昨天到中正堂國家戲劇院實驗劇場看「組合語言舞團」本年度公演，「首映會2.0」，編舞概念新鮮、舞者非常認真，表演很成功。若有機會，該看！

但今天的重點不扗此。表演前，我們覓食，但愛國東路靠中正堂，就是一排婚紗照相館，沒得吃。

誰說不景氣？婚紗開了那麼多家~~可是我想，花了大筆大筆錢拍婚紗，重點似乎扗于滿足一種虛榮心：幻想自己是大明星、攝影師拿很專業的相機拍照…但婚後，幾人看婚紗照？

我只聽過一個人事後說婚紗照好：友人說，她與先生鬧離婚的時候，全家裏最重的一本就是婚紗照的那一本，她說用那本K她老公，威力十足。

是啊。離婚率那麼高，為甚麼只有婚紗照？我想一想，要離婚的夫妻，應該拍混殺照。

混殺照，可以拍各種廝殺、互毆的相；臉面猙獰、眼露凶光、手上可以拿剪刀、石頭、磚塊、短刀長劍、矛戈枴戟、齊眉棍、紅纓槍、偃月刀、七節鞭、雙節棍、電擊棒、衝鋒鎗~當然都是道具、假的，目的是拍照，不是出人命。

這系列拍完，就換道具：第一是白布條，上面寫

財產

兩大字，各抓一端，拼命爭(攝影師拼命拍)。若能把布撕破，拿大塊的贏了，整個布條歸為所有。如果有孩子的話，就換一個娃娃(數量依實際生育情況而定)，夫拉娃娃左手左腳，妻扯娃娃右手右腳，拼命拉(攝影師拼命拍)。若能把娃娃撕裂，拿大塊的贏得了監護權。假如有其它爭端，以相同方法處理。

其實，拍到這裏，很可能夫妻已經發洩好了、磨出一些共識來了，不必離婚；但是，混殺攝影師的帳要全額付清。

如果決定還是要離婚，最後、最受歡迎的鏡頭來了！把先前拍的婚紗照拿出來，一張一張撕碎！也可以咬、擰、踩、甩、踏、摜，看有甚麼創意的點子，請盡情發揮！混殺攝影師會把這難忘的一刻做最真實的紀錄，讓您日後保存著許多美好的回憶。

然後，要記得，混殺攝影師的帳要全額付清。

西元四百年左右，南燕主慕容超有心腹名為
公孫五樓。


我就很好奇：假如公孫五樓先生有後嗣于今代，會不會取名
公孫電梯大廈？

An extraordinary event this morning! Not the transit of Venus itself, that happens regularly (every 8 years → 105.5 years → 8 years → 121.5 years, ho hum). What was astonishing was that we had clear skies! For over an hour! and during this壬辰水龍年year of the water dragon, AKA the Year the Mold. I mean, come on, the glass in the windows is getting moldy!

The hard and fast rule is that any time there is an astronomical event worth watching, if it doesn’t rain in Wulai, there's thick cloud cover. But today was different. The transit started around 6AM and continued to noon. Around 10, the sky cleared enough for the sun to shine. I rushed out with my paper drilled with holes to observe the light cast onto a dark background, and sure enough! you could very clearly see the light cast through holes drilled in paper onto a dark background! But the thing is, I knew that it was happening, and we actually had clear skies. Until eleven.

Eventually I found a way to observe the event very clearly.

With best wishes to Captain Cook.

前幾天早上，剛好看外面，兩隻樹鵲追逐一隻隼。離家很近，才扗屋簷外一丈。隼飛的不快，正好讓樹鵲追不上：好了，好了，知道冒犯了，我走了。

A surprising scene the other morning. I happened to look out the window, and just outside our awnings, two tkrat (Himalayan tree pies, Dendrocitta formosae) were chasing a hawk. The hawk was flying fast enough to stay out of reach, slow enough to maintain dignity: okay, all right, I'm leaving.

一個問題我想了很久：我扗山上遇到煙槍，還沒見到人，先聞到體臭：扗山上，煙槍身上的臭味，五、六十公尺外都聞得到。百年前的達彥部落，人手一煙斗。或許有驅蚊效果，所以老少男女皆有。我很困惑，以前的人到底怎麼狩獵？還沒靠近獵物，臭味早已把牠嚇跑了。尤其，百年前的達彥很多還用弓箭，未必有鎗，而鎗的威力也不大，射不遠。

