tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38210121315944939492024-02-18T18:47:56.049-08:00HargausiumeiHarryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-56926414716973697922017-04-09T12:55:00.001-07:002017-04-09T12:55:30.133-07:00The Last Post - the Brighton MarathonI began this blog in March 2013, four years ago. The reason I began it was to 'trial' occasional articles that I was writing and submitting to the local Catholic diocesan newspaper, the A&B News. Over time the blog widened into a travelogue and reflections on various subjects.<br />
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It was fun and easy to update in the beginning but soon the demands of other (volunteer) jobs began to eat away at my free time and it became a little bit of a chore and, when I had not posted for a week or more, my conscience began to nag...so I either lived with it - or began searching for items to write about, rather than report on those naturally-happening ones (and my conscience did not like that either!).<br />
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So, this, my 212th post, will probably be my last...and, by the way - I'm now the editor of the A&B News!<br />
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Today, 9th April 2017, was the seventh Brighton Marathon, one of the UK's top 12 running events. The 26.2 mile course runs along Brighton seafront for much of the way and it was a perfect day with blue skies, a warm 20+ degrees C temperature and a cooling sea breeze. The local paper reported that there were 12,000 runners taking part.</div>
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The men's winner was, for the first time, a Briton, 39 year old Stuart Hawkes, in a time of 02:27:36, while the course record belongs to William Chebor who achieved 02:09:25 in the 2004 event. The women's winner was 37 year old Helen Davies in 02:42:40. </div>
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The event began with a parade of mini cars, several flying balloons and stuffed with child passengers, weaving from side to side as they motored down the course. They were followed by motor cyclists, all leathers and shiny chrome. I was taking photographs on Church Road in Hove and here's a few of them.<br />
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Then, after a wait of 15-20 minutes came the runners...<br />
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This is absolutely brilliant, a blind runner being accompanied and guided by a sighted runner, a cord's length apart.</div>
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By now the runners were coming thick and fast.</div>
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This lady was possibly disabled as she was walking (very very quickly), aided by two poles.</div>
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The eventual winner, Stuart Hawkes. Given the cameraman on the motor bike in front of him, I guess they knew by that stage that he was the likely winner. </div>
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For many of the runners, their faces told of the effort this was causing them. </div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-4138382372540002812017-01-31T06:06:00.002-08:002017-01-31T18:06:11.946-08:00Old Rocks and Young Campers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was just after nine in the morning when we arrived at the pier, about one hundred of us, Hong Kong's finest teachers and their families (plus me and G) to spend a day looking at old rocks. Our transport for the day, a blue-hulled two-deck ferry, was waiting for us at Ma Liu Shui Ferry Pier, near the Sai Kung Country Park in Hong Kong's New Territories countryside.<br />
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It was a grey morning as we motored out; grey skies with more than a hint of rain, grey seas with barely a ripple, sky and sea merging together, a heavy mist rolling down from the hills.<br />
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The silence was broken by the engine's throb and the tour guide on the loudspeaker explaining the lifebelt drill. We passed what looked like dozens of high-rise housing blocks before the engines really opened up, the speed increased and we motored out into the Tolo Channel.<br />
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To left and right of us were a series of low-lying humped mountains, ridge after ridge of hills fading into the distance. By now the weather was improving and several parches of blue could be seen among the lowering clouds and it was getting gradually brighter.<br />
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Our first stop was at the UNESCO Global Geopark landing at Lai Chi Chong on the north shore of the Sai Kung Peninsula where various igneous and sedimentary rocks were formed about 140 million years ago.<br />
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Not knowing what to expect, we stepped off the ferry feeling a bit like explorers...<br />
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Our first sight was a local hunter...actually a young lad fishing off the pier who hooked another squid just as we passed. In no time he was surrounded by teachers with smartphone cameras at the ready.</div>
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and the squid...</div>
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I've caught squid myself and I was happy to see that the lures used in Hong Kong are the exact same kind that we use in Brighton Marina's annual Squid Competition Day.</div>
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Then we set off, two-by-two, walking behind the guide along a concrete pathway about five feet wide. In no time we had left the pier and were passing through a mangrove area, where small shrubs and trees grow in the mud and sand in an environment that is up to 100 times saltier than normal - and survive. Here, the mangrove was at the estuary of a fresh water creek where the tides come in twice a day. </div>
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The plants of the mangrove have developed a mechanism to survive, including torpedo-like seed pods that can burrow into the mud flats and establish themselves before the next tide comes in.</div>
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Following the path led us through dense tropical vegetation, past streams with crystal-clear water as we continued our quest, on the lookout for old, old rocks (and maybe even dinosaurs?)</div>
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but then we passed a campsite....yes, Hong Kong can mix the sublime and the not-so-sublime like no one else...</div>
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And then we arrived at the village. At least it looked old (in parts)!</div>
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And it also had the smallest Ancestral Hall I've ever seen. (An ancestral hall is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors of a particular clan).</div>
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Anyway, I'm happy to report that, before boarding our ferry again we managed to see some really old rocks, about 140 million years old, from the Jurassic Period (and dinosaurs walked the earth during the Late Jurassic Period - but we never saw any during our visit.) </div>
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Back onto the boat, heading north-east up Tolo Channel, we came across a strange scene. The channel, maybe a mile or two wide, had buoys and nets moored from shore to shore with only a small gap in the centre. This was a police trap to deter smugglers from speeding past near the coasts with goods bought in Hong Kong for sale on the mainland (or vice-versa), evading taxes. </div>
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And at the mid-channel end of one of the 'arms' was a floating police station, with police boats moored alongside. Suspected smugglers passing through the narrow channel would be 'invited to help the police with their inquiries.'</div>
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Our next stop was further up Tolo Channel, where we stopped close to the north shore of the Sai Kung Peninsula and trans-shipped into a small white-hulled glass-bottomed boat to view the coral and marine life.</div>
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By now stomachs were rumbling and, passing the curiously-but-appropriately named 'coffin' rock...</div>
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...we landed at Tap Mun (Grass Island), a picturesque island with a population of about one hundred, not a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) like Lai Chi Chong - but very important as the site of our scheduled Restaurant For Lunch (RFL). </div>
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It has a wonderful basic, unpretentious, old-fashioned feel to the place, and is clearly dependent upon fishing, marinculture and tourism for its livelihood (just like my own birthplace, the Island of Skye).</div>
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After a decent lunch, eight (or so) dishes, including steamed fish and prawns, we set off to explore the island. </div>
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First stop was the 400-year-old Tin Hau temple. There are over 100 Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong, wholly or partly dedicated to the Chinese Goddess of the Seas, but few are as old as the one on Grass Island, which is a 400-year-old Grade 1 scheduled building.</div>
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The temple interior is impressive but it was the roof and interior ceramics and carvings that really caught my attention:</div>
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Our walk round the island continued and we passed through tropical vegetation, spotting a 'false custard apple'...</div>
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past an abandoned school, a police station, then upwards until we emerged into a green pastureland at the top of the island that explained the 'Grass Island' name. The view was spectacular and, of course, there was a campsite...</div>
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In fact, as we continued our walk around the island, the views were stunning, like something from the south of France or the Californian coast.</div>
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And because this is lovely, organised, risk-averse Hong Kong...there were perfect concrete walkways everywhere, well organised campsites, litter bins, shelters and so on.</div>
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We passed the so-called Balanced Rock, about twenty feet high, a famous view.</div>
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And then it was time for our boat trip home. What a wonderful island this was! No very old rocks or dinosaurs, just spectacular views and some feral cattle that were happy to mingle with the people.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, the crowds of tourists and campers don't bother us in the least.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">On the way back, as the mists descended, we saw in the far distance a white statue of Kuan Yin (Buddhist Goddess of Mercy) that seemed to be floating in the air, something magical to sum up the wonder of the day...</span></div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-92187056435268425772017-01-26T07:04:00.002-08:002017-01-31T07:29:58.352-08:00Hong Kong's Lunar New Year Fair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hong Kong's Lunar New Year Fair is an eagerly-awaited seasonal tradition that runs for several days up to New Years Day, which is on 28th January this year. The main Fair is held in Victoria Park, an oasis of green in the midst of high rise buildings, in Causeway Bay, one of the main shopping areas on the main island. This year there were almost 500 stalls.<br />
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When I first visited Hong Kong about 30 years ago the stalls mainly sold flowers and some traditional foods and delicacies. Now, many political interest groups and charities, schools and associations all take stalls to promote their interests and there are some fast-food stalls as well.<br />
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Today, the Fair was crowded with - it seemed - most of Hong Kong's population of seven million, all desperate to get a bargain, to buy an essential prop for the New Year, or just to rubber-neck.<br />
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The politicians were there, making speeches, collecting donations, selling books, t-shirts and souvenirs or just 'pressing the flesh.' <br />
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I don't know if they are a political party as such, but there was a protest group there collecting funds for the '<i>June 4 Museum</i>,' a museum to be dedicated to the suppression of democracy efforts in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on June 4th 1989.<br />
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Inside the small cramped 'museum' tent were a few photographs (in negative form) of the ill-fated attempt to introduce democracy to modern China...alas, as they were in negative form, so you had to invert colours on smartphones to capture them in the original colours - but they still reproduce as shown below...<br />
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Apparently, the reason for this process was to make people re-create the event by re-developing the truth of the event like developing a photograph, the idea being that the mainland authorities want to maintain a distorted negative version. A little confusing? Anyway, the usual t-shirts etc were on display and sale.<br />
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Probably two thirds of the almost 500 stalls were taken up with things other than the traditional flowers, and there was plenty of shouting from eager sellers - and some general silliness with lots and lots of soft animals. <br />
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And, yes, there were flowers, lots of them. But first, remember the mandarin oranges so popular at CNY time? Well, there were hundreds of them...<br />
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Remember the odd-shaped gold coloured fruit that we saw before on CNY Countdown Number 1 of 16th January, 10 days ago. Well, one seller that we talked to did not know the name of it -'its the New Year fruit.' The seller we talked to today was more helpful, apparently it's called the 'gold fruit.' Now we know! There were plenty of them at the Fair, check out the photos below...<br />
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And, in a rare discovery for this mythical fruit - we even found some on the vine!<br />
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If we were worried that the regular flowers might be a disappointment after the excitement of the gold fruit, we needn't have worried, they were impressive enough in their own right.</div>
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In a corner of this vast park there is a statue of Queen Victoria, a hangover from colonial days. I wonder what the old girl thought of the Lunar New Year Fair?</div>
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We are MOST AMUSED, WELL DONE!</div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-38570166869516623482017-01-26T04:14:00.000-08:002017-01-26T04:14:16.078-08:00CNY Countdown 2As promised in CNY Countdown 1 (<a href="https://hargausiumei.blogspot.hk/2017/01/cny-countdown-1.html" target="_blank"><i>CNY Countdown 1</i></a>), here are some more illustrations of Hong Kong's preparations for the Chinese New Year.<br />
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Last time we looked at what was happening on the streets with many specific items being marketed for the CNY. Red was the predominating colour since it stands for happiness, dynamism, good luck, etc; similarly, red-purple stands for luck, fame, money, recognition etc.; pink means love, while gold stands for completeness and wealth, yellow for ripening, royalty and reliability...in fact, most of the shops and stalls are a wash of red and gold...<br />
