Gravy is generally defined as a type of sauce made from meat juices, often combined with broth or milk, and thickened with a starch such as flour or cornflour.
It can also be the reduced juices left from cooking the main course favourites amongst joints of meat, cuts of fish or any type of poultry.
Although it is fairly simple to make, many home cooks have a difficult time making flavourful, smooth gravy.
How true that is.
You can have the best researched, sourced, crafted and served up meal in the world and yet it can be remembered for ever or consigned to the pedal bin depending on what the gravy was like (if of course it is a meal that can be served with gravy as an accompaniment).
I have experienced the sheer panic of cooking a meal only to realise, on carrying it through to the dinner table, that I have not made any gravy. The situation can be resolved by a quick dash back into the kitchen and a rummage through the drawers for a stock cube, one of those small pre-prepared globules of stock in a blister pack or very much as a last resort four teaspoons of dry gravy granules in half a pint of boiled water.
I have sometimes cheated and bought a ready made sachet of the stuff with which to surprise and amaze dinner guests particularly if, shamefully, I claim it to be all of my own creation. Marks and Spencers and Waitrose, I thank you.
Intentionally planned gravy, as part of a menu, on the other hand can be delicious and it is a real skill to decant off the best juices from the chicken, beef or lamb joint and blend in a few ingredients and seasoning to really emphasise the goodness which may otherwise have been simply poured down the sink when cooled and congealed into something unappetising or after an overnight stagnation on the worktop, if too tired to wash up after the meal, wholly inedible.
Taste must however be complimented by the consistency of the liquid. The English comic Tony Hancock summed up the ideal qualities for the sauce in saying that "my mother was a bad cook but at least her gravy used to move about".
If too runny then any foodstuffs in its way can be swamped, drowned and even washed off the plate. Too thick and there is the potential embarrassment of not being able to pour it out of the pan or gravy boat, or even worse it falls out in one solid mass causing distress around the table from fallout and splashback.
It cannot be overpowering either. I have been tempted, on occasion, to lace a basic gravy mix with a bit of paprika, turmeric or chilli powder or all three at the same time resulting in quite a fierce and fiery outcome which can destroy the subtle flavours of just about any main course.
The liberal addition of wine or beer is a matter for judgement and conviction over what effect is being attempted. It can work well but there is always the risk that it will not, and we are back to the aformentioned hunt for an alternative set of ingredients with which to start again.
The best gravy secrets are those handed down through the generations of a family although such has been the revolution in cooking styles, recipes and the availability of produce not so much on the old seasonal basis but all year round from different parts of the globe that there has been a strong temptation to adapt and reinvent the traditional versions of gravy.
The emergence of nouvelle cuisine in the 1980's saw gravy used as an art-form usually in the faint flourish of what was referred to as a stock reduction or even a wishy washy, transparent jus. With the miniscule amounts applied by pipette or syringe you could easily be fooled into calling out for the gravy to be brought from the kitchen not realising that it was already on the plate.
Eating habits have also changed over the last few generations.
The formality of a meal has often been forgone for a laptop tv dinner or in our family where the younger adults just move to and from from kitchen to living room in a sort of grazing action. There is nothing at all wrong with this but I was brought up with a big sunday roast as the highlight of the weekly menu. Us children would have to wait until our father got home from a rare but regular pub session on the Sabbath before being able to sit down and enjoy wonderful food and flavours from mothers endeavours in the few hours after the end of the church family service.
Idyllic and a bit "Waltons" it may sound and I accept that those my age may have been the last to have this type of ritualistic mealtime.
I do not however have any fears that gravy will become extinct under the pressures exerted by modern lifestyles, social and economic demographics. If I do get a few emotional wobbles thinking about the tragedy of this as a possibility then I just go down to my local fast food outlet and buy a piping hot, delicious and very comforting polystyrene tray of chips and gravy. Long live gravy!!!!
Saturday, 21 November 2015
Friday, 20 November 2015
The Syd Lectures. #1
Hello Syd,
we have not met yet but I thought it would be nice to impart to you some of the knowledge and experience from my own life.
You never know, it may be useful to you at some point, hopefully helpful or at least a guide about what not to do in certain circumstances.
I have drawn on memories and events from a number of points in my life and I have tried to put these in some sort of chronological order rather than on the criteria of importance.
In the first of my Syd Lectures I will cover the crucial period of 0 to 7 years.
