1812 Overture and 4th of July

Fireworks on July the 4th

Here comes July the 4th, we celebrate the Independence Day every year, year after year. To most people, this is a cook out day, BBQ in the backyard or go out attending some open field concert. After that, we watch the firework. This happens everywhere. The spectacular firework usually is held in a big city near bay, river or near the park, so it accommodates a lot of people near open space under big sky. With this kind national fanfare, music is a must and so band and orchestra are highly demanded and they are busy on the Independence Day.

The most common music played is march of course. The most and usually played last is 'The Stars and Stripes Forever', an immortal work of Sousa. In addition, they play Manhattan Beach, El Capitan, Washington Post ... etc etc etc. Meanwhile among all these fanfare, it is almost a must to play "1812 Overture". This one is really odd and peculiar as this Tchaikovsky's master work really has nothing to do with America and its tune is Russian or French at best. The only reason to play it is the cannon scene near the end of the music. Per history, it was Arthur Fiedler, the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, wanted some special effect in his outdoor performance near Boston on the 4th of July. He staged a real cannons, lined them up near the park and fired them synchronously with the orchestra playing the '1812 Overture'. People loved it when they saw the fire, smoke and loud explosions while the music raced to the final moment.

Arthur Fiedler's performance was a single successful event. It was so spectacular that people remember it well. After that year, this '1812 Overture' is played year after year and becomes a tradition. It sounds like the 'Nutcracker' played each year near the Christmas Season, a traditional event for ballet lovers and dancers . Nutcracker sounds more reasonable as it is a story about a girl's dream after Christmas Eve party. But '1812 Overture' has nothing to do with American Independence. The cannon is just too awkward to be the main reason. Some people think this '1812 Overture' has something to do with the war between America and British in 1812 AD. Actually no American composes anything for it as this war has nothing to celebrate for. Remember that British Soldiers got into White House and a lot of American fled the city in 1812. Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer. He composed '1812 Overture' to commemorate the event of Russian defeated Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The music contains the tunes of French and Russian national anthem with cannon explosion and fireworks. Here let's take a look at it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIQSEq6tEVs

(0:42-2:04) "La Marseillaies", French National Anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEATiGKOTEs

(0:09-2:24) "God Save the Tsar", Former Russian National Anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op6e5BcmqV0

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (conclusion part of the overture)

(0:01-1:12) Pastoral scene of the Russian countryside

(1:15-2:07) Russian folk tune and dance, 'At the Gate'

(2:08- 2:41) Introduction of La Marseillaies, French soldiers marching

(2:42-2:55) La Marseillaies, French National Anthem

(2:56- 3:37) Music winding down like elevator music, signifying the retreat of Napoleon

(3:38-4:40) Victory celebration in Orthodox Church with bell ringing

(4:41-4:51) Victory to the Russian finally

(4:52-5:07) God Save the Tsar, National Anthem of former Imperial Russia

If I were a French American, I would be embarrassed or humiliated by this 1812 Overture playing La Marseillaise (French National Anthem) in a retreated fashion and faded into the oblivion while celebrating the American Independence. Russian used to be a communist country with cold war animosity with America. Even today Americans don't have good opinion about the Russians on human right record. Playing old Russian national anthem, 'God Save the Tsar' on American Independence day is odd and weird at best.

I think Sousa should have composed some cannon march or added some cannon section in his 'The Stars and Stripes Forever'. Even with his genius, Sousa seems missing the opportunity as it would have been the most spectacular fanfare at the final moment of the Independence Day Concert. Also there have been many well-known American composers like Aaron Copland who composed 'Fanfare for the Common Man'. I wonder why he also missed the opportunity to compose something like 'Fanfare for the American Independence'.

Menlo Park and Edison

While I was a kid in Junior High I bought a book '愛迪生傳' from a bookstore along 重慶南路.  I glued to the book and read it in details.  It was a very good book for a little kid like me.  At least it gave me some push and inspiration to study Electrical Engineering years later.  I was especially impressed on his inventive work in Menlo Park (孟洛公園) at which he invented phonograph and light bulb.  So in 1972, I moved down here from Dallas, the first thing caught my eyes was Menlo Park and immediately reminded me of Edison.  Then it dawns on me that the Menlo Park of Edison is in New Jersey, not here in California.

