阿傑故事很秋天
這一部算是大馬與香港的合拍片吧，或是一部在馬來西亞取景的粵語電影，但是卡士絕對國際化，香港就有惠英紅、任達華、陳果，臺灣有伍佰，大馬則有馬來影星 Faizal Hussein 與導演何宇恆執導，看一看其實蠻不錯的。
必須承認的是，身為伍佰歌迷，我看這部電影是為了看伍佰，看過他的演唱會好幾次了，但是怎麼夠過癮呢，知道伍佰上了大銀幕那是肯定要買票入場支持的。戲中的伍佰飾演惠英紅的老公，工作是個婦產科醫生，銀幕上的伍佰綁著很短的馬尾幫孕婦作超聲圖像和磁共振成像（MRI）檢查。但是老實說，這畫面跟伍佰平日的形象非常不同，伍佰變成醫生，真的一時之間不能接受。伍佰在戲中也秀了廣東話，他的粵語發音其實不錯，有臺灣口音是必然的，情況跟我以粵語腔調講臺灣國語的情況類似。 Continue reading “《MRS K》：惠英紅之好頭好尾 (Republishing Sep 2017 Piece)”
Speaking of a runaway place, I recall of this song Dear Margaret by Anthony Wong.
Creative writers are sensitive to environment around them. Some still produce good pieces when a lot of things are going on around them, and they need the ‘I-am-in-the-midst-of-things’ feeling to be productive. I think most Hong Kong writers belong to this category. This minute they are meeting friends in Tsim Sha Tsui or Causeway Bay, the next minute they find themselves at home producing the next piece of artwork.
I once learned from a film-making friend about this. The friends of Christopher Doyle (杜可風) described him as an insane artist. He drinks somewhere around downtown of Hong Kong Island during night time, after which he goes home in the middle of the night and works on his projects as a cinematographer. Known for his fondness and deep affection for Hong Kong, I believe being in downtown Hong Kong contributes tremendously to his artwork. Continue reading “A runaway place for writing (Republishing July 2017 Piece)”
說到諾里奇，我總想起小時候追英超的回憶。那是法國球王康托納主宰曼聯的年代，亦是英格蘭老射腳亞倫謝勒在布萊克本流浪隊發威的時代。記得那時候看英國的足球雜誌，還可以看到Sheffield Wednesday、Ipswich Town、Wimbledon、Oldham、Nottingham Forest 這些球會的名字，那是他們還沒有沉寂下去的時代，另一個還撐在英超的，當然還有諾里奇球會(Norwich City Football Club)。
看見他們的黃青色球衣，總有一種重溫舊時代的感覺。由於一直在英超與英冠聯賽之間來回擺盪，諾里奇被戲稱是英格蘭最大的溜溜球球會，因為一個賽季在英超降級到英冠，另一賽季在英冠奪得冠軍升上英超，結果又跌了下去。如此上上下下的命運，縱使我不是球迷，也還是希望他們可以留在英超長久一些。 Continue reading “升班馬諾里奇之浴火重生”
農曆新年假期期間，友人從臺北帶回來《伍佰 and China Blue 雙面對決演唱會全紀錄》的ＣＤ，我從過年至今依然聽得很過癮。
伍佰說過不是經典不會唱，所以這四片ＣＤ收錄的都是相當份量的歌曲。雙面對決演唱會於2016年舉行，沒記錯應該祇有臺北場，就是週六全臺語、週日全國語，一口氣將經典呈現給樂迷。
我個人覺得臺語場比較精彩，可能是伍佰 and China Blue 演繹臺語歌特別有味道，演奏與演唱的部份特別揪心，或黯然神傷、或振奮人心，唯一不變的正能量就是臺灣特有的正港臺語搖滾。我尤其喜愛的臺語歌包括《少年吔，安啦！》、《空襲警報》、《臺灣製造》、《返去故鄉》、《樓仔厝》、《飛在風中的小雨》、《心愛的再會啦》，其中鼓手 Dino 穿插演唱的《小姐免驚》尤其趣味。 Continue reading “伍佰雙面對決之正港臺灣搖滾 (Republishing March 2018 Piece)”
I used to think that Delta variant was already the last variant of Covid-19. But Omicron variant proved me wrong, although some experts said it is a different disease. Since South African medics notified the international society about the new variant in an honest and honourable manner, Omicron spread across the world very swiftly. Given its contagiousness, it still spreads no matter how hard you close borders and lock down cities. How fast it spreads is the only question here.
If we are able to sit down calmly and observe the Omicron wave, we can perhaps come to a more optimistic conclusion. Forget about those media outlets which are shouting and creating chaos everyday because they need to exaggerate stories to attract more views.
