The Hours

暫時轉去屎殼郎

2009-08-16T14:11:00.002+08:00

http://shikelang.aiamu.net/

今天驚聞GFW不僅把blogspot給堵了，連feed都收不到！（可憐的豬.... ）不過八月才被bluehost敲了一筆錢，比起去年還漲價了，所以左右也是決定要多用用aiamu.net的資源，blogging （雖然頻率低于夏日冰雹）也暫時轉到屎殼郎和Melonseeds (英文) 好了，有時間再貼一份備份到這里。

番茄发芽（但多半不是你想象的那样）

2009-07-26T12:10:00.002+08:00

昨天发生的事儿了，现在还是觉得挺诡异。因为上周买的番茄还剩3个，怕天热烂得快，就想着炒一大盘番茄鸡蛋吃掉了事。捏了捏它仨，虽然皮红红的，都还半硬实着呢，（据我妈说空运的番茄就必须是这个种，所以新加坡永远是无福吃到国内那种又大又甜软多汁的番茄的。。唉。）那就炒两个留一个吧。下刀切块块～～

这一切，哎唷我的娘啊，手僵在半空还往后退了一小步。因为最初印象是这样滴...

见过的人就不要笑我胆小了，本人的第一反应就是“妈呀都是虫啊！还是螺旋形的！” 顺着想下去啊那个mental picture着实恶心得紧。。。（顺便说一句这照片是网上的，我又饿又怕的就没顾着去拿相机了。如果剩下的那位番茄同志也是一样的德行，一定照个原创的存档。）

隔空观察了半天发现弯弯的虫并没有蠕动，虽然越看越像芽苗，但是死也不能相信外皮完好汁液尚饱满的番茄会自己发芽啊！于是准备放弃这一只，向下一只下刀。。。一样的！！！

By now 已经可以确定是发芽了,闻闻也没有异味,虽然也很可疑的没有平常强烈的酸味。左看右看不知是扔还是吃，上网搜都没人提到番茄发芽的事儿，更不谈不能吃。那就本着科学怪人的精神，吃吧！！

最后煮到酱般烂熟和着稀饭吃下去。。。结论是，毒不死人，但是也不好吃。。。几乎完全丧失了新鲜的酸味，只有煮不去的类似生豆芽的腥味。下次还是直接放土里种比较明智。

别人的发芽番茄.. 更多

莫名其妙的恶梦

2009-07-26T11:11:00.000+08:00

昨晚梦里看新闻，模糊间忽闻阿PAUL不明原因卒死（TOUCH WOOD TOUCH WOOD TOUCH WOOD），顿时扑地嚎哭，头痛欲裂悲切不可收拾...

醒来不知这梦有什么缘由（第一个自然想到MJ的过世，但相隔一个月后才爆发..?）心悸得要死怕是什么恶兆，赶快查新闻。。。。.新闻说贯中最近又出书又和家强和好了一起在红馆玩gig（就在前天昨天和今天！），感情甜蜜事业蓬勃，破事一桩没有... 咳，我这梦是哪里钻出来的呢！

Missing MJ..

2009-07-06T01:12:00.000+08:00

Night of 27th June, Saigon in light summer rain. Sitting on muddy sidewalk sipping beer; everywhere bustled calmly. Now some people were talking about someone being dead. "Who died?" I absentmindedly asked.

Never, never did I or would I anticipate the answer. Choking on the beer I cried HOW DID YOU KNOW?! and Hai showed me the local newspaper: one day too late, not understanding a word it printed except his name in bold, and a photo of some black people crying in each other's arms. No!! No way. No No No No NO. He's supposed to put up 50 shows in London soon! Did he die on stage? Was it an accident? They weren't sure. Everyone was just visibly saddened, and conversation turned into whispered words, then died off. "In Vietnam lots of people like him very much..." "In China, too." Though I could only speak for myself. I don't doubt that. I tried to tell him how I liked him, and overwhelmingly all these memories came as if flash floods. I spoke of how he was the first musician I liked for myself, and how I saved up lunch money and bought my first ever cassette tape, Dangerous, which accompanied me for a greater part of junior high, through restless night studies and long, lone bus trips home, and all other times when I could plug my ears and listen to music freely. It wasn't for want of choice (though choices were few compared to today) but for fascination and love of everything about it, the beautiful, surreal album art, deep, sensitive (or wild and sensual) lyrics that I only half understood, his amazing, expressive vocal and emotional range, the raw angers and anguish and pain and angelic innocence...Later I saved up more to buy Jackson Five cassettes (don't remember seeing Thriller or Bad around, which is odd), MV VCDs, and whatever I could get... it was 1997, MJ was arguably past his heydays in the West but still largely unknown in China; he was my treasure trove, a secret love that unlike with other musicians I liked, wasn't shared with any. (Later there was Tony, who loved to do silly and crazy funny parodies of MJ and air-guitar at the same time. But we didn't talk about him much.)

And then my words trailed off...for after junior high, for one reason or another, the beloved cassettes were kept aside (over-used in any case) and I didn't listen for years till university, and then not as much. By then he had, to me, sunken into semi-retirement silence and media took no mercy in sullying his name, and it was just like he said, if you hear a lie too many times, you start to believe it, even it was completely groundless. I feel painfully stupid and ashamed that for all the years I liked him, I even just so slightly bought into the insidious rumors and news the media piled on him. Why did I wait until this moment to even think of confirming that he did not bleach his skin but was in fact suffering from potentially fatal conditions (vitiligo and lupus)? That he was proud of his heritage and was in no way trying to be White? That he was incredibly shy and gentle and kind-hearted? It only takes watching a few interviews to feel that radiation of true grace and deep seated pain, yet I've never done so, till it's all too late. F'k I hate myself.

I guess this grief will stay for a long time yet. It is such a slow acting thing...like a sleeping volcano. One moment mindlessly going about daily life, the next it erupts and engulfs one whole and thorough in the all-consuming lava. Gawd, I really, really miss MJ.. May you rest in peace, beautiful.

Gone Too Soon
Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Gone Too Soon

Youはshock！

2009-04-07T13:58:00.002+08:00

唉呀呀突然想看老动画片想得抓狂，大哭。眼巴巴坐着看了一晚片头片尾曲...grrrrrrrrrrrr

贴几个留着看..

Youはshock 爱で空が落ちてくる
Youはshock 俺の胸に落ちてくる
热い心クサリでつないでも今は无駄だよ
邪魔する奴は指先ひとつでダウンさ
Youはshock 爱で鼓动早くなる
Youはshock 俺の鼓动早くなる
お前求めさまよう心今热く燃えてる
全てとかし无惨に飞び散るはずさ
俺との爱を守る为お前は旅立ち明日を见失った
微笑み忘れた颜など见たくはないさ爱を取り戻せ

I'm gonna pull a Christian Bale

2009-02-06T23:28:00.126+08:00

..and maybe rename this blog 'The Erratic Rant'. If only to appease my guilt over putting no other kind material here. Heh. Been so lethargic lately, languishing time away, pining for nothingness...trudging in mental mud. I need a thorough shake-up.

Lately the mind wanders so severely and uncontrollably I find reading a virtual mission impossible, and working, even worse. Yet somehow in between long long lapses of fragmented brain activity I managed to finish the 370 page The Kite Runner. No, not what you think. Not a pageturner, not in the tradition sense of the word anyway. Rather it sits somewhere between 'trash it and curse angrily' and 'bleah, just bleah'. I'd suggest 'passable toilet reading', or 'for the insomniac sans taste'. No, wait...I almost forgot this is very the thing that made me want to scream, Bale style! Barring The Book of Illusions by Auster, this is the Singularly Bad book I've read in years! Just how many sins, literary and otherwise, did it commit! The language is crude, blunt, flat like wax and infested with cliches, the characters thin and hollow, the emotions either contrite or sickly sentimental, and lacking either range or depth, the plot--ha, the plot!--entirely preditable and trite, and as I quickly skimmed through my emotions turned from mildly intrigued to bored to shocked to indignant, and not because of any connections I made with any character. How does this author, this waste of paper and ink, get almost unaminous acclaim from readers and critics? A sudden interest in Afghanistan life is all the reason I can think of. Which turned my indignation into downright fury, for I feel this scam of a writer not only milked his country, but misrepresented an entire people and history to the hungry, indiscriminate popular culture of the outside, and was not so subtly justifying the American invasion. (Later I found out this is more apparent in his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Which was also a 'critically acclaimed' bestseller. Ugh.) Disappointing, disgusting, appalling.

Almost as foul-smelling as the book, I give you--Windows Vista. Or hp notebook. Or both, I don't know yet. What happened was, I just loaned an hp elitebook from work, 4 gig RAM and big CPU and Vista Business installed. It's oh so pretty, and quite a piece of crap too. It doesn't recognize the home wireless network, works slower than school computer back in JC, and frequently freezes. I tried to install Ubuntu alongside the useless Vista and the lappy dies everytime, saying line after line, "CPU died after 61 seconds! CPU died after (another) 61 seconds!" Is it really CPU or is it ugly Vista nipping its rival in the bud? Heaven only knows. Never, NEVER bother with Vista, my friend.

And I should sleep, community project tomorrow... horseshoe crab rescue mission!

2009-01-01T06:14:00.000+08:00

过了一个经济型新年，不错不错，很好很好。

五点半回来，看到冷冷新闻一则：

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7806658.stm

At least 54 people have been killed in a fire in a nightclub in the Thai capital, Bangkok, police say.

More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which broke out as people celebrated the New Year.
Bodies wrapped in white cotton were laid out on the pavement in front of the club, named as the Santika, in central Bangkok's Thong Lor district.
Police said they were investigating what sparked the fire in the club, popular with both Thais and foreigners.
The blaze was now under control but the death toll could rise, a fire official said.

新年快乐！

2008-12-31T19:30:00.000+08:00

虽然不过是人为的划分，但也不妨许些愿望吧。希望来年家事国事天下事，一切有转机，让人心存希冀。

‘09快来！

Beyond演唱会归来~

2008-11-09T00:40:00.000+08:00

嗓子嘶哑精神亢奋，不到三更是睡不着了，做梦大概也要喊几声阿PAUL阿PAUL吧！哎！比起5年前冬天露天看的那场，今次是音效够劲、观众热情不足，免于从头到尾只闻万人齐歌声但鼓掌尖叫和encore时又要死不活的没了气氛，几时可以去香港听个鱼与熊掌兼得的演出呢！虽然从这场来看，不论私底下恩怨，三子在音乐上的分歧真是再明显不过，要再走到一起同台演出实是希望渺茫。而且我都希望：不必如此了。如有下次，阿PAUL以自己的名义一人来就好！

起初看演唱会名字觉得诧异：虽说贯中与家强多年不和，起名叫《BEYOND NEXT STAGE: 黄贯中 x 叶世荣》也有够尴尬吧？等开场世荣穿着莫名其妙的mock西装出来吼罢几首莫名其妙的口水歌，我也一一确认了黑暗里的三把吉他都不是贯中（也不是阿贤！）之后，xf说，不会是一人半场吧？心知定是如此，顿时就沉了下去。唉。（现在看新闻才知道，原来本来就是两人带着单飞作品和各自的band来，各玩各的。咳，那么事先不知道也好....）且让我刻薄无情地说一句，不管是前期还是后期，世荣在我眼中始终只是个pretty boy，鼓打得中规中矩，历来演唱会上的solo都听不出什么大为出彩的地方，对于谱曲作词和演唱更是无甚贡献，除了有助于吸引些女粉丝，音乐上实在是个可以替代的角色。（西洋乐队中鼓手很多都担纲谱曲、编曲或作词，单会打鼓实在不足道，要换血第一个便是他。）Beyond解散后单飞的作品我买过阿Paul和家强的，阿Paul的时时拿出来听，家强的听了一两次便束之高阁，至于世荣，一点好奇心都无。所以对于这个一人半场的安排，只好两眼望天，盼他有自知之明，不要占足半场。结果是，本来对世荣无甚好恶的感觉急转直下，终于明白了家驹走后Beyond的境地，以及阿PAUL为何最终“不顾情谊”提出解散。试想一个穿着funky西装的四十多岁的男人--仍旧很pretty--蹦蹦跳跳的，唱着自己写的极口水又口水得不够潮的国语pop，填词反反复复就是那么几个关键字，理想啊青春啊爱情啊，不被理解啊苦闷啊，然后吃Beyond老本的时候选曲也多是同类题材的，rock也可以唱得很pop，过场时罗嗦，经常无趣讪笑，还数落自己单飞学吉他多不易，邀观众掌声，你不会希望暂时失聪失明，舞台暂时断电？居然还征用了三个吉他手（加他自己四个），仿似用几段鼓点震天吉他齐鸣的前奏和bridge就可点石成金，真是滑稽到失笑。倒是这个backing band让人想起Beyond旧时，一群年轻人满场跑来跑去的，没有配话筒，只可看到他们兴奋的脸，边对飙边一起高歌，我很想他们到聚光灯下来，唱他们的Beyond。可惜世荣自己唱得欢，不知有些歌只有年轻才可唱，老了再earnestly唱起就是莫大的嘲讽。（Encore时奏起《旧日的足迹》，我默念“阿Paul来阿Paul来”，只见世荣踩着弹簧步，脸上挂着痴醉于limelight的笑容，欢快地唱“......已过去的不可再今天又再忆起...”...操！真想立时一榔头敲晕了厮。阿PAUL只作stoic状，紧抿嘴唇背身弹吉他。唉，难受。）

不知世荣唱了多久，总之大脑反胃到快不行的时候阿Paul及时出现，阿弥陀佛等煞我也！！大吸一口气瞬时活了过来。Paul同学黑衣黑裤黑发，还是那么精瘦壮，头发也很精瘦（笑），band除了他之外就一把吉他（也不是阿贤！！哭），再加贝斯、鼓和键盘。各人站定，无多话，开场就rock到爆！哎，总是就是享受。5年未见，感觉声音比以前更亮更厚，既然是做自己的音乐，剑走偏锋也不必顾及谁，玩得自然开心，那个畅快啊～～～～为什么不是全场都是阿Paul！Grrrrr..