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Outside the apartment blocks and houses, it's traditional to have pots of yellow mandarin oranges and chrysanthemum flowers, like this example from my own apartment block.<br />
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However, you can overdo it with the pots of oranges!!!<br />
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Many of the big stores have special displays during CNY. Sometimes the displays are traditional like the Chinese lanterns here at the Aeon store in Kornhill.<br />
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The store also had the traditional pink flowers with a string of red firecrackers...<br />
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While Tai Koo Shing shopping centre had a rather strange take on birds/flowers for the upcoming Year of the Rooster...<br />
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...but there was no mistaking the bird being shown in Festival Walk shopping centre at Kowloon Tong. Check out the CNY costumes of the two kids having their photo taken by proud father.<br />
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Just in case it wasn't clear what bird was being shown, Festival Walk had another display further down the mall.</div>
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Happiness, pots of money, what's not to like about CNY?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NKjqC8JIoKUlEyIgufmqtFCsEBGs_iwGHksHdhyphenhyphenWmnOjZgo0zaAv0abMy7hMGZf9BU7j1CDQ3lqmen1Mic1l-A7jr9oc9dQb9V8nrQMmWDzN9CPGi_mvj1D3tY_bOTyqeB2zDK3pPIgd/s1600/IMG_0373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NKjqC8JIoKUlEyIgufmqtFCsEBGs_iwGHksHdhyphenhyphenWmnOjZgo0zaAv0abMy7hMGZf9BU7j1CDQ3lqmen1Mic1l-A7jr9oc9dQb9V8nrQMmWDzN9CPGi_mvj1D3tY_bOTyqeB2zDK3pPIgd/s640/IMG_0373.JPG" width="482" /></a></div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-59979011295299602232017-01-18T05:44:00.002-08:002017-01-31T06:16:23.164-08:00Lunch in Lamma <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lunch in Lamma today. Only a 20 minute trip from misty Central District, Hong Kong, on the ferry Sea Shine to the village of Yung Shue Wan on Lamma Island.<br />
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This small village, a few hundred houses, in set in a horseshoe shape around the curve of the bay.<br />
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On the left as you arrive and walk down the pier are several picturesque houses on stilts - you really could stick a fishing rod out of the bedroom window and catch your breakfast.<br />
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It takes all of three or four minutes to walk into the centre of the village. The road next to the seafront comprises small restaurants. Obviously tourism is the big thing here, and Western tourists too - the fish tanks contents are even identified with English-language labels, the first time I've seen that in Hong Kong.<br />
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As we walked along the seafront road two things stuck me: it was eerily quiet, there is no vehicular traffic, apart from small tractors; and there are many small 'twee' restaurants and chic shops selling overpriced tat. It seems English-speaking folk have been lured here by the the charm and peace, and have then done their best to turn it into Benidorm-cum-Brighton-on-(South-China)Sea.<br />
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There were few visitors, a combination of the weak economy and the fact it was mid-week. Our ferry, which has space for 300-400 passengers, was only about 20% full.<br />
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In no time we had arrived at the edge of the village. The small houses, each comprising one to three stories, abruptly ended and the dense vegetation and shrub began. We turned and walked up the hill, along concrete pathways two or three feet wide, past storm drains and squatter huts. Then, I saw my first star fruit handing on a tree. Hanging on a tree!!! I'd only seen them in the shops before.<br />
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In fact, there were lots of them on the tree.<br />
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Then, we noticed other fruits, banana trees and papaya trees; in fact, the place was a Garden of Eden.<br />
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There was even what looked suspiciously like bougainvillea. When I looked it up, I discovered to my surprise that the plant is evergreen in places where there is rainfall all year; I just hadn't expected to see it in mid-January!<br />
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We passed Lamma's main temple, to the goddess of the sea, Tin Hau, a deity often favoured by Hong Kong's seafaring communities. There were the usual spirals of incense hanging outside, a note attached to each identifying the family who had paid for it.<br />
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There are quite a lot of Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong and the only claim to fame of this one is that the sculpted Chinese-style lions at the entrance were damaged and replaced in 1960 and the sculptor, who specialised in Western-style lions, made them more Western than Chinese...I thought that was quite appropriate - as much of the village has also been anglicised.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tin Hau Temple interior<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tin Hau</td></tr>
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There was one rather interesting temple, in Sha Po Village, which is close to where we landed. This temple (see below) is dedicated to <i>Sam Shan Kwok Wong</i>, the Emperor of the Three Mountains. It is one of only four temples dedicated to this deity in Hong Kong.<br />
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Actually, there was one other 'temple' that caught my eye, a very small, amateurish hall built on the side of one of the concrete paths that went up the hill. It was absolutely stuffed with figures...I think the expression is '<i>covering all the bases</i>.'</div>
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And so to lunch, a simple dish of ho fun noodles with fried fish and vegetables, accompanied by a bottle of Blue Girl. The entire trip to Lamma and back took is less then three hours; sadly, there wasn't much to detain us longer.Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-49339204322012896402017-01-17T04:24:00.003-08:002017-01-31T07:22:44.813-08:00An Afternoon with Puyi, the last Emperor of China<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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An excellent afternoon at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence today watching two films about the life of Puyi, the last Ching Emperoror, who was born 110 years ago in 1906.<br />
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The Museum is located in Lei Yue Mun Fort, built in the 1880s by the British on top of a hill overlooking the narrow straight between Hong Kong island at Lei Yue Mun and the Kowloon mainland opposite. The Fort never saw serious action until the Japanese invasion in 1941 and there are still some preserved and battle-scarred buildings in the grounds.<br />
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Anyway, today's visit was to see the exhibition '<i>From Son of Heaven to Commoner: Puyi, the Last Emperor of China</i>.' There were a number of exhibits belonging to Puyi such as a dragon robe worn at his coronation, his record player, his personal journals and a travel bag. Most interesting were two biographical films featuring archive film, each running for about an hour.<br />
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Aisin-Gioro Puyi became Emperor at the age of three following the maneuverings of the infamous Empress Dowager Cixi - who did not live to see him on the throne - but was overthrown in 1911 at the Revolution. Brought up in isolation from his family, deliberately isolated from other children, including his siblings, dominated by the eunuchs, force-fed a diet of education suitable to support his role as emperor and deity, bowed down to by everyone, not allowed outside the Forbidden City, it is perhaps no surprise that he grew up a very mixed-up young man.<br />
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The films bring to life the turmoil and confusion of the early years of this century with warlords battling for power, uprisings erupting regularly, the Japanese plotting and politicians cutting unprincipled deals. <br />
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For 12 days in 1917 Puyi was restored to the throne by a warlord but then thrown out of the Forbidden City in 1924. Following this Puyi began more than 20 years of sucking up to the Japanese in the hope of being restored by them to the throne. He sheltered in the Japanese Concession at Tianjin for a few years before agreeing to be the puppet emperor of the Japanese state of Manchukuo (which made some sense as Puyi's national origins were Manchu) but as the years went by and the Japanese increasingly pressured him to conform, he became increasingly distraught.<br />
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His traitorous support for Japanese ambitions at the expense of Chinese suffering and self-interested collaboration with them ended with the overthrow of Japan, his capture by Red Army troops in 1945 - while he was trying to flee to Japan. He was taken to testify at the War Crimes Military Tribunal in Tokyo and, after several years under (quite comfortable) Russian house arrest, he was repatriated to China and for ten years underwent 're-education' at the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre.<br />
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From 1959 to his death in 1967, Puyi served as a regular citizen, working in the botanical garden, and then as an editor, while writing his biography. At age 56 he married a hospital nurse and enjoyed a happy domestic life. (In contrast, his first wife and Empress Wanrong, died in hospital in 1946 from malnutrition and the effects of opium withdrawal. Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-26053034263796857022017-01-16T06:18:00.001-08:002017-01-16T20:31:18.981-08:00CNY Countdown 1It's less than two weeks now to Chinese New Year (CNY), which falls on Saturday 28th January this year, introducing the Year of the Rooster.<br />
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It seems like only yesterday the shops were full of Special Christmas Offers, now the emphasis is on preparing for Chinese New Year with emphasis on lucky red and gold colours. Most stationery shops have CNY greetings cards and there are specialist shops with cards, greetings posters, lucky money packets, red paper lanterns, strings of imitation red firecrackers, images of gods, goldfish and so on.<br />
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And it's not just colourful paper displays, there are also lucky fruits and vegetables to display. Gold-coloured oranges are an obvious choice, meaning abundance and happiness, like this display at the entrance of an apartment block (and the pronunciation of the Chinese word for 'orange' sounds like the Chinese word 'success'):<br />
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And of course peach and plumb blossoms variously signify prosperity and growth, perseverance and reliability (and warmer days!). Many of the large stores and shopping malls have displays designed to catch the eye and make doting parents whip out their cellphones to take photographs of their little darlings amid the display (and then hopefully, go shopping). <br />
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Do you know what these 'lucky' fruits are?<br />
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I mean the curious shaped ones? These...<br />
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Me neither...pomeloes, shaddocks?<br />
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Of course, if you are lucky you might come across a calligrapher at work on the street, preparing a lucky poster with suitable thoughts of good fortune, whatever your situation in life (child, student, businessman, housewife, lover, artist, athlete, etc etc). You can even ask him to write something particular to your situation ('<i>May my Mark 6 numbers win in 2017</i>' maybe).<br />
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Most of the large stores and shopping malls have their own displays but this year, instead of the usual static display, the Pacific Place Mall had a small stage showing Chinese Opera extracts. There was only room for an audience of 20 or so and, even with the camera raised over my head, I could not get a clear picture...<br />
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I thought '<i>How do they expect the crowds of people, now about eight or nine deep, many standing on tiptoe, to enjoy the performances????</i>'<br />
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And then I realised that they had anticipated the problem; the performances were being video taped and there was a giant screen on the side of the Mall building so that spectators and passers-by alike could enjoy the spectacle.<br />
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More photos to follow when I check out the large stores and malls.Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-89204603502766683962017-01-09T01:00:00.000-08:002017-01-09T21:22:27.320-08:00Sai Kung's Seafood StreetDecember 2016 was the third warmest year on record in Hong Kong and yesterday's forecast temperature was up to 24 Celsius (that's mid-70s Fahrenheit) so we headed to the fertile coast of Sai Kung peninsula for a seafood dinner.<br />
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Sai King is known as Hong Kong's back garden, equally renowned for its scenic hiking trails and its beautiful coastline with pristine white sandy beaches. The 'seafood street' of Sai Kung town is famous for its many seafood restaurants and when we arrived at 4pm the waterfront was bustling with hungry visitors.<br />
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You can either order your seafood from a restaurant menu or buy it from the many small boats (sampans) congregating at the two piers or tied up to the harbour wall.<br />
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At the first pier there were up to a dozen sampans tied up with small plastic boxes of fish and shellfish, some ready priced - but haggling expected!<br />
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The variety of fish and shellfish was amazing, all alive and apparently in good order. Each sampan had a fisherman/seller awaiting offers and ready to negotiate. Everything from octopuses to shrimps to clams was on show.<br />
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Our party, led by CK, who has spent a lifetime in the catering trade and knows his onions (and his grouper), decided to patronise one of the boats moored against the harbour wall.<br />
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The particular boat we bought from had almost one hundred water-filled containers in which were a huge variety of seafood. We ended up buying prawns, razor clams, baby geoduck (a species of large clam), regular clams, two kinds of crabs (one the chunky red backed kind, the other red and white with long spindly legs), fish, and the largest prawns I have ever seen - mantis shrimps (also known as 'pee-ing shrimps' in Cantonese since they shoot a jet of water when picked up!)<br />
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There was also a boat that specialised in preserved seafood, sun-dried fish and clams etc, wrapped in polythene, but most of the custom was for the fresh seafood.<br />
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People were strolling along the harbour wall, enjoying the warmth and approaching twilight. Everyone seemed to be put for a stroll, grandparents, infants, couples, teenagers and <i>amahs</i> with a day off. There were benches every few yards and I was tempted to sit down - except my chosen bench was already taken...<br />
