Outside my building

March 30, 2006 - New roll. I'm pretty sure this was a roll of expired film. This is right out side my apartment looking east on Heping East Road, pretty much the opposite view from a couple of posts ago, which is looking west. Right outside my apartment building is a bus stop. I also live right next door to a church, which is, um, interesting. The church is the brick building on the right.


My building. I don't have an apartment facing front, looking out over Daan Park. Instead I have an apartment that faces the side of the church. Could be worse. At least it's a nice brick building and I'm not facing some big prosyletizing sign or horrible image of someone nailed to a cross or reminder that I'm gonna burn in hell. Or a huge crowd of parishioners standing in front blocking the sidewalk. I seriously have no complaints about living above a Family Mart. It's like an emergency fridge filled with beer right downstairs.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Win (David Bowie)
2. Sysyphus: Part II (Pink Floyd)
3. Words and Guitar (Sleater-Kinney)
4. Around the Dial (The Kinks)
5. Small Axe (The Wailers)
6. Swingin' Party (The Replacements)
7. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (Talking Heads)
8. Leg Bells (David Byrne)
9. Bass Calling Out (The Maupin/Williams Project)
10. Daughter in the House of Fools (Enon)

Daan Park East

March 27, 2006 - Daan Park "east" rainy... (previously posted)


March 29, 2006 - Daan Park "east" sunny. I can't wait for the friggin' rain to stop. Unfortunately, I'm under some delusion that it will be like California, and when the rain stops, it stops for the season. Taiwan is pretty much tropical, so it rains when it pleases. For the former Californian weather-sensitive, it's a hard transition.

It's been raining all week, and tonight I got caught out on my bike in the rain. It had to happen sooner or later, and I was initiated into the practice of riding my bike while holding an umbrella that is quite prevalent here. It felt ridiculous, but it's a reality here, and the clunker bikes that people ride here make it so that wind is not a problem. You just don't go very fast on bikes here.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Concerto for Cootie (Duke Ellington)
2. D'yer Mak'er (Led Zeppelin) (pronounced Jer Maker. it's a pun referring to the reggae influence on the song. apparently most americans have been pronouncing it wrong for over 30 years)
3. Everyone a Puzzle Lover (10,000 Maniacs)
4. Keep It Dark (remixed) (Genesis)
5. Circles (Chick Corea Akoustic Band)
6. As the Blade Dips Down (Aqui)
7. Life Without Elvis (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones)
8. It is Accomplished (Peter Gabriel - "The Last Temptation of Christ")
9. Stain (Nirvana)
10. Ai no Kotoba (Spitz)

Heping East Road, Section 2

March 29, 2006 - Precisely the view right outside my apartment. On a sunny day. Daan Park is on the right. You can see the footbridge I like in the distance. I think that red and yellow awning is for the bakery next door that I go to when I'm hungry in a pinch. It rules. There are like 15 bus lines that run outside my apartment. If I didn't have my bike, I would explore the city by randomly getting on a bus and seeing where it goes (assuming that it would eventually take me back where I started).

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Just Call Me Joe (Sinead O'Connor)
2. Concerto No. 2, II. Larghetto (Chopin)
3. State of Confusion (live) (The Kinks)
4. In Search of Peter Pan (Kate Bush)
5. Bass Improv/Amazing Grace (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones)
6. It Ain't Easy (David Bowie)
7. Goodbye Blue Sky (Pink Floyd)
8. Deja Vu (Deadweight)
9. It's a Maze ("Secret Garden")
10. Dirty Pool (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)

tweaking out the effect

March 28, 2006 - intersection of AiGuo and Roosevelt Road. These shots just weren't doing anything for me. Not that tweaking them out like this makes them OK. It just keeps me from getting bored.


