Re: OT: Ridin' tall on the Santiago Canyon Road (was Re: What could

Chuck Stevens wrote:
> "James J. Gavan" <jgavandeletethis@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:reFgg.238738$7a.140029@pd7tw1no...
> 
>
>
> Agree; problem is, the plots are pretty much all the same.  That's half th
e
> fun, I'd say -- who's got the patter song, what's the exchanged-at-birth
> part of the plot, etc., etc.  Fun light entertainment to watch, and a real
> kick to perform.
>
Agreed. Memories of childhood - 1941/42 aged 10/11. Elementary school we
did Mikado. Yours truly had first solo as Pish Tush - from memory :-

Our great Mikado,
Virtuous Man,
When he to rule this land began.
Resolved to try,
A plan whereby,
Young men might best be suited

So, he decreed in words extinct,
That all who flirted, leered, or winked,
Should forwith be beheaded,
Beheaded, Bheeeeaaded ... etc...

A priest up front was controlling the lighting and switched a moving
colour fan on me. I was mesmerized - I went through the first verse
about four times before I remembered the second.

I can't read a note of music but as part of a foursome had to sing the
madrigal (?), "Brightly shines our Wedding Day.....". I *think* I was
supposed to sing alto (?) with one other, but always dropped back into
the main theme overpowered by the other two singers.

Then my wife's old grammar school, Ashford Middlesex, where the Old
Ashfordians had a G & S Club. Saw about four of their shows, including
Mikado, where one scene was updated by the chorus girls doing an
impromptu 'Let's twist again...' to G & S music :-)

Jimmy

Alistair wrote:
> SkippyPB wrote:
> 
>
>
> Jerry Lewis was a rubbish singer and Gerard Depardieu is a superb
> actor. Just watch his performance as Cyrano de Bergerac.

Depardieu is just the current tip of the iceberg preceded by many
excellent actors, some of course now dead.

I'm, thinking back to immediate post-war years when there was a vogue of
revivalism in the French and Italian film industries. You are mostly too
young to remember, but one great hit in UK was "Rififi" (1955) played
with sub-titles. The robbing of a bank and about 30 minutes showing how
they were drilling through a bank vault ceiling, capturing the debris in
an umbrella. Musical score was by Larry Adler on his harmonica.

Then there's the superb 'two-parter' both starring Yves Montand and
Depardieu in the first one :-

Jean de Florette (1986)
Manon of the Spring (Manon des sources) (1988)
>
> 
>
>
> England invented football. You Americans purloined the word and applied
> it to a game which, because of the wearing of body armour and crash
> helmets, can hardly be considered to be manly.

I was jokingly going to suggest, probably vicious Vikings kicking an
opponents head around. I wasn't far off - go check
http://worldsoccer.about.com/cs/his...sochistart.htm.
Quotes the Chinese Han dynasty, Grs and Romans sort of played
football(soccer). But acknowledges England/Scotland as the original
organisers of the modern game.

Well my own definition of N. American football (including CFL which has
its own set of rules) - Rugby played in ice hockey equipment. With or
without armour it's still an unintelligible game to me. Soccer, sure you
have stops for fouls or when the ball goes over the border line, but the
incessant stops in 'football' where they chew the fat (gum) and hunker
down for yet another scrum ?????.

Mustn't forget though, the game played without armour is popular down in
the Antipodes.

>
> 

Must admit get pissed off when Americans refer to crepes, as though the
French invented those too. They are identical to our Shrove Tuesday
pancakes. And what N. Americans call pancakes, (served up at Stampede
breakfasts here every July), you would call Scottish griddle cakes.
>
>
> Nothing wrong with sheep's entrails. Nor pig entrails (chitterlings). I
> do draw the line at cow's entrails (tripe).
>
Never brave enough to try tripe. Haggis yes, but in SW, Somerset,
Wilshire etc., we had our own faggotts (the ones you eat). Delicious -
but we ate them without the nonsense of a screeching windbag in the
background.

