Lisa and the fiddle orchestra

Who moved my Blackberry?

Who Moved My Blackberry?
by Martin Lukes
Edition: Paperback
Price: £5.89

Availability: In stock


merry krimble everyone!, 23 Dec 2007


A fantastical light hearted read to take your mind off the stresses of life and have a laugh at those less fortunate than yourself. I read this in less than a day and had a good giggle to myself throughout.

Martin - the narrator is the sort of colleague you would want to punch if you had to work with him. The book exposes those sad losers working in companies who feel they need to be trendy, use abbreviations and management speak to impress but it always backfires on him making them look ridiculous- though of course he doesn't realise it.

I loved the lifestyle/business coach 'Pandora' with absolutely no business experience at all charging just £300 per hour for her 'expertise' (her background as a dancer, lived in a bedsit, had cancer but overcame it by positive thinking and of course with the right attitude millions just came to her!! as it does).

I look forward to reading the FT on a Thursday I believe to catch up with Martin's exploits at A-B my only wish is that I read this a year or two ago to give me ammunition when dealing with similarly obnoxious people as Martin.

Famiglia Moro Antonio Mestre Venezia Italia Circa 1940

We have found this old photo of my mother's family. The man standing up is my Grandfather who was a black shirt at the time - unfortunate past maybe but he wasn't to know then. My mother is the girl in white at the front and Maria who lives in London is behind her. The baby is Diana who is still living in Venice.The boy is Giusseppe who died a few years ago. My Grandmother died not that long after the picture was taken just before the war.

sarah has just had a lovely new baby 'Milla'. She was 7lb 1oz. Congratulations to Sarah and Nick

Who wants to look like Paula Radcliffe? Janet Street Porter?

Janet Street Porter was complaining on Sunday that Young people today want to look like Posh Spice rather than Paula Radcliffe. I personally do not want to look like either but I would love to have the figure of Flavia on Stricly come dancing. For someone to be an icon they have to first be glamorous. When I go to the gym now I think about attaining Flavias shape and I think others should follow- she is a great inspiration for fitness.

Amazon the vine, vine voice

I was delighted last week to be invited to be a member of 'The Vine' . Amazon promise to send me free books in exchange for honest reviews on their website. They say that a 'select' group has been invited - well I am in the top 2000. I dont know if that has anything to do with it. -

My first review is for the Sarajevo Haggadah which I started with trepedation as it looked so long but I soon changed my mind and found it one of the most interesting books I have read this year. I now intend to find out more about this amazing book and would love to see the real thing. Here is my review -

I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to preview this book prior to publication. The Sarajevo Haggadah is a real book with a turbulant history and many of the details in this well researched novel are based on historical truths. As I was curious myself about the Hebrew Codex I checked out some details and found that the book has an estimated present value of around $700 million - no wonder this rare and beautiful book has a chequered past. Geraldine Brooks introduces the story via a book conserver from Australia who travels to Bosnia to carry out sensitive restoration. The storyline then hops through a possible past as recorded and as imagined by the writer. Some of the stories are quite harrowing and I was particularly moved by the young Jewish girl who becomes a member of the partisans to save herself from extermination- not a piece of history I had been familiar with. Due to the excellent background details the stories are always plausable and each one is a fascinating insight into the real lives of people of that particular time in history. A love story runs alongside the short stories. To be honest my only slight dislike in this book is the 'Miss smartypants know it all book restorer' who I feel would probably have to be acted by Juliette Binoche or some such person if and when the film comes out. Are there really people out there with 2 degrees and a Phd in book binding, no strings or ties, incredibly beautiful - of course! flitting from country to country on UN missions to conserve valuable books? No doubt all the bright young girls at school will now want to be book binders on the strength of this. Anyhow despite my little complaint a really worthwhile and informative read.

How do people eat these things?

Field mice plague caused by worst floods in 50 years (CNN News)
The business management philosophy that one person's crisis is another's opportunity may perhaps never have been taken to such bizarre extremes.
A plague of 2 billion mice in central China was described just days ago as being so bad that it resembled a scene from a horror movie with roads and hillsides turned black with rodents.
But in a remarkable display of entrepreneurship, businessmen are catching, shipping and selling the eastern field mice, also known locally as rats, to the southern city of Guangzhou, where restaurants are reportedly offering rodent banquets to diners notorious for their unusual tastes.

This was an article written earlier this year about rats/mice being eaten in Guangzhou China.

