對德國學前教育認識之謬誤

早一陣子看過網上廣傳一文指出德國法例明文禁止兒童六歲前接受學前教育，即香港大行其道的各種「不要輸在起跑線」課程在德國均屬非法。本人雖然不支持虎爸虎媽行徑，倒也無法想像德國會這樣，要知道德國出了不少傑出音樂家，很難相信他們全在六歲後才開始學音樂（翻查音樂家生平也否定這一點）

再看看維基百科介紹德國教育及相關法律條文，意思也不像是禁絕學前教育。果然，找到一篇深入分析德國教育的文章，指出原本網文之錯處。其實，該條文針對的是德國史上一種「貴族」先修班，並非泛指學前教育。

Sports highlights: college football and supercross

It was the first weekend of NFL playoff. I watched a bit of those 4 games without high hope (the only team I rooted for was the Packers and didn't expect them to advance) However, the bowl games were better for me. I enjoyed watching Oklahoma defeated Alabama (not that I was a fan) The 2 bowl games on Friday night were also highly entertaining (Ohio State lost to Clemson and Oklahoma State lost to Missouri)

And the biggest highlight was the 1st race of the 2014 Supercross season. The races were really competitive. Too bad both the rookie Eli Tomac and veteran James Stewart crashed out. The former champ crashed while challenging for the lead! Ironically, the 450 race was won by another rookie: Ken Roczen. I saw a few of his 250 motorcross (outdoor) races when he first came over from Germany after winning the MX2 World Championship but still adjusting to the environments in the States. I guess it doesn't take long to learn for those with great talent.

Finally, I came across an article about 10 years of Endurocross competition in the States. I'm surprised that it's doing relatively OK during the economic downturn because of its ability to promote the sponsors inside a stadium setting compared to the outdoor version. I hope I could watch it live in Vegas some day!

Sports lowlights: football and more football until autoracing

It has been a few years since last time I watched this many football during the weekends and holidays near New Year's day. I was sick the last 3 days of 2013 and had WatchESPN on most of the time while listening to the (college bowl) games lying in bed. The results were mostly disappointing: Texas Longhorns lost (as expected by ESPN's stat dept, by > 3 TD to the pretty good Oregon Ducks) Dallas Cowboys lost (as predicted by me. In the recent years, the team almost always got a chance to win the final game to get into the playoff and lost) Wisconsin Badgers lost (ESPN predicted a 3 pt victory, not with high confidence though. The winner South Carolina ranked 10 places higher for a reason I guess) Man U lost (to a team in coaching turmoil like the Tottenham Spurs) I didn't even watch any of these games (so not watching didn't help the teams but helped my sanity) Instead, I watched NHL's Winter Classic (Maple Leafs vs Red Wings) played outdoor in U of Michigan's football stadium (nicknamed "The Big House") It was snowing real hard. Great atmosphere. I think it slowed down the puck movement and action a bit though and hurt the entertainment value somewhat. (I just found that there'll be a few more outdoor games, including one in Dodgers stadium on Jan 25th between the 2 So Cal teams! No snow for sure.) I also watched quite a bit of the Rose Bowl (first time not featuring the losing Wisconsin side for a long time!) My Stanford friends please don't hate/unfriend me but I was mildly happy that Michigan State won (for some reason I like this team better. Maybe because it's a Big 10 team and a public school :P) Hopefully the same vibe infects the NFL matchup between the bay area 49ers and the midwestern Packers this Sat! BTW, Aaron Rodgers WAS the man. It's the first game he came back from a broken collarbone and he led the team to a last minute comeback to win the game, the division, and a chance to challenge the defending NFC champ 49ers.

Now that the new year has started. It means the new AMA Supercross season is starting very soon. Can't wait! Here is the complete TV schedule:

