Sophistication in the Yukon
7 A different paper to be published (6) 8 Price for one heraldic device (6) 10 One in a class of his own? (7) 11 Put a mark on the envelope that’s open (5) 12 Scraps the chances of winning (4) 13 Flung one in the outhouse (5) 17 & 4Dn. Theatrically speaking, he’s constantly on the move when working (5-7) 18 Noble look (4) 22 Sounds like a means of receiving the spirit of Shakespeare (5) 23 Barker makes mother rigid (7) 24 Somehow arming the border (6) 25 A formal record for a short time (6) 1 Is to ban the break-up of fortification (7) 2 Regions paradoxically including the downs (7) 3 Potentate plants tree in Pennsylvania (5) 4 See 17 Across 5 It can make music, but it’s usually stopped (5) 6 Nibbles at quantities of grain (5) 9 Many cheer the downfall of Satan (4-5) 14 Applaud a justified demand, we hear (7) 15 Re-unite the following for a change (7) 16 Irresponsibly meddles with firearm in back-street (7) 19 Hands a friend the manuscript (5) 20 In the barrel it really is nearly a quart (5) 21Bustling atmosphere about the street (5)
1 Nippy; 4 Tedious; 8 Headman; 9 Movie; 10 Lest; 11 Keyboard; 13 Beau; 14 Blue; 16 Alienate; 17 Bait; 20 Rotor; 21 Mandate; 22 Dresden; 23 Tiers. 1 No holds barred; 2 Plays; 3 Yams; 4 Tender; 5 Dumb-bell; 6 Obviate; 7 Steadfastness; 12 Garnered; 13 Bristle; 15 Stamen; 18 Adage; 19 Knot.
TOE-TO-TOE in the Yukon Territory. The tough folk of this frozen far north of Canada do their best to keep up with the urban sophistication of milder climes. They go out of their way to maintain such civilised practices as a cocktail hour.
But they can also revert in an instant to the roughand-ready ways of their forefathers; launch a manhunt should anyone infringe the code of the frontier.
Cocktail hour at the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City has a signature drink, the Sourtoe Cocktail.
People come from all over the world to try this drink, which is basically a shot of whisky with a dehydrated, mummified toe in it.
There’s a rule about drinking this concoction: you can drink it fast or you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe.
The mummified toe went missing the other night and hotel executives are in a rage.
“We are furious,” Terry Lee, the hotel’s “Toe Captain,” said, according to The Huffington Post.
He suspects a man from Quebec, who earlier in the evening had loudmouthed his intention of stealing the toe.
“This guy asked to do the toe after the 9 to 11pm toe-time hours, and one of the new staff served it to him to be nice,” Lee said. “And this is how he pays her back. What a lowlife!” IT’S well known that actress and movie star Cindy Crawford said she wished she looked like Cindy Crawford.
Her comment was in response to seeing the digitally edited posters of herself. I love her honesty.
There’s many a day when I wish I looked more like Rod Smith.
Back-up
Lee says the hotel still has a couple of back-up toes, but hotel manager Geri Coulbourne really liked the one that was stolen.
Coulbourne says it was donated by a man who had to have it surgically removed. Then it was cured in salt for six months.
“This was our new toe, and it was a really good one. We had just started using it,” she says.
The manhunt is on. Lowlifes are not tolerated in the Yukon. They know the guy’s name.
This is the Yukon Territory. Who knows what might next be floating in the glass at cocktail hour?
Final Test
CAN the Boks pull it off again tomorrow, make it a whitewash, three in a row? In spite of everything so far, those French backs make me noivous. They run from anything anywhere like a pack of coyotes. We can’t relax for a half-second. This is a different While I am certainly motivated to practise what I write and live my message with my family, friends, clients, readers, and colleagues, there are days that I fail at some of the most fundamental things I teach and promote. When this truth seeps into my awareness – sometimes denial blocks it for a few days – I kind of test of character – not to relax when the pressure is off.
The All Blacks versus the Lions will be another cliffhanger, methinks. Conventional wisdom says the Kiwis should walk it – but rugby makes nonsense of conventional wisdom, and the Lions have been gathering force game by game.
