Category Archives: Frippery

Apr 5 2013

Things I wish I’d written #1


I was on the Spotify and I came over all a bit of this and that. And well there are a few things that you need to know and a few things you need to carry with you in life, some of that might be the poetry and some of that might be the song lyrics.

Song Lyrics…..

I dont mean things like the David Bowie – Word on a Wing – which is a song that I’d be happy to be stuck with forever, the Station To Station album being the only one that I would take to the desert island with me…

In this age of grand illusion you walked into my life out of my dreams
I don’t need another change, still you forced away into my scheme of things
You say we’re growing, growing heart and soul
In this age of grand illusion you walked into my life out of my dreams

But I think these came to mind tonight as lyrics that rang my bell, the refrain that when I hear it makes me smile in that way that reminds me of being 15, of a different time, a different time, a different place….. . Some from not that long ago, some that I go back to.

The newest one first, then in no particular order:

And I’d give the world if it were mine
To let these memories slip my mind
And wake up next to you one more time

http://www.lyricsmania.com/santa_fe_lyrics_eilen_jewell.html

At the top I’m stopping by
Your place of work and acting like
I haven’t dreamed of you and I
And marriage in an orange grove
You are the only thing in any room you’re ever in

http://www.lyricsmania.com/starlings_lyrics_elbow.html

You see i went on the roller coaster last night when i was feeling bad
Down by the sea in santa cruz and i was feeling sad
But we went down, and around, and it knocked me out of my head.
Well, i went on the coaster and my heart was heavy as lead
But we went down, and around, and it knocked me out of my head.
I say whoa-oh-oh, for it knocked me out of my head. let’s go…

http://www.lyricstime.com/jonathan-richman-roller-coaster-by-the-sea-lyrics.html

A friend of mine grows his very own brambles
They twist all around him ’til he can’t move
Beautiful, quivering, chivalrous shambles
What is my friend trying to prove?

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858709571/#wlDBsgjksCTiWS4h.99

He’s not into miracles
Sees life all too cynical
The cat has got his tongue
Now she bangs on his drum
He says pull the other one
Bells ring, look what you have done
Emotions leaking out
Her paint’s all over town

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/squeeze/annie+get+your+gun_20129200.html

I’m sure you have your own, and I’m sure I have few more refrains that will come back to me now that I’m thinking about it, stand by ….

Feb 24 2013

Auckland Lantern festival 2013


The Auckland Lantern Festival is celebrated on the first full moon following the Chinese New Year.

In 2013, the event, from 22-24 February was held at Albert Park in Auckland.

This year we tool the in-laws, which as it turns out was a disaster, and so, for the very brief time we were at the event here are a few pictures. Who knew that FIL was claustrophobic, and the crowds made him have a mild panic. Why MrsPdubyah would organise to go to a crowded event is beyond me, unless it’s some kind of daughter revenge. Anyway  here you are:-

The park was packed, but I would urge you to go, and if you have good spirits and don’t mind the jostle and the hustle this is the most cheerful and happy event that you could image, all the lanterns are amazing, and although we had to leave almost as soon as we arrived what I saw made me smile a lot.

Jan 28 2013

4th Annual Rings Beach Food and Drink Festival


The 4th Annual Rings Beach, Coromandel, Food and Drink Festival, Saturday January 26th.

A new beach tradition, originally started to honour a birthday, has now taken a life of it’s own. Hosted at one of the beach homes this is purely a fun affair. Entry is free, and optional.

The rules, where there are any, are that dish is either a “sweet” or a “Savoury” and has to have a matched drink to go with it. It also has to be “Foreign”. So for example you could enter Sushi and Sake, if you dared.

Some things you need to  know about “Rings Beach Life” is that you can’t enter something that you’d reasonably expect to have, so Crayfish, and Scallops would be considered a bit of a no, since they are regularly dived for by various residents.

Similarly there are some traditional things that you shouldn’t enter, a smoked Salmon for instance, as this is one of the centre pieces at the Rings Beach Christmas day gathering, along with Scallops, and Crayfish.

