Author: Jeff Fenske Page 30 of 54
Winter Sky – Jiang Xiao-Qing / Graces of Asia (Official Audio)
Official Audio for “Winter Sky” by Jiang Xiao-Qing（姜小青/ジャンシャオチン）from the album「Graces of Asia」
Download on iTunes: http://radi.al/GracesOfAsia
Pacific Moon Homepage: http://www.pacificmoon.com/home.html
Asia. An ancient and mysterious land. Filled with dichotomies of passion and serenity, gentleness and harshness, intensity…and grace. It is an intricate interweaving of qualities, born of time, tradition, and culture, and this essence is reflected in its land, its people and its music.
“Graces of Asia” is a compilation album by five virtuoso women artists from Asia, which beautifully expresses the complexity of the Asian soul. The chords of the erhu, ghu zheng, pipa, and koto vibrate with a sorrowful melancholy air, conveying a sense of purity in the resounding tones. The notes of the piano ring clear and poignant, and the multi-layered vocal harmonies are stirring. Weaving a fine tapestry of sounds, these artists and their instruments evoke the richness and beauty of Asia in the hearts of the audience.
The songs are deeply and quietly moving, created from an energy that is at once both subtle and powerful. With simple elegance, the music of these five women embodies an abiding softness, strength, and spirit. Truly, they are “Graces of Asia.”
My favorite photo software program buried by Google! Nothing else is like it, or can be:
Google’s “Don’t be EVIL” slogan is like Fox News’ “Fair & Balanced.” Saying they are not something may fool some, but EVIL IS: buying Nik’s patented U-Point technology, developed by almost 100 brilliant Germans, and then burying it, so NO ONE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO USE CONTROL POINTS AGAIN!
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Google Abandons Its Nik Collection of Popular Photo Editing Software
MAY 30, 2017
Google has quietly announced that it will be abandoning the Nik Collection from here on out. The announcement was made through a simple banner message found on the Nik Collection homepage.
“The Nik Collection is free and compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 through 10.10; Windows Vista, 7, 8; and Adobe Photoshop through CC 2015,” Google writes. “We have no plans to update the Collection or add new features over time.”
Google will no longer develop Nik Collection
Published May 30, 2017
Google will stop providing updates for its Nik Collection suite of plug-in photo editing tools. The ‘announcement’ comes by way of a banner at the top of the Nik Collection site, stating that there are no plans to update or add features to the Collection.
Google acquired Nik in 2012, taking ownership of its desktop apps as well as its popular Snapseed mobile editing app. The company began offering the Collection free of charge last year.
“He betrayed us. Yet we feed and clothe him.” – Young Caine
“And you disapprove. . . I am aware of his unsavory adventures. I am aware also of his hunger and cold. . . . Will the earth fall away from under his feet? Will the sun, shining on all else, refuse him light? If sun and earth and water refrain from judgment, who am I to withhold a blanket and a bowl of rice?” – Master Kan
• • •
Kung Fu: On Unconditional Love
I LOVE large, brightly lit ‘statement pieces;’ although, shoppers here won’t get the full, straight scoop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oME8o0gytCY
KHON2 News Living808 Visit LIK Fine Art Waikiki Gallery
Unlike most of these clips in which the young Caine is older, David Carradine’s brother, Keith takes David’s place.
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Master Po: Where is evil? In the rat, whose nature it is to steal grain. Or in the cat? Whose nature it is to kill the rat.
Young Caine: The rat steals. Yet for him the cat is evil.
Master Po: And to the cat, the rat.
Young Caine: Yet master, surely one of them is evil.
Master Po: The rat does not steal. The cat does not murder. Rain falls, the stream flows, a hill remains. Each acts according to its nature.
Young Caine: Then is there no evil for men? Each man tells himself that what he does is good. At least for himself.
Master Po: Grasshopper. A man may tell himself many things. But is a man’s universe made only of himself?
Young Caine: If a man hurts me, and I punish him – perhaps he will not hurt another.
Master Po: And if you do nothing?
Young Caine: He will believe he may do as he wishes.
Master Po: Perhaps. Or perhaps he will learn that some men receive injury, but return kindness.
• • •
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWudtShYP0
Kung Fu – Return Injury with Kindness – S01E11 Chains
Related:
All of my “Kung Fu – No Hate ’70s Series” posts at my personal blog
Master Kan: Had you good cause to risk this danger?
Caine: My purpose was to prove my agility and my courage.
