home made weapons to create a serious tragedy. Happened already. And it seems like stuff just gets worse.

But what does that mean?

You can't fight fire with fire.

Well actually you can and we do, but is it effective?

You know when France did the "retaliatory" air strikes.... that wasn't something that was new. We were going to carry out those. But we let France do it early sort of just to make them feel better. But actually we haven't even gotten more violent because of the violence in Paris. We (as in the West.) Just did what we were already going to do.


You know I would like to hear some guidance from Uncle Francis right now. From someone who actually fought a war, who didn't mice words, but who probably would not want to just enter into war lightly. I'm not saying we would agree, but I would like to hear what he had to say.

Well, what do Veteran's think about this? I'm sure there are differing opinions. I would like to here in the comments below.

And please share the conversation by sharing my post.

Vermeer Exhibit at the MFA

Before you think I am some sort of art expert, the reason why I even know who Vermeer is, is because I read "Girl with a Pearl Earring."  The reason why I knew about the book was because, even though I didn't see the movie, I watched Scarlett Johansson doing an interview on Charlie Rose in college, and of course, like everyone else in the whole entire world, had a celebrity crush on her.

So you could say that the reason why I had to see this exhibit is because of attraction to a hot woman. And in the end, that is why most men do things. BTW did you know Bank of America paid for one of the wings? Also I guess if you are a Bank of America or Meryll Lynch card holder you get to go to all these museums free across the country. Someone had asked me, "I thought the Museum is  always free?"  I was like, "What the hell are you talking about?" But I guess that's why. It's free for cardholders of that bank.

So if you are one of these people with a "Bank Card" whatever that is. Okay I guess a lot of people do have Bank of America cards.. just not me. I'm sort of a weird outlier when it comes to the modern world. But if you have one, check out this exhibit because it really is something special. I mean technically you have already paid for it because of whatever you have to pay Bank of America. And then they take a small portion of that money and sponsor museums. So go get your money back and look at this Dutch Painting exhibit. And guess what a big theme is? Class. Economics. Exchange. After all this time period is around the Tulip crisis right? 

But don't worry about all that. Just look at the paintings. They are special.

So special that actually, photography is not allowed inside the exhibit.

The theme is class distinctions. But in the beginning I didn't read the captions I just wandered. Portrait of rich guys, boring boring, stuff really got interesting when the lower classes were painted, fish sellers, bakers, prostitutes. There was on painting of a barber who was also doing treatment on someone's foot. Because at that time that was common, much like it is common in Chinatown for a Kung Fu and Lion Dance master, to do Teet Da medicine on someone's foot. The patient was paying with a dead rooster. Stepping into this exhibit, you actually stepped into Dutch life in the 1600's. Looking at the paintings, one of the inside of a Church where other people are looking at a grave sculpture the way I was looking at this painting, I began to understand the meaning of the expression "breathtaking", because I literally took a breath looking at it. No photograph could do these paintings (the ones in the back) justice. And the ones in the front were good too. But I had to circle back around to see those, but ultimately, their your typical portrait painting, except more skillfully done. I began to think of how awesome Europe was at this time, especially this small country that was starting to open up to Science and Trade. One of Vermeer's painting was of an astronomer. There were paintings of stuff being built. This exhibit is like what I envisioned my Chinatown blog to be, and all without photographs! Imagine how powerful these images were back then, when images were not everywhere. 

In an age of youtube videos being so common, this paintings from 400 years ago actually resonated even more with the modern Facebook type of world. In one glance so much is said. Granted the image took so long to create. But look how long it lasted too! And the physical feeling of walking through it, instead of scrolling your news feed, is kind of novel. 

This exhibit made me want to take of painting again. Not because I could be like Vermeer, but I realized how much you can say by creating an image. With a photograph, it is about timing, but how many times have I seen something and then taken a picture of it, and I felt that the camera was dishonest. It was not what I saw, and my eyesight is actually poor. And how many times have I seen a moment, and then the moment was gone?

But you can paint that moment. Of course maybe it will not be what you want. But the same could be said of my writing. At the very least I should start drawing again.

