Photo taken by Pupski
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The Quest for the Perfect Veggie Burger
Writing my post yesterday got me to thinking about veggie burgers. What is it that makes the perfect veggie burger? They come in all shapes and sizes. When I was a teenager we used to by dehydrated vege burger mix. It came in a packet and you just had to add water. I wouldn't eat that kind now - for a start those dehydrated foods always give me stomach ache.
If you buy a veggie burger in a chip shop it is usually pulped vegetables with breadcrumbs on the outside and deep fried (but for the colour you wouldn't really know they were vegetables). McDonalds sells veggie burgers made of quorn that are thin and grey - they both look and taste like damp cardboard. Readymade veggie burgers come in all shapes and sizes - some are loaded with cheese, Cauldron make mushroom burgers, some are like the chip shop version, some are like fake beef burgers.
I find that they are all lacking something. You want them but they leave you feeling vaguely disatisfied. The best veggie burger I have had recently was at the Forest Arts Cafe in Edinburgh. It is hard to say what was in it but I think it may have been chick peas and vegetables. It was nuttier and more substantial than most, plus it came in a toasted bagel not a pappy bun so there was more to get your teeth into.
I am not a whole food nut but I find myself becoming more and more disgruntled at how pappy food is becoming - sliced bread, shop cakes, veggie burgers - it's like they are all made out of the same bland old mush. When we were in Edinburgh and eating on the go a lot I found myself craving real food, sald that wasn't just a few bits of limp lettuce and cucumber, crunchy vegetables, chick peas, proper food.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Good to be Back
Today I realized that it's nice to be back in Norwich. Somewhere amid the stressing out about my noisey student neighbours and wishing I could have a longer holiday I had forgotten that there are good things about being in Norwich. My noisy, talkative, enthusiastic and handsome 13 year old son for instance.
Today we were planning to go and see some open air theatre, but of course in true bank holiday weekend tradition it started tipping down with rain 10 minutes before we left.
OK we thought, plan b, we'll go to the cinema. D wanted to see the Phillip K Dick film - no good, it's a 15 and N is only 13 (well technically almost 14, but still not old enough). The other choices were dire, amongst which were "Cars" look like the worst film in the history of animation (yes even more sick making than Care Bears!), some kind of teen romance, Nachos Libre - Jack Black being his normal annoying self in the guise of a monk and a wrestler (huh?), several 18 rated films, a couple we had seen, You, Me and Dupree - I have seen the trailer for this and NEVER EVER want to see the film, and last but not least Monster House which looks ok but none of us were sufficiently moved by it to warrant spensing nigh on twenty quid to see it.
Ok plan C - go to look at books in Oxfam and go for a coffee in our favourite cafe "Olives". Despite the fact that it's open all day on Sundays, Oxfam was in fact shut. But Olives was a treat. It was another reminder that it is good to be back in Norwich. D and I went for lots of coffees in Edinburgh as well as eating out quite a bit. But apart from a funky arts co-op type cafe that we found on the last but one day it was all decidedly overpriced and pretty run of the mill.
There were too many Starbucks and Costa coffees, it seemed like there was one or the other on every corner. Then there was the over priced vegi burgers, we saw one at £6 ouside the natural History Museum in London a few weeks ago but that's nothing to Edinburgh. We saw some at £7 but then later in the week were flabberghasted to see them at £10 or £12 at The Hard Rock Cafe - needless to say we gave it a miss! In fact we did end up getting our Vege Burgers in the end at The Forest Cafe and for a reasonable £3.80 for a vege burger in a bagel with loads of scrummy wholefood salad on the side!.
So anyway to get back to the point - Olives suddenly seems cheap, it's smallish, friendly, the coffee is good, you can sit for ages reading your book or paper - it's good to be back. What better way to while away an hour or two than drinking coffee and reading a good novel in the company of the two boys you love?
Today we were planning to go and see some open air theatre, but of course in true bank holiday weekend tradition it started tipping down with rain 10 minutes before we left.
OK we thought, plan b, we'll go to the cinema. D wanted to see the Phillip K Dick film - no good, it's a 15 and N is only 13 (well technically almost 14, but still not old enough). The other choices were dire, amongst which were "Cars" look like the worst film in the history of animation (yes even more sick making than Care Bears!), some kind of teen romance, Nachos Libre - Jack Black being his normal annoying self in the guise of a monk and a wrestler (huh?), several 18 rated films, a couple we had seen, You, Me and Dupree - I have seen the trailer for this and NEVER EVER want to see the film, and last but not least Monster House which looks ok but none of us were sufficiently moved by it to warrant spensing nigh on twenty quid to see it.
