GoDaddy MySQL Server changes

I have been hosting one of my website at GoDaddy for a long time (too long that I couldn't remember) and I setup my own instance of WordPress 1.5 back then (now it's a feature of GoDaddy web hosting and it's so much easier) and I seldom make any change unless it's broken. I visited my site just now and got a helpful error message saying WordPress cannot connect to the database (I used a host name in the secureserver.net domain) And I (re)discovered where the db server name was stored: it's wp-config.php. So I opened the database manager from GoDaddy to figure out the IP address of the db server and replace the one in wp-config.php. Voila! My site is back.

A weekend of concerts

One of the biggest attraction of New York City to me was the jazz scene. I used to live in the village and went to several shows per week. And some times on the same night as I would go to an early show. Then walked around the village to attend a 10pm-ish show. And finished off at the all-night jazz jam at the Small's. It's harder to do that in the Bay Area as places are more scattered. And there are not as many notable performances per night anyway. Well, 2/5 was an exception: guitarist Rez Abbasi and his acoustic quartet (RAAQ) played at the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly known as the Jazzschool) in Berkeley and smooth jazz veteran Euge Groove played at Yoshi's in Oakland. RAAQ's show started at 8pm while Euge's show time was 10pm. I could only leave home at 6:30 and the traffic on a Friday night was usually bad (~1.5hr to the Oakland/Berkeley area) And it seemed rather unpredictable for this Super Bowl weekend in the "host city" so my "strategy" was buying the Yoshi's ticket in advance and take a chance with the Jazzschool concert. It was a lucky day for me though as I arrived ~7:50. Found no street parking so I pulled into a nearby garage quickly and got to the concert at 8. The quartet was almost done with setting up at that time. It was perfect! (Turned out their flight from JFK was delayed by 4 hr and they rushed from the airport straight to Jazzschool!) I guess the school is good at booking great guitarists: I saw the "Seasons" quartet performed there before too. RAAQ got a lot of praises for their recent effort in "Intents and Purposes": an album-ful of fusion classics. To me, they did a double-twist by adopting those pieces to an acoustic setting but they were also "rocking" hard with their acoustic instruments! Then I headed to Oakland, which was a 20-min drive for the Euge Groove show. Gotta admit the atmosphere was completely different here. While the music of RAAQ sounded quite intellectual, Euge's music was very accessible with heavy pop, funk and some R&B elements. Very danceable too. To be honest, I was surprised by the large amount of black folks in the audience. After all, smooth jazz was a genre where "white guys" commercialized original black music and made good money with it. I guess all people care was enjoyable music: Euge was a very entertaining show man. And of course he's got his sax chops too. I have so much to learn! What a great evening with two of my favorite instruments :)

Then we attended the El Camino Youth Symphony's Chinese New Year concert. The program was a good mixture of "Western" (e.g. Chopin concerto) and Chinese music. Those with traditional CNY folk sound were fortunately not too cheesy. Even the "Yellow River" concerto from the Cultural revolution-era sounded semi-exciting, thanks to the extraordinary technique of the pianist Gwhyneth Chen. Her playing was so great that I had to buy her CD after the concert. 

Sports highlights: Super Bowl 50 surprises, Caribbean World Series, Phoenix Open

This Super Bowl Sunday is quite different from the ones before: it's actually held in the "neighborhood" (less than 15 miles away) The traffic was expected to be real bad before and after the game. Also, it's the Chinese New Year's eve. So we ended up not able to invite anyone to party at our place. After lunch, there were still 3 hours 'til kickoff so we watched a bit of the Caribbean World Series, between the Winter league champions from Venezuela and Mexico. Former White Sox great Freddie Garcia (who pitched the world series-clinching game 4) pitched his final game for the Venezuelan team. It was kinda exciting. Mexico came back to tie while down 2-4 and got a walk-off HR at bottom of the 9th. I also watched a tie-breaking playoff at the end of the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament between Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama. The American Fowler is becoming one of the "Big 4" of this new generation of world golfers and that's why I tuned in. Matsuyama is the highest ranked Japanese player too. They remained tied after first 3 playoff holes. The tie was not broken until Fowler hit his tee shot into the water and practically gave away the victory. And that happened while Lady Gaga was singing the national anthem during the Super Bowl opening ceremony. I jumped in right at the kickoff! The game featured 3 players from my schools: Panther's kicker and kick returner/RB Fozzy Whitaker (Texas) and Punter Brad Nortman (Wisconsin) as well as the star TE of the Broncos, Owen Daniels (Wisconsin) My coworker was so convinced that the Panther would blow out the Broncos unless the latter could somehow force some turnovers into scores. That was what exactly happened. I knew the Broncos defense would be the most important factor to the "watchability" of the game and they stood up to the challenge. Normally I prefer offensive fireworks but I was glad that it was a defense dominated tight game instead. It's not a bad thing that a good player like Peyton Manning could go out on top. Also, long-time Cowboy-turned Bronco LB DeMarcus Ware deserved his super bowl ring.

