Blaugust 13, 2015: Food Post! Also Quiz Answers

I've been eating well lately. Today I thought I might point you in the direction of a couple of places that I have eaten that might be of interest.

Taste of the Himalayas
I was taken here as a birthday treat by a dear friend. I have quite enjoyed Nepalese cuisine on the few occasions I have tried it, and they certainly did not disappoint. The service was friendly and highly attentive, and the atmosphere welcoming and calming.

I had their 'Dhaal Bhaat Tarkari' vegetarian platter, which consists of everyone's favourite lentil curry, a mixed vegetable curry, and stir fried pickled spinach and tomato all served with rice. I chose to accompany this with a serve of Himalayan Cheese Roti, stuffed with cheese, coriander, and red onion.


The meal was delicious. Not too spicy, quite full of flavour. Very accessible unless you are as picky an eater as I was as a boy.

It also took me by surprise as to how full I felt afterwards. As you know, friends, I am able to pack away a fair bit of food and still come back for more, but this had me feeling very satisfied indeed. I must have them reveal their secrets!

The Hub
This little Gumeracha cafe blew me away. I went in expecting middle of the road burgers and other takeaway fare, and instead had one of the better burgers I have experienced.

Situated on the main drag, I get the impression that they have only been there a little while. With a freshly done up exterior, and an interior combining a few standard wooden tables and chairs with some nice couch seating. The service was excellent and very friendly, and I genuinely believe these folks deserve to succeed.

I chose the 'Aussie Classic', a fairly simple burger by their standards which contained a 100% Australian black angus beef patty with freshly sliced tomato, beetroot, caramelised onion, tasty cheese, and loads of salad greens, for $9.50.

My companion chose the 'Cooktown Classic', containing a chicken schnitzel, triple smoked free range bacon, tasty cheese, Queensland pineapple, freshly sliced tomato, gourmet salad greens and garlic aioli, for $12.50.

For an additional $3, you get a can of soft drink and a serve of beer-battered chips. We chose to do this for just one of the burgers. I didn't want liquid sugar, and I was confident that I'd end up eating half of the chips anyway.

I noted when our food came out that their portions were generous. A good sized lightly toasted burger roll, a nice thick beef patty, loads of salad greens in perfect proportion to the other ingredients. A very good start, and it all looked and smelled great.

My burger was fantastic. Juicy, perfectly cooked beef with just the right shade of pink in the middle. The texture of the patty was amazing, and the flavours of the ingredients blended wonderfully in the mouth.

When we were considering what to get, the owners extolled the virtues of the chicken their butcher had brought in. One of the best they had ever seen. Although some of you know that after having chickens as pets I gave up eating their meat because I'm a giant sook, I have on two other occasions done so: Once at a work barbecue many years ago when I judged it was too much of a hassle not to for social reasons (not the greatest workplace, not the greatest decision), and once fairly recently when there was some pizza that would otherwise have gone to waste. But this time I accepted a bite when it was offered gratefully, and I can honestly say that she was one fine, fine tasting bird. If ever they have a bird of that quality again, I'm getting a chicken burger just that once. Wow.

The burgers we chose were a long way from their most complicated. Ask about their 'Parmigeddon' and 'Meatasaurus' burgers if you want to feel like you have eaten an entire large animal.

They also make burgers from lamb and fish, and they do what sounds like an excellent set of vegetarian burgers into the bargain.

They also sell a fair few of the old takeaway standards, likely with a twist in keeping with the exceptional quality of their burgers.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights they do pizzas, up to 18" size, and on weekends and public holidays they fire up their 1950s doughnut machine and make hot cinnamon doughnuts fresh for customers.

Spectacular, and the price is well and truly right. I'm going back.

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QUIZ ANSWERS!

John did very well indeed!

1) What should your motto be according to Richard IV of England, Scotland and Ireland?

I'll let the man himself answer this one. The answer is the first bit.

