決戰光頭頂

Song of the Week, 2011-48, Hotel California, the Eagles

2011-12-04T00:13:00.000Z

This song always gives me the chill. The album version is great, but it is the live version that really shines. This one is on the "Hell Freezes Over" album, and it is always on my portable list.

Just a few days after I entered my current company, I got a chance to go to the sound theatre (I just call it sound room) which is used for testing products. They played this song with one of the company's product, and that was great, it gave me goosebumps. However my colleagues told me that they get so bored of the song that the intro is enough to make them puke. But as they said it is necessary, it is only when you get so familiar with it then you can really tell the difference when it is played on different product. That's so true! So let see when I get to that stage.

However I just used it as a test track when I was trying to make the decision about which earphone to buy. I can only say that I am not familiar with it yet, as I can still find new sound in the track and get so excited about it.

There is another brilliant, brilliant, trumpet intro version that I just got my hands on recently. Can't wait to get myself sick of it with my new toy.

P.S. This new toy is gonna ignite my fire to pick up "song of the week" again, but before that I have to fill up those missing issue before this one.

Song of the Week, 2011-43, as long as you are happy, Cloud Cult

2011-10-31T01:17:00.000Z

We are just a bunch of chemical reaction
driven by the occasional happiness injection

Song of the Week, 2011-40, Just like Anything, The Sand Band

2011-10-09T17:49:00.000+01:00

This is a cover of Jackson C. Frank's "Just like Anything" by the Sand Band. According to Frank, the Song do not really have any meaning, it is meant to be a break or a form of balance from his heavier work. Yet this work is not short on charm and brilliance.

The lyrics might not make much sense, but for god sake, they rhyme. If you look for meaning, then look else where. But if you are looking for a interpretation for yourself, I guess any artist, including Frank, will have no objection to that, or let say they have no control on that.

My interpretation? Honestly, I don't have one, but I find this song kind of sad but soothing. It's like when one is in a calm state where fragments of thoughts flow around freely.

Just like how the lyrics depict... a state of mind.

P.S. I think the MV, though not official, did a great job in bringing up the mood.

xxx xxx xxx

Just like anything
To sing   To sing   To sing
is a state of mind
Sunlight dances slowly on a drum beats broken rhyme
I speak of answers only to see them in my mind
If I had a penny I'd throw it in the sea
to see if it would float away
Or grow a penny tree
I play the fool of rhythm
To speak of what is sane
I never think of singing to those who feel the same
See how high the rain falls
See the color in my hair
Hunt for golden porridge bowls
Hear the paper tear
Just like anything
To sing   To sing   To sing
Is a state of mind
Death gives no reason
So why should I
Death has no season
So I know I'll never die
Just like anything
To sing   To sing   To sing
Is a state of mind

Song of the Week, 2011-39, Wait, Alexi Murdoch

2011-10-02T03:00:00.000+01:00

黃葉等待勇敢的北風
吹散腳上的枷鎖
擺脫烈日的勞役
讓它在自由中枯萎
讓它在尊嚴中衰亡

泥土等待成熟的黃葉
帶來久違的滋潤
迎接繁華的未來
讓它在溫暖中休眠
讓它在豐盛中避寒

新芽等待富饒的泥土
壓破堅實的籠牢
探索未知的光明
讓它在擁抱中茁壯
讓它在鼓勵中成長

其實皆不盡然
沒有勇敢的北風，黃葉也會遭摒棄
沒有成熟的黃葉，泥土便另結新歡
有沒有富饒的泥土，新芽未發，種子先被吃掉

時間從不停留
世界從不等待

等待是一種苛求
對渴望被等待的人如此
對被要求等待的人更是

但是能等我一下嗎？
讓我們一起尋找自由
讓我們一起建立未來
讓我們一起探索光明

first gif animation test

2011-09-29T08:57:00.003+01:00

Song of the Week, 2011-38, Take Me Out, Franz Ferdinand

2011-09-25T20:53:00.000+01:00

Their first album always reminds me about my days in UK.

When I walked from school campus back home, sometimes I want some upbeat tunes to drive my pace, and their music (well, maybe not the lyrics) is just perfect for that purpose.

And now I surely need to pick up some pace and catch up.

Song of the Week, 2011-37, Lost!, Coldplay

2011-09-18T03:25:00.000+01:00

This is always a good song for cheering.
Hope everything is going to be alright.

Song of the Week, 2011-36, Full Moon, The Black Ghost

2011-09-11T08:00:00.000+01:00

Where is home?
The place where we were born?
The place where we grew up?
The place where we found love?
The place where we found meaning?

I think...
Home is the place where we know something, or someone, is waiting for our return.

xxx xxx xxx

When the Full Moon turns white that's when I'll come home
I am going out to see what I can sow
And I don't know where I'll go
And I don't know what I'll see
But I'll try not to bring it back home with me

Like the morning sun, your eyes will follow me
As you watch me wander, curse the powers that be
Cause all I want is here and now but its already been and gone
Our intentions always last that bit too long

Far far away, no voices sounding, no one around me and
you're still there
Far far away, no choices passing, no time confounds me and
you're still there

In the full moons light I listen to the stream
And in between the silence hear you calling me
But I don't know where I am and I don't trust who I've been
And If I come home how will I ever leave

Song of the Week, 2011-035, 願, 林憶蓮

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

矛盾好像從來都是貶義的。

我們的社會容不下矛盾的事和人，好像我們自出生便要歸邊，非黑即白。要是你有一絲的動搖便是牆頭草、是不要臉的蝙蝠、是沒有主見。所以有些人學會掩飾，學會虛偽，希望用巧言和包裝來蓋過那不被容許的矛盾。但矛盾永遠存在，存在於事物間，存在於關係中、也存在於我們各人的心裡。思考並不令我們免於陷入矛盾，反而思考使我們更發覺矛盾的無可避免。

很喜歡盧梭的一句話「我寧願成為一個自相矛盾的人也不願意成為一個充滿偏見的人」(I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices)。但愈來愈發覺要大方承認自己的矛盾一點也不容易，即使我們每天都過著自相矛盾的日子。

xxx xxx xxx

這篇有點不知所云… 因為近日陷入混沌狀態，就是在思考自己生活中的一些矛盾。

這首《願》充斥著矛盾感，也是我這幾天不停聽著的一首歌。

林夕的詞可以殺人。

希望快點找到出口。

Song of the Week, 2011-034, Falling Slowly, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

2011-08-28T11:22:00.011+01:00

這是我很喜歡的一套電影《Once》的主題曲，亦是2008年的奧斯卡最佳原創音樂獎得主。

《Once》是一套很特別的電影，雖然是低成本製作，卻一點也不馬虎，整套戲很自然很有真實感。導演 John Carney 稱它為一套音樂劇，這說法是挺準確的，而且電影的 Soundtrack 都要比很多 album 更有質素。相信這跟電影的參與者很多都其實是音樂人有關，男主角 Glen Hansard 是愛爾蘭 The Frames 樂隊的主音和結他手，女主角 Marketa Irglova 是來自捷克的音樂人並跟 Glen Hansard 另外組成了 The Swell Season, 就連導演 John Carney 本身其實也曾經是 The Frames 的低音結他手。這個背景不單肯定了電影的音樂質素，而且也確保了演員和導演的投入感，因為《Once》就是一個獨立音樂人的故事，我什至懷疑有些是他們的個人經歷。

我不打算說太多電影的情節，不過想說香港的譯名《一奏傾情》實在有點馬虎。的確《Once》的故事圍繞男女主角之間的曖昧及情感交流，但我認為那只是電影的部分，其實有另一重要部分是描寫夢想跟現實的角力和掙扎，男女主角各有自己的困難和障礙，而他們在追尋夢想時的互相扶持和提醒是最吸引我的地方。我覺得電影名稱《Once》並非只是說他們那段稍縱即逝的愛情，它其實包含著更深入有關夢想、回憶、情感、機遇等等各種的唯一的感受。

每一次都是唯一，但有些唯一將永遠留在心裡。

p.s. 因為《Once》而認識 Marketa Irglova ，實在太吸引了。是充滿氣質的美，發覺我對這些女生是完全沒有抵抗力的。

xxx xxx xxx

"games that never amount
to more than they're meant
will play themselves out"

For game like this
Futility and emptiness should be expected
Yet it is still tough when things fall apart slowly in front of your eyes
Things that you tried to make an effort
Things that you put your heart into
When it is time to close the curtain they don't really mean anything

I am not giving up yet
But I am waiting for the curtain call
Before that I will give my best and enjoy what's left of it

Song of the Week, 2011-033, Rock'n roll 的 style, 盧廣仲

2011-08-21T11:47:00.014+01:00

發覺我一直都沒有在 Song of the Week 用上小隊長的作品，這是不被容許的，所以要立刻補上。

盧廣仲有很多作品我都很喜歡，沒有艱澀的詞曲，一切都來得很簡單很自然。有些題材生活化得很有喜劇感，例如這首《Rock'n roll 的 style》。讓我想起許冠傑的作品，現在香港這類型作品不多，我可以想到的有 My Little Airport 和小克之前的幾首改詞。這類型作品是挺令人開懷的，音樂真的不用常常都是優美動人，輕鬆頑皮也有其吸引之處。其實人類創作音樂之始應該都是很貼近生活的吧，或者盧廣仲的風格是很原始的哩，是一種返祖現象...

他真是一個把音樂當成玩具，演唱會當成遊樂場的鬼才。不過沒有天才般的伯樂這類鬼才多數早被埋沒了，鍾成虎的膽識和能力絕對讓人佩服。

p.s. 總覺得盧廣仲 (Crowd) 跟陳綺貞 (Cheer) 的英文名有種莫名的配合，根本就是形容他倆同台時觀眾的反應吧！

2011-08-20T03:59:00.005+01:00

Just woke up from an immensely bitter and painful dream.
I have to remember it, as it might come true one day.

Be prepared for any consequences that you can think of for the path that you have chosen.
Reality can be much tougher than every nightmares that you can ever dream of.

"Do not regret, move on."

Song of the Week, 2011-032, Sunday Morning, Velvet Underground

2011-08-14T14:14:00.012+01:00

Actually there is not much to say about this song, but since I heard it the first time, it has always been one of my favorite morning tune. Some say the lyrics is about hangover after the Saturday night fever, some say it is about taking drugs. I don't know what are the reasons behind these interpretations, I just find the music makes a perfect match with the lazy, relaxing Sunday morning. The meaning is not really that important for me.

There is a video clip that contain precious footage of the band member when they were making the song (the first result in youtube when you search for "The Velvet Underground Sunday Morning"), however I found this MV aesthetically more pleasing. Let's enjoy a Sunday morning with this gem.

xxx xxx xxx

Sunday morning, praise the dawning
Its just a restless feeling by my side
Early dawning, Sunday morning
Its just the wasted years so close behind

Watch out, the worlds behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
Its nothing at all

Sunday morning and I am falling
Ive got a feeling I don't want to know
Early dawning, Sunday morning
Its all the streets you crossed, not so long ago

Watch out, the worlds behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
Its nothing at all

Watch out, the worlds behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
Its nothing at all

Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning

Song of the Week, 2011-031, Vltava, Bedřich Smetana

2011-08-07T02:52:00.011+01:00

When I heard it in the movie "The Tree of Life", it sounded very familiar and I tried real hard to recall its name and its composer. But I really had no idea, as the movie went on, I just gave up. Finally, I tracked it down and found this brilliant version.

However, I still have no idea why it sounds familiar to me.

The great thing about this masterpiece is that the Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, was completely deaf when he composed Má vlast Vltava. It is very hard to imagine how this could be done. I guess for these musical genius, music do not live with them, but live in them, that way music is truly everywhere in their life.

On a side note, when I was looking for this piece of music on youtube, I stumbled upon this brilliant Czech Beer advertisement.

English Translation of the ad:

- I can't write a national song, because I can't hear anything.
- But master...
- I CAN'T HEAR... a pen!
- "My Country" by Bedrich Smetana
- Go away!
- Pilsner Urquell inspiration taste.

Song of the Week, 2011-030, Cloud, 朱凌凌

2011-07-31T08:28:00.015+01:00

又講下另一隊香港 indie 組合 - 朱凌凌 / Juicyning。

認識他們是因為在電台聽到 Cloud 這首歌。雖然英文有些甩漏，但立刻喜歡上這首歌，也因為它而決定買他們的 Goodbye Badbye 專輯。專輯內的其他歌也不錯，另一首相當喜歡的是 Cheese Cake。

他們五人都是演藝學院畢業，曾經以他們自己的經歷作藍本製作及演出一套有關實現夢想的舞台劇《搏到單車變摩托》。不幸地我錯過了，但據我所知內容是有關追尋夢想時遇上的各種困難和趣事，有機會真要去看看。2007年的叱咤他們得了生力軍組合的銀獎，不過之後曝光率就好像少了，但不論如何絕對是值得一聽的組合，我的隨身聽都一直保留著Cloud這首歌以備不時之需。

Song of the Week, 2011-029, Just a Boy, Angus & Julia Stone

2011-07-24T10:55:00.006+01:00

"Love is not a habit, a commitment, or a debt. It isn't romantic songs tell us it is - love simply is... No definitions. Love and don't ask too many questions. Just love." (Coelho 2006: 258)

"You say you'd love to travel, but you misuse the word love. Love is a relationship between people. Your one desire is for the harvest to be a good one, and that's why you've decided to love the earth. More nonsense: love isn't desire or knowledge or admiration. It's a challenge, it's an invisible fire." (Coelho 2006: 183)

"It can not be desired because it is an end in itself. It cannot betray because it has nothing to do with possession. It cannot be held prisoner because it is a river and will overflow its banks. Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant and rank." (Coelho 2006: 196)

"After all, what is happiness? Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; it's sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we're doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony." (Coelho 2006: 129)

"According to the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, it was more important to give than to receive, but while these were wise words, I was part of what is known as "humanity," with my frailties, my moments of indecision, my desire simply to live in peace, to be the slave of my feelings and to surrender myself without asking any questions ........." (Coelho 2006: 243)

I take each step with courage and fear
Did I say I am just a boy

2011-07-22T13:08:00.007+01:00

we live in a reality that is constructed and destroyed by dreams.

惡霸

2011-07-18T12:33:00.013+01:00

已經超過十年沒有看牙醫，昨晚因為這個惡霸的滋擾痛得媽媽爸爸都認不了，完全不能睡，今天終於死死地氣去牙醫那裡檢查看是否出了什麼問題。

其實早知自己的智慧齒生得有點偏離航道，不過一直沒有感到疼痛，所以就愛理不理，由得他們在口腔內橫行霸道。也不知道是不是因為本人太有智慧，多出來的智慧都流到口腔滋養智慧齒，讓這惡霸的勢力日漸坐大。診所替我照的 X 光口腔勢力分佈圖所見，除了下顎兩顆「橫行」的智慧齒要留意，這個勢力範圍位於左上角的惡霸 (代號 W.T.U.L. - Wisdom Tooth, Upper Left)比起其他旁邊的勢力要突出 3mm 多，牙醫說那很容易傷及下方的牙肉引致發炎，再加上我感到疼痛，所以他建議我先把這惡霸除掉。經歷了一整晚的折磨，我也沒有什麼其他選擇，所以就把心一橫買起這惡霸的狗命。

牙醫很熟練的在 10 分鍾內把這惡霸連根拔起，然後以讚嘆的口吻說︰「嘩~幾大隻。」我鬆一口氣，感到除掉心腹大患的安心和快感。怎料牙醫再說︰「呀~以為是今天最容易的智慧齒手術，睇真 D 原來係最麻煩。」我心想︰「你都係想我俾錢俾得 Gur D 啫，用不著這樣說。」。牙醫繼續說：「佢"o銀"到牙根位置所以生牙瘡，要清理埋佢。」也不等我回答 (我的口也被撐到不能回答)，他就在原本是惡霸藏身的那個洞不停挖呀挖，雖然麻醉了不會感到痛楚，但那些「咯咯咯」的挖掘聲音和牙醫出力向洞的深處挖的景象真的令我感到毛骨悚然。我就知道這惡霸心狠手辣，就算死也要為難我。大戰了 10 多分鍾，終於牙醫停手了並對我說︰「攪掂~你看這就是那顆牙，而這些就是牙瘡的組織。好彩你決定剝左佢，如果唔係過幾日個牙瘡發炎，你就腫到成個豬頭丙咁。」那一刻我只感到茫然。我很快回過神問道：「我可以要番隻牙嗎？」一直在旁協助的姑娘很爽快的答應了。

他們把惡霸包好給我，再給我開了些消炎藥和止痛藥，然後埋單又是另一種疼痛。W.T.U.L. ﹗你真害我不淺。幸好我當時要求診所讓我處置你，即使現在你死了，我也可以鞭你屍以泄我心頭之恨。

P.S. 照片於惡霸剛被抓獲時攝。

Song of the Week, 2011-028, Perfect Life, ketchup

2011-07-17T08:53:00.011+01:00

上一篇說到香港的獨立音樂，其實除了 the pancakes 外香港還有很多值得支持的獨立音樂。我自己也是近年才留意多了，所以不算知道得很多，不過也希望分享幾個我知道的，讓更多人支持香港的獨立音樂人。

Ketchup 是我在英國時朋友介紹給我的。說是一個組合其實跟 the pancakes 一樣都是 one man band，而且不單是唱作，連 Album 的封面和 Artwork 都是他自己一手包辦，據我所知他曾經當過平面設計，作品絕對高水準。而他的音樂作品都是英文，我記得他曾經說過其實純粹是因為他覺得英文比粵語容易填，而從他對粵語歌的認識而且在演唱會上也會 cover 不同粵語歌可見應該真的只是填詞的技術性問題。

上年五月他曾經辦了一個據他所言可能是他最後一個演唱會，那個演唱會我有去，反應很熱烈，很多人都表示希望他繼續玩。我自己印象最深的是潘廸華也有來看，並坐在最後近中間的位置，其中一首是 Ketchup 刻意選潘廸華的歌作為致意，但是 Ketchup 唱了幾次都不到 Key，觀眾都偋息靜氣希望他會到 Key，就在到了那個危險甩 Key 位時候突然潘廸華放聲唱起來，變成跟 Ketchup 一起合唱，說起來好像沒有什麼特別，但 Ketchup 的心意和現場的氣氛再加上潘廸華不用咪也甚為響亮的靚聲，那刻居然有種莫名的感動，充滿一種承先啟後的意味，唱完整首歌後觀眾都熱烈鼓掌和歡呼。另一個我喜歡的環節是他會在唱歌前說一下那首歌的靈感或者其意思，當然還有他的爛 gag 和所謂的棟督笑 (其實他沒有這樣說，不過他真有幾分像黃子華，所以有些觀眾這麼說)。整個 Show 都很吸引。可能因為反應不俗和潘廸華和Joe Junior完 Show 後的鼓勵，Ketchup 繼續做他的音樂，而且也不時出 Show。

希望他繼續努力，我也會繼續支持。

Song of the Week, 2011-027, 阿X, the pancakes

2011-07-15T21:31:00.004+01:00

上星期六看了她的演唱會—the pancakes 妙想天開演唱會之十一《白痴仔音樂會》。

這個偶像會唱甩咀，會彈錯，會跌結他pick，會遊魂，而且無厘頭地在台上梳頭。真的很kai，很白痴。但我欣賞她夠真、夠勇，忠於自己的音樂。這首《阿X》應該真是她本人的感受吧。

