still in hastings

still in hastings-my 2nd hotel-very nice!

st leonards

my hotel

Hastings2006

Hastings2006

sussex

london2

train

on the train

8.15am virgin to London

I am on the 8.15am Virgin train from Liverpool to London as I write and post this. It is not too busy, comfortable, and the weather is cool and grey outside. I have connected my laptop to my mobile-it is the first time I’ve done this to get on the net. It is nice to see green fields and cows for a change. I have spent the last few weekends taking care of sick kids, and even took a day off as Jack was sick last week. It is easier for me than it is for Teosdee. Apparently she cannot take days off!! You can imagine my reaction to that, but as she will only have to put up with the bastards until Christmas, it’s not too big a problem. They have told her she will have to resign to get a holiday at Xmas, as no one is allowed holidays in December. She works in the kitchen of a nursing home. I am sure that this is just the rule for Filipinos. As Teosdee has to work every Sunday, I am exhausted looking after the kids alone, especially as they have been sick. But, thanks to the civil service, I can now spend 3 weeks at the seaside, staying at the Royal Victoria Hotel. I’ll probably have to do some work though-there’s always a down side!
Right, I’m off to the restaurant car to get a big cup of coffee!!

singing Jack

Sunny Birkenhead

WOODCHURCH.WIRRAL


BIRKENHEAD

Hastings

"William and Harold's men re-enacted the Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings is recreated annually on the site in Sussex where it actually took place in 1066, but its 940th anniversary promised the biggest ever re-enactment.

As many as 3,000 re-enactors from across the world have camped out at Battle Abbey for performances on Saturday and Sunday." 15th Oct 2006

I am going to Hastings tomorrow for 3 weeks.I will be staying at a hotel on the seafront. Unfortunately, not for a holiday, but a business trip.A change is as good as a rest though. I will keep you posted.

happy birthday

an autumn night

sweet

Hong Kong's nutty neighbour

North Korea has tested a nuclear bomb.Where does it plan to use such a device? The leader of North Korea is so obviously a complete nut job, that this is a really scary event. This would be a good time for China to use it's muscle clearly and definitively. Why have the biggest military force in the world, if you can't scare your crazy neighbour into line.
This is not a matter for the US or Russia, not if China steps in, or China and Japan together face down Crackpot Kim.

confused identity

A Muslim woman wearing a veil

"Straw's veil comments spark anger
Jack Straw angers Muslim groups by suggesting community relations can suffer if women wear veils. ............."(bbc)



"Met defends Muslim officer move
Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson
Paul Stephenson says the move was not down to political correctness
A Muslim police officer was excused duty guarding Israel's embassy for safety reasons, Scotland Yard has said.
The Sun newspaper said the officer was reassigned on "moral grounds" as he objected to Israeli actions in Lebanon.
The Diplomatic Protection Group officer, named as Pc Alexander Omar Basha, had Lebanese relatives. ................."(bbc)

Even after the events of the last few years, Britain continues to wrestle with itself about muticulturalism. Pre 9-11 and pre London bombings, British people would have agreed that a religious hotpot, and variety of cultures was indeed how we wanted the landscape of our society to be. Now people are not so sure. Here are a couple more articles in today's press...




"Pope meets Muslim envoys: Your reaction

Can the Pope calm relations between the Catholic Church and Islam?

The Pope has expressed "total and profound respect" for the Muslim faith after meeting envoys from more than a dozen predominantly Muslim countries........."(bbc)


"Meanwhile in France, a philosophy teacher is under police protection after receiving death threats over an op-ed article [French text here] which he wrote in a national newspaper. In the article, which was published in the conservative daily Le Figaro of September 19th, Robert Redeker accused Islam of “exalting violence.” Mr Redeker has not attended classes at his school near Toulouse since the article was published."(time)


Surely tolerance has to work both ways.It is interesting to note that actively being Christian is illegal and can lead to the death penalty in some countries.
As 'children of Abraham' isn't it time we started to live and let live?

joke

ASDA

One day, in line at the company cafeteria, Jack says to Mike behind him, "My elbow hurts like hell. I guess I better see a doctor."