• 1/4/2014, 10 p.m. : Anaheim, Calif., Angel Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 1/11/2014, 9:30 p.m.: Phoenix, Chase Field – Fox Sports 1
• 1/18/2014, 10:30 p.m.: Anaheim, Calif., Angel Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 1/25/2014, 10:30 p.m.: Oakland, Calif., O.Co Coliseum – Fox Sports 1
• 2/1/2014, 10 p.m.: Anaheim, Calif., Angel Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 2/8/2014, 10:30 p.m.: San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 2/15/2014, 8:30 p.m.: Arlington, Texas, Cowboys Stadium – Fox Sports 2
• 2/16/2014, midnight: Arlington, Texas: Cowboys Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 2/22/2014, 7:30 p.m.: Atlanta, Georgia Dome – Fox Sports 2
• 2/23/2014, midnight: Atlanta, Georgia Dome – Fox Sports 1
• 3/1/2014, 7:30 p.m.: Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 3/8/2014, 7:30 p.m.: Daytona Beach, Fla., Daytona International Speedway- Fox Sports 1
• 3/15/2014, 7:30 p.m.: Detroit, Ford Field – Fox Sports 2
• 3/16/2014, 1 p.m.: Detroit, Ford Field – Fox Sports 1
• 3/22/2014, 7:30 p.m.: Toronto, Rogers Centre – Fox Sports 1
• 3/29/2014, 8:30 p.m.: St. Louis, Edward Jones Dome – Fox Sports 1
• 4/5/2014, 8:30 p.m. Houston, Reliant Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 4/12/2014, 10:30 p.m.: Seattle, CenturyLink Field – Fox Sports 1
• 4/26/2014, 7:30 p.m.: East Rutherford, N.J., MetLife Stadium – Fox Sports 2
• 4/27/2014, 4 p.m.: East Rutherford, N.J., MetLife Stadium – Fox Sports 1
• 5/3/2014, 10 p.m.: Las Vegas, Sam Boyd Stadium – Fox Sports 1

Daniel Snyder says Redskins will never change name

That's the title from USA Today, which is totally misleading! When I saw it, I found it odd 'coz never is pretty strong and he won't have a say when he doesn't own the team anymore (maybe he will sell it someday or die, who knows?) It turns out he said 'We will never change the name..." which makes more sense (Still, I think the name should be changed because of the racism concerns) Poor reporting by USA Today!

Sports highlights: Dallas Cowboys

It's yet another up-and-down, drama-filled season that is almost over for my team. The loss to the Packers after leading by 23 at the half was extremely mindboggling. Oh well, fans should not have high hope on the current team anyway. Still, there is one feel-good story I could write about: former Cowboys QB (mostly backup) Jon Kitna may play the same role again this Sunday (The starter Tony Tomo was injured. They might start Kyle Orton and have Kitna backing them up) He planned to donate his salary from that game to school. I posted another story (forgot where, probably FB) about him contributing to the community after he's done with NFL. A real class act!

My "best of 2013"

Albums of the year:
- Yellowjackets: A Rise in the Road. I gotta admit I listened to them for the wrong reason: Jaco Pastorious' son Felix played bass on it. It's actually fusion jazz at its best.
- Death Angel: The Dream Calls for Blood. They just stick with the classic thrash sound like they did it 20+ years ago, exactly what I need!
- In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores. Violinist Hilary Hahn plays 27 new works she commissioned. Gotta support adventurous classical musicians.

Books of the year:
- Haruki Murakami: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Compared to the epic 1Q84, this "long" novel doesn't seem like much (I finished reading in 3 nights) and it's much more "realistic" I guess it's easier to relate to the story.
- Geek to Guitar Hero: The hero here is Alex Skolnick, guitarist of Testament (metal) and Alex Skolnick Trio (jazz) He wrote this memoir by himself. Testament is one of my all-time favourite band. Alex Skolnick's unique style of guitar solo was one of the reasons I'm attracted to their music. I wanted to read about the beginnings of his band and his guitar study and the book certainly didn't disappoint. The book basically covered his childhood (not a very happy one because he didn't fit in with his family and school) to present, primarily focusing on his experiences from his first stint with Testament. I felt somewhat connected to his stories because he grew up in the SF bay area (Berkeley) He mentioned a lot of local places (e.g. Yoshi's!) and bands that I'm familiar with.

Concerts of the year:
- Black Sabbath: I have never been to a Black Sabbath concert until this year. The set list included every Black Sabbath classic I wanted to hear: War Pig, Iron Man, Paranoid, N.I.B.... etc. Plus a few songs from their latest album, 13 (their 13th studio album), which was a pleasant surprise, even though Ozzy's vocal was a bit shaky.
Still, I was so glad that I went. They are the one and only Black Sabbath.
- Chick Corea: He is certainly one of the biggest names in jazz today. He is the type of musicians that makes the others play better. One thing I really like is instead of drawing attentions to himself, the big star, he made the whole band shine, especially the up-and-coming guitarist Charles Altura, as well as the horn player Tim Garland.
- Solo Bass Night 5: as the name suggested, the concert was all about solo bass players. I was most impressed by Ariane Cap, who showcased her masterful two-hand tapping techniques. It got even more interesting when she was joined by her bandmate, bassoonist Paul Hanson (their group is named Oon!) This unusual pair of instruments complimented each other very well. I also enjoyed listening to 11-string master Jean Baudin. He created music with complex texture and layers using his bass, effects and loopers. I rarely buy any CD these days but I bought 2 of his.

