一个悲伤的真实故事，一部优美的影片。

德国入侵法国前的巴黎犹太大家庭的婚礼，准妹夫第一见舅子如美人鱼般的太太，立刻被其吸引，从此埋下祸根。 妹妹妹夫很快养育一子其乐融融，而妹夫却一再希望亲近妻子的嫂子，同时大家庭生活因为德国纳粹的逼近而被迫戴上屈辱的黄三角，而妻子也在某一刻突然发现了丈夫对嫂子的倾慕，于是，这位苍白而情感强烈的女子嫉妒愤恨。巴黎沦陷后，妹夫们用假证件南下躲避，按原计划太太们随后团圆，可惜一封家信里妹妹读到先生说嫂子也已经到了南部，立刻绝望---绝望中的女人真是可怕，最可怕的是，用自己与孩子的生命为代价。

于是妹妹首先拒绝南下，然后勉强南下，却在最后一道岗前故意亮出犹太人身份证，更残忍的事，她平静告诉警察，那个正满心盼望见到父亲的小男孩是她的儿子，于是很快被送到奥斯维辛。这一头，妹夫如遭雷击，人在重创后的选择往往不能用理性判断，战后他终于和丈夫已经在战俘营丧生的嫂子在一起，先子后婚，而所有的家庭成员都对战时发生的一切噤口，而他们的儿子却奇异感到空气中有个哥哥无时不在，细究下来，不在乎是敏感小男生对于父亲眼神背后的比较。

这个阴影无时不盘桓在家人之中，直到父母都白发苍苍，儿子终于告诉一直负疚的老父亲，他的哥哥没有被折磨很久。

这是无数被屠杀的犹太人中一位母亲与孩子，孩子本可以求生长大，却因为母亲的绝望而夭折。

不忍指责这位普通任性的母亲，指责她用孩子做武器去报复丈夫情感上的不忠，或者她并知道这是一条不归路，更不知道她的选择给劫后余生的亲人们关联的人们所带来的伤痛。

每个人都可以用爱的名义任性，也可以用爱的名义反击，但是，请不要把无辜孩子牵进成人真真假假的情感或者自恋狂乱中。

同样，和爸的密友与前女友曾有一女，难过的是，这位朋友婚后再能没有见到他的女儿，前女友用法律的名义切断了他和他孩子的一切可能，于是，每年这个孩子生日前后，朋友都会找和爸，如他的兄弟，一起呆几天，就他们两个男人，虽然这位朋友已经儿女双全。昨天，朋友飞到伦敦，和爸陪他又一次走在曾经有记忆的街道。夜里，和妈一人看Un Secret,外面有雨，突然心生庆幸，庆幸我们夫妻与和和三人都是从头开始，不伤别人的心，也不轻易会被别人伤心。因为这个朋友的遭遇，和爸极其痛恨拿孩子当武器的成年人。这个雨夜，毕竟还有人在伤心。

再回到这部片子，是难得一见的清新之作，不仅画面如诗般流畅，而且沉重却不矫情，尤其是影片触及到了法国人对沦陷期间的复杂心态；演员无疑是一流的，如‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly‘般精彩，Mathieu Amalric的短短几场戏，他的眼神已经足够把一位从前忧郁少年的中年人讲尽，如果找一位理想中的文艺中年恋爱，他应该比为爱马仕走秀的上海孙甘露更有一种可能的疼痛。

