Saturday, April 29, 2006

City Council Exploits Child Labour

Its bring your duaghters and sons to work week in a fortnight. Unfortunately I'll be on holiday when Jimty and Jem bring their respective youngsters along. Jimty's lad asked if he could bring his friend too. Jimty explained that he couldn't as you could only take your own children with you. Jimty's youngest asked if he couldn't just pretend that his friend was also his son. Jimty explained that given his son's friend was mixed race, he might not be believed since all his colleagues also knew his mother who works in the same building. Jimty's son then asks if he couldn't just say he played around! Mortification indeed. Fortunately Mrs Jimty also saw the funny side.

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Holiday weekend starts here with a retro night in the Turf Hotel. Its a while since we've been in there. They have a quiz on a Friday, which if the truth were to be told is of a far higher standard than the quiz we normally attend on Sunday. Fewer participants though and less prizes and indeed less valuable prizes. Oh and there's also the Usual Suspects who used to regularly win the Sunday Quiz until they disappeared in some mystery. Well we didn't quite pull off a win, but we did come second, 1 point, behind the suspects and the other regular teams were quite impressed because the suspects apparently normally win with ease.

So then I go to the bar, where they have live music, provided by a guitarist and a keyboard player, who is none other than former "Rock God" Leo Bingham, check the posting on Saturday 11th September 2004. My god, things have reached a prety pass. Still a few decent covers and I've heard a lot worse.
posted by timesnewroman at 7:57 AM  

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Thursday, April 27, 2006

No.6 in an Occasional Series - Uncle Ho, Sportsman.

Uncle Ho - Equestrian
posted by timesnewroman at 7:44 PM  

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Holiday Countdown

From JustJane's World Cup Countdown, I borrowed this.


posted by timesnewroman at 9:22 PM  

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Sunday, April 23, 2006

Naked raw and rather tasty

Yummy!

Food has begun to dominate our lives. Its a Saturday, we watch The Saturday Kitchen in bed, with breakfast, which today is bagels with cream cheese and pastrami. I decide that I'm going to do Jill Dupleix's Beef dish of a sort and definitely her potatoes from the show. More than that, I've decided our adventure for the day will be a trip to Glasgow's Farmers Market. This means getting a move on as soon as the show is finished. We manage this and we arrive about an hour before it finishes, which can be a good time for snapping up bargains.

We might have gone to Ayr, but its the Scottish Grand National and the roads will be clogged up badly so its best to head the opposite direction. Speaking of the Scottish Grand National, I have just opened an account and placed a bet on Idle Talk "both ways". I know nothing or very little of gambling however I had to do this. Why? Because we had a sweep at work and I drew Idle Talk. The chap who does know a thing or two about horses reckoned that it was in with a good chance. The Scottish Grand National apparently doesn't have those very high fences like at Aintree so there doesn't tend to be major disasters involving the more fancied runners. After drawing the horse I went into a meeting lasting most of the afternoon and came out to be told that I have new horse! One probably with three legs and a jockey called Cartman I'm sure. Apparently sweep number one ended when the operator, Mr Tweede decided to take his ball home when someone, unknowing of the etiquette of sweeps went to pick their horse and had a look at the names (I actually typoed manes there - how bizarre?) to find one she liked. Said Mr Tweede went in the huff and cancelled whole thing gave folk their money back and someone else set up Sweep number two. Jimty picked me a new horse but I know that the original one was going to be my pathway to fortune. Hence I have to make a bet 2 quid each way. It came 4th so I get 2 quid. That's it I have become gambling man.

Anyway that was a bit of a digression. We get to the Farmers market and I am looking for oysters. I've never had oyster and I am going to have them tonight if I can find them. I do, theres a stall with seafood and the stallholder has local oysters. He's actually letting people try them for £1 au naturalle. He tells the assembled throng that your first oyster should be eaten this way. Since I am going to cook them later, I have to try one raw. Bloody good it was too, tasted of the sea, as you would expect I suppose but really really fresh.

We also pick up a lovely piece of silverside and some excellent black pudding and head off to Sainsbury's for the wine and herbs and spinach. Yep I made Oysters Rockefeller, which I modestly have to say were fucking incredible!! Followed by thinly sliced rare beef with tatties and carrots and leeks and a bottle of Mouton Cadet. I missed Dr Who but the food made it worthwhile.
posted by timesnewroman at 7:39 AM  

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Ready Steady Cook.

Having been big fans of Masterchef, at least up until they ballsed up the final (ad nauseum) we've been meaning to get round to recreating the first round ourselves for sometime. It consists of a number of mystery ingredients, with which the contestants have to create a dish. The thing is some of the items clearly don't belong anywhere near each other and are sort of the red herrings that people have a tendency to pile on to a plate.

So Easter Monday after a weekend of lazing around, partying, gigging and generally pretty much spending money enjoying ourselves, we headed to Tesco where thewife filled a bag with £10 worth of groceries, which I had to concoct into something edible.

Said items were: Cooked lobster, (Tesco were doing them for a fiver - half price!) a plantain, courgette, a bag of baby aubergines, a ciabaata loaf and chorizo. These could be supplemented by staples from the cupboard.

40 minutes later
- Caribbean Rice and Beans with Lobster, Chorizo, Courgette and peppers, topped with Plantain Chips. Very nice it was too. Needless to say I had skipped the aubergines.

We must do this again.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:32 PM  

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Thursday, April 13, 2006

No.5 in an Occasional Series - Uncle Ho, Sportsman.

Uncle Ho - Swimmer
posted by timesnewroman at 6:24 AM  

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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Treasure Hunt

Looking down on the stars

I've said so before, Google Earth is brilliant. You can download it here and have a whale of a time looking down on the planet. Most of the USA is now covered not only by sattelite photographs, but with 3d buildings now as well.

I used it recently to create the following Treasure Hunt for the Youth Drop In I work at on Wednesdays, for a while it'll keep them from ring tone downloads.

Why don't you have a go yourself. use the email facility to email me the pictures to times2(at)wightcablenorth(dot)net

First Correct Answers get a fabulous prize of a compilation CD of Best Song Ever Volume 8.

1. A drop of water on the 49th Parallel

2. Was once the biggest football stadium in the world, holding 200,000 spectators. For safety reasons, it now holds 70,000

3. The biggest office building in the world.

4 Towers above the one in Blackpool.

5. Home of the last Glasgow team in the 2006 Scottish Cup.

6. Swiss Re's London home.

7. Where Khufu lies

8. To get from Fort Point to Lime Point you need to cross this.

9. Jorn Utzon's building where you might hear a song or two.

10. Московского Кремля

posted by timesnewroman at 2:40 PM  

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Unanswered Questions

Why don't you see white dog turds nowadays?
posted by timesnewroman at 10:56 AM  

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