Priceless Paintings from W7

I never knew a reason to join twitter, but I am seriously contemplating doing so, ever since I heard that the US Library of Congress decided to archive every tweet ever made.

I think everyone should sign up to Twitter right away, and inundate them with so much inane babble (also known as a 140 character maximum tweet) that they stop such nonsense and focus on a more selective method of preserving knowledge and history.

They must be out of their minds, but it’s kind-a difficult to explain in 140 characters.

Thoughts, Web/Tech Internet, society, United States

Speaking of grumpy old men, here’s a book warning, and a book recommendation.

The warning is about Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I bought and read it, because I was lead to believe that this is a household essential in America. Poor America.

It’s a long time since I was so insulted by a book. The pretty thin book delivers a single morale, sickenly repeated and spread thickly more than anyone can endure, and it does make sure that you get the point. It goes like so:

Sentence one tells you what is about to happen, and why. Sentence two repeats part of the statements made in sentence one, just in case you didn’t get it. Sentence three describes what sentence one already announced, number four explains the moral (confirming the expectations raised in previous sentences). Then it moves on to repeat the same spiel over and over again, but doesn’t even bother changing the moral at all.

Try living your dream, is what the book says. It’s not very difficult to say, is it?

Now nice and completely refreshing on the other hand is Sarah Gruen’s Water for Elephants. A lovely story, told by a 91-year old man, who looks back on his live with a circus during the years of the Great Depression.

Water for Elephants. Highly recommended.

The Alchemist. You have been warned.

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Books, Thoughts Paulo Coelho, Sarah Gruen, United States

I am ashamed of myself, for lacking the courage necessary to make my point right there and then. Very sad, I know. Eventually, I’ll be a grumpy old man, and nothing will hold me back.

For example, I would stand up in the middle of the restaurant, and deliver an impromptu lecture on table manners to the waiting staff. Do not, I would say, do not start clearing the table while half of my company are still eating. Do not say “Finished?” when I haven’t even replaced my fork back onto the plate. Oh, I would add, and don’t ask “How would you like it cooked” when the customer orders liver.

How they expect to deliver a civilized dining experience is beyond me.

I would also want to stand up and deliver an impromptu lecture on table manners to some of the guests. Do not, I would say, do not stand up and walk around the restaurant during the meal. Do not eat with your elbows on the table or your hands on your knees, and don’t start until everyone has his or her serving. Use knife and fork for eating. Do not consider eating a burger fine dining.

Arrrrg. I guess I just had enough restaurant food for a while. America might make this experience even more special, but the bottom line is that I am glad to be back home.

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Thoughts Eating, Restaurant, United States

We made some last minute shopping back home, just a quick trip into town and to the local farmers’ market on the Saturday morning to buy two large heads of curly Endive. Interesting to read-up on Endive in my new copy of the great Larousse Gastronomique (Thanks to Santa!), which explains the relation between Endive, Frisee and Chicorée, and explains that what is Endive to some (Britain, Italy, Germany) is Chicorée (or Chicory) to some others (France, USA). There’s also Radicchio from the same family, and Red Chicorée (whose strength is chiefly in being decorative rather than tasty).

No wonder there is confusion in all this. This is no excuse for not growing or for not selling curly Endive, as depicted here (whatever you might prefer to call it) on my local market in W7.  No excuse at all.

I saw seeds on sale in the local garden centre some while back. Once our building work is done and our garden has been restored to a new and better place, I’ll have to start another battle against the slugs when trying to grow my own.

Food and Drink Britain, France, Germany, Italy, United States

Effective January 12, 2009, all visitors to the US traveling on a visa waiver program are required to obtain an electronic travel authorization before boarding.

So, I click https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. In the name of fighting terrorism, I obtain the following warm welcome to the United States of America:

“This Department of Homeland Security (DHS) computer system and any related equipment is subject to monitoring for administrative oversight, law enforcement, criminal investigative purposes, inquiries into alleged wrongdoing or misuse, and to ensure proper performance of applicable security features and procedures. As part of this monitoring, DHS may acquire, access, retain, intercept, capture, record, read, inspect, analyze, audit, copy and disclose any information processed, transmitted, received communicated and stored within the computer system. If monitoring reveals misuse or criminal activity, notice of such may may be provided to appropriate supervisory personnel and law enforcement officials. DHS may conduct these activities in any manner without further notice. By clicking OK below or by using this system, you consent to the terms set forth in this notice.”

If they could shoot me through the Internet, I am sure they would also allow for that possibility as a precautionary measure.