牢骚总是滔滔不绝，高兴的事一句差不多就够... 今儿先写到这里吧。

阿Paul！！

Ubuntu FTW!

2008-10-27T00:41:00.001+08:00

Finally made the long procrastinated Linux installation, and now yelping a tired-out yelp with immense joy from inside the wonderland. This is what I have after about six hours of nonstop, back-breaking dabble.

Sorry for the saturation of green, couldn't help meself again..

Not that Linux takes that long to set up: it sets itself up under ten minutes if you know a few geeky details to kick it started. I fumbled around for more than half an hour, due solely to the indecision whether to create a new partition or get a slice out from an existing one; very spoilt for choice--but eventually set it up without event. The fresh, earth-toned Ubuntu was already a stunner and a delightful vacation (may it be permanent break!) from Windows, and the endless possibility for tweaking and choosing from thousands of applications was just...well, overwhelming, for lack of a better word.. and crazed, happy experimentations ensued..

So thoroughly tired out now that I can't do the promised post today, sorry zhu.. a more detailed post tomorrow (if ye still interested ;) I just have this to say: finally, I'm not scared of a Windows system meltdown. Ever. Every disgruntled Windows (even Mac) user should give Linux a try sometime, and the world would be better for it.

Hacker attack?

2008-10-22T13:41:00.000+08:00

For a few weeks now I've been receiving "Google password reset request" messages in my yahoo mailbox, sometimes as many as half a dozen a day. I don't know if this is a continued hacking attempt specifically targetting me or a random bot doing mass hacking (which I doubt,) so I'll just put it here for the record: I'm being hacked, and I'm thrilled. By the attention or the danger I don't know.

I've since been trying to hack myself, though. Seems pretty tight to me, so all your secret conversations with me should be safe, for now. ;)

瞎子买镜记

2008-10-21T21:46:00.000+08:00

话说老胡同学周末跳舞忘形，把眼睛揣裤兜里，手抽出口袋就忘，好一个猛蹲----吧唧，眼镜变了V形。等掰好再戴上，引发了头痛一整天。咳。拖了不知多久该换的眼镜总算有个最正当的理由退居二线了...

于是就去买眼镜。老胡同学shopping是最没耐性的一头，从小被胡母的小农shopping逻辑压迫所致，最不高兴的就是左看右挑“货比三家”。就算这样，在个小店铺里坐下半个小时，柜台上还是摆上了十几副镜框，脖颈像长颈鹿一样两边摆，就是没有主意。唉，最...怕配眼镜咯。想到马上要被测有多瞎就头皮发怵腿发麻，戴什么镜框似乎都没大重要。文静的女店员也不出声，耐心看这位在镜子前自瞅。过了半天大概看这边这怪人实在很磨叽，经理模样的男人过来了。

“这个不好不好。” 首先一口否决犹豫看中的一副钛金。正好心中恨那价钱狠（三百多？！杀了我吧..），乐得有人帮忙否决。“这些怎么样..”转身拿出n副不是很中意的。这..... 正踌躇中，他看见放在一边的老眼镜。“哈哈哈我的天啊，这眼镜.....” 囧rz...！哈哈，很旧很可怕吧，本尊戴了有八年了吧。嗯，偶知，偶就是这么懒... terrible。挤歪了才想着来换... “哈哈，ei...eight years.........so...old...” nnd你就直接说古董土气得超正点不就好了！已经这么瞎了还要受人笑话，感觉真是那个什么背上插两把刀哇。=.=\\\

经理接着连吓带哄，边告知厚镜片放在这个这个这个镜架上会多囧（一边笑）边说这个这个样式多么‘ordinary lor’ （老子就是喜欢subtlety懂不懂！！）那个多么不划算（确实都是宰人不眨眼的价），而且“你这高度近视，光镜片就贵得要死”云云，咳，还要不要人活了。中途还怂恿这稀世土佬搞一副抢眼的塑料眼镜，“一起买两副怎样？” 天哪，I must be quite crazy to even listen to that，忙不迭说no no no，自己都大笑出来了。

最后在经理的炯炯目光下还是没选那副很舒服但是又‘ordinary’又贵得要死的钛金，而是settle for一副绿色的（yeah, green..）略略funky一点便宜一点的.........然后去测了视力，感谢老天，感谢那位文静的店员姐姐，没让人觉得如芒在背如坐针毡很想就地大哭一阵的，而且视力居然没有下降很多，散光竟然还减低了，果真是老了啊..........走出店老远还是揪了自己一把，心想tmd还是应该要了那副subtle的呀！！呜哇... 遭孽的瞎子啊....

IBS induces gory dreams!?

2008-10-20T20:51:00.000+08:00

Diary. (Nastiness alert.)

Sick and blue Monday. Upset stomach and splitting headache kept me awake all night, and half of the morning. When I finally scrambled to the the doctor's (young, kinda cute, with a HK accent), he informed me this was IBS: Irritated Bower Syndrome. No organic causes, nothing I can do to prevent it, just take the meds already. He asked about my diet ("non-fanatic vegetarian") and proceeded to inform me with slight pity: "women shouldn't be vegetarians. Eat beef, you need the iron lost in menses, or you could become anemic"

And then, "You look pale."
I: "Pale?!"
He: "Yeah."

I felt so busted: I thought I looked positively red-faced all the time and eminently robust! Apparently the transition from apple-cheeked youth to sallow, pale woman has slipped under my half-blind radar. Sigh.

So I took the meds with a hearty lunch, talked the missing weekend gossip talk with xf and went to bed...and BOOM. GORY DREAMS ENSUED. I was present as myself most of the time, with family members and friends from various times of my life, in semi-realistic settings. It's those kind of daily-life-went-awry kind of scenarios: a murder somewhere, and then witnessing a distraught woman fall from a closeby building, with a heartrending wail; a full bus crashing into another full bus with full speed at a bus stop, flattening half the people (and miraculously, no blood: they just seem literally flattened. Undead, some inflated and started to vomit); me walking away from the said scene, asking directions from an officer, a young, eerie man who tagged along and tried to suggest a hook-up, with undertones of threat; he and I walking through a tent, of eerie, towering soft toys, shapeless and oppressing, and we talked about clouds; in another scene, I work at a family restaurant owned by my never-met-before uncle and aunt, and a hooligan forced us out, waving a dagger and, I think, stabbed someone; me fleeing through a narrow alley flanked by shabby one-room houses that share all their neighboring walls, and the sky is capped by a giant top plank, so there's only flickering artificial light, down a greenish, funky smelling tunnel; horrible faces look out from the gaping facades; a withered Japanese oldman saying some unintelligible words to me, smiling a bone-chilling eunuch smile; ...and the rest has dissolved into a black unconscious soup that I shall gladly leave alone.

Did the IBS/meds/Monday blues/general sickliness cause this? Or are all the crime dramas I consume finally catching up with me?? When hunger woke me at 8pm I couldn't believe all that horror had failed to electroshock me right out of bed. Oh, man.

胡馬依北風

2008-10-14T22:03:00.000+08:00

若不是為人所托找資料，不知還要再過多久才會碰下方塊字書，而且只是眼睛碰碰屏幕而已。每次都這樣，汗顏歉疚一番，之后還是照樣貪看易食的英文書，如何是好！

古詩十九首之一，全詩竟然是這樣的！胡馬依北風一句該是在金庸的《白馬嘯西風》里引用過，末句也聽人提過，但既從未讀過全詩，也不知兩句出自同一處。讀到末了真個胃中一緊，鼻頭發酸。

***

古詩十九首
之一

行行重行行，與君生別離。
相去萬餘裏，各在天一涯。
道路阻且長，會面安可知。
胡馬依北風，越鳥巢南枝。
相去日已遠，衣帶日已緩。
浮雲蔽白日，遊子不顧返。
思君令人老，歲月忽已晚。
棄捐勿複道，努力加餐飯。

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

2008-10-08T14:10:00.000+08:00

I really enjoy VCB and thought about it much in the night. Truly admirable is the genius ways of Woody Allen to use archetypes and "cliche" templates but manipulate them to such refreshing comic effects, and always chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Kudos to you, old man!

This review (and the whole interesting thread) from imdb couldn't have put it better:

VCB: Satirizing the Traveling Chick Flick

VCB is a satire that takes apart the assumptions of a familiar strain of the romance genre, one I like to call “the traveling chick flick.” You know, where an English/American bourgeois woman or girl, desperate to escape her life of quiet desperation, visits a Southern/Mediterranean/Latin country, has a liberating romance, and returns a little wiser, if not determined to reroute her destiny for the better. That’s the general template, anyway.

The picture leaves out all the trimmings of realism; its clichés are intentional in order to resemble and so remind us of the formula being satirized - from the characters to the core situation. Thus it’s pointless speculating about Vicky and Christina’s futures, since they serve to reference and subvert a sub-genre more than to portray nuanced, realistic characters on a realistic adventure. They’ve been given enough substance, and the setting enough mood (those guitars!), to persuade the audience to emotionally invest in them and their adventure – i.e., to want that adventure. Our investment makes the dream’s eventual rupture all the more effective, for not only are the characters prevented from escape, but the audience as well, since we’ve been set up to expect that familiar, cathartic romance. Hence the amount and intensity of complaints about the “depressing” ending. It’s a double-whammy. Bravo Woody!

A major cue to noticing the picture’s satiric context is the way the narrator is put to use. The main reason why he gets under people’s skin is because he’s so resolutely unromantic – no matter what’s happening on-screen, he’s always matter-of-fact about it. He persistently interrupts the romantic tide of the narrative with the jolting contrast of his dispassionate analysis. His purpose is to tip the audience not to lose itself in the romance, but keep at least a little ironic perspective. It’s the filmmaker whispering rather loudly: “Don’t get carried away.” The picture sets up familiar and very real genre conventions, as opposed to constructing a faithful impression of reality, then skewers these conventions with an actual dose of hard reality.

With respect, a testament to the power of the formula being satirized is that so many in the audience – including popular critics - read the picture strictly at its literal level, overlooking its satirical framework. VCB criticizes the clichés of a certain kind of story, which are but a set of formalized, unquestioned, and, importantly, unrealistic beliefs to start with. Therefore criticizing the picture for including those clichés misses the point. They’re intentional. The error stems from the assumption that the picture is meant to be taken as primarily realistic in the first place, but doesn’t quite succeed.

The characters of Vicky and Christina typically avoid looking inward, and instead look externally for solutions to their cravings to acquire an authentic life. In a word, they’re shopping. Seeking distractions from themselves, they’re fittingly portrayed as tourists – tourists in a Latin country of course, where as everyone knows, liberating passion is always the leading export. The girls are immediately confronted with the exact opportunity that’s supposed to happen in this sub-genre, swept away by a soulful artist-type who appreciates them for the deep beings that they really are – because they can’t see that depth for themselves. It’s Spain as a Self-Help Country for browsing Northerners. Importantly, the dose of hard reality at the end is that the girls can only find and exploit their own potentials as long as they’re nurtured by an outrageously stimulating relationship, whose nature is unsustainable. Once their dependencies lose their lusters, as they must, the girls regress to being as oblivious as before.

The difference between the girls is that Vicky has compensated for her lack of inner direction by settling for the pre-programmed life offered by her fiancé. But of course that life doesn’t sit completely well with her, which is why she’s so self-righteous at first when confronted by the opportunity to experience passion with Juan Antonio. As is common with the self-righteous, she sounds like someone trying to convince herself that she’s doing the right thing.

Christina’s confused; she doesn’t know what her talents are, and what kind of relationship she wants. She only knows what she doesn’t want, which is all one could expect using the strategy of shopping around for meaning. For this character, the search, or rather, spree, has mainly taken the form of short-term romances.

