How very fucking annoying

Some people are so lacking in a sense of logic; I've been watching a documentary (with very awful reconstructions, but that's by the by) in which there are several people who, in my mind are rather superb gimps.

This documentary is about crystal skulls, cashing in on a recent film. There are few example of these, some in famous museums and one in private ownership. Now, there is a description of a lot of science in this, and leaving aside the thorny epistemological problems regarding deriving truths from an empirical methods, the upshot is that the skulls are deemed to be modern (20th century) manufactures rather than ancient ones.

Right, so the people who put credence to a theory that these skulls are of ancient origin, suddenly it's all "well, they must have been pretty damn clever" or "some aliens must have given them the technology" or other, suddenly new ideas to fit a pre-conceived view. Despite the fact of a startling lack of evidence for other manufactures of similar technological sophistication. Seems highly unlikely that only a very limited number of artefacts have ever been found, all of exactly the same nature. This with at least 50 years of substantial excavation at many appropriate sites.......I dunno; seems very shaky to me, but it irks me more than a little. Not least because all the responses given by the 'ancient manufacture' theorists are cannot be framed in the form of a testable hypothesis.

Anyhoo, with that off my chest......what is in fact even more annoying is that I've (finally) made myself some bread. Doesn't sound annoying, huh? Well, having accidently added water to double the intended amount of flour, I've had to make a double batch of dough, and thus have not only a nice tray of loaves (and I can vouch, I've eaten one!) but also a tin loaf. And it is only just now I realise that I don't actually own a breadknife. Pillock, c'est moi.

Upbeat

Well, as upbeat as I can get!

Back at work today after another ride up from Brighton. 1hr commute certainly wakes you up in the morning, with the thrill of sudden death as people decide to switch lanes without looking.....and a shame that I cant do it every morning with the price of petrol....and it'd have to stop once winter came anyways. Still, I can enjoy myself at least a little during the rest of the summer, and may indeed have to go away somewhere and recuperate, as suggested by the eminent P.

Not much going on in life, still waiting for the new play to kick off properly and have that little 'erk' moment with learning of lines, but other than that, I'm sort of cruising for a while....

The man with no history

I just realised that I'm rather ashamed of who I am. Evidenced by the fact that I'm no longer in touch with almost anyone and everyone I know; why else would I let friendships last, but for the psychological truth that I value myself so low, that no-one could possibly want to stay in touch. Instead I live somewhat in a little aching bubble of my own. But I think I feel more guilt for the fact that I continually feel that anything I do is not good enough, and not enough; and rather than use this as a means to drive myself onwards, I instead turn it inwards, causing this lack of self-worth.

I dunno, I'm just miserable......and more scared of the future than at any other time in my life. Nothing remains obvious, and all I want to do is retreat from the world! Falling between stools.....

Sorry for blogging this here first, P, but sometimes I need to put things down as soon as I think them, and you know how bad I am for talking, at all. Seeing you tomorrow is something that I need more than ever.

Jon-ster is in rather a pit (:-(

Promise to post up-beat in the morning, because this is a rather depressing note to be leaving at the top of the blog for a long while!

Oops

Well, Blogger fucked up whilst attempting to post the last entry, but that's likely not their fault, rather the interwebby. Anyhew, looking at the last post there is clearly a rather abrupt end; unfortunately I can't remember what followed, and the law of the Jon-blog states 'no editing', so it'll have to remain.....

The Pan-cake worked out all right, though with the trimming suggestion I'd recommend waiting until it's entirely cool. This is because I trimmed it quickly, and after standing, the top pancake layer started curling up at the edges and getting hard, this will be avoided by trimming off such curls later. Otherwise, it tasted quite nice, though the layers had a tendency to come apart instantly in the mouth, and the pancakes I'd made had acquired a chewy consistency rather than a pleasant one. Still, worth a try! P has been telling me it sounds vile all the way through, but I maintain that he has no taste. And you can shut up about lemon-y meatballs, they weren't that bad.

Observations from a Saturday; petrol stations are bastards. Well, I'm sure most of you bloggardes are quite aware of the petrol situation in the UK at the moment, with delivery strikes, vastly (crassly) inflated prices and pillocks draining stocks to store it at home in a can. Which is more likely to be kept and then cause a woof more than anything else. Still, I've been avoiding my local BP garage with the crap-design forecourt and the M&S shopping (all at silly prices, I love the middle classes), mostly because they are consistently the most expensive and are really just taking the piss. Till now, I've no idea why they always have so many customers, but I suppose there's no price on convenience (clearly, the way people go out of their way for certain 'conveniences' sometimes, grumbl grumble). Anyhew, I'm running low after a bit of shopping - more on that later - so I nipped up the road to the next best option, the 2 Texaco places up the road which are marginally cheaper.

Not so today, the fools have inflated their prices, seemingly overnight, by about 5p/L, making them the most expensive for miles around. 126p per litre for unleaded? This is a farcical price. For crying out loud, 113p a litre was farcical, and we passed that mark only back in April sometime, since I commented on it then. And considering we were at about 95p/L only a year ago, it is most worrying. I forsee that roads will become much less busy in certain areas, except that they wont around here because the alternative, public transport, simply does not exist. Crap.

