blog now at: http://www.emshelly.com/blog
Ozu 小津
十一月 12, 2007 at 12:57 pm (Food for Soul, Style)
The everyday office worker, the one of a million salary man: bored, disenchanted, he craves the freedom of his bar-owner friend, but the latter describes himself as simply another salary man paid by the general public. He envies people above him in the corporate ladder, but they tell him the only thing you get more of is disheartening backstabbing and political wars. His blue-collared friend wishes to be him because he was better at school and now has a job in a big corporation. But seeing the former’s joy in work juxtaposed with his own disillusions, he wonders exactly who is better off. Then there is his young office buddy lying in death bed, whose love for the boring corporate life has always amazed people around him. Immobilized for months, he is more passionate than ever to hear every trivial incidence at the office, eager but never again able to get back into that world from which so many others are trying to escape. It’s clear that everyone is dissatisfied with life — what one wants is never what one has at the moment. As the friends sat around a table passing time, they sipped sake and said, life is not very interesting these days, all we can do is try to have some fun.
Devoid of melodrama and sentimentalities, Ozu’s world is so calm, even funerals were depicted matter-of-factly. Yet he not only effortlessly depicted the life of Tokyo white-collar workers in the mid last century, but also made the perpetual struggles of the human condition constant to any generation felt poignantly through his artful way of story telling.
Rewind
八月 24, 2007 at 12:32 pm (CS Dummy)
First ever college reunion awaits at the beginning of October. Glad we are still considered young alumni who receive discount at numerous events; sad my SUNet ID got deactivated after four years or so — no longer able to log into axess for some instant self-degradation by that piece of (electronic) paper called the transcript (nope, must pay to get it now).
Unfortunately, it’s doubtful I will be able to make it with no vacation days left. But I’m sure I’ll be reminiscent quite a bit these days, starting with this video made about our senior project, the iClub. Built upon technologies developed by the Stanford Interactive Workspace Project, the video was featured at Ubicomp Conference 2002. Go Josh go!…where did the cute moose come from?
Target Commercial
六月 19, 2007 at 5:23 pm (Out of Nowhere)
Several times after seeing a Target commercial on TV, Stan would sigh admiringly, “They have the coolest commercials.” I must admit they are pretty fancy, especially considering the category of stores Target belongs to. After all, Target’s main consumer pool should be pretty low-tiered on the social stratus. But its commercials are so chicly glittering that they overpower some of the major department stores in this area. The newest installment of this string of fancy commercials is especially memorable, because it did a very nice adaptation of Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye”.
Yet how come watching these commercials always creeps me out, and reminds me of nothing but the “Stepford Wives”?
Alexander Zakharov
六月 4, 2007 at 3:38 pm (Food for Soul)

Castle (all images from MIMI FERzT Gallery)

The Three Graces

Winter Fishing, Tropical Dreams
Strolling along Soho streets, I discovered my new favorite thing: a series of pink bear miniatures by the Russian contemporary artist, Alexander Zakharov. These shots don’t do justice to the actual pieces, because the most outstanding details are blurred, such as the amazingly vivid looking pink fur on each bear. They are on display at the MIMI FERzT Gallery until mid June. The artist’s official website is here.
Looking at the imaginative and playful lives of these cute, daring bears, I can’t help smiling, feeling an innocent joy and almost a longing to be one of them in a perfectly happy world.
红楼淘宝
五月 30, 2007 at 4:45 pm (Out of Nowhere)
国内红楼选秀办得乌烟瘴气。可对选秀的厌恶怎么也盖不过对红楼梦的兴趣,无可避免的大大关注了一番。赛事提供给了大众源源不断的叫骂课题,因硬伤的确太多,这骂的可以说是理所当然,众望所归。可惜电视台就像国内很多别的事情一样,似乎不那么需要尊重民意。观众忙着抗议不公平不合理,他们照样心安理得的自由左右选手和结果。前者闹的情绪亢奋,伤财劳神;后者钱包塞满了继续逼你忍受这精神折磨。除非民众能想出一个让主办方面不得不自醒改善否则就倒闭的反抗招术来,这花在看选拔上的时间就完全是浪费生命。
自叹无谓之余,多少在轰炸试的红楼梦信息中发现了一些有意义的东西:
-87版电视剧初次上映的旧报纸 
如今经典的宝玉黛玉花下共读《会真记》剧照当时竟也是初露头角,而刚逝的权威“林妹妹”陈晓旭在照中还是一青涩少女,任由读者们以完全陌生的眼光随意评论。另外,报道下方还可以看见西游记剧组的新闻,原来这些大作都是在同一时间拍的。至少在看电视方面,当年的人们真是充实得幸福哪!
