Roll on, December
I haven’t done much posting over the last few days because I’m fighting my way through a record workload of four magazines in as many weeks. My colleagues and I have this production-line system going because it’s the only way to cope. This week, we’re closing Taste Christmas. The worst bit is editing folders full of photographs of luscious meals while having to make do with a bit of anchovy toast at my desk. Yesterday I broke off long enough to make a game-pie. I made it with springbok and kudu for the first time ever, using the kind of method you’d use for venison (on the basis, in my mind, that they’re similar sorts of animals). I wasn’t sure how it would turn out but it was very successful. I used a great big pie-shape like something out of Robin Hood or Desperate Dan (wasn’t he the one with the pies in the Beano or Dandy or whatever?) and glazed it all over so that it was beautiful and shiny. And then, because it was beautiful and shiny, I was reluctant to let anyone actually cut it open and eat it. But we did.
In the early afternoon today, boss-eyed with the tedium of juggling pages, I turned off the music and switched on the television (when you move your office to your house, you find that it’s fully equipped with all kinds of things you didn’t know you needed in your working-day, like a nice G & T, lots of music, a television, and a proper coffee-maker). It was set to TVM, and there was Ray Calleja wasting his considerable talents on one of these hausfrau shows, the boredom coming off him in waves – can’t say I blame him. It was compelling enough to tug me away from Matty Cremona’s fairy-cakes and chocolates and cappelletti in brodo.
“Issa ghandna t-telexoppink.” Then these three people came on and ‘demonstrated’ some really gross necklaces – five of them for EUR50. I was entranced. When one of the people I work with told me that he watches teleshopping to relax when he can’t take sitting at his Mac for the next five minutes, I thought it was really funny and out of character. Now I see what he means. The next up was Marvic Fashion House: “ara dawn it-topps huma godda, irrigati bil-kuluri differenti. Dejjem jitolbuna dbielet tal-ginns, u issa nista nghidilhom li waslet konsenja shiha tad-dbielet tal-ginnsijiet.”
Lovely stuff. Meanwhile, I see that great changes are afoot over at Mile End. They’ve twigged that the Labour emblem provokes a Pavlovian response in thousands of people – actually, an anti-Pavlovian response because we do the opposite of salivate. They’re changing the name to what everyone calls it anyway: il-Partit Laburista/Labour Party. And most amusing of all, they’re changing the leadership election system to the very one proposed by Marlene Pullicino and rejected outright before June, because it would have meant the election of George Abela – and sadly, an end to my morbid fascination with the emptiness and ineptitude and, in the past, downright abusiveness of the Labour Party’s leaders.
But more of that later. Meanwhile, it’s back to the New Year’s Eve dinner that we held in the first week of November, and then I’m off to make a quick supper of trofie Liguri.
33 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
just zapped TVM ; the last news item was about this guy who flew across the grand canyon by HYDROGEN PEROXIDE …did he get to the other side blond ?
Was it Ruth Amaira misreading the teleprompter, or the script writer thinking of her NYE hairdo ?
I guess this applies to you too:
“MIKE MAGRI (7 hours, 29 minutes ago)
@.. ALL P.N. Apologists… I think that you are ALL STILL `STORDUTI`, with Joseph`s GREAT Political Impact.. He must have shaken you all so much, that politically, you do not even realize what hit you…. It just has been ages hearing our politicians talking the way Joseph is… GOOD SHOW JOSEPH…… KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK…. ”
Still feeling hungry?
[Daphne – More like a stiff whisky….this country is thick with humourless, half-brained people. I suppose all countries are, really, but in a small island they’re stuffed right into your face and there’s no avoiding them.]
Nothing misread by ruth amaira. Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 has a long history of use as a propellant. Von Braun’s V2 used H2O2 as its fuel
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11066141
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11066141
Actually, I was watching bits and bobs of the Ray Calleja programme this afternoon (I had a rare day off work today) and there was a very very interesting slot with a Maltese Professor in Arabic Studies at the Israeli University, about the similarities of Maltese with Aramaic, and the fact that certain words have long been extinct in Aramaic, but still used in Maltese. Very interesting subject, pity Ray seemed rather bored… he must have been thinking about the next telexopping adrenalin boost….
[Daphne – I think he just doesn’t have the opportunity to do what he’s good at. He used to read novels on the radio and do all the different voices – really amazing. It actually made traffic jams fun.]
I have not seen what is being proposed with regards to the Labour emblem but from the looks of it the only thing that will change in it is the name on the circular band from “Malta Labour Party” to “Partit Laburista”. If that’s the case it’ll still provoke the same Pavlovian response …
[Daphne – Well, they did say they’re retaining the ‘iconic torch’.]
Daphne,
Was just talking to our friend Sarah in Alaska. She said she would send you a moose to put in your pies (better than venison or springbok–more gamey). She didn’t know what a springbok was–thought it was some kind of bedding material. My brother in Canada also volunteered an elk, a black bear, a seal and a beaver–all very ‘Taste’y if cooked properly-recipes to follow.
A bored Ray Calleja on television, telexopping, hydrogen peroxide, recipes what’s next? What a wind ridden weekend that was eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_mJTn63Taw
[Daphne – Not for me: I need to take a couple of Dramamin just to watch it.]
Daph you’re right. I actually started feeling seasick
watching that and switched off half way through.
@ A Attard Oops you are right , I double checked wikipedia . I always thought it was Hydrogen propellent, but it is indeed H202. Thanks for the info.
@Harry,
your friend Sarah got it wrong again.
She ordered turkey;-)
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8
…or maybe she doesn’t even know what a moose is!
