阿凡達

原本我跟自己說，不會看這部片的。海報並不吸引：藍色的科學怪人，加上坦克模樣的機械，配原始森林的背景，怎看都像蠻夷的電影，不合我喜歡小品電影的口胃。後來有人說，很好看，一定要看，甚至聽說有人看完要再看。既是全城熱話，我最後屈服了，而且為公平起見，買了最貴的IMAX影院的3D版本的戲票，好讓我見識現代電影的最高視覺成就。

結果呢，唔，我覺得這部片，還不怎麼樣。

這是追求感官刺激的困境 -- 時下的觀眾，有甚麼沒見過呢，要討好他們，難啊。最先進的科技，更多時間的製作，最多是逼真到跟真的一樣，嘩一聲的讚歎之後，下一次的期望只有越高越難滿足。而且，個人來說，野人怪獸飛禽異卉蠻荒險地戰機炮火的場面，雖令人目眩，卻稱不上悅目。

影片大事宣揚環保意識，跟剛結束的哥本哈根峰會，相映成趣。然而，美式的電影就是這樣說教；要說些話也說得吵吵鬧鬧，沒一點像歐洲電影的留白，讓觀眾自己靜一靜想一想。

片中某些元素，從亞洲角度來看，雖則可能純屬巧合，卻有些抄襲之嫌。如潘朵拉星球的浮動山群，就像天空之城一樣；土著選飛禽坐騎，你選牠時牠選你，又講人禽合一，令人想起金庸小說裏郭靖與小紅馬。片名亦似故弄玄虛，整色整水：阿凡達是梵文，指生物的體現或身體的顯示，卻未必是片中借用軀體那種意思。

翌日，讀報得知，有粉絲巧遇占士金馬倫，要求簽名，卻遭大導以粗口對罵。如報導屬實，更使我對電影導演的印象扣分。

話說回來，阿凡達雖不合我的口味，但總算緊湊無冷場。而且，當全世界都吹捧這部片的時候，也只有親自看過，才有發言權。如是，我中了電影商的圈套，但又能怎樣，哈哈。

In love

"...Christianity is supposed to be all about love but it's utterly useless when you're in love. There's not a blind thing you can do about being in love it seems to me except to sit it out. Jesus said love one another. He said the only commandments that matter are to love God and each other. He didn't say that loving, especially each other, tears you to pieces. Might have been better if he had said Don't love one another. Just try and get along with each other and if you feel love coming on go for a long brisk walk like father tells Uncle Edmund..."

-- Jane Gardam, Bilgewater

布甸與綠豆沙

那天我不自量力的想，不如寫篇像村上春樹的小說的網誌。其事是因為一樁小事。但我當時覺得很像村上先生的小說裏的情節。

我在內街的一間小店吃午飯，因為只一個人，所以帶了本村上先生的薄薄的小說，打算邊吃邊讀。餐牌上的午餐，都是飯麵之類，任選一款，然後牌上印了這樣的字句：

送布甸及咖啡/茶或紅豆沙或綠豆沙

老實說，我不明白那句說甚麼。餐飲及甜品配搭的組合看來很複雜。我也懶得研究或訊問，或向店員指出字句意思含糊，免得自己好像常常職業病發作似的。我隨便點了熱奶茶，又順口問問布甸是凍或熱的。

「布甸是凍的。」

「哦...那麼我不要布甸，要熱的綠豆沙吧。」

「如果要綠豆沙，便不能又要奶茶。」

「哦，是嗎...那好吧，我要綠豆沙。」

心想大概組合分為中式（糖水）和西式（布甸及餐飲），因此不能又要糖水，又要餐飲。

飯來了；我吃完飯後不久，綠豆沙也來了。我邊用邊翻小說，忽然枱上出現了一客布甸。

「這是怎麼了？」

「午餐送的。」

「哦，是嗎...」

於是，我吃完綠豆沙，又吃下布甸。

很明顯，我之前那中式西式的分類錯了。看來，布甸在任何情況下都隨餐附送的。不能說這樣跟餐牌不符，但做法未免有點另類。為甚麼點了紅豆沙或綠豆沙的客人，還要多吃一客甜品（布甸）呢。而我當時捧著小說，心想村上先生在這樣的情況會說甚麼呢。

