大佑，我们永远热爱你！
France, and the United States
6 hours ago
Saturday, September 25, 2004
我们永远对他心怀感激
熬夜看了大佑在长沙金鹰艺术节上的亮相，惊奇的发现自己居然又被他感动！他只唱了四首歌，包括我至爱的《光阴的故事》和《你的样子》，还有我不甚喜的《恋曲1990》和我甚不喜的《东方之珠》，可是看着他滑稽的舞步听着他偶尔出错的歌词，忽然鼻子有一点点酸：眼前这个50岁的“老男人”用他的音乐让我们并不灿烂的青春岁月有了些许值得记忆的一面，所以我们没有权力责怪他偶尔略嫌偏激的言语，没有权力埋怨他出唱片太慢，没有权力指责他在不入流的晚会和庆典上亮相：我们对他所有的感情只应该是感激！
大佑，我们永远热爱你！
大佑，我们永远热爱你！
Sunday, September 19, 2004
土耳其政府的必读书
英国病人 @ 2004-09-19 16:06
还记得几年前参加公司的培训，那个做我mentor的中年英国女人在得知我现在基本只看non- fiction以后对我说：这是一个人grown up的标志。英国人总是shoot for understatement，所以我理解她真正的意思是：you are old. 当时在心里说：”Thank you for the reminder. I know I'm old.”
这些年看过的fiction的东西确实屈指可数，除了偶尔上网一目十行一下流行的小说之外，比如《成都》、《一支烟》什么的，纸书也就是看过Kundera和David Lodge的新作品，甚至偶尔翻一下George Orwell也是看他的Essays。
上次在伦敦逛Books etc.的时候从“3 for 2”里面挑了三本non-fiction，最先拿起来读的就是Bill Bryson的这本”A Short History of Nearly Everything”
一是因为很喜欢作者的风格，把旅行书也写的那么有趣，这点上能跟他比的也就是Michael Palin了；二是自从看了爱因斯坦的那本”The Evolution of Physics”之后就对科学史的东西走火入魔。
可以说这是作者三年来学习科学知识的一个总结，虽然内容上不会有创新（他又不是任何学科前沿的科学家）不过他的那种幽默的风格依然随处可见，比如他在计算一个枕头里面会有多少微生物之后还要加一句：幸亏这还是你自己的枕头，想想酒店里的枕头会怎么样？看来作者以后是不打算再写旅游书了。
另一段让我差一点喷饭的是关于祖先数量的计算：现在的任何一个人向上推64代，也就是到罗马人的时代，从数学上算起来需要的祖先应该有one million trillion，是地球上曾经生活过的总人口的数千倍。本来指出计算“错误”在于人类繁衍的过程中存在大量inbreeding就可以了（可能最有名的就是鼎鼎大名的达尔文娶了自己的表妹），Bryson却非要将问题社会学化：我们的祖上有很多“乱伦”现象存在，所以如果有个人骄傲地对你声称：“我是征服者威廉的第xx代嫡亲。”你也可以很高兴地回答：“Me too.”原来如彼：本以为乱伦是某些个别人的性变态行为，这才意识到原来更科学的分类应该是“返祖现象”，跟毛孩算一类。
从奥斯陆回赫尔辛基的飞机上随手翻当天的Financial Times，看到几条有意思的消息：第一条：希腊新政府发现前任左翼政府在奥运会的支出上“帐外有帐”，导致希腊今年的财政赤字几乎要达到欧元区规定的 3%的两倍――不奇怪啊，甚至可以说希腊人简直是少见多怪，等着看北京的。第二条：《英雄》连续第二周排行北美票房第一――不奇怪啊，我对美国人的傻是从来不会吃惊的。倒是张艺谋接受”New York Times”采访时声称：在拍电影的时候脑子里就是一半想着中国观众一半想着西方观众，这倒让我觉着奇怪了：应该坚持说我就是拍的中国电影，西方观众是被我纯中国的东西打动的，那多酷啊。第三条：土耳其执政政府准备提请议会立法给通奸定罪，欧盟随即威胁如果此提议得以通过的话将影响土耳其加入欧盟的进程。不奇怪啊，土耳其毕竟是伊斯兰占主导的国家嘛，只是提议案的不明白，如果乱伦都是我们祖先乐此不疲的运动，通奸岂不是小菜一碟？
第二天的Financial Times跟踪报道：土耳其政府坚持声称：给通奸定罪不是出于宗教的原因，而是为了保护妇女的利益。
第三天的情况发生了变化：土耳其政府让步了，准备放弃这项议案，原因是国内反对党议员的阻力和欧盟的压力――原来是不得已而为之还不是心服口服。我是不是应该做件好事，明儿就把我手上这本书寄给土耳其总理，还要标出重点段落。
==================
Product Details:
Paperback 688 pages (June 1, 2004)
Publisher: Black Swan
ISBN: 0552997048
Category(ies): Science & Nature
Average Customer Review: | Write a review
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22
还记得几年前参加公司的培训，那个做我mentor的中年英国女人在得知我现在基本只看non- fiction以后对我说：这是一个人grown up的标志。英国人总是shoot for understatement，所以我理解她真正的意思是：you are old. 当时在心里说：”Thank you for the reminder. I know I'm old.”
