Andy Williams: The American Treasure

By admin, September 27, 2012 12:41 pm

記得還是20多年前,媽媽就已經介紹了這位被譽為American Treasure的60年代美國抒情男歌手給我聽。

在英國留學的那段日子,曾經把媽媽給我的那盒卡帶聽了無數遍,Andy Williams的歌聲陪伴著我度過了無數個寂寞的夜晚。Love Stories、出埃及記、Feelings、Speak Softly Love這些也早已深深地烙印在了腦海里。當然要數最經典的話,1961年Audrey Hepburn主演的電影Breakfast at Tiffany’s里的這首主題曲Moon River肯定當之無愧。

Mr. Williams老先生,祝你一路走好。

栩栩如生的人偶工藝品

By admin, September 22, 2012 5:44 pm

自從上個月見過那些俄國人偶製作工作室Scale Figures精緻的作品後,大為驚嘆現在1比18人偶的仿真程度已經去到了一個不錯的水平。

但今天發現原來江湖上永遠都是長江後浪推前浪、一山還有一山高!

這次發現了西班牙的Andrea Miniatures,一間很多年前就已經開始發展其獨步江湖的1比32人偶製作技術,而且是金屬,不是樹脂膠的材料,所以保證永遠都不會像Resin一樣因為天氣變化而變形。

F1的歷史資料 1950 ~ 2003 (轉文)

By admin, September 21, 2012 10:44 am

1948: 在法國Pau小鎮舉行的比賽首次採用了統一的規則(a formula), Formula One由此得名。

1950:只到1950年,首屆F1冠軍賽才正式舉行,而此時也只是根據賽車的得分進行評獎。當時,參賽的賽手仍沿用1947年由FIA制定的規則。這一規則是參賽的賽車可搭載4.5L非渦輪增壓或1.5L渦輪增壓發動機。1950年5月13日,首屆世界冠軍大賽在英國的Grand Prix 的銀石賽道(過去是一個軍用機場)舉行。意大利人Giuseppe Farina為阿爾法羅密歐車對應的勝利,同時也成為首任世界冠軍。

1952:由於F1賽事組織尚缺乏支持,比賽被迫採用F2賽車進行;在F2比賽規定參賽的賽車只能裝備排量不超過2.0L的非渦輪增壓發動機。

1954:這一年GP賽車接納新的F1比賽規則。最大排量為2.5L非增壓發動機或最大排量0.75L的增壓發動機。梅塞德斯.奔馳車隊也在這一年重新投入比賽,並在法國朗斯的GP分站賽中贏的首次勝利。代表瑪莎拉蒂和梅塞德斯.奔馳出戰的Juan Manuel Fangio獲得了這屆大賽的分站冠軍。

1959:後驅GP賽車開始取代前驅賽車成為比賽的主角。Bruce Mclaren在美國Sebring的GP分站一馬當先,成為最年輕的冠軍賽手

1961:有關1.5L發動機的賽車的規定開始實施。在這一年裡,Giancarlo Baghetti成為迄今為止唯一一個首次參賽就囊括冠軍的車手,而Phil Hil為美國爭取到第一個F1世界冠軍頭銜。

1965:Jackie Stewart 首都代表BRM車隊亮相GP賽場。

1966:有關3L發動機賽車的規定出台。Bruce Mclaren 創建自己的車隊並打造出搭載福特發動機得第一款麥克拉倫賽車,但是車隊並沒有在當年的賽事中獲得成功。

1968:贊助商凡是首次出現在F1比賽中。這也意味著F1具有民族色彩時期的結束。這一年,賽車第一次加裝了尾翼,從而提升了整車的下壓力。在德國霍根海姆舉行的F2比賽中,Jim Clark不幸身亡。麥克拉倫車隊創始人Bruce Mclaren 親自參加比利時GP為車隊第一次贏得冠軍稱號。

1969: Matra、蓮花和麥克拉倫車隊分別嘗試改用四驅車,但都失敗了。Jackie Stewart 贏得了第一個年度冠軍車手稱號;Bruce Mclaren在英國Goodwood測試一款Can-Am賽車是意外身亡;Jochen Rind在意大利GP排位賽中喪命;此後他成為唯一一位在死後獲得F1總冠軍的車手。

