Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Stargazy Pie and how to improvise


Today, Nourishing Obscurity has a scoop.

Griselda Haveshott is a lady I met on my last trek through the west country of England in Lower Titcup, not all that far from Warminster at the local watering hole. When she told me she was the editor for practically everything at the evening newspaper, I just had to get her to guest post on this blog.

She took some persuading but here’s her first piece below without comment. Welcome, Griselda.



James has been corresponding with me for some time, I’m not sure why, and he asked me some time back to do a guest post on his blog. Well I don’t know but I said I’d give it a try if he’d edit it like so I wouldn’t look a complete twat. I write for the Greater Titcup Echo, the evening paper in Lower Titcup, down here in the west country and there’s hardly any time for my own writing, what with being the fashion editor, cricket correspondent and personal advice columnist, let alone Graeme Pollard, that’s my editor-in-chief, giving me the food and wine column as well now that Enid Barnes has left to have a baby and the twin boys are doing fine except for a slight bronchial complication with Justin, the younger by a half-head.

When I asked James what he wanted me to write on, he suggested women’s issues but I’m not the woman’s editor, that’s Bridget Proops, sister-in-law of the well-known Geraldine Proops, wife of Sir Raymond Proops the local squire round these parts although he’s sold off most of the manor and they’ve just kept up the Foss Hill house (we call it the Big House), overlooking Balsall Bridge over the Isk River. Actually, it’s just a stream really before it joins the Aster further down towards the lock but it’s quite pretty you know, the view from Squire Proops’s hill like.

I suppose the best way to open my account (my cricket writing shows out here) is to give you the recipe for Stargazy Pie. I’ve been accused by mean-spirited people of pilfering this from Jane Grigson’s Observer book of British cookery but it’s not, it’s mine, well some adjustments are mine anyway. And I never took nothing from Mrs. Beeton who’s not so pure herself when it comes to pinching ideas, is she?




Stargazy Pie

Roll out pastry for double crust pie plate. Cover the plate, brush the rim with water and roll out another piece for the lid. Keep it aside. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C or 400 degrees F.

Clean and bone the fish …

NB: Anyone who knows the west country knows that pilchards went out long ago and now all you get is mackerel so clearly you have to compromise here. I suggest pigeons. Yes, I know, I know. You can’t get squabs anymore so the best bet is the readily available wood pigeon. Not as tasty but there you are.

Here we need to go to Mrs. Beeton (Ward Lock edition) who say lop off the heads of a brace of pigeons, cut each of ’em into four and lie ’em on their bed of gore (no, that’s Wallace, i’n it?). Well, all right. Let’s do the chopped bacon and hard-boiled eggs. Well actually, you need to lay the pigeon bits down first, making sure the heads are sticking off the edge of the plate, gazing up at the stars, I expect this dish has to be prepared at night or at the very least, mid-evening.

Push the mix in between the pigeon bits, put the pastry lid over the top, pushing it down to the pastry below so that it forms a wavy effect as if it’s all at sea, this dish like. Did I mention you have to do a pastry base first? Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30 minutes, though as it’s pigeons like well you have to give ’em 15 minutes extra at a reduced heat.

Serve with a jug of Malmsey wine. If James will have me here again, I’ll be back in a few days with advice for the lovelorn: you should see the hanky panky down our way, what with Joe Kelly and Anita Proops the younger (she’s one of the Proops, you know) but that’s a story for another day.

James, how did I go first time? I wanted to put in a photo of the quartered pigeons you know but I suppose you know best and all the pictures are from Wikipedia like.



Didn't have a photo of the pie with the heads sticking out so had to follow this idea and have a porcelain head sticking out of the middle of the pie.

Crossposted at Griselda's new site.

[gore's spin] doesn't alter the phenomenon though


Tom Paine has posted this:

Al Gore is the 21st Century's Karl Marx. His influential presentation of pseudo-scientific gobbledegook and its adoption as gospel truth by the gullible masses (of intellectuals) will kill millions of the real masses and ensure that hundreds of millions more live their whole lives in unnecessary poverty because of arrested economic development.

His ideas justify ruthless centralisation of state power on "humanitarian" grounds and are therefore irresistibly attractive to politicians of a certain ilk, who will live high on the hog behind closed doors while their subject peoples suffer and die. Stupid mug punters will fall for the spiel because it's "for a better future." It will all collapse in chaos, with only Guardian journalists and British academics still believing in it when the scales have fallen from everyone else's eyes. The parallel is exact.
Yes Tom, no argument there. The climate change issue is being used to centralize power on humanitarian grounds. Unfortunately it doesn't alter the basic phenomenon itself, which I've posted on many times. There is firm evidence at least to counter head in the sand sceptics but the best evidence is to visit Russia or other northern area and see it for yourself. Moscow is too "city" to be taken as evidence.

The point is that it does exist but has been hijacked by the Gores for political purposes, one of those purposes, I feel being to discredit the whole phenomenon, which I see has happened in most of the sphere already.

It's more complex than categorical statements would have us believe.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

[adriano celentano] wild man of italian music

Adriano Celentano was, I believe, the first Italian popular singer I ever heard, long before I started studying Italian here or plagiarizing Welshcakes!

The youtube below is my favourite from the wild man of Italian pop who has attracted severe criticism over many decades for his outspoken views and antics, at the same time enjoying great adulation.



