The environmentalist should learn that the only way for sustainibility is keep moving forward.
Yearly Archives: 2008
Nutcracker
I watched Nutcracker with Pat tonight, to be exact, I was sleeping next to Pat when she was watching the ballet. Originally I wanted to write an review about Nutcracker, then I realize I didn’t watch much of the show. My eye lid already felt heavy after the opening dance. I struggled to keep myself awake, trying hard to appreciate the movement on the stage. The dance is all about meaningless ponite toe spins and random arm movement. I gave up soon after I failed to make any sense out of the dance.
Then I try stay awake by thinking whether ballet is an art using art theories I learn form my atheistic class. Tchaikovsky created the music, it’s definitely an art. The plot of Nutcracker is adapted from a children story, which is also an art. However are there any arts in the ballet dancers? Undoubtedly, there are strict technical skills a dancer has to master in ballet, but they are just the puppets of the director. The dancers did not create anything new in the process, they can be replaced by robots that can dance the same movement precisely without affecting the artistic value of the show. I was thinking and thinking, my mind wandered further and further away from the stage, eventually I doze off in the middle of the 2nd scene. I slept through the whole act II after the intermission, only briefly awake when I heard the familiar Nutcracker theme music.
After I came home, I did some research on the history of ballet in Wiki. It started in Renaissance Italian as performance and developed by the French King in 17th century to become today’s complex system. My hypothesis is ballet is not an art, it is merely an trade to serve the royals and the nobles. Since monarchy is obsoleted in modern society, as a symbol of the past, ballet should also be discouraged or even abolished. I am still formulating my arguments to support my hypothesis. One day I will able to justify why no one should go to watch a ballet ever.
Nevus of Ota
The son of my friend got this rare “Nevus of Ota” disease. It start with a small birthmark on the face and it grows bigger as the boy grows. My friend is worrying about the condition of his baby. Luckily, according to my other doctor friend, the condition is cause by the pigment under the skin goes wrong. It won’t affect the health of the boy, except the appearance. I feel sorry for my friend, yet he shows how a loving parent will accept anything from his child. I accept the fact that his boy may not be cute, but still love him and never give up the hope of finding a cure.
I remember I had a friend in university with similar problem. Half of his face is much darker than the rest of his skin. When I know him, I am old enough not to make fun of his appearance. He is a nice guy and reasonably good in school and sports. Actually, after we get to know him, we quickly overlook the mark on the face, and treat him just like any other one of us. I think he even manage to get a girlfriend in school. Ok, he is a bit ugly, but so what? Guys should not worry too much about his appearance. For guys, it’s what underneath the face hide inside the skull counts. I am not too worry about my friend’s boy. Maybe he will have a few harsh years in kindergarten or elementary school. But once he survived that stage and develop a healthy personality, he will be on equal foot with another for the rest of his life. On the other hand, if a baby girl got this “Nevus of Ota” disease I can’t image how miserable her life will be.
Photography
I am pretty late to join the DSLR bandwagon. I just bought my first DSLR two months ago. In fact, it’s not even my camera, it’s the birthday present for my wife. When I first got it, I took some snapshot to make sure it works fine. Then camera hide itself behind the boxes when I moved and I just rediscover it this week. So I took some serious photos to explore the function of the new camera.
I am not new to photography, I had a have a film SLR camera lens in high school. I was the photographer with the best camera for the school year book, even better than the teacher adviser’s of the photo club. I was not that interest in photography back then. I got into photography because my best friends got a SLR and taking portrait is a cool excuse to ask the girls out. I didn’t touch the SLR since I got my very first digital camera in university. I always boast to my friends who get into DSLR in recent years that I was using SLR long before them. I know the use of shutter, aperture, ISO and filters and how they can affect the photo. However, it quite a shame that I never truly understand theory of photography.
This time when I pick up the DSLR again, I decide to have a complete understanding of photography. I bought a beginner photography book, read it from cover to cover, but still couldn’t get a very clear understanding. I still get the same fuzzy concept I know since my high school days. At last, I decide to learn it hard way. I log on the internet and read how DSLR works. I get to the root of the problem, understand the physics and optics of a SLR. Vola! Suddenly all the pieces fit together and I can link up all the photography knowledge I already know to form a big picture. The technical part of taking a perfect picture is simple. There is only two things you need to care about: exposure and color.
