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。