Saturday, March 19, 2011
港式茶餐廳
天啊，這麼多年後，終於有人在這裏開了一間 (自稱是) 港式的茶餐廳。此前的不是茶樓 (一條友點飲茶？) 就是呃鬼佬的 buffet，還有也是沒有中國人幫襯的 takeaway。那些侍應居然還會說半鹹淡廣東話呢，於我等不懂北方土話者實是喜訊。雖然食物的味道頗為一般... 甚至有點不對勁... 但大致上是 authentic 的，況且勝在近，差不多就在樓下。我香港樓下反而沒有茶餐廳呢 (以前有一間，給領滙摺埋了，轉了做麥記...)
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Man Utd's reaction to the officials' decisions
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his assistant Mike Phelan were interviewed after the matches with Wigan and Chelsea:
Seriously, could you shut up now Ferguson? If you are so furious about referee decisions then perhaps you could support video reviews?
Q: What do you think of Rooney's elbow on Wigan midfielder James McCarthy?
SAF: I don't know how he stayed on the pitch. Nothing done, the referee's in front of it. It was incredible.
Q: The match was refereed by Mark Clattenburg, what do you make of his performance?
SAF: When I saw who the referee was I did fear it. I feared the worst. You want a fair referee - or a strong referee, anyway - and we didn't get that. These are decisions that change the game. And he's going to be refereeing every week.
Q: But Luiz's foul on Rooney also escaped punishment, what is your opinion on it?
SAF: There's nothing in it. As it is Wayne, the press will raise a campaign to get him hung or electrocuted, something like that.
MP: We can't dispute the referee's decision. He's kept the game flowing and we're happy with that. There should not be a witch-hunt. The referee was consistent with all his decisions. We should lie low a little bit and let the powers that be take [control of] the game.
Seriously, could you shut up now Ferguson? If you are so furious about referee decisions then perhaps you could support video reviews?
Friday, January 28, 2011
夕陽大智話司徒
(陶傑, 壹週刊 20/1/2011)
司徒華先生病逝，全港淒然。
老先生尚在時，許多人出於政治對立、嫉妒奪權，罵司徒華，話說得太盡。十三年來，輿論自我審查，辱罵司徒華的傳媒與日俱增。至少有三分二；後來連泛民中的丐幫也加入聲討。
老先生一去，個個都把臉湊上來叨光——不錯，政治容許一點點虛偽，但虛偽得如此中國式之低下，會不會令人想嘔吐呢？
我與司徒華先生難攀深交，也不常見面，但每次見面，談敍必深。在香港，能交得上朋友的，年紀都比自己大一輩。「友直、友諒、友多聞」，多聞，即是有經歷和見識。從民國過來的一代，年紀比我大，經歷比我苦，八千里路雲和月的感觸和智慧比我深，無論做生意還是讀書人，學問往往也比我多，至少都是一冊活的歷史書。
司徒華患病期間，我與他見過幾次，談到「五區公投」。司徒華沒有趁這趟水，他的觀點，與我相似，就是發起「五區公投，全民起義」的那一位半個仁兄，聲嘶力竭，甚似悲壯，其實人格不可信。
中國人的老話：「修身、齊家、治國、平天下」，是有道理的，因為中國政治比其他國家污穢、殘暴、鄙劣百倍，從政的人，人格必須用特殊材料鑄成。「共產黨員是 用特殊材料造成的」，這句話在中共打天下時流行，意思是：從政的人，尤其處於抗爭的草野，道德要高潔，意志要剛強，不為財色名權誘使，更不為嚴刑拷打屈從。
司徒華先生一生獨身，不嫖不賭，從沒欠過錢，我相信，是那種刀槍架在胸口也寧死不屈甘心赴義的人。這個品種，屬於黃花崗七十二烈士、宋教仁和秋瑾那個系列，不敢說在大陸已成絕響，但在世界仔和精甩邊橫行的香港，像司徒華先生這般質地的，極為稀有。
發起「公投起義」的一兩位，以中國現代革命史的遠大目光視之，一看就知道靠不住。有的人當紅得令時。一身名牌，不可一世；從巔峰下墮深淵時，卻又垂頭喪氣惶惶如喪家之犬。在他身邊的「戰友」，必見識過如此嚴寒酷暑的喜怒大形於色的作風，與澳門賭場三更貧五更富的江湖賭客無異。這種性格，平心而論，有其可愛的一面，幹其他職業，是他自己的事，「政治」卻是眾人大我之業。但在中國人社會，讓這種性格的人士一統天下，做泛民的大盟主，即屬笑談。
若是修身不成，齊家也不力，教子無方，在鄰近地區惹上官非，關押在囚，很奇怪，真的讀通「幾狼都有」的中國歷史，就會明白，蔣介石把兒子送去蘇聯，誤成史達林的人質，以致後來圍剿延安，小辮子抓在蘇共手裡，就是不敢直搗黃龍。以史為鑑，不但可以知興替，更可以趨吉避凶。越是表演賣弄知識者，有無智慧，在這個骨節眼邊，會露底的。
中國政治黑在哪裡？黑在連身家性命、妻小家奴，隨時都變成犧牲品。劉邦父親讓項羽活捉，項羽揚言要把劉邦老爹烹殺，劉邦笑嘻嘻說請分我一杯羹。共產黨自己打天下，不但六親不認，毛澤東連自己的老婆楊開慧也甘心送給國民黨囚殺。子女管教不好，又到處亂跑，不慎因刑罪被囚，此時是一己親情為重，還是香港的「民主大業」為先？
當然，人貴有親情，但如果是這副婆媽的尋常德性，就不可奢望做什麼民主旗手。司徒華晚年時看出了這一點，他聽我說起項羽烹殺劉邦父親的典故，唯有苦笑。此時只有我明白，為什麼他為香港人付出如此巨大的幸福成本，為何他比別的「吹水革命家」更義無反顧，因為他沒有妻小，因為他甘泊於單身，如同遠古的瑪雅族女戰士，為了能扛弓箭，把一邊乳房割掉，這又是何等氣魄、何等犧牲？
