Botswana July 20, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a comment
Alexander McCall Smith’s series ‘The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency’ is a joyful thing. Delicate, clear prose, written around themes which are meaningful but as pragmatic, gentle and proper as the main character who carries them.Mma Precious Ramotswe is a mature lady (of, as we are often reminded, traditional build) who, upon the death of her beloved father, decides to set up a Ladies Detective Agency, the only one in Botswana. With the morality taught to her by her father, and her own clear-sightedness and pragmatism she solves the problems of her clients and those around her.
She is above all grounded, in her sense of what is right and in the land in which she lives. Although profoundly moral, she does not moralise and has sympathetic understanding of the failings of ordinary people. She is an ideally good character.
These are books to read if you ever feel tired, jaded or cynical. Let them lift you back up into a better place.
The Source, James Michener July 18, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farIt was a very hot weekend, and sitting in the park reading a book was about my limit. I’ve recently acquired a large box of books from a friend who’s moving, on the promise that I’ll give them to Amnesty when I’ve finished them, and in it I found James Michener’s The Source.The book traces the discovery of layer upon layer of civilisation as archaeologists near Galilee dig through an ancient mound which has been inhabited since people first moved out of caves. Through cave-dweller, to Canannite, to the first Hebrews, through centuries of conquest and carrying off to slavery and exile, coming back and leaving again, right to the kibbutzim of modern Israel, the book follows the history of the area and its people.
Its a novel, not history, but it perhaps provides a little insight into why that part of the world is in such turmoil now. Its not a story that started in 1948 when the British left, or even in 70AD when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. Its not a simple story of long exile, followed by return after nearly 2000 years. It is a story of people always on the margins, never part of the mainstream of society, rarely secure in their place. Its a story of continuous, if tenuous, life in a place and of a constant longing for that place.
I don’t know. If my ancestors had been kicked out of every place they’d ever been, and then, after the worst possible experiences, had finally had the courage, or perhaps the desperation, to take a place and hold it, I might hold on pretty tight too and ignore international opinion to stay where I was and make it secure. And if my ancestors had been swept out of the ancestral homes sixty years ago, I’d probably still be trying to get them back. There’s no easy answer, and it looks increasingly like there might not even be a difficult one.
New Sunday morning habit July 17, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Cafes & Restaurants, Camden , add a commentFor years, the shop on the corner behind Mornington Crescent tube station has been boarded up, just a vacant space. But now, we have a new Costa coffee shop.
In posher parts of London, people, perhaps rightly, get upset about the chain coffee shops moving in, but personally, I’m a fan. I like the big comfy chairs, the non-smoking areas, the attitude that you can sit there reading all afternoon. This one’s open from 0700 to 2100 daily, so its good for early in the morning or perhaps even for a coffee after dinner if I’ve eaten early.
The coffee’s not bad either, though I wonder who could really drink the fishbowl known as a massimo latte before it got cold. And the chocolate twist pastries are wonderful.
So yesterday, I turned up with my paper, bought a coffee and watched the world go by for a couple of hours. It could be habit-forming.
A day in the Iliad July 8, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , 3 commentsGold-filled Mycenae, strong-walled Tirins, Argos all are within a few miles of each other, and an easy day-trip from Nauplion. From the top of the citadel at Mycenae, you can just see Argos through the haze of the heat-filled afternoon. Tirins is a little further beyond, and only a few kilometers from Nauplion.
Of course, the gold from Mycenae is now in the archaeological museum in Athens or the smaller one on the site, and all that remains are the ruins of the walls and citadel, destroyed by fire in the late 13th century and never properly rebuilt. The tombs, shaped and buried to resemble hills, were probably completely forgotten for most of the time from that destruction until they were opened in the late 19th / early 20th centuries.
Mycenae is very different from the classical architecture the tourist in Greece is more familiar with. There are no elegant columns or wide spaces such as those at the Asklepios at Epidaurus or in the Acropolis at Athens. This is a tiny city built in heavy stone at the top of a hill, and must have been a tight mass of buildings with tiny narrow streets, perhaps similar to Greek hill villages even today. If the upper parts were built of wood, fire must have spread through very quickly.
It sits on a small hill, with high mountains immediately behind, facing down towards the sea and Argos. The natural barrier behind, and good visibility in other directions, must have made it easy to defend. Even today, walking up to the entrance alongside the walls is impressive. The blocks themselves are huge and, because of the way its built around the hilltop, the natural landscape enhances its sturdieness.
We’ll probably never know whether the tombs are really those of Agamemmnon and Klytemnestra (shown above), but it’s nice to imagine the possibility, and better than just calling them ‘beehive shaped grave A’. The so-called treasury of Atreus is much larger than the others, with a sideroom that was blocked off, and smelt very musty. These tombs look like they were built by digging away a lot of a small hill, then building up the beehive shaped tomb within the dugout earth before covering it again. They’re much larger than, say, the long barrow at West Kennet, and particularly much much higher.
Its surprising just how dry and hot this climate is. By the time I decided to walk down to the village for lunch, it was easily in the mid-thirties, and would get much hotter in August. I found I was drinking huge amounts, with the humidity very low indeed. Like many places in Greece, this would not be much fun in the high summer, so its hard to see why the tourist hordes flock to these sites at that time. I think I’d struggle to do more than move from shady spot to sea and back again. The thought of building this city in that weather is appalling.
Straight on up July 5, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio, Miscellany , add a commentStraight PLC has barely noticed the recent market correction, and it’s shares went over the 300p mark for the first time this week. Of course, they’re doing very well out of the drought in the south east of England, with water butt sales at an all time high. They’ve also recently got themselves onto the preferred supplier list of to supply wheelie bins and similar items to the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Leicestershire) which has already won them significant business.
