一种生活

　　In VERBATIM; THE LANGUAGE QUARTERLY, for Autumn 1989, pages 8-10, there is a letter from a man in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Mr. Jacob de Jager says he was born in Holland in 1923 and received his education through senior high school in that country. As he studied English, he and others were required to learn by heart for recitation a poem called “The Chaos.” He says the poem is by an English teacher named G. Nolst Trenité in the city of Haarlem.
　　
　　Trenité wrote articles under the pen name CHARIVARIOUS and a little booklet entitled “Drop Your English Accent,” in which the poem appeared.
　　
　　TEST YOUR SKILL
　　
　　Once you’ve learned to correctly pronounce every word in the following poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. If you find it tough going, do not despair, you are not alone.
　　
　　Dearest creature in creation,
　　Study English pronunciation.
　　I will teach you in my verse
　　Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
　　I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
　　Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
　　Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
　　So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
　　
　　Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
　　Dies and diet, lord and word,
　　Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
　　(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
　　Now I surely will not plague you
　　With such words as plaque and ague.
　　But be careful how you speak:
　　Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
　　Cloven, oven, how and low,
　　Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
　　
　　Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
　　Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
　　Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
　　Exiles, similes, and reviles;
　　Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
　　Solar, mica, war and far;
　　One, anemone, Balmoral,
　　Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
　　Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
　　Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
　　
　　Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
　　Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
　　Blood and flood are not like food,
　　Nor is mould like should and would.
　　Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
　　Toward, to forward, to reward.
　　And your pronunciation’ s OK
　　When you correctly say croquet,
　　Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
　　Friend and fiend, alive and live.
　　
　　Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
　　And enamour rhyme with hammer.
　　River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
　　Doll and roll and some and home.
　　Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
　　Neither does devour with clangour.
　　Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
　　Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
　　Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
　　And then singer, ginger, linger,
　　Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
　　Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
　　
　　Query does not rhyme with very,
　　Nor does fury sound like bury.
　　Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
　　Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
　　Though the differences seem little,
　　We say actual but victual.
　　Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
　　Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
　　Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
　　Dull, bull, and George ate late.
　　Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
　　Science, conscience, scientific.
　　
　　Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
　　Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
　　We say hallowed, but allowed,
　　People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
　　Mark the differences, moreover,
　　Between mover, cover, clover;
　　Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
　　Chalice, but police and lice;
　　Camel, constable, unstable,
　　Principle, disciple, label.
　　
　　Petal, panel, and canal,
　　Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
　　Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
　　Senator, spectator, mayor.
　　Tour, but our and succour, four.
　　Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
　　Sea, idea, Korea, area,
　　Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
　　Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
　　Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
　　
　　Compare alien with Italian,
　　Dandelion and battalion.
　　Sally with ally, yea, ye,
　　Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
　　Say aver, but ever, fever,
　　Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
　　Heron, granary, canary.
　　Crevice and device and aerie.
　　
　　Face, but preface, not efface.
　　Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
　　Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
　　Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
　　Ear, but earn and wear and tear
　　Do not rhyme with here but ere.
　　Seven is right, but so is even,
　　Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
　　Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
　　Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
　　
　　Pronunciation — think of Psyche!
　　Is a paling stout and spikey?
　　Won’t it make you lose your wits,
　　Writing groats and saying grits?
　　It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
　　Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
　　Islington and Isle of Wight,
　　Housewife, verdict and indict.
　　
　　Finally, which rhymes with enough –
　　Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
　　Hiccough has the sound of cup.
　　My advice is to give up!!!

话题由文宇的一个朋友说起。他在新西兰找了个工作，跟他老婆一起去新西兰发展了。
后来，我就跟文宇说：其实新西兰也不错。
文宇不同意，他说他更喜欢生活在城市里，觉得新西兰太“农村”。我不同意，我觉得乡村生活也是相当惬意的，接近自然，虽然说工作的机会相应少些，生活的压力也相应比较小。
我一说这话，他就在那边讽刺我：你啊，只要给你一根网线，你就能一直宅在家里，还不是到哪儿生活都一样。
我晕死！
刚好听完《环游世界八十天》，所以就要跟他打赌自己能三个月不上网！他还不相信，还真应允打赌这回事儿……所以，我们就花了很长时间协调打赌的有关事宜，主要是在讨价还价赌资的问题。
今天，终于达成一致，赌我一个月不上网(7月1日到7月31日)，如果我坚持下来了，他请我吃一顿大餐；如果我输了，就负责一个月去超市“进货”。
所以，我下个月（也就是从下个星期开始）将完全不上网！（他本来说我可以每天一小时更新博客，我也没那么勤快，算了~）
君子一言，驷马难追！

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389557/

A movie by Paul Verhoeven (Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct).