Yeah, we’re all thinking about the World Cup.
At the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties, however, they tend to live for the moment, and the place could become another blizzard of knickers if the Boks succeed, and catapults are fashioned from their elastic for the traditional celebratory feu de joie, in which the streetlights are shot out.
Taekwondo and all
ROB Nicolai, Howick’s resident theoretical physicist, notes that former world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, who retired in 2015, is set to face Mixed Martial Arts champion Conor McGregor in August.
“Mayweather is widely considered the most complete boxer in history and McGregor is a title-holding MMA fighter with boxing, karate, Brazilian jujitsu, kickboxing, boxing and taekwondo training,
“Both fighters are very similar weights and the rules will be strictly boxing regulated. McGregor will have wish I looked more like Rod Smith.
But, I pick myself up, and I dust myself off. I look at myself squarely in a mirror. I try to assess what’s going on, not in terms of immediate, obvious behaviour, but in the depths of my thinking, in the recesses of to wear 10-ounce gloves, which will eliminate the grappling components of jujitsu and karate throws, and no kicks will be allowed, making taekwondo, kickboxing and karate’s most powerful impact strikes illegal
“Such a contest is like expecting Chad le Clos to beat Usain Bolt on the race track, or vice versa, and could be highly staged and choreographed, as wrestling has always been.
“Maybe the winner could train our MPs in how to handle themselves when things get disorderly in the House.”
Wait for Taffy
YESTERDAY’S Tailpiece featured an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a nun, a priest, a rabbi, a Pole and Van der Merwe walking into a bar, and the barman asking: “Is this some kind of joke?”
Military historian Peter Quantrill says the answer to the barman is: “No, the Welshman is coming.”
Tailpiece
“WAITER, what’s the meaning of this fly in my teacup?”
“I’m a waiter, ma’am, not a fortune teller.”
Last word
WHEN I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading. – Henny Youngman
my life where shame plays hide and seek, and where motives collide.
I examine my heart, the seat of my emotions, and pass what I find through my head. This usually gets me back on track to being more and more like the person I really want to be.
A former Durbanite, Smith is a family therapist in the US. You can e-mail him at FamilyTherapist@iCloud.com -1/7 Cloudy with evening showers. 14/17 South-westerly gale. Morning mist, evening showers. 8/13 Light southerly. Morning mist, evening snow. -2/8 Gentle southerly.
Pretoria ............ Clear skies ..................................................................... 6/21 Joburg .............. Clear skies ..................................................................... 5/20 Bloemfontein ...Clear skies .................................................................... -1/15 Kimberley ......... Clear skies ..................................................................... 0/17 CapeTown ....... Partly cloudy ................................................................. 9/15 George ............. Partly cloudy ................................................................. 6/14 Port Elizabeth...Partly cloudy ................................................................. 7/17 East London ..... Clear skies ..................................................................... 9/17 Clear skies ................................ 9/20 Gentle NW. Minimum ............................... 11ºC Maximum ............................... 26ºC Humidity ................................. 85% ................... .......................... ......................... ......................... ........................... ............... .................... .......................... ............................ ........................ .................. ....................... Partly cloudy .............................. 10/22 Gentle NW.
at 8am .................... Nil This month ................................ Nil Monthly average ................... 28mm Year to date ..................... 546.2mm Yearlyaverage ................. 1009mm of 290.1m³ ............. (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 251.6m³ ............. (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 5.11m³ ............... (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 235.4m³ .............. (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 24.6m³ ............... (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 139.5m³ ................. (Mooi/Mgeni system) of 17.9m³ ............. (North Coast system) of 1.52m³ .......................... (Other – inland) of 0.56m³ ........................ (South Coast system) of 0.98m³ ........................ (South Coast system) of 2.22m³ ........................ (South Coast system) of 0.48m³ .............. (South Coast system) Code Cracker is challenging, but fun. Each number in the grid represents a letter of the alphabet. For example, today 12 represents D, so fill in D every time the number 12 appears. You have 2letters in the grid to start you off. Enter them into the main grid and then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares. Code Cracker does not always use all the letters of the alphabet.