Showing posts with label reflection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflection. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Sunday...
... was definitely a fine day to sample fine tipple. It ended up being one of those rare boozy days that T & I sometimes have. We celebrated T following his heart to do something that he loves with a few glasses of poo. In the garden. In the sun. Happy days!
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
Sods law...
Says that when you have time off from work so does the sun! We spent a chilly morning in the garden sowing seeds and building a table for the allotment out of scrap wood, so T and I consoled ourselves with a late lunch at the Souk Kitchen.
Lamb kofta tagine.
Rosewater flavoured cous-cous, caramelised onions and pomegranate syrup.
Chicken, green olive and fennel tagine.
The lush food we found there put a smile back on our face, but I'm hoping the sun comes back and puts some hours in soon.
Lamb kofta tagine.
Rosewater flavoured cous-cous, caramelised onions and pomegranate syrup.
Chicken, green olive and fennel tagine.
The lush food we found there put a smile back on our face, but I'm hoping the sun comes back and puts some hours in soon.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Feast at Casamia
So I'm a bit behind with the posts despite good intentions this weekend. I'm blaming the glorious sunshine, T having Saturday off, the lure of my little mazda with a soft-top, pubs by canals, second-hand shops and reclamation yards. The final nail in the coffin of unwritten posts was blitzing the front garden and digging the last beds on the allotment on Sunday.
Anyway I digress, this post is meant to be about food. Food by five chefs from four restaurants joining forces for four nights, each at a different venue, and collectively titled "An evening with the chefs". The last in the series was at Casamia where there was a table booked for three at 8pm. Perfect.
You may well be thinking: "Ah ha! Chefs! Big egos!"
But, the thing with people in the catering trade is they work hideously unsociable hours (when the rest of us want to be sociable). Have little time off (we want to be able to eat/drink/party all of the time). When they do escape from the kitchen/bar/restaurant it's almost guaranteed that the people they want to hang out with (also in the catering trade because those social circles are gloriously incestuous) will probably be working.
In this case, we suspected that it was probably less about egos and more a case of five chefs, incompatible "meet up, drink beer" schedules, and a spot of lateral thinking that's resulted in a series of: "Right, back to ours then. Oh and while you're here you may as well help cook!"
So about the food? Well, while we sipped kir apéritifs, at a table conspicuously empty of menus and cutlery, a black envelope arrived containing the menu:
While we contemplated the meal ahead we were treated to some unexpected goodies: Sicilian green olives, salt and pepper toasted macadamia, roasted almonds, star anise grissini and a truffle drip. (Alas poor truffle you were good for some, but not for others.)
[NB. All the photos are Francine's. We figured all of us taking pictures would have been weird and she was happy to share. Thank-you x]
A tiny spoon, an odd-shaped wooden bowl, and an egg box with perfectly cut duck eggshells filled with warm, silky scrambled egg, cured pork and topped with thyme foam.
Freshly baked rolls with home-made butter. Faced with soft poppy seed roll or olive oil and rosemary focaccia we all chose the latter?!
The rest of the food was sublime. The highlights for me were almost everything, but the first two courses really stood out. First, the combination of rhubarb (which I have in abundance right now) and mackerel (which I adore, but often run out of ideas with) is a keeper.
Second, the cured sea bass delicately flavoured with turmeric was heavenly and I could have eaten crab and sorrel for the rest of the evening.
The low point? Not getting to try the beef cheek due to a last minute substitution for pork. It was nice, but unfortunately not up there with the fish.
Dessert was a creative play on breakfast - caramelised banana served with banana parfait nestled between a milky pannacotta atop a golden layer of cornflake purée and a granola bar. Inspired.
After dessert more treats arrived including a malt whisky chocolate, an amazing, wobbly raspberry-flavoured Turkish delight, and miniature chocolate biscotti that made your tongue crackle and pop!
[Additional info for T: a glass of Falanghina with the fish, Oloroso solera (Emilio Lustan) as a digestif.]
Anyway I digress, this post is meant to be about food. Food by five chefs from four restaurants joining forces for four nights, each at a different venue, and collectively titled "An evening with the chefs". The last in the series was at Casamia where there was a table booked for three at 8pm. Perfect.
