What is that emblem on the front of a R.O.C. passport?
Hey, if you like you can call in to ICRT at 2518-5525 ext. to ask me questions and generally harass me from 9 to 12 this morning.
Perhaps, but you need to add âqualityâ English-language âŚ
There is a reason that local writers self-publish: their work is not up to standards. The books that I have seen range from vanity publications to disjointed, unrelated-to-Taiwan rehashes of history with a smattering of âmy funny stories.â
Perhaps, but Almas John Rossâs book is one of the better ones Iâve read.
Perhaps, but you need to add âqualityâ English-language âŚ
There is a reason that local writers self-publish: their work is not up to standards. The books that I have seen range from vanity publications to disjointed, unrelated-to-Taiwan rehashes of history with a smattering of âmy funny stories.â[/quote]
Wolf Reinhold, after you have made the effort to write your own book then you can criticise others. Iâm being serious because Iâm sure you could write a good book about Taiwan if you tried.
Did anyone listen to the ICRT interview? What did you think? Or do I want to know?
Shit, I knew I was forgetting something this morning.
Howâs Rick? What do you think of his show?
I caught a bit of it.
âYou are a gentleman and a scholarâ, as my mom would say about being in a difficult situation as you were.
You were funny, informative and showed amazing restraint when asked some of the most retarded questions from Rick Monday. Bill Thissen, though, has shown he can conduct and interview and his questions to you were much better and had some linear thought.
Your good quips:
âThey hate everything.â (referring to Forumosa posters)
âYou guys just get these off the internet.â (referring to their top-ten lists)
âI would like to think Iâm past that.â (referring to laughing at foreigners who mangle Mandarin)
You brought ICRT up to an listenable standard. Almost as good as the day they had Terry, the annoying English teacher.
(Did they let you choose any music? Please tell me you didnât choose Faith Hill.)
No, but I did suggest the country tunes, because a friend of mine wants to hear more country music at that time of day. Unfortunately, they didnât have John Anderson tunes I like, such as âBend it Until It Breaksâ and âSeminole Windâ. I also asked for Keith Secola, but I guess they donât have him, either.
It was actually quite fun to do, although I probably pissed off such illustrious institutions as the GIO and the Taiwan News.
Wolf,
I know that this book doesnât fall into the âEnglish-langauge materialâ category, but I am curious to know if you have read Poagaoâs book. If so, what are your thoughts on it?
Thanks.
How many critics also are accomplished at what they critique? Are all movie critics famous retired directors? Are all book reviewers present or former acclaimed authors?
I have resisted making individual comments since there was genuine effort put into these, but I couldnât make it through Rossâs book. So, in a sense, that disqualifies me from commenting on it as a whole, but the things that slowed me down and ultimately derailed me were: the rehash of history, particularly regarding missionaries, that seemed to have nothing to add to the flow of the book (whatever flow there was) or connection with the present; unrelated events such as the section on footbinding (so one guy collects little booties â this is not a Taiwan event); the unconnected personal episodes, such as riding a bike that breaks down, getting caught camping in the rain where the author shouldnât have been, etc; and copy editing/style inconsistencies.
As far as I got into the book, it lacked structure â where is the author trying to take the reader? Anywhere? If after reading half the book I still have no idea where it is going, other than a collection of historical essays and personal diary entries, down it goes.
Iâm sure Ross is a fine guy but I kept thinking, âGod, he must have taken forever to type this and put it together; why didnât he find a competent editor?â And by editor, I mean someone to suggest coordinating and revamping sections, or tossing them altogether.
When this subject comes up in conversation (which it rarely does), I usually say, âWell, he can say he wrote a book.â
And thatâs more than I can say. 
Life is hard, then you die not having written that bookâŚ
[quote=âalmas johnâ]Here are some recent books which have been self-published. There may be others which I am not aware of. Printing costs were generally low but distribution has been a problem for all of them.
[/quote]
The eXile (an expat fanzine in Russia) has an interesting take on self-published books that get submitted for review.