媽媽說她的音樂很怪，根本不算是唱歌。我對她說音樂本身沒有特定形式，什麼算是音樂？什麼算是唱歌？是很個人的感覺。對我來說有人唱的都是歌，用聲音傳達感覺的都是音樂。而且支持 pancakes 的背後還包含我對香港有心的獨立音樂人希望表示一種支持。

香港獨立音樂人請努力！

Song of the Week, 2011-026, 十個救火的少年, 達明一派

2011-07-03T06:48:00.016+01:00

今年七一又是全家總動員(其實只是爸媽我三人)。

其實已經不抱什麼期望。但希望香港人都能夠多點留意時事和政治，不要把「政治都很骯髒」、「只是政客的遊戲」、「遴唔到我去理」、「搵食更緊要」等等作為政治或時事冷感的藉口。政治就在我們身邊直接影響著我們的生活。

「政治都很骯髒」所以我們更加要多留意、多監察，不要讓它變得更骯髒。為什麼「只是政客的遊戲」?因為我們都沒有去留意他們所作所為，所以讓他們把直接影響我們的政策玩弄於股掌。為什麼「遴唔到我去理」?因為當我們都不去理的時候，當權者便可以獨攬大權，到時你想改變更為困難，不是要人人都參政，但我們都應該多留意身邊發生的事，特別是直接影響我們生活的事。「搵食」固然緊要，很多政策決定便直接影響「搵食」，搵食艱難當然必須自己付出更多努力，同時也要留意自己的處境，爭取一個公平的搵食環境。

我以前都是一個對政治和時事完全冷感的人。雖然現在也說不上很熱衷，但已有很大改善，並且會經常提醒自己。兩段說話令我改變，以下是其中一段︰

首先他們對付共產黨員，我沒有為他們說什麼，因為我不是共產黨員；
接著他們對付工會會員，我沒有為他們說什麼，因為我不是工會會員；
接著他們對付猶太人，我也沒有為他們說什麼，因為我不是猶太人；
然後他們對付我，但那個時候已經沒有人會為我挺身而出。

這是出自一位經歷過納粹統治和二次大戰的德國學者。說出他為當初沒有挺身而出嘗試阻止納粹黨擴張而後悔。香港應該尚未有這麼危急，但我們應當保持警覺。

我們也應多加體諒和理解不同的人以不同形式去發聲。或者現在你覺得他們是滋擾，到不幸地有天你的權利被剝削時，你會渴望有這麼一些人可以跟你一起挺身而出。你不必同意他們，但我們必須捍衛大家發聲的權利。至於發聲的方式是否激進就應根據當權者所提供的途徑是否有效和公平來判斷，而不應以方式的本身去界定。

xxx xxx xxx

《十個救火的少年》達明一派

在某午夜火警鐘聲響遍
城裡志願灌救部隊發現
站立在橋邊

十個決定去救火的少年
其中一位想起他少鍛鍊
實在是危險報了名便算

另有別個勇敢的成員
為了要共愛侶一起更甜
靜悄靜悄便決定轉身竄

又有為了母親的勸勉
在這社會最怕走得太前
罷了罷了便歸家往後轉

十個決定去救火的少年
來到這段落祗得七勇士
集合在橋邊

為了決定去救火的主見
其中三位竟終於反了臉
謾罵著離開這生不願見

尚有共四個穩健成員
又有個願說郤不肯向前
在理論裡沒法滅火跟煙

被撇下了這三位成員
沒法去令這猛火不再燃
瞬息之間葬身於這巨變

在這夜這猛火像燎原
大眾議論到這三位少年
就似在怨用處沒有一點

在這夜這猛火像燎原
大眾議論到這三位少年
亂說亂說愈說祗有愈遠

Song of the Week, 2011-025, Free Ride, Predawn

2011-06-25T17:11:00.050+01:00

這裡原本有一篇由 Predawn 這首 Free Ride 啟發而寫的故事，不過我 Pat Pat 痕癢，把文章拿去投稿了，所以暫時不貼。相信投稿都是石沉大海，不過總要給個理由，以証明我沒有偷懶。

Song of the Week, 2011-024, Riverside, Agnes Obel

2011-06-19T08:02:00.025+01:00

Storm accompanied
by calmness and tranquility;
Decadence drowned
in sweetness and joy.

As it devour us
we fall into ecstasy
and slowly wither away.

Song of the Week, 2011-023, 紅豆, 王菲

2011-06-15T04:40:00.008+01:00

難道就沒有想過這如飛蛾撲火 ? 不可能吧 ...
不過試著換個角度去詮釋，換個方式去演繹。

我說過
我相信無常 ;
我相信虛無。
我說過
我懷疑命運 ;
我懷疑真理。
我依然如此相信。

但同時我也相信
當下這一刻於我的真實和永恆，
也相信這一刻往後的無盡可能。
因為無常，因為虛無，
我更會試著爭取，
我更會永遠珍惜，
不論盡頭是如何。

什麼時候是盡頭 ?
我們都不知道。
所以才會選擇留戀不放手。
撲向火光是因為相信 ;
相信火光背後的美好，
相信故事還未到盡頭。

那很傻 ? 或許 ...
如果選擇相信是很傻的話。
但要是一切都無常都虛無，
選擇相信也沒什麼壞，
至少我忠於這一刻的真實，
至少我尋過這一刻的可能。
我選擇了相信。
不是哀痛的飛蛾
而是淡淡的紅豆。

"我會相信一切有盡頭
相聚離開　都有時候
沒有甚麼會永垂不朽
可是我　有時候
寧願選擇留戀不放手"

Song of the Week, 2011-022, 六月飛霜, 陳奕迅

2011-06-04T20:19:00.007+01:00

鹿死誰手

Song of the Week, 2011-021, Grandfathers Dance, Harry LaFleur

2011-05-29T11:41:00.008+01:00

Everyone has a day of departure, but not everyone can leave in tranquility. We are all sad about the lost, but we are happy that you leave without much suffering. Also I am grateful that the family stay strong, and I think we take care of each other well. That, I suppose is not too bad for an ending. So I hope you wouldn't mind that I have chosen an upbeat music for you.

May you rest in peace and happiness.

Song of the Week, 2011-020, Ремонт , Flёur

2011-05-22T17:29:00.009+01:00

The Monday just passed was a rainy day. I went to university to return some books, accompanying me was an old friend who studied in the university for his undergraduate. He was amazed by the changes and renovations going-on in the campus. As we walked around the campus, he told me fragments of stories and memories. It is hard to believe 5 years (for me it is 4) has passed since we graduated and got ourselves into the real world (somehow I got myself back into the dream world of uni again, at least for a year).

I remembered when I was small, a day felt like a century, everything seemed to run in slow motion. Now, time is passing too quickly. Bomb, a day passed without notice. Bomb, a year passed with a blink. Things are changing in a flying pace.

"Things lead life of their own
When you are not looking"

This is an excerpt from the lyrics of the song. I guess many people have thought about it when they were little. I admit I did, I thought my stationaries communicate with each other and plan for an escape when I was asleep. I dropped the idea shortly when I found my lost pens, rulers, rubbers etc. under my bed covered in dust.

But now I kind of agree with it... in a different sense.

xxx xxx xxx

Flёur - Ремонт
(Flёur - Remodeling)

There are no tries
or home,
no silent allies in twilight
no dogs that I would know

Flowers in neat flowerbeds
Everything looks different
Unfamiliar, new
As if it's always been this way

It's definitely the right place
Just not the right time
Different time of year
Different time of day
It was so interesting
Mom, Dad and Summer

And I've turned into someone
Not paying attention to what was between the lines

Everything's covered with plaster
and freshly painted
Numerous little jobs completed
How do I go back to this other life
That seems like a fairy tail
When everything has been remodeled

It feel like I can see everything
But I can't wake up
I know that objects (things) lead life of their own
When you don't look at them
And the world behind your back is constantly moving
All it takes is to turn around
And I got distracted just for a second
When everyone around me changed completely

政治目的

2011-05-19T15:56:00.011+01:00

今天的行政長官答問大會我們那行政長官甫進立法會便以"社會有意見"之名批評一些政黨為"一己政治目的"，以法律程序及其他手段阻礙大型機建項目發展，損害"香港整體及長遠利益"。本人不才，對於法律程序、司法獨立、法治精神等方面及不上行政長官那獨到的見解，故此我只好退一萬步，從最低層次的邏輯了解一下行政長官之言。

先說說行政長官所說的"社會有意見"。 "社會意見"就是社會上不同的人因應自己的情況和立場對一些話題和討論有著不同想法，內裡包括各種正與反的見解，是一個概括性的詞語，沒有鮮明立場。另一個措辭是"社會主流意見"，這代表的是曝光率較高而且被認為是較多人認識或同意的見解，但我們必須清楚明白"主流"並不代表"正確"或"最理想"，也不一定是最有代表性因為它只是一種綜合性的泛論，而且它也會因時間和環境而改變。作為一個有效的政府就必須了解"社會意見"的含糊和不確定性，要以理據和合理的程序去支持自己的政策，說服群眾以穩固自己的政權。這當中不可能撇開"政治目的"。

每個政黨本身都有立場，而市民就因其自身的立場而選擇支持那個政黨，政黨的目標就是說服和吸納更多支持者以期獲得更多席位或成為執政黨。所以在民主體制下，政黨不可能偏離社會而為了"一己政治目的"，如果他們的立場有變，或市民發覺他們只為個人利益，支持者自然會流失。為了使我們的行政長官可以明白，簡單點說，民主體制下每個政黨都代表著一些"社會意見"。

故此，行政長官所說的"社會有意見批評一些政黨為一己政治目的，以法律程序及其他手段阻礙大型機建項目發展，損害香港整體及長遠利益" ，以現時的香港而言完全沒有邏輯可言，也不可能成立。有什麼情況這句說話會合邏輯 ? 有的，在獨裁政權之下，該政權便代表著整體，所有其他政黨及支持那些政黨的市民都是敵人，都是為了"一己政治目的"的敵對勢力。因為對於只會考慮"一己政治目的"的獨裁政權而言，所有反對聲音都是為了拉他們下台，都是只為了奪去他們的執政權，都是有著"一己政治目的"。所有不同意其政策的人民都是反動，都脫離了他們定義的整體。那個地方切合這情況? 很多，有一個就在眼前。以現在特區政府推動香港改變的方向而言，我們的行政長官非但沒有邏輯謬誤，而且很有先見之明哩 !

Song of the Week, 2011-019, Glósóli, Sigur Ros

2011-05-15T08:24:00.008+01:00

There is no better way to warp up the anthropology master course with one of my favorite music. For some unknown reason, this MV always gives me goose bumps.

This year of study is truly fun and inspiring. I have really enjoyed the whole process. The department is super nice and friendly, the professors are great, and all the classmates, both MA and Mphil, are really fun to play with. I am never an active person, but these guys, they are just brilliant, I have enjoyed every bit of time with them (although I always sit at the corner and don't really talk much, please bear with me, that's my character :P). I am sure I will keep in touch with all these great people.

So, why this song? Because it is about chasing the glowing sun. Wish all of you succeed in finding your glowing sun, and have an enjoyable journey chasing it. All the best~!

Song of the Week, 2011-018, That's Amore, Dean Martin

2011-05-08T18:25:00.003+01:00

This is a song specially for a dear friend who got married yesterday~!

Many people say one of the biggest concerns about getting married is how much money need to be spent, especially for the man. And the best part is that, you are not paying for the fun, you are paying for the trouble (in which the wife is/is going to be the biggest of them all). So, you see, getting married is indeed a test for the man.

I am happy to have contributed to such a test by making the husband to pay for overpriced ugly DIY wedding invitation cards.

So Agnes, you should be happy, since Raymond still kept a smile on his face even he knew he is ripped off by your friend. But tell him to treat you good, or else you can always let us rip him off again as a punishment.

Anyway, enough stupid talk from me.

Agnes and Raymond, all the best to you, may your joining together bring you more joy than you can imagine.

xxx xxx xxx

That's Amore, by Dean Martin

In Napoli,
Where love is king,
When boy meets girl,
Here's what they say...

When the moon,
Hits you eye,
Like a big pizza pie,
That's amore.

When the world,
Seems to shine,
Like you've had too much wine,
That's amore

Bells will ring,
Ting-a-ling-a-ling,
Ting-a-ling-a-ling,
And you'll sing vita bella.

Hearts will play,
Tippy-tippy-tay,
Tippy-tippy-tay,
Like a gay tarantella.(lucky fella)

When the stars,
make you drool,
Just like a pasta fazool,
That's amore.

When you dance,
Down the street,
With a cloud,
At your feet,
You're in love.

When you walk,
In a dream,
But you know,
You're not dreaming signore.

Scuzza me,
But you see,
Back in old Napoli
That's amore!

2011-05-03T12:21:00.002+01:00

STOP & FOCUS.

Song of the Week, 2011-017, Paper Aeroplane, KT Tunstall

2011-05-02T06:28:00.009+01:00

Something has to give...

I put myself into this position, so I have to endure whatever it throws at me. Now I am not even half way through, but I can already smell the burning ash of abyss. But I have no intention to turn around, I will keep my promise, a promise that I made to myself. Not for anyone, not for anything, just for the sake of making it complete.

Song of the Week, 2011-016, I Guess I'll Get The Papers And Go Home, Mills Brothers

2011-04-24T18:06:00.014+01:00

Couldn't find the Louis Armstrong version of this song on Youtube, what a shame, but this one is not too bad.

This week is the official final week for lessons, it is time to write the papers. In fact I shouldn't be typing this, as I have three papers on hand now, and the first deadline will be 30th April. MY GOD~! Really it's time to get some blank A4 papers, go home and lock myself up.

Honestly, I don't really know if I actually hate or love the process of writing papers, it is always a mix of frustration and excitement. But one thing I am very sure, papers are like zombies, they eat your brain.

Right, I should go now and let the zombies start their feast...

Song of the Week, 2011-015, Blowing in the Wind, Bob Dylan

2011-04-17T15:03:00.014+01:00

I can't find the Bob Dylan version, probably because of copyright issue. But this cover version by Peter, Paul and Mary is nice too, so let's make do with it.

I went to the Bob Dylan concert in Hong Kong on Wednesday, it was great! love it. I sat on the 5th row, but when the concert started I just rush to the front and have fun. However he didnt sing this song in the concert, he might get tired of it or something. It is understandable, especially for an artist who look for surpassing his/her past. When everyone ask for it all the time, you just don't want to do it. The freaking attitude of artists... but anyway I am grateful that he made such a beautiful song.

This week's song is specially dedicated to the Chinese Artist, Ai Weiwei.

I was never interested in politics before I entered university. I used to find politics dirty, and thought that it is only a game for those smart-arse politicians. However two quotes changed my perception and attitude towards politics.

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."
--- by Pastor Martin Niemoller

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"
--- by Edmund Burke

I do not think that everyone have to take an extremeist stance and fight, however, people should be given space and freedom to express themselves. We also need to think about the reason for people to take extreme action, it could be due to the ineffectiveness of other channels or simply due to supression, and for current Hong Kong, it would be both.

You might think that those people have nothing to do with you, or you might even find them annoying and damaging the so called "harmony" of Hong Kong, then please do enjoy your "harmony". However please bear in mind that "harmony" is only a silent violence. You stop yourself from seeing, hearing and feeling in the name of "harmony". When one day you are "harmonized" and no one is willing to speak out for you and fight alongside with you, please blame no one but yourself.

和諧便是最大的暴力

Song of the Week, 2011-014, Slow Down, Morcheeba

2011-04-10T00:44:00.007+01:00

Maybe I tried too hard.
Maybe I pushed too far.
Maybe it is time to slow down.
Maybe it is time to lie down.

I promise I am devoted and I can offer anything.
I guess what is most needed now is time, space and nothing.

I will let it flow,
But I am not ready to let it go.

Not yet...

Song of the Week, 2011-013, Hold On, Angus and Julia Stone

2011-03-31T16:46:00.018+01:00

Certainty is illusion.
Phenomenon is surface.
Futility is norm.
Exertion is the only way.

Song of the Week, 2011-012, Grey Room, Damien Rice

2011-03-27T17:07:00.017+01:00

In a room with its four walls flushed in grey, sitting on the floor, B and C are having a converstion.

B: Isn't it what you longed for?
C: ... yea... I guess so... at least it was
B: What do you mean by "it was"?
C: ... I don't know. It's just that, now that it came, I don't feel happy at all.
B: I don't understand. Are you trying to say that now you find out it is not what you really wanted?
C: I am very sure it WAS what I wanted. I wonder if I changed my mind as thing goes.
B: How's that so? Don't you have a clear idea about what you want to achieve?
C: Well, I thought I did, but now I am not sure. Maybe you are right, I don't really have a clear idea. Or, maybe I misunderstood everything, including myself. Or, it is just wrong... right from the start...
B: ......
C: I know... I know it sounds horrible...

For a minute which seems like forever, the complete silence chokes the grey room with its strong hand, until C starts talking again.

C: ... have you ever had the experience, when you were walking through a park, suddenly you found a path that leads to a beautiful garden, then you wandered into the garden and lost yourself in the scene, and kind of forgot about time and space?
B: That's just an excuse. You are only meant to pass through the park, not staying there, or touching anything in it.
C: Maybe it is indeed an excuse, but what is the meaning of "only meant to be", essentially it is just a subjective statement that tries to convince people that it is the only way to do something.
B: But there are always rules.
C: Who set up these rules?
B: It is not important, they are there so you have to follow. Certainly you can break them, but there are always prices to be paid. And this is life.
C: ... Life is terribly funny. At one point it gives you light and hope, at another it banishes you to the dark void. It always play jokes on you, humiliate you in all kinds of way and bring you to your knees... I always think "Life" gotta be a ruthless comedian who can just make fun of anything, otherwise it can only be a lunatic. I guess the only thing I can do is to laugh along with it...

B nods his head in silence, yet with a difficult expression on his face which shows that he is not really convinced by C. The grey room goes silence again...

The grey room... is a little corner at the back of my head.

Song of the Week, 2011-011, Salt Song, Stanley Turrentine

2011-03-20T18:27:00.013Z

Not exactly a song, but a nice piece of jazz.

Salt Song, by Stanley Turrentine, the bouncing and vivacious rhythm and humorous attitude just fits perfectly well with all the fuss.

Song of the Week, 2011-010, 島唄, The Boom

2011-03-14T16:44:00.008Z

For those who ride with the wind
to the far side of the scene;
May you rest in clam and peace,
up in the blue sky, above the sea;
We shall meet when the day reaches,
Until then you have our best wishes.

