12/20/06

我是你﹐又如何?

最近什麼也沒寫﹐一來天寒地凍﹐手指也殭了﹐真想冬眠便算。二來沒有什麼引起我的興趣。前兩夜也在雕圖章﹐有其中一個石質鬆散﹐效果未如理想﹐連續雕了四次同一個面﹐整層也批走四次﹐至今還是平面一片﹐章石卻已短了五﹑六毫米﹐似乎用力過度﹐現今才覺指尖隱隱作痛﹐不過就當練刀法。而且今天晚上還要買張沙紙﹐始終用人手雕平一個表面還難免有輕微出入﹐就算少於毫髮也可能影響圖章印出來的墨色﹐用張幼細點的沙紙去磨平可省回些功夫。


最近這張圖片看得多罷? 我不覺得有什麼大不了﹐也不明白為何許多人因為成為一份子而沾沾自喜。只不過是時代在步﹐科技在進步﹐垃圾文章也終歸垃圾文章﹐熱潮過後﹐汰弱留強之後﹐剩下的也還會是同一個天空﹐同一個世界。加速了某些人的知名度﹐但在電視機時代的出現後﹐這也不是什麼新事物。"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." -Andy Warhol。 依現今的社會節奏﹐將來可能十五秒已經算多。不過百年過後﹐我相信﹐這段時間﹐這段時段的歷史會是突出的。這代的極速資訊交流擁有著潛質可帶起革命﹐想想﹐如果古代有手提電腦﹐我們現今可能也無月餅食﹐哈! 現在各地的民眾交流著社會間對事物的態度﹐對宗教政治的看法﹐對科學﹐社會﹐權力的理解。人類在網上的表現﹐其實也是很現實人性的寫照﹐在這些離離合合的無限交流下﹐衝激下﹐結果如何﹐我未敢猜度﹐不過可想像的結果卻可以是很極端的: 既可因此社會得到更深的共識﹐成為第二度的enlightenment period。又或可能會如一向人類的歷史的發展一樣﹐先而口角﹐繼而動武﹐社會陷入緊張混亂的局面﹐政府要控制暴動﹐甚至切斷網絡﹐黑客又會是國與國間的強力武器。對於將來﹐對於人性﹐我不抱有過大期望﹐或如Alexandre Dumas 的小說結局所括: "Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget that until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words, - 'Wait and hope.'"

12/15/06

第一謊言

自己第一次說謊﹐是在小學二年級﹐而且第一次還未懂說謊便說了個歷時一星期的謊話。

當年小學二B 班的女老師姓李﹐記憶中凶惡得緊要﹐那幾年受過她教導的學生﹐不少至今說起也咬牙切齒。 一天十三﹑四樣工課﹐今天回看﹐也不知是好是壞﹐這也不重要﹐要命的是隨時一手抓著耳朵﹐某次我也給扯得耳朵勒勒作響(喂!我已經係乖個隻學生喇!)﹐真的痛得要命。某次忘了帶工課還是什麼事﹐給老師寫了家課冊﹐雖說老師凶﹐不過我家內的老媽更凶﹐平衡一下利害之後(給人罵還是藤條炆豬肉)﹐還是決定隱瞞﹐一個決定於是便演變成一個星期膽顫心驚的日子。給老師寫了的冊頁﹐剛巧是在冊的中間﹐我於是解開中間書釘﹐把中間的冊頁拿出﹐另行抄過一段無給人寫花的在後面﹐回家如常給家長簽名。至於拆出來的罪證﹐我輕輕中間接一下﹐攝入學校的櫈底縫中﹐明日便又夾回冊中﹐重新釘嵌(可知我為何手工好罷? 哈哈)﹐前後一式兩份的在老師和家長之間周旋。拖了幾天﹐給老師看的始終沒簽名也不成﹐一不做﹐而不休﹐連之前未簽字的記紅字那天﹐也一併冒簽。一星期後結果老師看了又看﹐見頁中有折紋﹐看了又看﹐前後重疊﹐卻仍未想明我這戲法﹐不過要穿的始終要穿﹐後來因此見了家長﹐卻因為老師和母親詫異我居然說了這麼一個大話﹐放過了我﹐我也同樣出奇可逃過了這一劫。