Silicon Valley's Menlo Park

When time goes by, I noticed that many companies have done some brilliant work started here in Menlo Park of California.  Examples are SRI International, Netscape, Sun Micro System, Google, Facebook etc.  After all, Menlo Park is a good name and this one seems to follow the tradition of the east coast. Ironically, Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are both right next to Menlo Park but belong to different county.  Palo Alto is right next to Menlo Park to the south, it belongs to Santa Clara County.  But Menlo Park is part of San Mateo County.  The strange thing is the little town East Palo Alto belongs to San Mateo County.  It is on the east side of highway 101 and adjacent to Menlo Park.  This little town was not very safe several years ago and some real estate agents were nervous to prospect there.  Some Palo Altans thought since East Palo Alto belongs to San Mateo County and right next to Menlo Park, it should be renamed to something like XXX Park.  Someone suggests Jurassic Park.  Of course it sounds like a bad joke.

Edison was considered a 'Wizard of Menlo Park' at his time of 1875-1885. Both sound reproducing, (recording device) and bulb lighting device are technical breakthroughs and both of them were invented by Edison and his team in Menlo Park.  The phonograph has revolutionized the audio device and used continuously until about 1970.  It lasted about 100 years.  The bulb also revolutionized the working time of human society. The light bulb has been used uninterrupted until around 1980 when fluorescent type of lighting device finally replaces it.  Its time of influence also lasts more than 100 years.  They are the great contributions Thomas Edison gave to our society and the whole world. He is listed at the 38th most influential persons in our human history in the book 'The 100' by Michael Hart.  Edison later also invented the Motion Picture.  Consider the enormous impact his inventions of Light Bulb, Phonograph and Motion Picture to our society, Edison is truly a modern Prometheus who stole fire from heaven and gave it to the mankind.

In Silicon Valley, some people think lately that Steve Jobs is a 'Wizard of Cupertino'.  Cupertino is 10 miles south of Menlo Park, also considered part of Silicon Valley.  The comparison of Steve Jobs to Edison seems odd as Jobs is not an inventor of any science or technology,  He simply a package innovator who performs mix and match of various technology to form a gadget that people want or desire to have.  A better saying perhaps should be Marketing Genius of Cupertino.  His Machintosh personal computer was not successful and his iPod only last for a few years.  The real success is his iPad and iPhone.  It makes a lot of money for Apple.   However it remains to be seen how many years iPhone and iPad will be around in the market.  It is interesting to note that what iPhone integrates is actually audio, video and microprocessor.  The first two technology audio and video are essentially the same as Edison's phonograph and motion picture.  Packaging of technology changes very fast.  It remains to be seen whether iPhone will last for more than 20 years, let alone 100 years as Edison's invention.

Something Not to Miss in My Life

It is fairly common to see some advertisement like:

100 places you must visit in your life time
100 books you must read in your life
Top 100 most influential persons in history

or even something like:
100 places you can go without them.

Almost all of the above are subjective and can vary a lot among them.  Instead of letting someone tell you what to do, it may be more interesting or meaningful to do something you like to do.  This will tell what you really are as a person.  It will show your interest, your thought, your hobby and the way you lead your life.  Without burdening yourself too much, it is a good beginning to ask the question like:

Can you list three things (not persons) which you will miss a lot if you lead your life without them?

Life is life, there is nothing really indispensable or a must in your life.  All we can say is that we may miss a lot if life goes without them.  If you can't think of at least three things to fill in the blank, you may already miss a lot in your life.  The answer to this question is subjective of course as everyone is raised and educated differently and so the answer will show what you are and not just who you are.  If you can list more than three things, it is even better as you run your life in more directions and tend to lead a more colorful and fulfilled life.

Here I will give my list and explain why I will miss a lot if I haven't encountered or experienced these three things.

