Delightful dinner at Kiku

The summer flower show (“Gargoyles in the Garden”) at Phipps is coming up May 1; we couldn’t wait and went for a preview this afternoon; it is dubbed as “Gothe meets Gorgeous”.

After seeing the gorgeous & gothic revival at Phipps, we had dinner at Kiku—the authentic Japanese Sushi Restaurant in the Station Square, the tourist attraction site at Pittsburgh.

It is fitting to eat at a restaurant with a flower name after seeing the flower show. Kiku is the Japanese name for chrysanthemum flower. We always call my 3rd sister Kiku.

We had Sushi Platter that includes toro, tuna, whitefish, salmon, shrimp, tamago, salmon roe, eel, salmon/cucumber roll that served with Miso Soup, Rice, and Green Tea. As always, enjoy it.

Remembering my grandmother with affection

 I can unabashedly say that my mother came from a family of distinction or at least from a family of affluence or “high society”; I have proof of it—my maternal grandmother lived through her ninety some years of life with foot-binding.

The foot-binding tradition lasted for about one thousand years, you may or may not know it that only the young girls from the family of affluence in the “high society” underwent the cruel and painful foot-binding process that took years to accomplish it, to make a 三吋金蓮 (“three inches golden lotus”, the name of which traced back to the origin of foot-binding.

Legend had it that the foot-binding began with Li Houtsu of Nantang 南唐 (A.D. 937-978). He had a royal women attendant called Yaoniang, who was noted for her slender beauty and dance. She tied her feet with silk and crouch on top of it to suggest the form of a crescent moon and danced on top of the lotus making pirouettes suggesting the clouds. Many young women began to imitate her style, thus the beginning of foot-binding. (I read this from an article by Yu Huai translated into English by Lin Yutang, 林語堂)

It was believed that the foot-binding began after Tang Dynasty (唐朝) which ended about 1,100 years ago. With the exuberance of Tang (唐) poetry singing the praise of women’s beauty, no reference to the foot-binding custom was mentioned, so it is safe to say that it began after Tang Dynasty.

I once went to Taipei with my grandmother and my brother took us to Hotel Guo-Bing (國賓大飯店) at Yang-San (圓山)—the most luxurious hotel in Taiwan then. I vividly recall that many Americans couldn’t take their eyes away from the binding feet of my grandmother; she walked with grace as if she wore high heels with pointed shoes. The foot-binding was obviously a distraction from her beautiful face—one cannot help notice that she was a woman of delicate elegance and beauty even in her advanced age.

She lived with my uncles and would come to live with us for, say, a few days to a week, at a time. The excitement and happiness of her staying with us in those days and moments never faded from my memory. We always called a “taxi” or more precisely, a tricycle (三輪車,see photo), even though our house was only 3 or 4 small blocks away from my uncles’, that was quite a task for one with binding feet.

I always volunteered to go to bring my grandmother to my house, mainly to indulge the joy of riding tricycle with my grandmother through the streets. The delight and thrill is similar to one riding the horse carriage in certain American tourist sites. Joy, we just saw one in the Water Tower area in Chicago this past Christmas; can you imagine riding the horse carriage along the Magnificent Mile?

Watching my grandmother “putting on her shoes” (wrapping her feet with a very, very long silky cloth) every morning is a ritual.

I went away to Chia-yi (嘉義) for middle- and high school and then to Taichung (台中) for medical college and whenever I came home, the first order of business was to go to see my grandmother. Often time it was early evening when I arrived home, I still went to see her; no sooner had I put down my stuff at home, than I would go to my uncle's home to see her.  Often time she had already retired to bed, I still went into the “mosquito net” (蚊帳) to chat, I no longer recall what we talked or whether we said anything of substance or interest at all. But, to see and to be with my grandmother was such a joy, a joy that I had to give up when I came to the States 40 some years ago.

