Almost two weeks into this trip, it’s always easy to forget how convenient things are around this town.  Shopping for items is as simple as heading to the local mega-mall or even just walking on the street.

Buses that run on time continues to baffle and amuse me.

Apparently global warming has given most of the South Pacific a sense of California weather.  Last week it was about 50-60 degress with a low of 40.  This week I’m dressed in shorts with a fair amount of heat powering my day.  Sunshine, hazy sunshine, I’ll take what I can get.

Even bought new frames that make me look snazzy without being douchey.  Of course, the eyeglasses shop was upset to tell me that it took a week to get them ready.  A week?  Try getting anything in America done in less than a week!

Time continues to be a valuable and strained commodity on this tiny island.  A week is an eternity, and 4 minutes is near death.  It takes me longer to check my wifi e-mail than it does to go halfway across town in the tubes.

This extended stay the second time around has definitely felt better.  Not that I don’t want to learn anything new, but it’s nice to feel familiar in a place that sometimes feels so foreign.  But don’t call me crazy — I’m still not going to eat at MacDonald’s, no matter how retro cool they look like around here.  I haven’t even broken down at a Starbucks yet, but then again, that place is just a matter of time.

On a side note, I saw my estranged grandfather the other night.  All he could say to me was that I looked fatter.  Yeah, thanks a lot grandpa.  Your words are about as quaint as the dog-eared book you gave me with the pendant I’m probably going to end up throwing away anyway.  When will you learn that the only thing I want from you is for you to give my mother less grief.  That, would be a welcome miracle.

Oh, and he farted by the elevator hoping that no one heard or smelled it.  I did both, Grandpa, and it wasn’t like a tree falling in a forest.  You don’t get a free pass on that…

This press release was originally issued by the Transport Department.

Hong Kong’s MTR subway is one of the most popular systems of transport.

I Kina händer de mest märkliga ting (Obs! Jag vet att den känslan spär på myten om den mystiska Orienten men det händer faktiskt saker här med jämna mellanrum som ibland är lite för speciella för att bara kännas som “slumpen”). Just som jag postat inlägget om Sverige som EU:s matland och tankarna far lite hit och dit på väg hem på tunnelbanan; tankar på mörker (marknadsförs svenskt mörker?), tankar på svenskar som råkar höra svenskt prat eller möta andra svenskar utomlands (reagerar man med glädje? nej… eller det beror väl på situationen) så dyker det upp ett ansikte framför mitt.

Det är rusningstid och vi står tätt. Vårt möte ska bara vara i 2-3 stationer. Han på ett himla socialt och strålande humör, jag nollställt inåtvänd. “Tourist!?” frågar han mig (flera gånger innan jag tittar upp). “Who? Me? No”. Han fortsätter, “I am a global nomad traveling the world, learning the English language”. (Predikant? Tjuv som opererar i team? Happy lunetic?) tänker jag. “You are a local?”. “Mhm, local. “And you?” undrar han soligt. “Sweden” (molnigt men uppsprickande).

Vad det säger denna lilla interaktion om tunnelbanebeteende? Svar 1: folk tar inte kontakt, det är inte meningen att man ska chatta med strangers (som i Stockholm skulle jag tro). Svar 2: Hongkongs regerings TV-reklam som uppmanar invånarna att aktivt välkomna turisterna verkar fungera, vilken sanslöst vänlig attityd killen bjuder på!

Och här kommer det fin-fina; han förstår att jag är från Sverige och reagerar ungefär som om jag höll upp en nybakad tårta framför honom, “SWEDEN! The most livable country in the world!”. Där fick jag för att älta svenskt mörker och depp. Killen reser alltså runt i världen med idén att Sverige och de övriga Skandinaviska länderna är Paradiset.

Han fortsätter, “SWEDEN, I read a UN report on Sweden (det måste vara den här statistiken han menar fast Island toppar listan från 2007 och de kan ju knappast längre leda ligan av de “most livable countries”). “If you loose your job the government will immediately set you up with a new one, right!?” nickar han. Och jag, “Well the social system is designed so we pay a lot of tax… this is your stop?”. “Yes”. “Robbie” presenterar han sig. “Jennifer”. Vi hälsar. “Good luck” önskar han mig. “You too” önskar jag honom. And then he is gone.

Okej det kanske var slumpen, men det kändes som en utmaning från ovan (eller från underjorden) att han dök upp just där, just då. Så nu tror jag ännu mer på Sverige som EU:s matland om man tänker att matturism inte bara handlar om maten utan även om hur livet runt omkring måltiderna uppfattas av omvärlden. Kom och köp! Här var det nya upplevelser, nya upplevelser!

Klart det här går att sälja!

Precis som det här! Känn doften… (och betänk att människor i Sverige faktiskt stannar upp och doftar på blommor).

Ni glömmer väl inte oss? Siesta i kohagen i Föra by på Öland sommaren 2009 blir lugn mjölk!

