Dumb and Numbar

What a very pleasant surprise!

一直认为，在Sarah Michelle Geller出没的地方，一定会有吸血鬼或是灵异事件。演完Buffy、Scooby-Doo和The Grudge之后的她基本上戏路也就定位在这类厉害的女生角色。所以看到她出现在Suburban Girl这样的片子中一开始有些不适应，对片子本身也没有什么期待。

但是，这部片子真是一次意外的惊喜。根本不是想象中的浪漫喜剧，而是一部关于成长的故事，甚至带些淡淡的忧伤。很有文化气息的电影，很能引起初涉社会的人共鸣。根据Melissa Bank的短篇小说集《Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing》改编的Screenplay。

从Brett的身上每个尚在摸索社会，体会亲情的人都能找到共通之处。也许每个人在成长过程中都希望有像Archie这样的人来帮助自己吧？

最感动的是对MD的重新诠释：My Daughter/My Dad。

对白中有好多幽默需要有扎实的文学功底才能体会。

电影原声很不错，最后以Club 8的Cold Hearts收尾。 

Robert Eisenberg: You're Brett Eisenberg, MD.
Brett Eisenberg: MD?
Robert Eisenberg: My daughter.

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Ethan Eisenberg: I know I'm not dad, but if you ever need to talk to someone I could try to manufacture something that sounds lucid.
Brett Eisenberg: [pause] The only thing that I can't bear, that's killing me... Is the thought that he was worried about me when he died.
Ethan Eisenberg: He wasn't worried.
Brett Eisenberg: How do you know?
Ethan Eisenberg: I was here the morning that dad got the phone call from Mickey. Well, after he hung up the phone, I told him would gladly assassinate Archie, if that's what he wanted. You know a dieing wish vendetta type of thing.
Brett Eisenberg: Very comforting.
Ethan Eisenberg: Anyway, he said, "Thanks, but I think Brett can take care of herself."
Brett Eisenberg: He really said that?
Ethan Eisenberg: Yeah. That's straight from the words of Robert Eisenberg, MD.
Brett Eisenberg: MD... My Dad.

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Archie Knox: Why won't you marry me?
Brett Eisenberg: Are you asking me to explain?
Archie Knox: Yes, I am.
Archie Knox: When I look at you, I see a teacher. But when you look at me, you see a student. Because you like to run away. It's part of who you are. Because, in the end, a girl can't grow up until she looses a father and leaves an Archie.

CNN and the BBC both led with stories of 25 celebrities writing a joint letter to President Hu, asking China to do more on ending the atrocities in Dafur in the run-up of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  In a previous episode before the said open letter, Hollywood director Stephen Spielberg dropped out of the advisory committee for the 2008 Olympics.  Then 25 luminaries including Nobel Laureates, athletes, British actress Emma Thompson and South African archbishop signed on an open letter addressed to President Hu, asking him to exercise more of China’s influence over Sudan as its chief ally and use the games as a venue to echo the ideals of peace and international cooperation.

"As the primary economic, military and political partner of the Government of Sudan, and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has both the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to a just peace in Darfur. Ongoing failure to rise to this responsibility amounts, in our view, to support for a Government that continues to carry out atrocities against its own people. As host of the 2008 Olympic games, China has a special role to play in ensuring that its actions this year are commensurate with the Olympic ideals of peace and international cooperation."

---abridged from the open letter. For the full text, please visit http://www.unmadeinchina.org/allegati/letteraapertahujintao.pdf

Last night, I watched Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.  It totally blew my mind.  It was based on a true story about how one Texan congressman and his friends together changed history and almost succeeded in making the world a better place, if the last meager 1-million-dollar came through.  I cannot agree more with what Mr. Wilson said, “These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the endgame.”

It kept me wondering how one person can make that much a difference.   Examples of an individual’s might and magic are rife in the book of history, be it a queen, a solider, a writer or simply a pissing boy, or in more likely situations, a politician in high power such as Mr. Wilson or someone as famous as, say, Angelina Jolie. Then I thought about the American presidential campaign.  At this point, I still have my hand up for Clinton, but I know a friend in the US who’s now legally a US citizen had voted to the contrary, but only on a whim.  He said his vote would make no difference anyway on the outcome, or would it?

It’s probably not the most fitting thing to think about or write on St. Valentine’s Day.  But since I’m not romantically engaged at this point, I might as well put my mind to intelligent use instead of …   Wish all bachelors like me a happy Valentine’s Day too.

