“Polamalu” personal appearance at TAA lunar year banquet on January 29

Before heading for Dallas tomorrow (1/31) to take care of the Green Bay Packers, “Polamalu” (photo credit to Katy) appeared at the TAA (Taiwanese American Association, Pittsburgh Chapter) lunar year banquet at the Dynasty International Buffet on January 29. My unscheduled entertainment brought uproarious laughter to kick off the New Year celebration, my own way of pep rally, so to speak. You may know it that the ‘E’ of ESPN is ‘Entertainment” which comes before “Sport”. (click the photo to enlarge it)

Before last Steelers – Ravens game I wore 43 Polamalu attire with “the long hair” to the hospital, seeing the flash lights flashing, I felt like walking into the limelight; all the nurses were quick to bring out their smart phones. One nurse, who unfortunately missed the occasion, asked me when I’ll come in as Troy again, I said I cannot do it anymore; it caused too much distractions and disruptions.

The versatile and agile Troy Polamalu (photo credit to Steelers Bleacher Report) is known as the cerebral player, he makes things look so easy that a TV commentator uttered, upon one of his 7 interceptions in 14 games during the regular season, that the ball just went to him.

Since 9/2009, the Steelers were 17-4 with Polamalu in the lineup and 6-7 when he was not in the game. The good news is that he’ll play at Super Bowl. I always feel safe when this strong safety plays. (他打球, 我放心)

Which one is the Polamalu's imposter? 

Hitler’s gift: Max Perutz, Lord Haemoglobin—a devoted scientist to the end

Max Perutz’s name spells hemoglobin (Hb or haemoglobin for British).  He spent twenty some years working on the structure of Hb or thirty some years if one adds the deciphering of its function.  I cannot overemphasize the enormous contribution to the advance in medicine of his work.  A modest person he was, he refused any honor that would give him a title, although he quipped on a gathering at Cambridge U to celebrate his 80th birthday,

“I used to tease my son when he was little and when peerages were still hereditary that one day I would become Lord Haemoglobin, and he would inherit the title whether he wants or not.” (Perutz in in 1990, photo credit to Hitler's Gift)

He left Austria for England as a postgraduate student in 1936.  His parents were prosperous textile manufacturers in Vienna, but being Jewish they fled to Switzerland penniless when Hitler marched into Austria in March 1938.

It was Lawrence Bragg, who was then the director of the Cavendish Lab, applied to the Rockefeller Foundation for a grant to cover Perutz’s research that began in 1/1939 and lasted for thirty some years with few interruptions.  James Watson and Francis Crick worked at Perutz’s Lab when they arrived in 1951.

In his letter written to James Watson on January 14, 2002—just three weeks before his death, Max Perutz wrote,

“My days are numbered, and just wanted to let you know how much fun dealing with you gave me in the early days. . . . I was sorry not to appear at your launching party at Clare the other day, but I had a very good excuse.  I had been working on Huntington’s Disease for some years which also got me interested in the amyloid structure, because fibers of poly-L-glutamine with the same cross beta X-ray pattern has amyloid.  That pattern was first seen by Bill Astbury in 1935 and has been a riddle ever since.  Last September I had an idea what the structure responsible for it might be.  The more I thought about it, the more apparent did it become, that it was the only possible solution, so I dropped everything else, replied no letters, went to no meetings and concentrated on that one problem.  I finished two papers about the structure of amyloid at 12.50 on 20th December, and Alan Fersht, now an editor, sent them straight to PNAS.  At 13.00 I had to be admitted to hospital for an operation on my bile duct which was blocked by a tumor of a cancer that started with a pimple under my nose last January, and is now out of control.  I have enjoyed 65 years of productive research here at Cambridge and what more can anyone expect of life?  Please give my regards to Liz [Watson’s wife] and tell her that I am sorry I never got to know her better.”

This is unbelievable, a super human; three weeks left in life and moment before entering the hospital for operation for an end-stage cancer and yet he was talking about his beloved research in frontier medicine in great details.

Students of medicine would know Huntington disease (HD) is caused by expansion of the cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) trinucleotide repeats in a gene now known as HD gene. There are normally 15 to 32 CAG repeats, and more than 37 CAG repeats are usually seen in the victims of HD.  The issue of amyloid proteins in HD hasn’t got into clinical medicine yet.  But, it hasn’t escaped my notice that there is an Alzheimer amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene located in chromosome 21, and both Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease lead to dementia.  (This is interesting, but not the topic of interest for this post.)

