Walking the Walk

I've been keeping up with the daily walks this year, averaging around 8/9 km per day or roughly 50-60k per week. When totalled up my mileage for 2023 comes to 1750 miles and when projected onto a map (see above) that gets me well into Africa or even past Moscow!

2023 Round up (in pictures)

 

January - A boring management meeting by the Thames in Sonning

February - Even in early Feb, a warming climate helped budding plants

March - Windy (again) round our way, lot's of stuff blown over.

April - Lot's of people getting exited about royal stuff

May - A day for some Cricket on a beach in Scotland

June - Land of the midnight Sun, holiday in Norway

July - A rainy day for climbing up Salisbury Cathedral spire

August - Another stairway to heaven, Jacobs ladder in Falmouth

September - Fancy cocktails in Bermondsey

October - Fancy food in Queens Park

November - Time for Caribbean Chocolate Cake 2023!

December - Back in my favourite city to see in the new year!

1219

 

I noticed this little plaque while walking through town today, the date of 1219 is significant since it's the year that our town (Wokingham) gained a market charter from the Bishop of Salisbury and burgage strips of the medieval town were sold off to raise cash for the new cathedral he was constructing at Milford, by the river Avon. Little did we know when visiting that building earlier in the year that it was part funded by the sale of land in our own home town, small world.

Flags of convenience

Out in London with my Son last week, we ended up travelling back home through Waterloo station and had 30 minutes to wait for our train so we popped down to the massive Brewdog pub underneath platforms 20-26 for a quick train beer (he'd never seen it before and was suitably impressed) 

While walking back to our platform I noticed all the different flags on the wall signifying the different bars that Brewdog has around the world, by coincidence the St. Andrews flag (where he's studying at Uni) was right next  to the Dundee flag and the Brighton flag (the flags didn't appear to be in any particular order?) The former being where we usually stay when visiting him in St. Andrews and the latter being where his girlfriend lives, much of an ado about nothing I admit, but it pleased a small circuit in my cranium enough to snap a picture as we passed by!

Mine's a pint

I see that the UK Government thinks it's a good idea to allow people to buy wine by the "pint". I'm not sure that this move is in any way aimed at wine lovers per se but probably more likely some bizarre dog whistle to Brexit gammons who think that this is somehow "taking back control" by reinstating obsolete Imperial measures. Of course no one wants to manufacture 568ml bottles for such a niche purpose, so those firms that do will charge more, which I'm sure will help? It will be interesting to see how many of this bottle size ends up on supermarket shelves, where, we can already buy 500ml bottles. The question of how the extra 68ml will make a difference to consumer choice or indeed anything at all, remains to be seen.

London Stories

The White Tower in London, built after the Norman invasion of 1066 it was the tallest building in the UK for a while until the middle ages and Gothic cathedral spires got going. People often think that the tower is the sole Normal fortification in London, back in the day though, there were two other Norman castles, Baynard's Castle (1086) and Montifichet's Tower (1173) both near to where St. Pauls now stands and both demolished or decayed long ago, if only rivers could talk..

Forces of nature..

Love this cartoon..

London Stories

Spent a nice day up in London with my Son last Friday, we walked miles (about 18 km!) taking in the West end shops before heading across the river to Bermondsey and lunch, then finishing up at Anspach and Hobday for some liquid refreshment! Along the way we walked through "Guy's campus" part of Kings College and next to Guy's Hospital, I snapped this shot of John Keats sitting in an old alcove that used to be part of the old London Bridge (the one that was shipped to Arizona, USA). I hadn't realised that in his early life Keats trained at Guys to become a surgeon before switching tracks to poetry, some people are just too talented!

Siren round-up

Another productive year for my local craft brewers Siren. This is the list of beers that they made in 2023, I reckon I tried around half of them over the course of the year and the list included some new ones, some re-brews of old ones as well as some that are made every year. All in all a great year and some excellent and very much enjoyed brews, roll on 2024!

