This is just a short post - to let you see how I almost got blown up twice by fireworks exploding in front of our balcony here in Shanghai. You can get a real feeling for the level of excitement and joy that happens at midnight throughout China by watching this:
Just click on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ede8qySzxw
Again - Happy New Year of the Ox to you!
Elyn
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Happy New Year of the Ox!
!!! HAPPY YEAR OF THE OX !!!
4:00 pm
Sunday January 25, 2009
4:00 pm
Sunday January 25, 2009
Dear Ones – Greetings from Shanghai, where the fireworks are beginning to bang as we move towards dinnertime (about the time you wake up in the US) and our festivities begin.
So what’s the deal for the Year of the Ox according to the Feng Shui experts?
The jury is out, as far as I can see. I checked one newspaper with a “famous” Feng Shui expert, and he said the year would not be good because it “lacked fire,” which is what you need for a strong economy. But there is one good thing on the horizon – this year counts as a “double earth” year, the element that represents harmony and peace, so this year will be a “good healing year” from the turbulence that the world has experienced. I like that idea. Everyone seems to agree on this point!
A Feng Shui expert in Malaysia said that with the patience, perseverance, and hardworking character of the Ox, this year is seen as a time that has room for some “modest reaping” despite the flood of dismal forecasts of a global economic meltdown. Another expert said that 2009 would be a “resilient year” for the economy. According to one expert, it is also a “Number 9 Flying Star” year, which bodes well for industries related to metal such as computers, mining, chemicals, car manufacturing, and repairs. Yet, according to another, this is the reverse! Lack of fire is bad for heating metals. So much for that! So at year end we will know who was right. One thing we do know is that this past year, the Year of the Rat, was not such a good one, and everyone seems to be happy seeing this rat’s unlucky tail disappearing around the corner!
This is a good year for fixing broken things instead of buying new ones – for repair – yes I can see it! Car manufacturing? I hope they pull themselves together around the “green” theme and make a car most people can afford. In the New Year the experts say that “obstacles and even failures must be embraced, because it is in facing them that business and livelihood barriers can be overcome.” I guess that is a good message for the car manufacturers. I hope they read the feng shui predictions!
The papers love to report on famous Oxen, and there are quite a few lists. Number One Ox? Obama. Other famous Oxen? Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, and Richard Nixon. Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Vincent Van Gogh, Robert Redford, Richard Gere, and George Clooney. Imagine some of these oxen yoked together to plow a field? Hmmmm.
Meanwhile, I want to wish you a Happy New Year of the Ox, that you have good health and a peaceful heart, and the traditional greeting of
So what’s the deal for the Year of the Ox according to the Feng Shui experts?
The jury is out, as far as I can see. I checked one newspaper with a “famous” Feng Shui expert, and he said the year would not be good because it “lacked fire,” which is what you need for a strong economy. But there is one good thing on the horizon – this year counts as a “double earth” year, the element that represents harmony and peace, so this year will be a “good healing year” from the turbulence that the world has experienced. I like that idea. Everyone seems to agree on this point!
A Feng Shui expert in Malaysia said that with the patience, perseverance, and hardworking character of the Ox, this year is seen as a time that has room for some “modest reaping” despite the flood of dismal forecasts of a global economic meltdown. Another expert said that 2009 would be a “resilient year” for the economy. According to one expert, it is also a “Number 9 Flying Star” year, which bodes well for industries related to metal such as computers, mining, chemicals, car manufacturing, and repairs. Yet, according to another, this is the reverse! Lack of fire is bad for heating metals. So much for that! So at year end we will know who was right. One thing we do know is that this past year, the Year of the Rat, was not such a good one, and everyone seems to be happy seeing this rat’s unlucky tail disappearing around the corner!
This is a good year for fixing broken things instead of buying new ones – for repair – yes I can see it! Car manufacturing? I hope they pull themselves together around the “green” theme and make a car most people can afford. In the New Year the experts say that “obstacles and even failures must be embraced, because it is in facing them that business and livelihood barriers can be overcome.” I guess that is a good message for the car manufacturers. I hope they read the feng shui predictions!