Listen, don't waste your time," Mike replies. There's a diagnostic computer up at Asda. Just give it a urine sample and the computer will tell you what's wrong and what to do about it. It takes ten seconds and costs five
quid.... ....a lot quicker and better than a doctor".

So Jack deposits a urine sample in a small jar and takes it to Asda. He deposits five pounds and the computer lights up and asks for the urine sample. He pours the sample into the slot and waits.

Ten seconds later, the computer ejects a printout:

"You have tennis elbow. Soak your arm in warm water and avoid heavy activity. It will improve in two weeks".

That evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was, Jack began wondering if the computer could be fooled.

He mixed some tap water, a stool sample from his dog, urine samples from his wife and daughter and masturbated into the mixture for good measure.

Jack hurried back to Asda, eager to check what would happen. He deposited the required £5, poured in his concoction, and awaited the results.

The computer printed the following:

1. Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener - Aisle 5.

2. Your dog has ringworm. Bathe him with anti-fungal shampoo - Aisle 11.

3. Your daughter has a cocaine habit. Get her into rehab.

4. Your wife is pregnant, with Twins. They aren't yours. Get a lawyer.

5. If you don't stop playing with yourself, your elbow will never get
better....

........and thank you for shopping at Asda

rainy sunday

sent by Giles-thanks

september pics2

indian summer in lancashire

mealtimes are always manic

out with the boys

sunday at the pub-burscough lancashire24.9.06

at grandma's

in the pub-24thseptember

september pics

mum's garden-24th sept
my garden-15th sept
24th sept-pub by the canal(Lancashire)
Joseph's 1st day at primary school
batboy

top geezer

It was a shame to hear about that guy from Top Gear having an accident, and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.
It is interesting to notice the difference in the way the news has been received here, than the way Australians reacted to the death of Steve Irwin.
I honestly felt like puking at the 'tributes' expressed for 'a top Aussie bloke!', ' a fair dinkum Aussie!', 'Australia's son', amongst others.
I saw kids queuing up for tickets to his memorial. I heard the most god awful f**ing song ever, it went something like this: crocodile hunter, crocodile hunter he was the greatest ever Aussie crocodile hunter....
He was praised as the most Australian of men, a true Aussie, an Aussie hero- F**K OFF!!!
It is 2006, and Australia is still so insecure that it has to make everything a nationalist, cultural issue?
Will anyone call the Top Gear guy a 'true Brit' or an example for all real British men?-will they hell.If they did , an almighty racist shout would go out, and rightly so.
Richard Hammond is a clever, interesting and funny guy who is a good TV presenter, and who knows a lot about cars, FULL STOP. The same could be said about Steve Irwin-just replace cars with crocodiles, and not too sure about the clever(I never saw Top Gear guy drive at 300 mph with his kids in the car), but he(Irwin) was entertaining.
What doesn't need to be mentioned continuously is a person's nationality.

Incidentally, when David Attenborough checks out, that will be a day to mourn, but not for the loss of the 'British' King of animals, but for the 'Father' of animal documentaries

Thaksin signs for the reds-coup for Liverpool!

The Thai Prime Minister, having nowhere to go because of the military coup cunningly planned whilst he was on holiday in New York is coming to Liverpool. Thaksin Shinawatra is an avid Liverpool fan, and now released from the dreariness of downtown Bangkok, will be renting a terraced house in Anfield, just in time for the Newcastle match tomorrow night.He may actually buy the club, if he can get to his money, otherwise he plans to open a Thai restaurant inside the Kop itself.

