Reading, Exploring and Piffling with Hugh in 2021, part 3

This week's picture is an old one (1972 model) of a small waterfall in Du Toit's Kloof pass.



At the time it was on the main national road inland (and ultimately to Cairo, for those with romantic wanderlust) from Cape Town; now this pass is mostly bypassed by a long tunnel, but those with lots of time can still use the old road.

>1 hfglen: Wow!

>2 pgmcc: You said it!

>1 hfglen: wow look at all those stratification layers! I would love to poke about up there.

>1 hfglen: Lovely!

>4 Darth-Heather: It's Table Mountain Sandstone -- not quite in the Cape Fold Belt, which has some really spectacular stratification. It is possible to hike in the area of the picture, but if you do please be sure to go with a locally-resident member of the Mountain Club. It's all too easy to get lost, the weather can change in an instant, some of the rocks are less than stable and there are puff-adders. And you're precious to your fellow-Dragoneers. But while you're hiking, take a look at the vegetation: the rock weathers to an almost completely nutrient-free quartzite sand, which nevertheless supports one of the most diverse plant communities on earth.

>6 hfglen:
You made my day. I thought it looked like quartzite.

Titanic: building the world's most famous ship. This is a tie-in with, apparently, a National Geographic TV series; indeed, the last chapter describes a group of enthusiasts making replicas of parts of the ship, for the series. The preceding chapters are exactly "what it says on the tin", and none the less fascinating for that. In addition, the pictures are well chosen, well reproduced and every bit as interesting as the text. (Thinks: while I doubt if any 21st-century diner would be capable of facing up to the massive Edwardian menus reproduced here, I certainly would be intrigued by the idea of recreating some - by no means all - of the dshes listed. Naturally, having grown up when and where I did, I cannot help wondering who built the Union-Castle mail ships and what they looked like inside.

Would I read another by this author: definitely, if I could find one. His LT list looks most desirable.
Would I recommend this book: yes, certainly.
Who would I recommend it to: anyone interested in ships and shipping. Curiously, this includes not only the local branch of the World Ship Society but also the Railway Society.

>1 hfglen: Wow, that's fantastic!

>8 hfglen: There's a pub in Alnwick in Northumberland (home also of the Alnwick Poison Garden and Barters Books) that has as its dining room what amounts to a replica of the first class lounge on the Titanic. Story is that the room was built for the Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic, and the owner of the pub bought a lot of the fittings when the Olympic was scrapped in 1935. I have breakfasted in that room. They do a fine kipper.

>10 haydninvienna: It's mentioned in the book!

50 people who stuffed up the world. Brief biographies of (according to the author) the 50 worst human disasters to (dis)grace the world. Actually somewhat more than 50 -- there are a couple of anonymi each of whom could stand for dozens, and Lenin shares an entry with Stalin, as do Verwoerd and D.F. Malan. Many of the biographees are politicians, but there is also a professional cyclist, a bureaucrat, an inventor a "singer" and a Kardashian. The illustrator, Zapiro, is South Africa's best active cartoonist, and this book shows why.

Would I read another book by this team? Yes, I have one out of the library.
Would I recommend this book? Yes.
To whom: Anybody who wants a quick look at a parade of human awfulness, or to browse some rather good cartoons.

>12 hfglen: Direct hit there, Hugh. I had to buy the kindle version just to see why Justin Bieber ranks with Adolf Hitler. I could think of lots of others who could take either one’s place, but after all it’s only “50 people …” not “everybody who stuffed up the world”.

>13 haydninvienna: And it is "unavailable", according to Amazon UK. (The South Africa editions are available however.)
Is Jeff Bezos on the list, maybe?

>14 -pilgrim-: No, surprisingly. But then it's "50 people", not "the 50 worst".

>14 -pilgrim-: There is a list here: 50 People.

>16 ScoLgo: Thanks for that.

It seems rather focussed on the 20th century...

>15 hfglen: >16 ScoLgo: >17 -pilgrim-: The guy who killed Concorde? Why that person?

>18 Karlstar: As being an overly timid, unimaginative bean-counter who did all he could to deny the human need to excel and explore.

>19 hfglen: Seems like they could come up with far worse people!! You folks heard that United Airlines contracted with a new company for new supersonic airliners?

>20 Karlstar: If they pick the 50 worst people, the book is going to be completely filled by mass-murdering political leaders, which would be very grim reading.
I suppose they wanted people who "stuffed up" the world in a variety of ways. Not just by the old staple of killing as many people as they could.

>21 -pilgrim-: Good point, I guess they were going for amusing and not totally depressing.

>22 Karlstar: I think so.

Furthermore, it would obscure the point that, although causing the death of millions is the worst way to stuff up the world, it is not the only way. Showing the different types of harm is useful, as well as more interesting.

Hopefully very few of the readership have serious inclinations towards genocide (and are unlikely to be dissuaded if they do). But pointng out what harm being an "overly timid, unimaginative bean-counter" can do, might get a some to rethink a few of their decide decisions.

>20 Karlstar: It was a 15-second insert on last night's TV news, and I see a fuller report in today's BBC news, with a picture. The CGI impression looks even more beautiful than Concorde! Possibly not of great relevance to here though; our most-used routes are to Europe and the Middle East, which are over land almost all the way. To fly over water and avoid hassles about sonic booms between, say, Johannesburg and London, they'd need to use the "round the bulge" route used by SAA in the '70s and '80s -- adding about 50% to the length of the journey. Johannesburg to Dubai is easier -- up the Mozambique Channel, then over the Indian Ocean and up the Gulf -- not much longer than Emirates' present route.

>24 hfglen: I remember the sonic booms vividly. The first couple of times everyone rushed outside to see what it was. After a while, we got used to it and classes just paused, then went on normally.

When Better Half and I went for our first Covid shots a week ago, the vaccination site was conveniently set up in the parking garage of the local shopping centre. By the time we arrived there were some 250 people ahead of us in line. So Herself kindly sent me into the mall to buy a book to read while waiting, as this could only be a slow process. And that is why I bought a brick (over 500 pages) called Legacy: one family, a cup of tea .... It managed to grab my attention while waiting, despite the fact that I read the first dozen or so pages half a sentence at at time -- the line moved uncharacteristically fast.

This is the story of the family who created, owned and ran the Lyons tea-shop company. What lives they led! Persecution in Germany (they're Jewish), arriving in UK (before Queen Victoria's accession) as refugees, working their way up from nothing. And in 1906 catering the royal visit to Aberdeen for the University's 400th anniversary; the largest outside-catering event in UK attempted until then. As the 20th century progressed they became steadily more central to the Establishment. I didn't know that they built a factory and made a significant proportion of the bombs the British used on Germany in World War 2; another member of the family reformed army catering just in time for the declaration of that war.

Having grown up in the outer reaches of Empah, I had naturally heard of Lyons Corner Houses -- they could hardly not have featured in the Eagle and similar childhood reading -- and so I was interested to find one in Richmond (London) while on an extended visit to Kew in 1976. It did not live up to expectations. Only reading this book did I discover the reason why. As a result of some disastrously bad advice the company was in dire straits at the time, and in fact it collapsed the next year.

But the family itself didn't collapse: at least two of them were ministers in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet, and the family catering tradition is continued, in a manner of speaking, by Nigella Lawson.

The book is eminently readable, and to be commended.

Would I read another by this author: I rather thought I had, but my LT catalogue suggests I had to return The House by the Lake to the library unfinished. But his author page lists several I'd gladly look out for.
Would I recommend this book: yes.
To whom: anybody interested in 20th-century history, especially of London. Anyone who recognises the name of J. Lyons, or the LEO computer. Anyone who enjoys a well-told story of a family triumphing over adversity across five or six generations.

This week's image is of Bourke's Luck Potholes, on the escarpment near Graskop, Mpumalanga.



The river has washed quite large stones into irregularities in the rock, and as these spun around they acted as wide-bore drills, cutting a series of remarkable potholes.

>27 hfglen: Beautiful, weird and impressive.

>27 hfglen: That is a very striking image. It must be an impressive place to see in person.

>27 hfglen: Ooh, I love that! Can that be included on the GD tour?

>30 Sakerfalcon: Give or take the swingeing entrance fee, why not? There's a good place to stay, with a fantastic view, at Blyde Canyon, less than 20 km away.

