rambo NI photoshoot

Despite his Shanghaiese puppyhood, Rambo's sporting loyalties belong exclusively to the green and white of Nothern Ireland, the best little team in the world.

So in anticipation of the upcoming Euro qualifiers, first against our mortal enemies Liechtenstein on the 24th March, and then against mighty Sweden on the 28th, Rambo has kindly donned the colours for a photoshoot. I'll post more pictures as the dates get closer.

messy miki

I know I've gone on in the past about how messy and destructive the White Ball of Fury is, but I feel it is now time to redress the balance. Not to exonerate him, don't get me wrong; he's still the messiest small dog I have ever clapped eyes on. What I aim to do here is give things a little scope, and provide the tyke with some company. This is a picture of our kitchen after Miki 'disaster area' Ren made breakfast one day. I eventually had to ban her completely from making anything, ever. And that includes cups of tea and coffee.

Saturday Quick Quote Quiz III

This weeks SQQQ (on a monday..) is simply:

"This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before. We must find this butt-hole that took the TV."

Fairly easy to guess I'd say.

Football news

Recently took in some Asian Champions League action and went to watch Shanghai Shenhua take on the might of Sydney FC - the first time an Aussie team has played in the ACL.


The game started off pretty good, with two great goals from Sydney in an exciting first 20 minutes, but the action calmed down dramatically until the half time whistle, with play becoming a little patchy now and again. The second half went the same way with some scrappy periods, but picked up considerably in the last 15, when the crowd finally got behind their team. Shanghai repeatedly put the visitors under pressure and were rewarded with a goal seven minutes from time. Try as they might though, a late equaliser was never going to come. For more info on the game (for anyone who cares) you can read Cam Wilson's report here.


I've seen Sydney FC play once before (taking the New Zealand Knights apart in Auckland during the inaugural Hyundai A-Leauge), but this is the first time I've been to see Shanghai Shenhua in action. Not too shabby, but I hear all is not well in the world of Shanghai football politics of late; it would appear that Shenhua were recently bought out by the owner of local rivals Shanghai United and the two teams were combined as one. That would explain the jeering and cat calls from the Shenhua faithful directed at their own players..... more on that again from Cam here.

most important question OF ALL TIME*

(*not really)

It was a question I thought obsolete way back in 1999 with the release of Mystery Men, but a friend of mine recently reopened that particular can of beefed up worms and asked:

What is the best Superhero Movie of all time?

My money is still with Mystery Men, although as it is concerned with a bunch of people who aren't super but want to be, some might argue that it's really an anti-superhero movie (it does have Disco Tony and Casanova Frankenstein in though).

My friend's vote lies firmly with Spiderman 2, and a damn fine vote it is too. Of course his girlfriend called us both idiots, but she comes from Slovenia so we were happy to ignore her mindless warblings.

So what does anyone else think? What the the best Superhero movie ever? Does Flash Gordon count?

"I... am the Waffler. With my griddle of justice, I BASH the enemy in the head, or I burn them like so! I also have some truth syrup, which is low in fat."

Rambo2 update

Haven't posted any pictures of the White Ball of Fury recently,

so here's a few to show you what he's been up to:

drinkin'

playstation

watching the world go by

hunting for small children

people counting

Came across something interesting at Shanghai Railway Station whilst en route to Suzhou the other day:

It's a people counter! This, ladies and gentlemen, is how many people are alive in China as of Thursday 1st March 2007, 13:34 (Beijing time). Well, according to Shanghai municipal government it is, who I assume commissioned the counter. 1.318 billion people! That's a fair number!

Saturday Quick Quote Quiz II

Due to the internet making it oh so easy for everyone to find quotes in about 3 seconds flat without having a decent background of movie watching (read:wasted youth) I've had to dig a little bit harder. This should stump all for a wee bit (but probably not Reel Monkey Simon).

"At 0-four-hundred hours, Prisoners Boggs, Rains and Golic left on a routine foraging mission into the underground network. At about 0-seven-hundred hours, prisoner Golic re-appeared in a deranged state. Prisoner Boggs and Rains are missing. Unfortunately, there seems to be a good chance that they have met with foul play at the hands of prisoner Golic. We need to organize and send out a search party. Volunteers will be appreciated. "

For an extra point, name the actor that said it....

Everybody's dead

HOLLY: Good morning, Dave. It is now safe for you to emerge from stasis.
LISTER: Haven't I just gone in?
HOLLY: Please proceed to the Drive Room for debriefing.
LISTER: Where is everybody, Hol?
HOLLY: They're dead, Dave.
LISTER: Who is?
HOLLY: Everybody, Dave.
LISTER: What, Captain Hollister?
HOLLY: Everybody's dead, Dave.
LISTER: What, Todd Hunter?
HOLLY: Everybody's dead, Dave.
LISTER: What, Selby?
HOLLY: They're all dead. Everybody's dead, Dave.
LISTER: Petersen isn't, is he?
HOLLY: Everybody is *dead*, Dave.
LISTER: Not Chen?
HOLLY: Gordon Bennett! Yes! Chen, everybody. Everybody's dead, Dave.
LISTER: Rimmer?
HOLLY: He's dead, Dave. Everybody's dead. Everybody is dead, Dave!
LISTER: Wait. Are you trying to tell me everybody's dead?
HOLLY: I wish I'd never let him out in the first place.

