Friday, December 29, 2006
War Stories
December 29th. 22.40
A new comment has produced a list and even I can spot the difference. I am surprised that Jane Austen gets on the list of books that are read at the same sort of age as Black Beauty or Ann of Green Gables would be read but maybe that is the best time to read her. I almost lost the will to live when I read the complete works about twenty years ago and I made definite plan never to read them again. Woody Allen was asked what he would do differently if he had his life over again. He replied that he wouldn't read Moby Dick. I feel the same about Jane Austen. I am also a bit surprised at the inclusion of Charlotte Bronte. I am talking about my reading between the ages of ten to thirteen and I think that girls of that age wouldn't be reading Bronte, though I do of course acknowledge that they they are more precocious readers than boys and have weird taste.
The books in both Anniethegrannie's comment and in my last blog were largely written for either girls or boys so its no great surprise that we have different memories of our reading material at that age. I'm not sure whether Buchan, Dumas, Dickens(C), Christie or Sayers imagined that their readers would be predominantly male or female, or even young or adult. I had thought that Agatha Christie might have been included in one of my lists eventually as I went through a phase of reading a lot of those green Penguin books dedicated to crime and I'm sure she was one of the authors who was honoured by the simultaneous issue of ten of her stories. I think that John Dickson Carr and Erle Stanley Gardner were two others at about the same time. I used to hitch-hike to and from school to save the fare money to buy paper back books which were really just beginning to proliferate for the first time. Penguin had already been issued for several years. Pan and Corgi joined the expanding numbers on the shelves, costing two shillings or two and six or even three shillings. One of the most popular genres was the war reminiscences which told true tales of derring-do rather than commentating on the conduct or morality of the Second World War. So, in fond memory of those books, I offer the following ten:-
141. They Have Their Exits by Airey Neave (PAN 2/-)
142. Escape- or Die by Paul Brickhill (PAN 2/-)
143. Beyond The Chindwin by Bernard Ferguson (FONTANA 2/6)
144. The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams (FONTANA 3/-)
145. The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill (PAN 2/6)
146. The Colditz Story by P.R.Reid (PAN 2/-)
147. Dare To Be Free by W.B.Thomas (PAN 2/-)
148. Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson (PAN 2/6)
149. The Naked Island by Russell Braddon (PAN)
150. Boldness Be My Friend by Richard Pape (PAN 2/6)
Not bad really; eight books for under a pound! I wonder if anyone reads them today? More recent wars don't seem to have produced a similar 'literature'. I realise that no female author has been included but I didn't think that the Diary of Anne Frank or Odette were quite in the same vein and I can't think of any others.
Too wet for the allotment but there have been a few games of squash . Weight loss unlikely this week but no scales available until the next weigh day next year.
A new comment has produced a list and even I can spot the difference. I am surprised that Jane Austen gets on the list of books that are read at the same sort of age as Black Beauty or Ann of Green Gables would be read but maybe that is the best time to read her. I almost lost the will to live when I read the complete works about twenty years ago and I made definite plan never to read them again. Woody Allen was asked what he would do differently if he had his life over again. He replied that he wouldn't read Moby Dick. I feel the same about Jane Austen. I am also a bit surprised at the inclusion of Charlotte Bronte. I am talking about my reading between the ages of ten to thirteen and I think that girls of that age wouldn't be reading Bronte, though I do of course acknowledge that they they are more precocious readers than boys and have weird taste.
The books in both Anniethegrannie's comment and in my last blog were largely written for either girls or boys so its no great surprise that we have different memories of our reading material at that age. I'm not sure whether Buchan, Dumas, Dickens(C), Christie or Sayers imagined that their readers would be predominantly male or female, or even young or adult. I had thought that Agatha Christie might have been included in one of my lists eventually as I went through a phase of reading a lot of those green Penguin books dedicated to crime and I'm sure she was one of the authors who was honoured by the simultaneous issue of ten of her stories. I think that John Dickson Carr and Erle Stanley Gardner were two others at about the same time. I used to hitch-hike to and from school to save the fare money to buy paper back books which were really just beginning to proliferate for the first time. Penguin had already been issued for several years. Pan and Corgi joined the expanding numbers on the shelves, costing two shillings or two and six or even three shillings. One of the most popular genres was the war reminiscences which told true tales of derring-do rather than commentating on the conduct or morality of the Second World War. So, in fond memory of those books, I offer the following ten:-
141. They Have Their Exits by Airey Neave (PAN 2/-)
142. Escape- or Die by Paul Brickhill (PAN 2/-)
143. Beyond The Chindwin by Bernard Ferguson (FONTANA 2/6)
144. The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams (FONTANA 3/-)
145. The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill (PAN 2/6)
146. The Colditz Story by P.R.Reid (PAN 2/-)
147. Dare To Be Free by W.B.Thomas (PAN 2/-)
148. Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson (PAN 2/6)
149. The Naked Island by Russell Braddon (PAN)
150. Boldness Be My Friend by Richard Pape (PAN 2/6)
Not bad really; eight books for under a pound! I wonder if anyone reads them today? More recent wars don't seem to have produced a similar 'literature'. I realise that no female author has been included but I didn't think that the Diary of Anne Frank or Odette were quite in the same vein and I can't think of any others.
Too wet for the allotment but there have been a few games of squash . Weight loss unlikely this week but no scales available until the next weigh day next year.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Ripping Yarns
December 27. 21.30
As I was surfing through the channels - which is just the sort of thing you do at this time of year, in a room which has just about everything you hate about Christmas- fading decorations, scraps of wrapping paper, piles of unwanted presents, small pieces of styrofoam from the packing of a present that had never previously been un-wrapped, the multicoloured wrapping papers from the selection of Quality Street chocolates from which the best had long been removed leaving only those strange nougat and coconut chocs that nobody likes, and the fire blazing away leaving the room uncomfortably hot and soporific, when I chanced up on a programme about John Buchan, one time Governor General of Canada, but more importantly as far as I am concerned, the author of "The Thirty Nine Steps" and many others that Graham Greene would have called "entertainments".
