Stalker will be interested in the upcoming Olympics games in Beijing not just for the sporting performances, but also sadly to watch what the doping offences unfold.
Every four years when the games come around you can be sure that several of the sportspeople will be disqualified for drug enhancement offences.
As the Olympic motto proposes - Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Swifter, Higher, Stronger".
Maybe it should be altered to chemically enhanced Citius, Altius, Fortius.
Stalker's interest though is piqued by mycological considerations. it's basically a well known fact that the Chinese love their mushrooms - for medicinal as well as nutritional purposes. But also the Chinese athletes swear by the magical effects that some mushrooms have on their sporting performances.
The cordyceps mushroom is one such fungus that seems to have enhancing compounds - for lung capacity and quicker recuperation. Stalker wonders if these natural substances are banned or are they the edge that will see China win more golds than ever before.
Stalker is no ethicist, and hasn't a clue whether such mushrooms constitute doping or not - but the Olympic lineage of the mushroom is not in doubt.
The ancient Greeks used to munch on a bit of Fly Agaric before entering the fray in the original games over 2000 years ago. Their wrestling which basically constituted the games in those days was augmented by the mushroom - it drove the combatants into a super maddened fury that apparently helped them fight all the harder.
Munching on some cordyceps seems a lot less drastic - and who knows it might just work.
However when you see how the cordyceps grows one might just baulk at eating them at all
