Mar
10
Polemique - France is a-Twitter
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The French have a word for it - Polemique. This means strife, problems, domestic upheaval.
Forget the Regional elections this weekend. Forget the fact that the Socialist Party (Sarkosy’s bitter rivals) could now claim 24 of the 24 seats on offer (they now hold 22)………
BOTH the President Sarkosy and his wife, man-tamer/eater Carla Bruni are rumoured to having an affair - and not with each other!
According to some of France’s most reputable webzines, the rumours first began on Twitter, but have since gathered a head of steam on more mainstream media sites.
Now the country is buzzing with speculation about the possibility of two dangerous liaisons at the heart of the French political system.
The news first broke when it was tweeted that the glamorous Carla Bruni - Sarkozy’s wife of a mere two years - had fallen head over heels in love with the French musician Benjamin Biolay.
Bruni’s alleged new man - Biolay.
The webzine www.suchablog.com later suggested Bruni and Biolay had built a love nest together at a flat in Paris.
But that romantic bombshell was quickly followed by another allegation of equal magnitude, after it was reported that Nicolas Sarkozy was enjoying a relationship with his dynamic ecology minister, Chantal Jouanno.
Karate champ Chantal Jouanno
Mr Sarkozy has refused to confirm or deny the cyberspace gossip about his alleged lover, who is also a karate champion.
The rumours though are now widespread, which many analysts in Paris believe gives them some credibility. However some corners are suggesting that news of Sarkozy’s affair is simply an attempt by the French president to save face.
Toby Young, in his blog for the Daily Telegraph, believes that the fling with Jouanno was dreamt up by a PR man, especially as the French president was left by his second wife for another man.
He claims: “Sarkozy the swordsman cuts a more appealing figure than Sarkozy the cuckold.”
[news source: Sky News and France 24]
Mar
10
Phantom sequel savaged by Bloggers
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The power of Social Networking seems to have struck the theatre where it does not want to be hit : careful management of the theatre ‘critics’ is no more.
For the past month, there have been previews of the eagerly awaited Phantom of the Opera sequel “Love Never Dies”. Attendees have rushed into copy on blogs and other social networks - the news is not good for Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Are bloggers more influential than critics from the Press?
The online critics savaged everything from the performances to the set and ticket prices.
One theatre blog, West End Whingers, has even dubbed the show “Paint Never Dries”, describing it as tedious and dull, with the blogger saying he reworked the title because the show was like “watching paint dry”.
On the influential theatre discussion forum, www.whatsonstage.com, there are 84 pages of pre-first night reviews. While there are some positives in the posts, some say the show is “tired” and “lacking in surprise”.
[The Lord at the world premiere last night]
One poster, who had been to see a preview, added: “I didn’t particularly care who lived or died. I just wanted to go catch the train home.”
Lloyd Webber has hit back, telling The Times that what the internet reviewers are watching are previews and not the finished article.
He said: “It is a problem now because if you go back in history, I dread to think what anybody would have said about the first preview of Cats, or, frankly, Les Misérables, which was a huge undertaking and wasn’t right at the beginning.”
This new breed of online critics is a bit of a headache for London’s theatreland.
Even in an age of Twitter and Facebook, there is still a gentlemen’s agreement with the mainstream media that reviews will be held until after the Press night. Social media is changing that.
Love Never Dies has taken advance bookings of £9m on a production cost of £6m. Dates are pencilled in for the US, Asia and Australia.
Mar
9
Some light in the Gloom
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In the gloom of the snow and European winter (where is spring, he cries), you can always rely on the Northern Territory News to brighten your day.
The article states:
NT Supreme Court documents reveal Riddle was stabbed in the back while he was having -x and trying to organise a three-way orgy in November 2003.
Riddle was having intercourse with a woman in a caravan in Stuart Park, when he invited 19-year-old Terri Lee-Anne Roebuck — who was watching — to join in.