John Buchan was one of the more prolific authors of adventures that gripped and entertained me in the years when I began to read. At that time , when I chanced upon ( or was perhaps subtly led by my father or possibly the enlightened school I attended) a writer whose works I enjoyed, I tried to get hold of all his books and then move on to someone else when I had devoured them all, much the same as I do today. The programme concluded by stating that next week they would focus on the works of Rider Haggard who was another of my favourites at that time. I don't know if I could now accept the rather obvious racist and colonial overtones of much of this body of fiction, but they really were ripping yarns and fantastic entertainment. I expect you can see where this is all leading- yes another list- this time of the ten writers who entertained me most at that time:-
131. Alexandre Dumas
132. John Buchan
133. G.H.Henty
134. Rider Haggard
135. C.S.Forrester
136. Jules Verne
137. Arthur Ransome
138. R.M.Ballantyne
139. Capt W.E.Johns
140. Charles Dickens
I realise that the appearance of Dickens at number ten in this list may be interpreted by some as a sort of literary criticiism that places David Copperfield below Biggles, but the order isn't meant to suggest any order of merit but more a loose association with the time I discovered these authors. Dickens and posssibly some of the John Buchan might equally appeal to a youthful or a more adult readership but probably most of the others works would only really be enjoyed by the young. I used to think that a really good children's book was always fun for the adult reader at bedtime story time.
I also realise that some readers of this blog might be wondering what this has to do with Bob losing weight and it is of course, for those of you who really care, nothing at all to do do with weight loss, but is , like all the other lists, very much to do with how we spend, sorry, I spend, my life. The weight thing of course may be inseparably connected to the quality and duration of life and sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not giving it enough attention. So next year there will be a more serious approach to weight loss. I was asked today if 2007 would be the year of the book and after a few seconds of intense thought I replied "yes, I think so". Sounds a bit like a resolution.
As I was surfing through the channels - which is just the sort of thing you do at this time of year, in a room which has just about everything you hate about Christmas- fading decorations, scraps of wrapping paper, piles of unwanted presents, small pieces of styrofoam from the packing of a present that had never previously been un-wrapped, the multicoloured wrapping papers from the selection of Quality Street chocolates from which the best had long been removed leaving only those strange nougat and coconut chocs that nobody likes, and the fire blazing away leaving the room uncomfortably hot and soporific, when I chanced up on a programme about John Buchan, one time Governor General of Canada, but more importantly as far as I am concerned, the author of "The Thirty Nine Steps" and many others that Graham Greene would have called "entertainments".
John Buchan was one of the more prolific authors of adventures that gripped and entertained me in the years when I began to read. At that time , when I chanced upon ( or was perhaps subtly led by my father or possibly the enlightened school I attended) a writer whose works I enjoyed, I tried to get hold of all his books and then move on to someone else when I had devoured them all, much the same as I do today. The programme concluded by stating that next week they would focus on the works of Rider Haggard who was another of my favourites at that time. I don't know if I could now accept the rather obvious racist and colonial overtones of much of this body of fiction, but they really were ripping yarns and fantastic entertainment. I expect you can see where this is all leading- yes another list- this time of the ten writers who entertained me most at that time:-
131. Alexandre Dumas
132. John Buchan
133. G.H.Henty
134. Rider Haggard
135. C.S.Forrester
136. Jules Verne
137. Arthur Ransome
138. R.M.Ballantyne
139. Capt W.E.Johns
140. Charles Dickens
I realise that the appearance of Dickens at number ten in this list may be interpreted by some as a sort of literary criticiism that places David Copperfield below Biggles, but the order isn't meant to suggest any order of merit but more a loose association with the time I discovered these authors. Dickens and posssibly some of the John Buchan might equally appeal to a youthful or a more adult readership but probably most of the others works would only really be enjoyed by the young. I used to think that a really good children's book was always fun for the adult reader at bedtime story time.
I also realise that some readers of this blog might be wondering what this has to do with Bob losing weight and it is of course, for those of you who really care, nothing at all to do do with weight loss, but is , like all the other lists, very much to do with how we spend, sorry, I spend, my life. The weight thing of course may be inseparably connected to the quality and duration of life and sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not giving it enough attention. So next year there will be a more serious approach to weight loss. I was asked today if 2007 would be the year of the book and after a few seconds of intense thought I replied "yes, I think so". Sounds a bit like a resolution.
December 27. 21.30
As I was surfing through the channels - which is just the sort of thing you do at this time of year, in a room which has just about everything you hate about Christmas- fading decorations, scraps of wrapping paper, piles of unwanted presents, small pieces of styrofoam from the packing of a present that had never previously been un-wrapped, the multicoloured wrapping papers from the selection of Quality Street chocolates from which the best had long been removed leaving only those strange nougat and coconut chocs that nobody likes, and the fire blazing away leaving the room uncomfortably hot and soporific, when I chanced up on a programme about John Buchan, one time Governor General of Canada, but more importantly as far as I am concerned, the author of "The Thirty Nine Steps" and many others that Graham Greene would have called "entertainments".
John Buchan was one of the more prolific authors of adventures that gripped and entertained me in the years when I began to read. At that time , when I chanced upon ( or was perhaps subtly led by my father or possibly the enlightened school I attended) a writer whose works I enjoyed, I tried to get hold of all his books and then move on to someone else when I had devoured them all, much the same as I do today. The programme concluded by stating that next week they would focus on the works of Rider Haggard who was another of my favourites at that time. I don't know if I could now accept the rather obvious racist and colonial overtones of much of this body of fiction, but they really were ripping yarns and fantastic entertainment. I expect you can see where this is all leading- yes another list- this time of the ten writers who entertained me most at that time:-
131. Alexandre Dumas
132. John Buchan
133. G.H.Henty
134. Rider Haggard
135. C.S.Forrester
136. Jules Verne
137. Arthur Ransome
138. R.M.Ballantyne
139. Capt W.E.Johns
140. Charles Dickens
I realise that the appearance of Dickens at number ten in this list may be interpreted by some as a sort of literary criticiism that places David Copperfield below Biggles, but the order isn't meant to suggest any order of merit but more a loose association with the time I discovered these authors. Dickens and posssibly some of the John Buchan might equally appeal to a youthful or a more adult readership but probably most of the others works would only really be enjoyed by the young. I used to think that a really good children's book was always fun for the adult reader at bedtime story time.
