Today is the birthday of my favorite composer, Georg Philipp Telemann. He would be 329 years old today, and improves with age every year. Baroque is my favorite music, and Telemann wrote a lot for my favorite instrument, the recorder, which especially endears him to me.

According to Wikipedia, "The Guinness Book of World Records lists Telemann as the most prolific composer of all time with more than 800 credited works. More recent studies, for example the thematic catalogues of his works published in the 1980s and 1990s, have shown that Telemann actually wrote over 3,000 compositions, many of which are now lost."

If you haven't started your commemoration yet, please begin with these three pieces:

念師大國文系，我們散文課上兩年，細讀古文觀止。畢業幾十年後，我還時常拿出來抽一篇兩篇看看。好文章，越看越好看。

古文觀止，蒐兩千年文章的精華；從兩千年的文獻收這幾篇，實在很少。所以前幾天到書店，看到有人把古文觀止削去了八九成，留幾篇為『典藏』；更甚者，有一本「古文觀止一百句」；我不懂，讀古文觀止是為著甚麼？

論語，讀了幾十年，到現在每翻閱必有奇獲。這本書，再加小戴禮記，真是出很多課題，讓人思索、掙扎。果然，顏淵喟然歎曰：「仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅；瞻之在前，忽焉在後。夫子循循然善誘人，博我以文，約我以禮。欲罷不能，既竭吾才，如有所立卓爾。雖欲從之，末由也已。」曠世作品，不經一番折騰，是不會輕易讓你入門的。所以子貢曰：「譬之宮牆，賜之牆也及肩，窺見室家之好。夫子之牆數仞，不得其門而入，不見宗廟之美，百官之富。得其門者或寡矣。」看到書店架子上「輕鬆讀論語」之類的書，愕然。輕鬆讀會有甚麼收穫？一分錢一分貨的道理：付出多少，才有多少收穫。

現代人為甚麼那麼怕接受挑戰？

Doesn't compassionate conservatism just warm the cockles of your heart? Former House majority leader Tom Delay (R-Tex) has announced that people are unemployed because they want to be. Click here if you think I'm making this up.

Mr Delay, do you also believe that girls get raped because they ask for it? and that all those nasty black people wanted to get lynched?

Let Delay spend some time trying to get by on unemployment benefits and see how much he savors the experience.

Jane Fonda taught me this: it is immoral to advocate a form of government that you would not be willing to live under as an average citizen. Now Delay has taught me to expand that: it is immoral to advocate a policy that you would not be willing to live by as an average citizen.

Yesterday I wrote that there was no harm done by the morning's 6.4 earthquake down south. I wrote that an hour after the quake; later there were reports of some damage and injuries, but overall, we got off very lightly.

Not all earthquake injuries go reported. About twenty years ago, I had a friend called Banana. She was deathly afraid of earthquakes. In one mild quake, she was responsible for the only earthquake related injury in Taiwan, and it never got reported until now. When the building started to shake, she shoved her ten year old daughter under the dining room table with such force and anxiety that she rammed her daughter's head into the leg of the table. No damage from the earthquake, just her daughter rolling on the floor clutching her forehead and screaming bloody murder.

After that, her three children drew the line. They said they would take their chances with earthquakes, but they told Banana to leave them alone and fend for herself.

From then on, whenever there was a tremor, the kids would gather around to laugh at Banana huddling underneath the dining room table.

You know what? After a while, they cured her of her phobia. She figured getting squashed by falling debris was preferable to getting jeered at by her kids.

And they were right, too. In an earthquake, you should never take refuge under a table or car. Lie next to it, and let it take the weight of whatever is falling.

We've had an earthquake, thank you. It registered 6.4 Richter at the epicenter, down south, much lighter here, up north. Fortunately, there appears to have been no damage.

The earthquake didn't hurt. What hurt was a sentence the article written by Reuters:
One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999.
Please! Do you mean it was one of the worst quakes ever recorded, or that it was the most poorly recorded quake?

三月十五日的謎底：
頭上有鼻子，腳下也有鼻子，我是臺灣：北端有鼻頭角，南端就是鵝鑾鼻。

說有多無聊….

Two years ago on this blog, I wrote about the search for a very rare plant which grows close to our home, called 赤箭, a kind of gastrodia. Click here<<< At that time, the botanists were able to find the winter variety, 冬赤箭, but the 春赤箭 spring variety remained so elusive that only two botanists had ever seen the plant.

Apparently it is a very interesting species. It emits a fruity smell that attracts bugs into its flower, which then closes lightly on the bug, dusting it with pollen (seeds?) to carry elsewhere; that is, if I got the explanation straight. Pretty intricate method of transmission, and judging from the rarity of the plant, the efficacy may be limited. There are very few, and they all seem to be right here on the bamboo grove on the slope by our home.

This year more botanists have been scouring the slope, and they have found the spring variety, so now maybe a total of half a dozen botanists have seen this plant. I took some photos, and this time managed to keep Byajing from trampling it.

More photos of 冬赤箭 the winter variety here::

In Seal Beach, we watched a seal surfing.
So I was somewhat disappointed
that I didn't see any huntingtons at Huntington Beach.

If you ever find yourself in the Bay area, be sure to make a trip to see the redwoods. To hell with Ronald Reagan, these ancient giants remind us of the grandeur of nature, changeless but ever changing.