I am quite confident about Dr John Campbell’s explanation. Put it simply, Omicron infects more people but most are suffering from flu and cold because we have been vaccinated. Most people recover after taking a rest for three to five days. No hospitalisation tsunami, more people receive booster shot, and Omicron infected many more people and they suffer from mild symptoms. Hopefully UK, US and Europe can achieve herd immunity by March or April. Continue reading “It peaks and it collapses quickly: normalcy to return in 2022? 高峰過總會有下坡：2022年之生活常態化”
這一賽季的曼聯也是有夠神奇的。英國衛報體育作者Jonathan Liew 撰文說曼聯讓人覺得很困惑，實在是一針見血。我沒有很懂得足球戰術，但是上星期對壘托登罕發揮不錯的三五二陣線，臨時又改去五三二、下半場再變成四四二，中衛兼隊長哈利馬奎爾(Harry Maguire)繼續表現平平無奇，沒有被打敗已經是大幸。
近來跟朋友聊足球也是提到這一點：曼聯需要一個有權威的領隊帶領教練團隊。現在的情況比較像是曼聯球員比教練更有勢力。教練團真正有權威的話，甭管Ｃ羅納多多麼有名氣、隊長馬奎爾當年創下高達八千萬英鎊的全球最貴後衛的轉會費，誰人表現不好就得坐冷板凳。教練團真正有權威的話，直接起用年輕球員例如Lingard、Dalot、Sancho，這些球員年輕力壯，讓他們上前施壓、擾亂對手防線，中衛直接重用Jones再簽一個英格蘭球員例如效力阿斯頓維拉的Mings，中場再換一兩個新的正選人馬。
看過布萊頓作客利物浦丟失一兩球之後依然穩穩守住防線、中場繼續頑抗，或者水晶宮攻破曼市龍門之後靠固若金湯的防線守住領先優勢，閣下再看看曼聯現在的後防，大概都會覺得搖頭：明明各個後衛都有專長，為何總是不能合作無間多爭取幾場不失球呢？ Continue reading “又靠神奇老將過關 曼聯繼續忽高忽低”
Daydreaming is inevitable, particularly when the pandemic still troubles the world. When I watch Simon Yam’s movies, I recall of Hong Kong news reports which covered his stories of investing in properties worldwide to earn rental income. For average Joe including me, achieving ownership of properties worldwide for rental earnings is a dream far too unreachable. We can hardly handle properties properly when we have to always travel thousands of miles to attend to management matters. In this case, the only solution is engaging a management company to handle your properties on your behalf.
Alright, put aside about making rental income from properties worldwide. If you owned properties in KL and Selangor, Penang and Johor Bahru—the three largest cities in Malaysia—for rental income, that would be a big headache in itself. Of course, some individuals in some parts of the world earn a living by utilising property ownership.
If property business became your best pastime and properties in three cities earned you rental income, you might find yourself driving and loitering in one city of your rental income source for one week for the sake of observing the market. Three weeks for three cities and the remaining week of the month would be spent in front of your computer to check how much rental you have collected, the amount to repay banks, and more importantly, your earnings for the month in your property management business. Continue reading “Globalisation dream of owning properties worldwide 春秋大夢之全球有資產”
史堤夫布魯士(Steve Bruce)，曼聯以前的老隊長、最近兩年領軍紐卡索，終於證實離開了紐卡索領隊一職。布魯士接受訪問時提到，這可能是他最後一份工作，因為他已經到了耳順之年，家人因為他的足球領隊工作而承受不小的壓力，大概是時候放下了。
現代足球實在是殘酷。現代人受到科技產品與光纖網路的高效率影響，什麼事情都要快，就連球會董事局也常常以為找一個新教練回來馬上就能看到好成績。其實教練必須很瞭解麾下的球員的特質，專長和缺點是什麼，清楚知道對手底細才能安排好比賽策略。再加上現在資訊太多太快，各球會領隊和助理教練有太多方法一直鑽研戰術，當今足球的競爭程度比以前更加劇烈。 Continue reading “暫別了，老隊長”
話說一位錄音師朋友在線上用木結他彈唱這首〈命運是你家〉，聽得好好的，友人口中竟然殺出兩句「你有你血干／不會怕」。我覺得非常驚愕，於是詢問一下，方才知道他在谷歌搜尋到簡體字歌詞，沒有想過就直接錄下來自彈自唱的片段，因此連歌詞錯誤的部份也錄了下來。
其實歌詞的正字當然是「你有你去幹／不會怕」，意思是你做你的事，不需要也不會覺得害怕。
若真的熟悉中文，當閣下看到「你有你血干／不會怕」，你會不會覺得毛骨悚然？這個意思是不是你拼命了、流血流乾了也不需要害怕？還是用血汗去拼命幹（殘體字寫「干」）不需要害怕？ Continue reading “〈命運是你家〉之歌詞考據學”
杜汶澤這段節目精華看了又看還是覺得很過癮。先說明一下，我對大房子沒有感覺，亦不知道房子住得這麼寬敞到底有何用處，但我祇想從現實層面研究一下：實際上，在霹靂州首府怡保是有可能人人住得起六千呎大屋。
去年疫情剛剛在馬來西亞爆發，上台就任才兩週的首相慕尤丁宣佈全國封鎖，經濟活動幾乎完全停擺，房地產產業當然亦無法倖免地慘澹經營。記得那時候我在網上瀏覽就看到怡保市區附近有大房子以五百令吉的優惠價（粵語說「跳樓價」）放租，呎數多少我忘記了，反正就是一千多平方呎以上。若有人當時眼明手快以每個月五百元租下來簽兩年合同，應該是非常划算的交易。
我亦記得七、八年前在怡保看過房子，三層樓透天厝有電梯，叫價六十五萬令吉。以當時匯率來說，這個價格在台灣也就祇有五百萬台幣左右，在大台北地區想要上車置業大概是難若登天。 Continue reading “人人住得起六千呎大屋 6,000 sqf house could be affordable for all”