The Beautiful Game

 

 "Football, a game in which everyone gets hurt and every nation has its own style of play which seems unfair to foreigners." George Orwell
     

Well it’s all kicking off…

Not only in Brazil.

Years ago Andy Murray got hate mail by stating something that is obviously true.  When England plays football, Scots tend to support whoever they are playing against
.                                     
This is very childish, immature and a bit silly. We don’t care.

Dozens of posts on Murray's website stated that they wanted him to lose his next round match at Wimbledon.  Treason might still be a capital offence in England but if  Andy ever turned up in an England football top we would do more than hang him - we would take his Irn Bru away.


"The lovers of football are large, boisterous, nobby boys who are good at knocking down and trampling on slightly smaller boys." George Orwell


The above affair was mentioned in parliament (British not Scottish) One  Scots MP said that no one should be punished for not supporting a team they have no real affinity to. (I typed that badly the first time and the autocorrect read back… No one should be punched for not supporting a team they have no real affinity to.)
Freudian.
                                            
So when the sport involves a Scottish team and an English team why should a Scot support England  as opposed to any other team.  There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that the great footballing nations of Argentina, Germany and Scotland (ok I’m pushing that last point ! ) have formed a kind of axis of smirking maliciousness to get in England’s way. I think Uruguay and Italy might be…...

 "There's quite enough real causes of trouble already, and we need not add to them by encouraging young men to kick each other on the shins amid the roar of infuriated spectators." George Orwell
     


Then what happened this week? Sweet Uruguay banged in goal two in the final minutes and Scotland cheered. The camera swept round the  crowds and I saw a Saltire flying and said to 'him indoors' that Uruguay must also use the flag for 'ceremonial occasions.'

But the headlines the next day were full of it. Close  scrutiny of the footage revealed the man was wearing a 'See you Jimmy hat' and a Scotland  top. He was dancing and hugging  the Uruguayans passionately….

                                    
                                                      This is a 'see you Jimmy hat'

The search was on to find this fine example of Scottish naughtiness and he turned out to be a Celtic supporter from Glasgow. This kind hearted chappie had taken a whole load of football tops out to Brazilian orphanages.  And attended any game England played... supporting the opposition.

The irony of the worst football country in the world (us)  giving one of the best footballing countries ( Brazil) football tops did not escape us. We are patriotic not delusional.

Then followed the internet hoax about the Uruguay: England game being rigged and that they were replaying it to give England another chance. But that was a hoax. Thank goodness.

The truth is that we wish them no harm, the eleven men on the pitch. If they play well  they will get as far as they deserve to get. Just like any other team. The fact that those of us North of the Border are growling will have no effect on them, not one iota.
                                          
The big problem is summed up in one wee scenario.  England playing the rugby world cup (Or whatever.) The Scots bookies ran odds as to when the English commentators would mention their football World Cup victory of 1966.  The answer….. less than four minutes in.


Football is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90  minutes and at the end, the Germans win.

Gary Lineker.


They never stop going on about it.  It’s as if they won it then…. And think that other teams are being a bit rude when they turn up  to try and win it back..
                               
We never stop saying the ball didn’t cross the line ACTUALLY and as soon as they got back to blighty, we gubbed them 3-1....!  It would be very purile of me to mention those two facts so I won't.

The commentary is….well biased. Almost  'how dare the other team turn up!'  The hype is unbelievable and misplaced. And that is not the  players' fault. The lads played well, the other lads played better…
                                               
The oldest international  fixture in the world is the  Scotland versus England game. One year we were very naughty - invaded the pitch and err... stole it. Ok so there was a bit of damage but nobody got hurt. It was all very good humoured... no violence. But we did nick the goalposts and smuggled them north.
                                            

Anybody who has witnessed the tartan army in full song knows that they are cheerful, drunk, noisy but very rarely, violent. ( In those days they were often too drunk to stand up, never mind hit anybody)
                                            
That does not mean that team football up here is not violent. Alchol was banned from the game for a good reason. The sectarian elements run deep and raw. It is tribal.

But the national supporters are united  and out national team support has never been infiltrated by the nasty extremely racist faction that other national teams have been plagued by. It spoils the game for the real footie fan. Some might argue that’s because we never qualify for anything.

The first Scotland England game was played on 30th November 1872. Nil Nil. We have played 111 times, they have won 46,  we’ve won 41, the rest drawn.

