今天崇光社大舉行了「生活論語一路通」新課發表 ，非常感謝來捧場的幾位朋友。一位阿姨以為今天星期三，要上串珠課，發現來錯日期，留下來吹吹冷氣也不錯。一位被導航騙到直潭(十公里外的山區)，回來不好意思進來。這樣要算四個人或五個人？但是我自己對今天的課還算滿意。

意料之外的是社大職員的態度：主任說崇光社大要發奮圖強，但是職員的態度是，這門課要開，我無所謂，不開，我無所謂。幹嘛幫你宣傳？

好吧！萬事起頭難！再接再勵！

古寫法律于三尺竹簡，故稱成文法為三尺法。

史記酷吏列傳，杜周「所論殺甚重」，『「客有讓周曰：「君為天子決平，不循三尺法，專以人主意指為獄。獄者固如是乎？」周曰：「三尺安出哉？前主所是著為律，後主所是疏為令，當時為是，何古之法乎！」』

依我的了解，民主的基礎是法制，「依法不依人」。如若不遵循法律程序，大官依個人或黨的意趣來藐視法制，是往回走向帝王的專制，而不是進步上民主之路。

Fireflies. A year or two ago, somewhere I came across the name ‘lightning bugs.’ I had forgotten that this is what we called them when I was a boy in Illinois. I hadn’t heard the name for so long that I had totally forgotten it, but now, it seems a better name for them.

吾友公冶長說，螢火蟲很三八，最常聊的話題只有一個：誰最亮麗。但是牠們很虔誠，因為牠們看到天上至大無外的螢火蟲，一閃就震天動地，還會吼呢！牠們拜這個巨螢為神，說天地萬物就是祂一閃、一吼創造的。

公冶長解釋，牠們的神，是我們所謂的「雷電」。

他還說，螢火蟲很濫情。檳榔攤七彩八色的燈，常常吸引很多螢火蟲，默默地在一邊觀賞。附近路燈壞了，一閃一閃，一群螢火蟲迷戀，天天寫詩撰情書。路燈修好了，一群螢火蟲失戀，有蟲在燈下朗誦詩：

「我的驕傲的愛蟲，

妳變了，

妳活潑、喜笑的蟲格，

從此呆了，

單調了，

叫我何去何從？」

詩雖然寫的不好，但是沒有比捷運裏臺北文學獎的詩差到哪裏。

We have another inexplicable tragedy: an Egyptian passenger flight has gone down with all hands. It is inexplicable at least until they find the black box and maybe not even then.

There are some basic recordings from the cockpit, but they still have to find the black box in the deep, dark sea. Which raises the question: in this day and age, when the photos I take on my phone are automatically transferred to Flickr, why can’t they have all the necessary recordings automatically transmitted back to the airline as the plane flies? With today’s technology, this shouldn’t be too difficult, and it would speed investigations up considerably.

Aha! I smell a conspiracy! The news agencies conspire with the airlines so they can build the suspense as everybody waits for the black box to be found! That is certainly it!

人類欺騙自己的意願無止境。剛聽到一個太太說，「打麻將也是一種運動。手指頭可以運動。」

There is a big fuss about who can go into which bathroom. Transgender toilets is obviously not an issue that most directly concerns my generation, so I think we should leave it to the young people to solve. It’s their problem, let them deal with it as they will. There will be some rough spots, but eventually they will come up with a solution.

Anybody who has flown knows that on airplanes, both sexes use the same toilet, and I’ve never heard of any trouble on aircraft, just so long as nobody tries to smoke in there.

For that matter, who decreed that bathrooms have to be segregated by sex? I don’t prance about public toilets naked, so as long as I have a clean, private place to relieve myself, I don’t really care who else uses this public place. When you come right down to it, if the next stall is occupied by a man, a woman, something else, a porcupine, whatever, it doesn’t really concern me, just so I can do my business. This really shouldn’t be too difficult to solve. 
If anything, I’d worry that with unisex toilets, all the long lines into the women’s room would take over the men’s room. 