Another thing to mention about this, is that this world, I think is very much the world that Frozen and the Little Mermaid are based on, except you get more of a full picture from the exhibit since it isn't a children's cartoon. This, in a way, is the real version of Disney, the paintings are smaller than rides and statues, but they are painted by artists from that time period. What I am saying is that this will appeal to people who usually might not think of themselves as a museum person. I mean Hans Christian Andersen was Danish from the 1800's and Vermeer was Dutch from the 1600's, and Disney is modern, but I felt like, if you were into those Disney princesses, you might like looking at these paintings as an adult.

There is a playgroup at the MFA by the way. here is some of the baby's art.

And walking out I figured I might as well check out Art of the Americas. Here are some founding fathers. After looking at the Dutch stuff, these paintings, which came 100 years later... I mean can I say this? Meh. Why does Sam Adams look all out of proportion? Is that how he looked or is it the painter? But then again, I probably could not do better.

And we really are who we are. I mean look at this painting. It totally says Fox News to me. 

Grandiose, crass. 

Full of ourselves... not compared to Asia and Africa, but even a rich European Country that founded New York. It made me want to duck back over to the pictures of Haarlem. Instead I went to the art of Europe. 

This is actually funny. This Guan Yin and Child, was made in Germany, based on a Fujian Guan Yin and child shipped there, which was based on a Madonna and child shipped to Fujian from Europe. 

See, this mixed culture goes way back.

Here are some cool instruments from Italy. Kind of wanted to play them.

This caught my eye in the British section.

Holy Crap a Picasso? I forgot these were here. 

How what's going on here? Rape and war.

I think when I start to paint, this is what I will be going for. Pencil and ink. Not saying I can do it like him. Just saying those are the tools I'll be using. 

Matisse. A favorite of mine. But these were not breathtaking the way the stuff I saw in DC of his were. 

But I just wanted to compare those two nudes.  Way different.

This was cool.

African Metal work. Shao would love to get his hands on all of these things.

And more cool instruments. 

And then I really had to go. My head had absorbed too much. I was tired. But Oh man Art of Asia?

This is a modern piece. Thought it was cool. 

I also walked by modern art and photographs. I felt a pang because I though of some photographs my friend had taken of me meditating at the old Moh Goon. Before it was just a picture of my life. But now... well that Moh Goon is gone. Where is the picture? I hope I didn't lose it in the move out...I 'm feeling another pang now as I think of my mother's desk she made... But I have somethings. And that's why this blog and my Chinatown Blog are important. We need more artists. A lot of Chinatown's artists are not painting the everyday stuff, the chicken seller, the vendor. The paint China. Not Chinatown. Photographers too. I wonder where is Li Li Yuan. She had an artists eye. What is she photographing now? I see artists post stuff on Facebook. But Chinatown and the Chinatown Blog needs artists. And I hate that my pictures with my posts are not up to par, and neither are the art work that is only activist. 

That is what was special about the Dutch exhibit. Maybe there was something being said politically. I mean painting a prostitute exposing her chest (and not some sort of porno ideal of a woman. This is a real woman with not to great teeth.) was probably out there back then. Heck, it's out there now. She was no Victoria Secret model. Plus the art isn't that out there. It's not like Picasso's nudes. I can understand it. Anyone can understand it. We need that in Chinatown, because all the photos being taken now and paintings painted are not from people really trying to capture it. 

In any case, check out the Dutch exhibit at the MFA. It's not going to be there forever. It's temporary, and it's worth it. It really is like walking their streets and markets, and going into their houses and churches and their exchange (version of Wallstreet I guess?) Seriously Do it. It's totally worth it. Bring a date, and impress them with you high brow ness. But honestly, this exhibit really is about everyday life it's so common and yet so great. 

Again, it's so special that photography is not allowed, and maybe there is a reason for that.

