動漫

Scrapped Princess 廢棄公主

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Scrapped Princess 自從發現了BT分享以來﹐不論是每季新翻或是經典名著﹐下載回來的動畫裝滿超過二百多套。可惜正如古巨基的愛得太遲中歌詞說的一樣﹐而影碟都掃光﹐但從來 未看﹐因有事趕。這個月給公司放逐了去印度公幹﹐Bangalore的交通出名差﹐每天從酒店來回公司要花兩個多小時坐車。返正坐在車上沒事幹﹐正好可以 清理歷年下載回來的動畫。「廢棄公主」是零三年BonesStudio出品的動畫﹐改篇自原著輕小說﹐在網上推介備受好評。我一向不太好劍與魔法的動畫﹐ 一來總不可以只獨沽一味看機械人動畫﹐二來這動畫評價著實太高﹐是套不能不看的經典作品。

這動畫開場的故事是很典型的RPG設定﹐主角 Pacifica是被詛咒的廢棄公主﹐保護她的有義兄劍客Shannon和義姐魔法士Raquel﹐一行三人逃被追殺流浪冒險。神殿預言她十六歲生日那天 會帶來世界未日災難﹐皇上於是下令處死廢棄公主﹐但皇后不忍心殺掉女兒﹐暪著皇上送她出宮外給人收養。在外間公主平安地渡過十五個年頭﹐但癈棄公主還在生 的密秘外洩﹐於是引來軍隊和神殿雙方的追殺。故事初段有點Slayer的感覺﹐連場打鬥中帶點輕鬆笑料。公主的性格很跳線﹐時常和義兄時常鬥嘴﹐身為長女 的義姐則要姊代母職﹐常常給兩人沒有乎。

儘管一般無知百姓﹐不是為著賞金想加害公主﹐就是害怕詛咒視公主為不祥人遠之。公主有時也會質疑是否自己不應來到 世上﹐但生性樂觀的她不想這樣白白送死﹐希望可以過一個平凡幸福的人生。義兄義姐始終是對公主不離不棄﹐相信若果要殺一個無辜女孩才可以取悅神拯救世界﹐人類就應該反抗這個不是正義的神。當然他們守護公主也有感情因素﹐他們早己視公主有親生妹妹妹﹐保護妹妹免受傷害是天經地義的事情﹐儘管這可能要與全世界為敵。在旅途中三人行遇上不少伙伴﹐有對公主一見鐘情的見習騎士小子﹐有不怕詛咒與公主成為朋友的女侍應﹐也有懷疑神的預言的刺客等人﹐為這動畫豐富了不少有趣好笑和感動人的情節。

在中段開始故事發展出人意表﹐若果以為這套只是通普劍與魔法動畫﹐肯定會被劇中的科幻背景設定弄得大跌眼鏡。我事先從網上影評中知道故事大網﹐也不禁為這突然而來轉變拍案叫絕﹐讚嘆編劇把劍與魔法的世界與科幻世界結合得天依無縫。原本故事的舞台發生中世紀的國度﹐在偽廢棄公主那一章竟然出現城市廢墟﹐繼而下一章出現沉睡中的太空船﹐才驚覺故事世界並不是龍與幻想的國度﹐而是在說人類在遙遠未來的故事。防衛地球的電腦系統為了阻止人類因自相殘殺的天性而自取滅亡﹐將大殺傷力科技和通住太空的道路封印起來﹐讓人類活在中世紀的世界中﹐無憂無慮地通大至上和平﹐就算有戰爭也不會導致人類絕種的生活。世界中的魔法是五千年前大戰殘留物質控制的力量﹐上半部出場的龍神機則是反抗軍留下來解放人類的兵器﹐而癈棄公主正正是解開封印的鎖匙。

諷刺的是劇中眾主角對這些我們觀眾耶熟能詳的科幻情節一竅不通﹐對於生活在中世紀世界的人來說﹐飛出太空在星星之間航行超乎想像之外。廢棄公主仍舊只渴望正常生活﹐義兄義姐也不過是想守護妹妹的安全。他們不理解反 抗軍要解放人類的理想﹐他們只是被動地徵召加入與神對抗的戰爭。無疑下半部動畫交代了背景設定﹐解釋癈棄公主被詛咒的理由﹐但這些宏觀上廣大人與神之間的 戰爭﹐並沒有改變主角們在微觀下簡單的行動理念。也許他們的基因被設計成要作人類的保衛者反抗神統管﹐但事實上他們並不是在追逐什麼遙遠尚高的理想﹐只是切實地為求過安穩生活去戰鬥。下半部再沒有劍與魔法的小規模打鬥﹐取而代之是龍神機與神使者在天空對招﹐從RPG動畫順利過渡成為科幻動畫。

