Daily Scribble

Mumbai rampage

4 Comments

The Mumbai gunmen rampage catch the headline of the news today. It also catch the attention of everyone in the office. Our company outsource to India and many in the team had traveled to India, so any news in India has great interest among us. Today some Muslim extremist launch multiple terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Gunmen take over the railway terminal and two luxury hotel. They had killed over 100 people and injured over 400. They also single out and kill foreigners from US and UK. The most scary part is I dined out a lot at those two luxury hotel chains in Bangalore. Mumbai is not like Kashmir, it is the business center of India, like New York to US. If terrorist attack can happen in Mumbai, it can also happen to Bangalore, the high tech center of India. The security in Bangalore is not very assuring and it had bomb attacks only a few months ago. It is quite dangerous traveling to India now. Oh! My boss is still in Bangalore, maybe he should cut his trip short and come home earlier.

I have been thinking how can we stop terrorist attacks from Muslim extremist. The ideal solution is either catch them and lock them up or simply kill all of them. Too bad that it is almost a mission impossible in a country with large amount of Muslims. You just can’t tell the good Muslims apart from the bad Muslims. In ancient time, before the government is constraint by human right regulations, the emperor can threaten to retaliate by killing everyone in the village the terrorists came form. This strategy works well against normal citizens under dictatorship in the old communist Russian and ancient China. However, this strategy may not work on Muslim extremists even we can ignore human rights. The Muslim extremists all prepare to die for Allah. If they decide to throw away their own lives, how can we expect them to take the life of their fellow villagers into consideration. Maybe they will think the villagers die as martyrs and going to join them in heaven.

If we want to threaten the Muslim extremists, we must hold something dear to them as the target of retaliation. Muslim extremists attack us because of religious causes. We must ask what is the most important thing to the Muslim religion? It is the holy city, Mecca, of course. Here is the perfect solution. If the Muslim extremists won’t stop their terrorist attacks, we should threaten to drop nuclear bomb on Mecca. Given enough warning for evacuation, wiping out Mecca would not have any causality nor loss of lives, so it does not violate any human rights. The Muslim extremists must learn violent will not solve anything, it will only hurt them more at the end.

Daily Scribble

Late genius

2 Comments

Malcom Gladwell’s writing is often very inspiring. I liked his booked Blink and Tipping Point. I visit his website once a while to catch up his articles on The New Yorkers. His article titled Late Bloomer seems strike a chore in my mind. In this article he questioned are genius always shine in early age. Almost all famous artist, scientist, philosophers we remember finish their greatest work in early days. Gladwell went through historical data and show that although rare, there are indeed some late bloomers, whose genius are not recognized until their forties or fifties. There are two types of genius. The first kind is the young genius we all familiar with, who shine bright and then fate fast. The second kind is a late genius, he perfect his work through years of experiment with his thoughts. The young genius seems come around more often because it is pure economic. Young genius gain their fame quick so they can support themselves. The successful late genius often have love ones supporting them whiling wait for their talent come to the full potential. However, more often unsuccessful late genius just simply giving up and live a mundane life. I know for sure I am not a young genius. (That’s quite obvious) Maybe I am a late genius, I can accomplish something great if I just keep trying. If I continue my studies in philosophy, maybe one day I will write a master piece and become a famous philosopher. Most of the great philosophers in history made their name early in their career, but maybe there are still rooms for a late genius.

書評

潮爆中國 – 李照興

5 Comments

Chic China 上次回香港遊行逛書店﹐原本想買些說香港文化的書藉﹐視線卻給這本放在旁邊的《潮爆中國》吸引了。曾幾何時中國等於老土的同義詞﹐近十多年中國發展迅速﹐ 在很多方便已經發達﹐甚至超過香港這個小小的南方城市。說來慚愧我雖然生為中國人﹐去過世界各地不少地方﹐可是中國最遠只是踏足過深圳羅湖城。我對中國的印象﹐只停留在電視報章雜誌的報導﹐又或者偶然與北上工作朋友的閒談。難得見到這本對新中國作全面體的書﹐便二話不說先買下來再說﹐讓我加深了解這個將會在本世紀冒起的大國。

李照興是香港北上的文化人﹐《潮爆中國》收錄他在明報和號外發展過的文章。除了都是環繞現代中國作中心外﹐文章的題材多樣化﹐全部也是從一個切入點出發﹐去探討新中國的社會現象。文章有的講述城市發展﹐有剖釋中國娛樂藝術文化事業的轉變﹐有論述城市新一代的生活面貌。全書的文章並沒有很重的批判性﹐中肯地敘述新事物與舊歷史的交替﹐繪畫未來帶來的新機遇﹐和因為改變而引起的難題。有人會說李照興替共產黨塗脂抹粉﹐ 因為這本書只說中國發展快速﹐令人嚮往的城市生活。完全沒有交代在發展背後﹐被忽略那一個仍然貧窮落後的中國。不過北京上海這些大城市近年的改變﹐也是無可否認的事實﹐這本書正好把這些轉變記錄下來。其實因為中國過去行共產主義的冤枉路﹐香港又是一個不正常的崎形城市﹐香港人一向以來習慣用狹窄的本土視角去看事物﹐才會對中國改革開放與世界接軌大驚小怪。書中很多描述在西方國家根本是正常現像﹐差不多是晉身發達國家的必經之路。