老先生反對五區公投，其中一個原因是「對人不對事」。這一點，我讚賞他的眼光。「誰是我們的敵人，誰是我們的朋友，這個問題是革命的首要問題」，任何草根「民主」領袖，競選時先以自己陣營的隊友為嚙咬目標，搶自己人的票，其人必不擇手段，時機一變動，隨時是能把丹東送上斷頭台的羅伯斯庇爾。「對人不對事」，沒有什麼錯，譬如同樣聲稱「推翻滿清，建立民國」，同一句口號，由孫中山、黃興、袁世凱三個人分別喊出，你信哪一個？可不可以只因為袁世凱喊得最聲音嘶啞，就認定袁世凱更稱職？
讀通中國歷史，好處是這種人辦，先例千百年都不缺。戊戌政變失敗，因為譚嗣同誤信袁世凱，以為袁氏可助光緒，把榮祿抓起來。林旭不信袁，對譚嗣同說：不錯， 袁世凱也心繫變法，但他有把柄在榮祿手裡，不可以押寶在這個人身上。譚嗣同沒有聽，他的頭腦太簡單了，結果六君子一起浴血。
中國政治的DNA，千 代不移。了解中國政治的基因遺傳學，必料事如神。「五區公投」不論成績，一年不到，牽頭的那個「民主」幫會，突生詭譎的裂變，爆發一場微型的「天京之變」，原因正是有人的把柄被中方抓住，不得不退位，明明選出新主席，其後又多了個太上皇。毛澤東一九六二年退居二線，幾年後的文革之亂，鄧小平「誰不改革誰下台」，豈不同一基因？大半年來，「起義」不成，內鬥酷烈；「公投」不果，私寨火併方酣，小農越追求「民主」，一股土匪的天性，越是兇烈。幸好香港有殖民地文明基礎，「民主」幫會再分裂，只限於互相臭罵的「文鬥」，否則井岡山剿殺AB團的慘禍，早已上演。
司徒華先生晚年的一擊，好歹要待兩年後方見功過，並未因此進八寶山，未見有得益，罵他「出賣民主」的人，十個月來，是龍是蛇？其質素與能力，破壞有餘，凝聚無力，食豬紅屙黑屎，即刻有了結論。
這種活劇，只要綜觀中外歷史，即知不足為奇，畢竟人性的弱點和陰暗面太多了。政治天真，在權慾面前，論人面之險詐，誘惑之下，看人性之脆弱，許多人是沒見過 「大蛇屙尿」的一個快樂族群，一切只看表面。司徒華老先生的功過，湊熱鬧開講的人有許多，我不想加進一把嘴，只想為他老人家表一點小小的清白。他奮鬥終身，不會輕易葬送一生英名，我相信他，故略以納稅人的局外身份，兼誌一點所見、所聞、所思。
司徒華先生病逝，全港淒然。
老先生尚在時，許多人出於政治對立、嫉妒奪權，罵司徒華，話說得太盡。十三年來，輿論自我審查，辱罵司徒華的傳媒與日俱增。至少有三分二；後來連泛民中的丐幫也加入聲討。
老先生一去，個個都把臉湊上來叨光——不錯，政治容許一點點虛偽，但虛偽得如此中國式之低下，會不會令人想嘔吐呢？
我與司徒華先生難攀深交，也不常見面，但每次見面，談敍必深。在香港，能交得上朋友的，年紀都比自己大一輩。「友直、友諒、友多聞」，多聞，即是有經歷和見識。從民國過來的一代，年紀比我大，經歷比我苦，八千里路雲和月的感觸和智慧比我深，無論做生意還是讀書人，學問往往也比我多，至少都是一冊活的歷史書。
司徒華患病期間，我與他見過幾次，談到「五區公投」。司徒華沒有趁這趟水，他的觀點，與我相似，就是發起「五區公投，全民起義」的那一位半個仁兄，聲嘶力竭，甚似悲壯，其實人格不可信。
中國人的老話：「修身、齊家、治國、平天下」，是有道理的，因為中國政治比其他國家污穢、殘暴、鄙劣百倍，從政的人，人格必須用特殊材料鑄成。「共產黨員是 用特殊材料造成的」，這句話在中共打天下時流行，意思是：從政的人，尤其處於抗爭的草野，道德要高潔，意志要剛強，不為財色名權誘使，更不為嚴刑拷打屈從。
司徒華先生一生獨身，不嫖不賭，從沒欠過錢，我相信，是那種刀槍架在胸口也寧死不屈甘心赴義的人。這個品種，屬於黃花崗七十二烈士、宋教仁和秋瑾那個系列，不敢說在大陸已成絕響，但在世界仔和精甩邊橫行的香港，像司徒華先生這般質地的，極為稀有。
發起「公投起義」的一兩位，以中國現代革命史的遠大目光視之，一看就知道靠不住。有的人當紅得令時。一身名牌，不可一世；從巔峰下墮深淵時，卻又垂頭喪氣惶惶如喪家之犬。在他身邊的「戰友」，必見識過如此嚴寒酷暑的喜怒大形於色的作風，與澳門賭場三更貧五更富的江湖賭客無異。這種性格，平心而論，有其可愛的一面，幹其他職業，是他自己的事，「政治」卻是眾人大我之業。但在中國人社會，讓這種性格的人士一統天下，做泛民的大盟主，即屬笑談。
若是修身不成，齊家也不力，教子無方，在鄰近地區惹上官非，關押在囚，很奇怪，真的讀通「幾狼都有」的中國歷史，就會明白，蔣介石把兒子送去蘇聯，誤成史達林的人質，以致後來圍剿延安，小辮子抓在蘇共手裡，就是不敢直搗黃龍。以史為鑑，不但可以知興替，更可以趨吉避凶。越是表演賣弄知識者，有無智慧，在這個骨節眼邊，會露底的。
中國政治黑在哪裡？黑在連身家性命、妻小家奴，隨時都變成犧牲品。劉邦父親讓項羽活捉，項羽揚言要把劉邦老爹烹殺，劉邦笑嘻嘻說請分我一杯羹。共產黨自己打天下，不但六親不認，毛澤東連自己的老婆楊開慧也甘心送給國民黨囚殺。子女管教不好，又到處亂跑，不慎因刑罪被囚，此時是一己親情為重，還是香港的「民主大業」為先？
當然，人貴有親情，但如果是這副婆媽的尋常德性，就不可奢望做什麼民主旗手。司徒華晚年時看出了這一點，他聽我說起項羽烹殺劉邦父親的典故，唯有苦笑。此時只有我明白，為什麼他為香港人付出如此巨大的幸福成本，為何他比別的「吹水革命家」更義無反顧，因為他沒有妻小，因為他甘泊於單身，如同遠古的瑪雅族女戰士，為了能扛弓箭，把一邊乳房割掉，這又是何等氣魄、何等犧牲？
老先生反對五區公投，其中一個原因是「對人不對事」。這一點，我讚賞他的眼光。「誰是我們的敵人，誰是我們的朋友，這個問題是革命的首要問題」，任何草根「民主」領袖，競選時先以自己陣營的隊友為嚙咬目標，搶自己人的票，其人必不擇手段，時機一變動，隨時是能把丹東送上斷頭台的羅伯斯庇爾。「對人不對事」，沒有什麼錯，譬如同樣聲稱「推翻滿清，建立民國」，同一句口號，由孫中山、黃興、袁世凱三個人分別喊出，你信哪一個？可不可以只因為袁世凱喊得最聲音嘶啞，就認定袁世凱更稱職？
讀通中國歷史，好處是這種人辦，先例千百年都不缺。戊戌政變失敗，因為譚嗣同誤信袁世凱，以為袁氏可助光緒，把榮祿抓起來。林旭不信袁，對譚嗣同說：不錯， 袁世凱也心繫變法，但他有把柄在榮祿手裡，不可以押寶在這個人身上。譚嗣同沒有聽，他的頭腦太簡單了，結果六君子一起浴血。
中國政治的DNA，千 代不移。了解中國政治的基因遺傳學，必料事如神。「五區公投」不論成績，一年不到，牽頭的那個「民主」幫會，突生詭譎的裂變，爆發一場微型的「天京之變」，原因正是有人的把柄被中方抓住，不得不退位，明明選出新主席，其後又多了個太上皇。毛澤東一九六二年退居二線，幾年後的文革之亂，鄧小平「誰不改革誰下台」，豈不同一基因？大半年來，「起義」不成，內鬥酷烈；「公投」不果，私寨火併方酣，小農越追求「民主」，一股土匪的天性，越是兇烈。幸好香港有殖民地文明基礎，「民主」幫會再分裂，只限於互相臭罵的「文鬥」，否則井岡山剿殺AB團的慘禍，早已上演。
司徒華先生晚年的一擊，好歹要待兩年後方見功過，並未因此進八寶山，未見有得益，罵他「出賣民主」的人，十個月來，是龍是蛇？其質素與能力，破壞有餘，凝聚無力，食豬紅屙黑屎，即刻有了結論。
這種活劇，只要綜觀中外歷史，即知不足為奇，畢竟人性的弱點和陰暗面太多了。政治天真，在權慾面前，論人面之險詐，誘惑之下，看人性之脆弱，許多人是沒見過 「大蛇屙尿」的一個快樂族群，一切只看表面。司徒華老先生的功過，湊熱鬧開講的人有許多，我不想加進一把嘴，只想為他老人家表一點小小的清白。他奮鬥終身，不會輕易葬送一生英名，我相信他，故略以納稅人的局外身份，兼誌一點所見、所聞、所思。
Sunday, January 09, 2011
一路走好？
民主派元老逝世，許多後輩哀悼，最後的一句，叫「一路走好」。香港人潛移默化，語言喜歡模仿中國大陸。
...
