WuiT #031: Jamii Szmadzinski

Filed Under: Award Winning Artist, Music Business.
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Jamii Szmadzinski is a world-class musician, and a key member of the Grammy awards winning “Shadowfax”, which is one of the most influential groups in New Age music.

Jamii did a small recital at a local lounge bar as a favor for the owner who has been his good friend for over 20 years, and we were invited to attend. Although Jamii had a very limited space to perform, and the place was packed with customers chattering away while covered in cigarette smoke, he still delivered a wonderful show that was equivalent to a large stadium concert.

He still practices his violin skills at least 3 hours a day from what we heard, goes to show you that excellence doesn’t come easy in any field.

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故事要從二十年前說起，年輕一點的網友大概不知道『蚱蜢』李恕權是誰了，但也許你看過一篇在網路上被多次轉寄的文章『五年後你在幹嘛？』。短文的作者李恕權，在亞洲一炮而紅的首張專輯『迴』，製作班底中有一位兩屆葛來美音樂獎的得主，也就是本集的受訪者，Jamii Szmadzinski。在八零年代的音樂場景中，New Music曾一度引領風騷，Jamii也是當時New Music的一個重要團體Shadowfax的小提琴手。

從來台擔任『蚱蜢』的演唱會樂手開始，Jamii展開了一段令他又愛又恨的台灣音樂之旅，他參與了許多可說是流行音樂里程碑的專輯製作，（例如潘越雲的“謝謝你曾經愛過我”），但過程中，他的音樂創意也受到嚴重的剽竊與侵佔。

這是一個音樂製作的灰色地帶，從事音樂編曲的朋友必定會有更深刻的體會。我分別聽過兩位重量級的編曲人向我抱怨過，某幾位大牌製作人，會在沒有旋律的情況下要求先編曲（是的！我沒有寫錯），然後在編好的音樂中即興出主旋律，於是便掛名作曲，一首歌的版權便占為己有，因為編曲是不享有版權的，一首暢銷曲的版稅或將來重新翻唱，都與編曲者無關。這些編曲人告訴我：“你去聽嘛，旋律其實已經都在裡面了！”這兩位重量級的編曲人，現在都已轉任製作。你比較能了解Jamii的感受了嗎？

不過Jamii畢竟是個純粹的音樂愛好者，一直到今天，他每天還是要練三個小時的琴。即便是應朋友之邀，在台北的小酒館內演出，酒客喧囂、煙味瀰漫，他還是百分之百的投入演出，這是我親眼所見。

WuiT #030: Mark Forman

Filed Under: Taichung, Podcaster, Lukang.
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Mark is one of the earliest podcasters of Taiwan that we have wanted to interview; he lives in the central part of this island, has a family, runs his own business, and makes the effort of posting 3 shows (Getting a Leg Up, Ex-Wives Files, and Mindfield), very busy man. The contents include music, culture, and a very interesting Sci-Fi audio novel. There is also an interview of Mark with the Deadpan Show if you want to get to know more about the Shogun of Taiwan.

We had the pleasure of meeting Mark’s lovely family before the interview, his son has been skeptical if there was anyone out there that are actually listening to the show that his father works so hard on, we were more than happy to be the proof of his efforts.

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第一次用Taiwan這個關鍵字在iTunes裡搜尋Podcast，時間是2005年七月，當時就找到Mark Forman的Getting a Leg Up，以及Gem的[Misadventures in Taiwan]，他們毫無疑問是第一批從台灣發聲的Podcasters。

Mark來台灣已經十幾年，中文說的非常好，前兩年住在台北，正好遇上捷運動工的交通黑暗期，是他最糟的台灣經驗，搬到台中之後就非常愉快。自己開了公司、結婚、並且有一個很英俊的兒子，我們到訪的時候，Mark還用中文跟他兒子說：『你看！有人來訪問你爸爸！還說Podcast都沒人聽？』。

除了Getting a Leg up是以音樂為主，Mark還製作了Ex-Wives Files的有聲書，以及Mindfield，可說相當忙碌。（還有另一個Mark Forman的Podcast專訪，有興趣的朋友也可以點這裡下載）

這是我們第一次離開台北做訪問，往返台中的時間的確很不實際，希望能盡快用Skype做遠距採訪，或是有住台中的朋友願意加入我們的工作，一起推銷台灣，歡迎來信！

WuiT #029: Anthony van Dyck

Filed Under: Communities for Foreigners, Politics, Sharp Stone Mountain.
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Starting a new life in any foreign country can be a tough task for anyone. Everything from filing taxes to buying groceries can be a problem if you don’t have the right resources to turn to. It just so happens that there is a group of hospitable foreigners in Taiwan that are more than willing to help, and they have been doing it for quite a while now.

Forumosa.com is administrated by Gus Adapon and Anthony van Dyck with other associates, it is a non-profit website aimed to help the westerners on the island from anything to everything. We have gotten our share of assistance from them in regards of finding interesting guests, recommending helpful links on the web, and there are plans of further calibrations if possible. It is almost like a database of “What’s up in Taiwan”.

We highly urge any new residents of Taiwan to sign up as soon as you can, it can help you get started, and perhaps you can help others later when they decide to make Taiwan their new homes.

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Forumosa.com的前身是Oriented.org，分家後由Gus Adapon與Anthony van Dyck等人負責經營，是一個非營利性的網站，也是目前台灣最大的外國人網路社群。

站長Gus Adapon與Anthony van Dyck在What's up in Taiwan剛開播就與我們聯繫，希望能互相提供連結，或是進一步的合作。其實我們受惠較多，透過Gus與Anthony，我們已經找到兩位受訪者，並且有許多聽眾都是來自Forumosa，它就像是我們的資料庫。

我們非常推薦剛到台灣的外國朋友去註冊為會員，在這裡有許多熱心的人，願意幫你解決各種人生地不熟的疑難雜症，對於的剛到台灣的外國人極有幫助。

WuiT #028: Reynaldo Gopez

Filed Under: Labor Representative, Simple Man.
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The Labor Representative of Manila Economic and Cultural Office Mr. Reynaldo Gopez has been stationed in Taiwan for nearly 2 years. It is hard to believe that there are almost 96 thousands Pilipino workers in Taiwan until we heard it from him.

Mr. Gopez is a hardworking man that spends long hours in the office, he said he never had the opportunity to really absorb the island of Taiwan, but he feels that the young people here are very polite, and it is also a very safe place to stay.

We posted the show at this time in celebration of the independence day of The Philippine Islands (June 12th of every year). The M.E.C.O. Office always provide a special activity, and it is at Beishin elementary school in Taipei County this year. Scheduled on June 11th on a Sunday, everyone is welcomed.

If you are interested in The Philippines, here is a great Podcast for you: Pinoy Podcast

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馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處（Manila Economic and Cultural Office）主任Reynaldo Gopez派駐台灣將近兩年， 如果不是他親自告訴我們，其實很難想像目前有將近九萬六千名菲律賓籍勞工在台灣工作。

Gopez先生相當忙碌，工作時間也很長，他說一直沒有機會在台灣旅遊，但他覺得這裡的年輕人很有禮貌，治安也很好。

這集節目的播出時間是為了配合菲律賓的獨立節（6月12日），每年馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處都會舉行特別的慶祝活動，今年是在台北縣新店的北新國小，時間是6月11日星期天，Gopez先生歡迎大家去玩 。

對菲律賓有興趣的朋友，也可以參考我們的朋友 Manuel Viloria製作的Pinoy Podcast。