書評

玩具大戰 – 古天樂

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Toys Battle 行書店時看見古天樂出書﹐我竟然二話不說就賣下來。古天樂唱歌差﹐演戲普普通通﹐ 雖說他幾靚仔﹐但我又不是妹妹仔粉絲﹐沒有任何理由買古天樂的書吧。豈料古天樂這本「玩具大王」﹐卻點正我的死穴讓我乖乖付鈔﹐皆因我也喜愛收藏玩具。我早已在報章知道古天樂個超級玩具迷﹐私人玩具博物館的藏品數目驚人。他寫書分享他收藏玩具的經驗心得﹐對我等小玩具迷來說﹐實在有他鄉遇故知的感覺﹐怎可以不用實際行動買書支持呢。

說實話古仔的文筆其實不是很好﹐這本書的內容只網上博客的水準﹐不過勝在誠意搭夠。正如他在自序中也坦言﹐花二年時間寫作純為興趣﹐若果只是為賣書的話﹐學其他明星請槍或拍影集可能還好賣。此書文字內容甚多﹐相關資料豐富﹐完全超出我的遇期。每隻字也是古仔肺腑之言﹐看出他對玩具的熱愛和執著﹐我等玩具迷自然能夠引起共鳴。古仔在書中對玩具背後電影動漫的評論不很深入﹐也沒有什麼系統或主題﹐只是想到什麼便東講講西講講。不過在閱讀這本書的時候﹐卻有一份與老朋友閒談的親切感覺。例如他在書出提問一個星球大戰擁躉多年不解之謎﹐黑武士心口的幾個紅紅白白按鈕到底有什麼用時﹐不禁讓讀者發出會心微笑。

古仔的收藏品以美系玩具為主﹐我自己則喜歡收藏日系機械人。不過 玩具收藏無分國界﹐收藏喜愛玩具背後的共通點﹐也是被背後原著那份精神吸引﹐當然玩具設計本身也很重要嘛。他的最愛星球大戰﹐我雖然沒有買星戰玩具﹐但我也算是半個死忠粉絲﹐對電影情節設定可以如數家珍。看見他藏品中等身大的黑武士﹐羨慕得口水也流下來。他書中講述評論了七八個系列的作品﹐全是他玩玩具多年的感想。當然文中有些觀點我很認同﹐也有些不太讚成。不過玩玩具是風花雪月事﹐不應為著不同觀點的爭論而傷和氣。不同派係可以求同存異﹐一起分享對玩具那些熱愛。那我也不在此文批評反駁古仔文章的內容了。

說起來這本可能是香港出版史上﹐第一本講玩具收藏的專題書。就算不是絕對第一本講玩具收藏的書﹐也應該是第一本不以宅向為讀者對像。憑著古天樂的明星效應﹐希望一般人可以對玩具愛好者改觀。收藏玩具與收藏其他玩意﹐如郵票﹐古董﹐文化擺設﹐藝術品一樣﹐也是出得大場面的高尚嗜好﹐也可以是對人生有啟發性的一門學問。

Daily Scribble

Earthquake Donation

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Finally, I have made my donation to Red Cross Canada for the China earthquake. I have been waiting for the company to setup the 1:1 matching program with Red Cross before I donate my money. There is no need to donate money in a hurry, victims probably won’t use all the donation until rebuilding begins, which is still a few weeks away. Now, I have made my donation and I can get check off this to-do list item. After I have made my donation, I am entitled to criticize how the China government spend the donation. It is my money after all. I have the right to see it well spent to help the victims. Definitely not on buying some over priced supplies.

Since the earthquake, I see lots of groups ask for donation in shopping mall or street corners. Most of them are just holding a box and ask people passing to donate some money. I can never understand why would anyone want to donate cash. It is the most inefficient way of making a donation. You don’t get a tax receipt for your donation, so the donation post-tax money, which is a lot more expensive that it should cost. You don’t get any 1:1 matching from corporate sponsors. I think for anyone who want to donate money, they should donate through their friends who associates with any 1:1 matching program. As a responsible donor, you got to make sure every dollar your donate will brings the most benefit to the victims.

