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| Toppling Down Cooper's Hill |
Quote:
"The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." — Gilbert K. Chesterton
2011年5月30日星期一
Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling race
2011年5月25日星期三
英高規格款待歐巴馬
高規格款待「最重要盟友」英103禮砲迎歐巴馬
【歐陽梅芬╱綜合外電報導】正在歐洲進行6天4國訪問的美國總統歐巴馬，前天抵達英國進行國是訪問，受到超高規格接待，王室不但以103響禮砲歡迎他，女王伊莉莎白二世更在白金漢宮以隆重國宴款待歐巴馬夫婦。女王形容美國是「我們最重要的盟友」，大讚兩國關係禁得起考驗。歐巴馬禮尚往來，在敬酒時稱兩國的「特殊」關係像磐石般堅固，而且「永不止息」。
雖然許多美國總統都訪問過英國，但受邀進行正式國是訪問的，僅有前任總統布希和歐巴馬。布希2003年11月訪英時，白金漢宮當時表示，他是首位前來英國進行國是訪問的美國總統。
歐巴馬誤簽2008年
歐巴馬的兩天訪英行程，前天在禮砲聲中拉開序幕。一般國家通常以21響禮砲，歡迎進行國是訪問的國家元首。但英國王室特別安排在葛林公園發射禮砲歡迎歐巴馬，由於是皇家公園，按規定要額外鳴砲20響，總共是41響。之後，倫敦塔又額外鳴砲62響，總計歐巴馬獲得103響禮砲歡迎。
在白金漢宮舉行的歡迎儀式上，女王的夫婿菲利普親王，陪同歐巴馬檢閱皇家衛隊。儀式結束後，歐巴馬夫婦、國務卿希拉蕊等參加了女王舉行的私人午宴。隨後歐巴馬來到西敏寺大教堂，向無名烈士墓獻花。糗的是，在貴賓名冊上簽名時，歐巴馬一時恍神，竟將日期誤簽為「2008年」5月24日。
入住威廉新婚夜房
前天接受女王的歡迎儀式前，歐巴馬在白 金漢宮會見王儲查爾斯夫婦，也和剛度完蜜月的威廉王子夫婦交談20分鐘。女王還親自帶歐巴馬參觀白金漢宮，展示宮中的私藏。晚上女王則在白金漢宮以國宴款 待歐巴馬夫婦，出席賓客除英美官方代表外，還有包括影星湯姆漢克夫婦等共170人。王室還安排歐巴馬夫婦入住白金漢宮的比利時套房，亦即威廉王子新婚夜的 房間，凸顯重視與美國的關係。
女王在國宴上致辭時，形容美國「是英國最重要盟友」，她說兩國的關係絕不限於軍事，「兩國有共同的歷史、語言及文化關係。」雖然有分歧，但美英關係「飽經試煉」，仍保持「特殊關係」。
「格達費遲早下台」
歐巴馬在敬酒時強調在911事件後，英國是美國「最堅定的盟友」，兩國關係有如磐石般堅固，永不止息。歐巴馬此次訪英，目的之一是藉機向英國與歐洲盟邦保證 ，在美外交政策逐漸轉向亞洲時，這些盟邦仍是美國的重要夥伴。
歐巴馬和英國首相卡麥隆前天聯手和英國中學生進行桌球賽，同樣是左撇子的兩人，打得有些吃力。昨兩人在首相府舉行正式會談，重點包括中東局勢、阿富汗撤軍及利比亞衝突等，會談後兩人舉行記者會，強調在北約持續攻勢下，利比亞強人格達費遲早會下台，卡麥隆也強調利比亞的軍事行動需「耐心與毅力」。
國宴賓客名單
●王室成員
英國女王與菲利普親王、王儲查爾斯夫婦、安德魯王子、愛德華王子夫婦、安妮公主等
●歐巴馬及隨員
歐巴馬夫婦、國務卿希拉蕊、國安顧問多尼倫等
●外交使節
美駐英大使蘇斯曼，英駐美大使沈沃德、加墨等國使節
●政府代表
英國首相卡麥隆夫婦、副首相克雷格夫婦等人
●其他貴賓
坎特伯里大主教威廉斯夫婦、英國前首相布萊爾夫婦、前首相布朗夫婦、影星湯姆漢克夫婦、凱文史貝西等人。
資料來源：綜合外電
英國國宴菜單
●餐點：
鰈魚捲佐水芹
嫩煎胡瓜與小蘿蔔
沙拉
小龍蝦醬汁
花式長豆
櫻桃香草慕斯夏綠蒂
羅勒羔羊肉
法式馬鈴薯
水果
●酒單：
2004年英國山景酒莊粉紅香檳
2004年法國威廉費內酒莊白酒
1990年法國羅曼尼康帝酒莊紅酒
2002年法國凱歌年份香檳
1963年葡萄牙產波特酒
資料來源：綜合外電
2011年5月16日星期一
Speaking of the British 誇夸其談的英國政客
誇夸其談的英國政客
Speaking of the British
英國《金融時報》專欄作家西蒙•庫柏
I recently went on a business trip with three members of the British ruling classes. The late-night banter over drinks was predictably excellent. Sometimes, though, we had to work. When that happened, my companions showed up unprepared and without notes – and did just fine. No wonder, because their entire education had been a lesson in winging it. They knew that all you need to succeed is to speak well, and that's what the British ruling classes do: they speak well.