Katy’s report on Steelers at World Journal (世界日報) on January 28

(Please click the following link to read the online version of Katy's dispatch)

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/11154336/article-%E9%8B%BC%E4%BA%BA%E9%9A%8A%E8%A6%81%E5%87%BA%E5%BE%81-%E5%8C%B9%E8%8C%B2%E5%A0%A1%E7%90%83%E8%BF%B7%E7%98%8B%E7%8B%82?instance=panews

Katy’s dispatch to World Journal (世界日報) reporting the frenzy activities in the greater Pittsburgh area preparing to send off the Steelers to Dallas to clench the 7th Super Bowl Lombardi on February 6.  The Steelers Super Bowl Pep Rally was held at Heinz Field this afternoon.

Some Chinese Americans in the greater Pittsburgh area have planned to travel to Dallas and many are organizing the Super Bowl party.  The Chinese Restaurants Association Lunar New Year party will be held at the Three Rivers Casino (adjacent to the Heinz Field) the same evening. All will cheer while indulging in the scrumptious dishes, hoping to celebrate the New Year and the Steelers victory.

All things Steelers and the AFC Champion attires were out in the stores overnight, just in time for the Steelers fans to swarm in.  All the travel agents are working overtime; all heading for Texas.  The airlines have increased the flights between Pittsburgh and Dallas.  A private jet offers a same-day round trip, including a limousine service from the airport to Cowboys Stadium; all will be at your disposal and service if you can spare $10,000.

The hotels at Dallas have hiked up the prices starting at $400, all the way up to several thousand dollars a night.  It is reported that the cheapest ticket price is $2,600 and may be as expensive as $5,696.  If one is not well-to-do, one may need to use several credit cards to cover a ticket price.

On language: the peril of translation—flower and willow (花柳)—comparative study of western and Chinese literature

I will use phrases from Chin P’ing Mei (金瓶梅) to illustrate the peril of translation.

在外眠花宿柳, 惹草招風. It was translated as “riding the waves of pleasure, caressed by the moon and the winds, spending his nights among blossoms and willows” in the English version book.  It was an excellent translation, but not a faithful one.

If one takes  “among blossoms” (none of the Chinese characters mentions or remotely infers ‘blossoms’), one would have no idea of what it means.  The difficult lies in 花 (flower) 柳 (willow).

尋花問柳 means “visiting the brothel in pursuit of sensual pleasure”.

花柳科 means “a medical field specializes in sexually transmitted disease”.

All literate Chinese know what “花柳” means, but I wonder how many know its origin and who said it first?  One reads “花柳”  in a poem by Li Bai or Li Bo (李白—701-762, a Tang Dynasty poet).

昔在長安醉花柳，五侯七貴同杯酒

One also reads “花柳”  in A Dream of Red Mansion (紅樓夢)

花柳繁華之地，温柔富貴鄉那里走一遭

Willow (柳) is often associated with sorrow in western literature.  In her A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf  wrote, “On the further bank the willows wept in perpetual lamentation, their hair about their shoulders.”

Willow is a symbol of grief felt by an unrequited lover (失戀的).  In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, we heard Cesario (disguised by Viola) said to Olivia, “Make me a willow cabin at you gate”.  Heart broken (cannot obtain Olivia’s love), might as well build a “willow cabin” at her gate, so he [Cesaria] can lament his love lost.

There is indeed an actual willow cabin (where the visitors wait before the tour begins) in the compound of Shakespeare’s home—Stratford-upon-Avon.

Christmas gifts are still coming our way

The gift-giving holiday season may be behind us, but the gifts are still coming our way.  UPS just dropped off a box containing the new Autobiography of Mark Twain that, according to the gift-giver, has been a backorder since early December.  One can never have too much of Twain.  I know he didn’t want us to label his books Classic, which he defined as “a book which people praise and don’t read.”  Hemingway said “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn,’” although one can always argue that it is Tom Sawyer, not Huck Finn.

Last week a Santa Claus in plain clothes stopped by our house to surprise Katy with another gardening book, Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, a revised & updated version.  We’ll learn all the secrets of a successful gardening.  Spring, you better hurry up, we can hardly wait.

In December I also bought myself Christmas gifts at Half-Price Books: a two-volume set of Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays by the Library of America and a classic bound Mark Twain: Selected Works, in which one can find many of his most famous works.  If you look at the prices I paid, you’ll know why I frequented the Half-Price Books for treasure hunt.

This is how I write my Thank You notes.

