人品與藝術

前一陣子和朋友討論一位歌手的新歌，他說不喜歡那歌手平日說話太「作狀」，我說那對歌唱得好不好沒有影響吧，話題再扯到人品與藝術水平的關係。我第一個想到的「反面例子」是出色的Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz，第二個想到元代書法家趙孟頫，似乎史家對他為人評價不高，想來和他是宋室後人卻在元朝做官有關，事實上的確如此。其實我倒不太在意，他的字我相當欣賞，我認為實在是文質彬彬秀麗的美，把王羲之這一面發揮光大，只是主觀地略嫌不夠豪氣。當然，論人品，趙和奸臣的層次不可同日而語；我記得宋代就有書法藝術水平極高的奸臣蔡京，再google一下，還有更多，當中最臭名昭著自是秦檜，且看看專家有何評價。

Leonid Afremov's paintings

I "discovered" this artist because of this music video:

Some of his depictions of streets of small towns reminded me a bit of Thomas Kinkade. Seems that his stuff are more available (less pricy) according to this discussion.

Here is a video that shows how he paints:

You are what you meme

For those not familiar with the current language, "meme" basically means idea or a thing that represent idea (e.g. a picture) As a verb it means passing around those things. Maybe I should be glad that I started college and career before the "age of meming" As you can see I like to write (>1000 of posts on various blogs) I cannot guarantee all of them are unoffensive to no one. Kids, learn from these 10 "was-accepted-by-Harvard-but-not-anymore" students. Yes, everything you post will count against you.

《着色山水》熱

早前澳洲之旅在紐西蘭奧克蘭轉機，竟然派發免費中文報紙華頁(Mandarin Pages)，當局對中國旅客（及移民？）似乎頗為重視，我當然順手拿了一份，閒來讀一點，早幾天讀到其中一篇關於新發現中國古畫《着色山水》的報導，原來美國密芝根大學在我飛那一天舉行了和此畫有關的研討會，此畫之所以如此受重視，皆因有學者認為可能出自著名詩人兼畫家王維的手筆！專家朱紹良先生對鑒定此畫提出幾個入手點，例如服飾、建築方面，值得參考（以上連結也包括該畫的圖片。）

大笨鐘

小時候所認識的英國名勝中，大笨鐘算數一數二，大個才知那是音譯英文Big Ben，原意和笨無關，Ben好可能是紀念當時一位土木工程師Sir Benjamin Hall，他也是負責監管工程的國會議員，其名字有份刻在鐘上。我一直以為那是整座鐘樓的名字，原來Big Ben只是指那被敲出聲的巨鐘而已，鐘樓其實以伊利沙白女皇命名。

Sports highlights: Back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion, first time NASCAR winner

After the European football season is over, I had to switch my focus on another championship: this year's Stanley Cup final was a great one, pitting one of my favorite sports team, the Pittsburgh Penguins against the relatively newcomer Nashville Predators. Since the Pens have won last year, I won't feel too bad if they fail to defend. After all, it's hard to repeat as champ in many pro Sports in this day of age. (That's why Real Madrid's back-to-back European cup was hailed as a big achievement) Just when I thought it's a piece-of-cake when the Pens won the first two games of the series at home, they lost the next two away. Then won 1 at home again. So they were 3-2 at Nashville last night trying to clinch the title. And unlike the previously high-scoring contests, it was 0-0 until the last 2 minute of regulation! Both goalies were at their best and proved they were the elite of the elites. At the end something have to give and it's a lucky bounce that scored an "ugly" game-winning goal for the Pens. My family was surprised that I am actually a long time Penguin fan, which I try not to show too much when they played against the local fav San Jose Sharks! I jumped on the bandwagon in the early 90s when Super Mario and Jaromir Jagr reigned supreme winning the first two of the 5 cups they have now. The current dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have actually surpassed their predecessor by winning the next 3 together!

