Botswana Meat Commission FC bring home the beef. (Is this right? - ed.)

Here's an end-of-season update from Meatland - the league actually ended last month, but I didn't get around to firing up Soccerway and my many other sources (OK, it's Facebook) before now.

BMC's away form in 2014 was, to be charitable, not outstanding. In fact, the Meat Men's last away victory was against TAFIC just before Christmas. After that they only managed to pick up 2 points on the road.

But their home form was enough to secure 9th place, with BMC undefeated in their last 6 home games. The last two matches of the season were home wins against Motlakase Power Dynamos (4-1) and UF Santos (3-2), which were enough to keep BMC 7 points clear of the drop and, crucially, put them 2 points ahead of the hated Extension Gunners with the win on the final day.

When you take into account all the crazy stuff happening at the beginning of the season -- the sell-off, the ownership dispute, that time two teams turned up to a match both claiming to be the real Botswana Meat Commission FC -- 9th is a pretty good finish, especially if you manage to stay ahead of your rivals.

This year's champions, by the way, are the Township Rollers - who only lost twice in the whole season. Just 5 points separated the top 4 at the end, with a big drop of 20 points between fourth and fifth. Very English Premier League.


These were the team's end-of-season awards:

Player of the Season
• Mosha "Fanta" Gaolaolwe

Most Improved Player
• Tshepho "Mahindra" Maikano

Young Player of the Season
• Unobatsha "Doc" Mbaiwa

Players’ Player of the Season
• Sageby "Sagy" Sandaka

Top Scorer
• Sageby "Sagy" Sandaka, 15 Goals

Most Valuable Player
• Tshepho "Mahindra" Maikano

Chairperson's Award
• Thabo "Festivale" Leinanyana

Supporters' Player of the Season
• Tshepho "Mahindra" Maikano

Malandros, episode 1 (part 2)

Aranha meets Jose at the quay, where he's making minor repairs to his boat. He wants her to find out what's going on with the redevelopment plans, and see if she can do something about them. Aranha stalls - she feels like this is beyond her grasp.

Later the same day, Aranha and Sem Parar, leader of the Sao Francisco parish Nagoas, meet on the beach at Praia Beijaflor. Sem Parar starts the fight, but Aranha ends it. When he goes for her, she pulls out one of her signature moves, the rasteira, and sends him sprawling onto a patch of rocks, then kicks him while he's down.
With their leader half dead, the Nagoas decide not to push things. Some of them drag Sem Parar away; about 8 of them decide to join Aranha's gang.

At a party hosted by Pedro, Rosa gossips with her friends. Pedro hoves into view and eventually works his courage up enough to ask her to visit his family home near Fortaleza de Minas - she agrees.

Meredith follows up on the lead about da Silva's visit to the girl on Flower Street. For the price of a shoe-shining, a local shoeshine boy gives him the lowdown. The one da Silva went to see is called Joselita. She live with her older sister Paoletta. They were orphaned, and it's hard to see how they're making ends meet since Paoletta lost her job at the factory.

Rosa goes to ask her father for permission to visit Pedro's place in the country. Having obtained reassurances along the lines of Pedro's parents being home, and Rosa's promise to behave, he agrees.

On her way to Santo Antonio square, Rosa is accosted by a strange man - it's Jose. He wants Rosa to put some pressure on Aranha to give up her wayward lifestyle. Since she's not listening to him, maybe she'll listen to her employer. "Well," says Rosa, who knew Aranha was tough but not that she ran a malta, "you may have just cost her her job."

At the market, Aranha talks to the traders and tells them about Senator Cruz's plans to demolish the area. Some firebrands want to go directly to the rioting and window-smashing stage of proceedings, but Aranha talks them down. There's no need to go that far -- yet.

Early next morning, at Senator Cruz's palatial residence, a stiff-collared butler brings the morning papers on a silver tray. We still haven't seen Cruz yet, so all that's visible is his arm on the rest of a high-backed chair. The front page is all about the demolition plans.
"WHO DID THIS?"

Credits roll.

Malandros, episode 1 (part 1)

PCs:
Aranha, gang leader
Jose Costa, fisherman (arrives later in the session)
Meredith Cane, grifter
Rosa Victoria Rocha Santos, slumming aristocrat


At the campaign office for Councillor Santos's national election run, the loyal retainer Erineu da Silva quizzes Meredith about some money missing from the accounts. He suspects - correctly - that Meredith used it to pay gambling debts. Cane doesn't take responsibility, and the old man leaves more suspicious than ever.

Cane meets Aranha at the marketplace near Santo Antonio church. She agrees to have one of her men follow da Silva around for a day to dig up some dirt.

Rosa is at the well-heeled Artemis Club downtown. She meets the wealthy but thick Pedro, eldest son of a Minas Gerais dairy tycoon, and successfully angles for an invitation to the fashionable Duchess's ball next week.

Aranha finds her lieutenant Bacalhau at a run-down boteco just off Santo Antonio Square. He's initially reluctant  - it sounds like a lot of boring effort - but eventually agrees to trail around after da Silva and report back.

At home, Rosa's father insists she attend the decidedly unfashionable Governor's ball instead of the Duchess's. It's important for his campaign that she be charming to influential people. They come to a compromise - she'll attend, as long as she can bring Pedro.

Cane spends the afternoon at a cafe frequented by the staff of rival candidate Senator Cruz, eavesdropping on their conversations. Cruz has secured powerful backing by promising valuable land which he'll acquire by demolishing Santo Antonio market and the slums around it.

