2012年7月29日 星期日

2012/ 1948 Summer Olympics London

倫敦奧運》開幕典禮英式風味 7少年點燃聖火

倫敦奧運開幕典禮英式風味。(李天助/攝)
[本報訊]

歷經7年等待的倫敦奧運,出席開幕典禮的英國女王伊莉莎白二世,向全世界宣告第30屆奧林匹克運動會在倫敦開幕。

在運動員入場儀式前,倫敦碗舉行名為《神奇島嶼》為主題的藝術表演,演繹出英國從一處鄉村綠野歷經工業大革命,進而蛻變出在全世界範圍內,對現代文明產生深刻影響的進程。

英國女王、007的扮演者丹尼爾‧克雷格、豆豆先生、哈利波特之母J.K.羅琳、球星貝克漢等,與半個世紀來深深影響這世界流行文化的甲殼蟲、U2等樂隊在整個藝術表演過程中,被當作英國文明和社會精神的符號參與其中。

倫敦當地時間0點18分,伊莉莎白二世向全世界宣告奧運在倫敦開幕。

最為令人吃驚的是聖火點燃方式,並非哪位名人來點燃,而是由7名年輕人從5面奧運金牌得主雷德格雷夫手中接過聖火後,共同點燃了象徵204個參賽國家和地區的銅花瓣,這些銅花瓣聚集成倫敦奧運聖火炬!

這是倫敦第三次舉辦奧運,激勵一代人,這是倫敦對於世界青年的召喚,「人人參與」,成為開幕典禮一個最重要的主題。

The Way We Were: 1948 London Olympians Look Back

Jim Naughten for TIME
Michael Clement LaPage, 88, was a crew member of the British team which won the silver medal for rowing in the 1948 London games.


Few are alive today who remember the 1948 Olympics in London. To commemorate London’s third hosting of the Games, TIME has traversed two continents to speak to the last surviving medalists from the U.K. and the U.S. for its special Olympics edition. Those competitors speak of feelings familiar to us all—the comfort of a lucky charm, the joy of victory. They also recount experiences that are foreign to many athletes today: the enervating effect of post-war rations, and training sessions fitted around everyday jobs.

Despite the various hardships they encountered, the athletes interviewed by TIME remember the Games fondly. Yet when the International Olympic Committee selected London to host the 1948 Summer Olympics, not everyone in the city was pleased. “The average range of British enthusiasm for the Games stretches from lukewarm to dislike,” wrote London’s Evening Standard in September 1947. “It is not too late for invitations to be politely withdrawn.” Even government officials who had pushed for a London Olympics acknowledged that following the devastation of the Second World War, Britain had few resources to spare for a sporting contest. “We have a housing shortage, and food difficulties, which do not permit us to do all we wish,” said Prime Minister Clement Attlee in a radio address welcoming athletes in 1948.

It was called the ‘austerity’ Olympics—in a sense that even in today’s frugal times we can hardly fathom. With a budget of just $1.2 million (compared to today’s almost $14 billion), no new venues were built—instead, organizers made do and mended. The Henley Royal Regatta course hosted rowing events despite being 70 meters too short. Javelin throwers, deprived of stadium lighting, cast their spears in the dark, while judges officiated with flashlights. Wembley Stadium—usually used as a greyhound racing arena—received a new brick rubble cinder surface, which quickly turned to slush in the rain.

Yet, as Atlee pointed out, if there was anything lacking, it was not “good will.” Britain worked hard to be able to welcome 4,000 competitors from 59 countries – converting university dormitories, schools and RAF bases into accommodation for visiting athletes and their entourages. The army convalescent camp in London’s Richmond Park became an athletes’ village, complete with a ‘milk bar’, a cobbler’s, a hair dresser’s, a post office and a cinema to seat 500. Good will also streamed in from other nations, particularly when it came to food. The Dutch shipped over 100 tons of fruit and vegetables, Denmark contributed 160,000 eggs, and Czechoslovakia sent 20,000 mineral water bottles. The Brits cooked these and other contributions in camp kitchens, attempting to cater to national cuisines. Although post-war rations were boosted for athletes, the fare wasn’t always well received—legend has it that oarsmen displeased by their end-of-the-Olympics dinner at Henley began to chuck bread rolls in protest.

Still, athletes managed to enjoy themselves, without fine cuisine and—in many cases—without alcohol (though the French team carted over their own wine). After winning a gold medal in the swallow sailing class, David Bond and other competitors celebrated by going to a dance at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay, on the English coast. “We had a wonderful ball,” he tells TIME. “Nobody got drunk actually.” In 1948, the rewards for top competitors, were modest — a medal to show to their family and, in British cyclist Tommy Godwin’s case, a post-race glass of chocolate milk. There were no multi-million dollar endorsements, no spandex uniforms, no neon mascots. The big technological advances in 1948 were the photo finish and silk swimming costumes, which replaced saggy cotton. Yet for all the differences with the modern Games, some things have remained the same. Sixty years later, people from all over the world will gather once more in London to celebrate the Olympic spirit. Londoners will still grumble. And like Prime Minister Attlee said in his address, everyone will be hoping for a bit of good weather.
Jim Naughten is a photographer based in London.

2012年7月28日 星期六

Danny Boyle's master strokes


Opening Ceremony review: Palace coup provides Danny Boyle's master stroke

Olympic opening ceremony



Related Stories

In the end, the most dramatic coup of all happened not in the stadium but at Buckingham Palace.
Enter Daniel Craig, greeted by corgis and flunkies, ushered along lushly carpeted corridors into an inner sanctum.
The whole world will have been thinking the same thing. She hasn't. Surely not. She won't. She did.
"Good evening, Mr Bond," purred the Queen, who had somehow been persuaded to play herself in London 2012's opening ceremony. For that remarkable coup alone, Danny Boyle deserves some sort of gong.
Boyle's task as master of ceremonies behind the scenes at the Olympic Stadium was not to match Beijing, and certainly not to outdo it, but to put clear blue water between the mass participation spectacle of four years ago and our own effort.
Here was a more modest, quirky and humorous celebration of national inclusiveness.
Unlike its 2008 predecessor, this opening ceremony laid careful stress on what we like to think of as the British virtues - individual genius, imaginative flair, freedom of expression and wit.
Boyle certainly had the eclectic cast list to help push his vision of Brand Britain - Sir Kenneth Branagh, JK Rowling, Sir Simon Rattle, Akram Khan, Dizzee Rascal, Rowan Atkinson and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web.