You know, looking at these paintings makes me pissed that they have not recovered Rembrant's Sea Scape yet. I mean if you think about it, these paintings are only special when they are in Museum's that's where they belong. And museum's belong to us. What's the point of it being kept (probably in disrepair since it's held by criminals not conservators treating it so gently and at the proper temperature) man whoever stole that stole history.. for what? They're probably dead too. A loose end. bumped off. What do you think? Well this exhibit is here so go see it and tell me what your experiences looking at, or creating art, in the comments below. And don't forget to share my post. If everyone shared my post, my readership would double. So just click share.

How to Make a Throwing Spear

Midway Cafe

"The Midway Cafe is...legendary and it's full of old ghosts and great artists like Joe Coughlin." screamed John Powhida when he finished his performance last night with his band John Powhida International Airport. A lot of the songs he sang are on his album Airport Life (which you can buy or listen to if you click on the link above.)

They are about his life and growing up and one of the songs (which will be on his next album) was a blues song called "Recycling day at Arlington Heights."

The whole thing was amazing and I've never heard songs about being a stay at home dad before. John may be 50 but THIS is the voice of our times and our American life.

After the Paris Attacks it kind of felt good to go out and do what the terrorist don't want you to do apparently. Go and see an American Rock Band, and everything about the band is about Real Americana through John's perspective.

As American as it was, and as American as I am, I felt like a traveler too. Why? Well let's be honest, I don't usually go to see bands. So signs like this one, below

crack me up and are somewhat foreign to me. 

Here is John signing and playing guitar. The guys in his band are great. In fact they are so great, that as John said, "We don't practice." They are an older band, and I think that experience is what makes them able to perform so well without rehearsing. That resonates with what I've experienced with our Lion Dance group.

The thing about the Midway Cafe is that it is legendary and a lot of people who are familiar with this scene can speak more to that. But me? I just found out about this place. And it's right down the street from my house, across from English High! There's a lot of parallels with that sentiment and what's happening in Chinatown. How many cool places have been around for so long, and are legendary in their own right, in their own scene... but will soon disappear?

My only advice is don't wait to go hang out there later. Go now, it soon may be gone.

My thoughts on the Paris Attacks

These Paris attacks are horrible. I'm still sort of avoiding really looking at what happened. But mostly I feel like "What is the point?" People will just say "terrorism" but what is the goal? How is ISIS stronger from this attack? I get it, their radical their crazy. Whatever reasons for what they did, I feel like it's a little lame.
I'm not usually the one to stand up on a table and defend the West or the United States or France or whatever.
But look, I assume that whatever air strikes we do that kill innocent people, I assume that it is by accident or at least a sort of collateral damage type of thing. I'm not saying that those airstrikes are right or justified. I'm just saying there is a difference between that and purposefully killing innocent people. Why not bomb a government building or something? Or attack soldiers. Like that guy in England that chopped up a British solider. Now that was wrong. But at least it is sort of more war like than this.

Why not deface a statue. Blow up structures. Take stuff, not life.

This feels like gang warfare on a global scale where everyone is involved. Like they can't hit the U.S. like this so they hut our friends in Paris because it's close and the city is big. He hit them they hit our friends and maybe sometimes us. But there is no planning for the future in it. It's planned out attacks but other than that what? It's like drive bys for the sake of drive bys. Killing for the sake of killing, and then dying in the process.

I mean what is the goal here? ISIS is the Islamic state. So they, in theory want to create a radically Islamic Country. We don't really know what's going on in their heads, but let's look at past radical States because hind sight is 20/20 right?

Let's talk about the Taiping. The Tai Ping wanted to create a heavenly kingdom based on radical Christian ideals. They pretty much took over all of Southern China and set up such a kingdom. They were probably even more radical than ISIS and even though they were Christian, Britain sided with the Qing Government because at least they could do business with them. ISIS, Taiping Heaven;y Kingdom... kind of the same thing.

So the first thing, one would think, is for ISIS to try and set up a country. They have a territory, sort of, but they don't have a country. Not really. They take down a Russian plane, of citizens, tourists. And then they kill a bunch of people in Paris. Again citizens. And this is supposed to help form their country or strengthen their country how?

