R.I.P. (P)Rik...

Rik Mayall is gone. And I'm having a hard time accepting it. Sure, there were more important people out there whose deaths were a far bigger loss than Rik's, but you have to understand, Rik Mayall was a major influence in my life. He and his mate Ade Edmondson were greatly responsible for the development of my twisted sense of humour. I didn't get the famous british sense of humour when I was a kid. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because it was too sophisticated for a child, or maybe it was a question of culture, or more likely, it just didn't speak to me. I mean, Benny Hill? Really? That's what was being shown around here back then. And if there was anything else, it obviously didn't make much of an impression because I just don't remember it. Cue The Young Ones. Now that spoke to me. That I got. There was nothing subtle about them. They were rude, loud, violent and sooo funny! That was my type of humour. I love those characters to this day.

So, I became and fan of Rik Mayall and friends. I would watch anything with them in it, which back then, around here, wasn't that much. Bear in mind it was the 80s and 90s. No Youtube. There were a couple of episodes of Comic Strip Presents and Bottom got me through the 90s.

 

 Eventually, in the very late 90s, we got cable and I managed to see a lot more of Rik thanks to what was then BBC Prime. More Comic Strip, more Bottom, Filthy Rich and Catflap, which I did not know...

And there was this little gem, which I only found out about recently: Bad News. They did it before Spinal Tap!

Ah, Colin... you sucked, but you were great just the same.
He also did more serious work, guest appearances in series like Jonathan Creek and Midsomer Murders, he did movies, theater... Here's a bit of Bottom, the live show.

In all, it's been 30 years of laughs curtesy of Rik Mayall and now he is gone. How do you get your head around that? He shaped my sense of humour, he was, is and always will be my point of reference when it comes to comedy. Sure, there's plenty of funny people out there, but are they Rik Mayall funny?
Goodbye Rik and thanks for the laughs.

Rik Mayall, March 7, 1958 - June 9, 2014

P.S.- May you live a long and happy life, Ade Edmondson, my other comedy god.

The one which started it all...

So... I've been thinking about castles lately. I like castles, always did. I grew up with all sorts of stories with castles in them. The fairy tale princesses lived in castles, the legendary king Arthur had Camelot, the Lord of the Rings has a couple of really cool fortifications, a bunch of shakespearean plays are set in castles, and to top it all, my country is full of them. Top to bottom. Real castles too, none of that Cinderella castle looking stuff like you have in France and Germany. I mean solid stone, set on top of hills fortifications, with proper curtain walls, towers, keeps, the works!
The birth of our nation is connected to one castle in particular: Guimarães Castle.

Source: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre

See? A proper castle with stone walls, and towers, and battlements... But it didn't start out looking like this.
In the 10th century, a noble lady by the name of Mumadona (hell of a name, this one) had a monastery built in the then village of Vimaranes. To protect it from attacks by such folks as the Moors from the South, and Normands from the North, she had a fortification built where the castle now stands. It is thought to have been a simple structure, just a tower possibly surrounded by a palisade.
In the 12th century, D. Henrique and D. Teresa, parents of our founding father, decided that Vimaranes was a nice place to raise kids and, not being particularly impressed by the original fortification, had it torn down and a new one built, the one we now know and love... sort of. Back then it was known as São Mamede castle because of the monastery, which had been dedicated to that saint.
Nowadays, the layout of the castle is like this:

1. Keep (Torre de Menagem)
2. Hall (Alcáçova)
3. Main Gate flanked by towers (Portão Principal ladeado por torres)
4. Treason Gate flanked by towers (Porta da Traição ladeada por torres)
5. North Tower (Torre Norte)
6. South Tower (Torre Sul)
7. Curtain Walls (Muralhas)
8. Village Wall (Muralha do Povoado)

 Here are some pictures of how it looks today:

In picture 1 we can see the bridge giving access to the keep, the north tower beyond that, and  the town of Guimarães in the background. Picture 2 also shows the bridge to the keep and the south tower beyond it. Picture 3 shows what's left of the hall to the left of the tower.
There's not much left of the village wall, but once upon a time, it would have looked something like this:

Here's something interesting about the castle: the curtain walls were built right on top of some huge boulders that existed on the site. I can see why they didn't bother with clearing the terrain first, those things are massive, but it must have been quite the engineering feat to build the walls so neatly around the boulders...

And since I'm at it, the castle is considered the birthplace of our nation because right next to it, in the field of São Mamede, D. Afonso Henriques, son of D. Henrique and D. Teresa, battled and defeated his mother, who was loyal to Léon. This victory enabled him to break free from the kingdom of Léon and turn the then County of Portugal into an independent Kingdom.
And he didn't stop there. Once he established himself as ruler of Portugal, he set out to expand his domain by kicking Moor butt all the way down to Alentejo. Aaand... he died an old man, 76 years old. Considering that the life span of the average person in the Middle Ages was of about 40, 50 if life hadn't kicked you around too much, this guy was a Methuselah!

D. Afonso Henriques, 1st King of Portugal

Creole floor plans

A while back I was rambling on about Creole houses and how interesting they are. Now Carnival is right around the corner and it put in mind of New Orleans and Mardi Gras and I'm right back at those lovely Creole houses. Since I already posted some pictures, I might as well post some floor plans so you can get an idea of how they are (or were) inside:

Porte-Cochere Creole townhouse

Prudhomme House

Laura Plantation

New Year

A day late, but here's the first sunset of the year in Albufeira, Portugal.

Happy New Year

Wishing you a happy new year. Here's a picture of the last sunset of the year here in Albufeira, Portugal.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Holiday Inn, 1942

Let's give thanks for...

Let's give thanks for... FOOD! Thank goodness for the things brought from America. Food would be very boring without them.

Here are somethings I learned from the Native American Encyclopedia:
'Native American food for many American Indian tribes consisted of many fruits and vegetables that they would grow, and also from deer and other animals that they would hunt. A few of the vegetables that were present among most Native American food are things like corn, squash, and beans, which are referred to as the three sisters.'

Apparently, the three sisters are maize, squash and beans and they were planted close together. The maize stalks would serve as support for the beans and the squash, which would spread along the ground around the other two, would prevent weeds from popping up. Together, these three would provide a balanced diet for Native Americans.

From the Woodland Indian Educational Program we learn:

 and:

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little hungry right about now....