Una Rosa Pericolosa

Non provocarmi mai
non provocarmi mai
o scoppia la guerra tra noi
femminilità
son d'accordo ma
ma non marciarci sai
non distruggere
questo amore mai
è tutto ciò
che tu hai
quanti brividi dai
con quello sguardo provochi
Tu accendi i fiammiferi
che poi si spengono
e il buio ritorna
perché lo fai
ci son pericoli
che non si vedono
non sono evidenti
ti accorgi poi

Tu sei una cosa
pericolosa e preziosa
dipinta di rosa
che per il freddo non sboccia mai
nemici noi è un dolore sai
se giochi tu io non gioco più

I fuochi divampano
e accende il tuo fascino
non sai rinunciare e allora vai

Tu sei una cosa
pericolosa e preziosa
dipinta di rosa
che per il freddo non sboccia mai
nemici noi è un dolore sai
se giochi tu io non gioco più

I fuochi divampano
e accende il tuo fascino
non sai rinunciare e allora vai
oltre i limiti c'è l'ignoto sai
pensaci bene
o resti o vai
pensaci bene
o resti o vai
o resti o vai...

[velvet quiz] soft on your mind



1. The 1969 group, featuring Lou Reed and John Cale was the Velvet _____ .

2. The phenomenon whereby one is stuck in a well paid rut is known as the velvet _____ .

3. The story of the Brown girl who rides her horse to victory at the Grand National was known as _____ Velvet.

4. The art of velvet weaving probably originated in _____ .

5. Velvet's knitted counterpart is ___ .


Answers - highlight as usual:

underground, rut, national, kashmir, velour

[tennis, anyone?] tenth ball we've lost


Couldn't resist the above from Theo. Who'd be the ball boy?

Speaking of things ancient, which we weren't, Dick Madeley suggests that the:

Wormwood buttering rack, Edwardian rat-hair doormat, woodworm in French fluting and the set of wooden birthing stirrups ...
... are not necessarily an essential accompaniment to the modern bric a brac home, to which he adds:

I’m constantly amazed by the success of shows that get misty eyed over common-or-garden tat.
Well yes, Richard.

[silly season] bit of doggerel


With apologies:

Silly season, and blogging ain't easy
Fish are jumping, and our friends are high
We're far less than rich, and the news ain't worth looking
So hush dearest bloggers, don't you cry.

One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing
You're gonna spread your wings and take to the sky
But till that morning, there is nothing to blog on
With your readership already out on the fly

In a few days it's my blog birthday and it began in that season where the major bloggers who ordinarily run fiendish comment moderation and word verification now deign to remove them and actually make it easy for the poor reader.

It's the time when those who rely on the MSM for material reap a bitter harvest [mixing the seasons a little] and when the beach and other fine places are calling. What of the dogged blogger then - the day in-day out type who toils to attract the reader?

Here's a toast to you - to all blogfriends who perhaps lack the resources, perhaps lack the plans to visit exotic climes, who blog on and on into the starry summer night with the cicadas kicking up a din outside your window, with the humid wind buffeting their evening stroll to the pub or with those green and pleasant hills beckoning to be walked upon.

Here's to my fellow bloggers.

[top ten] political blogs to think over


Suppose the Top Ten UK Political Blogs would need to include Iain Dale, Devil's Kitchen, Mr Eugenides ... and then the thinking caps then go on as to who would fill the other spots.

Bloghounds' Donal, Steve and Andrew would be strong contenders for a start. What of our economics bloggers?

And will the Scots be allowed in?

Monday, July 21, 2008

[housekeeping] one day out

Looks like one of those paint by numbers pics but it is more likely real.


Major day in Real Life today so light blogging, hopefully later ... plus visiting.

For Bloghounders, can't process anything just now, sorry but other steering committee hopefully will.

Have a good Monday, readers.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

[day at the seaside] bloody hot

Marina di Modica

Not complaining, mind.

Following on from this morning’s post, arrived home and we’d been invited to the beach for the day. This might sound like a wonderful thing but not:


1. if one’s chest is as white as an old man’s flanks;

2. if one needs to be within range of certain facilities, at this decrepit age;

3. with the temperature rising into the high thirties;

4. if it’s envisaged by our deeply tanned hosts that we’ll lie around like lobsters for a few hours on a rocky outcrop near the end of the beach.

Blowhole at the Marina di Modica

We went down to Marina di Modica and it wasn’t half bad. The sea breeze caressed us, the sailboats were out, the base of a large umbrella was stuck down a rock crevice and provided moderate shade and it didn’t feel as hot as it was.

Actually, it was a shortish time, during which I saw an old brick factory from a century ago with blowholes below it which had been used for pumped water way back when, the area where the turtles lay their eggs in season, heard the story of the landowner – the last of the aristocracy – who sometimes loses so badly at cards that he sells off tracts of land which then become developed into villages and other good things and so on and so on.

We also saw the open air theatre which was originally intended as a swimming pool but because certain measurements went awry, they decided to turn it to its current purpose instead.

The place is where the locals go and there are practically no tourists, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, when the area was finally opened up thirty years ago, Modican families built holiday homes down there and very soon the kilometre or so inland was filled up with them.

This in turn meant that large scale western development was not really possible, foreign capital, in recompense, allowed to develop areas left and right of Marina di Modica.

Another reason was that the authorities have specific foreshore bylaws which preclude such development. For example, any dwelling along the coast is not allowed to be altered in style in any way – in other words, no modern renovations.

A third reason is the lack of reliable public transport to the beach area, making it a cars only affair.


View from the balcony of the holiday house. The split level is the thing here which gives a striking effect - that and the peach and pink coloured concrete.

So anyway, it was back to our hosts’ seaside house for an extended lunch after Welshcakes' leaping around the rocks like a gazelle but the Higham pegged out after that and was soon fast asleep on a recliner on a balcony shaded by a canvas awning and umbrella.

