This is ridiculous!

Shapeshifterbelly sent me a link that made my head spin. I know we all love wholesome food here at What Time. Monsanto would love to put an end to clean, ethical, environmentally friendly agriculture and have the whole world at the mercy of their questionable practices.

In an obscene development, a Monsanto executive is winning this year’s “Nobel Prize of agriculture” -- the prestigious World Food Prize -- for creating GMOs. Receiving it legitimizes the sort of rampant genetic modification Monsanto pioneered, and helps validate a ruthless business model that impoverishes farmers and monopolizes our food.

If that wasn't baffling enough, the founder of Syngenta, the same biotech giant joining Bayer in suing Europe to keep selling bee-killing pesticides, will also win the prize -- and with it, a share of the $250,000 prize money. We cannot allow this prize to legitimize frankenfoods and bee killers. The ceremony is in less than two weeks, so we need to act now.

Winning this prize will encourage the wider use of genetically engineered crops and be a huge obstacle to those fighting to investigate the long-term effects of its frankenseeds -- which is exactly what Monsanto wants. In 2008, Monsanto made a $5 million pledge to the World Food Prize Foundation, part of its plan to buy the credibility it can’t legitimately earn. By handing its benefactor this award, the Foundation risks undermining the credibility of the most respected prize in agriculture.

In protest, 81 Councilors of the World Future Council have penned a statement blasting the World Food Prize Foundation for betraying its purpose. In the words of the esteemed authors: “GMO seeds reinforce a model of farming that undermines sustainability of cash-poor farmers, who make up most of the world's hungry… The most dramatic impact of such dependency is in India, where 270,000 farmers, many trapped in debt for buying seeds and chemicals, committed suicide between 1995 and 2012.”

Despite the criticism, Monsanto and Syngenta executives are set to receive their prize on World Food Day, October 16 -- a slap in the face to everyone harmed by their products. We don’t have much time, so we need to publicize this obscene decision -- if enough of us get word of this out, and let people know the World Food Prize is threatening its reputation, we can shame it into choosing a more suitable candidate.

Please sign the petition and spread the word.

Thank you, SSB.

[The regular post will be up shortly]

Lovely French friends

When we first moved to France in October 2007, we met a charming couple who ran a modest but thriving restaurant in a neighbouring village: Tony and Sonia (Tonee and Soni-ah, as they pronounce their names here).

In December that year, disaster struck. Sonia was taking their dog to the vet (the gorgeous Olivier) when she was involved in a terrible accident. The other driver was young, uninsured and he died on the spot. As did the dog. Sonia was in a coma for several weeks. The weather turned nasty, with a lot of snow, which made it very difficult for Tony to visit Sonia in hospital. They have two sons, who had to be picked up from school. Poor Tony would leave whoever was at the cafe in charge and go to the school to get the boys.

Sonia recovered, but she was left mildly brain damaged, and couldn't work at the restaurant as actively as she did before the accident. Things started slowing down. They would be open during the day, but couldn't have dinners on a regular basis. There were some special evenings when they served moules & frites. Tony and Sonia were always incredibly hospitable.

They finally sold out in 2011 and moved away. Tony had been a truck driver with a passion for food and during his years as a chef, he just learned as he went along. He made the most amazing desserts, delicious and beautifully presented. [The images of desserts are from the googles, but they look exactly like Tony's.]

We don't see them very often these days, but when we do, it's always a great pleasure!

Today we talked about them and really hope to see them again soon.

Interesting dietary *fact*

Taste is a very personal thing...

Big smile in the rain

I found this charming photo on Facebook and thought it would be nice to share it with you.

Women, men and leather

Mrsgunka sent us this interesting bit of trivia:

Did you know that when a woman wears leather, a man's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally?

Did you ever wonder why?

It's because she smells like a brand new truck.

Thank you for the laugh, MrsG.

Without further ado, we go back to cats

I love this video. There are loads more on youtube. Simon's cat is a real character! Enjoy.

Not a video about cats... for a change!

Feline stalkers

Cute creatures, dramatic landscapes and a visual gag

Time for a kilt post...

MacGregor tartan

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Q - "Is anything worn under the kilt?

A - "No, everything is in perfect working order."

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Cats galore

Where would this blog be without pictures of cats, eh?

Hobson's unfortunate choice of words

I've been reading books by British stage, movie and TV actress Maureen Lipman, where she relates many hilarious anecdotes about herself and fellow thespians.

