Sweetbreads

I say!

No one guessed correctly that the food in my last post was sweetbreads. Delicious they were, as well. I gather that it's difficult to get offal in butchers nowadays in Blighty. Here in Kalimbuka it is the same, unless one goes to the market when a cow is available. Even then, one has to point to the appropriate part of the animal, before it is cut out, and to tell the truth, I would not know where to find the sweetbread. In the market, all meat is sold at the same price, so one can purchase fillet for the same cost as brisket.

Below is a snap taken some time ago of myself, Henry Morton and Menzies IV, at a camp situated next to a water hole, in a reserve in South Africa.



MM III

What food is this?

I say!

Mrs M and myself had a wonderful time in Madrid recently. There were several parades to celebrate something-or-other, which I shall post about soon. One reason for going to Madrid was to check out possible connections between bullfighting and cricket. However, I can confirm that the bullring is far too small to play cricket in.

In the meantime, have a look at the snap below. Can you tell what it is that I am eating? In the centre is a salad, and some potatoes. What food is on the outside of my plate? Doviko did not have a clue when I showed him the snap. This was a delightful meal we enjoyed in a small restaurant called the Camoati, in La Latina.

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Another quotation

I say!

I would like to thank everyone who commented on my previous post, even though I don't agree with the comments. Here's another quote from the same book:

"Ouassa had the sculpted face and svelte figure for which Malians are famous throughout West Africa. A stonewashed denim dress brushed the tops of her slender calves; leather sandals encased her petite feet; and from behind glasses with smart gold frames, chestnut brown eyes peered out sympathetically. Her voice was sensuously hoarse, her banter dreamy, eerily plaintive, and her greetings strikingly repetitive."

The chap can write. He also knows his stuff. He points out that farm subsidies and grants from Western gorvernments to their agricultural sectors make the produce of Africa unprofitable to export. The grants allow farmers in the USA and elsewhere to undersell their African competitors, even though the produce of those farmers costs much more to cultivate. Trade barriers keep African goods out of Western markets. This is what needs to change. Changing that situation would do much more good than all the foreign aid in the world.

Here are two snaps. The first is of some lion in Chobe. The second is an elephant in Hwange.



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Excellent writing

I say!

What do you think of the following?

"The rising sun inflamed the glassy expanses of the Niger River, setting aglow phantoms of mist wandering along the grassy banks, warming doves to coo and kingfishers to caw. Herons, silhouetted against the gilt waters, stood poised in the shallows, waiting for a perch or crawfish, their heads cocked, their pincer-like bills aimed to strike. Afar, by islands reedy and low, pairs of bulbous eyes and twitching, oblong ears popped above the currents, and with a gurgle sank away; hippos were feeding. Above all, against a vault of lambent turquoise, eagles and ospreys soared and dipped on the dew of the new day's uplift."

The chap can write, what? The above is an extract from The lost kingdoms of Africa, by Jeffrey Taylor. Excellent read.

Below is a copy of a postcard from Mulanje, demonstrating how Mulanje cedar is cut. Note the selective use of safety equipment and protective gear (the trouser belt).


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Tian'anmen Square Cricket Ground

I say!

Not everyone knows that the original purpose of building Tian'anmen Square in Beijing was to create a cricket ground - although the name 'Square' rather gives it away slightly. Rumour has it that the plan was originally hatched when a young Yáng Shàngkūn was listening to a radio commentry of a Test Match being held in Adelaide in the 1930s, and heard that Leslie "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith was bowling chinamen for Australia. He was quite put out by this, and wondered why his own countrymen were not bowling balls of this type (left-arm unorthodox spin). Several decades later, when he became President, he decided to do something about it, and planned the construction of what was intended to be a magnificent cricket ground near the centre of Beijing.

The ground was cleared and prepared, and a foundation of concrete was layed. Plans were made to install a state-of-the-art drainage system, and 47,000 tons of turf were ordered and were about to be delivered, when the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 took place.

Turning the area into a cricket ground was quickly forgotten for several years. Over a decade later, as a pitch adviser specialist, I was called in to give advice on the original plan. I am shown below taking in the perspective from what may one day be the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall end (though something will obviously also need to be done about erecting substantial sightscreens).


You can see that a small crowd has gathered, merely on the rumour that Geoffrey Boycott was in town, and was going to give a demonstration of how to combat left-arm unorthodox spin.

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Incomplete backup

I say!

When your kit blows up, it certainly helps if you've backed up all data. Unfortunately, my maintenance schedule was rather behind schedule, and as a result I've lost lots of snaps.

In the meantime, here is a snap of some rhino.

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