The fusion of fiction and fact. (this post was suggested by Fred)

Every now and then I post something here other than a glimpse into life in Aotearoa. This post is one of those. I hope you don't mind. 

"The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."  
This quote by Robert Louis Stevenson comes to mind sometimes when I discover an interesting new food or drink, hear a new piece of great music, learn a fascinating fact, understand something that had until then been a mystery to me, or, when I read a book I like.  

Sometimes, the writers of novels will incorporate into their storyline a reference to a bit of real life. For example, just yesterday I finished reading Speaking From Among The Bones, by Alan Bradley. One of the musical selections performed at a funeral that takes place toward the end of that novel was Dido's Lament, from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell.  Although I know very little about opera in general, I do happen to know that particular piece.  *

I love it when things like that happen. When an author blends his fiction with real world fact.
Especially fact that I know about. I may not quite make it to the level of delight enjoyed by kings, but I do feel pretty good.  

Let me tell you about my favorite (so far) fusion of fiction and fact. 

It happened at least 25 years ago. Jeanne had discovered a writer that she really enjoyed. Dick Frances was a steeplechase jockey for many years in England and even rode one of the Queen Mother's horses. Upon retirement from racing, he began writing. All of his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world. It wasn't long before I started buying Jeanne any of his novels that I could find or order from the bookstore. I even read a good share of them myself. One of them, Proof, written in 1984, would affect me personally. In a good way. And that effect would 'trickle down' to family members and friends. Who knows, maybe as a result of this post, you yourself may be affected. (read on at your own risk)

Way, way back when I was in my twenties, I had discovered that I enjoyed scotch. Then, as now, I loved to try new things so I experimented with as many different scotches as I could find. (and afford)

When I read Proof, the story opened up a whole new dimension of scotch 'research' for me. It's main character was a wine/spirits merchant and was commisioned in the novel to test a single-malt scotch called Laphroaig.(la - froyg')  At that time, I don't think I knew exactly what a single-malt scotch was, but my curiosity was piqued and I wondered if Laphroaig was a real scotch. I found that it was. And, eventually, I found a bottle. I soon discovered Laphroaig's website and was educated about single-malts. 

Of all the single-malts I've tasted since then, Laphroaig remains my favorite. It is the smokiest scotch imaginable. 

I like this photo. It seems to put the scotch on a pedestal, as it deserves to be.

Since then, Fred and McKenzie and Mike and Kim have become staunch believers that the only proper way to toast a special occasion is to do so  with 'a wee dram of Laphroaig.' 

Laphroaig has been produced in 10 year, 15 year, 18 year, cask, quarter cask and many other bottlings. Just recently, Fred brought to my attention two new versions. Laphroaig Lore, which is the richest of the richly flavored and Laphroaig Caideras 2016 Madeira, which is aged for 8 years in American Oak boubon barrels and 2 years in Madeira (Portugese wine) barrels. He suggested then that I do a post about these two new versions on my blog. I had to agree. 

I wish that I could 'trickle down' a taste of Laphroaig for anyone who would like to try it, but I'm limited to this way of sharing it with you. A bottle of it is fairly 'spendy,' as Fred likes to say, so maybe you'd prefer to try a sample at your favorite pub. Order it 'neat' or 'straight up' with some water on the side. You might want to add just a couple of drops of water to bring out the flavors even more.

You might find that you will want to experiment with it as we have. Believe it or not, we've used it as an ice cream topping. Fred and McKenzie use it to produce a steak sauce that also features morel mushrooms. That is unbelievably good. Check out the type of steak that Fred commonly grills and that deserves this sauce. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4RmnxmR6XI

And all of this because Jeanne likes to read. The world truly is full of wonderful, interesting, and amazing things. Thanks, Dick Frances, for all your exciting books and especially for Proof. Lives have been enriched in more ways than one because of it.  -djf

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When I like a particular piece of music, I like to listen to how various artists perform it. They'll each put their own 'spin' on it and I like to hear the differences. Youtube makes that very easy to do. I've done it with many songs and with very different types of music. Since I mentioned Dido's Lament today, I'll attach two versions of it. If you care to, have a listen. They are not very long. The first will give you the lyrics as well so you know what is going on.

(Aeneas, Trojan hero, falls in love with Dido, the Queen of Carthage. He then abandons her. She sees him going, starts a funeral pyre that he can see as he sails away, sings this aria, and kills herself.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fraubogbQkc

The staging in this second one is very different. I dislike it.  Nothing to do with the story but the music is worth listening to. I suggest that you start the music and then toggle back to this page so you don't have to watch it. 

The sound is unique to say the least. Rather than a female soprano singing the part, it is sung by a male countertenor.          -djf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGmei7AsxuU

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