Not necessarily.

Columbia guy: So my friend has this idea for our project to put generators on playground equipment that could let kids power the lights in the park. I told him my only problem with it is: what if we end up electrocuting the kids accidentally? That would be really bad.

--1 Train Overheard by: Nathan

夫子說：辭，達而已矣。寫作要素，盡在其中。

文筆要好，不外乎：一、名正言順。二、無贅字。

名正言順，必須掌握字、詞正確意義：上溯古人用法，一脈相傳、演變、涵義等等，下字才得體。如果我們對一個字、詞、片語沒有共同認識的話，語言功能就廢了。例如，我剛提出「古人」，我假定讀者看到斯詞想到古代的人，而不是長的很高的人、樹上的小鳥、或者餐桌上的白色小湯匙。當然，我有我的自由：我高興的話，我說「古人」指「電腦螢幕」，但這麼一搞，語言、溝通就解體了。

無贅字，文筆精要，多一字不可，少一字不可。要作到這一點，真是功夫。

一個很奇怪的現象：同一行，甚至同一嗜好的人，往往有共同點，而斯共同點，超越時空、國籍。大凡，律師文筆不好。臺灣律師文筆之差，早已證明。例如，英文的intellectual property rights，在臺灣居然將intellectual翻成「智慧」，多荒謬！智慧，是經過多少事、多少反省而修出的結晶，絕不同于人家發明新機器、寫書、作曲的智力或知識。Gilbert Hyatt發明microprocessor，非常聰明，但與「智慧」扯不上邊。

所以，大陸翻「知識產權」，合理多了。真希望臺灣依樣可以改正。…. 不太可能吧。嗌。

了解嗎？好，我出個題目：decriminalize翻「除罪化」，問題出在哪？

這就犯了第二條。英文字的詞性很清楚，中文則未必。為了顯示這是動詞，所以英文加字尾~ize；嚴格說，這種文筆本來就不漂亮，很多~ize字尾的字，極為笨拙，如finalize, pressurize, privatize, colorize, prioritize，都是極不優美的英文，少用為妙。但無論如何，英文確須詞性。若說詞性，「除」已表明動詞，所以「除罪化」的「化」，是多餘的。

設問：「除罪」與「除罪化」有甚麼不同？沒有的話，就選比較精簡的「除罪」。

當然，這牽涉到前提：文章要優雅呢？或者讀起來艱澀難懂、以作者強勝的學術來懾服讀者？

In the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, you may purchase an assault rifle, but you are not permitted to hang your laundry out to dry. The main logic behind that is that civilized neighbors should have enough money to buy a dryer, and anybody who wants to dry laundry in the sun, for an environmentally friendly, fresh smelling wash, must be trailer trash, so rules, regulations, and ordinances abound to prohibit such uncouth behavior. here:::

Don't ask me to explain it, it doesn't make any sense to me, either.

But it does bring to mind that golden moldie,
We had joy, we had fun, we had laundry in the sun~

This blog is a veritable lode of useful information. I bet you have always been wondering:::
how long would the Golden Gate Bridge be if you measured it in Oreo cookies?

I know you've been sitting up late into the night wondering about this, allow me to inform you that the Golden Gate bridge is 28,800 Oreo cookies long. This is calculated on an average cookie size of 44mm diameter, and 8mm thick.

Thank dog that's answered! Now you may thank me for allowing you a good night's sleep, at last. Maybe you can dream about having 28,800 Oreos to eat. Burp.

overheard on the subway: What are friends for?
高中男生對同學說，「他跟你一樣，長的很好笑。」

High school boy to buddy: "He's just like you, he looks ridiculous."

Concerning polyphony (music with more than one musical part playing at a time), Daniel J Levitin says, "The Catholic Church banned music that contained polyphony, fearing it would cause people to doubt the unity of God."

Sounds superstitious? But then, consider that in our music now we have polyphony, quadrophony, harmony, and cacophony, people doubt not only the unity of god, but the existence of god.

So maybe they had a point. But I'll stick with polyphony, thanks a lot.

Profound gratitude to Dicki and Val from the Boston Children's Foundation who came to Taiwan to hold a workshop on Dance Movement Therapy / 舞蹈治療, in particular treating the trauma of little children who survived the floods and landslides of Morakot typhoon. The Foundation paid for their travel expenses and they held the workshop gratis, training thirty therapists in the Rainbowdance, who will soon begin working to help those children.

