加拿大移民: 生物擴散論 / Canadian Immigrants: Anemochory (Biological dispersal)

"... Biological dispersal refers to a species movement away from an existing population or away from the parent organism. Through simply moving from one habitat patch to another, the dispersal of an individual has consequences not only for individual fitness, but also for population dynamics, population genetics, and species distribution. Understanding dispersal and the consequences on an ecosystem level requires understanding on the type of dispersal, the dispersal range of a given species, and the dispersal mechanisms involved. ..."
(Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemochory)

意釋:

有很多生物是以擴散來繁殖和改良品種,這对個体丶母体丶和整個天然系統都有進化和改善的作用。

在自然界飛禽走獸中,大如深海藍鯨,小如帝王花蝶,它們会和麋鹿丶野雁等一樣,每一年春丶秋兩季都会成羣結隊,作數千哩的遷徙,回南或返北,聚居兩個家鄉,履行了千萬年來的生命演進過程。

但也有很多動物的遷徙是單程式,落足停居之所是在乎生存環境丶資源供求丶氣候運行丶和羣体轉變。例如萬物之靈的人類,也是從非洲 (或您信仰的伊伊甸樂園,或其它發源地) 以擴散方式,發展至四大文明古國,直至今時今日,人類已遷徙至地球每一個角落,太空漫遊,開拓月球丶火星亦不再是科幻小說。

在植物系中,無數的花草樹木也很似有「靈性」地以不同的方法擴散後代,有些以有核的鮮甜美果吸引動物舐食,有些種子以鈎爪掛搭「順風車」,亦有些經千萬年的演進,例如圖示的紅棉樹和蒲公英,長出了輕帆薄翼,隨風擴散各地。

結語:

從自然生物擴散論來看,移民遷徙,是生物以擴散來繁殖和改良品種,這個生命演進的過程,对個体丶母体丶和整個天然系統都有進化和改善的作用。從個人生活覌點來看,生命是一個旅程,出身長大的地方,我当然有很多童年回憶,雖是紅棉絮丶蒲公英亦会有懷鄉之念。但在這電訊網絡全球化丶科技日新月異的21世紀中,我是相信: "Root is where I come from. Home is where I settle."

Photo Credit Wikipedia / 攝影圖片: 紅棉絮, 蒲公英

紅棉絮 / Cotton Seeds

英雄烽火樹
棉絮隨風飄
紅棉花燦爛
傲骨喻錦華

蒲公英 / Dandelion

蒲公英族
隨風四散
思鄉不還
落根而生

( Dandelion 譯自法文 dent-de-lion，這不是說蒲公英族牙尖嘴利,只不過是因為蒲公英葉子的形狀象獅子尖牙齒罷 :)

加拿大移民: 老死還鄉丶落葉歸根 / Canadian Immigrants: Live and Die in Canada

網友 Space兄在香港暮秋,望漂零黃葉,有感而發,寫了【秋葉】一文,指出以前中國往外地謀生人仕,都跟隨中國傳統『樹高千丈，落葉歸根！』的習俗,不願客死異鄉。無奈近十多二十年,很多外向華籍移民,不單止自願「移植」歐美、澳洲、加拿大,收納後更被視為“上等人”云云。Space 兄在唏噓之餘,把老死還鄉丶落葉歸根的中國習俗現代化,以“環保意義”做大前題,指出沒有落葉「回歸」,母樹欠缺落葉滋潤,泥土養份虛耗,樹木不能健康生長。

俺是移植楓葉國多年的加籍華人,雖然Space 兄可能是無心插柳,把「還鄉」接枝談到了「環保」,但他【秋葉】一文,卻令我讀後心有感懷,所以在此搜斷枯腸,尋文索字,找了一些資料,再呈上攝影圖片兩幅,配以一詞半語,萬望Space兄臺及各位讀者鑑賞查証。

下續: 移民定居,是和【生物擴散論】有關 .....