>27 hfglen: I second what >30 Sakerfalcon: said/asked!

My History: a memoir of growing up. The author, Antonia Fraser, is known for her accurate and readable historical studies. Here she chronicles her early life, from childhood to her first "proper" book; she mentions a couple of pot-boilers undertaken while she was learning her craft, which she evidently regards as very minor works. I see other LT reviews object to "name-dropping" and "pedestrian writing". The first is unavoidable, considering the surroundings in which she grew up. The second is entirely appropriate to the subject matter.

Would I read another by this author: yes.
Would I recommend this book: maybe not.

>27 hfglen: Beautiful, and impressive.

>27 hfglen: Beautiful photo of an amazing place!

>28 -pilgrim-:-30, >32 clamairy:, >34 Busifer:, >35 MrsLee: Thank you all!

50 people who stuffed up South Africa Even the author admits that because an unrelieved catalogue of politicians and despots would be nauseating, depressing and dead boring, these are not necessarily our worst messers-up. And so we have a TV personality, two cricketers, a singer (?), a hotelier, a fertiliser manufacturer, three anonymous stereotypes and some others to leaven the gloom. All of whom are skewered with accuracy and wit, often accompanied by Zapiro's cartoons. Well worth reading, but unfortunately the book is beginning to show signs of its age; several of the subjects were still in mid-career (unfortunately) when it was written, and more justification for including them is still coming to light.

Would I read another by this author: I have already read all the books listed under this author's name on LT, that I care to.
Would I recommend it: yes.
To whom:anyone who wants to know more about what Molly Reinhardt once memorably called "this mad and sunny land".

The Common Thread. The story of the publicly-funded effort to sequence the human genome, told comprehensibly with minimal jargon by the leader of the team, who gained a Nobel prize and a knighthood on the strength of the achievement. He also goes into the reasons why gene sequences should not be patentable as such, and why his team made a point of publishing their sequences as fast as possible, so that nobody else could patent them. (Remember that the infamous Craig Venter was metaphorically breathing down the back of the neck of the public group and using more of their data than he ever admitted, with the express intention of patenting some thousands of genes). A good read.

Would I read another by this author: all his other publications are high-powered scientific papers, so the question does not arise.
Would I recommend it: yes.
To whom: anyone who wants to know how humans (or indeed any other biological species) are put together.

This week's picture is a Cape Buffalo, seen in the northern Kruger Park in June 2014.

>39 hfglen:
Super shot. I always think their horns were arranged by a hairdresser.

>40 pgmcc: It would have to be a very brave (or foolhardy) hairdresser!

Archaeology step-by-step. Not quite. Two-page, lavishly illustrated articles on many aspects of archaeology, with references to many sources of additional information. Interesting, but no way could one go out and use the information presented here without a lot of help.

Would I read another by this author? Problematic, as almost all of his works seem to be guidebooks. If I needed that kind of information, quite possibly.
Would I recommend this book? Under certain circumstances, quite possibly.
To whom: Anybody local who wants wider information than the local archaeology society's almost exclusive diet of Sibudu Cave.

>39 hfglen: Is he as aggressive as he looks?

>43 -pilgrim-: Certainly not to be trifled with, but not the most aggressive of his kind. Not seen in this picture, he has the rest of the herd around him. The really bad "short fuses" are the so-called 'dagha-boys', old bulls that have been thrown out of the herd by younger, stronger males. They still weigh about 3/4-ton, have chips on their shoulders, and are utterly unpredictable.

>44 hfglen: Three tons of random moodiness would certainly give one pause for thought.

>45 -pilgrim-: Not quite. Three-quarters of a ton, which is still bad enough.

>46 hfglen: Ah, I see how I misread. And yes, quite bad enough

And another from the same expedition:



The bridges over the Luvuvhu River on the Kruger Park's main road to the north, between Punda Maria and Pafuri Gate. This is only about 20 km (or less) as the crow flies from the Zimbabwe border.

That road is very enticing.

>39 hfglen: so cool, but about as close as I want to get!

I see we're in the news in the latest State of the Thing. Tim says "The twelfth Bad Joke of the Day thread over at The Green Dragon continues that group’s terrible humor tradition."

>51 hfglen: Fame at last!

>49 Sakerfalcon: I've just seen that this picture faces southwards along this stretch. Just past the second bridge is a road sign on the right, visible if you know what to look for. If you take the indicated road (to the Pafuri border post) slowly and look around carefully, in one place you will see an interpretation sign high up in a tree. You may need binoculars to read it, but if you do you will be rewarded with a horizontal line and the rather chilling message "Flood level {whatever month it was} 2000". These floods were very extensive: here is the disused rail bridge over the Crocodile River, on the southern boundary of the Park, close to the town of Komatipoort and the semi-permanent traffic jam at the main border crossing into Mozambique.



The missing section was washed away in the same flood. (Photo taken in 2020 by my good friend Heather Oosthuizen.)

>52 pgmcc: Yes! Gives one a bit of the Navin R. Johnson feeling...

>52 pgmcc: Thanks for the extra info! I take it there is a reason for the river being named the Crocodile ...

Hugh, I thought this article that follows up on the Table Mountain fire might be of interest to you, as it talks about the botanical collections that were affected.
From The Guardian

>56 Sakerfalcon: Thank you for that. It occurs to me, as it should already have occurred to Timm Hoffman, that if he goes to Pretoria and spends some time -- probably quite a lot of time -- rooting around in the archives of the National Herbarium, he'll most likely find the original of the Pole Evans picture the Guardian used, as well as several others from that period.

>49 Sakerfalcon: Claire, if you like mysterious roads that lead you on, how about this one?



It's within the last kilometre or so of the road to the bird hide at Bollonoto Dam in the Marakele National Park.

Have I been reading lately? Of course yes, but I have been woefully remiss about noting the fact. However with the libraries closed in the latest level of lockdown, I have a golden opportunity to catch up.

The Knowledge. Ultimately misses the point of the task the author sets himself. Suppose civilization were to collapse: then what information would be needed to rebuild it? We have a description of what one would need to know, and why one should not expect to find it with libraries etc. destroyed. I have to say I do not find this overly helpful.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Being Henry VIII's Queen must have been a virtually impossible task, if one may deduce from Lady Fraser's account. However, with the possible exception of Katherine Howard, they all seem to have been people one would be glad not to know. The book is amazingly thoroughly researched, well written and (considering its age, and the period of its subjects) adequately illustrated.

Would I read another by the same author? Definitely (see below, next post).
Would I recommend this book? Maybe.
To whom? I suspect that if you're interested enough in Tudor history to make this one worthwhile, you've probably read it already.

King James VI of Scotland .... One of a series on the lives of kings and queens of England / Great Britain. Well researched, well written, lavishly (for the time) illustrated. Exactly what it says on the tin.

Would I read yet another by the same author? Yes.
Would I recommend this book, etc. As above, at #60.

All of Egypt. If you've been to Italy in the last 50 years or so, you know Bonechi guides. This is one, but for Egypt. Lots of excellent pictures, minimal text that omits most of what one wants to know. As seems to be normal for the publisher, the text appears to be translated from the Italian by someone who speaks "pure accent without a trace of English", and if indeed it was edited and proofread, whoever did so has about the same command of English.

Would I read another by the same author? To my surprise, I see I have.
Would I recommend this book? Not without checking the competition first.

>61 hfglen: From the opening sentence, I assume that Lady Fraser's standpoint is to counteract the portrayal (common in my youth) of James as a fool?

My own conclusion is that he was a brilliant, if completely ruthless, politician.

Fermenting Foods step-by-step. I have a feeling that MrsLee would be better qualified than I to review this one. The products covered vary immensely: dill pickles and CHEESE are definitely desirable, kimchi possibly less so. And there's a coconut brew that looks in the picture like nothing so much as baby vomit. Our last hard lockdown generated a rash of fluids fermented from pineapples: there is a recipe for an arguably more palatable brew here. As the book is a Dorling Kindersley production, layout, illustrations etc. are first-rate.

Would I read another by the same author? LT suggests this is his only book.
Would I recommend it? Dunno.

>63 -pilgrim-: He comes over as brilliant and terrifyingly low on sympathy with anybody else. She explains in some detail how his upbringing influenced this -- it could hardly be otherwise!

