Locatelli Sonata in F Minor, Op.6 No.7

I have been looking for David Oistrakh's version of the Locatelli's sonata. Not much luck still. The only recording that I have is the one by Leonid Kogan. A wonderful CD by the way.

Noah's Ark

Fascinated by the greatest creation by mankind ever (which is, God), a Christian friend of mine has been sending me me links to the "discovery" of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in Turkey by Noah's Ark Ministries International (NAMI), a Turkish-Chinese coalition formed to search for remains of the Noah's Ark.

He doesn't follow the news too closely.

Dr. Randall Price, a devoted evangelical Christian and former member of the NAMI's team who was once hailed as one of the top experts in biblical archaeology by NAMI, pulled out of the project a few months ago, believing that NAMI had been taken advantage of by the Kurdish guides. The "remains of the Noah's Ark" were, according to Dr. Price, probably planted by the Kurdish guides at the site for the NAMI's team to discover. He said,

I was the archaeologist with the Chinese expedition in the summer of 2008 and was given photos of what they now are reporting to be the inside of the Ark," he wrote in his message dated April 26.

The photos were reputed to have been taken off site near the Black Sea, but the film footage the Chinese now have was shot on location on Mt. Ararat. In the late summer of 2008 ten Kurdish workers hired by Parasut, the guide used by the Chinese, are said to have planted large wood beams taken from an old structure in the Black Sea area (where the photos were originally taken) at the Mt. Ararat site. In the winter of 2008 a Chinese climber taken by Parasut's men to the site saw the wood, but couldn't get inside because of the severe weather conditions.

During the summer of 2009 more wood was planted inside a cave at the site. The Chinese team went in the late summer of 2009 (I was there at the time and knew about the hoax) and was shown the cave with the wood and made their film. As I said, I have the photos of the inside of the so-called Ark (that show cobwebs in the corners of rafters – something just not possible in these conditions) and our Kurdish partner in Dogubayazit (the village at the foot of Mt. Ararat) has all of the facts about the location, the men who planted the wood, and even the truck that transported it.

To my knowledge, the Chinese took no professional archaeologist or geologist who could verify or document the wood or the structure. (Copied from WorldNetDaily)

Dr. Price's view is shared by other experts, including those who are Christian (see for examples, here, here and here). Some mainstream churches have also quietly banned NAMI's propaganda.

The guys at NAMI are giving Christianity and Chinese Christians a bad name. I just can't help wondering whether their true mission is to make Christianity sound stupid and Chinese Christians look quibble and desperate.

And, so what if the remains of the Noah's Ark are found and one of the myths of an ancient tribe proved? Is discovery of the grave of Shennong Shi (神農氏) proof of the existence of a God of Medicine that is relevant to all people?




The Bach's Chaccone is greater than any PRESENT Gods. Chances are that 500 years from now people are still listening to the same Chaccone and admiring Bach as we are doing now, but the PRESENT gods will become nothing but names mentioned in books about history of religions like Mithra, Nero and the many other gods before and after the Council of Nicaea.

We Will Miss You

After devoting her entire life to education, Shirley Lee, ISF Academy's Principal before Malcolm Pritchard, passed away on Wed, Oct 6, 2010.

A note from Shirley's children: 

"Our mother, Shirley Lee, passed away in the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 6, 2010. During the last week of her life, she was comfortable and with little pain. She was comforted by all of you who visited, spoke with her on the phone, and sent your thoughts, prayers, and blessings our way.
 
Shirley was a force with which to be reckoned and should be remembered for her boundless energy, bottomless compassion, and absolute belief in the potential of her students, her community, and her culture. We are all blessed to have spent whatever amount of time we had with her.
 
She is survived by her two children, Lily Panyacosit Alisse and Tawal Panyacosit Jr., her two beautiful granddaughters, Eden and Celeste, and all of you who loved her as we did.

A memorial service will take place in the next few weeks and we will do our best to apprise you of its occurrence. Please forward this announcement to all who would care to know.

Thank you again for all the love and support,
Lily and Tawal"

Lily and Tawal have expressed that, in lieu of flowers, those who wish to remember and honor Shirley should instead send donations to an organization that they will designate within the next few days.

Wanchai Market

Our daughter's violin teacher has been politely nagging us about our relaxed attitude and reminding us that we should have given her music theory lessons long ago. Running out of patience, she ordered us to prepare her for the Feb/March 2011 music theory exam. Unable to resist an order from such a lovely lady, we enrolled our daughter in a music theory class. So, starting from about a month ago, my wife and I have been living our new schedule - every Saturday for half an hour when our daughter is having music theory lesson, we wander around in the Wanchai market, looking for fresh meat, good produces and other interesting things. The following is what we have discovered so far.

Hong Ning Dairy - The only organic dairy farm in Hong Kong. It is a very small operation - daily production is less than 6,000 bottles. Given its extremely small production, the farm does not bother to have an outlet on the island side. (A list of its outlets in Kowloon and the New Territories is here.) Yet, if you drink milk, you can find Hong Ning milk at a little shop in Wanchai market, which manages to get allotted 20 to 30 bottles per day. The shop is called 菜菜子 Oh My Farm, shop B3, 3 Wanchai Road. The milk is priced at HK$12 a bottle (should be HK$11 a bottle as you can have a dollar refund when you return an empty bottle). Not cheap but at least we don't have to travel to the Kowloon side to buy a bottle of milk. At 菜菜子 Oh My Farm, you can find a great variety of organic produces, which can be had at half of 3Sixty/City Super's prices. The ladies there are extremely helpful and friendly. You are going to like them, I guarantee.

Walking along Wanchai Road in the direction of Johnston Road you will see a little hole in the wall stall which sells fresh poultry (平靚正家禽). There you can find Kamei chicken (lean, hormone and god-knows-what-it-is free chicken) developed by the Kadoorie Farm.  Cheap by 3Sixty's standard but still not inexpensive (HK$30 or so for a drumstick or HK$50-60 for a piece chicken breast). If you, like me, haven't developed into a 100% veggie though, agree that it is better to give up bulk of junk for better quality stuff, you will appreciate Kamei chicken (by the way, how much can one eat?). A warning: there is no turning back - you'll either be a 100% veggie or stick to Kamei chicken. You won't touch KFC again.

Further down the road you will find Sun Kee Butcher (新記健味豬, No.40 Wanchai Road, Tel: 25757675). If you prefer organic farming you should go to Sun Kee Butcher. This tiny stall is the last castle of Tam Keung, one of the very few farmers in Hong Kong practising organic farming. His other outlets in Kowloon City and Shatin are gone as there are not enough customers who are willing to pay 10-15% extra for what looks like the same thing that they can get at Park'N Shop. Luckily, his stall in Wanchai is thriving. If you go there after 2 p.m., you probably will have to leave empty-handed. Ah Tak, the man in charge of the stall, is extremely friendly. He is most willing to chat with his customers and share his knowledge about cooking and Wanchai history. Call him at the above number and he'll reserve your order for pick-up later in the day.

If you have a half day off and are fed up with Pacific Place or IFC, take a detour to Wanchai. It will be fun.