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1 W eeken d ® MDTimes Number 811 Weekend Times No. 5 September 05 2009 China “Intro 2009” Electronic Music and its first festival

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Page 1: MDTimes Number 811 Weekend Times No. 5 September · PDF fileMDTimes Number 811 Weekend Times No. 5 September 05 2009 China “Intro 2009 ... a very different kind of “genealogy”

05 September 2009

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China “Intro 2009”Electronic Music and its first festival

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C & C - Lawyers Office

Partners:Rui J. Da Cunha*

Álvaro Rodrigues*• Nuno S. da Mata*Zhao Lu*º• Connie Kong

* Notary º China Appointed Attesting Officer

www.ccadvog.com

Trainee Lawyers:Maria A. Giestas

Eulália SouzaCarlos S. FerreiraOctávio Tavares

Fong Kit InCao Lemeng, Rui

Wong Pou Ngai, Karen

Associates:Adelino Correia*

Zelina Rodrigues•Nuno L. MartinsSusana Batalha•Luís A. Pinto

Rita Andorinho•Célia GonçalvesVasco G. Vidal•Maria J. Marques

António I. Azeredo•João N. Marques Jeniffer Lao • Icília Berenguel

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18 World of Wonder

28 Offbeat and This Day in History

29 Infotainment

34 Zoomby Alexandra Lages

Universal Yoga Asia Ltd. Av.do Infante D. Henrique, 43-53A, second floor, Macau Square, MacauPhone number (853) 2899 5599 Fax number (853) 2899 5533

http://www.universal-yoga-asia.com/

Cover story

4China “Intro 2009”Electronic Music and its first festivalby João Gonçalves

26Ask the VetAdvise for a puking cat!by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester

16by António Espadinha Soares

Mouse Click 20by Fernando FerreiraPress Play

12St. Anthony’s Church

by Alberto Ung

22From Macau to Lisbon The wicked and

the beautiful – Part II by Rui Freitas

8Austin Coates’s

City of Broken Promises

Where history meets fiction

by David Brookshaw

30European attractionMacau Daily Times tested the New Opel Corsaby João Contente Fernandes

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by João Gonçalves

Electronic music, or music composed by the help of electronic instruments, such as computers or synthe-

sizers, had a similar start in china as rock music, with the opening of the china’s borders at the beginning of the 90s.

electronic music, however, has al-ways been different from rock mu-sic for it is also seen as a new means to develop traditional or classical orchestra music. therefore also in china, the development of electronic music has taken an academic and a non-academic way.

the real breakthrough for chinese underground and avant-garde music came in the early 21st century. the reason for this was the rapid spread of information through an increasing use of the internet, and a fast grow-ing club scene which was introduc-ing DJ culture on a larger scale.

this led to the birth of a young generation of chinese experimental musicians. through the internet, chinese musicians are finally able to hear and download anything hap-pening in experimental music world-wide.

this includes hearing “classics” in different areas, from Aphex twin to Merzbow. Dickson Dee continues

China “Intro 2009”

Electronic Music and its first festival

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China “Intro 2009”

Electronic Music and its first festival

to release cDs and to bring many foreign experimental musicians to Mainland china while the sound art-ist, curator and critic Yan Jun started the Sub Jam label in Beijing.

taiwanese composer and contem-porary music theoretician Dajuin Yao established the Post-concrete label based in Berkeley, california in 1999, and many new artists like Wang changcun, Zhong Minje, Zhou Pei (ronez), Zhang Anding (Zafka) started experimenting with noise and sound art.

christiaan Virant is a Beijing-based sound artist and musician. Active in the chinese punk un-derground for nearly a decade, he founded the pioneering ex-perimental electronic act FM3 in 1999 maybe the most well known chinese experimental music unit in the West (famous for their Buddha Machine re-lease). Since then, Virant has worked closely with com-puter musician Zhang Jian to develop FM3 into one of Asia’s leading platforms for avant-garde music, performing at the louvre Auditorium in Paris and at media and art festivals worldwide, including Maerz Musik (Berlin), impakt (Utrecht), Dis-sonanze (rome), Marke B (Ber-

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lin), nuit Blanche (Paris), Arborescence (Marseille), Sprawl (london), out the Window (tokyo) and Mutek (Montreal).

Zhang Jian is china’s top session keyboardist and computer musician. He has appeared on nearly ev-ery underground rock release over the past decade and was a member of many seminal chinese rock acts, working with Zhang chu, Zi Yue and Dou Wei, among others. He is also one of Beijing’s most sought after film and television composers, working with a diverse range of artists from filmmaker cui Zi’en to leading stage producer lin Zhaohua.