Rides of the year:
- Mt. Tam: The ride started from Bolinas Rd, through the neighborhood via some local streets to Olema Rd and back onto Sir Francis Drake towards North. Then we turned right into Nicasio Valley/Reservoir. Quiet and open country road there. Nice! Next, we turned West to Point Reyes Station, then to Hwy 1. We saw the ocean again (~40 miles into this route) and it was time to turn left and ride up Bolinas-Fairfax rd (small entrance, easy to miss!) It's a long 4-mile climb 'til we reached Ridgecrest, i.e., the famous Seven Sisters. Each sister represents a rolling section of the road (more than 7 of them!) The last "sister" was a hard 3 mile stretch before reaching the East peak. The original map didn't have this section so our planned 64 mile ride became 70!
- Mt. Diablo and Morgan Territory: I always wanted to climb Mt Diablo since I've already done 2 out of the Big 3 Mt in the Bay Area (Mt Hamilton and Mt Tam) and I think it's the right time to go. I started at the Blackhawk Plaza Shopping Center and took Blackhawk Road, which passed a few gated communities (affluent neighborhood!) Then turned into Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd at 3.5 mile mark. A cat 2 climb starting at the South Gate 'til the entrance kiosk, then a 6-mile cat 1 climb all the way to the top. I was not only a bit tired from climbing but more importantly very much bothered by the poor visibility due to dense fog and mist. The very last section before the Summit was steep. The dense fog and mist was still there, if not worse, when I needed to go back down (also needed to negotiate the turns on the slightly slippery road and avoid getting hit by cars going downhill, which I could only hope the drivers were skillful enough to handle) I couldn't feel safe until I got back to the junction, where I regained visibility finally (that 4.7 mile descent felt like eternity!) I rode thru Walnut Creek and Clayton and the next major milestone was Morgan Territory Rd (at the 38.5 mile mark) The first few miles of Morgan seemed too mild and that worried me coz' I knew it went up to 2000+ ft above sea level eventually so the later the climb start, the steeper it would be! Finally I started climbing at the 42 mile mark (where the road is buried deep in the woods and my friend warned me there's no phone reception) and the Summit (2087 ft) is at 48. Overall, Morgan wasn't that bad (I had similar if not worse experience with long climbs on the Sea Otter ride, Tunitas Creek and West Portal on the Peninsula.) It's just that I was tired from the prior climb and rides. This is a ride any rider would be proud of!
- Tennessee Valley: unlike the first 2, this is a mountain bike ride. And it's in the Marin, kinda close to the Mt. Tam area. Although I bought my mountain bike for over a year, I have never rode it with anyone else! I'm glad that I learned a few tricks from my co-workers who went with me. The SF scenery from the top of the mountain was awesome. 

Sporting events of the year:
- America's Cup: even though the races were not exactly at where I work, I could see things related to the event all the time. For example, one of the base is really close so I saw the boats being lifted to and from the water. And of course, banners are everywhere in SF. However, I got the best view on cable TV (installed right around the races started!) And this series were epic! Biggest comeback ever, period. This is the type of event you talk about for the rest of your life: how bad the Oracle/USA team was in the beginning and how the boat got faster and faster and things got turned around completely. And of course, how unlucky the Kiwis were: the races that favored them got cancelled because of weather (too windy or not windy enough and thus exceeded race time limit!)
- Grand Prix Macau: it's hard for a auto-racing fan grew up in HK not to get excited about the event. So glad that it's held while I visited HK this year so I could go, at least once in my lifetime! The road course featured lots of tight corners (it has actually been modified from the early days for improving safety) and drivers could actually pass (unlike the boring F1)
- Bruno Escalante vs Michael Ruiz Jr. It's the fight for the IBA junior bantamweight title at Redwood City. It's also the first time I saw boxing live in action. There were 7 fights in total with some knockouts. Some were really entertaining. And the judges seem to score the same way I did :)

Gadgets of the year:
-Nikon D3200: I always think it's cool to own a single-lens reflex camera. However, I was just not the type of guys who carry a camera around everywhere AND taking good pictures! So I am content with using the camera on the phone most of the time (at least since owning camera phones 10 years ago) I'm glad that I took the plunge and bought this camera (and the flash recommended by my friend) Even with auto-settings, the camera takes pretty good photo.
-Fender Special Edition Jaguar Thinline: This is one guitar with the look I like (the f-hole) and good playability: easy access to higher frets because of the body shape and easier stretches of fingers for complex chords because of the shorter scale length. Haven't bought something I like this much for a while!

Jazz playlist

It seems like the only reason I still subscribed to magazines are for the new release reviews. Found a few really interesting ones that fill up my recent playlist:
David Weiss, Endangered Species: The Music of Wayne Shorter
I don't listen to a lot of large ensemble jazz. However, some groups do work better for me. Like Dave Holland's and this one with David Weiss. As the title said, it features work of great saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The reason it "works" for me is that I could still hear distinctive voices from each individual instead of getting blended altogether.

