Psychology Today: Crying Over Spilled Semen
The finding that women who do not use condoms during sex are less depressed and less likely to attempt suicide than are women who have sex with condoms and women who are not sexually active, leads one researcher to conclude that semen contains powerful—and potentially addictive—mood-altering chemicals.
Looking at a map, it appears that Djerba – off the south eastern coast of Tunisia would be a good island base from which to explore southern Tunisia. Within easy driving distance of the oasis of the northern sahara, and with access to the sea and beaches.
Further contemplation of the map reveals a “Zone Touristic” along the eastern beaches of Djerba. Not a good sign, but having decided on a whim that Tunisia sounded like an exotic destination for a family vacation, logistics demanded that we locate near the sea. I found an excellent looking “residence” outside of the zone touristic but within walking distance of the sea – so i booked a week and we flew down “en familie”.
The best hope i have for Djerba, is that they find oil on the island and some aggressive nation, near far or local, decides to invade, and in the process levels the “Zone Touristic”.
The idea i believe is to fly down tourists by the bucket load, then pack them on the baking beach while providing an “all inclusive” holiday. Each hotel had its own 100 meters of beach front, patrolled by security in case an inhabitant of a nearby “all inclusive” should decide to partake of a finer vintage of inclusivity. Security was tight, but we had been given rights to one of the nearby hotels facilities by our “residence”. Even so, without the tell tale bead bracelet, whistles were blown in our direction any time we strayed outside the 3 meters of wet sand or wandered towards a pool.
I have as much desire to spend my day next to 100′s of oiled up tourists, as i have to spend my days riding the London Underground. So leaving this beach was not a problem. If you want to find the most expensive hotel in the zone, and spend a few days within its confines – i do believe you could have an enjoyable weekend – assuming it is the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere and you have serious vitamin D deficiency. But its not my gig.
The zone touristic stretches along the sea front for 10′s of kilometres. Some hotels were smart and exotic and no development was over 2 stories high. But outside of the actual hotels are vacant lots – best way i can describe them – filled with rubble and garbage. It seems like some older building projects (or perhaps an ancient civilisation) has been bulldozed to the side to make way for the latest development, then left to fester in any open space available. On one side of the coast road are the “all inclusive” hotels, inter-spaced with vacant lots of rubble and garbage, on the other side of the road are cheap Disney World type fast food restaurants selling limp chips and flyblown salad Tunisian (with the inevitable topping of canned tuna), crappy boutiques filled with belly dancer Halloween costumes and hookahs and all the tat that the misguided locals seem to think tourists would be delighted to accumulate.
As you move inland things improve, the buildings thin out and some evidence of palms and olive groves can be found. There are smaller vacant lots of rubble and garbage and some smart looking villas among the sandy roads. Everything is separated by empty lots or half buildings and rubble. I don’t know if Djerba went through a boom period and things have now slowed down, or perhaps they only build at night or in winter, but i never saw any evidence of serious construction, no sign of workers toiling in the 36 degree heat – and who can blame them, but how did all these half finished buildings get there.
Given my lack of enthusiasm for the “Zone Touristic”, I am happy to report that our rooms at “Residence Amphora Menzel” were excellent – half a mile back from the chaos of the main road and the ZONE. An imaginatively decorated 2 storied 2 bedroom 2 bathroom 3 balcony “residence” with a kitchenette. Cooled by 3 air con units and surrounding a courtyard festooned with cushions and carpets. Merek the owner and our guide, gave a resoundingly warm welcome, catered to our every whim, gave excellent advise as to what to see and avoid, provided a hire car delivered to the door, and was general good guy and friend. A worldly doctor in Paris he developed these 6 residences in 2001 which he then furnished with taste. He paid relentless attention to detail, and was available at all hours. Merek chatted and fed us mint tea on the carpets in the courtyard and he quickly spotted my lack of enthusiasm for all inclusive beach bumming and suggested a two day drive into the interior in search of authenticity and oasis.
Our drive across the island at 7:30 in the morning, painted the island in a more favourable light than our excursions of the previous day in our hire car. Things get better towards the centre and south of Djerba, more olive groves, but all set in a flat uninteresting landscape. And any time you get close to tourist spots of the slightest interest, the bartering with the insistent locals gets tiresome. You expect to be pestered in the north African Souc’s, you have to develop your skills with humour and patients, and don’t let the first guy to come along latch onto you or you are stuck with him for the duration. “Hey remember me from the hotel” was a common introductory phrase.
