Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Hondashi


當我教初級烹飪班時,會教學生用開粉的鰹魚湯。但真正的鰹魚湯,是非常講究的。
廚神森原真治到了香港。
若說他的本領,可由一鍋湯開始。日本的湯,正式名稱為「吸物」,除了常見的開水加味噌醬煮成的混合物之外,更正統的做法,用昆布及鰹魚乾,加少許醬油煮成清湯。各物的微妙比例,難以言傳,全靠他親自試味。
每天開始營業前,花不少時間煮這一鍋湯。昆布由九州運來,鰹魚是日本出產,煮魚、泡烏冬,基本都靠這湯。他還帶來一名徒弟,專門煮湯。
勞師動眾,到底多少食客留意這碗湯? 他冷冷地說:「不管他們懂不懂,我有我的堅持。」

不管他們懂不懂,我有我的堅持。這就是藝術。所以我煮飯,還不算藝術;但我講道和做Powerpoint,是。

原文

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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

the point of Christmas

The point of Christmas, historically, is not the birth of Jesus, but deity became flesh, and our birth as the body of Christ.

-Dr. Lester Ruth

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五[食送]飯

八佰伴的奇景:



1. 兩[食送]飯,三[食送]飯,四[食送]飯我都吃過,五[食送]飯,第一次見!好大碟,仲係炒飯添!味道還ok哦!仲有湯!
2. $3.99!不可思議!

老爺占,出動啦!

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Monday, January 29, 2007

粒粒皆辛苦


「粒粒皆辛苦」的時代漸被遺忘,現今港人將浪費食物視為平常。綠色學生聯會訪問1000名光顧連鎖快餐店的顧客,87%人表示吃不完所選食物,當中44%人表示會剩餘30%以上食物,推算出全港一餐吃剩的食物,可助養244萬多名發展中國家小孩一星期,但62%受訪者不覺得浪費。

調查發現港人浪費食物情況普遍。受訪者平均每餐花費150元,而38%的人浪費30%食物(即每人浪費45元)。聯會以此推算,全港浪費食物總額高達1.2億元[...]

根據環保署資料,港人去年製造了115萬公噸廚餘,佔整體都市固體廢物量三分之一[...]


2007/1/29 明報

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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Information Design


This is an illustration coming from New York Times. This is a count of certain words in George Bush's State of the Union address over the last 7 years. Notice 2 things:
1. How data is presented can largely influence how efficient you understand a complicated subject;
2. How data is presented graphically can largely influence how efficient you understand information.

Link

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Saturday, January 27, 2007

Quantity vs Quality

This is a great parable.
The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from their mistakes—the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.


The moral of the story: Quality improves with each iteration. So don't just sit there dreaming about perfection. Leave your chair and start doing it!

Link to original article

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Friday, January 26, 2007

Generation We

Driving my 4-year-old daughter home from school one day, it crystallized: Innovating for her generation will have to be faster, more personalized, more hyperconnected, more integrated, and more diverse. She couldn't understand why she couldn't make the radio replay a song at will. "Where's the remote, mama? Skip the commercials." I lament that she and her classmates won't know the freedom of wandering home from school on their own, discovering all those things you only discover when adults aren't around. She also won't be screamingly frustrated with computer technology (the way I can be). She won't even know a time when the world wasn't at her fingertips through the Internet.

As marketers and innovators, we don't yet have an effective lens on this youngest generation.

Are you ready, evangelists?

Link to original article on Fast Company

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Thursday, January 25, 2007

Combining 2 things on your desk

This mug is a mouse. A working computer-pointing-device.
The whole bottom of the mug is the mouse button. You click by pushing the whole mug towards the table.







Link

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Eden

Bethlehem has opened Eden.

-from a 6th century sung sermon from Constantinople

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Courageous Leadership in Reverse


What makes a leader? Followers.
You can't be a great leader without having someone there with the courage to support you.

-Jon Luther , CEO, Dunkin' Donuts

Link to original article

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Doctoral Study


Early on in your doctoral study you'll hear a voice telling you that you're a fake and they'll find it out. Don't listen to that voice. It happens to everyone.

