Chen Shui Bian Finally Put On Trial

Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has gone on trial accused of a series of corruption charges in a case that has gripped the island. Mr Chen, 58, along with his wife and 12 others, is accused of embezzlement, taking bribes and money laundering. He denies the charges and says he is a victim of a "government purge". Since leaving office in 2008, Mr Chen has been a vocal critic of the new government's support for China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.
Prosecutors allege Mr Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen embezzled money from a special presidential fund and laundered it through Swiss banks during his eight years in office.
They also accuse the couple of receiving bribes from a Taiwanese company to help it sell a piece of land to the government. Altogether, the money involved in the case adds up to an estimated $11m (£7.5m). In February, Mrs Wu pleaded guilty to accepting a $2.2m (£1.5m) political donation in connection with a land purchase deal, but denied that it had been a bribe, as alleged by prosecutors. She admitted charges of forging documents in a separate case but denied using the money for personal gain. Nine other accused, including Mr Chen's son and daughter-in-law, have pleaded guilty to some charges related to the case.

Mr Chen was taken into the Taipei courtroom in handcuffs to face the start of the formal proceedings against him. "The case has nothing to do with me and this is causing me unbearable pain," he told the court, according to the AFP news agency. His trial will initially investigate the alleged land deal before moving on to other charges, and is expected to last for several months. Mr Chen says the charges against him are politically motivated, constructed by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) government to please Beijing. Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been improving since the KMT, under President Ma Ying-jeou, took office last year.
Mr Chen has also challenged the impartiality of the judging panel, saying the fact they had not allowed him out on bail in December was "punitive".

CHARGES AGAINST MR CHEN
Embezzling $3m from the presidential fund
Taking $9m in bribes over a land purchase deal
Laundering money in Swiss bank accounts

"In order to gain favour and protection from the Beijing authorities, the Nationalist government has launched an all-out purge and cleansing against the former... administration," Mr Chen's office said on Wednesday. The KMT party accused Mr Chen of failing to "set an example" as a national leader. The court date follows more than two months of pre-trial hearings. If found guilty, Mr Chen could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Pet Shop Boys 'Yes'

Renowned for their thrilling pizzazz and soaring intelligence which propelled them to stratospheric levels in the 1980s, The Pet Shop Boys are back with their 10th, and best, album in over a decade. Certainly their best since 1996’s Bilingual album and many songs are even on par with their best output from Very and Behavior. It seems slightly ironic that they had to enlist the help of producers, Xenomania, to make them sound like themselves again, however overall it’s a winning combination. Pitting Tchaikovsky against rave bleeps doesn’t appear a winning combination on paper, yet it is probably their finest effort on this album, All Over The World. The lead single Love etc. tingles with Lowe's electronic sheen and Kylie must be insane for snubbing this song! The album does has faults, namely, Legacy which rolls on an on until it crashes unceremoniously into the car wreck it creates! Also, when they crank up the tempo it is hard to take them as anything but a high camp disco outfit. Not that there is anything wrong with that, however, when it is shadowing highly intelligent lyrics it’s a real shame. Neil Tenant is probably one of the only middle aged men to still be able to tap into and pull the emotional heartstrings of the younger generations. “I will never be your stepping stone but I don’t want to live… alone”. It sums up the feelings of many, particularly gay guys. A great album, welcome back PSB’s!

My Birthday

Last weekend was my birthday, after a nice easy day at work on Friday, just 2 hours due to a kindergarten field trip, I picked up George from the station and we headed for dinner at Papa Giovanni’s. The food, albeit expensive, was fantastic, a lasagna and gnocchi later we headed for a movie at Vieshow. Due to lack of choices we, rather aptly, decided upon Friday 13th. It was truly awful in every way but who cares, I was with my baby and that's all that mattered.

On Saturday we headed to watch Slumdog Millionaire and then meet up with George's dad. Then it was off to Rock Oldies to celebrate my birthday with friends. Although the place had a cheek to call itself 'Rock' Oldies (I think country oldies would have suited more) it was nice to hang out and see everyone. Then it was off to Watershed for some drinks. No surprise that I got completely wasted and somehow ended up in a taxi without George heading to Fresh. As I was obvious way over the tipping point we headed back home when I finally met up with George again.

