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Golden News
Volume 15, Number 43 - Monday 22 April 2002
The Phantom Returns:
I guess most of you thought the reason there has been no Golden News for the last two weeks was because I was overseas.
Well, yes, I have been travelling again, but that has never stopped me from publishing the bulletin every week. The real reason for the absence of
the bulletin was because I was very angry. In fact I was livid.
Why? Because another club Director sent an email to the entire BOD, in which he accused
me of being a wise guy, with no Rotary spirit.
After I mentioned this in the last issue of the Golden News, I received emails and telephone calls from 17 KGM members who all urged
me to ignore such unjustified criticisms. To those members (you know who you are), I thank you sincerely for your kind words of support.
However the biggest positive comment was one member who told me: "Don't let a small man stop you doing good things". And I won't.
So, love me or hate me, The Phantom has returned!
Sadly, as I missed three consecutive meetings while I was searching for my Rotary spirit, I can't tell you any juicy bits, especially
since my usual spies were also absent. But now that I'm back (and expect to be in Hong Kong for at least three weeks), I should be able to give you the "inside story" again. You have all
been warned !
This Week's Meeting:
This week's guest speaker is Mr. Graham Uden, who will be speaking to us on "Afghanistan".
Milestones:
Birthday greetings for 21 April for Romu "Buffy" Bellani, who shares her birthday with actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. Birthday greetings for 25 April for Fellowship Director David "Party Dude" Harilela, who shares his birthday with actor Al Pacino. Member Updates:
1) Balu "Kojak" Chainrai advises that his new office telephone number is 3156
1800 and his email address is balu@hornington.com.
2) PP M.V. "Rambo" Ramadasan advises his new email address is mv.ramadasan@hk.ca-indosuez.com.
3) Stormin' Norman Liu's email address normanliu@att.net.hk has
been dead for many months and, despite my numerous requests, young Norman has yet to provide an updated email address.
Hence, in the interim period, please note that Norman cannot receive any messages sent to the KGM email distribution lists nor, for that matter, this bulletin.
KGM BOD Meeting - Tomorrow Evening:
The next BOD meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday 23 April 2002 at the
2/F Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Tsimshatsui, as usual.
All Club Directors are expected to present their latest report of their committee's recent activities. If you are unable to attend the meeting, kindly forewarn KGM Sexy-Tary Clarissa "Ring My" Bellstedt by telephone on 9400 8261 or by email, otherwise you will be shot. Twice.
And remember, if you are a male Director (i.e. on the endangered species list), remember to speak only when spoken to, and the correct answer to all instructions is: "Yes, Ma'am".
Fellowship News:
1) A "Wine Tasting" fellowship has been organised for 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday 27 April 2002 at "The Oasis", 8/F Renaissance Harbour View Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai North.
Fellowship Director David "Corkscrew" Harilela informs us that this event is being graciously hosted by
the Ferdinand Pieroth company, a well known purveyor of famous German wines. After the wine tasting, those who are still capable of walking will
wander off aimlessly somewhere for dinner.
Space is limited to a maximum of 15 places, so I urge you to contact
David's efficient assistant "Amazing" Grace by email without delay.
+++++
2) Due to the roaring success of our last "Mass Make-Up"
at RC Kowloon, our bubbly Attendance Director Neerja "Da Numbers" Sujanani has organised another event with RC
Admiralty to be held at 12:30 p.m., Friday 3 May 2002 at the Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong.
This is yet another excellent opportunity to enjoy fellowship with our buddies at RC Admiralty. Members who can attend this meeting are asked to contact Neerja by email.
The Love Boat:
International Service Director Elissa "Captain Hook" Cohen announces she has organised the first-ever KGM ocean
cruise on board the "M/S Star Leo", which
will depart for a 4 day/3 night cruise to Vietnam on Sunday 9 June 2002, and will return to Hong Kong on Wednesday 12 June.
Tickets are very reasonably priced at under HK$4,000 per head, and this price includes insurance, handling charges and
landing fees in Vietnam. Members interested in joining what will certainly be a fantastic fellowship are urged to contact Elissa by email without delay.
