30.6.16
25.6.16
Some Thoughts on Brexit
Voting to leave EU does not mean zero immigration ever after if that is the most pressing issue for Brexiters. One cannot have full excess to the EU market without free movement of labour and other forms of cooperation, especially not while one is still part of European Economic Area.
Nigel Farage earlier claimed that they do not need EU when it comes to national security issue because they have USA as the strongest ally. It might not occur to him that this transatlantic relationship can only be more special partly because Britain IS IN THE EU.
Congratulations, Little England (& Wales), now it looks like you're making a proper statement that you are in fact incredibly racists.
27.5.16
Poinsettia
I bought my very first little Poinsettia early December, 2015. It was my first attempt to have my own plant in office. I thought I might give it a month then it might fade away because my failure at taking care of it.
Turns out... after six months, my little Poinsettia is still growing and going strong. The photo on the left was taken on May 11th this year. I was about to go on my holiday in Mexico City. And guess what? I just found out on the internet that the spices is indigenous to Mexico!! What a lovely coincidence to myself at least! The photo on the right was taken on May 26th. Two weeks time it certainly has grown! It is absolutely beautiful and I really could not take my eyes off it.
I will do my best to care for it. Let us see how it turns out this Christmas.
15.9.15
Michael Jackson - Super Bowl (Complete Version) (HQ)
Classic!
So glad that I have grown up with this Michael Jackson fanatic era!
31.8.15
RIP, Oliver Sacks
I have literally just started to read Oliver Sacks' s book called Vintage Sacks which was published by Vintage Books. Mind you, it is not an usual introduction to Oliver Sacks' s works. I guess normally people would start from Hallucinations, Awakenings or Uncle Tungsten, etc. These are the books I would like to collect now, including his latest memoir, On the Move.
Dr. Oliver Sacks passed away on August 30th in New York and the cause of it was cancer. Earlier this February, he wrote an article called My Periodic Table on New York Times, which delved into his early life and how strong it was connected to the periodic table. No words could ever justify how much warmth his words brought to us. One simply has to read it oneself to truly discover how amazingly passionate and humble this man was. The article, Sabbath, on New York Times was the last piece he wrote although he did still have many other works to be published. Sabbath is another amazing piece Dr. Sacks wrote to reflect his life and how he made peace with it as well as what it meant to lead a worthy life. If even one has never read any books of his or even has never heard of his name before, go read these two articles, one will fall in love with him in an instant.
I have only seen the movie, Awakenings, once when I was very little. I did not even start from the very beginning. Come to think about it, I clearly remembered what my dad told me about the story outline. The patient, starring Robert De Niro, had been asleep for years and years and one day he suddenly woke up! During his awakening, he managed to experience how it was like to be alive again. Everything was new and sensational. I remembered he danced with a lovely female while he struggled to stand firm but the female was patient and kept doing the lead anyway. All these years, I have never gone and tried to search for that film but only a few weeks ago, I began to be keen to find the movie again.
I went to Mexico City on a work trip this June for the third time since 2012. Well, in fact, the previous two times I went there were both for work trips, too. And so far, I have always been there in summer. It was a coincidence that I met a Mexican guy for the second time. We first met back in 2012 and we did not chat for long. I do not even remember what we actually talked about at that time. This year, he recognized me before I did. What are the chances and for me, it was amazing that he could ever remember my face at all. So inevitably, I added him on Facebook on the day we were set to fly home from Mexico City so that at least I have a way to keep in touch. He might not be the sort of person who shares daily lives on social media but he does share some really good articles about a lot of things, really.
After I added him on Facebook, I came to notice on my newsfeed that he shared Oliver Sacks' s article. I was very intrigued so I clicked on the link. Then I googled the name and before long, I realized he was the man behind the Awakenings story. The movie has somehow inscribed into my head for probably as long as I could remember and some of the sequences from the movie did have popped out of my mind a couple of times for no reason at all. These, for me, are all very nice little coincidences coming to be collective at probably the right time. I felt privileged to be able to read Dr. Oliver Sacks' s works now. I was extremely saddened to learn about his passing yesterday though he did mention his reaching the final stage of liver cancer earlier this year, too. Guess at the end of the day, you can never be prepared for one' s death whether you know the person or not.
