不知為什麼 BBC的Money節目又播Steve Jobs 這位改變消費電子產品的名人
找到的竟然是這篇
5 October 2011
Last updated at 23:58 GMT
Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on 24 Feb 1955, the son of two unmarried university students, Joanne Schieble and Syrian born Abdulfattah Jandali.
His parents gave him up for adoption and he was taken in by a working class Californian couple Paul & Clara Jobs.
Months after his adoption, his biological parents married and had a daughter, Mona, who did not learn of her brother's existence until she was an adult.
He was brought up in his adoptive parent's home in Silicon Valley, the hub of the US electronics industry.
Buddhism While attending a local high school the young Jobs was offered a summer job at the Hewlett Packard plant in Palo Alto where he found himself working alongside a fellow student named Steve Wozniak.
He dropped out of college after one term and went to work for the video game manufacturer Atari with the idea of raising enough money to travel to India.
The Apple 1 kick started the PC revolution
Jobs returned from his trek around the sub continent with a
shaven head, wearing Indian robes and having experienced the effects of
LSD; he was to remain a Buddhist and vegetarian throughout his life.
He went back to work at Atari and joined a local computer club with his friend Steve Wozniak who was designing and building his own computer.
In 1976 Jobs pre-sold 50 of Wozniak's machines to a local computer store and, armed with a copy of the order, successfully persuaded an electronics distributor to let him have the components on credit.
He managed to launch the machine, called the Apple 1, without having borrowed any money or given up a share of the business to anyone else.
Continue reading the main story
Ousted from Apple
Development of the new machine was expensive and Jobs persuaded Mike Markkula, a local investor, to guarantee a $250,000 loan and, together with Wozniak, the three formed the company Apple Computer.
The Apple II, unlike many other computers of the time, came complete and worked straight out of the box rather than the purchaser having to assemble the various parts.
The new model became an instant success, kick starting the personal computer boom, achieving sales in excess of six million before production ended in 1993.
Budding entrepreneurs Steve Wozniak (l) and Steve Jobs
But there were concerns at Apple about Jobs' lack of management
experience and professional executives were hired to run the company.
One Apple board member claimed Jobs was "uncontrollable." "He got ideas in his head, and being a founder of the company, he went off and did them regardless of whether it ended up being good for the company."
Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984 to wild acclaim, but behind the hyped up launch there were financial problems at Apple.
A downturn in sales, and a growing resentment at what many employees saw as Jobs' autocratic style, resulted in an internal power struggle and he was ousted from the company.
Toy Story By this time he had other irons in the fire. He founded NeXT Computer in 1985 and a year later bought Graphics Group from the Star Wars director, George Lucas.
The company, which Jobs renamed Pixar, produced extremely expensive computer animation hardware which was used by a number of film makers, including Disney.
Jobs switched the emphasis away from computer manufacturing and began producing computer animated feature films.
The breakthrough came in 1995 with the film Toy Story, which went on to gross more than $350 million worldwide, and was followed by other successes including A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc.
Ever the showman at new product launches
A year later, Apple paid more than $400 million for NeXT
computer and Jobs was back with the company he founded, wasting no time
in removing Apple's then, Chief Executive Officer.
Jobs tackled Apple's poor profitability by dropping some fringe projects and moving the company into the burgeoning consumer electronics market.
The iPod, launched in 2001 satisfied the demand for music on the move and immediately became a style icon with its sleek design and distinctive white ear phones.
To drive his new machine Jobs also launched iTunes, allowing customers to download music from the internet and create their own play lists.
iPhone In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, rejecting the idea of surgery, set about finding alternative therapy, including a special diet.
He finally underwent surgery in 2004 having kept his illness secret from all but a small handful of Apple insiders.
The launch of the iPhone
In 2005 Disney paid $7 billion worth of stock to buy Pixar from
Jobs who, as a result, became the Walt Disney Company's biggest
shareholder.
Two years later, at yet another much hyped launch, Jobs introduced the iPhone to a legion of customers, many of whom had queued for hours at their local Apple store.
In 2008 the ultra thin Macbook Air was launched with Jobs doing his usual stage presentation dressed in his habitual black turtle neck jumper and faded jeans.
His thin and somewhat gaunt appearance fuelled speculation that his illness had returned and it was announced, in early 2009, that he was taking a six month break to cope with what was described as a "hormonal imbalance."
In April of that year he underwent a liver transplant, with his doctors announcing that the prognosis was "excellent."
However, in Jan 2011, Apple announced that Jobs would taking a leave of absence for health reasons.
Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes.
And, strangely for a self-professed Buddhist, he did not embrace environmental concerns, with Apple coming under fire from Greenpeace for its reluctance to produce easily recyclable products.
Steve Jobs was a one off; a man who had total belief in his own abilities and a shortage of patience for anyone who failed to agree with him.
His great gifts were an ability to second guess the market and an eye for well designed and innovative products that everyone would buy.
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them," he once said. "By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."
---
Tributes for Apple 'visionary' Steve Jobs
The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones looks back on the life and achievements of Steve Jobs
Despite his wealth and corporate success, Steve Jobs always managed to retain the air of a Silicon Valley buccaneer.
His abrasive style meant he was often difficult to work with
but his eye for a desirable product made Apple one of the planet's most
recognised brands. Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on 24 Feb 1955, the son of two unmarried university students, Joanne Schieble and Syrian born Abdulfattah Jandali.
His parents gave him up for adoption and he was taken in by a working class Californian couple Paul & Clara Jobs.
Months after his adoption, his biological parents married and had a daughter, Mona, who did not learn of her brother's existence until she was an adult.
He was brought up in his adoptive parent's home in Silicon Valley, the hub of the US electronics industry.
Buddhism While attending a local high school the young Jobs was offered a summer job at the Hewlett Packard plant in Palo Alto where he found himself working alongside a fellow student named Steve Wozniak.
He dropped out of college after one term and went to work for the video game manufacturer Atari with the idea of raising enough money to travel to India.
