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!!
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!!
No comments:
Post a Comment