- 土默热的红楼解说
我自愧后知后觉,现在才发现有那么个人,那么种说法。刚拜读了几段,却读地心惊胆颤。他所提出的“金陵十二钗”和蕉园诗社女子相应的性格作风,几乎如出一轴的雅号诗名实在太有说服力了。要找一个女子和红楼梦人物有相近之处,那比比皆是。但是如果有特定的一群女子,人物关系类似,诗词习性类似,连雅号都出得一个个可以和红楼对上号,那就不能再归于巧合了。而洪昇和这些女子的人生经历,明末时期的思想观念,似乎就像作者所说,可以轻易解开不少红学多年的死结,叫人看得兴奋不已。不论今后能有什么突破,这都是本值得一读的作品。
全鲜泡饭
三月 26, 2007 at 10:44 pm (Out of Nowhere)
周末寻食,向某茶餐厅进军。刚走几步已奈不住冷,身体在立刻钻进眼前第一扇门的冲动和坚持不懈达到目的地的信念这两股力的互抗互推下,呈偏向店面的半侧状斜移。最终以“涮涮锅”跳入眼帘,两股力量突变悬殊,放弃目的地一小转(不是大转因为本来就是半侧身)笔直入店拿号等座告终。谢天谢地如此,否则难见百年不遇的涮锅高人:与我们合桌而坐的两韩国MM。
我旁边的高瘦MM穿着贵气的棕色毛边无袖夹袄配毛帽。她对面的那位较胖,一身休闲运动装。两人话不多,入座各点了个简单的白锅。配了调料回来,每锅带的基本肉菜也已送到。当时并没注意她们,只觉得挺安静的,两人专心地一件件涮面前的食物,吃得慢条斯理。不多会,一MM加点了一盘虾,另一个则要了一只小全蟹。轻手滑进锅内,继续边调制边吃。
等东西去掉一大半,她们叫加汤。之后一直不停地用勺小口尝锅里的汤,汤里东西已不多,她们几乎住口不吃。那时我见她们尝汤唯一的启发就是,嗯,现在汤一定够鲜了,所以也不停的从STAN锅里大口偷汤喝(没办法,我自己的是麻辣锅底)。她们话多些了,一边像煲汤似的调调试试,一边有说有笑。直到服务员好心来再次加汤时,我才发现她们的不同:锅里汤剩半锅多些,一般人一定愿意再加,谁知服务员刚准备往她们锅里倒,就被很警惕地制止了,语气还很不快,直问可怜的服务员干吗没叫也来加?
我们立时觉得她们有些刁钻,加了就加了有什么不好呢?没想到她们汤不要,却叫白饭。我心想,吃火锅还吃饭我倒第一次见。到这时也没反应过来她们是想干啥,直到她们利落地把饭扣进了锅里。。。天哪,泡饭!想到锅里各种肉和海鲜炖出来的无敌鲜汤,才发现她们太会充分利用涮锅了。只见她们并不是随便把饭掏松就开吃,而是继续边聊天边搅动。当注意到饭有些干时,才把服务员拖过来稍加汤继续搅。汤的量要配合饭量,自然之前不让随便多加。足有二十分钟左右后,泡饭已变得和粥一样浓厚均匀了。还没完,又把现成的生鸡蛋放碗内打散,勾芡似地匀入饭内。看看色香味俱全了,才一人一小碗盛出来,心满意足地享用。
在羡慕她们有超级鲜美泡饭之余,我不得不佩服她们对食物花的心思。对我来说新奇聪明,她们做起来却早已理所当然。这种“对食物尊重”的文化,在《大长今》里被腻味地像教条似的重复,却在这两女子随便的一顿饭里令我肃然起敬。
Hey Jude
二月 2, 2007 at 4:31 pm (Food for Soul)
“Hey Jude” – The Beatles

Can you hear Lennon say “Ohhhhh!” and “Bloody hell!” after they sing “let her under your skin” (around 00:02:57, listen carefully)? Haha. This is such a wonderful song.
