Zim, Zam, Zoom!

Dear Mr Secretary,

Greetings from the bottom rung!  

I would like to confirm travel to Zimbabwe and Zambia.  Here are photos of my dive into Devil’s Pond, Vic Falls, Livingstone, and myself with the boyz at The Big Tree (a habitual meeting place for Mr Livingstone and his buddies) on the Zimbabwe side of the Falls. This brings my total to 45 countries visited.  

I remain swinging happily from the bottom rung.

Ms Ridley

Dear Members,

It is with regret that we have received notice of the death, after a long illness, of Mr Sempliner on 16 August 2013.  

Mr Sempliner was elected in 2004, entering the List at 45 countries.  He immediately protested the absence of a definite article in the names of many countries.  Some of his recommendations were easy on the modern ear, such as The Netherlands and The United Kingdom.  Others, such as The Lebanon and The Argentine, less so.  Much Club conversation and deliberation ensued and today our fine list holds several parenthetical references in a nod to Mr Sempliner's preferences.

Mr Sempliner visited nine countries during his membership, namely Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya and The Philippines.  His missive, from Peking (his word), in 2011, requesting the recording of a visit to China, was rejected as redundant based on pre-1999 visits to Hong Kong and Macau.  He replied that there was some satisfaction having gone to the "heart of the beast."

Mr Sempliner, ever competitive in the great traditions of our club, was uncomfortable at the lower end of our The Club Ladder and made the suggestion in 2010 that the By-Laws be amended to narrow the criteria for a country visited to a visit done and a drink had without subsidy from one's employer.  Less Club conversation and deliberation ensued and the proposed amendment was rejected.  

Mr Sempliner made mention in the Club's proceedings in 2011 of his presence in Tokyo Narita during the earthquake that resulted in a tsunami and Mr Sempliner spending a night sleeping in a terminal "for the first time in many years."  

Mr Sempliner was a close confident of many in the Club, particularly Messrs C and D, and Ms v/H.   One of my dearest memories will be playing golf with him in The Democratic Republic of the Congo during his visit there.  Other memories from members welcome.

Mr Sempliner will rest in peace at 18th on the Club Ladder and 54 Countries Visited.  

With sadness, yr sec'y. 

Mr P announces visits to Haiti, Oman, Qatar and UAE -- up to 68 countries.  

Close observers of these proceedings may have noticed that none has appeared for the past 15 months.  That says more about your secretary than the peripatetic members.  Countries have been visited!  Apologies to members whose travel may not be recorded here; a quick review of the List, always merited, will both confirm its completeness and inspire movement.

Our founder and beloved chairman visited Uganda, Governor D Switzerland, Ms v H Russia, Mr B Bangladesh and yrs truly Angola, Colombia and Peru.
 
Mr v/d Z visited Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe Zambia, Qatar, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Uganda, rocketing into first place, with 105 countries, past our leader for the past decade, Mr H., who remains at 101.  :-)

VTY, yr sec'y.

Guinness Will Leave St James Gate Brewery in 10760

Mr Secretary, 


I just returned from a tour of the Guinness brewery in Dublin, which is subject to a 9000 year lease by Arthur Guinness.  We had the obligatory tasting session and enjoyed the fab view from the brewery's top floor. The black beer smells nice and hoppy but, in the end after a taste, I preferered the French sauvignon blanc to toast to the new country. 

Yours, 

Ms v/H


[From Wikipedia: Arthur Guinness started brewing ales from 1759 at the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. On 31 December 1759 he signed (up to) a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery.]

v/d Z flies to top from down under

Mr Sec'y,

The Climate Change review panel tour returned to Auckland Sunday morning. We visited the Marshall Islands (serious vulnerability), Fiji, Micronesia, Tonga, Kiribati and Western Samoa. Mostly hotel drinks -- I'll send the details when I can. Guess the club can celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a new leader. Looks like I may get a bunch more a year from today -- conference is in the Caribbean.

[Sec'y's note: Mr v/d Z, at 102 countries, now stands on top of the List of Countries Visited].

v/d Z consumes anchor

Mr v/d Z wrote "anchor and pinot noir were consumed in Malaysia and New Zealand!"

Rien de Mali

Yr sec'y met Mr Brady in Bamako. Photos were taken (as was merlot), but sadly are not yet in our possession!

Mr G Climbs

Mr G is on the climb -- country number 62, Ethiopia, and a tie with Mr K.