Everyone attending gets to make one vote in each of the 4 categories.

The prizes are awarded in the categories

  • Best Dish –  Savoury
  • Best Dish  - Sweet
  • Most Original
  • Best Overall

It was decided that there would be a new category next year, best cocktail or matched drink, which might turn into a best matched pair award, I hope it doesn’t since the Sangria served with one of the dishes was singularly brilliant!

There were three “Sweet” desserts, A Danish Trifle, a Strawberry gateaux and a Blueberry tartlet. Competition in that category is fierce.

The winner was the Danish Trifle, possibly due to an alcohol content, but it was really tasty

The “Savoury” category had a lot of entrants, in no particular order, and from my poor memory;

  • Marinated Smoked Mussels, matched with a Stoke Smokey Ale
  • Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup, matched with a Scrumpy Punch
  • Lebanese burgers, matched with a vodka cocktail
  • Lamb Tagine, matched with an “El Morocco” cocktail
  • Cucumber Soup and Naan, matched to a Sauvignon Blanc
  • Fish Pie, matched with a Chardonnay
  • Cheese sticks and Sauvignon
  • Jambalaya, matched to a Sauvignon
  • Buffalo Beach beef bourguignon, matched with a Red Wine
  • Pickle Dogs, matched with Budweiser
  • Meatballs and chorizo, matched to a Sangria
  • Possum Eye Pie, matched with a Red Wine
  • and page 45 of the Donna hay cookbook, and a strawberry cocktail

The Winners;

The Jambalaya won the best savoury prize, the Beef bourguignon won the best overall, the possum eye pie won the most original

I ate some of everything and the Possum eye pie was spectacular, the Beef dish was divine, the Danish Trifle was a treat. And whilst I didn’t think the Jambalaya was the best dish there it was very special and tasty and did deserve to win.

The prizes consisted a selection of tiaras, wands and beads from the $2 shop, and there was a special award of a wooden spoon to one voter for being vocal :-)

 

Jan 4 2013

The Less of Me


There is this athletic me inside this hulking body that would like to get out. I’ve goaded myself by buying some trick gear that fascinates me, starting with the Nike+ GSP Sportswatch. It’s essentially a GPS receiver device that tracks where you go. Tells you how far you been, how long it took, how fast you went and guesses some calorie usage.  You can also link it to a Nike Sensor thingy that either slips in your Nike+ Shoes or you can attach it with a little pouch thingy to your laces, Like a flash pedometer. Watch was on sale, Shoes c/- a generous employer who gives us a ‘push/play’ allowance yearly.

 

Nike+ GPS SportsWatch

December 26th

December 26

December 27th

December 27

December 28th

December 28

December 29th

December 29

January 4th

Jan 4th

Dec 27 2012

The Gentleman’s Fishing Club Summer 2012


The SeaHorse Kontiki got a work out today.

SeaHorse Kontiki

SeaHorse Kontiki

This is the Electric powered Long Line Setting device.

Allows you to set upto 25 baited hooks from the comfort of the beach.

Has an electric motor that you set, using a magnet, to run for 15, 20 or 25 minutes into the yonder. Left for a while you push the rewind button on the motor winder device and it comes back home, hopefully with the fish.

Today we lost two hooks, and bagged us 4 fish, a Gurnard, two little snappers (legal sized) and an fair decent sized fish of about 3.7kg give or take. Hard to know when you’ve hidden the weigh scales.

Bit of a result.

SeaHorse Kontiki
Dec 11 2012

The 12 ways of Christmas – The Festive Drinks


One of the things that I remember from Christmas was the abundance of things. The seasonal drinks cupboard got topped up.

There were 4 standout things that were brought into the house only for the Christmas period.

babychamBabycham

A sparkling Perry (fermented pear) drink. In packs of 4 little bottles, and aimed fair square at a female audience. Loved by my mother.

Warninks Advocaat

advocaat

What is Christmas without a “Snowball”, made with Advocaat,and lemonade, Lime and ice if you’re a bit fancy. A fluffy yellow treat for the teens.

