The Beast of Turin

Hat tip to Sanchez. Now that's an internal combustion engine!

The Beast of Turin trailer from stefan marjoram on Vimeo.

Surprises about my grandfather

I found a great bio of my grandfather on Baidu and I am having it professionally translated. Online translation sites just don't cut it. From what I can piece together, he was quite forward thinking, opening schools and organizing teachers unions. The biggest surprise? That he was a Communist in the 1920s. The book cover above is about a Dutch priest who was killed by Japanese soldiers when he refused to hand over girls who had sought refuge in his church. The priest is in the process of being beatified; his supporters want him to be the patron saint of victims of sex abuse. Apparently, my grandfather chronicled the incident and his writings are being used as documentary evidence in the Vatican application.

American military Taiwan propaganda video

I am discovering some incredible stories about my grandfather, from just an evening on Baidu, with the help of an online translator. More later as I try to confirm the stories. For now,:

Documentary of Cold War Taiwan (and self-discovery)

Some observations:

• When I was a kid, I remember during the weather segment of newscasts, they would give the weather in Quemoy and Matsu like it was a thousand miles away.
• I don't remember so many store signs in Japanese when I was growing up in the 1970s.
• Ironic that stability and prosperity were based partly on land reform, a leftist principle.
• One of the reasons I moved to the U.S. was because my family didn't want me to serve in the military and risk injury/life.

And for something a bit more sobering. I am trying to find out more about my grandfather's role in the government. He served either in the Legislative Yuan or the National Assembly (or maybe he didn't). It's hard to know without access to primary source materials. It's even tougher when you can't read Chinese. I found a 70-page book put out by the U.S. Embassy in Taiwan in 1961. It is basically a list of all government officials and high ranking Kuomingtang members in Taiwan. Maybe it will shed some light on what he did and who he was.

It's sobering because of his position. It's natural to look up to your grandparents. They can do no wrong. But when you hear someone served in the legislative body of a dictatorship, the figure you conjure in your mind is of a corrupt and sycophantic yes-man. But I'm curious, and I am ready to face reality. I ordered the book from the library and will check it out when it's ready to be viewed. 

Oakland getting destroyed

The Russian news network RT loves showing images of chaos in America. It had a lot of help yesterday from a bunch of kids and adults who should know better in Oakland.

Truck jumps over F1 car

1996 Maxima restored by Nissan HQ

Seasons Greetings

When prosecutor Robert McCulloch was 12, his police officer father was killed in the line of duty by a black man. That explains things a bit.

Funny Thai tire ad

Sanchez goes diescast shopping in HK

Click here.