July 7, 2007 - Overtaking someone on the Xindian riverside bikeway close to Wanhua.


And here is definitely by Wanhua. This is right by a major entrance gate, and there's sort of a plaza, so a lot of people congregate around there. Meaning cyclists should slow down and watch out for people trying to get kites in the air.

As I've mentioned, I think Taipei has a world class riverside bikeway system, which may or may not make up for the bike-unfriendliness of Taipei streets. And greater Taipei continues to extend and develop their riverside parks and bikeways.

In these lomos, I was riding by the Xindian River to my left. Across the river, outside of Taipei in Taipei County, a different entity than Taipei City, there's also another great bikeway, but when I last rode on it a year and a half ago, it only went to the end of the Xindian River, where it flows into the Danshui River, along with the Dahan River, which comes from a different direction.

Today, I found that I can continue on the other side beyond the end of the Xindian River, where it turns left and goes along the Dahan River. It was really excellent finding this new bikeway, parts of which are still being developed, and that it almost goes as far as I've been down the Dahan River on the opposite bank to Ying Ge. Ying Ge is the last town in Taipei County in that direction, more than 20 miles from where I live, making it a 40+ mile ride.

Once I got to the end of the bikeway in Tucheng, I was able to get on the roads and find my way to Ying Ge, and rode back north along the west bank of the Dahan River. It's not perfect, there are some things that greater Taipei can do better, but it's definitely impressive and probably a lot better than what many cities offer in terms of recreational cycling.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. A Little Buzz (Victor Wooten)
2. Intergalactic (The Beastie Boys)
3. Poor Napoleon (Elvis Costello & the Attractions)
4. Warrior (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
5. The Long and Winding Road (The Beatles - Anthology)
6. Harbor Wind (Keiko Matsui)
7. Torikoshikurou (Shiina Ringo)
8. Try Not to Breath (R.E.M.)
9. Joyful Girl (live) (Ani DiFranco)
10. Whipping (live) (Pearl Jam)

July 7, 2008 - My shadow along the riverside bikeways.


Outhouses along the riverside bikeway.

It's odd how everything is politicized in Taiwan. There was a fire in the National Taiwan University Hospital last week and a patient died in it. The daughter of the victim held a press conference blaming the hospital and had a member of one of the main political parties with her, as if blaming the other party for the fire.

I thought the U.S. was bad about shameless politicization. It seems that sort of thing happens more here than other places. It could be politicians are particularly opportunistic and swoop down on personal tragedies to push forward some political agenda.

I also read that it's the same with public TV here. It's not independent like it relatively is in the U.S., U.K., Japan and other places. Public TV which is supposed to be public interest for the betterment of society and not corporate profit, is apparently used as a mouthpiece for whatever political party is in power here.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Infamous Date Rape (A Tribe Called Quest)
2. The Giddybug Gallop (Duke Ellington)
3. Walk On (U2)
4. Digging in the Dirt (live) (Peter Gabriel)
5. Double Suicide (Mercy Killing) (Versus)
6. 4th of July (Aimee Mann)
7. Not a Day Goes By ("Merrily We Roll Along" - Sondheim)
8. Cowtown (They Might Be Giants)
9. Surf (Sakura)
10. Looking for Someone (Genesis)

July 7, 2008 - Over the shoulder shot along the Xindian Riverside bikeway.


The bikeways can get crowded on weekends with families and groups of friends, making them not the ideal place to, you know, "ride". You have to remember they're for recreation, people are recreating. En masse. If a cyclist wants to "ride", they should stay off the bikeways on weekends. A measure of patience and tolerance is required, safety should always come first, especially when children are involved.

There was a picture in the newspaper in a local English-language newspaper this past Friday of a college friend of mine at Oberlin, Bi-khim Hsiao. She was in the news because she used to be in the legislature and she's still involved with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and she was trying to convince a judge against the continued detention of another DPP member who is under arrest and investigation for corruption. The article was only partly about that, the headline was that her bike was stolen. Anyway, the funny thing for me was that she was wearing a pink Oberlin College sweatshirt!

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Yes, My Heart ("Carnival")
2. Secret World (Peter Gabriel)
3. Man Overboard (Blondie)
4. Sway (Shriekback)
5. Scratch-N-Sniff (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)
6. It Takes All Kinds (Aimee Mann)
7. Providence (Sonic Youth)
8. Addison's Trip ("Bounce" - Sondheim)
9. Mind Power (A Tribe Called Quest)
10. 我要快樂 (A-Mei)

June 29, 2008 - Street shooting at the corner of Civic Boulevard and Keelung Road. The structure just visible on the left is the elevated freeway over parts of Keelung Road.


