Parannoying

I'm paranoid about some things.

I hate it how when you pay for something with your credit card, they give you a receipt with the numbers ALL on it, including the expiry date. That is just dumb.
So I bought a small, cheap shredder a couple of years ago and I shred all that stuff.
I mean, think about. If you picked up some random credit card receipt with that info on it, you could go online and start buying stuff. 2 seconds of research on the web might give you a billing address and you're in 'business'. If it was in the trash with a bank statement, wow, hello PRADA.
So, I'm paranoid about that stuff.
What about digital data? Throwing out a back up CD or DVD that didn't burn correctly or it's out of date? Well, best you destroy that mutha first. I use a huge box cutter and cut the crap out of the surface, and break it up. Old hard drive? Drilling practice.
I see some shredders now have CD/DVD shredding to crunch it up into bits...that's cool.

Anyway, check out this story. It's quite funny, but it goes to show what can happen if an old hard drive gets into the wrong hands, and more importantly that a little privacy paranoia is not a bad thing.

http://www.amirtofangsazan.blogspot.com/

PC World article on wiping Hard Drives
The torn up credit card application on Cockeyed
Why you need a paper shredder

Sailing in the Z

I grew up sailing. My Dad built a Nolex 22 trailer sailer around 1977, and we took family holdays in it for years. It was a 4 berth glass over ply yacht, painted bright yellow and called "Kowhai Manu" which, in Maori, means yellow bird.
We sailed it around some of the beautiful lakes and coast of NZ.
When I was 9, he built me a racing dingy called a P-Class, which is a 7 foot wooden boat with a large sail. P-Class's are a NZ design since the 20's and really are a NZ institution - every significant kiwi sailer usually started in a P. Some of the more well known kiwi sailers are:
Peter Blake
Russell Coutts
Dean Barker
Chris Dickson
Peter Lester
Grant Dalton
Leslie Egnot
Digby Taylor

NZ is famous these days as the only nation to ever successfully defend a challenge for the America's Cup outside US waters. NZ's fixation with the America's cup started when Australia won it in 1983, and NZ decided to challenge Australia for it in 1987 in a boat called "KZ7". It was a classic story, including a "BandAid" type celebrity song called "Sailing Away" that all kiwis bought a copy of to help find the challenge. We didn't win, but we learnt a shit load about 12m yacht racing, including the biggest wanker of them all, Dennis Conner. After that were a couple of challenges for the cup in San Diego, much of in in court rather than on the water as rules were bent, broken and ignored.
1995, NZ got really serious, and built a black boat, NZL32, or "Black Magic" which totally kicked ass and finally lifted the cup off the Americans. The same competition saw the Australian boat sink in the opening round, which absolutely delighted kiwis the world over.
1999 saw the first NZ based Challenge, and that injected billions into NZ as global fat cats came down to eat fresh NZ lobster with NZ wine while watching the races just outside of Auckland, and left with titles to coastal property all over NZ. Some would say this was the beginning of the property boom in NZ (subsequently fuelled by Lord of the Rings, and 9/11)
NZ defended the cup and soon prepared for another onslaught in 2003. Russell Coutts, the man who helmed both the win in San Diego and the defense in NZ, was bought by a Swiss team called "Alinghi" much to the horror of the nation. I have never seen such passionate anger over a sport as happened when Russell went to the Swiss. The 2003 campaign Team NZ logo was called "Loyal".
Russell took with him some key players of the previous NZ team, so the writing was on the wall for NZ in the 2003 series, which saw the cup lifted from NZ by Alingli, crewed mostly by Kiwis who were paid millions.

I was lucky enough to meet and talk sailing with Peter Blake around 1982 when I was 12, and it was a tradgedy when he was murdered in 2001 while on a Environmental Awareness expedition in the Amazon.

100% Pure NZ Sailing website
The America's Cup wiki
Sir Peter Blake
Red Socks

Taking on the world

I read a good book about once a year. I mean a paperback type book. Maybe twice a year if I am lucky, but generally I don't have enough regular spare time to have a good book on the go.
So, usually when I have the chance to have a vacation(a relaxing type, not a visit-the-family type), it is time to buy a good book.
On our recent trip to Phuket, I didn't have anyidea what I was looking for, but I spotted "Taking on the world" by Ellen MacArthur.
I've watched a documentary on this remarkable woman a while ago, and the book is an autobiography of her journey up to and including her first solo yacht race around the world.
Ellen's book is a great read, and I couldn't put in down til it was done. Very inspiring, and really got me thinking about buying or building a yacht at some stage in the future. (I'll just add it to the list shall I?)

