Pub quiz pub quiz pub quiz pub quiz
We went to a pub quiz last night at the bar in the Excelsior hotel.
Before it started, Danny and I were discussing how you can reasonably guess a lot of answers based on what you know of the setters, which is how you win at University Challenge, for example. "Mozart's too obvious, it must be Schubert", that kind of thing.
"Sometimes you know the answer before you've heard the question," he quipped.
This later turned out to be true. We received the question sheet for the audio round, which told us all the songs would be UK number 1s from 1989-1998.
"Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap!," I joked, prophetically as it turned out. It was song number four.
.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Photos and things are now up from our set as part of the Underground music night at Rockschool last month.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Corda Amarela
I'm shattered. We got home last night at 3am after a full week of capoeira workshops that culminated in our first batizado yesterday. It's been fantastic, though, and a privilege to have some great capoeiristas training with us and playing in the roda - not only Mestre Falcao, who came over from Brazil, but also Mestres Ousado (Singapore) and Eddy Murphy (Macau), and the graduados and instrutors who came, some of whom also got new cordas.
A lot of our students received their nicknames yesterday too -- CK is now Fofinha.
So I have a yellow corda now. I went to pieces in the roda thanks to nerves, but luckily that didn't seem to disqualify me - I was baptised by Eddy Murphy*, which meant a lot to me as he has taken a real interest in my capoeira development over this first year.
Here's me and Galego getting our new cordas:
CK-- sorry, Fofinha now has a white & yellow corda.
It was a big week, and to tell the truth I'm getting a bit emotional just thinking about it now. Still, onwards and upwards.
* There's a sentence you don't see every day.
I'm shattered. We got home last night at 3am after a full week of capoeira workshops that culminated in our first batizado yesterday. It's been fantastic, though, and a privilege to have some great capoeiristas training with us and playing in the roda - not only Mestre Falcao, who came over from Brazil, but also Mestres Ousado (Singapore) and Eddy Murphy (Macau), and the graduados and instrutors who came, some of whom also got new cordas.
A lot of our students received their nicknames yesterday too -- CK is now Fofinha.
So I have a yellow corda now. I went to pieces in the roda thanks to nerves, but luckily that didn't seem to disqualify me - I was baptised by Eddy Murphy*, which meant a lot to me as he has taken a real interest in my capoeira development over this first year.
Here's me and Galego getting our new cordas:
CK-- sorry, Fofinha now has a white & yellow corda.
It was a big week, and to tell the truth I'm getting a bit emotional just thinking about it now. Still, onwards and upwards.
* There's a sentence you don't see every day.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Like a lanky Croat
On the night of the Spurs in HK tram party in August, I made the acquaintance of a fellow fan. He told me his name, I told him mine, and he said "but I'm gonna call you Corluka".
This appears to have stuck, although I don't think I look that much like him.
The trend reached a head on Saturday night as CK and I watched the game at home via a dodgy internet feed (12.30am kickoff, what can I say). The camera goes over to some activity on the Spurs bench.
"Is that you?"
"No, that's Pavlyuchenko. I'm already playing."
See? Even I'm doing it now.
On the night of the Spurs in HK tram party in August, I made the acquaintance of a fellow fan. He told me his name, I told him mine, and he said "but I'm gonna call you Corluka".
This appears to have stuck, although I don't think I look that much like him.
The trend reached a head on Saturday night as CK and I watched the game at home via a dodgy internet feed (12.30am kickoff, what can I say). The camera goes over to some activity on the Spurs bench.
"Is that you?"
"No, that's Pavlyuchenko. I'm already playing."
See? Even I'm doing it now.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A Surprising resolution
I didn't expect to get anything out of the Student Loans Company, but shockingly they have managed to 1) use email for the first time in ten years and 2) send an apology that, although obviously a form letter -- they're not superhuman and I imagine they have a lot of these to send, does at least mention the specifics of my complaint.
Please accept our apologies for the issue of a default scheduling letter prior to you receiving your Overseas Annual Assessment Form. This was a system error and we apologise for the inconvenience we may have caused.