Sometimes when I pick up a book from the shelf either because of an eye-catching cover art or title, I will put it back as a result of reading the plot summary.  The unfocused description and sometimes the meaningless all-adjective review commentary is the reason that puts me off.  It always talks about the “big picture”, the so-called context in which a story unfolds, when I’m only interested in the story itself.  It tries to be inclusive, not missing a single step of the way, when I care more about the few important steps.  It tends to blow up things and make them sublime or “epic stories” when the author is simply narrating a life-altering experience of his own.  After a few attempts of following the critics, I’ve now learned to trust my own gut.  My decision to buy is more from flipping through a book, less from sighting a long award-winning list or reviews on the cover.  If I am to like a story, then first I have to like the author and his writing style.  And I probably will have some idea of that after finishing the first few pages.  The review/award test does work, but to a large extent, on earlier and already recognized pieces, not so much on new titles.  I still prefer an interesting or soul-searching story lightly dressed up in language to something uninteresting and soulless yet put under heavy makeup of rhetoric.  Even if it’s a pearl, when it is buried too deep-water, its glimmer wears off.  Even if it’s a good story, too much ostentation only makes it underwelming.

Kudos to critics and editors who accentuate the beauty of a story and hissing for those who put their irresponsible, misleading and phony marks on stories they haven’t even read.  As a reader, I guess I just need to keep my eyes open.

Just some thoughts I had after watching "Suburban Girl".  My opinion on the film will make another blog entry, I suppose.

今天看Living Asia，看到一档介绍Nagoya的节目，然后就被其中介绍的几项日本新发明震撼住了，说偶没见过世面或者怎么着，但是这些发明真是很棒。

首先是一个泊车的solution。名古屋也有好多的自行车族，每天上班踏着到地铁口，下班从地铁口踏回家。由于有这样习惯的人有很多，停车位很是问题，还得有人看着。日本的解决方法就是往地下发展，一个很深的圆筒型的泊车空间，分为许多层，每一层都可以整齐有序地摆放自行车，而且由电脑负责控制。地面上是个电梯门一样的装置和一个刷卡机，骑自行车到了门前，只要刷你的卡，门就会打开，然后把自行车放在特殊的轨道里，车就会被吸进去，然后由和图书馆取书系统很像的机器手臂放好，由于所有信息都在卡里，所以回来时只要刷卡就能很快取出车（说是20秒）。同样的原理也被应用于停泊私家轿车，不仅很好利用了空间，而且增加了安全性。在寸土寸金的城市里，这样的泊车解决方案真是太方便了。

其次介绍的一个solution是为盲人推出的布莱尔文翻译器，能够把互联网的文字即时转成布莱尔文，这个发明虽然只是针对特殊人群，但是想法很好，很人性化。

第三个发明是光电涂层技术，用在瓷砖表面，瓷砖沾上污渍之后经紫外线照射就会自动消除污渍。想想这样一个发明用在阳光还算充足的北京的建筑物上该多好，让建筑物看上去永远像是干净的。这个技术还应用在玻璃上，除了也能自动消除污渍之外，如果淋上水，水会把玻璃表面的灰冲走，而且不留残水，所以用在挡风玻璃上你想想会有多爽。这项技术还能够除臭，当然前提还是有紫外线的照射。

叹创意无限，技术日新月异啊。

今天看ETC的头条，看到了Heath Ledger的葬礼，看到了Obama说"Vice President Oprah”，还看到Scarlett Johansson即将要在5月20日发行她的处女大碟《Anywhere I Lay My Head》。

在此之前，ScarJo就已经在一些场合亮出了她略带沙哑的嗓音。她曾在2006年的明星慈善专辑《Unexpected Dreams: Songs From The Stars》中翻唱了Gershwin的《Summertime》

2007年夏天，她在美国最大的音乐节Coachella上作为嘉宾与The Jesus And Mary Chain联袂演唱了乐队的经典曲目《Just Like Honey》。

新专辑的歌曲以Tom Waits作品的老歌新唱为主，外加几首原创作品。听完了Summertime以后，还是得承认Scarlett的唱功还是很不错的。

Summertime 下载地址：http://images.hollywoodgrind.com:9000/images/2006/10/audio/Scarlett_Johansson_Summertime.mp3）

家里的卫星好久没有“开锅”了，主要烦密码更换过于频繁，等待刷卡时间太长。上周末问了蔡老板，说现在有更好的卡降价销售，500元一张，于是索性买了一张，果然是即插即用，马上就看到久违的AXN、HBO、Star和2nd Avenue了。