Here goes;
Look after your hair, shampoo regularly using a mild soapy mix, Johnson's is a good brand
Dress like a little boy then those commenting casually will not think you are a girl
At the seaside do not try to fill your bucket with water from a perilous slip way
Do not go bright red and feel guilty every time a policeman speaks to you
Too much Sour grape flavour juicy fruit chewing gum will make you sick
Always hold onto a climbing frame with two hands when showing off to girls
Even if encouraged by your peers, do not ask your mummy what "Spunky" means
Playing kiss catch with girls is ok even if you know you can run faster
If pushing a younger child on a large proper bike, do not let go at speed (ask Auntie Susan)
Do not charge money for the neighbourhood kids to feel a fractured skull (as above)
It is right to feel strange when seeing two women fighting on a beach in Norfolk
If a local building burns down, stick to the story that you had nothing to do with it
Faking a tummy ache to skive off school inevitably means having to catch up later
As above, watching daytime TV black and white films is no substitute for an education
Always defend Baked beans over spaghetti hoops
If in a motor scrap yard with your daddy do not fill your pockets with car bonnet badges
The red line on the bottom of the shallow end of a swimming pool means deeper water
Do not remark out loud on the nasal hair of an elderly female spinster auntie
Wear home made hand knitted jumpers with pride , other children are just jealous
Christmas presents from old ladies are exactly what you wanted, alright!
Never allow yourself to be volunteered to be Joseph in a pre-school Nativity play
If you take all of your best toy cars to school on an activity day, they will get stolen
Do not get caught inviting yourself to tea at a best friends house
An electrical socket on a Christmas tree may be finger sized but it is not meant for that
Pets do die
Adult False teeth can sometimes be left in the same drawer you expect to find goodies
A Superhero outfit can be made from nothing and will save your parents a fortune
Wearing a dickie bow tie can be cool
Go with the flow if introduced to playing a musical instrument, excepting a descant recorder
It is normal for hot milk to come out of the nasal orifice
Enjoy the music played by your mummy and daddy. It will be special to you later on in life
to be continued....
we have not met yet but I thought it would be nice to impart to you some of the knowledge and experience from my own life.
You never know, it may be useful to you at some point, hopefully helpful or at least a guide about what not to do in certain circumstances.
I have drawn on memories and events from a number of points in my life and I have tried to put these in some sort of chronological order rather than on the criteria of importance.
In the first of my Syd Lectures I will cover the crucial period of 0 to 7 years.
Here goes;
Look after your hair, shampoo regularly using a mild soapy mix, Johnson's is a good brand
Dress like a little boy then those commenting casually will not think you are a girl
At the seaside do not try to fill your bucket with water from a perilous slip way
Do not go bright red and feel guilty every time a policeman speaks to you
Too much Sour grape flavour juicy fruit chewing gum will make you sick
Always hold onto a climbing frame with two hands when showing off to girls
Even if encouraged by your peers, do not ask your mummy what "Spunky" means
Playing kiss catch with girls is ok even if you know you can run faster
If pushing a younger child on a large proper bike, do not let go at speed (ask Auntie Susan)
Do not charge money for the neighbourhood kids to feel a fractured skull (as above)
It is right to feel strange when seeing two women fighting on a beach in Norfolk
If a local building burns down, stick to the story that you had nothing to do with it
Faking a tummy ache to skive off school inevitably means having to catch up later
As above, watching daytime TV black and white films is no substitute for an education
Always defend Baked beans over spaghetti hoops
If in a motor scrap yard with your daddy do not fill your pockets with car bonnet badges
The red line on the bottom of the shallow end of a swimming pool means deeper water
Do not remark out loud on the nasal hair of an elderly female spinster auntie
Wear home made hand knitted jumpers with pride , other children are just jealous
Christmas presents from old ladies are exactly what you wanted, alright!
Never allow yourself to be volunteered to be Joseph in a pre-school Nativity play
If you take all of your best toy cars to school on an activity day, they will get stolen
Do not get caught inviting yourself to tea at a best friends house
An electrical socket on a Christmas tree may be finger sized but it is not meant for that
Pets do die
Adult False teeth can sometimes be left in the same drawer you expect to find goodies
A Superhero outfit can be made from nothing and will save your parents a fortune
Wearing a dickie bow tie can be cool
Go with the flow if introduced to playing a musical instrument, excepting a descant recorder
It is normal for hot milk to come out of the nasal orifice
Enjoy the music played by your mummy and daddy. It will be special to you later on in life
to be continued....
Thursday, 19 November 2015
House at Pooh Corner
I like the idea of living in a self sufficient way, ideally producing your own food and off the grid of mains services. Many may share this ideal lifestyle but only a few can emulate it because of constraints imposed by cost, officialdom and a lack of confidence to radically alter everyday practices. Here are just two success stories that I have come across in the media, coincidentally from Spain which seems to have that rare combination of factors in land, climate and a pioneering spirit to make the dream of self sufficiency a reality.
Case Study 1. If it wasn't for you meddling kids......
It’s a utopian fantasy- discover a ghost town and rebuild it in line with your ideals-, but in Spain where there are nearly 3000 abandoned villages (most dating back to the Middle Ages), some big dreamers have spent the past 3 decades doing just that.
There are now a few dozen “ecoaldeas” - ecovillages - in Spain, most build from the ashes of former Medieval towns. One of the first towns to be rediscovered was a tiny hamlet in the mountains of northern Navarra.