「廢棄公主」沒有時下商業主失動畫般賣萌﹐癈棄公主這樣跳線的角色怎樣也萌不起來﹐魔法師姐姐也只適合御姐族的口味。這動畫也沒有亂搞愛情線玩收集後宮﹐主角三人行強調的是家庭和親情﹐見習騎士對公主的單戀只為故事加插清純的笑料。公主在失憶時遇上穩退江湖的殺手﹐結果是一場不能開花的慘烈愛情﹐為故事注入一絲扣人的傷感。 「廢棄公主」得到動畫愛好者的一至好評﹐就只是憑著出色的故事佈局﹐討人喜歡的角色設計﹐輕鬆愉快的過場情節﹐洋溢親情友情的角色關係。這些條件才讓一套動畫經得起時間考驗﹐成為一套必定要看的經典之作。那些只靠大打廣告令上映時人氣急升的動畫﹐在數年後在勢潮過後還有多少套有觀賞價值﹖

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Infanticide in India

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One of my Indian colleague is going to be a dad soon.  I congratulated him and asked him is it a baby boy or baby girl.  To my surprise, he said he have no idea.  It turn out in India it is illegal for the doctor telling the parents the sex of the baby.  The India government have such a law is because killing unborn baby girls is quite common in India.  The male to female ratio in India is 93 to 100, which means 7 out of 100 men cannot find a wife.  The problem is so bad that the government have to pass laws in order to have more baby girls.

I know Indian discriminate against woman, but discrimination alone won’t explain the killing of baby girl.  Your son have to marry a woman when he grow up, if everyone only give birth to boy, where the wives come from?  It turn out there is a financial penalty of having baby girl.  In Indian tradition marriage, the parent of the bride has to give a large sum of money to the groom.  Some people even take out a loan so that their daughter can marry the guy they like.  Here is something does not make sense.  According to the law of supply and demand, there are not enough women for every men in India.  Women are short in supply and high in demand, their price should go up.  In a free market of getting marriage, the groom should pay the large sum to find the right bride.  In a long run, the Indian wedding tradition is due to change, nothing can defying the law of economics forever.

If I am an Indian parent, I rather my daughter remains daddy’s girl then paying a large sum to get her a husband.  Any guy asking money from the in-law are not suitable to be a good husband.  If the Indian wedding tradition is the cause of killing baby girls.  Forbidding the doctor telling the parent the sex of the baby only treat the symptoms, it is not fixing the problem.  Assume we have to work within the constraint of arranged marriage, maybe the government should setup an internet auction platform for match making and require all parents using the auction platform to arranged the marriage for their sons and daughters.  An open auction platform just like eBay will show the true market value of the bride.  Given the lack of women in India, the price signal should strong enough to reverse trend of killing baby girl.  There is also a plan B, the Indian government can simply legalize gay marriage.  For the 7 out of 100 poor men who can’t find a wife, they just marry another guy.

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Goa

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Goa

After two weeks staying in Bangalore, I have to get away from city to get a break. So I went to Goa for a weekend trip. Goa is a beach resort town on the west coast of India, which is about 1 hour flight away from Bangalore. Comparing to the busy and polluted Bangalore, Goa is nice and peaceful. I can tell the difference once I step out of the plane. The air in Goa is refreshing, no only it has breeze from the sea, it also has the fresh smell of greenery. The whole city is surrounded by trees and plantation. The coast line of Goa is a really long beach, probably over a few kilometers. There are lots hotels and vacation houses along the main road a few minutes walk away from the beach. It is a tourist heaven.

I took the Kingfisher airline from Bangalore to Goa. The Indian domestic flight is better than I expected. Although the flight is only 1 hour, we are served a nice meal on the airplane. The airport in Goa is small, it only has two gates. After we got off the plane, we can walk to the terminal building under the sun from where the plane is parked. The weather of Goa is sweaty hot, only when you are under the sun or moving. If you sit under the shade, it is quite cool. The hotel is about 1 hour from the airport and 5 minutes away from the beach. The room is quite nice in Indian standard, most important it has air condition. We were quite tired after the traveling, so we just have dinner and retire to bed early. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant next to the hotel. It is funny that all customers are white people! The Indian food there is westernized, so it actually taste not bad.

The next day was quite an adventure. It turned out we joined a Indian tour, so we are touring the city with a whole bus of Indians. One good thing about the Indian tour compare to white guys tour is that there is not souvenir shop over. The second good thing is that the four is full of surprise. We don’t know the itinerary and we can’t really understand what the tour guide said, so have no idea what is our next destination.
The first stop is a beach, nothing special. The next stop is the Bom Jesus Basilica, which house the relic of St. Francis Xavier. The church itself is named one of world heritage sites by UN. Too bad that the relic of SFX is placed high up, I couldn’t get a closer look at the dead body. Then we visited the Mangesh Indian temples. You have to take off your shoes to enter the temple. Since I am not that keen on taking off my shoes, so I didn’t go inside. I just take a few photo form outside. You can’t take photo inside anyways. Other than some god statues, probably nothing interesting inside the crowded temple.

