[quick lunch] don't be fooled.

No, don't rub your eyes - it is nourishing obscurity, not Sicily Scene and it's a food post.

We were just tossing up what to have for lunch today and Welshcakes decided to throw together this little lot, called Maria Teresa's chicken and together with it went the Roman dish, Vignarola, of various peas, beans, onions and so on. Not to forget the artichocke hearts, all slow cooked in olive oil.

Well all right, admittedly that one was already cooked [it's better on the second day]. And note the glasses of water, JMB.

We are also in the throes of the great boiler war.

We need a new boiler, it's leaking something awful and no one will do anything they're supposed to. Well now they seem to be as I went down and took a look and a new boiler drum was standing by so we can only guess when this water nightmare will end.

Anyway, enough for now. Off to have some supper.

[friday pause] to take in the wildlife

Isn't this both tragic and sweet?

Richard Havers writes of the owl saga:

Two have died. Both were on the ground having left the nest. Owls have their young at different times so these were the first born. The good news is we still have two left, one is out the nest and the other is still in it.

According to the local gamekeeper it seems like they've not had enough food and that's why the older birds have died.

Mrs. H. read up that if the owlets fall out the nest they're a goner as the parents stop feeding them, which is obviously why it was trying to get back....

Do pop over and read the rest of it ... and once you're done there, you might like to get abreast of the news about the bees, from Liz Hinds. Or even wish Ellee happy birthday. If you're hungry after all that, join us here. Or at the Crystal Ark, at Granville Island. And as evening falls, you could do worse than take this in.

Have a lovely Friday.

[connex rides again] the excitement of commuting

This may be true. After all, it is Connex, of British infamy. Here and here too. Now this:

Passengers have told The Age of their "terrifying" ride on the train that sped through the City Loop with an open door during Tuesday's peak hour.

Connex has confirmed a packed Sydenham train left North Melbourne station just after 8am with one door open, forcing passengers to hold on to each other for safety.

One reader, who was in another carriage, observed "screams and general panic" as the train left North Melbourne station.

"The train sped up and people starting pushing from the door and trying to secure space down the corridor or towards my door," the reader said in an email.

"On a couple of occasions, the train rocked violently and pushed people towards the open door. I became concerned that the doors as a whole were faulty and that the door I was pressed against could open."

And yet the beat up is pretty nauseating by The Age. Hell, hasn't anyone been on the Madrid underground with the swinging chandeliers crashing into the luggage racks? Hasn't anyone ever been on a big dipper?

Bit of excitement in a commuter day, methinks. Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading down the street for a cappuccino - entirely on foot.

[thought for the day] thursday evening

This evening, I plan to kill three birds with one stone:

1. Last evening Jeremy Jacobs commented on the “thought for the day”:

A bit profound for a Wednesday evening;

2. Jams O’Donnell also indicated that he’d like to see a good Wordless Wednesday from me;

3. Welshcakes was telling me how much she loved football and couldn’t stand even one day without it. I thought I’d take up Beaman’s idea and convert it into a poem.

For all three august bloggers, the result is here to read. Hope you enjoy it:

Thank you.

[youtube] your data now with another company

Ever post a youtube vid or watch one?

"Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Although Google argued that turning over the data would invade its users' privacy, the judge's ruling (.pdf) described that argument as "speculative" and ordered Google to turn over the logs on a set of four tera-byte hard drives."

What fun to be living in this day and age. James Barlow would certainly disagree with that statement, as he outlines the great parking dilemma:

If we define the problem to be "too many cars on the road", the general consensus amongst drivers seems to be that the solution is better public transportation systems for other drivers. But very few people have any desire to make the "modal shift" themselves.

Quite right and yet I'm currently on foot [well, actually I'm at the computer just now] but am thinking of a motorbike.

Just thinking, mind.

[awards] comment at the site

Not much blogging time this morning. Comment on the Awards is at the site [click pic in sidebar].