So, that's how the sports world wrapped up the year of the sheep. I am looking forward to a great year of the monkey! (Yay to Euro 2016 and World Cup of Hockey!!!)

Jazz movies

I wrote this post 1.5 years ago and mentioned the lack of biopics about jazz giants like Coltrane and Miles. Well, it turns out new films were made or announced in 2015: one for Coltrane and one for Miles called "Miles Ahead" written, directed by and starring Don Cheadle. He looked real cool in the released photos. A lot of it was fictional though and was set against the period when Miles was near his creative low point ~50 years old. In addition, there was another recent release about the greatest electric jazz bassist ever, Jaco Pastorius, simply titled Jaco. It was made with the contribution of former Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, who was a true fan and a sincere guy. The January issue of Bassplayer had a special feature about this project and how he got involved. It was an interesting read. (Coincidentally I re-read the part of Alex Skolnick's autobiography about how the Pastorius family was not doing well financially while fighting for the rights of Jaco's music recently. Trujillo acquired Jaco's famed bass of doom so that it could return to the family. Isn't it funny that two metal guys both had something about Jaco to talk about?)

Super Bowl 50

美式足球係我最最喜歡睇既運動,  年年聽傳媒報導，大量球迷會湧去super bowl主辦城市朝聖，究竟實際上有乜活動？我一直唔知，因為未去過。今年在自己地頭，無理由唔去踩場，結論係四個字：不外如是。(好聽一點，或者講：點都應去，好過唔去：p)

睇過NFL頻道播出既地圖，整個三藩市灣區都有相關活動，除左比賽當日既球場，SF金融區Embarcadero被營造為重頭戲Super Bowl City,  Justin Herman Plaza附近封左好幾條街，進入"City"要過金屬探測器，保安嚴密程度僅次於機場，"City"內有乜呢？除左飲品(掠水酒) 食物㰙位，就係一間間贊助商既檔口，展示一點旗下和足球及SF 拉得上關係的產品；唔好睇少呢啲，都幾多人排隊，我估遠度而來既遊客也唔會介意花少少時間掛？當然也見有好似我講明一定唔等既本地友。我唯一等既係入去Levi's 睇佢賣啲球隊球賽logo衫，真係設計得幾好睇。

最後一提：有無留意舊史Super Bowl講係邊一屆一定用羅馬數字，但今年就變左阿拉伯數目字？我個陰謀論朋友可以會話個league打壓歐洲文化，不過官方透露羅馬字50係L, 俾人覺得好Loser(香港人用親L 都唔係好野啦), 明年會轉番羅馬字喎。無論如何，今屆就係金禧，我送一個字：撐！

All-star games

Gotta admit I haven't been paying much attention to the NHL All-star break even though I have NHL games on TV almost every night after the football season is over (sans Super Bowl) as a non-basketball fan. Then I found out it was on the same day as NFL's "All-star game" aka Pro-bowl. I was curious about the decision of putting both games on the same day by the two leagues but couldn't find much info on the net. Most articles ridicule the mere existence of these games as both have low TV ratings. In fact, NFL have indeed consider getting rid of the game a few years ago. I think the game went downhill after it was moved to the week before the Superbowl (for filling the void between the 2-week break from conference championship weekend) which prevented players from SB teams to play in the game to avoid injury, which is obviously the right thing to do but it significantly lowers the star power of the game. To be fair, the SB stars didn't play much during the "old" Pro-bowls that were held after SB either. And this new format of teams chosen by two former stars and HOFer (Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice) which was copied from NHL mixing players from different conference was confusing too. Nevertheless, I recorded and watched the game, which proved how hardcore a football fan I am! Oh yeah, the former Cowboy's team beat the former Niner's.