-Red Dwarf: classic bbc comedy

Croke Park Thrashing

...oooo....my head.....where am I.....vague recollections....lots of beer.....a sea of green....what....oh yes....

WE BEAT THE ENGLISH!!

And not merely 'beat.' Flicking the pooter on this morning I am greeted with the headline Ireland hammer England at Croke Park, and it all comes flooding back. Braving the February cold in the early hours of Sunday I trekked several arduous miles to the nearest Irish pub in Shanghai* and joined a vocal Irish contingent in cheering on the boys in green.

43-13: the biggest win over the English in 60 years. That's more than worth today's hangover. Having said that, however, I notice an unsettling development; because of the vile robbery at the hands of the French two weeks ago, and their win over a pitiful Welsh side yesterday, it means that they are odds on favourites for the Grand Slam. In order to stop them and crown Ireland rightful winners of the 2007 Six Nations tournament, they have to be beaten a least once. And let's face it, Scotland certainly aren't going to do anything about it (they have just presented Italy with their first ever Six Nations away win). WHICH, boys and girls, is a roundabout way of saying I may have to actually support England when they play France next week.

I don't know what to do. I've never supported England - shouted at them, cursed them, thrown things at the telly when they're playing, but never supported them! Think I'll just hide in bed and have a peek at the score when it's over.

(*truth be told I didn't have to trek anywhere. I took a taxi. And I was already out at a house party. And the night was unseasonably mild for a february.)

Saturday Quick Quote Quizz

Name the movie.......

Sallow: Can't pass an old man?
Kidda: I didn't see him.
Sallow: You gotta know where everybody is, all of us!
Kidda: What if I can't?
Sallow: They'll crush your skull!

shanghai burns

11pm on the 4th of January* and already Shanghai is burning. The night is pockmarked with the rattle of banger fire and the booming, coloured flashes of high powered explosive.

According to tradition, letting off personal fireworks at (or near) the beginning of the 5th of January will bring you luck and prosperity - and listening to the Shanghai night, that's an awful lot of rich folk. 'Course, a man more pessimistic than myself might point out that the only folk getting rich are the firework sellers who command ridiculous prices for their high verlocity wares...

From my apartment I can see a guy down at the crossroads of Aomen lu and Xikang lu with a few boxes, just standing there, setting them off by himself. Just one bloke, and the result is something that puts the annual Hallowe'en firework display at Omagh showgrounds completely to shame. It's a scene that is repeated as far as I can see; a scene repeated all over Shanghai, all over China! These people go mad for their fireworks!

A bunch were let off just below my apartment, and it's quite a feeling seeing a massive firework branch out just yards away, with only a pane of glass in between. I never thought I'd be standing above looking down on huge exploding fireworks! Having said that, the night is alive with coloured flashes and I'm sitting here tippytapping into a computer... a 10 year old Pete would be really pissed off with me.

I'm away to let off my share.

(* Chinese calander. In real terms it's actually late February)

Ethniklashistan

A link to an article in The Onion promoting an alternative resolution to the world's most infamous trouble spots. Not overly sure if Northern Irish Protestants belong in the same boat as the Rwandan Hutus, or, for that matter, if all Northern Irish Protestants like to be called Northern Irish Protestants (Ulster-Scots, anyone?), but it's nice to see a different opinion to that usually trumpeted by Americans ("why can't you guys just sit down and talk about it?"). Benjamin Ray from Virginia, I'm looking in your direction.

Here it is: Ethniklashistan.

新年快乐!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Joining the throngs of festive feeling Chinese folk, Rambo2, Seamus and myself headed off to spend CNY with Miki's relatives. Red envelopes, beer, food, more food and fireworks were all on the menu, all of which was recieved, consumed or set on fire with titanic ghusto.

seamus, miki, me and miki's grandma

I mentioned before how fireworks of any shape or size, save the crappy little indoor kind, were banned until a few years ago in little Norn Irun. As kids in Omagh we had to make do with jam jars and petrol. Every now and again a fabled French Banger would emerge in the possession of a friend, prompting heated debates about how it should be used. More petrol was usually enlisted. Anyway, my point is this childhood of virtual boomstick poverty was a world away from what goes on in every city, town, village, hamlet and home in China - The New Year is met not just with a bang, but with a billion small explosions. People start stockpiling fireworks weeks beforehand and the entire holiday is punctuated with booms, pops and man made thunder - even as I sit here writing, one day after New Years, it still sounds like the Tet offensive outside.

When 12 midnight on New Years Eve rolled round, Miki's dad led us downstairs to a storage room that was FULL from top to bottom with boxes and boxes of fireworks. After a day of drinking round at Miki's gran's house, it was perhaps one of the most beautiful sights ever. We carried half the boxes outside to where everyone else was gathered, letting off their own. Here's a live action shot:

And here, via a link to youtube (I tried embedding it here. Tried and failed), is a wee vid of what it was like outside my apartment block - Just imagine it in complete 360 degree ear drum shattering glory. And word has it this wasn't even the biggest night for fireworks! Apparently the 5th day of Chinese New Year is much bigger. Don't have a clue why though. Hopefully my hearing will have fully returned by then...

新年快乐!!

no t for me

You never realise how often the letter 't' is used when writing until it leaves your keyboard.