I had one whole rabbit for dinner!
Ok. I’ve got to admit that I’m still a bit drunk while typing this. Since I can’t do any revision, I might as well crap something here.
It’s an amazing feat that we managed to get a table at Holly Bush for 3 hours tonight! Of course it’s through a prior reservation; else I doubt we’ll be able to get a place for the 6 of us. I mean, Holly Bush is always crowded every time we go there. And we’ll always get disappointed after discovering there’s not even standing space in the pub. So we were utterly glad that we got a nice cosy spot and a big table for 3 hours, eating dinner, drinking beer and nice talking.
I had a pint of London Pride and some chips for aperitif. London Pride is a kind of ale, somewhat stronger than lager and stout. Maybe this is the reason why I’m still a bit high now. After which was dinner in which I tried something new. I mean every time I go to London pubs, fish and chips is almost always on the menus. Since Holly Bush had an entirely different pub menu from other typical pubs (no fish and chips at all), I decided to excite my taste buds a little.
And guess what? I had one whole rabbit for dinner! Initially I was actually contemplating whether to have the rabbit. It sounds cruel to eat a rabbit in the first place. Especially so when the menu says coldly “Rabbit in mustard with sautéed potatoes,” it sounds even more inhuman to eat the rabbit. But Neil says just do whatever you want. Yah then I thought well, I only live once and how often do I get to eat a rabbit. I mean I ate exotic food before, like dogs, scorpions, snakes, worms, but never tame cute harmless little rabbits. And so I ordered the rabbit while other people had more normal food like lamb shanks and smoked salmon. And mind you, that rabbit wasn’t cheap. I could probably go to Four Seasons twice or even thrice with what I paid for tonight.
Luckily, the rabbit was fantastic and mouth-savouring. The meat was tenderer and softer than that of chicken. It was a bit spongy too, maybe from all the hopping around. It turned out that the rabbit on my plate was quite big; nevertheless I still finished everything, with just the bones left (rabbit bones are actually quite soft and flexible). I felt like I’m some cold-blooded eagle or wild animal savouring rabbits like what I usually see on documentary shows. I kept telling myself to stop imagining how a rabbit looks like, so that I can enjoy myself better. We had a bottle of red wine to go with our food as well, making it easier for me to forget that I was eating a rabbit. I couldn’t even be bothered to decide whether rabbit meat was red meat or white meat.
Then we sat for about an hour longer; I had another half a pint of Stella, which is a lager much lighter and fizzier than ale. Then was more talking and chatting. All of us simply love Holly Bush, the best pub I’ve been to in the whole of London, comparable to Trout Inn in Oxford. Nice location on the top of the hill in the old Hampstead Village. Charles Dickens and Keats probably were regular customers. Don’t think Sigmund Freud was though, most probably our old friend Freud would be too busy immersing himself with his sexual theories at Maresfield Gardens and too lazy to walk up the hill. Oh yah did I mention this before? Neil met Anna Freud before in person and had a conversation with her at Freud’s place. I thought it’s kind of cool to have a friend who talked to Freud before, anyway.
Yah that’s about all I want to crap about for now. I’m surprised that I’m still a bit tipsy after finishing typing this entry. I don’t think I can revise for my German Oral Exam on Wednesday. The only thing I can do now is probably sleep. Bis bald und auf wiedersehen!
(24-04-2005 0016 hrs)
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Right or wrong?
One recurrent issue in Psychology that I haven’t managed to understand is why psychodynamic theories are still discussed even though they do not hold up to scientific scrutiny in these days. If psychodynamic therapies do not work effectively, why should people still revise psychodynamic theories to develop new theories based on psychoanalysis? Sure I agree with Sigmund Freud’s 1909 distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness. However Freud said the following to distinguish his theory from static theories, “We explain it dynamically, from the conflict of opposing mental forces, and recognise it as the outcome of an active struggling on the part of the two psychic groupings against each other.” (Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Standard Edition, XI, pp. 9-55 at pp.25-26) But how plausible is this?