Mr B @ Work

Just completed a 4 day sejour on the Bahamas. I assure you – this required dedicating myself 24/7 to schmooze a range of donors. In any event it puts me at 76 countries, still 5 countries behind the very worldly Mr. Earle. As you can imagine it was tough putting on shoes and a jacket while staying at the Vegasesque Atlantis resort on Paradise Island (along with 2,500 other Caribbean HIV conference attendees). Here you see me here sipping a tasty Kalik Gold lager (doing the needful), and munching on a conch salad. The Bahamas stand apart from many of its Caribbean brethren in terms of its successful offshore banking and general cleanliness. Amazing that within this orderly environment more than 3% of the adult population is living with HIV (mainly due to the extremely large Haitian migrant workforce).

Peace Building Movement

After a bit of break I am back on the road and looking for points. Next week I will be in Ethiopia for some low hanging fruit, but this week a slightly more prickly pear to pluck, North Sudan. In fact I was here a few weeks ago, and to my shame, not appreciating local customs fully, I failed to meet all club requirements. However, a second bite of the prickly pear and I was better prepared; with exceptionally strong (and rule compliant) mouth-wash especially imported from Loretto, Kentucky. A hard earned point but I believe but a point all the same.

Attached, also find a photo of an amusing sign I happened to see hanging discretely above the gents (or rather the "The Peace Building Toilet") in the office of a UN agency I happened to visit (and obviously won’t mention to avoid unnecessary embarrassment). But I must say, when I whipped out my iPhone to take a snap, I got a very dirty look from an earnest looking young women in the impeccably tasteful, global-and-yet-oh-so-ethnic-and-at-one-with-the-downtrodden-at-the-same-time, ‘neck ornament’ - but hang em’; A couple of us thought it was very funny. And if you can’t laugh at a bit of toilet humor...

So I wish all club members, peace-building movements, wherever their destination.

Warmest,

Grant.

The World's Newest Country

Greetings from Juba in South Sudan, the world's newest country. Tonight I did the needful with the locally brewed "White Bull" beer while dining on the banks of the Nile. To be confirmed by our secretary, but I believe this moves me from 9th place to a tie at 8th with Mr. Negus. I only regret that delayed permits prevented me from visiting Khartoum on this same trip and making it a two-fer. Next time......

Dar es Salaam Chapter Meeting

Messrs Karam, Earle and Chapman, with Special Guests, Messrs Manchester and Crapper, combined Club business with queries relating to Another Club such as "what was the name of our first representative in Eritrea?" [Mr Earle retrieved the answer in a mere a 48 hours; by that standard, I'm sure the rest of us would have come up with an answer by the end of the year]. All conversations concluded with a tale of our Dear Founder in the early 90s. Odd that. Mr Earle noted concern that some members appear to be actually trying to visit countries. Firm denials were issued all around.

3G = Ghana, Golf and Goats

Mr Secretary, After a fine game of golf at the Celebrity Golf Club in Accra Ghana today, there ensued a discussion on whether the course was to be qualified as a goat track or not. The participants in the earlier match between Ghana and China did not seem to be occupied too much with this issue, nor was I as my golf partner and I had won the game by the time we Teed off the 16th hole. The cool Star beer afterwards helped settle the issue, the caddies received a nice tip and we all agreed that, as nobody had lost a ball in the lagoon nor was anyone bitten by a viper, plus that the scorecards were sponsored by Porsche, the course was not quite a goat track. With that, I humbly report my visit to a new country. MvH

Bob Sahib @ One Tuna Beach

Mr Secretary,
Lovely Lion Lager on the Beach of Unawatuna, Sri Lanka! You would love it here even more than India - colonial and clubby for sure, yet cleaner, fewer touts, and dynamism post civil war! Bob v/d Z

VDZ: Ain't No C2H6O Where He's Gone

Mr Secretary,

I am writing to report that I visited KUWAIT (new country) en route back from South Korea (not new). Painfully, I searched for two days the entire city, and every corner of every single mall in this town, but I can assure you: there ain’t any C2H6O in that country. Thank you for having confirmed that this is indeed a visited country according to Article 3.1.

Bob vdZ

Washington Chapter Meeting

[Mr Sempliner's absence being noted, a quorum was present]

Katrinka writes:

With Malcolm D-nald as our beloved benchmark -- I'd say we all look prettttty darn good, quoi. Will, shabash on hosting in your beautiful home; Andrew, great to have u back in town, and a good excuse for a gathering, Steve, thanks for the ride, country club stories and chocolate motorcycle, Peter, a real treat to get you to stay up past your bedtime and good on you for keeping PSI en forme, quoi. And Daveed -- always a delight to catch up with you; we promise to visit u at your air-conditioned digs at Walter Reed. As for jobs -- I hear there might be an opening as CD for PNG...