Start Quote

Up out of the stadium floor sprouted half a dozen dark satanic mills to usher Britain into its age of prosperous domination...”
Not forgetting our sovereign and Bradley Wiggins, who entered in a yellow jersey and rang the bell to initiate proceedings.
The idea which emerged was a potted history of this sceptred isle, starting with the Thames which a deftly edited film followed from its source to Big Ben.
We entered the stadium to the strains of iconic hymns from the four nations, sung by children, to find the pastoral paddock of pre-industrial Britain full of gambolling sheep and quacking geese in the shadow of a mocked-up Glastonbury Tor.
In the most dazzling use of stage machinery to the predictive words of Blake's Jerusalem, this green and pleasant land was torn up by the advance of the Industrial Revolution.
Sir Kenneth Branagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel in a stovepipe hat channelled Shakespeare's Caliban: "Be not afeared: the isle is full of noise."
And up out of the stadium floor sprouted half a dozen dark satanic mills to usher Britain into its age of prosperous domination and forge five rings which interlocked spectacularly over the stadium.
Flourish and dream Enter, at this point, the Queen, to be greeted by the national anthem performed by a choir of deaf children who signed as they sung.

Start Quote

Many of the close-ups lacked narrative clarity, while a vast spectacle made up of too many component parts was short of epic heft”
This was another theme underpinning Boyle's Britain - one in which the young are encouraged to flourish and dream, encouraged by a uniquely rich children's literature - led by Peter Pan, the proceeds of which fund the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children.
JK Rowling stepped up to read from JM Barrie.
And matching that national treasure trove was a showcase of British pop from the 60s onwards.
Song after iconic song soundtracked a dance show celebrating young love and the power of instant communication facilitated by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who took the audience's applause.
What the watching TV audiences made of hasty references to EastEnders and the NHS, to Gregory's Girl and cricket, is anyone's guess.
As ever with such ceremonies (when not choreographed by the big-spending Chinese), there was an unresolved tussle between the large scale and the intimate, between entertaining those in the stadium and everyone else parked on the sofa.
Many of the close-ups lacked narrative clarity, while a vast spectacle made up of too many component parts was short of epic heft.

Olympics coverage online

Olympics images
Whenever an idea was good, it was because it was simple. There was emotional power in the image of a tree being uprooted and out of the hole in the earth poured Brunel's worker bees.
There was easy wit in Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, monotonously plinking the single note of a synth in the theme tune to Chariots of Fire as he dreamed of joining the film's joggers on the beach at St Andrews.
And then the final section before the athletes started piling in turned reflective. Choreographer Akram Khan presented an expressive dance inspired by the horrific events of 7/7, a day after London won the bid to host the Olympics.
Once the teams were gathered in the stadium, the Arctic Monkeys sang John Lennon's Come Together as a fleet of winged cyclists, representing doves of peace, circled the track. One of them even took off.
This opening ceremony sometimes took off too, not least when David Beckham arrived by speedboat to hand the flame to Sir Steve Redgrave, who with other great British Olympians came good on London 2012's promise to hand on to the next generation.
Nothing adorned the evening like the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, composed of individual petal-shaped torches ascending to meet in the night sky. There was no chance of Sir Paul McCartney topping that.
It should be recorded that the most spontaneous cheers of the night, apart from for Team GB entering to Bowie's "Heroes" in their gold epaulets designed by Stella McCartney, was for the volunteers who made this happen. Hats off to all 7,500 of them.
Jasper Rees is the author of Bred of Heaven: One Man's Quest to Reclaim His Welsh Roots

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2012年7月27日 星期五

" We're ready!" London Olympics final countdown begins

 

Associated Press
週三﹐倫敦奧林匹克體育場上空煙花綻放﹐這是在為週五晚上的奧運會開幕式作彩排。

獲奧斯卡最佳導演獎的丹尼•博伊爾(Danny Boyle)曾經拍過一部電影﹐影片將倫敦描繪成一座世界末日降臨之後被攜帶病毒的僵屍佔領的荒城。不過﹐博伊爾構思的本週五晚奧運會開幕式的開篇場景會稍稍溫和一點:會有羊、馬和鵝等動物登場亮相。

由 於此前2008年北京奧運會的開幕式壯觀盛大﹐英國導演博伊爾此次承擔的重任可謂無人羨慕。博伊爾此前曾執導勵志影片《貧民窟的百萬富翁》 (Slumdog Millionaire)、《猜火車》(Trainspotting)以及經典僵屍電影《28天毀滅倒數》(28 Days Later)。

為完成這項艱巨任務﹐博伊爾為開幕式精心設計了一個開篇﹐其構思受到英國是“綠色宜人土地”(green and pleasant land)這一提法的啟發。“綠色宜人的土地”一語出自英國愛國歌曲《耶路撒冷》(Jerusalem)的歌詞﹐英國詩人威廉•布萊克(William Blake)是歌詞的作者。博伊爾希望通過開幕式演出捕捉到英國的關鍵元素﹐其中包括豐富的歷史﹐當代文化﹐有趣的幽默感以及總能盛產搖滾明星這一特點。

博伊爾面臨的挑戰在於﹐他要執導一場既能吸引英國觀眾又能取悅全球數十億電視觀眾的開幕式演出。博伊爾曾在上個月表示﹐他知道開幕式演出無法做到讓每個人都滿意。他和藹地說﹐你注定要失敗。不過他又說﹐我們將盡最大努力保證不失敗。

出 席奧運會開幕式的政要包括美國第一夫人米歇爾•奧巴馬(Michelle Obama)和英國首相卡梅倫(David Cameron)。開幕式定於倫敦當地時間晚上9點開始。博伊爾和其他人此前已向卡梅倫簡要介紹了開幕式演出的情況。卡梅倫說﹐我認為演出的一兩個瞬間將 令觀眾感到震撼。

開幕式演出的第一幕是田園風光:板球比賽﹐真草舖就的草地以及活生生的動物﹐其中包括大約70只羊﹐12匹馬﹐各式各樣 的鵝及其它家養牲畜。預計接下來的幾幕分別是工業革命、英國的國家醫療保健體系以及英國數字時代的未來等。預計英國王室也會“出鏡”﹐開幕式上會播放在白 金漢宮(Buckingham Palace)提前錄好的一些片段。英國女王的發言人拒絕置評。

音樂也將在開幕式中扮演重要角色﹐其中既 包括作曲家愛德華•埃爾加(Edward Elgar)的作品﹐也包括電子樂隊Underworld的兩首歌。該樂隊因一首博伊爾電影《猜火車》(Trainspotting)中的片尾曲Born Slippy而名聲大噪。預計開幕式的最後一個節目是前披頭士(Beatles)樂隊成員保羅•麥卡特尼(Paul McCartney)領唱的大聯唱。

開幕式上的另一個特色是一口重達27噸的大鐘﹐其鐘聲將宣佈開幕式的正式啟動。鐘上刻有一句莎士比亞劇作《暴風雨》(The Tempest)中的話:不要恐懼﹐島上已充滿了躁動。

由 於這場盛會被戲稱為節儉奧運﹐再加上英國經濟處於50年來最嚴重的二次衰退之中﹐博伊爾沒有那麼多的預算﹐無法搞出像北京奧運會那樣的人海表演。參加北京 奧運會開幕式演出的舞者、打擊樂手和其他表演者共有約1.4萬人﹐其中9,000人來自中國人民解放軍。雖然中國沒有披露過北京奧運會開幕式的花費﹐但外 界認為應該是倫敦奧運開幕式的若干倍。英國對這場開幕式給出的預算大約是2,700萬英鎊(合4,200萬美元)。

