中國第一艘航空母艦

       最近中國繼美國、俄羅斯、法國、英國、印度、巴西、阿根廷、西班牙、意大利及泰國之後擁有航空母艦。

 
       這艘命名為京「遼寧艦」雖然是中國第一艘航空母艦，但意義重大。它肯定是中國建造未來新式常規及核能推動的航母作藍本，亦是一艘科研及供訓練海空軍的戰艦。

以下是一些關於遼寧號一些資料：

       這艘「遼寧」號的航空母艦其實在上世紀80年代初開始在烏克蘭黑海造船廠開工建造，最初的名字為「瓦良格」號。從1992年1月份開始，由於缺乏足夠的資金，「瓦良格」號便一直處於停工狀態。到1994年，俄羅斯最終決定放棄參與該艦的建造工作。

　　2000年，尚未完工（當時僅完成全部工作量的76%）的「瓦良格」號被烏克蘭以2000萬美元的「廢鋼價」出售給了中國澳門的一家公司。當時該公司宣稱將把這艘半成品航母改裝成一座海上賭場，但在其運抵中國後，中方卻開始著手修復並對「瓦良格」號進行了改裝。

　　在中國方面獨立進行的改裝過程中，在購買「瓦良格」號時獲得的設計圖紙發揮了重要的作用。

　　中國軍方此前曾多次表示，「瓦良格」號將被用作航母訓練平台，以便中國海軍熟悉使用此類裝備的戰術和技術，同時，為中國今後建造國產航空母艦積累經驗。

　　據中方消息人士透露，按照最初的計劃，中國首艘國產航母將採用常規動力，排水量在5—6萬噸，預計將在2015年完工。而中國的首艘核動力航母將在2020年下水。

　　中國的航母計劃已推進了20餘年。為掌握航母建造技術，中國曾從國外購買過多艘退役航母，包括澳大利亞的「墨爾本」號、前蘇聯的「明斯克」號、「基輔」號和「瓦良格」號等。

　　根據中國海軍的第一階段航母建造計劃，將在2015-2016年左右建造兩艘常規動力航母，並在2020年前組建兩支航母艦隊。在第二階段，中國將建造兩艘排水量達6.5萬噸的核動力航母。

　　未來，中國海軍將組建四支航母艦隊，分別部署在中國南海和東海水域。我相信中國海軍未來有一番新景象。

Endeavour was brought to Los Angeles

From TV news on September 22, (September 21, US), I learned that the space shuttle, Endeavour (奮進號) was carried by a jumbo 747 to Los Angeles International Airport and it will soon be brought to California Science Centre for display. It was an amazing flight around the city, which attracted a lot of citizens to watch it fly across the sky.

Here is an extract from Wikipedia:

Endeavour completed its final mission with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 06:34 UTC on June 1, 2011. Over its flight career, Endeavour flew 122,853,151 miles and spent 299 days in space. While flying Endeavour's last mission, the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-20 departed from the ISS and paused at a distance of 200 meters. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli took a series of photographs and videos of the ISS with Endeavour docked. This was the second time a Shuttle had been photographed while docked and the first time since 1996. Commander Mark Kelly was the last astronaut off Endeavour after the landing, and the crew stayed on the landing strip long enough to sign autographs and pose for pictures. With commander Mark Kelly and pilot Gregory Johnson at the controls, Endeavour's touchdown was the 25th time a shuttle performed a night landing.

One final mission, STS-135, was added to the schedule in January 2011, and Atlantis flew for the last time in July 2011.

NASA offered the three remaining orbiters for museum donation once they are withdrawn from service. After more than twenty organizations submitted proposals to NASA for the display of an orbiter, NASA announced that Enterprise (企業號) will go to New York's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Discovery (發現號) will go the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, Atlantis (亞特蘭蒂斯號) will remain in the Visitor Complex at Kennedy Space Center, and Endeavour (奮進號) will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. It was finally delivered to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on September 21 2012. Soon, it will be moved along the streets of Los Angeles (La Tijera, Manchester, Crenshaw, and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards) to its final destination at the California Science Center.

Wooden-block Man

Elly is now able to assemble blocks as freely as she likes. Here is an example.

It is great news that she feels satisfied every time when the blocks do not fall. That involves her careful way in “building and balancing” blocks. Sometimes, failures may occur and they are really good experiences to this little girl, aged three, because she understands quite well that she may not be successful each time she wants to do something.

