Posts

It's not just Sarah Palin

Apr 14, 2009
2 comments

It's not just Sarah Palin. Even more people seem to think that Africa is a country and not a continent. I bought some cashew nuts today and after I got them home I noticed that the distributor labelled them as coming from Africa, Brazil and/or India. Brazil and India are both countries while Africa is a continent.

While you could legitimately argue that islands off the continental mainland, such as Cape Verde, aren't African countries there's no denying that Africa has over 50 countries. As such, labelling a product as coming from Africa is only slightly more useful than labelling it as coming from Earth.

Product of Africa

You have to wonder why the distributors haven't named the country from where the nuts come. It's probably Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau or Mozambique as they are the African countries that produce the most cashew nuts. I'm not aware of anything about any of these countries that would act as a disincentive to cashew buyers if they knew that those countries were the source of their nuts.

So maybe Sarah Palin has a second job designing product labels for the Hershey Import Co. Inc?

Instant mango ice cream

Apr 12, 2009
Post a comment

I like ice cream but making it at home can be a bit of an arse as ice cream makers are expensive and can be a bit awkward to use. So I was inspired when I saw James Martin make a banana ice cream in about three minutes. If I hadn't just boxed everything in my kitchen up and had the shippers pick it up I'd have gone and made some of my own straight away.

But I didn't have any kitchen equipment and so I waited until it arrived here. I made mango ice cream because I don't really like banana, but I suppose I could have used strawberries, apricots, blueberries, peaches, kiwi or quite a few other fruits.

All you do it take a pack of frozen fruit, pop it in a blender or food processor with four or five spoons of caster sugar, or about three spoons of honey, the seeds from a vanilla pop and about 5 fl. oz. of butter milk. Blend it until it's smooth and it's ready to serve.

Mango ice cream

It's delicious.

Top idea for stopping wooden spoon drip

Mar 1, 2009
Post a comment

This morning I went out to buy the bedding to put on my new bed. Once that was done I popped into the Container Store to get a few fridge magnets and a linen basket. While I was there I noticed this great little tool for keeping a wooden spoon from dripping all over the counter top while you're cooking.

IMG_0102 (Spoon Holder)

I love it. Of course, it would be easy to take a regular bulldog clip from a stationery supplier and use that but this wasn't expensive and it looks nice so I bought one. A great idea.

Amusing snaps

Feb 28, 2009
Post a comment

Unfurnished apartments need furniture and as I don't own any I need to buy some. Today's mission was to find a bed shop that hadn't already gone bust and get one from them. I started the process by looking for bed shops on Google Local and walking to them. Two of the three shops had closed down and one was in a distressed state and probably about to close down.

On the walk I noticed a few strange things, which I felt represented a few problems we're seeing today. The first is an advert for a real estate company which seems to be trading on the good looks of some of its female staff and uses the tag line "Bringing you home". Tasteful? You decide.

IMG_0080 (US Real Estate Industry)

Next, I walked past a car which seemed to describe the US car industry in far more eloquent terms than I ever could. It's too big, it's got too much stuff in it and it's held together with gaffer tape.

IMG_0081 (US Car Industry)

Finally, I walked past an advert for cannabis which seems to suggest that it should be barbecued. Despite living in Amsterdam for six years I don't claim to be an expert on the holy herb but I don't think I've ever seen anyone grill herbs over hot coals on the Food TV network. How do you have yours?

IMG_0082 (US Healthcare System)

Oh, and I did get the bed. Michelle pointed me at this place in Culver City. They had what I wanted and some good sale prices.

Moving in...

Feb 27, 2009
Post a comment

I've been quiet lately and this is a short post.

This afternoon I signed a lease for an apartment. I take possession on Monday morning and will move in as soon as my furniture is delivered.

Pictures and other goodies next week, maybe.

Return to sender

Feb 10, 2009
Post a comment

Now that I'm starting to integrate myself into the system people are starting to send me mail and so I decided to open the mailbox for my apartment. I found a bunch of junk mail for "The Pizza Eater", a letter from my insurer and a very old letter for someone who must have stayed here a few months back.

You can often make a good guess about mail for previous tenants and just junk letters from magazines asking about renewing subscriptions, supermarkets sending coupons and so on. But this one was different. It was from what looks like a medical centre and included a reference to the recipient's "Patient Number". It looks important. The sender really ought to know that the recipient hasn't got the information, particularly as it was sent in November last year. Erk!

I just wonder whether I should write: "Return to Sender" on the envelope, or "Return to Sender, presumed dead".

Post Mark with Date

To Address with Patient Name and Number

Ouch. SUVs hurt.

Feb 8, 2009
3 comments

I'd never been hit by an automobile until Friday. I had started to settle into life in Southern California to the point that I'd bought a bike and had begun cycling to and from work. And then, as I was approaching the final 100 yards I crossed Bali Way on the lights and was knocked onto the road by a woman driving an SUV. I think she was more scared than me and she probably had a truly horrible day wondering when my lawyer would call her.

The good news is that I got straight up and we swapped details before I wheeled my basically undamaged bike into the office before arranging to see a doctor who confirmed I'd just been bruised. He offered to prescribe me some Vicodin but I've been doing fine taking two Tylenol every six or eight hours. My old laptop did slightly worse as it didn't just hit the road, it had me fall on it, too. Thank Apple for Time Machine, which worked really well.

Map.png

Today's been good. I've managed to walk a couple of miles and buy a decent pair of shoes to replace the rubbish pair I left behind in Brussels, replace my 20-year-old belt and get some groceries. I love being able to buy groceries on a Sunday. I've even managed to catch up on the work I missed on Friday while I was at the doctor's surgery.

Vox Hunt: Super Saturday

Jan 31, 2009
Post a comment

Show us the best thing about your Saturday.

A long fairly slow walk through Venice and up to Santa Monica. I didn't take any photos of the produce at the Farmers' Market but it was pretty good and I came away with some gorgeous Persian Limes, which I think I'm going to enjoy tomorrow.

IMG_0045 (Venice, like sunny Amsterdam)

IMG_0044 (Venice, like sunny Amsterdam)

IMG_0047 (Erk)

1 comment

IMG_0050 (The Beach)

IMG_0049 (The Beach)

The path to work

Jan 28, 2009
Post a comment

I tend to walk in at sunrise and back at sunset, so it's not easy to take photos that aren't completely bleached out. This one, from the shade of a tree, was taken as I walked in to work this morning. It's a bit more than a mile, so doesn't take long.

The path to work

City #5

Jan 20, 2009
1 comment

I've lived in four cities over the last 35 years:

London;
Birmingham;
Amsterdam; and
Brussels

I've also lived in a couple of teeny tiny little places, one of which is so small it isn't even a village! But it's now time to move on to city number five. I move on Monday and hope to write a blog post while sitting in the January sun very soon.

Here's a picture of a baby elephant, just because it's a great picture.