2) Errol Flynn played the titular character in this 1935 swashbuckling adventure, co-starring Olivia de Havilland.

I was hoping to fool folk here and have people answer with The Adventures of Robin Hood, which also starred Flynn with de Havilland. But no, the correct answer is Captain Blood.

3) What sort of radiation has a wavelength from about 800 nm to 1 mm, and is emitted particularly by heated objects?

Infrared. 

4) What was the name of the only supporting feature to ever attack the main film?

The Crimson Permanent Assurance!

5) Which spice is made from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale?

Ginger!

6) In the film 'Clue', which character was portrayed by Lesley Ann Warren?

Miss Scarlet.

7) What was the name of the first novel to feature John H. Watson?

A Study In Scarlet. Sorry John, always pick the alliterative option!

8) Who was also known as l'Éminence rouge?

Cardinal Richelieu.

9) Who is the host of the demon Etrigan?

Jason Blood.

10) What is the common name of Vulpes vulpes?

The Red Fox.

And there we have it, the theme was types of red. I went a little heavy on the 'blood', but those were the easiest to go with.

Blaugust 12B, 2015: Spinning Wheels Get the Kick.

Sometimes I find it very hard to focus on things that I am supposed to be doing, such as catching up on writing these Blaugust blaugs, or even want to be doing. This makes achieving goals very difficult indeed. Today, as is often the case, my mind is completely preoccupied by questions that should rightly be placed in the near future along with extensive analysis of events in the past. They are both unrelated to the here and now, what I can accomplish today, but they are dominating my thoughts so completely that I have struggled to focus.

When I'm in this situation, I first have to abandon anything that requires creative thinking. As my thoughts are dominated by other things, spending more time in my head trying to force my thinking down another track isn't productive at all and just reinforces the problem. As such I still haven't written my next story for Dave's game of prompts despite having the outline in my head for half a week.
 
I then might choose to do things that I can do without having to think about them. Options include cooking, cleaning, exercising, weeding, and anything else I can do completely on autopilot. These tasks are often things that I normally avoid because I've got nothing going on upstairs, I focus on the tedium of the task, and I get bored. But because my thoughts are full and not idle I can motor through in these conditions.

It helps a great deal if I can get outside to do this. Fresh air, sunshine and birdsong are refreshing.

If the task is suitably repetitive, and especially if it contains a rhythmic physical component like swinging a mattock, I tend to reach a point where I stop thinking at all for a while. I can't do it from the other direction, when my mind is empty, because I am acutely aware of this and look for things to fill it. But if I get a good rhythm going when the wheels are spinning hard, sometimes they will just silently stop. Perfectly thoughtless, lost in the moment and the motion.

Today I cooked a nice pumpkin soup, which involved lots of chopping. I did the dishes, too. Finally I exercised, hitting the rowing machine before following it up with a walk to my post office box, then more rowing again. I didn't achieve a moment of zen, but it certainly calmed things down.

Another possibility is to write in a descriptive stream of consciousness style, explaining some aspect of what is going on in my head. Although I am never happy with what I produce under these conditions, as I think far faster than I can type and thoughts compete for keystrokes, it does help to order the basics.

I decided not to talk about what I've been thinking about today as I'll probably save that for another post. But I have chosen to explain my process here in order to satisfy my writing goal and help restore some Blaugust discipline on a day when all creativity perforce went right out the window. It is mildly self-indulgent, but what is Blaugust if not an exercise in self-indulgence?

Blaugust 12A, 2015: Let's Get Quizzical

So! I missed a couple of days! Tut tut indeed. But I have some time today, and will endeavour to make them up. Thus I am planning three items today, of which this shall be the first. So without further ado, A WEDNESDAY QUIZ.

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This one is fairly nerdy, with a lot of entertainment trivia.

As usual, please post your answers in the comments so I can feel better about how badly I do at your quizzes. No peeking at the internet for hints! I'll post the answers tomorrow most likely.