我最近與三位英國統治階層人士一同出差，深夜酒桌上的玩笑和預想的一樣精彩。不過，有時候我們也必須工作。而工作時，我的同伴們卻可事先不做準備，也不需要筆記——而且效果還不賴。這不用奇怪，因為他們受到的全部教育都是在教他們怎樣即興發揮。他們知道，要想成功，你只需要會說漂亮話，而這也是英國統治階層擅長做的：說漂亮話。
I'm talking about the caste of Britons who attended private school and/or Oxbridge before joining the establishment: senior politicians, civil servants, lawyers, pontificators and the better-dressed sort of banker. It's the class of Tony Blair, David Cameron, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Robinson and Simon Cowell: the people who speak English better than the rest of the world.
我這裡所說的是英國上過私立學校以及（或者）牛津劍橋、隨後進入體制內的那類人：資深政客、公務員、律師、高談闊論者，還有穿著考究的那種銀行家。那是托尼•布萊爾(Tony Blair)、戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)、克里斯托弗•希欽斯(Christopher Hitchens)、安娜•羅賓遜(Anne Robinson)和西蒙•考威爾(Simon Cowell)所屬的階層，他們的英語說得比世界其他任何階層都漂亮。
Even the entrance exam for the British establishment chiefly tests the ability to talk without knowledge. Good grades are not enough. You also need to perform in a peculiarly British ritual: the Oxbridge interview. It works like this: you are 17 years old. You are wearing a new suit. You travel to an Oxbridge college for your interview. You find the tutor's rooms. Perhaps you're served sherry, which you've never seen before. Then you talk. The tutors, sprawled on settees, drawl questions about whatever is keeping them awake. I know an applicant who was asked: “Don't you think the Piazzetta San Marco in Venice looks like a branch of Barclays bank?” If you speak well, you get handed your entry ticket to the establishment .
就連進入英國體制內大門的“入門”考試，也主要考的是沒有知識就侃侃而談的能力。成績好是不夠的，你還需要在牛津劍橋面試這個很英國式的儀式上表現良好。這個儀式就像下面這樣。 17歲時，你穿著新西裝，前往牛津或劍橋的某個學院參加面試，找到導師的房間。導師可能會請你喝杯你以前從沒見過的雪利酒，然後就開始談。導師們四仰八叉靠在沙發上，拖著長音問出各種讓他們無法入眠的問題。我認識一個申請人被問到的問題是：“你不覺得威尼斯的聖馬可廣場(Piazzetta San Marco)像巴克萊銀行(Barclays)的一家分行嗎？”如果答得漂亮，進入體制內的門票就會遞到你手中。
You arrive at Oxbridge knowing little. After all, you probably did school exams in just three subjects. At university, you only study one. Often it's English literature or history or Latin and Greek – the sort of subjects that have parents in other countries asking anxiously: “But what use will that be later?”
剛進入牛津劍橋的時候，你知道的東西還很少。畢竟，你可能只參加了三個科目的考試。在大學裡，你只學一個科目，經常是英國文學、歷史或拉丁語和希臘語——如果你家長是別的國家的人，他們肯定會焦慮地問：“學這種科目以後有什麼用啊？”
Nor is workaholic study encouraged. A South African relative of mine started his first “supervision” at Cambridge by confessing that he hadn't read every single book on the reading list. “Good God,” said his supervisor, “nor have I. I put them down hoping that you'd look at a couple, and tell me what they said.”
大學也不鼓勵學生用功學習。我的一位南非親戚在劍橋第一次接受“督導”時，承認閱讀書目上的書一本也沒有讀。 “上帝啊！”導師對他抱怨道，“我也沒讀。我還以為你能看幾本、然後告訴我那些書都講了什麼呢。”
Oxbridge's teaching methods reward good talk. Aged 18, perhaps hungover, you read out your pitiful but elegant essay. The tutor points out gaps in your knowledge. For an hour, you talk your way around those gaps.
牛津劍橋的教學方法獎勵侃侃而談。 18歲的你（可能還帶著一點宿醉）朗讀自己那可憐但雅緻的作文。導師指出你欠缺的知識，在接下來一個小時的談話裡，你要迂迴地避開那些欠缺的知識。
Traditionally, elite Britons then leave education aged 21. Until recently they rarely bothered with graduate school. Consequently, they know very little but speak very well, albeit only in English.
傳統上，英國精英在21歲時就會結束教育。直到最近，他們都還懶得去讀研究生。因此，他們懂的很少，但話說得很漂亮，雖然只會用英語說。
CP Snow, in his “Two Cultures” lecture of 1959, marvelled at their ignorance of basic science. Winston Churchill, for instance, had approved the misguided “area bombing” of Germany based on a flawed statistical study by his chief scientific adviser, Lord Cherwell. Of course Churchill couldn't check the numbers. His forte was rhetoric. It's no coincidence that his Nobel prize was for literature. And it's no coincidence that Britain's wartime king, George VI, is now known chiefly for his struggle – depicted in the film The King's Speech – to speak well.
查爾斯•珀西•斯諾(CP Snow)在他1959年題為《兩種文化》(Two Cultures)的講座中，驚詫於統治階層對基本科學知識的無知。例如，溫斯頓•丘吉爾(Winston Churchill)依據首席科學顧問徹韋爾勳爵(Lord Cherwell)有缺陷的統計研究，批准了受到誤導的對德“區域轟炸”。當然，丘吉爾沒辦法核對那些數字，他的強項是辭令。他拿到的諾貝爾獎是文學獎，這決非偶然。英國二戰時的國王喬治六世(George VI)現在之所以為人熟知，主要是因為他為了能把話說好曾付出很大努力，電影《國王的演講》(The King's Speech)講的就是這個故事。
Numbers remain a challenge for Britain's ruling class. It treats the City as a magical moneymaking machine, whose demands are best granted because lord knows how the thing works. Even the finance minister, George Osborne, has no education in economics beyond whatever he picked up studying history at Oxford. British public debate just doesn't feature many numerate people such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or China's ruling engineers. Britain's own excellent engineers and quants are stuck in the engine room while the rhetoricians drive the train.