这些年看过的fiction的东西确实屈指可数，除了偶尔上网一目十行一下流行的小说之外，比如《成都》、《一支烟》什么的，纸书也就是看过Kundera和David Lodge的新作品，甚至偶尔翻一下George Orwell也是看他的Essays。
上次在伦敦逛Books etc.的时候从“3 for 2”里面挑了三本non-fiction，最先拿起来读的就是Bill Bryson的这本”A Short History of Nearly Everything”
一是因为很喜欢作者的风格，把旅行书也写的那么有趣，这点上能跟他比的也就是Michael Palin了；二是自从看了爱因斯坦的那本”The Evolution of Physics”之后就对科学史的东西走火入魔。
可以说这是作者三年来学习科学知识的一个总结，虽然内容上不会有创新（他又不是任何学科前沿的科学家）不过他的那种幽默的风格依然随处可见，比如他在计算一个枕头里面会有多少微生物之后还要加一句：幸亏这还是你自己的枕头，想想酒店里的枕头会怎么样？看来作者以后是不打算再写旅游书了。
另一段让我差一点喷饭的是关于祖先数量的计算：现在的任何一个人向上推64代，也就是到罗马人的时代，从数学上算起来需要的祖先应该有one million trillion，是地球上曾经生活过的总人口的数千倍。本来指出计算“错误”在于人类繁衍的过程中存在大量inbreeding就可以了（可能最有名的就是鼎鼎大名的达尔文娶了自己的表妹），Bryson却非要将问题社会学化：我们的祖上有很多“乱伦”现象存在，所以如果有个人骄傲地对你声称：“我是征服者威廉的第xx代嫡亲。”你也可以很高兴地回答：“Me too.”原来如彼：本以为乱伦是某些个别人的性变态行为，这才意识到原来更科学的分类应该是“返祖现象”，跟毛孩算一类。
从奥斯陆回赫尔辛基的飞机上随手翻当天的Financial Times，看到几条有意思的消息：第一条：希腊新政府发现前任左翼政府在奥运会的支出上“帐外有帐”，导致希腊今年的财政赤字几乎要达到欧元区规定的 3%的两倍――不奇怪啊，甚至可以说希腊人简直是少见多怪，等着看北京的。第二条：《英雄》连续第二周排行北美票房第一――不奇怪啊，我对美国人的傻是从来不会吃惊的。倒是张艺谋接受”New York Times”采访时声称：在拍电影的时候脑子里就是一半想着中国观众一半想着西方观众，这倒让我觉着奇怪了：应该坚持说我就是拍的中国电影，西方观众是被我纯中国的东西打动的，那多酷啊。第三条：土耳其执政政府准备提请议会立法给通奸定罪，欧盟随即威胁如果此提议得以通过的话将影响土耳其加入欧盟的进程。不奇怪啊，土耳其毕竟是伊斯兰占主导的国家嘛，只是提议案的不明白，如果乱伦都是我们祖先乐此不疲的运动，通奸岂不是小菜一碟？
第二天的Financial Times跟踪报道：土耳其政府坚持声称：给通奸定罪不是出于宗教的原因，而是为了保护妇女的利益。
第三天的情况发生了变化：土耳其政府让步了，准备放弃这项议案，原因是国内反对党议员的阻力和欧盟的压力――原来是不得已而为之还不是心服口服。我是不是应该做件好事，明儿就把我手上这本书寄给土耳其总理，还要标出重点段落。
==================
Product Details:
Paperback 688 pages (June 1, 2004)
Publisher: Black Swan
ISBN: 0552997048
Category(ies): Science & Nature
Average Customer Review: | Write a review
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22
Sunday, September 5, 2004
是巧合呢，还是冥冥中给我的提醒？
今天下午懒在沙发上，不想看书，于是翻出几个星期前买的一打DVD，一眼就看到了这张”One Day in September”。
片子几乎放完的时候突然意识到：天哪！那场惨剧居然是发生在32年前的今天！有多少人还记得？
说是结论听起来有点荒唐，不过看片子的时候确实想到：第一，正如这位至今唯一存活下来的巴勒斯坦枪手所说，能去执行这个任务至少比一辈子在难民营混着强。积郁在心中的不满或愤怒总要有表达的渠道，否则它会以某种极端的方式发泄出来，轻的是往球场里面扔矿泉水瓶子，重的就可能是去枪杀对方的运动员或者劫持飞机去撞对方的大楼。前些日子写给The Economist编辑的信也是这个意思：
Sir,
Your attempt in the article on the Asian Cup Final between China and Japan ("Grudge match" Aug 12th 2004) failed to shoot on target, narrowly.