Jacam Manricks, Cloud Nine
The leader, saxophonist Jacam Manricks is an unfamiliar name to me. The reason I found this is that the aforementioned David Weiss was the guest trumpeter here. More importantly, Sam Yahel, a jazz organist I really enjoy listening to, played on it too. Manricks played a 4-minute long unaccompanied solo. That's really a challenge. The guitar playing of Adam Rogers was a pleasant surprise.

Adam Rogers, Apparitions
And the above led me to check out the guitarist's work as a leader. This one features Chris Potter on sax and Edward Simon on piano. Can't go wrong with that!

Amir ElSaffar, Alchemy
That's a well chosen title. The trumpeter was really good at fusing middle eastern music with jazz.

It has been a good month discovering "new" jazz for me, after a brief trip out of the country. Still have a few more to write about. Stay tuned!

Crowd goes wild

I watch quite a bit of Fox Sport 1 channel because of its auto racing, MMA and soccer programming. Once in a while I would also watch their talk shows, like Fox Sports Live and Crowd Goes Wild. I like Georgie Thompson on the latter because she looks and sounds sexy (that British accent!) Well, more reason to support the show: turns out two guest hosts are from my Alma Maters: Jason Gay, the Wall Street Journal writer, graduated from U of Wisconsin while Sanya Richards-Ross, former Olympian, went to U of Texas.

A side-note: On today's show, Sanya Richards-Ross commented on her personal experience with the recently stepped-down football coach Mack Brown: Brown would text her with encouragement when she was at track-and-field competition all over the country and the world. That's why people call him a class act!

惡星情人

早幾日被問到那一本村上春樹作品我比較不欣賞，我直覺的答案是「國境之南、太陽之西」我也不知道原因；其實我根本完全忘了故事情節，唯有重讀一遍吧。我還以為這書是我在十年前左右讀的，原來是1993年出版，很可能我即買即讀，之後數年也可能重讀過一兩次，相信超過十年沒有碰過。很快就重讀完，也明白為何當時我不太欣賞：因為沒有村上招牌的超現實情節，當年我也沒有家室，很難想像主角的心境。

一如村上其他作品，本書和幾首曲子頗有關係，奇怪的是我一直對書名前半部的South of Border一曲興趣不大，又一直誤會書名後半部是耳熟能詳的East of the Sun, West of the Moon，最想聽的反而是Star crossed lover。在那個互聯網剛起步的年代，要找來聽實在不易。今天在Rhapsody及YouTube一口氣聽了六七個不同版本，結他版比鋼琴版少得多，不過也找到兩個：
有機會的話也想試彈一下，當然，這在廿年前是無法想像的。

機上娛樂

在沒有自選電影的年代，每次來回香港及美國，起碼看三四套新電影，現在反而看得更少，可能因為自選會看電視劇集、資訊節目及舊片。講講今個trip看的：

新電影是The Wolverine, 動作打鬥英雄片對我來說十分適合在極度沉悶等待到目的地的長途機上看，近年就看過Captain America及GI Joe。本片故事了無新意，離不開英雄被困解困成功救美打敗頭號壞人的情節，Wolverine很有型就是了。差點忘了我也看了The Great Gatsby，原著我是後知後覺地在去年才看，因為想擴闊我看的小說範疇，不再局限於中日文。電影在夏天旺季推出，反應似乎普普通通，所以我的期望不高，其實想找一套悶片催眠，結果只是錯過了幾段，倒看了大半套，和我看小說時所想像的境像相若吧。

電視劇集是Big Bang Theory，自從Friends完結之後，我很少追處境喜劇，不過間中會看看這套以冷門的大學科學家為主題但收視強勁的劇。其中一集講他們到中學勸女生加入科研行列；無獨有偶，最近有一則IT界新聞是關於各大公司獎勵學校辦寫程式課程，如多女生參與可獲額外獎金。

資訊節目有一集講韓國斧山旅遊，行程包括寺院食齋參拜穿佛珠修心，學做米酒及咖啡拉花，試穿韓服（包括龍袍），少看旅遊節目的我也很enjoy。另一集講位於玻利維亞，全世界最大的巨型鹽沼Salar de Uyuni, 無邊無際無窮無盡一片白，實在壯觀；當地居民用鹽建屋，掘鹽賣錢，鹽下更有鋰礦，未來會是一大財路。 最後看了三集Birth of Europe，這個地埋節目探究歐洲大陸如何造成。

舊片是以前看過多次，近年未有重温的李小龍作品唐山大兄。有趣的是原來該片配樂用上Time from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, 配樂人有點前衛。