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Do you mind if I ...?<br />
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Grrrrr!<br />
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Actually, that's one of the changed I've noticed in Hong Kong over the last 20 years. The number of pet (especially dog)-owners has grown hugely. We passed two separate 'pet hospitals' on the way into Sai Kung and there were literally dozens of people with pets on a leash. However, one of the most amusing aspects is that many of the dogs are small, lap dogs, and are often carried around by their owners. And it's not just small dogs, there are dog-carriages for bigger dogs. Don't believe me? Look here:<br />
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We took our purchases to a restaurant and then went for an hour's stroll while they cooked the food. There must have been a couple of hundred yachts in the harbour, from seventy foot long yachts that cost almost a million US to plastic boxes barely six feet long that hardly floated.<br />
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The restaurant that we chose was at the far end of the harbour wall, almost as far away as it was possible to get from the self-proclaimed Michelin-starred restaurant near the entrance. Many of the restaurants are a bit sniffy about cooking food their patrons have brought in - but it's worth making an effort to find the ones that will cook it, that way you guarantee the quality and freshness of your dinner - and save some money; it will cost maybe HK$60-80 per dish for the restaurant to cook for you, but it's well worth it.<br />
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Many of the restaurants had their own fish tanks, indeed some restaurants were wall-to-wall fish tanks, while there were also specialist fishmongers along the seafront.<br />
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I'd never seen so many fish in my life. '<i>Here's looking at you, squid!</i>' (with apologies to Humphrey Bogart in the film <i>Casablanca</i>).<br />
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The restaurant we chose was at the far end of the harbour wall, and did not look so appealing from the water...(it's on the far left below).<br />
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But after an hour the food was all done, steaming plates of seafood accompanied by salty fish fried egg rice and cold bottles of Carlsberg beer. What stands out?<br />
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Well the streamed prawns that we started with were succulent and juicy, the mantis shrimps (above) had a huge amount of lobster-like meat, the razor clams were unexpectedly tender with the sweet juicyness of lobster coming through the sauce, the regular clams were extra tasty and the crabs went down well. I'm not a fan of crabs or lobster cooked Chinese-style, the meat ultimately extracted seems out of proportion to the effort required, but the rest of family certainly enjoyed them, possibly their highlight of the evening.<br />
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And so home to bed...<br />
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<br />Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-88564458177525113982017-01-06T05:32:00.000-08:002017-01-06T05:47:39.627-08:00The Qing Emperors, Bruce Lee and a very large GeneralToday it was off to Hong Kong's Heritage Museum to see the exhibition of 'Ceremony and Celebration: The Grand Weddings of the Qing Emperors.'<br />
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Situated on the bank of the Shing Mun River in a wooded area of Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong, the Heritage Museum may well be Hong Kong's best - certainly the best situated. It's modern (opened in the year 2000) with 12 exhibition galleries covering the history, culture and arts of early Hong Kong and south China.<br />
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Unfortunately, photography was not permitted in the main hall. The range of wedding exhibits from the emperors and empresses of the Qing period (1644-1912) was truly impressive; imperial robes, tapestries, pictures, calligraphy, furniture, utensils, jewellery, clothing, hairpieces, saddles, object d'art, silk, precious stones, bowls, armour...etc.<br />
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The illustrations of the bridal processions certainly suggested the richness of an imperial wedding with hundreds of retainers, gifts galore, specially-prepared artifacts, jewels, silver and gilt galore, extensive rituals and a complex hierarchical system.<br />
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Photographs were permitted in the second hall which displayed local wedding customs over the last 100 years or so.<br />
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What bride wouldn't enjoy being carried to her husband-to-be in this bridal sedan, a special chair that was used in the New Territories of Hong Kong by the Hakka people about 100 years ago?<br />
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And even the 'recent' wedding gowns of 50-70 years ago with their colourful silk, their gold and silver thread embroidery, would surely turn any woman into an empress...<br />
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In complete contrast, we also visited the museum's exhibition on the life of Hong Kong's most famous son, Bruce Lee.<br />
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There were about 600 pieces of memorabilia on display in several large rooms. There were photographs from every period of his life, his parents, his school records, his clothing - including flared trousers from the 1960s, gymnastic equipment, books, film scripts and notes, letters to his wife and friends, his parents' US immigration forms, kung fu weapons, items from his films...everything you could think of.<br />
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We also attended (in a theatre with 200 incredibly comfortable seats) a film on his life, featuring interviews with his sibling, spouse, daughter, acting colleagues, film producer and director. It was very moving, rarely have I enjoyed 'talking heads' so much, the 60 minutes flew past.<br />
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There was one poignant exhibit that struck me. Here was a man who had honed his body into a killing machine, with lightning-fast reflexes and a punch that would destroy opponents, blasting them several yards away...yet he had very poor eyesight.<br />
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On the way back to the MTR station we visited Che Kung Temple, a Daoist temple that honours General Che Kung of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279).<br />
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Apparently he made a great reputation for himself by suppressing uprisings and plagues, so much so that he was deified in the popular imagination. The belief is that his miraculous powers live on. The story goes that 300 years ago there was a nasty epidemic spreading across Sha Tin so the desperate locals prayed to Che Kung and built a temple to him. On the very day that they completed it, the epidemic began to subside...<br />
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There is a huge statue of General Che Kung in the temple (you can see its scale when you compare it to the humans in the picture below):<br />
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This temple is one of two favoured by local senior politicians every Chinese New Year, CNY; the other is Wong Tai Sin Temple. It's traditional for them to come here to pray, bang the drum three times, twirl the fan-bladed wheel of fortune three times and then consult the fortune telling sticks. In fact there is a huge queue to enter the temple on the second day of CNY.<br />
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Today, even through it was rather late in the day, there was a steady stream of supplicants at the two side altars.<br />
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<br />Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-44211403051179448642017-01-03T03:10:00.001-08:002017-01-03T03:54:48.058-08:00Paying Respect to the In-lawsToday, the anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing, my extended Hong Kong family and I visited a small Buddhist temple in Kowloon Tong to pay homage to my deceased in-laws. The temple is situated in Cumberland Road, a quiet, residential street on the outskirts of Hong Kong; the late Bruce Lee, martial arts superstar, lived a couple of houses away from the temple at 41 Cumberland Road, a property that was reportedly on the market for HK$180M (US$ 24M) four years ago.<br />
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The temple is shielded from view by a high wall and entrance is via a substantial red (meaning 'lucky') door. Inside is a large courtyard with a small fish pond and several buildings, including two memorial halls, two worship halls, one fierce guard dog, a small library and living and dining quarters for the monks.<br />
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The morning began with paying respect to the 'landlord' of the property by bowing three times while holding three lit incense or <i>joss</i> sticks. Given the frequency and size of property rent increases in Hong Kong, keeping your landlord on-side from the start is a sensible strategy. <br />
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The main objective of the morning was to pay respect to the family's deceased parents (and grandparents) by bowing three times in front of their memorial tablets while holding lit incense sticks. The two Bhuddist memorial halls contain several hundred tablets and it is the custom here for tablets to be placed in a memorial hall for several years so that family may visit to pay their respects on important anniversaries. The cremated remains are usually held in a columbarium in a separate location, hopefully somewhere with good <i>feng shui;</i> given the scarcity of burial land in Hong Kong, the price of a small plot for cremated remains is very expensive so families typically use a columbarium that stores several hundred cinerary urns.<br />
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There was another objective of the visit and that was to give gifts to the deceased. This comprised paper clothing and white and gold coloured paper folded in the shape of gold bars. We had three large sacks of 'clothing' and 'money' which would be burned in the incinerator and thereby 'sent' to the deceased. It was timely since the objective was to wish the deceased 'Happy New Year,' dress up and and don't worry about the cost of anything.<br />
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The visit ended with prayer in the temple's prayer hall.<br />
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<br />Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-47632576588221886352017-01-01T04:14:00.002-08:002017-01-03T01:50:03.647-08:00First of January 2017Today we celebrated the octave of Christmas, First of January 2017, the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. And we celebrated it at my favourite church (apart from Sacred Heart, Hove), St Joseph's, Central District, Hong Kong.<br />
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We arrived half an hour early for the 11.30am Mass. There were eight separate Masses scheduled for today (count them: English at 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, 10.00 and 11.30 am plus 6.00 pm; Tagalog at 1.00, 2.30 and 4.00 pm). </div>
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When we arrived, there were long queues and when we entered the church we found that the main body was already full, standing room only, so we went up to the balcony which also filled quickly. Before Mass began I amused myself by trying to calculate how many worshippers there were based on the number of people to a pew and then the number of pews; my estimate was 500-600 downstairs plus 300-400 in the balcony plus another couple of hundred taking Communion in the car park, as the Mass was also relayed there by loudspeaker...and this was one of eight Masses, today - and every Sunday!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The balcony from where we were sitting, at one side; it's standing room only</td></tr>
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The Mass was celebrated by elderly priest accompanied by three deacons. There was also a choir of 22 with a leader. The Mass responses and the words of the psalms and hymns were projected onto two large screens so that everyone could - and did - participate in the singing and responses. </div>
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A special word of appreciation for the singing. </div>
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The choir were excellent, very professionally outfitted in white robes with a red collar, and supplemented by a keyboard, electronic drum set, guitar, tambourine and maracas. The Filipinos are known as the musicians of Asia and St Joseph's congregation seems to be 95% Filipino, particularly maids who work as<i> Amahs </i>in Hong Kong. The responses and the praise were loud, tuneful, joyful and made with huge gusto - I'm sure there were smiles of appreciation and pleasure in Heaven.</div>
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After Mass, everyone milled around for a while.</div>
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Some took the opportunity to pay their respects in front of the Tabernacle, or at the Crucifix, or at the crib. Given the huge numbers attending Mass, it was great to see how effective the uniformed ushers were in directing attendees and keeping things moving.</div>
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According to Wikipedia, there are 379,000 Catholics in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Government statistics for 2015 showed there were almost 175,000 Filipinos here. Since more than 85% of the population of the Philippines is Catholic, I would not be surprised to learn that Filipinos make up as much as 40% of local Catholic worshippers (obviously more in the urban areas). They are a wonderfully visible (and audible) proportion! </div>
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And of course, since cellphones are ubiquitous in Hong Kong, the selfie sticks were put to use too after Mass (<i>'Look Mum, we're at Mass today. Happy New Year!</i>')...</div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-56347911153217478602016-12-30T08:17:00.002-08:002017-01-01T06:10:15.771-08:00Ocean Park Hong KongOcean Park Hong Kong was built almost 40 years ago and has morphed into a huge oceanarium, marine mammal park, amusement park and animal theme park. Ten years ago it went through a rough patch and was expected to lose much of its custom to the newly-built Hong Kong Disneyland - but it invested almost one billion US$ in order to compete and subsequently grew into the largest theme park in Asia.<br />
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Today, we were keen to see the revamped Ocean Park as we last visited it more than 10 years ago. Then, China had just liberalised visas for mainland tourists and the place was swamped by huge groups, every attraction demanded lengthy queues and the exit lines were...humongous. When you were visiting with a couple of teenagers in tow, it made for a l-o-n-g day.<br />
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Today, it was just the two of us and we were taking advantage of the new South Island Line of the MTR (Mass Transit Railway, Hong Kong's uber efficient underground railway) that opened yesterday; its four minute commute in air-conditioned comfort replaces the previous half-hour coach journey from Admiralty to Ocean Park.<br />
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The MTR decamped us at the entrance to Ocean Park. The picture below shows the bridge from the train station to the Park. The day was dull, overcast but dry and warm at about 17 Censius.<br />
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First stop was something billed as a half-hour 'Cyber-Illusion Spectacular.'<br />
