Golden News
Volume 15, Number 25 - Monday 17 December 2001
The bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile - published every Monday.
Ho! Ho! Ho!:
Santa Well folks, once again it's the season to be jolly, which means we have yet another excuse to get drunk, gorge on unhealthy food and make complete fools of ourselves. Basically it's the same as the other 11 months of the year but, in December, we also get to wear silly red hats!

I must begin this week's missive by apologising for the absence of a proper bulletin last week. Your Phantom has just returned from a two week "mostly business, partly shooting" jaunt around Asia, with stops in Manila, Singapore, Bangkok & Bali. The business part was very successful, however the shooting competition I attended in Bali was a complete disaster.

In an effort to minimise luggage weight, I took my own pistols but I decided to buy my ammunition after I arrived in Bali. Sadly the local ammunition my dear friends in the Indonesian Police sold me had a failure rate of 50%, so I spent more time clearing jams (and swearing) than actually shooting targets. This reminds me of the joke about the guy who asks his recently convicted friend: "Did your lawyer give you bad advice?" to which the poor sod replied: "No, he sold it to me!".
 
Anyway, my email connection in Bali was slower than Manila so, given the frustrations I already experienced with faulty ammunition, I gave up, sat by the pool and had a few pina coladas to drown my sorrows. I didn't  actually drown, mind you, but I did have fun trying. And I now have a really nice collection of little pink umbrellas!

I also apologise for the confusion in respect of the meeting on 12 December, but our Fearless Leader President Ebe "Need To Know" Tung did not tell me her plans to cancel the meeting had been, er, cancelled. Hey, I'm only the Bulletin Editor, right? I certainly hope our Sergeant Susie "Madame Lash" Misini will levy an appropriate fine on our beloved President for her gaff.

Our intrepid Attendance Director Neerja "Da Numbers" Sujanani informs me that our most recent YTD attendance is now hovering at the 72% mark, which I guess is not too shabby. 
 
This Week's Meeting:

There is no guest speaker this week because we are holding our Annual General Meeting (including the Election of Officers), and our "Xmas Party".

By the way, as far as the Election is concerned, I have it on excellent authority that KGM will definitely have a different member as Club Treasurer next year.
 
 
Milestones:
 
Birthday greetings for 23 December to President Ebe Tung "Chee Wow", who shares her birthday with flamenco dancer Jose Greco and Japanese Emperor Akihito. Hmmm. Sort of a Spanish-Sushi thing!

Member Updates:

Our heartiest congratulations to KGM Rotary Foundation Director Miranda "King" Kong and her partner, singing policeman Tony Leung, on their marriage on 12 December 2001.

Fellowship News:
 
Alas our beloved Fellowship Director David "Keep 'em Guessing" Harilela" has still not informed me about our next event. Watch this space.
 
 
District 3450 News:
 
I'm delighted to inform members that, for the first time in many, many years, the District Governor Nominee for the 2003-2004 Rotary year has been selected without a challenge being issued by other candidates.

Is this a sign that our highly political District officials and clubs have put finally aside their silly differences and decided to act as Rotarians, and not merely blabber Rotary rhetoric? Naaah. There was only one candidate!

Congratulations to PP Jones Wong of the RC Mid-Level who will become DG on 1 July 2003.
 

Rotary International News:

A) Read an announcement from RI concerning the provisional Rotary Clubs in China.

B) An RI Presidential PolioPlus Summit will be held from 22-24 February 2002 in Mumbai, India.

C) An RI Presidential Conference will be held from 22-24 March 2002 in Taipei, Taiwan.

D) The RI Annual Convention will be held in Barcelona, Spain from 23 to 26 June 2002, and you can register on-line here. For more information about the convention, visit their web site.

Web Side Story: 
 
Nothing exciting to report this week. I've been busy updating my company website!


Dear Geek:

The Geek is on strike. He wants more money and a corner office. Negotiations are in progress.
 
Who Am I? 
 
What is the more common name of deceased British singer/songwriter Farookh Balsara?

The answer appears at the bottom of this issue.
 
Cunning Linguist:

Have you ever wondered about the origins of the expression "Ground Zero"?
 
It was first used in respect of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II. It's first appearance in the New York Times on 7 July 1946, about a year after the events, was in this connection: "The intense heat of the blast started fires as far as 3,500 feet from 'ground zero' (the point on the ground directly under the bomb's explosion in the air)".

The term looks as though it has been borrowed from a bit of existing military jargon, though I can't find an earlier example.

More recently, the term has taken on various other associations: it became a jargon term for the point of origin of any momentous or damaging event, such as the epicentre of an earthquake, or the place at which a tornado touches down. It has also been used in a figurative sense for the focal point of some event or endeavour.

The devastating effects of the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 reminded people of the aftermath of a nuclear attack. The term was instantly applied to the site, to the extent that it looked for a while as though it would displace the older meanings entirely.

Golden Smile:

Two small, elderly women were driving in a large car in which they could barely see over the dashboard.

As they came to the first intersection the traffic light was red, but they drove straight across the intersection. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be going crazy because I could have sworn that was a red light." 
 
A few minutes later, they came to another intersection and the light was red but again they drove right though. This time the woman in the passenger seat was almost certain that the light had been red, but was concerned that perhaps her eyesight was failing her. As she was becoming nervous she decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection.
 
At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red but once again they drove straight through it.
 
She turned to her friend behind the wheel and said, "Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us!"
 
Mildred turned to her and said: "Oh, am I driving?"
 
Quotable Quotes:

"Did you ever notice that 'What the hell' is always the right decision?

-- Marilyn Monroe --
 

The Phantom
"Who am I?" answer: Freddie Mercury (from "Queen").

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