這就叫話語權了，各位香港的小朋友。風俗不同，文化有異，不把話語權牢牢抓在手裏，包括粵語，主動向北面的詞彙 依偎過去，「一國兩制」就蒸發了，這樣，各位敬仰的「華叔」，就一路走不好了。這一節很基本的語文課，是「華叔」生前沒有教過的。 Understand？
是「早安」，不是「早上好」。說「晚安」，從來沒有什麼「晚上好」。是「新年快樂」，不是「新年好」。好好好，哈 哈，好你個白癡大頭 B呀？
《一路走好？》 陶傑 09/01/2011
本人慶幸出世得早，讀書時的中文還沒有被大陸的惡俗「漢語」污染。現在的學生大概認為那些才是正確的中文吧？
我讀書的那個年代，只有 「一路好走」，沒有「一路走好」的。「走好」根本不合中文 Grammar，這些把 adverb 放在 verb 後面的大概又是從英文「翻譯」過來 (live well, work hard, walk alone 之類)。中文只會說 「好食好住」，或者反過來「食得好，住得好」(要加個「得」字)。俗語有云，「好行夾唔送」也。
還好他們只是把 Good morning 翻譯成 「早上好」，而不是 「好早上」...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
《消滅香港》之 尖沙咀天星碼頭
規劃年底清拆 變身露天廣場 尖沙咀巴士總站將成歷史
港府計劃於年底清拆尖沙咀天星碼頭巴士總站，能否汲取拆中環天星碼頭的教訓，令是次清拆行動和氣收場，大家拭目以待。本港的其中一個地標又將成為集體回憶。尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站未來的規劃及用途，現時尚未有最終定案。
「消滅香港是香港政府城市規劃的唯一目標。」 (胡恩威, 《香港風格2．消滅香港》)
你看，不管拆了之後做甚麼，總之一定要拆，拆了再說。
商場就商場吧，「或」甚麼？
「露天茶座」這個「旅遊概念」說了十多年他們也不嫌悶。「露天茶座」這東西外國遍地皆是，真是「行過左都唔覺」，你自己覺得有趣便以為遊客會有興趣嗎？便是大陸客也不用來港看這些吧，大陸本身已有這麼多「山寨景點」...
這正是你所想的吧 因為...
...你遊客要來看這些西方推介的、只有香港才有的特色，我偏要拆掉它們，弄些「復古羅馬式」給你看。這不是蠢能解釋得了的...
市場學系，厲害厲害...
...連建築設計也關你們事。
原來「空間感不足」是因為「建築物高度太矮」，冼日明教授的市場學理論真是高深莫測。或許他說的「空間」是指「樓面空間」...
經典句式：要在X與Y之間取得平衡。為甚麼起商場就是發展？而「復古羅馬式」就是國際視野？
這本來就是「來港旅客必遊的地方」，你唔好攪攪震就已經謝天謝地了。人家好端端的，卻要說甚麼「重新提升」，「追上時代」，「加深歷史感」，一副董朝時的甚麼 「自我增值」口吻...
港府計劃於年底清拆尖沙咀天星碼頭巴士總站，能否汲取拆中環天星碼頭的教訓，令是次清拆行動和氣收場，大家拭目以待。本港的其中一個地標又將成為集體回憶。尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站未來的規劃及用途，現時尚未有最終定案。
「消滅香港是香港政府城市規劃的唯一目標。」 (胡恩威, 《香港風格2．消滅香港》)
你看，不管拆了之後做甚麼，總之一定要拆，拆了再說。
初步的建議是，該地段會興建商場或供遊人休憩的廣場。
商場就商場吧，「或」甚麼？
根據規劃，尖沙咀海傍未來將大變身，其中尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站計劃遷往尖東永安廣場，多條巴士線將「大執位」，巴士總站原址則擬發展為復古羅馬式設計的露天廣場，設有露天茶座及表演場地。
「露天茶座」這個「旅遊概念」說了十多年他們也不嫌悶。「露天茶座」這東西外國遍地皆是，真是「行過左都唔覺」，你自己覺得有趣便以為遊客會有興趣嗎？便是大陸客也不用來港看這些吧，大陸本身已有這麼多「山寨景點」...
... 「遷移尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站是一環扣一環，計劃之中，天星碼頭的上蓋會被清拆，小輪的生意會有影響。如果乘客量愈來愈減少，最終就會取消航線，又成為港人的集體回憶。」
這正是你所想的吧 因為...
現時反而應該考慮遷走巴士總站後，對民生的影響，因為該總站歷史悠久，市民早已習慣坐船之後，隨即可以轉乘巴士。不少遊客更是專程去坐巴士及小輪。
...你遊客要來看這些西方推介的、只有香港才有的特色，我偏要拆掉它們，弄些「復古羅馬式」給你看。這不是蠢能解釋得了的...
中大市場學系教授冼日明認為，
市場學系，厲害厲害...
清拆尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站是有急切性。他指出，尖沙咀是本港一個重要的旅遊區，現時最大的問題空間感不足。事實上，尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站的建築設計已經相當落後，仍然停留在60、70年代的思維模式，不能反映本港作為大都會的形象。
...連建築設計也關你們事。
「本港缺乏一個較有代表性的公共空間，供市民及遊客使用。以地理位置來說，尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站一帶是適合舉辦慶祝活動的地點。所以，尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站實在應該提早清拆，以便可以發揮得更好。」他說，在原址興建一個新廣場，其實可以彌補現時鄰近的文化中心的空間感不夠的情況。從本港的旅遊資源來考慮，尖沙咀是重要地點。目前，尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站所佔的地方反令到尖沙咀的吸引力減低，與鄰近連接的文化中心及星光大道顯得格格不入。尖沙咀碼頭的行人道亦相當狹窄，每逢假期節日非常擠迫，本身的建築物高度太矮，實在有改變的必要。
原來「空間感不足」是因為「建築物高度太矮」，冼日明教授的市場學理論真是高深莫測。或許他說的「空間」是指「樓面空間」...
至於天星小輪，冼日明認為其運作方式已經老化，未來需要活化。一方面可以保留本身的特色，但也要增加時代感。本港在保育與發展兩方面都要取得平衡，更要具備國際視野。
經典句式：要在X與Y之間取得平衡。為甚麼起商場就是發展？而「復古羅馬式」就是國際視野？
「尖沙咀碼頭巴士總站應該一早便清拆，但現時好像得個講字。... 天星小輪也可以扮演歷史回顧及文化回憶的角色，為自己重新提升，成為一個來港旅客必遊的地方，若果本身的內部設計追上時代，又加深歷史感，藉此可以有很高的生存價值，即使日後的票價調升也可以維持營運。
這本來就是「來港旅客必遊的地方」，你唔好攪攪震就已經謝天謝地了。人家好端端的，卻要說甚麼「重新提升」，「追上時代」，「加深歷史感」，一副董朝時的甚麼 「自我增值」口吻...