On a second thought, why do we need to donate at all? Here are two simple facts. The cost to rebuild the earthquake area is estimated to be around $70 billion. The Chinese government has over $1 trillion reserve in its bank. Why don’t the Chinese government spent their own money to help their own people first before asking for our donation? At least the Chinese government should have a 1:1 matching program. They should take a dollar out of the huge money reserve for every dollar we donate.

Daily Scribble

CAD$1000 internet bill

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My internet bill in India is CAD$1000 for two months.  Yes, it is a one followed by three zeros.  Luckily it’s none of my business, the bill is charged to the company.    The price is really outrageous but I don’t feel sorry for the company, they totally asked for it.  Here is how the story goes.  When I first arrive in India, the guest house has an internet service with unlimited bandwidth and static IP.  It works great except it is a bit pricey, but still much cheaper than $500 per month.  Some idiot in the India office decide to cut cost and switch to ADSL.  The ADSL service is not so great.  There were internet blackout every other day in the beginning and it took them two weeks to fix the problem.  Anyways, in the end the ADSL works, so I can download the latest stuff off BT in India just like I am in Canada.

To my surprise, the company went cheap and subscribed a plan with a low monthly bandwidth quota.  Any bandwidth usage go over the quota limit is 0.8 rupee per MB.  In short, I ended up using 50GB for two months.  It may sound a lot but it is still less than my monthly average in Canada.  Here is the maths for the internet bill: 50000MB x 0.8 rupee / 40 rupee per CAD$ = CAD$1000.  They company should learn their lesson that cost cutting too much will end up paying a lot more at the end.

Daily Scribble

Reasons to start a hobby

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Today lunch time, one of my friends at work mentions he want to start photography as a new hobby. He was asking some more experienced photographers about which camera he should buy. Photography is a pretty common hobby, I have many friends really into taking photos. Most people pick up photography because they like expressing themselves through the picture or simply fancy about the equipments. This friend has quite an usual reason, he pick up the hobby so he will have common topic with his future father in law, who is really addicted to cameras.

Guy usually use the dad strategy when he is still courting the girl. There is not much incentive to go an extra mile to please the dad after the deal is sealed. I suspect my friend’s claim to have common topics with the dad is just an excuse. He must be really want to get into photography for a long time. Now he find a perfect excuse to get approval from his girlfriend to spend money on new toys.

Luckily for me, I don’t have to start a new hobby in order to have conversation with my father in law. My primary hobby is probably the only activity he shows any interest. If I have a daughter, it would be quite interesting to see my future son in law pick up my hobby. On a second thought, he may still pick up the hobby anyways for another reason, to protect his own safety from a jealous father in law.

遊記

印度遊記(二) – 馬路如虎口

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India cows on street

以前回香港旅行時﹐總是覺得香港人多車多交通混亂。今次去印度工幹﹐才知天外有天。從機場坐上公司派來的車子那一刻開始﹐在路上的每一刻也膽心自己的安全。雖然過了幾天對於此已麻木﹐儘量把精神集中在手提電腦上﹐不理會窗外的路面狀況﹐不過有時還是給迎面而來的車子嚇一跳。傳說中印度城市滿街是牛﹐未見到時心想有沒有這樣跨張。到了自己在印度親身經歷﹐才發現原來這個傳說是真的。不單止馬路邊有牛﹐十字路口的中央有牛﹐連行車天橋上面也可以有牛。印度多牛多到的地步﹐連公司坐落高科技工業園﹐也只要一出停車場鐵閘就看見牛。

在印度兩個月﹐除了在新德里國會山莊和班加羅市議會的街道外﹐我沒有見過其他的交通燈﹐也沒有見過畫了線的馬路。印度城市的馬路寬窄不一﹐但共通點是沒有畫線﹐不過反正橫了也沒有用﹐沒有人會按遵守行車線。一條兩條行車線闊的馬路﹐可以並排行駛七八架車﹐其中有電單車﹐三輪車﹐印度自行生產的小汽車﹐甚至只有一匹馬力的馬拉車。汽車在馬路上並不是真線行駛﹐而是左穿右插有空位便鑽上去﹐包括駕過迎頭的行車線。神奇的是當在對頭線行駕時﹐若果對頭車見路邊有空位﹐他們也會很自然地讓路出來。在一般情況行人路是爛得不能行車﹐但在一些平坦的行人路段﹐電單車或三輪車也會駛上去﹐還會響號叫行人讓開﹐好像行人路用來行車佷理所當然。