- Dr. Lester Ruth

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香港設計

各位做設計的朋友要醒定!
切記不要敷衍塞責搏大霧!

請看以下報導。令人歎為觀止。
專業 ‧ 護衞

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Monday, January 22, 2007

Emotional Worship

If you think that contemporary charismatic worship is emotional, check out the following description of the worship gathering of the church pastored by St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), the author of the classics "Confession"
Augustine’s audience responded to his appeals with gusto--with thunderous applause, shouts, cries. In his day, churchgoing was a raucuous, noisy affair. The assembly would applaud whenever they recognized a favorite Scripture verse. They would even interrupt and shout out the remainder of a verse he had begun to quote. They loved to show off their biblical expertise. Once, Augustine obliquely alluded to a man who, while ‘coming to marry a foreign-born wife,’ met a ‘roaring lion’ and ‘strangled’ it. The crowd immediately shouted, ‘Samson,’ before he could give the name….They also would try to outguess him, and when they saw him winding his way towards a favorite theme, they would begin shouting in anticipation. Other times, when they felt chastised--either by the reading from Scripture or by what Augustine said--they would fill the church with loud sighs or groans or would ‘beat their breasts’ like workmen ‘laying pavement stones.’

- Harmless, Augustine and the Catechumenate, pp. 168-9

What do we mean by the term "traditional worship"?

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Sunday, January 21, 2007

iPhone


今日在《星期六週刊》中有許多電話業人士批評iPhone不夠features,很多現時的手機的features更先進,無乜特別,係潮流罷了。

They still don't get it. It's not about features. It's about user interface and platform. It's about experience and identity. This is the key to the original Mac's success, and the iMac, and iPod, and now iPhone. They still don't get it after 23 years.

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

太山丈明

這篇文章是我在上星期在明報副刊看到的。非常佩服司徒華的文采。

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Friday, January 19, 2007

Revival Prayer Meeting

During the past year, I have experienced a growing burden to pray for the revival of the Church of our Lord. From a lot of signs, we can witness a great revival of mega scale on its way, and it will be a tragedy if we cannot catch this wave and accomplish great things for our Lord. We are so in need of a discipline of prayer. We have been in debt to our Lord on prayer.

So I am calling for a revival prayer meeting. Every Saturday morning at 9am-10am at AFC's IDZone, I'll be praying for the coming of the spiritual revival. This prayer meeting is open to all. We will worship the Lord and we will spend time waiting in front of the Lord and pray for revival. If nobody comes, I'll pray by myself and that's ok.

If you would like to join, please come starting this saturday (Jan 20) at 9am. You don't need to commit to come every saturday. Just come when you want to.

Feel free to spread the word.

Disclaimer: this is not an event organized by AFC. This is solely organized by me personally.

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Worship of Solutions

We are obssessed in presenting solutions in our sunday services. But it is not always like this in real life. Sometimes there just isn't a solution, and we need to learn to live with it.

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Thursday, January 18, 2007

Critics



Link

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Reality in Worship

"We tend to believe that what we did in worship are symbols of the biblical reality.
No.
The biblical stories are symbols of the present reality we experience."

- Cyril of Jerusalem, 4th century AD (paraphrased)

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

What is Starbucks?


As defined by its founder Howard Schultz:
If you think about what occurs within a Starbucks store, I think we've known for a long time now that Starbucks is more than just a wonderful cup of coffee. It's the experience. And the experience is defined by what we have characterized for a long time as Starbucks really becoming this "Third Place" between home and work -- an extension of people's front porch, or people's home office. As a result of that, we realized early on that we had an opportunity to leverage the equity of the experience and the trust that our consumers have in the brand and in our people, to other products and services.


It is this "redefinition" that enabled them to sell not only coffee but a lot more, including, recently, music. This is an important lesson: it is through redefinition that we expand our boundary while focusing on the core identity.

