Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2015

There are three major events attract most people's attention near the end of every year.  one is Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York, then the Rose Parade on New years day at Pasadena and the last is the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert.  People around the world gather around fireplace, watch the heart-warming parades and music/dance performance in their family rooms.  This becomes a tradition for many people to end the year and usher in the new year.  Of course just before watching the Rose Parade, most people sing Auld Lang Syne to send the old year off for nostalgic purpose.

This year, Zubin Mehta leads the concert for the fifth time and arranges a repertoire dedicated to science, technology, wine, music and dance. The concert is considered to be the largest worldwide event in classical music, reaching millions of people annually through radio, TV and the Internet in over 80 countries.  It showcased Viennese musical culture at the highest level, and since the first telecast in 1959, sent the world a New Year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace.

The concert is about two hours long and the program consists of two parts with intermission.  The Austrian telecast version is by ORF (Austrian Broadcasting).  The American version is edited to one and half hour narrated by Julie Andrews this year.  Here let's take a look of the second part of the program (after Intermission).

        Johann Strauss – Perpetual Motion

        Johann Strauss- Accelerations Waltz

        Johann Strauss- Electro-Magnetic Polka

        Eduard Strauss – At Full Steam, Quick Polka

        Josef Strauss- Viennese Life, French Polka

        Johann Strauss- On the Elbe, Waltz

        Hans Christian Lumby – Champagne Galop

        Johann Strauss – Students Polka

        Johann Strauss Sr.- Freedom March

        Johann Strauss- Annen-Polka

        Johann Strauss- Wine, Women & Song, Waltz

        Eduard Strauss- With Style, Quick Polka

At a glance, the first four pieces are devoted to science and technology.  1850's was the high time of industrial revolution and the music reflects that spirit.  The 'Perpetual Motion' and 'Accelerations' come from Physics, 'Electro-Magnetic' is from Electrical Engineering, 'At Full Steam' is from Mechanical Engineering.  The combined first four polka/waltz is like microprocessor, personal computer, Internet and mobile phone all lumped together in our time. It follows with life in Vienna and on the River Elbe.  Elbe (易北河) is not that famous like Donau (Danube) or Rhine, nevertheless it is a major river in Germany.  Then it comes with Champagne Galop.  It is a hilarious gathering for wine tasting with a 'pop', a sign of good life.  After the high tech and champagne, it ushers in the 'Students Polka', a reflection of college student life.  Before I go further, you might get confused about the waltz, polka, galop etc.  Waltz is easy, it is just a common dance we see in ballroom dance competition.  Polka is a faster pace with two-beat dance.  However, there are many types of polka, to name a few, francaise polka, mazulka polka, quick polka etc.  As to Galop, it is just a much quicker polka.  Now lets get into our main theme, the Students Polka.  You listen to this polka and immediately you catch the familiar tune, "Gaudeamus Igitur".  It is a drinking song sung in Latin started around 13th century.  Johannes Brahms also used this tune in his 'Academic Festival Overture'.  Now the question comes up, why drinking becomes a theme of college life?  Perhaps most people thought the university was mostly for the rich kids at that time.  Well, in parallel with the concert, a modern ballet is performed in the Vienna University to portray the student life.  Like most artistic work, you can interpret with your imagination and find the influence or likeness in your life.  Here is my interpretation based on the experience in our college time and wish you have your own version.  Meanwhile I should say 'thank' to the Internet.  Without it, it is just hard to talk about music and dance in a synchronous manner.  Please visit the following link and just watch it from 35:15 to 39:25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-P46Gr4VvY

35:15---Johann Strauss Sohn, Sohn is son in German.  There are two Johann Strauss, Senior and Junior or Father and Son.  Junior is more famous and is called 'The Waltz King'.  Most music pieces you hear here are by Junior.  However, the well-known march at the end of the concert is always 'Radetzky  March' by Johann Strauss Senior.  Polka Francaise is a French style polka, a slower and mellow polka.

35:35---This is a good old Unversity of Vienna with a very nice library.

35:42-36.00---This is the main theme, the drinking song with mellow tone.

36:00---Three college kids rush into scene, one from physics dept, one from mechanical engineering and one from electrical engineering.  They are heading to the library but meet and chat there.  Before getting into library, they talk about the party the previous night and decide to make some plan for the weekend.

36:30--- They drop the textbook and forget the whole thing about study with the drinking tune hanging around.

36:45---Well, it is the time to pick up the books and head to the main library.

36:51---Just around & up the stairways, here come 兩位外文系高材生.

37:00---Wow, they are teasing and flirting, my goodness!

37:38---But I have to study '电機機械', better go & hurry.

37:50---Hold it, what happen to the girls?  Go with those two guys? 是可忍,孰不可忍?

