“In the present case I remembered, hastily, that your one chance when charged by several elephants is to dodge them around trees, working downwind all the time, and go home. It was evident from the utter unconcern of these monsters that I was downwind now, so I had only attend to dodging, and I promptly dodged around a tree, thinking perhaps that a dodge in time saves nine-and I lay down.”
Mary Kingsley, “Five Gorillas, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“Moreover I fancy it safer not to have an overpowering percentage of Fans in the party, as I know we shall have considerable stretches of uninhabited forest to traverse; and the Ajuma say that the Fans will kill people, i.e. the black traders who venture into their country, and cut them up into neat pieces, eat what they want at the time, and smoke the rest of the bodies for future use. Now I do not want to arrive at the Rembwé in a smoked condition even should my fragments be neat…..”
Mary Kingsley, “A Hippo Banquet, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“Every child in the place as soon as it saw my white face let a howl out of it as if it had seen his Satanic Majesty, horns, hoofs, tail and all, and fled into the nearest hut, headlong, and I fear, from the continuance of the screams, had fits. The town was exceedingly filthy-the remains of the crocodile they had been eating the week before last, and piles of fish offal, and remains of an elephant hippo or manatee-I can’t really say which, decomposition was far too advanced- united to form a most impressive stench.”
Mary Kingsley, “A Hippo Banquet, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“The one thing a man should not have is a wife. It is depressing to watch her bear children and fuss over them, and things don’t end with his death, for then you have the shameful sight of her growing old and decrepit as a nun. No matter who the woman may be, you would grow to hate her if you lived with her and saw her day in and out and the woman must become dissatisfied too. But if you lived separately and sometimes visited her, your feelings for each other would surely remain unchanged through the years. It keeps the relationship fresh to just drop in from time to time on impulse and spend the night.”
Yoshida Kenkō, “A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees”, 1329-1331?
TERROR ON A SUBURBAN STREET: COYOTE CONFRONTATION!
Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were in a certain contest that had some reference to being masters in their domain?
I am master of my backyard domain as there I am the hunter. Squirrells, opossums and rabbits are my prey.
Last night I was in another’s domain and I was the hunted.
At 23:15 Bob and I head out the front door for our final walk. At this time of the night we occasionally encounter Snipsy or Jasper a couple of my canine friends.
As we headed down the steps we encountered an unleashed dog I didn’t recognize just ahead of us on the other side of the street. Bob immediately started yelling and clapping his hands. Something was amiss! I sensed DANGER! This was no dog but a coyote! I am 12 pounds now and face it but a shrimp against this savage brute. A killer. A demon. A maniac. A scourge on the canine population specializing in luring then attacking finishing off my brethren.
The coyote moved down the street to the next house. Bob and I stayed motionless, but the coyote started slinking toward us until Bob shouted, screamed and clapped causing the brute to back off. We backed up slowly facing the monster. Bob clapped and screamed again and the coyote backed off. It slowly moved towards us until it was at the end of the driveway some 20 feet away. I could feel its hot, fetid and menacing breath down my neck. We made it to the front door. Alive and shook up.
I heard a few naughty words from Bob upset with our adventure.
Up to bed. I was put in my crate but I kept visualizing that scrawny and vicious creature so I began to cry and Bob opened the crate and I hopped up on the bed and unlike me gave him a multitude of kisses. We have had our differences over midnight romps in the snow disobeying the COME COMMAND but when I am fearful or in discomfort he is always there. I wiggled up to his chest as he sweet talked me to sleep assuring me everything was OK.
My advice to you when facing a coyote and it is stalking you is to pull out a Glock and shoot the bastard between the eyes. Failing possession of a Glock, which is hard to believe with truckloads of them from the United States pouring into Canada, stare it right in the eye, shout/scream/clap and hope for the best and do not turn your back nor run.
The City of Toronto is goo goo ga ga over coyotes in the “urban ecological system” unless of course some poor dog or human is mauled or killed. I say defund those lousy coyote lovers!
“The steak was excellent; Japanese take a just pride in the quality of their beef. The spaghetti, a dish popular in Japan was not; nor was the rest-the conglomeration of peas, potatoes and beans. Granted the menu was a queer one, it is on the whole a mistake to order Western food in Japan, yet there arise those moments when one retches at he thought of more raw fish, sukiyaki, and rice with seaweed, when, however temptingly they may be prepared and however prettily presented, the unaccustomed stomach revolts at the prospect of eel broth and fried beans and pickled snake and octopus arms.”
Truman Capote, “The Duke in His Domain”, 1957.
“All things considered, a drunkard is so entertaining he can be forgiven his sins. Think of the charming scene when a master throws open the door on his servant, who is sound asleep next morning after an exhausting night on the drink. The poor befuddled fellow rushes off, rubbing his bleary eyes, topknot exposed on his hatless head, only half dressed and clutching the rest of his trailing clothes. His hairy shins sticking below his lifted skirts as he scampers into the distance-a typical drunk.”
Yoshida Kenkō, “A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees”, 1329-1331?
“Yet, as loathsome though one finds it, there are situations where a cup of sake is hard to resist. On a moonlit night, a snowy morning, or beneath flowering cherry trees, it increases all the pleasures of the moment to bring out the sake cups and settle down to talk serenely together over a drink. It is also a great comfort to have a drink together if an unexpected friend calls round when time is hanging heavy on your hands. And it is quite wonderful when sake is served from behind the curtains by some remote and exalted lady.”
Yoshida Kenkō, “A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees”, 1329-1331?
Aroma: It murmurs black fruit. Nothing ostentatious or flashy but then not playing hard to get. It is there. Buried in the core but not so deep a Trump Bunker Buster can’t obliterate it! In addition to the Operation Epic Fury blackberry and black cherry some licorice and vanilla.
Palate: Moderately tannic. Acids are out of balance and temper the outstanding wine the nose was led to believe. Will the acids calm with more bottle age? They do not calm with decanting. Restrict consumption to foods.
Personality: I smell nice but don’t deliver on the palate.
Cellarbility: No Sleepy Joe here. Neither a short nor full nap will improve the wine.
Food Match: A Friday night wine……code for you know what.
Price: $19 CDN.
RKS 2026 EURO Wine Rating: 81/100. Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast 91.
(Château Le Cap 2022, AOC Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, Vignobles Carreau, Cars, France, 750 mL, 14.5%).
Tasted 4April2026
“Wine has been called the ‘greatest of medicines’, but in fact all sickness springs from it. It is claimed you forget your sorrows in drink, but from what I can see, men in their cups will in fact weep to recall their past unhappiness. As for the next world-having lost the wisdom you were born with, reduced all your good karma to ashes, built up a store of wickedness and broken all the Buddhist precepts you are destined for hell. Remember that Buddha teaches those that lift the wine glass either to their own lips or others’ will spend five hundred lifetimes without hands.”
Yoshida Kenkō, “A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees”, 1329-1331?
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