這本書的開場白特別長氣﹐有很多文化界名人寫推介詞和序。這本書本身的內容已經有足夠的號召力﹐其實根本用不著請名人推介﹐反正那些人也不是真正的有名氣 ﹐不過是在文化界小圈子混了一段日子罷了。特別是梁文道那篇最後一代香港文化人的告白﹐與這本的主題完全牛頭不對馬嘴﹐不知道放在前面幹什麼。不知是那些人是作者的朋友﹐出版社隨便找來充場面﹐還是他們反過來想叨《潮爆中國》的光。也許再過十年重看這本書﹐會驚訝當年中國的先知先覺﹐又或者可能嘲笑當年的落伍。如果那天潮爆的不再只是中國的大市城﹐而是中國的農村鄉下也同樣潮爆﹐我們才能喜歡地迎接擁抱一個新中國。

動漫

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki 狂亂家族日記

Leave a comment

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki 有些動畫是不可以一口氣看完全套﹐每個星期看一集還可以﹐但連續看的話可會感到煩厭。《狂亂家族日記》給觀眾留下的最大印象﹐是女主角凶華大人機關槍式的急口令對白﹐不知道日本人聽到了多少﹐不過我連看字幕的時間也不夠。第二個印象應該是畫工的質素﹐劇中人物的面相常常走樣﹐但每次走樣也有固定模式﹐不知道真的是作畫爛還是算有風格。這套動畫是處境喜劇式的動畫﹐內容全都是環繞著那一群主要角色﹐沒有明確的故事主線﹐每集或每幾集成為一個獨立故事。第一季二十六集動畫﹐除了頭幾集介紹人物出場外﹐其餘的集數打亂來看﹐甚至跳過不看也沒有關係。最後甚至連沒有結局﹐不過是以一個篇幅長點的單元作總結。

這套動畫的類型有點像《Keroro軍曹》﹐事實上兩套動畫也出自同一編劇的手筆。一大堆角色沒有什麼中心主線﹐每集的焦點在其中幾個角色身上﹐而每集最後總是以懶感人的大道理作總結。若《軍曹》說的大道理是友情可貴﹐《狂亂家族日記》說的大道理則是一家人要齊齊整整才開心。咦~ 怎麼聽起來有點像《家好月圓》。狂亂家族的成員臨時湊集﹐話說每個家庭成員也是閻王的孩子﹐有毀滅世界的能力。狂亂家族作戰計畫﹐是把他們集合在同一屋詹下﹐用愛心感染他們﹐阻止他們毀滅世界。

狂亂家亂的成員很古靈精怪﹐當爸爸凰火最正常﹐是一等一的住家好男人。當母親的兇華大人﹐外型是貓耳蘿莉﹐性格完全不像母親﹐是家族中搗亂分子。孩子們有同性戀但好好打的銀夏﹐外表柔弱但內心堅強的小女孩優歌﹐可以號令萬獸的獅子帝架﹐人造生物兵器雹霞﹐化身水母的水神月香﹐和喜歡銀夏優歌的姐姐千花。八個人在加入家族作戰前也有一段自己的過去﹐動畫中段每個人至少有一集當主角。不過閻王的設定除了作為聚集家庭成員的藉口外﹐基本上在故事中完全沒有應用過。甚至與後半段的故事內容有矛盾﹐大慨連編劇自己也忘記了這個設定了。

每集的故事內容天馬行空﹐甚至連基本的合理性也拋到九宵之外。故事完全無厘頭超搞笑﹐編劇執筆那刻想到什麼便寫什麼﹐不用擔心前文後理伏筆等問題﹐反正每個故事最後必定是一切維持原狀。這動畫除了用來消磨時間外﹐沒有更深層次的觀賞值價。最後值得一題是片尾曲的安排很用心﹐每個角色有自己專屬的片尾曲﹐歌曲和畫面的風格各有特式﹐每星期輪流使用。據說在日本電視台播映時﹐每個地區的電視台還會播出不同的片尾曲呢。

Daily Scribble

Don’t go to Mr. Rent A Car

2 Comments

I rented a BMW convertible at Mr. Rent A Car for my wedding. When I return the car, the rental shop accuse us scratch the bottom of the car and charged me for damage. I should be suspicious when I pick up the car. The guy at the rental counter didn’t inspect the car with me. He just ask me to look for any scratches myself. I thought it is just the usual sloppiness of Chinese rental shop, so I didn’t pay any much attention. I looked at the skirt of the car, but who would aware to check the underside of the car. You can’t really see the scratch unless you get down on the ground. Luckily, I rent the car with my Visa card, which comes with free rental insurance, so I don’t have to pay the damage. Since I don’t have to pay anything, I don’t bother fight hard against the wrongful accusation.

I think the car already has scratch before I pick up the car and the rental company is fully aware of it. They don’t want pay to fix the car themselves and they know I have Visa insurance, so they just blame it on me. If I have to pay out of my own pocket, I will definitely fight hard to prove my innocent. Here are two lessons I learn from this bad car rental experience. First, next time when you pick up the car, ask the rental employee go through the car inspection with you. Ask them check exactly the same things they will check when you return the car. If he missed anything, it is his fault. Second, always use a Visa car with free auto rental insurance. I just receive the refund cheque today!