We caught the ferry to the mainland and found ourselves on the continent of Africa, drove north along the chaotic main road to Tunis and at Gabes, turned left towards Kebili and Tozeur. Driving through the towns is always interesting, scooters and pedestrians cross the road without a look in any directions- right into your path. After a while i wondered if it was not a ploy to be hit by a hire car and extort money.
This was a harsh land, a trickle of water the only reason for any town to develop, and as we headed west it got hotter. Excursions in the middle of day went only a few feet from our air-conditioned tourist mobile. As the day progressed people were harder to spot, anybody with any sense was in the shade somewhere. Then we went through Kebili and a series of “Palmiers” and oasis and found ourselves on a salt desert with only gleaming crystals for miles in either direction. Car failure here would have been interesting, if not life threatening. When we stopped on the edge of the salt desert the temperature must have been well over 40 degrees in blasting baking wind. Having a pee felt like doing the place a favour.
Crossing the “Chott el Jerid” successfully we saw a line of palms rising slowly from the gleam, floating like a mirage above the heat, and turned south towards Tozeur, following the dusty villages who support the few palm oasis on the edge of the salt pan.
Tozeur is another tourist destination, and horror of horrors, has a “Zone Touristic”, with all the appeal of all the “Zone Touristic” that we had so far encountered. Air conditioned Gaudy hotels with Alibaba codpieces, speckled with dust blown fast food monstrosities. But the “Palmier” here is a big deal, dates farmed from homes behind elaborate gates with irrigation systems plumbed into the fabric of the soil. We had hoped to find a meal on the edge of the oasis and enjoy a light lunch, but after driving through the palm groves for long enough, we finally happened upon the “Little Prince”. What a dump, designed it appeared to accommodate coach loads of tourists in a semi air-conditioned light less dungeon.
Is the notion of what tourists actually might want, so far removed from the Tunisian mind that they plonk them in the first space they can air condition. How difficult would it be to create an elevated and shady retreat overlooking the palms of the oasis. Make it out of palm trunks and leaves, surely easier than the brick and cement buildings that were always evident in their half completeness.
Stocked up on cokes and headed north to Tamerza!
And then it got interesting again crossing the near desert, with a line of mountains visible in the distance and “beware of the camels crossing” signs next to the road. On the left we thought we could see signs of water, but it became apparent that these were actually heat mirages.
At the foothills we followed a series of oasis up to Tamerza and checked into the “Tamerza Palace”. Overlooking the ruined old town of Tamerza that had been washed away when it rained for a half an hour back in 1969, it was a truly spectacular location. Perched on the side of the hill; a four star hotel with cool swimming pool, comfortable rooms and good food. We freshened up, then took an early evening walk in the palms oasis before heading over to Mides for the sunset. We found a delightfully sad old guide who claimed to be one of the original inhabitants before the old town of Mides had also washed away. He missed the old days he said and showed us the ruins where he was born and brought up. Now they had to build brick buildings, the palm groves couldn’t support the village, and things just weren’t the same. 2 dinar for a bottle of cold water seemed reasonable.
I leaned out dangerously over the precipice and took a shaky shot over the canyon made famous by star wars movies, our guide stood next to me like a mountain goat while my family wailed at my stupidity – i had all the passports and money.
We were one of only 4 parties dinning at the Tamerza Palace that night – real bear and wine with the meal. A location not to be missed, and my North African skills were improving – we managed to haggle the price of our suite down by 100 Dinar.
The next day we drove back through Douz and Matmata. In Douz we found hundreds of camels sitting beside the sand dunes of the Sahara, all saddled up and waiting, it appeared, for coach loads of tourists to take an hour excursion into the desert. In Matmata we found the troglodyte dwelling holes of former the inhabitants – another tourist trap. Between the two towns we actually ran across a line of camels crossing the road. The “camel crossing” road signs were not a tourist ruse.
Between Matmata and Metameur we had the most beautiful and authentic drive of return journey. The town of Toujane appeared unspoilt, real Tunisians sat outside the houses keeping cool. We had finally found a Town that had not been driven to gaudiness by the relentless march of the Tour operators.
When we finally returned to the 36 degree heat of Djerba and the Amphora Menzel, it felt cool, chilly even – and it felt good to be out of the rain.
A day in the life of an atheist | Corrente
Being an atheist and all, I killed a few dozen people this morning, took all their stuff, and urinated on some priceless art.
They say that laughter is caused by a shock, and that when we realise we are safe, we laugh. A good joke takes us by surprise, it twists what we expect- the outcome is not the anticipated ending.