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Two mafias meet, at last
Is anyone surprised that the 2018 World Cup go to a Mafia state? Surely everybody is afraid of its boss? (Which is not its president, obviously.) And an organisation so corrupt from top to bottom, under the great leadership of that Sxxx Bxxxxxx guy, surely is to affiliate itself with the biggest Mafia? Looks like a perfect partnership to me.
That said, even ignoring all "political" side of things, it's hard to argue against it. When I first heard about England bidding for it, my first reaction was "you're kidding me." The British media have an inexplicable optimism about the whole thing. (Just like every time they think they are going to win the World Cup with "the strongest squad in N years".) Seriously, why should anyone let them host it? They only won the World Cup once when they happened to be the host (and the ball never crossed the line).
And I dislike the idea of joint bids. It's like having joint winners in "最受歡迎女歌星" (or similar awards) every time. I seem to recall there was a 4-country bid to host some tournament. Sooner or later we will see a 16-country bid thus occupying half the places in the tournament...
And... Qatar? (My jaw dropped and I moved to within one inch of the screen when I saw it - and a student happened to be outside at that instant...) I mean... why? ...how? ...who?
And some responses:
Similarly,
Now that is to the point. I am long against the "no political influence" principle of FIFA. It probably started with good intentions, preventing dictatorship governments using football to serve their political agenda, etc. But now it has become a shield for FIFA so that they are not accountable to anyone or any government (at least some of which need to listen to people). I sometimes wonder, are they even immune to police arrests? Why should all footballing matters in the world decided by this "elected" president of this organisation (elections with even less democracy than Hong Kong's)? Look at their insistence on not using video technology. How can anyone break this big protection racket in this football governing body now?
I dream about a world where some people stand up against Sxxx Bxxxxxx, start a rebel footballing faction, with its own players, clubs and tournaments. With video technology in refereeing decisions, of course. (I know, it's not going to happen. That's why it is a dream.)
That said, even ignoring all "political" side of things, it's hard to argue against it. When I first heard about England bidding for it, my first reaction was "you're kidding me." The British media have an inexplicable optimism about the whole thing. (Just like every time they think they are going to win the World Cup with "the strongest squad in N years".) Seriously, why should anyone let them host it? They only won the World Cup once when they happened to be the host (and the ball never crossed the line).
And I dislike the idea of joint bids. It's like having joint winners in "最受歡迎女歌星" (or similar awards) every time. I seem to recall there was a 4-country bid to host some tournament. Sooner or later we will see a 16-country bid thus occupying half the places in the tournament...
And... Qatar? (My jaw dropped and I moved to within one inch of the screen when I saw it - and a student happened to be outside at that instant...) I mean... why? ...how? ...who?
And some responses:
Running two World Cups together was clearly a mistake... It inevitably led to people with votes in 2018 doing deals with people involved in 2022.I suppose "mistake" is a polite word. Clearly the FIFA lot designed this on purpose; the more such deals, the more chance of making bribery out of it.
England 2018 bid chief executive Andy Anson
Similarly,
Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore said the fact England have facilities already in place appeared to have counted against them. "They have decided to take the World Cups to developing areas," he said. "What's gone against us is not having to build 20 new stadia...""Taking the World Cup to under-developed countries" is such a grand sounding and politically correct agenda, but do you really believe that such a corrupt organisation will be so well-hearted? You know, building stadia is another great way of getting your hands on bribery money.
Fifa is an organisation that doesn't have to answer to anyone. What did we expect?
Former England manager Graham Taylor
Now that is to the point. I am long against the "no political influence" principle of FIFA. It probably started with good intentions, preventing dictatorship governments using football to serve their political agenda, etc. But now it has become a shield for FIFA so that they are not accountable to anyone or any government (at least some of which need to listen to people). I sometimes wonder, are they even immune to police arrests? Why should all footballing matters in the world decided by this "elected" president of this organisation (elections with even less democracy than Hong Kong's)? Look at their insistence on not using video technology. How can anyone break this big protection racket in this football governing body now?
I dream about a world where some people stand up against Sxxx Bxxxxxx, start a rebel footballing faction, with its own players, clubs and tournaments. With video technology in refereeing decisions, of course. (I know, it's not going to happen. That's why it is a dream.)
Monday, November 29, 2010
An almost optimal algorithm for locating long runs of zeros in streaming data
The problem. We are given a large number N of data streams, where each data stream consists of n nonnegative integer values arriving over time. At each time step, before the new values arrive, we choose k of these streams, where k << N, and after the values arrive, we get a score equal to the total of the new data values from all k streams. There are various restrictions on how to choose these k streams, the details of which we do not go into here. The objective is to maximize the total score over the course of the n steps.
Our results. Although that is the intended objective, we developed an algorithm that achieves something quite different, in that it locates the streams with long runs of 0s. In fact it also picks out the boundaries of such runs almost optimally, e.g. it switches to another data stream precisely when the next data value is going to be large.
The algorithm. The algorithm can be described very simply as "madness in the author's head".
Evaluation of results. We run our algorithm on the English Premier League 2010/11 season data. This means N > 500, n = 38, k = 11 (or 15). At the time of writing, only 15 weeks have passed, but we already obtained some impressive results:
Figure 1: The algorithm selected this data stream in the weeks shown (in red rectangle). Note how it narrowly missed the two large numbers around the region.
Figure 2: The algorithm picked the precise moment to switch from the first stream to the second, avoiding the two 1s.
Our results. Although that is the intended objective, we developed an algorithm that achieves something quite different, in that it locates the streams with long runs of 0s. In fact it also picks out the boundaries of such runs almost optimally, e.g. it switches to another data stream precisely when the next data value is going to be large.
The algorithm. The algorithm can be described very simply as "madness in the author's head".
Evaluation of results. We run our algorithm on the English Premier League 2010/11 season data. This means N > 500, n = 38, k = 11 (or 15). At the time of writing, only 15 weeks have passed, but we already obtained some impressive results:
Figure 1: The algorithm selected this data stream in the weeks shown (in red rectangle). Note how it narrowly missed the two large numbers around the region.
Figure 2: The algorithm picked the precise moment to switch from the first stream to the second, avoiding the two 1s.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
中國影帝
[轉貼]
有個人說：三聚氰胺我們一定要嚴查到底！於是趙連海被判兩年半。
有個人說：汶川地震我們一定要嚴查到底！於是譚作人被判五年。
有個人說：政治改革我們一定要至死方休！於是劉曉波被判十一年。
「有個人」真是個愛國愛民的好官啊...
有個人說：三聚氰胺我們一定要嚴查到底！於是趙連海被判兩年半。
有個人說：汶川地震我們一定要嚴查到底！於是譚作人被判五年。
有個人說：政治改革我們一定要至死方休！於是劉曉波被判十一年。
「有個人」真是個愛國愛民的好官啊...
讀寫障礙
其實現在報館還有沒有校對這個職位的呢，還是記者編輯們都有讀寫障礙？
本來我對這些事早已 「冇眼睇」 (要是每次見到也寫出來，真是從早到晚寫不完)， 但你們也實在頻密了點 ...
容祖兒低留慰問咭及唱片
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/101107/18/l4fb.html
事件一直不之之了
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20101106&sec_id=15335&art_id=14632111
被當地兄妹在家中大除掃時撿獲
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20101113&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=12731&art_id=14657172
本來我對這些事早已 「冇眼睇」 (要是每次見到也寫出來，真是從早到晚寫不完)， 但你們也實在頻密了點 ...
容祖兒低留慰問咭及唱片
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/101107/18/l4fb.html
事件一直不之之了
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20101106&sec_id=15335&art_id=14632111
被當地兄妹在家中大除掃時撿獲
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20101113&sec_id=4104&subsec_id=12731&art_id=14657172
Friday, October 01, 2010
Ten unrelated things
1. It is time of the year again for school catering outlets to raise their prices. Good, at least one third of the students won't know last year's price.
