Baishuitai Terraces

Yunnan Province

People’s Republic of China

June 4, 2014

Dear Friends,

Can you imagine my shock, when after a lengthy and strenuous hike, my driver holding my arm to provide support as we climbed up and up and up the “wobbly” steps and up and up and up the steep gravel path (I was dizzy from the heat and the thin air) I finally arrived at the White-Water travertine terraces and asked breathlessly, “Have I returned to Turkey?  Have I returned to Pamukkale?”

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Yunnan Province

China

June 4, 2014

Dear Friends,

Are you familiar with the Chinese adage attributed to Confucius?

一圖勝萬言

Perhaps you studied the sage words of Napoleon?

“Une image vaut mille mots.”

It is believed by some that the modern use of the phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in the advertising trade journal Printers’ Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars. The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, "One Look is Worth A Thousand Words."

Lijiang Prefecture

Yunnan Province

China

June 5, 2014

Hello,

Does anyone remember the insufferable strains of The Blue Danube Waltz from a movie released in 1969?

In his epic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, the director Stanley Kubrickused that Johann Strauss tune as a backdrop to the flight of the space ship Discovery as it hurtled towards Jupiter.

That shot of the Discovery out in dark space lingered on the screen for what seemed like an endless light year.  Why use such a technique?  Would it alienate the moviegoer?  Didn’t we all squirm in our seats and feel impatient and uncomfortable?