1973: 麥克拉倫車隊推出經典的M23賽車。該車在此後的六個賽季裡參加了各種形式的比賽。在加拿大站的比賽中,安全車第一次被用到F1的比賽中。

1976:Tyrrell(泰利爾)引進了劉倫賽車的概念在Nurburgring的一場事故中,尼克勞達被嚴重燒傷。麥克拉倫車隊的James Hunt 贏得概念的世界冠軍。

1977 Patrick Head (海德)加入威廉姆斯車隊。第一輛配備渦輪增壓器賽車的雷諾Rs01,在英國站的比賽中亮相。

1978 米其林正式加盟F1,FIA 聘請Sid Watkins教授擔任醫療指導。飛劍車隊首次參加F1比賽,就幾乎將南非站的比賽冠軍囊入懷中。F1比賽開始採用一種新的安全措施,即為了避免在第一圈賽車擁擠相撞造成的事故,醫療車需同時在外道尾隨賽車,以其能夠盡快的採取相應措施

1980:Alain Prost駕駛著麥克拉倫賽車參加了阿根廷站的比賽。蓮花車隊的Nigel Mansell 曼塞爾(文素)首次出現在澳大利亞站的比賽中。Ron Dennis接管麥克拉倫車隊,同年該車隊推出由John Barnard 設計的由碳纖維材料製成底盤的賽車。

1981:由於FIA規定,所有車手必須擁有超級駕照,在南非站比賽前,大批反對這項規定的車手宣布罷賽。

1982:Colin Chapman 蓮花車隊的締造者及F1賽車最具有革新精神的設計者,死於心髒病在荷蘭站的比賽中麥克拉倫首次使用渦輪增壓發動機。

1984:在巴西SENNA正式宣布參加F1澳大利亞站第一次全部由安裝了渦輪增壓發動機的賽車參賽。

1985:米納爾迪車隊首次參加F1比賽,Benetton與Toleman車隊之間的生意越來越密切,最初其作為贊助商(貝納通曾贊助過阿爾法羅密歐和泰利爾車隊)不久之後便收購了Toleman車隊,並在

1986年以貝納通車隊之名參加F1比賽。

1987:威廉姆斯老闆弗蘭克威廉姆斯在Paul Ricard駕車從試車場返回家中時發生交通事故,嚴重受傷導致癱瘓。匈牙利站是在廢除“鐵幕”政策後第一場比賽。

1988:Adrian Newey 被任命為March車隊的技術總監。FIA規定賽車的發動機需配置規定的渦輪增壓裝置,以減少驅動力。但是在1989年取消了該規定,轉而要求3.5L排氣量的自然吸氣發動機,且不能超過12缸。SENNA贏得他的第一個世界冠軍。

1990 :曼塞爾宣布推出F1

1991:哈基寧,舒馬赫成為F1車手喬丹車隊成立推出喬丹191賽車麥克拉倫贏得第七個年度總冠軍

1992:舒馬赫在西班牙取得第一個分站冠軍。本田推出F1

1993:麥克拉倫車隊分站冠軍數目第一次超過法拉利Prost宣布退出F1,他的四次總冠軍在當時今落後於方吉奧的5次

1994:梅塞德斯奔馳組建索伯車隊,並借入股IImor涉足賽車發動機製造業。隨著牽引力控制及主動懸掛系統限制的取消,今站加油重新推出。SENNA和Ratzenberger在伊莫拉不幸喪生舒馬赫成為第一個獲得F1總冠軍的德國人