To me, her wooden blocks together (in the photo) seem like a “Man” wearing shorts and standing on two legs. The “Man” looks strong and solid and can stand up straight. After she has finished the assembling game, she is pleased and allows me to take photographs of her “master-piece”.

Feathery Palettes

Besides making clever speeches, Parrots show their beautiful feathers like palettes. The colours match so well to please our eyes. Peacocks also display their fan-like feathers when they feel pleased. I remember that in a Japanese Garden in Australia, the peacock did not show off his feathers in my camera's screen.






Even small birds can bear bright-coloured feathers which added much fun to trees that they land on.










Flamingos when they come together redden their favourable lakes or breeding grounds . Water ducks, in their beautiful feathers, fly and duck down to catch fish or small amphibians, worms or small molluscs at their feeding grounds.

Passion Fruit

Yesterday afternoon when visited a friend of mine, I marvelled for some time at the lovely passion fruits that were hanging down the wooden vine support. The fruits appeared to be very round with smooth dotted skins.

Passion flowers are native to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina provinces. Its common names include passion fruit (UK and US), and passionfruit (Australia and New Zealand), and purple granadilla (South Africa). Please note that the flower of the passion fruit is the national flower of Paraguay.

It is cultivated commercially in warmer, frost-free areas for its fruit and is widely grown in India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, California, Florida, Haiti, Hawaii, Argentina, Australia, East Africa, Mexico, Israel, Costa Rica, Venezuela, South Africa and Portugal.

The passion fruit is round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit is both eaten and juiced; passion fruit juice is often added to other fruit juices to enhance the aroma. (See the drink my friend served us at the bottom right of the top photo. It is passion fruit flesh plus cream soda)

The two types of passion fruit have clearly differing exterior appearances. The bright yellow variety of passion fruit, which is also known as the Golden Passion Fruit, can grow up to the size of a grapefruit. It has a smooth, glossy, light and airy rind, and has been used as a rootstock for the Purple Passion Fruit in Australia. The dark purple passion fruit is smaller than a lemon, though it is less acidic than the yellow passion fruit, and has richer aroma and flavour.

Some people wonder at the parts of the passion flower and the tendrils. They say:
(1)The three stigmas reflect the three nails in Jesus's hands and feet.
(2) The threads of the passion flower resemble the Crown of Thorns.
(3) The vine's tendrils are likened to the whips.
(4) The ten petals and sepals regarded to resemble the Apostles (excluding Judas and Peter).
(5) The purple petals representing the purple robe used to mock Jesus' claim to kingship (Mt. 27:28)

Abbreviations on a KMB bus

Today at Choi Hung, on the walls of a pink bus I found abbreviations of a Question Mark and a Colon and nothing else. Soon I understood what it meant.

What does it mean to you?

Seckel pears

Recently I bought several pears which appeared green with a blush of red across it. "W" supermarket calls them as 紅胭脂啤梨. After surfing the Internet, I find their name as Seckel pears.

According to a source of information, good-quality Seckel pears will be small or even bite-sized with no bruises and only a few minor scuff marks. The coloring will be green with dark-red blush or nearly all red. Pears are ripe when they take on a yellow hue and yield to gentle pressure at the stem end.

From my experience, when the pears has turned from red-green to red-yellow, they have ripen already. The pear which I cut open was a bit over-ripe. The texture at the time I eat it has become that of a potato. There are a few root-like things inside. I wonder if the pear has entered the stage of rottening. To find out if those unripe Seckel pears appear in the same condition, I cut and taste them. Well, their qualities equalize with those ripe Anjou pears I ate before.

I learn a lesson that I do not have to wait for such Seckel pears to ripe (red-yellow). Just eat them as I wish. Never let them rotten!

Since Seckel pears are available August through January, there will be a lot of time for my exploring their taste when the supply is still abundant

The virtues of Seckel pears are Low-fat, Sodium-free, Source of fiber, a source of vitamin C and Cholesterol-free.

It is interesting to know that pears can be kept to ripe at room temperature in a sealed plastic bag with a couple of ripe bananas. When the pears are ripe, they can be refrigerated until one is ready to eat them.