38:00---Hack with 馬雲龍, let's go to take a look.

38:05---Hey, guy, shape up, don't 毛手毛腳.

38:26---Wait, 君子動腦不動手, why not duel on the study table (not majhang table)? 桌上見.

38:34---永動機?荒謬! Locomotive? runs only on the track! Here is something new, 這邊電場,那邊磁場,中間就可轉起來!

38:50---No hidden deal under the table!

38:54---Here is the demo, rotation!

39:00---兩位外文系高材生 頭被轉昏了. Wow, the EE kid looks real, let's go with him for another experiment.

39:10---See, 左邊電場,右邊磁場,中間的我就可動起來.

39:20---左右逢源,大地回春. What a life!

39:25---Viva Faraday, Viva Maxwell. Long Live the Electrical Engineer.

I mentioned the good old 'Gaudeamus Igitur'.  Some music critic (Sigmund Spaeth) said it is the second most famous tune in the world.  I am not sure about this but at least it stands out to be a popular one.  Most music lovers know this tune is used in Brahms Academic Festival Overture in a big way in its ending.  It sounds odd to celebrate the graduation with the drinking song.  However, if from another angle to look at this, it may not be that inappropriate.  After the toils of four years, labors in library & laboratory, you finally get the coveted degree.  Isn't it the right time to indulge on some drinking binge?  As the lyrics of the song indicates, after the joyous young age and after the painful old age, all we have is the earth.  In other words, 萬物終將歸塵土.

Here is the little story about this episode of Brahms.  In the summer of 1879, The University of Breslau awarded Brahms an honorary doctorate degree and Brahms accepted.  However, he didn't do anything until sometime in 1880, someone told him that the university expected him to write some music  in return.  Brahms in haste and didn't have enough time to compose something meaningful.  He then threw in several songs sang in various schools and blended them into something like coming out of a soup kitchen.  At the end of the overture, he chose this drinking song 'Gaudeamus Igitur'.  Well, you guess it, some liked it and some didn't.  Some conservative parents thought it is unforgivable to tell graduates starting their life with drinking.  Anyway, Brahms got the degree and the university got the overture, a happy ending after all.

Remark:

The video clip has been removed from YouTube due to the copyright issue.  This is not uncommon these days in the Internet age.  Usually the program is available for several weeks for public view.  Although the owner of the program has the right to do whatever it wants, it is a pity that it diminishes the value of the program by imposing the restriction.  If most people can't watch and appreciate the artistic program, what is the use of the program itself?  Of course we can go and buy the DVD of the program, but to most people it is a severe inconvenience. 

Chaos and Life

Is life predictable?  Isn't it like weather forecast?  Yes, it is partially predictable in the short term.  However, the accuracy of the long term forecast is way off and not many people take it seriously.  Even in the short term forecast, it is only partially predictable.  Sometime a slight cause exerts a big effect in the weather pattern.  Our life is very much like it.  In the late 20th century, there is hardly an earthshaking thought created except the Theory of Chaos.  It is a mathematical model of studying a system related to its stability.  The Chaos states that the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependency on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.

In the course of our life, the successful rate of the short term trip is very high comparing to the long term one.  It can be understood by using an input/output model with a deterministic box A, input A(i) yield output A(o).  For illustrated purpose, a person plans with input A(i) = 5.  He thinks it is 5 exact.  But in reality, the input value may be 5.00 with accuracy to two significant digits.  In the real world, a point is like a real number.  The person thinks his input is 5.00 but actually it may be 5.003 or 5.00243 in the real situation.  He can't see the difference in input as he only sees to the two digit accuracy in decimal place.  The point here is that even the person can only control the input to certain decimal places, any slight difference in the nth decimal places may cause a big change in the output for a nonlinear system.  For example the person may control his input to 5.000000....  But the sudden death of his son in a remote area may be the 100th decimal place of his input.  Since life most of the time is a nonlinear system, a small perturbation may cause a big change of behavior.  In this case, it is really look like a butterfly effect as something occurs thousand miles away but the impact is almost instant at the Internet speed.  The result is that the person has to terminate the trip he planned and rush to his sun's funeral.  The outcome A(o) is totally out of prediction from his input but can be explained with the Theory of Chaos.  In real life, we simply can not control the input to the accuracy of reality and the nth decimal place very often causes a big effect to the outcome.  It can also be rephrased as: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.