Wikipeadia says. 'The history of the British Isles has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests. Scottish nationalism has also been a factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with Scottish sports journalists traditionally referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy".
So there it is in black and white.


The No to Independence campaign also sighed with relief when England went out the current competition. If they had continued, the angst of the Scots having to suffer it on the TV night after night (on STV as well as the BBC as the pundits are everywhere) would have resulted in more vote voting yes.


 "Football has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting." George Orwell

I once saw a great film. I think it was  The Cup by Khyentse Norbu.

It's about the effort of a small boy in a remote Nepalese Monastery trying to rig an aerial to watch  the World Cup.  He explains that it is country against country and waits for the wise words of his senior...

'Is it war then?'

The boy pauses for a very long time before he answers...

"If you want to add to the vast fund of ill-will existing in the world at the moment, you could hardly do it better than by a series of football matches between Jews and Arabs, Germans and Czechs, Indians and British, Russians and Poles, and Italians and Yugolslavs." George Orwell

Caro Ramsay  0    Murder is Everywhere 1
Played 27/06/2014

The Okavango Delt

I am reposting a blog I wrote a few years ago, in celebration of the acceptance of my favourite place on the planet - the Okavango Delta in Botswana - as the 1000th World Heritage site.

Steve Boyes of the Wild Bird Trust had this to say when interviewed by National Geographic:

"The abundance of life is mind boggling: more than 530 bird species, thousands of plant species,160 different mammals,155 reptiles, scores of frogs, countless insects. Everywhere you look you find life. We surveyed bats and we found 17 species in three days. We started looking for praying mantises and found 90 different species. This is the ark of the Kalahari and this part of Africa."

For an outstanding article he wrote - with great photos - read: "Africa's Okavango Delta for Future Generations."

Stan - Thursday

___________________________

The Okavango Delta lies in the northwest of Botswana bordering Namibia.  It is formed by the Kavango River, which rises in the heart of Angola to the north and west, then flows over 1200 kilometres south, then east away from the Atlantic Ocean through Namibia into Botswana.  There it fans out into a huge delta approximately 15000 sq. kms in size and appears to disappear abruptly into the Kalahari Desert.  It is indeed a remarkable sight to see the waters of the Delta on one side of a road and the desert on the other.

The 15000 sq. kms of the Delta comprise very low islands, few more than a two or three metres high, channels of water, and areas that are covered with water in the flood season (June to August) and are water-free much of the rest of the time.  Consequently, the Delta is a maze of islands and beautiful, crystal-clear water.  Access to the islands is by boat (powered on the main channels), mokoros on the smaller channels, and small plane.  There are a few roads on the larger islands, but access from outside is usually impossible.

Sausage tree

Mokoro

One of the greatest pleasures I have ever experienced is to wander along the waterways on a mokoro, which is a dug-out canoe, often made from a sausage tree (Kigelia africana).  The passengers, two at most, sit almost at water level, while the boat is poled by a poler standing at the back (like a punt).  The shallow draft allows the mokoro to go almost anywhere in the Delta.  It is magical to slide silently between the papyrus watching and listening to the birds and spotting wildlife, some of which – the lechwe and sitatunga - are found only in this type of  habitat.

Flying lechwe

Of course you have to be careful, because the larger channels are home to many a hippo (‘kubu’ in Setswana), which, when disturbed, can turn in a flash from a sleepy, tranquil lump of lard into Africa’s most dangerous mammal.  It gets one attention when nearly 3 tonnes of hippo surfaces next to you, jaws open.  Of course, having a hippo surface next to the mokoro is infinitely better than under the mokoro.  If that happens the impact can be so great that the boat may break.  Even if it doesn’t, the poor occupants will be flung into the water.  This too is not a good place to be because although vegetarian, hippos are not reluctant to bite.  A glance at the accompanying photo of a hippo mouth shows how dangerous a bite can be.

Open wide!

In addition, the Delta is inhabited by thousands of Nile crocodiles.  I believe a cooperative agreement exists between hippos and crocs with respect to knocking people into the water, but I haven’t figured out what’s in it for the hippo. 

Actually, such incidents are few and far between because the polers are experienced and know what to do.  In general, when on a boat in hippo territory, the strategy is to bang the side of the boat periodically.  The noise piques the hippos’ curiosity, and they pop their heads above water to see what the kerfuffle is all about.  All you have to do then is NOT to get between them and deep water, which is their haven.

