Fast and Frivolous

 Stunt Driving

   I have realized that we are at the end of the month and that my last post was in the middle of it. So I will now offer a sort-of 'loss leader' to lure back readers and attempt to attract new ones. Since the weather is still nice and it is much better to be outside than inside typing, I will simply grab something sensational since I don't know of anything that can be defined as close to "sensational" happening here at home. It is also the case that no original thoughts have sprouted in the summer sun, but I can assure you that I will try to come up with some.

  If you were thinking of going for a quick spin, don't go too fast since fuel is expensive and the fines for far exceeding the speed limit are rather severe and you could even end up in the slammer. Here is what happened to the poor fellow who was driving the car pictured above:

“LAMBO BUSTED: Early this morning we clocked a $460,000 Lamborghini Aventador going 170 km/hr in a 60 km/hr zone in the area of Highway 7 and Keele,” York Regional Police wrote in the Tweet. “And by now you know the drill: Driver charged with stunt. 30-day DL suspension. 14-day vehicle impound.”

   You probably know about MADD and drive soberly, but you may be unaware of MOMS.  Perhaps this post can be given a purpose, after all, since it will alert you to the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act, 2021.

The Bonus:

   I was incorrect when I described the stunt driver as a "poor fellow", given that he was piloting a car that is worth almost a half million dollars. It is now probably worth more than that since fifteen Lamborghini Adventadors are now sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic, along with about 4,000 other cars, Bentleys and Porsches among them. 

Sources:

  "GTA Lamborghini Driver Nabbed at Nearly 3X the Speed Limit,  “..we never get tired of yanking stunt drivers off our roads.”

Coleman Molnar, Driving, July 6, 2022

   "After Burning for Days, a Ship Carrying Thousands of Luxury Cars Sinks:

The Ship, the Felicity Ace, Was Carrying About 4,000 Vehicles, Including Bentleys and Porsches, When it Caught Fire on Feb. 16. On Tuesday morning, it Sank." New York Times,  Azi Paybarah and Maria Cramer.March 1, 2022

"Two weeks after catching fire, a mammoth ship that was transporting thousands of luxury cars sank on Tuesday morning about 253 miles off the Azores, according to the company that managed the vessel.

The ship, the Felicity Ace, went down at about 9 a.m. local time after tilting starboard, plunging about 4,000 cars — including more than 1,000 Porsches and 200 Bentleys — into the sea, according to the company, MOL Ship Management."

Post Script:

   You may recall that I wrote a while back about the few hundred cars that can still be found at the bottom of Lake Michigan:  "The Lost Nashes of Halloween." I have also written about the large number of containers and cattle that were lost at sea. See: "More Flotsam" and "Cattle Crossing."

Dervla Is Dead

                                           Dervla Murphy (1931-2022)

   Pictured above are the two books that I have which are authored by Murphy. You can borrow them. I provide a list of all of her books at the bottom and if you enjoy travel literature, you will appreciate what she has produced. I have already written a bit about her, in the post "On Barfing." It is from an episode in Transylvania and Beyond where she finds herself high in the Bistrita Mountains among some hard-drinking loggers. That book begins, by the way, with Murphy having all her belongings stolen (by the customs officials), but she still decides to keep on going: 

    "At 3 a.m. warmed by hot liquid and kindness, I left the restaurant - feeling an overwhelming compulsion to walk and walk and walk, on and on and on, until bodily exhaustion exorcised emotional pain. Striding east out of Arad, through unlit canyons beyond gaunt rows of high-risery, it suddenly seemed that all of those could not be true, that I was about to wake up. In real life people don't set off in the middle of the night through freezing fog - hatless, ungloved and possessing only a bottle of whiskey - to explore an unknown and recently traumatized country. Until dawn, this strong sense of outrageous improbability persisted; without my gear, I felt as disorientated and vulnerable as an unshelled crustacean." 

   The country was Rumania after it  'opened' in 1989. Murphy was alone and she was almost 60 when this adventure was undertaken.

   Travelling is rather tough these days and none of us are as tough as Dervla Murphy. It is far easier to stay home and read the books of those who are more adventurous.  After the obituaries and Murphy's books you will find some additional books by other very adventurous women. 

Selected Obituaries (there are many):

"Dervla Murphy, Intrepid Author of Travel Books, Dies at 90: She Began Her Prodigious and Free-spirited Career With an Epic Solo Bicycle Journey in 1963 Across Europe to India, Jori Finkel, Washington Post, June 7, 2022.