The Vintage Caper. Well yes I suppose it is a crime novel of sorts, but I think I also agree with the Durban librarian who tagged it as humour. If you have read Peter Mayle's Provence books, it will come as no surprise at all that the crime is a wine heist. The writing is very nearly as delicious as the stolen wines, which is also unsurprising. I chuckled inwardly at the way the insurance agents dealt with the claim; to reveal that would be an epic spoiler -- go read the book, if you haven't already! (For non-oenophiles, it may help to find a good book on French wines to have open next to you; yonks ago my father bought one by Alexis Lichine that contains the information you need.)

Favourite quote, from the second paragraph:
"Under every ponytail you will find a horse's ass". (This probably doesn't apply to the tender gender.)
Would I read another by the same author? Just as soon as the libraries re-open!
Would I recommend this book? Suffice to say that Better Half relieved me of it the moment I'd finished. It recommends itself.
To whom? Anybody who enjoys a good story and the absurd; wine knowledge is a bonus, but helps.

>64 hfglen: Don't discount kimchee! Seems as though it would be right up your ally. However, there are so many varieties it's hard to say what type your book described. Personally, I go with a very simple recipe which probably isn't "authentic" but calls for much less preparation and time fermenting. That is the lazy girl's way.

>66 hfglen: Haven't been disappointed with a Peter Mayle book yet, will look for this one.

>67 MrsLee: I wouldn't, totally. In principle, I could imagine Maangchi's kimchi being pretty good, though The Girls would object to that amount of chilli flakes. But 6lb of cabbage? Could be problematic. And I've never seen Daikon radishes on sale here, though I gather there's a Korean grocer in Durban North that might be able to supply.

>58 hfglen: A mysterious path that leads to a bird hide? Perfect!

>68 hfglen: People substitute wildly when they make kimchi. Use the method, but whatever veggies you have in abundance. I used thinly sliced or grated pumpkin once. Also, I think I prefer making a smaller batch, because too much of a good thing lessons one's desire for it. :) Still, if you have no desire to make some, perhaps you can find a small jar to buy somewhere.

Believe it or not, this is in suburbia no more than 5 km from where I live.



Late August 2009, so near the end of the dry season (even that's relative here).

Somewhat worrying news item in my favourite local internet feed today.

Ever since "pa fell off the bus", it has been traditional for Tukkies (Uni. Pretoria) students to plan their year so that they start swotting for end-of-year exams (November-December here) just before the jacaranda start to flower in late September or early October. And if a jacaranda flower falls on your head on your way into the exam, you are bound to pass. Also traditional is/was the senior educationalist wringing his hands (always a he) and saying if you leave it that late you will fail.
And today's news? A long and remarkably (unusually) scientifically accurate story about why the jacarandas are flowering already. In early July. It turns out that on average the jacarandas have started two days per decade earlier ever since the 1920s, but this is almost two months! Talk about global warming!

>72 hfglen: On the positive side the students are starting to study earlier and this might give them a chance to disprove the senior educationalist is wringing their hands about.

I believe MrsLee's family was visited recently by a creature like this



Black Stork, Kruger National Park, March 2014. The book of words tells me this is an "uncommon to fairly uncommon" breeding resident in the Kruger Park.

>74 hfglen: Brilliant picture. What an impressive looking creature.

>75 pgmcc: Impressive photo. Interesting bird.

>74 hfglen: I've seen black storks in Siberia but from a long way off. Your photo is amazing!

>74 hfglen: Beautiful bird. Love how some of the feathers have a different color sheen to them.

>74 hfglen: Geoffrey has a stork bite on the back of his neck! That is an impressive bird. Lovely portrait.

>75 pgmcc: - >79 MrsLee: Thank you, all!

>78 Narilka: According to the aforementioned book of words, the iridescence indicates an adult in breeding season.

>79 MrsLee: I thought they carried them in a sling!

>79 MrsLee:, >81 hfglen: Or at least gripped by a T-shirt!

>58 hfglen: I just want to step into that photo.

>74 hfglen: Wonderful shot!

I do hope all is well, Hugh. Whenever SA is mentioned on the news lately it's pretty grim.

>83 clamairy: Thank you, Clam. The road in #58 ends just out of sight, at a bird hide, where you can indeed step out.

We live probably about 2 km (as the crow flies; twice as far by road) from the shopping centre. On Monday it sounded like a war zone, and in the evening we could smell a whiff of teargas. Tuesday was much less shooting in the morning, none in the afternoon, but frequent helicopter overflights. Today so far all is calm around here. However almost all shops are closed, and finding food and medication is difficult. That said, the South African sense of humour has kicked in. There's a clip doing the rounds, headed "Looting in Cape Town". It shows a seagull standing at the door of a shop until it opens, walking in, selecting a packet of nibbles, leaving and pecking the packet open.

PS to above. The quote of the day comes from Duduzane Zuma, a son of the jailed ex-pres. "the people that are protesting and looting, please do so carefully and please do so responsibly because you cannot hold people responsible for defending what they love".
Comment is superfluous.

>85 hfglen:
"because you cannot hold people responsible for defending what they love" - is that to be interpreted as "so if you loot, don't be surprised when the shopkeepers shoot you"?

And yes, I am fascinated by the concept of responsible looting.

>86 -pilgrim-: Local civilian groups such as our neighbourhood watch and many others, both formal and otherwise, are co-operating with the police and army to protect property and the innocent. Over 1000 looters have already been arrested, and 100 shot.

ETA: But yes, young Duduzane has inherited the full measure of his father's intelligence.

>84 hfglen: I'm glad humor is helping you all through what sounds a bit grim. Hopefully things will calm down soon.

>87 hfglen: Thinking of you.

Like >86 -pilgrim-:, the concept of “responsible looting”, caught my attention.

>87 hfglen: This does sound grim.

We are thinking of you.

>90 -pilgrim-: Thank you! As you of all people doubtless know, it makes a difference.

Two rather unsettling items in today's news, both suggesting that there is nothing new under the sun.
1. A warning that the weakness of the police and tardy response of the army is leading to a threatened rise in vigilantism, as taxpayers decide as nobody else will defend them, they must needs do the job themselves. The example given was the (Indian) residents of Phoenix, violently protecting their town against (Zulu) looters -- shades of the race riots in Cato Manor in 1949.
2. A story that delivery trucks are travelling in heavily-armed convoys to retail stores (shades of Rhodesia in the late '70s). Better Half phoned a shop next door to a petrol station, and was told to wait an hour before setting out, as the petrol company was making a delivery, and the surrounding roads were all sealed off.

>90 -pilgrim-: (update). This evening's news and presidential pep-talk are, on the whole, positive. The whole country much calmer than at the beginning of the week, and cleaning up proceeding apace. However reconstruction of vandalised buildings etc. will take months at least. And the major routes out of Durban are open again, with strong protection for goods in transit.

Pres. Ramaphosa suggested that it was a failed coup attempt, and that two of the ringleaders are already behind bars. The other 10 are expected to follow shortly.

Better Half got to the shops, and was able to order medication for delivery tomorrow. She then went to a supermarket we sometimes use in normal times (not the nearest, and not particularly easily accessed from here, but has a good range of less-than-bog-standard foodstuffs) and could get everything she wanted. However she did have to park some distance away, as the security had closed the car park, and then wait a while to get in, as the shop limited numbers by drastically limiting the supply of trolleys, so she had to wait for somebody to come out and surrender their trolley before she could go in. She was only away three hours, which I thought remarkably quick considering.

That is a huge relief - I've been reading this with trepidation and fear for you, not knowing what to say because this kind of thing is alien to my personal experience (fortunately and by total accident of birth). I hope things continue to get better and stabilize.

>92 hfglen:
Although far from back to normal, that does sound a great improvement. Your earlier post (>91 hfglen:) was horribly reminiscent of the seventies.

I will be continuing to pray for you and your country.

>93 Bookmarque: Thank you. You are indeed fortunate.

>92 hfglen: Good to hear you are safe.

Sounds terrible, I'm glad you and your family are safe.

>96 Narilka: >97 NorthernStar: Thank you both.

It seems that the full horror of the past week will only come out as mopping-up operations continue. This BBC report explains with admirable clarity the reasoning behind the statement that it was a failed coup. I think we can expect more detail in this direction to emerge in the coming months.

