one more

speek like wot i do-2

speek like wot i do(thanks Giles)

don't try this at home.(thanks again Don)

homeward bound

I booked our flight to Hk today.We arrive on Xmas Eve.We will stay for a day or two before flying out to the Phillipines. I booked with Oasis airlines, only £500 for the four of us (one way-I'll book the return next month), not sure if we have to sit in the hold though. It works out at about £1000 return. The cheapest quote before that was about £2200 flying out after xmas. We will return to Hk about the 10/11th Jan before flying back to the UK on the 13th.
I feel better able to handle the coming cold knowing that I can get out of it for a bit.
Teosdee started work last week, in the kitchen of a nursing home.Jack started nursery full time, and Joseph started primary school today-year 1.

harrier

Irwin news update(thanks Don)

crocodile hunter

Not so clever now, ey?

living room

southport air show2

Super Typhoon

I watched a programme here(on channel 5) last night about a super typhoon. It was a kind of disaster science documentary-set in Hong Kong. The general gist being: a Super Typhoon hits Hong Kong head on. Now, a few years ago Teosdee and I stood on Pui-o beach
on Lantau in HK as the eye of a Typhoon was overhead.Typhoon signal 10 had been raised and it was very scary, as trees, power lines and various other debris flew by-except when the eye came over. Admittedly it was quite a stupid thing to be doing during, but it was exhilirating.
In this documentary,where all Hong-Kong people spoke perfect English! Hong Kong was decimated by this Super Typhoon(called Viper-ha ha). The programme used real footage of stormy days in Hong Kong to get the point across-including the Star Ferry still running as buildings and slopes collapsed.
I'd hoped that at least someone had watched it at work, so that I could tell them that actually not all Typhoons form in the North East Pacific but can form in the South China Sea, and of course that I had experienced a few super typhoons myself and they weren't all that bad-but it was not to be.
Although a load of tosh, it did make me homesick.
Teosdee started work this week, so it looks as though we will make it to Hk and the Philippines over xmas and new year.Jack starts nursery on Friday, Joseph starts Primary school-proper next week.I worry we may be robbed when the house is empty!
pics are from Camelot Theme Park in Lancashire-great fun!

me in camelot-I am on this ride!!It was not fun, just damned scary-and I love these things.

....must be off to court

Maybe i'm just going crazy, but it seems that everyone on the bus in the morning is either going to court, or has been forced to go on a course by the dole.The woman standing next to me at the bus stop, looked like a lesbian with a heroin addict,prisoner cell block H came to mind.She coughed and hacked away, clearing her throat on the road, 'gozzed' everywhere-'spitting' is definitely not a strong enough word.She asked the old dear next to her 'if the clocks had gone backwards or forwards last night'-in August!! Then along came a young girl about 20 years old-pretty except for the scowl on her face.The hacking, drugged up lesbian and her had a chat, which I'm sure the whole of the north west could hear.Every second word was an expletive, as they discussed the non existent storm they felt was brewing,the f-ing buses, court(for hacking dyke) and maths and english classes-compulsory for scowling girl, who said the teacher could kiss her arse if he expected her to do f-ing homework. Dyke asked her what job they thought she could get with maths and english, scowly didn't f-ing know.
How I miss not being able to understand anything, anyone says on my morning commute!!

one of those days-(language advisory)

new look

Hope you like the new look,not sure if I do!

goodbye pluto

So, our solar system seems smaller. We now have only seven neighbours.
Time passes and planets come and go.
I did think xena would join the party, but alas it was not to be. Xena has gone to be with the seven dwarves.
What did Pluto do to be expelled? A little too cold? a little too distant?
Farewell, small friend, may life with the dwarves be enlightening,come and visit sometime-perferably when you have grown up a little.

Is it time to get out of Dodge?

UK HONG KONG

	FOR	AGAINST	FOR	AGAINST
	Joseph’s school-(a)	Rain-(a)	Disciplined schools(a)	School for Joseph(b)
	Big house(a)	transport(a)	Interesting work(a)	Working saturdays(c)
	TV(b)	boredom(a)	cinema(c)	TV(b)
	Long days(c)	Short days(a)	pubs(a)	Medical care(a)
	Big shoes(c)	cold(a)	clubs(c)	pollution(c)
		1 month summer(b)	summer(a)	Very hot summer(c)
	newspapers(b)	autumn(a)	Sundays(a)	Small flat(a)
	FOOD(b)	winter(a)	food(c)	food(c)
	supermarkets(b)	shopping(b)	shopping(b)	supermarkets(c)
	Holiday pay(a)	pubs(a)	bbq(b)	spitting(c)
	Sick pay(b)	clubs(c)	beach(b)	language(c)
	Free medical care(a)	spitting(c)	Phillipines(nearby) (b)
	dole(b)	Violent crime(a)	7-11(a)
	Cheap books(c)	Kids on streets(a)	Canned coffee(c)
		9-5 monotony(a)	transport(a)
		robbery(a)	Cheap Mcdonalds(c)	Crap Mcdonalds(c)
	people(a)	people(a)	people(a)
		pollution(b)	winter(a)
		rent(b)	spring(b)	rent(b)
			autumn(b)
	32	60	44	20
	Grand Total('for' minus 'against')	Minus 28	Grand Total('for' minus 'against')	22