You may well be thinking: "Ah ha! Chefs! Big egos!"
But, the thing with people in the catering trade is they work hideously unsociable hours (when the rest of us want to be sociable). Have little time off (we want to be able to eat/drink/party all of the time). When they do escape from the kitchen/bar/restaurant it's almost guaranteed that the people they want to hang out with (also in the catering trade because those social circles are gloriously incestuous) will probably be working.
In this case, we suspected that it was probably less about egos and more a case of five chefs, incompatible "meet up, drink beer" schedules, and a spot of lateral thinking that's resulted in a series of: "Right, back to ours then. Oh and while you're here you may as well help cook!"
So about the food? Well, while we sipped kir apéritifs, at a table conspicuously empty of menus and cutlery, a black envelope arrived containing the menu:
- The Pumphouse - cured mackerel wrapped in Serrano ham, rhubarb and watercress
- The New Inn - turmeric cured sea bass, frittata of Cornish crab with sorrel
- Casamia - beef cheek, baked potatoes, pickled onion, horseradish, puffed corn
- The Pony & Trap - cornflakes, pannacotta, cereal bar and banana
[NB. All the photos are Francine's. We figured all of us taking pictures would have been weird and she was happy to share. Thank-you x]
A tiny spoon, an odd-shaped wooden bowl, and an egg box with perfectly cut duck eggshells filled with warm, silky scrambled egg, cured pork and topped with thyme foam.
Freshly baked rolls with home-made butter. Faced with soft poppy seed roll or olive oil and rosemary focaccia we all chose the latter?!
The rest of the food was sublime. The highlights for me were almost everything, but the first two courses really stood out. First, the combination of rhubarb (which I have in abundance right now) and mackerel (which I adore, but often run out of ideas with) is a keeper.
Second, the cured sea bass delicately flavoured with turmeric was heavenly and I could have eaten crab and sorrel for the rest of the evening.
The low point? Not getting to try the beef cheek due to a last minute substitution for pork. It was nice, but unfortunately not up there with the fish.
Dessert was a creative play on breakfast - caramelised banana served with banana parfait nestled between a milky pannacotta atop a golden layer of cornflake purée and a granola bar. Inspired.
After dessert more treats arrived including a malt whisky chocolate, an amazing, wobbly raspberry-flavoured Turkish delight, and miniature chocolate biscotti that made your tongue crackle and pop!
[Additional info for T: a glass of Falanghina with the fish, Oloroso solera (Emilio Lustan) as a digestif.]
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Merging blogs...
I've had a stop-start affair with blogger for quite a while and have ended up with a few blogs on the go. One called "sideswipe" was mostly focused on idle observations about what was in the news, the course I was studying for and life in general. All in all, a half-baked attempt to internalise what I saw going on in the world around me. Seventy five is also about my external environment, albeit one I have slightly more control over (no, I don't really believe that either!) so it seemed to make sense to bring the two together.
I'm hoping it will help me post on a more reliable basis... we shall see. (I'm sure I've said that before!)
I'm hoping it will help me post on a more reliable basis... we shall see. (I'm sure I've said that before!)
Friday, 6 July 2007
Start talking, start thinking. Start writing, stop thinking...
Introduction. Introduction to what? I have an assignment to write; it's due in 11 days and it's just not happening. I'm stuffed to the gunnels with background reading. I have inklings, thoughts, and opinions just busting to come out, but whenever I start to try and write, they sidle off and hide in the corners. How rude! How unhelpful of them!
When I start talking though, well that's a different story. Up those ideas rush, a gaggle jumping up and down, clamouring to be the first. Pouring out. I pick up a pen, try to craft a story to contain them, create a little structure to frame them, and suddenly all I can hear is an absence of thoughts, a lucid stillness. Damn those pesky synapses!
When I start talking though, well that's a different story. Up those ideas rush, a gaggle jumping up and down, clamouring to be the first. Pouring out. I pick up a pen, try to craft a story to contain them, create a little structure to frame them, and suddenly all I can hear is an absence of thoughts, a lucid stillness. Damn those pesky synapses!
