全新的开始（已搬家）

看到这个博客文章(by Lauren)，让我想起了The Simpsons里遭遇经济危机全家节衣缩食的情节：连猫儿也不得不因为钱包瘪瘪而换吃灰分含量巨大得夸张的干粮。

“我们都因全国性的经济危机而囊中羞涩，每周去杂货店购物的旅程更是徒增痛苦”，虽然金融危机来势汹汹，但想必不至如此乌云蔽日，让世上唯一的superpower变成了地球级贫困国。然而作者的道理却很有逻辑，人可以少吃几块Oreos，家里的猫狗们却鲜有营养替代品。

除了近日来股市继续下跌、银行卡全面收费之外，中国百姓似乎没有什么受金融危机波及的迹象。燕北园的猫们依旧饱食终日，而家里的两头猫不但没有降低食物标准，反倒额外增加了一种奢侈零食……

射箭女子个人复合弓公开级颁奖仪式结束后出现一幕很有意思的画面：
你能看出来哪位运动员是金牌获得者吗？

    :) 冠军是右侧的英国选手丹妮尔·布朗，然而（在这张照片里）竟然没有一支镜头对着她……被记者围堵的，是获得银牌的日本选手神谷千惠子（中间露一小脸者）。这种情形也让一些三心二意的通讯社播出了“乌龙”新闻（中新网9月13日电 北京残奥会射箭项目的首枚金牌由日本选手神谷千惠子获得。随后更正）。

    “我想我的经历可以告诉人们，只要你想做一件事情，任何时候开始都不晚”。赛后，已经48岁的神谷千惠子这样对记者总结自己的心得。这位自称“年轻时对体育一点兴趣都没有”的家庭主妇第一次参加残奥会。赛场上她始终保持着开心的笑容，即使射出7环时依然如此。而她的身体状况也让为她的银牌增加了很大的份量（一般射箭选手都是腿部残疾，她是双手的腕部：关节不能活动）。大妈级的年龄、初练射箭便在残奥会上拿了银牌、富于感染力的灿烂笑容，让她成为了焦点。

    也许上天剥夺了某些人的生理功能后，作为补偿，给了他们更多的健康心智。这些参赛者尽管成绩高低不同，却有着相似的乐观、自信、面对成功与失败时的泰然自若。也正是因为如此，残奥会更能让人体会“重在参与”的含义，昨天的射箭赛场很少激烈竞争的气氛。韩国人曾经抱怨在奥运会射箭比赛时，中国观众的口哨严重干扰了韩国选手的发挥（联合早报），但在昨天残奥会的反曲弓站姿决赛中，尽管中国选手高芳霞负于韩国的李花淑，中国观众在给予前者宽容与鼓励的同时，对后者也并没有吝啬掌声。

所以，谁是冠军也许并不重要，关键是，在这样的赛场上，有失败却没有失败者。

From Kitthy Mowmow's Animal Expo

Furry friends aren't always the best for college students.

While pet adoption may seem like a good idea at first, students may want to take a step back before adopting that adorable mutt or big-eyed feline, because pet ownership can quickly get out of hand. If and when students adopt or buy pets, local experts and pet owners have some insight to provide them.

Responsibility is a requirement for anyone interested in adopting or owning a pet, said Denise Patterson, Lubbock Animal Services's adoption coordinator.

Adopting cats and dogs to college students makes Patterson "a little bit apprehensive," she said.

About seven years ago, Patterson said, college students were not properly caring for animals and many of the pets adopted came back to the shelter because they were put back on the streets.

Students have become better pet owners over the past few years, Patterson said, and adoption coordinators have become stricter toward adopters to ensure pets are treated fairly.

All applicants interested in adopting from the shelter must meet specific requirements for eligibility as outlined on the shelter's adoption application.

Adopters must be at least 18 years old, provide photo identification and pay for pet deposits required by landlords or property managers of a rented apartment, house or mobile home.

