Feb 28: A Lamma Boy Becomes Emperor
CCTV just mentioned that filming on Chow Yun-Fat's new movie, "The City of Golden Armor", has just started filming in Beijing. Directed by Zhang Yimou, he'll be playing the emperor, with Gong Li as the empress and Jay Chou, a Taiwanese star, as his son. Quite a career for a country boy growing up barefoot in a very poor Lamma Island family, attending the local primary school!
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Charlotte - Official Court Correspondent on Chow Yun-Fat Matters in her excellent "Chow Yun-Fat of Hong Kong" website & blog: |
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Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat to "Wear Golden Armour" with Zhang Yimou Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li (L to R): Director Zhang Yimou, Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, ...
Film will begin shooting tomorrow: In a letter sent to the Chinese media today, Beijing New Picture Film Co. has revealed that shooting of this film will begin tomorrow at Beijing Film Studios. The first scene will be made at a palace interior built inside a soundstage. Both Chow Yun-Fat, playing the emperor, and Gong Li, playing the empress, will be in the scene. Chow Yun-Fat arrived in Beijing yesterday with a very nicely trimmed beard. According to IMDB, this film's English title is "The City of Golden Armor" and its Chinese title remains as "Man Cheng Jin Dai Huang Jin Jia" (To Fill the City with Golden Armors). 1/13/06: Zhang's movie has a new name:
The new movie is inspired by the modern Chinese play "Thunderstorm," a classic from famous playwright Cao Yu . Before planning this movie, Zhang Yimou made a name for himself with "Red Sorghum" and "To Live". Both these previous films were also based on classic works. Producer Zhang Weiping has revealed that the story of his new movie is set in the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). The theme involves a power struggle between the emperor, the empress and a general. There will be several large war scenes which will be shot with tens of thousands of extras – real people rather than computer graphics. The script has been planned over three years, and during this time the group of creators has been changed three times. Zhang Yimou says this is the most satisfying of all the dramatic works he has created. Together with leading actors Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li , Zhang Yimou will start filming in February. The location will be Chongqing Wulong Sky Hole, a place of interest in southwest China. "The City of Golden Armor" will be wrapped up at the end of year, to hit Chinese screens before 2007. The producer says the budget is about US$ 44.6 million, making it the most expensive Chinese movie production to date. They intend to earn big for this movie, not only in box office revenue but also in praise from audiences and critics. |
For regular updates from Charlotte on Ah-Fat's other new movies, click:
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The
Aunt's Postmodern Life |
Feb 27: Obituary of Ronnie Norton
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From Ronnie's family: |
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Ronnie Norton, dearly beloved son of Pamela and brother to Sharon, Tanya and Ashley died Thursday 23rd Feb after a very short and sudden illness in Hong Kong. He will be greatly missed by his family, his dog Snapper, numerous friends, colleagues and shareholders of Bacardi Ltd. May he rest in peace with a Bacardi and Coke in hand. All friends are invited to attend a wake at Spicy Island, Lamma Island on Saturday 4th March from 4pm to celebrate his life. Only happy faces please. |
Feb 26: The Golden Voices of Africa and Lamma
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Monsieur de
Plume - ("nom de plume" of a new,
anonymous contributor) |
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Lammaite musicians - and fans - were out in force on Friday night, many of them on the stage with top African star Salif Keita, who played an amazing set at City Hall. The star, from Mali, described as "The Golden Voice of Africa", mesmerised with a two-hour set that included a number of his classic compositions. The level of musicianship was matched only by the sound engineering, which produced as powerful and crisp a sound as is possible in the City Hall auditorium. During his finale, Salif invited members of the audience, who were up on their feet anyway, on to the stage to dance alongside the band, and there were a disproportionate number of Lammaites among them . . . see if you can spot the faces.
"Give us Guantanamera", one die-hard fan shouted out. "We don't often get out to strut our stuff these days," Dan replied, "We need to practise on the other numbers first". And practise they did . . . with tunes by The Stones, Clash, Sex Pistols and Jimi Hendrix among others. Back from the dead? The Bastards sounded more live - and alive - than ever. For more photos, have a look below at Steve's "Golden Voices" photo gallery! |
Feb 25: Leaving Lamma... for Dubai?
Lamma-zine
Blog contributor and French "bloggeuse" Marie Margault is leaving
Lamma Island for Dubai. Dubai? Moving from our lush, subtropical island to
the desert? She wrote that "Why Dubai? Because I
am crazy about the desert and 4x4 adventures. I have created one for
females in Morocco and I am definitely an "oriental" person. ;-)"
Well, I've asked her to write a farewell to her many friends here, her reasons and emotions of leaving behind Lamma Island and HK:
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Marie
Margault - Bloggeuse Extraordinaire |
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It's the season of changes, just after Chinese New Year and I'm no exception... I am leaving Lamma but I won't say "for good" as we never know. I would like to say it's "for good" as that will mean that my new life in Dubai will be a success... Of course, I am sad to leave this island but, honestly, that's sad for the people I leave.
Traveling like a crazy those last months I started to get bored by the ferries (the slow ones were the only ones I could catch at night) and pulling my suitcase and computer to my place started to become a nightmare for me.
I found a great idea: booking a lounge at the airport where I could (almost) sleep and have a shower and breakfast as I did not want to spend 1,600 HK$ in an airport hotel room. But my lounge was after the customs.
So! This island is great, especially the people living here (except a couple of bad stories but that's the same thing in every village). I recommend that people who want to live here to have a flexible schedule or be freelance or work from home! An hectic Hong Kong working life is not really
compatible with this quiet life here, even if the balance was perfect
for me. I will come back soon, at least to see my family again, as my
I will never forget Lamma, as it has been a second birth for me. I think that's the first time I have felt myself in... pfffff... almost 40 years. I needed this time in my life to take a break, think about my past and my future and Lamma has been perfect for that! I have some friends on this island who I'll never forget... never! What I will miss the most, except people?