Ok plan C - go to look at books in Oxfam and go for a coffee in our favourite cafe "Olives". Despite the fact that it's open all day on Sundays, Oxfam was in fact shut. But Olives was a treat. It was another reminder that it is good to be back in Norwich. D and I went for lots of coffees in Edinburgh as well as eating out quite a bit. But apart from a funky arts co-op type cafe that we found on the last but one day it was all decidedly overpriced and pretty run of the mill.
There were too many Starbucks and Costa coffees, it seemed like there was one or the other on every corner. Then there was the over priced vegi burgers, we saw one at £6 ouside the natural History Museum in London a few weeks ago but that's nothing to Edinburgh. We saw some at £7 but then later in the week were flabberghasted to see them at £10 or £12 at The Hard Rock Cafe - needless to say we gave it a miss! In fact we did end up getting our Vege Burgers in the end at The Forest Cafe and for a reasonable £3.80 for a vege burger in a bagel with loads of scrummy wholefood salad on the side!.
So anyway to get back to the point - Olives suddenly seems cheap, it's smallish, friendly, the coffee is good, you can sit for ages reading your book or paper - it's good to be back. What better way to while away an hour or two than drinking coffee and reading a good novel in the company of the two boys you love?
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The Dirty Record Dilemma
Now that I have my record deck set up, I have turned my mind to the actual records. Unfortunately many of them are in poor condition. Most aren't scratched but some are too dirty to play. Years ago I lived in a very damp flat and some of the lps that weren't in plastic covers have something that looks like snall faint patches of mildew on them. I don't know whether or not there is any cure for this or whether I will jsut have to ditch a lot of them. What a shame! Luckily not all are effected and there are some like Taxi Pata Pata, Live and Direct by Aswad and White Noise that I have been unable to locate on cd - and by a stroke of luck these are all fairly well preserved.
If anyone has any tips about record cleaning please let me know!
Best of Edinburgh - Insomnobabble
We arrived home from the Edinburgh fringe, having seen the best show of all on Thursday. Insomnobabble is a speedily surreal and hilarious trip through the mind of an insomniac - Keith (played by Matt Rutter). Along the way he meets a host of other charcters (all played by the brilliant Tim Lynskey) and the lines between reality and dream become increasingly blurred. This a brilliant mindbender of a play and is well worth seeing if you get the chance.
This was definitely my favourite show of the week, closely followed by Family Semianyki, who I mentioned in my previous post. Third place would have to go to Floating by Hoi Polloi, a fantastical tale of how the Island of Anglesey floated away into the Atalntic ocean, told by a character called Hugh Hughes. An imaginativea and funny show.
This was definitely my favourite show of the week, closely followed by Family Semianyki, who I mentioned in my previous post. Third place would have to go to Floating by Hoi Polloi, a fantastical tale of how the Island of Anglesey floated away into the Atalntic ocean, told by a character called Hugh Hughes. An imaginativea and funny show.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Edinburgh Festival, Stadium Gigs and the Whole Terrorist Issue
Posting this from the Edinburgh Festival. So far we have seen three shows, the best by far being The Family - Semianyki, a show of Russian clowns with overtones of Edward Scissorhands and the Munsters, very funny physical clowning with dark and serious overtones.
I was disappointed to discover that Radiohead had sold out - they are playing tonight at the Meadowview Stadium. However, I am not sure that such a big venue would be the ideal place to see such a serious band. I have never found those kind of enormous gigs to be entirely satisfying. Often you can't even see the band - they are tiny blobs on a distant stage and you end up watching the entire gig on an enormous tv screen - the only difference between that and home is that you get leg ache and you can't get to the loo! (and you pay £37 for the privelige!)
On a more serious note we flew up to Edinburgh this time and it was with trepidation that we arrived at the airport not really knowing what to expect in the way of security checks after the recent terrorist alerts. Suitcase check in was normal, I had to put my lip balm into my suitcase as I was told no cosmetics or liquids were allowed on the plane. Then it was through to security where we were asked to remove our shoes, I had my bag searched. fair enough - but what annoyed me was the woman in front of us went through security with a see through bag containing roll on deoderant. She was not stopped, noone noticed and when they asked her if she had any liquids, gels or cosmetics she didn't declare it.
Now here's a dilemma. I chose not to say anything. She was just a woman with her kids. But ever since it has bugged me. Should I have said something? It would have caused trouble, she would have been annoyed, it would have been confiscated, there might hve been a hold up. I would have worried about bumping into her in the street after. But morally I wonder if I should have spoken up. That's the problem with the whole terrorist issue isn't it. It has made us all paranoid and suspicious (as well as stirring up racial unrest!) Is it just the terrorists though or is it the way that the media deals with the issues? I'm not sure but I know that I don't like it!
I was disappointed to discover that Radiohead had sold out - they are playing tonight at the Meadowview Stadium. However, I am not sure that such a big venue would be the ideal place to see such a serious band. I have never found those kind of enormous gigs to be entirely satisfying. Often you can't even see the band - they are tiny blobs on a distant stage and you end up watching the entire gig on an enormous tv screen - the only difference between that and home is that you get leg ache and you can't get to the loo! (and you pay £37 for the privelige!)
