聽新的《太平盛世》

我一向沒有買華語唱片的習慣，家中僅有一隻拍賣不出去的伍伯，和三隻封了塵的「賣大包」精選，雖則也有聽流行曲，但只會間中上網試聽與觀賞 MV 而已。聞說陶喆蟄伏兩年的新專輯《太平盛世》大買，昨天也揍熱鬧去聽一下（在線 real 檔），每首歌都聽過一遍，初步對此碟印象不錯：最好的大都是情歌，特別是〈就是愛你〉、〈2night‧藏愛〉、〈Cathrine〉，還有〈孫子兵法〉。今日再聽了幾首，對我這個不買華語唱片的人而言，這隻碟約一半的作品是值得重聽又重聽。而紀念梅艷芳的〈她的歌〉，水準極好，它自然成為我最喜歡的一軌。

她的歌 Song For Anita
陶喆曲 娃娃詞

想起她 還在等她說的那句話
忽然發現青春有白髮 等待像微笑蒙那麗莎
看著她 像開在懸崖邊那朵花
回憶在一步之間掙扎 愛情讓人忘了害怕
不知吹到何年何月那陣風
不知忍到何年何月那種痛
在我眼中 春夏秋冬在那一刻已變成了永恒
荒蕪的心不要別人懂 她是我不想醒來的夢
Anita ~

Find out your personality type

I like to do personality tests — it is a way to review and learn about yourself. Once I found a very simple assessment on personality type. To me, its design was quite smiliar to Carl Jung's model. (I have seen one with over 100 questions before.) And the fact is, it does relate to Jung: the inventor Catherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers developed this Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) based on Jung's works. It measures four bipolar factors: Introversion versus Extroversion, Thinking versus feeling, Intuition versus Sensing, and Judging versus Perceiving.

You could assess your type with only four questions in PersonalityType.com (the most convenient test) and then see the simple descriptions on your kind. If you want to explore a little bit more, I recommend you to visit Wikipedia for theoretical details and Keirsey.com to look at David Keirsey's further development on the test. It is quite referable, as I belong to the type of INTP in MBTI and Architect Rationalist under Keirsey Temperament Sorter. If you have time, do it — try to find out own personality and learn more about yourself.

好朋友，getting to know you

近日收到一位新加坡前輩寄來的五十至七十年代國語流行曲精選，其中聽到一首很耳熟，乍聽好像是葛蘭所唱，後來弄清是林黛。歌曲改編自 Richard Rodgers 與 Oscar Hammerstein II 的音樂劇《國王與我》（The King and I）插曲 〈Getting to Know You〉，原曲旋律動聽，像在騎玩 merry-go-round。這首改編國語作品「好朋友」由秦冠填詞，與原詞同樣主題，很簡單易記，惜沒有 Hammerstein 寫的那種與曲契合、慢慢進深認識的感覺。不過編排上也有先獨白，小童合唱，水準算 okay。

修葺這個狗窩

可能是時間跟看官談談這個開業約一個半月的狗窩。最近你或會發現敝人已將每篇文章的意見欄收起，因為此網誌瀏覽率低，回應亦少，省得花時間再開一頁寫或看留言，隱藏這部份可謂順理成章。不過我另外參詳其他網誌，在一日本網站申請了留言板服務，就在右邊側欄上，細小便當，歡迎塗鴉。

一個半月以來，這個網誌的文章數目能維持近每日一篇左右，對我而言已大為不易。記得中學時的自製網頁好像不到一個月已荒廢了，這個 Blogger 畢竟比那年代網頁的設定更新方便太多。由於我連速成輸入也尚未掌握，故此除一字一筆手寫外，會時用英文發帖，而敝人的破爛語文要大家多海涵甚至提點了。

內容上這網誌還是以資訊性為主，伴以敝人一些雜思隨感，希望與看官分享一些趣聞、逸事或看法，難免缺乏系統，但應未至空洞。在公開場合我一般不會表露自己對敏感議題的見解，何況互聯網上？加上自己也用上真實姓名，是以此地多談風月。至於覺口味不合者，也請自便，反正現在「blog 風」極盛，地方多得很，這裏還只是一個狗窩而已。

敝人寫了些日子，有時見到舊文不善之處，還是改了又改。宋文豪歐陽修「作文既畢，貼之墻壁，坐臥觀之，改正盡善，方出以示人」（何薳《春渚紀聞》）。敝人筆力既窮，方法倒是與古人相似——就是貼文網上，一再潤修，不過醜已傳眾而已。但現在發的新帖，要修繕之處已大減，日積月累或許可改進功夫。當然，敝人還是會修葺一下這個狗窩，令自己和貴客都舒適點！

