Mud, Munchies and Moonshine
08/03/2012 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaToday was yet another one of those days that began with the grandest of intentions but soon gave way to the usual bad serpent habits. Was awake around 4.30 am and took advantage of the opportunity to listen to a repeat of yesterday’s “Life Matters’ radio program.
Auntie ABC’s awful origami makeover is a topic in itself but Izzie is most peeved at the assumption that most listeners have access to or are happy to use podcasts to catch up on programs they have missed out on.
One interview was with a woman who had written a book about her experiences with her autistic son. Could so so relate to the obsessions with numbers and patterns, the general dislike and confusion in the company of other humans but especially the whole ‘sensory overload’ thing.
Back to snoozing and the occasional radio program. The Adelaide Writers’ festival sounded fascinating and the interview with Kate Grenville was interesting. So many good books to read and so little time. Once again, there is something about being very specific to a particular place and time that makes a story universal. But the bit about 20 something drafts before she reached the final cut and polish was seriously daunting.
Did go out to sit in the sun and sniff around the garden at that time. Should have stayed up instead of slinking back to the serpent sack. Did not wake up until 12.30. So much for the grand plan of being on the 11.30 bus to town.
It was a perfect day for the beach and slinking amongst the sculptures but will be going there with an old friend tomorrow. We will probably get sizzled and pickled.
Went on a bit of a coffee crawl and picked up the new coffee trail brochure for the annual March food festival. Most important of all was to check the weather page for the time of moonrise.
There are not many places in Perth with an unobstructed view to the eastern horizon. Had three possibilities in mind and chose the jetty as being easiest to get to and from.
But before that was time to visit the last itsy bitsy remnant of the recently finished arts festival. There were three works by this Korean artist of kitsch and two had already gone. The last was at a city art college. This was the same place which had the wonderful exhibition of Japanese industrial design from televisions to the Sony walkman and all sorts of strange things in between
This particular piece took up the whole gallery and consisted of a collection of 15,000 balloons in various stages of deflation. There were all shapes and colours but with a marked preference for spiral shapes. They were tied up to look like octopi, bunches of grapes or bananas or just random conglomerations of rubbery objects.
Every now and again one would pop loudly or another would fall on the floor which was littered with bits of burst and shrivelled balloons or simply those that had fallen from the strings holding them in place but were still fully inflated
It was quite cute and quirky without the pretentiousness of the plastic peg basket pyramids. It certainly would have been a perfect playground for kids as touching and playing with the balloons was actually encouraged
But they were no where in the same league as the gorgeous and delicate animated creatures produced by another Korean artist - U Ram Choe. After seeing his amazing creations, even sculpture by the sea just looked positively tame in comparison
In keeping with the Korean theme, decided to pay a visit to a new haunt discovered last June.
They have summer specials that end this Monday and one of them includes a plate of assorted sizzling mushrooms with spicy sauce, rice and four small bowls of assorted pickles. It normally costs $13 but is presently at the special price of $9.50
This restaurant is somewhere in between cheap and nasty student fare and those very elegant posh Korean barbecue at the table places that are popping up like mushrooms. They are very trendy and very expensive too.
All the vegetarians must live in North Korea. Never came across a cuisine with so much meat. But there is the odd kosher dish of noodles, tofu or mushrooms and they are truly tasty too.
Then it was time to slink down to the jetty in time for the moonrise. Passed by the town hall where Nicole Foss was giving a talk on the topic of peak oil. But had already been to see her the other Friday so there was no point in reinventing the wheel. Would have loved to go to the all day seminars and stuff in Fremantle but that of course had to be on a Sunday.
Picked a spot at the jetty that seemed to have unobstructed views to the east and south east with just a bit of the north. Being not too far from the equinox, the moon should be rising just north of east. It just so happens that is where all the city skyscrapers are.
By about 6.40 there was still no sign of the critter which should have been up and about 15 minutes previously. Must be hiding behind all those buildings. Went further south along the jetty and still no sign. Came back only to discover the big fat pale yellow ball right between two towers where it would have been perfectly visible on rising had the serpent not gotten impatient and went looking where the grass seemed greener
In the end, got the ferry for a better look and returned to the Lair by 8pm feeling a bit miffed. Catching the critter while still on the horizon remains ever so elusive. The best so far was finding it for the first third but that must be some three years or more now. Not helped by having bats eyes either.
It should certainly be clear of the buildings next time and slightly south of due east.
Toasted the moonrise with a glass of home made ginger beer. It looked like sludge and tasted like mud. Three sips was enough to give up in disgust. Too dry and too beery but no bite. Also worked out just what had been gobbling the contents of the bottles. They started full but as the week went by, there was less and less each day. Before long a whole third have vanished. It had most certainly not leaked as the plastic bottles were bulging and one of them even blew up
This bottle was only two thirds full. Each tiny twist of the lid threatened to send the sludge gushing. Very very slowly the serpent unscrewed the lid and noticed that along with a loud hissing sound and bubbling, the bottle seemed to be filling up with brown liquid.
Finally the sound effects and rushing ceased. Turned out that all the liquid had been there and no angel had sipped her share
It was the air produced from fermentation that was pushing and squashing the liquid further and further down the bottle and when there was no space left, it just blew its top.
And that is why it is best to follow the recipe properly and add some lemon juice to slow down the process.