I'm so relieved to hear things seem to be settling down. Will still be sending good thoughts your way!

>98 hfglen: Very informative article.

I hope that the worst IS now over. I fear the figures that you quoted in >87 hfglen: may prove to be only a fraction of the total.

>100 -pilgrim-: Correct. I saw a more recent score that I now can't find, but about 2500 arrests and 212 dead.

I have been very worried about you and yours, seeing that the riots were taking place in your area, and am relieved to read that things seems to be calming down.

I'm yet again at the task of catching up here but have followed the news reports and got really worried from post 84-91.

Thanks for posting the link to the BBC report. I felt it to be very informative and with your approval of the contents even more so.

Oh my gosh, Hugh, I had no idea. I haven’t been following news for other areas. I’m glad you and yours are safe.

And, as seems to be becoming an unfortunate habit, the weekly picture one day late.



Balule Rest Camp in the Kruger Park, from across the Olifants River, March 2014. I consider this the most perfect overnight accommodation in the whole Park. There are only six huts, all the original 1930 design. There's no shop, no fuel, no electricity, no noise ... bliss!

>104 hfglen: Does that make it very quiet - or loud with other sounds?

>105 -pilgrim-: Birdsong dawn and dusk, hippos during the day, the odd lion roaring at night, otherwise you have plenty of scope to meditate on just how noisy and carrying an internal combustion engine is.

A minute or two after posting #104 I was reading the bit in In Search of South Africa where H. V. Morton arrives at Wilderness (a good thousand miles from Balule, but the same architecture), and found a very relevant sentence: "[Rondavels] are roomy and comfortable, and in a hot country infinitely more agreeable than a stuffy hotel bedroom". Precisely.

>102 Busifer: >103 catzteach: Thank you both.

The threatened "part 2" of the riots seems not to be taking place. At least it's beautifully quiet here, and the news is almost all about reconstruction -- and the usual sports and entertainment gossip. One curious factoid that's come to light is that some 70% of the damage was done to small businesses owned by the rioters' own people. These small entrepreneurs, still in a state of lifting themselves out of poverty, have no resources to fall back on and are generally not insured.

>107 hfglen: Re the small entrepreneurs: horrible.
I hope you will get an extended period of reconstructing not only the damaged property and the businesses, but also a more trusting society. The latter will take time but is, in my mind, the only way to achieve long term stability.

Rondavels, and the landscape, seems wonderfully serene.

Tonight's news was uncharacteristically positive, with stories of how all sectors of society (except the perpetrators of the violence, many of whom are behind bars) are working together to clean up the mess and rebuild. The other good news story is that for the first time in three weeks or more, today's count of new Covid cases fell below 10 000, and most vaccination centres are back in operation.

>109 hfglen: Encouraging. I'm holding my thumbs for things to keep up.

>109 hfglen: I am very glad to hear some good news.

>107 hfglen: I think that is always the case: that rioters have a tendency to turn on the better off in their own community. (It was certainly the case the last time that rioting occurred anywhere near me - which was both a long time ago and on a far smaller scale.)

As I understand it, the mentality is that you might have a generalised hatred towards Other groups, but the people that really 'get your goat' and make you feel jealous on a daily basis, are the people who suffer under the same disadvantages (real or perceived) as you and STILL manage to be (slightly) better off than you. And you know that they have less defence than groups that are much more prosperous, and are so a "safer" target (to quote that "loot safely" advice).

I share Busifer's hope that the government does pay sufficient attention to helping those victims rebuild.

I'm relieved to hear that the situation in ZA is improving. I hope that life will be more like that in >104 hfglen: and less like that on the news in recent weeks.

The Cat Who blew the Whistle. Another addition to my list of railway fiction I wish I could get hold of a copy of for the Railwaysoc library. Although there are at least five cats at Inchanga Station, none of them have anything like the character of Koko and Yum-Yum, regrettably. And the story? a typically implausible but entertaining 'Cat Who ...' confection, which doesn't bear being summarised.

>112 Sakerfalcon: Better Half and I went to our favourite organic farm / farm stall this morning, after DD received a message that they had 800 litres of milk they couldn't get rid of. This necessitated a stop in Hillcrest (nearby "major" suburban shopping centre) for errands. Which gave me a chance to look around. Most shops are open, a few with flattened cardboard boxes blocking holes in plate-glass windows. The phone, company, however, was closed. On we went to the farm; by the time we got there they'd sold out of milk. But they did have fresh veg, some cheese (not the Midland Emmenthal I was looking for) and cakes but not their esteemed sourdough bread. And sensibly, they're temporarily in a shed on the farm, not in their shop on the main road.

Our next stop was two hours in line for our Part Two Covid shots, which we should have had last Monday but obviously couldn't. More on that in the July thread. More shopping in a different part of Hillcrest ensued. Here the casualties were the cell-phone shop and the DSTv (pay-TV) agency, only. On the way home I specifically looked for the station we should have gone to in the semi-underground parking of our nearest shopping centre. There is no trace visible from the road that such a facility ever existed.

Overall, everything was very quiet and orderly, even by midweek standards.

Many thanks to everybody for your thoughts and concern.

The Cat Who wasn't there. And why wasn't Koko there? Because the crime took place in Scotland, and he was back home in Pickax. But as usual he knew all about it and guided his pet human to the solution. Enjoyable, as ever.

Hi Hugh! I've just discovered your thread and will pop by now and then to see what's happening on the other side of the world.

>116 humouress: Welcome! Though I've never thought of Oz as in a different hemisphere.

>117 hfglen: Oops. I haven't updated my profile (or one part has but another part didn't come along with). I'm now in Singapore; though still not quite half a world away.

>115 hfglen: The Cat Who books are fun :)

>119 Narilka: Indeed they are! Also, they can be read on the internet.

The Cat Who went into the Closet in which we are introduced to Celia Robinson, master chef and Qwill's assistant sleuth. Also sees the birth of the idea of a Moose County Community College. Qwill and the cats rent a mansion on Goodwinter Boulevard for the winter, and walk into a mystery involving a supposed suicide. This turns out to be one of two listed (and several other, only hinted at) murders, and a long-standing embezzlement racket. Solved, of course, by the all-knowing Koko. As good as ever for entertainment.

Johannesburg Pioneer Journals is the Van Riebeeck Society's offering for Johannesburg's centenary in 1986. Like all the Society's offerings, it is most definitely a period piece, and the attitudes of the four writers would scarcely have been publishable even ten years after the centenary. We have here four sets of eyewitness observations, covering the period 1888-1909. There is an actor who wrote a series of articles for the Weekly Irish Times on his experiences in the earliest days of the town. There is a schoolboy, son of the man who laid out the first Johannesburg parks, who lived there for some 10 years before, during and immediately after the Anglo-Boer War (except for a period of some three months in 1900) and wrote his memoirs about half a century later. Then we have letters home from an American mining engineer dated from 1903 to 1909. Finally comes a memoir, also written down late in life, by a man who evidently repaired wagons during the day and worked backstage in a theatre at night. All wrote of their experiences and what they knew, which is another way of saying that vivid though the images created are, there is still precious little of the major events of the day, or why they happened the way they did.

It's (by our standards) icy cold here -- night temperatures in the low single figures C (most of the Highveld enduring subzero nights; I've seen temperatures as low as -9°C forecast for Bloemfontein) and day temperatures not escaping the teens. There must be snow on the Berg! So here's a picture of that phenomenon.



Southern Berg, a short distance south of Underberg, June 2010.

The Cat Who books sound like fun!

>122 hfglen: So pretty!

I had no idea the Cat Who books were released online for free. I read them all as a kid :) I was sad when I heard the author died.

>122 hfglen: Breathtaking!

Thank you, all!

>123 catzteach: They are, especially if you are owned by a Cat. Our Feline Overlords are all of the rescue variety, but still often act like the Siamese in the stories.

>124 Narilka: Internet Archive is your friend.

Note for Pete: Garden Castle, the ridge in front of the snow, is Clarens Sandstone. The snow is on basalt. The foreground is (red) Molteno sandstone, and often contains interesting gymnosperm fossils from c. 250-million years ago. The Clarens sandstone was deposited in a howling desert, but has a few dinosaurs and their tracks. The basalt came c. 180-million years ago, and only has amygdales with pretty white crystals.