Love you guys,

Our founder writes:

Great picture, great time, great summary, and maybe worth inclusion in the notes for the Country Club as an ad hoc Membership get together, even though no drinks were visibly noticeable in the picture.

If anyone needs to reach me tonight, you can find me in one of DC's cooling shelters, I think near the Armory

Minutes.

1. The Chapter had a lively conversation about The Good Old Days, which none could clearly remember.

2. We drifted in and out of a largely substance free discussion concerning Article 3.4 of Our By-Laws, with our Founder concluding, in a nod to revisionism, that it made no sense. Here is the Article in question:

"3.4 A Visited Country that, subsequent to the qualifying visit, splits into two or more countries, can only be counted as a single Visited Country. The Member will elect which of the issuing countries shall be recorded as a Visited Country."

3. The Chapter gave the highest of praise to the gracious hosting and culinary skills of our dearest member, Mr W!!

VTY, yr sec'y

Two for None

Our newest member, Mr PC, visits two countries, frugally.

Excuse my informality, and certainly this incorrect method of notification. But I hereby and boldly lay claim to my 82nd and 83rd countries respectively: Papua New Guinea and Australia. The latter having been visited in full conformance with the appropriate by laws of this fine club, yet without having secured in advance the absolutely necessary visa. The ensuing difficulties at the border form the stuff of legends, yet I will spare you the details in this missive, knowing full well as I do that official club communication protocol requires that members relate such details only while suitably armed with liquid refreshment of the type normally served in such establishments where the purpose of dialogue speaks to the higher and more, shall we say, refined principles of communication.

As to photographic proofs of my exploits, as have been submitted by some of our esteemed membership in similar circumstances, I can only plead that my usual personal staff were not in my company, and thus the necessary assistance was not available to record these events on any media, whether that be using my habitual chemical plates, or using the latest technology, which I take as being some sort of photographic film. Yet I would only be too happy to show you my passport, which indeed does bear the markings of the official border entries and sorties affixed by the appropriate authorities in the performances of their duties. As to whether I consumed liquid refreshment during these visits of the type that is normally reserved for gentlemen such as I, I trust that my reputation well precedes me and I beg your forbearance in lieu of any sort of formal evidence to same. I would, however, be only too glad to provide references as it seems that I need to settle some accounts with the various establishments visited in the course of my travels, as I was unaccountably short of the local currencies, and I had promised to wire the appropriate remittances upon my return.

I remain, Sir, in your debt, and I look forward to your speedy confirmation of my exploits, secure in the knowledge that I am fully and irrevocably in possession of 4th place, absent any dubious claims by Mr. Earle.

South Sudan Becomes 193rd UN Member State; Club Denominator Changes to 194

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South Sudan Becomes 193rd Member of United Nations

Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 9:15 am UTC

Posted 3 minutes ago

The national flag of newly independent South Sudan has been raised outside the United Nations after becoming the world body's 193rd member on Thursday.

Hundreds of diplomats gathered outside U.N. headquarters in New York to see the flag being raised for the first time after the U.N. General Assembly admitted the country by acclamation.

On Friday, a U.N. telecommunication agency made another gesture in recognition of South Sudan's landmark independence.

The International Telecommunication Union assigned South Sudan a 211 dialing code at the country's request.

The number symbolizes the year South Sudan became its own country after approving a referendum in January.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has praised Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir for ensuring that the south's referendum for independence and its results were honored. He said the north and south share a common destiny and must see a future as true partners, not rivals.

The world's newest nation declared independence on Saturday, splitting from Sudan. The two sides fought a bloody 21-year civil war that ended in 2005.

The now neighboring countries are still trying to work out disputes over borders and oil revenue. The Ethiopian government says it has started deploying troops to the disputed Abyei region this week. The U.N. Security Council recently authorized deployment of a 4,200 strong-Ethiopian peacekeeping force to monitor the situation there.

Just One More Thing...

Mr. Secretary,

Colombo. Wasn’t there a 70’s TV detective by (almost) the same name? If so, he’d doubtless be able to put me at the Taj Hotel in Colombo in the attached photo. But he’d probably have known that that glass I’m holding isn’t really an alcoholic beverage. Nor is it a purple Japanese fighting fish. It’s just the floral decoration from table where I’m sitting. You couldn’t get a drink on the day that picture was taken because of the full-moon festival. Luckily for me, I’d taken a Lion beer in my hotel room the night before.

Mr B