FM3 has been called “the most prominent experi-mental act in china” by the US magazine Grooves. Xlr8r described FM3’s sound as “poetic noise” and the UK magazine the Wire calls FM3 live sets “medi-tative” and “soothing.”

in 2004, FM3 was commissioned by the louvre museum in Paris to provide a new soundtrack for the classic 1930s film “la croisière jaune.” the project concluded with three sold-out performances at the louvre Auditorium in early June.

FM3’s sound installations have been featured at the 2004 Shanghai Bienalle as well as the Beijing-tokyo Art Project, the Dashazi international Art Festival and the Kulturhallen Dampfzentrale in the Swiss capital of Bern. From April-June 2005 Virant was artist-in-residence at the ProGr Zentrum Für Kulturproduk-tion in Bern.

FM3 records for the legendary Staalplaat record la-bel, and has also released music on Bip-Hop records in France, Mutek_rec in canada, Mousike records in italy, nascente records in the UK, leerraum records in Swit-zerland and Sublime Frequencies in the United States.

the years 2000 to 2003 is definitely the start of some kind of “scene”; one which is obviously modelled after a very different kind of “genealogy” to the West.

the important connection in the West to classical education at universities is not relevant here. neither is there a history of experimentalism to build on with a more or less close connection between different gen-erations of experimentalists. in china, the experimental music scene is young – in every sense of the word.”

Over 10-thousand enthusiastic fans

in 2009 china played host to its first ever electronic music festival.

the festival, which goes under the name of intro, is a one day event that took place in the capital city of Beijing in two separate locations. Beginning at 1 PM, the first phase of intro took place at the city’s D-Park plaza, and featured a raft of china’s electronic talent as well as techno warrior chris liebing, Philipp from M.A.n.D.Y., and sample-happy minimal techno duo italoboyz.

Just as things were winding down at D-Park, the party moved on to a warehouse location, where there

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was a big presence from artists on china’s own Acupuncture records imprint. elvis.t, terry tu and X.l.F. played their second sets of the day, and they were also joined by some of the european special guests that had played earlier on the main stage.

ten hours, twenty artists, ten thou-sand people, and 46-thousand square meters of open-air plaza, a Bauhaus-style plaza, sound-and-laser light performances making high-powered projections, here, electronic music was the focus, and over 10-thousand enthusiastic fans danced under the open sky from noon to midnight.

though still at the developmental stage, electronic music in china al-ready has a stable fan base and the

number keeps rising. the party was supported and included as part of the annual “Meet in Beijing” art festival, which is sponsored by the chinese Ministry of culture.

DJ elvis.t, Acupuncture records, says, “We’re much honoured to be included in the festival and we regard it as more than cultural exchange. We would like to promote a kind of lifestyle where people dance to good music, relax and enjoy their lives. that is the most important part.”

like the motto of the concert says, “ideas need to reach out”. “intro 2009” is such a platform, one that welcomes people who love life and music to meet in Beijing and let their cultures harmonize. W

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THiS year has seen the wel-come re-e d i t i o n

by the Hong Kong Uni-versity Press of books by Austin coates, an author who lived and worked for many years in Hong Kong, and who wrote a num-ber of seminal works on Macau, a city whose his-tory fascinated him. Born in 1922, coates, after serv-ing in rAF intelligence in South east Asia during the War, later became a mag-istrate in Hong Kong, af-ter which he briefly joined the British colonial service in Malaya. in 1962, he re-turned to Hong Kong in order to devote his time to writing, and indeed, his books on Macau and other works, such as his biography of the Philip-pine nationalist, José rizal, date from this period. like the older charles Boxer and the younger John Vil-liers, coates represented a breed of British ‘gentle-man scholars’, whose in-terest in the history of the

by David Brookshaw*

* Professor of the University of Bristol,lectures Brazilian Studies, Portuguese studies and also African

Literature in Portuguese.

Austin coates’s city of Broken Promises

Where history meets fiction

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Portuguese in east and South east Asia stemmed from their direct experience of living and working in that part of the world. it is perhaps fitting that coates should have spent the last years of his life between Hong Kong and a home near Sintra, in Portugal, where he died in 1997.

