Is my rod big enough? Boris Johnson’s fishing notebook [via Nina Reznick

DIARY-6TH-JULY_HEATH

You remember the climax of Jaws — the primeval moment when Quint the crazed Ahab-like fisherman goes mano a mano with the monster of the deep? He comes to the rear of the listing boat and straps on a leather belt with a phallic protrusion: a metal receptacle into which he shoves the haft of his puny fishing rod. And you look at this terrifying mismatch between a man’s tackle and the might of nature, and you think, ‘How the hell is that going to work?’ Such were my feelings, amigos, on a blustery day in the Indian ocean when I realised I had a whopper on the line.

‘That is a big fish,’ said Paolo the skipper, and his eyes widened as my reel spun and the taut yellow filament shot out behind us. Just as in Jaws, there were three of us afloat, and we had been at it since sunrise several hours ago. We had chugged up from the island of Benguera, off the coast of southern Mozambique. Now we were a couple of miles off a long sandy island called Mazaruto, and the weather was starting to cut up rough. There were spots of rain, and the hull was slapping against the troughs in the grey-black sea. ‘This is good for fishing,’ Paolo had told me earlier, as I tried queasily to keep my footing. ‘When it is like this the fish cannot hear the boat.’

Paolo and Eric seemed to be staring at the trackless main, as if they could see the very spoor of the fish. What are you looking for? I asked. Surely one wave looks much like another? ‘Birds,’ explained Paolo. The big fish eat the sardines; the sardine guts come to the surface; the birds follow the sardines and the successful fisherman follows the birds. Thanks to the cunning of Paolo and Eric, I had been lucky. We had about ten lines over the back of the boat, and for the first two hours we had nothing. ‘Come fish! Come fish!’ chanted my shipmates, clapping and stamping their feet; and then the first one did.

It was a Spanish mackerel, and when I hauled that glistening silver torpedo over the side of the boat I felt like Papa Hemingway himself. I felt as macho as anyone from the pages of Wilbur Smith; and when I say mackerel, I don’t mean one of those tiddlers you might catch in Cornwall or Scotland. It was about three feet long, the biggest thing I had ever caught. Much to my surprise, Paolo and Eric showed no interest in immobilising the fish. They simply bunged it in the plastic chest that served as my seat, while it bumped and bonked beneath me like some relative cruelly locked in the attic.

The next fish was even bigger, a huge streak of muscle called a wahoo, and apparently the fastest fish in the sea. By now I was feeling the pace, and I dozed as the dying brutes slapped pitifully beneath. Then for the third time we heard that magnificent and stirring noise — the unmistakable bzzzt of a reel responding to a bite; and this, as I say, was a biggie. In case you don’t know, the principle is that you haul the rod up to create some slack, and then let it down again while reeling in as fast as you can. The first problem was that, of all the rods we had bristling on the back of the boat, this fish had picked the one that was most weedy and liquorice-like; and the second problem was this fish was so damn strong.

I had been told about another client of Paolo, who thought he had caught a Leviathan, and after three hours of struggle he hoisted an absurd and disembodied head. Tiger shark took the rest. ‘You must hurry,’ said Paolo, and I tell you I bust a gut to bring that fish in. I heaved and grunted and strained and swore and cut my hands; and just as I thought I was finished, and would have to give in, I started to get the upper hand. Slowly, with the help of Paolo, I brought him closer and closer; and then the angle of the line changed.

‘He’s going under the boat!’ said the skipper, and there he was five metres beneath us in a sudden shaft of sunlight — huge, tranquil, cruising in silence. ‘It’s a shark!’ I cried, as I saw the dorsal fin and the deep blue back. No, said Paolo, it’s a tuna, 30 to 40 kilos; and when finally we got him on board I saw how utterly beautiful he was, with his black fin tips and bright yellow serrations and his clean unfishy smell. Then they cut some major artery and as he thrashed and bled I felt my pathetic guilt at killing any living thing. But Paolo and Eric were thrilled, and their jubilation was infectious.

On the way back we saw whales leaping and twisting from the water. Back at the Azura hotel I fell fast asleep and woke with that feeling of having been in a fight or a car crash or a game of rugby. That night we ate tuna under the stars, first as sushi and then as steak. It was delicious, and I had the impression from Marina that, after 20 years of marriage, I had actually done something useful.


Boris Johnson is a former editor of The Spectator.

Reposted From The Spectator

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The Messiah Matrix
by Kenneth John Atchity(Imprimatur Britannia and Story Merchant Books)
4.3 Stars (103 Reviews) Price verified 40 minutes ago

 


Description:

First Jesuit Pope predicted in THE MESSIAH MATRIX!

To what lengths would the Vatican go to suppress the secret origins of its power? Current papal politics has made this thriller eerily prophetic! The Messiah Matrix is a myth-shattering novel whose protagonists delve into the secrets of the past—and expose the fundamentalists who hide them still.

A renowned scholar-monsignor is killed in Rome while a Roman coin is recovered from a wreck off the coast of ancient Judea. It’s up to his young American protégé--a Jesuit priest--and a vivacious, brilliant archaeologist to connect these seemingly disparate events and unravel the tapestry that conceals in plain view the greatest mystery in the ecclesiastical world. Together they pursue their passion for truth—while fighting to control their passion for each other. What they uncover is an ancient Roman imperial stratagem so controversial the Curiafears it could undermine the very foundations of the Roman Catholic faith--much like the secrets emerging from the Vatican in today's news.