2. And it is also time of the year to see International students, usually Chinese, going to the canteen with no idea what a "typical" meal looks like and grabbing a weird combination of food items. Usually it costs a lot (although they have no idea what a reasonable price is) and, more importantly, doesn't fill the stomach. Although, to be fair, it is indeed very difficult to pick anything reasonable. The only obvious choice is:
.
.
.
chips.
3. Why are (almost) all Erasmus students Spaniards? (Ok, there were two French yesterday...)
4. And girls? (At least those that I need/choose to deal with. Today the office was about to send another one to me. As soon as I hear it is a he, I redirect him to the next door.)
5. Of course, nothing wrong with Spaniards, nor girls, nor Spanish girls; I already had "Final Year Projects: I teach you in a Spanish way" twice in the past. (Readers of this blog should be old enough to get this.) Which probably won't happen this year, unless they assigned some extra load on me. That is when I had 20 vivas ("oral defence", in some sense) in a single week a couple weeks ago.
6. The average student here seems to have absolutely no stock market experience, unlike those in Hong Kong. I have yet to supervise one project student which really know how the stock market works.
7. I hope you don't mind me indulge myself a little bit here:
It doesn't happen very often, you know. Last year I think I topped only once and was then quickly surpassed. And I should spend half the time I spent on this game on a real stock market:
8. "A holding midfielder, right back, and center back away from an excellent starting XI and all injured." Actually according to BBC you can just about put out a team like this
Van Persie
Fabregas Frimpong Diaby Walcott
Gibbs Vermaelen Bendtner Ramsey
Almunia
The missing one is Denilson, who is daydreaming at the centre circle.
9. In the past two weeks or so there were at least 3 occasions of strangers in the street saying "Ni hao" to me, in different places and from different "types" of people (non-Chinese, obviously). Didn't know that many people know Putonghua. However, when I think about it a little more, it reveals something very disturbing (to me)... you know, in the past unknown strangers usually speak Japanese to me. Perhaps as years gone by I looked more and more like...
10. How should we "celebrate" the (63+1)th national day in 2013?
2. And it is also time of the year to see International students, usually Chinese, going to the canteen with no idea what a "typical" meal looks like and grabbing a weird combination of food items. Usually it costs a lot (although they have no idea what a reasonable price is) and, more importantly, doesn't fill the stomach. Although, to be fair, it is indeed very difficult to pick anything reasonable. The only obvious choice is:
.
.
.
chips.
3. Why are (almost) all Erasmus students Spaniards? (Ok, there were two French yesterday...)
4. And girls? (At least those that I need/choose to deal with. Today the office was about to send another one to me. As soon as I hear it is a he, I redirect him to the next door.)
5. Of course, nothing wrong with Spaniards, nor girls, nor Spanish girls; I already had "Final Year Projects: I teach you in a Spanish way" twice in the past. (Readers of this blog should be old enough to get this.) Which probably won't happen this year, unless they assigned some extra load on me. That is when I had 20 vivas ("oral defence", in some sense) in a single week a couple weeks ago.
6. The average student here seems to have absolutely no stock market experience, unlike those in Hong Kong. I have yet to supervise one project student which really know how the stock market works.
7. I hope you don't mind me indulge myself a little bit here:
It doesn't happen very often, you know. Last year I think I topped only once and was then quickly surpassed. And I should spend half the time I spent on this game on a real stock market:
8. "A holding midfielder, right back, and center back away from an excellent starting XI and all injured." Actually according to BBC you can just about put out a team like this
Van Persie
Fabregas Frimpong Diaby Walcott
Gibbs Vermaelen Bendtner Ramsey
Almunia
The missing one is Denilson, who is daydreaming at the centre circle.
9. In the past two weeks or so there were at least 3 occasions of strangers in the street saying "Ni hao" to me, in different places and from different "types" of people (non-Chinese, obviously). Didn't know that many people know Putonghua. However, when I think about it a little more, it reveals something very disturbing (to me)... you know, in the past unknown strangers usually speak Japanese to me. Perhaps as years gone by I looked more and more like...
10. How should we "celebrate" the (63+1)th national day in 2013?
Leicester City sack manager Paulo Sousa
At last.
I don't know what went wrong; most likely it is not entirely the manager's fault. But clearly winning one game out of nine and staying rock bottom of the table is not acceptable, and something got to change. Particularly when we were promotion candidates last year and now the only thing we should be looking at is to avoid relegation.
I don't know what went wrong; most likely it is not entirely the manager's fault. But clearly winning one game out of nine and staying rock bottom of the table is not acceptable, and something got to change. Particularly when we were promotion candidates last year and now the only thing we should be looking at is to avoid relegation.
Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Managers Association, said: "How can a chairman expect to deliver success at a football club when a talented manager is recruited and dismissed within two months?Never mind success, he delivered disaster within two months.
"Knee-jerk dismissals, and the chopping and changing of managers will not deliver success on the field and is incredibly destabilizing to the entire club.Fair points, but just keep the second half of the final sentence, would you? Presumably the League Managers Association is an association to speak for managers' benefits, so don't speak like as if you are so caring about a club's success.
"Leicester City Football Club has had 14 managers since 2004 and six whilst the current chairman has been at the club.
"Clearly the club has to examine its manager recruitment strategy as their current approach does not work.
"It is damaging to the club and its fans and is an inappropriate way to treat talented managers and their careers."
Monday, September 27, 2010
保住 X X X
有朋友問我，釣魚島事件你怎麼不發表一點意見，譴責一下日本。我說，雖然腳下一片自己的土地也沒有，但對於領土的問題，我也是很在意的。最早的時候，我在 一個論壇上看見這事，我義正辭嚴的寫了一句，「保住釣魚島」，結果該論壇告訴我，我試圖發表非法的內容，請修改。我百思不得其解，直到把帖子改成了「保住 尖閣列島」，這才順利合法的發表了。
韓寒，《保住非法字符》，《蘋果日報》2010年9月19日
Sunday, September 05, 2010
梁文道：她也是個母親
菲傭 Molina流着眼淚告訴藍佩嘉：「有時候我會在晚上哭。我會想，我正在照顧別人的小孩，那誰來照顧我的小孩呢？這麼多年來，我都不在他們身邊，他們總是 問我，媽媽，你為甚麼總是不在？我說，我雖然不在，但這是為了你的未來」。
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Q&A: 躁狂抑鬱症
躁狂抑鬱症近日成為城中熱話，我們因此特別請來著名精神科醫生阮蒙能明回答大家的一些疑問。
躁狂症成因為何?
躁狂症一般是因為小孩年少時過度「受父母關心」，致恃寵生驕，加上家境優秀，「要乜有乜」，養成哈哈霸霸，唯我獨尊的性格。另外吸毒者由於腦神經受損，也較易獲此病。
躁狂症有何病徵?
躁狂症患者病情受控時，除了面色比較難看(即俗語所謂「X口X面」)外，一般表現正常。但病發時會有攻擊性，像潑婦罵街般罵人，打人，毀壞物件等。
怎樣診斷病人是否患躁狂症?
如上所述，躁狂症病徵和一般「發老脾」，醉酒鬧事等極為相似(另請看「治療」一段)，臨床上無法分辨，須由專科醫生詳細診斷。
那專科醫生又如何診斷?
很簡單，由於躁狂症患者皆家境良好，醫生只須收取高昂診金，付得起者即為躁狂症患者。
躁狂症如何治療?