"Dervla Murphy, an Irish travel writer who began her prodigious career with an epic solo bicycle journey in 1963 across Europe to India and went on to explore vast stretches of the developing world by foot — defying social expectations of women along the way — died on May 22 in her home in Lismore, Ireland. She was 90...."

At home in Lismore, where she lived in a warren of old stone rooms without central heat, she never learned to drive a car or use a computer. She avoided small talk and regularly declined book tours and interviews. “Interviewing Dervla is like trying to open an oyster with a wet bus ticket,” Jock Murray, her first publisher, once said.

She gave up basic comforts when she traveled, often sleeping in a tent and using latrines, and acknowledged being “impervious” to discomfort. “It literally doesn’t matter to me whether I’m sleeping on the floor or on a mattress,” she said in the documentary. “I simply don’t notice the difference. And that really is a big plus when you’re traveling.”

"Dervla Murphy, Irish Travel Writer Who Preferred Her Bike, Dies at 90: A Curious, Intrepid Loner, She Famously Went From Dunkirk Through Europe and Then to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India — Mostly on Two Wheels" Richard Sandomir, New York Times, May 27, 2022

"She became a leading travel writer, a fearless and curious loner who filled her rucksack with pens, a notebook, a light but warm sleeping bag and a change of clothing. Traveling mainly by bicycle but also on foot, by mule and in Jeeps and buses, she spent months at a time in Ethiopia, Peru, Cuba, Israel, Gaza, Madagascar, Nepal, Tibet, Baltistan, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Romania and Northern Ireland....

When a wolf in Bulgaria was about to attack her, she killed it with a pistol; in Turkey, she wrote, when a “scantily clad” Kurdish intruder bent over her in the moonlight in the hostel room where she was staying, she fired a warning shot into the ceiling and sent him fleeing.

But those experiences did not deter her.

“At times during these past weeks,” she wrote about Afghanistan in “Full Tilt,” “I felt so whole and so at peace that I was tempted seriously to consider settling in the Hindu Kush. Nothing is false there, for humans and animals and earth, intimately interdependent, partake together in the rhythmic cycle of nature. To lose one’s petty, sophisticated complexities in that world would be heaven — but impossible, because of the fundamental falsity involved in attempting to abandon our own unhappy heritage.”

"Travel Writer Who Famously Journeyed Alone From Her Native Ireland to India on a Bicycle, Armed With a Pistol and a Compass, " The Guardian , Veronica Horwell, May 26, 2022.

"Dervla Murphy: Irish Travel Writer Dies Aged 90," May 23, BBC.

"While known as Ireland's most famous travel writer, such a description barely captures the fullness and deep understanding captured in her work."

"Dervla Murphy, ‘Secular Saint’ of Travel Writing, Dies Aged 90: On Foot, Bicycle, Pony and Public Transport, Murphy Visited More Than 30 Countries," Sylvia Thompson, The Irish Times, May 23, 2022.

"A master of straight reportage, she became a hero among travel writers and enthralled readers with what travel writer, Colin Thubron described as her “unpretentious, shiningly honest and accessible” books marked by their “earthy humour and charm”....

In 1979, Murphy won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs memorial prize for A Place Apart: Northern Ireland in the 1970s (1978), written after time spent with members of the Protestant and Catholic communities there....

In 2019, the Royal Geographical Society celebrated her work with the Ness Award for the “popularisation of geography through travel literature”. In 2021, she won the prestigious Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing."

"Tributes to Trailblazing Travel Writer, Dervla Murphy, 90," Caroline Delaney, Irish Examiner, May 23, 2022. 

"Dervla Murphy died today. She took her first cycling holiday abroad when she was 20, travelling through Wales and the south of England. The following year she embarked on a five-week continental tour...."

“If your fearless, you don’t need courage." 

"Travel Writer Dervla Murphy, 1931-2022 - Obituary, Kat Hopps and James Murray, The Express, May 29, 2022.

"Asked once why she travelled so much, she said: “I need to get away from the artificial life of the West. When I set out on a journey, my spirits rise. I’m never lonely or frightened.”

"Dervla Murphy," The Sunday Times, May 29, 2022.