This attack just tells everyone, Iran, Russia, America, France.... fuck these guys. The only security council member that might not want to get involved directly is China. But they want to build a train through this region. So stability is in their interest too, and these guys are not stable. They make no sense. It's like their not adults.

The closest thing to adults in the region seems to be Iran, and of course, Russian backed Syria.

Remember the last Presidential Election when Romney was like, "Let's find the rebels that most fit with our ideals and support them." Remember that? I mean if these guys wanted to set up a country they should be trying to play Russia and the West against each other. Ultimately it's like they are actually going to bring the rest of the world closer together because nobody can possibly say "Oh yeah ISIS isn't that bad." after this shit.

If you are a 20 something and you want to join a movement or do something for Allah and you have the energy and planning to do something on this scale and are even willing to die, why not try something like starting a business or invent something. I mean why not create a GOOGLE for Allah, or a Facebook for Allah? Maybe they have something similar in terms of networking, but why not just steal western ideas and recreate them for yourself the way China does with Baidu or Wechat? Why not make a drink like 5 hour energy, for Allah and do stuff the way Manoj Bhargava does. He's probably Hindu or maybe atheist, but I'm pretty sure that is what Allah's work looks like.

I mean if you are willing to die, then you can work really hard for a company that makes billions and with those billions you can have your Islamic empire and it can be really nice.

I feel like Radical Islam needs a history lesson in why the Islamic world was so powerful back in the day. It was technology and scientific innovation that made them a world power... and trade. Yeah there were wars with France and Spain. (in fact that's supposed to be how we got croissants right?) But the Islamic Empires of the past were religiously tolerant for their time. Trade was important to them. They made treaties with Western Powers. They attacked, but what they did made sense. And then if they conquered a place like Spain, they set up great institutions and built cool stuff.

What the hell does killing one hundred something (I see different numbers from different newspapers) innocent people have anything to do with setting up an Islamic State? All the Muslim professors that go over to join ISIS leave and talk about how whacked they are.

This kind of thing makes me lose my faith in humanity. I mean wars are stupid, greed is stupid.

But this type of killing tops it all.

McDojo

Recently I have been watching more videos on You tube that are titled McDojo. Some of theme are funny skits, others are videos of schools etc. The first time I heard the term McDojo, I was already a Sifu teaching classes. The person using the term was a prospective student and was talking about a school they had gone to and was saying how what they learned was fake.

My response was that if you take that term, which is referencing McDonald's it sort of doesn't work. I mean there is almost no such thing. McDonalds serves food. That food is bad for you. But it isn't fake. I mean you can talk about genetically modified foods. But if someone had created genetically modified martial arts techniques..... that actually sounds pretty bad ass. And the only real world analogy to that would be steroid use. Again, bad for you, but does that mean your punch is fake? No.

You can say someone throws a bad punch or has bad form. But I was watching another video of a Shaolin monk. While throwing his punch his tsance wasn't really connected with the ground. His head went back sticking his throat out. Immediately as a martial artist you would recognize that doing a punch like that doesn't help the power of the punch. It also leaves you open. It isn't just "his system" because that is just a classic punch in northern and southern Shaolin, the type where you don't really turn the waist an the body is somewhat rigid. That punch is about power and structure. So if you don't have good structure, you could say that it is poor form.

But this wasn't a student. He was the master and a champion in Wushu competitions. He's famous. And he can do other amazing kicks, flips, feats of strength and Mai Moh type of stuff I cannot do and have never even practiced. In  a street fight, just like any trained martial artist, he would have an extreme advantage, because even his punch with "bad form" would still knock somewhat out if placed right. The only thing is that his throat is open and he is not as connected with the ground so the punch isn't as powerful as it could be.

But everyone is always open. If you throw a professional boxing punch, your legs and groin are open. If you throw a traditional Kung Fu punch from the South, chances are your legs are in a good structure and you can take punishment, but it's still open. And everyone is open to guns and arrows.

"What if you have a shield?" is a question my son might ask. Well Bombs of som sort or another have been around for a long time. And boulders have been around before humans. The point is there are many factors to winning a battle, and winning at life.

