My global experiences that lead up to Election 08

In the late 1960s, at the start of my international career, I was posted to the Trucial States as they began the process of transition to become the United Arab Emirates under the leadership of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

I was subsequently posted to Nigeria after the end of the Biafran war of independence in 1970 which resulted in the downfall of General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

A decade later, in 1981, I was living in Egypt when President Muhammad Anwar Al Sadat was assassinated and Muhammad Hosni Mubarak took his place.

In Somalia, while Sharon and I were living there, the civil war broke out in 1989 that lead to the exile of President Mohamed Siad Barre and the collapse into the anarchy that prevails to this day.

In China, the doyen Deng Xiaoping died and the rise of the next generation of leaders was assured without one vote by the people being cast. We were there.

Finally, in Nigeria in 1998, we witnessed the transition of power back to a civilian government following the mysterious death of General Sani Abacha, said by the British High Commissioner, perhaps only partly in jest, to be from an overdose of Viagra.

In June 2007 I became eligible to vote in the United States presidential election and the other day I exercised that right. Hopefully I shall bear witness to another government change but this time through a democratic process.

And on Friday, Sharon and I will be bussed to Springfield, Missouri for five days to campaign in one of the five remaining swing states. Ten-hour overnight bus journeys and days of pounding the sidewalks will certainly not be any picnic but we can consider ourselves truly part of this democratic process and, perhaps, privileged to be a small part of history in the making.

Watch this space to see how we get on !!!!

p.s. ……. given that my presence in particular countries has coincided with the demise of no less than four heads of state, I am surprised that the CIA did not manipulate my being sent to North Korea, Libya or Cuba.

An Oxford Perambulation

Having family living in Oxford certainly creates many opportunities for cultural trips. Cultural in the broadest sense of the word. Inevitably, the traditional tourist Oxford is very much a “picture book” town, focusing on the Colleges and the like:

From Oxford 08

From Oxford 08

From Oxford 08

But there are many other modest corners and back-alleys that are every bit as magical:

From Oxford 08

From Oxford 08

One of Oxford’s many famous residents was the Oxford Dodo or at least bits of him. Until recently, the most intact remains (but that does not say much) currently on display were at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. This is a repro. of same:

From Oxford 08

The last Dodo died in the late 1600s, about a century after the species' discovery. Coincidentally, the remains of the last stuffed bird had been kept in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum but in the mid-18th century, the specimen had entirely decayed and was ordered to be discarded by the museum's curator around 1755. Bummer.

From Oxford 08

Another’s of Oxford’s famous sons was Lewis Carroll and the two came together in “Alice”. Evidence now suggests that his relationship with Alice Lidell was not entirely founded in innocent pursuits. Another hero bites the dust.

From Oxford 08

The 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at this same University Museum after the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”. The debate is best remembered for a heated exchange in which Bishop Samuel Wilberforce supposedly asked Thomas Huxley whether it was through his grandfather or his grandmother that he claimed his descent from a monkey. The debate is usually depicted as a clash between religion and science but the majority opinion has always been that the debate represented a major victory for the Darwinians. Eat your heart out, Sarah Palin.

An earlier creationist was The Very Rev. Dr William Buckland, a famous Oxford palaeontologist who was a proponent of Old Earth Creationism but then he also claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom (new word: zoophagy = feeding on animals or animal matter) including stewed badger, worm fritters, moles, bluebottles and mice fried in batter. The culmination of his bizarre pursuit of knowledge was when he gobbled up the heart of King Louis XIV of France. I always knew that geologists were eccentric but really ...............

And while on the subject of museums, the Ashmolean now has a “treasure room” where all the highlights from the museum are collected together. It rather becomes the equivalent of the “Idiots’ Guide to Ancient Culture” but the contents of the gallery are indeed magnificent. My favourite is the Alfred Jewel, which is a small Anglo-Saxon ornament dating from the late 9th century and first “discovered” in 1693. It was made in the reign of King Alfred the Great and is inscribed "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN” = "Alfred ordered me made". Beautiful.

From Oxford 08

My lunchtime pint today (Greene King IPA) was at “The Turf” Oxford's oldest pub dating from the 13th century and not that easy to find being tucked away down an narrow, twisting alley.

From Oxford 08

More importantly, “The Turf” was at on time frequented by one of Sharon’s many heartthrobs, Inspector Morse and, perhaps less auspiciously, by Bill Clinton in his Oxford days.

From Oxford 08

Perhaps more famous than Morse today is yet another Oxford celebrity, the ubiquitous Harry P.

From Oxford 08

A pub with a much older heritage, the former New Inn built in 1389 on the Cornmarket, is now ignominiously used as a retail outlet for sushi wraps on one side and cell phones on the other. A sad outcome but better then demolition:

From Oxford 08

By Oxford standards, the 1300s is not really that old. After all, the tower of St. Michael at Northgate was built around 1040 AD which makes it only about 1000 years old.

