不一樣的大除夕

近排喜歡在SF bay area行山，其實香港的行山徑也「甚有名氣」，小時候團體旅行遠足行過一些，成年後反而甚少，除了兩年前行過一點馬屎州，以及小西灣至馬塘坳，六年前也從昂坪市集和六歲的女兒行到心經簡林。今次約定家姐在香港行山，事先研究過幾條在大埔家附近的路線,包括九龍坑山徑及大埔滘(又稱松仔園),在爸爸建議下選擇了後者.由停車場開始往上走是一條大斜馬路,可見教育徑的入口,入口後是長長的石級,由於兩個大人的膝蓋皆屬有限公司,決定bypass所有梯級,從入口退出,繼續沿著馬路上,經過大埔滘林徑的起點(及終點)牌,又是本人止步的石級,不過另一邊則是一條美麗小溪,十分適合拍照,之後我們返回起點,到松仔園往九龍方向的巴士站等車,目的地是又一城,不過我也知道走這樣山卡拉的車站的巴士路線班次不會很密,所以一見有車即上,隨緣看看可在那裡轉車,結果上了73A,途經火炭及第一城均可轉車出九龍塘,第一城是我們長大的地方,不如一訪兼吃個午餐!

於是在舊稱第一城中心的商場下車,發現已改名置富第一城;而我們小時候逛得最多的銀城商場則已改名樂薈!記得以前銀城有一間茶餐廳好像叫大黃蜂,我家傳統是從來不光顧任何茶餐廳(我第一次吃西多士飲港式奶茶是在美加),那時也從沒想過用自己零用錢去幫襯,今天去同一舖位當然不見大黃蜂,現址是一粥麵,之前一天幫襯過油塘分店的早餐,算過得去,午餐一於來個奶茶炸兩魚蛋牛腩河,也不錯,食飽飽才出發到下一站又一城.

由第一城到九龍塘對我們來說可算是十分熟悉的路程,皆因當年上學,由第一城往返培正,總會在九龍塘轉車,坐城巴(兩年前寫過相關文章),今次坐的則是281A,以前的街邊巴士站已被大規模擴充,在又一城的Haagen Daz用了coupon買雪糕(店員本來因為日期拒受,亦不願提供多一隻杯讓我們分開來吃,不過經理肯通融)拿了Cova生日蛋糕就回家小休,準備下一場.

晚餐既是慶祝新年,也是提早為媽媽慶祝生日,之前想找家餐廳訂座,都說沒有,不過去開馬鞍山海澄軒的天澄閣則可以walk-in,五時半到達,才知原來有街坊團體包下全場搞大除夕派對,僅餘一兩張枱給熟客,我爸媽有幸算是.街坊團體的派對雖未開席,舞池已有一大班街坊(以大媽為主)聞歌起舞,播放的不少是八九十年代香港名曲,來自林憶蓮,梅艷芳,關淑怡等等我們喜愛的女歌手,只聽不看,總算氣氛不俗,幾道菜也味道甚佳.

飯後無甚心情再出街,一個人看有線播葉問2,倒數時刻大家回到大廳看大台的煙花(近年傳媒稱之為煙火,英文是pyrotechnics),踏入2016再繼續葉問2,將來的大除夕看葉問3也說不定.

史上最差勁的網上訂購

從事IT業的我對於購物網站,當然頗有要求,但另一方面也覺得很難做得完美,小小問題一般都會體諒,不過今次在香港Haagen Daz外賣fondue,真是想說四個字:豈有此理(雖然另外四字也適用)話說我們見到雪糕fondue外賣的廣告，記得早幾年試過堂食，今次想在家回味，兼慶祝家姐生日。於是致電沙田分店打算預訂，發現必須先到分店買Voucher，那天我經過蘭桂坊的分店，買了voucher才知預訂必須上網。回家後打開其網站，在主頁找了很久才找到預訂fondue的網頁，該頁又有幾個問題：我們買的voucher是有特定雪糕球數目及fondue爐款式，既然預訂網頁需要輸入voucher號碼，要再輸入以上資料是多餘的吧！難道他們的電腦系統沒有把voucher號碼和雪糕球數目及爐款聯結一起嗎？另一個問題發生在選擇取貨日期：規則說可以三天前預訂，但三天後的日子是greyed out，結果我亂選了其他幾個取貨地點後，三天後的日子才能被選。幸好最後在家姐生日那天順利取貨，其實fondue爐以至整體包裝造得不錯，當然也十分美味，只是作為國際知名品牌，這樣的網購介面實在太失禮吧。

The beauty of sax

Having been playing for a few months, of course I am very biased. I have just picked up soprano and fell in love immediately. George Coleman played it in this tune:
If you want a whole album of soprano sax, check out Jane Ira Bloom's work. I am listening to the sweet and surreal sound of the ballad "Tell Me Your Diamonds" from her album "The Red Quartets."

Another female saxophonist (alto) I recommend is Caroline Davis. Her "Live Work & Play" from 2012 was in a jazz quartet format but with guitar instead of piano. It's good to see some varieties.

Finally, check out "Breakaway" by smooth jazz saxophonist Elizabeth Mis. Yes, she's holding a soprano on the album cover.

Best metal of 2015

收到The Rolling Stones雜誌的Newsletter電郵，有連結到本年20大重金屬唱片榜，也是時候重溫或認識一下今年的佳作。榜上有好些老字號：Iron Maiden, Slayer, Napalm Death, Faith No More及Lamb of God;其他聽過的名字還有Marilyn Manson, Killing Joke及Ghost。

Lamb of God的新作512(還以為是area code，原來是他在捷克的監倉號碼）早已欣賞過，由第一首Still Echoes的第一分鐘已感到一如以往的壓迫感，到Overlord一曲開始慢下來及靜下來，起初聽略感沉悶，但多聽幾次才發現該6分鐘長之曲的深度，由2分鐘起慢慢推向高潮。全碟結他solo不多但皆有畫龍點睛之效。

至於Iron Maiden的新作，一聽主打歌曲Speed of Light及10分鐘長的大碟同名epic歌曲The Book of Souls，就感到他們延續了80年代重金屬正宗的精神。

Slayer自結他手Jeff Hanneman過身再加上原鼓手Dave Lombardo離隊後首次推出新作Repentless，事前不被看好，皆因餘下的結他手Kerry King似乎遠不及Hanneman及Lombardo受死硬派擁躉歡迎，（讀了此文才知原來歌手Tom Araya也是和Hanneman比較交心，King的人緣真是...）事實上新碟的結他聲稍為不同，卻不是壞的轉變，死忠們即管給他們機會吧。

作為The Mephistopheles（SPS舊名）of Hong Kong的成員，當然要聽聽包括一曲名為The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles的Marilyn Manson新作The Pale Emperor，其實Manson的音樂水平一向不低，只是很諷刺地被其刻意誇張的形象所遮蔽。除了以上一曲夠catchy，其餘作品頗有goth另類金屬味。

聲音更另類更goth/post-punk的則是Killing Joke，今年新作總共有15首歌，每首皆份量十足。像我一樣喜歡Fields of the Nephilim及Sister of Mercy等goth band的朋友不容錯過，絕對是2015重型音樂top choices之一。

榜上無名但也要一提的有Huntress今年的新作Static，基本上風格相當統一（負面講法則是有點千篇一律），不過憑著Static及Sorrow兩首catchy作品，再加上有點Neoclassical味道的結他，此碟還是值得一聽。

相機推介

朋友是攝影專家，我經常向他請教及和他討論攝影，當今主流想法是「器材先決」，自然成為常見話題。我雖然不常旅遊，但拍攝旅遊照片是我相機的頭號目的；另有朋友主要是想方便拍攝小朋友演出，於是朋友介紹了這個指南，在此和大家分享下。

根據這個指南，Fuji的定焦相機X100T輕巧畫質高，是旅遊攝影首選，作者並不推薦時下女士喜歡的無反，原因我同意：配件實在太貴！我為朋友找一支18-200mm的Sony E mount鏡頭，要$800！Tamron制為Nikon單反用的18-200mm才$250左右，Sigma的也只是貴少少。事實上該作者推介的另一部旅遊相機是Canon的單反SL1，此機也適合拍攝小朋友演出。

荒謬世界香港篇之「尊貴」議員歧視病人

建制派議員失言，在今日香港已經不算新鮮事，皆因金句王鍾Treegun久不久就會發功，為市民帶來不少歡樂，也有點功勞。不過今次蔣元秋因為泛民對抗網絡23條之惡法拉布而發牢騷，提到精神病人，明顯帶歧視成份，不單只精神料醫學院發聲明指責，連她黨友精神科醫生也要求道歉，她這次比鍾議員失言更令人反感！ 講開又講，其實鍾議員花名Treegun固然來自其本名，但更和黐根這個罵人精神病的俗語諧音有關，似乎也有點歧視性，我想以後不如用根樹做花名，反而更反映其說話特色呢。

IT經驗

不知不覺從事這一行已廿年，算是老古董了，現在新一代的熱門科技公司似乎喜歡請剛畢業的新人，可能因為有衝勁有新思維而且便宜一點。作為老古董的我當然要為老古董發聲：今年公司軟件出現了一個問題，我就覺得處理得好全因那一位人兄經驗夠豐富。話說公司有一個軟件自動根據來自其他系統的資料更新，主要是地區性資料，包括時區；今天有一部份和亞利桑那州Flagstaff市相關的更新失敗，因為系統沒有America/Arizona這個特別的時區：該時區基本上和US/Mountain一樣，只是不用夏令時間而已。那位人兄用了最快的方法暫時解決問題：就是把資料暫時改成US/Mountain！反正現在並非夏令時間生效期。（BTW，有朋友剛搬到Flagstaff，祝他們生活愉快！）

Some jazz guitar music

I am listening to the track "What Goes Around" from the album "The Mystery of Life" by jazz guitarist Karen Segal and her trio right now. The first time I listen to it was during my drive to SF earlier this morning on the radio. It caught my attention immediately. Why? It sounds very similar to the style of jazz played by Alex Skolnick Trio (In case you don't know. Skolnick is the guitarist of the legendary metal band Testament) including the tones of the guitar, the arrangement and even the "middle-east" modes used! I googled and this is probably the first time anyone linked them together :P I shouldn't be too surprised by her rock tendency though 'coz she mentioned she would be a rock musician if she isn't a jazz musician in her interview from 2009.

Another album I would like to write about is "The Test of Time" by Ken Navarro. (The Cool Jazz countdown podcast played his latest album in the 12/4 episode, BTW) His music is classified as smooth jazz. Gotta admit I was attracted by the album cover that showed him holding a Godin MultiAc Nylon guitar (yeah, no wonder there's this term guitar-porn) Surprisingly (or maybe I shouldn't), the whole album is all acoustic solo guitar music. Better yet, it features several pop cover as well as some standards, including Imagine, Police's Message in a bottle and another Beatles' medley. I have been attempting to play some pop covers these days (mostly on sax) and appreciate the difficulty in making them sound interesting musically. Navarro didn't play much lengthy improvised solo but instead rely on harmonically-rich arrangement.   

How It's Made

It was one of those woke-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-with-nothing-better-to-do night so I watched the recorded shows on my DVR (not a lot yet 'coz I set it up just one week ago) After finished watching the exciting 2015 Tournament of Champions (of women 9-ball pool. Ga-Young Kim defeated the "veteran" Allison Fisher. Can't believe I have been watching her playing for 20 years! And she's 47 now), the TV showed the end of "How It's Made" from the Science channel, which caught my attention and I rewinded and ended up watching for ~1 hr of how the following products were made:
- wafer rolls: from raw materials like flour, sugar and chocolate to finish packaging in cans
- championship rings: from the metal mold cut with computer based on 3D design, to the molded wax, and then the plaster mold enclosing the wax model, melted metal poured in, mold dissolved and finally polishing the finished product.
- packaged cooked chicken and turkey
- wood pellet: from wood chips to pellets that could be burnt for heating
- NASCAR engine

The channel has some videos online too. Like this one for making champagne:

Sports highlights: football and more "football" plus some auto racing

The first football game I watched on the new Xfinity X1 box was the Monday night game between the Cowboys and the Redskins. Da Boys haven't won any game without Tony Romo as QB for a long time. The last game with Matt Cassel as QB on Thanksgiving against the Carolina Panthers was disastrous. I didn't have high hope for them against the division-rival Skins. And there wasn't much action: tied with 3 FGs each 'til late in the 4th quarter. Dejean Jackson fumbled a kickoff return near their own endzone and the Cowboys seized the opportunity to score a TD with less than 2 min left. Then the Skins marched down the field and Jackson scored a TD to tie. Only to see the Cowboys' kicker Bailey kicked a long FG with seconds left to win the game. What a win! And the 4-8 Cowboys was just one game behind the first place teams (which are all other NFC East teams) Unbelievable. Even though I still have low hope on the team winning the division or making the playoff, it's good to see them having the fighting spirit with such a horrible start after Romo was injured in week 2.