>126 hfglen: Beautiful picture in >122 hfglen: and thank you for the geological detail.

>126 hfglen: A class mate of mine did his PhD on zeolites that crystalised in the amygdaloidal basalt of The Antrim Plateau. Crystals in amygdales are varied and fascinating.

Your classmate might have been fortunate to work on the Antrim Plateau, at that. At least he didn't have to climb to 8500 - 11000 feet altitude every morning before starting his day's field work! Up there it's always cold, and sea-level types get frazzled by the UV in no time flat.

>129 hfglen: His house was on the slopes of the Cavehill, so you might say the Antrim Plateau started at the bottom of his garden.

>122 hfglen: That's a beautiful image.

>122 hfglen: This is such a gorgeous photo. Sorry it's so chilly, though.

>131 Sakerfalcon: >132 clamairy: Thank you, both. Clam, the good news is that we're warming up a bit as the days get longer and we edge towards spring.

>130 pgmcc: I was thinking of a former boss, D. J. B. Killick, who was based at Cathedral Peak Forest Station (alt. about 5000 ft.) for his Ph.D. fieldwork, and had to climb to the top of the Berg (c. 10 000 ft.) most days to gather data. And back again in the evening.

The Life and Times of William and Mary. Yes, the series is about kings and queens of Britain. Yes it is mainly history of government and politics. Yes Mary's Stuart ancestry is important. But ...
William was Stadholder of the Netherlands before he became King of England, and was highly successful in his earlier guise, by the account of this book. We know from elsewhere that the period covered here coincided with the peak of Dutch prosperity. One was taught at school that the basis of this wealth was trade in goods, mainly spices, brought from the East. And that the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was the first joint-stock company in Europe, the first multinational, and obscenely wealthy until brought low by corruption in the late 18th century. Yet there is not a word of the source of the wealth he used, nor of the arrival of the Huguenots in the Netherlands and in London, and what they did for their new countries.
I couldn't help remembering that the year of the Glorious Revolution in Britain was exactly the year in which Simon van der Stel founded Stellenbosch and settled some 200 Huguenot families -- most if not all of whose names survive with honour in the Afrikaans community to this day -- in the Franschhoek and Drakenstein valleys, where they taught the Dutch burghers to grow grapes properly and make drinkable wine, among other useful things. One presumes that the VOC was also doing important things in Batavia in 1688, but what? And what was the relationship between the VOC and the Dutch government at the time?

Apart from this reminder that any history of reasonable length will necessarily have holes you can sail a battleship through in the story, this is a good and eminently readable introduction to the period -- for England, at least.

Plum Lucky As NorthernStar and catzteach have noted in the last day or two, Stephanie Plum seems to inhabit a world without time, in which nobody grows or changes in any other way. And so you can pick the stories up in any order and know exactly what you will get. Sometimes this is the brain candy one wants, but probably with a longish gap between books. This one fits the mold in all details.

100 moments that mattered. Some of these moments lasted millennia (such as the time of the San with which this book starts), which seems rather long for a "moment". However, as a quick survey of all South African history in 100 bites, it has merit. Well written, as accurate as any, readable, interesting pictures -- could one really ask for more?

This week's picture: Ingwavuma Poort, in the far north of Kwazulu-Natal, about 1 km from the eSwatini (Swaziland) border and only 2 or 3 from the Mozambique border (January 2018).



Many thanks to Pete who said (in a different thread) kind words about the scenery I show. I can't help feeling that to a large extent, what he said is a credit to the beautiful place I live in rather than any photographic skill; mostly all I need to do is aim and shoot.

>137 hfglen:
I stand by my statements elsewhere and add, it is knowing where to point and when to shoot that is important.

Another lovely shot.

>137 hfglen: Very scenic!

King Charles II. Biography of the king who occupied the British throne for a quarter of the 17th century. Considering that the Brits had a civil war that started when he was 11 and ended with the execution of his father eight years later, one shudders to imagine what a 21st-century psychoanalyst would have made of him and his chances of survival. Fortunately he didn't have a psychoanalyst, and so he was the star of the show at the Restoration in 1660. Many of his contemporaries considered him lazy and given to dissipation, yet he stabilised his country and kept his head until he died of natural causes. His "little" brother, James II, was less wise and less fortunate; he was, er, 'asked to leave' after only three years, being replaced by William and Mary (see post #134). It would probably have made more sense to read this one first and then the other. No matter. Both are interesting, well written and, candidly, getting a bit long in the tooth. I would suggest that a modern edition of either or both of these books would be a lot more colourful with many more pictures.

>138 pgmcc: >139 clamairy: Thank you both!

Scorched: South Africa's changing climate brings the climate debate right in to the backyard of where I live. Leonie Joubert has a higher degree in Science Journalism, and it shows (in the right way) in her writing. Above all, she leaves no doubt that she is a human being; unlike the author of the book mentioned below, who might as well be a robot, or worse, a committee. Almost the only fault I can find is that the book is now 15 years old, and as is usual with science and news, things have moved on since then. Every now and then her writing betrays an Afrikaans accent, and there are a few typos one would not have expected from the "dear old alma mater" (Wits University Press). Some of the things that have come on to the scene, like renewable energy being cheaper than coal, and economically viable electric vehicles, are positive.

Talking of readable science writing, another book I brought home from the library in the same batch as Scorched, is a textbook (ahem!) example of the flawed writing that Ms Joubert avoids. Of the Same Breath: indigenous animal and place names (no touchstone) comes from University of the Free State, and is so academically high-flown and Correctly Laid Out as to be essentially unreadable. I predict that it will be a DNF, which is a pity as there is space for an interesting, readable book on the subject.

And now for something completely different! I am fascinated by mangroves and the swamps they grow in.



Barringtonia racemosa, known in this country as a Powder-puff Tree, lives at the back (freshwater) end of about all the mangrove swamps in KZN and indeed far into tropical Africa (and probably Asia as well -- I haven't checked). But I do know two places where it grows within 5 km of Durban City Hall, which is remarkable. This one was seen at the Raphia Palm Monument, Mtunzini (about 150 km from home) in April 2000.

>143 hfglen: Right out of Dr. Seuss! Pretty photo.

>143 hfglen: That flower looks more like something from under the sea than off a tree. Very pretty.

>145 Narilka: Well thought! The trees grow in coastal swamps just a hop, step and a jump from open sea.

>143 hfglen: Fascinating. It looks like a sea creature with its stinging tendrils deployed to catch some hapless minnow swimming too close by.

>147 pgmcc: That was my thought exactly.

>134 hfglen:
Imprimatur by Monaldí & Sorti is a fictional account of Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent XI. The story is built around the information gleaned from documents that were discovered/revealed that demonstrated that Pope Innocent XI, whose family were bankers in The Netherlands, still retained close control of the family banking business even after he became pope. Monaldi & Sorti marketed this, to the benefit of selling their book, as a great revelation of a secret, but the "secret" had been widely reported some time before the book was written. (By the way, it is a wonderful read and I would recommend it as a novel regardless of its relevance to historical fact or fiction (i.e. alternate fact)).

What the papers revealed was that Pope Innocent XI's family were bankers to The House of Orange and The House of Orange owed their bankers a lot of money. Not having the funds to repay the debt The House of Orange sought further funds to finance an Invasion of England which, once successful, would provide The House of Orange with sufficient funds to pay off the Pope's family. Apparently, as de facto boss of the banking enterprise, Pope Innocent XI agreed to the funding of the enterprise to ensure his family would get its money from The House of Orange. In effect, the Pope financed the invasion of England.

>149 pgmcc: Given that James II's overt Catholicism was the justification behind the "Glorious Revolution"... Oouch.

And that was a probable BB by collateral damage.

>149 pgmcc: You got me too! That's two hits with a single BB. Well done, sir!

>151 hfglen: >150 -pilgrim-:
I was trained by that famous Irish marksman: Rick O’Shay.

>152 pgmcc: It occurs to me that Pete's spiritual home is a certain farm in what is now North West province. The farm is called Tweebuffelsfontein (two buffaloes spring). Why, you ask. Because of the apocryphal full name of the farm: Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein, or "two buffaloes shot stone dead with a single shot spring". I rest my case.