Miles to go before I sleep

While walking among the breathtaking foliage, I began to think that this winding country road in Greene County [where we live] must have inspired Robert Frost to write,

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

Katy took this picture in our foliage tour in 2007, for about two-week period, we can see this every fall. This is about 10-15 minutes drive from where we live. I am sure this was what Robert Frost saw in 1920 when he wrote,

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day! Y
et knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

At age of 86 Robert Frost read his poems at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Somehow we haven’t had a national laureate present in the Presidential inauguration in recent years. Carl Sandburg spoke at the Joint Session of Congress on Lincoln’s 150th birthday (2/12/1959), but we didn’t have a Lincoln Scholar of Sandburg’s caliber for Lincoln’s 200th birthday last year. Current Harvard President, Drew Gilpin Faust is an eminent Civil War era scholar, but is not considered a Lincoln scholar.

My cousin, 陳老薑, commented in Facebook, “This Frost's poem is one of my favourites. I once took a slide of similar scene in an autumn woods in the Netherlands.”

Obama, nay, Lincoln, at Cooper Union

(This Lincoln picture was taken by Mathew Brady the day when he delivered the Cooper Union Speech on 2/27/1860.)

President Obama went to Cooper Union College to make a speech on Wall Street Reform, throwing stones at the powerful and the wealthy at Wall Street, which is just 2 miles away. Obama won’t lose any chance to emulate Lincoln, so this is the second time he made the important speech at the Great Hall of Cooper Union; the first time was during his Presidential campaign.

As we all know that Cooper Union address (2/27/1860) propelled Lincoln to the national fame and recognition, introducing him to the intellectuals in the East in his days. He was introduced by poet William Cullen Bryant and the speech is now known as “Right Makes Might” speech, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

Lincoln was originally invited to give a lecture of “Young Men’s Republican Union” to the students, and Lincoln seized the opportunity to turn it into a political speech. He sent a letter to James Briggs, Esq. (who invited him) on 11/13/1859, “. . . I believe, after all, I shall make a political speech of it. You have no objection?” His law partner, William Herndon, wrote, “no former effort in the line of speech-making had cost Lincoln so much time and thought.”

After Cooper Union speech, Lincoln visited Exeter to see Robert, he wrote a letter to Mary (3/4/1860)

“I have been unable to escape this toil. If I had foreseen it, I think I would not have come east at all. The speech at New York, being within my calculation before I started, went off passably well and gave me no trouble whatever. The difficulty was to make nine others, before audiences who had already seen all my ideas in print.”

(Janice, you may like this story as it is relevant to you personally; next time I visit Exeter I may want to see the place where Lincoln wrote that letter.)

One year from the day he wrote this letter he took oath as President on 3/4/1961.

Obama’s speech at Cooper Union is 東施效顰 comparing with that of Lincoln. (I won’t translate here, lest Americans would criticize me of showing disrespect.)

A challenge to Janice, tell me why I said 東施效顰? And do you agree?

Jer-Yuan Tsai President Obama went to Cooper Union College to make the speech on Wall Street Reform on April 22, 2010. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and President Gary Cohn were there, ducking the stones thrown by President Obama.

Jer-Yuan Tsai Lincoln's son, Robert, was studying at the Phillips Exeter (at Exeter, NH) then, he went to Harvard next year. Both Robert, and General Robert Lee's son were at Harvard, when they fathers were fighting a savage Civil War.

Amazing Applications of Microsurgery: by Dr. Cheng-Hung Lin, 林承弘

(This is not a complete set of Dr. Lin’s lecture slides, some of which are deliberately removed, lest it would scare away the faint-hearted; some with facial features are not shown for obvious reason; many are omitted for the interest of length of the article.)

Dr. Cheng-Hung (Luke) Lin, 林承弘, from Taipei Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital (長更醫院) gave a talk of “Applications of Microsurgery” at a monthly gathering of Taiwanese Bible Class at Pittsburgh on April 24.