Reference: 【秋葉】 http://mindnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/11/decomposer-yard-waste-decompsition.html

兩週一聚 (二十六期) 「寫給自己的信」 / 2weeks1gather (#26)「Letter to Myself」

隨筆信是很容易寫,可是那「自己」卻是很難定斷,那是昨日丶還是今日的「我」? 昨日的我,把那人生流水帳寫得太淋漓詳盡了,由其是那情之一物,三千煩惱絲,剪不斷,理還乱! 今日的我,將回憶往事一磚一石,築成了護城河,沒有吊橋的堡壘,敵不進丶我不出,在圍牆中自由生活,心如止水,樂也融融。平日閑時無事,看那日出日落,春風秋雨,北雁南飛。要是寂寞無聊,提起神筆一揮,動鼠一點,那蜆蚌中的世界裂嘴应声而開,剪貼的網誌成了話劇,自己也笑啊啊的置身其中。惱人的倒是那螢光幕中模糊的面孔,也看不清楚是不是我自己的反影,在午夜夢迴之際,他好像在說:『勿忘看寫給你的電郵,歲月蹉跎,切記勿誤。』

真氣人!!人老了,腦根就不大靈活,究竟是誰寫給我自己的信啊?

附貼: 【寫給明日之「我」的信】(二零零九年十一月十五日寄出)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My other blog articles:
* 蜆蚌世界 / Photo Story: Small Happy World http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2009/05/photo-story-small-happy-world.html
* 情之一物 / Heart Love Relationships http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/search/label/%E6%83%85%E4%B9%8B%E4%B8%80%E7%89%A9%20Heart%20Love%20Relationships


Related links:
* 今次出題網友「南杏」 【Blog聚】關於第二十六期(15/11)題目
* 其它「寫給自己的信」http://2weeks1gather.wordpress.com/

最普遍的老年癡呆症(腦退化症): 人去楼空 / Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT): He no longer lives here

Here are the comments I left at Inner Space's blog entitled "陪著你走":

Space: ... 但我在看到前中文大學校長 高錕教授，得到諾貝爾物理學獎，電視臺跑到他在美國南加州，灣區矽谷鄰近山景城的家中訪問，他的太太 黃美芸女士說：『光纖之父』已經不在了。聽完新聞後，不禁唏噓，腦海中記起這首歌“陪著你走”。報載：『高錕老人癡呆，忘了光纖，忘不了太太。妻子：「不再是以前那個人！」』

Haricot: ... At the time when the Nobel Prize winner was announced, many people were saying: Oh, how romantic!! He "listened" to her like a child !! They were such lovely couple together !!

In my opinion, people were romanticizing the situation because they wanted it to be a happy and proud occasion for all Chinese. But is dementia really that romantic?

An old-age colleague of mine is currently a sufferer of dementia. He can no longer remember my name even though we had worked together before. He tries hard to continue a conversation, but can no longer articulate a point or recall past events. There is always someone accompanying him when he is going places. He often forgets where he is and is prone to taking other people's jacket or leaving behind his own belongings.

There is nothing romantic about dementia, especially if you are the prime care-giver who has the exhausting 24/7 responsibility of looking after someone you once loved but is no longer there.

As Mrs. 黃美芸 said：「不再是以前那個人！」 She is trying hard to put up a brave face and represent a married couple in public. But for all intensive purpose, the Nobel Prize winner's wife was there by herself, taking care of the shell of her former husband - 人去楼空。

References: Wikipedia

* 老人癡呆症（失智症）http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E5%A4%B1%E6%99%BA%E7%97%87
* Dementia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia
* 阿茲海默氏症 http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E9%98%BF%E5%85%B9%E6%B5%B7%E9%BB%98%E7%97%85
* Alzheimer's disease http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease

Link:
* Inner Space's blog "Mind Necessity" 陪著你走 https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17028869&postID=261883706178446259
* 最普遍的老年癡呆症(腦退化症): (一) "阿滋海默症科學資料節錄" / Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT): Part 1 "Scientific Perspective on Alzheimer's Disease" http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2009/11/dementia-part-1-scientific-perspective.html
* 最普遍的老年癡呆症(腦退化症): (二) 探索大腦之旅 / Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT): Part 2 "Brain Tour" http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2009/11/httpwww.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Update: 2009-11-13: I would like to thank Best Actor for his comments. I stand to be corrected. I will incorporate his input into the article below. A revised version should be available tonight.