It was rediscovered in 1980 by a group of people living nearby who had lost their goats and “when they found their goats, they found Lakabe”, explains Mauge Cañada, one of the early pioneers in the repopulation of the town.
The new inhabitants were all urbanites with no knowledge of country life so no one expected them to stay long. At first, the homes weren’t habitable so they lived 14 in a large room. Slowly they began to rebuild the homes and the gardens.
When they first began to rebuild, there was no road up to the town so horses were used to carry construction materials up the mountain. There was no electricity either so they lived with candles and oil lamps.
After a few years, they erected a windmill by hand, carrying the iron structure up the hill themselves. “Even though it seems tough and in some ways it was, but you realise you're not as limited as you think,” says Mauge. “There are a lot of things people think they can't do without a lot of money and there's never been money here.”
In the early years, they generated income by selling some of their harvest and working odd jobs like using their newfound construction experience to rebuild roofs outside town. Later they rebuilt the village bakery and sold bread to the outside world.
Their organic sourdough breads now sell so well that today they can get by without looking for work outside town, but it helps that they keep their costs at a minimum as a way of life. “There's an austerity that's part of the desire of people who come here,” explains Mauge. “There's not a desire for consumption to consume. We try to live with what there is.”
Today, the town generates all its own energy with the windmill, solar panels and a water turbine. It also has a wait list of people who’d like to move in, but Mauge says the answer is not for people to join what they have created, but to try to emulate them somewhere else.
“If you set your mind to it and there's a group of people who want to do it, physically they can do it, economically they can do it. What right now is more difficult is being willing to suffer hardship or difficulties or… these days people have a lot of trouble living in situations of shortage or what is seen as shortage but it isn't.”
(source; Mail on Line)
Case Study 2. I shit you not!
Just north of Pamplona, Spain, there’s an old farmhouse that’s been abandoned for 60 years. The house is isolated from society—five miles from the nearest town and a mile from a village of 50 people. And come this spring after the original building has been dismantled a new eco-house erected using the original recycled materials it will run on poop.
The poop-powered house is a project of Meghan Sapp and Iñigo Arana of engineering start-up PlanetEnergy. When it’s finished, it will be 100% self-sufficient for energy—which means making sure any poop that comes out goes right back in.
According to Sapp, the company’s founder and CEO, the house is a demonstration for the company’s EnergyCommunities initiative. She explains “Based on the ‘use what ya got’ principle, we design systems that take advantage of available resources to supply existing and future demand with a waste-first focus.”
The hot water, in-floor heating, and cooking gas in the house will come from biogas, while solar and wind will provide electricity.
The biogas will be created from organic waste from the bathroom and kitchen, as well as manure from four horses (the couple currently have two).
Sapp and Arana will also grow their own produce on the property.
Using biogas as energy isn’t new—last year the UK launched a poo bus that ran on human waste—but Sapp hopes that her home will inspire individuals to use biogas on a small scale—in apartment buildings, for example.
The house cost the couple about half a million euros( £350,000) and they expect to make it back in less than five years, says Sapp.
The two began construction on the house in June this year and hope to move in by the spring.
(Source Planet Energy and Quartz)
Case Study 1. If it wasn't for you meddling kids......
It’s a utopian fantasy- discover a ghost town and rebuild it in line with your ideals-, but in Spain where there are nearly 3000 abandoned villages (most dating back to the Middle Ages), some big dreamers have spent the past 3 decades doing just that.
There are now a few dozen “ecoaldeas” - ecovillages - in Spain, most build from the ashes of former Medieval towns. One of the first towns to be rediscovered was a tiny hamlet in the mountains of northern Navarra.
It was rediscovered in 1980 by a group of people living nearby who had lost their goats and “when they found their goats, they found Lakabe”, explains Mauge Cañada, one of the early pioneers in the repopulation of the town.
The new inhabitants were all urbanites with no knowledge of country life so no one expected them to stay long. At first, the homes weren’t habitable so they lived 14 in a large room. Slowly they began to rebuild the homes and the gardens.
When they first began to rebuild, there was no road up to the town so horses were used to carry construction materials up the mountain. There was no electricity either so they lived with candles and oil lamps.
After a few years, they erected a windmill by hand, carrying the iron structure up the hill themselves. “Even though it seems tough and in some ways it was, but you realise you're not as limited as you think,” says Mauge. “There are a lot of things people think they can't do without a lot of money and there's never been money here.”
In the early years, they generated income by selling some of their harvest and working odd jobs like using their newfound construction experience to rebuild roofs outside town. Later they rebuilt the village bakery and sold bread to the outside world.
Their organic sourdough breads now sell so well that today they can get by without looking for work outside town, but it helps that they keep their costs at a minimum as a way of life. “There's an austerity that's part of the desire of people who come here,” explains Mauge. “There's not a desire for consumption to consume. We try to live with what there is.”