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Feb 24: Nick the Bookman - Historic Photos Discovered
I've
just updated
Nick's website and added a large number of new photos from several
of his zillions of friends & fans worldwide:
a lot of historic photos, even some beardless and sexy ones, plus lots of celebrities photographed together with Nick, our local celebrity.
3 press clippings & interviews featuring our Bookman have also been added. If you need a hands-on mover or somebody to organise your entire move on or off Lamma, here's his name card. Click on it to email him, to be printed and hand-delivered by Yours Truly, Nick's personal volunteer email postman. He's never had to use any computer in his whole life, lucky guy...
Here are some of the new & ancient photos. Click here to view all, w/captions:
Feb 23: Lamma Winds of Change
Opening
ceremony of HK Electric's "Lamma Wind Power Station" today.
New official name: "Lamma Winds"
Looking mightily proud, officiating at the commissioning ceremony of "Lamma Winds":
Managing Director of Hongkong Electric, Mr.
Tso Kai-sum
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr. Sarah Liao
Chief Engineer of Projects, Mr. Cheung Nai-yik
Chairman of the Energy Advisory Committee, Mr. Otto Poon
Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr. Roger Lai.
Primary school students on Lamma Island join in the celebration of the launch of Lamma Winds.
Lamma Winds, the first commercial-scale wind
power station in Hong Kong.
(all photos by HK Electric)
Yes, finally, Lamma's "wind power station" is
operating officially and has been opened to visitors and tourists. Get
close to the spinning action and be duly impressed by HK Electric's new
credentials in renewable energy, about which you can learn in exhibition
panels. A $1 million "Clean Energy Fund" has also been set up to sponsor
schools projects.
Read more...
Remember the naming competition for finding an official name for "our" wind turbine? HK Electric didn't like any of the suggestions from Lammaites, like "Magical Spinney Thing", "Quixotine", "Le Moulin Blanc", etc. My own suggestions ("Tower of Power", "Peace, Love & Warm Wind", "Smart Winds Powering Our Future", "The Sweet Whoosh-Whoosh Sound of Progress") also did not receive a Honorable Mention.
Maybe it's my own fault, not being a native-English speaker, but I don't get the "Lamma Winds" reference. Is it a clever pun, an acronym, an inside joke, a poetic reference to the "gentle winds of Lamma", or are they Winding us up? "The Winds of Change", perhaps?
Well, it was selected as the very best, top-most, most clever and ultimate nickname, chosen from over 3,800 (!) contest entries. 8 people, obviously all of them much smarter than me, sent in this name and shared the $10,000 first prize.
Wait,
there's more! An online
"Making of..." video with catchy music, all filmed on Lamma! Click
on the left.
Read the entire press release with more pictures.
Lamma Winds has its own
website, of course. It even has a
live webcam! Click on the right for live
video!
On one of the many very informative pages with many photos and illustrations, I found this controversial quote:
"In Harmony with Lamma:
"Hongkong Electric (HEC) aims to maintain a harmonious relationship with the environment where it operates. Lamma Island, home to our power station and wind power station, is one of them.
"Our wind turbine has been carefully color-coordinated to blend into the local environment. It not only serves a functional purpose, but has also become a unique landmark for Lamma that will attract more visitors and enhance the ecotourism value of the island.
"HEC’s other initiatives on Lamma Island include Lamma Fund, tree planting, greening and landscaping."
Feb 22:
'Don't throw litter from
vehicles'
Something completely different
today, but just next door to yesterday's story on Bolly-Dollies & Bling-Kings: our fancy public toilet,
renovated for $1.5 million just a year ago. I usually try to refrain from
toilet humour, but using the facilities recently, I was amazed about the
sheer number (12!) of government-issued warning signs and stickers
"decorating" almost every free surface in the male toilet area.
I almost forgot to zip up
after doing my business, feeling visually assaulted and distracted by all
these dire, stern warnings of high fines! Nanny state instructions, on
Lamma? Nobody here has ever been hit with the quite recent $1,500 littering
fine, but these signs/posters are all over the
place!
Taking my camera everywhere, even into the loo, I shot all
of the signs and stickers. Fortunately, nobody else was around, so I didn't
have to answer any awkward questions. Besides the obvious ones ("Please flush after use"), there are also some truly bizarre ones ("Please wrap spittle",
"Don't throw litter from vehicles"). Click to enlarge any
sign:
P.S. Check out more Seriously Silly Signs on Lamma.
Feb 21: Bolly-Dollies & Bling-Kings
Where did Lamma's Bolly-Dollies & Bling-Kings congregate last Saturday to have way too much fun? Yes, in the Island Bar once again, HQ of the Lamma Dragonboaters where they seem to spend more time than in the water. But comparing the harbour's water quality with the quality of the water, e.g. drinks, in the bar, it's no wonder they prefer the bar!
This fundraiser for the "so-PINK, so-POWERFUL and so-PICKLED ladies Dragonboat team" managed to collect an astonishing $10,000!
3 photos above courtesy of Dan Peterson (Lamma.com.hk/islandbar), plus loads of fun photos and flippant comments in the great Lamma Ladies Blog.
Read all about "Lamma's international women of mystery", including "Finland's finest export", the "bolly-dancing twin-set", "Shannon Doherty's evil twin", the "evil queen of the beasts" and "some less scrupulous dragonettes"!
Wow, quite an exotic, fascinating menagerie we've got here
in the "Zoo of Lammaites"! Click
here to read also about their "incessant
references to bosoms and paddles", plus lots of revealing and
potentially embarrassing photos. On the left: Dragonettes Anna, Li, Karen
and Michelle.
