Winchester whisperer

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T09:40:00.001Z

and a very Happy New Year!

Beer money

2009-12-21T10:07:00.002Z

I asked my friend's son how he had enjoyed his first term at York University. "It's just like boarding school," he replied, "except we get drunk more often!"

White Christmas?

2009-12-18T09:44:00.003Z

This is how Winchester looked this morning which may bode well for next week. I was in London yesterday and was offered a chocolate mint truffle flavoured tea. That is an offer not to be refused: mint tea with a hint of chocolate - very good accompaniment to snow (if there's no sloe gin to hand)!

Bad joke of the month

2009-12-16T12:09:00.002Z

Why didn't the turkey cross the road?

Because it was too chicken

Unemployment 2010

2009-12-15T10:16:00.004Z

Today's FT has a good article about projected unemployment in Europe next year. Although GDP growth is forecast to improve in all countries, unemployment will also rise. The worst countries, at 20%, will be Spain and Latvia while the best will be Norway at 3.7% and Switzerland and Ukraine at 5%. The UK is in the middle: 8.7% and better than France (10.2%), Germany (9.2%) and Ireland (14%). US unemployment meanwhile is forecast to peak at 12% in the first quarter.

Seasonal recipe

2009-12-14T14:21:00.002Z

1kg plain flour

200 g sugar

110g fresh yeast

1/2 litre milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

a few drops of almond essence

a pinch ground nutmeg

a pinch of ground cloves

a pinch of salt

400g butter

110g chopped almonds

400g raisins

200g currants

250g chopped mixed peel

450g marzipan

Melt the butter and put aside to cool. Gently warm the milk. Break up the fresh yeast and place in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar. Add the warm milk and let it rise.
Sift the flour into a bowl, add the sugar, pinch of ground nutmeg, pinch of ground cloves, pinch of salt, vanilla and almond essence. Mix it all together, add the melted and cooled butter and the risen yeast and knead it well. Add the chopped almonds, dried fruit and chopped peels and
when everything has been mixed well, place back in bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
Then knead it again, roll it out, place the marzipan in the centre and fold the Stollen over with marzipan inside Place on an greased baking tray and leave to rise again for 1-2 hours.

Finally, bake in a preheated oven 190 C for 1 hour.

Back 14 December

2009-11-27T15:48:00.003Z

American compliment of the week

2009-11-23T15:38:00.002Z

"I loved your homily: it was about God and about 10 minutes!"

Headlines of the day

2009-11-20T09:57:00.003Z

Belgian Prime Minister becomes main man in Brussels

Ex-Standards Committee Chairman refers himself to Standards Commissioner

The three stages of Man

2009-11-19T15:24:00.003Z

A Horse, Ox, and Dog, driven to great straits by the cold, sought shelter and protection from Man. He received them kindly, lighted a fire, and warmed them. He let the Horse make free with his oats, gave the Ox an abundance of hay, and fed the Dog with meat from his own table. Grateful for these favors, the animals determined to repay him to the best of their ability. For this purpose, they divided the term of his life between them, and each endowed one portion of it with the qualities which chiefly characterized himself. The Horse chose his earliest years and gave them his own attributes: hence every man is in his youth impetuous, headstrong, and obstinate in maintaining his own opinion. The Ox took under his patronage the next term of life, and therefore man in his middle age is fond of work, devoted to labor, and resolute to amass wealth and to husband his resources. The end of life was reserved for the Dog, wherefore the old man is often snappish, irritable, hard to please, and selfish, tolerant only of his own household, but averse to strangers and to all who do not administer to his comfort or to his necessities.

Aesop

Turn wheat into bread

2009-11-18T16:57:00.002Z

WHEAT

CHEAT

CHEAP

CHEEP

CREEP

CREED

BREED

BREAD

Use of English

2009-11-17T12:19:00.003Z

Last week we had the embarrassment of reading one of Gordon Brown's letters, scrawled in the sort of fashion which would cause Ed Balls to worry about the effectiveness of teaching the 3 Rs. Today I'm reading a report about the proposal in the US to delay routine mammograms until the age of 50, rather than 40. There is immediate opposition to this idea. One spokesperson says, "It has been proven that women who are regularly screened from the age of 40 die less frequently from breast cancer than those who are not."

Bizarre values of the week

2009-11-13T10:14:00.002Z

200 one Dollar bills were auctioned for $43.8m (ok they were painted by Andy Warhol) and a gold ring containing a lock of Napoleon's hair sold for $68,000.