The Apple 1 kick started the PC revolution
He went back to work at Atari and joined a local computer club with his friend Steve Wozniak who was designing and building his own computer.
In 1976 Jobs pre-sold 50 of Wozniak's machines to a local computer store and, armed with a copy of the order, successfully persuaded an electronics distributor to let him have the components on credit.
He managed to launch the machine, called the Apple 1, without having borrowed any money or given up a share of the business to anyone else.
Continue reading the main story
He named the company after his
favourite fruit which, either by chance or design ensured it appeared in
phone book listings ahead of rival Atari.
The profit from the first Apple was ploughed back into an
improved version, the Apple II, which appeared at a Californian computer
fair in 1977.Development of the new machine was expensive and Jobs persuaded Mike Markkula, a local investor, to guarantee a $250,000 loan and, together with Wozniak, the three formed the company Apple Computer.
The Apple II, unlike many other computers of the time, came complete and worked straight out of the box rather than the purchaser having to assemble the various parts.
The new model became an instant success, kick starting the personal computer boom, achieving sales in excess of six million before production ended in 1993.
Budding entrepreneurs Steve Wozniak (l) and Steve Jobs
One Apple board member claimed Jobs was "uncontrollable." "He got ideas in his head, and being a founder of the company, he went off and did them regardless of whether it ended up being good for the company."
Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984 to wild acclaim, but behind the hyped up launch there were financial problems at Apple.
A downturn in sales, and a growing resentment at what many employees saw as Jobs' autocratic style, resulted in an internal power struggle and he was ousted from the company.
Toy Story By this time he had other irons in the fire. He founded NeXT Computer in 1985 and a year later bought Graphics Group from the Star Wars director, George Lucas.
The company, which Jobs renamed Pixar, produced extremely expensive computer animation hardware which was used by a number of film makers, including Disney.
Jobs switched the emphasis away from computer manufacturing and began producing computer animated feature films.
The breakthrough came in 1995 with the film Toy Story, which went on to gross more than $350 million worldwide, and was followed by other successes including A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc.
Ever the showman at new product launches
Jobs tackled Apple's poor profitability by dropping some fringe projects and moving the company into the burgeoning consumer electronics market.
The iPod, launched in 2001 satisfied the demand for music on the move and immediately became a style icon with its sleek design and distinctive white ear phones.
To drive his new machine Jobs also launched iTunes, allowing customers to download music from the internet and create their own play lists.
iPhone In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, rejecting the idea of surgery, set about finding alternative therapy, including a special diet.
He finally underwent surgery in 2004 having kept his illness secret from all but a small handful of Apple insiders.
The launch of the iPhone
Two years later, at yet another much hyped launch, Jobs introduced the iPhone to a legion of customers, many of whom had queued for hours at their local Apple store.
In 2008 the ultra thin Macbook Air was launched with Jobs doing his usual stage presentation dressed in his habitual black turtle neck jumper and faded jeans.
His thin and somewhat gaunt appearance fuelled speculation that his illness had returned and it was announced, in early 2009, that he was taking a six month break to cope with what was described as a "hormonal imbalance."
In April of that year he underwent a liver transplant, with his doctors announcing that the prognosis was "excellent."
However, in Jan 2011, Apple announced that Jobs would taking a leave of absence for health reasons.
Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes.
And, strangely for a self-professed Buddhist, he did not embrace environmental concerns, with Apple coming under fire from Greenpeace for its reluctance to produce easily recyclable products.
Steve Jobs was a one off; a man who had total belief in his own abilities and a shortage of patience for anyone who failed to agree with him.
His great gifts were an ability to second guess the market and an eye for well designed and innovative products that everyone would buy.
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them," he once said. "By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."
---
20110628
專訪Lady Gaga（上）
Lady Gaga takes tea with Mr Fry
作者：英國《金融時報》撰稿人斯蒂芬•弗萊
The Lanesborough Hotel
地點：蘭斯伯瑞酒店(The Lanesborough Hotel)
Saturday evening, May 14 2011
時間：2011年5月14日，週六傍晚
It takes quite a bit to excite the staff of The Lanesborough Hotel, one of London's more self-consciously luxurious five-star residences. Princes, sultans, presidents, oligarchs and film stars have been coming here ever since the grand but oddly anonymous building on the corner of Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge arose from the ruins of Belgravia's old St George's Hospital some 20 years ago.
把蘭斯伯瑞酒店的員工鼓譟起來得頗費一番周折，這是倫敦數一數二的低調豪華五星級酒店。 20年前，它在貝爾格拉維亞（Belgravia，倫敦的上流住宅區——譯者註）聖喬治醫院(St George's Hospital)的舊址上建起，從那之後，王子、蘇丹、總統、獨裁者以及電影明星等入住者絡繹不絕，它如今毗鄰海德公園角(Hyde Park Corner)與騎士橋(London's Knightsbridge)，氣勢宏偉但又不為人所知，這一點頗為出人意料。
I arrive there by taxi one Saturday night and find myself bundled through a tunnel of polite but harassed doormen into a lobby that, for all the discretion and professional sangfroid of the front-of-house staff, fails to suppress a crackle of excitement that fizzes around the interior like electricity. This, I imagine, must have been how the Goring Hotel felt when Kate Middleton came to stay the night before she was transformed into a royal duchess.
我是周六打的前往酒店的，到那後，發現自己得擠過警察圍成的人牆與門迎（忙得不亦樂乎）才能進入大廳，儘管前台員工細心周到，處理此類問題得心應手，仍難控情緒亢奮的歌迷，他們歡呼雀躍，跟炸開了鍋一樣。見到這個陣勢，我想凱特•米特爾頓(Kate Middleton)大婚前入住戈林酒店(Goring Hotel)時的情景肯定也不過如此吧！
I approach the desk, cough politely and murmur, as if it were the kind of remark I might drop into the ears of a concierge every day, “Hello. I'm here to see Lady Gaga.”
