2008-04-30

柏楊去矣

中國時報:人權鬥士 柏楊紀念專輯 1920-2008
聯合報╱編者:再見,柏老!
楊照:堅持常識價值的人格者

柏楊是我少年時代很喜愛的作家。那時,從小童群益會的圖書館,可以借到很多他的雜文集。我不知柏楊是誰,但他筆伐中國人的「醬缸文化」和臺灣現狀,對我很有啟發作用。

後來,才了解他那辛酸的往事。

再後來,讀他的《中國人史綱》,覺得意念可嘉,成績一般,逐漸把他遺忘,連《醜陋的中國人》也沒有看過一眼,跟遑論其它文章了。

如今柏楊去矣。

柏楊,對我有啟蒙之恩。

雙層車卡的マリンライナー(Marine Liner)號

我不是火車迷,連幾乎人盡皆知的麵包超人火車都不知是啥,遑論其他。

網友提點,原來往來岡山與高松間的特急列車マリンライナー(Marine Liner)號,它的第一卡車是雙層車卡,上層為頭等,下層為普通等,全指定席。據說,上層座位景觀開揚,行車時瀨戶內海盡入眼簾。下層則特設4個車頭展望席。

JR四國:車輛情報



我所知的只此而已,恕未能提供甚麼訂位攻略

(30/4/08補加:訂位攻略,請參閱這條背包客棧討論)。

2008-04-27

觀讀聽 27/4/08

讀:

● 遠藤周作 深河
- 曾堯角落:觀影讀書流水賬 28/10/07 | 觀影讀書流水賬 21/10/07
● 林真理子 聖家族的午餐 - 聖家族即聖母與聖子的家庭。她們午餐吃甚麼?
● 林行止 閑在心上 - 集內所收閑文,大部分不能算是林行止的佳作。
● Karen Armstrong Buddha
- 曾堯角落:Karen Armstrong's TED Prize acceptance speech

觀:

● Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland Quinceañera/Sweet Fifteen (5/10)
● Xavier Giannoli Quand j'étais chanteur/The Singer (5/10) 完全不能投入
● Jacques Audiard De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté/The Beat My Heart Skipped (6/10)
● Ondrej Trojan Zelary (6/10)
● Paolo Virzì Caterina va in città/Caterina in the City (6/10)
● 荻上直子 眼鏡 (6/10) 
- 憑海鷗食堂一炮而紅的荻上直子,得到名氣,也失去很多。跟前作一樣,眼鏡也是一派清淡閒適,然釜鑿痕甚深,匠氣畢露。

電影網站

- 曾堯角落:清淡閒適的《海鷗食堂》
● 寧浩 瘋狂的石頭 (3/10) 看不完

松山住宿地點的選擇

松山市不單交通頗費周章,住宿地點的選擇也須下點功夫研究。

松山的情況跟很多其他日本城市不同,JR松山站附近不能算是市中心地帶,周邊並不繁華,也沒有任何景點。

伊予鐵路的松山市站(站名相近但地點不同)反倒更有市中心味道。站前就是高島屋百貨公司(頂層有摩天輪)和銀天街商店街入口。

要論市中心,不離大街道一帶。松山城和其他大小景點,還有大街道商店街,都在附近。

當然,道後溫泉名氣響噹噹,自成一角,溫泉旅館林立。

我最後選擇在JR站附近住宿,主要原因是逗留在松山時間比較長,利用松山為基地乘JR遊內子,大洲,白瀧公園,西條等地。

JR站旁的住宿選擇其實不多。一般而言,還是大街道和道後較為適合。

aNobii效應

近年讀書意欲下降,所有時間都花在網上,樂此不疲。不過,看看近幾個月的記錄,讀書數量明顯回升。

何解?

唯一能想到的解釋,是加入aNobii後,眼見其他會員讀書甚勤,有點“知恥”吧。至少從量方面開始追趕。

希望這aNobii效應能持續。

2008-04-24

Karen Armstrong's TED Prize acceptance speech



And we are living in a world that is -- where religion has been hijacked. Where terrorists cite Qur'anic verses to justify their atrocities. Where instead of taking Jesus' words, "Love your enemies, don't judge others," we have the spectacle of Christians endlessly judging other people, endlessly using scripture as a way of arguing with other people, as a way of putting other people down. Throughout the ages, religion has been used to oppress others, and this is because of human ego, human greed. We have a talent as a species for messing up wonderful things.