1) What should your motto be according to Richard IV of England, Scotland and Ireland?

2) Errol Flynn played the titular character in this 1935 swashbuckling adventure, co-starring Olivia de Havilland.

3) What sort of radiation has a wavelength from about 800 nm to 1 mm, and is emitted particularly by heated objects?

4) What was the name of the only supporting feature to ever attack the main film?

5) Which spice is made from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale?

6) In the film 'Clue', which character was portrayed by Lesley Ann Warren?

7) What was the name of the first novel to feature John H. Watson?

8) Who was also known as l'Éminence rouge?

9) Who is the host of the demon Etrigan?

10) What is the common name of Vulpes vulpes?

Blaugust 9, 2015: Old Man Yells At Clouds (again)

I'm a grumpy old bastard, right? You all know that I'll find a cloud to yell at, most days, unless I'm in one of those horrible things people call a 'good mood'.

Something I've been meaning to get off my chest for a while is how irritated I get at other people's reactions to things.

I can't accurately convey how annoying I find it when people react to a photo with the word, "blessed". I'm not even entirely certain why I feel this way. It usually happens when someone posts a photo of their happy family; mum, dad, children, dog, goat. One of their friends, almost assuredly a woman, will then respond to the photo with that one irritating little word.

I get what they are saying! They are saying that it is a wonderful thing to have a happy family, life must be good, you are blessed for having such adorable kids, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Is it the word that I am irritated by? Or is it jealousy about what these people have that I don't, and I'm just projecting it onto the word? There is probably a little of that, but I hold that it is still predominantly the word. It is just... such a lazy simplification of sentiment and gives me the impression that the person posting it is a wide-eyed simpleton going through life with bluebirds on their shoulders like a fucking Disney princess.

It is also used in a very prescriptive fashion. I don't see it applied with anything near that nauseating frequency to gay couples, to happily single people taking holidays alone, or to expressions of joy at life's other simple pleasures such as a good cup of tea. Although a happy family is certainly a blessed thing, it is not the only blessed thing, and the disproportionate bias in usage is annoying.

"So don't tell me about your success
Nor your recipes for my happiness
Smoke in bed
I never could digest
Those illusions you claim to have going"

With the recent tragic death of Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh came an outpouring of grief. My feed had a fair few people expressing shock and disbelief that such a thing could happen, and a couple of people even wondered, "what is the world coming to?"

Although I felt and feel a great deal of sympathy for his family, I got very frustrated. I wanted to respond to these sentiments by pointing out that we live in a world where child soldiers kill each other in other people's wars, cartels murder schoolchildren in Mexico by the bus-load, and all the while the rich get richer at everyone else's expense. A local football coach dies and suddenly people have a tiny, fleeting glimpse of grim reality?

Obviously I didn't, because I'm not a complete dickhead. People felt connected to the guy, and felt sad, and that's a good thing and fair enough. But I have for a long time been supremely frustrated that people seem to go through life uncaring with blinkers on until something bad happens to *them*, making decisions purely out of self interest into the bargain. I'd appreciate it if people stopped to think about those who aren't a part of their day to day a little more often.

"The sun is shining, as it's always done
Coffin dust is the fate of everyone"

Blaugust 8, 2015: Getting To The Guts Of It

As many of you know, I gave up chocolate about nine months ago now. Well, 'gave up' is perhaps a touch strong; rather I put such severe restrictions on how I consume chocolate that I pretty much don't.

I'd forced myself to take a break from chocolate for a month or so, because I realised I was having trouble controlling myself with it. When I let myself have chocolate again, I was convinced I had self-control back, but I soon found myself three large packets of FruChocs deep and swore, 'never again'.