我走到前台，禮貌地咳嗽了一下，（就像每天對門房說的那些話，）低聲說道， “您好，我是到這與Lady Gaga會面的。”
As I am sure you know, it is a matter of pride among Hollywood stars that they check into hotels under elaborate and often preposterous aliases. Only those in the know are therefore able to call their rooms or ask to be shown up to see them. Lady Gaga's people had alerted me to no such code system, and somehow I instinctively knew that the lady was simply too big and too … well … too Gaga, to bother with such nonsense.
我想眾所周知，好萊塢明星煞費苦心以怪異的化名入住酒店，往往不乏得意之情。只有那些熟悉內情者方能直接造訪明星的房間或者由專人領上去會見。 Lady Gaga的助手早就提醒過我，別來神神秘秘的這一套，不知什麼緣故，我本能地覺得Lady Gaga名聲實在太大，哎……太具個性，因此嘛，並不興這一套凡夫俗節。
Either side of me, as I had hurried through, many in the huge gathering outside the hotel had raised their voices in screams of excitement and their right hands into a kind of frozen claw, a gesture that I had inexpertly attempted to return. The crowd must have guessed why I had come to The Lanesborough and it was only polite for me to acknowledge this by returning their salute. This upraised claw is the worldwide identifier of Gaga fans, or Little Monsters, as they style themselves. I am not embarrassed to call myself – grotesquely over-aged and oversized as I may be – some kind of Little Monster too.
就在我急匆匆地經過人群時，兩邊擠得水洩不通的歌迷山呼海嘯，興高采烈，緊握成拳頭的右手高高舉起，我試圖以同樣的方式還禮，但卻顯得很笨拙。歌迷們肯定已經猜到我此行蘭斯伯瑞酒店的目的，我這一還禮，就等於禮貌性地承認此事。高舉拳頭是全世界Gaga粉絲（他們自詡小怪獸(Little Monsters)）的標誌性動作，儘管本人“年事已高”，體態臃腫，但覺得稱呼自己是小怪獸歌迷並無不妥之處。
I do not write newspaper profile pieces for a living and Lady Gaga is currently the only person about whom I would do such a thing. With the exception that is, of Steve Jobs, whom I interviewed last year for Time magazine. I am not claiming that Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs are the most important figures in the world and that everyone else can go hang, it is just that … well, some people light your fire in a very special way and I am past the age of caring how good or bad that might look in the eyes of the world.
本人通常不給在世的人寫人物專欄，Lady Gaga是目前唯一享此殊榮者。史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)也算是個例外，去年我代表《時代》周刊(Time magazine)對他進行了專訪。我本意並非是說史蒂夫•喬布斯與Lady Gaga是當今世界最重要的人物，其他人都不足掛齒，只是……哎，有些人就能以某種特別的方式燃起你的採訪欲，至於在世人看來，這樣做合適與否，本人這把年齡就不在乎那麼多了。
I had already been introduced to Gaga by a mutual friend on the roof terrace of the newly opened West Hollywood Soho House in April 2010. She had lifted the veil she was wearing that evening and I had kissed her on each cheek. In that stylish private members' club whose dining tables were peopled by what looked like an exaggerated magazine photo mock-up of every Hollywood A-lister you had ever heard of, this 24-year-old girl had caused a stunned silence to fall as she had entered.
2010年4月，在新開張的西好萊塢(West Hollywood )蘇荷館(Soho House)的頂層陽台上，經由一位朋友介紹，我就認識了Lady Gaga。那天晚上，她撩起了自己一直披的面紗，於是我親吻了她的雙頰。在那個很潮的私人會所，餐桌上就坐的都是耳熟能詳的好萊塢一線明星，看上去像是誇張的雜誌照片小樣，24歲的Lady Gaga進屋時，全場一片驚愕，鴉雀無聲。
This had been around the time that “Bad Romance” played on every radio station and was blaring from every hair salon in the world. (“Rah-rah, ah-ah-ah, Roma-Roma-ma-ma, Gaga ooh- la-la … I want your ugly, I want your disease…” That one.) For sheer ear-worm tuneful, addictive, toe-tappy tunefulness it was a number impossible to ignore, although for me it was the acoustic versions of her songs “Paparazzi” and “Poker Face” that had convinced me that here was a musician worth paying attention to. The real thing.
那一陣子，全世界每家電台與美髮店都在大聲播著她那曲《糟糕的浪漫》(“Bad Romance”)。 （““啦啦啦啦啦, Roma-Roma-ma-ma, Gaga 哦啦啦……想要你的醜，想要你的病……”就那樣的東西）對於那些耳塞一族（一天到晚聽著這些音調優美、容易上癮、踮著小腳的優美旋律）來說，這是一首難以抗拒的歌，雖然在我看來，這就是她另兩首歌《狗仔隊》(“Paparazzi”)與《我有一張撲克臉》(“Poker Face”)的翻版，它們讓我堅信Lady Gaga是位貨真價實的音樂家，她的歌裡有真正的思想。
All these memories were buzzing about inside my head as I found myself escorted up the lift and through a series of darkly panelled corridors and into the suite in which the interview was to take place. The photographer, Shamil, had been there with his assistant for some time, setting up their lamps and trying out angles: before long a convoy of waiters arrived with an awe-inspiringly grand selection of tea-trays and cake-stands.
我由專人陪同上電梯，一起穿過一道道暗黑色面板裝修的走廊，最後進入會談的套間，這一路上，我的腦海中不時回味這些記憶。攝影師沙米爾(Shamil)與他的助手早已等候多時，他們已經架設好燈光，調試好拍攝角度：不多會，一群服務員走進來，手裡端著精挑細選的茶盤與餅架，直看得人目瞪口呆。
“Ho, ho,” I thought to myself. “Someone has had the idea that it would be amusing for the 'quintessentially English' Mr Fry to be seen 'taking afternoon tea' with a broad from the Bowery. Oh well, one plays these games and the scones did look rather delicious. I readied my iPhone for recording, sat on the sofa and consulted the notebook in which I had jotted down my questions.
