My photographic exhibition in Hong Kong

Sunday saw the launch of a great Hong Kong based film by Angie Chan, "This darling Life" and my photos are being exhibited in support of the film.

Loads of celebs turned up and there were plenty of photographers there which felt odd as I am usually the one on the other side of the camera.

Great though to have all my photos out there and being seen by so many people in Hong Kong. Lots of compliments (which was very much appreciated.)

Who would have thought a year ago I would be working for Cathay Pacific, living in Hong Kong and attending my own photographic exhibition?

Not bad for a first year... Not bad at all. You call see all the photos here

China's Olympic dream in tatters?

With credit/thanks to Spike for this:

... I'll say it again. The hatred many have for America and American policies will pale compared to what we think of China in the next 10 years if stories like this continue.

But here is the rub of the Olympics and the Internet in general is that of course many Chinese people are misrepresented, but attacking people on protest marches has very bad connotations and isn't doing the Chinese brand any good.

From the NY Times:

Thousands of young Chinese assembled to defend their country’s troubled Olympic torch relay pushed through police lines on Sunday, some of them hurling rocks, bottled water and plastic and steel pipes at protesters demanding better treatment for North Korean refugees in China.

When lone protesters demanded that China stop repatriating North Korean refugees, they were quickly surrounded by jeering Chinese. Near the park, Chinese students surrounded and beat a small group of protesters, news reports said.

In another scuffle, at the city center where the five-hour torch run ended, Chinese surrounded several Tibetans and South Korean supporters who unfurled pro-Tibet banners, and kicked and punched them, witnesses said.

The largest scuffle erupted shortly after the first torch-bearer left the Olympic Park, surrounded by dozens of police officers on foot or on bicycles and hundreds more in buses and trailed by a water cannon, ambulances and helicopters circling overhead.

Many of the Chinese gathered at the park surged toward about 150 protesters, mostly elderly South Koreans and North Korean defectors, who were shouting “No human rights, no Olympics” from across a boulevard.

Welcome to China's media

From CNN.com, a report that the Chinese government will meet with a representative of the Dalai Lama.

In the CNN story is this quote from the Dalai Lama's secretary, Tenzin Takhla:

"His Holiness, since March 10th, has made every effort to reach out to the Chinese leadership.

"He has long said: 'The only way we can solve our differences is with face-to-face dialog.'"

CNN also carries a quote from a nameless Chinese government official, taken from a terse Xinhua report that is apparently the source of the story:

"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks."

Quite a difference in tone there, with the Chinese striking a conspicuously aggressive stance. I'm afraid that the contrast will leave western audiences as sympathetic as ever to the Dalai Lama. But of course, that can always be attributed to CNN's "biased reporting".

Bossini presents This Darling Life + HKDR Charity Photo Exhibition by Ali Bullock

This Sunday, 27th April, 3pm-4pm at 12/F, Langham Place mall, there will be the launch of the Ali Bullock/HKDR Tribute Book photo exhibition as a run-up to the opening of the upcoming film, "This Darling Life".

The photos are blow-ups of the book photos and mounted on canvas, and they will be on sale for $499.

The HKDR Tribute Book will also be available, and Ali Bullock will be on site to sign copies of both the book and the photos. Our HKDR Ambassador, Rosemary Vandenbroucke, will also be there for the launch, along with HKDR Founder, Sally Andersen and filmmaker, Angie Chen.

The photo exhibition will run from April 27 - May 23 at 3 different UA Cinema locations: Times Square, City Plaza and Langham Place. HKDR Tribute Books will be available at all locations for the duration of the exhibitions. ("This Darling Life" will open at all UA Cinemas on May 8th following the Gala Premiere at Times Square on May 6th).

Please have a look at "This Darling Life" website at www.thisdarlinglife.com. (An interview with filmmaker, Angie Chen, can be seen on The Pulse TV prgramme at the RTHK website www.rthk.com.hk. (date of screening 18/4/08). The interview is in the second half of Part 2 of the show).

Bossini will be launching a linited edition range of HKDR T-shirts featuring 6 of Ali Bullock's photos. These will be sold as a pack with a 'This Darling Life' tote bag at all Bossini outlets and will be available in early May.

All proceeds from the sale of the HKDR tribute Book, the dog portraits and the Bossini T-shirts will go to HKDR.

With thanks to Angie Chen, Golden Scene and Bossini for their generous support of HKDR.

Dear god... Make Microsoft stop.

Please tell me someone in MS did this. Oh please, oh please make my year. Its the biggest pile of steaming crap I have ever seen. God bless the yanks in MS. Its genius in a car crash sort of way. I am moved to tears. I may even give up my Mac and take on Vista. Yes, the video was that powerful.

OK, I have to stop now, the tears are flooding my keyboard.


Oasis goes bust

As an employee of Cathay Pacific (and competitor of sorts to Oasis) I wanted to wait a couple of days before I blogged on this news.

Of course I could have released a Hong Kong blog exclusive on this but in my position that is not really something I could do.

I have fielded several calls and emails about Oasis - All of which have met with silence on my side. The simple reason is that there is not much I can say about this issue, other than (in my opinion):

- Oasis did not have a sensible business plan
- Businesses go down when they don't make money
- My thoughts are with the passengers and employees of Oasis who are the real losers
- The statement from the owners in the SCMP was rubbish - Competition did not take away there planes, their business plan did!
- There is no-one who wants to save this airline as it was loosing so much money

For other opinions check out the HK blogs. Many are saying the same as above which I agree with.

Australian 'hero' saves wife from deadly croc by gouging its eyes

A salt-water crocodile

(My mother in law)

An Australian man has been hailed as a hero after rescuing his wife from the jaws of a crocodile by jumping on the creature's head and gouging its eyes.

Norm Moreen, 39, heard Wendy Petherick, 36, cry out in pain after the 2.5 metre (8.2ft), saltwater crocodile attacked her at a National Park in a remote part of northern Australia last night.

The reptile clamped onto Ms Petherick’s leg while she was standing by a riverbank, pulling her into the water.

“Next thing Norm is in the water,” Ms Petherick said today. “He jumped on the croc’s head and felt for its eyes.

“He poked his eyes and the croc freed me. Norm just pushed me towards the side of the bank and both of us got out of the water.”

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest and most dangerous of their type. Known in Australia as “salties”, they are immensely powerful animals, capable of dragging a fully grown water buffalo into a river.

"These crocs are vicious machines," said Steve Landreth, a local man who saw the events unfold.

"I think she's one of the bravest women I've ever met," he said, praising both husband and wife.


Full link here

Thats nothing, you should see Mrs B when I told her how much my Porsche was going to cost. The croc would have had no chance, along with my chances of getting the car!

Australian MP proposes cane toad-killing day

Australian families have been urged to roll up their sleeves and embark on a slaughter of "the most disgusting creature known to man" - the cane toad - in a national day of amphibian pest control.


Wood pigeon: average numbers per garden have jumped 665 per cent since 1979
I had an ex-girlfriend who looked like this...

Queensland MP Shane Knuth called for a cane toad equivalent of Clean Up Australia Day, an annual event in which Australians scour the countryside for litter.

The fast-spreading cane toads are the country's most disliked introduced pest, their poisonous skin accounting for the deaths of millions of birds, crocodiles and other predators each year.

While admitting that he had, in the past, "belted toads with whatever I could get my hands on," including golf clubs and cricket bats, he said it was important that the toads be dispatched humanely.

Read the full article here