後來，我想到另一層關係：如鄒族lema'cohio Apu'u Peongsi所說，「'E cou ne o'amocu moso la yaa tamaku 'o momhino ta fuengu, moso la na'no sino iachi emʉm'ʉ to tamaku 'ola mici etamaku, a'vinano emʉ'a to aukukuyungu to emoo. Ho lac'u mameoi 'ola emu'a ci tamaku, tanac'u teoca ho taskufneni to pupuzu ho aopopoha'va taemi'ma hoci o'te poezi, ho poa oemi'mia, tenac'u peela etamakua: 鄒族人過去山裏的店裏沒有買賣菸時，想抽菸的人都會自己種植菸草，並種植扗家周圍。種的菸草長熟了，就會被砍了然後扗火上慢慢烤乾，或者扗太陽下曬乾，才能用來抽菸。」

從前，菸酒公賣局也是用古老、傳統、不合經濟效益的方法把菸草烤乾。因此，六十年代、七十年代，臺灣抽菸的人得癌率是世界最低的；而且，走扗路上，幾十步外有人抽洋菸就聞得出來，因為味道與臺灣菸截然不同。

到了七十年代，這個情況改了，主要有兩個原因。一則敝國雷根總統強迫臺灣進口美國的菸酒，否則把臺灣經濟毀了，所以公賣局的市場被入侵了。一則無黨籍(現在的綠營)猛抨擊公賣局的做法太傳統、太不合經濟效益。雙管齊下，公賣局只好用現代化的方式製菸，所以現扗臺灣抽菸的人死于癌症、死于心臟病的機率已與世界接軌了。這是雷根與綠營重大的政績。

總而言之，我想或許因為以前原住民的菸非自製則買公賣局不合經濟效益的菸草~~記得芙蓉牌菸草嗎？~~所以體味不嚇獵物；如今，社會進步帶來了經濟效率高、死亡率高的菸草，所以煙槍的體味那麼重。

今天是六三禁煙節。願：天下所有抽菸的人拿出勇氣、拿出魄力，改掉這個噁心、摧殘自己身體的習慣，爭取自由。加油！

Something that has often puzzled me. In the mountains, you can smell a smoker long before you see him; the stench of a smoker's body can be smelled from well over fifty meters away. A hundred years ago, every Dayan (Tayal) smoked a pipe, all the time, young and old, male and female (perhaps to help keep mosquitoes away). How on earth could they hunt? Many Dayan still hunted with bow and arrow, and firearms had limited range. Prey would smell them from a good distance, so how could the hunter get close?

Recently, I thought of another aspect. In the words of lema'cohio Apu'u Peongsi of the Tsou (Cou) tribe, "The Tsou in the days before stores sold tobacco in the mountains, those who wanted to smoke would grow their own tobacco, often right near their houses. When the tobacco was ripe, it would be chopped down and slowly roasted over a fire, or dried in the sunlight, and then be used for smoking."

The Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau used to produce cigarettes by outdated, traditional, economically inefficient methods. Therefore, in the 1970s and 1980s, smokers in Taiwan had the world's lowest incidence of cancer (among smokers). When you walked down the street in those days, if someone halfway down the block was smoking an imported cigarette, you could tell, because they smelled a lot different from locally produced cigarettes.

In the 1980s, this situation changed for two main reasons. First, President Reagan forced the government here to import American liquor and tobacco, under threat of destroying the economy otherwise. The Monopoly Bureau's monopoly was broken. Second, the fledgling opposition (forerunners of today's DPP), in their quest to oppose everything the government did, jumped on the economically inefficient methods used by the Bureau to process tobacco. Faced with these pressures, the Bureau had no choice but to update their methods, processing tobacco chemically, so now smokers in Taiwan enjoy death from cancer and heart disease as high as global standards. These are important contributions by Reagan and the opposition.

So what I think is, a hundred years ago, the tobacco aborigines smoked or bought was not chemically produced, so it did not produce such a stench in the pores of the smokers, but now, social progress makes all smokers reek.

Today is Non-Smoking Day, in commemoration of Lin Tzehsu's heroic efforts to combat the most vicious drug cartel in history, the British government (click). My wish is that all smokers everywhere may pull up their courage and determination and free themselves from this disgusting, debilitating habit. Good luck.

臺灣很多彌足珍貴的傳統面臨絕跡；所幸，幾年來，政府重視此問題，也設法延續臺灣特有的技藝。

這兩天，行政院文建會贊助製造口簧琴的工作坊。口簧琴，達彥(泰雅)謂虜布，是很多原住民共有的樂器，但是達彥彈的最好聽；在達彥的傳統，佔重要地位，但現代人多不會彈，更不用說製造。因此，延請民族學專家鄭光博協助將這項技藝傳回部落去。

Taiwan is home to ancient traditions that are in danger of disappearing. Fortunately, in the last several years, the government has been taking a hand in helping preserve ancient arts and crafts.

Friday and Saturday, the governmental Council for Cultural Affairs hosted a workshop to teach how to make the lubu, the Dayan (Tayal) jaw harp. Although this plays an important part in Dayan life and traditions, most Dayan today do not know how to play one, much less make one. The Council invited the noted ethnologist, lewin Watan Kahat, to help spread this tradition back to the tribal villages.

