Puzzled

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We’ve been through the whole fracking, renewable power, and oil exploration arguments on here several times, as and when they have popped up in the local news.

But in case you don’t have time to read all of those, then just click through on that third link. And if you can’t even manage that, then here’s a very quick synopsis of my position:

I know we need to move away from fossil fuels, but I’m also very aware that that transition simply isn’t possible overnight: especially in a country where there is next to no money (because of reasons), and keeping the lights on using fossil fuels is difficult enough anyway.
I’m also well aware that each and every one of us uses oil-based products every single day of our lives, and that’s not going away any time soon, either. And that oil has to come from somewhere.
So it does feel all a bit much when people protest about oil exploration or whatever, simply because it’s happening near our shores.

Sure, let’s try to make things better, but let’s be realistic as well.

And then I saw a guy in our neighbourhood with one of these stickers in the back window of his car:

So clever. Can you guess what he’s annoyed about, and who he blames for it? Yes. Me too.

And I was puzzled.

Because the thing is, the back window in question is on a (very well looked after) older model Toyota Land Cruiser. And I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly sure that it’s one weighing about 2.5 tonnes, and with the 4.5 litre V8 diesel engine.

Now, I have no problem with anyone owning whatever vehicle they want; but being a rebellious, anti-Shell activist, while driving around in that particular monster, does seem… well… just a little bit hypocritical.

It’s very much like the lady near our old place who objected to a new cellphone mast in the area in an email with the footnote “sent from my iPhone”.

Of course, Mr Land Cruiser will choose not to fill up at our local Shell stations, but rather one of the much cleaner oil companies like CalTex, Engen (Mobil) or BP, who obviously don’t pump the stuff out of the ground, instead manufacturing it from fairy dust, daisy petals, biodegradable glitter, and the sound of childrens’ laughter.

They walk drive massive dirty cars among us.

On Connections

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Mmm. I haven’t played the NYT Connections game for a while, but while other members of the family were at piano class, I thought that I’d give it a go. And it was while I was doing that, that I found this article by Connections editor, Wyna Liu.

This isn’t a new article: it’s a year and a bit old, but it does make interesting reading. Because it does rather make it seem like Wyna came up with this revolutionary idea of how to make the game work:

There would have to be a mix of categories for the game to feel challenging and satisfying. That’s where the puzzle element could come in: Some categories might be defined by their use of wordplay — palindromes, homophones, adding or dropping letters and words — rather than the literal meanings of the words on the cards. I saw three areas of potential difficulty that could be adjusted: the familiarity of the words, the ambiguity of their categorization and the variety of the wordplay.

But if you have ever watched Only Connect, the TV quiz show which began in 2008, then you’ll already have been enjoying “Connections” as “The Wall” for 15 years before NYT and Wyna began their version.
And they “saw” how to make it harder a long time before she did.

If there is a regular criticism of Connections, it’s that many of the answers are rather America-specific: baseball team nicknames or supermarket mascots; stuff that anyone outside the US wouldn’t know. But although it attracts an international audience, it’s an American site, and there’s ample opportunity for you to learn stuff about America from the internet.

Equally though, there was surely plenty of opportunity for Wyna and the NYT to know that “Connections” already existed. And I’m not saying that it was trademarked or anything – as far as I know, there’s no legal axe to grind here – just that pretending that it was a concept that they came up with… well… that’s a bit much.

Still, I do occasionally go and get my Connections fix. And when I need some more, I go to Puzzgrid, which… er… also pre-dated Connections. And why makes no bones about where it got the idea from (and pops a subtle dig at the NYT):

And why not go and enjoy the original on Only Connect, since it has just begun its 20th series?

Other Only Connect posts on 6000 miles…
Other Puzzgrid posts on 6000 miles…

Stacking up

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The sun is out! A lazy-ish morning, with a nice 6.5km run through the mud in the posh bit of Cape Town, followed by a trip to the butcher and the bottle store has left me with very limited time before I test out my new wares on and around the braai this evening.

And the things I need to do (including this), are stacking up a bit.

With that in mind, please accept this shot of Hout Bay, and then I can get on with my jobs.

See you tomorrow, folks!

Beer prices

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Despite the danger from wild animals around every corner (and on every golf green), South Africa is still a really popular tourist destination. Decent weather (T&Cs apply), loads of varied stuff to do, a single flight from and a very small time difference from a lot of Europe, and THAT EXCHANGE RATE.

It’s pretty rubbish for us living here, but the ever-weaking Rand makes SA deliciously attractive to tourists. Follow anyone who has come here (on social media, not like stalking them), and you’ll hear them wax lyrical about the service, the wine, the scenery, the wildlife, the people, the food and the prices.

I can’t believe that we got all of this – including drinks – for less than fifty quid

is a regular line at the end of every 4 course meal shared on the TikkityTok. And if you’ve ever been to the UK, you’ll understand exactly why that seems amazing.

And then I saw this:

I did some rudimentary calculations and worked out that at an average of about R40 (this is not Fireman’s, Forries or the Waterfront, obvs!), we’re sitting at about the €1.98 of Hungary for a 500ml Castle Lite or a Black Label. Sure, that may not be your tipple of choice, but this isn’t just about you, and if you’re going to want to drink something “Crapft”, then sure, things can get silly quite quickly.

But this is about the average price for 0.5 litre domestic draught beer in restaurants.
Like it says on the map.

And that shows just how cheap this place is when you’re coming from somewhere that’s yellow, orange or red. It also demonstrates that needs to be more than just cheap beer prices to take into consideration when choosing a holiday destination. Because Ukraine looks very inviting on this map.

But… well… you know…

I remember going to Czechoslovakia (when it was just still Czechoslovakia) and buying a bottle of beer for the equivalent of 2 English pence. I thought they’d misrepresented the price or I’d mis-converted it, and it should have been two pounds (which would have been very expensive for someone from the North of the England in those days), or maybe 20 pence (ridiculously reasonable).
It turned out that I just needed to move my decimal point along again. Amazing.

Looking back, I demonstrated some incredible – and some might say, foolish – self control on that trip.

Beer has gone up a lot more in the ex-Czechoslovakia in the last thirty years than it has in the UK.

And it’s definitely more expensive here since I arrived as well, but then isn’t everything? But like I say, if you’re coming out to Cape Town from London, then you’re probably going to think that they’ve undercharged you for your beer.

Still, the “cheap” beer is also a good thing for us locals. It’s just a shame that these days we can’t afford anything nice to eat with it.