Booyah!

I absolutely have to repost three videos my buddy Weer’d found while I was away playing hide and seek.

“So, in summary, firearms have (at worst) an immeasurably small causal effect on violence, violence is a systemic problem in certain communities, and focusing on singular horrible events because of media buzz is a nasty, racist attempt to deflect attention from the real causes, because those causes are embarrassing, and because certain useless symbolic actions look good.

“The idea that the police are not civilians is a deeply pernicious, dangerous one, and it is demonstrably false.

“The truth is a set of not-too-exciting little details, not a cute soundbite.

“Now of course, and I want to emphasize this, cops’ lives and jobs can be dangerous, and I want them to be able to defend themselves vigorously and successfully when that need arises. But when we define them by that armed conflict role, when that becomes their most salient characteristic, well, no good comes of it.

http://youtu.be/8L2ulqFA_sE

This third video doesn’t pack nearly the punch of the other two, but it does explain the firearm licencing process in South Africa quite accurately and quite well.

 

 

Thirty years later…

… I still think it’s a bloody good movie.

http://youtu.be/y-YHw1sqjL8

Here’s an interview for you.

The final act of ‘Top Secret!’ spoofs ‘The Blue Lagoon,’ a 1980 film starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins — a film that was the ninth highest grossing film of 1980, but hasn’t retained a strong presence in popular culture today. Despite the disparity of their original box office totals, today ‘Top Secret!’ is a more popular film than “The Blue Lagoon.’

Frosty

We don’t often get really cold weather. The first cold front of this winter was the exception.

I used some isopropyl alcohol to defrost Tanya’s windscreen, my car I just started up, turned the demister to full, and let it idle for ten minutes.

I also saw some frost on the grass next to the M3 in Tokai.

This is about as bad as it gets in Cape Town, temperature wise. That’s why we like it here :-)

Sad

Lindsey the Liver passed away last Wednesday.

http://youtu.be/Qa8X56fKzYQ

Yes, the girl who once asked Joseph Gordon-Levitt out for coffee. The world needs more people like her.

 

Springbok Wilbur

Because it’s a bit like Beef Wellington but wrapped in pork.

It’s dead easy too. You start with a hunk of springbok rump, which you marinade in a mixture of Jimmy’s or similar and maybe some red wine. Whatever works for you. I didn’t get around to it for a while so the meat spent a week in the fridge. Remember to turn it once a day or so.

Then get hold of a large piece of pork skin. SPAR sells it as “pork spek”. It’s cheap. Liberally sprinkle the fatty side with pepper, mixed spice, herbs, garlic, maybe even some chopped mushrooms.

Wrap the meat in the skin, tie with string, stick it in the oven at 160 to 180 C for an hour to an hour an a half, and Napoleon’s your uncle.

 

 

 

 

Graswewenaar*

This is what I get up to when the wife is on holiday.

* Grass Widower — in the sense that Tanya and the kids are away for the week, I’m left with the cats and a fridge full of beer. I have no complaints.

Stealthie

A stealthie is a selfie…

… taken while wearing camo. So sayeth Tamsyn.

Note to self. If your pants are too short, and you don’t put suntan lotion on your shins, you will regret it later.

Father and Child Hunt, Richmond, April 2014.

As always, it was fun.

 

 

Slow cooker gemsbok curry

I still had some gemsbok shin from last year. Started out with this allrecipes beef curry recipe, which ended up a bit watery — but that worked out fine, since I ladled all the liquid out of the slow cooker into a pan, and cooked some pumpkin in that, then added it all together.

And it was good.

So this is what you do. Get hold of some gemsbok shin. Or whatever. Cut into cube-like shapes and brown in the oil (with a lean meat like game you need to keep adding oil, don’t worry, it’s good for you). Meanwhile, slice an onion (or two if they’re small) into rings and put that in the bottom of your slow cooker. Put the browned meat on top, season with salt and pepper.

Cook two cloves of garlic, a teaspoon fresh ginger, and a chopped green chili for a few minutes, then add your curry powder (I used two tablespoons hot and one tablespoon extra spicy, but I suspect my hot curry isn’t, your mileage may vary). Add a tin of chopped tomatoes.

At this stage the recipe calls for stock, I mixed in two heaped teaspoons stock powder and added some water. Same thing. Spoon the mix over the meat, leave it to cook overnight.

If you use a slow cooker often, you’ll know that you need to add very little liquid. True, but for this recipe a bit more liquid is good. Because this is where you ladle off as much liquid as you can and cook about two cups of diced pumpkin in it until tender.

And then you add the pumpkin back into the curry and serve. Easy and pretty damn good. You probably want some rice on the side, sambals and raita can be good, poppadums always are.