On Sunday we headed out for yet another movie, Watchmen, it was a lot better than I could ever have imagined and rather deep for a comic book adaptation. We then headed to the pasta place next-door for some more great food. It was a great birthday!

My Poem

Just before Georgie left to go back to the army, he wrote me a touching poem.

Somehow when you look into my eyes,
Tenderness melts my heart like chocolate meets wine,
Even we don't share a lifetime together,
Venus in the dark will guide us towards each other,
Eventually we cam across the light year.

Some say love is blind though i don't deny,
Loving you makes me see for the first time,
Our journey has just begun but I'm certain,
As long as we keep our faith in this circle of fountain,
Next stop is where we've always longed to be.

Grammy's 2009

Record of the Year: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 'Please Read The Letter'
Album of the Year: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss 'Raising Sands'
Song of the Year: Coldplay 'Viva La Vida'
Best New Artist: Adele
Best Female Pop Performance: Adele 'Chasing Pavements'
Best Male Pop Performance: John Mayer 'Say'
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Coldplay 'Viva La Vida'
Best Dance Record: Daft Punk 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'
Best electronic/dance album: Daft Punk: 'Alive 2007'
Best solo rock vocal performance: John Mayer 'Gravity'
Best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals: Kings of Leon 'Sex on Fire'
Best rock song: Bruce Springsteen 'Girls In Their Summer Clothes'
Best rock album: Coldplay 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'
Best alternative music album: Radiohead 'In Rainbows'
Best female R&B vocal performance: Alicia Keys 'Superwoman'
Best male R&B vocal performance: Ne-Yo 'Miss Independent'
Best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals: Al Green ft John Legend 'Stay With Me (By The Sea)'
Best R&B song: Ne-Yo 'Miss Independent'
Best R&B album: Jennifer Hudson 'Jennifer Hudson'
Best rap solo performance: Lil' Wayne 'A Milli'
Best rap performance by a duo or group: Jay-Z and TI ft Kanye West and Lil Wayne 'Swagga Like Us'
Best rap/sung collaboration: Estelle ft Kanye West 'American Boy'Best rap album: Lil' Wayne 'Tha Carter III'

It was a great outcome for British artists and rightly so. Adele, Coldplay, Radiohead, Estelle, Duffy all picked up awards. So happy that the best album of 2007, in my opinion, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand landed five prestigious awards.

Some of the performances were truly amazing. Coldplay and Radioheads performances were both proof that they are probably two of the best live bands around. Radiohead rolled out an entire marching band for a bombastic rendition of 25 steps. The legend that is Paul McCartney also put in, as usual, a fantastic performance and David Grohl backing on drums gave him a more rocky edgier side.

Also great to see Al Green back in the music industry and singing as good as ever, his duet with Justin Timberlake was great and an added bonus to see him. You've gotta love JT! A whole lot better than the act it replaced, Rhianna!

Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers! What the hell? Stevie would have done better on his own, yet his majestic songs pulled the train wreck that is the Jonas Brothers along with him to actually pull off a half decent performance.

One of the highlights was the great Neil Diamond showing that the Grammys doesn't take itself so seriously all of the time allowing him to perform the ultimate cheese fest song 'Sweet Caroline'. Watch the crooner swagger around the stage was amazing, loved it!

San Yut Sen Lantern Festival

Richard and I attended the Lantern Festival at San Yut Sen Memorial Hall on Friday evening to revel in the lanterns on offer this year. As anticipated, lots of cows and pandas. It was a much smaller affair than i expected but pretty good to see nonetheless. Here are a taster of some of the lanterns displayed this year, the rest can be found in my photo album attatched to this blog.

Bafta Film Awards 2009: The winners

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best British Film: Man on Wire
Leading Actor: Mickey Rourke 'The Wrestler'
Leading Actress: Kate Winslet 'The Reader'
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger 'The Dark Knight'
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'
Director: Danny Boyle 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Original Screenplay: In Bruges Martin McDonagh
Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire Simon Beaufoy
Film not in English Language: I've Loved You So Long
Animated Film: Wall-E
Director, writer, producer of first film: Hunger Steve McQueen
Music: Slumdog Millionaire AR Rahman
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Production Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume Design: The Duchess
Sound: Slumdog Millionaire
Special Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Make-up and Hair: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Short Animation: Wallace and Gromit A Matter Of Loaf and Deaf
Short Film: September
Rising Star Award: Noel Clarke