躁狂症無法根治，只能盡量控制病情，首要為病人減壓，如到外國散心等。飲酒亦是一種治療方法，因此常有躁狂症病人醉酒鬧事，此乃治療一部份，易與病徵混淆。
遇到躁狂症病人病發應如何處理?
應盡量避免刺激病人情緒，盡量迎合，如病人打你左邊面，應把右邊面也給病人打。
躁狂症患者病發時的犯罪行為應受懲罰嗎?
執法人員首先應避免執法，如因無法分辨而已被捕者，應只控以最輕控罪，並委派最仁慈的法官審理。病人會出示付出高昂診金之後得到的病歷證明，法庭應以治療代替監禁等懲罰。上文已說明，部份醉酒犯事行為乃治療一部份，況且監禁只會傷害病人自尊，亦令病人無法接受療程(即無法度假)，會使病人病情惡化，法庭不應以此摧毀病人一生。另由於躁狂症無法根治，因此病人大多會接二連三犯案，這不應作為加重判刑的理由。記著，躁狂症患者是病人，不是壞人，他們本質是好的。
我們又怎知每個躁狂症患者本質都是好的?
上面已說明，躁狂症患者有良好家庭背景，因此本質都是好的。
但為什麼「有良好家庭背景」就等於「本質都是好的」?
你是那家媒體的?
躁狂症成因為何?
躁狂症一般是因為小孩年少時過度「受父母關心」，致恃寵生驕，加上家境優秀，「要乜有乜」，養成哈哈霸霸，唯我獨尊的性格。另外吸毒者由於腦神經受損，也較易獲此病。
躁狂症有何病徵?
躁狂症患者病情受控時，除了面色比較難看(即俗語所謂「X口X面」)外，一般表現正常。但病發時會有攻擊性，像潑婦罵街般罵人，打人，毀壞物件等。
怎樣診斷病人是否患躁狂症?
如上所述，躁狂症病徵和一般「發老脾」，醉酒鬧事等極為相似(另請看「治療」一段)，臨床上無法分辨，須由專科醫生詳細診斷。
那專科醫生又如何診斷?
很簡單，由於躁狂症患者皆家境良好，醫生只須收取高昂診金，付得起者即為躁狂症患者。
躁狂症如何治療?
躁狂症無法根治，只能盡量控制病情，首要為病人減壓，如到外國散心等。飲酒亦是一種治療方法，因此常有躁狂症病人醉酒鬧事，此乃治療一部份，易與病徵混淆。
遇到躁狂症病人病發應如何處理?
應盡量避免刺激病人情緒，盡量迎合，如病人打你左邊面，應把右邊面也給病人打。
躁狂症患者病發時的犯罪行為應受懲罰嗎?
執法人員首先應避免執法，如因無法分辨而已被捕者，應只控以最輕控罪，並委派最仁慈的法官審理。病人會出示付出高昂診金之後得到的病歷證明，法庭應以治療代替監禁等懲罰。上文已說明，部份醉酒犯事行為乃治療一部份，況且監禁只會傷害病人自尊，亦令病人無法接受療程(即無法度假)，會使病人病情惡化，法庭不應以此摧毀病人一生。另由於躁狂症無法根治，因此病人大多會接二連三犯案，這不應作為加重判刑的理由。記著，躁狂症患者是病人，不是壞人，他們本質是好的。
我們又怎知每個躁狂症患者本質都是好的?
上面已說明，躁狂症患者有良好家庭背景，因此本質都是好的。
但為什麼「有良好家庭背景」就等於「本質都是好的」?
你是那家媒體的?
Monday, August 02, 2010
新聞改寫練習
依家 D 新聞硬係詞不達意 ，等我幫你改寫下：
#1
終審法院法官包致金的姪女，今年初在司徒拔道一宗交通意外中，掌摑警員，她早前承認襲警、不小心駕駛及拒絕酒精呼氣測試三項罪名，今早在東區裁判法院，被判感化十二個月、罰款八千元及停牌一年，感化期間要到美國進行針對精神問題的住宿治療度假，為期三個月，返港後再進行戒酒治療，並定時提交進度報告，如果感化官膽敢不滿意進度，可要求法庭延長感化期被告可要求掌摑感化官。 裁判官指，被告已有兩次襲警記錄，今次的案情更嚴重，但如果不判罰，會對公眾帶來錯誤訊息，但被告的感化及心理報告指出，她患有燥狂抑鬱症經常哈哈霸霸，導致有酗酒問題醉酒鬧事，考慮到被告有好的學歷及家庭背景我同人地叔父一場同事，認為她應該接受治療，因此不考慮判監。
#2
擁有兩個學士學位、放棄百萬年薪設計師工作的保育人士馮炳德，繼去年因襲警罪判囚兩個月後再惹官非，去年1月他參與爭取雙普選遊行時，被指用手肘撞向警員令其跌倒而被裁定襲警罪成，昨被判囚15周及賠償受襲警員8000元。裁判官判刑時直斥馮視法律特區政府高壓統治為無物，我地喜歡屈你襲警便屈你襲警，又指遊行並非「擋箭牌」咁你有冇法官親戚吖，警員亦無理由受到欺負和虐待演技不被認同的侮辱，最後更拒絕馮保釋等候上訴的申請。
下面呢段就唔改了，只係等你引以為鑒：
退休高等法院法官阮雲道幼子阮家輝，日前疑醉酒中酒精毒暴斃；十年前因涉嫌藏毒而免被起訴、卻惹起軒然大波的阮家輝，本月五日被 鄰居揭發他在何文田寓所暴斃，相信死去多時，初步懷疑是飲酒過度致酒精中毒致命，並無可疑，其父至今仍未能接受愛兒死去的事實，其遺體將於今日進行火葬。
#1
終審法院法官包致金的姪女，今年初在司徒拔道一宗交通意外中，掌摑警員，她早前承認襲警、不小心駕駛及拒絕酒精呼氣測試三項罪名，今早在東區裁判法院，被判感化十二個月、罰款八千元及停牌一年，感化期間要到美國
#2
擁有兩個學士學位、放棄百萬年薪設計師工作的保育人士馮炳德，繼去年因襲警罪判囚兩個月後再惹官非，去年1月他參與爭取雙普選遊行時，被指用手肘撞向警員令其跌倒而被裁定襲警罪成，昨被判囚15周及賠償受襲警員8000元。裁判官判刑時直斥馮視
下面呢段就唔改了，只係等你引以為鑒：
退休高等法院法官阮雲道幼子阮家輝，日前疑醉酒中酒精毒暴斃；十年前因涉嫌藏毒而免被起訴、卻惹起軒然大波的阮家輝，本月五日被 鄰居揭發他在何文田寓所暴斃，相信死去多時，初步懷疑是飲酒過度致酒精中毒致命，並無可疑，其父至今仍未能接受愛兒死去的事實，其遺體將於今日進行火葬。
Friday, July 02, 2010
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Doctor Who Episode 5.13: The Big Bang
Jaw-dropping. Mind-boggling. Magical. Wonderful. Amazing. I don't know of enough adjectives to describe it. This is the work of a pure genius.
So my predictions were mostly right. The episode did start with Amedia in 1996 - but I wouldn't have thought that it was the exact same scenes as in The Eleventh Hour, down to the first shot of a red, revolving pinwheel! (That's the reason why that slot is included in Episode 1...)
Then you have loads of complete surprises in the next 10 minutes, each being so mad that any single one can make you fall off your chair.