While DHS reserves the rights to conduct these activities in any manner, they apparently fail to prevent everyone else from conducting a new kind of business: While the DHS seeks to fight terrorists, they forgot the common crooks, who were quick to set up genuine looking web sites that charge anything from $49 upwards to assistance with the process – which is free and simple if you ignore the crooks and go for the not so intuitive official URL.

Thoughts, Travel law enforcement, United States, United States of America;

It’s Muffin Season once more! This is mostly because I bought a dozen full-sized silicone muffin cases, which are an absolute delight. No-fat no-stick, just fill in the muffin base, pop in the oven, let cool for a few minutes, then pop out of the cases, followed by very easy cleaning.

No more fumbling with tearing and half-burnt paper, and no more fumbling with cases not strong enough to hold the base before baking. I strongly recommend that you get yourself some. I find them very hard to find here in the UK (if not, in fact, impossible), but they are abundant and readily available in the US (check out Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma stores for starters). I’d imagine other countries are ahead of the UK, cooking-wise, too.

So, now you’ve got those lovely muffin cases. Here’s the under 10 minute yet perfect muffin base – makes 6 to 10 muffins, depending on size and amount of fillings:

100g white wheat flour, 80g melted butter, 75g sugar, 80ml whole milk. One free range egg yolk, seeds from half a vanilla pod, and one generous teaspoon of baking powder. Put ingredients into bowl, start mixer on low gear and mix thoroughly. You’ll find the base will be fairly runny, maybe like a thick yogurt. That’s OK.

When the basic base is ready, gently stir in fillings. Only the sky and your fantasy is the limit, but you might want to stop one step prior to reaching olives and anchovies. Here are some pretty obvious suggestions:

• Whole milk choc chips with a tiny pinch of fresh nutmeg
• Cherries (from a jar), fresh blueberries, fresh peach (pieces)
• Semi-dried cranberries, tossed in cinnamon
• Apple pieces, sprinkled with lime juice, then tossed in cinnamon and sugar.
• Crushed poppy seeds (with bitter almond oil?)

Gently stir in the fillings, then fill each cup to about 3/4 of its height. When using heavy fillings, add one or two pieces on top of each base (those won’t sink all the way to the bottom). Pop into the pre-heated oven at 180 Celcius for 10..15 minutes – use a wooden stick or visual judgement to determine when they are ready.

The next job is to figure out a savoury muffin base. I want the same consistency and lightness, but want to use them as appetizers. Fillings could include anchovies, rosemary, olives, bacon, mushrooms, … again the sky will be the limit, but it will be a whole new sky!

(For those of you familiar with The Alice Project, yes, this would be part of it.)

So, tell us all about your favourite muffin fillings.

Food and Drink United Kingdom, United States, Williams-Sonoma;

Note to self: Do not start return journey from US at the beginning of a long US weekend. Airport is full, all waiting lines are full, plane is full. Extra foolish if US long weekend coincides with UK long weekend, as it turns a long one into a short one.

Glad to be back home as always, inspite the miserable weather, though.

Thoughts Memorial Day, United Kingdom, United States

The Wall Street Journal writes on Friday, 26-October-2007 under the title Expat Life Gets Less Cushy about the cost of living abroad. Basically, the argument is that the dollar exchange rate sucks, and that living abroad while drawing income from US resources gets increasingly unattractive. With a dollar exchange rate as far down as £0.49 per dollar (=2.04 £/$), that’s no surprise.

Even less surprising if you read on, and explore the cost of living in London – according to Wall Street Journal’s article. According to them, a “two-bedroom apartment near the American School of London rents for at least £500 per week .”

To buy, a two-bedroom costs about $1.5..£2.5 million. Kensington and Chelsea, areas also popular with Americans, are even more expensive: A two-bed flat starts at more than £780 per week, … A nice restaurant dinner, so the Wall Street Journal knows, without much wine, will set diners back £80..£125.

On the upside, they note, travel to other European cities [from London] is easy.

I guess that means we are safe from an American invasion, and we are left at peace to enjoy the many other upsides of life in London, and to enjoy the much more affordable London.

Thoughts london, The Wall Street Journal;, United States, Wall Street Journal;

Seriously. What happens to all the pumpkins after Halloween? Over in the US, almost every house had at least three very large pumpkins on the porch. And that doesn’t include those inflatable plastic ones, or those houses that are decorated with an entire truckload of pumpkins.

So, for argument’s sake, I will assume that on average, every residential home in the US alone has one pumpkin left over after Halloween. There are about 80..100 million homes in the US. That is a lot of pumpkin for the US alone, plus the ex-US Halloween craze of course.

So, what happens to those pumpkins?