一份曾交予政府的意見書

近日整理電腦文件檔的時候，看到一份自己在2002年就政府諮詢《基本法》第二十三條立法提交的意見書，洋洋灑灑七頁紙，近七千字。想起這份第一次做的諮詢回應，參考大量文章與法例，自己頗為滿意，甚至認為是大學生涯中最用心做的一份「功課」。但不知何故，當空前的意見書匯編出爐時，卻遍尋自己的名字不獲，心頭有氣（如此文章竟被「遺漏」），便電郵保安局表達不滿，了無音訊。後來在特設的實施基本法第二十三條網頁中，卻找到這一份已編號為 B006443 的意見書（匯編是以 B006436 作結，故此有另外數份意見與它同一命運，且全對建議有保留）。當局從沒有交代半句，敝人也不曾知道自己的意見有否給考慮，奇哉怪乎？

Time for Oscar

The list of this year's nominees was just announced on Tuesday. Who are able to take the Academy statuette home? Although I would not take too serious look on Oscar (compared to Cannes, Venice and even Berlin Films Festivals), I have to admit it is a great fun to see the result and also — predict it. I still remember the gifts I got after a rather precise forecast on Oscar two years ago (I sold lots of them in online auctions... yummy). Here is the nominee list. I have to confess because I see none of candidates. However, you might still guess it right based on understanding of the Oscar's past results, common sense and a little bit intuition. According to a reporter of BBC, it is an unpredictable year with no front-runner. On the other hand, to me, it would be much interesting to tell in advance and get right.

Let's have a look on the acting categories. I would say Jamie Foxx will win the trophy — he has got numbers of national awards already for the portrayal of Ray Charles. He is new to you? Never mind, if he really got a stunning performance in the movie like what Hilary Swank did in "Boys Don't Cry" (1999), he would still hold the golden man; especially there is no strong rival. So how about Hilary Swank? She is a good actress but has to hit a role that is greatly matchable with her unique temperament, a boxer in "Million Dollar Baby" sounds suitable for her to win second time. However, I would rather pick Annette Bening for "Being Julia" or Imelda Staunton for "Vera Drake", and the former one gets my vote because she once lost under the strong hand of Hilary Swank in 2000.

It would be more difficult to guess in the supporting acting categories, while a number of black horses have the possibility to win the awards. I like Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman more, so I choose Blanchett for her acclaimed portrayal for Katherine Hepburn. Thomas Haden Church for "Sideways" and Clive Owen for "Closer" seem to come closer to the statue... but I am more willing to select veteran Morgan Freeman. "The Aviator" would be the best picture and "Millon Dollar Baby" is the runner-up. Talented Clint Eastwood won the best director in 1992; it is not the time for his second victory yet, and Mike Leigh got the level to run only in Oscar (though he is one of the best in Britain). I think Martin Scorsese, the world's best director, might fulfil his dream this year after six times of nominations.

Here are my predictions:

Motion Picture - The Aviator
Achievement in Directing - Martin Scorsese
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Jamie Foxx
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Annette Bening
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Morgan Freeman
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Cate Blanchett
Foreign Language Film - Mar adentro
Animated Feature Film - Shrek 2

If you are interested to predict the result too, play it on Oscar.com. Let's see the result on 27th February.

薩利耶里──天才莫札特的敵手？

薩利耶里是誰？很多人會不知道。如果說他是人類藝術史上偉大天才——莫扎特有名的對手，你可能有些印象。咦，就是那個據傳是毒殺莫扎特音樂家吧？看過科曼（Milos Forman）1984年電影《莫扎特傳》（Amadeus）的話，會對影帝 Murray Abraham 扮演的薩利耶里會記憶尤新——他平庸，非常妒忌莫扎特，最後毒死了他。

薩利耶里的名聲長期建立在「莫扎特的敵手」，甚至「凶手」上，但鮮有人留意其生平成就。薩利耶里（Antonio Salieri）1750年出生於維羅納，16歲到維也納，20歲上演第一部歌劇，四年後成為哈布斯堡（Hapsburg）宮廷作曲家，餘生36年擔任宮廷樂長，創作超過40部歌劇及多首彌撒曲。他在18世紀晚期的歐洲聲名顯赫，1787年的法語歌劇《Tarare》比莫扎特的《唐璜》（Don Giovanni）更受時人重視。