Never intentionally listened to Beatles before. Then, one day out of nowhere (perhaps being fed up with the endless pit of mediocre Chinese pop songs), I had the compelling desire to go over a Beatles album from start to finish. It was a blissful experience.
就喜欢黄金甲
一月 17, 2007 at 8:05 pm (Out of Nowhere)
在长岛十人左右的空荡影院里舒舒服服地看了《黄金甲》,比预期的好(当然在十面埋伏,无极之类的阴影下,起步预期很低)。虽离经典电影还很远,但面对网上中国人千篇一律地做痛心疾首状大骂烂片的情景,我也难免不以为然地耸耸肩问,同志们是否有些无谓地夸张了?
片中有些细节形式化得腻味,比如一而再再而三的报时,军队打斗时万人齐喊的各种口号,节日盛典的“女声”(宫女加太监)大合唱等等。典型共产主义 的,集体群众像机器一样排练整齐地做同一件事的景象让我心生莫名的恐惧。同时也不难看出,与皇帝皇后共写的毛笔字或宫廷内煎药呈药的过程一样,这些都是张 艺谋在 乘机向外国人展现中国悠久传统文化的点滴。而周围的黄金琉璃不但是这种 文化的一部分,也是给展示增加惊叹程度的气氛装饰;就像室内装潢时一间房间同样的家具,添几个关键的灯光就能把房间给人的感觉从“不错”提升到 “精美”的道理一样。或许国内人觉得多余,但鉴于电影本就准备在国外发行,导演做的这些努力就算对电影的灵魂没有多少贡献,到底也有可取的地 方。
故事抄袭曹禹的经典并不代表就会成功。话剧能变化的景实在很有限,所以有不少人抱怨《黄金甲》故事太简单,绕来绕去景就宫里那么几个地 方。可是就像话剧一样,这个电影的看头本来就在那稀少的几个角色之间的高温摩擦。带动片子的是人物,不是情节。而本片演员的表现绝对可以掩盖任何故
事 的单 薄。不要说巩利,刘烨,陈谨等向来出色的表演,就连“伪演员”周杰伦都表现得令人惊喜。张艺谋加二王子元杰是一高招。除了明显的吸引歌迷作用,对影 片本身也有好处。没有了元杰,剩下的就是一堆乌烟瘴气。每个人都阴暗到变态的程度,相比《雷雨》,人性更少,残酷太多。后者中的父亲也冷酷,后母也绝望, 但结尾悲剧发生之际,父母对自己每一个孩子的爱仍然清楚可见。而《黄金甲》里的皇帝却已经到了灭绝人性的地步了。这样一个绝对残酷的家庭难以令人接受也没 有意义,所以元杰必须存在,给人们一点寄托。周杰伦在影片后半,特别是绝望自断的时候,是成功的。能让我想哭怎么不算成功呢,本人可是超级冷血动 物,在《Titanic》和《蓝色生死恋》面前也坦然自若。记得小时候幼儿园带我们很久的老师要离开,同学们除了我都哭了,搞得大家都用奇怪眼色看 我,自然是在想,这个小孩怎么如此没感情。可我看到周同学跪在巩利面前痛苦地说妈我让您失望了的时候,眼睛却湿了,这可不仅仅是因为我喜欢周杰伦就能这样 的。
中肯的评 论无论褒贬都该被接受,可惜网上的骂声很多是执着盲目的偏见。不对影片本身做任何探讨,就简单的骂“那么多钱堆起来的大片一定是烂片”,或者“张艺谋的片 绝对不看”之类,实在很可笑。在IMDB上一人说,“我是个中国人,对这部片我觉得很羞耻!” 别人回,“啊?这样的电影你也觉得羞耻?我们美国拍出 什么”Jackass”,我们还没怎样呢!” 是啊,为什么每次中国有任何人或东西得到国际关注了,就总是有国人急着要去贬低,表现自己是高于它的,是不 屑的?就像豆瓣上一同学指出的:“一个德国汉学家说了这样一句话:并不是我们外国人瞧不起中国文化,而是中国人自己瞧不起自己,总是喜欢互相谩骂指责。” 实在有些道理。什么时候大家能学会尊重本国人作出的努力,而不是给自我寻求一个空洞的“姿态高”呢?