Beethoven's Symphony

Beethoven composed nine symphonies.  Each one is unique in its own way.  The music is emotional, lofty, inspirational and powerful.  His symphonies cover pretty much every facet of human existence in one way or another. It (especially the fifth) gives me strength when I am low in my life.  It (especially the ninth) gives me love and comfort when I am sad and melancholy.  It gives me inspiration (especially the third) when I encounter difficulties.  Music is a sequence of note run along time with melody, rhythm and volume of sound.  It can be very abstract, vague and can be interpreted in different way at different time.  The sixth is the Pastoral Symphony.  It is a tone poem which combines music, painting and hilarious human emotion in mother nature.  Even in his less popular symphonies like #1, #2, #4 and #8 are packed with energy, emotion and pure beauty of melody.  His #7 is similar to #5 with different construct.  Carl Sagan used it in his Cosmos to convey his cosmic message.  The music is played in the background which puts science, history and human being in a perfect setting.  It is so powerful that moves us to tears. There are a lot of symphonies, many good one.  However, Beethoven's nine symphonies contain the most powerful, intellectual and artistic quality with immense energy in it.  I store Beethoven's nine symphonies in my iPhone, so I can listen to them whenever and wherever I go.

Carl Sagan's Cosmos

Where did I come from?  What is my position in the universe?  We learned a lot in the school in many disciplines of knowledge.  There are a lot of programs discussing the Cosmos, but none of them matches the intensity and broadness of Carl Sagan's monumental work: Cosmos.  It is a series of thirteen episodes delving into the nature and intricacy of the cosmos and human being.  The exploration of the universe gives me the meaning and the significance of mankind in the Cosmos.  The series contains 13 episodes with topic ranging from the shores of the cosmic ocean to who speaks for earth.  It delves into the harmony of the worlds, the heaven and Hell, blue and red planet, travels in space and time.  The scope of the exploration is immense and it zeroes in the position of mankind in the universe and the responsibility of our human being.  As Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.  The journey for each of us begins here, the brain.  Perfect as a dandelion seed.  It will carry us to world of dreams and worlds of facts".

Poems from Tang Dynasty

This is literature in the form of poem.  It is artistic, scenic, emotional, rhythmic, musical and historical all in one place.  I learn to appreciate the beauty of language, nature, human emotion and the intricate relation among them from these poems, truly gems of literature that human can ever create.  I understand this is language dependent.  You can't really appreciate the beauty after it is translated into other language.  Nonetheless, if you master the Mandarin and be able to absorb and imbibe in the Tang Poems, you know you have something so precious that nobody can take it from you.  What is so precious?  It is the capacity of human being to appreciate the beauty of nature, language and the emotion.

The above three things stick to me since very early stage of my life.  They continue to influence me, shape my personality and enhance some of my character, interest and past time.  I never get tired of them, they become part of my life.  They consist of the category of human endeavors such as music, science and literature. This is the reason I say I will miss a lot if I lead a life without them.  I think I may lead a normal life without them.  However, I am very certain I will miss a lot if my life goes without them.

房龍與地理

April 22 is the Earth Day.  People worry about the deteriorating condition of the earth and the danger of surviving chance of human beings on earth.  This reminds me of a good old book written by Willem Hendrik VanLoon, "The Story of the World", a sister book of "The Story of Mankind", one of the most famous book he has ever written.  Actually this is the subtitle of the book, the original title is "Van Loon's Geography".  The uniqueness of the book can be seen from the first page of the book: "History is the Fourth Dimension of Geography.  It gives it both time and meaning."  The book was written in 1931, not long after the publish of the Theory of  Relativity by Einstein.  We live in a universe of four dimensions-Space and Time.  Similarly, we live in a world of four dimensions-Geography and History.

The book starts with an incredible and shocking story that shows the relatively little significance of human beings in the universe.  All people in the world were put in a box of 0.5 mile on each side.  It was hauled to the top of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, tipped over to the cliff and crushed into the bottom of the Colorado River.  Then came with silence and oblivion.  The human sardines in their mortuary chest would soon be forgotten.  The Canyon would go on battling wind and air and sun and rain as it has done since it was created.  The world would continue to run its even course through the uncharted heavens.  The astronomers on distant and nearby planets would have noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

The above sounds like a terrible story to most people.  Yes, it can happen one day in the future if we, human beings, do not pay attention to how fragile the condition of our earth to our survival as a species in the universe.  The earth is like a ship. We are all of us fellow-passengers on the same ship and we are all of us equally responsible for the happiness and well-being of the ship in which we happen to be on board.  Let's hope our ship not become Pequod of Moby Dick and our leaders not like Captain Ahab.