Another fact is that pears are cousins of apples. The American varieties come from Europe, where they migrated from central Asia. Early colonists brought the first trees to America where they thrived until blights became severe. Most pears are now grown west of the Rockies where diseases are less of a problem

Happy Dancing

Recently Edward Li sent me a video-link https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwe-pA6TaZk?rel=0 which goes to a video showing happy people, young and old, dancing in various places of the world. May this video bring love to mankind to do away with hatred, conflicts and wars.

I saw an advertisement (see the photos) showing people dancing and singing in similar manners, but it is a commercial one.

Men’s BMX race London Olympics

The start list of athletes in Men’s BMX race London Olympics
by countries was:
1.    USA
2.    The Netherlands
3.    Latvia
4.    Columbia
5.    Australia
6.    Great Britain
7.    Columbia
8.    The Netherlands
Guess which countries win the gold, silver and bronze medals in this race?

Women's BMX race (Final) London Olympics

The start list (final) of the Women BMX race in London Olympics was:
1 Great Britain Shanaze READE
2 France Laetitia le CORGUILLE
3 Australia Caroline BUCHANAN
4 Columbia Mariana PAJON
5 France Magalie POTTIER
6 New Zealand Sarah WALKER
7 USA Brooke CRAIN
8 The Netherlands Laura SMULDERS

By judging the colours of the track suits, you can easily trace the order of the athletes during the race. Well in this race, M. Pajon took the lead all the way and became the champion. S. Walker came second and L. Smulders third.

The winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze by countries were Columbia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. I find these lady medalists particularly very young and beautiful and am greatly impressed by their courage, strength and skill in the race.

BMX race course, London Olympics

BMX races are expected to be thrilling, dangerous and full of excitement at London Olympics. The race course starts with a sharp slope, at the top of which the athletes begin to descend and accelerate and it extends with wavy, up-and-down dunes on which the athletes jump up, land and accelerate. In addition, sharp bends like woks and a tunnel have added much interest to the race course.

Accidents may occur at moments when the athletes cannot balance themselves well when landing on those wavy curves or at the bends. The bottom photo shows the dangers of athletes falling down or colliding along the course.

Asparagus

Asparagus is a very nice kind of vegetables. Let us look at it from Wikipedia:

蘆筍(即露筍)的嫩莖可作蔬菜食用。

西方人一般將其削皮蒸熟或煮熟後，再佐以融化的黃油或奶酪食用。
東方人也喜歡用蘆筍配肉類炒菜。綠蘆筍維生素A含量豐富，滋味青脆爽口；白蘆筍則含有 大量的水分，具有甜嫩多汁的口感。好的綠蘆筍，全株形狀正直，筍尖鱗片應為緊密，不長腋芽，沒有水傷、腐臭味，光澤油亮，細嫩粗大者為佳；而白蘆筍，最好挑選20公分以內的長度，筍尖緊密，色澤白，未長腋芽、水傷或病蟲害者為佳，若發現白蘆筍有由乳白轉紅的現象，表示品質已惡化，選購時應特別注意。

蘆筍在購買後最好能新鮮立即食用，但不宜生吃，也不宜過度烹煮，過度烹煮營養素易流失，其做法除包括清燙後淋上醬汁即食的簡單吃法外、舉凡蒸、煮、炒及焗等樣樣皆可。汆燙處理後的蘆筍，最好淋上沙律醬或少許的植物油，其油脂的成分，能有利維生素A的吸收。如果真的不能馬上食用，可用紙巾或報紙 將其包住，置於冰箱儲存，但也不宜擱置超過3、4天。

每年的三月到六月是蘆筍的最佳產季，其營養非常豐富，不僅不含膽固醇，更是蛋白質、葉酸、維生素C和B、膳食纖維及鉀、硒、磷、鋅等微量元素的豐富來源，是很好的抗氧化、防癌的食品，同時具有降血壓、利尿、治水腫、消除疲勞的功效。

蘆筍的熱量不高，但是保護性的營養素含量豐富。每100公克只有20大卡左右，主要的熱量營養素是碳水化合物，與市面上流行的番茄汁相似。生鮮的蘆 筍含鉀豐富，每100公克可以提供200毫克以上，而且鈉的含量極少，天然生鮮的蔬果一般都有這種特質。經過加工的產品通常鈉的含量會大幅增加，綠蘆筍罐 頭的鈉含量超過鉀，番茄汁的鈉含量也比生鮮番茄為高，因此蔬果類食物不宜完全以加工產品取代生鮮食物。除了鉀之外，綠蘆筍還有適量的鈣與鎂，這三種礦物質有益於心血管健康和預防癌症。