不奇怪是，导演们，有点固执与名气的导演们，总有一帮御用班底，这位著名Claude Miller也绝不例外，Julie Depardi就是他的心爱，先不说julie的演艺世家出身，她是屏幕上每每与角色浑然一体的超级绿叶，恰巧，最近也看了由她出演的相同历史背景的’Female Agents'， 也由二战中法国抵抗阵线的真实事件而来，1944年5月，四位女性受命回遣沦陷的法国，抢救一位其实D-DAY考察诺曼底地理结构的地质学家，人已中年的苏菲玛姬（Sophie Marceau)似乎演技没有长进，非常脸谱化；情节不并复杂，三位女性先后牺牲，其中一位虔诚教徒纯洁处子，一位家人被纳粹屠杀的犹太妓女，一位逃婚而又被用作鱼饵纳粹情报官的未婚妻，而幸存长官不仅失去了她的丈夫她的弟弟还有她从未出世的孩子，而真实中的法国二战英雄Lise Villemeur2004年3月去世，终年98岁，无子女。在英国近十年，看了大批关于D-DAY的记录片虚构片，也渐渐理解D-DAY对于欧洲与世界，和人类的重要，也更能恭敬 Remembrance day教堂里闪烁的烛光。

女性主义者会发问为什么历史是history,而不是her-story? 有人答，因为女性不够理性。

对于港产电影,虽然看得越来越少,却也是十几年前的乐趣之一,有哪个年纪相仿的同学不能脱口而出像周星星像靓女幽魂里张学友的经典搞笑,比如,勾引我吧勾引我吧,我最经不起诱惑了.....再比如,热闹的三级片,即使现在再看当年的叶玉卿还是活色生香,可惜那时没有男性杂志调查广大九十年代初男同学,坦白说---谁是你的fantasy?

很长一段时间文人常把上海香港台北三城比较,而电影中香港与台北都普遍背景,哪一个更文艺哪一个更江湖哪一个更悲情? 香港的知识分子有点英国味道,刻意与公共事务保持距离,而台湾的大学比较讲政治,大概国共两党有一点曾经最接近,都用手段把意识形态渗透到应该独立的高等教育里.以上海为背景的电影似乎还不面目清楚,即使有故事有传奇,却难以被攫取.

刘伟强作为个人很奇怪得贯穿着香港电影的历史,从黄飞鸿到无间道,从头文字D到伤城,他的作品伤花怒放无处着落,而这部The Flock,故事太冷太黑太血腥太残酷,即使是Claire Danes都不能有明媚的笑容,而Richard Gere已经老到不能多看,小天后Avril却是那一烁冬日微弱的阳光.刘氏风格强劲,画面燥点高,沙漠高速公路绑架性虐谋杀官僚的不作为与个人为单位的搏斗,没有反讽的黑白分明是狰狞.

于是夜里和妈与恶梦面对,梦到和和独自一人被一辆大巴挟持而去,无论和妈怎么奔跑无论和和怎么尖叫妈妈,都追不上那辆车---惊醒惊醒,还好,只是梦,却有一脸的泪水,即使和爸都心悸到连续检查门窗.

这个年纪,不仅需要教育孩子生人莫近,更重要的,即使熟人朋友,也不轻易让他们与孩子单独相处.

亲爱的和和:十月中午的阳光明媚  小雏菊的笑容年年岁岁

转眼间,学校已经成为和和的日常生活,运气很好,到目前为止关于幼儿园的种种可能都没有发生过,前天又是家长会,与和爸恭敬聆听老师与心理师对和和的评语,自然都是好很好非常好,当然,也技巧问到S和A,老师答,不是他们不理其他小朋友,而是他们从海湾国家刚刚空降,基本不会说英语,这么一来,和妈如释重负.

如TUTU讲,如果和和成为中右与极左,和妈都会遗憾,遗憾无法与社会较量,遗憾不能让孩子成为一个尽量少偏见的人.这个世界什么都可能缺,唯独不缺偏见,西方对中国除去制度以外的文化层面偏见,中国对于西方社会的整体偏见,两者的问题,这一年,都呈现得分外清楚,在大背景big issues下派生的人与人之间的亲疏离合都正常,也正因为作为中国母亲,关于中国的一切其实是深入皮肤的,所以更希望孩子能远离这种因为出身带来的窠臼与不间断的困扰,除非有一天,孩子说,妈妈我要学国际关系我要学政治经济我要学中国研究.

