第一次從博客來訂書

好久沒有很痛快的看中文書了，每次到China Town的世界書局，看到那幾本舊舊髒髒書，選擇又少又貴到令人咋舌，買書看書的好興致就少了大半。這回從博客來一口氣訂了十多本書，應該可以擋一陣子了。雖然還是很貴，但真的很快，等所有的書到到貨就寄出，然後UPS「隔天」就送到了，真的是隔天哩！貴死人不償命的運費果然有它的道理。拿到書後，馬上這本也翻一翻、那本也翻一翻，感覺就像一夕暴富的窮人興奮得把鈔票拋上天。爽！要不是明天要上班，真想通宵達旦的看書呀。

The Science of Sleep (戀愛夢遊中)

I saw this movie on DVD today. It was awesome; I liked it very much. The director Michel Gondry was the same director as "Eternal sunshine on a spotless mind". I like the magical world and the romantic affairs happened between two creative young minds illustrated in the movie.

The Jaw-dropping Bill

The bills of going to the ER two weeks ago came, two bills total $2000. This is too much if one did not have insurance. The quality of hospital is great, but still a jaw-dropping moment for me when first seeing the bill.

Bought a sofa finally.

Letting the apartment be empty for more almost an year, we finally decided to buy a couch. We went to the furniture stores near exit99 and literally went into all of them. We decide to buy a $350 sofa bed, which will be delivered on Wednesday. Good~

Finally got my Devil's picturebook

After more than 40 days since I ordered it, my 'Devil's picture book' finally arrived. Together with 'Absoluted Magic' and 'Pure effect' that are already in my library, it made my collection of Derren Brown's work complete. I am looking forward to see it. I went to play basketball this evening with the TSA guys after a long time without doing any physical exercise. When I got home, I was exhaustedly tired...

新Blog開張

我開了一個以魔術為主題的Blog囉!!網址是http://hatupsidedown2.blogspot.com/

生日快樂

生日為什麼快樂？生日快樂為了什麼?

我在公司帶一個Project，Team的成員包括在德國的合約公司的兩個工程師. 一月Oliver從德國來亞特蘭大出差三個禮拜，前幾天不經意聊到星期五(1/19)是他的生日。為了讓在異鄉的他高興，我偷偷訂了蛋糕，邀請了一些跟他熟識的同事給他生日的驚喜。

短短的十幾分鐘，大家都很高興，一起分享蛋糕、感染喜悅。

老闆和很多同事劈頭就對我說：Good job! good Team Building! The company can reimburse the cake.
當下我感到一陣反胃，什麼時候開始生日快樂不止是讓一個人擁有高興一天，讓別人給予祝福和分享他的喜悅?

過生日就過生日，Team Building個屁呀。


誰說沒人記得你的生日? 生日打開email一定會收到的一籮筐機器寄出的制式信。汽車公司、信用卡公司、會員卡公司...。
你會希望有人買了蛋糕祝你生日快樂滿腦子卻想著要把你口袋裡的錢掏出來嗎?

對我而言，記得一個人的生日，是珍重一個交情，是分享和祝福，是表達心意的機會。為一個人慶生，Team Building 最多可以算是bonus，但不應該是動機，否則就流於廉價虛矯。

我的生日願望是永遠不要變成看到有人幫別人慶生劈頭就說Good Team building 的人。

20000 Miles

I have owned my Civic for one year and 5 days now. Today it reached its 20000 miles! To gether we traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC and New Orleans, LA. Awesome car it is!

心情故事

牽手一輩子的浪漫會是怎樣?
這次旅行到了邁阿密, 夜晚十一點, 當大半的城市已逐漸睡去時, 海岸邊還有一群觀眾一個舞台還有一個樂團盡情地演奏拉丁風情. 觀眾熱情的回應, 舞台前很多小朋友大方的隨著強烈的節奏擺動, 舞台側邊不遠的地方一對中年夫妻吸引我的眼睛, 就著夜色兩個人旁若無人的相擁而舞 親吻, 彷彿海風, 夜色, 樂聲, 人群整個場景都是為了他們而設計的.