>153 hfglen: That is a positively Celtic naming approach. Peter should indeed feel right at home.

>153 hfglen: & >155 -pilgrim-:

Sounds perfect. Ilovelanguagesthatconcatinatewordstogenerateanotherword.

>143 hfglen: Lovely! I agree with >145 Narilka: that it looks like an anemone.

Imprimatur. It is very evident that Peter's BBs are to be taken with immense seriousness and followed with great respect. Here we have a historical novel ... or do we? Or is it an account, possibly slightly embroidered, of the events it portrays? Or maybe a totally imaginary story about real people? Any which way up, it is a riveting tale. Even read an hour at a time, uncomfortably, at my computer, from Internet Archive.

Back in the middle ages Better Half and I had the privilege of a week in Rome, staying at an establishment called Foyer Unitas (not the present organization of that name). Ours was a guest-house run by a group of Dutch nuns in the top floor of Palazzo Pamphilj (?), overlooking Piazza Navona and the side street immediately west of this. Their chief glory was the guided walking tours they ran every morning of one small part of the city; the ladies gave the impression that they were personal friends of every stone. AFAIK they gave up due to old age in the mid-1980s, a pity for tourists but probably just as well that they aren't there to be bombarded with dumb questions from readers of this book about tunnels and drains under the neighbourhood, corposantiari and late-17th century history.

Certainly the authors' description of the above-ground environment and the history of the time is, as far as one can determine from 10 000 km away. The translation is, as far as one can determine without seeing the Italian original, a gem, and the result is more than readable. Many thanks for the recommendation, Peter! I can't wait to read Secretum and Veritas.

>158 hfglen: I am glad you liked it. I hope you were not boarded up in your guesthouse when you were there like Abbot Atto Melani.

Apparently the fourth book has not been translated into English despite having been translated into many other languages. It was supposed to have appeared in English a few years ago but I cannot get an answer as to why it has not appeared.

I certainly enjoyed the immersive experience of reading their books.

>159 pgmcc: We were there long after the plague and before Covid, so the daily routine included meeting somewhere for a morning walk guided by one of the nuns (by far the best guides going!), find your own lunch, afternoon and evening free. Unfortunately it was also long before digital photography, so no same-day sorting of pictures!

I am enjoying Secretum, and have already recommended the series to our tenant. Internet Archive has the fourth one in Dutch and German; I could probably manage the Dutch, with some effort. But it's about Leonardo da Vinci's apprentice, not further events in the early 18th century.

River of Gold. To my surprise I see in my LT catalogue that this is a re-read. The book is a mostly ecological and historical account of the "great grey-green greasy Limpopo River" from source to mouth. The authors recount many good stories along the way, which makes for a highly entertaining read. This is further enhanced by Clive Walker's pen-and-wash drawings, and many photos each worthy of Our Bookmarque (than which there is no higher praise). And so we learn a curious story of a small Anglican church I used to know when I was an undergraduate; it is sandwiched between a suburb of tall apartment blocks said to be one of the most densely populated areas in Africa and the suburb where the Randlords used to live. This little chapelry had a problem with rising damp, eventually traced to its having been built on a spring that is one of the sources of the Jukskei river (which flows into ...); so the chapelry now rejoices in the name of St. Mary-on-the-Limpopo.

And so to Hartebeestpoort Dam, desperately polluted playground for a large part of Gauteng. And the Marico, home of Herman Charles Bosman's Oom Schalk Lourens. And an assortment of hunters, locals and others from the 19th century. And the stretch that is still "all set about with fever trees". And Mapungubwe, the first urban civilization in southern Africa. And the Kruger Park. And the well named Crooks' Corner where three countries meet. And the placid (usually), very flat stretch in Mozambique that occasionally suffers devastating floods. Such as the one in 2000; the South African Air Force were called in to rescue people trapped by the water, and winched to safety one unfortunate young mother who had given birth in a tree, where she had taken refuge.

Would I read another by this group of authors (there are three of them)? Sadly, there isn't one.

Would I recommend it? Unhesitatingly.

To whom? Let's start with the Dragoneers who enjoy beautiful pictures. And those who enjoy good adventure stories. And aanyone else who wants to know more about Africa.

>161 hfglen: Just the anecdotes sound delightful.

>161 hfglen: so the chapelry now rejoices in the name of St. Mary-on-the-Limpopo.

I love that story. It very much emphasises the idea of turning a negative into a positive.

Seeing we were talking (see #161) about the great grey-green Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees, let's look at a fragment of that forest.



Fever Trees in Mapungubwe National Park, in the gallery forest fringing the Limpopo River, May 2014.

>164 hfglen:
So I should be asking for a gin & cinchona?

>165 pgmcc: Not a bad idea. Certainly less expensive than the antimalarials the pharmacist will sell you. (Thinks: if you came home with malaria, would the doctor in Dublin recognize it? I have heard a horrendous tale of a Kew-ite who went home with tick-bite fever, and ended up being Exhibit A for every medical student in London before someone thought of dosing him with the appropriate antibiotic.)

>166 hfglen:
But that was London.

Delicious quote from Secretum:
"... if order is to be maintained in states and in kingdoms, the people must never know the truth about two things: what there really is in sausages and what takes place in the courts of law."

Again, I am grateful to pgmcc for a well considered BB.

>168 hfglen:
That is my favourite quote from the book.

Once again I have been brought up short in my tracks by Secretum. This time by the description of the gardener, Tranquillo Romaùli, as being able to quote the whole of "Father Ferrari's De Florum Cultura" from memory. This is a rather special book, held in high regard by botanical historians such as I. Why? For one thing, it contains the four earliest (European) pictures of Cape Bulbs -- it was published in 1623, so 30 years before even Van Riebeeck arrived. He also includes some worthy tales of the adventures of Flora and her gardeners, one of which made entertaining fodder for a Kew Latin class of some 40 years ago. One rather hopes Signor Romaùli, or perhaps Signora Monaldi, enjoyed these.

Needless to say, Father Ferrari got a plant named after him, rather a strange looker. I have only a bad picture of one, but here it is.

>170 hfglen: I love reading a book that links to things I know or that lead me to investigate a topic I had not been aware of before. I am glad you are getting pleasure from Secretum.

Amazon offered me a reasonably priced Italian copy of Mysterium. That would be very interesting if I could only read Italian. The people (and I use the term in an inclusive fashion that includes computer programmes executing algorithms) are very helpful at suggesting item I can buy that are of absolutely no use to me at all.

The Romanovs and Mr Gibbes. Very strange. Gibbes himself seems to have been to some extent a nut, having been unsettled by the extreme cruelty with which a family he was evidently fonder of than he would admit, were murdered by the Bolsheviks. As mentioned in one of the LT reviews, the writing is dispassionate to the point of being colourless. Yet she did her research thoroughly, and amassed a great deal of primary material. Why is the result so dull (and, mercifully, short)?

Would I read another by this author: probably not.
Would I recommend this book: again, probably not.

>172 hfglen: What a pity. That sounds as if it ought to have been fascinating.

>173 -pilgrim-: One feels that with that material a different author would have made something wonderful. The book we have seems even flatter by comparison with my current "main read", Secretum by Rita Monaldi and Franco Sorti, which positively glows.

Secretum. Yay, I finished: it's just over 800 pages. Waah, I finished: and have to leave the Villa Spada and the decidedly spooky Vessel to return to real life. Despite the sheer terror of the excursion to the Ball* on top of the dome of St. Peters and the surreal drama of the cerretani "parliament", this was nevertheless a warm and thoroughly enjoyable read. Possibly tipped off by pgmcc's LT review, I stopped often to check Google maps and other external sources. This gave me a strange locality for Villa Spada (thinks: has the family moved in the last 200 years?), but everything else matched to within a metre or so. As did the one book referred to, that I knew of from external sources (see #168 above), to wit, handling the Kew copy. But one question remains: did the girls ever get their promised dowries from Atto Melani?

Would I read another by this team? Yes, definitely, starting a minute or 2 after posting this.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, definitely, and with gratitude to Peter for the BB.
To whom? Well now let's see; who do I know that I can enthuse at ...

*I suffer from acute acrophobia. NO WAY will you get me up on a roof, much less on a catwalk where I have to look down down down to an internal floor far too far below me. To me the job mentioned in the supporting documentation at the end, that of the squad of Sanpietrini who maintain the lightning conductor on top of the cross on top of the ball, has to be close to the world's most undesirable.