Next thing I knew, we were on the scenic route back to Modica where Welshcakes mercilessly, with cocktail sticks, punctured a chicken she’d rolled and stuffed and another sumptuous repast is sitting in the pan ready to be deep ovened as I write and sip.

How was your Sunday?

I liked the light and shade here - the neighbour's staircase providing shade for us and our balcony providing shade for the people below

[sunday olive tree blogging] the not so ordinary life


The church bells are currently chiming across the valley, all 100 of them, calling the faithful to prayer [or is that the terminology of another religion?], I'm about to head down the shady road for a coffee and croissant, to read La Sicilia in its dead wood manifestation and Sunday has begun.

Yesterday we went down to Consorzio again and the sun was fierce along the way. It's got now so that it's too hot by about 9 a.m. and it doesn't let up until about 8.30 p.m. - "let up" meaning that the shutters can once again be thrown open across the town.

We divided responsibilities yesterday, Welshcakes and I - she would concentrate on the food photography and I'd do more of the cafe itself. We'd both commented immediately on reaching our "under the olive branch" haven that the variegated light looked almost surreal on the tablecloths. Welshcakes qualified that by saying it was more impressionist than surreal and she may well have been right.

Click on the pics and see what you think.

That white linen table cloth and napkins, the scrumptious "pranza" or repast, the service, the Moretti beer and the trees and shrubs themselves, let alone the garden furniture - all conspired to let the previous hellish week's troubles ebb away. It was in no way hot under that tree - perhaps it was warmish.

On the way back up the series of tracks and roads leading up the hill, leading to our hillside retreat, it was bloody hot. One thing which impresses here is that they can take what are virtually concrete boxes with holes in them as houses, add some balconies and walkways between buildings, set the boxes at varying angles to each other and paint them in light shades of apricot and peach and the result is the picture postcard stuff you see on good stands.

If there had been sea, you could be sure it would have been azure.

To cap off the effect, they make much use of foliage of the thicker, overhanging kind, many planter boxes and pot plants and the result is pleasing to the eye. When I mentioned to Welsh that the steep hill simply adds to the overall effect, I did not receive the glance of agreement I'd hoped for.

So, down that path again this morning and may your morning be one of great relaxation and pleasure, free of life's vicissitudes - if only for some hours.


Saturday, July 19, 2008

[thought for the day] retrospective


In the light of Moody's admission of computer error:

A mediocracy does not believe in innate ability. It believes that anyone can be a philosopher, mathematician, or central bank chief — provided they have had appropriate training. A mediocracy does not believe in the value of thinking, or in individuals having innate powers of judgment. It believes in following procedures, making rules, ticking the boxes.

[
Fabian Tassano]

Fabian quotes the FT:


As one senior risk manager writes ... “we did express to senior management that we lacked the analytical skills ...” (FT)

[empire class flying boat] the need for a rear deck



"Oh for the days of the roomy Empire class flying boats that actually had an (inside) promenade deck." [Gallimaufrey]

That's as may be, Gallifmaufrey ... but I still feel the need for a rear deck and railing, lovely though the promenade deck was.

[salmonella] we know why but it doesn't matter

You remember that recent salmonella outbreak, where tomatoes were blamed?

You know - where the USFDA banned them and stores pulled tomatoes from the shelves? Well, the FDA has now decided that they are fine but are still not ruling out that they might not be fine.

So why would they lift the ban if they're not sure?

However, FDA and CDC officials have not absolved tomatoes as a possible cause of the outbreak and are considering the possibility that both tomatoes and jalapeños have spread Salmonella saintpaul.

Could there be a reason for doing this prematurely?

[one year as someone else] who?

The ever-sublime Bryan Appleyard is torn:

This woman is an inspiration to us all. She is living as Oprah for one year. I am torn between living as the sublime Richard Madeley or sinking into the dark heart of Elberry.
While the first lady wasn't actually shape-shifting into Oprah, still, the principle holds water.

Who would you be for a year? Gordo? Cherie Blair? One half of the McCanns? Mugabe with his opulent monster status? The aging Bill Gates?

Yourself [perhaps with a bit more cash under the belt]?

Friday, July 18, 2008

[air safety] planes need decks and safety railings


Here's a good idea:

An allegedly drunken passenger has attempted to open an exit door of a Boeing 767 while the plane was 35,000 feet in the air.

The man was abusive to passengers and staff on the First Choice flight from Gatwick to Cuba before lunging at the door in an attempt to lift the handle.
I believe WC Fields attempted similar in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, stepping out onto the rear deck, losing his drink over the railing and toppling after it, to land softly in a clifftop garden where a naive young nubile was well and truly surprised.

With news of airlines finding new ways to cope with rising fuel costs, there might be something in this for them.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

[thought for the day] thursday evening


Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z

Sigh.

[good intentions] or cynical foresight

Coffee growing in Ethiopia

From Wolfie:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say and without a doubt large swathes of that continent are starting to do a very good impression but little do the well-meaning and generous natured here understand how much they are contributing to the continuation or indeed deepening of that hell.

On the one hand you have the multinationals plundering natural resources whilst lining the pockets of corrupt and cruel governments but on the other you have the toxic results of generations of multinational aid that has laid waste to the fabric of several African nations.
From the Independent, via Wolfie:

They are now — one way or another — virtually all giving aid to or investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS.
From the Middle-East Forum, via Cassandra:

In the midst of the effort in Paris to bestow unprecedented sums of foreign aid on the Palestinians, there was little discussion of the unintended consequences — often deadly ones — of previous aid regimens. The recent history of foreign assistance shows a distinct correlation between aid and violence.