She then stabbed him in the back with a kitchen knife. Riddle paused in his s-xual activity and noticed the knife sticking out of his back.
The sentencing remarks noted that Riddle, while he was trying to get the knife out of his back, “noticed … that the female with whom he’d been having intercourse had left”.
Mar
8
Snow in the Lanquedoc-Roussillon area
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It’s amazing. It’s March and even the Lanquedoc-Roussillon area in France has snow. For those of you whose geography is a little rusty, it’s nearly down on the Spanish border.
Our intrepid reporter, Jean-Pierre, snapped these pics at their house in Castelnau (near to Montpellier).
[merci bien, JP et Gxx]
Mar
8
A Caption winner!
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After you have weeded over there, I want you to water the Daffodils!!
[well done, Jenny!]
Mar
7
As we prepared ourselves for a luncheon at Le Renard, Madame announced her intuition told her that it would snow to-day (and soon!).
We wrapped up warmly and proceeded to the car - voila! la neige, the snow started.
Driving over the hilltop to Lumieres and then on to Hameau les Dauphins, there was the literal spit and a spot. During lunch, it came down.
Here’s the latest pics - Max the German Shepherd loving it, the garden, the countryside and, lastly, our house as we approached, eager to arrive home before it was too late. We passed our builder Jose on the road- big smiles, probably he was on his way to his latest ‘conquest’ and knows that the snow will mean that he has to ’stay over’ and can’t work to-morrow.
The Touran is parked on a downhill slope in Jean-Pierre’s driveway, tyres turned to 90 degrees, all bolted down. We have learnt? We’ll see to-morrow!
We are bunkered down. Thanks for a great lunch Daviiiid and Robi - sorry we had to leave so quickly.
Mar
7
Saturday in the Dentelles
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We decided we needed a little culture, a little break from the spring cleaning and hopped into the Touran along with the Duncans and headed for the Dentelles.
The Dentelles is a small mountain range which encircles part of the Rhone valley - so called as ‘dentelle‘ is French for lace. The peaks are delicate even if you can’t escape the imposing Mount Ventoux in the distance.
We travelled the scenic route and entered the area at the tiny, desolated village of Le Barreaux. Dwarfed by its XIVth Century chateau the village cries out for love, attention and many euros.
[roof top view of the old village]
We did not delay too much and headed off for the Roman town of Vaison la Romaine.
Orange and Vaison are two of the best preserved Roman towns in France. The forum is well looked after and accessible to visitors.
[part of the Roman Forum - parts of it looks like our new wood shed]
Vaison la Romaine is very popular with wealthy Parisians in the summer and the houses and shops reflect this. It has a great market in the season.
Seated at the Festival Cafe in the town square for lunch, we were presented with the programme for the 27th Vaison Regional Rally. It was very well supported and boasted over 100 participants. We tried to get to see the start at 14h30 but a combination of tartiflette pizza, rose and lack of directions conspired against us.
We did, however, see the ‘pits’ - not quite Formula 1 standard:
[snow capped Mont Ventoux in the distance]
Jean-Pierre had often told us to go and visit Beaumes de Venise - the muscat ‘capital’ of the world. We found it and what a treasure. Domaines pepper the hillsides which are crammed with vines in every nook and cranny.
We chose Domaine des Bernardins (www.domaine-des-bernardins.com) as our first stop on the outskirts of the village. In the well appointed tasting room we found displays of muscat hailing from 1839. We discovered that a domaine has to produce 12 consecutive ‘acceptable’ vintages before they can carry the appellation of ‘Beaumes de Venise’.
[1839 is a serious vintage]
[historic bottles]
[to-day's range - muscat and red]
After making a few purchases (Jean-Pierre has introduced us to the delights of foie gras and muscat), we drove into the quaint village. There are many restaurants and cafes as well as little wine shops selling muscat and local unfiltered olive oils.
