Cool house in Bristol

I saw this house in the Totterdown district of Bristol at the weekend as we were going to the Love Food Festival at Paintworks. I love the statement it makes, so much more forceful than the Vote Green poster we'll be putting in our window. Next time I am in the area, I must see if the artist is home and ask them about it. One of the delights of living in Bristol is that you are constantly surprised by sights like this.
At the festival I managed to get some good vegetarian cheeses (harder than you'd think as the traditional cheesemakers insist on using animal rennet, usually from a cow or sheep's stomach) and some delicious organic apple juice. Dom had a huge toasted sandwich, which he said tasted a bit funny. It turns out it was made with his much-hated blue cheese. You should have seen the look on his face. He said he felt delicate all afternoon.

Chinese New Year

Happy New Year of the Tiger! 

新年快樂 恭禧發財! 

Xin nian kuai le gong xi fa cai!

The first time I experienced Chinese New Year was in 1998 in Taipei when I was living there. It was also the start of a tiger year as the Chinese zodiac has a 12-year cycle. I remember learning a song in Mandarin class that went to the tune of Frère Jacques and which was about two tigers: 

兩隻老虎 兩隻老虎

liang zhi laohu liang zhi laohu (two tigers)

跑得快 跑得快

pao de kuai pao de kuai (running fast)

一隻沒有耳朵 

yi zhi mei you erduo (one has no ear/s)

一隻沒有尾巴 

yi zhi mei you weiba (one has no tail)

真奇怪 真奇怪

zhen qiguai zhen qiguai (how odd)

I also learnt a typical new year song, which I've found on YouTube.

Also called the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year for Chinese people. It's an exciting time when families get together and welcome the start of the lunar new year. I've been very privileged to be invited into people's homes at this time of year. It's quite an honour and there's always lots of food to eat. Much of the food has a significance because the Chinese name is a pun on words like happiness, wealth and having more than you need. People decorate their houses with red banners with Chinese sayings. Traditionally you congratulate (gongxi) everyone you meet, often by clasping your hands together and shaking them in front of your chest. You also say "xinnian kuaile" (happy new year). Younger people get red envelopes (hongbao) containing money from their elders at this time of year. When you wish them "gongxi fa cai" (congratulations, get wealthy), they fire back with open hand "hongbao na(r)lai" (put a red envelope there). You might not think so, but it's actually quite endearing and nearly always done with a smile.

The above photo comes courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos and was taken by the photographer Tom Curtis.

The Zero-Rupee Note

I just read about the zero-rupee note, devised by Indian anti-corruption charity 5th Pillar. The idea is that you slip a corrupt official the note, featuring the face of Mahatma Gandhi, when they look for a bribe.

"The note is a way for any human being to say NO to corruption without the fear of facing an encounter with persons in authority," the group says on its website.

Fifth Pillar uses the Right to Information Act passed by the Indian government in 2005 to look at official files and projects. It lists success stories on its website.

Getting Started

After years of reading other people's blogs, I thought it was about time I started my own, so here it is.

I moved to Bristol just over a year ago and I love it. Unfortunately, I've not been able to find work here, but I've kept myself very busy getting to know the city and surrounding area. In the autumn, I finally joined the Green Party and I've volunteered to write and edit news articles and press releases for the upcoming general election campaign - and hopefully beyond.

My interests are, obviously, the environment, English and how we use it, other languages and cultures (especially German, French, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin), travel, food, history, philosophy, religion and ideas in general, anything that gets the grey matter working.

Expect postings from me on all these subjects and more!