When you think of redwoods, usually you think of going north from San Francisco, but actually there are lots of them on the lower peninsula. About twenty years ago, Steff took me to visit Sam McDonald County Park in the mountains in San Mateo, an unforgettable visit. Chao wanted to see them too, so after visiting Mom in Orange County, when we went to San Jose, we borrowed a car and led by google and a very suspicious GPS, we set forth.

We eventually found ourselves at an entrance to the park, but I didn't remember that there was an entrance fee, so I wasn't sure that this was the entrance we wanted. We ventured further up the road. Not far, we espied a pickup and a sheriff's car parked on a turnout by the road. The sheriff was peering down into the ravine. He said that yes, that was the entrance, and he explained that he was waiting for the driver of the truck to stop hiding. He knows the guy doesn't have a license, and when the driver saw the sheriff he ditched his truck and ran into the ravine to hide. The truck said 美麗的三蕃市 on the door, so I moseyed over to the edge of the ravine and said in a loud voice 警察還沒走 ("The sheriff hasn't left yet"). The sheriff said, "You know, it's strange that they haven't closed Sam McDonald yet, because somebody saw two mountain lions there last night, so I thought they would close the park, but they didn't, so you can go ahead, and have a nice day." Encouraging, you know?

We did have a nice time and we had the whole park to ourselves, which was good and which was not good. If there were other people, maybe the mountain lions would eat the other people instead of us. Actually, we didn't see any mountain lions at all. I'm not sure if I am sorry about that or not.

On Tet, Toan and Quyen took us to Lộc Uyển / 鹿苑 / Deer Park, the temple in Escondido founded by Nhất Hạnh一行禪師. The temple is located in very dry, barren hills studded with boulders, a far cry from the lush vegetation of Viet Nam. The ceremony proved to be vastly different from a Chinese Buddhist Tet ceremony. 在臺灣佛寺，過年就是拜：通常拜千佛懺。在鹿苑禪堂舞龍舞獅，師父還送紅包給在家眾，好不習慣。拜法師，拜兩拜，在臺灣未遇過兩拜。

On the way back, I noticed a sign on a gym: INDOOR ROCK-CLIMBING. That really threw me. For me, rock-climbing is something you do to get somewhere in the mountains, not a goal in itself (which may be why I've never been any good at the sport). In Escondido you've got sunshine at least 300 days a year, I bet, and the hills are covered with tempting boulders. Why on earth would anyone want to go indoors to climb? 參吧！

于嗟乎騶虞
May the tiger bring good luck and fortune for us all.
虎行奇運致弘福
龍乘瑞雲獲寶珠

騶虞，虎屬，祥瑞仁獸。願庚寅虎年為騶虞之吉。

玉山的禮物

現在臺灣過年大不如以前。我剛來華的頭幾年，被過年搞怕了。民國六十幾年，沒幾個大人是在臺北出生的，所以要過年，攜家帶眷回中南部，除夕夜，只有眷村還有人，臺北變空城。除夕、初一、二、三，從信義路三段走到東門，沒有一家商店是開的，沿路只看到鐵門；從臺大沿著新生南路到鐵路，大街小巷每一個鑽進去，沒有一家商店是開的，沿路只看到鐵門，真的是空城。問題是，我們幾個落難外國人，肚子也唱空城。付不起飯店餐廳的價碼，找不到食物的線索，回寓所啃書架後面摸出來的幾片軟軟蘇達餅乾，恭賀新禧。

這樣過了幾個饑荒年，實在受夠了，我想，在臺北挨餓，不如在山上挨餓，所以我大三決定在玉山過年。雖然猶豫，因為第一次爬玉山，沒趕上林務局的火車，從阿里山走到東埔。那是鐵路，不是供人走的，從阿里山到東埔，六十四座鐵路橋，一個比一個恐怖：常下雨，所以每一個枕木長一層又翠綠又滑的苔，而且很多枕木的釘子鬆掉，踩上去就勢必學貓王的舞姿，搖呀滾呀，橋高谷深，不是一件很愉悅的經驗。隧道更不要提。

可是，在高山中的鐵路橋與引力扭打，總勝在空城聽腸雷，所以我申請了入山證準備去。

我現在爬山都赤腳，部分原因是買不到合腳的登山鞋；現在難買，當年就是買不到。有人建議我到萬華的小偷市場買美軍鞋，我想這個idea不錯，就去了，找到一雙Made in Taiwan的美麗軍鞋；與美國軍隊的鞋子，貌合神離。可是還算合腳，買了。

大三，我們上學期修大學，下學期中庸。四書往背包放，南下一路上腦中都是明明德、定定、靜靜、安安、慮慮。

從阿里山走到東埔，很欣慰地發現恐怖的橋下深壑都填平了，很好走，不久就走到東埔了。上次走了一個下午，這次輕鬆愉快地走了一個小時就到了，馬不停蹄繼續往上走，不久就發現鞋跟不太對。繼續走，鞋跟鬆動。繼續走，兩個鞋跟開始脫落，走路就啪啪響，很有節奏，可是釘子刺到腳跟。只好在步道旁尋兩個平扁小石子，往裏塞，好讓釘子不刺腳。定定、靜靜、安安、慮慮，往上走。越高，雪越多，鞋子裏開始積雪。可是實在不懂，「欲正其心者，先誠其意；欲誠其意者，先致其知，」為甚麼要致其知才得誠其意？好怪。不懂。