兩個外籍舞蹈治療師自費來臺灣訓練一批治療師，幫八八水災的創傷兒童的心理建設，在下很感動。

但我又不得不搖頭：如此治療師不遠萬里而來之事，喊「愛台灣」的人不聞不問；外國人勸陳前總統收斂一點，以免引起戰爭害死臺灣，右派聲音就大：「外國人不可以過問台灣的事！」

今天射箭時，一箭偏高，打到靶上緣，往上跳，飛到靶後谷壑。箭沒找到，卻找到了一顆完整的龜甲。卜：大吉。

While I was shooting today, one arrow skipped on the top of the target and flew off into the ravine. I haven't found the arrow yet, but I did find a complete turtle shell and carapace. A good sign.

從前部落一位長老，Oro，問我，「Yugan，現在月亮是不是沒有以前那麼亮？」

「你說多久以前，Oro?幾百萬年前，有可能。」

「沒有，我感覺到，現在月亮沒有我年輕時候那麼亮。我年輕時，夜間從部落走到工寮，只要有月亮，走山路、過森林，我就看得很清楚，可是現在不行。是不是月亮比較不亮？」

「嗷，Oro，大概是上了年紀吧。我們看書、看近的東西，要戴老花眼鏡，就是因為到了一個年紀，眼珠子比較不能吸收光。」

「也不是，Yugan，我現在眼睛還是很好。應該是月亮比較不亮。」

「才幾十年，月光沒那麼快就變化。我覺得，現在天天晚上開電燈，可能是現在眼睛比較習慣電燈，所以沒有電燈就看不清楚。」

「嗷，實在，有道理！我年輕的時候，沒有電，手電筒長甚麼樣子沒看過。現在到處都有電燈，難怪晚上看不清楚。」

A couple of years ago, a tribal elder named Oro asked me, "Yugan, is the moon less bright than it was before?"

"How long ago do you mean, Oro? A couple million years ago, maybe."

"No, I feel that the moon is not as bright as it was when I was young. When I was young, I could walk from the Tribe to my hut at nighttime with only the moonlight, on mountain paths, through the jungle, and I could see fine, but I can't do that now. Maybe the moon isn't as bright as it was before."

"Ao, Oro, it may be age. When we read or look at things close up, we need reading glasses, because when you get older, your eyes don't absorb light as well as before."

"No, Yugan, my eyes are fine. I think the moon isn't as bright as it was before."

"That's only been a couple decades, the moonlight wouldn't change that quickly. I feel, now every night we have electric lights, maybe our eyes now are used to electric lights, so we can't see clearly without electric lights."

"Ao, balay, that makes sense! When I was young, we didn't have electricity, and I had never even seen a flashlight. Now there are electric lights everywhere. No wonder we can't see clearly at night."

泰雅司機遇到狗躺在馬路中間：「牠沒受過教育，所以必須讓牠。」

Tayal driver, commenting on a dog lying in the middle of the road: "He's never been to school, so you have to yield to him."

There truly is a silver lining to every cloud. Poor Iceland suffers from financial crises and mismanagement, but on the bright side, due to all those difficulties, the McDonald's franchise in Iceland is going out of business. This is sure to improve Icelanders' health.

Interesting to note that the first person to eat a Mickey D's junkburger in Iceland, then Prime Minister Oddsson, was also forced out of office by his incompetence in handling the financial crises which have almost bankrupted his country. But then, nobody ever called McDonald's brain food.

孔子誕辰不放假了、光復節不放假了。

中美斷交後，很多人講一句「國民外交」，處處想如何讓自由中國臺灣在國際上形象美好。很久沒聽到人家說「國民外交」這一句，現在取而代之，是「愛臺灣！」的怒吼。愛臺灣，紀念黷武濫殺、反對民主的日本帝國軍閥投降、撤出臺灣的光復節怎不放假呢？

但現在很少聽到「國民外交」。臺灣現在給世界甚麼樣的印象？除了颱風水災、前總統貪污，新聞、輿論、世界耳目，有沒有我們市井小民可以左右的事？

一個在泰國舉辦生態旅遊的美僑一講到臺灣就罵。他說，除了幾位環保人士之外，他見過的臺灣旅客全都是混帳：口袋裏有幾個錢就瞧不起天下的人、毫無文化氣息、沒品味沒格調；他問我怎能忍受住這種爛地方？我叫他來臺灣看看，根本不是那一回事。可是他印象已經太糟，堅決拒絕來臺灣。