London Stories

A rather strange historical marker located in Southwark on Park Street which is on the Eastern boundary of Borough Market. It recalls the attack by draymen of the Barclay & Perkins brewery (at the time the largest in the world) on General Haynau, an Austrian noble man who commanded troops against Napoleon and the Italians between 1813 and 1847. Haynau was said to have a violent temper and suppressed insurrections in both Italy and Vienna with brutal force. In 1864 he visited London and while walking down Borough High Street several draymen from the nearby brewery recognised him and set about throwing dung and mud at the General, chasing him along the street shouting "down with the Austrian butcher", Haynau narrowly escaped the mob violence never to return to London.

Drive by..

While out walking on Thursday this week I noticed this rather alarming scene (above). It was a really blustery day, with 40-50 mph bursts of wind which made walking quite tiring, as always the wind seemed  to be blowing directly into my face regardless of the direction I walked in! Anyway, I passed this house and witnessed the devastation, I did think to myself that it had the feel of a festive drive by shooting. 

Friday Smirk

A perfect, festive J&M cartoon for the last Friday before the big day 2023!

Merry Christmas

Sometimes life deals people a really crappy hand. 

I sometimes feel like if I died tomorrow I'd be quite happy with mine, having reached the ripe old age of 61 I can honestly say I've had a fair run at things and possess a great memory bank of experiences that gives me (and hopefully my family & kids) a good deal of pleasure, and is something that no matter what can never be taken from me. The poor chap above (Glynn Simmons) was tried and found guilty of murder and then locked up and sentenced to death in the USA, fortunately he wasn't executed as laws in his state changed and the sentence was commuted to life in prison. He has spent the last 48 years locked up, only to now find that key evidence in his trial was not handed over to the defence lawyers. A judge in Oklahoma recently quashed his conviction and he is now a free man again. Glynn, aged 70, has liver cancer the treatment of which is being funded by charity donations from the public, merry Christmas Glynn.

Red for Danger

Taken at the station on the way home from Reading a couple of weeks ago, I just liked the composition on this one, the red buffers look so vivid against the blackness of the sky and the glow of the florescent lighting.

Pineapple City

Snapped on a recent trip up to London from across the river next to the old City Hall building in Southwark (aka. the glass testicle). Is it me or is the city of London looking more and more like the top of a pineapple these days?

High Tide Mark?

17th December 1903, the first heavier than air flight by the Wright Brothers; 65 years later we landed a manned space-craft on the Moon and we've not been back there for over 50 years, surely that can't be the high tide mark of our species? 

These facts beg the question, what happened between 1903 and 1969 that hasn't happened between 1969 and 2024? (hint: a couple of world-wide conflicts precipitated by Germany and Japan, and a cold-war between superpowers that lasted 40+ years) It's a horrible thought that Humans advance our technology (mainly) through conflict, tribalism and war, but it's probably true.

Evocative

(Yesterday) On this day in 1976 (17th December) the band Genesis released one of my all time favourite albums. Called, "Wind and Wuthering" it contained classic tracks like "one for the vine", "blood on the rooftops" and "afterglow", the lyrics were so evocative and "other-worldly" to our teenage minds at the time, my peers and I were super keen and we played it to death throughout that (very) snowy Winter! 

Even in later life I still like to put this on in the background, I find it a perfect accompaniment to writing or cutting code as it puts me in a reflective mood, stimulates my imagination and helps me think more clearly. Coincidentally, there's a lone oak tree in the middle of a field near to where I live that looks very much like the tree in the album artwork (above) I'm put in mind of this album every time I drive past, a good spot for a final resting place I always think.

Stacks of Chimneys

Amazing photo of a terraced house in Glasgow with the end chopped off revealing the chimneys, luckily no Father Christmas stuck up there!

Sunday Smile

Love this cartoon, so true..

Top Beers of 2023 (1-10)

 

So here we go again, the top 10. It’s been a bit of a West Coast year in 2023, many great brewers have turned their attention to this classic style and three out of my top ten are Westies, including the number one from Verdant drunk at source and singing a sweeter tune than any other brew this year.

