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港人旅遊熱點台灣墾丁南灣，迷你倉新蒲崗昨天一日內，有十名泳客遇溺，其中一名本港遊客遭大浪捲走，被救回送院搶救但不治客死異鄉，另一名台籍吳姓遊客失蹤，其餘八人嗆傷送院。　　台灣�春氣象站表示，受到颱風「燕子」（港稱飛燕）影響，墾丁這兩天都出現大浪，昨天的巨浪高達三公尺多。墾丁國家公園管理處，昨天已在南灣海灘豎立紅色警告旗，但昨日是假日，而且天氣炎熱，墾丁南灣海灘擠滿密密麻麻戲水人潮，遊客無視警告紅旗，仍下海戲水。十多人遭捲走 台青年失蹤　昨午五時許，一名來自香港的二十三歲梁姓遊客，在墾丁南灣海灘游泳期間，遭大浪捲走，一度失蹤，及後被救回，但已遇溺昏迷，急送就近醫院搶救證實不治。迷你倉出租同該名港客，墾丁南灣海灘，昨天一日內共有十名泳客遇溺，除該名港客喪生外，亦有一名十八歲吳姓台籍遊客失蹤，至昨晚上九時，岸巡人員仍搜尋中。　其餘八名遇溺泳客獲救，他們皆被嗆傷送院，當中一名來自台中縣的楊姓幼童只有一歲零兩個月大，由父母帶�下水，卻被一個大浪打來給捲走，所幸被救起來，只有嗆傷。另一名彰化縣二十五歲李姓遊客一度遭大浪捲走，被水上摩托車業者救起時，送醫急救後，恢復心跳，現正在加護病房留醫。南灣是墾丁遊客最多的一片沙灘，白沙、碧海、藍天，令人彷彿置身地中海，大受港人歡迎，近年有不少港人到台灣遊覽，都喜歡往墾丁觀光，尤其是年輕情侶更選擇在墾丁拍攝結婚照。本報記者儲存倉

澳門自從2002年特區政府開放博彩專營權以來，迷你倉新蒲崗內部的經濟環境在龍頭產業及自由行政策的推動下，市民享受�急促發展所帶來的成果，部分市民的財富更日漸上升，生活質素及水平亦有所提升，很容易在街上見到不少貴價名車、高級娛樂場所及購物店等，與澳葡時代的澳門環境截然不同；小小的漁村已經搖身一變，成為今天世界知名的賭城。根據政府統計局的資料顯示，2013年第一季澳門勞動人口的入息中位數錄得為澳門元12,000元，而人均本地生產總值為澳門元611,930元。這些可觀的統計數字主要是靠發展蓬勃的博彩業所賜，它不但刺激了旅遊業，同時間亦振興了澳門各行各業，使整個城市的經濟興旺起來。奈何俗語有云：「針無兩頭利」，我們雖然正在享受它帶來的利益，但其實同時間，我們亦必須承受它帶來的負面影響；意即需要面對因城市過急發展而衍生出來林林總總的複雜問題和後果。博彩背後黑暗一面撇開生活壓力激增、通貨膨脹誇張，以及貧富懸殊嚴重等情況不在此論，民生方面，現在最嚴峻及最迫切需要處理的情況是市民的非理性博彩行為。近年來，很多家庭悲劇的發生是由於家庭成員終日沉迷賭博、疏忽照顧家人、欠下巨額賭債，導致家無寧日、家人關係疏離、子女學壞，嚴重的甚至會發生命案等倫常慘劇。本年5月，在金沙娛樂場發生1宗悲劇，1名香港男子，懷疑因為輸掉大量金錢，霎時間想不開，結果選擇從娛樂場的二樓跳下自盡，當場斃命。翻查資料得悉，這是該娛樂場自2004年開業9年以來，第三次發生同類型事件。上兩次分別發生於2004年12月，當時1名澳門男子因輸掉300萬元，結果從3樓餐廳樓層跳下至大堂身亡。另一宗發生於2007年4月，1名河北男子因借下高利貸，懷疑在無法翻本及擺脫「大耳窿」的情況下，結果選擇從娛樂場3樓跳下，當場死亡。本年3月，在同一博彩承批公司旗下的威尼斯人娛樂場，亦發生賭客自殺命案，1名女子因輸光賭本及借下高利貸，在無法償還賭債的情況下，走進娛樂場內的衛生間，利用手袋肩帶掛在門上上吊自盡。這些不幸的事情，可能只是博彩業黑暗一面之冰山一角。在這個世界享負盛名的賭城內，各博彩承批公司每天均能賺取巨額的收入，政府亦可從中徵收到非常可觀的博彩稅，用於建設澳門及向市民提供福利，而且每年仍保持錄得破紀錄的增長。不得不承認，經營娛樂場確實是一門賺大錢的生意，但利潤的背後，政府及老闆們又可曾想到，究竟我們犧牲了多少個幸福的家庭、作了多少惡業呢？幾年前，政府及民間開始意識到非理性博彩帶來的禍害，認為有需要向市民灌輸正確的博彩訊息，讓他們了解問題博彩帶來的嚴重後果，以及認識負責任博彩的重要性，避免不幸的事情繼續發生。結果由社會文化司轄下的社會工作局，於2005年11月7日成立「志毅軒」，目的是提供及處理問題賭博的輔導服務，讓有需要的人士及其家屬得到社工的協助，早日脫離困擾，重新投入正常人的生活模式。民間亦紛紛設立了很多輔導機構和開辦服務迷你倉出租當中包括：聖公會澳門社會服務處樂天倫賭博輔導暨健康家庭服務中心、逸安社、澳門工業福音團契、澳門天主教美滿家庭協進會、澳門循道衛理聯合教會社會服務處�仔家庭成長軒，目的都是希望透過輔導形式，協助問題賭徒脫離病態賭癮，以及向他們的家人提供心理輔導。資源未被充分利用貴為學術機構的澳門大學，早於2003年8月成立「澳門大學博彩研究所」，是一所致力於研究和發展博彩業的非牟利機構。據悉，該研究所數月前組織了1項關於負責任博彩的活動，名為「負責任博彩資訊亭」，它是1部製作精美的互動遊戲電腦，主要設置在娛樂場內，供用戶模擬在賭場中下注、查閱遊戲規則及機率等；在完成遊戲後會產生「行為分析報告」。而在有獎問答遊戲中，資訊亭會要求用戶回答有關博彩知識的選擇題，希望透過遊戲，協助市民及遊客認識博彩的正確資訊。設置在6間博企的測試版資訊亭經過3個半月的運作後，根據該研究所資料，共錄得6453人次曾經登入資訊亭，當中超過六成使用人士是遊客。該研究所所長在評估報告新聞發布會上表示，資訊亭的測試效果理想，用戶及娛樂場亦感到滿意。然而，經過細心分析及計算後，得知平均每部資訊亭每天只有10.24人次登錄（6453次/6部/105天）。今時今日澳門的娛樂場數目有如便利店一樣，不分晝夜，每天24小時營業，按照統計局的資料顯示，本年首6個月的入境旅客數量超越1414萬人次，試問上述的測試結果，仍可稱得上「滿意」嗎？抑或是自圓其說？比較設置在娛樂場場內提款機之數目及其使用量，相信不用多說，觀者自明。10.24應該是一個使用量極低的數字罷。對於研究所的工作，政府及學校本身向來提供充足的資源作配合，結果卻出現如此「有目共睹的成績」，大有使人感到資源未被充分利用之嫌。雖知博彩業能夠帶給我們巨額的稅收，但與此同時亦帶給我們無數的禍害；其實賭博就如禁果一樣，有害無益；是一門沒有直接產出的行業，純粹只是財富轉移的小把戲；而且，一但使用者欠缺自制能力，更會即時染上賭癮，禍及自己及家人，嚴重的更會賠上寶貴的性命。政府及各博企的做法只是不斷將禁果的外觀加強包裝，經常嚷�打造「世界旅遊休閒產業為目標」，其實大家心中早已明白，不論中國人或澳門人，賭錢的心態又何曾休閒過？每每贏得少的時候，嫌棄不足夠；輸了錢的時候，就尋求翻本機會，所以很多人最終都要「褲穿窿才肯離場」。預防問題賭博應主動從多方面入手，澳門應借鑑新加坡政府的做法，以保護居民免受問題博彩困擾為首要目的，在進入娛樂場時徵收入場費，讓居民停下來，冷靜地想一想。另一方面，應嚴禁及處分博彩從業員參與博彩，杜絕他們沉迷賭博，忽略家庭。在教育方面，學校應從小教育學生博彩的禍害，使他們積極發展其他科目的潛能，以平衡各行各業的人才，這樣的做法才稱得上負責任！　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　澳門社會綜合研究學會.facebook.com/assem.org.mo儲存倉

