The baseball great: Yogi Berra

In my post about the signal transduction of the neurons, Lawrence Cancelmi mentioned Yogi Berra; it is fitting to have a post to pay a tribute to this baseball great, who was also at Omaha Beach on D-Day (6 days away).

During last World Series I had a post of “America’s Past Time: Let the game begin!” at Sermo, generating 47 interesting comments from 10/28 to 11/5/09. I had the following comment on 10/31/09:

[my Sermo username] Internal Medicine

Posted Oct 31, 2009 at 5:20 PM

While waiting for the Game 3 to start, let me talk about Yogi Berra, the old time Yankee great and the eternal Yankee, who was escorted out to the field on Game 1 by the First and the Second Lady. It is well known that Yogi survived George Steinbrenner and few knew he also survived the Normandy as he seldom spoke of his war experience in the 1950s.

When Ike visited Bayfield (at Omaha Beach) where Yogi landed, he never saw the general, but Ike saw him play in some World Series and they met but never talked about D-Day.

Yogi was one of the most quoted baseball players.

"You cannot think and hit at the same time."

"In baseball you don't know nothing."

"Half this game is 90 percent mental."

"It ain't over till it's over."

"Go out live your life like every day is opening day." (This one is for Game 1 opening day)

The book was what I checked out from the Library during the last World Series.

We love Cubs—Pirates was able to raise the Jolly Roger in Pittsburgh when the Cubs came to town

Poor Cubs; they were beaten 9 to 1 by Albert Pujols’ 3 home runs yesterday and came to the Steel City to be beaten by the lowly Pirates 2 to 1 as usual on this Memorial Day. Pirates is now 6 to 1 vs. Cubs for this season.

We noticed the Pirates Parrot has a new ‘girl friend’ with whom I was fortunate to have a picture taken on Mother’s Day.

Comparison of Memorial Day with Chinese Chingming (清明節)

It is fitting to compare and contrast American Memorial Day with Chinese Chingming Jei (清明節) on Memorial Day (May 31) today—it is always the last Monday of May.

The origin of Memorial Day ca be traced back to 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War; it was initially called Decoration Day until late 1800s when “Memorial Day” was first used. Then after WWI, the day was expanded to honor those who perished in all American wars. It was declared a national holiday, thus a 3-day long weekend, in 1971.

Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of the summer, so cook out with a grill in the backyard to kick off the summer has become a tradition. The cartoon reminds us not to forget the origin of the Memorial Day.

The Chinese poem by Tu Mu (杜牧) is the most famous poem for Chingming Jei (清明節). Here is my translation:

On Grave Sweeping Day(Chingming) it is drizzling;

The people traveling on the road heart breaking.

Tu Mu (杜牧) was a late Tan Dynasty poet and was born in 803AD, so it is for sure that Chinese already had Chingming (清明節) at least 1200 years ago; is there anyone can tell me when it started? I know Chingming (清明節) go by lunar calendar but have forgotten which day it is.

Memorial Day has its origin of commemorating the men and women who died while serving in the military whereas Chingming (清明節) is in memory of one’s ancestors. As far as I can tell, Chingming (清明節) hasn’t been commercialized; I am hoping the day will come that one will see more crowd in the cemetery than in the shopping mall on Memorial Day.

Lincoln Memorial was dedicated today in 1922

(The picture was taken on our last trip to Washington, D.C. to see the cherry blossom April 1.)

Today (May 30) in 1922 the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated and Robert Lincoln must have watched it with a solemn and exhilarating emotion knowing his father would live as long as America does. Robert was then 79 years old and he died at age of 83 in 1926.

Lincoln’s second son, Edward, died at age of 4 in Springfield, Illinois. In his farewell speech while leaving Springfield for Washington to take up the Presidency, he said, “Here I have been a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried.” It always saddens me to read this unscheduled speech, he went on, “I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, . . .”

