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And so to London and Hyde Park

nobody@vox.com(Snowy) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:41:48 -0700

We'd had a few days in London four years ago, and I had always wanted to return to see what I'd missed before. The sense of history in London just gets me every time. Mrs Snowy had lived in London in the late sixties, but there was much that she was yet to see, and she also wanted to take a nostalgia trip back to Earl's Court where so many young Aussies had congregated in those halcyon days.

We stayed at Royal Court Apartments in Bayswater, just a short walk from Hyde Park. Ours was a studio apartment with full cooking facilities. The location was just off Bayswater Road with a short walk to both Lancater Gate and Paddington underground stations, and also to Hyde Park. We'd stay there again, if for no other reason than the convenient location near transport and also the London central district. This is the view of Gloucester Terrace from the entrance to the apartments.

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So, the obvious place to visit was Hyde Park. This is the view of the Italian gardens.

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We continued walking through Hyde Park until we came to Kensington Palace, which is of course where Princess Diana lived after her divorce from Prince Charles. We did the tour of the palace which dates back to William of Orange, and then walked through the room where Princess Diana's evening gowns are on display. Especially poignant were the videos of the Princess obviously enjoying herself at functions where she was wearing the gowns. Such a beautiful, vivacious, young woman with no knowledge of what lay ahead for her. This was also the residence of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones when they were married. That marriage ended in divorce also. This is a shot I took of Kensington Palace. Somehow it will always be associated with unhappiness for me.

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We took a stroll down to Speaker's Corner. The symbolism of this corner of Hyde Park where citizens are free to speak on anything at all, including criticism of the government, did not escape me. Britain has much to be proud of, and set a fine example of tolerance for the rest of the world to follow. Unfortunately, all the speakers were preaching religion when we were there, all different of course. I was tempted to point them in the right direction, but somehow I doubt they'd be interested in my atheism. This is Speaker's Corner.

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And this is a view of the Serpentine.

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My admiration for the British people knows no bounds. I believe the world owes them a huge debt for the institutions they have bequeathed to it. To say nothing of the games, including football. No, not that round ball one, real football, Rugby League.

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Eat Junk Food if You Want to Lose Weight

nobody@vox.com([this is connie]) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:24:14 -0700

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

Man sheds 80 pounds on McDonald's diet

QUINTON, Va. - A Virginia man lost about 80 pounds in six months by eating nearly every meal at McDonald's.

Not Big Macs, french fries and chocolate shakes. Mostly salads, wraps and apple dippers without the caramel sauce.

Chris Coleson tipped the scales at 278 pounds in December. The 5-foot-8 Coleson now weighs 199 pounds and his waist size has dropped from 50 to 36.

The 42-year-old businessman from Quinton says he chose McDonald's because it's convenient.

His inspiration came from his two children and from the story of a blind war veteran who rode a tandem bicycle cross-country.

Coleson says his goal is to get back to the 185 pounds he weighed when he married Tricia Summer. Their 10th anniversary is Saturday.

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Going On

nobody@vox.com([this is connie]) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:41:23 -0700

Vivi's Eye

Vivi's eye is sore. She has told me yesterday, but still she went to Ilma's party with Atilla and Ella, then they went to Hard Rock after that because the party wasn't "successful" - which means the girls didn't even get tipsy there :D

Oom Hadi (Mom's oldest bro) called Dad this morning and informed him that one of my (late) gramma's younger sisters passed away. We don't know when the funeral will be held. Anyway, Dad told me that she'd been blind for years and her husband left her... She lived with her grandkids since then...

It's just another Sunday afternoon here. Life goes on. The world goes round.

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Thursdays, Just Spread Out

nobody@vox.com(grantalias) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:34:17 -0700

line 'em up

Having not been to car Thursdays for a few weeks due in part to the usual child herding issues we encountered last time and in addition my attempt to curb my addiction to strawberry parfaits (which is failing miserably), we took another go at it.