I also realise that some readers of this blog might be wondering what this has to do with Bob losing weight and it is of course, for those of you who really care, nothing at all to do do with weight loss, but is , like all the other lists, very much to do with how we spend, sorry, I spend, my life. The weight thing of course may be inseparably connected to the quality and duration of life and sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not giving it enough attention. So next year there will be a more serious approach to weight loss. I was asked today if 2007 would be the year of the book and after a few seconds of intense thought I replied "yes, I think so". Sounds a bit like a resolution.
As I was surfing through the channels - which is just the sort of thing you do at this time of year, in a room which has just about everything you hate about Christmas- fading decorations, scraps of wrapping paper, piles of unwanted presents, small pieces of styrofoam from the packing of a present that had never previously been un-wrapped, the multicoloured wrapping papers from the selection of Quality Street chocolates from which the best had long been removed leaving only those strange nougat and coconut chocs that nobody likes, and the fire blazing away leaving the room uncomfortably hot and soporific, when I chanced up on a programme about John Buchan, one time Governor General of Canada, but more importantly as far as I am concerned, the author of "The Thirty Nine Steps" and many others that Graham Greene would have called "entertainments".
John Buchan was one of the more prolific authors of adventures that gripped and entertained me in the years when I began to read. At that time , when I chanced upon ( or was perhaps subtly led by my father or possibly the enlightened school I attended) a writer whose works I enjoyed, I tried to get hold of all his books and then move on to someone else when I had devoured them all, much the same as I do today. The programme concluded by stating that next week they would focus on the works of Rider Haggard who was another of my favourites at that time. I don't know if I could now accept the rather obvious racist and colonial overtones of much of this body of fiction, but they really were ripping yarns and fantastic entertainment. I expect you can see where this is all leading- yes another list- this time of the ten writers who entertained me most at that time:-
131. Alexandre Dumas
132. John Buchan
133. G.H.Henty
134. Rider Haggard
135. C.S.Forrester
136. Jules Verne
137. Arthur Ransome
138. R.M.Ballantyne
139. Capt W.E.Johns
140. Charles Dickens
I realise that the appearance of Dickens at number ten in this list may be interpreted by some as a sort of literary criticiism that places David Copperfield below Biggles, but the order isn't meant to suggest any order of merit but more a loose association with the time I discovered these authors. Dickens and posssibly some of the John Buchan might equally appeal to a youthful or a more adult readership but probably most of the others works would only really be enjoyed by the young. I used to think that a really good children's book was always fun for the adult reader at bedtime story time.
I also realise that some readers of this blog might be wondering what this has to do with Bob losing weight and it is of course, for those of you who really care, nothing at all to do do with weight loss, but is , like all the other lists, very much to do with how we spend, sorry, I spend, my life. The weight thing of course may be inseparably connected to the quality and duration of life and sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not giving it enough attention. So next year there will be a more serious approach to weight loss. I was asked today if 2007 would be the year of the book and after a few seconds of intense thought I replied "yes, I think so". Sounds a bit like a resolution.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Festive Food
December 25th.15.40
As promised, having just finished a Christmas lunch, I will reveal what I/we ate. Turkey. I really think that turkey is a very dull and uninteresting animal and I would rather eat beef or lamb, but it always turns out exactly as you expect and in that respect it doesn't let you down. The pleasure of the meal therefore depends on other factors, such as the quality of the wine and the amount consumed, the quality and variety of the vegetables, the quality of the bread sauce and the company. Since I was working this morning, I cooked the bird in the middle of the night after staggering back up the hill. The stuffing was a concoction I produced in a semi-inebriated state and was made of sausage meat and sage and breadcrumbs and onion. Sounds ok but actually quite disappointing. Next year I propose to make chestnut stufffing. There was some cheese and crackers but everyone was too full for pudding. Yesterday there was an even better meal- roast beef followed by apple crumble! What a treat. Tomorrow , cold turkey. The day after tomorrow, cold turkey. The day after that, cold tur......... Next week, turkey soup.
So no real surprises. The food police may have threatened to bite the cat in Penarth, but they could hardly be further away at the moment, having gone international, and are now investigating sky diving and the ?boxing day races with a chafed groin in New Zealand. Sounds like a fantastic holiday rather than work.
I have decided that after watching Nigella Lawson's advice on the Christmas dinner, that she is totally lacking in sex appeal. She has become the darling of the TV reviewers but in my view her pretence at 'naughtiness' by cooking something in a different way from her mother is downright pathetic and the sight of her draining the parsnips in her silken dressing gown is a complete turn-off. I don't know why the sight of anyone doing a fairly ordinary job in an adequate way should turn them into 'celebrities' but the bunch of TV cooks is the biggest group of 'unwatchables' currently available. One of them is actually so obnoxious that he is on my list of most hated performers that force me to reach for the off button as soon as I see them. This list used to be my elimination list but in the end it became too long and I could never remember who was at the top of the list. One day I will publish the list but at the moment I am trying to be more positive and list only things to celebrate.
Askintoo made a comment on my last blog but it was just more advertising and I wiped it off possibly before anyone saw it. I thought the slow bowlers would get more comment but perhaps nobody watches cricket who reads this blog. I have realised that Google often alters its logo for special occasions and it different again today and has been different for the past four days. Yuo would have to log on every day to realise that this happens.
I am planning to try a Sarah Paretsky thriller to see if she eats proper meals but as I recall she's another who is more into booze when she's on a case. With any luck there will be a bit of time to get to the allotment in the next week as work should be relatively light. I( look forward to a bit more daylight.
As promised, having just finished a Christmas lunch, I will reveal what I/we ate. Turkey. I really think that turkey is a very dull and uninteresting animal and I would rather eat beef or lamb, but it always turns out exactly as you expect and in that respect it doesn't let you down. The pleasure of the meal therefore depends on other factors, such as the quality of the wine and the amount consumed, the quality and variety of the vegetables, the quality of the bread sauce and the company. Since I was working this morning, I cooked the bird in the middle of the night after staggering back up the hill. The stuffing was a concoction I produced in a semi-inebriated state and was made of sausage meat and sage and breadcrumbs and onion. Sounds ok but actually quite disappointing. Next year I propose to make chestnut stufffing. There was some cheese and crackers but everyone was too full for pudding. Yesterday there was an even better meal- roast beef followed by apple crumble! What a treat. Tomorrow , cold turkey. The day after tomorrow, cold turkey. The day after that, cold tur......... Next week, turkey soup.