Last weekend was mostly "reserved" for watching college football as several important conference championship games were played on Saturday, which would decide who got in the 4-team national championship playoff. For SEC, #3 Alabama vs #18 Floria. For ACC, #1 Clemson vs #10 North Carolina. For Big 10, #4 Iowa vs #5 Michigan St. For Pac 12, #7 Stanford vs #20 USC. And before all this, there was an unimportant Big 12 conference non-championship game between Texas and #12 Baylor in the morning. So glad to see the Longhorns upset the Bears. They got to a quick start which was proven too much for Baylor to overcome. Well, maybe beating Oklahoma earlier in the year and this win saved coach Charlie Strong's job. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing for the 2016 season. However, the team started several younger players in this game and they did pretty well. We'll see.

Next was the Bama-Florida game, which actually started out much less exciting but eventually Bama showed its strength (and the Florida offense wasn't able to do much) And the next 3 championship games all started ~5pm PST! I ordered take out at 4:30 so I won't miss any action :) The Iowa-MSU game was dominated by the defense with the teams trading FGs. The #1 team looked vulnerable against UNC's offense. And USC initially couldn't do anything against Stanford. I was hoping all 3 games would have been decided ~7:30 so I could head to a concert by the local orchestra. However, the teams went back-and-fro and I stayed instead. The last minute TD by MSU was an exciting one (even though I'd rather see Iowa to win) It would have been quite interesting as far as the national championship picture is concerned if UNC upsetted Clemson: who should get that 4th spot? Maybe Stanford leapfrogging Ohio St? Or maybe UNC leapfrogged them all? Well, it was a moot point though. My prediction: another national championship for the Bama (beating MSU and then Clemson) When is Nick Saban gonna leave Bama for Texas? Maybe after winning another one?

The weekend actually started with the other type of football: I woke up at 6:30 to watch Bayern Munich losing to Monchengladbach (can't believe I spelled it correctly the first time!) I am a fan of Bayern but don't mind the result too much as this is only their first loss of the season. Next was the boring 0-0 draw between Man United and West Ham but I was happy to see the defending champ Chelsea suffered another loss, this time to the newly promoted Bournemouth! How low can they go? :P Anyway, the biggest soccer match of the week to me was the MLS cup (yeah. I care enough to record it while attending my kid's orchestra performance) I have been rooting for the Portland Timbers since they beat KC in a thrilling first-round playoff game (Tied 1-1 in regulation. Tied 2-2 after OT and the PK shootout was decided by two goalies shooting against each other!) They got the best start ever against the Eastern conf champ Columbus Crew in this final because the Crew's goalie failed to clear the ball cleanly in the first minutes of the game. And they never surrender the lead since then. Congrat to them!

Speaking of champions, it's sad to see that owners of the San Jose Sabercats, the reigning Arena Bowl champ, has decided to quit the business. I hope another owner pick them up before next season.

While I was preparing for switching to X1, I binge-watched many recorded shows on my "old" DVR, including some Formula E, Pirelli World Challenge and AMA Endurocross races. Congrat to the 3 respective champ of 2015: Nelson Piquet Jr, Michael Cooper (WC GTS division) and Cody Webb.

Tech of the day: Slingbox and Xfinity X1

It's deja vu all over again! I wrote about configuring the Comcast remote in Slingbox in 2010 :) I just upgraded to X1, Comcast's latest and greatest internet-based TV set top box, as a reward for signing a 2-year contract (and "locked" into a lower rate than the "regular" rate of $150+ for cable+internet as the "discounted" rate has expired at the end of my previous 2-year contract) The hardware installation is easy: I just swapped out the old box with the new box they delivered to my doorstep, literally. However, no channel above 719 (i.e., stuff I watch, like ESPN, which was showing MNF Cowboys vs Redskins) was available. We had to call Comcast support and have 3 of them looked into this (the last guy seems to be a Tier 3 who knows more about "the code" needed to get those "preferred" channels going) The last hurdle was to reconfigure my "ancient" Slingbox. According to "official" Slingbox support, I could configure my Slingbox's on-screen remote control via the web app on watch.slingbox.com. When I accessed it on Chrome, it says the setup is only supported on Firefox and IE. My PC doesn't even have Firefox. However, on IE the web app was stucked with "Locating slingbox" prompt forever so I finally gave in and installed Firefox. And the web app does work on Firefox (with extension installed) and I got to choose a model of my set top box, which is an Arris XG1-A (according to Comcast.com) and not available as a choice. The only choice seems appropriate was the "generic" Comcast X1. Fortunately Comcast is pretty good with remote control compatibility between different versions of their boxes. (As a side note, I could have chosen Comcast X1 from the unsupported desktop client but the way to confirm in that setup assistant was using the "Power" button, which was disabled)

荒謬世界香港篇之電視台又無糧出

我的一位不相熟的FB朋友是我中學師兄，也是一位藍絲，倒不算是大問題，比較有趣的是他經常comment on亞視揸fit人葉家寶的博客post，令我除了從港聞之外多了另一個渠道認識這位近年曝光率甚高的傳媒人，也是我的老師兄（和王晶黃杏秀同屆）一直以為葉是亞視CEO，原來該職位數年前已懸空，葉的official title是高級副總裁兼執行董事，主管市場營業部，該部門應該負責出糧吧。事實上，他也是在去年亞視欠糧風波後才廣為人識，曾發起一人一萬入股救亞視（其實此舉有法律問題）最近又因欠糧一事被檢控及罪成，雖無需坐監但被罸款。網民反應不一，有些指他為虎作倀抵罰，也有人同情他只是打工，做了老闆的代罪羔羊，為他感到不值。個人意見傾向後者（當然也因為一場師兄弟有點biased）事件並未告一段落：亞視又再欠薪，葉家寶在其博客公開他已向亞視辭去執董一職，以免再負上刑事責任。從維基百科得知，葉家寶從事香港傳媒界多年，資歷深厚，似乎是有料之人，非亞視以前那些靠裙帶關係掌權者可比，他總算為建制派作出一點犧牲，前途應不成問題。比較令人感到遺憾的是曾經屢有佳作的亞視淪為笑柄，明年更將失去廣播牌照！究竟亞視永恆的神話能否延續？大家且拭目以待。

達聞西真跡？

近兩個月我在本網誌潛水，皆因正在上藝術史課，每週功課已經寫了不少，再無餘力。今週重出江湖，講講一個和藝術有關的話題，以前寫過強國電視台有一個名為「尋寶」的節目，該節目請來專家鑑定觀眾帶去電視台的藏品，有些貨真價實，當然亦有很多只是複製品或普通貨色（據聞有些所謂專家在這些節目造假，所以當娛樂好了）。言歸正傳，教授介紹這條片有點相似，話說1998年拍賣會上出現了一幅拍賣行歸類為19世紀德國畫家作品的女士側身肖像，2007年轉手到目前的主人，這位收藏家認為作品風格不似19世紀德國畫，反而接近意大利文藝復興，可能出自大師之手！提到文藝復興大師，第一個當然想起達聞西，英國一位達聞西研究權威Martin Kemp出手，再加上其他鑑證專家幫忙，結果得出以下結論：
1）作畫的羊皮經碳14鑑定，極可能來自達聞西的年代。
2）畫家是左撇子（達聞西也是）
3）達聞西曾經效力的米蘭統治者家族一位女士出嫁時做了一本羊皮書冊，為波蘭國家收藏，當中缺了一頁，釘裝的孔和畫邊的孔痕跡吻合
4）畫中人服飾和該統治者太太帶來的衣著風格相符。
5）粉筆顏科不易在羊皮上色，需特別處理，例如混合蛋白。達聞西以喜歡試驗聞名。

詳情可看以下錄像：

不過也有很多專家大潑冷水，指完全不似達聞西風格，以我的皮毛認識，也覺不像：畫中人90度側望，與觀眾零交流，和達聞西流傳下來的罕有油畫以及較為大量的肖像drawings中感覺mysterious的女性皆很不同；換句話說，此畫境界低得多了。是真也好，是假也好，畫主自稱有人出價八千萬美元向他收購（他的買入價是二萬二千元），他已把該畫好好藏於某間瑞士銀行的夾萬。

Hair metal power ballad

One of the biggest clichés of the late 80s hair metal scene is that every album has to have a power ballad. It was dissed by the critics a lot. Well, it happened for a reason: fans like them. That's my guilty pleasure too. I was reading the 50 Greatest Hair Metal albums from the Rolling Stone magazine and came across this song:
Man, Alice Cooper sounded so much like Aerosmith (Well, Steven Tyler was indeed featured on it)! Liked the video because of the gal.

篆書

最近買了一支Fine italic nib的墨水筆,師兄建議用來寫篆書甲骨文之類,尤其是鐵線篆,找到這個自動轉換(簡體->篆體)的網站,很好用.

荒謬世界香港篇之地鐵禁古箏

早前傳媒流傳一張背著古箏的學生在大圍站被地鐵職員留難最後無法上車的照片，網民指出帶著比古箏更大件如電器傢俱的乘客（疑似水貨客）卻在地鐵進出自如，相當不公平。後來有報導指曾有祖國學生欲攜古箏乘港鐵來港參賽被拒，以及大提琴也在被禁之列，可見受害者不只本地人，也有祖國人；不單中樂器，亦有西樂器，總之音樂人不分彼此。

蕭才子撰文從經濟學：執法成本分析此現象，其實道理極簡單：職員捨難取易也！和水貨客糾纏既費時又費勁，拿著樂器的學生哥如何相比？早幾天又流傳一張城管留難拾荒老婆婆的照片，說為何被趕的從來不是有枱有櫈阻街的電訊公司電視台推銷員？道理也差不多吧。


熱愛中樂的我在中學時代也學過兩種中樂器，幸好笛子和二胡皆方便攜帶，其實我不知有學生會背著體積重量不小的古箏乘搭公共交通工具，這股熱誠實在值得尊重。

Bass music

I heard that some people have the tendency to hum the bass line when trying to sing-a-long and I doubt I'm one of them but I do enjoy bass-centric music a lot. I recommended "The Bridge" by Charnett Moffett and "About Now" by Mark Egan before. The former is a bass solo album. I listened to another today: "Ones All" by Dave Holland. Any non-bass fan should give this a listen: Holland's melodic playing will change your mind. One bass is all you need, but sometimes it's also good to have a saxophone, as in the case of bassist Heiri Kanzig's duet with Chico Freeman named "The Arrival." You would hear the intimacy between two voices, and the listener, which is a very special feeling, especially on the ballads. Last but not least, another album with Dave Holland was his collaboration with flamenco master Pepe Habichuela named "Hands" It started with a producer invited both of them to play in Spain. That's when Dave Holland learned the art of flamenco. And it proves that really talented musicians are capable of mastering multiple styles. It's actually quite rare to hear flamenco music featuring bass (here is a study on this topic by a music school student) I think all instrumental flamenco music lovers will enjoy this work a lot as Dave Holland has added an extra dimension to the style.

E-MU 0404 USB on Windows 8

I bought a E-MU 0404 USB for its DAC (decoding digital music from PC for playback) and headphone amp capability years ago. (Also briefly tried using it as an audio interface of my guitar from the input for recording and guitar amp simulation) Since I had to move it around when using it which was not very convenient, it went out of favor for years until I dug it out last week. My current PC runs Windows 8. And E-MU doesn't officially support it. In fact, the product has already been end-of-life-ed. Well, it's still worthy to give it a try. So I downloaded its "latest" beta driver for Windows 7 64 bit. I "Run as Administrator" on the downloaded executable and clicked through the errors. Voila! The driver is up and running! The output was fed to my Qinpu A3 amp which drives a pair of Paradigm monitor as my bedroom system.

I am curious about the current status of the E-MU line of products and found some discussions that are not very favorable to it, for example, the reliability, which actually matches my experience: my 0404's input 1 started to introduce some noises not too long after I used with my guitars and I gave up on that purpose (When used with Audacity, input 2 is mono, which is still technically usable.) I had a better USB audio interface in my Korg Pandora anyway. From Creative's official pages, it seems that all development has stopped after 2011. So my next DAC will not be a E-MU. 