昨晚看到Hilary上了Tyra Banks的节目，看来都准备通过脱口秀节目赚点人气啊。不过和Oprah相比，Banks的人气似乎还是差不止一点点。当然Hilary也有她的秘密武器，那就是现在很有亲和力的Chelsea，才女到处过场替妈妈拉票，看上去似乎也很有说服力。所以，现在看Obama v.s. Hilary之战似乎还是扑朔迷离，难分高下。

八卦一把：原本模特身材的Tyra似乎不断在发胖。最近一次在OK上看到已经是往梨形身材方向发展了。doubanclaimb57278110b00074a

新年伊始就染上严重感冒，发高烧、头疼、咳嗽、腹痛，基本上所有症状都在我身上体现出来了。去协和医院在就医环境极度不友好的ER晃了四天，换了两种药吊盐水，彻夜流冷汗之后体温终于降下来了，但是可恶的咳嗽却依旧迟迟不肯退去。

好在有朋友和同事的关怀，让我虽然一个人在冷冷清清的北京但却依然感受到亲人般的温暖。（忍住没哭）

继续吃药。继续被朋友同事温暖地关怀。

最近在看Michael Chugani的时评选集《Double Talk》，不由被老储的英文功底折服。这位非西欧国家出身的老记者居然能够把英文玩转地如此娴熟，行云流水之间还能嬉笑怒骂，既有文风之雅，又有内容之实。现摘撷一朵，奇文共欣赏。

Can Donald Tsang stand the test of time?

There is something about high political office that makes one age prematurely.  Jimmy Carter's slide from a youthful-looking US president to a leader turned haggard by the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis is well documented.

Bill Clinton came to office fresh-faced, but eight years as leader of the so-called free world, and the strains of a sex scandal, not only greyed his hair but hollowed his cheeks.  Compare images of President George W. Bush when he was first elected with now, and you will see what two wars in four years can do.

The only recent president who cheated premature-and natural-ageing was the late Ronald Reagan, who delegated so much authority that astonished staff sometimes saw him in pyjamas at 5pm heading for the White House cinema.  He was the oldest president ever elected, but left office looking the youngest.

Former cheif executive Tung Chee-hwa was not a world leader, although he liked to think of HK as a world city. He took office declaring that HK had at last become master of its own house, but spent seven years trying to convince us it was our duty to make Beijing our master.  That proved hard, and when he gave up, mission unaccomplished, the sparkle in his eyes had been replaced by bags under them.

 Time will tell how the pressures of high office affect acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang.  He has held up well as a deputy, probably because the buck stopped at his boss's desk.  His receding hairline and balding crown have more to do with normal ageing than the stress of leadership.

 When leaders are loved, the biggest challenge for their successors is to follow in their footsteps.  For obvious reasons, Mr. Tsang will not have to face that challenge.  But what is not as obvious is whether he knows what his challenges are.

...

HK's last governor, Chris Patten, a leader with a paunch who did not much care for the pomp that went with the job, embraced greater democracy in the twilight of colonial rule, but never acheived it.  His other goal was losing weight in a city famous for its food. He left a thinner man, buty heavy with the scars of prolonged political jousting with the Chinese.

...

为什么我想到了鲁迅呢？

很期待的一部电影，根据Stephen King的《The Mist》改编的，由之前与S.K.有着与成功合作的Frank Darabont（The Green Mile和Shawshank Redemption的导演）执导的恐怖片。又是一次直击观众心理，兼有恰当特技的高水准影片。自12月21日公映以来网上已是好评如潮，现在就已经迫不及待在isohunt上搜索下载了。

昨晚还看了一部《30 Days of Night》，很血腥，气氛营造开始还好，但是到了后面破绽越来越多，最后草草收场。新的《Saw》和《Halloween》系列很叫人失望，简直就是马尾续貂之作。新一集的异形和铁血大战感觉很牵强，而且无关人物太多，破绽也不少。I Am Legend也是属于开场精彩（Will Smith的肌肉和演技都可圈可点）但后段让人生厌的一部影片，不知道为何北美票房如此之高。

