know your history.

how do we expect others to know and respect our history if we can’t get our own history right?

"Double Ten Day celebrates the start of the Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China and establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912."

source: Wikipedia - Double Ten Day

some more reading…
If I Had a Panda for Everytime Someone Said “Happy Birthday Taiwan” - from Tom Tsai

100 Years of History Behind Double Ten Day of the R.O.C.  - from www.taiwaneseamerican.org

also don’t forget… 
Reconsider Columbus Day - from www.reconsidercolumbusday.org


The 8 I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts

something i thought i’d share as an avid fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.. ironically, i actually discovered the FSM via one of those decals which are normally the fish symbol. maybe those things actually DO work..??

The 8 I’d Really Rather You Didn’ts 

1. I’d really rather you didn’t act like a sanctimonious holier-than-thou ass when describing my noodly goodness. If some people don’t believe in me, that’s okay. Really, I’m not that vain. Besides, this isn’t about them so don’t change the subject.

2. I’d really rather you didn’t use my existence as a means to oppress, subjugate, punish, eviscerate, and/or, you know, be mean to others. I don’t require sacrifices, and purity is for drinking water, not people.

3. I’d really rather you didn’t judge people for the way they look, or how they dress, or the way they talk, or, well, just play nice, okay? Oh, and get this into your thick heads: woman = person. man = person. Samey = Samey. One is not better than the other, unless we’re talking about fashion and I’m sorry, but I gave that to women and some guys who know the difference between teal and fuchsia.

4. I’d really rather you didn’t indulge in conduct that offends yourself, or your willing, consenting partner of legal age AND mental maturity. As for anyone who might object, I think the expression is “go fuck yourself,” unless they find that offensive in which case they can turn off the TV for once and go for a walk for a change.

5. I’d really rather you didn’t challenge the bigoted, misogynistic, hateful ideas of others on an empty stomach. Eat, then go after the bitches.

6. I’d really rather you didn’t build multi million-dollar synagogues / churches / temples / mosques / shrines to my noodly goodness when the money could be better spent (take your pick):
I. Ending poverty
II. Curing diseases
III. Living in peace, loving with passion, and lowering the cost of cable
I might be a complex-carbohydrate omniscient being, but I enjoy the simple things in life. I ought to know. I AM the creator.

7. I’d really rather you didn’t go around telling people I talk to you. You’re not that interesting. Get over yourself. And I told you to love your fellow man, can’t you take a hint?

8. I’d really rather you didn’t do unto others as you would have them do unto you if you are into, um, stuff that uses a lot of leather/lubricant/vaseline. If the other person is into it, however (pursuant to #4), then have at it, take pictures, and for the love of Mike, wear a CONDOM! Honestly, it’s a piece of rubber. If I didn’t want it to feel good when you did it I would have added spikes, or something.



"Touched by His Noodly Appendage" - Niklas Jansson (2005)

台上兩分鐘, 台下十年功

"two minutes on the stage/ten years of labor off the stage"

SO!.. here are few clips we put up recently on our Instant Noodles Crew Youtube Channel. of course, Youtube has been great for dancers in that we’re able to showcase our craft and our art in an entirely different, more publicly accessible medium. 

More importantly however, is HOW we are arriving at our final product and presentation. I think the process of which dancers (and their crews/groups/teams/companies..) go through is highly under-represented.. and that there should be an active appreciation for the process as their is for the product. for the two minutes on stage at HHI, its safe to say that every group that represented their city/country spent countless hours in the lab. 

for myself, and for Instant Noodles as well, our purpose is to show and make apparent not just WHAT we are doing, but HOW and WHY, be it freestyling, on the stage, or in my room behind locked doors in front of the mirror in my underwear. the decisions, approaches, attitudes, and mentality of us as human beings all contribute to what you see on stage, in the cypher, in the battle, in the performance. we hope that you do appreciate our dancing!! but in digging deeper, we hope to present to you who we are in our process of creation… 

this is the beginning of an effort on our part to share the other side. 

instantnoodlescrew:

what in the hey. seriously.