我沒參加，但光博送我兩隻虜布：一個是最古老的款式，用一片竹製成；另一隻為改良品，用銅簧。

I was unable to take part in the workshop, but lewin Watan gave me two lubu, one of the old style, made from one piece of bamboo, and the other with a bronze reed. Twang twang twang.

next time, go for the golfer.

解謎：link

謎底：
人各有志。

不了？
請按：link

Mounting a saw handle

以前的人買鋸子，通常沒有柄，要自己裝。傳統安柄方法，幾成絕響。

我常用的鋸子(click)，柄有點鬆，所以上次在新店光明街老五金行隨便問，「有沒有沒有裝柄的鋸子？」老闆說，「沒有，」但同時，他媽媽說，「有。」老闆看老太太，她從櫃子旁邊掀開一塊油布，拿出兩隻無柄鋸。老闆說，「我怎麼不知道有這個？」

老太太說，「現在很少人用這種鋸子，都用鍊鋸。這兩把已經在這裏放了三十年吧。我們這家店已經開了六十年。」本來不需要這麼大的，可是看它漂亮，就花了四百元買了。

以前的人找一節江冇(亦名鵝掌柴、鴨腳木、江某)，因為江冇木心是空的，把鋸子慢慢敲進去，然後削木頭，適合自己的手。

幾十年前，阿超的祖父在雙溪鄉做木屐，江冇也是製木屐的上好材料，所以我趁我們到祖厝的機會，選了一株江冇。現在就需耐心地敲敲敲，把鋸子柄安好。很好聽吧。

Decades ago, timber saws did not come with handles. Now nobody uses handsaws anymore, so the craft of affixing a handle to a saw has almost been forgotten.

The handle on the saw I use most often is a bit loose (more on that saw here), so when I went to an old hardware store to buy something, I asked, "Do you have any saws without handles?" The boss said, "No," but at the same time, his mother, sitting nearby, said, "Yes." He looked at her. She rummaged by an old cabinet and came up with two old saw blades. Her son said, "I didn't know those were there." The old lady said, "Nobody uses handsaws any more, so there's no demand for these. These two saw blades have been there for about thirty years. This hardware store has been in business for sixty years." I didn't really need such a large saw blade, but I couldn't pass up this chance. I chose one and bought it for NT$400, about US$12 or so.

The old way of affixing a handle was to use the wood of a tree called s'bwan in Dayan (Tayal，泰雅語), scientific name Schefflera octophylla; Google informs me the English name is the ivy tree. The heart of the s'bwan is soft, hollow, so you ram the saw blade into that, and then carve the handle to fit your hand. They say the handle never comes loose. And the saw makes a nice sound while you're ramming it in.

Huh?? what's that you say?

The moment it was announced, I knew this would happen. Early morning, May 21, a partial solar eclipse would be visible, the announcement said, to which I automatically – the voice of experience speaking here – added, visible only behind a thick layer of clouds.

At least the rain stopped for the first time since Friday. Here you see an actual photo of the solar eclipse taking place behind all those clouds.

Here’s a tip for predicting the weather in Wulai: any time a solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, meteor shower, what have you is announced, there is a 90% chance of clouds, and probably rain.

(not absolutely: sometimes we get lucky: click::)

很奇怪的組合。



二月時，弓人卓漢卿老師送我一隻韘，我改用拇指引弓弦:點:。射了一段時間，有人勸我從弓裏射；是比較好控制，但矢往右邊飛。

雖然要習慣，但喜歡拇指射，勝過三指射。三指射，感覺是「放」箭，而拇指射是「開」。

但韘會咬拇，所以我後來索性捨韘，用拇指引弦，感覺更好。好比說，用韘，像穿登山鞋爬山：不必擔心踩到荊刺，但與山土隔絕。我平常爬山打赤腳，因為赤腳才知道土石草蕨堅軟乾濕冷熱滑澀等等種種情形；如今要我穿鞋爬山，可能不太能走。上次試穿登山鞋爬山，幾乎不能走。

而三指射，好比留在鋪好的登山道上，沒有真正踏到山。

In February, I switched to shooting with a thumb ring :click: I was advised to shoot with a thumb ring from the inside of the bow, which makes sense, but I have practically had to learn all over how to aim. The arrows flew way off to the right of the target. But overall, I much prefer the thumb grip to the Mediterranean pull, because it puts you in closer connection with the bow and arrow.

But the thumb ring was wearing a hole in my thumb, so I just took it off to shoot with my bare thumb. This is even better. Here is the best I can explain it: using a thumb ring to shoot is like hiking in shoes or boots. You can trample over thorns with impunity, but you are out of touch with the mountain. I generally hike barefoot, because… okay, because I’m perverse, but barefoot, you know exactly where you are and the texture underfoot. Click here for the last time I tried to wear hiking boots on the mountain.

