Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Sunday, December 8, 2019
John Lennon
I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short sighted
Narrow minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic
Pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
No short haired, yellow bellied
Son of Tricky Dicky's
Gonna Mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hope
Money for dope, money for rope
No short haired, yellow bellied
Son of Tricky Dicky's
Gonna Mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of coke
Money for dope, money for rope
I'm sick to death of seeing things
From tight lipped, condescending
Mama's little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
I've had enough of watching scenes
With schizophrenic, egocentric
Paranoiac primadonnas
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
No short haired, yellow bellied
Son of Tricky Dicky's
Gonna Mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of soap
It's money for dope, money for rope
I'm sick to death of hearing things
From uptight, short sighted
Narrow minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic
Pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth now
Just give me some truth now
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Pearl Harbor
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
“The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
“It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
“Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
“As commander in chief of the army and navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
--President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 12/8/1941
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
“The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
“It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
“The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
“Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
“As commander in chief of the army and navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
“I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
--President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 12/8/1941
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Thanksgiving 2019
This year's Thanksgiving was on November 28. My birthday was a week earlier, which is as far away from Thanksgiving as it ever gets. Sometimes they are both on the same day and we kill two birds with one hand. Or one bush. However the saying goes. Sometimes, like this year, we concentrate on one day and I mostly nap on the other.
My roommates are Canadian. Their Thanksgiving is in October. Nothing about that makes any sense, so we celebrate in November like human beings. At least, when we are all in the same country. Last year I had Thanksgiving dinner at Flaherty's, an Irish pub in Barcelona. It was a pretty good night. They even gave me free chocolate cake because it was my birthday. But I was surrounded by strangers.
When in Hong Kong, we do as the Hongkongers do and go out to some fancy restaurant. A few years ago, we went to Agua Roma, an Italian/Japanese restaurant known more for the city views outside their giant windows than the food. Before that, it was Otto e Mezzo, now called 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, an Italian restaurant with a celebrity Italian chef, and supposedly the only 3 star Michelin Italian restaurant outside of Italy. The food was good, but far from the best Italian food I have ever eaten. I have always thought the best restaurants are the little holes in walls that the Michelin people will never know about.
Sometimes we are all in the same place at the same time, but not in a Thanksgiving mood. In November 2017, I had just gotten out of the hospital, was still adjusting to no sense of smell, and ended a relationship. A party was not on my to do list.
We were all in Hong Kong this Thanksgiving, and in relatively decent health. Technically, I am recovering from a hemorrhagic stroke, but this recovery has been a walk on a cake compared to recovering from the craniotomy. I think the biggest difference, other than brain surgery versus no surgery, is how much of a surprise the craniotomy was. That came out of nowhere. The stroke was a surprise, but always a possibility lurking in the corner. I am also far more confident this time around. The first time you get knocked down, you wonder if you can really get back up again. By the second time, you have done it before, so you know you can sing the songs that remind you of the good times.
I may not be ready to run a marathon just yet, but I can eat dinner with my friends. Rather than go out to an overpriced restaurant filled to the rafters with Chinese people who want to experience an “authentic” Thanksgiving meal of pasta and cereus soup, we decided to make something at home. Past Thanksgivings we hosted had a pretty small guest list. It spiraled out of control this year, for some reason. In a place like Hong Kong, if you invite 10 people, 5 will probably show up. Everyone is busy with work, out of town, or has other plans. Thursdays are not generally free for most. This year, we invited 36 people and 38 showed up. Fortunately, we were prepared.
We don't live in the largest apartment. It is big enough for us, and has a spare bedroom for guests or to store living room furniture. With the sofa and coffee table in the spare bedroom, that really opened up the living room/dining room area. With another table or two, we could have even crammed in more people.
The few times we hosted Thanksgiving, we cooked everything at home. Since we anticipated more guests this year, we ordered out. Almost every restaurant in Hong Kong will deliver, and the few that do not are associated with companies that deliver food for them. Having a restaurant cook your meal and eating it at home is a simple transaction. Unfortunately, we did not particularly care for anyone's Thanksgiving menu.
Plenty of restaurants in Hong Kong cater to Americans and other expats on Thanksgiving. Most of their special menus have something wrong. They are either small, like Main St Deli, or have too much Chinese or European influence, like Posto Pubblico. Our solution was to pick and choose from several different restaurants. Since they all delivered to us, all we had to do was place the orders and pay for everything. The number of separate deliveries never made any difference.
Fini's delivered apple stuffing. Frank's sent us cranberry sauce, honey glazed Brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese, and buttermilk biscuits. From Limewood, cornbread and pecan pie with a bourbon whipped cream. Corn on the cob, potatoes, green beans, and all the fruit we used to make fruit salad came from the Yau Ma Tei fruit market. There was plenty of other food, but those were the most popular dishes.
When I was a child, Thanksgiving was a feast that would kill you if you ate it every day. No one ever looked at the table and asked about gluten. These days, we have friends who are allergic to this and cannot eat that. One of them would literally die if he ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. To avoid any fatalities in our home, we ordered extra dessert from the Cakery, a bakery that specializes in sugar free, gluten free and vegan desserts. Personally, I think vegan pie is a crime against humanity. Not because pumpkin pie is traditionally made with slabs of beef, but because pie crust without butter is like pasta without olive oil. We ordered a vegan pumpkin pie with tofu whipped cream. I'm not one to mock anyone's dietary restrictions, especially since I have my own, but nothing about vegan pumpkin pie with tofu whipped cream sounds right to me. The good news is that the Cakery makes pies that will never harm anyone. The even better news is that I could not taste a crumb of it.
