静水流深

最近看电影的口味越来越保守。前几天看了James Spader主演的1996年版《Crush》，看到一大半就觉得人类的前途一片黑暗。人的情欲要靠撞车来刺激，真是不要命了。James Spade一向带点儿鬼气，爱演那种亦正亦邪的角色，看上去天时一般的面孔，注定要受到魔鬼的诱惑，而且沉溺其中不能自拔。他算是男明星中够“媚”的一个。据说他的经纪人此前曾劝他不要接此片，因为中间双性恋的的角色并不讨好。不过他出名不也是靠演一些另类的角色吗，比如《Sex, lies, Videotapes》。

现在喜欢看喜剧片，尤其是西班牙语电影，无论是西班牙还是拉丁美洲国家的影片。它们绚烂多彩，带着质朴的生命的喜悦。有一天晚上随便换台，看了一部阿根廷电影《El Hijo de la Novia》(2001, 新娘的儿子)。故事说的是一个42岁的餐馆老板Rafael Belvedere （Ricardo Darín），由于经济衰退，生意濒临倒闭。他一天到晚忙于工作，此外还要在前妻、女儿、女友、老友、老爸和患有帕金森氏症的老妈之间周旋。有钱的餐馆连锁店集团要收购他的餐厅，老爸突然提出要和同居了44年的老妈结婚，女友提出要分手， Rafael不堪重负，突发心脏病，进了特护病房。从医院出来，他想明白了，把餐馆卖了，和女儿亲密相处，和女友和平分手，和多年的老友重归于好，帮爸爸和妈妈结婚。一个平凡人的平凡故事，中间笑料包袱不断。在幽默的故事情节背后，影片又把父子、母子、父女之间的亲情一笔一划的描摹出来，别有动人的滋味。看似复杂的生活，其实是自己不断给自己加压，一切原来可以由简单和温馨的解决途径。

其中最有趣的一段情节就是Rafael和老爸到教堂与神父讨论婚礼的细节。神父问要简单的还是奢侈的婚礼，Rafael答道一切从简，他老爸回答要一个美轮美奂的婚礼。神父掏出计算器开始一笔一笔地计算婚礼的费用，租教堂如何如何，用管风琴而不是磁带要如何如何，使用两个altar boys 要如何如何，用鲜花要如何如何，Rafael和老爸的答案总是相悖。子女的算盘总是比爸妈来得精！另外一段故事发生在Rafael出院以后，他到片厂看老友卡洛斯拍戏，卡洛斯把他带到现场当群众演员。两个人坐在咖啡厅的角落里，卡洛斯告诉Rafael自己爱上了他的女友，并请求他的原谅。Rafael听罢大怒，两个人大打出手，导演没辙，把两个人都踢出了剧组。二十年的老友是一回事儿，横刀夺爱可不成。

整部影片细腻、流畅，没有太多的噱头，含义隽永，回味悠长。影片快要结束的时候，老爸Nino提出要去向老妈求婚。他把儿子和孙女支走，一个人和他44年的生活伴侣坐在日光温室里，他问太太愿不愿意和他结婚。其实他也知道太太生病以后，早已经不认得他是谁了。好像奇迹发生了一样，太太Norma的目光突然变得柔和了，她伸出一只手温柔地抚摸丈夫的面颊，然后回答他说，“当然了，亲爱的，你是我的男朋友呢！”这一句话，把两个人一生的情爱都道明白了。怀着虔敬地心去爱和被爱，44年也不过是一个瞬间呢！

好乖

一个年轻的长头发妈妈带着小儿子走进图书馆的计算机房。妈妈是亚洲人，长头发大眼睛。儿子是混血的娃娃，卷头发，比妈妈还好看，瘦瘦的、乖巧的样子。妈妈上网，儿子把小单车折叠好，塞到桌子底下，然后手脚利落的钻到桌子底下去，盘腿坐着打“Game-box”。他呼噜呼噜地自言自语，有时候把游戏机放在地上，深思熟虑。这么乖的宝宝如果是免费的，我也想来一个呢！