The year is 1944 in Holland. Allied armies are making progress against the Nazis, but liberation still sounds remote and uncertain, especially to Jews living in hiding. One of them, Rachel Stein, a former singer, gets a chance to escape through the border with her family. When it turns out that the organized crossing was a trap, she ends up alone and, once again, stranded in Holland. She joins a dutch resistance group and quickly gets a chance to spy on high-ranking Nazis.

I usually think that the number of awards a movie gets is inversely proportional to its level of interest. However, this rule, it seems, doesn’t apply to Black Book or was it just me being cynical? I should have known better from Verhoeven. This film seriously is action-packed. It’s also story-packed and characters-packed, in fact. You will have a good time figuring every character’s motivation and survival strategy over the two and a half hours of the show. Some just want to get out of it alive, some try to fight for what is right, others want to get rich while some are trying to keep on the winner’s side. But every one of them is a traitor to someone else. It is a story about the horrors of the war, but it doesn’t stop at the physical horror. It is also and most of all about foul play, deceit, treason and treachery.

It is easy to make a comparison between Black Book and Schindler’s List, for the themes are rather comparable. But where Spielberg was keen to plays,  on the pathos and uses throwable characters to get to the point, Verhoeven has no qualms exposing the reality of some not-so-gratifying aspects of human nature. He does so very graphically too, as one could have expected from him.

The whole movie experience is in fact so dense that it feels at times that shortcuts were taken with the narratives to keep in a faster rhythm and shorter running time. There is so much material inside here that it is easy to imagine this being 4 hours long and still far from boring. Some may regret the director’s decision to cut it short, though. The goriness of some shots sometimes appears out of proportions and unjustified too. That’s a bit Verhoeven’s trademark. If you’ve seen a few of his other movies, you’ll know what to expect, if not, be prepared.

With this complex script and varied characters convingly depicted by the actors, you’re in for a griping experience, provided you’re interested in war movies or spy stories. If you’ve liked previous Verhoeven shows, don’t miss this one. The guy is at the top of his art here.

8/10.

昨天读梁实秋的《日记》，感觉很有意思。
他说“日记有两种”，“一种是专为自己看的”，“另一种日记是专为写给别人看的”。
我想，以日记形式记录的博客大体上应该属于第二种。他对这第二种日记是这样描述的：
“这种日记写的工整，态度不免矜持，偶然也记私人琐事，也写读书心得，大体上却是作实事的纪录，成为社会史的一个局部的缩影。写这种日记的人须有丰富的生活，广阔的交游，才能有值得一记的资料登上日记。”
当他举了一两个这种“写给别人看”的日记的例子之后，他写道：“同嗜的人并不多，有兴趣看而又能看懂的人更少（注：这是指那位象棋爱好者的日记），只要肯表示一下惊讶赞叹之意，日记的主人便心满意足了。”
文章结尾，他又提到：“日记只要忠实、细致就好，扭扭捏捏的文艺腔是绝对不需要的。”“写日记不难，难在持之以恒。”
相当写实。

这是一首听过太多次的老歌……出自于1967年的电影《毕业生》，在披头士乐队当道的日子，这首歌曾曾超过了披头士乐队的白色专辑，登上了1968年畅销歌曲排行榜的榜首。
“斯卡布罗集市本是由于维京人经常的登陆，作一些交换而形成的一个定期集市，在几百年的时间里，每年的秋天持续一个半月，现在的英国，还有这么一个小镇。
这首歌的歌词至少追溯到十三世纪的英格兰，至于曲调则更早，产生于苏格兰，很有可能受到了维京人和另一支伟大的蛮族凯尔特人的影响。维京人是那种大无畏的民族，而凯尔特则有着很多神秘难解的传说，他们留给我们的印象当中，更多的是诡秘和传奇，但是就是这些野蛮人创作了那首充盈着敏感的诗意和微妙的幽怨的歌。时常出现在脑子里的图像，是秋天的干草温暖的气味夹杂着野花的芬芳，被萧索的秋风挟裹着，掠过大地和田野，掠过即将封冻的河流和永远叹息的大海，一个孤独的男人，独自唱着忧伤的歌，消失在天地之间。
第二句唱到了四种花朵，香芹、鼠尾草、迷迭香和百里香(Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)，分别代表爱情的甜蜜，力量，忠诚和勇气。”（摘自维基百科）