Song of the Week, 2011-009, 嫉妒, 陳綺貞

2011-03-06T05:18:00.005Z

如餓荒了的春蠶
落在桑葉上
如急風裡的星火
散在草叢中
以一發不可收拾的步伐
侵蝕那脆弱的心

轉移了視線
矇蔽了理智
劫持了情感
沈溺於自我世界裡
蘊釀著憤怒和怨恨

不再看見
不再思考
不再用心
狹隘地
猜度每一句說話
猜度每一個眼神

源於愛
止於恨
嫉妒使人忘記
嫉妒使人迷失
嫉妒使人
往深淵裡愈挖愈深

Song of the Week, 2011-008 - , 青花瓷 by 周杰倫

2011-02-26T16:12:00.007Z

猶記得中學時讀黃國彬寫的那艱澀難明的〈聽陳蕾氏的琴箏〉，那時候讀來真是一頭霧水"MA"聲連連，現在再讀卻覺得不是那麼差。就如Wyman給Eason寫的〈苦瓜〉說「大概今生有些事是提早都不可以」，這世界有許許多多的事都急不來，也不到我們去急，到適當的時候遇上適當的環境自然便領會。說起〈聽陳蕾氏的琴箏〉是為了這星期的 Song of the Week，周杰倫的〈青花瓷〉。方文山的詞真的美得可怕，但想來如果這是中學時的範文，方文山也有可能落得如黃國彬般被咒罵的下場哩。

"等待"從來都折騰人，而不知道結果的等待更加使人窒息。很多時候我們的滿心期待只換來更慘不忍睹的失望傷心，但無盡洪荒裡我們輕如煙微如塵，有時候除了等待我們真不知道還可以做些什麼... 等待是沒有其他選擇下的唯一辦法...

是嗎?... 或者不然...

有時候等待也是必要的，因為「大概今生有些事是提早都不可以」(又來了，這句什是好用)，不只是客觀環境的考慮，還有內心的各種掙扎，不同的壓力，自己心裡定下的一些對別人又對自己的承諾，種種因素都影響著我們的判斷和決定。有時候"等待"本身或者算是一種印證，一種責任，一種承諾。

我不怎麼喜歡等待，相信沒有誰會喜歡，但我知道有時候必須要耐心。

「天青色等煙雨」

hypersensitivity

2011-02-25T00:13:00.006Z

Everything scares when you really care.

Song of the Week, 2011-007 - 茉莉花, by 蔡琴

2011-02-20T15:02:00.008Z

Jasmine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-wp-FI3YYU&feature=related

Such a beautiful jasmine flower
Such a beautiful jasmine flower
Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds
Fragrant and white, everyone praises
Let me pluck you down
Give to someone
Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower

Wish the Jasmine blossom wherever it is longed-for.

梁文道：愛情是一種迎向他者的冒險

2011-02-16T11:16:00.004Z

《2010時尚》(主編寄語)記得幾年前看過鳳凰衛視的一檔節目，談到一個男大學生因為女朋友移情別戀傍大款，於是把她殺了這個話題。記得作為嘉賓主持的梁文道的愛情觀點很特立獨行：為什麼那個男學生就一廂情願地認定女朋友和有錢人在一起就是傍大款呢？他怎麼就知道他們之間沒有愛情呢？誰又知道他們之間真正發生了什麼呢？於是從那時起就有了請這個飽讀詩書，被易中天調侃為「梁文物」的梁文道，和所有憧憬愛情或對愛情失望的COSMO讀者談談愛情的想法—— 以一種非常文藝青年的方式。

徐巍：每年情人節，女人都期盼男人做點什麼，無論是鮮花還是禮物，而男人覺得女人就喜歡這些沒必要的形式。還是那個老問題，您覺得愛情需要儀式感嗎？
梁文道：儀式是宣告一個變化的完成。比如畢業典禮是一個儀式，婚姻需要儀式，孩子出生有儀式，這都和人生的變化有關。情人也是一樣，但是兩個人成為情人的那一刻很難界定，是他拉著我的手過馬路的那一刻呢？還是吃飯的時候他深情地盯著我的那一剎那呢？還是他直接在電話裡說他很喜歡你的那一剎那呢？這個「一剎那」是重要的，是一個儀式，因為你們的關係就因此而變了。

徐巍：聽上去很浪漫，可是現在很多女孩越來越放棄去尋找那些「剎那」的感覺了，從20多歲幾開始按照老公的標準去談戀愛，列出一堆條件篩掉不符合標準的人選，我們已經從一開始就放棄了尋找愛情？
梁文道：理想對象其實是一個很西方的想法。從柏拉圖開始，就尋找理想的圓，而理想的圓只在頭腦裡存在，理想的情人也是一樣。在現實生活中，任何尋找理想對象的努力都是徒勞的。我們應該接受直覺的引導，不要壓抑自己的衝動。

徐巍：可是愛情需要條件的，不是嗎？
梁文道：我們總相信一種虛妄愛情的神話，認為愛情是沒有條件的，但其實，愛情永遠是需要內在條件的。如果一個女人說，愛一個男人是因為他很有錢，包含的意思是很實際的。比如他安排了一個浪漫的約會，背後是因為他很有經濟實力，但是這個浪漫約會帶來的打動是很真實的。難道這有什麼不對嗎？女人喜歡男人因為他有才華，或者很帥，為什麼就可以？才華其實和財富是同樣的，都是造成你心動的條件。每個人都說，最重要的是人好，好像這樣才高尚，但是其實愛情總是和各種條件有關，你愛一個人總是因為某種理由，財富不見得比其他的條件更高或更低。一個有錢人，或許比較有機會有更好的藝術鑑賞力、見識、氣度或者某種更好的性格，這是和錢帶給他的東西有關的。錢本身就是一種資源，可以帶來很多別的東西。為什麼人喜歡發財，因為錢可以帶來別的能力。我們不能把一個有錢人符號化，認為他就一定要濫情，一定要無知等等。這種想法對有錢人是不公平的，就和歧視窮人一樣不公平。

徐巍：我同意。愛上一個窮人不比愛上一個富人高尚。愛無所謂高尚，各自獲得各自承擔罷了。現在一些前衛女性追求愛、性、婚姻三者分開的生活，您認為三者可以分開嗎？
梁文道：墨西哥文學獎獲得者帕斯寫過一本書，他說這三者是連鎖關係。性是人的動物本能，後來通過文化的包裹，有了愛的外殼，再後來社會制度化，便有了婚姻。所以性是最根本的，而愛和婚姻中都不可避免的有性存在。當然對於這個問題，各種文化的看法都不同。在日本，女人可以通過相親和不愛的男人結婚，做好媽媽，好太太，然後在外面有一個很愛的情人，偶爾還可能和一個有性吸引力的男同事去汽車酒店過夜。在日本女性眼中，婚姻、愛情、性三者是分開的。而在中國，對於大多數女性來說它們是綁在一起的。

徐巍：似乎男人一般很容易把三者分開。女人往往是從愛開始，之後在婚姻中尋求穩定，最後才會去尋求性。您覺得呢？
梁文道：有一個生物學解釋。雄性哺乳類動物天生喜好播種，從基因傳遞的角度考慮，必須要儘量傳播自己的精子。而雌性哺乳類動物，比如猴子，一方面她會在伴侶面前偽裝專一，而背後會放縱自己的性慾。因為生育的負擔在雌性身上，所以她必須鞏固和綁住一個雄性，讓他對自己的孩子負責。所以女性談愛，緊張愛，是出於對生育壓力的焦慮。當然這是生物學的說法，人不是動物。但是也不可否認，我們過去的文化，過分壓抑了女人對性的需要。我們其實不應該過分二元化對立，這樣對於男性和女性都不公平。

徐巍：女人學會對自己的性負責是很重要的成長。我記得曾經接到一個女大學生的來信，信中她說自己是一個很獨立的女人，但她同時又對自己的男朋友說：我把一切都給了你，你可要對我負責啊…女人年輕的時候常常把性當成自己給男人的一個餽贈，認為如果我把性給了你，我們之間卻沒有結果，那我就虧了。
梁文道：如果女孩把性當成禮物，那就是把自己當成禮物，當成附庸品。這個社會的輿論也是一樣，認為女孩失去了貞潔，就虧了，說明人們總是把女性當成性關係裡的給予者，被佔有者。

徐巍：我記得洪晃曾經笑談：睡多少男人才值？COSMO也曾經做過一篇文章《經歷過多少男人才能成為女人？》，性伴侶數量是現在一些女性談論的話題。當時我們一直糾纏在數字上，後來想想，所謂值和不值都是自己的判斷，我們既不必因為多而驕傲，也不必因為少而焦慮。只要我們有當下的樂趣和前行的資本和勇氣——COSMO一直強調女人在一段關係裡保持自我的魅力和獨立性，這是很重要的，比數量重要得多。
梁文道：這就和一個人喜不喜歡旅行一樣。有的人就認為人生在世應該多走些地方，見識不同的人，不同的風光，但是有的人就是不喜歡旅行，覺得在家千日好。後者在今天往往被忽略，甚至被誤解。其實這種人可能比喜歡旅行的人更敏感，他會感覺到每天從窗戶照射進來的陽光的細微差別，甚至一杯白開水裡礦物質的多少，這是一個太喜歡旅行的人容易忽略的地方。這就和一個性經歷很多的人會麻木一樣，所以我覺得我們同時也要追求質量。在愛情裡，我們難免會想要另外的選擇，追求更好的生活，但是你仍然可以在現有的關係裡追求更好的質量。

徐巍：如果說性事熟女的困惑，愛和婚姻則是年輕女孩面臨的壓力。比如對於一些經典的老生常談如門當戶對，一方面我們會反感這個詞，一方面我們又覺得可能父母是對的。類似這樣的困惑並沒有因為你是80後、90後而有所減少。
梁文道：很人類學的講法是，婚姻是財產的交換，門當戶對是為了不讓財產流到下一個階層。拋開這個不談，現在的大眾媒體製造了太多純粹愛情的幻覺，比如《諾丁山》、《泰坦尼克號》，這種故事很讓人嚮往，但是所謂門當戶對，不只是說很勢利的，和愛情無關的判斷。兩個背景不同的人很難在一起，是成長的背景造成他們沒有分享的基礎，這和勢利是無關的。比如世界上美女多的是，但是為什麼大款偏偏喜歡女明星呢？因為她們多了象徵資本，這和硬資本的結合應該是最門當戶對的。

徐巍：所以現在很多時尚女性宣稱：要名牌不要男人——她們對男人失望，覺得還是金錢靠譜。
梁文道：今天的社會，我們都不知道自己要怎麼活，大部分人證明自己人生有價值的方法就是通過消費。我們通過買不一樣的東西來建立起自己的風格，而每個人的風格其實都建立在資訊和廣告上。人有資訊焦慮，怕自己知道的不夠多；這背後其實是對風格的焦慮，怕自己和別人沒有差異；這之後就是身份的焦慮——我是誰。像你剛才提到的那些時尚女性，她們的想法如果是建立在物質選擇上，那麼她們的焦慮是會伴隨終生的。我覺得真正的幸福是一種安身立命的感覺，把自己安頓在哪裡。「剩女」或者「孤女」都不可怕，可怕的是她沒有做好準備，也沒有相應的能力來面對這樣的生活。

徐巍：她們雖然對男人失望，但潛意識裡又想，我已經等到今天了，就要找一個配得上我的男人。她們不願意放低自己的擇偶條件。
梁文道：愛情的條件和愛情的理想不一樣的地方在於，愛上一個人，是愛上之後才分析出的，但假如是帶著清單去找到話，就不是愛情了，你只是在考試，在買貨，這樣不可能真的愛上一個人，也不可能幸福、長久。抱著理想愛情去尋找，總會讓人失望的。如果那個男人滿足了18項，還差2項，你就會在意，離開去尋找，再找到滿足了這2項的男人，回頭想，那18項還真好。這樣就永無止境了。

徐巍：很多女人認為亞洲男性喜歡幼齒型的女人，尤其是三、四十歲的男性。您研究中國文化很深，同意這種觀點嗎？
梁文道：中國男人都是教育家，無法接受他老婆比他成熟。中國男人有一種特別強的父權心態，喜歡處於統治者的地位，小女孩乖，聽話，可以作為被教育的對象，這說明中國男人很不自信，內心很自卑，也很脆弱。不過在這樣的現實下，女人找不到合適的男人也未必是不幸的。因為這些男人這麼可憐，這麼可怕，找到也未必是好事。

徐巍：很多人覺得，在婚姻裡愛情只能持續一段時間，之後只能靠親情來維繫。但我們仍然期盼愛情，於是到了最後，我們既對愛情失望，也覺得婚姻乏味。
梁文道：愛情是一種迎向他者的冒險，是對未知領域的挺進。你要面對婚姻，雖然婚姻不能保證說明，但是你為什麼還要結婚呢？你為什麼肯堵？因為你在冒險。信任就是一種冒險，你相信一個人會愛你，不會傷害你。但其實信任是很脆弱的，你永遠沒辦法保證。所以信任很美麗，就像古瓷一樣脆弱。人之所以願意去追求這種美麗，是因為人很孤獨，尤其是到死的時候，那是最寂寞的時候，你最愛的人都沒法陪你走到那一段路上面。如果我是一個人，我不知道我所感覺到的那些歡笑和快樂是不是只有我一個人感覺得到。人生如此孤獨，以至於我們太需要與人分享。愛就是人活在世界上讓我們覺得不是那麼孤獨的很重要的東西。因為這樣的需要，我們願意去冒險，做世界上最不理性的投資。所以愛情是讓人成為人，又幾乎要超越人的一個很重要的東西。

徐巍：如果說愛情一定會變化，我們如何去相信愛情呢？
梁文道：人生無常。一對人不走到最後都不知道會怎樣。男人也好，女人也好，如果沒有自己過好日子的能力，那他也沒有和別人過好日子的能力。一個女人一定要有別人沒法拿走的東西，這個才是重要的。

徐巍：那對於不可控的因素應該以什麼心態去面對呢？
梁文道：我們太習慣控制風險，而這個時代什麼意外都會發生，但我們的控制慾卻越來越強，所以就會有非常大的焦慮。世界是無常的，我們又是凡夫俗子，沒有人逃得過變化，我們要有順應各種變化的能力。愛情也是這樣，我們要學習的是如何享受在不確定的情況下和所有條件去協調。就像航海，一個航海家不會喜歡沒有變化的航程，完美的天氣預報。他喜歡的是在海上感覺流向的變化，按照心意去協調，才能達到目的地。我們甚至要做好沒有愛情也能活下去的準備。

source:
http://commentshk.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post_8817.html

Song of the Week, 2011-006 - Uprising, by Muse

2011-02-12T09:32:00.010Z

This week's "Song of the Week" is sepcially dedicated to the people of Egypt. It is Uprising by Muse.

It is oversimplifing to say that it is the victory of the people. Revolution like this, is mostly a combination of forces by different parties, the Egyptian military and US government are probably involved directly and indirectly.

However the people is always as important as any other parties, without the uprising of the people, the military will no legitimate reason to support their action; without the uprising of the people, US government will not give up a single chance to gain any upper hand in the middle east.

So I do not agree with some people who suggested the revolution in Egypt is a military coup, yes, the military is indeed a decisive factor, in fact it is always a decisive factor in all major revolution. Force is always vital. Yet people's will should be given credit even if not as vital.

I wonder when will the people of a certain country wake up, or they just want to get lost in their illusion of an economic triumph.

Song of the Week, 2011-005 - Happy New Year, by Abba

2011-02-06T05:34:00.004Z

It is Chinese New year, so this week won't miss with a new year song. There are actually three candidates, and it's a tough decision, but here it is, one of the best new year songs, Happy New Year by Abba.

"Happy New Year", something we say almost every year, somehow I feel that it implies a "not-so-good" if not a "bad" year has just passed. In order to regain one's morale, the start of a year is marked as the point where everything will start afresh, and all those happened will be left behind. It is a vision we long for, and a self-comforting statment. I don't know if it is good or bad, but sometimes I do think that as much as we like to say "learn from history, learn from past, learn from experience", "forgetfulness" is one of the most powerful weapons of human.

We make mistake, we regret, we learn the lesson, then we forget. Some people say it is the vicious cycle of human nature. However isn't this view of a "vicious cycle" only valid when we assume a progressive human development? In a time where we love to reflect upon ourselves, where we love to go nostalgic, where we praise the glory of our past, can we still confidently say that human development is progressive? Or we just simply change the way of our lives?

However there is one thing I can be sure of, this vision of progress is what take us where we are now. And I don't see there is any way that we will be able to shake this vision away. So maybe we just have to live with it. After all time progresses whether we progress or not, Happy New Year.

p.s. I'm not sure when they wrote this song, but the release year of it is 1980 where the two members of Abba, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, divorced (exactly the two in the beginning of the MV). I wonder if the lyrics is somehow linked to themselves, where they felt sad but were trying to stay positive with a "Happy New Year".

Happy New Year, Abba

No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say...

*Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I*

Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

*chorus*

Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine...

*chorus*

Song of the Week, 2011-004 - The Fix, by Elbow

2011-01-30T15:02:00.019Z

Elbow made some very interesting music, and their lyrics can be witty and playful, actually i think they deserves more attnetion from the public. So it is good that their latest album The Seldom Seen Kid won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize and made a commercial success. Last week I have chosen One Day Like This by them, this week I decided to pick another song by them, also in their awarded album.

As much as I always like to believe that meaning of any artwork is subjective to the audience, I love to know what the artist wants to say. The Fix by Elbow is one of those songs, that without local knowledge (in this case, it is horse racing in England) or the artist's explanation doesn't really make much sense. It's lyrics contain lots of slangs and In-jokes.

The Fix is a song literally talking about rigging a horse race.

Once you know that, the featuring of Richard Hawley in the song doesnt only make sense, but it is actually a brilliant magic touch of the song. Since a fix seldom happens without teamwork, and Corruption never appears through a single hand.

So when we are talking about a morbid society, we need to have a bunch of inhumane capitalists, an absurd government and a large amount of mindless citizen... Yes, I am always cynical. Yet I never deny that I am part of this morbid society, in fact I might just contribute to its morbidness.

Our world only makes sense in a nonsense way.
Rationality is just another form of stupidity.

p.s. Richard Hawley looks awfully like To Kit (陶傑)...

p.s.2.
Here is the lyrics and some of the interpretations I found out or made up, any other suggestions are welcome:

The Fix, by Elbow

The fix is in
There's a nag(1) gonna dance home at Epsom(2)
The fix is in
Can't wait to see how it upsets 'em

Too many times we've been postally pipped(3)
We've loaded the saddles, the mickeys are slipped(4)
We're swapping the turf for the sand and the surf and the sin
Cause the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The odds that I got were delicious
The fix is in
The jockey is cocky and vicious

The redoubtable beast has had pegasus pills(5)
We'll buy him the patch in the Tuscany hills
And the Vino di Vinci(6) will flow like a river in spring
Now the fix, the fix is in

The fix is in
The snaps of the steward so candid
The fix is in
Yes, our pigeons have finally landed

The Donahue sisters will meet us in France
In penguins and pearls, we'll drink and we'll dance
'Til the end of our days, cause it ain't left to chance
That we win
Cause the fix, the fix is in

(1) nag = a horse in old informal English;
(2) Epsom = Epsom Downs Racecouse near London;
(3) postally pipped = "pipped at the post", which means marginally lost in a race;
(4) mickeys are slipped = slipped someone drugs, in this case probably the jockey or the horse is drugged;
(5) pegasus pills = pegasus is a winged flying horse in Greek mythology, pegasus pills probably means drugs or steroid is given to one of the horses;
(6) Vino di Vinci = Wine of Victory

Song of the Week, 2011-003 - One Day Like This, by Elbow

2011-01-22T16:31:00.019Z

I must say I find this MV strangely uplifting.

Occasionally I find myself in a good mood just like the happy banner man in the MV of this heartening song by Elbow. While I do not dance or sing, what I do in a good mood is walking. I simply love walking.

In fact I go for a walk when I am in both good and bad mood. When I am in a good mood, I am enjoying the scene, the atmosphere, the moment in the walk. When I am in a bad mood, I am thinking, reflecting and releasing through walking. Anytime is a good time for walking, but I espeically like walking at night and very early in the morning when the street are not so busy, though early morning walk is hard to come by as I sleep late and wake up late.