Since history is the story of mankind (a group of people), its behavior can also be unpredictable.  In the field of Electrical Engineering, there is one discipline called Control System.  It studies the stability of a system and how to control it.  A Russian Aleksandr Lyapunov (1857-1918) figured out some way to determine whether the system is stable without actually solving the detailed states of the system.  Lyapunov's study and impact were significant, and it is interesting to know a number of different mathematical concepts and engineering terms bear his name.  Here are some examples, Lyapunov Equation, Lyapunov Function, Lyapunov Exponent, Lyapunov Stability, Lyapunov Vector, Lyapunov Time etc.  Maximal Lyapunov Exponent (MLE) determines a notion of predictability for a dynamical system.  A positive MLE is taken as an indication that the system is chaotic.

Chaos theory also concerns some deterministic systems whose behavior can in principle be predicted. Chaotic systems are sometime predictable for a while and then appear to become random. The amount of time for which the behavior of a chaotic system can be effectively predicted depends on three factors:

(1) how much uncertainty we are willing to tolerate in the forecast

(2) how accurately we are able to measure its current state

(3) a time scale depending on the dynamics of the system, called the Lyapunov time.

Some examples of Lyapunov times are: chaotic electrical circuits, about 1 millisecond; weather systems, a couple of days; the solar system, 50 million years. In chaotic systems the uncertainty in a forecast increases exponentially with elapsed time. Hence doubling the forecast time squares the proportional uncertainty in the forecast. This means that in practice a meaningful prediction cannot be made over an interval of more than two or three times the Lyapunov time. When meaningful predictions cannot be made, the system appears to be random.  Perhaps the significance of Lyapunov's work is that someday we may prove the human history to be chaotic without getting into a lot of details in analyzing it.

The Meaning of Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims in 1621 after their first harvest in the new world.  It was told that more than 80 native Americans and 50 pilgrims participated the celebration.  It is human nature to say thank after harvest or good fortune to those whom they believe to be the reason behind it.  Originally, the pilgrims are puritans, white and religious.  So the thanksgiving always has religious tone even the native Americans also participated.  When time goes by and new immigrants keep coming to the new world, the celebration of the Thanksgiving became less religious.  After all, most people say thank to God even they believe a different god.  The meaning of God transcends any particular religion.  This is the reason Thanksgiving is accepted by all works of life, all people in the US and Canada.  In fact, it is common in any part of the world, the people celebrate and say thank to god after some harvest activities.  It is only the US and Canada make it an annual ritual that transcends any particular harvest event.

Around 1000 AD, Leif Erikson tried to colonize the new world in Vinland near gulf of St. Lawrence.  After two years effort, they failed and left with most of them perished.  In this particular case, they had no reason to thank and they had every reason to curse as the fate was so cruel to them.  However, when people die, they cease to exist and they never get the chance to say what they believe.  This is like social Darwinism, the history is the winner's history.  Whatever come down generation to generation are those from the survivors and the winners in the struggle of existence.  So it is not hard to comprehend why Thanksgiving thrives and becomes popular as only the survivor and the winner say thank to their God.

Since I came to the US in 1965, the Thanksgiving Day has been important and meaningful to me as I was invited by American friends and host families to spend the day.  We spend the whole day together, talk about our life, our belief, play some games like jeopardy or chess, eat turkey dinner around a long and big table near a fire place.  Finally we say thank to God and go home peacefully.

When time goes by, we start to see something change as the commercial part of the holiday becomes evident.  Lately the first thing people have in mind is Black Friday when Thanksgiving is coming.  Black Friday is a big shopping day for people, started from 6 pm of the Thanksgiving Day.  It means you have to cut short your Thanksgiving dinner, have less time to be with your family and may not have a chance to say thank to God.  For those who have to work at this hour for the retail shops, their Thanksgiving Day are gone forever.  The original meaning of the Thanksgiving is thus lost in the oblivion.

A Miracle

We sometime visited a telephone company and saw a trunk of wires, hundred of switches, relays and thousands of connections.  The whole thing looks complicate and like a gigantic puzzle.  Technology indeed changes the world and the ways we lead our life.  Lately, while trying to find out whether I should use DSL or install Cable for the Internet, I opened the little phone box just outside garage and also examined the cable setup inside garage.  They are very simple and similar, only two wires.  One looks like a twisted pair of tiny wires and the other is a coaxial cable of RG6.  The two wires used for the phone look so fragile and tiny, I almost think it is a miracle that has worked for so many years of service in my house.  First, it can ring the bell and when I answer the phone, it carries the phone conversation to and fro without any hiccup.  It also connects to a fax machine.  These two tiny wires can transmit several pages of document to another side of the world within a few minutes.  It has worked for 30 years, amazing.  Remember, it is only a twisted pair of two tiny wires that accomplishes the task as it is the only connection between my house and the outside world.  With DSL going through the twisted pair, I can see the whole world via millions of websites with tons of information more than I can handle most of the time.  Without the knowledge of electromagnetics and its theory, most people will think it is a miracle.