@ AXavier : I would “feed the fish”
Andrea,
Saw that-hilarious! What an airhead. She once said, during the campaign, that she could see Russia from her kitchen window, but she couldn’t see (ie. understand) what was going on 5 metres behind her.
Harry,
she just enjoys to kill birds:-)
Remember:http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=QbEwKcs-7Hc
and she is confident that her next door neighbours are foreign countries: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=iv6CRObROV0
Noticing that you did not write for a while, I thought that there was nothing to write about in this country.
Even ABC is scratching his head to try and find other things to write about rather than what is happening in Malta, such as the W&E tariffs, the budget, Austin Gatt…. (btw he has done it again http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081126/local/gatt-defends-plans-for-new-ghadira-road http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081123/local/objection-to-proposed-ghadira-road)
[Daphne – Read my most recent post. Paid work comes first. Stuff I do for fun – like this blog – comes second….unless you wish to pay my bills, of course.]
Something totally unrelated ppl. Read this article on Conde’Nast Portfolio.com, and weep.
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom
@ amrio – the Maltese language has words that are very ancient and hardly used nowadays in semitic languages. I was once abroad speaking in Maltese in front of a Yemeni person and I could sense that he was understanding the drift of my conversation. When I asked him whether he was understanding my words he replied that some words were ‘classic arabic’ – apparently the further east one goes, the more ‘classic’ is the Arabic lanaguage and the more understanding they have of one’s language. I’m not referring to numbers or the usual ‘imxi’.
btw Daphne – it was Desperate Dan with the big pies – great character. Is he still around?
[Daphne – Apparently so. I don’t know whether the comics are still published, but the Dandy and Beano annuals certainly are. I suppose their customer base is adults, not children.]
@ Harry Purdie
I am a great economist because I live next door to a bank…
Andrea
how do you source these things?
hilarious…….
but tragic to think she could have been the second most powerful person in the world.
Seasickness or not there are times I would gladly join them to get a few minutes/hour/s away from this teeming, scheming island.
[Daphne – Ryanair is selling flights for EUR10 for the next few weeks.]
Tony,
I discover these things because I can see Alaska from my kitchen window;-)
Andrea,
She would do well in Malta, however she prefers hunting from helicopters…mostly wolves, moose, and the odd eskimo. (oops, can’t say eskimo anymore, have to say ‘Northern Aborigine’).
Meerkat:),
And what kind of bank would that be? Busted bank, bailed out bank or just a river bank. Not too many ‘great economists’ left. Just got a call from a fellow economist who works on Wall Street. He looked out his office window this morning and saw a guy holding a sign up to him. It said ‘Jump, you bastard!’. Paraphrasing Daphne–‘Roll on the Thirties’.
Andrea
If you can see Alaska from your kitchen window, you must be the one who lives in Zebbug :)
Tony,
I remeber “smells and bells…and saints and fireworks”!
I don’t live there anymore but I can tell you Alaska can be seen from any spot of the world!
No thanks. You are the second one this week that wants me to pay his bills (after receiving a circular from my son’s school urging us to send a higher donation this year due to higher W&E bills). If you don’t believe me I’ll send you an attachment.
I’ll better switch off the computer. Better save on Electricity bill!
There is a way out, Mr Fenech: send your kids to state school and you will save money.
[Daphne – Le, ghaliex iridhom jaghmluha mal-puliti, imma minghajr ma jhallas. This is the ‘mhux fier’ mentality. If others kids can go to independent schools, then why can’t his? I seem to remember this argument from KMB and 1984, with the church schools. They ended up ruining the very thing they wanted to be a part of. When Labour stormed the educational bastion of the puliti, the puliti fled, with the result that church schools now have more or less the same social mix as state schools.]
It’s your choice so don’t complain.
[Daphne – I’m not complaining. I’d rather be doing this than working at some tedious desk job, which works for some but not for restless people like me.]
Sorry, Daphne – when I said ‘don’t complain’ I was referring to Mr Fenech, who was complaining about being asked for more money as contribution.
[Daphne – I get it now. But I was doing a fair bit of grumbling myself.]
I just found a couple of yummy-looking trofie Liguri recipes… any idea where I can find the pasta?
[Daphne – Well, I don’t imagine you’re going to make your own (I don’t, ever). Barilla have a range of pasta called Le Regionali, which includes trofie Liguri. I bought mine at Scott’s, but I’m sure all the big supermarkets have them. Try this super-easy and quick recipe. Dice some really fresh small courgettes. Sweat them in plenty of REAL butter and the merest dash of extra virgin olive oil, with a bit of salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Chop some Parma harm very finely – if you leave the pieces large, they’ll stick together in clumps – and stir this in when the courgettes are soft. You can as easily use bacon or sausage or some other kind of ham-type thing. When the trofie are done, stir plenty of grated Parmesan into the courgettes mix, then toss it with the trofie.]
Wow, this sounds lovely! Thanks – I’ll definitely try it out.
Daphne – “I don’t know whether the comics are still published”
If I am not mistaken, they are, and cost the equivalent of around Lm1.70. (Jazzed up with free toys / stickers or whatever, of course).
Most characters / storylines would probably be considered politically incorrect now, what with Soppy Walter, Spotty Whatshisname, etc.
Apologies for butting in, just discovered why my simple clip that should have been viewed by say 15 has circa ten fold viewers. I love reading your articles and Taste is fantastic and you must be a great cook (that’s a mouth watering dish you just described off the cuff) as well as lovely looking. I think we’re square now but all true.:-) By the way Daphne, travelling by plane and cities would not beat the rush of sailing for a few hours in a storm with a safe port nearby.