Ironically,  this is the year NHL moved away from the 2-opposing-all-star-team-drafting-own-player format and went back to conference/division competing with each other. However, instead of one 60 minute game, they played 3x20 min game. Each game pits one division against another in 3-on-3 format! The two winners play against each other in the last game to determine the winning division. This season was the first one that NHL uses 3-on-3 during overtime. And it was controversial: players don't like it but I do. I think it's easier to score this way without going into shootout. However, this wasn't even the controversy of this game! It has to do with one player: John Scott. BTW, I watched the pro-bowl first and the bottom ticker had already shown me him winning the MVP honor :( So, who is John Scott? I haven't followed the NHL like I used to so I only know the biggest of the biggest stars like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Quick, Sidney Crosby, and local players like Joe Pavelski...etc. Turns out John Scott plays the role of an enforcer (whom teams put on ice to fight rather than playing the puck!) most recently for the Coyotes. Why was he controversial? He was voted in by fans who wanna showcase the fan-vote loophole of the NHL All-star game. And he was traded to the minor league just before the game. Some in the league management actually tried to dissuade him to play but he refused to back down. He was chosen as the Pacific division team captain and scored twice in the game (his career total was 5 goals :) and as I mentioned already he won the MVP with real fan support at the game. It became a feel-good story and actually shed some positive light on the game drawing attentions from NPR and Wall Street Journal. The NHL got a lucky break from a potential publicity disaster.

二度香港（續）

前文提到上星期日香港氣溫急降至二度引起的幾個爭論,其實多得一篇也寫不完!本文繼續:
4)教育局在星期日急凍後,宣佈幼稚園及小學星期一停課一天,又惹起議論紛紛,這邊廂有中學大學生也要求停課,那邊廂有名咀如陶傑指政苦多此一舉,過份保護新一代,讓他們成為東亞病夫!至於家中沒有工人的上班一族,臨急臨忙要找托兒也有難處.其實作為家長,怎能不擔心孩子冷病?(不知陶才子家中有沒有小孩)不過學校可以彈性一點,就此一天讓家長決定孩子上學與否,及可穿非校褸的禦寒衣物回校,那就皆大歡喜(雖然可以預見某些被逼上學的小朋友會向父母投訴他的好友可以留家為何他不能:)
5)這次寒流也引起了對香港露宿者問題的關注:梁特首去探訪避寒中心就無謂多講,反而一向關心露宿者的Benson Tsang去探訪兼派發物資就被阻甚至被報警收場,又是政苦機構處事殭化之過.又有報導指政苦此時派員噴水洗隧道,實為乘機趕走露宿者.更帶出禮義廉數位議員均以趕絕露宿者為己任.平心而論,在街上走,又有誰喜歡見到露宿者?但一個人成為露宿者總有其難處,推動高地價政策的政苦就算不是元兇也是幫兇.