1995:麥克拉倫開始與奔馳在研發發動機上合作。舒馬赫贏得第二個總冠軍。哈基寧在澳大利亞站的排位賽中嚴重受傷

1996:舒馬赫加入法拉利維倫紐夫加盟威廉姆斯雷諾和Elf宣布推出F1數字電視轉播技術引入F1比賽Hill獲得年度總冠軍,HIll父子成為第一對F1總冠軍父子

1997 :Newey離開威廉姆斯加盟麥克拉倫,成為車隊總監。石橋涉足F1Berger宣布推出F1維倫紐夫獲得年度總冠軍

1998:為了控制F1賽車的車速,FIA公佈了一些新措施,包括賽道變窄,使用有坑紋輪胎麥克拉倫的迴轉制動技術被禁用。哈基寧獲得第一個年度總冠軍

1999年:舒馬赫在英國站受傷,此後7站他未能上場馬來西亞的雪邦投入使用法拉利16年後第一次獲得車隊總冠軍

2000:年在意大利站一位工作人員被撞身亡,F1比賽中有關碰撞測試的規定作了相應的改動。

2001 :牽引力控制系統和自動變速裝置在西班牙張使用

2002:超過19000轉每分鐘的BMWP82發動機首次出現舒馬赫獲得第5個年度總冠軍

2003:舒馬赫獲得第六個年度總冠軍,成為F1世界第一人,阿隆索成為史上最年輕的GP冠軍

Finally Got Myself on Whatsapp without a Smartphone!

By admin, September 20, 2012 12:57 pm

Yup, I am still using a 2005 Nokia in case you wonder. :)

Seemed this new Bluestacks Android emulator will open many doors for me.

Even playing HD games on full screen with 5.1 sounds, wow…this is definitely something new for me, Cool !

2

Figutec出品的1比18車模人偶

By admin, September 19, 2012 2:04 pm

其實之前已經見過Figutec的Stirling Moss人偶了。

Bernd_Rosemeyer

Stirling-Moss

Graf-Berghe

Isadora_Duncan

figutec

P1020883-large

Exoto的售后服務問題 (轉文)

By admin, September 19, 2012 10:27 am

來自MC論壇的KILL會員

已經通過大量的國外消費者留言等證實:exoto的售后服務是非常非常糟糕的。

有記錄從2000年開始,exoto推出的preorder系列是最受爭議的,原因很簡單,因為基本十有八九是從來也不會出現的車。記得ENZO嗎,直到前几年下架,我敢說預定這個車的買家不在少數,很多人都是把錢打過去等待,結果卻是這樣的。

如果說這樣還可以接受因為能拿回錢的話,那么接下來我估計諸位就會對exoto另眼相看了。

有一位08年的澳大利亞買家訂了某pre-order模型,直到前几年才意識到這個訂單是無法實現的。這位澳洲買家多次和exoto公司周旋,但是事情沒有得到改觀,更令人气憤的是exoto居然還double-check了人家,在未經允許的情況下自動又從買家卡上刷了一次錢。這位買家多次義正言辭都被exoto給糊弄下去了。跟騙我的言論一樣,沒有根据的進行保障(這包括:我們會發貨的!我們已經發貨了–實際上沒有;我們幫你查查,但是根本沒有任何后文了—直到這位買家拿出銀行依据exoto才承認。。。)。

這位買家最后正在通過法律手段進行合法維權,還不知道結果如何。

還有一個例子,有位買家因為產品質量問題尋求退貨,在反复溝通之后,exoto同意退貨,此時買家已經同意了20%退貨款條例。但是exoto還是在未經許可的情況下私自發了一個替補品并拒絕還款,現在這個事件進展不明。

大多數英語為母語的買家都抱怨exoto糟糕的售后服務。也有買家曾爆出自己和exoto客服和老總破口大罵的經歷。有相當多的人表示不愿意在exoto官网繼續購買模型,轉而從ebay等處甚至愿意購買二手的,少數人則停止購買exoto模型因為糟糕的售后服務。

總結exoto的問題:

1,pre-order本質是騙人的,本質就是用買家的錢進行集資,如果資金不到位或者其他狀況發生,那么pre-order就是一拖再拖搖搖無期,甚至因為版權問題,比如ENzo,干脆就下架不發布了。exoto官方的口實基本是同一的,有買家爆料到他預定了一台柴普來2J(已經付款),并反复追問,得到的答案永遠是一樣的:這個季度結束就發布。結果實際上這輛車到今天也是pre-order的狀態,也就是沒有實質上的投產。而exoto的阿斯頓馬丁,03年還是05年就已經可以預定了,但是將近十年之后的今天這輛車仍然沒有投產。這意味著很多買家的錢還被套著,有很多人等這輛車已經等了很多年。對于exoto的其他pre-order也是一樣的結果。有些网友認為exoto根本沒錢,也不會有錢對這些項目投資,公司只能承受几個項目的發展(這些項目可能對exoto公司形象等有好處或者其他一些原因),比如鯊魚鼻等EX系列,而沒有多少錢投產其他產品。