His second son, Willie, died at the White House. The 4th son, Tad (Thomas, but Lincolns called him Tad, as he had no hair as a child, looking like a tadpole) went with his mother, Mary, to live in Europe (mainly France, Mary was fluent in French) for 3 years, and died of probable tuberculosis at age of 18 in Chicago.

While defending Mary Lincoln at Sermo (a physicians-only online site) last year, I had mixed opinion on Robert Lincoln.

This is how Albert Pujols is Albert Pujols: 3 home runs in a game

Is Pujols majestic?

While watching the Pirates:Braves game this afternoon, I switched to the Cardinals:Cubs game as I was not interested in seeing Pirates being swept by the Atlanta Braves; swept they were. I made the right choice and saw the 3 home runs (all with a 2 strikes) and 2 walks by Albert Pujols and Cardinals beat the Cubs by 9 to 1. Pujols was even appreciated and cheered by the Cubs fans. This is the enemy they can love. I know Lawrence Cancelmi would say “I wish he were a Pirate(s)”.
(click the photo to enlarge it)

The picture was taken by Katy at PNC Park on Mother’s Day; when I went to a ball game I always brought along a photographer. A nice photo will compensate what I cannot achieve in writing.

In the midgame short interview the Braves manager said PNC park is the “pure beauty, it is the number one” He couldn’t find any thing nice to say about the Pirates, thankfully we have a nice ball park.

Who said nobody is perfect? Roy Halladay proved them wrong!

There were only 18 perfect games in the 100 years of illustrious MLB history when Dallas Braden (of Oakland Athletics) threw the 19th earlier this month and Roy Halladay (of Phillies) followed suit throwing the 20th tonight; I don’t think there ever were two perfect games in the same season, let alone the same month.

Cheng-Hung Lin Now the only achievement Doc needs to accomplish is to have a championship ring.

On Doctoring: congratulatory messages to (the newly minted) Dr. Adam Russell Greenlee

“While medicine is to be your vocation or calling, see to it that you have also an avocation—some intellectual pastime which may serve to keep you in touch with the world of art, of science, or of letters.” —by Dr. William Osler

Honor the physician with the honor due him,

according to your need of him,

for the Lord created him;

for healing comes from the Most High,

and he will receive a gift from the king.

The skill of the physician lifts up his head,

and in the presence of great men he is admired.

. . . . . . . . . .

Ecclesiasticus 38: 1-15

Surgeons must be very careful

When they take the knife!

Underneath their fine incisions

Stirs the Culprit—Life!

—by Emily Dickinson

Unfortunately (or fortunately) Benjamin Franklin also said, “God heals, and doctors takes the fee.” As Sara said, it helps to pay back the student loan. :- )

Medicine is learned by the bedside and not in the classroom. –by Sir William Osler

(This is the best excuse for those who like to skip a class once in a while.)

The practice of medicine is an art, based on science. –by Sir William Osler

(When doctors have no clue about the pathogenesis or mechanism of something, they like to say “medicine is an art.”)

The greatest mistake in the treatment of disease is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated. –by Plato

(for Dr. Adam Greenlee who wants to be a doctor for both the body and the mind—a rare double specialty. Plato, worry no more, Dr. Adam Greenlee wouldn't make that kind of mistake.)

Now can we unabashedly say “God cannot be everywhere, so He creates doctors”? Adam R. Greenlee, M.D. would agree, no doubt!

Dining in the 204 year old house: the Back Porch Restaurant

有朋自遠方來, 不亦樂乎 (Isn’t it a pleasure when friend visits from distant place?) Katy had a friend visiting from Hong Kong; we took her to the Back Porch for a different dining experience on May 27.

Back Porch Restaurant is located at Belle Vernon about 20 miles to the east of Washington, PA. The 204 year-old charming antique-filled house is registered as a landmark. This reminds us of the good old days when Waynesburg still had a Willow Inn, which is also a house of more than 200 years old. There is no hours, nor menu, nor price (if you have to ask, you cannot afford it) for the restaurant, all you have to do was to call and tell him how many people coming; he cooked, we ate; and that is all there is to it. It closed after the owner/chef passed away about 5 years ago. I would be lying if I said I miss him when in the bottom of my heart I am missing his exotic dishes—until this day I still do not know whether he had names for his dishes or not.