The most titillating tidbit was a fundraiser donation of a Happy Kitty vibrator (Do read this link and interview ONLY while in the office!). This brand-new "rather special" device was designed, patent-owned and sold by one of Lamma's imported sons! Sycophantic celebrity interview with him coming up in this blog as soon as I can locate him! Jon, get in touch with me!
P.S. 4 more photos from Peter Berry, submitted as traditional, old-style, analog, chemically processed and printed photos. Wow, they still make those?
Feb 20: 'A woman, a 
rooster
and a love that couldn't be' - The Sequel
Remember that tragic story about an old widow keeping chickens, ducks, pigeons and even a rooster in her home? Her public housing neighbours complained about the rooster's crowing. "A botched castration operation to stop its crowing left him with one testicle." The widow was forced to give him away. Fortunately, someone here on Lamma took "Ah Lui" in and she was nicknamed "Rooster Woman" for her troubles.
Unfortunately, the pet rooster died a few months later, probably from a snake bite; but the old lady found out about it only recently. Ah-Lui's life generated several stories in the SCMP (Walk on wild side proves fatal for coddled cock), a cartoon by Harry (see above), even an Ode to an Unfortunate Rooster.
As HK's ban on backyard poultry keeping also affects her, the widow will have to give up all her remaining pet ducks and chickens soon, being all alone. A sad ending to a sad story. Let's hope she'll be able to switch to more common, "still-legal" pets, like cats or dogs, but her public housing estate doesn't allow any pets. Maybe she could be convinced to move to pet-friendly Lamma? Here's the recent SCMP story, republished here as the SCMP website is paying-members-only:
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Dikky Sinn - SCMP, Fri, Feb 17, 2006: |
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Love is for the birds, says a lonely widow A 63-year-old widow has vowed to hold on to the pet chickens and ducks that share her home in defiance of the government's ban on keeping backyard poultry. She said yesterday that she treated the two chickens and two ducks that live in her public flat on eastern Hong Kong Island as if they were her own children after she was abandoned by her daughter 10 years ago. "Of course I'm not turning them in. I have kept them for more than 10 years," said the woman, who asked not to be named. "I'm alone, facing four walls in the flat, that's why I am keeping small animals." The ducks are survivors of a flock of eight she bought more than a decade ago. She also has a silky chicken and a yellow chicken which she bought from a wet market for more than $40 each nine months ago, after the death of a pet hen. She said she was heartbroken to learn only yesterday that the hen's partner - a rooster she called "Ah Lui" - died two years ago, soon after she was forced to give it away because of complaints about its crowing. "I didn't know he had died. It's very sad. I loved him very much." She now kept only female birds, as these were quieter than males. After the government's ban on backyard poultry was announced this month, the woman began keeping her pets in a large cardboard box during the day, to keep them from view. Previously, she would let them run about in her small kitchen, with newspaper spread on the floor. She said she sometimes shared her bed with one of the chickens while she allowed the ducks to wander in the kitchen at night. The former hospital steward said she was not worried that her pets could become infected with bird flu as they were always kept indoors. "I've kept them for over 10 years. If they have the virus, I would have died long ago. Of course they don't have it, they are kept at home, not outdoors. If they were outdoors, they might touch bird droppings." She said she kept her pets healthy by feeding them fresh fish and fish oil every day. Her bird-keeping has come to the attention of officials before, when inspectors tried to seize pigeons that she kept in her flat some years ago. "I released them from the window before they came to catch them." |
Feb 19: Lamma-ramas Galore!
Click to zoom (most photos in this Blog are zoomable)
Wingman, a recent arrival on Lamma, has submitted these fantastic
360-degree panoramas of Yung Shue Wan. But how did he create them?
He explains in our Pictures &
Movies forum:
"I have a camera with a 12mm wide lens mounted on a panorama head tripod, which helps me to shoot 3 horizontal "rolls" of images which cover more or less the entire surroundings, from the zenith to the ground, without any distortions.
"The time-consuming part is the stitching, because I have to stitch all 36+ images into 1 huge panorama instead of a single-roll, ring-shaped panorama. It usually take me 12 hours to stitch, touch up and render. The more moving elements in the panorama, the more time it takes, because I need to tell the program what to show (and what to hide). For example, a busy street is way more difficult to stitch than a quiet, windless lake."
Just one more of these very labor-intensive but truly amazing images, reserving the very best for last: an interactive QuickTime Virtual Reality scene of a 360-degree panorama, where you can move around in and zoom in and out.
Click here! (requires Quicktime 6+)
Here are a few more older Lamma-ramas from Wingman. More to come soon!
Feb 18: 'Paean to Peace, Prosperity and (no) Pollution'
Which Lammaite would write a proud, portentous and pretentious phrase like this?
No, it's not me, even though that might be a good guess.
Take a bow, Nick the
Bookman, semi-official Underground concert reviewer! His latest reviews
- plus loads of great photos by
Willem Van Der Merwe - of Lamma bands Over a Dogma and Garoupa's
performances can be found here. They're
republished here courtesy of Underground concert organiser bbChris
who's also the long-term moderator of our Music forum.
(photo left by Mr DickStock)
Enjoy these brand-new reviews by the guy who's more knowledgeable about rock music than anyone else I know personally. Stop by his bookstand and ask any rock question! Also ask him, "What the heck is a 'Paean'?"