The Okavango is, of course, a magnet to wildlife, particularly when the water is high.  Not only are there well over a hundred species of mammals and a big variety of reptiles (over 120,000 elephant are thought to be in Botswana alone), but the birdlife is spectacular, with the Delta boasting around 500 species, from the rare (the huge Pels Fishing Owl, for example) to the abundant –the Red-Billed Quelea can form flocks so large (millions and millions) that they black out the sun and destroy crops like locusts.

Pell's Fishing owl (50 - 60 cms in length)

Red-billed quelea

Quelea flock

Michael and I are avid birders and love being in the Delta.  About fifteen years ago, I flew up to a small town called Shakawe with some friends.  Shakawe is on the Okavango River just as it spreads out to form the Delta.  There, in the only time of our lives, we suffered from bird overload.  There were so many species in such abundance that we were overwhelmed.  A dozen African Fish Eagles in a tree; hundreds of Slaty and other egrets; dozens of different types of kingfishers; lily-trotting Jacanas; cliffs full of Carmine Bee-eaters; and on and on.  We just couldn’t keep up with the recording of what we had seen, let alone the photography.  Astonishing!

African Fish Eagle

Black heron

African Jacana (the lily trotter)

CarmineBee-Eater

Malachite Kingfisher

Our Detective Kubu is not a bird-watcher and hasn’t visited the Okavango, although he was in prime bird habitat at Jackalberry Camp in the Linyanti.  Unfortunately his situation is true of most Batswana.  Although I agree with the government policy of low-impact, high income – that is few visitors at a high price  - it means that many locals can’t afford to visit the Delta and enjoy what it has to offer.  It is probably up to Michael and me to find a pretext for Kubu to make it to the Delta and enjoy what we have always enjoyed.

But it is so difficult to conceive of a murder in the Delta’s tranquility!

But I’m sure Michael will find a way.

Stan - Thursday

Hypocrytical sinkhole

I am not particularly well informed about American politics. I do not live there and the Icelandic politics suffice to soothe my appetite for such issues. But I know enough to say that as someone that has no vested interest in US policies I do like the Obamas. I like the way he touches people‘s shoulders when shaking hands as it implies that he is a nice guy and his wife Michelle seems like a very good and strong person. But now I have a beef with him.

Maybe it would be good form to issue a brief warning. Not many readers will applaud this post. The topic has few pleasant sides. But in life one cannot constantly steer clear of uncomfortable issues. So here goes:

Recently the US State Department sponsored a global conference “Our Ocean” to discuss and raise awareness on issues related to the ocean and marine conservation. Iceland was asked by Obama to stay away as we were supposedly not welcome. This is a bit odd as Iceland is one of the few countries in the world that still maintains a healthy and thriving fishing industry due to the long serving regulating of fishing. Because of this, Iceland with its 320 thousand inhabitants is the 12^th largest fishing nation in the world. We could have provided very valuable input regarding boosting fish stocks for coastal countries that continue to see the fish in their waters deplete. At the very least we could have presented a good case for the value of sustainable fishing. But no. We were a country non-grata. So what gives?

Whaling.

In 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that regulates whaling, placed a ban on commercial whaling due to threat of whale extinction. The IWC does however allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to continue whaling. Japan for research purposes (the ban reportedly urges that research meat be sold for consumption), Norway because they objected to the ban and Iceland because of a reservation we had passed by the IWC in 2002.

Iceland’s locally regulated annual quota amounts to 150 fin whales and 150 minke whales.

Neither of the whale species Iceland hunts are in danger of extinction. The population of the North Atlantic fin whale subspecies in the waters Iceland hunts has been estimated to number 19 000 animals. The quota of 150 animals per year is chosen to ensure that this number does not decrease due to the hunt. The global fin whale population is around 120 000 animals. The global minke whale population is around 800 000 animals.

Everyone that knows anything about whales knows that the IWC ban on commercial whaling is  no longer needed to protect whales from the threat of extinction. Sustainable whaling can now be conducted. The ban was never meant to be permanent. It was meant to compensate for past overhunting and allow the stocks to rise. Which they have.

Anyway. Despite the fact that Japan and Norway hunt more whales than Iceland, Japan and Norway were not sent the same letter from Obama that Iceland received. They were allowed to participate in the conference for some reason. Obama did not decide to take “the moral high ground” as he supposedly told our government that he felt obliged to do in regards to us. Norway and Japan received no threatening message about cutting off diplomatic relations or looming economic sanctions – as we did. Not very brave to pick on the smallest of the bunch or very consequent either. To me this moral high ground seems more akin to a hypocritical sinkhole.