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That involved loud music, flashing lights, robotic dancers - and some excellent magic and illusions, the best involving a couple who performed multiple costume changes in less than ten seconds with only a flimsy sheet as cover; indeed the girl once changed costume in the couple of seconds that it took for a falling stream of petals to obscure her. The applause at the end was well deserved.<br />
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Because we've visited the Ocean Park several times before, we planned to be selective in our visits, avoiding anything strenuous (so the adventure games were out) and focusing on old favourites and additions since our last visit.<br />
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The Old Hong Kong display of stalls, birdcages, a tram, phonebox, posters and so on is pure nostalgia. The prices charged by the stalls for 'old time' food treats will bring tears to your eyes and make your wallet much lighter.<br />
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We took the cable car from the lower Waterfront side of the Park to the Headland side where many of the rides and attractions are situated. Each car holds six passengers and there must be a couple of hundred of them in the air at any one time.<br />
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It's a spectacular ride, moving gently through the air with views out past the south coast to the expanse of the South China Sea. Today it was misty and visibility was restricted but several large cargo ships and fishing boats could be seen making their way into Aberdeen port.<br />
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Our first stop on the headland was the Rainforest Attraction that presents animals from the world's rain forests, particulary from South America. Apart from the snakes and tree frogs, one of my favourites was the alligator gar, a large, prehistoric-looking fish native to north and south America. They grow to ten feet long and their ancestors lived over 100 million years ago.<br />
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We looked in vain for the seals in the Polar Adventure Attraction but they dived out of sight when they saw us coming.<br />
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In fact, when we spotted the crowd rushing to one particular viewing window we thought they had a good sight of the seals ...but the object of their excitement was two-legged, a diver.<br />
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Mind you, the penguins made up for it. They were waddling around, chests out, arms outstretched, looking the audience up and down as if they were assessing us.<br />
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Back on the Waterfront side, we went to the Amazing Asian Animals Attraction to see the pandas. It was getting quite dark now and my camera struggled with the light but one old panda was very considerate and posed briefly for me.<br />
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It was half past six in the evening now and we passed by the Goldfish Treasures section. I wished we had more time to stay and absorb the different varieties of goldfish, all effectively displayed in a variety of tanks and pools.<br />
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There was even a lantern-adorned display board so that young goldfish fanciers could write messages to each other (when they weren't busy texting or WeChatting).<br />
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My favourite attraction was the last; the Grand Aquarium of Aqua City Attraction. I remember the huge tanks full of a variety of fish of all sizes, from tiddlers to active sharks, all swimming in front of us and sometimes over us as we walked through tanks on moving walkways.<br />
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We began with the static exhibits, marine life in things like worms, starfish, shellfish.<br />
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...and then we moved on to the moving, twisting, turning, pouting examples that are guaranteed to make youngsters either shut up completely, slain with wonder, or explode in a delirium of excitement. Of course, nowadays everyone wants to capture the event on their mobile phone...<br />
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As we went round the exhibition the tanks grew bigger, the windows larger, the fish more varied...<br />
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There was one spectacular tank, cylindrical in shape, maybe 20 feet high. It was completely full of fish of a similar size, swimming constantly round and round...(with cut out shapes of sharks hanging around the edges, like sheepdogs shepherding them).<br />
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At the end of the exhibition was a particularly large display window...<br />
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And, in what I feel may be a particularly Hong Kongesque touch, there is a restaurant in this attraction where the diners have tables overlooking the display (see below, middle left)...and no, they can't order the speciality of the day from the tank!!!...at least I don't think so...<br />
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<br />Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-65477348738030529852016-12-27T01:58:00.004-08:002016-12-27T03:06:42.066-08:00Spanking the Devil in Hong KongOn my walk today I came across one of Hong Kong's strange relics, a piece of Guandong folk sorcery called '<i>Da Siu Yan,</i>' otherwise known as 'beating the petty little people' or demon exorcism. Guandong is one of China's 23 provinces, the one abutting Hong Kong.<br />
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At first, I thought it was just one of these media jamborees that Hong Kong folk enjoy; under the Canal Road Flyover between Causeway Bay and Wan Chai there seemed to be quite a fuss going on, bright TV lights, two cameramen with shoulder-held video cameras and several passers-by excitedly snapping the scene on their cellphones.<br />
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As I got closer it was clear that three TV channel celebrities - a well-know actress and two younger TV presenters - were doing a piece on <i>Da Siu Yan</i>. <br />
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Under the flyover were several altars with statues, food offerings and bowls of incense, each attended by an elderly lady. Apparently, these ladies specialise in ritually expelling demons by using a shoe to hit a person-shaped piece of paper bearing the name and details of the demon (someone you dislike) or group of demons (a group of people that you dislike...maybe parking enforcement attendants or people who talk loudly on mobile phones on public transport...).<br />
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Anyway, as the client, you give the details to one of these nice old ladies, hand over your money and then the beating starts. <br />
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Whack, whack, whack.<br />
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Actually, it's little more complicated...there are prayers, blessing, incense burning and candles, and, during Jingzhe in early Spring, you've got to feed the paper tigers...<br />
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I've seen this ceremony several times, usually from a distance, but today I had to walk right by the women. And no, I didn't place an order; turning the other cheek is a much better approach.Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-56500397266352681032016-12-13T03:30:00.000-08:002016-12-14T06:34:41.939-08:00The Curious Case of the Disappearing Hong Kong Bookshops<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s a
mystery, Holmes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What is?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Why -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the case of the disappearing English-language
bookshops in Hong Kong, of course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tell me more.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well, there
used to be lots of English-language retailers in Hong Kong, now there’s only a
handful. Let me see: Swindon Book Company; Kelly & Walsh; Hong Kong Book
Centre; Bookazine (10 small stores) and maybe I can include The Commercial
Press branch in Causeway Bay (they are really a Chinese language book store but
with a decent English book selection). That’s it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50eN30eylsgvqCbsl4pZ1N80MgS8_1AkAeF6bBC__-7VSHFPnMMiawBfWlM0nyyakVcEai7T-0hfBuhzEQMhbRhhGiO1XOYKXr63XKdhfFQo3UMXbNRcw8mUid32TiHZjFNQqA64cUjSs/s1600/Kelly+%2526+Walsh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50eN30eylsgvqCbsl4pZ1N80MgS8_1AkAeF6bBC__-7VSHFPnMMiawBfWlM0nyyakVcEai7T-0hfBuhzEQMhbRhhGiO1XOYKXr63XKdhfFQo3UMXbNRcw8mUid32TiHZjFNQqA64cUjSs/s640/Kelly+%2526+Walsh.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly & Walsh in an upscale shopping mall on HK Island</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl7pQjunRASvwP4KZgfQ2mIp1FO1tnIzwxXEqafF6FSg9giGWAgE-NCSc0dS2h6f3_cnS2qqGC4uCgoroJ8hCa_xhhVXiQe5a_5q3TbZd2rGhrg9dOp9cpWJX3IwI91GqTGJIzF4e_2vq/s1600/Hong+Kong+Book+Centre.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl7pQjunRASvwP4KZgfQ2mIp1FO1tnIzwxXEqafF6FSg9giGWAgE-NCSc0dS2h6f3_cnS2qqGC4uCgoroJ8hCa_xhhVXiQe5a_5q3TbZd2rGhrg9dOp9cpWJX3IwI91GqTGJIzF4e_2vq/s400/Hong+Kong+Book+Centre.JPG" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hong Kong Book Centre - down the steps into the basement shop; Central</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAP1YbSfAoaF5a36UWYzu-YeVVIr1E-BKdm8AmwKpJke4x5_LoZw9pl_SjNkStnF79PKQfc7mcx2_ay230hw6zWulWp3dQ_dvXBBH69CCwBkS-2FDKebsBAl9OD_-ifUBHaFUu1qXPIys/s1600/Bookazine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAP1YbSfAoaF5a36UWYzu-YeVVIr1E-BKdm8AmwKpJke4x5_LoZw9pl_SjNkStnF79PKQfc7mcx2_ay230hw6zWulWp3dQ_dvXBBH69CCwBkS-2FDKebsBAl9OD_-ifUBHaFUu1qXPIys/s640/Bookazine.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bookazine - main branch in Prince's Building, Central</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ORod5yx2LyFu2G4kzP4SlMiTXYSnamZoWqpIHfPIg2Yzrl7KEKeW__1tLboChlGaTdvCJSIb-rYomhGM6kyMTst4QJQqFbIqEPL5HXQTowRUeCdge9Fu2zyUFxQ97dONWyLOpKrLJnog/s1600/The+Commercial+Press.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ORod5yx2LyFu2G4kzP4SlMiTXYSnamZoWqpIHfPIg2Yzrl7KEKeW__1tLboChlGaTdvCJSIb-rYomhGM6kyMTst4QJQqFbIqEPL5HXQTowRUeCdge9Fu2zyUFxQ97dONWyLOpKrLJnog/s640/The+Commercial+Press.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Commercial Press, mainly in Chinese but with a large English section - Causeway Bay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCfYQZWHnCvg-U1DrY-X7KyTxpXC9RogqyBsX2SZn6RP748wPzYpi5CGrz39Jc4ZKgWld_HVlII5si036dtBX_Xvqc1XJSMETpHv1T5FLRO_UXSpoPV5KyIzcyG_mC4qg3iJfriKaxdpg/s1600/Swindon+Book+Co.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCfYQZWHnCvg-U1DrY-X7KyTxpXC9RogqyBsX2SZn6RP748wPzYpi5CGrz39Jc4ZKgWld_HVlII5si036dtBX_Xvqc1XJSMETpHv1T5FLRO_UXSpoPV5KyIzcyG_mC4qg3iJfriKaxdpg/s640/Swindon+Book+Co.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swindon Book Co in Kowloon side<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The presumption is that there were
previously more English-language bookshops?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of course
there were! Look, the Dymocks chain, an Australian franchise with 13 branches,
closed down almost two years ago. Their bookshops were excellent,
professionally run with an excellent range of magazines and books; they stocked
the latest issues and promoted Asian writers too. Then there is Page One, a
Singaporean group that owned three mega-stores, at Harbour City, Festival Walk
and Times Square. They closed down a couple of months ago. They weren’t my
favourite booksellers; while they carried huge stocks, customer service was sometimes
lacking, books were occasionally misfiled and rarely displayed effectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I thought the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>big Taiwanese bookseller, Eslite, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>opened stores in Hong Kong recently?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well yes, there
are a handful of mega-stores now but Eslite is hardly a bookseller. Granted,
the stores have 10,000+ books, most in Chinese language, but they also sell a
lot of rubbish – boutique homemade jewellery, designer home wares, wine
accessories, leather bags, organic products – expensive tosh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZsb4DizAL_4TOHf1qJhq07eGYXj7CP9AM-1EkANpwu93H3HWCW_sZjNOJJ0BM8nX8zA7ku8Z9PBfZ-EZDU3hVTJLIA2q4d5JkgNM3lzS_uW-jWcdiDYEFgoVL3z6UniVZo_skxLNFgoz/s1600/Eslite+Bookstore.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZsb4DizAL_4TOHf1qJhq07eGYXj7CP9AM-1EkANpwu93H3HWCW_sZjNOJJ0BM8nX8zA7ku8Z9PBfZ-EZDU3hVTJLIA2q4d5JkgNM3lzS_uW-jWcdiDYEFgoVL3z6UniVZo_skxLNFgoz/s640/Eslite+Bookstore.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eslite - Tai Koo - describes itself as a 'bookstore'...ho hum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">You’re a little biased aren’t you, Watson?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I think a
bookshop should just sell books, Holmes – maybe a decent cup of coffee while
one is browsing - if that’s biased, then I’m biased.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And both Dymocks and Page One have closed down
in the last couple of years?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yes…but it’s
even worse. The number of bookshops at Hong Kong Airport has also been
drastically reduced. Page One and another company were granted a lease on 16
stores from 2009, now Page one has also lost its lease on its airport shops and
the other company, Relay, is down to five shops…and, Holmes, you will not like
this, a mainland company, Chung Hwa, will run five of the remaining ten. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Smell a rat do you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well, you
have to wonder. There was all that kerfuffle last year with the booksellers who
were allegedly kidnapped and ended up in mainland China. The airport bookshops
often sold books that were very gossipy and salacious about the Chinese
leadership…makes you wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, it’s all due to mainland censorship is
it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Do you have
a better reason Holmes? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tell me about the economic situation in
Hong Kong just now.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Not good, I
suppose. Retail sales are down, high street rents are down by up to 40% since
the peak in fourth quarter 2013, there is slowing growth in China and the
anti-corruption drive in mainland China shows no signs of slowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Even with
the English-language bookshops that remain, they are reducing their stocks, not
investing in as many new books. You know, I visited all the bookshops looking
for the latest paperback by a Singaporean writer and ex-lawyer, Shamini Flint,
and couldn’t find a copy. Just a couple of years ago most of the shops would
have had a copy and several of her earlier works. Now, no one stocks her and
there are very few new Asian writers supported. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bookazine's flagship store on the top floor of Prince's Building in Central moved to a new location on the same floor in the last 12 months, one that is much smaller, the amount of books and magazines that they stock now is less than half the amount they had 12 months ago. The 'flagship' store has become a sampan store. </span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Do you notice anything in the streets, when
you walk about, compared to, say, our last visit one year ago?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well,
there’s many fewer tourists. Westerners definitely, but also mainlanders; there
used to be lots of them everywhere - do you remember the big crocodiles of
mainland tourists with the leader holding an umbrella or flag at the front?