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Nick Lovatt - The Bookman, Laudable Lamma Luminary & Mascot of Lamma.com.hk (see left navigation and his own website (courtesy of L-G)). |
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Dancing breaks out in the
audience and lead vocalist Hamada gets the crowd to sing along in
mumbo-jumbo (or was it Moroccan?). Quite clearly this line up with
congas and a bouncing bass player works for Over A Dogma. Love world
music? You'll love Over A Dogma. The audience are up and dancing. This is hard for me to write now as I'm up and having a good time carried away by the music and the brilliant atmosphere. Their encore had beautiful Hendrix wahwah (Midnight Lamp) meets Beatles (Come Together) and yes we begged for even more. |
I've been toying with the idea of a Lamma Bands Update on this website, with latest news, updates, links, gigs, photos, reviews of the numerous Lamma bands. There seem to be more and more local bands, performing all over HK and some are even working on CDs to be released soon.
I'm trying hard to keep track and give them all the free publicity they deserve in this blog, the forums and the Events Calendar. Several musicians have agreed to supply materials and updates for this list. Would you be interested in something like that? If there's serious interest, we might get it online soon. Let me know!
Feb 17: Lamma Casanova vs. Official Court Poet
One more poem from the Official Court Poet who's been more prose-minded recently. He seems to spend much of his time in our Fight Club feuding with other members of Lamma's tippling classes. After a few stiff drinks in a boring bar, some of his poems actually start making some sense occasionally, as I'm told. See "Bored Stiff" below for a prime example:
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Fortune Chan - Official Court Poet & Official Court Tourism Ambassador |
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Would you be kind enough to publish this poem on the blog, please: Bored Stiff
We get drunk, with no need of a shirt,
We live on Lamma, we are happy,
I can speak German (This taunt refers to Fortune Chan's recent annoying habit of running all his forum posts through the Google English-German translator before posting them, turning them into almost totally unintelligible pseudo-German gibberish.) |
P.S. These poems proves that even on our "Artists Island", poetry is definitely a dying art form. After the mysterious and unsolved disappearance of Lamma's famous Haiku Kitty, our rhyme smiths have never really recovered from this great loss.
Feb 16: 10,000 Views for Lamma's Top 10 Birds
While we see new anti-domesticated-bird posters like this one in the village, Lamma's intrepid bird photographers are soldiering on. They constantly post new and improving photos of wild birds, not afraid of Avian Flu. It hasn't been found on Lamma yet, even though a handful of cases have been found elsewhere in HK. But even on Lamma wild birds are very wary of all humans and it takes a very long lens for most of these wonderful shots, so our bird-o-graphers can feel safe.
The top topic in our forums - Lamma's Top 10 Birds - has just surpassed 10,000 views for a single thread/topic! Congratulations and many thanks to Guy Miller, HarryLi, LYC, Yi Gou and the others making this such a great topic, the pride and joy of our forums! Let's honour our new Lamma bird-o-graphers (except Guy whose fantastic photos have been featured in several dedicated blog stories already) by showcasing some of their most recent photos on this home page! Enjoy!
HarryLi: Chin. Bulbul, Chin. Pond Heron, Sandpiper, Teal
LYC: Grey Heron, Little Egret, Reef Egret
Yi Gou: Tailor Bird, Black-Collared Starling, Magpie Robin, Drongo
One last item, a little true story by F-X:
"I have a magpie robin (see above, 2nd from right) knocking on my door quite a few times a day. The door has a chrome finish like a near-perfect mirror, and the robin aggressively pecks at his reflection, sounding exactly like a visitor knocking.
"He even takes running and flying pecks at the door, as his mate looks on in admiration. The dives shake him up a bit. Once in a while she'll jump down and throw a peck or two to show solidarity."
Feb 15: 'Commonly Confused Words Test'
Getting lost in Cyberspace can be so much fun sometimes, and sometimes (rarely) even educational. Starting from my daily read Wired News (for Cybergeeks only) via several clicks I somehow ended up on the OkCupid dating site, just in time for Valentine's Day.
Surprisingly, the most popular among their 10,000 online test is the Commonly Confused Words Test: 40 multiple-choice questions to check your English proficiency. I did it and was surprised at my almost-perfect results. Quite a little ego-booster for somebody who had his first English lesson at age 15 and didn't speak English on a daily basis till age 31. Writing emails, stories and blogging has helped a great deal, but my accent will be hopeless forever.
Quite a fun test to do and highly recommended. Try it! More than half a million people have already taken this test so far. Here are my own results, but it seems that there are quite a few "English Geniuses", judging from their statistics below. American-style grade inflation at work:
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English Genius You scored
100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, |
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You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: My test tracked 4 variables. How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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Would you like to see some more of their 10,000+
tests? I've selected a few that seem well-suited for different segments
of the Lamma population.
They even let you make your own test! How about The Are You
Suitable for Lamma Life Test?
Feb 14, Valentine's Day: 'The Isle of Love'
Overly sweet and saccharine Valentine's Day stories are usually not my cup of tea at all, so I'll leave today's story to a true professional. I'm sure that his cute but true love story below will make you ooh and aah in a way I never could and would. Enjoy another fine story by our regular writer Jay who "strives to contribute to the prestigious Lamma-zine when possible." Ooh, aah...flattery...
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Jay Scott Kanes - STBWFLA (Soon To Become World-Famous Lamma Author): |
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On this love-splashed paradise called Lamma, the gweilo expression "fighting like cats and dogs" loses meaning. At the home of Lamma author Jay Scott Kanes, an unusual friendship has blossomed between Gail, a three-year-old dog, and Lady, an older cat, one of four resident felines.
Lady devotes part of each day to grooming her canine companion, gently rearranging doggy fur while purring engine-like. Gail licks the cat's ears in return. Then she reclines to enjoy the attention, even rolling over as when asking humans for a belly-rub. "My wife and I adopted Lady in Tai Shan," Kanes said. "When we lived there, Gail spent much of her time outside. Soon we noticed a stray cat lingering, not only keeping the dog company, but becoming chummy and rubbing noses with her. Whenever I walked Gail to the neighborhood sandbox, the cat trotted along beside her." In time, when Gail entered the house, Lady marched
in behind her. "At first we thought the cat had befriended our
Gail and Lady, the odd couple, snooze together on a couch. At mealtimes, Gail waits patiently as Lady dines first at the dog-food dish. In 2005, Kanes published an animal-infested Lamma novel titled Dog-Gone Cat Case. The unusual relationship between Gail and Lady may spark a sequel. |
1 more topic today, 'coz it's
Valentine's Day!