我說過，這是小事一樁。不過還是寫下來了。

Holding Hands

I cannot forget this scene. They were walking in the street, side by side and close to each other, and there was something in the air. The camera followed them from one side, gliding along at the same pace as they walked. They were on some business, but their steps were light, and the weather was perfect. Then a wall came between the camera and them, and the view was blocked, but the camera kept moving along the wall, so presumably they were still walking behind the wall; and soon it was the end of the wall, and they emerged, holding hands. They were smiling; nothing spoken, but everything understood.

*

The camera panned upwards, the Old Town Square of Prague came into view, more and more of it, the Astronomical Clock, the Town Hall, and people; they still holding hands, swinging their hands slightly in the same rhythm as their light steps, treading through the tourists, smiling; they becoming smaller and smaller as the camera moved up and up, but not lost in the touristy crowd with their elegant outfit. Beautiful and young (but not too young), held in the hand of newfound love in the centre of Prague, the world was theirs.

*

The power of screen couple chemistry. May I present to you Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody, The Brothers Bloom.

懶散

我認為懶散是一種美德。因為只有從容，生活才有情趣；只有悠閒，世上才有藝術。

— 王迪詩 · 《蘭開夏道》之〈我為甚麼這樣懶〉

Korean Ceramics

Only recently did I learn that the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong is actually pretty close to my office, and I never imagined that a ceremics exhibition would be held there. Well, it was, and I went - I thought it would be a delightful stroll during the lunch hour away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping malls below.

*

It appears that a Culture Center has been established within the premises of the Consulate to promote Korean arts and crafts, and the exhibition was held in that Center. As the elevator doors opened, I was faced with a guard sitting beside a metal detector, one of those you need to walk through as you go through customs in an airport. I was greeted with, presumably, Korean. Seeing my puzzled face, the guard asked in English what he could do for me. I stated the cause of my visit. He examined my bag as I walked through the metal detector. Security checks passed and I entered the Consulate office.

*

It was small, and the Cultural Center was just two office rooms. One of them was a library, in which Korean books were displayed. The ceramics exhibition was in the other bigger room, but somehow the works were rather casually displayed on open tables, with a price marked against the title and the artist's name of each item, in the range of a few thousand Hong Kong dollars. The presentation there did not quite match the artistic mood of the exhibition poster. I finished looking at the exhibition in less than 10 minutes.

*

I took a booklet, which contained a beautiful collection of the photographs and detailed descriptions of the exhibits. Browsing through the booklet, entitled "Emanating Grace and Generosity - The Beautiful Story of Korean Crafts", I must say that it did a better job of promoting Korean ceramics than the exhibition itself. I realize how much photography, through the use of lighting and shadows, can help to create an artistic air.

*

Impressed indeed by the grace emanating quality of the ceramics, as shown in the photographs in the booklet, I somehow think of Japan Video Topics (日本風情畫). It is a series of programmes produced by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to let foreigners have more understanding of Japanese culture, society, technology, environment and so on. It used to be shown on TV in Hong Kong and, perhaps rather oddly, it was one of my favourite programmes. The tranquil style adopted in those series is strangely akin to the sense of serenity I feel in the ceramics photographs.

寫在國慶前

北京大柵欄



出發往北京前一天，大柵欄第二次發生傷人事件。回港翌日，北京即又有新疆餐廳爆炸。在京的幾天能安然無恙，頻呼好彩。一邊讀新聞，一邊想起當地高度鎮壓的緊張氣氛，猶有馀悸。