At the same time, Rosa is out dress shopping for the ball, accompanied by several of her posh friends and Aranha, who - by day - is Rosa's maid and chaperone. After discussing the prospects for the ball and Pedro's eligibility, she decides she'll go to the Governor's ball but leave as soon as possible.

As the group leaves the dress shop, they're accosted by a number of uncouth young men. To Rosa's surprise but not dismay, Aranha handily beats one of them up. She gives Aranha the rest of the day off, and some spending money.

Just as Aranha is counting the cash, her teenage neighbour Tico-Tico comes running up calling her name. His Uncle Ze's cafe is being smashed up by the Nagoa gang from Sao Francisco parish. They say he owes them protection money, but he lives on Aranha's turf.
Aranha finds Bacalhau and sends him and Tico-Tico to gather the troops.
They arrive at the smashed cafe too late to catch the Nagoas. 

Meredith and Rosa meet outside Santo Antonio church to discuss the progress of their plan to swindle Rosa's brother out of his inheritance. Disagreements break out over who is supposed to be doing what, threats are made, and the alliance seems like it's starting to fray at the edges.


Bright and early the next morning, Cane meets Councillor Santos at his quayside warehouse and watch a cargo of coffee being loaded onto a ship bound for Europe. Santos is concerned that his honesty will be no match for Cruz's dirty tricks. Cane proposes a little underhanded work on their side, to which Santos reluctantly agrees, and gives him some discretionary spending money. "This is just between us," says Cane, " so if anyone mentions cash being missing, we know where it went but we won't say anything, right?" Right, says the Councillor. Cane uses the money to patch the gambling-debt hole in the accounts.

At the Santos house, Rosa goes to da Silva with the news that Cane has threatened to blackmail her, saying he'd expose her plan to steal her brother's inheritance. Which is preposterous, of course. Da Silva grimly replies that he will look into Cane's activities - he's been sure the man is a rascal all along.

At the pier, Jose talks with his niece Aranha while he prepares his boat for sea. Frederico's warehouse was demolished a week ago and he only got a pittance in compensation. What's next? Aranha promises to find out what's going on.

Bacalhau makes his surveillance report to Aranha and Cane. Da Silva looks clean, even dull in his habits. The only possible item of interest is that he visited a young woman on Flower Street, at the house with the blue door.

Later, posing as a possible backer, Cane gets a tour of the marketplace from Senator Cruz's banker, who describes in glowing terms how wonderful all the new buildings and plazas will be once the poor people have been kicked out. Cane gets a signed quotation for a parcel of land.

Aranha waits till the banker has gone and asks Cane what's up. He explains what's going down.

it's a week later, at the stuffy Governor's ball. Rosa feigns a dancefloor ankle injury, not very convincingly. Unwilling to make a scene, her father allows her and Pedro to leave early, on the proviso she goes straight home. She doesn't, of course.

(Part 2 to follow.)

Babies have a tough time of it.

Found in an old Gmail chat:     what is cot and buggy? 

  one is for sleeping in

the other is for sitting in while your parents push you around

  I mean like they push you around for transport, not that they constantly tell you what to do

  although that also happens to babies

MyLifeWorld

Powered by the Apocalypse 

Lunchtime Hiking
When you decide to go for an exploratory walk on the mountain paths near your office looking for a shortcut back, roll +Sharp.
On a 10+, both. On a 7-9, choose one:
- you find a little-used path that leads where you want to go.
- the route is short enough you don't get back late from your lunch break.
On a miss, what you hoped was a shortcut turns out to be a lengthy dead end.


I used this move today. Rolled a 5.

MY POST-"TWIN PEAKS" HELL

I have fond(ish) memories of Twin Peaks, which rumour now suggests may be making a TV comeback, although I am not sure why anyone would do that.

I've only seen the first season, and bits & pieces of the 2nd. A friend of mine had Season 1 on DVD back when I lived in Beijing.

I used to go round his place of an evening, we'd watch an episode or two, and then I'd enjoy a David Lynch-style nocturnal journey into terror on my way home. Hence only fond-ish.

 To get back to my place, I had to go down to ground level in his building's creaky lift complete with flickering lightbulb, then along the darkened street past an old Buddhist monastery before getting to my block.

The building I lived in had sound-activated lights, so I'd get the freight elevator up to my floor and walk along an echoing concrete corridor that was pitch black until I stamped my foot to activate them. They'd click on one after the other down the length of the corridor. If I'd ever encountered a midget in a suit on the way. I'd most likely have had a heart attack. Or, at the very least, a panic attack.

So, good series, but not the best viewing before a trip through a moonlit urban landscape. 

Highlander guest stars, in order

Best "hey, it's..." appearances so far. We are about halfway through season 4.


19 Barry Pepper
18 Rae Dawn Chong
17 Tamlyn Tomita
16 Vanity
15 Peter Firth
14 Andrew Divoff - the Russian guy in LOST

13 Robert Ito (as two different characters)
12 Roland Gift out of Fine Young Cannibals
11 Marion Cotillard
10 Brion James - the replicant at the beginning of Blade Runner
9 Sheena Easton
8 Roddy Piper
7 Michael Preston - the bloke out of Mad Max 2
6 Callum Keith Rennie (twice, as different characters)
5 Martin Kemp
4 Roger Daltrey
3 Joe Pantoliano
2 Anthony Head

1 Joan Jett

And one that my wife knew but I didn't:
Dustin Nguyen - the bloke off 21 Jump Street