I keep on reading some of his works online today and still felt heartbroken that we have lost one of the greatest human beings. The world is never the same. But what we could do is to remember all his goodness in him and it may bring out our best in us, too.
Here is a TED talk Oliver Sacks gave a while ago. Thought I should share.
Oliver Sacks: What hallucination reveals about our minds
Dr. Oliver Sacks passed away on August 30th in New York and the cause of it was cancer. Earlier this February, he wrote an article called My Periodic Table on New York Times, which delved into his early life and how strong it was connected to the periodic table. No words could ever justify how much warmth his words brought to us. One simply has to read it oneself to truly discover how amazingly passionate and humble this man was. The article, Sabbath, on New York Times was the last piece he wrote although he did still have many other works to be published. Sabbath is another amazing piece Dr. Sacks wrote to reflect his life and how he made peace with it as well as what it meant to lead a worthy life. If even one has never read any books of his or even has never heard of his name before, go read these two articles, one will fall in love with him in an instant.
I have only seen the movie, Awakenings, once when I was very little. I did not even start from the very beginning. Come to think about it, I clearly remembered what my dad told me about the story outline. The patient, starring Robert De Niro, had been asleep for years and years and one day he suddenly woke up! During his awakening, he managed to experience how it was like to be alive again. Everything was new and sensational. I remembered he danced with a lovely female while he struggled to stand firm but the female was patient and kept doing the lead anyway. All these years, I have never gone and tried to search for that film but only a few weeks ago, I began to be keen to find the movie again.
I went to Mexico City on a work trip this June for the third time since 2012. Well, in fact, the previous two times I went there were both for work trips, too. And so far, I have always been there in summer. It was a coincidence that I met a Mexican guy for the second time. We first met back in 2012 and we did not chat for long. I do not even remember what we actually talked about at that time. This year, he recognized me before I did. What are the chances and for me, it was amazing that he could ever remember my face at all. So inevitably, I added him on Facebook on the day we were set to fly home from Mexico City so that at least I have a way to keep in touch. He might not be the sort of person who shares daily lives on social media but he does share some really good articles about a lot of things, really.
After I added him on Facebook, I came to notice on my newsfeed that he shared Oliver Sacks' s article. I was very intrigued so I clicked on the link. Then I googled the name and before long, I realized he was the man behind the Awakenings story. The movie has somehow inscribed into my head for probably as long as I could remember and some of the sequences from the movie did have popped out of my mind a couple of times for no reason at all. These, for me, are all very nice little coincidences coming to be collective at probably the right time. I felt privileged to be able to read Dr. Oliver Sacks' s works now. I was extremely saddened to learn about his passing yesterday though he did mention his reaching the final stage of liver cancer earlier this year, too. Guess at the end of the day, you can never be prepared for one' s death whether you know the person or not.
I keep on reading some of his works online today and still felt heartbroken that we have lost one of the greatest human beings. The world is never the same. But what we could do is to remember all his goodness in him and it may bring out our best in us, too.
Here is a TED talk Oliver Sacks gave a while ago. Thought I should share.