Today, the town generates all its own energy with the windmill, solar panels and a water turbine. It also has a wait list of people who’d like to move in, but Mauge says the answer is not for people to join what they have created, but to try to emulate them somewhere else.
“If you set your mind to it and there's a group of people who want to do it, physically they can do it, economically they can do it. What right now is more difficult is being willing to suffer hardship or difficulties or… these days people have a lot of trouble living in situations of shortage or what is seen as shortage but it isn't.”
(source; Mail on Line)
Case Study 2. I shit you not!
Just north of Pamplona, Spain, there’s an old farmhouse that’s been abandoned for 60 years. The house is isolated from society—five miles from the nearest town and a mile from a village of 50 people. And come this spring after the original building has been dismantled a new eco-house erected using the original recycled materials it will run on poop.
The poop-powered house is a project of Meghan Sapp and Iñigo Arana of engineering start-up PlanetEnergy. When it’s finished, it will be 100% self-sufficient for energy—which means making sure any poop that comes out goes right back in.
According to Sapp, the company’s founder and CEO, the house is a demonstration for the company’s EnergyCommunities initiative. She explains “Based on the ‘use what ya got’ principle, we design systems that take advantage of available resources to supply existing and future demand with a waste-first focus.”
The hot water, in-floor heating, and cooking gas in the house will come from biogas, while solar and wind will provide electricity.
The biogas will be created from organic waste from the bathroom and kitchen, as well as manure from four horses (the couple currently have two).
Sapp and Arana will also grow their own produce on the property.
Using biogas as energy isn’t new—last year the UK launched a poo bus that ran on human waste—but Sapp hopes that her home will inspire individuals to use biogas on a small scale—in apartment buildings, for example.
The house cost the couple about half a million euros( £350,000) and they expect to make it back in less than five years, says Sapp.
The two began construction on the house in June this year and hope to move in by the spring.
(Source Planet Energy and Quartz)
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Life Before Readers Digest
I often find myself staring at a range of publications in the local newsagents when waiting to be served at the counter.
They are not, as you may be thinking, the glossy top shelf pornographic magazines because they are nowhere near the counter, being at the back of the shop between the wines and spirits, adjacent to the baked goods and opposite a selection of useful domestic items. In fact they are generally out of sight of the staff operating the tills.
Anyway, the published item I am invariably transfixed with is the current edition of Old Moore's Almanac which is always to be found displayed above the chocolates and mints.
I have never summoned up enough courage to buy one, let alone pick one up and browse its contents.
This may be down to the depiction of astrological and zodiacal ephemera in which I have no interest whatsoever. This has not always been the case as in a superstitious phase in my teenage years I did place a lot of emphasis on what the daily horoscope from Russel Grant had in store for me although it was alternately, exciting or mind blowingly boring.
I perceive an Almanac to be something along these lines mixing star signs with magical, moral and practical things. I would liken it to a sort of Wikipedia for those without access to the internet.
Having researched a bit about Almanacs to broaden my understanding I have frankly been fascinated by their origins and development.
In the halcyon days of Almanacs in the 16th and 17th Centuries the many and varied publications were best sellers only bettered by the Bible. The origins have been traced back to Ancient Babylon in pressed and embossed terracotta tablets with State records and advice on domestic affairs, travel and such practicalities as the best time of the year to eat fish.
The actual derivation of the word, almanac is unclear with speculation that it refers to "all months", a calendar or sundial. Most promoted their content on heavenly observations and on the back of astronomy and science came the broader subjects of health, ethnic and folk lore and just about everything else considered to be useful to the masses.
By the 16th Century the most successful Almanacs mixed practicality with wisdom, superstition with history, natural life cycles and using past events to make predictions about the future. To a certain extent this played on the illiteracy and poor education of the majority of the populus who were thrilled by prognostication in particular.
Subjects covered brought certain things within reach of the poor such as a guide to amateur surgery, how to shoe a horse, have knowledge of rights and laws, how to write a will, advice on bills and bonds and managing an apprentice. There was a strong bias towards natural cycles and the rhythm of life with country dwellers, farmers and shepherds referring to an almanac in their daily lives. They could be informed about the best time to plant crops, when rents days fell, the dates and locations of fairs for stock and hiring.
Specialised pamphlets were targeted at seamen, weavers, constables, rural clergy and salesmen as an indication of a wide popularity and reliance on the imparted knowledge. They were cheap and often poorly printed and after reading would find a use as toilet paper, drawer liners or simply discarded.
A readership of 400,000 by the 1570's represented one almanac for every four households of the time which was astounding.
Publications were also entertaining and touched on taboo issues around wooing, bedroom activities of a sexual nature and informed on historical and predicted events. Circulation also drew in advertising revenues for domestic products, spectacles, false teeth and spurious quack remedies and medicines.
People wanting to understand and appreciate the texts for themselves were encouraged to learn reading and there was an upsurge in literacy in this period.
By the 17th Century the place and popularity of almanacs was struggling.
