needless to say, i was very impressed. the costumes were remarkable, as were the trucks (several had what looked like quilted tigers on the sides), and the music was discordant and powerful. i have no idea what they were celebrating - i saw no coffin, i know that there was a major holiday yesterday, but i think that today is just another day. they could have been advertising toothpaste for all i know. anyway, i had been feeling lonely and a bit homesick, so i kind of needed this to make me feel like this is the place i should be. i will probably buy the camera later tonight, or maybe tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
wednesday 9/29 part 2
the marching band was dressed like they might be in the states, with a very uncomfortable looking women scantily clad in shiny green sequins spinning a baton in the front. i'm not exactly sure about the logic of having this band take part in what seemed to be a possibly religious parade, but i certainly enjoyed seeing them. at the end of their band there were more old people with incense, and an old man with a cart selling very bright, colorful kitchen supplies (mops, sponges, bleachy things, etc.) next came more blue trucks, this time with many drumers doing repetitive, loud beats on the bass heavy little taiko drums. and more cymbals accenting their beats. another short gap (and i'm walking by a buddhist temple with a large kuan yin by this time - there are many many fireworks on the ground in front of the temple), then yet another blue truck with several different percussionists that i didin't get a good look at. behind them were men in different matching shirts holding horns that were maybe 5 feet long -- the type that i think of as calling monks to prayer in Tibet -- and they made a very low sound. mixed among them were more shrine trucks, dragon dancers, men with 10 foot tall, elaborately constructed puppet-like costumes of wraithful gods (?), stern looking elders(?), or maybe historical figures that i don't recognize, and, of course, people holding big sticks of incense. as the dancers went by the shrine, the fireworks went off
wednesday 9/29
first, a few disclaimers:
this keyboard is a crazy taiwanese keyboard. the keys are in slightly off places, especially the shift keys. please excuse my lack of caps and frequent typos.
this chair and table is not made for me. it is uncomfortable and i will only be able to sit at it for short periods, so my entries should stay pretty short.
today i was going to buy a digital camera, but i decided to wait and check prices online. this turned out to be a bad decision. i explored the region around the night market for a while and it was interesting but my feet hurt and i was heading home. things turned very interesting when i heard loud drumming and shrill horns coming my way. a bizarre parade! many of the little blue half trucks that you see all over asia were coming my way, covered with red, green, and yellow decoration -- maybe some kind of plastic, it looks like the outside of a pinata. the last one in the line carried a young guy playing what looked like a small taiko drum and a guy with some cymbals. behind them there was a gong on wheels that was repeatedly struck. next came 20-30 men in identical polo shirts and straw hats (almost like a dixie land band) playing shrill horns -- the type of horn you might imagine someone using to charm snakes. i was on the covered sidewalk, and the acoustics were such that the sounds echoed around me, distorted and very loud, creating a very psychedelic effect. next in the line were old people carrying sticks of incense as long as my arm and as thick as a big cigar. then there was some space while the next group waited for some traffic (i should add that the first part of the parade thought nothing of shutting down traffic by walking in the middle of a very busy street - a remarkably brave undertaking given the nature of driving in Keelung (pronounced Chee-lung, in case anyone wondered)). The next section was, amazingly enough, a mediocre marching band playing "and the saints go marching in."
this keyboard is a crazy taiwanese keyboard. the keys are in slightly off places, especially the shift keys. please excuse my lack of caps and frequent typos.
this chair and table is not made for me. it is uncomfortable and i will only be able to sit at it for short periods, so my entries should stay pretty short.
today i was going to buy a digital camera, but i decided to wait and check prices online. this turned out to be a bad decision. i explored the region around the night market for a while and it was interesting but my feet hurt and i was heading home. things turned very interesting when i heard loud drumming and shrill horns coming my way. a bizarre parade! many of the little blue half trucks that you see all over asia were coming my way, covered with red, green, and yellow decoration -- maybe some kind of plastic, it looks like the outside of a pinata. the last one in the line carried a young guy playing what looked like a small taiko drum and a guy with some cymbals. behind them there was a gong on wheels that was repeatedly struck. next came 20-30 men in identical polo shirts and straw hats (almost like a dixie land band) playing shrill horns -- the type of horn you might imagine someone using to charm snakes. i was on the covered sidewalk, and the acoustics were such that the sounds echoed around me, distorted and very loud, creating a very psychedelic effect. next in the line were old people carrying sticks of incense as long as my arm and as thick as a big cigar. then there was some space while the next group waited for some traffic (i should add that the first part of the parade thought nothing of shutting down traffic by walking in the middle of a very busy street - a remarkably brave undertaking given the nature of driving in Keelung (pronounced Chee-lung, in case anyone wondered)). The next section was, amazingly enough, a mediocre marching band playing "and the saints go marching in."
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