Master Kan: I had hoped such qualities were already yours.
Caine: I sought to test them.
Master Kan: For yourself or them? Is it not better to see yourself truly than care about how others see you?
Caine: Yes, Master. If I look truly, will I see truly?
Master Kan: It can be done.
• • •
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH9oY5X0Nlk
Kung Fu – Seeing Truly – S01E09 The Soldier – David Carradine
Young Caine: He fights with such power. He is the strongest and surely the best.
Master Kan: He is the strongest… and the weakest. He will soon be dismissed.
Young Caine: You confuse me, master.
Master Kan: What is gained by using one’s strength in violence and anger?
Young Caine: A victory that is swift.
Master Kan: Yet to be violent is to be weak. Violence has no mind. Is it not wiser to seek a man’s love than to desire his swift defeat?
• • •
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmX93-mWtLg
Kung Fu – Violence – S02E15 The Way of Violence Has No Mind – David Carradine
I like this, but would probably word it a little differently.
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Young Caine: Master how may I walk a peaceful path when the world is seldom peaceful?
Master Po: Peace lies not in the world, Grasshopper, but in the man who walks the path.
Young Caine: But in my path may be men not filled with peace.
Master Po: Then seek a different path.
Young Caine: And if at each turn appear those who would be violent and do not love peace?
Master Po: To reach perfection, a man must develop equally compassion and wisdom.
Young Caine: But master, how do I not contend with the man that would contend with me?
Master Po: In a heart that is one with nature [I would say ‘the Creator’], though the body contends, there is no violence. And in the heart that is not one with nature, though the body be at rest, there is always violence. Be, therefore, like the prow of a boat, it cleaves the water yet it leaves in its wake water unbroken.
• • •
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXDZOa1rEp0
Kung Fu – Contention – S01E08 Sun and Cloud Shadow – David Carradine
KCC: I must leave soon.
Woman: What should I do?
KCC: What do you feel?
Woman: Hate. Fills the emptiness where my child grew.
KCC: To hate is like drinking salt water. Your thirst grows worse.
Woman: Don’t you understand what I feel?
KCC: I have seen the silkworm. It spins a thread. Thinking itself to be safe, it has spun a tomb. Hate is the tomb you weave. It will not save you from your suffering.
Woman: That’s what I feel. What can I do with it?
KCC: Perhaps there is room to bury your hate in that small grave where we have come from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7GqET29IU
Kung Fu – Hate – S01E04 An Eye For An Eye – David Carradine
Related:
All of my Kung Fu – No Hate ’70s Series posts at my personal blog
7/28/2007
Canon SD-800
Girdwood, Alaska
Likely in Banff
My aunt and Mom!
2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4cUZKaU8MQ
Kung Fu – Taking out of Need – S01E14 The Third Man
Caine (David Carradine): They laugh at me, master.
Master Po (Keye Luke): Good. To bring joy to others honours the giver.
Caine: But their laughter is not joyful, for it derides me.
Master Po: Are you hurt by it?
Caine: Yes.
Master Po: Because you gave comfort where comfort is needed?
Caine: Was this not unmanly?
Master Po: There is a strength in us that can shatter an invisible object with a hand, which comes from a strong and disciplined body. There is another strength that allows us to feel the pain of others, and give comfort where comfort is needed. This comes from a compassionate heart. True strength must combine both, for that is in harmony with the duality of our natures. For what you have done, you may indeed take comfort in their laughter.
• • •
Kung Fu: On Policing the Bro Code
KCC: “If one’s words are not better than silence, one should keep silent.”
• • •
Kung Fu: When to be Silent and When to Speak
Disciple Caine: ‘Master Tae, What is the best way to deal with force?’
-Master Tae: ‘As we prize peace and quiet above victory, there is a simple and preferred method…. Run away.’
Kan: Do not meet a wave head on. Avoid it. You do not have to stop force. It is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve, than to destroy. Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious. Nor can any be replaced.
• • •
Kung Fu: The Best Ways of Dealing With Force
I used to regularly get water here.
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From: ADN.com
The curious popularity of a water pipe on the Seward Highway
A trickle from the rocks at Mile 109 draws people who like its taste and like the fact that it’s not treated city tap water. But is it safe?
A 3-inch hole in a rock wall at Mile 109 of the Seward Highway quenches many thirsts.