湖北日報訊 美國發佈全球旅遊警告美國國務院早前宣佈，迷你倉將從4日起關閉全球21個大使館和領事館。2日，國務院進一步發佈全球旅遊警告：阿拉伯半島，尤其是在也門的基地組織分支可能會于8月在中東、北非發動針對美國人的恐怖襲擊。美國國務院在最新的全球旅遊警告中指出，恐怖主義集中攻擊的時間涵蓋整個八月。美國媒體獲悉，恐怖襲擊計劃可能進入最後的準備階段。這份文件警告，恐怖分子可能會使用各種方式和武器針對官員和平民發動攻擊。美國政府也提醒美國公民要警惕出現在海陸空公共交通系統以及旅遊設施的潛在恐怖襲擊。有美國媒體特別指出，8月4日正好是奧巴馬的生日，也是伊朗新任總統就職的日期。　　英德關閉駐也門使館　　除了美國發出全球旅遊警示外，英國、德國、歐盟和加拿大也採取措施，文件倉範恐怖襲擊。英國2日表示，將會在4日和5日關閉駐也門的大使館，部分人員已撤離。但英國在中東其他地方的使領事館將繼續開放。英國外交部發表聲明說，他們特別關注齋月尾聲和開齋節到來，不過他們沒有說明是否出現特別的襲擊威脅。德國外交部一名發言人3日表示，“出于安全原因”，德國周日至周一(8月4日至5日)臨時關閉駐也門使館。德國駐也門使館的網站上還更新了該國外交部的旅行警告，稱也門“全國未來的形式都不能確定安全”。警告中稱，除了在也門首都薩那，恐怖分子“還可能在其他地方發起單獨襲擊”。而歐盟表示，正採取所有必要的預防措施。但沒有關閉使館的計劃。加拿大外交部長貝爾德就呼籲在北非和中東的加拿大遊客和外交人員加倍小心，但加拿大暫時沒有計劃在4日關閉使館。 （據中新網）存倉

　【特訊】澳門理工學院為拓寬學生的國際視野，存倉讓學生領略博彩業經營模式和管理經驗，擴大知識面，自去年起組織博彩與娛樂管理學士學位課程學生到拉斯維加斯和新加坡，開展了國際學術交流活動。　今年六月，三年級三十九名學生赴美國內華達大學拉斯維加斯分校（UNLV），參觀學習兩周。該校是國際知名學府，其酒店管理課程享譽全球、博彩教學科研成就非凡。為澳門理工學院學生講課的，是內華達大學博彩研究所組織學者和業界專家，內容涵蓋美國博彩業發展、內華達州博彩業監管、博彩法律、博彩科技，以及博企財務管理、人力資源管理、賭場詐騙及防禦技術和當地娛樂產業文化和餐飲業發展趨勢。同學們還參觀了拉斯維加斯當地的博彩企業、娛樂項目等。　與此同時，二年級四十三名學生赴新加坡，在內華達大學新加坡校區參觀學習一周。內容包括新加坡博彩市場發展前景，娛樂消費行為，旅遊酒店業市場策劃、企業領導策略等。還參觀了新加坡當地博自存倉、娛樂項目、旅遊設施及酒店業。新加坡開拓國際旅客市場的策略成效顯著，博彩業穩步增長，得益於當地現代化的基本建設、穩健的金融體系、高素質的人力資源和國際化的管理。理工的同學表示，通過與當地博企及酒店高級管理人員的交流，體驗到了在多元文化背景下的管理特色，感受到了精英管理團隊的敬業精神和業界追求卓越服務的理念，澳門要保持長遠的發展和競爭力，有必要學習新加坡的成功經驗。　本澳博彩收益雖然近年已超越拉斯維加斯，但拉城當地的娛樂產業及會展產業發展基礎雄厚，與博彩產業形成了互補優勢，促進了經濟的多元化。近期隨著美國經濟呈現復蘇，拉斯維加斯加大了發展非博彩娛樂產業的力度，成績斐然。參觀學習過程中，當地娛樂會展產業發展的濃烈氛圍，啟發了同學們對本澳博彩業一業獨大現狀的反思。尤其是身為本澳博彩業界從業員的同學，對於能到拉斯維加斯親身體驗賭城之盛況，觀摩聞名全球的博彩經營方式，感到受益匪淺。◇迷你倉新蒲崗

【本報訊】近年中港矛盾加劇，文件倉來港內地旅客的陋習不時引起網上熱議。旅遊業界人士對今次政策大表支持，認為雖然難言是否有實效，卻仍可提醒內地旅客更注重出國後言行。前線導遊稱，有關政策純屬做戲。旅遊業議會總幹事董耀中指，內地旅客在外地的不文明行徑，已引起多個國家的注意，為此國家旅遊局提出相關政策，顯示內地政府已意識到問題嚴重，大家應該支持。旅遊業議會主席胡兆英亦贊同今次約章可在內地人於出境前起提醒作用，減少不文明行徑。胡指出現時不少內地客，會於進入景點前抽煙，避免在景點內煙癮大起，證明他們開始意識到需入存倉隨俗。本港的前線導遊莊先生稱，今次的政策根本不可能實行，認為內地是純屬做戲。莊認為今次的政策無阻嚇力，「你點罰佢？點舉證？」他指，不少內地旅客即使在港因違例吸煙而被票控，最終卻無視香港法律，一走了之。莊先生表示，曾好心提醒內地旅客，在港隨處吐痰會被罰款，內地旅客卻稱：「千五蚊我畀得起！」令他非常氣頂。他稱，不少內地旅客財大氣粗，心態上不尊重其他地方，所以即使簽署有關約章，最終亦未必會遵守。莊指，內地要解決旅客不文明問題，最重要是推行公民教育，「佢�自己地方都隨處小便，點會去到其他地方突然守規矩？」自存倉

域名（Domain Name）是網上的地址，迷你倉庫是過去數十年因Internet而產生的，到今日成為可以值數百萬，甚至過千萬的無形物件。有不少人以為可以「買斷」一個域名，希望可以永遠擁有，但其實所有域名的註冊人只有使用權，而非擁有權。真正擁有者其實是ICANN （Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers）及由ICANN所確認的世界各地域名註冊處。要維持域名的使用權利就必須每年繳費，註冊處為增加收入或減省行政費用，鼓勵註冊人預繳域名年費，給予折扣優惠。例如.hk 的基本年費為HK$200，預繳5年只需HK$800。我曾見過有些國家的域名可預繳99年！現在越來越多公司以facebook fan page代替公司網站，一個世紀後是否尚有人用域名，要留待我們的下一代去見證。恐嚇式銷售法域名在今天已是有價值的資產，類近商標，故不時都有域名的訴訟案件。正因為公眾開始重視這種無形資產，有些提供域名申請服務的公司，會假扮得知有第三者想註冊與你公司相似的域名，「好心地」建議你要保護公司資產，協助你快人一步註冊到這個域名。往往一個本來只須數百元的域名，在這種恐嚇式的銷售手法下都會貴了很多。其實，註冊域名不同註冊結婚，不會在婚姻註儲存處有準新人資料，亦不會有反對期；若有人真的想註冊跟你公司相似的域名，你只會在他成功註冊後才知道！