A=very important 3pts B=important 2pts C=not very important 1 pt

long weekend

It's Friday night. I have 3 days off work. I did try and book a weekend away, but at this time of year, you may as well book a 2 week cruise down the Nile-it would be cheaper!
The cheapest fares to London(by train) start at £90 each way!! I think a cheap hotel could be booked in London, but the problem is getting there. i thought about the Lake district, but couldn't find anything less than £100 per night!! Camping was an option but the weather has turned and Autumn may have arrived early. it is 16c here and the rain is heavy. I have another long weekend but that is bank holiday weekend, and the moon is probably easier to get to.I'm not sure if this dearth of travel options is because of the jittery air situation(handcream!?) or just the sad state of travel here. Except London, all hotels and B&Bs quote price pppn-per person per night.
The football season kicks off at 12.45 tomorrow, I may treat myself to a few pints, watching the Liverpool game at lunchtime. Wales could still be an option though, as the train is a local one and therefore the price is fixed, pay as you get on.The only problem being the shitty weather and the fact that there are more scousers in Wales than in Liverpool!

filipino dwarves-(from the bbc)

BBC NEWS
Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case
A Philippines judge who said he consulted imaginary mystic dwarves has failed to convince the Supreme Court to allow him to keep his job.

Florentino Floro was appealing against a three-year inquiry which led to his removal due to incompetence and bias.

He told investigators three mystic dwarves - Armand, Luis and Angel - had helped him to carry out healing sessions during breaks in his chambers.......click title to go to story

Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat(from the bbc)

Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat
A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal .The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man........
As usual click title to go to full story.

found in middle east times!!-click title to go to original

Iran hits at Israel with Holocaust cartoon contest
CARTOON CONTEST: An Iranian woman looks at an exhibit during a visit to the Holocaust International Cartoon Exhibition in Tehran August 14.(REUTERS)
Iran's Ahmadinejad has already stirred international anger by dismissing the Holocaust as a 'myth,' and now Tehran is drumming up further anti-Israel rhetoric by staging an 'International Holocaust Cartoons Contest.'

healthy living?

I went to the docs last week for a medical. He said I'd put on 12kgs(nearly 2 stone) in
the last year! He then sent me for a blood test. That came back today, and my cholesterol is too high-everything else is fine. If I stay here, and keep on putting 2 stone on every year-that can't be good. It's official- the Uk is killing me! i have had 3 pints in the pub in the last 6 months.I do drink 2-3 pints of milk a day though ,and 1 can of coke. I don't eat fried food, I only have chips once a fortnight. I sit on my arse all day though, and my walking has gone down to nearly nil. I need to be teaching and walking in the hills of Hong Kong or streets of Kowloon, or even dancing in the streets of Wanchai. The funny thing is, is that I did lose loads of weight when I first went to Hong-Kong. Swings and roundabouts mate, swings and roundabouts..
How do you lessen cholesterol?

Chinese people are the greatest people in the world.

Spitting, bad language,bad manners,closed minds,insulting,racist,loud,uncouth...
These are words I have often heard bandied around.These are complaints which are often uttered in other more exotic countries.
It's only now, after 1 year here in England, I realize that, this is a description which fits this country more than any other.
People spit here more than any other people I've ever come across.They hack, they aim, they do the full Monty, people spit continuously as they walk along-nobody ever complains!Bad language is normal language here, from 5 year olds right through to seventy year old grannies, on the bus, in the shop, everywhere-cunt,twat,fuck,bastard-all part of normal english vocabulary.
Pushing,shoving,mobiles phones,there are no 'polite' rules.Wear a strange shirt,cut your hair differently,speak with the wrong accent-get looked at, get shouted at.God forbid have a different colour,or sexuality!
Bus stations,buses,trains,shopping centres are full of kids,drunken people shouting and screaming at each other, or other passengers-often violently. Add to this mix violent crime,indiscriminate violence,and perverts, and you have the picture.
If you lived here for a year you would know what I mean.
It is just not gelling here for me.I went out tonight to celebrate a colleagues wedding.I got back home at 11.15pm.The party was quiet,that was not the problem.I thought, I'll have a couple of beers before i go home. I walked around the town-avoiding the staring doormen guarding doors(looking to make trouble),and the multitudes swaying through the streets looking for trouble.I stopped at a pub, but left before I finished my pint-what is the fucking point?Nothing interests me about drinking here.It is impossible to strike up a conversation with anyone-too loud-too stupid.
How many Chinese people do you see pissing in the open in the middle of the street,in the middle of the city?
Chinese people are the greatest people in the world.