Perhaps aid itself does not cause violence, but there is strong evidence that it contributes to a culture of corruption, government malfeasance, and terrorism that has had lethal consequences for both Israelis and Palestinians over the past decade.
The most charitable thing to say is that it is sheer incompetence. The next most charitable is that it is dangerous incompetence and finally, that aid is given in the full knowledge of its consequences, under the current system of distribution and its known effects.

Wolfie and others take a hard line but stop a moment. You give 20 pounds and you think it is going to a poor child. Is it hell. Please take time to read all the related links on both sites and it is an eye-opener.

Compassion is in short supply these days but so are effective routes for aid to get to the right people.

[issues just now] posting when possible

Might be today. Might be some time.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

[westminster brown] new impervious stock

Final PMQ was today. Incidentally, here is some of the new livestock with a mobile feeder.

Gallimaufry takes issue though with the portrayal of politicians as pigs.

[paranormal] another one at naseby


To believe or not to believe:

The Northampton Paranormal Group caught the figure [of a ghost in uniform] on camera during a visit to the site of the Battle of Naseby, a field between the villages of Clipston and Naseby in Northamptonshire, last month.

Scepticism is fair enough, especially when one said: “I haven’t heard anything like this at the battlefield in all my association with it. It’s fair to say I’m a bit sceptical.”

That's fair enough.

But blind scepticism like: "The effect was caused by the camera itself," makes me sigh.

Really? They conducted experiments on the photo apparatus and investigated the area, did they? Or did they just say "camera effect" as a kneejerk reaction? Anything out of the ordinary must, by definition, be false?

Well how can any of us know? I'd like to see more evidence first but it doesn't seem wise to blindly pronounce it couldn't possibly happen.

[wordless wednesday] seems to follow

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

[thought for the day] tuesday evening


If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's research.

[Wilson Mizner - 1953]

Size 42 to fit all

Size 42 to fit all

Have you ever wondered how the government arrived at the figure of 42 days?

"According to Douglas Adams, in the ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, the answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life and everything", was asked of Deep Thought.

Deep Thought was the "Universe's biggest, best, fastest computer", perhaps built by Microsoft. Deep Thought considered the question for a million years or so, and delivered the answer, "42"...".

[germaine greer] this blog agrees with her

That's right, you read it here - this blog agrees with Germaine Greer:

Outspoken feminist academic and writer Germaine Greer has attacked Britain for slashing a university scholarship program which has drawn hundreds of Australian students to England.

From next year, Britain will no longer fund prestigious Commonwealth scholarships for students from developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. While the move will save about STG2 million ($A4.1 million) a year, money will still be available for students from developing Commonwealth countries.


I don't think anyone would argue that the primary assistance should be to the homegrown Brit of some talent but if there is any left over, then surely it should be available to Britain's closest allies within the Commonwealth, it's first former colonies, if you like.

After that you might cast the net over the third world. Greer is surely right in this.

[stop press] record berry season in iceland


Important news just in from Iceland Review:

It seems as if blueberries and crowberries will ripen unusually early in Iceland this year due to a warm May. The berry season normally begins in late August, but berry pickers have already spotted black and blue berries in some places this year.

“One week ago people were already eating crowberries and said they were good,” physician and berry-picking enthusiast Sveinn Rúnar Hauksson told Morgunbladid, adding that blueberries have also begin to ripen, especially in north Iceland.

The berry season ends in September as soon as the temperature drops below freezing point at night. “Now it looks as if we will have a long berry-picking season which begins about two weeks earlier than in the average summer,” Hauksson said.


Click here to watch an audio slideshow about berry-picking. Don't pass it by!

[harry's place] and the jihadi kerfuffle


All right.

Everyone has by now heard of the kerfuffle connected with Harry's Place and here is the issue in a nutshell:

1. From Cassandra;

2. From Ginro.

I don't visit Harry's Place because I was told two years ago it was ruled with a rod of iron by some shadowy figure who makes his writers toe the political line and unfortunately, the major bloggers who told me this did influence me. Maybe I should look at it again. I do remember commenting several times and not getting any response or acknowledgement whatsoever. Again, I might try to get some sort of response.

That's not really the point here though. The point is that a jihadi type wishes to stifle free speech [and the telling of what I have no doubt is the truth] by means of litigation.

Some readers will remember that my own blog was also pushed off the net on July 4th-6th by threat of litigation and I have no intention of opening that whole thing up again but it does lead one to think about such people.

I do recall a lot of personal support though from quite a few really good blogfriends plus others who were mere acquaintances and well-wishers and that was quite humbling. There is definitely a spirit of closing ranks in the sphere and that's what we should do now against ALL people who feel that litigation is the way to make their point.

If I employ the distasteful term "scumbag" for the Usmanovs of the world, then please forgive me. I can forgive and have done so. I can't forget.

Anyway, at Bloghounds, Cassandra has started the ball rolling and I join her in recommending that if you can see your way clear [we don't go for directives at Bloghounds], maybe you could run a banner of some kind [there's a BMP PNG which Blogger upload doesn't recognize and so I can't personally add it] at Cassandra's.

I'll put up something in the sidebar soon.

Is this where M3 is?

Is this where M3 is?



Monday, July 14, 2008

[thought for the day] monday


How can you govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?

Charles de Gaulle [1962]

[papa rimski on the move] beware all evil-doers

With the weight of that staff, he could easily beat them into submission


With a newly-tuned piano at hand and a borrowed kitten for company, Pope Benedict XVI was recovering from jet-lag in Australia Monday ahead of WorldYouth Day celebrations.