]]> http://forever-green.org/2009/11/18/mtr-slow-food-valahia-gusturilor/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:47:33 +0000 forevergreen http://forever-green.org/2009/11/18/mtr-slow-food-valahia-gusturilor/

Museum of History. Science Museum. Symphony of Lights. Temple Street Night Market.

Fascade. Museum of History.

On the second day, the Symphony of Lights most anticipated. The venue being close to our Hotel, we decided to do it later in the night. During the day, we planned to go to Nathan Road for some cheap meals and bargains. However, our feet led us instead to the nearby Science Museum and Museum of History. The child wanted the former, the adults, the later for some culture and history.

Paddles. Science Museum.

During our entire stay in HKG, time was never a priority. It was already over past lunch, 2:00 PM, to be exact, when we’re done with both museums. We still decided to check out Nathan Road for lunch or any local restaurant which we may find along the way, as the need arises, and in case we can no longer reach Nathan Road for lunch. We were not able to reach Nathan Road anymore and landed instead at McDo in Kowloon Park.

Traditional Chinese Lanterns

Before we reached McDo, I saw a local delicacy sold in the street. I have no idea how is it called but I liked it and had it again the day after! It’s like a waffle but thin and crispy, with soft melted cheese inside the “humps!”

Waffles. Thin & Crispy. Yummy

Already tired after lunch, we got back to the Hotel to have some rest in time for the Symphony of Lights at Victoria Harbor early in the night. We also wanted to check out the night market at Temple Street being closer to our location than Mongkok.

Blame it maybe to our overrated expectation of the Symphony of Lights show but that’s how it was described in tour books and in the internet. Blame it, maybe to the wrong timing being a Friday night. We were frustrated! All we saw were ordinary laser lights on top of few buildings in HKG Island side. Other than that, it was nothing. We thought it was a spectacle but it was not. We thought at least most of the buildings on the HKG side participate but there were only about 5. It did not deserve a second chance. It was forgettable. All contrary to being the Guiness’  largest permanent sound-and-light show of the world! Good there are a lot to do more after!

MTR. Subway of HKG.

Quite frustrated, we hit the MTR going to Temple Street  for the dinner and bargain. We got off at the next station, incidentally called Jordan, and a short walk brought us to Temple Street. It’s their version of our Divisoria. Temple Street sells local produce during the day and becomes a cheap place to dine and scout for bargain items at night. Most items sold are the same items you may find in 168 Mall! Even then, I got 2 small items for posterity, both symbolic of my zodiac sign. Shopping was never an intention. More than the bargain items on sale, the night dining was really good at cheap prices. So good and cheap that we had to go back one more night!

Night Market at Temple Street

For the second straight night, we came back to the Hotel late and have to go to bed past midnight. By then, we were already getting used to the MTR and walking around HKG. At this point, I realized, however, that I should have brought (more) extra socks, even foot powder for obvious reasons!

Salted Duck. Temple Street.

See more pictures of Temple Street Night Market, Science & History Museums in MY FLICKR HERE!

Read: Po Lin Buddha/Monastery in Ngong Ping.

Read: Victoria Harbor. Avenue of Stars. Etc.

Read: Ten Thousand Buddha’s Monastery

Personaltransporter.

MTR kommer i dagarna att skicka ut en enkät för att undersöka vilka behov som finns när det gäller personaltransporter.

Tanken är att kartlägga hur många av oss som har behov av transport hem när sista tåget har gått, eller innan första tåget går.

Svara så ärligt som möjligt, vi vill ju få så bra personaltransporter som vi bara kan!

/Klubbstyrelsen.

Pentru cei care nu au nimic (interesant) planificat pentru diseară, la MTR (Muzeul Țăranului Român) concert Grimus.

Merită! Pe bune, băieții sunt…. fără cuvinte!

L.E : Concertul a fost excepţional! Atmosferă mişto, lume bună, iar muzica lor…. îţi crează o stare euforică!

by Jake Hawkins
Staff

Transylvania Environmental Responsibility and Rights Alliance has announced a campaign for November called “Appalachian Awareness Month.” According to TERRA member Julia Peckinpaugh, the campaign was inspired by information posted on the Web site http://ilovemountains.org that states that the entire zip code of 40508, Transy included, is powered by Kentucky Utilities Co. – an energy provider known to use coal harvested with mountaintop removal (MTR) techniques.

According to the Web site http://mountainjusticesummer.org, MTR is the process of harvesting coal by blasting away entire sections of mountains, allowing access to natural reservoirs of coal. Before the blasting occurs the area is subject to manual deforestation. MTR pollutes waterways and can force the evacuation of towns.

Proponents of mountaintop removal argue that the process is economically stimulating, and ceasing the practice would cause economic collapse.

Some Transy students disagree. Lauralee Crain, a Transy senior and leader of TERRA, said, “Coal is dirty energy, but ending MTR is a more immediate problem that needs to cease.”