Back to Ubuntu 14.04

I have been experimenting with different OS on this old Toshiba Core i5 15" laptop since its HD with the original Win7 image became unstable last year. I started with Ubuntu 14.04 (installed via a bootable USB flash drive) Then moved on to Ubuntu Kylin 14.10, which targets Chinese but has quite a bit of errors/crashes for some unknown reasons (the pop-up dialog became annoying!) The Chinese functionality doesn't seem too useful anyway. So I decided to wipe it clean. Ubuntu offers 14.04.3 LTS (The Long Term Support version comes with five years of security and maintenance updates, guaranteed) It's basically usable out-of-the-box but of course I need to install Flash separately: WatchESPN links to Adobe which links to Ubuntu Software Center which cannot find the plugin. Command line is still the way to do (follow these steps)

My weekend

It's that time of the year (free cake, free cake) again. We had a night-out the weekend before at the Mission Street in SF (foreigncinema for drink and Lolinda for Argentinian steak) already. So this weekend was to be with friends and family. The Saturday started with EPL as usual: very happy to see Chelsea fell to Crystal Place. Then it's time for the San Francisco International Pen Show. I arrived ~10:15 and immediately headed to Susan Wirth's seminar. Very educational and entertaining (checking out other people's pen testing samples) After playing with many pens and ink, we left for K&L Wines. The excuse was to pick up my 3 bottles ordered last year. And of course we didn't miss the Sat afternoon tasting there. The theme was Chilean and Argentinian wine. Some were surprisingly good. Dinner time was all to myself. I originally wanted to try the Habit burger and picked the one in Daly City (Serramonte) The line was way long (not expected) so I had Boston Market instead (also had a line! But not as long) Next, it's party at my friends place (thanks to the Tangs!) Awesome ribs :) And we all had fun trying out new bottles of ink (with the cheap plastic pen branded "Dollar", rightfully so)

The Sunday started with EPL as well: very pissed to see Man U fell to Swansea. Also watched the pre-recorded Arena bowl victory of the mighty San Jose Sabercats (which was 17-1 in regular season. We went to one of those 17!) I finally got to try the Habit burger at lunch time. It's indeed pretty good (and not pricey) Glad that we beat the line by arriving before 11:45. The next activity was people (and new products) watching at the Valley Fair mall (when it's so hot, no one wanna play outdoors with me) I often told my son that as much as we don't enjoy shopping, we don't wanna be ignorant about what's out there either. Then it's preparation for cooking the celebration dinner ("So steak" and "So shrimp", named after my cooking instructor!) And watched more sports of course: Juan Pablo Montoya let the IndyCar title slipped away by crashing with teammate (and defending champ) Will Power. "Mr. Consistent" Scott Dixon ended up winning his 4th title. The MotoGP race at Silverstone was also won by an veteran driver and former champ, Valentino Rossi. It was close between him and Marc Marquez for many laps but the latter fell. This season of MotoGP has been good so far with lots of competitions, lead changes, and polesitter being overtaken at the start! What a happy ending to the relaxing weekend.

Guitar music

I felt that I wrote too much about saxophone music lately. I actually still play my guitar and still love guitar-centric music. Here are a few I listened to recently (some during those July trips)

• Rüdiger Krause: A Guitar Named Carla. Not sure if the guitarist really named one of his guitar Carla (referring to pianist/composer Carla Bley here) but the songs on this album were written by Carla and re-arranged for various instrumentations (solo acoustic or electric guitar, guitar + bass, or guitar/bass/piano.) Carla Bley herself played on the last piece.  
• Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic: Blackmail. This was reviewed by an old (2013) guitar magazine that I "gave away" during the trip. Both are (nylon) acoustic guitarists with awesome techniques and it's a treat for all fans of guitar, especially those all enjoy world music. You can find more music of Ivanovic here. He has collaborated with other great guitarists like Fareed Haque as well.
• Nick Colionne: Influences. I first learned about this smooth jazz guitarist from the Epiphone newsletter (so I guess it's always good to be associated with a big brand name) Compared to saxophonists, there aren't as many smooth jazz guitarists out there (other than Norman Brown or George Benson) And Colionne is a versatile one judging by the last blues rock tune (Sting Like a King B) on this album and his videos demo-ing Epiphone Broadway guitar.
• Mark Egan: About Now. Saw the ad from an old jazz magazine about this release by a jazz bass guitarist. If you enjoy fusion and melodic bass playing (as lead and accompaniment) like I do, you must check it out.

I Wished on the Moon

The local jazz station played Billie Holiday's version yesterday morning and grabbed my attention immediately. To be honest, I usually switch away from the channel as soon as I hear one syllable of vocal (of course, there are exceptions, when the singer sounds anything like Billie, Ella, Patricia Barber.......) Very simple yet elegant lyrics (even though I don't completely understand what they meant: something to do with wishing beautiful things to happen. Who doesn't?) Added more to it was the superb instrumentalists playing on it, especially the saxophonist. Turns out it's from the Verve Silver collection. Now my next question was: what was the original Verve release that contained the song? And after a little bit of research, I found out it's from "All or Nothing at All," (MGV 8329) a studio album recorded in 1956 and 1957 and released by Verve Records in 1958. Turned out the saxophonist was Ben Webster. And the other musicians included guitarist Barney Kessel (his playing was tasteful as usual) and trumpter Harry "Sweet" Edison. The same lineup had recorded several sessions and the tracks were released by Verve many time. Another album from the sessions was "Songs For Distingué Lovers," which contained 6 tunes originally. This 15-song digital edition (also containing "I Wished on the Moon") is offered by Amazon for only $5.99. What a great deal (even though some reviewers thought the extra tunes added by the 1997 re-release didn't fit in with the original 6 in terms of the mood and style)

荒謬世界三藩市篇之鬼祟加價

早一排很少出三藩市金融區，最近連出兩次，感覺實在一般：幾條街道及部份建築物在進行維修，嘈吵又塞車。東西越來越貴，反而是意料中事；今時今日在SF吃個午餐，budget是十元或以上。要便宜最好去唐人街，十二年前吃越南（牛角）包三元有找，對上一次吃是$3.75，早幾天去見餐牌還是寫同一價錢，但老闆收我$4，抱歉地說餐牌還未更新價錢。今天外賣印度飯盒，餐牌也是舊價$8.75，收銀收我$10.4，我想稅沒有那麼重吧，原來餐牌上新加：所有食品均加收10% service charge! 那應該把餐牌全部加10%才對呀，老實說明碼實價$9.6也不算過份，巧立名目更令人反感。其實SF街頭的流動餐車（香港政府說要引入那種）很多午餐都標價$10。講開又講，這種餐車好像越來越多，今天發現一架賣雞的，以前未見過。

荒謬世界香港篇之保育大戰

近期幾單熱門新聞均和保育有關：中西區般咸道四棵石牆樹一夜間被當局全數斬伐。有八十年歷史的灣仔地標、三級歷史建築、港島唯一一間街角弧形騎樓式唐樓的「同德大押」被清拆中，工人早前漏夜展開拆卸工程，位於一樓外牆寫有「同德大押」四個大字的牌匾已被移除，部分牆身石屎已被削去。一間由前政府中人主理的顧問公司指電車佔用中區3成路面，要求城規會修訂中區分區計畫大綱圖，希望刪除涉及範圍道路內的「電車」用途。似乎一切殖民地時代留下的事物，建制人士均欲除之而後快。

如果將這些人的想法實施在羅馬的話，為了維持興建當地地鐵的進度，所有在挖掘過程發現的古蹟均無需經考古專家評估，照剷如儀!

California Audio Show 2015

 我是一個樂迷,也是半個音響發燒友,雖然(幸好)沒有金耳朵,去音響展聽聽貴價器材播放像真度極高的音樂,實在是賞心樂事,今年在三藩市灣區舉辦的加洲音響展已是第六屆!我則是第二次去.踏進機場Westin酒店地下,即會場第一層,就發現了好幾款值得聽聽的器材:

• UFO DSD DAC Headphone Amp: 便携式的外置USB數碼音響解碼器,近年頗為流行,對慣用電腦板腦手機聽音樂檔的人士十分方便,此產品的賣點是除了PCM更可以為DSD解碼,有數碼音樂店出售以DSD編碼的音樂檔,介紹該產品的Blue Coast Records就有出售自家錄製的作品,包括爵士鋼琴高手Vijay Iyer的鋼琴獨奏,詳細報告請看此文.
• Audeze LCD-XC headphone with ATOLL electronique preamp (HD120) and streamer (MS100): 代理Audio Vision SF展出了HifiMan及Audeze多款headphones,都是雜誌及郵購目錄力推的產品,比較之下我最喜歡的是Audeze LCD-XC, 一同demo來自法國的ATOLL electronique 慳地方亦感扎實.
• Pono portable digital music player:因該公司由Rock友Neil Young主理,Pono在推出時曾被大事報導,賣點是支援高清數碼音樂檔,理論上比一般賣的MP3或AAC(蘋果)質素為高,正如iDevice有iTunes store,Pono也有配合的高清數碼音樂售賣平台,至於player硬件方面亦採用由高檔音響製造商設計的高質素零件.不過也有測試指一般用家未必聽得出分別.
• Comply Foam tip:這是我唯一即場購買的硬件,$20實在很值得花,為甚麼如此吸引?我把原本用的$10廉價JVC in-ear headphone的tip改為Comply Foam tip後,由於更fit耳孔,隔聲度提高,亦提升了音質至接近$100的headphone的水平!

接著是上三樓及二樓逐間代理或廠商房間試聽,講講比較印象深刻的幾個品牌/型號:

• ZU audio的座地揚聲器Omen Mk II
• Burwell & Sons的號角揚聲器,他們房大聲大,實在有優勢
• Serene/audio的Talisman powered speaker,細細粒可直駁電腦無需amp, 已經能發出不俗的聲音,$395一對,加拿大製.
• Audioengine兩款powered揚聲器A3+及A5+可算是(同檔次稍貴的)Talisman的勁敵.
• PureAudioProject的開背揚聲器,賣點當然是開背的設計,以及中置的高音單元,單元可自行配搭
• First Impression Music (FIM)是香港音響雜誌讀者不會感到陌生的唱片公司品牌,由Sony授權製作的好幾張CD十分好聲,即場比較過從高清網購買的音樂檔和FIM製作的CD版ripped出來的WAV檔,後者明顯較有音樂味.
• AudioNote:示範的黑膠前後級揚聲器組合可謂配搭天衣無縫,背靠一幅短牆鄰近走廊這樣不理想的空間也不成問題.
• Advanced Transduction Speakers:展出一套四件大型座地揚聲器,聲音十分好,不過不是賣點,更正的是請來Shanda Lear即場以音響播伴奏演唱爵士名曲,這是她將會推出的限量黑膠.Lear女士是一位多才多藝的奇女子,其父親是發明家Bill Lear(即Lear Jet創辦人)而Lear家著名的8-track音響系統據Shanda說是她的idea.
• Magico揚聲器

不經不覺已行了三小時,最後一小時留給買軟件:The Audio Nerd(店員說舖頭就在Sacramento附近)在最後一天黑膠減至七折,我入了兩張.另外也在Reference Recordings這家專出靚錄音的唱片公司(名作包括Eiji Oue的Mephisto And Co)入了三張CD:對Joel Fan這位年輕鋼琴家的協奏曲錄音很感興趣,另一張雙CD全是Janacek的作品,只售$15,再加一張jazz sampler,打了折扣給我,最後一張免費.見另一位顧客問RR有甚麼爵士樂介紹,但他指明不要很激的音樂,尤其是勁吹的色士風(即Coltrane非Ballad作品免問)我忍不住插咀說there's nothing wrong with jazz saxophone. I play it too! Anyway,店員介紹給他一張比較柔和的Jim Brock Ensemble爵士作品,Jim Brock玩的是敲擊樂器,不過樂團也包括色士風:)其實是fusion派.

是日收獲

題外話:以前也去過兩次美國音響界頂級盛事--由權威雜誌Stereophile舉辦的全國性超大型展覽The Home Entertainment Show,不過該展不是常來三藩市,最懷念的是同場加演的live music.

Smooth sax

The hey days of smooth jazz are probably over. It might not actually be that bad for an instrumental music lover like myself. Why? One thing I recalled (and disliked) from that era was that every "instrumental" tune has a "mandatory" female background vocal singing a "tag line" (usually the tile of the song) Guys like Najee, Marion Meadows or Boney James all did that. I suppose that was mandated by the radio stations and record company exec. Here are quotes from a Billboard magazine article from 2000:

"Vocals are what has helped make smooth jazz a mass-appeal format and make it something that people can listen to and defend for work-place listening" - Frank Cody, Broadcast Architecture CEO.

"If you listen to some challenging instrumental that you've never heard before, you can only take so much of that. You want the comfort of a song you know" - Anne Gress, WJJZ operations manager

For almost twenty years I barely listen to smooth jazz for this reason. I guess there is no more pressure to make smooth jazz a mass-appeal so the annoying background vocal has gradually disappeared. (Well, the record companies don't bother to hire and pay for those singers!) On the other hand, one or two "vocal-centric" songs on an album is totally acceptable to me. While I wasn't paying much attention to the scene in the last twenty years, a whole new generation of smooth jazz saxophonists have emerged. And I went to two live performances at Yoshi's just this month! Here are a few good new albums from them:

• Vincent Ingala - Coast to Coast
• Jessy J - My one and only love. Check out her cover of (one of my all-time favorite band) The Cure's "Lovesong" Here is a post about it. I completely forgot this or I would have yelled out this when she asked what songs the audiences like on her new albums during her show last night! In addition to these new songs, she has also performed the hits from her previous albums, like the Tango Boy. She played mainly her tenor sax but also alto, flute and sang a few tunes! Very sweet voice, especially in Portuguese (her cover of the huge hit "Mas Que Nada" by Sergio Mendes. Everyone has heard this before)
• Michael Lington - Soul Appeal. Like a lot of smooth jazz musicians, he had a lot of success playing with singers outside of the genre, like Bobby Caldwell and Aaron Neville. It's no surprised that his band features a very good singer, whose main duty was actually playing guitar. Unlike Jessy J, Lington only played his alto (he is a Yamaha artist. So is my whole family :P Got a Yamaha piano, guitar, sax and clarinet at home) I enjoyed his story about playing on jazz cruise: the program was an all Beatles tribute. Like most people he's a fan and have no problem playing Beatles cover. However, he was last in line to pick a song to play. All songs he wanna played were picked and the one left was "Eleanor Rigby," which he considered really a string-centric rather than a sax type of song. Anyway, he came up with an arrangement that he actually satisfied with and performed that night. I loved it.

