Oh, Those Toes

Back again after another absence from posting. Fate and our own ineptitude conspired to render us without the means to shoot pictures or video since the new year--except on my phone, which really isn't a viable long-term option. Katie and I have finally sorted things out. Last weekend we purchased a new Ixus 65 digital camera to replace her older model which had a broken LCD. We also bought a new charger for the video camera to replace the pair we left in California and which are no doubt lost in some postal netherworld (most likely floating in the mid-Pacific).

Katie used the new Ixus to shoot the following video. The image quality is pretty good for something not really designed as a video camera. As usual, I posted the photo to Google Video so as to easily embed it here. I was disturbed to discover that it's subject matter (toes) causes Google to recommend a host of rather unsavory food fetish home movies in the right hand column when viewed through their site. It sort of taints the innocent joy of a baby chewing on his feet.

Powerful Music, Serious Rock 'n' Roll

Reading Hunter S. Thompson's Kingdom of Fear and enjoying it immensely. It's a fitting swansong to his storied career. I have always admired Thompson's taste in music, which runs roughly parallel to my own at times--particularly his appreciation of Lyle Lovette. He got me thinking on Bob Dylan and Warren Zevon, two of his favorite artists. The latter never really registered for me simply for lack of exposure. Feeling inspired and needing what the Doctor regularly refers to as "Powerful Music" and "Serious Rock 'n' Roll", I picked up a bit of both Dylan (Love and Theft) and Zevon (the entire discography) today.

Josh is thoroughly enjoying both his jumper and the new swing seat we acquired over the last 48 hours. He wears himself ragged in the jumper and then snoozes away in the swing seat. The swing seat plays a variety of soothing music and sounds, including breaking waves and what approximates the sound of a mothers heart beat as heard in the womb. This was all it took to send him into a near comatose state for nearly an hour.

Today was Josh's 4-month "birthday." Chinese tradition called for him being festooned with a string of cookies around the neck and paraded to the homes of various neighbors in his grandmother's community to be praised and admired. I had never heard of this, but as with most similar situations, I played along like the happy ignorant foreign husband that I am.

Josh's Jolly Jumper Joy

My mom sent us a parental aid that is strangely difficult to find in Taiwan. The Jolly Jumper is a sort of bungee contraption that you strap your baby into after which he will amuse himself for hours bouncing up and down to his heart's content. Ours arrived by mail today and I rushed home to strap the young lad into it. Well, it was an immediate hit. Unfortunately both batteries for the video camera are dead and I'm waiting for the chargers I left in the states to arrive. Given my limited video recording choices, I was forced to shoot a short clip on my new phone. Not bad in a pinch.

New Year's Eve Fireworks

As promised, here is the video I shot with my new DV camera of the Taipei 101 fireworks. It was a rush job, as I had to install a firewire card in my computer first and then quickly teach myself Movie Maker (not too difficult). I tossed in a soundtrack of "Gimme Shelter" by the Stones for good measure. You can't really go wrong with that tune for dramatic background music. For such a simple program, I was impressed with Movie Maker. I use Sony Vegas at work never thought I would give the Windows program a second look, but now I'm thinking I'll probably use it for simple projects.

Back in the 'hood

I have been somewhat remiss in my holiday postings. I tried to make a post yesterday upon your return to Taiwan through Picasa, the Google photo program, but nothing showed up on the blog. I didn't have the energy to recompose my entire post until today.

The flight back from California went off relatively well. Unlike the trip over, we got a bassinet for Josh so he didn't have to sleep on the seat. Aside for a few brief crying spells, which always seem to last an eternity when you are the parent of the crying child, the kid behaved like a trooper.

Our final days in California were marked by unexpected wind storms which played havoc with trees in the Ojai area. Several of the large oaks and elms at our family's apartment complexes fell victim. I've posted a few photos over on the Picasa site.

I've also put up a few photos of our completely overhauled front garden. Much of the credit goes to our South African neighbor, Gary, who handled everything while we are gone to the U.S. An amateur gardening enthusiast in his own right, Gary contacted a pair of Filipino workers to put down a new lawn of Korean grass. It has yet to be seen how this new ground cover survives, especially will the excrement attacks being waged by a certain neighborhood dog. Katie and I were immediately caught up in a gardening fervor and headed strait to the nursery on New Year's Eve to buy some flowers, mint and a little lemon tree to plant around the perimeter of the yard.

Last night we rang in the New Year on the hill behind our neighborhood, which affords an excellent view of the city including the fireworks display at Taipei 101. It seems that about 100 other people had the same idea, but the crowds made the scene all the more festive. I shot the even on my new Canon ZR600 DV camera, only to realize today that I will need a firewire connector and cable (not included) before I can edit the video and post it here. Stay tuned.