Dr. Lin is as modest as he is brilliant, he said his talk was 班門弄斧 (display one’s slight skill before an expert). He is an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital / Medical College in Taiwan and is presently a research fellow at the Division of Plastic Surgery, UPMC. There is no better place in the world to learn and do research in the field of tissue/organ transplantation.

It was an eye opener for all, including the several physicians present. Dr. Lin explained that their line of work often may not necessarily deal with life and death, but rather functionality and quality of life, which itself is as important and indispensable. He showed us a photo of a woman whose face was severely injured and the reconstructive surgeries restored not only the function but the smile of the face.

He briefly introduced Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) system which now has seven hospitals in Taiwan in general and the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in particular. The motto of his mentor, Prof. Chih-Hung Lin is “Dream Big, Work Hard” (築夢, 踏實). He considers himself fortunate to have opportunity to stand on the shoulders of the Giants in his field. He spoke with admiration and appreciation of Dr. M. Samuel Noordhoff, who practically built the Dept. of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at CGMH and is considered the father of plastic surgery.

Some of the photos of the mangled extremity are gross and gory (evidently not for the faint-hearted), a stark contrast with photos taken after reconstructive surgeries, showing a work nothing short of a miracle (We tend to avoid saying ‘miracle’ in the field of medicine, but one has to see it to understand what I said.) Plastic surgeons are often faced with difficult decisions as to what can be saved to restore the function; they can move a toe and re-plant as thumb/finger; an ingenious task that demands the skill of an architect and an artist. Dr. Lin emphasized the importance of preservation of the thumb. Hand surgery is the topic of his focused research and practice.

Dr. Lin said what inspired him to this field is the constant challenges, and a sense of satisfaction after a tough job, seeing a mangled hand to be able to hold a cup, or seeing a crushed face smile again. There is no dull moment in his work, always expects the unexpected. To be able to work at he top-notch medical centers, be it at UPMC or at Chang Gung (長更), exposed him to the fresh idea and innovation in the frontier of medicine.

He explained the concept of composite tissue allotransplantation. Unlike that pathetically simple little organ, the heart, the hand is composed of various types of tissues, such as muscle, nerve, blood vessel, and bone, thus “composite”, and that makes things all the more complicated and tricky to deal with.

A brief history of the invention and evolutional development of plastic surgery was given. Alexis Carrel started it all and he was honored by a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1912 for his work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs. The four general rules he set up remained true to be followed to this day. Standing the test of time defines greatness.

The success rate of the reconstructive surgeries increased from 74-91% to 96-99% through 1980s, it is attributed to the better equipments such as microscope and “diploscope” with which a surgeon can see the microscopic nerve fibers, and the expanding flap knowledge.

Dr. Lin also ran through a list of the diverse indications of microsurgical reconstruction, details of which is beyond the scope of this writing. We all went home with a better understanding and appreciation of microscopic reconstructive surgeries.

Happy (446th) Birthday, Shakespeare!

Today is the 446th birthday for the Bard. I was going to talk about Lincoln and Shakespeare here from time to time; it is fitting to say something on his birthday and also the day he died in 1616. Ingrid Bergman was also born and died on the same day—August 29.

Both Lincoln and Churchill loved Shakespeare. Sitting in the front row watching Richard Burton play Hemlet, Church would growl the lines along with Burton who was frustrated but no one could ask Churchill to shut up.

Chicago Mayor Daley proclaimed the Bard’s birthday as “Talk Like Shakespeare Day”. Joy always wants me to go to the Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier in Chicago, a stone throw away from where she lives. Hopefully that will be on the agenda next time we visit.

Lincoln went to see Hamlet, played by John Wilkes Booth (his assassin’s brother), he remarked, “It was a good performance, but I had a thousand times rather read it at home, if it were not for Booth’s playing. A farce, or a comedy, is best played; a tragedy is best read at home.” I am not sure I agree with Abe.

University of Pittsburgh Taiwanese Natives Research Conference was a success

The following is Katy's dispatch to the World Journal (世界日報) on April 23, 2010.

