Iconic Images 9

As a child I didn't have a television, so I've had to learn a lot of the cultural references that many people of my age take for granted. One of these is the famous Levi Jeans advert staring Nick Kaman. My ignorance aside, though, this is an iconic (moving) image of the mid-eighties.

Enjoy!

Andrew

An epicurian weekend...

Unusually this weekend I've eaten out - not once, but twice. After 4 months in Bristol it was about time too, as up till now I've only been out just once!

Last night I went out for Thali. Originating in roadside restaurants in India, the name Thali actually refers to the metal serving dish, rather than the meal itself. Indeed in India Thali's vary from region to region along with local palettes and cuisines.

Served either in a dish with compartments, as pictured, or on a tray with a number of individual bowls, the main attraction - the curry - has a range of accompaniments. Mine was a chicken curry with rice, Tarka Dahl, pickled vegetables, mixed vegetables with coconut and a mango chutney. Taken together it created a wonderfully balanced meal with the heat of the curry offset by the sweetness of the pickled veg and the cooling coconut. Unlike many Indian restaurants, the portion size was, while filling, not excessive.

If you're in Bristol you can find Thali here!

Today I went to Carluccio's for lunch. This is chain cafe/deli trading on the name and reputation of Antonio Carluccio, the TV chef. As with any chain, the waitress was keen to upsell, but we were content with the fixed price menu!

For starters I had a lovely Chicken Liver pate which was so smooth it must have been pressed through a sieve - the resultant texture was luxurious and beautiful. My only slight criticism was that the butter seal was slightly too salty and detracted form the subtle taste of the pate itself. Having made pate myself in the past, I feel inspired to give it another go and see if I can achieve a similar result. I'll keep you posted on any developments if I do!

For my main course, I had the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter. This was surprisingly light with a beautiful clean taste coming from the sage. Sometimes you can't beat simple but well executed food and this was it.

So, after four months of settling in, I've finally made a start on a gastronomic tour of the restaurants of Bristol. There are many more to explore and future reviews may well appear!

Andrew

How popular/common are you?

For some random reason today I was reminded of a website that was popular about 7-8 years ago that was able to tell you how many people share your name in the UK. Having done a quick google search I've found a site which still does this.

You can search your full name and see how many people share it - apparently there are 3,532 people with my name. By contrast one of my sisters only shares her name with 49 others!

Aside from this - and some random facts about Angry Squirrels - you can also search by just first name which will provide a breakdown by age of the popularity of that name. 50.68% of Andrew's are in the 35-44 age range. This compares to, for example, 41.34% of Stephen's and 13.79% of Wilfred's!

You can even rank names based on their first letter - Andrew is the most common name beginning with A! Suddenly, I'm feeling a bit less special...

Anyway, here's the link. Go and have a look, it's worth a short Internet detour.

Andrew

The Secret to Being Gay and Happy?!

Over on Digital Spy yesterday, the Gay Spy blog promoted the latest issue of Attitude - the 'Issues' issue. This is the cover:

So what jumps out at you about it? Is it the picture of Danny Miller? Or is it the headline to the left: "We've found the secret to being Gay and Happy". Really? I didn't know that the two were such elusive bedfellows. I know lots of people who are gay, sorted and reasonably well grounded. I know people who aren't gay and aren't happy.

Personally, I take offence. Though perhaps I'm being too sensitive. Or perhaps it's easy for me to take offence from a position of being at ease about my sexuality. I'd be interested in other people's take on the subject.

On a second look I realised that the text underneath belongs with the main headline and in full it reads:  

"We've found the secret to being Gay and Happy. A new way of thinking that could change your life." 

Is this better? Well,  slightly. I've always been intrigued by positive thinking strategies - although I'm not sure there's a need to tailor such strategies to any particular sexuality. Surely one of the first steps in positive thinking is to accept who you are regardless.

There's another reason I was less than impressed with the headline. But I'm going to rewind slightly in order to elaborate.

Gay Spy weren't the only people to take notice the magazine, one of the issues examined in the magazine is the level of mental illness amongst gay people and this instigated on the Today programme on Radio 4. Does being gay predispose someone to mental illness, or are higher than average rates of mental illness amongst gay people the result of societal pressures and expectations? I believe, of course, that this is not a chicken or egg question, and that the latter is the case.

This is a serious issue and it's good that it is receiving some attention. As such, it is disappointing that Attitude have chosen a headline which, in my opinion, undermines the seriousness of the issue, if not actually trivialises it. In addition, while positive thinking has its place, in the context of serious mental illness, it's akin to telling someone to pull themselves together.

While I appreciate that Attitude is in the business of selling magazines, it would have been good if they could have done more with the cover of the Issues issue rather than have it look like a cross between the News of the World magazine and Psychologies magazine.

Andrew

Blast from the Past (2)

Last night, I was watching Big Brother and the housemates gave an impromptu rendition of Perfect by Fairground Attraction. It is, of course a fantastic song - although perhaps a bit dated now - but I always prefered Find My Love:

And here's Eddi Reader as a solo artist with Patience of Angels. There were a number of candidates for inclusion here - you could do worse than search for Eddi's work on the video/music site of your choice. Enjoy:

Andrew

P.S. You can find the video for Perfect here.