Out of the strong came forth sweetness

»via the Londonist

At Samson's wedding, he posed a riddle to his thirty Philistine groomsmen:

Out of the eater came forth meat,
Out of the strong came forth sweetness.

I hope he told them that they were supposed to guess a scene, for I could make neither head nor tail of the riddle at first.

The answer is the scene depicted on the tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup.  Fascinating.    (The rest of the story between Samson and the Philistines is however rather violent and testosterone-filled I am afraid.)



Note: I have seen and prefer a more rhyming phrasing: "Out of the eater came forth meat, out of the strong something sweet". However, the above is what appears in Abram Lyle's bible and the King James' bible.

Wizard of Oz with Wicked Pink Floyd

It's American Culture Week at Goodenough and they decided to screen Wizard of Oz for Sunday Morning Coffee. The poster asked you to »download certain Pink Floyd tracks to bring along. What a fantastic idea.

So after a space of 20 years, I watched Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd, coffee and cake on a languid Sunday morning. Technicolours and the hilarious lion tail were worth waking up to. And all the references in Wicked the musical came back with much more meaning now.

Highly recommended.

Lion dance

Seeing one always makes me beam. I love their flirty ears and eyes.

Ms L was telling me yesterday that the ones in London's Chinatown had problems coordinating their legs. I told her that I once saw a lion dance where they just spit out the oranges wholesale like cannonballs.

P.S. You can't see it in the video, but one of the cymbals guys is an Indian. That's Singapore for you.

Lion at Sotheby's

via »the Londonist

Checked out Sotheby's with Mr R a couple of nights ago as we were in the area.  And there it was, the petite, 3,200-year-old Madame Sekhmet above us, fully exposed to the elements.  I have to agree with Mr R that "it is a little underwhelming".

Maybe I should check her out again in daylight.

Getting along quite fine indeed

The scene is this: It is dark and drizzling outside, an unusually comfortable 15ºC. I am in a Uniqlo ribboned top in plum and über-slim-leg H&M jeans (both being what the fall season dictates). My window is half-open, so my basil plant and me are getting a nice stream of cool air to counter the heater who's permanently on prozac. »Classic FM is playing on my »digital radio which I won from a Sudoku game in »Big Issue, I have cleared all my books and notes off the table and made myself a cup of hot chocolate (Clipper™ Organic Drinking Chocolate - "Just add hot milk" - preferably organic too, I might add). I am sitting down to go through my to-do list, when it dawned on me that today marks the start of my third month in London.

Salut to the two lions who are getting along quite fine indeed.

London is leonine

via the Londonist

So am I :)

Now I have to go see that toe in the Natural History Museum.

Once upon a time, there was a lion and a gazelle

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

Footsie

Camera-phone series #13.

Le basier

I wonder why no one has thought of it except Ms M. Lion dances are such great fun for a wedding!

Camera-phone series #12.

Another idiomatic equivalence

English: "Do you want to be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond?"

Mexican: "Would you rather be the tail of a lion or the head of a mouse?"

This year, HRL seems a bit more loved...

(Last year, the 2-week-old lioness in Shanghai spent it hot and sweaty in Zhongshan Park Carrefour fighting alone with the crowd and cashier… The bar was set quite low...)

By the well-prepared

Happy birthday, you lions! (Provider of the picture below)

Hey Ms Lim,
Here's wishing you a happy birthday albeit somewhat in advance! Hope you have a great year ahead and enjoy your time in Shanghai!
Figured i'd drop a note in advance as I'm gonna be on the road most of next week and internet is expensive and patchy at best in Russia.
Enjoy your birthday! Hope you get great gorgeous gifts and get stupendously drunk at the wonderful birthday bash which i'm sure you're having :P

Dear Lioness,
The Aries and the Bull will be more than happy to join you in the savannah for your bday party!
And what a fantastic occasion to see a Lion ride a pink bike!!!

Your royal lioness ... would you like me to escort you to the palace tomorrow night after work??

btw I saw on ASW that ur b-day is today! So a big kiss today and a biger one tomorrow! A domani! (I think the clock on ASW is somehow jetlagged… It is tomorrow!)

By the midnight-oil burners

Happy birthday to you! Cheering with you for getting another year older and wiser. Wishing I am the No. 1 for the bthdy greeting

(Unfortunately, this beat the one above) Happy birthday… :)

Of course sleeping too, you are a young lion. Happy birthday super Joanne.

Happy birthday and many happy returns for the year!

By the just-in-time delivery folks

Happy Birthday!
I thought about you while i was sleeping .... i knew that your birthday was coming. What a sign, no?
So i hope that you will be granted what you wish for ....
But as some people wrote ... Be aware of what you wish for! :P
Diamonds cannot hurt for sure ... :)

Her Royal Lioness,
I wish you all the best in your Royal Bday... today, tomorrow and until your kingdom last...... translation: until winter (mosquitos will die... all of them!). But look it in the positive way, each year you will renew your army, and one of those they will learn not to bite you ....jejejeje. See you in the evening!.. (Context: See Frequently Asked Questions)

»Read more...

