Art Hangup

I'm taking the day off today from blogging—well, sort of. We picked up our artwork from the framers yesterday, and today we will be hanging it.

While we were at the framers, I picked up some prefab frames so I could hang a few other pieces that have been moldering (or at least languishing) for twenty years or more, usually in envelopes tucked in drawers (folded-up calligraphy and rubbings on thin rice paper).

One reason among many for the sudden attention to this lost art is that I wanted to cover this electrical box in the living room.

This Naxi Dongba pictographic calligraphy from Yunnan Province seemed to be the right size. I probably should have taken the time to press the wrinkles from the rice paper, but I wanted to hang it NOW.

By the way, any suggestions for removing these folding creases would be highly appreciated (Logan, Phillip, Erica?).

This the 3x7 inch envelope in which the calligraphy resided for almost twenty years. Conveniently, it gives me the name of the addressee (middle left) of this 1977 letter, my calligrapher, Mr. Lu Shaokang (吕少康).

I bought this piece in 1993 while studying in China on a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. I skipped out the program a little early so that I might have time for the 60-hour train ride to Yunnan Province and a few days to explore. My excuse was that I had to return home because of the flooding in Des Moines. True, and yet I had to travel first; how better but at the expense of class time.

This calligraphy was painted by a local Chinese expert on the Naxi culture, the afore-mentioned Mr. Lu Shaokang (吕少康). Mr Lu was an octo-nanagenarian who lived in a beautiful old peg-framed house five times his age, in Lijiang Old Town. The delicate rice paper is torn in a couple of places, and slightly stained from the leaky roof tiles in his studio apartment, which was crammed floor to ceiling with books and art, and his other, meagre belongings.

Tucked in the bottom right is the note that Mr. Lu gave me with the calligraphy. Patty says I should probably have it framed separately, and I will if I can ever find the time.

This accompanying note, written in Mr. Liu's clear hand (he was quite the student of English), gives both literal and figurative translations of the graphs. Also, barely visibly written in pencil at the bottom of this note is the asking price: ¥80 (at the time about nine bucks). While I usually would bargain a price down in China, if for no other reason than to save face, I couldn't bear to dicker with this elegant old scholar, and would gladly have given him more.


Check back next week for the unveiling of the art and the apartment.

Laundry Puppet

Nothing new to report today. Stayed in and did laundry and other chores. Also took the Globe Seven (now Eight) out for a spin on the BC Trail up to Burnaby, as it was beautiful out—crisp, clear, and 15° (59°).

Today we had a dumpling redux at our neighborhood Sichuan restaurant, Chong Qing (重庆). Chong Qing is named after the city of 30 million in Sichuan Province (now its own autonomous municipality), which Westerners might know as Chungking, from the old postal Romanization. 


By the way, these dumplings are green from the spinach in the dough, not from sitting in a fridge too long. And they were/are delish. 


While it looks like we got a lot of food for our thirty bucks, we will get three meals out of it.

Today was lunch (albeit mid-afternoon) so we got soup with our meal. This hot and sour was done perfectly, with fresh peas and shrooms, and carrots, tofu and bamboo shoots, and everything made last minute.

Patty had the Da Qian Chicken (大千鸡), chunks of chicken in a dark brown spicy garlic sauce, which garnered three out of four peppers on the menu heat (辣 la) scale.

I had the Da Qian Tofu (大千豆腐): replace the chicken with  deep-fried tofu. Quite tasty and great for leftovers; I added it to the stir-fried noodles and gailan 芥蓝 (Chinese broccoli) I made for dinner last night.

Happy in anticipation of our meal. Photo by....

...Mr. Xiang Li. Mr. Xiang is normally a happy and outgoing guy, but today, he was particularly effusive. He had to tell us he was heading home for two months starting Thanksgiving (second Monday in October) weekend. Mr. Xiang is from Southeast China, from the province of...

...Anhui (安徽)，famous for...

...Huang Shan (黄山 Mount Huang) renowned surrealistic inspiration for artists and poets.

As reported by the famous Fox Butterfield, for the New York Times in 1981: "Since the eighth-century poet Li Po celebrated the phantasmagoric beauties of Huang Shan, a mountain of oddly-shaped peaks, pines and clouds, the Chinese have considered it one of the wonders of nature."