數字仍然是英國統治階層面臨的一個挑戰。他們把倫敦金融城當做神奇的賺錢機器，金融城的需求會得到最大程度的滿足，因為只有老天才知道那東西是怎麼運轉的。即使是英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)，除了在牛津學歷史時學到的那點皮毛外，也沒有受過什麼經濟學教育。英國公共辯論中的主角，很少是像沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)、比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)、馬克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)或是中國工程師出身的領導人那樣懂數字的人。英國國內優秀的工程師和定量分析師都被關在發動機室裡，開火車的是那幫誇誇其談的傢伙。
Britain's rulers still struggle to judge scientific arguments about nuclear energy or climate change, writes the historian Lisa Jardine (who appears in this week's Inventory). When Tony Blair hinted that Iraq's “weapons of mass destruction” could hit London within 45 minutes, the establishment mostly believed him. Educated Americans would often praise Blair for arguing the case better than President Bush could. Yes, Blair spoke well. That's what he did. Where there were gaps in his knowledge, he talked around them.
歷史學家麗莎•賈丁(Lisa Jardine)寫道，英國統治階層還在努力試著對核能或氣候變化的科學論據作出判斷。布萊爾曾暗示伊拉克的“大規模殺傷性武器”可以在45分鐘內打擊倫敦，當時英國體制內的人大都相信了他的話。受過教育的美國人經常讚賞布萊爾比美國總統小布什更善於闡述觀點。沒錯，布萊爾的確善於說話，那就是他的工作。如果知識上有欠缺，他在侃侃而談時會繞開。
Blair had only one verbal shortcoming, which he shared with Margaret Thatcher: no sense of humour. But in general, Britain's ruling classes are funny speakers. To quote Noël Coward, this class's favoured playwright: “Since my life began/The most I' ve had is just/A talent to amuse.”
布萊爾在運用語言方面只有一個缺點，他和撒切爾夫人(Margaret Thatcher)一樣，沒有幽默感。不過總體上，英國統治階層人士都是有趣的演講者。套用這個階層最喜愛的劇作家諾埃爾•考沃德(Noël Coward)的話說：“我有生以來/最為擅長的就是/讓人愉悅。”
It was the urge to amuse that recently prompted Cameron to riff on an old TV ad and shout “Calm down, dear,” at a female Labour MP. No other western leader (except Silvio Berlusconi) would have risked the sexism, because they don 't need to be funny.
卡梅倫最近在愉悅別人的衝動驅使下，即興模仿一個老電視廣告，對一位工黨女議員大喊“親愛的，冷靜。”除了西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼(Silvio Berlusconi)，沒有哪位西方領導人會冒這種被批性別歧視的風險，因為他們不需要顯得有趣。
Admittedly, ignorance sometimes saves Britain's rulers from error. Ignorant and suspicious of philosophy, they reject the daft ideas that sometimes ensnare the French or German elites. Anyway, running a country on eloquence alone hasn't worked out disastrously – or at least not yet .
誠然，無知有時候也能讓英國統治階層避免犯錯誤。對於哲學，他們既無知又懷疑，所以會排斥那些有時讓法國和德國的精英們落入陷阱的瘋狂想法。畢竟，單純靠誇誇其談治理國家並沒有產生什麼災難性後果——或者說至少目前還沒有。
譯者/王柯倫
Speaking of the British
英國《金融時報》專欄作家西蒙•庫柏
I recently went on a business trip with three members of the British ruling classes. The late-night banter over drinks was predictably excellent. Sometimes, though, we had to work. When that happened, my companions showed up unprepared and without notes – and did just fine. No wonder, because their entire education had been a lesson in winging it. They knew that all you need to succeed is to speak well, and that's what the British ruling classes do: they speak well.
我最近與三位英國統治階層人士一同出差，深夜酒桌上的玩笑和預想的一樣精彩。不過，有時候我們也必須工作。而工作時，我的同伴們卻可事先不做準備，也不需要筆記——而且效果還不賴。這不用奇怪，因為他們受到的全部教育都是在教他們怎樣即興發揮。他們知道，要想成功，你只需要會說漂亮話，而這也是英國統治階層擅長做的：說漂亮話。
I'm talking about the caste of Britons who attended private school and/or Oxbridge before joining the establishment: senior politicians, civil servants, lawyers, pontificators and the better-dressed sort of banker. It's the class of Tony Blair, David Cameron, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Robinson and Simon Cowell: the people who speak English better than the rest of the world.
我這裡所說的是英國上過私立學校以及（或者）牛津劍橋、隨後進入體制內的那類人：資深政客、公務員、律師、高談闊論者，還有穿著考究的那種銀行家。那是托尼•布萊爾(Tony Blair)、戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)、克里斯托弗•希欽斯(Christopher Hitchens)、安娜•羅賓遜(Anne Robinson)和西蒙•考威爾(Simon Cowell)所屬的階層，他們的英語說得比世界其他任何階層都漂亮。
Even the entrance exam for the British establishment chiefly tests the ability to talk without knowledge. Good grades are not enough. You also need to perform in a peculiarly British ritual: the Oxbridge interview. It works like this: you are 17 years old. You are wearing a new suit. You travel to an Oxbridge college for your interview. You find the tutor's rooms. Perhaps you're served sherry, which you've never seen before. Then you talk. The tutors, sprawled on settees, drawl questions about whatever is keeping them awake. I know an applicant who was asked: “Don't you think the Piazzetta San Marco in Venice looks like a branch of Barclays bank?” If you speak well, you get handed your entry ticket to the establishment .