On language: four humours in Shakespeare days and in his plays

In Shakespeare’s time, it was believed that human nature was governed by four fluids called ‘humours’: blood (sanguine), black bile (melancholy), yellow bile (choleric), and phlegm (phlegmatic).  Out of balance among these humours are responsible for the change of temperament (complexion).

sanguine 
Sanguineus in Latin is blood, thus sanguine complexion is having a healthy, red color; it is naturally cheerful or hopeful. The 30-year War of Roses were actually the Civil War of England fought between the two branches of the same family (House of York and House of Lancaster) between 1455 and 1485. In the Temple Garden scene of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, the contending factions pluck red (Lancaster) and white (York) rose to choose side. Shakespeare might be the one to blame to link the exquisitely beautiful rose to the war.

Basset to King, of the red rose of Lancaster:

Crossing the sea from England into France,
This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,
aying the sanguine color of the leaves.
                Part 1 Henry VI Act 4 Scene 1

melancholy 
Melanos in Latin is black, thus melancholic is ‘black bile’, which is due to higher bilirubin concentration, leading to gloomy mood, ill-temper or sullenness for sure. King John to Hubert: if that surly spirit, melancholy, / Had baked thy blood.


Chinese had different interpretation for these humors: ‘having bile’ (有膽量) means ‘courageous’ and there is certainly no scientific basis.

choleric 
Chole in Latin is bile; choleric (hot-tempered, irascible, easily irritable)

Dromio of Syracuse to Antipholus of Syracuse, advising him not to eat meat.

Dromio: If it be, sir, I pray you eat none of it.
Antipholus: Your reason?
Dromio: Lest it make you choleric,
                 The Comedy of Errors Act 2 Scene 2

phlegmatic 
Phlegm in Latin means sputum, cold and moist, phlegm is supposed to cause sluggishness; thus phlegmatic means sluggish bordered on indifference.

Quick: The young man is an honest man.

Caius: What shall de honest man do in my closet?
Dere is no honest man dat shall come in my closet.
Quick: I beseech you be not so phlegmatic. Hear the truth of it:
He came of an errand to me from Parson Hugh.
                  The Merry Wives of Windsor Act 1 Scene 4

In The Riverside Shakespeare, it was explained that Shakespeare’s use of ‘phlegmatic’ here is a blunder, he meant to use ‘choleric’ (angry).  Shakespeare might have mixed up with the physiology of his days!

Why one has to root for the Steelers?

“In the years of the previous five Steelers Super Bowl victories, the S&P 500 had an average return of + 25.5%. This is compared to an average return rate of approximately 9% in the years that a team other than the Steelers won the Super Bowl.”

I posted that at Sermo prior to the 2009 Steelers-Cardinals Super Bowl. Steelers did win and the S&P500 was indeed up 19.8% in 2009. So for the sake of your financial wellbeing, you got to root for the Steelers.



About one hour before the kick off of the 2009 Super Bowl, President Obama predicted Steelers was going to win on NBC Matt Lauer's pre-game interview. I then posted at Sermo: The “King” has spoken, and that is the way it shall be. You may or may not know that Obama is a big fan of the Steelers back in the days when he lived in Hawaii. So follow the leader, root for the Steelers.

As good as black and gold

Despite the going through the roof gold price, to say “as good as gold” is still not good enough these days; it is “as good as black and gold”. One cannot buy any cake other than those shown here at SamClub yesterday. Standing in front of Wholey’s Fish Market at Penn Avenue in the Strip District is Bill (see photo, right) who very appropriately attired.

We saw a bunch of Jets fans leaving the hotels walking to the Heinz Field yesterday afternoon. They’re loud and noisy, running and flying with both arms stretched horizontally; they’re apparently still in the euphoric stage after stunning the New England Patriots the other day. Poor guys, little did they know that no sooner did the game begin, than they would be silenced.

Game Predictions at the Wall Street Journal

The photo is the Game Predictions (by AccuScore) on Wall Street Journal on January 21 (two days before the game). Not only are they correct, but they are pretty close.  They predicted PIT Steelers 22 and NY Jets 18, and the outcome was 24 to 19.  The Steelers were already scored 24 at half time; I then said to Katy that the Wall Street Journal was too conservative for Steelers and too generous/optimistic for Jets; little did I know that that was the Steelers were going to score and Jets indeed put up a good fight on the second half.

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal prediction, the following is what I posted at Sermo 10/5/09 about its prediction of Nobel Prizes.

There was an article in the wsj on Sept. 14 (“The Nobel Prize Will Go To . . .”), in which 5 candidates were mentioned for the Prize in Medicine, and two of them, Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, indeed share this year Prize with Jack Szostak. Blackburn and Greider for their discovery of telomerase and Szostak for his elucidation of the function of telomeres.