After writing about a five-time winner, I would like to change the topic to a first time winner on the same day. That's Ryan Blaney of NASCAR Cup Series, winning at Pocono. Seems like many rooted for him to win because of the history of his team owners, the legendary Wood brothers. (I just found out one of the driver-turned-announcer Michael Waltrip used to ride for them and won an All-Star race. No wonder) The No. 21 car has been strong and especially at the end passing the then-leader Kyle Busch with about 10 laps to go. To be fair, if there was another caution and re-start, his car will probably be over-taken by the "Closer" Kevin Harvick. FOX sent fellow cup driver Brad Keselowski as a reporter to the Victory Lane to interview Blaney, who did the opposite one day ago for the Driver-only broadcast of the Xfinity race at the same racetrack. BTW, that really made interesting TV. Hope there will be more Driver-only broadcasts in the future!

大熱倒灶名馬風雲

昨天上FB讀On this day見到我在N年前的帖，說我對Big Brown很失望。隨著年紀漸長，這些「不知以前寫的東西何解」發生的次數也越多。Big Blue我知是甚麼，但Big Brown 呢？我以為這個好普通的詞語可能Google也不得要領，但全能的Google立即找到答案：那是2008年順利勝出美國馬圈三冠賽事頭兩場的馬！當時對上一次有馬匹贏得三冠王已是三十年前的事，之後一直有多次「叫胡食唔出」，大家對Big Brown寄予厚望，結果它在Belmont Stakes跑包尾不特已，甚至沒有衝線！難怪我這個「忽然馬迷」如此失望。看看Google其他搜尋結果，發現更有趣的文章！原來背後馬主練馬師都分別捲入醜聞風波：練馬師由於多次違反規則，包括餵馬匹食類固醇及止痛藥等禁藥，又隱瞞馬匹操練紀錄等等，結果被停牌十年！而擁有該馬的公司，亦以馬圈前所未有的方式經營：把馬匹馬廄設施及馬醫院資產如基金般售予投資者。問題是養馬從來回報難估計，很多馬主都是得不償失，志在過癮。不過該公司以高價買入有質素馬匹以贏取獎金的策略，起初的確奏效，只是無以為繼，背後金主以種金方式營造假象，上下其手中飽私囊，最後被判入獄廿年。這樣的故事可能比無線拍的更引人入勝。

有黑暗既地方就有光明

標題是一句著名的對白，來自一套我從來未看過但聞名已久的卡通「天威勇士」，最近FB史檔出了相關的帖，我才知原來這個系列的卡通及玩具是我喜愛的「變型金剛」的競爭對手，有網民指後者有抄襲前者的成份，更令我對「天威勇士」（及前身「百變雄獅」）產生濃厚興趣！找到一篇介紹它歷史的文章。

到底「百變雄獅」及「變型金剛」那一個先面世？其實歷史頗為複雜，如果計美國版，Tonka公司在1983年由日本引入Machine Robo成為GoBots（百變雄獅），其後Hasbro在84年也從日本引入Micro Change及Diaclone成為Transformers（變型金剛）由此看變型金剛的確是跟風之作。那兩者的前身又是誰抄誰呢？根據維基百科，Machine Robo及Micro Change均於1982年由日本推出，但前者被視為先驅：

Machine Robo (マシンロボ) is a Japanese transforming robot toyline first released in 1982 by Popy, a division of Bandai. The toys featured a number of other innovative features – Raideen is often considered the first transforming toy, and thus a precursor of the world-famous Transformers line.  

Takara Toys' 1982 Micro Change series of toys were part of the 1980 New Microman toy line and were small household objects that could transform into vehicles or artificially intelligent robot characters that fought alongside their 10-centimeter tall alien cyborg Microman creators against the evil Acroyears. The line was combined with Takara's 1982 Car-Robots series of Diaclone toys by Hasbro in 1984 to create the Transformers. The transformers Megatron, Soundwave, Blaster, cassettecons/casettebots, Perceptor, Reflector, and several Mini Cars (Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, Huffer, Gears, and Brawn) came from this line.