Ellen MacArthur's Site

Video killed the Jpeg star

Everyone's got broadband now it seems, and gone are the days of waiting for pictures to load on webpages.
Videos are all the rage now, with several video hosting communities now very popular.
One I see coming up more and more is youtube.com
You can search for whatever you like, and there are home-made movies, funny clips, favourite moments, you name it.

Here's a great clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn6MvtomrsA

Check it out, it's a awesome clip of MotoGP highlights. Even if you're not into bike racing, this is really worth a watch. Check out these guy's wheeling and 2 wheel drifting like they do it aaaaall day. You'll see Valentino Rossi feature quite a bit (number 46)Rossi is to MotoGP what Ayrton Senna was to F1. He is the man.

Youtube.com

Sonicrave

I have been reading a website for about 3 years now, by a guy Rob Cockerham. The site is www.cockeyed.com. It's an interesting site full of pranks, weird experiments and lost of interesting trivia type stuff.
One of my favorite stories is the one when he tried to win a Chevy Trailblazer. Especially the Epilogue on page 3.
Anyway, he has just done a blurb on 4 awesome products and the second one he chose, was the Sonicare Toothbrush. Recently, Joyce was raving about the orgasmic Sonicare also. Both these people are semi-insane, so I take them seriously.
I had to go get one of these Sonicare toothbrushes for myself.
Firstly, I have already got a Braun Electric toothbrush and 2 days ago, I thought to myself why would I possibly need another electric toothbrush?
Rob said "If you don't have a Sonicare right now, get one when you get paid, or ask for one on your birthday. They will change your life, and probably save you money at your dentist."
Joyce said "oh,oh,ohhhhhhhhhhh.......It's the best money I've ever spent"

So that was it, I went to the 3C and got one. They had three models, but the guy subtlely pointed out the NEW model, the e7300 elite. (like I was ever going to buy any other model)

Well, firstly....it is friggen amazing....and orgasmic. They were not lying to me. I used it 6 times the first night.
So why is it so good? Let me explain. My last braun toothbrush died about 6 months ago, and when I got a new one I took the old one to bits. There wasn't much to it, just a ni-cad AA battery core and a 50 cent electric motor in it, like slotcar motor, only cheaper. They was a plastic cam arrangement (and egg shaped thing) that coverted the rotary motion into a back-and-forth jiggle. That's it. Oh yeah, and a clickclack switch to make it all happen. This is 1910 technology, people.
I haven't take the Sonicare apart (yet) but my observations indicate a few things. It has a signal type activation button, no click clack. It has beeps, it had multicolored status LEDs and programmable timer. This in DIGITAL baby - A friggen computer.
(Philips is the company that invented the CD, so it's hardly surprising)
Apart from that, it uses a classy induction charger and they say it lasts for 2 weeks between chargers, so they include a nice travel case with it - for your up-to-2-week holiday.
I have no idea what the technology is that makes the sonic head do it's digital-sonic thing, but it's amazing. I have never had teeth so clean, so easily.

So there you go. Rush out and buy one of these. It's really expensive, but if it saves one trip to the dentist, it's paid for itself like that, and I am convinced it will.

Sonicare e7300 Elite website
Cockeyed.com

Go to Phuket and Phi-Phi!!