“哇塞，”我心裡想。 “看到弗萊先生這位正宗的英國佬與來自紐約鮑厄裡(Bowery)的這個姑娘在一起喝午茶，該有多麼逗！不知這是誰出的鬼主意？既然這樣的話，就讓本人來玩到底吧，再說，烤餅看得人垂涎欲滴！我準備好錄音用的iPhone，坐到沙發上，又過了一遍筆記本上草草記的問題。
The main elements of the Lady Gaga story are too well known for me to have much need of repeating them here. Even if you are an FT reader whose only real interest in the pink pages lies in lists of share indices, oil and gold price movements and the excitements of the Baltic Exchange, it is surely certain that you will be familiar with the girl from the Lower East Side who in a few short years transformed herself from Stefani Germanotta into one of the world's best-known musical performers. You will, if nothing else, have seen or heard of the meat dress, the towering Alexander McQueen shoes and the astonishing hats that make Philip Treacy's creation for Princess Beatrice look like something Ena Sharples might wear at the Rovers Return.
Lady Gaga的故事早已家喻戶曉，耳熟能詳，無需我在此再囉嗦一遍。即便對於那些只關注股票指數、油價與金價的波動、倫敦波羅的海交易所(Baltic Exchange)大行情的FT讀者，也都毫無疑問熟悉這位來自紐約下東部區(Lower East Side)的女孩，短短幾年，她就由史蒂芬妮•傑爾馬諾塔(Stefani Germanotta)這個尋常姑娘變成了全世界最知名的歌手。諸位肯定聽說過肉皮裝、亞歷山大•麥奎(Alexander McQueen)設計的高跟鞋以及那些驚世駭俗的帽子，這些帽子是菲利普•崔西(Philip Treacy)專門為比特萊斯公主(Princess Beatrice)設計的，戴到Lady Gaga頭上後，看上去就像演員埃納•沙普爾斯(Ena Sharples)在Rovers Return旅館中（這是其出演的肥皂劇中所假設的場景）戴的東西。
The jokes, then, are easy. Gaga dresses outrageously, at such an extreme edge of fashion as to be ridiculous. It's a publicity gimmick. It's pretention. It's silly. It's a postmodern Emperor's New Clothes. We're imbeciles and pretentious gibbons to be taken in.
所以隨後開的玩笑就變得很隨意，Lady Gaga穿著大膽，出位到了極致，甚至到了荒誕不經的地步。這種造勢伎倆看似自命不凡，卻又無聊之至，是後現代版的《皇帝的新裝》(Emperor's New Clothes)。我們就像那低能、但又自命不凡的長臂猴，太好騙了。
. . .
. . .
You get a strong sense of the character and behaviour of a great star by smelling the mood of those around them. The assistants who popped in from time to time to apologise for the late-running of the afternoon (she was busy doing back-to -back TV interviews in another suite) all seemed relaxed, cheerful and unforced in their manner. They certainly didn't have the cowed look of crushed hirelings fresh from a verbal bitch-slapping who were attempting to prepare me for sulky moods and obstreperous huffiness .
通過觀察明星助手們的情緒，就可以對明星本人的性格與行為猜個八九不離十。 Lady Gaga的助手們不時走進來，就她下午會談遲到向我表達歉意（在另一房間，她正進行背靠背電視台採訪），他們的行為舉止看上去輕鬆、愉悅、自然，他們臉上沒有那種因為剛剛遭到人臭罵一通，但為錢所迫而流露出忍氣吞聲的神情，所以見我並沒有心情抑鬱，動不動就大發脾氣。
Then, just as I was wondering whether or not my teapot ought to be replenished with hot water, there she was, in the room.
那時，正當我自己思量要不要讓人再添點熱茶水時，Lady Gaga已經走進房間。
I cannot claim that the overtly Wagnerian headpiece she wore had been chosen in my honour, but it certainly put me at my ease, as did the easygoing, “Hello again!” and proffering of a soft cheek.
我可不能說她頭上那頂張揚的瓦格納風格(Wagnerian)的帽子是特地為我而戴，但這的確讓我寬下心來，她很隨和地跟我打招呼，“咱倆又見面了” ，並對我莞爾一笑。
She sat in a chair, threw her legs casually over the arm of the sofa on which I was sitting and the interview got under way, Shamil gratefully clicking away as we chatted.
她坐到椅子上，隨手把腿搭到我坐的沙發沿上，於是我們的會談就這樣開始了，我們開聊後，沙米爾在一旁拍著，一副感激的神情。
“You know what?” she said after a while, “why don't we get on with our talk and then we can do more pictures later?” Nervously, Shamil and assistant backed out. I could sense the photographer's fear that maybe Lady Gaga would forget this promise and that he would find himself with far too few pictures and be roundly ticked off by the paper's picture editor as a result.
“您都知道些什麼？”過了一會兒她問道，“我們為啥不先談，最後再多照一些相？”聽到這，沙米爾與助手趕忙出去，顯得很緊張。我能覺察出，沙米爾擔心Lady Gaga事後可能會食言，結果自己只拍了屈指可數的幾張照片，回去後會被主編狠K一頓。
Now that we were alone, I thought it best to begin with a rumour that I had heard from the hotel staff earlier.
現在屋裡只剩我們倆人了，我覺得最好先問她事關她的一則傳聞，這是我早先從酒店員工處聽到的。
“I gather that last night you sent out some drinks to all the fans gathered outside?”
“我聽說你昨晚給所有守候在外的歌迷派發飲料？”
“Well actually, I sent them hot chocolate yesterday, and macaroons, and then today I had press all day and I felt a bit bad because I wouldn't have much of a chance to go down and say hello. But I did manage to go down and brought them some fresh cookies and flowers.”