域名續期陷阱域名註冊人不時會收到一些自稱是域名註冊處的電話或電郵，提醒他們域名需要續期，更甚收到域名續期表格，上面清楚顯示客戶的公司及聯絡資料，讓客戶誤以為這是正式的續期通知。其實這些只是提供域名申請服務公司的銷售手法。客戶不防有詐付款給這些公司後，才發現域名可能一早已預繳了很多年，根本未到期；或所繳費用中只有很少是真正交給註冊處，大部份是中介公司的手續費。由於一般情況都只涉及數百元，所以受害人在投訴要求退款數次不遂後，多是不了了之。具高投資潛力域名是近十數年的新產物（全球第一個域名是1985年出現），曾經上網的人都定必接觸過，但這不代表懂得寫網頁或會 「砌機」的IT人就會識。識電腦不等如識域名，特別是當域名已可成為資產的一部份時，域名的投資潛力絕不容忽視。Facebook 在2010年就以800萬美元（約6,205萬港元）買了fb.com，又例如去年年中才開放的緬甸域名.mm，由於尚未被人注意，所以仍有大量好名可以註冊，大家可以考考自己眼光，申請幾個.mm域名作長線投資，幾年後可能升值百倍！（本文為作者個人觀點，不代表本報立場。）鍾麗容女士香港互聯網及電子商務發展協會理事新蒲崗迷你倉

Investigation launched after blog post claims judges were caught on video with prostitutesShanghai’s top court has promised an investigation into allegations that court officials have patronised prostitutes and committed other potential violations of Communist Party discipline.文件倉The five officials from Shanghai’s Higher People’s Court became the latest party cadres embroiled in accusations of sexual impropriety after an anonymous blogger released a video that it said showed them out on the town with prostitutes.Court authorities confirmed that Chen Xueming , a chief tribunal judge, and Zhao Minghua , a deputy tribunal chief judge, were among those under scrutiny.Surveillance footage included in the blog post appeared to show a group of men coming and going from a Shanghai night club, with young women on their arms. The blogger said the officials had visited a night club at the Hengshan Resort in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area on June 9 and booked the biggest private room available.They chose five prostitutes to entertain them. Around midnight that night, the officials took the women to separate guest rooms on the third floor, the post said. The women were seen leaving the rooms about an hour later, but the officials left the resort together the next morning.The blogger said the night on the存倉town was just one example of the officials’ extravagant lifestyles. It said Zhao owns at least four flats in downtown Shanghai and frequents two local night clubs: the Yinzun club in Pudong and the Dream in Shanghai club in Changning district.The blogger said he had more videos of the same group of cadres and was willing to share them with disciplinary officials.The post spread quickly online yesterday where it was met with outrage from internet users.“The officials should be removed from their post immediately,” a Shenzhen internet user named Kou Liyue said. “The Shanghai Higher People’s Court is one of the most high-profile courts on the mainland and its officials went to brothels together.”The claims were only the latest in a series of sex scandals involving government officials.Last month, Lei Zhengfu , the former party secretary of Chongqing’s Beibei district, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after a video was released on the internet showing him having sex with a young woman.The case led to the downfall of more than 20 officials at various agencies and state-owned enterprise in Chongqing. During his trial, Lei, 55, denied accepting a 3.2 million yuan (HK$4 million) bribe and retracted a confession he had made saying he had been suffering high blood pressure during questioning.自存倉