So shooting off the thumb is like hiking barefoot. And shooting three fingered is like hiking on carefully prepared paths, rather than striking off across the mountain.

Post 2222!

Sunday Schools teach that to God ~~ the god of the Bible, whatever you want to call him, God, God the Father, the triune god, Jehovah, Yahweh, as you please ~~ to god a thousand years is but a blink of an eye.

The Old Testament winds up in about the 5th century BCE, and the New Testament begins, of course, around the 1st century CE. We were also taught that god is love, god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and so forth.

According to biblical scholar Raymund Schwager, the Hebrew bible contains "approximately one thousand verses in which Yahweh himself appears as the direct executioner of violent punishments… in over one hundred other passages Yahweh expressly gives the command to kill people."

So in the blink of an eye, god goes from a maniacal serial killer to a loving father?

Okay, maybe not maniacal, but if you consider the Old Testament spans about five hundred years, a thousand instances would be only twice a year, not too rabid. But consistent.

We've come a long way since "We are not amused." But is it up?

吃肉的朋友們，要了解，每吃一口肉，就是贊助這種事。
If you eat meat, you are supporting suffering.
click

Here is a song I love, a beautiful traditional song from the Amis, an aboriginal tribe on the east coast of Taiwan. This is performed by Gageng, a group dedicated to promoting Amis music and culture. Lyrics, Chinese, and English translations follow.

O 'Amis hananay a tamdaw   
   阿美族的人呢  
   People of the Amis tribe
Sahtoay O Komeceday.   
   都是 個 很溫和  
   Are all easy-going and mild
O ci 'icelay Ko tatirengan.
   又是體魄強壯的人
   Amis are strong and energetic.
O komaenay to tatokem ato Sama'
   是愛吃龍葵等野菜 
   and love to eat nightshade* and other wild vegetables.
awaay Ko sasowalen to 'Amis.
   好得無比的人 
   They are wonderful people 
Aka tawalen no mita ko liteng liteng. 
   我們絕對不能忘本(祖先)
   We cannot forget our roots (ancestors)
O mipahafayay. To 'orip no mita. 
   他們的努力供應我們的生命
   Their hard work gave us our lives. 



O 'Amis hananay a tamdaw
   阿美族的人呢
   People of the Amis tribe
Sahtoay o matayalay.
   都是務農 
   are all agricultural.
Misasota'ay ko 'orip no mita . 
   我們在泥巴上殷勤耕作的人
   We are people who toil and plow in muddy fields.
oni o omah no liteng liteng.
   先人留下的這些農地
   Our ancestors left us these fields
Tadoan nomita o rarem.
   留給我們後人承受
   They left them for us to inherit.
Akatawalen no mita ko liteng liteng .
   我們絕對不能忘本(祖先)
   We cannot forget our roots (ancestors)
O mipamatangay to omah no mita.
   是他們幫我們開山墾地
   They are the ones who first cultivated these mountains and fields.


FYR: the Amis are noted singers and dancers. CK Yang, the "Iron Man of Asia" who dominated track and field in the 1950s, was also Amis.
* Nightshade (龍葵、黑籽仔菜、Tayal: wasiq; Tsou: mici; scientific name solanum nigrum) is a close relative of belladonna, feared in the West as a deadly poison. In the Chinese world it is a delightful vegetable with delicious berries, especially loved by Taiwan aborigines. For more on aborigines and nightshade: here::
More about the Gageng (Kakeng): here

quick ~ how many people are riding this motorcycle?

Science continues to inform and surprise. If you have spent sleepless nights trying to figure out why some Solomon Islanders have black skin and blond hair, prepare for a good night's sleep, because the answer has been found: a single gene mutation. Click here….

Overheard in the jungle

「好久沒見到你，你去哪裏？」
「我到祖國去玩。很棒！」
「去哪些地方？」
「很多！北京、上海、雲南…」
「還去雲南！雲南哪裏？」
「到瀘沽湖，很美！」
「哪裏？」
「瀘沽湖。」
「瀘沽湖？沒聽過。怎麼寫？」
「瀘，就是三點水一個盧，上面有老虎的盧。」
「那沽呢？」
「三點水、古、月。」
「三點水、古、月，那不是湖嗎？」
「是啊。」
「瀘湖湖？」
「不是瀘湖湖，是瀘沽湖。」
「瀘沽湖，怎麼寫？」
「三點水、古、月。」
「三點水、古、月，又是湖。」
「是湖啊！是瀘沽湖，好多水，當然是湖。」
「沽怎麼寫？」
「三點水、一個古。」
「啊，沽，不是湖。」
「是湖，是瀘沽湖！」
「那你上海去哪些地方？」