Thanks Royal Jo,
For whatever reason, the e-mail of yesterday did not arrive. But see you tonight!
Prince Charming

Dear Joanne,
my best wishes for your birthday!
Before I congratulate you personally tonight, I have two short questions…

Dearest HH aka HRL,
Happy 27th Birthday! Your plans tonight sounds fantabulous.. too bad I can't join in, Your Royal Lioness!
But, whenever HRL returns to her hometown of Lion City, her humble subject would love to take her out to the jungles (ok, maybe night safari...)
Have fun, miss yah lots and again, Happy Birthday!!!!

Good morning Madam
Happy Birthday to you!! Have a great day, at work and later pampering! See you tonight. Shengri Kuai Le!
(I took half a day off, read the Straits Times while eating bak kut teh, had a short siesta, cycled my spanking pink bike to the party venue, had a hair treatment... life's pleasures can be so simple - just with half a day off...)

By the Facebookers

• Yo, Jo. Happy Birthday!!!
• Happy Birthday!!!
• Happy birthday again… happy bday joanny!!
• Happy Birthday Jo =)
• Karen Yu is waiting to wish Joanne Happy Birthday :)
• Happy Birthday Joanne! How is life! Hope you're well!
• Thanks to facebook I learnt it’s your birthday. Happy birthday!

By the Better-Late-Than-Never

Happy belated Birthday Joanne!! or Happy Birthday! if it has not passed yet. P mentioned that you guys were celebrating your birthday last night - hope you guys had a wonderful time!

小猫咪，茉莉祝你生日快乐，昨天的晚餐吃得愉快吧

Dear Jo, I think my sms lag… Happy belated birthday… Got a present for ya… :)

Happy belated birthday and happy national day! How's dinner party?

FAQs about Her Royal Lioness

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HER ROYAL LIONESS

My dear Inter-Continental Logistics Pricing Analyst,

Please find below some answers to your questions in italics.

----- Original Message ----
From: The Inter-Continental Logistics Pricing Analyst,
To: Her Royal Lioness
Sent: Monday, 30 July 2007 1:54:33
Subject: Re: Her Royal Lioness Celebrates!

Her Royal Lioness???.. please provide a brief answer on following questions:

1) Who is the Royal Lioness?
Please note that the correct title to be used is "Her Royal Lioness", not "the Royal Lioness". Your mere impertinence with this should already have exiled you from the party but Her Royal Lioness is thankfully a benevolent ruler. As for her identity, it is a noble mystery only to be revealed on the day of celebration.

2) Why Royal? is she Princess Crown? or, the Queen? or, the Mother Queen?
She is Princess Crown to Palace No. 1401 of Jing An International Plaza, where she commands over a few annoying mosquitoes which often refuse to do her bidding not to bite.

4) Is HRH related to the British Royal family? or, the Swedish Royal Family? or, the Spanish / Danish / etc, etc?
Note again that it is HRL, not HRH. (Again, the benevolence of HRL prevails over your impertinence…) She is therefore not related to any of those stuffy and passe European lineages. But according to her great-great-grandmother, she may have some savage Mayan blood in her tracing back to Mesoamerica, so do not ever, ever doubt her royalty. (Or doubt it at your own peril...)

5) Bday is on the same day as celebration party?
Of course! HRL cannot find any reason to do it on any other day. Can you?

Her Royal Lioness Celebrates

Dear 25++ guests of Her Royal Lioness,

Her Royal Lioness is pleased to confirm your attendance for the dinner party,
beginning with some nice aperitifs at 7.30 pm at the even nicer:

Urban Tribe
133 Fuxing Lu near Yongfu Lu

Mark your calendar and see you there,
HRL

Aperitifs happily sponsored by HRL; contributions of 100 RMB for the Moroccan dinner appreciated if possible.
Vegetarians or those with dietary restrictions, please let the palace know immediately.

Big thanks to those who bought HRL a spanking new pink Chinese bicycle
and kudos to Ms P for organizing the effort!
(It will be proudly ridden to the party venue and displayed.)

=======================================================

This night of 20th December

This night of 20th December, the gazelle felt a little three-legged.

Returning to her savannah, a "Welcome back home!" greeted her in cheerful melancholy.

She staggered a little, finally able to stagger in the solitude of her own savannah after a whole day of striding. Out in the wild, striding was the only honourable way to walk, even if you are three-legged.

The gazelle staggered a few more steps towards the white haystack. But she forgot what she should have remembered before collapsing into it - the lingering scent of the lion in the haystack. (This gazelle has an incredible memory of smell. Smells for her are like the taste of madeleines for Proust.)

The scent that floated towards her was both comforting and debilitating at the same time. She could not even stagger anymore now. She burrowed her head into the softness of the haystack for a long time.

At long last, the gazelle got up and looked around. The savannah was lingering with the lion's presence. She decided to graze on some fresh grass. The nightingales decided to sang.

It was the lion's Bach in the solitude of the night.