To my delicate western taste I find many of the things on the menu in this area quite horrible to contemplate.

Breakfast even in a five star hotel means a search of what we might consider edible. There were huge vats of glutinous porridgy soup - with no mention of the ingredients. Other pans were filled with noodles in a soup and diced liver could be cooked and thrown on top by the well masked and gloved chefs on hand.

Some eggs looked normal whilst others were a dark greeny black - it was mentioned that they were preserved in horse urine.

The Chinese restaurant had a whole fridge filled with the delicacy 'river crab' which was in season at the time. I thought I would give it a whirl but found it very problematical. First it was wrapped in a plastic band and boiling hot from the steamer. There was thick river mud still on the large claws and the tools given to me were just scissors, a long pointed metal tool and some plastic gloves. I gave it my best shot but got very tired of sorting the whole thing out and gave up on the claws completely. High Cholestorol anyway I hear.

Another delicacy at the hotel were pigs ligaments - just the sound of them put me off and I dont think I could eat them without thinking of what they were.

We had lunch one day in a supermarket in Hong Kong and did not have much luck there. Again the menu had offputting items - most notable being 'steamed fish heads'. Our orders were not that pleasant and not really like the sort of food we are used to in Chinese restaurants in the UK.

Nevertheless there is some great food available. I just wish they would not mix the others on the menu

The shop window

Blow fish for dinner and we lived to tell the tale

Our supplier Eddie took us to a Japanese restaurant where we were served the delicacy Blow fish sashumi or 'Fugu". The blow fish is most often seen in aquariums rather than restaurants in UK and is a very expensive item. A Japanese chef needs years of training to prepare the fish which is highly poisonous in the liver.

This chef cut it up in to Sashimi and we ate it raw. Blow fish contains Tetrodotoxin which is around 1200 times more lethal than cyanide, one blow fish can kill 30 people. In Japan around 100 people per year die of poisoning by eating blow fish, mainly because they try to prepare it themselves.

When the fish is irritated it blows itself up and usually it dies afterward as seen on the left.

It is very delicious but I dont hold out too much hope that I will have the chance to ever eat it again. When a customer enters the restuarant all the staff shout welcome in Japanese which is quite surprising the first couple of times. We though we were famous when we walked in.

Iran from the aircraft

This amazing photo was taken from the aircraft. We flew north from Dubai up through Iran where there are some fantastic rock formations. Looking closely at the picture it is possible to see towns and agriculture.

Asian games 2007 macau

We were sorry that we just missed seeing any of the asian games in Macau as we were there on the very last day.

The ladies team from japan won gold for 5 aside football and they were celebrating in the hotel

I was glad to have seen Macau but it would not be on my list of places to visit again. It is really geared up for Chinese gamblers from the mainland and not much else.

We had a great time there nevertheless.

Dongguan to Macau

I took these photos on the way this morning. I have just got the blog facility back to will be able to add a few things we have been doing. The lady here is selling grapefruit and eating the profits - the grapefruit are humungous and turn up for breakfast. Havent tried them myself though.

These guys work a the factory we have been visiting - Orbit international and as you can see are very conciencious in all they do. China is extremelly fashionable and in the towns everyone wears the latest fashions and there really is a great choice - not as cheap as primark but very stylish things are available.