When I was studying in London, I walked to school most of the time. I lived around Paddington and my school is in Holborn, it is about 4km in distance and it took me about 45 minutes for a single trip. However it always took me more than 45 minutes, especially for the trip from school reuturning home where no time constrain presented. The extra time went to my exploration of other possible routes for the trip, and wandering in shops and parks. The trip would have me pass through the busy Oxford Street, the miscellaneous SoHo district, the extravagant Bond Street, and the beautiful Hyde Park. Sometimes I took a detour to Covent Garden for killing time or China Town for restocking on instant noodle. One of the regular stop of the trip is Charing Cross Road where many nice bookstores located. As a poor student, mostly I only "read-in" and seldom have any "take-away".

Those were some lonely but precious time that I will always remember and treasure.

I am happy that in 2011 there is a new light which ignite my passion in walking, and it is early morning walk that I am talking about, how great is that! I am very grateful about this new light, I sincerely hope that I can keep on walking and enjoy walking.

"Drinking in the morning sun
Blinking in the morning sun
Shaking off the heavy one
Heavy like a loaded gun"

p.s. next time when I am walking I will listen to this uplifting song, gotta be really nice~

Song of the Week, 2011-002 - Teardrop, by Massive Attack

2011-01-15T17:26:00.004Z

I always think the greatness of art lies in their ambiguity and openness.

When the artist put their works out into the public, they can explain what they want to express through their works. But it won't just stop there, the work of art will be like a new born which takes on a life of its own. The artist's will might still remains as a way for people to read that work of art, just like a child living under the shadow of the parents. Yet as time goes, the will of the artist loses its strength, the meaning and value of the work of art will then depend on how people relate to it. Thus, the work of art lives.

Some people are arguing what this song, Teardrop, by Massive Attack is trying to say, some suggest it is about abortion, some say it is about infidelity, some say it is about futility. I would say what you see from it, is what you feel about parts of yourself. Whether it is "fearless on my breath" or "feathers on my breath" isn't really that important. What really matters is that, it resonate with your state of mind, your state of heart.

It is my song of the week because it strikes my current state of mind.

"Teardrop on the fire" does sounds futile in a way, but when it is put together with "fearless on my breath", what it means is not futility but an immense passion that has no fear. I have never been so resolute in a certain aspect of life. I also don't know if the passion will wither, but what I am doing now will be a test of that passion. It is just a "teardrop on the fire" now, but I am "fearless on my breath". Even if it doesnt work out in the end, I will live with no regret, and I would love to have a "Nine Nights" in the end.

p.s. hospital noise at the start of the MV and the heartbeats at the background, makes it a nice theme for the medical drama "House". The vagueness of the lyrics also makes it very open to relate to the drama.

Song of the Week, 2011-001 - Cayman Islands, by Kings of Convenience

2011-01-08T17:04:00.045Z

In order to make a habit of writing something regularly, I decided to start with picking a song and writing something, no matter long or short, about it.

As the start, I picked Cayman Islands by one of my favourite groups, the Norwegian duo, Kings of Convenience.

There is really no particular reason why I picked it to start the "Song of the Week" section. Well... part of the lyrics is thinly related to something that I plan to do in coming week but it is not the reason. Yet I don't know why the song keep looping in my mind this week. I don't know how long this looping will last, but luckily it is not a bad song to loop in the mind, in fact it is a great one. It is Calm, quiet and soothing, so I am happy to have it as the song of the week, and as the first one.

The lyrics remind me of a trip in a town, Chartres, in France. For better or worse, there is not a special someone as my company like the song mentioned. I just went there alone, but it is one of the greatest trip I ever had.

Chartres is not the most famous tourist spot, but it maybe on the list of Christian visitors when they go to France, as its Gothic Cathedral is one of the finest and the preservation of it is brilliant, in addition, there is a sacred item, a Tunic which is said to have been worn by Virgin Mary. The Cathedral was the reason I went to this town, but I didn't went there for its magnificent facade, or the beautiful stained glass, or the holy tunic, I went there for its floor. I went there for the labyrinth built on the floor of the Cathedral. I wanted to walk on it!

Unfortunately, when I arrived, they were having some kind of ceremony, and chairs were laid out, covering the labyrinth on the floor. However, come to think about it now, it is not so bad, as I got more time to explore the beautiful town. Just like the first line of the song "through the alleyways to cool off in the shadows, then into the street following the water", I walked the old path, passed the stone bridges, entered the calm garden. Walking with my own pace, I enjoyed every bits of the joruney. It was calm, quiet and soothing. If there is any chance, I am definitely going to Chartres again!

"If only they could see, if only they had been here;
They would understand, how someone could have chosen;
To go the length I've gone, to spend just one day riding;
Holding on to you, I never thought it would be this clear."

The Plane and the Pigeon

2010-12-31T11:51:00.009Z

A piece of snow white A4;
With a few folds, a plane was formed;
Follow the swing of your hand, it took off without the sneering roar;
Yet, the humiliation was so hard to chew, when it is so well-formed.

The iron cage was cracked open;
The pigeon flied off, ran for its freedom;
It dropped a bomb on my head, and I was absolutely shaken;
I have to remind myself to learn from experience, the forever wisdom.

So tiny, dissipate like dust powder;
So light, float like a feather;
We are none for the other;
We are one under the ether.

Desperado

2010-12-08T18:30:00.003Z

come to senses...

Simpsons opening by BANKSY

2010-10-22T03:37:00.004+01:00

我可以說什麼呢...
日前才說起關於艾未未在 TATE MODERN 的作品"葵花籽"的看法，現在輪到剛發片不久 BANKSY 參與製作的 Simpsons 片頭。
一切來得太巧合了吧?!
不是艾未未跟 BANKSY 有路的話，這不算天意可以算什麼 ?

艾未未的葵花籽@TATE

2010-10-16T11:43:00.018+01:00

Tate Mordern 的 Turbine Hall 是一個奇蹟的空間。偌大的地方任由藝術家發揮，在香港這幾乎是不能想像的奢侈。

這次由中國藝術家艾未未操刀，用上億計的陶瓷仿製葵花籽把一大片的 Turbine Hall 填滿。其壯觀相信難以言喻，多希望可以到那裡親身感受，想像那情景應該跟史高治叔叔在金錢海游泳差不多(史高治叔叔是否已經很 out?... 沒有所謂吧，從來都不是 in)。正打算叫身在英國的朋友去玩玩，影些相給我看，怎料才開了三天就因為健康及安全理由禁止遊人進入該片葵花籽，改為只可遠觀而不可竊玩。TATE MODERN 解釋說是因為遊人在那片葵花籽上走/跑/玩時，陶瓷葵花籽會釋出陶瓷塵，這些塵可對遊人和工作人員造成健康影響。館方和艾未未商議過後決定限制藝術品的展出方式，暫時未有對策，也未知會否再對外開放。英國一向都是一個崇尚健康及安全的地方，有說已近乎病態的程度。我不是專家，也不知道他們訂立的準則是否合理。不過這件事再，加上艾未未這件作品的背景，就引發起我一連串的聯想。或者，這一切都在艾未未計算之內哩 !

說我的想法之前，想先談談在 TATE 的 facebook 看見有人問為什麼一片陶瓷仿製葵花籽是藝術。這是一個好問題，而答案也因人而異，因為自杜象 (Duchamp) 開始西方社會對藝術的定義已變得相當模糊。杜象認為創作並不只是藝術家的個人的行為，因為在觀眾解拆和分析藝術品時才是藝術品跟現實接通的時候，藝術家和觀眾並不能分開，創作是兩者加在一起的行為。概念藝術就在這之上萌芽。概念藝術一種著重意念表達和分析的手法，藝術品的體裁只是意念的具體表現，最重要是創作者和觀眾之間一種智慧上的角力。這是否藝術就看觀者對藝術的定義，在我而言我是接受的。

回到艾未未的葵花籽，只看看我在文末附上的短片，就發現這作品其實充斥著隱喻和符號。其中有些艾未未在短片中已略有提及，例如毛澤東時代有毛主席是紅太陽人民是向日葵之說。當我們走進那一片葵花籽，一步一步踏在它們之上感受那種有趣的喜悅時，當中的含意真的耐人尋味。但我更在意的是另一方面的解讀，想是因為本科的關係，對於製造過程我都很感興趣，對這片葵花籽的製作也相當好奇。跟據短片，這片葵花籽海都出自中國的景德鎮，一個以陶瓷出名的地方。這些陶瓷葵花籽都以傳統的手法製作，而且每一顆都由人手上色，每一顆都獨一無二，每一顆都是藝術結晶... 我們這麼以為。當我們看著那些製作工人一排一排的坐在長枱，替那些燒好的葵花籽逐一上色，這畫面跟我們想像的藝術創作相距多遠 ? 以生產綫來形容是否更合適 ? 片中較後的一幕艾未未問一個參與的工人是否高興，那工人高興地回答最好多點這樣的工作，這次她賺了兩三千塊錢哩 ! 最後這些葵花籽一大包一大包的送到 TATE MODERN ，被小心翼翼地舖在 TURBINE HALL。

這一切都顯得充滿反差，卻也來得自然不過。因為這都不斷地在身邊發生，或者更確切地說，我們都活在當中。我們活在一個疏離的世界。吃的穿的用的都可以很方便地買到。至於它們來自哪裡，也就只有烙在不顯眼地方的一個 MADE IN CHINA 。誰人有份製造，跟本不到我們去知道，我們也沒有興趣知道。而製作的人也顧不了他們製作的東西都那裡去了，又賣給什麼人，有時製作過程被分散得他們跟本連自己在做些什麼也不知道，反正有工資便很好了。這一連串的想法在鬧出健康安全問題之後更加強烈。有產品含鉛什麼有毒什麼的新聞屢見不鮮，我們都第一時間想到停止使用那些產品，加強檢驗或禁止它們入口便可以了，又有多少人會想到製作者們的健康和安全呢 ? (我自問沒有做到) 加上近來上學讀到馬克思的商品崇拜 (fetishism of commodities)，這一切都令我有很深的感受。雖然我不知道我的解讀是否艾未未本人的意圖，但我選擇相信這是他計劃的一部分，什至相信他跟 TATE 使用了英國對健康安全的崇拜來玩一記黑色幽默。即使這不是他們計劃的一部分，也只好說成是"天公造美"，把所有東西以最完美的手法表現出來。

20100823

2010-08-25T06:39:00.007+01:00

不要讓對事件的悲傷憤怒轉為對種族國家的仇恨.

不要胡亂傳遞煽動性資訊.

認真分析什麼對事件有幫助, 什麼才對逝者予以一種尊重, 一個公道.

人不只是社會的產物, 人還是'一個人', 不要把某些敗類的行為擴大為該社會每個人的罪.

珍惜自己所有, 也尊重別人所有.

安徒：「當仁不讓於師」之「哭中大」

2010-06-06T18:35:00.002+01:00

又要下筆批評中大，難免尷尬，畢竟還是母校。

但是這所「母校」近來的所作所為，已經令我等中大人感到非常陌生。為了拒絕學生在校園擺放一具雕像而搬出「政治中立」四個大字，如此理屈辭窮地回應，這所大學亦可謂接近自拆招牌的絕路。

高教領導人有辱斯文

可哀者，不是因為它被批評的餡媚權勢，而是它展露出這一批「高教領導人」的思想是何其混亂，已到達有辱斯文的地步。

大學之為大學的最高原則是學術自由、思想自由。而思想自由的前提正正是容納各種不同的政治、文化、宗教等主張自由表達，互相理性辯論，溝通差異，以追求真理和共識。所以，思想自由的前提正好是鼓勵師生提出不同政治主張，勇於表達，而非迴避爭論，沒有態度。

新亞書院是中大的創校組成書院，它的校訓出自儒家思想的「誠明」。而儒家經典《中庸》對誠的解釋是﹕「誠之者，擇善而固執之者也。」對政治、世局、社會沒有立場態度者，又如何能做到擇善而固執？

事實上，孔孟之道最討厭的其中一類人就是鄉愿。鄉愿指沒有是非觀念，事事刻意討好他人者。鄉愿永遠裝出老實的模樣，事事折中調和，沒有什麼主見，只會維維諾諾附和別人。孔子對鄉愿深惡痛絕，說﹕「鄉愿，德之賊也。」孟子也說﹕「閹然媚於世也者，是鄉愿也。」

中文大學不高舉思想自由的大旗，不以促進學生表達政治見解，提供方便與機會發展成熟政治判斷能力為務，而口口聲聲以政治中立為尚，是否說明它今日已成為一所鄉愿大學？

退一萬步來說，如果說學生展示一具雕像，就要審查其是否有違政治中立，它也自身首先破壞了政治中立原則，因為決定何者才符合政治中立、政治中立的標準為何以至由誰去制定執行這些標準，都必然是政治判斷。中大校方公然宣示自己以政治角度考慮學生申請，但所依據的卻是沒有經大學社群公開辯論而達成的那謂「中立」/ 「不中立」的準則，這表明了中大當局恰好不是在實踐政治中立，而是政治性地行使一己的政治判斷。那問題就不是「政治不政治」，而是一種違反大學是理性開放，宏揚思想自由，尋求真理共識之地的「壞的政治」。

雕像館藉口低能

不過，更荒唐的竟是消息指有校方高層認為，此例一開，中大就不能拒絕毛澤東、蔣介石、鄧小平等的雕像擺放，這會使中大成為一所雕像館。有網上的評論直斥這是低能，筆者也想不出理由不同意。因為，這是一種近年香港親建制的保守派不斷重複的滑坡歪理的最拙劣運用。而且，如果中大要忠於自己這套說法，那始作俑者應該是樹立唐君毅像的人，因為唐君毅生前毫不掩飾其反共立場，死後遺作也處處流露他的反共思想。當下中大校園內，親中商賈，愛國權貴的塑像、身影、名號卻也是四處可見，那為了貫徹政治中立，不左不右，為防各式政治立場的象徵物氾濫校園，那是否要來一場全校政治大審查，洗底以示政治中立？還是只許校方招徠權貴放火，不許學生良知點燈？

其實，今日中大校園早已是多元政治立場的象徵並存的地方，如果你在新亞尋得反共孔學偉人的痕迹，在崇基飯堂外的草地一角，你也會發覺那裏默默樹立着左翼理想主義年代的一塊勞動光榮碑。兩者象徵的政治立場和思想各異，但同時是各自時代的印證，歷史的印證，承載着各自當年熱烘烘的真實政治。它們出現的時代都有各種政治見解的交鋒爭辯，那些正是中大本身所積聚的文化遺產，也是中大人自豪的一部分。

可是，在什麼時候你會想像，我們會進入一個年代，在沒有交鋒爭辯，沒有是非標準的舖陳闡述下，一頂「政治不中立」的帽子竟然從天而降。這難道不是要毁掉中大幾十年來在人文、文化領域所累積的聲譽和家當？

我要問，這是一個什麼年代？

筆者所認識和受教的中文大學，是由殖民地時代一批有着憂患意識、文化理想和民族精神的學者，努力向殖民當局，爭取宏揚民族文化使命而創立的。中大的誕生，本來就是一種政治產物。憂患和苦難的意識，貫通崇基與新亞，和各各在顛沛流離中避秦居港的學者學人。

而今日日益邁向勞斯萊斯化的中文大學，卻是一所恭逢盛世來臨，在盛世榮耀中翻波逐浪，卻忘掉了生於憂患，死於安樂的知識分子責任的盛世大學。

事實上，今次在中大校園所樹立的民主女神像，與其說是紀念六四屠殺廿一周年的標誌，不如說是翻開了新的一重意義，紀念中大永恒不滅的一種道高於師的抗議精神。這種精神在《新亞校刊》新八期內由唐君毅先生如此闡述﹕

「同學們固然當尊敬施教的先生，但是尊師必與道相連。道即是理想，師之尊，在其有道，能引導同學向道。故道尤高於師。而一切師友同到道的面前，便立於同一地位，當負同等責任，每人皆可以當仁不讓。只有在大家能重道而又能當仁不讓時，師友之關係以大公之道為媒介而聯絡，而後彼此之感情亦才有堅固的基礎，才可以長久。」

上述這段引文其實是再引自三十九年前新亞一位同學劉美美給當時新亞書院校長及師長的公開信。《中國學生周報》頭版報道，標題〈劉美美哭新亞〉，內容訴說學生深受新亞儒家教導，心深仰慕新亞人人歌頌的「新亞精神」，要同學同擔民族命運，民族前途。但在當時風起雲湧的保釣運動前後，新亞的師長們卻明哲保身，寂然不動，光讓學生被捕被毆，校方卻保持沉默。連爭取中文成為法定語文運動，申請用校內「誠明堂」作為公開論壇場所都不批准。於是，在一片「新亞精神已死！」的批判聲中，劉美美發公開信與師長與校方對質。一時之間，〈哭新亞〉一文震動學壇，傳為佳話。

大學之不朽中大人的可愛

事實上，民主女神像生於北京學生運動，針對的是強權專制政府，但廿一年後女神像在香港落戶中大的事件，卻同時是針對一貫都有明哲保身的鄉愿傳統，並日益向靠攏權勢方向滑動的大學校方。

「吾愛吾師，吾猶愛真理。」──中大人守持大學精神，代代不滅。二千人護送女神，再次編上一章。將來在永久安放的女神像旁，如能同時在刻石誌上唐君毅以上道高於師的訓誨，及〈哭新亞〉的事蹟，那麼，這所大學四五十年來在苦難與盛世之間的跌宕與嘲弄，也不致全遭荒廢為散失的家當。

這是大學之不朽，也是中大人的可愛。

致公社兩黨

2010-05-18T07:35:00.004+01:00

致社民連及公民黨,

本人是一位80後(我討厭這標籤), 516去了投票, 也努力遊說身邊的家人朋友珍惜投票機會. 對於是次兩黨策劃公投運動深表感謝和尊敬. 雖然有很多地方值得改善, 但馬後砲之言對事件沒有幫助, 現在我們必須向前看.

對於投票率這麼低我也相當失望, 亦不想承認是次運動失敗了, 事實上從很多細節以致從廣義來看, 這次公投運動的結果其實十分正面. 包括兩黨的得票相對之前的選舉其實多了, 年青人的參與增加了, 香港人對政治的意識相對提高了. 所以在我而言這次公投運動是一次很好的全民參與運動, 因為即使是反對或沒有去投票的也被推動去思考今次運動的意義(雖然很多放棄或反對的理由很牽強, 而且到底也應該珍惜投票權, 絕不應該把政治冷感等同於理性和平). 但是從公投運動本身來看, 今次我們的確是輸了, 因為投票率的確沒有達到訂下的數字, 雖然現在的數字絕不能忽視而且絕對有其意義, 但無奈地遊戲規則就是如此.

故此, 我認為有必要承認公投運動本身的失敗. 但請不要誤會這是放棄, 反之我抱著正面的態度去接受這次失敗. 失敗本身並不可怕, 只怕沒有站起來的決心. 我也相信接受這次的失敗, 對於支持你們(或暫時未支持你們)的人, 尤其是年青一輩將有著鞭策的作用, 會為他們帶來正面的影響. 我自己絕對能夠接受是次運動的失敗, 這不但不能打擊我, 反之我更有決心, 要檢討和吸取今次的經驗, 更努力去做自己能夠做到的事.