It is indeed the information theory and technology transform the world to a well-connected universe that brings people together and the world visibly becomes smaller.  If you work in a cubicle of building A and talk to someone in the building B, it makes no difference whether building B is just across the street or in Bangalore of India. In fact, even without wires can accomplish the same feat, it is radio, wireless connection.  We know in the world of electrical engineering, the lumped element model circuit theory, distributed element model transmission lines and EM wave are all related and can be deduced from the Maxwell's four equations with some assumption of the boundary conditions.  In ordinary power applications, circuit theory is good enough.  For information transfer, the concept of transmission lines applies well.  With radio and TV transmissions, EM theory rules the wave.  In fact, when we use the mobile devices outside our houses, it needs hot spot that transmits the EM wave.  In our house, we use DSL or Cable to get the necessary information via modem and then it creates a hot spot for house through wifi, a wireless EM wave.  Of course, with the understanding of the electrical engineering, the whole thing no longer a mystery, it becomes a logical consequence of the mother nature.  But think again, it is still a miracle with only two tiny wires or one coaxial cable that accomplishes such a complicate human task.

People very often say they find miracle everyday.  Some find God, some see Jesus, some see Madonna on the screen door and some see the mysterious light coming from the heaven or even in the Internet.  These miracles happen everyday and around our living space.  The only difference of these miracles from our two tiny wires is that the former seems to happen in un-opportune time and can't be predicted.  However the latter is here everyday that we all take it for granted and ceases to be a miracle by definition.

2014 06 23 台北愛樂電台《早安愛樂》節目，邢子青專訪洪敏弘博士

From Mark Lin,
The following article I post here is for the request from 洪敏弘.

2003年，由「建弘文教基金會」洪敏弘董事長與國藝會共同發起的「表演藝術追求卓越專案」，辦理至今已屆滿十年，是國藝會推動「藝企合作」以來歷史最久、補助款最高的補助計畫之一。2012年，第四屆「表演藝術追求卓越專案」除了原發起者持續贊助外，更加入「許遠東先生 暨夫人紀念基金會」以及「信源企業股份有限公司」加碼贊助，也因此，補助內容從原有的「製作發表計畫」，另擴大增加「三年計畫」項目，在二階段的審查之後，由黑眼睛跨劇團、創作社劇團、稻草人現代舞蹈團、樂興之時管絃樂團四個團隊獲頒高額補助。今年6月開始，黑眼睛跨劇團統籌的《華格納革命指環》率先發表本屆專案成果，而創作社劇團的《西夏旅館‧蝴蝶書》也將於8月底在台北藝術節演出多個場次。
以下訪談節錄自6月23日台北愛樂電台的《早安愛樂》節目，主持人邢子青專訪「表演藝術追求卓越專案」的發起者洪敏弘博士，談到了自己在贊助藝文之前受到的啟發，以及贊助路上的經驗分享。
Q：博士從很早就開始藝文的參與，和我們談談這些經驗？

A：談到藝文贊助的範圍很廣，我先從我的啟蒙者開始說起，那是我高一的同學，江義雲，算一算我們也有五六十年沒聯絡了，也許他聽到這個節目還會記得我。高一時我參加軍樂隊，吹的是黑管，江同學吹短笛，他喜愛音樂，因為我們兩人興趣相同，非常聊得來，他也常常介紹我好的音樂，甚至曾經在聖誕夜帶我到士林教堂聽聖歌。那一年來我受他啟發，開始欣賞古典音樂。

第二年我重考，考進師大附中後開始去學鋼琴，學了兩年，到高三準備聯考之後就停了。我非常感謝江同學和鋼琴老師，以及這段啟蒙的過程，對我後來一生一世可說是受益無窮。

Q：像您參與音樂的這塊領域，雖然不像很多人從孩提時代就開始接觸，而是到了15、16歲才開始，往後這麼多年來您抱有極大的熱誠，也許可以說是大器晚成， 甚至後來不只對音樂藝術熱愛，還更積極地投入了藝術贊助活動？

A：恩！基本上我是個非常好奇的人，也常去看電影。那時候國外的電影公司剛來到台灣，有幾齣好看的電影音樂劇，像是《奧克拉荷馬》、《七對佳偶》……這些音樂片我都非常喜歡，也一直有新的東西可以討論。到了台大之後功課很忙，但會常去衡陽路附近的田園咖啡廳，聽整天的音樂。

在美國留學時，我們密西根州立大學有個非常好的音樂廳，五十年前那樣一個大學音樂廳，比現在新舞台還要好。現在想想台北演出場所，除了兩廳院之外，其他場所真的很不夠，硬體甚至比我們大學當時的音樂廳還要不足，也算是一個啟示：我們台灣要發展文化創意事業，國外的很多都值得我們借鏡。

