Bushman’s Picks, January 13, 2008

I wasn’t sure how well received my Bushman’s Picks would be, but the response on the comments sections, and amount of emails I’ve received convinced me that I should continue the practice, so here it comes for this week!

• Personal friend, and Famous Taiwan Blogger, Michael Turton reported that the book Formosa Betrayed is now in production as a motion picture ^[1]. Formosa Betrayed is a massive book of extreme importance and I for one, cannot wait to see the movie. I can’t even image what it’s going to be like. Check out Michael’s site for more relevant links.
• My friend Andres just got back from China recently. Naturally he’s been busy posting photos of his adorable newborn daughter, Olivia. This is what Real Men do ^[2]…. Andres, I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are all enjoying the photos of Olivia too.
• My only Australian friend in Thailand, Brunty, has been quite busy this past week and hasn’t blogged too much. But he did manage to avoid getting his white ass shot ^[3] in an altercation that happened near to where he was sitting with his pal Keith, while they were innocently watching footie on the tele. Thai punks are on a rampage these days, seems like.
• One of my Australian friends in Taiwan has an article this week about a very important case for indigenous people in Taiwan ^[4], with ramifications for others around the world. David Reid, wrote a paper on the case, which is available for download as a PDF ^[5]. I suggest that everyone read the paper for an accurate understanding of the case. I also asked David if he wouldn’t mind guiding a small group to the village of Smangus (where the incident occured) and he is definitely up for that! I hope to be announcing a guider tour in the near future.
• Patrick Cowsill has an article this week that talks about (among other things) the treatment of Taiwan Democracy Hall recently. It’s been “decorated” and…. well…. um, you should just read the article ^[6] and see for yourself.
• A-gu has so many excellent articles this week that it’s hard to pick one. But I did pick one ^[7]. I’m going to be adding my own photos of stray dogs as this is a very sore point with me in our neighborhood!
• ^[8]My favorite bei-sze of Daily Bubble Tea this week is Todd’s photoessay on Checheng, ^[9]Nantou County ^[9], where he gets to hang out with 3 hot women. What a life huh? I love photoessays like this! Plenty of great Nikon photography, including this shot. Thanks for asking if I’d like to go Todd! hehe!
• Carrie kindly posted a photo of an elephant fish ^[10] that she and John enjoyed in Vietnam along the Mekong River. This was in response to something I said previously on this blog. Read her article to see what we’re talking about.
• For those of you who use Adsense on your blog, Darren thinks they’ve done some stupid things ^[11] you should know about, especially if you live outside of North America.
• The coolest thing this week on My Digital Life (to me), is this announcement about Bill Gate’s last full day at Microsoft ^[12].
• Would you like to know the 10 Secret Habits of Top Successful Bloggers ^[13]? Well, there you go.
• This week in the world of WordPress, there has been discussion about uninstalling plugins. It’s worth a read. Someone has made an attempt at addressing the issue ^[14].
• Islaformosa reports on supply problems for the new eee PC ^[15]. I think I want one of those!
• Our friend Ashish is back from Australia with another great photoessay about a hike on Fei Feng Mountain ^[16]. Take a look at this shot:
• 
  Ashish, maybe you should do an article entitled “How To Take Fantastic Photographs With A Cheap Point And Shoot Camera.” Who needs a Nikon D80?
• In between firing rounds of food photo articles in a revengeful effort to make me hungry right before bedtime, owshawng writes about a very funny experience he had in Sydney ^[17]. I don’t want to give it away, so read it for yourself. Expats in Taiwan will love this one too.
• Fili brings us tales of foreigner dating in Taiwan ^[18]. I guess that Taiwanese girls don’t get it: Cheaters are all bad. What’s the use of a website to point out only foreigners who cheat? Virtually all of the descriptions (except personal physical details) would apply to many men I have encountered. Volumes have been written about cheating Asian husbands and boyfriends too, girls. Just because your dreamboat is white, it doesn’t make him any worse than any other cheater. By the way, the “tactics” used to “trick” those girls are laughable. This is more about being naive than anything else. Great stuff!
• Talk about dating – this week, Sex and Shanghai (recommended for adults only) has a new article in the series China Dirt ^[19]. This article talks about the issues Western ex-pat women face in China. Basically, Western females have the same toolkit to work with that males do. I did not know that. In fact, I didn’t think think about it before.
• Paogao entered Painworld via a guy called “Blue.” Don’t ask, just read it ^[20].

Flickr Groups I Manage

A shameless plug for Food Photos From Asia ^[21], and Women of Taiwan ^[22]. Both groups had significant contributions this week. I’m not sure which is hotter, the food or the women! You decide!

See you next week!