Crain said that as part of Appalachian Awareness Month TERRA plans to set up tables every Tuesday to “educate Transy students about MTR, coal mining in general, and prepare them for the United Nations Climate Conference in December.”

Crain has been chosen as a delegate of the Sierra Club to attend the UN Climate Conference held in Copenhagen. According to Crain, the hope of this summit is for the U.S. to enter into a treaty agreeing to make efforts to preserve the environment.

TERRA will also be hosting a panel of speakers on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The panel will include Mountain Justice activists Larry Gibson and Dave Cooper, Transy alumna and activist Marcie Smith and Teri Blanton with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

Today, at 7 p.m. in Cowgill 102 TERRA will be screening “Coal Country,” a movie that examines the coal industry through the eyes of coal miners, mining company executives and activists for the reformation of coal practices.

TERRA is also urging all students during November to submit letters to the editor to their local newspapers and write to state and national congressmen about the issue of MTR.

For more information about Appalachian Awareness Month, Coal Energy or TERRA, readers can contact Lauralee Crain at lrcrain10@transy.edu.



A compara cele doua mari muzee bucurestene inseamna a comite o sinucidere spirituala, a-ti taia craca de sub picioare, cum se spune in popor. Cele doua institutii si branduri internationale nu numai ca respira prin ele insele, dar ofera o gura de aer proaspat tuturor celor care le calca “pragul”. Am fost si noi, cei de la Etnologie anul 2, ca niste studenti patimasi ce suntem sa vizitam cele doua muzee (oare a cata oara?) pentru a face ulterior o analiza comparativa in scris pentru cursul ”Cultura populara in studiile culturale”. Nu ma voi avanta spre asemenea culmi ucigase, ci voi incerca sa surprind momentele placute traite in fiecare muzeu.
La Muzeul Taranului Roman am pasit hotarati sa aprofundam lucrurile si sa intram in atmosfera de arhaic cat mai firesc cu putinta iar doamna asistent doctorand Raluca Moise a reusit sa faca vizita interactiva, adresandu-ne intrebari referitoare in special la simbolistica exponatelor. Dupa un tir de intrebari si raspunsuri timide dar acceptabile ca valoare, am mers in alta zona a muzeului, zona in care se afla si intrarea in camera misterioasa, cu o usa care spre satisfactia noastra scartaia de mama focului si care era inchisa cu un cui (cuiul lui Pepelea?). Insa ce ne-a impresionat si gadilat ego-urile cu adevarat (eram vreo patru baieti ramasi in urma, hotarati sa descoperim nedescoperitul) a fost parerea unei doamne din personalul muzeului care ne-a spus ca emanam o stare de bine, suntem foarte voiosi, se vede ca suntem un grup inchegat care vine din placere la muzeu. Noi am mai fi stat insa am fost anuntati ca fetele deja au plecat asa ca ne-am imbarcat in Dacia lui Adrian si am pornit la drum spre Muzeul Satului.
La Muzeul Satului am fost intampinati de Georgiana (fara doamna sau alte apelative, asa ne-a spus!) care ne-a mai fost ghid si in anul intai. Trebuie sa precizez ca noi, studentii de la Etnologie suntem niste privilegiati tinand cont de faptul ca avem voie sa intram in toate camerele caselor si ni se dau explicatii pentru majoritatea exponatelor. Este o splendoare si o experienta unica sa vizitezi un muzeu in aer liber desi in perioada asta frigul ne-a dat batai de cap, dar am reusit cu brio sa facem fata pana si acestui ”obstacol”! Sa nu uit de cele cateva case in care podeaua scotea un sunet puternic la cea mai mica miscare si de aici tot soiul de peripetii, dar cel mai mult am ras la constatarea care a incoltit in mintea studentelor, cum ca inainte fetele nu puteau fugi de acasa noaptea din cauza sunetului respectiv. Inchei aici ”povestea” despre cele doua muzee, nu de alta dar nu vreau sa intarzii la un anumit curs:P (ultima fraza era valabila acum 3 saptamani in contextul in care se facuse deja tarziu si trebuia sa plec spre facultate, fireste!:)

“May I have your visas please?” asked the friendly check-in clerk.

“Visas?” I said “No, you don’t understand. Let me explain – we’re British, we’re flying to Australia, we don’t need visas.”

How many of you know you need a visa to enter Australia? Well, how were we to know? Why didn’t you tell us! What ever happened to the British Empire and the map with a quarter of the world painted pink? You blink for half a century and it’s disappeared. Huh? We’re subjects of the same Queen! Isn’t Oz part of the Commonwealth for crying out loud?

We knew we needed extra security checks when travelling to the USA. The flight booking website informed us that the old Visa-Waiver system was no longer sufficient for Brits and that we had to apply on-line a month or two before with passport and travel details so as to get a Homeland Security check before entering the country. But you still didn’t need a visa for North America.