Even the little entrepreneurs, the men and women who bought cheap stuff for
resale back in China, they used to squat outside the stores and stuff their
huge suitcases for the journey back across the border.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And did you notice any difference in the
types of stores that you see now in the luxury shopping malls?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now that you
mention it – yes I did. I mean there are fewer restaurants and food outlets,
more high end retailers of jewellery, watches, high end fashion brands. I
suppose they can afford the rents. They say that while retail shop rents are
falling, the rents in luxury malls are being maintained – just!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Maybe it’s
become too expensive for booksellers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What about alternative forms of
consumption?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">What do you
mean, Holmes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Do people just read books and just buy them in shops?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well
no…that’s good thinking, Holmes. You’re right you know! Everyone is on their
smartphone now. I’ve never seen so many people using smartphones, they’re
looking at them all the time, everywhere. I suppose they are also reading
news…and articles, books even. Maybe they are ordering books on the internet
too? Yes, of course they must be. And there are lots of free newspapers given
away in the early morning by these old ladies who stand at the entrances on the
MTR stations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What about the use of English in Hong Kong?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now, that’s
definitely falling. Fewer people speak it, or speak it well; go into the big
shops now and the priority is Mandarin or Japanese. In fact, although Chinese
and English are the two official languages of Hong Kong under Basic Law, they
tell me that more people speak Putonghua than English now. I suppose it makes
sense with the shortage of Western tourists too. After all, this is a Chinese
city, about 95% speak Chinese and only 3.5% speak English so perhaps it’s no surprise it no longer supports a lot of English-language bookshops, especially
when the economy is suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hey! Maybe
that’s why the number of English-language bookshops is falling? How did you
work that out Holmes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s elementary my dear Watson! I believe
you will also find that the successful bookshops are those that have a
longstanding agreement to supply textbooks to local schools and colleges; that
makes them especially resilient in a downturn…yes, it’s quite elementary. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-44174916336632367962016-12-07T15:31:00.001-08:002016-12-07T15:34:06.868-08:00Hymn to Hong Kong<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last six months
have been quite demanding, mainly due to a variety of voluntary jobs that
seemed to expand to fill all my spare time until something had to give – and
that was this blog.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, two days ago, around
6.00 am and almost 12 hours out from London, my Cathay Pacific flight began to
descend towards Hong Kong. Ahead, the darkness was being beaten back by the
pale gold and red of the sun as it began to rise over the South China Sea. The
engines throttled back and at 10,000 feet we could make out the shape of
islands far below us and the vastness of the water ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s always
something almost magical about approaching Hong Kong. It’s a mixture of eager
anticipation and happy memories, as well as the knowledge that only rest and
pleasure stretch ahead. There will be new and exotic experiences, the warmth of
the welcoming family and lots to explore in this place of incredible
materialism and competition, where constant growth and novelty generate winners
and losers in the competition to succeed and live well. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Driving into the city
from the airport in our Alphard MPV (a Toyota marque built for use in Japan but
exported to a handful of countries including Hong Kong) was a slightly surreal
experience. We swept smoothly along the highway in a cocoon of grey as the
heavy mist hid much of the surrounding hills; it was only as we approached
Kowloon on the elevated road that the sun began to burn away the greyness and
to our right we saw glimpses of the blue sea with a sprinkling of small islands
and ships far below. Then we swept into the concrete canyons of the outskirts,
with offices, apartments blocks and shops all around us, past the barriers and
dipped down into the Western Cross-harbour Tunnel to pop up shortly after in our
Hong Kong Island destination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later that day, I made
the usual pilgrimage to Victoria Harbour, just to get a feel for life in the
city. As usual, the Harbour was busy, the green and white Star Ferries
criss-crossing the water, an occasional ferry brightly decorated, the Aqua Luna
sailing junk pottering about and a large cruise ship moored to Harbour City
Ocean Terminal. Across the water, the
buildings of Hong Kong Island reared up from the water, strangely insubstantial,
grey-blue and indistinct in the haze.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today, I thought I’d
take the pulse of the city, see what’s on its mind. After all, there is much to
be concerned about globally; for example, America’s scary President-Elect; post-Brexit
worries about the effect of elections in Austria and Italy; a pending
impeachment in South Korea, and the imminent rise in US interest rates…</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Hong King, it is the
gay lions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In front of the HSBC
Bank headquarters in Central are sculptures of two bronze lions, Stephen and
Stitt. They were placed there in 1935 when the building opened and are a local
landmark, representative of the excellent <i>feng
shui</i> enjoyed by the building. They proudly bear the scars of shrapnel holes
dating from the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in 1941. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently, Stephen and
Stitt have been joined by another pair of lions, also called Stephen and Stitt
– but multi-coloured and ‘gay’ – that were placed at the opposite side of the
bank as part of HSBC’s ‘Celebrate Pride, Celebrate Unity’ campaign. As the
plaque puts it, ‘the design uses thick rainbow-coloured bars, creating a bold
statement of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) pride.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The city is divided as
a result. On one side there are many young people who support moves for
anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people, 91% of a recent sample poll who were
aged 18-24 spoke in favour, and a recent Pride support march attracted 7,000
people.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the other side,
several campaign groups have organised a petition against the gay lions with
4,500 people signed up so far. They argue that the iconic lions have been
improperly hijacked to ‘trample family values’ in Hong Kong and project
meanings that a lot of people disagree with.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While Hong Kong has
laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability, race and
family values, there are none preventing discrimination on the grounds of
sexual orientation. That may be about to change, but, while the numbers of
people in favour of changing the law are increasing, they still face
considerable opposition, including the older, more traditional Hong Kongers,
reminiscent of the same divisions in society that were exposed by the youth-led
Umbrella Movement demonstrations of 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As with the waters in
the Victoria Harbour, there may be choppy times ahead. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-18306808829097795382016-05-29T05:04:00.001-07:002016-05-29T05:04:08.424-07:00Unseen City, Strange & Familiar<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This week has been
mercifully quiet so I treated myself to two photographic exhibitions in London.
The first was the highly-rated <b><i>Strange & Familiar</i></b> at the
Barbican Art gallery, the work of 23 international photographers, working in
the UK from the 1930s to date, who each give a fascinating insight into
Britishness. This exhibition was curated by Martin Parr, a well-known
documentary photographer. Some of his own work is on display at the Guildhall
Art Gallery in an exhibition called <b><i>Unseen City </i></b>and that was the second
one that I visited. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">London was its usual
heaving self, the underground system was fairly busy…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…but there were some classy
buskers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First, a word about the
Barbican. The Barbican Estate is an unlovely desert of bleak high-rise housing
blocks built during the 1960s and 1970s in the area north of St Paul’s
Cathedral, an area that was devastated by Luftwaffe bombs during World War 2.
The architecture is (fittingly) classified as ‘brutalist.’ It has few redeeming
features but does contain, on the periphery, the Barbican Arts Centre, where
the exhibition was held, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, oases of
culture in a wasteland of concrete cells.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHmHOf9_wr6cOhqrBwOc7zl2NuAJxszULTTrtT_rcDnKKNL-G3z1gVdIOzpHHdUhz3wppHV2C8EWi3su7eXYGHJuugueRD_Z_LmpERQfGB6gZxa9WZGJ9rcmFPr4brMQtF_yvPwYHdigQ/s1600/IMG_0183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhHmHOf9_wr6cOhqrBwOc7zl2NuAJxszULTTrtT_rcDnKKNL-G3z1gVdIOzpHHdUhz3wppHV2C8EWi3su7eXYGHJuugueRD_Z_LmpERQfGB6gZxa9WZGJ9rcmFPr4brMQtF_yvPwYHdigQ/s640/IMG_0183.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3tuq78HjzMYcRXb4eAxcbvmI5evtJVHcAvrYjVmoC7ZtoHSubECzye2gffC9R9-vXgyPSRsA_MjtyJt2W5Tes9-41KvnHjI3m3hODtu9iiEOn4HsUuq-wJcuFO1QK-2l99TWn5drqJja/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3tuq78HjzMYcRXb4eAxcbvmI5evtJVHcAvrYjVmoC7ZtoHSubECzye2gffC9R9-vXgyPSRsA_MjtyJt2W5Tes9-41KvnHjI3m3hODtu9iiEOn4HsUuq-wJcuFO1QK-2l99TWn5drqJja/s640/IMG_0179.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is virtually
impossible to avoid getting lost in the Barbican. While signposting has
improved considerably, the authorities continue to throw up concrete battery
cages for humans and close off whole sections at will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I had to take
directions from the dancing couple…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9p11XN-JitZ9caP1TlsvmJrL7O_ENIogvDs_-0tnH-XXftr6ytCs87pnLn5jAm_E5NXBZimV0vhyphenhyphen5TvmPceoKNVNvSi_g6YgPOlRrDrpB_n0AkgvEC3y2VujQpStdPYVmNX3_iCXe1Uv/s1600/DSC00021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9p11XN-JitZ9caP1TlsvmJrL7O_ENIogvDs_-0tnH-XXftr6ytCs87pnLn5jAm_E5NXBZimV0vhyphenhyphen5TvmPceoKNVNvSi_g6YgPOlRrDrpB_n0AkgvEC3y2VujQpStdPYVmNX3_iCXe1Uv/s640/DSC00021.JPG" width="566" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…and the jolly golden
giant who pointed the way towards the Barbican Arts Centre.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2trgpX0oXC4ICF-qmsKdFwzH3YnSFW6HuiKH3Zj8RiGVB10Q_p0qNDHmraj0ajzwLjsiB1Q10Yn2AQ8ZlRE9lw2yOBqEZd5RpAvxhndYWNHsO_svQr9NZeUjVIAwTOgO5avSJyheJGpgO/s1600/IMG_0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2trgpX0oXC4ICF-qmsKdFwzH3YnSFW6HuiKH3Zj8RiGVB10Q_p0qNDHmraj0ajzwLjsiB1Q10Yn2AQ8ZlRE9lw2yOBqEZd5RpAvxhndYWNHsO_svQr9NZeUjVIAwTOgO5avSJyheJGpgO/s640/IMG_0181.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rant over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Barbican Arts
Centre is at the edge of Barbican Estate and has a plaza in front of it,
fountains and even a small lake. Oasis indeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGGQPdesGFy85xinKpMxR-VYzkruMdzfBss1yfBOBeM63anr8hHajQQGDtdCfP0DKHELHhiCQEGFFdgtm8ImvJwjp9lghHfgoTW1uo7cS1dvsoHr7NENN_ImA2p79S4lvfPJQBY3GoLZw/s1600/IMG_0178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGGQPdesGFy85xinKpMxR-VYzkruMdzfBss1yfBOBeM63anr8hHajQQGDtdCfP0DKHELHhiCQEGFFdgtm8ImvJwjp9lghHfgoTW1uo7cS1dvsoHr7NENN_ImA2p79S4lvfPJQBY3GoLZw/s640/IMG_0178.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Strange
& Familiar </i></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">exhibition is on two floors and comprises several hundred
prints by 23 overseas photographers, most of them in monochrome. The usual
clichéd images are there; top hats and bowlers, posed postmen and grimy miners,
street waifs and elderly sun worshippers, Swinging 60s etc. There’s nothing
wrong with that when it’s well done, but there is much more to enjoy, to
contemplate, to worry over, to be amazed at, to be bemused by or to be appalled
at. The whole of life is there, much of it unfamiliar – the past is indeed
another country – and quite a lot that stirs up memories and resonates, some
that you will happily pass by, but all of it reflects some aspect of Britishness
momentarily captured and preserved by foreigners with cameras.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s a few of my
favourites (photograph-taking was banned and there were alert monitors in each
room to prevent any surreptitious attempts!): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Frenchman <b><i>Henri
Cartier-Bresson</i></b>, the master of candid photography, was invited to
photograph the coronation of George VI in the mid-1930s but mostly turned his
camera on the crowd instead. I love his candid portraits of the British
determined to enjoy themselves despite adverse conditions; there is a
tremendous downpour at Ascot, most of the spectators have gone but one
determined elderly man sits on, a sodden newspaper plastered to his head, at
peace with himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Another French
photographer, <b><i>Raymond Depardon</i></b>, photojournalist and filmmaker, was asked to
photograph Glasgow, one of the major European cities that had fallen on hard
times. This was in the 1980s before Glasgow’s slogan was ‘smiles better’ and
before it was renowned as a city of culture. This is a dark, brooding city of
tenement blocks, leaden skies, waif-like children and booze-sodden denizens.