同年的郊外旅行﹐還發生過另一件事。當時臨走前﹐這李老師遞了兩袋很重的東西﹐像用剩的炭之類給我和兩個其他學生﹐說:「幫我搾住﹐陣間拎上車吓。」然後二話不說便走開。好呀! 好學生是該助老師的﹐見她走開﹐我和其餘兩人互相望望。「在這裡一直揪著嗎?」有人問﹐我見這麼重﹐便想先放上車﹐「不是吧? 先放上車吧。」於是率領二人想放上巴士﹐走著去尋校巴。後來行了段山路﹐拐了個彎﹐也見不到自己那架巴士﹐便折返轉頭。原來那幾分鐘﹐她們卻以為我們失蹤﹐給她扯著手臂﹐三人被罰企在所有人面前﹐她更恐嚇要把我們留低不帶走了。我嘗試過解釋﹐不過七歲的解釋是永遠沒人會聽的(正是「八十九十曰耄,七年曰悼。 悼与耄,雖有罪,不加刑焉。」《禮‧曲禮上》﹐有乜理由幫佢反而被罰?)﹐其餘兩個已哭得變成淚人﹐我自己卻堅決不哭出來(雖然不由自主的﹐淚水還是在眼眶中滾動著。) 我很清楚記得心想:「我沒錯﹐是你說得不清楚。就算你真的不帶我走﹐我自己會走﹐再不然在此地擔上幾個小事﹐老媽也會來找我。我呀媽咁惡﹐你真的夠膽賴低我﹐你到時可有好受的。」那李老師還在其他老師前刻薄奚落我﹐話我如此硬頸﹐便就獨留下我一個。一直疆戰間﹐我也忍著﹐忍著﹐結果還是回了學校﹐那股冤屈﹐一看見了媽才崩堤而下。三歲定八十﹐倔強不是偶然的罷。

前年回港﹐聽個同校的表弟說﹐居然這李老師出名霖善﹐好像也在這幾年退休了。一個個當年有心的﹐善良的﹐凶惡的老師﹐也沒了朝氣﹐被歲月消磨了心智﹐生命是很不由人的﹐選擇了不同的道路﹐還是走著同一個腳步﹐很多年之前﹐已覺天下間的爭鬥﹐實在到頭爭不到什麼。哈哈﹐不是既不能戒食﹐也不能戒色﹐就可能真的早去做了和尚﹑道士。畢竟太多放不下﹐放不下。

12/11/06

聖誕樹與熱朱古力

剛喝了杯mocha﹐天寒地凍﹐沒什麼比一杯及時的熱咖啡或熱可可好(找次再說說這種全球七萬平方公里也在栽種著的植物罷)﹐cinnamon, nutmeg 等香料也總給人一種節日的味道。聖誕總是有如此大的魔力﹐可令人不計後果的瘋狂消費﹐是在寒冷之中尋求一點心靈上的溫暖罷? 溫暖還溫暖﹐卻要衡量一下銀包﹐否則聖誕的孤獨感殺不了你(*1)﹐之後的手尾也很長﹐正是「吾雖不殺伯仁,伯仁由我而死」《晉書‧周顗傳》﹐哈哈。

其實自己一向也十分討厭聖誕﹐從來感不到有什麼值得普世歡騰。本來聖誕也不是為了什麼聖人誕生﹐純粹是權力和政治扭曲出來的副產品﹐原本就是個醉酒﹐暴力﹐強姦﹐血腥和屠殺的節日(*2)(不是比現代的聖誕更刺激嗎?)。當然最重要的還是己有過幾段不愉快的經歷﹐聖誕感到過孤單﹐感到過絕望﹐感到過出賣﹐還有在孤獨的聖誕夜爆過屎渠﹐污水入屋(超惡感)。第一段分手﹐第一次食煙(好像不是聖誕﹐不過賴得就賴啦)﹐第一次沉醉(至今未醒)。那幾年一到聖誕前後有種莫明的厭惡感﹐不過後來在零三年的聖誕罷? 趁著伴上了學﹐拿出了千多元的積蓄﹐跑到附近的商場買了聖誕樹﹐買了裝飾﹐糊亂的佈置一番。其實要開心幸福﹐不過是種心意﹐可以自己製造出來﹐不需要什麼神佛﹐不需要什麼特別日子﹐心內也可很充實﹑溫暖。突然間一個個裝飾﹐一盞盞微弱的燈光﹐不知在何時又變得可愛。

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*1: Despite the common believe of "Holiday Depression" and "Christmas Blues", the fact is that the holidays are not much associated with suicide rates: "Suicide and the Media". It's association is very much again obliged to our trustworthy inaccurate media.

Above Graph: is my own theory explaining the rates of suicide from an economic viewpoint. Haha!


*2:How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?

December 25th occurs about the time of the Winter Solistice, the shortest day of the year. The shortening days were taken as a sign that the Sun was getting weaker. After the Solistice, the days begin to get longer ...... and pagan peoples thought that was an indication that the Sun was getting stronger. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season). In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc. The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.” Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681. However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.” As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in 1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.” On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.