A Macao narrative, which was originally published in 1978, is still the most readable account of the history of Macau and an excellent introduction for students or the interested visitor. His later work, Macao and the British, 1637-1842, focuses rather more specifically upon British involvement in the city, from the first recorded visit by the cornish traveller, Peter Mundy, in 1637 through to the opium wars and the eventual seizure of neighbouring Hong Kong by the British. But perhaps coates’s most fondly remembered work relating to Macau is his city of Broken Promises, first published in 1967 and now re-issued with the two other books just mentioned, for it is the product both of the author’s energy as a scholar, involving research undertaken in the libraries of Macau, Portugal and Britain, and of his imagination, being a re-creation of stories heard in Macau. His interest in the figure of Martha Merop is said to have stemmed from having seen her portrait on a visit to Macau’s Santa casa da Misericórdia, or Holy House of Mercy. this same painting is reproduced on the book’s cover. city of Bro-ken Promises is a historical novel set roughly between the years 1780 and 1795. the age of Macau’s great pros-perity, when it was the hub for the trade in silks and sil-ver between china and Japan, has long gone. But it has assumed a new, cosmopolitan character, with the arrival of the British east india company along with other eu-ropeans who have been allowed by the chinese to estab-lish themselves in Macau so as to limit their presence in canton to the trading season.

in this at once international and provincial environment, european expatriates and Portuguese and Macanese lead largely separate lives, at most viewing each other with suspicion, while the chinese who service the settlement during the day, leave it at night to an uncanny silence. Be-hind the shuttered windows of Macau’s Mediterranean villas and mansions, intrigues and conspiracies abound, and foreign traders consort with their local mistresses or ‘pensioners’, whom they will abandon when they re-turn to europe, thus breaking their promises of mar-riage. these promises, along with those of quick profit, give the novel its undertow of deceit, and of course justify

the title of the story. into this social pot pourri step the two main characters, thomas and Martha, both of whom are, to some extent, outsiders and therefore exceptions to the norm. thomas van Merop is an Anglo-Dutch func-tionary of the east india company, an organisation that proved to be the proverbial cuckoo in the nest, breeding resentment among the local Portuguese, but at the same time guaranteeing Macau’s continuing status as europe’s main commercial entrepot in the Far east. through his english mother, Merop is cousin of the philosopher Jer-emy Bentham, and therefore a man of liberal, reformist pedigree. His relationship with his fellow functionaries will be strained by his opposition to the opium trade, in which many are privately involved, among them, Abra-ham Biddle, a country trader of Dickensian proportions, whose fall from grace is as disastrous as are his attempts to accumulate wealth and improve his lowly status.

Martha da Silva is a chinese orphan, who has been brought up by the Abbess of the local convent. At a certain age, she has been attached to a local Macanese family, has been mis-

by David Brookshaw*

Austin coates’s city of Broken Promises

Where history meets fiction

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treated, and has fallen out with the woman who is sup-posed to protect her, but instead resents her. Unable to return to the convent, she has ended up as the pensioner of thomas van Merop’s predecessor. She is therefore passed on to Merop along with the company house and servants. in this unusual domestic arrangement, Mar-tha stands out as a teenager of unusual intelligence and initiative, while also possessing a type of childlike inno-cence. She speaks fluent French and Portuguese, and has an insatiable curiosity about the world beyond the nar-row confines of Macau, and it is this ambition, coupled with one or two strokes of luck, and her own savvy, not to mention a secret marriage to the dying Merop, that result in her becoming Macau’s first native trader, shipowner and wealthy benefactress. the way she achieves this is, of course, the substance of the tale, with all its twists, turns and moments of drama.

one of the novel’s most abiding qualities, apart from its vivid depiction of a particular place and time, is the way it demonstrates the inner workings of colonial so-ciety in Portugal’s overseas empire. in the manner of chica da Silva, the Brazilian slave woman who ended up free, rich and powerful, Martha manages to short-circuit the colonial hierarchy based on class and colour, allowing her to slip into a social role that would nor-mally have been denied her. this is not to say that the Portuguese were by nature non-racist, as thinkers like

Gilberto Freyre would have led us to be-lieve, but that caste systems based on race and skin colour were, in pratice, unsustainable in distant realms and at times of social change. in the context of Macau, Martha, the illiterate chi-nese orphan girl brought up on the fringes of colonial society to speak its languages and worship its God, is, in any meaningful sense of the word, Macanese, and this reality flies in the face of those whose definition of this group insists on the presence of a Portuguese blood line. like many intermediary groups that emerged during co-lonial rule, the determin-ing power of culture over genetics is a reality that Martha readily exem-plifies, and this in itself produces a profound identity crisis that she has to overcome in order to survive socially and gain the respect of both the europe-ans and the chi-nese. nowhere is this process