1. Cheeky Westy (Verdant & Green Cheek) – Made as a collaboration between Verdant and Green Cheek, a real stand-out beer for me this year. I had this several times both from can but also at source from the Verdant taproom in Falmouth (Cornwall) A delicious and classic West Coast IPA, grapefruit and stone fruits with a lip-coating oily bitterness that is totally moreish (I purchased some cans from the Verdant taproom, see picture above).

2. Puttty (Verdant) – Another Verdant classic, this time their annual homage to all things dank and murky but maxed out in the form of a triple IPA version (10%) of their famous “Putty” offering (note the extra “t”) This one was amazing, sampled at the Small Bar in Bristol it was super smooth and fruit laden with an amazing mouthfeel, a world class beer.

3. Dark & Perilous Nights (Siren) – Closer to home now and a stunning dark beer from Siren. I’ve never experienced so much chocolate in a beer before, but this wasn’t in anyway cloying. Such a rich, unctuous and super smooth experience and at 12.4% ABV to be enjoyed in small quantities!

4. Fruit Car Sight Exhibition (Verdant) – An old favourite and a slightly tweaked recipe this year, sampled down in Cornwall at source was like putting on a favourite pair of slippers, Citra hops showcased at their best.

5. Nine Mile Ride (Elusive & Siren) – Two of my favourite (and closest) breweries collaborated to make this wonderful West Coast IPA. Two of my favourite hops on the hot and cold sides, Nelson and Citra. Grapefruit, citrus, dank, bitter and nothing out of whack, excellent.

6. Destination IPA (Elusive, The Kernel & Burning Sky) – Very similar in style and flavour profile to the Nine Mile Ride this one but brewed via a collaboration between Elusive, The Kernel in London and Burning Sky in Sussex. Classic West Coast vibe, pine, bitter, dank, great drinkability, excellent.

7. Putty (Verdant) - A deep, rich and smooth Putty this year with a delightful fruit profile of masses of mango and passion fruit with underlying layers of citrus, dank pine and malt.

8. Table Beer (The Kernel) – At only 3.4% this is the perfect beer to chug after a long walk on a scorching hot day, and back in the Summer that’s exactly what I did after walking from the West End to the Kernel taproom in Bermondsey! A wonderful experience, great tropical flavours, perfect balance and smooth mouthfeel, probably up there with Verdant “People Money Space Time” as the best session beer in the country.

9. 40 Watt Moon (Verdant) – One of a series of beers produced by Verdant of different “wattages”, this is the top of the range at 8% a DIPA that has it all. A complete juice bomb, Strata and Citra take the lead to deliver grapefruit, pine, dankness and tropical fruits, so good.

10. Doing Science (Siren, Track) – Similar to the Time Hops series by Siren last year this IPA was saturated with delicious Strata, Idaho 7 and Citra hops. I picked up a can at our town's May Fair and it had a great mouthfeel with a lingering finish showing stone fruits and citrus, delicious.

Friday Smirk

J&M on the money as usual. I think we could be seriously headed toward some kind of tipping point with respect to tolerating Muslim violence in the West at the moment. Whereas the Danes are clearly taking the path of least resistance and implementing their own Islamic blasphemy laws! I can imagine that many other (more belligerent) European countries (like France, Belgium, Italy etc.) might just start deporting Muslim trouble-makers out of their lands. Here in the UK (usually pretty tolerant) we're already seeing some appetite for free-speech/protest crack-downs, the future with respect to this thorny topic wouldn't appear rosy.

2023 Beer Stats

 

As per last year the "Untappd" app that I use to track the beers I've tried over the year duly delivered my annual summary yesterday, here are the main stats..

Check-in's: 272, 7 less than last year

Average Rating (out of 5): 3.88

Unique breweries: 58 (22 less than last year)

Top brewery: Siren with 77 check-in's

Top pub: The Nags head in Reading with 18 visits.