Congratulations on wsj's prescient prediction, but then again, it might not be too difficult a task in predicting the Nobel Prize in Medicine, one can always get a hint by looking at the American Lasker Award: The three shared Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2006.

Steelers: Unprecedented chasing of the 7th Lombardi & Majestic Heinz Field

Green Bay Packers are my favorite and I always root for them, until now! No more, nevermore! Steelers games made a sports reporter out of Katy. We went to Heinz Field this afternoon to get a feel and shot some pictures. The photos are Heinz Field looking down from Mount Washington about one hour before the kick off. Right after shooting the pictures, we came home just in time to see Rashard Mendenhall's first rush touchdown. (I previously said he could rush and penetrate even a steel wall and I said it again. Did he misspell his name? It should have been Rushard.)

This daytime photo is obtained from an internet site showing the majestic Heinz Field.

 

Is the weather neutral for the game?

The Jets have entered the Steel City; the war zone, the enemy territory.  They didn’t get a warm welcome; not only the frigid weather, but also the ferocious Steelers chilled them to the bone.

The weather forecast reported the temperature for the tailgate (3PM): 15º F, kickoff (6:30PM): 11ºF, completion (10PM): 8ºF.  I am of the opinion that the weather is not always neutral in war, but is it in game?  The meteorologist was studying whether the winds will come down the Ohio River as it usually does; this will affect the performance of the Steelers kicker, Shaun Suisham.

(majestic Ben Roethlisberger: photo credit Wall Street Journal)

Ike was worried about the weather for D-Day 21 months before the event; he wrote to Patton on September 5, 1942, “I am searching the Army to find the most capable chaplain to assure a fairly decent break in the weather when the big day comes.”  Let’s pray Suisham would get a fair wind in his favor.

The 1/21/11 Observer-Reporter editorial reminded us of the story of the 1969 Super Bowl that Jets quarterback, Joe Namath (a famous son of western Pennsylvania), proclaimed before the game, “We’re gonna win the game.  I guarantee it.” And he did live up to his words.  So the title of the O-R editorial is a fitting “No guarantees Sunday”.

Many Steelers fans have begun planning the Super Bowl party.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Like the Morgan Stanley’s motto, “one client at a time”, the Steelers fans are “one game at a time”.  The game is not won by words.

Peggy Cancelmi the immaculate reception was in the most horrendous weather..just ask franco harris,,and honestly..bad weather makes it much heightens the interest even more.

Katie Tsai 這是天賜的~~相[競]如[冰] !記錄裡天氣最冷的足球賽! 

Google must be feeling the heat from Facebook

Google co-founder, Larry Page, will replace Eric Schmidt as the CEO in April.  Schmidt tweeted “day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed” as the reason of the shake up, implying the “boys” (the founders) have grown up.  I am not trying to read too much into this shift atop Google.  But things may be more complicated than it seems.

photo credit to Wall Street Journal: Page & Schmidt

Google and Facebook have been running in a collision course.  Google's recent Groupon acquisition aims at Facebook’s new “Deals” initiative.  Facebook’s new Message service is trying to compete with Gamil.  Google has been frustrated in being not able to come up with a social networking program to compete with FB, lacking a gaming company acquisition is one of the main hurdles.  Cityville (Zynga’s game) has reached 100 million monthly players at FB within 40 days of launch.  Of FB 500 million Facebookers, as many as 200 million of them have played a game in the last month.

Google sites (including You Tube, Gmail and Google News, etc) had 181 million visitors in October last year, which was still more than 151 million for Facebook.  But people are spending more time on Facebook than on Google sites and that is important for the ad sponsors.

The following is my very first comment at FB on my Facebook debut on 3/20/210.

“I better start facebooking as Facebook has topped Google on visiting the Web sites, lest I would be left too far behind. Visits to Facebook made up 7.07% of all Web visits compared with 7.03% for Google. Facebook is where all friends are.”

The war of words (between the Steelers and the Jets) never came, yet.

After New York Jets talked the talk and walked the walk taking care of New England Patriots last Sunday, I was expecting the war of words will break out before the Sunday kickoff; I wondered how the brash Jets coach, Rex Ryan, would trash talk Steelers coach Mike Tomlin or Big Ben.  But, All Quiet on the Western (PA) Front (also on the Eastern front for that matter); it has been mute; the words (or the war) never came.  Rex Ryan must be at a loss to words.  If you cannot beat them at least admire them; Rex Ryan even said Mike Tomlin is one of his favorite coaches.  He began to talk like a gentleman.

There was a lengthy article (“How do you like the Jets now?”) at Wall Street Journal Sports section on Jan. 18.  It basically defended Jets behavior saying “it’s time to curb the moralizing about football civility”.

