總有五六年了吧,有一天在北京逛書店,看到部”四大小說”評書(就是說書). 現在早忘了多少錢,反正不貴,買下來再說. 不久開始聽水滸,一回半小時,共百來回,有時聽聽,有時擱下,林沖宋江,從北京聽到美國,居然聽了三年多才聽完. 過癮,但也停了小半年才有過勁去聽下一本:三國. 這回聽的勤些,但也快兩年才聽到赤壁之戰.可是心裡納悶,一百一十五回快完了,難道講完赤壁就沒了嗎?
果然,關公義釋華容道後,就沒了. 就是最後一回. 太不爽了.
好在我剛好來了北京.上網一查,好小子,全書365回,那書店根本沒賣全.當當網有全集,88元. 當場(立馬)下單,下午送到兩盒子.共16張CD. 365個MP3檔.看來全了.
為甚麼商人要做這種事呢? 不就是幾張CD嗎?這麼便宜東西,還要惹人罵一陣子.嘆!
常山趙子龍,入千軍萬馬如無人之地. 殺到血染全身,精疲力盡,逃出重圍. 要不是張飛在長坂坡喝退曹兵,他一員虎將,也被蟻兵捉去了. 這仗,是為了救他”主公”劉備的兒子阿斗,後主劉禪. 這是中國的故有美德: 愚忠. “為人臣子”,必須聽話,絕對效忠不二. 如果”忠孝不能兩全”,那只有犧牲孝了. 孔子的倫理,”君臣”第一,”父子”第二.
從老闆的角度看,這太美了. 不論手下人多有能力,市場價多高. 他們一絕對不能”不忠”,也就是不能叛變. 他們還得絕對聽話,所有的能力,判斷力,都只是對外的. 到了老闆面前,每個都是白癡,只有老闆是對的.
而且他們都是”家臣”不是”員工”. 他們存在的目的是保護老闆個人,或家人,的利益. 而非公司或國家. 三國中,劉備是最爛的老闆,曹操,孫權比他強多了. 若非關張趙,及諸葛亮的愚忠,那可能成三國之勢?
忠,當然是個美德. 但不是”忠君”,而是忠於個理念. 美國是第一個把這觀念搞清楚的國家. 所有的政府員工,他們效忠的對象,是美國憲法,而不是任何組織或個人. 三國時期,根本還沒這觀念呢.
當然,趙雲有他的職責,其中之一,就是保護糜甘二夫人及少主.所以他是忠於他的職責. 劉備“故把親兒擲馬前” 換來趙雲的“雖肝腦涂地,不能報也.” 也是不錯的管理手段.
How nice to be sucked into a book, particularly by Orson Scott Card. This is not really a SciFi, but a fantasy. I am not entering any debates on their differences.
The plots and characters are clever and vivid. Orson had a very well-constructed set-up. Gods, as in Olympia, are really aliens from far away planets. We, mortal earthlings, are either their descendants or a version that is inter-breedable. Gods are genetically capable of manipulating elements: water, dirt, wind, plants, or even animals by separating the soul, or outself, as means for control. Everyone has an affinity for specific elements and also a strength of control. The most precious affinity is with space: the ability to create gates, or worm holes, that tunnel two points in space to allow instantaneous travel across distance. The most powerful gatemages can create Great Gate that leads to gods’ planets.
Alas, mysteriously, a Loki closed every gates in the world in 632 a.d. and stranded all those gods who happened to be on earth then. Gradually, probably through genetic diversification, their power weakened. Their only hope is to get back to Olympia via a Great Gate. But factions of those earth-bound gods were at war and would prefer mutual destruction than letting any of them get ahead by having a Great Gate. As a result, they killed all those who showed signs to be able to create gates. This stalemate, an inability to work together for common benefit, guarantees total oblivion: the future generation will become mortals, called drekka by gods, just like the rest of us.
Danny is the first gatemage in 1500 years that survive to teenage. He fled his Amish-like family and became a run-away kid. Like everyone, he was also looking for parental love, friendship, and, of course, girls.
Loki closed those gates to prevent a horrible monster from destroying the world. The year was specifically 632 a.d., when Muhammad died. Hmm…
Orson, I think, wrote this book for young adults, Harry Potter style. He really over-played the prankstering, trickeries, and the teenage verbal jousting. The friendship, parental, and other kinsman emotions were superficial. The training process lacked intensity or any struggle. I actually enjoyed the parallel plot of Wad no less than the main one.