今次因工作關係到京匆匆一轉，見聞點滴，令我心情複雜。頭一天的下午，聽罷北大一位教授對當地法治情況及立法程序的尖銳批評，頓感大開眼界！其言論及思想之開放，令人精神一振，在當地的政治環境下，更是難得。教授語調平靜，不用講稿，徐徐道來，卻是字字珠璣，話裏有骨。活潑的例子跟幽默的評論，穿插於演說之中，觀眾的情緒，盡在掌握之內，拿捏的精準，足見其大師風範。講畢，眾人熱烈鼓掌，拜教授過人的感染力所賜，氣氛歡愉，但想深一層，面對國家法律制度的種種問題，內心是沈重的。教授用心良苦，愛之深才責之切，不見激動，卻見激情。他選擇以幽默的方式表達，倍添一份對現實的無奈。

晚上，大會安排眾人往戲院看國慶電影《建國大業》。此片在港還未上映，料不到竟能在京先睹為「快」。戲票不便宜，要六十元人民幣，但戲院沒有冷氣。看這官方電影，重溫中國近代血淋淋的歷史，心情又是複雜的。對照日間深刻的演講，一時覺得，一天之內不勝承受這般反差。走出戲院，在首府秋天晚上的涼風之中，猜想教授會怎樣評述電影的一些片段，例如毛澤東在如北海道薰衣草原般的田野上，跟小孩騎牛牛溫馨的一幕。

行程緊密，最後只有半個下午的時間，供我們到遊客區逛逛。當地領隊帶我們到大柵欄去，我們是驚訝的，後來有人跟她說了那裏近日連續兩次發生傷人事件，原來她之前並未聽聞。這些新聞，在香港可是頭條呢。忽然感到，新聞自由、資訊流通，並不是理所當然的。

在大柵欄附近，大概每五步會見到一對公安或武警，全副槍械裝備，緊盯途人。大柵欄事件後，城內不許賣刀，只見張小泉刀剪店拉了半道閘（為什麼是半道閘？），閘前有兩名武警看守。坦白說，走在這樣的街上，我是感到不安的，彷彿越是鎮壓，越是引人作亂反抗。中國是否要這樣的國慶？

晚上，獲安排到國家大劇院聽音樂會。當局高度戒備，除用X光檢查隨身物品，及要入場者通過金屬偵測器外，凡有相機的更要寄存。由入口到座位，像過境一樣，可花上半小時。有人在場內用電話拍照，即被場內人員用紅燈指示棒照射，全場可見，但當事人卻多懵然不覺。

回港之後，讀到報章標題「G20取代G8 中國地位提升」。另一份報章訪問曾憲梓，他說了「你看，六四後中國的經濟發展，不是飛黃騰達麼」的發達論。訪問背頁，是該報編制的「建國六十年專輯」，標題為「新中國 歷史瞬間（1976-2009)」，下面圖文並茂列出這三十多年來的歷史事件，其中一幀圖片是「六四經典一幕：青年王維林隻身阻擋坦克」。我掃讀三十年的回顧，眼眶不自覺濕了：能在發達論廣傳的國慶氣氛下，在報上讀到這些史實，其實也不是理所當然的。我想起程翔說過，內地一些新聞工作者冒死爭取新聞自由，香港的傳媒如自我審查，是要羞恥的。

十月一日國慶燒煙花的時候，想想我們在慶祝甚麼。煙火的灰燼背後，我大概會想起北大那敢言的教授，而在心裏放個小煙花 -- 國家仍有像他這樣的人，是值得慶祝的。

Punishments

Osaka in spring


The wisdom in Greek myths is awe-inspiring even in the modern age. Punishments, for one, are often so creatively cruel that the message of the tale gets right across.

In one version of the myth, the beautiful nymph Echo had a tendency to talk too much. Echo distracted Hera from Zeus with long and entertaining stories, so that Zeus could take advantage of the moments to attend to other females. When Hera found out, she punished Echo by making it impossible for Echo to say anything other than repeating others' last words. Some application of the tale to office politics?

Echo then fell in love with a vain youth named Narcissus. He is known for his haughtiness in spurning his admirers. One day, Echo followed Narcissus into the woods. She was longing to speak to him but was unable to speak first. She could only foolishly repeat Narcissus' shouting "Who's there?" until, finally, when she revealed herself and was predictably rejected. Echo was heartbroken. Nemesis heard the prayer asking that Narcissus suffer from unrequited love just as he had done to others. Nemesis made Narcissus come across a deep pool in the forest and see his own reflection for the first time, not realizing the image was one of himself. He fell for the reflection and, not being able to act on this love, stabbed himself to death. The flower narcissus sprang from his blood.