薩利耶里算是李斯特與舒伯特的老師，畢生與海頓和貝多芬保持友誼，後者亦曾跟薩利耶里學習對位法，更將三首小提琴奏鳴曲獻給他（Three Violin Sonatas, Op. 12）。即使與莫扎特的關係——形容兩者為同事與友好可能較對手恰當，事實上，很少証據表明薩利耶里曾陰謀詆毀莫扎特，莫扎特反而有在書信中提及薩利耶里對《魔笛》（The Magic Flute）的贊可。而莫扎特早逝後，其遺孀亦將兒子託付給薩利耶里監護，學習音樂。

至於指薩利耶里毒殺莫扎特一事，也缺乏根據，比來有不同証據顯示莫扎特可能死於風濕熱（rheumatic fever）或其他傳染病，甚至不潔豬肉。有專家相信在薩利耶里晚年這個傳聞開始流傳，可能源自當時德國和意大利兩派音樂傳統之爭，有人造謠指意大利人薩利耶里謀害了奧地利的莫扎特。但過往有不少用此為題的藝術創作，最早有俄國詩人普希金（Alexander Pushkin），李姆斯基—高沙可夫（Rimsky-Korsakov）以故事為藍本寫下獨幕歌劇《Mozart and Salieri》(1898)，彼得‧謝弗（Peter Shaffer）在七十年代加以處理，成為一齣經典百老匯戲劇，後改編為電影。

薩利耶里在當代備受忽視，與這個傳說不無關係。其出生地維羅納在2000年曾舉辦音樂節，企圖恢復其聲譽。近閱《紐約時報》文章，指薩利耶里去年再受注目，女高音芭托莉（Cecilla Bartoli）錄製的一張相關聲樂選大受歡迎；歲末，其作品《Europa Revealed》亦在米蘭史卡拉歌劇院上演，指揮 Riccardo Muti 甚至指作品部份可媲美《魔笛》。諸位若有機會，不妨看看這個薩利耶里，是否真箇莫扎特的敵手？

後記：這是最近發表在古典音樂網的文章，亦是敝人兩年以來的新作，本來很花心神，不過閱報後手癢癢，弄了點資料，在17日凌晨寫畢。

Levelling wages to graduates

Some saying that university graduates are getting more and more difficult to grasp a well-paid job, unlike the old days in Hong Kong. However, such a situation also happens in the States. There is a report in Monday's New York Times about the narrowing differences between bachelor's degree holders and high school graduates. The issue relates to economics: the demand for university certificate has been saturated; and there is not much distinction between college and high school graduates.

Indeed, I do not concern too much on the wages, especially for those competent graduates (even though I know sometimes the starting points are not really attractive). They would finally get what they want at the end (and it might not be money). Nevertheless, there should be something valuable when you have a chance to learn in a tertiary education institutions...and it is surly not necessarily relates to earnings.

免費防護軟件

敝人喜愛使用一些免費軟件（freewares），至少是合法，自己也心安理得。雖然優質的免費軟件委實不多，不過家中電腦也有十來個這樣的工具。比如防毒軟件，自從電腦附送的 Norton AntiVirus 到期後，便到處找尋替代品，後來下載了一個免費的軟件 AVG Antivirus ，可以不斷更新病毒庫，使用至今，電腦也沒有出甚麼問題。當然，個人防護意識高低有時比軟件多寡重要。

不過現時網上間諜軟件（spywares）與惡意軟件（malwares）橫行，加上微軟 Internet Explorer 的保安漏洞太多，個人用戶實在防不勝防。故此，敝人以為基本的防護軟件是必須加裝的，何況免費的呢？

反間諜軟件推薦 Spybot - Search and Destroy、SpywareBlaster 與 Ad-aware SE（全部我也有用過，三者至好有二），WinPatrol 則用來防止惡意程式「偷襲」。大家亦可以像敝人一樣少用 IE，事實上，不少專家、甚至大學也建議用戶棄用錯漏百出的 IE，Mozilla FireFox 應是刻下至佳選擇。全部軟件可以在 Download.com 下載。

Less than a dollar

What could we buy these days with less than a dollar? I found an EXCEPTIONALLY CHEAP compilation of the Platters yesterday after a lunch and tea with my friend. Who is the Platters? If you had watched Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" before, you would remember a compelling song sung by Law Kar Ying (the monk). Yes... "Only You". It was originally performed by the Platters in the 1950s. The CD only costs me $15 but I could enjoy over 18 songs with fine qualities... less than a dollar for one song! I also bought another compilation of Gerry and the Pacemakers, a popular British band in the 60s, for $45. May be you could go to that chain store in Tsim Sha Tsui and try your luck.

