Life, Love and Anything Goes: August 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The London 2012 Summer Olympics (Opening Ceremony)

The London 2012 Olympics is over but memories of the events that transpired still remain fresh in my heart. I’ve always been a fan of the games and my favourite part is the opening and closing ceremonies where I get to see the creativity and variety the host nation have to offer. After Beijing 2008, I kept wondering what surprise the United Kingdom would spring up on us even though, this is not the first time the city of London had been privileged to host the games(London hosted in both in 1904 and 1948 but this year’s games was the first modern Olympics for London).

The Opening Ceremony

I waited eagerly, week after week till July 27th 2012, for the opening ceremony themed the Isles of Wonder. I heard the inspiration for the festivity was drawn from Shakesphere’s Tempest. With a $40million budget, the extravagance which was artistically directed by Danny Boyle was indeed worth the wait. For those of you who don’t know Danny Boyle, he is an English film director and producer who has won numerous awards since 1995 including the Oscars & Critics Choice Awards (2009) and AFI film Awards (2010). He is best known for directing the 2008 film, Slum-dog Millionaire. He’s not only been honoured with awards by Americans but also from other European organizations in Norway, Scotland etc. Anyways, back to the ceremony.

Thanks to our fluctuating power supply in Nigeria, I was unable to enjoy every bit of the ceremonies (opening and closing) as I would have loved to. But from what I saw, I was quite impressed. The stadium of about 80,000 seats couldn’t take the mammoth crowd of 5.3million visitors that showed up for the Olympic Games, so the overflow had large screens to encourage everyone outside the stadium in hyde park to follow the event in real time. Earlier on, an extra 9,500 security officials were deployed to London to ensure order and strengthen the already existing security forces. As the countdown to the opening ceremony began, rock music filled the air and people were seen ringing bells alongside Big Ben which rang for three minutes.

The opening was truly a wonder as the volunteer performers showcased the history of the United Kingdom, citing eras like that of the green and pleasant land, the industrial revolution, the migration of blacks into Europe, the Royal Guards and the impact of the entertainment industry on the European culture. We saw clips that reminded us of bedtime stories, nannies, fantasies, dancing, movies such as Olivia twist, Annie, Alice in wonderland, Mary Poppins, etc. Characters like Mr Bean turned an orchestra rendition into British comic relief while James bond (007 as played by Daniel Craig) escorting the Queen (Elizabeth II) in a helicopter ride to the venue and David Beckham made the wait for the Olympic torch all the more exciting. We were entertained with readings/recitations by celebrities such as JK Rowling & Kenneth Branagh, Acapella music that rang so pure, the Chariots of Fire & Abide with Me symphony etc. If you missed it, there are not enough words or pictures to tell how grand it was. Through it all, there was one part I’m sure everyone in the 204 participating countries watching wanted to see and that was the Parade of Nations.

As I waited for the Nigerian contingents to come out, I noticed great British hits were being played in the background including songs from Coldplay, Adele and the Bee Gees. I also learned the names of a few new countries I never knew existed like Andorra, Brunei, Laos, Nairu, Maldives, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Uzbekistan, etc. Before the 2012 olympics, I didn’t even know the difference between Yugoslavia and Macedonia, I didn’t even know there was a name dispute between Taiwan (which was introduced as the Chinese Taipei) and China (introduced as the People’s Republic of China).

While dignitaries from participating countries showed up to show political support for their athletes, I was disappointed that I saw no one, not even the Vice President or the Minster of Sports, from Nigeria to show support for our country. I was glad at the number of participating Nigerian athletes though. Of course the parade which started with Greece, home of the ancient and modern Olympic games, ended with the United Kingdom the current host.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Acidic Delight!

I love lime! Not lemon, not tangerine but lime and the ripe one at that. Weird huh? Not to me. When we were growing up, my mom used to flavour our papaya (what we Nigerians call pawpaw) with lime extract and a pinch of salt. According to her, it was necessary to tone the sweetness of the fruit. Up until my days at the university, I thought that was all Lime was good for. You can imagine my joy when I walked in on a friend and saw her drinking lime juice. Knowing that lime’s natural sour and tangy taste packs a punch when eaten solitary, curiosity got the best of me and I asked her for the recipe.

Why Lime?
Before I disclose a trade secret of an affordable homemade drink, I find it expedient to explain why lime is a fruit we should incorporate into our diet every now and then. For one, it has no saturated fats, cholesterol, Iron and negligible amounts of Sodium. It is a good source of dietary fibre and Vitamin C as with all citrus fruits. That’s not all; traces of essential minerals such as calcium, folate, potassium, magnesium, manganese, patothenic acid, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, copper as well as Vitamin B6 can also be found in it.

This makes lime, like any citrus plant, an ideal candidate for the prevention of diseases (e.g. cardiovascular, stroke, neural tube defects, anaemia, cancer, etc.). It is also used for preventing micro and over nutritional deficiencies because it contains phytochemicals. Unlike most citrus plants, lime specifically kills the bacteria that cause dysentery, cholera, typhoid and helps people in weight-loss programs lose weight effectively. So it is clear just how much we need lime in our weekly diet.

How to use Lime
The question remains how do we incorporate lime into our meals? I’ll share a few:

Lime juice – use the extract of ripe lime mixed with sugar syrup (boiled water and sugar) or just water and granulated sugar to form a drink. Chill the limeade for maximum enjoyment.

Pawpaw flavouring – squeeze the juice of the unripe lime onto the pawpaw/papaya and then add salt. You can eat it like that or refrigerate it so the lime juice can soak into it.

Flavoured teas – after dipping your teabag into a teacup with hot water, squeeze an unripe lime in and add sugar for taste.

Five fruit salad – mix the following in a bowl: seedless grapes, sliced banana, orange and pineapple chunks, cubed rock/mush melon (if available), finely chopped mint leaves, peeled and grated lime. Then squeeze in lime juice and concentrated orange juice. Serve when done.

Lime and Chicken – lime can be squeezed on grilled chicken or can be used to make a Caribbean Lime Chicken meal. This is done by combining chicken in dish with 3 tablespoons lime juice, the garlic, salt, thyme, pepper flakes, and black pepper. Mix well, Heat oil until hot and place ‘combo’ on an 11 -12 inch skillet. Ensure both sides of the chicken are cooked until brown then add onions and stir till they are both well cooked. Add tomatoes and curry powder to pan, leave to cook for a few minutes then stir in 1 tablespoon of lime juice. Serve with Ginger Rice (this is simply boiling rice with water and minced fresh ginger root).

Once I found out how often lime can be applied in my diet, I spared no expense in securing this very affordable fruit. There is another way to use lime but since i haven't tried that, i won't include it here. It actually involves grating the skin (popularly known as zesting)and incorporating it into meals. Honestly, i believe ingenuity and creativity lies in the least of us and it is how we use it that makes the difference. I like to see the upside of things and it this case with the lime, the benefits are richly rewarding. Try it someday.

A word from Moi

Hi Everyone, I must admit i am feeling a little lazy about working on my next piece for you. A lot of people have been telling me to find a niche for my blog, stick to one particular theme/subject matter. Even though doing that would be a no brainer for me, i really want anyone who visits on my blog to not only see how talented i am as a writer but also the variety of my interests. So in the spirit of diversified content and laziness, i present to you my next post which was written for and published online by connectnigeria.com, titled, "Acidic Delight!". This is to buy me time to work on my next post which i'm thinking may be on the London 2012 Olympics and as always, it's my take on it. So, here's the appetizer and I hope you like it. Till we chat again, ciao.