Thursday, October 04, 2012

in a pickle with the queen

At the end of August, my blogger chum, Gary Denness over at The Mexile, offered a free post card. 

His blog post was about finding fun in art.  Something near and dear to my heart.

I requested the card.  As fate would have it, I was first in line. 

He mailed it to me on 8 September.  International mail being what it is, I did not expect to see anything in my mail box until well after I had returned from the highlands.

But when I opened my mailbox on Tuesday morning, there it was.  It had been patiently waiting for me since 29 September. 

That is not a bad mailing time.  Three weeks transit to get from London to my little burg on the Mexcan coast. 

Gary had included an interesting little note on the card.  "I did chuckle when you called dibs on the card."

I chuckled, as well, when I saw what was on the face of the card.  Gary is well aware of my republican leanings.  I do not have a monarchist bone in my body. 

Like most Americans, I was pleased when Mexico decided to get rid of all three of its monarchs.  The Spanish one in whose name Mexico was conquered.  The home grown one who reached a little too close to the sun. 

And, of course, the Austrian archduke who got snookered by his French sponsor, but gave us all a chance -- perhaps, with the exception of the French -- to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

On the face side of the card was a picture of the woman who now occupies the British throne.

But not the photograph at the the top of the post. That portrait of the Young Liz in her Disney princess gown hangs in one of my favorite eateries in Melaque.  Roosters.

The little piece of fun art I received was a bit edgier.  And far more whimsical.



There are certain people who believe that the queen is behind world-wide illegal drug trafficking.  Maybe that is the reason for the dark glasses.  Or, perhaps, the glasses are necessary after watching whatever recent video Prince Harry has inadvertently starred in.

If you look closely, you can also see why I know the arrival date of the post card.  Apparently, someone with a rubber stamp in the post office is a more ardent republican than yours truly.

This must be Britain week in Melaque.  I stopped at the local tour office (Mex-Eco Tours) run by two young people from England to pay fora Day of the Dead tour at the and of the month.  Dan had just returned from a trip to The Other Side with a treat for me.

When I lived outside of Oxford in the 1970s, I developed a real taste for pickled onion crisps.  I am not very fond of sweets.  But give me salt and grease, and I am in heaven.  Especially, if the salt carries some peculiar flavor.

Dan had brought back a packet of pickled onion treats.  In this case, Mega Monster Munch.



It was pure ambrosia to my England-deprived tongue.  Mexico should toss the chili-lime flavored snacks, and pick up some really interesting flavors.

About two months ago, I gave a Mexican acquaintance a salt and vinegar flavor potato chip.  I thought he was going to be ill.  For that reason alone, I doubt I will ever see pickled onion anything around these parts.

Maybe the queen will stop by and deliver some to me.

After all, she is a public servant.  At least, in republican eyes.

21 comments:

norm said...

As long as King or Queen has little or no power to set policy, I'm good with it. It's like having a fancy pet.

Marc Olson said...

What a great post card. The post office face tattoo definitely adds to its appeal.

I love salt and vinegar chips. Were these brought from up north, or did you mange to find them somewhere nearer home?

Steve Cotton said...

I bought the salt and vinegar chips at Soriana.  You never know what you will find in their "exotic imports" section.

Steve Cotton said...

Speaking if pets, if I buy a house down here, I may buy another dog.  A small estate needs a golden retriever.  

Joe said...

It seems that Mr. Denness sent an old photo of Michael Jackson.

Steve Cotton said...

 Good one that.

jennifer rose said...

The first time I had a vinegar and salt potato chip, I thought "rotten potato chip." Now that I know they're supposed to be that way, I still think of them as chips gone wrong.

Thomas Rice said...

I didn't realize you'd been around at the time Mexico got rid of the monarchs! (55555 - in Thai 5 is pronounced ha, so 555 is the same as lol or ha ha ha).

Agree with the salt and vinegar chips being addictive and am so pleased that some of the island's  stores - including 7/11 [yes it's here too] have Lorenz's from Germany and some carry Lay's version as well.

Regards,

Phuket Tom
Rawai Beach, Phuket Island
The Kingdom of Thailand

Steve Cotton said...

I am far older than I look.  I was Cortes's pool boy.

When I was in China, I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of flavors in chips. Most of which would never show up on American shelves.

Steve Cotton said...

That is because you have never tasted beef and worcestershire sauce potato chips in China.

norm said...

What happens with Linda and I with dogs is that they come to us. We were dogless for about two weeks after our Jiggs clone passed on; when a friend fell sick. "Just take her until Mr.--- gets better". Our best dogs have arrived in that package.   

Steve Cotton said...

I suspect I will need to import a golden.  They are rather rare in these parts.  When I was in Oregon, I regularly monitored the golden rescue site.

Kim G said...

You really think Golden Rescue is going to let you take one of their precious charges into dangerous, narco-infested Mexico? I hear it's harder to get a dog from them than it is to adopt a human child.

It also seems like it'd be hard (hot) life to be a golden retriever in coastal Mexico. Why not go native and get a Xoloescuincle if you insist on living in an infernal climate?

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we think cats are both more entertaining and easier to take care of.

Steve Cotton said...

It is nearly as difficult.  I went through the interview process when I was looking for a companion for Jiggs.

The coat of a golden may not be the best here on the coast.  But I have my preferences.

Thomas Rice said...

 Similar re chips here - Alaska Cool (King Crab flavor) and, of course, wasabe and nori flavors. Fun to sping some of these on visiting Americans!

Steve Cotton said...

 I love wasabe chips.  They were everywhere in China.Must have been for the "secret" Japanese visitors.

Elke L Gazvoda said...

Steve, Salt & Vinegar potato chips - available in the regular potato chip section at Walmart. They also finally had pretzels again.

Steve Cotton said...

And Alex has a full selection of flavors of Kettle Chips (from my old home town) in Hawaii.  Well, everything but pickled onion -- which they do not make in Salem, either.

Gary Denness said...

Glad it arrived ok, Steve. And relatively quickly too. Mexico's postal service impresses again. Even if the republican minded stamp man did his best to deface it! 

Steve Cotton said...

Have you been away?  I was a bit concerned that I had not heard from you.  

Gary Denness said...

It's nice to know at least one person noticed my absense! Yes, I was indeed away - a week in Budapest. Followed by a week of work and processing photos from my new camera on my new laptop....it's been a great gadget fortnight!