An Unexpected Development 意想不到的發展
My old friend Benson Wong after seeing the above, enhanced the first photo (click to enlarge) 老友王玉泉美化了的第一張照片 (點擊放大)。
Click to see Benson Wong's pendant design for me as inspired by musical notation
Unintentional Photo Booth Comedy
意想不到的動感攪笑相
Unexpected Development see end
意想不到的發展 請看頁尾
很多年前，我在香港有一頗大型的演出。舊同學說我從未去過中國大陸，想在演出後請我去中山看菊展。有一天我正在香港大會堂做演出籌備工作，她來找我，説要四張一模一樣的相片好去及時伸請回鄉證，不能用宣傳照，我們在大會堂找到個即影即有的照相亭，但四張相卻是要影完一張再一張的，即是要對着鏡頭一動也不動才能影出四張一模一樣的相來。
Many years ago, while working on a production in Hong Kong, a friend from my school years said, since I had never been to Mainland China, she was to treat me to a chrysanthumum show in Guangdong (Canton) after the performances. One day, while I was working at the venue, my friend came and said I must give her four identical photos for my visa application. My publicity photos wouldn't do. We managed to find an instant photo booth that would take four photos, but one after the other 一 i.e., I had to keep still for the photos to look identical.
結果相片是很醜陋，但卻十分有動感和生命力。這舊同學偷偷收起這四張不能用的相，有天見我心情不佳，便笑嘻嘻說有一服一秒見效，無副作用的解憂靈丹，原來就是這四張相，我見到也不禁好笑，那就讓大家也笑笑吧！或說不能拿自己的糗像給別人看，想想藝人的宣傳照往往比真人好看，或者看了這個再見到我，會覺得其實真人長得還不錯。
Well, my four photos were unflattering, but they looked ALIVE! Without my knowing, my friend took the unusable photos. She later showed them to me when I was feeling bad to make me laugh. So, the photos are here for a laugh! Artists' publicity photos tend to be flattering. Perhaps after seeing these, when you meet me in person, you will find I actually look pretty good.
通常製作籌備排練期間，不會有時間精神照顧打扮自己，會越來越醜樣，在做到筋疲力竭半死不活時，卻要去影相！對着鏡頭，第一張還未影我便覺頭癢，想抓抓。
I had no time to care for myself during production/rehearsal period and was already not looking my best. Before the camera even took the first one, I felt an itch on my head and moved.
忽又想起有位同行說曾試過一動也不動去影四張看似一樣的相，結果相不止非常醜陋、而且了無生氣，像那些貼在警察局門外没人敢看的相，我忍不住想笑。
Then I remembered a colleague told me of her experience with such a photo booth. She said she looked more dead than alive because of trying so hard to keep still, and her photos looked very like those displayed on the notice board outside a police station... I had to try hard not to giggle.
想笑却要強忍着，越忍越想笑，想大笑，每張相之間的時距像永恆的長，忍得我好苦。
The more I tried not to, the more I wanted to giggle, and the time gap between each take was like eternity... it was agony.
終於忍無可忍，笑彎了腰。
It was all too much, and I doubled up with langhter!