到了臺灣最高、最頂尖的建築物，救國團經營的排雲山莊。只有管理員在，正合我意；我很怕吵鬧，尤其在山中。管理員是河南人，說他家鄉幾百里平夷如機場，不要說山，連個土丘也無。所以他能到臺灣最高峰，覺得很幸運，只是過年除夕夜一個人，乖寂寞的，看到我定定、靜靜、安安、慮慮地上山，很開心。

他支身在臺，家人、親友，已幾十年毫無音訊；當時只曉得大陸上文化大革命正熾烈，我們無法猜測慘劇的程度。也好吧。東埔以上，只有我們兩個人，除夕夜閒聊幾句，可是兩個人話不多。我吃我的乾糧，他吃個很簡單的年夜飯。他問我第二天的計畫。我說，爬上山頂之後，大概回阿里山。他跟我說，有小步道可以往下東埔走，不需要經過阿里山。我有興趣，他幫我畫了一張簡易地圖。排雲山莊裏面的溫度，零下五度；管理員給我煮了一碗薑糖水，也夠驅寒！他很早休息，我也鑽進睡袋，腦中一直想著：「所謂誠其意者，毋自欺也」，這到底是甚麼道理？

大年初一早上，門外溫度計，零下十五度，很過癮。我跟管理員談了一下，確定我沒記錯路線，就出發，往山頂走。風很大，也下霰，不打緊，比較麻煩的是雪很深，每一步陷到膝蓋以上，而我小偷市場的非軍鞋跟裏積雪。墊跟的小石子早不見了，雪裏難覓小平石。爬了一段時間，我突然想通了，所謂誠其意者，毋自欺也，我一直將「誠」當作對它人的誠意，這只是誠的表相；所謂誠其意者，對內、對自己坦然，無所迴避，起心動念了了分明；坦蕩蕩，不留情，直直看自己在幹甚麼、為甚麼要幹甚麼，這就是大學所講的「誠」；難怪禮記第一句，開明宗意就是：毋不敬。

原來如此。把這個搞清楚了，舒服多了，雖然感覺空氣稀薄。越往上走，風越大、雪越深、霰越厲，有點難走。離山頂不遠的地方，我發現地上橫放一條紅色鐵管，我很納悶，幹嘛要放鐵管給人絆腳？想了很久，想第一次來的情形，想到，這個鐵管原來是架在頭上的標誌，我腳下的雪堆的兩公尺多。

此處離峰十幾公尺吧，可是再往上走很陡，風真的蠻大，雪上凝了一層冰。不時下霰，加上我鞋裏積雪，有點冷，我決定不必上去。到這個地方就很好。我逗留了一回，看山聽風，便往回走。

回排雲山莊，管理員一看到我就笑。我不解，他拉我過去照鏡子，我才發現我後腦留在帽外的頭髮全已結冰了。我也笑，但知道不能到山莊裏，因為冰溶的話，冷水就流進衣領裏，會很冷。我拍一拍，把冰打掉一些，便取道下山，往下東埔走。

In December, 1971, I went with Adolph, a German friend, to Yushan, the highest mountain in Taiwan, at nearly 4000m. To get to the trailhead, we had to pass over 64 railroad bridges with mossy, wobbly ties and deep valleys below. No fun.
For scale, look at Adolph standing in the middle of the bridge in the upper photo.

Happy Year of the Tiger to one and all.

Happy new year

from

all of us

to

all of you

S: Yugan, Tlahuy怎麼了？走路怪怪的。
我：年紀大了，小時候亂跳，現在腳不方便。
S: 給牠買單車吧！

S: Yugan, what’s wrong with Tlahuy? He's walking funny.
Me: He's getting old, he jumped so much when he was younger that he hurt his legs.
S: So get him a bicycle!

陸世儀‧思辨錄輯要 曰， 「詩不當從沈約韻。約韻皆吳音。人知之而卒從之者。人好學唐詩，則韻亦從唐韻矣。洪武中，既有正韻，禮部頒行，經數大儒訂正，校讎甚精，奈何不從耶。」

現代詩無格，亦少詩意。詩格之極致，莫過于唐絕律。若唐詩拘于唐韻，吾人苦，只有操粵語者、越南語者易曉。不如循唐格，依今韻，是為勝矣。

現代人，尤其是都市人，一則與自己情感疏離，一則與大地疏離，所以很多文學無法產生直接感觸、深刻影響。古人每讀出師表，淚流滿面；現代人讀…有讀就不錯！

床前明月光，現代朝野促進光害不遺餘力，請問看倌，看過月光滿室的情景嗎？月出驚山鳥，遇過嗎？還必須追問，看倌寢室窗外看過野鳥嗎？

疑是地上霜，臺灣很少看到霜，寢室裏更不可能有。

舉頭找明月，招牌、路燈遮掩，不是中秋節烤肉加速全球暖化時抬頭喝酒看到月亮的話，快已忘記長得甚麼模樣了。

思故鄉，現代臺灣了解鄉愁的，只有老兵、早期留學生、外地打工的原住民。還有外勞。三十年前在松山國際機場經常看到出國人左手一把鼻涕眼淚、右手護照證件，因為那時一出國，沒五六年不太可能回來。家裏縱使有電話(也不一定有)，打國際電話又麻煩又貴，只好守信箱，跟郵差聯絡感情。現在出國是家常飯：坐飛機比吃媽媽煮的菜更為頻繁，孩子吃的是外面帶回來的便當，與飛機餐差不多，莫怪他與雙親感情淡薄。反正，到了目的地，還沒辦手機之前，就打Skype，哪有甚麼鄉愁？一樣都是麥當勞、7/11、The Gap，那幾家，怎會思故鄉？