Among the fable and lore of the past of Cardinals, I like Dizzy Dean (the pitcher) the most. Before the 1931 Cardinals-Tigers playoff, Dean bragged, “Cardinals will take them Tigers like a bulldog takes a pussy cat.”  And talk like this should fill the air (the media) while welcoming the Jets to the Steel City at their own peril.

As Dr. Cheng-Hung Lin said, the Jets is a Big Bird.  At the end of the game when the Jets stunned the Patriots, several Jets players ran merrily off the field with their arms stuck out horizontally like the Big Birds flying.  (photo credit to Wall Street Journal).

Katy’s report at 世界日報: Steelers vs. Jets game ignites the frenzy sales of Steelers attire and all

Katy’s dispatch to the World Journal (世界日報) reporting the Steelers games ignite the frenzy sales of all things Steelers. Steelers Nation is across the land, if not the globe; Steelers fans encompass all ethnic groups including Chinese/Taiwanese Americans; many plan to go to the Heinz Field this coming Sunday to see how Steelers catch the Big Bird—the Jets.

Please click the direct link to read the online version of Katy’s dispatch as my writing is not a faithful translation.

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/11052604/article-%E9%8B%BC%E4%BA%BAvs-%E5%A4%A7%E9%B3%A5-%E9%BB%9E%E7%87%83%E5%8C%B9%E8%8C%B2%E5%A0%A1%E5%95%86%E6%A9%9F?instance=nj_story1  

The enthusiastic flame of the loyal Steelers fans (it may be redundant to say ‘loyal’ Steelers fans) ignites the business opportunities for all things Steelers. The photo was taken in a local supermarket showing Steelers attire. One cannot walk a few steps on the street without bumping onto someone wearing No. 7 (Ben Roethlisberger) or No. 43 (Troy Polamalu)—the one I wear. I think there are more Terrible Towels than there are people in western Pennsylvania.  (click the photo to enlarge it)

The Steelers-Ravens game last week was not for the fainthearted.  It was a game that one should have obtained a doctor’s permission to watch if one has a heart problem.  The Pittsburgher, 姚芬玲 (Nikki), watched the game with her husband screaming and praying from the beginning to the end; hoarse, exhausted, but gratifying.  黃呈昌夫婦 (Ed and Mei Hwang) and 林承宏夫婦 (Cheng-Hung Lin) are big Steelers fans having lots of  fun.

The Pitt and CMU students coming from China/Taiwan are organizing Steelers parties, thanks to the fact that it is just the beginning of the semester and mid-term exams are still far away.

The Jets beat the Steelers when they last met at Pittsburgh one month or so ago; the Steelers are determined to return the favor in kind. 

The following is Katy’s dispatch to the World Journal (世界日報)

【賓州匹茲堡訊】 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞、華商資訊

January 19, 2011 06:00 AM 

許多華人足球迷本月23日打算再到匹茲堡市的海恩茲(Heinz)足球場看鋼人隊(Steelers)擒拿大鳥─紐約噴射機隊(Jets)。號稱「鋼人城」的匹茲堡市，商機也跟著球迷的熱情而沸揚起來.

鋼人隊日前與巴爾的摩烏鴉隊的一場比賽，讓華人球迷如黃呈昌、林承宏等，都大呼過癮。他們說，好像買一張票看兩場足球賽。匹城居民姚芬玲則說，她們夫妻看這場球賽，緊張到聲嘶力竭。

上半場烏鴉猛啄鋼人，鋼人失誤頻頻，以7比21落後收場。烏鴉隊似乎勝利在望，令鋼人球迷坐在冬風中倍感嚴寒澈骨。下半場鋼人隊大發雄威，拉近分差。眼看兩強難分勝負，直到第四局最後的1分30秒，四分衛大班(Ben Roethlisberger)搶立大功，鋼人隊飛出一個達陣(touch down)加六分，變成31比24，鋼人隊的球迷全部站起來揮舞手上黃巾，整個球場近六萬人歡聲雷動。還剩半秒鐘烏鴉隊俯首稱臣。鋼人隊因此晉級要打AFC冠軍賽。

匹茲堡餐飲業與各種商店，都期盼鋼人足球賽本周末再度贏球，帶來更多商機。市區到處看到有人穿7號大班(Big Ben)和43號波拉瑪露(Polamalu)的鋼人球衣。新聞媒體全是鋼人特報。