So no real surprises. The food police may have threatened to bite the cat in Penarth, but they could hardly be further away at the moment, having gone international, and are now investigating sky diving and the ?boxing day races with a chafed groin in New Zealand. Sounds like a fantastic holiday rather than work.
I have decided that after watching Nigella Lawson's advice on the Christmas dinner, that she is totally lacking in sex appeal. She has become the darling of the TV reviewers but in my view her pretence at 'naughtiness' by cooking something in a different way from her mother is downright pathetic and the sight of her draining the parsnips in her silken dressing gown is a complete turn-off. I don't know why the sight of anyone doing a fairly ordinary job in an adequate way should turn them into 'celebrities' but the bunch of TV cooks is the biggest group of 'unwatchables' currently available. One of them is actually so obnoxious that he is on my list of most hated performers that force me to reach for the off button as soon as I see them. This list used to be my elimination list but in the end it became too long and I could never remember who was at the top of the list. One day I will publish the list but at the moment I am trying to be more positive and list only things to celebrate.
Askintoo made a comment on my last blog but it was just more advertising and I wiped it off possibly before anyone saw it. I thought the slow bowlers would get more comment but perhaps nobody watches cricket who reads this blog. I have realised that Google often alters its logo for special occasions and it different again today and has been different for the past four days. Yuo would have to log on every day to realise that this happens.
I am planning to try a Sarah Paretsky thriller to see if she eats proper meals but as I recall she's another who is more into booze when she's on a case. With any luck there will be a bit of time to get to the allotment in the next week as work should be relatively light. I( look forward to a bit more daylight.
Festive Food
December 25th.15.40
As promised, having just finished a Christmas lunch, I will reveal what I/we ate. Turkey. I really think that turkey is a very dull and uninteresting animal and I would rather eat beef or lamb, but it always turns out exactly as you expect and in that respect it doesn't let you down. The pleasure of the meal therefore depends on other factors, such as the quality of the wine and the amount consumed, the quality and variety of the vegetables, the quality of the bread sauce and the company. Since I was working this morning, I cooked the bird in the middle of the night after staggering back up the hill. The stuffing was a concoction I produced in a semi-inebriated state and was made of sausage meat and sage and breadcrumbs and onion. Sounds ok but actually quite disappointing. Next year I propose to make chestnut stufffing. There was some cheese and crackers but everyone was too full for pudding. Yesterday there was an even better meal- roast beef followed by apple crumble! What a treat. Tomorrow , cold turkey. The day after tomorrow, cold turkey. The day after that, cold tur......... Next week, turkey soup.
So no real surprises. The food police may have threatened to bite the cat in Penarth, but they could hardly be further away at the moment, having gone international, and are now investigating sky diving and the ?boxing day races with a chafed groin in New Zealand. Sounds like a fantastic holiday rather than work.
I have decided that after watching Nigella Lawson's advice on the Christmas dinner, that she is totally lacking in sex appeal. She has become the darling of the TV reviewers but in my view her pretence at 'naughtiness' by cooking something in a different way from her mother is downright pathetic and the sight of her draining the parsnips in her silken dressing gown is a complete turn-off. I don't know why the sight of anyone doing a fairly ordinary job in an adequate way should turn them into 'celebrities' but the bunch of TV cooks is the biggest group of 'unwatchables' currently available. One of them is actually so obnoxious that he is on my list of most hated performers that force me to reach for the off button as soon as I see them. This list used to be my elimination list but in the end it became too long and I could never remember who was at the top of the list. One day I will publish the list but at the moment I am trying to be more positive and list only things to celebrate.
Askintoo made a comment on my last blog but it was just more advertising and I wiped it off possibly before anyone saw it. I thought the slow bowlers would get more comment but perhaps nobody watches cricket who reads this blog. I have realised that Google often alters its logo for special occasions and it different again today and has been different for the past four days. Yuo would have to log on every day to realise that this happens.
I am planning to try a Sarah Paretsky thriller to see if she eats proper meals but as I recall she's another who is more into booze when she's on a case. With any luck there will be a bit of time to get to the allotment in the next week as work should be relatively light. I( look forward to a bit more daylight.
As promised, having just finished a Christmas lunch, I will reveal what I/we ate. Turkey. I really think that turkey is a very dull and uninteresting animal and I would rather eat beef or lamb, but it always turns out exactly as you expect and in that respect it doesn't let you down. The pleasure of the meal therefore depends on other factors, such as the quality of the wine and the amount consumed, the quality and variety of the vegetables, the quality of the bread sauce and the company. Since I was working this morning, I cooked the bird in the middle of the night after staggering back up the hill. The stuffing was a concoction I produced in a semi-inebriated state and was made of sausage meat and sage and breadcrumbs and onion. Sounds ok but actually quite disappointing. Next year I propose to make chestnut stufffing. There was some cheese and crackers but everyone was too full for pudding. Yesterday there was an even better meal- roast beef followed by apple crumble! What a treat. Tomorrow , cold turkey. The day after tomorrow, cold turkey. The day after that, cold tur......... Next week, turkey soup.
So no real surprises. The food police may have threatened to bite the cat in Penarth, but they could hardly be further away at the moment, having gone international, and are now investigating sky diving and the ?boxing day races with a chafed groin in New Zealand. Sounds like a fantastic holiday rather than work.
I have decided that after watching Nigella Lawson's advice on the Christmas dinner, that she is totally lacking in sex appeal. She has become the darling of the TV reviewers but in my view her pretence at 'naughtiness' by cooking something in a different way from her mother is downright pathetic and the sight of her draining the parsnips in her silken dressing gown is a complete turn-off. I don't know why the sight of anyone doing a fairly ordinary job in an adequate way should turn them into 'celebrities' but the bunch of TV cooks is the biggest group of 'unwatchables' currently available. One of them is actually so obnoxious that he is on my list of most hated performers that force me to reach for the off button as soon as I see them. This list used to be my elimination list but in the end it became too long and I could never remember who was at the top of the list. One day I will publish the list but at the moment I am trying to be more positive and list only things to celebrate.
Askintoo made a comment on my last blog but it was just more advertising and I wiped it off possibly before anyone saw it. I thought the slow bowlers would get more comment but perhaps nobody watches cricket who reads this blog. I have realised that Google often alters its logo for special occasions and it different again today and has been different for the past four days. Yuo would have to log on every day to realise that this happens.
