Monthly Archives: February 2015
Oddity of the Week: Bats
Bats roost in big groups in caves. Wrong! If you’re a Hardwicke’s woolly bat, you prefer to sleep in a more luxurious — and private — place.
Kerivoula hardwickii roosts inside tropical pitcher plants. These carnivorous plants usually attract insects, but Nepenthes hemsleyana lacks the scents that others have, so few bugs are lured in. Instead, it benefits from the faeces of this tiny bat, which provides more than a third of its nitrogen and may be crucial to the plant’s survival.
These bats found a niche that no-one else was occupying; they are the only bat species known to roost in pitcher plants.
To take [the image above, and others] Merlin Tuttle waded through tropical forest peat swamps on Borneo. Once he had found an occupied plant, he would spend a few hours taming a bat before snapping it from his portable studio, which provided protection from heavy rains. “It only takes a small fraction of a second for a bat to either enter or emerge, so capturing the action at just the right moment is a real challenge,” says Tuttle.
Within a few days, the bats had learned to bump against his nose when they wanted him to give them some mealworms. “We were quite amazed at the intelligence of such tiny animals,” Tuttle says. “Contrary to common misconceptions, bats in general are gentle, highly intelligent and trainable.”
It is the fact that wild bats are so easily trainable that really struck me!
From New Scientist, 21 February 2015 and at www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530090.100-tiny-bat-makes-home-in-a-carnivorous-plant.htm.
Weekly Photograph
This week a self-portrait from several years ago. Taken, with a fisheye lens, in our hotel room when away for the weekend — I was actually going to a school reunion.
Self-Portrait with Chair
Cheshunt; June 2008
Something for the Weekend
Word: Bascule
Bascule
A device operating like a balance or see-saw, especially an arrangement of a movable bridge, by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.
A bridge with a movable section hinged about a horizontal axis and counterbalanced by a weight.
London’s Tower Bridge has two bascules …
From the French bascule, formerly bacule, a see-saw; from battre to beat, to bump, or bas low, down + cul the posterior.
The word appears to have been first used in English in 1678.
M&S "Southwold" Beers
For quite some while — probably 2-3 years; maybe more — Marks & Spencer have been selling a range of “Southwold” beers, which we know are brewed for them by Adnams of Southwold.
Over the years I have tried probably most of them and found them at least acceptable and often quite pleasant. But then, as regular readers will know, I am partial to the odd pint of Adnams — with the exception of Broadside which I find too heavy. I especially like Adnams “Ghost Ship” and their current very hoppy lager.
Herself was shopping in a local M&S this afternoon and noticed two “Southwold” beers she’d not seen before: “Southwold Hibiscus Wheat Beer” and “Southwold Spruce IPA” in small (330ml) bottles. Being thoughtful that way, Comrade Wife bought me a couple of bottles of each to try. And I have done so.
The result? Let’s say they are not to my taste, for as the names imply they are slightly flavoured with the non-traditional ingredients.
The “Southwold Hibiscus Wheat Beer” (4.3%) is described on the bottle as “an infusion of Southwold Wheat Beer and hibiscus flowers”. It has a very slight red tinge to the otherwise mid-brown colour; and it has a fruity/flowery bouquet and slightly sweet taste.
The “Southwold Spruce IPA” (6.5%) is described in similar terms as “an infusion of hops with the fragrant, pine filled aroma of Norway spruce trees”. It is a rich brown with a slight pine bouquet.
The underlying beers would be perfectly acceptable, but I’m not a fan of what’s they’ve been turned into. I don’t much like fruit flavoured beers (which is essentially what the hibiscus one is) and I decidedly do not want my beer smelling or tasting of bathroom disinfectant.
Sorry guys, you might just as well not have bothered!
Southwold Hibiscus Wheat Beer, Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Southwold Spruce IPA, Overall Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Oddity of the Week: State Tomatoes
[American] State legislatures have muddied the fruit/vegetable waters … The custom of creating state symbols dates to the [1893 Chicago World’s Fair] where … exhibits [included] the world’s largest conveyor belt, a US map made of pickles, Bach’s clavichord, a herd of ostriches, and a 22,000-pound Canadian cheese. Also featured at the Fair was the National Garland of Flowers, for which each state was asked to select a representative flower.
State flowers were soon followed by a host of other official state symbols, among them birds, trees, animals, insects, reptiles, fossils, minerals, gemstones, songs, and folk dances. Utah and Delaware now have official state stars. Maine, Massachusetts, and North Carolina have official state boats. Texas has designated the cowboy boot its Official State Footwear. In the food category, we have official state fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, herbs, beverages, muffins, cookies, and pies.
Some state fruit and vegetable decisions have been straightforward. Six states, for example, chose the apple as their symbolic fruit, and three opted for the strawberry. Two — Georgia and South Carolina — chose the peach; Alabama — unable to make up its mind — picked the blackberry as state fruit and the peach as the state tree fruit.
Tennessee and Ohio went with botany and chose the tomato as their state fruit; Arkansas, hedging its bets, decreed the tomato to be both the state’s official fruit and official vegetable. Louisiana, on the other hand, appointed the sweet potato state vegetable, but named the tomato the state’s official “vegetable plant” … Louisiana’s state fruit is the strawberry; they’ve also got a state doughnut, a state jelly, and a state meat pie.
