With all of the news in the world, I hope that you have been keeping track of an important competition that is taking place in Qatar. I am referring, of course, to the Qatar Camel Mzayen Club’s Camel Beauty Contest. Organizers are calling it a “camel beauty world cup.” Camels from the Gulf states are taking part in this important competition. You can tell that they are serious because of the care that has been taken to prevent cheating. Abdallah Mohammed Andib, head of the medical committee, told a BBC reporter about some of the lengths owners will go to in an attempt to win. Owners will use botox injections, fillers, and silicon to enhance the appearance of their animals, but the medical committee examines each camel carefully to detect signs that the animal has been altered. Cheaters have been caught and expelled from the competition.

Many people in other parts of the world don’t understand the seriousness with which camel beauty contests are undertaken.

The story reminds me of a tale told several years ago by a friend. Before the Covid pandemic my friend loved to travel. She set out to take a memorable trip with each of her grandchildren when they reached their teen years. She and her granddaughter set out on a grand tour of the Mideast including visits to Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. They visited important biblical sites, Mount Nebo, and Petra, the ancient city of rock featured in the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” As they traveled, they met many local people including bus drivers, tour guides, and vendors selling various items to tourists. At one point she was talking to a young man who was trying hard to speak English though it clearly wasn’t his native language. He complimented her on her granddaughter, saying, “Your daughter is very beautiful, no?” She agreed, and made no attempt to correct the generational shift from granddaughter to daughter. He then asked, “Has anyone offered a camel for her?” Thinking that he was talking about an opportunity to ride on a camel, she responded that they had not yet received such an offer, but they might be interested. This was very interesting to the young man who began to talk excitedly, only to reveal to my friend that he wasn’t talking about a camel ride, but an offer of a camel as a bride price to marry her granddaughter. Once she realized what he was talking about, she embarrassedly found a way out of the conversation. She returned from her trip with this wonderful story that she has told many times and has been repeated by her friends, including me.

I have had the joy of traveling with our children to many interesting places, but we never made a trip to the mideast. I did purchase a ride on a camel for our daughter in Australia, but I don’t think she would report it has a high point of her visit to the continent. She found camel riding to be a bit smelly and uncomfortable for her. I, on the other hand, thought it was quite fun, though we only rode the camels around a loop in an enclosed corral. No one offered to exchange a camel for my daughter. I found out rather early in her life that she would be making the decisions about who she would date and that she had no interest in an arranged marriage. And I have to admit that she has made a very wise choice in the selection of her husband. 11 years into their marriage, they enjoy each other very much and are very good parents for our grandson. We’ve grown to love our son-in-law and appreciate his wonderful nature.

I am thinking that a beautiful daughter is worth much more than a beautiful camel, but then again, I don’t really take camel beauty contests as seriously as they are regarded in Qatar.

If you aren’t into camel contests, you might be interested to note that the world’s largest collection of Pokémon memorabilia was recently up for auction at Hansons Auctioneers, a highly respected sales house for antiques and fine art. I don’t think that Pokémon characters are antiques, so they must be fine art. I’ve bought a few bits of Pokémon items for our grandchildren on occasion. We visited Japan twice when our daughter lived there and we saw several shops that sold only Pokémon items. I never got into Pokémon games and don’t know the names of the characters, but I guess to those who are really into it, a collection of items is quite valuable.

However, bidders at the auction of the world’s largest Pokémon memorabilia collection apparently didn’t think that the collection was as valuable as the owner’s estimate. The 20,000 items, including games and action figures was expected to bring up to £300,000, did not reach its reserve and so was not sold. The seller has said before the auction that a few sentimental items were not included in the lot offered for sale. According to the auction house, the collection included trading cards, video games, manga, films, posters, toys, action figures, books, and even toilet paper, with items from the UK, US, France, and Japan. It was presented as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own the single largest collection of Pokémon memorabilia that has ever come to the market”.

Apparently buyers decided to pass on the opportunity. The owner, who was selling for financial reasons, still has her collection and, I guess, is strategizing on how it might best meet her needs. I’m not sure what happens next when the collection fails to sell at auction. I suppose the owner could consider breaking up the collection and selling it in smaller lots, though 20,000 items might take a lot of time and effort to turn into cash. There could be a lot of negotiation required to move all of the items.

I wonder of the owner would consider a trade for a beautiful camel. There might be someone willing to deal - especially if the Pokémon collector doesn’t know how to check a camel for botox.