你看這種國民外交的實效。

你說「愛臺灣」，還留這種印象給別人。

再想。大家說愛臺灣要環保，我們作得怎樣？幾年前，念環保出身的郝龍斌推了一個法案，為了保護臺灣的環境，少用塑膠袋。需要立法強制才減少用塑膠袋，這個問題暫且不談：人民履行的績效如何？

日本人不重視環保，惡名昭彰，平均日本人一年一個人用三百個塑膠袋，高居全世界第三名。第二名是文化水平低落的澳洲，全世界第二名：平均一年一個人用三百二十五個塑膠袋。第一名，平均一年一個人用九百個塑膠袋，就是臺灣。

讀者說，「哇，真丟臉！都是別人不檢點、揮霍浪費，把臺灣的名聲搞壞掉了！」瞋罵一陣，然後呢？請問看倌，下次出門，帶環保袋嗎？能減少用塑膠袋的量嗎？能持之以恆嗎？…還是罵貪官比較過癮吧。

(Blogger自白：我平常大概平均十天用一個塑膠袋。)

「愛臺灣」的問題是，「愛」是甚麼？大家都知道愛，可是實在很難說明愛是甚麼。這樣說如何？愛一個人，不是光跟她逛街、跳舞、狂歡一陣便另求新歡；愛，日日年年想照顧她、年年怕她受傷、自己差一點沒關係，只希望她越來越好。

如果愛是這樣的話，依我個人的觀察，我覺得戒嚴時期的人比較愛臺灣；現在只愛商品與廣告。

但愛臺灣的愛，不應當是男女熱戀的愛吧，應當是一種比較像親情的愛。

親情，建立在「孝」，可惜孔子講的孝被誤解。「不孝有三，無後為大」，這句不是孔子說的，是曾驂曾子說的。夫子自己說曾參頭腦不靈活(「參也魯」)，死抓一個呆板的「孝」觀念，常讓夫子無奈。

曾子想的孝順，順多于孝，以為父母之言不敢違、乖乖聽父母的話就是孝，所以孝經記錄，曾子問孔子，「敢問子從父之令，可謂孝乎？」子曰：「是何言與，是何言與！昔者天子有爭臣七人，雖無道，不失其天下； 諸侯有爭臣五人，雖無道，不失其國；大夫有爭臣三人，雖無道，不失其家；士有爭友，則身不離於令名；父有爭子，則身不陷於不義。則子不可以不爭於父，臣不可以不爭於君；故當不義，則爭之。從父之令，又焉得為孝乎！」

于孝經，夫子又說，「君子之事上也，進思盡忠，進思補過，將順其美，匡救其惡，故上下能相親也。」忠孝，不是唯命是從。韓詩外傳記孫叔敖曰，「畏鞭箠之嚴，而不敢諫其父，非孝子也；懼斧鉞之誅，而不敢諫其君，非忠臣也。」

其實，夫子講的孝道，耐人尋味。夫子說，孝在揚親；讓大家說你父母把孩子教的很好、父母的孩子是有用的人、對天下、社會負責、付出，就是孝。孝，並不在于生不生小討債鬼。孝而不忠，是不為孝；害天下以利父母，是為不孝。

我真希望大家能把夫子講的孝道(不是曾子的呆板孝順！)，廣泛施用于臺灣社會。

不只是施用于臺灣的社會。大家耳熟能詳的孝經一句，夫子說，「身體髮膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也。」這句，稍微調一下：「身體髮膚，受之天地，不敢毀傷生態，孝之始也。」如果大家能保護臺灣的環境、不再任意破壞山林海灘湖埤造成災害，留個美麗、健康的臺灣給後人，這應該稱得上愛臺灣吧。

也希望明年起，教師節、光復節放假！

Yumin has been climbing trees again.

I reported on this blog last year that Yumin treed a kitty-cat and then tried to climb up after it.

This morning we were awakened by the racket of Byajing's barking in the ravine out front. I went out to investigate and found Tlahuy and Byajing craning their necks at a kitty high in the tree, and Yumin muscling his way up. He's actually got good climbing form. He uses pressure on his back to force his way upwards, but unluckily for him, luckily for the cat, the branches branch apart before he can get close to the perched cat.

I finally asked Sabiy to go get some dog treats. Then I lifted Yumin off the tree, and carried him away. Tlahuy and Byajing followed, and we gave them all treats and praise. The plan was to give the cat time to slip away.