Make no mistake - that kitten is there to ward off Imhotep and the whole gang of underworld nasties. The Cross, of course, speaks for itself. When Papa Rimski travels, he means business. I wouldn't want to try it on when the Pope's armed and dangerous.

Supposed to be in Australia for World Youth Day. Well, all right. Fair's fair.

But don't you think there's also a case for World Senior Cits' Day? I can see it now - all of us zooming round on our mobility scooters and the Pope in his Popemobile. Surely it's time they brought the Popemobile back.

Perhaps we could have a Black Policeman's Day as well? Just a thought.


"At 3.8 metre and 15 kilogram, you attack at your own risk."

[integrity] arnie would never go opportunistic

This is so unfair to Arnie, who would never ever cut a deal or do anything remotely ambitious:

But instead, when asked, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed to suggest he would have no qualms about joining an administration run bysomeone called Barack Obama -- who, if memory serves, is the Democrat actuallyopposing the Republican man the Republican Schwarzenegger endorsed for president.
Nah - it's just another blogger speculating.

Isn't it?

[earthquakes] and other fun happenings

Cheated here - this isn't Sicily at all - it's America.

There was an article in La Sicilia yesterday [the dead wood version ]about Mt. Etna and how tourists are determined to climb it, knowing full well the dangers.

Actually, that is my reading of it in my very limited Italian – I was scouring it for meaning yesterday morning over the cappuccino and croissant at Vecchia Caffe, a counterpoint to the news that yet another tourist had been lost to the dreaded Etna.

We actually live further down the coast from there and so the question is not so much rapid lava flow but earthquakes. I was asking Welshcakes and she said there had been a bad one up north in the late 80s and various tremors all over Sicily since then.

I asked if she had experienced one and she said that yes, the walls seemed to move like the beginning of a dream sequence in a film. Wow. When I asked if she thought the Big One was therefore coming, she gave a nervous laugh and said, “I hope not.”

She continued:

“When the sky is a funny colour, not dark, not grey, perhaps ashy and it seems sort of lower than usual – that’s when the Sicilians start to panic. Raffaele apparently said to all within listening distance about him: ‘Hope we don’t all die.’ ”

Hey, I can live with that.

Welshcakes continued: “They’re very philosophical about it here. If it’s got your number on it, they say, then it’s your turn.”

Hey, I can really live with that – makes life a bit more interesting, don’t you think?

So here I sit, typing to you and waiting for the Big One. There are 100 bells in this town which will peal in a Hemming sort of way and we can all ask one another in our mad, frenetic helter skelter flight:

“Did the earth move for you?”

For those who are a little worried about us down this end, I’ll put a helpful link in the right sidebar where you can check out our earthquake or volcano danger on any given day. Actually, the chances are fairly low and from what I can gather, these are our main dangers in southern Sicily:

1. Coffee poisoning;

2. Being run over by a Vespa or Lambretta;

3. Dehydration;

4. Getting closer than 200 metres to local politics;

5. Old age;

6. Volcano;

7. Earthquake.
Touch wood.

[july 14th] not forgetting july 4th


It's the French National Day and I urge everyone, if you haven't already done so, to go down into your local village and partake of petit pain or croissants and coffee. You might even get wicked and toast Bastille Day with a fine cognac [but not before 11 a.m.]



To the Americans, I apologize for July 4th but I ... er ... didn't have a blog at the time and so thought I'd wait until today. May your sovereignty and constitution remain intact in the next few years, despite the severe assault on it from within and from outside. Stand firm, America.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

[thought for the day] sunday evening

A loo with a difference


WARNING: TOILET TALK AHEAD

Definition of an excursion:

Fearful and fraught foray far from a loo


Whilst not yet exactly incontinent, nevertheless, the thought of an excursion, a day trip, fills me with dread for these reasons:

1. Inaccessibility of a Little Room;

2. Inaccessibility of water;

3. Tedium and tiredness.

It would have to be a mighty interesting and well-equipped expedition which would draw the Higham from his hermit-like existence.

And you?



Mobility GTS – the only way to go

[the idyll] and the hidden serpent


The picture above is the Caffe Consorzia where we went for lunch.

It was balmy and idyllic, not to mention the quality of the food itself. Sitting under the giant olive tree with those leaves so easy on the eyes, one could be envied - see Welshcakes' post for details of the meal we ate.

So to come home, try to set up a new Yahoo account for Bloghounds, to go through the usual first page of filling in details, press the button and then be confronted with a second page asking to provide credit card details so they can confirm our age - that was beyond the pale.

Exactly what the heck are Yahoo up to? Have you too had any problems? Try setting up a new Yahoo account.

Meanwhile, back to the coffee and croissants.


Saturday, July 12, 2008

[britain] will there be one left to return to


We were watching Skynews and BBC and had the same thought simultaneously - the way Britain is portrayed there now, if it can be believed,well - what sane person would want to live there with all its PC, ethnic issues, ASBOs, stabbings everywhere, druggies, crying bereaved families and so on?

Of course, I don't trust Sky or the BBC as far as I could kick them and probably, out of the dangerous urban areas, it's quite OK but still - are you worried about living there, British readers of this blog?

And what of your economic situation? House prices, credit and mobile phone debt? Mortgages? The surveillance society? The vastly increased chance of arrest on technicalities? The situation in schools and with lost national data files left by people on trains? Is all OK with you in that green and pleasant land?

Because if not, then it seems to me it's a bit like, say, Welshcakes, Guthrum and myself zipping off years ago, on our respective starships and meeting up one day on Alpha Centauri, where the news has just come through to the big screen that the earth has blown itself up.