In the afternoon, we visited another Indian temple. All Indian temple looks the same. It got one main building a white tower and a large pool. You see one, you see them all. The temple itself is kind boring, but the rice field next the temple is quite a view. I never seen a real rice field before and never know that rice field is so green. It probably has RGB value of 0-255-0, you have to see it with your eyes. After seeing the temple, we went to a Portuguese house museum. It is an old building preserving how the Portuguese lives when they colonize Goa. The guided tour is quite interesting and it’s like a school field trip. Probably the white guy tour will not come to this place and I don’t see any white guy in the museum.

The next stop is another beach. This time we are given an hour of free time, so I and Martin just have a beer and chill out on the beach. The beach is mostly Indians. Some people swim but most of them just walking around on the beach. There are a few jet ski for rented and speed boat offering parachute-ride. It is kinda scary seeing the jet ski going between the swimmers. No wonder the tour guide told us not to swim. The tour ended with a river cruise. The sun set and the sea breeze are nice. However the cruise boat has some funky Indian dance show and the noisy music is quite annoying. I rather they let me enjoy the river wide quietly. Apparently the cruise boat as double as floating disco at night. When we dock, I see lots of young people lining up for the next boat run.

After a full day of tour on Saturday, Sunday is very relaxing. We just went to the beach and sit there doing nothing except having beer for the whole day until the car pick us up to the airport. We had a nice walked along the beach and get our foot wet in the cool ocean water. Too bad that I am stuck with Martin inside of Pat. We both agree it is kinda gay. I saw some fish boats on the beach and fishermen repairing their nets. I guess the local people still catch fish for living. A more stunting scene is rows after rows of beach chairs. Along the several kilometer stretch of the beach, I estimate there are at least ten thousand beach chairs. Can you imagine the beach chairs are full of white guys sun bathing in the peak tourist season?

Two days in Goa is too short, I wish I don’t have to come back to Bangalore. Bangalore sure gave me a bad impression on India. After seeing Goa, I think India is not too bad after all.

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Auto Rickshaw

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Auto Richshaw

Auto rickshaw is the most common transportation in Bangalore.  It is kinda like the taxi of India.  You can hire one by raising your hand on street corners or find a richshaw stop in front of shopping malls.  The auto richshaw drives like a motorcycle, except it has two wheels and a passenager cabinet at the back.  They runs on small 2 stroke engine, making the tuc- tuc noise.  That’s why auto rickshaw is also called tuctucs.  The auto rickshaw has no door nor windows.  The engine probably runs on dirty gas, so you can smell the exhaust when you riding on it.  I guess the auto rickshaw is not very eco-friendly.

On my first week in Banaglore, I tried to avoid taking the auto rickshaw.  It seems not very safe and kinda shabby.  However there is no restaurant serves real food around the guest house.  So, I overcome my reluctance and start taking auto rickshaw this week.  After the work, the company driver just drop me off at the restaurant of the night, then I ride the auto rickshaw back to the guest house after dinner.

All auto rickshaw comes with a fare meter but it is rarely use.  Usually you negotiate the price before hopping into it.  It costs about CAD$2.5 for a 20 minutes ride from downtown Bangalore back to the guest house.  The rickshaw driver probably over charged me by almost doubling the fare.  Do I really care?  Probably not, I don’t really want to bargain on the street for merely $1.  I rather pay the premium and let the driver take me to my destination with no fuss.

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Cricket

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Cricket

Cricket to Indian is like Hockey to Canadian.  Cricket is probably the national sport in India and every one seems crazy about it.   I haven’t a live game, but I see lots of cricket on TV as the world champion is playing in Australia this week.  The India team is playing against the Australians and too bad they lost the game.  At first I have no clue what is going on in the game.  The good thing is that everyone is happy to explain the rule to me.  It took me a while to get a sense of what is going on in the field.

Cricket is kinda like baseball, with pitcher, batter and catcher.  Instead of running in diamond, the batter runs back and forth in the dirt stripe in the middle of the field.  The rule is similar to baseball.  The pitcher throw the ball to the batter, then the batter strike the ball.  If the ball is caught in the air, the batter is out.   Otherwise, the batter can keep running to score more points until the ball is threw back to the stripe.  If the ball go outside of the field, it kinda like home run, the batter automatically score 4 points or 6 points depending on whether the ball is in the air.  Of course, the team score more points win the game.  The rule kinda make sense up to this point, just like baseball.

The flow of game is weird.  Instead of having innings with teams playing offense and defense alternatively, the game is played in two sessions.  One team will finish all his batting in first session, then the other team will do the batting in second session.  A session ends when all the batter are strike out or 500 balls is threw.  It’s kinda like a team score several hundred points first, then let the another team to catch up.  The game flow makes the game not very exciting.  The first few hundred points is kinda boring, since it won’t make much difference to the game.  Only when the second team come close to catch up and almost run of batters or balls, then the game becomes interesting.  It is more fun to see the score from both teams leap frogging each other every inning.