I had Bay of Fundy salmon prepared pecan crusted (you may have noticed I sea [see] food I eat it); plated with steamed asparagus (the chef did that in less time than it takes to cook asparagus—a Roman proverb) and mixed salad greens dressed with Sallot-White balsamic vinaigrette.

Katy is a jumbo lump cake lover; Katy let our guest try a bit and she commented “外脆內嫩” and that was exactly what described in the menu, “crispy on the outside and flakey inside”; it is served with Chipotle dipping sauce. We shared Katy's four tiny potatoes, that was the best potato we ever had.

Our guest enjoyed Steak Bruschetta: grilled filet medallions (a chef with meat seeks fire—the chef must be aware of this Nigerian proverb—“The man with meat seeks fire”), served on garlic-toast and plated with the same thing as my pecan crusted salmon.

My only regret is that no bread served with an otherwise gratifying meal. One can also eat at the patio or ‘back porch’ bistro, but I wouldn’t go that far to say, as it was once voted one of the most romantic restaurants in Pittsburgh. May be because we went for lunch.

“There is no wild beast like an angry theologian”—Emperor Julian said of Martin Luther

Today (May 26) in 1521 Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms (vohrms) for his rebellion in religious writings. He spoke of pope as “the devil’s sow”; of bishops as “larvae”; of monks as “fleas on God Almighty’s fur coat.” When Luther’s wife reproached him “Dear husband, you’re too rude” he answered “a twig can be cut with a bread knife, but an oak calls for an axe.”

Emperor Julian said of him, “There is no wild beast like an angry theologian.” But, in many ways one cannot but admire this mad theologian, who advocated “we should vanquish heretics with books, not with burning.” He recommended “the death penalty for blasphemy should be softened to exile.”

Unfortunately in his sunset years, he degenerated into a ‘pope’ that he once so ferociously castigated. (is this power corrupt people?) In 1530, in his commentary on the Eighty-second Psalm, he advised government to put to death all heretics, and demanded Jewish schools and synagogues should be razed with fire.”

No wonder Will Durant wrote, “Luther should never have grown old.”

“One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper’s”—a pleasantly surprised gift from Mr. Iams

One a recent Saturday afternoon we heard the door bell rang, a surprised visit by Mr. Iams with a heavy package in his hand, accompanied by Michael Romesburg; and a even more surprised gift of “One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper’s”

I had my Thanksgiving dinner at Mrs. Greenlee’s home last November (Katy was away visiting her parents in Taiwan); Mr. and Mrs. Iams (current principal of Central Greene Elementary School at Waynesburg) were also present. Mr. Iams must have figured out that the Harper’s book would enlighten and delight me.

Just give you a rough idea of what one can expect of this book; among the selections from 1850s, one will find Herman Melville’s “The Town-Ho’s story”, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Uttoxeter”, and Stephen Douglas’ (with whom Lincoln had the “House Divided” debate) “The Dividing Line Between Federal and Local Authority”—a topic that rekindled Lincoln’s interest in politics.

I’ll find some heavy reading in this heavy 9” x 11” book (not suitable to put on the night stand beside the bed, though: it is too heavy to hold it in one hand and it will keep one awake through the night). Serious or light-hearted, the articles are selected on the account of their historical and literary importance.

One hour before Mr. Iams visited; I just checked out two The New Yorker books (Secrete Ingredients and Life Stories: Profiles from the New Yorker); Mr. Iams said “You do not need to return this one [Harper’s]” Thank you! Mr. and Mrs. Iams.

How Ingrid Bergman became Maria in For Whom the Bell Tolls

I just watched For Whom the Bell Tolls one more time. I have watched at least 5 times, will watch another 5 times, no doubt.