There's also a great deal, I think, of religious illiteracy around. People seem to think -- now equate religious faith with believing things. As though that -- we call religious people often "believers," as though that were the main thing that they do. And very often, secondary goals get pushed into the first place in place of compassion -- the Golden Rule. Because the Golden Rule is difficult. I -- sometimes, when I'm speaking to congregations about compassion, I sometimes see a mutinous expression crossing some of their faces because religion -- a lot of religious people prefer to be right, rather than compassionate.

Wikipedia: Karen Armstrong


(An interview of Karen Armstrong on MeaningofLife.tv)

2008-04-20

觀讀聽 20/4/08

讀:

● 王才強 唐長安的數碼重建/A Digital Reconstruction of Tang Chang'an



● 歐陽應霽 香港味道2:不脫絲襪的奶茶

● 妹尾河童 廁所大不同

● Carlos Ruiz Zafon Shadow of the Wind

觀:

本星期看的電影甚有水準(奧桑五短除外)。

● Susanne Bier After the Wedding/Efter brylluppet (9/10)

曾堯角落:After the Wedding

● Byambasuren Davaa The Cave of the Yellow Dog/Die Höhle des gelben Hundes (8/10)

曾堯角落:The Cave of the Yellow Dog

● Julie Bertucelli Since Otar Left/Depuis qu'Otar est parti... (8/10)

Official site

● Christian Wagner Warchild (7/10)

● Hendrik Hölzemann Off Beat/Kammerflimmern (6/10)

● François Ozon 5 short films (5/10)

After the Wedding

A masterpiece.

I would be surprised (pleasantly) if it doesn't end up as my top 3 films of 2008.

Info on After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet):

Director: Susanne Bier

Main actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Rolf Lassgård, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Stine Fischer Christensen

(for plot summary and detailed info, visit the official site or IMDb)

The Cave of the Yellow Dog



Official site | IMDb | Wikipedia


2008-04-14

澳洲小麥 讚岐烏冬

壹蘋果旅遊網新近的美食之旅專輯-朝拜讚岐烏冬 四國香川縣 -資料詳盡,是可讀性頗高的讚岐烏冬體驗行。

專輯開頭,即提及村上春樹更早的一篇體驗行(「讚岐●超深度烏龍麵紀行」,收在《邊境●近境》一書),但專輯作者似乎無視村上談論製烏冬小麥的產地的一段,仍說讚岐烏冬乃以「日本國產的小麥粉製成」。且抄一段村上文:

現在讚岐烏龍麵所使用的小麥是澳洲產的ASW(Australia Standard White,澳洲標準白)的品種。這是澳洲人為了烏龍麵用而進行品種改良,專為日本市場而生產的小麥。製成麵香氣好,咬勁也好,味道又圓潤,擁有非常優越的特性。而且成本價格比國內產品便宜得多,因此短期之內立即就席捲了全日本市場。那是昭和五十年代中期的事。

在此補充更多澳洲小麥,讚岐烏冬的資料:

- 七十年代初,香川縣因一個出奇地多雨的夏季,小麥失收,逼於尋找進口供應,打開了澳洲小麥麵粉的日本市場。
- 現時日本國內生產的烏冬絕大部分以澳洲小麥麵粉製成。
- 烏冬用澳洲小麥麵粉多由西澳供應,每年出口量約1.2百萬噸。
- 有日本公司(例如Hakubaku)在澳洲設立亁麵製造廠,以包裝亁麵形式出口到日本。
- 媒體亦有報道澳洲生產商研究冰鮮烏冬出口往日本的可行性。
- 用以製造各種麵食的日本小麥,產量由六十年代初的1.7百萬噸,劇降至七十年代的二十萬噸左右。近年產量雖回升至八十多萬噸,但仍要從國外(美加澳等地)進口五百多萬噸小麥滿足市場需求。
- 日本政府近年雖大力推動國產小麥品種的改良,一般民眾仍視進口小麥為較優產品。