Are you going to Scarborough Fair:
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt:
(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green.)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(Tracing of sparrow on the snow-crested brown.)
Without no seams nor needle work,
(Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain.)
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.)
Tell her to find me an acre of land:
(On the side of a hill asprinkling of leaves.)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
(Washes the grave with silvery tears.)
Between the salt water and the sea strands,
(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun.)
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.
Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather:
(War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions.)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
(Generals order their soldiers to kill.)
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
(And to fight for a cause they’ve long ago forgotten.)
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair:
Parsley,sage,rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

昨天还没起床就接到Hongzhi的电话，问有没有什么安排……我提供了若干个建议，最终发现他所想的只是如何解决晚饭，于是经过再三商量，我们约在牛车水见面。
星期五晚上的BBQ剩了好多各式各样的肉类，午饭一并吃了；一直挨到晚上四个人碰了头还没有什么饿的感觉。我们去了“川江号子”，原本只是打算看一下菜单，结果经不住老板娘在耳朵边的一顿怂恿，就决定吃火锅了。
那个老板娘再三跟我们保证：我保证你在新加坡吃不到我们这么好吃的火锅！
一看火锅的点菜单，没有竹笋，也没有茼蒿……文宇说：就凭没有竹笋这一点就不能算上新加坡最好的火锅！
四川火锅调料用的是香油，北方火锅的调料则习惯用芝麻酱。“川江号子”自然是四川风味，所以也就没有考虑到我们这些北方佬，可难为了我们三个中国人都来自北方，而这个老外还被我训练出来了一个北方火锅胃。所以文宇一见居然连芝麻酱也没有，就小声地在一边嘀咕：连芝麻酱也没有，也敢号称新加坡最好？！
唉，反正已经点了，好在6块钱的火锅汤底确实不错，也算是好处里面占了一头吧。
吃到差不多的时候，盘子里和锅里都还有好多菜。于是我们决定谁如果讲中文就罚吃一碗。文宇当然不大可能会冒出一句中文，所以考验的是我们三个，而且这个游戏四个人都能融入，挺好玩的。总之，我们三个人都强加防范，而文宇则充当了那个“坏人”角色——总是给人下套；就算是有服务员来询问，我们也是哼哼哈哈的英文代过。当我们最终讨论到《功夫熊猫》的时候，文宇终于找到了个机会，问：这个电影里面你们最喜欢哪个角色？
Hongzhi老婆回答：Panda!
Hongzhi回答：Wugui!
呵呵，这“乌龟”和“师傅”可是电影里面用的两个中文单词！

反正，我又吃多了……这张不主贵的嘴，是我的胃迅速增大体积的主要罪魁祸首！而且很痛心的是，文宇也第一次提醒我要减肥了。以前不管我嘴里怎么嚷嚷说胖，他都说：不胖，不用减。可是现在他改口了，这说明我真的胖太多了！
今天，我一天都没感觉到饿，相反肚子还有点涨；晚上和几个同学如约去了Geylang那边吃烧烤，感觉自己又不知不觉吃了好多。
唉，明天清肠！然后我要减肥了，要健康的减肥！
第一：饮食要规律
第二：要细嚼慢咽
第三：要吃七分饱
我觉得能够做到这些，既健康又能改善我饮食上的坏习惯，应该对体重有所帮助。