Saturday, 26 May 2007
Competition vs cooperation
Competitive advantage an example of trading based on the commonly cited outcome of Prisoner's Dilemma: screw your rivals before they screw you. Get better, faster access to resources so that you can grow at the expense of other organisations. Very much a win-lose scenario. How sustainable is this strategy in the long-term — should we believe Porter?
Look at 'sustainable cooperative advantage'; long-term, high trust relationships reduce the likelihood of defection. Many players, so tragedy of the commons = uncoordinated individual actions of multiple agents.
Cooperation... hailed, but actually not usually supported by espoused values. Told that collaboration is key, but the behaviours rewarded for demonstrate otherwise. Think Rousseau: acting inauthentic = self destruction [Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse]
Look at 'sustainable cooperative advantage'; long-term, high trust relationships reduce the likelihood of defection. Many players, so tragedy of the commons = uncoordinated individual actions of multiple agents.
Cooperation... hailed, but actually not usually supported by espoused values. Told that collaboration is key, but the behaviours rewarded for demonstrate otherwise. Think Rousseau: acting inauthentic = self destruction [Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse]
Authoritarian management styles enourages self-interest?
Exploring an idea formed after reading Matt Ridley's The origins of virtue — "Heavy government makes people more selfish, not less." [p.263]. He argues that top heavy intrusive governance has lead to a breakdown in community spirit and a lowered sense of individual responsibility. I wonder whether this would also be true within organisations?
Does authoritarian management lead to less reciprocity and trust, and a tendency towards self-interested behaviours, e.g. do work, get paid, go home; nothing more, nothing less? A lack of social contracts [see first paper] would have an impact.
Are more cooperative [flat] organisations more akin to Ridley's examples of groups of cooperating individuals for the good of the group? Trust is essential...
Hayek's views
The central roles of the state [read organisation/management?] should be to maintain the rule of law [read focus?], with as little arbitrary intervention as possible.
Does authoritarian management lead to less reciprocity and trust, and a tendency towards self-interested behaviours, e.g. do work, get paid, go home; nothing more, nothing less? A lack of social contracts [see first paper] would have an impact.
Are more cooperative [flat] organisations more akin to Ridley's examples of groups of cooperating individuals for the good of the group? Trust is essential...
Hayek's views
The central roles of the state [read organisation/management?] should be to maintain the rule of law [read focus?], with as little arbitrary intervention as possible.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Friday, 2 March 2007
Monday, 6 November 2006
L'état c'est moi
Louis XIV and his declaration of "I am the state" somehow feels familiar and close to home. But shouldn't we be striving for the opposite - we are the state, by which I mean we collectively, we as in a democratic society? It truly feels like we are moving in the other direction.
I'm in Cafe Nero the other evening enjoying coffee and a catch-up with a friend of mine. A conversation of no interest or significance to anyone else, and yet there it is recorded for god knows who to see on their surveillance system... You might think that my questioning this is socially irresponsible, but I'd argue that we're reprehensibly for not raising the issue. Why is there CCTV in cafes, buses, shops, pubs, bars... where does the information go? Who's using it? How long is it kept for? The manager in the cafe couldn't tell me, he even seemed put out by the fact that I had asked. What are the implications for privacy laws? no one has asked my permission... data protection?
I am in total agreement with anyone who believes that George Orwell just got the date wrong: Britain is 'surveillance society'.
I'm in Cafe Nero the other evening enjoying coffee and a catch-up with a friend of mine. A conversation of no interest or significance to anyone else, and yet there it is recorded for god knows who to see on their surveillance system... You might think that my questioning this is socially irresponsible, but I'd argue that we're reprehensibly for not raising the issue. Why is there CCTV in cafes, buses, shops, pubs, bars... where does the information go? Who's using it? How long is it kept for? The manager in the cafe couldn't tell me, he even seemed put out by the fact that I had asked. What are the implications for privacy laws? no one has asked my permission... data protection?
I am in total agreement with anyone who believes that George Orwell just got the date wrong: Britain is 'surveillance society'.