“事實上，我昨晚給他們送的是熱巧克力與蛋白杏仁甜餅乾。但今天，我全天要見記者，心裡有點不爽，因為擔心無暇下樓去問候我的歌迷。但我還是瞅著機會，下樓給歌迷送了些新鮮餅乾與鮮花。”
Any popular musician, like any film star or any footballer for that matter, can tell you that “it's all about the fans” but there is something very different about Lady Gaga and her relationship with the Little Monsters. Once again, of course, a determined detractor could interpret such an action in one of two ways. They could damn her for such self-conscious publicity-seeking saintliness or, if she were to do nothing, for being an aloof ice-queen safely locked in the fastness of a luxury palace while her fans froze through the night below.
就此而言，流行歌手與電影明星及足球明星一樣，會對你說“一切為了粉絲”，但對於Lady Gaga來說，她與小怪獸歌迷們的關係包含了全然不同的含義。但執著的批評者會從兩個方面指責這樣的行為：就想著出風頭，唯名是從；或者，她啥事都不做，做一個舒舒服服呆豪華寓所裡的天后，對待歌迷薄情寡義，愛理不理，聽憑他們站在樓下挨凍。
“Are your fans different here in England?” I ask. “Or is there a commonality around the world?”
“英國歌迷有何不同？”我問道。 “或者說全球的歌迷有啥共性的地方？”
“Yes, there is. Little Monsters are a community. It's kind of nice that wherever I go they create a little home for me.”
“對，他們之間有共性。小怪獸們是個休戚與共的整體。無論我走到哪兒，他們都給我營造一個小家，這種感覺溫馨極了。”
“You seem quite happy to be a self-conscious spokesman for the dispossessed, the marginal, the freakish, the outsider, the one who doesn't fit in, the one who feels outside the tribe, if you like…”
“您似乎很樂於充當無依無靠者，邊緣人、畸形者、局外人（那些沒能融入社會，自我感覺游離於群體外的人……）的代言人……”
“It could be anybody…”
“我關心所有的人……”
“Yes…” I venture, “I suppose we're all outsiders really. It's just that some of us are better at hiding it.”
“是嗎……”我追問道，“事實上我覺得我們都是局外人，只是有些人更善於隱藏而已。”
“Some of us can wear the mask. And this new album [Born This Way] is about being able to be reborn, over and over again throughout your life.”
“有些人戴著偽裝的面具，我的新專輯《生來如此》(Born This Way)探討的就是能否重生，在每個人的一生中不斷得到重生。”
“Oh?” This surprised me. “I thought the meaning of the title track was that 'I was born this way – gay, straight, bi, lesbian, transgender, whatever,' and that you were affirming that…”
“真的嗎？”聽到這讓我頗為詫異。 “我原以為這首主打歌(title track)的含義是'我生來就是男同性戀者、非同性戀者、雙性戀、女同性戀者、變性人等等，'而您只是進一步確認…… ”
“No, in fact, sexuality is just one very small part of it … it's so interesting to see how people latch on to words. You say the word 'gay' in a song and suddenly all the other words float away. I'm happy people did focus on that word, though, it's an important word to liberate. But the album is about rebirth in every sense. It's about being reborn again and again until you find the identity inside yourself that defines you best for who you are and that makes you most feel like a champion of life.”
“不，事實上，性只是其中很小的一部分……看到大家如此死扣字面意義真是很有意思。只要一見歌詞中有“同性戀”這個詞，突然之間，其它的歌詞就不見了踪影。但是，我很高興地看到世人真正關注“同性戀”這個詞，因為這個重要的詞揭示了人自身的解放。但無論從哪種意義上看，這張專輯關注的是重生，它關注的是一次次的重生，直至找尋到每個人內心深處真正的自我，詮釋你之所以是你，自我感到是生活的主宰。”
在最近為《星期日泰晤士報》(Sunday Times)寫的一篇文章中，美國作家卡米爾•帕格里亞(Camille Paglia)說，從這些宣言背後看到的是徹頭徹尾的欺騙以及精心策劃與編造的謊言，我高興地看到：Lady Gaga並未拜讀、甚至聽說過帕格里亞最新發表的乏善可陳（兼具人身攻擊）的一面之辭，這些一面之辭很像高級音樂講習班傳授如何讓人不得要領，變得憤憤不平，以及如何謬以千里地脫離現實。
I was annoyed with myself for having brought up Paglia's article in the first place, but greatly cheered by the clear evidence that Gaga would never read it. I moved on therefore to Lady Gaga's latest album, advance tracks of which I had been authorised to hear . A number called “Hair” wittily summons up the scenario of the mother who won't let the daughter go out “like that” – an issue teenagers and their parents have fought over for years.
我有點生自己的氣：不該先提帕格里亞的文章，但又感到很高興，因為一切情況都說明Lady Gaga永遠都不會去讀這樣的文章。於是我把話題轉向Lady Gaga的最新專輯（我獲准聆聽了它的試聽版），其中一首名為Hair《自由發則》的歌巧妙地設計了這樣的場景：母親不允許女兒出去“放蕩不羈”——多年來，青少年與家長一直就此問題“衝突不斷”。
“At just 25,” I say, “you're close enough in age for it not to appear patronising to be taking the side of the teenager against the parent, but perhaps in 10 years' time you might have a child of your own . Do you think that will alter your perspective, or are you happy to wait and see?”
“您今年只有25歲，”我說，“你似乎已快到這樣的年齡——不再站在青少年一邊與家長抗爭，但或許10年後，你也有了自己的孩子，你覺得會因此改變你的觀念嗎？還是願意拭目以待？”
“I don't know, I suppose I'll wait and see. And perhaps it is patronising to some people, some people don't feel the need to be liberated. And that's OK. It's just that I have a message and will fight to the death for it.”