Can we actually explain everything solely based on psychoanalysis, as Freud propounded? Definitely not. Freud’s theories are only based on the recollections of a relatively small number of emotionally disturbed adults whose experiences may not apply to most people. Yet we do not reject Freud’s theories simply because he was the first to proclaim that the vast majority of psychic experience lay below the level of conscious awareness.
Whatever it is, one thing for sure is that most of Freud’s theories have not been favoured by many contemporary psychologists. This is immediately evident from another recurrent debate between nature and nurture omnipresent in the whole field of Psychology. A good example will be the development of language. Is language an instinct, as proposed by Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker? Or is language a “verbal behaviour”, as suggested by B. F. Skinner? Freud did not say much on language. And nobody is really able to give a definite answer, even up till today.
And this is what I like about the discipline of Psychology. For the most part of this vast field, there is simply no right or wrong. Is schizophrenia a biological disease or a mental illness or a social construction or something else? Do animals reason or not? Do human beings use cognitive maps to navigate? Is visual perception direct or indirect? Is cognition independent of language, according to Whorf? Do children and animals have theory of mind? Nobody can give definite answers to all these psychological questions (these questions happen to be my past exam questions as well).
So why do people still study something when there’s no right or wrong? Think about it and when you have arrived at the answer, maybe then, the money invested in your university education has not been wasted.
I’m still thinking.
One recurrent issue in Psychology that I haven’t managed to understand is why psychodynamic theories are still discussed even though they do not hold up to scientific scrutiny in these days. If psychodynamic therapies do not work effectively, why should people still revise psychodynamic theories to develop new theories based on psychoanalysis? Sure I agree with Sigmund Freud’s 1909 distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness. However Freud said the following to distinguish his theory from static theories, “We explain it dynamically, from the conflict of opposing mental forces, and recognise it as the outcome of an active struggling on the part of the two psychic groupings against each other.” (Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Standard Edition, XI, pp. 9-55 at pp.25-26) But how plausible is this?
Can we actually explain everything solely based on psychoanalysis, as Freud propounded? Definitely not. Freud’s theories are only based on the recollections of a relatively small number of emotionally disturbed adults whose experiences may not apply to most people. Yet we do not reject Freud’s theories simply because he was the first to proclaim that the vast majority of psychic experience lay below the level of conscious awareness.
Whatever it is, one thing for sure is that most of Freud’s theories have not been favoured by many contemporary psychologists. This is immediately evident from another recurrent debate between nature and nurture omnipresent in the whole field of Psychology. A good example will be the development of language. Is language an instinct, as proposed by Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker? Or is language a “verbal behaviour”, as suggested by B. F. Skinner? Freud did not say much on language. And nobody is really able to give a definite answer, even up till today.
And this is what I like about the discipline of Psychology. For the most part of this vast field, there is simply no right or wrong. Is schizophrenia a biological disease or a mental illness or a social construction or something else? Do animals reason or not? Do human beings use cognitive maps to navigate? Is visual perception direct or indirect? Is cognition independent of language, according to Whorf? Do children and animals have theory of mind? Nobody can give definite answers to all these psychological questions (these questions happen to be my past exam questions as well).
So why do people still study something when there’s no right or wrong? Think about it and when you have arrived at the answer, maybe then, the money invested in your university education has not been wasted.
I’m still thinking.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Quick Update
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu shrouded in mist
Just a quick update, I've been bogged down with tremendous amounts of stuff lately. As such, I won't be updating on my Scandinavian experiences, at least not in the next few weeks. But I'm glad that life isn't revolved around Psychology papers and books as yet. We still go to pubs, more often than in the past in fact (thrice per week... I think alcohol has the same effect as caffeine on me now). We still go jogging in the Heath. We still eat out on weekends (ooohh... eating at Four Seasons every 3-4 weeks is really a great incentive to compel me to finish my work). And I still have time to walk to my favourite crepes stall to have my crepes with bananas in dark chocolate and coconut and rum...
So life isn't that bad yet. Especially whenever I picture Machu Picchu in my mind. Isn't Machu Picchu just gorgeous and magnificent? I still can't believe I am heading to Peru in a month's time.
