Dick Francis: obit quote of the day

No one could convey as well as he what it felt like to be drowned, hanged, crushed by a horse or soaked in icy water and left dangling, gagged and bound from a hook in the middle of a Norfolk winter's night.

from the Telegraph.

My personal favorite Dick Francis is Bonecrack, which gave you a pretty good idea what it felt like to be tied to a fence in a stress position and then have your collarbone broken.

But what I have to say is, first Robert B. Parker and now Dick Francis? Is this a conspiracy???

For Valentine's Day: the most romantic obituary I've ever seen

I now subscribe to the UK Telegraph's obituaries, don't you know. On Friday, I read the obit for one Horace Greasley and now I want to know WHY ISN'T THERE A MOVIE?!

Horace Greasley was a POW in WWII who fell in love with the German interpreter for his POW camp -- an interpreter, mind you, who was hiding the fact that she was Jewish.

Within a few weeks Greasley and Rosa were conducting their affair in broad daylight and virtually under the noses of the German guards – snatching meetings for trysts in the camp workshops and wherever else they could find. But at the end of a year, just as he was realising how much he cared for Rosa, Greasley was transferred to Freiwaldau, an annex of Auschwitz, some 40 miles away.

But wait! There's more!

The only way to carry on the love affair was to break out of his camp...Greasley reckoned that short absences could be disguised or go unnoticed. Messages between him and Rosa were exchanged via members of outside work parties, who then handed hers on to Greasley, the camp barber, when they came to have their hair cut. When, with the help of friends, he did make it under the wire for an assignation nearby, he would break back into the camp again under cover of darkness to await his next opportunity.

Did you catch that? He escaped from the prison camp over 200 times--and would sneak back in!

Greasley was held prisoner, working for the Germans in quarries and factories, for five years less one day, and was finally liberated on May 24 1945. He still received letters from Rosa after the war's end, and was able to vouch for her when she applied to work as an interpreter for the Americans.

Not long after Greasley got back to Britain, however, he received news that Rosa had died in childbirth, with the infant perishing too. Horace Greasley said he never knew for certain whether or not the child was his.

AAAAHHH! Is that the most tragic operatic thing or what?

He eventually did marry -- in 1975. And there's a book about his experience called Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell?, which sounds amazing. The obit was mighty compelling by itself, though. If it were longer, I'd have to have boxes of Kleenex and chocolate. ~sniffle~

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday Funnies

I put this on Facebook and Twitter as well, but I just can't stop myself, I love this sign SO MUCH!

It's from the website Oddly Specific - "The strangely particular website about peculiarly exacting signs."

BRAC in Afghanistan

When I went to Uganda, my lifeline was a newly-returned Kiva fellow named Drew Kinder. He directed me to my first residence there as well as telling me about the organization BRAC - Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee - a microfinance institution that does a great deal in the local communities where they work. It's a very impressive organization, doing the kind of thing that Yunus Mohammed does before he started doing it.

Drew and I have been in very sporadic contact since then, mostly on Facebook. Then today I got an email from him letting me know about his new blog, Drew Kinder in Asia.

The purpose of this blog is to trace my progress across Asia as I volunteer for BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), a remarkable Non-Governmental Organization based in Bangladesh that is combatting poverty throughout the developing world. I have been asked to help write and edit the 2009 Annual Reports of BRAC Afghanistan, BRAC Sri Lanka, and BRAC Pakistan.

Pretty darn impressive, Drew!

I was especially drawn to his reports from Afghanistan. Like this entry about Community Health Workers.

“Nay, Nay, Nay” four burqa clad Community Health Workers exclaimed in unison when asked if they do it for the money. With faces hidden behind traditional hijabs, their passion was clear. “We do it for God”, said one. “When our people are free from disease, we are free from disease.”

Such a different picture of Afghanistan from what I am used to seeing. I encourage you to check it out!

Wasn't me.

It's good to live in California.

World in Prayer, February 11

This was my week to write the World in Prayer prayers, and here they are:

God of Transfiguration, you call us not only to the mountaintops, but to the plains; not only to worship you, but to serve others. Help us in our worship to be not only transfigured but transformed that we may share the glory that is your love to the whole world.

We pray for those affected by winter weather: for people traveling the Salang Pass in Afghanistan, where an avalanche has killed over 150 people; and for Cheyenne River Sioux in the Dakotas where 30,000 people are snowed under and have gone without power for two weeks.

We pray for countries in political turmoil: for Somalia, where residents are fleeing the capital as insurgents have poured into Mogadishu with artillery and trucks; for Sri Lanka, where losing presidential candidate Gen Fonseka was arrested, sparking protests; for Greece, where thousands of civil servants went on strike after the government announced a plan to freeze wages; for Nigeria, where the Vice President has been named acting head of state ; and for Iran, where protests marking the anniversary of the revolution have been met by increased arrests.

We pray for leaders who seek to make people’s lives better: for the G7, which pledged to cancel Haiti’s debt, and for the International Monetary Fund as it considers doing the same; for the U.S. President and Congress as they plan a bi-partisan health care summit; and we give you thanks for Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk as we remember the release of Nelson Mandela from prison 20 years ago.

We give you thanks for the celebrations in our lives and for things that give us joy: for the city of New Orleans that celebrated its resilience as well as its Super Bowl victory; for the Winter Olympics that allow nations as well as athletes to show forth their best efforts; and for the people we love and who love us.

We pray that we may be revealed to them and to you in all the glory you intend for us and all creation. Guide us into a holy Lent and give us your grace to serve you and our neighbor day by day. All this we ask through your son, your chosen one, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Preview of coming attractions

Years ago, my mother and I went on a grand tour of the UK. The highlight for me was our time in Edinburgh, and the highlight of my time in Edinburgh was learning the story of Burke and Hare.

You know about Burke and Hare, right? Edinburgh, the Athens of Europe, was home to the finest medical school around. Cadavers, however, were hard to come by. The only legitimate cadavers for medical study were executed criminals, leaving anatomists in short supply. There was, however, a healthy trade in grave robbing, the grave robbers commonly being known as Resurrectionists.

Enter William Burke and William Hare who decided to cut out the middleman, so to speak, and do the killing themselves. They were eventually caught; Hare turned crown's witness, leaving Burke to be condemned and his body to be publicly autopsied at the medical school.

I loved this story. Yes, well, I have a grisly turn of mind. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that it is being turned into a movie starring Simon Pegg as William Burke. Simon is also the title character in one of my favorite movies, the start of my zombie obsession, Shaun of the Dead ("A romantic comedy. With zombies.").

I'm also pleased that Burke and Hare is being filmed as a black comedy--just as I might have hoped--at the legendary Ealing Studios. And it also stars John Cleese, Tom Wilkinson and Isla Fisher. Due out late in 2010. I can't wait! Here's hoping it turns out bee-yu-ti-ful-ly. And delectably dark.