“我不知道，我想我會拭目以待。也許對於有些人來說是站邊的事，有些人覺得自己無需爭取自身解放。那沒關係，我只是想傳遞這樣的信息，為此我會生命不息、戰鬥不止。”
That message, “Find out who you are and be it,” clearly means a great deal to her. Like any simple aphorism it can be made to sound naive or profound according to one's point of view. I think I'm old enough to know when I'm being fobbed off, bullshitted, lied to or deceived. There was in Lady Gaga's eyes and voice enough to tell me that whatever else she is, she is no fraud. The “messages” in her songs and albums, the calls to freedom and self-actualisation, the addresses she has made to the American military on the subject of their fatuous and hypocritical “Don't ask, don't tell” policy, the support she has shown for the dispossessed and marginalised in society may cause many to roll their eyes and make the obvious cynical observation that being a friend to the friendless is damned good business. Just look at the figures. Number one after number one, record-breaking releases of singles and albums, record-breaking YouTube visits, record-breaking numbers of Twitter followers. Oh, sure, this is one smart cookie. There's money to be had in self-publicity and the championing of the lonely ones out there.
很明顯，這樣的信息——“發掘真我，活出自我”——對Lady Gaga意義非凡。同所有簡單格言一樣，這聽起來不是太天真就是太深沉，只不過因人而異罷了。本人自我感覺已經成人，知道別人甚麼時候在搪塞、胡說、說謊或者欺騙我。 Lady Gaga的眼神與話語已經明白無誤地告訴我：不管她以何種面目示人，她並不是口是心非之徒。她的歌曲與專輯傳遞出的“信息，她呼籲自由與實現自我價值，她發表演講批評美國軍方“不問不說”政策的愚昧與虛偽以及支持無家可歸者與社會邊緣群體，這一切可能會讓很多人不悅，進而顯而易見得出如下憤世嫉俗的結論：與無依無靠者為友真他媽的是有百利而無一害。看看統計數據即可：一首首的冠軍歌曲，打破銷售記錄的單曲與專輯，破記錄的YouTube訪問量與“推特”(Twitter)粉絲。哦，這可真是個聰明人，自我造勢與支持那些社會的棄兒也能大賺一筆。
Well, of course, all that can be said. But against such arid cynicism it should be pointed out that Lady Gaga did herself few financial favours during her last major world tour, The Monster Ball, which she began in 2009 to promote her album The Fame Monster. One of the most successful promotional tours ever, it quite literally bankrupted her. Her habit of redesigning, reformatting and revising it from the ground up, all of which experiments and changes she paid for out of her own pocket, certainly made the tour one of the most extraordinarily varied and unpredictable in history, but also one of the least profitable. Or so I had read and so legend insists to this day. I ask her if the stories are true.
當然囉，這一切說說容易。但拋開那些無聊的冷嘲熱諷，應該指出的是：Lady Gaga最近一次大型全球巡迴演唱會——《惡魔舞會》(The Monster Ball)——基本上沒錢進帳，這場巡迴演唱會始於2009年，旨在推行其新專輯《超人氣魔神》(The Fame Monster)。這場有史以來推介最成功的巡迴演唱會，卻讓她幾近破產。 Lady Gaga習慣從頭至尾重新設計、重定格式以及不斷修正，這一切嘗試與變動她都是自掏腰包，自然會讓她的巡迴演出成為史上最變化多端、捉摸不定、但又是最不贏利的演唱會。迄今為止，我不是讀到這樣的報導，就是聽到坊間的傳聞，我問她這些說法是否準確？
“It's honestly true that money means nothing to me. The only big things I've purchased are my dad's heart valve and a Rolls-Royce for my parents, for their anniversary. And that was only because my dad had a Lady Gaga licence plate on our old car and it was making me crazy because he was getting followed everywhere, so I bought him a new car. Other than that I put everything in the show, and I actually went bankrupt after the first extension of The Monster Ball. And it was funny because I didn't know! And I remember I called everybody and said, “Why is everyone saying I have no money? This is ridiculous, I have five number one singles – and they said, 'Well, you're $3m in debt.'”
“說句心裡話，財富於我毫無意義。我出錢買的大件僅是給我老爸安心臟瓣膜以及給父母親結婚紀念日買輛勞斯萊斯車(Rolls-Royce)。就是由於我老爸那輛舊車掛的是我的車牌，結果呢，他走哪兒，都有人“尾隨”，這都快讓我氣炸了，所以我就給他買了輛新車。除此之外，我把所有的錢都投到了演出中，事實上，《惡魔舞會》巡迴演出第一場專場演唱會後，我就沒錢了。有趣的是，我壓根就不知道！我還記得給每個人打電話說，“為何大家都說我沒錢？真是可笑，本人有五首冠軍單曲——對方說，'不好意思，已負債3百萬美元。 ’”
The sheer quality and popularity of the work, then being picked up by Live Nation for extended stadium shows and by HBO for a TV special, allowed the money to flow back in but I don't suppose one could ever guarantee that such a state of affairs will never occur again.
Lady Gaga追求演唱會的品質與流行性，隨後Live Nation娛樂公司轉播了體育場的演唱會，美國家庭電影頻道(HBO)還專門拍了電視專題片，結果收入源源不斷，但我想無人能擔保這種情況以後會再次發生。
The detractors call her an extreme reinvention of Madonna – same Italian New York background, similar personality reinventions, a similar sense of extreme and often shocking fashion accoutrements, the same propensity to appropriate and distort, to the point of blasphemy, the language and iconography of the Roman Catholic church in which they were both brought up. They can point to other influences: Freddie Mercury (it was from the Queen song “Radio Gaga” that she took her name), David Bowie, Debbie Harry – there are plenty of tributaries that have flowed into River Gaga and she is the first to acknowledge her debt to them all and, yes, most certainly to Madonna. The only thing that annoys her about that question, she confides, is that people seem to think she is annoyed by being asked it.
