Perfect for Biltong

Does the world really need another blog? Isn't this really just another instance of self-indulgent online narcissism? Does this blog really have anything new to say?

The short answers are: yes; no; and yes.

The longer answers are:

Yes, the world really does need another blog. The more the merrier, I say. But wait a minute, you say, what about information overload? Well, what about it? Quality outs. Cream always rises to the top. And a host of similar cliches I could throw at you, all containing the proverbial kernel of truth. Point being, it doesn't take the good citizens of the web long to distinguish the pointed from the pointless. At least, it shouldn't.

No, this really isn't just another instance of self-indulgent online narcissism. I hope to cover a great many other topics besides those surrounding the individual yours truly refers to by the vertical pronoun. Naturally, a little navel-gazing will be unavoidable from time to time, but even then I hope it will be free of the odour of self-indulgence. One can but try. We'll see.

Yes, this blog really does have something new to say. Or perhaps more accurately: something new to see. For I write, as it happens, from deepest, darkest Africa. Lusaka, Zambia, to be precise. (Lusaka being the capital city of the said Southern African country, Zambia.) Living here, you can't help but have something new to see. If you did (live here, that is) you'd know exactly what I mean. So perhaps this little blog of mine will give you a glimpse of what it's like to live in, and see from, this most intriguing and beguiling part of the world.

Finally, a word about the title of this blog.

Biltong is a South(ern) African delicacy or snack: it's essentially strips of dried, seasoned meat. The "South(ern)" is to account for the fact that although this delicacy originated in South Africa, it has spread and is enjoyed over much of the rest of Southern Africa, Zambia included.

The term "Perfect for Biltong" was coined by Augustine Lungu, a versatile Zambian actor and comedian who has played the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, among others. He used the term in a humourous television ad to describe a particularly healthy herd of beef cattle. What exactly was being advertised I don't quite recall, but anyhow, after this ad went on the air, the phrase "perfect for biltong" became popular in Zambia to describe anything that was extremely well suited (perfect indeed) for some given purpose (the production of biltong, for instance).

This blog lays no claim to perfection. And, alas, the marvels of contemporary web technology have not yet caught up with Star Trek's replicator, so, sadly, I am unable to share with you the culinary pleasures of real biltong.

Rather, we shall have to be content to merely aim for perfection. And make do with the metaphorical equivalent of biltong: strips of fine, dry, seasoned blogtong, as it were.

Here goes.