I am never a fan of any sport super stars. I don’t understand why anyone crazy about some strangers playing sport somewhere far away. What is the fun of watching other people play sports on TV? Isn’t it much more fun to play the game yourself? Why would people waste time, energy and money to follow sport stars? Finally I may have a glimpse into the mind of sport fans because I think I have became a fan of Laetitia Daguenel. Laetitia Daguenel is born in France, 18 years old and she is the IPSC world champion. Here is a video of her on youtube.
三枝國旗與三本護照
平日我很少行街買野﹐今天心血來潮去逛街看看﹐給我發現一間買國旗的專門店。這個專門店售買世界各國的國旗﹐百多個國家任君選擇﹐大中小不同尺寸也有。大慨主要買給這兒舉行的國際性會議作裝飾用﹐又或者買給中學生作地理功課。當然還有些像我這樣的散客﹐移民來加拿大定居﹐對出生地始終懷有一份感情﹐買支國旗支持一下祖國。三支細旗連旗座才不過十五塊錢﹐是既便宜又好看的裝飾品。最重要這三支旗﹐加拿大﹐香港﹐英國﹐對我有很特別的意義﹐因為我擁有這三個國家的護照。
加拿大在北美﹐英國在歐洲﹐香港在亞洲﹐三個不同的國家﹐三本不同的護照。大慨世界上擁有三重國藉的人應該不太多。香港是我出生的地方﹐加拿大是我現在生活的地方﹐擁有這雙重國藉很理所當然。我連到英國旅行也沒有去過﹐卻從父親那邊遺傳了本英國護照。加拿大護照去歐洲不用簽証﹐可見的將來又不會去歐盟做工﹐拿了本英國護照也不知有什麼用。除了講笑遇上恐怖份子劫機﹐可以看看對方是那路人馬﹐就拿出那本照護出來救饒。
別人知道我拿著三個國藉﹐總會有些人問我這個老掉牙的問題。若果所屬國家開戰﹐我會向那個國家效忠呢﹖其實這個問題帶有誤導成份﹐暗示上世紀國家主義的舊思維模式﹐人民需要無條件地向國家效忠。國家不一定永遠是對﹐當國家做錯時﹐人民就不應盲目的支持。國家發動戰爭是否合乎公義﹐也許每個人的看法有不同﹐但只要跟從良心﹐總可以找到自己應該要支持的那一方。沒有理由先選定一個國家﹐然後不論這個國家如何不仁不義也要誓死支持。當然世界政治很多時分不清黑與白﹐就算不講仁義道德只談功利﹐支持對自己有利益關係的國家﹐也不是個很艱難的決擇。
以前在網絡討論世局政事時﹐因為我這三重國藉的身份﹐給內地憤青罵過為三姓家奴。三姓家奴這個典故出自三國演義的呂布﹐除了自己生父外﹐先後拜丁原和董卓為義父﹐而最後呂布背叛殺掉丁董二人。在崇尚愚忠愚考的儒家文化中﹐三姓家奴原本是個貶義詞。但看漫畫「火鳳燎原」如何把現代思想套用在三國時代﹐呂布先殺丁原再殺董卓﹐正是有勇有謀機智過人的表現﹐不拘泥於迂腐的儒家禮教﹐是真正做大事的人。 國家主義是十八世紀的舊思想﹐在二十一世紀的今天已不合時宜。我們不應該再拘泥於國家這一個觀念﹐應該拋開地圖上人畫出來的國界﹐這樣才能放眼全球看清楚國際關係的轉變。
很多只擁有一個國藉的人﹐在談論全球化的問題時﹐往往受到國家主義的思想框框所限。因為他們別無選擇﹐他們對國家投射很強烈的感情。下意識地對國家和文化有自衛性反應﹐感情曚蔽了理性﹐讓他們看不清楚國家和文化中潛在的問題。若果能夠跳出自己國家和文化的層面﹐以地球公民的身份去權衡利害輕重﹐對全球化與本土主義的事情﹐就會有完全不同的看法。就算出國放洋喝過鹹水的人﹐思想上也許吸收多少外國文化﹐但骨子裏還是崇拜國家主義。夏蟲不可語冰﹐很難要求只擁有單一國藉的人﹐理解擁有多重國藉的全球視野。沒有多重國藉的人﹐只會高談闊論的講愛國﹐因為國家就是他們的一切。手持多重國藉的人﹐反過來會質疑愛國這一個慨念﹐用普世價值去衡量這個國家是否值得去愛。
Coconut Vitasoy
I love Vitasoy. It is my favorite drink since I was a little kid. Soya milk is healthier than soft drink and it taste good. Over the years, Vitasoy has grown from having only two favors, the original and malt, to over a dozen of favors. When I was doing my grocery shopping, I saw the new coconut flavor Vistasoy in supermarket. I decided to buy a pack and give it a try. I think the coconut Vitasoy is too sweet. The coconut favor doesn’t taste quite natural, it seems come from artificial favor. I will stick with the original or the malt favor Vitasoy. Just like Coca-cola, the original Vitasoy always taste the best. People drinking Vitasoy not because they want to stimulate their taste bub. On contrary, they just want to recall the familiar taste, nothing less, nothing more.
