Kermit and Ladysmith Black Mambazo

If you need proof that the South Africans do amazing things with choral arrangements, check out Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing the alphabet with Kermit the Frog.

Uses for Carpet Scraps: Cat Throne

[Marcie and Red Vera, you may skipt this post.]

Drexel likes to keep an eye on me while I'm at the computer.

She had a chair, but it was getting in the way. So I added carpet scraps to the nightstand that is no longer needed in the guest room.

A Reader Seeking Advice

This morning I received an email from a reader looking for a date venue recommendation:

Met a girl, eharmony, ...who is a successful politician of sorts and is often in meetings, pictures, dinners etc.

I want to meet in either Montreal or Ottawa depending on the convenience factor for her and do something that is outside of her normal routines.

Suggestions?

K.

Obviously, he came here because of my romantic things to do in Ottawa post, but those either aren't romantic enough, or they're not outside of her normal routines enough, or they're not suitable for a successful politician of sorts.

So I suggested:

1. Skating on the Canal: It is a cliché, but it is a wonderful thing that can only be done in Ottawa. Everybody always says "I should do this more often".
2. Shoot some pool. She gets to look all sexy bending over the table. Maclarens on Elgin is nicely upscale for pool.
3. Is she into sports? People say that an Ottawa 67s game is more fun than a Senators game. Then there's Spins'n'Needles, Disco Bingo, Roller Derby...

But he didn't like those:

...really looking to do something that is outside of her normal activities and requires intimacy (verbal!) and access to a one on one communication venue with the atmosphere and the surrounding environment contributing to a warm relaxing event .

So... Do we have more suggestions for K? Or should we let him figure this out on his own? Would we be doing a disfavour to the "girl" who is a successful politician of sorts if we give him a great date idea and it leads her to think he is a thinker-upper of great dates?

Uses for Carpet Scraps: Firewood Carrier

If you have old carpet scraps lying around because you've been making kitty castles, you can make a fine wood carrier.

You just need a strip that's about the width of a piece of firewood and about 3 times as long.

With a sharp knife, cut a handle at each end. (Do it so the fold is close to the edge and it will be easier on your hands).

Book Circling

Yesterday, the members of Astronaut Love Triangle went shopping at the Neighbourhood Services Store at City Centre. The ladies found great costume items. Jimmy Jettz and I found excellent electronic musical instruments. With friendly but no nonsense staff, excellent low prices and the City Centre Warehouse ambiance, the place really has the second-hand shopping vibe.

[Just in case you're not from Ottawa, "City Centre" is a collection of buildings with warehouses and businesses that do not require foot traffic or an aura of prestige. Although I love the way it looks, it usually wins any contests in Ottawa for ugliest building or worst architecture. Also, it is more west than centre of Ottawa.]

As people were concluding their final purchases, I took a look at the books. I'm not allowed to buy any books for myself, but I thought I'd see one that I could use as a gift to someone else. In amongst the hardcovers, I saw a copy of Downfall People by Joanne Williams Bennett. It is a book that came out in 1986 and is set in northern Ghana. I bought five or six copies back in the late 80s and early 90s and gave away all but one. I still have that copy.

I decided I'd buy this copy unless it was priced too high. I picked it up and opened the cover. It had no price, so it would be the default $1, but I was sorry to see that it had an inscription. That will make it harder to give the book as a gift, I thought.

Then I read the inscription:

If you can't read the text in the photo, you can click on the picture to see it larger. To answer the obvious question - the David who wrote the inscription is either me or someone who has identical handwriting and also gave his mother a copy of Downfall People.

I called Mom yesterday afternoon. She remembers lending the book to someone and never getting it back, but she can't remember who she lent it to. She's more careful about keeping track now. She has a list of the ladies at bridge who have borrowed her books and she makes sure to write her first name inside so they remember who the book belongs to. Kathy Cook's Stolen Angels is on its fourth or fifth borrower, but Mom knows who has it.

And yes, she wants Downfall People back.

Update: 3 Storms = Snowmagedden

Remember how, just before Christmas, I asked Environment Canada about Snowmaggedon, Snowpocalypse and Snowlocaust? I received a reply today and it turns out that (a) I spelled it wrong, and (b) 3 storms makes a Snowmagedden:

From: Env Canada Weather-Météo [mailto:ECWeather-Meteo@ec.gc.ca] Sent: January 5, 2009 1:09 PM To: David Scrimshaw Cc: MSC National Inquiry Response Team Subject: RE: Environment Canada (Comment, public production, Snowmagedden, ON) Ser: G1223ZRHF4 David,

Thank you for sending your message to Environment Canada. Of course, Snowmagedden is not an official term to describe a weather event. It was coined by one of our meteorologists to describe a series of 3 storms that were going to affect southern Ontario in less than a week.

Best regards,

Bernard Duguay Meteorological Inquiry Specialist MSC National Inquiry Response Team ISO 9001:2000 Environment Canada

Naturally, I am delighted to have an ISO 9001 response, and as a gesture of gratitude, I've developed an icon that Environment Canada is free to use on their weather forecast website for the next Snowmaggeden:

[Is the devil face in the mushroom cloud too smiley?]

Ghana photos from the 80s

The Chief's Soul sitting in front of him

Just before I left Ghana in 1986, my young friend Ben Kofi Wilson gave me a set of photos. I came across them recently and thought I'd put them up on Flickr because he might like to look at them.

Three of the photos feature Ben's friend and classmate, Obese (Oh-bee-see) Yeboah, who also happened to be the soul of the Akwapihene, the chief of the Akwapims.

I didn't know that Yeboah was the chief's soul until the day I punished him for talking in class. I don't remember the punishment. Probably I made him kneel on the concrete floor for a few minutes.

After class, Ben ran after me and told me that I should not have punished Yeboah because he was the soul of the chief.

He had to explain to me about how for protection the chief lodged his soul in the body of a young boy. This meant that if I punished Yeboah, it was like I was punishing the Awkapihene.

I acted like I was unconcerned. "If he's the soul of the chief, he shouldn't do anything to get punished for."

But I was a bit concerned, so I asked my friend Emmanuel Asante-Ankwa the senior housemaster about it. "Hmm," he said, "I had heard something about this boy being the soul of the chief. I think it is all right for him to be punished if he misbehaves, but come see me if it is anything serious. Perhaps we should avoid caning him."

Fortunately for all of us, Yeboah's talking in class was an isolated incident and Emmanuel wasn't much for caning anyway.

Notes:

• Akwapim is also often spelled Akuapem.
• There is interesting detail about Akwapim kings at page 171 of Religion and Power, Oriental Institute series, Number 4.