Sports highlights: MLB trade deadline, NASCAR's Kyle Busch

Is anyone surprised that I haven't posted anything about sports for 2.5 months? Well, I am. Major events that happened included NBA playoff (the local team Golden State Warriors won it all and most importantly beating the team lead by public enemy #1 in the finals), Stanley Cup (won by the Chicago Blackhawks again, who is having a SF Giants-like dynasty IMO), Tour De France (won by Chris Froome, again, without much challenges), THE Triple Crown (American Pharoah became the first horse who won it since 1978) I didn't watch much of these events except for the NBA Final Game 6 and the NHL Final Game 6 (both on the Disney Cruise ship)

Gotta admit all these traveling has shuffled my priorities a bit. And realizing I have a stack of new books waiting to be read didn't help. I do want to write about the few things I still follow, e.g. the MLB trade deadline was passed last Friday. IMO, the Royals (Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist), the Dodgers (Mat Latos, Alex Wood), the Astros (Carlos Gomez, Scott Kazmir), the Mets (Yoenis Cespedes, Tyler Clippard), the Blue Jays (Troy Tulowitzki, David Price) all got major upgrades. The Giants got a minor upgrade in Mike Leake who is replacing Tim Hudson. The A's was the seller, which is no surprise as they sell when they are winning anyway. The White Sox should have been selling to build for the future (this season is done for them) but they didn't. I wonder if they saw some hopes after beating up the Red Sox (and winning 7 in a row) but that's more like an illusion judging by how they fell to the Yankees.

And I still follow NASCAR (no one fought for the remote of the 65" TV at the Virginia training site while I was watching the looooooong races using the DVR!) The driver who is having a super hot streak since the beginning of my Summer break was, surprise surprise, Kyle Busch, who broke his legs at the very first race of the season and has been out for 3+ months. NASCAR made an exception for his return: if his point standing was in the Top 30 and won at least one race, he would qualify for the Chase (NASCAR's playoff) So, what has he done lately? He earned four Sprint Cup wins, two XFINITY Series victories and last Saturday's Camping World Truck win. I'm surprised that he's ONLY at #32 even with 4 wins. Some of the races he won were enjoyable to watch (like the local race at Sonoma) Even the ones he didn't win were exciting, like the Windows 10-sponsored one at Pocono yesterday, in which he got a late lead from Joey Logano because the latter ran out of gas. Then the same happened to him (who finished 21st) and Martin Truex Jr. So the next one who didn't ran out of gas won, which was Matt Kenseth! BTW, American Pharoah won again last weekend.

荒謬世界香港篇之鐵人插水

香港大學遴選委員會推薦陳文敏教授出任副校長，卻被校務委員會一直拖延遲遲不批，一般相信是和陳的政治立場有關，日前校務委員會開會再度「維持原判」，指要等待首席副校長上任才處理，建制派繼等埋發叔又來一次等埋首副。事件引起強烈不滿，尤其是港大舊生及學生，發動圍堵，一名委員盧寵茂自稱被包圍之人士踢傷倒地，是耶非耶？大家大妨睇片。盧是醫生界中參加鐵人比賽的名人，著名武打演員黃秋生指如此近距離根本很難出腳攻擊盧至倒地。雖然這似乎只是港大自己的事，其實可以說是和全港市民有關，皆因阻止政治黑手干預學術自由，人人有責（見此文）。

荒謬世界香港篇之法定語言

最近讀了兩篇文章，分別來自陳智德的《地文誌》一書及明報週刊，無獨有偶，均提及香港法定語言。前者提到一九六八年至一九七一年間的「爭取中文成為法定語文運動」，在香港學運史上稱為「第一次中文運動」後者則是關於今時今日有居民爭取區議會紀錄用英文，好讓香港少數族裔人士也可以閱讀。

真是此一時，彼一時！

香港書展

自1990年開始舉辦的書展，我不否認我記憶中沒有去過的印象，這實在是很奇怪的事，皆因我很喜歡買書，這26年來7月在香港的日子也不少，起碼有八至十次，可能去過又忘了，總之就當今年是第一次去吧！早上剛去過老友的喪禮，他是愛閱讀之人，事實上有不少作家作品都是他介紹給我，書展是他每年率眾必到的地方，不失為一眾好友憑弔他的一個節目。朋友說星期六下午熱門時間可能要排隊1.5小時左右才能進場，幸好到達時沒有甚麼人龍，沿著鐵馬走了1小時左右就能買票入場，終於認識到書展是甚麼一回事：
1）有展覽：主角不是書而是作家，例如年度作家李歐梵（雖然今年更為矚目的可能是原來的得獎人李碧華，不過她拒絕在689治下獲獎而推卻）也看到早年連載金庸小說的舊報紙，以及不（只）作書的作詞人介紹。
2）有文具玩具精品：後者包括裝書（或其他雜物）的袋等等，我買了一支Pilot Kakuno廉價入門級墨水筆，品質不錯（起碼不像小時候那支老是漏墨）朋友笑我們用墨水筆的都是「偽文青」！

3）有書局及出版社代表：這是書展的真正主角吧，兩個大展覽館內一行一行都是賣書攤檔，粗略估計，每行展出的書量大概比得上1.5-3間一般香港屋苑商場內的書店，不過每檔各有各賣，書目及書種自然有所重覆。我幻想中的書展好像一間巨型書店：攤檔按書種分開，例如旅遊書一檔，音樂書一檔等等，每檔賣各間參展出版社的作品，當然，幻想和現實是兩回事。（題外話，記憶中早幾年連續兩個冬天去了大眾書局在會展搞的書展，2010年就是我幻想般的安排）好幾本日本寫真大師教攝影的書都值得一讀，還有附DVD介紹藝術家生平的書也不錯，但為免拿得太重，我只是精挑細選買了兩本：

Movie-athon Part 3

再來一帖寫寫幾套機上電影：
Friends with Benefit:上次提過兩套Cameron Diaz電影，今次介紹的女主角則是我認為可算Diaz接班人的Mila Kunis，兩者皆屬豪放型愛情喜劇女星，好像都和本片男主角Justin Timberlake拍過拖（？）Anyway,看片名也大致估到劇情，離不開好朋友由純粹上床至愛上對方的公式，賣點是兩個靚人，適合和女性朋友觀看。
Jupiter Ascending:又是Mila Kunis的電影！她飾演的主角在未出生時父親被刧匪所殺，生活一直頗為艱苦，一天突然被「外星人」追殺，原來她的DNA排列和已故「外星女皇」一樣，擁有繼承女皇領地（包括地球！）的權利；之後的發展是典型英雄救美的故事。

Ex Machina:又是一套科幻片，主題則是人工智能（我在讀書時代最有興趣的課題）故事講述一名在領導市場的互聯網公司工作的年輕軟件開發員，在云云競爭者中脫穎而出，得以參與公司老板秘密計劃，到達老板隱居之處時，老板告知其任務是測試用人工智能技術製成的靚女機械人，到底能否分辨對方是人還是機器；當然，背後有hidden agenda。靚女絕對是一大賣點。

Till Death Do Us What?:最後這套原本以為是笑片卻相當賺人熱淚。講的是一對多年互相扶持的好友，男方終於決定向女求婚，女方也接受，結婚後懷孕，卻發現女方患上末期癌症，不久去世；死後陰魂不散，依然跟隨丈夫左右，而男方為了成為作家的理想苦苦掙扎，把他和太太生前懷孕患癌期間的博客文章輯錄成書。其實不算太有娛樂性。詳情請參考影評。

Movie-athon Part 2

再寫寫近期出trip時看的幾套電影：
Kingsman:年初上畫時已有同學大力推薦；主題是人類濫用地球資源趨向滅亡，唯有清除部份人類方可扭轉乾坤（和Tomorrowland，Inferno差不多）Kingsman是一班身份超然的特工，被委以和惡勢力對抗的重任。導演可說相當嗜殺，一班國家元首爆頭的場面固然駭人，一名Kingsman殺盡教堂仝人那段直可令本片成為暴力電影cult classic。

Maestro!（台譯：尋找心樂章）:我對日本文化尤其是電影的認識可算只是冰山一角，簡介提到小提琴手吸引了我選看本片。回家後看評論才知原來是改編自漫畫，想來也頗有那種誇張的感覺；自負懷才不遇的樂師們遇上出位的指揮被後者啟發，詳情可讀此頁。主旨不外乎是玩出好音樂不能因循，要發自內心云云，個人也不覺得算甚麼大道理，反正娛樂性足夠就是了。
Sex tape:對Cameron Diaz有一份特別的感情，所以明知電影標題只是噱頭，也會落搭；故事說他們兩公婆想在小朋友大一點的時候重拾浪漫，拍了的床片意外地被sync軟件傳開了，於是千方百計地阻止，事實上本片一如Jason Segel其他愛情片，都是東拉西扯，加點自嘲，不過輕輕鬆鬆地kill time也還可以。
The Other Women:又是Cameron Diaz的電影，還加上另一位中女情片王Leslie Mann，幸好尚有新一代性感女神Kate Upton，三人皆是同一位型男的太太及情人，竟然連成一線對付花心騙子。在Virginia受訓的無聊晚上看看公司提供的Fios TV在65"電視上消磨下時間倒也無防。

待續。

Movie-athon

曾幾何時我每週起碼從電影院或有線電視看一套新電影，尤其是在Madison讀書的年代，生活很簡單，節目亦不多。到了現在，選擇實在太多，而電影又越來越長，大多兩小時或以上，很難坐定定，除非是在飛機（或郵輪）上，過去兩個月正因此看了一打電影：

Avenger the Age of Ultron:作為super hero電影擁躉，對第二集Avenger電影當然是熱切期待，上郵輪之前預計會在船上電影院播放，果然得償所願！其實早有家人告知不及第一集，因為故事有點混亂，而Hulk的感情戲亦有點格格不入，雖則如此，其打鬥場面亦算精彩。
Tomorrowland:既由George Clooney主演，故事自必然頗有深度，他飾演的角色從小就對科技十分沉迷，小時對未來世界充滿期望，長大後卻了解到人類濫用地球資源必定滅亡，因而隱居山林；片中的歹角則是催動人類加速在地球滅亡的黑手，正正式式就是散播負能量。電影唯一敗筆是起初花了太太長時間去描繪未來世界的科技如何神妙。
Big Hero 6:這是去年返培正加冕時期上映的電影，主角是一名居於三藩市和東京混合體城市的反叛少年及其兄長研發出的健康監察機械人，後者被前者改裝為一個戰士，攜手對抗壞人，故事雖簡單勝在一氣呵成。
Inside Out:這部電影首天上畫我們一家在迪士尼郵輪電影院觀看午夜場，感覺當然特別。主線是講一名青春期少女跟隨父母由明尼蘇達州搬到三藩市灣區（父親搞tech startup），適應新生活有困難，主角則是在少女腦中掌管各種情緒的多位負責「人」，各種情緒以及記憶如何交戰，大概就是科學界目前對人腦運作的認識，頗有新鮮感但故事太簡單，不免有點沉悶；不過，香港的影評人倒是一片好評。

This is Spinal Tap:在飛機上芸芸新舊電影中，竟然找了這套超舊的來看。其實這套heavy metal parody可算是經典，連爵士結他大師Pat Metheny也引用了其中金句幽了訪問者一默！主角是一隊老牌搖滾樂隊，由British invasion時代開始玩音樂，曾經紅極一時，也經歷過成員反目，其實是很多樂隊的寫照。Pat Metheny被訪時提到Bb minor是最哀傷的調，其實是模仿Spinal Tap的結他手在片中指D minor是最哀傷的調:)
Gone girl:本片是近期看過最好的電影！可能因為原著（未讀過）的故事寫得太好吧。不想劇透太多，總之是講一對金童玉女夫妻中的太太失蹤，揭開了背後種種秘密。
請留意本帖下集。

意大利遊記:威尼斯篇

威尼斯是今次意大利之旅唯一重遊之舊地,和15年前一樣也是坐火車.還記得當年去是跟著合作公司員工即日從米蘭來回,在火車站沿著往St Marco的路牌走了不到兩小時就到達寬大的廣場及宏偉的教堂,沿途有一大堆以遊客為對象的商店,以為威尼斯就只得這些.今次我們住了兩晚,感覺又不一樣,下了火車先坐水上巴士到apartment安頓,再走到著名外賣意粉店Dal Moro's醫肚,他們自製的意粉口感一流,用高品質的麵粉無添加蛋製成!(我們第二晚又再光顧了一次,另一餐晚餐我們在Rossopomodoro吃pizza)然後在COOP超市買點飲品小食.