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu shrouded in mist
Just a quick update, I've been bogged down with tremendous amounts of stuff lately. As such, I won't be updating on my Scandinavian experiences, at least not in the next few weeks. But I'm glad that life isn't revolved around Psychology papers and books as yet. We still go to pubs, more often than in the past in fact (thrice per week... I think alcohol has the same effect as caffeine on me now). We still go jogging in the Heath. We still eat out on weekends (ooohh... eating at Four Seasons every 3-4 weeks is really a great incentive to compel me to finish my work). And I still have time to walk to my favourite crepes stall to have my crepes with bananas in dark chocolate and coconut and rum...
So life isn't that bad yet. Especially whenever I picture Machu Picchu in my mind. Isn't Machu Picchu just gorgeous and magnificent? I still can't believe I am heading to Peru in a month's time.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
4月8日的梵蒂冈也下雪了吗？
今天傍晚竟然下起雪，在葬礼结束的六个小时后。
我以为我看错了，于是把手伸出窗外。
没有错，不是幻觉。是朵朵的雪花。的确。
四月的伦敦春天，竟然下起雪。
还下了两次。
虽然每次只有几分钟。
然后，乌云马上散去，天空又恢复一片晴朗。
雪花平静地覆盖着草地，像钻石般闪烁发亮，久久不肯消溶。
全球为他哀悼了整整一个星期。
身边的人有的也特地飞去梵蒂冈见他最后一次面，有的则目不转睛看了三个多小时的现场转播。
吊诡的是，查尔斯的皇家婚礼本来是今天举行的。
我在想此时此刻的梵蒂冈是否也下雪了？
＊到过这么多地方，梵蒂冈还是我较钟爱的一个。
＊今天在巴士上听到一个英国妇女说最近的天气因为他的离开越变越冷，回想后发觉真的是如此。
(2005-04-08 1949 hrs)
今天傍晚竟然下起雪，在葬礼结束的六个小时后。
我以为我看错了，于是把手伸出窗外。
没有错，不是幻觉。是朵朵的雪花。的确。
四月的伦敦春天，竟然下起雪。
还下了两次。
虽然每次只有几分钟。
然后，乌云马上散去，天空又恢复一片晴朗。
雪花平静地覆盖着草地，像钻石般闪烁发亮，久久不肯消溶。
全球为他哀悼了整整一个星期。
身边的人有的也特地飞去梵蒂冈见他最后一次面，有的则目不转睛看了三个多小时的现场转播。
吊诡的是，查尔斯的皇家婚礼本来是今天举行的。
我在想此时此刻的梵蒂冈是否也下雪了？
＊到过这么多地方，梵蒂冈还是我较钟爱的一个。
＊今天在巴士上听到一个英国妇女说最近的天气因为他的离开越变越冷，回想后发觉真的是如此。
(2005-04-08 1949 hrs)
Thursday, April 07, 2005
过夜机场
～～北欧之一
离开伦敦的那一天，选择在 Stansted 机场过夜，为了省钱省时间省麻烦，还有为了找回曾经在樟宜机场过夜的回忆。
结果，回忆忆不回，觉也没有睡好，到了瑞典，人变得模模糊糊。
以为夜晚的 Stansted 会和樟宜一样恬静安谧，那晚才发现伦敦的机场是不分白天和黑夜的。
凌晨一点到机场，机场已经满座，可以躺人的椅子都已经有人在忘我地说梦话。可以躺人的地上，也都是在和周公下棋的人，好像被冲上沙滩的死鱼。就连登记柜台的行李 conveyor belt 也躺着人。
整个凌晨，都是人头攒动，时不时巴士就会载着一批又一批的乘客，原来，他们和我一样都是来机场过夜的。
我们都是擦肩而过的过客。
人之多，我甚至考虑过在厕所里坐在马桶上睡觉。
不过，后来还好看到有人离开去办登机手续。
所以，最后，我没睡在马桶旁边。
～～北欧之一
离开伦敦的那一天，选择在 Stansted 机场过夜，为了省钱省时间省麻烦，还有为了找回曾经在樟宜机场过夜的回忆。
结果，回忆忆不回，觉也没有睡好，到了瑞典，人变得模模糊糊。
以为夜晚的 Stansted 会和樟宜一样恬静安谧，那晚才发现伦敦的机场是不分白天和黑夜的。
凌晨一点到机场，机场已经满座，可以躺人的椅子都已经有人在忘我地说梦话。可以躺人的地上，也都是在和周公下棋的人，好像被冲上沙滩的死鱼。就连登记柜台的行李 conveyor belt 也躺着人。
整个凌晨，都是人头攒动，时不时巴士就会载着一批又一批的乘客，原来，他们和我一样都是来机场过夜的。
我们都是擦肩而过的过客。
人之多，我甚至考虑过在厕所里坐在马桶上睡觉。
不过，后来还好看到有人离开去办登机手续。
所以，最后，我没睡在马桶旁边。
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Summer of my dreams
从北欧高高兴兴回来，伦敦却脸黑黑迎接我。
在瑞典和丹麦整整九天连续的阳光明媚，没有一天不是不晴朗的。是我幸运吧？
回到伦敦，马上就起朦胧的雾，心情再好，骤然巨大的转变也会把情绪变得很坏很差。
暂时脱离现实，和媒体完全隔绝，逃避世事和事实，很是享受。