Oliver Sacks: What hallucination reveals about our minds
26.8.15
<旅遊的滋味>布朗特姐妹的哈沃斯
投稿這篇文章至自由時報旅遊版，於2015年6月3日刊出，原投稿內文與刊登出來的內容有所刪修，自由時報刊出連結請點選：<旅遊的滋味>布朗特姐妹的哈沃斯
原投稿文如下：
2010年聖誕節前夕，與朋友來到西約克郡的哈沃斯(Haworth)度過難忘的兩天，從倫敦搭火車至里茲，轉至基斯利(Keighley)，再改搭公車抵達目的地。那年冬天大雪覆蓋了平時清楚可見的荒原，說是納尼亞也不為過。氣溫即使再低，還是有人在丘陵間晨跑。B&B老闆娘用心準備了全套英式早餐，在鎮上不見夏天的熱鬧景象，酒吧裡的人其實都面惡心善，廚師還因在路上被雪困住而遲到了一小時，飢腸轆轆的我們更珍惜美味的鹿派與約克夏布丁。
原投稿文如下：
2010年聖誕節前夕，與朋友來到西約克郡的哈沃斯(Haworth)度過難忘的兩天，從倫敦搭火車至里茲，轉至基斯利(Keighley)，再改搭公車抵達目的地。那年冬天大雪覆蓋了平時清楚可見的荒原，說是納尼亞也不為過。氣溫即使再低，還是有人在丘陵間晨跑。B&B老闆娘用心準備了全套英式早餐，在鎮上不見夏天的熱鬧景象，酒吧裡的人其實都面惡心善，廚師還因在路上被雪困住而遲到了一小時，飢腸轆轆的我們更珍惜美味的鹿派與約克夏布丁。
哈沃斯不是布朗特(Bronte)姐妹的出生地，卻是她們度過大半人生的地方，其「簡愛」與「咆哮山莊」等作品之知名度不在話下，作品裡呈現出的荒原景觀更符合貼近英國浪漫主義的想像，透過這般能夠令人憶起過往昔日的景色，提升故事所能帶來的情感衝擊。冬日的白雪與早晨的低溫明顯將英格蘭北部的陽光擊退了，卻絲毫不影響我們在山中健行之興致，或許是在那遇見體驗的所有人事物，而使我們如此熱愛在哈沃斯的每一時刻吧？！
20.5.15
Hamlet Globe to Globe
(圖片來自Shakespeare' s Globe Tumblr文章)
(Photo courtesy of Shakespeare' s Globe Tumblr post)
2014年與2016年分別是William Shakespeare的450年冥誕與逝世400年紀念。London Shakespeare' s Globe藝術總監Dominic Dromgoole去年推出Hamlet並開始兩年的世界巡迴。
今年7月6日，Hamlet即將來到臺北水源劇場，非常期待，該文連結在文章最下方。
Won
a #WorldHamlet Twitter competition last month held by London
Shakespeare' s Globe. There were only two winners for the one I took
part in. Utterly delighted!!
Sent a few
hand-coloured cards along with one with my personal message to Globe
Theatre. They posted it on Tumblr. Now I feel even more overwhelmed!
Looking forward to their coming to Taipei this July!
Here is the link to their Tumblr post: http://ow.ly/N96Jv
16.5.15
誠品書店文案抄襲
5月11日下午五點，
今年3月7日，
文案的架構與我的文章內容雷同，
另一個題外話，文案中也提到英國小學生打扮成Mr. Grey，關於這點在英國是相當具有爭議性的。
我感到非常生氣，於是便去信誠品書店客服信箱，要求他們正視問題給予回覆，24小時候他們的回覆如下，在該宣傳活動牆上加上來源出處。
關於您反應【世界閱讀日-英國篇】參考來源出處事宜，
另，英國孩童扮格雷新聞事件，由於【世界閱讀日】
再次感謝您所提出之寶貴意見回饋，
我之後又寫信告知天下獨立評論整件事的發展，畢竟我是投搞到他們的網站，覺得可以向他們請教接下來的做法，更重要的是讓他們也知道誠品書店侵權的事情，節錄獨評回覆如下：
由獨立評論去信誠品書店，說明經作者反映後得知此事，
這樣好嗎？
