台北最近有兩場令我感興趣的音樂會，可惜我這一陣子忙翻了，不得前去聆聽。以下轉貼相關訊息，提供給比我有福氣的愛樂者。
資本主義、國家、社會之三角習題
在拙文從維多利亞時代到維多利亞的秘密（上）的討論欄中，網友Dark針對「國家主導的資本主義」(state-guided capitalism)寫了頗長的一篇回應。我的看法與之大同小異。該文所涉及的範圍層面相當廣，我本來逐點寫的回應文也跟著越拉越長。後來覺得以長度與議題內容而言，不妨乾脆獨立成篇，雖然這也是我「東看西看的閱讀綜合心得」。
定位與跨界的辯證：泛論李安作品
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Photo by Nicolas Genin
從威尼斯影展到奧斯卡獎競賽，《色│戒》的國籍問題一再引起爭議。本文並非要回答這個選擇題，而是要由此出發，綜合泛論李安迄今之作品，並兼談及李安與台灣的關係。
從維多利亞時代到維多利亞的秘密（上）
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven,
we were all going direct the other way
– in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
for good or for evil,
in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Political economy confuses on principle
two very different kinds of private property,
of which one rests on the producers’ own labor,
the other on the employment of the labor of others.
It forgets that the latter
not only is the direct antithesis of the former,
but absolutely grows on its tomb only.
Karl Marx, Capital
維多利亞時代（Victorian era）一詞源自於英國維多利亞女王（Queen Victoria, 1819-1901）之名。她統治英國長達六十四年半之久（1837-1901），此時期大致與英國工業革命、大英帝國、以及歐洲三者的全盛時期相符。
「大中至正」考、後記
最近看到黨國遺老遺少們竭力護衛那個據說是個「古蹟」上的「大中至正」四字，覺得實在有趣。
趣味之一來自手書那四個字的楊老先生的這段回憶：
專擅歐陽詢體及魏碑龍門二十品的楊家麟說，要寫「大中至正」四字，是由秦孝儀定下的，出處是王陽明的傳習錄，「粹然大中至正之歸矣。」
「當時好多書法家都要來寫，先宣布要寫歐陽體，就走了一批人，後來說不能署名，又走了一批人，最後說，配合八卦時辰，得當場就寫，只剩下三個人，就是我和故宮前副院長江兆申及書法家丁翼。」楊家麟回憶道。（《聯合報》，2007/12/04）