Update: 2009-11-16: I have difficulties keeping the blog article coherent and whole again with all the revisions. So, I have decided to write another article with a new title that is more in line with Best Actor's idea, something like "另一覌點: 人未遠去樓永不空". Stay tuned !!!

Updated: 2009-11-19: All basic materials are compiled and ready. Writing has begun !!

Updated: 2009-11-22 and 23: Part 1 and 2 of the new series of articles have been written and posted. (see Related Links above)

新創數字系統 / New Number System

In response to Kempton's October 24, 2009 math game, I developed a proposed "operator" that should work to solve his problem. Here is the exchange for the record:

(A) Kempton's Challenge:

香港 (八港) – 新創數字系統 (數字遊戲)

讀到香港46層高的大廈可以一躍變身88層。我提議香港可以使用一套新創數字系統。不用什麼一二三四五六七八…了！要等了七個唔係”八”/”發”的數字才輪到”八”，花太多時間用些無聊數字。香港新創數字系統可以全部都用八，包保全部好意頭。

(舊)==>(新)

一= 八

二= 八八

三= 八八八

四= 八八八八

五= 八八八八八

六= 八八八八八八

七= 八八八八八八八

八= 八八八八八八八八

九= 八八八八八八八八八

十 = 八八八八八八八八八八

十一 = 八八八八八八八八八八八

( 八八八 ) 乘 ( 八八 ) = 八八八八八八

( 八八八八八八八) 加 ( 八 ) = 八八八八八八八八

香港人數口非常精，相信很快便會學會香港新創數字系統！

數口超級精的數學天才，呢套香港新創數字系統，除了要花點時間用之外，有理論根據嗎？那些地方可行？有問題嗎？

有興趣的讀者可以在 comment 玩一吓呢個數字遊戲。

(B) My October 26, 2009 Response:

「八港」哈哈哈哈!!!!哈哈哈哈!!!!

It is definitely feasible to have a new system that is based on the number 8. The challenge is to link the new base-8 system to the existing number system being used outside of Hong Kong. Let me try ….

Let Xn denotes the number n, where n = 1,2,3,4,..

Proposed operator to map the two systems:
Xn = (8)*[sum of: 10exp(n-1), 10exp(n-2), 10exp(n-3), ... , 10exp(n-n)]

Tests:
X4 = (8)*[10exp(3)+10exp(2)+10exp(1)+10exp(0)]
= (8)*[1000+100+10+1]
= 8888
X3 = (8)*[10exp(2)+10exp(1)+10exp(0)] = 888
X2 = (8)*[10exp(1)+10exp(0)] = 88
X1 = (8)*[10exp(1-1)] = 8

IMHO, the proposed operator should work.

Reference:
Kempton's Blog: 香港 (八港) – 新創數字系統 (數字遊戲) http://ca8hk.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/eight-kong-number-game/

說服力 / The Power of Convincing

在網上找到這條 YouTube 視頻短片【衣櫥故事 / The Closet】,轉貼在此給讀者瀏覽。在某種程况下,說服力真是非常重要啊!!! >_<

Video Credit: 這追琢入妙丶耐人尋味的緋聞小故事,是由法國 Canal+ 製作
-> Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Story !!!