应该讲,这一年,和妈改头换面,在政治正确第一的机构里是一个微不足道的点缀,有时侯会被人以赞许的口吻说你很盎格鲁萨克森式的solid,有时也面对一些一言难尽的问题,和爸在科里是出了名的'外交官',因为他能让难缠/抱怨/不合作的病人迅速平静下来,所以如果出现暴跳如雷牢骚满腹的病人,都由他接手,他的经验就是第一don't take personal,第二think twice,在他看来,人都有缺乏理性过分自私的那一面或者那一刻,所以,要学会给予别人fire exit,所以和妈是谨慎的,而且本来有实验性质,也就非常随遇而安,于是日子过得很快,带薪不带薪假期都混到,而且顺利转到既不需要通勤而且一周可以35小时的部门.

工作的利弊得失,都没有想象中那么郑重其事,只能说这一年让和妈接触到很多了年收入在2-5万上下的普通英国人民,从前在学校,然后是家庭,与英国社会相当有距离虽然从报纸知道大事小事;同事上司教育程度不错,进修长短课程很多,咨询调查报告看到不再乱行,成熟的正面作用是无论喜欢还是不喜欢,都能继续做该做的.

公立机构的生存法则中有一点是要能说,或者讲,要敢于表扬自己,而这大概是我们这种文化中所缺乏的,从小到大,都在一个比较与被比较的框架里,缺乏自信还有点大头症,因为在25岁之前被训诫为人生的意义在于成为something big,然后开始改变,却又不能完全颠覆,这就是为什么还会苦恼的源泉.

并不是说前25年的中式教育有多大的不妥,而且中式教育本身存在的一些偏执独断与缺乏包容性,对女性的苛刻,但无论怎样, 25岁前的制度里仍然相对有空间允许能者胜出的,而且既得利益集团没有如今这么独大与不可挑战,那时候的穷孩子可以考学可以参军,只要一旦被体制接纳,人生很大程度被改变,而现在的穷孩子从一开始就被抛出体制之外,所以赞同CanCan对于瑞士教育体制的见解,近似中国的七十年代,有相对清晰与相对可能的人才进阶制度,同时对牛剑这种坚持从私立学校招收生源的态度相当保留,尽管他们声称大学招生不为社会公不公平买单,言外之意是政府的中小学教育体制太差,在和妈看来,公立重点中学并不是被中产家庭垄断而成为不公平的代表,而是重点中学的录取制度需要改进,比如70%以考试录取,30%以随机学号录取,但问题紧跟而来,如何将生源的差异降到最小从而保证学校的教学质量? 这些重点中学的老师肯定不可能像国内同行那样动辄批评家长动辄用考试淘汰学生.

和爸现在最关心的是,和妈是否还愿意继续再做一次全职妈妈,和妈回答很清楚,和和得到的,她可能的弟弟妹妹都应该得到,而且和妈并不需要所谓工作带来的经济独立,很遗憾依然是和爸养家,有时给他买点什么他都感激得如同中了奖,同时也不需要所谓工作带来的安全感,因为还是这个家能给予安全感.

1, 最近和和很想公公,早也讲晚也念,于是和妈按中国人思维上课,讲我们已经霸了奶奶了,对芃芃哥哥不公平,所以爷爷陪哥哥啊, 和和一听很生气,叫:那奶奶不是没有了丈夫?奶奶听了很害羞,都这把年纪了还丈夫?!

和妈评:看来小人知道夫妻关系是第一重要,奶奶首先要丈夫,这一点,深得和爸赞赏.

2, 在图书馆看书看DVD,和和抓起有粉红裙子封面的'性和城市'要妈妈看,和妈随口说你爸已经买给妈妈了,和和立即委屈道:为什么爸爸总送你礼物? 却不送我? 和妈踢皮球说还是问你爸吧,于是她边喝巧克力边委屈问老爹,老爹毫不犹豫回答:先生挣钱,太太花钱,这是西方的天经地义,而且妈妈很辛苦,不过妈妈给你买的东西都有爸爸的一份啊.和和道,等我16岁,就嫁给史代芬诺,和爸也绝,连忙接口:爸爸妈妈一定给你丰厚陪嫁.