匹茲堡大學「亞洲研究中心」(Asian Studies ASC) 主辦的台灣原住民研討會，圓滿閉幕, 為期兩天 的活動邀請多位來自台灣大學的人類學者出席發表論文，現場並舉辦台灣原住民照片展，其中原住民兒童的天真神韻，以及蘭嶼達悟族等特有的原住民文化活動，均讓與會者驚艷，並深一層了解台灣多元文化之美。


研討會由駐紐約台北經濟文化辦事處新聞組協辦，以「少數族群與政府：台灣與中國之比較」為主題，重點探討台灣原住民文化之振興及原住民與國家的關係，會中有多位來自台灣的學者出席，包括台灣大學人類學系助理教授胡家瑜、台灣大學人類學系助理教授王梅霞、暨南大學人類學研究所教授滿田彌生等人，以及伊利諾州的劉子愷及加州的 美國學者多人。
論文主題涵蓋胡家瑜的「新竹苗栗賽夏族今昔經濟轉型變遷」，滿田彌生的「日月潭鄒族生番熟番的研究」，王梅霞的「花蓮台東原住民的編織文化」，劉子愷的「大陸少數民族的研究」，齊克之(Joseph Cichosz 的「研討台商在大陸的家庭變遷」。會中亦探討原住民在國會中的政治代表權及 社區土地改革等。


研討會主辦 人、匹茲堡大學人類學系教授史川森(Andrew Strathern)在開幕致詞中, 感謝紐約經文處 的支持，也希望未來雙方持續合作，在匹茲堡推廣台灣多元文化。他表示，台灣原住民有42萬5000人，雖然僅佔總人口的百分之二左右，但其存在的重要性不容忽視。他在過去十年中，多次偕同為人類學者的妻子潘美拉‧史都華(Pamela Stewart)赴台研究及發表論文, 亦針 對台灣原住民發表專書。


他在會中放映今年1月親訪台東莫拉克災區的道教祈福儀式，還有少數民族的民俗活動。他希望提昇台灣文化，並將之介紹到美國大學。


匹茲堡大學是美洲大學聯盟(The Association of American Universities，AAU)成員, 該聯盟由美、 加63個頂尖的研究機構組成，在北美學界享有極高聲譽；該校「亞洲研究中心」隸屬於「國際研究中 心」(The University Center for International Studies，UCIS)，相關研究被美國教育部門規劃為全國 15個大學部國家資源中心之一，在相關研究領域具重要地位。（張瓊月)

Katy is the freelance news reporter for the World Journal with circulation across the land; I am the “free” (no pay) translator. :- )


University of Pittsburgh Taiwanese Natives Research Conference was a success
(Pittsburgh News)
The Taiwanese Natives research conference sponsored by Asian Studies Center, ASC of the University of Pittsburgh had a successful conclusion. Many anthropologists and scholars from National Taiwan University were invited to attend the two-day activity and gave lectures along with the exhibition of the photos of the Taiwanese Natives.


Among the exhibition are the innocent charm of the native children and the cultural activities of the natives of Lan-Yu Tau Tribe; it was a pleasant surprise to the attendants and provided a deeper understanding of the beauty of the multi-cultures of Taiwan.

The News Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (in NYC) helped organizing the research conference. The theme is “Minority and Government: A comparison and contrast of Taiwan and China” with a focus of discussing the cultural revitalization of the natives and the relationship between the natives and the government. Among the participants are many scholars came from Taiwan that include National Taiwan University Anthropology Associate Professor Chia-yu Hu (胡家瑜), National Taiwan University Anthropology Assistant Professor Mei-Hsia (王梅霞), National Chi Nan University Graduate Institute of Anthropology Assistant Professor Yayoi Mitsuda (滿田彌生), and University of Illinois Research Associate Tzu-kai Liu (劉子愷) and American scholar Joseph Cichosz (齊克之) from California.