Oops - we're now permanent expats for the remainder of our lifetime. Even Grendel seems worried, opting to detour to Russia instead of immdeiately returning.

Just how bad is it over there now?

[doping] does sport have a chance


You have to wonder what chance sport has:

Manuel Beltrán, who rides for the Liquigas team of Italy and who is a former teammate of Lance Armstrong’s on the Discovery Channel team, tested positive for EPO after the first stage of the race. Beltrán was withdrawn under the terms of a contract that all of the teams signed with the Tour organizer.
This is not just a bleat about "oh how bad everything is these days" but a question every sportsman faces.

When weight training in Russia, one learnt who the steroids boys were [a high profile gym down the road where they were all Adonises with not an ounce of fat] and the "clean" trainers such as one at our place who always carried a certain "lining", shall we say.

He and I were chatting about competition and how he had to give it away because he just couldn't compete against the stoked up bodies in that field. No point competing if you're not going to win, they'd say. Ben Johnson would understand.
This blogger is most certainly not ant-sport - quite the opposite, in fact - and yet there doesn't seem a solution to this thing.

Friday, July 11, 2008

[bloghounds are go] and taking members

Delighted to be able to report that August 11th is the day we launch officially.

There has been considerable discussion and questions have been mulled over concerning the setting up; there have been some teething troubles too and yet here we are.

The site itself is a combined website/forum/mailing list and comes complete with bar, swimming pool and jacuzzi. We hope the user login thingy is not too offputting and that you enjoy your visits there.

During the establishment process we noted some negativity from parts of the sphere but this was quite overwhelmed by the positive feedback and the well wishes - so we're a happy bunch today who feel we have a worthwhile group, Bloghounds whose humble aim is to associate with the best in the blogosphere, the up and comers and even the shy and reticent, with a view to mutual support, encouragement and assistance.

You might like to take a look.

[sarko and mandy] love and mutual understanding


Had to chuckle - from the latest Private Eye [N1214]:


Sarko: Idiot! Cochon! Rosabif! Vous etes un
laughing stock.


Mandy: Vous can talk, matey, avec votre oo-la-la avec Mlle Bruni
et votre platform shoes.


Sarko: Watch votre step, Matelot ...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

[self promotion] how to lose readers fast

Routes of the internet, according to Wiki


This post is for the inexperienced blogger. All the rest of you, forgive it please.

There's a lady who is doing the rounds of our part of the sphere and though she means well, she is doing wrong. I am not guoiltless myself of having done this from time to time but I try not to as far as possible.

In short, this lady is going to people's blogposts and commenting along the lines of "Please visit my site." There are a number of things wrong with this and it shows her inexperience as a blogger.

1. It is against generally accepted blog etiquette to go round actively promoting yourself.

2. It has a negative effect on those who visit and more will decide not to go to that "newbie" site than will decide to go there. There's a bloodymindedness factor here.

3. There are alternatives:

a. Your name itself in most comments is a hyperlink and so if you have written a witty or pertinent comment, people are likely, in their own time and way, to wander over to you and see what you have. If you push them or appear to be trying to, they'll be irritated.

b. If you were to actually read that blogger's post and get into the discussion on it [the thing almost all of us want], then put a link to his-her post inside your own post on the issue, you've helped him-her and helped yourself through the backlink system.

Many blogs have the system that if you link to someone's post, it shows up in that comments section and other bloggers see it and might click on your own post link displayed there.

That is the way to go.

c. The only other way is the hard grind - get round to other sites and show an interest. Only then will they come to yours. To keep them coming to yours, you have to write interesting posts on a regular basis. There's no other way out of it.

For an interesting article on the blogosphere and MSM, Ian Appleby has this piece, hat tip Tiberius.

[sleeping well?] maybe it's time to act


CEOs, ordinary mortals, doesn’t matter who - - your existence is built around four pillars:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Sleep
4. Spiritual calm
and being positively valued by others.

My take is that if you religiously practise the first four, the fifth will often suggest itself to you anyway. I’m not a guru but it stands to reason.

This blogging though – I need sleep:

Sleep ...

One of the tricks is to schedule rest and sleep. There are enough stats on the web not to clog up the blog with these but in a nutshell, what it comes down to is that a scheduled 20 minute nap in the middle of the day is the best, followed by adequate sleep at night at home. Sleeps during the day are right out!

How to schedule it? That’s easy – you have a meeting with Mrs Jones at that time, can’t be disturbed under any circumstances [mobile off] and the office door is locked. Poontang with the secretary is one other possibility but a 20 minute snooze, not a deep sleep, is the best variant of them all.

But it’s not enough to schedule sleep and this takes aggressive planning in itself. It’s being able to wind down that’s the really difficult part.

Hyped up – that’s the problem.

Maybe it comes down to temperament - some of us are more sanguine than others. The Sherlock Holmes thing about his mind being a train, running wildly out of control and off the tracks if it is not connected up with the work for which it was designed - that holds water. And yet Holmes had his breakdowns as well and we're surely not advocating the opium.

The next quote's link has been lost in the mists of time but I've kept these words on stress:

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings.

As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

I also quoted Douglas Adams in a recent post about the ‘fundamental interconnectedness of all things’, a repackaging of an old truism. More specifically:

A report released by VicHealth yesterday shows that workplace stress is directly linked to up to a third of cases of cardiovascular disease in men and a third ___ depression cases in women.

But it is not only individuals who are paying the price. Businesses are hit by increased absenteeism and employee turnover, the report says.

"Workplace stress costs the entire community dearly in terms of human suffering and lost productivity," VicHealth chief Rob Moodie said.