2,把錢要回來基本不現實或者非常麻煩。有人爆料說exoto欠錢不還,尤其是pre-order,很多人經歷了千辛万苦才要回當初投出的几百美元,并坦承經歷“嚇人”。聲稱exoto公司是搶錢的“歹徒”。毫無信用(我就是受害者)

3,不經過同意即double-check。這在很多pre-order里都出現過。而且錢很難要回來,電話,email都是擺設。客服更是一致的騙人口實。甚至直接否認,而不得不讓消費者拿出銀行證据來駁斥才承認。

所以不要相信exoto的各种承諾了。不要期待他們會按時推出那些模型了。最后千万不要購買任何pre-order,不是完全不可能實現,只是被黑的概率太高了。exoto很多pre-order的車几年前是那几個,到今天還是那几個。

此外一旦出現長期拖欠貨物的問題一定要打電話質疑,如果答案不滿意應該走法律程序。或者用paypal。

Update Oct 2, 2012

Some more bad experience about online ordering from Exoto were found.

The way Exoto conducts business (original post)

Hello world!
My name is Jade, an IT consultant working hard in one of the fortune 500s. My hobby has been always collecting high end models, specifically Exoto, CMC and so on.
With experience of buying from exoto.com and ebay.com over the years, I have learned the following:
1. exoto along with its dealers jacks up the price or artificially inflate the price at its retail level, and throw out close to 50% sales once a while. I bought a few items at their full retail price, then I felt horrible and cheated when I saw the first newsletter with the nice discount coupon.:( , Gotta do my homework more.
2. exoto sometimes has low quantity items show their actual number of quantity on the website. let me tell you, I recognize that these are pretty misleading or better, one of exoto sales tricks. In the past 12 months, I have observed a few instances where some items were down to 1 or 2, I was thinking to buy because I knew the unwritten rule is once an item retires, the price will jump krazyyyyy and then someone else had done so to put the items into retired mode. A few days later, these items are live selling again. Luckily I didn’t buy those last few, else I would feel awful. That led me to think perhaps these quantity number were just there trying to get people to buy quick and more. Plus limited editions should be known of how many in total would be produced ahead of time by exoto company.
3. Pre order with exoto seems to be problematic. I read a couple of threads about how hard it was to get the money back after a few months. Never trying to put my own money into one of the preorders and wait for months.
4. Exoto sells its own products on ebay under casabattiloro for mostly press and damaged items. Not sure what implications are but rarely seen a manufacturer selling thru ebay directly to end consumers.
5. Sometimes Exoto has new release items available on exoto.com for sale before they even have them in stock, e.g. Porsche 934 momo and alfa 159. Last year I order one alfa when the website presented it as in stock and it took around 4 months to receive it. Many replies of my emails came with excuses like, shipment problem or delay. Hello, I thought you listed as available not pre-order. Just today I saw GPC97240D as available with low stock status, would this be one of them? I would not order it until someone has confirmed he/she has received it.
I cannot really point out what goes wrong here but just sense something is not right.
All comments are welcome. I will be all ears to hear what other brothers and sister have to say.
P.S. if I wrote something incorrect, please tell me to change.

Exoto Inc refuses to refund $698 for a die cast model never delivered Moorpark, California (original post)

In November of 2006 my credit card was charged $698 for a 1:10 scale die cast model car I had ordered from Exoto, Inc. I called them and was told that the model would be shipped within the next two weeks. After waiting over a month for delivery I called the company and was told that the model had been delayed and would ship in the spring of 2007. Over the next three years I called at least every three months to try and get an update on the delivery of the model.

In December of 2009 I talked directly with Tony Keusseyan, the owner of the company, and he assured me that the model was scheduled to be built in his China facility in January of 2010 and that it would be shipped in March 2010. After calling again several times in May 2010 I finally called and cancelled by order in June of 2010.

I have called Exoto weekly since I cancelled my order and and repeatedly told that the check has been issued (check # 4828) and that Tony has signed it and it is in the mail. It is now Sept 28 and still no check.

Tony Keusseyan has used my money to finance his company or lifestyle for the past four years and I believe he has no intention of giving me a refund.

