Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Azzurri as zur can be.
Groan.. Back at work after a weekend away in Rome - what an anti-climax! But what a great weekend, after eventually getting over to Rome (don’t ask..) a fine weekend was had on the lash with 9 other attendee's. Hotel was good, beer was good, banter was top drawer (plenty of cach-tawru from the lads) and the rugby was great. A Welsh backline willing to take risks, create chances and improvise without fear of making mistakes. It's amusing to note that England seem to have been reduced to living off past glories whilst fielding a side without heart or confidence - that's where Wales have been for the past 20 years, so here's to 20 years of English mediocrity! Can't really see it happening, but it's a nice thought!
In Rome - what a beautiful city - they have a blanket ban on smoking indoors in public places, pubs, bars, etc. and as an ex-smoker (fairly recently, and Mike has been noting my lapses so far!) I'd have to give my full backing to a similar ban in the UK. OK, so if the weather is bad, then it's a pain to have to go and stand outside for a fag, but overall I hope they do ban it in public places (apart from Impact rehearsal studio…) - I can imagine it being deeply unpopular with hundreds of thousands of UK smokers, but they say that all progress meets with great resistance at first.
Grappa - a drink that is made out of a by-product of the wine-making process, similar to Absynthe. It tastes like a heady mix of petrol and vomit, with the same after-taste as the former, and the same result as the latter. I've been informed that there are some nice Grappa's available, but judging by the alcohol-tolerance of the person that told me that I'm guessing that his opinion should be discarded out of hand. He's probably only trying to get me to drink some more of this foul, evil, stomach-purging effluent of Satan's sweat-glands, anyway.
Exploded myth No.1: Italian cuisine is superior to English cuisine. We had some lovely food in Rome, but come Sunday morning when we all had considerable hangovers and needed a fry-up (SOP for a Sunday morning), we found the indiginous attempts at "l'Art du fry" to be sorely lacking. They were judged and found wanting. Not good. What kind of fry-up comes without baked beans? An Italian one, apparently. English men and women raise your heads and your hearts, do not let the jealous, bitter voices of the continent tell you that you are anything other than world leaders in certain gastronomic fields. 3 rashers smoked, 2 sausages grilled, two eggs fried, two pieces of bread also fried, liberal sprinklings of mushrooms, half a tin of beans (baked) and a mug of tea (standard issue - milk and two) - that's all you need to get yourself a Michelin star on a Sunday morning. The physical health risks are FAR outweighed by the positive mental effects of such a feast. Plus after a night on the booze your body needs sugar and fats to replace those sucked up by the alcamahol.
Last night I finally regained my hearing, I spent the weekend listening to what sounded like a small child firing a toy laser gun in my left ear, and asking people to repeat themselves. I was worried that I had done some permanent damage to my ear (see earlier post re; Lara "glass shattering" Nuham) but it all seems OK now. Just in time for me to rock out with Müf tonight at the Cellar Bar and try and re-do the damage! I have my plugs this time…
Tonight should be awesome, the Müfer Thuckers sounded great in rehearsal last night and I'm looking forward to rocking out as hard as I can at the Cellar Bar in Bracknell. Which reminds me, must finish the lyrics to our new song before we play it tonight!
Last minute? Moi? Bien sur!
In Rome - what a beautiful city - they have a blanket ban on smoking indoors in public places, pubs, bars, etc. and as an ex-smoker (fairly recently, and Mike has been noting my lapses so far!) I'd have to give my full backing to a similar ban in the UK. OK, so if the weather is bad, then it's a pain to have to go and stand outside for a fag, but overall I hope they do ban it in public places (apart from Impact rehearsal studio…) - I can imagine it being deeply unpopular with hundreds of thousands of UK smokers, but they say that all progress meets with great resistance at first.
Grappa - a drink that is made out of a by-product of the wine-making process, similar to Absynthe. It tastes like a heady mix of petrol and vomit, with the same after-taste as the former, and the same result as the latter. I've been informed that there are some nice Grappa's available, but judging by the alcohol-tolerance of the person that told me that I'm guessing that his opinion should be discarded out of hand. He's probably only trying to get me to drink some more of this foul, evil, stomach-purging effluent of Satan's sweat-glands, anyway.
Exploded myth No.1: Italian cuisine is superior to English cuisine. We had some lovely food in Rome, but come Sunday morning when we all had considerable hangovers and needed a fry-up (SOP for a Sunday morning), we found the indiginous attempts at "l'Art du fry" to be sorely lacking. They were judged and found wanting. Not good. What kind of fry-up comes without baked beans? An Italian one, apparently. English men and women raise your heads and your hearts, do not let the jealous, bitter voices of the continent tell you that you are anything other than world leaders in certain gastronomic fields. 3 rashers smoked, 2 sausages grilled, two eggs fried, two pieces of bread also fried, liberal sprinklings of mushrooms, half a tin of beans (baked) and a mug of tea (standard issue - milk and two) - that's all you need to get yourself a Michelin star on a Sunday morning. The physical health risks are FAR outweighed by the positive mental effects of such a feast. Plus after a night on the booze your body needs sugar and fats to replace those sucked up by the alcamahol.
Last night I finally regained my hearing, I spent the weekend listening to what sounded like a small child firing a toy laser gun in my left ear, and asking people to repeat themselves. I was worried that I had done some permanent damage to my ear (see earlier post re; Lara "glass shattering" Nuham) but it all seems OK now. Just in time for me to rock out with Müf tonight at the Cellar Bar and try and re-do the damage! I have my plugs this time…
Tonight should be awesome, the Müfer Thuckers sounded great in rehearsal last night and I'm looking forward to rocking out as hard as I can at the Cellar Bar in Bracknell. Which reminds me, must finish the lyrics to our new song before we play it tonight!
Last minute? Moi? Bien sur!
# posted by AK @ 14:09 