我們到過的威尼斯名勝包括:
St Marco廣場:很多音樂表演.
St Marco Basilica:很宏偉的教堂,可免費參觀,我們兩點半到,排隊等入也只是半小時左右,十分值得.
San Maurizio church:這教堂也是一間可免費參觀的音樂博物館,保存了很多威尼斯名家製作或使用的樂器,並重點介紹威尼斯最著名的古典音樂家Vivaldi的生平.Vivaldi是我從小就欣賞的作曲家,四季可謂無人不識,不過他晚年發展不甚如意,死於維也納的事蹟我還是從這裡才認識,在此可購買晚上名家演奏Vivaldi音樂會的門票
Frari church:此教堂展出多件名作,包括Donatello及Titian的作品,雖然不是免費, 3歐元入場費絕對值得.
Rialto bridge/market:威尼斯由多個小島組成,橋多不勝數,最著名的可算是Rialto(其次則是嘆息橋),同名的市場早上賣生果,附近也有魚市場,當然少不了賣紀念品的商店,威尼斯的小島Murano以出產玻璃見稱,飾物擺設墨水筆均十分精美.

最後想介紹一個有用的app:Galileo.意大利舊城的街道不如美國城市般井然有序,威尼斯的尤其左彎右曲,走幾個街口往往就不知方向,這個app可預先在網上(免費)下載地區詳細街道圖,而iPad的GPS無須上網也可在該app的地圖上定向,在威尼斯成了我們救星!

後記:這是我們暑假旅行最後一站,玩到不想回家,Air Canada似乎想幫一把:在威尼斯航機故障需更換零件,結果延誤了五小時,連累我們趕不上在多倫多轉機回家,要在Crowne Plaza酒店借宿一宵,這經驗認真難忘!

意大利遊記:比薩篇

我們參加的local tour下午在佛羅倫斯Santa Maria Novella教堂對面集合,旅遊巴開到Pisa大概1.5hr左右.參觀的名勝全在圍牆之內的Miracle plaza: 包括Baptistery. 大教堂(和羅馬佛羅倫斯及威尼斯最宏偉的教堂相比不遑多讓!),博物舘(古時是醫院)以及墳場,可謂和古人一生息息相關,意義重大.諷刺的是,最有名的Leaning tower反而只得一個普通功能,就是作為報時的鐘樓!

左至右:墳場,baptistery,教堂,斜塔

原來鐘樓在剛開始興建最底幾層不久,建築師已發現開始傾斜,於是停工.膽大的繼任人想到補救方法:就是再向上起,新層在向下斜那一邊的柱子加長一點!在本世紀初,由於傾斜角度由4度增至6度,於是當局將之封閉並找來工程專家研究辦法:專家終於解開再度傾斜之謎:地下泥土太多水份,濕土堆積在一邊,改善的辦法就是抽走這些積土,斜塔得以從新開放.接近三百級的石級樓梯是上頂的唯一途徑,一鼓作氣,其實也只需五分鐘左右就走完.

意大利遊記:佛羅倫斯篇

在佛羅倫斯前前後後玩了兩天(不計去了比薩斜塔的半天)去到歐洲文藝復興重鎮,我們選了幾個以藝術聞名的重量級名勝參觀,包括:

• Bargello: 以其收藏的雕塑聞名於世,包括Donatello, 米開蘭基羅的名作.
• Pitti Palace:曾是雄踞佛羅倫斯叱咤意大利多時的Medici家族的住所,現時開放給公眾參觀(收費),並收藏了不少藝術品.Medici家族的雄厚財力支持了不少意大利當時的藝術家進行創作,可以說是文藝復興一大推動力.
• Accademia: 藝術館外的長龍相信十之八九是慕米開蘭基羅傑作中之傑作大衛像之名而來,也是一個建議大家參加skip-the-line local tour的景點.有旅遊網站指Accademia除大衛像之外名作不多,加上大衛像有一複制品可免費不用排隊觀賞,我差點略過此館,,幸而沒有,皆因米開蘭基羅的原作以大理石雕成,表面比複制品幼細,更見雕工之靈,配合為此雕像特製的場館及光線,沿著雕像360度走一轉,感覺是無與輪比.此外,館內其他藏品尤其是文藝復興前後的多幅油畫其實也有不少值得欣賞.
• Uffizi gallery:提起油畫,這正是佛羅倫斯#1藝術館Uffizi的強項,畫家包括米開蘭基羅,達芬奇,Caravaggio, Titian等等.Medici家族原本以之為辦公室,呈U型的建築本身亦十分獨特,U的底部對正Arno River,美景盡收眼底
• Palazzo Signoria, Loggia del Lanzi: 和以上四館不同之處是這兩個相鄰的名勝是免費,展品包括大衛像複制品以及其他多件雕塑(部份為原作)有一晚由美國費城遠渡而來的青年樂團就在此演出,氣氛極佳.
• Basilica Santa Maria Novella:和羅馬一樣, 佛羅倫斯也有不少在原作地展出藝術精品的教堂,本堂就是其中之一,傑作包括Giotto的Crucifix

clockwise from left: Palazzo Vecchio, Duomo, David (Accademia), Arno river

Santa Maria Novella也是佛羅倫斯城中火車站的名字,我們就是從羅馬Termini坐火車抵達這裡,又從這裡離開前往威尼斯,想提醒大家,在火車站無穿鐵路公司制服,見遊客入站即上前提供協助的那些人士,請避之則吉;還有,在網上預先購票比即場購票便宜(也不怕售罄),不過在羅馬我們未知預購的好處,自行到自動售票機,找到要乘班次後付現金買票.在大告示版找列車編號可知幾號月台上車,票上有寫車卡號碼(carrozza,多得兒子眼利提點我們)票上明明寫著四號車卡,好不容易走到四號車卡才知是餐卡,卡上職員叫我們走回車尾!結果我們唯有見位就坐,很多乘客都像我們無所適從.意大利人辦事方式一向為人詬病,並非無的放矢.幸好去威尼斯前在網上預購的票沒有這個問題.

和歐洲很多名城一樣,佛羅倫斯城中也有一條河貫穿其中,就是Arno river,眾多橋中以歷史悠久形態特別(如房屋)金舖錶舖林立的Ponte Vecchio最為有名,建議各位在入夜後到河畔欣賞夜景,浪漫非常.

雖然旅遊網站大多介紹佛羅倫斯三四天的行程,我卻覺得留一兩週慢慢欣賞(及購物)絕不為過.如果下次再有機會重遊,我會想去以下景點(頭三個Dan Brown小說Inferno有提及)

• Palazzo Vecchio:Dan Brown形容此建築外型有如象棋的rook,我覺得實在貼切不過,出自名師Vasari手筆,其中收藏大量名家作品,而經過Uffizzi橫跨Arno River穿過Pitti Palace的Vasari corridor秘道更是充滿神秘感(以及藝術珍藏),此秘道須參加特別預約的tour才可進入
• Boboli garden:本園經過精心設計,亦是以上秘道的終點.
• Duomo:其紅磚圓頂和Palazzo Vecchio的塔可說是佛羅倫斯最有代表性的景觀
• Santa Maria Del Carmine:此教堂內有Masaccio這位文藝復興先驅創作的璧畫.

至於餐廳,我們基本上聽從歐遊專家Rick Steve書本或節目的介紹:

• Fiaschetteria Cambi:是品嘗以城市為名的Florentine steak的好地方.
• La Buchetta cafe: 在意大利大城7時開始提供晚餐的多是以遊客為對象,這間餐廳雖然也有不少遊客慕名而來,卻絕不是tourist trap,意粉尤其出色,前菜主菜亦不俗.
• La Prosciutta:位處之小巷多間店均賣麵包夾鹹肉這種地道食品,每間店都頗多顧客,(當晚星期日只有這家營業)十分美味.
• Zaza:就在Santa Maria Novella教堂附近,truffle fettuccine味道一流！

最後想提帳單上會見到一項coperto,起初我們不明所以,以為麵包要收費,全寫pane e coperto,照字面解的確是麵包與餐具(請看本文詳解),其實是cover charge,即是因顧客坐下進食而收取的服務費,我們幾次光顧的都收每人兩歐元,以四個人一餐共60歐元來算,差不多13%, 不過cover charge並不是付給侍應生的小費,只是意大利餐廳小費不如美國般15-20%那麼多,所以總計起來也不算太過.如要節省,可以吃外賣,如光顧麵包夾肉的店,就不用付coperto了.

意大利遊記:龐貝,那不勒斯篇

除了梵帝岡及各隊著名意甲球隊所在城市(羅馬米蘭費倫天拿拿玻里)龐貝可以說是另一個從小就認識的意大利城市,當然因為它在公元一世紀被火山爆發出來的火山灰淹沒後直至十六世紀才被發現的傳奇經歷.全城大量人口短時間同時被殺實在是十分可怕的事,所以一向想起龐貝都不寒而悚.不過由於由羅馬去龐貝只需兩個多小時,沒理由不趁機去去,事實上去完之後也令我改觀.
我們參加的local tour包括三項活動:
1)參觀被火山灰保存下來的龐貝遺跡,其實看火山災難遺體倒模只是行程一少部份,主要還是觀看古羅馬時代的街道房屋浴場妓院商店餐館等等,以了解當時居民的生活習慣,原來和現今也有很多相似之處.
2)吃那不勒斯pizza,其底較羅馬及米蘭吃過的為厚,口感甚佳.
3)爬活火山Mount Vesuvius,這就是淹沒龐貝的火山!旅遊巴載我們到小石徑的起點.行山徑雖然不算長,但部份路段十分斜,上和落均費時費力,我們用了35分鐘才到crater,山頂的美景的確值得.

意大利遊記:梵帝岡篇

我們在意大利的第三天(星期二)參加了Vatican museum and St. Peter's basilica的local tour,從小到大對梵帝岡的認識主要來自教宗在廣場向信眾揮手及發表演說的新聞片段,也知道數百年來影響歐洲大局的教廷檔案室入面有不少驚人秘密(也有教徒呈交的家庭資料)而米開蘭基羅幾件傑作亦收藏於梵帝岡,去過方知原來由意大利(羅馬)進入梵帝岡沒有邊境關卡也不查護照,還有,教廷收藏的藝術品多得足以成立博物館,也是遊客參觀的熱點.我們進入Vatican museum的通道,就已離意入梵,位處博物館現代化的新翼,走過如Guggenheim般的圓圓樓梯之後才見到古羅馬皇帝所建的松果庭園(Pine cone courtyard),再走進走廊就可見教廷收藏的大量珍品,每段有不同種類主題,包括雕塑,壁毯(tapestry),也有意大利地圖,然後是各個不同時代的畫作,走了一大段才到焦點所在:Sistine Chapel, 原是教宗本人作禮拜之處,其中米開蘭基羅多幅畫作均極負盛名,尤以樓頂的上帝創造亞當,和最後的審判為甚.可惜很多遊人無視職員多番警告繼續拍照及高聲說話.Sistine Chapel有一門可進入St. Peter's,教堂本身固然是極其宏偉之建築,所展示的Pieta(聖母抱從十字架下來的耶穌雕像)更是米開蘭基羅的頂峰之作之一.我們在此渡過了一個早上,在郵局寄過明信片(用梵帝岡郵票)後就回到一街之隔的羅馬食午餐.

順帶一提,教堂一般對訪客衣著有所要求:需要蓋過肩頭和膝頭,如穿短褲的話,可選較長過膝那款.

意大利遊記:羅馬篇

去年暑假我們走了一轉西北美加,相當好玩;今年決定把焦點轉到國外:完成加勒比海之旅後就由Orlando飛往羅馬(在Montreal轉機), 這程機其實相當糟糕:因為我開始感冒,在上機前又傳來噩耗,而Air Canada Rogue要乘客預先在smartphone/tablet裝好Air Canada App才能享用影音娛樂,否則不另提供,機上的冷氣又勁凍,向空姐反映亦不果.Anyway,早上到達羅馬這個代表著西方文明的古都,精神為之一振(當然再加上在午餐前少睡了一會)我們租的Apartment鄰近Piazza Navona,附近觀光飲食及購買日用品均十分方便, 我們先在Carrefour(家樂福超市)買點三文治材料作午餐, 飯後來個Heart of Rome walk:  包括Navona(Four rivers fountain十分有名,出自羅馬大師Bernini手筆),  Pantheon(萬神殿,中心呈巨圓拱型,乃係古代羅馬建築科技一大里程碑) ,羅馬皇帝Marcus Aurelius紀念打勝仗而建的圓柱, 宏偉但在維修中的Trevi fountain, 以及Spanish steps.羅馬其他名勝如Colosseum(競技場，也是現今世界各地運動場館模仿的藍本) , Roman Forum, Villa Borghese(羅馬市公園)等等則在其餘數天逐一參觀.Villa Borghese之內的Borghese Gallery是著名的藝術館,堪稱羅馬第一,不過入場劵要一星期或更早前預購,略嫌麻煩,我們去不成,反正意大利多的是保留名家作品在原處的教堂,例如展示Caravaggio等等傑作的Santa Maria Del Popolo或者擺放Bernini雕塑St Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy的Santa Maria della Vittoria.我們在Villa Borghese欣賞的是建築雕像園景,還有租了四人單車($12/hr)和Segway($10/0.5hr)來玩,十分過癮.

