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？」

賽德克族青年Umin Basang說，「今天跟朋友談到有關生命的事情，我在回基隆的車上，就突然在想，要是我的生命只有一天，我要留下甚麼給人家記憶，是不是一段話或一段回憶又或者是還有其他甚麼東西.....之前對我來說編織背帶，是一個傳統需要保存的技藝但是突然之間，今天我編了這個的時候，我覺得似乎我可以用這個來說話，來表達我所思念與在乎的東西，在編織的時候我腦袋裡面只有三個東西...家鄉的櫻花、阿公和織布！我是不會幫作品命名的我覺得那很蠢，但是今天我想叫這個背帶叫做櫻花樹下的回憶....」The Sediq, a tribe closely related to our Dayan (Tayal), are also expert weavers. Umin Basang, a young Sediq, wrote, "If I had only one day to live, what would I leave behind to be remembered by? Something I said, or a memory, or something else? Before, weaving straps was for me a traditional art that had to be preserved, but suddenly, today while I was weaving this, I felt that I could use this weaving to speak, to express my thoughts and what I care about. While I was weaving, I had three things in mind: the cherry blossoms at home, my grandfather, and traditional weaving. I don't name my works, I think that's stupid, but today this strap is called Memories under the Cherry Trees."

氣象局宣佈，不再做每天的天氣預報，今年都下雨就是了。想要晴天，請搬到戈壁地區。

The Weather Bureau has announced that they are no longer providing day-by-day weather forecasts. It’s rain for the rest of the year. If you want sunshine, try the Gobi desert.

This man has walked on all fours, like a monkey, for the last eight and a half years.

here::

Why am I not surprised that he’s Japanese?

Just a thought
If smells could be recorded, and placed on YouTube, we would have fifteen thousand roses, eight thousand birthday cakes, two thousand recordings of fruit, and sixty million farts posted by teenage boys.

藍鵲雧樹上，樹鵲噪鳴；Taiwan Blue Magpies cavort in a tree, accompanied by a chorus of tkrat / 樹鵲 / Himalayan Tree Pies. Neither are very quiet birds.

臺灣藍鵲, Taiwan Blue Magpie, Urocissa caerulea; 樹鵲, Himalayan Tree Pie, Dendrocitta formosae. You can also hear the monotone trill of the byahoq, 五色鳥 / Muller’s Barbet, Megalaima oorti.

每年寫春聯，用雙面膠貼在山門，等著蜂來吃掉。

星期五、六、日我們早出晚歸。星期五回來時，看到下句下垂，剛要撫平，阿超說，不要碰。再看，有一條蛇纏繞聯紙，可能吃東西。好了，不打擾了，晚安。
星期六晚上牠還扗那。雙面膠有那麼黏嗎？怪！星期天晚上回來時，牠鬆鬆地掛在那裏，我跟超講，明天白天再來看，可能要埋。
今午出去找筍時，蛇還扗春聯上。蛇的生命力很強。我用竹竿碰了一下，牠馬上反應：活的！太好了！輕輕地撕下聯紙，喝住狗，把蛇送到谷壑，蛇摩石擦土，很快就解脫了。
很高興護生，但百思不解，怎麼會跑到春聯後面黏住？
不喜歡我的書法就說嘛！

I've seen some weird things in my time, but this just about takes the cake.
At Chinese New Year, I write door titles and post them on the gate. Usually the hornets eventually turn them into material for their hives.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we were out from morning to night. Friday night when we came home, I noticed that the left sentence had come loose, and was about to stick it back into place when Sabiy said, Don't touch it. I looked again, and there was a snake tangled up in the paper. It seemed to have eaten something. We left it there.
It was still there when we came back Saturday. We realized it had gotten stuck on the two way tape. Sunday it was hanging slack, and I told Sabiy, I guess I have to bury it tomorrow.
When I went out to gather bamboo shoots for today's lunch, I realized it looked slack but it didn't look dead, and snakes have strong survival powers. I decided to treat it as a live snake, so I got a bamboo pole and prodded it. After spending three days on the gatepost the week after Easter, it was alive. I carefully pulled the paper off the post, snake still attached. Keeping the dogs back, I lowered the snake into the ravine. With the friction of the ground, it quickly freed itself from most of the paper.But what it was doing stuck to the back of the paper on the gatepost, I'll never know.

白梅花蛇, mountain wolf snake, Lycodon ruhstrati ruhstrati