Few people know that in addition to the three countries already mentioned, other countries also hunt whale, albeit in a somewhat lesser degree. Usually this is done under an aboriginal allowance and such hunting occurs for example in the USA. There aboriginal Alaskans are allowed to hunt 75 bow head whales a year. The bowhead population is estimated to be about 25 000 worldwide – less than a quarter of the fin whale population and about 3% of the minke whale population. The Obama administration does not worry about extinction off Alaska.

I do not get it. What is the difference and why is this somehow considered more acceptable? Iceland has hunted whale traditionally for centuries, so has Japan and Norway. Why does Obama allow the Alaskan hunt if whaling is such a hot topic for him? It occurs in his own back yard.  From a population of much fewer whales.

Did someone mention moral high ground?      

But opposition to whaling is not only due to people being worried about the animals becoming extinct. There is the notion that they are smart and they look magnificent. But does that make them any more holy than for example a chicken? If there is no extinction threat then one would think that whales should be on par with other animals that we eat. Can we kill chickens without blinking an eye because of their lack of intellect and rather homely appearance?  Can this then be applied to human life as well? Does someone who looks bad and is perhaps mentally challenged have less of a right to life? Will you get a reduced sentence for if you kill that person?

Don‘t get me wrong. I am not some hunting enthusiast, I don’t even fish. I am actually very much an animal lover although that might seem strange to some. To me it is not about the way an animal dies – it is about how it lives. I would rather eat a whale (that is not about to die out as a species) that actually had a life as opposed to a horrifically treated farm animal that had no life but possibly a decent death. I emphasise possibly.

Iceland does not have an army. We do not send our young out into the world with bombs and weapons to kill or be killed. We do not have the death sentence and administer poison into the veins of criminals in some mangled way – a few probably unduly convicted. We do not put children in jail. We are not one of the world’s biggest marine polluters. We do not have a food industry that turns people into vegetarians if they look into the practices. We hunt and fish responsibly. We do not point the finger at others regarding issues where we are no better. We do not threaten friendly nations.

Not that anyone would get all worried about a threat from our direction.  

 Yrsa - Wednesday

Gens de Voyage the Gypsies

Recently in the French news, which spread to the international news, was a graphic photo of a 15 year old Roma boy beaten up, stuffed in a shopping cart and left for dead on the outskirts of Paris. A neighbor who found him took photos to document his condition brought him to the hospital. It turns out that a gang of 20 young people wearing ski masks beat this Roma boy up. The pictures are horrific. People were asking how could this happen. Francois Hollande got on the news deploring the incident. But no one was asking why.  The racism against Gypsies or Roma in France and throughout  Europe is quiet and not talked about. It’s a given.

Of course it depends on who you talk to and it’s a complicated issue. For several years the French police have worked with the Romanian government to bring in Romanian police. These police are taught French and deputized to work in Paris.
But these are the Eastern European Gypsies, the Roma who are from Albania, former Yugoslavia, Romania who after the EU opened the borders pass freely
through Europe. Freely is a loose term.
It turns out this boy who is still in a coma, is 17 not 15, he's recently arrived from Romania to be with his step-family and was known to have psychiatric problems.

Gypsies are known by different names in different countries - Scinti in Germany, Gitane in Spain, Gitano in Italy and the French born are called Manouches and Gens de Voyage. By French born I mean those born in France who have citizenship and may have lived there for years, in semi-nomadic lifestyles or more sedentary conditions, for generations. Those are the ones who feature in my next book.
What do you think of when you hear Gypsy or Roma in Europe?
Chicken thieves, Pickpockets in the Metro, musicians, workers at the carnivals, circus, horse traders, exotic dancers, caners at the market?
But it’s a complicated issue
Cara - Tuesday

STRANGE GODS launches tomorrow!

I am thrilled to post my annual shot at SSP.

Here is the jacket copy:

"In early 20th century British East Africa, there are rules for the British and rules for the Africans. Vera McIntosh, the daughter of Scottish missionaries, doesn't feel she belongs to either group; having grown up in Africa, she is not interested in being the well-bred Scottish woman her mother would like her to be. More than anything she dreams of seeing again the handsome police officer she's danced with. But more grisly circumstances bring Justin Tolliver to her family's home.