Friday, 6 October 2006
I went back to school today!
I've just embarked on a two-year course in organisational development at Bristol Uni.
Talk about messing with your head, but today has been a real shock to the system. No one has ever introduced me to the concept of "critical thinking" and how to structure your thoughts and ideas in a way that has some hope of being understood by someone else. Me, I've always tended to just jump in, feet first, and hope for the best!
I think that today's the start of an interesting journey, and one which I want to record in some way. My blogging habits, so far, have been sporadic to say the least. I find it hard to understand why anyone else would want to read my random train of conciousness, but I'm almost tempted to start sharing this blog as I start exploring new concepts and ideas as part of my course. We'll see...
Talk about messing with your head, but today has been a real shock to the system. No one has ever introduced me to the concept of "critical thinking" and how to structure your thoughts and ideas in a way that has some hope of being understood by someone else. Me, I've always tended to just jump in, feet first, and hope for the best!
I think that today's the start of an interesting journey, and one which I want to record in some way. My blogging habits, so far, have been sporadic to say the least. I find it hard to understand why anyone else would want to read my random train of conciousness, but I'm almost tempted to start sharing this blog as I start exploring new concepts and ideas as part of my course. We'll see...
Thursday, 28 July 2005
Moss Kanter: 10 rules for stifling innovation
Rosabeth Kanter goes into leading-edge corporations, learns from them and then serves up what she's learnt in nicely digestible messages for the rest of us...
10 rules for stifling innovation
- Regard any new idea from below with suspicion - because it is new and because it is from below.
- Insist that people who need your approval to act first go through several other layers of management to get their signatures.
- Ask departments or individuals to challenge and criticise each other's proposals.
- Treat problems as a sign of failure.
- Express your criticisms freely and withhold your praise (that keeps people on their toes). Let them know they can be fired at any time.
- Control everything carefully. Count anything that can be counted, frequently.
- Make sure that any request for information is fully justified and that it isn't distributed too freely (you don't want data to fall into the wrong hands).
- Make decisions to reorganise or change policies in secret and spring them on people unexpectedly (that also keeps people on their toes).
- Assign to lower-level managers, in the name of delegation and participation, responsibility for figuring out how to cut back, lay off or move people around.
- Never forget that you, the higher-ups, already know everything important about this business.
Tuesday, 26 July 2005
Disbelief...
I've struggled to find suitable words to describe my frustration over recent events. Finally I've found them and, although they are not mine, they voice my feelings perfectly.
"...have to accept that, in a democracy, religion, too, is open to criticism - this applies to Islam no less than to Christianity... In a democracy, those who want to defend themselves against this can go to court. Any other curtailment of free speech is inadmissible."
Nothing more, nothing less.
As someone who has chosen not to bring religion into my life -- and I am grateful to live in a culture which allows me that choice -- I find it hard to understand how people could come to have a blatant disregard for life, so little tolerance for the values and beliefs of others, in the name of something as abstract as theology.
"...have to accept that, in a democracy, religion, too, is open to criticism - this applies to Islam no less than to Christianity... In a democracy, those who want to defend themselves against this can go to court. Any other curtailment of free speech is inadmissible."
Nothing more, nothing less.
As someone who has chosen not to bring religion into my life -- and I am grateful to live in a culture which allows me that choice -- I find it hard to understand how people could come to have a blatant disregard for life, so little tolerance for the values and beliefs of others, in the name of something as abstract as theology.
Thursday, 30 September 2004
Sun-starved Brits face increased risk of cancer
For some perverse reason this is faintly amusing and somewhat ironic...
We are constantly bombarded by messages telling us that sun is very bad and sunbathing is a terrible thing. All nice and clear cut. Too much sun can cause cancer. End of the discussion, yes?
No! Now we're being told that the sun 'protects against cancer', that "staying out of the sun completely may increase your chances of developing cancer."
It seems the whole 'stay out of the sun' has helped rickets to reappear in the UK. "An overreaction to 'cover-up' campaigns against skin cancer was partly responsible for the lack of vitamin D... if you wear sunscreen, vitamin D conversion goes down... we do need some sensible use of the sun, and we've been swinging too strongly against it."