>175 hfglen: You can enthuse at me. I have been searching Open Library for these books but am coming up empty, (other than audio, which is not an ideal format for me). Do you happen to have an Internet Archive link for online reading?

I too have a tough time with acrophobia, although it has gotten better as I age. I can go up & down ladders and go on the roof when needed - but I much prefer terra firma!

>174 hfglen:

Have you read A Lifelong Passion, edited by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko? It's not yet another book about the Romanovs; these are two Russian historians who took advantage of the opening of the archives in the nineties to go through thousands of letters that various members of the Romanov family wrote to each other. This is a selection that they published.

Obviously what is selected could theoretically bias one's impressions, but Mironenko lost his job as Director of the Russian State Archives relatively recently over his commitment to truth - admitting the Soviets were the perpetrators at Katyn, debunking the Panfilov myth - so I trust their objectivity.

>175 hfglen: Peter also got me with that BB. Firing again was just unnecessary.

>176 ScoLgo: Links posted on your profile page.

First impression of Veritas. I love that the possessors of German accents speak in black-letter, a bit like some of the "foreign" characters in some Asterix books.

>178 hfglen: Thank you!

I've just being adding a block of annual reports to the Railwaysoc catalogue. It seems from the new charts and graphs pages that LT doesn't know whether annual reports count as fiction or non-fiction. Come to think of it, LT may be right at that!

This week's picture shows a Crested Guineafowl. Personally, I think the tuft of feathers makes them look ridiculous. Even more off-putting, for a while there was a lass at the establishment I used to work at in Pretoria, whose hairstyle was strongly reminiscent of the bird's crest. She showed no more intelligence than one might have expected from the bird.

Zoo Tails. A collection of short stories of his experiences working at London Zoo by Oliver Graham-Jones, their first full-time vet. Highly entertaining and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Each story except the last (his last day at the Zoo) has a "Tail Piece" attached, giving a short paragraph on what happened to the animal protagonist afterwards.

ETA:
Would I read another by this author: yes, but probably not his academic treatise on anaesthesia of small animals.
Would I recommend this book: yes.
To whom: anyone in search of amusement and heart-warming stories, especially if they like animals.

Imtiaz Sooliman and the Gift of the Givers. Not quite as hagiographic as I feared, and in fact a quick read. Gift of the Givers is an extraordinarily active and effective charitable body based in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It was founded by Imtiaz Sooliman, a local doctor, and has grown to the point of having offices in all major centres in this country. Wherever there is a crisis, a green Gift of the Givers truck will roll up shortly afterwards (a few hours or at worst a day or two) with exactly the aid needed to get the victims back on their feet. Beyond our borders they have conducted operations in Sri Lanka, Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza, Haiti, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen (that are reported here).

Would I read another by this author: yes.
Would I recommend this book: yes.
To whom: Anyone who is looking for a heartwarming read. It would probably annoy the h*ll out of closed minds who claim as articles of faith that "all South Africans are corrupt / self-seeking" or "all Muslims are murderous thugs".

>182 hfglen: That sounds like fun.

>182 hfglen: That sounds like a delightful read!

>181 hfglen: That's hilarious! I kind of love it though.

In retrospect it reminds me of the hairstyle of a certain senator from Kentucky that I won't name.

>186 clamairy: Talking of hairstyles, dye it blond and it could be a certain British prime minister ;-)

>182 hfglen: >183 hfglen: Intriguing.

>187 hfglen: Nah. The bird has (more) style.

Bontle Campsite in Marakele National Park is unfenced, and so from time to time you may find some fairly unusual visitors inspecting your belongings.



They also have other large, potentially dangerous animals.

The Life and Times of Queen Anne. Interesting to read this interleaved with Veritas. Both deal with a period exactly overlapping the War of the Spanish Succession, one as non-fiction, from the English point of view, the other as fiction, from the Austrian (Holy Roman Empire) point of view. Both treat taking Louis XIV down a peg as a Good Thing. Anne was the last crowned Stuart, and was neither regal nor a particularly happy person. But for her subjects, this was quite a good time. Despite the ongoing war, Britain prospered and merchants, among others, could and did build beautiful houses, some of which still survive. This one is a worthy contribution to its series.

ETA:
Would I read another by this author: yes
Would I recommend this book: yes, if it is relevant and available.
To whom: anyone wanting to know more of the first two decades of the 18th century in Britain.

Extreme Universe. Gorgeous pictures, but. The problem with "up-to-the-minute" books on fast-moving subjects is that they are often out of date by the time they come back from the printers, and this one is 20 years old. An update is needed. That said, this book was brilliant when young; it is a pity that all the projects and some speculations referred to in the future are now in the past. The book is a tie-in with a TV series, which may well be worth watching.

Would I read another by this author: yes
Would I recommend this book: maybe, and maybe also the TV series.
To whom: lovers of beautiful astronomical pictures

Veritas. As Peter has said, this one is not quite as stratospherically good as its predecessors. Unless the translator is responsible for the way the book is laid out, I might differ with Peter on the reason why. In the first two the chapters are broken up into sections of a page or two each (usually), but here one is confronted with huge slabs of text, which do relatively little to keep up the reader's interest. Is it that the Viennese setting is rather "stodgier" than the Roman one of the first two? I beg to differ with one of the LT reviewers on one of the major props: almost any history of technology in general and aeronautics in particular will have a picture of an 18th-century "flying ship". However, no history would accuse this structure of working!

Would I read another by these authors: when one is published in English, yes.
Would I recommend this book: yes; it is after all a good story.
To whom: lovers of good mysteries and/or historical novels.

Trafalgar: the Nelson touch Remarkably, this one was published just over 50 years ago. It's an eminently readable, almost minute-by-minute account of the key naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, which confirmed the impression that "Britannia rules the waves" for the next century. The descriptions of the damage done to ships and sailors are often stomach-turning, which doesn't make this any less of a page-turner. How any ships made it back home is quite amazing.

Would I read another by this author: yes, I see several interesting titles in his LT catalogue.
Would I recommend this book: Yes.
To whom: Anybody who likes a good story well told, or wants to know the reason for the name of one of the most important sites in London, or wishes to know about naval history.

>189 hfglen:
Thankfully we do not have large and dangerous animals roaming the Irish landscape.

>194 pgmcc: Except for the humans...

>195 tardis: I stand corrected. :-)

>194 pgmcc:, >195 tardis: You remind me of a thought put into my head by fuzzi's bison. What would a North American "Big Five" be? Bears, bison, maybe wolves, and ...?

>197 hfglen: In NH we have moose, they are pretty big. I would also maybe add mountain lions.

We just came back from a trip to South Dakota - buffalo are everywhere, and they are enormous!

My take would be -

Brown bear (definitely makes you feel at the bottom of the food chain)
Bison (can be crabby)
Elk (not usually too crabby or aggressive)
Moose (when in rut, definitely aggressive)
Mountain Lion (will jump out of a tree and take your face off, but usually sticks to smaller game)

H.M. Wolves (usually go out of their way to avoid us, but will kill your hunting dog if it wanders into their territory)

But it's all situational. I've been in the presence of all these animals and am still above ground.

I mostly agree with Bookmarque, although we generally use cougar for mountain lion and wapiti is interchangable with elk.

I would add polar bear - they're BIGGER than grizzlies although I guess their range is smaller.

Moose are dangerous in rutting/calving seasons, but I think more people are hurt/die by hitting one with a car. They're way more dangerous than deer if you hit them because they're tall - the car hits the legs and the body plows through the windscreen.

Of course, there's a lot of smaller stuff that will mess you up - wolverine, for one. Also feral hogs, although they're not native.

Yeah, I considered alligator, too, but the range is pretty limited and I don't know how many go after adult humans as part of their routine. The ones I've been around weren't too interested.

>198 Darth-Heather: - >201 Bookmarque: Thank you all! Just for the record, ours are lion, leopard, Cape buffalo, rhino and elephant. Unless the lions are hunting, the make it clear they couldn't give a damn -- typical cats, in other words. Leopards can and usually do "hide behind a handful of sand and a blade of grass", and are usually most concerned to stay out of sight. Buffalo are a bit hard to miss, as they go around in large herds. A rhino's eyesight is generally such that would qualify a human for a disability benefit, but black rhinos are born in a foul temper and stay that way permanently; however I once heard of a semi-tame white rhino that acted as someone's pet. Elephants that are not hunted can be friendly; this is almost as frightening as the ones that are aggressive.