And again I was correct that the escape from the Pandorica is timey-wimey, although a hundred times simpler than I thought. I'm surprised that half of the Internet cannot get their heads round about the escape, asking things like "but how did he get out in the first place"! It is just a self-consistent time loop, people! There is no beginning and no end! You're watching a time travelling show and cannot understand a self-consistent time loop?! How did you comprehend the DVD easter egg and the transcript of conversation in Blink?
And the now infamous forest scene. It's not about the jacket, really, it is about the doctor saying something completely out of context and the tone in which he say it.
Just like many other Moffat episodes, you have everything in one episode: fun, sad, romance, wit, and of course, mind-boggling time travel. The emotional scenes with the Doctor preparing to fly the Pandorica, and speaking to sleeping Amelia, is very moving. And of course there is the
"something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" line. Pure genius. From now on this saying will have a completely different level of meaning. Why had nobody ever thought of that in the past 47 years?! I think Steven Moffat must have first thought of it and then constructed the entire series around the idea...
And yes, I predicted it too, that not everything will be resolved in this series.
Some people will complain that the episode makes no sense, particularly with respect to the "remember and people can come back" thing. I still think the series is mostly internally consistent logically (but see below), despite not really offering any scientific explanation. But there were never any "real" scientific explanation anyway. At the end, I think the issue is whether you prefer "logic without science" or "science without logic"; I know which one I prefer.
So here is my list of complaints, or notes about unresolved points:
Jaw-dropping. Mind-boggling. Magical. Wonderful. Amazing. I don't know of enough adjectives to describe it. This is the work of a pure genius.
So my predictions were mostly right. The episode did start with Amedia in 1996 - but I wouldn't have thought that it was the exact same scenes as in The Eleventh Hour, down to the first shot of a red, revolving pinwheel! (That's the reason why that slot is included in Episode 1...)
Then you have loads of complete surprises in the next 10 minutes, each being so mad that any single one can make you fall off your chair.
And again I was correct that the escape from the Pandorica is timey-wimey, although a hundred times simpler than I thought. I'm surprised that half of the Internet cannot get their heads round about the escape, asking things like "but how did he get out in the first place"! It is just a self-consistent time loop, people! There is no beginning and no end! You're watching a time travelling show and cannot understand a self-consistent time loop?! How did you comprehend the DVD easter egg and the transcript of conversation in Blink?
And the now infamous forest scene. It's not about the jacket, really, it is about the doctor saying something completely out of context and the tone in which he say it.
Just like many other Moffat episodes, you have everything in one episode: fun, sad, romance, wit, and of course, mind-boggling time travel. The emotional scenes with the Doctor preparing to fly the Pandorica, and speaking to sleeping Amelia, is very moving. And of course there is the
"something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" line. Pure genius. From now on this saying will have a completely different level of meaning. Why had nobody ever thought of that in the past 47 years?! I think Steven Moffat must have first thought of it and then constructed the entire series around the idea...
And yes, I predicted it too, that not everything will be resolved in this series.
Some people will complain that the episode makes no sense, particularly with respect to the "remember and people can come back" thing. I still think the series is mostly internally consistent logically (but see below), despite not really offering any scientific explanation. But there were never any "real" scientific explanation anyway. At the end, I think the issue is whether you prefer "logic without science" or "science without logic"; I know which one I prefer.
So here is my list of complaints, or notes about unresolved points:
- The universe takes a rather long time to collapse... 2000 years, no less.
- A restoration field? Why would anyone build a prison which not just keeps the prisoner in stasis, but even restore life (and everything else)?
- The Doctor said Amy "grew up next to the crack for so long". Really? Amelia prayed to Santa, presumably not too long after the crack appeared, and then the Doctor arrived to seal it off.
- Why exactly erasing the Doctor from the timeline makes him travel backwards in time with two of them at the same time/place?
- Who is the shadowy figure in Episode 1? Presumably it is the Doctor, although they choose not to show the same scene.
- I suppose Amy's change of name may even be attributed to the Doctor implanting this to her as he gave his bedside story.
- If the universe is rebooted, why did River Song still remember the Doctor? And she should be sent back to prison at some point after this episode, since she needs to be taken out of Stormcage in the Byzantium episodes. Just in case Moff forgets...
Saturday, June 26, 2010
算把啦...
很好，大家都看世界杯，facebook 也沒有人談政治了...
民主黨早已是一個靠「地區工作」(也就是靠飲飲食食，攏絡選民)，面目模糊的政黨，和民建聯在很多方面都差不多。他們提出這個方案，最大的好處是為他們提供「就業機會」。議員也要食飯的，像李華明呀，劉慧卿之類，還有之下各級大小議員，不做議員不知可以做甚麼。還有很多 「靚」 跟你搵食的，你唔食佢地都要食。(所以我從來都反對全職議員，又開辦事處「服務市民」甚麼的。) 現在多了十個議席，直選便容易了，像劉慧卿，要不是上次中聯辦要玩死田北俊，早就落選了。區議員更是這種 「地區工作」政黨的強項。最好加至六百個議席，他們便最高興...
這個黨還經常強調要和「中央」溝通。溝乜X野通呀! 那是一個滿手鮮血，靠屠殺自己國民維繫的政權呀!
可是說了這麼多，唔想咁樣，可以點樣? 和中央「爭取」民主根本就是不可能的事(你以為人家是傻的嗎?) 你要麼搞暴力革命; 不幸大部份人都認為這太「激進」，那就只好認命，人家施捨甚麼你便要甚麼好了。現在民主黨「爭取」到這個，也是聊勝於無，總不比原本差，也不一定對繼續「爭取」普選有太大負面影響(反正也不會爭取得到)。只是你先前話說得太盡，一臉正氣的，甚麼沒有路線圖絕不支持云云，現在轉軚便難看點...
那邊廂社民連也是「爭唔落」。本來我很支持別人以暴(議會暴力，街頭抗爭) 易暴(政權暴力) 的，但你怎能說出癌上腦這種惡毒語言...
民主黨早已是一個靠「地區工作」(也就是靠飲飲食食，攏絡選民)，面目模糊的政黨，和民建聯在很多方面都差不多。他們提出這個方案，最大的好處是為他們提供「就業機會」。議員也要食飯的，像李華明呀，劉慧卿之類，還有之下各級大小議員，不做議員不知可以做甚麼。還有很多 「靚」 跟你搵食的，你唔食佢地都要食。(所以我從來都反對全職議員，又開辦事處「服務市民」甚麼的。) 現在多了十個議席，直選便容易了，像劉慧卿，要不是上次中聯辦要玩死田北俊，早就落選了。區議員更是這種 「地區工作」政黨的強項。最好加至六百個議席，他們便最高興...
這個黨還經常強調要和「中央」溝通。溝乜X野通呀! 那是一個滿手鮮血，靠屠殺自己國民維繫的政權呀!
可是說了這麼多，唔想咁樣，可以點樣? 和中央「爭取」民主根本就是不可能的事(你以為人家是傻的嗎?) 你要麼搞暴力革命; 不幸大部份人都認為這太「激進」，那就只好認命，人家施捨甚麼你便要甚麼好了。現在民主黨「爭取」到這個，也是聊勝於無，總不比原本差，也不一定對繼續「爭取」普選有太大負面影響(反正也不會爭取得到)。只是你先前話說得太盡，一臉正氣的，甚麼沒有路線圖絕不支持云云，現在轉軚便難看點...
那邊廂社民連也是「爭唔落」。本來我很支持別人以暴(議會暴力，街頭抗爭) 易暴(政權暴力) 的，但你怎能說出癌上腦這種惡毒語言...