Port and LemonPort

“Port and Lemon”. Another post-war favourite, relying on the memory and traditions carried forward. If you couldn’t talk your way into a Port and Lemon you would fall back on the Snowball

party sevenWatneys Party Seven

Also available as a Party Four. Contained 7 or 4 pints of beer. Could only have been 3.9% ABV of  English Bitter. Came with a can opener. Usually resulted in half the contents spraying over the guests as it had not settled or had just arrived.  Needless to say the last “offering” was only available to the adults and only after bedtime for the children. The adults would congregate in the back room, and smoke and drink, play cards.

Related articles
Dec 9 2012

The 12 ways of Christmas – Secret Santa


It’s that time again, we spend 10 months hoping it gets here, one month preparing and then the whole of December questioning the sense of it all.

I’m going to start with Secret Santa. This year over half the people in the #Cubefarm decided that they’d like to do a #SecretSanta.

I have some ideas why the other less than half opted out, the stress of finding a $10 trinket, or for a couple of course the obvious religious reluctance.

I managed to persuade one of the non participants to draw the random name thing for everyone, much easier than going desk to desk, person to person, get everyone signed up and then get them a name. Hopefully the person drawing the names made some common sense decisions about pairing people up, despite everything there are people that wouldn’t match well with others.

Really, it's a boob mouseIn previous years I’ve managed to accrue some really tacky things, things that aren’t even remotely funny or even vaguely related to my own sense of humour or interaction, the comedy computer mouse with boobs as buttons for instance.

Perhaps someone should have got me a funny bone instead.

To be fair I kept this in my office cupboard for ages before it suddenly made its way into oblivion.

There is, at least for me, at least a little bit of skill required to get something that’s at least pertinent to the person you’re buying for. But there are always the obvious and desperate box of chocolate gifts that are just thoughtless, at least they’re trying though.

But and also, I’ve been part of the #NZTwitterSecretSanta thing, whereby @Websam for the second year mashed together a webs site and a random pairing generator to connect nearly 800 people together for a similar process.

The obvious drawbacks, some of the twitter accounts turned out not really to exist, some of them were locked or protected accounts, some of the participants are not regular tweeters. Of course there is always a percentage that will receive and not give.

I’ve given, and wait patiently for reciprocated love, and I’m aware a few people in the same boat, waiting for both the receiver to acknowledge the gift, and to receive their random thing.

Last time up I received a water pistol. Like I said random, and not always thoughtful or pertinent.

Related articles

 

Nov 24 2012

Big Night In!


It’s the festive season, when workplace parties begin to kick in, and tonight I find myself with the prospect of being home alone.  MrsPdubyah is off the “Foodstore” down on the viaduct,  for her party, which makes me a bit Jealous to be honest. But I’ll man up and get over it.

Daughter will be here, but she’s turned into a room dweller, and might even be going out, who knows with kids.

So I have a check-list of things to get or make sure I have;

  1. Beer – Selection of
  2. Ribs
  3. Curley Fries
  4. Camembert
  5. Sundry other

No, it’s complete, 5 things are all you need, which is why it’s  a 5 point checklist. Salad might sneak in under “Sundry”, but only if it’s in the coleslaw style. Crackers should come under that as well.

Up to repeat #3 and it keeps sounding better. ...

Up to repeat #3 and it keeps sounding better. #xx #coexist #nofilterneeded #goosebumps #touchingmyself (Photo credit: P. Scott)

Music isn’t a consumable, except for the ears. Tonight

  • The XX – Coexist – just how enjoyable is this album, if you’ve got Spotify give this a crack
  • Heart Attack Alley – Living In Hell

and from the musty box in the Garage….

I could get used to this.

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Nov 7 2012

Rediscovering the Vinyl Records- the other bit


I gave up pretending to think about it and as  my son seems to have discovered music as a hobby on the way to be a DJ, and I’m not about to be left out of a thing, I dove straight in.

