Mars

The inhibitants of this district have the shameful and odious habit of considering it no mark of disgrace that

those who travel throughout the country should have relations with their wives, daughters, or sisters; but,

on the contrary, when strangers arrive, each householder endeavors to bring one of them home with him.

There he turns over all the women of the family to him, leaves him in the position of master of the house,

and goes off. While the stranger is in the house, he places a signal at the window, such as his hat or some

other thing; and as long as the signal is visible, the husband remains away. And this custom prevails throughout

the province. This they do in honor of their idols, believing that by such acts of kindness and hospitality to travelers

a blessing is obtained and that they shall be rewarded with a plentiful supply of the fruits of the earth.

                                                                                 ------ The travel of Marco Polo

Men are disinclined to marry young women as long as they are virgins. They believe

a woman who has not had the company of men is worthless. Accordingly, upon the arrival

of a caravan of merchants, and as soon as they set up their tents for the night, those

mothers who have marriageble daughters conduct them to the place, and entreat the strangers

to accept their daughters and enjoy their society so long as they remain in the neighrborhood.

Such as the most attractive are of course chosen, and the others return home disapointed and

chagrined. Those chosen remain with the travelers until their departure. The travelers then return

them to their mothers and never attempt to carry them away. It is expected, however, that the

merchants will make the young women presents of trinkets, rings and other tokens of their regard,

which the young women take home with them. They wear all these ornaments about the neck or

other parts of the body, and she who shows the greatest number of them is considered to have

attracted the greatest number of men, and is therefore in higher esteem with the young men who

are looking for wives.

                             ------ The Travel of Marco Polo

最近看了好些片，第九区District 9无疑是最好看的。IMDB目前的评分是8.6/10。

影片讲述了一个关于外星人和地球人的社会问题，

具体一点，是关于种族的问题。一外星飞船在地球上抛锚了，外星人没有能源，

饥寒交怕啊，地球人在南非的约翰内斯堡的贫民窟里划了一个区给外星人，叫

第九区，District 9，有点像当年白人老美给印第安人划的自留区。外星人在地球人

一呆就是10多年，生殖繁衍，再加上习性彪悍，喜欢打砸抢，给地球人带来了严重的社会问题。

地球人不干了，就想把他们驱逐到另外一个地方。这时，主角就闪亮登场了，这哥们叫

Wikus，被他岳父，一高管，委任为前线总指挥，负责驱逐行动。这哥们在行动时像得了

甲亢，相当high，没想到却被外星人的基因感染，成了一地球人和外星人DNA的混合体，

他的一只手变成了外星人的爪子，身体的其它部分也慢慢开始变异。于是，他在地球人的眼里

就成了难得的活标本，以他岳父为首的统治阶级要把他送到实验室里解剖，研究外星人DNA的

秘密。这哥们不愿任人宰割，就越狱了，跑到第九区躲了起来，碰到一外星人，这外星人

一直试图在收集能量，希望把抛锚的飞船重新发动，返回外星。外星人告诉Wikus, 如果

能把飞船弄好，他的手就可以恢复原样，Wikus很激动，就要帮外星人去找回能源，这时候

他还把自己当成人类的，因为想重新做人嘛，就愿意帮助外星人。地球人显然要阻挠他们的

行动啊，由于Wikus帮助外星人的立场，所以地球人就不把Wikus当成人类了。地球人派出了军队

去抓捕Wikus和外星人，双方开展了激烈的战斗。里面不少镜头展示了外星武器的威力。

在白热化的战斗中，Wikus杀的兴起，其精神状态也基本上是外星人了。最后，飞船被修好了，

那外星人带着儿子重返外星。Wikus留在了第九区... 最后一个镜头很煽，估计这电影会怕

续集。

 

 

 

 

8月中在剑桥开会。坐在船上喝喝啤酒，蛮惬意的。

 

 

 

 

 

   

   

    雅鲁藏布大峡谷

 

    

   巴颜喀拉山
   

   

    怒江

   

    喀纳斯原始地带
       

       

    大海道

      

    茶马古道
      

    

   

居然下大雨，而且这一周预计都下雨，真倒霉。这地方一下雨，就和深圳的大梅沙差不多，

没啥意思。酒店还不错，crown plaza，修得像个庙，古色古香的。

 

 

 

三亚到处都是俄国人，来菜单都有俄文版的。

 

想念西班牙的艳阳，明亮得刺眼。

 

晚上去搞顿海鲜。