小朋友背這首詩，朗朗上口，怕的是，留下來的是空殼子。

或許該修改。
床前電腦螢幕光，
疑是忘了關。
舉頭望窗外巨型廣告牌，
低頭思卡債。

這樣寫也許可以賺看倌幾滴淚珠。

我也盡可能不綁牠們。小時若走馬路邊就綁，以免發生危險，懂事之後不再綁﹝牠們很少踏上柏油，幾乎沒乘過車﹞。可是有時候呢，實在沒有辦法…

昨天遇到Yata，她很不情願地說，Yugan，可不可以把Yumin綁一綁，我們的菜園…原來他們這陣子辛苦種菜，有一位大耳朵開心挖菜。沒辦法。綁。有期徒刑，菜長了就放。

They may wrap me in chains of iron,
They may bind me in chains of steel,
But never can they break my will!

Very unwillingly I have tied up Yumin. Dogs should be free to roam and to rove, but dear beagle Yumin has been digging up Yata's vegetable patch, so he has to be tied up until the seedlings get a bit larger.

When will he ever learn,
Oh when will he ever learn!?

A marvelous bit of writing in Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples, about the Scottish invasion of England in 1640:
One morning a Scottish horseman, watering his horse in the river, came too near the English outposts. Some one pulled a trigger; the shot went home; the imprudent rider was wounded; all the Scots cannon fired and all the English army fled. A contemporary writer wrote, "Never so many ran from so few with less ado."

忠狗 Tlahuy

Loyal Tlahuy came to Wulai ten years ago today.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."
Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people, and those with no minds at all spend their time on karaoke.
post #1800!

The Tsou tribe of central Taiwan gave up headhunting long before the Tayal, but fond memories linger. When former Vice President Lu was insulting the aborigines because they had the temerity to ask for help when their homes were destroyed in a typhoon (click here), a group of Tsou brought their knives to Taipei and said they wanted to resurrect the real Taiwanese culture.

Recently I have gone several times to 嘉義 the mountains of central Taiwan. A Tsou boy showed me how to stalk someone with a shield and spear (in this case, another little boy hiding in a basket). He was actually quite good.

Their school's activities center is festooned with prize winning artwork by kids from several local elementary schools, depicting Tsou culture. Here is a little girl's picture of successful headhunting. They’ve got a doggie and a kitty and a monkey and oh isn't everybody happy!

海地大地震，罹難民眾恐高達二十萬人。臺灣救難隊到海地，救出了兩名生還者，可喜可賀，救人一命勝造七層浮圖。

瞄到一個新聞標題：
救難對遠赴海地，台灣今天寫歷史
看的很不是滋味。救難隊的目的難道只是為了面子嗎？我以為重點應是救人要緊，而不是要大家看喔大家看喔我們好厲害！臺灣人才這麼多，救難隊沒有成就才奇怪，何必沾沾自喜如此？

前不久的聽奧，開幕典禮當晚的頭條新聞：
台灣今晚寫歷史！
好可憐，自己渺小到必須這樣誇張才確定自己存在。那天我好奇，找了很多國外網頁、搜尋器，找不到一則新聞提到臺北舉辦聽奧。好個寫歷史！

臺灣已窒滯十餘年。若今以稍有做為，沾沾自喜、躊躇滿志，日後難臻大成就。

臺灣應不止如此。

What kind of image do we leave for posterity?

For use in my 聽說如意 Speaking and Listening course, I am writing about the Burke and Wills expedition across Australia. If you are not familiar with this story, you should certainly google it up and read about it.

Today, however, I am not concerned with the image of Burke and Wills, but rather, a choice sentence I came across in looking for materials at the Burke and Wills Net from the Brief History by Dave Phoenix:

Unfortunately, Horrocks did not find any new or exciting land, but in 1846 he did become the only explorer to be shot and killed by his camel.

Which is in itself something of an accomplishment, I suppose.

You Might As Well Face It, You're Addicted to Lumps
Very pregnant woman surrounded by misbehaving children: Pregnancy is just such a gift. I mean, I feel so blessed. Like, this is what my body was made for, you know? I just feel so much more complete when I'm pregnant. Knowing that I'm growing this life...
Young woman behind her in line, interrupting: Madam? You are a walking advertisement for mandatory birth control.

Starbucks
Seattle, Washington

Overheard by: The guy applauding her
via Overheard Everywhere, Jan 21, 2010

Sabiy has been providing dance movement therapy/舞蹈治療 for 鄒族Tsou kids traumatized by the landslides wrought by Typhoon Morakot last August. While she is busy, I go out and wander around. Here are some videos I took this week, from an altitude of about 900m, or 100m practically straight above the school.

This one I took right in front of the school. You can see the school almost slid into the valley.

overheard in Pnguu
十歲鄒孩：「我跟弟弟爬樹，爬好高，媽媽叫我們下來，我們繼續往上爬。等一下爸爸出來了，手上拿彈弓，說，『你們兩個爬高一點，我當活靶練習！』我們很快就下來了。」

10 year old boy of the Tsou tribe: "My brother and I were climbing a tree. We got up really high. Mom told us to come down, but we kept climbing higher and higher. Pretty soon Dad came out with his slingshot and said, 'Climb higher so I can get some moving target practice!' We came down out of that tree as fast as we could."

