Responsibility

There's so much stuff in the media at the moment about people who refuse to wear face masks during this GLOBAL PANDEMIC (emphasis) that I can't help feeling that there seems to be an almost perfect correlation between the kinds of numpties that supported Brexit and those whining about a little bit of inconvenience when they go to Asda. We wonder what kind of fuss they'll make when faced with the price hikes and product shortages that will inevitably hit when we crash out of the EU with no deal? One thing is for sure, they probably won't acknowledge any kind of responsibility for any of it.

Friday Smirk

New J&M pointing out some rather obvious logic flaws in the Christian narrative. The usual excuse for the obvious hole in this particular story is that God gave us "free will" and so we have a choice to be "good" or not. The key question I would ask is how can we have free will if "God" knows in advance what choices we will make? (i.e. our actions must be pre-ordained to be known!) I can't wait for science to prove that we don't actually have free will at all (which seems likely to me), another "gap" filled, probably..

Blue Sky Thinking

The Sun is out today (as you can see in the photo) so I went for an extra long walk at lunchtime, 6.5 km in all, which took an hour. It was thirsty work!

In the news I see that one of my favourite (for entertainment purposes) people Ann Widdecombe is busy proving that stupidity is no barrier to being elected, suggesting that the Government introduce a "mask free shopping hour" so all the people who are too selfish and/or stupid to wear a face-mask when in public, indoor situations can all "shop together". Now not wanting to take the low hanging fruit here by nominating her kind for a Darwin award, we should perhaps stick to the high ground and counter the argument by analogy. How about an hour a week for people to drive around drunk? Or perhaps an hour a week for people to smoke in school classrooms, maybe a law-free hour a week for people who like to murder? What a complete plonker, as Del boy would say, anyway the sign below is all that is required.

Cloudy thinking

I happened to be looking out of my study window yesterday during a particularly boring Zoom call and noticed that the clouds reminded me of something familiar, so much so that I had to take a snap. It took a minute or two but eventually I figured out what it was..

Yep that's right, it was the opening credits of the Simpsons! 

Funny the things that go through our minds when we're bored :)

Compiling excuses

This is so true. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard this used as an excuse for lounging about and not doing very much in particular, in fact I've used it many times myself. It's a particularly useful tool when confronted with a clueless "non-technical" boss who thinks writing software is like filling cans of baked beans, i.e. the faster you do it the more product you'll end up with. Often it's not worth the effort trying to explain the technical as well as creative process that is programming to outsiders and "my code's compiling" sounds sufficiently technical to make them feel insecure and ward them off. It's also got the advantage that it can be said with complete confidence since there is a small grain of truth in it too, however these days with massively powerful build-servers and scripting products "compiling" seldom takes more than a few minutes, de-bugging on the other hand...

Baffling behaviour

During the current pandemic I've been walking places a lot more than usual and as a consequence have seen more of a modern phenomenon that both baffles and annoys me. The culprits are the dog owners who seem to scoop up the excreta of their pooches into plastic bags only to then attach those bags to the branches of trees (presumably the first tree they encounter?) Why? Surely if you so lazy and anti-social that you can't be arsed to take your shit-bag home then why bother to scoop it up in the first place? Maybe there's some new religious cult that I'm unaware of and these things are some kind of offering, or maybe passers by are highlighting the issue of bags being left in the woods? Whatever the reason it's an appalling habit.

The long and winding road..

Went for a walk along the Thames on Sunday, ended up in Caversham at the end of the multi-mile hike exhausted and thirsting for liquid refreshment. Luckily the Fox and Hounds pub was open and empty, so we decided to risk it a pop in for a swift one. I'm glad we did, it was well organised and felt entirely secure. Names and numbers were taken electronically and we sat outside under a huge tarp in the pub garden (which was lucky since it chucked it down for about 20 minutes while we were there) 

So, after many months away we had our first "pub pint" and delicious it was too, as well as being famous for the Beetles playing one of their first gigs there, this particular pub is renowned for it's selection of beers. This one was from one of my favourite breweries (Verdant) down in Falmouth, Cornwall, "People, Money, Space, Time" a sessionable pale ale and only 3.8% just perfect after a long (mostly sunny) stroll on a Sunday afternoon!

Bubble life

Sometimes you see things and think, I wonder what's going on there? 

Today I went for a walk at lunch time (as I usually do) and as usual (being Summer in the UK) it was fine for the first 60 seconds and then the heavens opened and I was persistently rained on for the remaining 59 minutes! Anyway, the weather isn't the point of my story. While I was walking I saw a man (similarly drenched) who was striding along with his head bowed down, without adjusting his posture for a second, he proceeded like this for a good 2 minutes as he approached me up a long straight road. As he passed I noticed that he was looking at his phone, but not (as I thought) listening to messages or reading an important email but he was watching some kind of movie (or video)!