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of learning more vividly illustrated than in the episode in which Martha allows herself to be taken to a chinese temple in the city, with a view to rejoining the world of her biological parents, and escaping the insecurities of life among the Portuguese and the British, for whom her only use is as a bed mate. it is this struggle between how she is outwardly perceived as a chinese girl, and how she feels as someone whose upbringing has pro-pelled her into the creolised world of the Macanese that is handled so perceptively by the author. equally, the ties of kinship between chinese ‘adopted’ children and extended Macanese families, are amply illustrated in the links between Martha and teresa da Silva, whose sur-name she is allowed to adopt, and who is herself in co-habitation with an expatriate French trader, and teresa’s

cousin, Pedro Gonçalves Siqueira, whose commercial dealings and social aspirations in turn link him into the world of the Portuguese administrative elite on the one hand, and the British traders on the other.

this elegantly written novel evokes the multi-cultural roots of modern Macau, but it also offers us a glimpse of the east india company in its declining years, as old state-backed monopolies gave way to the demand for free trade that would pervade notions of liberalism in the following century. it is also not unreasonable to as-sume that coates’s novel formed a type of blueprint for Portuguese writers in Macau in later decades to tap the rich vein of oral history, the tales of forbidden love and scandal that abound in this city. Macau may be a small world, but it contains within it the world. W

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Mouse ClickVideo of the WeekMichael Pritchard’s Water filter turns filthy Water drinkablehttp://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pritchard_invents_a_water_filter.html

one of the world’s greatest tragedies is the lack of access to clean drinking water for billions of people. in this teD talk, engineer Michael Pritchard did something about this humanitarian problem by inventing the portable lifesaver filter, a bottle like device capable of turning the murkiest and filthiest water into clean, safe, drinkable water in a matter of seconds. throughout his presentation Pritchard tells the story of how he was first motivated to build the device and gives a practical demonstration putting his own health on the line to demonstrate his inven-tion’s remarkable capability.

by António Espadinha Soares

I Am Boredhttp://www.i-am-bored.com/

Modern living has bestowed upon humanity some-thing that for most of its existence was never a prob-lem. Boredom. i Am Bored is a collection of viral videos, games, memes, lists and social networking for when you’re bored, at home, or even at work when you’re looking for a nice distraction. there are numer-ous suggestions contributed to the site by regular users. it allows for rating of websites and comments so that you know you’re not wasting your time, when you’re wasting your time. Just be sure to not get caught while browsing it while at work.

software of the WeekPhotoshop expresshttp://www.photoshop.com/

Photoshop express is the free web version of the popular image manipulation tool used by professionals everywhere. this free web service requires registration in order to use it’s full features, among which is the ability to store up to 2GB of uncompressed photos on Adobe’s servers. obviously this web version is a simplified web-app that doesn’t even come close to the capabilities of its parent software, but that’s not the point. if you just wish to give it a try without handing over any private information you’re free to test drive the app from your browser on the service’s website. no downloads or in-stallations are required.

Quirky

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blog of the WeekshaMbloghttp://shambook.blogspot.com/

in these modern times we’re faced with many bo-gus claims sold merely on marketing techniques in-stead of factual and demonstrable claims, and which take advantage of an often gullible and uneducated audience. this blog written by artist Steve Salerno provides a regular analysis of hotly debated topics on issues that the author often finds to be promoted by people of dubious credibility. it’s well written and a light read, lacking the harshness often present in blogs dedicated to exposing frauds and scams, or even just contributing analysis of current news me-dia coverage.

http://www.quirky.com/

Have you ever had an idea for a product that you were convinced was innovative and something that the world

would embrace? i’ve had that thought many times myself, but not knowing almost anything about how to try and

make it and bring it to market was enough for me to simply forget about it and set some interesting ideas aside. Quirky is an online community founded by 22 year old entrepre-

neur Ben Kaufman. it fosters the creativity of inventors from all over the world by helping them bring their ideas to market by cooperating with others through a product’s de-

velopment process right up to the final step of selling it.

Quirky

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Box of Secrets is the debut album by Brighton-based rock band Blood red Shoes, released on April of last year.consisting of Steven Ansell (vocals and drums) and laura-Mary carter (vocals and guitar), Blood red Shoes formed in Brighton in 2005 after their previous bands had broken up.“Blood red Shoes likes Babes in toyland, Q and not U, cake, chocolate, childishness, Delta 5, zom-bies and horror, nirvana, the Bangles, blood and gore, cups of tea, good shoes, dancing, knives, Huggy Bear, and being in a band.”

this music video, directed by russell Mulcahy, was the first to be shown on MtV, when the music channel debuted on August 1981 and on February 2000 it also became the millionth video to be aired on the music channel.iconic for some and widely parodied by others, Video Killed the radio Star, celebrated the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by television, in what can be refered by many as ironic.in 1998, rock band the Presidents of the United States of America released a version of “Video Killed the radio Star” for the Wedding Singer soundtrack.

