I’ve been looking for a virtual advent calendar to link to (I’ve also been looking for an actual advent calendar without chocolates inside and Disney characters on the front, but that’s another story) but I haven’t found any good ones yet – although I did come across one which linked to a verse from the Bible each day. But I think it spoils the spirit of Christmas to make it all about Jesus. So as a secular celebration of the advent of advent, here’s a link to the King William’s college Christmas quiz for the year 2000. Even if you knew the answers once, you’ll have forgotten them by now.
Month: November 2008
Hamlet, and journalistic laziness
The BBC has the news that David Tennant held aloft a real human skull in the graveyard scene during his stint as a beanie-hatted Prince of Denmark in the recent RSC production of Hamlet.
Which is fine, and rather a nice story when you read the detail. But what brought me up short as I read it was this line:
…it was not revealed that Tennant used a real skull in the play’s most famous scene.
Really? Its most famous scene? It’s an important scene, and key to the story, but I can’t think of a good argument for its being better known than the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. I can only conclude that whoever wrote the piece has either forgotten about the soliloquy (and can’t know much about the play) or thinks that it’s delivered during the graveyard scene (and can’t know much about the play).
I don’t ask that BBC journalists know Shakespeare by heart, but it would have taken all of two minutes to do the necessary research. It’s lazy efforts like this which are the reason I’d rather read an article by a thoughtful and well-informed blogger than one by a rushed and hard-of-thinking pro. Those of us who don’t do it for a living have the time to say exactly what we mean, on precisely the subjects in which we have an interest. And sometimes it shows in the quality of what’s produced.
Autumn boots, winter coat
I bought a winter coat from Zara today. It’s very pretty, but Zara’s website is just about the worst I’ve ever seen and in any case the coat isn’t on it and I can’t find a picture anywhere else, although googling “Zara coat” I did come across this picture of Zara Phillips, coincidentally wearing a coat which is quite similar, though also quite different.
So instead here are the boots I also bought, which are just as useful but less pretty:
Technically, I suppose, it’s only one boot. But you can infer the other.
High-speed cup stacking
Malcom Gladwell thinks that it takes 10,000 hours of practise to perfect a craft. These kids have almost certainly managed it in less:
One-handed experiments
Due to an unfortunate incident at the weekend, I am currently one-handed. At least, I can use my left hand, but it’s bandaged up and I’m not allowed to get it wet. So far I have overcome this by initially not washing at all, and then by having a bath and holding my left arm up in the air throughout. But today I am at home, and as my flat is only as big as an egg there is no bath, so I am about to experiment with the one-handed shower. I’m going to don a washing-up glove and hope for the best. Wish me luck.
Another theme tune
We came up with another TV show whose name can be sung along to the theme music, with a small amount of adjustment:
♫ Ooh, Coronation Street
Ooh, Coronation Street… ♫
A photo
On a rainy grey November afternoon, I can’t help thinking of places I’d rather be. One of them is Hong Kong.
A recipe
This recipe doesn’t have a name, because I only made it up on Monday. But it was really nice, so I think it deserves to be written down. Call it anything you like.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 chicken breasts
A handful of bean shoots
A handful of mange tout, chopped into pieces an inch long
Three spring onions, chopped up small
Brown rice
Cashew nuts
Butter
Olive oil
For the marinade
2 tbsp sesame oil
Three cloves of garlic, chopped or sliced
A little hunk of ginger, finely chopped
A sprinkling of chili flakes
Salt
A splash of lemon juice
Mix the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chili flakes, salt and lemon juice together in a dish. Cut the chicken into smallish pieces and stir it in, making sure every piece of chicken is coated with marinade. Leave for at least half an hour.
Boil the rice. When it’s got about 15 minutes to go, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Once it’s hot, add the chicken and fry quickly on both sides until it starts to brown.
Turn the heat down and add the mange tout and the bean shoots. Keep stirring.
When the rice has ten minutes to go, add the cashews to the rice pot. Once the rice is done, drain it, add a slab of butter and close the lid for a minute.
Add the spring onion to the chicken pan, stir and take off the heat. Take the lid off the rice and stir it so that the butter is mixed in. Add the rice to the chicken and stir everything together. Put on plates. Eat.
Dress disappointment
Well, it was a good thing really, because it saved me spending £75. After deciding I definitely couldn’t justify the expense, I went and had another look at the dress I fell a little bit in love with yesterday. I tried on the size 12 and it looked like a muu-muu. So I tried on the size 10, and that looked like a slightly less baggy muu-muu. I think it is designed for someone taller, leggier and skinnier than me. Either that, or it is actually a muu-muu. If it’s still available when I’m eighty and living in Florida I’ll be first in the queue.
Glad All Over 