We just got back from a short visit to Phuket and Phi-Phi Islands, in Thailand. These places both featured prominantly on the world news Dec 26, 2004 when the Tsunami hit.
Although human casulties were high, there was surprising little damage in Phuket. Most of the beach front properties are still there, but there is a huge amount of rebuilding going on - I suspect the tourist towns are taking the opportunity to use their aid money to build new and build better. The beachfront area at Phuket has been totally re-done and looks great.
The numbers of tourists have yet to return, apparently caused by a common myth that the place was completely wiped out. The people are hurting economically and are wonderful hosts, they just need more business, then Phuket will be stronger than ever.
Travelling there over May to Oct has one distinct advantage: It's low season, so the people are few and the prices are rock bottom.
We stayed in a couple of really nice resorts for a fraction of the normal price, and the staff were wonderful in looking after us. (Resorts booked thru www.latestays.com , and flights to Phuket using www.airasia.com)
Firstly, in Phuket at the North end of Patong Beach was the Novotel Coralia Resort. Great Thai themed room and even better sunset views right of the attached balcony.
Patong beach is a peaceful place now, where groups of Thai friends and familys gather to eat and talk, swim or place beach football. There are a bunch of friendly dogs there too, one dog who like to sit by me was the spitting image of Jack.
After 2 nights in Patong, it was onto a boat for a 2 hr trip to Phi-Phi Island, stopping briefly in Maya Bay on Phi-Phi Ley, where "The Beach" was filmed.
Then a transfer to a smaller boat for the journey to the Holiday Inn resort on Phi-Phi Don.
The resort's longtail boat took us over the reef through the crystal clear warm waters to the white sands of the resort.
Once again the resort was deserted, and the staff gave us a wonderful waterfront bungalow, just meters from the sand and hammocks hanging in shady trees.
One of the reasons we chose this resort was the snorkelling is excellent right of the beach, so we did a fair bit of that while we were there. One morning, we took a long tail boat a couple of miles out to a reef off Bamboo Island where the snorkelling was slightly better, while the boatman slept for an hour or so while we checked out the underworld.
The food and drinks were great and there was a small island style 3 piece band who sang their hearts out during happy hours.
5 min walk up some steps was a rugged clifftop bar for watching the Sunset (notice a common theme here) which we enjoyed a couple of times over some Singha beers and satay sticks.

That short stay in paradise was over too soon, and we were back on the boat to Patong. We decided to go back to the Novotel.
Patong town itself has a fair bit of the shopping, glitz and glam(!) that Thailand is famous for, and also some fantastic restaurants. Our last night's meal was in an very authentic Italian Pizzeria, complete with wood fired oven, and several cigar smoking mafia type italians enjoying a good bite.
A great holiday to a great place. Of course it was too short, but this one really was too short. Definitely high on the list of places to return to, who knows next time we might check out a bit of sailing in the islands....
The best thing you can do to contribute to the rebuilding of Thailand's southern beaches is to go for a visit!!

Sawadee.com - Thailand Travel info
Novotel Coralia Resort, Patong
Holiday Inn Resort, Phi-Phi
Latestays.com Thailand hotel bookings
Airasia.com Budget carrier
Tsunami wiki
Tsunami photo timeline

Screwing with the numbers

Some people make a living out of bullshit. Meet Kenneth Lay, recently convicted in all counts of fraud charges against him in the Enron collapse.

Here's a rant. The Media and statistics.
I get pissed off when the media misquote statistics to portray a completely different intent than the numbers show.

It's easy to do - ask yourself which burger you'll eat:
1. Hamburger - contains an almost whopping 20% fat....or....
2. Hamburger - over 80% fat free to say "Hello" to your heart.

I know that is simplistic, but one does sound a whole lot better....hell, OK, I'll eat both.

Anyway, I was having a debate today with a friend about whether the NZ property market is going up, down or flat right now. The last 3 years it's been cracking 15%-18% capital gain on average each year. What that equates to is 3 years ago a 200k house x 1.18 x 1.18 x 1.18 = 328k now. It's amazing what compounding capital gain can do in a short time.
The problem is, 100s of years of history has shown us that the market is cyclical and at some point it will correct to align with the average long term 7% per annum capital gain. Those people that have entered the market within the last five years for the first time (i.e. first home buyers) cannot believe their luck and how easy it is, and why the heck they didn't do it earlier.
However those that have been in the market a bit longer can remember the days in the early 80s of 20% mortgages and years of flat or declining house values.
When I bought my first house I was 23, the mortgage rates were 12.5%, and the market was flat for about 5 years after I bought it. Hardly a crisis at the time, but even the thought of those conditions now send some people into writhing heart attacks on the floor - they just don't believe it's possible.
Consequently, I believe in the cycle, and I reckon 15-18% capital gains are not sustainable for much longer and will ultimately get many people in a great deal of financial trouble when they correct soon.

Anyway, during this debate today, we referred to an article in today's NZ paper

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3683844a13,00.html
PROPERTY INVESTORS STILL KEEN TO BUY - May 29, 2006

Many "hardcore" property investors believe now is a good time to buy investment property.