儘管如此﹐博伊爾仍希 望讓自己執導的這場開幕式更溫暖、幽默且更具包容性﹐演出場地上設置了公眾可以站立的場區。開幕式將為部分人辟出一個“狂舞池”﹐這一設計靈感來自知名的 格拉斯頓堡音樂節(Glastonbury music festival)﹐而一個類似舞池的設計靈感則來自年度古典音樂會Proms。媒體將這兩個站立區稱為“狂舞和優雅舞池”。

倫敦奧運會開幕式也有一個不好控制的難題:如何在10萬名奧運會參賽運動員盡情享受進場的悠閑時﹐讓他們走快點。博伊爾說﹐他們希望慢慢走﹐這是可以理解的。

Cassell Bryan-Low
 For Openers, A Spectacle On A Budget
 Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle once made a film depicting London as a postapocalyptic wasteland overrun by virus-carrying zombies. For the beginning of Friday evening's Olympic opening ceremony, Mr. Boyle has something a bit gentler in mind: sheep, horses and geese.

Mr. Boyle, the English director of gritty films like 'Slumdog Millionaire,' 'Trainspotting' and the zombie classic '28 Days Later,' is the man who faces the unenviable task of following China's gargantuan spectacle that opened the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Part of Mr. Boyle's answer is an opening set for the ceremony inspired by the U.K.'s 'green and pleasant land,' a reference to the words of William Blake in the British anthem 'Jerusalem.' Throughout the show, his aim is to capture key elements of Britain, including its rich history, contemporary culture, playful sense of humor and propensity to churn out rock stars.

The challenge is to make a show that will appeal both to a British audience and the expected billion or more viewers around the world. Mr. Boyle last month said he knows he won't be able to please everyone with the show. 'You're bound to fail,' he said good-naturedly. But, he added, 'We'll try very hard not to.'

Among dignitaries due to attend the show, which is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. local time, are U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr. Boyle and others have briefed the prime minister on the show, which, Mr. Cameron said, will contain 'one or two moments I think people will find really spine-tingling.'

The first set is a pastoral scene: a cricket match, meadows covered in real grass and live animals─including some 70 sheep, a dozen horses and an assortment of geese and other farmyard stock. Later are expected to be tributes to the industrial revolution and Britain's state health-care system─as well as the nation's future in a digital age. Even the royal family gets a look-in with an expected prerecorded segment inside Buckingham Palace. A spokeswoman for the queen declined to comment.

Music also will play a prominent role, from composer Edward Elgar's 'Nimrod' to two pieces written by electronic band Underworld, who made their breakthrough after their song 'Born Slippy' was used in Mr. Boyle's 'Trainspotting.' The final act is expected to involve former Beatles member Paul McCartney leading a singalong.

Another set feature: a 27-ton bell whose chimes will open the ceremony and is inscribed with a quote from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest:' 'Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises.'

With this event dubbed the austerity Olympics─and with the U.K. in its worst double-dip recession in 50 years─Mr. Boyle wasn't going to have the checkbook required to match Beijing's waves of dancers, percussionists and other performers, some 14,000 in all, including 9,000 from the People's Liberation Army. While China hasn't disclosed how much it spent on the event, it is considered to have been many multiples of the roughly £27 million ($42 million) the U.K. has budgeted for its ceremony.

Still, Mr. Boyle hopes to make his show warmer, humorous and more inclusive, including areas of the set where members of the public will be able to stand. There will be a 'mosh pit' for some, a nod to the famed Glastonbury music festival, and a similar enclosure inspired by the annual classical-music concert series, the Proms. The media have dubbed the twin standing areas 'the mosh and posh pits.'

One challenge is hard to control: keeping 10,0000 Olympic athletes moving at a brisk clip as they savor their parade into the stadium. Says Mr. Boyle: 'they understandably want to take their time.'

London Olympics final countdown begins

The Olympic torch on the Gloriana The torch relay is on the last leg of its 70-day journey

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The opening ceremony of the London Olympics is due to take place later after seven years of preparations.
The three-hour spectacle in the Olympic Stadium is expected to be viewed by a global TV audience of a billion people.
The Olympic flame is heading along the Thames on the Queen's rowbarge Gloriana on the final day of the torch relay.
A mass bell-ringing took place for three minutes from 08:12 BST to mark the Cultural Olympiad. Big Ben chimed 40 times during the period.
Organisers have released a video clip giving a sneak preview of Oscar winner Danny Boyle's opening ceremony, featuring groups in colourful stage outfits dancing to Tiger Feet by 1970s rock group Mud and cyclists with wings pedalling along to Come Together by the Beatles.
In other developments:
Europe's largest bell will ring inside the Olympic stadium at 21:00 BST at the start of the £27m extravaganza, featuring a cast of 10,000 volunteers and said to be a quirky take on British life.

Olympics coverage online

Olympics images
Some 15,000 square metres of staging and 12,956 props will be used, and the event will boast a million-watt PA system using more than 500 speakers.
The crowd of about 80,000 will include the Queen and a host of dignitaries and celebrities.
As late as Thursday night, Games organisers said that the ceremony had not sold out and tickets in the two highest price categories, costing £2,012 and £1,600 were still available.
Earlier, the torch relay is at Hampton Court Palace, where it wove through the famous maze before travelling down the Thames.
The Olympic torch in Bushy Park, west London The torch relay is on the last leg of its 70-day journey
The final torchbearer of the 70-day relay will be 22-year-old basketball player Amber Charles, who played a key role in London's winning bid and who will carry the flame in front of City Hall and Tower Bridge at approximately 12:45 BST.
The relay ends late in the evening with the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremony but the identity of the person who will take on the honour remains a mystery.
The chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, Dennis Hone, said he was thrilled the big day was finally here.
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "I suppose when you've been working on a project so long, you dream about this day coming, you want everything to be a fantastic success.
"When you look around at the park, you look at the venues, the 100 hectares of landscaping, the 2,000 trees, all the plants in bloom, it's looking fantastic. It's going to be a great day, it's going to be a great 17 days of sport."
The Queen and Prince Philip will host a Buckingham Palace reception for heads of state and government and an opening ceremony celebration concert featuring Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Duran Duran and Paolo Nutini will be held in Hyde Park.
And the sporting action, which officially began on Wednesday with the women's football competition, continues with archery at Lord's cricket ground.
More than 10,000 athletes from 204 nations will take part in the London Olympics.
Some £9bn of public money has been spent on staging the Games but PM David Cameron, who toured the Olympic Park on Thursday, has stressed the opportunity presented by the Games at a time of economic fragility.
"Let's put our best foot forward, we're an amazing country with fantastic things to offer. This is a great moment for us, let's seize it," he said.