外國人名和地名的中文翻譯

很多人都有讀外國遊記,歷史地理書刊或雜誌的習慣和經驗,大家都會覺得很多時候弄不清楚人名和地名,尤其和以前熟悉的人文地理連接不上. 常常意猶未盡,乾脆想对照原文,增加暸解程度. 比較体貼的文章會把原来英文名詞一併列出,使不混淆. 從中國開始西化到現在已不止兩百年,可是外國人名和地名的中文翻譯到現在還是莫衷一是,各憑天才. 其中最主要的原因是中文同音字太多,國人的發音又不太標準,於是凡是新近的名字或是比較不常用的人名和地名,其翻譯常令人百思不解. 比較常用的像華盛頓,牛頓,愛因斯坦,沒有開題,可是像'西起克萊德湾,东至福斯湾' 如不附英文則令人不知所云,也不知從何查起,因為這些小地名可沒有標準的譯名.

如果你在台湾和香港兩地住过一些時日,你會發現那些你以前熟悉的電影和影星,幾乎全被改名換姓,不忍卒讀. 主要原因是廣東音和國語發音差別十萬八千里,南轅北轍. 光是'好來塢','荷里活'就讓你啼笑皆非半天. 兩岸三地的電影翻譯,因語言不相近而產生混淆,比比皆是. 這現像也延伸到國外的唐人街, 諸如 屋崙,都板街,彌敦道,三藩市,舊金山,新金山,悉尼,雪黎,卑斯省,光怪陸離,琳琅满目. 總之,如果文章不附英文,則下列譯名會讓你百思不得其解: 紐鄂連斯(New Orleans), 丹紐布河(Danube River), 喬陀(Gioto), 吉拜地 (Ghiberti),波铁乞利 (Botticelli)的作品'勃里馬未拉 (Primavera)', 交湖 (Interlaken), 冉伯讓 (Rembrandt),考勃倫玆 (Koblenz) ... etc.

房龍的名著'太平洋的故事',中國有張白譯本. 其譯名也很精彩,兹举数例讓大家共賞: 披柴罗(Pizarro), 喜斯攀洛拉 (Hispaniola), Bligh (皮利), 巴來齐(Brazil), 拳尼 (Guinea), 魏奈(Jules Verne), 魏布阑(Veblen), 白尔波 (Balboa), 西区(West Point), 根島(Guam), 巴纽島(Borneo), 屈利多(Trinidad), Gothe(戈斯), 潑托来梅 (Ptolemy).

自從大陸採用英語拼音中文後,現在中文名翻成英文已经比較定型和 consistent, 可是英文翻中文,因中文同音字太多,还是混淆不清.總之给人一種無解的無力感. 最方便的捷徑是直接用英文原文,完全 skip the process of 音譯.

我們的鄰居日本,也是中華文化的學生,有另一套翻譯辦法. 日文中所有外來語皆以片假名音譯之. 雖然發音和原文不太吻合,但卻是 consistent, 一定是同一譯名,不管張三或李四,譯出來的片甲名皆如出一轍. 這樣日本人很容易的就解決了困擾中國人的難題. 其實中國人也可用相似的辦法,像是注音符號. 麻煩的是注音符號比起日本片假名还要複雜. 根本原因是中國字的同音字太多,加上出彳尸日,卩ㄘ厶 這种相似音讓人不知所從. 更要命的是四声, 這种歌謠式的語言也許说耳,但对譯外文名則是非常不利. 学日本的片假名用在注音是不太實際. 所以釜底抽薪,一勞永逸的辦法是超越派辦法---既然要譯音,不如就用英文,既用英文,又何必拼音,直接就用英文原文,到底英文字,十之八九會看就會發音,雖不中亦不遠矣,祇要国小上一年初级英文就可驾轻就熟的念英文音節 (syllable).