In honour of next year's Rotary International theme, Elissa invites you to bring a friend and "Sow The Seeds Of Love" on board The
Love Boat. Bring protection. Like an umbrella :-)
KGM 15th Anniversary Ball:
This year's Annual Ball, to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel ballroom on Saturday 4 May
2002, celebrates KGM's 15th Anniversary. The theme of the evening is "70's Night
Fever", so dust off your bell bottoms, your hot pants and your chunky shoes (Brian Hodgson, just come as you are!).
Anyway, your intrepid Ball Committee, capably lead by joint Chair-Thingies Elissa "Pass The Peanuts" Cohen
and David "Party Dude" Harilela (aka "Abbott & Costello"), will be doing everything in their power to make this the "Mother Of All Balls"!
Ticket prices have been set at $1,200 per head.
Please contact our handsome and suave table sales guy Pico "Lino" Dialdas by telephone on 2543 8006 or by email to reserve your table.
Note that 36 tables have now been sold, so don't delay, or you may miss out.
If you require Vegetarian meals, please contact Vice-President Patricia "Iron Lady"
Blair by telephone on 2166 8888 or by email not
later than Friday 26 April 2002.
Remember our annual ball is primarily a "Fun Raising" not a "Fund Raising" affair and, if you only go to one ball each year, this is the one!
District 3450 News:
Sunday 3 May 2002 - Rotary documentary on Hong Kong TV: Although our Rotary Information Centre (RIC) never provides us any information (but they do seem to get in touch with us regularly whenever they want money), our spies have informed us about an upcoming TV event.
Apparently TVB Jade will broadcast a locally produced documentary entitled "Walk Along With Rotary",
which covers the activities of Rotary District 3450, from 10:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday 3 May 2002.
Set your video recorders now !
Rotary International News:
2) 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! STOP PRESS: Rotary International has announced that comedian Jerry Lewis and former Soviet leader and Nobel Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev will be attending the RI Convention, and both gentleman will be presented with the RI Award of Honour.
Web Side Story:
Nothing to report this week, because the Web Monster is taking a sabbatical but, as usual, the KGM website is 100% up
to date!
Dear Geek:
Dear Geek, Whenever I send email messages with attachments to the KGM Email
Distribution Lists, delivery of my message always fails with the same five (5) members. What can I do? Yours,
Frustrated.
Dear Frustrated, I bet the five members are Neerja Sujanani, Ashok Kirpalani, Ashok Assomull,
Liam Drake and Pico Dialdas, right? My guess is that these beloved KGM members have an email server which rejects all attachments as a
"catch-all" security precaution against executable programs, which may contain viruses.
The other reason could be that those members use crappy, er I mean free, web-based email providers such as Hotmail, which
are normally only used by pimply-faced teenagers, not by serious business people.
Unless those members are willing to modify their server settings or change to a decent ISP, all I can suggest is that you
telephone them, one by one and call them terrible names! Yours, The Geek.
Who Am I?
What is the more common name of British actress Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg?
The answer appears at the bottom of this issue.
Cunning Linguist:
Did you ever wonder about the origins of the term "Third World" ?
This political term is originally French. "Tiers Monde" was coined in 1956 by G. Balandier. The English is a literal
translation of the French.
Balandier used the archaic "tiers" instead of the modern "troisième" as a parallel construction to the "Tiers État", or Third Estate. The term quickly entered English soon after being coined. Originally, the First World was the industrialized West, the Second World was the Communist nations of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the Third World was all the rest, however these distinctions no longer strictly apply. For example, Hong Kong is generally not considered to be a "Third World" country!
Golden Smile:
Paddy Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company. One day the dog died, and so Paddy went to
the local parish priest.
Paddy said: "Father, me dog is dead. Could ya be saying a mass for the poor creature?"
Father Patrick replied: "I'm afraid not Paddy, we can't have services for animals in the church, but there are some Baptists
down the road and there's no tellin' what they believe. Perhaps they'll be able to do something for the creature".
So Paddy replied: "Thanks for the advice Father, I'll go and see them right away but tell me, do ya think $5,000 is enough to donate for the service?"
To which Father Patrick exclaimed: "Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic?"
Quotable Quotes:
"You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone."
-- Al Capone --
The Phantom |
| "Who Am I?" answer: Jane Seymour. |
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