Press Playby Fernando Ferreira

albuM of the Week

box of secrets by blood red shoes

Bill Hicks was an Ameri-can stand-up comedian with a humor that chal-lenged mainstream be-liefs, aiming to “enlight-en people to think for themselves.” He died of Pancreatic cancer at the age of 32.Although Bill Hicks wasn’t a musician, he was an “anti- establish-ment rock star” who, like so many others, left be-fore his time was up.However, his importance in the American rock scene was set when tool

invited Hicks to open a number of concerts for them on their 1993 lol-lapalooza appearances, where Hicks once fa-mously asked the audi-ence to look for a con-tact lens he’d lost. later, he would participate in two albums of the band.Faith no More also quoted Hicks in “rico-chet” from their King for a Day... Fool for a lifetime album, singing “it’s always funny until someone gets hurt and then it’s just hilarious.”

VIDeo Video killed the radio star by the buggles

lost in timebill hicks

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VIDeo Video killed the radio star by the buggles

going strong

explosions in the sky

explosions in the Sky, a quartet from Austin, texas by Mark Smith, Munaf rayani, chris Hrasky and Michael James self-released a ten-tative album called How Strange innocence in 2000 and the next year a proper debut album, those Who tell the truth Shall Die, those Who tell the truth Shall live Forever was released.their most recent album, All of a Sudden i Miss everyone, which debuted in February of 2007, gave them some media attention, which culmi-nated in a performance on late night with co-nan o’Brien. “We don’t consider ourselves post-rock at all; we consider ourselves a rock band.”

DVD the doors

the Doors is a 1991 biopic film that portrays lead sing-er Jim Morrison as an icon of 1960s rock and roll, and counterculture lifestyle. However, the film goes beyond the iconic, also focusing on his alcoholism, interest in the spiritual plane, halluci-nogenic drugs and his growing obsession with death.the movie was directed by oliver Stone, and stars Val Kilmer as Morrison and Meg ryan as Pamela courson (Morrison’s companion).interesting enough, in the film recordings of the band are combined with vocal performances by Kilmer himself.

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From

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On 25 June 1991, Slovenia and croatia declared their inde-pendence from the Socialist Federal republic of Yugoslavia. it was the end of the line for Bosnia, croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia as the land of the South-ern Slavs. it was the culmination of months of multi-ethnic

tensions, of xenophobic and ethnic hatred fuelled by political propaganda. there was a short period of violence in Slovenia during the ten-Day War and then all hell broke loose with the croatian war of independence, be-cause croatian Serbs had boycotted the independence referendum and wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia.

the jagged croatian coastline flashed out the window, drawing coves and bays, and small islands sparkled outside on the Adriatic Sea. A part of me was punch-drunk with this beautiful Mediterranean landscape, but there was another side of me wanting to hate the croats for what they had done in Bosnia. We went through two other border checkpoints. My destination, Dubrovnik, is cut off from the rest of croatia, because dur-ing ottoman times the city ceded 20 km of coastline to the turks which became part of modern Bosnia. the turks didn’t want to be landlocked. i felt very biased. i wanted to dislike the croats for the war they had fought in Bosnia.

Dubrovnik struck me as the typical Mediterranean port city - large cruise vessels slowly making their way into the harbour, white buildings over both sides of town and expensive, family tourists everywhere. there were no signs of the war and of the shelling the Yugoslav Army carried out in civilian areas at the outset of the war. i wanted to dislike croats but what i found was a people disillusioned with the current state of their country. they told me their politicians had promised them a better time but they felt alone in europe now. even Serbia was no longer on their side.

Follow him online at: www.theloneartist.com

The wicked and the beautiful – Part II

A church in Dubrovnik

Ljubljana’s Castle

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The wicked and the beautiful – Part II

A United nations World Heritage Site, Dubrovnik didn’t do much for me. it is an expensive tourist city where i didn’t meet any locals. the highlight was swimming right out the walls of the old town, a flat pool of warm water on the Adriatic Sea where we jumped off cliffs and rocks. the town was filled with old tourists and families. At the hostel, i caught up with Druv, an indian lawyer i had met in Mostar. there were some other cool travellers at the hostel and a weird Macedonian guy named costa. i took a night coach with an Australian named Pat.