There had been a big change in the demographic of the country with an exodus to the towns and cities away from the countryside. There was also a perceived failure in previously reliable prognostications and prophecy. Major national events such as the execution of Charles 1st, the English Civil War, Plaque, Fire of London and the 1660 Restoration were unforeseen and confidence waned.
Almanacs had represented an uneasy co-existence between religion, science, astrology and folk-lore but could not survive the fragmentation of these parts as the new discipline of science began to attack longstanding thought and conventions.
In our modern world we expect there to be a year on year linear development of all things but the strength of the almanac was founded in the cyclical processes in nature that were tuned to and balanced with each other.
The Old Moore's publication which calls out to me from the sweetie counter can be had for just over £2. I acknowledge that it draws together things useful to a 21st century lifestyle such as Lotto numbers and football pools but I cannot see myself as a purchaser.
Of course, I can see the value of a handy and inexpensive reference work should I find myself needing to remove one of my organs, take my livestock to market (do goldfish count as livestock?), plant that cash crop or when uncertain about the right time to eat fish.
They are not, as you may be thinking, the glossy top shelf pornographic magazines because they are nowhere near the counter, being at the back of the shop between the wines and spirits, adjacent to the baked goods and opposite a selection of useful domestic items. In fact they are generally out of sight of the staff operating the tills.
Anyway, the published item I am invariably transfixed with is the current edition of Old Moore's Almanac which is always to be found displayed above the chocolates and mints.
I have never summoned up enough courage to buy one, let alone pick one up and browse its contents.
This may be down to the depiction of astrological and zodiacal ephemera in which I have no interest whatsoever. This has not always been the case as in a superstitious phase in my teenage years I did place a lot of emphasis on what the daily horoscope from Russel Grant had in store for me although it was alternately, exciting or mind blowingly boring.
I perceive an Almanac to be something along these lines mixing star signs with magical, moral and practical things. I would liken it to a sort of Wikipedia for those without access to the internet.
Having researched a bit about Almanacs to broaden my understanding I have frankly been fascinated by their origins and development.
In the halcyon days of Almanacs in the 16th and 17th Centuries the many and varied publications were best sellers only bettered by the Bible. The origins have been traced back to Ancient Babylon in pressed and embossed terracotta tablets with State records and advice on domestic affairs, travel and such practicalities as the best time of the year to eat fish.
The actual derivation of the word, almanac is unclear with speculation that it refers to "all months", a calendar or sundial. Most promoted their content on heavenly observations and on the back of astronomy and science came the broader subjects of health, ethnic and folk lore and just about everything else considered to be useful to the masses.
By the 16th Century the most successful Almanacs mixed practicality with wisdom, superstition with history, natural life cycles and using past events to make predictions about the future. To a certain extent this played on the illiteracy and poor education of the majority of the populus who were thrilled by prognostication in particular.
Subjects covered brought certain things within reach of the poor such as a guide to amateur surgery, how to shoe a horse, have knowledge of rights and laws, how to write a will, advice on bills and bonds and managing an apprentice. There was a strong bias towards natural cycles and the rhythm of life with country dwellers, farmers and shepherds referring to an almanac in their daily lives. They could be informed about the best time to plant crops, when rents days fell, the dates and locations of fairs for stock and hiring.
Specialised pamphlets were targeted at seamen, weavers, constables, rural clergy and salesmen as an indication of a wide popularity and reliance on the imparted knowledge. They were cheap and often poorly printed and after reading would find a use as toilet paper, drawer liners or simply discarded.
A readership of 400,000 by the 1570's represented one almanac for every four households of the time which was astounding.
Publications were also entertaining and touched on taboo issues around wooing, bedroom activities of a sexual nature and informed on historical and predicted events. Circulation also drew in advertising revenues for domestic products, spectacles, false teeth and spurious quack remedies and medicines.
People wanting to understand and appreciate the texts for themselves were encouraged to learn reading and there was an upsurge in literacy in this period.
By the 17th Century the place and popularity of almanacs was struggling.
There had been a big change in the demographic of the country with an exodus to the towns and cities away from the countryside. There was also a perceived failure in previously reliable prognostications and prophecy. Major national events such as the execution of Charles 1st, the English Civil War, Plaque, Fire of London and the 1660 Restoration were unforeseen and confidence waned.
Almanacs had represented an uneasy co-existence between religion, science, astrology and folk-lore but could not survive the fragmentation of these parts as the new discipline of science began to attack longstanding thought and conventions.
In our modern world we expect there to be a year on year linear development of all things but the strength of the almanac was founded in the cyclical processes in nature that were tuned to and balanced with each other.
The Old Moore's publication which calls out to me from the sweetie counter can be had for just over £2. I acknowledge that it draws together things useful to a 21st century lifestyle such as Lotto numbers and football pools but I cannot see myself as a purchaser.