想起小時後看到過的廣告, 廣告的產品是一種統一250 c.c. 鋁箔包飲料好像叫做心情故事, 印象中的畫面顏色調性是灰灰藍藍的, 從房內往門外看有郵差的腳踏車經過,配上女聲口白. 很有味道. 剛找了一下找不到影片了 可是找到了口白文字:

自從爺爺去世後 , 好久沒看到奶奶那麼高興 . 每天下午 , 奶奶都興奮的在樓下等著郵差送信來 . 然後拿了掛號信後就躲在房間裡到很晚才肯出來 . 問奶奶是誰寄來的 , 為什麼每天都有人寫信給她 . 奶奶就是不肯說 . 昨天 , 我忍不住偷偷的到奶奶的房間 , 打開這些信 . 原來是奶奶把以前爺爺寫給她的情書 , 又一封一封的寄給自己 …

人人都有第一次

前一陣子太忙亂了 都沒跟大家報告

我拿到出國比賽以來的第一張罰單啦





上禮拜從公司趕去學校的路上, 明明車很多, 大家都開差不多快, 一個上坡轉下坡 很專心的在晃神的我, 完全沒注意到有一隻測速槍對著 (想說只是另一隻狗仔 被偷拍也不是第一次), 其他人都超會演的 馬上假裝開的很慢 只有我雖千萬元吾往矣, 當場被逮個正著.

還不知道多少錢 罰單上寫的是法院見
(也不一定要去啦 如果願意放棄把黑的說成白的的機會 就可以不用去), 據我同事說該警察的簽名至少價值三百元現大洋(當然是美金), 還外送保費提高好幾年, 真是...OOXX, 還好我過二十五歲了 否則好像會更貴

回想起 以前被開過的罰單

第一張罰單 大學的時候 才剛會開車 跟爸爸借車就開上高速公路, 跟lyee等人去六福村玩在高速公路上拍了一張三千元的大頭貼, 拿到罰單還不敢講 偷偷去把繳掉.

第二次 好像是騎摩托車 要跟跆拳道社/隊 聚餐, 忘記是誰打電話給我, 我騎上人行道接電話再騎下去就被開張違規行駛人行道.
好像沒有了....

不過也好啦 照很多人的說法, 我真的開太快了, 花錢買個教訓 應該至少會有一陣子會開比較慢了

<原載於ptt2個人板>

The Prestige

以魔術師為題材的電影很少, 今年竟然就出現了兩部, 兩部都推薦!
The illusionist (台灣還未上?)
The Prestige 頂尖對決

The illusionist 比較浪漫，片中有角色那種自以為很聰明的觀眾，讓人看了會心一笑, 個人很欣賞愛德華諾頓演的魔術師角色的氣質。

The Prestige的感覺佈局更為機巧，加入科學和魔術的reflection，講故事有記憶拼圖的味道(Christopher Nolan) 讓人看了還想重看一次，但是把魔術師講的太壞啦.希望不要有人看了之後而討厭魔術.

兩片的時代背景都不是現代，共同點是看完之後都會覺得魔術師心機很重. ;-) 兩部片裡面都穿插了一些魔術歷史裡的經典，像是橘子樹 口接子彈 等. 推薦一本書，對魔術的歷史有興趣的人可以參考: Hiding the Elephant. 作者Jim Steinmeyer就是設計自由女神消失的那位仁兄

<原載於ptt2個人板>
後記：後來發現除了這兩片外還有伍迪艾倫的SCOOP，也很讚!

機場

在英國機場發生緊急事件的那天
一大早五點多 開車到機場
用舊生的身分去接來念書的國中同學
這幾天，帶著他去買雜貨 鍋碗瓢盆....
想當初...