If you were in their shoes..

IMAGINE, if you can... A neighbouring country-let's say France, allows religious hardliners to begin bombing Dover.
The neighbouring country's hardliners are supplied with arms and support by another 2 countries-let's say Germany and Austria.
What would you do? What would you like your own government to do?
That is what has happened in Israel.
Of course we must take into account the history of Israel and Lebanon. Israel has occupied Lebanon in the past.
That was at a time when Lebanon was controlled by Syria, that was at a time when every Arab Leader publicly promised to wipe Israel off the map.
Israel, did leave Lebanon, after assurances by the Lebanese that they would not allow Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel's Northern hills any longer. Whilst they kept that promise, Lebanon prospered-tragically no longer.
Equally tragic is the situation in Gaza, but the fault does seem to lie more with Israel. I lived and worked in Israel in the early 1990's. I worked on a 'Moshav'- a much harder version of a Kibbutz. I worked alongside Palestinians, who crossed over the border from Gaza everyday to labour on Israeli farms. I loved both peoples. That was a relatively peaceful time.I felt safe walking around the West Bank and throughout Jerusalem.
Do you remember Clinton?Rabin?And of course Arafat? These were the men who truly did want peace, it was possible then.
What went wrong? Monica Lewinsky, the assassination of Rabin, Sept 11,the death of Arafat.
People blame the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Israel had problems before 2001.Israel had problems when I was there in the 1990's. Israel had problems in the 1980's-it invaded Lebanon in 1982! Israel had problems in the 70's, 60's and 50's. And would you liked to have been Jewish in the 1940's?No, I didn't think so. My Father was a British soldier. We lived in a place called Bergen Belsen. Belsen was a concentration camp in WWII. Part of my school was used by allied troops to try and help survivors(30 years before I went there).
Israel's southern neighbours Egypt and Jordan long ago recognized Israel's right to exist.The other Arab states must do the same.
The fate of the Palestinian people and their right to independence was recognized by European and American governments long ago.
Most Israelis also believe this,they just worry about the logistics-which must be solved.The Israeli Government must place this above all else.
People here in the UK are quick to blame Blair for not reigning in Israel, some even call it another of his wars. The self-importance of the British is astounding.
That takes me back to the original question-What would you do? Would you obey the orders coming from a small country on another continent, as your own people have to hide from bombs?
Hezbollah have the largest amount of blood on their hands, but Israel is not blameless either,and who else is responsible?
The children of Lebanon, the people of Lebanon should not be dying, they should be enjoying the fruits of their labour over the last 10 years.Re-making Lebanon and Beirut into a beautiful thriving,cosmopolitan port on the Mediterranean.Allah Akbah, Shalom, God be with you-where-ever you are.

walk in the park

walking

in arrow park

at home with jack

motorbike display

at the wirral show

wirral show

the band

summerdays3

You talkin to me?

summerdays2

summerdays

dancing

I nearly joined him!

dancing3

entertainment in hk

dancing2

dancing in the streets-chinese style

CSA-press release-

from http://www.dwp.gov.uk/childsupport/

24 July 2006 - More streamlined and tougher child support system to replace CSA

Following the recommendations of an independent report on child support in the UK by Sir David Henshaw, Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton today announced the government will replace the Child Support Agency with a more streamlined and tougher new body.

Sir David today presented his report on the future of the child support system in the UK to Mr Hutton, who has accepted his recommendation to establish a new system for child support which will be simpler to use and to administer; will be tougher on parents who do not face up to their responsibilities; will maximise the reduction in child poverty and will deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

Mr Hutton said:

“We need a fresh start that is not burdened by the failure of the past. So I propose to replace the CSA with a new organisation that is simpler but tougher on parents who do not pay up.”