Of course, I can see the value of a handy and inexpensive reference work should I find myself needing to remove one of my organs, take my livestock to market (do goldfish count as livestock?), plant that cash crop or when uncertain about the right time to eat fish.
Generation Game
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A computer generated poem using my one line contribution and the use of
www.permugram.org
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A computer generated poem using my one line contribution and the use of
www.permugram.org
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Robbie The Robot's Poetry Slam
Watching a lot of Science Fiction in my formative years helped me to formulate a strategy for survival should the planet earth actually be
a) invaded by Martians,
b) hit by an asteroid
c) overwhelmed by a virus,
d) succumb to the insidious influence of plants,
e)engulfed by the melting ice caps,
f) be infiltrated by reptilian shape shifters and
g) attacked by weaponised Clangers from the Moon.
Little did I expect that any of these would cause me concern in my adult life but in recent years I have been disturbed by quite a few of the above.
There is frequent coverage of a near miss by a large lump of space rock and the Ebola outbreak has been a tragedy for all of those caught up in it. Genetically Modified crops could I suppose upset the ecology of the world and be our undoing in the longer term. Climate Change is already causing significant damage through unpredictable events which can scorch or inundate dependant on where you reside on the globe. It is some relief that Martians, in the words of HG Wells, keeping a watchful eye on the Earth, may just feel there is too much going on to make an invasion feasible.
As for the Clangers.....well, I remain on alert as they are, I understand,intending a bit of a comeback.
Shape shifters, according to various You Tube videos, are already amongst us but are probably finding our social customs and human traits a bit difficult and may give up and go back to wherever they came from.
I have omitted so far to mention that all of the above pale into insignificance in the face of the greatest perceived threat to mankind...from Artificial Intelligence and in particular in robot form.
My immersion in Science Fiction included comic books and the big screen ,mostly black and white movies, with depicted robots. They were quite intimidating and menacing and yet there was a faithful adherence to the notional Laws of Robotics which protected humans from harm.
The defining differences between Man and Artificial Intelligence are the ability for compassion and imagination which could not be duplicated by algorithyms, digitalisation or an ability to mimic reasoning or ordinary human traits.
In many films where mankind is seemingly doomed to enslavement by the machines and robots the day is always saved by an act of self-sacrifice or an expression of love.
What better way to distinguish humanity than through what epitomises these qualities than through poetry of which there is a vast resource over the millenia.
My childhood fears, irrational though they were, of a robot takeover have been reawakened by my stumbling across a website called "Bot or Not".
This is a Turing Test type site. In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing devised the test bearing his own name as a way of verifying machine intelligence. It produces a situation in which a human judge talks to both a computer and a human through a computer terminal. Based on the answers alone the judge has to determine which is which.
"Bot or Not" features examples of poems and you, assuming the role of judge, have to guess if they are computer or human in origin.
Examples provided include classic poems from literature and also those formulated from algorithms or by using other automated forms of generating text.
Submissions are invited from readers through notbotpoems.gmail.com.
Can you decide who wrote the following which I have edited down a bit- Bot or Not?
a) i feel great, today is a good day, i love you, i like this, nice to meet you
b) MY DESIRE BEAUTIFULLY LUSTS AFTER YOUR SEDUCTIVE ENTHUSIASM
c) The Moon rises like a small shore...Gulls travel like rough gulls.
d) I am the dark on the night. The past of love gone stale.
I have posted the answers on my Twitter Page for those interested. @Langdale82
As a clue, the ratio of answers is three to one.
I am no more assured of the future now than when I was seduced by images of it through the Sci-Fi of my younger years. I am still a bit disappointed in it all because I am sure that I was promised that I would have a jet-pack by now.
a) invaded by Martians,
b) hit by an asteroid
c) overwhelmed by a virus,
d) succumb to the insidious influence of plants,
e)engulfed by the melting ice caps,
f) be infiltrated by reptilian shape shifters and
g) attacked by weaponised Clangers from the Moon.
Little did I expect that any of these would cause me concern in my adult life but in recent years I have been disturbed by quite a few of the above.
There is frequent coverage of a near miss by a large lump of space rock and the Ebola outbreak has been a tragedy for all of those caught up in it. Genetically Modified crops could I suppose upset the ecology of the world and be our undoing in the longer term. Climate Change is already causing significant damage through unpredictable events which can scorch or inundate dependant on where you reside on the globe. It is some relief that Martians, in the words of HG Wells, keeping a watchful eye on the Earth, may just feel there is too much going on to make an invasion feasible.
As for the Clangers.....well, I remain on alert as they are, I understand,intending a bit of a comeback.
Shape shifters, according to various You Tube videos, are already amongst us but are probably finding our social customs and human traits a bit difficult and may give up and go back to wherever they came from.
I have omitted so far to mention that all of the above pale into insignificance in the face of the greatest perceived threat to mankind...from Artificial Intelligence and in particular in robot form.