12/9/06

金碧輝煌

我這幾天居然做了裝修師傅﹐在網上給個油漆師傅解答做油漆的疑問。不過見對方問得誠懇﹐便翻了一大堆資料﹐既然辛苦寫好﹐便借花敬佛﹐抄多篇在此供各位欣賞。對方提起一種叫魚油的物料﹐我當然實在無機會聽過什麼魚油﹐不知道究竟是俗稱還是正式用魚來做的油? 於是在網頁上找﹐找到以前真有人用魚油脂製出油用在船/夾板上。也見在冰島對上的 Greenland﹐人們以海獅/鯨魚脂煮油漆﹐煮入樹脂和紅鐵(氧化鐵/二鐵三氧)﹐用於粗糙的室外木面﹐頭兩星期未乾透還會有魚腥味呢! 以牛/鹿血煮入黑或深色顏料﹐據說還可留色約三百年的時間呢! 我想這些物料太不常見的﹐也不會有人用吧。

另外有提起鋪金箔﹐又看了十來篇文章﹐有興趣做金箔面的﹐便有以下約十個工序﹐簡略說說(總要有裝修的基本手藝才有興趣做罷!): 1.備好表面﹐2.封底﹐3.上底漆(通常以杏黃啡色作金底﹐淺青作銀底﹐有些封底油已備色﹐便做少這個步驟)﹐4.上膠﹐5.試膠(待臨乾一剎﹐即又液體變為固體﹐但仍有黏性﹐約四十五分鐘)﹐6.貼金﹐7.掃金(以輕毛掃把金貼好)﹐8.修補遺溜或貼未到的地方(有疊的位置輕輕吹走便成﹐順帶一提工作的地方最好無風)﹐9.上保護層(22 kt 以上的真金箔可以不上﹐不上也不會變色﹐但當然上了較耐用。23kt 以下最好室內用。23.75kt就算在室外也可有約30年的壽命。同樣是真金﹐其實也分約六七級不同質素(*1)) ﹐10.(optional) 最後這步驟﹐是可上一層油畫用的亞加力油/油畫油/蠟 ﹐去製造一種古舊的氣紛﹐這點﹐便考個人的藝術天份﹐之後再上護層。完成。其實有時間去了解物質的本性﹐就會在操作時控制得更好。

*1: Regular Gold, Surface Gold, Loose Gold, Glass Gold, Double Gold, Patent Gold。 1000頁金箔約由18至23克。

12/8/06

blogger beta

多手剛轉了新的blogger﹐不知為何﹐在舊comment內的名字"道士"變了"道士"。要警告一句﹐在sidebar的中文字體也會混亂的變了像以上不能解讀的字碼﹐我剛花了差不多一個小時編輯過版面﹐還未執好。隨了有些字體問題外﹐新的archive的確比以前的方便﹐更不用次次等republish。其餘事項﹐還要再用用才知道﹐可參閱: new features

8:23pm 再看看新的edit post﹐有無留言一目了然﹐是方便了。哈﹐不過對於無人留言的site﹐和看了也懶得覆的人﹐沒多大用處吧? (汗) 不過人總是貪新鮮的吧。

12/09/06 6:15pm 用了新的blogger beta, 有時在dashboard 不能 fetch 到未更新的 blog site, 像我去新春秋想寫post 好像就有點問題。

12/7/06

木面

在搜尋香港油漆資料時﹐見人提起問到 varnish 和 lacquer 的分別﹐varnish 一般比較耐用﹐但 lacquer 就較易修補。兩樣物料隨時間會變得脆/黃﹐Acrylic-modified lacquer 就唔會變黃。如果要木色更顯著﹐木的紋理顯現得更清楚﹐可用煲過的亞麻籽油﹐雖不及以上的物料耐用﹐不過就更顯出木的天然色。亞麻籽是種種子﹐叫flaxseed 或 linseed﹐精練的小量可供作食物營養補給(又話有omega-3喎!)﹐早期還用於地版製作﹐油布﹐甚至墨水﹐有些牽涉化工﹐在此不提。亞麻籽榨出來的油﹐是淡黃色﹐通常用在畫世洋油畫﹐是用來開稀點顏料用﹐好處便乾了會聚合硬化﹐不過乾得極慢﹐所以只是油畫才會用。如過用在木工﹐傢俱﹐便要用煲過的﹐煲過當然厚身點﹐深色點﹐相對也唔使等咁耐先乾(由於油有滲透性﹐所以用在實木﹐木糠夾板多多油都唔夠用)。它的弱點隨了保護力不及外﹐另外也會變黃﹐所以就算在油畫上用﹐也只會用在較深色的底層(變黃也不會影響油畫)﹐面層可用如罌粟籽油一類較不易黃的媒體﹐二十世紀甚至已有用芥花子油(咦﹐我咪可以用我煮嘢支油畫埋畫?)。