Source: Milwaukee Journal SentinelAug.新蒲崗迷你倉 02--PORT WASHINGTON -- It's a head turner.A 130-foot yacht that pulled into the Port Washington Marina on July 20 -- the day thousands of people pack the town for Fish Day -- has locals wondering if a drug kingpinjust floated into town."It has been nonstop questions for us since the boat got here," 66-year-old Tom Weickardt said, sitting the aft deck of his luxury craft, Tranquility. "People are not used to seeing a boat this size here."Standing on the yacht smoking his Montecristo cigars, Weickardt might give some people the impression he is a mob boss, but most people see him walking around barefoot in his green Paradise Island Bahamas T-shirt and cargo shorts and don't realize he is the owner."Do they ever come out," one woman hollered down to some of the workers on the boat. "Oh, you are not supposed to talk to me are you -- but just tell me, are they young or old," she asked earlier this week.Weickardt grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Custer High School, leaving Wisconsin when he was in his early 20s. He moved back to Wisconsin with his wife and youngest son 16 years ago and now lives in Whitefish Bay.Weickardt owned his first business in Oklahoma City when he was 28 years old and he raced cars all around the world for 10 years. He calls himself an entrepreneur and has dabbled in many business opportunities, which he said is what the Tranquility was for him.He bought it in 2006 as a charter boat and had a crew of seven on the boat offering excursions in the Caribbean in the winter and the Northeast in the summer. When the economic crisis hit in 2008, not many people could afford to pay more than $100,000 for a weeklong on pleasure cruise."The charter business was just terrible," he said. "I put the boat up for sale in 2009, but the boat market had just tanked, too. It has been on the market ever since."For the past five years, the boat was in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with a minimal crew, but after years of wear and tear and minimal upkeep from the crew, Weickardt decided it was time to bring the boat to Wiscomini storagesin and get the Tranquility up to yachting standards again. Everything needs to be scrubbed and there are some cracks here and there that need touched up, he said.Asking price: $4.9 millionWeickardt is hoping he can sell the boat, and even has a prospective buyer arriving in Port Washington to see the Tranquility in person. He has the boat listed for $4.9 