Q：所以其實1950到1960年代，您在台灣本地和到美國求學期間，便接觸了很多不同的藝術層面。一路到後來回到台灣，開始參與、贊助藝術，也得到了許多啟發？

A：是阿！具體來說，應該是從電影中對音樂劇的喜好開始，到美國留學時，學校安排的藝術表演，我幾乎每場都去看。後來常有機會跑去百老匯聽歌劇，回台灣後，又有機會去到歐洲、倫敦，必定都會去聽歌劇，繼續在這方面精進，繼續享受，因為看表演的過程總是非常非常感動的。

Q：國外參與藝術不論是平民百姓，又或是企業界、政府，都非常投入，抱有熱誠。以您長期贊助藝文活動來看，您覺得最完美的贊助，來自民間票房或政府補助的比例，會是如何？

A：雖然我也不是學藝術行政的，但在贊助過程中常常會聊到，曾經和具有國際表演經驗的林懷民老師談到雲門的預算，他說一個文化成熟的國家像是西歐，通常票房占1/3，政府補助1/3，企業贊助占1/3。現實上，我知道大部份的團體都相當困難，像林老師這樣非常傑出的藝術總監，也是非常好的行銷、行政，以他所提供的數據，應該是對各界非常好的參考。

Q：這麼說來以雲門為例，其實民間的票房，也靠團體本身的行銷。

A：是阿，我們曾贊助20多個團體，其中兩個我印象非常深刻，一個是果陀，一個是台南人。

我那時候的想法是，古典音樂和流行音院的欣賞人口差異非常大；古典音樂需要正式的場合，音樂家，表演團體努力了半年一年，每次在國家音樂廳演出一場，最多得到兩千人的欣賞。這是最不符合施振榮所說的的微笑曲線結構，前製的投入時間非常長，表演卻很短暫，即便如此，表演者的收入不會因此提高。當時我在想如何將古典音樂擴大到流行音樂的觀眾基礎，改善這樣的情況。我們看到《貓》、《歌劇魅影》這種介於古典和流行之間的舞台劇、歌舞劇，也許是一條可行的路子，讓流行人口導入文化藝術的欣賞。

那時候我們看到果陀的《情盡夜上海》票房還不錯，後來透過朋友介紹和梁志民先生見了面，我就跟他說，國家有些藝術與企業合作的贊助政策，你需要什麼告訴我。他說，雖然演過二三十部舞台劇，劇本都是翻譯的，最需要的應該是原創劇本。於是我們開始努力，籌了一些錢，找到了國藝會。那時候是林曼麗當董事長，她聽完就開心地告訴我：「國藝會正好寫了一個表演藝術追求卓越計畫，你是第一個自投羅網的！」聽她這麼說，我也非常開心！

Q：除了果陀這麼歷史悠久的團體，您也非常關注一些新生代表演者？

A：累積下來，表演藝術追求卓越計畫已經是第四屆了，前面三屆總共贊助了二十七八個團體，印象比較深刻的大概是台南人劇團。在專案補助下，他們的第一場表演是在台南的億載金城的戶外演出，一齣希臘劇。他們用台語呈現希臘劇本，讓我非常感動，品質和我在國外看的戶外演出比起來，毫不遜色。特別是在古蹟裡演出，感覺非常特別。

Q：像您這樣參與贊助，也有三十多年了。在台灣，您已是個資深且足以拋磚引玉的典範，對未來想參與這種國藝會藝文計畫的企業團體，有什麼經驗分享?

剛提到林曼麗教授，也就是當時的國藝會董事長，點子很多。除了推出藝企合作的各項計畫，也推出國藝之友。目前國藝會在施振榮董事長的帶領下也更精進，每個月都會安排一到二個相當傑出且多元的演出和表演，邀請企業界的朋友們（國藝之友）去欣賞。剛說到的表演藝術追求卓越計畫只是國藝會其中的一個藝企合作的案子，我們也是這個專案的其中一個贊助者而已。國藝會在這裡扮演規畫、媒介、平台的角色是非常合適的。

主持人結語：我們過去常會說一個社會富而好禮，禮而有文化，今天在節目中特別請到洪敏弘博士，談到過去二三十年間，甚至更早之前，他是如何參與藝術活動，進而啟發他對藝術贊助的熱誠。我想在一個富裕的社會，除了金錢，文化也是一個非常重要的指標。今天非常感謝洪博士與我們分享國藝會的表演藝術卓越專案的贊助計畫，謝謝！

