已經是一部一九九三年的電影了 – “搶錢夫妻”，可能大家都未必睇過。
內容是講一個人臨終的故事，由許冠文，蕭芳芳主演。劇情有笑有淚，但是最大的驚喜是最後三分鐘的一首片尾歌。這首歌就是”Always on my mind”。
當然，這首歌網上有數以百計不同的版本，但是好奇怪，我最喜愛的就是這個香港人唱的版本。而最大的驚喜就是這個”歌手”，他的名字叫。。。陳可辛。對，大導演陳可辛。原來他唱歌這麼動聽。
以下片段非常珍貴，非常難找，欲看速看。希望你喜歡。
我只在乎你
一九九八年的夏天，剛完成北京的工作，是時候回港。想起還要完成冗長的報告，就連一點點的興奮心情都灰飛煙滅。
登上港龍飛機，第一時間坐下來，帶上飛機的耳筒，調較至流行曲台，準備好好休息一下。不知是什麼時候，耳筒中傳來一把動聽的歌聲，加上近乎 UNPLUGGED 的結他背景音樂。唱的是我其中一首最喜歡的歌 – “我只在乎你”。
悠揚的音樂中，不經不覺地睡著了。轉眼飛機抵達香港，匆忙落機，但忘記了一件重要的事 – 就是查一查這首歌是誰唱的。
跟著就是整整兩星期的不安，每到一間唱片公司，都打聽有沒有女歌手番唱這一首歌。而每一個售貨員都是愛莫能助。
時間好快過，又要飛上北京跟進工作。看看日曆，這個月還未過，即是飛機上應還未換上新歌！
登上飛機，又第一時間坐下來，帶上飛機的耳筒，調較至流行曲台，查一查雜誌上的目錄 — 終於我找到你了。
十一年後的今天，網上云云十多二十個番唱版本中，最喜歡還是這一個版本 – “我只在乎你”。
你真正努力過嗎？
喺銅鑼灣鬧市中無所事事，傳嚟動聽嘅音樂，於是向崇光方向走去。只見到一個青年自彈自唱，都唔錯。隔離仲有另一個青年跳著近期大熱 – “娃娃看天下”嘅舞姿。但係完全無人欣賞，因為所有人都圍喺另一邊，另一個”表現者”。
於是好奇心作怪，又走去睇睇。幾經辛苦，從人群中望過去，見到地上有一張張長長嘅白紙，上面寫滿一個個鐵劃銀勾嘅大字。字字工整，有勁，仲有隸書，草書等等。可用台式一個字，”讚”。
從啲個中年書法家嘅背影中可以睇到，他正在努力完成另一張墨寶，圍觀嘅幾十人亦都全神貫注欣賞。突然書法家一個轉身，我都睇到啦。。。原來書法家係沒有一對手嘅。
只見他心思地放好剛完成的作品，再用他已經痿縮嘅雙臂純熟地準備另一張白紙，用紙鎮壓好位置，”夾”起支毛筆，點墨，又一次像奇蹟般寫字。
只覺得突然眼濕濕，因為眼前嘅書法家係幾咁努力，真係殘而不廢。而我地正常人又殘，又廢，又懶，又眼角高，又自私，又唔識用毛筆，又唔識”寫”自己嘅文字（淨係識”打”）。。。下刪一百字。
書法家再完成一張作品，要停低啦。圍觀嘅人冇拍手，但係都靜靜地喺銀包中挪出小小心意放喺書法家前面。有眼濕濕嘅我，有眼濕濕嘅少女，亦有眼濕濕正在教仔嘅媽咪。
人群散去，鬧市中再走過跳”娃娃看天下”嘅青年，可能有點不公平，但睇住佢喺心裡有個疑惑 –
“你真正努力過嗎？”
Registering Kindle 2 from outside US
The short answer to that task is “No, you cannot do that”. And following is the long answer and how I did it a couple of days ago in a trip to US. (See also the Update 1 below)
You cannot register your Kindle 2 (click Settings in Home / Menu) outside US, as it works only wirelessly with Sprint network in US. And even you can hack your Kindle to connect to Internet (without the Sprint network), the built-in GPS in Kindle 2 will reject the registration. In other words, you need to fly to US or ask your friend to take your lovely Kindle 2 to US to do it for you.
But still, without registering your Kindle 2, you still can buy eBooks and read those without any problems.
Anyway, I did register mine in a recent trip to US, and here are the details. I arrived San Francisco airport and I took out my Kindle 2, switched it on, turned on the Whispernet and tried to register.
Surprisingly, the device registered itself (I thought I needed to enter the Amazon membership information). And my Kindle also downloaded the previous sample reading, downloaded Jeff Bezos welcome letter and even whispersync my other book I was reading with my Kindle for iPhone. Freaking brilliant.
Then I started the Kindle shop from within the Kindle 2, searched the book I want (Quiet Strength), clicked Go and bought a book. Within a minute, my Kindle 2 homepage shows the new book. It’s that easy. The only thing I thought it could improve was it should have indicated that the book has been downloaded – as just from the name in the homepage, I could not tell (from user experience point of view) whether the Kindle was downloading a book, or already finished the download. Anyway, I browsed the new book a bit and confirmed all chapters were there.
So, my Kindle 2 is kinda completed all the basics, the next frontier is to hack the Kindle 2. Stay tuned.
Update 1 : If you really want to register your email address, Kindle name etc. to your Kindle – without Whispernet, here is a trick … create a reginfo file and copy it to your Kindle (for expert only though …. I warn you here).
Kindle for iPhone from outside US
Yes, after getting the Kindle 2 and buying Kindle books from outside US, the logical next step is of course getting the Kindle for iPhone. As in my other blog posts, here are the steps:
- To prepare for it, you need a new email address (other than the one you registered to iTunes) from Gmail, Yahoo etc. In other words, don’t use an email address with a country suffix.
- Connect your iPhone, kick start the iTunes and sign out from the default email address (Apple ID) by clicking the email address button in the upper right corner of the iTunes.
- Go to iTunes Store homepage, scroll down to the bottom and then change the country to United States.
- Search for Kindle for iPhone in that US iTunes store, and click the “Get App” button.
- When you see the sign in screen, do not sign in. Instead click “Create New Account”.
- Register as usual but in the Payment Method Page, click “none” as the method … that means you can download free application only in the future, but it avoids the issue of getting an US based credit card. (I suppose the Paypal will work as well, but I have not tested it).
- Then enter the US Address and phone number that generated before.
- That’s it !! You created a iTunes new account with your email as the new Apple ID !!
- Make sure you click the link in the iTunes Store Account Verification email to activate your account.
- Now you should be able to download the Kindle for iPhone application and synchronize to your iPhone.
- Run the application in your iPhone and enter your Amazon account information. And you shall see the Kindle eBook you bought before !!
Note : Since there is no Whispernet here, therefore the Whispernync may not work. In other words, you may not able to switch back and forth between your Kindle and your Kindle for iPhone, and each will keep track of where you’ve stopped reading. But you can download the books from your Amazon archive and read it in iPhone. Enjoy !!
Update 1 : In step 7, I reckon since you don’t need a real physical address to ship anything, so may be all you need is to get any US address and corresponding phone number … even the White House address shall work. Just a thought.
Here is the proof : The books I bought so far …
M.Y. Lessons Learnt 