Studs n Stripes XXYYX

We’re all aware of the horrendous ecological damage going on in the Gulf of Mexico.  Not to speak of the suffering of innocent creatures, and the human misery.  Comedian George Lopez, host of a late-night talk show "Lopez Tonight", broadcast live from Burbank, California, calls it Gulf of “Texaco”, and said last night “We now have a Gulf divided into two sections:  leaded and unleaded.”

Today BP seems to have capped temporarily the source of the leak. It’s a test.  Let us hope this effort will be successful.  But what about the hundreds of millions of litres of oil, and the delicate habitat, plus the livelihoods based on fishing or ‘shrimping’. Not to mention the bird colonies under siege by the oily mess.  Then there are the rare manatees in those waters, and the dolphins.

There is an alternative, the Sun brings us mega-warmth and energy on a daily basis, yet it’s free.  The sun never sends us an invoice.  Something to ponder

Just watched the finish of today’s stage of the Tour de France, in the town of Gap.  This time not too much climbing, a few in the 1,000 metres and one in the 2,000 metres range.  Today the fellows had to cope however with Africa-like temperatures at least 36 degrees C.  

All that heat was making the tar on the roadways soft, creating a hazard for the riders. Especially on the hairpin turns down the Col du Noyer, descents where they zoom along at 75 km/hr, thank you!

I call this race the “Tour de Force”.  No matter what the weather is like:  rain, hail, fog, sometimes snow on the summits, or hot temperatures like today, the Tour goes on.

And as if completing one stage is not challenging enough, let alone all 23 stages of the full Tour, any rider who gets to the finish after a time limit set by the race organizers, is unceremoniously kicked out - eliminated!

Today there were beautiful camera views along the route of the Haute-alps, taken by the photographer in a helicopter.  The helicopter sent some horses running, accompanied by a lone donkey.  They’re now all immortalized, on today the national holiday of France, Le Quatorze Juillet. Bastille Day.

Hopefully these past couple of blog posts have stirred some appetite to tune into this magnificent sports race, which began already 103 years ago!  A bientot, Henri

Tomorrow, July 14, is “Quartorze de Juillet” in France. Les francaises celebrate Bastille Day. You can be sure to see many tricoloured banners and flags along the Tour de France stage to Gap. Yes, the Tour has its history of cheaters using drug-enhanced energy inputs, but overall most of these fellows are going on their own strength.  So we have recently had the amazing Paul the Octopus and his World Cup predictions, and now the amazing bike race of the Tour de France. Ah yes, there is a Canadian amongst these 120-plus riders, with the appropriate name of Ryder Hesjedal. He grew up here on beautiful Vancouver Island and lives nearby.  We wish him good luck, or as the French say, “Bonne chance!”.  A la prochaine, Henri

From one very popular sports event to another.  Maybe this one is not well-known in North America (although there’s a Texan by the name of Lance Armstrong involved), but I’m talking about the most gruelling sports event in the world, the Tour de France.  (“Le Tour”).
Gruelling both mentally and physically.  This incredible mega-race on a bike is already into day 10, with 15 more days to go.  Today the riders had to climb the Col de la Madeleine in the Alps at Haute-Savoie.  And that was after they already been riding 150 kms on their bikes today alone!  So, for a pleasant addition, they had to climb 1 hour non-stop to the 2,000 metre summit.  Then descend at average speeds of 70 km/hr right to the end of today’s stage, where again there was another 700m climb to the finish line.
I first heard about the Tour in the Lowlands when I was 3 years old, through my father. I am not a fanatic about the Tour, but I do respect the riders efforts and love the panorama and scenery these fellows have to race through.  It’s a great way to follow the various locales and mountain regions of France.

Did anyone notice the Spanish fan in Madrid dressed like an octopus? Also some people were wearing T-shirts with an octopus design.  All thanks to the amazing Paul who resides in an aquarium at Oberhausen, Germany.  See my posts below for more details about his exceptional record of predicting the match outcomes.  Paul predicted Spain’s victory over the Netherlands.
And now there is a big demand worldwide for squid or calamari, pulpo, at the fish markets world-wide!  Unfortunately, since this won’t do much to help this species.  People have a strange mindset, now thinking eating octopus will help give them psychic powers. (Like in Asia where so many species are at risk or virtually extinct because of a strange mindset about aphrodisiac powers of various animal parts.)
We have our own "Paul" as you can see beside this post. Got it a few years ago on the island of Domenica, calligraphy courtesy of Natasha.

Now we have a fortune-telling or "prediction competition" between two non-humans:  Mani, the 13-year old Parakeet in Singapore, who predicted all 4 quarterfinal matches and the two semi-finals correctly (Mani says Holland will win the final tomorrow), and Paul in Oberhausen, Germany, the 3-year old Octopus who has picked Spain to win it all!
Since we’re on the subject, did you know some smartalec coined the word “soccer” from the words “Associated Football”.  Now I'm asking you! Some bright light of the human species spotted 3 letters and made a whole new word out of it.  (A new name was necessary because "Football" in America points to another game with a ball. In that game the ball is thrown by hand more than played with the “foot”. Ho-ho!)
Speaking of words:    SUK-KEGH  (Sockeye Salmon) 

Another item about a name.  We live here on the Pacific coast in beautiful Victoria and are privileged to be able to have fresh Salmon on the menu, that I cook.  As you know there are various species, and the one we're enjoying fresh these dayas is Sockeye.  Now, I’m asking you again, giving a fish a name by a combination of the words “sock” and “eye”!
Who on earth coined that one, we asked?  So we did some research and sure enough, some English brain heard the Coast Salish word for Sockeye, “Suk-kegh”, meaning “Red Fish”, and what he heard has been carved in stone, as Sockeye.

All we need now is to find a local native from the Coast Salish who can teach us how to pronounce “Suk-kegh”.  My guess is “sook-ke”.
Back to the World Cup: now we await in a few hours the outcome of the consolation prize, and the tomorrow results of the mega trophy match. The Oracle of Oberhausen, Paul the Octopus, will he be correct in predicting Spain will win?  In any event, some reincarnation from Delphi or Nostradamus had saved his eight arms from being sautéed in garlic, because he has also predicted a win for Germany over Uruguay today. (He wasn't popular after predicting the outcome of the earlier match between Spain and Germany!)
Let us not forget, Paul has as many legs as four futbal players! And maybe four times the brainpower of one who kicks a ball all over the place!
Henri