Pie down!
My bad, but I dropped a pie. The others survived though.
Yearly archives: 2009
Tactical Nuclear Penguin 2
Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.
This is a beer that should be tried at least once. Providing they’re not banned from selling it.
Santa looms
I have a new camera, and I shall be taking it out and learning what it does. Today I went for a wander and shoot around the Christmas markets. There are more images on Flickr.
I’ve also started playing noticings, which basically calls for me to tag and map the sort of photos I already take and see how many points the arbitrary rules give me.
The Snowslide is back
This time with added Buckyball.
Smokin’!
I’ve wanted to smoke my own food for a while, but lacked anywhere to build a smokehouse. Then I found a portable smoker, designed for fishermen who want to cook their catch on the river bank. LAst week I had a go at smoking salmon.
I took two fillets and halved them, then rolled them in a little sea salt. They’re laid out on the smoker’s grill tray in this shot.
The tray goes into the smoking box, but first the floor of the box is coated with smoking dust- basically sawdust by the look of it. With the fish in the box the lid slides on and closes tight.
The tub is then heated over a pot of methylated spirits. With the lid sealed the hot smoke from the wood dust cooks and coats the fish. I left it for as long as it took for all the meths to burn out, between fifteen and twenty minutes.
At first I thought I’d burnt the fish. However, that’s just the smokey coating.
Inside they were cooked through and succulent. The flavour’s mostly in the coating, and it’s very different to more traditionally slow smoked salmon. But very nice.
Later this week I’m going to experiment with smoking chicken.
I got my smoker from Clas Ohlson. If you don’t have access to their fine establishment you can get similar food smokers from Amazon
Sign this petition
I’m a bit behind the curve when it comes to commenting on the proposed Digital Economy Bill (here’s one professional writer’s opinion, and here’s another’s). Frankly, the fact that Peter Mandelson is in any way connected to it should be enough to convince you it’s going to be awful.
Sign this petition on the Number 10 website to register your disapproval. It only relates to the proposal to cut people off from the internet for no good reason and without the necessity of evidence.
I’l try to investigate it all more thorouighly, but I don’t know if I want to be depressed and angered that much.
Days of the Corn Exchange
Whilst in the Corn Exchange earlier my sister and I checked out a mini exhibition on the history of the “Triangle” (as it now wants to be called) and reminisced about its shabbier glory days. I thought I’d go looking for remnants of the Exchange online. Didn’t find mny links.
A few pictures of Fennel Corner bookshop, which I almost certainly visited.
Exhibition of model planes, Manchester Corn Exchange, March 1956.
The Bead shop’s history. I don’t remember it in the Corn Exchange but I’m certain I’ve visited its Afflecks incarnation.
Lego history
Wired has a photo gallery of Lego reconstructions of historic events.
The Corn Exchange, on the other hand, is dying
With between a third and a half of its units empty it has to be in a bad way. I think the management of the "Triangle" should take a hint from the Christmas markets, and hark back to the buildings previous incarnation, and let spaces as short term, multi tenant mini flea markets.
The Christmas markets are taking over the world
Every year they cover more of the city centre. And that’s a good thing. There’s a fair amount of tat, to be sure, but there’s a lot of independent spirit too.
Ian needs to get his groove back
Before I moved I was beginning to get a routine of sorts- Monday was 3d creation day, Sunday was for bike rebuilding, comic stuff fit around the days I was working etc.
Obviously, packing everything away- and not being done unpacking yet, has messed with that routine. Discovering I can stream mother from LoveFilm now I have the internet back hasn't helped. Today has to be the last day of post move dithering. I shall start to establish a new routine as of tomorrow.
Honest.
If looks could kill, I’d kill your television
The cathode ray tube is a dying technology. This one drowned.
Dick Turpin’
I feel I should be embarrassed by this one, but everyone I’ve shown it to thinks it’s funny.
Canine testicles, as requested
Dog’s Bollocks is selling well, but I was told I should do a sign for it anyway.
It’s the Von Trapp zombies
Eidelweiss, eidelweiss all the fucking time.
It’s Beerfest!
And oddly enough I’m in the Underground.
Hitchcock moment at the Hulme Asda 1
Whilst eating my breakfast pork pie in the hire van I had visitors. Several of these little fellows (starlings? I’m not an ornithologist, can anyone identify them for me?) landed on the door mirror and started staring at me. I threw a bit of dropped crust out of the window to distract them and sped off.