Thoughts halloween, United States

In need of sending a packet to the US, I had a look at the services available through Royal Mail, their cost and features in terms of delivery time, tracking, etc.

Funny that they still quote Surface Mail to the US, with delivery times from 56 days:

This service is ideal for sending personal correspondence, business letters and documents, when economy is more important than speed. We aim to deliver within two weeks in Western Europe, four in Eastern Europe, and eight outside Europe.

Two weeks within Western Europe? Are they walking my letters to Paris?
Eight weeks to the US, possible traveling via Greenland and Canada on dogsled?

Thoughts Canada, Eastern Europe, Europe, Greenland, Paris, United States, Western Europe;

I already told you that we safely returned from our USA holiday. I have not yet told you how we got there, though…

As usual, and thanks to modern Internet times, I made all arrangements myself. Unusually, though, I encountered a set of unexpected difficulties in the process. Some were simple scheduling difficulties for which nobody is to blame, but some others where thanks to the online booking facility that I used in the process. I have never used this one before, and I hope never to use them again: http://www.ebookers.com. Be warned.

Although I am happy, and profoundly relieved, to report that all was well in the end, the process wasn’t up to usual standards: payment details couldn’t be verified and confirmed online, the inital booking got cancelled without reason, procedures to obtain vouchers and itinaries were disfunct or incorrectly described, paperwork provided was errornous, … The list is long and I’ll spare you further details.

There are many providers out there which will work perfectly well. No need to try your luck with eBookers.

Thoughts United States

OK, W7 is about to find out whether so much blasphemy and criticism on American mannerisms has any impact at all:

On this Friday the 13th, the wife and I are travelling to the U.S., to the land where the tax dollar works, to the land of unlimited opportunities, to the land of vast and beautiful landscape. Serious on the first and last aspect, and looking forward to cruising Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Blogging will recommence at the end of the month. Until then, enjoy life, browse the archives, treat yourselves to something delicious or something beautiful, see what Pille or Anne cook this week, what UL is up to, how Marianne Magdala copes with late adolescence, or wonder where Diamond Geezer finds the time for his elaborate blog. If you’ve done all that already the last time, well… go away and have a life!

Stay well. Back soon.
 

Thoughts Marianne Magdala, United States

Is it just me? I have spent almost 10 years in the U.K. now, with frequent visits to the U.S. throughout those years, yet I have never seen or heard anyone withing me Godspeed. Not until recently, that is.
 

Have a nice journey, or Have a safe trip used to be the common formula, but now… Godspeed?

Is God a speedy god? Is He in the end not omnipresent at all, but wizzes around at amazing speed? How come this word of well-wishing appears to re-surface at the time of renewed religious… hm… euphoria?

I don’t know. It makes me feel like saying Keep Your God to yourself. It is in good hands there, and I don’t mind at all. If only everyone did the same, this planet would be a much nicer place.

Thoughts United Kingdom, United States

Some of you might remember that I was randomly drawn from the electoral role last year to serve as a juror at court. You may recall posts at the start, in the middle, and at the end of my service.

The rules say that jurors must be randomly drawn so as to represent the community. Unlike the U.S, there is no process of interviews in the U.K, just a simple, democratic, random draw.

I had discovered last year already that the random draw is somewhat farcical, as they need jurors available for the estimated duration of the trial. So, they were keen on volunteers for the longer ones.

How surprised do you think I was when I got another juror summons recently? You guess it: not much. Other jurors had already told me, once you are in the random draw, you’re in. Randomly.

A complete farce.

Fortunately I could get off the hook this time, as the law only requires one service every two years. Expect a related post around the September 2007 time frame.

Thoughts United Kingdom, United States

I can now assure you from personal experience, the true American Adventure is to visit the Emergency Room.

I had to call the famous 911 last Thursday, got ambulanced out of the hotel (how emberrassing) into the nearby local hospital, and later transferred into another hospital. Each time, I had a strong Hollywoodesque experience:

Emergency doctor and nurse working me from my right, infusions and monitors at my top, and the admin clerk to my left:

She: "Sir, we need your insurance policy number"
Me: "Aarg go away ourgh"
She: "What is your insurance’s U.S. contact number?"
Me: "Aarg go away ourgh"
She: "I need you to sign those 10 disclaimers now"
Me: "Aarg go away ourgh"
She: "No we cannot mail to the UK, you must give us your permanent US postal address"
Me: "Aaaargh"

Eventually we got it all sorted out; insurance clarified and approved, myself fixed and discharged.

What a nightmare!

I can only advise anyone not resident in the U.S. not to get ill there.

Thoughts United Kingdom, United States