The papers love to report on famous Oxen, and there are quite a few lists. Number One Ox? Obama. Other famous Oxen? Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, and Richard Nixon. Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Vincent Van Gogh, Robert Redford, Richard Gere, and George Clooney. Imagine some of these oxen yoked together to plow a field? Hmmmm.
Meanwhile, I want to wish you a Happy New Year of the Ox, that you have good health and a peaceful heart, and the traditional greeting of
Ten thousand Matters As (you) Wish
All the best in the New Year!
Elyn and Peter
Just so you have the whole picture – here are bits from an article from Asia Times Online on the upcoming Year of the Ox.
Just click on this link for the full article: - I have put up the most interesting bits below. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KA24Ad01.html
All Hail To The Ox!
By Kent Ewing
Jan 24, 2009
HONG KONG - The Year of the Rat has ended in a global economic meltdown and a crisis of confidence unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Can the ox - the strong, hard-working symbol for next year, which begins on January 26 on the Chinese lunar calendar - carry us forward to better times?
While feng shui experts, like other prognosticators, are inclined to cover their backsides with hedges and qualifications, on the whole the Year of the Ox holds great promise. After all, can things get much worse?
Many financial experts say they not only can but certainly will, but the ox offers hope that these dour analysts are victims of their own pessimism.
-----------------------
People born in ox years tend to be tolerant, strong-willed, fearless and resolved. Like their quadruped brethren, they toil long and hard without complaint and, while results may be slow in coming, they are clear and tangible in the end.
In perhaps the most uplifting sign of better things to come, US President Barack Obama, who was sworn in this week after stirring not just Americans but people around the world with his eloquent rhetoric of hope and change, was born in an ox year, 1961. Many a fortune-teller senses something beyond coincidence in this and expects Obama to do great things as the 44th president of the United States. They also point out that in Chinese, the number four sounds like death and that the Obama presidency is bringing us a double dose of it.
Whatever happens, look for the ox-in-chief to shake the world this year.
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This also could be a year in which world leaders finally do something significant about climate change. Not only has Obama, unlike his predecessor, George W Bush, given the issue high priority, but the astrological signs are also favorable.
Five basic elements - metal, wood, water, fire and earth - rotate through the Chinese zodiac, creating a 60-year cycle. In the passing Year of the Rat, earth sat on top of water, a sign of instability, but the coming year will see earth sit on top of earth as this will be an earth year of an earth Ox.
As the earth year makes the earth ox stronger, this is should be an auspicious year. The harmonious combination, of course, bodes well for Mother Earth herself.
Picture it this way: oxen grazing tranquilly in a pristine field. Doesn't that sound like just the sort of year our badly bruised planet needs?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fire also fuels the financial markets, stimulating investment. But, again, the ox and earth are symbols of strength and stability. So, while the stock market is likely to continue to cool as investors play it safe in uncertain times, in the end this should create a more stable market. While that's not great news, it could be a lot worse.
Meanwhile, the earth-on-earth motif bodes well for property agents and the mining, construction and hotel industries. Insurance agents may also prosper. The double-earth theme, however, also signifies competition, so there will be winners and losers, maybe more of the latter than the former. It will be survival of the fittest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, then, it's going to be a year of taking stock and rebuilding after the devastation brought on by the rat. No soothsayer worth his salt would promise a pot of gold in the year ahead, but things should get noticeably better under the hard-working, if plodding, influence of the ox.
The continuing plight of the victims of the magnitude-8 earthquake that in May struck the Chinese province of Sichuan - killing nearly 70,000 people, injuring almost 400,000 and leaving at least 5 million homeless - is a good case in point. In Sichuan, the rebuilding effort continues, albeit slowly, one step at a time. That, as much as ox and earth, is an apt symbol for the year to come.
The world's financial markets could take a cue from Sichuan, where horrible destruction has been followed by hope and renewal. The pace of Sichuan's rebirth is slow but steady. It's like watching oxen at work.
Kent Ewing is a Hong Kong-based teacher and writer. He can be reached at kewing@hkis.edu.hk.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Winter comes in 9 Nines
The Nines of Winter
Nine sets of nine days until spring arrives
In China they talk about winter days in nine sets of nine days beginning with the solstice. This poem describing the change in weather sounds really nice when spoken aloud in Chinese. I wish this page could talk!
