The Tiley and Tolley foot stool

Thank you for everyone's interest. For those not in the know, here's how it looks like. The Tiley and Tolley foot stool is 8" tall and is available for the very reasonable price for £2.  (Original price: £80)

Hope

The pelican that got a shower in time, and the pelican that didn't

   

Credits: »Jim Wilson, Gerald Herbert | New York Times

The BP oil spill. Appalling, the amount of damage we are doing to this earth.



Postscript: A painter at the brunch table a couple of days ago remarked that the media has been so focused on the ecological damage that we seem to forget that 11 men who also died in the explosion.   They are remembered here, this minute, this Bank holiday.

Fear mongering

Such as »this is not just analysis. It is irresponsible.

So what's the point of doomsday predictions with no solutions? To tell everyone to short Greece? So that the prophecy will fulfil itself and you can become famous?

Clever tube ads

Suffolk Festival of Music, Dance and Speech -
"Come to your senses."

Sperm bank seeking donors (apparently demand always outstrips supply) -
"This is the real banking crisis."

This is after all the city where you see book ads on tube station billboards.

ETAs for London-bound postcards

From Guatemala: 22 days
From New Orleans: 5 days
From Hong Kong: 17 days (volcanic ash period)
From Pittsburgh: 6 days (Christmas period, first-class mail)
From Taipei: 6 days

From Tibet?  Based on a previous journey to Singapore, 6 months by mule express.

Yoshimaninov

I laughed. That's a name fit for an aficionado.

It seems like he's a Japanese concert pianist who also »hosts a impressive collection of classical music videos on youtube.

Better days

Currently: May 11, 5ºC, heater on, socks on.

Why bother jumping out of the way of a speeding car?

Because it is interesting to set yourself a challenge in an age of abundance.

(In addition to far more urgent and obvious reasons of course.)

I »pledge to:

1. Continue doing laundry at the lowest temperatures because it is also good for my clothes.
2. Continue relying on natural light in the day because I also have the most gorgeous view.
3. Continue separating out my trash because they have already made it so easy.
4. Chuck a folded plastic bag in every of my bags, because conference pears and fresh milk keep badgering me to bring them home. 
5. Spend only on good quality and design, picking up mundane items like holepunchers from thriftshops. (There're a ton of mundane stuff in our lives that don't need to be new at all.)
6. Never throw another battery into the trash out of laziness unless »the country doesn't have battery recycling bins.
7. Plug my phone charger in a conspicuous socket so that I will turn it off when not in use.
8. Use the stairs on the way up, instead of just on the way down.
9. Reduce the amount of trash I generate to one bag per week.  (Currently 1.5)
10. Switch off common area lights in the day even though I don't pay the utility bills.

Finally, I pledge not be affected by sniggering folks who are too cool to do anything, or too blasé to have hope.


P.S. I'm still reeling from the revelation that flying is the worst thing an individual can do to her carbon footprint.  I'd have to think of how I can adjust my penchant for travel to this unfortunate fact of life.

Not Queen's English

US Internal Revenue Code (1986), §954(c)(6).

I checked: thru is not picked up by Microsoft spell-check.

总有一扇门走得过

Salomé

Salomé and the beheaded St John the Baptist in »Saura's rendition of the biblical story.

The bewitching Dance of the Seven Veils scene is »here.  His other films look so delicious too, especially Fados.

End of my indulgent diversion from work.  Must get back now. 

Goodenough Colours

Both Beer on Piano and Snowy Prints had the good fortune to be shortlisted and blown up into A3. I was flattered and happy.

Then Magic Hour took home the cake. Super many thanks to Ms K for the über surprise by keeping things so secretive!

For those who haven't, you can see them »here.

Your world is 360

Hence, no need to be too fixated.

Spring croquet

Taking a very enjoyable 1.5-hour break from transfer pricing, I had tea, nibbled on scones and played croquet for the first time. 

Birds' nests

We like having neighbours to call on.

Gülhane Park, Istanbul.

Ottoman signature

Downward dog

Credits: Oscar and »mandytay

Downward dog can be such a ton of work:

(a) when you've just rolled out of bed, esp on Saturday at 9 am; or

(b) when your German yoga teacher does a punishing variation of elbows on floor (exactly like Oscar in the photo) and down dog - plank - down dog - plank - down dog - plank...

虹桥机场

我刚在王建硕的博客看到了»虹桥机场新航站楼的照片，想起了我以前在乱糟糟的虹桥机场等一小时出租车的情景。

上海在就我不经意的时候，长大了。

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.

Blue Mosque

很晒

Waiting in line at the Blue Mosque.

Larling's expression here always makes me laugh.

Flag at Bebek

Flag at Taksim Square

Chasing sheep

Cappadocia, Turkey. We chanced upon Mustafa the shepherd. He chased after his flock. We chased after him.

Say hi to them in full-screen »here.

Harmonie

That's the name of my fountain pen, I found out today.

And I FINALLY found someone who is able to locate and order in a replacement nib from France.

Ecstatic!

Straight-talking London

I was half an hour late for an appointment today because there were severe delays on the Picadilly Line.  The announcement said that this was "due to a person under a train at Wood Green station".

