Golden News
Volume 16, Number 38 - Monday 17 March 2003
The official bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile is published
most Mondays and is distributed to all club members, District officials and
other "friends of KGM".

Winner "Best English Language Bulletin" in District 3450, 2001/2002
This Week's Meeting:


Our guest speaker this week is Mr. Jon D'Almeida who will be speaking to us on "Outward Bound: Meeting the needs of the community today".
 
Jon is Executive Director of Outward Bound Hong Kong and he will speak on some of the projects his organisation is undertaking around the world. These include affirmative action, expeditionary learning, innovative leadership, teen suicide and Triad interventions & collaborations.

Milestones:
 
There are no KGM members celebrating birthdays this week.
 
 
Member Updates: 
 
1. Ashok "Kipper" Kirpalani advises his new email address is ashok@audelgroup.com.

2. The email address of new member John "To be advised" Hirsch is john@gkml.co.uk. Sadly we haven't christened him with a cheeky moniker yet, but we're working on it.
 
3. Our old mate Stormin' Norman Liu has just rediscovered email, and his address is normanliu@netvigator.com.
 
4. Our even older mate PP M.V. "Rambo" Ramadasan has been temporarily seconded (or possibly thirded) to Singapore, and his temporary email address ramadasan.mullikkottuveetil@sg.ca-indosuez.com  is a contender for the Guinness Book of Records "Longest Unintelligible Email Address" award.

5. Our far more attractive & younger mate "Baby" Jane Singer has a new email address jane@inside-fashion.net.

6. Poor old Brian "Bin Drinkin" Hodgson still has the same bjh@asia4sale.com email address, however he hopes that somebody will email him one of these days. He gets lonely.
 
 
Fellowship News:

Still no news from KGM Fellowship Director Miranda "King" Kong in respect of the regular fellowship she's planning for March.
 
Hello? HELLO? Mother Ship to Miranda ..........


Walkathon - Last Call: 
 
Yes folks, it's that time of the year again when our healthy members (both of them), will walk briskly in the bushes to help raise money for our Community Service Fund. The rest of us will just sit quietly and have heart attacks.
 
This year's walkathon will take place at Lamma Island on Sunday 23 March. Experienced walkers will depart with PP Louis "Trailwalker" Thomas at 9:30 a.m. on a gruelling walk, while less enthusiastic walkers will depart at 11:00 a.m. on an easier walk.
 
Lazy sods like yours truly will go straight to the pub to have a few cleansing ales, while standing by with the oxygen.
 
Members taking part in the walkathon get a free lunch, while members who merely want to enjoy the fellowship must pay $150 per head for the lunch, which includes drinks and a free boat trip provided by the restaurant to and from Central.
 
For more information, telephone President Elect Patricia "Iron Lady" Blair on 9312 3606. preferably before her cocktail hour (i.e. before 11:00 a.m.).
 
Fund-Raising KGM Polio Plus Cookbook:
 

There is no doubt that this book is our best seller this year. Have YOU purchased any copies yet?

"Dining In with Great Chefs of Hong Kong" at only HK$188 (US$25) per copy is excellent value. An image of the cover has been uploaded to the KGM website.

To purchase your copies, contact President-Elect Patricia "Iron Lady" Blair on telephone 9312 3606 or by email.
 
Remember, KGM can now accept online payments by major credit card through PayPal.

Please tell your friends in Hong Kong and overseas about this new facility, in order to assist sales of the cook book in support of our Polio Plus fund-raising activities.
 
District 3450 News:
 
1) The six Rotary Clubs in Area 6, in  collaboration with the Labour Department and the Social Welfare Department, have organised a "Creating Vocational Opportunities for the Disabled" exhibition, which will be held from 11:00 a.m. Friday 21 March to 5:00 p.m. Saturday 22 March at the Exhibition area inside MTR Hong Kong Station (near the Tung Chung Line Concourse), Central.

Members seeking more information should telephone RC New Territories President Peter Ho on 2493 6311.


2) The RC Kowloon Northwest is hosting the District Seven-A-Side Soccer Competition to be held on Sunday 23 March from 12:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology at Clearwater Bay. KGM members wishing to participate should contact Esmond Chan by email.
 
 
Rotary International News:
 
Rotaract clubs across the world have been busy hosting special events and activities this week to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the first Rotaract club charter on 13 March 1968.
 
World Rotaract Week is held each year during the second week of March to commemorate the club's first charter in North Carolina, USA. The goals of this weeklong celebration are to strengthen ties with the sponsoring club, promote membership growth in Rotaract and increase awareness of Rotaract's service activities in the community.
 
Today, there are more than 7,300 Rotaract clubs in 151 countries with membership exceeding 169,000. Like the Rotary clubs that sponsor them, Rotaract clubs offer men and women ages 18-30 an opportunity for service, camaraderie, and professional development.
 
 
Who Am I?
 
 
What is the more common name of 1950's actress (and voluptuous "blonde bombshell") Vera Jayne Palmer ?
 
The answer appears at the bottom of this issue.
 
 
Golden Smile: 
 
"The Bricklayer" (contributed by PP C.K. Tsang)
 
The following is reputedly a letter sent by a New Zealand bricklayer to his insurance company:
 
Dear Sir,

I'm writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident report form, where I declared "poor planning" as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.

On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later were found to be slightly in excess of 500lbs.

Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. I then went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks. You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135lbs.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel, which was now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the accident report form.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you again to my weight.

As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent, down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I once again met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, a broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs and lower body.

Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked.

However, as I lay there on the pile of bricks on the ground in severe pain, unable to move, I once again lost my composure and presence of mind, so I let go of the rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.

I hope this answers your enquiry.

Yours truly,
Fred Folly.
 
 
Quotable Quotes:

 
"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong".
 
Charles Wadsworth

 
The Phantom
Who Am I answer: Jayne Mansfield.

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