Villa Borghese

Piazza Navona, Pantheon

至於飲食,意大利最著名的當然是意大利粉!還有gelato(不是ice cream的雪糕,羅馬市內有價格管制,2.5歐元可買兩種味道的小size,Marcus Aurelius Column鄰近的Giolitti最為有名 )也少不了pizza和panini,中午就常常吃麵包夾肉,如prosciutto或鹹豬肉(porcheta)幸好甚有名氣的Pizzeria Baffetto就在住處附近,六點多就開始排長龍!也試過誇Sixto bridge到Trastevere區在Da Olindo吃晚飯,晚飯叫一個前菜,一兩客意粉再加一主菜也夠我們一家四口有餘.另一間近Piazza Navona的L'insalata Ricca餐廳也相當不俗,兒子最喜歡他們的牛扒.

最後,建議有意遊意的網友如參觀Coloseum, 比薩斜塔,龐貝古城及梵帝岡等遊客必到之處,考慮參加"Skip-the-line" local tour(在美國可透過Viator預訂),自行前往的話肯定要大排長龍.還有,今次之行發現Skype+wifi在外遊時頗有用處,我的Skype戶口已有幾元結餘(因為在家不時使用Skype以"pay as you go"收費模式打長途電話,),在意大利不難找到免費wifi,需打電話或發SMS(例如給意大利當地公司或海外家人),Skype就派上用場(Skype收費應該比手機roaming或買當地SIM card化算).

別了，周輝

我和周頴輝在培正中一同班時認識，因為同住沙田，放學回家同路而相熟，不經不覺已做了三十幾年朋友。我們同學個個叫他周輝，直至他完成PhD成為Dr. Chow, 又多了神醫這個花名。可能有人覺得他有點沉默寡言，不過在知己面前，博學多才的他有數不盡的話題，包括煲劇、文學以至音樂。眾所週知他是運動健將，尤其熱愛長跑，我們一班朋友經常向他請教操練的心得，神醫可不是浪得虛名！我印象最深的是和他一行四支公在東涌踩單車來回欣澳，回程時穿過漆黑一片的隧道，四條友一條心未驚過！說他文武全才絕不誇張，我們樂隊數次找他客串主音，皆因他的Rock腔實在別具一格。還有我們大周鄧翟竹戰的日子，以及去離島宿營（包括跌落簷篷那一次），種種難忘的片段，寫極也寫不完。

老朋友，我們會永遠懷念你。

迪士尼郵輪西加勒比海遊記

常常聽朋友說坐郵輪遊船河這個玩意比較適合和老人家同去(或自己已成為老人家),不過我老早(十年前)就計劃過去過二人世界,可惜最終因護照問題被迫取消,結果四十幾歲人才第一次去,家中兩個小朋友反而是第二次玩Disney Cruise! 其實喜歡遊船河與否和年鹷無關,主要是有否去hea的心態,至於我則是再加點好奇,當然,一家人去Disney這種family theme的cruise實在不錯,不過如有special theme的cruise,  例如heavy metal或者jazz ,我也會考慮自己去.

今次7天的行程可以說是不多不少，因為這是第一次,  樣樣都覺新鮮，由船頭行去船尾，頂樓到底層,三天才算熟悉全船.七天有兩整天都在海上沒有埋岸,最適合玩盡船上設施,包括這條名為Fantasy的船的一大特色:部份在船身以外的滑水梯Aquaduck,浸浸jacuzzi,做做gym消化一下進食了的大量食物,(待會再寫食),看看電影:迪士尼包括Pixar擁有大量電影版權,在船上能播首輪甚至首映的船公司只此一家!我們看了Avenger, Tomorrowland, Big Hero 6, Inside Out(首映)另外,晚飯過後就是musical時間,  雖然以Disney角色同故事為主有少少cheesy,  但歌同舞都相當高水準;還有魔術show和棟篤笑.

Jamaica golfing excursion

接著要寫的是加勒比海埋岸的四個港口，其中三個碼頭:Cozumel(Mexico), Grand Cayman, Falmouth(Jamaica)周遭基本上無甚可玩，離開碼頭範圍遠一點已算是窮鄉僻壤,迪士尼公司有subcontract local公司辦活動，例如眾多水上活動(snorkeling, rafting...)，幾十至百幾美元一位,我們全部都無參與.我只在牙買加打了高球($179), 另外要買沒攜帶的手套和波，球場環境及condition實在是不錯.牙買加天然環境不俗，有條件攪夏威夷式旅遊，但據聞政治環境未如理想.第四個港口在Bahamas,  是迪士尼公司私家島，叫Castaway Cay,海灘水清沙靚,而且很淺，放心讓小朋友玩,我們又在島上踩了單車及水上單車(額外收費)

Grand Cayman

至於飲食方面,水準基本上和一般每個entree收US$30左右的餐廳同級質素，前菜主菜及甜品任食,另有快餐(熱狗漢堡飽),任何時間都可飽餐一頓,還有長時間供應的軟雪糕極受歡迎,當然我寧可將我的甜食quota留給餐廳的甜品啦.提起甜品,上船之前一天我們為免航班延誤特地提早到Orlando遊玩了一天,由於十年前在Miami Joe Stone Crab吃過極美味的Key Lime Pie, 今次希望重温,在網上找到甚獲好評的Olivia's Cafe,無獨有偶,其實是迪士尼渡假村內的餐廳,他們的甜品實在一流.我們察覺到在Orlando似乎好玩好食的都和迪士尼有關,當日早上我們避開迪士尼到著名的International drive走一轉, 除了Wonderworks及Ripley's的建築有點特色,可謂乏善足陳,晚上還是去了Disney Downtown食飯聽音樂!

Dessert from Disney cruise

最後有幾點建議給將來打算坐迪士尼郵輪的網友:1) 全家人人最好準備一部smartphone/tablet,沒有私家機的小朋友可給他一部舊機,有wifi即可,上船前在家中先全部安裝Disney cruise app,該app除了有船的節目表,最有用的是即時chat的功能,讓在船上各處自由玩的家人可以隨時聯絡.2)多帶幾個袋,包括大個的環保購物袋(裝毛巾泳衣防曬等等去沙灘的用品),可丟棄的膠袋(裝沾滿沙的物品如鞋)以及ziploc bags(裝航程結束尚未乾的泳衣)

後記:發現了另一位中國老兄(今次在船上沒見到幾個)也post過迪士尼郵輪西加勒比海遊記,不過他每天分開寫比我這篇詳細得多,和我們的路線只有少許差異,相信對本帖讀者也有參考價值.(他自嘲不識音樂及迪士尼人物很搞笑,這兩方面我算比他強一點:)

荒謬世界中國篇之膚色有層次

早一陣子發過一帖講香港種族歧視問題如何嚴重,最近這則也和香港多種族社群有關,不過歧視者則來自強國,下文摘自新浪:

中國足協近日推出一組宣傳海報，提醒球員勿輕視對手。不過當中字眼具有挑釁性，尤其對香港隊海報寫道：「這支球隊的人，有黑皮膚、有黃皮膚、有白皮膚，這麼有層次的球隊，得防着點！」，明顯嘲諷港隊球員華洋摻雜、中外混合，「層次」分明。在內地人習慣用語中，強調膚色種族或許正常，但在不少香港人眼中，這些用語十分刺眼，帶有種族歧視成份。

倪匡說過:無恥分兩種:無知無恥及明知無恥。這個該是前者吧。
相信香港人對肯為香港出力的人,不論甚麼膚色,都會一視同仁地支持!

可否不分膚色的界限
願這土地裡　不分你我高低

來自家駒送給南非曼德拉的作品,現在也適合送給強國人:

Home run stories

MLB Network is part of the cable package I paid for and I am glad that I have it 'coz between MLB Network, Fox, ESPN and Comcast Sportsnet, I can catch almost 1 or 2 games per day every day during the season! And MLB Network's nightly show "Quick Pitch" gives me all highlights I need (better than ESPN's "Baseball tonight") However, I seldom watch other shows like "Intentional Talk" except for today. And it mentioned 2 interesting stories:

• Yan Gomes (Cleveland Indians) hit 2 HR yesterday and both of them were caught by the same fan! Now the fan is hoping he could get the balls autographed. Hope he gets it.
• Former Oakland A's (and current Indians) Brandon Moss hit his 100th career HR the other day. His teammates have the ball and asked Moss to buy them Apple gears (iPads and Macbooks) to get the ball back. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, stepped in and pay the "ransom" for Moss. Nice gesture!

荒謬世界國際篇之足協醜聞

上週五是國際足協主席選舉，之前美國公開調查該組織的報告，指控多名高層貪污。在醜聞壓力下，白禮達雖然在選舉獲勝連任，不久也宣佈下台。其實，國際足協和各國本土足協話事人之間利益輸送的傳聞，一向廣泛流傳，球迷大都略知一二。今次事件會否導致該組織洗心革面，我也不敢看好，畢竟足球是全世界最受歡迎的運動，球迷或多或少都有所「奉獻」；對搞手來說處處都是誘人的利益，四年一度的世界盃更是恍如金磺，要潔身自愛殊不容易。賄款正是推高電視轉播費的元兇，所以我們都是受害者呀！

More saxophone music

I am still in the mood of a lot of saxophone music. And I would like to recommend these 3 albums:

• Lennie Tristano - Chicago April 1951: This live recording from 1951 was actually released just last year. And what a gem this is! The band leader is of course the pianist Tristano. The 2 saxophonists, Lee Konitz on Alto and Wayne Marsh on Tenor were both shining in these sessions too. In addition to standards like "All the things you are", there are also less frequently heard pieces like Konitz's composition "Palo Alto" and the beautiful ballad "Judy", a Tristano original.
• Dayna Stephens - Reminiscent: this young saxophonist is very active on the scene and has released multiple albums, with this one being the latest and more straight-ahead sounding. This dude knows how to swing hard!
• Charlie Haden - Land of the Sun: the leader was the late great bassist Haden and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba was one of the producers. These 2 names alone were big enough for any jazz fan to listen to this. Well, I haven't mentioned the saxophonists yet: Joe Lovano and Miguel Zenon. This album is a laid-back jazz exploration of Mexico's classic ballad tradition.

荒謬世界香港篇之嚴重歧視

日前議員陳志全（公開同性戀者）在地鐵被兩名大嬸當眾辱罵，多次提及其性取向及性器官！陳議員當然不會還口，只是一位旁觀乘客看不過眼出言指責，因為這些言語實在太難聽，有教壞細路之嫌；事後網民起底指她們都是藍絲。支持建制的藍絲不喜身為泛民一員的陳議員，那是理所當然；不過，她們第一錯是當街謾罵，更錯是針對其性取向。

事實上，除了性取向歧視，香港種族歧視的問題也十分嚴重，早前有人在南華早報撰文指少數族裔（尤其是膚色深的印巴人士）在香港入學、開銀行戶口以至租屋，皆有困難，實在值得關注（梁特會說這是土地供應的問題吧！）題外話：該文把話題扯到本土運動針對在香港打擾本地人生活的強國人，稱之為歧視，我就不敢苟同。

Last but not least,是梁特已經表示源於土地供應的老人院欺凌個案，比歧視更可惡！照顧老人家的確不是一件舒服的工作，長期在該環境工作，人變得麻木無情也不是不能預見的事，如何防止老人家受虐，還須集思廣益。

Danger in riding on the road

One of my good friends told me once he and his kids will ride on nothing but bike path/trail. At that time I thought he was a bit paranoid. Well, maybe not. These day you could read a few news articles about traffic accident involving bicyclists almost every week. Here is another one happened in Napa Valley (specifically, St. Helena): An Ohio woman celebrating her first wedding anniversary was killed Tuesday in a bicycle accident on Main Street north of Charter Oak Avenue. 

I certainly don't want to stop road biking but I guess I could use more caution in traffic.