Some of Depardon’s images are marvellously artful in the subtle use of touches
of colour as counterpoint – the subdued pink of a girl’s dress for example.
This is the Glasgow that I knew well and had almost banished from memory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A very different
perspective is provided by Dutch photographer <b><i>Hand van der Meer</i></b>’s
photographs of amateur football matches. The huge swathes of sky and lush green
fields remind one of early Dutch painting, while also being current and very
English.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Japanese war </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">photographer <b><i>Akihiko
Okamura</i></b> spent much time in Ulster in the 1980s during the ‘Troubles,’
even taking his family to live there so that he could concentrate on his work
of documenting the province. It’s all there; the marches and the reaction to
them, religion and violence, ugly tribalism and shallow posturing. If nothing
else, it reminds us what we’ve hopefully left behind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, at the exit, there are some huge-size portraits by <b><i>Bruce
Gilden</i></b>, the American street photographer, made in 2011 and 2014. The
style can be summarised as ‘up close and personal.’ Here are sitters’ faces
with stubble, warts, broken capillaries, poor teeth, blotches, mascara and
foundation applied by trowel, rheumy-eyed…as Robbie once put </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">it ‘<i>O
wad some Power the giftie gie us. To see oursels as ithers see us!</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Highly recommended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Then it was on to the
Guildhall, London’s Town Hall, built in the 15<sup>th</sup> century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxj24yevY9p8K60ZE1vLHTkMiqdbQXIf2V813KFUhbESFNcxBgDomiDJcBQdIC1X3JDn5PmVr7bNO5ebdCxuNsK_RDvSG7Y9DP_G9t18g-xhnFOrI1N5yESBqfL4ew5dq41eCsvuL80wHH/s1600/DSC00031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxj24yevY9p8K60ZE1vLHTkMiqdbQXIf2V813KFUhbESFNcxBgDomiDJcBQdIC1X3JDn5PmVr7bNO5ebdCxuNsK_RDvSG7Y9DP_G9t18g-xhnFOrI1N5yESBqfL4ew5dq41eCsvuL80wHH/s640/DSC00031.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Attached to it is the
Guildhall Art Gallery, built in 1999 to replace a building destroyed by the
Luftwaffe in 1941. When they were digging the foundations for it they came across medieval pottery - and the remains of a Roman amphitheatre almost 2,000 years old.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58G6qGLY3Dr0dc1GkTJjBhQeOtinJCKtZemUqOBTaOf13toj1X5Mq_CPQSfQyGoz0no6W4VQJ6tULfCZ2g0w_L4AXxf76KYpaoMmnykwwKiebbMe6-g1856FDm067cTwrl7YA8nGzIyKV/s1600/DSC00029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58G6qGLY3Dr0dc1GkTJjBhQeOtinJCKtZemUqOBTaOf13toj1X5Mq_CPQSfQyGoz0no6W4VQJ6tULfCZ2g0w_L4AXxf76KYpaoMmnykwwKiebbMe6-g1856FDm067cTwrl7YA8nGzIyKV/s640/DSC00029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Gallery houses
Martin Parr’s </span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Unseen City. </i></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Martin is a member of the Magnum collective and,
since 2013, has been the City of London’s photographer-in-residence and is
uniquely placed to capture the pomp and ceremony, the centuries-old traditions,
banquets, processions and so on. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At the entrance to the
exhibition is a sign ‘Photography Allowed.’ Well done!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbL7shyphenhyphenUrdlHD3NqgLD5OKiWxRs7ERyEby10JNvfOhF_fnSdZfSRWcUv8QJcq3KEzFvOQFJxaItQmVEb6UEJYJTu4Nsi5qkVbvMr6vcZ7dCZ3KicbSzQyNjzZvyxI997POYXZxy3WNM69/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbL7shyphenhyphenUrdlHD3NqgLD5OKiWxRs7ERyEby10JNvfOhF_fnSdZfSRWcUv8QJcq3KEzFvOQFJxaItQmVEb6UEJYJTu4Nsi5qkVbvMr6vcZ7dCZ3KicbSzQyNjzZvyxI997POYXZxy3WNM69/s320/IMG_0192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let some of the photos speak for
themselves…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On the way back I
popped in to St Mary-le-Bow Church, famous for the Bow Bells. (According to tradition,
a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the Bow Bells). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The church on this site
has been destroyed and re-built several times, most famously after the London
Tornado of 1091, the Great Fire of 1666 and the Luftwaffe in 1941.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It is quite sumptuous
inside and one of the unusual features was the presence of two pulpits. Do they
have vicars in each of them? One proposing a view, the other opposing it - or
is it a form of clerical stereo? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The church and
Guildhall are only a few minutes from St Paul’s Cathedral, the late 17<sup>th</sup>
century creation of Sir Christopher Wren. I did contemplate going in but the
£16 entry fee was excessive for the 40 minutes I had available. Another time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-85132243935609396012016-04-29T02:34:00.000-07:002016-05-07T12:28:25.200-07:00Worth Abbey and the Induction Mass of A&B's Director of EducationI was at Worth Abbey yesterday for the Induction Mass of Marie Ryan as Director of the Education Service of Arundel & Brighton Diocese. The Abbey is home to a community of Benedictine monks and is adjacent to the beautiful Worth School, a premier boarding and day school of almost 600 students set in several hundred green acres. Lucky students!<br />
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The Abbey Church, a wigwam-like structure, was opened in the early 1970s and I remember it for two things: because of the design, it is tricky for photography, with some gloomy areas and others pierced by sudden bursts of brilliant sunshine; the uncomfortable kneelers are wooden, in sympathy with the design of the seats which are curved to reflect the geometry of the church and made of black walnut and ash...impressive but not built for comfort. <br />
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Outside, it was a chilly day with bright blue skies. Inside, it was warm and cheery, the monks, priests and deacons were gathering to process in, Bishop Richard Moth was on top form and there was an excited buzz from the congregation, mainly teaching staff, parents, governors, supporters and DABCEC education staff.<br />
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No more words, here's a few of my favourite photos of the day.<br />
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-89661966914306747122016-04-04T12:08:00.000-07:002016-04-04T12:08:05.784-07:00Wellspring Community
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Today, on the Annunciation of
the Lord, I was privileged to attend Mass at St Joseph’s Church in Brighton,
where the Wellspring Community received a decree recognising it as a Private
Lay Association of the Faithful within Arundel & Brighton Diocese.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">St Joseph’s is a lofty Victorian
Gothic building near the city centre. It is situated in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Elm Grove - one of the few
remaining areas of uncontrolled (free) parking in the city centre, consequently
parking can be extremely hard to find – but not today, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deo gratias</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYiJNDW4qn2yK6g8JYQrQWRxND-qug7jqZxMqMyMaiDMbBMo3spjEDivEd5nCeeJenyE6s9IFClmz7wWPMeIQZw8KMqs6Pt9os9lvD2t0soLjlPnJ433ufA6jihl2HC4fxJZz9onJlltB/s1600/_DSC0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYiJNDW4qn2yK6g8JYQrQWRxND-qug7jqZxMqMyMaiDMbBMo3spjEDivEd5nCeeJenyE6s9IFClmz7wWPMeIQZw8KMqs6Pt9os9lvD2t0soLjlPnJ433ufA6jihl2HC4fxJZz9onJlltB/s640/_DSC0199.JPG" width="640" /></a></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As I entered the small
choir was rehearsing – and they were outstandingly good. Chief celebrant was
our Bishop, Richard Moth, with the Abbot of Worth Abbey, Dom Luke Jolly, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canon Kieron O’Brien, Parish Priest, and
several other priests and brothers in attendance. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><br />
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</o:p></span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In his homily Bishop Richard
linked today’s liturgical celebration of the Annunciation, when the BV Mary
said ‘yes’ not knowing where it would lead but trusting in the Lord’s goodness,
with the similar commitment made by the lay members of the Wellspring Community,
under the guidance of God’s Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">He paid tribute to the work
of Worth Abbey in forming the Wellspring Community, which operates under the Rule
of St Benedict. Living a common life of prayer and service, the members witness
to the Kingdom of God in the city of Brighton, rooting their daily life in
prayer, Scripture and the sacraments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Practically, they are
involved in teaching and preaching the Faith, youth work, school chaplaincy,
retreat work, prisoner befriending, running a weekly prayer group for students and
young adults, as well as hosting a Sunday lunch. They certainly have lots of
energy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, Bishop Richard read
out the formal decree and presented it to Jo Gilbert, leader of the Community. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Liturgy of the Eucharist
then followed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After Mass ended, the Bishop, religious and
clergy joined members of the Community for a group photograph, leader Jo Gilbert
holding the formal decree signed by Bishop Moth and by Fr Jonathan Martin,
Chancellor and Vicar General. </span></div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-33830103956413290092016-03-27T12:43:00.001-07:002016-04-01T08:55:17.908-07:00Saturday’s Easter Vigil for 2016 at Sacred Heart Church HoveThe Easter Vigil is probably my favourite liturgical celebration,
combining the drama of fire, light and explosive sounds with anticipation of
the imminent arrival of the holiest day of the year.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Normally the Vigil begins with the blessing and lighting of
the paschal candle in the church car park. A new paschal candle is blessed and
lit every year at Easter and then used throughout the year during special
occasions such as baptisms and funerals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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(Previously, passers-by who have seen the flaming brazier
in the church's car park have innocently enquired whether we are ‘having a barbeque?’)<o:p></o:p></div>
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However Saturday’s weather forecast was for torrential rain and,
sure enough, by 7pm it was bucketing down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, altar server Georges was prepared
and had set up a fire in the church porch – with a bucket of water nearby and
a fire extinguisher. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><br />
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On schedule at 8pm all the lights in the church were
extinguished and Fr Kevin and the other altar servers processed to the porch
bearing the paschal candle. After blessing the fire, Fr Kevin cut the shape of
a cross in the candle, then the Greek signs for Alpha and Omega, signifying God
is the beginning and the end, and finally the numbers 2016. Five grains of
incense were then inserted into the candle representing the five wounds of
Christ - a tricky operation at the best of times but doubly difficult when the
priest has to hold a small torch in his other hand!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Finally the large candle was lit from the fire and
triumphantly borne into the dark church with the cry ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Light of Christ’</i> to which the response was ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thanks be to God</i>.’ The refrain was said three times while the
congregation lit their own small candles from the paschal one, passing the
light to each other until a warm glow suffused the entire church, walls and
all.<br />
<o:p><br />
</o:p><br />
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Fr Kevin then sang the Easter proclamation (Exsultet) which
glories in the goodness of God who created all and His son who ‘broke the
prison-bars of death.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The congregation's candles were snuffed out so
that the church was again in darkness, lit only by the faint glow of the
paschal candle, now placed in a candlestand next to the altar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There followed a series of readings from the Old and New
Testaments, interspersed with prayers and psalms sung by the congregation – led
by our magnificent choir (seemingly turbo-charged for the occasion) under Jane and our nimble-fingered organist. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the last reading from the Old Testament there was a
moment’s pause – before an explosion of noise and light as bells rang out,
clappers sounded and all the lights were switched on. Servers scurried round
ensuring that all the candles in the church were lit, even the ones ten feet up on the side walls that
are only lit once a year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Following the reading of the Gospel and the homily, we segued
smoothly into the baptismal liturgy. Three individuals were to be baptised and
four more were to be confirmed during the night’s celebrations. This part of
the Vigil is particularly eagerly anticipated as the congregation seems to
sense – and warmly welcomes - the catechumens’ desire to publicly acknowledge
the faith that had led them on their journey to the altar at Sacred Heart.<br />
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<o:p> </o:p><br />
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Fortunately, our parish priest has a well-modulated singing
voice and sufficient stamina, both of which are needed for the Vigil. After the
Litany of the Saints was sung, the baptismal water was blessed, lowering the paschal
candle into it several times as required by the Vigil rite.</div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
Then the prescribed questions were put, the Oil of Catechumens
was applied and, one by one, the individuals were baptised, a jug of –presumably
warm or at least tepid – water was poured over the head three times while the
words of baptism were pronounced. <br />
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Following this the three were clad in white
garments and lit their own baptismal candles from the paschal one. Then,
bearing their lit candles, they went into the body of the church, passing their
light from person to person until the candles of the entire congregation were
lit. The entire congregation was then invited to hold up their lit candles and renew
their baptismal promises, renouncing Satan and all his works and promising to
serve God in the holy Catholic church, following which the priest walked around
the church sprinkling holy water on everyone – and, when he had returned to the
altar, giving the altar servers and himself a good sprinkling. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Then the newly-baptised three were joined on the sanctuary by
the four persons to be confirmed in the faith, all seven standing facing the
congregation, their sponsors standing behind them, one hand on the candidate's
