Descent (into madness - last week of term)

April 5, 2006 - Planes landing at Songshan Airport. It was cool to be riding by and suddenly have these planes landing overhead. It might be not-so-cool to live in the area. This was pretty late in the day, and I was ready to head home. I did a later excursion, looking for a better vantage view of the take-offs and landings.



iTunes soundtrack:
1. Come Dancing (The Kinks)
2. Hang On To Yourself (David Bowie)
3. John Hardy's Wife (Duke Ellington) (not, mind you, John's Hardy Wife)
4. Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee ("Grease")
5. Always, Always You ("Carnival")
6. Ramble On Rose (The Grateful Dead)
7. Hikui Isu (Low Chair) (Saboten)
8. The Great Escape/The Last of You/Fallin' From the Moon (Marillion)
9. Sickbed (Rainer Maria)
10. Radio W-OO-Ten (Victor Wooten)

Bikeway riding

April 5, 2006 - Riding along the riverside bikeways. Haven't done a shot like this since New Jersey. Thought it was time to give the treatment to the Starship Enterprise. I can't wait to get back to my road bike and put a basket in front.


Key Lime River. It separates northern parts of Taipei from what I consider "Taipei proper". The divide is exacerbated for cyclists since there is no easy way to cross the river. I found one bridge that can be crossed in regular traffic, and this bridge might also be possible in regular traffic, unless it's a freeway, which it might be. I'm sure being a freeway hasn't stopped some old dude from getting on it on a bike. When you have to get somewhere in Taiwan...

I think that tower on the left is a waste incinerator in Beitou that they made into an attraction by putting a restaurant on top. No idea how that works, but this is Taiwan. It's actually the "Keelung" River, but I can't stop calling it the Key Lime River.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Get Back (The Beatles - the McCartney version)
2. Human Behavior (Bjork)
3. I've Been Mistreated (The Aislers Set)
4. Melting Pot (King Chango)
5. Guitar Man's Rag (Southern All-Stars)
6. Lady Nina (Marillion)
7. Fly Me to the Moon ("Neon Genesis Evangelion" - Ayanami's Birthday)
8. Never Get Old (David Bowie)
9. Lukin (Pearl Jam)
10. Iron Man (Amoco Renegades Steel Orchestra)

Hangin' Out in the Park

April 4, 2006 - Hanging out in Daan Park during a three day break we had at the beginning of April, with the Starship Enterprise docked next to a palm tree. Ah, I remember that day. I sat down and within minutes a spider was scrambling behind my glasses, ie, between my glasses and my eyeball. I hope the look of my huge eyeball staring at it scared as much fuck out of the spider as it did me. Fortunately, I've been training my fear of spiders and I screamed like a girl for only a few minutes and only did minor damage to my glasses trying to get the damn thing off.


Practicing shakuhachi in the park. I think I'm the only dork who does something like this. Seriously, I think people see me wheezing notes out of this thing in public and wonder what kind of dork I am.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Baby, Dream Your Dream ("Sweet Charity")
2. One Beat (Sleater-Kinney)
3. Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Lauryn Hill)
4. A Pillow of Winds (Pink Floyd)
5. Sabahiya (Sabahiya - "Passion" Sources)
6. Grey (Ani DiFranco)
7. Where the Sour Turns to Sweet (Genesis)
8. Wild Wild Life (Talking Heads)
9. Devil's Roof (Throwing Muses)
10. Go Ahead (Rilo Kiley)

More from the public library

April 4, 2006 - Shot from a window on an upper floor. Maybe you can see the 7-11 on the right side of the street below. I don't think you can travel 10 minutes in Taipei without hitting a 7-11 or some other convenience store. Maybe that's why they call them "convenience stores".

iTunes soundtrack:
1. I'm Free (The Who)
2. I've Just Begun (Having My Fun) (Britney Spears)
3. I Want to Tell You (The Beatles)
4. Lady Elect (Unwound)
5. Chamber Symphony in C Minor, I. Largo (Shostakovich)
6. Red (live) (Mission of Burma)
7. Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Arukou) (Kyu Sakamoto)
8. Might (Archers of Loaf)
9. Shake Your Hips (The Rolling Stones)
10. Goodbye Stranger (Supertramp)

