Alexander Stuart

Something mysterious has happened with the template for this blog at the moment, and various tabs are missing on some browsers, so here are links to the main page tabs that usually appear in the black bar at the top of the blog: Alexander Stuart - Biography A Meditation On Meditation The War Zone filmloops/fragments - Miami Art Museum Hopefully normal service will be resumed very soon!

And so, as we say our fond farewells to the impeccable staff of the Peninsula Shanghai - who have pampered us, cared for us, and, when needed, overlooked so much (not least Paradise's pet white mouse and Husky Go-Go's antics) - we prepare f or the long journey by air and  sea back to California, where I must write and be otherwise occupied for a time. First to the frenzy and humidity of Hong Kong, then a Flying Clipper to San Francisco, then onward up or down the California coast, as the whim may take us. The Boeing 314s are a wonder to behold: flying boats that offer the true meaning of luxury, with a perfectly elegant dining area staffed by chefs from four-star hotels (my one bone of contention: why not five-star hotels?), plus dressing rooms and bunks for overnight accommodation. They are so large, these flying boats, that a man - a mechanic - may stand up inside the wing while in flight and perform maintenance, should it be required. One

THIS is where we're going to be living next in Shanghai...it may be 48 clicks outside of town, but how many other hotels can boast an underwater restaurant? This is the Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland Hotel , set to open in 2014 or 2015 at the foot of Tianmashan Mountain. It's tough, because the W Shanghai is opening around then, too - and Hudson has a very special relationship with the W.

I greatly enjoyed this piece about the whole NSA/leak story from my pal Frazer Rice's blog, which is called, not unreasonably, FrazerRice.com. Perhaps what surprises me most about all this is how much I'm not surprised by NSA snooping. I feel that Google, Facebook, AT&T and my beloved Apple know all that stuff about me anyway (not to mention LinkedIn). I guess I'm just not paranoid enough anymore - I feel I could have a Hunter S Thompson weekend in Vegas and no one would care. I rather expect full valet service from the NSA now. A car with a driver would be nice - as long as it took me where I wanted to go, rather than a one-way trip to some undisclosed location. I guess it's being white and British-born (privileged, as my wealthier-born Chinese-American wife is always pointing out) - I feel that I could still engage in some pretty nefarious activities, and the NSA/FBI/CIA wouldn't get hot under the collar (hopefully they'd be pre

Photograph Copyright  ©  2013 Alexander Chow-Stuart. An astonishingly beautiful and thoughtful gift from my friend David Tait of a jade Buddha that comes from the land he loves so much, surrounding Mount Everest. David just summited Everest for the fifth time, to raise money for the NSPCC and for a vitally needed educational programme in schools to raise children's awareness of the risks of child abuse, of which David sadly was a victim as a child. The Buddha sits on my desk by my keyboard, where it shall remain for as long as I am in this body (and perhaps after) - which I hope will be a very long time. A million thanks, David. Namaste.