Il-Makiage (Part 1)

聼到有人讚美彩妝大師Ilana Harkavi的品牌Il-Makiage，我自然耐不住好奇心也想試試。
我買了四款眼影，在這裡總結一下初次接觸的感想。

等待節日

十二月總是一年中最熱鬧的月份。
市裏到處張燈結彩，松樹就像雨後春筍一樣遍佈每個大街小巷。
雖然街上人山人海，但是卻絲毫不會影響那些拎著大包小包購物袋人們的愉快心情。
十二月大概是一年中人們心情最好的月份吧。
是因爲可以在經歷過一整年的繁忙後讓生活喘口氣？
還是因爲可以全家人圍繞著聖誕大餐歡聚一堂？
是因爲可以收到意想不到的聖誕禮物？
還是因爲純粹被周圍的溫馨氣氛感染到？
不論原因是哪個，十二月都是一個可以看到許多笑臉的月份。
人們以期待的心情等待新年的到來。
雖然2006年也曾被人們歡欣地期盼過，但是現在人們卻迫不及待地希望它快快結束。
畢竟「未來」是為理想而存在的，新的一年代表著有無限可能性的新起點。
不過在2007年到來之前，讓我們先好好享受一下這最愉快的季節吧。

金童玉女

曾經他們是金童玉女的代言人，如今卻已人事全非。
雖然他們早已是過去式，但是還是如此有默契，竟在同一年兩人各自步入教堂。
希望這次的幸福可以長久一些。

Lost In Translation

一名曾經輝煌的中年演員，事業與家庭處於雙重低谷。
一位剛從大學畢業的年輕妻子，對未來不知如何選擇。
如此的兩個人在人生道路上原本是沒有任何交集點的。
但是他們偏偏在東京的一家高級賓館的電梯中相遇了。
在這繁華喧嚷的霓虹都市，孤獨之人卻感到格外寂寞。
雖然周圍到處都是人，但卻永遠也融入不到他們中間。

Physics Exam

(The Humor Archives)

The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen:

“Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer.”

One student replied:

“You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building.”

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed immediately. He appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics. For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn’t make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

“Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer.

Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper’s shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper.

But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi square root (l/g).

Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up.

If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building.

But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor’s door and say to him ‘If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper’.”

The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel prize for Physics.

Pride & Prejudice

這是曾經寫的一篇關於2005版『傲慢與偏見』的短短感想。

在美妙音樂的伴隨下，故事由漫步于鄉間的Elizabeth Bennet引出。
（Lizzy一邊散步一邊讀著一本名為First Impressions的小説，由此可見編劇是十分幽默的。）
回到家中就聽到父母在大聲議論著附近的Netherfield Park終于有人搬了進去的消息，而搬進去的是位富有的單身漢使此消息前面加了大大一個「好」字。
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”
故事就這樣圍繞著愛情與婚姻這兩個話題，伴隨著一桌桌牌局，一頓頓晚餐，一場場舞會發展下去。