The finding comes from a survey by Kiwi Property Investor magazine and BankDirect - a member of the ASB Group - to try to find out what property investors are thinking and doing.
The 689 investors responding to the survey were divided into hardcore property investors - those with five or more properties now or with ambitions to have that many - and the rest.
Of the 203 hardcore investors, a net 30 per cent thought now was a good time to buy. But the rest leaned slightly the other way, with a net of (minus) -6 per cent thinking now was a good time.
ASB chief economist Anthony Byett said the bullish mood among the hardcore investors may be driven by perceived opportunities in a slowing market, or a confidence in their own strategies.

"Whatever their reason, these hardcore property investors are in the mood to invest - over two-thirds stated intentions to buy within the next 12 months."
BankDirect head Jim Anderson said there was an appeal to buying on price dips, and buying houses in the flatter stage of the cycle did work.
The key was to have a strategy, including a clear vision of cashflows under alternative scenarios.

Overall, 49 per cent of those taking part in the survey felt house prices would neither rise nor fall in the next 12 months. Of the remainder, a net 7 per cent thought prices would rise.

Now, if you take a closer look at that article, it is pretty misleading - especially the headline. What does "Many" mean? Does it mean most? Nope. The majority? Nadda. A good proportion? No. What "Many" means is "more than a few", so out of 600 people, "Many" can actually be, well, the minority.

This is what annoys me. Even reading the article it's easy to believe the complete opposite to the truth as stated by the numbers. I am sure this happens all the time, it's just this time it's so blatant I actually noticed.
What the article should say is this (based on their own facts):

"70% of a group of hardcore property investors believe that now is NOT a good time to buy property, according to a recent survey carried out by Kiwi Property Investment Magazine and Bank Direct.
The majority of investors surveyed believe that property value will neither rise or fall over the next 12 months, and of those that believe prices will actually move, and incredible 93% believe prices will decline"

I reckon there should be a law against this sort of thing. I mean, if you're not going to represent the facts then it's blatant bullshit to mislead in such a manner.

I like conspiracy theories. It must be the government.
Who again carried out the survey? Oh yeah an investor magazine and a bank, both organisations make the most cash when investors buy property. I guess they can't just hide the results now can they - they've gotta dress them up a little.

Mutton into Lamb or something like that.

Wiki article on Kenneth Lay and Enron

Make a Dog Catching Pole

I have made few of these for AnimalsTaiwan.org mainly because they are not readily available in Taiwan, but also, the commercial poles in the US run towards $100+ USD. The pole shown here costs approx $200nt (about $6-7USD) and half an hour or so to make. This pole is not as good as a commercial pole, but is ideal for voluntary organizations or for people who just need to use one occasionally.

The most difficult part to find is plastic coated cable. Dogs will bite the loop, so plastic coax or similar is not strong enough. Some alternatives for sourcing the cable are cable based plastic covered clothes line, and long bicycle cable locks.

I was recently in Canada on business and found some 3/16” plastic coated aircraft cable at a Home Depot for 36 cents CND a foot.

What you need: (prices quoted in Taiwan Dollars. 30nt = 1 USD)

• 1 standard extendable mop/broom utility pole ($85nt)
• 10ft plastic coated steel cable (approx 100nt)
• 2 Hose Clips ($35nt for 4)
• 2 Metal Squash type Cable clips/clamps (5 nt or so) or a few plastic cable ties.
• 1 Roll of Electrical Tape (10nt)

Tools:

• 1 Electric or hand drill
• 1 3/16” or ¼” drill bit (slightly bigger than the cable)
• 1 Pair of pliers
• 1 Screwdriver
• 1 Dog (for testing purposes)