We arrived in Zagreb in the morning. the town is quiet during the summer. With such a long coastline, inland cities are sort of empty during the summer. it was too hot to do sight-seeing and i didn’t explore much of the city. Zagreb seemed half empty. the cathedral reminded me of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona with its dramatic

The cathedral in Zagreb

One of Dubrovnik’s marines

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spires. i met up with Druv and we arranged to meet up again in Slo-venia.

ljubljana is a very small capital city, even by european standards. like Zagreb, it is very quiet dur-ing the summer months. Slovenes go to the Adriatic coast or to other seaside areas. the narrow lju-bljanica river crosses the city and there are restaurants and bars with outside tables along both banks. Street performers and musicians play outside. in croatia i felt i was moving out of eastern europe, but it was clear that Slovenia had done the best out of the former Yugoslavian republics. Doing well economically, its inhabitants live a quiet life and are quite active. People roller-bladed and rode bicycles around town. Stunning lake Bled sits just less than an hour away from ljubljana. its azure waters are an appealing swim-ming destination and there is a charming islet with a church in the middle and a castle overlooking it from the cliff above.

i spent a couple of days in Slovenia, realising my trip was drawing to its end. the Balkans is one of the most beautiful parts of europe and i felt there was still so much to learn about these countries. i came into this area without knowing what to expect, became bi-ased in the process, but found beautiful people everywhere. the countries that used to form Yugoslavia joined in a union as broth-ers, but separated as bitter husbands and wives. their people, how-ever, taught me so much. it was without regret, that i saw my train to italy leave the platform while i was still outside. the next train was in 24 hours.

Stunning Lake Bled in Slovenia

The river in Ljubljana

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Ask

The

Vet

Question Categories to be covered are:

-All about Dogs.-All about cats.

-All about exotics.-All about pet

ownership.-All about nutrition.

We will be focusing on the following;

AllergiesAvian/exotics

BehaviorBoarding

DentalDigestive System

Diseasesears

GeneralHeart

HormonesHusbandry

MedicationsMusculoskeletal

neoplasianervous System

nutritionreproductive System

respiratorySkin

Surgerytravel

UrinaryVaccinations

Ask the Vet - is a service that allows you to ask questions about your pets’ health and behavior. My goal is to help you, the pet owner, improve the knowledge of your pet’s everyday needs and health care in Macau through a variety of pet services and veterinary resources that where never available to pet owners before.

Pets have become a very important part of our families. in many cases they have be-come as much a part of our lives as children or grandchildren. And, in certain ways, just as complicated. think of all the questions raised by wanting a pet. Pet ownership has definitely become more complex. everybody seems to have an opinion on what pet you should get and what being a good pet owner means. My goal is to answer your questions and try making things simpler for you. i want to give some of the basic information that will help you to raise a healthy, happy and family compatible pet. And, of course, have fun while you are doing it.

the ideas listed in this column come from many years of studying and practicing veter-inary medicine in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau. And they are just that, my ideas and opinions. they are not meant to be all-encompassing or correct for every situation. Use this information as a tool, along with the advice from your veterinarian, to help you make the interaction between you and your pet a wonderful experience.

As far as i am concerned, there are two kinds of people; those who really love animals, and those who have never owned any. People who say they do not love pets have usually never owned one. And for those who say they hate them, well, let’s just not talk about them! the picture above is of a 150kg sea turtle at Australia Zoo that i did abdominal surgery on after it ingested a ball of fishing line. indiscriminate and over fishing causes this to happen too often.

i hope this section helps you enjoy that perfect life with your pet. And i would love to hear the stories of how you came to own your particular pet and any interesting experi-ences you have had.

by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester

THAnKS for all the questions regarding the health issues of your pets in Macau.

Here is one of them. Hope this will help Margaret, taipa.

Question:

Dr Ruan Help!

I am at my whit’s end! My cat, Fe-male, Domestic Short Hair, only child, seems to puke on an almost daily basis. She eats a limited Ingredient diet, she is allergic to fish and chicken. We feed her no treats and there are no plants in the house. The vomit is usually just swol-len morsels of food with liquid. I have taken her to a Vet and she has stayed overnight and I never got a definitive answer as to why she is puking. I do not have the resources to continually take her to the vet to cure her puking problem. Particularly, when no one can seem to tell me why she does it and what I can do about it. I feed her spe-cial food and have gone to great lengths to figure “what is wrong with her”, but I am almost at the point where I feel like I may no longer be able to handle her puking on everything, bed, rugs, and couches. My husband is driving me crazy about this.

Please HELP!!!!!

Advise for a puking cat!

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Advise for a puking cat!

Answer:

Daily vomiting could be due to lymphocytic / plasmacytic enteritis, which is an inflammation of the Gi tract, or it could be due to hyperthyroidism, heart disease, Gi. parasites, some infectious diseases, and cancers of the Gi. Hyperthyroidism, bartonellosis and other infectious disease can be diagnosed by blood tests. cancer ‘s and heart disease can be diagnosed by X-ray, ultrasound or echocardiogram. lymphocytic / plasmacytic enteritis requires a biopsy and endoscopy. to save money your veterinarian could try a therapeutic trial with a steroid (prednisolone), but do a blood test first to rule out pancreatitis and acute or chronic renal failure. if this helps then your cat probably has lymphocytic / plasmacytic enteritis.

