[short saturday quiz] bastille day is mentioned

Double points today:

1] The official name for the day is:

a. Fête de la Fédération

b. Ménage à trois

c. Défilés du 14 juillet

2] It always ends with the much-cheered and popular:

a. Paris Fire Brigade

b. French Republican Guard

c. Ménage à quatre

3] Chirac did but Sarkozy will not give:

a. Ménage à sept

b. The signal to begin the fireworks

c. Interviews to the press

4] Bastille Day also falls during the running of the:

a. Tour de France

b. Bulls

c. Ménage à deux

5] One of the most famous incidents was the:

a. Bastille Oath

b. Ménage à trois

c. Tennis Court Oath

Answers here.

[blogfocus saturday] bastille day is not mentioned

1] Tuscan Tony is in a similar position to Praguetory, Sicily Scene and to a certain extent … me. There are some amazing places to visit:

Yesterday was a shining example of why I'm here - beaten back en route from a visit to my favourite restaurant (Il Botteghino in Matraia, near Lucca) by their clever and cunning strategy of not announcing their new rest day of Wednesdays, we ended up in a beautiful little mediaeval hilltop hamlet near us, sitting under an umbrella at a trattoria in the square.

2] Referring to the cypriot and Nigerian drug dealers who were caught, The Lone Voice adds:

These two girls could face years in a Ghanaian jail, a nation that has no prisoner exchange with the UK. Whining on their part aside they did the crime, and if guilty they will have to do the time. Something that prisoners here in the UK don't do as we as a nation let them all out early.

3] JaneJill is up in arms about the fashionable Irish:

I have just been reading someone else’s blog and they made an offhand remark which has upset me greatly ; this person said, and I quote, ‘the Irish do not have any sense of style’ well ,that’s me annihilated (after a fashion….) I need to respond to this….. I should tell this person I have had an innate sense of dress ever since I was about three and a half and had to wear my older sister’s cast-offs; as I was taller and plumper this was never going to be a good look. I have been trying to make amends (to myself for the indignity) ever since.

4] Grendel Grendel gives us our daily dose of Alistair:

He also said Mr Blair had talked him out of resigning after Dr Kelly died, saying it would be a "disaster" for Mr Campbell. Probably not as much a disaster as it was for Dr. Kelly and his family. Mind you, I’m sure Ms Booth would have autographed a copy of your resignation letter to be auctioned off to raise money for ‘the party’.

5] William Gruff sails close to the wind in his take on the term "ban":

It seems that neology is currently à la mode or, if not, is enjoying a discreet vogue, rather like one of the more respectable fetishes. Inspired, via Tim Worstall, by Harry Haddock's splendid neologism 'bansturbation' (Nation of Shopkeepers), PJC Journal has devised a number of definitions for words taking 'ban' as their root that are not only appropriate but amusing, so much so that a couple came to Gruff's mind.

6] It's tragic that I haven't visited the inimitable Prodicus for so long. Take this paragraph, for example:

Now look, Gordon. We may get grumpy with the Americans from time to time over some ad hoc issue but you are quite mistaken if you think it's an abiding visceral dislike, as it would be with the French, for example. We may roar at some of their governors from time to time, but we do not dislike the Americans as a species. We quite like them, actually and, if push came to shove, we would rather be with them on the liberty-and-free-markets side of the see-saw than with Frau Kanzlerin Merkel and Monsieur le President Sarkozy, both of whom (in truth) reject our peculiar national spirit - with which you are not acquainted even though you may protest the contrary.

7] Celia Green reflects on a familiar theme:

Women on the whole are unsympathetic to drive and ambition, especially in other women, and from the age of 14, if not earlier, I have always had at least one woman — and usually two — networking energetically against me. A friend was saying recently how much this must have increased the opposition against me. ‘Well’, I said, ‘I thought the way was open.

8] I make no apology for running Chris Dillow in this supposed gallery of new blogs because he's just good:

Congratulations to the Metropolitan Police. Sure, they waste time and money. But at least they account for that waste properly … So, the Met knows about opportunity costs. In this respect, it's more advanced than most companies. You'll not read about opportunity costs in the average company's accounts. Few firms say explicitly: "we made £x million on this project, but that's a loss of £y million compared to putting the money in the All-share." Even fewer regard a potentially profitable venture that they failed to pursue as a cost of funds.

And so on. I hope to do another Focus on Wednesday, all being well.

[beijing's imperial palace] home of starbucks

In the early 90s I was in Salzburg, walking down one of the cobbled lanes in their "shambles", when suddenly - there was a McDonalds and what struck me was that it was a dusky green colour like the rest of the shopfronts in the lane. There were no golden arches and one might have missed it, it was so discreetly situated.

I'd always thought McDonalds refused to compromise on such things but I assure you it was so. Which got me to thinking about the need for American food outlets in every nook and cranny on earth. Is it U.S. cultural imperialism or is it the need for the American tourist to never have to leave home wherever he travels?

As I sat in that McDonalds, the familiar menu was a bit of a relief, it was reasonably priced compared to the local fare - in other words, one knew exactly where one was. It gave a lonely tourist a sense of security.

On the other hand, are there places where a McDonalds or a Starbucks simply should not be?

China's imperial palace has closed its Starbucks outlet following protests led by a state television personality against the American coffee chain's presence at a major Chinese cultural site. The small outlet, a popular resting spot for visitors to the sprawling Forbidden City in central Beijing, closed yesterday afternoon, the Beijing Morning Post and other newspapers reported.

The Starbucks opened in 2000 at the invitation of palace managers, but critics said it was inappropriate for the site. Palace managers offered Starbucks the option of continuing to operate as part of a combined coffeehouse with other brands but the Seattle-based company declined, the Post said.

I don't know. If there were a string of Chinese takeaways tucked into a lane round the corner, well all right. No need for a Starbucks. But if not, then I'd imagine the Starbucks would be a welcome relief after traipsing round for half the day.

Besides, every major city has its Chinatown so what's the big deal?

[new template] spot the changes

It's a brand new template, not a variation on the old and the idea was for it to be crisper. As I half-constructed it myself, there are still a lot of issues such as padding and so on. I had to rebuild the profile container because the template's version wouldn't "take". Hope you like where it's heading.

[workplace] much ado about something

Well, a lot of nervous energy swirling about and I don't really understand it all but basically there's been a reshuffle - it was explained to me but I can't remember half the names in this language. My Min has somehow gone under the direction of the President and our building is now occupied and he's next door in some super slick offices.

People coming and going, I was being introduced to this one and that one and hopefully it will all calm down soon. Min's doing his final two week tour of the U.S. from Monday so say hello for me over there if you see him - he'll be in New York. PM wants me for something next week but not sure what.

That's all I know and all I want to know. .Saturday continues and you're going to see a blog change later too.

[did you know] syria has invaded the lebanon

One of the sharpest thinkers and most erudite bloggers, Cassandra, has drawn our attention to something I had absolutely no idea of [quite a common occurrence for me, by the way]:

A few days ago Lebanese daily newspaper Al Mustaqbal quietly reported a limited Syrian invasion of Lebanon. (Via Naharnet.)

Syrian troops on Thursday (5th July!) reportedly have penetrated three kilometers into Lebanese territories, taking up positions in the mountains near Yanta in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.