Sunday 19 August 2007

borough market

by the way, i have now reached 100+ posts, for those of you who are counting



we went to borough market yesterday with m, k and baby v.



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we got gooseberry & elderflower jam, orange & ginger marmalade, and plum jam from the west country to eat with a loaf of handmade bread.



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i also bought an artichoke, aubergine/eggplant, red pepper and some fresh basil. FRESH BASIL. one of the best aromas on the planet. now to make some killer pasta...



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somehow i managed to forget to buy some fresh berries, but i snapped a picture nonetheless.



and lunch at the southwark tavern. cheers!



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mitchell & webb



two of our current fave comedian/actors are david mitchell & robert webb.


we discovered them by watching episodes of peep show on virgin atlantic flights to and from san francisco. i used my birthday money to buy seasons 1-3 on DVD and we watched season 4 when it was on in the spring. if you haven't watched peep show yet (ahem, little sis, cough, cough), then you're missing out on some of the biggest laughs - and cringeworthy scenes - to come out in a while. look it up on youtube.


mitchell & webb were also selected to play mac and pc for the british apple ads. again, youtube it. funny.


recently, they started a sketch show called that mitchell & webb look, a TV version of their radio program, that mitchell and webb sound. watch some here on youtube. i got free tickets to be part of the audience for a season 2 live recording, and we went on friday night.


the recording was at the BBC television centre in white city (west london). the tickets said that access to the premises was from 5:45 PM; i got in the queue at exactly 5:45 and we barely managed to secure some of the last seats available. once inside the building, we waited in the cafe area, complete with dalek, until we were ushered into the studio.





they were using three sets for the recording but a surprising amount of tape had already been recorded on various locations. they showed us the recordings on several large video screens and we supplied the laugh track - one of the easiest jobs i have done in a long time! we also watched while they taped a few scenes live. can't wait to see season 2 in february! i am quite confident that it will still be funny.


while we were sad not to catch any of the angel summoner and the BMX bandit, they have continued with numberwang. i don't want to give too much away, so i am going to stop this entry here and suggest that you watch this. das is numberwang!

Tuesday 14 August 2007

5 fruit and veg per day

while i'm being creative and domestic, i thought i'd spend some quality time in the kitchen over the weekend.


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i made tagliatelle with chicken and vegetables in a sundried tomato/pesto sauce using:

aubergine/eggplant
carrot
red pepper
yellow pepper
mushrooms
red onion
artichoke hearts
sundried tomatoes
oregano

it needed more green, but the broccoli had gone off. yuck. made enough for dinner and lunch the following day - the best kind of meal.



for dessert, i made raspberry kiwi crumble and served it with coconut yogurt.


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yum! it would have been even better if i had remembered to sprinkle some cinnamon on top!



incidentally, i bought the apron at IKEA a few years ago and rescued it from one of the boxes of dishes that had been in storage at my parents' house. if i ever learn how to sew, this is the kind of thing i could see myself making. but until s lets me turn his office into a craft room, i'll stick to knitting for now.

Sunday 12 August 2007

presenting the penguin

"i liked penguins before they were popular"
- my friend, m


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last year for her birthday, i made jewelry, and i'm proud to say that she still wears and loves it. how could i possibly follow last year's triumph?


enter the penguin!


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it took about one month of lunch breaks and stolen moments on weekends and tube rides to make the free pattern on knitty, plus accessories. naturally.


the penguin, who has been named ofelia (for pan's labyrinth, not hamlet) has two mix-and-match accessory combinations.


in the top photo, ofelia is wearing her yellow garter stitch scarf and stockinette mittens (i especially like the mittens - can you imagine a real penguin wearing wool on its wings?)


in the lower photo, she is sporting a striped black-and-white scarf, sewn together with a penguin button (it slides over her head for easier access.) her totebag is in moss stitch with a crocheted strap. it also has a penguin button on it. practical and fashionable, just like m.


she also has lovely, sparkly eyes and a soft tummy. must say, i was impressed with the pattern - she actually stands on her own. i hadn't expected that.


rumor has it that ofelia will soon be the penguin to add as your friend on myspace. stay tuned for details!


happy birthday, m! remember me in february, ha ha :)

Saturday 11 August 2007

party like it's 1999 (or 1986 or 2007)

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ok, i know it's not a very good photo, but the screen says:


"We request that no one take photographs or record tonight's performance.

This show is for your memories."


fat lot of good it did. the instant prince appeared on stage, the place lit up with people taking pictures on their mobiles and smuggled-in cameras. i can't say i didn't smuggle in my camera (or, for that matter, two rather sharp 4mm bamboo knitting needles, assorted sewing needles and a pair of scissors), but i didn't actually take pictures during the show. see, i've got principles.


and i've got memories of a REALLY GOOD SHOW! prince rocked
the O2 (the eyesore formerly known as the millennium dome). i'm sure you can find reviews of the concert elsewhere on the web. as people had been reporting, prince teased the audience with several encores after it seemed like the performance was over (of course, we had all read the reviews so we stayed there cheering loudly and expectantly - he kindly obliged.) the first half was mainly songs i had never heard before, with nostalgic ballads like purple rain thrown in to please the crowd (ser: it brought me straight back to the last dance of 8th grade when matt fisher finally asked me to dance! never saw him again after that but OMG i still remember that night.)


the second half was more recognizable for me, at least, and the last few people sitting got up and danced, until the entire arena was singing along and having fun. the energy was amazing, and it certainly looked like prince and his band were enjoying themselves, too. his band, incidentally, were terrific. he kept giving them solos and encouraging them by saying things like, "this is real music! this doesn't come out of a machine!" he was right. there was a lot of talent on that stage.


two enthusiastic thumbs up. i downloaded the new CD, so prince goes back on my regular playlist for a while.


i'm sure s is glad i have an ipod :)

Thursday 2 August 2007

generation DIY

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holy boxes, batman! how much stuff does a girl need?!


i have reached another milestone. i hesitate to call myself an "adult" - perhaps a better way to say it would be "independent entity living on a different continent with my husband" (IELOADCWMH - yeah, that really rolls off the tongue) - but for all intents and purposes, i no longer rely on my parents for absolutely everything. which means that storing all this stuff is now my problem. too bad for s that it's his problem, too!


(did you marry a woman with a lot of baggage? no, but don't get me started on the boxes.....)


while i was packing the boxes at my parents' house in june, i managed to throw out almost as much as i kept. and still, the piles of things i couldn't bear to live without! one advantage to moving as many times as i have is that i have actually got my belongings down to a minimum. maybe minimum is the wrong word. reasonable amount depending on your point of view?


most of the things i kept are old photo albums, letters, jewelry, trinkets, toys, yearbooks. the irreplaceable stuff that takes me back to a time or place or friend or really bad haircut. souvenirs from japan. keepsakes from the salt lake city olympics. the entire calvin & hobbes collection. asterix books in french and italian. one of those flat rubik's magic puzzles - even s was playing with it. these things are important! authentic 80s paraphernalia, dude. it was like, rad being 13 in 1986.


so the question is where will we put it all? now that i have gone from big hair and neon accessories to pilates classes and trying to eat more organic food, i guess there's only one solution for a 30-something consumer like me: IKEA. good thing there's a bank holiday coming up this month!