From Oxford 08

The Covered Market is far more touristy than it used to be but still does an Ace Job with its specialty food shops. Maybe meat pies:

From Oxford 08

Or English cheeses:

From Oxford 08

Or a custom birthday cake, this one depicting George and the Dragon. No longer Saint George thanks to the peevishness of the Vatican:

From Oxford 08

Given the 20,000 students at Oxford University, its not surprising to see the hundred’s of bikes all over the city:

From Oxford 08

But because of a remarkable dearth of bike racks, street railings have to become surrogate racks. In this case, I assume the bikes are being watched over by the ghosts of cyclists long dead:

From Oxford 08

In spite of the many unfriendly signs around:

From Oxford 08

But its good to know that the eccentrics of Oxford still give the Literary Giants a run for their money. It’s amazing what people eventually get accustomed to. Locals living in Headington, a quiet suburb on the eastern edge of the town, don’t seem to notice the 25 foot fibreglass shark embedded in the roof of an otherwise undistinguished terraced house. It was lowered into position by crane in 1986, immediately swam into a wave of controversy but has survived countless protests and lawsuits ever since.

From Oxford 08

An Austin Retrospective

So now we have been in Austin for two months ….. perhaps a modest retrospective is in order.

Austin never had a building boom that resulted in such massive demolition as was witnessed in Houston. Thus one can still see fine old mansions such as the Bremond House (1886):

From Austin

Or the Greek Revival Neill-Cochran House (1855), designed by the same entrepreneur who built the Governor’s Mansion, recently the target of a presumably-deranged arsonist:

From Austin

The oldest building still extant is the 1841 French Legation, established as a diplomatic base when Texas was still an independent republic:

From Austin

This view from the Legation to the State Capitol is “legally protected”; though I would think that enforcement is somewhat problematic:

From Austin

On a more modest scale, it’s remarkable that the Haskell House (circa 1875) house has survived, built by former Pease plantation slave Peter Tucker and lived in by his descendents till the 1970s. It is the last home in the Clarksville neighbourhood built in this style, with its two front doors:

From Austin

The downtown is undoubtedly impressive for its old buildings but not for its new creations except, perhaps, for the ethereal Frost Bank Tower, the first high-rise building to be constructed in the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks.

From Austin

Other odd links to the past that have survived include the 600 year old Treaty Oak, now a shadow of its former self after the tree was deliberately poisoned with a powerful herbicide in 1989:

From Austin

Although arborists expected the tree to die, the Oak survived but almost two-thirds of the tree was destroyed and more than half of its crown had to be pruned.

When driving around inner suburbs of Austin, you can just stumble across upon other remarkable survivors such as the 1840s Moore-Hancock farmstead:

From Austin

And no one has yet bothered to tear up all the streetcar tracks.

From Austin

They were put in between 1891 and 1910 as part of the Austin Street Railway system. Between 1910-1919 the tracks then became part of a terminus of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. All of the other streetcar tracks were removed in the 1940s when the city went to an all-bus system.

Of course, the name Lance Armstrong has become rather synonymous with Austin tho’ it was his water bill that recently captured the news. 222,900 gallons of water consumed at his house in one month at a cost of $1,630. How green is that? But in any case, I suppose the colour normally associated with him is yellow. This is a room in his house (the only pic on this posting not taken by me):

From Austin

And of course he now has an Austin bike shop:

From Austin

The store’s name is a play on words using the name of the yellow jersey worn in the Tour de France, the Maillot Jaune.

Not all cycling-related issues are as trivial. This memorial is on 6th Street:

From Austin

The Ghost Bike phenomenon has its origins in St Louis in 2003 where a man saw an SUV hit a woman in a cycle lane. Later he placed a white bike at the scene with a notice saying: 'Cyclist struck here.' Passing it each day, he was impressed by the effect his installation seemed to have on drivers; they were slowing down, taking notice. Now the Ghost Bike campaign of memorializing has surfaced in more than 50 cities around the world.

Austin is a center for the environmentally-conscious and self-sufficiency as witnessed by this huge and quite delightful public garden (“allotments” in England):

From Austin

From Austin

Less environmentally sensitive perhaps, is the Austinite’s propensity for coffee houses though it admittedly does produce some uncommonly good cappuccino, a very rare phenomenon in the U.S. and a welcome change from the frothy garbage produced by that well known company from the Pacific Northwest.

From Austin

Even the grand newer houses maintain the eclectic nature of the City, whether it be monastery-like castles in the Hill Country:

From Austin

With its mandatory view of the downtown:

From Austin

Or one on, or actually in, Town Lake:

From Austin

Austin’s physical setting is gorgeous with the hills and the river, aka lake:

From Austin

From Austin

Though the steep canyons result in only a few roads that cross them and consequently gridlock on those that do.

We currently lead a quiet life without too much melodrama. However, the other night we were out in the pub and could not take the direct route home due to city police street cordons. It turned out the reason was a significant fire in a condo/duplex.

From Austin

Why is this of interest you might ask? Because this was on our final short-list of places to rent. Torched !!!!

Much of the youthful culture of the city mirrors that of The University of Texas and its more than 48,000 students. The 307 ft Tower is seen from miles around. Sadly, for the older generation is it also a reminder of the day in 1966 when Charles Whitman fired from the top for 96 minutes, killing fourteen people and injuring dozens more. The Tower afforded Whitman an unassailable vantage point from which he could select and dispatch his unfortunate victims.

From Austin

From Austin

But rather than end on such a sad note, let’s remember that most today with two legs or four just love this city and everything it has to offer.

From Austin