This weekend I am disconnected. No internet, no cell phone, no computer, no TV, no radio, no newspaper, nothing that connect me to the rest of the world. I went to a retreat in Rosemary Height in Surrey. It is a very beautiful place far away, about an hour drive from Vancouver. The site is built for the sole purpose of hosting retreats. It is surrounded by trees, it has lots of greenery, we even see a deer outside our the building. This retreat is not those cheap retreat or youth camp I used to go to, I no longer have to cramp in a room with 8 other people, we have single rooms with comfortable bed. The quality of the food is surprisingly good, we even got my favorite dish, roast beef, for dinner. It is nice to have a relaxing weekend once a while, remove yourself from daily troubles, search deep inside your self for a quiet reflection. Boring, maybe, but when your schedule is packed solid tight 7 days a week, boring time that you have nothing to do, you cannot do nothing, you don’t even have to think about anything else is a welcome break from the busy life.
Music experiment
I am studying philosophy of art this term, I have been learning difference aesthetic theories from different philosophies. Some think art has universal value that can be appreciated by anyone, some think the value of art is merely how it is framed.
Washington Post has carried out an experiment trying to find the answer. Let’s stripe the frame from the art and see how many people can still appreciate art as it is. The Post arranged the best violinist, Joshua Bell, with his $3.5 million Stradivari violin, be a street performer at a subway exit in morning rush hour. During his one hour performance, 1097 people walked pass the subway exit. Guess how many people slow down to listen the music and how much money he earn?
The Post would expect there at least a small crowd in front of Bell, his concert ticket costs at least $200, he is really good. In the end, out of the thousand people walked by, only 7 people stopped to listen and he made $32.17, in which $20 come form the only person recognize who he is. Yes, someone gave him pennies, but no one applauded. Almost everyone simply ignored him, filtered out his music as background noise and move on with their own life.
What this experiment tell us? There are different aspects to analyze the experiment. Maybe urban people are just too busy to slow down and listen to good music. Maybe it gives the answer to the age old Zen question: if a great musician plays a great piece of music but no one hears, is he really good? Maybe it is a good experiment for Bell as a lesson to be humble. He may worth $1000 a minute in concert hall, but he is just a no body without his fame. Maybe an art without a frame is not really an art. What is art? Really?
The full article can be found here. It is a bit long, but very thought provoking piece of journal worth spending time to read.
