專心聽音樂

已經有一段時間沒有認認真真心無旁騖地聽音樂了。今早有空兼有心情，遂拿出兩張心愛CD專注欣賞。

第一張是Gilbert Kaplan指揮Vienna Philharmonic的Mahler Symphony No.2。指揮好（他是馬勒2的發燒友），樂團頂級，當然最主要還是音樂感染力驚人。這個俗稱「復活」的交響樂總令我這個死硬無神論者在收聽時信念動搖！

第二張是「戲夢人生」的電影原聲帶。這個OST跟其他的不同的地方，在於製作人極力希望它有獨立的存在價值。CD裡的音樂環繞布袋戲藝人李天祿一生中的四個女人。陳明章和侯孝賢繼「戀戀風塵」後的第二度合作，成績尤有過之。侯導還在CD中粉墨登場，唱了「港灣惜別」。

Zirhcing's Euro photos

Zirhcing, another former colleague who is now based in Paris, has put hundreds of photos he took all over Europe in his site.



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十二集系列漫畫《紅樓夢》

權迎升編繪，中國畫報出版社出版。



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Prime numbers: power projectors

A graphical portrayal of the rise and fall of the superpowers in movies from Foreign Policy

!!!Warning!!! This 2-page PDF file is over 20Mb in size. Download at your own risk.

饅頭餐

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紅樓夢小辭典(日文)

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奇怪而高的樹之二

吃紅樓

東京本格中國料理店 紅樓夢



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知識分子研究紅樓夢是一種墮落嗎？

新浪文化網熱門話題

那麼，讀紅樓夢是否也是一種墮落呢？

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新一輪"紅樓"熱

據南方都市報（新一輪“紅樓”熱：大眾的文學狂歡）報導，國內近年興起一股"紅樓夢"熱。

「尋找出近期《紅樓夢》熱的源頭，顯然是件困難的事，但是非常值得注意的是，著名紅學家周汝昌2002年新版的《紅樓小講》，可能是這一股熱潮當中不可忽視的一本夠“分量”之書。《紅樓小講》中收錄的為周汝昌早些年為報紙所撰寫的文章，篇幅短小，屬帶有一定普及性的寫作，此次作為《大家小書》之一種出版，未曾想市場空前的好，短短時間內便數次再版。在此基礎上，周汝昌一鼓作氣，先後再推出《紅樓奪目紅》、《紅樓十二層》，成為這股《紅樓夢》熱中最受矚目的"明星"。

不知是時間上的巧合，還是在周汝昌的啟發之下，多種相關的點評《紅樓夢》的著作紛紛推出，其中包括王國維、俞平伯等大家早年的評點本，印刷精美的各種版本的《紅樓夢》也在一夜之間出現在圖書市場上。有人統計過，僅在2004年，海內外出版關於《紅樓夢》的書就達近50種之多，不可謂不壯觀。」

其實，報導中提及的是"紅樓"出版熱，如果同時間，國內也有一股"紅樓"閱讀熱，那才算是真正的可喜現象。近年國內"看"過"紅樓夢"的人數可能因新版大型電視劇的原因而大增，但他們當中又有多少人是"讀"過"紅樓夢"的呢？

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名鳥 kookaburra 黎明前造訪 ...

... 僅留片刻，即飄然而去。


這是 kookaburra 的盧山真面 (取自AFS/VR)

This entry was posted wirelessly

So it turns out that setting up my laptop computer for wireless internet access is quite simple. Just turn the wireless switch of the computer to "on", go to "control panel", follow the few steps in "wireless network setup wizard", and then it's done.

Of course, properly setting up a secure wireless network must be more complicated than this. But I am more than happy right now, being able to surf the net with the laptop while lying on the bed.

Broadbanded, finally!!!

After over one year of snail-paced dial-up internet access, I have finally got myself broadbanded, again, finally.

Wow, happy as an orangutan!!!

Through the smart wiring system, all computers in the house can now connect to fast internet access at the same time.

My next project is be to set up the wireless router so that the computers can be carried around while surfing the net.

栽花種草

艱辛的傢俱裝崁工作完成後，終於有空栽花種草加添生氣。買植物，買花盆，買花泥，然後逐一栽種，樂事也。當然，由於室內光線問題，有些室內花草其實是塑料產品。看得出那些是真，那些是假嗎？

Healthy vegie slice ...

... made of carrot, zucchini and onion. Not a single drop of oil used.



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CD/DVD shelves

These are the two CD/DVD shelves custom-made by a furniture maker. Like the book shelves, they are made of inexpensive pine wood, stained in dark colour. When they are filled with CD and DVDs, I think they look quite alright.

The importance of completion bond and cast insurance

Edward Jay Epstein's "Hollywood Economist" column for the web journal Slate is a must read for those interested in the movie business.

For example, one of his recent articles - Nicole Kidman's Knee: Or, how the insurance business runs Hollywood - deals with, as the title suggests, the importance of insurance to the movie business. I am somewhat familiar with the critical importance of "completion bond" in Hollywood movie making. However, my grasp of "cast insurance" is not up to scratch. According to Epstein, if a star has led to many past claims, those which provide cast insurance could set a premium so high that the star could become practically uninsurable. Hollywood executives may have to think twice or thrice if they intend to cast that particular star in their movie projects.

Epstein cites Nicole Kidman's knee as an example ... I won't spoil your reading interest; go direct to the article.