References:
* "Canal+": Wikipedia "Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted. The un-encrypted programmes can be viewed free of charge on Canal+ and on satellite on Canal+ Clair." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_plus)
* YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7MVtgXMclI

打尖去打豬流感針 / H1N1 Vaccinations of "Expecting" Hockey Players

It has been reported that some professional hockey players (yes, those big burly manly men who body-check and punch each other out on ice) jumped the queue and received H1N1 flu shots ahead of pregnant women, seniors and others who were waiting patiently in line. In Calgary, the report ignited such an outrage that one staffer in the government's Alberta Health Services was fired.

But wait a minute! Before we jump into the rink to join the mêlée and beat those big guys up, we should give the fellows the benefits of the doubt. Perhaps they, and their team officials, might have misinterpreted the word "expecting" and thought hockey players do belong to the vaccination priority group, along side with expecting mothers. Sure, these professionals expect a lot. They expect, among other things, multi-million dollar contracts, expensive fast cars, woman/girl friends as the case maybe, the right to be traded so they can negotiate for bigger multi-million-dollar contracts, and the list can go on. I am sure they must have misinterpreted the notice - excuse their English. So, what if they don't have a university degree - Bill Gate didn't have one either. Beside, as one of their team spokesman said: Hockey is a contact sport and players exchange bodily fluids during games, along with punches. Ah, I got it. They are at risk, travelling from cities to cities, sacrificing their health to entertain us, the public. In a life-boat scenario, it is obvious who should stay and who should be pushed overboard.

Regardless, it's too late to ask for the vaccine back. Perhaps, the hockey players can give away some free tickets to the public as a compensatory gesture for jumping the queue. Now, don't sneeze at the idea just because you don't have the flu shots.

Reference:
* CBC Nov 5, 2009: "... Team vaccinations raised questions: No such reasons were given by either the Calgary Flames or the Abbotsford Heat following revelations players on both teams apparently jumped the queue to get swine flu vaccinations last week. An Alberta health official was fired for arranging the shots for the Calgary Flames, and B.C.'s provincial health officer Perry Kendall said health authorities would be investigating the doctor who gave the Abbotsford players the vaccine. "There has been no authorization given by me or any of B.C.'s medical officers or health authorities for any professional sports team to receive early access to H1N1 vaccine. And we don't plan to be giving priority access to professional sports teams or to amateur sports teams either," Kendall said Wednesday. The H1N1 vaccine is currently being offered in B.C. only to people under 65 with a chronic condition, children between six months and five years, pregnant women and some health-care workers, because of a shortage of supply. So far in B.C. 15 deaths have been linked to the virus and more than 360 people have been hospitalized." (Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/05/bc-chilliwack-bruins-swine-flu-vaccine.html?ref=rss)

* CBC Nov 4, 2009: "... A staff member has been fired after an Alberta Health Services probe into why some members of the Calgary Flames and their families received the H1N1 shot without lining up at public clinics. "Disciplinary action has been taken, resulting in the dismissal today of the most senior staff member involved," said a statement released by the health board on Wednesday. "An investigation is continuing and may result in further disciplinary action." ... " I think it sends the message that this will not be tolerated," said Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert, adding that he does not know who the dismissed worker is, or why he or she decided to approve the clinic — held on Friday at an unnamed health centre — for the hockey team. ... "The Flames and their doctors requested the vaccination for their members from Alberta Health Services last week based on information available to them at the time, said team president Ken King on Tuesday. "The team would not have chosen to get the shot had they known there would be a vaccine shortage," King added ..."
(Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/11/04/alberta-h1n1-flu-shot-calgary-flames-investigation.html)

上海華特迪士尼主題公園 / Walt Disney Theme Park in Shanghai

It should not come as a surprise that the Walt Disney Company will want to open shop in Shanghai right in the heartland of China, a country with a strong economy and the world's biggest population of potential consumers for the US entertainment industry. After all, most of Disney's toys are made in China. So, why ship them all across the oceans when you can sell them to the locals. Beside, the Chinese seem to have forgotten, and most would not have even known anyway, that the founder Walter Elias Disney was a hardline anti-communist son-of-a-gun when he was alive.

