Priceless Paintings from W7

W7 is most definitely out of the office. Back in mid November.

No shouting, no fighting, no spitting while I am out.

Thoughts ooto

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) ordered the far right-wing British National Party (BNP) to change its constitution; the restriction to allow new members only from “indigenous Caucasian stock” must be removed. People of all ethic backgrounds, including Black or Asian, must be allowed to join the BNP.

This is of course nothing but a farce. Or, is it?

I am calling all non-White members of the British public to join the BNP. Do it. Do it now. All you have to do is join, be united in the same goal, and outnumber the current BNP members. Then change the BNP’s constitution. Oh, and leadership, and name.

Oh, I see. I ask for unity. Bummer.

Plan B then. Let’s get a different electorate.

Current Affairs Britain, Politics

It’s Only a Theory is the perfect example. It’s the perfect example for what makes BBC4 television what it is: a TV station regularly criticised for the fact that it fails attracting the huge big audience (criticised by those who oversee the BBC’s spending of license money), and regularly praised for failing to attract the big audience (like, by myself).

How’s that?

It’s got to do with engaging the mind. Take a look at It’ Only a Theory, for example. A comedy program in which candidates propose and defend a theory, challenged by Andy Hamilton, Reginald D. Hunter, and a guest judge. The theories are serious, but of course chosen for their headline and entertainment value. Their party-talk value, if you like. Previous theories included “Texting improves children’s literacy,” “The first person to reach the age of 1000 years is already born,” and “Romantic comedies make people miserable.”

Similar to QI, It’s Only a Theory doesn’t strike a balance between comedy and something more serious. It’s not serious. It’s comedy, its pure entertainment, but it goes without the roaring-out-load, thigh-slapping style of humour.

Not the kind of show that will save BBC4, and not a show ever to make it out of BBC4. Nice entertainment though.

Thoughts BBC, BBC Television, television

… the last of the summer meals, and more warming food:

Chicken Cesar Salad – also a nice warmer if the chicken is very hot and very crisp. With a blue cheese Cesar dressing.

Eggs in hot mustard sauce, with steamed potatoes and green salads – yet another of the surviving childhood favourites.

Tarte Provencale, then racks of lamb, roasted over aubergine, potatoes and tomatoes (infused with thyme and rosemary, lime juice and a little chilly oil), served with a chunky parsnip and potato mash. Followed by Crème Brullee, cheeses, coffees… Nice.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup.

Oxtail Soup – yes, again. I didn’t feel too well, owing to a good old Bronchitis. Something helped getting better though. This could have been plain old time, or the doctor’s antibiotics. I think it was the oxtail soup.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

Mehmet Goren, together with his brothers Ali and Cuma Goren, is accused of killing his own teenaged daughter Tulay Goren, back on January 1999, in an honour killing. The girl had run away from home and stayed with a man they didn’t approve of.

After a month, the girl foolishly returned home, and never left her family home again. At least, she never left it alive.

Honour killings within the own family, surely, must be among the worst things anyone can do.

It annoys me big time to find those three men who held the family honour in such high esteem to (allegedly) murder Tulay don’t have enough honour in them to stand up and admit it.

Current Affairs, Thoughts human, Religion and Spirituality

Image via Wikipedia

I am sure you’ve all heard it by now: the 2009 Peace Nobel prize went to Barak Obama. What? I had to hear, see and read the news thrice before I was sure the BBC didn’t run an April’s fool out of season.

I mean… come on!

Obama is undoubtedly the nicest US president the world had in a very long time, but to award the Peace Nobel Prize on grounds of his expressed intentions rather than actions accomplished…?

Plans that include reducing 2200 nuclear warheads to an unknown, but substantial and non-zero number?

Plans to withdraw troops from fighting action (not: from the country!) in a country invaded by the very same troops, thrown into shambles, and troops now realizing they got themselves into a not-winnable situation?

The BBC called it the Nobel Prize Committee’s bold move.

I call it the Nobel Prize Committee’s regrettable move. I’m sure many others are out there who actually made peace happen, rather than talk about it from the high chair and end up struggling when it comes to implementing those plans.

Oh well. I should certainly wish him all success. I’d even wished he’d get the Peace Nobel Prize when the mission is accomplished. As long as the policy of awarding in advance rules, I shall be the first to say:

Please, can I have the Turner prize?
After all, I have the most sincere intentions to create an influential piece of modern art.

Current Affairs Barack Obama

David Cameron is breaking the winds of change. I suppose there’s little to stop him now, following an eloquent speed containing lots of hollow phrases. Even though I hate the idea of yet another polished and styled politician leading the country, it is certainly time for a change.

Too bad there isn’t a real alternative to chose from.

Anyway, I wasn’t so much wondering about David Cameron but about Steve Hilton. I suppose initially, leading modern-time politicians and hopeful candidates had an advisor. A panel of advisors. An assistant. Maybe a press officer. A speech writer, and a campaign manager.

When did it start that hopeful candidates (and some of those elected) were in need of a Head of Marketing of the unquestioned calibre of advertising expert Steve Hilton?

I hate the idea that our modern politicians are all styled like one would otherwise brand a fashion accessory. Whatever happened to a convincing argument, a promising strategy, a steadfastness in certain principles of politics, humanity and morality?

Current Affairs, Thoughts Britain, Conservative Party, Politics

Back in June, I told you about my odyssey finding some workable and reliable walking boots. I ended up buying Scarpa Mistral GTX, and fell in love immediately.

I also own a pair of walking shoes for more light-weight, day-in day-out walking. I use them almost every day, but my current pair of Brasher only just gave their money’s worth: the sole is already falling apart, the cap and other parts of the surface are breaking up. While they are still usable, the end of their life is near and foreseeable.