The Price of Progress

Since the inception of the personal computer industry, it developed some killer applications such as word processor and spreadsheet.  People bought PC to run these applications.  The main reason is to save time in writing and do what-if calculation.  They are valuable in letter writing and income tax return.  The PC streamlines the process, save time and improve our quality of life.  In the 1980's, there were many versions of word processor and spreadsheet.  It was the time of innovation and exploration. Remember the following, Word Star, Word Pro, Word Perfect, MultiPlan, BisiCalc, 123, Jazz, Word, Excel ... etc?  Eventually Microsoft's Windows 95 dominates the PC world and its Word and Excel become the standard tools most people use.  The killer programs became mature and I settled to the well-known Microsoft Office 97 that includes Word & Excel.  I was very happy and found that I could do what I need in writing and number crunching in my life.  All in all, this Office 97 is really a great tool for PC and I think I will live happily ever after.

However, something happened after this Office 97 was released.  Microsoft kept moving ahead to release Windows 98, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.  To people who like Windows 95/Office 97, they got problem when their PC hardware got out of order and obsolete.  They can't buy PC with Windows 95 anymore and there is no easy way to install Windows 95 in the newer PC.  The question is that is there any need for people to upgrade every time when Microsoft releases some update?  If I don't reset some setting, the PC will automatically do the update without asking me first.  The worst is that it does the upgrade when you are in the middle of something.  Or when you turn off the PC and think you'd like to leave the house soon.  You then found the problem that the system is not shutting off.  Instead it is doing the update that may takes forever to do it.

To most people, the answer to the above question is no upgrade for a short term.  The problem is that after two or three years, some new hardware interface such as 1394 Firewire or USB is developed. You need software upgrade to take advantage of it.  However, users should have a choice not to upgrade. Fortunately at least they can install their good old Office 97 to the new Windows 98, 2000, XP.  However, some minor incompatibility creeps in & Microsoft no longer supports Office 97 although it tries to make it compatible to the new operating system.  The trouble is that with new Windows operating system, it includes a new Office package that is not free, users have to pay to use it.  But what about me, I already own Office 97 and want to continue to use it.  I have to use Control Panel to uninstall the new Office package in the system and then install Office 97 and I have done that in every new PC I bought.  It is a waste of time.

Here is the question, why do we have to pay something we really don't need?  Why can't they keep making the faster PC that still run the good old Windows with Office 97?  Microsoft really did a disservice to the users who just want to get things done without the new stuff they don't need.  Is this the price to pay in the name of Progress?  There are actually two issues here.  One is that is it necessary to replace the old one?  The other is that if the replacement is needed, how fast and how soon should it be?

Something similar happens in my neighborhood.  The street Arastradero connects Foothill to the Highway 101.  Thousands of cars use the street everyday.  The peculiar thing is that almost everyday some section of the street is under repair or under digging for some cables, phone lines or gas utilities.  People suffer during commuting hours and the people live nearby have to suffer all the inconvenience, noise and dirty air quality.  When there is no digging, they always find something new like repaint the lines of street or resign it to accommodate the kids, repaint 4 lanes to three lanes with turning lane, etc etc etc.  So the people keep suffering all year long and looks like a never ending process.  It is like the maintenance of the Golden Gate Bridge.  They do it year round, never ending.  Is this the price to pay in the name of progress? In the case of Golden Gate Bridge, it just tries to maintain the current status, not even makes any progress in the sense of pursuit of happiness.

生活上的低級品味

朱光潛在他的'談文學'一書中提到文學上的一些低級趣味,用在現今,猶甚適用. 以下是他認為五項不甚高明的嗜好: (1)偵探故事, (2)色情小說, (3)黑幕描寫, (4)風花雪月, (5)口號教條(包括革命文學).

這些喜好,如果適度運用並無壞處.麻煩的是看這些書或作品,好像吸煙抽大麻,很容易變成過度而俗不可耐,甚至害處連連. 情色小說對成長中的青少年的影響就是一例. 朱先生僅是提到文學上的一些趣味. 事實上在日常生活中,有很多不太高明的趣味. 有些說它'趣味'有點過分,也許'品味'這個辭比較恰當. 朱先生的話,言猶在耳,卻是七十年前的事. 時光荏苒,今已二十一世紀,不過這些現象基本不變,祗是像演化論一樣,加一些 variation 或 mutation,以另外一種形式出現. 玆舉其中幾項,營營眾生,與大家共賞.

