Jane Goodall is coming to my University !!

What an honor to be seeing her in person and hear her talk about her wonderful work. We need more people like you Jane!!

In Taiwan with Murakami

        I clearly remember that phase.......I had newly discovered Murakami, having read his Sputnik Sweetheart as a first novel. I was reading "After Dark", steeped in an eerie, surreal world. A really intense longing to be invisible seized me......to be swallowed up whole in another world where bizarre things happened, happiness played hide and seek, you were there, yet not quite there.....a world of alien beings, grey mountains, azure skies, neon lit alleys, purple sunsets, black hearts and white hope......

       Yes I remember the joy......the untainted possibilities, the feeling of being on the move....on the high speed railway lines, crisscrossing through Taiwan.....tobacco leaf shaped Taiwan where the temperature was 17 degrees.....Taipei 101 enticed with its panoramic view..... Alishan loomed ahead, with a dead Mountain railway line leading to paradise....quaint cafes with non-English speaking staff....and a bamboo forest old and wise......and a gorge that was called Taroko.....and after all that crazy madness.....finally the endless Pacific.......

At that time, I did not know that happiness was just memories.....

Taipei 101, Taipei

Arial view from Taipei 101

Taipei 101 at night

Entryway into the Alishan National Forest Reservation Area
















Yu Shan National Park

View from my hotel window

Alishan Natinal Park

Purple dusk........

Scenic photographs of the Alishan Mountain Railway

The beautiful mist clad  Alishan....

A walk in the early morning sunshine

railway tracks amidst the forest

Weird tree formations deep in the forest

A lonely forest trail.......

Two Sister's Lake in the morning sunshine.........

Echoes of the forest.......

Taroko Gorge.......

And finally the Pacific..........

I still have the pebbles I collected at that beach a long time ago............and some memories.........

Movies seen this week that left an impression

Only Lovers Left Alive

Little Children

The Orgasm Diaries

Boyhood

Enduring Love

Jungle Book.....in theaters October 2015

    Such awesome news! Disney is coming out with a screen adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" in October, 2015!! And look what a smashing ensemble cast has been brought together under the helm of director John Favreau:

Idris Elba as "Shere Khan"

Ben Kingsley as "Bagheera"

Bill Murray as "Baloo"

Scarlett Johanssen as      " Kaa"

Lupita Nyong'o as        "Rakska"

Neel Sethi as " Mowgli"

Christopher Walken as "King Louie"

and Giancarlo Esposito as "Akela"

Can't wait to see one on my childhood's favorite stories come alive on the big screen with such a superb star cast......