Chinese year 2008 is the Year of the Rat
Posted by: Fats in: Fats, Vitamins & Minerals > Wala langThe firecracker noises have quited down now at 2am but folks in the neighborhood are still singing on their videoke systems. 
So, the Chinese year 2008 is the Year of the Rat, or Mouse, for the sensitive types 
- and I thought that the rat meant poverty, but it seems that in the Chinese horoscope, the Rat is a fairly auspicious sign. According to the Chinese Fortune Calendar website:
Rat is a very alert, coward, quick, sly, ambitious and smart animal. Human still learn something from rats. When all rats run away from a building with no reason, we should run and leave the building soon too. Ancient Chinese won’t get on a ship without rats, because that’s not normal. Rat is in the Water group. Snake and Horse are in the Fire group. Fire is afraid of Water. They said Horse will die after eating the waste of Rat. Weasel like Rat can fight and kill Snake.
Also, in the order of animals in the Chinese animal astrology, Rat ranks number 1 among the 12. According to the Chinese Fortune website, “There is a related story for children. Once the God of Heaven wanted to choose 12 animal names as the sequence of the calendar. He announced to hold an animal racing to determine the order. When the racing date is closing, Cat forgot the time and asked Rat the schedule. Alert Rat gave Cat the wrong time on purpose. Smart Rat stayed on the horn of Ox while crossing the river, then jumped over the bank to reach the final line to win the champion. Cat missed the racing time and swear to kill Rat for generations. That’s why Cat always chase Rat forever.”
In Chinese astrology, the Rat is also known as the Lust Star (or in nicer term, the Romantic Star).
Around February 4, 2008, begins the Chinese New Year of the Brown Rat (or in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, this would be Feb 7, the new moon day). That date is actually the start of Spring (which is when the sun enters the 315th degree on the tropical zodiac, around Feb 6 in US time zones and Feb 7 in Europe), certainly a much more logical start of the year than January 1!
Yesterday, Trevor and I went to the shop and saw rows of Rat alkansya, with the coin slot right on its bum! Hmmm…
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 am
Hello, Fatima.
I stumbled upon your blog and was quite intrigued by your entry on space (which is closed for comments so forgive me for posting mine here). I’m a composer and music educator and, of late, have been wrapping my mind around the concept of space in music. You see, I’m trying to consolidate how musical elements translate, not only in other arts, but also in various disciplines such as math, anthropology, and philosophy. I’ve been fascinated with the concept of space ever since I read Edward T. Hall’s book about proximity. Like you, I’ve been trying to find my personal articulations of space but, because of conditionings in society, they were always spaces OUTSIDE of my person even though I did have the conscious idea of my self as having some place — a universe within — that I loosely call my soul. (I found it interesting, in fact, that you called ‘kaluluwa’ knowledge since the translation of it that I learned of it was ’soul’.)
I like how you included pulse in the discussion of ispeys. This is a musical concept, too, pulse is. Music, rhythmic or static, has underlying pulse, much like tao. Without pulso, a person ceases to live, ceases to be. Without pulse, no music can come to be. One can even argue that music, created by tao with his pulso and conscious or unconscious idea of ispeys, is an expression of space. I remember as a troubled younger person, some of my compositions seem too confined in terms of form and language, a true reflection of how cramped I regarded my world and my place in it.
This entry is definitely fuel for thought so don’t be surprised if you find me here (and your other entries) again. I wish you, Trevor (a fellow composer), and Edward Nutmeg a Prosperous and Peaceful 2008!
AlmaCabel
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 am
I’m afraid that Alma Cabel flatters me by calling me a “composer”. However, from the remarks on her blog I’m begining to suspect that I may be a “compser” -in the same way that she is a mathematician!
However, I was influenced (in my visual art -and in my appreciation of modern music) by the composer/architect Xenakis -who was perhaps the first to introduce “parametric thinking” into music. For many years, I’ve been trying to do something similar with visual art -but the “two culture” problem (which divides art and mathematics in western culture) has made progress very difficult. Hopefully, the new “websining” project (see http://www.websining.net/proces/syon/) will help open things up a bit. I’m really looking forward to seeing how things develop. A fascinating chance for all those interested in art/science/maths/culture/society and would like to look for an integrated approach.