at this point, all i can say is… i don’t understand. i can see what was before, and i can see what is now.. but how did i get to this place? completely trusting, completely immersing myself in what i once considered so futile, so fleeting, and unworthy of my energy/investment… and here i am, a fool to the universe and whatever the hell its bringing my way. 

but isn’t that it? realizing that what you made work for yourself is not what the bigger picture has intended for you. that somewhere within, you are beyond what you have defined yourself to be. that what was working for you… wasn’t really working? where everything you thought understood to be solid fact suddenly became an irrelevant pile of BLAH?

find the ability of being able to find and be open to such moments.. despite “reality”, despite circumstances. to not selfishly wish for more, but at the same time not denying yourself the chance for something beyond amazing. 

on a side note: if someone comes along, turns your world upside down, turns you inside out, and completely changes your life… make sure you tell them. 


Airports. A place of beginnings, endings, reconnections, revisiting… looking forward, yet perhaps glancing back once in awhile.

For as much as I have been blessed to travel in this life.. with my parents when I was younger, going to college for the first time, and subsequent back-and-forth trips between the US and Taiwan, this was the first time that I set foot in an airport terminal wishing that the situation was otherwise.. it only adds onto the irony that I was about to embark on a trip home after almost two years.

It all felt very mechanical.. packing, driving to the airport, getting my ticket, going through security, strapping myself in my seat, and then waiting for the time to pass as I was blasted through the sky in a hollow metal tube with wings.

Right now, there is a great deal of open-ended-ness.. although strangely, I’m concerned less about feelings, and more about approach. I know I cannot… and refuse to be defined by my emotions and what is fleeting, but by the decisions and choices I am choosing to make… and sometimes, there are decisions that were made for me.

To make a long story short, its taken the majority of this year for me realize that, what seemed like a huge blow to my confidence and career, was actually the biggest blessing of my life. The last few months, through the show, though the people that dance has brought into my life, through experiences brought upon Instant Noodles (as dancers, as a crew, but most importantly, people), have actually been more amazing than I could have ever imagined it to be. Because of that, I can’t and refuse to believe that there aren’t bigger and better things are in store. There’s no way this momentary stall is permanent. and I believe that.

In the midst of the anger, the confusion, the frustration.. we have to hang onto our ability to hope, and to trust in the universe that there is something greater that has yet to come. 

photocredit: Amber-colored Specs on Flickr

" I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true, I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. “

excerpt from Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s “The Invitation”

its never about what is good or bad, just what is most honest. be strong. 

=

there will be a time to perform on a stage, on TV, for a crowd… but really, its the about the shared experience of mutual progression. the reality is that there is no difference between you and i, other than the amount of time and effort we put into our craft and our art… and that’s what i love the most about this b-boy culture. ultimately, there are no red carpets, no velvet ropes. we’re all dancing to the same rhythms, the same sounds, on the same floor, in the same circles and cyphers. another individual’s obstacles were once our obstacles. it doesn’t matter where i’m at, or where you’re at. what matters is that there’s a chance and a place and a reason to build together. of course, i’m not even close to where i’d like to be and this journey and path is never ending. there’s always more to discover, more to realize, more to learn.

we are what we are.. but we also need to remember how and why.

thin lines.

i’ve been wondering if my slight obsession and belief in being able to live a balanced life is more detrimental than it is edifying. there are constant thoughts involving the self vs. the group, personal expectations vs. external demands. i’m finding that in constantly wanting to maintain balance, i’ve become more centered about HOW MUCH i believe in something (so i can pick it apart in order to compromise), rather than WHAT i actually believe in. i don’t know if i view “balance” as a strong way to live any longer. rather, balance is more of an awareness than a lifestyle. in the end, it is our unwavering trust and faith in someone/something that will define us, rather than our ability to “make everything work”… although that’s always a plus, i suppose. i am on existing on one end of the spectrum, but would it be considered unbalanced if i don’t believe there is anything to balance?

also, i need some freakin’ sleep. i’m going to read this later today and kick myself. HA!