有人反对這種中文忘本的做法,可是仔細想想,現在的中文不是也包括阿拉伯数目字,週期表化学元素英文字. 凡是方程式,不管是数学或化学,都已採用英文字母,可沒有多少人持反对意見. 說來說去到後來还是'需要為發明之母'. With the extension of this logic, it is quite natural to adopt English proper names to the Mandarin.

新加坡建國後乾脆採用英文為第一語言, 把所有中文的翻譯麻煩全置之腦後,包袱全無,是東方文明的大躍進, 也可説是中文的 dead sentence, depending on how you interpret it.  新加坡的方法是'挖树倒根'法,我們這種是'移花接枝'法,是一種折衷但很實用的解決辦法. 新加坡自 1965 建國後到現在不过 50 年,他們公民和整個社會與世界先進國家完全接軌和溶入,也不見他們的國家和社會因語言的变換有什麼不利或天翻地覆的影響.

Gravitational Wave

Lately the report of the detection of the Gravitational Wave caught attention of many people.  Einstein worked out the theory of General Relativity in which he generated equations and predicted the existence of the Gravitational Wave in 1915.  It took almost 100 years to detect its existence.  Maxwell worked out the famous Maxwell Equations in 1864 and predicted the existence of the Electromagnetic waves.  It took less than 25 years to detect its existence.  It may be interesting to draw some similarities and differences between these two subjects and their impact to the future of our physical world.

It is generally agreed among most scientists that the three greatest scientists in the history are Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein.  If we try to find out why they are so great, one thing stands out clearly.  That is the fact that they are the integrators of various scientific disciplines.  They were able to work out something such as equations that explain many phenomena in a concise and unified manner with mathematical aesthetics. 

Newton worked on optics and mechanics which combined most of the works by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and many others.  He also discovered the ordinary white light is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow.  With his work on the laws of reflection and refraction of light, he designed and built the first reflecting telescope.  Up to today, we still use it to observe the universe.  His most famous equations are:

F = m * dv/dt;   The second law of motion in mechanics
F = G (M*m)/r^2;   The law of Universal Gravitation

Maxwell worked out the famous Maxwell Equations in 1864 and predicted the existence of the Electromagnetic (EM) waves.  Heinrich Hertz was able to create and detect the electromagnetic waves in 1887.  From then on, Marconi and a host of others worked on the applications of the EM wave in communication.  Morse Code was already in extensive use in the telegraph during 1880 decade.  It was a matter of time to use it in radio transmission.  With the technology of encoding message on the carriers with modulation, the field of communication flourished.  Armstrong's super-heterodyne radio set reached almost every corner of the world.  The impact of Radio, EM Communication without wire, to the world was tremendous.  With less than 50 years, the earth was transformed from a wire to wireless world.  The navigation in ocean and air are the beneficiaries of the technology.  The most famous Maxwell Equations are:

∇ x E = - ∂B/ ∂t;    Generation of electricity from the change of magnetism
∇ x H = J + ∂D/ ∂t;   Generation of magnetism from current and electricity
∇² A = 1/v² * ∂²A/∂t²;   Wave equation of EM wave
 v = 1/sqrt (με);   Speed or velocity of EM wave

General relativity generalizes special relativity and Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time.  Einstein's greatest achievement is the work of Unified Field that combines electricity, magnetism, light and gravitation in one field.  From this frame of work, he predicted the existence of the Gravitational (GV) Wave.  As of today, it is hard to imagine the GV Wave will have the similar effect and impact to the world as EM wave.  Gravitational waves are generated by the bulk motion of large masses, and will have wavelengths much longer than the objects themselves.  Gravitational waves are weakly interacting, making them extraordinarily difficult to detect.  

Although we can detect GV wave, we have no way to generate GV wave in lab.  So we can't use GV wave as a tool or vehicle to create some new applications.  However, GV wave can travel unhindered through intervening matter of any density or composition.  So the GV wave may open a window that provides some breakthrough in the future the way we view the universe.  Time will tell certainly.