在街邊賣三文治的小販可以永遠地賣三文治,但若他redefine自己為為上班一族提供快速外賣早餐的話,整盤生意的運作方法就不同了。

Link

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The Head and the Body


When the body of the Son prays, it does not separate its Head from itself, and it is the one Savior of his body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us, and prays in us, and is prayer to by us. He prays FOR us as our priest, he prays IN us as our head, he is prayed to BY us as our God. Let us therefore recognize our words in him and his words in us."
St. Augustine, 5th century AD

Implications:
  • Corporate worship and prayer is not merely OUR words, but we are the vocal cord of Christ
  • We have always believed this in the case of preaching, and the same sensibility should also apply to praying and praising too
  • We put words on the lips of the people of God, and at the same time on the lips of Christ as we pray. So, how should we then pray and praise?
  • Worship is Christ giving glory to God through us. So, what is the proper expectation to public worship? The baseline is: it is not about us. It doesn't matter whether we feel good or not.

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Monday, January 15, 2007

Who wins?


(When disputing about worship format) The building always wins."

James White, worship historian

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Sunday, January 14, 2007

Question about culture

When we hear stories about missionaries adapting worship practices to local culture, we do not see them as compromise and we are not offended.
Why is it not OK to change anything in our worship practice to reach out to different cultural groups within our local community?

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Friday, January 12, 2007

Why are our worship like it is today?


Things come into Christian worship (service) for one reason
But stay in Christian worship (service) for another reason

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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Going Home


One week of intensive study ended very soon. I'm now in the airport of Phoenix in transit, waiting for my delayed flight to go home.

Lots of inspiring moments. I am truly hoping that my study will become a blessing for many. I will bit by bit share my insights here when I have time to organize my notes. Give me some time.

And lots of reading to follow... too many books, too little time...

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

10 Hot Jobs for 2007


Top 10 Hot Jobs for 2007:
  1. Experience Designer
  2. Medical Researcher
  3. Web Designer
  4. Security Systems Engineer
  5. Urban Planners
  6. Viral Marketers and Media Promoters
  7. Talent Agents
  8. Buyers and purchasing agents
  9. Art Directors
  10. News Analysts, Reporters, and Bloggers


Professionally or non-professionally, I have worked in 7 of the above:
Experience Designer (Well, Jubilization is an *experience*), Web Designer (I used to be the creative director of Tov Creative), Urban Planner (my major in architecture study is community/residential planning and design), Viral Marketer and Media Promoter (PP959!), Buyer and purchasing agent (remember The Caring Shop?), Art Director (need I say more) and Bloggers (how many blogs do I maintain?)
Seems I will be very hot on the job market, ha ha!

Link to original article

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Snapshots in Florida

這就是我上星期日在Florida時聚會的教會,也是平日上課的地點之一。這是一間新近擴建的Episcopal Church,崇拜的儀式可是非常elaborate啊!



下午,我開車到了St. Augustine,這是美國的第一個城市。相片中的是以前的一所豪華酒店,現在是一間college。




我在這間diner吃lunch!很有style...



我當然不會錯過shopping的機會。這是一個很大的Mall。我的位置是在Old Navy的門口。看到那很遠很遠在停車場盡頭的building嗎?你見到的只是1/3個mall...



還有兩天就回家了!

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駛唔駛咁情慾?




真係世風日下。

Link

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Sunday, January 07, 2007

Lead Worshiper FAQ

1. When choosing musicians for my worship band, should I choose someone who is more spiritual over someone who is a better musician?

The worship will fall flat and will be empty if it is led by good musicians who are not in love with God. I would always choose heart over skill. However the goal is to find both. Amazing musicians who are living for the glory of God.


2. Sometimes before leading worship I feel my heart is not totally prepared or right with God. Should I still go ahead and lead worship even though I feel this way?

For me if I’m aware of anything that is not right in my life before God I will ask His forgiveness. When you prepare to lead ask God to search your heart and then spend time getting right before God. Then go for it. Step out and lead God’s people in worship.

The other reality is that sometimes we don’t feel like leading worship. Maybe you’re tired. Maybe you feel distant from God. At these times we have to chose to worship.