一九二九 不出手
yi jiu er jiu bu chu shou
1st nine, 2nd nine; don’t take hands out of your pockets
三九四九 冰上走
san jiu si jiu bing shang zou
3rd nine, 4th nine walking on ice
五九六九 沿河看柳
wu jiu liu jiu yan he kan liu
5th nine, 6th nine, at the river’s edge we look at willows
七九河开 八九雁来
qi jiu he kai ba jiu yan lai
7th nine, river’s open, 8th nine, swallows return
九九加一九 耕牛遍地走
jiu jiu jia yi jiu, geng niu bian di zou
9th nine plus nine, plow oxen are everywhere in the fields.
Nine sets of nine days until spring arrives
In China they talk about winter days in nine sets of nine days beginning with the solstice. This poem describing the change in weather sounds really nice when spoken aloud in Chinese. I wish this page could talk!
一九二九 不出手
yi jiu er jiu bu chu shou
1st nine, 2nd nine; don’t take hands out of your pockets
三九四九 冰上走
san jiu si jiu bing shang zou
3rd nine, 4th nine walking on ice
五九六九 沿河看柳
wu jiu liu jiu yan he kan liu
5th nine, 6th nine, at the river’s edge we look at willows
七九河开 八九雁来
qi jiu he kai ba jiu yan lai
7th nine, river’s open, 8th nine, swallows return
九九加一九 耕牛遍地走
jiu jiu jia yi jiu, geng niu bian di zou
9th nine plus nine, plow oxen are everywhere in the fields.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
How to eat well - and it is not low-fat and egg-free!
Here are some chilling statistics:
British people now eat 34% fewer vegetables and 59% less fish than 60 years ago.
What are they eating? It isn't just this way in Britain. It is this way in the US too.
According to Russell B. Marz, ND, an assistant professor of nutrition at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, the growing use of genetically modified high fructose corn syrup in many foods and beverages has been suspected not only in increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, but also serious food allergies.
Check this out - it is from an article by Dr. Roby Mitchell on the report that was recently published called "Feeding Minds":
These changes (in what we are eating) add up to neurological challenges such as slower brain function and chronic inflammation (which leads to heart problems and also allergies. Poor diet has been linked with mental health in a number of conditions...
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Studies show that people with ADHD are low in certain types of omega-3 fatty acids, like DHA.
Anxiety. Nervousness and anxiety are associated with a lack of folic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, magnesium and calcium.
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Research has linked Alzheimer's with an increased level of homocysteine, an amino acid metabolite associated with decreased levels of folate, B-12 and pyridoxine.
Depression. Depression is linked to low fish consumption, as well as deficiencies in B vitamins, vitamin C, folic acid, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
Irritability. A lack of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), magnesium and selenium is commonly found in people who are irritable.
Poor memory and concentration. Lapses in memory and concentration may be linked to a lack of B-12 and other B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc.
Schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that people with this disorder have low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids or antioxidant enzymes in the brain... and low levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).
You have no doubt heard this advice. But here it is again.
1. Eat as much organic source food as you can. If you eat conventional versions, wash them well.
2. Eat protein.
Protein is the body's source of essential amino acids, required to produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin (which stabilizes mood and promotes sleep) and dopamine (which imparts energy and mental focus). If you lack sufficient amino acids, you cannot manufacture enough of these chemicals. Protein also helps stabilize blood glucose levels and prevent mood swings.
3. Don't go Low Fat! That was a media scare from years ago. Update your thinking!!! More research has been done!!! Think abou this: Seventy percent of the brain is composed of fat (if you exclude the water), making essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) a must for optimal brain function. Research from the Framingham Heart Study shows that people who ate fish more than two times a week halved their risk of Alzheimer's. Another option is to take a daily fish oil supplement of combined DHA and EPA. Of course, you won't want to get your fatty acids from junk food.
4. Eat nuts! Nuts have really important fats (the kind you really need) and also magnesium and zinc, which are extremely difficult to get from other foods. Without magnesium, you get cramps easily and suffer all sorts of other serious problems, since magnesium is needed to make many enzymes in the body.