I am planning to try a Sarah Paretsky thriller to see if she eats proper meals but as I recall she's another who is more into booze when she's on a case. With any luck there will be a bit of time to get to the allotment in the next week as work should be relatively light. I( look forward to a bit more daylight.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Listless
December 22nd..22.44
There has been a long gap between blogs because I have been too busy- eating mainly. The season seems to demand certain ritual time consuming observances such as repeated shopping trips to stock up for the visit of friends and family which is quite likely to be thwarted by the blanket of fog of Gatwick and Cardiff which may delay the arrival of the girls from Brighton and Liverpool, even if they are able to walk after a week on the snowy(?) slopes of Austria. I have even found two Christmas trees which at least have each other for company in a deserted room which is too cold to occupy without the fire.
I cannot predict where I will spend New Year's eve but it is unlikely that I will avoid the trap which will bring me the 'inevitable disappointment' of the occasion culminating in me weaving my way back home after a night of excessive alcohol and noise. I know I should really un-plug the phone, barricade the front door and settle down on my own in an old cardy and slippers with a mug of ovaltine and maybe an Agatha Christie or listen to the third programme on the wireless but I'll probably succumb to the unlikely possibility that this year will be different and I will meet the woman of my dreams (again) and remain tolerably sober and coherent. So I probably won't be here, recording my reflections on the past year and my plans for 2007.
The past year has been a good one. There have been no tragedies amongst family and friends, no deaths nor diseases . There have been births and rejoicings.Final exams have been passed. There has been the allotment and this blog. It has been a good year for "gulp fiction". I have had a job all year which has been great fun. I don't seem to have lost much weight but I could if I really wanted to or needed to. I have been able to see most, but not all, of my oldest friends and if I ever made a resolution it would be to make a point of seeing them regularly. So for the next year I would hope to have more of the same, maybe with a bit more and wider travel and of course to sell my soul on E-bay and to be cloned.
I have just watched a tribute to Christopher Lloyd, the famous gardener who died earlier this year. Alan Titchmarsh introduced a fascinating programme about someone I would really like to have met. There is something almost infectious about such enthusiasts that I was left almost regretting that I had not become a gardener and I then started wondering if I would , for my next list, produce ten of my greatest regrets. Maybe I will do so later, but I realise that such a list is just too revealing though it might be quite interesting for that very reason.
I had to abandon Friedrich Glauser's "In Matto's Realm"- a Sergeant Studer mystery, because I became hopelessly bored. It wasn't even clear whether any crime had actually been committed or whether some chap had just broken his neck falling off a ladder. After a bit , I started wishing that they'd all break their necks and put us out of of our misery. There was no suspense, no excitement and no meals. "A Walk in the Dark" by Gianrico Carofiglio was an excellent tale and our hero, a lawyer, not a detective, actually eats meals though the food is not in the same class as that of Camilleri and Montalban and is not worth repeating the menu. I shall of course be briefly describing my own Christmas menu though we have all been bored by the celebrity chefs telling us how to cook a chicken or a turkey. If the BBC will part with several thousand pounds, I will let them into my kitchen to film me cooking a bird (cooking, not roasting- no smut please) or maybe frying an egg or making a crumble. This week I have been mostly eating Italian Salami, tomato salads, Gruyere, yogurts, bacon, Clementines and the widely under-rated celery which I will be promoting and possibly even growing in the next year. As far as we know it is not one of the dangerous vegetables such as lettuce or spinach and is not covered by the National Lettuce Initiative.
If I fail to publish a blog again this year, I wish any reader a happy new year.
There has been a long gap between blogs because I have been too busy- eating mainly. The season seems to demand certain ritual time consuming observances such as repeated shopping trips to stock up for the visit of friends and family which is quite likely to be thwarted by the blanket of fog of Gatwick and Cardiff which may delay the arrival of the girls from Brighton and Liverpool, even if they are able to walk after a week on the snowy(?) slopes of Austria. I have even found two Christmas trees which at least have each other for company in a deserted room which is too cold to occupy without the fire.
I cannot predict where I will spend New Year's eve but it is unlikely that I will avoid the trap which will bring me the 'inevitable disappointment' of the occasion culminating in me weaving my way back home after a night of excessive alcohol and noise. I know I should really un-plug the phone, barricade the front door and settle down on my own in an old cardy and slippers with a mug of ovaltine and maybe an Agatha Christie or listen to the third programme on the wireless but I'll probably succumb to the unlikely possibility that this year will be different and I will meet the woman of my dreams (again) and remain tolerably sober and coherent. So I probably won't be here, recording my reflections on the past year and my plans for 2007.
The past year has been a good one. There have been no tragedies amongst family and friends, no deaths nor diseases . There have been births and rejoicings.Final exams have been passed. There has been the allotment and this blog. It has been a good year for "gulp fiction". I have had a job all year which has been great fun. I don't seem to have lost much weight but I could if I really wanted to or needed to. I have been able to see most, but not all, of my oldest friends and if I ever made a resolution it would be to make a point of seeing them regularly. So for the next year I would hope to have more of the same, maybe with a bit more and wider travel and of course to sell my soul on E-bay and to be cloned.
I have just watched a tribute to Christopher Lloyd, the famous gardener who died earlier this year. Alan Titchmarsh introduced a fascinating programme about someone I would really like to have met. There is something almost infectious about such enthusiasts that I was left almost regretting that I had not become a gardener and I then started wondering if I would , for my next list, produce ten of my greatest regrets. Maybe I will do so later, but I realise that such a list is just too revealing though it might be quite interesting for that very reason.
I had to abandon Friedrich Glauser's "In Matto's Realm"- a Sergeant Studer mystery, because I became hopelessly bored. It wasn't even clear whether any crime had actually been committed or whether some chap had just broken his neck falling off a ladder. After a bit , I started wishing that they'd all break their necks and put us out of of our misery. There was no suspense, no excitement and no meals. "A Walk in the Dark" by Gianrico Carofiglio was an excellent tale and our hero, a lawyer, not a detective, actually eats meals though the food is not in the same class as that of Camilleri and Montalban and is not worth repeating the menu. I shall of course be briefly describing my own Christmas menu though we have all been bored by the celebrity chefs telling us how to cook a chicken or a turkey. If the BBC will part with several thousand pounds, I will let them into my kitchen to film me cooking a bird (cooking, not roasting- no smut please) or maybe frying an egg or making a crumble. This week I have been mostly eating Italian Salami, tomato salads, Gruyere, yogurts, bacon, Clementines and the widely under-rated celery which I will be promoting and possibly even growing in the next year. As far as we know it is not one of the dangerous vegetables such as lettuce or spinach and is not covered by the National Lettuce Initiative.