Wolf,
You are right that Rossâs book needed a decent editor as I thought to myself on several occassions whilst reading it how much âtighterâ it could have been. But then it may have wound up a very slim volume!
However, as far as his anecdotes and honesty, bits of history and musings went, I rather enjoyed it much more than any others Iâve had the displeasure to have skimmed over the years.
On another note, I have been wondering, and so have others, if Poagao deliberately left out any mention of his homosexuality, or if it may have been edited out to appeal to a larger audience rather than being pigeonholed (pardon the pun) as a gay read.
How much do you really feel like a Taiwanren these days anyway, Poagao?
Perhaps when you were younger and mainly socialised with your adopted brethren you had more of an inclination. But reading your blog as of late, I get the impression youâre detaching yourself more and more.
Canât say as I blame you since I cannot remember ever having been more pissed off at Taiwan policies and its denizens than I am now amidst the SARS shite. Is this mainly what it boils down to for you? Or is the honeymoon finally over? Could you ever get back your American passport? Would you want to?
That explains some. I must admit that I considered it âweirdâ that you opted for a citizenship change instead of just marrying a local girl in order to stay here indefitely (which is often the reason for staying here anyway).
Does it create extra problems to be a homosexual in the Taiwanese army?
I thought about including it, but it was never really relevant to my situation, never became an issue. I felt that if I had included a paragraph or so, it would have seemed tacked on, and that would have been a different promise to the readers, one that I couldnât have kept throughout the book. Perhaps in my next one.
I admit Iâm very disappointed in the whole SARS thing, particularly since Iâm seeing a country I care about basically shoot itself in the foot. Iâve never subscribed to the whole âDo you feel Taiwanese or foreign?â thing, though.
Come on, Poagao, the Taiwan authorities are actually getting this SARS thing under control. It has been hard, and there has been cover-ups, but in the end, they managed to get their act together.
I donât know what Pâs book is exactly about, having not read it, but not mentioning homosexuality as not relevant seems to be obfuscation to me.
Homosexuality is more accepted by at least some of the mainstream today that in the days of the Crystal Boys, but I find it questionable that being gay, ie having your social life modeled on relationships that have not generally been accepted, was not relevant.
Or is Pâs book about wildlife in Taiwan?
[quote=âwolf_reinholdâ]Not mentioning homosexuality as not relevant seems to be obfuscation to me.
Homosexuality is more accepted by at least some of the mainstream today that in the days of the Crystal Boys, but I find it questionable that being gay, ie having your social life modeled on relationships that have not generally been accepted, was not relevant.
Or is Pâs book about wildlife in Taiwan?[/quote]
Thereâs not much room for social life or relationships in the army, at least there wasnât for me. Thatâs why it wasnât relevant. It might as well have been book about wildlife in Taiwan as far as the usefulness of references to homosexuality would have been. If I had mentioned it and made a big deal about it, people would be expecting lots of references and incidents involving it, which simply didnât happen, and then they would be disappointed that they didnât find what they were expecting.
Nice chop, Wolf.
That explains a lot, Poagao. As a matter of fact it seems to me that you didnât have any privacy at all in the army - apart from your leave periods, which you didnât touch so much on (apart from the cinema and the bar part).
I have not yet read Poagaoâs book. I hope to do so at some point in the future.
Having said that, I am curious to know what the policy of the military in Taiwan toward homosexuality is. Does one exist?
Correct me if am wrong, but I believe that the U.S. military has a âdonât ask, donât tellâ policy. I am not sure about the military in other countries.
And again, I apologize for having not read the book (perhaps you mention it there), but during your time in the military, did the topic of girlfriends ever come up with your fellow soldiers? Did they ever ask if you were going to visit anyone on leave? Did they ever ask you about âforeignâ women (cliched question, but one that my Taiwanese male coworkers sometimes ask me)?
Iâve never been in the military, but it seems like some of these things might be discussed by soldiers. Maybe I am wrong.
I look forward to hearing more about this.