Ketagalan Blvd. looking towards the Presidential Building. Sometimes I forget this is the capital of a country, but I think that's the equivalent of the White House. It's a small country.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Hem Around Us (Shannon Wright)
2. Aquaboogie (Parliament)
3. They're Playing My Song (His) ("They're Playing Our Song")
4. Koi wa Oatsuku (Southern All-Stars)
5. Cape May (Fonda)
6. Move On ("Sunday in the Park with George" - Sondheim)
7. Mama (live) (Genesis)
8. Fuck Me, Kitten (R.E.M.)
9. Grizabella, the Glamour Cat ("Cats")
10. Symphony No. 28, III. Menuetto (Allegretto) (Mozart)

Taipei, Taiwan

March 28, 2006 - Crosswalk at AiGuo and Roosevelt Road. To the right is Roosevelt Road, which I can only assume is named after Christopher Roosevelt, straight ahead is AiGuo Road, which is important to me because when I'm going home from the Main Station, HanBo, or Ximending areas, that road will land me smack in the middle of Yangkong "snack" Road. On the left is the National Theater in the CKS Memorial complex.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Cupid wa Kitto Kuru (Yuko Hara)
2. Down, Down, Down (Tom Waits)
3. Drum Duet (Genesis - Phil Collins, Chester Thompson)
4. Thine Eyes (Edith Frost)
5. Cunt Tease (Bikini Kill)
6. With This Love (choir) (Peter Gabriel)
7. Pilate (Pearl Jam)
8. No Warning (King Crimson)
9. Life During Wartime (Talking Heads)
10. Symphony No. 35, II. Andante (Mozart)

March 28, 2006 - The library really isn't interesting enough to warrant three shots, but it's three shots have I. This one has a human element. I was unlocking my bike and the person was right there, so I couldn't resist.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Dead Sleep (Rebecca)
2. Low Red Moon (Belly)
3. Latin Simone (Gorillaz)
4. Elvis Presley and America (U2)
5. Black & White (Sarah McLachlan)
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
7. Seven Day Weekend (with Jimmy Cliff) (Elvis Costello & the Attractions)
8. Armagideon Time (The Clash)
9. So Glad To See You Here (Wings)
10. Pretty Deep (Tanya Donelly)

Goin' to the library

Here's a more linear description of how I got to the library:

Out my front door, I would turn right and walk about 100 meters. I would walk because it would be raining and I'd be pissed that the sun never comes out. At the corner, in front of the Starbucks, I would wait for the light to change.


After crossing the intersection, I would travel along the sidewalk bordering Daan Park for maybe 200 meters.


I would have to wait for another light to cross Jian Guo Road, but the library is right there. If in the 10 minutes from the 7-11 in front of my apartment to the library, I decide that I'm hungry, there's another 7-11 across the street from the library. Likewise a bubble tea shop.

I don't need to do this anymore now that I have wireless at my apartment. *doin' a little dance*

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Nothing ("A Chorus Line")
2. After All (Duke Ellington)
3. Audiowhore (Archers of Loaf)
4. Cabaret ("Cabaret")
5. Regret (Princess Princess)
6. Party for Your Right to Fight (Public Enemy)
7. Here Comes Another Day (The Kinks)
8. Juno (Throwing Muses)
9. Night Flight (Led Zeppelin)
10. Come Together (The Beatles)

Daan Branch Public Library

March 27, 2006 - Before I got internet at home, I had to come here to get my online fix. Public libraries with free internet rule. Still, after a while it got to be a pain in the ass, and I'm glad I have internet at home now, even though it's sucking my time like a...like a... great big sucking machine. It's not far from where I live, about a five minute bike ride. I live across the street from Daan Park and the library is across the street from Daan Park on another side.


March 12, 2006 - Daan Park from the 9th floor stairwell of the public library. Note the perpetual overcast.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me (Billy Joel)
2. The Game (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)
3. It Doesn't Matter (Idiot Box)
4. Wake Up (Sahara Hotnights)
5. Red Eyes (Throwing Muses)
6. The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin)
7. Opus Insert (Kansas)
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2)
9. Mr. Grieves (The Pixies)
10. White Trash Heroes (Archers of Loaf)

Danshuei, Taipei County, Taiwan

March 11, 2006




iTunes soundtrack:
1. It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) (The Rolling Stones)
2. Scarlette (Unwound)
3. Vroom Vroom (Coda) (King Crimson)
4. Stroll (Throwing Muses)
5. Careful With That Axe, Eugene (live) (Pink Floyd)
6. Back Room (Skip Holiday)
7. Cowboy Dan (Modest Mouse)
8. New, New Minglewood Blues (The Grateful Dead)
9. Five Years (live) (David Bowie)
10. Grapefruit Moon (Tom Waits)

