I’m a wishy washy, bleeding-heart liberal, according to the Times.
I have views somewhere between Noam Chomsky and Tony Benn. Why are comparisons always to men?
I’ve also been a little bit bored this evening, and have read recess monkey‘s blog, which is something I’ve not done before as I’ve always been a Backbencher girl myself.
Rafael Behr at the Observer blog compares the disappointment of the Star Wars prequels to New Labour. I particularly like this bit about Labour’s second term:
Then came Attack of the Clones. A weakly scripted, poorly acted pastiche of what it could have been, dominated by a war launched with subterfuge and cynical manipiulation.
—Rafael Behr
🙂
Chris Lightfoot has a General Election Estimation quiz, which gauges how much you know about the stats behind the campaign. Apart from seriously underestimating how much each ID card would cost the taxpayer, I think I did alright for one who never really thinks about figures. You can choose how many questions you wish to be quizzed on, but I wimped out on 10. I don’t think I can face knowing just how much I don’t know.
2005 General Election Estimation Quiz
Your score is…
+64.7
That means that you’re…
- better informed than 89% of people who’ve already taken the quiz
- better informed than 93% of Labour supporters who’ve already taken the quiz
- better informed than 91% of Liberal Democrat supporters who’ve already taken the quiz
Know any Conservative supporters? Encorage them to take the quiz so we have enough data to compare your results to Tories’!
So, if there are any Tory voters who read this blog, have a go if you think you’re hard enough. (^_*)
I checked out the “Political Survey 2005” questionnaire this evening. It turns out that, overall, I’m rather more left of centre than I previously thought. In a nutshell, this is where I stand on some issues:
Crime and punishment, internationalism
Your position on this axis is -6.7
You are likely to be very internationalist and rehabilitationist.Economics, etc
Your position on this axis is -1.4
You are likely to be slightly socialist and anti-war.
More rehabilitationist, internationalist About the same More punitive, isolationist More free-market, pro-war 0.0% 0.6% 58.3% About the same 0.0% 1.0% 36.0% More socialist, anti-war 0.0% 0.1% 4.1%
And if you’re interested at all, here are my full results, with comparisons to results from polls and other sources. As examples of extremes, I am a lot more like Polly Toynbee than the tangerine man. I’m rather worried about being lumped in with BNP voters on domestic issues. Perhaps that’s their secret ploy: be extreme on immigration, and left-wing enough to catch people on the fence. Well, no way will I ever vote for a nationalist party (British, Scottish or otherwise). That only leads to insular xenophobic thinking. Besides, it would be extremely ironic, wouldn’t it? Since I’m a foreigner and all….
Still not sure which party to vote for. I’ve never had to agonise about my vote. Always looked left of centre, and threw out parties that had policies I strongly disagreed with. So, apart from the fact that the leader of the Labour party conned Parliament into voting for an invasion of Iraq, I guess I could still be a Labour voter. Or not. I dunno.
0000h edit: Oooh… I am SO confused. I’ve been trying to read about the candidates standing in Edinburgh North and Leith. The Labour candidate is the ex-MP Mark Lazarowicz, and this is what the “They Work for You” site has to say about his voting record, and I’ve added my agreement/disagreement with the way he voted in square brackets:
Mark Lazarowicz’s voting record
- Very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals. [Disagree]
- Very strongly for introducing student top-up fees. [Disagree]
- Very strongly for Labour’s anti-terrorism laws. [Disagree!]