二度香港

本文標題有否令讀者聯想到甚麼異度空間，心底升起一股寒意呢？事實上，話題的確和寒意有關，不過是天氣的。1/24（星期日）是香港自1957年以來最凍的一天，很多朋友貼了攝氏二度或三度的screen cap。好幾個朋友說穿了兩件羽絨也不夠，有一個還病倒了，真慘慘豬。一次反常的天氣，卻帶出多項爭議：
1)縱使多個外國天文台早前預測該週末香港氣溫會勁跌，警告有降雪雨之可能，香港天文台依然力排眾議將預測定為六度，高山最壞情況只會結霜。當然，天文台在當日改口，但又用了類似蝗語的冰丸一詞，後來才改稱冰粒。有論者指近年香港天文台往往向商界傾斜，今次刻意避開提起雪，更有政治考慮之嫌；皆因翻查曆史，每逢廣東地區下雪，都是政權遭殃之時。
2)HK100這個具有國際地位，有多位本地外地高手參加的山地賽碰巧就在這個急凍週末舉行，結果有多位選手在接近終點的大帽山因為地下結冰被困，繼而出現低溫症徵狀，勞動消防及救護員救援。坊間頗有聲音指責參賽者浪費警力，主辦單位亦不夠果斷取消賽事。其實後者是否也受了天文台的誤導呢？無論如何，看過一眾跑友的發言，都認為今次實屬突發事件，主辦單位已盡全力準備，況且比賽早在星期六開始，當時雖冷卻不至於不適合進行比賽，如果今後HK100因為坊間這些負面意見而不再繼續舉行，實在可惜；到時可能又有言論批評香港人不懂又不肯舉辦國際級賽事了。
3)這邊廂一眾跑手出事，那邊廂又有大量趁「熱鬧」想觀看雪雨/冰粒的市民上山，結果警方封山，旨在疏導交通以助救援人員拯救被凍傷之人士，亦減少更多因路滑導致的意外發生。網上熱傳一對堅持要上山的男女和封山警爭論的片段，該女聲言他們有上山的自由，救護人員自有其救人的責任，兩者無關係。網民幾乎一面倒鬧爆該女，連100毛也諷刺他們「風雪中抱緊自由」其實我倒覺得沒有一方是全錯或全對，山上多他兩個人也不多吧，不過文明世界沒有甚麼簽生死狀讓上山者後果自負的機制，讓步似乎更為合理罷了。想起當年我媽也很喜歡在冬天最寒冷山頂結霜時要我爸和她上山觀霜，那個年代倒沒有太多問題。

Farewell to many 60-something musicians

What a poor start for the music scene in 2016! I simply cannot remember so many greats pass away in such a short period of time. It's as if the "other world" is trying to form an all-star band with David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Lemmy (they will take care of vocal, guitar and bass) and Dale Griffin of Mott the Hoople would play the drums. "Tower of Power" founder and trumpeter Mic Gillette could join them too. :( And the new band could be managed by the legendary Malcolm McLaren. Wish they all RIP.

Guitars at Yoshi's

It has been a good 2 month-ful of live (guitar) music for me, including 3 at Yoshi's (and the Memorial concert for my friend that I played in) I took my sis to Yoshi's for Mike Stern's concert last December (also featuring Randy Brecker on trumpet and Dennis Chamber on drums) I bet she has never seen such a powerful drummer. One thing I like about him is his moves were not flashy for flashy sake. On the other hand, they just seem natural for the stuff he played. And Mike Stern was vintage Mike Stern with his unmistakable sound on his Tele.

Then I got to see another great drummer on my first visit to Yoshi's on 2016: Simon Phillips, whom I last saw playing with Hiromi. This time he led his own fusion quartet: Protocol, with Danger Danger's Andy Timmons on guitar. Their sound reminded me of Cassiopeia, a legendary Japanese group with guitar/keys/bass/drums that I really enjoy. Their music had rich melodies and also showcase their great skills on their instruments.

And I saw two of my most admired musicians/instrumentalists last night at Yoshi's: Testament's Alex Skolnick on guitar and Stu Hamm on bass, 25 years after seeing them played together in Austin. I became interested in their music even before listening to Hamm and Testament (via the Hong Kong indie music publication 音樂一週, 還記得樂評人戲稱Hamm's Kings of Sleep為昏君！Very creative) For a jazz and metal head like me, it's hard not to like Skol: a guitarist equally excel in the legendary thrash metal band Testament as well as his own jazz trio and world music group! He also wrote well, in magazines, his blogs and his bio. I bet he got some of that from his PhD parents. And I started playing bass around the time Hamm released his ground-breaking Kings of Sleep, with his melodic and harmonically rich original compositions. His bass licks and accompaniment distinguished his music from those who merely "noodles" with their technical chops. From what I read in Skol's bio, they went separate ways after their tour in the early 90s. Skol soon recorded with another bass legend Michael Manring. I was so glad to be at this "reunion" show, which also celebrated Hamm's latest release, the Book of Lies. In addition to new tunes from the album, like the solo bass piece from his suite, they also played quite a few covers: "We will rock you", "Misty Mountain Hop" (with Skol on slide guitar!), "Lucy in the Sky with Diamond" (Hamm played it as a solo piece 6 years ago at Bassplayer Live in Livermore) and "Red house" (with Skol on vocal) The encore piece sounds like a Joe Satriani (Hamm's long time collaborator) tune and Skol showed his "lineage" to the mastro. Now, time for some criticisms: there were way too many covers! When I was a kid, I couldn't stand "Misty Mountain Hop" :P (but it's one of the few tunes that I completely changed my mind after I grew up) Hamm's playing sounded a bit muddy too. And finally, it's a personal thing but I am not a big fan of vocalizing with guitar solo (like what Skol did last night. Coincidentally, Stern also did it in his show! I do know it's a good practice routine for improv)