和妈评: 中产保守派西式男人再爱孩子都先把老婆放第一位,孩子也很早被教育爸爸是站在妈妈一边的,丈夫要有养家的能力.

3, 和和对一切逝去的生命都称为星星,于是她的Opa就是天上那颗最亮的启明星,经常她对着星空大喊:hullo, Opa, how are you? 每一次都让她的父亲眼框潮湿,一次在村里,她看见一为白发爷爷,乍一看与爷爷的照片很肖似,她的反应是跑去问Oma,他是我的新爷爷吗? 因为夏天扫过墓,她会发问:奶奶,你的爸爸呢? 奶奶说我爸爸去世了,她就哦,和Opa一样当星星了,奶奶就继续说奶奶也会老到当星星的,和和连忙说,奶奶,你还是当human吧!

和妈评: 生死观念已经具备,虽然很童话

4, 应该讲睡前是父母与孩子最能嗲起来的时间段,早上都是温柔欠缺,那么晚上来补,其实也就是套她的话,在学校怎样怎样,和和是个大大咧咧傻乎乎的孩子,总是高高兴兴上学高高兴兴放学,因为太过顺利,和妈难免不疑神疑鬼担心自己忽略了什么. 上周卧谈会,和妈故意问,宝贝你在学校开心吗,和和答开心,和妈又问你被推过吗?和和答没有,和妈继续问你被人打过吗? 和和突然说,哼,S踢过我的腿,S和A不喜欢我,不过他们都有black faces,不和他们玩---这一下让和妈和爸紧张到心跳加速,想,这年头谁敢歧视'black face'啊,和妈强装镇定问,宝宝,哪个老师说不和黑脸玩啊? 和和答B小姐,这一下和妈简直更紧张了,和爸赶紧接话,问B小姐为什么这么说,和和继续唠叨,B小姐说脸这么黑颜色不会显出来的--啊,舒了一口气,看来是画脸中的无辜小插曲,而不是超级敏感的种族话题. 和和学校应该讲非常非常白,小比例的深色孩子其实都是南亚医生的孩子,一个个不要太聪明. 然后和和接下来的话还是有点问题,她说,O1,O2,S2,E,T,K,C都是我的好朋友, S2总亲我,O2总抱我,我们都有pink faces,此后几天,和妈特别留心这两个班孩子的抱团状况,发现S和A确实总单玩,和和那群孩子就比较混在一起.

和妈评: 与和爸讨论后,采取冷处理,严格避免涉及任何肤色的话题,小孩子这个年纪通常对外表不同敏感,但也是非常纯真的敏感,可能不合适被成人紧张夸大,但是和妈告诉女儿,妈妈奶奶都没有pink faces.从另外一个角度说,身份认同的确开始于很小的年龄.

看完这部电影,二话没说立即定了原声碟.

很久没有被电影中的音乐打动了,最近上一次应该还是The Hours,虽然Once里的清唱深情婉转,却不及此间的钢琴.

第一次到布鲁日(虽然和爸固执发成'布鲁赫'),是个秋天早晨,白露为霜,趴在桥边看中世纪教堂发呆,那个时候并不知道自己将在欧洲停留,更不知道自己将一次一次经过这小城.

26岁是英国young person card(非全日制学生)的年龄上限,怀着一种奇怪的心情坐火车,以当年国情,大学毕业本意味着彻底成年,来了发现欧洲26岁之前都算年青的青年,还可以胡混几年光阴不用心存内疚,从这一点说,欧洲是个让人容易撒娇发嗲的地方,再发现同学都高龄,就更加那么一点有持无恐.