The Gun Digest Book of the Glock – Patrick Sweeney
科技發展一日千里﹐但手槍在過去百多年間變化不大。大部份槍廠生產的手槍﹐依舊源用二十世紀初的基本設計。在槍械的歷史中﹐手槍不單是自衛武器﹐還是一件工藝品。每一枝出廠的手槍也需要槍匠悉心調較﹐才能發揮出有效的準確性和可靠性。半自動手槍保養麻煩﹐容易發生卡彈毛病﹐因此不少人寧可放棄上彈快的優點﹐
選擇簡單可靠的左輪手槍作為配槍。這情況終於在八十年代給澳地利的新進槍廠Glock打破了。Glock為手槍生產帶來革命性的改變﹐等同福特車廠對生產汽車一般地劃時代。
Glock原本只為澳地利軍方供應軍刀鏟子等戶外用品的小公司。八十年代澳地利軍方需要替換二次大戰以來﹐一直源用至今的舊款手槍﹐向不同槍廠招標。Glock看準一直以來各大槍廠手槍生產品質參差的問題﹐開發一枝採用全新的設計慨念的手槍。Glock引入工業標準化的生產線﹐改用塑膠合成物料生產槍身﹐確保每一件出廠的手槍部件尺寸完全相同﹐省卻槍匠調校手槍的最後裝組工序。Glock手槍不單成功奪取澳地利軍方的合約﹐更因為可靠耐用價錢合理﹐火力與準確度擁有的優秀平衡﹐迅速取代左輪手槍﹐成為世界各地警方的標準配槍。Glock亦廣受民間射擊運動愛好者歡迎﹐成為眾多射擊比賽健兒的首選槍械。當然由工廠大量生產的手槍﹐始終不能比媲槍匠精心打造的手槍。一枝Glock的價錢只需三分一﹐原廠開盒不需調較馬上可以使用﹐因此成為很多射擊初心者購買的第一枝手槍。
Gun Digest是美國最大的槍械雜誌出版商﹐它出版一系列的槍械書藉﹐是射擊界中甚有份量的刊物。這本the Gun Digest Book of Glock可以說是Glock的百科全書﹐內容包括Glock系列的發展歷史﹐槍械構造大解剖﹐進階保養DIY﹐不同口徑Glock與其他廠同級手槍的大比拼。書中除了有關原廠手槍的資料外﹐還大量升級配件的文章。從槍袋﹐彈匣﹐激光瞄準器﹐低後座力槍管﹐比賽專用改裝部件也有詳細介紹。這本書對於非槍械愛好者來說﹐用容無疑是太過艱深。我雖略懂槍械﹐起初看時也頗為吃力。不過從書中學懂的槍械知識十分有用﹐比起網上東拉西扯的免費資訊更有系統﹐閱讀起來很容易消化學習吸引。這本書是每個Glock的擁有者也應該閱讀的指定讀物。買槍不同買名牌時裝﹐不能盲目地的追捧潮流人買我又買﹐必需要清楚知道自己買了什麼﹐才是一個負責任的消費者。
Marriage PREP
Today is the last class of the 7 weeks long marriage PREP course and I have learned a lot from it. Every Catholic couple has to take the marriage PREP course in order to have a Catholic wedding. The Catholic church run this program to prepare the couple for the marriage life, as a mean to fight the raising divorce rate. The course is very practical, with useful tips on communication techniques, financial planning, family consulting, etc. Since the course is run by the church, it slips a couple boring talks by a priest on the role of God in marriage, which is kinda expected. The course is run by the church after all.
I found the talk about marriage as a sacrament is quite interesting. It talks about the theological meaning in the union of man and woman. It also talks about trivial knowledge in the cannon law relate to marriage. Other than informative talks, the course invited couples that have been married for years to share about their experience with us. It is good to see how marriage work in other family and draw reference form their stories.
Take aside the useless religion stuffs, the course itself is very useful, I highly recommend it to all engaged couples. The increasing divorce rate is quite alarming, almost half of the marriages ended in divorce in Canada. In sociology, family is one of the four major social institutes that builds the society. Failure in the family institute will make the society less stable and hinder long term economic growth. If people have to do a driving test in order to get a driving license. Why can’t the government make everyone take some kind of marriage PREP course in order to get their wedding license?