文宇的一个同事辞职了，是夫妻两个一起辞职，准备修读神学。
当我问到这个问题，他们告诉我，觉得这样更有意义。
当我转诉给文宇上面的谈话，文宇问我是怎么回答的；我记得我当时说了一个字——“哦~”
我能怎么回答呢，对于我这种没有宗教信仰的人和虔诚的教徒之间总是有理解上的所谓“志不同道不合”。不过我觉得夫妻俩人能有共同的目标是一件好事，所以当我想到这一点，我也比较庆幸和文宇在宗教信仰方面的和谐。
记得上次和朋友讨论起信仰方面的问题时，文宇回答：我相信科学！
他的答案让我感到相当的欣慰，在这方面也算是知己了。
不过比较讽刺的，我们两个都出生在有宗教信仰的家庭。我还好些，但文宇在不懂事的情况下就被稀里糊涂的洗了礼，他现在总不能说自己不是天主教徒。不过，名义上和形式上的都不重要，相信科学是最重要的。
今天在我家楼下为他的这个同事举行了一个小型的欢送烧烤会，希望他们今后还能保持联系~

我很难过！
我对自己很失望！！！

上一科考试之前，一个同学给了我一张Ministry of Sound的入场券，可供两人入场。因为平时总是有课，于是就趁着今天既没有考试的压力又是个Lady’s Night的情况下约了Hongzhi夫妻俩一同前往。这样，女士免费入场，文宇他们俩就可以凭票入场了。
我们晚上8：30到了那里，大门还是锁着的……果然是“夜”店啊，要到9:30才开门营业。
只有在附近闲晃……“一夜情”酒吧已经关门了，对门的“绯闻”酒吧还生意兴隆——是不是昭示着时代的变迁？
总之，在逛了一个半小时之后回到那家夜店，已经有好几位黑衣人在门口把守，那阵势让我种这第一次来的人有些感到心虚，紧紧抓住文宇的胳膊。我们还是被分开了，首先是Hongzhi他俩口被拉到了另外一边，然后一位黑衣人就挡在了我面前伸手跟我要票。我支支吾吾：“我以为Lady’s Night是免费的……”
“对，女士是免费的。”那人回答着，就把旁边的文宇给“拉”走了。我这边还“诶……”着，他那边又挡在了我前面，说:“放心，不会把你们分开很久的。”一边说着一边在我胳膊上盖了一章。
就这样，我和Hongzhi的老婆就傻乎乎的进去了。进门右手边是个走廊，进门处只是接待。我们没有往里走，只是在刚入口的地方等着各自的老公……许久，他们俩还没有进来。我们从另外一个门出去，发现他们被堵在外面了，原因是那张入场券不能用，他们需要花40块钱买票！
唉，我们四个都不是对夜生活感兴趣的人，如果能够免费进去看看当然很好，但如果需要花20块钱买票，尽管这里面包含两杯饮料，却还是不能够成让我们付钱的理由……所以我们四个商讨一下，决定放弃，打道回府！
夜店9：30开门，我们10点多的时候已经到家中了。
你看，这就是我的第一次去夜店，如果你期待什么High的情节你一定是极失望了。我只是在接待处站了若干分钟，啥也没看到，不仅一点儿也不High，还多少有些扫兴~

星期天给妈打电话时她说到午饭要包馄饨，所以昨天我就买了肉馅和馄饨皮自己在家包。听起来似乎没有什么逻辑关系，不过确实是念头的来源。我包的馄饨不好吃，主要是馅不香，也不知道问题在哪里；临时也没有在网上找到食谱……估计这东西真是需要秘籍的，估计这就是为什么吃了那么多家小笼包，却仍然觉得高记的最好吃。
今天去VivoCity，专门找到“黑社会”；先前我听说那边的小笼包很好吃，可是今天去了根本没在餐单上找到小笼包；食物虽然都不算贵，但价钱全都加在了“附属品”上——之前他们送上来的开胃菜看起来好像油炸鱼皮，一小碟居然要3.8；一杯饮料7.5……你说贵不贵？反正也只会上当这一次，下次去VivoCity要找个海景的，就算贵点或者不好吃点，至少也赚了个所谓的“情调”。
本来还想说说莎朗斯通，今天在路上和文宇聊起她……不过今天太晚了，下次再说吧。
同学给了我一张“Ministry of Sound”的门票。虽然我不属于泡夜店的人，但鉴于免费入场也十分想去看看这个新加坡之最，不知道明天能不能成行……