Elton John and His Band

[kombuchakid]

I was sure that the tv ads said 'Elton John and Husband' but any way the great man has finally arrived

Sporting sunglasses and a blue outfit, he was ferried in a Mercedes-Benz to the back entrance of the Ritz-Carlton, in Central, around 4.50pm.


He hopped out of the car in Chater Road without a glance at a mass of flashing cameras.

The superstar was escorted into the hotel by staff and security officers, who formed a blockade against the swarm of media.
Tonight's performance, titled Elton John and His Band, starts at 8pm in Hall Three of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Imagine paying $1600+ to be seen at such a grotty venue; Oh yes caption time for that ludicrous pics of Sir EJ in today's paper

[kombuchakid]

There is a moral to this shaggy dog tale in the SCMP, probably that going to see ageing rockers can do wonders for your schedule the following day.....

Teacher is arrested for refusing to pay taxi fare

A Canadian expatriate teacher was arrested in Sha Tin after he allegedly insulted a taxi driver by calling him "a Chinese pig" and "stupid", and left without paying a $15 fare yesterday.
The man, 32, jumped into Lam Chung-chiu's cab at the taxi stand outside the University KCRC station about 7am and asked to go to Sun Chui Estate in Sha Tin.

"Shortly after, he asked me whether I could reach [the destination] in 15 minutes. I told him that I would try," Mr Lam, 42, said.
He said the secondary school teacher then asked the cab to turn back. "My English is poor. So I asked him to make sure whether I should drive him back to the station. And I was told to go back to the KCRC station," Mr Lam said.
"Before we reached the taxi stand, he [called] me a Chinese pig and stupid for not understanding what he had said."
When the cab stopped, Mr Lam said he asked for the $15 fare.
"He refused and he leaned over to the front passenger seat holding his fist tightly and threatened to assault me."
Mr Lam said the man ignored his demand, then entered the railway station. Mr Lam followed him, called the police and sought help from two KCRC staff.
The teacher boarded a Sha Tin-bound train, and Mr Lam and the two KCRC workers followed him.
"When the train arrived at the Fo Tan station, the expatriate man was pushed out by other passengers when I told the commuters that he did not pay the fare and I had called the police," Mr Lam said.
The workers asked the teacher not to leave, but he ignored them and boarded another train. The trio again followed the teacher, who got off at Sha Tin station.
Police then arrived and arrested the teacher, who was released unconditionally last night.

[kombuchakid]

Sir Elton John branded photographers in Taiwan "rude, vile pigs" today in a furious airport bust-up.

The star arrived in the country to play a concert, the last date in his tour of the Far East.
But after touching down at Taipei's Chiang Kai-Shek airport by private jet in the early hours of this morning, he was besieged by photographers and TV crews.
Taiwanese news channel ETTV showed Sir Elton, dressed in a royal blue tracksuit and matching sunglasses, clenching his teeth and muttering expletives as he stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.


"Rude, vile pigs!" he shouted. "Do you know what that means? Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."

One of the photographers shouted back: "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?"

Sir Elton replied: "We'd love to get out of Taiwan if it's full of people like you. Pig! Pig!"

The star, who recently performed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said: "We had a great tour of the Far East and then we come to Taiwan."

It is not the first time the 57-year-old singer has lost his temper in public.

In the fly-on-the-wall documentary Tantrums And Tiaras, made by his partner David Furnish, he famously threw a fit when a female fan waved at him and
shouted "Yoo hoo!" on the tennis court of his French Riviera hotel.

He stormed off court saying: "I'm never coming back to the south of France again."

A spokeswoman for Sir Elton accused police and airport security officials of failing to protect the star but said he was "bravely" carrying on with tonight's concert at the Chung Shan soccer stadium.

"Elton John's arrival at Taipei Airport was greeted by what can only be described as chaos and confusion," the spokeswoman said.

"No sooner had he disembarked from the aircraft, he was led into the public immigration area of the airport which was immediately besieged by hordes of photographers and live TV crews intent upon disrupting his progress.

"The local police and security at the airport failed to protect Elton John from the ensuing chaos. "Despite this frightening arrival, his spirits remain high and he is looking forward to performing the concert."

[Max]

Yikes!...the creepy photo says it all. Just look at the scowl on that mug!