另外這兩天留意到你們針對著民主黨及其他泛民對運動的冷淡表示不滿, 對此我行徑我並不同意. 固然我對於他們也很不屑, 完全認同你們的憤怒, 但現在這個責任歸誰已不重要, 而且指責他們也對於你們的形象帶來負面效果, 只會令不了解的人(可能是你們潛在支持者)認為你們嘗試把責任和視線轉移. 明白的人自然會用選票來表態, 就像我將改投你們, 不會把票投給白鴿黨.

從來, 擁抱失敗再站起來更加需要勇氣和決心. 而這次公投運動只是一個開始, 不是一個終結. 在這長跑的起點上, 給他們拌倒了一次又算得上什麼.

或者你們覺得我很天真, 覺得我不懂政治, 這沒有問題, 我只是跟隨自己的心, 對你們說出我的意見.

祝安康

Cal. 謹上

The Real Van Gogh

2010-02-24T16:11:00.022Z

有些人, 被摘下了光環會顯得更耀眼.

Royal Academy of Arts 的梵谷展覽 "The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters"就把我心目中梵谷的光環給摘了下來.

他沒有經歷正統的藝術訓練, 卻自成一格, 並且啟發了表現主義及許多當代藝術, 是一個天才. 他曾經切掉自己耳朵, 最後往自己胸膛開槍自盡, 是一個瘋子. 這是我一直以來心目中的梵谷, 一個瘋狂的天才. 這種想法令我覺得他像是有著牢不可破的光環, 超越所有凡俗, 是遙不可及的.

我抱著這個心態去看這展覽. 心想這也只是另一個以梵谷之名做勢的賺錢展覽. 不過既然難得遇上, 也去湊湊熱鬧吧. 然而這展覽完全超出了我的預期, 甚至驚喜也不足說明, 可以用狂喜(ecstasy)來形容. 一點也沒有誇張. 我必需說經過這展覽我為自己之前對梵谷的看法感到羞愧. 從此我看到的梵谷再也不一樣.

進入展覽場地, 偌大的展覽堂有一幅梵谷作品旁邊一個放了幾封信件的玻璃櫃, 並有一個簡短的介紹. 看看展場地圖知道共共有7個展區, 每個都不小, 也充斥著很多展品. 心想只是多展品罷了, 沒有什麼了不起, 中間沒興趣的可以略過. 也就不慌不忙慢慢看, 漸漸地進入了狀態, 愈看愈投入. 要不是時間比較緊, 要我待上一天也絕無問題.

這個展覽特別之處是不以梵谷名作以招徠, 其重點在於描述梵谷其人, 而描述的媒介就是他的畫和他的信. 作品和信都被策略地編排好, 他的畫作讓我看見他的作畫技巧上的轉變, 信件(主要是給他弟弟的)則讓我了解他的想法和感受, 順著看有如梵谷藝術生涯的紀錄片. 從如何面對學習透視法的困難, 到感到自己描繪動態的不足而不停模仿練習, 再到接觸印象派後使用顏色的改變, 每一個作品每一個轉變都有故事都有原因. 還有一個展櫃特別展出他最愛的書, 他熱愛文學, 廣泛閱讀. 從他的信可知他對文字寫作的執著並不下於畫畫. 信中也可窺見他生活上遇到的喜與憂, 不同的困難, 對各種問題的看法.

慢慢地一個立體的人就呈現眼前. 他再也不是一個超凡的天才. 也更加不是一個瘋子. 他的轉變是不停努力, 不斷思考的結果. 他是一個凡人. 光環摘下了. 取而代之的是無限的尊敬. 他的熱誠, 他的不懈, 他的執著才是他最耀眼的地方.

What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person — someone who has and will have no position in society, in short a little lower than the lowest.

Very well — assuming that everything is indeed like that, then through my work I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody.

This is my ambition, which is based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion.

Letter 249.
From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Theo van Gogh

Date: The Hague, on or about Friday, 21 July 1882

沒完沒了的一首詩

2010-02-04T17:11:00.006Z

藝術家艾老師流傳的詩...

國門拒正虎
南嶺抵北風
京坯平曉波
川府不作人

這首詩早該完結, 它卻像喪屍一樣沒完沒了在啃人, 逼人接句.
也不知道有多少人被啃了, 卻沒有留下名字.
鄙人不才, 斗膽替這詩續接...

國門拒正虎
南嶺抵北風
京坯平曉波
川府不作人
燕牆圍連海

但願這詩就此停住. 不要再啃人了吧!

言者無罪的前題

2009-12-26T06:56:00.010Z

看著劉曉波一案只能搖頭嘆息.

'不論甚麼人, 只要不是敵對分子, 不是惡意攻擊, 允許大家講話, 講錯了也不要緊. 各級領導人員, 有責任聽別人的話. 實行兩條原則: (一) 知無不言, 言無不盡; (二) 言者無罪, 聞者足戒. 如果沒有"言者無罪"一條, 並且是真的, 不是假的, 就不可能收到"知無不言, 言無不盡"的效果.

<一九四五年的任務> (一九四四年十二月十五日),
一九四四年十二月十六日延安<解放日報>.
毛澤東語錄. 十五, 三大民主節錄

這是中華人民共和國的偉大領袖毛主席所言. 這段文字相當吊詭, 其重點不在"言者無罪", 反而開首幾句才是主旨.

"不論什麼人"作開頭可以令聽者留心, 因為這句說明以下所述適用於所有人, 而聽者當然包括所有人之列. 吊詭之處接著便來, "只要不是敵對分子, 不是惡意攻擊" 其實就是說明這段文字是有條件的, 開首的"不論什麼人"是有範圍性的. 而區分這範圍的措辭厲害之處在於其主觀性, "敵對分子"和"惡意攻擊"都是主觀看法. 我和朋友同時愛上一個女孩, 在愛情上我們是敵對的, 但在人際關係上我們是友好的. 有一刻當我們其中一個決定表白, 這關係就會變得複雜, 是敵對還是友好變成價值取向的問題. 如果我跟這個朋友是泛泛之交, 我當然不必多作考慮. 但如果那朋友是死黨, 那就要看情況, 或許我退一步成人之美, 或許我們為保友誼一同放棄, 也或許我們下盟公平競爭而不損情誼. 至於要定義"惡意攻擊"也什為困難. 跟一班麻甩佬在茶餐廳大說"x你老母"可以是提高整體談話氣氛的"善意笑話". 但在砵蘭街對著一名金髮青年大說"x你老母"卻可能招致殺身之禍.

而對於偉大的中共而言, 我們要以最廣義的方法去分析方可了解偉大的中共那浩瀚的含意. 所以"敵對分子"包括所有異見人士, 而"惡意攻擊"則包括所有雜音. 因為偉大的黨大於一切, 價值取向之上不必多作考慮, 故此所有妨礙偉大的黨傳宗接代的人士皆為"敵對分子". 也因為偉大的黨根本不存在瑕疵, 故此告訴偉大的黨"你的頭好像有點亂"也是罪大惡極的"惡意攻擊".

想"言者無罪"? 很簡單, 只要偉大的黨說什麼你說什麼, 也歌訟偉大的黨的功業, 在這些前題下不單"允許大家講話"而且"講錯了也不要緊"! 偉大的黨果然寬宏大量, 愛民如子.

再看看劉曉波的判刑, 也只可以再次搖頭嘆息.

Levi-Strauss

2009-11-08T10:09:00.004Z

I have always wished I could listen to your talk or lecture some day.
Chances were slim, and time never waits.
We will meet through the amazing treasure you left behind.
Rest in peace professor Levi-Strauss. Thank you very much.

stingy

2009-07-29T15:10:00.006+01:00

口裡說著不介意
其實沒有誰比我更在意

Alone Again (Naturally) [Song of Suicide #2]

2009-04-14T16:22:00.017+01:00

上一篇談到 Melpo Mene 的 I Adore You, 旋律輕快卻是自殺歌(只限傳聞及我的闡釋而已), 令我想起另一曲. 這首歌旋律聽來同樣是比較輕鬆, 但一看歌詞便會驚覺它的灰沉和悲痛. 而且相對 I Adore You 的曖昧, 這首歌劈頭就直接說出自殺意圖, 沒有一絲含糊. 毫無疑問這是一首自殺歌.

說的就是愛爾蘭唱作人 Gilbert O'Sullivan 1972年的作品 Alone Again (Naturally). 內容講述主角的配偶悔婚, 婚禮當日沒有出現, 遺下困惑的主角於教堂. 受不了這打擊, 主角決定了結自己生命, 並回開始墮進自憐的深淵. 感到被神遺棄, 又憶起父母離去的悲傷. 歌詞相當灰暗抑鬱.

由於 Youtube 不容許 embedding, 請移玉步到 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P-v1BVQn8]欣賞. 另外, 歌詞置於文末.

Youtube 這個 embedding 禁止, 正好讓我帶入有關這首歌的另一話題. 這曲在英美的受歡迎程度固然是一項成就, 其影響力卻不止於此, 在音樂創作方面要說這曲影響深遠也絕不誇張. 想說的就是 1991 年的 Grand Upright Music Ltd. 對 Warner Bros. Records Inc. 的版權官司. 當年 Warner Bros 旗下的紐約 rapper Biz Markie 用了部分 Alone Again (Naturally) 於他自己的專輯 I Need A Haircut. 在這之前用原作 sample 於 mixing 在 hip-hop 一向十分普遍. 但是這場官司 Warner Bros 最後敗訴了, 這就立下了必須要取得版權擁有者同意才可以採用歌曲作 sample 的案例. 這可說是對 hip-hop 音樂來一個番天覆地, 從此改變了 hip-hop 創作. 所以不要輕視這自殺歌.

Alone Again (Naturally)

In a little while from now
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it's like when you're shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Where people saying: "My god, that's tough
She's stood him up
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home"
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally

To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to well wouldn't do
The role i was about to play
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much, as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me in doubt
Talk about God and His mercy
Or if He really does exist
Why did He desert me in my hour of need
I truly am indeed Alone again, naturally

It seems to me that there are more hearts
Broken in the world that can't be mended
Left unattended
What do we do? What do we do?

Alone again, naturally
Now looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears

And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn't understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
Alone again, naturally

I Adore You [Song of Suicide #1]

2009-04-11T13:28:00.006+01:00

Right... this place is full of weed now (Not those that Obama and many of you smoked, i am just talking about those that just come from nowhere). Suddenly the mood for some writing exercise is coming back, so I guess its time for some clean up and revive this place... for a while maybe.

Actually, There is nothing in my mind that I really want to write about, I just have this urge for a bit of writing. In that case, I guess I will just write about a song that I love recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPAcnWQSzLY

Never mind the Volvo car(I do think that Volvo is getting better, not as old guy's tank as they used to look), the background music is what captured my attention. The song is "I Adore You" by Melpo Mene. I am not too sure about how the song relate to the car, but surely Volvo wouldn't mind there are more people "adore" their car or even better their brand. I guess the main connection would be that both of them are from Sweden. Volvo is a Swedish car maker, while Melpo Mene is a swedish indie pop band lead by Erik Mattiasson from Stockholm.

Back to the song itself, in my opinion the music is soft, calm and somehow upbeat. It is quite a comfortable song, kind of like a lullaby, especially with the sleepy voice of Erik Mattiasson(I guess it is him doing the vocal? right?). However there are saying that this song is actually about death or maybe even suicide.

Here comes the beautiful MV of the full song and the lyric,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWi7Vfc3Sxw

Lost in a daydream of blue
I feel so free
And then it's like I fall from the sky
Everything that I see is you
And you should know that
I'm thinking about what you said
When you held my hand

Oh, I adore you

Now we are older and things disappeared somehow
And I was thinking that maybe
We'd stand better chance if we met today
I find myself talking to sharks
On my way to an island, and still

I adore you

I was young, I was old
And we were in, we were out
I wanna see, I wanna see it all
I wanna die, I wanna die
Sweetheart, sweetheart
I thought I saw
I thought I saw a light
I see it now, I see it now

From the lyric, I guess its understandable why some people think that it is about death or suicide. In fact, the last part of the song is very similar to the way many movies or any other medium depict the experience of death. "I was young, I was old" hints the quick flashback of ones life. Then "I thought I saw a light... I see it now" is a common depiction of what one sees during the final moment. And for myself, I do think that it is a song about suicide for love.

Music and art are always subjective, always up to individual interpretation, you don't have to agree with this suicidal kind of interpretation. However I just find it to be more interesting this way, and there is something funny and odd when a song of suicide is related to an auto company that emphasize in safety.

Why we are, as we are

2009-01-15T18:25:00.003Z

Darwinism

Why we are, as we are

Dec 18th 2008
From The Economist print edition

As the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On The Origin of Species” approaches, the moment has come to ask how Darwin’s insights can be used profitably by policymakers

Illustration by Noma Bar

WEALTH, according to H.L. Mencken, an American satirist of the last century, “is any income that is at least $100 more a year than the income of one’s wife’s sister’s husband.” Adjusted for inflation since 1949, that is not a bad definition. But why do those who are already well-off feel the need to out-earn other people? And why, contrariwise, is it so hard to abolish poverty?

America, Mencken’s homeland, executes around 40 people a year for murder. Yet it still has a high murder rate. Why do people murder each other when they are almost always caught and may, in America at least, be killed themselves as a result?

Why, after 80 years of votes for women, and 40 years of the feminist revolution, do men still earn larger incomes? And why do so many people hate others merely for having different coloured skin?

Traditionally, the answers to such questions, and many others about modern life, have been sought in philosophy, sociology, even religion. But the answers that have come back are generally unsatisfying. They describe, rather than explain. They do not get to the nitty-gritty of what it truly is to be human. Policy based on them does not work. This is because they ignore the forces that made people what they are: the forces of evolution.

The reasons for that ignorance are complex. Philosophers have preached that there exists between man and beast an unbridgeable distinction. Sociologists have been seduced by Marxist ideas about the perfectibility of mankind. Theologians have feared that the very thought of evolution threatens divine explanations of the world. Even fully paid-up members of the Enlightenment, people who would not for a moment deny humanity’s simian ancestry, are often sceptical. They seem to believe, as Anne Campbell, a psychologist at Durham University, in England, elegantly puts it, that evolution stops at the neck: that human anatomy evolved, but human behaviour is culturally determined.

The corollary to this is the idea that with appropriate education, indoctrination, social conditioning or what have you, people can be made to behave in almost any way imaginable. The evidence, however, is that they cannot. The room for shaping their behaviour is actually quite limited. Unless that is realised, and the underlying biology of the behaviour to be shaped is properly understood, attempts to manipulate it are likely to fail. Unfortunately, even as the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s masterwork, “On The Origin of Species”, approaches (it was published in 1859) that fact has not been properly accepted. Time, then, to see what a Darwinian analysis has to offer the hard-pressed policymaker, and whether it can make a practical difference to outcomes.

Mencken’s observation neatly explains two aspects of modern life. One is the open-endedness of economic growth. The other is that no matter how rich your country becomes, the poor you will always have with you. But what explains Mencken’s observation?

For a Darwinian, life is about two things: survival and reproduction. Of the two, the second is the more significant. To put it crudely, the only Darwinian point of survival is reproduction. As a consequence, much of daily existence is about showing off, subtly or starkly, in ways that attract members of the opposite sex and intimidate those of the same sex. In humans—unlike, say, peafowl, where only the cocks have the flashy tails, or deer, where only the stags have the chunky antlers—both sexes engage in this. Men do it more than women, but you need look no further than Ascot race course on Gold Cup day to see that women do it too. Status and hierarchy matter. And in modern society, status is mediated by money.

Girls have always liked a rich man, of course. Darwinians used to think this was due to his ability to provide materially for their children. No doubt that is part of it. But the thinking among evolutionary biologists these days is that what is mainly going on is a competition for genes, not goods. High-status individuals are more likely to have genes that promote health and intelligence, and members of the opposite sex have been honed by evolution to respond accordingly. A high-status man will get more opportunities to mate. A high-status woman can be more choosy about whom she mates with.

Life is about survival and reproduction

For men, at least, this is demonstrably true. Evolutionary biologists are fond of quoting extreme examples to make the point, the most famous being Moulay Ismail the Bloodthirsty, a Moroccan ruler who fathered over 1,000 children. But kings have powers of coercion. Some better examples are provided by Joe Studwell, in his book “Asian Godfathers”, which dissects the lives of businessmen. Stanley Ho, a veteran operator in Hong Kong and Macau, has 17 children by several women. Oei Tiong Ham, a tycoon who died in 1924, had 18 concubines and 42 children. The relationship holds good further down the social ladder. Danile Nettle and Thomas Pollet, of Newcastle University, recently showed that in Britain the number of children a man has fathered is, on average, related to his income, the spread of modern contraception notwithstanding.

Status, though, is always relative: it is linked to money because it drives the desire to make more of the stuff in order to outdo the competition. This is the ultimate engine of economic growth. Since status is a moving target, there is no such thing as enough money.

The relative nature of status explains the paradox observed in 1974 by an economist called Richard Easterlin that, while rich people are happier than poor people within a country, average happiness does not increase as that country gets richer. This has been disputed recently. But if it withstands scrutiny it means the free-market argument—that because economic growth makes everybody better off, it does not matter that some are more better off than others—does not stand up, at least if “better off” is measured in terms of happiness. What actually matters, Darwinism suggests, is that a free society allows people to rise through the hierarchy by their own efforts: the American dream, if you like.

Conversely, the Darwinian explanation of continued support for socialism—in the teeth of evidence that it results in low economic growth—is that even though making the rich poorer would not make the poor richer in financial terms, it would change the hierarchy in ways that people at the bottom would like. When researchers ask people whether they would rather be relatively richer than their peers even if that means they are absolutely worse off, the answer is yes. (Would you rather earn $100,000 when all your friends earn $50,000, or $150,000 when everybody else earns $300,000?) The reason socialism does not work in practice is that this is not a question that most people ask themselves. What they ask is how to earn $300,000 when all around them people are earning $50,000.

A Darwinian analysis does, however, support one argument frequently made by the left and pooh-poohed by the right. This is that poverty is relative. The starkest demonstration of this, discovered by Richard Wilkinson of Nottingham University, in England, is that once economic growth has lifted a country out of penury, its inhabitants are likely to live longer, healthier lives if there are not huge differences between their incomes. This means that poorer countries with low income-variation can outscore richer ones with high variation. It is also true, as was first demonstrated by Michael Marmot, of University College, London, that those at the bottom of social hierarchies have worse health than those at the top—even when all other variables are statistically eliminated, including the fact that those who are healthier are more likely to rise to the top in the first place.

In the 1970s, when Dr Marmot made this observation, expert opinion predicted the opposite. Executives were expected to suffer worse stress than groundlings, and this was expected to show up as heart attacks, strokes and so forth. In fact, the opposite is true. It is the Darwinian failure of being at the bottom of the heap that is truly stressful and bad for the health. That, writ large, probably explains the mortality patterns of entire countries.

In this case, therefore, the Darwinian conclusion is that there is no right answer—or at least no Utopian one. Of course, it does not take a Darwinist to work out that any competition has losers. The illuminating point is that losing has a real cost, not just the absence of gain. With the stakes this high—early death for the failures and genetic continuity for the successes—it is hardly surprising that those at the bottom of the heap sometimes seek status, or at least “respect”, in other ways. This is a point that should be taken seriously by policymakers. For those “other ways” are also explicable by Darwinism.

