文化推荐

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

《货币崛起:金融如何影响世界历史》

Money, says the song, makes the world go round. It can also threaten to stop it. Thus, a book that explains the origin and growth of money, banks, stock markets, and the exotic growth of the financial instruments and institutions that often bewilder even those who live by them, is a valuable thing. Despite the fact that Niall Ferguson finished writing The Ascent of Money in the late spring of 2008, while the international financial crisis was still gathering momentum, this is a highly relevant book. Not the least of its merits is that Ferguson shows how alert he was to the possibilities for disaster inherent in the loose credit and securitization of bad debt from which so much money was made before the crisis unfolded. His was an alertness made possible by a grasp of history; Ferguson thereby vindicates the utility as well as the beauty of his craft.

就像那首歌所唱的,金钱推动世界。但金钱也会使世界停止。所以,一本解释货币、银行、股市的起源与发展,以及金融工具和金融机构(对于许多金融工具和机构,金融从业人员也感到困惑)异乎寻常增长的书,就非常有价值。虽然尼尔•弗格森早在2008年暮春就已经写完《货币崛起》,当时国际金融危机还正蓄势待发,但这确实是一本非常及时的书。该书一个重要的价值在于,弗格森表明自己早已经警觉到信贷宽松和坏账证券化有可能引发灾难,危机降临前有人正是靠宽松的信贷和坏账证券化赚了大笔钱。他的警觉得益于对历史的理解;弗格森因此证明了自己方法的实用性和优势所在。

Not only is there much that is instructive and illuminating in Ferguson's account, there is much that is absorbing. Until you begin reading you might not imagine how engrossing a book about the history of money and finance can be. The story of money's origins, of the Italian Renaissance cities, of the founding and operation of the first limited liability company in the Netherlands, of the Rothschild banking dynasty's rise in the 19th century, of what caused the Great Depression, of the turn to house-owning debt, of today's massive and perhaps unhealthy symbiosis between borrowing America and lending, cheaply manufacturing China to make 'Chimerica' with most of the world's money and population in it, make an altogether gripping tale. Thoroughly recommended.

弗格森的叙述不仅给人启迪,还引人入胜。你若不去读,就无法想象一本有关货币与金融历史的书会多么有趣。从货币起源、意大利文艺复兴时期的城市、第一家有限责任公司在荷兰的创立与经营、19世纪罗斯柴尔德银行王朝的崛起、到大萧条产生的原因、住房贷款的出现,再到今天美国借钱,中国贷款,二者形成庞大但可能不健康的共生现象,组成财富最集中、人口最多的“中美共同体”,作者讲得妙趣横生。强烈推荐阅读。

The Job-Hunter's Survival Guide

《求职者生存指南》

The Job-Hunter's Survival Guide is a slim paperback manual of little more than 100 pages, chock-a-block with bullet points and tips, wrapped in a road-sign shade of yellow. The author, Richard Nelson Bolles, 82, wrote the best-selling What Color is Your Parachute? guide to job searching — now running at over 400 pages in the 2009 edition.

《求职者生存指南》是本薄薄的简装小册子,仅有百页出头,满是点句和小贴士,装帧的底色是路标常用的黄色。作者理查德•尼尔森•波利斯现年82岁,曾写过有关求职的畅销书《你的降落伞是什么颜色?》——它的09版有400多页。

'There are a lot of people hanging on the ropes in the present, brutal economy that don't have time to read a big book,' Bolles said. So he gave them a best-hits collection of advice, culled from his 40 years of career guidance:

“在现在无情的经济形势之下,有很多人命悬一线,没有时间看大部头的书,”波利斯说。所以他根据自己40年的职业指导经验,给人们一些最佳建议。

Yes, unemployment is at its highest level in more than a quarter-century, but 'there are always jobs out there.' In May, the Labor Department said there were 2.6 million job openings. Competition is fierce for these openings, but keep telling yourself that there are always going to be vacancies, Bolles' book says.

没错,如今的失业率是25年来最高的,但“工作总是有的”。五月,劳工部称有260万个空缺职位。波利斯在书中告诉我们:这些岗位的竞争很激烈,但一定要不断告诉自己,总会有空缺职位。

The average length of joblessness was 24.5 weeks in June, according to the government. You have some time. So sit down and figure out what you really want to do, as specifically as possible, Bolles says. Not what the marketplace is asking for, but what your ideal job would look like. 'The more focused you are, the more likely you're going to find a job.'