"Dervla left school at 14 and spent the next 16 years caring for her arthritic mother. Only when her mother died was she able to embark on the bicycle journey she'd been dreaming of since the age of ten. In 1963 she pedalled from Ireland to India, then wrote about it in her most famous and best loved book, Full Tilt...

In the world of travel writing Dervla was not just unique, she was off the spectrum. She never accepted a commission or advance because it was the travel that mattered, not the book. She wrote her manuscripts on a typewriter, never a computer. If forced to do a publicity tour she would reject the offer of free accommodation and find her own place where she would feel comfortable by being uncomfortable. She had a deeply ingrained dislike of the tourist industry, preferring to travel to the least hospitable corners of little-known countries at the least pleasant time of year to avoid the dreaded "tourists". In fact she revelled in hardship. A reviewer of Muddling Through in Madagascar remarked that her "appetite for discomfort verges on the gothic".

[Travelling now is even tough for us. We have to get through the airports.]

"Murphy Was Spared the Misery of Modern Travel," Brenda Power, The Sunday Times, May 29, 2022. 

"In the week of the travel writer's death at the age of 90, it's tempting to compare the obstacles she faced on trips around the globe with those that confront modern holiday-makers, both visiting and leaving this country. Murphy had little time for tourists, figuring that their trips were less about exploring a new destination than fleeing the mundanity of their own lives. In order to do even this, however, they now face challenges that make bandits and wolves sound like a walk in the park."

Books By Dervla Murphy

(The travel book publisher, ELAND, provides some of her books and a good profile.)
The bolded titles can be found in the Western Libraries.

A Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza, 2013, Eland

A Place Apart: Northern Ireland in the 1970s, 1978, John Murray

Between River and Sea: Encounters in Israel and Palestine, 2015, Eland

Cameroon with Egbert,1990, John Murray

Changing the Problem: Post-forum Reflections,1984, The Lilliput Press

Eight Feet in the Andes,1983, John Murray

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, 1965,John Murray

In Ethiopia with a Mule, 1968,John Murray

Ireland (text by Dervla Murphy and photography by Klaus Francke),1985,Orbis

The Island that Dared: Journeys in Cuba,2008, Eland

Muddling through in Madagascar, 1985,John Murray

One Foot in Laos, 1999, John Murray

On a Shoestring to Coorg: An Experience of South India, 1976, John Murray

Race to the Finish?: The Nuclear Stakes ,1982, John Murray

South from the Limpopo: Travels through South Africa,1997,John Murray

Tales from Two Cities: Travel of Another Sort, 1987, John Murray

One Foot in Laos, 1999, John Murray

Silverland: A Winter Journey Beyond the Urals, 2006, John Murray

Through Siberia by Accident: A Small Slice of Autobiography, 2005, John Murray

Through the Embers of Chaos: Balkan Journeys, 2002, John Murray

Tibetan Foothold, 1966, John Murray

Transylvania and Beyond,1992, John Murray

The Ukimwi Road: From Kenya to Zimbabwe,1993,John Murray 

Visiting Rwanda,1998, The Lilliput Press

The Waiting Land: A Spell in Nepal,1967, John Murray

Wheels Within Wheels: Autobiography, 1979, John Murray

Where the Indus Is Young: A Winter in Baltistan, 1977, John Murray

(The London Public Library has an audio version of Eight Feet in the Andes and a print copy of The Island That Dared… .)

The Bonus:

While reading the obituaries for Murphy, I remembered Mary Kingsley. Like Murphy, Kingsley was able to begin travelling and exploring only after the death of her parents, for whom she had to care. Her books are older and available to read for free. See, for example: Travels in West Africa and West African Studies. I have mentioned Kingsley before, in the post about "The Guinea Worm."

   For additional exciting travel books written by women see: "Travelling About."  In that post I mention the "Marlboro Travel Series", produced by Northwestern University Press. You will find seventeen more classic travel books by both women and men. I suppose that somewhere I could locate books written by those in other gender categories. Jan Morris came to mind, but she began as James and chose to make the journey from him to her. 

Muddled Thinking

Conspiracies Everywhere    

   Recently a friend remarked that many of those who live in a country close by apparently believe some rather bizarre things. I replied that I had just read a piece which indicated that a significant number of Canadians also hold views that can be characterized as 'strange.' Given that I read quickly and recall little, I was unable to come up with the number, or provide a 'strange' example and couldn't even remember in which publication the information could be found. So I went searching for the source. Here it is:

   The data indicating that even Canadians succumb to conspiracy theories are provided by ABACUS DATA. They are worth recording below and I hope the folks at ABACUS don't mind.