Walking through our village yesterday, I could find only a single restaurant doing anything special for Valentine's Day diners! Quite a change from earlier years when half a dozen places had special menus, even parties for lovers. Well, so this one place gets a free promotion here today. Take a bow, New Holiday Mood on Main Street.
P.S. A very Happy Valentine's Day to all our female readers, of course!
Feb 13: Extermination of All Domestic Birds on Lamma
Today, the "Ban on Backyard
Poultry Rearing" goes into effect, one of the suggested measures to
delay the spread of Avian Flu to humans, which is affecting birds all around
the world. The Ag & Fish officials have started going around to confiscate
and kill all chickens, ducks, geese, quails and pigeons from private
backyards only. People resisting will be reasoned with first, but then the
police will be called in and fines of up to $100,000 have been threatened
for non-compliance.
As there are no chicken or bird
farms on Lamma (to my knowledge), this means the extermination of ALL
domestic birds on the entire island! These photos of my beautiful, innocent,
happy, free-range chickens might be the last ones to picture them still
alive. There's no Avian Flu on Lamma Island at all, why do they need to be
destroyed?
I'm personally extremely uncomfortable with
these ugly, radical actions and the heavy-handed, almost-no-notice-given.
no-compensation way the govt. is handling this culling, for most dubious,
unscientific and fear-mongering reasons. I won't miss the rooster's crowing
at 5am, but I'll miss their colourful presence whenever I'll walk by their
soon empty, wooden henhouse. Lamma will become a much poorer place without
domestic birds. R.I.P.
P.S. Jay Scott Kanes writes on Feb 14:
"Much thanks for the dog-cat coverage today. Truthfully, though, your best new story dealt with the ethnic cleansing campaign against Lamma's poultry.
"Your comments sound more true to the sentiments on the outlying islands and (probably) in the New Territories than anything so far in the mainstream media.
"Would you consider striking a deal with local chicken rearers so that you could receive a phone call, resulting in a photo opportunity, when the soldiers of backyard-bird extermination arrive on Lamma?
"There's much irony in your juxtaposed stories -- on one hand Isle of Love and Valentine's Day, on the other fowl death, doom and destruction.
"Have you noticed how the brains at the helm of Hong Kong's government are dwarfed by those of the birds?"
Feb 12, Spring Lantern Festival: 'Out-Pink, Out-Paddle, Out-Party!'
Today's the last day of the 15-day Lunar New Year Period, the Spring Lantern Festival, also called the Chinese Valentine's Day. And what are our tough Lamma Dragon Ladies up to on this cool and windy Sunday morning? See above. Amazing dedication and admirable devotion to the ancient, traditional sport of Dragonboating! These photos were all taken while having a great "Big Breakfast" brunch (just $50, best value in YSW!) and hot coffees in the comfort of the Water Front Restaurant. Getting wet and cold? Moi? Nah!
Well, all the very best to the Lamma Dragon Ladies team! I also hope to hear from the men's, mixed and local fishermen's Dragonboating teams soon as well. Free publicity is always available on this website, be it for your races, fundraising, parties or anything else related to Dragonboating or other local sports. May you add many more big trophies to the overflowing shelf at the back of the Island Bar this year and have a great time doing so! Power. Precision. PASSION!
Here are 2 pink Chinese Valentine's Day orchids - plus a yellow one for good luck - from the Lunar New Year flower market for the Lamma Dragon Ladies and all the female readers of this Lamma-zine Blog:
P.S. The Lamma Dragon Ladies featured my story above in their own blog the next day (Feb 13, 2006) under the great title "The perfect boob flash and the ghost of Georgia O'Keeffe":
They dared to call me a
paparazzi for taking the candid photos above! Sheesh, I'm so
honoured! Well, here's close-up of that
"boob flash" the Lamma Ladies found in my photos, to my own big
surprise. Honestly!
They also found my purely innocent orchids above "a little - uh - erotic" {*Big Pink BLUSH!*}
The very cultured and sophisticated Lamma Dragon Ladies blog even quoted from art history:
"'American (PINK) painter O'Keeffe's designs carry strong elements of sexual symbolism - especially her flower paintings. Using a photographic close-up technique, she revealed the exquisite recesses of calla lilies, orchids, and hollyhocks.'
"THERE WILL BE NO EXQUISITE RECESS REVEALING THIS SEASON.
"That is our official line, anyway."
I hope Lamma-Por won't find
out about my purely innocent orchids above.
But she's reading this blog occasionally... Too late! Aieeyaaaah!!!
Feb 11: 'Giving Gwailos a Good Kick in the Ass?'
A question
from Japan from
buddhaboyip who's considering to move to Lamma in the future:
"Are Triads known for causing problems out in
public? For example" shoot-outs in public, giving gwailos a good kick in the
ass, those sorts of things?
Surely they do visit the seafood rest. there on your island?"
Well, that is a very good question, Buddha Boy, and it deserves a very serious answer from L-G, an ex-tourism marketing professional:
There is no triad problem on Lamma!
Sure, a few gwailos have been hit by stray bullets in the quite regular triad shoot-outs in Main Street, but not intentionally, just (mostly) innocent bystanders and most of them have survived, fortunately. Also, just a few stabbings and mutilations have happened this year so far, but mostly only after midnight in some local bars, where no sane Lammaite would dare to go anyway.