Hemingway helped Ingrid Bergman get the role as Maria; he mentioned Ingrid as a possible Maria in an article in Life. When Hemingway and Ingrid first met, he gave her a copy of his For Whom the Bell Tolls with an inscription of “To Ingrid Bergman, who is the Maria of this story” and told her that “If you don’t act in the picture, Ingrid, I won’t work on it.” Keep in mind Paramount Pictures then thought this Swedish beauty “dumb”, “wooden”, and “untalented”. Hemingway apparently put pressure on David Selznick (who also produced Gone with the Wind) to select Ingrid.

After shooting the movie Gary Cooper and Hemingway became good buddy and often went big game together.

After discovering the DNA structure at Cambridge, England, James Watson went to Cal Tech; the day he arrived Gary Cooper and his daughter (a high school senior then) was visiting the school. Cooper was the different breed of movie star comparing with what we have nowadays.

Hemingway was injured working as an ambulance driver during WWI and fell in love with a Red Cross nurse (many years his senior) coming from Bellevue Hospital, NYC (I once spent 3 months in the pulmonary service at VA Hospital Manhattan, where there was a “walk-way” bridge connection high on the air between the two hospitals.) And this was the story behind “A Farewell to Arms”; I read the book and fell in love with Catherine Barkley (a British nurse in the book—I am hoping Katy is not reading this). Hemingway was a man of action; he wrote using subjective and verb only and used adjective only when it was absolutely necessary, but one can see ‘grand’ almost every other page in this book. In fact, that was how I got “Grand Garden”

Bread is the king of the table

Someone said “Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king.” Many years ago on one of our trips to Taiwan we were treated with sumptuous banquet with exotic and scrumptious dishes (山珍海味), and one of our girls (I believe Josephine was the guilty one) asked the waitress a bowel of plain rice; she felt so offended or even insulted saying in a condescending air “in our restaurant, we do not serve rice.”

The opposite is true for American restaurants; they take pride in the bread they serve and breads are even the main attraction for some. Maggiano’s Little Italy (the one Joy and we used to frequent in Chicago and Skokie, IL) served at least 5 or 6 different kinds of breads, if you cannot find even one that suits your taste; the problem is yours. We usually have two loaves of wonderful dark brown bread that loaded with fiber, thanks to rye flour at Outback restaurant (this comes from a doctor who preaches low-carbohydrate diet).

Janice is fascinated in making bread from scratch; she once boasted her ciabatta was much much better than the average bread one can buy in the store. I am hoping one day I can say, as Henry James did “And the best bread was of my mother’s [Janice’s—in my case] own making—the best in all the land.”

Yesterday we went to Carnegie Library (at Pittsburgh) and then to the Italian market and Lotus Food (Chinese grocery) at the Strip District—food for the mind and the body in one trip—and got my beloved Walnut Rasin bread (see the picture)

There is no such a thing as “ROMANTIC” for Chinese

In a Chia-Lin Chang’s post at Facebook, I mentioned I got Katy as a bride via a ‘mail order’, Jason Yen said it was a ‘romantic’ story. But based on my ‘research’, there was no such a word/phrase of ‘romantic’ in the original Chinese. Over the thousands of years, Chinese never felt compelled to make such a word/phrase to describe a sentiment that they didn’t have.

‘Romantic’ has been generally referred as 羅漫帝克 or 浪漫的 in Chinese, in my humble opinion, both are ‘translated’ directly through the English pronunciation of ‘romantic’.

羅漫帝克 is generally reserved in describing a male-female relationship of love, whereas 浪漫的 is more kin to ‘romantic’ which has a much broader meaning. Churchill wrote “a long romantic history of the British Empire,” Herman Melville wrote, “collecting romantic articles of commerce—the pearl oyster, arrowroot, ambergris, sandalwood, coconut oil.”

One may argue that without a proper Chinese word of ‘romantic’ doesn’t necessarily mean Chinese are not romantic, just like there is no such a word of 孝 (love one’s parents) in English, except “filial affection/love” and that doesn’t mean Americans do not love their parents.  體貼  may be the closest thing to ‘romantic’.