What a lovely tale warning people against being cruel to their admirers - the ending was stark comical, yet deserving.

笑死

「如果一個理髮師，他只為不為自己理髮的人理髮。各位同學：這樣他會否為自己理髮呢。

如果他只為不為自己理髮的人理髮，他會為自己理髮。如果他為自己理髮，他就不是一個不為自己理髮的人，他就不會為自己理髮。這也是悖論。

人以為自己的思考和諧、美麗、敏感、優雅。但人卻陷入自己的邏輯思考裏面，不能自拔。

人以為自己解決問題，人卻在解決問題的當兒，創造更大的問題。

人還以為自己的思辯能力為最大呢。......」


— 黃碧雲 · 《七種靜默》

* * *

猶太諺語謂：人一思考，上帝就發笑。假如上帝真的已死，告訴尼采，祂大概是笑死的。

Prep

Another helping of Curtis Sittenfeld after American Wife. Prep is actually Sittenfeld's first novel, and it received mixed reviews - while it was applauded for its strong detail and narration, others criticized it for its weak plot. As I was taken through the life of an ordinary teenage girl in Ault, a prestigious and competitive boarding school near Boston, I was over and over again struck by a number of convincing dialogues (or monologues, rather) - they echoed certain encounters and thoughts of my own so vividly that the experience was almost creepy. I have noted down in here some quotes from the book that have touched a chord; given that they have been quoted out of context, there is a chance they do not appear as persuasive as in the story itself.

Notwithstanding that Prep may be light on plot, it is a truthful, if not cruel, account of issues arising from class, race, sex, family and people that a young girl has to handle in a privileged yet possibly suffocating environment. A word of advice to local parents therefore: before rushing to queue for a place for your child at Harrow School in Tuen Mun, read Prep - at least you'd know what the huge bills may be paying for, and what your child may be learning other than pretentiousness.

* * *

"I was worried someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely."

"I'd researched boarding schools at the public library and written away for catalogs myself. Their glossy pages showed photographs of teenagers in wool sweaters singing hymns in the chapel, gripping lacrosse sticks, intently regarding a math equation written across the chalkboard. I had traded away my family for this glossiness."

"I imagined that if I left South Blend, I would meet a melancholy, athletic boy who liked to read as much as I did and on overcast Sundays we would take walks together wearing wool sweaters."

"If I wasn't literally getting dumber, I knew at least that I'd lost the glow that surrounds you when the teacher think you're one of the smart, responsible ones, that glow that shines brighter every time you raise your hand in class to say the perfect thing, or you run out of room in a blue book during an exam and have to ask for a second one."

"I think, looking back, that this was the single best thing about Ault, the sense of possibility."

"It was more when things slowed down, during the parts when you were supposed to have fun, that my lack of friends felt obvious..."

"I believed then that if you had a good encounter with a person, it was best not to see them again for as long as possible lest you taint the previous interaction."

"Of course, now I wonder where I had gotten the idea that for you to participate in a gathering, the other people had to really, really want you to be there and that anything short of rabid enthusiasm on their part meant you'd be a nuisance. Where had I gotten the idea that being a nuisance was that big a deal?"

"I thought maybe this was why you told stories to other people - for how their possibilities enlarged in the retelling."

"But making a lot of money didn't seem like something I'd be able to control; I'd gotten as far as Ault, but I wasn't sure I'd get any further. I wasn't smart or disciplined the way those kids were, I wasn't driven. Presumably, I'd always be aware of lives like these without living one; I couldn't confuse familiarity with entitlement."

"I hated them [family] because they thought I was the same as they were, because if they were right, it would mean I'd failed myself, and because if they were wrong, it would mean I had betrayed them."