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing strange about watching movies but I think it takes some kind of dedication to watch a movie in the rain, whilst out for a walk! I always think the point of going for a walk in the first place it to do something that you can't do indoors, i.e. be outdoors. I guess he was at least getting some exercise while watching his movie but I couldn't help thinking that there must be some kind of back-story there?

Maybe this was a movie that his wife/partner couldn't stand and the only way he could see it was to watch it secretly whilst walking (maybe he doesn't have a shed?) Or, maybe he was some kind of covert operative and the movie self destructed after 10 seconds of reaching the end. I concluded that maybe "bubble-life" is finally getting to me or maybe it's just fun to imagine stuff when you're out walking in the rain! Whatever, and anyway, even if this is a crap story at least you can't accuse me of needing to get out more!

Chinese Bavarian's

Well, it's Saturday evening once again and time for a well earned beer before I make dinner for the family (Chinese tonight!). Because of the spicy food, today I'm going German with a classic Lager made by top Cornish brewers Verdant. This particular brew is straight down the line Bavarian Pilsner, featuring Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops and pilsner malts, it's crisp brioche for days, appearing slightly sweet initially but dry at the same time with a delightful flowery/spicy lingering hop finish. Absolutely on the money as far as the style is concerned, very good work indeed!

A few moves ahead

It was International Chess Day earlier this week; reminds me, I must practice thinking a few moves ahead more.

Probability of contagion...

Sun run

So lucky to live in a part of the South East of the UK that's not entirely concreted over yet. Went for  a run this morning in the Sunshine and feel really relaxed and ready for the day now. Don't know what we would have done for the last 5 months if we didn't have these natural resources on our doorstep.

Friday Smirk

Latest J&M pointing out that correlation isn't the same as causation, or, in other words just because something in the real world corresponds (temporarily) to some assertion in your religion. It still doesn't mean that you're right in concluding that your religion got things correct all along.

Holiday brew

Taking the week off so relaxing our normal "no booze during the week" rule, cracking a couple of brews this evening including this one by stellar Sussex brewer Burning Sky. A classic West Coast IPA here, around 6% ABV, bitter and hop filled with a decent malt backbone. Great mouth-feel and an ideal weight to it, fabulous balance, could drink this all night long but at 6% realistically can't, so just the one can this evening but will re-visit this holiday brew to be sure!

Feeling blue?

Here's an remarkable fact for an otherwise unremarkable Thursday. Over half the bluebells in the entire world are right here in the UK, aren't we lucky..

Carpe Diem

I'm taking some time off this week (in lieu of a proper holiday) Normally, we'd be away somewhere lunching, beaching, sight-seeing, drinking and dining out every day for at least a couple of weeks. So, I reckon having some lunch-time scran and fine-wine in town, plus an evening beer or two mid-week is excusable.

Luckily it's sunny today which makes everything much easier, and this evening I decided to crack open one of my stash of Verdant (Falmouth, Cornwall) beers called "Solid State". It's an ultra-modern craft beer (hazy IPA) made with a variety of exotic hops from the USA, a mix of Cryo and T90 varieties which, I'm sure, sounds like the stuff of Frankenstein for many. Cryo-hops just means hops that have undergone cryogenic separation, meaning that the various components of the hop flowers have been separated out under temperature controlled conditions that preserve flavour (or more accurately the oils that impart flavour) whereas T90 means hops that have been dried and powdered, then reconstituted into pellets. This particular beer (in the photo) contains Citra Cryo hops, Ekuanot Cryo hops and Chinook Cryo hops plus a mix of Citra and Mosaic T90 hops. Bottom line is that the beer is as fruity and tasty as f**k, and is delightful on a sunny mid-week evening as well as hiding it's 6.5% ABV admirably well. 

The obvious downside to this mid-week exuberance is that Thursday might not be as sprightly as it normally is, although since a "lie-in" is permissible (I have the rest of the week off) that might just be enough to outweigh any reservations! After all, being a godless heathen, I firmly believe that we only live once so "carpe diem"! As the Romans would say...

White wine in the Sun

Nice lunch down by the river Kennet river in the Sunshine today. Our first venture out to a restaurant since lock-down started in March so we were fairly apprehensive about it. Turns out it was fine, the place was empty and we sat miles away from anyone else. Nice not to have to cook our own food for a change and a delight to quaff some white wine and gather some rays while watching the world go by.. 