中國的桐油是天然樹脂油﹐(做木工用的其實也煲過)有時間用這兩種油的效果也不俗。亞麻籽油和桐油也可在木器上代替varnish 或 lacquer﹐雖保護力/防水力低點﹐但有自己天然的木色﹐因美觀或喜歡木的質感才用﹐亦有混合了天然油的 varnish 出售﹐希望出來的效果當然是兼兩者之美。泰國有種虫脂用酒精開﹐乾得極快﹐有橙橙地﹐有透明﹐但保護力也較低。已混合的虫脂有時含蠟﹐會影響其他物料的黏付力。其實物料也是隨著時間被淘汰﹐取替﹐Renaissance 時期的油畫常用的合桃油﹐由於較易腐臭﹐今天已甚少人使用。還有﹐香港人貪新忘舊﹐張檯/傢私無幾年就換咗﹐重邊有機會去修復呀?

香港地方淺窄﹐相信無乜人有地方去玩做傢私這嗜好。看看這木工的網頁:WoodWeb﹐真係有點慨嘆任何一門學問都是永無休止的。就算記晒所有資料﹐無一年半載也難以琢磨出那門手藝的箇中奧秘﹐所以好師父難尋﹐好資質的徒弟更難尋。

12/6/06

昨天看了套戲的廣告(eragon)後畫的。

HB鉛筆﹐A4﹐12/05/06

12/5/06

油漆

遲一點要搬家﹐三百鬆呎其實覺得太少了點﹐新界區地方遠﹐交通也不太方便﹐不過因為屬熟人地方價錢較便宜﹐也就將就一下。那裡牆身也經歷十載﹐於是打算翻新一下﹐重新打過層乳膠漆。的確﹐由裝門鎖到木工﹐有機會﹑時間的﹐我也喜歡自己動手動腳(隨了水電﹐因為比較危險)。既然有得玩﹐自然開心﹐這裡便說說油漆裝修。

簡單的油漆﹐是很簡單人人會做的事﹐保養得好一般五至十年﹐如可恆濕恆溫可能可至十五年。以前很多油漆也含鉛﹐不過現今多以鈦雙氧﹐釸和氧化鋁去做。先說牆漆﹐家裡的牆大多是乳膠漆吧。在外國也通常打層底層封劑或底油﹐上兩至三層面油便完成。但如果牆身做得凹凸不平﹐就大工程囉﹐想唔頭痛都幾難。如果就咁把英泥撻上牆身﹐便有機會成塊脫落﹐尤其是天花就真係打死人。要放直內外角﹐到這地部已非非專業人仕做的範圍。香港天氣濕﹐舊牆要翻新﹐如果牆身無問題﹐輕輕打磨一下﹐掃上一兩層乳膠漆﹐自己收貨便成。細微的裂紋也找些開好的灰﹐或些現成的補牆油/泥填填先上漆﹐便應無乜問題。如牆身實在太舊﹐連灰也脫落﹐便要複雜點的講到「扇灰」﹐要清理鏟走原有的所有附貼物﹐再從頭一切做起﹐先用 diluted retarder 把牆的舊有表面軟化﹐鏟走。跟著便用層 Sealant 隔絕油漆層和牆身起的化學作用﹐香港人是用光油 varnish (香港原來照拼叫"凡立水"﹐初初看真係搞到我一頭霧水)去代替。跟著那層灰﹐這層就是在外國油漆中的Primer(*1)﹐其實灰水也是香港比較特有的產品﹐也算是地理性物料﹐是用菜膠 plant cellulose﹐白石粉 limestone powder﹐光油 varnish﹐和/或石膏(石膏增快定形速度﹐換句話﹐便是乾快點)混合而成﹐比重約23.81%﹐47.62%﹐2.38%﹐2.38% respectively﹐視乎情況天氣等因素再調較。用沙紙打磨平滑﹐就可上最後個兩﹑三層乳膠漆﹐或至不見底色兼滿意為止。瓷漆﹐木漆﹐光油﹐亞麻籽油﹐Varnish﹐Lacquer﹐Shellac﹐其他油﹐其他裝修﹐遲點想起才寫吧~

哈哈﹐寫完這篇﹐再看看對上四篇﹐近來風格已大顯惰懶。天氣一開始凍總是什麼也不想做。哈﹐而且﹐懶人總是有籍口的。

*1:大概分類如:stain blocking primer, drywall primer, vapour barrier, enamel undercoater, bonding primer, concrete primer/sealer

12/3/06

School logo 07

Saw this logo online last time, pretty cool, eh? Just need a little bit background, maybe a tone/colour to lift it up, a few swirls to give it movement/energy.