On a more serious note we flew up to Edinburgh this time and it was with trepidation that we arrived at the airport not really knowing what to expect in the way of security checks after the recent terrorist alerts. Suitcase check in was normal, I had to put my lip balm into my suitcase as I was told no cosmetics or liquids were allowed on the plane. Then it was through to security where we were asked to remove our shoes, I had my bag searched. fair enough - but what annoyed me was the woman in front of us went through security with a see through bag containing roll on deoderant. She was not stopped, noone noticed and when they asked her if she had any liquids, gels or cosmetics she didn't declare it.
Now here's a dilemma. I chose not to say anything. She was just a woman with her kids. But ever since it has bugged me. Should I have said something? It would have caused trouble, she would have been annoyed, it would have been confiscated, there might hve been a hold up. I would have worried about bumping into her in the street after. But morally I wonder if I should have spoken up. That's the problem with the whole terrorist issue isn't it. It has made us all paranoid and suspicious (as well as stirring up racial unrest!) Is it just the terrorists though or is it the way that the media deals with the issues? I'm not sure but I know that I don't like it!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
What is Modern Art?
Yesterday H, N and I went to London and boy was it busy. I don't think I will go in the Summer holidays again. The queues at the Natural History Museum were horrendous and inside it was packed and extremely hot! N's favourite thing was the girobot Tyranosaurus Rex, which was very realistic. It was huge and only three quarters of the size of a fully grown adult.
Later we went to The Tate Modern. I think N enjoyed this. My favourite room in the Tate Modern is the one with the massive paintings by Mark Rothko. I love this room, the paintings are so huge and the perspective in them seems to change as you look at them. N really liked the work of Roy Lichtenstein.
We had planned to go to the Saatchi Gallery as well but that will have to wait for another time. N asked me the difference between the two galleries. The Saatchi is much smaller, it is a more old fashioned building, but the main difference is that the work is more contemporary (modern). That made me think - is there a difference between contemporary and modern? And when does the work in the Tate Modern cease being modern? After all a lot of the work in The Tate Modern is now quite old (Picasso, Ernst, Monet, etc). At some point this will surely cease to be classified as "Modern Art".
I would consider the work in the Saatchi gallery to be more "Modern", it is certainly more up to date. The dictionary defines modern as :
Of or relating to recent times or the present: modern history.
a) Characteristic or expressive of recent times or the present; b) contemporary or up-to-date: a modern lifestyle; a modern way of thinking.
If you are using this definition then quite a bit of the art at T.M. is not modern any longer. However another definition defines modern art as a general term, used for most of the artistic production from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. Modern art refers to a new approach to art where it was no longer important to literally represent a subject through painting or sculpture - so if you use this definition of modern art then the Tate is about right.
But hang on a minute, The Tate is also showing art that is more recent than the 70s - confused - I am. Maybe it is time someone redfined what modern art actually is - is it simply art made since the mid ninteenth century, when the arrival of cameras changed the function of art and also the way artists painted, or is it up to date art, stuff that has been made recently and is in tune with recent times?
Later we went to The Tate Modern. I think N enjoyed this. My favourite room in the Tate Modern is the one with the massive paintings by Mark Rothko. I love this room, the paintings are so huge and the perspective in them seems to change as you look at them. N really liked the work of Roy Lichtenstein.
We had planned to go to the Saatchi Gallery as well but that will have to wait for another time. N asked me the difference between the two galleries. The Saatchi is much smaller, it is a more old fashioned building, but the main difference is that the work is more contemporary (modern). That made me think - is there a difference between contemporary and modern? And when does the work in the Tate Modern cease being modern? After all a lot of the work in The Tate Modern is now quite old (Picasso, Ernst, Monet, etc). At some point this will surely cease to be classified as "Modern Art".
I would consider the work in the Saatchi gallery to be more "Modern", it is certainly more up to date. The dictionary defines modern as :
Of or relating to recent times or the present: modern history.
a) Characteristic or expressive of recent times or the present; b) contemporary or up-to-date: a modern lifestyle; a modern way of thinking.
If you are using this definition then quite a bit of the art at T.M. is not modern any longer. However another definition defines modern art as a general term, used for most of the artistic production from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. Modern art refers to a new approach to art where it was no longer important to literally represent a subject through painting or sculpture - so if you use this definition of modern art then the Tate is about right.
But hang on a minute, The Tate is also showing art that is more recent than the 70s - confused - I am. Maybe it is time someone redfined what modern art actually is - is it simply art made since the mid ninteenth century, when the arrival of cameras changed the function of art and also the way artists painted, or is it up to date art, stuff that has been made recently and is in tune with recent times?
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