red hot passion

Last March 24, I was at the London Heathrow Airport waiting for my connecting flight to Madrid, Spain. Instead of sitting in the lounge for coffee, pastry and Facebook, I decided to kill time by window shopping.

Okay, I admit that with me, window shopping can turn into panic buying at the sight of a sale sign or a hot new item.

So, yes, I ended up getting the bright red loafers on the left.

Frankly, I had to think hard of where I would wear them before I gave the cashier my Visa card. Probably not to church, like what the vain little girl did in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale entitled "The Red Shoes" – the priest might deny me Holy Communion! I doubt if I would wear them to a bullfight in Madrid, either, unless I wanted the bull to run after me. And I don't think I have a chance of ever wearing it to the beach, but that's not because of its color, right?

Nevertheless, red is awfully attractive. And like red roses, red lips, red hearts, red sportscars, red apples, strawberries and cherries, those shiny red Bally shoes are simply irresistible to me.

(Top pic) The red Jellybean Bearbrick from Series 18. Pic by yours truly / Copyright March 2010.

the figures behind the fight

Did you watch the Pacquiao-Clottey match last Saturday night? According to CompuBox, a computer program that counts and categorizes punches thrown and connected in boxing matches, Manny Pacquiao's red gloves landed 246 of 1,231 punches; Joshua Clottey connected only on 108 of 399.

The numbers indicate that Clottey practically didn't put up a fight! According to many viewers, he was trying to cover his face the whole time. After 12 rounds, Pacquiao was declared winner.

At a press con, Clottey explained, “He’s very, very fast. I tried to catch him, but he always manages to move out. He’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”

Clottey earned $1.25 million, excluding pay-per-view revenue, a figure which could run up to more than $3 million, according to some speculators.

Seems like Clottey wasn't a loser after all. :-)

(Top) The Tokidoki Fighter Bearbrick, the fifth (5th) 100% bear designed by famous Italian illustrator Simone Legno.

Bearbrick pic by Yours Truly, Copyright March 2010 / Fight pic/info from LA Times Online, paquiaovsclottey.boxingnewsupdates.com