Last month, we finished watching season 4 of The Wire (we'll start watching s5 tomorrow). But it's on TV ATM (right ATM, in fact), and since I'm a junkie, I thought I'd watch it again. Unfortunately, though, there was a problem: the show had been clipped - broadcast in some widescreen format which means that a) everything looks oddly distorted, ( Read more... )

Tonight was gaming night, and I am currently basking in the warm glow of GM satisfaction. We've been playing Ars Magica for about 10 game years now, accreting background bit by bit. And tonight, I was able to use some of that accretion, burn up some of my plot capital, and it all came off rather well. Though thinking about it, the real pleasure ( Read more... )

On Thursday the Substandard had a recipe for Tarte Tatin - the classic French upside-down caramel apple tart. There's no complicated ingrediants or mixing; instead its all about judgement and skill - knowing when the caramel is at just the right stage to throw it in the oven. So naturally, I fucked it up. Firstly, by not downscaling the recipe ( Read more... )

Some months ago I watched some jamie Oliver TV show, which included a recipe for zucchini flowers stuffed with riccotta and mint. Ever since, I've been trying to grow zucchinis, solely for the flowers. This didn't work too well at my last place (something - probably a cat - would eat the plants the moment I moved them to the herb patch), but in ( Read more... )

Where the Deep Ones Are:

After refusing to eat his fish like a good boy, young Bobby is sent to his bedroom without any supper at all. But Bobby escapes when the Manuxet River runs right through his room carrying an old boat that takes him to Innsmouth. When the Deep Ones come for him he flees, but when he eventually joins their wild rumpus under ( Read more... )

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My herb patch is being taken over by a monster zucchini plant. So, we have only one solution: eat lots of zucchini! Tonight's zucchini cull is zucchini "open ravioli" (I'd call it an open lasagna myself) with feta and a mint pesto (courtesy of
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Today, I made a big mistake. I bought a copy of Sophie Gray's The Destitute Gourmet II. The philosophy behind this cookbook is simple: eat cheaply, eat seasonally, and eat well. It understands that food is a source of happiness, and that it doesn't need to be expensive. It is more aimed at someone who is time-rich - but then, that's me in a ( Read more... )

Never try and dismantle a disposable camera. They have a flash, which means a hefty capacitor, which means... ouch ( Read more... )

Despite my unreliability (did I mention I was slack? Lazy? Unmotivated?), it looks like I've been drafted into helping with adrexia's Celtic LARP. Unfortunately, I know nothing about Celtic mythology, so I'm having to do homework, and lots of it. Fortunately, it's not conceptually homework if its for a game (something my Ars Magica players know; ( Read more... )