Jak's Diary and Postcard Center

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Academic
Links:

Hollis
Nabu
Humanities Net
AIA
Gordion

Friendly
Links:

Peter Cramer is my lawyer. He can help you with immigration questions or problems

Andrew Cohen has pictures of fish

Maria Daniels took a picture of me hula hooping

Pauline Cheng, my sister, takes pictures, too

Naomi Miller painted a book of watercolors from archaeological sites

Austin J! Austin J!

November 2005

Major update!

I've started two blogs, one on my professional work: jackchengphd.blogspot.com and one about my personal life, including pictures of the kids: krongblog.blogspot.com.

Link to them, visit them, comment on them. See you there!

February 20, 2003

I've now made Austin's own page so you don't have to read about his boring old folks. Instead, just bookmark this page for your Austin updates and pictures!

February 14, 2003

Happy Valentine's Day.

Here are some pictures of Austin:

The teaser.

A meeting of the minds.

Austin James Cheng (aka Cheng He Ping) was born February 9, 2003 (the year of the sheep/goat) at 3:12 pm. He weighed in at 7lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. He's cute as a button and so far mom's only complaint is "he doesn't cry enough!"

That name again:

Austin, for Julie's father, Frank Austin Crosson (ultimately derived from Augustine, an emperor, a saint, a guy I knew in college).

James, for Jack's grandfather, Jimmy Cheng (no one ever called him James--just like Mr. Carter).

Cheng, Jack's family name, because "Austin Crosson" rhymes a little too much.

He, harmony, is Julie's favorite Chinese word and a theme of our wedding and, we hope, of our marriage.

Ping, balance or fairness, when combined together as He Ping means "Peace".

And on the web:

From Grandpa Joe.

From the hospital photographer.

More pictures soon!

January 23, 2003

We'll see if I can update this site more often. In any case, we're expecting some major news soon and will probably post pictures here.

August 7, 2002

This is kind of cool: Google Art.

July 23, 2002

Yes, it's true, we already have 3 weddings lined up for 2003.

July 21, 2002

Okay, this may be meaningless to anyone outside of Boston, but... I figured out the Ted Williams tunnel! YES! I can get to the airport--the curb of the terminal from our driveway in 20 minutes--without getting on 93!

Here's the deal: from our house to 93 we would take Melnea Cass. If you are coming up 93 N, you can figure out where to exit. Instead of getting on the highway, take the "Frontage Road" in the right lane. The ramp will take you down to ground level again and then skip the first right and turn right on West 4th street.

Go a block or two and turn left on A Street. There is no sign for A Street, but the A Street Deli (or Market) is on the corner. Go all the way up A Street until it ends, at Congress St. Turn right on Congress and then there is a sign saying "Ted Wms tunnel Bypass Road" and pointing right. Just follow those signs into the tunnel.

Just keep in mind that the Tunnel goes to East Boston and the airport is a right exit. Also, the tunnel is open to all traffic on weekends and weeknights after 10pm.

I ROCK!

July 18, 2002

Wedding #4 of 2002 (midpoint) was in Utah. My cousin Wilson, who teaches at the university in Salt Lake City married Ming, an M.D. originally from China who has been living in Slat Lake for a few years. They got married at a ski lodge just outside of Park City. That means we got to take a gondola up to the wedding site!

It was beautiful, a perfect day. But that meant it was kind of sunny, and the air is thin up at 8000 feet and so... we lost a bridesmaid. Pei passed out during the ceremony; thankfully Ming's father jumped up from his front row seat and caught her before she hit the ground. She was okay, and the minister was very good at moving along and finishing the ceremony. Ming read a terrific poem during the ceremony by a modern Chinese poet, apparently a woman who was among the first to write about emotion after the Cultural Revolution.

The couple looked really happy--Wilson looked happier than I have ever seen him--and all the guests had a good time. Special mention goes out to Krak who delivered a clever and funny toast as best man. Also, lots of very cute kids there.

After the wedding, Julie and I drove down to Zion National Park. What a beautiful place. The main part is a canyon and there is a terrific shuttle system that takes you up and down the road to different trail heads and observations points.

