Happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year! Sun nien fai lok!
It is the beginning of the year of the Ox! You will have noted...that its yoke has already been securely attached, you know what's coming then - work, hard work needs to be done.
Let me [take you by the nose ring ] thisa-way... ;-)
Olly, Olly Oxen Free! What's it mean?
The Ox symbolizes calm, hard work, resolve and tenacity. According to legend, the ox allowed the cunning rat to ride on its head in a race to determine the animals' order. Shortly before the ox crossed the finish line, the rat leaped off to claim victory.
Does this Ox have positive aspects or a sweet fragrance it is hiding? Of
course! If you need an Ox, then there must be a field to plant or harvest, product to be hauled, etc. If you have an Ox, it is the equivalent labor force of three men, thus hastening productivity!
Guess who has strong shoulders and perseverance to get heavy-lifting done and has recently been elected to high office in these United States? Yes, that one, Barack Obama, he is an Ox by the Chinese Zodiac. A relatively insignificant thorny point of this is that Obama also is the 44th
president, a number the Chinese deem extremely unlucky, because "four"
is pronounced the same as "death" in Chinese. I just interpret this to
mean that since there are still Rethuglicans among us, some 'bad luck' will invariably fall Barack Obama's way... We can handle it as we have been handling them all these years.
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Sing Along! Ox or not, this will make you smile!
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New Dragon Found in San Francisco!
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So my little hamlet of San Francisco has been marking "Chinese New Year" in some way since at least, 1860. The two-week celebration is highlighted each year with the New Year Parade (Feb. 7 this year) which features its star - the Dragon. These dragons don't live very long, about seven to ten years or so. You try weighing 1,000 lbs., running a marathon every year to catch the pearl, with 100 humans tickling or scratching at your belly and yelling at you from the sidelines, while firecrackers go off constantly! Then see how long you would live!
Arriving this month from Hong Kong, the above is the latest incarnation of Gum Lung("goom loong") which has a skeleton of bamboo and is created with linen, paper, rabbit fur and decorative items. Hundreds of LED and compact fluorescent bulbs vein the body for nighttime spectacle as he is carried aloft by volunteers.