million. He originally bought her for $5 million and immediately put another $3 million into the boat to upgrade and remodel the interior.If the boat doesn't sell, Weickardt said he is exploring the idea of chartering the boat on the Great Lakes. Or, as the owner of the River Club in Mequon, he is considering using the yacht as part of package deals with the club. It could be used for cocktail parties and photo shoots for bridal parties, he said.Alex Becker, 18, works at the Port Washington Marina and saw the Tranquility pull in on July 20. When he went down and started asking Weickardt about the yacht, the young man found himself with a second job to make extra money for college.The days he is not working at the marina, Becker is down on the yacht scrubbing."When I first saw the boat come in, I was like every kid, thinking, 'Wow, that thing is huge,'" Becker said. "Now so many people walk past and ask if I'm the owner's son and ask me about the boat -- even my friends walk past and say, 'I didn't know your family had that much money.'"The Tranquility will be moored at the marina through the winter -- or until the boat sells, Weickardt said.Now that he has owned the boat for more than six years, Weickardt said he is "looking forward to moving on."However, he can't see himself retiring, yet. He said he will be involved in the River Club for many years, and he'll be involved with the boat until he can find someone to buy it."It takes a lot to maintain a boat like this," he said. "We are going to be down here scrubbing for at least the next two months."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at .jsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage

Source: The Santa Fe New MexicanAug.mini storage 02--It's as dramatic a portrayal of Pagliacci as you've seen, despite the fact that there's no music. The askew playbill image of the clown -- leaning on his drum, his right hand clutching a formidable stick, a single painted tear falling from one of his eyes -- is pinned by a deeply plunged, blood-releasing dagger. The drawing calls up at once the tragedy of Ruggero Leoncavallo's familiar opera, but it carries something more: the graphic terror of horror comics.Welcome to The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations, a three-volume collection of the respected graphic illustrator's takes on operatic stories. Recently reissued by graphic-arts publisher NBM, the books reflect not only Russell's classic-comic and illustration influences but also his love of story and music. Done over a period of some 30 years, the volumes include, in addition to I Pagliacci, adaptations of Parsifal, Ariane and Bluebeard, and Pelleas et Melisande, with illustrations of lyrics to songs by Gustav Mahler and Hugo Wolf. One volume is dedicated to Mozart's The Magic Flute. Volume 