回来之后，很多大小不如意之事却霹霹雳雳争先恐后地发生。
嘿，我才离开了九天。又是天灾，又是人祸，又是死亡。现在可是春天嘞！
所有的梦好像突然间地粉碎。
希望夏天会更好。
（还好有秘鲁，我越想越是兴奋。真的真的很期待，尽管很害怕。）
Summer of my dreams
by Celtic Tenors
In the shade of this old tree, in the summer of my dreams,
By the tall grass, by the wild rose, where the trees dance and the wind blows,
As the days go oh so slowly, as the sun shines oh so holy on the good and gracious green,
In the summer of my dreams.
By the banks of this old stream, in the summer of my dreams,
By the deep pool where the fish wait for the old fool with the wrong bait,
There’s a field of purple clover, there’s a small cloud passing over, and then the rain comes washing clean,
In the summer of my dreams.
See the raindrops, on the grass now, just like diamonds lying there.
By the old road, where I pass now, there’s a twilight on the air.
And as the sun sets down before me, I see my true love waiting for me, standing by the back porch screen,
In the summer of my dreams.
In the shade of this old tree, in the summer of my dreams,
By the tall grass, by the wild rose, where the trees dance as the beans grow,
As the days go oh so slowly, as the sun shines oh so lowly, on the good and gracious green,
In the summer of my dreams,
In the summer of my dreams!
从北欧高高兴兴回来，伦敦却脸黑黑迎接我。
在瑞典和丹麦整整九天连续的阳光明媚，没有一天不是不晴朗的。是我幸运吧？
回到伦敦，马上就起朦胧的雾，心情再好，骤然巨大的转变也会把情绪变得很坏很差。
暂时脱离现实，和媒体完全隔绝，逃避世事和事实，很是享受。
回来之后，很多大小不如意之事却霹霹雳雳争先恐后地发生。
嘿，我才离开了九天。又是天灾，又是人祸，又是死亡。现在可是春天嘞！
所有的梦好像突然间地粉碎。
希望夏天会更好。
（还好有秘鲁，我越想越是兴奋。真的真的很期待，尽管很害怕。）
Summer of my dreams
by Celtic Tenors
In the shade of this old tree, in the summer of my dreams,
By the tall grass, by the wild rose, where the trees dance and the wind blows,
As the days go oh so slowly, as the sun shines oh so holy on the good and gracious green,
In the summer of my dreams.
By the banks of this old stream, in the summer of my dreams,
By the deep pool where the fish wait for the old fool with the wrong bait,
There’s a field of purple clover, there’s a small cloud passing over, and then the rain comes washing clean,
In the summer of my dreams.
See the raindrops, on the grass now, just like diamonds lying there.
By the old road, where I pass now, there’s a twilight on the air.
And as the sun sets down before me, I see my true love waiting for me, standing by the back porch screen,
In the summer of my dreams.
In the shade of this old tree, in the summer of my dreams,
By the tall grass, by the wild rose, where the trees dance as the beans grow,
As the days go oh so slowly, as the sun shines oh so lowly, on the good and gracious green,
In the summer of my dreams,
In the summer of my dreams!
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