Jazz fusion playlist: Dave Holland, Jeff Lorber

I enjoy bassist Dave Holland's performance a lot. I've been to concerts of his groups at Yoshi's a few times. I listened to his big band album even though I'm not a fan of this format at all, not to mention many albums in which he played as a side man. However, I was not familiar with the fusion side of his playing (which I should have 'coz Holland played with Miles Davis) until now: after listening to his 2013 release "Prism" (reviewed here), which features his long-time drummer Eric Harland (great to watch him play live), guitarist Kevin Eubank (even non-jazz fan would know him for his time at Jay Leno's 'Tonight show')

Regarding the term fusion, I first saw it being used in the 80s to describe music by the likes of John McLaughlin but also that of Kenny G and Spyro Gyra. The name "smooth jazz" took over in the 90's. However, the tide has turned: smooth jazz is going out of favor and musicians are distancing themselves from it. One evidence: Jeff Lorber started using the name of his old group, Jeff Lorber Fusion, since 2009. His group did play an important role in the history of smooth jazz: Kenny G got his start playing in this group (you could hear his playing on this album) Enough of the past. I highly recommend their new (2013) album, Hacienda. Smooth or not, this is great instrumental/improvisational music. And it featured two guests: guitarist Larry Koonse and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. That's a lot of star power!

東區我的故事

在香港生活差不多廿年，成長期活動範圍以油尖旺沙田為主，過對面海總是隆重其事，例如跟父母到中環購物到北角會友，偶爾也會到淺水灣石澳，總的來說是相當陌生，東區更是絕少踏足，今次我的｢做個遊客｣計劃選了小西灣。

從大埔中心坐74X到大老山隧道(入隧道前落車) 轉682，不到兩小時就到小西灣運動場外，事前讀過這個詳細介紹(網友寫得相當用心，super like!) 知道沿海旁走，有路上山可望大浪灣，風景優美。其實這次共走了三條路，第一條是在公園洗手間附近開始的龍躍徑，大部份雖稍斜但寬闊，行山客不少開著小音響邊聽邊走，有粵曲有英文金曲，很高興聽到有人播｢萬水千山縱橫｣，和我同是關正傑fans(我踩車上山多唱｢天蠶變｣) 半個小時後到達一個大涼亭，東張西望，找到第二條-有很多石級的砵甸乍山郊遊徑，走起來甚為吃力，十多分鐘後見到山頂觀景台指示牌，那是一個短短的detour, 觀景台可見整個九龍東部(包括鯉魚門)，也有一個大涼亭，我醫肚醫得太遲，經已餓過飢，吃了預先買定六個麵包的兩個，再加一個powerbar，肚餓尤未止，已有打退堂鼓之意，休息廿分鐘離開觀景台，抉擇時候：向左走向右走？結果好勝之心得勝！其實最辛苦路段已過，向馬塘坳的路都是下山或平路，這段可見大浪灣，有一對港男港女情侶行孖必打情罵悄，令我頗為驚訝有不怕曬不怕辛苦的港女(路上見好幾個) 過了馬塘坳就見一大路，那是港島徑第八段，跟著大潭峽的指示牌(牌上有巴士標誌)，走下一條樓梯就是石澳道，稍向右行至哥連臣道交界，就是往筲箕灣的9號的巴士站，我未見巴士先見紅色小巴，$7到筲箕灣。

本來打算即坐叮叮到銅鑼灣，但想起筲箕灣也是我極少到之地，於是改變主意隨便走走，見到譚公廟的牌，十分好奇，皆因我只知金庸小說〖天龍八部〗有個譚公，走到譚公廟，當然參拜一番，見有幾隻用來裝飾的木雕船及水上人家，估計是保佑他們的神祇。下一個吸引我的指示牌，是海防博物館，我記得星期三全港博物館免費，實在不容錯過，也是明智抉擇：在鯉魚門堡壘原址建成的博物館極具氣派，乘電梯一上就是八樓展覽廳，永久展出明朝以來香港海防(亦即是軍事) 歷史，倭寇為患的明朝，腐敗懦弱的晚清，抗日失敗的英治香港，其歷史在香港讀書的朋友想必略知一二。無獨有偶，展覽介紹了哥連臣這位有多地以其命名的早期英國軍士，原來就是最早勘察地型畫成香港地圖者；展覽又介紹了添馬艦地名的來歷。最後隨導賞團參觀魚雷發射站，為了此設備，又建有供應蒸氣機的水池，及煤炭用的鐵路、煙囪，如此大陣仗，卻從未建一功即已被拆。最後觀看的是火藥庫，日軍佔領後被改作處決囚犯的刑場！導賞員叮囑大家必需教育下一代不忘歷史，諷刺的是有訪客穿的是日本排球隊T恤(不是我), 用的是日本牌子相機(是我) 我的東區之旅就此結束。