Never ignore a coincidence
Doctor Who Episode 5.12: The Pandorica Opens
Moffat once said that The Eleventh Hour will be the most scrutinized hour of their television lives. At that point it sounded like it is because it is the first episode with an entirely new cast and crew, but just like almost any other line of dialogue that he has written, there is another level of meaning: after Episode 12, everyone is now trying to find out what clues have been hidden back in Episode 1. Except that a few obsessed nerds on the Internet has already noticed that right after Episode 1 and proposed all sorts of mad theories. For the first time ever, though, these mad theories have a chance of being actually true: like the fact that something is wrong with Amy's house, and that her entire life doesn't make sense, is now officially confirmed by the Doctor.
This episode does not answer any questions, but instead adds further mystery to them and raises new questions. Just a few examples:
The episode, by itself, doesn't seem to make sense if you think hard enough about it. But nothing is as simple as it first appears, and everything is related to everything else, and hopefully, like Moffat's other episodes in the past, it will make complete sense at the end - only this time it is not one episode, but one series. Though perhaps not everything will be explained. After all, there are no laws in the universe that require everything to conclude within one series.
Next week: my guess is that it will not try to resolve the cliffhanger, but directly shows Leadworth and Amelia in 1996(-ish). The big resolution almost surely will involve some timey-wimey stuff, like the doctor somehow escapes, travel back in time to multiple places to do something so that a whole series of events that lead to the escape itself will happen. It certainly will be mindblowing, and will take at least several days, if not weeks, of the collective wisdom on the Internet to work out a consistent explanation, or to decide that it just makes no sense.
Oh, and "Time can be rewritten." Let's see how the big reset button will be used this time.
Moffat once said that The Eleventh Hour will be the most scrutinized hour of their television lives. At that point it sounded like it is because it is the first episode with an entirely new cast and crew, but just like almost any other line of dialogue that he has written, there is another level of meaning: after Episode 12, everyone is now trying to find out what clues have been hidden back in Episode 1. Except that a few obsessed nerds on the Internet has already noticed that right after Episode 1 and proposed all sorts of mad theories. For the first time ever, though, these mad theories have a chance of being actually true: like the fact that something is wrong with Amy's house, and that her entire life doesn't make sense, is now officially confirmed by the Doctor.
This episode does not answer any questions, but instead adds further mystery to them and raises new questions. Just a few examples:
- What's the voice talking about the "silence will fall"? And why exactly the TARDIS explosion and the end of the universe lead to silence? (Other than that there is nothing left in the universe to make a sound - but that's not too meaningful is it?)
- When exactly was the Auton Rory constructed? No matter which point you pick, it doesn't quite make sense.
- Who really is Amy? Why did she change her name?
- Who/what is River Song?
- What exactly are the effects of those cracks? If the fact that Amy does not remember the Daleks and nobody remember the Cyberking is due to it, does it mean many aliens have fallen through it? Why?
- Why is there a damaged Cyberman?
- Who controls the TARDIS and makes it explode? And if somebody have that power, why not just go ahead and do it? What's the point of lining up a list of aliens and construct a box? Is that elaborate setup actually something to save the Doctor?
- Are the Dreamlord and the TARDIS-building plot in The Lodger important, as they are the only episodes not featuring in this one?
- Do those wrong badges and clocks really represent something?
The episode, by itself, doesn't seem to make sense if you think hard enough about it. But nothing is as simple as it first appears, and everything is related to everything else, and hopefully, like Moffat's other episodes in the past, it will make complete sense at the end - only this time it is not one episode, but one series. Though perhaps not everything will be explained. After all, there are no laws in the universe that require everything to conclude within one series.
Next week: my guess is that it will not try to resolve the cliffhanger, but directly shows Leadworth and Amelia in 1996(-ish). The big resolution almost surely will involve some timey-wimey stuff, like the doctor somehow escapes, travel back in time to multiple places to do something so that a whole series of events that lead to the escape itself will happen. It certainly will be mindblowing, and will take at least several days, if not weeks, of the collective wisdom on the Internet to work out a consistent explanation, or to decide that it just makes no sense.
Oh, and "Time can be rewritten." Let's see how the big reset button will be used this time.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Parmars, again
Now that I finally have nothing to do with them, I can wholeheartedly "recommend" this fantastic 1-bedroom flat offered for rental by Parmars Estates. (The link may not last very long but don't worry, I have backups of it.) There are lots of good things not in the descriptions and the pictures though which I think I should highlight to potential tenants.
- The advertised rent is 425 pounds per calendar month. You may naively think the same rent is to be paid across the entire rental period, but actually, the rent will increase by 7.5 pounds after every 6 months. You will be informed of this, of course - after you have paid the application fees (and are thus effectively tied to them).
- And if you think you can quit after 6 months, sorry, the contract length is actually one year, not the commonest 6 months. If you want a 6-month contract then it won't be the same rent.
- It says "white goods" and you will also be told "everything is included". However, when they finally produce an inventory (after you paid all fees, obviously) you will find out that the washing machine is not listed, and when you ask them then they will suddenly tell you that it is not included and what you see is only left behind from the previous tenant. Maybe it is not "white" enough. Don't worry, it works, just that I don't know how much longer it will still work - you will soon find yourself enjoying its screaming.
- And if you find there are things, like a TV, left behind by previous tenants when you first view the flat, and are promised they will stay, then be assured, they will disappear when you move in.
- They charge a deposit which is 1.5 times the rent, not the usual 100 pounds+rent. But never mind. Make sure you chase them for proof of participating in the Tenancy Deposit Scheme though. This may come handy when you try to get your deposit back at the end of the tenancy. You will find that your deposit is indeed held very "securely" and will take you lots of patience to recover them.
- Here is what can happen. Two weeks pass and there is no contact. Then they say the inspector is "on holiday" and will do the inspection next week. Next week comes and nothing happened and you only get another "next week" promise. Another week passes and they say the inspection report is sent to landlord and waiting for his approval. But just keep bugging them, at least there is one tenant who got it back in 5 weeks time. And make sure you talk politely too, or else they will accuse you of talking "nastily".
- If I say this I'm guaranteeing myself huge trouble, but this is my true personal experience. All I***** lettings agents are f***ing l***s. Don't get anywhere near them.
- I'm not sure why, but whenever you come back to your flat and open the door, there will be a cold breeze blowing out. Scary isn't it. And soon you will notice the flat's level of humidity. Look at some parts of the c******. And look behind the d**** too. And I'm very very sorry about this, I've already tried my best: take note of the b*** s******. Good luck.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Funny alien awkwardness
Doctor Who Epsiode 5.11: The Lodger
(Actually I've already watched Episode 12 when I write this but I'll pretend I haven't)
(Actually I've already watched Episode 12 when I write this but I'll pretend I haven't)
- Nothing much to say here: ok episode, funny light comedy. Matt Smith is really an alien. Only he could have done those things convincingly.
- The ending (as usual) doesn't make any logical sense. How did a crashed spaceship land on top of a flat without anyone noticing or without damage to the flat? Why is building a time machine the most important thing to save the ship? And fair enough if they try to build any time machine, but a TARDIS? A TARDIS is a bigger-on-the-inside timelord technology! And now perception filter can alter memory as well...
- I was expecting the ending of this episode to lead into Episode 12 like Utopia and Turn Left did, and 40 minutes on this still seemed to be the case. Which makes the resolution slightly disappointing. (Unless, someone is also building a TARDIS in the non-existent second floor in Amy's house... Or if Amy's house actually is a TARDIS...)
- This is the most boring Doctor Who Confidential ever. A scientist talking super-excitedly about the Prime Meridian, the solar system and wormholes. Anyone who watch this show regularly (i.e. not because they happen to have flipped into this channel), would have known all these already. I switched over to watch football, fortunately. Or maybe not.
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