This was the best Thanksgiving in a long time. Barcelona was a wonderful experience, and the people at Flaherty's could not have been nicer, but Thanksgiving is all about family to me. There's no place like home for the holidays. I think I heard that in a song somewhere. Best of all, when you host dinner in your apartment, you don't have to go anywhere afterward.
Gee, the traffic is terrific.
My roommates are Canadian. Their Thanksgiving is in October. Nothing about that makes any sense, so we celebrate in November like human beings. At least, when we are all in the same country. Last year I had Thanksgiving dinner at Flaherty's, an Irish pub in Barcelona. It was a pretty good night. They even gave me free chocolate cake because it was my birthday. But I was surrounded by strangers.
When in Hong Kong, we do as the Hongkongers do and go out to some fancy restaurant. A few years ago, we went to Agua Roma, an Italian/Japanese restaurant known more for the city views outside their giant windows than the food. Before that, it was Otto e Mezzo, now called 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, an Italian restaurant with a celebrity Italian chef, and supposedly the only 3 star Michelin Italian restaurant outside of Italy. The food was good, but far from the best Italian food I have ever eaten. I have always thought the best restaurants are the little holes in walls that the Michelin people will never know about.
Sometimes we are all in the same place at the same time, but not in a Thanksgiving mood. In November 2017, I had just gotten out of the hospital, was still adjusting to no sense of smell, and ended a relationship. A party was not on my to do list.
We were all in Hong Kong this Thanksgiving, and in relatively decent health. Technically, I am recovering from a hemorrhagic stroke, but this recovery has been a walk on a cake compared to recovering from the craniotomy. I think the biggest difference, other than brain surgery versus no surgery, is how much of a surprise the craniotomy was. That came out of nowhere. The stroke was a surprise, but always a possibility lurking in the corner. I am also far more confident this time around. The first time you get knocked down, you wonder if you can really get back up again. By the second time, you have done it before, so you know you can sing the songs that remind you of the good times.
I may not be ready to run a marathon just yet, but I can eat dinner with my friends. Rather than go out to an overpriced restaurant filled to the rafters with Chinese people who want to experience an “authentic” Thanksgiving meal of pasta and cereus soup, we decided to make something at home. Past Thanksgivings we hosted had a pretty small guest list. It spiraled out of control this year, for some reason. In a place like Hong Kong, if you invite 10 people, 5 will probably show up. Everyone is busy with work, out of town, or has other plans. Thursdays are not generally free for most. This year, we invited 36 people and 38 showed up. Fortunately, we were prepared.
We don't live in the largest apartment. It is big enough for us, and has a spare bedroom for guests or to store living room furniture. With the sofa and coffee table in the spare bedroom, that really opened up the living room/dining room area. With another table or two, we could have even crammed in more people.
The few times we hosted Thanksgiving, we cooked everything at home. Since we anticipated more guests this year, we ordered out. Almost every restaurant in Hong Kong will deliver, and the few that do not are associated with companies that deliver food for them. Having a restaurant cook your meal and eating it at home is a simple transaction. Unfortunately, we did not particularly care for anyone's Thanksgiving menu.
Plenty of restaurants in Hong Kong cater to Americans and other expats on Thanksgiving. Most of their special menus have something wrong. They are either small, like Main St Deli, or have too much Chinese or European influence, like Posto Pubblico. Our solution was to pick and choose from several different restaurants. Since they all delivered to us, all we had to do was place the orders and pay for everything. The number of separate deliveries never made any difference.
Fini's delivered apple stuffing. Frank's sent us cranberry sauce, honey glazed Brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese, and buttermilk biscuits. From Limewood, cornbread and pecan pie with a bourbon whipped cream. Corn on the cob, potatoes, green beans, and all the fruit we used to make fruit salad came from the Yau Ma Tei fruit market. There was plenty of other food, but those were the most popular dishes.
When I was a child, Thanksgiving was a feast that would kill you if you ate it every day. No one ever looked at the table and asked about gluten. These days, we have friends who are allergic to this and cannot eat that. One of them would literally die if he ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. To avoid any fatalities in our home, we ordered extra dessert from the Cakery, a bakery that specializes in sugar free, gluten free and vegan desserts. Personally, I think vegan pie is a crime against humanity. Not because pumpkin pie is traditionally made with slabs of beef, but because pie crust without butter is like pasta without olive oil. We ordered a vegan pumpkin pie with tofu whipped cream. I'm not one to mock anyone's dietary restrictions, especially since I have my own, but nothing about vegan pumpkin pie with tofu whipped cream sounds right to me. The good news is that the Cakery makes pies that will never harm anyone. The even better news is that I could not taste a crumb of it.
This was the best Thanksgiving in a long time. Barcelona was a wonderful experience, and the people at Flaherty's could not have been nicer, but Thanksgiving is all about family to me. There's no place like home for the holidays. I think I heard that in a song somewhere. Best of all, when you host dinner in your apartment, you don't have to go anywhere afterward.
Gee, the traffic is terrific.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)