If I fail to publish a blog again this year, I wish any reader a happy new year.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Slow Bowling Ahead
December 12th. 18.00
I am looking forward to Match of the day. Not many teams leave Stamford Bridge with a point these days. Unfortunately the gap is widening at the top and although they, the nameless ones, are likely to win by a mile, they do look pretty impressive. At work, as though to taunt me , I am given coffee in the Man U Mug or, almost as bad, the Piggy Mug. As I write this at home I am having a "nice cup of tea" in the extra large Donald Duck Mug! Why do people say "What you need is a nice cup of tea" or "We'll have a nice cuppa" as though there is a reasonable alternative of a truly "ghastly cuppa"? Or, when you say you are going on holiday they ask "Anywhere nice?" as though you would pick a destination from the list of holidays in hell.
It has come to my notice that certain readers of this blog do not understand the term "sleeping partner". For those that do not, I suggest you look it up in the Oxford Dictionary. My sleeping partner was amused when I mentioned this to him, and rather sooner than he expected after a night in the pub, became a proud and rather exhausted father for the first time! Quite a week for new sons as friends in the Midlands also had a son earlier in the week.
I don't think that The Food Police were concentrating, perhaps because of jet lag. Renee Hagita never played in the football league and the scorpion kick was only achieved because of the generosity of the ref; the shot had been very clearly offside and had Hagita missed the kick the ref wouldn't have allowed the resulting goal. Bruce Grobelaar wasn't good enough or was he deliberately poor? We'll never know.
There has been a slight gap in the blogs this week, due partly to the fact that there has been a rather disconcerting but completely understandable weight gain and partly due to the fact that last weekend I met most of the readers of the blog so it didn't seem that there was news to impart. I have always been sorry for those that do not enjoy sport as it plays such a large part in daily life of so many people either as participants or observers. One grown woman told me recently that it was a thrill to watch the All Blacks rampaging against Wales and even she, who hardly knows the difference between soccer and rugby, could appreciate the skill and strength of the players. Who could fail to appreciate the fluid passing movements of Arsenal in form, culminating in a Henry goal? or "that" goal the Argentinians scored in the World cup this year? or the Gareth Edwards try in the famous Barbarians/ All Blacks Match from Cardiff? or the skill of the quarter back delivering an inch perfect pass to a sprinting wide receiver forty yards up-field? or Shane Warne tormenting a batsman on a turning wicket. I was trying to explain to a student, in my usual politically correct way, how disadvantaged many elderly women were because they didn't follow sport and I think he agreed with me- or at least pretended to. So, although I realise that its not everyone's (nice) cup of tea, I offer the following:-
121. Shane Warne
122. Muttiah Muralitharan
123. Jim Laker
124. Derek Underwood
125. Tony Lock
126. Mushtaq Ahmed
127. Richie Benaud
128. Johnny Wardle
129. Anil Kumble
130. Bishan Bedi
Great fast bowling may be the theme of another list one day but so many deliveries are left alone and the pace of the game so much slower that I find it far less intriguing than the slowies.
I sometimes wonder whether the book reviewer actually reads the book or perhaps reads only part of it all the way through. The Observer today recommends "The Prone Gunman" which has been previously slated in my blog. "Night Bus" was a very original thriller, very funny and a really good read. It can be found somewhere on the bedroom table for those that want to borrow it. Meals are prepared, even by the thugs, and descibed in loving detail, but somehow the psychopathic cook makes them seem less appetising than they would have been if prepared by someone more sympathetic. My own culinary highlight of the week has been Libyan food when I was a guest the home of a Libyan family. What a treat! I would tell you more but unfortunately can't spell most of the dishes.I doubt if the weight will have gone down this week which leaves only another three weeks to make any serious half year losses. Do I hear any bets out there?
Christmas is now generally reckoned to be a commercial opportunity so, not wishing to be seen as someone who won't enter the spirit of the thing, I have decided to sell my soul on e-Bay. Do you think I could possibly sell it more than once- a bit like Zero Mostel selling a fifty percent share repeatedly in that wonderful film "The Producers"? Of course he ended up back in prison, but with a soul, who would find out? I could claim it had been cloned if challenged.
That of course makes me wonder why The Producers weren't on my list. I didn't think of it at the time and there are probably many more for each list that would be very worthy of inclusion, so there may be a case for more list on the same themes in future, but not for a while. Finally, before anyone bothers to point out the mistake, there were two 120's, so there was an extra journalist.
I am looking forward to Match of the day. Not many teams leave Stamford Bridge with a point these days. Unfortunately the gap is widening at the top and although they, the nameless ones, are likely to win by a mile, they do look pretty impressive. At work, as though to taunt me , I am given coffee in the Man U Mug or, almost as bad, the Piggy Mug. As I write this at home I am having a "nice cup of tea" in the extra large Donald Duck Mug! Why do people say "What you need is a nice cup of tea" or "We'll have a nice cuppa" as though there is a reasonable alternative of a truly "ghastly cuppa"? Or, when you say you are going on holiday they ask "Anywhere nice?" as though you would pick a destination from the list of holidays in hell.
It has come to my notice that certain readers of this blog do not understand the term "sleeping partner". For those that do not, I suggest you look it up in the Oxford Dictionary. My sleeping partner was amused when I mentioned this to him, and rather sooner than he expected after a night in the pub, became a proud and rather exhausted father for the first time! Quite a week for new sons as friends in the Midlands also had a son earlier in the week.
I don't think that The Food Police were concentrating, perhaps because of jet lag. Renee Hagita never played in the football league and the scorpion kick was only achieved because of the generosity of the ref; the shot had been very clearly offside and had Hagita missed the kick the ref wouldn't have allowed the resulting goal. Bruce Grobelaar wasn't good enough or was he deliberately poor? We'll never know.