The main research topics include “From ‘Savage’ Border to National Scenic Area” by Chia-yu Hu, “Civilizing Barbarians: Status of the Thao under the States in Taiwan” by Yayoi Mitsuda, “The weaving culture of the natives in Hualien and Taitung” by Mei-Hsia, “The research of the minority in China” by Tzu-kai Liu, and “The study of the family structure change of the Taiwanese businessmen in China” by Joseph Cichosz. In addition, there were discussions of the representation in Parliament of the natives and the community land reform, etc.


University of Pittsburgh Anthropology Professor Andrew Strathern (史川森) was the moderator of the research conference; in his open remark he expressed his appreciation of the support from the Economic and Cultural Office and hope the mutual cooperation will continue in the future to promote the Taiwanese multi-cultures in Pittsburgh area. He indicates that although there are 42,5000 natives in Taiwan, only 2 percent of the population, the importance of its presence cannot be ignored. Strarhern, along with his wife, also an anthropology scholar, Pamela Stewart (潘美拉‧史都華), has visited Taiwan and gave research lectures on many occasions over the past 10 years, and also publish expert books about the Taiwanese natives.


Strathern showed a film of praying for blessing ceremony of Taoism and the cultural activities of the minority that he took on his January (2010) trip to the Morakot Disaster area in Taitung. His hope is to promote and elevate Taiwanese culture and introduce it to the American university academic community.


The University of Pittsburgh is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which consists of 63 top-notch (first-rate) research organizations in the U.S. and Canada, enjoying the highest reputation. Its “Asian Study Center” under the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) is deemed one of the 15 university resource centers by the Department of Education in the States. It has won acclamation in the influential related research. (by Katy Tsai, 張瓊月)

Please click the following link to read a dispatch sent by Katy and was published in the World Journal today. Katy is the freelance news reporter for the World Journal with circulation across the land; I am the “free” (no pay) translator. :- ) http://www.worldjournal.com/view/full_njpa/7176572/article--%E5%8C%B9%E5%A4%A7%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E5%8E%9F%E4%BD%8F%E6%B0%91%E7%A0%94%E8%A8%8E%E6%9C%83-%E5%9C%93%E6%BB%BF%E9%96%89%E5%B9%95-?instance=nj_story1 University of Pittsburgh Taiwanese Natives Research Conference was a success (Pittsburgh News) The Taiwanese Natives research conference sponsored by Asian Studies Center, ASC of the University of Pittsburgh had a successful conclusion. Many anthropologists and scholars from National Taiwan University were invited to attend the two-day activity and gave lectures along with the exhibition of the photos of the Taiwanese Natives. Among the exhibition are the innocent charm of the native children and the cultural activities of the natives of Lan-Yu Tau Tribe; it was a pleasant surprise to the attendants and provided a deeper understanding of the beauty of the multi-cultures of Taiwan. The News Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (in NYC) helped organizing the research conference. The theme is “Minority and Government: A comparison and contrast of Taiwan and China” with a focus of discussing the cultural revitalization of the natives and the relationship between the natives and the government. Among the participants are many scholars came from Taiwan that include National Taiwan University Anthropology Associate Professor Chia-yu Hu (胡家瑜), National Taiwan University Anthropology Assistant Professor Mei-Hsia (王梅霞), National Chi Nan University Graduate Institute of Anthropology Assistant Professor Yayoi Mitsuda (滿田彌生), and University of Illinois Research Associate Tzu-kai Liu (劉子愷) and American scholar Joseph Cichosz (齊克之) from California. The main research topics include “From ‘Savage’ Border to National Scenic Area” by Chia-yu Hu, “Civilizing Barbarians: Status of the Thao under the States in Taiwan” by Yayoi Mitsuda, “The weaving culture of the natives in Hualien and Taitung” by Mei-Hsia, “The research of the minority in China” by Tzu-kai Liu, and “The study of the family structure change of the Taiwanese businessmen in China” by Joseph Cichosz. In addition, there were discussions of the representation in Parliament of the natives and the community land reform, etc. University of Pittsburgh Anthropology Professor Andrew Strathern (史川森) was the moderator of the research conference; in his open remark he expressed his appreciation of the support from the Economic and Cultural Office and hope the mutual cooperation will continue in the future to promote the Taiwanese multi-cultures in Pittsburgh area. He indicates that although there are 42,5000 natives in Taiwan, only 2 percent of the population, the importance of its presence cannot be ignored. Strarhern, along with his wife, also an anthropology scholar, Pamela Stewart (潘美拉‧史都華), has visited Taiwan and gave research lectures on many occasions over the past 10 years, and also publish expert books about the Taiwanese natives. Strathern showed a film of praying for blessing ceremony of Taoism and the cultural activities of the minority that he took on his January (2010) trip to the Morakot Disaster area in Taitung. His hope is to promote and elevate Taiwanese culture and introduce it to the American university academic community. The University of Pittsburgh is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which consists of 63 top-notch (first-rate) research organizations in the U.S. and Canada, enjoying the highest reputation. Its “Asian Study Center” under the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) is deemed one of the 15 university resource centers by the Department of Education in the States. It has won acclamation in the influential related research. (by Katy Tsai, 張瓊月)