You could also try a low-dose of daily pepcid and anti-emetics (anti-nausea medications) such as Mecloma or cerenia (off label use), which are available from your veterinarian.

Symptomatic therapy may be all that she needs. once the symptoms are under control with (for example), steroids and

cerenia, then the doses can be decreased to the lowest effective dose that can be safely used long term.

in my experience it is likely to be kidney failure so do a blood test to rule it out.

Your vet should be able to diagnose this condition and treat accordingly. Hope to hear from you soon.

Please send all your questions to [email protected] or mail to

Dr ruan Du toit Besterrua, D.r, l, P, Marquest 2/F, Flat B, Ponte 6A, Macau SAr.

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This Day in History

Massacre at Munich Olympics

French “Spiderman” Alain Robert was arrested Tuesday after successfully scaling Malaysia’s Petronas Towers, in his third attempt on the nation’s tallest structure, police said.The 46-year-old began climbing the 88-storey building before dawn and reached the top before being discovered by security officials, Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman told AFP.“We have taken him back to the police station for questioning and checking his passport. He can be charged for criminal trespass,” he said.Robert first tried to scale the building on March 20, 1997, and made a second unsuccessful attempt in 2007 after which he was freed without charge.He has been nicknamed “Spiderman” for his high-profile escapades, which have included climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the

Offbeat‘Spiderman’ climbs Petronas Towers

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.The 452-metre (1,483-feet) Petronas Twin Towers, which were completed in 1998, were for several years the world’s tallest buildings until being upstaged by Taipei 101 among others.

During the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, in the early morning of September 5, a group of Palestinian terrorists storms the Olympic Village apartment of the Israeli athletes, killing two and taking nine others hostage. The terrorists were part of a group known as Black September, in return for the release of the hostages, they demanded that Israel release over 230 Arab prisoners being held in Israeli jails and two German terrorists. In an ensuing shootout at the Munich airport, the nine Israeli hostages were killed along

with five terrorists and one West German policeman. Olympic competition was suspended for 24 hours to hold memorial services for the slain athletes.The Munich Olympics had opened on August 26, 1972, with 195 events and 7,173 athletes representing 121 countries. On the morning of September 5, Palestinian terrorists in ski masks ambushed the Israeli team.After negotiations to free the nine Israelis broke down, the terrorists took the hostages to the Munich airport. Once there, German police opened fire from rooftops and killed three of the terrorists. A gun battle erupted and left the hostages, two more Palestinians and a policeman dead.After a memorial service was held for the athletes at the main Olympic stadium, International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage ordered that the games continue, to show that the terrorists hadn’t won. Although the tragedy deeply marred the games, there were numerous moments of spectacular athletic achievement, including American swimmer Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals and teenage Russian gymnast Olga Korbut’s two dramatic gold-medal victories.In the aftermath of the murders at the ‘72 Olympics, the Israeli government, headed by Golda Meir, hired a group of Mossad agents to track down and kill the Black September assassins.The 2005 Stephen Spielberg movie Munich was based on these events.

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The Born Loser by Chip Sansom

SudokuEasy Easy +

Medium Hard

TV

Canal Macau Canal Macau

TV

G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra

Stephen Sommers will direct (here’s hoping he reigns in the CG), from a script by Stuart Beattie. The story is set at Brussels-based GIJOE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolves around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer. --Real Movie News 11/20/07Paramount Pictures and Hasbro (previously was collaborated on making the worldwide blockbuster “TRANSFORMERS.” join with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-Adventure: G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. From the Egyptian desert, the elite G.I. Joe team with the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment will against the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing menace from the mysterious Cobra organization to dispute them from plunging the world into chaos. “G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra” is directed by Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy,” “The Mummy Returns”)

Cinema

Saturday

CineteatroMacau Tower1:30/4:15/7:00/9:45 pmorphanStarring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle FuhrmanDirector: Jaume Collet-SerraScreenplay: David Johnson Language: English ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:118 min

RTP-i (Live)11:30 PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES12:00 DAWSON´S CREEK12:40 COOKING13:00 TDM NEWS ( REP. )13:20 NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast) 14:20 SOAP OPERA - COMPACT18:35 PORTUGUESE SERIE20:00 CULTURAL CONTEST20:30 MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER REPORT21:00 NOON NEWS: RTP-i (Live) 22:00 DOCUMENTARY SERIES IN PORTUGUESE23:00 TDM NEWS23:20 VARIETY00:10 SITUATION COMEDY RTP-i (Live)