Tellingly, once Christina’s craving is temporarily satisfied by her relationships with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena, the latter forces her to realize her innate talent for photography. Photography was an excellent dramatic choice, because while the camera looks outward, what’s in the frame is dependant on the vision of the person behind it. Thus Christina temporarily also realizes that the source of this new meaning comes from within her, not without. However, she quickly transitions Maria Elena from teacher to dominant subject. One result of their darkroom lovemaking is that it re-emphasizes and makes concrete the link, in fact the dependancy, between Christina’s self-realization and her relationships. The two passions literally “develop” together in the same room. Naturally then, when the relationships crumble, Christina regresses to her original state of confusion. The link is broken. Despite having gained a key insight into herself, she winds up still not knowing what she wants, and only knowing what she doesn’t want, because she still associates the profundity of meaning and passion she’d discovered with an external source, above all a romantic ideal. Because of that dependency, in the end the character doesn’t wear the expression of one looking forward to independently exploiting her newfound passion and insight, and accordingly the narrator also doesn’t speak of it. Christina hasn’t grasped that she’s already found what she needs.

As for Vicky, despite her advanced study of Spanish/Catalan culture, she hasn’t bothered to master the language, nor does she even know where Oviedo is. That is to say, she values her image of the subject, not its reality. She’s a tourist taking snapshots, not a scholar infused with an abiding enthusiasm. In her own way, she’s every bit a dilettante as Christina.

Thanks especially to Judy Nash (Patricia Clarkson), Vicky’s keenly aware of the long, slow death awaiting her in marriage (one reason to have her fiancé visit Barcelona is to highlight the contrast), so she revisits Juan Antonio after learning he’s no longer with Christina. She finds out that the ideal he represents is not only unsustainable, but dangerous. Of course the incompatible extremes of anarchic passion and numbing conformity aren’t the only options, and we’re expected to realize that. Given our omniscient/ironic point of view, we’re supposed to feel frustrated when the character fails to conceive of alternatives and submits to marrying a dullard. Especially in its resolution, the story stresses the artificiality of such a limited outlook. It’s limited because it is an outlook: again, Vicky looks externally for a compass to give her life direction, first embracing one unexamined cliché, then attempting to escape by swinging to a contrary one, and finally settling for what she started with. Although one illusion is broken, that of salvation through (hopefully exotic) romance, the character doesn’t challenge the other, equally clichéd option set before her. That’s because her flaw is her inability or unwillingness to look inward, where these unexamined clichés have taken root, and where she might find, by digging a little beyond them, the benefit of her own counsel. Besides, when one cliché proves not only false but near-fatal, the extreme safety of the other understandably seems reasonable, at least in the short term.

Juan Antonio and Maria Elena are opposite stereotypes to that of Vicky’s fiancé. Maria Elena’s an embodiment of mad, intoxicating passion, an extension of the cliché. Together, they’re all about the inward gaze; as artists, their focus is entirely on dredging up meaning from the inside – notably, this meaning is rendered in abstractions. Their emphasis is the body more than the mind; their lives are dictated and disrupted by storms of emotion and the force of obsession. And so of course all is chaos, and the falseness of the sub-genre is exposed.

吐..

2008-10-07T22:34:00.001+08:00

tnngx，剛看完電影回來的好心情，打開電腦就收個意外郵件被惡心到了。mlgb 這世界上的creeps可不可以都去死了？！

西貢西貢！

2008-10-06T21:04:00.000+08:00

唔，我沒有突然發飆跳上UFO空降越南。今天是周一；周一不是空降的好日子。好了，我只是收到了某位渡假人士（內部代號YDD）的明信片要興奮地亂叫一下而已！！某人剛前腳剛瀟灑地撤回島，后腳明信片就才跟回來了... 假期苦短啊！=''D

Anyhoo，這位蠅頭小楷高手開篇寫道：“親愛的popo！吃吧！！！:D” 我站在郵箱前目瞪口呆心想你你你怎么知道我恰好在晚飯前收到明信片并且很可能會邊吃邊看數遍！？肚子里蛔蟲都配了遙感器了？！肚子太餓字也看不大清，就把明信片放回了郵箱去買飯，轉來再拿出來上樓坐定，又看了一遍也還是不知這個神奇的“吃”是怎么回事，難道這明信片是可食的..？（嗅了嗅。）這時才注意到右上角的郵票（tunnel vision真是沒得救了！）... 啊，兩條鯉魚在綠幽幽的水里游！綠色的雙魚！好浪漫呀！...... 可是....... 可是.......

然后我又想起，這張密密麻麻寫了六百字的紙，其實，是明 · 信 · 片呀！哈啊！這才把它咸魚翻身～

所謂知婆莫如媳...... 然后就被諷刺了！！嗚哇！愛吃法棍無罪啊法棍萬歲！！哎哎，還真饞人啊... ='')

啊啊啊為什么就是長不出記性！！

2008-10-06T20:38:00.000+08:00

.....又打碎一個玻璃瓶！！本月第二個！！上次是黏糊糊的濃縮檸檬汁，這次好歹是不用抹了又抹的花露水....放桌上手肘邊一會兒就忘，一轉身胳膊一動，乒！！一地雞毛。小損失就不說了，滿地碎渣子啊愁死人，半夜起來不長記性搞不好還光腳踩到地板上，唉。這種時候腦中就會浮現我媽在一旁尖酸刻薄怪叫“你這伢就是不長記性！冒得腦子！”的可怕畫外音.... sigh, how scarring.. 可不幸的是越說越言中啊... 先天不足是不是可以怪回老媽去？？=''((

The mystery of the water bottle

2008-10-06T08:27:00.001+08:00

I have an ordinary plastic bottle that originally contained jasmine green tea for water container at work. I have been using it for some weeks, (probably high time to replace it too,) and for the last couple of weeks this has been happening: shortly after I fill it with cold water in the morning and leave it on my quite barren and clean work desk, a procession of ants would appear out of nowhere, linking the bottom of the bottle to a corner of the desk. They appear to be uniformly small, carrying nothing, and all crawl in a peculiar manner as if they have been shot with a small-motion gun. Needless to say I have tried to clean the bottom of the bottle several times, with soap, under hot water, but the ants keep showing up as if the bottle summons them with immaterial power. Odder still, at the end of each day the bottle is usually left in the non air-tight cupboard just above the desk, but never have I seen any ants seek it out there. Why is this??

- from yours faithful scratching head from a peaceful Monday morning in office.

Monday blasé

2008-09-29T10:00:00.004+08:00

Witness the mighty power of Boredom - squeezes a diary entry right out of me. It's Monday. Xifu is gone, probably sipping mango lassi right this minute on some blindingly blue sea and white beach, not for a moment forgets to feast her lusty eyes on cute guys and gals. Me, I sit in the unair-conditioned office (it's Monday, even machines thought they had a right to go on strike), doing my morning online routine, only to find no new mail, a handful of RSS feeds and no one online to talk to. Stale smells unmasked by coldness are now permeating the cramped main staffroom--as a result almost everyone migrates into the small side office that I sit in, like flies to a honey trap, where the air-conditioner still feebly churns out some relief. Noise level hits an unprecedented high--I had long realized teachers here (or people in general) when they don't have to put up a facade are just as unself-aware and unnecessarily loud as teenage monsters, if not more. Is it an Asian/cultural thing, I ask again? But first I put on my big white noise-cancelling headphones.

Dark Side of the Moon playing. Richard Wright passed. Paul Newman passed. The Reaper seems in a particularly sadistic humor lately--to take away such ingenious, golden souls in a non-heartbeat, when the world continues to spiral wildly into a chaotic, barren darkness. I know, I know, there isn't a time in History when this world is without war, greed, great crimes against humanity or garden variety stupidity, and great souls come and go like thin silvery arcs of comets against the vast dark backdrop of nightsky. But strapped down by Time and gravity, it's all I can and will do, bobbing on and down on the turbulent sea and looking up to the giants of our time, the lighthouses and beacons, and mourn each one as they inevitably pass. Let's not get too sentimental, though.

The extravagant F1 race wrapped here last night as the rest of the world worry about financial turmoil. I heard its popularity is waning in Europe, hence the move to Asian cities; I also heard SG signed on for another five years of hosting. Hmm, so in the next few years SG is gonna have two brand-new casinos, annual F1 races, some new MRT lines (?) and who knows what new shiny Gadget. But nothing helps the fact that this is helluva blasé place to be. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't enjoy myself more with all the modern convenience and pleasures it ~~cordially offers~~ pushes in my face, then I realized that, barring the gaudy matchbox HDB buildings, quite frankly I do like the city-you just can't say anything bad about lush trees and clean streets and good public facilities! But the people, oh the people. I'll be a mean ass and say this, I find most people I meet polite, but not gracious, educated but not enlightened, well travelled/exposed to the world but far from open-minded and cosmopolitan, their niceness more a worry about offending or inconveniencing themselves than a genuine benevolence, and all in all, huge bores. Sorry, why am I ranting about whole crowds of regular people without provocation, and not for the first time? I guess a dull workplace (when it's supposed to be somewhat way more inspired) and insufferable teenage kids does that to me; inflames the mind.

Thought on morning bus: Nancy Pelosi said in so many words that "the party is over" for Wall Street sharks, and I mused over the still half-read American Psycho and the incredible excesses and obsessions of 80's Wall Street yuppies (not to mention the pathology and psychosis that Bateman embodies) which apparently continued well into the 90's, and wonder how much of that bonfire is going to be left to burn to ashes, and how long before the undead ghosts return. (Because, you know, History repeats. Otherwise I'd spend all my hours plead with it to 'let us go back to the Agricultural Age, pretty please?')

摘抄

2008-09-15T23:54:00.000+08:00

"每一个年轻人的心都是一块墓地，上面铭刻着1000位已故艺术家的姓名。但其中有正式户口的仅仅是少数强有力的而且往往是水火不相容的鬼魂。"

- 安德烈·马尔罗

我们正在变文盲

2008-09-12T13:47:00.000+08:00

请看着下面的字不假思索地大声念出来：

蟆！蟆！蟆！

你念的是什么呢？
呵呵，事情是这样的：早上正和某只最近勤奋笔耕的鸟类讨论本日的码字宏图，说到打了鸡血般兴奋处，我敲道
—— 蚂犸蟆！

过了半饷，某人
—— ....后面两个字不认识...
—— 马的，都是马萨！！
—— 最后一个不是mo么
......那么蛤蟆就得念做ha mo了！大笑....
でも、从不会写字到不会念，我们真的是在慢慢变文盲ね... ='')

Moroccan Night!

2008-07-30T00:33:00.001+08:00

ET is back to the island and we went out for dinner at the little Moroccan restaurant near the Sultan Mosque--it was simply heavenly to drink Moroccan Tea again, and ET loved it too! Dinner however wasn't quite enough for us, so we decided to go for a drink...and stupidly walked all the way to Clarke Quay. In heels. Needless to say--totally crippling experience, only with ET comically relieving the pain of it by whining it the ET way. And we hit...a Moroccan bar! lol, it wasn't planned or intentional, the rich decor just caught our eyes, and as I was telling her about shisha along the way, she got kinda excited and wanted to smoke one right this night. And smoke we did! *Coughs* We ordered a peach and apple mix shisha and fumbled with it for a long time like newbies would, and only got the art and pleasure of it after about an hour.. ah, I'm not recounting it very well am I? Still a little stoned and tired out, with two big blisters on my soles, and it's 1 am, and 0530 is just 4.5 hours away..ah well. More updates tomorrow, perhaps. =p

阿賢！

2008-07-27T02:21:00.000+08:00

托米同學的糊涂福，竟然真去看了Eason演唱會，還是奢侈的內場，哇呀呀。不過大概是二月才來開過的緣故，這次開放的席位比起學友光年要少很多，而且也未賣到滿座。開場幾支舞曲下來Eason明顯底氣不足，停下來跟觀眾問好的當兒更是被工作人員團團圍住，五六只手此起彼伏地伸上來用大紙巾拍在臉上揩汗，可憐的醫生同學就很囧地站在聚光燈下，只露出一張嘴強作無事狀繼續寒暄。唉，這孩子，連自嘲一下圓場都不會，真是老實得緊。聽到他說“演唱會的最初設想是做成純舞曲的”差點沒從椅子上掉下來--看醫生跳那種編排的舞步只能說，呃，態度很認真，一板一眼的，可離學友那種跳得眉飛色舞還不漏半個音的老鰻魚可差遠了。還好這話重點在“最初”，后面老老實實站著唱，功力就出來了。

跑題了！我是上來喊‘阿賢！’的啊！話說舞曲部分結束之后醫生退場換衣，大屏幕上開始放錄像，叫"寂寞的時候，你會做什么？"，然后放些‘后臺’人員的回答（老實說很不喜歡這個策劃，拿都市人的都市病做賣點，還覺得挺文藝挺感性自豪挺治愈系還是怎地...啊跑題咯..）開始看得心不在焉的，結果看著看著發現不得了，都都都是大牌，‘藝人形象設計’的這只還叫‘Wyman Wong',不知是黃偉文的同名呢，還是這個胖子確實如此多才多藝？放到‘吉他手：黃仲賢’的時候楞掉三秒，心想‘阿賢？阿賢？！’在暗光下使勁試圖分辨出背景里的人影，然后就看見了阿賢的偏分頭，橄欖綠上衣仿佛跟上次Beyond演唱會的還是同一件衫，似乎比以前胖一些了。啊....（此處省略無法寫出的驚嘆和<333 thoughts若干..）Encore的時候大家都沖到前面站著照醫生，我也沖到前面，左眼瞄20米開外的醫生右眼看40米外的模糊不清低頭彈吉他的阿賢，心里直埋怨醫生凈唱流行，還有不景氣的香港搖滾，讓人難以看到阿賢那一手行云流水的吉他。=((

終了時醫生一下場人群就極快地散去了，樂隊也陸續回了后臺。阿賢卻坐下在他的位子上沒有離開的意思，不知是在看譜子還是發呆。很想趴在欄桿上喊一句，AYIN, YOU ROCK!最終還是沒有鼓起勇氣來。*fangirl 沮喪中...*

X Files 2: I Want to Believe...in Extreme Mediocrity

2008-07-26T00:01:00.002+08:00

Just came back from seeing the second X Files film, and it was almost the polar opposite of last week's wonderful memory of The Dark Knight. I haven't seen any reviews or forum discussion before this, but I'm certain that non-fans (if they go at all) would go 'HUH?' and hardcore fans would go 'Boo..' and 'WTF?' and 'I'm so done with it' and shiver hard after the show.

