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ISS. 3 2010. 09VOL. 1BOURBON TASTING

P.BALBO .................1

MOON-AUTUMCELEBRATION

G.IMREH .................2

AT THE CINEMAK. TAKAHASHI .........2 ASICC

timesADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF

ACADEMICA SINICA.

Academia Sinica is keen to address the specific interests of our

international colleagues. By establishing ASICC we hope to offer a

dynamic environment and ensure a strong work/life balance.

Bourbon TastingWhen most Taiwanese hear

Kentucky, they think of fried chicken.

But for Americans, a few other things

more quickly come to mind. Kentuckyis a beautiful state in the Ohio River

Valley, covered with lush green rolling

hills. The country side is spotted with

tobacco fields and thoroughbred racing

horse farms, surrounded by their iconic

white picket fences. Oh, and theres

bourbon.

You know what bourbon is, right? Its

only one of the most important

contributions that America has made to

world civilization! Bourbon is a distinct

American whiskey, and most of itcomes from Kentucky. Like any type of

whiskey (or whisky), its a distilled

spirit made from the fermented mash of

grain which has been aged in wood

barrels. When immigrants from

It will be my great honor and pleasure to host an upcoming bourbon tasting here at

Sinica. All are welcome to come and share some American Spirit pun intended.

Details will be forthcoming soon!

P. Balbo,INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY

Scotland and Ireland settled parts of

Kentucky in the 19th century, they

found natural limestone-rich springs

and a climate warm summers andcold winters perfect for producing

whiskey. They used a combination of

grains that were abundant in their new

home (corn, rye, and barley), which is

in contrast to the Scottish and Irish

spirits which use only barely. Another

innovation was to use American white

oak barrels that were flame-torched on

the inside for aging. These factors

impart the characteristic flavor, which

has strong notes of vanilla and

caramel, to the whiskey. After

generations of refinement, bourbonhas earned world renowned

adoration and its popularity is

increasing. Today, many small

distilleries offer so-called small batch

bourbons for high end retail.

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Taipei Cinema Talk

As the summer is nearing an

end, the night times are getting

cooler and allowing us to go for

a stroll at night. How bout goin

out to the cinemas for some late

night shows before you go tosleep. But be careful of the

extractors. So we start off with

the movie Inception which

stars the ever favorite Leonardo

DiCaprio acting as an Extractor,

a thief who works in your

dreams. By controlling your

dreams he has power to control

your actions! This Scifi movie

reminds people of Matrix and

Blade Runner (if the

latter movie reminds you of

your young days, you are

pretty old) with its smart and

innovative story line. Well

beware you might get lost in

the swirling twists in the

story. If you want to keep it

simple Sylvester Stallone is

back with his Rambo like

action packed movie in The

Expendables. He has many

friends including Jet Li,

Jason Statham and DolphLundgren. They are

mercenaries hired to throw

out a dictator in a South

American country. Even

how old he gets Sylvester

Stallone is still Sylvester

UPCOMINGEVENTS.

Basketball Day

Place: AS gymDate: Sep., 2010

Time: TBA

PREVIOUS EVENTS

BOURBON TASTING

Date: Aug. 27, 2010

MOVIE APPRECIATION

NIGHT

Date: July 29, 2010

COFFEE HOUR

Date: June 28, 2010

DRAGON BOAT RACE

Date: June 16, 2010

TUNG BLOSSOM PARK

Date: May 15, 2010

PINGXI DAY TRIP

Date: April 18, 2010

POTLUCK PARTY

Date: Feb. 19, 2010

HIKING - Shishou Hills

Date: Jan. 30, 2010

ASICC Opening Dinner

Date: Jan. 22, 2010ASICC Newsletter

128 Academia Road

Nankang, Taipei 11529

Stallone. Keep an eye out on

the cameo by the governor of

California. This month I will

end with a romantic comedy

The Switch which stars

Jennifer Aniston as Kassie

Singleton and Jason Bateman

as Wally. Kassie decided to

go along with artificial

insemination to get a baby,

the problem is on her

insemination party Wally

spills the donors sperms andreplaces it with his. 7 years

later Kassie and her son is

back how will Wally get

along with his mini-version!!

Dont forget there are many second run cinemas throughout

Taipei which offer double features for low prices.

K. Takahashi,INSTITUTE OF ATOMIC & MOLECULAR SCIENCES

Of the traditions living on from the old

ages, Chinese festivals always treat

people, the community and the belly

very well. The upcoming Mid-Autumn

festival (the 15th of the 8th lunar month)

is no exception. If you don't read the

lunar calendar, you will still notice when

this festival arrives, by the way people

celebrate it these days. One tell-tale sign

will be the people camping out on every

street, even in downtown Taipei.

Another one is the great smell in the air.

OK, no more teasing: as the saying goes

that the full moon brings the family

together (""), and in the 8th

month of every year people gather for a

barbecue.

Friends come together even from far

away, colleagues, house-mates, and

they grill and there are a lot of

Taiwanese produce that is just waiting

to be put on a stick and over the fire.

This is in line with the origins of the

festival: long time ago people gathered

this time of the year to celebrate the

good harvest and make fruit offerings

to the gods. Times change, but

happiness about the good harvest

remains. So prepare yourself on

September 22 (oops, I gave it away),

your friends too, set up a grill

somewhere nice, and spend the night

talking and eating under the

beautiful full moon. And don't forget to

have some moon cakes and

pomelo (whose Chinese name rhymes

with blessed), to have a happy

autumn.

G. ImrehINSTITUTE OF ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR SCIENCES

Mid-autumnCelebrations