The pitch:

FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION.

COULD YOU PLEASE CONSIDER TO HELP ME TO RELOCATE THIS SUM OF NINE MILLION,THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS(US$9.3m) TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR ESTABLISHING A MEDIUM SIZE INDUSTRY IN YOUR COUNTRY.

THE SAID 9.3 MILLION DOLLARS WAS DEPOSITED IN OUR BANK BY MRS JOYCE LAKE AN AMERICA CITIZEN WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN 2000.WE HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT HER IMMEDIATE FAMILY TO COME FORWARD FOR CLAIMS BUT COULD NOT SUCCEED.
WE DISCORVERED THAT THE LATE AMERICAN DIED ALONG SIDE WITH HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HER NEXT OF KIN.

CLICKHERE(http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/).

I WILL GIVE YOU ALL VITAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE AMERICAN AND THE 9.3MILLION DOLLARS IN OUR CUSTODY SO THAT YOU WILL CONTACT MY BANK
FOR THEM TO RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU.

YOU CAN COME HERE IN PERSON OR YOU CAN REQUEST THE BANK TO GIVE YOU THE CONTACT OF THE BANK LAWYER’S WHO CAN REPRESENT YOUR INTREST IN THE TRANSFER PROCESS.
I AM ONE OF THE BANK DIRECTORS, I WILL PLAY A ROLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE 9.3 MILLION DOLLARS IS RELEASED TO YOU.

AS SOON AS I RECIEVE YOUR REPLY, I WILL GIVE YOU AN INSTRUCTION ON WHAT YOU SHOULD DO.

REPLY AND LET ME KNOW YOUR FULL NAME,AGE,ADDRESS,OCCUPATION,AND YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBERS IF AVALIABLE.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY.YOU CAN REPLY ME THROUGH THIS EMAIL malikali101@yahoo.fr)

MR. MALIK ALI

My reply:

Dear Mr. or Mrs. Mali Kali,

Thank you so very very much for your making the writing of your letter to the personage of myselfs.

I am willing to be making the helping of this effortses between myselfs and yourselfs.

I am currently earning my livings and being in the full time carere of a professional pimp. I am involved in the marketing of women’s sexual servises to lonely and horney travellers in Indonesia. Your investment will alllow me to expand my offereings to other countries like MaLAYsia and Singapoor. I belief that I can offer you a retrun on your investment of at leest 20% per month.

Is that acceptable to you?

Given the natures of my business, I prefer to not share my details of contact with you until we have become better akwainted.

Thank you Mr Malikali and bless you for your help with my holy mission.

Did I lay it on too heavy? Let’s see if he replies.

Thailand …. these people who shut down the airports have inflicted long term damage on Thailand’s economy and longer term damage on the country’s international reputation as a business hub as well as a tourist hub …. the courts ruling that the party of the democratically elected leaders is illegal is a joke …. not that I’m any fan of Thaksin but why is there no respect for the democratic process and the rule of law? endemic corruption at every level. every level.

Mumbai …. don’t even know where to start here …. I’ll simply mention that I’ve stayed at the Oberoi, of course I’ve been in the Taj, and that after a 1,000 or more years, this is the first time it’s been dangerous to be Jewish in India. I’ve been there three times, it’s the only place in India I’ve been to, and I think it’s a very special city.

Hong Kong taxi drivers …. bitch and moan that they didn’t get a fare increase for years and then they get two in one year for some reason, leading them to bitch and moan that the higher fares mean they’re losing business …. as a former taxi driver myself, I know this is a seriously tough and wearing job …. as a frequent passenger I know there are almost as many good taxi drivers in HK as bad ones …. almost

U.S. auto companies bailout? …. yes if they go under, millions of people lose their jobs …. but they have had 30 years to see this coming and have not been able to effectively compete with the Japanese or the Germans …. save the auto companies if it means saving the jobs of the assembly line workers and the people in the shops and restaurants that they patronize …. fire the CEOs and the boards of directors who still get multi-million dollar salaries in the face of colossal failures ….

Black Friday sales in Hong Kong? Not in our lifetime

Why is Swire co-sponsoring a two month Vivienne Westwood exhibition at Taikoo Place? Why do I have to see the right half of this photo every 10 paces for the next two months, not to mention one poster that’s about 30 storeys tall.

Not Hard to Figure Out …. the proper supplements on a DVD can elevate a film to a higher level. Case in point is the new Criterion two disc release of Spy Who Came In From the Cold, starring Richard Burton, Oscar Werner and Clare Bloom, directed by Martin Ritt, based on John Le Carre’s third novel. My parents took me to see this when it first came out. I was 11 years old and I don’t think I really understood much of what was going on in the first anti-James Bond film.

A 38 minute interview with Le Carre, conducted this year, is extraordinarily detailed and penetrating, trivia one moment, pungent analysis the next (for example, how Paramount wanted to cast Burt Lancaster, he wanted Trevor Howard; not having read the book I didn’t realize that Bloom’s character was also Jewish and the plot can be seen as the British and German secret services almost teaming up to kill two Jews; and Le Carre’s final thoughts on the film as well as his book’s relationship to reality). A 60s TV interview of Burton by Kenneth Tynan told me more about Burton than I ever knew, in terms of what he says, how he says it, what he doesn’t say, as he smokes non stop and proclaims Elizabeth Taylor to be the finest actress in the world and that he acts mostly so that he can get good tables in restaurants and good seats in airplanes. And more. You watch the film, you watch these extras, they highlight things from the film you didn’t see, didn’t realize, didn’t appreciate, you watch the film again and it shines, in a noir sort of way.