Less variety this year and less check-in's overall, surprising that my average rating was so high, perhaps less variety means a keener focus on selecting quality.

Pint Shopping

Spent a pleasant evening with my Son and Daughter on Sunday up in town, after a slap up pasta meal at Padella in Borough Market we took a wander down the beer mile to the pub that my Son worked at over the summer Once the staff in there saw who it was they kindly gave us all a free pint, and a great pint at that! The wonderful London Black by Anspach and Hobday, in the proper glassware too!

Miracle?

Spotted outside Guys Hospital late on Monday night while walking back from a restaurant, I wonder if the lame were suddenly commanded to walk?

Tuesday Titter

It's funny how some religious people think that warning Atheists about the devil or hell is in any way persuasive, don't they realise, we don't believe any of it is true! They might as well threaten us with Godzilla, although, at least I've seen a picture of Godzilla..

Top Beers of 2023 (11-20)

 

The first instalment of my top beers of 2023 runs from number 11 through to number 20, some tricky choices this year as the standard of craft beers in the country at the moment is exceptional. A mixture of breweries and styles in the list which is also much more UK focused than last year, everything from DIPA to Saison via Stout and Lager, anyway here’s the list.

11. Bouquet (Polly's) – Sampled at the now defunct “Grumpy Goat” in Reading this was a real peach of a beer, thick and creamy with a slight bitterness it’s made by Polly's up in North Wales, the murk was strong with this one.

12. Death By CCC (Siren) – Part of the Caribbean Chocolate Cake series by Siren this year’s “Death By” was exceptional, a worthy member of the family and the standout of the series this year. Thick, chocolate and coffee flavours, smooth and viscous mouthfeel, excellent.

13. Waggon Pitch (Elusive, Duration) – A classic Andy Parker Westy, malt forward but utterly classic in flavour profile and hop selection. Had this one in can back in August and it was perfect on a warm weekend afternoon, good stuff.

14. Every Minute Matters (Siren & Green Cheek) – A strong Westy for the list, and previously number 2 on my 2020 list. I was really pleased when Siren announced a re-brew of this beer, it’s a banger, the only reason it’s number 14 is that it has such strong competition in the Westy style these days, an excellent beer.

15. London Black (Anspach & Hobday) – My go to stout these days when in town, the excellent London Black knocks Guinness into a cocked hat, depth of flavour, taste and mouthfeel all surpass the original “black stuff”. Had this a couple of times this year from source at the Anspach taproom in Bermondsey, brilliant to see them with a huge success on their hands with this beer. (Picture above was taken at the Anspach taproom, where they really know how to serve this Nitro porter and make it look fabulous!)

16. Unstoppable Force (Siren) – This 6% IPA was made by Siren right back at the start of the year and was released with a partner beer called “Immovable Object”. Both beers were made with exactly the same malt and yeast profiles but featured different hops. This one was Simcoe heavy which rendered it resinous and piney with a background of tropical fruits, a force for tasty beer!

17. Dropped Limb (Vocation & Verdant) – Made by Cornish maestros Verdant (much featured on this list) and Norfolk based Vocation this rustic saison weighed in at 7% (unusual for a saison) Bags of Umami with citrus and a healthy amount of tartness, difficult to describe but just the job after a long walk in the Summer.

18. Korben (Elusive) – A new beer for this year from Elusive it was a classic Pilsner (Lager) dosed with Citra hops which gave it a “lager and lime” vibe. A really nice beer, I sank a couple of these on the very few hot days that we had over the summer.

19. Tasty Juice (Lervig) – Sampled from source at the Lervig brewery in Stavanger, Norway back in June, after a long walk this was just the job and although I’d tried it before in the UK you can’t beat drinking a beer where it’s made. Juicy American pale ale style, fruity, tropical, hazy and smooth, a great beer.