1. Disassemble the pole enough to enable drilling of the locking mechanism. If it’s a 3-piece pole (as shown) the disassembly is a PITA and you have 2 mechanisms to drill thru. On the 3-piece poles, if you fully extend the pole and keep twisting the joint counter-clockwise while pulling really hard, the joint comes apart. Don’t twist clockwise as this will activate the lock and make it impossible. If it’s a 2-piece pole, then you’ll just need to take of the cap handle to do the drilling. Note: I choose 3-piece poles for the extra strength, and tape up the small extension, which is weak.
2. Drill through the threaded end of the pole, the locking mechanisms and the end cap. Make sure the drill is perfectly aligned with the pole when drilling, especially for the locking mechanisms, which are quite thin where the drill penetrates.
3. Thread the cable through all the pieces before re-assembly. It can be tricky to get the cable through the last hole, which is usually the threaded end when I do it. Usually, some jiggling around gets it in the hole after a few attempts. Make sure there is enough cable out each end for the dog loop and the hand loop.
4. Reassemble the pole. For a 3-piece pole, it’s a matter of forcing the joints back together by twisting. For a 2-piece pole, it’s just a matter of putting on the cap handle again.
5. Use the 2 hose clips to clamp the loose end of the cable as near to the thread end as possible. This will clamp onto the plastic end inside the tube for extra strength.
6. Use the cable clips (or some plastic cable ties) to form a hand loop at the other end. This loop needs to be strong as once the pole is in use, this loop will support the full weight of the dogcatcher as he or she gets dragged along by a raging stray dog.
7. Tidy up. Wrap the sharp edges of the hose clips with electrical tape. If you used plastic cable ties for the hand loop, it is worth wrapping these in tape also. When taping the hose clips, I also lock the small extension joint and tape it also, to prevent use and increase rigidity of the pole.
8. Test. Extend the pole and lock the joints. There should be enough loop to fit over a dog’s head. To close the loop up it’s a matter of holding the pole with one hand an pulling the hand loop back. If the catching situation is hostile the pole itself can be let go and the dog can still be retained by holding onto the hand loop only. The Dog will naturally try to get away and the loop will tighten, giving the catcher time to regain control of the pole.

AnimalsTaiwan.org
Guidlines about humane animal handling
Tomahawk Control Poles
Ketch-All animal control equipment
Alana Ecology Control Poles

I rike it. I rike it a rot.

If you take a look over at the links there on the right ->
you'll see the word "Frashcards." With an 'r' not an 'l'. It's not a typo, as bad as my typing often is, I actually meant to type it that way.
I have no idea what you'd call it, but in Asia is pretty normal to pronouce english words contain an 'L' or an 'R' around the wrong way.

Hurro. I rike you, no, I ruv you. A rot.

The reason I mention this is I was looking through the blog search statistics, and someone in Japan used yahoo to find this site by typing in "FRASHCARDS". HAHAHAHAHAHA.

See?














It's all to do with the make up of the sound bytes that we learn when we are younger and learning our mother tongue. In chinese, there are 37 sounds that make up the intials and finals of spoken characters. It's known as Bo-Po-Ma-Fa and it's about as close as you could get to the alphabet in Engrish...meaning each sound on it's own usually means nothing. Like B in engrish (on hangon that means something), or P (whoops that too), i (...mmm.), q (yep), x. Yeah like x.
Bearing in mind that I am an engineer, not a liguistics expert, I will continue in saying that at a very early age, learning the BPMF is the foundation of the Chinese language.
Now, it's normal to pronounce a word based on the collection of sounds you are programmed with, and if the BPMF does not have a certain sound we would say in Engrish, then the next closest sound is used.
Native engrish speakers do the same thing when we learn chinese. There are some sounds that are extremely uncomfortable to say for us, due to the way we have learnt to position our tongue....So, when a native engrish speaker speaks in chinese, it can be quite difficult for a native chinese to understand WTF is being said. If you are fortunate enough to be a New Zealander, then no one understands you when you speak engrish, let alone any other language, so you'll be conditioned to it.

Add in the mix that every sound in Chinese has a one of 5 tones (for mandarin) then things get kinda messy. Taiwanese has 9 tones apparently....sheesh.

Sometimes when I ask a chinese speaking friend to interpret for me, I am amazed at how long a dialogue can go on for to get a simple answer. If I could understand more chinese maybe I could translate the diarog myself and it would make sense.
e.g.

1: Yo blood, what's happenin brother?
2: Did you just call me lover brother?
1: I aint got no brother.
2: Then why did you say I'm your lover's brother?
1: Well, it's a blue truck that one.
2: No, wednesday man.
1: Ok, you got it.

And the answer to my question is "Yes". Phew.

So, this is a world wide phenomen, fenomun, phinomin thing, and any way you look at it, it's damn funny. A buddy of mine happens to be a canasian (candian asian) and is perfectly fluent in both Engrish and Chongwen. I think she's an expert in the "L" and the "R" thing. It's pure art when done plopery.