民國六十年代，我的腳印遍佈臺灣。我最代表的回憶，也是最美好的回憶，就是一個小小的動作：一個玻璃杯，裝一口燙水，轉一轉，把水灑在地上。

我想，經過那個年代的人都記得這個動作。當時，電熱水瓶還沒發明，家家戶戶都有一個保溫瓶，早上一起床就煮開水，裝一瓶水。這個瓶子很重要，所以通常有畫七彩繽紛的花，美觀又實用；放客廳，一個盤子幾個玻璃杯。尤其在農村，口渴的話，隨便到哪一家要水，根本不認識也沒關係，他們一定很樂以拿出熱水瓶、玻璃杯，先用熱水燙杯，怕冷玻璃灌熱水就裂，但更重要的是給客人表示，我們要給你乾淨的杯子喝水。轉一轉，玻璃熱了，把水灑在地上，再倒一杯水請客人吃。

其實，往往不用主動開口要水，農村人看到不認識的人，很好奇，就會請你喝水，趁機會聊一聊。

在那個近似喚之可出、遙在難尋絲跡的年代，大家都知道喝冰水對身體不好。很少人喝溫水，沒有人喝冰水；我本來不太喝冰，可是剛來華也不習慣喝那麼燙。到現在的臺灣，飲用的水溫降了，感覺上，很多人情也降溫了。

今晚去看了台北愛樂演鄒族神話音樂劇「雲海中的仲夏夜：天祭Hohcʉbʉ」。本來以為可以看一齣有聲有色的鄒人文化寫照。我很欣賞鄒文化，也會講些許鄒語，而我特愛Hohcʉbʉ塔山，聽過族人說很多這座山的故事，所以抱著很大的希望前往。

本來要買節目單，但是發現歌詞全是中文，不唱鄒語。

劇一開始我有點驚訝，因為飾演神的幾位歌手，音準很特別，可以說各自獨創一格。尤其一位戴頭燈的紅衣女神，唱了幾句以後，她每次出現我都提心吊膽。也許首演緊張，所以第一大合唱也走音(後來飾演人間的角色都唱的很好)。仔細聽歌詞，也聽不太出鄒的文化特色。例如，從頭到尾，沒有一句提到kuba(男子聚會所)，而依我對鄒的認識，kuba是男人生活的中心。

劇情是，酋長的女兒Inguyu喜歡戰士Pasuya，但是因為布農入侵時，鄒人捍衛土地，而神木裂開，所以神告訴Inguyu的父親要唾棄戰爭，崇尚和平，所以酋長決定將Inguyu許配布農酋長的兒子Biyung(雖然Biyung後來喜歡Baicʉ)。Inguyu不肯嫁，酋長不爽，殺了Pasuya與Biyung，所以Inguyu自殺。酋長難過，一直問，我錯了嗎？但是很堅持要和平。

這個故事不太有鄒的特色：把故事放在俄羅斯、阿根廷、馬爾地夫，都可以，只要換一下人名、衣服，就成了。鄒有他們獨特的文化、習俗、理念，我在劇中沒有看見。光是穿著那身衣服，不足代表一個文化。

劇中因為神木裂開，所以酋長渴望和平，為了和平甚至可以犧牲自己的愛女。這方面也讓我打問號：一再強調和平共處，我很好奇這觀念的由來，因為Mayasvi 戰祭是鄒人極為重要的祭典；戰神降臨，由神木下凡，故祭典前，戰士將神樹的樹枝砍掉，只留三枝，這樣才能維護部落生命，所以意義重大。劇中的酋長掛心神木的破損，味道不大一樣；而在鄒部落中，連國小女生都津津樂道祖先yofngu no hangʉ出草的事，和平的概念不大一樣吧。