From the ancient port of Caesarea to Rome's legendary catacombs and the sacred caves of Cumae, this contemporary novel follows their exhilarating quest to uncover the truth about the historical existence of the real "Christian Savior."

Classical scholar and Yale Ph.D. Dr. Kenneth John Atchity is the only author alive today capable of creating this literary and historically-based spellbinder.

For more information on The Messiah Matrix, including location maps, blog and more please visit: www.messiahmatrix.com

________________________________________________________________

Jasius?Who or what is it? All Google has to offer is a two-tailed butterfly or the ring finger. Say it again. Jasius. It has the sound of something strange, yet strangely familiar. Something or someone we all know, yet infinitely beyond our comprehension. Kenneth Atchity's The Messiah Matrix explores the mystery in a fast-paced, light-hearted novel that is at the same time profoundly disturbing.The story goes forward at three levels. At the top, a rousing twenty-first century adventure that moves from the wrecks littering the floor of the Mediterranean to the corridors of the Vatican. Below that, a carbon-dated epigraphic revisionist history of the first centuries BCE and CE. And, at the deepest level, a sympathetic, fair-minded rational re-examination of "the greatest story ever told." You may applaud, dispute, chortle, weep, but you will think about this book long after the final page.-Benedict and Nancy Freedman, authors Mrs. Mike, Sappho: The Tenth Muse, The Immortals

In a thriller that rivals anything Dan Brown ever wrote, The Messiah Matrix threatens to take all your beliefs and toss them into the wind. A priest is murdered in Rome. His assassin is also shot and killed while with another priest. A message was delivered. An artifact is found on the floor of the sea.A Jesuit questions his faith and the history of his Church.An archaeologist uncovers the find of a lifetime and loses it.

A connection between Christ and Augustus Caesar? The wise men following a star in 17 BC?Curiouser and curiouser! Although you know what they say about curiosity. The Monsignor searching for the ashes of Christ--which he was killed before explaining. Does the Holy See condone murder? Damn Skippy it does!

This book is amazing! The two main characters of Ryan and Emily are the perfect pair of detectives. Will they be more? You’ll have to read the book!Emily’s coin is vital to the history of Christianity in the world, but will they get it back? On the coin, Augustus was wearing a crown with twelve spikes.What’s up with that?

In this tale we have good guys, very bad guys, the Holy Mother Church, good priests and very, very bad priests and one red-headed archaeology professor who, along with one questioning Jesuit and some of his brothers, may be able to solve the conundrum that is The Messiah Matrix.

--Cheryl's Book Nook

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The Messiah Matrix

By Kenneth John Atchity

Fans of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code will love this controversial thriller. When a beloved priest is assassinated and an ancient artifact is uncovered, can young Jesuit Ryan and brilliant archeologist Emily get to the bottom of a vast conspiracy?

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NEVER ENOUGH VODKA

 
There cannot be not enough snacks,
There can only be not enough vodka.
There can be no silly jokes,
There can only be not enough vodka.
There can be no ugly women,
There can only be not enough vodka.
There cannot be too much vodka,
There can only be not enough vodka.

— Russian saying, (Never enough vodka)



Japanese Company Invents Water Fueled Car [via Nina Reznick]




Tired of pumping expensive gasoline into your car? Well one Japanese company reveals an eco-friendly car that runs on water, using the company's generating system, which converts water into electrical power - possibly the world's first.

All you need is a liter of water - any kind of water to be exact, whether its river, rain, sea water, or even Japanese tea.

Genepax unveiled a car that runs on water in the western Japanese city of Osaka. They say it's an electric powered car that runs solely on hydrogen dioxide.

Kiyoshi Hirasawa, Genepax CEO: "The main characteristic of this car is that no external input is needed. The car will continue to run as long as you have a bottle of water inside for you to add from time to time."

According to Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo, once the water is poured into a water tank at the back of the car, the newly invented energy generator takes out the hydrogen from the water, releases electrons and finally generates electrical power.

Kiyoshi Hirasawa, Genepax CEO: "We highly recommend our system since it does not require you to build up an infrastructure to recharge your batteries, which is usually the case for most electric cars."

According to the Genepax, 1 liter of water keeps the car running for about an hour with a speed of 80 kilometers or 50 miles an hour.

The company has just applied for a patent and is hoping to collaborate with Japanese automobile manufacturers to mass manufacture their invention in the very near future.




Reposted From Healthy Posts

Biology Exam [via Mary Calhoun]


Students in an advanced Biology class were taking their mid-term exam.

The last question was, 'Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk.’
The question was worth 70 points or none at all.

One student, in particular, was hard put to think of seven advantages.
However, he wrote:

1) It is perfect formula for the child.
2) It provides immunity against several diseases.
3) It is always the right temperature.
4) It is inexpensive.
5) It bonds the child to mother, and vice versa.
6) It is always available as needed.

And then the student was stuck.
Finally, in desperation, just before the bell rang indicating the end of the test, he wrote:

7) It comes in two attractive containers and it's high enough off the ground
where the cat can't get it.

He got an A.

CONCEPT CARS OF THE 1950S [via VIA CACCIATORE]

They were pure fantasy on wheels, machines designed to make the heart race and the mind ask… what if? These 1950s concept cars were automotive art built to attract public attention, test wild engineering ideas, and give motorists a fleeting glimpse down the highway of tomorrow



1951 BUICK LESABRE


1951 BUICK XP-300


1954 FORD LA TOSCA


1954 OLDSMOBILE ROCKET F88