Macau the gambling capital of the far east

Macau Via the Chinese border
We were driven through 100s of miles of banana plantations and goose farms that form the livelihood of the indigenous Chinese who have not had the luck to have their land bought for development in the booming area of Guandong and we were relieved to have reached the China/Macau border. Bleary eyed we joined hundreds or were they thousands? of Chinese rushing into Macau. Some wheeling washing machines and others carrying massive bales of , I presume, clothing made in China. Many though were just strolling through with hand baggage. Organised and well staffed though they were at passport control we were puzzled by the queues formed by this massive migration. Once through and worried we would not find a room for the night we headed for the nearest travel agents and booked asap despite limited English on their part. It was later that night that we found the real reason behind the hordes crossing the border, no it was not a mass evacuation but weekend gamblers heading for the rapidly modernising sin city of ‘Macau‘. Bolstered by the big boys from Las Vegas injecting zillions into the province it is now close to being the biggest gambling den and town of vice in the world. It’s new found fortunes being based on 1. The break up of a monopoly on gambling by controlling triads in the province and 2. The huge nouveau riche Chinese so nearby and their well know love of gambling.
That night we entered the lately finished Venetia hotel built as an exact replica of the one in Las Vegas but reportedly double in size complete with singing gondoliers and a vast, eager, ready made clientele on the doorstep dying only to get on to the gaming tables and we were stunned! The interior replicates all the sights in Venice albeit in a pretty naif style but with daylight streaming into Piazza S Marco at midnight, the square lined with noodle houses and Chinese food speciality chains, remembering we are in South China and not Italy. We went with the flow and wandered the new shopping malls where 1600 US dollar silk shirts competed with tiffany diamonds to catch the eye of the prosperous gambling man and his lady about town.
The following day we headed for Macau City centre and saw the real development going ahead of unbelievably humungous new casinos - 2000 bed +. The old Lisboa and it’s former owner Stanley Po has built the most gargantuan place opposite in the shape of a lily - you wonder how it stays up and despite it not being finished it is fully operational as a Casino. Games I never knew existed are being played by ever eager to lose their money individuals in the most gold, migraine inducing surroundings I have ever seen - tasteful this is not.
However the owner of the palace of gold has tried to prove to everyone that he is cultured and has purchased the most expensive ever item of the Qing dynasty - a bronze horses head - yes I did at first think that it was a joke on the Las Vegas Barons and their links with the mafia and Frank Sinatra but he spent 64 million Hong Kong Dollars ie around 3 million pounds sterling and it is guarded 24/7 which happens to be the opening hours of the Casino it is displayed in. If you are bored for one minute there are the ever present dancing girls around the clock - they do seem to have a suspiciously similar routine to the Russians in the MP3 nightclub around the corner, who do their dancing around a pole but hey this could be ‘The Moulin Rouge’.
And sex does seem to be a big part of many a Chinese gamblers package and it is not wholly surprising considering the lack of girls in China due to certain cruel policies over the past 30 years. Yes prostitution is big business in the area. I saw weekend packages for Macau at the Hong Kong ferry terminal with ‘Sex all in!’ for the discerning man looking to enjoy the whole weekend in full. Hotels in Macau provide rich pickings for working girls from the world over and it is difficult to escape from. Foot therapy, massage (of course), VIP service, Hotel service are all covers for sexual services and whether you are in the street or innocently going back to your hotel room chances are you will be accosted by one or more of these people.
Just as we were leaving Macau the trial was beginning of the former Macau public works manager who is charged with accepting million upon million of bribes for everything from the long suspension bridge to every casino in town - so long were the list of charges that they took 5 hours to read out in court. I am going to miss old Macau now I am back in the UK. Not for the weather or the gambling, no for the gossip!

The bronze horses head on display in the latest casino

In the restaurant at the grand view hotel dongguan

The staff are helpful in deciding what we eat which is great as there are always dodgy things on the menu here ie steamed fish heads, toad and pig tendon 5 Stars for these guys though really good place we love it.

China

China
Hong Kong station is well organised. We waited behind the barrier until the time came to go and one official held up a sign for Guanjou and another used a loud hailer and we all burst through to rush for the train.
The train was clean and neat and the hostesses walked up and down with an array of different items to ply. Not at all tempting though, chicken and various slimy things in watery sauces, tea and some books in Chinese. We are hearty eaters but soon lost our appetite looking at that. Credit to them though for offering a non stop service all the way.

Going into Guandong means entering the most industrial and polluted area in the whole world. We passed tower blocks, sometimes scaffolded with bamboo and twine to quite a height - we later found out that bamboo scaffolding is the norm here and there dont seem to be any more accidents and it is environmentally friendly and light too. Shanty villages and even tent homes in the countryside. All shrouded in a fog that became thicker as we went on until it became a brown dense smog.
The taxi in Dongjian had a driver who was either very careful or totally paranoid about being robbed, he was surrounded by a cage. He seemed cautious though and sternly rebuked any misbehaving drivers on the road with his horn. Much of the area we passed is light industrial with workshops below flats. The smog makes it all look depressing.

By the time we arrived at the hotel it was so foggy that we wouldn’t have been surprised if Sherlock Homes had turned up in a hansom cab. The Grand View hotel is 5 star and the number of staff is astounding. 3 are provided in any position when one would normally do. The toilets are manned and disconcertingly they wait outside the door, turn on the tap and politely hold out a towel with both hands. A 5 dollar tip (30p)to the maid almost made her faint with gratitude.
We had to visit the executive foot therapy spa at the hotel where the masseur pummels your feet for over one hour. They are soaked in tea -well I presume that is what it was and you really get an all over massage as well. At the end it feels like new feet.