批評者說她是走極端路線的麥當娜(Madonna)再世——兩人都來自紐約的意大利文化背景的家庭，相似的人格塑造，走類似的極端路線、常有驚世駭俗的服裝裝，都喜歡盜用與歪曲手段、甚至到了褻瀆的程度，成長過程中使用天主教的話語與造像。她還受到其他人的影響：弗雷迪•墨丘利（Freddie Mercury，皇后樂隊(Queen)主唱，正是受該樂隊歌曲“Radio Gaga”影響，她取了現在的名字）、大衛•鮑伊(David Bowie) 、黛比•哈利(Debbie Harry)——在她功成名就的過程中，有許多對她產生重大影響的人物，她是第一個承認受到所有這些前輩傳承的歌手，當然受麥當娜的影響最大。她坦承：在此問題上，唯一讓她不悅的事是，大家似乎覺得她不願意被問到這樣的問題。
“I genuinely love her so much. I think she is so amazing. She could never be replicated and, yes, I'm Italian, I'm from New York, and not for nothing, it's not my fault that I kind of look like her, right? So, look, if anything, it's more annoying to me that people would insinuate that I don't like to be compared to her … She's wonderful and inspiring and liberating, and she's certainly inspired my album, as did David Bowie, as did Prince, as did Michael Jackson, as did Grace Jones, and I would never take that away.”
“我真得很崇拜麥當娜，我覺得她非常神奇，永遠無法克隆，沒錯，我是意大利人的後裔，我也來自紐約，再說，我與她風格相像並不是我的過錯，對吧？因此，要說有的話，含沙射影地說我不喜歡與她作比較才是讓我更不高興的事……她非常出色、激情四射、隨心所欲，與大衛•鮑伊、Prince樂隊、邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)以及格雷斯•瓊斯(Grace Jones)一樣，麥姐毫無疑問啟發了我的新專輯，對此我永遠感激他們。”
I may be no expert in pop music but I do know enough to be sure that The Rolling Stones were accused of copying the rhythm and blues of their predecessors, as were The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who and Led Zeppelin and all the way up .
本人也許不是流行音樂方面的專家，但我的的確確知道滾石樂隊(The Rolling Stones)也曾被指控抄襲其前輩的韻律與布魯斯音樂，甲殼蟲(The Beatles)、奇想(The Kinks)、The Who以及萊德•齊柏林(Led Zeppelin)等所有樂隊莫不如此。
......
. . .
Gaga now tells me something that astonishes me and gives a strong indication of her remarkable perfectionism.
Lady Gaga這時告訴我一些事，大大出乎我的意料，也看出她精益求精的做事風格。
Two evenings before she had appeared on BBC TV's The Graham Norton Show. Norton is certainly the leading talk show host in Britain, but for a star of Gaga's stature one cannot imagine that featuring on it can have been that big a deal. She puts me right on this straightaway.
兩天前的晚上，她出席了BBC電視台的《格雷厄姆諾頓秀》(The Graham Norton Show)節目，諾頓無疑是英國首屈一指的脫口秀主持人，但對於Lady Gaga這種聲望的明星，做這期專題節目卻顯得十分投入，並直接把事情的經過原原本本告訴了我。
“After The Graham Norton Show I went to Annabel's and I performed…” (I was lucky enough to be there myself: it was a magnificent acoustic show, one Nat King Cole song and three of her own and it was all over, but never in the long, louche history of Annabel's can there have been many evenings to match it) “…and then yesterday I watched the Graham Norton performance when it aired. And I watched it over and over and over and over and over. And I looked at all the parts that I liked and all the parts that I didn't like … and I said, 'OK, maybe this part, if your breath control was different, and here, maybe you should try this step…' I study everything that I do to become better all the time at my craft. The beauty for me about being an artist is that the dream will never die, because I'm not obsessed with material things and don't care about the money and don't care about the attention of the public, but only the love of my fans, so for me it's about how much more devoted, how much better an artist can I become.”
“參加完《格雷厄姆諾頓秀》節目後，我直奔安娜貝爾(Annabel)的演唱會，並唱了幾首歌…… ”(幸虧我親自趕去了：那是一場美妙絕倫的音樂秀，我唱了一首納京高(Nat King Cole)的歌，還有三首安娜貝爾自己的歌才作罷，但在安娜貝爾漫長而又“聲名狼藉”的演唱史中，都無法與那晚相媲美)“……那期《格雷厄姆諾頓秀》節目在昨天播出時，我自己看了一遍，之後又翻來覆去地看了N遍。我看了的所有自己喜歡的片斷，也看了自己不喜歡的片斷……然後我對自己說，'也許這個片斷處氣息控制稍微變一下，這個片斷處也許應該換個步伐……'我仔仔細細地總結了所有的片斷，力求以後能做得更出色。對我來說，做一個藝術家的魅力在於心中有不熄的夢想，因為我並不講究物質的東西，並不關心能掙多少錢，不在乎公眾關注與否，而只在乎歌迷喜歡與否，所以對我來說，在乎的是如何更投入，成為更出色的藝術家。”
I gulped back my own feelings of inadequacy. I almost never watch myself back on anything. And I suppose it shows.
我也想說說自己的不足，話到一半又咽了回去，我本人幾乎從未回顧與總結自己的過去，但我覺得這能說明問題。
Whether you call Gaga a pop star or a performance artist is irrelevant; she has created her own category and she works at every element of the discipline that contributes to her persona. The music and lyric writing, the dancing, the costuming, the whole schmear . With her famous team, “Haus of Gaga”, she plans every detail of every video, every album, every tour and the timing of every record release.
無論稱呼Lady Gaga是流行歌手還是表演藝術家，都無關緊要。她自創了屬於自己的行為範疇，並能時刻做到自律，從而塑造好自己的角色。她自己譜曲作詞，設計舞步與服飾，所有的事情都事必躬親。在她著名團隊——“Haus of Gaga”——的輔佐下，她自己策劃每一段視頻、每張專輯以及每次巡迴演唱會的每個細節與推出每張專輯的恰當時機。
I ask if this is why she has in fact created Gaga, so that she can have a grandiose alter ego to absorb all the attention, criticism, adulation and insanity while the quiet, steady, industrious Stefani Germanotta gets on anonymously with the professional nuts and bolts in the background. I couldn't be more wrong.