Thursday dinner at Friday’s

T.G.I. Friday’s Restaurant (Thank God, It’s Friday—Have you ever wonder what T.G.I. means? The company asserts it stands for “Thank Goodness It’s Friday”) We cannot wait until Friday, so we patronized Friday’s on Thursday (today).

We took advantage of the “3 Courses” special that includes appetizer, main entrée, and dessert, all for $12.99, quite a bargain to indulge. There is a more luxurious version for $16.99 if you have a bigger appetite and deeper pocket.

I had Fried Mozzarella, Sizzling Parmesan Crusted Chicken, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. And Katy had Southwest Wedge Salad, Dragon Fire Chicken, and also Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Knowing I like reading Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, Janice asked me to pick up Ruth Reich’s Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise and I was not disappointed. Being a food writer and a restaurant critic (Reichl used to be The New York Times) must be a wonderful job.

Janice is a foodie and a good food writer; trying to appreciate her “language” is my excuse of frequenting restaurants.

Dinner at Angelo’s

When you visit my Facebook account you can share the scrumptious dinner with us at Angelo’s Restaurant tonight.  Angelo’s (at Washington, PA) has fast become our favorite to indulge.

I had Linguini with Black Mussels and red clam sauce and Katy has Chicken Marsala—chicken breast sautéed in butter, garlic and Italian herbs in a Marsala wine sauce with fresh mushrooms.

My father's photo at National Taiwan University Medical College Library

Katy came across the info about my late father, 蔡送來 who, in 1932, graduated from 臺北醫專, which became National Taiwan University Medical College (台大醫學院) after the end of WWII. He set up the medical practice at 下潭 in 1932. (Jo and Sean, you once visited that village)

檔案資訊

主要題名 蔡送來

照片簡介 蔡送來(1905/03/07- )，臺南州人，1932年自臺北醫專畢業後，進入日本紅十字會臺灣支部病院皮黴（皮膚梅毒）科服務，之後在朴子街、新竹州後立庄等開設『蔡內科醫院』，主治內兒科。1935年5月在臺南州東石郡鹿草庄下潭108號開設『蔡內科醫院』，主治內兒科。蔡送來曾擔任下潭公學校醫，他與夫人育有1男3 女，嗜好是讀書。（臺大醫圖編譯）

作品類型 圖片

作品形式 書刊圖片

照片分類細目 其他

關鍵詞 蔡內科醫院

典藏機構 臺大圖書館

現藏單位 醫學院圖書分館

計畫名稱 邁頂經費

取得來源 臺大圖書館

Jer-Yuan Tsai The data indicated that my father had "one son and three daughters", which meant the input of data was 71 years ago. It also said his hobby was "reading" (嗜好是讀書). And you wonder why I enjoy reading; it must be in the genes.

GLo Cervantes you must pass this on to Ben and Gabriella! This is fascinating history...

Dana Cheng I've to show this picuture to my mom.

