Time Flies

Time flies when you get older. It seems to speed up and, there you are, you're in September. It's the same with Flat Four it was only five minutes ago when we all first met and decided to put on plays together -and now it's twenty odd years later. So there we are having an August weekend in Selsey. The weekend was typical 'Gillian' . Ever the excellent hostess she laid on sunshine, shopping, dancing in the street (see below) and a visit to Patrick Moore's garden party.
Swimming in the sea and croquet (we let her win).




There was much silliness and a cat







Perhaps we should have been reading plays











Early morning Selsey












Robert is never far from a cat (hmmm)or a cat is never far from Robert









Selsey Street Fair







Caught in an untypical pose (drinking)!!













Caught in a typical pose (shopping)








Aaaaah!












Thats better. Kitchen bitches!







Dancing in the streets!








Early morning Sunday in Selsey





Oh, by the way the weight is now 15 st 3 lbs ( I thought if I put it in here then no one would notice)

Music that cheers me up

Pleasant Valley Sunday - The Monkees
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
The title music to the series 'Firefly'
The Castleford Ladies Magical Circle
The Lark Ascending
Variations on a theme of Thomas Tallis
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Jerusalem
I'm a believer - The Monkees
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Penny Lane - Beatles
Duelling Banjos
Faure's Requiem - Libera Me (funnily enough)
The music from the film 'Badlands' - Musica Poetica (a haunting theme to one of the most brilliant films ever made)
Little Green Bag
'I wish' and 'Tragedy'- from Into the Woods (in fact most of the songs from that show)
Days - Kirstie
Eleanor Rigby
Angie - Bert Jansch
Tam Linn - Maddie ( oh Maddie xx)
Paris in the Rain and Play the Song again - Maria Friedman
Take 5 - Dave Brubeck
He is an Englishman -reminds me of 'An Englishman Abroad'
Red River Rock - Johnny and The Hurricanes

and a song that can make me cry

In the Sky - sung by Maria Friedman. Please go and get a copy and listen very carefully. It was written by a 12 year old boy in 1940. He was one of the Jewish Community in the Vilna Ghetto.
It is the voice of an individual soul crying out against the horror and ravages of war. I first heard her sing it live at the National Theatre as part of the play 'Ghetto'. Perhaps the only play I ever attended when the 'curtain' was met by profound stunned silence. Listen to the music and try to get a copy of the play. The messages of both song and play, resonate still. The song is a track on 'Maria Friedman' 1995. Carlton Home Entertainment Ltd.

another play that had a similar effect on the audience was 'Oleana' by David Mamet. The only two hander I have encountered in which, no matter who you side with, you're wrong!

Thames rising

Same bridge on two consecutive nights

Stranded boats

Flooded meadow near the Swan Inn

Mallorca

It's been a while since the last entry. Been away to Mallorca. I've always been a bit of a snob about 'Majorca' and the images that it conjures. I was persuaded to go on the recommendation of a colleague. I'm glad I did. Had a relaxing time in a quiet neighborhood (Costa del Pinos). Good weather, great beaches, friendly people and plenty of good food. The weight, I have to admit, suffered badly. I am ashamed to put it in writing. I spent most of the time swimming, lazing on the beach and reading. During the latter I re-aquainted myself with 'Canon Alberic','The Mezzotint', 'The Tractate Middoth', and 'A Warning to the Curious' et al. I was lucky to have the Oxford version so lots of juicy footnotes and explanatory bits of biography.

Re visiting M.R. James put me in the mood for visiting a gothic Cathedral. So a day in Palma was called for. The Cathedral is majestic (I think it's the largest in Europe) dominating the waterfront.

Whilst Jenny ransacked the shops I enjoyed strolling around the narrow winding streets of the Old Town in Palma. The courtyards of the old houses are a delight with surprisingly theatrical presentations of works of art .

Great set for 'Romeo and Juliet'

We also experienced the public transport preferring bus to car. Very reliable but took ages to get anywhere. So tended to walk (and still put on weight). On a beach near Callor Millor (a concrete hell hole although the beach was OK)) I nearly met Wales, Liverpool and Swansea legend John Toshack. He was at the next table in a beach bar and I earwigged his conversation (talking about the Rugby World Cup, funnily enough). Jenny was unimpressed. Oh yes I also enjoyed the white stallions ( of the Mounted Police) outside the Palace in Palma.

Anyway, I've got lots of photo's of sand and blue sky and sea but they can be a bit boring so I'll keep them to myself. We got back to England on 20 July just after the rains came. Gloucester was flooded and the Severn and Thames were steadily rising. Didn't affect us much though, although Jenny's family were in dire straights (David was 18 hours in a rescue centre after getting his car caught in the floods, Stephen was putting his furniture upstairs and Megan was cut off in Newent with the tides rising and people stockpiling water and food). Goring lock was submerged but it was the next village, Pangbourne, that was hit quite severely. One chap at work was devastated when his was the only house in the street to be flooded just because of the lie of the land. We got off scot free (funny expression that! why 'scot' free?)

Science Museum

I'm just taking a few minutes to update the blog. It's been awhile. A friend of mine pointed out an apparent paradox. We complain about the increasing amount of 'unecessary' surveillance that predominates our society and yet an increasing number of people share intimate aspects of their lives in 'blogs'.

Spent last Saturday at the Science Museum in London. Jenny and I went with Steph', Chris and Lara.

