Adirondack Mountains camping trip

周末出去郊游，仿佛又回到学生时代。
牛仔裤，sweatshirt, 素面朝天. 小木屋，枫叶，篝火，一切自然简单。
我戴着牙箍双颊生疼，因而有些垂头丧气。却那么庆幸有身边好友一路同行，各有所长，但是步调一致--无论是斗嘴胡闹还是生火做饭，都感觉大家时刻互相照应互相配合，其间还欢笑不断。
每次遇上真诚热情的人，我都心存感激。

公路上飞驰的车子里，看过一面面镜湖，看过层层变红的青山，时而晴，时而雨，时而起雾。想像着穿越时空，亲历季节的更替。iPod里shuffle不同的歌，想起上一季的人与事，感觉好像发生在上个世纪。既然与自然那么贴近，就让时间的手轻轻翻过那一页，好好收藏起来。

上一次见到枫叶那么兴奋，念着“人烟寒橘柚，秋色老梧桐”还是大一的十月，转眼已经在这个国度第六个秋了。

Pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/ruoyangyin/AdirondackCampingTrip#

Rach 3 Live

Finally got to hear Yefim Bronfman play Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 live. The first time I heard this piece was Bronfman's version from the 2004 Tokyo concert. Was totally blown away by his passion and of course, moved by the melancholy and vigor in the music as well. Remember it was a Friday drizzling night, I couldn't hold my tears when listening to it amid the hustle-bustle in Midtown.

So this time, when it's played by NY Philharmonic and conducted by Lorin Maazel, it felt like one of my biggest dreams coming true. The Philharmonic sounded great under Mr. Maazel, and it blended seamlessly with the piano. Being a layman as I am to classical music, I constantly have the image of a boat drifting in the sea when I listen to piano concertos--strings and horns become ocean waves and no matter how they push the little boat, it still manages to steer ahead, gracefully and brilliantly. At one point, the little boat becomes so bold that it silenced all the waves and winds surrounding it--like when Bronfman played the cadenza in the first movement, the whole concert hall was holding its breath. It sorta reminds me of that movie, Legend of 1900, and maybe that's why I like piano concertos, it's rich-textured and powerful, and yet, it's lucid and incisive.

Back

离开三周，纽约一切无恙。
心里做了一个决定之后，开始感觉超脱，不再为原先的一些烦恼所累。在上海的几周里，让我感到自己此时此刻在成人世界里的局限性。当然，在任何一个地方住上很久之后都会有井底之蛙的感觉。所以很喜欢此刻这样迁移的状态。由此也更喜欢此刻无牵无挂的状态。同时也明白迁移久了可能也会厌倦，于是到时候又会想安顿。大概就是周期性轮回的。

有家可回是件多么美好的事。我没有四海为家的漂泊天性，但是我喜欢至少有两个家。两边都有衣橱，音箱，沙发。或许两边也都会有家人，挚友。这样我就不会孤独，然后能保持一种敏感性，一种活力。这辈子注定是这样，也希望是这样。

The New York of You and Me

On my subway ride home tonight, I was just randomly looking up to one of those Barnes and Noble literature ads, and I stumbled upon a passage that immediately struck me:

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these trembling cities the greatest is the last--the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York’s high strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion.

--E.B. White's 1948 essay "Here is New York."

又提言论自由

同时读到李光耀的专访和资中筠的专稿, 拿来一起看蛮有意思. 都是关于中国舆论的开放, 一个对外一个对内. 政府之所以在言论自由这个问题上"内忧外患," 关键是源自一种恐惧. 怕丢脸, 更怕煽动.对外的问题似乎关键还是方法思路上的革新, 对内的就完全无法预计了. 难怪李还能提出一些解决方法--先不论可行, 资却只能尖锐指出,牢骚满腹.

My Blueberry (Friday) Night

去看My Blueberry Nights 的夜晚空气中好像也有blueberry的沁甜. 周五下班的夜晚, 和同事一起, 轻松随意.

一直很好奇王家卫拍英文电影是什么样子. 结果发现, 他一向只言片语的风格这次显得有点突兀了, 剧中人长长久久的凝望, 欲说还休的对白, 给人的感觉只能用一个词形容--很亚洲. 难怪同事看了都喊慢. 但是对我个人来讲, 滤去了这层表达手法上的生涩之后, 电影本身的情节与深意我还是很喜欢.

心碎的Elizabeth (Norah Jones) 离开纽约, 一路飘荡. 在Tennessee目睹另一场比她自己的故事更加惨痛的破碎. 那一刻她知道, 不是你的终究不是你的, 而生活仍然要继续. 于是继续飘, 在Nevada遇到那个从不相信别人的赌场女优Leslie (Natalie Portman.) 经历争执经历碰撞之后, Elizabeth重新找回自己. 于是带着这个全新却又是真实的自己, 她回到纽约, 在Jeremy (Jude Law) 为她舔去嘴角奶油的清晨, 深情回吻.

感动于这个故事表现心历路程时候的细腻委婉. 它给Elizabath充分的时间和行程审视内心, 也给观众足够理由相信她的重生. Elizabeth和Leslie在公路上分道而行的那场戏或许每个人都会有deja vu--人生路上我们遇到多少的人, 能不能做朋友不能强求, 也不太重要, 有幸的是能在他们身上看到自己. 正如Elizabeth的话外音里讲, Other people are mirrors that we use to reflect ourselves. Each reflection just makes me like myself a little bit more. 经历过这样soul searching再回到纽约的Elizabeth, 才能全心全意地接受另一次开始--不用困惑究竟是寂寞难耐还是内心酸楚才喜欢那个为她留blueberry pie的男人, 喜欢是因为自己而不是要摆脱过去. 她仿佛回到原点, 却已经在原点之上. 她说, it took me almost a year to cross the street. 这种感觉我懂.不是说你在一年里做的每一件事都是为了去跨过那道坎，只是在经历了一些看似无关的事之后，某一天会蓦然发现，原来自己不知不觉中已经走过去了，又有勇气面对自己内心，拥抱另一次开始. 由此释然.

关于演技, Norah Jones 显然是太平了, 而Jude Law一如既往的完美, 我对近乎完美的男人一直是心生恐惧的. 最出彩的还是Natalie Portman, 最近她的角色里很少有重复的类型, 虽然也有相对平庸的(比如The Other Boleyn Girl 里的 Anne Boleyn) 或是无人问津的 (比如 Goya’s Ghosts), 但是看得出小妮子很努力. 这次的那个弔诡的Leslie隐约有着当年13岁叛逆的 Mathilda的影子, 想必让喜欢了那么多年Natalie的你我会心一笑.

需要草根精神的PR

源起这篇文章的一点想法:

1.国家的形象工程是全方位的.正如文章里提到, 即使是像Weber & Shandwick 那样的大牌公关公司能做的也是有限的.换句话来说, 今次的被动究竟有多少是PR可以补救的? 许多牵涉到意识形态等等造成的误解和敌对, 不是仅仅靠包装就可以轻易改变的.

2.但是能够懂中国又讲国际语言的人也确实太少,或者说和中国的人口比起来,实在太悬殊.最近利用网络媒体的grassroots PR battle正如火如荼, 先不问影响力, 也不用害怕被动, 有觉醒就是第一步.