Between the mushrooms and the brown sludge, still alive but will not tempt fate by guzzling any more of that muck. Here is hoping that it at least will be a useful plant potion
Auntie ABC’s awful origami makeover is a topic in itself but Izzie is most peeved at the assumption that most listeners have access to or are happy to use podcasts to catch up on programs they have missed out on.
One interview was with a woman who had written a book about her experiences with her autistic son. Could so so relate to the obsessions with numbers and patterns, the general dislike and confusion in the company of other humans but especially the whole ‘sensory overload’ thing.
Back to snoozing and the occasional radio program. The Adelaide Writers’ festival sounded fascinating and the interview with Kate Grenville was interesting. So many good books to read and so little time. Once again, there is something about being very specific to a particular place and time that makes a story universal. But the bit about 20 something drafts before she reached the final cut and polish was seriously daunting.
Did go out to sit in the sun and sniff around the garden at that time. Should have stayed up instead of slinking back to the serpent sack. Did not wake up until 12.30. So much for the grand plan of being on the 11.30 bus to town.
It was a perfect day for the beach and slinking amongst the sculptures but will be going there with an old friend tomorrow. We will probably get sizzled and pickled.
Went on a bit of a coffee crawl and picked up the new coffee trail brochure for the annual March food festival. Most important of all was to check the weather page for the time of moonrise.
There are not many places in Perth with an unobstructed view to the eastern horizon. Had three possibilities in mind and chose the jetty as being easiest to get to and from.
But before that was time to visit the last itsy bitsy remnant of the recently finished arts festival. There were three works by this Korean artist of kitsch and two had already gone. The last was at a city art college. This was the same place which had the wonderful exhibition of Japanese industrial design from televisions to the Sony walkman and all sorts of strange things in between
This particular piece took up the whole gallery and consisted of a collection of 15,000 balloons in various stages of deflation. There were all shapes and colours but with a marked preference for spiral shapes. They were tied up to look like octopi, bunches of grapes or bananas or just random conglomerations of rubbery objects.
Every now and again one would pop loudly or another would fall on the floor which was littered with bits of burst and shrivelled balloons or simply those that had fallen from the strings holding them in place but were still fully inflated
It was quite cute and quirky without the pretentiousness of the plastic peg basket pyramids. It certainly would have been a perfect playground for kids as touching and playing with the balloons was actually encouraged
But they were no where in the same league as the gorgeous and delicate animated creatures produced by another Korean artist - U Ram Choe. After seeing his amazing creations, even sculpture by the sea just looked positively tame in comparison
In keeping with the Korean theme, decided to pay a visit to a new haunt discovered last June.
They have summer specials that end this Monday and one of them includes a plate of assorted sizzling mushrooms with spicy sauce, rice and four small bowls of assorted pickles. It normally costs $13 but is presently at the special price of $9.50
This restaurant is somewhere in between cheap and nasty student fare and those very elegant posh Korean barbecue at the table places that are popping up like mushrooms. They are very trendy and very expensive too.
All the vegetarians must live in North Korea. Never came across a cuisine with so much meat. But there is the odd kosher dish of noodles, tofu or mushrooms and they are truly tasty too.
Then it was time to slink down to the jetty in time for the moonrise. Passed by the town hall where Nicole Foss was giving a talk on the topic of peak oil. But had already been to see her the other Friday so there was no point in reinventing the wheel. Would have loved to go to the all day seminars and stuff in Fremantle but that of course had to be on a Sunday.
Picked a spot at the jetty that seemed to have unobstructed views to the east and south east with just a bit of the north. Being not too far from the equinox, the moon should be rising just north of east. It just so happens that is where all the city skyscrapers are.
By about 6.40 there was still no sign of the critter which should have been up and about 15 minutes previously. Must be hiding behind all those buildings. Went further south along the jetty and still no sign. Came back only to discover the big fat pale yellow ball right between two towers where it would have been perfectly visible on rising had the serpent not gotten impatient and went looking where the grass seemed greener
In the end, got the ferry for a better look and returned to the Lair by 8pm feeling a bit miffed. Catching the critter while still on the horizon remains ever so elusive. The best so far was finding it for the first third but that must be some three years or more now. Not helped by having bats eyes either.
It should certainly be clear of the buildings next time and slightly south of due east.
Toasted the moonrise with a glass of home made ginger beer. It looked like sludge and tasted like mud. Three sips was enough to give up in disgust. Too dry and too beery but no bite. Also worked out just what had been gobbling the contents of the bottles. They started full but as the week went by, there was less and less each day. Before long a whole third have vanished. It had most certainly not leaked as the plastic bottles were bulging and one of them even blew up
This bottle was only two thirds full. Each tiny twist of the lid threatened to send the sludge gushing. Very very slowly the serpent unscrewed the lid and noticed that along with a loud hissing sound and bubbling, the bottle seemed to be filling up with brown liquid.
Finally the sound effects and rushing ceased. Turned out that all the liquid had been there and no angel had sipped her share
It was the air produced from fermentation that was pushing and squashing the liquid further and further down the bottle and when there was no space left, it just blew its top.
And that is why it is best to follow the recipe properly and add some lemon juice to slow down the process.
Between the mushrooms and the brown sludge, still alive but will not tempt fate by guzzling any more of that muck. Here is hoping that it at least will be a useful plant potion