後記：之後沒有坐叮叮，為的是把握時間逛銅鑼灣誠品，當真好心有好報：為姐姐找CD時竟然見到大量雨果唱片公司新舊出品，十分齊全，包括幾隻尋找多時的潮州弦絲樂及潮州客家箏樂。

2013培正同學日

今年是母校培正香港建校八十周年，同學日格外隆重，正日前一晚先和幾個舊同學在TST Fat Angelo's來個「小圈子」晚飯，當中有位已兩年沒見，可喜的是大家「無穿無爛」，縱有煩惱事，即管一起分享下。

當晚仍jetlag，同學日一早就起床，唯有看看電視消磨時間，亞視歲月流聲台當然是首選，看了第五十幾集的天蠶變，還有新角色加入，飾演的竟然是港姐張瑪莉，原來她當選後加盟過佳視及麗的，那是香港有三個免費電視台百花爭鳴而無一台獨大的年代。之後再轉睇J2，因為播的是我大學畢業後至愛的動畫：美少女戰士(Super S系列) 夠鐘向培正出發！

十一時多在窩打老道校門左近下車，已見校內好不熱鬧，原來是同學會新址開幕！一班同學會高層和校友老師在慶祝，見大家身上戴著新的八十周年紀念校呔或風褸，我趕快也去買一條。接著行上中學部，經過校友對教師的籃球比賽，戰況激烈。為找小食部，行了數段新的自然教育徑，找個同學仔問路，才知小食部已搬至新大樓中間，行當年往體育堂更衣室的通道可達，這時適逢同學仔帶領校友參觀新大樓及和舊時很不同的圖書館，我也加入行列，中學禮堂控制室看起來相當pro. 到了午飯時間，我光顧了小食部為曦社辦的$60自助餐，味道真不錯，又和幾位同樣由海外回來的同學高談闊論，更是高興。

飯後回去小學部，皆因老友女兒在培正小學就讀，有份演出；又遇到其他現為家長的舊同學。之後就是在中學禮堂舉行盛大的加冕儀式，非加冕班級也有份上台接受薪火相傳，小弟有幸代表禮社。第一個高潮是為畢業八十年的老校友鄺伯加冕，從小就見鄺伯代表同學會出席活動，聲若洪鐘多年不變，其實已是一百歲的老人家，他的一句：「行得、食得、瞓得」引來全場笑聲掌聲。然後七十周年至廿五周年（隔每個五年）各級社皆人強馬壯分別上台接受加冕，主角當然是銀禧的曦社。儀式後繼續在門外拍照，和一班當年相熟多年不見的電腦班師兄們吹水，吹到勝利道的茶餐廳打個底（因為晚宴尚有數小時才開席），然後浩浩蕩蕩往YWCA上接載我們的旅遊巴，前往大公宴會場九龍灣展貿中心，路線和以前體育課去游泳池（那時校園內並無）相似，勾起一眾乘客集體回憶。

九龍灣展貿中心乃係全港最大的晚宴場地之一，才能容納得了一百席的大公宴，我們禮社所訂的一圍正是#100！這一席有我們兩位校花，多年不見，美貌更勝當年。重遇的不只他們，還有兩位old family friends，認真意外驚喜。

大公宴表演節目包括時裝表演，方知香港十大名模之一陳祉妤（舊名陳沛嘉）也是同級禮社同學（來自澳門分校）。另一個精彩節目則是由銀樂隊新舊成員組成的jazz band表演多首名曲。

幾個有趣小插曲：和校花傾了幾句，原來當年大家談論背書，自負的我說了一句話，她如今仍記得，又再印證客戶服務的真理：一個正面形像不易建立，一件破壞形像的事情卻令人難忘！還有另一位舊同學，新來培正就被改花名，原來也是我做的好事呢:P

後記：用了current affairs的label，皆因香港建校八十周年晚宴有多位名人校友出席並見報。

New thrash metal from old and new bands

Thrash metal continues to be one of my favorite sub-genre of metal. Many great thrash bands from the 80s are still going strong like Anthrax and Slayer (oh yeah, almost forgot Metallica played thrash metal too) or have come back from hiatus like Testament, who released 2 highly acclaimed albums since then. And I've just listened to 2 pretty good new albums: "The Dream Calls for Blood" by Death Angel and "VI" by Onslaught. Check out the linked reviews! In both cases, there isn't anything really ground breaking. They just stick with the classic sound, i.e, the sound we thrash metal fan enjoy! On the other hand, if you prefer a thrash metal band that's willing to experiment on a new album, I suggest you give Annihilator's "Feast" a listen. Their main man Jeff Water likes to throw the listeners some curve balls. And a vital music scene not only needs new albums from old bands but also new blood. Diamond Plate is one of the latter. They have just released a new one "Pulse." Glad to see the scene is alive and kicking!