只要對流行文化有少許認識的讀者都知道，兩者的「比拼」係由市場包裝策略比較精明的「後來者」變型金剛勝出；除了在八九十年代大受歡迎，近年又拍成電影，玩具大賣。那百變雄師的下場如何？從此文可見它的玩具評價實在不高，其引入者Tonka被Hasbro購入，包括部份GoBots的知識產權，以此為名出過零星以幼童為對象的玩具（1993年，2002年）2012年及之後的Transformers Rescue Bots也源於此。不過原創者母公司Bandai似乎仍保留了部份知識產權，在2004年及之後推出無動畫的玩具系列，2015年及之後授權香港公司Action Toys推出的超合金等等。看看這一款三合一，實在令人眼前一亮，似乎真的由黑暗走出光明了:)

後記：近日無論香港或世界都發生了不少黑暗的事情，實在令人沮喪，希望一如標題所言，光明快將來臨。

The Santana highlights

I watch a bit of ESPN (Sportscenter?) highlight show last night and host John Buccigross dedicated a segment to the Santanas, which included:

• Carlos Santana played the National Anthem at the NBA Final Game 2 Warriors vs Cavs in Oakland. He actually "made a mistake" by playing an extra verse. (BTW, it's kinda hard to find out who played the bass in that video. That's Benny Rietveld. Check out his bass solo on Youtube. He played with Miles in 1988 too)
• Atlanta Braves' Danny Santana went 4-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, HR.
• Milwaukee Brewers' Domingo Santana has been playing well lately too: he hit a HR against Clayton Kershaw on Saturday.

古典音樂網台

再一次介紹我在Shoutcast發掘的網台Audiophile Classical，今天中午之前播了好些不太熱門的作曲家及作品：

• Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, op.42, [Howard Shelley piano, BBC Philharmonic, Matthias Bamert] Erno Dohnanyi Erno Dohnanyi - Piano Conc.
• Concerto for two clarinets in B-flat major, [Dieter Klocker, Sandra Arnold, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra] Antonio Cartellieri Less-known composers
• Entracte No. 2 from Rosamunde Franz Schubert Masters Of Classical Music (Vol. 9)
• Serenade No. 5 in D minor, op.53, [Cologne Chamber Orch., Christian Ludwig] Robert Fuchs

Dohnanyi是一位新浪漫派匈牙利作曲家，廿世紀人但算保守，是我欣賞的風格。

Robert Fuchs有一位很出名的同姓同鄉Christian Fuchs（Leicester City奪英超隊伍成員，也曾在2016代表奧地利首次打入歐國盃）也是風格略保守的廿世紀作曲家，以上一曲可在Youtube找到，原來他是Brahms少有點名稱讚的作曲家，那我更加非聽不可！維基百科指他也是著名的老師，你道他旗下弟子包括那些？Mahler, Sibelius, Korngold, Enescu等等！認真「架勢堂」了。

Antonio Cartellieri比以上兩位更早一個多世紀，是波蘭奧地利人，擅於聲樂及小提琴，不過今次聽到這首他的作品卻是兩支單簧管協奏曲，不算多見的組合！大家可以在Youtube聽聽，我認為相當悅耳，十分慶幸像他這樣較為冷門但出色的作品能被今人重新發現、錄音及被播放。

鐵達尼號撞冰山之謎

上月遊船河，原來適逢鐵達尼號撞冰山沉船，認真大吉利是。當年電影一出主題曲成為大熱，傳聞各郵輪皆禁播該曲，不過看來已解禁。而該船因何故撞上冰山，一直以來眾說紛云，最近在Netflix看了它推介的一套2012年的紀錄片Titanic Final Mystery，似乎找到合理解釋。一直以來，最令人不解的是，船上有兩位船員專職觀察航行方向有否冰山之類的危險，視野足以讓船長有三十分鐘改變方向，所以矛頭一直指向船員船長失職。本片指出真正原因其實是海上冷暖空氣造成了海市蜃樓般的現象，令觀察員的視覺出現誤差，到撞冰山前一分鐘左右才發現及警報，船長立即扭軚也來不及；更不幸的是其實原來正面撞以該船的設計反而不會沉沒！唯有概嘆一句：人算不如天算。不過以上連結的評論似乎對本片結論有所質疑，並建議讀者參考其他紀錄片，有機會真要看看。

