Happy Place

What I want is that dream place

Where I can be myself place

The peace descends around me

The joy slowly filling in me

A nice long beach white and bright

Making the eyes squint in the light

The warmth of the sand between my toes

The waves come rolling in, cooling the toes

As I stroll along the edge of the sea

With the sky as blue as it can be

Gentle breeze and the murmur of waves

A soothing balm that my heart craves

I can listen to the sound of the sea

A very different world that is the sea

But I am happy to walk at its end

The sight and the sounds of sea all tend

To fill me with a peace and joy that is hard to explain

The clouds drifting slowly across the blue

Like cotton fluffs white dotting the blue

Even the vapour trail of a plane flying high

Does not disturb this tranquil sky

I would love to swim in this big open sea

However I am content to just see

Dream of the pleasure of water over my skin

As I can feel it drifting over my skin

Massaging my feet gently

As it flows and recedes gently

The sounds of nature today are soothing

Leaving me dreaming

Medusa by Clive Cussler

This is a Kurt Austin Adventure who is one of my favourite heroes of Clive Cussler books. These are part of the NUMA adventures. For many years I had seen the books on library and bookstore shelves but not read any, as I thought it was all about ships and marine things. I was not interested in ocean themes and read about raising wrecks or ocean travelling. Little did I know that these books are as exciting as other adventures and mysteries that I have read. While Medusa is not my first book by Clive Cussler, it’s the first I have read since writing book reviews on my blog. I have some of his books and as I reread them I will put up information about my impressions of the novels.

So NUMA is this underwater US government agency which handles all sorts of things from marine research, oceanography, raising old wrecks and helping with any world threats that involve ships, submersibles and all things deep…. Kurt is a big man with a background in CIA and knowledge of ships and oceans while his partner is Joe who is a brilliant engineer and can design and use all sorts of machinery. From submersibles to planes he can pilot all.

In this story, as in most Clive Cussler books, there are a couple of strands that run parallel for a while and then merge into the single plot. One strand is about an outbreak of a virulent flu (even worse than SARS) in a small village in China. A Dr Lee is sent to work with an American research team headed by Dr Kane, to look for a vaccine made from deep sea. While the second strand runs with a publicised dive in a bathysphere which will descend to great depths by its maker and pilot Joe from NUMA. Dr Kane has been chosen to accompany Joe on this dive. Something goes wrong and the cable is broken off sending the machine plummeting to the ocean floor and sinks into the mud with the force of the impact. Austin mounts a rescue, only to discover sabotage by cutting off the cable and is himself attacked by something. He manages to fight it off and get a piece of metal from it.

What is the link between this and the hijacking of an underwater research facility where the final stages of vaccine production was taking place? Some vast organisation only can be at the centre of this, as it is a worldwide and organised crime – the sinking of bathysphere, having a submersible capable of cutting underwater cables, crippling the ship that stood as a link with the underwater lab with a missile and finally just picking up the lab and moving it to some unknown location.

With the lab missing and the threat to the flu outbreak getting closer NUMA is offers to help the Navy find the lab and to get the vaccine back from whoever has stolen it. There is also a link (yet another strand) of an ancient tale / legend of whalers. A whaler got swallowed by a whale but survived to tell the tale and the ship’s crew got a virulent illness from one port visit. They were mysteriously cured after landing on another island and the people thinking the whale survivor (who has grown aged looking and totally white) was a ghost and if they did not help the crew it would curse them. Was this ancient medicine anything to do with the current research into the flu vaccine? It appears that the chemicals or microbes seemed to protect the individual from all illnesses.

The metal piece found by Austin leads them to a big Chinese company that is a front for the triads and is extremely rich and powerful across the world. The Trouts are part of Kurt’s team and they are sent to get more information on this legend as well as find out more about what is happening at the research lab that was on an island where Dr Kane’s team worked before moving part of the lab underwater in secret. The story as usual is full of action and excitement with danger lurking at every turn whether on a dive to search for the ancient ruins of the Nan Madol temples or finding an atoll that looked harmless but was at the site of the ancient island where the whalers of past had landed. The strands from all ends keep a tight grip on you as the author also goes into what is the motivation and methods of the Pyramid who are bent on being the sole owners of this vaccine. The heroes are all over the place, kidnapped to a warehouse by the Chinese henchmen, shot at by them underwater, ambushed on their ship, taken prisoner of an old Russian submarine…………. Of course they find the lab but will they be in time to stop the pandemic that threatens the world?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it kept the level of excitement constant. The heroes kept your faith in them…. Kurt and Joe make a wonderful team along with the Trouts who all are best in their field.