Seventy some years old Snow White probably knows the secret of old Walt, but hey, she was put into deep sleep for at least twenty years during China's Cultural Revolution. And why should she spill the beans now, knowing that the long wait for Chinese Prince Charming is going to materialize in the form of a castle, and a theme park, to be built for a cool US$3.5 billion (eat your heart out, Hong Kong Disneyland).

And, as for Mickey, well, he never likes the N American slang Mickey Mouse Business, so here is his big chance to start anew where business means money and money is good.

May you rest in peace Mr. Walter Elias Disney.

References:

* "Walt Disney" Wikipedia:
"... Testimony before Congress: Disney was a founding member of the anti-communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. In 1947, during the early years of the Cold War, Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he branded Herbert Sorrell, David Hilberman and William Pomerance, former animators and labor union organizers, as Communist agitators. All three men denied the allegations. According to Peter Schweizer, a conservative author of the time, Archives of the Soviet Union released by the Russian government implicate Sorrell as a Communist spy. However, Sorrell testified before the HUAC in 1946 but there was insufficient evidence to link him to the Communist Party. Disney accused the Screen Actors Guild of being a Communist front, and charged that the 1941 strike was part of an organized Communist effort to gain influence in Hollywood." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_disney)

* New York Times: "China Approves Disney Theme Park in Shanghai"
Nov 3, 2009 LOS ANGELES — After a courtship of about 20 years, the Walt Disney Company has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said Tuesday.

The agreement for a Shanghai Disneyland is a landmark deal that carries enormous cultural and financial implications. Analysts estimate the initial park — not including hotels and resort infrastructure — will cost $3.5 billion, making it one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China.

The initial resort, with a mix of shopping areas, hotels and a Magic Kingdom-style theme park, will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district — with the theme park occupying about 100 of those acres. It would be a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo. It is expected to open in five or six years.

Disney’s plans are ambitious: If further development of the resort happens as expected over the coming decades — still a big if — it will encompass more than 1,700 acres and have a capacity rivalling Disney World in Florida, which attracts about 45 million annual visitors.

The company’s goal is to create an engine that will drive demand among China’s 1.3 billion residents for other Disney products, from video games to Broadway-style shows to DVDs. Disney typically relies on the creation of new Disney TV channels to pump its brand abroad, but China’s limits on foreign media have made that impossible. The approval, notably, did not come with concessions from China on the television front.

Mr. Iger called the approval “a very significant milestone” in a statement, taking care to praise China as “one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world.” A spokeswoman declined to elaborate on details. Throwing open its doors to such a uniquely American — and permanent — entertainment experience is a milestone for China, which has aggressively protected its culture from Westernization in general and Hollywood in particular. Only 20 non-Chinese films are allowed to be shown in theaters each year, for instance, and those are often edited.

“Disney, perhaps the most iconic American brand of all, is supercharged in this department,” said Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.

It was unclear what convinced China to finally approve the deal after years of off-again, on-again talks. The prospect of creating tens of thousands of jobs at a tough economic moment might have played a role, Mr. Schell and other analysts said.

Others have speculated that the timing involved President Obama’s inaugural visit to China later this month.

Mr. Schell said he saw something more at work. “It’s a signal that now they will tolerate a certain kind of Western investment,” he said.

Disney will own about 40 percent of the Shanghai resort, with the remainder owned by a holding company formed by a consortium of Chinese companies selected by the government, according to people with knowledge of the plan but who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Only the Magic Kingdom-style portion of the project needed Beijing’s approval; Disney will now negotiate with Shanghai authorities on construction plans, but that is considered a matter of process.

Details about rides are still being worked out, but there are to be a smattering of classic attractions and new rides developed specifically for Shanghai, perhaps incorporating Chinese stories and history.