觀讀聽 13/4/08

家中多了從香港來訪的親戚之故,近期看的電影以東北亞出品為主。

觀:

● 新海誠 星之聲 (7/10) - 片長不足半小時,卻幾乎抓住永恒



● 曾利文彥 日本鎖國 (6/10) - 好看,但看多了這類科幻卡通又覺得不外如是

● 窪田崇 哼唱生命 (5/10)

● 周星馳 長江7號 (5/10) - 浪費時間

● 周杰倫 不能說的秘密 (4/10) - 浪費時間

● Michael Davis Shoot 'Em Up (4/10) - 畫虎不成

讀:

● 王春瑜 看了明朝就明白

看了看了明朝就明白不可能就明白。

本書屬明史札記。各篇水準參差,史識不見突出。作者王春瑜在每篇結 尾以“金生歎”身份從今時角度作短評,效果尤其弄巧反拙。

總之,看看無妨。縱使我看前不明白,看後也不明白,閱讀期間卻頗感趣味。

● 村上春樹 國境之南‧太陽之西

三讀國境之南‧太陽之西。

此書在村上作品中,評價算是比較低的。過往,我有點替它不值。今次重看後,覺得它又真是比較差勁的村上小說。書最後部分男人的自我解說,尤其令人厭煩。

書中男人很“村上”,一派被動,甚至可說“不動”。島本再出現前,他不去找她。島本再消失後,他也不會去找她。幾年後,島本又將成為男人的遙遠的記憶,間中回想一下,自慰一番。

其實,他對泉的態度也是一樣。雖然他對被他傷害了的泉的近況感到不安,但若不是泉意外地出現在他眼前,他根本不會自動查探泉究竟變成了甚麼樣子。

讀文學作品,當然不能以對書中人物的喜惡作評價標準。但村上既創造了這個的一個男人,作為讀者,讀他反反復復地為自己解說開脫,真是厭煩之極。

2008-04-11

How Apple Got Everything Right ...

... By Doing Everything Wrong (Leander Kahney, Wired, 18/3/08)

It's hard to see how any of this would have happened had Jobs hewed to the standard touchy-feely philosophies of Silicon Valley. Apple creates must-have products the old-fashioned way: by locking the doors and sweating and bleeding until something emerges perfectly formed. It's hard to see the Mac OS and the iPhone coming out of the same design-by-committee process that produced Microsoft Vista or Dell's Pocket DJ music player. Likewise, had Apple opened its iTunes-iPod juggernaut to outside developers, the company would have risked turning its uniquely integrated service into a hodgepodge of independent applications — kind of like the rest of the Internet, come to think of it.

And now observers, academics, and even some other companies are taking notes. Because while Apple's tactics may seem like Industrial Revolution relics, they've helped the company position itself ahead of its competitors and at the forefront of the tech industry. Sometimes, evil works.

2008-04-07

不識泰山

真真羞家。

讀彌勒熊在中時部落格評“完整版”《蘋果》時說“台灣代表演老闆娘的金燕玲臨老才在演激情的床戲,本人相當佩服她的犧牲!”,再看看他的照片,還以為彌勒熊是隻BB熊,不清楚金燕玲的歷史,於是寫下小子不識金燕玲

其實,不是彌勒熊不識金燕玲,而是我有眼不識彌勒熊。

以後洋洋得意,譏笑別人前真要好好重溫這個教訓。

彌勒熊的電影世界

----------

我的《蘋果》觀後感

China-New Zealand free trade deal

China and New Zealand sign free trade deal (Associated Press, 7/4/07)

To be implemented in October 2008, New Zealand (pop: 4m) is the first developed country to reach a free trade agreement with China (pop: 1,300m).

Tariffs on New Zealand's exports to China that are currently set at 5 percent or less will be cut to zero.

For New Zealand exports that face larger tariffs, there will be a staggered timeframe for cuts, with 31 percent of New Zealand's exports to China slated for tariff-free status by 2013.