爱尔兰人的本来够悲情够冷峻,又加上了英国人擅长的黑色幽默与拿腔弄调,与主流下的悲悯,比科恩兄弟更放得下身架,Martin McDonagh的想象力与搞笑力一流,三八与解构和谐共存,就像西式迷信说结婚要一点点旧一点点新一点点蓝一点点借.因为对话太英式硬郎嘲讽,所以能爆笑,即使冬夜里的鲜血都没有让悲伤上升到大脑,反到兴高采烈喝起热巧克力.

以杀手/黑社会为题材的片子向来比较出彩,除去生死这两个对立概念,还在于一种身份的隐藏,与隐藏派生的虚实,当然,也包括常人间的窥测,每一个人,有意无意都会幻想'role play',当然此片要感谢几位大牌的演技和美丽的布鲁日.

东南几郡,被冰岛银行牢套9400万镑的Council Tax,单Kent就是5000万,而Canterbery Tales的现代版则是小城council被套800万,不知道大主教会怎么发表意见?这也算不算一个英式黑幽默?

前八年的经济繁荣,好像也没多大关系,只是税单上收入一直在增加,哪怕一点点;和爸从来不知道什么叫失业也不知道什么叫找工作,他就是那么一个谨慎,这无疑也影响到了和妈的选择,当然,放在今天的语境下,公立机构确实是不饱不饥的无趣而平稳.

昨天皇家苏格兰银行股票大跌,今天英国政府救市同时降息,邻居老福勒也有点老泪纵横,他家的养老钱都存在突然臭名昭著的Icesave,而冰岛政府昨天还冰冷宣布他们首要是管国内存户,英国存户顿时哭天喊地,好在荷兰ING今天出手解救了一部分英国勤俭持家的人民.

大姑子电话报告他们决定立即再买一处房,因为怕通涨,如果钱保下来却贬值了,白辛苦一场;同时,英镑对欧元终于过了最黑暗的谷底开始回升,德国朋友跟进下猛药劝和爸合买practice,因为德国私人诊所的收入被保险公司capped,而荷兰却不;上周二姑子厌倦了地中海的太阳毅然搬回荷兰,有迹象表明他们一大家准备在村里重新安家,大概到一定阶段,人还是愿意回老家,西欧人民是幸福的,老家真是老家,房子还是那一栋,同学还是那一群,相比之下,和妈已无老家可言,只能把和爸的老家当自己的.

该怎么办? 与先生开夫妻店,学荷兰语学德语管账自封为时髦的account manager? 也奇怪,这一次去了瑞士,突然让和妈对英国彻底心生厌倦,严格讲,英国只有伦敦一个城市,而欧洲再闷还可以一脚踏上火车去这里去那里,在欧洲做个上中产肯定要比英国的counterpart舒服,可以完成和爸坚持的理想生活,住美丽而'白'的小镇,在大城市工作,职业的同时兼顾生活质量.

这个秋天看来会心猿意马,但原则是,无论怎样的决定都建立在和和与老人快乐的基础上,而作为父母,我们努力做好provider.

The party's over for Iceland, the island that tried to buy the world

Almost overnight, its population became the wealthiest on Earth. Tracy McVeigh in Reykjavik finds that the credit crunch is making the cash disappear

• Tracy McVeigh
• The Observer,
• Sunday October 5 2008

The snow has arrived early in Reykjavik after an unusually long and warm summer. The freeze has brought out the ghostly green haze of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - the shape of which shifts dramatically across the tiny city's black skies.

The bars and restaurants of Iceland's capital are packed, the Range Rovers and BMWs are parked nose to tail all along the streets of the central 101 district, and music is pumping from a black stretch Hummer limousine cruising by.

'What can we do? Its difficult times but we've spent all day talking about it, watching the news getting worse and worse. We had to go out and be with friends. Maybe it's like the party at the end of the world,' says Egill Tomasson, 32, sitting in the Kaffeebarinn bar.