就連進入英國體制內大門的“入門”考試，也主要考的是沒有知識就侃侃而談的能力。成績好是不夠的，你還需要在牛津劍橋面試這個很英國式的儀式上表現良好。這個儀式就像下面這樣。 17歲時，你穿著新西裝，前往牛津或劍橋的某個學院參加面試，找到導師的房間。導師可能會請你喝杯你以前從沒見過的雪利酒，然後就開始談。導師們四仰八叉靠在沙發上，拖著長音問出各種讓他們無法入眠的問題。我認識一個申請人被問到的問題是：“你不覺得威尼斯的聖馬可廣場(Piazzetta San Marco)像巴克萊銀行(Barclays)的一家分行嗎？”如果答得漂亮，進入體制內的門票就會遞到你手中。
You arrive at Oxbridge knowing little. After all, you probably did school exams in just three subjects. At university, you only study one. Often it's English literature or history or Latin and Greek – the sort of subjects that have parents in other countries asking anxiously: “But what use will that be later?”
剛進入牛津劍橋的時候，你知道的東西還很少。畢竟，你可能只參加了三個科目的考試。在大學裡，你只學一個科目，經常是英國文學、歷史或拉丁語和希臘語——如果你家長是別的國家的人，他們肯定會焦慮地問：“學這種科目以後有什麼用啊？”
Nor is workaholic study encouraged. A South African relative of mine started his first “supervision” at Cambridge by confessing that he hadn't read every single book on the reading list. “Good God,” said his supervisor, “nor have I. I put them down hoping that you'd look at a couple, and tell me what they said.”
大學也不鼓勵學生用功學習。我的一位南非親戚在劍橋第一次接受“督導”時，承認閱讀書目上的書一本也沒有讀。 “上帝啊！”導師對他抱怨道，“我也沒讀。我還以為你能看幾本、然後告訴我那些書都講了什麼呢。”
Oxbridge's teaching methods reward good talk. Aged 18, perhaps hungover, you read out your pitiful but elegant essay. The tutor points out gaps in your knowledge. For an hour, you talk your way around those gaps.
牛津劍橋的教學方法獎勵侃侃而談。 18歲的你（可能還帶著一點宿醉）朗讀自己那可憐但雅緻的作文。導師指出你欠缺的知識，在接下來一個小時的談話裡，你要迂迴地避開那些欠缺的知識。
Traditionally, elite Britons then leave education aged 21. Until recently they rarely bothered with graduate school. Consequently, they know very little but speak very well, albeit only in English.
傳統上，英國精英在21歲時就會結束教育。直到最近，他們都還懶得去讀研究生。因此，他們懂的很少，但話說得很漂亮，雖然只會用英語說。
CP Snow, in his “Two Cultures” lecture of 1959, marvelled at their ignorance of basic science. Winston Churchill, for instance, had approved the misguided “area bombing” of Germany based on a flawed statistical study by his chief scientific adviser, Lord Cherwell. Of course Churchill couldn't check the numbers. His forte was rhetoric. It's no coincidence that his Nobel prize was for literature. And it's no coincidence that Britain's wartime king, George VI, is now known chiefly for his struggle – depicted in the film The King's Speech – to speak well.
查爾斯•珀西•斯諾(CP Snow)在他1959年題為《兩種文化》(Two Cultures)的講座中，驚詫於統治階層對基本科學知識的無知。例如，溫斯頓•丘吉爾(Winston Churchill)依據首席科學顧問徹韋爾勳爵(Lord Cherwell)有缺陷的統計研究，批准了受到誤導的對德“區域轟炸”。當然，丘吉爾沒辦法核對那些數字，他的強項是辭令。他拿到的諾貝爾獎是文學獎，這決非偶然。英國二戰時的國王喬治六世(George VI)現在之所以為人熟知，主要是因為他為了能把話說好曾付出很大努力，電影《國王的演講》(The King's Speech)講的就是這個故事。
Numbers remain a challenge for Britain's ruling class. It treats the City as a magical moneymaking machine, whose demands are best granted because lord knows how the thing works. Even the finance minister, George Osborne, has no education in economics beyond whatever he picked up studying history at Oxford. British public debate just doesn't feature many numerate people such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or China's ruling engineers. Britain's own excellent engineers and quants are stuck in the engine room while the rhetoricians drive the train.
數字仍然是英國統治階層面臨的一個挑戰。他們把倫敦金融城當做神奇的賺錢機器，金融城的需求會得到最大程度的滿足，因為只有老天才知道那東西是怎麼運轉的。即使是英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)，除了在牛津學歷史時學到的那點皮毛外，也沒有受過什麼經濟學教育。英國公共辯論中的主角，很少是像沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)、比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)、馬克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)或是中國工程師出身的領導人那樣懂數字的人。英國國內優秀的工程師和定量分析師都被關在發動機室裡，開火車的是那幫誇誇其談的傢伙。
Britain's rulers still struggle to judge scientific arguments about nuclear energy or climate change, writes the historian Lisa Jardine (who appears in this week's Inventory). When Tony Blair hinted that Iraq's “weapons of mass destruction” could hit London within 45 minutes, the establishment mostly believed him. Educated Americans would often praise Blair for arguing the case better than President Bush could. Yes, Blair spoke well. That's what he did. Where there were gaps in his knowledge, he talked around them.