And many an ink and paint artist used the Huang Mountains for as calligraphic backdrop, this painting from the Qing Dynasty.

I've always wanted to climb the Huang peaks. Okay, I'm a little "home"sick for China.

Taking the El to Art

Yesterday, we thought we should head down to the Vancouver Art Gallery (with its unfortunate acronym) for a little surrealism and to purchase memberships. We also wanted to see some art.

So, we hopped on the SkyTrain, and went to the Red Card sports bar for football and pizza. Manchester United and Basel were playing. It ended in a 3-3 tie. Then, we walked around the corner to the museum.

Our luck: they extended the show until October 2. I tried to get a little too artsy with the back lighting on this pic so you can't really see that.

How's this?

Just a fountain outside. Not there yet.

The exhibition had the rather unwieldy title: The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art brings to light the Surrealists’ fascination with First Nations art. 

I'm pretty sure it's a big Canadian curator schwing to combine such seemingly disparate art as First Nations' masks and totems, and surrealism in all it's manifestations. Plus, what better way to make use of all those indigenous pieces held in storage?

Here's a blurb from Art Daily:

"It is said that when Surrealist André Breton first saw an indigenous mask from the Pacific Northwest ,  he called it “more surreal than the Surrealists.” During the 1930s and 40s, Breton and many of his Surrealist colleagues were intrigued and became avid collectors of this art and, in some cases, visitors to British Columbia and Alaska. For the first time in an exhibition, The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art brings to light the Surrealists’ fascination with First Nations art."

For More: ArtDaily.org

I really enjoyed the works of Kurt Seligmann, but there were so many works in this exhibit (well over three hundred), and from so many heavy hitters, it would be impossible for me to choose a favorite.

We did purchase memberships, which entitled us to, among other things, a couple day passes for friends and family. So far, it looks like these will go to Trish and Alex, who will be visiting in December. Unless you can beat them to the punch.

Pit of Sloth

 What is it, you say?

Why, but one piece of the four-box sofa we bought from Ikea. The last soul-sucking piece of furniture ineluctably purchased from the Swedish master race to prop up the Swedish, Chinese, and Canadian economies. It sleeps two, however, so don't complain future visitors.

All you need to do it yourself: wheels, legs, pins, screws, nuts and bolts, hex wrenches, wordless instructions for the dolt who paid for the pleasure, and a Swiss army knife for wrist slitting.

Putting my graduate degree to use.

Patty helped, too.

Really ordinary udon and tempura from The Sushi House, or some such place in Richmond.

But, it was cheap.


Tune in next week (or so) for the blog where we have the apartment finally put together.

Famous Canadians—William Shatner

 William Shatner, from Montreal, leads off my new and periodic salute to famous Canadians. Bill gets this honor simply because I happened to catch his cover of Pulp's  1994 song, "Common People" last Saturday on Radio Paradise. It's pretty good, as you can hear below, thanks in no small part to Ben Fold's production and the backing vocals of Joe Jackson.

Unfortunately, because of copyright issues, you have to go to the YouTube site for the video below. Also check out the animated video mashup version.

Mr. Shatner was also known more infamously for his rendition of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Rocket Man", which he delivered, without a hint of parody, at the 1978 Science Fiction Awards show.

A more recent picture of the rather well-preserved octogenarian.

Food redux 1: Golden Sichuan Restaurant in Richmond. We thought we should give this place another try as we do love our Chuan Cai (川菜).

This time we ordered the veg version of Ma Po Dofu. Quite yummy and they didn't spare the sichuan peppercorns when they found out we didn't pa la (fear hot 怕辣).

These string beans, with chunks of garlic and peppers, were quite flavorful albeit a tad over cooked.

This time we got an over-sized bowl of salt and pepper peanuts generously loaded also with Sichuan pepper powder, perhaps because I spoke Chinese to our Sichuanese waitress. She was so happy to talk about Sichuan and was clearly homesick, having been in Canada for four years without returning to visit.

This sign, which originally read "Come in harry" made me think we were actually in China for lunch.

Ohm Cookin' (Part 2: Ohm-Cooked Tacos)

Okay, time for another simple meal on the ol' FES (friggin' electric stove). Nothing simpler than tacos, right?