[wine making and marketing is a very serious business here]
We met a lovely Scottish lady (Sarah? She had a heavy brogue) serving in one of the wine shops (she came to France a few years ago when she ‘met a Frenchman’) which meant that we were able to learn about the delights of the local muscat without straining our fractured French.
She told us that the local olive trees bear a small black fruit - suitable only for pressing in the ancient stone presses, not for eating. Needless to say, a bottle has joined the other 350 in the pantry.
[a typical local olive tree]
A great day out especially when we didn’t spot any gendarmerie on the way home. We have the name of one of the most popular local restaurants - we’ll be back!
Mar
7
A Week in Provence - Spring [1]
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As Provence winds itself up again to herald the coming of spring, a certain rhythm emerges. The vines are populated by little vans as storm damage is assessed, clippings are made and there’s much cleaning up of grass verges, meadows and the villages (the fact that it’s the French Regional Elections next weekend may have something to do with the latter, though).
Jose and Nicola are hard at work. The pool kitchen is covered, the toilet walls built and many changes made to plans as to the location of the dish washer, ice machine, sink and other accoutrements.
The ice machine? Yes, we’ve finally ordered it. Thanks to our dear friends.
The boys take the changes all in good humour. They now pin the ‘latest’ plan up on the beams for reference - the collection is growing.
[point of view from the driveway]
[inside, before the toilet wall was built. When they excavated the garden wall for re-building, the heavy rains had rendered the wall unsafe so we now have a small piece of 'history' in the loo.]
The wood shed is also progressing well. So much so that Jose has stated that “if Simon has a dispute with Lovonne, this now becomes his bedroom”
[Nicola feeling very proud of his handiwork with the woodshed. Jose was missing in action on Thursday - something to do with the fact that Spain beat France 2-0 in a World Cup warm-up match]
We thought that we had escaped the damage caused in the villages by the heavy rains and snow from Europe’s worst winter in 30 years. Sadly, this was not the case. The bottom garden level has a magnificent old wall along one side - the water did some damage:
[interesting to note that although two rows of stones have collapsed there are still a further three behind them - no doubt built on over the ages]
Spring cleaning has become the vogue and the directive was made ’sort out the study - it’s a mess’. We did. The Mother had given us a small cross/candelabra in Cape Town and this has been placed in front of the chimney. The books have been packed away, the desks cleared, and generally everything is shipshape.
We’ve visited the gypsies - they’ve delivered the new units for the pool house; we’ve lunched at our favourite little bistro in Egalyieres; met the Duncans for another blow out at Le Gare de Bonnieux; and enjoyed a splendid lunch at Le Veranda in Menerbes on the occasion of the anniversary.
Oh, and the Sky box returned from its travels and is relaying its messages to us. Thanks Jannie!!
Au bientot - Lovonne and Simon xx
Mar
7
Here’s an interesting article from reknowned forensic specialist Dr David Klatzow. Sorry it’s so long (breaking all the blog rules, I know) but it’s really worth a read:
The ANC-led alliance came to power with many stated and lofty ideals. They flowed from the rhetoric of such American greats as Martin Luther King. “An injury to one is an injury to all”, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
Our government, post-Madiba, has been slow to give reality to these lofty ideals. Thabo Mbeki (Mr Delivery) turned out to be Mr Non-Delivery. All functionaries in government were replaced by loyal party cadres. Everything became ideology-driven instead of ability-driven. Government interference in the universities has become much more overt and destructive than ever it was under the Nationalists.
Our health system was functional to a high level, even for rural black people, and the urban “non-European” hospitals, while an abominable reflection of the apartheid system, worked well, with standards high and no shortage of drugs and equipment. Now in 2010, we contemplate exactly what has been achieved in the 15 years of post-apartheid South Africa.