We did a fair amount of hiking there. Our favorite: The Narrows. At the end of the canyon, the walls are well, narrower, and the river fills the entire width. We walked up through the river for about an hour and a half into a beautiful area. The air was hot, but the water (up to waist height) was cool. Our least favorite: Angel's Landing. High and scary, we got to Scout's landing and admired the view and then saw the trail continue across a strip of earth that dropped off 800 feet on one side, and 1200 on the other. Clinging weepily to the chains that are stuck into the rocks, we decided to turn back, even as people twenty years younger and twenty years older than us stepped around us to get to the top. Scary!

After Zion we went to Bryce Canyon. Also lovely, with weird "hoodoos", these strange rock formations formed by erosion. We were really into the stratigraphy in all of southern Utah. Bryce was nice, but it was more of a drive and look place than a hike through. Also, the air was even thinner, and hiking didn't seem as appealing. Plus, we were tired from our outings at Zion and for all those reasons we were less enthralled by Bryce. Don't get me wrong, we thought it was fantastic, but we preferred Zion overall. (Still, we could understand why the native peoples thought the place was cursed--very compellingly odd place.)

Other highlights in Utah: the world's largest open pit mine (visible from space), the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, guessing who was Mormon ("Momo!") or not ("No Momo!"), air conditioning, the Olympic site, and lots of good food.

We're grateful to Wilson and Ming for giving us an excuse to get out there!

July 16, 2002

Hey, I wrote something for Booksense.com about books and digs.

July 2, 2002

It's really hot and humid here. Therefore, I went to go see a matinee of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

Blech. Yes, it was disappointing. Yes, there were some cool parts, like seeing Yoda in light saber battle. But overall, like the Phantom Menace, I feel like there was the kernel of a good story that was ruined by a number of stupid ideas and missed opportunities.

For instance, it looked like Star Trek, not Star Wars. What's the difference? Well in Star Trek (Classic and Next Generation), everything is shiny and new and all the machines and ships work except when the story requires that they don't. In Star Wars, especially the original, everything is dingy and dirty and Han Solo has to smack his control panel a few times just to get things going as a matter of course. Somehow that makes it all seem more realistic (not that things shouldn't work for Jedi or royalty that the prequels focus on, but they should be a little dirtier).

The other thing was, no one looked like they were having any fun. Where were the whoops of discovery that Luke had, or the general merriment that Han Solo exuded, or the twinkle in Princess Leia's eye? Gone.

That could have been injected if they fixed something else: the relationships. Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker should be like Batman and Robin in battle, and like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in conversation. Our first look at them should have been filled with jovial banter, only to be interrupted when Anakin realized what their new assignment was. And in the first fight scene, as much as I appreciated Obi-Wan just leaping out the window, the two guys should have been working together better. They shouldn't have been picking up stuff the other guy dropped; they should have been passing things back and forth, the Jedi equivalent of alley-oop passes.

Then, Anakin's complaints would be more about working solo, He doesn't trust me to go it alone. (Like Robin did in the 70s and 80s.) The main point of this relationship in this movie is to show that they are the best of friends and work well together, and to show that Anakin needs to get out from under Obi-Wan's wing. They could have done that with the fight scenes, instead of Anakin bitching about how he is not allowed to do anything as a Jedi. Then, at the end, when he rushes forward to attack solo rather than as part of a team, this would be psychologically plausible and prove to us that he ISN'T ready to be on his own.

Don't even get me started on Anakin and Padme. That actor is so terrible I kept expecting him to date-rape her. At times, I thought I was watching The Omen 4. It's nothing new to say that the romantic scenes sucked, but I was surprised at how bad they were. He comes on like a stalker and she lets him in her house.

In general, too, the special effects while occasionally nice, were terribly designed. If this is a generation BEFORE Star Wars, why is everything so nice and pretty and more advanced than that movie? Okay, the Republic is better run than the Empire, but how about showing the Republic ships as prototypes of the Tie-Fighters? There was a hint of the kind of pre-quelization that I like with half-brother Owen and his girlfriend Beru, but why give Ani's stepfather such a neat flying "wheelchair"? Or give R2 jets? The cool thing about Star Wars was that the people were like you and me (no mitoclorians) and even though their technology was better, there were still basic limitations in being human.

Oh, that reminds of something else about the fights. I hate the hand waving, robot fall down move. Hate it hate it hate it. But also, the way the Force is depicted is terrible. I wanted them to stop in the middle of big fights, collect their thoughts (and tap into the Force) before starting again, kind of like Neo in the Matrix. Shake it off, CONCENTRATE, attack again. Show Obi-Wan doing that a lot, and show Anakin forgetting to. But remind us that the Force is a mental exercise, Zen like, requiring a clear head.