Your account has now been updated and a repayment schedule letter has been issued to your Hong Kong address.
I think they've based my repayments on a generous exchange rate too.
I didn't expect to get anything out of the Student Loans Company, but shockingly they have managed to 1) use email for the first time in ten years and 2) send an apology that, although obviously a form letter -- they're not superhuman and I imagine they have a lot of these to send, does at least mention the specifics of my complaint.
Please accept our apologies for the issue of a default scheduling letter prior to you receiving your Overseas Annual Assessment Form. This was a system error and we apologise for the inconvenience we may have caused.
Your account has now been updated and a repayment schedule letter has been issued to your Hong Kong address.
I think they've based my repayments on a generous exchange rate too.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
"Foopball is a tuough game but it is a pity you canot win by hacking everybode. You hav to be nippy."
On Saturday afternoon, I played my debut game for the Hong Kong Spurs supporters' team. Mercifully, it was a friendly, as my performance was not up to much. It's three years or so since I kicked a football, and that was in five-a-side, which is quite different as it turns out. No throw-ins there, for one, my technique for which was described by a team-mate as "perhaps more suitable for netball".
Indeed, as I took my run-up for the first throw I suddenly thought wait, there are rules for this aren't there? but it was too late, so I just made the best stab at it that I could. Perhaps I'll look up some tutorials on YouTube or something.
Having done so poorly on one throw-in, I'm not sure why I took a second. I think I thought getting someone else to do it would be timewasting or perhaps insinuating that I would be best utilised on the receiving end of the throw -- clearly not true.
It later occurred to me that this was my first full-size football match ever. My school did rugby, you see, so my previous experience was limited to two types: 1) five-a-side and 2) playground kickabouts.
Both of these football forms are fine in their way and provide much-needed expertise and exercise, but there's a lot of tactical stuff to think about with 22 chaps on the pitch that I'll have to learn.
There was also a small issue with Getting Very Tired, for everyone, since it was about 30 degrees C in the sunshine. For me particularly, since it turns out it can be quite tiring to spend the morning doing a martial art based on kicking and then spend the afternoon playing a sport based on running followed by kicking.
We had rolling substitutions, thankfully, and I put in three separate stints - right wing, leftback and striker. Much to my surprise I seemed to do best at the latter. Turns out it's mostly running into space and annoying the other team's defenders, for which I have some aptitude.
Now, if I could just sort out the whole "kicking the ball into the goal" thing.
CK took some pictures, which you can see here. They're a little lacking in action, but I think I like that about them.
We won 5-2 in the end, by the way.
On Saturday afternoon, I played my debut game for the Hong Kong Spurs supporters' team. Mercifully, it was a friendly, as my performance was not up to much. It's three years or so since I kicked a football, and that was in five-a-side, which is quite different as it turns out. No throw-ins there, for one, my technique for which was described by a team-mate as "perhaps more suitable for netball".
Indeed, as I took my run-up for the first throw I suddenly thought wait, there are rules for this aren't there? but it was too late, so I just made the best stab at it that I could. Perhaps I'll look up some tutorials on YouTube or something.
Having done so poorly on one throw-in, I'm not sure why I took a second. I think I thought getting someone else to do it would be timewasting or perhaps insinuating that I would be best utilised on the receiving end of the throw -- clearly not true.
It later occurred to me that this was my first full-size football match ever. My school did rugby, you see, so my previous experience was limited to two types: 1) five-a-side and 2) playground kickabouts.
Both of these football forms are fine in their way and provide much-needed expertise and exercise, but there's a lot of tactical stuff to think about with 22 chaps on the pitch that I'll have to learn.
There was also a small issue with Getting Very Tired, for everyone, since it was about 30 degrees C in the sunshine. For me particularly, since it turns out it can be quite tiring to spend the morning doing a martial art based on kicking and then spend the afternoon playing a sport based on running followed by kicking.