At the risk of spoiling no one in my tiny readership, let me just say, this sucks some incredible ass. Some good points: seeing Skinner (for under two minutes), hearing all of their voices again, a MS kiss (though kinda lackluster). What I missed: Scully's auburn, shoulder-length hair (why take away this essential Scully-ness off Scully?!) But all in all, mediocre, extremely predictable and unbelievable plot, loads of cliches, horrible dialogue and characterization (most of the time it felt to me like it was a story with David and Gillian's faces playing two characters that have very little to do with Mulder and Scully. Scully would never say 'that is why I fell in love with you' like that and Mulder...*I don't even recognize this man*), multiple irrelevant subplots and characters, half-hearted acting from the whole cast (except Gillian, the saving grace of whole damn thing), TV-style cinematography and editing, overuse of melodramatic and thematic music, and uncomfortably close shots of faces (very unflattering and unnecessary, I almost thought CC hated them and was attacking them with a camera. Gillian and David haven't aged the most gracefully in their generation, especially David with his increasingly prominent jaw and progressively shrinking and slanting eyes, the loss of a certain wondrous charm and aura, and the acting was absentminded and uninspiring. I wonder what happened to him..or maybe it's just this cruel thing called Life. =/)

P.S. Done my rounds on imdb and rotten tomatoes, where it is uniformly panned by critics--at 28%!! Seems it's mainly hardcore fans that are turning up in small numbers for it, and many are disappointed. In my theater the audience is small, and most people stood up once the credits started to roll and walked out quietly, no buzzing conversations or anything. Imdb says there's a sequence after the credits (Scully in bikinis and Mulder rowing the boat, both waving to camera,) and I don't know if I'd care to stay even if I anticipated.

Orgesticulanismus

2008-07-22T23:18:00.000+08:00

Just saw this short film/animation about handicapped and immobilized people and their lives (more like, inner lives. and it's nothing like what it sounds here). Great work but it can't be embedded, so please use the link.

A short intro accompanying the video:

Mathieu Labaye's short-movie, Camera etc (Belgium, Liège): http://www.camera-etc.be
Great tribute to his father Benoît Labaye, suffered from a multiple sclerosis at 29 years old. Benoît Labaye had been confined to a wheelchair since age 40 and died at 55 years old the 04.22.2006, as a result of a pneumonia.

In the movie, you can hear Benoît Labaye speaking:

"I think it's by the movement you appropriate your own life. By the freedom to come and go, to have gestures of love, tenderness, anger, whatever. When you are deprived of movements, as I am and as a lot of other people are, I think if you want to survive, you must reinvent the movement differently. And so what happens inside my head isn't purely brain, purely intellectual. It's a way of recreating an inner space which is also my freedom."

"When you live a severe handicap, when you live absolutely still, dependent, you live, in fact, something that can't be shared, that can't be easily expressed, which you can't easily talk about. Because when two people talk, to be able to understand each other, they need to have a minimum of common experience between them, to speak of something they both know from some form of experience."

"Sure, the stillness, the handicap, brings you to the conclusion and to the gradual acceptance that there's a certain number of things that you can't do. But conversely I think it opens a whole bunch of new possibilities, notably with inner freedom, inner space, but also with the way you can come in contact, in relation with others.
I think there is in the handicap, in the disease, a lot of potentiality. The human being is inexhaustible at the level of desire, of energy, of inner strength. Ans it's something you discover with maybe more urge, more intensity, when you're deprived of movement."

http://www.proxiliege.net/index.php?p...
http://www.neuroplanet.com/fr/index.a...
http://murielgerkens.be/spip.php?arti...

court-métrage de Mathieu Labaye, Camera etc (Belgique,Liège): http://www.camera-etc.be
Magnifique hommage à son père Benoît Labaye, atteint d'une sclérose en plaques à 29 ans. Dans un fauteuil roulant à 40 ans, Benoît Labaye s'est éteint le 22.04.2006 à l'age de 55 ans des suites d'une pneumonie.

working!

2008-07-22T23:03:00.000+08:00

well just a quick post. so, um, I AM WORKING! after a year's procrastination me finally had to step out of that den...at 0630 every day (and possibly need to be earlier since I'm horribly late today.) thoughts? kids these days are real brats. i 'observed' two classes and watched them debate issues like cultural diversity and conflict, and dealing with parents, and it just made me want to send them all to military camps and the most remote, poor villages and warzones to shut these ignorant mouths up. dawg.

and i am still fighting the war on last.fm. eyes and neck are about to give out.

time for bed..
2309. /signed.

Oh I'll sing a song to you, fucked up day

2008-07-19T00:23:00.000+08:00

...and I shan't write down all the fucked-up-yet-trivial-but-also-kinda-important business of the day. Interesting that for all 'important' stuff that went wrong, it's last.fm that drove me off the edge. I look and look and look at the hideous tacky mess and I want to bawl and gorge my eyes out and kill somebody. Another once beautiful site sold out to the devil and ruined. You fucking intelligent yet stupid, greedy idiots. Everywhere.

Fucking reduces me to tears.

Last.fm site revamped

2008-07-18T01:00:00.000+08:00

...and UGH! What is that!? My eyes hurt! My mind hurts! GIMME THE OLD FM BACK!!!

When too many things happen in one day and you feel your knee/hand/mind is gonna break..

2008-07-17T23:16:00.000+08:00

Immigration again, argh. Walked miles, waited hours, paid wads of money and in the end, managed to finish some tasks; ain't too bad. Except, of course, for the brutal moment when I was measured and told to be shorter, weightier and blinder. Very, very sad.

Things acquired today: a radiograph (going to become part of the wall decor); the view of the inside of the Supreme Court building (oh so prim and movie-like!); the aww-it-can't-be-so knowledge that watercolor pencils cost about $1.80 each (no wonder artists starve all the time); seven brand-new books at 5 bucks each (could have gotten more--will get more); and watching Dark Knight on its opening day! (BAAAAAAAAAAAAAALE!!! *swoons*)

[Spoiler-free] At 153 minutes it feels short, in the way that you detect even in the first half hour, from the hasty, forced cuts and transitions and fragmented scenes (as if reading an actual comic strip cutting across scenes), that Nolan's ambition and story is grander than the commercial medium could allow. Indeed I feel that he introduces too many new players into the game, making it an ultra star-studded film where each don't shine enough, even for his/her own role. Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over from Katie Holmes to play Rachel, doesn't have the sweetness, looks grumpy and weary, has about zero chemistry with Bale, and is altogether an odd casting choice (this is not to say she didn't do her job--it's just that she isn't for this job.) OH BUT, she is the only actor I've any complaints about, the casting is otherwise EXCELLENT. Bale, Caine, Oldman and Freeman return, and I don't think I could love any of these men more, not to mention them together, again. Pure, concentrated bliss. Heath, you are ridiculous. You transform yourself beyond recognition, you are hysterical, neurotic, maniac; you are every kind of crazy and your intensity burns and is scary. I hope the producers didn't cut out too much of the Joker's part because of the untimely death, because seriously I thought there could have been more--a lot more--elaboration on the Joker: who he is, what drives him, and how he does the impossible and impossibly crazy stuff that he does. On the other hand, I wish you didn't pour so much of your mind into the role, so today we may still have you.... Amen, you will live on in your work, and never shall be forgotten.

Other highlights:
- Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent is grrrreat. I've no memory of seeing him yet he felt instantly familiar, probably because he has such a comic-hero face ;)
- Some very cool new technology for Batman, and CGI effect.
- followers of Prison Break and Lost are going to be pleasantly surprised.
- THE GOD THAT IS CHRISTIAN BALE. I BELIEVE IN CHRISTIAN BALE. (MORE ON THAT LATER. !!)

Alright. The final verdict? I'd rank Batman Begins higher than this, but it's still a great effort from Team Nolan, and a trip to the cinema is strongly recommended. (It was positively swamping with people today. I haven't seen such a cinema crowd since Phantom Menace years ago..)

----------BALE信徒的分割線------------------------------
Let me just say, this god of a man just literally takes my breath away. All, the, freaking, time. (-->Somebody can insert screaming and rambling here-->) We--two fanatics--tried to count how many of his films we have watched on the way out, and I think we are severely lagging behind. Here's a list:

Killing Pablo (2009) (in production) .... Major Steve Jacoby
Terminator Salvation (2009) (filming) .... John Connor
Public Enemies (2009) (post-production) .... Melvin Purvis
The Dark Knight (2008) .... Bruce Wayne / Batman
I'm Not There. (2007) .... Jack/Pastor John
3:10 to Yuma (2007) .... Dan Evans
The Prestige (2006) .... Alfred Borden
Rescue Dawn (2006) .... Dieter
The New World (2005) .... John Rolfe
Batman Begins (2005) (VG) (voice) .... Batman / Bruce Wayne
Batman Begins (2005) .... Bruce Wayne / Batman
Harsh Times (2005) .... Jim Luther Davis
Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004) (voice: English version) .... Howl
... aka Howl's Moving Castle (International: English title) (USA)
Maquinista, El (2004) .... Trevor Reznik
... aka The Machinist (International: English title) (USA)
Equilibrium (2002) .... John Preston
... aka Cubic (Europe: English title: video title)
Reign of Fire (2002) .... Quinn Abercromby
Laurel Canyon (2002) .... Sam
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) .... Mandras
Shaft (2000) .... Walter Wade, Jr.
American Psycho (2000) .... Patrick Bateman
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999) (TV) .... Jesus of Nazareth
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) .... Demetrius
All the Little Animals (1998) .... Bobby Platt
Velvet Goldmine (1998) .... Arthur Stuart
Metroland (1997) .... Chris
Pocahontas (1997) (VG) .... Thomas
The Secret Agent (1996) .... Stevie
The Portrait of a Lady (1996) .... Edward Rosier
Pocahontas (1995) (voice) .... Thomas
Little Women (1994) .... Laurie
Prince of Jutland (1994) .... Amled
Swing Kids (1993) .... Thomas Berger
Newsies (1992) .... Jack 'Cowboy' Kelly
A Murder of Quality (1991) (TV) .... Tim Perkins
Treasure Island (1990) (TV) .... Jim Hawkins
Henry V (1989) .... Boy
Empire of the Sun (1987) .... Jim 'Jamie' Graham
Mio min Mio (1987) .... Jum-Jum/Benke
... aka Мио, мой Мио (Soviet Union: Russian title)
... aka Mio in the Land of Faraway
"Heart of the Country" (1987) TV mini-series .... Ben Harris (unknown episodes)
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) (TV) .... Alexei

Rescue Dawn and Machinist, here I come...

My Left Foot

2008-07-16T23:20:00.000+08:00

Immigration papers are a pain to sort out, most painful of which being the sudden knowledge that a 'birth certificate' is required - something that I never had, simply because hospitals back then didn't have such requirements. I thought it'd be a simple matter to ask the hospital to issue one and, lo and behold, Dad came back with a long story and the original file documenting my birth, or to be exact, the tormented journey of my mom's giving birth. I don't think either of them expect to see that file again, and I wasn't even aware it existed. (My dad signed on it, but it could be the first time my mom saw it. What a bewildering thought, the biggest experience of a woman's--my mom's--life, recorded in in barely intelligible handwriting on two mere sheets of medical form, which in all probability wouldn't be seen by anyone else again if not for this birth cert request.)

Over the phone Dad chattered on excitedly, 'and there's your little footprint!' and I didn't know what he was talking about. And then it came through. In the center of the second page a black ink print of a baby foot glared out, big, full, brooding, like a small animal in itself that says, I am.

A mugshot of my left foot at birth.