Sports highlights: Triple Crown of Motorsports

For the recent years that I have been following auto racing, F1's Monaco GP, IndyCar's Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca Cola 600 (at Charlotte) always happen on the same Sunday. I guess you can't have a bigger day than this for US motorsports fan (even though only the first 2 is really part of the "Triple Crown" with the third one being 24hr of Le Man) I knew I won't be home the whole day so I recorded all of them and started watching the first one in the morning. It has been a long time that I saw Kimi Raikkonen leading a F1 race. Too bad his Ferrari team decided to pit him too early and have him lost time in traffic so the 2nd place (aka Ferrari's #1 man) Vettel could build a big lead and remain in the 1st place even after he pitted. That's basically the gist of the race. Then it was time to watch Indy 500: the polesitter Scott Dixon was involved in a freak accident in which his car became airborne and smashed at the wall but fortunately he walked away unharmed. The beloved "newcomer", 2 time F1 champ Fernando Alonso did very well and led quite a few laps but his engine blew and ended his day prematurely. Finally it came down to 3 time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and the driver who "almost won it" a few years ago, Takuma Sato. Both had fast cars this Sunday. Castroneves passed Sato but was overtaken again late and Sato never looked back. The race wasn't decided by fuel saving strategy like last year when Alexander Rossi won it. However, fuel-saving was the race-winning strategy for Coca Cola 600 later that night (really late!) 2 of the stage winners, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr really dominated most of the race but they pitted at lap 368 while Austin Dillon stayed out and gambled with the fuel, along with Jimmie Johnson. Dillon was the "last car standing" (Johnson ran out of fuel) and didn't caught by Busch and Truex (who finished 2nd and 3rd) Finally able to made his very supportive grandpa and car owner Richard Childress proud. (You need both luck and the silver spoon to win a race at this level!) My recording actually ended before these "thrilling" last lap because there was a lengthy rain delay :(

八卦掌 vs MMA

繼太極師傅挑戰MMA教練的Epic FAIL視像成為大熱後，又傳出八卦掌李姓師傅不敵MMA好手的片，後者董建（和香港前特首差一字:）的師父則是散打冠軍仲叢陽，仲又被稱為「少林梅花樁第一人」，不過從片中可見董出拳腿都不太有少林功夫的影子，至於李的八卦掌功力如何，也無從印證。

Hugo Boss和納粹黨

在FB歷史討論有網友提到據聞納粹黨軍服是Hugo Boss設計的，以前我從來未聽過，其實Hugo Boss的服裝對我來說貴了一點，不過也很喜歡該牌子黑色的褸及簡單直接的設計，現在才知原來是德國品牌，的確有德國Bauhaus "form follows function"的味道！說回正題，到㡳以上傳聞是否屬實？我找到這篇文章（維基百科也有提及），原來Boss未有為納納粹黨設計軍服，但他們兩者的關係匪淺：Hugo Boss本人曾經成為黨員("party membership",戰後他被歸類為"follower"而非主動推動納粹主義份子），此身份幫助他公司取得為納粹德國政府生產服裝的合約，公司的確是德國軍服的供應商之一。而他真正「助紂為虐」的罪過，是在他環境惡劣的工廠使用當時德軍佔領區被迫成為勞工的居民以及戰俘，而他們在空襲期間仍要工作！以上連結文章給Hugo Boss的評語是：

Ultimately, Boss was not an evil man, but he did not do enough to stop evil happening.

我想這段歷史也值得現今各大舉足輕重的科技業巨頭引以為鑒，不竟他們掌握了現代人生活多個重要環節。

金庸表哥

上帖提到金庸小說從現實世界中的政壇人物取材，而早幾個月著名女星夏夢離世，有人提到她是小說家金庸的夢中情人，也是幾位絕色美女主角（如小龍女）的原型！話題再扯到金庸小說中亦有一些角色受家族人士啟發，就是好幾位「差勁」的表哥（如天龍的慕容復及倚天的衞璧）負心人原型究竟是金老那一位表哥？有說原來就是鼎鼎大名的詩人徐志摩！節錄自此文：

