rss feedDateline: A temple wall somewhere in China
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Years ago, IÂ took this photograph during one of my China trips. A week ago, I found it in a file.
Archive for May, 2009
Passing of historian Ronald Takaki shows that mainstream reporting still important
In her article about Tuesday’s passing of historian Ronald Takaki, Elaine Woo of the Los Angeles Times includes important details about the man who influenced thousands interested in ethnic studies.
One fact stuck out in particular: Quoting his son, Troy, she reported that the well-known professor took his own life. Takaki, 70, was having trouble with his multiple sclerosis, Troy told her.
Why is this a point to discuss publicly?
Certainly, Takaki was known worldwide. And the topic of suicide, in and of itself, is something that counselors, researchers and ordinary people deal with on a regular basis.
But that fact helps others who knew him, studied with him or only read his work approach his passing with sensitivity.
Bean curd inspires MIT researcher (who studied in Seattle) to name robot “TOFU”
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As that popular saying goes: Only in America.
If you’re concerned that the recession will bring this country to a complete halt, and I acknowledge it is causing genuine and serious pain, well, it’s time to rethink that thesis – at least for a moment.
I say that after coming across TOFU, a fuzzy, feathered owl-like robot from MIT graduate student and researcher Ryan Wistort.
Yes, he writes, his robot ”is named after the squashing and stretching food product.” Why? It also can “squash and stretch.”
And get this: He studied electrical engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.
I point to Wistort because his work and outlook, as well as others from the MIT Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group, illustrate that innovation continues to prosper in the United States.
Worth trying: Fried stuffed tofu in Seattle
posted by brad wong on 2009.05.29, under bean curd, fried stuffed tofu, international district, tofu, wow
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For all the years that I’ve lived in the Seattle area, there has been one Chinese restaurant that I’ve visited when I wanted pretty authentic Cantonese food - Hing Loon.
It’s located at South Weller Street and Maynard Avenue South.
It stays open late – sometimes later than bars and even on major holidays. The waitresses remember you. On some days, the hustle-and-bustle is so nice that it reminds me of Asia.
The food is tasty. And that could be for good reason: The cooks are from Hong Kong, Guangzhou and the Taishan area of Guangdong province.
And my grandparents were from Guangdong province.
The restaurant’s fried stuffed tofu with shredded pork dish (Menu Item No. 174, $9.95) has always been a winning meal for me. My wife and I order it when we’re too tired to cook but don’t know what to order.
Report: Soy packs protein but carries caveat
Tofu is loaded with protein. It’s low in saturated fat. It lacks cholesterol. If the tofu you’re eating has calcium, that’s another plus, too.
These are some of the conclusions of dietitian and author Jo-Ann Heslin, who recently posted a piece - “Tofu – Think Outside the White Block” – on HealthNewsDigest.com.
Using tofu can help reduce the risk of heart disease, she writes in her post. “No one is suggesting that tofu alone is a magic food but as a substitute for higher fat, higher cholesterol, lower calcium choices it is a healthy addition to your diet,” she says later.
She touches upon one controversy swirling around soy – specifically isoflavones used in supplement form. That is, if eaten as a supplement in large amounts, the risk of breast cancer might increase.
Crews airlift tofu to Australian co-op
Helicopter crews in Australia have dropped about a ton of food – including soybean cake - to about 200 stranded vegetarians at a cooperative in Tuntable Falls, The Northern Star reported.
The efforts follow last week’s collapse of a bridge, which was caused by floodwaters, The Northern Rivers Echo reported. Officials expect to have a temporary bridge finished by the end of this week.
In addition to tofu, helicopter crews delivered rice, bread, milk, baked beans and eggs, according to the newspapers.
A Tuntable official told The Northern Star that there were no major problems at the cooperative because of the collapse.
The Tuntable Falls community sits on Australia’s East Coast, northeast of Sydney.
Taller bamboo coming to Seattle’s Chinatown International District
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At the intersection of Maynard Avenue South and South Lane Street in Seattle, there’s a nice row of bamboo sprouting from the ground.
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It looks like a beautification project for urban residents and visitors. And for many ethnic Chinese, bamboo symbolizes long life.
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Ronald Takaki, Asian American historian and surfer from Hawaii, passes away at 70
Ronald Takaki (Photo credit: University of California at Berkeley)
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(UPDATE: Here’s the full obituary that the University of California at Berkeley released on Thursday, May 28. My original post is below.)
Ronald Takaki, a historian who taught ethnic studies and influenced thousands of students over his career, died Tuesday at the age of 70, a research assistant at the University of California at Berkeley confirmed Wednesday.
In December 2003, he retired from teaching at the school’s Ethnic Studies Department, research assistant Mirian Meux said in a phone interview.
Takaki was born on April 12, 1939, Meux said. He passed away at his house.
He is survived by his wife, Carol, and children, Dana, Troy and Todd, San Francisco-based AsianWeek reported. Takaki also had grandchildren.
As a historian, he wrote numerous books, including the highly-regarded Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans.
Takaki was from Hawaii and often talked about surfing and his nickname, “Ten Toes Takaki.”
But he also stressed the importance of critical thinking skills, or epistemology as he defined it. “Espistemology asks the question: ‘How do you know, you know, what you know?’” he said in the 2006 commencement speech at Whitman College in Washington state.
“In other words, the ‘how’ of knowing may be more important than the ‘what.’ How you know something may determine what you know about it.”
In memory: Him Mark Lai (1925-2009) documented Chinese American history
Historian Him Mark Lai once told a reporter he had about 10,000 books in his San Francisco house.
He inspired young Chinese Americans by helping them research their roots. He was, as historian and friend Judy Yung recalled, a giving person and a “walking encyclopedia.”
Working in both English and Chinese, Lai authored more than 100 essays and 10 books, including A History of the Chinese in California, A Syllabus. He was, as people said, the “Dean of Chinese American History.”
Lai, 83, passed away on May 21 from cancer and other complications, the San Francisco-based Chinese Historical Society of America said in an email to supporters. He is survived by Laura, his wife.
On June 20, friends and admirers will hold a 2:30 p.m. celebration of his life at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., in San Francisco.
The proof is in the (soy) pudding
Many of you might have seen Mark Bittman’s recent story in The New York Times about using tofu in a Mexican chocolate pudding.
I thought I’d link to the story and recipe. There are times when the words ”tofu blog of record” must be taken seriously.
Look for the instructional video, which is embedded in the online story.
* UPDATE: I just watched the high-quality video. Yes, the pudding looks delicious.