政府表示,6月份平均失业时间是24.5周。还有段时间要熬,波利斯说,坐下来,认真考虑自己想做什么,考虑得越详尽越好。不是劳务市场要求什么,而是你理想的工作是什么。“你越专注,就越有可能找到工作。”

Post as complete a resume as possible everywhere online that you can: LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, he advises.

他建议,在网上发布的简历越多越好:如在LinkedIn、Plaxo和Facebook等网站上。

Now, the key: Approach the companies you've deemed a good fit. Seek out potential employers - from the phone book, acquaintances, online searches or social-networking sites - and sell them on your specific skills, Bolles says. Even if they don't have anything to offer you, they'll find it easier to help you out.

现在,最重要的是:接触你认为理想的公司。找出潜在的雇主——从电话本、熟人、网上搜索或社交网站那里——将你的独特的技能卖给他们。波利斯谈到,即使他们没职位提供给你,(在收到你的简历后)他们也更容易帮助你。

That's the most active and hardest way to approach a job search, Bolles says, but much more effective than using online job boards or replying to companies' posted openings. You're offering your services rather sending in applications with swarms of others.

波利斯表示,这是最积极,也是最艰难的求职方法,但比使用网上求职平台或回复公司发布的职位信息有效得多。你提供的是你的服务,而非跟别人一样一窝蜂地发送求职申请。

Royal Pains

《欲海医心》

Clever summer amusement, Royal Pains is turning into one of the season's biggest new hits. True, you have to accept a pretty outlandish premise, but once you succumb to the series' charms, it's not that difficult to get into its sweet comic rhythms. Mark Feuerstein stars as Dr. Hank Lawson, who blows a promising New York City hospital career because he made a judgment call (a rich hospital donor died while he was saving the life of a poorer man), only to find not just a new job but a new lifestyle.

《欲海医心》是一部优秀的夏日消遣之作,已成为这个季节最火爆的新片。的确,你得接受古怪的故事背景,但一旦你折服于该剧的魅力,就很容易沉迷其喜剧节奏之中。由于其主观判断(在救一名穷人之时,给医院捐钱的一位大款死亡),汉克•罗森医生(马克•弗瑞斯坦饰)毁掉了自己在纽约市行医的大好前程,不过他不仅找到了一份新工作,还找到了一种新的生活方式。

During a stay in the Hamptons, Hank stumbles into the apparently real profession of 'concierge doctor' — medical pros hired by the wealthy to be their on-call providers. The job would stink of obnoxious privilege, except that Hank also has a conscience: He uses the money he makes treating rich clients to do pro bono care for locals who can't afford health care. 'We treat who needs treatment' is Hank's motto.

在汉普顿期间,汉克偶遇了一份看上去很体面的职业,即“私人医生”,为富人提供上门医疗服务。做这份工作有许多令人厌恶的特权,但汉克良心未泯:他给富人诊治挣钱之后,用这些钱给当地负担不起医疗费用的人免费看病。汉克的座右铭是:“我们诊治需要诊治的人”。

The result is unexpectedly whimsical fun. Feuerstein, who has labored through a bunch of lousy sitcoms including Conrad Bloom and Good Morning, Miami, has finally found a TV vehicle that suits his little crinkly eyes, big pecs, and brainy, chesty talent. His do-good doctor is paired with Hank's hustler brother, Evan (goofy Paulo Costanzo), a CPA who sees dollar signs and bikini babes in their future if they can monetize Hank's new medical practice to the max.

结果出人意料,却趣味盎然。弗瑞斯坦曾倾力出演《康纳德•布鲁姆》和《早安,迈阿密》等多部劣质肥皂剧,现在终于找到一部符合其布满皱纹的小眼睛、大胸肌、恃才傲物特征的电视剧。汉克慈善行医,但其作为注册会计师的弟弟伊万(保罗•克斯坦佐饰)却是好色之徒,总幻想着如果能最大程度地利用汉克的新工作来赚钱,未来金钱美女便应有尽有。

Like its time-period companion Burn Notice, Pains has a sun-bright color palette: Every scene shimmers with baking heat. And you can't have hot summer escapism without romance, so Pains provides Hank with flirty Jill Casey (flinty Jill Flint), a noble administrator at Hamptons Heritage, a poorly equipped hospital that helps the less fortunate as best it can.