Exposure is controlled by three parameters, ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Shutter speed is the easier to understanding, it’s how long the shutter stays open. In film camera, ISO is the photo sensitivity of the film. In a digital camera, ISO becomes the signal to noise ratio amplifier. Aperture controls how much light arrive the sensor. Choose the right value of the three parameters allow the the senors collects the right amount of photons, so the image will not be too bright or too dark. The histogram is a handy tool to examine the exposure of your photo. The trade off between these three parameters is the artistic part and each one has its pro and con. The higher the ISO, the nosier the image. The slower the shutter speed, the more ghost in the image. The effect of aperture is the hardest to understand. Knowing how depth of field (DoF) works is some real hard physics. It took me almost two hours to completely grasp how the human eye’s field of confusion (FoC) determine the DoF of a given aperture. Color is not a pure optics effect, it is how the thermo-properties of light source affects the sensor. In a film camera, we use color filter correct the color, so a white object will show up being white in the image or we use the temperature of color to introduce mood to the image. In a digital camera, we can simply tweak the RGB algorithm in the sensor to correct the color of the image.
I found one advantage of DSLR over SLR. It is much easier to learn photography using a DSLR. The camera setting is saved with the photo and the image are ready to review instantly. I can take many pictures with different setting and compare the effects side by side. Most important, take photos is virtually free, so I can practice as much as I like. Unlike in the film camera days, buying film is expensive and you have to wait patiently for the film to develop. No wonder we have so many armature photography these days. DSLR really lower the learn curve to become a decent photographer.
飯前禱
我一向沒有吃飯前祈禱的習慣﹐不過結婚後每次食飯前﹐老婆都會提醒我要唸飯前經。有時太肚餓或老婆太慢﹐我已經把食物放入口中﹐她也要我邊吃邊補唸經。畢竟我信教多年對吃飯前祈禱已不大抗拒﹐也能夠理解在神學慨念中﹐我們要凡事感恩的重要性﹐當然這也包括為我們的食物謝恩。只是我認為感恩是一個恆常的心態﹐並不需要無時無刻掛在口唇邊。對食物感恩與神心照便可以了﹐不用很形式化在吃飯前特地祈禱。除非怕自己會忘記感恩﹐才需要一日三次提醒自己。至於其他食飯前祈禱的原因倒可以不用理會﹐不是迷信便是矯柔造作扮野。說食飯前祈禱可以潔淨食物﹐是沒有科學根據的迷信。說食飯前祈禱是在人前做見證宣揚耶穌﹐則與耶穌在馬太福音第六章中所說﹐站在十字路口禱告的偽善者無異。
可是當與非教徒一起同臺吃飯的場合﹐我覺得有些教徒在吃飯前祈禱很不自然。若果只是獨自低頭一兩秒默禱﹐並不礙眼不影響別人問題不大。可是有些人祈禱很長氣﹐其他人自己先吃又不好意思﹐結果要等他祈完禱才起筷。不過最讓我接受不了﹐卻是與一班教徒同臺吃飯﹐開餐前要找人出來領禱。若果在座有神父牧師還好﹐他們畢竟是神職人員﹐領禱只是輕而易舉的例行公事。可是有時隨意點其中一人出來領禱﹐遇著個長篇大論死唔斷氣﹐眼看著美食當前也要挨肚餓也都算了。最要命是遇上個肉麻當有趣﹐像古代太監讚皇帝般祈禱頌讚神﹐真的倒人胃口什麼食慾也全消。不過很奇怪﹐我覺得中國人吃飯前祈禱很不順眼﹐但是與西人吃飯前say grace則很自然。可能西方文化畢竟以基督教為根﹐say grace已是文化習俗的一部份﹐沒有過份強調令人不安的宗教性。在西方吃飯前say grace﹐大慨與中國人的叫長輩吃飯﹐或日本人的いただきます﹐也算是異曲同工吧。
記得有次與教友吃飯﹐不知為什麼被人擺了上臺﹐要我負責領飯禱。當年我在教會混的經驗尚淺﹐不太懂得如何應對這種場面。我又不齒像其他人般﹐堆切一些肉麻的說話來祈禱。幸好在我依依哦哦不知說什麼時﹐有其他人仗義出來替我領了禱。不過全世界目光聚焦身上﹐將開口又說不出話很沒面子。於是我痛定思痛﹐找出一個應對的對策﹐就是把教慕道手冊內飯前經背熟。以後任何要領飯前禱場合﹐也可以拿這段經文出來傍身。唸這個飯前經有幾個好處﹕ 第一這經文內容扼要精確﹐完全表達對食物的感恩﹐又沒有一字多餘的癈話。第二經文用字古雅﹐不會令人覺得老土肉麻。第三經文夠短﹐前後不過三句﹐快者兩秒唸完﹐慢唸也不過五六秒﹐不會影響開飯。
中文版﹕ 求主降福我等﹐既將所受主廣施之因惠﹐為我等主基督。
英文版﹕ Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.