Oh for some black pudding to have with eggs, bacon, mushrooms and
tomatoes on the side. They're not big on the 'innards' on this side of
the pond using the term 'Variety Meats'. About the only part of innards
commonly accessible is liver.

> 
>
>
> You need wine ers to  (most) white wines. Rough reds can be
> drunk at room temperature.

Ahh. There's a problem for the French from a recent newspaper article.
Seems about a decade or so back, because of Gallic superiority, they had
a competition in France, tasting of les vins Francaise versus the
upstart Californian wines. Sacre bleu ! They couldn't believe the
results. The Yanks won hands down. They had a re-match recently - same
results.

Doesn't matter much to me as my preference is German whites. White wine
- and I don't give a damn if the meat is red or white !
>
> 
>
>
> Er, England invented that game.
>
> 
>
>
> But soldiers would look less butch wearing a Homburg.

And what about the Green Berets, Airborne Division etc. As I joined the
RAF the old WW2 style forage cap was on the way out. Apart from best
blue (dress uniform) which we wore with a peaked cap, the beret was worn
with battledress. Hey - I ain't no nancy-boy !
>
> 
>
>
> I like armpit hair, on women, and a certain musky odour.
>

You are weird Alistair. Positively weird :-)

The home of the perfume industry - I hardly think the above hairy image
applies. And the delectable beauties, the nubile young Brigitte Bardot,
(age hasn't been graceful to her), Danielle Darrieux, the drop-dead
gorgeous Cathererine Deneuve, (probably over 60 now, but still looks
great) and so many more; oh how I wish, (having seen Gibson's
'Braveheart'), that Ron Howard had chosen Sophie Marceau to play the
heroine in the da Vinci Code.

Jimmy

Pete Dashwood wrote:
> "James J. Gavan" <jgavandeletethis@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:Xq0ig.839$L25.570@pd7tw3no...
>
BOTTOM POST.
 
>
>
> I think the secret with food is to accept whatever's on your plate as "foo
d"
> and not dwell too long on how it got there...
>
> A thick juicy rump steak is best NOT being thought of as the arse of a
> bullock...:-)
>
> Tripe, under certain circumstances (like being properly prepared and cooke
d)
> can be delicious.
>
> Haggis yes, but in SW, Somerset,
> 
>
>
> I also enjoy Haggis and have enjoyed the same faggots you describe. It is 
a
> pleasant tradition here in Tauranga to attend Burn's night suppers of
> traditional Haggis. It is piped into the room and I have never found that 
to
> be offputting, in fact I think it lends ot the snses of occasion. The only
> problem I have is the fact that it is traditionally served with swede, and
> that is one of the very few things I just don't eat... :-)
> 
>
>
> This hearfelt plea touched me, as I can certainly relate to it and had, by
> an odd coincidence, exactly what you describe above for brunch this mornin
g.
> :-) I brunched with a friend and the bacon was manuka smoked. It is like a
> Kiwi equivalent to hickory insofar as it is an aromatic shrub, but the
> resemblance ends there. It was delicious. I hadn't had it before, but I
> certainly shall be again. The black pudding was from a local deli and of t
he
> spiced peppery variety which I particularly like, as opposed to the bland
> sweet ones you get in the supermarket. The eggs were free range with brown
> shells and bright yellow yolks. Mushrooms from the local market and suppli
ed
> from local farms (not commercially grown). Vogel's bread, NZ butter, and
> fresh ground Blue Mountain coffee... life is good :-).
>
> You can obtain superb old-fashioned black pudding from this site:
> http://www.haggis.co.nz/
>
> Unfortunately, they don't ship around the world because the stuff is shipp
ed
> frozen. There are a number of superb delis here that will ship, but not
> overseas. I then did a few searches in your neck of the woods and the best
 I
> could find:
>
> MacEwans Meats   Calgary, AB Phone:  403-228-9999
> 17, 9620 Elbow Dr. SW
> Calgary, AB    T2V 1M2
>
> Products:   Scotch Meat Pies, Bridies, Black Pudding, Haggis, Slice Sausag
e,
> Meat Products (Beef, Pork, Poultry), Ayrshire Bacon, English Bacon
> Brands:   MacEwans
>
> Might be worth a phone call?
>
> Good luck, hope you find some..
>
> Pete.