2012年7月26日 星期四

Taiwan flag on Regent Street is taken down

 
高掛在倫敦熱鬧商圈攝政街的中華民國國旗被迫移除事件,不僅國內關注,英國與美國主流媒體也相繼報導。
週一到週五每日發行量近160萬份的倫敦「標準晚報」(Evening Standard),今天以「2012倫敦奧運:攝政街撤下台灣國旗 掀起新外交風暴」為題,報導商圈同業組織「攝政街協會」撤下中華民國國旗改掛中華台北奧運會旗的事件。
總部設在倫敦的全球性通訊社「路透社」發出多張照片,從中華民國國旗高掛在攝政街南端靠近比卡迪里圓環(Piccadilly Circus)繁忙路段,對照國旗被拿下後的空缺位置,除了標準晚報刊登使用,美國三大電視網之一的「國家廣播公司」(NBC)網站也刊登照片並有報導。
標準晚報報導指出,外界指稱倫敦奧運主辦單位與英國外交部因為擔心惹惱北京,決定將中華民國國旗撤下,台灣駐英代表已正式表達抗議,掀起新外交風暴。
駐英代表沈呂巡不滿國旗被撤下,要求主辦單位說明,並強調1981年台灣與國際奧委會簽署的協議,並沒有禁止台灣的國旗在奧運以外場合懸掛。
沈呂巡說,在民主國家面對這樣的議題,應依據言論自由方式處理,而不受第3方介入,希望主辦單位「攝政街協會」能將中華民國國旗掛回。
報導並說,撤換國旗事件在旅英台灣僑界引起高度關注,不少僑胞表達憤怒。
由攝政街數百家商店組成的「攝政街協會」自6月15日起依字母排序,懸掛206面奧運參與國家的國旗,20日中華民國青天白日滿地紅國旗首度高掛,吸睛搶眼。24日上午疑因外力介入移除國旗,今天掛上中華台北奧運旗。
報導還說,倫敦奧委會弄錯國旗的糗事昨晚新添一樁,在蘇格蘭舉行的北韓對哥倫比亞女子足球賽,誤用南韓國旗介紹北韓球員,北韓隊憤而離場抗議。



London 2012 Olympics: Foreign office takes over in row after Taiwan flag on Regent Street is taken down

Flag row: A conspicuous absence in the Regent Street flag display Picture: Reuters

The Foreign Office has intervened in a diplomatic row over the flying of Taiwan’s flag in central London during the Olympics.
The red and green emblem of the Asian island was removed from a display of 206 national colours in the heart of the West End amid concern it would upset the Chinese.
It was replaced with the flag of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.
Taiwan has used this flag at Olympics since the early 1980s after the International Olympic Committee ruled it could not compete under the name of the Republic of China (ROC) – as Taiwan is formally known.
Chinese officials are believed to have raised concerns over the use of Taiwan’s flag at the Regent Street Association’s display.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We contacted the RSA (Regent Street Association) and suggested they might want to talk to LOCOG regarding the flag under which Taiwan participates in the Olympics. With all parties we have been clear that this is a matter for the RSA.”
But Shen Lyushun, Taiwan’s most senior representative to the UK, slammed the decision to remove the flag and said Taiwan was being censored.
The Chinese regard Taiwan as a rebel province and see the use of the flag as an expression of its independence.
Mr Shen said: “In a democratic country and in a larger sense, we believe this kind of issue should be regulated by the freedom of expression without undue intervention from a third party. We sincerely hope that our national flag will be returned to its original place soon.”
The row over flags is the second to hit the Games after Locog was forced to apologise to North Korea for using the South Korean flag in a pre-match video introducing the women’s football team at Hampden Park in Glasgow yesterday.
The North Koreans stormed off the pitch and refused to return for nearly an hour before the introductory footage was amended to show the right flag.
A spokesman for Locog confirmed the dispute but denied being responsible for the final decision to replace the flag.
He said: “The Regent Street Association put the flag up. The complaint came in to the Foreign Office.
“There was a meeting with the Regent Street Association, the Foreign Office and ourselves. We were kept in the loop.
“It was the Foreign Office who advised it to be taken down.
“The complaint from the Chinese came into them.”
The removal of the Taiwan flag yesterday left a conspicuous hole in the rows of national colours in Regent Street that angered Taiwanese residents in London.
Annie Walker, director of the Regent Street Association in charge of the display, said she was told it would be better “ politically” if the flag was changed.
She said: “We all know our politics so obviously the Chinese were not happy. I was asked if there was a possibility of changing the flag by the Foreign Office after discussions with Locog. Obviously China and Taiwan was mentioned and it was discussed.”
Under an agreement with the IOC in 1980 Taiwan — which competes as “Chinese Taipei” — displays the flag of its Olympic committee rather than its national emblem at Games venues. Last night the “ correct” flag was raised. Ms Walker said: “A mistake was made. The correct flag has been put up.”
London’s Taiwanese community accused China of “bullying” the organisers of the flag display. Charles Chen, a former spokesman for the Kuomintang political party who is studying in the capital, said he felt “saddened, shocked and sorry” by the decision.
A spokesman for the Crown Estate said: “The correct flag for Chinese Taipei will be hung in time for the torch relay.” A spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy would not comment.

2012年7月25日 星期三

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Rolls-Royce is an English brand; it may refer to:


 
與勞斯萊斯親密接觸
作者:白領時裝有限公司董事長 苗鴻冰


2012722,中國企業家俱樂部代表團來到英國美麗的鄉村古德伍德。這裏是英國國寶級汽車品牌——勞斯萊斯(Rolls-Royce)——的總部。

勞斯萊斯全球CEO托斯頓•穆勒•烏特弗斯特意安排在古德伍德莊園舉行歡迎儀式,在這座占地7萬畝、歷經300餘年、里士滿公爵的官邸拉開了中國企業家訪英之旅的序幕。烏特弗斯在致辭中說:“我很榮幸地站在這裏,歡迎來自中國企業家俱樂部的朋友,你們把英國訪問的首站選擇在勞斯萊斯讓我們倍感驕傲和榮幸。”

第二天一早,我們參觀了勞斯萊斯總部。勞斯萊斯全球溝通總監和製造總監分別介紹了這一品牌自1906年誕生以來的傳奇故事。在專業講解員的陪同介紹下,我們參觀了勞斯萊斯的生產線;在訓練有素的試駕官陪同下,在古德伍德莊園試駕了勞斯萊斯最新車型。

勞斯萊斯是世界頂級豪華轎車廠商,1906年成立於英國,公司創始人為Frederick Henry Royce(亨利·萊斯)和Charles Stewart Rolls(查理·勞斯)。除了製造汽車,勞斯萊斯還是世界上最領先的發動機製造者,波音客機用的就是勞斯萊斯的發動機。2003年,勞斯萊斯汽車公司被寶馬(BMW)接手。

與勞斯萊斯“親密接觸”兩天下來,我有以下一些感慨:

1、勞斯萊斯的成功,得益於它一直秉承的英國傳統造車藝術,以及它對細節和品質絕不妥協的精神。

2、勞斯萊斯與眾不同之處,在於它大量使用手工。每一輛勞斯萊斯汽車要經過60雙手、450多個小時的精心打造,創造出近乎完美的作品。據統計,製作一個方向盤要15個小時,裝配一輛車身需要31個小時,安裝一台發動機要6天。正因為如此,它在裝配線上每分鐘只能移動6英寸。製作一輛四門車要兩個半月,每一輛車都要經過5000英里的測試。