HBO Documentaries: YoungArts Masterclass, Sports

I wasn't in the mood for sitcom or drama last night and I realized Comcast's free HBO offer should be over soon so I purposefully looked for good shows on HBO and came across one with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. At first I thought it might be just a cameo appearance but I couldn't be more wrong! The whole episode was about Wynton mentoring a group of young jazz musicians (some are only 18-19 yr old) as part of the YoungArts Masterclass Season 3.. Obviously all of them have the chops. The advices given by Wynton were way above technical level. He gave each of them one word. For example, the saxophonist needed relaxation because of his intensity. The bassist needed concentration to support everybody else. And the pianist needs to free his playing and takes some risks. It's kinda like watching American Idol (except all the comments was about musical art instead of manufactured crap) I can't believe a major network like HBO shows something this good (and niche)

The 2nd show I watched was Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Last time I watched gotta be long time ago (maybe in college when I had HBO) The hour long show talked about 4 stories in depth:
1) Concussions in NFL: NFL setup a fund of $765 Million to settle the lawsuit by former players. Man, it's a brutal sports. It's really sad to see the guys who played real hard are now having serious health issues like ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)
2) Around-the-world sailing race: this is the ultimate tough-guy sport - Half of the participants couldn't finish the race! Basically the route takes ~3 months to complete. Each yacht is manned by just one sailor. He was all by himself for that 3 months battling dangerous water.
3) The Seattle Sounders-mania: Soccer (or football for the rest of the world) has never been that popular as a spectator sport in the States. I mean, lots of people played but not that many watched pro-teams play compared to baseball/football/basketball. Things have changed in the past few years though: per-game attendance of MLS (major league soccer) has passed NHL and NBA (which was actually "reasonable" because NHL and NBA teams play way more games per season) Still, it's hard to imagine one MLS team could have such loyal/crazy fanbase that rivals the top teams in Europe (think Liverpool, for example) That team is Seattle Sounders. The show kept comparing the sold-out crowd at the Sounders' game vs the many empty seats at the Mariners' game. Gotta give a lot of credits to the 2 owners of the Sounders. Both of them have a background in the Hollywood/show-biz and know how to generate buzz well.
4) The comeback of pitcher Steve Delabar: he was in minor league baseball for a while and his arm was injured really bad. Had a surgery but his baseball career was over. He worked as a substitute teacher at a school and also helped out their baseball team. He was introduced to a strength-training program. He wanted to try it out before the students did. And the program really worked for him. He was able to pitch well (velocity reached mid-90s) again and was noticed by some scouts. Next thing you know, he's back in pro-baseball, progressing thru the minor league and eventually made his major league debut! The next year he was traded to Toronto Blue Jays. Continued to play well as a closer and got chosen for the All-Star team. Couldn't his story be more Cinderella-like?

IndyCar championship

As I predicted, Helio Castroneves was unable to overcome the point deficit during the last race of the season at Fontana and Scott Dixon won the championship for the 3rd time in his career. He definitely deserved it. It was a bit unfair that the league penalized him for that pit road incident earlier in the season anyway. And I was glad to see the "King of the road" Will Power had his second victory on an oval track! What an irony. If he did well in any of the final race of the season in the past few years, he would have won a championship or two.

下一代

The more things change, the more they stay the same. 在這個人人上網的年代，原來後生仔女依然喜歡聽收音機！女兒和姨甥女坐我車，要求轉台，一時101.3，一時97.3，好在這個爸爸不太老餅，除了爵士古典，這些台也在preset。其實很好奇她們在家何時聽收音機？還記得以前深夜或清晨都會聽收音機，中學年代開夜車收音機更是良朋，不過那時坐爸爸的車常常都要被迫聽新聞台，爸爸更加不會讓我寫一張清單然後幫我錄歌！

早幾天參觀女兒下年就讀的初中，原來有家政班（教煮食）、法文班、工業班（教木工）；在香港受教育的我，當真大開眼界，這樣比起我小時候獨沽一味鋤書的模式確實優勝。

Sports highlights: Red River rivalry, upset Saturday, MLB, NASCAR at Charlotte

The past Saturday of College Football was all about upsets. The most important one to me was the big win by Texas over the heated rival Oklahoma. We haven't won for 3 years! And Wisconsin beat the then-ranked Northwestern later that day. I watched only the OT part of the Michigan-Penn State game. Every time I thought it would have been over after someone kicked a FG and switched channel, I found that it's still not over when I switched back! It's like no one could win the game! Not a fan of either team but I was happy to see the underdog (Penn State) won as well as the other upsets :Utah defeated Stanford (a new PAC-12 team > an "old" PAC-12 team) and Missouri beat Georgia (a former Big 12 team > a SEC team)