完美小姐進化論
若果只看宣傳海報和故事簡介﹐少女向唯美主義的角色設計﹐四男一女的典型愛情線佈局﹐醜小鴨變天鵝的老土橋段﹐我一定會以為「完美小姐進化論」只不過是另一套漫畫改篇的少女動畫﹐不值得看。儘管這套動畫的表面證供叫男生敬而遠之﹐內裏其實是男女老幼皆宜的瘋狂爆笑喜劇。這套兩季完二十五集的中篇作品﹐改篇自早川智子的人氣漫畫﹐是套低成本的製作。劇中的配樂來來去去也只是那幾首﹐每集只是很刻板重覆播出﹐是編曲混音去配合劇情也欠奉。最初片頭的只是剪輯併貼劇中鏡頭﹐到了中期才有全新製作的主題曲音樂影像﹐不過也只是拍攝定格圖畫。這套動畫的畫面質素倒很平均﹐沒有外判工序導致人物走樣的問題。製作公司省錢的方法頗有創意﹐很多場面改用簡單線條的Q版人物﹐甚至連樣子也沒有的一舊雲人形也起用﹐節省成本之餘亦建立這作品的獨特風格。這些製作上的缺點絲毫沒有影響欣賞這作品的意慾﹐因為這動畫吸引人的地方﹐是其天馬行空的故事內容﹐幽默抵死極端無厘頭的笑料。我每個星期也下載追看﹐每個星期也有半個小時開懷大笑﹐暫時把生活煩惱忘掉。
「完美小姐進化論」的日文原名是「大和撫子七變化」。大和撫子是日本完美女性的典範﹐亦是女主角中原須內子要改造的目標。須內子原本是個美女﹐因為初中是示愛被拒絕﹐而從此自暴自棄﹐不修邊幅。她的嗜好十分嚇人﹐喜歡恐怖的東西﹐愛收集死屍骷髏骨標本等等﹐加上她長髮披面的打扮﹐常令人誤會她是貞子化身。她的姨姨跨張地有錢﹐擁有一橦大宅租吸四位絕世師哥﹐姨姨決定把須內子她送入大宅內﹐以一年免租去利誘那四位美男子﹐將須內子訓練改造成為絕色淑女。每集的劇情一是圍繞淑女訓練計劃﹐不過每次也都失敗而回﹐一就圍繞是那五人的生活瑣碎事情﹐不過每次也會暴走發展失控﹐結果完全出乎意料之外。除了主角五人外﹐常來串門的還有兩位師哥女朋友的美女﹐將須內子與她們平排一起﹐簡直是天堂對地獄的分別﹐滑稽感特別強烈。這動畫花很多心思在逗觀眾發笑﹐刻意穿插只負責搞笑閒角﹐令人過目不忘是鬼怪蘿莉四人組﹐她們與故事亳無關係﹐只是師哥的追隨者﹐永遠在不適當地方出現﹐做令人汗額的古怪行為。最搶鏡的角色是須內子的好朋友阿博﹐不過阿博是須內子收藏的等高人體解剖模型。每集中間還有搞笑小劇場「通往淑女之路」﹐那兩個打鼓的非洲土人﹐每集也不同裝飾﹐不是出誰的鬼靈精主意。
自舊西片「窈宨淑女」以來﹐絕份大部份醜女變美女的故事﹐也逃不出那個典型公式。男主角與女主角初時時互相鬥氣﹐改造成功搖一變成美女爭回一口氣﹐最終男女主角日久生情墮入愛河大團員結局。開始時「完美小姐進化論」看似得膚淺地強調﹐女孩子要當淑女才有人要的傳統思想﹐因此要把須內子調教為男人心中的完美女人。不過劇情發展下去﹐卻完全反轉這個公式﹐帶出咖一個相反的中心思想。四位師哥費盡心機去改造須內子﹐不單沒能夠成功改造她﹐他們還慢慢地接受須內子的本性。不再盲目地追求虛假外在美﹐發掘出須內子內在美的優點。也許很多人只著看重表面漂不漂亮﹐可是到要相處下來一起生活﹐最重要的還是內心的美麗。帥哥不一定要配美女﹐萬人迷也有萬人迷的煩惱﹐只要真心喜歡關心對方﹐為什麼不可以揀平凡﹐甚至有點古怪的女朋友呢﹖
Rainbow
Today I see a rainbow outside of my window while I was studying for my philosophy exam. It is a rare scene, so I seize the beautiful moment by snapping a photo. There is a legend that there is a pot of gold at at the end of the rainbow. Now, we all know rainbow is just a physical phenomena when the sunlight is deflected by the water drops in the air, so there is no end in a rainbow. However, in my photo the rainbow seems becoming out from that green apartment. I wonder will there be a pot of gold?
Family value and US election
I just come across some interesting statistic on US presidency candidates and their family value.
Republicans:
John McCain – divorced once, having an affair with the current wife cause the divorce.
Rudy Giuliani – divorced twice, married three times
Mitt Romney – married once, but he is a Mormon, which support polygamy.
Newt Gingrich – divorced once, having an affair with the current wife cause the divorce.
Fred Thompson – divorced once
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton – married once, still marry to Bill Clinton
Barack Obama – married once, no affair (yet)
John Edwards – married once, no affair (yet)
Most people would think the Republican will play the family value card to please their evangelical Christian base of support. However, it seems their candidates are not setting a good examples themselves. On a second thought, maybe those voter who care about family value should vote for the Democrats, at least they are not just paying lip service to family value just to cheat for more votes.