Exoto Inc Knowningly sent model with defective paint work (original post)

I wish i had found this site back in 2009 as it would of been a welcomed way to air my frustration.

I have brought a total of 4 models from Exoto Inc and 3 of the models were found to be defective. I purchased 2 Cobras in seperate orders and at different times and both models had broken suspensions. The first i didnt notice as it was missed on first inspection and subsequently no complaint was made. When i received the second cobra i meticulously checked it and found it to also have a broken suspension. I contacted Exoto immediately to resolve the problem and after a few replies from a sales advisor (Shane Meyer) i was left waiting for an address and addressie to return it to for a replacement, im still waiting to this very day for a reply??? I find it hard to accept that both models were damaged in transit considering the excellent packaging that exoto include to protect the model but hey maybe im just unlucky. The worst experience i have had with Exoto was with the 3rd model that i ordered, a black Porsche 935 Client version and when i received the model i was greated with a black Porsche 935 with the most horrendous paint defect.

Very disgruntled i immediately contacted Exoto Inc regarding the problem, again the reply was from (Shane Meyer) and after a few emails back and forth with various options to rectify the matter i was informed that the model was knowingly sent out in this condition and to resolve the matter i was to return the model at my expense and another one would be sent out. Quite why i should of been the bearer of the return postage was beyond me considering Exoto knew the model had a defective paint finish before sending it to me. Apparently this complaint was passed onto Tony Keusseyan but i never received any correspondence from him what so ever. As with the cobra eventually the reply emails from Exoto ceased and unfortunately for me after consulting a consumer legal representative here in the UK i was informed there was nothing i could do about it as the legal system works differently in the USA to the UK. My opinion is that i feel Exoto Inc take advantage of this, the high cost of return posting to the USA (for european countries) and the fact that some overseas buyers (me being one) are not able to phone to complain as the costs would be to high so we are left with being only able to email which it seems Exoto Inc can quite easily ignore and eventually sweep the problem under the carpet. So to this end I have 3 models from Exoto all with defects and quite frankly not fit for thier purpose and can safely say i will NEVER purchase any models from Exoto Inc again. Im a director of my own company and i would never dream of treating my client/customers in the fashion that i have been, come on Exoto Inc. sort your customer care out!!!

Exoto Models And Owner Tony Keusseyan Ripped of Refund for Defectice Model Moorpark California (original post)

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: The Truth Cannot Be Using Aliases!

Exoto 1/18 scale automobile models rip-off Canadian consumers. I have been writing and phoning them to get a refund for a defective model for over a year. They keep stalling so now I cannot get a refund from the credit card company as too much time has elapsed.

I have supplied them with all documents and they keep stalling.

The model I ordered came shipped by UPS. It came COD for extra charges I had not agreed to, so I refused delivery and UPS has returned the merchandise to the seller.

They acknowledge receipt of the return and promised a speedy refund to my Visa account. I have spoken to them after each of my Visa statements arrived and they promised the credit would be on my next statement. This has been going on since last June. I phone them, they make promises but still no credit.

The merchant is: Exoto Inc

5440 Atlantis Court

Moorpark, CA, 93021-7101

Phone: 1-800-872-2088

This is the timeline of this dispute.

May 21/08
• Order placed for a car model, cost $177.60
• They ship order
May 27/08
• Order arrives via UPS with COD for $21.18 for brokerage
• I had asked order to be mailed not sent UPS, no brokerage fee with mail
• Model was defective
June 9/08
• Phoned Exoto, customer service rep, Shane
• I told him I did not want a replacement as quality was poor
• He said to ship model back and they would credit my Visa acct
• Ship model back via Canada Post Expedited Service with Tracking number
• June 20/08 Post office delivers returned model to them
June 27/08
• Exoto ships replacement without consulting me, against my express conversation with Shane on June 9/08
July 15/08
• UPS attempts deliver with COD fee.
• I refuse to accept package
• UPS ships package back to Exoto
August 10/08
• UPS returns package to Exoto
Aug 12/08
• Phone Exoto, speak to Shane
• He says credit will be on my next Visa statement
Sept 22/08
• No credit on Visa statement
• Leave voice mail message for Tony, company manager
Oct 14/08
• Phone Exoto, speak to Shane
• He says credit should have been on Sept statement, will check with their accounting dept, credit will be issued within a week
• Accountant was sick
• Will phone me back when credit posted
• No call back
Nov 21/08
• Phone Exoto, still no credit, speak to Shane
• He says credit should have been issued, he will speak with manager Tony and get it processes ASAP
Dec 22/08
• Phoned Exoto, Shane is off sick, on one else can deal with matter
• Leave voice mail message for Tony (manager) recapping the problem
Dec 23/08
• Phoned Extoto, Shane is sick, no one else can deal with refunds they say
Jan 23/09
• Phoned Exoto, Shane not available today
• Left voice mail message about the delays for Tony the manager
• No response
Feb 09
• Numerous letters go unanswered
March 09
More letters and phone calls go unanswered.