Xavier Ybarra, general manager of University Pointe apartments, said pets are no longer allowed for new residents, but returning residents may keep their current pet and deposit fee.

"Pets have caused a significant amount of damage to carpets and furniture," Ybarra said. "The apartments (now) will have the potential to stay nicer."

The apartment complex is one of many recent residential housing areas to ban residents from owning pets, Ybarra said. It is expensive for both landlords and residents, especially when a pet causes serious damage.

Interested adopters who go to the shelter must have landlord approval and provide his or her contact information before their application can be approved.

Patterson said she urges interested adopters to come to the shelter and interact with the prospective pet several times to ensure it is a good match before purchasing it.

Once a pet is purchased, Patterson said, the responsibility falls solely on the owner.

"They have to have a commitment to the animal," she said.

Shyenne McAnally, a senior advertising major from Lubbock, said she enjoys the company and protection her 1-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, Molly, brings her.

The pure bred, 65-pound dog is hyper and occasionally jumps over McAnally's 6-foot fence, which she said is a disadvantage and annoyance of owning a big dog.

Many students are not responsible pet owners, McAnally said. If owners are consistently out of the house and not tending to their pet, they shouldn't have one.

Along with loving and caring for a pet, Patterson said, owners need to be prepared and willing to pay for medical expenses and basic necessities for their pets.

"People need to feed them when they need to be fed," McAnally said, "and love them when they need to be loved."

"I’m O.K. with it, My voice was used in the performance. I think that’s enough", Yang Peiyi told her interviewer on a TV show this Monday, this seven-year-old girl who is the real singer of " Ode to the Motherland" at the opening ceremony, had to stay at home  on last Friday night, listen her song performed by the other girl--Lin Miaoke--chosen by organisers, just because the latter is cute and appealing but "not suitable" as a singer, and the former is the best singer but not cute (NYTimes).

Yet, I am not O.K. with it. The song stirred my blood that night, though I disliked Lin's artificial smiling face. I was deeply upset when it was exposed as a fake. I feel sorry for Peiyi, the real songbird behind the curtain, and just wonder about the stupid way they have chosen. An editor of the Washington Post, wrote in his blog (Pomfret's China)that he could not figuring out how a nation of 1.3 billion people can't find a little girl who can be adorable and sing well at the same time, I think he is not the only one who is having this trouble.

         Left, Agence France-Presse; Right, Zhou Liang/Xinhua

"I don't see there is anything wrong with it", said Wang Wei, vice president of the Beijing Olympic organising committee.

Yet, I do not believe there is anything right with it.  Almost no one acknowledged Peiyi for her voice after the ceremony, she (Lin Miaoke) "is very cute and sings quite well, too", Mr. Zhang Yimou, the director of the ceremony, said at a news conference(NYTimes). Even Chen Qigang, the musical director of the ceremony who revealed fact in a radio programme, said that he  thought it was fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi (联合早报). "The audience will understand that it's in the national interest", Chen added. I can not believe any nation would take discrimination of appearance as its interest. More gold medalists in Olympic games is also in the national interest, should our athletes use stimulants in order to archieve this interest?

Just in the name of the national interest, Beijing banned most of vehicles on road during the Game, immigrant workers were persuaded not stay in Beijing at the time, lip-synching and fake fireworks were used as right ways in ceremony. It's our 100-year dream to host Olympic games, I understand that the gov is eager to make everything perfect in front of the world. But we should take an honest way to fulfill our dream,  otherwise we will turn dreams into illusions and string ourselves along with false expetations.