shoulder to indicate their support and sponsorship. Again, the prescribed questions
were put and the candidates were anointed, this time with a different oil, the Oil
of Chrism, the Holy Oil used to anoint prophets and kings. Several were visibly
moved as Fr Kevin moved down the line, blessing and praying for each one. </div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
The evening’s Vigil was concluded with Mass, more
specifically the liturgy of the Eucharist, when the newly-baptised for the
first time participated with the rest of the congregation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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After Mass there were more than the usual amount of smiles,
handshakes, hugs and arm squeezes as ‘<em>Happy Easter’</em> greetings were exchanged. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the things that I find particularly moving about the
Easter Vigil – apart from the drama of the occasion itself – was the way it attracts many
people, visitors and locals, who do not regularly attend the church. Reaching
across the pews to shake a stranger’s hand while wishing him or her a friendly ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Peace</i>’ or ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Happy Easter</i>’ often gets a fulsome response, particularly from the
elderly. It’s a way of sharing the paschal candle’s light and warmth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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As we left the church servers offered us a choice of wine
gums or jelly babies from their baskets.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Eh…can we go back to chocolates next year, Fr Kevin? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-59523121647682236222016-03-25T11:50:00.000-07:002016-03-25T11:50:30.432-07:00Hove’s Ecumenical Walk of Witness 2016The annual ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walk of
Witness’</i> was rather different this year.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>For a start, the weather was glorious with bright blue
skies, nary a cloud in sight, with tropical – well for Hove - temperatures of
16 degrees Celsius (61 F). Not bad for the tail end of March and a lot better
than last year’s cool and wet walk (see <a href="http://hargausiumei.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/hoves-ecumenical-good-friday-walk-of.html" target="_blank">last year's Walk).</a></div>
<br />
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Walker numbers were up too; in 2014, I counted 150 walkers,
last year 164 set off, and this year there was an increase to 182 (although
that had fallen to 165 by the end of the walk). Part of the reason for the
increase was the participation of the Chemin Neuf Community (a Roman Catholic ecumenical
community founded in France 43 years ago).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The number of stops (‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stations
of the Cross’</i>) was also reduced from seven to four. Instead of stopping
outside several of the participating churches, as last year, the stops this
year were at what may be loosely called ‘landmarks,’ ending as usual at St
Andrew’s Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Finally, we walked a few hundred yards more this year as the
procession started from the north side of Brunswick Square, rather than from
the traditional start outside St John the Baptist’s Church. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
The First Station - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jesus
is Condemned to Death</i> – was at the top of Brunswick Square, which is famed
for its stunning Regency architecture. As the photo shows, there are
renovations underway and quite a lot of scaffolding in the area.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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After the reading and reflection we sang ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crown him with Many Crowns</i>’ a
composition by the prolific Victorian composer Matthew Bridges, written three
years after he became a Roman Catholic as a result of the influence of John
Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
Then we formed a straggling crocodile and, following the
cross-bearer, we strolled for a few hundred yards along the pavement beside
busy Western Road until we came to Palmeira Square, best known for its floral
clock built in 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
At this Second Station – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Simon
of Cyrene helps to carry the cross</i> – we listened to the Gospel and a
meditation and then sang (those of us that knew the tune!) the seventeenth-century
hymn ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Song is Love Unknown.’ </i>Among
the 182 walkers was a dog that attempted its own version of the hymn but was
dragged away by his unimpressed owner.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
Then it was on to Hove Town Hall – and more scaffolding. By
now a few of the elderly walkers had retired and the line of walkers itself
stretched for more than 100 yards. Fr Kevin read the Gospel and gave a short
reflection for the Third Station – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jesus speaks
to his mother. </i>Then we launched into one of my favourite hymns ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Were You There when they Crucified my Lord</i>?’
It was probably composed by African-American slaves in the 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
century, likely before the American Civil War. The lyrics are simple, moving
and beautiful while the tune has a call-and-response structure and the pained ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh</i>’ that begins the third line is sometimes
sung with such a hold and slur that it sends goose-bumps down my spine. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brrrr</i>! <o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p> </o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p>Finally, the home stretch, past the pavement cafes, past the
gawping shoppers of George Street, the procession made its way to the
Anglican Church of St Andrew, beside the busy Church Road. The
church is of a striking Norman-influenced design and is surrounded by a lovely
old churchyard, replete with impressive gravestones and memorials. It is the final
resting place of many prominent Hove families as well as Sir George Everest,
who gave his name to the world’s highest mountain, and George Westphal, the
last surviving officer to serve on Nelson’s flagship, the <em>Victory</em>, at Trafalgar.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
And in this fittingly serene and weighty space we prayed the
Fourth Station – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jesus dies on the Cross</i>.
After the meditation we sang another favourite, Isaac Watts’ timeless classic ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When I survey the Wondrous Cross,’ </i>still
going strong after more than 300 years. They say that Isaac Watts was a sickly
and unattractive child - but he was also something of a genius, studying Latin
from age four, Greek at age nine, French from 11 and Hebrew from 13. He also
had great skill at rhyming and – despite his father trying to thrash ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this rhyming nonsense’</i> out of him, he went
on to write more than 600 hymns.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<o:p><br />
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For all of us, particularly the wilting elderly and the waning youngsters, it was time
for refreshments in St Andrew’s Hall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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(<em>A belated apology to some of my friends if I ignored you today:
if you saw me behaving strangely, muttering to myself, I was just trying to
count the number of genuine walkers. It’s not easy, you have to discount the ‘fellow
travellers’ who walk alongside; in the end I restricted the numbers to those
who carried the hymn sheet and their companions</em>.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-7609951879515615822016-03-20T10:53:00.000-07:002016-03-20T10:53:55.775-07:00Lee Miller at the IWM London<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Last week I spent a pleasant
afternoon at the ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lee Miller: A Woman’s
War’</b> photo<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>exhibition at the
Imperial War Museum, London.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Imperial War Museum was a
favourite haunt of the male members of our family for the past 20+ years,
partly because of the ‘boys’ toys’ aspect of militaria, but also because of the
displays’ ability to put flesh on the global conflicts of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, politics red in tooth and claw.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The very entrance to the
museum is a display of shock and awe with its twin 15-inch naval guns, each of
them weighing 100 tons and capable of firing a shell more than 16 miles. The
guns were built almost exactly 100 years ago and one of them last saw action
during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Inside, the atrium - unsympathetically
re-modelled a few years ago - is stuffed with warplanes, tanks, artillery,
rockets and other machines designed solely to destroy and maim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thankfully, the permanent gallaries
provide space to reflect on various aspects of war, such as the moving display
on the history of the Holocaust, the Ashcroft medal gallery, the Secret War
displays that illustrate the extreme heroism of spies and guerillas, and the
make-do spirit of A Family in Wartime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Lee Williams exhibition
is on the third floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Frankly, before I went I knew
very little about her apart from the fact that she was one of the very few
female photographers who gained access to the Second World War theatres of
conflict. There are many iconic phots from WW2 but I can recall only a handful
of photographers: Eisenstaedt, Robert Capa, Joe Rosenthal, Dickey Chapelle…I’m
flagging already! Before attending the exhibition, the only photo linked to Lee
Williams that I remember was the one taken of her in Hitler’s bath – on the
same day that the Fuhrer took his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller was a
quite remarkable woman. Born in the US in 1907, in her early 20s she was one of
the most famous fashion models in New York and, by her mid-20s, she was living
in Paris, collaborating with the famous surrealist Man Ray. Her circle of
friends included Picasso and Jean Cocteau. After establishing a portrait and
commercial photography studio in New York, she married an Egyptian, moved to
Cairo – but it did not work out and she was living in London with the
surrealist painter Roland Penrose (whom she later married) when war broke out. Refusing
to flee for refuge to the US, she instead became a war correspondent for Vogue
and Conde Nast. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Her war work, particularly
photographing the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and
Dachau, took a toll and she suffered from severe clinical depression after the
war. Lee and Roland moved to Chiddingly, East Sussex where she transitioned
into a successful gourmet cook before succumbing to cancer in 1977, aged 70. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqES5bLBU1VkLWgHpYfX1mQDtliWNehep-fF65UYGoaGlzMstplXTcTbz-4oJeVoxnNPgC8_qgx5JpPDOeWRZx0ZqBF1fJlK742NhslN-GeQ8YzxoBVbvYahEvHGE08FMoNIlOhUn7wjst/s1600/THREE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqES5bLBU1VkLWgHpYfX1mQDtliWNehep-fF65UYGoaGlzMstplXTcTbz-4oJeVoxnNPgC8_qgx5JpPDOeWRZx0ZqBF1fJlK742NhslN-GeQ8YzxoBVbvYahEvHGE08FMoNIlOhUn7wjst/s640/THREE.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are over 150 images
(and Picasso’s portrait of her) in the exhibition, as well as uniforms,
cameras, letters, videos and personal possessions. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Each visitor will take something
memorable away from these black and white prints. For me, it was the variety of
women’s work in the war years (including armed women in irregular Home Guard
units), how fashion considerations impinged even on uniforms during wartime, and
the memorable war-time portraits, such as the exhausted nurse at an evacuation
hospital, the faces of refugees, collaborators, prisoners and unrepentant
Germans.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</div>
Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-81335151764574258182016-02-11T11:26:00.003-08:002016-02-11T11:26:58.294-08:00The Red Admiral's Message<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Winter lingers on with temperatures barely above 8ͦ C (46ͦ F)
by day, freezing - or close to it - at night. The body craves warmth, the
central heating is turned on earlier each evening; the mind too, seems chilled,
stuttering along, taking refuge in a diet of tv news and documentaries, plus –
hooray - the new series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madame Secretary</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lent arrived suddenly this year. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday
and we left Mass with large black crosses of ash traced on our foreheads. It’s
always interesting to see if anyone remarks on the sight. Despite shopping in the
local Sainsburys supermarket and popping into another store, no-one queried it;
perhaps it was British reserve, perhaps I generally look unkept, perhaps all
the customers and serving staff were Christians, perhaps no one really cares
any more...who knows. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Today was ‘get some exercise before you turn into a vegetable’
day so I walked three miles to the local W H Smith, stationers. Walking is a
great opportunity to mull over things and there are strategic, tactical, and
relationship issues that need addressing in some of the charities that I work with;
indeed, as I walked, lost in thought, a fellow volunteer phoned and complained for
30 minutes about a particular issue he had.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Then it happened. From the corner of my eye I caught sight of
a moth or butterfly flitting across my path. I followed it for a few yards
until it settled on a wall. What a beautiful sight! This was a Red Admiral butterfly, mostly black but with orange-red stripes and white splotches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJGubw-ApJGTa4ixCJToKPec6QeAmOPMqw1NZzuYAbKszkrbxpJVcjn2ZsswFhE8-WxtMWr_RW1IvczC6b26F_-vvvauZU93zD434G_35voEuqpEBQ3Pr41w9wt370sW2xmQrc_q8bIiN/s1600/BUTTERFLY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJGubw-ApJGTa4ixCJToKPec6QeAmOPMqw1NZzuYAbKszkrbxpJVcjn2ZsswFhE8-WxtMWr_RW1IvczC6b26F_-vvvauZU93zD434G_35voEuqpEBQ3Pr41w9wt370sW2xmQrc_q8bIiN/s640/BUTTERFLY.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m sure there are more colourful butterflies, larger
ones, maybe more lively ones – but this fellow transformed my day. I did not
realise that the Red Admiral is one of a very small number of butterflies that can
be seen throughout the year - even in December, January and February when the
temperature is in single digits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m not sure why, but the sighting suddenly changed everything.
