The Foreigner in Formosa

Wandering Gorilla

From today's Taiwan News:

A gorilla escaped from his Taipei City Zoo enclosure on Saturday and caused a visitor to stumble in fright at the sight of the giant primate before one of the zoo's veterinarians ended his afternoon promenade with a tranquilizer dart.

Fortunately, the raptors are still in their cages, I think...

(Image from Replikultes.net)

Meteor Lake

A few years ago, an acquaintance showed me photos of a lake high up in the Taiwanese mountains, which she said was formed after a meteor strike.  SPECTACULAR photos.  At the time, she told me the Mandarin name of the lake, but I promptly forgot it.  And I've been trying to remember it ever since.

Anyways, today's China Post and Taipei Times both had pictures of Chia-ming lake on the front page, and I instantly recognized it.  From the Sep 18/07 edition of the Taipei Times:

Did a quick check on the net for more images:

Chia-ming lake pictures

Interestingly enough, I ran across the English-language blog of Barking Deer Adventures, a tour company that arranges hikes there.  Says it's a three-day hike, "Suitable for the reasonably fit," so that kind of rules me out.  Even WITH the new porter service.  :-(

But it's good to know the name, now.  Makes it POSSIBLE for me to go.  Maybe someday...

Citizen Journalism In Taiwan

Funny, I spoke with a friend of mine about citizen photojournalism about a week ago, and I've seen two stories on citizen journalism since then.  The last one, from Monday's Taipei Times, I'll mention first:

Wu Ping-hai (吳平海) has neither a journalism degree nor experience working for newspapers or TV news programs.

But Wu's video camera has recorded a footage from a wide range of events, documenting the personal stories of ordinary people and the issues that concern local communities.

Wu posts short documentaries on peopo.org, an online citizen news platform started recently by the Taiwan Broadcasting System.

Two of his films document the study of farmland tree frogs, a species only found in Taiwan, and the experiences of foreign spouses learning Mandarin in Meinung Township (美濃), Kaohsiung County.

Wu was one of more than 700 citizen journalists who have contributed to community news coverage since the creation of the platform in April.

They have generated more than 2,200 news stories over the past three months.

[...]

To ensure the quality of stories, the Web site's administrators have asked would-be contributers to submit a formal application before posting reports and footage.

Over at The Belmont Club, Wretchard speculates where this is headed:

Here's what I think people will see in the next decade. Big news won't go away but readers will be able to drill-down on news stories in a way impossible before. For example, suppose new riots break out in the banleius of Paris in 2017. The reader will be able to drill down into every greater detail. Was a man burned on a torched bus? Click and find the micro-journalist who is following the recovery of the victim in a hospital. Or discover how the riots have affected a particular suburb in northern Paris. Not only will you be able to drill down, but you will be able to interact with the news. With online payment systems I believe readers will be able to support micro-journalist efforts to find out more details about an story, in a miniature version of the way readers support Michael Yon in Iraq today.

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UPDATE (Jul 26/07):  Might citizen journalism be a way for Taiwanese nationalists to circumvent the stranglehold that Chinese nationalists have on Taiwan's mainstream media?  Apparently RCTV in Venezuela carried on in reduced form on YouTube after their license was pulled, so there is some kind of precedent.

The Mysterious Beast Of Linkou - Revealed!

So, after 38 goats were found dead near the Taiwanese town of Linkou, who does the culprit turn out to be?

We WERE told that tracks in the mud suggested the slayer was a tiger, or some other large member of the cat family.  So the truth turns out to be a bit of a letdown:

(Image from Jun 12th edition of the Taipei Times.)

Seeing this mutt, I couldn't help but imagine what the SPCA ad in the paper would say.  "Wanted:  Kind home for stray dog.  Does not get along well with...kids."

(Boo!  Hiss!)

Under The Sea

Friday's Taipei Times featured a front-page story about new salt-water species discovered near Taiwan.  For better viewing, click on the thumbnails. 

(Thankfully, one of the following has NOT been discovered.  Yet.)

Mantis On Beer Bottle

(Photo by The Foreigner)

Exploding Whales

"Yeah, it's dark, dreary, and spattered with whale meat."

- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Back in 1970, the body of a 45 foot long sperm whale weighing 8 tons washed up on an Oregon shore.  It was pretty heavy for them to carry away, and no one was too keen on being responsible for cutting it up and carting away the pieces.  So in the end, officials decided that detonating it with a half-ton of dynamite would be the best way of disposing of the carcass. 

Which sounded like a good idea - until hundred pound chunks of decaying whale meat started raining down on the terrified onlookers...

Read all about it at TheExplodingWhale.com.

The site's got the Taiwan angle covered, too.  Because a couple years ago in the southern city of Tainan, gases due to decomposition built up and exploded within a dead whale's belly as it was being transported on a flat-bed truck.  Blood, blubber and whale guts wound up splattered all over the road. 

Sure glad I wasn't riding a scooter alongside when it happened.

(Images via TheExplodingWhale.com.)

Hungry Babies

The swallows are back in Taiwan - saw the first one of the season this evening.

Here's a shot of a nest I took last June:

Taiwan's Birds

The Dec 31/05 edition of The China Post had a link to an English website that has pictures of birds that live in / migrate through Taiwan.  Very nice.  Never knew there was such a thing as a blue robin.  This link'll take you straight to the art gallery.  Be sure to click on some of the photographs below the paintings...and take a gander.

www.birdingintaiwan.com

(Sorry, no links are available to the original China Post story.)