Notice that Tlahuy and Byajing just stay earthbound and hope gravity will bring Cat to Dog, but Yumin exerts his powerful imagination and physique to bring Dog to Cat ("If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad…") You can't help but admire his imagination! Yumin was unable to go too high because the branches separated, removing his friction. But what if he found a tree which enabled him to go all the way up to the cat's perch? I'm sure the cat wouldn't stick around, but I worry about how Yumin would get down.

That would be a terribly embarrassing phonecall to have to make: "Hello, fire station, could you please send someone over, my beagle has climbed up a tree and he can't get down…"

This morning the trees were full of raucous birds. I recorded three sets and posted them on flickr. In the first, you can hear 樹鵲 tree pies and 藍鵲 blue magpies staking claim to the large tree out front, while to the right, a flock of 笑鶇 laughing thrushes trill in warning. Other birds also sing in the background. The birds flit back and forth among the branches. A blue magpie takes a strategic perch on a branch.



City dwellers are highly recommended to watch and listen to all three, to recall the wonders of our world, and to cleanse the soul.

Today Denise the Vet came to give the dogs their annual shots. Yumin HATES to have shots ~ I think it's the indignity of it all that distresses him, because he is generally impervious to pain. He remembers Denise, no doubt about that at all! He wouldn't come near her, so I told her to stay indoors while I coaxed Yumin over. I took a firm grip on his collar and held him while Denise gave him his shots. Then Yumin at a brisk pace trotted as far away from us as he could get and still remain on our property, by the front gate, sat down, and waited to be comforted.

Typhoon Parma should get an award for Most Persistent Typhoon.
Now go away, please!

「Yugan，你那邊蚊子多不多？」

「烏來哪裡蚊子不多？」

「那麼你就燒蚊香吧！」

「沒用。」

「有！蚊香一定有用，因為蚊子受不了味道，所以牠們飛的時候，需要捏住鼻子。這樣的話，牠們沒辦法平衡，飛不好就比較不能咬人。」

「對呀，沒錯，飛不好，所以牠們用走的來咬人。」

"Yugan, do you get a lot of mosquitoes at your place?

"Where in Wulai aren't there a lot of mosquitoes?"

"Then you should burn mosquito coils."

"Doesn’t work."

"Yes it does! Mosquito coils do work, because the mosquitoes can't stand the smell, so when they fly, they pinch their noses shut. That way, they lose their balance, and if they can't fly well, they can't bite people so well."

"Yeah, right, they can't fly, so they walk up and bite you."

We all sleep easier when we remember how the Republicans and the Christian Right are protecting everybody’s morals. These are people who take strong moral stands, believe in the sanctity of marriage and the family, and man the bastions against divorce and pornography.

The latest Republican candidate for Vice President, ex-Governor Palin, was so proud of being absolutely right on all moral issues that her unmarried teenage daughter got pregnant. The father of Palin’s grandfather, who of course has long since broken up with Bristol Palin, is now working out at the gym. Reason? To get in shape, because he is going to pose nude for Playgirl magazine. Here:::

Hurrah for Christian Republic morals and good old-fashioned hypocrisy!

愛臺灣！愛臺灣！可是拜託，芭瑪颱風可不可以不要那麼愛臺灣？

懇請芭瑪，不要一直留戀在巴士海峽，請快走！

Of all the holidays on the calendar, Western or Chinese, the only one I really celebrate is 中秋節, the Mid Autumn Festival, October 3 this year by the solar calendar. The main activities for the Mid Autumn Festival are admiring the Harvest Moon and eating mooncakes, yum yum!

I love this holiday because a} it means the torrid, muggy Taiwan summer is just about over and relief is in sight; b} the moon is beautiful; c} isn't it beautiful to have a national holiday for nothing more political or religious than admiring the moon: and finally, most important, d} mooncakes, yum yum!

This is the theory, mind you. The day before yesterday, it started raining. The weather has been cloudy all week, because we have two typhoons bearing down on us. Yesterday, the big day, it rained all day, and it's still raining now.

What can you do under such circumstances? First, we moved our tea drinking indoors from the porch. Yum yum, 民國八十四年珍藏的普洱，現在大約四、五十年 + mooncakes. Rather than admire the Harvest Moon, we admired our beloved 臺灣土狗Taiwan tugo Byajing, the Canine Moon.

Explanation: 'byajing' is Tayal for 'moon.'