We go to a smallish' 50s-style diner in a slightly seedy pocket east of Hollywood that has just become trendy. Then we wander through a few of the thrift shops. "If it's not going to be affordable," Amanda remarks, "it's never going to catch on."
我们来到一家较小、50年代装修式样的餐馆。这家餐馆位于好莱坞东面一个略显破旧的地区，最近这个地方开始火了起来。然后我们去逛了几家二手货商店。阿曼达说：“人们买不起，就永远流行不起来。”
What trends does she see forming now? "the home is becoming more of a social place again. And travel's huge right now—you go to a place and bring stuff back."
她看到了什么将要流行了吗？“家正在再次成为社交的地方，时下流行旅游，去个新地方，购物回家。”
"It's really hard to be original these days, so the easiest way to come up with new stuff is to mix things that already exist. Fusion is going to be the huge term that everybody's going to use," she concludes. "There's going to be more blending, like Spanish music and punk—things that are so unrelated."
最后，她说：“现今原创极为困难。因此，最容易的办法就是把现存的东西组合在一起，拿出一个新玩意儿来。融合将成为流行的大词，会有越来越多的混合出现，如西班牙音乐和庞克摇滚乐——这本是风马牛不相及的东西。”
Los Angeles is Fusion Central, where cultures mix and morph. Take Tom Sloper and mahjong. Tom is a computer geek who is also a mahjong fanatic. This being America, he has found a way to marry these two passions and sell the result. He has designed a software program, Shanghai: Dynasty, that enables you to play mahjong on the Internet. This ancient Chinese game involves both strategy and luck, and it is still played all over Asia in small rooms that are full of smoke and the ceaseless click of the chunky plastic tiles and the fierce concentration of the players. It is also played by rich society women at country clubs in Beverly Hills and in apartments on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
洛杉矶是融合的中心。在这里，不同文化交汇、变异。汤姆·斯洛珀和麻将牌就是一例。汤姆是个电脑奇人，也是个麻将迷。由于这是美国，所以他不得不寻找能把这两种热情结合在一起的方式来获利。他设计了一个可以在互联网上打麻将的软件程序，名为“上海：王朝”。这种古老的中国游戏需要战略和运气。亚洲人仍然局限于在小屋子里玩麻将，人们精力集中，屋子里烟雾弥漫，厚厚塑料牌噼啪声不绝于耳。有钱的女人在比弗利山庄的乡间俱乐部和曼哈顿上西区公寓里玩着麻将。