There has been a slight gap in the blogs this week, due partly to the fact that there has been a rather disconcerting but completely understandable weight gain and partly due to the fact that last weekend I met most of the readers of the blog so it didn't seem that there was news to impart. I have always been sorry for those that do not enjoy sport as it plays such a large part in daily life of so many people either as participants or observers. One grown woman told me recently that it was a thrill to watch the All Blacks rampaging against Wales and even she, who hardly knows the difference between soccer and rugby, could appreciate the skill and strength of the players. Who could fail to appreciate the fluid passing movements of Arsenal in form, culminating in a Henry goal? or "that" goal the Argentinians scored in the World cup this year? or the Gareth Edwards try in the famous Barbarians/ All Blacks Match from Cardiff? or the skill of the quarter back delivering an inch perfect pass to a sprinting wide receiver forty yards up-field? or Shane Warne tormenting a batsman on a turning wicket. I was trying to explain to a student, in my usual politically correct way, how disadvantaged many elderly women were because they didn't follow sport and I think he agreed with me- or at least pretended to. So, although I realise that its not everyone's (nice) cup of tea, I offer the following:-
121. Shane Warne
122. Muttiah Muralitharan
123. Jim Laker
124. Derek Underwood
125. Tony Lock
126. Mushtaq Ahmed
127. Richie Benaud
128. Johnny Wardle
129. Anil Kumble
130. Bishan Bedi
Great fast bowling may be the theme of another list one day but so many deliveries are left alone and the pace of the game so much slower that I find it far less intriguing than the slowies.
I sometimes wonder whether the book reviewer actually reads the book or perhaps reads only part of it all the way through. The Observer today recommends "The Prone Gunman" which has been previously slated in my blog. "Night Bus" was a very original thriller, very funny and a really good read. It can be found somewhere on the bedroom table for those that want to borrow it. Meals are prepared, even by the thugs, and descibed in loving detail, but somehow the psychopathic cook makes them seem less appetising than they would have been if prepared by someone more sympathetic. My own culinary highlight of the week has been Libyan food when I was a guest the home of a Libyan family. What a treat! I would tell you more but unfortunately can't spell most of the dishes.I doubt if the weight will have gone down this week which leaves only another three weeks to make any serious half year losses. Do I hear any bets out there?
Christmas is now generally reckoned to be a commercial opportunity so, not wishing to be seen as someone who won't enter the spirit of the thing, I have decided to sell my soul on e-Bay. Do you think I could possibly sell it more than once- a bit like Zero Mostel selling a fifty percent share repeatedly in that wonderful film "The Producers"? Of course he ended up back in prison, but with a soul, who would find out? I could claim it had been cloned if challenged.
That of course makes me wonder why The Producers weren't on my list. I didn't think of it at the time and there are probably many more for each list that would be very worthy of inclusion, so there may be a case for more list on the same themes in future, but not for a while. Finally, before anyone bothers to point out the mistake, there were two 120's, so there was an extra journalist.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Go South
December 5th. 22.18
Although "Tainted Blood" was described on the cover as being a chilling read, I didn't think it was a bit chilling. It was quite readable and moderately intriguing, but never exciting. Furthermore, only one decent meal was eaten but no real description was given. There seems to be a marked contrast between the detectives from Mediterranean shores and those from Scandinavia, the former taking time and care to get the best food and enjoy their lives, and the latter forever gloomy with dyspepsia, take-away or ready meals and dysfunctional families. Maybe its all to do with the climate and I should be looking for detectives nearer the Equator to get the most relaxed types with the best recipes. Is there any detective fiction from Sumatra, Borneo, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda,Kenya, Somali Republic,Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and the Galapogos Islands? Send your answers on a postcard etc. etc.. I was surprised to meet someone else who had read Arnaldur Indridason's book but forgot to ask how they had chanced upon it and whether they had read "Night Bus" by Giampiero Rigosi which is the one which is described as a savagely funny crime adventure with an Italian twist. There may be no food and no detectives but I will of course let you know as it is today's read.
According to Germaine Greer, "Most reasonably educated Guardian readers would, I faintly hope, have recognised the phrase 'unsynthesised manifold' as an English version of a basic concept in Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgement.......". She had used the phrase in an article in the Guardian on October 23rd. and had been awarded the Golden Bull by the plain English Campaign. I had been prepared to give Germaine Greer the benefit of the doubt until she gave the response quoted above. I wonder how many Guardian readers either understood the phrase or recognised its origin and, it follows, how many were insulted about their education? Its rather odd that the Guardian gave her a whole page to defend herself in an article in which every paragraph is worthy of inclusion in Private Eye's Pseuds' Corner. Actually there is a lot in the Guardian with which I am most displeased. One of my biggest complaints is with the cartoons. Does anyone find them either funny or illuminating? Thank goodness the wretched Tamara Drew has come to an end but will she be replaced by an even worse invention?
There are of course good things about the Guardian or I wouldn't read it, so to show that I don't moan all the time, I offer the following ten contributors that I enjoy:-
110. Sam Wollaston
111. Nancy Banks Smith
112. Mike Selvey
113. Mark Lawson
114. Simon Hoggart
115. Polly Toynbee
116. Simon Jenkins
117. Harry Pearson
118. Martin Kelner
119. Roy Hattersley
120. Country Diary (various contributors)
If there weren't so much other nonsense in the paper it could easily be made a much more economic and manageable size. I could certainly do without the weekend colour lifestyle/food/sport/women's sections which make it impossible to fold into a Tesco's plastic bag.
Tomorrow is weigh day again. I had a sneak preview today and am not optimistic about tomorrow. Some of you are a bit sceptical about my diet but I am now firmly established on the meat, nuts, vegetables, yogurt and beer diet and I am predicting a satisfactory weight loss by the end of the year. Do I hear any bets about that?
Quite glad really that I didn't go far south to Australia . We are used to the taking of the beating but snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is unpleasant fare. Next stop will therefore be New Zealand. Do they have fictional detectives?
Although "Tainted Blood" was described on the cover as being a chilling read, I didn't think it was a bit chilling. It was quite readable and moderately intriguing, but never exciting. Furthermore, only one decent meal was eaten but no real description was given. There seems to be a marked contrast between the detectives from Mediterranean shores and those from Scandinavia, the former taking time and care to get the best food and enjoy their lives, and the latter forever gloomy with dyspepsia, take-away or ready meals and dysfunctional families. Maybe its all to do with the climate and I should be looking for detectives nearer the Equator to get the most relaxed types with the best recipes. Is there any detective fiction from Sumatra, Borneo, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Uganda,Kenya, Somali Republic,Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and the Galapogos Islands? Send your answers on a postcard etc. etc.. I was surprised to meet someone else who had read Arnaldur Indridason's book but forgot to ask how they had chanced upon it and whether they had read "Night Bus" by Giampiero Rigosi which is the one which is described as a savagely funny crime adventure with an Italian twist. There may be no food and no detectives but I will of course let you know as it is today's read.
