The Camelot Test, Inca Rebellion, Tourettes

In her blog yesterday, Satima (see this page) told us about the Camelot Test - I too am a sucker for quizzes like this, so I had a go and ended up being Merlin: You love magic. You value knowledge and power, yet appreciate the value in the humblest creatures. If you would like to try the test go to HelloQuizzy and try it. Its just a bit of fun obviously. Satima ended up being The Lady of the Lake and had a very glamorous picture. I wonder how you get to be Guinevere? I watched Nova again last night, the whole programme was about the Inca in Peru and the Spanish Conquistadores. Basiclly Pisaro's historians told a lot of porkies. It now appears that the Spaniards were helped by other Indian groups to defeat the Incas. The others were sick and tired of being ruled by the conquering Incas and were willing to throw in their lot with the Spaniards who were only handful anyway. They found remains from what they call an Inca Rebellion and one skull had a bullet hole in it. They figure that was the first time anyone was killed with a gun in the Americas. If you would like to read more click here. The Incas were an incredible civilisation with their amazing buildings, such as Machu Picchu, their many works of gold, which had to be smelted and yet their weapons were made of stone. When the Spaniards arrived with horses and guns they had a great advantage, but the Spaniards could not have won without the help of the other Indians, no matter what their scribes later wrote. Many of the Spaniards were illiterate anyway, Pisaro apparently was. He had a concubine (once she was baptised) who's mother was a chief in her own right and when Lima was attacked she sent to her mother for help, mom sent a lot of soldiers who drove off the Inca. In fact I think all of this is only theory, but they have found historical documents pertaining to this in Spanish archives plus what they have surmised from grave sites outside Lima. We later watched a very informative programme about Tourette's Syndrome - I knew something about it, but in common with a lot of people I had heard that the sufferers usually swore badly. The programme disabused me. It was all about four young girls with Tourette's, a couple of whom abused themselves badly when they had a 'tic' as they are called, they couldn't stop it. Some of them screamed and some barked like a dog. Only one of them swore. The four girls had been followed for a year and made video of themselves and interviewed their own family. Two of them were in the top grades at school with straight A's. It was pretty horrifying and I felt so much sympathy for the girls and their families. What is so horrible, the doctors don't seem to have much clue about what causes it and what can be done to help. These were delightful young girls who had to cope with dreadful symptoms every day of their lives. Here's another version of Vichysoisse from the Toronto Globe and Mail. It sounds very good and I am planning to try it very shortly.

Pear and Watercress Vichysoisse
	Reserve a few watercress leaves to garnish the soup. To cut calories, you can use yogurt instead of whipping cream, although the soup will not taste as rich. 3 leeks, white and light green part only, sliced 1/4 cup chopped potatoes 1 ripe pear, peeled and chopped 4 cups chicken stock 1 bunch watercress, leaves and very thin stems only 1/4 cup whipping cream Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 Place leeks, potatoes, pear and chicken stock in a pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add watercress and simmer for 5 minutes longer. 2 Place in food processor or blender and puree until smooth. 3 Return to pot and add cream. Simmer for a few minutes then season well with salt and pepper. Serve hot or chilled, but chilled is better for the summer Servings: 4 Recipe Source Source: Globe and Mail

Have a great day.