歷史學家麗莎•賈丁(Lisa Jardine)寫道，英國統治階層還在努力試著對核能或氣候變化的科學論據作出判斷。布萊爾曾暗示伊拉克的“大規模殺傷性武器”可以在45分鐘內打擊倫敦，當時英國體制內的人大都相信了他的話。受過教育的美國人經常讚賞布萊爾比美國總統小布什更善於闡述觀點。沒錯，布萊爾的確善於說話，那就是他的工作。如果知識上有欠缺，他在侃侃而談時會繞開。
Blair had only one verbal shortcoming, which he shared with Margaret Thatcher: no sense of humour. But in general, Britain's ruling classes are funny speakers. To quote Noël Coward, this class's favoured playwright: “Since my life began/The most I' ve had is just/A talent to amuse.”
布萊爾在運用語言方面只有一個缺點，他和撒切爾夫人(Margaret Thatcher)一樣，沒有幽默感。不過總體上，英國統治階層人士都是有趣的演講者。套用這個階層最喜愛的劇作家諾埃爾•考沃德(Noël Coward)的話說：“我有生以來/最為擅長的就是/讓人愉悅。”
It was the urge to amuse that recently prompted Cameron to riff on an old TV ad and shout “Calm down, dear,” at a female Labour MP. No other western leader (except Silvio Berlusconi) would have risked the sexism, because they don 't need to be funny.
卡梅倫最近在愉悅別人的衝動驅使下，即興模仿一個老電視廣告，對一位工黨女議員大喊“親愛的，冷靜。”除了西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼(Silvio Berlusconi)，沒有哪位西方領導人會冒這種被批性別歧視的風險，因為他們不需要顯得有趣。
Admittedly, ignorance sometimes saves Britain's rulers from error. Ignorant and suspicious of philosophy, they reject the daft ideas that sometimes ensnare the French or German elites. Anyway, running a country on eloquence alone hasn't worked out disastrously – or at least not yet .
誠然，無知有時候也能讓英國統治階層避免犯錯誤。對於哲學，他們既無知又懷疑，所以會排斥那些有時讓法國和德國的精英們落入陷阱的瘋狂想法。畢竟，單純靠誇誇其談治理國家並沒有產生什麼災難性後果——或者說至少目前還沒有。
譯者/王柯倫
2011年5月15日星期日
The Festival of Britain
倫敦傳真－國家的補品 撐出英倫軟實力
五月初，文建會主委盛治仁到歐洲法國和英國訪問，參訪兩國的文化機構和文化創意產業，同時推動台灣軟實力。
盛治仁到英國時，適逢倫敦南岸中心（Southbank Centre）推出慶祝揭幕六十周年的「英國節」（Festival of Britain）系列活動。對於廣大的英國民眾，這個活動，重新喚起了六十年前南岸中心成立時的社會精神與文化靈魂。但我認為，南岸中心的「英國節」，真 正說明了軟實力的持久性和穿透力，無遠弗屆。
時間回到一九五一年五月三日。英王喬治六世和伊莉莎白皇后共同出現在倫敦聖保羅大教堂外，宣達一件特別的事。喬治六世國王告訴聚集在他面前的群眾，「讓我們祈求，藉著上帝恩典，這些「範圍廣大的現代知識」，能把破壞轉為和平，隨著時間流逝，人們可以更快樂。」。
當時，歷經二次大戰後的英國，依然廢虛遍地，物資缺乏，生活困頓。戰爭雖結束，人心社會依然一片沮喪。英王喬治六世佈達中的「範圍廣大的 現代知識」，指的是在倫敦南岸展開的「英國節」活動。這個活動，集聚了英國當代年輕優秀的設計師、建築師和藝術家和創意和構思，希望可以為二戰後頹廢悲觀 的英倫社會，注入樂觀和希望的活力，並藉此向世界宣傳、展示英國的產品、創意和設計實力。
當天晚上，為了這項特殊活動，居住在泰晤士河另一端的英國皇室罕見地跨過滑鐵盧大橋，前往向來被認為是不毛之地的南倫敦，在新建的「皇家 節日廳」，喬治六世親為「英國節」揭開序幕。一名站在人群中的六歲小男孩，不明究理的問道，「這到底是怎麼一回事？大家在搞什麼？」，男孩的父親告訴他， 「這是未來。」。問話的小男孩雷伊戴維斯，後成為英國七○年代著名樂團Kinks團長，他認為，一九五一年倫敦南岸中心的「英國節」，透過當代文化創意和 各式藝文活動，「讓戰後的英倫重生，跟世界重新接軌。」
一九五一年，在倫敦泰晤士河南岸舉行、為期五個月的「英國節」，吸引了一千萬人參與。除了英國本土民眾外，還有許多從歐陸國家慕名而來的觀眾。
五一年的倫敦南岸「英國節」，斥資八百萬英鎊，對戰後經濟拮据的英國，是不可思議的數字。但這個一九四五年，率先出現在倫敦《新聞紀實 報》上的想法，卻出乎意料的獲得英國政府支持。當時的副首相莫瑞森，更把這個思考和提議，形容為「國家的補品」（a tonic for the nation），並在內閣中大力推動這個以軟實力，對內凝聚社會，振奮民心，對外展現英國文化創意的夢想。
如今，位於倫敦泰晤士河畔，與西敏寺國會遙遙相望的南岸中心，早已成為歐洲最大的綜合藝術中心。除了皇家節日廳、英國國家劇院、國家電影院、海沃德畫廊外，其他許多大小藝文活動中心，都聚集在這裡。整個南岸區域，更因而脫離貧窮，徹底振興。
六十年來，南岸中心不只是英國的文化地標，也是世界藝文活動最重要的場地之一。一九五一年和二○一一年，南岸中心「英國節」內容雖然不 同，但相信文化活動是人人可以參與、可以分享，可以聚合社會民心、可以宣展英國當代藝術創作實力的精神和認知卻一樣。英國工黨政府二戰後，推出的這帖「國 家補品」，歷經政黨更迭，逾半世紀來，歷久彌新。
十九世紀英國女詩人柯勒瑞（ Mary Coleridge）的短詩「埃及可能跌下來」（Egypt’s might is tumbled down 漏譯: 權勢 might ），優美的描述了這股柔軟力。巨大的帝國會滅亡、輝煌的羅馬會失去皇冠，威尼斯的驕傲最終也只是徒勞，只有夢想，永遠存 在。（clchiangr@yahoo.com）
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in London and around Britain in May 1951. The official opening was on 3 May.[1] The principal exhibition site was on the South Bank Site, London of the River Thames near Waterloo Station. Other exhibitions were held in Poplar, East London (Architecture), Battersea Park (The Festival Gardens), South Kensington (Science) and the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow (Industrial Power) as well as travelling exhibitions that toured Britain by land and sea. Outside London major festivals took place in Cardiff, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, Perth, Bournemouth, York, Aldeburgh, Inverness, Cheltenham, Oxford and other centres.[2]
At that time, shortly after the end of World War II, much of London was still in ruins and redevelopment was badly needed. The Festival was an attempt to give Britons a feeling of recovery and progress and to promote better-quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities following the war. The Festival also celebrated the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. It was the brainchild of Gerald Barry and the Labour Deputy Leader Herbert Morrison who described it as "a tonic for the nation".
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[edit] The South Bank