That crime is selfish is hardly news. But the idea that criminal behaviour is an evolved response to circumstances sounds shocking. It calls into question the moral explanation that crime is done by “bad people”. Yet that explanation is itself susceptible to Darwinian analysis: evolution probably explains why certain behaviours are deemed worthy of punishment.

The study of the evolutionary roots of crime began with the work of Martin Daly and Margo Wilson, a married couple who work at McMaster University in Canada. They looked at what is usually regarded as the most serious crime of all, murder.

That murderers are usually young men is well known, but Dr Daly and Dr Wilson dug a bit deeper. They discovered that although the murder rate varies from place to place, the pattern does not. Plot the rate against the age of the perpetrator and the peak is the same (see chart). Moreover, the pattern of the victims is similar. They, too, are mostly young men. In the original study, 86% of the victims of male killers aged between 15 and 19 were also male. This is the clue as to what is going on. Most violence (and thus most murder, which is simply violence’s most extreme expression) is a consequence of competition between young, unemployed, unmarried men. In the view of Darwinists, these men are either competing for women directly (“You looking at my girl, Jimmy?”) or competing for status (“You dissing me, man?”).

This is not to deny that crimes of violence are often crimes of poverty (for which read low status). But that is precisely what Darwinism would predict. There is no need to invoke the idea that people are “born criminal”. All that is required is the evolution of enough behavioural flexibility to respond appropriately when violence is (or would have been, in the evolutionary past) an appropriate response.

Crime…

An evolutionary analysis explains many things about crime (and not just murder)—particularly why most criminals are males of low status. A woman will rarely have difficulty finding a mate, even if he does not measure up to all her lofty ideals. In the world of Moulay Ismail the Bloodthirsty, however, a low-status man may be cast on the reproductive scrap heap because there are no women available to him at all. Though the world in which humanity evolved was nowhere near as polygamous as Moulay Ismail’s, neither did it resemble the modern one of monogamous marriage, which distributes women widely. In those circumstances, if the alternative was reproductive failure, risking the consequences of violence may have been are worth the gamble—and instincts will have evolved accordingly.

For similar reasons, it is no surprise to Darwinists that those who rape strangers are also men of low status. Oddly, considering it is an act that might result in a child, the idea that rape is an evolved behaviour is even more controversial than the Darwinian explanation of murder. Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico, who proposed it on the basis of criminal data and by comparing people with other species, was excoriated by feminists who felt he was somehow excusing the crime. On the other hand, it has become a mantra among some feminists that all men are rapists, which sounds a lot like the opposite point of view: biological determinism. Insert the word “potential”, however, and this claim is probably true. To a Darwinist, the most common form of forced mating, so-called date rape, which occurs in an already charged sexual environment, looks a lot like an adaptive response. Men who engage in it are likely to have more offspring than those who do not. If a genetic disposition for men to force their attentions on women in this way does exist, it would inevitably spread.

Sexual success, by contrast, tends to dampen criminal behaviour down. Getting married and having children—in other words, achieving at least part of his Darwinian ambition—often terminates a criminal’s career. Again, that is a commonplace observation. However, it tends to be explained as “the calming influence of marriage”, which is not really an explanation at all. “Ambition fulfilled” is a better one.

Illustration by Noma Bar

The murder of children, too, can be explained evolutionarily. On the face of things it makes no sense to kill the vessels carrying your genes into the next generation. And, indeed, that is not what usually happens. But sociologists failed to notice this. It was not until Dr Daly and Dr Wilson began researching the field that it was discovered that a child under five is many times more likely to die an unnatural death in a household with a stepfather present (whether or not that relationship has been formalised by law) than if only biological parents are there.

In this, humans follow a pattern that is widespread in mammals: male hostility to a female’s offspring from previous matings. In some species, such as lions and langurs, this results in deliberate infanticide. In humans things not are always as brutal and explicit. But neglect and a low threshold of irritation at the demands of a dependent non-relative can have the same effect.

Intriguingly, though, if a genetic parent is the killer it is often the mother. Infanticidal mothers are usually young. A young mother has many years of potential reproduction ahead of her. If circumstances do not favour her at the time (perhaps the father has deserted her) the cost to her total reproductive output of bringing up a child may exceed the risk of killing it. Not surprisingly, maternal infanticide is mainly a crime of poor, single women.

Many people might sympathise with those driven to commit this particular form of homicide. But in general crimes such as murder and rape provoke a desire to punish the perpetrators, not to forgive them. That, too, is probably an evolved response—and it may well be a uniquely human one. No court sits in judgment over a drake who has raped a duck. A lioness may try to defend her cubs against infanticide, but if she fails she does not plan vengeance against the male who did it. Instead, she usually has sex with him. Yet ideas of revenge and punishment lie deep in the human psyche.

…and punishment

Economists were long puzzled, for example, by the routine outcome of a game in which one player divides a sum of money between himself and a competitor, who then decides whether the shares are fair. If the second player decides the shares are not fair, neither player gets anything.

What is curious about this game is that, in order to punish the first player for his selfishness, the second player has deliberately made himself worse off by not accepting the offer. Many evolutionary biologists feel that the sense of justice this illustrates, and the willingness of one player to punish the other, even at a cost to himself, are among the things that have allowed humans to become such a successful, collaborative species. In the small social world in which humans evolved, people dealt with the same neighbours over and over again. Punishing a cheat has desirable long-term consequences for the person doing the punishing, as well as for the wider group. In future, the cheat will either not deal with him or will do so more honestly. Evolution will favour the development of emotions that make such reactions automatic.

What goes for cheating goes for other bad behaviour, up to and including the murder of relatives and friends. Moreover, if publicly observed, punishment sends the same message to those who might be considering a similar course of action.

It is therefore one of the marvels of civilisation that punishment and revenge have, for the most part, been institutionalised. But to be successful, the institutionalised punishment has to be seen as a proper outcome by the individuals who were harmed. Otherwise, they might mete out their own revenge. That may worry those who believe that reforming the criminal should be the main goal of sentencing policy. If people no longer believe that the punishment fits the crime, a Darwinian would predict that they will stop supporting the criminal-justice system.

Even deterrence, however, does not always work. On the face of things, capital punishment ought to be the ultimate deterrent. But it does not seem to be. Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, suggests that this is further evidence of the reproduction-related nature of murder. Since failure to reproduce is a Darwinian dead-end anyway, risking death to avoid that fate—or, rather, being impelled to do so in the heat of the moment by an evolved instinct—is not as stupid as it looks. Some sorts of murder might be discouraged by the threat of the noose or the needle. But not the most common sort: young man on young man over status and sex.

A woman’s place

Crime, then, is one field in which women are unequal with men. That does not bother feminists, but perhaps it should. For it might reflect a wider truth which those who believe that the sexes should not merely have equal rights but enjoy equal outcomes will find uncomfortable.

When outcomes are unequal in socially acceptable areas of behaviour, such as employment, it is often interpreted as a sign of discrimination. But people who draw this conclusion rarely consider that the discrimination in question might actually be being exercised by the supposedly disadvantaged women themselves.

A classic example is income. Women earn less than men. Or do they? In fact, younger women do not, or not much. A recent report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a British think-tank, found that British women aged between 22 and 29 who were in full-time employment earned only 1% less than their male counterparts. This age group corresponds for many women to the period when they are single. Once they have found the best available mate, the calculation changes: a woman no longer needs to show off.

In that context, it is less of a surprise that older women are out-earned by their male contemporaries. One reason is that they now care less about the size of their earnings. Of the top 25 ideal employers, as chosen by women, the IEA found that 12 were in the public or voluntary sectors—areas where salaries for equivalent work tend to be lower than in the private sector, though job security is higher and job satisfaction is often believed to be greater. For men, only four employers were in this category. The other reason, of course, is that women usually look after the children. Indeed, the study by Dr Nettle and Dr Pollet which found that reproductive success correlates with men’s income, also points out that with women the correlation is inverted. But the IEA study also found that it is women themselves who are taking the decisions about child care. It reports that two-thirds of the women who had not already had a “career break”, as it is euphemistically known, planned to take one at some point in the future. Less than an eighth of men had similar aspirations. That, too, would be predicted by a Darwinist.

Although there is a strong argument for making working conditions more sympathetic to the needs of parents of both sexes, the underlying point is that many women—and certainly many women with children—do not care as much about striving ahead in their careers as men do. Men, the report found, are more motivated by pay and less by job satisfaction than women are. If managers, they are more likely to work long hours. They also take more risks—or, at least, are more frequently injured at work.

The consequence, as Len Shackleton, the IEA report’s main author, puts it, is that: “The widespread belief that the gender pay gap is a reflection of deep-rooted discrimination by employers is ill-informed and an unhelpful contribution to the debate. The pay gap is falling but is also a reflection of individuals’ lifestyle preferences. Government can’t regulate or legislate these away, and shouldn’t try to.” He failed to add, however, that these preferences are often the result of biological differences between the sexes.

What goes for pay probably goes for career choice as well. At one extreme, it is foolish, as Kingsley Browne of Wayne State University, in Michigan, suggests, to expect equal outcomes in organisations like the armed forces. Not only are men stronger and more aggressive but, Mr Browne suggests, the psychology of both sexes has evolved to trust men (and not trust women) in combat, precisely because of this aggression and strength. At the other end of the scale, it is probably an opposite mixture of evolved aptitudes and attitudes that causes the domination by females of professions such as nursing.

This is not to say there can be no good female soldiers or male nurses. Patently, there can. But it is not clear evidence of discrimination that they are rarer than their counterparts of the opposite sex. A Darwinian analysis of the matter cannot say where the equilibrium would lie in a world free from discrimination. But it can say with reasonable confidence that this equilibrium will often not be 50/50.

Many may harrumph at such a Darwinian interpretation of feminism, and say that it is a circuitous route to a traditional destination. It isn’t: not expecting an equal distribution of the sexes within every profession is not the same as saying that a woman’s place is in the home. And having dared to question the assumptions of both feminists and their opponents, some evolutionary biologists are now hoping to turn conventional wisdom upside down in another area where civil rights meet long-standing prejudice. This is the vexed question of race.

Race to the finish

Racial difference is an area where modern Darwinists have feared, until recently, to tread. This is hardly surprising, given the topic’s history. Many early evolutionary biologists (though not Darwin himself) thought that just as man was a risen ape, so white, European man was the zenith of humanity, and that people from other parts of the world were necessarily inferior.

The consequences of that have been terrible. It gave a veneer of intellectual respectability to the eugenic horrors which culminated in the Nazi death camps. Indeed, it is probably one of the roots of the “evolution stops at the neck” point of view. But evolutionary biology is now making amends. By overturning understanding of what race actually is, it may yet provide the tools that allow people of different backgrounds to live in reasonable harmony.

Revenge and punishment lie deep in the human psyche

Its first observation is a bleak one. This is that racism, or at least xenophobia, is a deeply ingrained human characteristic. But its second observation is that, so far as can be determined, the traditional definition of race—the tendency of people living in different parts of the world to have different skin colour, hair colour and physiognomy—has no wider ramifications in areas such as intelligence. Racial prejudice, then, is just that: prejudice.

What is being proposed instead, by another husband and wife team of Darwinists, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby of the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a theory of ethnicity that explains the mishmash of categories anthropologists have tried to shoehorn into the general class of “race”. Are Jews and Sikhs, who are defined by religious exclusivity, races? Are Serbs and Croats, who share their religions with others, but not with each other, and whom no geneticist could tell apart? These examples, and similar ones, argue that race has no biological meaning. But it does. It is just not the traditional meaning.

Social psychologists have long observed that, on first meeting, people automatically classify each other in three ways: by sex, by age and by race. But Dr Cosmides and Dr Tooby pointed out that before long-distance transport existed, only two of those would have been relevant. People of different ages and sexes would meet; people of different races would not.

The two researchers argue that modern racial discrimination is an overstimulated response to what might be called an “alliance” detector in the human brain. In a world where the largest social unit is the tribe, clan or what-you-will of a few hundred people, your neighbours and your other allies will normally look a lot like you, and act similarly. However, it is known from the study of modern hunter-gatherers, and inferred from archaeological evidence about ancient ones, that neighbouring tribes are often hostile.

Though an individual might reasonably be expected to know many members of his tribe personally, he would probably not know them all. There would thus be a biological advantage in tribal branding, as it were. Potential allies would quickly identify what marked them out from others, and what marked others out from them—and, because those differences would probably be small, the detector would need to be very sensitive.

In the past, such markers would often have been cultural, since local physical differences would have been minimal. A telling instance is recorded in the Bible:

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him.

The questioners were the Gileadites. The slain, an Ephraimite. But no physical difference could distinguish the tribes, so the Gileadite ethnic-cleansers had to rely on linguistic tics.

In a world where a syllable can get you killed, having differently coloured skin is a pretty strong brand of identity. However, it is not a unique signal. Experiments that Dr Cosmides, Dr Tooby and their students have conducted in both America and Brazil (another racially mixed country) suggest it is surprisingly easy to rebrand even people of different skin colour by making other badges of allegiance more significant—as happens when sportsmen clothe themselves in coloured team shirts. Moreover, Andrew Penner of the University of California, Irvine, and Aliya Saperstein of the University of Oregon have shown that perception of a person’s race can actually change in the real world. Many people shift from being “white” to “black”, in both their own eyes and the eyes of others, in response to unemployment, impoverishment or imprisonment.

That is an uncomfortable reminder of the way group solidarity works in America. The hope this analysis brings, though, is that there is nothing particularly special about biologically based brands such as skin colour. If other brands of group membership can be strengthened, the traditional ones may diminish, even if they do not disappear completely. If this theory of race is correct (and more research is certainly needed), it indicates a strong prescription: policies that encourage groups to retain their identity within a society will cause trouble, but those that encourage cultural integration will smooth things over.

In practice, the history of that most racially mixed country of all, the United States, supports this idea. When integration has been encouraged, as with the descendants of the great flood of European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ethnic distinctions have vanished. When integration has been discouraged, as with the descendants of slaves liberated shortly before those European immigrants arrived, differences have been sharpened. Even in Britain, official policy seems to be shifting from “multiculturalism”, which celebrated diversity and thus encouraged distinction, to a deliberate attempt to forge a cultural consensus.

What the brand theory of ethnicity does not require, however, is that minorities submit to the majority’s definition of what the brands should be. All that is needed is for each generation to be encouraged to form its own identity from the widest range of materials possible.

Illustration by Noma Bar

A Darwinian analysis thus sheds light on a number of pressing questions. There are others. The rise of metabolic syndrome (obesity plus high blood-pressure equals diabetes plus heart disease) seems to Darwinists the consequence of people trying to sate appetites for sugar and fat that evolution put no brakes on because they were so rare in the natural world.

Pretending young adults are children so that they can be educated en masse in schools is another area ripe for investigation. And the refusal of people to adhere to the patterns of behaviour prescribed for them by classical economics has already spun off a field called behavioural economics that often has Darwinian thinking at its roots.

No one is suggesting Darwinism has all the answers to social questions. Indeed, with some, such as the role of hierarchies, it suggests there is no definitive answer at all—itself an important conclusion. What is extraordinary, though, is how rarely an evolutionary analysis is part of the process of policymaking. To draw an analogy, it is like trying to fix a car without properly understanding how it works: not impossible, but as likely as not to result in a breakdown or a crash. Perhaps, after a century and a half, it is time not just to recognise but also to understand that human beings are evolved creatures. To know thyself is, after all, the beginning of wisdom.

source --- http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12795581

給劉翔

2008-08-29T06:10:00.002+01:00

這是1992年Barcelona奧運200M短跑準決賽的英國選手Derek Redmond最讓人深刻的一幕.
他不是三甲,什至officially不是最後一名,但很多人心中他的表現絕不比任何一位金牌選手遜色什至過之而無不及.
依然有人懷疑他故作突然腳傷製造一次光榮的引退.
口開在別人的臉上, 別人的閒言閒語沒法控制. 能夠真正做到的是過得了自己.
那所謂的十三億人民的擔子根本不必去扛, 我們不應該是你努力爭勝的理由.
那些藉你去填塞他們一己的民族自卑感的, 更加不值得你去為他們爭取什麼.
努力吧! 為了你自己.

BMW GINA

2008-06-12T18:47:00.003+01:00

一個最後一代香港文化人的告白／文﹕梁文道

2008-03-06T14:03:00.002Z

【明報專訊】時移世易請勿自欺欺人
在剛頒布的財政預算案裏頭，我找到沒有人留意的「創意經濟」這一節，總共只有兩小段，其中第一段有一句非常令人感慨的話﹕「香港在創意經濟的多個範疇都居於區內領先地位」。但願這句話不是財政司長曾俊華先生自己寫的，因為它就像威尼斯宣稱自己是今日的世界貿易中心一樣好笑。的確，香港曾經是區域內的創意經濟龍頭；同樣地，威尼斯也曾經是13世紀的世界貿易重鎮。

　對於不想看太多數字的讀者，我可以用一個最現成的例子來說明我的意思。當年張國榮與梅艷芳先後逝世的時候，內地媒體報道的聲勢之浩大絲毫不遜於香港。最近的「藝人自拍事件」同樣也成了全國話題，只是你會在內地的網絡論壇上看到有人留下這樣的問題﹕「其實阿嬌到底是誰呀？我不大弄得清Twins那兩個人的分別。」周星馳的近作《長江7 號》令很多人感到星爺不再屬於香港，其實在其漸漸喪失港味的內容之外，我們更應該看到周星馳的電影製作從幕後到台前終於會有徹底離開香港的一日。從前只有在香港演藝圈混不下去的人才會北上，如今的情勢正演變為只有混得好的人才能殺出香港。

　然後我又在第二段看到這樣的一句話﹕「去年11月，商務及經濟發展局局長馬時亨率領本港的創意產業代表團訪問上海，參加一個國際性的創意產業展覽，為業界拓展內地市場」。那次活動在號稱「上海牛棚」的「1933老場坊」舉行，恰巧我也在，還碰到不少朋友，有的做設計，有的做建築，還有的做戲劇經紀人。但他們不是被馬局長率領上來的，而是早已在大陸打下江山，如今以內地代表身分出現的香港人。甚至連活化「1933老場坊」這座古蹟的搞手也是香港人。當時我問馬時亨﹕「你說怎麼辦呢？一大批香港精英都走了。」他答道﹕「放心，他們會回來的。」回來？回來養老嗎？

　10年前，榮念曾、胡恩威、陳雲和我大概是最早在報刊建議新成立的特區政府要注重創意產業的人，然後又在海峽兩岸和他們的官商學界討論這個當時還算新生的概念，那時不少內地官員只覺得這個念頭很有趣。 10年後，從北京到深圳，不只出現了大批專責文化創意產業的單位，甚至還有近百個「1933老場坊」這類的創意產業園區。而本來在觀念上最領先的香港，現在則有這兩段財政預算案上含意可疑的文字。

　香港有創意產業的社會土壤嗎？

　他們會回來？他們為什麼要回來呢？直到今日，你都沒辦法在無铫電視上看見香港最出色的音樂錄像導演的作品，因為無铫電視不願意再花一筆錢向唱片公司購入版權，它寧願用自己的導演以最低廉的成本再製作一個專供電視播出的版本。香港每年耗用在文化上的公帑超過20億港幣，其中有多少流向藝術家？又有多少成了公務員薪金呢？你去替香港中央圖書館做一場講座，車馬費不過千元；要是在上海圖書館，「勞務費」起碼是5000人民幣。曾經有朋友替任職機構尋覓一群本地藝術家工作，一個官方的人物居然告訴他﹕「不用給他們太多錢，他們有創作機會就夠開心了。」我不知道香港的編劇酬勞特低是否也是這個理由。在香港從事創作就真的要賤到這個地步嗎？