Mucha, mucha gratis. Incredible what you find on the web. We used to
have over time some three to four British outlets selling UK stuff,
foods, records, books etc. (Plus of course M & S used to be in residence
- but now closed). These folks constantly ran up against fussy Canadian
Food Health regulations - preservatives I think.

I'll give MacEwans a go - likely the owner might be a Brit. Calgary runs
Avenues east to west and Streets north to south. Elbow Drive is the
north to south and 9620 indicates 96th Avenue in the south-west
quadrant. My area Parkland, everything is Parkland Place, Parkland this
etc.... I'm probably roughly a fictitious 140th Avenue S.E. Car-wise
only some 15-20 minutes from MacEwans.

I'll substitute for your Vogel's bread, fried bread in ye good ole
dripping.

Jimmy

James J. Gavan wrote:
> Pete Dashwood wrote: 
>
>
> Mucha, mucha gratis. Incredible what you find on the web. We used to
> have over time some three to four British outlets selling UK stuff,
> foods, records, books etc. (Plus of course M & S used to be in residence
> - but now closed). These folks constantly ran up against fussy Canadian
> Food Health regulations - preservatives I think.
>
> I'll give MacEwans a go - likely the owner might be a Brit. Calgary runs
> Avenues east to west and Streets north to south. Elbow Drive is the
> north to south and 9620 indicates 96th Avenue in the south-west
> quadrant. My area Parkland, everything is Parkland Place, Parkland this
> etc.... I'm probably roughly a fictitious 140th Avenue S.E. Car-wise
> only some 15-20 minutes from MacEwans.
>
> I'll substitute for your Vogel's bread, fried bread in ye good ole
> dripping.
>
> Jimmy

21:45 Mountain Time

Done ! Got Eileen off the phone' and phoned them. The wife laughed real
loud when I said my contact was in New Zealand. We nipped round there
real quick about 16:30. Scottish couple mid-fifties from roughly
somewhere half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh and their son is early
thirties. Modest mall, old (well probably built in late 50's), so not a
great deal of traffic, and likely referrals.

Not cheap but 8 slices of black pudding for $8, so we froze half. The
cook sent Eileen grocery shopping for missing items and meanwhile I
prepared - black pudding, turkey style bacon, eggs, tomatoes, (gave
mushrooms a miss) and hash browns. LUVERLY - and thanks :-)

Turkey bacon - reconstituted turkey mix to look similar to bacon. Very
flavourful and better than our appalling bacon. If you want real
Canadian bacon you have to go to the States ! Same with other foods;
friends went to Montana and Idaho. While there the female partner
thought she would like an Idaho potato from Idaho. SOL - they are all
'exported' to other US States.

I might/might not do this later, but as we age my appetite is not quite
what it used to be - Jamaican Bananas, (recipe from a very old English
set of cards) :-

Marg/Butter melted, add brown sugar then stir in a good shot of Dark
Rum. Peel bananas, place in dish, pour sauce over and broil/grill a
minute or two. Can serve on own or with a splash of thick cream.

Jimmy

Chuck Stevens wrote:
> "James J. Gavan" <jgavandeletethis@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:Xq0ig.839$L25.570@pd7tw3no...
>
>
> 
>
>
> Depends on where you are.  In SoCal and in Texas, Menudo is considered qui
te
> a delicacy.  And depending on how far "in" you count "innards" to be, Rock
y
> Mountain Oysters aren't all that unobtainable, if you like that sort of
> thing ...
>
>     -Chuck Stevens
>
>
Probably same thing, slightly different name. Prairie Oysters above the
49th. I think I'll give 'em a miss :-).

Jimmy