希望《The Mist》不会是下一部雷声大雨点小的不入流之作。

后记：看完了《The Mist》，基本上还是很不错的一部电影，恐怖气氛营造不错，特别是蜘蛛那一段。我还是赞同评论说的：这位拍过《刺激1995》的大导演还是很懂得如何让观众感同身受角色的心理。实在很烦其中喋喋不休的号称自己是救世主的女人和害人又被判组织的摄影记者，所以该女人被一枪毙命感觉非常过瘾。电影中比较让人掉颌的镜头包括被蚊子盯到的那位美女、被蜘蛛用作宿主的黑人律师以及被活活扔出去喂怪物的帅哥军官，比较佩服的就是一手酒精一手打火机喷蜘蛛的老妪。最后结尾那一幕很窝心，也很讽刺。所以，如果有moral的话就是“什么时候都不要放弃希望”。

推荐大家观看这部集合了怪物、悬疑、心理斗争、人性丑恶与弱点的可看性很高的电影。

在香港短暂的度假期间，居然完成了大部分购物任务，花了一天时间赴西贡远足，还辗转三处连看三场电影，顺便打理了头发。时间可谓用到了极致，银子也因此洒了不少，虽很奔忙但也很充实，加上有好友们全程陪伴，心情就若港岛天气一般晴朗。

香港的地铁和街道上永远往来着行色匆匆的路人，商店打折不打折都能够吸引到许多血拼人士，丰富的选择和自由度更是让香港成为文化型游客的乐园。不管你寻找的是什么，香港总能在某种程度上达成你的心愿。每次接触，总有不同的感觉，总能看到新的一面，总会有发现的惊喜。

这次旅行本抱着购物的目的而去，顺便探友。为节省高昂房费腆着脸皮住进了Wayne租住的海景豪宅。第一天下午在熟悉的人满为患的海港城开始了第一波购物，Fancl/Bose/Gucci/Zara/兜了一圈，替自己替同事搜索一番，采购清单缩短一些。然后换乘地铁和Taxi回西环晚餐。

当晚约到了Sam第二天中午见面，上午10点出发到尖沙咀，换了Fancl买错的部分产品后随即开始扫荡Sisley和Benetton，款式多，而且一律半价，想少买都不行，然后到附近Sasa完成了代购任务的第二部分，并和Sam接头。随Sam穿行尖沙咀小巷，找到了一家地下餐厅，吃了很开胃的番茄牛腩粉，继续开始采购，Muji上次没去，上海的规模太小，所以这次如愿买了很多的无印良品，还买了一件可以反穿但价格偏贵的Adidas三叶草恤衫，在时尚感敏锐的Sam的参谋之下，买了一件Levi's的新款仔裤。然后乘公车到旺角，先铰了头发，穿过H&M，吃了McCafe的美味小龙虾三文治，到L'Occitane完成了第三项采购任务。然后沿街闲逛，灵机一动买了副墨镜，在路边小店吃了美味煲仔饭，还到许留山吃了招牌甜品。Sam的本地优势和巧妙心思让一天的行程安排行云流水，但又很随性，丝毫没有被hush的感觉，每一个环节都让人觉得过瘾。

第三天，一早就和Wayne及其同事会合到西贡远足。几次换乘来到出发地，穿过氧气充足的树林，来到碧蓝的海边，既锻炼了身体，又看到了美景，末了还以海鲜大餐结束远足之行。傍晚回到市内，Wayne带着到了湾仔的香港艺术中心看了一场艺术电影（业余感十足的另类题材的无厘头日本电影），然后在中心的书店买了《Double Talk I&II》、王贻兴的《关于旅行》和《盛夏光年》的概念专辑。在Wayne的坚持下（证明这是明智的交通选择）做了ferry到天星码头，又去了一次Muji，吃完饭后到嘉禾影院看了异形和铁血战士2，感觉不过瘾，拉着Wayne又到IFC看了午夜场的《I am legend》。凌晨回家倒头便睡。

一觉醒来，也该收拾行李回京了。Wayne带着见识了美味亲切的大排档，车至IFC交运了行李，办了check-in，在IFC的City Super稍事采购，逛了电子产品店，然后在Mix吃了蓝莓fruit buzz（很有创意的一家店，用Wee\Wow\Woah分别代替Regular\Tall\Grand），最后话别Wayne，登上机场快线，在机场买了几本香港的杂志，乘国泰航班回到首都。

This is my holiday of the year.  A big hug and thank-you goes out to Wayne and Sam for investing so graciously (time, money and company) in my stay.  I hope I'll be able to return the favor in the not too distant future. 

Wish my two dear friends and all those I care a very Happy New Year!