Iceland is on the brink of collapse. Inflation and interest rates are raging upwards. The krona, Iceland's currency, is in freefall and is rated just above those of Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan. One of the country's three independent banks has been nationalised, another is asking customers for money, and the discredited government and officials from the central bank have been huddled behind closed doors for three days with still no sign of a plan. International banks won't send any more money and supplies of foreign currency are running out.

People talk about whether a new emergency unity government is needed and if the EU would fast-track the country to membership. On Friday the queues at the banks were huge, as people moved savings into the most secure accounts. Yesterday people were buying up supplies of olive oil and pasta after a supermarket spokesman announced on Friday night that they had no means of paying the foreign currency advances needed to import more foodstuffs.

This North Atlantic volcanic island, which is the size of Cuba, with a population of 320,000 - the size of Coventry's - is an unlikely player on the global financial stage. It is famous for its fish, geysers and for winning the UN's 2007 'best country to live in' poll. But Iceland built its extraordinary wealth on the crest of the worldwide credit boom and now the crunch is sweeping it away, bankrupting a people for whom the past eight years have been, for most of them and by their own admission, one long party.

The nation's celebrated rags-to-riches story began in the Nineties when free market reforms, fish quota cash and a stock market based on stable pension funds allowed Icelandic entrepreneurs to go out and sweep up international credit. Britain and Denmark were favourite shopping haunts, and in 2004 alone Icelanders spent £894m on shares in British companies. In just five years, the average Icelandic family saw its wealth increase by 45 per cent.

But, as a result of the international banking crisis, the billionaires who own everything from West Ham United football club to the Somerfield supermarket chain, Hamleys toy shops and the House of Fraser, are in trouble and the country is drowning in debt.

Iceland's cheap labour force, the Poles and Lithuanians, have left already - there's little point in sending home such a worthless currency, and the tourist season is over. Iceland is on its own.

In the Kaffeebarinn, Egill Tomasson isn't drinking because he has a music festival to organise. Iceland Airwaves takes place in a fortnight, when more than 100 Icelandic bands and 50 foreign ones will play in venues around the city over four days. Most of the tickets have been sold in krona, but the international acts need to be paid in euros, which is going to cost the organisers dearly.

'People here are going to need this festival,' says Tomasson. 'This crisis has been a heavy blow. And many people should have a bad conscience for what has happened. Someone should be prosecuted, they have sucked Iceland dry, taken the money and ran, and left us totally in the shit. People I know who have gone to the UK or the US to study have found their grants worthless, they are stranded.'

Like many his age, Tomasson has only a vague memory of harder times, before the boom that brought Iceland the highest per capita wealth in the world. Older islanders call them the 'Krutt-kynslotin' - the cuddly generation. Eco-aware, earnest but pampered, they drift from organic café to bar, listening to the music of Björk and Sigur Rós, islanders who have made it big abroad. 'They will have to get their hands dirty now,' says chef Siggi Hall, Iceland's answer to Gordon Ramsay, with an effusive vocabulary to match.

'That's good though, they are the I-generation; iPods, iPhones, everything starts with I. Well, we will have to go back to the basics now. Icelanders are risk-takers, but hard working, they will have to downsize. We will have to eat haddock and Icelandic lamb and forget these imports of goose livers and Japanese soy sauce. When everyone was extremely rich in Iceland - you know, last month, it was with money that they never have earned. Now those who were extremely rich are just normally rich, but they think they are poor. They were spoilt, spending billions.'

Hall is due to open his new restaurant on 17 October, but insists the crisis is not worrying him. 'I had been losing customers because people were flying off to Copenhagen and London and New York for the weekend, to eat out. Now they will stay in Iceland, but they will still eat out. People need to eat.'

Outside the city's Hofdahollin car showroom, looking a little rumpled for men trying to sell new and used cars for £35,000 and up, owner Runar Olafsson and his top salesman are sharing a Marlboro. They are not expecting any customers today. 'A few years ago we couldn't get enough top-end cars and we started importing them. We were selling 120, 140, a month. But it turned around so fast,' says Olafsson. 'It's so dramatic, just in one month. We have already seen two dealers go down.