The triads are financed by drug dealing behind almost every corner, prostitutes sashaying up and down Main Street and many other illicit activities going on in broad daylight. The police is almost powerless, overwhelmed by a flood of daily petty and serious crime and not packing enough firepower to stand up to these heavily armed thugs and enforcers, many of them well-trained in deadly martial arts and always itching for a fight.
You should have been here on Lunar New Year's Eve - sounds like machine gun rounds going off sporadically at many corners, fireballs flying low overhead, explosions echoing throughout the village, the smell and smoke of powder wafting through the village - it sounded and looked like gang warfare at its worst! No winners, as usual, but so many casualties (see blog story, Jan 29).
Yes, certainly you can see triads in the seafood restaurants all the time. The triad bosses are prominent, well-respected and much-feared members of society here. Nobody would dare to diss them. But they usually leave us non-Chinese alone, as many of us are too poor to be extorted, blackmailed or ransomed anyway, like myself. We're too much trouble and too little reward for them. But if you have a regular income, expect a major part of it to be "donated voluntarily" for the continued well-being & survival of yourself and your loved ones.
So this is the sad but true story of life on Lamma where most of us hunker down in constant fear, afraid to leave our homes and encounter these vicious thugs! Don't belief all the touristy, promotional B.S. in this blog! All this happy-community stuff is just being published to lure more gullible suckers to move to our island and become new victims of the ruthless gangs, fresh blood, so they leave us sucked-dry victims alone for a little while!
Stay away, if you value your life, safety and mental sanity!
P.S. The Lunar New Year's Eve story is actually factually true, but the absolute opposite of everything else above is also true, or is it? Find out by clicking here!
Feb 10: Dragonboats Hibernating Near WatchWhatTower
During one of my frequent, arduous, long-distance,
near-marathon hikes to the "Fishman Village" and the new pavilion
("WatchWhatTower"), I uncovered by a stroke of good luck and sheer
coincidence the secret, hidden lair of the Lamma Dragonboats! They're
hibernating during the winter off-season just above the typhoon shelter at
the forest's edge! You can see these shy and skittish creatures
when walking over to the new pavilion. No binoculars
necessary!
As the Lamma Dragon Ladies are starting their training again tomorrow, Sat, Feb 11, in YSW harbour, this was a most timely, last-minute discovery...and I've got the photos for proof!
Plus another very mixed bag of photos, showing another typical Fri afternoon in Yung Shue Wan:
One more film crew was shooting TV footage, just
below the pavilion this time (see left). A huge barge was offloading
an earth-mover at Dog Beach near the DickStock Residence
(see right). This got a number of Lammaites living close-by quite
spooked and worried. They're still wondering what's really going on, see
forum:
Offloading Heavy
Equipment on Dog Beach.
Our cute fire mini-trucks and ambulances were out in force at
the ferry pier. They always seem to appear in noisy swarms, you rarely ever
see one by itself! They're not allowed to leave their home in the Fire
Station by themselves?
But once they're allowed out, they speed through the
extremely narrow village streets, like a flock of noisy teenagers, sirens
blaring and lights flashing, children following them to check out what's
happening. A fire or accident, maybe? Yes, that's how some of us get their
small, rare thrills and bouts of excitement in quiet & peaceful Yung Shue
Wan!
Click to zoom any photo above (most photos in this Blog are zoomable)
Feb 9: The Lamma Ladies: Paddle 'til You Blog!
Undine Dragon - Mistress of Sea Vegetables & Local Race Coordinator - writes:
"We
start training this Saturday at 4.30pm. You can relax and watch us training
and racing across the harbour every Sat afternoon 4.30pm and Sun morning
11am.
"If you would like to support Lamma Ladies and their dedication to the traditional Chinese sport of Dragon Boating, please contact: lamma_gina@yahoo.com.hk
"Please check out our new Lamma Ladies blog: http://lammaladies.blogspot.com"
This great new blog is subtitled "A site for the Lamma Ladies to post photos and share their own impressions of events during the 2006 dragon boat season. No nasty language please; we are all 'ladies' here and you may want to send this link to your granny."
Here are some article titles to entice
you to check out this highly recommended new Lamma blog:
"Get Orgasmic! Train, train, train your pink
booties. all this, and scary men too. Arja's training to kick your arse."
Yo, those pinky ladies got 'titude, sista! On the other hand, they warn that
"any scurrilous language (or general rudeness) will
result in a beating." Their blog might blind you with all the
shades of pink (8 officially approved shades, see left & above right), but
not before you'll be ROTFLMAO. But if you're allergic to pink, like most
males, it might just make you puke...even before you've started to
paddle...anything or anybody!
For a look at what the Ladies & Gentlemen have been up to in the last few years - trials & tribulations, victories & trophies - have a look at their pages in our Lamma Dragons forum: Lamma Dragons Website, plus our many Dragonboating photo galleries. of course!
Last but best, get ready for THE not-to-be-missed party of the Lamma winter season: The Lamma Dragons Fundraiser in the Island Bar next Sat, Feb 18! More info in our Events Calendar or simply click below:
Feb 8: What's That Huge Barge Doing in the Harbour?
Ferry passengers, residents and tourists alike have been wondering about the huge barge anchored outside Yung Shue Wan harbour for a few days now. Somebody in our forums suggested that it might be "a launch barge for a submersible to survey the seabed in preparation for the laying of the new pipeline delivering gas to the Lamma Power Station Extension via Shenzhen." Wrong!
I shot the telephoto above from the departure waiting area of the ferry pier and asked the most likely culprit doing huge construction projects on Lamma: HK Electric. I got an answer within a day:
"In line with Lamma Extension Project [Editor: website, detailed work plan Jan-Mar 2006], 275kV submarine cables will be laid for transmission of electrical power from Lamma Island to Hong Kong Island.
