Monthly Archives: October 2009

Daily Scribble

Learning how to ride a unicycle – day 1

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clubfreestyle_24_black

I always wanted to learn how to ride a unicycle. I have been procrastinating for many years, then I just made up my mind and bought an unicycle. In order to encourage Pat to do more exercise, I promise I will jog with her every week. Since I don’t like jogging myself, I was riding a bicycle while following Pat. However, riding bicycle is too fast, I think maybe I should ride a unicycle instead, so that I can keep with the pace of Pat.

I ordered a 24″ beginner’s unicycle online. It is recommend to learn from a 20″ or 24″. Both size are good for indoor free style tricks or outdoor normal riding. It took me half a hour to put the parts together. I read unicycle tutorials on the web and watched tutorials in youtube to prepare myself. The principle of riding a unicycle is pretty simple. Balance yourself on the seat and don’t fall. The difficult part is building the muscle memory that let you stay in balance.

I tried my first ride today in company’s parking lot today. I picked a wall with fence to lean on. I can mount the unicycle when one of my hand is holding the fence. I tried balance stretching my leg leg and then my right leg. I can rock back and forth a little bit whiling holding the fence and stay on the unicycle for 2-3 minutes before falling off. I am wobbling left and right as well. I am still trying to pick up the feeling of putting all my weight on the seat instead of my foot. That is the key of balancing on unicycle according to the tutorials.

Riding a unicycle is a bit harder than I expected but it should still be well within my reach. It took me 30 minutes to learn how to ride a bicycle when I was eight. I just need to practice every day and I will be jog with Pat on unicycle in a few weeks.

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Hangover 醉爆伴郎團

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the-hangover

「醉爆伴郎團」沒有明星沒有特技﹐刀仔鋸大樹竟然成為美國票房冠軍﹐可見正真好笑的電影仍然有市場。故事很簡單但很聰明﹐四個傻佬到拉斯維加斯搞婚前單身派對﹐一覺醒來發現新郎不見了﹐完全記不起昨晚幹了何事﹐房中多了一個BB一頭老虎﹐還有其中一個傻佬少了一顆牙。電影用倒敘方法﹐三個傻佬沿著線索﹐重組昨晚的事發經過﹐從而找出失蹤了的新郎﹐趕在明天如期舉行婚禮。

三個傻佬尋找新郎的過程瘋狂搞笑﹐情發展出乎意料﹐謊謬得讓觀眾笑破肚皮。到酒店取車竟然取了架警車﹐一個傻佬無端端和脫衣舞孃結了婚。他們拿回自的車子後有個祼男從車尾箱跑出來﹐還要給黑幫追殺。最神奇是不知道該如何收科時﹐竟然又可以自完其說找到新郎。當然正所謂講故莫駁故﹐情節未免有太多巧合。不過如此多樣化的搞笑橋段堆在一起﹐完全沒有雜亂無章的感覺﹐故事從頭到尾大至通順﹐編劇可謂功不可抹。

外國文化流行婚前單身派對﹐結婚前要盡興狂歡﹐婚後便要收拾心情當個好丈夫。去賭城搞個瘋狂的婚前派對是每個男人的夢想﹐這齣電影能夠引起所有男性觀眾的共鳴。劇中四個傻佬性格各異﹐加起來產生爆笑的化學作用﹐一起共渡患難一起撞板﹐也很有男人的浪漫。新郎正正經經﹐加上大半時間失了蹤﹐所以戲份不多﹐不過是四個人的舔著劑﹐把另外三個傻佬聚集一起。人生失敗者的肥仔是典型丑角﹐大半笑料也是圍繞著他。教書傻佬心急兼咸濕﹐想不到竟然是好個爸爸。牙醫弱男當慣女朋友奴隸﹐連去婚前派對也要左暪右暪﹐最後他大發神威反抗女友﹐倒為天下男人爭回一口氣。

很久看過沒有這樣令人開懷大笑的電影了﹐沒有夾硬堆切笑位來引人發笑﹐只是四個正常的傻佬﹐剛巧遇到脫軌跳線的處境﹐很自然便會產生生活化的喜劇感。九十分鐘的純萃娛樂讓人輕鬆腦袋﹐看完後還嘴角還會掛著一絲微笑呢。

Product Reviews

Euroflex Monster SC60 steam cleaner

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sc60a

I and Pat went to the Vancouver Home and Interior Design show at BC Place tonight. The show is a rip off. The show charge us $12 per ticket but it is really a flea market. Most of the booths sell home product or renovation service, but some sell totally unrelated stuff like ear rings, hand bags, artistic cards, etc.

