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Golden News
Volume 15, Number 29 - Monday 14 January 2002
Komban Wa:
Well last week KGM was definitely "turning Japanese". We were visited
by two "Maiko" (apprentice Geisha girls) from Kyoto, who were accompanied by PP Suzie Wakai of RC Wanchai and a
host of other chaperones.
The "Maiko" arrived dressed in traditional Japanese costume. In other words, they wore "Hello Kitty" jeans and T-shirts which said: "This is the mountain of dog and the box is falling lovingly". No, wait, that was PP Suzie. The "Maiko" wore traditional "Geisha" attire and about 6 kilos of make-up. My guess is that they started getting ready two days earlier. Luckily the young ladies didn't have an urgent call of nature, otherwise it could've been very embarrassing. Anyway, in an admirable effort to "get into the spirit" of the occasion, our old mate Brian Hodgson (pictured here), came to the meeting wearing his best "kabuki" make-up. Sadly he ended up looking like a cross between an extremely annoyed Maori doing a "haka" and Freddy Kruger from "Nightmare on Elm Street", however it's the thought that counts, right? Well done, Hodgo! Now if you can lick your own eyebrows, you will definitely be popular during Ladies Night at Joe Bananas.
Our scheduled guest speaker, Nury Vittachi, didn't show up, and we still don't know whether he simply forgot about us
or whether our program had him down for the wrong date. In any case, we were delighted that guest Kathryn Lee, from Mother's Choice,
agreed to give us an impromptu talk about the terrific community service work that her organisation does for expectant single mothers,
some of which are as young as 12 years old!
The usual suspects were in top form. Empress Ebe and Samurai
Susie did their usual stand-up comedy routine and virtually everybody left the meeting a bit lighter in the wallet. Oh well, it's for a good cause. Susie wants to buy
some "Hello Kitty" pajamas.
This Week's Meeting:
This week's speaker is Dr. Melanie Bryan, who will be speaking to us on "Hypnosis". I once tried hypnotising a reluctant high school girlfriend for, er, um, "biological research purposes", but it backfired and I ended up falling asleep, on the job as it were, in the backseat of my car. I have the very same problem these days too, but it has more to do with middle age than hypnosis.
Milestones:
(1) In memoriam: Saturday 19 January 2002 marks the fourth anniversary of the death of PP Hans Schult, who we lost on 19 January 1998.
For the benefit of KGM members who didn't know him, PP Hans was the 5th President of KGM
(1991/92). Under his leadership, KGM embarked upon our first project in China and we formed
the Interact Club of Ying Wa College.
PP Hans was truly a dedicated Rotarian, who was dearly loved by everyone who
knew him. He is sadly missed and will always be remembered. May he rest in peace.
(2) Belated congratulations to PP Louis "I forgot to tell you" Thomas on becoming a
grandfather for the first time. Apparently PP Louis's eldest son Sandy and his wife, who reside in the UK, are
the very proud parents of Rosalie Ellen Thomas, who was born on 9 November 2001.
Let's hope and pray that young Rosalie inherits the good habits of her wonderful grandmother Therese and not the bad habits of the bloke to whom she's married, who shall remain nameless!
(3) There are no members celebrating birthdays this week.
Member Updates:
A hearty welcome to our newest KGM member, Diana Yeung, who was inducted during our last regular meeting. If you have not already done so, please introduce yourself to Diana and make her feel welcome.
Semi-Annual Dues - 1st Notice:
KGM Members are advised that Semi-Annual dues of $1,500 for the period 1 January to 30 June 2002 are now due and payable.
Please prepare a cheque payable to "Rotary Club of Kowloon
Golden Mile" and pass this to club Treasurer PP Vince "Grumpy" Pinto, or post it to P.O. Box 98129
Tsimshatsui.
Hopefully this time everybody will pay their dues on time (by
31 January 2002), so that we can obviate the need to again publish a list of delinquent members in the bulletin over
the next four months.
Fellowship News:
Our traditional "Chinese Night", once again generously hosted by our Chinese Members, will be held on Saturday 26 January, at the Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, G/F Manulife Tower, 169 Electric Road, North Point (telephone: 2570 3008). A Rotary Information Seminar will also be held before dinner is served, and every member of KGM who joined within the last 2 years is expected to attend. If you don't, you will not be given any food and you will be forced to stand in the corner. Simple, really. There will also be the usual Chinese pre-dinner games such as "Mahjong", "Yue, Ha, Hai", "Dai Dor Dee" and "Pin The Tail On IPP Cassidy While He's Butt Naked". Last year's champion, VP Patricia "Gonna Make You Squeal, Boy" Blair has confirmed that she will be defending her title. Would somebody please make a note to bring Band-Aids and a bottle of "Pak Fa Yeoh" for IPP Cassidy. Thanks.
Finally there will be another charity auction of KGM Chinese Past Presidents. Hopefully we can even surpass last
year's record-breaking bid of HK$9.75 paid for PP Sir Joseph Kwan by his charming wife Sandra, who is clearly a most
generous lady.
More news and announcements will be made during regular club meetings. Fund Raising News:
President Elect Nanu "Nanu" Lachman reminds members that the first
KGM Fund Raising event this year will be a Walk-A-Thon to be held next Sunday 20 January, 2002.
The walk, to be led by PP Louis "Trailwalker" Thomas, will commence at 0900hrs from Wong Nei Chung Gap (near Hong Kong Parkview, the same place as last year), and will end at Tai Tak Tum Village (somewhere near Japan), hopefully before PE Nanu becomes Club President.