Construction of the South Bank site opened up a new public space, including a riverside walkway, where previously there had been warehouses and working-class housing. There was, however, opposition to the project from those who believed that the money (£8 million) would have been better spent on housing. (A film comedy, "The Happy Family", was made about working-class resistance to the demolition that the festival required and featured a London family barricading themselves into their corner shop, 'The House of Lords', to prevent it from being demolished to make way for an access road for the Festival. The shop is finally saved when red-faced Whitehall bureaucrats are forced by public opinion to move the access road. The film starred the biggest comedic stars of British cinema at the time; Stanley Holloway, Kathleen Harrison, Naunton Wayne & Dandy Nichols).
In 1948, the young architect Hugh Casson, 38, was appointed director of architecture for the Festival and he broadmindedly sought to appoint other young architects to design its buildings. He was knighted in 1952 for his efforts in relation to the Festival.
The layout of the South Bank site was intended by the organisers to showcase the principles of urban design that would feature in the post-war rebuilding of London and the creation of the new towns. These included multiple levels of buildings, elevated walkways and avoidance of a street grid. Most of the South Bank buildings were International Modernist in style, little seen in Britain before the war. All except the Royal Festival Hall were later destroyed by the incoming Churchill government in 1953, who thought them too 'socialist' for their taste.[3]
[edit] Design and the Festival buildings
The graphic designer for the Festival of Britain was Abram Games who had been Official War Poster artist and whose iconic Britannia symbol of the Festival remains memorable.
Misha Black, one of the Festival architects, said that the Festival created a wide audience for architectural modernism but that it was common currency among professional architects that the design of the Festival was not innovative. The architects also tried to show by their design and layout of the South Bank Festival what could be achieved by applying modern town planning ideas.[4] A number of buildings on the main South Bank site became iconic of the festival.
[edit] The Dome of Discovery
Main article: Dome of Discovery
The dome had a diameter of 365 feet and stood 93 feet tall making it at the time the largest dome in the world. It was constructed from concrete and aluminium in a modernist style and housed many of the festival attractions. Internally the dome included a number of galleries on various levels housing exhibitions on the theme of discovery — the Living World, Polar, the Sea, the Earth, the Physical World, the Land, Sky and Outer Space.
Like the adjacent Skylon tower, the dome became an iconic structure for the public and helped popularise modern design and architectural style in a Britain still suffering through post-war austerity. Controversially after the Festival closed, the dome was demolished and its materials sold as scrap. The site was cleared for reuse, and is now the location of the Jubilee Gardens, near the London Eye.* Dome of Discovery, which anticipated the Millennium Dome (designed by Ralph Tubbs)
[edit] The Skylon
Main article: Skylon (tower)
An unusual cigar-shaped aluminium-clad steel tower supported by cables, the Skylon was the “Vertical Feature” that was an abiding symbol of the Festival of Britain. It was designed by Hidalgo Moya, Philip Powell and Felix Samuely, and fabricated by Painter Brothers of Hereford, England, on London's South Bank between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The Skylon consisted of a steel latticework frame, pointed at both ends and supported on cables slung between three steel beams. The partially constructed Skylon was rigged vertically, then grew taller in situ.[5] The architects' design was made structurally feasible by the engineer Felix Samuely who, at the time, was a lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury. The base was nearly 15 metres (50 feet) from the ground, with the top nearly 90 metres (300 feet) high. The frame was clad in aluminium louvres lit from within at night. Both the name and form of the Skylon perhaps referred back to the Trylon feature of the 1939 World's Fair. Mrs A G S Fidler, wife of the chief architect of the Crawley Development Corporation, suggested the name and said she derived it from skyhook and nylon.Skylon was scrapped in 1952 on the orders of Winston Churchill, who saw it a symbol of the preceding Labour Government,[6] when the rest of the exhibition was dismantled it was toppled into the Thames and cut into pieces.