From: Is a Tomato a Fruit? It Depends on How You Slice It
Your Interesting Links
Further instalment of links to articles you really shouldn’t have missed!
As usual we’ll start with the techie stuff, after which it is all down hill into the circles of … oh, probably somewhere.
Wired reckons there are five things everyone should know about light. Does everyone really need all five of these!
I suggest you don’t read this while eating lunch … Public transport, and especially subway trains, always seems fairly grimy. And now scientists have mapped the microbes on the New York subway. And there’s nothing to make us think the London Underground is any better!
Miracle foods or marketing scam? The Guardian lifts the lid.
Something fishy on a little dishy? The fish you eat may not be what it seems. Caveat emptor.
So we’d all better go back to eating those formerly fashionable elegantly dressed salads.
After which, of course, we’ll need a nap. But do you know how much sleep you should be getting? New recommendations have been released, and it is probably more than you thought.
On to less savoury habits … Why do we pick our noses?
Now this one is definitely NSFW. Doctors in Florida have performed the world’s first penis reduction operation. Yes, you did read that right!
As we’ve said many times before, there are benefits in social nudity and you’re likely missing out on them. The thing is you don’t know you’re missing the benefits until you’ve tried social nudity.
Descending further into interpersonal relationships [can there actually be an intrapersonal relationship?] why do we use terms of endearment and pet names in relationships?
And so to London … First of all the London Borough of Camden have ideas of redesigning the whole of Tottenham Court Road and making it essentially pedestrians and buses only — no cars, not even taxis. London Reconnections have the low down.
Meanwhile our friend Diamond Geezer lays down a challenge … The All Lines Challenge: travel on each of the London Underground’s eleven lines in the shortest time. The current record stands at just over 33 minutes.
And now descending right to the depths for our last couple of items …
Parrots are well know for talking, and there is a long history of them having particularly shocking vocabularies.
Finally, Abracadabra!
In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away —
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
Weekly Photograph
This week, time for more pussy porn. Here’s Harry the Cat sleeping the sleep of the just a few days ago! And what a super place to sleep too: a faux sheepskin, at windowsill height on some crates, by the window, in the warmest room of the house and over a radiator. Well wouldn’t you?!
The Sleep of the Just
February 2015; Greenford
Book Review: Eat Tweet
Maureen Evans
Eat Tweet: A Twitter Cookbook
Artisan; 2010
According to the blurb on the over of this book Maureen Evans was the first person to tweet recipes — not surprising as her partner is Blaine Cook the original programmer on Twitter.
Using her Twitter account @cookbook, since 2006 Evans has condensed many recipes into the 140-character Twitter format, and along the way gathered 223,000 followers! Yes, with a little ingenuity recipes can be condensed into this tiny format, as this “pocket book” of 1020 recipes proves. And it’s fun too, in a geekish sort of way.
The book is divided into the usual sections: Vegetables, Soups, Main Courses, Cakes, Bread, Drinks etc.; there are also sections on how to read the recipes, tools, conversion charts — the latter necessary as being Canadian Maureen Evans measures everything in cups (also more concise for the Twitter format) and °F. The recipes are generally designed to serve 3-4 normal adults. Apart from the introductory material there is little text other than hints and tips interspersed with the recipes, of which there are 4 to 6 to a page. And nothing in the way of illustration. But in this context somehow it doesn’t matter.
Having said that, this could be the only cook book you’ll ever need, because Evans covers nigh on everything — certainly more than enough to always eat well. And it really is everything … from the basics of stuffing and roasting your turkey, which is actually two recipes:
Stuffed Turkey: Rmv giblets(use in Turkey Stock),rinse,pat dry(+inside). Lightly stuff main/neck cavities. Skewer-shut neck; cross,tie legs.
Roast Turkey: Put StuffedTurkey on roastrack; baste every 30m@325°F 3-3½h for 5-8lb; 3½-4h for 9-12lb; 4-6h for 13-16lb until thigh>165°F.
all the way to some lovely puddings:
Rødgrød med Fløde: Boil3c h2o/c berries &freshcurrant&cherry/c sug. Sieve; +mixd ½c strch&h2o. Stir@med until thick. Top w whipdcrm.
and cake:
Chocolate Decadence Cake: Mlt2c choc/⅔c buttr; beat+⅔c coffee&flr&cocoa. Cream c sug/3egg. Fold all; fill sqpan. 40m@350°F in bainmarie.
Have I tried any of the recipes? No. Do I need to try any of the recipes to know they work? Also no. They are so simple it’s obvious they will work well. OK so perhaps Evans has picked relatively simple recipes, but she is a cooking geek and you can be sure she, and all her Twitter followers, will have tested the recipes to destruction before they hit the book!
Are there omissions? Yes of course; there are omissions in every cook book. For instance there is no mention of Jerusalem artichokes; pheasant; quail; or gammon; nor does my favourite Garlic Roast Potatoes get in. Oh OK, so here is my Garlic Roast Potatoes, in the style …
Garlic Roast Potatoes: Chop 12-16 sm taters 1″ pces. Toss w 2T chopd garlic/T chopd rosemry/2T oil/s+p. Foil parcel. ~40m@200°C
So you may not find your very favourite recipe, but you’ll find something equally as good! And you’ll have a fun time as well!
Overall Rating: ★★★★★