20. Wi-Fi Beef (DEYA, Siren) – Classic DEYA, hazy and fruit filled but in collaboration with Siren who added their trademark spikey carbonation and crisp balance. Made for the 10th birthday celebration of Siren this IPA featured Citra, Idaho 7, Azacca and Sabro hops. Really juicy with a particularly noticeable yeast flavour, excellent.

Mine's a Pint

We all know what a "Pint" looks like right? 

Well, the other day I learnt about a few other pint definitions, amazingly there are at least 10 that I could find! There's the "standard" UK pint at 568ml otherwise known as the "Imperial Pint" and of course our American cousins had to do something different so they have the "Dry Pint" at 551ml and (of course) the "Liquid Pint" at 473ml. Our Australian cousins, not wanting to be outdone by the yanks have their own, predictably larger version at 600ml, and let's not forget our brothers over the border in Scotland who, perhaps even more predictably, have a pint that weighs in at 1,696 ml, more of a "boot" perhaps..

Smelly short-cuts

I was in Reading yesterday afternoon and on the way back to the station I happened to walk past the old Grumpy Goat with a "for-sale" sign outside. The deli/cheese shop/craft beer destination closed back in October (as discussed here) Union Street (or "smelly alley" as the locals call it) just isn't the same without it, no longer a place to be sought out with eager excitement over what delights might be on offer there, now just a (smelly) shortcut to the station. Sad to see such a popular local business forced out by a greedy landlord, I suppose we'll get another bloody phone or greetings card shop instead now, I'm not holding my breath.

Friday Smirk

A seasonal smirk for shark lovers everywhere..

Win like Hanukkah

Today is the start of the Jewish festival of "Hanukkah", many people think of it as the Jewish equivalent of Christmas (for Christians) but in reality it's the celebration of an ancient event that took place in 164 BCE when (after a long period of repression by the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire) Jews living in Judea rebelled under a leader named "Judas Maccabeus" and managed to re-capture Jerusalem, which was a significant early victory. The full revolt started in 167 BCE and ended in 160 BCE with the Seleucids gaining control of Judea, however the conflict between the Jews and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE when the Maccabees eventually attained independence (for a while at least)

People (particularly younger people) look at the current conflict in Gaza between Jews and Muslims and think it's a 20th century thing, they don't venture back into the history of the place and discover it's affiliation with Jews and their culture. 

Before the Hellenists cracked down on Jews in 170 BCE they were persecuted by the Persians around 500 BCE who exiled many of them to Babylon, then Alexander the Great took over in 338 BCE followed by empires like the Seleucids (i.e. Greek in origin) Then the Egyptians had a go followed by more Greeks and eventually the Romans turned up in 1 BCE and (as an act of suppression) renamed the whole area (including present day Jordan) "Palestine". After the Romans came the Byzantine period and we switch to an era of Christian persecution, this lasted right up to the Crusades and the middle ages when the place seems to have been ruled by a mixed bag of Christian and Muslim Caliphates, the Jews were (largely) forced to leave. After that the Ottomans moved in and Jews were even further scattered to the four corners of the Earth, and after the first world war the territory was briefly under British control. It was only in 1948, after WWII that the major powers at the time decided to create a Jewish homeland on it's original site and the region was divided up into Israel, West Bank and Gaza.

History shows us that this small fragment of land has been the centre of religious and cultural strife for centuries, fights over land, water, pagan rituals, resources, shiny buildings, gods and customs have been constant. This patch of land has been conquered and re-claimed and conquered again by many different armies, Jewish, Pagan, Christian and others over the course of many bloody and unjust wars. The conflict today is just the latest one in a long line, and as with any war there are countless injustices and innocent victims, the question is, will the rest of the world let Israel finally win and what will happen if they do?

Land Locked

Like many small towns in the South East of England ours is blighted by shear volume of passing vehicles, the number of days per week that the entire town centre is gridlocked by through traffic at some point must be approaching 100% There have been many attempts over the years to build remedies to this, signals, one-way systems and the like, but the obvious solution (a bypass) never seems to reach the top of the heap. Back in 2018 the town council embarked on an ambitious re-modelling of key parts of the town centre and there was also talk back then of a bypass and a new park and ride to go along with the pedestrianisation of large swaths of the centre, optimism was high.