[edit] Royal Festival Hall
Main article: Royal Festival Hall
Designed by Leslie Martin, Peter Moro and Robert Matthew from the LCC's Architects' Department and built by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts for London County Council. The foundation stone was laid by Clement Attlee, then Prime Minister, in 1949 on the site of the former Lion Brewery, built in 1837.[7] Martin was just 39 when he was appointed to lead the design team in late 1948. Martin designed the structure as an 'egg in a box', a term he used to describe the separation of the curved auditorium space from the surrounding building and the noise and vibration of the adjacent railway viaduct. Sir Thomas Beecham used similar imagery, calling the building a 'giant chicken coop'.[8] The building was officially opened on 3 May 1951. The original plan was that Arturo Toscanini would conduct the opening concerts, but he was unwell, and the inaugural concerts were conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult.[9][10] In April 1988 it was designated a Grade I listed building, the first post-war building to become so protected.
[edit] The Telekinema
Main article: Telekinema
Funded by the Festival authorities, this 400-seat, state-of-the-art cinema was specially designed to screen both film (including 3-dimensional films) and large-screen television. Situated between Waterloo Station and the Royal Festival Hall, it proved one of the most popular attractions of the South Bank Exhibition between May and September 1951. Designed by Wells Coates, operated and programmed by the British Film Institute, it re-opened as the National Film Theatre in October 1952. It was eventually demolished in 1957. The NFT was relocated a stone's throw away from its original site, under Waterloo Bridge, where it still stands today.
[edit] Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway
Main article: Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway
A pleasure railway in Battersea Park, designed by Frederick Roland Emett. The line ran for 500 yards between Far Tottering and Oyster Creek passing a vista designed by John Piper.[11]
The design of the railway's locomotives, rolling stock and stations were based on his whimsical cartoons in Punch which parodied a pre-Beeching decrepit rural branch line as well the popular myth surrounding such lines. The most famous of the locomotives was Nellie, a copper and mahogany kinetic sculpture who appeared on a charity stamp and a model published by Puffin Books.[11]
[edit] Other structures
Other notable structures on the South Bank site included:
- An old Shot Tower (built 1826). In 1950, the gallery chamber at the top of the tower was removed and a steel-framed superstructure was added instead, providing a radio beacon for the festival. It was the only existing building to be retained on the site for the Festival. After the Festival, the tower was demolished to make way for the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which opened in 1967.
- Transport, designed by Arcon
- Festival Administration Building, by Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Edward Mills
- The Lion and the Unicorn pavilion celebrating the history of the British nation (designed by R.D. Russell, Robert Goodden and Richard Guyatt)
- Land of Britain, by H.T. Cadbury Brown
- Minerals of the Land, by the Architects Co-Partnership
- Power & Production, by George Grenfell Baines and Felix Samuely
- Sea and Ships, by Basil Spence
- A mural painted by the British Modernist artist John Tunnard
- A mosaic designed by Victor Pasmore
- Sculptures by Barbara Hepworth.
[edit] Live architecture
In addition to the main and science exhibitions at Battersea, it was planned to have a separate exhibition which focused on building research, town planning and architecture. It was decided that to get the public interested in these disciplines that a live architecture exhibition be created which would display actual buildings, open spaces and streets of a new community. To that end a public housing estate in Poplar, named the Lansbury Estate after George Lansbury, was created. Plans to build new planned social housing in the area had been mooted as far back as 1943, at the end of the war, nearly a quarter of the buildings in the area had been destroyed or seriously damaged. In 1948 the Architecture Council decided to develop the Poplar site for its exhibition partly due to its proximity to the other exhibitions. Despite setbacks with funding work began on the site in December 1949 and by May 1950 preparations on the site were well advanced. The winter of 1950–51 was one of the wettest in living memory and led to many delays, however the first properties were completed and occupied by February 1951.[12]
In common with the rest of the exhibition it opened on May 3, 1951. Visitors to the live architecture exhibition would first visit the Building Research Pavilion where they were shown problems with housing and their scientific solutions. Then came the Town Planning Pavilion, a large, broadly striped red-and-white tent, which demonstrated the principles of town planning and the urgent need for new towns, including a mock up of an imaginary town called Avoncaster.[12] Visitors then went on to see the buildings which would occupy the site in various stages of construction.
Despite the efforts, attendances were disappointing with only 86,426 people visiting, compared to 8 million who visited the South Bank exhibition.[12] Reaction to the development at the time by industry professionals was lukewarm, with some criticising the small scale of the development,[13] subsequent governments and local authorities concentrated in developing high rise, high density social housing rather than the Lansbury estate model. However the estate continues to the present day and remains popular with residents.[12]
Notable buildings which remain include a church called Trinity Independent Chapel, a public house named The Festive Briton (and now called Callaghans) in a corner of Chrisp Street Market, also part of the estate, with The Festival Inn nearby.
Trowell, a village in Nottinghamshire, was selected from among 1600 others to be the "Festival Village" as a typical example of British rural life. Trowell also has a "Festival Inn".