And so it was that we found ourselves at the Qantas check-in desk at Central Station in downtown Hong Kong, thinking we had timed things just nicely, early morning, a couple of hours to spare, we’d check in our bags at Central Station then take the MTR underground to the Airport and have a leisurely hour or so sipping lattes and espressos whilst waiting to board. Instead we had a rather sudden shock and a tense wait to find out if perhaps neither of us, just one or us, or (preferably) both of us could board the plane and fly to Oz!

I have to say the staff at Qantas Hong Kong were fabulous! On realising our predicament the check-in clerk informed us that they could apply to the Australian authorities on our behalf then and there, but could not of course guarantee whether we would be allowed visas. So they did, and whilst copies of our passports and documentation were made and quickly electronically whizzed into the ether, we were instructed to wait at Central Station. After about half and hour or so we were informed that Judith had been granted a visa but that they had not been informed about me.

Typical!

I remember once completing a life-assurance questionnaire; one of the questions was “Is your job dangerous?” I immediately thought of pastors and missionaries I knew who were daily facing persecution around the world, and hesitated for a moment before answering “It should be”. Perhaps this was now coming back to haunt me. Somewhere in the International Electronic Database there was an entry on Comrade Le Tocq J. P. which read “BEWARE: this man thinks he’s dangerous.” There’s only one thing worse than a man who’s dangerous and that’s a man who thinks he’s dangerous. At other times I would have been proud of this accolade but now there it was causing me to be barred forever from enjoying boomerangs in their natural habitat. Perhaps I would not be allowed back into the UK! Maybe I would end up marooned as some crazed, volatile, politico-religious exile in Hong Kong, without citizenship, lost in the maze of streets in Kowloon, trying to communicate in Pidgin-Cantonese “Oh Pea Roh… Me No Visa… Lob Loofah!”, proclaiming the end of the world, and thinking himself dangerous for the rest of his life.

We were informed that, because of time getting short now before take-off, we should make our way on the MTR from Central Station to Hong Kong Airport where we were to inquire at the Qantas desk whether I had been granted a visa or not. So off we went. And what a peaceful and gleeful train journey that was, as we calmly discussed whether just Judith should fly or should she wait in Hong Kong with me if it transpired that my visa was not issued in time, and whether we could afford the extra cost of new tickets. Of course we prayed a little too.

And so it was as the Qantas assistant at the airport desk recovered from the sloppy kiss I gave her (or was it ‘him’? – I never stopped long enough to check) having informed us that my visa had been granted, that Judith and I could be seen skipping through the Departures gate with time enough for a much desired espresso and a latte before we boarded the flight and headed south for the next part of our adventure towards Sydney, the land of Oz and Hillsong Church…

Much like Hillsong only different… in Hong Kong, the singing city.

We were staying with Judith’s brother Graham and his wife Luise who were fantastic hosts. Since their arrival in Hong Kong some three years ago Luise has, for part of the time, been on the staff of the Vine Christian Fellowship which is where we decided to worship that afternoon, joining in with the third of their three services each Sunday. It was great to experience this church first hand; we had heard so much about it not only from Luise and Graham but also because of its support and connections with Care for Children – the Beijing based charity established and run by Rob and Liz Glover over ten years ago when they left our church in Guernsey with a call to the far East!

So after the morning with Rob Rufus at City Church International in Kowloon, then catching the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong island for a spot of lunch, we headed for The Vine Centre, which is actually not a separate building but a suite of rooms situated on the 2nd floor of Two Chinachem Plaza tower block and accessed by lift from the 1st floor office lobby. Complicated to find? Actually no, because a)

Two Chinachem Plaza - access to lifts to The Vine by the walkway with the Delifrance sign!

their church website has comprehensive directions for arriving on foot, by bus, MTR (metro) and tram, b) there is even an interactive google map on their site which allows you to put in your own address so as to produce detailed personalised directions, and c) there is a colourful band of welcomers you can’t miss in the plaza area where the lifts are situated ready to help you find your way up where you are greeted by more friendly welcome hosts. All in all they have done their best to ensure that their ‘Centre’ meeting venue, hidden as it is up a skyscraper, is as accessible and visible as possible.

Despite the fact that the location is clearly not ideal they have transformed the space in an incredible way! What they have done is to create a church meeting space using two or three floors of office space – amazing in itself that they got permission for this! They now have a vision to procure a purpose-designed facility in due course (the plans were available for viewing while we were there). In the meantime this office conversion gives them a theatre-type hall which holds about 150 people (looks like they knocked through two floors to get the height for this), and includes some clever sound-proofing, trendy unobtrusive lighting (there is no natural light), a smallish (in terms of depth) stage and excellent  AV/PA facilities. In addition there is an small lounge area, coffee-bar serving Starbucks-style drinks, reception area, and rooms for kid’s ministry, counselling, storage and a small suite of offices. It perhaps helps that one of the two leading pastors, Tony Read, was an Ove Arup engineer before entering full-time ministry!