3, which includes a Godfather-influenced reading of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, sports a cover that shows Salome dancing as a shadowy arm lifts a bloody platter bearing the head of Jochanaan.Russell, who's also done a hard-to-find four-volume adaptation of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung for Dark Horse comics, credits dual interests in music and drawing for the operatic side of his career. "I was into classical music from kindergarten on," he told Pasatiempo. "The music was dramatic and wonderful fun. It always made sense to me. I took piano lessons and checked out all the classical records from the library I could get." But he wasn't so much into opera as a kid. "I had two [operatic] records when I was in junior high: Andre Kostelanetz conducting highlights from Aida and Kostelanetz doing orchestral music from Carmen."His entry into comic drawing was exceptionally fortuitous. His father, who owned a shoe store in Russell's hometown of Wellsville, Ohio, needed someone to do an advertisement and heard of an artist that had just moved back from New York. That artist was comic illustrator Dan Adkins, who had worked on the now-classic comics Creepy and Eerie as well as Marvel's Doctor Strange. Adkins wasn't interested in doing his father's advertisement, but was interested to hear that he had a 19-year-old son who was studying art and had 8,000 comics in his attic. Adkins hired Russell as part of his inking and coloring team, promising him he could get him into the Marvel family. In 1976, Russell did his own rendition of Doctor Strange for Marvel after contributing to Marvel's popular Amazing Adventures series.While living in New York City in the early 1970s, Russell was approached by a childhood friend, Patrick Mason, now a professor of voice at the University of Colorado in Boulder, with a project. "He'd written an adaptation of Parsifal for comics. I was always looking for a good story to illustrate, and I was listening to opera. It was a natural thing to do." Russell's first opera project benefited from the rise of "ground-level" comics, the independent comics movement that bridged the gap between commercial comic compself storagenies including Marvel and DC and the underground, adult comics of the day. One of the leading ground-level publishers, Star*Reach, published Parsifal, and Russell was on his way.Russell has stayed away from contemporary operas for licensing and copyright reasons. And not all operas, he said, are suitable for graphic-novel adaptation. "Some operas survive on the beauty of their music. To work as graphic novels they must have good librettos. Some [operas] are just too silly. They have to have something literary to work with, something to play with." Russell's adaptations stay generally true to the story lines, though