偶爾清掃鞋架是有驚喜滴

2008-07-16T14:28:00.000+08:00

...比如一只風干的壁虎。可憐的孩子瘦骨嶙峋的，恐怕是在那營養供應不良的鞋架上守著守著就睡過去了。Amen，我會照顧你的孩子們的。

不過最近似乎新來了一種花皮小壁虎，喜歡凌晨三點出沒，很招搖地把窗框和桌上的小東西撞得啪嗒響，以前那些安靜的淺色大壁虎反而很少見了。

河豚

2008-07-15T20:31:00.000+08:00

记得是大一的时候第一次看到她的摄影，非常喜欢，时常去看看更新。有时也会用自己做模特，是有些像田原的眼睛幽深的女孩，大致和我同龄，竟是学中医的。到了大二还是大三，更新日渐稀疏，到最后完全静寂了，我也看得少了。电脑全瘫了两次后，链接也不见了。一晃几年过去，今天无故想起她，凭着记忆试着打出地址--啊，再见她更成熟沉静的面容，心中竟有不意重逢的喜悦。她又开始摄影了，还有个超帅的网站。（只小小遗憾的是mypoco失去了那时的水灵气，变得奇怪地丑陋俗气了。）真是开心。

又震

2008-07-15T19:08:00.005+08:00

据国家地震台网测定，北京时间2008年7月15日17时26分，在四川绵竹县（北纬31.6度，东经104.0度）发生5.0级余震。来源: 中国地震局办公室***节选一则评论

近来，那个叫做张信宝的宝器专家，这个四川省学术与技术带头人，赤裸裸地以专制学阀的面目出现在央视之中，他的观点就是：凭借他的老资格，就可以不经过实地调查研究而下正确的科学结论，反而对那些年轻专家经过严格的实地调查研究得出的结论，判断为：胡说八道、制造恐慌！（见央视《新闻调查》），因为他是“专家”，因为他是“权威”，完全可以不顾实地调查研究的事实，置汶川数万人民的生命于不顾。他坚决反对汶川异地重建，他坚持认为汶川是安全的。当柴静问他：你去过汶川吗？你了解那里的情况吗？他却说：“不用去现场调查就知道那里的情况，因为我是专家。”当柴静说一些科学家到那里进行田野调查，发现那里的问题非常严重，他竟然说：“你没看那都是些什么人，都是些年轻人，没有经验。”柴静马上反问：“你不认为科学和事实与年龄资历没有关系吗？”他马上又说地质科学是经验的科学。以他的经验，汶川安全得很，那里的人希望异地重建就是逃跑行为。张信宝还说龙溪乡农民搬迁下山是“莫名其妙”，那里“安全得很 ”！可镜头告诉我们那里裂缝纵横，一场暴雨就会引起许多处山体崩塌。这位张信宝全部的依据就是一张遥感地图，在图上，从汶川县城到映秀镇没有任何山体滑坡！无独有偶，《成都商报》7月6日也推出一个四川的宝器专家的高论，这个四川省政协委员、省社科院区域经济研究所研究员、名叫王新的专家，居然认为地震给四川旅游带来前所未有的机遇！那口气显得很兴奋很亢奋，说现在可以开展“黑色旅游”，最佳时机是十月一日到09年元旦其间，而四川省旅游局也认为此乃好事一桩……

以前以为，人生下来白纸一张，而我们的社会不但可以养出这样没有人性和良知的东西，还能容他们坐在各种高位自诩专家，大放厥词，没人注意的话还都采纳了，是社会体制的问题。现在意识到，体制固然是一个关键，但自己也还是不自觉地将人理想化了。这大约也是中国人的文化特性，讲人情，讲情面，愿意相信凡事都是好的，并生活在这种幻想中，一旦破灭则有莫大的受骗受挫感，并彷徨不知何为。西方法治的基础观念则是人性本恶，对掌权者尤其严厉--没有理由相信谁是心怀普济天下的好心来做事，民众也不会感恩戴德地给好官莫大的光环，这只是一份需要严格监控的工作罢了。几十年前，林语堂先生已在《吾国吾民》一书里对此有相当见血的论述，那时的先生既冷静透彻不留情面，但亦对中国满怀希望和爱，为三、四十年代的中国人指出了一条改变的明路。对精英统治的国民党存着好感的他自然没有预料到后来共产党的成功上台和文化、经济上的大变故，而现今中国种种劣迹劣质只比旧时的有过之而无不及。先生若在天有灵，很想问一句，我们如今该从何下手改变，何去何从？

再见墙洞

2008-07-13T13:38:00.000+08:00

昨天突然有了5个来自国内的访问，其中两个还是从同在blogspot的新春秋转来的。不知这个有时限的奥运洞几时合拢？*抓紧时间热烈踢墙并挥手！*

Fear of...?

2008-07-11T21:14:00.001+08:00

Just got another BM Journal, themed Phobias! (and that's right, I'm overcoming bloggingphobia and binge updating again.) Pitifully this one isn't as fun as the previous two, mainly because, save for the great cloth-collage spider on the cover, the few people who have contributed did so without apparent enthusiasm, almost with...fear? Heh. Really nice fibrous paper though, looks edible and wearable. I wonder where people get these fantastic notebook which would totally drive my graphophobia underground.

Some interesting bits:
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - if you cared to decipher the almost non-word, you can probably tell it's a Fear of the Number 666! (aka Satan). We Chinese are, needless to gloat, genetically immune. We rather love it as a matter of fact. ;)

Onomatophobia - Fear of hearing a certain word or name. (Illustrated by Harry Potter shouting, "Voldermort!")

Enosiophobia or Enissophobia - Fear of having committed an unpardonable sin or of criticism. (Illustrated by Snape clawing Harry's and Ron's respective heads and murmuring, "...avada kedavra...")

Phronemophobia - Fear of thinking. (Illustrated by a shut-eyed, :-( faced Bush.)
Gnosiophobia - Fear of knowledge. (Same Bush.)

Ligyrophobia - Fear of music. (Hm, anyone got that?)

I'm probably going to put in Phasmophobia, my undying fear of ghosts, or Tonitrophobia, a lesser but no less persistent fear of thunder (there's a whole list of phobias here.) Come to think about it, it's a rather redundant idea to ask people to find exotic -phobia words, because after all, they are just (something in Greek)+(fear in Greek)-- in other words, plain, inventable Greek, which the English language has to borrow for paucity of its own original vocabulary (and obviously with no phobia of borrowing!) The same idea won't even begin to form in a Chinese's head, not from an 'exotic vocabulary geek' angle anyway.

I still can't find the word for fear of cockroaches, but I'm pretty sure roaches too exist in the roach-friendly Mediterranean climate. So I'm gonna look it up and invent my very own phobia, heh. (And um, eww.)

廣州話粗口研究網

2008-07-11T20:03:00.001+08:00

No kidding. 托这个的福，终于知道了周星星电影里常脱口而出的那句“咸家鏟“的意思。

真是太有才了！

香港人是这样长大的

2008-07-11T19:53:00.000+08:00

...我们也差不多吧！转自新春秋，完整版本在facebook。

0１. 玩米缸, 將手插入米缸裡面o既米裡面.
0２. 在百貨公司入面「篤」扶手電梯的吊牌
0３. 地下有階磚特登隔一格一格黎行 (不可踩界, 要完全在格內)
0４. 用錶面反射陽光, 照黎照去
0５. 跳樓梯 (愈多級愈勁)
0６. 行路上高起左地方, (例如高起左o既長條型石博, 好似玩平衡木咁行法)
0７. 鋪張紙在硬幣上面, 然後用鉛筆係上面油, 油返個形出黎
0９. 超級市場踩住架購物車黎行
1０. 踩水tum, 係好特登果隻
1１. 吹口水波
1２. 搣牆上的乳膠漆或牆紙
1３. 係平滑o既地面上面跣下跣下.
1４. 整濕d紙巾,掟上學校廁所天花頂.
1６. 響課室玩過俄羅斯輪盤, 將玩粉刷霑滿粉筆粉放係風扇上面等個風扇轉轉下轉得怏個時飛出黎睇下個粉刷中邊個
1７. 拿阿媽d 線圈放膠袋 (當風爭甘放)
1９. 用塗改液....係咁o即起一個位...等佢變一個半圓波波...乾左面果層.... 再用手o禁爆佢.....再去廁所洗手..........
２0. 係咁切擦子膠, 切完一條條,儲埋去....整一條大既.....
２1. 在擦膠上劃公仔~~~做印仔~~~
２2. 細個無意義動作: 用禁芯筆/鉛筆篤擦膠,整到好多一粒粒鉛筆痕,唔知為乜
２3. 用塗改液o係課本既封面寫自己個大名
49.沖廁：屙尿時出力射走屎。
75: 傳紙仔: 我諗好多人都應該試過，就算唔係你傳比人或你收，你都應該幫人做過郵差掛。
79:X粉交易: 係學校買"媽咪面" 同d同學一齊分入面包粉。
82: 時間停頓: 小息完響鐘扮定形，因為會比風紀捉。

要有翻译版就好了，还是有些连猜带蒙的。xD

科幻与翻译

2008-07-11T12:23:00.004+08:00

今早从Reader看到Neil Gaiman同学说journal升级到blogspot no-longer-beta了（这句这么杂种），跑去很久没去的本尊网站看了看，才突地发现页面下面的浅灰色链接：TRANSLATION，曰：“有兴趣翻译的话，非常欢迎，目前我们有：（...差不多所有欧洲主要语种）”。考虑到Gaiman在中国的读者群之大，很惊异于至今尚无人出来做中文翻译，于是与朋友开始讨论找人一起做的可能性。

事实证明我要么高估了中国书迷的数目或热情，要么是我们的英语教育水平已经达到了国际标准，完全无翻译的需要，在交通繁忙（并藏龙卧虎）的双峰驼科幻翻译小组发贴一天之后只有一声冷淡的招呼，让我去某个不存在的盖曼翻译小组张贴。Hmm。照此状况，我估摸译过来也是读者无几；左右只是journal，那就算了吧。

放弃了念头后继续谈国内的科幻和翻译现状。虽然已多年没有在国内买任何科幻小说和期刊，但仍非常关心，因为小学到初中的四五年间，每月望眼欲穿地等待《科幻世界》的那甜蜜兴奋心情是少年时无可替代的回忆和起点。除了那时也正处在黄金期的中国科幻，最大的吸引自然是外国科幻的译文。许多精彩片段和初次读起的新鲜愉悦，如今闭上眼还是能感受到那强烈美妙的脑波冲击的余震，甚至有时比后来读原文的时候更加亲切。这种情形，自然是希望它能一直发展下去的。但现状似乎是，翻译界疲软无人（费心费时且薪酬难以糊口），鱼龙混杂，相对于偌大一国家来说，读者少市场小，出版社也不管什么质量啊名誉了，出书即抢钱，词霸翻译的稍作润色都可以上架，好的作品反而不易出版或是被埋没在垃圾海洋中（几时烂書通缉令这样的小组没太多贴可发了，读书人的世界就美好了）。当朋友提起即使是Gaiman这样的人物，在中国正式译出的其实仅7年前出版的American God而已（我以为已经译了大部分），另外一些在中国名气稍次的当代作家引不引进更是难说，不禁脸发高烧大喊惭愧！本土既不济，也不请他山之玉，真是贫瘠可悲......也许这样才会有双峰驼这样的无酬自发翻译小组，带着些许无奈但也乐在其中地存在吧。

如何能够扭转这病态的书市和一个国家所欠缺的阅读习惯？也许可以构想，但并不是个人力所能及的事。能做的无非是自己坚持阅读，能力所及的时候推荐和翻译一些东西，期待这滴水能有日和其他的水滴汇成海洋吧。

***
附：Gaiman抱熊猫，被cute呆了。More from himself, and still more. *g*

Karma?

2008-07-09T21:10:00.000+08:00

I‘ve never heard of this or made the connection before, but this is uncanny. Curse or karma, you do reap what you sow...
---
From 'The Australian'

The 2008 Games’ five mascots, known as the Fuwa or “good luck dolls” seemed as innocuous and inane as those from any other Olympiad. But after a series of calamities that have befallen the host nation this year, millions of spooked Chinese have denounced Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Yng Yng and Ni Ni as cursed demons.

Chat rooms across China have been alive with talk of the infamous five. Each mascot has been specifically blamed for a disaster.

Panda Jing Jing has been framed for the earthquake that killed at least 68,000 people earlier this year because he comes from Sichuan, the region where the catastrophe struck.

Huan Huan, the fiery red doll, is the culprit behind the troubled global torch relay that was marred by violent protests.

Yng Yng, the Tibetan antelope, is of course guilty of provoking the riots earlier this year that sparked worldwide condemnation of China and its human rights record.

Bei Bei, the fish, was initially culpable for deadly floods that killed thousands earlier this year.

“I am in Shenzen,” wrote one terrified blogger. “There is heavy rain for two days and no sign it will stop ... now the curse of the final ‘fish’ has been proved correct. What shall we do?”

But now a more “credible” link has been identified: the tonnes of toxic blue-green algae that has swamped the Olympic sailing course in Qingdao.