　我不敢像林夕一樣建議政府出錢扶助流行音樂產業，我也怕被人罵，我們都不敢犯下叫政府偏離不干預政策的大忌（其實林夕只是說要建一座音樂博物館）。不，我不想政府再做什麼了，因為一切都已經太遲。就像珠三角各個港口快要取代香港了，港珠澳大橋才打算上馬一樣。

　我不怕香港人才流失，我只怕沒有人要來香港。創意產業靠的主要是人，而這些人，無論是第一線的導演和設計師，還是在後面厚植土壤的藝術家文化人，都很講究環境。這個環境必須開放包容、多元刺激，有很多和自己一樣的人溝通競爭，有很多不一樣的事情每天發生。香港是這樣的地方嗎？我們不要再騙自己，說什麼香港是個很多元化的大都會了。香港就算不是一個部落社會，也是一個高度同質化的大眾社會（mass society）。大部分的本地華裔居民其實都像，我們喜歡的東西是一樣的，我們思考的方式是相同的。所以我們的電視有慣性收視，我們的周刊長得都一樣。從前搞文學的人辦垮了雜誌就說香港市場小人口少，700萬人真的很少嗎？比起北歐國家要少很多嗎？光是在紐約，《紐約客》雜誌的訂戶大概就有16萬，同類的刊物要是在香港又會有什麼命運呢？香港的人口比諸紐約又如何？這其實是一個只有主流沒有分眾，贏者全贏輸者全輸的城市。

　一個良好的創意環境就算給不了太多的錢，至少要給人尊重。北京的報紙評選年度十大人物，作家和藝術家居然佔去一半；在香港當作家要受人重視，或許就得賣燕窩廣告。

　再說我所熟悉的媒體。一個學者能憑中央台連續每周地講《史記》而名揚全國，香港電視台又有「文化味」又受人注意的居然就是《志雲飯局》了。坦白說，最近一年，我不只辭去港台《頭條新聞》的工作，在內地《南方周末》等報刊上發表文章的次數也快要超過香港了，不是為了那日漸逼近香港的稿費，也不是為了以百萬計的發行量，而是為了一種群體理性討論的氛圍。在那裏，你或許會遭到很多反駁，但你起碼不孤獨，而且真有一種我們能夠改變現實的感覺。在那裏，觀念還是被尊重的，觀念還是有力量的。

　走不走？為何走？

　如果這番話的酸味太重，講點不扮高深的東西吧。去問問那些不只顧覑賭波的球迷，香港市面上最好的中文足球雜誌是哪一本，他們大概會說是《足球周刊》，一本內地出版的雜誌。內地雜誌的種類要比香港多，水準要比香港高，這早已不是秘密了。沒錯，我們擁有全國稀缺的言論自由，但是我們怎樣利用這個珍貴的寶藏呢？有一天，當中國真的更開放更自由，香港會不會順理成章地成為全國的媒體中心、全國的輿論基地呢？

　每當內地傳媒把香港捧成「先鋒城市」，要我介紹領略香港文化風味的必遊地點時，我都會很心虛。你總不能老叫人去看旺角、蘭桂坊、文華酒店、阿麥書房、藝術中心和六四燭光晚會吧。凡是本報李照興周日專欄的讀者都曉得，廈門有愈來愈多的「樂活族」開了自己的咖啡小店，雲南有一年一度的搖滾音樂盛會，重慶有一條任人揮灑的塗鴉街……

　李照興在他新著《潮爆中國》的序言裏以一個十分浪漫的說法去形容我們這些在回歸前出生的人﹕「最後一代香港人」。我也要用「最後一代香港文化人」去形容我們這群喝《號外》、《年青人周報》和《越界》奶水長大的文化人，以區別開從《城市中國》、《城市畫報》與《新周刊》等內地刊物汲取新知的新一代文藝青年。

　終於到了我們這一代該認真考慮這個問題的時候了﹕走，還是不走？

　我不是在抱怨什麼，我不怨怪政府，不怨怪商家，更不怨怪我深愛的香港人，真的。我只是想客觀地描述現實，這個市場的現實，這個社會的現實，如此而已。這麼多年以來，我看覑許多朋友把工作重心逐漸北遷，從余力為（賈樟柯的老拍檔）到歐陽應霽，從邁克到劉小康，這個問題困擾我很久了。走，不是因為不感激香港養育我啟蒙我的恩德，而是出道近20年了，我已經沒有什麼可以再為這個地方付出。我們「最後一代香港文化人」可以做的，就是走出香港，然後為接下來的「第一代在香港出生的中國文化人」指路，讓他們發現香港以外，世界很大。

　梁文道

　牛棚書院院長

轉載自 6-3-2008 明報社評

Fatboy Slim - Push the Tempo

2008-03-02T15:50:00.002Z

2008-02-12T08:45:00.001Z

回歸十年感慨萬千

Lord hear me now
Junk boats and English boys
Crashing out in super marts
Electric fences and guns

You swallow me
I'm just a pill on your tongue
here on the nineteenth floor
The neon lights make me come

And late in a star's life
It begins to explode
And all the people in a dream
Wait for the machine
Pick the shit up leave it clean

Kid, hang over here
What you learning in school?
Is the rise of an Eastern sun
Gonna be good for everyone?

The radio station disappears
Music turning to thin air
The DJ was the last to leave
She had well conditioned hair,
was beautiful, but nothing really was there

2008-02-03T07:14:00.002Z

香港法治已死

《三國志‧蜀記‧簡雍傳》載：

「時天旱禁酒，釀者有刑。吏於人家索得釀具，論者欲令與作酒者同罰。雍與昭烈游觀，見一男女行道，謂昭烈曰：『彼人欲行淫，何以不縛？』昭烈曰：『卿何以知之？』雍對曰：『彼有其具，與欲釀者同。』昭烈大笑，而原欲釀者。」

話說劉備入蜀時候由於天旱關係曾經下令禁止釀酒，避免浪費糧水，違令則重罰，舉報則有賞。其時官員求賞心切，只要在百姓家中搜出釀酒器具便會將其舉報。劉備怒，百姓苦，情況不堪言。

一日簡雍與劉備巡遊街上，見一男一女相偕同行，簡雍一臉肅穆地向劉備問道：「那兩人即將行淫有傷風化，陛下怎麼不把他倆拿下？」劉備一臉疑惑地探問簡雍何解如此肯定，簡雍一臉理所當然地說道：「陛下英明，百姓家有釀具便斷定他們必定會釀酒，同樣地，面前這一男一女身帶淫具，又怎麼可能不行淫呢？」

劉備大笑，下令釋放一眾家有釀具而不曾違令釀酒的無辜百姓。

如果歷史真的是一面鏡子，那麼，當鏡內出現劉備身影的時候，對鏡站著的應是警務署署長鄧竟成。人言昭烈帝兩耳垂肩兩臂過膝活脫脫像是一隻猴子，可如今看來，更像是鏡有古人而鏡外站了一隻屎忽馬騮－－根據達爾文的退化論。

法治退化論。

轉載自迷你論壇 - Link

xxx xxx xxx

[ 轉 ] 陶傑：小風波

藝人的裸淫照被人上了網，有什麼大新聞價值？十多年前，史泰龍當四級片演員的圖片就上了網，畢比特的裸照也上了網，未見美國的 FBI 舉國出動，要抓幕後黑手，因為根本不需要。

為什麼？因為照片如果是假的，用一個人頭貼在一具身體上面，當事人可以發一通聲明，一笑置之。

美國總統布殊和國務卿萊絲亦曾遭「移花接木」，出兵伊拉克的時候，惡作劇者把兩個男女的裸身接上兩人的肖像，像做愛的樣子，兩位領袖一點反應也沒有。如果照片是真的，那麼在邏輯上，就要問一個問題：裸照淫圖，是不是有歹徒用手鎗指迫拍下，為了勒索不遂，然後在網上傳播？如果是這樣，藝人才是百分之百的受害人，不分知名度，都是嚴重的刑事案。如果沒有人威迫，照片是自己私下尋找樂趣，用手機拍下，這種自戀行為，當事人一早就該警惕：萬一手機丟失，電腦出問題，照片就有可能公開流傳。一對油尖旺小情侶可以在床上玩自拍，在社會上有點知名的人，玩同樣的遊戲，自己承擔後果。

因此，如果照片是真的，第一個要追究責任的，是玩自拍製造這些照片的人。即使要找人拍裸照玩自戀，攝影師畢竟是外人，今天稱兄道弟，明天鬧翻了，底片一樣可能外洩。一個藝人，如果成熟一點，自拍或由死黨拍下這些照片的時候，必定會計算其中風險。

你自己率先把「私隱」拍下來，在這個高科技世界，就要想到有沒有可能有一天「私隱」會上了網。最保險的辦法：越是「名人」，越不要玩這等無聊遊戲。如果戴安娜跟她的埃及男友一起拍了幾張床上照，照片在雅虎公開了，只要圖片是真的，你看見了，也不會大罵做手腳的人「無良」的，你只會： A ，跟全世界的人一起評頭品足圖中男女的身材； B ，嘲笑戴安娜，跟那個埃及佬做愛就做愛，拍下來做什麼？真是豬。

幾張藝人圖片上網，全城起哄，是一個不成熟的社會集體躁狂的行為。華文傳媒頭版炒作，警方大為緊張，還要求國際刑警協助，這種「警方」也心智不成熟。議員街頭被毆，沒有真正破案，政治白色恐怖，無能為力，「警方」跟偶像 fan 屎的咆哮團團轉，太孩子氣了。日本傳媒跟進炒作，助長了當事人自我放大的錯覺，把香港警方嚇死，更像天快塌了的樣子，日本仔呀，你真鬼！

xxx xxx xxx

一宗娛樂新聞, 演變成香港法治名存實亡的見證.
該捕的不捕. 該審的不審. 該判的不判.

什麼動感之都, 魅力之都, 創意之都... 呸! 笑爛人的嘴巴.

內地雪災, 幫不上忙也都算了.
還要求內地協助及刪除有關相片?
還要求內地供港糧食不受影響?
我以自己是香港人為恥.

2007-12-13T20:19:00.005Z

用了四年多的Canon A70其實已經頗"虧", 不過一直不予理會. 快門按得下, 顯示器有圖像出來便成. 但近來影出來的相開始有怪色和條紋, 而且顯示器也死下死下. 再經過兩次的壯舉發覺如果有部比較好的相機拍下沿途景色會令行程更有趣, 當然也包括那可惡的惡魔友人慫恿, 決定買一部新的DC. 於是星期六和友人去看相機. 之前用A70已經開始玩一下光圈快門之類, 而且也打算將來學攝影. 但是即使將來會玩DSLR, 現在也總要找一部DC來代替那部"自動王家衛化"照片的A70. 故此決定買一部半專業級的DC. 經過多番拪選和試驗. 決定放棄有24mm廣角卻沒有快門先決的Ricoh GX100, 而選上Canon的G9.

這幾天都在把玩著這個新玩具, 玩得不亦樂乎...

已患上"機不離身症候群"的"攝影機症狀"...

壯舉之二

2007-12-06T08:02:00.003Z

繼上次的屯門荃灣行, 這次是荃灣至尖沙咀.
起點是上次旅程的終點, 愉景新城之某男廁.
經過大窩口村到葵涌, 上荔景再到美孚, 然後深水埗直落尖沙咀.
整段旅程都盡量避開大路. 走一些自己什少會接觸的地方.
將來如果被搶劫並遭蒙眼棄置某地, 懂得認路回家的機會相對大增!
話說回來, 這敞旅程和上一次截然不同.
人很多, 少了那種悠然自得的感覺.
有的是城市那種熙來攘往, 忙得不可開交的混亂.
不過絕對不遜於屯門荃灣行.
拍的照片也比之多一倍.
正在計劃下一次的行程. 有沒有什麼提議?

壯舉

2007-11-17T17:52:00.003Z

今天和友人完成了期待已久的屯門荃灣之旅.
由黃金海岸沿青山公路步行至荃灣.
用了大約4小時行畢全程. 發掘了很多有趣的地方.
人跡罕至的海灘,
像"絕對無敵"的變身學校的排洪水道,
汀九橋下怡人的公園.
原來有許多有趣的地方刷身而過不自知...

晚上再瘋狂去打籃球, 波友問起為什麼晒成這樣子,
告訴他們那壯舉, 他們都疑惑地問為什麼.
就說"我無聊嘛.", 心裡在想"為什麼不可?"
為什麼一定要是為了些什麼?

有時不需要每事也"目標為本 ".
嘗試不同的東西, 特別是無聊的東西.

如果這是傻.
我不介意當個傻瓜.

變質

2007-10-18T18:05:00.001+01:00

聽到一個有趣的故事...

有個伯伯每天都會到公園草地閒坐看書享受一下寧靜. 有一天一群小孩子來到這片草地玩耍. 追追逐逐伯伯還可以置之不理. 但那群小孩常常we哇鬼叫, 嘈he吧閉, 使伯伯無日安寧. 連續幾天如是, 伯伯終於忍無可忍, 於是對那群小孩說,
"拜託你們玩得安靜一點. 我正在看書."
那群小孩毫不客氣的回答道,
"這兒是公園, 我們喜歡怎樣便怎樣, 我們喜歡在這兒大叫, 你管不了!"
說完他們便繼續耍樂, 而且比之前更吵. 伯伯無可奈何便走了.
第二天, 伯伯再到公園, 那群小孩又來玩耍喧鬧. 伯伯走近小孩想說話, 還未開口, 就有一小孩說,
"你說什麼我們也不會走, 也不會安靜下來!"
伯伯笑著說,
"不! 我不是要你們走, 也不是要你們安靜. 我想和你們玩一個遊戲,"
小孩感到好奇便聽著. 伯伯繼續說,
"你們比賽誰叫得大聲, 叫得最大聲那個我便給他一元. 要不要玩?"
小孩聽到興高采烈都嚷著要參加. 每個小孩都用盡全力的大叫, 希望勝出. 伯伯也依言給勝出的小孩一元. 翌日, 伯伯又再和小孩們玩這鬥大聲比賽. 如是者, 接著的幾天小孩們都努力為一元大叫大嚷.
這天小孩又到公園來, 圍著伯伯說要比賽. 伯伯一臉無奈的對小孩們說,
"我沒有錢了. 不過你們可以繼續比賽呀, 我當評判."
小孩們鼓譟起來, 一個小孩說,
"他都沒有錢, 我們不要聽他的. 我們到別處叫."
小孩們都和應著離開.
自此伯伯所到之處, 小孩們都立時安靜下來. 不希望"益"了伯伯. 而伯伯用幾元便得到永遠的安寧.

我們生命之中有多少事情是因為"那忽然出現的一元"而變質?
有多少事情本末倒置了?

Cadbury - a glass and a half full of joy

2007-09-13T18:25:00.003+01:00

Really loving this ad. from Cadbury chocolate!
Fantastic!that gorilla... just so emotional. those little details ...
taking a deep breath when the background is singing "I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord!".
then it sings "Ive been waiting for this moment, all my life, oh lord", while that gorilla cultivate its emotion to that burst of drum solo...
Just Damn Cool!!!!

Lemon Tree

2007-08-26T17:49:00.002+01:00

又來另一首舊歌. 這次是德國的 pop 組合 Fools Garden 1995年的作品 Lemon Tree. 說這一首是 Fools Garden 的神來一筆 (or 神經刀) 絕不為過. Lemon Tree 是他們最成功的作品, 並成了一首家傳戶曉的名曲. 輕快的旋律, 有趣的編曲, 朗朗上口的歌詞都是這首歌成功的因素. 不知道看 clip 時你有沒有跟著唱? 是否以很輕鬆愉快的和著唱?

有趣的是歌詞的意境其實和整體歌曲的旋律, 氣氛, 以至表現手法都十分不配合. 你是否認為自己是快快樂樂的唱一首失戀, 什至是一個抑鬱病者的自白? 當然怎樣去解讀一首歌以至很多藝術作品是十分個人的. 就像之前提到的 More Than Words, 十之八九的人都會堅持那是一首浪漫到喊的情歌. 任何人也不應該把自己一套看法強加他人身上, 特別是音樂和藝術作品, 怎麼去看和了解是會因個人經歷而遣生不同看法. 但是 Lemon Tree 的歌詞卻挺明顯是不快樂的 (當然有人要死也拗番生也無不可). 這是一個感情上迷失的人的一篇獨白, 和那 upbeat 的音樂是強烈對比.

有人說當中的一些歌詞可以推測歌中那人是抑鬱的. 例如 chorus 唱到 "Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky, And all that I can see is just a yellow Lemon tree", 其實是暗喻另一個人 (possibly 歌中人心儀對象) 告訴他向好的方面想 (以blue blue sky, 即海闊天空, 藍天白雲那種 feel), 但是他自己就只能向壞的方面想 (lemon 用於口語可解為 unsatisfactory or defective, 或者簡單說就是酸澀). 另外又提到 "there's a heavy cloud inside my head, I feel so tired put myself into bed". 這些都是抑鬱的人的心態和行為. 所以估計歌中人已經患上抑鬱云云. 贊同與否就見人見智了.

Fools Garden 的原版 Lemon Tree 其實並不是我首次接觸的版本. 我第一次聽 Lemon Tree 應該是國語版, 應該是從收音機聽到, 其實也不太肯定... 大大話話已經差不多十年前的事, 而且又不是什麼大件事, 怎會記得. 總之是聽後挺喜歡, 但是那時候還小, 不會去買唱片, 只是電台播便聽. 現在互聯網真好, 找東西方便多了, 下面的便是國語版 Lemon Tree, 亦是本人初聽的版本.

知不知道這國語版是誰唱?
好話啦! 就是90年代中期的年輕人偶像, 有"玉女教主"稱號的台灣女歌手蘇慧倫. 有沒有印象呢?... 我就一點印象也沒有了. 如果你是她 fans 請息怒. 皆因本人是認歌不認人的. "玉女教主"又好, "肉丸教王"又好, 我管你天仙豬排, 總之歌我覺得好聽就會聽. 當然美若天仙, 我會多看幾眼. 沒什麼好看的便乾脆只聽, 無損我去欣賞好作品. 而蘇教主的 Lemon Tree 是挺不錯的, 特別喜歡 Fools Garden 原曲開始那"爆玻璃"聲效換上蘇教主一下可愛的"清喉嚨", 頂癮頂癮!

More Than Words

2007-08-25T14:56:00.002+01:00

近來在找一些舊歌聽, 這是1990年的 "More Than Words". 不要誤會這 video 是他人播炒, 雖然 clip 中可見歌曲和歌者的 style 某情度上都幾九唔搭八. 但他們的確是原作原唱, 美國的 hard rock 樂隊 Extreme. 有趣的是這首十分 acoustic 一點也沒有 rock 味的歌曲是 Extreme 最廣為人知, 令他們殺入主流市場的作品. hard rock 樂隊唱浪漫情歌, 結果成了名作, 世事真是奇妙. 不過其實 Extreme 是一隊曲風很廣的樂隊, 不只玩 rock. 不過看 rock 人唱情歌mv都幾攪笑.