I brought, and this is where you such air between your teeth in that way, a Pro-Ject RPM 1.3 Genie turntable. Harvey Norman and it’s drones gave me a hundy off he sticker price. I got a turntable and mucho love, no idea what they got.

And at this point I have to acknowledge that I brought this with the ill gotten gains from the family estate that you can read about elsewhere hereabouts. Mother would cuddle me, and I’m going to tear up a bit each time, sometimes, that I get the LP record on.

That aside…. fcuck I’m immediately in love, a lot, in many ways, a lot, love….

this is a clever piece of kit, for what it is, an it looks great, MrsPdubyah though it looked worthy and worthwhile, the Valve Amp not so much, scroll to the bottom for more on that.

I have some new vinyl LP records that need playing and at least one of them they are good, because I’m listening to it now and on the enjoyment level is very high.

I’d be shopping for more LP’s now online except I want to scurry home with them, and it’s like the first flush of love. It’s such a conflicted thing, over whelmed and under-monied.

The other side of the coin……..The Fatman iTube Valve amp, MrsPhil says a resounding no to this, mostly because she just says no.  However side by side she conceeds that they pass muster.  The Fatman Itube Valve Amp I think is a great piece of kit, and MrsPhil really isn’t down with it. Aesthetically it does not  please her. Never has, never will

So I have to tidy some cables, buy some flowers, invest in some new Vinyl records and some cleaning agents and cloths for the ones in the garage and I’m otherwise engaged for upto 30 minutes a side of music.

Bring on the weekend, whence I shall be cracking out the Police, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and a few others for my own entertainment.

 

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Nov 3 2012

Bit of a mistake – Shopping at Farro


I don’t know what came over me, but I went to Farro Fresh, for no reason other than that they do have the  Over the Moon – Triple Cream Brie that I’m a bit of a fan of. Why would you not be!

So MrsPdubyah and MissPdubyah were watching X-Factor on the Mysky and I decided that it would be better if I didn’t.

Road Trip to  to Farro Fresh on Constellation Drive as my safe place.

Bit. Of. A. Mistake. Lot. Of.

I found the cheese, but I didn’t buy it, because their Cheese-o-rorium has some Whitestone Lindis Pass Brie that took my eye instead. And of course having brought the Primo Sopresso Hot Salami I felt that I was on a bit of a roll.

But what put me off my stride straight away was the sign advertising “New Zealand Pineapples 2-for-$5″ except they weren’t’ they were from the Philippines. I can let that slide, no one is really going to think that we’ve grown Pineapples in Winter right?

But having got my small stash of cheese and salami I decided a mooch about the aisles was a thing.

This is where is really started to go wrong.

My “twatdar” starts boinging like a grandfather clock stuck on 12. Mothers who indulge their little Deborah with a bottle of $14.50 rhubarb and lime cordial for instance, which was pretention enough. Then came Mr. and Mrs Mexico. With their shop assistant.

“We’re from Mexico, and in Mexico…” … “In Mexico shops like this”… “Mexican people like us, in Mexico”.. and the poor store boy hadn’t said a word yet. They brought some flour. I don’t think you can get flour in Mexico. Don’t really know, but “in Mexico I love to cook” people were happy.

The queue for the pretzel tasting. “Charlotte it’s cheese and herbs” he said, having tasted a sugar cube chunk. Charlotte sets a low bar for enjoyment clearly.

There is much to admire about the produce at Farro, I’m not knocking the store, but the people that shop there are the sort that would rather shop online and have delivered rather than go to Foodtown let alone Pak n’ Save.

It’s the kind of toy shop for adults enthusiasm that annoys me ” Darling it’s organic butter!” I think missing the point about what “organic” means in it’s real sense. I get that in a food sense it means “without chemicals”. And it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, $7.49 for 100grams of dried fruit in a foil packaging from a company that “loves food”, for instance.

There is a plethora of things that you can’t get in a supermarket and that’s why I enjoy shopping at Farro. But I got to figure out the quite time when raised whispers to an enthralled partner are not de rigueur.

Oh and yes I brought some Quinoa, just like a child in a lolly shop with a gold coin, hook line and sinker…