Finally, there is Ni Ni, a flying creature that completes the curse with revelations a plague of locusts is chomping its way towards Beijing from inner Mongolia.

continue reading...

Presto & Alec - 兔子和魔术师

2008-07-07T19:57:00.002+08:00

再来一个吃草胡萝卜的。

据说这是放映WALL E之前上的Pixar小短片。这里要到8月底才上映，不知到时会不会在大银幕上看到。在这里先睹为快吧～

本着奥运精神继续埋头除草

2008-07-07T17:51:00.000+08:00

从熊五处转贴一篇奥运最新道听途说消息：

“新北京新奥运奥运终于进入倒计时了，北京的大街小巷的神经也开始弸得像拉满的弓，首先，七月一号，五环所有大车不让上了，并且所有黄标车不让入京，所有政府车辆出行减半，二十号开始，实行所有车辆单双号上街，为的就是让大家看看，咱们北京不是停车场，道路多宽畅。其最直接的结果是，别的我不知道，因为黄标车都是小型载货车，现在北京城里的蔬菜供应和废品运输成了问题。今天和人聊到，所有进京蔬菜都要经过审查，只有合格的才能进入，其中大蒜是合格的一样。于是开玩笑说以后咱们就吃葱姜蒜吧，大葱炒大蒜，大蒜炒大葱，开胃又美容。。。今天晚上在一挺大饭店要点点水煮鱼或者剁椒鱼头都说没有鱼了，因为买不到。你说这让人日子怎么过。再说说奥运的场馆，这次很多奥运场馆都设在大学里头，比如北大的乒乓球馆，北工大的羽毛球馆等等。北大在七月二十号之后就要清校了，所有师生凭证入校，查得特别紧，更有趣的是原来的在乒乓馆边的老教学楼被包上了一层皮，为的就是好看，已经马上要封楼了。北工大据我所知也是七月一号就开始封校，所有人员凭证入内。估计这段时间办证的同志们得发一笔。。学校也推迟至少半个月开学，而且所有外地学生都鼓励回家，北京越少人越好，都留给老外吧。但是老外现在办中国签证又困难了，据说本来北大的宾馆准备把房间买到五千一晚，现在一百都难了。抗震救灾的悲哀也要过去了，媒体更要把重心放到奥运会。让我们拭目以待。好运北京，加油！：）”

我來除草了

2008-07-07T15:36:00.001+08:00

上週末收到mooch的兩本bookmooch journal，沉甸甸的一大包從郵箱裏掏出來抱著，好像無端地領暸一大包糖，兩個眼珠都不往一個方向轉了。趕緊跑到大水塘子邊喜滋滋地看到天暗。所謂的bookmooch journal就是公共scrapbook，隨便誰都可以發起，只要選一個有趣的主題，買個扎實的本子，讓大家知道有這一本東西存在，剩下的事情就是讓它環遊世界了。遊到我這兒的兩本，一本叫‘She said…’，封面是Virginia Woolf的那張侧着頭的半身像，不言而喻是給寫女性語錄的，另一本叫做The True Bohemian Café，紮紮實實的手工線裝厚紙本，封面封底都是硬木板，摸著就大愛不止。翻開看看，在我之前大約只傳過十來個人，本子大半還是空著的。即使是這樣，留下的手跡也已經是千奇百怪；何謂Bohemian，大約就是自由不羈的表達吧。想像一下快要寫/畫/帖滿時的樣子......啊啊，一定要再mooch回來重看一次！

最後放一個書簽比武... Sorry zhu, I gotta let the girl from Taiwan kick your monkey's butt, I simply can't find another way! :o))

P.S. blogspot的新編輯器不好用啊，圖像會滿場溜是怎麼回事？

Blogspot feature updates!

2008-06-28T13:13:00.000+08:00

I noticed yesterday the compose form of blogspot is updated to this:

...and clicking buttons like 'link' and 'image' will produce little Ajax boxes--no more pop-up windows, yay!

And it turns out blogspot did more than revamping just this. They now also have:

Webmaster Tools Verification. Turn this on to automatically add and verify all your blogs on Google’s Webmaster Tools.
Star ratings. Add a 0–5 star rating control to the bottom of your posts so that your readers can rate them.
Import / export of blogs. Back up all of your posts and comments to one Atom XML file on your computer, and import your posts from one blog to another.
Embedded comment form. By incredibly popular demand, we’ve brought the comment form to your blog’s post pages, with support for Google Account and OpenID authentication.
New post editor. We’ve completely revised the post editor, bringing in drag-and-drop image placement and better HTML handling.

See the whole update entry here, or log into draft.blogger.com to try it! =D

softy

2008-06-28T12:14:00.000+08:00

I'm binge watching old Daily Show clips again. And I saw this interview with Rob Morrow back in 2001.

It really amazed me how soft-spoken (and even a little shy) he is in real life, not at all like the tough talking Don Eppes in Numb3rs (and of course the beautiful lush hair *g*! compared to the more closely cropped Don...both are great, but what magic hair does to people!)

And naming his daughter Tu (Morrow)? ROFL...Rob, you are a strange, sweet man.

Soie

2008-06-26T00:07:00.002+08:00

Soie arrived at my doorstep today, and again, I’m surprised by the size (more on that later) and how I came to get another foreign-language-translated-into-another-foreign-language book again–in this case, Italian into French. Just when I thought it was a French novella, hmph…(and just how I came to miss the Italianness of the author’s name is beyond me.)

The first page is interesting enough:

Bien que son père eût imaginé pour lui un brillant avenir dans l’armée, Hervé Joncour avait fini par gagner sa vie grâce à une profession insolite, à laquelle n’étaient pas étrangers, par une singulière ironie, des traits à ce point aimables qu’ils trahissaient une vague inflexion féminine.

Pour vivre, Hervé Joncour achetait et vendait des vers à soie.

On était en 1861. Flaubert écrivait Salammbô, l’éclairage électrique n’était encore qu’une hypothèse et Abraham Lincoln, de l’autre côte de l’Océan; livrait une guerre dont il ne verrait pas la fin.

Hervé Joncour avait trente-deux ans.

Il achetait, et il vendait.

Des vers à soie.

Hmmm. I’d like to trudge through this.

On a slightly related note, the relative sizes of books–in particular, fictions, published in English and French have somewhat baffled and amused me in the past months since my French language mooches began to arrive. I am by no means a veteran to any respectable French bibliotheque or even a bookstore stocked with a good spectrum of French fiction, but it appears that the French like their fiction small and thin. It could of course be that I just happened to be mooching thin books, unwittingly (I don’t check page counts before deciding,) or this could be a culturally disparate thing. The French books I’ve been getting are narrow and thin as CD jewel cases, could fit into a regular envelopes and be handled with a single palm, and they invariably made me doubt if I was receiving an audio book on CD instead whenever I saw a thinly padded envelopes quietly sitting in the paper mass. They make regular, 1 inch thick English publications seem belabored and pompous (judging a book by its thickness!) and large trade paperbacks positively monstrous.

On the other hand, small as they are, French books like to use large, clear fonts, while some English books can be rather hard on the eye (this Eric Idle book I’m reading has tiny fonts. Chuckles per page ratio is rather concentrated as a result. Squinting too.)

Why is this?

我的心肝儿荷兰啊..

2008-06-22T05:24:00.002+08:00

刚看完荷兰对俄罗斯的比赛，这个伤心啊。一场年轻对经验的大屠杀。不过年轻队是老帅带着，经验队是少帅带，所以我也说不清到底是什么屠什么。唉伤心伤心。希丁克你这个死邪鬼老头。只可怜了巴斯滕......再看那长着鲨鱼脸的Arshavin在荷兰地盘横冲直撞如出入无人之境，一向生龙活虎的橙衣人彷佛被电僵了般束脚无策。唉。泪奔奔。

Oranje，'10年再见！

Teenage Angst and Two Disappointing Films

2008-04-18T23:53:00.003+08:00

看了两部期待已久的电影Donnie Darko和Paranoid Park，各有出彩的地方，但总体还是比较失望。

Donnie Darko作为01年的老片常常出现在一些科幻电影的评论和推荐清单里，出片的时候票房很差，之后的cult following倒是越来越强，现在是IMDB top 250的#117－－听起来非常诱人是吧。但实际当我把它当作一部科幻片去看的时候却发现，纯粹的科幻成分（时间旅行）少得可怜而且根本站不住脚－－众所周知，时间旅行类的剧本要写得新颖又逻辑严谨非常之难。DD弄了不少虛幌子晃眼，装扮成硬科幻，但它实在是漏洞百出不经推敲，只‘幻’不‘科’，更应该归在Fantasy类。但关键是，DD也不是fantasy，因为它虽然主线是SF(-wannabe)，它同时还是青春、校园、爱情、家庭、剧情、悬疑、惊悚加伦理和社会评论片。诚然，打破类型模式而让人难以归类的片子很少，但纯属某一种类型的片子其实也不多，即使是商业的类型片也会加进多些元素来吸引多样的观众群。而DD既没有像个独立片一样尝试打破类型，也没有商业片对类型的精细权衡，而是野心过大又不知取舍，所以让我失望的不是因为没看到期望中的科幻新经典，而是因为尽管这种一口吃n胖子的勇气可嘉，但雄心缺了相称的厨艺和肚量来执行，到最后一刻还是把人给吃撑吃残废了。

除开这些导演兼编剧带来的蛇吞象问题，Gyllenhaal姐弟加上强大的supporting cast 演出水平还是一流的，很多副线和小插曲，也很耐人寻味，这一点有点像Lost，也难怪有硬粉丝说反复看就会不断发现新东西，好像拼图一样很有解谜的成就感。Jake同学把angsty dorky teenage boy诠释得很好，可惜故事太泛泛，对角色挖掘深度不够，不然还可以更好。总之，给3个星，推荐不畏惧费脑力吃大杂烩的同学们看。

Paranoid Park－－啊，亲爱的Gus van Sant，你让我从哪里说起好。我还没有看Elephant，但PP里的男孩无疑又是一个Elephant海报上的金发男孩的变种（当然，我们还可以追溯到Good Will Hunting或更早，van Sant无疑毫不掩饰他对这样的男孩子的钟爱－－谁不爱呢？）在看PP之前就听了配乐：又有两首Elliott Smith，尤其是在GWH里占有重要地位的Angeles竟然再次使用；我不禁担心：how original can it be?

As it turned out: not very. It is like a cross between 'All about Lily Chou Chou' and 'Sukida', but not in a very constructive way. To be fair, it's a very 'pretty' picture: good looking teenage boys, poetic outdoor shots, clean soft colors, camera constantly in aesthetically pleasing slow-motion/panning mode, lots of still close-ups of vacant but pretty faces of despairing teens, lots of entrancing, music video-like sequences of acrobatic urban skateboarding, and even a bald Asian detective (instead of older white wiseman) for a change...but ultimately, it feels empty, the kind of emptiness that plagues teenagehood, and if that is what it sets out to achieve, to make a film that embodies just that feel of apathy and emptiness and let teens identify with it, then I must say it may have succeeded. (Need to survey the teens; I'm old.)

The premises is simple enough: Alex the protagonist teenage skateboarder is implicated in the accidental death of a security guard and his life, well, changes. Alex is quiet and introverted, has divorcing parents, a bimbo girlfriend he doesn't like, a bunch of skateboarding buddies who aren't exactly friends, and one straight-talking gal who is a friend and probably the only dim highlight. And the angst ride ensues. (I'm falling asleep here recalling the details..) Let me just say this: PP lacks the intricate story and the engaging compassion that made GWH so endearing (granted they are by different writers--GWH by the hot blooded Damon and Affleck, PP original novel by Blake Nelson whom I get the feeling may not be so warm. Or it's van Sant's failure adapting) so while the excellent camera work and artful direction are still very much present, the heart isn't.

The verdict: for van Sant, skateboarding and pretty boy addicts (the gorgeous lips, eyes, and HAIR!). Note though, that I may be overreacting to my disappointment and over-penalising it right now; I still give it 3 stars for now!

Done reviewing/bitching...and the disappointed scribe crawls to bed...

I HEART Matthew Gray Gubler!

2008-04-11T14:26:00.004+08:00

As declared in the previous post, I'm totally IN LOVE with the awkward prodigy Dr. Reid character on Criminal Minds. I know that none of you, my precious blog-wanderers, have seen it yet, so none of you will be on board with me...what a shame. So let me just rave on alone first...and here's an idea of how Reid looks like--

Too geeky for your taste? Well, you should see the boy in action. And then here's another one of Matthew Gray Gubler (who plays Reid) on the runway. Yes, yes, the man used to do modeling work, how cool is that??

And the coolest thing of all, and actually what I logged in to rave about before I thought of throwing in a couple of not-very-representative inanimate photos, is his freaking one-of-a-kind of a webpage (explained in this interview)!! I've seen nothing like that before, nothing! Geez man, I <3 you so very much. *jumps off soap box and wipes eyes*

(。*.*。)

Violent TV Mania

2008-04-10T19:51:00.006+08:00

RED ALERT级别的PMS汹汹来袭，导致本土豆再次失去基本行动力和思考力，坐在桌前酗milo加美剧，一周半里足足看了五季左右的各色探案剧...I feel so much better, and guilty as hell!