3. What will make me most effective as a worship leader?

You can’t effectively lead people into God’s presence if you are not regularly entering in. It’s so important for worship leaders to embrace the hidden place. When I first started playing the guitar I would spend hours and hours worshipping. It wasn’t because I wanted to be a worship leader. It was because I loved Jesus. [...] Don’t do it to prepare a set list. Do it because your heart is overflowing with praise.


4. What is a common pitfall you run into as a worship leader? What do you do to avoid this?

I think a key area where worship leaders often stumble is with pride. Pride comes before a fall, so seek humility with all your heart.


5. What do you think your ultimate role as a worship leader is?

My ultimate role as a worship leader is to direct people to God. I love the words of John the Baptist – “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) [...] My desire is that people would see Jesus increase in my life. In the way I speak, the things I do and in who I am.


From an interview with Tim Hughes (only part of the original article is shown)

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Saturday, January 06, 2007

如果真的有這條街

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Friday, January 05, 2007

荒謬實驗的犧牲品

英國保守黨一份最新社會調查報告指出,傳統家庭破裂日增,對英國社會的和諧造成嚴重負面影響。

報告指出,雖然維多利亞時代(十九世紀下半葉到二十世紀初),可以話幾乎無社會福利,但傳統的家庭道德觀念,使得人們有著勤勞,奮鬥,自尊和進取的精神.
相反雖然現今的福利制度完善,但因傳統家庭和道德觀念淪喪,導致的貧困和「下層階級」擴大的問題日趨嚴重,各類犯罪和反社會行為增加.
調查報告結果顯示,傳統家庭破裂,是英國社會很多問題的根源.沒有穩定的家庭作為社會基礎,社會問題就會像疾病一樣泛濫,最終會動搖社會穩定的根基.

BBC政治事務記者表示,這份報告給英國社會「描繪了一幅家庭破碎,債台高筑,吸毒和酗酒問題嚴重,單身少女母親日增,以及適齡學生逃學輟學問題嚴重的黯淡圖畫」.
保守黨黨魁加梅倫表示:「家庭單位是否穩固是決定一個國家與社會強盛與衰敗的最終源泉」.政府需要推出新的支持傳統家庭,支持傳統婚姻的政策.

傳統家庭是社會健康的基礎,根本是commom sense.
要大做研究去證明一個自古已然的common sense,只因在過去好一段時間,一些篤信放縱自由的人士,利用社會作為他們的實驗場,去推動什麼新道德,新倫理.拿人家的正常生活,甚至整個社會架構,以「平等,自由,人權」等美麗藉口,粗暴地自義地去推動他們的brave new world.

加拿大社會正經歷這種荒謬的實驗.
繼准許 「同性婚姻」,更改傳統婚姻定義後,權力過大的加國法庭又有新搞作,准許「三父母家庭/three-parent family」.
安省上訴法庭日前裁定,1個六歲男童可有1個爸爸2個媽媽:爸爸是生父(biological father),一個媽媽是生母,另一個媽媽則是生母的同性伴侶(a lesbian relationship).生父有出精之功,有血緣關係.而生母的同性伴侶常常照顧男童,愛心可比親母,故法庭認為理應在法律有「母親」的名份.

即使開放如法國,法庭面對類似案例也不敢妄下判決,而是進行詳細研究,並且得出結論確認一父一母傳統家庭最有利孩童成長.
但加國法庭卻自以為是地以自己的理念為依歸,說什麼「現行法例有漏動」,需要他們不惜拆毀社會根基的去奮身補足!

這次裁判的影響非同小可,可以直接沖擊「家庭」和「父母」的法律定義,動搖社會穩定的根基.日後孩童入學,可能不只問父母是「異性」抑或「同性」,還要問明「數目」.
市民若不正視,恐怕又要再次成為荒謬實驗的犧牲品.