Elephant Hill

April 1, 2006 - The second shot of Taipei 101 below was taken during a hike up "Elephant Hill", one of four supposedly distinctive hills in a range on the eastern side of Taipei, each named after an animal, thus collectively referred to as the "beast" range. In fact, I think that's Taipei 101 at the top of this shot. There's apparently some good hiking in that range that is waiting for a sunny day. But quite honestly, I can't tell one "beast" from another.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Colored Spade ("Hair")
2. Death in the Park (Archers of Loaf)
3. I Believe in You (Neil Young)
4. All Blues (Rebirth Marching Jazz Band)
5. Marianne (Tori Amos)
6. The Loneliest Guy (David Bowie)
7. Happiness is a Warm Gun (outtake) (The Beatles)
8. BBtone (live) (Pinback)
9. White Shadow (Peter Gabriel)
10. Mystery Band (Amoco Renegades Steel Orchestra)

Taipei 101

April 1, 2006 - Exactly a month ago. Taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world, is not done justice in the fisheye view. I'm sure there is a cool fisheye view, I just haven't found it.



iTunes soundtrack:
1. I'm So Tired (The Beatles)
2. Slow Marimbas (live) (Peter Gabriel)
3. Scoff (Nirvana)
4. Big Black Mariah (live) (Tom Waits)
5. She Chameleon (demo) (Marillion)
6. Don't Pull It Down ("Hair")
7. Fantasies Come True ("Avenue Q")
8. In Or Out (live) (Ani DiFranco)
9. Monsoon (Enon)
10. Solitude (Ella Fitzgerald)

Riverside Bikeways

March 30, 2006 - Taipei's riverside bikeway system is seriously, impressively world-class. However, access to these seriously, impressively world-class bikeways is decidedly, unimpressively ...third-world-class. Not that any third world country has the luxury to develop their riversides for bicycle recreation. It's too bad because they're like a great idea gone to waste because of poor planning, but if you know what Taiwanese/Chinese are like, it's no surprise. That's not a put down. Their thinking and mindset is just different. Even if considerations obvious to an American planner were presented to them, they might just not see the need to consider it. We call them boneheads, but I'm sure they consider our ways and have equivalent words for us.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Concrete Jungle (live) (Bob Marley & the Wailers)
2. America (She Can't Say No) (Throwing Muses)
3. Curtains (Peter Gabriel)
4. The Blue Bus Blues (Bakufu Slump)
5. Here's Where the Story Ends (The Sundays)
6. Old Friends (Simon & Garfunkel)
7. Been A Son (Nirvana)
8. Murder Movies (Unwound)
9. Never-Ending Math Equation (Modest Mouse)
10. Symphony No. 10, II. Allegro (Shostakovich)

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)

Shida Road

February 23, 2006 - I have this one last shot before I run out of Taipei shots, but I'm almost done with the next roll. This is the first lomo frame I took in Taipei when I went out walking and exploring on my first day. But as you can see, it was dark and overcast and not much to look at. It has largely been overcast like this ever since I got here.

Further on up this road is the popular Shida night market, which gets crowded with students and foreigners since Shida University is right there, along with its language center (which I'm attending).

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Dizzy Miss Lizzy (The Beatles)
2. June (Camper Van Beethoven)
3. One Love/People Get Ready (Bob Marley & the Wailers)
4. Jigsaw Youth (Bikini Kill)
5. From My Window (Keiko Matsui)
6. The End (The Doors)
7. Omegaman (The Police)
8. A Very Nice Man ("Carnival")
9. Breathe (Pink Floyd)
10.Spock On (Miss Gloria) (The Pugs)

Woman Riding By On The Sidewalk

March 3, 2006 - Heping East Road. Note the famous footbridge in the background. Only famous because it was in a 3 second shot in the movie "Yi Yi". This is the last frame on the roll, I really want to finish off the roll that's currently in Bebe, but it has just been raining like in the movie "The Hole" - also Taiwanese. In the last days of the last millenium, rain has been drenching Taipei non-stop and a disease has been turning people into insects. Yup.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Rabbits Dying (Throwing Muses)
2. Let's Electrify! (Versus)
3. Synchronicity II (The Police)
4. Don't Walk Away (Electric Light Orchestra)
5. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 & Edit Piece) (The Beatles)
6. Everyone Says 'Hi' (David Bowie)
7. Overjoyed (Stevie Wonder)
8. Yinin' & Yangin' (Victor Wooten)
9. Drowning Man (U2)
10.Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues (The Kinks)

...then she threw the cat into fire!