We are constantly bombarded by messages telling us that sun is very bad and sunbathing is a terrible thing. All nice and clear cut. Too much sun can cause cancer. End of the discussion, yes?
No! Now we're being told that the sun 'protects against cancer', that "staying out of the sun completely may increase your chances of developing cancer."
It seems the whole 'stay out of the sun' has helped rickets to reappear in the UK. "An overreaction to 'cover-up' campaigns against skin cancer was partly responsible for the lack of vitamin D... if you wear sunscreen, vitamin D conversion goes down... we do need some sensible use of the sun, and we've been swinging too strongly against it."
Wednesday, 29 September 2004
Idioms
I’ve never really paid attention to how we use our language in the UK. Differences in accents are obvious and instantly noticeable, but the way in which we use words or phrases to covey our meaning, well we tend to do without much thought. We all use slang of some form or other acquired from the places we've lived (regional expressions) and other people spend a lot of time with.
As I was growing up, I picked up a lot of unusual words as I moved around the country. Many I’ve stopped using after moving out of an area—mainly because no one else understands what you’re saying and it isn’t being reinforced through hearing it spoken by other people.
“Chow” is one such word. In certain areas of north-east England, it means to shout at, tell off. To pretty much everywhere else it means food! My favourite is “moither” which means to fuss, bother, pester, and although it’s rare it’s still very much part of my vocabulary.
I hadn't appreciated how many idioms we use in everyday English—phrases that can only be understood if you have same cultural references. How confusing it must be to everyone else... about as clear as mud!
On a side note, this American writer seems to think that "Briticisms have passed their sell-by date" [American Idioms Have Gone Missing]. Er, not if you're British they haven't!
As I was growing up, I picked up a lot of unusual words as I moved around the country. Many I’ve stopped using after moving out of an area—mainly because no one else understands what you’re saying and it isn’t being reinforced through hearing it spoken by other people.
“Chow” is one such word. In certain areas of north-east England, it means to shout at, tell off. To pretty much everywhere else it means food! My favourite is “moither” which means to fuss, bother, pester, and although it’s rare it’s still very much part of my vocabulary.
I hadn't appreciated how many idioms we use in everyday English—phrases that can only be understood if you have same cultural references. How confusing it must be to everyone else... about as clear as mud!
On a side note, this American writer seems to think that "Briticisms have passed their sell-by date" [American Idioms Have Gone Missing]. Er, not if you're British they haven't!
Friday, 17 September 2004
Working, virtually!
It's time to poke the brain into gear and start writing again. I haven't looked at this blog for over a year and when I revisited it today I was more that a little surprised by what I found.
In 2002 I was already thinking about collaborative working, trust and communities. That was well before I started working on KM projects in my present job - hell KM hadn't even registered on my radar at that point. Seems I've come back on myself which is perhaps a sign that it warrants more time and attention.
In 2002 I was already thinking about collaborative working, trust and communities. That was well before I started working on KM projects in my present job - hell KM hadn't even registered on my radar at that point. Seems I've come back on myself which is perhaps a sign that it warrants more time and attention.
Monday, 14 April 2003
A day of rest?
On my way home last night (after a relaxing Sunday night in the pub!) I found myself watching people leaving a church and a strange thought occurred to me; perhaps it was an epiphany with a sense of humour.
It went something like this: imagine you're hard at work being God 24/7 365 for centuries with no break and one evening you decide it would be nice to designate some chill time, say Sunday. One day in seven for much needed quality 'me time'. You then desperately go about trying to convey this, in godly signs, only to find that your supposedly more intelligent creations get the wrong end of the stick (or they wilfully misunderstand you) and take the omens to mean they been granted a day of rest. To top things off, they come up with this crazy scheme which convinced thousands of people to spend their Sunday thanking you for all you've done for them and demanding intervention for one thing and another, and so you end up spending your whole day fielding requests. So much for a day off.
Wouldn't that just piss you off?
This could explain why the world seems to be in such a sorry state? It's God paying us back for hijacking his day off and subsequent centuries of disturbance when he's trying to put his feet up and chill.