Thai fans outside Anfield

Earthquake in Hong Kong!!-thanks Don

http://iron-brew.blogspot.com/2006/09/earthquake.html


Small-intensity earthquake shakes Hong Kong

Caroline Kim and agencies

Friday, September 15, 2006

A small-intensity earthquake rattled Hong Kong Thursday night, causing skyscrapers to shake and sending worried people running into the streets.

The Hong Kong Observatory said it recorded a tremor, measuring 3.5, or minor, on the Richter scale, in waters near Hong Kong, at 7.53pm.

The epicenter was initially determined to be in the sea around Dangan Island, about 36 kilometers south- southeast of the territory.

The State Seismological Bureau in Beijing said the quake struck about 40km off the coast of Hong Kong in the South China Sea.

Police said there were no initial reports of injuries or casualties, but local radio stations were inundated with telephone calls and e-mails.

English teacher Kate Hodgson said residents in Shek O on Hong Kong Island ran into the streets after the tremor struck.

"I was lying on my bed reading a book when out of nowhere the walls and furniture started to shake. The whole house moved," she said.

"I didn't know what it was because I had never felt anything like it before," said Hodgson, who picked up her nine- month-old baby Mathilda and left her house.

She said the streets of the village were full of people wondering what had happened.

Martine Montagne, 46, who has lived in Hong Kong for 11 years, said her building in Tai Tam shook for about three seconds.

"I've lived in earthquake zones before but I've never experienced anything like this in Hong Kong," she said.

Many residents throughout the territory reported buildings and furniture shaking for several seconds.

Wong Wing-tak, senior scientific officer at the observatory, said an earthquake of such a small intensity is very common around the world and there was no cause for alarm.

"The possibility of more tremors afterwards is remote," he said.

According to the observatory, Hong Kong has a very small chance of experiencing major tremors since it is located about 600km from the nearest boundary with the Pacific Plate on the circum- Pacific seismic belt that runs through Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.

The strongest earthquake felt in Hong Kong was in 1918.

It had a magnitude of 7.3 and was centered at Shantou in Guangdong province, about 300km east-northeast of the territory.

The quake caused minor damages and cracks to buildings in the territory.

According to the observatory Web site, just six tremors measuring more than five on the Richter scale have hit Hong Kong since 1874.

cool!!

Hurricane Gordon

Hurricane Gordon is on it's way to the UK. Couldn't they think of a more dynamic name?

I can still remember the hurricanes of 1987 and 1991, not sure if this one will still have much power by the time it gets here.It would be nice to have some interesting weather here, I miss typhoons, and storms.This storm is supposed to raise the temperature into the high 20's, pretty good for September.
3 months until we leave for HK. The countdown begins!

Pope on a rope

So, churches in the West Bank have been firebombed. Yassar Arafat attended Christian churches in the West Bank. Would he approve? I don't think so.
Do these acts of mindless violence fuel religious hatred? I'll let you answer that.

just a joke

It must be done for Great Britain

It is a sin for an Islamic male to see any woman other than his wife naked, and that he must commit suicide if he does. It must be done for Great Britain


So next Sunday at 4:00 PM , all British women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighbourhood terrorists.
Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this antiterrorist effort. All men are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not terrorists, and to demonstrate that they think it's okay to see nude women other than their wife and to show support for all British women.
And since the Koran also does not approve of alcohol, a cold six-pack at your side is further proof of your antiterrorist sentiment.

The British Government appreciates your efforts to root out terrorists and applauds your participation in this anti terrorist activity.

LAND OF HOPE & GLORY

free speech

If I quote Hitler, does that make me a Nazi? even if my aim is to show that he was wrong. If I quote Marx, does that make me a marxist or communist? Can we now, no longer
partake in analysis of views, which may be outdated or even inflammatory? Who controls what we can say? Most countries do now have laws which make it illegal to inflame hatred and racism.Surely that is enough.
Is it my imagination or don't we hear threats of death towards infidels
and such, coming from certain areas of the globe everyday?These are shouted by prominent leaders, without comment on the streets of the west.
Incitement to violence and religious intolerance is wrong, and in this sad age of fanaticisim should be controlled.This has to be a two way street though.
The theological rambling of a man trying to promote inter-denominational peace is just that, and nothing more.Should he he apologise for discussing the views of a man who lived 700 years ago-hell no! If he does, or any other religious leaders in this country do, I may be forced to join the many marches that would follow to protect free speech.