劇情平平，臺詞平平。如果劇情探索酋長的內心，還可以，但是沒有那種深度。甚至有些地方令人哭笑不得。兩頭「熊」的造型，讓我懷疑，設計服裝的人知道熊的頭不是圓圈嗎？戲中最好看的是兩族的戰爭，但最好笑的是戰爭中戰神(女性扮演)居高臨下，向遠處射三箭，最遠的飛了三公尺，好不威風！(這也牽涉到其它問題：鄒的情形我沒那麼了解，但是以泰雅為例，有的武具，女人連看都是犯忌，遑論手拿；鄒有女人操弓參戰嗎？這方面我不了解。而我看到她的弓是小孩子的弓，不是戰士手上的弓；她用地中海式射箭，不是鄒的掐弦；也許是小細節，但是我們能不能期盼有細緻的演出？)順便一提，戰士都帶特大號的刀，卻都不用鞘！

總而言之，演出比較像高中戲劇社的作品程度，冠上「臺北愛樂」的大名，我難免想，只不過如此而已嗎？

好的音樂劇，應該有很多歌曲讓觀眾喜愛；據說，離場時如果觀眾哼著劇裏的歌謠，音樂劇成功了。可是聽完，我真的想不起任何一個旋律，反而只記得神、大合唱的走音，而很納悶，為何不唱鄒歌？我個人認為臺灣十六族中，鄒的祭典歌最好聽。為甚麼不唱它兩句呢？有些「黑又海亞」的歌詞，比較像阿美，不像鄒。看戲時，我一直擔心他們會唱「阿里山的姑娘」。還好沒有，但是打鼓很像。臺灣原住民沒有皮鼓，如果打竹、木，比較有原味。

我沒有那麼了解舞蹈，但我沒有看到鄒人最代表的肅穆、莊嚴的舞步，反而很多比較像泰雅舞或賽德克舞。

當然對很多觀眾來說，穿著原住民的衣服就對了，管它哪一族，不是都一樣嗎？可是觀眾錯過一個認識鄒的機會，實在可惜。

整齣戲，我最喜歡燈光效果，但也不了解，既然劇目是Hohcʉbʉ，為甚麼不把Hohcʉbʉ很特殊的山形表現出來？依我的了解，Hohcʉbʉ在鄒人心中的地位很重要，而他們很喜歡講這座山的故事(例如yone Hohcʉbʉ ci piepiya 陰魂之事)；或許我太遲鈍，但我從劇中沒有得到這方面的訊息。這麼好的題材，放著不用，錯失表現鄒文化的良機。

鄭捷伏法。只可惜沒辦法早幾年發現他的狀況，好好輔導、療癒。即使沒辦法根治，也可以救了五條人命。

但是大眾似乎不肯把資源用在預防，寧可讓事情惡化，然後亡羊補牢。

有人說很奇怪，判刑到行刑不到三周；新總統大概不想碰這個燙手山芋，因為反死、為了形象，或許催他們趕緊在五二0前處理。

阿彌陀佛。

My old buddy Roger speculated that Kiss may have been a communist sleeper. But what's not to like? This great anti-communist warrior gave the communists the victory our troops had won in Viet Nam, opened the way for communists to take over Cambodia, and dumped Free China for the chance to let Chairman Mao slobber over his lapels. Okay, so he was responsible for a couple million deaths, but he said, Power is the greatest aphrodisiac, so he needed to call his power into play to keep the babes coming in. Certainly a little collateral damage can't compare with getting your picture in the papers with a pretty lady.

And there’s the further point that war criminals are Germans or Japanese or from Africa, not American politicians. 

LINK

今天，我們跟大海討生活；

明天，大海向我們要公道～

~~馬力梵

Today, we take our living from the sea;

Tomorrow, the sea will demand justice from us.

~~Malivan

SIS has reduced the Iraqi city of Ramadi to rubble. All ISIS can do is destroy, so that's not particularly surprising. What is intriguing is this photo of two Iraqi policemen riding a motorcycle through the debris after ISIS had been defeated. Look carefully at the motorcycle. On the front you see a line of Chinese that reads 彰化縣警察局巡邏機車 Patrol Vehicle [property of] Changhua County Police Department.

