33 0During the active years of Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and the impressionists after him in France; the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848) and William Morris (1834–96) in Britain, the Industrial Revolution had spread across Europe. The impact of the Industrial Revolution was far-reaching. Mechanised production processes, the invention of machines to replace labour, the development of mass […]
21 0The ultimate gourmet pilgrimage to Apple Cross, a village resided by only around 200 people on the west coast of Scotland is not particularly easy. But adopting Michelin Guide’s philisophy of “making a special visit” to restaurants that are good, I am confident that foodies will find the journey to Apple Cross worth all […]
41 1 The current Hong Kong democratic protest will be an interesting case study in looking at the relation between liberal thinking, neoliberal economics and a totalitarian regime. China although still under the brand of a Communist country, their decentralised and open economic reforms since Deng Xiao Ping about 30 years ago are in essence […]
21 0Review of Sitting Ducks by John Byrne Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 19 Oct **** John Byrne is a rebel. Instead of joining the quest as the most eligible nominee from the Glasgow School of Art, where he graduated, for the Turner Prize, John embraces portrait, the subject matter modernist artists turned […]
19 0 What a strange phenomenon in the UK. A Christian society with Church of England as their official church, they are not even allowed to mention their faith in their recruitment advertisment. What does this “Customer Insight and Strategy Director” mean? Are they looking for someone to attract congregation back to the church? “A […]
22 0What is French cuisine? I have asked this question to many people and to myself. To get an answer is harder than you think. For example, when you think of Italian cuisine, you will say immediately pizza, pasta. For Indian, it’s curry. For British, fish and chips. For Chinese, sweet and sour. But for […]
22 1This is the original story of “Gordon Brown’s son has cystic fibrosis” written by The Sun published on 30 November 2006: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article73335. The story started with this: “FRIENDS of Gordon and Sarah Brown last night called their second baby heartache an ‘enormous blow’ – but said the couple were determined to stay strong.” and […]
23 0 Heidi, her years of wandering and learning; a story for children and those who love children was written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri (12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) in 1880. The book is about a little girl Heidi, who lost her parents and was taken under the care of Aunt Dete. […]
37 0The dream started with a Japanese anime series from the 70s called Heidi, Girl of the Alps (飄零燕) about an orphan Heidi who lived on the Alps. It is based on the Swiss novel “Heidi’s Years of Wandering and Learning” by Johanna Spyri (1880). Ever since watching the cartoon series, I always idealised that […]
17 0Don’t give up….. One day I decided to quit… I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. ‘God’, I asked, ‘Can you give me one good reason not to quit?’ His answer surprised me… ‘Look around’, […]