Winter Warmer

We visited one of my favourite pubs last week when in London, "The Woolpack" on Bermondsey Street. They don't have a huge range of beers on offer but what they do have is class, the (almost finished) pint in the picture above is a lovely hazy boy called "Steady Rolling Man" or "SRM" to the locals. It's from a brewery down in Cheltenham called DEYA and has been mentioned on this blog many times over the years, it's as good as ever and fresh on tap in the Woolpack (get there early as it gets rammed after 5pm)! (tea light for perspective)

Putty time

Excitement is growing, only one more sleep until "Putty time"...

Spooky

The only advantage of walking early in the morning on these cold, misty January days is the spooky nature of the landscape, no wonder our ancestors built monuments to the Sun, it looks so impressive (and rare!) at this time of year.

Some People?

Out for a walk the other morning and came across this monstrosity in a children's playground! Seriously, some people!

London Stories

Waterloo station, past and present, the second busiest station in the country with over 70 million entries/exits per year (24-25) We use it a lot since it's the main London terminus from where we live in Berkshire, handy as a jump off point for destinations South of the river.

London Treats

We spent a nice couple of hours with the kids in London on Friday evening, firstly having a drink in the Mikkeller bar in Exmouth Market (see pint of hazy pale ale above) and then a meal in The Eagle pub on the Farringdon Road. Everything was delicious and the youngsters were on great form and even the weather cooperated (for a change!)

Friday Smirk

The lads pointing out the great danger surrounding "the religion of peace" today, this is because it's claims are so totalitarian, it's population of literal zealots so great and it's truth values so weak.

Sun Memories

A memory from last year, the Salinas salt flats in Argentina, boy was it hot! The people there take silly photo's of tourists for loose change, here's one of our little group looking like we're emerging from a Mate cup into an azure sky. It's freezing cold in the UK today and pouring down with rain, we really must go back to the Southern Hemisphere soon!

Chilly Patterns

Got an early appointment today so had to go for my usual lunchtime walk at 8am, spotted this rather beautiful pattern on a car bonnet, flippin chilly!

Scott Adams

One of my favourite cartoonists, Scott Adams, author of the inimitable "Dilbert" died yesterday. This strip had a special meaning for me and many in my industry as it seemed to be about us, it illuminated many of the issues surrounding technology and man-management and we felt a real affinity with it. I believe that Adams fell foul of the woke police in later years and was "cancelled" by many. I must confess that I don't know anything about that period or what he said (or didn't say) so I won't comment on it here, all I can say is that the number of smirks his work delivered to me over many years far outnumbered those of any other artist.

Picture Medley

 

A little medley of pictures from my recent weekend in Dublin, clockwise from the top right we have, The Millennium Spire on O'Connell street, Trinity College main Quad, The Bank bar, the Cricket pitch in Trinity and some delicious Carlingford Lough Oysters (also with a pint of Guinness) An enjoyable couple of days, my Son and I vowed to do more (local) trips around the British Isles (see here) this year, let's hope we get some decent weather for it!

Changing Times

A couple of pints in the Palace Bar on Fleet Street in Dublin at the weekend (supped while chatting to a group of French blokes who were over for the rugby). The left hand pint needs no introduction, nice and creamy and sold by the millions all over the world. On the right hand side we have a new contender, "Clockwork" by the "Changing Times Brewery" (Dublin) a craft nitro stout being sold in the same Irish pub as the ubiquitous Guinness! (I never thought I'd ever see the day) It's a similar beer but sufficiently different to provoke interest among the drinkers gathered, more flavour with slight roasted coffee vibes and just as creamy, times they certainly are a changing!

Irish Weekend

Just spent a great weekend with my Son in Dublin (Ireland) we were so lucky with the weather too! As you can see in the picture above (the view from my hotel room) we had blue skies and around 8C perfect for wandering around the city and dropping into the many famous bars for father-son bonding sessions and of course, a pint of Guinness or two!

Hope

Here's hoping that the majority of people in Iran achieve what they are clearly yearning for, i.e. freedom from a bunch of clerical gangsters, good luck and 'god's speed' to them!

Friday Smirk

The boys pointing out how the defense of "it's God therefore anything is possible" is an utterly empty one, that which can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence..

Old, but true

An old one but still true. I am reminded of this every time I hear someone say "you should respect person X because they belong to religion Y" nope, respect is something that needs to be earned in my view, not given automatically just because of a belief in some unsubstantiated ancient myth.

NZH-109

After sampling one of these at the Two Flints tap room back in December I managed to get my hands on a can just before Christmas (see above) This one is the double IPA version, i.e. 8% instead of 6% but just as flavoursome, really getting a taste for NZ hops! I think last year (2025) these hops finally became mainstream (specifically Nelson and Motueka) in most modern breweries.

Snow

Weather forecast ATM be like: "It might snow this week, it might not, all depends on if it snows or not.."

Geo-confusion

This is what you get after 2500 years of human activity (war, peace, migration etc.) on a group of tiny islands off the coast of Europe, no wonder the yanks get confused!

New Year Smirk

The lads discussing the rather innocuous fact that most people who give up religion do so because they simply don't believe it anymore, why should they, there's no tangible or scientific evidence to support that worldview and much (including a ton of human suffering) to suggest it's false. 

Classic St. Julien

Another new year wine, Duluc which is the second wine of Chateau Branaire-Ducru one of the heavyweight producers of the St. Julien region of Bordeaux. The term "Second Wine" just means that the wine is produced from (usually) younger vines by the same people and processes as the main wine or "grand vin" and is made to be enjoyed slightly sooner, a less "serious" version of a Chateau's wine if you like. 

This one was classic St. Julien (my favourite Bordeaux region) red berry fruits, cassis, pencil lead, balanced and very drinkable, a fabulous wine to have with food. This one was about £40 which sounded expensive until I enquired about their "grand vin" which in 2016 weighs in at £110 a bottle, I think this one will do fine until we win the lottery!

New Year Treats

We decided to treat ourselves this NY and open a bottle of 2001 Vieux Chateau Certan, a pretty good year in Pomerol and I bought a case of these back in the early 2000's to celebrate the birth of our first child back in 2001. I've been hanging onto a couple of bottles to see how they age and this one was absolutely singing, cassis and dark fruits with excellent balance, I reckon it'll easily manage at least 10 more years of maturation, my Son enjoyed it and got a kick out of drinking wine that was the same age as him! We'll have to open another one in a few years time and check its progress!