Heping East Road, Section 2, Taipei, Taiwan.

Getting bored with blog. Again. I also don't have internet access at home yet, even though the landlady has added it to the list of things that come with apartments in her ads. It's really a good thing to stop me from being on the internet all the time. I go to the Taipei Public Library every morning for a couple of hours for my online fix, which is limiting and blogging falters.

It's been raining, raining, raining, for days straight now. I have a roll of black and white waiting to be developed, but I was waiting to finish a roll of lomo which is half done, but at this rate it'll never get done, so I think I'll take that roll in today. Give me scanning to do over the weekend if it's still raining as it's forecast. Not to mention having no time to shoot because of afternoon classes and studying all the time.

and no, she didn't throw the cat into the fire. sheesh, what are you people thinking?!

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Juno (Throwing Muses)
2. Bottle Dance ("Fiddler on the Roof")
3. Peace Train (10,000 Maniacs)
4. Barcelona ("Company")
5. Where Or When (Lena Horne)
6. Joe the Lion (David Bowie)
7. Panama (Van Halen)
8. Here, There, and Everywhere (The Beatles)
9. Rock On (Smashing Pumpkins)
10. Little Rootie Tootie (Thelonius Monk)

New Jersey dreaming:

February 19, 2006 - Here's a shot of the Jones Road overpass, the opposite view of the first shot in a previous post from the overpass. New Jersey seems so far away now. It was disturbingly familiar being there for over seven months, but that's what happens when you grow up in a place. I've taken to changes rather well. Odd considering I was diagnosed with a so-called "adjustment disorder" when I was younger. I always considered it a flaky diagnosis, but apparently real.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Everybody Out (20 Minute Loop)
2. Walk This Way (Aerosmith)
3. Begin the Beguine (Artie Shaw & His Orchestra)
4. Tevye's Dream ("Fiddler on the Roof")
5. The Drop (Peter Gabriel)
6. Ukhulum' Izindaba (Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens)
7. I Am the Walrus (demo take) (The Beatles)
8. Lost, Dropped and Cancelled (Rainer Maria)
9. Sick of Me (Ani DiFranco)
10. Sulendro (Gender Wayang, Sukawati)

New York Dreaming

February 1, 2006 - New York photostroll. Going back to earlier shots on the roll. This church was on 5th Avenue in the Village, a few blocks north of Washington Square Park.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Ash and Alice (Mary Timony)
2. White Sun (Takeshi Yamaguchi)
3. Show 'Em Whatcha Got (Public Enemy)
4. Scentless Apprentice (live) (Nirvana)
5. A Pile of Time (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
6. Watching You Without Me (Kate Bush)
7. Wot's...Uh, The Deal (Pink Floyd)
8. Airegin (Wes Montgomery)
9. Vicky's Box (Throwing Muses)
10. Do the Evolution (live) (Pearl Jam)

National Concert Hall

February 25, 2006 - This is part of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial park. Chiang Kai-Shek is the national butcher hero of the Nationalist Party (KMT). They implemented 40 years of martial law to give you an idea of their popularity. If the populace likes you, you don't need to maintain control through a claim of martial law.

The main gate on the left is a pretty famous tourist image. I've been trying to go out exploring, but it's hard because this city is so big. My feet start hurting after a while. This is as far north as I've gotten on foot. I don't know how far it is, but on the map, it's not that far. I keep trying to expand my walking circles to cover more and more of the city. Then I'll start taking the MRT to stations and walking home from them.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Might (Modest Mouse)
2. Moving (Supergrass)
3. Take a Look Lee ("Assassins" - Sondheim)
4. Ought to Be a Woman (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
5. Down, Down, Down (Tom Waits)
6. Message in a Bottle (The Police)
7. My Friend Fats (Primus)
8. Mirando de Lado (Kinky)
9. Asadoya Yunta (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
10. Small As Life (Rare Air)

Shida University

March 3, 2006 - This is where I'm studying. The building on the right is the languages building. The building on the left is the main library for the university. I don't know if foreign language students have access to the main library, but I wouldn't mind going in and looking around. It's looks like a pretty cool building. It's a weird D shaped building.

