Recipes for Health 1: Thai Eggplant Salad

This dish is adapted from a grilled eggplant salad recipe in Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s wonderful book "Seductions of Rice" (Artisan, New York). Jasmine rice is an aromatic, soft, long-grain rice widely used in Thailand. The Thai dishes that employ fragrant rice are also well seasoned, so this rice is traditionally cooked without salt.

1 cup Thai jasmine rice Water
Salt to taste (optional)
1 1/2 pounds long, thin Japanese eggplants, or 1 large globe eggplant, sliced about 1/4 inch thick (slice on the diagonal if using long, thin eggplants)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large plum tomato, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
For the dressing:
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar , dash of fish sauce
1/2 to 1 serrano or bird chile, to taste, finely minced

Kiss of the Eternal...

世界對著它的愛人，把它浩翰的面具揭下了。 它變小了，小如一首歌，小如一回永恆的接吻。

The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover. It becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.

Ways of Seeing 2: Women as Muses or Spells to the Artists?

Muses in Greek mythology : women are goddesses for music, poetry, drama, literature, dance, astronomy, epics, history, and Art !

The Way of Seeing1 : photography

Photographer caught the moment of expression which best portrayed the image that the photo taker had in mind.

Whether is alluring, mischievous, elegant, or sensuous...

We communicate with the audience with an attitude in mind, sometimes the photo does not manifest the true selves of freedom. We see how people see us in the photos that we usually do not find them in the mirror.

"The Way of Seeing" by John Berger.

Secrete Garden 2 ...

Dressing Aphrodite in a secret garden...

金色筆記之 9： Big Bang

倘若我有無限的心量, 我將跳脫無限的輪迴。。。
仰望著滿天的星星，也許已是幾萬光年的時間，
是否我們曾是大爆炸時，存在的微小物質與反物質?
然而幾萬光年後，這宇宙還是會留下我們的足跡。
只因，
我們徹底的愛過。。。

金色筆記之 8 ： 珍珠項鍊

最近都撐到好晚才睡 :
感覺好像餓了，肚子餓了還是心靈空了 ?
不知...真的不知...

找吃的, 早上起來會更空虛...
找小說，脈搏太弱無法呼吸...
找電視電影裡的劇情 ,
勉勉強強的，不屑的，輕蔑的心情...

結果， 感覺不餓了 ，
卻哭了...

然後，我把我悲傷的眼淚串成一條珍珠項鍊 ，
掛在菩薩的頸項上。
有些贖罪，有些慶幸，原來我還是有感覺的 。
誤以為自己被反鎖在暗室裡， 失去了聽覺視覺味覺的能力
只有觸感...

我的心是活著的...

A Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2 : Imperfection and Love

To conclude this reversed life journey, I shall quote from Tagore's " Flying Fire":

My last salutations are to them who knew me imperfect and loved me.

Love's gift cannot given, it waits to be accepted.

When death comes and whisper to me, "thy days are ended,"

let me say to him, " I have lived in love and not in mere time. "

A Curious Case of Benjamin Button 1 : Life Coincident

"We are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss."

People come and go in our lives, meeting and parting causing by all series of coincident events.

No matter we fail or succeed, we can cry and morn , feel self-pity or feel arrogantly self-centered for the rest of our lives; on the other hand, we can forgive and start our lives vigorously and passionately all over again.

Nonetheless, we should not loss our heart and sensitivities, because there is always a love to treasure, yet not to possess, for our whole life time.

With beautifully witnessed eyes, breath taking rythm, the movie took the audience traveling though 80 years of the 20th century in 3 hours.

Director: Eric Roth

Featuring: Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett ( 9*/10* )

Soul of the Tango...

Soul of the Tango: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_exd6U1ubY

Rock Tango Argentine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A6Wzg_nWdw

Heart Tango: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6j6uOyvBp0&feature=fvw

"Angels and Demons" 2 : Antimatter

Two controversial issues have been discussed in the book:

1. The Illuminati feared that if religion continued to promote pious myth as absolute fact, scientific progress would halt, and mankind will be doomed to an ignorant future senseless holy wars. However, there has no history of their existence for over half a century, and many scholars agree the Illuminati has been defunct for many years. Their central covenant is the obliteration of Christianity, but they wielded their power through political and financial means, not through terrorists acts.

2 Matter is nothing but trapped energy . Antimatter is the most powerful energy source known to man. It releases energy with 100 percent efficiency ( nuclear fission is 1.5 percent efficient). Antimatter creates no pollution or radiation , and a droplet could power New York City for a full day.

"Antimatter" is made up of elementary particles, each of which has the same mass as their corresponding matter counterparts –protons, neutrons and electrons — but the opposite charges and magnetic properties. When matter and antimatter particles collide, they annihilate each other and produce energy according to Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2.

According to the Big Bang model, the Universe was awash in particles of both matter and antimatter shortly after the Big Bang. Most of this material annihilated, but because there was slightly more matter than antimatter – less than one part per billion – only matter was left behind, at least in the local Universe

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nca-jgg5mA&hl=zh-TW
* http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&hl=zh-TW&rlz=1T4GGLL_zh-TWTW314TW314&q=antimatter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=QtVUSuOlMoKosgP_oPibDw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=8#

"Angels and Demons" 1: Illuminati

In the beginning of the "Angels and Demons", it says: The brotherhood of the Illuminati is also factual.

Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened"), is referred to many groups, especially an anti-Christian organization that sought for enlightenment. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. In modern times it is also used to refer to a purported conspiratorial organization which acts as a shadowy "power behind the throne". (Including French Revolution.)　

Theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati, including Galileo , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder, Winston Churchill, David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Prokofiev Piano No.3: Argerich

I wish I was there...!
The Score: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AdBi5IBrto&feature=related
The Performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPOb9NxoYbA&feature=related

True Love vs Infatuation

From the movie, "Slumdog Millionare", one argument on love has been discussed as following:

In the movie, one line appeared : "we could not live on Love", the secular one, which should be defined as infatuation, has shown the majority notion on love and relationship in today's society. This infatuation lives usually very ephemeral, 2 years being the longest ( depending on how much time spending together of course. )

I do still believe in true love, that seems an infrangible and unfathomable faith, and yet, I do not think many people will find their true love, probably only a few on earth. As one Tibetan master says, marriage is an impermanent event alike many other contracts, so that there is no guarantee for happiness, no guarantee for forever love, and no guarantee for non-betrayal, only when one person becomes a Buddhisattva would make the romantic love or marriage lasts forever without sorrow.

We can find the embodiment of Forever Love on incessant giving, passionate nurture, true appreciation, and non-selfish human behavior, whereas any other promises or contract will not do.

Pierre Bonnard : A Color Player

As if you are walking in a colorful palette of magic fantasy, you can smell the sweetness, feel the warmth, gaze into something delightful in his paintings.
You can see his small brushstroke indicating the direction of the win, and the intensity of the smile.

Pierre Bonnard : (1867-1947)

"論語"喚醒內在的心靈....

于丹說得好，"論語傳遞的是一種態度，一種樸素，溫暖的生活態度。"論語"的真諦，是要告訴大家，如何在心靈上快樂的生活。"

佛家在生活之外之道外，常說的是如何面對死亡 ，儒家說的是如何面對生活。

一個人的自信心來自於哪裡？它來自於內心的淡定與坦然！

子曰："仁者不憂，智者不惑，勇者不懼。"

所謂仁，就是愛人。智就是了解人。勇就是坦然面對的態度。就這麼簡單 。

心中有"天下"之前，必須先修身，齊家...!! 這是現代政治人物所忽略的條件。

難怪個個口裡說為民為社會為國，結果卻大部份是一群無仁無義無信，自私自利之人。以愛民為藉口，盡是諂媚矯做的發展自己的小黨, 自己的帝國。

每每我們總認為孔夫子愛說教，但在於丹筆下，他是一位活生生的智者， 論語沒有色彩，只有溫度的智慧之語，他喚醒我們的內在心靈。倘若我們沒有思考其邏輯巧思，只是當作教條，斷章取義，不知變通，所謂"道德"也只是舊式社會下的法律規章，毫無存在的意義！

Sommerlier Restaurant (小酒館 )

Dressing in summer red walking into the Sommerlier Restaurant (小酒館 ) , the last meeting in June, I initially did not like the place, a very business and crowded atmosphere, somewhat unfriendly and suffocated.

But the food was surprisingly delicious. Sliced scallop salad, Esgargots, and German style Knucle, Eisbein. ( Score: 79)

El Cantor De Tango 2： 探戈歌手

讀完" 探戈歌手" ，彷彿目睹布宜諾斯艾利斯在一首首的探戈樂曲裡漫步起舞，長久以來的經濟政治困境在句句的悲嘆中纏綿。

她像是一個美麗卻憔悴，年過半百的風塵女子，走過文化的迷宮，走入過往的倫敦巴黎，歷經悲鳴鄙視戰爭的史詩。人們總在街頭擁吻跳舞歌唱，沒有時間的趕場，像個迷失的老靈魂，像個自以為永遠比別人懂事的少女，卻已是殘花敗柳....

她就是布宜諾斯艾利斯。讓好多世界來往的人們迷戀忘返，如此古老現代卻又毫不真實的與世界脫節.... 只因探戈讓她擁有撩人的魅力，有如古代文人流連青樓的吸引力。

"探戈歌手是個最好的演員，不是普通的演員，而是能認同別人情感的演員"，他們，如同布宜諾斯艾利斯，充滿了幻想，充滿了狂野，"失落抑鬱，充滿了傑磝不遜，隱藏了不曾勇於公諸於世的情感"！(p.159)

在樂句停頓間，我們屏氣聆聽著歌手的呼吸，撫摸著舞伴的脈搏，依偎著胸口與體溫，讓兩個不相識的靈魂在空中交會，卻在下一首樂曲中毫不相識....作者說，"這像是競技的性事，不參與內心情感"，與Argentina Tango"起源於妓院不謀而合". (p. 15)