3、勞斯萊斯對客戶的尊重做到了極致。客戶被允許參與到設計中,不光享受了設計的樂趣,更得到了極具個性的專屬產品。

4、品牌的附加值遠遠大於產品本身價格,最重要的是滿足客戶對美好生活的浪漫憧憬。勞斯萊斯賣給客戶的不僅僅是一輛車,更是具有收藏價值和升值潛力的藝術品。

5、勞斯萊斯使體驗成為無聲的推銷工具。一但有過體驗,便期待擁有。每一位試駕、試乘或參觀的人都會產生購買的衝動,是典型的體驗式行銷。

6、勞斯萊斯的工作餐廳是一個平等輕鬆的好地方,CEO、高管 、製造工人都在一起用餐,隨時輕鬆打招呼。充分體現了勞斯萊斯對員工和手工藝的尊重。

7、尊重客戶文化,設計出讓客戶親近並感動的作品。比如:當中國一躍成為全球最大買家時,勞斯萊斯經過對中國文化的深入研究,設計生產了“黑紅幻影系列”和“龍系列“等極具中國美學特色的產品,深受中國人的喜愛。

8、勞斯萊斯通過企業故事講述品牌的歷史和價值。無論是CEO還是陪駕官,一直驕傲地講述關於品牌的不為人知的美好故事,讓聽眾產生無限敬意。這是一種智慧、藝術和行銷的完美相遇。

9、勞斯萊斯雖然是個傳統品牌,但追求領先技術和近乎完美的精湛工藝。無論是獨立空調系統,還是全方位的電子眼預報系統,還是自動關門的小按鈕,無不體現勞斯萊斯一直堅持的高品質奢侈追求。

我在想:當德國的寶馬和英國的勞斯萊斯牽手,他們製造的絕不是一輛汽車,而是人們對美的憧憬和嚮往。我由衷地想說:向你們致敬。



Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a British manufacturer of luxury automobiles based at the Goodwood plant in West Sussex, England. The factory is located across from the historic Goodwood Circuit in Goodwood, West Sussex, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW and is the current producer of Rolls-Royce branded automobiles, whose historical production dates back to 1904 through Rolls-Royce Limited and Rolls-Royce Motors.

Contents

History

Predecessors

The history of Rolls-Royce began as Rolls-Royce Limited which started manufacturing cars in 1903. The factory at Goodwood is the fifth Rolls-Royce UK based automobile production facility since 1904. The previous four were located in Manchester, London, Derby, and Crewe.

BMW ownership of Rolls-Royce marque

In 1998, owners Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. The most likely buyer was BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, but BMW's final offer of £340m was beaten by Volkswagen's £430m.
A stipulation in the ownership documents of Rolls-Royce dictated that Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker would retain certain essential trademarks (the Rolls-Royce name and logo) if the automotive division was sold. Rolls-Royce plc chose to license not to VW but to BMW, with whom it had recently had joint business ventures. VW had bought rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" bonnet (hood) ornament and the shape of the radiator grille, but it lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name necessary to build the cars. Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. BMW bought an option on the trademarks, licensing the name and "RR" logo for £40m, a deal that many commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in the deal. VW claimed that it had only really wanted Bentley anyway, as Bentley at the time was the higher-volume brand and moved twice as many cars as Rolls-Royce.
The situation was tilted in BMW's favor, as they could withdraw their engine supply with just 12 months notice, which was insufficient time for VW to re-engineer the Rolls-Royce cars to use VW's own engines. BMW and VW arrived at a solution. From 1998 to 2002 BMW would continue to supply engines for the cars and would allow use of the names by VW, but this would cease on 1 January 2003. From that date, only BMW would be able to name cars "Rolls-Royce", and VW's former Rolls-Royce/Bentley division would build only cars called "Bentley." This resulted in 2003 BMW opening a new manufacturing plant on the Goodwood Estate close to Chichester, West Sussex.

Recent

In 2011, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars sold 3,538 cars, up 31 percent on the year before, dominated by Phantom and Ghost models sold, beating the previous record from 1978. The strong sales growth occurred in the Asia Pacific region by up 47 percent, followed by Britain with up 30 percent and Middle East sales up 23 percent.[1]

Cars

Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended Wheelbase in use at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong
1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II
  • 2003+ Phantom (saloon)—Launched in January 2003 at Detroit's North American International Auto Show, this is the first model from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, a BMW Group subsidiary having no corporate connection with the previous Rolls-Royce Motors company apart from the trademarks mentioned above. The car has a 6.75 L V12 engine sourced from BMW, but most components are unique to the car. Parts are sourced from Continental Europe and the UK. Assembly, leather work, wood work, and finishing is carried out in a new factory in Goodwood near Chichester, Sussex. The cars are available in normal and extended wheelbase, and prices start at about £250,000.
  • 2010+ Ghost (saloon)—Rolls Royce announced in September 2006 that it will develop a new four-door model named Ghost. The Ghost will be smaller than the previous Rolls Royce automobile launched, the Phantom. Only 20% of the components would be sourced from BMW F01 7 Series, and it will be positioned below the Phantom and with a price range between US$250,000 and US$280,000.[2]
For earlier models, see the List of Rolls-Royce motor cars and the timeline below.

Prototypes

ganger, doppelgänger, Londongänger

ganger, doppelgänger, Londongänger
ganger [ˈgæŋə]
n
Chiefly Brit the foreman of a gang of labourers
 [名]((英))(労働者の)頭, 親方.

doppelgänger[dop・pel・gäng・er]

  • 発音記号[dɑ'pəlgæ`ŋər | dɔ'p-]
[名]
1 ドッペルゲンガー:死の直前などに本人の前に精霊となって現れる分身.
2 うり二つの人.
[ドイツ語=double-goer]

 

Londongänger 「倫敦行走」,意指留學歐洲與歐洲人自由交往的印度人。
韋伯《印度的宗教印度教與佛教》康樂‧簡惠美合譯,廣西師範,2005,頁45

 

 