We wanted to show Lara the Lions in Trafalgar Square but we couldn't get in because Gay Pride had cordoned the square off for their annual march. I feel I want to say something about a 'gay pride of lions', but can't think what.

But we did meet John and Ruth and, as the weather was pretty lousy, we went to the Science Museum. We spent all afternoon playing with gadgets and puzzles. I enjoyed the medical bit and Stephenson's Rocket. It was a great day out (and cheap - free entry). Brilliant for all us kids (and the adults too).

John distinguished himself by attempting to put the largest Jaffa Cake that I've ever encountered into his, considerably sized, mouth all in one go. I don't know who he gets that from. Must be his mother. I take a few moments for a brief aside. It seems that entering the venerable estate of marriage has not matured this boy one jot (I'm pleased to say). He invited me to be a 'friend of his' on a site called 'Facebook' or something of the kind. On entering this website I find that I have been bitten by a 'zombie' and that I now can 'poke' and 'bite' other people. His, is a strange world. At least I thought it was his world until I found that Karrie (a Flat Four friend) had also invited me to be her 'Facebook' chum. Mind you, she's not responsible for her actions either.

Back to London. We finished off the day at Hamlys Toy Store where we were assaulted by a woman with a'bubble gun'. Oh well!

The rest of the week was pretty tame after that.

A nice recipe and the 'Bacon Sandwich'

First, Happy Birthday to Sarah and John (30 and 33 today). Sarah is in Mexico and has just phoned to tell us that James has proposed to her today! She accepted. John and Ruth, his new wife, would like to be in Mexico but have just bought a house and can't afford holidays for the next 100 years.

One of the joys of having a new daughter in law is that, because she is a vegetarian, we have had to extend our culinary knowledge base. Learn to cook plants. I used to think that the most potent argument against vegetarianism was 'THE BACON SANDWICH' (fanfare and pause for applause). But I have become enlightened and although 'THE BACON SANDWICH' (fanfare) is still a force to be reckoned with there are some very forceful counter arguments in the vegetarian camp. One being the Artichoke! You may stand aghast but try this recipe.....s'good....honest.

Got it from BBC - Sunday Kitchen by Celia Brown

Preparation time less than 30 mins. Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Ingredients
4 large fresh globe artichokes
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
300g/10oz mixed wild mushrooms, especially morels, chanterelles and ceps, cleaned and chopped into small chunks
2 tsp fresh thyme or lemon thyme leaves
80ml/ 3fl oz vermouth
150g/6oz mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper
25g/1oz pecans, crushed
a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 potato, boiled and mashed
olive oil
vinegar
Method1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil for the artichokes. Add a good glug of both vinegar and olive oil to the water and plenty of salt.2. To prepare the artichokes, snap off the stem and slice about a third off the top. Pull out what you can from the middle and use a spoon to scoop out all of the hairy choke. Place in the boiling water and cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes. They are done when a leaf pulled from toward the centre comes away without resistance. Drain upside-down until dry. Preheat the oven to 220C/400F/Gas 6.3. To make the stuffing, melt the butter on moderate heat in a wide frying pan and add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. When they have absorbed the butter and begin to soften, pour in the vermouth and cook, stirring, until it has mostly evaporated. Finally, stir in the mascarpone. Allow it to melt and coat everything with its sweet creaminess.4. Spoon into the middle of the drained artichokes. Sprinkle with crushed pecans and bake for about 10 minutes, until heated through and golden on top. Finish with chopped parsley before serving. When eating, use the leaves of the artichoke to scoop out the creamy filling. Serve on a bed of mashed potato.

I found that the artichokes go black after cutting unless you coat them with lemon juice. I also put lemon juice in the water to boil the artichokes instead of vinegar.

Enjoy! I served it to Ruth (daughter in law) and her Mum (Jean) and they survived!!

Back to the 'BACON SANDWICH' (fanfare and wild adoration).

In April the BBC reported that scientists (from Leeds University) had, apparently, created a mathematical formula of how to make the perfect bacon butty and discovered the secret to the ideal sandwich lay in how crispy and crunchy rashers were.
They found that two or three back bacon rashers should be cooked under a preheated oven grill for seven minutes at about 240C (475F).
The bacon should then be placed between two slices of farmhouse bread, 1cm to 2cm thick.

Four researchers at the Department of Food Science spent more than 1,000 hours testing 700 variations on the traditional bacon sandwich (You see they are not a University just to waste their time!!).

They tried different types and cuts of bacon, cooking techniques, types of oil and a range of cooking times at different temperatures.

A shortlist was then tested with computers to measure the texture of each sandwich.

Fifty volunteers also judged each sandwich according to its taste, texture and flavour.

Dr Graham Clayton, who led the research, said: "Our research proves that texture and the crunching sound is important. While there was much debate within our taste panels on the smoked or unsmoked decision, everyone agreed that tough or chewy bacon is a turn-off."

The formula is: N = C + {fb (cm) . fb (tc)} + fb (Ts) + fc . ta, where N=force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon, fb=function of the bacon type, fc=function of the condiment/filling effect, Ts=serving temperature, tc=cooking time, ta=time or duration of application of condiment/filling, cm=cooking method, C=Newtons required to break uncooked bacon.

I could have told them that

New Prime Minister today!!! S'funny I don't feel any different. Thought it was an impressive first speech outside Number 10. New Politics eh! I like that idea, let's see if it works. Pity Paddy Ashdown didn't see it that way. Best men/women for the job despite party boundaries -sounds good to me.

Oh yes the Artichoke recipe - next time.