繽紛前沿

Personalized Life with Manga and Rice

漫畫人生？大米人生？

In Japan， Sakura Comics (櫻花漫畫社) has started a service that allows couples to turn their love story into an original (原創的) comic book， called \"Wedding Story Manga (日本漫畫) .\" The manga tells about their personal love story while the characters are drawn to resemble (與……相像) photos provided by the customers. Customers can choose the style of drawing from a variety of samples and the length of the comic， from a 2-page black and white leaflet (小冊子) to a 16-page full color mini book.

Weddings aren't the only example. Another company has created a service for announcing the birth of a newborn (新生兒) with a commemorative (紀念的) bag of rice. Not only does the bag have the baby's face printed on it， but the rice inside measures exactly the baby's birth weight. The idea is that far-away relatives can simulate (模擬) holding the new family member.

漫畫中的故事總是那么可望而不可即。看到精彩之處，你也許會感嘆：“為什么我的生活不是這樣？”其實，人生就是一本無與倫比的精彩漫畫，等待著我們去書寫、去描繪。與其羨慕別人的故事，為何不做好自己故事的主角呢？

Beijing Olympics Clock

當時間走過北京奧運

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing are proved to be the best Olympics in recent history. If you're just dying for (極想要) a piece of the action， why not make a memento (紀念品) that looks right at home in the festivities. This lacquered (被上漆的) red clock looks likes a traditional Chinese talisman (護身符) with each hour on the face represented by one of the 12 major Olympic sports.

當時間走過北京奧運會和殘奧會，我們難免會有留戀與不舍。那么，這個時鐘無疑可以緩解許多人對奧運的“相思”之苦。看著時針轉過北京奧運的12個主要競技標識，頗有種“時間與奧運同在”的永恒感。

Plastic Soup in Pacific May Harbor New Life Forms

太平洋\"垃圾湯”→新生物→我們的胃

Scientists are launching a study into whether the \"rubbish vortex (渦流)，\" a plastic soup of waste floating in the Pacific， could harbor new forms of marine (海洋的) life.

This \"plastic soup\" is growing at an alarming (令人擔心的) rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental (大陸的) United States since it was discovered in 1997. It drifts about 500 miles off the Californian (加利福尼亞的) coast， across the northern Pacific， past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. About a fifth of the rubbish—from footballs to blocks (積木) and carrier bags—is thrown off ships. The rest comes from land.

\"Plastic soup\" acts as chemical sponges (海綿) attracting man-made chemicals like the pesticide DDT (一種有毒殺蟲劑). They then enter the food chain—what goes into the ocean goes into marine animals and onto our dinner plate.

假設你把垃圾倒入廚房洗菜的水池……“那會弄臟我要吃的菜，我怎么可能做這么荒唐的蠢事呢！”你瞪大眼睛反駁道?？墒聦嵣希祟惷恳惶於荚谧鲋c此相似的蠢事，太平洋上的“垃圾湯”就是最好的證據。