"Millions Believe in Conspiracy Theories in Canada," By Bruce Anderson & David Coletto, June 12, 2022

"We recently completed nationwide surveying among 1500 Canadians.  The focus was on the levels of trust people have in institutional sources of information, and belief in conspiracy theories.  This is the second in a series called “Trust & Facts: What Canadians Believe”
• 44% (the equivalent of 13 million adults) believe “big events like wars, recessions and the outcomes of elections are controlled by small groups of people working in secret against us”. Almost as many agree “much of our lives are being controlled by plots hatched in secret places.
• 37% (or 11 million) think “there is a group of people in this country who are trying to replace native born Canadians with immigrants who agree with their political views. This is an articulation of what is commonly referred to as replacement theory.
• 20% believe it is definitely or probably true that “the World Economic Forum is a group of global elites with a secretive strategy to impose their ideas on the world.” Another 37% think it is possibly true or aren’t sure either way.
• 13% think it is definitely or probably true that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is using microchips to track people and affect human behaviour. Another 21% say it’s possible, or aren’t really sure.
Summary:
Canadians who want to believe that Canadian society is relatively unaffected by conspiracy thinking will find little comfort in these results. Millions believe that our lives are controlled by secret plots to undermine our interests…..
Perhaps the most disconcerting thing in these numbers is the fact that mistrust of institutional accounts isn’t simply neutral skepticism – it is often accompanied by a willingness to believe dangerous contrarian theories. This threatens to undermine the ability of political parties, businesses, civil society groups, and governments to help build consensus and make progress together."

   One can argue that pollsters have often been wrong of late, or that perhaps they are part of a conspiracy. Or perhaps you do not find the percentages 'significant' and think them not "disconcerting." After all, a larger number of Canadians do not believe that Bill Gates is implanting microchips.

   

The Epoch Times
   Although the number of odd notions seems to be increasing, the number of newspapers available to assess them is decreasing. This may be a good example of an "inverse relationship." The need now for reliable sources brings me to The Epoch Times, which I am sure cannot be characterized as such. 
   Back at the beginning of 2021, I received a printed copy of The Epoch Times in my mailbox, as did many Canadians. I told you all about it in my post, The Epoch Times. At the beginning of June I began receiving copies of The Epoch Times in my inbox and I collected them over a few weeks. There were lots. I thought I would offer another assessment, but have changed my mind. I did enough work on the original one. Although Mr. Tang, the founder, says this, I don't agree: "As a media dedicated to truth, we pledged to report the news factually, honestly, and completely, without a political agenda." I do agree when he notes that,  "The Epoch Times was born with the purpose of telling the world about the destructiveness of socialism and communism, and specifically, to expose the disinformation and human rights violations of the Chinese Communist Party and how it works to infiltrate other countries." It also becomes clear as one reads The Epoch Times that vaccine mandates are an example of totalitarian oppression.  In closing, I will say that when I checked "unsubscribe", my request was granted and I was not continually badgered as I am by some other publications.

Beware the "Pink Slime"
   As local news outlets have closed, "pink slime" publications have slithered into many areas and neighbourhoods pretending to be produced within the communities in which they appear. The information provided is then more likely to be accepted and the information is very likely to have a very conservative bent.  In our area, if a newspaper suddenly appears bearing the title of The Masonville Times or The Wortley News, be suspicious. 

Sources: 

   The image above is found in: "Trump, QAnon and an Impending Judgement Day: Behind the Facebook-fueled Rise of The Epoch Times," Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins, NBC News, Aug. 20, 2019. Some of The Epoch Times emails I received, addressed such attacks from the 'mainstream" media. 

   There is now a Wikipedia entry for, "Pink-Slime Journalism."  For an original account about "pink slime" see: Hundreds of ‘pink slime’ Local News Outlets are Distributing Algorithmic Stories and Conservative Talking Points,"  Priyanjana Bengani, Columbia Journalism Review, Dec. 18, 2019.

"An increasingly popular tactic challenges conventional wisdom on the spread of electoral disinformation: the creation of partisan outlets masquerading as local news organizations. An investigation by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School has discovered at least 450 websites in a network of local and business news organizations, each distributing thousands of algorithmically generated articles and a smaller number of reported stories. Of the 450 sites we discovered, at least 189 were set up as local news networks across ten states within the last twelve months by an organization called Metric Media."