蘆筍有良好的抗氧化能力，在一系列常用的蔬菜之中排名第十，比多種知名的保健蔬菜如洋蔥、青蒜、綠花菜、番茄、大蒜等都高，只有甜椒、紅高麗菜、芽 甘藍與菠菜比蘆筍高。因為綠蘆筍有豐富的β胡蘿蔔素，如果代謝生成維生素A，每100公克可以提供318 微克﹔豐富的葉酸，每100公克可以提供85-120微克﹔還有維生素C的含量也很豐富，約為大白菜的1.5倍左右。

香港之奧運新星

在場地單車女子凱琳(Keirin)賽，香港的單車選手李慧詩(Sarah LEE Wai Sze)是決賽六名參賽者之一，她的對手來自中國 、英國、法國、澳洲及加拿大，要摘取一面獎牌的機會只是二分之一。

開賽前，大家排列在同一起步綫，由內至外分別是法國、香港、中國、加拿大、澳洲和英國。一開始，郭爽(中國)領先，李慧詩隨後，英國和法國選手分別在第三、四位。比賽全程是繞八個圈，一眾選手踏著單車排成一條長蛇陣緊隨領航電單車加速至最後三個圈才展開衝刺。

緊湊的時候隨即開始，後面的車手要把握時機突圍而上，那麼就是加速從外圍(鑊形車道較高位置)追趕。當時澳洲車手首先發力突圍而上領先。其間，英國車手老實不客氣也衝上來。

鏡頭一轉，澳洲選手不知去向，相信是否突然墮後，反而英國的選手後上領先，隨後是郭爽及李慧詩。最後，英國名將彭妮頓以短距離過終點勝出奪金。中國郭爽屈居亞軍得銀牌，而我們的李慧詩得銅牌，為香港奪取奧運史上第三面獎牌。
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今次摘銅，李慧詩遇上不少波折。Sarah於初賽僅第四位衝線，要參戰復活賽。她吸取首場教訓，復活賽開賽不久便搶入第三名位置，最後首名衝線躋身複賽。她在複賽搶佔領頭車位置，但後來被夾擊下一度跌落第四位，眼看出局之際發力狂衝刺，終以第三位衝線殺入決賽，最後一舉贏得銅牌。

李慧詩在牛頭角長大，小學讀柏德學校，中學是梁式芝書院，後者體育科主任高麗珊形容慧詩是一名活潑開朗及拼勁十足的女孩。李慧詩就讀中三時，學校推薦她參加體育學院的「明日之星」計劃，完成體能測試後，獲單車總會挑選參與運動員訓練，直至中五會考後，便決定做全職運動員。

李慧詩自幼患有貧血症，一般而言會因體內紅血球數目不足，降低運動能力或增加身體疲勞及肌肉疼痛感覺。不過，個性硬朗的她卻甘願向難度挑戰，投身以運動量極高而聞名的香港單車隊，更隨隊長年於昆明作高原訓練，以增強體內的帶氧能力。

獎牌路上波折重重，李慧詩於零六年在內地進行公路訓練期間，為閃避狗隻而「炒車」造成左手骨折，一年內先後進行三次手術，教練沈金康見狀亦覺心痛，曾幾次勸喻愛徒退役。

手部力量對單車運動員攸關重要，李慧詩卻能力抗傷患為港爭光。港隊隊醫郭志堅坦言：很少運動員進行過三次手術後，仍能重返運動場，認為若非有很大決心，絕對難以登上奧運這世界級舞台。

A Short Comedy at the Opening Ceremony of London Olympics

Mr. Bean (acted by Rowan Atkinson) appeared as one of the musicians at the performance of the philharmonic orchestra during the London Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony. His loose ways of playing the musical instrument, such as using a mobile phone, sneezing, taking something from a chair behind him, had created some elements of a comedy.

It followed that Mr. Bean fell asleep and dreamed that he was one of the runners in the 1981 British film called “Chariots of Fire”, which tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics. Mr. Bean was at first among the team of runners and soon he fell far behind because he ran too slowly. The next shot showed that he mounted on a beach jeep and a few moments later he was heading the team and finally dashed across the finishing line.