跟同时热播的《火线警告》一样,《欲海医心》也有明媚的调色板:每一幕都热情火辣。夏日幻想曲怎能没有风流韵事,《欲海医心》就给汉克配了风情万种的基儿•凯西(冷艳美女基儿•弗林特饰),她心底善良,是汉普顿遗产医院的院长。医院设备简陋,却仍竭力为穷人看病。

If some of Hank's instant, accurate diagnoses beggar belief - he sizes up a chef who suffers memory loss after a kitchen quickie with a terse 'Sex can be a trigger for a stroke!' - well, as I say, if you buy the premise of the show, you buy Hank's quick, easy skills. No one's ever going to say Royal Pains is a classic addition to the medical genre, but it certainly is zippy fun.

汉克的一些快速而准确的诊断不免令人生疑,比如他很快就对一名在厨房匆忙云雨之后失忆的厨师作出诊断,而且只用“性可能引发中风!”这一句话。好吧,正如我所说,如果你相信该剧的背景,就会相信汉克精湛的医术。没人会说该片又给医务剧增添了一部经典,但它的确趣味横生。

The Soloist

《独奏者》

On paper, The Soloist sounds like a classic softhearted middlebrow awards-bait movie. Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) is a homeless schizophrenic on the streets of Los Angeles whose outward dementia - mismatched clothing topped by full sequined jacket; hair plastered down on either side; a mode of 'talk' that's really a jumble of word salad - conceals a delicate, refined soul obsessed with the beauty of music. Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times who meets Nathaniel on the street and learns, after a bit of investigating, that he was once a budding cello virtuoso at Juilliard. He writes a column about him, and as Nathaniel starts to gain a bit of notoriety, the two men redeem each other. Or not.

从理论上来说,《独奏者》中规中矩,令人产生恻隐之心,像一部典型的有夺奖潜力的电影。纳萨尼尔•埃尔斯(杰米•福克斯饰)是洛杉矶街头一名无家可归的精神分裂症患者,乍一看是痴呆患者——衣服乱搭,外边裹着一件亮片夹克;头发贴着头皮左右分开;“说话的方式”杂乱无章——但这些的背后,隐藏着一颗敏感而优雅,沉溺于音乐之美的灵魂。史蒂夫•洛佩兹(小罗伯特•唐宁饰)是《洛杉矶时报》的专栏作家,在街上偶遇纳萨尼尔,经过调查得知,他曾经是茱莉亚音乐学院的一名初露头角的大提琴师。洛佩兹写了一篇关于他的专栏文章,之后纳萨尼尔有了些名气,二人惺惺相惜——也可能没帮上什么忙。

The Soloist is based on a true story, but it takes pains not to sweeten the facts. And so the film, directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), draws us in without offering the expected 'inspirational' catharsis. It's all a bit shapeless, yet made with sincerity and taste, and the two actors seize your sympathy. Downey plays Lopez with a missionary zeal but never sanctifies him, and Foxx gives a lyrical performance as a man so trapped in a whirlpool of feeling that he can't connect with anything but Beethoven. His madness has removed all impediments to bliss, and Foxx is such a good actor you can just about hear the music in his head.

《独奏者》是根据真实故事改编,但极力不美化事实,为此颇费了一番功夫。乔•莱特(《赎罪》的导演)执导的这部电影深深吸引了我们,可是并没有人们所期待的“激励灵魂”的结局。该片结构松散,但充满真诚与品位,两位主演的表演直击你的同情心。唐宁饰演的洛佩兹有传教士般的热忱,但也绝没有将其神化。福克斯的表演百转千回,像一个深陷感情漩涡的人,似乎与其心灵相通的只有贝多芬。他的疯狂击碎了所有通往极乐的羁绊,而福克斯演技非常精湛,你几乎可以听到他脑子里的音乐。

Back on the Broomstick

哈利•波特系列小史

Harry Potter fans, your wait is finally over. Was it worth it? We will leave that answer up to you. When Warner Bros. decided to delay the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to spread out its blockbusters, it meant you had to wait an extra eight months to see it. The last film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, came out in 2007. Order took in $938 million at the box office worldwide. The five films produced so far have made $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. Now lets celebrate the general release with this list of a dozen favorite moments and key dates regarding author J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter saga.

哈利•波特的粉丝们,你们的等待终于结束了。值吗?答案留给你们自己来回答。当华纳兄弟为了分散大片档期,而决定推迟上映电影版《哈利•波特与混血王子》后,你们不得不再等8个月才能看到它。该系列中的上一部电影《哈利•波特与凤凰社》还是在2007年,全球票房总收入达9.38亿美元。截至目前,五部哈利•波特系列电影在全球共赚得票房45亿美元。我们现在来回顾一下同作者乔安•凯瑟林•罗琳与哈利•波特传奇有关的大纪要和精彩瞬间,庆祝《哈利•波特与混血王子》上映。

July 31, 1965: Joanne Kathleen Rowling is born near Chipping Sodbury, England. She got the idea for the first book during a 1990 train ride from Manchester to London. Lacking a pen and too shy to borrow one, she was forced to remember the details until the end of the trip. She started writing the book in her spare time.