我問她是否自己創意了Gaga，旨在能用這人性的另一面大肆吸引所有的注意力、批評、奉承與癡狂，而同時那個安靜、執著、勤奮的史蒂芬妮•傑爾馬諾塔卻在躲在幕後對具體演出細節精益求精。這一點我完全錯了。
“I actually don't identify myself as two separate people and I don't view Lady Gaga, me, as the protector of Stefani … I do see myself to be in an endless transformative state in the way that those performers you've mentioned were. I just am committed wholeheartedly to theatre with no intermission.”
“事實上，我並沒把自己看成是兩個分離的個體，我並不把Lady Gaga看成是史蒂芬妮的護身……我的確認為自己處於永遠變化的狀態，它們通過你所提到的身份表現出來。我只是心無旁騖、永不停息地專注於舞台。”
We talk about masks and Oscar Wilde and the nature of performance and the need of artists to pursue their vocations. She quotes to me the line of Rilke that she had famously tattooed on to her left arm: “In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?” It's quite a big tattoo…' she confesses.
我們還談到了偽裝的面具、奧斯卡•王爾德(Oscar Wilde)、演出的性質，以及藝術家對事業孜孜以求的需要。她還引用了德國詩人里爾克(Rilke)的詩句，這段刻在她左臂上的刺青廣為人知：“在夜深的時候，向自己承認，如果你被禁止寫作的時候，你會死去。凝視你心的深處，這是答案的根源，並銘心自問，我必須要寫下去嗎？”這是很長的一段刺青……'她坦承道。
I counter with another quote about writing from Thomas Mann: “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” She gets the point of it straightaway.
我則以托馬斯•曼的一段詩句應和她：“與其他人相比，寫作之於作家更為艱難，作家就是這樣的人。”她立刻就領會了其中的意思。
I don't know what I expected from this global phenomenon, but it wasn't the endearing mixture of warmth, wit, intelligence and larky self-knowledge that I found. There were comments she made about her work that I have no doubt she has come out with before – goodness knows, in my own small way I've had to do the publicity treadmill and I know how wearing it can be and how the same lines can easily be trotted out. But I was, silly old fool that I am, flattered by the attention she paid to each question and by the cheerful energy, after a long day, that she continued to exhibit.
我不知道能從這全球性的現像中期待什麼，但我覺得併不是溫情、睿智、聰明、以及愛耍鬧的自知之明所構成的惹人喜愛的混合物。她過去就對自己的作品發表過評論，無疑很中肯——天知道呢！依鄙人之見，還得不厭其煩地說出來，我也知道，這樣一來會多麼讓人厭煩，而且找見同樣的話語不費吹灰之力。雖說我是個老蠢材，但對她認真對待每個問題以及所表現出的抖擻精神感到滿意，要知道，她已忙活了大半天了。
And it didn't end there. “Let's call the photographer back in,” she said, and then proceeded to art-direct the shoot like a professional production designer.
而且，事情還不僅僅局限於此。 “我們現在把攝影師叫進來吧，”她說，隨後又上前現場指導藝術拍攝，嫻熟得與專業美工似的。
She took a rose from a vase on the table and said gravely to Shamil: “Start shooting after the count of three, OK?”
她從桌子上花瓶裡拿出一枝玫瑰花，鄭重其事地對沙米爾說：“我數到三後開始拍，好嗎？”
She sat down on the sofa next to me, tore the petals from the rose, cast them up in the air above us and called out “Three!”
她挨著我在沙發上坐下，扯下玫瑰花瓣，並扔向空中，嘴裡喊出“三！”
And there we were, Lady Gaga and me, rose petals floating down in front of us.
Lady Gaga與我就坐在那兒，玫瑰花瓣從我們眼前的半空中飛舞下來。
Who knows what the future will bring to a star who has risen so high, so fast and who burns so brightly in the world? What it can bring those without song-writing ability, self-awareness, good friends and sound judgment we know all too well. This bright star appears well armed in all those attributes and more, so this Little Monster, for one, is confident that the world will be gaga about Gaga for many years to come.
這位如日中天、炙手可熱的巨星的未來會怎樣發展，我們不得而知。但那些無寫歌能力、無自我意識、無良友與清晰判斷力的人的未來如何，我們都心知肚明。 Lady Gaga這位明星似乎在這些品行方面都已經準備充分，而且，至少我這個小怪獸歌迷堅信在今後很長一段時間內，Gaga仍將獨領風騷。
Lady Gaga accused of pocketing Japan earthquake relief bracelet proceeds
Tuesday, June 28th 2011, 4:00 AM
Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty
Lady Gaga has been an advocate for Japan relief efforts since the earthquake hit in March. The federal class action lawsuit alleges Gaga (real name Stefani Germonatta) jacked up the shipping costs on the "We Pray for Japan" wristbands she designed and sold on her website after the March earthquake and tsunami, keeping a portion of the money from each sale despite her promise that all proceeds would go to directly to relief efforts.
According to a press release from 1-800-LAW-FIRM, the office leading the charges, Gaga and her team also "inflated reports of the total donations" by including the amount withheld in the tally of donated money, allowing them to advertise a successful campaign and "solicit additional 'donations.'"
"While we commend Lady Gaga for her philanthropic efforts, we want to ensure that claims that 'all proceeds will be donated to Japan's earthquake relief efforts' are in fact true," lead attorney Alyson Oliver was quoted in the release.
Further, as a video posted on the firm's website claims, tax was collected on the wristbands, which sold for $5 a piece. Tax wouldn't be collected on a purely charitable donation the site notes, raising suspicions of misconduct.
Gaga's camp has reportedly held off from replying to the official charges of racketeering and corruption, and refuse to answer further questions.
"When we tried to communicate with the defendants in this lawsuit, all we got was, 'well, some of the money is being retained, but we don't really know how much," Oliver told NBC Chicago.
Lady Gaga spent last week making appearances in Japan, performing at Saturday's MTV Video Music Aid Japan benefit concert in Tokyo and even received a certificate from Japan's Tourism Agency commissioner for her support of the country.
"I can't say enough to people all over the world that the majority of Japan right now, Japan in general, is very safe," she told The Associated Press. "It's fine to come here. It's beautiful."
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