1922年，徐志摩與有夫之婦陸小曼墮入情網，為此還與原配張幼儀離婚，引起軒然大波。當時不但親朋好友大為不滿，文壇中人亦紛紛抨擊，徐志摩的老師梁啟超也是毫不客氣。1931年，徐志摩空難喪生，查家送來的輓聯竟然寫著“司勳綺語焚難盡，仆射余情懺較多”，譏諷之意溢於聯表。雖然當時的金庸還年幼，但查家長輩對徐志摩的不齒不可避免地會讓他耳濡目染。

還有，天龍中的天下第四大惡人雲中鶴這個名字，是徐志摩曾使用的筆名呢:)

一連四篇談金庸小說就此打住，藉此紀念很喜歡研究金庸可惜在兩年前過身的老友。

金庸論政

再承接上帖講金庸、笑傲江湖及他的修訂，對其小說略有認識的讀者都知道他的寫作背景適值文革，所以魔教「領導層」之獨裁及霸道是反映那個政府，實在很明顯。其實值得更深層的研究，港台學者就發表了這篇；我才知道教主為甚麼姓東方，魔教為何在第一版名為「朝陽神教」！大家都聽說過那個年代有首很「紅」的歌曲名為東方紅吧，著名文學家（但人格亦有名低下）郭沫若就曾奉承領導人為紅太陽呢。金老在第二版及其後的修訂就把這些影射收歛了一些，我不敢說是明顯為媚共，不竟出色的文學作品應該含蓄一點。（雖然金老後來在九七政權移交時代曾因提出保守的「雙查方案」被視為親共人士，現在看來，該方案中的「公投」，今時今日根本不容進行！香港政制是進步了還是倒退了呢？）

金庸論酒

上帖提及金庸小說笑傲江湖向問天帶令狐沖去梅莊和江南四友打賭那一回，金庸在新修版改了一個關於書法的錯處，原來和酒相關的敍述也有些改動，他還特地寫了一個附注，節錄如下：

有評論家論及丹青生與令狐沖在梅莊品酒一節，細心及此，盛意可感。唯我國古人製酒及酒具與今日大異，論者以在美國之自身經歷為標準，論及丹青生、令狐沖之品酒，則未必相合。如欲以現代標準評論古人，現代葡萄酒之正宗者在法國，其次德國、意大利、西班牙、葡萄牙、瑞士、比利時、羅森堡、奧地利亦有佳釀，近年來澳大利亞之Penfold Granger崛起，國際間大受歡迎，價格陡漲；此外智利、阿根廷、南非、紐西蘭等地紅酒白酒亦有佳者。美國加州紅酒白酒品質較次，世界高級酒店及西餐廳之酒牌中常不予列入，否則自損餐廳品位。美國人飲紅酒，往往沖以橘子汽水加冰，猶似香港、新加坡人以加冰七喜汽水沖白蘭地，以此為標準論令狐沖梅莊品酒，當不相合。

Google了好一陣子也找不到金老為何如此介懷那位「美國」人的評論，只找到這位「金學」作者應聲附和。他們如此看不起美國酒，顯得實在偏頗。首先，我和一班美國友人都算走過各大城市，從未見過美國人飲紅酒溝橙汁汽水加冰。（飲Sangria不算飲紅酒吧，也不是美國獨有，甚至不是美國人發明的飲法。正如某地區有人把威士忌加進咖啡的話，就等於那是當地人品評咖啡或威士忌的標準？相信必有一些不為人知的細節，我真十分好奇！至於世界高級酒店及西餐廳之酒牌中有無加州紅白酒？加州Napa谷的French Laundry曾獲選為全球最佳餐廳，它的酒牌難道沒有加州酒？其實金老也知自己寫葡萄酒四蒸四酿之後還是紅色不太對勁，也不宜稱之為葡萄酒，新修版已改為黃色，及改稱為葡萄濃酒。不少論者都曾指出葡萄酒再蒸餾即是白蘭地的做法（連結一，連結二），此書更詳細介紹現實中的西域酒文化（及與金庸小說中描述所不同之處，第188頁），值得讀讀。