Keelung Road just south of Zhongxiao East Road with Taipei 101 behind the street signs. I remember being frustrated at not shooting very much, so that day I made a point of taking whatever random shot occurred to me while riding along. But only these two.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Picture Book (live) (The Kinks)
2. Real Love (Smashing Pumpkins)
3. UFO TOFU (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones)
4. What People Are Made of (Modest Mouse)
5. Back in N.Y.C. (live) (Genesis)
6. Sensation (The Who)
7. The Only Way (Hymn) (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
8. Leave It (Yes)
9. Home (Kristin Hersh)
10. Symphony No. 2, II. Larghetto (Beethoven)

June 25, 2008 - Couple of sneaked shots inside the Fine Arts Museum. Pretty institutional. I should've sneaked shots in the galleries. I mean, if you're going to sneak shots where photography is prohibited, then go all-out, you know? None of this trying-to-be-respectful crap!



I'm not doing well with getting a fourth roll shot before the end of the year. Even though I'm only working weekends, I'm still having trouble switching my sleeping hours back to something resembling "normal". I'm also still sleeping a lot more than I'm used to - some lingering cold maybe. I'm not getting out nearly enough or early enough to shoot.

The band suggested taking a break in January and just concentrating on learning new songs. I'm going to come out against the idea. A month of just rehearsal with no gigs/pay sounds excruciating to me. I also don't know when I'll be moving to Kaohsiung, but I'm thinking I definitely will be moving there next year. So it would be better for all parties concerned that they take the break at the same time they find a new drummer. It just makes sense.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. No. 13 Baby (The Pixies)
2. Sanya (Kohachiro Miyata - shakuhachi)
3. 讚仰三寶之歌 (郭孟雍)
4. 真夜中は純潔 (Mayonaka wa Junketsu) (Shiina Ringo)
5. Private Idaho (B-52s)
6. Everything's Just Wonderful (Lily Allen)
7. Too Drunk to Fuck (Dead Kennedys)
8. The King of the Mosh Pit (Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)
9. Scissor Man (Primus)
10. Symphony No. 4, III. Allegro vivace (Beethoven)

June 25, 2008 - Taipei's Fine Arts Museum in Yuanshan district, although Yuanshan is not officially a district. It's the area that straddles the Keelung River along Zhongshan North Road.


Plane about to land at Taipei's Songshan Airport. Shot through the MRT tracks near Yuanshan MRT station.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Down On the Corner (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
2. Sweet Black Angel (The Rolling Stones)
3. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (The Kinks)
4. Silverfish (Belly)
5. There Shall Be No Night (Duke Ellington)
6. Caffeine (Kristin Hersh)
7. You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) (The Beatles - Anthology)
8. More Sweet Soul (Pretty Girls Make Graves)
9. Love Struck Baby (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)
10. The Moon (Cat Power)

June 23, 2008 - Waiting on my bike at the intersection at Minquan East Road and Fuxing North Road, looking south, on my way to work.


September 3, 2008 - Waiting on my bike at the intersection at Minquan East Road and Fuxing North Road, looking north, on my way to work.

This partly explains why I've shot so little this year. Work and routine makes me a creature of habit, doing the same basic thing day in and day out. Actually, it's not that bad, I do vary, but once I've found a template, I can easily find and fall back in it. I think law school did that to me.

Like I've mentioned, there is a route to work where I know all the lights, and therefore how to ride on any section of road to beat a light, or to not waste my energy. I know never to rush to get to this light because I'll never beat it, and I even have time to pull out the fisheye.

These are probably even just about at the same time of late afternoon, the first one just after the solstice, the second a few weeks before the equinox.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Portions for Foxes (Rilo Kiley)
2. Cash Car Star (Smashing Pumpkins)
3. Stokfel Jive (Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens)
4. Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression, part 2 (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
5. Technopolis (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
6. Dirty Fingernails (Modest Mouse)
7. Starman (David Bowie)
8. Kiss Off (Violent Femmes)
9. Baby's Got a Brand New Hairdo (Elvis Costello & the Attractions)
10. Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude #16 (J.S. Bach)

May 18, 2008 - Minzu East Road, shooting north at the Fine Arts Museum park.

Wow, this year's almost over and I'm still posting lomos from the first roll I completed this year. I just finished shooting the third, and I'm making it a goal to shoot a full roll over the month of December. For the past 2 years I've been shooting 11 rolls per year!

At least I did quit my job for most part. I'll still go in on weekends, but I'm hoping to phase that out soon, too. And I'm just getting over a nasty cold, so I'm feeling this sense of renewal. I just spent 3 solid days in bed watching TV. Yay! Well, plus movies and DVDs.

I'm probably also gonna quit the band next year, too. Which means I'll have nothing to do in Taipei, so I'll probably move to Kaohsiung soon after that happens.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Given to Fly (live) (Pearl Jam)
2. Penelope (live) (Pinback)
3. Absentee (Shannon Wright)
4. Groovin' High (Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra)
5. One of the Few (Pink Floyd)
6. Public Enemy No. 1 (Public Enemy)
7. Shigatsu no Ame (Dreams Come True)
8. Who's the Thief? ("Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat")
9. Tapestry (Carole King)
10. On the Other Side of Paradise (The Neville Brothers)