"The barge you saw will be responsible for cable laying works between land points of Yung Shue Wan (near our power station) and Pak Kok San Tsuen, to be commenced later this month and scheduled for completion in May. The new LNGas plant at the Lamma Power Station Extension is still targeted to be commissioned in mid-2006."
Here are a few more project details I found in HEC's CONTACT #68 magazine - online now on HEC's revamped, award-winning website:
Milestone in Lamma Extension (pdf), plus yet one more story about
the
Tai Ling Wind Turbine - A Lamma Landmark (pdf), plus a "Lamma Fun
Day":
Family Day Lures 3,300 to Lamma (pdf).
Here's the full bilingual story about the Lamma cable laying: page 1, page 2.
P.S. Just in from the Lamma Dragons (Ladies):
Undine Dragon - Mistress of Sea Vegetables & Local Race Coordinator:
"I just checked your blog. The picture of the barge poses some serious questions for our club:
"How safe will dragon boat paddling be in the harbour during the next few months??? Will we be paddling risk of getting entangled with massive power line monsters? How close can we get to the barge?
"Can we use it as a cross training station and hang pink feather boas on it? Can we still jump in the water to pee?
"Would it at all be possible for you to inquire with HK Electric on our behalf?"
P.S. II: Reply from HK Electric:
"The width of the working zone for our cabling barge along the submarine cable route is about 400m. For safety reason, please ask the dragonboating ladies not to intrude into our works area.
As mentioned in our previous e-mail, the submarine cable laying work will be commenced later this month and scheduled for completion in May."
No reply was provided about peeing in the water and the pink feather boas.
Feb 7: Red Bear Moon & Rising Rock Stars
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Red Star Rising fan - at the Moon Bear Rock event: |
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It was Red Star's first gig since the band's change of line-up, having taken on professional musicians Alex Katsumata (Japan) on bass and Francisco Becker (Chile) on keyboards. The charity gig, supporting Animal Asia's Moon Bear Rock - aimed at rescuing mainland bears from cruel and painful exploitation for their bile - also featured Hong Kong bands One Roof and Don't Panic. Red Star played a two-hour set, from 10pm-midnight, the longest set since the band was formed last July. Guitarist, vocalist and RSR founder member Steve Cray said the new line-up resulted from amazing coincidences.
"I met Alex in Tommy Lee in TST when I was trying out a guitar. We were introduced and he told me he taught bass. I said I was looking for a bass player and that was that. "Meeting Francisco, who has just moved to Lamma from Chile, was amazing. He literally knocked on my door to tell me he was my new neighbour as well as a professional composer and keyboard player. 'I'm so glad there's another musician living here,' he said. 'I make a lot of noise.' I replied, 'Hi, welcome to Lamma, do you fancy joining a band?'" Steve said RSR was now going to concentrate on the business of recording Last Ferry to Lamma as a single. "Oh and we'll probably play a gig on the island soon, too, just for the hell of it." plus photos by Cerri Bunce:
Hugh, Alex & Francisco Francisco Alex & Francisco |
| DJ, Mid-Levels - commenting on the story above: |
|
Dear Lamma Editor, Interested to see your web entry today. I saw that gig last week and also caught the other bands, Garoupa and Over a Dogma at The Edge. Great bands. Over a Dogma do a really cool mix of Arabic stuff and jazz and Garoupa have a great pop sound. As for mighty Red Star Rising, I didn't realise they had changed their line-up until I read your weblog today, but they sounded more powerful than ever last week. But what amazes me is the number of really good bands on Lamma! The ones I mentioned above, plus NUDE, who were in World Battle of the Bands. It is such a small place and yet seems to send so many groups out into Hong Kong. Is it something in the air or water? Wonderful anyway. Looking forward to more concerts! |
Feb 6: Lamma Island Field Trip
Look what I found in one of those public
leaflet distribution points along Main Street: an A5-sized, staple-bound
booklet from a recent primary school field trip to exotic, quaint, backward
Yung Shue Wan Village! The questionnaire - to be filled in by the children -
tells so much about the perception of our island home by other Hongkongers.
Read between the lines:
"Which community services can you find on Lamma Island (it was filled in with "Post office, Power plant, HSBC").
"The homes on Lamma Island differ from the ones we live in. Make a list of 3 similarities and differences that you can see.
"There are not many roads on Lamma Island, so people travel on different types of transport. What are they? And why are they different?
"Can you hear any wildlife? ... Count how many
different wildlife sounds you can hear.
"If you lived on Lamma what difficulties might you find?
"Which community would you prefer to live, Lamma or where you live now? Why?
"Find a good example of a rural community scene and draw it here." (see left)
I'd love to see some of the answers from the children! How would YOU answer some of these questions? Click here to let us know!
Feb 5: Kung Hei
Fat Choy, You Flea-Ridden Dawg!
When meeting Lamma's resident master cartoonist Harry Harrison inside the YSW Shopping Mall's Palace IFC cinema a few days ago, I chased him for his customary hand-drawn Chinese New Year e-card. Harry was just taking his 2 children - named after world-famous cartoon characters - to see The Chronicles of Narnia. I hope they liked it more than I did.
Harry's poignant e-card just arrived by email and it's even animated! We Lammaites encounter dawgs like this one every day, don't we?
P.S. I hope that this daily web publication and Harry's home won't be attacked by angry mobs of Lamma's many pet lovers for offending them with this cartoon...
Feb 4: Before Sunrise...
Rarely ever have I seen a sunrise on Lamma, so I went out to explore Yung Shue Wan this morning before 6am with my tripod & flash. Main Street has been choked by swarms of tourists all week, so to enjoy it all quiet and almost totally devoid of people is an eerie but refreshing experience. Also, it's pretty surprising how many places are actually open for breakfast so early in the morning, some even starting at 5:30am! Even a friendly, cheerful smile is available for free at a time when I'm usually still enjoying an extended journey through Dreamland.
