ZOQY

I’m not sure why but over the last couple of weeks I’ve run out of blogging steam. I’ve been posting some stuff, but very little unique content.
I seem to have lost the desire to go and and about taking photos and shooting video. Added to that there’s been very little on the news to grab my attention, apart from bad news, and I prefer to keep this blog lighthearted whenever possible.
Even the thought of doing booze reviews leaves a sour taste in my mouth, which is strange for me especially considering my love of grog and the fact that I have a wine fridge bursting at the seems with wines waiting to be opened and reviewed, and half a dozen or so bottles of artisanal beers begging for attention, but my heart and soul is just not willing.
This proves how bad my bloggers block is. I have a veritable lake of delectable booze but no wish to dive in.
I need to find a cure for my creative apathy, but I do not know where to start. Maybe some mind altering drugs will do the trick, so I will take a couple of multivitamins tonight and see what tomorrow brings!

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Our Apple PowerBook G4 is dead, long live the Apple PowerBook G4. It’s been living on borrowed time for well over a year now. The hard drive failed last year, so I loaded an old iPod with the OS to use as the start-up drive on the laptop. Since the modification it’s been fine for surfing the web, and the internal hard drive only made the odd groan.
This morning when my good lady wife turned the PowerBook on, it let out an awful loud screeching sound, and my first thought was that someone was strangling a cat.
Once the OS had loaded I closed the laptop and crossed my fingers that the internal hard drive would settle down, but when I reopened it a few minutes later I was once again greeted by the sound of a cat being strangled. It was time to face up to the fact the the laptop is now dead. After 6 years of faithful service it is now time to lay our PowerBook G4 to rest.
I’m pleased to say it’s not all bad news though, the laptop will not end up in a landfill site because my wife is a keen jewellery maker and already has plans to recycle parts of the laptop into her new creations – or it may end up gathering dust in a spare bedroom.
While my wife is busy dreaming up jewellery designs, my mind has been focused on replacing the Apple PowerBook. Ideally I would get a like for like replacement, but after looking on the French Apple Store and seeing that a new 17″ MacBook Pro would drain my bank account to the sum of €1,800 I’ve decided to rethink that idea. If it was going to be our main computer then I may have been tempted, but as it would mostly be used for surfing the web (playing games) and not be needed for any major multi-media tasks €1,800 would be a bit rich for my blood – after all we are in a recession!
Because we are not getting any younger and our eyesight is not getting any better, we need any new laptop we purchase to have a 17″ screen, so maybe a 17″ HP Pavilion will be the answer because it is half the price of a 17″ Apple PowerBook.
Before exposing my wallet to any serious trauma I think I will do a little more research, or if I’m very good maybe the laptop fairy will pay a visit one night soon and leave a shiny new one on my desk.

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Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen is alleged to have killed an American solider in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was only 15 years old. Omar Khadr was then shot twice in the back, captured and shipped to Guantanamo Bay. Omar Khadr alleges he was subsequently tortured into making a confession. Given that torture is commonly used by the American military and intelligence services, it is highly likely that he is telling the truth.
Omar Khadr is now standing trial in front of a military tribunal, the same military that tortured a confession out of him. That does not sound like a fair trial to me.
What is the real crime? A 15 old boy defending his life from armed attack by US special forces, or subjecting a child to torture and  denying him legal or human rights and locking him in a prison cell for 8 years?
I must have this all wrong because this Kangaroo court can not be taking place. President Barack Obama promised to have Guantanamo Bay closed down by January 2010, and who would not believe the winner of a Nobel Peace Prize!

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France
It’s been a slow week in France so not a lot to report. There was a forest fire between Tuchan and Padern on Thursday. It took 7 ‘plane loads of water to get it under control.
The World
UAE and Saudi Arabia have banned the BlackBerry mobile phone, well almost, because they have banned most of its functions including IM and web browsing. These countries that censor their citizens to the extreme are just creating extremists, and an underground boiling over with discontent.
Kenneth Huang the Chinese billionaire wants to purchase Liverpool Football Club. It looks like Tom Hicks will fall foul of the off side rule!
Charlie Sheen has been given 30 days in rehab for beating up his wife. Maybe Charlie Sheen will spend his time in rehab with Lindsay Lohan who is also off to clean up her act having recently been released after spending a couple of days in a lesbo hotel (prison). She could teach him how to treat a woman.
Wyclef Jean, rapper, crapper, and all-round twatter, is to run for President of earthquake devastated Haiti. He is just what the people of Haiti need, an honest and upstanding person, to bring them a new and bright future. I’m sure Wyclef Jean is just the person to do it  – or am I being ironic?
The American public spent millions of Dollars to send Michelle Obama on holiday to Spain. The American people must really love Michelle Obama to have spent so much money, because there are millions of Americans who are living in poverty, dieing of the most basic illnesses, going to food banks to get free food etc. etc. yet the American people can still afford to give millions of Dollars to Michelle Obama so that she can enjoy a luxury holiday in Spain with her children – no wonder her new nickname is Marie Antoinette.