Katy's reports to the World Journal

On May 15 Katy went to attend (I went along as the chauffeur) the Buddha Day ceremony by Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟基金會) at Pittsburgh, then went to the 53rd International Pittsburgh Folk Festival (匹茲堡民俗節) at the new Monroeville Convention Center.


One report is 匹茲堡民俗節 花 鼓歌舞中國味, the other is 浴佛節 + 母親節 +全球慈濟日 慈濟感恩 浴佛節三合一, the size doesn’t fit the page, I thus copy by segments. The English translation will follow, I hope! (click the photo to enlarge it)

The grand opening of the Grand Garden

Every house got to have a garden; every garden got to have a name. After tripling the size (20 x 30 feet) of Katy’s garden, I can unabashedly call it Grand Garden; this is in the spirit of calling things by their proper names. Gloria and Tom will be surprised to see what they have got us to start with.

I call it Katy’s Grand Garden not without a reason; I am actually an ignoramus when it comes to the gardening. My job is just putting up the fences, tilling, weeding and watering. Planning and planting is Katy’s job. While she is planning what she will plant, I am contemplating what I will read in the garden; Henry Thoreau’s Walden will do. I can also pick up Tao Qian (陶潜) or better known as Tao Yuan-Ming (陶淵明) whose poems usually depict life in the fields/farms.

我的 搬門弄虎 (How I show off my slight skill before an expert)

After not reading and writing Chinese for nearly 40 years, I have forgotten how to write many Chinese characters.

In writing “Amazing Applications of Microsurgery: by Dr. Cheng-Hung Lin, 林承弘 (Luke)” I heard Luke said “ban men nau fu”, which I remember it means “display one’s slight skill before an expert”, so I wrote “搬門弄虎”; I was sure it implies the skill of “taming the tiger” (弄虎), but forgot why “moving the door” (搬門), so I asked Katy what was the “source of this phrase” (典故)

Looking at my 搬門弄虎, Katy said in disbelief “夭壽” (said in Taiwanese), I knew something was terribly wrong. It should be 班門弄斧, instead of 搬門弄虎.

The story (典故) is that there was a guy named 魯班, famously known for his skill in turning any wood into exquisite art work, using ax (斧), so if any one tries to show off one’s carpentry work in front of (or in front of the house door) 魯班, is 班門弄斧.

搬門弄虎 and 班門弄斧 have exactly the same pronunciations.

This is why you need more Facebook “friends”

In AOL days the buzzword was “You’ve got mail”, nowadays Facebook is the King and “can we be friends?”  Can you afford not to have many 'friends' in Facebook?

This is the “Pepper and Salt” in today’s Wall Street Journal.

My Photos - Hearty meal at Bob Evans—we ate like a family

We went back to Lowe’s to get more fences (actually another fancy kennel) so that Katy’s new garden will be triple in size (20 x 30 feet) when the new fences can be delivered this weekend. Katy knew how to get a good bargain from Lowe’s. She told the manager that ordering online will enjoy free delivery, so the manager made an exception to match the online offer of free delivery.

It was almost 9 o’clock when the business was done; we stopped by at Bob Evans for a family-style hearty meal. My Potato-Crusted Flounder is a mild whitish fillet grilled to perfection in a delicious potato crust that has an inviting appeal.

There is a story of Katy’s Slow-Roasting Turkey; there was a time when no one minded if a roast took all day and all night as long as it came out just right, and that was the one Katy had tonight.

We almost forgot to mention the tasty banana bread. We’re the last guest leaving the restaurant and the manager came out twice to have a friendly chat like a family; it is a family-style restaurant after all, and the manager promised that he will convey our appreciation to Ashley who was our chef.

The Irrelevant Yuan (元) and what’s in a name? 蔡哲元, 李遠哲, 嘉珍, 嘉玲, 嘉倫

“The Irrelevant Yuan” was an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal yesterday. If you must say I (Jer-Yuan Tsai, 蔡哲元) am irrelevant, then how can you say Yuan Tseh Lee (李遠哲) is irrelevant; we both have a “Yuan” in our name. His “Yuan” is 遠, and mine 元. We actually have the same 哲 in our name, although his is spelled as Tseh, and mine Jer.

