Published by Swiss James on 24 Oct 2008 at 01:22 pm
I-Cube
Everyone’s raving on about this IPhone nonsense, and how great Apple are for designing such a wonderful interface and blah blah etc.
Well last night I unearthed the inspiration for the world’s most pretentious tin-can-on-a-string. It’s an ice cube tray that had been sat in my kitchen draw for the last 18months (craftily hidden under the saucepans, which is why I never found it).
To anyone who doesn’t read Chinese, the characters on this tray are an ancient poem about a humble servant who becomes a great emperor. They’d make a great tattoo- remember to send me a photo of it if you get one done.
Ice Cube
iPhone
I prefer the icube you got going here.
Did you guys get the new google phone over there?
we haven’t officially got the i-phone as far as I know, but it’s all over the shops.
What’s wrong with carrier pigeons, that’s what I want to know.
I thought this was gonig to be about Ice Cube (noted rapper, thespian, etc…). I cant say I’m not a little disappointed….
Well Morgan- if you were cool, you would have thought it was about French music producer I:Cube.
Go and sit on the uncool step, think about what you’ve said.
You have an interesting imagination…
I can see your reflection from the picture, but what did you use to light the ice tray up with?
I am not drinking any iced drinks at Chez Ispyshanghai.
Your translation is correct James. It is indeed a famous chinese poem. 8th century if I remember correctly. Better tatoo this on your skin than end up like this poop chap.
http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=9ed3f54e1ic3esaa0.jpg
Which way do you read to make this an 8th century poem? I only see counting of 1-10 in Chinese in the first few rows. Did someone drink the booze first and just left the words in the tray?
Yes, a great poem about coutning the time away, the above, middle and underside of existence … the entrances and exits …the elements and the earth we walk on.
A must for all Chinese character tattoo enthusiasts.
:)
A.
it’s just daylight Jin, the tray catches the light pretty nicely
I liked that story but I didn’t believe it, how can those three characters mean “At the end of the day this is an ugly boy”?
(Although that would be true)
Miss Jane: Shhhh!
Yes, I get a little misty-eyed every time I read it.
H reckons it’s something more like “2nd place boy”
Great spotting, James. Imagine the confusion that could result if an iPhone and the ice tray were left on the same bench …
One fifty eight the day ends over the mountain
Two hundred and sixty men move the moon like a rock
Thirty-seven salivate over earth
Forty eight middle managers light fire to the fields
It’s actually a game. You make the characters into ice cubes, mix them up and then recreate the poem before the ice melts to win the game. It’s normally played alone, a sort of Chinese Solitaire if you will.
beautiful T- I’ve captured it for posterity
I don’t even want to think about it- you’d be dropping electronics in your drinks and trying to answer a frozen tray of water all day.
I’ll have to fix my freezer and we can have a game at the weekend
Swiss, did you see the entry on my blog, http://www.ispydubai.com, about the iBerry???
“And then I woke up and it was all a dream”
Looks more like a Japanese ice tray for representing dates.
As I recall, they still refer to the days of the week using the five elements.