“尽管中国没有出现在伦敦奥运会的赛场上，中国到底要等多久才能产生一位真正有技术水准的选手在国际奥运会上得到奖牌呢？那可能是难以评价的问题。不过，只要我们有信心，相信那并不是一件难事。国家有责任发展体育，不只是派选手到雅典参加奥运，而且要积极争取二年一度的奥运会在中国举行。”

——《星期报》（Tiensin Young Men）1908年5月23日*

2008年8月8日，中国奥运的百年心结终于打开，中国不但派出了最大规模的“真正具有技术水准”的运动员代表团参加第二十九届奥运会，最关键的是，这回中国选手不再出国，因为这届体育圣典的名字叫“北京奥运”。

不仅如此，8月8日，“鸟巢”里汇聚了204个国家（还包括了两个首次参加奥运的国家：黑山和图瓦卢）的1万余名运动员，刷新了奥运历史的最高纪录；参加开幕式的各国首脑超过80名，也创下奥运之最，难怪刘建超也抑制不住喜悦：恐怕只有纽约的联合国才汇集过更多的首脑（USA TODAY）。

Our Big Fat Chinese Ceremony

一场中式的盛大庆典，从8日中午的欢迎宴会开始。人民大会堂的北大厅，巨幅长城苏绣壁画前，胡及夫人身着喜庆的礼服，与１１０多位前来出席北京奥运会开幕式和相关活动的外国国家元首、政府首脑、王室代表、地区领导人和国际组织代表及配偶一一握手。来宾排队，以先来后到为序，而不是按照国家大小和国力强弱。王室成员们也许会感到很新奇，尤其是他们夹在一些也许连名字都没听说的国家首脑中间时。布什夫妇与朝鲜二号人物金永南距离（dozen places）则成为美国媒体关注的焦点之一。“握手会”之后的午宴也颇具中国特色：胡举杯与同桌所有来宾一一碰杯，很有中国婚礼的气氛。

为了不落入民间婚礼的俗套，奥运的开幕式改在了8月8日的晚8点开始，而非人们传说的8点8分8秒。这样场面恢宏，内里单薄的张艺谋特色的演出，毫无意外地得到了国外媒体炫目、壮观（dazzled, spectacular --AFP）、令人惊叹（awed --BBC）、挥霍（extavagant --The Washington Post）等评价。英国人一定很受刺激，因为四年后就是伦敦奥运会，他们不缺技术和创意，但有两样东西他们无法与北京相比，这两样东西构成了张艺谋成功的基础，一是“纪律”，即使英语可以用discipline，rules，norms等等翻译，但这两个字的含义因为不同的历史与文化，很难移植；第二点就是以奥运的名义挥霍的权力，《华盛顿邮报》说得不错（虽然语气有点酸），伦敦想与北京开幕式精彩非凡的大场面去比？试都不要试。 张艺谋不会同意这一点，他在回答记者提问时曾说过：“花钱最多的，奥运会开幕式、闭幕式，残奥会开幕式、闭幕式，四个仪式我们都没有多哈亚运会开幕式一个仪式多，他们卖石油的，特有钱。我们有一个口号是“节俭办奥运”，实际上是花了最少的钱，办了最大的事。”实际上，这种挥霍不仅指的是人民币或是美元、英镑，还包括人力（manpower），15,000名武警和其他演员的使用成本，在中国完全可以忽略不计，换成伦敦又会怎么样呢？


（图片来自：The Washington Post:Extravagant Ceremony Opens Beijing Games）

无论如何，开幕式上，中国在展示璀璨文明和国家尊严的同时，也在向外界——尤其是那些对中国持怀疑态度的国家——传达着和平崛起的信号，用《纽约时报》的话讲：“别怕，我们没恶意”。倒计时结束仪式开始，胡与罗格起立致意后，并没有出现中国网友戏称的“拉下电闸，刀斧手出”，而是2008人边击缶边颂“有朋自 远方来 不亦 乐乎”。随后的“四海之内 皆兄弟也”则更进一步表达出中国人的传统世界观，尽管这种士人的世界观与“普天之下，率土之滨”的领导者的观念有着本质区别。

（偷懒，待续）

*摘自：新华读书：《近代中国的奥运记忆》。来自《星期报》（被误称为《天津青年报》或《天津青年》）的这段文字被学者专家加工后，成为著名的“奥运三问”：中国何时才能派一位选手参加奥运会？中国何时才能派一支队伍参加奥运会？中国何时才能举办奥运会？