'Customers would come in and we would apply for credit online for them, a 100 per cent loan, and they can drive away in their new Range Rover. It took ten minutes, it was very easy. But 60 to 70 per cent of those loans were in foreign currency, Japanese yen or Swiss francs, and they have gone up 90 per cent as the krona burns. A car worth 5 million krona now has a 9 million loan on it; how are people going to make those payments?'

Foreign currency loans are a problem for homeowners, too. 'Loans have been very cheap, house prices rose and there was a lot of good-quality housebuilding. But the building has halted, nothing is being finished, nothing is selling. The interest rates are staggering. What people are doing now is swapping houses if they want to go bigger or smaller. That is what is keeping us afloat,' says estate agent Ingolfur Gissurarson. His mobile goes off - the ringtone is A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles. 'I changed it to suit the times,' he smiles.

Blame it on the Vikings. Icelanders like to hark back to their ancestors, the rebel Vikings who, as the nation's most revered daughter Björk once explained, 'couldn't deal with authority in Norway. So they flew off in this mad ocean in a wooden boat which is pretty hardcore, North Atlantic in the year 800. And they found this island full of snow ... yeeeah!'

'The Icelandic psyche is an important part of all of this,' says Hellgrimur Helgason, who writes an outspoken newspaper column which exposes feuds between Iceland's ruling class and its entrepreneurs. He is also the author of 101 Reykjavik, a popular novel populated by 'Krutt-kynslotin' characters.

'Before the market reforms the country had stagnated, no one thought Icelanders could be businessmen. We were poor fishermen or farmers, so it had an incredible effect on confidence when we saw these young men out buying up British and Danish companies. Everyone grabbed at the new opportunities like children. Really, it was no surprise that Hamleys toy shop was one of the first purchases.'

Gunnghilder Sveinbjarna and her friend, Anna Lara Magnusdottir, are ordering their second bottle of red wine in the Philippe Starck-designed interior of Reykjavik's Bar 5. Tonight the young women are feeling no pain.

'We come out at the weekend to forget our children and our problems, and this time we will drink extra hard to make sure we forget the economic crisis too,' says Gunnghilder, raising a glass. 'Tomorrow the sore head.'

The door to Hell

• Iceland is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun because in summer there are almost 24 hours of daylight.

• There are 15 active volcanoes in Iceland, including Mount Hekla, long believed to be the entrance to Hell.

• More books are published per capita in Iceland than in any other country.

• Many Icelanders still practise the old Viking religion of Norse mythology.

• Icelanders drink more Coca-Cola than anyone else in the world.

The British connection

• Iceland's biggest bank, Kaupthing, has investments in Costcutter, Somerfield, Jane Norman and the Laurel Pub Company which manages the Slug & Lettuce chain. It jointly owns Kaupthing Edge, an internet savings bank with 150,000 British savers.

• Baugur, an Icelandic international investment company, has significant stakes in Iceland supermarkets, Moss Bros, French Connection, Woolworths, Saks, Whittard of Chelsea, Goldsmiths, House of Fraser, Whistles and Oasis.

P.S 英国的同志们,大家没有想到冰岛资本是那么进入我们的日常生活吧? ! 

URL:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/05/iceland.creditcrunch