Street Calligrapher

March 11, 2006 - Danshuei, Taipei County, Taiwan. Come to think of it, I don't know what he was doing this for, if he was an artist and was selling his work, or if he was a nut doing it for shits and giggles. I didn't get the sense that he was trying to sell anything. I just wanted to say "shits and giggles". I've been wanting to all week.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Unforgettable Fire (U2)
2. Springtime on Parmir Mountains (Guo Brothers & Shung Tian)
3. The Wheel and the Maypole (XTC)
4. Cradle and All (live) (Ani DiFranco)
5. Blind Curve (live) (Marillion)
6. Beach Side Property (Modest Mouse)
7. Studying Stones (Ani DiFranco)
8. Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream (King Crimson)
9. Pan in a Rage (Amoco Renegades Steel Orchestra)
10. One Vision (Queen)

Boats

March 11, 2006 - Danshuei, Taipei County, Taiwan. The Pacific Ocean is straight ahead (north).

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Jungle Princess (Princess Princess)
2. Picture Book (The Kinks)
3. Golden Tiger (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
4. Happy Day (Talking Heads)
5. I Fought the Law (The Clash)
6. Melody (Southern All-Stars)
7. Rickover's Dream (Michael Hedges)
8. Jack Ruby (Camper Van Beethoven)
9. In the Wilderness (Genesis)
10. The Village Green Preservation Society (The Kinks)

Beitou MRT Station

March 11, 2006 - Really, it's not like I like shooting MRT stations, it's just that it's convenient to think of shooting something at MRT stations. These were a month ago when I thought I had enough time to go to meditation sessions in Xin Beitou on Saturday mornings and random excursions in the afternoon. I might be able to again if I can get disciplined with classwork. Hehe, I crack myself up.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Reprise Mart (National Joy Band)
2. Larks Tongue in Aspic, Part Two (King Crimson)
3. Cinco De Mayo (Liz Phair)
4. Symphony No. 40, III. Menuetto (Allegretto) (Mozart)
5. Throw a Blanket Over the Sun (Shannon Wright)
6. Two Of Us (Supertramp)
7. Come Follow the Band ("Barnum")
8. Stand! (Sakura)
9. Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana)
10. Virginia Avenue (Tom Waits)

Shida University, Taipei, Taiwan

March 10, 2006 - This is what it looks like from the window of my classroom. Except that it's in fisheye view, and Bebe doesn't do well in low light so the exposure isn't great.

The language school at Shida (pronounced shr-da) is the largest Mandarin language school in Taiwan. It was established not long after the Chinese Nationalist Government was kicked off of the mainland by Mao Tse-Tung, and gained control of the island, previously a Chinese province, by massacring thousands of locals and establishing 40 years of martial law. Go team!

It makes me feel a little funny that this school was established partly to promote mainland Chinese hegemony over the island, but the reality is that I think there is a good possibility that in the next 50 years or so, Mandarin Chinese will be the most important language to learn, not English. And I don't see that as a good thing. Just a possible reality.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Speed Is the Key (The Sugarcubes)
2. Sugar Mice in the Rain (Marillion)
3. Warszawa (live) (David Bowie)
4. Stop Your Sobbing (The Kinks)
5. Perfect Sense, Part II (Roger Waters)
6. On the Sunny Side of the Street (Ella Fitzgerald)
7. I'm Afraid of Americans (David Bowie)
8. Dyke March 2001 (Le Tigre)
9. So In Love (Chick Corea Akoustic Band)
10. A Better Son/Daughter (Rilo Kiley)

Shots from an MRT

March 4, 2006 - Shooting north at Zhongxiao Fuxing station. This line of the MRT is neat because the cars are different from the rest of the system. Instead of subway-like cars, they're like light monorails, like a shuttle. There are only like four or five cars per train and travels solely on elevated rails through the urban canyon of Taipei's buildings.


It feels more like a ride than a commuter train.