So in order to grow and accommodate new growth the church now holds three services on a Sunday (9:30am, 11:30am – both with kids & teen ministries,  & 4:00pm – with kids ministry) We arrived with a few moments to spare and were warmly greeted by a group of teenagers who were manning the area around the access lift from the first floor walkway which is one of many walkways linking the plethora of high rise buildings in Hong Kong, and making it easier to get between one building and another without having to go down to street level each time.

There are many off-quoted urban myths about Hong Kong, such as the one about Hong Kong being so densely populated that the inhabitants would not be able to fit if they all had to stand at ground level. Clearly this is not exactly true, as there are huge areas of unbuilt space in the whole of the territory, but in a single section of the urban area like Mong Kok for example it might come close to the truth as the statistics show only 3.9 m² or 42 ft² per person, (whereas in Hong Kong as a whole it is 158 m² or 1702 ft² per person). This is certainly dense (compares to Guernsey’s around 1,190 m² or 12,800 ft² per person) and can truly feel so at certain times and in certain places, but the Hong Kong Government and planning authorities have been intuitive and forward-thinking in how they have allowed the city to be developed, especially in the last 40 years or so. As a result there are people everywhere but everything seems to flow much better than in a city like London for example. Moreover their public transport system is at least on a par with that in Paris; the trams, underground and buses coordinating seamlessly so that as long as you know where to get off and change it should not be difficult to find your way around in the urban area.

Having thus been flagged and greeted by a bunch of enthusiastic red T-shirt wearing youths we took the lift to the Vine Centre level and were similarly greeted and welcomed by more young people – the youth group were clearly on welcome ministry this week! We just had time for a brief introduction and chat with John Snelgrove one of the two Senior Pastors – who could almost be a body double for Hillsong’s Brian Houston in looks and mannerisms! The other, Tony Read was also present but already helping lead things at the front. John remembers visiting Guernsey 20 years ago and attending a Baptist church called Bethel (now Shiloh) while he was working around the UK. As the meeting hall is smaller and a more compact theatre-style than we are used to the feeling could best be described as cosy. I guess around 160 people were present as there were no empty seats visible, the rear doors were open and a few chairs spilled out into the lounge area.

The Vine band lead us in worship

The band struck up a song – I wrote in my journal “Hillsong style” – by which I meant it both looked and felt like I know Hillsong church ‘does’ worship; not in any critical sense, simply an observation: the singers were placed along the front of the stage, either side of the worship/band leader, four or five of them, a couple of yards space between each, encouraging and exhorting the congregation to enter fully into worshipping Jesus through their visible, heartfelt enthusiasm. It was loud, but not ear-splittingly. They sang familiar songs like Happy Day, Alleluia for the Lord God Almighty Reigns, God of this City (I found this quite moving to sing in Hong Kong!) After around 25 minutes the person we would call an “anchor leader” came on stage and brought the worship time to a close with some prayer, followed by a warm welcome to guests and visitors. He then announced the weekly news which took the format of an excellently presented video “Vine News” which was very funny too! So well produced – I think these are accessible on their website. Everything was on screen including a detailed ‘orientation’ for parents of their children’s ministry. Following this the anchor leader gave a short exhortation about giving prior to the offering being taken up (this was also very much in a Hillsong style). As the stewards took up the offering a moving testimony video was shown – an interview with a fairly new church member whom the Lord had healed miraculously. Matt Redman’s lovely song Befriended played in the background. We then prayed for the lady in the video who was present.

The preacher was Dawn Strachan and her text was Rev 3:7-13. If you’d asked me as she began what her profession was I would have guessed she was an unmarried school teacher. She was a good communicator, direct, made you feel like you ought to listen, funny at appropriate moments, spoke with a fairly loud voice and a fairly formidable presence on the stage. She was in fact an unmarried school teacher. Her text about Jesus’s message to the church in Philadelphia focused on one main point – that God is calling the greatness out of us; he is always in the business of doing this. She illustrated this ably from her own experience and of individuals in the church. There was a bit of camaraderie going on at one point with a few of the congregation members; being visitors we didn’t always get the joke, but it was not overplayed and demonstrated the strong sense of community and purpose that there is in this great church buzzing with potential.