Whenever I have had a long break from chinese lessons and I go back to class, things are a bit rusty.

So I say this to my teacher : "I'm a bit lusty today don't you think?"
Of course, she always agrees: "Yes, you are quite lusty today."

That's an honest answer to an honest question, really.

Chinese tones, initials, finals n shit like that
Gene Simmon's Tongue Transplant
Pork Rind for sale on Ebay that looks like a tongue

Couver Groover

I'm lucky enough to revisit this fine town for work.

The weather has been pretty much damn near perfect here, 20+ deg clear blue sky, no wind, fresh air. After Taiwan, gulping the air here is great.
This week has been crazy with work, basically discussions/meetings all week mainly in Vancouver but today was a day of the same but in Seattle (which is 2-3 hrs away by car). My first visit to the home of the space needle, and the birthplace of Starbucks, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Corbain...Pearl Jam and who knows what else - oh yeah the 747 Jetliner (which happens to be a big part of why I was there doh).
Before the week started, I managed to get the weekend to myself up here and rented a car. I didn't do as much driving as last time, but this time is was great to cruise around Vancouver checking out some of the regular local hangouts like Tim Hortons, Home Depot and Staples, among other places.
This time I drove to North Vancouver and had a look around the neighborhood that is part of the mountainous forest overlooking the city and the bay towards Victoria.
For some reason the jet lag hit me hard this visit and I lost most of Saturday in bed after waking naturally at 4 PM after 14 hrs sleep....whoops.
Seattle was pretty cool. I literally got to look around the city by car only on the way to and from a nice restaurant I went to with some colleagues called Anthony's Pier 66. It was a seafood restaurant overlooking the bay, and even at 9 pm it was a great view out the window towards the pacific.
The US is quite an eye opener. Lots of BIG people and mega convenience in the form of massive malls and outlet complexes on the outskirts of the city. Also lots of BIG cars and pickups and lots of Harleys, which is great. Always love the sound of a V-Twin over a 125 scooter anyday.
While driving around Vancouver I spotted an early VW Combi camper for sale, $2500 CND which I thought was pretty cheap considering the one we picked up/sold in London was about 3000 POUNDS. (like 2-3 times the price).

One hotel I was staying at, the Hilton, ended up being the most expensive place out of the three, and didn't have internet or breakfast included in the room rate. I wasn't going to pay $20 CND for a bowl of cereal for 5 mornings, so I went to a store and bought some cereal and some milk. I have been meaning to try out some Cheerios, so I got those. Not bad, tastes like "Nutrigrain" for those from Oz and NZ.

Who knows if we'll ever end up in this part of the world again, for work, a holiday or to live, but it sure is a nice part of the world and I'm lucky to be able to visit. Twice.

Tim Hortons
Home Depot
Tourism Vancouver
See Seattle

The dawn of a new day

Sometimes its good to experience the dawn of a new day. I mean literally and figuratively speaking.
In the literal sense, there is no feeling like forcing yourself to get up early, feeling that cool, fresh dark air on your face, and seeing the world before you transform as color is slowly introduced.
Figuratively, there is not much difference - it's good to mentally force yourself to wake up, put some things behind and see the world transform before you as color is slowly introduced.

While looking for a decent sunrise shot I came across these pics, taken in 2002, in Mui Né, Vietnam. It is of some Vietnamese Fishermen in the South China Sea, at dawn. I can still remember that day, having decided the night before that as the beach bungalow we were staying is faced east, this would be one hell of a decent Sunrise. The bungalow itself wasn't anything too amazing, apart from the location. It was something like $10USD a night, including breakfast for a tiny room with bathroom...the 'resort' was a collection of these things on the front part of a family's ocean front land. Mui Né seemed to us to be one of the last(but i am sure there are more) coastal villages to be hit by western tourism. I guess anytime soon there will be expensive resorts dotted along that coast, and the innocence and quaintness of the place will be replaced by more and more craziness, noise and boozed backpackers. I hope the resort tourists don't complain about the noise of the fishing boats daily at 5am. I hope they wake up and go for a walk along the beach and watch the bay become orange.
It's a cleansing experience to be privileged enough to be able to be in a foreign country and just relax watching people go about their normal day making a living. It makes you realise just how lucky we are just being born where we were born, and it puts a bunch of shit into perspective.
I took my Dad to Vietnam around this time last year for 9 days. It was his first visting to a developing country, and he still tells me it was a life changing experience for him. We went to the north, around Hanoi and to the hill tribes around Sapa.
In most parts of Asia, the most fascinating time of the day is just before dawn. The markets are where it's at, craziness.
These other couple of desert type shots are also from Mui Né at this weird place just past the village. It seems like a chunk of the Sahara, right there in Vietnam. I can imagine movies could be filmed there. I spotted an old bullet, intact and unused. It looks like a .308 or something, and I wondered if some angry US Marine tossed it into the dune when his M-16 jammed back in 1973.