荒謬世界香港篇之包容非法居留人士

日前一名貌似技安（並無歧視之意）據稱非法居港九年之十二歲人士，與自稱其阿婆自首（後者協助非法居留，不知名父母據稱在中國）並獲工聯會嫻姐高調力撐留港入學。

在中港矛盾重重的今日，此事當然引起全城議論紛紛：
1）包括工聯會的建制派曾經明確表示反對此類人士留港（時為公民黨籍律師為無證童打官司成功，法院准其留港，該事一直成為五毛用來攻擊公民黨的把柄）今日的他們（又再）打倒昨日的他們
2）此事件有否成功為政改轉移港人之視線，實在很難講。
3）部份網民到接見該童面試之小學外貼標語表示反對該校收錄非法居留人士，星期六一位該校就讀的小朋友被傳媒拍到在標語前哭訴：「犯左法又點喎」卻被細心的網民聽到背後有成人教唆：「大聲啲」年紀輕輕就成為propaganda的棋子：是悲哀？還是前途無可限量？
4）一向以爭取勞工選票為目標、形象比較正面的嫻姐，突然趕這一淌看似不相干的渾水，所為何事？有分析指面臨殺校危機的黃大仙區小學是事件受益者，才是她真正籠絡的對象。信焉？
5）一向口口聲聲依法辦事的建制派再表演搬龍門絕技：今次講情不講法。

荒謬世界美國香港篇之懷孕旅客早產靠傳媒籌旗支付醫療費

標題基本上已概括整件事件，值得討論的是誰對誰錯。第一錯的可能是主流媒體，大都傾向同情孕婦而指醫院不近人情，我不敢苟同：如果醫院真的不近人情的話，會先收錢後醫治；現在只是按例，先收錢後發出世紙罷了。美國大嬸腹大便便（懷孕七個月）還出國外遊，無論醫生批准與否，也不見得是明智之舉。遇上保險不肯負責，倒真是有點值得同情，雖然美國社會福利再好也不見得包在外國生仔，旅遊保險指嬰兒名字不在保單之上未免有點賴皮。無論如何，傳媒總算幫了大嬸一把：輿論壓力使醫院即發出世紙；煽情的報導又激起網民同情心，捐款大致足夠支付醫院費用。

Saxophone music

Those who are close to me all know I'm in my "all about saxophone" mode lately. I have been listening to mainly jazz for years, most with saxophone already but I'm focusing on music with the instrument even more these days. For the adventurous jazz fans, I strongly recommend these 2:

• Matana Roberts released her album "The Chicago Project" in 2008. Compared to her latest album which features quite a bit of human voices (Rhapsody's review calls it "sound-art installation." So you get the idea), this is more accessible. I could hear a bit of fusion, a lot of avant garde (with clear Coltrane-influences) and most importantly, clever melodies. Here is a link to a good review.
• Rudresh Mahanthappa's latest album is named "Bird Calls" Bird and alto sax immediately made me think of Charlie Parker and Bebop. Although he sounded more like Coltrane, especially on the solo/duets series titled "Bird Calls #1-5", all these pieces contain influences from and references to Parker's work (see this detailed review)

荒謬世界香港篇之假民意撐假普選

五毛團體近兩年多次搞簽名支持假普選方案已經多得有點令人麻木，每次均被人發現一人簽多名，未成年學童簽名，外國遊客簽名，可見簽名毫無說服力，但搞手如張溶等仍然樂此不疲。今次就被踢爆送蠔油，藉口是其他團體入會之贈品，明眼人都知是同一班人所為。下次簽名人數非過千萬不行，五毛團體加油呀！

荒謬世界香港篇之富二代教買樓

摘自此文:

根據現行的按揭規定，月入1.5萬元的年輕入，要通過壓力測試，估計只能買大約售價250萬元物業，但先要儲夠四成首期，即100萬元，月儲3000元，也要儲28年

當然,等28年,樓價又已升了!

荒謬世界香港篇之納稅與選票

某位強國所謂法律學者在香港大放狗屁,說假普選制度下之提名委員會以工商界人士為主是合理的,因為工商界交稅交得最多.意思是:政府收呢班人錢,自然要聽佢地支笛,保護佢地利益,而社會大多數中下階層既人就無需代表,話之佢地死.

果然有道理!

Sports highlights: Tour of California, NBA Playoff, White Sox vs A's, NASCAR, International Challenge of Champion

It was another week of dramatic finishes in the world of sports. First, the 10th edition of the tour of California bicycle race started in Sacramento on 5/10. And San Jose hosted a stage in all 10 years. This year it was the stage 3, which started in SJ, through Calavaras Rd to Sunol, then Hwy 84 to Livermore and up Mt. Hamilton, back down to SJ again and finished with a climb at Metcalf Rd. The winner was an unexpected one: the young rider Toms Skujins from Hincapie Racing Team. He started his attack on the Hamilton climb. And hung on to the lead at the finish. It might have to do with the wrong decision made by the "bigger teams" not trying to bring back the breakaway. The commentators joked that it's because of the poor cell phone signals and the lack of knowledge about Skujins. He had the yellow jersey for 2 more stages with helps from his teammates until the individual time trial in South Cal, which again had an unexpected winner: Peter Sagan, who was better known as a sprinter. In fact, he has won many stages before with his superb sprinting ability. However, in recent years Mark Cavendish has taken over as this tour's premiere sprinter, who won both stage 1 and 2. Sagan's team owner was so disappointed that he publicly challenged Sagan. And Sagan rose to the occasion to not only win a sprinting stage after that but also the time trial to grab the yellow from Skujins. He lost the yellow to another young rider Julian Alaphilippe on the Mt. Baldy stage and fell behind by seconds at the beginning of the final stage on 5/17. Sagan's only hope to retake the lead and win the race came down to the sprint bonuses of the last stage. Cavendish won the intermediate sprint. Sagan came second and Alaphilippe got third so Sagan inched closer but still need the bonus from the finish (10s for the winner, 6s for 2nd place, 4s for 3rd.) Cav won again and prevented Sagan from grabbing that 10s. Sagan and Tyler Farrar were really close for the 3rd place finish and the photo showed Sagan beat Farrar with a margin less than the width of the bicycle tire! What a finish!

Speaking of photo finish, in the Friday night NASCAR Truck race Kasey Kahne barely beat the Erik Jones to the finish by 0.005 second! Jones is also an up-and-coming young star in the sports.

Speaking of young stars, the NASCAR Xfinity race on Sunday was all about them. Chase Elliott would have won the race if not for the caution right before the last lap. Chris Buescher was another driver with a strong car throughout the race. He pitted and got new tires while Elliott didn't. And that's the difference that propelled Buescher to the victory lane with Elliott had to settle for 2nd.

Speaking of 2nd, the #2 seed of NBA's Western conference playoff, Houston Rockets had a slow start and fell behind LA Clippers 1-3 in their best-of-7 playoff series. Well, as a long time Rocket fan I still remember them coming back from the same deficit in 1995. And they did it! However, I guess it's hard to see the history of 1995 repeat itself: they went all the way and won their 2nd championship in a row!

Speaking of 1995, that's not a good year for the Chicago White Sox even though they have these guys on their roster: Ray Durham, Tim Raines, Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Ron Karkovice, Ozzie Guillen and Wilson Alvarez. I hope their 1995 history doesn't repeat for them as they finished 3rd in their division and had a sub-.500 record. That's a bad year for the Oakland A's as well as they finished dead last in their division. Both are teams I root for and they played against each other last week. The Sox won a few close ones and swept the A's in Oakland. Oh well, it couldn't have been win-win for me anyway.

Last but not the least dramatic finish was the TV rerun of the semifinal of 2014 International Challenge of (9 ball) Champion between Shane Van Boening and Darren Appleton. Van Boening missed an easy shot for the 8 ball and lost to Appleton (who lost in the final to Thorsten Hohmann)

荒謬世界香港篇之殺人放火金腰帶，修橋補路無屍骸

本網誌寫時事的帖好像少了一點,老是音樂和體育可能有點離地,其實我在FB也常常Comment/share相關新聞,例如老牌左派楊光去世,楊氏在早幾年獲頒特府大獎時,他領導六七暴動導致DJ林彬被燒死一事已再度廣被傳揚.其實人死為大,如果不是林鄭代特區政府讚揚楊氏之貢獻,可能對楊氏不滿之聲沒有如今響亮.林鄭也算是抽到下箴,此事剛好在梁特放假時發生,讓她做個醜人.

25 Unusual Albums for Guitarists

I gotta admit I have been paying less attention to guitar (and this blog) these days after picking up saxophone. So, it's time to post one about guitar: GuitarPlayer presented 25 unusual albums every guitarist needs to hear The editors even took the time to link a YouTube video to every entry. What a good read/listen! Gotta admit I am not too interested in those country albums mentioned even though I understand how important/influential those players are. I dig the blues ones: I actually own the SRV/Albert King album! And glad to hear some early 80s Gary Moore. He seemed to rock harder than his late 80's self (Of course he became all blues after that) The list even included an album without any guitar playing: Weather Report's 8:30 because all of us could learn something from bassist Jaco Pastorius. 

荒謬世界香港篇之遊學團面試錄影撐政改

一個名為佔中不代表我的帳號發表了一條影片，內容是訪問數名中學生，他們表示支持政府力推的（假普選）政改方案。影片出街自然引發議論紛紛，有學生所屬學校校長出來澄清，影片源自學生為參加免費遊學團的面試錄影，主辦機構有提供參考答案，又承諾影片不會公開。

主辦機構昆人，固然不該；學生（及家長）也有問題。如果他們真心支持政府的方案，就是助紂為虐；如果不是，即是為便宜說假話，亦大錯特錯。希望他們經一事長一智，以後不要輕易信人，更不要說違心之言。

Sports highlights: the White Sox bats are waking up?

The Sox was down 3-6 to the Tigers yesterday. Looks like it's another lost cause but the Melk man hit a 3-run homer (his first of the season!) in the 8th and then Avisail Garcia followed up with the game winning RBI single. They also beat Detroit the night before. Hopefully this will be a confidence boost.

90% of what people do now is done within a web browser?

I was debating with a friend the merit of a Chromebook (it's really debate for the sake of debate 'coz both of us are not inclined to buy one) I think there's a market for Chromebook because a lot can be done inside a browser these days. It has been more than a decade after Larry Ellison was pitching his concept of "Network Computing" that depends on technology like Java Applet. With today's JavaScript-based technology you could provide very rich UI in your Web apps. Then the next day I read this article "Six things that make open source a no-brainer for your company" The author wrote

90% of what people do now is done within a web browser. Let's face it, most end users today could get by with a Chromebook and still be able to get their jobs done.

If you scroll down to the comment section, you would see two comments are against this point. One said the author lacked stats to back up this argument. (One actually said "browser is a bad terminal" but he agreed he was old-school so let's leave him alone) I gave this some thought and I think we could come up with a list of what people usually do with their computer and decide whether 90% of the list could be done in a web browser! Here is the list on the top of my head:
- social networking
- web browsing (duh!)
- messaging
- office productivity (word processing/spreadsheet/presentation)
- media consumption (browsing photo, streaming music and video)
- media editing (picture/audio/video)

A web browser can certainly handle the Top 5. In fact, Google Doc is so convenient that I'd rather use it than M$ Office. The last one is debatable: for simple manipulation like making a collage of pictures, applying a filter, trimming a video or adding a sound track, web apps are good enough. What a browser cannot handle are the more sophisticated tasks like decoding a DVD or multi-track recording. So I think it's fair to say it's 25% capable for the last task. 5.25/6 = 87.5% which rounds up to 90! (In fact, if you just consider the time one typically spent on these tasks, it's certainly > 90% within a web browser!)

As a side note, even though I am no fan of Chromebook, I can't deny it's a successful product. From this article:

Amit Singh, the president of Google for Work, discussed the vision of Chrome for work and said that Chromebooks are the number one selling device on Amazon and number one selling device for education as well.

And this is from a non-Google source: Top 3 holiday computers sold by Amazon were Chromebooks. 

Sports highlights: another walkoff (the first by the Giants' Joe Panik), Chicharito scored

Just wrote about a walkoff hit by the former Giant (current White Sox) Melky Cabrera earlier this week. Now I'm writing about a walkoff hit (a sac-fly) by the current Giant Joe Panik in bot 9th last night. And it happened at the game we attended on Wednesday (club level seats thanks to Jenny!) Unlike the lopsided 12-0 A's vs Mariners game, this one was a nail-biter featuring the best-of-the-best pitchers in the game: WS MVP Madison Bumgarner and regular season MVP/Cy Young Clayton Kershaw. Both teams indeed pitched really well in the game, giving up only 2 runs each for 8 innings. (Dodger's 2-run homer was pretty much the only mistake made by MadBum) My son was particularly impressed by Santiago Casilla, who kept throwing strikes in the beginning of the 9th.

Also happy to see the A's beating their SoCal rival Angel's with another lopsided victory: 9-2. And the White Sox earned its victory earlier in the day as well. Seems like both Samardzija and Abreu responded to my criticism earlier. The former pitched a good one and the latter hit a homer. Go Giants, A's and White Sox!

Last but not least, the former Man U forward (though mostly on the bench) Chicharito got a rare start at his new team, Real Madrid (who is even more star-studded than Man U, especially for his position) in the very important Champions League quarter-final match against rival Atletico Madrid because of injuries to the regular starters. According to the stats quoted by sports websites, he scored 1 goal per 105 min on average given how rare he plays. I joked that he might be able to score in this game if he played many minutes and he did! Good for him!

Sports highlights: the Melk man walked off

I have been a long-time White Sox fan and no doubt the past few years have been disappointing. There were moments of brilliance from the players at times and that's about it. From what I read, there were lots of expectation on this 2015 team because of the "big additions" of starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija, closer David Robertson, and sluggers Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera. Not from me though 'coz I feel that these players probably are more well-known than they should be based on what they have achieved already (the Melk man did contribute to the early success of the Giants who eventually won the WS but he was suspended in mid-season that year. Samardzija really hasn't done enough to push any of his team over the hump. And I wasn't the only one who said so.) And I'm afraid the lone brightspot, Jose Abreu, last year's rookie of the year, might experience sophomore-jinx.