布什总统的新移民法案在国会被搁置，共和党嫌它对移民的签证政策和非法移民问题的态度太柔和，民主党嫌它改革的力度太小，对新移民没有实质性的帮助。布什总统在德国不知道是什么感觉，听说他食物中毒。有网友分析是饮酒过度,好乖乖。

意大利开始缺席审判25名中央情报局的干探，他们涉嫌在意大利非法绑架涉嫌恐怖活动的穆斯林并将其羁押到埃及。欧洲国家一直强烈谴责美国在波兰和罗马尼亚设立地下监狱，审理、折磨甚至处决可疑的恐怖分子。这民主的美国政府作为实在是叫人佩服不起来。英国的穆斯林要定期到警察局报到，否则就有被逮捕的危险。从这一点上来看，人权的确不是一个绝对的概念。米尔顿和托马斯.潘恩不知道会作何感想—不乖？

朋友从台湾发电子邮件来，电催我到她家取她从公立图书馆借的《哈利.波特》有声书，赶紧还到图书馆。我立即照办，还好没有罚款。这事要是发生在两百年前，她要先拜托东印度公司的商船代消息到伦敦，从伦敦带信到纽约。一百年前，她可以飞机空邮或者打电报。五十年前，她可以使用打电话。15年前，她可以使用互联网发电子邮件。10年前，她可以在聊天室里发短信。现在吗，随便啦。我觉得，我们的世界比哈利.波特的世界进步得快诶。

埋葬

http://www.tianyablog.com/blogger/view_blog.asp?idWriter=0&Key=0&BlogName=sggsgg&CategoryID=0&page=15&b=11&r=5&nid=8413975 埋葬一只小小的鸟儿死在地上，翅膀碎了。我轻轻蹲下，熟练地用树枝把它拨在一片橡皮树的叶子上，准备埋葬。虽然这是一件突发事件，但是我却像早就知道一样毫不迟疑、责无旁贷。　　手指轻轻抚摸小鸟依然完整的脑袋，它以一个绝不开玩笑的决绝，从左边颓然偏向右边。这小小的头，这接触过天空的头。你死去的样子很乖，看上去是一只小小的朴素的野鸟。知道么？我见过信鸽，它们是白色的，脚趾上套着金色的指环，很高傲，你要活着，他们一定不愿意理你。还有一种叫做天鹅，更高贵，我的小可怜。　　你喜欢这满地紫荆花的空地么？如果喜欢的话，这里将有一个微微凸起的小包，你就睡在里面，我兜里还有一颗糖，和你睡在一起好么，梦会甜。我的指甲里都是泥，偶尔看看旁边躺在橡皮树叶上的你，别难过，这个世界上，连公主都会死去。　　我知道，鸟儿，其实你就是那只曾经把我驮向温暖国度的燕子呀。一边慢慢盖土，我一边小声地说：现在，我已经在这里了，你回吧。

25 years are possible!

My boss at TC library, Yodit, celebrated her 25 year anniversary at TC today. Ximena and I sent her a bunch of Calla Lilies as gift. We both don't believe we could be able to work for one organization for 25 years. It is likely FOREVER! Anyway, it is nice to know someone can do it.

Ozlem may get married in July. However, her boyfriend will soon be relocated from American base in Germany to Iraq and stay there for 15 months. Once they get married, Ozlem will return to Turkey and teach for two years. So they are closer in geographic distance this time (Istanbul and Baghdad). I don't know whether this is gonna to work. If everything goes well, they will return to U.S. and start to pay back Ozlem's Turkish government loan ($250,000). It may take another 3 to 4 years to get her greencard and then citizenship. She is 35 years old and her plan for future really takes time. I hope this lovely girl's dream will come true ASAP. Compared with her life, my life is as simple as ABC.

I get my first pair of TEVA today. They are comfortable sport shoes and expensive. I get a discount pair from Amazon, but they are not as lovely as the new trend for 2007. I am out of date anyway.