The Way to Dusty Death by Alistair MacLean

This is another one of my old favourites and it has been a very long time since I last read it. It is strange how you can remember some things from the past readings, while other bits seem totally new. This novel sticks in my mind as it is different from the usual war themes that many of the books run along. Therefore, the few different ones are good to read like When Eight Bells Toll and Caravan to Vaccares, which I still have to read.
This story is about a world champion racer Jonny Harlow’s downward spiral as it starts with a horrific crash he is involved in during a grand prix. It seems to shatter his nerve and he becomes more of a loner and secret drinker. But before long you find out that this is an elaborate charade with some deeper game and that Johnny is anything but a drunken has-been race driver. The owner of his team is worried but is it just because of Johnny’s decline? His daughter is in love with Johnny but an accident caused by his car has crippled her. His son who worshiped Johnny now hates his guts and wants to have revenge for his sister’s lameness. Does Johnny have any friends except maybe the journalist?
Something stinks in the race world and particularly in the Coronado team. Johnny has to find out what is happening and his motive is the accidents that have killed his brother, his best friend and also crippled the love of his life. So who are involved in the wrong doings happening within this team? After most of the accidents the chief mechanic states that there was nothing wrong with Johnny’s car and that maybe it was driver issue rather than machine fault. The only way Johnny can find out what is happening is by driving the transporter across Europe and persuades the owner to let him drive it. The description of that drive is hair-raising and cements the readers belief that nothing is really wrong with Johnny’s nerves or his driving. There are 2 other race drivers who appear friendly with the chief mechanic, so what is their involvement in the dastardly plot?
The tighter the situation and the better the hero gets. There is something about the heroes of Alistair MacLean books, they are larger than life and can cope with anything thrown at them. Again this type of character usually feels too good to be true but then one thinks that just because I have never met anyone like that does not mean someone like that does not exist. Some other authors have penned similar heroes of books who rise above all the violence and the pain and evil in which they find themselves so that the good and justice prevails. Maybe I am just an optimist or a fantasist who believes in happy endings and about good overcoming the evil. No matter what, this is yet another classic MacLean book that keeps you reading.

Ginger beer Recipe from a Jamaican cookbook

I have discovered ginger beer in Oz. Not sure why I never tried it earlier. Maybe usually it is too cold to have cold drinks …. Not that it stopped me have other soft drinks. I have more or less stopped drinking coke (a can once in 6 months) as it is full of sugar and I do not need that! I have some fruit juices but again not often as I prefer drinking water. I used to read about ginger beer being drunk on nice warm days in Enid Blyton books. But for some unknown reasons I never looked for or had it while was living in UK.

Here I found the Bundaberg ginger beer……… chilled is very refreshing on a nice hot afternoon. There are also concentrates which can also be had but it was not the same as the Bundaberg brand. Since I loved it so much I wanted to see if I could make any at home. I looked at many recipes but tried the one I found in a Jamaican cook book.

Ingredients

A quarter cup of freshly grated ginger (55 gms)

Litre of water

Three quarter cup of sugar (165- 175 gms)

Juice of one lime or less if you wish

A half teaspoon of dry yeast

Preparation

Mix all in a jug and cover with a cloth or use a partially open lid to allow air to reach the mixture. Keep for 24 hours and then strain the ginger beer. Put in the fridge to chill.

Well the ginger beer certainly turned out good and strong. I still felt that the sugar content seems a lot. When drinking you can dilute it with some water – to taste as sometimes it can be strong. The first time I thought why remove the ginger.. let it be and chill it but drain just as you are serving. It is surprising how much gas does remain in the drink even though there was no pressure build up as the jug is open. Next time I made a couple of litres and then added some water to dilute it a little to my taste and I think eventually the drink was just over 2 and half litres. It stayed for a couple of weeks in the fridge and so was good to make 2 litres.

There are other recipes for homemade ginger beer where honey is substituted for sugar or cream of tartar used instead of yeast and ginger powder instead of fresh grated ginger. They seem to take a week or so to make and it’s actually a concentrate which will have to be diluted. One of these I might try a different recipe and see how it differs. If it’s any good I will put up the recipe.

Shattering Glass by John Russell Fearn

This is the first book that I have borrowed from the local library… took me long enough (6 months) to join the library. There are many new authors waiting to be discovered in this library. This is my first novel by John Russell Fearn. It is a murder mystery and begins with the introduction of the main character Perry Lonsdale an ex RAF pilot.

He accidently meets this pretty young woman and falls in love with her. Even though he does not know anything about her, he marries her within a week. There is a lot about her behaviour that is puzzling and she seems to be hiding something. The wedding and the honeymoon can hardly be called usual but Perry is enchanted by Moira as she is not like any other girl he knew. There has been a murder fairly recently in Manchester where a young woman has been brutally slashed. How does Moria fit into this murder? Moria keeps seeing the young man she once knew, who had also been seeing the murdered girl. The police suspect that young man but have yet to catch up with him.

While on an outing to London Perry and Moira meet a Dr Castle, who they meet again on the road while returning to their country home. Since his car has broken down they invite him and his wife to stay with them. The story weaves out slowly with a lot of talk about state of mind and criminal behaviour. About quarter way through the book I guessed who the real murderer was! Most unusual…. Have I been reading too many murder mysteries? However, it is not a very long story and so it did hold interest. I would like to read a few more books by this author before I decided whether I like his style of writing or not.