Not "problem", not "accident", but "person under a train".

Right.  That's a bit too vivid for me bright and early in the morning.

It's the second time I have come across this.  The first time, I had read it on a notice board like »this and it left me disturbed for the night.  Apparently between the tube and rail, there is at least one occurrence in the UK every day.


Postscript: I have just read about an iPhone app that expedites refund applications for tube delay.  I didn't know that TfL offer »refunds for tube delays of more than 15 minutes that are within their control.  Maybe that's why they are so blunt.  Sorry, not our fault this time.  Don't bother with the refund.

À la recherche du temps perdu

New Orleans.

More fractals

Photo credits: Simon Tatham

The fascinating results you get when you graphically map how the Newton method finds an approximation to multiple roots, and homes in on them.

From the »very simple and readable NYT column on mathematics by Steven Strogatz.  During the languid days of being a data-entry clerk in between high school and university, I devoured a couple of pop math books from the library.  The interest has remained since.

Tragedy of the commons

If the shared printer runs out of paper, is it the responsibility of the last person who caused it to run out to refill it, or is it that of the unlucky person who next tries to print?

Today I refilled it and also taped up the annoying cover which keeps falling off. Then someone returned my favorite sock which I had left behind in the dryer.

It's nice when people take the trouble.

(But humans tend to try to get away with doing as little as possible. We're all a bit shitty that way.)

Of course there will be great presidents again

via »New York Times

And so in the end, after scoring clients and conquering the world, this is what we become.

Here is another »endearing letter.  I wish I could see it in its original handwriting and stationery.

The stegosaurus veg

Ok, that's just the »romanesco sitting on my takeout box.

But if I were teaching my kid about dinosaurs, I would serve this fascinating creature on his dinner plate. (It's quite tasty actually.) And while we are at it, we might as well learn about »fractals and »logarithmic spirals too.

Perrier-Jouët at Harvey Nichols

[Embedded slideshow. Click on original post to view it.]

Get there before 5 pm if you want a seat.

The cult following at Monmouth Coffee

Rhubarb, 82p per 100g

Make bread while the sun shines

Octopus

Feijoa fruit at Borough Market

A complex guava with hints of soursop and other delicious tones which I can't put my finger on. Pity it's £1 each (they're only the size of an egg), if not I'd have bought more. 

Royal Photographic Society port talk

Andrew Ritchie, director of »my residence college, looks on as Rosemary Wilman, the President of »RPS, gives a port talk. I decided to keep him underexposed as I quite liked the light.

The quick brown fox

Was not jumping over the lazy dog. It was scurrying along my pavement at night in such a sad state, with a big patch of missing fur on its side.

Heartbreaking.

Helmet heartthrob

While the other gals were ogling over Chanel bags (one or two which are no doubt quite worthy of ogling), I was eyeing this at Selfridges.

But actually, my dream helmets are these ones from »Les Atelier Ruby.

And oh yes, having access to a bike would be nice.

And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils

Scented daffodils on a bluesy day.

I just found out that daffodils is simply the common name for narcissus.

A Single Man

Rushed past the poster at the tube last night. Walked backwards to look at it.



And ooo, just take a look at »this delicious scene.

Little basil is home

It was a bit homesick despite the best efforts of Ms F, but it's now happy it's home.

What a strange and yet attractive notion to have something so entirely dependent on you.  I think I'm finally starting to understand the allure of the damsel in distress.

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.

A beautiful night at the opera

That's how Mr D describes his daughters.

Dressed up fruits

Movie star

At Soho Square in the beautiful sun.  The downside of fixing a 50mm on a non-full-frame is obvious here: you really need to step back. But for the price, no complaints.

We also bumped into two photographers who asked us to be their portrait subjects. One was the flash man, holding a stand-alone flash which was fired via radio frequency (i.e. no cords required). Very interesting, I hadn't seen these gadgets before.

f2.0

Testing my new 50mm f1.8 II on not very healthy leaves at Changi Airport.  I wanted the cheapest possible lens for days I don't feel geeky enough to lug a big bag.  What a world of difference from the 17-55! (130g vs 645g)

Sinewy fist on clutch

Which saw me through school and drove me everywhere for the past 30 years.

Ten red lights and one green light

Finally :)

Hats

Love hats. For the possibility of walking among falling snowflakes.

(Heads turning a bonus.)

追风

我特别迷恋某些感觉。

»骑单车的感觉、被舞伴转得眼花花的感觉、裙子飘飘然的感觉、»"let's just go"的感觉。

原来他们的共同点就是那阵风。

Sweep me off my feet.

Contributions to the world

#1: Making my 70-year-old aunt cry with laughter
(I share this honour with my dad.)

#2: Helping people in libraries, shops and homes reach for the high shelves
(Happened even in Germany; I was quite flattered.)

#3: Making complex subjects accessible to laymen
(E.g. healthcare, economics. Seems like more needs to be done - one of my young students wanted to deny miners voting rights for central bankers because he thinks central bank policies are too difficult for the former to comprehend.)

