Thursday, January 28, 2010

Recommended Posts, July-September 2008

Guided Tour - recommended posts from the 3rd quarter of '08



1) More Olympic craziness - 5th July 2008

A rundown of the government's various inspired attempts to stop anyone having any fun during the upcoming Olympic Games.


2) Bon mot of the week - 7th July 2008

One of the best ever, if I do say so myself (yes, it was one of my own).


3) Yet more text message silliness - 7th July 2008

A strange flight of fancy as I tease a lady friend who works at the British Embassy. (There's even more in the comments!)


4) Great Names for Bars (A New Competition) - 8th July 2008

A couple of anecdotes about great names for bars inspire a new 'competition' - inviting readers to contribute their own suggestions in the comments.


5) How Not To Run A Bar (3) - 10th July 2008

Or, When Is A Happy Not A Happy Hour?


6) Great Drinking Songs (8) - 12th July 2008

Tom Waits and Keith Richards perform That Feel.


7) A stroke of genius - 13th July 2008

My eccentric drinking companion, Crazy Chris, comes up with the inspired idea of a five-minute 'happy hour' - this could change the world.


8) Missing a trick (Missing a party excuse!) - 15th July 2008

I lament the apparent absence of Bastille Day parties in Beijing this year - but celebrate (a day late) with a selection of YouTube clips of The Marseillaise: Mireille Mathieu singing it in front of the Eiffel Tower, the customers at Rick's Café Americain singing it to taunt the Nazis in Casablanca, and a Renault F1 racing car revving it - and, as a tangentially related bonus, Celine Dion gargling My Heart Will Go On.


9) Good News/Bad News - 17th July 2008

A very strange night in Beijing....


10) A new 'game' for everyone - please contribute... - 19th July 2008

Some great examples of misheard song lyrics, advertising my new contribute your own favourites post on this theme (which is actually HERE).


11) Bon Voyage - 23rd July 2008

My principal drinking companion of the year, Crazy Chris, departs. I find I have mixed feelings about it.


12) My latest PARTY idea - 24th July 2008

Tibet Beer appears in Beijing! I can't resist the idea of giving some away FREE!!


13) "Fun" or "No Fun"? - 25th July 2008

I get into a bit of a spat with Beijing Boyce about the atmosphere in Beijing on the eve of the Olympics. He's irritatingly bouncy-bouncy-bouncy-bouncy-fun-fun-fun-fun-FUN. I'm a curmudgeon. I favour the tag The Mafan (=hassle) Olympics.


14) IPD - the mystery of love explained (maybe) - 29th July 2008

One of the most important of my 'theories' - though, alas, it's not my own, but the creation of my mad scientist friend, The Younger Dr P.


15) A riddle - 31st July 2008

What do SARS and the Olympics have in common?


16) The Eternal Pursuit - 2nd August 2008

A favourite anecdote about an embarrassing mispronunciation.


17) Great Drinking Songs (9) - 9th August 2008

The traditional sea shanty South Australia, sung by Cornish vocal group Fisherman's Friends on the beach outside their local pub in Port Isaac. (Also, a link to a stunning instrumental performance by the Australian guitar-picking virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel.)


18) Here I go, promoting ZIYO again.... - 13th August 2008

I find some video clips of my favourite Beijing band to share with you.


19) Olympic Opening Night - 15th August 2008

A week late, but I finally get around to reporting on the Opening Ceremony party at Room 101.


20) All in the name of science - 20th August 2008

I come up with a new excuse for drinking whisky....


21) A life in six words - 22nd August 2008

Following the example of Smith Magazine, I inaugurate a Six Word Memoir competition of my own.


22) I don't like bars - 26th August 2008

A somewhat shocking realisation, given that I spend such a large amount of my time in them!


23) Am I just an 'Inbetweenie'? - 27th August 2008

I realise that I don't like young people any more, but am not yet ready to surrender to middle age. I recall that The Goodies wrote a song about this in my childhood!


24) My China Crisis - 28th August 2008

A random slogan on a flyer seems to have a rather pointed significance for me.


25) Not so much FUN - 28th August 2008

My curmudgeonly review of just how awful the Beijing Olympics were.


26) Highlights of my Olympics - 29th August 2008

As a counter-balance to that last anti-Olympics rant, I offer a list of the things I did enjoy this past month.


27) The Zen Drinker - 30th August 2008

My personal drinking manifesto.


28) The wonderful world of Chinglish - 31st August 2008

I can't resist making fun of the spectacularly AWFUL website Tsingtao beer put up to exploit their sponsorship of the Olympics - hilarious!!


29) Bon mot for the week - 1st September 2008

A final jibe at the Olympics!


30) The Way It Is - 2nd September 2008

Post-Olympic reflection - what lies ahead for us in Beijing now?


31) HBH 96 - 5th September 2008

The thing about drinking is.....


32) Masochism, pure and simple - 12th September 2008

The ultimate summation of my trials with failed infatuation, Madame X. Nine months after I 'gave up' on the dratted girl, I was still struggling to get over her.


33) HBH 98 - 19th September 2008

A helpful observation on beer...


34) Improving the odds - 22nd September 2008

An outside-the-box chat-up tactic from an old university chum starts me off on some maudlin pondering as to whether Madame X would sleep with me even if I were the last man on earth.


35) HBH 99 - 26th September 2008

The Zen of the pool room...


36) What would Brian Boitano do? - 26th September 2008

A true story: sitting at a bar between a stunningly beautiful woman (who's on her own and looking bored) and a geeky young Chinese guy - who would I choose to talk to? You guessed it! Well, he was a fellow cinema enthusiast... Probably not what Brian Boitano would have done!!

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