He outlined the key changes, in line with Sir David’s recommendations, that would underpin the new system:

• Allow more money to go to children by significantly increasing the amount of maintenance that parents with care on benefits can keep;
• Lighten the load on the new body by providing better advice and guidance to parents and encouraging them to make their own voluntary arrangements;
• Further reduce the caseload for the new organisation by ending the rule that means parents on benefit are forced to use the CSA – whether or not they have a voluntary arrangement in place;
• Enforce tougher penalties on parents who do not meet their responsibilities to their children – we will seek powers to suspend passports and impose curfews on parents who persistently avoid their responsibilities;
• Explore all methods of publicising enforcement action, including the feasibility of naming those successfully prosecuted;
• Examine a range of options to ensure that more fathers take responsibility for their children, including changing the law on registration of births to encourage or require joint registration;
• Further strengthen parental responsibility by increasing the support we give to help lone parents back to work.

Mr Hutton said:

“It is not acceptable for any child to grow up in poverty in this country in this day and age. Too many children are not receiving the maintenance they are due.

“There are four million children who could benefit from child support, but only one in three do so. The payment of child maintenance currently lifts 100,000 children out of poverty, but we know we need to do better.

“I want the new system to be more effective, both in tackling child poverty and giving better value for money.”

Sir David Henshaw said:

“Today I am recommending that ministers create a new system of child support to replace the CSA, which can never be made to work properly.

“Parents want the freedom to make their own arrangements, but they need to know the government will get tough on parents who refuse to pay up if they need help in sorting out child maintenance.

“A streamlined system that focuses on the harder cases could save up to £200 million a year in running costs and help tackle child poverty by getting more money to children."

Mr Hutton thanked CSA staff and warned there would be no let up on parents who do not pay during the move to a new organisation.

He said:

“I want to thank staff at the CSA, who continue to do their best in very difficult circumstances. There will be big changes ahead, but in the meantime, if any parent thinks they can avoid paying maintenance they are very wrong. We will not relax our efforts as we move to the new system, in fact we will be getting tougher and have already started contracting out debt to debt collection agencies.”

Mr Hutton said:

“more analysis would be carried out to inform decisions about how the new organisation should be structured and the most effective means of moving towards it.“

“Sir David has proposed a radical approach to conversion – closing all existing claims and asking people to reapply. We do need a clean break to ensure the new body does not get dragged down by past failures. But I am conscious of the need to ensure that where arrangements are working properly through the existing CSA, the flow of money to children should not be disrupted.

“This is one area I propose to look at in detail before deciding a way forward,” he said.

Within the government’s response today are questions for consultation – the DWP wants to hear views from across the board so a way forward can be reached which has the best interests of children at its heart.

A white paper will follow in the autumn.

I cannot comment

Posts that contain Child Support Agency per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

wanchai

the welsh choir

holiday in puerto galera2004

the software i used to convert vids from phone were more basic at this time-hence the annoying writing

yetmorehk 3

a normal day

summer in the garden

paddling

summer2006

hongkong4

yet more hk

my hong kong

phillipines

hongkong

1 year of......

I have been in the UK for 1 year this week. Do I like it?...No. Am I happy?....No. Will I stay?....Yes.

It is 30c today, it will be 34c tomorrow! It doesn't fool me for a minute though, I am waiting for the cold in September. We go out every weekend, walking, going to museums, taking the ferry, even the beach-but in the end it is boring. I miss the people, sights , sounds and smells of Asia.
Haifa in Israel was hit by rockets yesterday. I can remember hitching from there, and to there in 1992. It was my first time outside of Europe.I arrived by ferry from Greece.I loved it, the mix of western and arabic. The music was the first thing I noticed, Arabian dance-rave.The next was the smell of fallafels, and spices, and of course the heat. I had only a few dollars when I arrived. We hitched down to Jerusalem, and at one point found ourselves stranded on a desert road near Jericho, that was only a few hours out of Haifa.I thought 'fuck, I'm stranded in a desert...cool!'
I suppose, this is why I can never really feel settled or happy here, but if Teosdee gets a UK passport, I can get stranded in deserts-with my family.

cor! it's a scorcher!

As you can imagine after a few days with the temperature hitting 30c the headlines are predictable- Hotter than Rio!, Britain scorches!...etc the amazing thing is how much people complain. "it's too hot", "this heat makes you tired", even the weatherman joyeously told of the end of the heatwave this morning "relief will be here at the weekend". For me I have mixed feelings, I truly believe that 30c and low humidity to be the perfect temperature for human beings. At the same time it reminds me that I am living here, and not in a hot country where I belong. My blood warmed up years ago, I should be in this temperature everyday, not just 5 days a year!

summerwalk3

summerwalk3
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk5

summerwalk5
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk6

summerwalk6
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk8

summerwalk8
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk9

summerwalk9
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk4

summerwalk4
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

summerwalk3

summerwalk3
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

walkin9

walkin9
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

walkin4

walkin4
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

walkin3

walkin3
Originally uploaded by cmercer.

walkin2

walkin2
Originally uploaded by cmercer.