Sunday, July 20, 2008

[sunday olive tree blogging] the not so ordinary life


The church bells are currently chiming across the valley, all 100 of them, calling the faithful to prayer [or is that the terminology of another religion?], I'm about to head down the shady road for a coffee and croissant, to read La Sicilia in its dead wood manifestation and Sunday has begun.

Yesterday we went down to Consorzio again and the sun was fierce along the way. It's got now so that it's too hot by about 9 a.m. and it doesn't let up until about 8.30 p.m. - "let up" meaning that the shutters can once again be thrown open across the town.

We divided responsibilities yesterday, Welshcakes and I - she would concentrate on the food photography and I'd do more of the cafe itself. We'd both commented immediately on reaching our "under the olive branch" haven that the variegated light looked almost surreal on the tablecloths. Welshcakes qualified that by saying it was more impressionist than surreal and she may well have been right.

Click on the pics and see what you think.

That white linen table cloth and napkins, the scrumptious "pranza" or repast, the service, the Moretti beer and the trees and shrubs themselves, let alone the garden furniture - all conspired to let the previous hellish week's troubles ebb away. It was in no way hot under that tree - perhaps it was warmish.

On the way back up the series of tracks and roads leading up the hill, leading to our hillside retreat, it was bloody hot. One thing which impresses here is that they can take what are virtually concrete boxes with holes in them as houses, add some balconies and walkways between buildings, set the boxes at varying angles to each other and paint them in light shades of apricot and peach and the result is the picture postcard stuff you see on good stands.

If there had been sea, you could be sure it would have been azure.

To cap off the effect, they make much use of foliage of the thicker, overhanging kind, many planter boxes and pot plants and the result is pleasing to the eye. When I mentioned to Welsh that the steep hill simply adds to the overall effect, I did not receive the glance of agreement I'd hoped for.

So, down that path again this morning and may your morning be one of great relaxation and pleasure, free of life's vicissitudes - if only for some hours.


Saturday, July 19, 2008

[thought for the day] retrospective


In the light of Moody's admission of computer error:

A mediocracy does not believe in innate ability. It believes that anyone can be a philosopher, mathematician, or central bank chief — provided they have had appropriate training. A mediocracy does not believe in the value of thinking, or in individuals having innate powers of judgment. It believes in following procedures, making rules, ticking the boxes.

[
Fabian Tassano]

Fabian quotes the FT:


As one senior risk manager writes ... “we did express to senior management that we lacked the analytical skills ...” (FT)

[empire class flying boat] the need for a rear deck



"Oh for the days of the roomy Empire class flying boats that actually had an (inside) promenade deck." [Gallimaufrey]

That's as may be, Gallifmaufrey ... but I still feel the need for a rear deck and railing, lovely though the promenade deck was.

[salmonella] we know why but it doesn't matter

You remember that recent salmonella outbreak, where tomatoes were blamed?

You know - where the USFDA banned them and stores pulled tomatoes from the shelves? Well, the FDA has now decided that they are fine but are still not ruling out that they might not be fine.

So why would they lift the ban if they're not sure?

However, FDA and CDC officials have not absolved tomatoes as a possible cause of the outbreak and are considering the possibility that both tomatoes and jalapeños have spread Salmonella saintpaul.

Could there be a reason for doing this prematurely?

[one year as someone else] who?

The ever-sublime Bryan Appleyard is torn:

This woman is an inspiration to us all. She is living as Oprah for one year. I am torn between living as the sublime Richard Madeley or sinking into the dark heart of Elberry.
While the first lady wasn't actually shape-shifting into Oprah, still, the principle holds water.

Who would you be for a year? Gordo? Cherie Blair? One half of the McCanns? Mugabe with his opulent monster status? The aging Bill Gates?

Yourself [perhaps with a bit more cash under the belt]?

Friday, July 18, 2008

[air safety] planes need decks and safety railings


Here's a good idea:

An allegedly drunken passenger has attempted to open an exit door of a Boeing 767 while the plane was 35,000 feet in the air.

The man was abusive to passengers and staff on the First Choice flight from Gatwick to Cuba before lunging at the door in an attempt to lift the handle.
I believe WC Fields attempted similar in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, stepping out onto the rear deck, losing his drink over the railing and toppling after it, to land softly in a clifftop garden where a naive young nubile was well and truly surprised.

With news of airlines finding new ways to cope with rising fuel costs, there might be something in this for them.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

[thought for the day] thursday evening


Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z

Sigh.

[good intentions] or cynical foresight

Coffee growing in Ethiopia

From Wolfie:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say and without a doubt large swathes of that continent are starting to do a very good impression but little do the well-meaning and generous natured here understand how much they are contributing to the continuation or indeed deepening of that hell.

On the one hand you have the multinationals plundering natural resources whilst lining the pockets of corrupt and cruel governments but on the other you have the toxic results of generations of multinational aid that has laid waste to the fabric of several African nations.
From the Independent, via Wolfie:

They are now — one way or another — virtually all giving aid to or investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS.
From the Middle-East Forum, via Cassandra:

In the midst of the effort in Paris to bestow unprecedented sums of foreign aid on the Palestinians, there was little discussion of the unintended consequences — often deadly ones — of previous aid regimens. The recent history of foreign assistance shows a distinct correlation between aid and violence.

Perhaps aid itself does not cause violence, but there is strong evidence that it contributes to a culture of corruption, government malfeasance, and terrorism that has had lethal consequences for both Israelis and Palestinians over the past decade.
The most charitable thing to say is that it is sheer incompetence. The next most charitable is that it is dangerous incompetence and finally, that aid is given in the full knowledge of its consequences, under the current system of distribution and its known effects.

Wolfie and others take a hard line but stop a moment. You give 20 pounds and you think it is going to a poor child. Is it hell. Please take time to read all the related links on both sites and it is an eye-opener.

Compassion is in short supply these days but so are effective routes for aid to get to the right people.

[issues just now] posting when possible

Might be today. Might be some time.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

[westminster brown] new impervious stock

Final PMQ was today. Incidentally, here is some of the new livestock with a mobile feeder.

Gallimaufry takes issue though with the portrayal of politicians as pigs.