We had rolling substitutions, thankfully, and I put in three separate stints - right wing, leftback and striker. Much to my surprise I seemed to do best at the latter. Turns out it's mostly running into space and annoying the other team's defenders, for which I have some aptitude.
Now, if I could just sort out the whole "kicking the ball into the goal" thing.
CK took some pictures, which you can see here. They're a little lacking in action, but I think I like that about them.
We won 5-2 in the end, by the way.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Feliz aniversário para mim
When I go to class tonight it will be exactly one year since my very first capoeira lesson. I'm pretty pleased with that. My progress from having no idea to where I am now hasn't been stellar, but neither is it too bad.
Goal for the coming capoeira year: learn to play the berimbau. Due to the circumstances of moving around (and our previous gym not being the right place for it), music lessons have been few and far between. I've had a go on the bermibau a grand total of once, in a bar. So if general music classes don't happen for whatever reason, I need to make an effort to get some lessons somehow.
When I go to class tonight it will be exactly one year since my very first capoeira lesson. I'm pretty pleased with that. My progress from having no idea to where I am now hasn't been stellar, but neither is it too bad.
Goal for the coming capoeira year: learn to play the berimbau. Due to the circumstances of moving around (and our previous gym not being the right place for it), music lessons have been few and far between. I've had a go on the bermibau a grand total of once, in a bar. So if general music classes don't happen for whatever reason, I need to make an effort to get some lessons somehow.
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Ballad of the SLC
Here's an email I sent to the Student Loans Company complaints department at the weekend.
To whom it may concern
I received today a letter dated 4 August 2009, which kindly informed me that my repayment amount would go up by more than £100 a month because "we have not yet received a completed Overseas Income Assessment form". This surprised me, because I would have thought if you wanted one then you might have told me. Maybe it's more fun if your customers have to guess, I don't know.
Indeed, the penultimate paragraph of the letter says "We will contact you in approximately ten months to reassess your repayments for the following year." I am fairly sure the letter I got 12 months ago on this subject said much the same thing, and yet you have not contacted me.
Having inferred from Kevin O'Connor's blunt missive that an assessment form is required, I shall furnish you with one forthwith. In future, I hope that whenever you want me to send you something, you ASK FIRST. It's not rocket science.
I look forward to your next letter "in approximately ten months".
yours
etc.
I mentioned this to a couple of work colleagues yesterday. One had this to say:
Nicely said.
If they’re not capable of sending one letter a year, could they not send an email instead? They’ve had my email address on file for 10 years and not used it once.
It’s almost as if they somehow make more money by keeping us in the dark. How strange.
If there were any competition, the SLC would drop dead.
And then, this morning, from the same chap:
I've had a further development in the SLC saga. After receiving the “we’re charging you £147 a month” letter last week, I now receive a second letter, dated one day later. Enclosed is an Overseas Income Assessment Form.
Nice work, guys. Not only did they annoy the hell out of me, they made me waste my time downloading and filling in a form yesterday. I’d like to think that there’s some sense behind their behaviour, but can’t quite force logic into the required pretzel shape.
Expect a form in the post any day.
The trouble is, who do you complain to? What can one actually do about these idiots?
Depending on how annoying I find the reply from Complaints, I may write to my MP, since it's Parliament that authorises these buffoons, but I imagine it's a low priority, politically speaking.
Here's an email I sent to the Student Loans Company complaints department at the weekend.
To whom it may concern
I received today a letter dated 4 August 2009, which kindly informed me that my repayment amount would go up by more than £100 a month because "we have not yet received a completed Overseas Income Assessment form". This surprised me, because I would have thought if you wanted one then you might have told me. Maybe it's more fun if your customers have to guess, I don't know.
Indeed, the penultimate paragraph of the letter says "We will contact you in approximately ten months to reassess your repayments for the following year." I am fairly sure the letter I got 12 months ago on this subject said much the same thing, and yet you have not contacted me.
Having inferred from Kevin O'Connor's blunt missive that an assessment form is required, I shall furnish you with one forthwith. In future, I hope that whenever you want me to send you something, you ASK FIRST. It's not rocket science.