2012年7月24日 星期二

aMAZEme, The Globe 劇場 及其他



現在倫敦的The Globe 劇場看一齣才5英鎊......
今年有來字37國的劇團各演一部莎士比亞


........要不要學學人家英國用書籍建迷宮?作為與2012年夏季奧運同步的倫敦藝術節的揭幕活動,七月二十六日倫敦Southbank藝術中心的Clore Ballroom裡,巴西藝術家Marcos SaboyaGualter Pupo將打造一座巨型圖書maze。迷宮佔地五千平方英尺,由二十五萬本圖書堆疊環繞而成,書牆高四公尺。這個創意來自終身癡愛圖書館和迷宮的阿根廷盲人作家Jorge Borges。這座名為The aMAZEme的迷宮,訴求民眾參與,一書一磚集體建造知識的趣味城堡,目前籌辦單位也緊鑼密鼓,在網站公告,徵集愛書志工共襄盛舉。讓愛書人自己在圖書迷宮游走,感受人類心智的華麗風景,對比牽拖一本書逛大街的發想,反差的何止是文化品位?2012-07-24中國時報【顧秀賢】

 maze, amaze, 





就經濟貢獻來看,奧運對英國經濟成長的助益相當微小。英國央行預估,因為倫敦奧運的舉辦,英國第三季的GDP成長大約僅能增加0.2%。
此外,原本期望奧運會
倫敦奧運是賠錢生意?GDP僅成長0.2% 圖片來源:鐘士為 2012年倫敦奧運,到底能為英國帶來哪些經濟效應?根據最新出刊的《經濟學人》(The Economist)報導,結果恐怕要令倫敦人大失所望。
期間,增加觀光收入的願望也可能會落空,因為一般觀光客通常會避開奧運期間的擁擠人潮,而為了觀看賽事運動迷,平均的旅遊天數比一般觀光客要短得許多。訂房網站Hotel.com便表示,倫敦旅館的訂房率遠遠不如預期,至今訂房價格已下跌了25%。
儘管銀行、餐廳、零售店面都已增加人手做好準備,但是在迎接來自全球各地的奧運選手與運動迷的同時,國內消費卻可能大幅下滑。為了避免交通與觀光景點堵塞,奧運期間倫敦市民都將成為名副其實的「宅男宅女」,除了上班,只能盡量窩在家裡,減少外出與消費。
以 大眾運輸為例,英國地下鐵公司便要求員工,除了工作時間之外,盡量留在家中,避免搭乘地下鐵。此外,為了避免造成壅塞,奧運場館附近地鐵站以及市中心重要 的地鐵站出入閘口都將維持開放,任何人都可以免費出入。因此,倫敦地鐵公司不僅不能靠著奧運大賺一筆,反而造成大失血。

Leveson Inquiry: Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks,

Two Ex-Editors for Murdoch to Be Charged for Phone Hacking

Prosecutors said they would charge Andy Coulson, the British prime minister’s former media director, and Rebekah Brooks, the ex- chief of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper business, in a phone hacking scandal.

Phone hacking: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson face charges

Alison Levitt QC: "This statement is made in the interests of transparency and accountability."
Eight people, including Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, will face a total of 19 charges relating to phone hacking, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
The two ex-News of the World editors are to be charged in connection with the accessing of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone messages.
They are among seven of the now-defunct paper's former staff facing charges of conspiring to intercept voicemails.
The CPS said the charges related to 600 alleged victims between 2000 and 2006.
The others facing charges are former News of the World (NoW) managing editor Stuart Kuttner, former news editor Greg Miskiw, former assistant editor Ian Edmondson, former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, former assistant editor James Weatherup and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
The eight, who will be charged when they answer police bail, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 16 August.
The revelation that 13-year-old Milly's phone had been hacked by the NoW after she went missing in Surrey in 2002 led to the closure of the Sunday tabloid newspaper in July last year.
'Upsetting' Mrs Brooks, who is also a former chief executive of the paper's publisher News International, faces three charges relating to the alleged accessing of phones belonging to Milly and former Fire Brigades Union boss Andrew Gilchrist.
In a statement, Mrs Brooks said: "I am not guilty of these charges. I did not authorise, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship."

Phone-hacking timeline

  • September 2010: Scotland Yard faces pressure to reopen phone-hacking investigation as celebrities launch legal actions for answers
  • April 2011: Officers from Operation Weeting, the re-opened investigation, make three arrests
  • July 2011: Rupert Murdoch closes down the News of the World after 168 years of publication. The same month, its former editor Andy Coulson is arrested, followed by Rebekah Brooks two weeks later. Other journalists are arrested during the course of the year
  • November 2011: The Leveson Inquiry opens in London
  • July 2012: Met Police say 74 people arrested to date, 26 in connection with Operation Weeting. Seven journalists and one private investigator charged in relation to phone hacking
She added that the charge concerning Milly was "particularly upsetting, not only as it is untrue but also because I have spent my journalistic career campaigning for victims of crime".
Mr Coulson, who also used to be Prime Minister David Cameron's communications chief, will face four charges linked to accusations of accessing the phone messages of Milly, former Labour home secretaries David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, and Calum Best, the son of the late footballer George Best.
He told reporters he would fight the allegations and said anyone who had worked with him "would know that I wouldn't, and more importantly, that I didn't do anything to damage the Milly Dowler investigation".
"At the News of the World we worked on behalf of the victims of crime, particularly violent crime, and the idea that I would then sit in my office dreaming up schemes to undermine investigations is simply untrue," he added.
BBC chief political correspondent Norman Smith says many people will now be pondering how the PM came to appoint someone to his inner circle who had these question marks against him.
It will not be a short, sharp difficulty but a long, slow protracted problem for the government with the build-up to the court case and the trial itself likely to go on for months, he says.
Mr Cameron will be concerned about the bolt-from-the-blue factor - not knowing what will emerge from the court case, our correspondent adds.
'Surprised' A solicitor for Mr Kuttner said his client "utterly refutes" the charges.
Mr Thurlbeck said he was "most surprised and disappointed" and would "vigorously fight to clear my reputation".
And Mr Edmondson said he had "much to say on this subject and I now look forward to saying it" and that he would clear his name at trial.
Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks and Neville Thurlbeck Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks and Neville Thurlbeck are among the eight facing charges.
All of the suspects apart from Mulcaire will be charged with conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority between October 3, 2000, and August 9, 2006.
The charge carries a sentence of up to two years in prison or a fine.
Mulcaire, who was jailed in January 2007 after he admitted unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages received by three royal aides while working for the NoW, faces four unspecified charges relating to Milly, Mr Gilchrist, Delia Smith, and Charles Clarke.
He said he was "extremely disappointed by today's decision given that in 2006 I was the subject of a comprehensive police investigation on this matter".
"I subsequently pleaded guilty and served the prison sentence imposed on me by the court," he added.
"I intend to contest these allegations strenuously."
Prosecutors will allege that more than 600 people, including Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, were victims of the phone hacking conspiracy, the CPS indicated.
Other alleged victims named in connection with the charges were former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, television stars Abi Titmuss and John Leslie, chef Delia Smith, actors Jude Law, Sadie Frost and Sienna Miller, and footballer Wayne Rooney.
Decision deferred The CPS said that no further action would be taken in relation to three other suspects, former NoW reporter Ross Hall, sports reporter Raoul Simons and Terenia Taras, a former partner of Greg Miskiw.
Police have asked the CPS to defer making a decision over two remaining suspects who have been re-bailed while officers make further inquiries.
The BBC understands they are former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis and Dan Evans, who was a reporter on the paper.
Mrs Brooks was editor of the News of the World from 2000 to 2003, when she became editor of the Sun, before rising to become News International chief executive. She resigned from her position in July 2011.
She already also faces three charges of perverting the course of justice arising from the investigation into phone hacking - charges she has denied.
Mr Coulson was NoW editor between 2003 and 2007. He later became Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman but quit in January 2011.