Lincoln went to Ford Theater for the last time today in 1865

In the later afternoon of today (April 14) in 1845, Lincoln, with Captain Crook, walked to the War Department (he often visited the telegraph office there); Lincoln said to Crook, “Crook, do you know, I believe there are men who want to take my life?” and after a pause, half to himself, “And I have no doubt they will do it.” Hours later John Wilkes Booth did it.

After visiting Grant at City Point, Virginia, Lincoln sailed up the Potomac back to Washington on April 9, 1865. He read aloud from Shakespeare’s to entertain his entourage, concentrating on Macbeth, expounding several lines on the murder of Duncan. As we know King Claudius (of Hamlet) is an objectively bad man whereas “Duncan is a good man, a trusty, sagacious and kind ruler who does nothing to deserve death.” And 5-6 days after Lincoln met the same fate as Duncan did.

I believe Lincoln was reciting the lines of Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 2:

Duncan is in his grave;
After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well;
Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further.

In praise of dog

I once had these lines in my blog and also posted at Sermo; I transpot them here to pay tribute to Lawrence at Facebook.

“Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” — Mark Twain

“Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the virtues of Man, without his Vices. This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a Dog.” — Lord Byron in 1808.

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” — Mark Twain

“The more I see of the representatives of the people, the more I admire my dog.” — Alphonse de Lamartine said this in 1850. This may not be entirely irrelevant in our time.

“You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.” —Will Rogers (or unknown). What he tried to say is that a place without dogs can't be Heaven.

“There are three faithful friends-an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.” — Benjamin Franklin, who also said, “God heals, and doctor takes the fee.”

“Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.” — Sigmund Freud

“I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.” — Abraham Lincoln

The White House pets in Lincoln's days were goats. Mary Todd Lincoln once went shopping spree at New York City and wired asking Lincoln to send check and added “Tad [their son] says are the goats well.” Lincoln responded, “Tell Tad the goats and father are very well—especially the goats.”

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse

Howdy! Dinner at Texas Roadhouse is noisy & pleasantly ‘rowdy’

While being led to our seats, I was hoping the food would be as ‘crunchy’ as the peanut shells covering the floor. The cowboy music filled the room; it was a blast! it was noisy and almost ‘rowdy’. No sooner did we sit down, than my cell phone rang; I could hardly hear the ED doctor; no emergency; we could eat our hearty meals with enthusiasm and having fun while eating like each and everyone in the Texas Roadhouse. When you are in Texas, eat like Texans.

After hearing this was our first visit to the restaurant, the server suggested their signature steak; I should have said “bring them on”, as did the one from Texas (I am hoping you know to whom I referred). Katy settled with Grilled BBQ Chicken. My House Salad with one thousand island dressing was a good sign that good food was to come. The bread disappointed me, but Katy liked its sweet flavor.

Being a peanut lover I felt at home seeing a basket of roast shelled peanuts on the table; I cannot say the meal was complete as I didn’t wash the steak down with the beer to get into the mood to blend into the atmosphere that “Texas” takes pride in.

In defense of Rosalind Franklin

In my post at Sermo about the discovery of DNA structure I failed to mention Rosalind Franklin, a doctor protested saying “With all due respect, you missed Rosalind Franklin, whom J.D. Watson, in The Double Helix credited with the actual x-ray crystallography that sealed the hypothesis.” To which I responded,

I admit it is an unforgivable oversight of not mentioning The Dark Lady of DNA (Rosalind Franklin's biography by Brenda Maddox) when talking about the discovery of DNA structure. Her untimely death in 1958 must make the Nobel Committee much easier to give the awards in 1962. But I have campaigned for her tirelessly over the years. James Watson once suggested that Nobel Prizes should be given in 1962 to him and Crick in Medicine and Wilkins and Franklin in Chemistry, all for the DNA structure. That might be a way to solve the problem had Franklin not passed away then.