"當我們撇見迷宮圖案時，往往產生錯覺，以為是繪製的線條賦予她形象, 事實上，剛好相反，形象存在於線條之間的空白處。" 傳奇人物 Evita，也只會在這樣謎樣的夢幻城市裡迷倒群雄，她無法在正史中找到適當的位置，卻是在這裡作一位自命不凡的精神領袖。

布宜諾斯艾利斯，她再也沒有巴黎的豔麗，倫敦的知性，米蘭的時尚，翡冷翠的藝術，馬德里的狂邁, 她擁有各個城市的一絲風華，在永遠神秘的面紗中隱藏，隱藏在一首首的探戈裡，淫浪，大膽，炙熱，無奈，風情萬種。

El Cantor De Tango 1： 探戈歌手

"若布宜諾斯艾利斯是軀體，那麼探戈歌手就是靈魂，

或者一個是形，另一個是影，兩者相互依存，共赴生死布宜……諾斯艾利斯儼然一只記憶匣子，宛如一首深邃探戈，彷彿一則永恆神話，更像一座詭譎迷宮，...精彩絕倫的文學符碼、萎靡頹圮的孤寂氛圍、驕傲自負的民族性格..." Prologue on T. E. Martinez's Tango...

一種毫無理由的自大導致阿根廷的沒落, 卻也在筆者深邃的情愫裡找到歷史的軌跡!　探戈樂曲裡充滿了失戀，沮喪，慾望，熱烈，孤獨...像是找不到歸宿的身體在一首首的探戈樂曲裡相互依偎，一個個曾風華絕世卻孤寂落寞的靈魂在歌聲中頹廢宣洩。　

Intimacy reveals...

Some people cry mournfully after a passionate intimacy;

some people laugh incessantly afterwards.

It all depends on how much suppression you have been carried on...

金色筆記之7 ： Warrent Buffet 變乞丐了？

有這麼一個故事，一天，一個少年看到節儉的Warrent Buffet 走在路上思考著投資的方向，穿著隨便，不時低著頭，還把冬天帽子拿在手上。

少年不懂事，看到這麼一位堪稱世界首富的老翁，以為是拿著帽子乞討的乞丐。便對著他，以輕蔑的不禮貌的口氣，大聲嚷嚷，乞丐，乞丐，你擋到我的路了丫，別向我要錢！

這位成功的投資家，對著這位少年微笑，也不辯稱他的身份!

身邊的認得他的路人，深感不滿跑來請教Buffet，
他卻說：難道那不懂事的少年說我是可悲的乞丐，我就會變作是乞丐了嗎？
路人恍然大悟的說：是ㄚ，您還是投資大師世界首富。

當別人怎樣說我，罵我，把我冠上奇怪的稱號時，
從前，我會很生氣，被誤會...被誤解...
現在，需要佛慢升起.....
就像首富不會變乞丐一樣...
微笑！別在意...

金色筆記之6 ： 我與佛無二無別

宇宙間可以容納無限,就像我們的心識一樣...
生氣時，常常是因為氣自己，氣自己沒有被尊重，沒有被認同 ...
氣自己的貪念，瞠心，及愚昧引領著自己走向坎坷的道路。

但是，佛陀說：體性空，自性明。

我們不必要懷疑，心識的空廣性，廣大性，與本清淨無染性。
我們擁有無限的慈悲心，無限的能力，無限的智慧，無限的穩定力與專注力。

也許，昇起了一絲的佛慢, 總是沒有自憐自艾的驕縱!

Live for the moment's whim...

Spring scatters the petals of flowers that are not for the fruits of the future, but for the moment's whim.

春天散播花瓣，不是為了未來的果實，而是為了片刻的玄思妙想。

金色筆記之舞 ： 行住坐臥間...

人真的是被自己的習慣牽著走....
即使是自以為喜歡創新的人...
習慣著自己的感覺, 習慣的聽某種談話方式，
聽某種音樂, 習慣和相仿的人在一起,
習慣的身邊有愛人陪或沒有人...
習慣的向外尋找刺激...

有時候覺得超級無聊...
但是，沒有人能夠擺脫這些發自心底的需求.
有人說，直到有一天，
我身體心靈生活獨立自主了, 我知道我生存在世界上該如何存在了？

我依然的彈琴，畫畫，吃飯，睡覺， 談戀愛，抱抱....
這一切才不是淪為習慣。 而是一分一秒的享受。
雖然寂寞孤獨依然！

因為凡人的快樂, 都如泡沫, 短暫而逝....一件事, 一個人帶來的喜樂是一小時, 一天, 一星期, 一年? 能多長？　

L' IDIOT

As walking into an art exhibition gallery, L' IDIOT (里帝歐 ) restaurant, I suddenly felt like flying back to a 19 century Tuscan cave simmering with olive, basil and mosaic atmosphere. While I sat beside the frizzling fire place tried to enjoy this special view in Taipei, I wished there were cushion on the chair pampered my physical indulgence.

Other than that, the taste is original, textured, fresh and light, not fancy or creative. Service is good; broad wine selection.

The best thing here is the Warm Chocolate cake, that melt into my palate, sweet and bitter, like chocolate cream massaging my tongue... (score: 76)