Sunday

RTP-i (Live)12:00 MAGAZINE12:30 COOKING SERIES13:00 TDM NEWS ( REP. )13:20 NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast) 14:20 DOUGIE IN DISGUISE14:45 ANIMATION: JOHAN, THE YOUNG SCIENTIST15:00 ANIMATION: TURTLE ISLAND15:30 LOST17:45 DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE18:10 DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE18:30 SITUATION COMEDY19:00 PORUTGUESE MUSIC20:30 MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER REPORT 21:00 NOON NEWS: RTP-i (Live) 22:00 CRIMINAL MINDS22:45 TDM NEWS23:00 NON-DAILY PORTUGUESE NEWS00:00 DOCUMENTARY SERIES RTP-i (Live)

The Taking of Pelham 123

Tony Scott directs this remake of the original Palomar Production/Walter Matthau-starring thriller from 1974 with this Columbia Pictures production that pits Denzel Washington and John Turtorro against a group of hijackers, lead by John Travolta, who take over a subway train in order to rake in a hefty ransom. David Koepp (War of the Worlds) is adapting the book by author John Godey.

Room 12:30/4:30/7:30/9:30 pmThe Taking of Pelham 123Starring: John Travolta, Denzel WashingtonDirector: Tony ScottLanguage: English ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:121 min

Room 22:30/4:30/7:30/9:30 pmLand of the LostStarring: Will Ferrell, Danny McbrideDirector: Brad SiberlingLanguage: English ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:101 min

Room 34:30/6:00 pmMcdull Kungfu Ding Ding DongStarring: Michael Tse, Francis NgDirector: Herman YauLanguage: Cantonese ( Chinese subtitles)Duration:98 min

Room 32:30/7:30/9:30 pmTurning PointStarring: Michael Tse, Francis NgDirector: Herman YauLanguage: Chinese ( English subtitles)

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Wee

kend

Tes

t EuropEan attraction

Macau Daily Times tested the New Opel Corsa

by João Contente Fernandes

THiS week we bring to you the new opel cor-sa. this utility car is completely redesigned from previous corsa

models, and i had a nice surprise driving these types of cars again. A european utility car in Macau is the perfect combination. You will like him, especially if you’re looking for a small car; it is not suited to a family.

Quality - 7the quality of this model is very

high. this is a German car, so it’s not a big surprise to find the right touch of materials, the perfect match be-tween colours in the interior or the ambience from the panoramic sun-roof for instance. However, we were expecting a bit more from this mod-el, in terms of utility spaces. these models usually come with places to put wallets, mobiles, or even sun-glasses. there is nowhere for these items apart from the regular places in the front doors, so quality was slightly penalised due to this.

Performance – 6the opel corsa oPc’s engine

is a 1.4-litre 4-cylinder block that can generate up to 66kW of power

*Rate is 1 to a maximum of 10.

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EuropEan attraction

Macau Daily Times tested the New Opel Corsa

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(90hp). the model we tested was equipped with a 4-speed automatic transmission and we think the gear ratio is too long. this corsa should move better with 90hp and we are sure it will if you take the manual transmission option instead of auto-matic. the price difference from 1.4 to the 1.6 shouldn’t be that big, and you if you are looking for better con-sumption you should stay with the 1.4. However, if you’re looking for better performance you should think about investing a bit more and get the 1.6 turbo.

Handling – 8the major modifications to the

opel corsa oPc’s chassis include

a stronger rear axle profile and ad-justed torsion beam rear axle weld-in angle to keep the rear end from skit-tering about. new suspension tuning is also part of the oPc kit. these in-creased changes, create a completely new corsa. the car is really easy to drive, very smooth in cornering and very competent when you push a bit harder. continue thinking about the 150hp of the 1.6 model…. that should be fun!

Practicality and design – 7i really like the design of this mod-

el. the rear is very beautiful and the front very racy and aggressive. the car is a bit small, especially in the rear seats, also it’s not so easy to get into the back seats, but for those not really interested in transporting four people it would be fine.

the optional list is so big, you can have a car almost unique to your choice, it all depends how much you want to spend… you have ten differ-ent models of wheels, transport box-es, child seats, racing leather steering and gear lever knob, alloy pedals, and my favourite, the oPc line exhaust – a centrally placed triangular stainless steel exhaust. Great look!

Final average rate - 7

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Zoo

mPhoto Eduardo Magalhães

Living buildingsMost of the days are boring. Some people just stand watching. Others take some pictures. But today giant women full of color come to spread a little bit of joy. It worked and the people followed them.Who said that the ancient monuments can’t have life?

Alexandra LagesJournalist

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