We all need life changing experiences every now and then. It's good for the soul to realise where it has come from and where it needs or wants to go. Complacency robs us of pushing ourselves, or appreciating circumstances and it makes us take things for granted that are truly amazing.

Official Mui Né website

Those who run seem to have all the fun

The other day I was in a club listening to the groove when I stopped and thought about the woman I was listening to. Here are some surprising facts/trivia about her:

She's almost 48.
Has an IQ of 140.
Height 5' 4½" (1.64 m).
Measurements: 34C-23-33.
One of 7 siblings. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 5.
Was a cheerleader and member of drumcorps and marching teams.
She studied Dance and Drama in NYC in the 70s.
She shares a French-Canadian Ancestor with Céline Dion.
She's a distant cousin of Gwen Stefani.
She's good friends of Stella McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Björk.
She shares her birthday with Vanessa Carlton and Angela Bassett (born on the same day actually), which is also is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.
She is a fan of Katharine Hepburn.
Turned down the role of Cristal Conners in Showgirls (1995).
Turned down the role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).
Is strongly Pro-Life. She was even in anti-abortion ads in the UK.
Recently matched Elvis Presley's tally for top 10 hits - 36, the most for any artist in the rock era.

She is, of course....

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone.

Hung up

Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting for you

Time goes by so slowly for those who wait
No time to hesitate
Those who run seem to have all the fun
I'm caught up
I don't know what to do

Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly
I don't know what to do

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone
The lights are on but there's no-one home
Tick tick tock it's a quarter to two
And I'm done
I'm hanging up on you

I can't keep on waiting for you
I know that you're still hesitating
Don't cry for me
'cause I'll find my way
you'll wake up one day
but it'll be too late

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing (Every little thing)
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you

Waiting for your call (Waiting for your call)
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
Time goes by, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly, so slowly.
So slowly, so slowly.
I don't know what to do.

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing that you say or do
I'm hung up
I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call
Baby night and day
I'm fed up
I'm tired of waiting on you

Every little thing (Every little thing)
Im hung up
Im hung up on you.

Waiting for your call (Waiting for your call)
Im fed up.
(Fade until clock ticking)

Official Madonna Website
Madonna Discography, Filmography, Bio etc

The Longest [Crashed Scooter Journey] Way Round

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. On Friday I got a call, some guy speaking to me in chinese, and as I usually do I assumed it was a wrong number (pronounced: Long Number). A few minutes later the phone rang again, and this time it was a lady speaking engrish.
She told me that her husband is a policeman, and that he had found the long lost Vino 125 scooter.
WTF? That was 7 months ago that it went missing, and they had found it in a place called Chang Hua, which is maybe a couple hundred km's away halfway down the Island.
After a few return calls to see what condition the scooter was in, and to find out where and when to go get it, I decided to take a train down to Chang Hua on Sunday morning. Trudi was keen to come too.
The train in Taiwan is brilliant. It's an example of what NZ could have had if they'd kept the railway for regular use. $350 nt (about $15 NZD) for a reserved seat for the couple of hours journey to Chang Hua. Chunga Hua is famous for the "Fan Shaped Garage" which, oddly enough is a Train Garage that is fan shaped. I reckon if you were into trains, then you'd want to go and check this out.
When we got there, we walked to the police station, about 15 mins away. They ushered us into the "Special Forces Department" of the police station, and then a guy came and got us and took us to a smaller room upstairs called the "Special Mission Section of the Special Forces Department" and inside was a bunch of guys sitting around in boxers and tanktops eating lunch.
They were saying "Whey Ter Ull" which is what these chinese characters: 威托爾 sound like. If you say "Whey Ter Ull" often enough is sounds like my last name.
So, they were expecting us. No one could speak english, and my chinese still sucks enough when it comes to talking about the good shit, so they found a student policeman who spoke a tiny bit of engrish to help.
He basically said that the bike had been crashed and I'd need to get it repaired before it can be taken away. At this point, I was just keen to take a look at the damn thing, so we asked to "take a look at the damn thing."