The Bonus: 

   It does not help when famous people, who should know better, help spread vaccine misinformation: "The Anti-Vaccine Movement's New Frontier: A Wave of Parents Have Been Radicalized by Covid-era Misinformation to Reject Ordinary Childhood Immunizations - With Potentially Lethal Consequences," Moises Velasquez-Manoff, NYT, May 31, 2022. 

The Animal Trade Again

 

   Perhaps it was because I have written about the "Plight of the Pangolins" that I noticed this startling headline, which is startling even in our age of startling headlines: "More Than 100 Animals Found in Luggage at Thai Airport: 2 Women Arrested," Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, June 29, 2022.  The nerves of these ladies are undoubtedly much stronger than those of people like me who break into a sweat when we think we might have mistakenly packed some liquid toiletries. 

   The animals were, at least, not large ones.  Lots of lizards were found, along with 35 turtles and a Peter's Banded Skink. There were also two porcupines. Chennai (Madras for us oldsters) was the destination and it appears that it is not unusual to find animals among the passengers in Indian airports since over 70,000 were seized between 2011 and 2020.  The smugglers face up to 10 years in prison and large fines. 

The Bonus:
   It is through such trading that the Burmese python made its way to Florida where there are now many of them. Last week, the largest one ever found there was captured. She was 18 feet long and weighed 215 pounds. "Conservancy of SWFL Documents Largest Burmese Python in Florida," Naples Florida Weekly, June 30, 2022.

Pawpaw Redux

 

The Groves of Academe

   I just wrote about the Pawpaw tree ( in, Edible and Available in Ontario), knowing that the subject of pawpaws is very popular and will attract readers. Overlooked in the sources and references provided were some which were found close by,  along with some actual pawpaw trees! I am pleased that the campus at Western now has some, along with additional sources you should now consult. 

   I happened to visit the campus by bike recently and noted all the construction activity. That led me to search the Western website to see what was going on. That is when I discovered the pawpaw sources and trees of which I was unaware. It appears that the Western landscaping crews are as active as the construction ones. 

   Start with this good article from Western News: "Indigenous Tree Bears Rich History, Culture for Western: Rare Pawpaw Brings Hope For Healthy Ecosystem on Campus," Mari-Len De Guzman, Sept. 30, 2021. Since the article came out at the beginning of the academic year it may have been overlooked. Here are some bits; read the entire piece.

"A new set of pawpaw (Asimina triloba) trees have been planted on UC Hill near the Physics and Astronomy Building recently, in the hopes of increasing the campus’s biodiversity and promoting a healthier natural ecosystem....

The five pawpaws planted this past summer, each measuring about a metre in height, add to the unnumbered pawpaw trees already growing on campus, mostly in the Middlesex College area....

As stewards of the campus landscape, Western’s landscape services plants about 200 Carolinian or native trees on campus each year. The pawpaws were among 203 trees planted this year, including bitternut, black gum and other....

Enriching plant biodiversity across campus is part of Western’s commitment to sustainability outlined in its new strategic plan. Western is also home to thousands of tree species and has been officially designated as an arboretum.

The image above is from the article. Thanks should be offered to Mr. Vanden Huevel and the landscaping crews the next time you visit Western. 

For additional background see: "Planting the Seeds of Sustainability: New and Enhanced Gardens Build on Western's Natural Beauty and Biodiversity," Keri Ferguson, Western News, June 24, 2021. 

The Sherwood Fox Arboretum was established in 1981 and more can be learned about it by clicking on the link provided.  And, even more is offered by the Department of Biology. 

Post Script: 

    Dr. Sherwood Fox was a president of UWO and a classicist as well as a naturalist. I have mentioned him before. You will find him in the post about John Muir since President Fox wrote about Muir's time in Canada. He also wrote about "The Old Grand Bend Cut" and is mentioned in the post about "Parks Along the Great Lakes." He also wrote about the BATS in his Muskoka cottage and the large flocks of PASSENGER PIGEONS which used to exist and President Fox is found in those posts. 

The Bonus:

   The Groves of Academe seems like a suitable subtitle for this post. Doubly so, since it is also the title of one of the most famous 'campus novels.' The son of the author of it taught for years at Western and is now retired.