There were lots of encouraging cries of amen! and right! during her preaching and it was here that I first noticed someone shout out “Come on!” – something I would hear lots more of in the following weeks at Hillsong in Australia as well as churches in America. I don’t know if this is a new phenomenon in terms of Christian affirmative quasi-imperative interjections but I certainly had not heard it in church before! And for a few moments I wondered if it was intended critically as in “Come on! Get to the point!” or even “Come on! No-one’s going to believe that!” I’ve heard many kinds of affirmative quasi-imperative interjections in my time in Charisendom, some carried over from Pentecostalism, others newly formed in the last thirty years (none as far as I’m aware from Methodism – we were lucky if we got a muffled amen after a corporate prayer back in those days!) So I was familiar with absolutely [very popular in the 90s], affirmative [Star Trek fans], agreed, all right [British], alright [US], alrighty [very US], as you say, assuredly [RSV readers], aye, certainly, exactly, good, hear-hear [slightly political], indeed, indeedy [British ex-pats in the US], ja [South Africans], most assuredly [NASB users], of course, okay, oui [Europhiles], positively, preach it [someone who's just woken up in the middle of a sermon], precisely, quite [very English], rather [Famous Five fans], right [Charismatic & Reformed], right you are [Archers fans], righto [Narnia fans], sure [middle-aged & trendy], sure thing [middle-aged & sad], true, verily verily [KJV readers], yay [teenagers], yea [teenagers trying to sound like KJV readers], yeah [thirty-somethings], yep [forty-somethings], yes, yessir [moderate Western fans], yessirree [serious Western fans], you bet [North American pentecostals], you betcha [British ex-pats trying to sound like North American pentecostals], you said it [probably either the most inane or the most profound comment anyone could make], and the like. But I had not yet come across come on! Nevertheless it grew on me and I began to practise it from time to time as we travelled. By the end of my sabbatical I was a real come on-er!

But enough of that.

Mine's a skinny grande caramel latte, half caf and half de-caf, with mocha shot and room for whipped cream and sprinkles on top...

The service finished with prayer and one final song before we followed the crowd out into the packed lounge where visitors can get a free coffee at their Starbucks-style coffee-bar, newcomers can chat to leaders and parents are reunited with their kids. We were introduced to Nathan and Amy Sarchet-Waller, a great couple who have a connection with Guernsey as Nate’s father’s family was from the island, brought up in the Elim Pentecostal Church. Paul (Nate’s dad) planted Elim Full Gospel Church a thriving Cantonese-speaking Charismatic church with a base in Hong Kong, as well as dozens of other churches planted in neighbouring SE Asia. Nate is a qualified teacher and together they serve as youth leaders at the Vine. It was fun talking with him about Guernsey, a place he obviously loves too – they usually visit once a year – so we hope to see them next time!

After a long day, we made our way back out into the humid heat of the city in search of some supper. Graham and Luise took us via Hong Kong’s great electric ladder, the Mid-Levels Escalator, to one of their favourite

Soft-crusted crustacean

Vietnamese restaurants where soft-shell crabs were on the menu – a first for most of us and a real winner – absolutely delicious!

This was then followed by a long journey – about 4 metres – across the road to a restaurant which served only desserts. Of course all the girls were in heaven, whilst Graham and I humoured them and forced ourselves to eat some fruity syllabub or other. Whilst we sat their licking our lips we observed what looked like a Hong Kong Chinese family group setting off a small incendiary device across the road on the edge of the pavement. This turned out to be a religious ritual including chants and prayers to ward of evil demons and invoke ancestral gods, after the death of a family member and the closing of a business nearby. It made a huge mess and I’m not sure what our Health and Safety officers would have said back home with cars and pedestrians passing so close by.

superstition is alive and well in Hong Kong

Nevertheless it emphasised for me the massive opportunity as well as the massive and essential mission that the Christian Church is faced with in this singing city where the temples to hedonism, materialism, consumerism as well as paganism are not hidden but there for all to see, painted in garish colours in honour of the known and unknown gods who bind this people, packed so tightly together in their cosmopolitan millions.

Absolutely disgusting... but I forced it down as a necessary sacrifice to maintain family harmony

Thank God for Hong Kong, and pray God that he moves in great revival power there!

Den kinesiska men Hong Kong baserade företaget tog ju över driften av tunnel banan i Stockholm i början av veckan. Man utlovade en massa förbättringar. Men har det verkligen blivit bättre? En sak som jag reagerade över direkt när jag läste deras löften var att man skulle under rusningstid ha utplacerade tågar, i utvalda strategiska platser, förberedda att ersätta andra som drabbas av diverse problem. I min värld betyder det att man har alltså tåg och förare sittandes och väntandes på att få ersätta dessa andra olyckliga tågar. Bara det känns väldigt oekonomiskt, det innebär ju att man betalar för något som man ev , ja lite optimistisk kanske, inte behöver. Sedan när sker det i verkligheten?

Sedan kan man ju definiera fram och tillbaka vad utvalda strategiska platser betyder också. I min värld skulle det alltså finnas en tåg beredd att ryka ut vid varje start och slutstation, samt kanske någonstans mitt på varje linje. Ja som sagt lite optimistiskt kanske från min sida. Nu har jag ingen större kännedom om hur spåren ser ut där inne i tunnlarna men känslan är att det finns mer än två spår iaf.