新亞哲人在深水

在網上看到這篇〈深水的哲人足〉的《明報》舊文（因敝人已沒看此報一段日子），頗有趣味，它回顧新儒學大師錢穆、唐君毅等五十年代在深水艱苦辦學，以及他們的活動蹤跡，替我等土包子設計了一條本土的文化旅遊路線，亦觸及深水的地區歷史。今日深水區除了流鶯以外，原來還有很多——忽然想起一篇中學範文‧西西的〈店舖〉，有點思古幽情……

趙紫陽逝世

新華網報道：「趙紫陽同志長期患呼吸系統和心血管系統的多種疾病﹐多次住院治療﹐近日病情惡化﹐經搶救無效﹐於1月17日在北京逝世﹐終年85歲。」

前中共中央委員、新華社香港分社社長許家屯寫下感言：「紫陽不幸逝世，哀悼莫名！紫陽是中國改革開放事業的創始者之一，他對中國人民的貢獻，中國人民不會忘記，歷史不會忘記！」

參考新聞報導：新華網、多維新聞網

Contemporary dynamics of two sexes

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times discussed a phenomenon that modern women find difficulties in having a steady romance with matchable men. It is a hot topic in local as well, lots of ladies faceing similar situations. Some of them even expressed that Hong Kong men are childish (according to my recollection of certain news reports). In fact, more women are able to accomplish well nowadays, particularly over half of the university undergraduates are girls now. However, men still want to find females who are in subordinate jobs or less clever. Yes, as Carrie Fisher said, males want to be treated like king. But women would be queens too. Stand firm, girls.

The greatest British single from 1977

I read this article through the reprint of the Sunday Morning Post last Saturday, it was originally from the Independent. While the Brit awards step in the 25th year, there is a list for selecting the greatest British single in the past. Not all tracks are great. But if I could vote for the final five; here are my choices:

Angels - Robbie Williams (Dec 1997; Chart position: 4)
London Calling - The Clash (Dec 1979; Chart position: 11)
True - Spandau Ballet (Apr 1983; Chart position: 1)
We Are The Champions - Queen (Oct 1977; Chart position: 2)
Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush (Feb 1978; Chart position: 1)

師友計劃網站

今日收到學校人文素質教育的小冊子，上網看看，突然發現「閱讀人生─—師友計劃」的網站首頁有敝人的尊容！對，點此文標題可到那網頁，一張大照片，見到敝人不？很顯眼，圖左面黃衣以手抱腿者即是，相當突出。相片約兩年前拍下，當時應是同學分享會甚麼的，可以見到右面有吳清輝校長、周兆祥博士，我身邊亦有陳載澧博士。

這是個很有意思的活動，當時敝人的導師是丁偉教授，那年剛開始，與另兩位同學一起讀書，著實快事。此外，可以看看網頁購書指南部份，一些導師推薦的書很不錯，（但程度好像調低了，最「惡啃」的應是文潔華博士的兩本。）而書局地址及電話網羅本地不少尋書地，不愁沒有書買吧？

百合花和花瓶的譬喻

近來可能有越來越多男士（特別已婚的）喜歡被人稱讚為百合花，因為這個譬喻是如此優雅，深得不少多情（亦多種）漢子心中的共鳴。此典故來自一城中「前」高官的太座，話說有雜誌記者在東京誤中副車，攝下此高官（當時仍有職在身）與其紅顏知己並肩而行，本來此事並非新聞（年前已有同樣照片曝光），不過奇在高官卒然掛冠而去，以免感情事拖累大好人云云，終成全港話題。而其太座本以為丈夫身在北京，不過被該份雜誌記者問及此事，亦以花為喻，成就美談：

「我先生好比呢枝百合花，好靚，我係呢個花瓶，我哋插在一起好漂亮。但因為百合花好靚，插落第二個花瓶都好靚，所以好多花瓶都想同百合花插在一起，也可以配得好漂亮，所以我覺得任何一個花瓶都不應該嬲百合花去插別的花瓶，況且百合花跟花瓶總有插完、分開的時候。好比緣份，由冇到有，又會由有到冇。人要珍惜有時候，如果因為嬲來嬲去，有花有瓶但不能插在一起，就連眼前的漂亮都不會有了！」百合品種繁多，香江孰多孰少？但想不會有女士喜歡給稱作「花瓶」吧？

網上拍賣雜談

一向有在香港雅虎拍賣場買賣，翻查紀錄，原來自己在2003年5月完成第一次交收，迄今已年半了。參與網上拍賣是一個不錯的活動，一來可以買自己喜愛或坊間少見的物件（近年不少人的確藉此選購心水禮品），二來又可以將自己不要的東西拍賣「套現」。一時衝動購下或已不太合用的東西，能越過舊時二手店中間人，與買家直接換來白花花的銀子，豈不快哉？舊物能循環予合用的人，亦體現資本制度下的環保。