My rules are as follows:

- I am not allowed to eat milk or white chocolate.
- I am allowed to eat a small amount of plain dark chocolate if I want, especially with Scotch.
- I am allowed to eat chocolate that is used as an ingredient in something else, so long as it is reasonably transformed and not just chocolate bits on top of something.
- Chocolate-covered anythings are still chocolate and right out.
- Hot chocolate is OK.

I've not had trouble with chocolate since. However, in the absence of this vice, other vices have... flourished. My intake of pasta has increased almost to my teenage levels, I'm eating more icecream, and you'd better not let me near a packet of Jam Fancies. There were a couple of weeks there where I was buying a kilo of Apricot slice to go through.

This week I ate four 1L tubs of Connoisseur icecream, so it is time to cut out another easy vice. I go into this knowing my other vices will all get slightly worse to compensate, but ridding myself of something I can't stop myself with is a good move. So here are my rules:

- I am not allowed tubs of icecream or gelato for home, except ordinary non-fancy vanilla.

- I am allowed a small amount of vanilla icecream to accompany something else, such as pudding. I am not allowed to base my dessert on the icecream (no cones, sundaes, etc).
- I am allowed to eat icecream etc when I'm out, but not 'take home pack' sizes. No serving myself if I'm at someone else's house.
- I am allowed to make a special order from Gelato Bello of their Apricot flavour and be a fat bastard over it, but no more than once a year and I have to invite others to share.

So! One more vice ruined because I lack self-control! Let's hope I don't have to make it more strict still, and let's hope I can steer my vices toward still more tea instead of something more harmful. Though way too much tea isn't particularly good for me either. Bah! Where is the fun in moderation?

Blaugust 7, 2015: Travel Cardboard & Bonus Quiz Answers

That excellent fellow over at Leaflocker asked, "If you had to go away for a few years, what are the five games you'd have to take?" We will assume there was an unspoken, "and why?" tacked on to the end there.

To understand my choices, you need to know that the attribute I value most highly in games is something I shall somewhat nebulously term 'flow'. If I were to attempt to define it, I'd say that it is that quality which allows you to easily lose yourself just quietly making your choices while sipping a cup of tea. These are games in which you can accept it gracefully when you realise you have made poor choices, games that give you the ability to adapt, games in which your turn generally consists of a decision, not a roll of the dice, and games in which your choices don't bog you down. No raised voices, a quiet afternoon with good friends. Gaming Zen.

The first game I'd pack would be Cribbage. At the core of Cribbage is a bog standard, versatile deck of playing cards which can be easily repurposed for any of a thousand other card games you might know, prominently including numerous forms of Solitaire for the lonely traveller. But I'd take the peg board too. Cribbage itself is very luck-based, and by no measure the most strategic of games, but it reminds me of my father, brothers, and Opa. Best played with an open bottle of Port and positive male role-models.

The second would be Coup, complete with the Reformation expansion. This game fits in a large pocket, can be enjoyed with up to ten players, and has so many great opportunities to mess each other up. Coup is a bluffing and memory game in which players are dealt face down two agents who they influence at court. They can claim the power of any type of agent they choose in order to take an action, but other players can attempt to call them out on this. If they do have that agent, the other player suffers a loss of influence. If they don't, they suffer a loss of influence. In the early phases of the game, practically everyone pretends they have a Duke and an Ambassador (or Inquisitor). Factions are shifted, assassinations are blocked, and coups are launched. The base set makes it a good game, but the expansion makes it a great game. Best played with a little bit of Scotch.

My third choice is Agricola. This Superior German Farming Simulator is one of the best board games of all time. OF ALL TIME. You take on the role of a farming family living in a wooden hut. Your goal is to improve your farm in order to feed your family, with the winner being the player who improves the lot of their little farming family the best. There isn't a great deal of player interaction, aside from the choices you make denying that choice to other players. But it is still a reasonably strategic offering for when you want to think about what you are doing. This game can be hit and miss for flowing well, but the good times more than make up for the bad ones. Best played with pizza, but make sure you have paper towels handy to keep the grease off of the cards and pieces.