Mr. Bean woke up, finished his playing the piece of music and stood up to receive the applause from the audience.

Olympic 48 kg class Weight-lifting (Women)

In the 48 kg (body-weight) class (Women) weight-lifting, WANG Ming Juan lifted a weight of 91 kg in Snatch and that of 114 kg in Clean & Jerk with a total score of 205. She won the first Gold medal in weight-lifting for China. MIYAKE of Japan and RYANG of Peoples’ Republic of Korea came second and third respectively. All the finalists in this event come from Asia, namely China, Japan, Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Japan and India (in order of merit).

The First Gold medal to China

YI Si Ling (易思玲), being young and sweet, won the first Gold medal to China in Women’s 10 m Air rifle with 502.9 points on July 27. She joined the athletic team in 2008, won in the world champion competition in 2010. Her team mate, YU Dan (喻丹) came third after Sylwia BOGACKA of Poland.

Shooting needs steady hands, a calm mind, slow breathing rhythms, good eye-sight and skill. It is very difficult indeed to shoot at the designated small target within 10 metres. Any shaking hands or disturbances in the mind would have ruined a shot.

Congratulations to these two young girls of China. Hope that they will also get very  good results in the next Olympics.

An Interesting film-clip, cast by James Bond and the Queen

Before the Opening Ceremony of Summer Olympics started, a short film called Happy and Glorious was broadcast, featuring James Bond (played by current Bond actor Daniel Craig) entering Buckingham Palace. Bond escorted Queen Elizabeth II (who played herself) out of the building and into a waiting helicopter, which flew across London to the stadium. At the end of the film, Bond and Her Majesty jump from the helicopter and this was interspersed with live footage of actors playing the pair who parachuted out of a helicopter over the stadium (using Union Jack parachutes).

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh (as well as Count Rogge, President of the IOC) were then introduced in the stadium. The Union Flag was then raised by members of the British Armed Forces, with the national anthem performed a cappella by the Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children

Flying over River Thames

Flying over River Thames towards Olympic Stadium on a helicopter, the cameraman brought me a feeling of flying over this famous river in Great Britain.

The journey well began from London Eye (the large wheel on the right-hand side of the first photo near Jubilee Gardens. There are quite a number of bridges here such as Golden Jubilee, Charing Cross, Westminster, Waterloo and BlackFriars (railway) Bridges.

The dome-shaped building is St. Paul’s Cathedral and the most attractive bridge of all is the Tower Bridge on which Olympic Rings are hung at the moment.

River Thames meanders and many ships, big and small are at anchor and recently warships even station along it to give protection to this vibrant city of the world.

The helicopter suddenly flied across a bend, turned left and dashed its way towards the Olympic Stadium, dressed in white, at London Olympic Park.

Penguins full of love

The penguins in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SkY03n0_sD8&vq=medium are sunbathing. The adults, full of love, are taking good care of their young ones, feeding, teaching them to walk, brushing their furs and guiding them for a hike. 

螞蟻可變色

通常人們頭腦中螞蟻的形象是黑色身體，不過最近一位英國科學家拍出一組彩色螞蟻的照片，其中的秘密源自螞蟻所吃的食物顏色。 這組照片是由53歲的科學家穆罕默德‧巴布博士拍攝的。他的靈感來自妻子哈梅埃姆，她發現螞蟻的肚子在喝了牛奶後變成了白色，並把這一發現告訴了巴布。

巴布博士由此大受啟發。他將糖和紅、綠、藍、黃等顏色的食用色素混合在一起，做成膠狀的彩色糖槳，放在花園裡吸引螞蟻。螞蟻吃了顏色各異的糖後，半透明的胃的顏色就變成了他們所吃的糖的顏色。這正應驗了英語中那句老話 “食如其人You are what you eat.”。正如這些照片顯示，螞蟻腹部的顏色會根據所吃糖水的顏色而變化。有一些螞蟻還能從一個顏色變成另一個顏色。

這組照片看起來新奇有趣，可是拍攝的過程並不容易。巴布說：“儘管在短短幾分鐘就可以吸引到很多螞蟻，但還是需要重拍很多次才能達到我想要的效果。拍一張照片也是很辛苦的，因為在短短幾分鐘之內，前來的螞蟻就已經非常多，這時我就要右手操作我的照相機，左手忙於趕走多餘的螞蟻。