1965年7月31日:乔安•凯瑟林•罗琳出生于英格兰切普索伯利附近。1990年,当她乘坐在一列从曼彻斯特开往伦敦的火车上时,产生了写第一本书的灵感。当时由于没有笔,又因为害羞不好意思向别人借,她不得不一路上记住细节。她在闲暇时刻开始写这本书。

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The book introduces the world in 1998 to the 11-year-old orphan who learns he is a wizard and that he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

《哈利•波特与魔法石》:1998年,这本书向全世界介绍了一名11岁的孤儿。他知道自己是魔法师,并在霍格沃茨魔法学校有一席之地。

2001: The movie version, starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) reaches theaters. It's startling when Professor Quirrell unwraps his turban to reveal that the evil Lord Voldemort, who was thought to be dead, has managed to regenerate himself onto the back of Quirrell's head.

2001年:由丹尼尔•雷德克里弗(哈利)、鲁伯特•格林特(罗恩•韦斯莱)和艾玛•沃特森(赫敏•格兰杰)主演的首部哈利•波特电影上映。当奇洛教授解开头巾,邪恶的伏地魔钻了出来时,场景颇为令人毛骨悚然——人们原以为他已经死去,却没想到他已经设法借奇洛的后脑勺再生。

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Harry and his best friend Ron miss the train to Hogwarts, so they arrive in a flying car in the June 1999 novel. This thrilling sequence, which has Harry and Ron seemingly dangling high above the ground, was a hit when the movie came out in 2002.

《哈利•波特与密室》:1999年6月小说问世。此时哈利和他最好的朋友罗恩没赶上去霍格沃茨的火车,所以他们坐上一辆飞车前往。这部续集情节惊心动魄,其中一个场景是哈利和罗恩在高空悬吊着。2002年电影版问世受到了广泛热捧。

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The wizard Remus Lupin's onscreen transformation from man to werewolf is a scary high point in the 2004 movie version. The book was published in September 1999.

《哈利•波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》:在2004年的电影版中,巫师莱姆斯•卢平从人转变成狼人尤其令人害怕。该书于1999年9月出版。

2001: Rowling marries Dr. Neil Murray at their home in Scotland.

2001年:罗琳在苏格兰的家中与内尔•穆雷医生结婚。

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The spooky appearance of the Dark Mark, the symbol of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, frightens audiences in the 2005 movie. The Dark Mark -- a skull with a snake protruding through the mouth that seems to be made of angry black clouds -- causes panic among wizards because it means someone had been murdered. Harry, Ron and Hermione were becoming teenagers.

《哈利•波特与火焰杯》:黑魔标记是伏地魔及其食死徒的象征,外表可怕,这部2005年上映的电影吓坏了众多观众。黑魔标记是一颗头颅,嘴里吐出一条蛇,身子如黑云。这在魔法师中间引起恐慌,因为它的出现意味着有人被杀害。在这部电影里,哈利、罗恩和赫敏已成为少年。

$1 billion: Forbes' estimation of Rowling's wealth. The magazine adds the author to its "World's Richest People" list in 2004.

10亿美元:《福布斯》所估计的罗琳财产总额。2004年,该杂志将罗琳列入“世界富人榜”。

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Pranksters Fred and George Weasley lead a student uprising at Hogwarts by setting off fireworks and creating a giant swamp in a corridor in the 2003 novel. Readers are disappointed to find this memorable moment is not in the 2007 movie.

《哈利•波特与凤凰社》:2003年小说出版。书中普朗克斯特•弗雷德和乔治•韦斯莱燃放烟火,在走廊制造大片沼泽,带领霍格沃茨学生进行起义。但2007年的电影版中并没有这令人难忘的一幕,这让读者很失望。

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Amazon receives more than 560,000 pre-orders for as anticipation peaks for the July 16, 2005, publishing date. Rowling's books always stress the wizarding world exists alongside the non-wizarding world but stays hidden. But she evidently had great fun imagining an emergency meeting between Britain's real Prime Minister and her Minister of Magic in this Half-Blood Prince. The Minister of Magic reveals himself to warn the Prime Minister that Voldemort is killing Muggles, or non-magical people.