Max Perutz and John Kendrew shared the Prize in Chemistry that year; I believe Watson initially went to Kendrew's lab where he hooked up with Crick; that was the golden days for Cavendish Lab.

John Steinbeck was there for Literature that year and even Linus Pauling was there for the Peace Prize or may be the Nobel Committees felt Pauling could or should be (almost) there for the DNA structure, too.

Dr. James Watson in Taiwan

I learn that Dr. James Watson is visiting Taiwan from Edwin Tsai’s Facebook page. The College of Life Science of the National Tsing Hua University is having a 3-day conference (April 1-3, 2010) boasting Dr. James Watson; his mere presence will make it an extraordinary one, even though he is now a Lion in Winter. I do not know whether he’ll be there 3 days in a row or just Today’s (April 3) lecture.

On Feb. 25 I had the following post at Sermo and one doctor remarked that he met Watson at a conference a couple of years ago and “I was totally shaking and star struck. I have never felt that way meeting somebody before. Forget Brad Pitt. Now there is a STAR.”

Another doctor wrote, “Got to see Francis Crick at Northwestern University in 1974, speaking about his subsequent research. Spoke at the Technological Institute [a huge complex; it was said it is bigger than the Pentagon, I visited Joy there on many occasions during her undergraduate years] Auditorium, which seats about 900. I’d suspect there were easily 1,300 or more in the audience.”

The following is what I posted at Sermo on Feb. 28.

Today (Feb. 28) in 1953 Francis Crick went to Eagle pub (nearby Cavendish Lab) to tell everyone within hearing distance that he and James Watson had found the secret of life. And molecular biology was born.

Sidney Brenner once said Crick was the only one he knew can make a living by being a theoretic biologist. He devoted much of later part of his life in “the scientific search for the soul” (the subtitle of his book, Astonishing Hypothesis). Watson is a more prolific and better writer, though.

Crick and Maurice Wilkins (The third man of the double helix) passed away in 2004 and Watson is now a lion in winter. We haven't heard much from him since he made a so-called “racist” remark while promoting his book (Avoid Boring People) in London in late 2007. His memoir came in segments; "The Genes, Girls, and Gmow" ended at his getting married, and "Avoid Boring People" told his life in science up to the time when he left Harvard in 1976. He still has much to say and he shouldn't be silenced.

There is no trace of any racism in “Avoid Boring People”; the outspoken Honest Jim is absolutely not a racist at heart, it is his brutal insensitivity and loose tongue that got him into trouble.

The untimely death of Rosalind Franklin

Speaking of the untimely death of Rosalind Franklin, the following is my comment on her in a post about the early detection of ovarian cancer.

Doctors had difficulty detecting Rosalind Franklin ovarian cancer back in 1956, and we're still facing almost the same dilemma nowadays.

Before leaving for the United States in the summer of 1956 for a 2-month stay at various Labs, including Woods Hole Lab at Cape Cod, Cal Tech, and a 3-week stay at UCLA virus Lab at Berkeley (where she celebrated her 36th birthday), she had a medical check up by a doctor at the University College London's student health; no problems were found. This was a routine physical required of those exposed to radiation risks in their work.

During the last week of her stay, she had trouble zipping her skirt and her "midriff began to bulge". She went to see a doctor; "You're not pregnant?" asked the doctor, "I wish I were," was her answer. The doctor suspected ovarian trouble and the surgery at London confirmed ovarian cancer (the right ovary was the size of a croquet ball) on September 4. She died of abdominal carcinomatosis on April 16, 1958.

The life time risk for ovarian cancer is 1.4% in the US (1 in 71 women), it is 39-46% among the carriers of BRCA1 mutation and 12-20% for BRCA2 mutation. The BRCA mutations are particularly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews, and I believe Rosalind Franklin was an Ashkenazi Jew, not 100% sure, though.

de Gaulle was a headache for both Winston Churchill and FDR

This is my letter-to-the-editor at Observer Reporter (Washington, PA) in early 2010 about the interesting relationship among de Gaulle, Churchill, and FDR.