Seeing is not always merely a matter of opening your eyes and looking. You have to know what to see, and what you are seeing.

Once I was out on the porch with guests when a hawk flew by a little below us. I said, "That was fast, wasn't it?" It turned out that I was the only one who even saw the bird, even though it came within three meters of where we stood.

In a post last year, I commented that I had never seen an eagle or hawk swoop. Recently a hawk has been active in our area. Either it has become active recently or my eyes have picked up its paths recently, but I incline towards the explanation that it has become active recently, because apparently most of our hawks are migratory, spending winters with us.

A couple weeks ago Sabiy and I were on the porch when suddenly there was a thrashing in a nearby tree. A hawk had dropped on its prey there, so swiftly and so suddenly that we didn't even see it coming. Today we were out front when suddenly there was a commotion in the tree out front. I saw something tan, about the size of a large chicken, for a moment, and then it continued its descent. The dogs set to barking, and we all rushed out to see what was up. There was a scattering of plumage on the ground. The dogs searched the ravine and found nothing. I suspect what happened was that a hawk snatched a bird off a branch, but it happened so fast that we were aware of nothing more than a smash and a flash of tan.

On the one hand, raptors depend of speed and surprise; on the other hand, this explains why I hadn't seen them swoop.

The best way I've ever seen to protect a car against thieves.

see more There I Fixed It

結霜了！

It may not look like much, but for Taiwan, this is a big thing.

Cultural interaction and language learning at work
八八水災毀了許多鄒族的家園。為了讓當地小孩子克服恐懼，阿超到嘉義來吉村作舞蹈治療，重建快樂、無陰影的生活。

我也跟去了。她在小學裏作有意義的事，本牛放出去吃草。到處走走、看看，跟當地人聊聊。我有一種感覺：災難過後，到山上走走的人銳減，讓鄒人產生一種被遺忘的感覺。一方面為了解釋我的存在，一方面為了讓鄒人知道外面很多人很關心他們，所以我都跟他們解釋，我出來閒晃，太太正在學校裏幫小孩子作心理建設。

跟鄒人聊，他們很好奇，「你住烏來，你太太是泰雅嗎？」

「不是，她是平地人。」我問，「鄒語，『平地人』怎麼說？」

一位太太說，「budu。」一個先生接口說，「gwatzi budu」，大家笑，說，「不能這樣講！」他們不解釋意思，只說，「不好，你這樣講，太太會打你。」一個太太說，「可是她是budu，她就聽不懂。」好了，知道了。

下午往另一個方向走，遇到一個人路邊接水管。這是我們烏來很熟悉的工作，因為烏來所謂的「自來水」，是自己找來的水。跟他聊，問前方路線，就出發了。走到山裏，真快樂，可是時間到了，往回走。

又遇到接水管的先生，與一群作工的人在一起休息，直準備下班。他給大家介紹，說，「他跟他太太住烏來，」我就知道下一句他們要問甚麼，直接說，「我太太是budu。」一個先生接口說，「gwatzi budu」，大家笑，我說，「嘿嘿嘿，不能這樣講。」大家笑，問，「你聽懂gwatzi budu嗎？」我說，「聽不懂，可是知道這樣講我會被打！」

The floods and landslides last August devastated Tsou tribal land. Sabiy has recently been going there to provide Dance Movement Therapy for traumatized survivors in the local elementary school. I went along for the ride, and while she was working constructively, I wandered around the mountains.

I ran into groups of Tsou people and stopped to chat. I explained why I was there, that Sabiy was doing her best to help, that their predicament has not been forgotten by the outside world. Village people are friendly and curious, and they always asked where we stayed for the night, where we live: Wulai? That's aborigine land too, so of course they wanted to know if my wife is Tayal. No, I said, she's Han Chinese. I asked one group the word for plainspeople, or Han, in Tsou. "Budu" pronounced sort of like the English word voodoo. When I repeated that, one man immediately said, "Gwatzi budu," and everybody laughed and told him to hold his tongue. They told me not to say that to my wife, or she would beat me, but, as one lady said somewhat wistfully, "If she's budu, she wouldn't understand anyway." As if to say, give it a try.

In the afternoon, I met a man by the road and asked about roads and paths further into the mountains. I had a wonderful walk, and coming back, encountered the same man with a group of people working on the road, finished for the day, preparing to go home. He introduced me to them, and said, "He and his wife live in Wulai." I knew what the next inevitable question was, so first I said, "She's not aborigine, she's budu." One man immediately said, "Gwatzi budu," and everybody laughed. I told him to hold his tongue, which made them laugh even harder. "Do you know what that means?" "No," I said, "But I know it'll get me a beating!"

昨晚到國父紀念館看Men in Tutus，很驚訝發現天上大字：Taiwan UP;臺灣 you pee??定神再看，原來是101，好像是寫 Taiwan up。為甚麼要這樣寫呢？臺灣不是狗。

一般訓練狗，要牠趴下，說Rover down!，要牠站立，就是Rover up!