5 years

5 years ago today, was of course 9/11, or 11/9 as it is in the UK, funny how everyone calls it 9/11.
5 years ago after finishing a really crappy teaching job that i had only accepted as it paid cash- I went to Kowloon Park to chill out, and have a couple of cans.I had just returned from the UK. Joseph was 4 months old, but was with his mother in the Philippines. I had decided that it would take too long to get Teosdee a Uk visa, and that i may not have been able to. Teosdee didn't have a Hong Kong visa either, as there were complications left over from her Domestic helper visa.
I had arrived back with less than £100 and was determined to stand on my own feet-hence the crappy job.
I was staying in Mirador Mansions-next to ChungKing mansions. I had my own room, in a guest house, which i paid nightly.
The room next to mine was full of Mongolian women earning some extra cash, I think they worked in TST East.They didn't entertain at the hostel, so it wasn't too bad. Occasionally, the South Asian guests would get pissed or whatever, and staying inside my room was mandatory.
They would often knock on the doors at night to check that none of the Indian prostitutes were there.A few years after I left, a couple of them were murdered in their room.
I can remember an Italian guy, who was sourcing for cheap textiles in China, and an English girl staying for a while-they seemed normal, but still not quite.
The room was tiny, and the door didn't open fully, as the bed was in the way. I would smoke outside on the landing, and listen to noisy goings on above and below.TST, was 'run' at that time by Pakistanis, Indians and others. These were not Hong-Kong residents but recent immigrants illegal, or semi illegal who ran the prostitutes from India and Bangladesh, and sold drugs to locals and travellers.
It was a dangerous place at night, full of people whose religion apparently forbade drinking and drugs. It was impossible to spend all your nights laying down, so I used to hang out at the 7/11 downstairs.
I was never bothered, but saw plenty of bother." Hey man! you wanna drink beer?", these drinking Muslims were friendly to me-the long haired westerner. The prostitutes would nod at me, but knew that I could never seriously be interested. The drug addicts were drug addicts, I would buy them a can of beer-if they didn't ask.I wouldn't if they did.
I spent 3 months there, saving, trying to balance 'cash work' with getting a decent monthly paying job.This wasn't easy when the rent was due every night.

This takes me back to Kowloon Park, on the evening of September 11th.
I didn't have that night's rent, so I was hanging out until my landlady had gone home, and the Northern Chinese girl, who didn't speak a word of English or Cantonese was on reception(a few doors down).She wouldn't ask me for money, as the next day was generally okay.
My room did have a TV, and after I had closed my door, pleased not to have to explain my lack of rent, I settled down to eat my noodles.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing or seeing.The first plane had just crashed.There is 12 hours time difference between HK and New York. I sat there for hours transfixed, shocked, and suddenly feeling a little scared being surrounded by so many Muslims.
I went out onto the landing to have a smoke, no longer caring about the landlady, I needed air, it was too much to take in, in that cramped space-alone.
I went down to 7/11, got some supplies, stayed for a while to hear and share reactions.
News is not the greatest forte of HK tv, and the chance to watch rolling coverage from the US was too much of a temptation for me, I watched the coverage overnight, and grudgingly dragged myself away the next day for work.
Over the next few weeks tensions heightened between myself and a few of our Muslim brothers, as I got into heated arguments outside the 7/11. It never came to blows though, even as the war in AAfghanistan got underway.
I was glad to get out to my own flat and bring my family over in December.
Over the next 5 years I dropped by occasionally to remind myself of the sights and sounds, and the danger outside the 7/11 or is that 11/9 in English?