罪恶感先压下不表，让我来rave review一下这些美剧～～

按看的时间先后
1.THE INSIDE [tudou]
THE INSIDE的设定跟其他为人熟知的探案剧差不多－－FBI 5人重案组，头头：old white guy，老练精干，城府深厚，背后的故事也多；手下：正义感强烈的英气勃勃的小伙一名，粗线条的前海军军官一头，cynical/funny的老女人一只，还有个搞笑的黑小伙儿techie。开场故事里，组里一名前探员不明死去，头头立刻补了一名探员进来：年轻貌美的Rebecca Locke，客气，冷淡，分析能力过人。随着剧集展开，我们慢慢知道Rebecca有着不同寻常的的痛苦的童年经历（非supernatural），也正是因为这段经历使她具有了一种异于常人的洞察力，常常以罪犯的视角推断出隐藏的事实。除了这个卖点，犯案和破案手法的构思也比较新颖（read:变态），小组成员的互动和成长也很有趣味，尤其是耐人寻味的老头子，但另一方面，给其他探员的戏分不太平等，显得过于众星捧月，而且还是年轻得在现实中不可能成为FBI特别探员的美女月亮（go google 'rachel nichols'），这一点要扣分。

比较遗憾的是FOX已经腰斩了这个本来很有潜力的好剧，导致一共只有13集，所以先警告一下，不要看上瘾了。

2. Criminal Minds!!!!!!! (exclamation marks all mine xD) [tudou s1 s2 s3]
CM完全是意外的发现，之前既从来没有听说过，演员也一个不认识，完全只是因为看完THE INSIDE之后很不过瘾，瞄了一眼“浏览了这里的土豆还看过...”一栏之后，被题目吸引过去看了一集。然后又一集。一整季。整三季。

爱死了爱死了。

可以说CM已经跳过了CSI头顶，升到了本人的“最欣赏探案剧”榜首。基本设定与別的探案剧稍微不同的是，CM的团队是FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit，i.e. 一帮各有专长的profilers专门分析连环杀手以及各种心理变态的罪犯的成长历史和心理，并（unrealistically）亲身追踪和捉拿变态。我欣赏它让人深入追溯（通常是极不幸的）个人的历史和心理成长，思考、分析或者仅仅只是见证最黑暗扭曲的一面。除此之外，CM的team是我看到的最‘奇形怪状’的组合，每个人性格的塑造都很饱满，各有各的超怪quirks（Dr. Reid is my official geek crush of the moment!），dynamics也极有趣。比起CSI，CM要更沉重和intense一些，有时甚至比CSI还要暴力一些（这一点我不喜欢...即使是探案剧也该克制一下暴力的度和量吧？），所以大概不是每个人都会喜欢，不过绝对推荐看几集试试！

3. Dexter [s1]
Dexter的网上口碑和imdb评分都极佳，但或许是刚看光了沉重紧张的CM老大不舍地四处去找类似的缘故（没错，俺就是喜欢看紧张得气都喘不过来的超严肃变态犯罪剧），Dexter的节奏和气氛都还不太对胃口，还只看了4集就暂时搁下了。剧情设定：Dexter是迈阿密警局的法医，专长是分析血液溅洒，三十岁左右，年轻，英俊，小有邪气；作为自己心知肚明但无药可救的psychopath，Dexter将闲暇时间用来追踪法网漏掉的重案犯，轻松娴熟地杀死并肢解扔掉。恐怖？问题就在于，剧集气氛一点都不恐怖，简直就是轻喜剧。除了大量的Dexter的诙谐式独白，还有捧哏的一班comical角色：Dexter的傻大姐警察妹妹、对他抛媚眼的女上司、专跟他过不去的黑警官、亚裔搞笑nerd同事，再掺上轻快幽默的墨西哥音乐...犯罪和死亡便好像是调剂生活的鸡尾酒，每个参与办案的人脸上都有it's-a-party!的glow...确实是很独特的编排，但太soapy light了，不是我爱的type啊。

4. Bones [s1]
从Dexter转悠到同样有名的Bones，惊喜也同样不多.. Premises：人类学博士Brennan，美貌nerd，高IQ，低EQ，和她的团队帮助FBI分析骨头残片和遗骸断案，闲暇时喜欢写犯罪小说。现在还只看了两集，plus side: 比较喜欢的是里面用到的关于骨骼分析的部份和全息三维图像重塑遗骸相貌的技术，做得非常酷，minus side: 叙事和案例设计方面稍显得弱了些，角色设定也感觉嫌牵强/做作/comical，或是面目模糊性格不明，like an amateur crime show trying hard to be light and funny, and failing.. 也许我需要耐心，多看几集再下定论吧。

***
CSI、Numbers和Battlestar Galatica都已经从罢工回归，出了新剧集，Lost和House将在月底回归，此外－－SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE 马上又要来了～～！^_^

程益中锵锵三人行谈新闻自由

2008-04-10T15:04:00.003+08:00

视频不能embed进来，点这里看。

程益中是南方都市报和新京报的前老总，前党员，被逼得无奈离开报纸后，现在是体育画报的老总。这期三人行谈的是媒体的自由、信誉、独立、监督，西藏问题的报导和中西方态度和方式的对比，个人觉得很值得一听。

iPhone ad on Conan O'brien

2008-03-26T22:07:00.001+08:00

Too funny not to share...xD

西藏update

2008-03-20T14:43:00.004+08:00

一个澳大利亚游客拍下的动乱现场。

今早看到爱枣报每日摘，发现事情并不是我以为的那样－－

清官难断家务事。几个声音各执一端，谁也闹不清到底是怎么回事。这个时候你只是撸起袖子哭诉、给人看伤痕，别人也未必相信你对事件的描述。老觉着家丑不可外扬，遮遮掩掩，即便占着理，看起来也让人觉得理亏似的。甚至别人家的事也要赖到咱们头上。其实让人进屋看看，据说还是有会有人秉持公正的。是非自有公论，咱不是大国吗，要自信吗。
不过既然都宣称是兄弟，为什么有人却享受着外宾待遇、甚至外星人待遇？其实咱们早有奇兵，为啥这时候不管用了涅？不过现在已经用不上了，160人乖乖自首了。

闹归闹，必要的课还是补一补，这样能看得更明白些。

虽然本能地不信任国内媒体和官方说法，但西方媒体报道也都各怀私心成见，还是得边读边加盐（The Economist这篇还算勉强，CNN的读着想骂人）。枣报链的这几篇算是独立来源，有事实有见地，虽然我不同意每篇所有的观点，但重要的事实竟然是，肇事的是一部分藏人，死伤的大部分是汉人、回人，烧毁的是汉人开在拉萨的商铺、车辆，还有报道称整个回族区都遭到严重破坏，清真寺遭焚毁。至于政府有没有在街头用暴力镇压（确实有坦克上街以及每家去搜捕），反倒没有真切的证据证明，西方媒体引用的所谓暴力镇压的照片，竟然很多是发生在尼泊尔加德满都的－－无心的文化错误造成张冠李戴，还是蓄意的给中共抹黑（既然长年已经这么黑了）？和菜头同学说：哈，谢谢帮倒忙。照片和模糊短小的视频的力量在于，选材、剪裁和caption由他，读新闻还得靠自己，左中右中西藏都得看。怪我之前只看了西方媒体报道，天真的knee jerk反应啊－－也谢谢中共搞信息封锁，是真的信息也来得又慢又跟propaganda一个调调，你TMD这么多年了还就这囧样在外面混？难怪不能取信于人.....GROW UP！

但无论真相如何，是否有达赖在幕后酝酿操纵，本身就存在的民族政策问题（具有中国特色的positive discrimination）、bad PR+各种wrong/bad thinking带来的吃力不讨好还养虎为患的民族仇恨和暴力能升级到这个境地，自己的警力因为国际舆论等等关系而束手束脚不能及时控制场面、保护无辜民众的现实......‘反思’在这里似乎都已不够了。

大师辞世

2008-03-20T11:04:00.004+08:00

以后再也看不到Mingella拍的电影了。英年早逝，悲叹。

据美联社报道英国当地时间3月18日清晨5时，著名国际级导演Anthony Mingella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, Breaking and Entering) 因突发脑溢血，在伦敦去世，终年54岁,他所在的经纪公司今天证实了这一消息。

***

同时，尚留人间的科幻三大巨头中的最后一位 Arthur C. Clarke 于2008年3月18日在斯里兰卡的家中去世，享年90岁。他一共写过100多本科幻小说，其中包括《2001太空漫游》系列、《与拉玛相会》（Rendezvous with Rama），此外还有《童年的终结》（Childhood's End，1953），《城市与星星》（The City and the Stars，1957），《神的九十亿个名字》（The Nine Billion Names of God，1967），《Imperial Earth》（1975），《The Songs of Distant Earth》（1986）。阿瑟克拉克从1960年代起就与小儿麻痹后遗症(Post-Polio Syndrome)作抗争，不时的使用轮椅，在遭遇呼吸问题后于当地时间早上1:30去世。他是地球同步通信卫星和太空电梯技术的预言者，《2001太空漫游》中的人工智能HAL 9000成为科幻史上最著名的虚构角色之一，他的著作获得许多次星云奖和雨果奖。

三巨头可以在天堂里好好聚头侃侃咯，不过大师也看不到终于搬上荧屏的《与拉玛相会》了。

届时定去看这部电影。怀念您。

西藏，西藏

2008-03-18T23:27:00.003+08:00

BBC新闻昨天报道，据消息西藏已经有80多人在游行中遭暴力镇压身亡，令人发指。中共对新闻进行全面封锁，只在一些youtube可以看到一些短视频（在国内被封了）。一个短片里（已经找不到了），曾经端庄祥和的大昭寺和八角街上满是激愤高呼的喇嘛，人脸大概因为怕追查，都已用黑色块隐去了... 看着让人心头紧紧揪着，害怕和担心压得很想吐。想着所有遇见过和没机缘遇见的可亲可爱的藏人现在可能被笼罩在恐吓、暴力之下，甚至遭了毒手....心里真真是憎恶这个的政党。另一个短片里，广场上已经空空旷旷，只有数个面目麻木又狰狞的武警在毫无缘由冲着行人喝叱，CCTV称拉萨已经恢复正常秩序，看得人心发凉。

我不支持藏独－－从现实考虑，西藏也已经不可能独立了，达赖也不是笨蛋－－但我更憎恶专治和暴政，GCD，看看西藏（和中国其他地方）已经被你们糟蹋成什么样子了。两边都不是什么好鸟，扯来扯去的，最终输的是平民。拜托你们，坐在一起，有点头脑有点人性地谈一谈话吧。

－－－
一些长期需要捐助的地址 [转自豆瓣]

