Is it just me?

Or is it a funny coincidence how, at a time when the Russian 'administration' (I use the term as loosely as a Republican's ethics) has blundered through gas price negotiations, stands accused by Georgia of pipeline explosions - all while holding presidency of the G8 - that Britain is now accused of spying, working in cahoots with Putin's latest whipping boy - NGOs?

The story and reasoning sound daft. If it is true, then our spies and spymasters are grossly incompetent. The BBC News Q & A made me wet myself, especially the following excerpt:

Q: How would it work?
A: Without more details it is hard to be precise about how a rock and phone/PDA combination might work.

Shoot me someone, please, or call Fred Flintstone. I think he has the answer.


I now bow in homage to 'Da Bomb', for revealing to me how three of my prose pieces were actually poems. Thanks sista.

It tastes better with polenta

A note to remind anyone passing through Ealing to check out Tyme on the Uxbridge Road. They do the best curried goat in town and the ackee & salt fish is pretty mean too. I gained several pounds there last night.

Thanks to 'Da Bomb' for prodding me to enter another submission.

Thinking about: scrapbooking with a twist (need to get 'that book' back from Mia)

Plotting: a weekend break & the resurrection of 'Harry Twatts'

Charging: that funky beard trimmer

The Zippo effect

Brilliant night out at Shortfuse last night with Simon Munnery, magicians Barry & Stuart (who beautifully embarrassed Anna-Maria by pulling her up on stage) and accordian player Martin White, with a love song to the girl by the fax machine. A cracking line-up, and kudos to John, Dave & Harry Potter/Thelma (from Scooby-Doo) for making it happen.

Roll call

I am a bit pissed. First it was Richard Pryor, than the great singer Lou Rawls, and now Wilson Pickett. I think I know what i'll be listening to this weekend.

We are not a classless society

It looks like cannabis won't be reclassified from class C back to class B, despite evidence that it may damage one's mental health - especially in its more potent forms, e.g. skunk. The word on the street is that the Government will opt for an 'education' campaign on the dangers of cannabis use rather than reclassification, to avoid 'confusing' the public. The only people this furore will confuse are (print/TV/radio) media followers, and they prefer cocaine to cannabis.

Tell your skunk merchant to go and fuck his luck, and switch to the smooth and mellow taste that is sweet Mary Jane.

Always read the label.

There was a time...

...when to determine the health of an economy, you just had to survey the city skyline to observe building activity...until, that is, the last few years where the Government has been pumping in cash to prop-up the market.

What's a more reliable indicator? The number of thrift/'pound-stretcher' shops, the state of the taxi cab trade, the stress of workers at Job Centres, the number of bus routes being cut, and staffing levels for key fucntions such as nursing, firemen, etc.

On that basket of indicators things do not look good at all. In a market economy, we always have imbalances between salaries and necessities like affordable housing. The imbalance is growing, and correcting that will impact quite a few people. The next election will be quite divisive.

On a lighter note, let's check out the African Civil Aviation Commission:

"One of the most important things in choosing an airline is how safe it is. You don't want to fly out as a passenger and come back as cargo."

AFCAC President, Tshepo Peege, on 'flying coffins'

The importance of symmetry in luggage

So it's the end of a yet another week in Taiwan, with stints in both Hsinchu and Taipei. No time for a stroll or a'wander this time, but i'll be back next month, after Barcelona, Seoul and Shanghai. Shame that I will miss Chinese New Year in the region.

Reading the Taiwanese press is amusing (it's 'Partisan'). President Chen was elected upon a platform of fiery rhetoric regarding a move to claim independence from China - incensing Beijing. Chen is no longer so popular, so when the polls dip, like a machine politician, he returns to the rhetoric. What does history tell me? If the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese focus on making money (like their cousins in Hong-Kong), then the status quo will continue for at least the next generation (it takes generation changes for policies and parties to weaken - look at Eastern Europe from 1945 to 1990). There are lots of business ties (and investments) between the PRC and the ROC. Politics won't be allowed to get in the way. Not even the supreme bureaucrat Hu Jintao has absolute power.

It's a bit worrying that the administration of Chen is pursuing politics through the courts, as it chases businessmen who found legal loopholes to invest in China. If Taiwan, sharing common language, culture and history with China, cannot invest there (amongst the World's fastest growing economies), its own growth will slacken (take note India, Pakistan & Bangladesh).

In the tech sector, especially semiconductors, China cannot meet its own domestic needs. Much of their domestic needs are fairly low-tech, commodity devices. The Taiwanese can easily service this demand and still compete with the USA, Japan & Europe (especially in chips for consumer electronics, where Taiwan actually leads them, if you analyse the fundamentals) on advanced technlogies. It's a golden opportunity that the current Taiwanese administration may fumble. But then, never count the Taiwanese out.

What's happenin' - packing, mostly. I got a couple of pairs of trail running shoes to pound those lbs off, as well as some decent travel speakers for my MP3 player.

Working on - work, obviously, but also writing 'The Syndicate'

Thinking about - the line 'Beunos dias boobydoos'

Need to get - CDs, man! Also a decent microphone. Perhaps another MP3 player too - the controls on my jukebox have gone tits-up

Link for the month - A Softer World

Oh, and kudos to Aunt Patty - she has great dumplings.

Szczecin to Gdansk and back

Some pics from Poland, taken during 26/12 to 2/1 (mostly the copyright of AMK).

A stolen kiss on New Year's Eve:


Wozilla in Gdansk (frozen in position):


Fearless, post face-lift, with that new hat for Ascot:

Gutek gets it on with a chica, while Fearless gets it on with, errr....Krystof:

Product placement and branding in action, in the spa town of Soport:

Fearless plays dictator, wearing the Order of the Builder of Poland, donated by Krystof:

Leader Zero gets the crowd in a lather, promising repeats of 'Eastenders' for the domestically retarded and free porn for those struggling with puberty:

Edyta the cheerleader starts dancing as the attendees of my rally sing the new national anthem, 'Uncle Fucka'.