我不太了解。是新標語嗎？用拉丁字母，為甚麼不寫英語？在美國，如果政府或公司要推出新標語，一定很慎重其事，開會囉、討論、測試、民調，樣樣行才推出。臺灣的英語標語似乎不是這樣。隨便想一個，只要是拉丁字母就過關，糊里糊塗推出來，不喜歡的人就是不愛臺灣。可是至少也該出個本地人會唸的吧。當今臺灣寶島，沒幾個能將up唸對的。

既然要標語，為甚麼不出個好的？UN for Taiwan啦、Depose啦，都不上軌道。觀光局的touch your heart，最大的好處是不知所云。回想一下，好像上次出了真正好的英文標語，是中華民國推出聯合國時的Keep Free China Free。那時官員英文程度比較好吧。

Taiwan UP真的很像罵人的話…剛好朋友從美國打電話來問候，也順便問臺北近況。我跟他說，101上寫Taiwan up。他想了好一回，問，up what?

Yours?

see more deMotivational Posters

藍鵲與樹鵲確通常是世仇。今天中午聽到藍鵲與樹鵲突然喧嚷，以為是打群架。出去看，發現有隼迫近，兩種鵲聯合起來對抗准。

Usually the Taiwan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea) and the Himalayan Tree Pie (Dendrocitta formosae) bicker and jostle back and forth. At noon today a sudden uproar led me to believe they were fighting. I went to the porch to see but couldn't figure out what was going on. I went down towards where they were and saw a hawk pressing near them. The hawk was perched in a tree, too close for comfort, so the magpies and pies were screeching together to keep it away. I wasn't able to get any good photos of the hawk, but I recorded the ruckus. Finally the hawk gave up and flew away.



For an earlier confrontation between blue magpies and a hawk, please see my blog or go here and view this set.

觀嵐清心


The mountains’ gift for weary city dwellers.

祝
久久年
遂心如意
知足常樂

During 2010,
May our wishes be granted,
May we enjoy contentment.

I am teaching 霖霖 how to shoot. He is learning quickly. We were winding down, his last batch of arrows. Just before he shot the last arrow, I noticed that his left hand was in the wrong position, but before I could correct him, he let fly. The arrow flew over the target, high over the hedge, and into the ravine. I heard it hit a rock. Not a problem, because these are target points, so they're not very sharp to begin with, and if I hear what the arrow hits, I have a better chance of finding it in the jungle down there.

I searched the ravine, but couldn't find it. Funny, I lined up the trajectory and looked everywhere, but it was just gone. That happens. Reminding myself to get fluorescent shafts next time, I called off the search, because it was about time for our guests to leave.

After I saw them off, I thought I'd give the ravine another quick search, coming from below this time instead of above. Within a few minutes, I found the missing arrow resting beside a rock, under a bush. Not only that, but in the bush next to the rock, I also found two other arrows I had given up for lost weeks ago. What's more, I realized that during my earlier search I had been within arm's reach of all three arrows, but hadn't been able to see them because of the undergrowth.

Sometimes when you have a problem, you just have to approach it from another angle.

Ooooh, that’s deep!

從前，有一個小男孩，名字叫做誠忠，可是大家叫他阿忠。

有一天呢，阿忠在村外放牛，就在小溪邊，水柳下，看到溪水裏有個亮亮的東西。水不深，他探手下去就撈出一個寶瓶來。

太陽西下，阿忠牽牛回家，可是沒跟家人說他找到了一個寶瓶。他不知道裏頭是啥，可是搖一搖，裏頭好像一粒一粒的。

那晚月圓，阿忠睡不著，因為他一直想，寶瓶裏到底是啥？終于，他忍不住，爬了起來，往外頭曬穀場坐著，在明亮月光下，小心翼翼地開了寶瓶。果然裏頭是一粒一粒的，好似藥丸的小球，聞起來有藥香味。這藥究竟有甚麼效呢？阿忠想著。也許吃了就長生不老。也許吃了就有他心通、神足通，也未可知。他決定暫且不吃，次日早晨吃，好讓大家看了就知道阿忠變得不同凡響。

一大早，大家吃早餐，阿忠偷偷地將藥丸往嘴裏送。結果，大失所望，因為甚麼都沒有。不知道其他人在想甚麼、不曉得明日將發生何事、沒有千里眼、沒有順風耳、沒長翅膀，甚麼也沒有。阿忠很失望，他就把頭搖一搖，沒想到，奇怪的事情發生了！從空中，他母親身旁就迸出了一個男的，一看到阿忠的母親，就叫一聲：姊！奇怪！阿忠十分訝異，把頭摸一摸，他母親身旁又迸出了一個男的，一看到阿忠的母親，就叫一聲：姊！

長話短說，每次阿忠稍微動一下，他母親身旁就迸出一個男的，一看到阿忠的母親，就叫一聲：姊！滿屋子都是，還溢出到街上，大家都來看，怎麼有這麼奇怪的事？

想了好久，阿忠終于想通了：吃了寶瓶的藥丸子，…動輒得舅。

泰雅傳統不冶金不作銅鐵，要從外地漢人換來，得之不易，所以聘禮非常重視limuq，銅鍋。泰雅的lmuhu詩歌，limuq代表yanay夫之兄弟或妻之兄弟。

曏昔limuq為傳家寶，後來金屬器皿普遍使用，銅鍋不再被珍惜，若尚有者，往往以餵雞餵狗。

想當年，斯器新且亮，伴喜事，多少歡樂；或者夫婦到老，見物思情。歲月荏苒，新人漸漸老邁亡故，後人見器無聯想，只見老舊不亮，便以餵畜。于心實有所不忍。
鄭光博收藏

The Tayal had no metallurgy. Any metals were traded from the Chinese. A highly treasured bride-price gift was the limuq, or copper wok. In the highly symbolic imagery of Tayal lmuhu poetry, the limuq stood for a brother-in-law, probably because of its role in marriage negotiations.