My immersion in Science Fiction included comic books and the big screen ,mostly black and white movies, with depicted robots. They were quite intimidating and menacing and yet there was a faithful adherence to the notional Laws of Robotics which protected humans from harm.
The defining differences between Man and Artificial Intelligence are the ability for compassion and imagination which could not be duplicated by algorithyms, digitalisation or an ability to mimic reasoning or ordinary human traits.
In many films where mankind is seemingly doomed to enslavement by the machines and robots the day is always saved by an act of self-sacrifice or an expression of love.
What better way to distinguish humanity than through what epitomises these qualities than through poetry of which there is a vast resource over the millenia.
My childhood fears, irrational though they were, of a robot takeover have been reawakened by my stumbling across a website called "Bot or Not".
This is a Turing Test type site. In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing devised the test bearing his own name as a way of verifying machine intelligence. It produces a situation in which a human judge talks to both a computer and a human through a computer terminal. Based on the answers alone the judge has to determine which is which.
"Bot or Not" features examples of poems and you, assuming the role of judge, have to guess if they are computer or human in origin.
Examples provided include classic poems from literature and also those formulated from algorithms or by using other automated forms of generating text.
Submissions are invited from readers through notbotpoems.gmail.com.
Can you decide who wrote the following which I have edited down a bit- Bot or Not?
a) i feel great, today is a good day, i love you, i like this, nice to meet you
b) MY DESIRE BEAUTIFULLY LUSTS AFTER YOUR SEDUCTIVE ENTHUSIASM
c) The Moon rises like a small shore...Gulls travel like rough gulls.
d) I am the dark on the night. The past of love gone stale.
I have posted the answers on my Twitter Page for those interested. @Langdale82
As a clue, the ratio of answers is three to one.
I am no more assured of the future now than when I was seduced by images of it through the Sci-Fi of my younger years. I am still a bit disappointed in it all because I am sure that I was promised that I would have a jet-pack by now.
Sunday, 15 November 2015
Pom Pom Tiddly I Pom
I was close to staying in last night rather than making that first tentative step to going to what is my nearest local public house.
It had been a busy day around the house including a rare foray into the far corners of my own loft space, well, after all I go into other people's roof voids every day seeking problems so my own does not have the same appeal if it is just for storage.
We had family around, all women, and so us menfolk were required to make ourselves scarce whilst things were discussed but more specifically multiple woollen pom-poms made. Youngest daughter, in her early 20's is aiming to produce 100 plus as her contribution to Christmas decorations at a city theatre.
There were 60 made by the four piece workers in a very short period from late afternoon to tea time using what I can only describe as fiendishly cunning bits of technology cutting many minutes from the traditional pom pom method of two circles cut out of cardboard.
The living room soon became covered with stray strands of fluffy, glitter speckled wool on the floor, furniture and up the stairs to the bathroom. The latter being a consequence of plentiful cups of tea to assuage the dehydration associated with frantic wool winding.
Earlier in the week I had been chatting with a neighbour on all manner of neighbourhood issues when I mentioned the nearest pub. He actually knew it quite well from periodic visits and liked it as it had atmosphere, good beer and interesting local characters for entertainment. I think we sort of agreed to going there on a non specific timescale although 8pm on the coming saturday was a possibility.
At ten minutes to eight on the allotted day I was the only male in the house who seemed at all bothered about a trip to the pub. I had even had a wash and changed out of my housework clothes.
The other two feigned tiredness and disinterest although secretly, I suspected, were enjoying rare invisibility such was the concentration of the wool crafting ladies.
I was by now trying to invent an excuse not to venture out. The words "I'm not going on my own" came forth in the tone of a petulant child. Apart from the blur of working hands there was no other movement or reaction to my statement. I know, I thought, if it is raining then I could legitimately claim sanctuary under some or other adverse weather clause.
As I popped my head out of the front door who should be walking past, hunched up in his cagoule, but my neighbour.
It was a complete coincidence of timing but enough to persuade me that the pub was on. I shouted up the stairs to the industrial workshop that I was going out. I took the deafening silence as acceptance of my intention.
The walk through the Park gateway and up the main road was unpleasantly wet with large pools and puddles and the occasional pavement wash from a passing vehicle, intentional or not to catch out a pedestrian. It was a short walk and within a few minutes me and my neighbour were in the Lounge Bar.
As pubs go it was finely traditional and in an authentic way rather than following the trend of false ageing using a selection of antiquities sourced from a large corporate warehouse.
For a saturday night it was not that busy although a small huddle of inebriated men made up for that with loud and crude language before stumbling out to a waiting taxi pointing in the direction of the city centre. That left a handful of drinkers just sat quietly on the red buttoned leather upholstery with elbows on dark wood tables staring into their glasses.
The bar, a stubby 'L' shape had a good selection of hand drawn ales and a week long Beer Festival promotion with guest tipples from Real Ale and Micro Brewery producers. I was not sure how much a pint cost as I had not bought one for some years in my self imposed exile. £3 a pint did not seem too extortionate and I went for a Nottingham Dark Ale seeking reassurance in having been a student in that city where I had drunk more than my fair share of Mild and Stout dark ales.