印度的大部份路口沒有交通燈也沒有停車標誌﹐在一些繁忙的路口會看見交通警察指揮交通。若果交通警察不在﹐四方八面不停的車駕入十字路口﹐彷彿潮水一樣自行找出口﹐很神奇的也沒有發生意外。當然汽車會不停地響號﹐好樣其他司機知道你的存在。據我觀察所得﹐在印度駕車響號應該有一套不成文的規舉。有時候要用長響﹐有時候要用短響﹐有些車尾甚至貼上請響號的貼紙。我唯一解讀到的規則是在超車時﹐後方的車子響號通知前方的車子﹐前方的車子則會打指揮燈﹐讓後方的車子知道那邊可以安全超車﹐沒有對頭車也沒有牛。

城市的馬路雖然多車混亂﹐但比起城外的馬路卻好多了。鄉下的小路不用說﹐反正與其他落後國家差不多﹐沒有期望也不會失望。但印度城市與城市之間﹐理論上是有高速公路連接﹐可是這些公路並不是全程高速。在維修好的高速公路路段﹐駕車自然是一個輕鬆寫意的事。但你永遠不知道前面的路段的維修如何﹐可以忽然間路面出現幾個車輪般大的洞。更甚的有時會有幾米闊的路沒有舖路面﹐好像築路工人提早收工﹐忘記了還有一段路未做完。

若果維修問題是因為國家窮經費不足﹐那也沒有辨法了。設計高速公路的人可是超級白痴﹐竟然會在高速公路放一連幾個speed bump﹐還要前面沒有任何路牌指示。若果在黑夜駕車看不見speed bump或來不減速﹐車子肯定會飛上天。除了用speed bump強制司機減速外﹐還會在公路上橫放兩個鐵馬﹐讓司機一定要慢駛繞過。我想這些擾民的減速裝置﹐分分比超速駕駛導致更多意外。

噢~ 高速公路上當然也有牛﹐我們就幾乎撞死了一頭。那是我們正要駕過一道橋﹐剛巧有一頭牛也正在過橋。司機大慨認為橋面夠闊﹐足夠車子與牛並排通過﹐便沒有怎樣減速駛前過橋。可能司機判斷錯誤﹐可能牛沖了出來﹐在經過牛時我們聽到呯的一聲﹐車子大力震蕩一下。我們立即回頭一看﹐那頭牛給車子撞了一百八十度迴旋﹐一搖一恍地反向方走去。幸好我們沒有撞死了牠﹐因為在印度殺牛是犯法的。不過如果真的不幸撞死了牛﹐也可以破財擋災罰款了事。

若果感得在印度坐車危險的話﹐在印度過馬路才是真正的危險。我去了印度兩個月﹐還學不懂如何自己過馬路﹐只能跟著當地人的腳步過馬路。在加拿大行人要過馬路﹐只要腳一踏出馬路﹐司機就會停車讓行人先走。在印度行人並沒有優先權﹐不單沒有行人過路燈﹐就算地下畫了班馬線﹐汽車也不會慢下來。我也不知道當地人如何判定何時安全﹐可以走過對面馬路。不過我聽印度朋友說﹐司機是會配合行人﹐把車子扭向行人的背面。所以在印度跟著別人過馬路時﹐千萬不要害怕﹐不要停也不要回頭走﹐要相信司機能夠避開你﹐就能夠安全走到對岸。我發現過馬路時﹐眼睛不看車子比較好﹐只需要專注著你跟著過路的人。若果看迎面而來的車子﹐你可能會害怕而忘記跟別人著走﹐那就真的會發生意外了。