There is a demonstration booth of vapor steam cleaner. I have read about it in magazines and seen it in TV shopping channel. The idea of vapor steam cleaner is really simple. It use pressurized steam to clean dirt and disinfect surface instead of chemical cleaner. The demonstration is pretty amazing. Dirt just come loose under the steam and you can easily wipe it clean with a cloth. Pat is so hooked onto idea of the vapor steam cleaner. She keep thinking about it during the show. At the end, we bought it before we leave.

The Euroflex Monster SC60 steam cleaner output 130C steam at 55psi. It takes about 5 minutes to boil and a full tank last an hour. It is essentially a pressured steel boiler with a hose. It is a mid-range consumer model that does not come with more user friendly features you may find in professional models. It does not have water level indicator nor allow continuous water refill. When the steam runs out, I have to turn off the steam cleaner, wait 10 minutes for it to cool down before I can refill the tank. It does not even have a hook for the power cord. I tried it on the kitchen sink, oven, toilet bowl, bath tub, washroom faucet and mirror. It works as advertised, saves me lots of scrubbing. Just run the steam over the dirt to blow them away. My only complain is the handle gets a bit too warm after a while.

I rarely buy things without first read reviews on internet. After I went home, I search for its online reviews at once. The review for this steam cleaner is mixed. Someone loves it but someone think it is a piece of crap, probably due to the usual made in China QC problem. I also find out we could have save $20-30 if order it online. But we got a box of extra accessories in the show, so we are pretty much even.

兩週一聚

兩週一聚﹕香港二十

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前言﹕這是一個叫「兩周一聚」的活動。是網友米雪兒發起。每月十五日﹑三十日﹐一班住在世界不同角落的香港人都會一起寫同一個題目。今天是第二十四次相聚，由Mad dog出題﹐主題定為「香港二十」。

喜愛十大

  1. 買玩具 – 雖然可以上網訂購玩具﹐但始終還是逛玩具舖開心﹐價錢差不多平一半。
  2. 逛書局 – 每次回香港﹐必定到書局打書釘看中文書﹐看看有什麼新書好書。除非很出名的書﹐買書還是要翻開過才買才安心。
  3. 鴨寮街 – 買電子零件或古靈精怪的東西﹐去鴨寮街一定可以找到
  4. 大家樂 – 中式快餐始終比西式快餐好吃。
  5. 黃金 – 以前讀書時﹐試過每天都去朝聖一趟。
  6. 信和 – 不是去買四仔﹐是去看日本碟。
  7. 天星小輪 – 香港寫意的交通工具﹐每次回香港必搭。
  8. 打風 – 橫風橫雨在海邊看浪最過癮。
  9. 港產片 – 不是所有港產片都是垃圾﹐還有很多好看的港產片。
  10. 會考 – 我那個年代的會考是世界最好的教育制度。讀會考那段日子最開心﹐只需要讀好書考好個試﹐其他事什麼也不用想。一生人讀了這麼多書﹐大部份課文已還給老師﹐唯獨會考教的那些東西﹐因曾下過苦功到現在還記得大半。

討厭十大

  1. 熱 – 最憎出汗。
  2. 人多 – 怕迫﹐怕什麼也要同人爭。
  3. 污染 – 次次返香港都咳。
  4. 無記劇集 – 師奶都嫌老土婆媽。
  5. 只收現金 – 香港又不流行用信用卡﹐找錢太麻煩了。政府應該立法強制所有店舖收八達通。
  6. 八卦 – 香港人特別八卦﹐係又問唔係又問﹐關你叉事呀。
  7. 膚淺 – 除了名牌﹐名星﹐賭波﹐賭股﹐香港人還懂什麼﹖
  8. 亞洲電視 – 為什麼有一間公司可以蝕足二十年錢還未執笠。我懷疑間電視台其實是用來洗黑錢。
  9. 塞車 – 搭地鐵最快﹐不過完全沒有私人空間可言。
  10. Roadshow – 聲音污染。我要發動Roadshow反擊戰﹐號召香港市民齊齊用duct tape把巴士上的喇叭封口。
  11. 共產黨 – 香港當英國殖民地好端端的﹐為什麼要無啦啦回歸。當年鴉片戰爭﹐英國佬要求割地應該不設限期﹐順便割多些地割埋深圳澳門。