So in short, I acted in good faith with this company. They have their product back, I never accepted delivery and I am out $177.60.

I realize that this dispute has dragged on excessively, but I believed they were sincere just inept at accounting matters. Each time I phoned, I was told the credit would be on my next statement but it never came. I now believe that they are dragging this out indefinitely with no intention of a refund.

John
Aurora, Ontario
Canada

杜拜的超級水族館

By admin, September 18, 2012 2:06 pm

我的下一個目標。

da

京商將會在2013年頭隆重推出Rolls Royce Phantom

By admin, September 17, 2012 9:29 pm

黑色的肯定是必買無疑!

但唯一擔心的還是那可惡的KY漆面歷史問題。

rr

KYO-8841BK ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM 4 DOOR LONG WHEEL BASE 2003 BLACK WITH A GRAY INTERIOR
KYO-8841S0 ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM 4 DOOR LONG WHEEL BASE 2003 SILVER
KYO-8862DB ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM 2DR COUPE 2003 DIAMOND BLACK
KYO-8862TG ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM 2DR COUPE 2003 DARKEST TUNGSTEN
KYO-8871MB ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM DROPHEAD 2DR COUPE METROPOLITAN BLUE

007 Bond的Aston Martin DBS

By admin, September 17, 2012 2:59 pm

昨天家附近發現了這輛銀色的占士邦DBS戰車,但是唯獨不見主角Daniel Craig,雖然這次他換了個女友的車牌。:) 其實我還是比較喜歡那斯文的DB9多些。

240

更正: 後來經大家指正,其實這台是後期的DB9改版,但是我還是比較喜歡初版紳士型的DB9。

聲色香味觸:中產麻甩佬 幽閉樂園!(轉文)

By admin, September 16, 2012 4:09 pm

每次在旺角的橫街窄巷,看到那些黃色的招牌,甚麼大波蓮,甚麼新到肉女,我便有一股衝動想上去見識見識。可是當抬頭看到那些黑暗幽閉的樓梯,以我這個膽小 如鼠,畏首畏尾的弱小男人,連第一級樓梯都不敢踏上。

仰止: 資深傳媒人、影評人,最愛聽歌睇戲睇女。

16ff4p

真的希望知道女性怎麼看旺角的,她們的成長記憶或如今的消費在旺角是怎麼樣式的?波鞋街?還是甚麼名店?對於我們這些麻甩佬,旺角其中暗藏的不只召妓,還 有影音的追求。別小覷旺角的消費者,過千元一張玻璃CD,我就沒在HMV見過,旺角的兩大唱片店:節拍和威威便擺在櫥窗內,引得我口水長流。雖然我也是用 幾萬元的膽耳機,配幾萬元的CD機,算是洗腳唔抹,夠折墮,仍然無法出手買下這些高價的產品。

陳潔麗你們聽過沒有,我大膽地說她是先紅於旺角的。她唱的是口水歌,樣子也不是特別漂亮,打扮嘛!還有點「娘」,但幾乎每次推出新大碟,那些Hi Fi雜誌便有專文報道她如何靚聲,錄音如何好。於是就這樣她的唱片每張都大賣,甚至還在港開個唱呢。連我這個崇洋的漢奸,都買了幾張捧場。你問我錄音怎 樣?清!若要比起古典音樂發燒碟就差得遠。旺角也多古典音樂CD,到底以聽音質為主,旺角那群中產麻甩佬來來去去就只是老柴的1812打炮聲(別想到別的 地方去,是真的開炮轟轟轟),又或者馬勒交響曲那些大鑼大鼓的場面。儘管如此,我堅決相信旺角的古典音樂CD數量一定多過任何一間HMV。近日旺角最熱門 的古典CD是Georg Solti華格納歌劇全集,李察史特勞斯歌劇集,如果嫌華格納的全集太重口味,他的指環集也有特別版推出,但價錢超貴。這是當年(約1959年前後幾年的 錄音)最劃時代的錄音,唔食飯都要買。

