fashion beach

Not one, but two quotes of the week this week, from the same article in The Standard - and both supreme examples of stupidity:1. "I agree those who handled it [a letter from the then owner of King Yin Lei Mansion requesting talks with the government on its future] were not sensitive enough to realize that the public cares about these old buildings."--Development Bureau chief Carrie Lam explaining...

There's a subset of Murphy's Law that says if you join the shortest queue, it will always take longest to reach whatever you're queuing for.Last night I bought 2 items in the Park'n'Shop in City One Plaza, Shatin, and joined the express checkout queue. With my wife waiting outside in the car, I was in a rush. The woman in front of me only had 4 items, so I wasn't expecting to have to wait long -...

Talented but troubled British singer Amy Winehouse was named female artist of the year at the Mobo (Music of Black Origin) awards in London last night. It's no surprise that Amy's winning so many awards this year, because she's clearly one of the best British singers to emerge in recent years, but why the Mobo? Winehouse is Jewish, not black, so this appears a little odd to me.If it's only the music...

Looking at my own blog, the topics I cover seem to vary pretty dramatically in significance, from consumer rip-offs to George Bush's murder of a million people (with the odd joke thrown in for good measure). Is there a common denominator? I think there is one between many of my posts - it's the rich, arrogant and powerful screwing the rest of us that angers me, on whatever scale.But it may all be...

Living in Taipo, I sometimes drive over to Hong Lok Yuen to shop at the Park'n'Shop International (its new label) supermarket there, the best in town for non-Chinese food items. There is a free short-term parking area in front of the supermarket for use by shoppers. If (as often happens) this is full, you have the option to park in the nearby covered carpark free of charge, so long as you spend...

Another one of those "huh?" headlines from today's South China Morning Post website:"Sino, Nan Fung buy third Tai Po site for HK$4.55bPlans for a luxury residential enclave in Tai Po Science Park took a further step yesterday after a consortium led by Sino Land and Nan Fung Development acquired a third site in the area for HK$4.55 billion"The Science Park is supposed to be a special industrial estate...

Sometimes it's hard to figure out why anyone still takes the American mass media seriously. Even though everyone knows the Iraq War was started on the basis of lies, they all eagerly built up the testimony of General Petraeus (the general in charge of US troops there) on the progress of the war as if it meant something. Given that Bush and Co. have never told the truth about the war, why would anyone...

According to a BBC News story, a researcher in Britain claims that having an older sibling, particularly a brother, can stunt your growth, and that children from larger families (4 or more children) tend to be shorter than average. From my own experience, I beg leave to doubt this. I am the oldest of five, and 6ft 3in. My next two brothers are also over 6 feet tall, while my youngest brother is...

When will we have a government that isn't afraid to say "boo" to a property developer?I first arrived in Hong Kong just days after the old Tsimshatsui railway station closed. Despite widespread calls for its preservation, all that was retained was the clock tower in situ, and a few meaningless bits of its colonnade relocated to a new site in Tsimshatsui East. Three decades later, at a cost of billions...

From the country that gave you the 419 scam comes an irresistible offer: according to an email I received a couple of days ago, the First Bank of Nigeria PLC has been authorised by the Nigerian government to compensate foreigners who have been cheated by so many of its countrymen. Of course, to give me my share, they will just need a few of my personal and banking details first...However annoying...

Did you hear the one about the Irish magazine editor who had to quit his job because he told Irish jokes? No, alas, it's not an Irish joke but a true story. The mind boggles.Presumably the humourless lady who found these jokes offensive would like all jokes to be like the one I read recently:"An Englishman, an Irishman and a Pakistani walked into a pub. What a perfect example of racial integration."[Notice:...

Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada's conviction and sentencing on corruption charges comes as no surprise. There is little doubt of Estrada's guilt; nevertheless, one can have some sympathy with his claim that the verdict was a political decision. After all, he was only doing on a bigger scale what most politicians do. If every corrupt office-holder in the Philippines was imprisoned, there...

What's happening to all the Hong Kong bloggers lately? Fumier has shut up shop, and now, as I learn from Spike (who's still writing), 962 has done the same (both their sites being immediately grabbed by usurpers, though the new 962 seems to have disappeared as well). Sash surprised herself by falling in love, and no longer tells us all the fascinating details of her sex life (though anyone who appreciates...

“Everywhere Bush travels he has to erect a fortress to protect himself. What the hell is this man so afraid of? I’ll tell you what he’s afraid of—he’s afraid of the people.""We were never there to help those people. I was ordered to bury the humanitarian food I was given because we were told, ‘We’re the United States Marine Corps we are not the United States Peace Corps.""There was a complete disregard...

I came across mention of Mingle2 in another blog - it's mainly a dating site (no use to me), but they will rate your blog as if it was a movie. Private Beach comes out as PG (Parental Guidance). They say:This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:sex (4x) dangerous (2x) gun (1x) Since "dangerous" sets off alarms here, if I write about safe sex, will the two words cancel...

Spot the similarity between these two current news stories:China's Hu warns of 'dangerous' time for TaiwanTaiwan's complex diplomatic situation is entering a 'possibly dangerous period,' Chinese President Hu Jintao told US President George Bush on Thursday. And from the front page of today's South China Morning Post online edition:Mainlander made up plot against tycoonA mainlander demanded HK$1.02...

Long time English-speaking residents of Hong Kong will know that The Standard newspaper has been through quite a few makeovers in recent years. Originally the Tiger Standard, and once a long-established South China Morning Post lookalike, it found (as did the short-lived Eastern Express, another left-of-SCMP clone) that there was only room for one SCMP in the local market. It then went tabloid with...

What's wrong with you, Senator Craig? First you consistently vote against gay rights in the Senate over many years. Then you get arrested for soliciting gay sex and plead guilty. Then you announce that you're not guilty after all, and not gay. You say you do not intend to resign your Senate seat, then you announce your intention to do so. Now you are apparently reconsidering that decision. Do...

Many years ago, long before the Tuen Mun Highway was constructed, we would sometimes take a bus via the scenic Castle Peak Road, which still winds its way along the shoreline, to the Ching Chung Koon Temple at Castle Peak for a vegetarian lunch and a wander around. Though the Temple and the nearby psychiatric hospital are still there, not much else from those days is now recognisable under the concrete...