Katy’s dispatch to World Journal (世界日報) reporting the lunar New Year celebration on February 6

You may click the following link to read the online version of Katy’s dispatch.

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/11305404/article-%E5%8C%B9%E8%8C%B2%E5%A0%A1%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E9%A4%90%E6%A5%AD%E5%8D%94%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E6%98%A5%E6%99%9A%E5%AE%B4?instance=panews

This is the news on the page of the World Journal (世界日報) on February 8. Pittsburgh Chinese Restaurant Association celebrated the lunar New Year at the Three Rivers Casino in the evening of Feb. 6. There are about 750 people attended. They all enjoyed the abundant and scrumptious seafood buffet.

(may click the photo to enlarge it)

The president (陳飛) was in charge of the program which boasted many talented singers from the greater Pittsburgh area singing Chinese/Taiwanese popular and folk songs (female chorus by Yu Ge Group, female solo by Danyu Xia and Sophia Ma, male solo and Chinese flute by Dr. Kai Liu, male solo by Leo Zhang) and lion dances.  There were door prize drawings with prizes valued nearly $3000 that included GPS, digital camera, refrigerator, and 32” and 42” HDTV, etc.  All attendees indulged in the exceptional entertainment and fine seafood until midnight.

President Chen (陳飛) pointed out that with 185 members in the association, Pittsburgh’s ranks No. 2 in the nation, next only to the one in California. He also introduced many sponsors to the program. (may click the photos to enlarge it)

The following is Katy’s dispatch.

匹茲堡中國餐業協會新春晚宴

February 08, 2011 06:00 AM

創立13年的匹茲堡中國餐業協會，其理事長陳飛與15位理事6日歡迎750位來賓，到河流賭場(Rivers Casino)參加兔年新春海鮮晚宴。 陳飛指出，該協會有185家中餐館加入為會員，是全美中餐協會僅次加州的第二大分會。該協會日前並換新會址：3514 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA14201，電話(412)468-0835。當天晚宴由多家商家贊助，席間有「宇歌組合」演唱及吹笛娛賓，並有摸彩，送出GPS、冰箱、相機、平板電視等獎品。賓主從盡歡到午夜，與會者互祝大吉大利、鴻圖大展。圖為陳飛理事長(右五)、前理事長李建平(右一)與部分理事合影。(圖與文：張瓊月)

Cheer up, it is all divine intervention; mourning in black, no gold

During the press conference when his Nobel Prize (chemistry) award was announced in October 1986, the Harvard professor, Dudley Herschbach (Janice’s freshman chemistry professor, with whom Professor Yuan Tseh Lee, 李遠哲, shared the prize) donned a baseball cap and joked about Red Sox.

He was talking about how Red Sox’s come back in the playoffs, “The exciting thing about the Red Sox is the improbability of it all.  There must be divine intervention here.  That’s the only way to explain it.”

Christina Aguilera (see photo) botched line while singing the national anthem and that should be treated as the bad omen for the Steelers as she is from Pittsburgh area. A drug company representative told me today that, during the game, he kept changing the seats, praying the luck would come if he were to sit in the right place and Steelers kept pulling closer; it is too bad that he must have run out of the seats and Steelers running out of time.  Penguins’ loss to Washington Capitals yesterday afternoon before the Super Bowl is also a bad omen if you will.

Like Professor Herschbach said in baseball, it is also divine intervention in football, nothing the players or the fans could do about it.  So cheer up.

Thinking about this line I began to feel better, then my office Epson printer wouldn’t print and I noticed the black and yellow (gold) ink cartridges ran out, and cyan (greenish blue) and magenta (purplish red) were still full.  I began to feel guilty again; It would have made all the difference had I changed the black and the gold cartridges before the game.

Even though Ben Roethlisberg threw two interception passes, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison were not themselves, Shaun Suisham missed the 52-yard field goal, and Rashard Mendenhall fumbled at the critical moment, we are still very grateful for an exciting season that gave us so much joy and hope—audacious one, indeed.  Let me paraphrase Churchill to say that never in the Heinz Field of human entertainment was so much owed by so many to so few.  These so few are the chosen ones.

As I previously said I always admire the Green Bay Packers from the distance and it is now more so than ever; my hat is off.

Green Bay Packers are really green

Let’s call things by their proper names. I finally figured out why Green Bay Packers got its name of “green”. The Steelers have 25 players who have Super Bowl experience and the Packers have two; one of them, John Kuhn, who got his experience as a practice squad player with the Steelers. The Packers are a bunch of ‘green’ players for the Super Bowl, not that I have no respect of them, far from it, but just point out the fact and build up your confidence.

Our “Greene” County is officially changed to “Black and Gold” County for today.

There is no escape of “black and gold” wherever you go as attested by these photos. When the moment of the Big Game comes (a Big Game calls for a Big Ben), everything else will be brought to a standstill; even the Earth will stop moving for 3 hours or so. If you’re not invited to attend one of the millions of Super Bowl parties across the land, you may have to be more active at FB to look for more “friends”.

Go, Steelers, Go! Let the Game begin!

Six Super Bowl Champions; seventh is on the way. Go, Steelers, Go!

The only dilemma is that where are you going to put the No 7 Super Bowl Champion on the hat; this calls for another design.