their panel serialization necessitates some liberties with the text. Their staging can be quite a bit more fantastic than what's seen in the theater. Russell takes advantage of the graphic format to construct strong, detailed backgrounds. The adaptations are drawn in a finely lined classic style that might be compared to Al Foster's Prince Valiant by some readers. His take on Ariane and Bluebeard, Paul Dukas' opera based on a poem by Maurice Maeterlinck, makes full use of its characters' symbolic representation, contrasting light and flames with somber shadows. The Clowns (I Pagliacci), done in black-and-white, begins onstage before moving into the world of the opera and then back to the theater. The Godfather's Code (Cavalleria Rusticana) is directly drawn with little background, its emphasis on portraiture. Parsifal and The Magic Flute contain surreal settings and sweeping landscapes that suggest fantasy comics.Russell acknowledges the Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen, who participated in the making of Disney's Fantasia, as an influence. An even bigger influence was the American artist Eyvind Earle, who contributed backgrounds to Disney's Sleeping Beauty. "I saw that when it first came out, and it had a profound influence on me. It was like a history lesson. Earle's influence was medieval painting and Persian art, and those square trees and sharp angles in [Sleeping Beauty's] forest just captured me. I've probably consciously tried to draw like him more times than I'll admit."In addition to his occasional work for Marvel and DC -- he did Batman: Hothouse in 1992 -- Russell is known for his fantasy-based Elric series (based on the tales of English novelist Michael Moorcock), done for a number of publishers, as well as graphic-novel treatments of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. More recently he has collaborated with novelist Neil Gaiman on a number of Gaiman's Sandman stories as well as illustrating Gaiman's popular children's book, Coraline. He's just completed the cover for Gaiman's Murder Mysteries, which can be seen at his website, .artofpcraigrussell.com. In the manner of a true music lover, Russell has given each of his works an opus number, a list starting in 1973 and ending last year with 67 entries. Parsifal is Opus No. 5, "The Godfather's Code" is Opus No. 58.Does he still play piano? "It's my fallback career," he laughed.The three volumes of "The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations" are published by NBM.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at .santafenewmexican.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉

epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/images/2013-08/03/06/2013080306_pdf.pdf...《 光明日報 》（ 2013年08月03日 06 版）當今，存倉在有關神奇模擬的應用領域，還有什麼比讓你的手機或電腦識別人類語音、動作和視覺、聽覺線...