Leveson Inquiry: Press links inevitable, says Tony Blair
Tony Blair is one of several high profile politicians who will be appearing at the inquiry this week
Continue reading the main story

The Leveson Inquiry
Q&A: The Leveson Inquiry
Hunt's memo to PM
Profile: Jeremy Hunt
The BSkyB takeover emails

A close interaction between politicians and the press is inevitable, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the Leveson Inquiry.

Mr Blair told the inquiry that at its best British journalism is the best in the world.

But Mr Blair said the use of newspapers as instruments of political power creates a relationship that is "unhealthy".

The inquiry is investigating the link between the press and politicians.

Mr Blair said it would be strange if senior media people and senior politicians did not have an interaction.

He said the word "unhealthy" rather than "cosy" was a better description of the relationship.

Mr Blair said he made a strategic decision as a political leader that he was going to manage that and not confront it.

He told the inquiry: "It's almost impossible now, even now, to dispute this issue to do with so-called "spin".

"I can't believe we are the first and only government that has ever wanted to put the best possible gloss on what we're doing, that is a completely different thing to saying that you go out to say things that are deliberately untrue."

Counsel to the inquiry, Robert Jay QC, asked Mr Blair why he did not take on the media.

He responded that this would have provoked a major confrontation and he did not want that to detract from other policy goals.

Mr Blair said he thought Ofcom was probably the right body to deal with media policy but did not envisage it replacing the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).Close relationship

He said the Sun and the Daily Mail were the two most powerful of the papers, and the Sun was important because it is prepared to shift its political allegiance.

Mr Blair said his government decided more things against the interests of Mr Murdoch than for them.
Continue reading the main story
What is the Leveson Inquiry?
High Court inquiry into culture, practice and ethics of press
Named as such because Lord Justice Leveson is inquiry chairman
PM David Cameron set it up after News of the World admitted phone hacking
It has two parts:
Part one - is examining relations between press, politicians and police, and conduct of each
Part two - will examine extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International and other media
Inquiry began on 14 November last year - Leveson's report expected within a year
Q&A: The Leveson Inquiry

Mr Blair is the first of several senior politicians due to appear at the inquiry this week, including Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

He was the Labour Party leader between 1994 and 2007, and was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, before being succeeded by Gordon Brown.

He is reported to have a close relationship with News Corporation chairman Mr Murdoch, which could form the basis of the scrutiny levelled by the inquiry's barristers.

Mr Blair's relationship with Mr Murdoch first came into public view in 1995, when he travelled to Hayman Island in Australia to address News Corp executives.

The trip was part of a New Labour strategy to reach out to newspapers that had unfavourably portrayed previous leaders Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock.

It seemingly worked, and in 1997 the Sun newspaper, owned by the Murdoch subsidiary News International, switched allegiance from the Conservative to Labour.'Faustian pact'

The witness list also shows that Education Secretary Michael Gove, Home Secretary Theresa May, Business Secretary Vince Cable, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Mr Hunt are all due to appear before Lord Justice Leveson before 31 May.

Giving evidence earlier in May, one of Mr Blair's former cabinet ministers Lord Mandelson told the inquiry he felt the relationship had "arguably" become "closer than wise".

But he dismissed claims of a "Faustian pact" involving commercial concessions for News Corp in return for support from its newspapers.

In April, Mr Blair's former press secretary Alistair Campbell also denied any kind of deal prior to the 1997 general election.
Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng asked Tony Blair to be godfather to their daughter Grace

He told the inquiry: "I never was witness to, and I do not believe there was ever a discussion that said, 'now, Tony, if you do this and do this my papers will back you' - it just never happened."

During his evidence, Mr Campbell was also asked about three phone calls that took place between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch in the run-up to the Iraq War in March 2003.

He dismissed suggestions that Mr Blair could not have pursued his defence policy without the backing of Mr Murdoch and the Sun as "complete nonsense"



〔編譯管淑平/綜合報導〕英國檢察官調查媒體鉅子梅鐸旗下「世界新聞報」竊聽案,15日做出第一波起訴,該報所屬「新聞國際」前執行長、梅鐸愛將布魯克斯等6人被控妨礙司法刑事罪名。


布魯克斯和她的丈夫查理‧布魯克斯,她的私人助理卡特、受僱於新聞國際的司機愛德華和保全喬斯林,以及「新聞國際」安全主管哈納,6人被控涉嫌在去年7月間 隱瞞證據,妨礙警方調查,以及從新聞集團資料室搬走7箱資料、電腦設備等。檢察官李維特說,檢方做出起訴的6起案件,都有充足證據足以定罪。妨礙司法罪最 重可判終身監禁,但通常刑期都會比這輕。

在檢方正式宣布起訴前,布魯克斯夫婦就發表聲明,對檢察官此一「薄弱且不公平的決定深感遺憾」,還批評檢方「故作姿態」。

布魯克斯2000年擔任「世界新聞報」總編輯,任內發生竊聽醜聞,她03年轉任姊妹報「太陽報」總編輯,09年升任「新聞國際」執行長,受梅鐸信任程度,被暱稱是他的「第5個女兒」。

去年一月,英國警方重新調查這起竊聽案,竊聽風暴越演越烈,世界新聞報在7月停刊後數日,布魯克斯也宣布請辭,她今年3月被警方正式逮捕。針對竊聽事件,她始終否認知情。

16 May 2012 Last updated at 01:53 GMT

Brooks anger at hack probe chargeCharlie and Rebekah Brooks

Rebekah Brooks expresses anger after being charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice as part of the phone-hacking inquiry.


Leveson Inquiry: Cameron 'sent commiserations to Rebekah Brooks'


Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version
Rebekah Brooks: "I received some indirect commiserations from politicans"
Prime Minister David Cameron sent Rebekah Brooks a "keep your head up" message when she quit News International, she has said.
Mrs Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry she got "indirect messages" from a number of Tories but ex-PM Gordon Brown was "probably getting the bunting out".
She quit as chief executive in July 2011 after the phone-hacking scandal led to the News of the World's closure.
Mrs Brooks is being asked about her relationships with politicians.
Asked by counsel to the inquiry, Robert Jay QC, if Mr Cameron had sent her a "keep your head up" message she said it had been "something along those lines".
Mrs Brooks - who was News of the World editor when voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone were allegedly intercepted - said she had received "indirect" rather than direct text messages from a number of politicians after she resigned as chief executive of News International.
They included messages from "Number 10, Number 11, the Home Office and the Foreign Office" and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Asked about her relationship with News Corporation executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, she said "in the main, on the big issues we had similar views" but they disagreed over issues including the environment, immigration and font size.
She said she preferred more celebrities in the paper while he wanted more serious issues.
"We only have to look at viewing figures to see it's the reality programmes that do so well, I took from those figures that our readers were quite interested in it.