1. 麻將 (包括賭博和 Lotto)

適度的麻將或衛生麻將並無不好,可是很多人打通宵,抱病上場,臨盆不下,國難天災,無所畏懼,已近神人共懼的程度. 這種習慣和賭博有共通之處. 有不少人傾家盪產,移盜公款,身敗名裂,不可不慎. 和此類似的有 Lotto, 樂透大家買,有買有机會,不買一定沒机會. 說來有趣,與此類似的有'宗教信仰'. 有沒有神或天堂? 很多人寧可信其有. 因為萬一有的話,信了有机會,不信則一定上不了天堂,更不用提到 virgins 來陪你. 這是賭博式的信仰. 說好聽一點是買人生保險. 說來可笑,這種賭博式的信仰是科學家Pascal 首先提出來,他的理由是基於經濟學上的報酬率, maximize the return of investment. 不過把經濟保險學搬到信仰桌子上,未免品味差了些,實在講不出口. 這不是說經濟學不好,而是說不要用在不太適當的地方.

2. 電視肥皂劇 (Soap Opera)

肥皂劇的風行往往是因為一部精彩的演出(如雍正王朝),風靡社會. 可是接下來的常是一窩風的粗製濫造,稱肥皂劇倒很恰當,滑溜溜的實在不知道劇情會如何演變,完全沒有 logic 可循. Soap Opera 源出於這類 TV series 的廣告商大都是賣肥皂的,如 Proctor and Gamble, Dial, Colgate etc. 晚近中國的肥皂劇更是氾濫成災,尤有甚者,韓流從北南下,席捲中原,令人不寒而慄. 在韓國人囊括端午節,孫中山和孔子之際,中國人居然擁抱韓劇,令人不解. 韓劇也有幾部經典之作,但大都分也是濫竽充數,魚目混珠,屬低級品味之一.

3. Read Romance Novel/Watch Porno

從1980年以後,每次造訪書店,一定有一排花花綠綠的袖珍書對著你看. 聽說女士們趨之若騖,這也使我想起瓊瑤的暢銷書,小女生揮之不去. 如果這類書也可分等級的話,則瓊瑤女士的作品要乾淨些. 那些花花綠綠的袖珍書,比起來大膽多了,可是千篇一律,俊男美女,感官很享受,但品味則不太高明. 這種書故事幾乎雷同, stereotype 一點不假,沈迷其中,則是品味低下,與時俱進. 時光隧道進入21世紀,互聯網當道,新產品應運而生,以 video multimedia 取代小書,蔚為奇觀. 這類作品統稱 pornography, 簡稱 porno. 其大膽露骨之程度遠超 romance novel,連情色小說也難望其項背. 雖說也有幾部可稱經典之作,但大部分是趣味低俗,不忍卒睹的作品. 可是芸芸眾生,好此道之人如過江之鯽. 看這些作品,適可而止. 麻煩的是它像鴉片一樣,很容易上癮,成了一種不健康的低級趣味.

4. 武俠小說/武術電影

武俠小說和偵探故事一樣,有幾部佳作,如'書劍恩仇錄'和'射雕英雄傳'. 但大体說來,濫竽充數,劣貨充斥,不堪卒讀居多. 電影亦然,像香港的打鬥片,多如牛毛,好的卻了了可數. 這些小說和電影橫行社會幾十年而不衰,養成一大群人,好此不彼,連大中學老師授課時,也'金雞獨立',武俠一番,實在俗不可耐,亦屬低級品味之一.

5.  Horoscope

不知從什麼時候開始,報章雜誌都另闢一欄,列述十二黃道星座. 實在不知道有多少人在看,但報社不是笨蛋,一定有市場. 可是有這麼多小民相信天象星座對他們日常生活有影響,倒是天方夜譚,我們的科學教育究竟走到那個死胡同? 如果人類性向祇能用十二種動物來代表,這也未免太低估上帝造人的本意. 我的 sister-in-law 常說她是數'魚'的, very clever. 不過他忘了西方的雙魚座(Pisces). 與 Horoscope 類似的是'血型性向論'. 很多人動不動就說他是O型,如是如是一番. 究竟血型和性格有什麼直接關係,沒有証明,而且根本也不可靠. 可是就有那麼多人開口閉口A型B型,振振有詞. 更妙的是晚近出版的一些書,在封底常付上一張作者照片, 列記其天蟹座及B血型,實在俗不可耐,可稱低級品味之一.