Så det var inte med en direkt förvåning som jag redan i tisdags drabbades för första gången av en utebliven tåg kl 7.20 i Husby. Är det inte under rusningstid än kanske? Är inte Husby, som är andra stationen för den blåalinjen en strategiskt punkt?

Idag var det i T-Centralen som man fick stå och vänta på en tåg i över tio minuter, om inte kl 8 är rusningstrafik så vete fan när man kan säga att rusningstrafiken är i Stockholm.

En liten irriterad portugis i Stockholms tunnelbana…

Cross posted from Grist

By Nell Greenberg, Rainforest Action Network

Last week, blasting began on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. This is a part of the country where dynamite routinely goes off—turning the region’s historic mountain ranges into dust for the tiny coal seams that lie beneath their surface.

But Coal River Mountain is special, or, rather, you can decide whether it becomes special. Right now, Coal River Mountain represents the best and worst our country has to offer. It is one of the most dangerous examples of blasting for dirty coal and one of the most profound examples of hope that exist in our country. It is a crossroads.

Coal River Mountain can be a wind farm that provides 85,000 households with electricity, creates 700 long-term green jobs, gives back $1.7 million in annual county taxes and stands as a model for clean energy across coal country. Or, it can be a 6,000-acre dirty energy wasteland.

Stretching across thousands of acres of diverse and pristine hardwood forests, Coal River Mountain is one of the last intact mountains in the vicinity. It is also home to some of the few remaining headwater streams that have not been polluted with heavy metal-laden mine waste. To local residents, the mountain is a last stand.

When blasting began on Coal River Mountain this week, explosives began going off less than 100 yards from the largest coal sludge impoundment in the country. To put this in perspective, we are talking about more than eight billion gallons of coal slurry held back by an earthen dam. Were the dam to fail, and it has happened in the past, hundreds of people would have less than five minutes to save their lives.

It’s unfathomable to think that there are people in Coal River Valley who went to sleep last night fearful that a tidal wave of toxic coal sludge could break down their door. Or, it should be.

But almost as hard to fathom is why any political leader paying attention would allow a coal company to obliterate intact mountain ranges, sacrifice precious drinking water or risk losing people to a tsunami of coal sludge, when the mountain could be a wind farm instead?

Coal River Mountain’s real economic worth isn’t underground, but up in the sky. It is for this reason that Coal River Mountain is a major test for our country’s climate and energy future. It’s not that we lack alternatives to fossil fuels. It’s that while our nation’s leaders debate which solutions to put in place and at what rate and by what time, the fossil fuel industry continues to build more pipelines, belch out more pollution, and destroy more mountains. We are moving backwards even as we talk of a better future. But we don’t have to be.

In the last several months, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken some good steps to curb mountaintop removal mining, largely through strict oversight of mining permits. But now it’s time for leaps.

To save Coal River Mountain and preserve our nation’s clean energy potential, it’s critical that the Obama Administration, in particular the EPA, the Council for Environmental Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers, hear from all of us to counter the pressure that they are getting from coal lobbyists and coal industry-pocketed politicians. The Obama Administration can and will intervene if we decide that Coal River Mountain is where we draw a line in the sand.

Over the next two days, Appalachian Voices, Credo Mobile, Sierra Club, NRDC, 350.org, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Rainforest Action Network among others have asked our supporters to contact those in the Obama Administration who have the power to immediately stop the blasting on Coal River Mountain and to protect our clean energy resources. With your help we can build the national outcry necessary for immediate action.

I was going to tell you that there are two important reasons to help save Coal River Mountain: because people are in danger, and because we are blowing up, literally dynamiting, one of our most promising sources of energy. But really, the most important reason for you to act is because you can.

It is time stop talking about a clean energy future and start living in a clean energy present.

To help save Coal River Mountain and protect our clean energy resources visit, www.savecoalrivermountain.org .

Dolce far niente (part one)

President Obama said he’d put an end to the mountaintop rapes and pillages!

The EPA announced on September 11th THIS year that they had permits to start blasting the mountaintops of the Appalachaian Mountains, and are making good on that promise.

Only President Obama can stop this. Our Dear President, we need you, where are you? Please don’t fail us on this!

obama-has-the-power-to-end-appalachias-agony

Obama family

Blasting has begun on Coal River Mountain, destroying both a vital ecosystem and the community’s hopes for a clean energy future. Moreover, this blasting is putting in imminent danger the lives of those who live below the nearby Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment, billions of gallons of toxic sludge that sit above the Marsh Fork Elementary School and several communities. If blasting weakens or cracks the dam, hundreds could be killed.

The governor of West Virginia and his officials are refusing to take action, so we’re taking it to the federal level. Please call President Obama right now at 202-456-1414 and ask him to intervene on behalf of the people of the Coal River Valley. Now is his chance to prove that he’s serious about his green energy promises. Supporters have been tying up their phone lines on this issue; we can’t let up on the pressure until President Obama takes action!

