Two of my favorite places in town to shoot are ChienKuo Market-the main wet and produce market in town and by the train station. There is one reason: The people. Both of those places offer a limitless supply of real people going through life. No pretense or artifice. Just buying or selling food or getting to or from where they want to go.

Roxy Music is a band that impacted me both aurally and visually from the instant I discovered them. Art, glam and cool music really made this band for me. Street Life is one of many of their good songs.

Juolan is a nice mountain town in central Taiwan. I visited there the day after Christmas with my friend Mr. Shao. He owns a nice little farm up in the hills where he grows persimmons and raises nice free range chickens. We always stop at the market to pick up some supplies before we hit his cabin. Here are some of the good folks of Juolan working their trade.

This is a killer live version of  Zep's Misty Mountain Hop-enjoy!

Eclectic set starting at the Taichung High Speed Rail station which runs same trains as the Japanese Shinkansen. Great ride. A blue door observed on morning photo walk. I do these Am photowalks several times a week usually starting at 6:30 AM. Ditto for race car on lift. The god structure includes a hall at it's base. It is on the end of a long pier at Kaohsiung's Lotus Lake.

Brian Eno was always so prescient and his early albums with lyrics are so much fun. Perfect songs for English as a second language peeps. China My China is one such ditty. Enjoy.

As most of you who are familiar with the blog know-it is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac cycle of years. Metal Tiger in fact since there are a different sub-set of 5 elements that rotates every 12 years within a 60 year set.

The first and last image are from the Taichung Yuan Xiao Jie Festival after new years which is a festival of lanterns.

The second is for Tiger Woods who maybe will take advantage of this Tiger year to concentrate on swinging his metal and showing us , "What he's made of."

Buck Owens will take it home musically with Tiger by the Tail.

We were very fortunate on this day to capture the best of the spotty weather on this day to visit Nantou and the 2010 Sand Sculpture Festival. Nantou is a nice area mostly in the foothills and mountains and offers some great places to travel, hike, cycle, mountain climb etc. In fact it is the largest and only land-locked county in Taiwan.

The Sand Sculpture Festival was nice and there were some really great sculptures in both traditional,modern and holiday themes. My only complaint was that some of the sculptures had been obviously damaged by the recent Chinese New Year holiday rains. So I wonder of there was any cement in them or if enough. Sad to see nice works damaged by skimping on some materials. Had a fun time all the way through to my lunch of fresh scallion pancakes. There were mostly families there that day and the kids were having a fun time in the...you guessed it-SANDBOX!

The late great Chet Atkins brings us home with his rendering of Mr. Sandman.

Here we are at yet another Chinese(Lunar) New Year-the Year of the Tiger in fact. Here is some background information:

Tiger symbolizes such character traits as bravery, competitiveness and unpredictability. Tigers love to be challenged and will accept any challenge if it means protecting a loved one or protecting their honor. They don’t worry about the outcome because they know they’ll always land on their feet. Don’t let their calm appearance fool you though; Tigers will pounce when they feel it’s necessary.

Metal Tiger – Years 1950 and 2010

Assertive, competitive and sharp, once Metal Tigers set their sights on their goals there’s no stopping them. They’ll always do what’s necessary to remain at the center of attention. Metal Tigers tend to jump to conclusions; a behavior they need to work at improving.

Since this is a "Metal Tiger " year I thought it only appropriate to include one of my favorite David Bowie songs-Hang on to Yourself with lyrics that typify the metal tiger.

The Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung, Taiwan is home to the major producers of LCD large screens for TV's and monitors. It is quite huge and usually appears deserted from the outside. The land is owned by TaiSugar a government owned company and the largest landlord in Taiwan. It's area is about the size of a good sized airport and spans from the western edge of DaYa to Taichung by TungHai University.

The Building-Looptroop Rockers video.

The WenChang Temple is one of Taichung's oldest(1825) and dates back to the Ching Dynasty. It is dedicated to the scholar god so many students go there to pray for good exam scores which are crucial for their placement into the better schools and a better life.

Joni Mitchell has an amazing voice and she is a gifted musician as well. The thing I love about her the most is how she takes risks and continually experiments challenging herself and developing her art. Amelia is a song that she did with Jaco Pastorious one of the greatest musicians and bass players that ever lived.

Flower head-ever get all preened and looking great but get the sense you're still missing something?

Swinging-sometimes it's nice to get lost in the shadows or drift between shadow and light.

Cow vs. Cat-who's side are you on? Don't believe Gaylord Focker-you can't milk cats...

Overworked-here's a bonus  for when you are working hard (for your ears).

Roxy Music was one of the coolest bands from back in the day. Amazona is one of their more prominent guitar songs.