上周華人球迷有些在臉書(Facebook)用「死烏鴉」當自己的照片，1月16日紐約噴射機隊(Jets)擊敗新英格蘭愛國者隊(Patriots)，知道本月23日噴射機隊要到匹茲堡與鋼人隊爭冠，因噴射機(Jet)向被稱為大鳥(Big bird)，華人球迷們紛紛在臉書換上「鋼人抓大鳥」的圖案。

一些匹茲堡大學與卡內基大學的華人學生，由於學期剛開始，功課還不太緊，已呼朋喚友，準備一齊觀賞球賽轉播。

紐約噴射機隊(Jets)上月22日曾在海恩茲球場比賽以22比17取勝鋼人，而且主教練萊恩(Rex Ryan)曾豪言，噴射機隊這次是志在必得。然而鋼人隊將目標朝向全美足球超級盃，而且目前賭盤看好鋼人。(張瓊月)

Hitler’s Gift

Reading science/medicine or about scientists was my first love and the passion never faded.  I’ll write a series of articles calling Hitler’s Gift mostly about the stories of great scientists, many of them happened to be ours, thanks to Hitler’s madness.  I’ll also talk about their sciences so you can appreciate the impact of their work on advancing the modern science.

In the first 32 years of the Nobel Prizes (1901-1932, the year before Hitler came to power, Germany--Germans or scientists working on Germany) won one third of all the prizes in science (33 out of 100), Britain 18, USA 6.  Among German scientists about a quarter was Jewish descent, with Jewish population made up no more than 1% of the population at the time.  Thanks to Hitler’s madness the American and British scientists have since dominated as the Nobel laureates in science after WWII.

At the conclusion of this series we may say “Hail Hitler!” as Sigmund Freud did when he fled the Nazi in 1938 and saw the luxurious villa north to London ready as his new home.

I’ll begin with Max Perutz who wrote a Foreword for the book (Hitler’s Gift—see photo) written by Jean Medawar and David Pyke.

You’ll notice that I’ll mention Rockefeller Foundation every so often as it played a very crucial role in saving over one thousand scientists.  I always lament that the public was not more aware for this humanistic and visionary deed.

In fact, scientists were not the only Hitler’s gifts; great minds in humanity or artists were also among the refugees.  The other day I paid $4.98 for Artists in Exile (see photo) at Half-Price Books.

I often go to Half-Price Books for treasure hunt.  Last month I spotted Alan Lightman’s The Discoveries (see photo below) for bargain $9.98.  I have checked it out from library before, and now I do not have to return it.  Janice first introduced Alan Lightman to me a few years ago when she gave me Lightman's A Sense of Mysteries: Science and the Human Spirit.

The Sun also Rises

I stole this unearthly The Sun also Rises photo from Linda Elliott Mosier's Facebook page.  She must be somewhere on Earth, but this is an unearthly picture, I am puzzled.

Bellevue Hospital at New York City

Lately I came across Bellevue Hospital (at NYC) one way or another.  I wrote the following on 1/13/11.

“Today (January 13) in 1864 Stephen Foster died impoverished in Bellevue Hospital (I once spent 3 months working at VA Hospital Manhattan and mid-air there was a walk-path connecting to Bellevue Hospital) at NYC at age of 37.  Foster was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh”.

I just finished reading Bette Greene’s “Summer of My German Soldier” and near the end of the story Frederick Anton Reiker (the German soldier) was shot while trying to avoid arrest and died in New York Bellevue Hospital.  I may talk about this book when I got the time.

A Farewell to Arms is my favorite novel.  It is based on Hemingway’s personal experience as an ambulance driver during the Italian campaign of WWI.  He was wounded and fell in love with a nurse (Agnes Kurowsky), who came from Bellevue Hospital.  This nurse became Catherine Barkley (a British nurse) in the book.

The efficient bird killers are ready for the Big Bird: the Jets

“You’re a Ravens killer,”  Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told Big Ben on their way into the locker room after beating the Ravens Saturday.  Dr. Cheng-Hung Lin asked me, “So how the Steelers will treat the Jets, the ‘Big Bird’?” No problem.  As I said Steelers are destined to be the bird killers, whether it is a little bird like Ravens or a Big Bird, like Jets.  (Even Katy wondered why there are so many birds in this game, the wing of Seattle Seahawk has been cut, 斷翼)

I have been trying to rally the troops at Sermo for the Steelers-Jets game next Sunday.  I just posted the following:

I always root for Patriots unless when they played Steelers and I took exception for the Patriots-Jets game today. Yes, I did root for the Jets today because Tom Brady scares us, if you want to know the truth.  He was not quite himself today.  Before today only 0.8% of the passes he had thrown intercepted this season and yet he was intercepted once today; the first once since mid-October.  And he was sacked five times today. 

