Author: O Zangado

You may remember one of my first Chariot posts (or one of my last on the Dark Side) was about Mrs Machiavelli selling me too much beer and then giving me Das Fürballen, Fogo and Fumada, two feral Portuguese kittens. Fogo was always much the more feisty of the two as this first ever photogrpah of him demonstrates.

Anyway, sad news. I found Fogo in the garden on 23rd April quite dead. He had eaten some poisoned bait laid by hunters who were after the foxes that take the young rabbits and partridge they expect to hunt later in the year. You all know that I have nothing against hunting per se, but putting down poison (meatballs laced with paraquat) is both barbaric and illegal. Poison is also indiscriminate – two pet dogs belonging to neighbours across the valley have also died. I hope they find the fekkers responsible and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.

Anyway, at least he made it home and the NSW and I buried him where he fell. We shall miss the little sod, as does Fumada who is still very clingy and mournful.

OZ

There is a whimsical little column in the Sunday Dark Side by Sir Terry Wogan and this week he is on about eating strange stuff. Snails and stuff Sir Tel’s wallet is way heftier than mine so he can afford the chi-chi French restaurants where you can get escargots and haute cuisine, but my budget and tastes are somewhat more humble, though no less exotic, and it got me thinking.

Esteemed Charioteers are spread across the globe and have an immense depth of experience, so what’s the weirdest dish you’ve ever eaten?

OZ

It is reported today that she is “moving on”.

Having lost A Zangada and found the NSW, I wish the lady well.  Staff Sgt Olaf ‘Oz’ Schmid

and my RFC fighter-pilot grandfather are the names I think most about on Remembrance Day.

References to the former are the only comments I do not feel worthy to sign with my usual moniker.  I shall therefore sign

O Zangado

Something stirred in me today. It may have been the comment from Ferret earlier this morning about raw meat and vets that did it, but I went out and bought a kilo of rminced steak, chopped up an onion, four or five cloves of garlic, various pickled gherkins, a handful of alcaparras, wassaname in English? – capers – added loads of salt, sixty four grinds of black peppercorn, cracked a fresh country egg on top and ate the lot.

I absolutely love steak tartare even more than sex and sashimi. Or is it just me?

OZ

Dear B ‘n’ B

Happy Australia Day, even though you are apart-

OZ

Oh alright. somebody had to do it (and thank you Zen)

I went and bought a ticket for the Costa Concordia lotto. What’s to lose? It was a rollover last week.

Seriously now, it appears that ‘class actions’ for damages are now imminent, which is not surprising bearing in mind that the parent company is apparently ‘Me-ri-can. Frankly, I’m surprised the lawyers weren’t camping out in the lifeboats in the first place and I’m astonished it took them so long to surface….as it were.  However, my point is, is such an accident (for that is what it was notwithstanding the actions of the captain and crew) worth 100,000 dollars in ‘compensation’ for anyone who survived the discomfort of sitting in a lifeboat for ten minutes and millions for the relatives of those who didn’t, or is it just the get-rich-quick culture pursuing sod’s law for gains? Discuss.

OZ

At the moment there is no option to comment on this story from the dark side

Feckin’ disgrace

Perhaps Charioteers would like to add their view?

OZ

Well, that’s it! 2011 has been and gone, as have all the festive guests, and even the NSW has returned to work today, so I am rattling around The Cave like a spare part with only a mountain of laundry for company.

Being at somewhat of a loose end, may I remind all Charioteers that apart from being the festival days of Santa Marciana and Sáo Julião, next Monday, 9th January also marks the WOLF MOON of 2012, albeit somewhat earlier than last year. No doubt Bearsy and Ferret could explain to a thick wolf why this should be – oscillations in orbits, changes in the axix of rotation of the respective bodies and suchlike?

During last year I came across a marvellous site provided by an excellent photographer playing games with the Moon Laurent Lavader. He sounds a bit French to me, but no matter. Well worth a visit.

So, belated greetings for 2012 from me and the NSW. Don’t forget to have a howl with me on Monday night wherever you are in the world. It’s good for the soul, y’know.

OZ

I finished writing my snail mail Chrimbo cards over the weekend and would like to take this opportunity to wish my loyal Chariot reader a peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Continue reading “Season’s greetings”

The teacher took a deep breath, opened the door and faced her new pupils for the first time. She was surprised to see that the room was not the modern affair to which she was accustomed with little groups of tables leaving half the class with their backs to the teacher. This was a good, old-fashioned classroom with serried ranks of individual desks all facing the blackboard. The windows were high, allowing light into the room but preventing the distraction of a view to the outside.

Continue reading “Spirit of ’66 – December CW”