- Moderately against the Iraq war. [Agree]
- Very strongly for introducing ID cards. [Disagree]
- Moderately for the fox hunting ban. [Agree]
- Moderately for equal gay rights. [Agree]
It looks like he toes the partyline on economic issues, but disagrees with the invasion of Iraq. Not so keen on liberties (anti-terrorism and ID cards), but voted for equal gay rights. I don’t know quite what to make of it. Do I say “Good on yer mate for voting against the war in Iraq and voting for equal gay rights.” or “Man, I don’t like the way you’re letting the private sector in to what should be a nationalised healthcare, and I really don’t like the way you are condoning the abuse of human rights of suspects (suspects! not proven crims!).”? I really don’t want to be swayed by anybody’s campaign, as I think it’s all a pack of carefully hidden lies and soundbites. And I don’t want to read all the party manifestos because I am a lazy git. I think I’ll check out the BBC’s policies at a glance tomorrow, when I’m a lot less tired. The world is a less depressing place when you’re not listening to Stravinsky…
I’ve now soldered the two chromosome arms together, and added a spiral of silver wire to hold the necklace when I get round to ordering thicker wire that won’t bend too much when worn. The gold rings are all cut to size and filed, it only remains to solder them on. I’m quite pleased with the results; it certainly looks better than I thought it would. My only grouse is that I’ve marked the silver arms while fitting the rings on. No worries, nothing that a bit of emery paper won’t sort out.
I love using butternut squash in soup; the smooth orange flesh gives a creamy texture without any use of dairy products. And I love the way butternut squash smells a little like mango or papaya when you cut into it (there may be a common enzyme in all these orange fruits, I’m not sure…). Yet another recipe from the good ol’ Covent Garden Soup Company’s “Soup & beyond” cookbook.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Ingredients | Tender veggies | Puréed soup | Final product |
Technorati tags: butternutsquash, recipe,
soup, sweetpotato.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We’re cat-sitting for a week while Muran’s parents take a short holiday. I think she secretly likes coming here because we’re such suckers; all she has to do is roll over, and we fight to scratch her belly or brush her fur. Such a princess! She’s a placcid wee cat, but is never really up for doing very much. On her first visit as a kitten, she hid under the bed for days, only emerging to go to the toilet or eat her favourite cat biscuits. (That may have had something to do with her brother, smelly Onion, being alpha-cat.) Oh how things have changed! She now lays claim to the aubergine sofa the minute she arrives. It doesn’t matter which room it’s been moved to, she’ll find it and sit herself down, waiting for us to serve her hand and foot.
1800h update: The wee angel had been cat-napping all afternoon, but perked up the minute she heard the door. She’s now prowling, on the lookout for some attention and tuna.
Having missed out on a beautifully sunny Saturday, we decided to make the most of Sunday visiting our neighbourhood art gallery. I’m pretty lucky to live so close to so many of Scotland’s National Galleries; with my two faves being the closest. The Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh differs from the GoMA in Glasgow as it tends to exhibit slightly more established artists, but we love having lunch there. If we get there early enough, that is. (It has a tendency to sell out by 2pm.) Although the haar hung about all day, the sun broke through enough to persuade us to stay outdoors and give the current Andy Warhol exhibition a miss. Edinburgh’s GoMA has invested in a massive landscape feature “Landform” by Charles Jencks, and while it may have taken ages to complete and probably cost a lot of money, I’ll bet more use has been made of it than the Diana memorial in Hyde Park (which is a shame as it looks great). The man-made spiralling banks of earth draw you in, and have a similar effect to Tibetan meditation mazes. Just walking on the worn turf had a calming effect. And the banks are at just the right angle to lounge in the sun.
After a brief spell watching toddlers scramble all over the Teletubbyland-like landscape, we crossed the road to the Dean Gallery, home of some of my favourite Dada and Surrealist artworks in the form of Gabrielle Keiller’s and Roland Penrose’s personal collections. In the grounds, you can find yet more sculptures/installations by Eduardo Paolozzi, Julian Opie (he of the Blur album cover pop-fame), Barbara Hepworth and others. I wish I had a better knack for taking interesting shots of sculptures. We were particularly fascinated by a moving sculpture with two arms that responded to the constant breezes of Edinburgh, but just could not capture the beauty and elegance of that slow swing. You just have to see it for yourself.