I look forward to your next letter "in approximately ten months".
yours
etc.
I mentioned this to a couple of work colleagues yesterday. One had this to say:
Nicely said.
If they’re not capable of sending one letter a year, could they not send an email instead? They’ve had my email address on file for 10 years and not used it once.
It’s almost as if they somehow make more money by keeping us in the dark. How strange.
If there were any competition, the SLC would drop dead.
And then, this morning, from the same chap:
I've had a further development in the SLC saga. After receiving the “we’re charging you £147 a month” letter last week, I now receive a second letter, dated one day later. Enclosed is an Overseas Income Assessment Form.
Nice work, guys. Not only did they annoy the hell out of me, they made me waste my time downloading and filling in a form yesterday. I’d like to think that there’s some sense behind their behaviour, but can’t quite force logic into the required pretzel shape.
Expect a form in the post any day.
The trouble is, who do you complain to? What can one actually do about these idiots?
Depending on how annoying I find the reply from Complaints, I may write to my MP, since it's Parliament that authorises these buffoons, but I imagine it's a low priority, politically speaking.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Rock and roll
We had our first proper gig last night (i.e. not an open mic night), at the Wanch on Jaffe Road. It went pretty well - no major mistakes, plenty of people came, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
Afterwards people said very nice things, e.g. "you sing a bit like Jim Morrison", "you're really good at the guitar" etc. These things are not really true, but it's nice that they said them.
We had our first proper gig last night (i.e. not an open mic night), at the Wanch on Jaffe Road. It went pretty well - no major mistakes, plenty of people came, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
Afterwards people said very nice things, e.g. "you sing a bit like Jim Morrison", "you're really good at the guitar" etc. These things are not really true, but it's nice that they said them.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
COYS
Tottenham Hotspur are playing South China in Hong Kong on Sunday. My wife and I will be joining an assortment of the many HK Spurs fans in the north stand, along with my capoeira teacher and her 5 year old daughter. I think it's good to have kids along - it helps cut the swearing down and the sprogs' energeticicity can be infectious.
As I will mention at the drop of a hat, I've been Spurs since the day I was born. I wasn't born in Tottenham - I pranced onto this mortal coil at University College Hospital a little way down the road - but my family lived there at the time, on Philip Lane. And on that day, Tottenham won the FA Cup. So I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.
Despite that, this will be the first time I've ever seen Tottenham play in real life. When I was a little over the age of one, we moved to Bedfordshire. We were never terribly well off, and we could likely have afforded either tickets to White Hart Lane or the train tickets to London, but not both. As a student in London, I honestly never even thought of going to a match. Now that I think of it, I probably would have had the cash, but it honestly never crossed my mind - I'd got used to football, or at least Spurs, being something I saw on TV. At uni in Beijing, I did go to a match between Beijing Guo'an and Qingdao at the Workers' Stadium. I think that was the only sporting event I went to in those four years.
After university, I moved to China, which pretty well nixed any chances of Spurs-watching. We nearly had the chance on our honeymoon earlier this year to go, but the home matches were on the day we arrived and the day we left (and in the middle was an away game at Villa that seemed unappealing). Despite this we did spend some time trying to work out if we could get from White Hart Lane to Heathrow in time for our flight back to Hong Kong. As it was, we barely made it from my cousin's house near Loftus Road to the airport in time, so it was probably for the best we didn't start from N17.
So what I'm saying is, it's been a bit of a wait for this Sunday afternoon, and I fully intend to enjoy it.
Tottenham Hotspur are playing South China in Hong Kong on Sunday. My wife and I will be joining an assortment of the many HK Spurs fans in the north stand, along with my capoeira teacher and her 5 year old daughter. I think it's good to have kids along - it helps cut the swearing down and the sprogs' energeticicity can be infectious.
As I will mention at the drop of a hat, I've been Spurs since the day I was born. I wasn't born in Tottenham - I pranced onto this mortal coil at University College Hospital a little way down the road - but my family lived there at the time, on Philip Lane. And on that day, Tottenham won the FA Cup. So I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.