"Later, after Ault, I reinvented myself - not overnight but little by little. Ault had taught me everything I needed to know about attracting and alienating people, what the exact measurements ought to be of confidence and self-depracation, humor, disclosure, inquisitiveness; even, finally, of enthusiasm."

"I've never since Ault been in a place where everyone wants the same things; minus a universal currency, it's not always clear to me what I myself want. And anyway, no one's watching to see whether or not you get what you're after -- if at Ault I'd felt mostly unnoticed, I'd also, at certain moments, felt scrutinized. After Ault, I was unaccounted for."

-- Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep

售貨員

那個下午街上熱得像個蒸籠，我想避一下暑便隨意走進一間小小的服裝店胡亂逛逛，卻在售貨員的慫恿下拿了一襲衣裳進更衣室，試上身後對售貨員的跨獎信以為真，迷迷糊糊的拿了信用卡出來簽賬，竟又給售貨員讚美我的簽名優雅 -- 真要命，讚穿衣好看還好，簽名卻是很個人的一回事，一讚還得了-- 我說不，敝簽名太簡單，太容易被冒簽啦，她再說一遍但真的很優雅啊，好像很由衷的樣子，教天真的我歡喜了一個下午。許久沒遇過這麼棒的售貨員了；今時今日，其實很需要這樣令人賓至如歸的服務態度呢。

Bells

Bells in Hallgrimskirkja, a church in Iceland


I often find it interesting how different civilizations, without communicating with each other in their early stages, came up with more or less the same concepts - for example, marriage as an institution, family as a unit of society; fairy tales, ghost stories; kings, slaves...

But it was only until recently that I realized how bells enjoy a similar sort of universal existence. Bells, I have discovered, are found in churches in the West as much as they appear in temples in the East. Indeed, bells are often connected with religion in different cultures. I find that rather intriguing.

Perhaps a common use of bells is to summon the congregation at the hours of worship. They therefore also serve as reminders of the time, like in clock towers. However, I have also read that chimes from bells are also supposed to make us mindful of the moment as we hear them - to pause, and perhaps to think, but more importantly just to pause - so often are we carried away by our troubles, our desires and the quick pace of life that we are not mindful of our own existence or of the moment.

The purity and simplicity of chimes help us crystallize our thoughts and feel for an instant of inner peace. These days, "mindful living" is becoming chic. There are even "mindfulness bells", downloadable from the web - essentially an audio clock that can be set to chime at regular intervals or randomly, and can be used in the office or at home. It is used to aid meditation and the practice of mindful living by reminding us to pause on the chime.

影藝重開

臺北光點電影院


影藝重開，真教影迷興奮！我後知後覺，最近才發現；但原來影藝自四月起已在九龍灣重現了。

影藝06年在灣仔結業，一晃眼已快三年。回想讀中學的時候，我看電影最愛「蒲」影藝，喜歡那裏人少，偌大的影院裏只有小貓三四隻，各人靜靜地看，不用擔心鄰座會有人不識趣地沙啦沙啦的把零食袋子撕開，也不用忍受聰明過頭的觀眾在後排預告劇情。看到感人處，讓眼淚俏俏地流下，待淚痕在冷氣中揮發，不必像在如飛機經濟客位一般擠的其他電影院裏，恐防給陌生的鄰座看見。多少個周末下午，少年的我躲在影藝黑暗的一角，體味光影中的悲歡離合和人生歷練，到散場重見天日時，輕歎一聲，以為自己懂了很多。

寫到這裏，赫然發覺我現在對灣仔影藝的回憶，就如父執輩對灣仔以前的東城、麗都、京都、國泰的懷念；大概每一代的人都有屬於他們的電影院吧。

當大部分的影院都已採用電腦印刷的門票時，影藝仍保留用人手劃位、由售票員撕給你的那種戲票；我還保存了一兩張，許多年後可能很值錢呢。

重開的影藝，入口仍未裝修好，但富時代感的裝潢，並不似灣仔的影藝。幸好我去當日，仍是偌大的影院裏只有小貓三四隻，讓我重拾那種久違了的靜靜享受電影的感覺。美中不足的是，帶位員的素質有待改善 -- 好幾次她都自顧自盯著銀幕，而竟然不察覺有人進了來，讓觀眾要自己摸黑找了一會，她才追上來，真是。

希望影藝不要再關門，能一直開下去！

The unspoken no

MCGREGOR: Do you believe in God, sir?

