Dog Poop Gallery (Passive Aggressive Signs)

Throughout Capitol Hill, one can find many signs gently reminding dog owners to clean up after their pets. Here's a treasury some of the best ones I've seen, ranked from least to most favorite:

7. This is a classic example of passive-aggressive signage. A cute dog-shaped sign in a calm shade of green subtly guilt-trips the owner who allows his or her dog "let loose" on this lawn.

6. This little "house" goes a step further to induce guilt. We see a pleasant sign, plus a little container that actually contains little dog poop bags. Note that one is NOT supposed to deposit filled bags in here. (Find out more about these pet waste containers and other products on this lovely website!)

5. This attention-grabbing signpost (note the CAPITALIZED RED LETTERS) admonishes unruly dogs -- or rather, their negligent owners.

4. This sign at Lincoln Park serves two purposes: to encourage poop-scooping AND discourage public drinking. For the record, I have never actually witnessed anyone drinking a martini while sitting outdoors in this park.

3. Another attempt at being "friendly" and cute, this time with a cartoon dog holding a pooper scooper. Note the passive-aggressive strategy of reminding the reader of the potential fines (plus penalty, in parentheses - nice touch!) that one could face for not scooping.

2. I like this sign very much.

1. My favorite dog poop sign stands right in front of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Appropriately enough, there's quite a "literary" flair to this sign: not only do we get some unusually authoritative word choice here ("police your dog," rather than a more colloquial "scoop the poop"), but the sequence of verbs also provides an elegant litany of actions: leash, curb, and clean.

Chinese Characters, Early Modern Readers

I stopped by the Folger Shakespeare Library's "Imagining China" exhibit today one more time today (wanted to make sure to see it again before it closes). This display case shows how Early Modern readers (mis)understood Chinese writing. You can't make out all the text in this photo but you at least get a sense of how Early Modern printers in the West (attempted to) reproduce(d) the characters.

For more on this particular issue, see this section of the Folger website (not sure how long it will remain active); see also this previous posting.

Heraldry Endures

I visited the Folger Shakespeare Library yesterday and noticed this emblem on the security police uniforms. The Library's security forces have has adopted Shakespeare's family arms as its emblem. In the 1590s, the Shakespeare family was granted permission to use these arms; note that the shield bears a spear (alluding to the name "Shakespeare") and the original arms bore a motto as well: "Non Sanz Droict" [French = not without right]. For more on these arms, see this PBS documentary website.

The use of the Bard's arms invites a number of questions: Is the police badge the modern descendant of the knight's shield? Since Shakespeare has no direct living descendants, are the Folger police force among his metaphorical heirs?

Translating Poetry into Stone

"Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Thou art translated" (Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 1). Folger Shakespeare Library, Capitol Hill.

Shakespeare in Chinese

I highly recommend the current exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library entitled "Imagining China: The View from Europe, 1550-1700" (it explores relationships between Early Modern Europe and China - including a fascinating collection of maps, letters, documents, and other artifacts).

Today I noticed some new "family guides" for the exhibition. The "Learn Chinese!" flyer (left, above) invites readers to pronounce Chinese characters, including the standard phonetic transcription of the name "Shakespeare" (莎士比亞 shā shì bǐ yà).

I'm glad to see the Chinese text has been carefully prepared, but I must admit some indication of the proper tones in the phonetic transcriptions would have been welcome (especially if this flyer is inviting readers to "sound out" the words).

Curiously, the red box with caption "One China, Many Names" (right, above) resonates with contemporary geopolitics. Both mainland China and the Republic of China (aka Taiwan) officially claim that there is only "one China" (中国 Zhōng guó, in Mandarin; 中國 Tiong-kok in Taiwanese) - but arriving at a shared definition of "one China" is a difficult matter.

P.S. It just occurred to me that the final syllable of the transliteration for the name "Shakespeare" (亞 yà) also happens to appear in 亞 洲 yà zhōu ("Asia").

P.P.S. For a related post, see this later entry.