兩年了耶~ 真快呀
轉眼到了已經可以"想當初"的時候了
我覺得在機場裡面接人和被接的感覺很好
就像在懇親會看到家人的感覺
腦海中浮現 電影"愛是您愛是我"的片頭片尾

在機場入境大廳每天上演著好多故事:-)

<原載於ptt2個人板>

剎那間的永恆

主題：剎那間的永恆是否為我終身所追尋的標的抑或是我期待的終點
副標：到底是誰死了？


我們知道相聲在我們傳統民俗當中是一項非常重要的表演藝術，隨著時代的進步，它也慢慢的消失了，也沒有人給它寫祭文，也沒有人給它寫訃聞。

--李國修《那一夜》1985

在1985年，《那一夜》演出時，賴聲川剛從獲得加州柏克萊大學戲劇博士回到台灣。當時的台灣正處在一個經濟起飛，充滿變化的時代。在時間的列車快速前進的同時，也把很多傳統，很多生活中的事物拋下。其中一項正是當時已近凋零的相聲，而《那一夜》，一齣以「相聲」為主題的舞台劇，就是賴聲川為「相聲」所寫的祭文。表演工作坊的網站這麼介紹《那一夜》：「《那一夜》試藉「相聲」這一個正消逝中的藝術形式，來反映台灣現代社會中許多事物和觀念的快速消逝，正是評論家馬叔禮說的『用相聲來寫相聲的祭文』」。網站並蒐錄了當時中央日報的報導：「笑聲的背後，卻孕含著深切的悲傷，對於一切所失去的傳統，以及隨著時間所消逝的一切」。

「用相聲來寫相聲的祭文」，正像是禪宗裡的一個故事裡有三位以笑度化眾生聖人，其中一位聖人先死了，剩下兩個聖人還是像以前那樣的灑脫、快樂，用「笑」送走同伴。更像是王地寶送走了王地寶，越走越遠，越走越遠，看不到了…

那麼相聲祭文的內容要寫什麼呢，一篇好的祭文帶我們回顧死去的「相聲」，一篇不好的祭文會帶我們...(老師在講，你有沒有在聽)，最常聽到關於《那一夜》最後一段的討論就是，「他們死了嗎？」，這其實是個未解決的問題:)，就像是趙自強在問：「是莊周夢到了”伏”蝶，還是”伏”蝶夢到了莊周？」，是你作了一個夢？是舜天嘯作了一個夢？夢醒了嗎？誰又知道哪些是夢哪些不是夢呢？您也死過，您喝了忘魂湯，忘啦。

《那一夜》整篇祭文充滿了「消逝」的意象，一個晚上，舞臺上搬演著近百年左右的戲碼，何嘗不是剎那間的永恆：不知消失到哪去的小姐，找不到的小孩叫小狗，再到明天不定是風是雨抗戰，國父之死，八國聯軍，直隸大地震…相聲一路陪我們走過這許多的無常，帶給我們笑聲和歡樂。時間走過去了，真正的「常」恐怕只有「無常」了，所以當「相聲」送走了義和團，送走了老崔和老田，送走了黃胖子，送走了一個女的，最後「相聲」疲倦不堪，滿身泥濘，燈籠火光微弱，似乎快滅了似的，走過去了，走了，走了…..終於到了是時間送走「相聲」的時候了。而我們，如果不學習把握，隨時也可能會，啵!沒有了

後來呢？
後來我就開始聞到一股焦味…

再然後呢？
後來就有了一千零一夜的故事。

其中一夜好像是這麼說的：
(相聲)在我們傳統藝術當中，象徵我們民族的幽默感，它能代表群眾做社會批判，最直接的達成情緒的宣洩，相聲在台灣的發展曾經家喻戶曉，不過後來一度沒落甚至死亡了。...直到今天有些朋友認為相聲的精神，反而被西餐廳保留了。

(原發表於ptt相聲板)

Howl's Moving Castle

5/6/2006 Sat. We watched "Howl's Moving Castle". Very different from the popular CG style Animations created by American Studios, Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle presents a magical story in a fairytale style. I love many of Hayao Miyazaki's works a lot, for example, the classics: My friend Totoro, Kiki's delivery service. His works is not that straighforward thus evokes some thinking. As already presented in the previous work, Hayao pictured a world without war and pollution. It is a little weird to see the scenario of the movie in a late 1800s european city. But it feels fitted to the fairytale very well. As a strong contrast to the debut of modern technology showed by the steam vehicles and other machines or craft used in the war, "magic" is the power beneath the steel components, for example the moving castle was powered by fire demon Calcifer. And all the other magical thing that machine can do. However, more important is still the heart of human, who should be the lord of all these magic. Sophie was turned into a old lady by magic, but because of her heart, the way she face it shows the heart has power over magic. Another very important feature of Hayao Miyazaki's movies is the music, the music of Howl's Moving Castle was made by 久石讓, who is also the author of the Kikujiro no natsu.