随你们怎样吧,反正我就喜欢《黄金甲》。
Memory
十二月 29, 2006 at 12:19 pm (Out of Nowhere)
A woman named Liz who lives in a chic New York apartment has been fastidiously collecting her cats’ shed fur to make furballs.
You can see from the photo how big one of the furballs has already gotten: 8″ in diameter. It is so cute/interesting/yucky depending on your reaction — though I’m seeing so many yucks and ewws that they are seriously outrunning the cutes and awws. What’s special about her endeavor, though, is that in the center of the furball, there is a little piece of paper that records the date of the ball’s incipience.
Each year, Stanford’s senior class donates personal mementos into a vacuum-sealed time capsule and deposits it beneath the newest year-labeled plaque that joins the long string of more than 100 existing plaques lining the Quad’s walkway. Objects stored varies from Big Game ticket stubs that entire class shared memories of, to private belongings dear and precious to only one soul.
Memory is a mercurial thing. It carelessly wanders around the sea of remembrances that permeates the brain, touches here a little, dwells there a while. But the ever-growing/overlapping deposits in the “sea” offers too many temptations, it hardly has time to go down one specific memory path and investigate it thoroughly, thus saving us tons of emotional roller coasters that busy life does not accommodate. Looking at the furball makes Liz think of her cats; going back to the Quad brings back the good old times in Stanford. But the possibilities are still too many, everything relating to the subject all rises up at the same time and offers the emotional reward/baggage each brings. Like a kid faced with the nauseatingly colorful choices of ice creams in a shop, memory skims through purposelessly. The mind is overwhelmed, only able to take on a superficial emotion that is generally associated with the subject.
But at the moment when the furs slowly peel off, and the capsule retrieved and opened, things change. The seed so meticulously preserved for so long, will take memory by the hand and guide it down a definite road. For Liz, the material of the paper reminds her from where it was chosen and cut, the handwriting secretly confesses her mood at the time, and the date brings her back to that day, making her recall the otherwise monotonous errands she ran before and after creating the initial furball, as well as the loving thoughts she had for the cats. For a Stanford alumnus, her contribution in the capsule takes her mind to the events of the day, an exam, a debate with her professor; moreover, it reminds her of the people that were most important to her by then, and the hopes and dreams she had of the future when she left this little piece of remembrance in Stanford. Emotions felt at this moment are no longer surface sentiments, but real echoes in the heart that transform the person’s state of mind to that exact instance in life.
Memory is also a sweet thing. In the Russian movie “The Return”, a series of photos capturing snapshots of scenes in the movie are slide-showed to the viewer at the very end. The explanation offered by the director says experiencing something and remembering it later are very different: one may have a painful experience that one can’t wait to escape from, but looking back at it some times later, it becomes part of the person, and one can’t help but feel nostalgic with renewed insights. So the slip in the furball and the memento in the time capsule not only bring back acute emotions of the past, but also sugarcoat them with a layer of silvery reminiscence, making the experience only sweeter.
Anyone who has the chance to open up such a memory treasure should be envied.