Next, get the word out. Write a letter to the editor, post this action alert and this YouTube video on your blog, Facebook and Twitter, tell your friends and family…the coal industry thinks they can get away with this because no one is paying attention. And they’re upping their astroturfing presence online and in newspapers to convince the public that they’re doing great things for Appalachia.

For more information on Coal River Mountain, please visit:

www.ilovemountains.org/coalriver

Last Friday’s EPA protest ended with these words of understanding from the EPA officials.  The 13 activists who sat in the building for over 4 hours felt like their point had been made loud and clear and left of their own free will, without any legal action.

I posted a live-blog during the event, with the press release and photos as they came in.  An EPA official sent me this email over the weekend as a follow up to that blog.

EPA Desk Statement

“Today 13 mountaintop removal protestors spent approximately four hours
in nonviolent obstruction at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC. After
having an opportunity to share their concerns with EPA officials, the
protestors exited the building of their own accord.

“EPA respects the concerns around the issue of mountaintop mining and
understands the high emotions felt by many Americans. Under the
leadership of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, the Agency has taken a
number of unprecedented actions within the scope of the law, and in
partnership with other federal agencies to ensure the safety and health
of mining communities. We welcome and seek the voices of all Americans,
and look to them to guide our efforts to protect health and the
environment. We will continue to solicit the input of affected
communities, and engage with the public on this important issue.”

 

I’m curious to hear folks thoughts on this.  Was the protest successful?  Is the EPA ‘doing all it can’ to stop the problem of mountaintop removal?

Photo Credit: Chris Eichler

Live blog (See release below for more details:)

2:02 All activists still sitting inside.  Outside protest marched under EPA archways chanting loudly and are still causin’ a ruckus outside in solidarity.  Activists aren’t leaving until blasting on Coal River Mountain stops

1:57 more great photos and accounts from around the country from Jeff Biggers at HuffPo

1:07 first video looking into the protest in the main lobby (photographers not allowed inside…)

1:04 from Scott Parkin’s twitter: “rally outside holdin strong while sit in still goin”

12:56 Photos uploaded here

12:50 Here’s the letter WV resident Bo and Chuck tried to deliver to the EPA today. Download PDF

12:20 pm After 45 minutes, all activists still sitting with arms linked inside EPA main entrance.

14 Activists Stage a Sit-In at the EPA to Spark Urgent Action on Mountaintop Removal

Environmentalists Ask EPA to Stop Recent Blasting on Coal River Mountain, WV; Site of Proposed Wind Farm
WASHINGTON– As part of a national day of action to stop mountaintop removal coal mining, 14 activists have staged a sit in at 11:30 the EPA. Dozens others are also holding a rally in front. They are asking the EPA to take immediate action to stop the mountaintop removal blasting that began this week on Coal River Mountain, WV, the site of a proposed wind farm.

While President Obama spent the week trumpeting his administration’s support for clean energy, Massey Energy began dynamiting Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, which is the site of the proposed 328-megawatt wind farm. Coal River Mountain gained national notoriety after a study showed that its peaks and ridges have enough wind potential to provide 70,000 households with electricity, support 700 long-term green jobs and give back $1.7 million in annual county taxes. Massey Energy began dynamiting those peaks this week in preparation for a massive mountaintop removal project.

Today, environmentalists have delivered a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asking the EPA to intervene quickly and decisively to save Coal River Mountain for the safety of the community and the protection of their water protection.

Mountaintop removal (MTR) has been called the worst of the worst coal mining. MTR decapitates Appalachian peaks, denudes lush forests, and dumps debris into valley streams — destroying or damaging more than a thousand miles of mountain waterways to date.

In recent months, the EPA has set out a number of new restrictions on the mining practice, including a recent decision to initiate a veto on the Spruce Mine in West Virginia due to water quality impacts—the first time the agency has done this with an existing valley fill permit. Environmentalists believe that the urgency of the Coal River Mountain case necessitates that the EPA intervene, and use their full authority to protect the Coal River Watershed.

“The Coal River Wind Campaign has been a symbol of hope for the people of the Coal River Valley,” said Lorelei Scarbro, organizer for Coal River Mountain Watch. “My neighbors are excited about the idea of jobs that allow them to produce energy in a way that is sustainable. Coal River Mountain, the last standing mountain in the valley, should remain intact as a symbol for a new day in the Appalachian coalfields.”

In the case of Coal River Mountain, MTR mining is not only destroying one of the last intact mountains in the area, but it is also creating blasting less than 100 yards from the largest coal sludge impoundment in the country. Massey Energy’s own assessment indicates that if the impoundment, an earthen dam, is breached more than eight billion gallons of coal slurry would spill out endangering hundreds of people who would have less than five minutes to evacuate.

Press Contacts: :
Stephanie Pistello, Nell Greenberg, 510.847.9777

Hi-res photos will be available