仁仁睇新聞

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Alan的曲折旅程(二)

(接上回)
話說Alan成功到達Florida之後,第一時間取到租來的車子,便驅車直往學校,因為還有不久便是上第一堂的時間。

誰知一駛上highway,便下起滂沱大雨(我本來諗住黎Florida享受陽光架!點之同Vancouver一樣!),大雨到路都睇得唔清楚。到我發現我要出的Exit時,已經轉線不及,過了。

我心諗,無所謂,下一個Exit掉頭就好。點知都未諗完,便發現自己身處過海大橋上!Well,都要繼續行,但那條橋很長,足足行了4 km,才過完海!

終於掉頭行回正路,來到學校所在。但那一幢building才是?在滂沱大雨,跟本看不到門牌,結果兜來兜去,又浪費了15分鐘。最後,唯有落車搵。滂沱大雨,無遮,到我終於搵到班房時,我已經全濕,成為落湯雞!


這就是我要找的學校的其中一座building,不過現在已變了灰色...


好不容易捱到放break,立即去酒店check-in,換衫,便要趕回學校晚堂。因為未食飯,途中經過M記,心諗,食個包好快唶!

點知食包食到一半,我抬頭一望,見到離我幾張檯以外的一個媽媽,正在被人搶銀包。我初時以為是衰老公之類,再望真的,帶著黑色ski mask,有鎗...是打劫!說是遲那時快,那劫匪已在指嚇正在排隊買包的一個男人,要他除手表,跟著搶掠收銀機,然後走入廚房消失了。

不久,有店員開始報警,小孩大哭,亂成一片...

幸好,沒有人受傷。我也沒有任何損失(劫匪未有行過我這一邊)。感謝神保護我,因為我的證件,機票,laptop都在袋中,被搶去便麻煩了!

在兩天內預到這麼多事,都算第一次!希望餘下的旅程都順利吧!

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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Worship question

Do we gather to worship, and disperse to evangelize;
or do we gather to evangelize, and disperse to worship (with our lives)?

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Alan的曲折旅程(一)

話說Alan個上鋪下居位都未坐暖,就要出發去Florida讀書啦。星期二一早開完會,阿榮就送我去機場啦。原以為一切順利,點知...



去到候機室,首先見到有人在看由我個friend畫插圖的一本書,



仲見到市長先生同我坐同一班機添!



不過到了時間,飛機仍未出現。原來有故障,飛機在上一站起不到飛,大delay!
我原本是經Chicago去Florida的,因為結果delay了3.5小時,我駁不到本來由Chicago去Florida的班機,引致滯留在Chicago。

去到Chicago時,已經差不多midnight...



好彩獲得航空公司發出酒店voucher一張,不用淪落街頭。不過唔包食。好肚餓呀!



好處是,我慳了一晚房租和租車錢,仲住了一晚好靚的酒店(一房一廳!)。但慘情是,我一心諗著去熱帶的Florida,穿了好單薄的衣服,結果要半夜捱凍站在芝加哥街頭等shuttle,凍死我!



去到酒點梳洗好訓落床,已經兩點啦!不過只能睡三小時,因為要五點起身,去機場!



入哂閘都未天光阿,陰功!



不過,今次終於上到飛機,成功到達Florida!



但曲折的事情未完。明天預告:在麥記被劫!

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Monday, January 01, 2007

裙下之臣

阿May在她的blog貼出梅艷芳模倣大賽,我也不執輸,貼模倣張國榮好了。
不過不是唱張國榮,是模倣張國榮唱陳奕迅。

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新年

一年依始,要貼甚麼呢?居然想起春聯。
曾經在幾年前寫過一對孫中山先生作的春聯,可惜怎也想不起來。
這對也不錯。很配合我習慣深夜寫blog的況味。

夜雨書聲靜
春風墨韵濃


祝新年蒙福。

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  • 正如林一峰話齋,閱讀,也是一種 state of mind。
  • 所以不限文字,還有聲音影像一切雜崩能東西,都在涉獵反思消化乾坤大挪移之列。
  • 看重的只有一個字:Insight

Disclaimer

I work at Westside Baptist Church. Of course, that doesn't mean they agree with everything I post or link here. Everything here is my personal opinion and is not read or approved in advance. Consider yourself warned.