Back to the shopping; I toddled all my way up to Aldi out in Blackwater for cheapo prices, and yes indeed, it is cheaper out there on certain items, but bread was still going at a shocking rate (thank god bread is marginally subsidised). It might not be worth my while going up there all the time, since though there is everything I might need, there's not a heck of a lot of choice, and it's more of a chore with the 'no labelling' thing. Severe lack of kraut also noted. So I shall pay a visit next week to Lidl on the opposite side of the road, and then make a judgement. I think though, that with the petrol crisis about to descend, we're going to get another notch up on the food prices; now is the time for me to start making friends with the allotment people! And anyone who gets snooty about supermarkets, you can stick it; there's 'quality product' (and to my mind, the top-end supermarkets do have better stuff, but it's obscenely marked up and I refuse to be taken for a sucker) and then there's bog standard. Most of the stuff you get in the standard places is not that good anyways, compared with what you can get direct from the growers and producers - it's just annoying that there is no source around here. I miss being able to go shopping in Winchester! Well, I suppose I could, but a 50-mile round trip for the bi-weekly shop seems more than a tad excessive.

That being said, I did put in quite a few miles getting my shopping since I had decided that I wanted to eat liver today, and nowhere can you find it, no sir. So I went to the very nice butcher in Lightwater (who sold me a silly amount of sausages one time, good they were too!) and got some. I'm quite surprised really, there was all kinds of weird offcut and secondary cut in Leeds, and I could really do with a reliable source of half-decent stewing meat, rather than having to cut up joints for myself. More than ever I miss my butcher in Clifton (one of these days I shall have to combine my favourite food shops.....). In the process, I went into the little shop to get some loo roll, and ended up queueing to pay up behind Brian Blessed. Very strange to see familiar faces like that in unexpected places, but then I suppose most people find the time to do their own shopping!

Enough blathering for now, I need a drink and a read....

Palacsinta

My, the price of food is going up! Starting to feel the pinch, I is, and will have to be more careful how I market myself with stuff to eat.....which will mean less going out riding - not least because idiots are panic buying petrol; how selfish! - and spending my time cooking for myself and buying basic foodstuffs.

Well, in this effort, I'll be making my own bread this evening in a first attempt! Problem could be storage, and more to the point, extended use of oven (in the middle of summer? I'm the idiot). But this evening has started with me taking a slight inspiration from Hungary and doing my own spin on their own brand of pancakes.....I shall call it the Pan-cake; here is the gist.....

Make a load of panics, but resist the temptation to sprinkle them with sugar and lemon and wolf them down (difficult, I know), but instead make a nice little pile. As you go, spread a thin layer of apricot jam on each, except for the last, giving a big multi-layered sandwich, and if you've got the amount of batter right, this'll be a nice size. I'm undecided as to whether it requires instant consumption or will be nice once cooled, but we'll see (:-P I reckon that some playing with the batter will give a best texture for cold or hot.....yes, this is one for the crepes rather than the thick pancake......



I'd now suggest trimming the rough edges to give a nice straight-looking thing

Foodstuffs

Had a bit of a random food event on Saturday night; it being hot, P and I went to a japanese cafe just around the corner from him that has always been there, but we've never been. Wish we'd been earlier since it was very nice, and we ate almost nothing yet felt stuffed. There is apparently a reason why the Japanese are traditionally stick-thin! (pace those of you crying sumo) A nice little surprise was the unexpected blob of wasabi underneath a piece of tuna, which is (As I know now) actually an integral part of nigiri. Still, the japanese aesthetic is pleasing and cleansing to the palette, and I now wish to fill my home with small square dishes and decorations of bamboo. However, I think my penchant for hoarding books and other crap will preclude this working!

Money worries hitting, since the price of everything is shooting up at the moment. Will have to cut back somewhat, and I reckon 'leccy prices will get a hoick-up this winter.....

Agents are GO!!!

So there's this game, a computer game. It's incredibly camp, yet incredibly cool with it too, for what is a pretty simple concept! And, like all the best simple games, it is the last word in total addiction, with a great 'one more play' factor.....

So I've been playing it manically for the past week or so, slowly clearing out levels and having Avril Lavigne, the Jackson 5 and the Village People in my head constantly (I told you it was a camp game), but I have just now whupped the ass of the final level, with the crazy hard sequential 13-beat-then spinner combos and the duplicate 15-beat combos......soooo hard to do with a tiny little stylus.....it has taken me numerous repeat playings over the past few days, always to fail at any one particular juncture.

Till this evening. I've just managed to finish it, which is an achievement in itself (not exactly meaningful, but what the hell). Imagine my surprise when I then discover I've completed it, for the first (and possibly only!) time, without missing a single beat. Fuck me, I think I've just come in my pants! Admitedly I'm not in the god-like league of this geezer, playing with a near-perfect score whilst simultaneously filming, but I feel a large sense of achievement nontheless.

Thankyou, Ls&Gs, for this little indulgence.

Disturbing

New Huggies advert that I have just seen is more than a little bit disturbing. To highlight their 'leg-fitted' new design (since when were nappies a fashion item?), they've had a nice montage of adults - mostly city types - rolling about and crawling and bumping like babies do to get around. So obviously this involved a lot of men on all fours with their arses in the air. You can see why this might be a difficult image.

Disturbing.

Apparently

I am DMSO. So I taste a bit funky on your fingers. Noice.

The blockage of a very small valve

....leads to a massive fuck-off malfunction. I hate it when things go wrong, on top of all the other things that have already gone wrong today!

I will be destressing by cleaning up, and starting it all again tomorrow; more annoying is the fact that I can only send the large glassware downstairs to be cleaned piecemeal; means I cant clear much space very fast!

Young man

....there's no need to feel down;