The body of Vera's uncle, Dr. Josiah Pennyman, is found with a tribesman’s spear in his back. Tolliver, an idealistic Assistant District Superintendent of Police, is assigned to the case. He first focuses on Gichinga Mbura, a Kikuyu medicine man who has been known to hatefully condemn Pennyman because Pennyman’s cures are increasingly preferred over his. But the spear belonged to the Maasai tribe, not Kikuyu, and it's doubtful Mbura would have used it to kill his enemy. Tolliver's superior wants him to arrest the medicine man and be done with it, but Tolliver pleads that he have the chance to prove the man's guilt. With the help of Kwai Libazo, a tribal lieutenant, Tolliver discovers that others had reasons to hate Pennyman as well, and the list of suspects grows.

This is a romantic and engaging mystery that captures the beauty and the danger of the African wild and the complexities of imposing a culture on a foreign land.

Reviews: 

"Alfieri aims for the audience who loved Out of Africa, with heartbreaking romance married to a complex mystery."

—Kirkus

“Alfieri’s novel brings Africa to Technicolor life. If you don’t have the urge to re-watch Out of Africa with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep after reading Strange Gods, your sense of discovery needs to be resuscitated.” 

– Kings River Life Magazine

        

“The author portrays well the struggle someone raised in Kenya faces when finding where they fit in the world.”

 – Old Africa Magazine

And the comment I am proudest of:

"A beautiful and sensitive story set in colonial Africa—a moving tale of intrigue and love. Every page a pleasure."

—Michael Stanley, Barry Award­-winning author of Deadly Harvest

Facing Up To It

Zoë Sharp

This week sees me returning to a topic I’ve raised before in blogs—writing groups.

Are you a member, or have you ever been a member, of one? What did you feel you got out of it? If you stopped going, why?

When I first moved up to the Lakes I looked for a local writing group and one was just forming. Great, I thought, but when I rang to make further enquiries alarm bells sounded from the fact the organiser spent the entire phone call telling me about her own writing background and didn’t ask a single question about what I might be working on. Still, I went to the first meeting and realised that she wanted to use it as a platform for her own ideas on teaching us to write, rather than simply letting us bring our own work for feedback from the rest of the group. I know a certain amount of structure is good—a topic for next time, if people are stuck for what to write about—but it wasn’t what I was looking for, and I regret that I didn’t last long there.

The trouble is, at the moment I’m leading a somewhat peripatetic lifestyle and have never lived in a big city where there are lots of writing groups to choose from. And I’ve never been a member of one where anyone else was writing crime. So, I’m starting to wonder about joining an on-line group.

But I don’t know how that works.

The big problem is the written word. If someone says, to your face, “That piece of dialogue really doesn’t work for me. It’s clunky. It sounds like the writer needing to get information across to the reader, rather than two people talking.” Then you pick up on far more than the words. Body language, tone, emphasis, facial expression, all help to soften down the criticism into something you can process and accept. Dashed off in an email, it sounds like a damning condemnation.

Somebody once said there are six ways people can read a letter. Some people write things that are supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, and find themselves being taken much too seriously and causing great upset or offence. I know adding smiley faces to emails is supposed to be a bit naff, but I do it all the time now to show I’m only making a jokey comment that is not supposed to be taken literally. Having had someone ring up and yell at me down the phone for a throwaway remark I once put in an email, I’m now very careful about these things. It doesn’t always work, of course, and I know I often put my foot in it.

So, that in itself makes me wary of joining an on-line writing group. The whole purpose of on-line is that you don’t meet, so how do I know if the general personality of the people whose opinions I’m soliciting will fit in with my own ideas? You make decisions about people within minutes of meeting them, but how long does it take for those same opinions to form when all you have are emails or comments? Do people reveal themselves more fully in their writing than face-to-face, or do they hide behind the words?

And quite often I used to take along to my writing group the bits I wasn’t sure about. If you write something that you instinctively know is good, you’re happy with it. It’s the bits you have sneaky doubts about where you want a second—or even third or fourth—opinion. Do I really want to release unfinished, possibly dodgy bits of work onto the Internet? Who knows where it might end up, and what damage it might do?

Paranoid? Me?

So, I’m looking for advice and information, people. Can you recommend a good on-line crime/thriller writing group? If you’ve had any bad experiences of on-line or face-to-face writing groups, care to share? And just how do the damn things work, exactly?

This week’s Word of the Week is postiche, an adjective meaning superfluously and inappropriately added to a finished work; counterfeit or false. Also a noun meaning an inappropriate hairpiece or wig.