It went something like this: imagine you're hard at work being God 24/7 365 for centuries with no break and one evening you decide it would be nice to designate some chill time, say Sunday. One day in seven for much needed quality 'me time'. You then desperately go about trying to convey this, in godly signs, only to find that your supposedly more intelligent creations get the wrong end of the stick (or they wilfully misunderstand you) and take the omens to mean they been granted a day of rest. To top things off, they come up with this crazy scheme which convinced thousands of people to spend their Sunday thanking you for all you've done for them and demanding intervention for one thing and another, and so you end up spending your whole day fielding requests. So much for a day off.
Wouldn't that just piss you off?
This could explain why the world seems to be in such a sorry state? It's God paying us back for hijacking his day off and subsequent centuries of disturbance when he's trying to put his feet up and chill.
Friday, 17 January 2003
Marmite flavoured controversy
Marmite has always been controversial - with an innate ability to instantly divide a room of friends into two warring tribes. You either love it and can’t imagine life without it, or you hate it with equal passion, scorning those afflicted enough to actually eat the stuff. (You poor things, you don’t know what you’re missing.)
I'm chuffed to bits to be the proud owner of Marmite's latest marketing collaboration with Zippy (you may know him from such programmes as Rainbow) - jars showing Zippy in different poses, proclaiming his love for Marmite. Mine is the one with Zippy going Doh in true Homerian fashion...
For those of you who are still confused about what you're supposed to do with the stuff perhaps this will give you inspiration - The Ultimate List of Uses for Marmite.
I'm chuffed to bits to be the proud owner of Marmite's latest marketing collaboration with Zippy (you may know him from such programmes as Rainbow) - jars showing Zippy in different poses, proclaiming his love for Marmite. Mine is the one with Zippy going Doh in true Homerian fashion...
For those of you who are still confused about what you're supposed to do with the stuff perhaps this will give you inspiration - The Ultimate List of Uses for Marmite.
Tuesday, 10 September 2002
Democracy = mob rule?
There's a quote about democracy really being mob rule. Not sure I agree with it as the statement implies action, and the situation we are faced with at the moment implies the opposite. The current system feels to me like it's trying to wrap us up in cotton wool; a nanny state which discourages free thinking and innovation.
The petrol embargo in 2000 felt like a hint, a spark, the sound of a few people waking up to smell the coffee, and it almost achieved something. We seem to belong to a country with a governmental system that, once elected, appears to have little accountability for it's actions until the next election. Take the situation now. Europe want to take a diplomatic stance and attempt to cure the root of the problems in Iraq, the US wants to follow past form by starting a war of aggression and bombing the shit out of them, and the UK is supporting them. The hints that it all points to oil reserves makes the situation even more sickening, yet there seems to be no way for public opinion to sway the decisions of our leader to isolate us even more from our closest neighbours.
I wish there was a way which educated the public further about important problems, made them consider the pros and cons and feel responsible for decisions made by their elected representatives. Would holding national referendums on selected decisions help? I'm not sure. The whole country feels unmotivated when it comes to matters of politics and governments. Perhaps it's because we no longer feel empowered; helpless to stop the resolute force that we carelessly nominate each term.
The petrol embargo in 2000 felt like a hint, a spark, the sound of a few people waking up to smell the coffee, and it almost achieved something. We seem to belong to a country with a governmental system that, once elected, appears to have little accountability for it's actions until the next election. Take the situation now. Europe want to take a diplomatic stance and attempt to cure the root of the problems in Iraq, the US wants to follow past form by starting a war of aggression and bombing the shit out of them, and the UK is supporting them. The hints that it all points to oil reserves makes the situation even more sickening, yet there seems to be no way for public opinion to sway the decisions of our leader to isolate us even more from our closest neighbours.
I wish there was a way which educated the public further about important problems, made them consider the pros and cons and feel responsible for decisions made by their elected representatives. Would holding national referendums on selected decisions help? I'm not sure. The whole country feels unmotivated when it comes to matters of politics and governments. Perhaps it's because we no longer feel empowered; helpless to stop the resolute force that we carelessly nominate each term.
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