在大山深处的一些山区乡镇，自然条件恶劣，生产方式极为落后，经济来源非常单一，数千名贫穷孩子衣不蔽体，需要大量的旧衣物。
　　
　　坐在四季如春的写字楼里的时候请不要忘了同一片蓝天下还有那些在冰天雪地中读书的孩子。
　　
　　如果你希望帮助他们，只需收拾一下你的衣柜。你会发现有很多长年累计下来的不再会穿，或者已经不合体的衣服。扔掉可惜，留着又占地方，送亲戚朋友又送不出手。把他们打成包，邮寄给这些孩子，他们会因为你的爱心而得到温暖。
　　
　　希望大家行动起来，参加我们的活动，尽绵薄之力。
　　助人为乐。
　　
　　
　　几点说明：
　　1此页也欢迎各位朋友复制转贴或者推荐朋友来参加活动，让更多的人有机会去帮助孩子。
　　2不要担心自己的衣服孩子们看不上，对他们来讲，这些很珍贵。
　　3请不要捐助内衣、时尚服装、未洗净的衣物，邮寄时请先付费后邮寄。
　　4包裹内最好内附信件，以说明捐助及来意。另外，精神上的鼓励我想也会给孩子们带来温暖。
　　5下面是经过整理的地址，最好先取得联系，以再次确认地址有效再邮寄，以免浪费您的捐助。关于捐衣及邮寄流程在末尾有详细讲解。
　　6有问题请留言，我会尽力解答。也请大家对地址的更新以及活动内容提出意见。
　　MSN： sky8584@hotmail.com　　　　
　　
　　1、云南省大关县吉利镇黄荆村瓦房小学——孩子们不接受捐款,现在只接收课本、图书、文具等学习用品
　　需要：图书、课本、文具、学习用品
　　邮编：657409
　　地址：云南省大关县吉利镇黄荆村瓦房小学
　　联系人：毛利辉老师（收）
　　毛老师QQ：449018838
　　电话：0870——5932019（大关县吉利镇中心校）
　　
　　2、云南省凤庆县三岔河中学图书室--云南大山深处的贫穷孩子,需要旧衣物图书（此地址可接受货运 )
　　需要：衣物，图书，文具等，大量需要图书(不限大人小孩)
　　联系地址：云南省凤庆县三岔河中学图书室
　　邮编：675905
　　联系人：李言
　　电话：0883-4870187
　　QQ:107082696
　　E-mail：107082696@163.com
　　
　　3、云南怒江贡山县自然保护局
　　云南怒江有个叫丙中洛的地方,当地民族主要是怒族,那里居民生活的区域是海拔1700米,虽然环境优美,但是那里由于地处祖国的边疆、少数民族地区，当地农民还是那么的贫穷。许多村民在寒冷的冬天还是单衣遮寒。
　　需要：贫困村民能用的一切衣服物品(不限大人小孩)
　　邮编：673500
　　地址：云南怒江贡山县自然保护局
　　联系人：和正军
　　联系电话；0886-3513288
　　E--mail是：piaxy9@yahoo.com.cn
　　
　　4、四川阿坝州阿坝县藏文中学，及附近贫困群众
　　需要：所有旧衣物(不限大人小孩)
　　邮编：624000
　　地址：四川阿坝州阿坝县藏文中学
　　联系人：确旦老师
　　EMAIL：chokdan@hotmail.com
　　
　　5、四川省攀枝花市米易县得石中心校
　　需要：6-14岁孩子的衣服，鞋子，书籍，学习用品
　　地址：四川省攀枝花市米易县得石中心校
　　邮政编码：617213
　　学校电话：0812-8120523
　　联系人：周在玉（校长）周勇（副校长）
　　
　　6、青海省称多县老干部局
　　需要：7-16岁儿童秋冬衣物
　　地址：青海省称多县老干部局
　　邮政编码：815100
　　联系人：卓德收
　　电话：0976---8861865
　　
　　7、贵州省从江县丙妹镇岜沙小学
　　需要：小学生的衣服，鞋子，文具，书籍，书包等及家长的衣物（有捐助小学生衣服的可附带一些成人的衣服）
　　邮编：557400
　　地址：贵州省从江县丙妹镇岜沙小学
　　联系人：李霞（支教老师）
　　邮箱：fly-89@163.com
　　
　　8、广西隆安县屏山乡人民政府--广西隆安县屏山乡“爱心之家”大量接收衣物图书等物质
　　需要：衣物，图书等，特别是小孩子的衣物更需要，还有鞋子之类的，如果可能的话，还需要什么饼干、面条之类的(不限大人小孩)
　　接收地址：广西隆安县屏山乡人民政府黄秀明收
　　邮编：532715
　　联系人：隆安志愿者：黄秀明网名：璐曦
　　电话：13978181296
　　QQ：24929061
　　邮箱：huangxiuming521@tom.com
　　
　　9、浙江育英文化学校女学生需要大量衣物
　　需要：17岁左右的学生御寒的衣服，鞋子，书籍，学习用品。
　　潘老师班上有60个男的160个女的，所以女孩的衣服要求多些，素旧的没关系，但最好干净一些，不要看上去很脏的。
　　地址：浙江建德寿昌西湖山背4号育英文化学校
　　邮编：311612
　　联系人：潘为民
　　电话：0571-64562255
　　
　　10、太阳村的孩子也需要救助,只要是孩子的衣服鞋都可以
　　北京的朋友可以就近捐，北京太阳村的孩子也需要救助的，大家可以去查一下北京市太阳村儿童教育咨询中心。那里大概有100多名孩子，小的有1岁的，大的有18岁，需要衣服，书籍，周六日可以去做义工。
　　主任：张淑琴
　　执行副主任：千鸿
　　电话：010－60443523（含传真） 60443757
　　邮箱：ertongcun@163.com
　　网址：www.ertongcun.com
　　地址：北京市顺义区赵全营镇板桥村
　　收件人：太阳村或儿童村都行
　　邮编： 101300
　　
　　11、甘肃省民乐县的中小学生
　　需要：6到16岁中小学生衣物，书籍，文具等
　　邮编：734500
　　地址:甘肃省民乐县民政局
　　联系人：李浩学
　　联系电话：0936-4421349 13919741982
　　
　　邮编：734500
　　地址:甘肃省民乐县团委“西部计划管理项目办公室”
　　联系人：马小强
　　联系电话： 0936-4421543 13919741978
　　
　　12、甘肃省定西市,那里的孩子需要衣服和书籍!
　　需要：衣物，学生的书籍，文具，书包等(不限大人小孩)
　　邮编：743000
　　地址：甘肃省定西市团委
　　电话：0932-8216247
　　不用写收件人，直接寄到团委就可以了
　　此地址接受公路货运，快递公司，铁路货运。通过公路货运、快递公司的要写上团委的电话，货运公司、快递公司可以通知团委取货；铁路货运要找能到定西站的班次火车托运，不然会把货物运到兰州去的。
　　
　　13、云南省怒江州泸水县鲁掌镇泸水一中
　　需要：初高中学生衣物，书籍，文具等
　　邮编：673100
　　地址:云南省怒江州泸水县泸水一中办公室
　　联系人：王金云
　　
　　14、四川省阿坝州若尔盖县降扎乡中心小学
　　需要：小学生衣物，书籍，文具等
　　邮编:624502
　　地址:四川省阿坝州若尔盖县降扎乡中心小学
　　联系人：罗介主任收
　　
　　15、甘肃省会宁县杨集乡邢坪村石岔社柳岔小学
　　需要：学习用具，笔，本，课外书，小学生工具书（如新华字典），或者乡村教师能用的汉英词典，英语学习磁带，旧电脑等等有意义的东西。
　　邮政编码:730713
　　邮政地址:甘肃省会宁县老君坡乡柳岔小学（收）
　　或者:甘肃省会宁县老君坡乡中心校刘承祥老师（收）转柳岔小学
　　或者:甘肃省会宁县老君坡乡中心校王军强老师（收）转柳岔小学
　　
　　16、甘肃省会宁县杨集乡邢坪村石岔社——会宁是全国有名的状元县，却也是非常贫困的地区，希望大家能帮助那些没有其他生活来源的村民们！
　　需要：衣服、床单、被套之类，贫困村民能用的一切衣服物品(不限大人小孩)
　　邮编：743200
　　地址：甘肃省会宁县杨集乡邢坪村石岔社
　　收件人：杨永华　
　　
　　
　　关于捐衣&邮寄流程：
　　1）家里收拾出不再穿的旧衣包鞋书等等。
　　2）敬请清洗干净，（能用消毒液浸泡一下最好），晒干。这一点，是对对方的尊重与负责，还希望好心的朋友们能不嫌麻烦地做一下。
　　3）装袋——在邮局有邮寄包裹专用的纸箱，但比较贵，最小的都要花8、9元钱。因此我们建议大家自找纸箱或不透明的布袋（米袋、面粉袋，自己用布缝一个布袋都可以，比较节约），最好先把衣物先分装进塑料袋再装进纸箱或布袋，因为这样可以避免衣物在邮寄过程中被雨水淋湿。注意：此时不要把纸箱或袋子封口，因为邮局要查看里面的东西。
　　4）扛到邮政局。
　　5）购买包裹单，5毛，包裹单要绿色的，最便宜又实用（邮局人员往往会问你要寄快件还是普通包裹，寄快件不实用费用也高），用力填上地址。
　　6）把袋子封好（邮局会有针线提供缝袋子封口），写上地址。
　　7）可以选择保价，1元可保100元的东西。
　　8）寄吧！看目的地的远近，每公斤收费是2块－4块钱。
　　
　　注意：
　　1、请尽量邮寄素净点的衣物，适合农村生活的。不要太时髦，不要裙子，不要吊带等。
　　2、御寒衣物为主，尽量少寄夏天的衣服。如果有棉被，床单等也需要。
　　3、具体可以是：棉衣、羽绒服、绒衣、毛衣、外套、棉纱衣裤、保暖内衣、衬衣、长袖T恤、棉裤、毛裤、绒裤、牛仔裤、长裤、棉鞋、旅游鞋、休闲鞋、袜子、围巾、帽子、手套。
　　4、衣物请不要有破洞，不要有明显的污渍，扣子、拉链、鞋带尽量完整，以不影响使用为宜。贫困山区买这些服装配件也很困难。如果你有钮扣和针线，也寄给他们。
　　5、如果是旧衣物，请消毒清洗干净后晒干（消毒用威露士，84等消毒液浸泡十五分钟照常清洗即可）。
　　6、如果您有书籍要捐，请选择内容积极向上健康的读物。中外名著、科技图书、识字卡片、儿童故事书、少儿科普书籍、童话、字典（包括新华字典、成语字典、歇后语字典、汉藏字典、英汉字典）等工具书都可以。请勿将渲染迷信、暴力、色情的书送去，时尚杂志也不要。另外，西部省区的教材和教辅书与内地不同，内地的送去也没有用处。
　　7、文具、棋类、体育用品、玩具等都可以寄去（请附上使用说明书；上述物品如果不是新的，请清洗消毒后再寄）。
　　8、都是农村偏远山区，好多地方是快递公司到不了的，建议用邮局的普通包裹。

Firefox 3

2008-03-13T20:11:00.003+08:00

For those of you who have converted to the Firefox gang (you should have long ago!), I think you'll love this: Mozilla has just released the latest FF3 beta 4--yes, after many alphas and 3 betas, still in bleeding edge test form--and it already has enough goodies and fancy tricks up its sleeves that I'm willing to suffer the inconvenience of having my bagful of extensions rendered incompatible and useless, and jump in.

Here is an excellent review of the new features, but let me just say that they really got one tremendous thing tremendously right, and that nails it for me:

SPEED!!!

According to tests done by reputable sources, FF 3 beta 4 is 3x faster than FF2 (which is the current stable version) and a good 5x faster than IE7, and I can testify that that's not far off from my own experience. What's better, they are also fixing the memory leak issue, which is say that FF3 doesn't get maddeningly slow or drag the whole system down the drain after multiple tabs are open (and closed) or left idle for a while, like FF2 and IE7 are likely to do.

Psyched? You can head over to Mozilla headquarters to download the installer, OR--get this: a portable version that you can install on a thumb drive, or alongside your FF2 on the computer so that you can test drive the new car without trading in the old. Ain't that neat. ;)

最后只剩下了你

2008-03-04T14:19:00.000+08:00

...亲爱的瓶底。

玩乐

2008-03-04T01:33:00.001+08:00

Law, Depp Confirmed In Parnassus

2008-02-28T08:49:00.002+08:00

Confirming a rumor on Ain't It Cool News, the Reuters news service reported that Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell will appear as Heath Ledger's character in the unfinished film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The news service cited Law's spokeswoman for its report.

The three actors will each play the role of Tony in the fantasy film, which Ledger had been filming at the time of his death in January.

It was not immediately clear how the role will be reconstructed for three actors.

Shooting for the movie, directed by Terry Gilliam, had just finished in London and had moved to Vancouver, Canada, when it was suspended on the news of Ledger's death.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is described as a fantastical morality tale about a traveling theater company that can control the imagination of others.

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I'm relieved that they had the sense and heart not to cut Heath's part out and start from scratch...Best of the luck to the production, I hope it'd be a befittingly good swan song for him.

Peace.

jadio11 - <3

2008-02-14T20:46:00.004+08:00

基本上，今天春回大地，空气中突然充满pheromone骚味，是个人就要温情脉脉地来句，Happy V Day! （穴居人士："哈？*猛点电脑日历*... shite, 已经过到14号了？！"）Google照例有应景logo，而且今年连Google Doc都给拉下水了。

my eyes, my eyes!!! they hurt!

还有比这更容易凑的热闹吗？？

起先很想弄一期angsty valentine's, 想象在这天放给天下有情人听的效果.....最后还是毙了这主意：我果然已经沾染了House的恶毒和misanthropy，变本加厉地不厚道了哇！要要要遏制这个倾向..要对人充满热爱...要对生活充满希望....那就彻底一点吧，I present to you~~~The Classic Lovey Dovey Valentine's Edition! The pink goodie bag contains:

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine
Diana Krall - S'Wonderful
Ella Fitzgerald - Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
Frank Sinatra - I Get a Kick Out of You
Jimmy Durante - As Time Goes By
Vikki Carr - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
bonus:
Robbie Williams feat. Nicole Kidman - Something Stupid
Touch and Go - Straight to Number One

哈哈，我知道各位看官在打呵欠，我也承认对所谓的v day毫无感觉，只好做做oldie DJ，温故而不知新（因为oldie永远最好嘛～）。其实bonus两首不错，something stupid最早是frank sinatra和nancy sinatra合唱的吧，但这个翻唱版本反而比原唱更有韵味，尤其是听着kidman的声音再想着她猫一样的眼角眉梢挑逗...哎呀呀受不了了。straight to number one跟oldie无关，纯现代电子乐，最早是在某queer as folk的fan video montage听到--so hot and naughty! *fans self* ;D 可惜放不出来，大家自个儿关上门听吧～

Clean slate

2008-02-14T02:04:00.001+08:00

YAY!

Might as well use the opportunity for a template change eh? Spring is upon us soon! =|)