Changhua is a county in central Taiwan. Apparently the motorcycle was retired from the Police force and sold to the highest bidder, who then exported it to Iraq by Somewhere along the line, somebody forgot to erase the Chinese; if anybody in Ramadi can read Chinese, they probably have other things on their mind and don’t worry about it. Although I am half expecting some Iraqi to pop up with a tattoo that proclaims him a patrol vehicle of the Changhua police department.

This raises another question: why are Iraqi police riding second hand motorcycles? With the trainloads of money the US has sent to Iraq, you’d expect them to be tooling around in gold plated Lamborghinis, at least. 

LINK 
LINK (The Changhua police say the motorcycle doesn't handle well. )

Wow, you learn something every day. $147 was quite a good sum in those days, especially for a people not entirely entrenched in a monetary economy. I would like to quote a comment by Luke Callihan: “Ireland and the Choctaw Nation have had a long lasting relationship. Choctaw leaders participated in the first annual Famine walk at Doolough in Mayo. Irish commemorative leaders have taken part in the 500 mile trek from Oklahoma to Mississippi. Ireland President Mary Robinson and Irish activist Don Mullan were both named honorary chiefs by the Choctaw. Even more important, both groups became determined to help famine sufferers, mostly in Africa and the Third World, and have continued to do so since the early 90's. The Choctaw Nations compassion has never been forgotten. There is a plaque on Dublin's Mansion House that Honors their contribution that reads, "Their humanity calls us to remember the millions of human beings throughout our world today who die of hunger and hunger-related illness in the world of plenty." This monument isn't an "Oh yeah, Thanks.", it is another symbol of a long lasting friendship between two nations."

”

長約兩公尺的過山刀出來覓食。後來他吃掉了青蛙。A big eyed rat snake, ptyas dhumnades, out looking for a snack. The snake is about two meters long. It ate a frog moments after the second video. 蛇不會攻擊人。看到蛇，靜靜觀賞，不要怕。有蛇在，表示生態健康，可喜可賀。Snakes do not attack people. If you see a snake, that means the environment is healthy. Just admire it.

LINK

找到兩張非常珍貴的照片。第一張是在臺灣博物館看到的，陳耿彬(1921 ~ 1967)拍的。

第二張在網路上找到的(LINK)，林權助(1922 ~ 1977)民國四十三年在南投廬山拍的。

仔細看，角度不太一樣。我猜想，兩位年齡相仿，都是臺中人；當年在臺灣從事攝影的人不多，應該是朋友吧。一起到霧社(有人說春陽部落)，並肩拍照，兩個三角架排在一起，前後拍照吧。

兩位文面獵人，兩隻獵狗，斗幹中有小朋友，年齡跟我差不多！兩張照片很多細節，很難得的紀錄：謝謝這兩位攝影師，也謝謝兩位賽德克。

I stumbled across two marvelous photographs, taken in 1954 in the mountains in central Taiwan, of hunters from the Sediq tribe. There is a wealth of detail in the photos, from the facial tattoos to the woven clothing. The first was taken by Chen Kengpin (1921 ~ 1967), the second by Lin Chuanchu (1922 ~ 1977), photographers from Taichung. I haven’t found records, but I suspect they were friends, and took these photos together.

昨晚回家時，下垂小樹枝擋路，枝上棲一隻小小的領角鴞，非常可愛！伸手可及，一直看著我們，一點也不怕生，還很有耐心等我們拍照。阿彌陀佛，小朋友，常回來看我們！Coming home last night, I was blocked by a thin branch hanging oddly across the path. I was quite surprised to find myself looking at an adorable little scops owl, perched on the branch, easily within reach. It patiently posed for photo after photo. Amitabha, little friend, come back to see us again!