I read about the life of Hector Lavoe, the salsa master singer in 1970s. He was quite a character. It is interesting to find out the salsa (sauce in spanish, spicy) stems out Cuben son and other music forms. Cuban musicians are the first to develop and introduce them to New York city and through New York spead out into other parts of US and Latin American countries. After 1962 "Cuban Missile crisis", the connection between Cuba and US was lost. Then, Purto Rican musicians, such as HectorLavoe, started to become popular. Also, in mid and late 1960, Latino youth used salsa as a form of counterculture instrument and so salsa became the core of El Barrio, the spanish Haarlem.

Also, I started to listen to Estrella Morente who is the sound behind Raimunda in the film Volver. Her voice is so unique and she really masters the sentimental side of flamingo songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUAv-AF732A&mode=related&search=

What Makes You Eat More Food--From Time

Refined CarbsAfter a meal heavy in refined carbohydrates, like white pasta, the body may crave food again within only a few hours. These foods cause blood sugar to drop, and "when our blood sugar is crashing, we're going to be a lot more interested in food in general," Ludwig says.

TemperatureThe colder the temperature, the more people tend to eat, which is why restaurants often keep thermostats low. "Your metabolism drops when it's time to eat, and eating warms you up," says David Ludwig, professor of pediatrics at Harvard. "Heat is a satiety signal."

AlcoholDrinking has not been scientifically proved to stimulate appetite, but too much beer, wine or liquor can impair judgment, causing us to eat more. "Most people who are on a diet will say it's a lot harder to push themselves away from the table if they've been drinking," observes Seeley.

SmellScent is one of the key ways we cue our bodies that food is near. Once the trigger goes off, it can induce the insulin secretion that makes us think we're hungry. Says Sharron Dalton, a nutrition professor at New York University: "Smell and sight alone activate the appetite cascade."

VarietyEven after eating a large meal, we often "make room" for dessert, because a desire for sweets hasn't been satisfied. Ann Gaba, a registered dietitian at New York Presbyterian Hospital, says that sometimes all it takes is a bit of fruit in a salad during a meal to curb a sugar craving.

SightResearch using MRIs shows that brain patterns of people viewing photos of foods they like and foods they don't like are "very different," Seeley says. "The body anticipates when food is about to enter the system." And that's why your mouth starts watering when you see Mom's pie.

Time of DayThrough routine, we condition our bodies to expect breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time each day, says Randy Seeley, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati." Part of the reason you're hungry at noon is because that's the time you've eaten for the last 100 days."

What the World Eats

What's on family dinner tables in fifteen different homes around the globe? Photographs by Peter Menzel from the book "Hungry Planet". Germany: The Melander family of BargteheideFood expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07Favorite foods: fried potatoes with onions, bacon and herring, fried noodles with eggs and cheese, pizza, vanilla pudding Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey VillageFood expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne DucisFood expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15Favorite foods: avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream Mongolia: The Batsuuri family of UlaanbaatarFood expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02Family recipe: Mutton dumplings

Ecuador: The Ayme family of TingoFood expenditure for one week: $31.55Family recipe: Potato soup with cabbage

Egypt: The Ahmed family of CairoFood expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53Family recipe: Okra and mutton

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-JeziornaFood expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27Family recipe: Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips

China: The Dong family of BeijingFood expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06Favorite foods: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce

Mexico: The Casales family of CuernavacaFood expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

United States: The Revis family of North CarolinaFood expenditure for one week: $341.98Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken

Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait CityFood expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45 Family recipe: Chicken biryani with basmati rice

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing CampFood expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat

Italy: The Manzo family of SicilyFood expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks

Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira CityFood expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25Favorite foods: sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips

写在纸边上的字儿

昨天晚上和sis 在电话中聊天，提到底特律的衰败。我想城市和人一样，有出生就有死亡，底特律大概正在死去。以汽车为底蕴的文明失去了汽车，很难想象它如何自处。

前几天去看六十年代末的Psychedelic Art展览。虽然第一次接触Psychedelic Art会觉得它有点艳俗的夸张，但是看得多了，觉得它那种一定要开到荼靡的美丽真是有动人心魄的力量。那个时代美国的年轻人一门心思要反对保守的五十年代，想要脱离欧洲文化的影响，想要从异文化中汲取资源，想要找到自己的身份。所以他们似无顾忌地尝试各种可能性，寻找最极端的生活方式，企图找到肉体和身心全面的自由。他们所创造出来的艺术虽然可能粗糙、笨拙、带有明显的意识形态的痕迹，但是他们的艺术又充满了难以抑制的生命力，有一种新鲜的、朴实的、原创性的冲击力。无论是借助肉体的开放，还是药品的力量，Psychedelic Art的艺术家们在批判社会的同时，也在批判自己，他们希冀从印度、中国和其他各种文化中找到反对战争、反对压抑个体性的可能性。

从1967年圣佛朗西斯科的summer of love，Psychedelic Art逐渐席卷了整个美国和多数欧洲国家。它影响了绘画、室内装饰、音乐、印刷等诸多领域内的创作，而且促成了许多新的艺术形式的诞生。比如当时著名的light show，利用幻灯机和灯光来营造虚拟的魔幻世界。艺术家们在幻灯机的胶片上用水彩来搅拌水杯里的水，幻灯机将水杯内色彩层次的无穷变化呈现在屏幕上。此外，有些艺术家利用带有各种团的彩色转盘在光源前面转动，产生出光线强弱和色彩的变化。这一切手工的努力在今天看来显得非常幼稚，因为借助计算机的帮助，小学生都能制造出类似的light show。但是60年代艺术家的可贵之处在于，他们用手工实现了他们的想象—一个充满了爱和幻想的世界。

我最喜欢的作品是利用灯光所制造出的类似于极光的一个light show。我一个人坐在黑暗中，看着同样黑暗的银幕上突然出现了美的炫目的光的弧线，它们比极光的变化更多样，色彩更绚烂，层次更丰富。那些光的弧线转瞬即逝，好像宇宙中流星的魅影。我坐在那里看得目瞪口呆，一时间不知身处何处。我觉得这大概就是时间的开始，或者是时间的结束。这种震撼使人麻木，除了贪婪地盯着屏幕沉浸于自己的想象世界之外，没有其他的选择。

从图书馆回来，学校一年一度的校友聚会还在继续。穿着晚礼服的绅士淑女站在Low Library前的白色帐篷里，举着香槟聊天，衣香鬓影，好不迷人。图书馆台阶上坐了一个中国老头，不管不顾地拉着胡琴。三声和着节拍，两声慢了节拍，有一搭没一搭地拉着《二泉映月》。不要拽我的乡愁啊，大叔。这样迷人的夜晚已经要让我哭了，怎么禁得住你这么折磨我的耳朵？赐予我一夜无梦的睡眠，赐予我一个清醒而愉快的早晨，就比什么都好了，阿门！

Psychedelic Art in 1960's Counterculture

Leading proponents of the 1960s Psychedelic Art movement were San Francisco poster artists such as: Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse & Alton Kelley, and Wes Wilson. Their Psychedelic Rock concert posters were inspired by Art Nouveau, Victoriana, Dada, and Pop Art. Richly saturated colors in glaring contrast, elaborately ornate lettering, strongly symmetrical composition, collage elements, and bizarre iconography are all hallmarks of the San Francisco psychedelic poster art style. The style flourished from about 1966 - 1972. Their work was immediately influential to album cover art, and indeed all of the aforementioned artists also created album covers.

Although San Francisco remained the hub of psychedelic art into the early 1970s, the style also developed internationally: Majorca based painter Mati Klarwein created psychedelic masterpieces for Miles Davis' Jazz-Rock fusion albums, and also for Carlos Santana Latin Rock. Pink Floyd worked extensively with London based designers, Hipgnosis to create graphics to support the concepts in their albums.