[edit] Science museum
Also as part of the Festival in London, a new wing was built for the Science Museum, to hold the Exhibition of Science, and a so-called FunFair (actually an amusement park) and "Pleasure Gardens" – with attractions such as a Fountain Lake, a "Grotto", a "Tree Walk", and the Guinness Festival Clock – were constructed in Battersea Park. Parliament Square was redesigned as well.
[edit] Events associated with the Festival
- The Festival ship MV Campania (formerly HMS Campania) took a travelling version of the South Bank exhibition to several ports from May to October: Southampton, Dundee, Newcastle, Hull, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Birkenhead and Glasgow.[2]
- The Festival was the first time that steelpan music had been played in Britain, thanks to the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra.
- The first performance of Robert McLellan's 5-act play Mary Stewart was a Festival of Britain production at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre.[14]
- An exhibition of sculptures organised by the Arts Council in Battersea Park brought Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth to wider public notice.
- There were two exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery as part of the Festival Programme: a display on the History of East London and a show of craft and popular art forms.
- A commemorative crown (5 shillings in the money of the time) was also minted with a striking of over 2 million, and it remains inexpensive.
- World premiere of Ferde Grofé's Atlantic Suite, also conducted by Grofé. It was Grofé's first time abroad since 1923.
[edit] Images of the Festival of Britain
Several images of the South Bank Exhibition can be found on the internet[15] including many released by The National Archives on the 60th anniversary of the festival[16] while a filmed retrospective view of the 1951 Festival of Britain on the South Bank, with special reference to design and architecture and entitled Brief City (1952), was made by Massingham Productions Ltd. for the British Government as a public information film.[17]
The Festival was also filmed by documentary-maker Humphrey Jennings, as Family Portrait and it is featured in scenes in the feature films Prick Up Your Ears and 84 Charing Cross Road. The upcoming Festival is a central feature in the 1952 comedy film The Happy Family.
[edit] Legacy
Although the Festival was popular and made a profit,[citation needed] Winston Churchill was contemptuous of it and the first act of his newly-elected government in October 1951 was an instruction to clear the South Bank site, although the Festival exhibition was scheduled to close at the end of September anyway. Profits from the Festival were retained by the London County Council and were used to convert the Royal Festival Hall into a concert hall and to establish The South Bank. The 221B Baker Street exhibit of Sherlock Holmes apartment is still displayed in a pub near Charing Cross railway station.
The Guide Book to the Festival described its legacy in these words: "It will leave behind not just a record of what we have thought of ourselves in the year 1951 but, in a fair community founded where once there was a slum, in an avenue of trees or in some work of art, a reminder of what we have done to write this single, adventurous year into our national and local history."
The "Festival Style", combining modernism with whimsy and Englishness, influenced architecture, interior design, product design and typography in the 1950s. William Feaver describes the Festival Style as "Braced legs, indoor plants, lily-of-the valley sprays of lightbulbs, aluminium lattices, Costswold-type walling with picture windows, flying staircases, blond wood, the thorn, the spike, the molecule."[18] It was manifested in the New Towns, coffee bars and office blocks of the fifties. (A 1951 office building at 219 Oxford Street, London, incorporated images of the Festival on its facade.) The Festival style was manifested in the design of Coventry Cathedral (1962), by a Festival architect, Basil Spence. Many architects, especially those working for local government, enthusiastically copied its forms and materials but without too much consideration of their durability, resulting in a stock of buildings that have since been much criticized. The design writer Reyner Banham has questioned the originality and the Englishness of the Festival Style and indeed the extent of its influence.[19]
2011年5月14日星期六
倫敦音樂人爭地鐵站表演機會／艾未未展
視頻：艾未未藝術作品在倫敦畫廊展出
BBC中文網
艾未未的藝術作品在倫敦的裏森畫廊(Lisson Gallery)於5月13日到7月16日展出。BBC中文網記者凱露前往李森畫廊，參觀了這個展覽。 自從艾未未4月初「失蹤」到現在已經一個多月過去了，至今沒有任何音訊。 艾未未的藝術作品在倫敦的裏森畫廊(Lisson Gallery)於5月13日到7月16 ...
BBC中文網
艾未未的藝術作品在倫敦的裏森畫廊(Lisson Gallery)於5月13日到7月16日展出。
視頻：倫敦音樂人爭地鐵站表演機會
更新時間 2011年5月12日, 格林尼治標準時間10:09
由倫敦市長鮑里斯·約翰遜（Boris Johnson）支持的「地鐵音樂表演比賽」（Busking Underground）近期在各大地鐵站如火如荼地上演。16歲至25歲的年輕音樂愛好者們可以參加這個比賽，在倫敦地鐵這個特殊的舞台上自彈自唱，一展才華。
比賽經三輪篩選後，最終選出11名年輕音樂人在7月進行決賽。獲勝的音樂人將可以獲得一年倫敦地鐵表演執照；參加現代音樂學院的一項課程；錄音室錄製音樂；擴音器等等獎品。
參加這次比賽的不少選手是第一次做現場表演，他們卻都覺得地鐵是一個絕佳的現場表演舞台，尤其對於新人來說，不會感到太多壓力。而該比賽的主辦者認為，對於這些熱愛音樂的年輕人來說，地鐵是一個很好的鍛煉他們表演技巧的舞台。
四通八達的地鐵是倫敦的標誌之一，而賣藝音樂家是倫敦地鐵中一道獨特的風景線。想一想，當你獨自走在昏暗的地鐵通道裏，或是置身於擁擠不堪的乘客中，這時身邊傳來一絲動人的旋律，該是多麼地令人振奮！
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