Try it for yourself and discover a very different, quiet side of Yung Shue Wan!
Ah-Can @ Tropicana
Ron @ Green Cottage
Yung Shue Wan Village Bakery (Advertiser)
Lung Kong (besides Deli Lamma)
Ngau Kee restaurant (behind VV Parking Lot, opposite Lung Kong)
Main Street at 6am
Sampan Dim Sum Restaurant
Ferry pier
Feb 3: Looking for Writers!
In the short 1.5-year history of this blog, there have been over 100 contributors submitting stories and photos to this public island community website. But it's most difficult to get regular contributors, so we need a constant stream of new talent. Anybody can submit a story to this blog for publication, Lammaite or not, any ethnicity or nationality, any profession and you do NOT need to be a professional writer at all. This is not a contest for "Best Story", but an opportunity to get read by several thousand people every week, even get some feedback via our forums, if you like.
Writing quickly and honestly, from the heart; funny or angry, silly or serious stories about anything vaguely Lamma or Lammaite-related is much more important than spelling, punctuation and grammar. I'll clean up your writings and some professional native-English proofreaders are helping me out when needed. Full credits and email/website links will be provided for all contributors, but you can stay fully anonymous, if you prefer. Barter deals can be negotiated, if necessary, for example free promotion/advertising of your products/services on this website. Pictures (and videos) are always most welcome, but not mandatory, of course.
We'd love to publish short (or long) stories on these topics:
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What you personally love or hate about Lamma
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A new mother's look at the Lamma community
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Growing up on Lamma
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Retiring on Lamma
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Inside the pet lovers community
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Religions on Lamma
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Lamma in the last century; 10/100/1,000 years ago?
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After midnight...
These are just a few suggested topics, anything else is welcome as well.
Contact me if you or one of your friends or acquaintances might be able to help out and write a few lines (or more) on any of these topics.
Feb 2: 'Shades of Berber trance music, percussive Gnawa grooves, rocking Soukous tempos and jazzy riffs topped off by north African vocals'... plus a 'bunch of Lamma hippies'
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Shazza Music - Underground promoter - media release written by William Sickey (abbreviated to focus on "Lamma bands" only): |
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Those of you that have been to the Underground on a regular basis know that you can get anything from middle of the road pop to death metal to in fact death itself. You just never know. As usual we have 2 shows in February. The first one at the Edge on 3rd February features bands as diverse as Empty Tomb, Over A Dogma, Xenic, and Garoupa.
plus XENIC and EMPTY TOMB AND THEN... (trumpets, fanfare) The Underground presents
it's very first show at "Les Visages" in Wanchai. True
to our vow when launched, we will never allow the U to become stale,
thus this new exciting venue for bands to play. And up first for world
superstardom are Guitars & Panties, Slash! SAKURA!
Slash!, Protoss + special guest yet to be named. Rumours abound
that it will be U2, as What can one say about GUITARS AND PANTIES except "cor, giv us one, love". Give us one of their groovy pop songs, I mean, of course. Dressed in PVC, leather, mini-skirts and panties, we have a HK supergroup from various members of the Flowers of Babylon, Hard Candy and The Sisters of Sharon. There is drool all over my keyboard, through sheer sexual excitement. Don't miss. I am taking my video camera, just in case.
plus Slash! SAKURA! Slash! and PROTOSS and ORTHON. GET ON DOWN TO THE UNDERGROUND!!!!! See you there! 3
February 2006 - Friday - Underground 20 For more info: contact Shazza Music! |
Feb 1: Water Taxi to Lamma
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Cristobal de Lamma - frequent Lamma-zine Blog contributor |
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I bought 3 tickets for $100 for the raffle of 2 tickets to Dublin via Gulf Air. Based on tickets sold, I had 2% chance based on number of tickets sold. Much better than Mark 6 for a chance to win! But, there were mysterious forces at work. But, because not too many of items for sale had met a reserve price, an open auction was held. Bad news is that the open auction was held before the ticket drawing. Oh-oh! So, I waited for the draw which took place at 12:31am. Obviously no chance to get the 12:30 ferry. Good thing I saw some other Lamma people earlier, and made a sampan plan. It seems that another Lammaite won the tickets... At 2:45 the show ended. Then hit the Subway sandwich shop across the street for midnight lifesaving snack. Get a cab, load up with Lammaites and motor to Aberdeen. Do the usual circular negotiations with the cantankerous water taxi owner/driver. Clamber into water taxi and the old lady points to the side where she want me to sit to balance the vessel. Chug out into open water and share my full size submarine sandwich with grateful co-passengers. Nice night for a sampan though, not too cold and not too breezy. Lamma looks peaceful, and dark at night. (Made a pit stop at Delaney's, so no bladder emergency, unlike other trips, so I could actually enjoy the view!) 10 metres away from the pier the old lady pilot holds us to ransom to pay up and then takes us to the pier. We exchange our "good nights" and go home for a good rest. Wake up tired but no hangover. My planned work day is trashed, so I decide to go to Aroy Thai to have a Full English Breakfast to decide how to salvage the day.
Number 1 complaint is the volume. Simply too loud for my liking. Pulling back some decibels and being a bit clearer in the vocals would be great. When they play on Lamma, I stay outside and get the volume just right. I think that the sound guys were literally sleeping on the job at Delaney's. But I think that the Moon Bear project is a worthy cause and should be supported. People were certainly dancing and singing and enjoying themselves. Unlike most charity work where I am suspicious of how the money is used, I do feel confident that the monies are effectively used for the intended purpose. |
I was planning to leave the