Feeling OK?

Spot the "new Covid-19 cases yesterday" outlier...

• Germany: 642
• UK: 580
• Japan: 454
• France: 350
• Australia: 267
• Italy: 190
• Portugal: 135
• South Korea: 26
• United States: 62,879

If the USA was one of your mates then you'd definitely be phoning every day to check they were "feeling OK"...

Neowise

Spent a cool 30 minuted last night observing comet Neowise. You can see it (in the Northern Hemisphere) by looking for the "Big Dipper" and then tracking slightly below and to the left of that constellation (on a North Western bearing). It's visible with the naked eye but very faint in high light pollution areas (like mine) however if you use binoculars then it's pretty clear and you can clearly see the tail streaming out from behind the comet itself. Being Summer (UK) though you need to stay up pretty late, it wasn't dark enough for us until around 11pm since the setting sun illuminates the sky in the required direction for quite some time even though it's dark elsewhere.

Monday metaphor

Excellent metaphor for the likely effects of Brexit and Covid combined, and the average leave voters' reaction to it..

Savage Sunday

Ouch, savage little notice there..! (true though)

Classic

Since it was so warm yesterday we decided to eat outdoors, it made a nice change so I celebrated by cracking open one of my favourite breweries beers. Made by DEYA (Cheltenham) it was a hazy IPA called "Invoice me for the Microphone". A delicious melee of tropical fruit flavours and soft pillowy mouthfeel, classic combo of Citra and Mosaic hops with a nice underlying malt vibe, classic DEYA.

Friday Smirk

Handy risk-assessment chart for our times...

Lessons of history

Interesting photo from the USA in 1919 - I guess those who don't learn the lessons of history (or can't be bothered to learn any history) are destined to repeat the same mistakes of history etc..

The wheels of commerce

Had a beer from my local craft brewery (Siren) last weekend that's called "Suspended in Cans", it was a lovely hazy pale ale, easy drinking at 4% ABV and delightfully fruity and flavorsome. Now, as a keen craft beer nerd I like to know what hops are in my beer but there was no clue on the can and none in the name, so I was a bit puzzled about the hops, my curiosity was piqued! 

Later this week I discovered that the way you find out which particular hops have been used in the "Suspended In Cans" series is to look at the bottom of the can and ascertain the "Gyle Number" (a "Gyle" is the number issued sequentially by the brewer for batches of beer brewed), this was "G1753" as per the one shown in the photo (also showing that the beer was only 14 days old, fresh!). Then you visit the company WEB site and click on the image of a can of this beer in the online shop, and hay presto, you are presented with a combo-box showing all the different Gyles, the entry for 1753 shows that the hops used were Citra, Centennial and Simcoe. What a clever way of driving people (like me) to a WEB site, where of course you can be bombarded with suitable marketing offers etc.. 

Good to see the wheels of commerce turning in ever innovative ways.

The great unmasking

In 2001 during the "Royal Rumble" this elegantly attired chap wore a mask for over an hour and managed to defeat (via physical combat) 11 separate opponents! On this basis, I think it's safe to assume we can all wear one when we go to Asda..

Mid Week Mirth

An old J&M cartoon talking about the truism that if everything is a "miracle" then nothing is!

Sunday smile

Brings a tear to the eye...

Garden drinks

Went to a friends house for some "drinks in the garden" yesterday, I took a couple of beers for them to try. Both by Siren (my local craft brewery) On the left we have their breakfast stout aged in rum barrels with maple wood and on the right one of their coffee beers, "Affogato" not seen since 2018 but a delicious, creamy pale ale flavoured with a mellow roast and some interesting fruity hops. Both beers went down really well as an aperitif before we switched to wine and cheeses, although the stout did pair really well with some of the cheese too. For those more into their wine than their ale we sank a bottle of 2011 Chateau Gloria (St. Julien), that was pretty lush as well, drinking very well at nearly 10 years old. A thoroughly tasty evening!

You can read all about "Affogato" here...

Watch the birdie..

We've been supplying nuts to our local bird-life for the duration of lock-down, it's been interesting to view the different species attracted to the food and to identify them etc. Here are a couple of shaky photo's captured on my phone, on the left we have a greater spotted woodpecker and on the right we have 6 blue tits (a family I think) all having a royal feast, such wonderful colours. I must get my SLR camera out and grab some decent pictures sometime!