It may not be meaningful to rank which one is the greatest among the three.  It may be more meaningful to rank which one is the most influential in our civilization.  Michael Hart in his book 'Top 100' lists in this order: Newton is #2, Einstein is #10 and Maxwell is #29.  Most scientists don't question the rank of Newton.  But how can Einstein's influence on our world be way over Maxwell?  The life of most people in the last 100 years have not really changed much or influenced by the theory of relativity.  Judging from the impact of radio communication to our society, Maxwell's influence should be way ahead of Einstein.  There is one explanation to this.  In most cases, many men have contributed to the development of an important idea, as was obviously the case in the development of the theory of electricity and magnetism.  The magnitude of the influence is distributed among Maxwell, Faraday, Gauss, Ampere and Henry.  Though Einstein does not deserve 100% of the credit for the invention of the theory of relativity, he certainly deserves most of it.  In other words, the theories of relativity are primarily the creation of a single and outstanding genius.  

Christian & Wine in China

Why Christian in general has anything special to wine?  Well, the question to ask is "What do Christian and Wine have in common in China?".  You may wonder there must be something special to Chinese wine or something unique to Chinese Christian.  You are right, there is something common between Wine and Christian in China, it is 'confusion' and it has nothing to do with Confucius.  Both confuse a lot of people not only in China but also people in the world who deal with Chinese.  It is the language and the way Chinese define Christian and Wine.  The definition defined in dictionary is one thing, how Chinese people understand and interpret the word is another thing.  Now let's take a look at the word and its translation.

From English dictionary and its Chinese translation:

Wine: alcoholic drink made from the fruits or plants.  葡萄酒 .

Whiskey: strong alcoholic drink made from various grains, esp. rye and barley.  威士忌酒

Brandy: strong alcoholic drink made from wine.  白蘭地酒.

Liquor: an alcoholic drink.  酒類

Liqueur: a kind of strong and sweet alcoholic drink.  芳香的烈酒

Cocktail: a mixed alcoholic drink.  雞尾酒.

From Chinese dictionary:

酒: 用米麥等和酒麴發酵釀成的麻醉性飲料.

Most Chinese people understand and interpret:

酒: liquor, any kind of alcoholic drink. 

For example, in Chinese poem, most of time you see '酒', it means any kind of alcoholic drink or liquor, such as 高粱,紹興,紅露.  Another example, the translation of 'New wine in old bottles': 裝在舊瓶中的新酒.

So 酒, 狭義的是 wine, 廣義的是 Liquor.  Chinese most of the time ignore  狭義 or 廣義, and consider wine as liquor and it is misleading.  It can cause some embarrassment in a potluck party when you agree to bring a bottle of wine, instead you bring in a bottle of whiskey.

Now let's take a look at Christian and its Chinese translation:

Roman Catholic: 天主教, 

Eastern Orthodox: 東方正教

Protestant: 新教, 抗議教

Christian: 基督徒 or 基督教的

Most Chinese people understand and interpret:

Christian: 基督徒 that includes Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.

天主教: Catholic

基督教: Protestant; few people use 新教 or 抗議教, they simply call it 基督教.

So 基督教 狭義的是 新教 (Protestant) , 廣義的是 天主教 + 新教 + 東方正教

Here is the analogy:

Wine (酒): 基督教 or 新教, protestant (狭義)

Liquor (酒類): 基督教 (天主教 + 新教), Christian (廣義)

Now we know 基督教 and 酒 have something in common in China.  With its 狭義的 and 廣義的 definition, it confuses a lot of people.  One way to remove the confusion is to create a new word for Wine: 草頭加酒, or 洒 (酒少一横). Meanwhile for Christian, 既然所有基督徒都信天主,為什麽祇有 Catholic 稱 '天主教', it is misleading.  let's create some new translation:

Roman Catholic: 基羅教 (罗馬教會派)

Eastern Orthodox: 基正教 (希臘正教派)

Protestant: 基新教 (耶稣新教派)

Christian: 基督徒

We need to be creative when it comes to the language and its translation.  Language itself has life, it evolves with the society and the people who use it.  If it never changes, it will be like Latin, an obsolete language.  A good language should remove words and expressions which confuse its users as much as possible.