You correctly pointed out that "Nationalism runs high in China, and anti-Japanese sentiment runs even higher", and this stems from "Japan's utter failure to face up to its guilty history.” However, this is equally, if not more, to do with the Chinese authorities' and state-run media' failure to adopt harsh enough stance, not otherwise as you stated in your article, against the Japanese, as well as the failure to provide alternative outlets of this sentiment by banning all civil petitions or demonstrations, resulting in it being pent up, and the fever pitch became almost the only channel for the ordinary Chinese to voice their frustration and discontent. Therefore this "mob ugliness" is less similar to the hooliganism mastered so well by some of the England football supporters on so many occasions than to the mass demonstrations across Czechoslovakia in March 1969 after their ice-hockey team defeated the Soviets, minus the vandalism though—you rightly noticed that the violence was not worse. No Toyotas or Nissans were smashed, as would have happened to the BMWs or VWs had the England football team lost to Germany.
On a separate note: China's capability to stage the Olympics peacefully should never be doubted as all the state apparatus will be in full motion to make sure that any disagreeable voices would be muted and any disagreeable people would be removed and locked away from the proximity of any public exposure long before the first whistle is blown . However, China's credential of hosting such an event has never been questioned enough by the international communities, not on the grounds of its lack of capability to make it a happy gathering, but on the grounds of its overwhelming power to do so.
结论之二，三十年来通讯技术特别是移动通信的突飞猛进使得劫持和解救都变得更困难更复杂，在无良的媒体眼中也就更刺激了。
结论之三，The so-called German efficiency is just a myth. The Royal SAS, or even the US Marine Corps would have done a much better job had they been involved.
片子几乎放完的时候突然意识到：天哪！那场惨剧居然是发生在32年前的今天！有多少人还记得？
说是结论听起来有点荒唐，不过看片子的时候确实想到：第一，正如这位至今唯一存活下来的巴勒斯坦枪手所说，能去执行这个任务至少比一辈子在难民营混着强。积郁在心中的不满或愤怒总要有表达的渠道，否则它会以某种极端的方式发泄出来，轻的是往球场里面扔矿泉水瓶子，重的就可能是去枪杀对方的运动员或者劫持飞机去撞对方的大楼。前些日子写给The Economist编辑的信也是这个意思：
Sir,
Your attempt in the article on the Asian Cup Final between China and Japan ("Grudge match" Aug 12th 2004) failed to shoot on target, narrowly.
You correctly pointed out that "Nationalism runs high in China, and anti-Japanese sentiment runs even higher", and this stems from "Japan's utter failure to face up to its guilty history.” However, this is equally, if not more, to do with the Chinese authorities' and state-run media' failure to adopt harsh enough stance, not otherwise as you stated in your article, against the Japanese, as well as the failure to provide alternative outlets of this sentiment by banning all civil petitions or demonstrations, resulting in it being pent up, and the fever pitch became almost the only channel for the ordinary Chinese to voice their frustration and discontent. Therefore this "mob ugliness" is less similar to the hooliganism mastered so well by some of the England football supporters on so many occasions than to the mass demonstrations across Czechoslovakia in March 1969 after their ice-hockey team defeated the Soviets, minus the vandalism though—you rightly noticed that the violence was not worse. No Toyotas or Nissans were smashed, as would have happened to the BMWs or VWs had the England football team lost to Germany.
On a separate note: China's capability to stage the Olympics peacefully should never be doubted as all the state apparatus will be in full motion to make sure that any disagreeable voices would be muted and any disagreeable people would be removed and locked away from the proximity of any public exposure long before the first whistle is blown . However, China's credential of hosting such an event has never been questioned enough by the international communities, not on the grounds of its lack of capability to make it a happy gathering, but on the grounds of its overwhelming power to do so.
结论之二，三十年来通讯技术特别是移动通信的突飞猛进使得劫持和解救都变得更困难更复杂，在无良的媒体眼中也就更刺激了。
结论之三，The so-called German efficiency is just a myth. The Royal SAS, or even the US Marine Corps would have done a much better job had they been involved.
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