Fast forward to today and the town centre has indeed been re-modelled to a large extent, two new squares, parks, a new sports centre and swimming pool, new shops, a cinema and nice new restaurants and bars, all good. But the gridlock continues, hundreds of people get a splendid look at all the new buildings as they crawl through the town in their cars at 2 mph, but the bypass has become mired down in planning disputes with nimby land owners in the surrounding vicinity and shows no signs of progressing beyond a few dead-end extensions that go nowhere.

One rather strange thing did get built though. A park and ride facility on the edge of town was completed about 2 years ago, replete with 14 electric vehicle charging points, lighting, bus shelters and ample marked parking bays for around 250 cars. I occasionally walk past it on my lunch time strolls and took the above snap the other day. In two years I have never seen a single car in there, it seems to be a baffling waste of money.

I did read something on the Council web site the other day about new funding for this "underused" facility from central Government and an ominous warning that the car park needs to be used or it will be closed. I can't see anything changing, clearly no one wants to park there, the town simply isn't a big enough of a draw for the degree of hassle involved in parking and bussing it in. Whoever thought this was a good idea needs to have a serious talking to, there must have been several millions wasted on this and anyone who lives here could have predicted the outcome quite easily. So, we still have a gridlocked town, no hint of a bypass and a seeming white-elephant of a park and ride system, it's a shame and smacks of poor planning, ah well, we live in hope, maybe next year?

Depressing Trends

This really has to be one of the most depressing charts you're likely to see just before Christmas. It surely must be time for this abysmal Tory Government to "Foxtrot Oscar"..

 

Dotty Life

There's gotta be life on one of these dots, surely?

Unctuous

I tried this Siren beer back in 2021 at an event in the brewery, called "Dark and Perilous Nights", we all believed at the time that the keg we sampled from back then was the last one ever, but fortunately, not ones to pass a good thing by, the folks at Siren have done a re-brew for Christmas 2023. 

I managed to snag a couple of 330ml bottles last weekend and couldn't resist a little QC experiment on Saturday evening. Weighing in at 12.4% ABV it's a monster of a dark beer, barrel aged in old Bourbon barrels it has that delicious dark sugar/molasses and toffee vibe but wow, the chocolate in this version is on a different level, so thick and unctuous and perfectly balanced, no alcohol burn whatsoever and a mouthfeel to die for. Anyway, I have one more bottle left, perhaps one for Christmas day in front of a roaring fire with a slab of Stilton and some crusty bread. I'm salivating at the thought already!

Tuesday Titter

Happy Tuesday, officially the second longest day of the week, the longest being Thursday, i.e. the day before Friday when the weekend starts.

Stars in their eyes

An amazing picture, the first ever image of another multi-planet solar system, it was captured by the ESO (European Southern Observatory) telescope a revolutionary new ground based device with a 39m mirror. These particular planets are roughly 300 light years away which means that if we beam a radio signal at them today any intelligent life there would receive those signals in 2323 and if they sent a confirmation back we'd get that in 2624, so I probably won't lose any sleep over any potential LGM (little-green-men) scenarios..

Pretty Green

Just before Christmas our Poinsettia plant has dropped all it's red leaves..  Ah well, the green ones are pretty too..

Road to Hell

I was reminded of this flow chart the other day. I was surfing YouTube and happened to catch a classic comedy sketch about prayer by the legendary American comedian George Carlin. In it he explains that if God (insert your deity of choice here) has a plan then essentially when you pray, what you're really trying to do is  "fuck up Gods plan"! Unless of course the plan includes your prayer, in which case the prayer is  pretty redundant. Anyway, an amusing sketch that concludes prayer is very much like masturbation, it really only benefits the person doing it.

Saturday Smile

Seems to have been a bit of a Larson week this week, this one has to be up there in my top 5 all time favourite Larson cartoons.