Now that metal is easily obtained, old limuq are no longer treasured or even kept. Those who still have them often use them to feed chickens or dogs.

But once upon a time, a now misshapen limuq was bright and shiny, the centerpiece of wedding festivities. Maybe for years afterwards it reminded the aging couple of the happy event. Years pass, people die, and a new generation sees nothing more than a tatty, stained old wok, useful for nothing more than feeding animals. But in its day, it was glorious.

limuq collected by Watan Kahat
This one was cast brass; here he points out a thick part which 吳宗霖Gong-maker Wu patched for him.

How the past comes back to haunt us!

When I taught at the Language Center/語言測驗訓練中心 in the late 1970s, we had a teacher named Dennis, Irish from South Boston. Dennis had trained for the priesthood, but evidently did not have the vocation, because he ended up teaching English in Taipei, and was visible from miles away. The reason was that tailors were cheap in those days, so Dennis would find the most outrageous, outlandishly loud cloth for his clothes. We always used to joke that his tailor had to wear welding goggles when he was making Dennis's clothes.

One day an advertising agency asked the Language Center for help in enlisting some "native foreigners," as we were called, for a photo shoot. We were supposed to pose as a wild rock 'n roll band playing, wearing appropriately wild clothing. I enlisted Bill, Michael, and George, but ever since I read 墨子, my taste in clothing has always been more subdued than wild: colors at least. I asked Dennis for help, and he very kindly lent me a shirt, one he wore for funerals, court engagements, and other such quiet, formal occasions.

We gathered for the photo shoot. The advertising agency especially imported a photographer from Japan. We took up our instruments: Michael on the saxophone, Bill on the drums, George and I on the guitar. Bill was the only one of us who could actually play the instrument in our hands, but it was a still shot, not a sound clip. We lined up, lights, action.. fizzle. The photographer looked perplexed. Lights, actions… fizzle… the photographer came over and held a light meter up to Dennis’s shirt, shaking his head as he watched the needle go crazy. He sighed heavily, rolled his eyes towards heaven, fiddled with the lights and his filters, and finally completed the shot.

The poster gained us a certain notoriety in Taipei in those days, and I had to explain many, many times that that was NOT MY SHIRT!

I thought the past was gone and buried, until recently I got in touch with Bill again after many decades, and found that he still had a copy of the infamous poster. I reproduce it here in sign of my sincerity to be honest about my past.

And don't forget, that was NOT MY SHIRT!!!

喜歡打破沙鍋璺到底。常想，鄧小平身經百戰，照理說是個冷靜、看得遠的人，為甚麼天安門處理的像暴君模式一樣？

早二十年，文化大革命初期，紅衛兵起亂，劉少奇與鄧小平看大勢失控，請毛澤東處理，毛叫他們到北京坐鎮。到了北京，蒯大富司令的紅衛兵「造反有理」，鄧劉才恍然大悟，文化大革命不是為了共產主義，不是為了社會主義，而是為了鞏固獨裁的絕對權威除掉鄧與林。鄧被整，而身為國家元首的劉少奇竟被學生折磨至死。十年浩劫，死者不計其數，中國的進步倒退了二十年。

天安門學運，也許讓鄧怕了。也許他這樣想：當年，學生可以將國家元首折磨死、害死無數百姓，焉知當前學運不會一樣？怕了、慌了，坦克車派進天安門。

我不是為鄧小平辯解，我只想了解，到底是怎麼一會事？

I am not a horseman in the Light Brigade: mine is not to do or die, mine is but to wonder why.

Deng Xiaoping was nobody's fool. He was a master at enduring setbacks and delaying gratification, he was capable of taking a long view on events, he led China towards a freer society. Why, then, did he call in the tanks at Tienanmen?

Perhaps it was a panic reaction. When the Cultural Revolution was getting out of hand, and the Red Guards were starting to rampage, Chairman Mao sent Deng and Liu Shaoqi to Beijing settle things down. It soon became apparent that the Red Guards (almost entirely students, high school students at first) were set up by Mao to bring down Deng and Liu, who were both tortured. Liu was then the leader of government, but the Red Guards tortured him to death. Nobody knows how many died during the Cultural Revolution, but certainly tens of millions at least, and China was set back a generation.

Twenty some years down the road, when Deng was the leader of the government, the students took to the streets. Maybe Deng panicked and thought that ensuing havoc would kill millions more and set back all the progress he had so painfully made.

I am not excusing Deng and I am not excoriating him. I simply wonder why.