The walk will be followed by a BBQ, which should be a real hoot for our vegetarian members (e.g. "Do you want your broccoli sausages medium or well-done?").
Nanu's target is for each KGM member is to raise (or contribute) the measly sum of just HK$2,000. Easy, la! Members seeking more information before the event, should telephone PE Nanu on 9025 6699 and/or PP Louis on 9171 3769. Members seeking assistance during the event should call 999 (and ask for geriatrics). Please note that the Walk-A-Thon Treasurer is PE Nanu, who is responsible for the collection of all pledges organised by members. Do not attempt to involve the Club Treasurer (a.k.a. Grumpy) until every last penny has been collected. He has rabies and he bites. You have been warned!
District 3450 News:
1) Sunday 20 January 2002 - District Soccer Tournament:
This event is being organised by the RC New Territories at a venue still to be announced.
Do you get the feeling that they don't really want anyone else to attend? This reminds me of the American Baseball "World" Series. They don't invite any other nations to participate, then they declare the winner to be "World" champions.
Anyway, since this event clashes with the KGM walk-a-thon and considering that most of our members can't walk for 30 minutes, let alone
run for 90 minutes, I guess we'll give this event a miss.
2) Saturday 16 March & Sunday 7 March 2002 - District Conference:
This event will be held at the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel. Registration forms and
other information can be obtained from the District
website. The conference will be preceded, as usual, by a golf tournament on 8 March and
there will also be a "pre-conference cruise" on 10 March.
For more information, please contact KGM Grand Pubah, President Ebe on telephone 9186 6792.
Rotary International News:
A) Rotary International is having a contest: In honour of it's forthcoming Centennial in 2005, RI has decided to publish a book, temporarily referred to as "The RI Centennial History Book". However the actual title of the book has not been decided,
and all Rotarians are invited to suggest an appropriate title. This is quite an exciting opportunity to be recognised in perpetuity by RI.
For more information, and to enter the contest, visit the special page on the RI website. Note this is the revised URL for the subject contest, which was changed by RI without notice or a "redirect" URL.
I have again complained to the RI Webmaster about this poor web practice. They put an announcement on a certain
page on the RI website, then change it a few days later so, by the time you click on the link I provide, it's changed and you can't find the page you're seeking. Very frustrating.
B) Group Study Exchange ("GSE") 2001-2002: The Incoming GSE Team from District 7750 (South Carolina, USA), will visit District 3450 from March 10 to April 10, 2002. Our
Outgoing GSE Team, led by PP Simon Wong of RC of Peninsula Sunrise, will depart Hong Kong on April 10 and return on May 10.
C) An RI Presidential PolioPlus Summit will be held from 22-24 February 2002 in Mumbai, India. You can obtain the registration form and more information about this event from the RI website (if they haven't moved it by the time you read this!). D) An RI Presidential Conference will be held from 22-24 March 2002 in Taipei, Taiwan. For more information about this event, visit their website. E) The RI Annual Convention will be held from 23 to 26 June 2002 in Barcelona, Spain, and you can register on-line here. For more information about the convention, visit their web site!
Web Side Story:
The KGM website has now surpassed 13,000 visitors since 1 July 1999, which is an overall average of 430 visitors each month. Not too shabby, now is it? Our statistics reveal that 94% of our visitors use MS Internet Explorer, and 45% of our visitors hail from North America, while 30% hail from Europe. The remaining 25% don't hail - they just tend to wave their arms about and pull faces. Probably Australians! Dear Geek:
Dear Geek, My computer screen is getting increasingly difficult to read. What should I do? Yours, Anonymous.
Dear Elissa, If you make a typing mistake, try using your "backspace key" to correct it. Applying "Tipp-Ex" or "Liquid Paper" to your computer screen is inadvisable. Yours, The Geek. Who Am I?
What is the more common name of 60's American singer (and dance craze creator) Ernest
Evans?
The answer appears at the bottom of this issue.
Cunning Linguist:
Did you ever wonder about the organ of the word "Paparazzi"? In Fellini's movie "La Dolce Vita" ("The Sweet Life"), the character "Paparazzo" is a photographer who goes to extraordinary lengths to take photographs of American movie stars. The plural "Paparazzi" is the resultant adaptation of that name to describe photographers who have turned the practice of taking unauthorised, usually revealing, photographs of celebrities into an annoying "black art".
Golden Smile:
A father, wanting to buy a nice gift for his daughter's birthday, goes to a toy store and asks the Manager: "What's the most popular toy these days for 10 year old girls ?".
The Manager replies: "Well, these days, girls of that age are going crazy for Barbie dolls again.".
"OK", said the father "What choices are available ?".
The Store Manager replies: "Well we have a big selection including 'Barbie Goes To The Gym', 'Barbie Goes Dancing', 'Barbie Goes Shopping', 'Barbie
Goes To The Beach' and 'Barbie In The Kitchen' which all sell for $99.95, and there's 'Barbie Gets Divorced' which sells for $3,500".
The father asks: "Why is 'Barbie Gets Divorced' so expensive when all the others are only $99.95 ?".
"Well" replies the Store Manager "The 'Barbie Gets Divorced' comes with Ken's house, Ken's car, Ken's boat, Ken's dog, Ken's cat and all of
Ken's furniture".
Quotable Quotes:
"Last night I dreamt I ate a ten-pound marshmallow. When I woke up my pillow was gone."
-- Tommy Cooper --
The Phantom |
| "Who Am I?" answer: Chubby Checker. |
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