Previous conversations with my neighbour have been conducted out of doors usually as I have returned from work and he, recently retired, has just got back after a long cycle ride. Bikes is something we have in common and all things cycling make for a good ice breaker in any company. I do have to hide obvious envy at the very impressive array of bikes in his garage and his new found leisure time which I find increasingly scarce under my current workload.
The beer and friendly ambience in the pub put us both ease. We chatted giving a potted version of our life stories interspersed with cycling experiences and time flew by. 11pm suddenly loomed prompting the first embarrassing silence of the evening. It was a sign that we had completed the first of our indoor conversations.
The pub scored well in my reckoning. No hassle, no loud music, enough of a view of a big screen TV to keep in touch with world news and a good selection of potato chips.
It had been a good experience and if the pom pom production line continues to roll on I may well find myself back there next saturday.
It had been a busy day around the house including a rare foray into the far corners of my own loft space, well, after all I go into other people's roof voids every day seeking problems so my own does not have the same appeal if it is just for storage.
We had family around, all women, and so us menfolk were required to make ourselves scarce whilst things were discussed but more specifically multiple woollen pom-poms made. Youngest daughter, in her early 20's is aiming to produce 100 plus as her contribution to Christmas decorations at a city theatre.
There were 60 made by the four piece workers in a very short period from late afternoon to tea time using what I can only describe as fiendishly cunning bits of technology cutting many minutes from the traditional pom pom method of two circles cut out of cardboard.
The living room soon became covered with stray strands of fluffy, glitter speckled wool on the floor, furniture and up the stairs to the bathroom. The latter being a consequence of plentiful cups of tea to assuage the dehydration associated with frantic wool winding.
Earlier in the week I had been chatting with a neighbour on all manner of neighbourhood issues when I mentioned the nearest pub. He actually knew it quite well from periodic visits and liked it as it had atmosphere, good beer and interesting local characters for entertainment. I think we sort of agreed to going there on a non specific timescale although 8pm on the coming saturday was a possibility.
At ten minutes to eight on the allotted day I was the only male in the house who seemed at all bothered about a trip to the pub. I had even had a wash and changed out of my housework clothes.
The other two feigned tiredness and disinterest although secretly, I suspected, were enjoying rare invisibility such was the concentration of the wool crafting ladies.
I was by now trying to invent an excuse not to venture out. The words "I'm not going on my own" came forth in the tone of a petulant child. Apart from the blur of working hands there was no other movement or reaction to my statement. I know, I thought, if it is raining then I could legitimately claim sanctuary under some or other adverse weather clause.
As I popped my head out of the front door who should be walking past, hunched up in his cagoule, but my neighbour.
It was a complete coincidence of timing but enough to persuade me that the pub was on. I shouted up the stairs to the industrial workshop that I was going out. I took the deafening silence as acceptance of my intention.
The walk through the Park gateway and up the main road was unpleasantly wet with large pools and puddles and the occasional pavement wash from a passing vehicle, intentional or not to catch out a pedestrian. It was a short walk and within a few minutes me and my neighbour were in the Lounge Bar.
As pubs go it was finely traditional and in an authentic way rather than following the trend of false ageing using a selection of antiquities sourced from a large corporate warehouse.
For a saturday night it was not that busy although a small huddle of inebriated men made up for that with loud and crude language before stumbling out to a waiting taxi pointing in the direction of the city centre. That left a handful of drinkers just sat quietly on the red buttoned leather upholstery with elbows on dark wood tables staring into their glasses.
The bar, a stubby 'L' shape had a good selection of hand drawn ales and a week long Beer Festival promotion with guest tipples from Real Ale and Micro Brewery producers. I was not sure how much a pint cost as I had not bought one for some years in my self imposed exile. £3 a pint did not seem too extortionate and I went for a Nottingham Dark Ale seeking reassurance in having been a student in that city where I had drunk more than my fair share of Mild and Stout dark ales.
Previous conversations with my neighbour have been conducted out of doors usually as I have returned from work and he, recently retired, has just got back after a long cycle ride. Bikes is something we have in common and all things cycling make for a good ice breaker in any company. I do have to hide obvious envy at the very impressive array of bikes in his garage and his new found leisure time which I find increasingly scarce under my current workload.
The beer and friendly ambience in the pub put us both ease. We chatted giving a potted version of our life stories interspersed with cycling experiences and time flew by. 11pm suddenly loomed prompting the first embarrassing silence of the evening. It was a sign that we had completed the first of our indoor conversations.
The pub scored well in my reckoning. No hassle, no loud music, enough of a view of a big screen TV to keep in touch with world news and a good selection of potato chips.
It had been a good experience and if the pom pom production line continues to roll on I may well find myself back there next saturday.
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