After talking the talk and walking the walk, the Jets got the job down and they’re coming to the Steel City at their own peril.  If the Patriots won, the Steelers will have to travel to Boston—the enemy territory.

We remember all our losses, which were not too many, especially about the come-from-behind upset by the Jets at Heinz Field about one month ago, and we’ll return the favor in kind next Sunday.  Go Steelers, Go!

Jer-Yuan Tsai

Two years ago when the Steelers were taking care of the Arizona Cardinals, I said the Steelers were destined to be the bird killers at Sermo, as it could be the Philadelphia Eagles then. An anesthesiologist from Arizona wrote, “trust me, I am going... to be enjoying it, especially when the only bird the Steelers will be killing will be the crow their fans will be eating.” To which I responded, “Steelers fans have appetite for Cardinals, and crow is not on our menu.”
(“eating crow” is an idiom meaning “eating one’s own words.”)

The majestic President Saleh Mosque at Sanna, Yemen

These photos were taken by my cousin, Dr. 陳英毅, on his trip to Yemen at the end of December, 2010.  His professional photographic skill well conveyed the religious spirit and beauty of the majestic President Saleh Mosque (day and night views and interior) at its capital, Sanna.

Unfortunately the Department of State issued a warning to the U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Yemen due to terrorist activities.

How the game was won?

We Steelers fans are allowed (or should) treat that little bird with the utmost contempt, but the Steelers players always treat their enemies with the utmost respect. (Chinese would say “不輕敵”).  This is the key to their success.  Roethlisberger said, before the game, “I hate playing the Ravens because they’re so good.”

At the half-time trailing at 21 to 7, I have resigned to the fate that Steelers cannot win every game against Ravens in order to build up the “ancient grudge” between these two teams.  It turned out that the Steelers are more resilient than I thought.  The Steelers were down 21-7 at halftime; trailing a formidable team like Ravens is difficult to overcome; overcame they did.  They engineered a come-from-behind win, how sweet it is!

Katy always lamented the rules puzzled her; in fact, it also befuddled all the players in one play, Steelers and Ravens alike, except one Ravens player casually picked up the ball after a bizarre fumble by the Big Ben and walked to the touchdown while all players were standing and watching.

It is true that Roethlisberger (photo credit to the Washington Post) rallied the troops and delivered the knockout as the Washington Post reported. But there are so many players that made the plays.  I felt bad when Shaun Suisham missed a 43-yard field goal kick; he kicked three field goals that were more than 40 yards on his debut as the Steelers kicker no a few months ago.  He did kick a 35-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead.

This was not just a game; it was a life or death game (the loser retired to off-season and the winner went on to the AFC Championship game next weekend).  And above all, it was a Steelers-Ravens game.

Antonio Brown: another ‘cerebral’ Steelers player, using his ‘head’ playing the game

The Steelers strong safety, Troy Polamalu, is well known as a ‘cerebral’ player who was named the MVP player for this season by his fellow players.  For those not in the know, what is a ‘cerebral’ player? He is the one not only using his muscles, but also using his head in playing the game.

I spotted another one in yesterday Steelers-Ravens game (see photo, credit to Observer-Reporter, Washington, PA).  With 3:58 to play tying at 24:24 in the fourth quarter, the Big Ben threw a daring 58-yard pass to the rookie wide receiver, Antonio Brown (easily the rookie of the year), who used his helmet/‘head’ to steady the ball.  The catch set up the game-winning touchdown, beating the Ravens 31 to 24.  Mission accomplished.

Part of my letter-to-the-editor in Newsweek

Newsweek only published part of my letter.  It had a so-called “Mail Call” in the Letters section; the editors condensed many letters-to-the-editor to make a short write-up and didn’t give credits to individuals.   I put my typed (no email in those days) letter to show that “A physician” is I and the editor changed my “A God’s job is never done!” to “A God’s work is never done!”

My letter was in response to a cover story of “Science of the Sacred”—a topic I talked about from time to time.

I wrote, “There shouldn't be a conflict between creation and evolution theory.  God is a responsible and tireless Creator, a perfectionist.  He makes sure all living things He created can adapt to the ever changing environment.  The wonder, beauty, and complexity of evolution, especially at a molecular level, hold many students of evolution in awe.  A God's job is never done! (Science of the Sacred, Nov. 28)”

 

Katy’s report to World Journal (世界日報): the sad closing of Honus Wagner Sporting Goods at Pittsburgh

 (Please click the following link to read the online version of Katy's dispatch)

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/11018830/article-%E7%99%BE%E5%B9%B4%E8%80%81%E5%BA%97-%E8%8F%AF%E6%A0%BC%E7%B4%8D%E6%AD%87%E6%A5%AD%E7%89%B9%E8%B3%A3?instance=panews

Today is indeed a sport day: Steelers vs. Ravens today (4:30 PM).  My letter-to-the-editor (“Reverse on verse?”) about this game was published at Observer-Reporter (Washington, PA) today.