I trust you know Yuan Tseh Lee (李遠哲) shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Dudley Herschback in 1986. The take home message is that one cannot guess the correct Chinese characters by reading the English names, not even an educated guess.

Yuan (元) is the unit of dollar; I have one dollar (我有一元). As the unit of money, Yuan (元) may not be glamorous, but it also means ‘primary’ or ‘first’, such as 元首 (head of state). Yuan Dynasty (元朝) is the Empire of Great Khan—Kublai Khan and Genghis Khan.

In the States ‘Dollar’ (美元) is used to mean “US dollar” and Yuan (元) Chinese dollar, thus “The Irrelevant Yuan (元)”.

Jer or Tseh (哲) means ‘sage’ ‘wise guy’ rightly so :- ), 哲學 means philosophy.

Janice’s Chinese name is 嘉珍; she recently was surprised to learn that 嘉 means ‘commend, praise, compliment, fine, beautiful, etc’, all the good things for she was always led to believe that she was named after 嘉義, the place Katy and I used to live. 珍 means pearl or treasure. (my hand written note shows the original 珍 and 元 thousand years ago).

Jo is 嘉玲, and Joy 嘉倫.

Singing “In Praise of Formosa” (福爾摩沙頌) evokes nostalgia (思鄉情怯)

Thanks to the teaching of a minister’s wife from New Jersey, we learned and sang In Praise of Formosa (福爾摩沙頌) on our trip to Arizona and New Mexico last summer. The Youtube link is the performance of it by National Symphony Orchestra & National Choir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-1dRSENN5w&feature=player_embedded

Our amateurish singing was no match for the professional performance, but we’re as enthusiastic and emotional, evoking nostalgia (思鄉情怯). This is my continuing ‘nostalgia’ series.

The anatomy of Chinese characters: 疾病 矢 痛 痛苦

Once you recognize the important radical of sickness/illness (or anything pathological), you’ll learn many characters with ease.

疾病 means sickness/illness, each (疾 or 病) used separately, also means the same thing. 矢 means ‘arrow’.

痛 is pain or painful (like English, same character can be used as noun, verb, or adjective), 病痛 also means sickness/illness.

苦 means bitter or bitterness, so 痛苦 (painful bitterness) is ‘suffering’ or ‘affliction’.

The anatomy of Chinese characters: 愛 爱 心 朋友

After nearly 40 years of not reading and writing Chinese, I recently began to re-learn (mostly writing) Chinese characters, also thanks to Janice’s re-surging interest, we’re doing this together.

I have mixed feeling about the simplified Chinese characters, mainly due to its total ignorance of the removal of the “essence”, thus the “life”, of the word.

Please refer to the photo for explanation.

There is a “heart” (心) in the traditional character of ‘love’ (愛), but it is removed in the simplified form, ‘love’ (爱). Love is gone when a heart is lost. The only comfort is that a ‘friend’ (友) appears in the simplified form, and that is not entirely meaningless. There is a suggestion of ‘friend’ (友) in the traditional form, but very subtle.

Janice finds it very difficult to write ‘love’ (愛) Chinese character and that leads someone to say that may be why Chinese find it difficult to express love. I say love is in essence a complicated thing in form and in substance.

My Old Kentucky Home at Kentucky Derby

Listening to “My Old Kentucky Home” each time, I always felt home sick; even though I am not from the South. My mind traveled to my old home at Xia-Tang (下潭, the small village Jo and Sean once visited) more than 50-55 years ago while “My Old Kentucky Home” was being sung at Kentucky Derby this afternoon. It was beautiful and nostalgic.

Oscar Wilde was traveling through the South after the Civil War, an elegant lady told him, under a lovely night sky, in lamentation, “You should have seen the moon before the War!” There went a life style, a civilization! Gone with the wind! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqGuVQsl-7U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjTsfIYeDsI