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Money matters:
Graham Macdonald MBMG International Ltd.
The Writing is on the Wall (St) part 3
One notable side-effect of Meyer’s success was that the
performance-related compensations for Meyer and his team significantly exceeded
those paid to either endowment managers at other universities or to faculty
staff at Harvard and which were widely reported in various Massachusetts
publications. The end result of which was that Meyer and a number of key team
members relinquished their posts in 2005, although Meyer’s skills have been
retained as an external consultant at the same market prices, but somehow paying
amounts to a consultant is different in the eyes of Harvard’s faculty staff and
creates less difficulties.
Meyer, along with his counterpart David Swensen at Yale, had shown how to
successfully integrate hedge fund, private equity, and real asset holdings into
their portfolios, thereby increasing returns, reducing risk and enhancing
overall efficiency. A good barometer of this was the downturn of 2000-02, when
the super-endowments massively outperformed the free-falling markets, despite
having also generated better than average returns under the preceding favourable
market conditions.
This made uncomfortable reading for many pension plans and as Michael C Litt has
pointed out in his excellent writings, the more sophisticated ones decided to
more closely examine the Harvard and Yale models. Many decided and even
publicised their views that “alpha is a zero-sum game”. They said the rest of
the investment world pays for the additional returns generated by the super
endowments and that only a very, very few pension funds and a limited number of
investment managers, such as MitonOptimal, knew what they were doing. This is
because operating within SEC frameworks doesn’t permit the flexibility to
generate alpha in the same way that super endowments or offshore funds can as
both fall under different regulatory regimes.
So, in one sense the super endowments are a happy accident of fate - because
they don’t have to follow the anachronistic SEC rules pertaining to portfolio
management. They can profit from the opportunities that SEC regulated funds have
to forego. Mind you, the space that the SEC rules has created is huge and so far
only a small handful have exploited that, from Alfred Jones to Jack Meyer to
David Swensen to Sam Liddle, Martin Gray and Scott Campbell at MitonOptimal. But
it is not just these people, the team at Frontier have been achieving good
results as well. By the use of the multi-asset class approach they have done
well whilst not exposing their clients to too much volatility. This is done by:
• Exposure to eight asset classes: traditional and alternative.
• Asset allocation inspired by the large US University Endowment Funds.
• Diversification across asset classes generates different risk adjusted
returns.
• Six assets classes accessed through low cost index replication.
• Disciplined and systematic rebalancing.
• Three funds offering different levels of exposure using leverage.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating and all of the above cannot be wrong.
One of the least understood aspects of the global economy over the last few
years has been the way that central banks ensured that liquidity was pumped
feverishly into all markets creating equity, private equity and property
bubbles, while at the same time talking in severe tones about inflation and
hiking interest rates. This may not be quite smoke and mirrors but certainly a
case of doing one thing while pretending to do the opposite.
Policy makers are now committed to at least giving the impression of cutting
interest rates but are faced by the dearth of liquidity in the credit markets.
Three-month LIBOR rates hit a 20-year high recently. The falling asking price
for swaps shows that there is an expectation that rates will gradually fall over
the next 5 years.
In the third quarter of 2007, in the aftermath of sub prime, the following
happened:
* Morgan Stanley announced write-offs much higher than Wall Street expected.
* UBS has reported a CHF 4,000,000,000 loss on its fixed income division, taking
the entire bank into the red, heralding a management restructuring that has cost
1500 jobs and warning that the outlook would be difficult for the Swiss behemoth
if credit markets don’t improve.
* Chuck Prince, chief executive of Citigroup, has faced calls for his removal
since the bank revealed it suffered US$6bn of write-downs and losses in the
third quarter after turmoil in the credit markets.
* Deutsche Bank’s results saw a write down of US$ 2,200,000,000 and a profit
warning (along with UBS, CitiGroup and Credit Suisse).
* Merrill Lynch have taken a US$5,000,000,000 write down, dismissed many senior
executives and are expected to suffer the consequences of their exposures for
some time to come. Their CEO, Stan O’Neal, did issue this gem of an
understatement: “While market conditions were extremely difficult and the degree
of sustained dislocation unprecedented, we are disappointed in our performance
in structured finance and mortgages. We can do a better job in managing this
risk.”
The toll of big bank losses from the credit squeeze has already topped
$20,000,000,000! These people are going to want their money back. We all know
who is going to pay for that!
All in all a lot of red faces on Wall Street ... and these are among the best
known names when it comes to managing other people’s money.
What this implies to us is that debt is at a premium now - borrowing is
difficult and this is likely to impact the real economy whatever the central
banks do. This will be one of the catalysts for the imminent severe market
downturn which will see borrowing costs forced lower as liquidity gradually
returns to a stagnant market. It’s looking as though things won’t pick up for a
couple of years. That’s not just our opinion - it’s what the credit markets are
telling us based on money supply.
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The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its
officers can accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above
article nor bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any
actions taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For
more information please contact Graham Macdonald on
[email protected]@mbmg-international.com.com
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Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
Wall Art with Wow!
When you take any shot, you should be hoping that the end result will
make people go “Wow! How did you get that effect?” Most of those
photographs are difficult to do, and the end result often a case of
trial and error. However, this week I will show you how to get a Wow
image, and you do not need any special equipment at all - other than an
‘old’ film camera.
This week’s column refers very much to wall “art”. When you hang
something on the wall, you want an image with ‘Wow factor’ that has an
immediate effect on people. This trick will give you that image with
Wow. The end result will be such that people will say for years, “How in
heck did you take that? Was it a special kind of filter?”
Well, the good news is that you do not need to know anything about
filters, let alone use one. The next piece of good news is that you also
do not need to know anything about f stops, shutter speeds, zoom lenses,
reciprocity failure or the like. Any film camera will do – even a cheap
point and shooter!
The first step is to pop down to the photoshop and buy some slide film.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a projector, never used slide film before
or any other of the excuses. If you normally use 100 ASA print film then
get some 100 ASA slide film. Do not get the Kodachrome type that you
have to send away for processing, just get ordinary slide film that can
be processed here.
OK, load the camera with the slide film (it’s just the same to load as
print film - for most cameras, put in the cassette, pull the tail across
and shut the back of the camera!)
The final result looks best with landscapes - include some sky, or
seascapes where you include a yacht or similar close up, or a river
scene, and finish the roll of film.
Now take the film back to the shop for processing and here is an
important part. You ask for E6 slide processing, but do not mount the
slides! Leave the slides either as a roll or cut into strips of six and
put in sleeves like your usual print film negatives. Impress this on the
girl behind the counter. You do not want them mounted. Repeat the
instructions!
When you get the slide films back, just hold them up to the light and
select any one shot that you like the look of. You can choose the image
in the shop even. You don’t have to be super-selective.
Now talk to the girl behind the counter, saying, “I want you to print
number X as if this is a negative. I know it is slide film, but I want
you to print a picture, using this slide as the negative.” It will
probably take quite some repeating before the technician will
reluctantly take the job on, with much warnings about it will not look
right, etc. Ignore all warnings, just have faith. While you are at it,
tell them that you do not want the usual small size, but get an
enlargement done straight off. 10” x 8” is sufficient and costs less
than 100 baht. The photoshops generally call this size 8R. Repeat your
instructions, tell them you know the color will be wrong and leave them
to it.
You see, what happens with color prints is that the processing machine
recognizes certain colors in the normal negative and converts that to
green for grass, blue for skies, etc., in a photochemical way. By giving
the autoprocessor grass that is already green and skies already blue
totally confuses its auto brain (and the girl in the shop usually) and
it will produce a print with the wildest psychedelic colors you will
ever see. Expect orange trees and yellow skies - you can get anything!
It is almost impossible to predict, but the end result will certainly
have that Wow I promised you. Try it this weekend. You will not be
disappointed.
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
Is caffeine a killer?
Did you have a cup of coffee this morning? If you did, and
you are pregnant, then one more cup in the next 24 hours is dangerous,
according to some researchers. However, if you are not pregnant, you may be
reducing your risk of ovarian cancer, one of the top six killer cancers! And
where does ‘decaff’ fit into all this?
Every week in the lay press you are bombarded with horror stories of what
dangers we all face. These horror stories come from reports done by
legitimate researchers, picked up by the media and away it goes from there.
On the surface, it all seems very probable. Take the two cups of caffeine
and be ready to miscarry item. Dr De-Kun Li of Kaiser Permanente Division of
Research, whose study appears in the American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology said, “Women who are pregnant or are actively seeking to become
pregnant should stop drinking coffee for three months or hopefully
throughout pregnancy.”
Dr Li and colleagues study involved 1063 pregnant women who were members of
the Kaiser Permanente health plan in San Francisco from October 1996 through
October 1998. Women in the group never changed their caffeine consumption
during pregnancy.
What they found was women who consumed the equivalent of two or more cups of
regular coffee or five 340ml cans of caffeinated soft drink - were twice as
likely to miscarry as pregnant women who avoided caffeine.
This risk appeared to be related to the caffeine, rather than other
chemicals in coffee, because they also saw an increased risk when the
caffeine was consumed in soft drink, tea, or hot chocolate.
Hold on a second! Now we have expanded to study to cover hot chocolate as
well? The study of 1063 pregnant women in the two years from 1996-1998 is
also a very small percentage of women world-wide who drink coffee while they
are pregnant. What other commonalities were there in the 1063 women, that
maybe they didn’t look for or ask about? Just being in San Francisco might
be enough, perhaps?
However, two days after the shock-horror miscarriage item hit the world
media, there was another report. Researchers now claim the much-demonized
substance may fight cancer.
After studying more than 80,000 women, US and Australian experts found foods
containing caffeine - such as coffee, tea, cola and chocolate - may reduce
the risk of ovarian cancer, the sixth-most common cause of cancer deaths
among Australian women.
According to Assistant Professor Shelley Tworoger of Harvard University in
Boston and her colleagues - including medical epidemiologist Associate
Professor Dorota Gertig of the University of Melbourne and Victorian
Cytology Service - caffeine was beneficial, but decaffeinated coffee showed
no health benefit at all.
For reasons they cannot yet explain, the group also found the beneficial
effect of caffeine was strongest for women who had never used oral
contraceptives or postmenopausal replacement hormone therapy.
The researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study, an ongoing
assessment of the well-being of 212,701 female registered nurses that began
in 1976 when the nurses were aged 30-35.
Every two years, researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital
checked up on the surviving women. After studying the nurses’ history,
Professor Tworoger and Professor Gertig’s group found only a very small
association between smoking and mucinous tumours, a rare form of ovarian
cancer. They also found no connection between alcohol consumption and
ovarian cancer.
Oncologist Ian Olver, head of Cancer Council Australia, said the finding was
interesting and based on a very comprehensive study. “It’s well worth
looking into further,” Professor Olver said.
In the meantime, Professor Olver said coffee and chocolate couldn’t hurt and
might even help. “My standard advice is everything in moderation,” he said.
The whole research really hangs on Professor Olver’s statement, “It’s well
worth looking into further.” And research salaries and equipment costs
money, and where does it come from? Make the biggest claims with the
greatest amount of shock-horror and funding will be forthcoming. Mark my
words, the chocolate manufacturers will jump on this like blowflies on a
dead cow.
Now I must go and have a cup of coffee. I don’t have to worry, I’m male!
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I am a single, mature English lady who has lived in Pattaya for 3 months, why is
it that you don’t see white ladies out with young Thai men? There are lots of
old and young white men out with their Thai ladies or Thai men for the evening,
but not the other way round.
I know you can visit male go-go bars and get a handsome man for the evening but
where do white ladies take their handsome Thai men? Is it because Thai men don’t
like to be seen out with white ladies? I would love to take a handsome Thai man
out for a meal, a drink and dancing, and I’m sure there must be plenty of ladies
like myself who would love to do this also. So how do I address the balance, any
suggestions?
Perplexed
Dear Perplexed (of Pattaya),
Goodness me, my Petal, just where in England are you from? Some strange little
village where the height of excitement is the Maypole dances, and that’s only
once a year? What is stopping you taking your handsome Thai man anywhere? It
certainly is not “because Thai men don’t like to be seen out with white ladies.”
On the contrary, Ms Perplexed, in some areas a white English lady would be
looked upon as a bit of a prize, just like the trophy wives the English males
like to get. I think you have some sort of psychological hang-up, and it is you
who is afraid to be seen with a Thai man, not the other way round. As you say,
there are plenty of male go-go’s and you don’t even have to go out of that
locale to find a nice place to eat. Be brave, and let me know what happened
after you took the public plunge! I am quite sure nobody will have thrown
nasturtiums, or even aspersions.
Dear Hillary,
I am always on time for appointments as I think nobody should have to wait for
me. My girlfriend is always late for appointments and says she is Thai so it
doesn’t matter because everyone in Thailand is always late. Am I right or has
she got it wrong?
Punctual Pete
Dear Punctual Pete,
Whilst I applaud your sense of timing, it won’t do much for you in Thailand,
other than give you ulcers, Petal. You see, in Thailand, since your girlfriend
fully expects to come back again, why hurry through this life? Enjoy it a pace
that is easy to maintain. Everything will still be there tomorrow. The Thai
people understand Thai time. However, if it is appointments with foreigners,
then both sides expect you to be on time, so in that case, leave your girlfriend
at home. Either that or secretly wind her watch forward by about an hour.
Dear Hillary,
With all the controversy about the smoking ban in pubs and restaurants and
everyone up in arms about it, what do you think? Or are you some kind of
reformed evangelical anti-smoker as well? Where do you stand?
Sam
Dear Sam,
And I presume that should be Sam the Smoker, judging by the tone of your letter,
so where do I stand? Well, Petal it all depends what time of day. Early in the
morning I stand over the sink and brush my teeth (or more correctly, tooth).
Later in the day I stand beside my desk and read my mail from lovely people like
you. However, to be serious, I am certainly no evangelist, though I am a
non-smoker. So I am pleased about the bans because I don’t come home from my
favorite pub with my hair smelling of tobacco smoke. That’s a plus for me. The
old phrase “There’s no smoke without fire” should be changed these days to
“There’s no smoke without a fiery disgruntled smoker!” I think you have to
swallow the fact that world opinion isn’t with you, Sam, so you are going to
have to alter your habits somewhat. By the way, I do not believe that the
commercial world is going to grind to a halt because of a smoking ban. The
shopping centers have been non-smoking areas for some years and they are still
raking in profits. Pubs and restaurants will survive and the customers will
still want to eat and drink, despite the doom and gloomsters. You go to
restaurants because of the food, not to sniff the atmosphere.
Dear Hillary,
Last year I came over to Thailand for a holiday, and despite all the warnings, I
purchased a condominium for a girl and each month I would send her money so she
didn’t have to go back to the bar. Last month I decided to surprise my lady by
flying in for a couple of days. I found a supposed friend of mine from the UK
staying in the condo with her. He was paying her too it turned out. Hillary, is
it always like this?
Depressed
Dear Depressed,
It takes two to tango, and while you are bitter about your girlfriend, Hillary
would be more annoyed with your “friend” who betrayed you. I think it’s high
time you selected both your men friends and your girlfriends more carefully. The
local girls who work in bars do not have the security of rich families or MBA’s.
They live by their wits. Don’t forget that, Petal.
Learn to Live to Learn: with Andrew Watson
Does anything ever really change?
I flicked through a copy of Newsweek from the turn of the year
and read without the slightest surprise of the “Disneyland
economy where nothing makes sense” of Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela.
There’s a picture of the barrios (the slums) where violence, we
are told, is on the increase. The 21st century socialist and
self-styled people’s president recently lost a vote on
constitutional reform that would have allowed him to stay in
power indefinitely.
Somewhere else, there’s a huge spread of the man of the American
moment, Barack Obama, riding the crest of a popular wave under
the banner of a “New Dream” or some such platitude, with his
words “Our time for change, has come”. America wants change; it
just can’t work out what sort of change, apparently.
There’s an update on the latest abhorrent surge of extremism in
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, you name it, it’s there. Mr X
is promising to do this to Mr Y and Mr A has already done that
to Mrs B. Throughout the magazine, there are tales of death and
glory, well executed to be sure, engaging, thought-provoking
pieces which criss-cross the globe. But it’s difficult to escape
the sensation that you’ve read it all before, that as Strummer
said, “It’s just another story”.
Poor old Chavez is just the latest in a depressing line of
aspirant leaders who sweep to power on the platform of radical
change, only to fall into the same old traps as innumerable
false prophets before them. Traps that might very well have been
carefully laid for them, but traps nonetheless, into which they
stroll like naïve children, seemingly deaf to the pied piper of
history’s well rehearsed tune, tragically blind to the
consequences of their ignorant disregard of history, oblivious
of the well-worn path to oblivion. So Venezuela’s massive oil
industry, no longer in thrall to the United States, through
which Chavez promised a better life for his people, siphons
unseen profits to who knows where, whilst the well-being of the
majority doesn’t seem to have been greatly enhanced by the
revolutionary experience.
I feel I have seen it all before. I seem to remember Mrs
Thatcher doing much the same with North Sea oil, allegedly
squandering reserves for personal political gain. Lula of Brazil
is another who seems incapable of arresting the spin of ever
decreasing spirals of decline. Fifteen years ago, the first
democratically elected president of Brazil in 29 years, Fernando
Collor de Mello, was the new face of new Brazil; but with sense
of unrestrained farce, within in a couple of years, he was
impeached on corruption charges. The Cruzeiro plunged in value.
On an unpleasantly regular basis, stories would surface of the
mass murder of street children at the hands of the police; it
was Brazilian business as usual. Now Lula’s in power, another
man rejuvenating socialism, but it all seems so much more
Groucho Marx than Karl, worse still H.G. Wells. You can pick up
a news article today and another from twenty years ago and find
the same rather depressing tale of Amazonian destruction; all
that has changed is the scale and rate of devastation. Rhetoric
related to improving the situation has been gushing, but action
damningly barren. Nothing has improved, in fact quite the
reverse.
Does this constitute change? I don’t think so; somehow, I think
by “change” I mean “change for the better”. It’s as if a great
conspiracy existed whereby each new generation is told of a
variety of crimes against humanity and nature as if they are new
phenomena and that somehow becoming aware of an increasingly
desperate global situation is itself enough to satiate and
satisfy conscience. Occasionally, cursory gestures are made by
the few people in the world capable of effecting change, to turn
otherwise empty words into something more tangible, only to
reveal an appalling lack of determination or interest in
pursuing moral and ethical codes to logical conclusion.
The Kyoto protocol is perhaps the most obvious failure of this
kind, although I remember a United Nations sponsored Rio de
Janeiro jamboree in June 1992, which attracted no fewer than 172
governments from around the world, 108 at levels of heads of
state or government. There is a certain acrid irony in so many
world leaders attending a “jolly” ostensibly related to
“Environment and Development” in a country where applications of
morality to both are recognisable only by their absence. All
that we are left with are gestures without accountability. A
thing of the past? I’m afraid not. Last month, more than 1,000
participants from around the world gathered in Bali, Indonesia
to “build integrity on the basis of the world’s blueprint for
fighting corruption - the United Nations Convention against
Corruption.” The irony is un-missable.
Barack Obama has been (perhaps inevitably) likened to Martin
Luther King (from whom he borrows) and more preposterously has
drawn as yet unsubstantiated comparisons with Mandela and even
Ghandi. Ironically, given that he is running against his missus,
he might just be the next Clinton. Bill was the last “new
thing”, suave, intelligent and young. He was America’s Blair and
Schroeder wrapped into one. But did anything change? He might
have got Arafat and Barak together at Camp David, but nothing
came of it. Did US foreign policy change in any discernable way?
In retrospect it all seems like bluster, maybe bluff. However
much we might yearn for a US president of greater understanding
and compassion, someone less of a war-monger perhaps, whom
amongst their recent leaders has demonstrated anything different
from the other? The first George W. Bush administration, for
example, was populated with cold war dinosaurs from the Nixon
era. From Rumsfeld to Cheney, it was a rather unpleasant example
of political reincarnation, with at least one predictable
result; war. You might have thought that US politicians who had
anything to do with disasters like either Vietnam or arming Iraq
might permanently have been put out to pasture. But not in the
good old US of A. A cynic might suggest that like in many other
kinds of organisations, some people just get promoted to their
next level of incompetence. Like I said, it appears that until
people change, nothing else will.
Next week: Change Agents
DOC ENGLISH Teaching your kids how to learn English:
Frequently asked questions
‘Just how do children learn a new
language?’ ‘What’s the best time to learn a new language’ and ‘How
quickly can you expect results?’ Parents tend to ask me these questions
all the time. Generally I say that it depends on the individual child,
how much exposure to English they have had, how competent they are in
their native language, how motivated they are, how much support we as
teachers can give them, etc. Actually I don’t usually know the answers
as there are so many factors at play. However, I do know that parents
can have a major influence over how quickly their child can acquire a
new language through supporting their child at home.
If your child is learning Thai and you want them to learn English, what
is the best age for you to introduce your child to the second language?
Most language research has shown that to become truly fluent it helps if
your child is exposed to both languages simultaneously, preferably in
infancy and in natural situations (not formal lessons). I do feel that
younger children appear to make incredible progress in English compared
with later years, as they are not shy and they learn quickly through
play. They are not embarrassed about asking a million questions and they
need the answers right now! Research has shown that the early years are
perhaps the best time to acquire a new language (there are cognitive
reasons relating to the development of the brain and social reasons also
- children being less inhibited at this stage and parents and carers
perhaps being more willing to listen and help the younger children).
If your child first learns Thai and then English at a later stage, there
is a chance that there will be ‘language interference’ affecting your
child’s ability to learn the second language (English). Language
interference is common in Thailand as most Thais learn English at a
stage later than infancy. This is why some Thais insert a vowel into a
word that has two adjacent consonants (“I go sa-wim”) and ignore the end
consonant sound in words like ‘like’ and ‘out’ (because they are
applying Thai pronunciation rules to English words - quite logical
really).
Often children learning two languages simultaneously may be slow to
start speaking for the first time. This is because they have to listen
to more language input than the average child. Be patient with them, if
you live in a house where more than one language is spoken, then this
apparent reluctance to speak is natural.
Children who are introduced to a second language in pre-school may stop
speaking their first language for a period of time (known as the ‘silent
period’). If your child is starting at an international kindergarten,
expect them to be a little confused over which language to speak and
when. They may speak in sentences that mix the two languages together.
This is an effective strategy and should be encouraged during the early
stages of learning a language. Don’t worry; your child will learn to
differentiate between the two languages at a later stage.
Often in an international school environment, children starting late in
the educational system do not get enough support in their native first
language (such as Thai) and this can cause academic failure as they are
not strong in either language. Research has shown that children who are
strong in their first language make better second language speakers, so
encourage your child to study hard in both English and Thai. Amazingly,
children who are fluent in more than one language also do better in
other subjects such as Maths or Science. It’s as if learning more
languages helps them improve cognitively. It also helps them socially
because they can make friends from countries other than their own!
I generally find that children starting school for the first time with
little or no English have a really tough time. They are generally silent
for the first few weeks as they are unable to communicate and join in
with lessons without a great deal of support. They find listening for
long periods very tedious and frustrating so short, fun easy tasks are
best at first and teachers employ lots of different methods (using
gesture, picture clues, and translation) to help students understand.
Children need lots of encouragement to keep them buoyant and tasks that
are pitched at their level. It’s important to be aware of their
motivational levels during the first few weeks. If your child is
starting at an international or bilingual school for the first time you
should talk to them daily about what they have studied and try to set
some time aside to talk and practice English with them. Show interest in
what they are doing in school and encourage them to invite new friends
round. Buy them books to encourage them to read in English and new
stationery to help them study in class.
So how long does it take to learn a language? Experts say that most
children (with non-native English speaking parents) can learn basic
interpersonal communication skills within 2-3 years, but it really
depends on the daily opportunities they have to speak and practice
English. The ability to join in and study all lessons in English and use
English as a ‘working language’ make take another 3-5 years. For
students studying English for only a few hours a week, the process may
be much longer. This is assuming that English is not generally spoken at
home.
There is a need for increasing numbers of bilingual speakers in our
continually shrinking global economy, so encourage your child to take up
a new language. Having failed to master Thai I have taken up Chinese, so
I may be ‘biting off more than I can chew’. However, learning a new
language helps me emphasize and understand what my students may be going
through, so perhaps you could try it too. There are plenty of language
schools around Pattaya and many of the classes offered are not
expensive, so go ahead and learn a new language yourself!
That’s all for this week. As always, if you have any queries about
English education you can mail me at: doceng [email protected].
Enjoy spending time with your child.
Let’s go to the movies:
by Mark Gernpy
Now playing in Pattaya
Mist: US Horror – The Stephen King novella transferred to
the screen by Frank Darabont (screenplay and director), who did the same
for King’s The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. There seems to
be a wide divergence of opinion on this film, from those who love it to
those who hate it. In this story, a group of terrified townspeople are
trapped in a grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist, and there
are “things” lurking in the mist. Rated R in the US for violence,
terror, and gore. Mixed or average reviews.
Charlie Wilson’s War: US Drama – Directed by Mike Nichols.
Starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s
about how an unlikely trio of influential and colorful characters
conspired to generate covert financial and weapons support for the
Afghan Mujahideen to defeat the Russians in the 1980s – and armed
America’s future enemies in the process. The film is snappy, amusing,
and ruefully ironic, with a startling performance by Hoffman – but after
yet another viewing, I find the tone all wrong. See if you don’t agree
that the point of view is conflicting and confusing. But entertaining,
yes, as long as it lasts; it’s just that for me everything evaporates
after I leave the theater. Rated R in the US for strong language,
nudity/sexual content. Generally favorable reviews.
Jumper: US Adventure/Sci-Fi – Boy, is this a bad movie! I mean,
really bad! I try very hard not to be negative, so here goes: If you
check all your brains at the door, you might enjoy the mindless action
without worrying about the truly stupid script. And for sure you will
enjoy the scenic places he “jumps” to. Generally negative reviews.
Kod (Handle Me With Care): Thai Romance/Drama – A three-armed man
from Lampang worries he might be considered a freak, and decides to
remove one of his two left arms, but his new girlfriend (likewise a
freak: she has huge boobs) likes him just the way he is. Some nice
scenery and photography, but I found it very slow and dull. Let’s see
who can come up with a limerick with the first line: “A three-armed man
from Lampang . . . “
Kung Fu Dunk: Hong Kong/Taiwan Sports/Comedy – With superstar Jay
Chou as an orphan turned Shaolin martial artist who somehow ends up
playing basketball using his Shaolin skills. Thai dubbed only.
27 Dresses: US Comedy/Romance – Katherine Heigl is immensely
appealing in what is essentially a mildly pleasant chick-flick. If the
very idea of weddings makes you dewy-eyed, this is for you. Mixed or
average reviews.
Chocolate: Thai Action – A superior Thai action film that is a
huge hit in Thailand, with a new martial arts star, who is really
amazing. Within the conventions of a martial arts movie, it’s quite
inventive. If you’re going to see any Thai martial arts film this year,
make it this one – it’s got everything.
CJ7: Hong Kong Comedy – Delightful! Stephen Chow finds a toy for
his young son which is actually a sort of Chinese E.T. It’s dubbed in
Thai, but you may find it with English subtitles. I thought the movie
marvelously odd and quirky. The kid is great, and Stephen Chow is
amusingly droll. A lot of fun for kids and adults.
Death Note: L: Change the World: Japan Thriller – This film is
being shown in Bangkok with the original Japanese soundtrack and with
Thai and English subtitles. Here it’s shown only in a Thai-dubbed
version, with no English subtitles! It deserves better treatment, to be
seen by a wider audience. (Despite that, I’ve now seen the film four
times.)
It’s mythic storytelling of the best kind, and the character “L” who is
the focus of this movie is simply fascinating. Though a teenager, he is
the world’s best detective, and as he hunkers in a chair with his arms
draped to either side like broken wings, with his gaunt look and
caved-in chest, he looks for all the world like a vulture, calmly
surveying the scene.
Valentine: Thai Romance/Comedy – It’s your typical Thai low
comedy with several love stories. Fairly unremarkable, except that here
a “tom” lesbian and a transvestite switch bodies after a traffic
accident in Phuket, and get to like their new bodies.
Ghost-in-Law: Thai Comedy/Horror – The usual Thai combination of
horror with slapstick comedy, and the usual Thai stars.
Scheduled to open Thu. Mar. 6
10,000 B.C.: US Adventure/Drama – Not content merely to
destroy our planet, Hollywood’s disaster master Roland Emmerich is now
using his special effects time machine to obliterate our past. Emmerich,
who is best known for directing effects-heavy, script-light modern day
disaster movies like The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, has
turned his attention to early man. This prehistoric epic follows a young
mammoth hunter’s journey through uncharted territory to secure the
future of his tribe.
Be your own Journalist - start a Blog
Yes, we all have heard of it. Many of us may already
have one. But yet, we didn’t know it is now very easy to create one of
our own.
The concept of writing a personal blog is very much an old one. The
early bloggers started posting even before the Y2K craze of the year
2000. But that was the time when the online freedom of speech was only
accessible to tech geeks. To have a website or a personal webpage at
that time wasn’t so easy for the non-techies until recent times. For
common internet users, if they wanted to have a personal website, they
had to have knowledge of all that HTML, or Java or...Hoof! Let’s stay
away from those for now!
Getting to the basics of what a Blog is; a blog (also called weblog,
from combing the words web and log) is a personal webpage or pages which
has entries or “posts” in reverse chronological order. It is more like
an online personal diary for some, and a platform to communicate ideas
and thoughts to the world on a particular subject for others. What’s
special about a blog is that it allows interactivity between the
“blogger” and his/her readers. While the blogger publishes thoughts, the
readers can give feedback by commenting on the posts. Even more, a
blogger can post photos, videos, music, audio or podcasts picked from
around the web or even a creative work of his own.
For an idea, www.MrTechSavvy.com is a website in the form of a blog. It
has weekly posts of articles that have been published in the Pattaya
Mail newspaper.
There are many free and paid blogging tools provided out there, some of
the common ones being WordPress.com, Blogger.com and LiveJournal.com.
Take a look at all of them and get a idea of what it is all about. These
websites have a simple walk-through in setting up a blog making it very
easy for you. For starters, you might want to look at Blogger.com’s easy
to set-up and easy to customize blogging tool.
Let’s get it started; creating a blog with Blogger.com:
1) Log on to www.Blogger.com and click on “Create Your Blog Now”.
2) You will be asked to create an account and provide some information.
If you already have a Google or a Gmail account, you can use the same
email as your Blogger.com account as well. Your Display Name will be the
name which will be used at the end of every post or in every comment you
write on someone else’s blog. Once you’re done, click Continue.
3) Next, choose a nice Blog title and an easy-to-remember Blog address.
Be creative but at the same time, use short and simple keywords which
say something about the subject of your blog. The Blog address will look
something like http://harrythehiker.blogspot.com/. Make sure it is
available for grabs.
You have an option of going advanced if you decide to host your blog on
a domain name that you already own, just like www.MrTechSavvy.com. But
for a starter, I suggest you go with the basic option of having your
blog hosted with Blogger.com. It will be easier to manage and maintain
for beginners.
Chosen your Blog address? Click Continue.
4) Now, choose a template that suits the subject of your blog. If you
are going to be writing about Nature, you would want to have your blog
based on green color. Again, be creative but simple. You can customize
this template or switch to another template later as well. Click
Continue.
5) Your Blog is now created! Clicking “Start Posting” will take you to
the “Create Post” page. Creating a post is as easy as composing an
email. Explore the tools available. Once you’re done with writing your
first post, click “Publish Post”. Go to your Blog address and you will
find your first blog post there!
6) Click on all the tabs above to get an idea of the tools available for
you to enhance your blog. You can customize the template, fonts and
colors in the Layout tab.
If you have questions or want advice, feel free to write to
[email protected].
All feedback is welcome!
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Just for Geeks
Want to be a part of saving the world’s
environment? Save paper, ink, trees and of course - money. Start now
with GreenPrint -
www.printgreener.com |
The answer to last week’s Just For Geeks – Answer
and Win! question “Who created Google?” is:
Google was created by “Larry Page and Sergey Brin” - Students of
Stanford University. The idea was started as a research project in the
year 2006 by the two geniuses and has grown to be the biggest search
engine in the world today.
The lucky winners to win an Apacer 2GB USB Flash Drive each are Ewan and
Howard Bloom. Congratulations!
Till then… Tata ;-)
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