This was probably the first blue sky I had seen in over the one week I had been there. I guess it is supposed to be Winter, with monsoon season coming up. So I hear.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Cross the Street (Versus)
2. Baby I Love Your Way (Big Mountain)
3. Heathaze (Genesis)
4. Technopolis (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
5. The Plan (live) (Built to Spill)
6. Dance Song 97 (Sleater-Kinney)
7. Hide Away (live) (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)
8. Maximum Consumption (The Kinks)
9. High (The Cure)
10. It's So Hard (live) (John Lennon)

Life Imitating Art

March 3, 2006 - Cloudy day on Heping East Road. Actually it's been cloudy most of the time I've been here. I shot this on the way to school, killing the roll. A serendipitous confluence of elements. Statues like these creep me out. Like they're real people frozen in time. I remember a really creepy statue in downtown San Francisco of a line children skipping. Creepy.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Tell Me Why (Echobelly)
2. Shika no Tone (Kohachiro Miyata)
3. Horses (Tori Amos)
4. Beautiful (Carole King)
5. Can't Be Sure (The Sundays)
6. All Too Soon (Duke Ellington)
7. Sitting In My Hotel (The Kinks)
8. Distant Early Warning (live) (Rush)
9. Kaila Raps (Victor Wooten)
10. Two Step (Throwing Muses)

Daan Park footbridge

February 24, 2006 - Another lomo view from the footbridge. I don't know what it is about this footbridge, but I really like it. Something about it is distinct and striking to me. Like it's not just another mundane, functional footbridge, but it's architecture. But I don't think it was meant to be. I think it was meant to be just another mundane, functional footbridge. But unlike most footbridges, it connects all four corners of the intersection, and so far it's the only one like it that I've seen, so it's unique.

But Taipei is quite large, and I've barely begun to get acquainted with it. I don't know if it's like San Francisco, where you can know the city. I think Taipei exceeds the size of a city that you can really "know".

The park is on the corner on the right of this shot. This is looking north.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. Behold! The Night Mare (Smashing Pumpkins) what a pretentious name for a pretty good song
2. A Different City (Modest Mouse)
3. Shehar Ki Pariyon ("Jo Jeeta Woh Sikandar")
4. He's Gone (Suede)
5. Knock On Wood (live) (David Bowie)
6. Shy (Ani DiFranco)
7. untitled (Blonde Redhead)
8. Tracery (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)
9. King Porter Stomp (Benny Goodman)
10. Want More (Bob Marley & the Wailers)

Taipei, Taiwan

March 3, 2006 - Yea, so I'm in Taiwan now. I just got this roll developed and there are still pre-Taiwan shots that I'll get to, I'm sure, but since I'm in this new place, I thought I'd start posting of the new place.

This is an elevated footbridge connecting all four corners at the intersection of Heping East Road and Xin Sheng Road. It's less than half a block from where I live, and I use it almost everyday to get to school (studying Mandarin). That wee spire in the distance is the Taipei 101 building, currently the tallest building in the world, to be superceded in several years by a taller building in Shanghai, which might be superceded by the replacement building at the World Trade Center site in New York, but at the rate it's going, that won't be completed until terrorists win the war on terror.

If you've seen the movie Yi Yi, there is a shot of this footbridge in one scene.

I'm pretty sure this is a roll of expired Fuji Superia film because the whole roll has an "interesting" quality to it.

iTunes soundtrack:
1. The Sound of Business (David Byrne)
2. Stay With Me (Melodie & 12 O'Clock)
3. No. 13 Baby (The Pixies)
4. Symphony No. 2, I. Adagio molto-Allegro con brio (Beethoven)
5. I Looked at You (The Doors)
6. The Ballad of Johnny Burma (Mission of Burma)
7. Speed of Life (David Bowie)
8. Pantomime (Engine Down)
9. Kayleigh (Marillion)
10. Old Old Song (Ani DiFranco)