Friday, August 16, 2013

Tsunami, Lions, Lioness.

tsunamiA friend sent me an interesting link to a video taken during the major tsunami in Japan in 2011, I don’t know why this video has only just surfaced, but although long and not the best camera work I found it fascinating to watch. Apparently embedding is disabled so here is the link. It’s worth watching, it is nowhere near as dramatic as many of the videos which were, and still are, available, but this was obviously taken inland and shows just how the devastation spread. What astounds me is the warnings, the official truck patrolling presumably telling people to get to higher ground or something and yet people appear to be taking little or no notice. Not even the cameraman. And the garbage!!!

National Geographic sent some links to lots of fantastilionsc lion pictures, but this one tickled me, it was titled, Yes Lions do have Bad Hair Days. Some of the pictures were surprising, pictures of male lions playing with one another (these two maybe), I thought once they got to a certain age they left to form their own prides. Maybe these two were still quite young. They sure don’t believe in share and share alike when it comes to food, but the dominant male hardly has to do anything, just walk over to the food and everyone else vanishes. The link is HERE and it’s well worth watching.

Lioness and carTalking of lions, there were a couple of pictures on Facebook of a lioness walking up to a car (in a safari park) and pulling open the back door with her mouth.  Despite being told, the occupants hadn’t locked all their doors. They were somewhat shell shocked I guess as apparently it took them a while to wake up and drive on. The lioness chased them all the way to the gates. People can be such idiots. There was a video, a while back, of a man getting out of his car to walk over to a pride and take pictures. He never made it back. His family had the pleasure of watching him being mauled to death.

Another vegan recipe. I like white beans and this sounds like a tasty recipe. D’you know, I have some spinach, I might just adapt this recipe using it.

Quick White Bean Stew with Swiss Chard and Tomatoes

Source: Food and Wine
The Good News Low in fat but high in protein, beans are one of Joe Bastianich's favourite ingredients. He uses white beans here, but he also loves making this recipe with chickpeas and flat gigante beans: "The bigger and creamier the beans, the better."

white-bean-stew
Serves 4
 
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds Swiss chard large stems discarded and leaves cut crosswise into 2-inch strips
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup canned tomatoes chopped
1 16 ounce can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
Salt

DIRECTIONS
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chard and simmer over moderate heat until tender, 8 minutes. Drain the greens and gently press out excess water.

In the saucepan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat until the garlic is golden, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the beans and simmer over moderately high heat for 3 minutes. Add the chard and simmer over moderate heat until the flavours meld, 5 minutes.

Season the stew with salt and serve.

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

18 comments:

  1. Lion!! Lion is the symbol of braveness. Lion is the national animal of India. I like your recipe of Quick White Bean Stew with Swiss Chard and Tomatoes

    Regards,
    Kopi Luwak

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  2. Will watch the Lion video tonight when I have more time, but I loved the way your Blog switched from Meat eating lion to vegan recipe LOL

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    1. Didn't realise that. LOL. You should also watch the tsunami video Sue, it is quite something.

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  3. Lions are my favorite animals! I can't believe the guy was so stupid to get out of his car and get mauled to death...sad, yet so avoidable.
    Tina @ Life is Good

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    1. I know, it is stupid, one wonders what on earth he was thinking. Same as these people not locking their doors.

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  4. That lion was too smart for her own good. Obviously it's not the first time she's tried that trick. You're right, some people are dumb.

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    1. I didn't think of that Alex, you are probably right.

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  5. We just got a Harris Teeter, and I bet they carry cannellini beans.

    Too bad no one had a video camera on the people in the car. I bet they were coming unglued at that point. We used to visit Wildlife Safari in Oregon all the time. The last time I was there, an ostrich approached the driver's side. I wanted a picture, so I rolled down my window and peaked over the roof to get a shot from the passenger side. Guess what? Ostriches run real fast! That sucker darted around the car and I had just dropped back inside and got the window rolled up when he was at my door, beating on the glass. I was 19 and dumb, what can I say?

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    1. There's a Harris Teeter in Morehead City too.

      I would think so. That's a funny story Diane. Better now we have electric windows maybe. Glad you beat the ostrich to it.

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  6. Happened here in Yellowstone Park. Some man wanted to get a close-up of Buffalo, went up to one and was killed. People do not respect nature. And on a lighter note -- the bean recipe sounds perfect for now.

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    1. They don't even realise it is nature, I think they believe they are all tame animals put there to be photographed. Despite all the warnings. At the local Safari park they have a sign "Trespassers will be eaten" they need to include idiots who get out of cars.

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  7. Hi Jo - the vegan recipe was appropriate in this post! People are amazingly stupid at times aren't they ...

    Poor lion - he was really suffering .. I wonder if he'd eaten marula fruits - that rot and animals 'get drunk' on them!

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. I've seen some videos of animals getting drunk on fermented fruits, it's really quite funny.

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  8. It's not uncommon for lion brothers to stay together once they leave their birth pride and to work to take over a pride they share once they are adults. Usually there are two brothers but three is not unheard of.

    The story about the lioness reminded me of a visit to a safari park many years ago. We were in a small, low slung Mazda and I was quite unnerved when a lion walked alongside us because his back was above the base of the window. I knew they were big but hadn't really comprehended just how big. We had the windows closed and doors locked but still felt quite nervous. Not that he was interested in us because they were feeding them from a cage on the back of a truck ahead of us and he was heading there but just trying look casual as he went. A few weeks later a man was pulled out of the open window of his car there and killed. I couldn't believe anyone would be that stupid.

    The recipe sounds yummy. I'll be trying that.

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    1. Thanks for the info Helen. I didn't know that.

      They really are big aren't they. We don't realise. Why are people so stupid. Lack of imagination in this case by the sound of it.

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  9. I just finished watching the entire tsunami clip. Impressive and frightening to say the least. I'd seen others, but not this one. And then came the fires--and worse.

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    1. I know, that was different and as you said, frightening. I found it fascinating to watch.

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