Tariffs on dairy products, a primary New Zealand export, will be phased out over a longer time frame, taking until 2019 when almost all of the country's current exports to China will be tariff free.

"The FTA provides for elimination over time of tariffs on 96 percent of New Zealand's current exports to China," a New Zealand government statement said.

Beyond trade in goods, the agreement covers the services sector, from insurance and banking to education and labor supply.

----------

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement

2008-04-06

觀讀聽 6/4/08

觀:

● 游乃海 《跟蹤》 (7/10) - 跟“導”師杜琪峰的作品形神俱似,一脈相承。以戲論戲,我覺得《跟蹤》比杜韋雙劍再合璧的《神探》棒得多了。杜師有,所幸游乃海無的,是那種對女人的賤視,看得比較舒服。

● 羅志良 《綁架》 (6/10) - 羅志良是個合格的導演,可惜劇本過分講求曲折,弄巧反拙。

● 林愛華 《安娜與安娜》 (4/10) - 因《12夜》而始終對林愛華抱有期望的(我是其中之一),難免會大失所望。悶藝扮深度,導和演俱劣。故事明顯抄自山本文緒的《藍,或另一種藍》而自稱集體創作的原創劇本,可恥。

(《綁架》和《安娜與安娜》均由林嘉欣主演。林從《男人四十》出道一鳴驚人到今天,論演技基本在原地踏步)

(當今香港影壇,全靠男中坑演員撐場,後浪難成氣候)



● 權龍國 《藍色腳踏車》 (6/10)

● Paul Greengrass 《Bourne Ultimatum》 (7/10) - 同類公式片中,Bourne系列鶴立雞群。

讀:

● Shelley Gare 《The Triumph of the Airheads》

- 曾堯角落:Too many airheads

● Anne Fadiman 《At Large and at Small》

- 曾堯角落:大小通寫

大小通寫

At Large and at Small的圖像Anne Fadiman很能代表那一派“今之古人”式文人,堅守英式散文傳統,樂於懷古,引經據典,情理兼顧,以紳士式幽默和從容娓娓道來。

我讀過兩本Anne Fadiman,一為Ex Libris,一為這本At Large and at Small。前者各篇皆與讀書,購書和藏書有關。後者所收篇目較雜,有一如既往的軟題目(雪糕,搬家),也有較嚴肅的文字(國旗的意義)。

Anne Fadiman不是我杯茶。上述兩書,以Ex Libris的書話較能引起我的興趣。

關鍵是看你偏向哪一邊

长平 西藏:真相与民族主义情绪

不在乎新闻的客观公正,而在乎媒体本身的立场

偏见未必是不能接受的,关键是看你偏向哪一边

这些虚假报道对新闻价值的最大伤害,在于让很多人进一步放弃了对客观公正的信赖,而选择了狭隘民族主义立场。他们从中得出结论说,普世价值都是骗人的玩意儿,只有国家利益的你争我夺。他们甚至以此为依据说,撒谎也是一种“国际惯例”,从而对自己身边或者历史上的谎言予以谅解。当然,一些人本来就是这样想的,这次媒体事件让他们又找到一个证据,从而去对别人宣讲而已。

2008-04-02

Too many airheads

So, the airheads win. But who actually are the airheads? Don't expect The Triumph of the Airheads to give you an answer.

From the subtitle - And the Retreat from Commonsense - and the blurb - If you’re smart, be smarter: play dumb - you would expect the author to be talking about the Paris Hiltons and George W Bushes of this world.

# Airheads is the title of a comic movie from the mid 90s, in which a group of loser musicians take a radio station hostage in order to get some airplay of their songs.

But no. Shelley Gare also laments bright maths and science students going into investment banking so they can make truckloads of money, parents who want their kids to be their status symbol, and politicians spending millions on spin doctors while schools and hospitals go begging.

I stopped reading after the first two chapters and got the impression that airheads are all those that the author dislike.

May I also add that this book has no structure whatsoever? Just the author mumbling through.

Would Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason be better?

- Susan Jacoby: Bemoaning an America that values stupidity