5. Eat as many GREEN vegetables as you can.
Here is what they have that all that processed and junk food will never give you enough of:
Folic acid: which is hard to get enough of - Leafy green veggies such as spinach and kale. Vitamin C: citrus fruits, peppers and strawberries.
Magnesium: broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.
Nutrient and fiber rich foods are more important than anything else.
6. The latest information on alcohol: A study in the October 2008 issue of the Archives of Neurology notes that alcohol causes shrinkage of the brain. The more you drink, the more your brain shrinks. It's best to drink alcoholic beverages with your meal and choose organic red wines and unprocessed darker beers that contain higher phenolic levels. Experts generally advise against more than one alcoholic beverage a day for women and two for men.
So there is is. Stay tuned. I will be blogging more on this soon.
Elyn
British people now eat 34% fewer vegetables and 59% less fish than 60 years ago.
What are they eating? It isn't just this way in Britain. It is this way in the US too.
According to Russell B. Marz, ND, an assistant professor of nutrition at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, the growing use of genetically modified high fructose corn syrup in many foods and beverages has been suspected not only in increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, but also serious food allergies.
Check this out - it is from an article by Dr. Roby Mitchell on the report that was recently published called "Feeding Minds":
These changes (in what we are eating) add up to neurological challenges such as slower brain function and chronic inflammation (which leads to heart problems and also allergies. Poor diet has been linked with mental health in a number of conditions...
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Studies show that people with ADHD are low in certain types of omega-3 fatty acids, like DHA.
Anxiety. Nervousness and anxiety are associated with a lack of folic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, magnesium and calcium.
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Research has linked Alzheimer's with an increased level of homocysteine, an amino acid metabolite associated with decreased levels of folate, B-12 and pyridoxine.
Depression. Depression is linked to low fish consumption, as well as deficiencies in B vitamins, vitamin C, folic acid, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
Irritability. A lack of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), magnesium and selenium is commonly found in people who are irritable.
Poor memory and concentration. Lapses in memory and concentration may be linked to a lack of B-12 and other B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc.
Schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that people with this disorder have low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids or antioxidant enzymes in the brain... and low levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).
You have no doubt heard this advice. But here it is again.
1. Eat as much organic source food as you can. If you eat conventional versions, wash them well.
2. Eat protein.
Protein is the body's source of essential amino acids, required to produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin (which stabilizes mood and promotes sleep) and dopamine (which imparts energy and mental focus). If you lack sufficient amino acids, you cannot manufacture enough of these chemicals. Protein also helps stabilize blood glucose levels and prevent mood swings.
3. Don't go Low Fat! That was a media scare from years ago. Update your thinking!!! More research has been done!!! Think abou this: Seventy percent of the brain is composed of fat (if you exclude the water), making essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) a must for optimal brain function. Research from the Framingham Heart Study shows that people who ate fish more than two times a week halved their risk of Alzheimer's. Another option is to take a daily fish oil supplement of combined DHA and EPA. Of course, you won't want to get your fatty acids from junk food.
4. Eat nuts! Nuts have really important fats (the kind you really need) and also magnesium and zinc, which are extremely difficult to get from other foods. Without magnesium, you get cramps easily and suffer all sorts of other serious problems, since magnesium is needed to make many enzymes in the body.
5. Eat as many GREEN vegetables as you can.
Here is what they have that all that processed and junk food will never give you enough of:
Folic acid: which is hard to get enough of - Leafy green veggies such as spinach and kale. Vitamin C: citrus fruits, peppers and strawberries.
Magnesium: broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.
Nutrient and fiber rich foods are more important than anything else.
6. The latest information on alcohol: A study in the October 2008 issue of the Archives of Neurology notes that alcohol causes shrinkage of the brain. The more you drink, the more your brain shrinks. It's best to drink alcoholic beverages with your meal and choose organic red wines and unprocessed darker beers that contain higher phenolic levels. Experts generally advise against more than one alcoholic beverage a day for women and two for men.
So there is is. Stay tuned. I will be blogging more on this soon.
Elyn
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