One of her favourite stories is worth repeating, and I hope it makes sense to my American friends...

"... the producer was keen on Hobson's Choice, but I had such strong memories of Julia McKenzie in the role of that I doubted my capabilities to measure up to her.

Julia McKenzie

Almost my favourite theatrical anecdote is Julia's experience of playing Maggie Hobson to Ronald Pickup's Willy Mossop. One night, well into the run, she came to the moment in the show when Maggie summons Willy from the basement to inform him that he has great skills as a cobbler and she intends him to be her husband. 'Willy,' she tells him, 'show me your hands,' and goes on to tell him that he has the hands of a craftsman.

Ronald Pickup

On this particular night, she summoned him as usual, he poked his head out of the trapdoor and, bright as a button, she rapped out the command: 'Hans, show me your willy!'

Suffice it to say that the Willy in question shot back down the trapdoor and Maggie Hobson got uncommonly interested in the dusting of every article on the upstage mantelpiece!"

Spoonerisms tend to be quite funny, but the example above is a winner! [A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase.]

Maureen Lipman

[Just in case the anecdote doesn't translate well, change the character's name to Dick Mossop...]

Love and pain

Mrsgunka sent us this joke. Thank you, MrsG.

A married couple went to the hospital to have their baby delivered.

Upon their arrival, the doctor said that the hospital was testing an amazing new high-tech machine that would transfer a portion of the mother's labor pain to the baby's father.

He asked if they were interested. Both said they were very much in favor of it.

The doctor set the pain transfer to 10% for starters, explaining that even 10% was probably more pain than the father had ever experienced before.

But as the labor progressed, the husband felt fine and asked the doctor to go ahead and kick it up a notch.

The doctor then adjusted the machine to 20% pain transfer. The husband was still feeling fine. The doctor then checked the husband's blood pressure and was amazed at how well he was doing.

At this point they decided to try for 50%. The husband continued to feel quite well.

Since the pain transfer was obviously helping the wife considerably, the husband encouraged the doctor to transfer ALL the pain to him.

The wife delivered a healthy baby with virtually no pain and the husband had experienced none. She and her husband were ecstatic.

When they got home they found the mailman dead on the porch.

Another bunch of nice photos

A fun birthday greeting

Dave Allen was a great Irish comedian. What could be better than a bit of Irish fun to wish our resident Leprechaun a happy birthday?



Happy birthday, dear Pallottine!

There you are, Mrsgunka

MrsG has been raving about this commercial, so I found it. Enjoy!

Golden oldies

An eighty-five-year-old man marries a beautiful twenty-two-year old woman. Because her husband is so old, the bride thinks it's safer for them to sleep in separate rooms, fearful that he might overexert himself and come to some harm.

After the wedding, the young bride gets ready for bed, climbs under the covers and waits expectantly. Sure enough, she hears a knock. The door opens and there stands her husband, ready for action. When they finish making love, the old man leaves and his young wife prepares to sleep.

A few minutes later she wakes to another knock on the door. Her husband walks in, climbs into bed and makes love to her. She's very surprised with his prowess. He kisses her and goes back to his room.

The young lady is exhausted by now and quickly falls asleep, only to be awoken in a short while by her husband knocking on her door. He comes in as fresh as a twenty-five-year old and they make love again.

When he's set to leave, the bride turns to him and says, "I'm amazed, darling. I've been with men a quarter of your age who were good only once! You're a fantastic lover."

Somewhat embarrassed, the old man scratches his head, turns to his wife and says, "You mean I've been here already?"


***********


The old couple are lying in bed when the wife says,

"Do you remember when we were first married and you used to hold my hand before we went to sleep?"

So the husband holds her hand and tries to go back to sleep.

"Darling, you also used to hug me when we were in bed."

He puts his arm around her and tries to go to sleep.

"You always kissed me as well."

He gives her a peck on the cheek, turns to the other side, covers his head with the pillow and tries once again to get some sleep.

"Ah, and you loved to bite my earlobe."

He throws the covers, puts the bedside light on, puts on his slippers and leaves the room.

"Where are you going???"

"To get my teeth!"

A vet with a sense of fun

Shapeshifterbelly found some funny signs for a vet clinic:

Thank you, SSB.

A lovely house

I was going through my pictures when I came across some photos of my sister's house in Brazil. It's small but perfectly formed. She designed it herself and lived in it for many happy years. Alas, she sold it and moved to Miami (all her daughters live there), where she now lives in what can only be described as a box...