When I was a teenager I probably wouldn't want to study with some of these Champions with imperfect forms, because I was looking for someone who could without a doubt, kick my ass.

But as an adult I am more impressed by determination to continue practicing, business sense and just whether I get a long with a person. I am learning Kung Fu everyday from people that don't even know Kung Fu. Because everything I see is through that Kung Fu lens.

And in terms of business and a lot of just common sense stuff, I am so beginner it's not even funny.

So who am I to "expose" someone that is successful. What exactly am I exposing? The fact that even with less Kung Fu they can achieve more?

Now there are people who are unethical etc. But you can have real Kung Fu and be unethical. You can practice and teach real Kung Fu and make most of your money selling Heroin. In fact many Kung Fu groups have history in gangs and terrorism. You just have to go back a few decades or centuries. Arguably the Southern Shaolin temple (if you believe the stories) had great Kung Fu, morality, ethics... but from a modern perspective was kind of a terrorist training camp.

If you look at other groups, say the Catholic Church, their scandal wasn't that they were offering instant enlightenment from a cookie and grape juice (which they do, because you attain that enlightenment through Christ's enlightenment, if you believe that.) Their scandal was priests raping children.

So.... McDojo.

Who cares?


Anyway. maybe why I care is because my goal is to have a three month basic course for adults that makes you good, fast. Good enough to practice on your own and be a master of a sort. The idea came from training Noah. Because I was able to get him to make his own form up, with some guidance it still looked like a traditional village kung fu form, and he could do stick and sword and lion dance. My goal is just to get adults to be able to do the hands in three months. But I think Noah did it all in three months. Did he reach his peak? of course not. Soon after that I started teaching him traditional forms. But there was some pretty cool stuff about his training back then. It was like the Picasso of Kung Fu. You just did what you feel like and it came out looking like a masterpiece as long as you got down and put power.

I wouldn't consider my dream to be a McDojo or watered down Kung Fu. It would be simpler. It wouldn't be bad for you. It would be more like picking wild fruit and nuts or foraging as opposed to going to a restaurant. You need some guidance so you don't eat something poisonous (or try to do a technique in a way that you hurt yourself.) But it isn't fake. It isn't watered down.

But it will be commercial, because I plan to make a small amount of money.

It would be what McDonald's could be if it focused on making their food healthy.

So I wonder. Will people call my class some sort of McDojo?

Freedom and fun

It's fun riding around at night on your bike and going to "meetings." Shao asked me "Why do you have to go to this meeting in Chinatown?" I answered him, "I don't." And once I got there, there wasn't much point in coming back because everyone's already asleep right? I mean back when I lived down the street from all this stuff in Chinatown, I could stand even being at something like this for 10 minutes, even though I slept just 5-10 minutes away. Even when I got back to Moh Goon I probably wouldn't be sleeping because the lights would be on, the cigarette smoke would be all around and the door would be open. So why couldn't I wait to get back to Moh Goon? Because I would start training. Why can't I just train at home?
Well, because I will wake everyone up. And as much as I like practicing at home, there is a difference when you are able to swing weapons around and not worry about noise. Shoot if I had a Hall to train in I would probably be training all day and all night.... just like I used to. Except even the old Moh Goon wasn't perfect. You could say why don't I just train outside. But there is that feeling of being able to swing bladed polearms around, then just lean them up some where, hget some hot water, meditate in the dark and maybe drop off for a few minutes or hours and then get up and do it again like some sort of insane person.

But I can't do that anymore, so I might as well just hang around with people in Chinatown and then Bike home, which is kind of like training. You move pretty fast and there is that adrenaline rush of the cars. In fact, often I would feel I had to escape the confines of Moh Goon by jogging and doing punches in the night air down by the Charles. With Biking, at least I am going somewhere. It's not like I was hanging out with irresponsible people to, They were all Grace's friends, or friends of friends. And I was sort of getting information and contacts for the Blog.

And now I'm back home, but I don't want to wake the kids up by barging in or rummaging around up there.