Good music i believe does the same thing. Our musical tastes are expanded when a common sound takes a new twist. We also seem to like music that conjures up the past, even the recent past. A good tune is almost never interesting on the first listen, and a crappy tune we digest and get bored by after only a few plays.
cover of the punk band “Dead Kennedys” single “holiday in cambodia“
Not funny? But you are safe..
Music also seems to be innate, we all like some of it. Even the dumbest understand music. Not everybody likes abstract art, yet music is totally abstract. Music seems to beat the time of our lives -starting with our mothers heartbeat. As we get older some music we have listened to in our past makes a short cut to memories in our brains, much as a smell from our childhood can take you right back to buried memories.
I wonder if rock and roll will survive the internal combustion engine? The rise of rock and roll could be linked to adolescent access to dads car in an affluent America of the 50′s. “Driving” power cords on a Stratocaster sound similar to an engine (just play “Born to be wild” by Steppenwolf or L.A Woman by the Doors ). If you are driving in the USA, there is good driving music and there is crap driving music- non of it can be played on an acoustic guitar.
When the oil runs out, and assuming we can still light up our ipods, will hard driving rock music still be popular? Bach could never understand modern music, but maybe after a year or so on a road trip across the USA in a car with a big V8- he might understand why.
So when the oil runs out will we all get into new age humming. And after the last memories of the car have died off, will our descendants wonder what the hell we were listening to.
Oh, and just in case you think i have dropped a rod – I also think one of the first punk songs was the batman theme song from the 60′s TV show. Just have another listen to “You’ve got my Number” by the undertones.
OK well i have absolutely nothing to say, I just wanted to make a post with a bunch of sevens in it – can not imagine why – perhaps just the thrill of knowing that this post will appear at exactly 7,07 on 7/7/07.
Geek thrills are pretty sad.
I wasnt too happy with the online photo services, picassa was great for uploading pictures quickly and easily, but the customisation was minimal, and, well, i want my photo album to work like i want it to work. So I made my own using the Gallery2 framework and have uploaded a few hundred pictures already. Some new photos, but mostly old stuff. Once the old stuff is organised, it will be a doddle to send new photos online. I hope it is intuitive, but if anyone is baffled or has suggestions, please let me know.
Go to my photos
marine supplies
Drove down to Cape Town and Hout Bay, via George and Victoria bay. A nice stop at “The waves” guest house in Victoria bay, then down to Cape Town and Hout Bay. Have a look at the complete album at my photo site .
Africa may have its problems, but it is not short on ingenuity; a site that showcases Africans “Solving everyday problems”
AfriGadget (via Treehugger)
The SCORE multi-function stove, fridge and electricity generator
An all-in-one cooker, energy generator and fridge could soon be improving quality of life in developing countries, thanks to an international project launched this week.
A small company in Madagascar is working to get electricity to rural areas of the island. This video shows them taking the solar panels around in a van to show people how it works and educate the children on solar power. It’s an interesting video, especially near the end where Bill hooks up his computer to the internet through a satellite connection at night – all powered by the solar panel’s stored energy.
$100 Bicycle Motor Gets 50 km per Liter
This is a motorized bicycle, made in Kisumu, Kenya and purchased in Kakemega. They hold about 2 liters of petrol and can get theoretically around 50 km a liter. They cost around 7,000 Kenyan shillings. To start the bicycle you start pedaling manually, then you flip a switch on the left handle that starts the engine. Then you have a normal motorcycle throttle control on the right side.
scantily clad witch
As a younger lessgrump man, I spent over a year sailing the Atlantic, eastern USA and Caribbean as deckhand, mate, engineer and sometimes acting Captain of a 175ft three masted topsail schooner (the: Port Bougainville /Eric Borgman). It was an amazing time, a private vessel sailed by professionals (mostly). My teachers were the Portuguese ex bosun of the Sagres, Gesuino (Jesuino?) and Captain Jack Showers (not Sparrow, I met him later). I learnt a lot about the tall ships that sailed at the end of the 19th century. The clippers like the Cutty Sark and the famous iron masted P ships that rounded the Horn to Chile were the pinnacle of engineering- the end product of a millennia of refinements to the art of moving cargo across inhospitable oceans with just the power of the wind and iron men.
I have seen the Cutty Sark at Greenwich and while its a magnificent site, one cant really appreciate her as she sits in dry dock, the underwater lines can perhaps be appreciated by a student of naval design (most sailors), but the hull looks a bit squat out of the water, its a cargo ship remember. I am sure that only when you see her afloat and sailing can the real power and beauty of this tea clipper become apparent. The recent fire is a tragedy, sailing or squatting I certainly hope she is restorable- I have a hope they will restore her to full sailing capability, I would give my left nut to be passed by her on the ocean, but i doubt that will happen.