但是... 根據"維基"的解說, 其實中間有個陰濕位. 這首浪漫深情的歌是否真的這麼浪漫深情?
注意! 以下的解讀(italic)好可能會影響各下對歌曲的感受. 特別是女仕們... 如果各下希望抱持最純真的心去欣賞男朋友對妳唱這首歌, 最好不要看以下那段. 否則後果自負, 本人一概不負責. 這是十分認真誠懇的忠告!

這首歌輯錄於 1990 年的概念專輯 Extreme II: Pornograffitti, 主題圍繞一個叫 Francis 的男孩在一個腐化墮落的社會遊蕩, 途中看到貪財, 不誠實, 物慾, 色情泛濫等等各種社會現象. 專輯中每首歌都表達和嘲弄某個現象. 而 "More Than Words" 的內容是期望伴侶以超越語言的方式去表達這份愛, 即是以行動來表現. 所以 "More Than Words" 可解讀為一首婉求 "let's have sex" 的歌曲, 放在 Pornograffitti 這專輯其實就是冷嘲時下對愛和性的態度. 細讀歌詞, 就會發覺這首歌表達的是 - "說什麼我愛你啦? 你和我"攪"了就自然明白囉!".
所以唱這首歌之前要想清楚你要表達什麼, 你可以好純情咁作為情歌唱, 當然也可以用作婉轉地表達"訴求". 至於聽者就要認真了解一下到底歌者有什麼用意了... 我都已經用紅字警告了! 可不要說我破壞各下聽歌時的氣氛!

歡迎跳過了上一段的朋友. 不論你有否看解讀, 其實也沒什麼大不了, 因為絕大多數人都一廂情願把這首 "More Than Words" 解為精神和情感上去表達愛意, 不用說出口已經可以感受到愛. 所以 "More Than Words" 是很"浪漫深情"的!!!

另外這首歌有首 spin-off, 是由一隊由兩名英國醫生組成的樂隊 Amateur Transplants 唱的滑稽版本. 對!你沒看錯.是真正醫生 - doctor!!! 歌曲輯錄在他們的 Fitness to Practice, 是一張慈善唱片, 部份收益捐給一個癌病基金 (Macmillan Cancer Relief). 這專輯主題都圍繞兩名歌手的正職, 和一些健康及醫學題材有關, 而 "More Than Words" 就被改成 "Northern Birds", 內容嘛... 簡單來說就是勸告男仕們不要"北上尋歡", 不過那是指英國北部, 包括 Manchester, Newcastle, York等地. 歌曲內容極盡粗鄙, 但令人笑爆咀 (捧腹大笑都兼不夠), 而且被星期日時報 (Sunday Times) 和每日電訊報 (Daily Telegraph)分別形容為 "a cult hit" 和 "extremely funny". 不知道我的醫生朋友們會否考慮用這方式做善事或勸導社會? 不過如果做得像 Amateur Transplants 這麼露骨這麼狠, 在香港恐怕不被人告到甩褲都難.

最後奉上 Northern Birds 一曲. 注意內容是很粗鄙的, 不過真的很好笑.
雖然這篇很長不過也要加上 Northern Birds 歌詞, 更能欣賞其爆笑之處.

If you go to Bolton,
If you go to Manchester or Crewe,
Newcastle or Scarborough,
York or Scunthorpe, Bradford, Barnsley too,
Or Grimsby.
Listen up to what we have to say.

Northern birds are lazy, ugly whores, who smell of burgers,
So don’t have too much to drink,
Or you might fuck one,
And end up getting AIDS.

There’s nothing fun,
To be found up the M1,
Northern birds are lower class,
Slags who take it up the arse.

They’re in the sack,
After one cider and black,
But they’re fucking awful rides,
And your dick won’t touch the sides.
(Da da da da da da da da da da)
Northern Birds
(Da da da da da da)

If you really have to go up North,
Then follow our advice.
Fight away the women,
Or you’ll find yourself with pubic lice,
And herpes.
You’re much better staying in the South.

Northern Birds are desperate, ugly, hippos, dressed in Burberry,
With a peanut for a brain,
And an accent,
That makes you want to die.

Now, you’ve been warned.
They’re all physically deformed.
Northern birds are all obese,
And they’re riddled with disease.

Try to escape.
Northern sex is worse than rape.
Stay down South, and mark my words,
Steer well clear of Northern Birds.
(Da da da da da da da da da da)
Northern Birds
(Da da da da da da)
Northern Birds

source:
wikipedia
Amateur Transplants - Fitness to Practice

給馬力

2007-08-10T21:54:00.001+01:00

一生愛港更愛黨, 保皇務勞英年亡.
輾豕之言成絕唱, 一世英明一朝喪.
殷紂平夷無人訟, 荒淫暴虐千古載.
望君安息了凡塵, 泉下老毛惜帝辛.

這篇爛東西是本人的作品. 平仄不工整, 字也寫得爛. 不過已說明這裡是我的練習場地, 是我玩樂的地方. 如果各下覺得我在污染你的眼睛, 可以即時轉台, 這裡是民主的.

這是本人送給剛逝世的民建聯主席馬力. 想必身為"學者"的他怎樣也料不到自己一生最令人印象深刻的是"坦克碌豬實驗"一番言論 (or 狂言). 是故令我聯想起紂王. 如果問人誰是紂王, 大多數人的印象就是一個荒淫無道, 沉迷酒色的暴君, 幾乎沒有人會去稱訟他平東夷的功勞. 而馬力的"碌豬"言論也很可能會成為大多數人對他的記憶. 不過也不用介懷, "偉大的"毛主席也替紂王抱不平, 相信馬議員也會有其"知音人"的.

一山不能藏二虎 Alonso vs Hamilton

2007-08-06T23:34:00.001+01:00

本身不是一級方程式 (Formula one, F-1) 的愛好者, 不過有時扭開電視聽見肉緊的旁述也會看一看, 了解一下到底緊張些什麼, 所以也約略知道一些車手和車隊. 但是現在正進行的匈牙利一級方程式國際大賽 (Grand Prix of Hungary) 進入了一個精彩火熱的階段, 令我也留意多了. 吸引之處不在於比賽, 而是同隊兩位車手的大鬥法. 火藥味什濃.

麥拿倫 (McLaren) 車隊的兩名車手分別為 - 由雷諾 (Renault) 車隊轉投的上屆冠軍西班牙車手Fernando Alonso和今屆初出茅廬的英國天才車手Lewis Hamilton. 兩人都年輕, 都有強橫實力, 都擁有運動員必備的好勝心, 而且一定是爆鵬那種. 聽起來對McLaren是很值得高興的事, 事實卻剛剛相反, 要弄一隊dream team永遠不是易事. 雖然McLaren暫列榜首, 也很大機會取勝, 但這雙雄的超強好勝心成了McLaren必須面對的一道牆.

就剛剛的一場賽事, Alonso在最後一次入pit (維修站) 完成維修程序後待在那裡, 而Hamilton就要排在後面等. 正常來說車隊有著極之嚴謹的入pit安排, 每百分之一秒都代表著勝負, 決不容許"排隊". Alonso當然有著他自己的解釋, 合理與否就見人見智, 不過他最終也被大會扣分. 也影響了McLaren的分數. 一山真不能藏二虎, 二虎大打出手也沒什麼, 那座山卻遭殃了.

這件事也令我想起香港的單車選手黃金寶, 他那提攜新人的態度真的令人佩服. 雖說事情的性質不同, Alonso和Hamilton都血氣方剛年少氣盛根本談不上前輩提攜後輩. 但是他們也証明要一個有實力的運動員甘願放棄個人榮耀"退居" (應該用"當"字, "退居"一詞貶低了這重任) 支援的位置不是易事. 向黃金寶致敬!

話說回來, 會不會其實是McLaren有計劃地簽Alonso可以更有效控制這個現時Hamilton最大的勁敵? 把他的車調得爛一點, 或者調至不適合他風格, 令他今季表現不濟. 把Alonso心理狀態打入谷底, 待他不成威脅時放他走, 到時Hamilton就可以為所欲為, 大發淫威. 奸得佢呢.

image source: Daily Mail

北面的吶喊 - Screaming Masterpiece

2007-08-05T17:44:00.002+01:00

已經記不起什麼時候買下了Sigur Ros的專輯"Takk", 只記得是因為cd封面吸引了我, 試聽過後覺得很特別, 雖對他們沒有任何認識, 也不知道是來自冰島, 但就買下來了. 開始時也沒什麼, 只不過是間中播一播, 換換口味. 也不知道是他們的音樂的穿透力, 還是真的很合我胃口, 這個"播一播"就出事了, 活像吃臭豆腐, 愈吃愈有味道, 直到欲罷不能, 泥足深陷, 以身相許. 聽他們的音樂需要耐性, 沒有可以跟著哼唱的旋律, 也沒有朗朗上口的歌詞. 一來他們唱icelandic, 但即使你懂icelandic也未必有用, 因為他們也有用自創的hopelandic來唱, 什至有一隻專輯整隻也是hopelandic. 我覺得他們的音樂吸引之處在於那氣氛, 那種令人起雞皮的感動.

因為Sigur Ros, 也就開始留意冰島的音樂. 接著就發現了很多傑出的冰島音樂人, 到冰島一遊的渴望也隨之而增. 很希望去看一下為何他們的音樂這麼獨特, 這麼...冰島(想不到更有效的形容). 可惜暫時也不可能成行. 望梅止渴, 就買了這音樂電影"Screaming Masterpiece".

這電影應該屬紀錄片類型, 有著來自不同音樂團體/人的現場表演片段, 也有訪問. 訴說著冰島音樂的故事. 其中最令我印象深刻的是其中一位音樂人說冰島音樂獨特, 是因為他們知道不會賣出200張唱片, 所以便索性為所欲為, 造自己真正喜歡的音樂. 這種輕狂, 你可以說是不設實際, 是幼稚. 但是他們是有夢想的, 是有生命力的, 至少我認為比"營營役役,下班就去什麼happy hour"更有活著的感覺. 可能這只是一個入世不深的傻仔一番狂言. 但希望這傻仔經歷時間洗禮也不會甩晒色.

最後加一段Sigur Ros在"Screaming Masterpiece"中的現場表演. 真希望將來可以到冰島一睹他們演出.

變身蜘蛛俠 (更正: 痴豬俠)

2007-08-03T23:43:00.003+01:00

昨天去了攀石, 攀了一會兒便累了. 明顯地是缺乏運動, 很虛. 看來要逼自己多去那攀石活動中心活動活動. 雖不常去, 但其實挺喜歡這玩意. 自小也被父母說我像馬騮 (*不是hyperactive那種!), 到遊樂場總喜歡攀鋼架繩網之類, 在家也會四處攀, 那時侯可是有3-4種方式爬上房間碌架床的說 (<-自豪中).

以前也曾接觸過類似活動, 不過是有繩索那種攀石, 通稱為攀岩/攀石(rock climbing). 而我去那個中心則以bouldering為主, 中文我也不知道是譯作什麼, 是一種漸漸流行的玩意. 其中一個原因是所需裝備較少, 不用安全索, 但通常是短程. 室外和室內都可進行, 而且愈來愈多人攀爬建築物, 是一項很有趣的玩意, 不過當然有一定危險性.

兩年前, 自稱為"蜘蛛人"的法國攀爬專家羅貝爾沒有安全索登上六十二層的香港長江中心. 另有一位香港的政治活躍人士, 外號"蜘蛛俠"的英人Matt Pearce攀爬中環商廈作為抗議方式 , wikipedia也可找他的簡單介紹 - Matt Pearce (born 1975) is a political activist in Hong Kong and the founder of International Action (www.thebiggerpicture.hk). He is not important enough to warrant more than one sentence on wikipedia (真夠"光宗耀祖"...). 英國之前也曾有一名男子打扮成"蜘蛛俠"攀爬倫敦的塔橋 (Tower Bridge), 不過如果沒有記錯這個"蜘蛛俠"好像是下不了來, 要消防員打救, 接著被檢控. 以上這些人士相信都是bouldering的愛好者.

看來如果本人想揚名立萬可以考慮去爬爬香港 ifc 搏上頭條. 即使不能留芳千古，也可來個遺臭萬年. 以賤命一條, wikipedia換個cyber靈位. (說笑罷了, 付諸實行者如有什麼冬瓜豆腐恕本人一概不負責, 不過祝你成功.)

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouldering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Pearce(<- 如果不是作為證據, 實不會放這條無奈link...)

異鄉狗竇

2007-08-01T03:33:00.003+01:00

畢業了, 相信回港的機會很大. 很多朋友問 "你那科, 英國發展空間會比香港大呢! 你難道不想留在英國嗎?" 英國的氣氛比香港好固然是知道, 但想歸想, 都有很多其他因素要考慮. 主因是冇"水". 自知是一個極度幸運的人, 得父母親大人全力支持, 來到這裡尋夢(or發夢). 現在夢就發完了, 夠鐘起床. 一個剛 grad的 design student, 起薪點約為GBP1000, 看似不少, 但扣去稅, 還有昂貴的租金, 剩下"雞碎咁多", 吃飯也要勒緊褲頭. 而且通常要先做兩三個月 intern, 即無薪打雜, 真夠欲哭無淚.

加上其實自己是比較隨心隨意隨緣(可解讀為hea人一個), 不會太刻意要留英. 雖則設計這東西, 現在的香港要和英國比, 真的毛也拈不上. 但是一直沒有限制自己一定要做 design, 什至曾經想過讀完去當消防員 (可惜有近視, 而且感到母親大人心底裡滲出來的強烈反對[是為殺氣]), 姑且暫時放棄這偉大理想) 所以不會因此而感到有什麼失望. 留下或回去都沒有什麼所謂(即"唔嗲唔吊").

既然如此, 回港就變得順理成章了, 當然不排除有變, 不過可能性偏低啦.

寫了這許多和標題好像沒啥關係？我早就說是文筆稚劣, 狗屁不通, 要不然早就出書去啦. 那標題其實是給我那住了兩年多的狗竇, 實在有點捨不得. 特此貼上相片一幅致意.

倫敦住處窗外.
室內可能引起不安就不貼了.(尤其如果母親大人看見了... 會發生倫常慘劇)

開"blog", kick-off manifesto.

2007-08-01T00:03:00.002+01:00

讀別人的blog已經有一段時間, 一直都想自己也寫寫看. 但自知文筆稚劣, 九屁不通, 尚且知道個"醜"字怎麼寫, 是以未有付諸實行. 不過剛剛畢業, 依然人在倫敦未有特別打算. 離回港之期尚有一段日子, 生活比較悠閒(對! 我是hea人), 也就突然發起顛來, 開個blog來玩玩.

此blog主要為本人自娛兼練習揸筆之用, 請路過的各位高抬貴手. 多多指教, 多多指教!

p.s. 此blog不涉及仕何有關治療禿頭之法, 暫時... 不過如果小弟發現良方定必造福社會.

testing 測試

2007-07-31T01:18:00.002+01:00

testing 測試

決戰光頭頂

Song of the Week, 2011-48, Hotel California, the Eagles

Song of the Week, 2011-43, as long as you are happy, Cloud Cult

Song of the Week, 2011-40, Just like Anything, The Sand Band

Song of the Week, 2011-39, Wait, Alexi Murdoch

first gif animation test

Song of the Week, 2011-38, Take Me Out, Franz Ferdinand

Song of the Week, 2011-37, Lost!, Coldplay

Song of the Week, 2011-36, Full Moon, The Black Ghost

Song of the Week, 2011-035, 願, 林憶蓮

Song of the Week, 2011-034, Falling Slowly, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

Song of the Week, 2011-033, Rock'n roll 的 style, 盧廣仲

Song of the Week, 2011-032, Sunday Morning, Velvet Underground

Song of the Week, 2011-031, Vltava, Bedřich Smetana

Song of the Week, 2011-030, Cloud, 朱凌凌

Song of the Week, 2011-029, Just a Boy, Angus & Julia Stone

惡霸

Song of the Week, 2011-028, Perfect Life, ketchup

Song of the Week, 2011-027, 阿X, the pancakes

Song of the Week, 2011-026, 十個救火的少年, 達明一派

Song of the Week, 2011-025, Free Ride, Predawn

Song of the Week, 2011-024, Riverside, Agnes Obel

Song of the Week, 2011-023, 紅豆, 王菲

Song of the Week, 2011-022, 六月飛霜, 陳奕迅

Song of the Week, 2011-021, Grandfathers Dance, Harry LaFleur

Song of the Week, 2011-020, Ремонт , Flёur

政治目的

Song of the Week, 2011-019, Glósóli, Sigur Ros

Song of the Week, 2011-018, That's Amore, Dean Martin

Song of the Week, 2011-017, Paper Aeroplane, KT Tunstall

Song of the Week, 2011-016, I Guess I'll Get The Papers And Go Home, Mills Brothers

Song of the Week, 2011-015, Blowing in the Wind, Bob Dylan

Song of the Week, 2011-014, Slow Down, Morcheeba

Song of the Week, 2011-013, Hold On, Angus and Julia Stone

Song of the Week, 2011-012, Grey Room, Damien Rice

Song of the Week, 2011-011, Salt Song, Stanley Turrentine

Song of the Week, 2011-010, 島唄, The Boom

Song of the Week, 2011-009, 嫉妒, 陳綺貞

Song of the Week, 2011-008 - , 青花瓷 by 周杰倫

hypersensitivity

Song of the Week, 2011-007 - 茉莉花, by 蔡琴

梁文道：愛情是一種迎向他者的冒險

Song of the Week, 2011-006 - Uprising, by Muse

Song of the Week, 2011-005 - Happy New Year, by Abba

Song of the Week, 2011-004 - The Fix, by Elbow

Song of the Week, 2011-003 - One Day Like This, by Elbow

Song of the Week, 2011-002 - Teardrop, by Massive Attack

Song of the Week, 2011-001 - Cayman Islands, by Kings of Convenience

The Plane and the Pigeon

Desperado

Simpsons opening by BANKSY

艾未未的葵花籽@TATE

20100823

不要讓對事件的悲傷憤怒轉為對種族國家的仇恨.

不要胡亂傳遞煽動性資訊.

認真分析什麼對事件有幫助, 什麼才對逝者予以一種尊重, 一個公道.人不只是社會的產物, 人還是'一個人', 不要把某些敗類的行為擴大為該社會每個人的罪.珍惜自己所有, 也尊重別人所有.

安徒：「當仁不讓於師」之「哭中大」

致公社兩黨

The Real Van Gogh

沒完沒了的一首詩

言者無罪的前題

Levi-Strauss

stingy

Alone Again (Naturally) [Song of Suicide #2]

I Adore You [Song of Suicide #1]

Why we are, as we are

Why we are, as we are

As the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On The Origin of Species” approaches, the moment has come to ask how Darwin’s insights can be used profitably by policymakers

Crime…

…and punishment

A woman’s place

Race to the finish

給劉翔

BMW GINA

一個最後一代香港文化人的告白／文﹕梁文道

Fatboy Slim - Push the Tempo

壯舉 之二

壯舉

變質

Cadbury - a glass and a half full of joy

認真分析什麼對事件有幫助, 什麼才對逝者予以一種尊重, 一個公道.

人不只是社會的產物, 人還是'一個人', 不要把某些敗類的行為擴大為該社會每個人的罪.

珍惜自己所有, 也尊重別人所有.

壯舉之二

給馬力