So, unlike those with high hopes, I'm not surprised to see the poor start early this season. Nevertheless, it's good to see that the players have the fighting spirit and be more optimistic, like what Melky Cabrera said on Monday. And he backed up his words with actions that night. The Sox was down 0-3 to the Indians in the bottom of the 9th but they didn't give up. They got on base patiently and slowly climb back to tie the game (with RBIs from Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham) Finally, the Melk man delivered a game-winning bases-loaded RBI single! 

王平建事件

又一單以訛傳訛的網聞：早一陣子在FB見到人人鬧爆一位王平建，皆因這位祖國政協委員在會上發言：不要鼓勵農村的孩子去上大學，網聞還提及其他王平建貶低農村學生的言論。幸好有人查證，算是平反了此君的名聲：首先，名字是攪錯了，王委員實名為王平；其次，她對她這個主張作出了更深入的分析：農村學生入城讀完大學，就業不容易，亦要面對高房價的問題，反不如留在農村。如果一味指農村人進城才叫幸福，實在有點誤導。其實她的講法也不無道理, 這是王平接受南方都市報訪問的節錄：

王平：先实践过，你再去读书就有目的，就有的放矢。比如说，你了解到你的专业和特长以后，你不就知道该去补什么了吗？我们现在闭着眼睛去读大学，而且整个教学方法都是向钱看——老师看钱，学生也看钱。浪费了时间，浪费了青春。所以，我认为不应该鼓励农村孩子都去念大学，告诉他们什么现在读大学，你们以后就会和别人平等了，你们就得到了一切。我认为这是骗了人家。

南都：可是很多农村孩子，都指望进城用知识改变命运啊。

王平：我也听到了一些说法，有的说“我农村的好不容易有个希望进城，你还不让我来”。我想说你不知道，现在整个社会是金钱社会，我们没有一个价值的核心，到底人应该追求什么？在中国的传统文化里面，三百六十行，行行出状元。有些领导人不也是先从农村锻炼出来的吗？依我说，干吗要这样子，把所有的农村孩子，都诱惑到大学这条独木桥上来？

我们现在提城镇化，好像城市越大越好。但也不想想，农村年轻人进城了，小孩、父母都丢在那边呢，家庭也是悲剧。就算城里再好，我们又能够把13亿人，全部弄到城里来吗？

Guitar heroes

I am a big fan of magazines, especially guitar magazines like the Guitar Player. It takes me a long time to finish reading one though. Usually it takes 2-3 years to go from my mailbox to the living room to the bedroom to the bathroom and finally the recycle bin. Just finished reading one issue from 2013 which recommended the instrumental albums "Sound of Innocence" by Kiko Loureiro and "Unfinished Business" by Dean Brown. I enjoyed both a lot as I am a big fan of shredding guitar instrumental (think Vinnie Moore, Joe Satriani) as well as fusion. The funny thing is that I have never heard of Loureiro until this but I'm sure I'll hear more of his work as he just became the new guitarist of Megadeth (replacing Chris Broderick)

I am sure these two guys, Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan, appear in guitar magazines much more often, especially after they collaborated on a new release named "Duets" It's not your "normal" jazz guitar duo album though. They actually took turn to play piano on some of the tracks (with bass and drums) And like the previous releases by Jordan, it included a few pop covers. I enjoy their fresh reinterpretation.

Last but not least, I learned about the new release "Rush" by guitarist Tom Guarna from the "In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond" podcast. And I agree with this review very much that Guarna is in the same league as the "next gen" jazz guitarists that I have seen performing in NYC in the past years like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Gilad Hekselman.

Sports highlights: MLB opening week, IndyCar at NOLA, F1 at Shanghai, the Masters

I took my son to his first A's game at Oakland last Fri (got a decent deal from Groupon) It's also the first game he saw after he really learned the rules and played in little league so he enjoyed it a lot. I did too as it was a 12-0 beating of the division rival Seattle Mariners (featuring superstars like Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz. And Oakland lost the next 2 games by 1 run each!) A's offense reminded me of some of the little league games in which batters keep getting on bases!

The next one I want to write about was not a very-enjoyable event: the IndyCar Grand Prix of Louisiana. The track condition caused by the rain was so bad that basically most of the race in under caution. The early race leaders: Montoya and Power got shuffled back for their pit strategy (or I should say bad luck) The sad thing is: it's actually the 2nd race of the season and I had no idea the season has started already even though I work for the title sponsor! Can't believe I miss all those commercials for the season opener as I watch so much sports on almost every channel every day!

The F1 race at Shanghai was also something I should have missed as nothing really happened during the race. The 2 Mercedes (Hamilton, Rosberg), and the 2 Ferraris (Vettel and Raikkonen) went P1,2,3,4 respectively. The only surprise was how well the rookie Verstappen drove (Saw him in Macau GP last year). Too bad his engine broke near the end of the race.

After a disappointing NCAA title game (my Wisconsin Badgers lost) earlier in the week, finally came some good news. It's regarding my other school: fellow Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth won his first major, the Masters, in record-breaking fashion. The UT Tower went orange to honor his victory! Coincidentally, I also witnessed another Longhorn and former Masters champ, Ben Crenshaw, playing in his last Masters. Very emotional moments! It almost feels like Crenshaw has found a successor in Spieth. Check out this article comparing Spieth to other well-decorated Longhorn athletes!

The f-hole on string instruments

These days we almost take the f-hole for granted: all instruments in the violin family use this shape for sound hole, which is optimal. Some smart luthier must have figured out the science way back. Well, it might be less "scientific" than I thought but rather a result of natural selection: according to a recent study, it evolved from many other shapes, including a C-like shape. The designs that makes the instrument louder were chosen over the others and eventually all luthier use the f-shape.

I also found it interesting that not only violin magazine mentioned it but also the Economist! I guess the economic Darwinism aspect suits its readers. One question remains: why does flat-top acoustic guitar still use one big round sound hole in the middle? Maybe the f-shape is only optimal for arch-top.

More strange listening experience

I wrote about some unusual experience with the radio the other day. This time it is even more strange. I picked up this book called "The Jazz Ear: conversations over music" from the library because I had nothing better to do the other day. The author asked each interviewee to pick some music to discuss. I usually try finding them on Rhapsody while reading. When I got to the chapter about pianist Andrew Hill, I was too lazy to search for the exact tunes and simply switch the TV to Comcast's Jazz channel on Music Choice just to listen to some jazz to accompany the book. It was playing Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo A La Turk" from the album "Time Out" Guess what? In the paragraph I was reading: Andrew Hill was commenting on this exact tune! Man, it's a bit scary, isn't it?

News from Napa

Read 2 pieces of "big" news related to wineries in Napa 2 weeks ago. First, a bunch of wineries were sued because their wines allegedly contain toxin (arsenic) Most of these are cheap wine. You could find the brands from these links: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 I guess I will have to start drinking more expensive wine from now on.

The other story is a murder: a winery investor was shot and killed by his business partner. It's really unfortunate. Sometimes you think you're dealing with a smart businessman and good opportunities but the reality is so much different.

Sports highlights: 2015 AMA Endurocross season opener

IMO Endurocross is one of the most exciting form of motorcycle racing. Riding a motorbike across the difficult surfaces (with rocks, logs, tires and all those obstacles you can't think of!) is a feat in itself. Let alone riding as fast as you can to beat other riders! I followed it for a few seasons on NBCSN prior to 2013. All those seasons were dominated by the great Polish Taddy Blazusiak. He was simply better than his competitors. Even when he made mistakes (which were rare), he could recover from them like no one else. He won 5 straight titles 'til 2013. Too bad I missed the 2014 season completely as he finally had a challenger in Cody Webb who narrowly beat him to win the 2014 championship. And Blazusiak decided not to race in the 2015 AMA Endurocross season so it's really a changing of the guard. I'm glad that this season is broadcasted by CBS Sports Network. Comcast's TV guide mentions Endurocross explicitly (in info section) under the title 'Motorcycle Racing' for CBSSN unlike what it was with NBCSN (it was lumped into the "general purpose" Motorsports Hour program. I record every episode and won't know what it was until I watch! I really have 0 interest in many of the recorded races, like the tractor pull championship and drag boat racing. On the other hand, the late-modified and sprint car racing on dirt tracks are kinda cool) The most memorable moment of the 2015 Endurocross season opener doesn't have anything to do with the eventual winner though. Before I go into the details, let me explain the usual format of auto racing in US: there's a main event at the end of the day, which determine the winner of the race. (Some motorcross races have 2 main events, moto1 and moto2, and the combined points determine the overall winner.) And racers need to qualify to the main event. (Even for NASCAR with 43 cars racing in the main events, some of those spots are determined by the qualifying race results. Of course there are guaranteed spots reserved for the big names in NASCAR) For motorcross (supercross and endurocross), the first round of qualifying races are called Heat races (heat1 and heat2). Sometimes there's a 2nd round called Semi. And the last round is LCQ (last chance qualifier) So basically if a rider failed to reach the Top N, he will try again in the next round and finally LCQ. For the 2015 AMA Endurocross races, there are heat races then LCQ. Two of the participants are father and son: Destry Abbott (42) and Cooper Abbott (17). Both of them happened to be in the same heat and ran near the top of the qualifying position. When it was near the end of the heat race, Destry got the last qualifying position and was about to cross the line, but he stopped and looked back, saw his son Cooper and let him passed! I guess Destry didn't want his son to take the risk of not qualifying via the LCQ. And perhaps he's very confident that he could qualify for the main from the LCQ and indeed he did. Classic example of the older generation looking after the next one! Oh BTW, the race was won by Cody Webb. Taddy has successfully passed his baton to Cody, figuratively speaking.

From the news

90% of the time I am on SFGate I read the TV schedule for sports and nothing else. Well, it's an exception today. Quite a bit of eye-catching business news:

• Facebook ads boost condom brand in Indonesia This one actually sounds more like an ad for Facebook then a news report. Turns out FB ads boost other brands too, as mentioned in the article, like Nestle. So, FB is smart enough to show a still image on dumb phone and an animation on smart phone. That's really news-worthy. The most interesting (and sad) quote is this: "Companies like Nestle are seeing sales flag in developed countries like the United States, as people get more health conscious, analysts said. The growth areas for those businesses are in developing countries" You can draw your own conclusion here.
• Port of San Francisco bears down on Sinbad’s Looks like the SF waterfront area around the Wharf and the Ferry building is going through quite a bit of changes. Sinbad's might be gone next time I'm in that area (Well, I've never tried it). And I heard that the pier for Alcatraz ferry might move too.   
• Yahoo closing China office According to the article, the Beijing office has served as a research and development center for Yahoo. Yahoo is looking for new ways to trim expenses as it comes under pressure from investors who have called for cost-saving measures. I thought offshoring R&D IS the way to save cost! No?

Career day and DiSC

I work for a very large company. People move in and out and around a lot. This week the HR department organized a career day for the IT folks. Maybe they think a lot of us are not very mindful about our career development while focusing on technology too much. I don't know. The workshops on interviewing skill and resume writing come at the right time though. I've learned a few good terms/concepts:

-Elevator pitch: it's how I could describe to a stranger (like the CEO I might run into at the elevator) what I do in 60 seconds.

-STAR: situation task action and result. That's how I should describe my work experiences in terms of projects I did.

-List accomplishment instead of responsibility 

-prep matrix: for each requirements in the job I apply for, relate it to one of my previous projects.

-DiSC are 4 behavioral styles. D is dominance. This type of person is strong-willed, like challenges and take risks and be competitive. Their activity to relieve stress is sports. I is influence. This type is very sociable and optimistic. Their activity to relieve stress is socialize. S is steadiness. This type is loyal and tolerant. Their stress activity is rest. C is compliance. This type is perfectionist and like things to go by the book. Their activity is to be alone. If you know me well, it's pretty obvious which type I am :D Each job also has its behavioral style. So it comes down to whether I could be flexible enough to match mine with the job. Of course it's easier if they match.

Strange radio experience

For those who drive a lot like I do, there are plenty of interesting experiences with different radio broadcasts for sure, like hearing the same songs back to back on different stations. Or hearing music from a CD you just played at home before you leave. What happened last Sat was kinda unusual: we were on our way to the Math show at Foothill College and my son said he enjoyed rock and roll so I switch from my "default" Jazz station to the next preset, which is rock, and the DJ played Guns'N Roses' "Patience." It is an interesting single, the first one off "Lies," an half-fake-live and half-acoustic album as the followup to the hugely successful "Appetite for Destruction," a metal instant-classic. The racial message in the song "One in a million" from the same album caused a great deal of controversy back in the days. When we came back to the car from the show, guess what was playing on the radio? "I Used to Love Her" from "Lies!" And it's another controversial song from the album. The reason was pretty obvious: the next line after the song title was: "... but I have to kill her" :P Anyway, I don't think it happens too much all these times I listen to the radio.