灵魂
十二月 19, 2006 at 7:30 pm (Food for Soul)
“有时也真孤寂,找不到一个灵魂。能找到的都是生活。” – 顾城《英儿》

photo from Pretty Faces’ Flickr
Newfoundland
十二月 12, 2006 at 6:37 pm (Style)

Apartment Therapy featured Rare Device today, and oh my, what a fantastic selection of unique, stylish home accessaries they have! The wallpaper prints remind me of Urban Outfitters, but they are by no mean restricted to the funky culture of the latter. Some of their pieces are cheerful and dreamy, such as the Jill Bliss Poster (left image), reminiscent of a boldly colorful fashion show I recently saw on Full Frontal Fashion — I’m dying to recall who the designer was: Indian-looking name with a “sh” somewhere, but the guy didn’t look Indian at all. His Spring 2007 collection is pure, visual marajuana. Others are cute and innovative like the Lumen Oil Lamp (right) which “when lit, throws a shadow onto the wall that flickers according to the air currents in the room.”
Only down side is that the store is in Brooklyn!…a distant and alien part of New York to me. Still, the temptation is just too great. I must check it out in the near future. One can really waste endless cycles of lives dwelling and indulging in the pleasure of such pretty little things…well, if only there is such thing as life cycles.
Update (September 10th, 2007): so I finally got to see this store in person, and it’s tiny! The storefront is tiny, the space is tiny, the selection is tiny, and even the Re-Surface lamp that I found irresistible on their website is tiny in reality! I’ll stick with the online store. One less reason to go to Brooklyn.
百年畏缩
八月 8, 2006 at 5:08 pm (Out of Nowhere)
不久前Flushing图书馆外人群最拥挤的路口见一横榜,“天灭中共”四大黑字凛然入目,下注“已有XXX万人退党”等字眼。这个对我来说极其刺眼的景观安然贮立在不计其数的来往行人-中国行人-中,趾高气扬,神气活现。
理想状态下的我,那定是腰一叉眼一瞪大步踏去将它一掌震碎,再敬那些胆敢公然挑衅的台湾老土们几句历史悠久发扬光大的祖传粗口。可惜梦想尚未照进现实, 只是弱弱地和同伴们探讨了一下如何用打火机神不知鬼不觉制造一场自燃事件。探讨并不深刻,自然也未付诸于行动。
没给肇事者应得的打击,窝囊之极。不禁要问,如果连我这个大半辈子待在美国的边缘人都觉得热血上涌,那些年代更久成色更纯的国人难道会无动于衷? 以我内向的个性都有立马上去给贴榜人一耳巴子的冲动,路过的大叔们小伙们难道不该有更加激烈的反应?为何这榜能从头到尾大模大样站在那嘲笑周围那么多以中 国人自居的行人而安然无恙?
其实大家第一眼看见这东西,文盲汉奸不谈,正常人心里定是极不舒服的,如果它被推翻那是再好不过。可惜义愤填膺之余,心里却早已清楚自己不会发起 任何反 击。因为在自尊心受刺激那一刻,各位(包括本人)世代相传的畏缩自保大法也已启动。在衡量了周围情况,预见了强出头可能遇见的种种困难后,各种招式蜂拥而 出,确保自己至少外表上毫发不伤地逃离现场。招式五花八门,心诀无非以下几列:
- “识时务为俊杰”诀:这诀名字听起来机灵,其实是最憨厚诚恳的,说穿了就是承认并接受自己的胆小。眼观四方,众人一致的华裔外表下隐藏着各种政治 文化理想的差异。如果自己冲上去讲理之时,周围多的是反大陆的而不是自己人,那岂不是敌众我寡,讨不到好?更何况动起手脚来,多半还会惹上警察。那 些美国人可不会同情你的自尊心收损,抓起来再说。这些显见的困难足以使大多数庸人放弃自尊却步不前。性格较大方直爽的会接受自己畏缩的现实,最多再叹几 声“如果在 国内这东西别想站住一分钟”之类自己也知道勉强的垂死挣扎,然后抛在脑后,该做什么做什么去。那些向来自尊心强,内心复杂的,则搬出更强的心诀来自圆 什么都不做的选择。
- “理解万岁”诀:不愿接受自己被标为胆小畏缩,就要找更好的理由来说服自己。虽然榜上的歪扭繁体大字,称中共而不称共产党的习惯,和此确切地 点经常出现台湾人宣传台独丑化中国的事实,让你很难不相信这又是一个台湾人攻击中国的无聊做法。但为了自尊心,还是会有人很“大度”地往别的方向去想: 或许这是哪个在国内受到政府迫害的可怜人家属在这里声冤?如果自己二话不说对他叫骂,岂不是有点是非不分?还是不要那么鲁莽为妙。
的确,这种想法听起来很 体面,猜测的也不是没有一点可能(我们自然没有幼稚到觉得中国政府从来没做过没人性的事,同样我们也不会这样相信世界上任何一个政府),那么同志您为啥不 上 前问问了解情况?既然你那么会关心别人,难道不想真的帮些什么吗?同时也该教导教导人家,家丑不可外扬的道理。如果一定要寻外援,去寻有能力的机构啊, 在这多是中国人的街上摆摊又没说明自己到底有什么冤,一是浪费时间,二是给中国人丢脸,榜照样该撤下来。话又说回来,如果问明白了人家就是台湾人闹事,你 又怎样?到时候你就敢抬起脚把榜揣下来么?