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France
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is clamping down on gypsies. He sent them all a letter saying the U.K has 500,000 driveways that need tarmacing.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is to get his own Presidential airplane. A €175 million Airbus A330-200. It is good to see that the government are tightening their belts like the rest of us.
The weather this week is a big improvement over the last couple of weeks, so I have made the most of it and been out and about. I visited Chateau de Queribus and the village of Cucugnan on a photo/video safari.
Needless to say I’ve also been adding more photos to Free Image Library~ Royalty Free Photos It is just shy of 2000 now.

The World
Chelsea Clinton gets married. She is a strange looking critter but then her new husband, Marc Mezvinsky is no oil painting. They are going to have some ugly offspring that’s for sure.
For once the world is not all doom and gloom, well at least for me that is. It has been found that drinking alcohol can ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The study was carried out by scientists at the University of Sheffield, England and showed that people with rheumatoid arthritis who regularly enjoy a drink suffered from far less joint inflammation than people who did not consume any alcohol. Bottoms Up!
President Barack Obama appeared on a hard hitting political show and talked about his policies. Wait a minute I got that a bit wrong. He  appeared on a show called ‘The View’ which is a day time talk show. No doubt he was asked his favourite colour and who is his favorite pop star is. I’m sure all the stay at home mums and the unemployed who watch the show will be very happy to have had these important questions answered! The host Barbara Walters is also sure to have probed Barack Obama to find out if he prefers jockeys or boxer shorts. How low rent can a President get?
Porsche launch a plug-in hybrid car. The Porsche 918 Spyder will have a top speed of 198mph and do 78mpg. I wonder if I can talk my wife into letting me buy if I use the argument that it is cheap to run?
Heinz baked beans are now to come in a jar. Whatever next? Fish Fingers in a jar!

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David Cameron has been mouthing off in Ankara about Turkey having the right to join the E.U. I’m not surprised David Cameron has taken this view. For one, America want Turkey in the E.U. and David Cameron was kissing President Barack Obama on the butt only last week. Added to the mix is the fact that the Turkish government imprison people without trial and use torture, so they fit well with the American and British global philosophy when dealing with people who disagree with them.
I’m sure Turkey would be most welcome into to the E.U. once it has stopped its Human Rights violations, censorship of freedom of speech and expression, rampant corruption, stabilized its economy, and can guarantee the security of its border with regards to immigration and drug and weapons smuggling etc.
Open borders with Turkey could well mean open borders with the whole of the Middle East and no one in Europe wants that. We in Europe have trouble enough managing illegal immigrants, drugs, guns and terrorists flooding in without creating a massive open door saying, ‘All and everything welcome with checks’.
David Cameron being the twat he is must have forgotten the fact that a very big percentage of the problems, that would be created by an open border with Turkey, will end up in the U.K. Then again maybe a Turk made a good sized contribution to his election fund, because it was exposed this week that David Cameron  received a large donation from two billionaires who have close connections to the PLO.
Yet again the people of Britain are being screwed over by the government and their non elected Prime Minister. David Cameron – not so delightful.

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France
Bad weather yet again meant that I was unable to venture out on a photo and video safari and I had to make do with  wandering around Vileneuve les Corbieres taking the odd snap.
I’ve been a busy Bee this week and uploaded loads of photos to my ‘Free Image Library~ Royalty Free Photos‘.
French football knows no shame. Not only was there a debacle at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema are also under investigation for having sex with an underage prostitute. Maybe if they had put in the same effort playing football as they did shagging they may not have arrived back in France in shame.
One bit of good news is that the French Football Federation has suspended all 23 members of France’s World Cup squad, it’s just a shame that it is only for one game.
Nuns on the Run. Two French nuns have done a runner from the convent of Sisters of Saint-Joseph in Roquebrune-Cap-Martinon on the French Riviera because they were being forced to move to a remote retirement home. All I can say is good luck to Sister Marie-Daniel (86) and Sister Saint-Denis (82) and keep up the ‘Sister Act’.
The World
Facebook passes the 500 million users mark. It makes me feel happy to know that there are 499,999,999 other sad twats out there.
David Cameron went to Washington to visit President Barack Obama. I do hope David Cameron remembered to take a large tube of KY jelly with him!
Lindsay Lohan goes on a Lesbo dream holiday for 90 days, sorry I meant goes to jail for 90 days.
North Korea will nuke America, if America and South Korea hold joint military exercises. You’ve got to love Kim Jong-il! He is madder than a box of frogs and what a wonderful hairstyle he has too.
Last week the Vatican was giving children cancer via the masts for Vatican radio. This week homosexual priests have been photographed in a gay nightclub and having sex. At least it was with consenting adults and not children, which is the normal taste for Catholic priests. Pope Benedict XVI will no doubt punish the homosexual priests far more than he does pedophile priests. It is a mortal sin for a priest to have consenting sex with an adult but it is fine for them to rape children. Next Pope Benedict XVI will deny the Holocaust and ergo the Vatican collusion with the Nazi’s.  No wonder so many people are becoming Buddhists.
Hasib Sabbagh and Said Khoury, Palestinian billionaires who have links to the PLO, made a very large donation to the British Conservative party just before the election. I wonder what stance David Cameron will take on Israel now?
Oprah Winfrey is to give Sarah Ferguson a part time job. I’m sure the ginger Duchess will milk that for all it is worth. Maybe she will start charging people to meet Oprah Winfrey!