“Start Quote

He did not have a mobile phone or in fact, I think, use a computer when he was prime minister”
Rebekah Brooks on Tony Blair
She said Mr Murdoch thought there was too much celebrity culture in the paper "although he liked X Factor".
Mr Murdoch had thrown her a surprise 40th birthday, she said, attended by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair but said she could not remember if then-opposition leader David Cameron had been there.
She said she spoke to Mr Murdoch "very frequently" but denied reports they went swimming together when he was in London.
The inquiry heard she became close friends with Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, as well as his spin doctor Alastair Campbell and his partner.
But she said she did not exchange texts or emails with Mr Blair because "he did not have a mobile phone or in fact, I think, use a computer when he was prime minister".
And she said she was never friends with Mr Blair's successor at number 10, Gordon Brown, but was acquainted with his "extraordinary" wife, Sarah.
Asked whose side she was on in the long-running feud between Mr Brown and Mr Blair, she said she was "on the side of my readers".
But she added that in the 2006 "curry house coup" - where a group of MPs agreed to call for Mr Blair's resignation, "we did take Mr Blair's side because the country was on ice because of the hostilities".
March arrest The phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World Sunday tabloid led to its closure and the establishment of the Leveson Inquiry, an MPs' inquiry and the launch of three police investigations.

Rebekah Brooks has been described at the inquiry as a powerful personality.
At a hearing which is determined to be neutral, she's likely to be asked about her relationships with Tony Blair - the papers she ran backed him through three elections; and Gordon Brown - she was once Mr Brown's guest at a pyjama party at the prime minister's country residence.
Mrs Brooks' account will turn from historically interesting to potentially politically potent when she deals with the current prime minister.
There have been suggestions he texted her up to 12 times a day and told her to "keep her head up" after she resigned last year.
The veracity of such claims will soon be clear.
So too the damage, if any, that the testimony of Rebekah Brooks will inflict on the standing of David Cameron.
Mrs Brooks has denied any knowledge of phone hacking on her watch.
Questioned by MPs in 2011, she said News International had acted "quickly and decisively" in dealing with the hacking scandal.
She said she had never sanctioned payments to the police.
Mrs Brooks was arrested on 17 July 2011 over phone-hacking and corruption allegations.
She was released on bail and re-arrested on 13 March 2012 on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
She was bailed again to appear at a London police station in May 2012.
Inquiry lawyers will not be allowed to ask Mrs Brooks any questions that could prejudice the police investigation into phone hacking or any future trials.

2012年7月19日 星期四

紀念亨利.摩爾


張大千,畢卡索,摩爾(1998/11)
.紀念亨利.摩爾


1998年是大藝術家亨利摩爾(Henry Moore, 1898-1986)的百年 紀念。我九月從網站(他的基金會Henry Moore Foundation)知道,就想寫篇《向亨利摩爾致敬》。現在是十月了,十月國家慶典特多,就先談點兩岸三地與亨利摩爾。這些都只是個人的一些印象。
 台灣的藝術家出版社所謂的《享利摩爾全集》,有點胡說八道,也顯示編輯的無知及不敬業。此書實在太離譜 光是他的雕塑就有千件 更不要談他60年的素描無數.....他的雕塑品總數約1000件,而每一件都有數版本,所以估計現在世界上約有6000件他的雕塑品問市。
一般人都以為,摩爾只是個雕塑家,其實,他的素描和繪畫也很精彩,特別是二戰時,以倫敦地鐵為避難所的眾生之畫相為然。他喜歡他的雕塑被陳放在公園等開放空地,起碼要放在戶外。
台北的中國信託公司總部有一座小小的摩爾的雕作,被警衛保護著(公開陳列,我(90年代初偶而會去敦化北路總公司一定去對面看看並向它說hello。)私人如誠品書店的創始人,應也有其作品 誠品老闆似乎也有/ 我們這list的陳先生家族有一套他的 plaster maquettes (這是Moore  用來構思的模型 ,實際再放大百千倍..... Henry Moore: Plasters幾年前春節,曾在台中的建設公司展覽過.... 朱銘美術館裡收藏有Henry Moore的作品(待查證) ,而中國大陸大概沒他的作品。不過,翻譯相關的書較勤。

香港由於與英國關係密切,不只辦過他的展,在渡輪車站附近,還有其作品孤獨地立在花木之中,往來行人也很少投目。2003年我引導Bruce Lee去看它,隔年 他送一篇給我們的論壇,呼籲台灣人應張開眼看看香港的許多進步和文化,他說,以前也是這種井底之蛙(多虧「鍾老師」屢次提醒每回去香港,不要忘記去看看Henry Moore的雕像,買買《明報(或信報)月刊》,或《詩網絡》,到文化中心去風流,上館子打牙祭。我們以前從羅孚進香港幾次,該站總讓我覺得彷彿歷經但丁《神曲》中的感受……

摩爾是很典型的英國人,如果你看過他的家鄉景物,以及大英博物館內和他家中的古今各種奇怪的收藏藝品和雕塑作品,了解影響他極大的來源,再看看他的作品全集,不能不佩服藝術家的鬼斧神工奧妙無窮 《雄獅美術》259期,19929月號,橫用版頁25-26,有雨云介紹的,巴黎《溫馨的亨利.摩爾展》,完全複製其家園(客廰、圖書室、工作場、臥室等等)。該期的圖片是他的家庭客廳。20127: Henry Moore at Perry Green  Treasured Lynx Sculpture Returns to Artist's Home



我一生最難忘的一次藝術體驗,就是摩爾1978年在倫敦的金士頓公園Kensington Gardens的大展覽,這是他的八十大壽的紀念。大型公園戶外雕塑展 令人驚心動魄 (Henry Moore: Late Large Forms)……他那時每年繳給政府的稅近一億台幣....1980年,他將其中的一巨作The Arch捐給官方放在該公園永久展。不過,這公共藝術品在過去30年發生一些結構的修復問題、請參考該基金會的網頁http://www.henry-moore.org/hmf/press/press-information/henry-moore/the-arch-restored-to-london-site

古人善用「無言的詩」來形容畫作及環境。它就是要你出入摩爾的作品中的八方去體驗形之內外無盡意義的展開,帶你入神祕的世界。

觀賞摩爾的作品,不禁讓我想起J. MiltonParadize Regained的名句:

Aim therefore at no less than all the world,
Aim at the Highest…


(此文增益1998年的網路文章 www.deming.com.tw)



建議讀物:
現在距1998年已近14年了。相關的資料暴增很多。我想可先看看WikipediA 的簡介Henry Moore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Henry Moore的簡傳可參考Brief Lives ( Edited by Collin Mathew, Oxford:OUP,  1999, pp.387-92)

 The Henry Moore Foundation was established by Moore in 1977, and is now one of the UK's leading arts charities.
相關書目和書信等:  http://www.henry-moore.org/pg/archive
 1998年我列的3本進一步刊物是:
赫伯特里德《享利.摩爾》顧時隡譯,成都:四川美術出版社。
《觀念、靈感,生活──享利摩爾自傳》曹源譯 北京:人民美術
Philip James (editor) “Henry Moore on Sculpture” DA CAPO Press.