Shooting east crossing Xinyi Road with the Taipei 101 building in the distance.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Eternal (Joy Division)
2. 42 (Sodaneva)
3. i think you do (Dreams Come True)
4. Sing ("A Chorus Line")
5. You're Not the Only One I Know (The sundays)
6. You'll Miss Me (They Might Be Giants)
7. Artificial Light (Rainer Maria)
8. Curi Curi (Campur DKI)
9. The King of Electric Guitars (Helium)
10. The Old Gumbie Cat ("Cats")

Taipei, Taiwan

March 4, 2006 - Shot around the Ximending area, in the Longshan general direction. Not sure what this was, but it looked like it might be interesting in fisheye.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Crying Tree of Mercury (Smashing Pumpkins)
2. Ein Deutches Requiem, III. Herr, lehre doch mich (Brahms)
3. I Wanna Be Like You (Pizzicato Five)
4. What's the Matter Here? (live) (10,000 Maniacs)
5. Spit & Fire (live) (Rainer Maria)
6. Silly Love Songs (Wings)
7. Nothing As It Seems (Pearl Jam)
8. Lost Ones (Lauryn Hill)
9. Before You Cry (Camera Obscura)
10. Carry On Wayward Son (live) (Kansas)

Saturday strolling

March 4, 2006 - Xinbeitou station has it's own little track off the main MRT line going to Danshuei. It's not even that long, I usually walk from Beitou station instead of waiting for what essentially is a shuttle between Beitou and Xinbeitou (new Beitou). Seems like a waste of resources, but people go a long way for Japanese tourists. Must be a boring job driving that train. The wait for the train is longer than the ride to Beitou station.


Ximending - Not very busy on a Saturday afternoon, but I think it's the "hip" part of town for Taipei youth.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Clash City Rockers (The Clash)
2. Dr. Cat (Mary Timony)
3. Tonite Reprise (Smashing Pumpkins)
4. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)
5. My I.Q. (Ani DiFranco)
6. Positive Negative (Modest Mouse)
7. Your Time Is Gonna Come (Led Zeppelin)
8. El Cuarto de Tula (Eliades Ochoa - "Buena Vista Social Club")
9. Expresso Love (Dire Straits)
10. Romance in New York (Takeshi Yamaguchi)

Xinbeitou, Taipei County

March 4, 2006 - Between Xinbeitou MRT station and the Zen practice center is a long, thin park. It's a pleasant walk of about 10-15 minutes, slightly uphill. Xinbeitou is famous for its hot springs and there is one in the park. As for this picture, it looks like a fountain, but it had koi in it. Koi fountain? They probably turn the fountain on in hotter weather. I'd like to see the koi get sucked into the fountain and shot up in the air. Yea, the Japanese tourists who come for the hot springs would love that.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Poison (David Byrne)
2. Daytime, Nightime Suffering (Wings)
3. Don't Forget to Dance (The Kinks)
4. With Every Light (Smashing Pumpkins)
5. It Depends On What You Pay ("The Fantasticks")
6. Temptation (Tom Waits)
7. The Rhythm Method (drum solo) (Rush)
8. Everytime (Britney Spears)
9. Undertow (remix) (Genesis)
10. Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles)

Fresh roll of lomo

March 4, 2006 - I finally got another roll of lomo processed. Sheesh, that took a while. But I remind myself of the rain and clouds, and how shots from Bebe are better in sunny daylight. The last roll I posted, the previous Taiwan shots, were on expired color film. I honestly don't see the big deal about expired film. Non-expired film gives more latitude with saturation and saturation=fun.

This is from one of the first sunny days I experienced in Taiwan, more than a week after I arrived. It is in Xinbeitou, north of Taipei city. I go there on Saturdays for an international group morning meditation session, associated with a Zen monastery. The practice center is the orange building behind this little rotunda park.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Do You Love Me? ("Fiddler On the Roof")
2. Chickenman (Indigo Girls)
3. Family Snapshot (Peter Gabriel)
4. Star (Belly)
5. Toridge & Lisbah (Dreams Come True)
6. Portrait (He Knew) (remix) (Kansas)
7. Shimmer (Throwing Muses)
8. The Needle and the Damage Done (live) (Neil Young)
9. The Weight of My Words (Four Tet remix) (Kings of Convenience)
10. Look a Ghost (Unwound)