既然天下獨評都願意出面幫我再次寫信要求，大概也覺得這樣就可以了，也不是說需要甚麼樣的賠償。這件事的發展目前就到這裡，後續若有甚麼需要補上的，會再寫文章更新。
今天誠品已經是全臺灣最大的連鎖書店，現在又主打文創口號，很丟臉！我看我幫他們寫還比較有創意，公然抄襲算甚麼？
2.4.15
熔爐：從女巫事件看美國的反恐戰爭
(本文於2015年3月28日於獨立評論天下網站上刊登，連結於此：http://opinion.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/52/article/2590)
地緣政治改變看似不大，同時卻也有日益更新的反恐戰爭型態。我們人類或許在科技與觀念方面相較於從前是改變進步了許多，卻大概也沒有太大的進化。戰爭依然存在，只是作戰策略與實體型式有了改變，人類仇恨並沒有減少。我們爭取來的民主自由與和平，看似還是同樣脆弱。
亞瑟米勒(Arthur Miller)的作品「熔爐」(The Crucible)是以美國麻州小鎮塞林(Salem)於1692年著名的女巫審訊案之真實事件為藍本所創作的舞台劇劇本。當時社會風氣保守，住著許多清教徒，而孩子們在清教徒的社會，是不被允許隨性唱歌跳舞的。1692年某個晚上，有女孩突然出現怪異舉動，痛苦地扭動身軀，鎮上其他幾個女孩也陸續出現相同的症狀，嚇壞了全鎮的人。醫生也診斷不出所以然，只好解釋說她們是中了巫術。至隔年夏天，已有超過百人遭逮捕，10多人因被判女巫罪而被處死。直到10多年後，才有女孩說出當年的秘密，指出一切指控都是假的，不過恐怕也為時已晚。
1950年代，美國因為對於共產主義滲入感到恐慌，境內掀起了以「麥卡錫主義」為代表的反共與排外運動，出現所謂「忠誠調查」現象，上千萬美國人受到不同程度的審查。受到麥卡錫時代事件的啟發，利用眾議院非美活動調查委員會(House Un-American
Activities Committee)來進行實質的政治迫害，米勒曾被邀請作證，被要求出賣朋友。
在這股白色恐怖的氛圍當中，米勒有感而發而寫出「熔爐」，替無辜者發聲。故事主角是位名約翰普羅克特(John Proctor)的農夫，他拒絕相信鎮上有女巫橫行的事實，成為少數幾個被指控入獄的受害者。法官對於受指控者的判決變成了「若不承認其罪行，就將其處死」的方式來處理，也就是說：若一人希望活命，就得承認自己犯下巫術的罪行，即使那可能不是事實，而必要時刻，還得供出其他名字。亞瑟米勒把自己想像成約翰普羅克特，將自己的遭遇寫進劇本裡，好比假設自己如果受到麥卡錫的審判，他將與劇中主角選擇同樣的命運一般。米勒當時眼睜睜看著自己的朋友放棄而向政府「認罪」、供出可能反美的名字給政府，或是選擇犧牲自己，成為流亡者，離開美國。
米勒在寫這劇本的同時，想必也知道這般的寓言將一再地被世人回顧，它不僅是1950年代的故事，也不單只是改編1692年麻州賽林的女巫審判一案。在各個文化角落都可以找到類似的故事與歷史悲劇，米勒的「熔爐」多年來已被翻譯成多國語言，並在各國的舞台不斷地以各種形式呈現。60年後的今天，劇本所描繪的情形依然能與當前局勢產生某種程度的共鳴，想起來也是挺不幸的。這劇本無疑地是個警示，警惕著我們：有心者能夠利用宗教名義與忠誠度來操控他人，以達到自己追求的目的。米勒希望藉由他的作品抨擊無理迫害的邪惡與失實指控的可怕力量，在「熔爐」裡，便能窺見有人試圖控制全村的人來進行私心的報復，最後演變成人與人之間互相指控猜忌，導致一發不可收拾的狂亂。
很不幸地，任一文化或國家，都可能會利用法律或宗教信仰等形式來壓制控制人民，更不幸地，在經過數百年的時間，類似的情形還不斷地在發生。例如在911事件過後，美國前總統小布希(George W. Bush)簽署頒布的愛國者法案(Patriot Act)，該法案能夠讓美國政府以反恐名義，擴張美國政府權限，利用必要之手段阻止或避免恐怖主義之發生，政府機關也能夠掌控搜索人民通訊、醫療、財務等各種類型紀錄與活動。基本上，依照此法案，政府便能擴大其可管理之範圍與權限。2013年，愛德華史諾登(Edward Snowden)將手中握有大量美國國安局濫權監聽的證據爆料給前衛報記者格林華德(Glenn Greenwald)之後，此類國家安全議題再度引發激烈討論。類似的案例故事在全球甚多，仍層出不窮。
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)