Eight German Diptychs

[Embedded slideshow - click »here if you don't see anything.]

举头望明月

Duchamp's lego giraffe

From Mr Heising

You can meet him »here.

Modern-day Sisyphus

Doing penance in front of the Reichstag.

Mr Beer Belly, Mrs Boobs and friends

Near Alexander Platz in Berlin. I think the festival was a statement about global warming.  (Presumably because it is a leap of faith during a Berlin winter, to believe that global warming is actually happening .)

»Click for bigger version.

Baby bike, Hannover

Mum and kid went into the »Landesmuseum after parking the bike.

In Berlin we like to drive our convertibles in -10ºC

P.S. to car aficionados: What make and model is this?

The poverty of morality

I came across this when proofreading Ms F's personal statement the other day. She worried about the poverty of morality in our age, about our children who would grow up to be gifted scientists, brilliant bankers and powerful businessmen without a moral compass.

It is an issue I had I alluded to »previously and which occupies my mind every so often. In the notebook that I carry around, I had the following scribbled:

"These days, it has become fashionable to be blasé. To reduce everything to: 'Oh, it's all relative.' It is the one evergreen balm for our conscience if it is ever pricked by something we do. It has  become politically incorrect, even bigoted to suggest that someone is wrong.  For how can anyone be wrong?"

I was recently propositioned to write essays for an essay mill (i.e. to do someone's homework) for £100 per essay. I was tempted, but eventually I said no.

Perhaps this is why I will remain poor. Or in fact, maybe I am not poor enough, because as someone remarked earlier this afternoon, "We are all prostitutes. It is all a matter of price."

*    *    *

I now return to my half-watched Episode One of the Harvard Justice series: http://www.justiceharvard.org/. Do yourself a favour and watch it too (at least the trailer bit on the homepage). Michael Sandel is very provocative and it's interesting to hear how the students' comments on the moral dilemma.

Ms F: One small step that Harvard is taking to assuage your worry.

Snow prints

Instructions on how to comb the hair

So. The man will comb his hair without a mirror, working his open hand through it. The woman will make her reflection into a tower or treetop, whatever peak, where the lines of storm and the blue mark of the broody kingsfisher can be found. She'll know how to stem sweetly that flow from tenuous high tides, how to light the fires of remembrance without smoke. To comb the hair will be to take auguries for the rising day, give shape to the lover's secret thought, instruct from the blood the son not yet born.

When it comes to children, let the air comb them.

- Julio Cortázar, 'Historias de Cronopios y de Famas'

The parents of this boy are the lovely folks who invited me to share their New Year's Eve.  He has exactly the same tousled hair as his father, it's amusing to watch.

Brilliantly translated names

I first noticed it last May in a Hong Kong newspaper article on their top judges. Reading the (Chinese) text gave me the impression that all of the judges were local, so I was surprised to see non-Chinese faces in the photos on the facing page. Delving into the captions, I realized that it was because the foreign judges have all been given very authentic Chinese names. Superb translators they have in Hong Kong, I thought to myself.

Today. I was poring over a judgment of Lord Hoffmann when I clicked on »a wiki link of him and chanced upon his wonderfully translated Chinese name: 贺辅明. (Lord Hoffmann is one of the non-permanent judges in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.) It prompted me to look up the Chinese names of the other non-Chinese judges in Hong Kong.

These are some of my other favourites (I'll let the Lords appear first out of deference):

• Sir Anthony MASON - 梅师贤爵士
• Lord MILLETT - 苗礼治勋爵
• Lord SCOTT - 施广智勋爵
• Justice MACKINTOSH - 麦健涛法官  (Very nice, especially in Cantonese.)
• Justice ROGERS - 罗杰志法官
• Justice STONE - 石仲廉法官   
• Justice STOCK - 司徒敬法官 (Probably my top pick.  Absolutely brilliant incorporation of a double-word surname.  The Cantonese also sounds exactly like 'Stock'.)
• Mr Justice BOKHARY - 包致金法官 (This is not particularly eye-catching, but wait.)
• Mrs Justice BOKHARY - 包钟倩薇法官 (They incorporated her husband's Chinese surname in front of her maiden name - the way we do!)
• Mr CASEWELL - 祁士伟先生 
• Mr DUFTON David John - 杜大卫先生  (Note to self: Make use of both the first and the last names.)

I have often been asked to translate names of my non-Chinese friends on the spot and I have always been reluctant to do it for good reasons.  This reinforces my belief: a Chinese name should sound Chinese and have a proper meaning.

A shrimp paste and salted vegetable life

To describe a hard life, you liken it in my country to the lowest of everyday food, i.e. belachan (Malay for shrimp paste) and 咸菜 (Chinese for salted vegetables).

Hence, nasib belachan and 咸菜命 (typically pronounced as 'giam chai mya' in the Hokkien dialect as salted vegetables is common to Hokkien dishes.)

Both are delicious by the way. Ooo, I am just six weeks away from them!

Credit to the very funny Ms A for sharing her phrase.

British daffodils

It's a priceless feeling to wake up to blooming daffodils on a wintry 1st Jan.