Despite that, this will be the first time I've ever seen Tottenham play in real life. When I was a little over the age of one, we moved to Bedfordshire. We were never terribly well off, and we could likely have afforded either tickets to White Hart Lane or the train tickets to London, but not both. As a student in London, I honestly never even thought of going to a match. Now that I think of it, I probably would have had the cash, but it honestly never crossed my mind - I'd got used to football, or at least Spurs, being something I saw on TV. At uni in Beijing, I did go to a match between Beijing Guo'an and Qingdao at the Workers' Stadium. I think that was the only sporting event I went to in those four years.
After university, I moved to China, which pretty well nixed any chances of Spurs-watching. We nearly had the chance on our honeymoon earlier this year to go, but the home matches were on the day we arrived and the day we left (and in the middle was an away game at Villa that seemed unappealing). Despite this we did spend some time trying to work out if we could get from White Hart Lane to Heathrow in time for our flight back to Hong Kong. As it was, we barely made it from my cousin's house near Loftus Road to the airport in time, so it was probably for the best we didn't start from N17.
So what I'm saying is, it's been a bit of a wait for this Sunday afternoon, and I fully intend to enjoy it.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Capoeira on Lamma
The inestimable Lamma-Gung came by on Saturday to take some photos of our classes at the Island Life Studio. I don't usually go to class there, but the sessions in Central have been on hiatus while we relocated from Kontact gym (the facilities were good but it's hard to train capoeira with other classes and workouts going on around you).
Anyway, the photos got put up on Lamma-zine today, and here they are.
.
The inestimable Lamma-Gung came by on Saturday to take some photos of our classes at the Island Life Studio. I don't usually go to class there, but the sessions in Central have been on hiatus while we relocated from Kontact gym (the facilities were good but it's hard to train capoeira with other classes and workouts going on around you).
Anyway, the photos got put up on Lamma-zine today, and here they are.
.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sou discipulo que aprende, sou mestre que da lição
So on Tuesday I had to lead the capoeira class. Our contra mestre called me about half an hour before to check I was going, and to let me know she's missed the ferry. The original plan was that she would catch the next ferry and I would just egt everyone to warm up and do some basic exercises. In the end, she didn't make it at all, but things didn't go too badly.
I ran out of ideas after about an hour - it turns out it's not so easy to think up sequences of more complexity that "you do this kick and you esquiva". But we did all right, and I think some of the beginners did need more practice on negativa and meia lua de compasso, which it was nice to do without too much pressure. Consensus afterwards was that without The Teacher there, one could get away with experimenting a bit.
At any rate, after I'd run out of ideas, we just made a roda and played for about 20 minutes. I put on some of the slower songs so we'd not get worn out, there being only half a dozen of us. I think this was good practice, since we don't usually get to play for so long at the end of the class. Unfortunately a combination of me not controlling my kicks well enough and two of the girls not doing a low enough esquiva meant I manage to kick two (count them) people in the head. One quite hard with a meia lua de compasso she didn't see coming and the other with a queixada I just didn't lift well enough.
Strangely neither seemed to mind that much.
So in the end, we got through it and everyone was very nice to me afterwards, suggesting I should get the evening's pay from our contramestre. And I won't complain about being at the front of the class for a while, since it's still easier than being the teacher.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I had another minor breakthrough with capoeira recently. Nothing to do with technique, however. Last Wednesday evening I finally plucked up the courage to go and practise in public -- I ran to and a couple of time around the park near the old asylum, and then found an empty corner, cued up the appropriate soundtrack on my MP3 player and did about 10 minutes of capoeira practice. Nothing too fancy, as it was too warm and humid to expend much energy.
No one batted an eyelid. My audience was three cats, and the other people in the park just jogged or walked on by. I mentioned this the next evening to a friend of mine who is also a capoeirista, though as an angoleiro he doesn't train with our class. He'd had a similar experience, and said "in fact, after a while you kind of get annoyed that people aren't stopping and staring".
