Beijing 2008 and other curiosities

...just read this in our local newspaper, the South China Morning Post:

A mainland official said rockets would be fired to scatter rain clouds and ensure perfect weather for next year's Beijing Olympics, China Daily said. While the forecasts indicate good weather, officials had prepared for the unexpected, the report stated. They concede that rain prevention is difficult/Reuters

Hmmmm...this will become the perfect Games, no doubt...if anyone needs a perfect day for any outdoor event next year, give "the weathergods" in Beijing a ring, should work out then...

Today's headlines (!!!) by the way were "Starbucks retreats from the Forbidden City" (1/2 page) - yes, it seems to be THAT important since we're having no other current problems in the world...The Forbidden City is undergoing renovation at the moment to restore its imperial-era appearance, meaning the commercial symbols have to be toned down - I commented on Starbucks in a previous Blog - why the h...did they have to open one on such a historic site in the first place?!...and NO, that does not mean that I turn my back on Starbucks ;-)

...oh and by the way - field mice are back on the menu in Guangdong because Hunan has been overrun by 2 billion field mice driven from their nests by flood last week and many merchants spotted a business opportunity - meat for dinner - anybody?...in case you want to adopt some mice to save me from accidentally eating them, call me, I'll ship some over...eating mice was banned since the SARS outbreak in 2003.