Overall, it is a story masterly told and an easy read.
Before spring of 2013, make this fall into a small detour of a full agenda, instead of a destination. All the trails are under construction and closed. You can only view the fall from the top. I imagined it would have been a wonderful light hike down to the river and the fall would have been even prettier. But I would have to wait for at least a year and half to find out.
The Salish Lodge is right on the rim. It seems like a lovely hotel with a decent restaurant. I bet the view from the dining hall and rooms would be spectacular. This can be a very nice weekend escape for Seattleites, but too light a site for out-of-towners.
Mount Si and Snoqualmie Pass, a ski resort, are only several miles away on the same highway I-90. Both are interesting hiking/skiing destinations. North Bend will be the best rest stop. There are more choice restaurants and a factory outlet nearby. There is really no need to stop by the city of Snoqualmie, even for its Railroad Museum.
Toronto’s National Post had this week-long series on the 10th anniversary of the event. The question was, “Who won this war on terrorism?”
We knew that Bin Laden was killed. We knew that Al-Qaeda has effectively been destroyed. We also knew that America spent several recessions’ worth on wars for reasons we have forgotten (yes, test this on your random sample of colleagues and friends). American’s way of life was forever changed. Not only we have the Patriot Act and Homeland Security, Americans also have been living in fear. Jack Bauer, an agent fighting terrorism with a fervent and righteous belief, has become a house-hold name.
But what is American’s Way of Life? George W. Bush said, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” What does it mean? To this immigrant, Hollywood answered definitively.
It is the Thanksgiving, that pilgrims pursued religious freedom, overcome great harshness and established lives for their descendents. It is John Wayne’s wild, wild west and Bruce Willis’s Die Hard that glorify heroism. It is Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyness that anything is possible if you “put your heart to it.” It is Anne Hathaway’s insistence on independence in Love and Other Drugs.
Has any of those changed since 9/11?
If the complaint is on the fact that Americans are now living in fear, wouldn’t those complaints themselves the self-fulling prophecy? Isn’t it not enough that we are reminded every time we go to the airport? Why do we keep on reminding ourselves of Bin Laden’s achievements? All those media coverages has guaranteed him a spot in the history book as the one who “successfully terrorized America?”
Honestly, everyone. The best way to get back to our American Way is to stop talking about 9/11. Doing so is to honor Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.
And I will stop now.
Remembered that I couldn’t post Chinese blogs after upgrading WordPress to 3.x?
Honestly, I did not really try very hard to solve that problem. I was a bit miffed at WordPress at breaking the backward compatibility. It was working and now it is not. Then again, as a software practitioner myself, breaking backward compatibility is what we software people try not to, but do everyday. Can’t cast the stone at WordPress since I am not without sin. Sigh…
Just a bit research yielded this site. The solution appears to be straight-forward. No need to install any plug-ins or what. To quote:
define(‘DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf-8′);
define(‘DB_COLLATE’, ‘gbk_chinese_ci’);
define(‘WPLANG’, ‘zh_CN’);
I honestly don’t know if the 2nd step is necessary. But it works now. Yeah.
繁简体都能使。
聽完過五關宰六將,真是過癮. 劉備三兄弟終於團圓,又得趙雲. 評書人,袁闊城,話頭一轉,說起曹操破袁紹.
官渡之戰是最精彩的一段,曹操以近十分之一的兵力,隔水對抗袁紹. 對壘多時後,他夜襲烏巢,把袁紹的糧燒了. 袁紹想稱機拿官渡,但不料曹操烏巢的兵大勝而回,反而首尾受敵. 結果十萬大兵,只剩800人退回黎陽. 這一戰,奠定了曹操的地位,也毀了袁紹.
小時看三國,只想諸葛亮打勝仗. 一面看一面氣,為什麼又輸了. 現在的角度不同了,官渡之戰的關鍵,是許攸倒戈,他有烏巢的資訊,曹操因此出兵夜襲. 而許攸倒戈,是因為袁紹沒有管理能力. 歷史雖以成敗論英雄,但是袁曹的人格及管理能力,在這官渡之戰呈現無疑.
從管理的角度看,官渡是雙方的”決定性時機”. 但袁紹以為可以用兵力致勝,而掉以輕心,留下了烏巢這弱點. 曹操要以少致勝,必然想出奇.袁紹低估了對方. 但曹操的膽識,必須佩服. 敢以十分之一兵力對敵,也有”執行能力”,信任許攸,打下烏巢. 這是得霸業的能力,不是運氣.