Reminder! Anyone, even Sans-a-belt® wearing' Republicans, or other neer-do-wells, can now post comments without registering, and they can do so anonymously (chicken-Sh#%s). Dai

First, plan ahead. Soak pinto beans over night. Cook them on simmer until done. These you can over cook as you'll be mashing them. I usually throw in some diced onion and a head of garlic. These will be mashed up later, so no worries (Canadianism). ALWAYS add a couple of bay leaves or they'll be bland.

Sauté some onion and garlic in a boatload of oil. Traditionally, one would use lard as the oil. As a vega-terrorist, I prefer canola or some other neutral tasting oil. Add the beans and mash them until they are the consistency of, well, depends...

I love short-grain brown rice in tacos. Usually, I caramelize a couple of diced onions, throw in a bunch of garlic toward the end on the caramelization process. On this occasion, I added some leftover fried fresh corn from the night before (fresh corn cut from the cob, fried in garlic and jalapeño peppers). For seasoning, I usually use cumin, mexican oregano, salt and pepper, maybe a little coriander, and most importantly.....

...chipotle chili powder. I got mine from Mimosa Market (or the Bisbee Food Co-op) in Bisbee, Arizona. Not so convenient, you say? You can make your own from dried chipotle peppers. BTW, Trish, when you visit in December, think you could bring some more?

We like a little guac with our tacos. I'm a minimalist here, coarsely mashed avocado, garlic, salt and pepper.

Add a little white cheddar or Oaxaca cheese, salsa, and lettuce and you're ready to chow down on a relatively healthy meal, and a complete source protein.

Significant of nothing, I had to share this pic a a ride from Hillbilly Cycles. This bike comes complete with motor assist, fro those times when you've had a little too much Jack.

Feelin' Falafel (Part 2: Falafel Plus)

Finally, another stab at the Falafel. The food in Whistler, by the bye,  put the meh in mediocre. With the exception of one nice Italian dinner at Trattoria Di Umberto, and the competent burgers at Splitz Grill, the food ranged from pretty awful to fills-the-void. So, back in Vancouver, we were eager to start eaten' proper again.

This time, we would leave Lebanon behind in favor of Israel and  Felafel Plus.

The place had a decent vibe, with the nice Jewish boy in the yarmulke taking marching orders from the aiming'-to-please manager behind the counter.

The deli counter had a good looking assortment of veggie accompaniments, and the manager assembled it all without asking what we wanted. I might do this a little differently in the future, as I really hate the texture of eggplant. The tahini wasn't naturally spicy, but there was a little bowl of peppers in front to make it so. 

Patty's shawarma, while visually appealing to a carnivore, and sporting a whole wheat pita, was, according to the consumer, dry, and not nearly as good a the  Falafel Maison in Kensington-Cedar Cottage. No future redux on this one.

My falafel, on the other hand, was much better overall than Falafel Maison's. It was crispier and had a better assortment of veggies. They used romaine lettuce instead of iceberg, and it was served in an actual pita (a fresh one at that), not a tortilla or wrap. Next time, I will ask for whole wheat pita and scratch the egg plant in favor of pickles with a bite. Overall, I'd have to give this falafel three stars on the (newly-created) Azuri five-star scale.

After lunch, we headed for sea for a walk on Kitsilano Beach.

Thought of you and Dean, Jim, when I happened into the Kitsilano Yacht Club (open to the public). Not many yachts here, mostly pretty bitty boats and kayaks.

This boat won't float. For some reason, Vancouverites have a penchant for repurposing various modes of transportation (mostly cars and pickups) into flower beds. This was the first sail boat I've seen, behind the charmingly ramshackle Kits Yacht Club.

Maybe we should just chuck it all and live on a sailboat.

Free beer on me to the first person who can correctly identify this non-duck.

Maybe a better rock would provide a perch for both legs? I'm just saying, bird brain.

Of course, no day would be complete without a new beer to try. After our walk, we stopped by the Boathouse Restaurant, on the beach, for a couple pints. Patty is quaffing the Granville Island False Creek Raspberry Ale; I'm having the Killer Whale Ale, which is exclusive to the Boathouse. Both were tasty.