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Jan. 30th, 2009
Sinister News
Jan. 30th, 2009 04:55 pmI was reminded this week by an article in yesterday's The Herald that Barack Obama is left handed. (I can't find the article itself.)
This of course made me happy.
Then, this morning, they were wittering about patron saints; so I thought I'd find out who the patron saint for left handed people is.
As far as I can ascertain - there isn't one.
Apparently, this may be because left-handedness was seen as the curse of the devil.
In better saintly news, you may be pleased to note that there are three patron saints for libraries.
Still, you'd have thought that there would have been some saint who was left-handed - wouldn't you?
Maybe I am just damned. Shucks.
This of course made me happy.
Then, this morning, they were wittering about patron saints; so I thought I'd find out who the patron saint for left handed people is.
As far as I can ascertain - there isn't one.
Apparently, this may be because left-handedness was seen as the curse of the devil.
In better saintly news, you may be pleased to note that there are three patron saints for libraries.
Still, you'd have thought that there would have been some saint who was left-handed - wouldn't you?
Maybe I am just damned. Shucks.
Sinister News
Jan. 30th, 2009 04:55 pmI was reminded this week by an article in yesterday's The Herald that Barack Obama is left handed. (I can't find the article itself.)
This of course made me happy.
Then, this morning, they were wittering about patron saints; so I thought I'd find out who the patron saint for left handed people is.
As far as I can ascertain - there isn't one.
Apparently, this may be because left-handedness was seen as the curse of the devil.
In better saintly news, you may be pleased to note that there are three patron saints for libraries.
Still, you'd have thought that there would have been some saint who was left-handed - wouldn't you?
Maybe I am just damned. Shucks.
This of course made me happy.
Then, this morning, they were wittering about patron saints; so I thought I'd find out who the patron saint for left handed people is.
As far as I can ascertain - there isn't one.
Apparently, this may be because left-handedness was seen as the curse of the devil.
In better saintly news, you may be pleased to note that there are three patron saints for libraries.
Still, you'd have thought that there would have been some saint who was left-handed - wouldn't you?
Maybe I am just damned. Shucks.
Listen Again...
Jan. 30th, 2009 05:22 pmI have spent much of the day listening to old albums, courtesy of the internet. I went to Amazon to download a couple of tracks – which I couldn’t. I was after a tune by Prince with the enigmatic title “It” – on the Sing O’ The Times album (a great single album; pity he made it a double!). Instead, I looked for it on Last.fm (not available to listen) and so I went to Spotify.
Where of course I listened to it. It is wonderful – a very sparse sound, mostly just a drum beat with some moody twiddly bits in the background. I can’t think when I last heard It – not for fifteen years, I would guess. It is one of the best tracks on Sign O’ The Times – It, (the ungrammatical) If I Was Your Girlfriend (and, yay! the unexpurgated version) and the title track make a brilliant trio of songs, and I listened to them all.
( Read more... )
Where of course I listened to it. It is wonderful – a very sparse sound, mostly just a drum beat with some moody twiddly bits in the background. I can’t think when I last heard It – not for fifteen years, I would guess. It is one of the best tracks on Sign O’ The Times – It, (the ungrammatical) If I Was Your Girlfriend (and, yay! the unexpurgated version) and the title track make a brilliant trio of songs, and I listened to them all.
( Read more... )
Listen Again...
Jan. 30th, 2009 05:22 pmI have spent much of the day listening to old albums, courtesy of the internet. I went to Amazon to download a couple of tracks – which I couldn’t. I was after a tune by Prince with the enigmatic title “It” – on the Sing O’ The Times album (a great single album; pity he made it a double!). Instead, I looked for it on Last.fm (not available to listen) and so I went to Spotify.
Where of course I listened to it. It is wonderful – a very sparse sound, mostly just a drum beat with some moody twiddly bits in the background. I can’t think when I last heard It – not for fifteen years, I would guess. It is one of the best tracks on Sign O’ The Times – It, (the ungrammatical) If I Was Your Girlfriend (and, yay! the unexpurgated version) and the title track make a brilliant trio of songs, and I listened to them all.
( Read more... )
Where of course I listened to it. It is wonderful – a very sparse sound, mostly just a drum beat with some moody twiddly bits in the background. I can’t think when I last heard It – not for fifteen years, I would guess. It is one of the best tracks on Sign O’ The Times – It, (the ungrammatical) If I Was Your Girlfriend (and, yay! the unexpurgated version) and the title track make a brilliant trio of songs, and I listened to them all.