Looking forward to a great year of live music in 2016!

Time series database

Most application developers are probably familiar with good old relational databases (Yes, I am a certified Oracle DBA) as well as the new breed of NoSQL database like MongoDB. I deal with quite a bit of metric data at work, which is time-based. I have been playing with InfluxDB which is optimized for such data and is part of a TICK stack for collecting, managing and visualizing time series data. Compared to Oracle and SQL Server, installing InfluxDB is a piece of cake: just do a yum install, then start it and it's ready for inserting data! To interact with it, it has a command-line interface, influx, just like Oracle has SQLPlus. Programmatically, all you need to do is making use of its HTTP API: 'get' to query and 'post' to insert. No complicated database driver configurations. Of course, you could use one of the available client library for your language to make things even easier. My next step would be trying to time the queries using something like Influx-cli to evaluate its performance.

Do you know what songs you played the most in 2015?

Well, with the help of technology, your music service could actually compile the stat and give you the answer. Before showing her the email, I asked my daughter to guess. The song she thought she played the most came in as #4. Her brother actually guessed correctly her #1 song, by "One Direction." He also got it right about her most played female singer, Meghan Trainor!

收音機鬧鐘與遊客經濟

聽電台廣播，有人可能覺得老土，但其實不只是廿世紀出生的「老餅」會做，連我家中生於廿一世紀那位也喜歡，收音機鬧鐘是常見得很的電子產品，各大電器舖應該有售，對嗎？在香港就不是。

話說家姐想買一個給在香港的爸爸，海外買的Volt數不合（比較老式的電器不如電腦電話用的都是universal power adapter），我建議在香港買，不過兩家香港最大型連鎖電器舖的多間分店均沒有售賣，他們的對象也是以強國遊客為主吧。提議在香港買的我當然要再想辦法：想到「街坊」式電器舖較有機會出售這種「街坊」式電器，在今時今日香港以遊客消費主導零售舖位租金高企的情況下，這類電器舖的生存空間已大不如前，商場往往都已被「兩大」進駐，唯有在一些屋邨商場二樓角落才可能找到。最後我們在昌運站一家兼賣影碟的舖頭找到一部收音機鬧鐘，售價才HK＄100，時間顯示還很巨型，而且是「名牌」山水牌（這是小時候頗有名氣的音響品牌，雖然今已轉手，屬強國集團旗下）其實「現代化」收音機鬧鐘很多都是iPhone accessory，可以連接iPhone，播放其中之音樂及叉電，這部也是，如此便宜相信因為支援的是舊款30pin接口而不是Lightning. 這個任務總算完成（比家姐原本買的還要便宜呀！）

唐詩入樂 畫作及書法

今次香港之旅每晚睡得很差，一早家人未起床自己一個人的節目多數是看電視，亞視那些重播又重播的反正我未睇過，也照單全收。CCTVB新聞也看了不少，不要太認真看待就是了。其實週末早上，有一些節目實在不錯，例如9am播出的文化廣場，我看了一集，主持人朱翁訪問藝術家鄺啟濤博士，他畫及寫了一些以唐詩為主題的作品，配合文化中心舉行的唐詩入樂音樂會展出，實在很有意思。

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。