《哈利•波特与混血王子》:2005年7月16日小说出版。这之前,人们对它期待甚高,亚马逊网站收到了56万个订单。罗琳总是在书中强调,魔法世界和非魔法世界共存,只不过魔法世界隐藏起来罢了。但在《哈利•波特与混血王子》里,真正的英国首相与魔法首相举行了一场紧急会议。魔法首相现身,警告英国首相说,伏地魔正在杀害麻瓜(即不会魔法的人)。

July 21, 2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the series, sells a record-setting 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours. Harry faces a life-or-death struggle with Voldemort, for it has been foretold that neither can live while the other survives. Deathly Hallows is so long and complex that it will be split into two movies, due to reach theaters in 2010 and 2011.

2007年7月21日:《哈利•波特与死圣》是该系列的第七部,也是最后一部,发售仅24小时就卖出830万册,创下了历史纪录。曾经有预示称:哈利和伏地魔不能同时活着,所以他面临一场生死决斗。《哈利•波特与死圣》故事漫长,情节复杂,得分成两部电影,将分别于2010年和2011年上映。

4,000-plus: Pages of the seven novels combined.

4000多页:七部小说页数的总和。

Far

《遥远》

Regina Spektor writes the kind of crazy-quilt confessionals we used to hear a lot from 1990s alt-rockers but don't get enough of these days. The Russian-born Lower East Side piano punk has the European yelp of Björk, the loopiness of Fiona Apple, the too-much-information torridness of Tori Amos and the slanted critical eye of Liz Phair. But none of those girls ever interrupted a song about long-term commitment to uncork a flurry of dolphin noises, as Spektor does on Folding Chair, one of the stranger - and catchier - moments on her excellent third major-label record.

蕾吉娜•史派克特写的歌曲像是细碎杂乱的忏悔。我们在上世纪90年代的另类摇滚中经常听到这种风格的歌,只是现在甚少耳闻。史派克特出生于俄罗斯,现居纽约下东区。这位弹奏钢琴,唱着朋克的女生,声音高亢似比约克,歌声百转千回似费欧娜•艾坡,热情如火似多莉•艾莫丝,眼光挑剔似丽斯•菲儿。但所有这些女孩,都未曾在(唱一首有关)长相厮守的情歌里狂飙海豚音,而史派克特却在《折叠椅》里做到了。这首歌风格奇特,朗朗上口,收入在她第三张由大厂牌灌制的唱片里。

The 29-year-old singer-songwriter's 2004 disc, Soviet Kitsch, flaunted her exotic Old World accent on stark, ranting torch songs that followed a boozy logic. 2006's Begin to Hope had fuller production and great one-liners about being a doomed New York romantic. Produced by Jeff Lynne, Garret Lee, Mike Elizondo and David Kahne, Far matches Kitsch's rococo flow with the follow-up's pop smarts. On the jaunty, hip-hop-tinged Dance Anthem of the 80's, she wanders lonely streets with her slip hanging out, 'like a drunk, but not.' Laughing With begins as a meditation on God's wicked sense of humor and ends collapsing in an existential freakout over a soft beat and weeping cello. Spektor is a woman who doesn't need much excuse to have an emotional Chernobyl (in one song, it's finding a wallet with a Blockbuster card in it). But she's also the rare screwball who gets more universal as she gets weirder.

蕾吉娜•史派克特现年29岁,是一名创作型歌手。在其2004年专辑《苏联套娃》里,高唱凄凉而迷乱的感伤恋歌,向人们展现了自己的东方嗓音。2006年的《开始希望》制作更加精良,歌词更加活泼俏皮,讲述了一场注定失败的纽约爱情故事。《遥远》由杰夫•林恩、加勒特•李、麦克•埃利桑多和大卫•卡恩联合制作,融合了《苏联套娃》的洛可可风,以及《开始希望》里流行元素。在洋洋得意、带有淡淡嘻哈风的《80年代的歌舞》之中,她独自漫步街头,脚步踉踉跄跄,像是“酩酊大醉,但显然又没有”。《一起笑》以对上帝幽默的沉思开始,继而在轻柔的节拍和大提琴的哀怨之中嘎然而止。史派克特从不需要为自己无厘头的情绪宣泄寻找理由。在其中一首歌,她捡到一个钱包,看到里头有一张租碟店的会员卡后,她便异常兴奋。但是她的确与众不同,越古怪,越是有人爱。