Tourists pull over for a cup of refreshing liquid Alaska, wild and cold. Locals, suspicious of treated city water, make the drive regularly to resupply their homes, even though there’s less known about this source of water than the water from their sinks. Others simply prefer the taste of the water that trickles there, supplemental hydration they take away one Nalgene bottle at a time.
This drainage hole in the rock between Beluga Point and Windy Corner on Turnagain Arm draws visitors all day long. Anyone who has driven the highway with any regularity has seen them, perhaps wondered why, and maybe had to brake for them as they dart across the road. …
Mica Sexton pulled up next. … People are too trusting of the government and media, he said. Fluoride is one reason, he said, that he “won’t touch” tap water.
“I think most people, when you tell them that somebody that they trust to look out for their good is putting something bad in their water, most people just look at you and tell you you need a tinfoil hat,” Sexton said.
Sexton said he also suspects city water treatment removes healthy minerals he believes he’s getting from this large drinking straw poked into the Chugach Mountains. …
Water quality
…Alaska Dispatch News collected a sample and delivered it to ARS Aleut Analytical….
In short, all categories fell within the maximum contaminant limits set for drinking water by Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation. At least they did that day. ARS Aleut Analytical lab manager Ian Schacht said that a water quality test is just a snapshot of one point in time, which can’t replace regular monitoring. Results could fluctuate for many reasons.
KCC: Master, we are taught that a good man’s heart is not shut within itself, but is open to the hearts of others.
Po: The sage says “Find good people good, and bad people good, because I am good enough. Trust men of their word, and liars, if I am true enough.” To be yourself, Grasshopper, feel the heartbeats of others, above your own.
KCC: But if I shall love others how can I be sure that they, in return, will love me?
Po: Do you seek love or barter?
KCC: But if I love others, and they do not love me, I shall feel great pain.
Po: That is what you risk, Grasshopper. Great pain, or great joy.
• • •
Kung Fu: The Risk of Love
Po: Grasshopper, do you find mystery in the fire?
KCC: My thoughts are of a girl I saw in the marketplace. She as very pretty. She sought my friendship. And then when she had it, she did not want it. Master, why can the female not be direct and open as the man can?
Po: Is it not better that the female act as a female?
KCC: She seeks only to confuse. The truth is not within her.
Po: Perhaps you only fail to perceive it.
KCC: I do not know that I wish to perceive it
Po: (Pointing to a coal fire) What is it that makes the heat? The coal or the flame?
KCC: The coal. The heat is within the coal.
Po: What if the coal is not touched be the flame?
KCC: The heat is not felt.
Po: Are not male and female, coal and flame? If the coal does not seek to know the flame, can either fulfill their destiny?
• • •
Kung Fu: Master Po Helps Caine Understand Women
Kung Fu: Caine Stops an Old Man From Being Bullied
Kung Fu: Don’t Bow to Superstition
KCC: Master, I am troubled. We learn to make powerful the force of out bodies. Yet we are taught to reverence all against whom we may use such force.
Kan: When your life is threatened, or the innocent life of another, you will be prepared to defend them.
KCC: Being thus prepared better than others, should I not always stand and fight?
Kan: Ignore the insulting tongue, duck the provoking blow, run from the assault of the strong.
KCC: Are these not the actions of a coward?
Kan: The wild boar runs from the tiger. Knowing that each being well armed by nature with deadly strength, may kill the other. Running, he saves his own life, and that of the tiger. This is not cowardice. It is the love of life.
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Kung Fu: Why Running Away From a Fight is Not Cowardice
Kung Fu: Caine the Horse Whisperer
Kung Fu: The Hands are the Eyes of Touch
Po: I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy. For from mercy comes courage. The second is frugality. From which comes generosity to others. The third is humility. For from it comes leadership.
KCC: Strange treasures. How shall I keep them?
Po: Keep them in your deeds, Grasshopper.
• • •
Kung Fu: The Wisdom Behind the Rock, Paper, Scissors Game
The TV program that influenced me more than any other
Related: All of my Kung Fu – No Hate ’70s Series posts
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Old Man: If I don’t have a right to revenge, who does?!
KCC: No one.
David Carradine: That was the theme, really. It’s an anti-revenge television series.
• • •
Kung Fu: The Journey From Grasshopper to Caine
“The power of not contending”
• • •
Kung Fu: The Best Fighters Don’t Contend
Kung Fu: On Revenge (With a Young Don Johnson)
“Remember this, if men would contend with you, seek not their death, but choose your own life.”
– Master Kan
• • •
Kung Fu: “Saving Your Own Life” vs “Killing an Opponent”