( Read more... )
Caution - Zombies
Jan. 30th, 2009 05:47 pmApparently this was a real traffic sign which had been hacked into. The text accompanying the YouTube posting says:
(via Arbroath.)
No record of mosquitoes, zombie or otherwise.
Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, "Zombies Ahead." Chris Lippincott, director of media relations for the Texas Department of Transportation, confirmed that a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street, near the University of Texas at Austin, was hacked into during the early hours of Jan. 19.
(via Arbroath.)
No record of mosquitoes, zombie or otherwise.
Caution - Zombies
Jan. 30th, 2009 05:47 pmApparently this was a real traffic sign which had been hacked into. The text accompanying the YouTube posting says:
(via Arbroath.)
No record of mosquitoes, zombie or otherwise.
Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, "Zombies Ahead." Chris Lippincott, director of media relations for the Texas Department of Transportation, confirmed that a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street, near the University of Texas at Austin, was hacked into during the early hours of Jan. 19.
(via Arbroath.)
No record of mosquitoes, zombie or otherwise.
I nearly had a culinary disaster tonight; well, a disappointment, at least. I was planning to cook myself a beef stew. I put the cooker on, set the heavy pan on the hob, poured in some olive oil... And then I realised I didn't have the tin of tomatoes that habitually sits in my cupboard.
My beef stew – for which I don't have a recipe - needs a tin of tomatoes.
I then looked in the freezer, sure that I had a piece of salmon that would suffice (if not replace). I was wrong about that, too.
This put me in a bit of a quandry; all I could think of was some pasta – my usual stand-by – or risotto. And pasta, for me, usually needs a tin of tomatoes... (Not always: pasta and garlic is delicious; and pasta and mushrooms; but neither of these felt like they would hit the Friday night with a few glasses of wine mark.)
So I went with risotto. This is actually a curious choice. I often cook risotto – but almost always on days when I have decided not to drink alcohol. (I have for a while been thinking about writing about my attitude to alcohol – almost uniformly positive, except that after some article I read many, many years ago, I make sure I don't drink alcohol at least two days in every seven; well, let's face it, I only ever don't drink alcohol two days out of seven – it is only if I have been ill or away somewhere dry that I exceed that!) For some reason, I will happily not drink wine with risotto, whilst I feel most meals are improved greatly by a glass or three of wine.
I cooked my risotto – sauteeing a shallot and a couple of cloves of garlic, adding sliced jerusalem artichoke (because it was there and needed eating), simmering some mushrooms in a mixture of (cheap) white wine and water since I really can't be arsed with stock (all the alcohol evaporates off; I see no inconsistency about cooking with alcohol when I am not drinking the stuff) – and many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coughingbear for that tip. Adding a healthy grating of parmesan and fresh basil from my very own herb farm (aka a pot in the window).
It was delicious.
I mean, it was really, really delicious.
I ate it with a couple of glasses of Chilean pinot noir, reckoning the mushroomy flavours of the grape would match the food. (Matching wine and risotto not normally a decision I have.)
It was lovely.
Now I am sitting here with a glass of Talisker and a couple of bits of chocolate, listening to the radio and feeling that all is very right with the world.
And I really must remember to get some tins of tomatoes in!
My beef stew – for which I don't have a recipe - needs a tin of tomatoes.
I then looked in the freezer, sure that I had a piece of salmon that would suffice (if not replace). I was wrong about that, too.
This put me in a bit of a quandry; all I could think of was some pasta – my usual stand-by – or risotto. And pasta, for me, usually needs a tin of tomatoes... (Not always: pasta and garlic is delicious; and pasta and mushrooms; but neither of these felt like they would hit the Friday night with a few glasses of wine mark.)
So I went with risotto. This is actually a curious choice. I often cook risotto – but almost always on days when I have decided not to drink alcohol. (I have for a while been thinking about writing about my attitude to alcohol – almost uniformly positive, except that after some article I read many, many years ago, I make sure I don't drink alcohol at least two days in every seven; well, let's face it, I only ever don't drink alcohol two days out of seven – it is only if I have been ill or away somewhere dry that I exceed that!) For some reason, I will happily not drink wine with risotto, whilst I feel most meals are improved greatly by a glass or three of wine.
I cooked my risotto – sauteeing a shallot and a couple of cloves of garlic, adding sliced jerusalem artichoke (because it was there and needed eating), simmering some mushrooms in a mixture of (cheap) white wine and water since I really can't be arsed with stock (all the alcohol evaporates off; I see no inconsistency about cooking with alcohol when I am not drinking the stuff) – and many thanks to
coughingbear for that tip. Adding a healthy grating of parmesan and fresh basil from my very own herb farm (aka a pot in the window).It was delicious.