This time, I went straight in for Scarpa, didn’t even look at the alternatives, and bought a pair of Scarpa Meridian GTX. (Why the GTX? Don’t ask for the sense in marketing…) Although I only walked them for less than 2 miles so far, I am already in love – it is now a love triangle between the boots, the shoes and myself.

Oh, and the laptop, the tablet PC, the Le Creuset frying pan, the Neff ovens, oh, and the wife. That’s a different story though.

Seriously, these shoes are a perfect fit, and look and feel like they would be up for the job. Time will show.

Out and About, Thoughts hiking, karrimor, north face, scarpa

This week, I’ve been mostly eating at last Saturday’s brunch party here at our house. Maybe I should say that this week I’ve been mostly cooking for last Saturday’s brunch party, but that wouldn’t be true. Anyway, here goes:

A slightly bland mushroom and spinach quiche – kept on low salt on account of the children present.

A lovely although slightly runny Quiche Lorraine – runny on account of my inability to count eggs.

A nice and juicy smoked salmon and grilled artichoke quiche – always popular both with the cook (really is no effort at all) and guests (is really nice).

An oxtail soup – always, always, always, the best way to line a stomach. Sherry optional for the grown-ups.

A late summer vegetables soup.

Fresh bread and focaccia.

An experimental sunken apple cake – too soft (too much milk in the dough, so the apples had sunken too deep) but nice and flavoursome. No surprise there; I had coated the apple slices in honey and lime juice, which I infused with star anise (Needs more star anise though).

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

It’s funny, you know? In my professional life, I deal with technical software and some pretty obscure things, sometimes difficult to explain even to fellow engineers.

At the home, the bar is lower. At home, I am mighty pleased if I can diagnose a problem with the heating system (pump doesn’t run continuously, thereby preventing flow to the top floor), read and understand the boiler’s manual, identify the “optimization” the service technician made during this year’s routine service, and revert it. The pump was set to be controlled by the return temperature, but due to the convoluted pipework in my house, it needs to be continuously running whenever the system is on.

It’s the small things one can take pride in, and, when it comes to the difference between a chilly and a snug bathroom at 6 in the morning, it’s the small things that matter.

Thoughts home, human

Followers of my weekly culinary navel gazing (This Week, I’ve Been Mostly Eating…) will have noticed that Focaccia makes frequent appearances lately. It’s fun to make, and everybody loves it.

On request of some recent party guests, here’s how:

Prepare a plain yeast dough. Per 100g of good long white wheat flour (“bread making flour”), you’d use 4g yeast, 4g salt, 70ml cold water, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Mix flour, yeast and salt, then work-in water and oil. Do not dust your surface when mixing the dough, just work it by tearing with both hands and folding, over and over again for five to ten minutes. Alternatively, you can knead the dough, or use a kneading machine. These are fine, too, but the resulting dough will have smaller and more regular bubbles. Tearing and folding produces an exciting irregularity.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer into a lightly dusted bowl. Allow to rise for one hour.

Then, cover a baking tray with baking parchment. You’ll need dough from 400g of flour for a large square tray. Quickly and gently roll the dough to size and shape required for your tray, and rest on the parchment.

Allow to rise for another 1 1/2 hours. During this second rising, use a fork or a brush with thick bristles to work olive oil into the dough, every 15 minutes. You should try to work it into the dough, not letting it rest on top. Then let rise again, then massage more oil in. You’ll need at least 150ml of oil for a large tray, and infusing the oil with one or two red chilly peppers pays huge dividends.

Preheat the oven to 210 C (410 F). I prefer a combination of circulated hot air with bottom heat, but top and bottom heat would also be a good choice.

Sprinkle a generous amount of fresh or dried rosemary and crushed rock salt over the focaccia. Give it a final 10 minutes to rise while the oven heats up, then pop it into the oven for approximately 30 minutes.

You’d got to time the whole works so that you take it out of the oven just ten minutes after your guests arrived. Allow five minutes for cooling down, then serve immediately.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe

You will not have missed the news that Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, has been blasted to the International Space Station on board a Soyuz TM-16 from Baikonur in Kazakhstan earlier this week.

He pays $35 million for the pleasure, apparently fulfilling a life-long dream.

So far, I have no quibbles with Guy fulfilling his dream.

When it comes to reading a poem from space, which emphasises the need for all the world’s population to have access to clean water, he’s lost me, and my sympathy, however. No matter whether he paid 35 million in US, Canadian or Australian dollars, there’s a lot of clean water, water purification equipment and deep well drilling kits to be had for that amount of money.

Guy. You want to ride in space. Fine. You can afford it. Fine. If you feel guilty about the whole thing (which you should), don’t do it. Just spare me the petty excuses.

Thoughts foolish, human

I heard the stone soup tale before, but when a friend mentioned it again just recently, I decided to put this on my mental list of things to try out soon:

Invite a couple of friends. Ask everyone to bring one ingredient for a soup: a bunch of carrots or a kilo of pork feet, a clove of garlic or a chicken, root vegetables or 2 eggs – anything is allowed. Maybe one might want to narrow it down a little bit, but the idea is to keep the element of surprise.

Meet in the afternoon. Spread out the ingredients and decide on a plan. Discuss whether gaps may be filled from the larder or the local shops (and do so if agreed and necessary). Get some time-consuming task started (making broth from bones and knuckles, or dough for bread to go with the soup), then take a long walk. Maybe have a drink or two on your way back.

Then prepare soup and bread, eat, drink, enjoy.

Coming up soon in my house.

Food and Drink cooking, food, recipe