Duhh ... let's see ... I think it's 003 ... no, hang about, it must be 0300, or is it 0330? 0303?.... OOzO 0030 That Σ, close enough to 3, yeh? Works for me any road.
Would you believe it - me? - Mr Memory Man ... here in Corfu for 1677 days non-stop - I have never managed to lock into memory the fone code for Greece.
The mnemonic at last: OUZO.
You couldn't invent it - well, I could but it'd read as if I'd made it up. Nervous sweet young thang, daughter of grandee pals of mater, comes round to view jardin and felled tree and simper before maman. Lunch! And I help set the table and suggest a way of her sucking up even further by choosing music that maman adores. There is an album on my hard drive of a bland violin/squeezebox duo who've visited and played here and is a fave of mater's - 'Valenki'. I send her off to put it on and assure her that when the first strains float from the speakers, Mum will turn admiringly from the stove, "Louisa! My favourite!". "Got it!" I am setting the doilies and polishing the fish knives when THE most horrific sound pumps from the salon. I am well distant from the crime. I shrug at the maternal frown as Maman bends back to her tasks. Had it been me ... poh poh. I take L back to the puter and ask her what went wrong. We punch in 'Val' and lo and behold, first up is Death Valley Blues and beneath it as 2nd choice, vanilla Valenki. I punch in the fiddle/accordion and save the day. Quite right, too. Mum to Number 1 son: "This is riveting. Have you read it?" Son: "Mum, it was my review that got you interested inna first place. M: "I know. All I'm asking is if you've read it."
She is the disturbing double of Wynona Thingie so I am of course dancing attendance but her attention is on keeping in with Dragon Lady.
She cannot find it. She is a woman, can't hack these simple 'puter chores."It's called 'Valenki'. Type in Val and it'll take you there."
All is well because, as I explain to Louisa over the amuses-bouche, 'Hooker' Jim Potts is a local lad Mum sampled for a one-night peruse and has since been 'in bed with' [her words] for the past weeks, reading every word.
'High noon here in Corfu, long chain on, garden slog,
Crickets burnin', skai o zizika, me on jardinerie jog, [lawd have mercy]
Where dat water boy? Where Jimmy Potts?
He's out there on the run, hi-jacking my good ol' blog'
Just to show no hard feelings, crank the volume and cue this strummer's Tubular U
The tree may be trunkless but this tale of botanical woe has 'legs' and will illuminate visits and dinner soirées to come. Topics likely for repeats: Everyone else, enjoy the all-inclusive update.
Quick as a flash I grab my camera and run hither and thither snapping the scene.
Nostalgie! I wanna live there. The year i left school - but can't boast because i went straight out to hong kong for a life of luxury and lasses before Balliol. I actually got to know James Cameron quite well, whose velvet vox narrates. This celebration little predicts how low the country would sink and the national character dissolve into today's travesty.
Rather a forlorn expression on the mousie's face - what you can see of it, peeking out from that monstrosity's jaws.
I will scatter them as bribes and lures.
Some of the earliest proverbs have survived for thousands of years, encapsulating lessons gleaned within particular societies and yet equally relevant in any other - as indeed they remain today. The 400 carefully selected examples drawn from the eleven countries featured in this compilation of Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century are illustrated with artworks also derived from their respective sources. They appear both in their original script and in English translation." Frank just goes on giving us wondrous productions of the highest standards of beauty and excellence. I must have been a paragon of politeness in my previous life to know chaps of Frank's calibre and receive treasured gifts such as these. Run sprint batter your way thru the rabble to boast these on your opium table."Whether chiselled in stone or inscribed on papyrus, the message of the metaphor first evolved in Asia.
Another fine folio from FormAsia ~ the obvious companion to Chinese Proverbs ~ perfectionist publisher Frank Fischbeck has done it again.
I recall that Sinbad pa'Ti expressed curiosity in this instrument - excellent clip for him to scrutinise and reel back in wonderment.
Fine dobro caressing.
