The Tao of Taiwanese Sculpture 2: Zen and the Art of Juming

If there is one thing I learned in Taiwan, it’s this: 

language is an art, art is culture, and culture is politics. And in Taiwan, the best art — like the best politics — is rooted and grounded in tradition and history, but not bound by them...

By Stephen A. Nelson
The Brandon Sun
November 21, 2009

Coming Soon: Real Wild Ride with Jasper Motorcycle Tours

Keep that motor running! Head out on the highway!

It takes more than going down to your local video store and renting Easy Rider to become a rebel. And it takes more than riding on a bus to truly experience the Canadian Rockies.

To be a real rebel, you have to get on the road, off the beaten track, and take the road less travelled. And to experience the Rockies, sometimes you have to have to do that on a motorcycle – preferably a Harley Davidson.

But, of course, not everyone has a bike. And not everyone who has a one can bring it to Jasper. So for we Rebels Without A Cycle, there is Jasper Motorcycle Tours.

I could have rented a bike and leather gear and hit the open road looking like James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause or Marlon Brando in The Wild One. OK, maybe more like Dennis Hopper in Flashback!

But since I don't have my licence, I was most fortunate to get Candace for my guide; I sat in the sidecar, feeling like Robin next to her BatGirl.

Coming Soon: This Is Paradise Spirit Island at Maligne Lake

When explorer Mary Schäffer (a.k.a. Mary Schäffer Warren) first reached the end of Maligne Lake, she was awestruck and almost at a loss for words.

When she found the words, she could hardly contain herself:
“There burst upon us... the finest view any of us had ever beheld in the Rockies. Those miles and miles of lake, the unnamed peaks rising above us, one following the other, each more beautiful than the last... We could have looked ahead and aloft and said, 'This is Paradise.' ”

Schäffer – sometimes known as “Jasper's first tourist” – had explored just about everything between Banff and Jasper. She had seen many magnificent mountains, gazed at glorious glaciers and looked at lots of lakes.

But this, it seemed, was beyond compare.