Last, Ying found some funny thing about Howl's Moving Castle: the ten things Howl's Moving Castle teaches us.

Good night and Good luck

Friday night, Ying and I rent a DVD - Good night and Good luck directed by George Cloney. There were too many vocabulary we didn't understand, which made us not able to appreciate the movie very much. I rent this one because I read a piece news on UDN introducing this moive. It was reported that George collateralize his house (for 7.5 million USD) to start the movie. He said otherwise he won't have a good thing to left for human beings when he is 70. I admire such personality.

Japanese Dinner

Because of the MJ games we played for the past semester, we have collected a good amount of fund. So every body went for a dinner in a Japanese restaurant near Westin at buckhead. I believe I was there with Jaey, Lee, and Jaey's elder sister on Christmas 2004. The food was great. I had pork-don.

Interview experience

Our Team is going to recruit a new co-op during the summer. On Friday, a guy came for a on-site interview. My boss asked me join the interview. It was a extraordinary experience one can have I considered. His name is Clement and he is from France. During the interview, Vadim, ZY, and Madhav was there. Cement presented the project he did with he did his co-op in Phillips Research, Netherland. It was using Labview to enhance the infra-red photos in assisting medical usages. We also showed him around. After he finished and while he was waiting for the cab, I talked to him about the european ways (in education, in working). He said people he met there also get flexible working hours. However, they come in early and leave as early as 5 o'clock. Talking about education, he said it is more theoretical there (more practical in US). We also talked about some other things. It is good to talk to people from different countries. He seems to be very enthusiastic about the exploring his experience. He said he eagerly joined the activities he could find here. I need to do the same thing.Anyway, this experience, made me know more about what the people in the other side of the interview table thinks. I took notes on it. For example I think: 1. It is a good to go through the Resume when they ask you to introduce yourself. Not all the interviewer have checked them. Assume they know nothing. Point out those need further explanations 2. How knowledgable you are is a important question. The employer want to know how fast you can pick up the work. 3. Do not care too much about the facial expressions, they may be frowny only because they always do. 4. Ask questions, to the manager. They may try to show they know much. 5. Ask for advice from junior employee (me) for the interview if you get a chance to talk to him. 6. Tell stories.

Kuan's Dinner

in Sunday evening, Kuan invited Ying, Weichun, and me to her house and she cooked a French style dinner for us. She didn't make it on Saturday night to joing Ying's birthday party because she went to a concert. Lily and Fred was there also, we have a great dinner, and we were all talking in English. I did the quater to soda can trick for them. After the dinner, before going home, we went to Ted's house to get the fish's food, and we also visit the new 4 neighbors, that is the Physics 4. It was fun that one department, the "Theory Home" was much cleaner than the "Experiment Home". We all had a good laugh at such contrast.

Martin Nash's Lecture

Martin Nash, the charming cheat, held a Farewell lecture. I was lucky enough to join. To my surprising, there were not much people attended. He was awesome, when you watch him performs, you see an elegant move and Martin have reasons for all of them. "You should do this becuase...", I learned a lot. He was saying, one should add one's own personality to the performing. How to deal with such and such. For example, what to do when you need to mosit your hands.

Ying's Birthday

It was Saturday. I asked our friends to go to the Tofu house together. There were about sixteen people came. By the way, Richard and the other three in "physics 4" moved to Willow Lake today. We have an bigger and bigger neighborhood now, which I consider to be great. After the dinner, they all come to Ying's house to have the cake and games. It was fun. Tzung-lin Wu and Yu played four card to24 game. They are both fast at that. I and Lin-pei was also in the game. Ying got many gifts. I think she is happy. The birthday gift I gave her was two DVDs: Before Sun rise/set. They were the first moving we had together. I remember that time I lived in GLC and we were nother together at that time. I am so glad to have her.