>199 Bookmarque: I've been indecently close to lions and elephants (and for all I know, leopard that kept a low profile) -- the lions had other things (the kill they were eating) on their minds, and the group I was in was firmly warned off by the elephant.

>201 Bookmarque: Curiously, neither Nile crocodiles nor hippos make it on to the "Big Five" list. Hippos kill more humans than crocodiles -- generally due to the people being stupid.

Endgame: secret talks .... To comment or not to comment? The events described in the book took place about 30 years ago, and so are well on their way to being history. On the other hand, it is entirely political history, and the effects of the successes and failures then are still very much being felt. The story here was, for excellent reasons, kept secret at the time, but can be told now. Prof. Esterhuyse tells it accurately, as far as one can tell. He evidently first wrote it in Afrikaans, then translated it (no translator is credited), and very occasionally the English betrays a trace of an Afrikaans accent -- which does not detract from the telling at all. In his last chapter he comments on events after 1994, and analyses the mess we are in today.

Would I read another by this author: probably not, as his others listed on LT are in Afrikaans and on subjects I am not interested in.
Would I recommend this book: possibly, if relevant
To whom: someone who wants to know more about a relatively recent, exciting period in South Africa's history.

No one mentioned Bigfoot for North America? Although, I suppose his species cannot be determined as yet.

Now that the internet's back (we had an unexplained 36-hour service-provider dropout), I can offer a picture.



This is from near the top of Naude's Nek (2590 m), the highest public road in South Africa, looking more-or-less westwards towards the village of Rhodes, Eastern Cape. I chose it to celebrate the news that SANParks and others are working on a new "North-Eastern Cape Grasslands National Park", still to be proclaimed. Apparently the centrepiece will be Naude's Nek, with a possible extension of the park to include Lundean's Nek (2195 m) on the Lesotho border. Can't wait to go and take a look!

High Hopes. Remember The Two Ronnies? This is the autobiography of the small one, Ronnie Corbett. His book is just as entertaining as his TV series, with a delightful series of anecdotes and throwaway one-liners. Not really a lot more to be said.

Would I read another by this author: quite possibly, if I come across one.
Would I recommend this book: possibly
To whom: Lovers of biographies, or someone looking for evidence of the history of late-20th century British live entertainment.

>207 hfglen:
I always felt Ronnie Barker was the more talented of The Two Ronnies, but then again would he have looked so good if he had not had Ronnie Corbett as his partner. It was similar to Morecambe and Wise team.

>208 pgmcc: Don't forget that they both did solos, without each other. Ronnie Barker had Porridge and Open All Hours, while Ronnie Corbett had Sorry, plus his solo joke spots.

From those samples I would say that Barker was the better comedian, but I have heard it said that Corbett was the nicer man.

>209 -pilgrim-:
I did not enjoy Corbett on his own. I loved Porrige but never took to Open All Hours.

I had not heard anything about their personalities off-stage.

>210 pgmcc: I agree. Of the three series that I mentioned, Porridge was the only one that I enjoyed.

Al-Jazeera. ' "Curiouser and curiouser" said Alice.' A book by a photographer, with no illustrations at all. (' "Stupid book: no pictures" said Alice'; I may not agree with this second quote, though.) Am I the last person on the planet to have heard the name Al-Jazeera but not fully associated with a satellite-TV news station based in Doha? Here we have an almost-blow-by-blow account of approximately the first ten years of the only free-speech Arabic TV station, and how they managed to have correspondents in all the Middle Eastern trouble spots (and some others) before anybody else. It suffers from the usual problem that besets books on very recent history or "breaking news". By now, more than half of the history of Al-Jazeera has happened after the book was written; not only half the history but apparently the more successful half.

Would I read another book by this author: if I find one of his picture boos, probably.
Would I recommend this book: if relevant.
To whom: Someone wanting to understand how TV news is gathered and disseminated.

>212 hfglen: I have only really heard of Al-Jazeer associated with the TV news station. I have been curious about its history. Probably not curious enough to buy a book on it though.

>213 pgmcc: I found it in the library, so I didn't part with money, either.

>158 hfglen: Your firing, added to Peter's and Richard's, persuaded me to go and order a copy of Imprimatur.

Unfortunately, in my enthusiasm, I did not check the language. Yesterday I realised that the copy, which I was looking forward to with anticipation, was going to be in German. It has been decades since I last held a conversation in that language. (My parents were fluent, but I never was.)

Fortunately I managed to cancel in time.

>215 -pilgrim-: Good catch. I remember getting a tourist guide of Ireland from the Irish Tourist Board for Iain Banks back in the early 1990s. I had picked one up from the display shelves and was about to pay for it when I realised it was in German. I quickly dashed back to the shelves and grabbed another version, bought it, and posted it to Iain. In his reply he thanked me profusely but wondered why I had sent him a copy in French.

>215 -pilgrim-: I hope you enjoy Imprimatur.

>216 pgmcc: Ah. Do you know whether he in fact reads French?

>217 pgmcc: Unfortunately an English copy is still eluding me. Both the online booksellers that I normally use are listing it as " currently unavailable".

ETA : Have you put your order on for The Green Man's Challenge?

>218 -pilgrim-: Ah. Do you know whether he in fact reads French?

I knew his wife was of German descent, and I was tempted to just send the German version as I knew she could read it. After reading Iain's letter I know neither he nor his wife had any French.

Unfortunately an English copy is still eluding me.
There is an English edition for £2.25 on Amazon but sold by "Thoroughly Good Stuff".
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imprimatur-Rita-Monaldi/dp/1846971055/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2...

I am disappointed to hear it is so difficult to get. I have contacted the publisher about the fourth book that also appears in every language except English. The publisher simply said they had no plans to publish the fourth book in English.

The Green Man's Challenge
Pre-order placed on 31st August.

>215 -pilgrim-: I had to read your first sentence three times before I worked out what you meant! My first reaction was "but but but but, it was @theexiledlibrarian that got fired!". I read it on Internet Archive, which may not be wonderfully practical for you.

The Cat Who saw stars and The Cat Who played Post Office. In a month or two I may have grave difficulties remembering what happened in which book. But if one enjoys them while reading, does it matter? Clearly I read these out of sequence, which truly does not matter. In "... saw stars" Qwill and the Cats are enjoying a "vacation" on the lake shore, and encounter the usual selection of crimes and corpses. Some of the latter, and the UFOs, are unexplained. In "... played post office" Qwill and the Cats move up to Pickax to take up the Klingenschoen inheritance. Qwill survives two attempts on his life and receives a long letter explaining three unnatural deaths.

100 Great Journeys. Travel on every page, mostly STTM. And yet, unsatisfying to this itchy-footed reader. The text is entirely in very brief boxes over pictures that don't quite tell the story. The one useful, or at least interesting fact: there is a paprika museum in Kalocsa, Hungary. Beware of the errors in the page on the Blue Train: most of the text describes Rovos Rail, a completely different company.

Would I read another by this author: it's conceivable that if the library displays one I might pick it up, almost by mistake.
Would I recommend this book: no.

This is not really a Norman church; for one thing, the plants in the garden give it away. It's at Belvidere, across Knysna lagoon from the town. The guiding spirit was one John Rex, son of George Rex. The latter is said by some to be an illegitimate son of George III, but all evidence is that this is not so. The foundation stone was laid in April 1849, and the building was consecrated by Bishop Gray, first Bishop of Cape Town, in 1855. (The picture was taken in 1975, which accounts for the slightly faded colour.)

>220 hfglen: Everyone is fired! Lol.

>223 hfglen: That's lovely. An interesting meeting of the Old World and the ... Older? New? I'm not sure!

>225 Sakerfalcon: Or an inspired fake. But the Knysna area is mostly heavenly (except, maybe, the Rastafarian township in what was not so long ago virgin forest), and a tourist paradise.

ETA: Older? ... Much older! The paleolithic (c. 77 000 BP) sites at Mossel Bay and Blombos are only about an hour's drive away.