有些事，必須看背後推動的人的動機。最近有報導，抽煙可以防止老人癡呆；時常也有研究發現，抽煙對人體的千萬個好處。問題是，背後贊助研究的人，是煙商。同理，有各種研究發現牛奶、雞蛋對人體的好處；問題是，背後贊助研究的人是誰？猜得出來吧，是賣牛奶、賣雞蛋的商人。若是中立、客觀研究，牛奶、雞蛋、香煙，沒有一樣對人體不是有害無益。甚至，香煙未必是最糟的。

最近商人大力推銷「藝術家」蔡國強。藝術被商人大力推銷，本來就有問題。看看蔡先生的作品，平平，沒甚麼特別的美感、洞察、創意；恕我直言，在臺灣可以遠遠超越蔡先生的作品水準，大有人在。可能我心機多，可是看了作品，我不得不想，是不是有人炒作？

說實話，要看作品、要看創意、要看美，看蔡先生的作品，大不如看牛舍：
這裡
這裡
尤其這筆：

當然，不可否認，抽煙的確防止老人癡呆，因為來不及老、來不及癡呆，已經心臟衰竭死亡，要不然癌症死亡。所以，不可否認，抽煙防止老人癡呆，確實有這個作用在。同理，跳樓可以防止禿頭，只要趁年輕頭髮多時跳。還是不要跳好。煙、蛋、牛奶少碰為妙。蔡先生的作品與牛舍，我愛牛舍。

The blogosphere has been just that little bit less contaminated lately, as I have been busy preparing teaching material for my new course which I am starting in January (聽說如意) and haven't had time to write.

But I have been alert. I recently collected this great quote:

「一個人身高一百五十公分的話，兩個人就三百公尺。」

"If one person is about 1.5 meters tall, two people would be three hundred meters."

Stay tuned!

You just gotta love bureaucrats. Obama promised government transparency and openness, right? So they are having a workshop on openness. Only catch is, it's closed to the public.

Read all about it::here:::

希望是真的

本局新聞稿 (98年12月新聞稿)
98/12/02
澄清媒體不實報導「國有財產局租售七星潭開發案國有土地，圖利財團」

財政部國有財產局（以下簡稱國產局）澄清，媒體報導花蓮縣政府核准七星潭風景區內國有土地開發、用地變更案，業者已取得部分土地興建渡假村，及國產局將配合租售給財團等新聞，並非事實。另業者擬規劃開發之國有土地業經花蓮縣政府於民國87年間依土地法第14條規定公告劃設為「海岸及水道一定限度內不得為私有」之土地，依法既不得私有，故國產局不會辦理出售。

請花一點時間，連署拯救花蓮七星潭自然景觀的活動！
秀麗山水是我們最寶貴的資源，幾乎是我們唯一可以留給自己和子孫、還給大自然最無價的寶藏！不要滿足不肖商人為權為利的貪婪，不要放縱某些官方體制的無明。捍衛家園是身為臺灣子民、地球子民，每一個人的義務。
進入下方連結：
http://campaign.tw-npo.org/campaign/sign.php?id=2009111918201900
頁面的最下方可選擇加入個人連署或團體連署，
日行一善，不難。

希望集結眾人的力量與能量，讓我們的自然美景可以長久一點～

1PM ...Well, I Don't Mean It in a Sexually Harassing Way, Sir...
Trainee: This customer is mad because we won't cover an accident that happened before he was insured with us. He won't stop yelling!
Trainer: Ha! He's gonna have to suck eggs on that one! Sucks for him. But seriously, go through the facts and dates with him and explain why we won't cover it. Stay calm and apologize. You can do this!
Trainee, to customer: Thank you for holding. This... uh... Okay. My manager says you have to suck eggs, I'm sorry.

Riverview Parkway, San Diego
via Overheard in the Office, Nov 30, 2009

A violent killer sentenced to 95 years in prison in Arkansas has allegedly killed four Seattle policeman. What, you ask, why wasn't he in prison in Arkansas? We need the Republicans to stop all these left-wing shenanigans, these bleeding-heart liberals who aren't tough enough to take pride in law and order!

Softly, softly. The convict was pardoned by the governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, once Republican contender for the presidential nomination.

But all is well: On Sunday, Huckabee issued this statement on his Web site: "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

Isn't that beautiful? As we say in Chinese, 推得很乾淨, he pushed that one away from himself very cleanly. It’s not Huckabee's fault he pardoned a deranged violent criminal, it's the fault of the criminal justice system, and not just in Arkansas, but in Washington state too!

Pardon me while I vomit.

I was recording a flock of 白喉笑鶇 (白喉噪眉)　White-throated laughing thrush (Garrulax albogularis) that was passing by. As I tried to record them, the dogs started singing.




I have other clips of the dogs singing on YouTube click here::

Tnaq tasiq loziq na itan

我念大學時，大約民國六十三、四年，有一次從盧山出山準備回紅塵，遇上一群上山的泰雅，好像剛從埔里採購回山。他們看到我，每一個都笑。後面一位文面老太太，看到我也笑：她的眼睛顏色跟我很像，是綠色的，大家都笑說，「你看，她的眼睛跟你一樣！」Balay!

我一直沒弄懂，是yagi白內障，或者眼色本來這樣？她不會說國語，而且大家都笑的很開心，來不及問，大家揮揮手，各走各的。

One time when I was in college, in the early 70s, I was coming out of the high mountains in central Taiwan and met a group of Tayal coming back from shopping in town. Every one laughed when they saw me; something was going on. Towards the rear of the group was an old lady with traditional face tattoes ~ and very untraditional green eyes. We all laughed and they said, "See, her eyes are the same as yours!" Balay!

I never figured out if she had cataracts or her eyes were naturally green. She couldn't speak Mandarin, and I couldn't speak Tayal then, and anyway everybody was laughing too hard. Before I could figure it out, everybody waved and we went our separate ways.

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.'