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France
The weathers been overcast for most of the past week so I’ve not been out on any photo safaris.
Bastille Day’s been and gone. There was a firework display in Durban Corbieres but I could not be bothered to drive down there. The weather did improve for the weekend and I had a great time at the Tuchan Wine Fete.
I may have not taken many pics this week but I’ve been busy uploading 100’s to my  ‘Free Image Library~ Royalty Free Photos‘ gallery. Well over a 1000 on there now.
The annual Bastille Day parade was held in Paris and President Sarkozy invited leaders of former French colonies in Africa. That sounds all well and good until to consider the fact that many of these African leaders are dictators and have committed countless crimes against humanity.
Round the World
The Vatican loves children, not only does its priests show ‘love’ for them, it now also turns out that the masts of the Vatican Radio station are giving children cancer.
BP caps the gusher. Now it need another disaster to create!
Louis Oosthuizen wins the Open. Golf, why spoil a nice walk.

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At long last I’ve created a self hosted online photo library. I’ve been putting it off for years, not sure why but it could be down to being a lazy git but then again it could be the shear number of photo’s that I have. Now I’ve ‘bitten the bullet’ and started to put all of my photos online in a single location.
Being a firm believer is sharing and adding value to the World Wide Web, I’m giving all of my images away. They are free for anyone to use in whichever way the wish and without any copyright restrictions. I link to my blog would be nice would be a nice gesture for use of an image but is in no way a requirement.
I’ve uploaded a few hundred images to date and still have a few thousand to go, plus regular new images. The aim at the moment to to get between 100-200 images uploaded per day.
Like my old Grad use to say, ‘the proof of pudding is in the eating’, so here is my new online photo gallery. ZOQY PHOTO LIBRARY

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Chateau de Peyrepertuse

France
Another photo/video safari was on the cards for me this week. On Wednesday I headed to Chateau de Peyrepertuse and the village of Duilhac sous Peyrepertuse that sits below the chateau. In V.I.P. style I had Chateau de Peyrepertuse to myself for an hour or so and got some great photos and video. Another trip is on the cards for this coming week.
You could not make-up this. Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oreal billionaire is rumoured to have made political donations to President Nicolas Sarkozy campaign fund. A major blind eyes was turned to Liliane Bettencourt tax dodging antics!!!!

Around the world.
Dog food, Brazilian style.Bruno Fernandes, goalkeeper for Flamengo football club is alleged to have strangled his former girlfriend Eliza Samudio and then fed her to dogs. And I thought dumping someone by text message was harsh!
Sotirios Hatzigakis, a very sexy friend. The former Greek justice minister gave friends and family free mobile phones paid for by the tax payer and they where used to phone premium rate sex lines. The total bill was 20 million euros. It would seem some of Sotirios Hatzigakis friends are a little frustrated,! Maybe he should have used the 20 million euros to open a lap dance club for them instead.
John Prescott has sworn allegiance to the Queen and become a Lord of the Realm. His new title is ‘Lord of Pies’.
Lindsay Lohan gets 90 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation for drink driving. She gets to spend 90 days surrounded by women, many of whom will no doubt will have a passing resemblance to Samantha Ronson. I’m sure Lindsay Lohan will cope
Proof that junk food is bad for you. Takeru Kobayashi a former hot dog eating champion was arrested at Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island after forcing his way on stage. He was barred from competing because of a contract dispute with Major League Eating. Maybe he saw some leftovers and was a tad peckish! You would get this sort of behaviour at the World Lentil Eating Contest…Everyone would be to weak
Jacques Boissenot is named Winemaker of the Decade. I’m not sure, the only way I could endorse this would be to sample some of his wines. Say a couple of bottles from each of these estates: Latour, Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Leoville-las-Cases, both Pichon Longueville and Pichon Comtesse, Leoville Barton, Gruaud Larose, Cos d’Estournel and Rauzan Segla. Maybe someone be kind enough to ship me a selection and then I can be the judge!
The nutter Raoul Moat shoots himself after a week long manhunt. It seems he may have been hiding in a drain with all the other rats.
Bronislaw Komorowski is the new President of Poland. ‘I only travel by train’ is an anagram of his name! Only kidding it is ‘Alibis Know Work Rooms’.
Last and very much least, Spain won the the 2010 World Cup. Now the television can get back to normal!

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