「一個城市和他的書店」

由梁文道以國語主講。

由於時間關係，沒有留足全場。梁的觀察，現略作筆記如下：

· 一個城市的二手書市場是否蓬勃，往往跟那城市的年齡有關。在歷史較悠久的城市如倫敦、東京，二手書市場很具規模。年輕城市如深圳，則只有大書城，卻未見二手書市場。

· 在書量特大的書店，如紐約的Strand，人只能「碰」到一本書，很難去找一本書。

· 一間書店本身就是一座城市 -- 高崇的書架就如摩天大廈，店內的書就如城市的文化縮影。

· 臺灣的誠品，能二十四小時營業，在其他城市並不多見，成為一個話題。誠品甚至是越夜越擠。有些旅客特地兩三點才去逛誠品，因為在其他城市不能半夜逛書店。梁最喜歡誠品的木地板。

· 深圳的書城給人的感覺像Walmart，書是很多，但排列的形式，卻令人覺得書種貧乏。反而「二樓書店」，能反映主人的性格。

北海道札幌一家書店的一隅

Crossover?

There is currently an exhibition at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre featuring oil paintings by Chinese artist Chen Lianjun (陳連軍). The paintings are of various Chinese landscapes, in particular autumn scenes. There are also some portraits of Chinese villagers.

I am no expert in oil paintings, but I find Chen's works very refreshing. It seems to me that he is good at handling light and shade. The reflections in rivers and lakes are convincing too. Also, the combination of oil paintings with Chinese landscapes is creative (although I am not sure if he is the first person to try it) - brush and ink drawings would be more common in this context.

However, there is another artistic "crossover" in the exhibition that is more unusual. Teddy bears are on display there. They are of an English brand called Merrythought. The company produces collectible antique teddy bears. Many of those on display are priced several thousand dollars. A few of them are even open for bidding. The receipts go to charity. A company chief from Merrythought sits at a counter in the exhibition to sign autographs (presumably on the bears).

This is the first time I come across teddy bears for sale in an oil paintings exhibition! A strange combination indeed...

精緻

「我在倫敦半工半讀的那七八年裏，生活中最有趣的一環是靜靜觀察英國小資產階級社群裏的文化與文風。那是脆弱如青瓷、靈巧如玉雕、深邃如哈瓦那雪茄的一種修省，源遠流長，遠觀而悅目，近狎則喪志。······」

— 董橋 · 《鄧永鏘的螢火蟲》

Brunch

Caffe Vergnano 1882 now serves brunch sets on Sundays. The price is HKD88, which is attractive when compared with their a la carte menu items. Also, there is so much to eat in the set! A choice among pan fried chicken, grilled tenderloin and deep fried fish fillet, plus ALL of the following: pasta salad, egg (scrambled or sunny side up), grilled tomato, asparagus, hash brown, fruit juice.

I abandoned the original plan to have just sandwich and coffee, and ordered a brunch set instead. It proved to be rather disappointing. The food wasn't hot enough - that might vary by chance though. Also, they used a bit too much oil, I think. The pasta salad wasn't quite what I expected.

Still, Vergnano is a nice alternative to Starbucks when you want some different food but in a similar atmosphere. Caffe Habitu is nice too.

The even more original plan of that day, however, was to have savoury crepe at the Brunch Club. Sadly, it was full. It occurs to me that we don't seem to have enough crepe eateries here. But I like crepes - I can smell a business opportunity!

卡通

看過一部電影，名為《感人至深小故事》。是由多個國家的動畫短片，拼湊而成的雜錦。

我印象最深刻的一段，是韓國的作品。故事裏，為著某些原因，城市的一區要清拆，主角沒有及時搬走，房子連人被起重機拔起；然後，又因為某些原因，工程暫停，起重機亦煞停，主角的房子在半空「吊吊揈」，真夠諷刺。

想是因為城市租貴，主角沒錢搬遷，故繼續住在半空。風涼水冷，她還有心情俯瞰腳下的無敵市景。坐廁通空，排泄物直跌往幾百呎下的街上。要上班或買東西，她就從家裏輕輕一躍，跳到起重機的巨型吊臂上，然後沿鋼梯爬下至地面。有時，一陣風吹來，房子在半空搖搖欲墜。城市人的無奈，生動的展現在觀眾眼前。

然後，那好不久才出現在她身邊的男友終於來看她了；他是一頭穿西裝的直立的會說話的貓。當然，他其實是人，但他每次來就只會吃光她的食物，並且很兇，故在她眼中，他是一頭有尖爪的貓（或者是老虎）。這自然教人想起卡夫卡筆下那個變成大蟲的打工仔。天馬行空的幻想，以圖畫活生生地呈現時，效果是挺震撼的。這時卡通的好處。

貓男友大吃一頓後，飽暖思淫欲，蠢蠢欲動要接近女友。女的惱他冷落已久，自是不願。只怪這貓太胖，他正要踏前，吊在半空的房子受其體重影響，重心移動，如海盜船般傾側。女友身手敏捷，立即跳到房間的另一邊，房子的重心總算平衡過來。貓男友再嘗試接近，房子又要傾側了，女的又立刻跳到對面平衡。如此往來數回，雙方對峙未能分出高下。以這種形象的比喻，表達都市男女關係的張力，令人感覺新鮮。

故事的結局，現在記不起了。那活潑的幾幕，卻還記憶猶新。感人至深，不一定是哭哭啼啼，也可以是一針見血，令人會心微笑。