And you know what? The boys pretty much behaved themselves (until we started to leave). But over all it was a nice outing with the family. For some reason ice cream always makes family outing go better.

Carts was quite taken by a stuffed dog in a car and the lady actually let him sit beside it so I could take a picture. As you can tell he was extremely excited. ET was offered to get in as well, but I guess we've already instilled in him the fear of getting into a strangers car so he declined the offer.

Superizingly I don't believe I've seen this car on a Thursday before. ET and I found it interresting since the engine was in the trunk and I though it was pretty strange seeing the gas tank lid forward of the driver's side door.

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This might be what Vivi called as "Funky Chicken Dance"?

nobody@vox.com([this is connie]) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:00:38 -0700

Techno Chicken

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Are crystal balls recyclable?

nobody@vox.com(Flamingo Dancer) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:47:50 -0700

I am finding this saving the planet very exhausting. All this energy saving, water conservation, recycling, shopping and trying to compare prices and quantities, fat content and packaging is bringing me to breaking point. If I could just look into my crystal ball and see whether any of my three children were going to reproduce and present us with grandchildren then it would make it a lot easier to persevere. If on the other hand I could see that they weren't going to have children I would say, Game over! I am getting off the merry go round and I am going to ruin the planet to my hearts content.

Bad attitude? But I am tired.....

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Malaysian politics 2: Another joke in the making

nobody@vox.com(Ninja) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:29:37 -0700

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/358540/1/.html

Folks,

This is exactly the sort of childish nonsense that detracts good people from resolving the very real challenges that face Malaysians and the potential of their nation becoming a failed state within the next 10 years.

When this private investigator fronted up with Anwar Ibrahim last week to expose the shenanigans of the country's deputy prime minister, he was to retract his sworn statements barely 24 hours later under allegations of having made his statements in duress the day before.

You be the judge, but for my money, I'd say that this man and quite likely his entire family have been spirited away by Malaysia's shadowy secret police to be kept away from the media's prying eyes.

There's an almighty political battle going on and guess who's in the middle of it all?

The battle of ideas cannot be played out in Malaysia while the application of blunt instruments of law such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the corrupt arms of the country's attorney general and police force are in cahoots with the people at the top.

Now's the time for Malaysians of all backgrounds to unite and show the world who's actually in charge.

Ninja

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Vox Hunt:思い出の一枚

nobody@vox.com(takeratta(tm)*) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:57:58 -0700

思い出の一枚といったらこれ、という写真を見せてください。

3rd Gen nano (RED)

a Christmas gift @ Apple store 5th Ave. NYC, NY, US.
a piece of my sweet memory of Christmas Eve,, 2007 in NY.

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A reduced carbon future: A bridge too far?

nobody@vox.com(Ninja) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:14:40 -0700

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/penelope-the-person-responsible-for-our-future/2008/07/05/1214951110486.html

Folks,

I'm sure that we're all living through the nightmare of higher costs of living these days. It doesn't matter where you happen to be on the income scale - everyone's hurting somewhere.

I saw how business people and ordinary folks in Thailand and Malaysia were being pushed to extreme actions to get their governments to do someting, anything, to address their concerns.

Most surprising was some direct feedback from a Malaysian chap who told me that Australians won't really hurt because our salaries were higher, hence we'd absorb the higher costs easily. Pig's arse! I set him straight right there and then. I think the notion of stagflation hasn't quite reached the man on our streets yet.

That's just my point; it doesn't matter if you're in the First or Third World... we're all suffering.

And this debate we're having in Australia about a carbon trading scheme - literally a sin tax which we all have to pay for just the mere act of consuming - is probably one of the hardest things to sell to an already-jaded/cynical/taxed out population.

I've got no answers, but heck, I'd like a crystal ball to see what people will do if we're going to cop petrol prices that are possibly going to be $3-4/litre.

Ninja

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Lady M Pic Share

nobody@vox.com(♥Lady M♥) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:10:15 -0700

Lady M Pic Share
Originally uploaded by ♥Lady M♥.

T-Mobile

Happy luau!

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