据说笔记本是三年寿命，无论什么牌子。从最近笔记本作来作去的别扭来看，应该是的。

只要机器一开，立刻狂叫C盘空间不够需要释放空间--我放我放我一次又一次放，还是呻吟不断，和爸的笔记本似乎也早衰，同样问题。

弄得很烦恼，删这删那似乎也没根本改观，只能说，还是硬盘不够大，可是多大的硬盘才算大？

为什么，越看报纸越心惊肉跳？这次是美国惨还是英国更惨？布朗说经济不能有泡沫，那么过去的七年英国经济不是泡沫白花花吗？

英国存在一个巨大的贫困阶层，同样也存在一个巨大的富裕阶层，而欧洲则是两头尖中产大的橄榄，英国则是哑铃。

周三的卫报讨论食品与阶层的问题，今天BBC妇女时间追进，简单一个比较: The cost of 100 calories

普通西兰花 51p / 冰冻薯条 2p

优质香肠 22p/ 经济香肠 4p

鲜橙汁 38p / 橙汁饮料 5p

优质鱼胸鱼排 29p/ 经济鱼排  12p    

于是，很多福利家庭的食物来源于后一类食物，不仅仅是英国人做饭老大难，而是确实廉价，于是这笔帐就要算到几大连锁超市的身上,而C4的记录片更是匪夷所思，这一次，和妈旗帜鲜明得支持减肥有效的Jamie Oliver,虽然他越来越comfy middle-class foodies的矫情.

和爸也吃了和妈五年的饭了，越吃越appreciate,真真假假感慨和妈在关键时候拯救了他，把他从中国外卖批萨外卖超市现食里拯救出来，把他弄成了一个对食物有要求和追求的人；夫妻之间很大程度上在互相渗透，直到成为习惯彼此的左手右手,小心驶得万年船。

但也真切感受了不通勤的幸福，因为走路几分钟可以尽情穿高跟鞋不怕脚疼，重穿高跟鞋居然心情激动，神啊，让穿高跟鞋的时间再长一点吧！

Food and Class：http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/01/foodanddrink.oliver

在英国住久了，对夏天对阳光产生情节，总想把夏天延长那么一点点，于是四处窜。

一向无比关心天气的和爸上周一上午致电太太，报告周末欧洲大陆会晴空万里，而且他有个小长周末，要求必须离开英国，和妈又立即致电母亲，请她选择，比如例牌西班牙比如瑞士，老太太似乎能读懂女儿的私心选了瑞士，因为和妈在山水之外还想会友，于是迅速联系CanCan，瑞士一直是计划之内的地方，从八月延到九月底，虽然只有三天。

果然天公作美，艳阳中湖光山色下四家聚会，心满意足--就四个字。

行程很简单，设定求远飞日内瓦，坐全景火车进山，住Interlaken,然后在CanCan安排上山看湖吃奶酪土豆。

妈妈们自然叽叽喳喳，爸爸们也乘机聊天，据说男人们主题是有关家庭责任的酸甜牢骚。

CanCan是没有任何悬念的super mummy，一如和妈的判断：IQEQ同在，内外美俱全；而子杰妈妈却有令人嫉妒的纤纤少女妈妈气质，TUTU已经是熟到很黏糊。

小朋友们自己乐，和和再见九九喜欢得傻笑，麦小二已经显示出非常自如的社交能力，见面和和就牵起了他的小手，而和和则揪子杰可爱的有尾巴老虎裤，也把“为什么有黑天鹅”问到超级帅哥小麦抓狂--当英语遇到美语，就要比谁更话痨。

一个棒棒糖，吃到子杰大派迷人甜蜜微笑，吃到小九九乘她妈不备捡起棍棍猛咬，把大家笑翻，和和更是幸灾乐祸。

外婆则被众人照顾得一直笑容满面，她是身心俱饱，还忍不住买了一块无名瑞士表，老太太也有了少女的天真，就像她和小麦一起织毛线。

离开Interlaken时，小城牛队叮叮噹噹游街，和和看得出神，火车上读报纸，原来，这意味着瑞士夏天的正式结束。

这一趟旅行，和爸和妈都发现，原来我们还可以做点别的，比如和爸确认了他可以在全景火车上当列车员，而和妈其实还能做个tour operator。

夜里回到小城，难过得面对现实，瑞士实在太美。

四家人简单初步达成关于2009暑假计划：去巴黎的迪斯尼，如有同样计划的妈妈孩子，欢迎加入。

P S 不知道为什么这一篇会失踪，而且所有的评论也消失，向各位道歉。