Psychedelic light-shows were a new art-form developed for rock concerts. Using oil and dye in an emulsion that was set between large convex lenses upon overhead projectors the lightshow artists created bubbling liquid visuals that pulsed in rhythm to the music. This was mixed with slideshows and film loops to create an improvisational motion picture art form to give visual representation to the improvisational jams of the rock bands and create a completely "trippy" atmosphere for the audience. The Brotherhood of Light were responsible for many of the light-shows in San Francisco psychedelic rock concerts.

Out of the psychedelic counterculture also arose a new genre of comic books: underground comix. "Zap Comix" was among the original underground comics, and featured the work of Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, and Robert Williams among others. Underground Comix were ribald, intensely satirical, and seemed to pursue weirdness for the sake of weirdness. Gilbert Shelton created perhaps the most enduring of underground cartoon characters, "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers," whose drugged out exploits held a hilarious mirror up to the hippy lifestyle of the 1960s.

厨房和学问

最近我们这一层楼住进不少夏天的临时住户，抬头不见低头见，我也认识了不少新面孔。我们常在厨房做饭聊天，喝冰茶，吃芒果和木瓜，分享生活中的点点滴滴。

如是建筑学院刚刚毕业的硕士研究生，研究建筑的保存和重建。她高高的个子，看起来不拘小节的样子，一聊起来就非常投缘。她先后在台湾和英国学习建筑，到哥大以后转修古旧建筑的翻新和重建，她自己的硕士论文设计将一个废弃的哈德逊河谷的工厂转变成一个使用太阳能的公益性建筑，整栋建筑就是一个产生能量的基地。这个项目将把废弃的工业基地转化成环保和能可持续性发展的新人文景观。她核心的观点就是将工业革命以来的废弃建筑和景观转化为当下社会中具有实用功能的新建筑，赋予老旧建筑以新的意义。

我们谈了许多中国现在所面临的问题，尤其是古建筑的测量、保护、维修，以及大都市的建设。她自己对大陆的建设非常关心，希望毕业后能在纽约找到工作，然后再被派到中国。哥大的建筑系中有研究中国古建筑的权威，建筑系又招收了许多来自清华、同济等中国院校的研究生，所以如对大陆的发展非常熟悉，有许多自己独特的见解。比如，她认为西方古建保护的措施出自于他们的传统，中国也应该从自己的文化传统中汲取资源，研究如何保护和重建古典建筑。问题的关键在于思考人居住的环境和建筑和当下人的生存状态的关系—人不仅可以改造环境和建筑，环境和建筑反过来也会影响人的心态和生态。她觉得大陆不应该重复台湾发展中所走过的许多弯路，应该利用台湾的教训来提高自己的决策质量。尤其是关于古建筑的测量和重修问题，她觉得应该利用民间社会的资源。由于解决这个问题所需要的巨大投入，中国需要充分发挥草根组织的力量来系统的整理和保存现存的古建筑。

如自称是一个理科生，但是她对文化、社会和建筑的互动有很多认识。这使我想到了一个有趣的问题。在当下的社会中，一个知识分子应该有两种角色：首先，她是一个从事专门职业的人，利用专门的知识服务于社会的生产；其次，她应该是一个教育者，普及她的专业知识，唤起一般民众对于公共问题的兴趣，并帮助他们寻找解决公共问题的途径。她应该打破一般民众的私人空间和公共空间的界限，将公共问题带入私人的视野，提出人类生存所普遍面临的问题。以如的例子来说，她对于西方建筑史和建筑实践的学习，使得她有可能并且能够对北京、台北等城市的建筑提出批评，指出可能的改进方案，并且将建筑的问题和文化问题联系起来，通过建筑方案的选择和实施来反思社会的主流意识形态。从这个意义上来说，建筑不仅是她的职业，也是她干预社会问题，发挥自己教育者功能的主要途径。

其实人们早就在对艺术的社会功能的探讨时，提出过艺术家的多重社会功能问题。现在，这也适用于其他知识分子。只有当他们将自己基于职业知识基础之上的道德判断带入公共领域的时候，才从知道分子转化为知识分子。

这样，我一天认识一个好朋友。在厨房做饭有益于学理的促进和学术成长，还有什么比这里更具有“营养”的环境？