I mean, it was really, really delicious.
I ate it with a couple of glasses of Chilean pinot noir, reckoning the mushroomy flavours of the grape would match the food. (Matching wine and risotto not normally a decision I have.)
It was lovely.
Now I am sitting here with a glass of Talisker and a couple of bits of chocolate, listening to the radio and feeling that all is very right with the world.
And I really must remember to get some tins of tomatoes in!
I nearly had a culinary disaster tonight; well, a disappointment, at least. I was planning to cook myself a beef stew. I put the cooker on, set the heavy pan on the hob, poured in some olive oil... And then I realised I didn't have the tin of tomatoes that habitually sits in my cupboard.
My beef stew – for which I don't have a recipe - needs a tin of tomatoes.
I then looked in the freezer, sure that I had a piece of salmon that would suffice (if not replace). I was wrong about that, too.
This put me in a bit of a quandry; all I could think of was some pasta – my usual stand-by – or risotto. And pasta, for me, usually needs a tin of tomatoes... (Not always: pasta and garlic is delicious; and pasta and mushrooms; but neither of these felt like they would hit the Friday night with a few glasses of wine mark.)
So I went with risotto. This is actually a curious choice. I often cook risotto – but almost always on days when I have decided not to drink alcohol. (I have for a while been thinking about writing about my attitude to alcohol – almost uniformly positive, except that after some article I read many, many years ago, I make sure I don't drink alcohol at least two days in every seven; well, let's face it, I only ever don't drink alcohol two days out of seven – it is only if I have been ill or away somewhere dry that I exceed that!) For some reason, I will happily not drink wine with risotto, whilst I feel most meals are improved greatly by a glass or three of wine.
I cooked my risotto – sauteeing a shallot and a couple of cloves of garlic, adding sliced jerusalem artichoke (because it was there and needed eating), simmering some mushrooms in a mixture of (cheap) white wine and water since I really can't be arsed with stock (all the alcohol evaporates off; I see no inconsistency about cooking with alcohol when I am not drinking the stuff) – and many thanks tocoughingbear for that tip. Adding a healthy grating of parmesan and fresh basil from my very own herb farm (aka a pot in the window).
It was delicious.
I mean, it was really, really delicious.
I ate it with a couple of glasses of Chilean pinot noir, reckoning the mushroomy flavours of the grape would match the food. (Matching wine and risotto not normally a decision I have.)
It was lovely.
Now I am sitting here with a glass of Talisker and a couple of bits of chocolate, listening to the radio and feeling that all is very right with the world.
And I really must remember to get some tins of tomatoes in!
My beef stew – for which I don't have a recipe - needs a tin of tomatoes.
I then looked in the freezer, sure that I had a piece of salmon that would suffice (if not replace). I was wrong about that, too.
This put me in a bit of a quandry; all I could think of was some pasta – my usual stand-by – or risotto. And pasta, for me, usually needs a tin of tomatoes... (Not always: pasta and garlic is delicious; and pasta and mushrooms; but neither of these felt like they would hit the Friday night with a few glasses of wine mark.)
So I went with risotto. This is actually a curious choice. I often cook risotto – but almost always on days when I have decided not to drink alcohol. (I have for a while been thinking about writing about my attitude to alcohol – almost uniformly positive, except that after some article I read many, many years ago, I make sure I don't drink alcohol at least two days in every seven; well, let's face it, I only ever don't drink alcohol two days out of seven – it is only if I have been ill or away somewhere dry that I exceed that!) For some reason, I will happily not drink wine with risotto, whilst I feel most meals are improved greatly by a glass or three of wine.
I cooked my risotto – sauteeing a shallot and a couple of cloves of garlic, adding sliced jerusalem artichoke (because it was there and needed eating), simmering some mushrooms in a mixture of (cheap) white wine and water since I really can't be arsed with stock (all the alcohol evaporates off; I see no inconsistency about cooking with alcohol when I am not drinking the stuff) – and many thanks to
coughingbear for that tip. Adding a healthy grating of parmesan and fresh basil from my very own herb farm (aka a pot in the window).It was delicious.
I mean, it was really, really delicious.
I ate it with a couple of glasses of Chilean pinot noir, reckoning the mushroomy flavours of the grape would match the food. (Matching wine and risotto not normally a decision I have.)
It was lovely.
Now I am sitting here with a glass of Talisker and a couple of bits of chocolate, listening to the radio and feeling that all is very right with the world.
And I really must remember to get some tins of tomatoes in!