我沒有正式的數字,只是憑感覺:蔡琴的CD單在旺角的銷量已經勝過其他港九各區。自從《無間道》令人們知道蔡琴有幾靚聲,她在旺角就成了銷量天后。《蔡琴 老歌》這張唱片就有五個版本:普通版、LPCD45II版、XRCD版、HQCD版和24K金版,我全部都有買。你不要以為只是我才這麼瘋狂,旺角那些發 燒友十居其九都有齊這麼多版本,說是對比哪個最靚聲,其實我便分不出誰高誰低了。不要小看我們這些中產麻甩佬,發燒碟的銷售量足可以養起一個陳潔麗,還有 一大堆國內歌星,連名字都記不起的呢!

德發商場是旺角名店,那個細小的地庫除了一間理髮店外,其他店舖幾乎都跟影音有關,甚至專賣膽的也有。但要記住,旺角跟其他中環不類不同,它可以有過萬元 一條訊號線,但永遠不會有最高級,價值數十萬的音響器材出現,那些店要在分佈於旺角不同大廈樓上的音響店才有。現在最流行的是賣耳機,由幾萬元膽耳機到百 多元的都擠在同一間店內,而有同樣數量的客人。由以前不是Made In China的原裝德製,到如今全面祖國生產的Sennheiser,我就是十多年前先在旺角認識的。我現在用的Beyerdynamic更是旺角當紅品 牌,通常由幾百元到三千元這個範圍的耳機最多人買。德發商場內便有三間店舖是專賣耳機的,本來也有三間賣影碟的,現在只餘下兩間,幾乎是全港最快最便宜的 影碟售賣地。

更有一般大公司不入貨的美版、日版、韓版影碟,比網上訂購還要早到七至八天,即是你在網上看到亞馬遜預售的影碟(尤其藍光),出貨日一個星期 前已經可以在旺角找到。巴閉!美版藍光比港版通常在質素上好一倍以上,即使沒有中文字幕,我也買美版。而在這兩間店穿來插去的麻甩佬,真是多如恒河沙數。 間中才會看見一些年輕的女士拖着男友現身,嬸嬸更是稀有物種。

不要忽視這股暗流,旺角麻甩佬是真正挽救唱片工業的人種。他們都搵錢多年,算不上富有也絕對不貧窮,願意付錢又夠人情味,所有中文舊歌如鄧麗君、羅文、鳳 飛飛,不斷翻炒又翻炒,各種不同版本及重播制式,又玩限量號碼抬高身價。總是有旺角這群中產麻甩佬捧場。你問他們的音樂知識,每一個都比仰止厲害十倍。沒 有旺角,香港的唱片業和電影業早就PK了啦!

近年的自由行(這個詞語用在中國身上真夠反諷)還帶來不少新血,包括那些妓女,包括嫖客,還 包括來港找書找發燒碟的,因為比祖國還便宜,種類還要多。特別是古典音樂,你看看中國各大小城市的古典唱片店數量有多少,就會覺得它有多可憐。

當你由唱片店的冷氣凍得像死人般行出來,走到女人街,你會覺得立即會窒息而死。我非常佩服那些睇檔的男女檔主或售貨員,熱天像沙漠,冬天像雪房,他們都頂 得順。我作為一個男人看到女人街最多的貨品是:球衣!當然不是正版的啦!但甚麼球星都可以找到。美斯、C朗、費托、沙維、恩尼斯達……通通有貨,我也買了 件沙維的當睡衣穿!
最後問你們一個問題:整條西洋菜街到底有幾多間賣影音產品,類似百老滙的店舖有多少間?答案:我不知道!行了一半已放棄計數了。

Update: Sep 21, 2012

怪不的這把聲音這麼熟悉,原來陳潔麗是青燕子合唱組的3位成員之一,另一個我很喜歡的清唱組合。

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