The report reviewed 90 international studies, assessed exposure to stress in more than 1000 workers, and interviewed public and private employers, employer groups and trade unions.

Professor LaMontagne said exposure to stress at least doubled the risks of leading chronic diseases, including depression, cardiovascular disease and anxiety, and was therefore a significant contributor to the overall burden of disease in society.

[Melbourne Age, By Chantal Rumble, May 26th, 2006]

Suggested solution?

Flexible work schedules, improved communications, family-friendly practices and adequate compensation were key features of a less-stressful work environment, he said.

"The first thing all companies can do is communicate with their employees and work together in redesigning jobs to reduce workload and give them greater say or control in how their work gets done."

And one of the most quoted aspects of stress – was it sleep? Was it heck – most people don’t even consider it a risk. Oh, I only need three hours and a cup of coffee.

Bet if I followed you round and did a time ad motion on you, I’d find plenty of examples of how your body was fighting back.

Also, stressing out can be seen as a badge of honour – a sign of someone who’s making money hand over fist. Take a break for two weeks and Bob’s your uncle. Except that he’s not, the overall effect is cumulative and then we finally arrive at that pseudo-scientific syndrome – being burnt out.

Robert Roberts, MD, director of cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston says:

During sleep, blood pressure and heart rate have a chance to rest, and adrenaline quiets down. "That's good not only for the cardiovascular system but also for tissue repair. However, let's remember that the major risk factors for heart disease include high cholesterol and smoking," he says. "And certainly the biggest one today is obesity, which induces diabetes and increased blood pressure. The fact that sleep reduces blood pressure is reason enough to get more sleep."

[Jeanie Davis, Sleep, Less and More, Linked to Heart Disease, reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Monday, January 27, 2003, WebMD Medical News: Too Much or Too Little Sleep Can Raise Blood Pressure, Stress Hormones]

And don’t forget sleep apnea:

With each apnea, the brain receives a signal to arouse the person from sleep in order to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

People with untreated sleep apnea are generally not even aware of the awakenings but only of being extremely sleepy during the day. They may, however, realize that they snore or gasp for air during sleep. Loud snoring, punctuated with periods of silence (the apneas), is typical but is not always present, especially in children.

Consequences of untreated sleep apnea include high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, and weight gain. People with untreated sleep apnea may also complain of falling asleep inappropriately, morning headaches, memory problems, feelings of depression, reflux, nocturia (a need to use the bathroom frequently at night), and impotence.

Sleep apnea is treatable but it’s my guess that if you have it, you’re so stressed out already that you’ll not stop long enough to go out and fix it. Check these boxes:

Are you a loud, habitual snorer?
 Yes  No

Do
you feel tired and groggy on awakening?
 Yes  No

Are you often
sleepy during waking hours and/or can you fall asleep quickly?
 Yes  No

Are you overweight and/or do you have a large neck?
 Yes  No

Have you been observed to choke, gasp, or hold your breath during sleep?
 Yes  No
[The American Sleep Apnea Association, 1424 K Street NW, Suite 302, Washington, DC 20005, phone: 202/293-3650, Fax: 202/293-3656, www.sleepapnea.org]

Another one:

"We found that ... six ... hours of sleep is not optimal [when compared with eight]," Alexandros N. Vgontzas, MD, tells WebMD. "Twohours of sleep deprivation per night for one week is associated with increased sleepiness, decreased performance, and activation of the inflammatory system." Vgontzas, a professor of psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, is the author of a study on the effects of sleep deprivation.
In other words - fatigue.

Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness, exhaustion, or lack of energy. You may feel mildly fatigued because of overwork, poor sleep, worry, boredom, or lack of exercise.

Any illness, such as a cold or the flu, may cause fatigue, which usually goes away as the illness clears up. Most of the time, mild fatigue occurs with a health problem that will improve with home treatment and does not require a visit to a health professional.

A stressful emotional situation may also cause fatigue. This type of fatigue usually clears up when the stress is relieved.

Many prescription and nonprescription medications can cause weakness or fatigue. The use or abuse of alcohol, caffeine, or illegal drugs can cause fatigue.

A visit to a health professional usually is needed when fatigue occurs along with more serious symptoms, such as increased breathing difficulties, signs of a serious illness, abnormal bleeding, or unexplained weight loss or gain.

Fatigue that lasts longer than 2 weeks usually requires a visit to a health professional. This type of fatigue may be caused by a more serious health problem, such as:

A decrease in the amount of oxygen-carrying substance (hemoglobin) found in red blood cells (anemia).

Problems with the heart, such as coronary artery disease or heart failure, that limit the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle or the rest of the body.

Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, in which sugar (glucose) remains in the blood rather than entering the body’s cells to be used for energy.

Problems with the thyroid gland, which regulates the way the body uses energy.

A low thyroid level (hypothyroidism) can cause fatigue, weakness, lethargy, weight gain, depression, memory problems, constipation, dry skin, intolerance to cold, coarse and thinning hair, brittle nails, or a yellowish tint to the skin.

A high thyroid level (hyperthyroidism) can cause fatigue, weight loss, increased heart rate, intolerance to heat, sweating, irritability, anxiety, muscle weakness, and thyroid enlargement.

Kidney disease and liver disease, which cause fatigue when the concentration of certain chemicals in the blood builds up to toxic levels.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is an uncommon cause of severe, persistent fatigue.