I love my life.

Someone Important going through Roxbury.

Okay these are horrible pictures. But this is some sort of Police Motorcade I ran into coming back from Chinatown

It seemed like a pretty big deal and the escorts seem to want to move the person along quickly. Not exactly as impressive as what you see regularly in D.C. maybe. But my guess is someone kind of important just passed by. That's not how the Mayor or Governor travels right? So I wonder who it was? Seems to small to have been Obama. But Maybe Warren? I wonder.

Friends

Shao was telling me that he really wanted me to write down the trips we have been going on with his schoolmate and her family, so he doesn't forget. So I'm going to do that now and then we can come back later and at stuff.

The first trip was to the Topsfield fair.

We petted bunnies and saw gardening displays that were part of a competition. (Kind of like Charlotte's web type stuff.) We got to pet animals and go on rides too. Shao went on this roller coaster ride with his friend Lily. and that was fun. He also did this giant slide. I'll have to ask him how he felt doing that.
Dai Dai sat next to me and Shao sat next to Lily. It was kind of cute, like those carnivals you see on TV but which I never really went to. I went to one as a kid, but since then.. I guess this was my first time. It's sort of only fun if you go in a group.

They all went in this maze together and Dai Dai actually had a lot of problems getting out. He started banging into the glass walls. It was kind of funny even though it was also probably really scary for him. I eventually had to go in and rescue him.

There were motorcycle stunt men and racing pigs that ran jumped and swam. Hilarious!

What was the next trip? All these were with Lily and her Dad.

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Science. The kids built baskets and I learned that if you think about it, basket weaving is a type of technology. I mean it's been around for a long time, but it's not intuitive. None of the kids wove stuff, even the older kids, unless their parents showed them too. That means a lot of the stuff we take for granted as obvious solutions are really things that are learned. Isn't that interesting?

Then we had a Kung Fu class at the House (this was Veteran's day.) That went well until the end. My student is a little shy about forms. He reminds me of one of my Si Hing's. It's almost like Karma that this Si Hing taught me a lot of stuff and we crashed, and now my student has a similar personality. It is like it is helping  me to understand that side of Kung Fu. In any case I am growing as a Sifu, because I thought I had the new answer after teaching Shao fist stick sword. But having a different personality that isn't interested in that system I created, forces me to grow and think and change my teaching style.  He loved the basics and the running around the house with physical exercises like lunges, bear walks, and then Boston Crab. Maybe I'll just focus on that side of things and have Noah perform the forms just so he sees them.

After all this other guy who was at the school for a while, picked up a lot of techniques just watching us and then tested them against Real martial artists and really made an impression on those guys. He was able to pick stuff up here and there and practice on his own. So the forms are important... but it isn't important that everyone memorizes and performs them.
They are more like a reference.

Well we ended the day with snacks and board games and that sort of thing. I have to pick him up soon and we are going to an event today too. It's fun to have friends to hang out with.

Birthday Party

On the Chinatown Blog I mentioned my outing to great taste. So we took our little cake home and had a ceremony.

For me, my birthday is like an extra birthday party for both of my sons. So they blew out the candles.

If you think about it, that small iece of cake is still way more than enough for all of us. 

My gifts were this onesie jump suit from Grace, I don't dare wear it outside. Not because it doesn't look good. But I think I ill be targeted by police frankly.  But it is comfortable to sleep in. Shao got me this drum shaker invention that he made. That was pretty cool, even though he made it for himself. I don't actually care. I didn't get anything from Dai Dai. But maybe next year. I told them I would accept rocks, or even other stuff. It's just a ritual really. 

I guess this is the next morning. Dai Dai is enjoying his walnut cookie.

Yum. We went to a friend's part and near their house.....

Was an Asian Pear tree. We took some with us. 

I wanted this picture to be done with Dai Dai and Shao, and I would use it to start painting a picture. I thought I would take up my ink painting again. I think I have to make them pose, If Only I can get Dai Dai to do it. Well Off to the Chinatown Clean up committee.