Disney is often accused of force-feeding its products to international markets and thus homogenizing culture. The company’s heavy-handed creation of Disneyland Paris in the early 1990s, for instance, was a public relations disaster; French farmers with pitch forks protested Disney.

But the company, under new leadership since 2005, has worked to erase that imperious reputation by bending to the quirks of local markets and taking on local partners. Where appropriate, it has incorporated local customs; the decision to serve alcohol at Disneyland Paris helped turn that resort into a financial success.

Disney has opened a chain of language schools in Shanghai, taking care to promise that the goal is to teach children to speak English, not to indoctrinate them with Princesses 101. (The company’s characters, however, are very visible at the centers.)

Disney, which already does more business in China than most foreign media companies, has more than 600 employees in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Merchandise like plush toys and Mickey Mouse apparel is sold at about 6,000 branded locations.

The company delivers about a dozen hours of television programming (“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”) to local stations each week, and its Broadway unit has toured “The Lion King,” among other shows.

But Disney executives have set a high bar for international growth, saying publicly before the recession that about 50 percent of the company’s annual profit could originate overseas within a few years; now it is about a quarter of revenue and operating income.

The company picked Shanghai largely because of its transportation network; moving guests in and out of a huge resort and feeding them while they are there pose enormous logistical challenges. About 300 million potential customers live within two hours of the site, located between the city’s airport and downtown.

“Strategically, we know that our theme parks represent a huge tent pole for the Disney brand wherever we put them,” Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in August during an interview about the division’s growth plans.

The announcement marks the culmination of a courtship that began in July, 1990, when Zhu Rongji, then the mayor of Shanghai, made a trip to the original Disneyland in Los Angeles with four other Chinese mayors and came home determined to have a Disneyland in his city. Mr. Zhu rose through the ranks to become premier of China from1998 to 2003 and was a consistent champion of the project, said Michael Rowse, the Hong Kong government official who played a central role in negotiating the establishment of Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened four years ago.

The Shanghai approvals come as Disney works to keep its domestic theme parks healthy amid the global economic downturn. Unlike most theme park operators, Disney has managed to keep attendance high by applying steep discounts to hotel rooms and dining.

Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/business/global/04disney.html)

Photo Credit: Reuters "Hong Kong Disneyland 2005"

~~ 月圓轉好 / Song of the Full Moon ~~

As days turn into weeks and weeks into months ... years gone by

Your face remains forever young in my dreams

Until one night you bid farewell

And time reconnects itself

You have moved on

So must I

*

唐人要面子丶講排場, 是浪費的惡習嗎? / Saving Face, a wasteful Chinese tradition?

Recently, someone who had quite often attended meetings in China told me the following story:

Apparently, some restaurants have their meal-rates linked in direct proportion to the rental cost of the meeting/banquet rooms. So, when there are lots of guests, the room has to be big, and the cost of meal is inflated, regardless of whether the host wants that much food to eat or not (and never mind abt the quality). At the end of the event, it is most likely the host and foreign visitors will not ask for doggy-bags. The left-over food then becomes another "side-benefit" 下欄 for those working in the restaurant.

I told my friend: Well, at least the food is not wasted, even though the practice of charging the food-bill based on room-size sounds like a rip-off to me.

However, I can also see that the restaurants might be taking advantage of the Chinese tradition of "saving face". Let's face it (excuse my pun): Not an insignificant number of Tang people would go to great length and spend tonnes of money to show that they are "rich" and can "afford" to be wasteful. By having more food than anyone possibly can eat, they send the message of 有餘 and 家庭/國家富有 to their guests. But, as I mentioned in my comments to Fresh Designer: 如果上至官僚下至平民,個個要面子,樣樣講排場,咁就真係浪費金錢!!

It's abt time to ask: Isn't this so-called "face saving" practice a wasteful Chinese tradition?

Link: Fresh Designer Oct 11 2009: http://freshdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post_11.html (note: my article is not to pass judgment against his friend)

Photo Credit: China Daily News 2007