We were certainly following the MLB playoff on TV and radio even though no bay area team (no team I root for, in fact) is still in it after the A's went down. The low-scoring St. Louis vs LA game was a nail-bitter but I'm not counting the latter out yet. And Red Sox coming back from 5-0 deficit in ALCS game 2 was a dramatic one. I guess it's deja vu of 2004 (which means the White Sox will win the WS next year. Yay!)

The complete opposite of drama was F1 in Japan. Vettel and his invincible Red Bull machine was passed during the start (surprise!) but he still won on tire strategy. BORING! In comparison, the NASCAR race at Charlotte was much more exciting. I thought it would be a waste of my time to watch when Jimmie "Five Time" Johnson made steady progress and eventually overtaken team mate Kasey Kahne for the lead in the middle of the race. He and his car looked so good. Well, this was not F1 and he didn't do well on one of the re-start and slipped back. On the other hand, Matt Kenseth, JJ's main competitor in the championship chase, didn't do well in the beginning but slowly improved to finish 3rd, one place ahead of JJ and maintained his championship point lead. However, the story of the race gotta be 2012 champ Brad K finally winning his first race of the season, after he failed to get into the championship chase. What made it more amazing was that he recovered from a poor pit stop in which the jack was stuck to (and damaged) his car and he had to serve penalty! Please remind me why I still watch F1 (!? Maybe just because it's on TV)

And the great sports weekend was concluded on Sunday night with Da Boys winning over rival Redskins. Texas rulez.

Sports lowlights: Dallas Cowboys, Helio Castroneves

Hate to mention "lowlights" two weeks in a row but it was disappointing to see Da' boys lost by 3 late in the game. They showed signs of brilliance from time to time but just not have the consistency for the whole 60 minutes :( And I was rooting for Team Penske to win the IndyCar championship this year but Castroneves' car had issue on both races in Houston during the weekend and lost his big point lead in the standing. I'm afraid it's another 2nd place finish at the end of the season for a Team Penske driver. That's Will Power for the past few years. Ironically, Power won the 2nd race at Houston. The "King of the road" seem to get back on track after a disastrous season. So that belongs to the "highlight" department. Another one is Manchester United's victory with new kid Adnan Januzaj scoring 2 goals (he was the difference between a W and a L.) We also have a new star this side of the Atlantic: San Jose Sharks Tomas Hertl. I was happy watching him scoring 4 goals against the New York Rangers, even though I also like the latter team and hoping for a less lopsided game. It's awesome watching the opening games of the new NHL season on TV in HD! Anytime of the year in the world of sports some leagues start while others end. One just finished this weekend was Champion League Twenty 20 (Cricket) The semis and the final were all exciting. Lots of fire powers from the final 4! Mumbai Indians deserved to win it all. Last but not least, the late late game on Sunday night, Raiders vs Chargers, was an entertaining one. Glad to see Raiders winning another one. The Ws are hard to come by these days. Maybe Pryor could make it in NFL after all (not expecting MVP/Aaron Rodgers-type of numbers) 

Sports lowlights: NFL, EPL, MLB, NASCAR

Dallas Cowboys lost. Manchester United lost. Wisconsin Badgers lost. 5-time Cup champ and 7-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson won at Dover again to move up to second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship standings which might not have happened had Junior didn't miss the pit entrance and had to come back to pit and lost a whole lot of spots.

And I wrote about White Sox needed to win 3 out of 10 to avoid losing 100 games this season last time. Well, they won exactly that many games and ended the season 63-99. I guess it's a "highlight." SF Giants won quite a few games for the last week, including 2 against the Dodgers (winning the season series) and also the season finale in walk-off fashion. Plus they signed fan favourite/clubhouse leader OF Hunter Pence to a long-term deal. Let's hope he will continue to lead the team to success (instead of being another big contract failure that the Giants had in the past) Congrat to the Oakland A's for winning back to back AL West! I listened to the radio on the day they clinched (after Texas Rangers lost) and passed by the Coliseum right after they won that game! They are the hope of the Bay Area for the moment. Still, I don't have too high hope. The "Moneyball" team has made many trips to the postseason without winning it all. This could be yet another one of those years which they just miss THAT something to propel them over the hump.

Larry Ellison and his 2-time America's Cup winning Oracle Team USA had become instant-legend by coming back from an 8-1 deficit. Enuff said.