Saving for the Sun

Thought I'd try something new last night so I cracked open this little number from Cornish Maestros Verdant and unusually for them it's a lager. Verdant are famous for their highly hopped, hazy IPA's but this lighter beer is a delight. It's a normal pilsner but with the addition of a New Zealand hop called Nelson Sauvin. It imparts a delicious lemon/lime vibe and a dry white-wine kind of finish to the beer a great combination. I only bought two cans so I will have to save the last one for when we see the Sun again, hopefully that will be before Christmas..

Question for Friday

Fair point...

Friday Smirk

Still no sign of an app then?

BBQ beer

Revisited this little beauty on Saturday. It's an IPA style beer made by my local craft brewery Siren and Norwegian stars Lervig. Lervig have a reputation for making excellent fruit beers, i.e. beer that's had fruit (of varying kinds) added to it at some point in the process. It's a very traditional thing to do in places like Belgium and the low countries but not so popular in the UK. This one has had a ton of blueberries added to it (hence the dark red colour) and it's delicious. As well as the more obvious malt and hop flavours, it's got that sweet-sour thing that blueberries have, i.e. initially they taste really sweet but after few seconds in the mouth you get a slightly sour sensation, it's delightful. I don't think you can buy this beer anymore, being a collaboration it was only made once, but hopefully someone made a note of the recipe and Siren can make it again sometime, I'd certainly hoover up a case for the Summer months, perfect BBQ beer!

Tuesday Titter

Sign in a charity shop. Well, that escalated quickly!

Saturday slushy

Classic Verdant (Cornwall) beer for a Saturday evening, looks like a fruit slushy, tastes great. Tropical fruits, soft mouth-feel and a slight bitterness. Called "Mary Lou" this is a new one from them, made for the Summer and containing a ton of American hops delish!

Friday Smirk

J&M talking about conspiracy theory and confirmation bias this week. Confirmation bias is a very powerful thing, almost impossible for us weak minded Humans to escape. Confirmation bias is like a comfort blanket, reinforcing existing opinion and giving us license to ignore contrary evidence for the things we believe. Opinions, however are like arseholes, everyone has one but apparently these days no one wants to look at anyone else's. (joke stolen from the Dirty Harry movies)

Who is that (un)masked man?

Isn't it amazing how selfish some people are, particularly over the issue of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the Corona virus in the USA. At the time of writing that country is experiencing infection rates of over 50,000 new cases per day, for a sophisticated, first-world country with an advanced health-care system that's a scandal. Against this backdrop we have people in Florida and Texas and many other states protesting AGAINST the measure of wearing a face covering in public spaces, despite clear scientific advice and evidence that such coverings help to limit the spread of the deadly virus. We see placards saying things like "My body, my choice", well yes, but what about the choice of the person you're going to infect not to potentially die from Covid-19? 

I'm not sure what's at the root of this apparent suicidal selfishness, is it a lack of education, misguided contrarianism or simply that a large swath of the US population has lost "faith" in science? Whatever the causes it's a very worrying scenario for the whole world, the USA has one of the most mobile populations on the planet, long distance air travel was invented there and despite the recession there's still plenty of disposable income for holidaying sloshing around on that continent. It means that the USA could become the "incubation chamber" for this disease and just when the rest of the world has it under control, it emerges again nucleated by countless American tourists who feel that they don't have to obey rules or guidelines in the countries they visit, because they're "free".

Mid-Week Mirth

Nice little cartoon illustrating the contradiction present in the Biblical creation myth and it's relationship with the subsequent narrative. Why would an all knowing (loving) deity create entities that it knows (in advance) will fail, and then punish them for that failure? Mysterious ways I guess ...

Pinch, punch

Happy July everyone. Seems like only yesterday that we all embarked on this voyage of discovery that is "Global Pandemic". Experiences have been mixed but at half a million deaths worldwide, I think we can now safely put behind us the delusion that many had (and some still have) that this is "just the flu". 

I'm particularly concerned about the Americas at the moment, the combination of poor leadership, irrational stubbornness, ignorance and a seemingly suicidal impulse to prioritize money over health is leading that continent down a path that can only end in economic misery and death for many at the bottom of the societal heap there. The worst of both worlds. What with China strutting it's newfound confidence by politically "locking-down" Hong Kong and essentially dishing out life-sentences for waving the wrong flag, and Russia seemingly secretly pulling the election strings in the largest democracies, the world is a very much more uncertain place than it apparently was 10 years ago. The security and happiness trends are most definitely going the wrong way at the moment for many. 

For the geeks among us the picture above sums things up nicely, if the star trek crew represent continents we wonder who the red-shirted character is, for everyone's sake let's hope it doesn't turn out to be the Americas.