吃完午餐後，到前院走走，一隻竹雞就站在石階上，靜靜地看著我。Bengax陪我。依她的習性，應立刻衝上咬死竹雞。或許因為竹雞不怕也不動，Bengax似沒看到牠。Bengax離竹雞一步而已，照理一撲可獲。我叫她，她回頭看我，竹雞緩緩地走入草叢不見了.

the present blog excepted, of course

Journalists and other on-the-spot chroniclers make notoriously poor historians, as they often confound the trendy and the significant, confuse the trees with the forest, and miss the long-term changes that take decades to discern.
---Benjamin Schwarz

今天網上新聞:“林玉体說，他昨天獲知將擔任明年公務員初考典試長後，在會中主動發言表示，他將按照他自己對「本國」的解讀，把本國史地命題範圍限縮在台澎金馬。”

這是考生的福音，套一句英文， Nothing to it! 除了95%的漢人不認同的原住民外，台灣歷史沒甚麼。請看台灣通史；漢人從福建來霸佔原住民的地；泉州、漳州人相遇，砍砍殺殺，然後聯手對付原住民；潮州人跟來，砍砍殺殺，然後聯手對付原住民；客家人來，砍砍殺殺，然後聯手對付原住民；台灣通史大體如此，很好考。

但我看，教育部一定不肯採用台灣通史。雖是最權威的著作，但是是連家的人的東西，意識形態上，執政黨必定無法接受:政治立場比教育重要。還有一個問題，考金門史怎麼可能不考廈門呢?好了，台灣通史不考，金門也不考，現在只剩那本泰雅族史，186頁，應該很好考。不行，他們不講閩南話，我看，只好考陳水扁的建樹與呂秀蓮溫馨人間。這樣印教材可以省很多很多的紙張。

美國人開拓荒野時，急於立學校教育子女。 Puritans在1620年到New England，沒有房子沒有農田，三餐不繼，氣候寒冷，開墾艱苦，但二、三十年後已經有印書、設立大學。台灣則無此例，所以要在文學、藝術展露頭角有所成就，是在國民政府來台以後才有個訊息的。這樣也減輕考生的壓力。

本國史若限考台澎金馬，我這個綠眼美國人最開心，終於可以抬頭挺胸，因為常常被笑:”美國歷史很短‧”只好把話題轉移: 我們第一個登月球，而且，電燈、棒球、電吉他都是我們發明的! 還有米老鼠也是美國人…美國鼠? 若面對浩浩蕩蕩的中國華夏歷史，不只是矮人一截，是好多截! 可是如果本國史限考台澎金馬，我可以反譏大家: 沒有歷史!!

很久以前寫的

欲窮千里名 更下一層樓

Today this blog will be graced by further political commentary by Sister St Eph. Third World readers, especially in the Middle East, will please be aware that this is Democracy in Action, and take notes so you can emulate.
Repeat after me, observing four steady beats to the bar:

Finance, Mini, Sir furry rock.
Finance, Mini, Sir furry rock.
This is from the Town Meeting on health care last night, Kerry and Bush. Presdunt Bush said the phrase. I was caught by the rhythm of it, the clarity of the syllables, and the utter incomprehensibility of the words. Wondered if you'd get it... I had the advantage of context, which didn't help. I actually wrote it down, and puzzled through my original note:
Fi-nance mini-sur furry-ACK
Finance Minister of Iraq
Finance Minister for Iraq?
The key is in the rhythm, emphatic and strong, and the enunciation, clear and precise. I think he rehearsed this phrase. I think someone worked with him, and he memorized it. Then when he was ready to say it, out it came from the memory banks: DUMdum DUMdum DUMdumda DUM!!!!!!!!!

Rating points:
Pretty close! Got the idea of using rhythm, just got it wrong. Got the enunciation clear, just not right. Produced the phrase fairly quickly, just a little hesitation at the start line, but plowed ahead once begun. Moved away from it quickly.

I've been listening to whole debates and entire speeches like this! It involves a lot of radio slapping. It wrenches the brain to hear these people talk. The conten', the verbidge, the consen weazllin an spinnin putre-fax... you don't happen to have one of those Alfred E. Neuman for Presdunt stickers, do you? And what does the "E" stand for, anyway?
Alfred was born in USA and he's 35 or older! Alfred can run! There's a groundswell of advertising to agitate support for an amendment to the constitution. If we remove that silly "born in USA" requirement, Ahnuld could run. He's photogenic and says his lines well.

Note: The E in Alfred E Neuman stands for Electable.

My sister Steph carefully listened to the election debates on the radio. Here is her report.
I'm happy to report, there will be no debate report! I'm listening to the vice-presidential candidates' debate on the radio. So far this has involved a lot of radio-slapping. This is a highly touted debate. (Is there "lowly touted?") Nobody, so far, enunciates. "The noble War on Terr." "Absolooley." "Direck aid." "Inconsissencies." "Sucessfooie carry through." "Terrisss" (the plural). "Consissenny." This is both of them. I'm not cut out for this... Weapons inspekkers. In conjunkin. A sishuashin in wish... By-producks. Contrak. Conflick. The Soddiez. Presdunt. Sev-val things. Both of them talk this way... Adekkit. Patikkelur. Edwards and Kerry are going to do tax cuts and cut the deffcit in haff. Cheney and Bush will drive the deffcit down fiffy percen in the nex five years. Gay mairge is a hot issue.

Thank you for that exclnt repor, Steph. Now, I am going to go publickt with my offer for the WINNER of the 2004 US Presidential Election. I am offering, ABSOLULY FREE, elocution lessons to WHOEVER wins the 2004 US Presidential Election, and ALSO his running mate, AT NO EXRA COST!!! just so long as the winners are Demycrats.

Ah-Pao is a dancer. Wen Hsin is a dancer. I'm not. I've never been a dancer. In junior high I dutifully attended Miss Callisher's ballroom dancing course, but soon was lured by the crushing death dances of martial arts. Dance like Shiva, dance the destruction of heaven and earth. My Serb blood ran quick with kolas in Russian class, but dancing with friends at parties was more a search for doom than celebration or fun. My friends were all heads. At our dances, they would all get thoroughly stoned and dance to frighten the ghosts, no beauty there. I never liked or needed dope. I danced them all to desperation, no beauty there.

Does the raging minotaur dance?

Dancing was not quite proper when I came to Taiwan, and they were doing the foxtrot anyway. I would rather die.

The last time I danced was with the old minister of Ulay church, proper Tayal dancing, fingers firmly attached to earlobes, in the old style. You never see people dance that way any more.

I wrote this in the summer of 2000, when Tlahuy and Bengax were less than a year old.

Sunday I took the dogs to the stream. We swam and climbed upstream. We reached a rock in the middle of the stream. I climbed up, but the puppies couldn't. They were in the water, trying to get up, so when I was stable, I reached down and dragged Bengax up by her ... by her ... what do you call those, by her front shoulders? Anyway, I dragged her up. She frisked around the rock. Then I reached down for Tlahuy, still in the water clawing the rock. When he saw me reach down for him, he looked at me with an expression of total devotion and trust: he knew that no matter what, he is safe in my hands.

It takes courage to love.