Well, firstly, Trudi was absolutely right: The FLAMES were still on it! Now that surprised me, as I thought NO ONE would be dumb enough to ride a fairly rare expensive scooter, and leave some stick-on flames on it that basically make it extremely noticeable, Island-wide. Well, obviously the guy was an idiot, cos he'd also ran into the back of a truck or something on it.
The Vino looked a bit of a mess with a smashed front, twisted steering and it also looked like it had been lying on it's side for a month or 3 getting all dirty.
I'd love to know where it was found and how, but there was no way of getting that sort of info out of the cops with our communication problems.
I reached into my pocket and grabbed the Vino key I still had and put it in. It went in perfectly (there was no damage to the ignition switch/lock due to the theif having a set of keys) but the battery was very sluggish, almost dead. I figured I was worth a try to start it, and after 30 seconds or whir, whir, whir it fired into life. All four of us couldn't believe how sweet the engine sounded. It seemed that apart from crashing the scoot, the dude actually took reasonable care of this beast - it is a sweet ride after all.

Anyway, we were a bit gutted it was smashed as it looked like our plan of riding it back to Taoyuan was foiled...........................or..................or was it?
Thinking to myself "What would Ewan do?" I took a look at the sky. Blue. Sunny. Not Rainy or windy.
I took a look at my watch, 12.30, and figured we had 5-6 hrs ahead of us without a head light, so if we wanted to leave, NOW would be a good time.
I took a closer look at the damage and the frame looked fine. The plastic front was a mess but structurally it was sweet. I asked the policeman if they had any tools and one guy came back with a pair of vice grips. mmm. Oh well, let's see if I can TWIST this.....there, the handlebars are now aligned with the wheel (a trick not so different from fixing yer bike after falling off when you're 8.)

So after a quick lap around the police station car park to test the brakes and steering, the policeman was shaking his head saying thru the translator dude "YOU CAN'T RIDE THIS BACK TO TAOYUAN"
I said "Ker Eee, Ker Eee, I am an engineer, Ker Eee" Which basically means "No wucken furries mate, this machine is running sweet, it will be OK"
The policeman said we can only take it to get repaired. So we all nodded and went a got all the paperwork signed up, which included me having to put my thumb print in about 5 places along with my signature. I was given one sheet of paper that was basicially a "Get out of jail free" card if I got stopped along the way, which was quite likely.
Once we were on the bike, the policeman reiterated that they felt the bike was unsafe and it was at our own risk that we were riding it to the repair shop. I said Ker Eee again and thanks etc.
Well, funny thing was, there are no repair shops open on a sunday. We knew it, they knew it, so they probably had some idea that the crazy foreigners were going to ride the damn thing back.
So we set off. The thief was kind enough to have left the bike gassed up, and that got us 1/2 way home. The ride was awesome, perfect weather on empty coastal roads for 4 1/2 hrs including a couple of breaks. The scooter didn't miss a beat and was SINGING all the way home.
We got all sorts of weird looks while stopped at traffic lights etc, but ya tend to get that being white here anyway, so the crashed scooter thing wasn't too much more interesting.

I took the scooter to the shop last night. It was raining. HARD. With lightning. The 20 min journey was more of a challenge than the whole day's riding from Chang Hua, and today I heard on the radio that the rain at that time was the Heaviest Spring Downpour on RECORD, so I picked an fantastic day to ride in the rain. Not.

When I rolled into the scooter shop, the same place where the scooter was sold new, it was like a homecoming (not so different from Ewan and Charlie's homecoming in "The Long Way Round") and the guys were practically trying to fix it before I'd even got off the damn thing.
Out came the service notepad and 5 mins later all the parts were listed and priced, so I gave them the nod to fix up ole Vino.

The mighty Vino will live another day.

Official 2005 Yamaha Vino 125 website
The Vino factory (literally 10 mins down the road)
Some guys road test review of a Vino 125
Taiwan Train Schedule Information Service