6. Greeting/God bless you

收到很多 emails, 在結尾時總是不忘耳提面命, "God bless you', '主愛世人'一番. 如果 email 是有關宗教,生老病死,嚴肅地寫下來,那是很適當而無可厚非. 奇怪的是有人不管那種場合,一律祭出這些宗教福音,讓人啼笑皆非,有時真是無法消受. 這使人想起以前中學上國文 課時,一些同學文思枯槁時,一定即興來一段反共八股的文章充數. 老師不勝其煩,抱怨連連,也不忘耳提面命: "再有下次,罰站半小時". 与此有異曲同功之效的是在與人交談中,有人總是重複' well', 'you know', '你知道嗎' ? 久而久之, 不勝其煩. 幾年前有一些年青小子,動不動就說'cool'.  酷來酷去,好像 一天到晚播放 Petula Clark 的 'Downtown' 一樣,實在不能忍受. 寫到這兒,忽憶當年在左營受訓時碰到一群從成功大學來的電机畢業生. 他們開口閉口總是'鐵的這' '鐵的那',久而久之,連蒜皮小事也要信誓旦旦, '斬釘截鐵'一番,實在俗不可耐. 而他們一直以為這種  expression 非常時髦和 trendy, 異哉! 世上很多東西,本來皆是很有意義,衹是過度濫用,失去原來的功能,很可惜.

7. 風水/生辰八字/黃道吉日

這是中國人普遍的迷信,積弊很深,已經沒法改善,除非來一次另類的文化大革命. 這些迷信是中華文化的主流,行之數千年,可是效果並不彰顯. 到現在為止,還看不出中國人的運氣和福祉,因使用這些工具而有什麼改善. 也沒看到西方人因沒用這些道具而惡夢連連. 中國人雖然迷信這麼深,是不是有很大的副作用,不太清楚. 但在生活品味上,這是很拿不出來的文化.

8. 抽煙

中國人以前抽鴉片,被西方人稱為'東亞病夫'. 現代中國人則上行下效,到處抽煙,不但污染空氣,也殘害自己健康. 還有大部分抽煙人士煙蒂隨處亂丟,不但污染環境,而且容易引起火災. 很多旅館,其桌椅或床舖,常見被香煙燒坏痕跡,更令人擔心火災的危險. 光是加州每年森林大火,有很多是香煙亂丟車外所致. 抽煙不但形像不好,品味低俗,而且有上癮的危險,與鴉片有相同功效. 戒不了煙的人給人一種形象是他不能控制自己,是一種人格上的缺陷. 更奇怪的是正當西方社會努力戒煙之時,中國人卻大買洋煙,救了 South Carolina 的煙草工業. 1840年,林則徐嚴禁鴉片, 2000千禧年,中國需要另一位林則徐.

9. 算命/預言/幻像

這三項有關心靈的活動 東西方皆有,也是迷信的變種. 相信這些活動大部分是智商較低的一群. 女人天生幻像較多,故他們也比較相信這些所謂通靈的東西. 算命和炒股票一樣,你祇聽到有人賺大錢,但很少人告訴你他丟了多少錢. 算命不準的例子太多,但在這種情形下,聰明的方士總是模稜兩可,和希臘的 oracles 一樣. 怎麼解釋都是他贏. 與此類似的是'幻象',有人看到或夢見奇怪的東西,常運用驚人的想像力,像在門窗或烤麵包上發現耶穌,聖瑪利亞等等,吸引一大批善男信女. 這種現象年年都有,和世界末日的預言一樣,永遠有廣大的市場. 說穿了,這是一種變相的 'wishful thinking'. 不過行之有年,到後來變成'狼來了',低俗不堪,亦屬低級品味.

10. 身心靈

這是晚近佛教通靈的突變種. 他們想結合醫學,科學和宗教來增加宗教的公信力. 西方也有類似的活動,祗是常常荒腔走板,謬論迭起,到後來不知所云,如'宗教是科學的基礎'云云,乃集低級品味之大成. 奇怪的是居然有醫學博士和大學校長也充斥其中,令人眼花撩亂,嘆為觀止. 信仰無可厚非,但在沒有精密思考下,貿然解釋,傳播不實信息,而且振振有詞,好此不彼,亦屬低級品味之一.

11.  語言對聯,迷信吉祥

在春節前後這種現像最為普遍,到處'福倒了','年年有魚','吃髮菜',... 這和迷信風水有異曲同工之妙,用多了,到處氾濫,庸俗不堪. 究竟有多少人相信這些,有待考查. 但整個房子,到處用這種方式避邪,實在迂腐,意境太低,亦屬低級品味之一.

12. 大中華沙文主義

三不五時,不忘耳提面命,再三叮嚀,好似不這樣,民族將毀於一旦,國亦將亡矣. 這有點像作文一樣,沒話說時就把老祖宗的舊皮箱拿出來亮相,炫耀一番. 最常見的是搬出孔子,老子,孫子或朱子,皆擲地有聲的'子'輩. 說多了,養成習慣,自己渾然不知,但聽者常不勝其煩,消受不了,到後來祇成耳邊風,來去無蹤.

信手寫來,好似青年守則,居然也有十二條. 其實還有一些,像'炒八卦新聞'就是漏網之魚,這卻是當今台灣普遍的低級品味之一.