It can be fun: my letter-to-the-editor in 2008

A retired O-R columnist wrote an article on her trip to London comparing British with American way of life in a lighthearted way, to which I wrote a one-paragraph comment.  I didn’t say much of anything, like her trip, it was just fun to write.

Katy’s dispatch to World Journal (世界日報) reporting TAA Lunar New Year banquet

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

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/11193458/article-%E5%8C%B9%E8%8C%B2%E5%A0%A1%E5%90%8C%E9%84%89%E6%9C%83%E6%98%A5%E5%AE%B4%E7%88%86%E7%AC%91?instance=panews

Katy’s dispatch to World Journal (世界日報) reporting TAA New Year banquet was published today (Feb. 1) The headline was “Uproarious laughter broke out in Pittsburgh TAA (Taiwanese American Association) Lunar New Year banquet” and the subtitle was “Dr. Jer-Yuan Tsai, disguised as Troy Polamalu complete with his signature long wavy hairs, was interviewed”.

There was no so-called interview; it was just an unscheduled entertainment program. No sooner did Mei Hwang see me wearing 43 Polamalu attire with the long hairs in hand, than she hurried to the stage to “officially” announced Polamalu’s arrival. I made a few comments lamenting how I [Polamalu] was “mistreated” by the TV commentator who casually said “the ball just went to Polamalu” when I flew and made a heroic interception to a pass by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to secure the Steelers’ victory.

I may not excel in sport, but I know how to be a good sport :- )

The outgoing president, Chi-Hui Hwang (黃綺惠), expressed her appreciation for the help from the officers, and Dr. Lawrence Han (韓世彬) took over as the new president.

Dr. Han (son of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel & Shi-Mei Han), a second generation Taiwanese American, greeted everyone a Happy New Year. In keeping with the tradition of respect the elders and the wise, Dr. Han gave out the “red envelope” (紅包) to those who are 70 years of age or older; Chia-Tsun Liu (劉嘉俊) is the wisest. All the children were also showered with the red envelopes. The children of 林凱平 (Kyler and Kiara) also performed the lucky lion dance.

Secretary Hsiang-Jung Kuo (郭向榮), treasurer Shirley Chuang (歐雪杏) and entertainment Charlie Chian (簡豐源) will work for another year. Shiu-Bi Kuo (高秀璧) was elected unanimously as the new vice-president.

Dr. Han kindly asked the guests/new comers to introduce themselves. Dr. Hsao-Hsun Hsu (徐紹勛), a thoracic surgeon from National Taiwan University Hospital and is presently doing lung transplant related research at UPMC. Dr. Ishun Huang (黃怡舜), an ENT doctor (otolaryngologist), soon to be awarded the Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh, is planning to return to Kao-Hsiung Chang-Gung (高雄長庚) Hospital. After completing his research at UPMC in April, Dr. Alex Lin (林志文) will also return to Kao-Hsiung. Several University of Pittsburgh graduate students, including 王健晴、黃馨慧、蘇彥斌 and 游雅雯, all were delighted to attend the banquet.

The entertainment programs include Lantern riddles (花燈猜謎), 張嘉玲 and 燕玉婷 were in charge of the idioms guessing (猜成語), 夏光榕 demonstrated Tai-Chi (太極拳). The program ended with 周秀琴、郭向榮、簡豐源 and 林明石 performing Karaoke sing along. Professor Chuang (莊英煌) distributed the books, “Taking care of Taiwan” (顧台灣) authored by 蔡同榮, a legislator in Taiwan (台灣立法委員).

(The following is Katy’s dispatch)

【賓州匹茲堡訊】
February 01, 2011 06:00 AM

台灣同鄉會匹茲堡分會上周末在新皇朝飯店舉辦迎春午宴，卸任會長黃綺惠感謝任內幹部們的幫忙，當天並與新會長韓世彬交接。

韓世彬用英語向大家賀年，他表示，自己是台美第二代，是醫生，對於接下會長一職誠惶誠恐。韓世彬首先發揚華人敬老尊賢的傳統，請劉嘉俊與70歲以上的與會者都接受一個敬老紅包。接著發給許多小朋友過年紅包。午宴中，林凱平的兒女為大家表演了吉祥舞獅。

由於匹茲堡鋼人隊即將到德州達拉斯參賽全美足球超級盃，蔡哲元醫師扮成鋼人隊隊員波拉瑪路(Troy Polamalu)，穿上43號球衣，戴上其招牌標誌的披肩長髮，上台接受採訪，引起全場轟動，爆笑如雷。今年該會文書郭向榮、財務歐雪杏、康樂簡豐源皆連任務一年。大家並一致公推高秀壁擔任新副會長。

 韓世彬請首次參加聚餐者自我介紹，其中包括台大醫院胸腔外科徐紹勛醫師；預定取得匹大博士學位，就回台灣高雄長庚服務的黃怡舜醫師，以及4月也將回高雄服務的林志文醫師；匹大學生王健晴、黃馨慧、蘇彥斌及游雅雯也都表示很高興參加此春宴。

娛興節目除了花燈猜謎，另有張嘉玲與燕玉婷的猜成語「指鹿為馬」等活動。接著夏光榕表演全套太極拳，還有周秀琴、郭向榮、簡豐源、林明石等精彩的歌唱表演。會中，莊英煌教授帶來不少台灣立法委員蔡同榮所著「顧台灣」一書分贈大家。(張瓊月)