- “就事论事”诀:前一诀已进入阿Q领域,但境界不高。靠一个可能来安慰自己,败就败在不敢证实上。要表现出“如果不是有这可能就一定会义无反顾地 打倒敌人”,那么第一件事就是证明顾忌的正确性,因为你仍该有时刻准备着在发现自己多虑后一鼓作气消灭敌方的决心。连上前认证都没做,唯一的原因就是无论 那些是什么人,你压根儿就没想有所作为。说到头来你的畏缩自己都瞒不过去。
而这一诀就很不一样了。中国流行的武侠书啊宗教书啊,经常将达到虚空拜 为最高境界。而这一诀就在于把明明针对你的冲突通过向客观学术性问题的演变而化为乌有。既然冲突消失了,你是否畏缩的问题自然也不存在了。因此,那些高手 们在看到榜上内容后,会利用榜文内容而机警地将重点转移到共产党究竟有多少人退党这个问题上。在事不关己因为自己不是共产党员的前提下,开始进行冷静细腻 的分析:“中国一共有这么这么些人。。。根据我在中国的经历应该有那么那么些人入党。。。我认识的中国人里面退党的有这些这些。。。”经过一系列令人钦佩 的逻辑思维后得出结论:“哈,这榜的内容有问题,不可能有那么多人退党的!”于是乎名正言顺地对那榜骚之以鼻,并宣告自己胜利。
可惜人家本来就是恶意中 伤,并不在乎情报的准确性,就好像如果他们写的是“中国人都是猪”,列位高手难道准备说“不对不对,猪的特征有这些这些,而人有这些这些,中国人更接近人 的特征,所以这榜错了”?更何况人家骂中共,其实就是骂整个中国包括里面所有的中国人。那些成日里就爱说美国多么傻中国多么好的肤浅评论的人却好意思在中 国被攻击的事实下避重就轻不关己事地看待共产党的名声?北京上海的发展难道不是政府的功劳?政府不就是共产党?习惯在这些大城市里醉生梦死的人,眼光短浅 地引以为荣的生活享受,还不是共产党给你的?在关键时刻却自居局外人,是否太不知耻?表面上似极理性极有头脑的表现,只是畏缩习性的升华,变得无色无相却 深入骨髓,高明的自欺欺人连阿Q本人也自愧不如。
试想同样的榜如果换成韩国放在Northern Blvd,或者意大利摆在Little Italy, 或者任何别的民族,这块榜能撑多久?就算原地不动直接把中共改成了台湾,又能撑多久?我想它被打倒的可能性都会比现在高,因为台湾人虽然土,小家子气,但 并不畏 缩。再如果是在中国有一块“天灭美国”的牌子,我猜想就算拼着挨打,也会有经过的美国人上去抗议的。因为这是起码的国家尊严,而中国人几百年来被灌输接而 成习惯的自 制和忍耐使我们失去了可以维护此尊严的基本血气。平时看到任何跟日本有关的东西就大骂小日本并不是有血气,而是跟潮流瞎起哄耍嘴皮子;反之当别人公然践踏 中国名声却不敢出口气也不是有修养,而是懦弱!当然如果这样的东西出现在国内,大家一定一拥而上,可是到了国外这更需要给国家争气的地方,没有了群众的后 盾,大家就做起了缩头乌龟。这样欺软怕硬,缺乏人格底线的中国人,准备凭几个大城市外表上的进步,不顾多数中国地区还在水深火热中的现实,而妄想在未 来近期内成为世界强国?国家的成就根本在于人民素质,而极度畏缩的人民就算物质生活再好,也没法在关键时刻撑起自己的国家。百年孤独里说“遭受百年孤独的 家族,注 定不会在大地上第二次出 现”,那么经过百年畏缩的民族呢?她又有多少未来?