I was doing a google search for the Cutty Sark and used a useful new search criteria, if you are looking for anything that may have a history or chronology, just append “view:timeline” (without the quotes) onto the end of your search term. Look at the timeline for the Cutty Sark . I was interested to see that the Cutty Sark was re-rigged and renamed the Maria do Amparo in Cape Town after being dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope in 1916. I will be in Cape Town in a few days, perhaps a glass of scotch to the scantily clad witch is in order.
Legend has it in sailing circles, that the exposed breasts of a young women will placate the sea- hence the proud carved protuberance on the semi-naked figure below the bowsprit, well you can see the sailors mind at work here; should they come across a wench, the first thing to do is get them out and point them at the sea. Some believe this to be myth, but i can personally attest to it’s veracity.
Typical iron roof of Smithfield South Africa
As I prepare to return to Europe for a spell, i am organising my photos, and will now be keeping a few of my favourites online with google at my photo site. The albums are not large yet (and probably wont be until i get some good old EU broadband). I still have some of – my photos with google picasa. And some for the family
Colour-fields abound in the garden as the autumn days shorten, a brief cruise with the camera, a belly full of tea - and everything is Yellow.
A few more can be found on my photo site of my garden in Smithfield
(read on…)
Via Treehugger – No tinfoil hats for bees a more balenced view of -Colony Collapse Disorder – a Moment for Reflection? » Celsias
Guardian Unlimited | Call that humiliation?
No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch
BBC NEWS | Americas | Storm in US over chocolate Jesus
Now- in the run up to what the Christians call “Easter” a chocolate Jesus is about the funniest thing that I can imagine, puts our modern condition right in perspective. Hey, much more chocolate than your average bunny, and the icing on the cake (or lack thereof), as reported by the BBC “the sculpture, unusually, depicts Jesus without a loincloth.” -classic. I wonder if it’s hollow.
It also occurs to me that in the run up to Aprils fools day, the BBC could have really hit the sweat spot with this one…
Truthdig – Scott Ritter: Calling Out Idiot America
Few people have been as consistently right about the middle east and the consequences of western policies in the region than Scott Ritter. When he told us that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the Iraq he was ridiculed by the masters of war. As a former marine, intelligence officer, and weapons inspector- he was in a position to know.
I have always been a bit sceptical about the notion that the invasion of Iraq had opened the door to insurgent terrorism, and that was the war being currently fought by the UK and US. The concise history, delivered by Ritter in this article, puts the Muslim schism in perspective, and answers the question of what 20,000 extra troops are going to achieve in Baghdad.
With bellicose sabre rattling with Iran ongoing – Have a look at Ritter’s record on The US War with Iran has Already Begun (2005) – and plenty more around the Web
Another amazing trip to Lesotho. This young lady came up to me and asked to have her picture taken, she was wearing yellow ochre on her face and looking very stylish.
Springfontein Guesthouse – Free State, South Africa.
Just put up a new site for a local guest house – gotta get some links and give it a plug…
PARIS – A French appeals court ruled Friday that a 78-year-old Pierre Pinoncelli who attacked Marcel Duchamp’s famed porcelain urinal with a hammer last year does not have to pay $260,000 in damages. Apparently Pinoncelli argued that he had in fact added value to this seminal piece of work, the originals long gone, and each of the eight 1967 signed copies now worth over 3 million each- it seems to me that he may have a point.
Despite the shock and skepticism with which Dada was initially considered, over the years, it has worked its way into museums and is now registered in people’s minds as falling under the category of ‘proper art’. The irony of this situation is what Pinoncelli is trying to call to our attention. By attacking Duchamp’s work – work originally intended to puzzle, offend, and annoy – which is now so widely praised and recognised that in 2004 Fountain was ranked as the most influential work of modern art by a poll of leading figures in the art world – Pinoncelli is attempting to restore the original artist’s principle to the piece. Duchamp wanted to deconstruct common ideas about art and its presentation; Pinoncelli, in his turn, is acting according to the same principles, but, as standards have shifted to favour artists like Duchamp, he must turn the older master’s work back on itself, destroying it in order to save it.
I have just been watching comet McNaught in the early evening sky – it’s pretty impressive awesome here in Smithfield, bright, with a long feathered curved tail, but then I don’t suppose there are better places than the semi desert (in the middle of nowhere) for sky watching- except of course the ocean on a calm night (in the middle of nowhere).
Have a look at these photos from South America – pretty much the same as we have been watching here.