Painting of the day

2009-11-12T15:35:00.001Z

US economy

2009-11-11T14:29:00.003Z

Here's a snippet from my favourite US economic commentator, James Meyer:
"So far, the government has effectively gained control of two banks (Citigroup and Bank of America), two car companies (GM and Chrysler), one auto finance company (GMAC), an insurance company (AIG) and two mortgage intermediaries (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). While it is too early to judge whether these companies are better or worse off as a result of the government’s active intervention, the scorecard to date isn’t very good. Citigroup is still a cluttered mess trying to find a way to separate its good assets from its bad ones. Bank of America is searching for a new CEO. So far, it has gotten a few rejections. GM has emerged from bankruptcy and has an experienced non-executive CEO. But it can’t find a new CFO because of pay constraints. Chrysler is a complete mess that might not survive. AIG finally got a good CEO but he now threatens to leave due to overbearing constraints. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executive suites have become revolving doors and both have needed more money and continue to do so. They currently operate with completely broken models. Now the government wants to expand further. A 2,100 page health care bill and a 1,100 page financial reform package promise to become regulatory quagmires...The bottom line is that I believe stocks will move higher at least through year end. But every day we get closer to rising interest rates, rising taxes, plus to ongoing headwinds of a weak dollar and huge deficits. I suspect that it will be harder to stocks to achieve above average gains in 2010 than it was in 2009. "

Indian roads

2009-11-10T11:22:00.002Z

I hadn't been to Delhi for many years but there was no improvement in the pandemonium on the roads. One new feature was white lines to mark lanes but very few drivers seemed to find them useful. Indicators are not popular either and rear view mirrors are optional. One day a coach in which I was travelling stopped in the middle of a motorway and opened its doors: the driver had noticed a pal of his walking by the side of the road and was offering him a lift; no matter that the pedestrian had to run across two lanes of a busy motorway to get into the coach.

Indian fashion

2009-11-02T17:25:00.002Z

I'm in Delhi but have not yet come across the Manish Arora Swatch which, according to a fashion mag here, is inspired by Bollywood and "exudes Manish Arora'a psychedelic spirit whilst upholding the stylish, youthful allure of Swatch." Here's an example of M.A.'s fashion. Whaddya think?

Sport of the day

2009-10-30T13:01:00.002Z

Crackpot parable

2009-10-28T14:37:00.002Z

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak all the way back to your house."The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Husband of the Year Award

2009-10-27T08:26:00.000Z

Robot races

2009-10-26T11:56:00.002Z

The front page of The Times of Oman always has an article saying that greetings from Sultan Qaboos have been sent to various rulers of other countries. It very often announces new legislation as well. I was amused when I was there to read that the Sultan had authorised racing camels to be ridden by robots. Camel racing is big business in the desert. Woe to the driver who accidentally hits a camel: he may be billed for hundreds of thousands of dollars if he's disabled a prize racing camel! In the past, young Bedouin boys used to race the camels but in recent years this has caused an outcry from Arab child protection agencies and so robotic riders are on the up. They are controlled by computer from the sidelines. I'm not sure if boys race robots or if each race has to be completely robotic or completely manned.

UK economy

2009-10-23T08:35:00.002Z

In spite of this morning's hype that the UK's recession may have ended, the third quarter GDP figure remained in the red: -0.4%. It's not all doom and gloom on the south coast, however. John Lewis opened its branch in Poole yestersday and the first day sales were double the company's target with LED TVs flying off the shelves.

Happy hens

2009-10-21T10:54:00.002Z

The flawed analogy of yesterday comes from Harriet Harman in her evidence to the Commons Treasury select committee inquiry into Sex(ism) in the City: "At the moment, if you buy an egg in a supermarket, you can tell whether a chicken has been happy in its life but you can't actually be able to know whether or not the employees in that company are being treated equally and fairly."

Cash & carry?

2009-10-20T09:56:00.002Z

As the Qataris are liquidating part of their stake in Barclays this morning to realise a gain of $1bn, the market is speculating that they'll use the proceeds to increase their stake in Sainsbury. Too bad the government has no gains on its bank stakes yet.

The wild boar hunt

2009-10-19T15:18:00.003Z

As Italians are salivating over their pasta with wild boar ragu I am remembering Pliny's letter about his productive boar hunt: "You will laugh (and you are quite welcome) when I tell you that your old acquaintance is turned sportsman, and has taken three noble boars. “What!” you exclaim, “Pliny!”—Even he. However, I indulged at the same time my beloved inactivity; and, whilst I sat at my nets, you would have found me, not with boar spear or javelin, but pencil and tablet, by my side. I mused and wrote, being determined to return, if with all my hands empty, at least with my memorandums full. Believe me, this way of studying is not to be despised: it is wonderful how the mind is stirred and quickened into activity by brisk bodily exercise. There is something, too, in the solemnity of the venerable woods with which one is surrounded, together with that profound silence which is observed on these occasions, that forcibly disposes the mind to meditation. So for the future, let me advise you, whenever you hunt, to take your tablets along with you, as well as your basket and bottle, for be assured you will find Minerva no less fond of traversing the hills than Diana. Farewell."