My fourth choice is Jaipur, though I still don't own a copy of it yet. This neat little game is about canny trading of luxury goods and hoarding all the camels. There is something very special indeed about such an engaging two player game, and it works well when you are at home with your partner or catching up with a friend over tea. It possesses seriously superior 'flow'. There is minimal to no stress involved in playing this game, although your choices matter and your opponent can and will dick you over. The box is very small, and it is easily transported. Best played with Assam tea, and scones with jam and cream.

My fifth choice is Carcassonne, another game all about the superior 'flow' for me. In this game players take it in turns to build the countryside loosely themed as the city in France. You pick up a tile from the pile, place it wherever you like in a legal position, and then choose whether or not to place one of your meeples on the tile in one of several ways. It is a game about positioning to your own advantage, and anticipating the positioning of your opponents. Once a piece is placed it cannot be moved or removed until it scores, and your supply of meeples is quite limited. Although for up to 5 players, I find it immensely satisfying to play one on one. Although I continue to be very happy playing the base game, there are innumerable expansions which I am yet to play. I own many of them as I did buy myself one of the "Big Box" versions of Carcassonne, but if I were travelling and space was an issue I'd probably just take the base game plus the river expansion. I have a wonderful Carcassonne nemesis in Ale, who is a couple of games up at the moment I think curse her hide. Best played with Darjeeling and Jam Fancies.

So there you have the five games I'd pack were I going away for a couple of years. With the exception of Agricola and maybe Carcassonne, they all pack down extremely tightly indeed, and I'd be tempted to always pack one no matter the length of a trip.

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Answers to my slightly smug Bonus Quiz! Did you spot the theme?


In Neverwinter Nights 2, what is the name of the evil ranger who joins your party?
- Bishop

Which former Australian minister presided over a scandal involving kerosene baths?
- Bronwyn Bishop

Who was the eighth Catholic archbishop of Sydney?
- George Pell

Who did Ian Smith most famously portray?
- Harold Bishop

In the chess piece relative value system, which other piece has the same value as a knight?
- Bishop

Who is channel 10's long serving entertainment reporter?
- Angela Bishop

Which member of the X-men comes from a police force in a dystopian future?
- Bishop

Who said, "We was too late. The Reverend Grundy bit the ceiling"? A point each for the character and the actor.
- The Bishop, played by Terry Jones

Who was the first Australian politician to respond to an interview entirely in emoji?
- Julie Bishop

Who was the executive officer of the USS Sulaco?
- Bishop

Blaugust 6B, 2015: What to Write?

So I find myself pondering as to what I shall write about for the rest of the month. I have a few things in the bank, but it is good to explore new ideas. I currently have a terrible piece just about ready on one of my philosophical approaches to life, and have just begun one that attempts to explore my taste in whisky.

Unfortunately the latter is going to be a touch short, so I am considering expanding it to include tea, as well, though that could well be the subject of its own article.

I can always work something up on plants, be they natives or non-natives, edibles, weeds, or street trees. I have many more things to say about cardboard and other types of games, and I could always write more about AVCon this year.

Food is always a good topic, and I would have a lot to say about those types of foods that I have enormous difficulty putting down (far too many of them).

I could write about the ridiculous dreams I've had lately, including the one where my workplace, a plant nursery, purchased a single working Atari 2600 to stock, which I immediately bought with my staff discount.

I am also seriously considering writing a review piece comparing various cheddars available from supermarkets. Spoiler: Mainland Vintage is winning so far. It makes Bega "Strong & Bitey" taste like freaking Colby.

Other topics I could write about include anime, games, the sad state of television compared to when I was a boy, Auspol, and why Monty Python sketches just aren't as funny any more.

So I ask for your opinion, dear readers. What would you like me to write about? Let me know in the comments section and I promise I will seriously consider your opinions before inevitably casting them to the winds and writing about whatever takes my fancy at the time.