The restaurant has an area similar to the sea life centre in Bournemouth where all the fish are kept on display. Interesting but it does nothing for the appetite. I am not a fussy eater but much of the food available is quite off putting and strangely bland. I decided to try a river crab as this is quite a delicacy at the moment, male is bigger and better in October. I couldn’t believe it when it arrived. It was hot and bound in a plastic tie. They gave me scissors and a pointy tool and some gloves. In the end there wasn’t much in it and really horribly there was mud all over the claws. Hamid didn’t believe it was mud but some sort of delicacy but I didn’t take any chances and avoided touching that bit. Some of our neighbours on the next tables appeared to be munching right through the bony carcass.


The sea life centre in the restaurant where sharks fin soup, pig ligaments and eggs preserved in horse urine are all available for Chinese gastranomes

Hello missy, hello sir, do you want see copy watch?

Hong Kong must be on my list of favourite places to stay. There is a whole lot to do and see without even knowing the area. The markets were our best thing as they have so much to see. Temple street winds through many roads and you can have your palm read or buy a Breitling copy watch, have anything from a huge array of seafood in an outdoor restaurant or have your name written in Chinese.

Dubai - kitchy kitchy

After landing in Dubai we had the awful news of a 5 hour flight delay - we decided to leave the airport and take the opportunity of looking around Dubai. It is surprisingly gross and nothing like the pictures. A lot of the buildings look quite isolated, there are no people around, building is going on everywhere, it is too hot. I have made a list of the most kitch things I could find,bearing in mind we only had 2 hours.

At 4th place, the soon to be tallest building in the world which looks like something long demolished in the UK. Maybe it will look better when it is finished.

This forty foot hand holding a mobile phone - some people love it - perhaps its a work of art

This snow storm is fairly kitch but I quite like it really.

These painting were in a fake medina built to look like an old souk. They are paintings of sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum - the ruler of Dubai and the man behind all the construction work going on. Perhaps he is doing a good job, who knows. These paintings are quite funny though, cant imaging who would buy them or who would have painted them. I think they are a winner.

Here is the proof we have been in Dubai

We were surprised to see these 2 gents in Dubai airport, however it is a man looking after his very elderly father - ahhh!!

Gordon Seward the artist

Gordon Seward is an amazing artist and what is more went to school in the New Forest at the former Edinburgh House school.

The Kite Runner (Trailer)

Here is the trailer for the Kite runner

A thousand splendid suns

I have just finished this wonderful book about Afghanistan which I would recommend anyone reads. The author Khaled Housseni is now goodwill ambassador for Afghanistan in the UN

Khaled Hosseini should not just be a special envoy for the UNHCR but a world spokesperson on the plight of women who are abused and ill treated in their homes. Khaled writes with humility and empathy, fiction that is totally believable, tragic and yet proving there can be hope and redemption. The 2 women Mariam and Laila are the heroines of this story, always dignified despite the horrors of both of their situations - married at 14 or 15 to a middle aged bully in a country going through war, starvation and then controlled by the evil minded Taliban. Khaled even manages to give Rasheed - the dreaded husband a personality that has one or 2 redeeming qualities in that he does so love his son. I wouldn't wish to spoil the story for anyone but urge everyone to read this book for a view on Afghanistan and the reasons why these wicked oppressors should not be allowed to gain a foothold there again. Be prepared to ball your eyes out before the end.

I found the poem by Saib-e-tabrizi from which the title of the book comes:

Kabul Ah! How beautiful is Kabul encircled by her arid mountains

And Rose, of the trails of thorns she envies

Her gusts of powdered soil, slightly sting my eyes

But I love her, for knowing and loving are born of this same dust

My song exhalts her dazzling tulips

And at the beauty of her trees,

I blush

How sparkling the water flows from Pul-I Bastaan!

May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man!

Khizr chose the path to Kabul in order to reach Paradise

For her mountains brought him close to the delights of heaven

From the fort with sprawling walls, A Dragon of protection

Each stone is there more precious than the treasure of Shayagan

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs

And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers

Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair

Her melodious nightingales, with passion sing their songs

Ardent tunes, as leaves enflamed, cascading from their throats

And I, I sing in the gardens of Jahanara, of Sharbara

And even the trumpets of heaven envy their green pastures

Valencia furniture exhibition

Some conceptual furniture designs

This carpet looks quite interesting

The Marilyn Monroe house was a big feature at the trade fair in Valencia. This one was taken just inside the house.

