Red in beak and claw

I knew I’d find it some where.  Originally published in February 2010

Leaving the apartment complex this afternoon we found a seagull on the pavement with a badly damaged wing. While we were wondering what had happened to it,  the answer flew past us to perch on a fence nearby. A bird of prey and a very attractive one too. Some research on Wiki suggests it might have been a merlin. They winter in North Africa and it may have been starting on its journey back north to its breeding grounds, stopping off in Gibraltar for a quick snack. The seagull was bigger than its attacker, but had obviously been hit in mid-flight. There was nothing to be done but to move on and let nature take its course. I was not looking forward to walking past the scene on our return, but there was no trace of anything. Could that merlin have moved its prey elsewhere to feed?

Tranquility in my life

Tranquility at the roadworks.
Tranquility at the roadworks.

This shows how tranquil our road is, after the gas company dug a large number of huge holes all the way down the road to replace the gas main, then left them there for a long time without any action taking place. Since the road is difficult to navigate with all the holes there, there is far less traffic, so it is very tranquil indeed! Me, grumpy? Nah!!

Fighting fire with fire

Today’s edition of Nice Matin has a short report on the Hotel Martinez in Cannes.  For the second year the hotel has called on a falconer and his team of ten Harris Hawks to patrol the garden in order to discourage the local seagulls, who have no qualms about helping themselves to food from guests’ plates.

http://www.nicematin.com/cannes/au-martinez-des-faucons-pour-proteger-les-clients-des-goelands.1274945.html

But what happens if one of the hawks is tempted beyond endurance by a tasty morsel on one of the plates and the gamekeeper turns poacher?

If you want to talk to me, pull up a chair and sit down

Sunday best
Sunday best

Hi, my name is Kojo and some of you will remember me. I have just turned 6 and this picture was taken yesterday. I’m wearing a chief’s cloth which says “If you want to talk to me, take a seat and sit down”. Well that’s what my mum says. She says its because the cloth has this red pattern which is the chair design used by African chieftains. Fine by me. My mum’s national language is “Twi” which is Ghanaian but I defy anyone to try and pronounce the word “Twi”. It is more like “chree” with more “sh” than “ch”. All I know is that dad can’t pronounce it – sounds like he is shredding celery between his teeth.

Anyway, what would you like to talk about? I’m like my mum, got an answer for everything. Dad calls mum “The Church of Janet” as she is always pronouncing some kind of judgment or has a view or opinion on everything. She even came up with a number system for winning the lottery. Well she came up with this last week. She used the system last Saturday. I’ll tell you what it is …. it’s numbers 5, 10, 20, 25, 30, and 40. She says the reason is that she can imagine counting the lottery winnings in these combinations. Well that makes sense to me, if you can visualise something then it can happen. Makes sense to be counting your winnings in tens and twenties and why go for all these obscure numbers like birthdates?

Continue reading “If you want to talk to me, pull up a chair and sit down”

Fortune cookies aren’t Chinese

The films aren’t as good as the comics: well known saying.

After waiting a few weeks to let the vast crowds of True Believers die down I watched the latest Marvel blockbuster to hit the big screen, Iron Man 3, with a sprinkling of TB’s. Recently, superhero films have not made much of an impression on me. Poor characterisation, not so good special effects and less than subtle plots that have no sense of any impending danger. In short, they’ve been terrible to watch. Dull, a word I very rarely use. IM 3 is a return to form for the brand.

This film is a delight even for non-fans of the genre. It has a cracking story with unexpected villains that aren‘t all they seem to be. No spoilers from me but there are lots of twists in the tale. There are many exciting moments that bring back fond memories of the gripping ends of the Flash Gordon serials of olde. (I didn’t see the original performances but saw re-runs on the TV when I was young. Honest ). There’s the most beautiful woman in the world, allegedly, Gwyneth Paltrow, if you like that sort of thing. Naturally, there’s the obligatory Stan Lee cameo.

And then there’s the humour. The Iron Man franchise has always had a plethora of one-liners in its armoury. In it’s third outing it ups the ante. One visual gag in particular concerning a Iron Man duplicate is very amusing. Robert Downey Jr. is again, terrific in his role as the man in the tin suit. He gets the best lines. And doesn’t he deliver them well. Continue reading “Fortune cookies aren’t Chinese”

Kings v Cheetahs

My programme

After a much needed weekend off last week we were back at the stadium supporting our mighty Kings.

This weekend it was the turn off the Bloemfontein based Cheetahs to visit the shores of our bay. The Cheetahs are a strong outfit, with four or five Springboks on the team but their real strength lies in their squad.

They assembled a team of young players perhaps five years ago, these guys have played together, toured together, know each other well with the result that they are a really good team, no superstars but a good team.

They’re also presently fourth on the super rugby log, no mean feat that, there’s some tough opposition out there but after a stunning tour of Australia and New Zealand (3 wins in 4 matches) they’ve maintained the momentum and are having a good, no a great season.

I also think that our South African coaches study the opposition a lot more closely, the Cheetahs were able to nullify a lot of the tactics that I’ve been watching from my Kings this season (line out drives, rolling mauls, our tearaway loose trio, etc.)

So, how’d we do?

Continue reading “Kings v Cheetahs”

Winner! May Poetry Competition

Drip or trickle …

I believe PapaG’s spontaneous, on-topic couplet was inspired by the Navy ration. It’s not clear whether he meant it as an entry, but it’s very welcome anyway. Thank you, PG.

Water

Good one, FEEG! I really liked this take on the theme, especially the rhyming combination of ‘tongue’ and ‘dung’. Classic! 🙂

Water Oughter

A high standard from LW; clever, amusing poem, good title.

The Plumber…

A poem of the first water; concise but not caught short. I appreciate Janus taking the trouble to pen these lines when he was otherwise engaged.

The Flood

JW breaks all the rules yet again with his unique style of writing. Witty and Wacky, with a charming illustration.

Many thanks for your entries everyone.

The winning poet this month is … JW! Congratulations! 🙂

French stick to French

It’s more reminiscent of Canute the Great Dane at the seaside than Francois the Small Froggy at the Elyssee – the way our near-neighbours are constantly trying to purge their Latin tongue of anglicisations, as you might say; and even now are resisting the demand for their seats of learning to teach in English.

We of course have always delighted in importing all their trash, ever since 1066 at least. But usually the words have been mangled beyond recognition – except among the incurably pure who still stay at ‘otels and drink ‘erb tea. More respectful folk, like the Danes, continue to make an effort to pronounce French words properly but score zero po-ang for their efforts.

But our most endearing trait (both t’s sounded) is to dub so many not-quite-British things ‘French’. My favourites include: bed, cricket, disease, fry, knickers and letter. If you will pardon my French…………