I wonder if these shares will peak soon, and perhaps fall as sales of water butts drop off. They’ve now risen by 25% since the start of a year in which most shares have barely held their value. I took a little profit at the 275p mark, having bought them at 205p, but although they may fall off this current high, it seems a very solid company with a number of profitable areas.
Gaza Gas July 4, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing , add a commentOne of the companies in which I’m a shareholder, the gas explorer and exploiter BG Group, has recently been tied up in an interesting controversy with geo-political implications. Jointly with a company owned by Palestinian families, they have the rights to exploit a gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Once up and running, this field could provide Palestine with much-needed revenue by about 2010.
The two natural customers for this gas are Egypt and Israel, and about a month ago BG Group broke off talks with Israel and it looked like a deal would be made with Egypt. However, after a visit by the Israeli PM to No 11 Downing St, BG Group are back talking to Israel again.
I have two concerns with this.
The first is that, as a shareholder, I’d like my company to act in my best interests, within constraints of good corporate behaviour and obedience to laws and regulations. I don’t think Gordon Brown needs to get involved with that, and it increases the risk in the shares if he does. It would be naive to assume that oil and gas deals don’t involve politicians, especially when the deal involves such a sensitive location, but if this sways BG Group from doing the best deal for the company, that is bad for shareholders.
The second is that I seriously question the ethics of exploiting a resource which is ultimately owned by a country who’s government is in no fit state to make good judgements about it and is in fact barely surviving. BG Group has rights to 90% of this field. How much are they paying for that right, and to whom? Will Palestine benefit by any more than the 10% owned by the other company in the joint venture, or is it in too much chaos to be able to even if the rights allocated would allow it to. For Palestine, it may be better to leave the gas in the ground until it is in a position to make good use of any revenue from it.
As an ethical shareholder, I have to ask myself if this is something with which I want to be involved. And as many, if not most, FTSE 250 companies will present issues of this magnitude if not necessarily exactly this type, what do I do?
Hellaphagaphillia July 3, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , 2 commentsn. the enjoyment of eating in Greece.
The first Greek phrase I learned was ‘ιμε ορτοφαγος‘, and although I’m no longer a vegetarian, most of my vocab still relates to eating. Greece hasn’t given us one of the world’s great cuisines, but the food itself is simple and good. The real joy of eating in Greece is the way its done. Slowly, late in the cool of the evening, with a carafe of wine and another of water, courses coming out randomly, a cat or two wandering past, trying its luck.
On my recent trip to Nafplio, I had dinner a couple of times in the Taverna Markezines, just down the road from my hotel. Its not always true that the ‘barrel wine’ should be allowed out of the barrel and into the glass, but in this place, it was perfectly drinkable. Green salads of lettuce and rocket were very fresh, covered in olive oil, vinegar and lemon. The chicken kebab was well cooked but moist. They didn’t even mind when the nice American chap at the next table went and got gelati from across the road for dessert (and one for me too).
And here’s the compulsory Greek Cat picture, from a lunch at the village of Mykines, a kilometer or so down the hill from the ancient site of Mycenae. You’ll never eat alone at an outside table in a Greek taverna.
TEG Environmental to compost chicken waste in Norfolk
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio, Miscellany , add a commentHopefully this announcement of a £1.7 million contract to install a new composting plant in Norfolk will lift TEG Environmental’s shares a littlle. At 62p this morning, they’ve lost about 25% of their value since I bought, but with no reason to think there’s anything wrong with the company, I’ve been holding.
Back to the blog July 2, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , 1 comment so farI came back on Monday night, tired but relaxed and hit the ground running first thing on Tuesday. A busy week, followed by a very very hot weekend mean that I haven’t really felt like posting, but I will stack up a few over the next few days.
My laptop has returned, having had a complete heart transplant (motherboard, keyboard, touchpad) after the little soup incident. I am now trying to figure out how to set up a separate space for it, away from the dining table.
The cat is slowly melting. I stroked her with a handful of water a couple of times today, and she seemed to appreciate it. She spends most of her time on the wooden floors with all four paws in the air, and every time I comb her I come away with enough fur to knit a whole new kitten. The theories about them being decended from Egyptian sand-cats are plainly wrong.
So, this week, you’ll get to hear about my travels in the Argolid, and I’ve been looking at my shares a little too. More posts soon, promise.
Controversy over Novera Energy’s East London power generation project July 1, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio, Miscellany , add a commentNovera Energy, one of the companies in my Little Green Portfolio, has stirred up controversy in Havering in East London with its plans to build a plant to generate electricity by burning solid fuel derived from household waste. This shows the difficulties in producing truly green solutions when there are conflicting aims - reducing dependence on fossil fuels, reducing pollution, reducing and recycling waste.
Of course, in an ideal green world, people would reduce their waste output to a point where a plant such as this was unsustainable and then reuse or recycle as much of what remained as possible, leaving very little fuel for a plant like this. Unfortunately, we’re a long way from that, and at least this process means that waste which is not able to be recycled is used rather than dumped in landfill.
The Green Party, and London MEP Jean Lambert, have objected to the plant on the grounds that it will divert waste from recycling, although Novera deny that this is so. Surely this is a fairly easy thing to monitor and police?
The Havering council will consider Novera’s planning application shortly, and final decision on planning permission is expected later this year. In the meantime, Novera’s share price has sunk to below 50p. I’m not buying more right now, but if this does go ahead, and it has strong support from DEFRA, the shares should rise again. It will probably sit in the doldrums until that decision is made though, so if you believe they’re doing the right thing, and will get planning permission, hang on for the time being.