Maybe it was a foretaste of summer; maybe it was a reminder of the beauty of nature;
perhaps it was telling me that even butterflies can take winter and cold in
their stride, a lesson in tenacity and optimism. Whatever the message, all my
concerns vanished, I noticed the sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was
suddenly warm. Thank you, Red Admiral. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-74633625531710210112016-01-23T07:54:00.002-08:002016-01-23T07:54:35.605-08:00Our Lady of Consolation
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For this Year of Mercy our Bishop has had the inspired idea
of having the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy (one of her many titles),
visit all the parishes of Arundel & Brighton Diocese <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– not in person of course, but as an icon
image of Our Lady of Consolation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So it was that, on Monday evening this week,
around 20 parishioners sat in the front few pews of the darkened church of the
Sacred Heart. In front of us was the altar, on which stood two candles, and
immediately before it were two more candles flanking the icon of Mary, Our Lady
of Consolation, which was ours for 24 hours before moving on to the next
parish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi542OlJN9bFETaQEU2QeinNokw0h4dWBzJyOBCUlf3rLojOOijdaRZQWHt-VwRjXpKKTrkqfjauDPtuMuptCTW94dvz0Hsd4Fnoor6-FJ0dm3oxx_epVMsiORgFjRPPLTT5Hpa450bAbmE/s1600/MARY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi542OlJN9bFETaQEU2QeinNokw0h4dWBzJyOBCUlf3rLojOOijdaRZQWHt-VwRjXpKKTrkqfjauDPtuMuptCTW94dvz0Hsd4Fnoor6-FJ0dm3oxx_epVMsiORgFjRPPLTT5Hpa450bAbmE/s640/MARY.jpg" width="440" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The icon normally resides in the Parish and Shrine of Our
Lady of Consolation in West Grinstead, which is about 20 miles NNW of Brighton.
The Shrine was the first Catholic one to be built in honour of Our Lady since
the Reformation. When the church was built in 1876 the priest, Mgr
Jean-Marie-Denis, searching for a title for the shrine, chose one that was
well-known on the continent as it would have the advantage of well-established
prayers, privileges and blessings. His choice was the famous and
long-venerated<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Consolata</i> of Turin. An artist was selected to paint a copy of the icon
in Turin, which was then placed in the West Grinstead Shrine Church.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">According to legend, the original icon in Turin (now in the
minor basilica of the Santuario della Consolata, Turin) was painted by St. Eusebius
of Vercelli in the fourth century. The picture was then lost sight of for
several hundred years until the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Ardoin, the
last King of Italy in 1004 and asked him to restore her image. He did so and it
was visited by many pilgrims and numerous miracles were recorded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Early writers such as St. Benignus state that the name ‘Our
Lady of Consolation’ was specifically bestowed on the icon by the Blessed
Virgin, the first (and only) time she has named an icon. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Around the year 1080 wars, invasions, famine and pestilence spread
ruin and devastation throughout the land and many buildings, including the
chapel in Turin that contained the icon, fell into ruin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In 1104 the Blessed Virgin appeared to a blind man and asked
him, if he wished to restore his sight, to journey to Turin and search for the
miraculous picture. As his brothers thought him mad, he prevailed upon a
servant girl to accompany him and, when he was within a mile of Turin, his eyes
were opened and he saw a brilliant sun shining over a ruined chapel. His sight
lasted only momentarily but, undaunted, he was led to spot and knelt in prayer –
whereupon his sight was immediately and permanently restored. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The local bishop was persuaded to excavate the area and the
icon was soon found, the chapel was restored and lots of miraculous healings
followed. And so it remained until the nineteenth century when they were
looking for a patron for the new church in West Grinstead. Nice story, eh? </span></div>
</span> </span>Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-11345670446573828182016-01-23T07:22:00.001-08:002016-01-23T07:24:39.610-08:00Peter James TerritoryBrighton is the home territory of best-selling crime fiction author
Peter James, writer of 32 novels including 12 featuring Roy Grace, Detective
Superintendent of Sussex Police. He has been published in 36 languages and is
rarely out of the pages of the local newspaper, the Argus, being involved in
many worthy local charities and most recently donating his second police car to
Sussex Police – the livery of this car (alongside the police markings) changing
to reflect the book jacket of the current Roy Grace novel. <br />
<br />
I thought of him today when I saw a crime scene in North Street, in the
centre of Brighton, as I was shopping. Police tape cordoned off about 100 yards
of the pavement while forensics officers and photographers scoured the scene. A
street sleeper, a young girl, was allowed to remain in situ behind the cordon.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qsDRSOA6rWv4oi55BR0btRxho07qTZKITjIG8-qyt8TVoVjz_EILqzCQmRTstGxKPI6ULnrn75QJQSjmSY6dt6Qb7gG7I2Im5zZOinMprb1Cinmix9NOm2ipIvy0SzmjPV6_V7x0uMzY/s1600/VIC_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qsDRSOA6rWv4oi55BR0btRxho07qTZKITjIG8-qyt8TVoVjz_EILqzCQmRTstGxKPI6ULnrn75QJQSjmSY6dt6Qb7gG7I2Im5zZOinMprb1Cinmix9NOm2ipIvy0SzmjPV6_V7x0uMzY/s640/VIC_2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLw2H7jpWjkhAnKSZK7pv34MQNLgd2bnspruK4RIYCinbZ5l0sA8h9w1HPOVqPbHI1RPxogAtcEKXSSdXx2YHQLDZ3rLpmlw2WkqD20W1Q-cfLVf9ZNVpJ7wDQVtGlrftVL9nhqh4suztT/s1600/VIC_4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLw2H7jpWjkhAnKSZK7pv34MQNLgd2bnspruK4RIYCinbZ5l0sA8h9w1HPOVqPbHI1RPxogAtcEKXSSdXx2YHQLDZ3rLpmlw2WkqD20W1Q-cfLVf9ZNVpJ7wDQVtGlrftVL9nhqh4suztT/s640/VIC_4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to the Argus’s website, an unconscious
man was found lying in a pool of blood at around 7am this morning. He is still
in a critical condition. Police have arrested three people, two, a man and a
woman, on suspicion of robbery, and a third man on suspicion of GBH (Grevious
Bodily Harm), all remain in custody. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
Harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17326903295503308704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3821012131594493949.post-64405454726739162082016-01-23T06:47:00.003-08:002016-01-23T06:47:28.108-08:00Two Brighton Memorials<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxE4faJcBlV2J-wbHLSxmbt0Skk5pD7yzxSgNKZkLkhYNYvH8WILgbSCMLnAmYsN3a6kdeSIM5Y5dxq9z06q7iRjZZK8GikQpAk6Cu25HE0m2Y0e_2opgee-6MLSO-MXo0qB46VeIFu7e/s1600/MON_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxE4faJcBlV2J-wbHLSxmbt0Skk5pD7yzxSgNKZkLkhYNYvH8WILgbSCMLnAmYsN3a6kdeSIM5Y5dxq9z06q7iRjZZK8GikQpAk6Cu25HE0m2Y0e_2opgee-6MLSO-MXo0qB46VeIFu7e/s640/MON_1.JPG" width="378" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Statue of King George IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland
(and Hanover) from 1820 until his death in 1830. This statue of the creator of
the Brighton Royal Pavilion was raised by public subscription in October 1828
and is now his memorial.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vPCg2W3DJuTnaQhXBOW_TfZDZMuTzitmT0A24y8Wp7kjwd52hEM4PS_xS2c_loJz7b2i3sgRUhYm7MMpVlSqwP90mndGST-Hnp0f5fuYHbSkE0ZijscwBN8ToVuHaPX6NSvWX6OuLyQT/s1600/MON_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vPCg2W3DJuTnaQhXBOW_TfZDZMuTzitmT0A24y8Wp7kjwd52hEM4PS_xS2c_loJz7b2i3sgRUhYm7MMpVlSqwP90mndGST-Hnp0f5fuYHbSkE0ZijscwBN8ToVuHaPX6NSvWX6OuLyQT/s640/MON_2.JPG" width="472" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Memorial to ‘Casey,’ also known as ‘Taffy One Penny’ because
of the amount he would beg for. Casey was in his 40s when he died in January
2016 and this tribute at the base of the Clock Tower in the centre of Brighton is his
memorial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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