According to Germaine Greer, "Most reasonably educated Guardian readers would, I faintly hope, have recognised the phrase 'unsynthesised manifold' as an English version of a basic concept in Immanuel Kant's Critique of Judgement.......". She had used the phrase in an article in the Guardian on October 23rd. and had been awarded the Golden Bull by the plain English Campaign. I had been prepared to give Germaine Greer the benefit of the doubt until she gave the response quoted above. I wonder how many Guardian readers either understood the phrase or recognised its origin and, it follows, how many were insulted about their education? Its rather odd that the Guardian gave her a whole page to defend herself in an article in which every paragraph is worthy of inclusion in Private Eye's Pseuds' Corner. Actually there is a lot in the Guardian with which I am most displeased. One of my biggest complaints is with the cartoons. Does anyone find them either funny or illuminating? Thank goodness the wretched Tamara Drew has come to an end but will she be replaced by an even worse invention?
There are of course good things about the Guardian or I wouldn't read it, so to show that I don't moan all the time, I offer the following ten contributors that I enjoy:-
110. Sam Wollaston
111. Nancy Banks Smith
112. Mike Selvey
113. Mark Lawson
114. Simon Hoggart
115. Polly Toynbee
116. Simon Jenkins
117. Harry Pearson
118. Martin Kelner
119. Roy Hattersley
120. Country Diary (various contributors)
If there weren't so much other nonsense in the paper it could easily be made a much more economic and manageable size. I could certainly do without the weekend colour lifestyle/food/sport/women's sections which make it impossible to fold into a Tesco's plastic bag.
Tomorrow is weigh day again. I had a sneak preview today and am not optimistic about tomorrow. Some of you are a bit sceptical about my diet but I am now firmly established on the meat, nuts, vegetables, yogurt and beer diet and I am predicting a satisfactory weight loss by the end of the year. Do I hear any bets about that?
Quite glad really that I didn't go far south to Australia . We are used to the taking of the beating but snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is unpleasant fare. Next stop will therefore be New Zealand. Do they have fictional detectives?
Friday, December 01, 2006
December 1st. 12.56
The weekend is about to begin.There will be the usual feasting (curry tonight and heaps of varied food and drink, I hope, in Bristol tomorrow) and socialising. I am hoping to meet some of the people who post comments on this blog and perhaps someone will tell who is 'gardener'.I always look forward to the weekend sport but doubt if I will catch much of it on television. I particularly enjoy Match of the Day on Saturdays and Sundays and if I only had Sky, I would be watching cricket at night, competing with American Football on Sunday and Monday Nights. We are probably quite spoilt with regard the quality of football available in Britain. Of course there is a lot of emphasis on brilliant attacking play and wonderful goals, but brilliant defence is often overlooked. I always feel more secure and comfortable when the team I'm supporting has a great goalie. So, as I won't be seeing much sport, I will celebrate a few goalies who I think are very special:-
101. Gordon Banks
102. Peter Shilton
103. Pat Jennings
104. Ray Clemence
105. Bob Wilson
106. David Seaman
107. Peter Schmeickel
108. Petr Cech
109. Edwin Dan De Sar
110. Shay Given
I had thought of electing Fabien Barthez for his sheer entertainment value but he wasn't good enough to get on the list.Only goalkeepers who have played in the football league in England were eligible.
Its not raining at the moment so I will head try to get some digging done today. Woody has of course gone abroad rather than face up to his resonsibilities round here, so planting the garlic will be delayed again. There was only one decent meal in Havana Black based mainly on beefsteak stuffed with a mixture of herbs and served with lots of rice, beans and vegetables which included fried yucca. I have no idea what a yucca is or what it tastes of. I moved on to an Icelandic murder mystery called 'Tainted Blood' by Arnaldur Indridason. Detective Inspector Erlendur of the Reykjavik police so far has only eaten one meal which he quite rightly abandons largely uneaten as it's an unrecognisable ready meal cooked in the microwave- not a good omen for meals to come - but its far too early for any verdict. The names are a bit of a mouthful though.
The weekend is about to begin.There will be the usual feasting (curry tonight and heaps of varied food and drink, I hope, in Bristol tomorrow) and socialising. I am hoping to meet some of the people who post comments on this blog and perhaps someone will tell who is 'gardener'.I always look forward to the weekend sport but doubt if I will catch much of it on television. I particularly enjoy Match of the Day on Saturdays and Sundays and if I only had Sky, I would be watching cricket at night, competing with American Football on Sunday and Monday Nights. We are probably quite spoilt with regard the quality of football available in Britain. Of course there is a lot of emphasis on brilliant attacking play and wonderful goals, but brilliant defence is often overlooked. I always feel more secure and comfortable when the team I'm supporting has a great goalie. So, as I won't be seeing much sport, I will celebrate a few goalies who I think are very special:-
101. Gordon Banks
102. Peter Shilton
103. Pat Jennings
104. Ray Clemence
105. Bob Wilson
106. David Seaman
107. Peter Schmeickel
108. Petr Cech
109. Edwin Dan De Sar
110. Shay Given
I had thought of electing Fabien Barthez for his sheer entertainment value but he wasn't good enough to get on the list.Only goalkeepers who have played in the football league in England were eligible.
Its not raining at the moment so I will head try to get some digging done today. Woody has of course gone abroad rather than face up to his resonsibilities round here, so planting the garlic will be delayed again. There was only one decent meal in Havana Black based mainly on beefsteak stuffed with a mixture of herbs and served with lots of rice, beans and vegetables which included fried yucca. I have no idea what a yucca is or what it tastes of. I moved on to an Icelandic murder mystery called 'Tainted Blood' by Arnaldur Indridason. Detective Inspector Erlendur of the Reykjavik police so far has only eaten one meal which he quite rightly abandons largely uneaten as it's an unrecognisable ready meal cooked in the microwave- not a good omen for meals to come - but its far too early for any verdict. The names are a bit of a mouthful though.