HANKS: Father, I simply believe that religion -

MCGREGOR: I did not ask you if you believe what man says about God. I asked you if you believe in God.

HANKS: I’m an academic. My mind tells me I will never understand God.

MCGREGOR: And your heart?

HANKS: Tells me I’m not meant to. Faith is a gift that I have yet to receive.

-- Angels & Demons

* * *

I find the film just so-so , but you've got to love these lines.

給YT

許多年後，當他坐擁甚麼門、甚麼山、甚麼碧海藍天的豪宅時，總有一刻，在夜闌人靜的那麼一剎那，正為一單大deal 、孩子的入學或老婆的囉嗦而心煩的時候，憶起年少輕狂的歲月：在大學時代， 那時還未真正懂得人生的甜酸苦辣，卻曾經有這樣的一位女孩，對自己真心地發過山盟海誓；雖然可能有些一廂情願，但那種純潔堅定，比起身旁熟睡的女人手指上的鑽戒，更來得耀眼 -- 周遭的千萬豪裝和潮服，突然變得庸俗不堪。 午夜夢迴，惆悵往往令人措手不及， 因為，這叫人生。

Out

So, CD-players are "out". Not only out, but they are hardly even available in the shops.

I woke up to this fact when I was trying to look for a small bedside radio-cum-CD-player to replace my old radio. I had in mind those portable ones - perhaps an updated version of those radio-plus-tape-and-CD-playing combos that used to be very popular a few years ago.

I checked a number of shops and, to my horror, none of them had such products anymore! Instead, there were many alarm-plus-radio-cum-i-pod / i-phone-players - what people apparently put on their bedside these days.

It appears then that the market expects everyone to have at least an i-pod or an i-phone. Perhaps that is right - when even the Queen uses i-pod, so should everyone else, shouldn't it. In a recent visit to the UK, Michelle Obama gave the Queen an i-pod loaded with specially selected songs as a present. As Michelle Obama is a fashion icon these days, nothing can be more symbolic of the apparent fact that "CD-players are out" than her choice of present to the Queen.

In the end, I managed to find one radio-cum-CD-player set, of some unknown brand, at Fotomax (!). As I couldn't be bothered to load the contents of all my CDs to an i-pod or an mp3-player or a memory stick, and would quite simply like to play a CD directly, I bought the set. It works fine. However, its existence in my room reminds me, constantly, of the "generation gap" between myself and my own generation. What irony.

And for that matter, I think CDs will also be out before long - we may only be able to buy mp3 songs, probably to be loaded to our i-pods at the shops on payment. CDs go to the musuems.

絕對

教對聯的老師道，對聯是茶餘飯後有趣的話題，並即場示範，在白板寫了一道上聯：

一輪明月

叫我們猜猜下聯看。同學們靜默半晌，老師施施然寫出下聯：

三級艷星

班上頓笑作一團，拍案叫絕。對得多麼工整，卻又那麼狡猾！

老師又謂，對聯歸根於中國人的思維模式：凡事講相對而非絕對。道德標準是先有父慈才有子孝，天地萬物又是陰陽相對，自《易經》已有之。不禁失笑，心想小弟正同時報了貴校的《易經》入門，可真是巧合之極。想到八卦，乾坤震巽離坎兌艮，確又真的是自成四對，暗暗為那皮毛的所謂融匯貫通而沾沾自喜了一會。

中國人有時真是聰明過頭，反被聰明累 -- 早熟地悟出了萬物互相制衡的道理，而過份順應自然，窒礙了科學的發展；文學上講究對仗，令文人窮畢生的精力雕琢造句，留下令世界驚艷的美文，卻走上八股之路。在相對的思維裏追求「絕對」 -- 令人叫絕的對仗 -- 這是自古以來中國人的命運，有時真叫人感到心疼，卻又怪不得誰。

Oxford? Cambridge

NIXON: We've sat in chairs opposite one another, talking for hours, it seems - days on end - and yet I've hardly gotten to know you. One of my people - ah - as part of the preparation of this interview - did a profile of you, and I'm sorry to say - I only got around to reading it tonight. There's some interesting stuff in there. The Methodist background, modest circumstances. Then off to a grand university. Full of richer, posher types. What was it? Oxford?