A previous vice-chancellor of UCT, Mamphela Ramphele, is on record as saying that Bantu Education was better than the mess we have now. Our hospitals are dysfunctional for all South Africans who are unable to afford private health care. The Johannesburg General, Groote Schuur, Pretoria Hospital and many others around the country are mismanaged to such an extent that they have become a threat to health. The hospital accounting systems are in a shambles and suppliers have cut off supplies until their bills are paid. The standards of repair and cleanliness have plummeted. The equipment, supplies and linen have been pillaged and pilfered.
Recently, at Groote Schuur, I encountered a neurology ward that had no toilet seats, no toilet paper, no soap and no towels. The chief neurologist there informed me that he would not use the toilets in his ward because they were too disgusting. The legacy of Manto Tshabalala-Msimang speaks for itself.
Our police service is severely dysfunctional. Too many of the serving officers are corrupt. A recent PhD thesis on the subject put it at 10 percent and probably higher. Our erstwhile chief cop, Jackie Selebi, stands accused of corruption, while he was head of Interpol, moreover. This is a national disgrace. The arrogance of the man in running around with the likes of the criminal gangsters with whom he associated and not seeing the conflict of interests is astounding. The government, which should be doing all in its power to prosecute Selebi to the full, is wasting taxpayers’ money trying to keep certain witnesses out of court on the spurious basis of national interest.
Our education system is a complete mess. We have the results of the OBE debacle to contend with, where the only certainty is that we will produce a generation of educationally crippled youth.
We have the ANC government with its ludicrous policies of “quiet diplomacy” that have allowed the stability of the region to deteriorate. The influx of refugees across our borders is fuelling xenophobic violence and is placing scarce resources under huge pressure. Our water supplies are dwindling and those that we have are polluted with faecal matter from the squatter camps along their courses. Cholera is waiting. Much of the water measuring equipment installed at key points on our rivers has been vandalised.
The Cape Times (February 
has reported that “Dire shortage at forensic labs stifles justice”. What do you expect? In my private capacity as a consulting forensic scientist, I have been warning about this state of affairs for some years. About four years ago I warned of the coming “meltdown”. To no avail. The analysts in the Health Department labs are appointed in terms of ethnicity and ideology and not in terms of their ability to do the work. When a previous head of the laboratory in Pretoria, Dr Neels Viljoen, attempted to set an examination to regulate the incoming analysts he found that he was expected to appoint people who scored single-figure results for the elementary chemistry examinations. The labs are swamped with incompetents and the work does not get done. The net result was that he and the other heads of the laboratories have all left the state’s employ and are lost to the system. Their expertise is not even available to assist the state in pulling itself up by its bootstraps. Nearly 5 000 samples from the Salt River Mortuary have not been analysed. The talk is that they will be discarded. So much for justice.
The government must stop the insane racist and aggressively affirmative policies that it has put in place. Corruption should be rooted out tooth and nail. All the available talent should be used in getting this country back on track. Stop the centralist interference in every aspect of our lives. It is not for the government to decide whether I may open a medical practice wherever I wish. All that will happen is that the available source of doctors will dwindle as they head for greener pastures.
Jacob Zuma is a national embarrassment is so many ways. His exuberant fecundity is the least of the issues, however. My primary problem with Zuma is his lack of appreciation for anything other than immediate gratification without appreciation for the consequences. He says what he feels the audience wants to hear, without a jot of sincerity or any intention to perform. It is high time, Mr Zuma, that you stop your philandering long enough to see that your party is systematically destroying this country.
As a group, the ANC hierarchy is as racist and as corrupt as the Nationalists. History will judge you harshly. Maybe I could leave you with two quotes from Martin Luther King: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” And finally, “A riot is at the bottom the language of the unheard”.
[thanks, Jen]
Mar
7
Fundraising German style
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We know things are tough in the European Union and that Germany may have to bail out the Greeks (and the Spaniards and the Portuguese….) but this may be taking fundraising a bit far.
Here is an excerpt from a German newspaper where a local municipality is asking for 50euro sponsorships for filling their potholes. It would take a few billion dollars for Mpumalanga!
[news source - AAP]
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