此外，網上拍賣又能增添生活體驗，這是個人感想，皆因你會親身與各種不同的人接觸以至見面，對待人接物也有些裨益。能順利完成一次雙方滿意的交收，見到戶口評價節節上升，是頗愉快的事。難怪不少名人都會投入網上拍賣的懷抱，比如英國首相貝理雅的太座、著名御用大律師彭雪玲（Cherie Booth）也有在 eBay 購物，上年有報導指她曾用 cherie_boo 為名，投下幾雙鞋、一些迪士尼影帶和一個卡通鐘，可見網上拍賣盛行。當然，我也曾經有過氣人的經歷，有機會再談。

Ineffective slimming programs

This article was published in the New York Times first, and reprinted in the International Herald Tribune. It was about the ineffectiveness of slimming treatment through a restricted American study (due to no companies would cooperate with the researchers). This industry (might include health and detox food etc.) is one of the booming businesses in Hong Kong nowadays.

There is no such research revealed in the city yet. But I have the impression of a local TV program (of TVB I guess) about how a treatment center "pushed" its client (also marked as its future spokesperson) to make thin. If possible, I am interested to see the effectiveness of those local weight-loss programs by academic researches.

馬家輝談讀書

看到半年多前《文匯報》這篇文化人馬家輝的訪問，一路講來，談及兩岸三地雜誌、詹宏志、張愛玲、李敖、子女教育……很有可讀性。以前我曾在城市大學「活動」，在中國文化中心見過馬先生（他當然不會認識我），現在則多看他的文章。

其實《文匯報》副刊的質素不差，就本地水準而言，可以一看。但文中的托爾斯泰與屠格涅夫不應是書名吧，否則詹宏志怎會怕不好意思？

安東尼奧尼的中國

據悉北京電影學院在去年11月25日起，舉辦了意大利導演安東尼奧尼（Michelangelo Antonioni）的回顧展，播放他的長短片，並配上中文字幕。這次影展，最為人關注的是紀錄片《中國》(Chung Kuo)。1972年文革期間，安東尼奧尼在安排下訪問了北京、南京、蘇州等地拍攝此片，以廿二日時間竣工，不過中共政府其後禁止放映，並在1974年對其進行了近一年的批判。

在圖書館看過一本薄薄的《批判安東尼奧尼拍攝的反華影片〈中國〉》，由香港三聯出版，應是部份批判文章結集，內容不堪入目。想不到在三十多年後的今天，這套電影終於可以踏足黃土地上，而且是四小時的足本版（IMDb 也只有兩小時的版本資料），大家似乎爭相一睹究竟，更有指票價炒至三百元人民幣。我當然希望遲些有機會觀看此片，畢竟安東尼奧尼算是自己欣賞的導演。但這次《中國》放映，多少有些代表意義吧？

參考及相關文章：中新網、開放雜誌、人民網、Long March Foundation

Movies watched in December 2004

The King of Kings (1927, Cecil B. DeMille) - 7/10
City Lights (1931, Charles Chaplin) - 9/10
Duck Soup (1933, Leo McCarey) - 8/10
It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra) - 9/10
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Michael Curtiz & William Keighley) - 8/10
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, Frank Capra) - 8/10
It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra) - 8/10
Shane (1953, George Stevens) - 9/10
Marcelino pan y vino (1955, Ladislao Vajda) - 6/10
La Notte (1961, Michelangelo Antonioni) - 8/10
L'Eclisse (1962, Michelangelo Antonioni) - 8/10
Ostre sledované vlaky (1966, Jirí Menzel ) - 9/10
The Party (1968, Blake Edwards) - 6/10
El Topo (1970, Alejandro Jodorowsky) - 7/10
The Last House on the Left (1972, Wes Craven) - 5/10
The Holy Mountain (1973, Alejandro Jodorowsky) - 6/10
A Christmas Story (1983, Bob Clark) - 7/10
少年黃飛鴻之鐵馬騮 (1993, 袁和平) - 7/10
福伯 (2003, 黃精甫; 李公樂) - 5/10

Musical life at present

One of the leading music conservatories, the Juilliard School of New York, is going to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year. "Composing a life in music" is an article from today's International Herald Tribune (you could click the headline to read it online) which focusing on its graduates. After reading it, you could know how difficult is for being a musician, even the graduates from an distinguished institute felt uneasy too... Yeah, life is not easy. Good luck.