We had fun taking some photos around Valencia. This one was opposite the hotel and the one on the right was a shop window in the town.

Mean and moody

Same roundabout same day.

Valencia roundabout

We were staying at the Eurostars Gran Valencia and this monument is on the Roundabout opposite. Not quie sure what it represents but it seems to be made of lots of ceramic rings. I love the colour. I really wanted to climb up it but it is full of water with a sort of pool at the top.

David Miliband and blogging

I met David Miliband at the Marsham Court

I understand he is also into blogging and is even meeting Angelina Jolie next week

See his blog at David Miliband Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural ...

The feminine feminist

A recent survey has shown that in the UK girls under 25 are now earning more than boys of the same age. In medical schools the proportion of girls are now higher than men. Girls are generally more successful in education aside from maths and it seems that even in countries where women are considered to be repressed the girls will still take advantage of every opportunity and outshine the men. In Iran for example the majority of engineers are now ladies.We are seeing a possible lady president in the running for the US. Germany has a female president who appears to be doing a competent job. Liberia has at long last got a stable government and hey guess what? It is run by a woman.I do not think that it is that likely that these young people are going to shift position and the probability is a future where women are in more positions of authority. At long last effective contraception has ensured that women do not have to look forward to a life of drudgery and now have the courage to strike out on their own without the yoke of traditional values to carry.But oh dear what is going to happen to those middle aged menfolk we see frequenting the bars and restaurants for their boozy 'business' lunches and the same people who indulge in the old golf course challenge in the middle of the working week. I believe a lot of golf courses will go out of business alongside the traditional lunchtime boozer. Why is it only men that 'have to 'conduct their business dealings in this manner? Can anyone imagine the women of the future carrying on like that ?- oh no of course not they are too busy working and overtaking these tired old soaks. A woman knows that her client is too busy for such nonsense and although she may well visit her customer she ties all the business up in no time leaving everyone free to get home and have a proper meal with their family, suits everyone all round.What I find amusing about the old business bender is that:1. Business is never discussed - that would be rude wouldn't it

2. It's the same old friendly clients that are taken out to eat - so no new business development there

3. The game of golf is just as bad after all what would you do if your client cannot play - drop him?

4. How on earth can women join in on all of this without seeming like a complete tart and upsetting her boyfriend/husband by coming home smelling of drink after having lunch with some old guy she knows and has to butter up?No no no it just won't work.

The business lunch and round of golf will soon go the way of Top hats and tails for the office. Business will become hyper efficient and all concerned will have time for the important things in life - making money, our loved ones and enjoying ourselves with the people we really want to be with.

Suzanne Moore Sunday Mail reporter

Lauren Booth and Suzanne Moore and a man in the middle who we understand spins for Gordon Brown. All were a good laugh.

Champagne socialists at the Labour conference 2007

This is my friend Rob who is a bit of a hard line labour supporter and we are at the New Statesman reception at the Royal Bath

Alliance Leicester at the Labour Party Conference

Peter Brownbill and his colleague of Alliance and Leicester were very upbeat about the bank's performance.

Labour Party conference Bournemouth 2007

We attended a reception held by the New Statesman at the Royal Bath. Here is John Snow having a good time.

Michael Palin New Europe

I was passing the bookshop in Picadilly and managed to get Michaels Palins new book signed by him. He was as ever very genial and the book looks very interesting. Having been to several of the places he writes about I was very pleased to read about them in the book.

Wicked at the Apollo theatre Victoria

I saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria yesterday. I am sure there were loads of regulars in the theatre as the whistling and cheering was quite unusual. The scenes are spectaclular and particularly like the arrival at the Emerald City with costumes worthy of a Cecil Beaton Tableaux. Some of the special effects are amazing and the show moves on with a fast pace. I was pleased with the tickets as they were only £15.00 for the matinee and we were moved to the front of the circle. Also went by megatrain for just £24.00 return which makes it a very economical day out on a weekday.

Proms in the Park

I thought I captured a pretty good picture of Leslie Garret especially as I was so far away

Leslie Garret, Will Young and Terry Wogan. A really great event.

Juan Garcia and Carl Davis conducting

We also saw this rather mysterious figure in the crowd. Looks a bit like this guy pictured on the right.