If fatigue occurs without an obvious cause, it is important to evaluate your mental health. Fatigue is a common symptom of mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression. Fatigue and depression may become so severe that you may consider suicide as a way to end your pain. If you think your fatigue may be caused by a mental health problem, see your health professional.
[Healthwise, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1989, Boise, ID 83701, 2003]

So how to wind down? It takes great willpower. You MUST schedule time in your ‘graphic’ for the week. It’s as simple as that. Then, when you get there, it all depends if you have a good secretary-partner or not. If you do, then you can trust her not to allow ANYBODY through that door or onto that phone. If you know your 20 minutes is yours – all yours – then that’s a huge boost to be going on with. The next part you can do yourself.

For those who are interested, my archived postings on the rich and the dead [1&2] also addresses this matter. Johnathan Pearce, at Samizdata, has also touched on this. You'd need to use the search term "sleep" most likely as I don't have the link any more.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

[thought for the day] wednesday evening


There is no left or right in UK politics any more. This battle is about one thing:

Authoritarianism versus Liberty.

[Ian Parker Joseph]

Courtesy of The Broadsheet Rag

[runways] race and gender equality

Just had to link to this one, which you've no doubt already seen. As I put in the comments section:

"Sigh!"

[irish jokes] and jewish and australian and ...

Chukchi in Russia's north

There is still one Irishman joke Jams enjoys because of the sting in its tail:

An Irishman was looking for work in London. He goes to a building site where the Foreman says to him that he can have a job if he can answer this one simple question: "What is the difference between a girder and a joist"

The Irishman looks the foreman in the face and says: "That's simple. Girder wrote Faust and Joist wrote Ulysses."
It's said that nationalist jokes spring from irrational fear of or ignorance of another nation. Sometimes they just reflect arrogant pride in one's nation being superior to all others and target the most backward or vulnerable. In Russia, the Chukchi are the standard target but they do get their revenge:

A Chukcha and a Russian geologist go hunting polar bears. They track one down at last. Seeing the bear, the Chukcha shouts "Run!" and starts running away. The Russian shrugs, raises his gun and shoots the bear.

"Russian hunter bad hunter, however", says the Chukcha, "Now you haul this bear ten miles to the yaranga yourself!"
In Russia, the use of "odnako" or "however", is the usual way jokers identify the Chukchi, a bit like the Jewish "already".

Let's not even start on Jewish or blonde jokes.

[food supply] plus water equals power


Don't want you to worry or anything:


The government officials who are supposed to protect America’s food supply are not certain what has made almost 1,000 people ill in the last three months. At first it was raw tomatoes that appeared to be tainted with a rare form of salmonella. So, consumers avoided tomatoes, and the tomato business suffered mightily.

Health officials are still worried about tomatoes, but they’ve also raised concerns about jalapeño peppers. Or perhaps cilantro. Or maybe some brands of salsa. Somewhere. Meanwhile, people keep getting sick.

Seems to me that:

1. There are a lot a scare tactics being used on the populace just now, perhaps to soften us up for the main play down the track;

2. Food plus water supply equals a whole lot of power in a few hands. Joseph in Egypt springs to mind.

No Clue has a nice take on the food issue at her site.

[bloghounds] daily report is at the site

Today's report is up and you're welcome to pop over and look.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

[tuesday quiz] who said these things?


1. The good thing about them is that you can look at them with the sound turned down [of the Spice Girls].

2. The chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches.

3. Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, is a rose.

4. When I split an infinitive, G-d damn it, I split it so it will stay split!

5. Curtsey while you're thinking what to say. It saves time.

Clues

Musical groups, famous with libertarians, philosophy, hard-boiled detective, children

Answers, as usual, require you to highlight below

George Harrison, the Independent, 1997; Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, 1776; Gertrude Stein, Sacred Emily, 1913; Raymond Chandler, to a proof-reader, 1947; Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, 1872

[bloghounds] things moving along


We can say the steering committee is almost in place and will be calling for members in the next few days, once the infrastructure [mailing list, site etc.] is in place.

Some quite legitimate questions have arisen and need to be answered. These are my answers on my site but there will be a group statement on the actual site later.

[Speaking for myself, there was and is no intention of taking over BP though it would have been good to have been one of the steering committee and then retire. As someone said, it was testing the climate of opinion only.]

Purpose - the reason we felt that this group was needed was, roughly speaking, that people have demonstrated that they do like to be part of a respected group identity - there is resistance to losing that, they do like a happy, cheerful environment and one other thing...

As one of the founder members of BP, I can say there were errors made. The membership intake was indiscriminate in the middle of 2007 and that's where the problems sprang from [BNP issue etc].

The only way to overcome problems of that kind is to legislate, create a plethora of rules, rewrite them to meet changed circumstances etc. Someone within BP said that it could all have been prevented by firm but friendly entry requirements in the first place, where everyone both knew and accepted the few rules [see the criteria here]then it becomes relatively smooth sailing, give or take diversity of opinion from then on.

It does appear that already, in one day, people are seeing that there need not be a conflict of interest here.

In the end, whichever way you cut and dice it, it comes down to two choices - completely unfettered entry and then there is no way various people can be prevented from acting as they wish or else you run with restriction at entry point, after which it is just as unfettered and anyone can say anything but being of a certain nature, it's probably going to be a good atmosphere in a boisterous way.

The notion of carefully reviewing membership at point of entry meaning dull membership without spine is really rubbish. The names I've seen so far are not noted for their compliance and would reject any sort of control as anathema. Yet they're great bloggers.

And there are eight members of a blog-diverse steering committee all giving their opinions. There is a lot of give and take in that and certainly my own feelings and prejudices form only one eighth part of the total opinion and I know that at least three of these would be averse to anyone riding over the top of them.

Also, the message coming through loud and clear from the e-mails is that patient and sure is the way to go.

That's as it should be.