P J O’Rourke on government

Posted on September 11, 2024 by odeboyz

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”

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Cooking for Slackers: Barista Coffee

Posted on September 11, 2024 by odeboyz

Everyone hates being ripped off by coffee shops and their inferior drinks. Their drinks are carefully concealed behind infantile flavours. Flavours masking tasteless buckets of coffee to try to make them drinkable. However, coffee shops also provide a space for budding novelists to write their first blockbuster.1 So they’re not all bad.

Barista Coffee is the real thing. You make it to suit your taste. But! You need to extend your kitchen equipment2 with a cafetiere. Once you start make Barista Coffee the cafetiere will be used as often as a frying pan.

If you’re happy with Starbucks, or Instant Coffee Barista Coffee isn’t for you.

Ingredients

Good quality ground coffee – Lavazza3 is a good starting point BUT you need an intrepid heart to try and test. Barista Coffee is your coffee to suit your taste. There are lots of opportunities at different strength levels.

Hot water

Technique

Roughly, two level tea spoons of coffee, per person, put into cafetiere. (Listen to your taste buds they’re never wrong.)

Boil water and let it to go off the boil

Pour into cafetiere – sufficient for one cup per person.

Leave about 3-4 minutes

(It’s commonplace, in Britain, to have milk and sugar with coffee but Barista Coffee isn’t enhanced by masking tastes. Go hard core!)

Outcome

You’ll never pay £3 for an inferior coffee again unless you’re an aspiring novelist.

Notes

1 The forgotten Edinburgh cafe where JK Rowling actually wrote Harry Potter – Edinburgh Live

2 Satin Stainless Steel Double Walled | ProCook. A 360 ml cafetiere is roughly £24 or about 8 coffees at Costa. Smaller one-cup cafetieres are available.

3 Ground coffee | Sainsbury’s (sainsburys.co.uk) Aldi and the other bargain chains have a poor selection

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Stop moaning

Posted on September 7, 2024 by odeboyz
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Seinfeld on Earthquakes

Posted on September 4, 2024 by odeboyz

I read a report about an earthquake where local officials trying to explain the damage said, “The earthquake wasn’t that bad. It’s just that the buildings weren’t designed to withstand [it].”

“Would you accept an explanation like that in the courtroom?”

“Your Honor, my client didn’t murder this man. His body simply wasn’t designed to withstand bullets.” 

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Book Review: Roy Keane: the second half ~ Roy Keane with Roddy Doyle (2014)

Posted on September 4, 2024 by odeboyz

Two Irish giants coming together to translate the spoken word into an autobiography should end up with something great. Keane was a superb footballer playing at the highest level for 12 years at Manchester United. Roddy Doyle is an outstanding literary talent. Together footballing patois could have been made into gold dust. They failed.

Try this:

“We beat Ipswich 1-0…Then we beat Sheffield Wednesday away, 4-2.” p158 This led to a shrug of the shoulders and, ‘So what?’ by this reader.

But then this:

“When you’re physically in trouble, it plays on your mind….I still look back and wonder if I could have played for another year or two. ‘Did I make the right decision?’

My wife reminds me, ‘Roy, do you not remember ? You couldn’t even get out of your car?’” p1

Roy played through numerous significant injuries “I was taking painkillers before every match. An injection in the bum…. The cause of the pain was a laberal tear of the hip.”  p158 He was a warrior and played through injuries making them worse, much worse. Many spectators say footballers ‘feign’ injury. They are missing the point: most footballers play whilst injured! His searing honesty rises above the deadening prose.

This is for fans. Doyle writes like a journeyman in it for the pay-day, which disappointed. My expectations were dashed into a thousand pieces.

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The October Budget, 2024

Posted on August 31, 2024 by odeboyz
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TV Review: The Great (Channel 4 catch-up) (Elle Fanning & Nicholas Hoult) (2020)

Posted on August 28, 2024 by odeboyz

If you are ‘of a certain age’ you’ll remember the Carry-On films. The Great is a vastly superior version of them. The ascendency of Catherine (the Great) is viciously satirised and turned into a costume romp. The series is turbo-charged and occasionally touches on actual features of her reign.

Catherine the Great was a 19 years old German woman shipped to Russia to be the wife of Emperor Peter. He’s the son of Peter the Great and is a fun-loving simpleton. A simpleton with a rat like cunning when it comes to his personal safety. Catherine is ferociously ambitious who plots a coup in a very amateurish way. Success would make her Empress and autocrat.

Gaining allies is difficult as the entire court knows failure is lethal. Peter’s court was the epitome of brutality. Nonetheless Peter’s behaviour was gratuitously awful and he made enemies en passant giving Catherine a chance.

Series One ends in failure. Catherine didn’t murder Peter but (cliff-hanger) the army is on her side.The romp side of the series is explicit; the brutality is explicit; the incompetence is explicit and this is a superior satire. The only comparable film is Death of Stalin,1 which is the highest praise.

 Note

1 Film Review ~ The Death of Stalin (Steve Buscemi and Simon Russell Beale) | Odeboyz’s Blog (oedeboyz.com) This is on Netflix and is a must see if it’s passed you by.

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A non-gentrified pub

Posted on August 24, 2024 by odeboyz
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Bob Dylan on democracy

Posted on August 21, 2024 by odeboyz

“Democracy don’t rule the world, You’d better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that’s better left unsaid.”

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Cooking for Slackers: Peanut Butter Salad Sandwich

Posted on August 21, 2024 by odeboyz

Slackers love sandwiches. Quick, cheap and idiot proof, what’s not to like? Peanut butter sandwiches are a favourite and they’re healthy.

Peanuts are packed with nutrients. They contain all 20 amino acids (the building blocks of protein), fiber, vitamins, minerals, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. They also have health-boosting compounds like resveratrol and flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties.1

Smearing peanut butter on toast is the Slacker’s preferred option. But even Slackers want variety– as long as it’s quick and easy. (Five minutes maximum.)

Ingredients

Two slices of thick sliced bread

Smooth peanut butter

A tomato

Cucumber

Technique

Smear peanut butter onto one slice of bread. Don’t hold back make it nice and thick

Thin slice the tomato and cucumber

Cover peanut butter with them in two layers

Put the other slice of bread on top pressing down firmly, making a closed sandwich

The juice of the tomato and the crispness of the cucumber makes it luscious

Outcome

A spectacular sandwich, which will see you through the day for pennies.

Note

1 Peanuts: Benefits, Nutrition, and Risks (health.com)

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