Clarkson Rubbishes the Mercedes SL Black
Just watching the repeat of last Sunday’s Top Gear on BBC2.
Clarkson has just said that the new Mercedes SL Black is not worth five times a standard one.
He’s right. Anybody who buys the car needs his head examined. My Lotus is a hell of a lot more practical and I can’t see the Mercedes still being around in twenty years, like my little yellow friend.
Tommy Ducks, Manchester
Having been to Manchester a couple of times lately and especially a few of my memories of the city start to return. Years ago, I worked with a salesman called Brian Birtwistle and I think it was him, who took me to a pub called Tommy Ducks. I seemed to remember that it some bizarre decor and that ladies were invited to donate their knickers and these were then promptly nailed to the ceiling by the landlord.
Initial searches with Google didn’t seem to find anything, but after changing the terms a bit I found this on Sigma Leisure Books.
It is 100 Barbirolli Square (not 101). It should be recorded that this building stands on the site of ‘Tommy Duck’s’, one of the great pubs of Manchester. It was located in a late eighteenth century house, and got its name in a most singular way. A signwriter was inscribing the name of the landlord, one Thomas Duckworth, on the fascia boarding – but ran out of space. Thus ‘Duckworth’s’ became ‘Duck’s’! In its final incarnation, the interior was unique, owing nothing whatsoever to a ‘designer’ but deriving from the interests and eccentricities of the landlord and his cronies. There was a priceless collection of Victorian theatre and music hall posters, a skeleton within a glass lidded coffin, and the ‘piece de resistance’, a ceiling covered with a fine collection of ladies knickers. These ranged from the skimpiest pieces of lace to capacious ‘bloomers’. (Female regulars were asked to donate a pair, which was duly autographed, dated, and pinned up with due ceremony.) A raid by a group of women who were determined to reclaim them soon passed into the city’s folklore. Sadly, the pub was demolished in a rather dubious episode. It is said that the perpetrators were fined for knocking down a listed structure without consent. ‘Hanging, drawing, and quartering’ would have been more appropriate.
There is also a picture on Flickr.
My memory says that whilst we were drinking in the pub, a lady was asked to donate and the due ceremony took place. It’s probably been upgraded with the passage of time!
They don’t make pubs like that anymore.
Help From UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group
I belong to the UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group and when you need help, they will always give it. I asked for some freezable casserole recipes and I got this long reply from Moodthy.
I do all sorts of casseroles, and wanted to say you can get low fat sausages! Just ask your butcher to make em up of 100% lean meat 🙂
An easy way to add fibre is to chuck some lentils in to any casserole, I have packets of puey lentils, red lentils and also soya beans (but these need soaking first, while lentils are easy to chuck in). Chickpeas and red kidney beans are also great thrown in (you can buy these canned or soak them first if using dry). I love chickpeas in curries and Moroccan style stuff.
Moroccan Chicken Casserole
http://www.crazysquirrel.com/recipes/poultry/moroccan-chicken-casserole.jspx
You can substitute chicken breast for chicken thigh (lower in fat) and chuck some chickpeas in for more fibre. I use millet as a cous cous replacement.
Mediterranean style fish casserole
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/3676/mediterranean-fish-casserole.aspx
Soya Bean and Aubergine Casserole
http://www.cookitsimply.com/recipe-0010-02l105.html
The soya beans could easy be substituted for another type.
Arabic Side Dish
This is an Arabic rice recipe that is rice, lentils and caramelised onion, it’s works great on the side of a casserole and it is the yummiest thing ever. Easy to sub brown rice for white, to get a bit more fibre in.
Thanks, Moodthy
Newmarket July Meeting – Day 1
Today is the first day of the Newmarket July Meeting. The weather won’t be as nice as it has been, but I think I’ll take the Lotus.
Here’s my PlacePot for the day.
- 13:30 – Cumana Bay, Balaagha
- 14:00 – Shamwari Lodge, Run for the Hill
- 14:35 – Capercaillie, Habaayib
- 15:10 – Goldikova, Spacious, Rainbow View
- 15:45 – Emerald Commander, Liquid Asset
- 16:20 – Beauchamp Xerxes, Manifest, Reportage
My late wife was a dab hand at PlacePots! Over a year she always won something.
I’ll post the honest results later.
- 13:30 – 1 place
- 14:00 – Nothing
- 14:35 – Nothing
- 15:10 – 2 places
- 15:45 – Nothing
- 16:20 – 1 place
A complete disaster.
But then if I’d got it right I’d have won £1965.20 for a pound stake. As I only bet at 10 pence a line, this would mean I’d have won £196.52 for each one. These are very high dividends as a lot of the placed horses were outsiders.
I’ll try again tomorrow.
Soluble Fibre
In an earlier post, Does Gluten Lower Cholesterol, I pondered why my cholesterol was higher than it should be.
Yesterday, I went to see a dietitian and it would appear that I’m not eating enough soluble fibre; oats, beans and pulses. In fact, with the exception of the odd tin of baked beans and broad beans when they are in season, I don’t eat much at all.
As I drove back home, I pondered why I don’t eat as many of these as I should.
For a start, I should say that I actually love beans and when I was left alone in my teens, supper would nearly always be a cold tin of baked beans and orange squash. How we lived then? I’ll eat most beans and pulses, so why have they dropped from my diet.
Could it be that, when it comes to vegetables, that I actually prefer the broccolis, cauliflowers and greens of this world? I do and I wonder if it is because my late wife didn’t eat any of them, so when she cooked the vegetables were inevitably peas or if it was something like sausages, baked beans. So now, I’m in charge these have been relegated to the subs bench. I do eat baked beans, but because of my high cholesterol, I’ve been avoiding the sort of fatty foods that I usually eat them with!
So it looks like I could have been drawn into a trap of my own making, by cooking food I like for myself, rather than following a correct diet.
How many others don’t eat enough soluble fibre becuase of ignorance like me?
There was a sad footnote to the appointment with the dietitian. They used to know my old doctor from Woodbridge, Dr. Ian Bowles, who was our GP for perhaps fifteen years or so. It was sad to hear that he died a couple of years ago, many years before he should. Such is life!
Not in My Name
My late wife was a barrister and had a very deep sense of justice. I do too, and we both feel or felt very strongly that not only should justice be done, but it should also be seen to be done. I also should say that my family comes from Jewish and Huguenot roots and this makes me feel strongly about how people are treated.
So when David Davis gets up in the House of Commons and using Parliamentary privilege accuses the Labour government of torture, I am not happy to say the least. Those that authorised the release of Rangzieb Ahmed and tipped off the Pakistani authorities, should be in the dock themselves.
David Davis has made a stand on the subject of human rights before, when he fought a by-election.
We need more MPs, like David Davis, to stand up and be counted.
The Anonymous Widower 