No one batted an eyelid. My audience was three cats, and the other people in the park just jogged or walked on by. I mentioned this the next evening to a friend of mine who is also a capoeirista, though as an angoleiro he doesn't train with our class. He'd had a similar experience, and said "in fact, after a while you kind of get annoyed that people aren't stopping and staring".
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Moving in
The honeymoon is over, literally, and now begins the process of acquiring bookshelves and an extra wardrobe and all that sort of thing. I had actually been keeping a lot of CK's things in storage for a while, so the volume of stuff in the flat has not greatly increased; however, it does need to be rearranged so that it can be got at conveniently. There is not a lot of space on the living room floor at the moment, as a result.
Our honeymoon led to me driving a little over 900 miles in a week. It turns out that you can pull this off in a country 600 miles long, if you are forced by your relatives living inconveniently far away from each other to essentially do a lap of the nation.
It was not bad really. A couple of days loafing at home and walking the dog (with afternoons out to Cambridge and St Alban's). Two and a half days in London, doing all the usual tourist photos. Meeting up with old uni and school friends in pubs in Hitchin and London.
The only real mishap was when we tried to leave Yorkshire -- the car didn't like this. The plan was to head over the Snake Pass and spend the day in Liverpool, having stayed overnight with my aunt and uncle in Sheffield. However, as we approached the Derbyshire border, something went terribly wrong and we suddenly had the kind of engine note that does not bode well, especially in the Peak District, which has enough long climbs at the best of times.
So instead we were forced to spend the afternoon in Sheffield, which was not too bad really, while a garage in Crosspool replaced a section of the exhaust system. The most expensive section going, I would note, containing the catalytic converter.
At any rate, we were able to cross the pass in daylight, so we still got the nice scenery to look at, even if we didn't get the chance to catch up with Stephen.
CK had some trouble with the potato-heavy diet, prompting her at one point to exclaim "Don't you guys ever eat rice?" but otherwise it was all fine. As well as seeing relatives and friends, I also got the chance to visit places I'd never bothered to before (e.g. Stonehenge, Salisbury... er, Birmingham). Which was nice.
And now I'm back in Hong Kong, so I don't have to do any more driving for a long time.
The honeymoon is over, literally, and now begins the process of acquiring bookshelves and an extra wardrobe and all that sort of thing. I had actually been keeping a lot of CK's things in storage for a while, so the volume of stuff in the flat has not greatly increased; however, it does need to be rearranged so that it can be got at conveniently. There is not a lot of space on the living room floor at the moment, as a result.
Our honeymoon led to me driving a little over 900 miles in a week. It turns out that you can pull this off in a country 600 miles long, if you are forced by your relatives living inconveniently far away from each other to essentially do a lap of the nation.
It was not bad really. A couple of days loafing at home and walking the dog (with afternoons out to Cambridge and St Alban's). Two and a half days in London, doing all the usual tourist photos. Meeting up with old uni and school friends in pubs in Hitchin and London.
The only real mishap was when we tried to leave Yorkshire -- the car didn't like this. The plan was to head over the Snake Pass and spend the day in Liverpool, having stayed overnight with my aunt and uncle in Sheffield. However, as we approached the Derbyshire border, something went terribly wrong and we suddenly had the kind of engine note that does not bode well, especially in the Peak District, which has enough long climbs at the best of times.
So instead we were forced to spend the afternoon in Sheffield, which was not too bad really, while a garage in Crosspool replaced a section of the exhaust system. The most expensive section going, I would note, containing the catalytic converter.
At any rate, we were able to cross the pass in daylight, so we still got the nice scenery to look at, even if we didn't get the chance to catch up with Stephen.
CK had some trouble with the potato-heavy diet, prompting her at one point to exclaim "Don't you guys ever eat rice?" but otherwise it was all fine. As well as seeing relatives and friends, I also got the chance to visit places I'd never bothered to before (e.g. Stonehenge, Salisbury... er, Birmingham). Which was nice.
And now I'm back in Hong Kong, so I don't have to do any more driving for a long time.
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