FROST: Cambridge.

NIXON: Did the snobs there look down on you too?

FROST: I ... I ...

NIXON: Of course they did. That's our tragedy, isn't it, Mr. Frost? No matter how high we get, they still look down at us ...

* * *

Not so much about the snobs but the fine distinction between Oxford and Cambridge...the correction by Frost in the film is so familiarly awkward that I question myself the need for it whenever I make one. And then I question myself why (I questioned myself). Ah I hate the feeling - such much ado about nothing - yet I can't help feeling that tinge of awkwardness.

走訪諸葛亮

剛讀完這本遠流出版的《走訪諸葛亮》。編者謂這是他們頭一趟出版採訪歷史現場的傳記，我也是第一次讀這樣的書，感覺挺新鮮的。書本敘述諸葛亮的一生，而採訪者就一路追蹤其生平故事發生的地點，拍攝遺址和古跡的現貌。圖文並茂，既是傳記，又像旅遊書，讀來津津有味。

三國時代，英雄輩出，其中諸葛亮尤為後世所頌；除受無數的民間祠廟供奉，還有歷代文人以詩詞推崇：有杜甫的「功蓋三分國，名成八陣圖」、「三顧頻煩天下計，兩朝開濟老臣心」，蘇軾的「人也，神也，仙也，吾不知之，真臥龍也」，多不勝舉。

但也許真的是「故國神遊，多情應笑我」，讀畢本書，發現諸葛亮很多流傳千古的故事，甚麼草船借箭，借東風，空城計，經對比其他史料，編者斷定多半是假的；當中精彩細膩的情節，還靠《三國演義》定形。即使是歷史遺跡，亦備受爭議，如隆中及臥龍崗，均有所謂的孔明隱居古跡，令兩地鬧雙胞案。

編者說明要對諸葛亮去神化，並總括其人好完美主義，做事巨細靡遺，神經緊張。雖然其鞠躬盡瘁，死而後矣精神，仍獲認同，但這難免跟傳說的神機妙算，舉重若輕的形象有出入，令我有點失望。然而，編者沒有反駁《三國志》說其「少有逸群之才，英霸之氣，身長八尺，容貌甚偉，時人異焉」，總算為後人留點想像空間。（未知諸葛先生若知道自己的電影角色，最近由金城武飾演會有何感？）

本書還載有其他有趣資料，如諸葛亮的妻子，據載是個醜女。另又附有岳飛書《前出師表》的全文，印刷精美，氣勢不凡，讀來賞心悅目。除卻一些句法令人不習慣外（大概因為由臺灣及內地人編寫），此書為走訪歷史作了不錯的嘗試。

Inspiring

Just a short note on an inspiring story I read in the local newspaper the other day.

At the peak of his career, Lau was a giant in the printing industry, owning 5 factories, 10 homes, 3 Mercedes and a junk. Hit by SARS in 2003, his firm went bankrupt overnight. He was unemployed for 4 years until he did street cleaning last year. Salute to his ability to put aside his ego to take up a perfectly respectable job but which he probably never dreamt of doing before.

When he tried to apply for jobs with other printers, his former industry competitors thought it was a joke. Not computer literate, he took the trouble to learn from scratch and can now send e-mails. He secured an opportunity with a printer in the Mainland by e-mail.

I think of Churchill's quote during World War II: "If you are going through hell, keep going.". Lau has done it.

難得糊塗

歲晚收爐，索性偷懶，自己不寫，借人家寫的，放在這兒。黃明樂的精彩文章，如當頭棒喝；金融海嘯中，最緊要保持身心康泰，難得糊塗，共勉之。

http://wongminglok.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post_24.html