Inside the museum, my favourite room is the library off the permanent Surrealist collection, with its ever-changing mini exhibition of sketches and letters to and from artists. The Keiller library currently houses a collection of documents from Walter Strachan, who was a good friend of many sculptors, including Henry Moore (two of his reclining females are housed across the road). I love the little drawers that slide out, revealing little surprises, like sketches. When the room held an exhibition of bookbinding, the drawers contained samples of hides and vellum, along with tools of the artist bookbinder.
The Dean is currently hosting some work from the Pier Arts Centre of Orkney as it undergoes refurbishment. It comprises work from the St Ives movement, with many examples of Barbara Hepworth‘s sculptures, which are truly organic, and would be very tactile if you were allowed to touch them (which you’re not; shame…). A recent acquisition by the gallery is an installation of cardboard models of the 286 places of worship in/near Edinburgh. We had a really fun time playing “Spot the church”, but could not find the mosque with it’s distinctive prayer tower/minaret. Perhaps it’s there, but our eyes were drawn to church spires instead. It would be a shame to miss out what is the most well attended place of worship in the whole city! (Incidentally, the curry from the mosque’s kitchen is fantastic and cheap. It was one of my favourite lunch spots when I worked on that side of town.)
The Dean is a real Edinburgh gem, and I love how they have made my favourite school of art available. My only grouse about the place is that it’s still more uptight than some museums/galleries on the continent, and you can’t even stand in the room for more than half a minute before a guard comes in to check you’re not vandalising a piece. I’m not sure that would deter those bold enough to steal “The Scream”, and it sometimes puts me off discussing what I like/dislike about a piece with my companion. That said, I love the peace and quiet of the Keiller library. It’s a bit of a bolt hole for me, when the weekend bustle gets too much.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Master of the Universe | Shadows | Blossom thicket | Ra |
Technorati tags: deangallery, paolozzi.
I managed to get my obi tied today with a minimum of fuss, and also managed to get dressed in full kimono gear within 20 minutes. Granted, I used a synthetic Nagoya obi, which is much easier to tie than my thicker and heavier silk Fukuro obi. I’m also quite pleased with the way my new Han Eri turned out. Received it in the post this morning, and stitched it to my nagajuban in time for dinner at my friend’s home. It’s surprisingly comfortable to sit for hours in a kimono, and given that I tied all the koshihimo and datejime quite tight, neither of the two collars moved, and my obi also stayed pretty neat all evening. A successful first semi-public outing in proper attire. (^_^)
Technorati tags: kimono.
Spent the afternoon in sunny Glasgow in a most pleasant manner with my brother. As is traditional with his short visits to Scotland, we had a leisurely lunch at the Glasgow institution that is Fratelli Sarti. We tried not to order too much, so we could have some dessert. We shared a starter of fresh Loch Fyne mussels in a tomato-chilli sauce, and while he had the infamous Sarti spaghetti (with langoustines, tiger prawns, mussels and clams), I had what I thought would be a reasonable portion of veal in Marsala. But the chef had other ideas, and provided not just one cut of veal, but three! My carefully crafted plans of having dessert were undone!
We had to go on a two hour wander to clear enough space to fit dessert in. This gave me an excellent opportunity to try one of their newer outlets on Renfield St, which is clad in marble and wood; a far cry from the down-to-earth nature of the Bath St restaurant. I was too embarrassed to take a photo of the place, so we used his smartphone to get a couple of surreptitious shots (which I will upload when he sends them to me).
The upshot of all this is that I finally got to try one of their cold-cupboard concoctions. In this case, the Torta Toscanella. It’s a delightfully light arrangement of orange-flavoured Chantilly cream on a bed of puff pastry, flanked by custard-filled choux pastry, and topped with light shavings of chocolate. This is something I must try the next time we make profiteroles (if we ever stop ourselves from scoffing the lot in one go).
 |
 |
 |
| Torta Toscanella close-up | End-on | Gratuitous shot of Glasgow |
The four branches of Fratelli Sarti:
akatsuki ra-ra-ra 