O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell
五月 24, 2006 at 12:53 pm (Food for Soul)

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky buildings: climb with me the steep,—
Nature's observatory—whence the dell,
In flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavilioned, where the deer's swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refined,
Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.
- John Keats
The About Page
四月 19, 2006 at 12:04 pm (Out of Nowhere)
I was clicking away on the “Next Blog” link, and noticed that a lot people has an “About” page that says, “This is an example of a WordPress page…”. Either they are entirely oblivious of the “pages” feature, or they don’t have time or the intention to do anything about it. Being a perfectionist, I would rather believe it’s the former. Otherwise, the blogger is doing a very sloppy job. The least you can do is to just delete that page, if you have nothing interesting to put there. So frequently I come upon a nice looking blog, start to like it, and then there it is, the “About” page with those dreadful words, which makes my good impression on that blogger very ephemeral. People really need to be more attentive of their environment, god!
May is going to be movies month:
- Mission Impossible 3 (May 5th)
- The Da Vinci Code (May 19th)
- X-Men 3 (May 26th)
I’m hungry and random.
Overheard
四月 12, 2006 at 10:38 am (Out of Nowhere)
I wonder if anyone actually notices the RSS feeds people have on their sidebars. I know I usually don't pay attention to those unless some words in those feeds whimsically entered my glimpse and just happened to contain terms relating to things I'm interested in at the moment. Such fortuitous moment seldom if ever occurs.
So on that note……"LOOK AT THE FEEDS ON MY SIDEBAR!" Especially Overheard in New York. If you've never been there, you missed a lot. It has some of the funniest/dumbest/xxxest things one can hear. The place is addictive, because we always get a kick out of laughing at and criticing other people's stupidity/ignorance. It naturally brings about a feeling of superiority and confidence, subsequently making us keep going back for more. It's herorin for the soul.
Here is a taste: Thank You for Flying Wednesday One-liners
Pilot: Welcome to the Titanic of airliners.
–Delta plane, LaGuardia
Woman on cell: I want to speak to whoever booked this seat for me. I'm in the middle of the middle of the row…in coach. Can you imagine anything more horrible? I'm sitting next to a Chinese woman. I don't know if it's their diet but I don't like the way those people smell.
–Continental plane, JFK
Loudspeaker: Mr.–ha, ha, ha!…Mr. Punani? Ha, ha…Can Mr. Punani please come to Gate 12? Paging Mr…ha, ha…oh yeah…Mr. Punani to Gate 12.
–LaGuardia
Girl on cell: Yeah, but it's illegal to take sand on a plane?
–72nd between Columbus & Amsterda
Southern woman on cell: What airline are you on?…You don't know what airline you're on?…You're sitting on the runway and you don't know what airline you're on?…No, I won't let anyone know.
