Esther Williams

Have you ever noticed that most of our favorite movie stars faded away quickly these days, William Holden, James Stewart, John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Burt Lancaster just to name a few. The latest one is Esther Williams. She was one of my favorite stars when I was a kid in primary school. She was a marvelous swimmer and starred in many swimming related movies. She was truly a mermaid of the time. She single-handed created a niche movie (water drama) just like Shirley Temple created her own (child drama) movies.

I used to mix Esther Williams up with another movie star, Doris Day. Somehow they got similar body build and the look of all American healthy women. I was most impressed by her movie "Bathing Beauty" (出水芙蓉). She admitted she couldn't act, dance or sing. But she can swim and swim like mermaid. She died on June 6, 2013. Every once in a while, PBS TV station ran some program like 'That's Entertainment' and it always shows some beautiful and graceful swimming routines by Esther Williams. This kind of movie is unique and never duplicated for another actresses. Indeed, there is one and only one mermaid, Esther Williams in our world. I sort of miss something profound that I know I can't get it back. Fortunately we have high tech to the rescue, I can still rent many DVDs to see Esther Williams and her lovely smiles. But mostly, I will always remember her wonderful swimming style, beautiful,elegant and graceful to the eyes.

Esther Williams published her autobiography in 1999. I found it interesting that she went through some kind of LSD (under doctor's supervision) experience. She got information and advice from Cary Grant that LSD somehow got some psychic energizer that dug into her inner soul. She said she was in a state of emotional and financial ruins when this LSD session re-energized her life. She realized that she actually tried to replace her older brother after he died at 16 years old. She worked so hard and moved so fast to support her family as her parents were in despair. In fact, she saw herself as half her brother and half herself. I have never tried LSD, maybe I miss something I don't know. 

Esther Williams influences me since she shows me there is something so beautiful and so graceful in this world. It is the swimming in such an aesthetic form that is beyond the description of any speech. Here is one video clip that captures her beauty and some of her swimming skill. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jUjhrDhFuM

Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli

It is interesting to see the second time in history a woman with both two-handed forehand and backhand wins the champion in Wimbledon.  She is Marion Bartoli of France.  She has been around for several years but never won a grand slam until today (7/6/2013).  Watching her play, I was impressed on her hitting balls with pace and deep to base line with precision.  Since mid 1970's many players adopted two-hand backhand and achieved a lot of success.  But we haven't seen many players trying two-handed forehand.  I have played tennis since 1967.  I started with single-handed backhand with some success.  I was able to hit the ball where I wanted with slice backhand.  The problem was the weak pace when I hit it with backhand slice or under spin.  Even later I tried top-spin backhand, the pace of the ball is way too weak comparing to the forehand drive.  After a few years, I started to develop tennis elbow mainly due to the short backhand slice.  I can hit the ball with precision and near the net.  Since I have to stop the stroke in the middle of the swing, it exerts more pressure to the tendon and muscle of my right elbow.  Anyway the combination of them creates a syndrome of tennis elbow.  I like the tennis, fun and low cost.  I can also get much more exercise than playing golf within shorter time frame.  As I get older, I think hard and decide to adopt two-handed stroke so I may be able to continue playing tennis till very old age.  So since two years ago, I bought a tennis ball machine and practiced hitting balls with both hands.  I started with two-handed backhand.  It took me a while to get used to it.  In fact it took me longer than I expected.  After about six months, I was able to hit the balls comfortably and felt that I could swing racket naturally.  I also found that it is quite easy and natural to hit the ball with both top-spin and under-spin.  It is also quite easy to hit the ball on the rise.  The only drawback is the length of the swing and the shorter reach when chasing the ball.  Eventually I found that the best way to play is to use two-handed stroke most of the time and use one-handed way when chasing balls.  After I mastered the two-handed backhand, I started the same thing for the forehand.  It is quite unusual to see professionals adopt the two-handed forehand as most of them have very strong muscle on forehand side and there is no need to use two-handed stroke.  But I found that my forehand got weaker when I got older.  This gave me the incentive to try earnest on two-handed forehand.  After several months practice, I have gained confidence in hitting balls with pace.  I feel very happy these days as I enjoy playing tennis more and get my weekly needed exercise.  I am very glad to see Marion Bartoli won the trophy, a Venus Rosewater Dish in Wimbledon.  Why?  She is the first person wins a tennis grand slam with both two-handed backhand and forehand just as I do now.

謝淑薇 and 彭帥

PS: Su-Wei Hsieh (謝淑薇) of Taiwan and Shuai Peng (彭帥)  of China won the Women's Doubles Championship in Wimbledon.  This is a historical first for Taiwan and China to win a grand slam doubles in tennis.  Both of them also play two-handed shots on both sides like Marion Bartoli.

Rosetta Stone & Palo Alto Rock

Inscription of
Palo Alto Rock

Rosetta Stone

如果你有机會參觀大英博物館,你一定不會錯過一塊黑色的石頭,它是有名的 Rosetta Stone. 這石頭是在 Napoleon 遠征埃及時,一位法國軍士發現的,時年 AD 1799. 這塊石頭上面刻有三種不同的文字,其中有古埃及文和希臘文. 當時已無人能識古埃及文,所以這次的發現,堪稱是劃時代的. 它使當代學者能以利用希臘文重新銓釋和解讀古埃及文化. 我 1982 年時在倫敦看到Rosetta Stone,砰然心動,見証這有厂史性的珍貴文物. 

前些日子同學討論到一些語文的功用和表達方式的效能,見仁見智,尤其是中文和英文的不同和高下. 大家大抵同意在詩詞方面,中文精簡卻有很多含義,比英文高明不少. 可是在法律和科學方面,英文準確度的確勝出. 不過在文學,詩歌領域裡,也涉及主觀問題,因為英文詩有不同的表現法,硬要比高下,未免強人所難. 比較合理的評語應該是'各有千秋,相得益彰'. 

有一天我們的文明也許會毀於一旦,在這洪荒宇宙,比較能夠留下來的是石頭. 所以我想這也許是個好想法,就像 Rosetta Stone 一樣,我們選一種人類的文化遺產,以三种不同的語言,同時刻在一塊石頭上,藏諸名山,善加保存, (served as a Time Capsule). 我暫稱這塊石頭叫 Palo Alto Rock, 別號 NTUEE64 Stone or '人類文明之石'.

在我欣賞中外文學,詩詞,歌謠中,發現有很多診貴的材料可選. 以下是其中之一,冶音樂,文學,詩詞於一爐,極富文明價值. 這是海涅 (Heinrich Heine) 的詩 'Auf Flügeln des Gesanges' ('On Wings of Song'), Mendelssohn 把它譜成一曲, 極富盛名. 我用 Excel ,並排列出三种語言,可以互相翻譯和銓釋,並且可欣賞不同語言的視覺感受及衡量其精簡程度. 音樂是看不出來,祗能用現今科技, DVD光碟一張, inserted in the rock. 也許有一天,外太空的高度文明物種可以 decipher 我們的音樂. 

音樂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc4QC35LfhU

彫刻文

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3Kwp81ksqfMRlJiQW9qZUhiQ00/edit?usp=sharing