Okay, I'll stop now before I blow a gasket.

Here are some things I liked: R2-D2 and C-3PO, together again. Yoda.

June 21, 2002

Well, we�re well into wedding season.

Here�s the lowdown on the weddings so far:

Wendy Weber and Jim Falvey had a beautiful wedding on Cape Cod in February. The bride was so eager to get married that she dragged her dad halfway down the aisle without waiting for her �theme music�. We had an awesomely fun table with the coolest hat of the wedding, as well as the most enthusiastic dancers. And why not? The band was stupendous. A terrific time.

Vicki Jackson and Phil Knapp were almost rained out in Maine, but as Vicki�s mom said, they �pulled a Vicki.� For the requisite five hours or so, the sun came out for a beautiful ceremony. I was standing around when I got the call from Julie to sub as a Huppa holder. Turns out the Huppa didn�t hold itself up and Vicki�s sister was in the procession so they needed a Tent Temp. I gladly filled in.

Vicki and Phil�s wedding was marked, for me, by the naked emotion on display. And it wasn�t gooey, honest. The bride and groom alternated between serious and ecstatic and there were many many heartfelt toasts. At one point, Phil�s mom spoke, then his dad, and then Vicki�s brother and my heart lifted higher and higher into my throat. And then when the couple responded, I nearly lost it.

Another highlight was the excellent DJing by two WBOS on-air personalities, George Knight and David O�Leary. They did a stupendous job. Also, the rehearsal dinner was the best I have ever had. Yum! I had a humungous lobster and a wife whose birdlike appetite stopped her at just half a beast. I must have gorged myself on more than 2 lbs of sea-roach. Yeah, baby!

I shouldn�t single out people we hung out with, since we had so much fun with everyone, but I will. It was terrific to see new people Jack Darnell from California, and Amelia Hong. We also had a great time with Sunny and Krisztina who are going to be married later this summer; I now understand why his e-mail address is SunnyBunnyHoney@yahoo.com.

And this past weekend Julide Aker and Andrew Cohen got hitched. And they DID get rained out, but a bunch of busy bees decorated a dance hall and rearranged the flowers and they had a wonderful wedding. Bob Hunt was an excellent solemnizer and set the tone for the wedding with his erudition and wit.

I can�t really comment fairly on this wedding as these are two of my bestest friends, so believe what you will. The food was really, really good. The scallops, rare tuna, grilled steak were all superb and I ate so much I didn�t fully appreciate the cake at the time.

The night dissolves into a haze of champagne for me at this point, but picks up sometime the next afternoon (I know I went to the brunch, but I felt like I only had the use of four brain cells to imitate a conscious being�kind of like a walking sea cucumber).

Then we spent more time at this terrific farm house. We stayed there for a few days. On one day, just 17 waking hours, I read a book, played volleyball, hacky sack, and Frisbee, tried archery, played guitar, Bridge, watched some World Cup Soccer on Univision, had a tango lesson, and stuffed myself on a Turkish feast, courtesy of Batu, Aykan and Tugba.

Everything was wonderful, and I�m very happy for my buddies.

No Brainers
I once mentioned to Marcus that I hadn't bought the latest Radiohead cd (OK Computer) and he gave me a look like, "Why the hell not? It's excellent, everyone likes it--it's a no-brainer!"

He was right, and I later thought, gee I wonder if I'll ever find some product that is so recommendable, universally and without reservation? I have. Here they are. If you don't like these products, I would be shocked. Shocked!

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett is a story of music, and art, and opera, and love, and friendship. Oh, and terrorism.

Come Away With Me is jazz pop comfort, focusing on Norah Jones' smoky, expressive, dare I say "Sarah Vaughn-y" voice? I bought this cd in March, went to Syria and listened to it every day I was away, and when I came back, her concert in Boston was already sold out. You may feel schmucky for jumping on the bandwagon, but sometimes there's a reason for the bandwagon.

Recommended
Books:

Tell Brak Vol 2. Here's the report on the 3rd millennium (Akkadian, Sumerian) levels at Tell Brak. Expensive, but big.

Recommended
Music:

69 Love Songs is remarkable for the level of quality over three cds. The songs are clever, melodic, funny, sad and beautiful (some are all of the above). Overall there are maybe 3 songs I don't really care for--and that's how I feel about most single cds.

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