其他香港人﹕ mad dog, 微豆 Harico, maggiejoella, Bungy-Zoe, 5pointsorless, Maple, Mugen C, lomichee, 凡鳥雛, chilli mon, readandeat, nankin, 周游, 火羽, Vince…

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Transformers﹕ Revenage of the Fallen 變型金剛﹕ 狂派再起

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transformers-2-poster

荷里活的特技大片﹐要在戲院的大銀幕看才有氣勢﹐在震耳欲聾的音嚮和目不暇昅的畫面底下﹐可以暫時忘記劇本諸多不通之處。可是我在飛機上的七吋螢幕看「變型金剛續集」﹐自不免對牽強附薈的劇本百般挑剔﹐總之橫看豎看也不順眼。其實我對這套戲完全沒有期望﹐反正是不外是狂派又來破壞地球﹐在柯柏文領導下的博派﹐聯同美國軍方的特種部隊﹐共同保護地球的老點子。

劇情嚴重反駁﹐打鬥的理由完全不合邏輯﹐要吐嘈的話三頁紙也寫不完。上集結尾時為什麼不把索性把麥加登完全拆毀﹖柯伯文難道不知道守著麥加登的艦隊和潛艇完全不一憾擊嗎﹖天火不是與墮落同時來到地球﹐怎麼會變了才五十年歷史的黑鳥偵察機。金字塔隱藏未日兵器也罷﹐怎麼Matrix和那些死去的Primes就這樣藏在牆後﹐怎麼不會用高科技的保安設計。

今集新出場的機械人眾多﹐可是面目蒙糊對白也沒有幾句﹐觀眾還未記住名字﹐便已當炮灰退場。反正這齣電影是二小時的玩具廣告﹐多幾過新角色正可以好賣多些些機械人玩具。特技大片總愛加幾個插科打混的角色﹐如劇中的狂派搖控車﹐博派雪榚車兄弟。美其名用歡笑吸引小朋友﹐實則上犯下星戰前傳咋咋冰的毛病﹐搞笑不成反惹人煩壓﹐真希望鏡頭那身來一槍送他們上西天。不知道是美國兒童喜好異常﹐還是荷里活的成年編劇誤解童真。

最讓老一輩變型金剛迷失望﹐是戲中柯柏文之死太過倉促﹐死得毫無意義缺乏震憾力。在舊動畫電影版柯柏文可是壯烈犧牲﹐麥加登被打敗後使詐求饒﹐洛迪文亂入才讓麥加登有機會暗算柯柏文。戲中柯柏文之死卻咎猶自取﹐在作戰途中分心大意﹐結果給加登從後一刀送命。電影版胡亂竄改Matrix的計定﹐變成金字塔內未日兵器的發動鎖匙﹐又成為可以隨便讓機械人復活的法寶。人類男主角忽獲外星神力﹐神經錯亂看見外星符號﹐尋找Matrix更是反智低能。劇中唯一可取之處只有女主角﹐反正男主角未紅先驕﹐又不受觀眾歡迎﹐第三集不如弄死他算了。

劇中博派當好人保護地球﹐可是美國政府不領情﹐還說博派招惹狂派來地球﹐要把博派一眾機械人趕出地球。柯柏文回應那高官說﹕若地球不歡迎我們﹐我們便會離開地球﹐不過你們有能力獨自對付狂派嗎﹖在變型金剛中柯柏文是個愛護生命的和平主義者﹐但他的語氣卻十足十美國前總統布殊﹐解釋美國士兵還留守伊拉克﹐說是要保護當地的人民。按電影自相矛盾的劇情觀察所見﹐人類的確不用博派的保護。變型金剛除了懂變型外﹐科技其實蠻落後﹐只有傳統火力武器﹐猩猩叫發射導彈﹐其他不知名機械人也是用機關槍。最致命的是他們的裝甲薄弱﹐上集俊男大兵便用榴彈炮解決了一個機械人。建造派是狂派最強大的機械人﹐可是一炮便給人類的死光炮打敗了。其實人類不用依靠博派﹐造他十座八座死光炮﹐把墮落和他的金字塔機器打個稀吧爛﹐。

上次看變型金剛第一集時﹐我已說過不會看續集。明知會失望會邊看邊罵﹐還是心思思忍不往看了。我現在說不會看第三集﹐大慨到時還是會繼續看吧﹐誰叫變型金剛是我是童年回憶呢。希望Unicorn和Omega Supreme會在第三集出場吧。