Facts of Life

Been obsessed with this band... Dark, twisted, unexpected, indecipherable, politically incorrect... Can't wait for the mv for Brutality comes out...

Whatever happened to the fear of god?
Whatever happened to church on sunday?
Whatever happened to the velvet glove?
And the iron fist
Whatever happened to the social season?
Whatever happened to the debutants?
Whatever happened to the South of France?

Good old fashioned brutality
Everything in it's place
Good old fashioned barbarity
Leave the room in disgrace

Whatever happened to drinking and driving
And doing the decent thing?
Hiding out on the continent
Getting over a nervous breakdown
Close the ranks and remove all traces
Say anything to stay out of jail
What it really boils down to:
It always wins, it never fails

Good old fashioned brutality
Everything in it's place
Good old fashioned barbarity
Leave the room in disgrace

Ah-ah-ah,ah-ah...

Driving back from a late night party
Took a corner much too fast
Head-on collision with the 21st century
Whatever happened to brutality?

What do you think? Garbage for the more grown-up?

Monday morning

Sometime Sunday I'd invariably get unease, I suppose about returning to work the next morning, and I'd have this savage urge to snack. To stuff and trash my body. Last week it was a bag of M&Ms the length of my forearm (dark chocolate and on sale - the bag easily passed my health conscience's flexible check). This week I was more desperate and I got a bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream chips the size of my torso. Nasty. I know.

The stuffing would go on throughout Sunday evenings. But by morningtime remorse would get to me and I'd want to get rid of this guilt and anxiety in the form of half-eaten junk on our kitchen counter. That's when I'd snap it up on my way out of the door, and discreetly place it on the common room table upon arriving at work. It usually goes very well. The guilt food would be taken out a little after lunch. And I feel relieved.

I think of my unknowing office mates. About how they are eating my anxiety. And how easy it is to fat-poison an office with half-eaten junk.

Ah, office life.

白雙全 PK 張愛玲

白雙全訪問中一句「生活你有份，所以你會明」很矚目。想起張愛玲那句：「因為懂得，所以慈悲」、以及她引過論語中的：「如得其情，哀矜而勿喜」。很少人在行文用語上能賽過張愛玲，可是我覺得白雙全那十個字更好，真是異數。當然白和張的句語所指有點不同。白講的是藝術—對他的藝術—的欣賞；張寫的是人性的同感同情，一個人對另一個人的明白與體會。可是如果將以上幾句都看作人對生活和人性的「通感」（也是白雙全的詞，很喜愛），我更喜歡白雙全那句。首要原因是它白。張那句已經很白（張白話文的造詣以至貢獻不用多說），但是白說「生活你有份，所以你會明」卻是簡單得不能再簡單、意義也明白不過。能用這樣簡白的語言解釋藝術這抽象無門的東西，說來也反映了白雙全作品的最大優點。更重要的是，白雙全那句比張的更為平然坦然：生活是人人有份、再孤寂的人也每天參與的事，所以無論你多蔽塞多笨多怪，你也可能知道、也可以明白。相對來說張理解的過程裡還有「懂得」，似乎要有點慧根。「如得其情」也像是碰巧得到了真相，不是人人可直接達到的。

再說，為甚「慈悲」呢？國語辭典說「慈悲」是：「佛教用語。慈指給予眾生安樂；悲指拔除眾生的痛苦。後俗訛為慈愛、悲憫的同義詞。」套於張句，可說是明白者對俗世蒼生的憐憫，或是悟者感受到了執者的痛處，帶有悲觀的意味。所以說「哀矜而勿喜」吧？我們明白了別人心中的委婉，內裡也同樣扭扭曲曲的，只有矜持，說不出來。這很富中國傳統人情的精神：肚裡知道，卻不足外人道（說也說不清）。

所以還是說不及白雙全的「生活你有份，所以你會明。」多現代，多積極！很少人能有張愛玲洞察人性的能力，但活著的人總有點生活體會。我投白一票！