–LaGuardia
一个陌生女人的来信
三月 9, 2006 at 7:28 pm (Out of Nowhere)

一年前的电影,昨无意间看了。
影片由林海的《琵琶语》缓缓带出,贯穿情节起伏,配着好像爷爷奶奶年轻时拍的,现已被岁月暗淡了的陈旧彩照似的摄影效果,加上那窄长的胡同,层次的 宅院,趴踏 着布鞋奔跑的拉车夫,和穿着碎格粗布棉长衣玩耍的女孩儿,让我这个从没去过北京也没学过多少中国近代史的人觉得这就是民国时期北平社会气氛唯美描画的极至 了。想象中的那个时代那个地方似乎就该是这样。琵琶弹拨着,委婉幽怨,给这个整体上呈灰暗色的画面添了丝微温的脉搏。随着影片中女人的述说,感觉自己好像 也已在那世界里,坐在炕上围着火炉,听那心碎的故事。
据说不少人看了故事觉得那样痴心的女人不太真实,我觉得可笑。痴心的人无论男女从古 至今少过么?这个女人最后到底还是让那男人知道了自己的心,可想而知那男人下半辈子是忘不了她了;而现实生活里有些人可能最终都不得向那人一抒自己的心情 呢,岂不更可叹?暗恋和痴心都不是难事,难的是当自己的恋情陷入绝望,却不为了生存和寂寞而另觅伴侣。这是需要超人的坚强和骨气的。就连电影里的那个女 人,到底还是有过军人男友,当过交际花,所以也算不上最难得的。就好像红楼梦里高鄂所写,因袭人一心向着宝玉却最终妥协与蔣玉涵,所以只能列在又副本内。 虽然高的后四十回不像之处皆是,但这个意思却还可取。
女人将死写了这封信,即使万念俱灰,也免不了去想象那男人在读了她的信后是怎样的心 情。那将是她这一生在那博爱又健忘的男人心中造成最大影响的时刻了。心酸的是,她用生命换来的这一刻,自己根本无福消受。这一刻无疑也是整个故事的高潮, 虽然没有哭声,没有言语,只有那个男人的内心世界。人们都说电影一定不及原著,还没读过我不敢说,但在这高潮的描写上我可以赞同。姜文已是个好演员,既然 是内心世界自然不会在脸上表露无遗。看着他注目那空了的花瓶,看着他打开门向对面的空屋凝望,而空屋的窗上慢慢映出当年那女孩纯洁,专注的模样,我想观众 能感到的更多是自己内心的悸动。至于男人心里究 竟在想些什么,只能我们自己去想象。可能他懊悔不已悲痛欲绝,可能他只是微微地茫然伤感,电影能表达的到底有限。虽然留下无限遐想空间,总觉得在这紧要关 头欠缺了什么。直到今天找到原著的译文,读后竟有如释重负的感觉。短短几句话描写地恰到好处,找到了预期中内心的震荡:
“他的目光落到了 他面前书桌上的那只花瓶上。花瓶是空的,多年来在他过生日的时候第一次是空的。他全身觳觫一怔:他觉得,仿佛一扇看不见的门忽然打开了,股股穿堂冷风从另 一世界嗖嗖吹进他安静的屋子。他感觉到一次死亡,感觉到不朽的爱情:一时间他的心里百感交集,他思念起那个看不见的女人,没有实体,充满激情,犹如远方的 音乐。”
黑暗深渊
三月 2, 2006 at 8:35 am (Out of Nowhere)
Ordinary World
二月 22, 2006 at 6:54 pm (Food for Soul)
Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV and the radio
Still I can’t escape the ghost of you
What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some are saying
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away
But I won’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say
“Pride will tear us both apart”
Well now pride’s gone out the window, cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
What is happening to me?
Crazy, some’d say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away
But I won’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk
And I don’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Everyone is my world, I will learn to survive
Anyone is my world, I will learn to survive
Anyone is my world
Everyone is my world
- Duran Duran
Personality Test
二月 17, 2006 at 12:20 pm (Out of Nowhere)
Take this test. Is it somewhat accurate? I say somewhat because I think psychology is at best a speculative study. It is much lesser a science than biology and chemistry. Sciences are all about absolutes: theories must be backed by proofs, proven theories must be accurate. Yet the human psyche is simply too elusive and capricious for us to form indubious predictions on causes and effects. No psychologist can predict how a person will act toward a stimulus with aboslute certainty.
I followed my first instinct and the picture I picked is actually quite on the target. But then I looked at the answers behind all nine of them, and some of the other pictures that I liked had descriptions that fit me nicely too. I could have just as well picked another if one of my neurons happend to fire differently at the moment. One thing is clear though, none of the pictures I disliked had fitting personality for me. So I guess with a less strict criterion, possibly a criterion fitting for sciences like psychology, we can call this test accurate.
My answer is “romantic, dreamy, emotional”. What’s yours?