金庸書法

承接上帖講蘇東坡王羲之，本帖講的書法是另一位我最推崇的書法家顏真卿，算「平易近人」的楷書有「顏勤禮碑」及「麻姑仙壇記」，最「真情流露」的行書有「天下第二行書：祭姪文稿」，不過對我來說最感到「引人入勝」是非楷非行非篆非隸的「裴將軍詩」，也可能因為金庸小說中的描述太有趣：這是「笑傲江湖」入面「江南（琴棋書畫）四友」中書法家秃筆翁用於武功和令狐冲比武的作品，金庸說那個「如」字寫得直猶破壁飛去。但問題是：「裴將軍詩」全詩（就算連秃筆翁沒寫的也計在內）均沒有一個如字，倒有一個若字，想來金老寫稿時記錯了，二版也沒有修改過來，到新修版才把「如」改為「若」（這網站很有心地比較各個版本，值得一讀）

金庸本身對書法有認識有研究有練習，那是毋庸置疑，此頁展示了不少金老的作品。我無資格說他寫得好不好，不過肯定有個人風格，部份我甚為喜歡。

Yes vs Yes

和多數在80年代中正式開始接觸西洋流行及搖滾的樂迷一樣，我第一首聽的Yes樂隊作品是Owner of the Lonely Heart，這也是當年我常聽、討論年輕男女戀愛關係的港台節目的寂寞的心俱樂部的theme music! 主持人之一的倪震出的雜誌取名為Yes，想來也和此曲的Yes樂隊有關，可能他是樂隊fans?（無獨有偶，上次帖關於Yes,也因為去完倪太周慧敏的演唱會！）今次再寫Yes,則和樂隊榮登搖滾名人堂有關：結他雜誌訪問了樂隊其中一位結他手Trevor Rabin，訪問理所當然提到Owner of the lonely heart這首樂隊最hit作品，本來就是Rabin本人的作品，原來打算以另一樂隊名義推出，而Yes主音Jon Anderson加入後，索性就成為改組的新Yes。老實說，在我接觸過原班人馬更早期的真正經典prog rock作品如Close to the Edge及Fragile之後，對Trevor Rabin這個陣容的Yes就看低了一線，該陣容的作品全部都是Owner of the Lonely Heart一類的hit songs，前衞味道盪然無存，難怪Anderson後來又另組ABWH(Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe)，再度回歸prog rock，尤記得當年還有荷李活中心還有熱心推介搖滾另類獨立音樂的唱片舖Monitor Records（助聽器）的年代，店主Alan就對我大力推薦ABWH唯一一張新作，我的財力只能買小量CD也購入，初聽不覺如何，卻越聽越欣賞；ABWH的Steve Howe正是Close to the Edge的結他手，有結他友認為他的結他技術不如Rabin精鍊，但音樂才華及創意之高則無人能否定。十年人事幾番新，Jon Anderson退下重組後Yes主音一職，補上的繼有Benoit Davids及Jon Davison, 兩位均唱功一流。除了少量全新作品，現場玩的音樂以Close to the Edge時期為主，那邊廂Jon Anderson捲土重來，和Rabin及Wakeman再組band。基本上兩邊陣營均有Yes名字的使用權，原來低音結他手Chris Squire曾和Anderson有協議，兩者不會爭用Yes名字，不過隨著Squire舊年去世，協議也不再存在。總之今時今日的他們早已昇上神枱，無論那一個名字玩甚麼水平的音樂，似乎也沒所謂吧。

中史.古今

女兒今天問我知道文革的歷史嗎？我概括地解釋了一點當年爭權批鬥勞改的一點情況，老實說我也不知太多，原來她學中文的教材略有提及，那作者有經歷過中國近代史相當黑暗的一頁。然後她又問我知道韓國國旗上的線代表甚麼嗎？我告訴她那來自代表中國文化最精粹的Iching（易經），她聽得一頭霧水，倒是兒子加入回應，問我和老子的道家有關嗎？實在令我有點喜出望外！原來學校教世界文化有提及先秦諸子百家呢。我也簡略地解釋了八卦的卦象，指出那是比老子孔子更早出現的哲學思想。有說外國比中國保存和流傳中國文化更不遺餘力，也有道理。