And His Name Is...

We got plenty of great suggestions for a name for our newly-arrived friend, from the animal shelter where Lucie volunteers. At long last we've decided on a good name, which is certainly apt: he is Jaspurr ! We had several ideas about names involving the fact he has only one functioning eye, but decided to focus on a more positive trait: his amazing purr-motor.
So here he is, the latest marvelous addition to the family! As far as the other two cats are concerned, the jury is definitely still out on "marvelous." But at least there's no more hissing and they even brush by each other quietly every so often now.

De Ranke Ranks #1!

Got to visit my first Belgian brewery yesterday, De Ranke, in the western part of the country. Though running an extremely tiny business (50,000 gallons per year, which may sound like a lot, but in this business it's microscopic; Sam Adams, by comparison, churns out 2 million barrels annually. By definition, a U.S. microbrewery must produce at least 450,000 gallons each year), head brewer Nino Bacelle takes brewing extremely seriously and is, with very good reason, very proud of his products. Using no filtration whatsoever or pasteurization, the beer is as pure a product as is humanly possible. Nino studied brewing sciences at a school in Ghent for three years before formally getting into the brewing business.
What sets De Ranke apart is traditional methodology and ingredients, plus a very strong emphasis on hops, which is what makes beer bitter and tasty. While American monsters like Bud and Coors wave a hop pellet or two over a huge brewing vat, De Ranke pours the small hops flowers (they use only flowers; no pellets or liquid extracts, thank you very much) in by the pound. They use 6 different types of hops, all locally produced (this I did not know). Their top seller (and my favorite) is XX Bitter which, when first created in 1996, held the claim as Bitterest Beer in Belgium. In the meanwhile a couple of posers have come up with even more bitter brews, but they lack the balance and complexity found in Nino's product.
Surprisingly, 3/4 of all their products are bound for export to countries as far-flung as the U.S., Japan, India, and Finland. Even more amazing, there is apparently a liquor store in Crofton, only a few miles from our real "home," that stocks XX Bitter, one of only a couple in all of MD.
By the way, should you be looking for a great book on Belgian brews, Nino personally recommends only one: Good Beer Guide to Belgium, by Tim Webb. Check out the reviews on Amazon; you'll see what he means.
All this talk, talk, talk; boy, I'm feeling thirsty right about now...

No New Government? No New Key! (it's a pun)

As Belgium quietly became the Cleveland Cavaliers of western Europe, one politician has come up with a unique idea of how to force the issue: no government; no sex. No really. No joke.
Awhile back, Belgium broke the European record for longest time without an in-place, elected, functioning government. In just a week, they will even surpass the 3rd World record, topping Iraq's magic number of 249 days. But all records were meant to be broken. Just ask Cleveland. Just ask Brussels.
To say that it's ludicrous that the "Capital of Europe," has gone nearly a year without a real government is the height of understatement. Belgium actually spent its entire 6-month stint holding the European Union presidency without a true government. No former East Bloc country can even come close to claiming the same.
Enter Madame Temmerman, a socialist senator from the northern (Flemish) part of the country. Since nothing else has worked (pleas from the king, men growing their beards in protest, bikers blocking the downtown streets, to name just a few of the more memorable), she's come up with a novel approach: until a real government is formed, the partners of all of Belgium's feuding politicians should withhold...well, you know. That's right: a sex strike. No government; no gratification.
I'm not sure whether it's germane, but it just so happens that Ms. Temmerman bears a striking resemblance to the lead singer of Led Zeppelin. Her spouse was not available for comment.
Another female politician, upon hearing of the Temmerman Terms, was quoted as saying (I'm not making this up, as Dave Barry would say), "I do not want to take part in a sex strike. Politicians are not there to strike. Politicians are there to arouse the country."
Right about now, I think the Belgian people would kill for some arousal.

I Say Tomato; You Say...Banana

Living in a country with two languages (French and Dutch; German doesn't really count, only making up about 2% of the Belgian population), you obviously encounter different words for nearly everything. But the one area where you could hope to find some commonality might be in place names. I mean, Paris is Paris; London has to be London, right? Wrong.
There are "three degrees of separation" when it comes to place names, French vs. Dutch. The first category is where the names are so nearly identical that you have to wonder why, just this once, the two language groups can't find some common ground and agree on something, anything. "Tell you what, we'll use your spelling for Paris if we can use mine for Brussels. Deal?" No deal. Examples (French, then Dutch): Bruxelles/Brussel; Hal/Halle; Ypres/Iepres; Dixmude/Diksmuide; Ostende/Oostende. Can't we all just get along? Nope.
The second category includes those that are fairly close: Louvain/Leuven; Tongres/Tongeren; Anvers/Antwerpen; Gand/Gent.
Finally, there are the crazy ones that make you ask yourself just who's in charge around here. Examples: Leau/Zoutleeuw; Mons/Bergen; Braine l'Alleud/Eigenbrakel; and, my personal favorite: Montaigu/Scherpenheuvel.
There are actually hundreds of towns with just a single name, either French or Dutch. It must be sad to live there, knowing that your home town is so boring or meaningless that the two groups can't even find it in themselves to argue about its name...