Katy’s dispatch to the World Journal (世界日報) reporting the sad closing of a legendary sport store (at Pittsburgh) that was founded by the Pirates great, Honus Wagner, nearly one hundred years ago.  It was also published today (Jan. 15). (click the photo to enlarge it)

Honus Wagner Sporting Goods locates in Pittsburgh downtown was founded by the Pirates great, Honus Wagner, in 1919.  He was one of the first five members inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, along with Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.  One can see Wagner’s statue sitting on the North Gate of PNC Park.

The store used to be the place where sports fans hanged out on the game days and they might be lucky enough to get the autograph and have the picture taken with their sport heroes who might stop by from time to time.  His baseball card broke the record selling at $2.8 million in 2007; it was reported that the proceeds was donated to the charity.

The store is a victim of the economic downturn, the competitions from the sport chain store, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and vendors in the Strip District, let alone all the department stores or even grocery chains, all of which sell sporting goods.

Pittsburghers take pride in their sport teams.  Steelers, chasing the 7th Super Bowl Championship, is the only NFL team that has 6 Lombardis under their belt.  Pittsburgh Penguins is really hot; the NHL outdoor Winter Classic just took place at Heinz Field.  Do I have to mention the lowly Pirates? Being a devoted Pirates fan, I still have my faith, praying Pirates have seen their worst and better days are yet to come.  We believe!

And this makes it all the more sad that a sport city like Pittsburgh cannot save the legendary Honus Wagner Sporting Goods.  There went an era of family-owned sporting goods store; gone with the wind.

(The following is Katy’s dispatch to the World Journal, 世界日報)

百年老店 華格納歇業特賣 搶購鋼人球衣要快

【賓州匹茲堡訊】 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞、華商資訊

January 15, 2011 06:00 AM

職 業美式足球聯盟(NFL)外卡賽巴爾的摩烏鴉足球隊(Ravens)戰勝堪薩斯市酋長隊(Chiefs)後，今天(15日)分區季後賽，將與匹茲堡鋼人足 球隊 (Steelers) 爭勝負。不少匹茲堡華人是鋼人足球隊迷，已經相約要穿鋼人黃黑色球衣觀賽。而匹茲堡市區位於富比街(320 Forbes Ave.)、有近百年歷史的洪那斯華格納體育用品店(Honus Wagner Sporting Goods)近日宣布，該店已賣給波印帕克大學(Point Park University)，店裡有著名球員親筆簽名的球衣待售，有意採購折價品者可趁機前往.

匹茲堡是美國總統歐巴馬口中由鋼鐵業轉型到電子與生物科技業極為成功的城市，因此他於2009年選擇到匹茲堡召開G20經濟高峰會議。然而，正因為經濟轉型，加上全球不景氣，匹茲堡市區有不少商店周轉欠靈，悄然歇業。

雖 然匹茲堡的「海盜棒球隊」近年來盛況不再，但匹茲堡的「企鵝冰上曲棍球隊」卻是全美冰場翹楚。至於「鋼人足球隊」更是常勝軍，是全國唯一六度在「全美足球 超級盃」奪冠的球隊。大抵說來，匹茲堡的運動很興盛，球迷很多，華格納體育用品店因而生意鼎盛，但年邁店主後繼無人，這家1919年由著名的海盜棒球隊大 將洪那斯華格納(Honus Wagner)和友人全諾(Pie Traynor) 開創的店，只好關門大吉，今後將充當波印帕克大學的學生活動中心。

該 店店內掛有「您在鋼人國」(You Are in Steelers Country) 橫幅，常有70年代著名球員蒞臨，在球衣上簽名作為慈善活動贈品等。住匹茲堡的許多華人球迷都曾是該店常客，很多大學生也喜歡到該店流連，希望巧遇心儀的 偶像球員，可以要求簽名或合照。

住在卡內基的華格納(Wagner)，曾縱橫大聯盟棒球，是第一批受邀列入美國棒球名人堂 的球員之一。他的銅像至今仍矗立在PNC Park 海盜棒球隊「北岸球場」門口，他早年發行的棒球卡，2007年曾賣出一張棒球卡最高天價280萬美元。該運動用品店用他的名字作號召，今年終於畫 下休止符，令匹城華人球迷為之扼腕。(張瓊月)