Even the white bits were black...

Cool door signs

2006-10-04T12:17:08Z

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre in Bundoora, Melbourne. I saw some excellent research going on into plant breeding and plant genetics and met some enthusiastic and motivated people. But one thing in particular will stick in my mind... the signs on the toilet doors - XX and XY.

A new spice - golpar

2006-09-25T12:57:26Z

I recently bought a spice called golpar, which I had heard of, but never tasted. This spice is Persian in origin, and is the ground seeds of the angelica plant. It is often sprinkled on dishes of beans, lentils and potatoes. It doesn't smell particularly appetising - somewhere between damp sawdust and white pepper, -but I gave it a try none the less and was pleasantly surprised. We had lentil soup made from half and half split red lentils and Puy lentils with just a couple of cloves of garlic. A teaspoon of golpar and a dash of lemon juice were added and the result tasted excellent - even if it looked like mud (easy on the Puy next time...).

Apparently golpar is traditionally used to prevent flatulence - only time will tell...

Fridge curry with Persian rice

2006-09-22T13:48:54Z

Friday evenings sometimes involve trying to concoct something interesting to eat from what is left in the fridge. Tonight's offering was a sweet potato, pea and spinach curry. Adding a couple of black cardamom and plenty of ground turmeric early in the cooking gave a warm background flavour, and a dash of coconut milk balanced the heat of one whole dried chilli. A good handful of fresh coriander finished it off nicely. Excellent!

To go with it I cooked a Persian rice dish passed on to me by a friend. Part-cooked basmati rice is mixed with cooked brown lentils, black eye beans and zereshk (dried barberry fruit). Then put some oil in a pan, add a layer of sliced potatoes and layer the rice mix on top. Cook for ten to fifteen minutes to steam the rice before turning the whole lot out of the pan onto a plate. If you are lucky the potatoes will be nice and crispy too and can be served as a side dish. You can include raisins with the rice and beans... but I was out of them tonight.

barnstoneworth @ 2006-09-20T21:35:00

2006-09-20T13:13:59Z

While in the UK last week I spent a day with my parents visiting a few architectural and artistic landmarks of England's North West.

First stop was Liverpool Metropolitan cathedral. Known locally as Paddy's Wigwam this is an impressive example of bold 1960s architecture which to me as stood the test of time. Well stylistically anyway - much of the roof has already had to be repaired and the concrete structure was found to be in a serious state of decay a few years ago. This was in part a result of the desire of the people who commissioned and designed it to embrace new building materials and methods. Now fully restored, with a new set of entrance steps installed to the original design (there was a building in the way until a few years ago), it is an imposing structure. It impresses me more each time I visit, and the interior is equally stunning. The narrow strips of cobalt blue stained glass between the buttresses are scattered with occasional shards of blood red giving a piercing effect, and the vast rainbow coloured windows of the cupola are the largest stained glass windows in the world. There are few structures I have seen that compare with this for originality - part power station part Saturn V rocket motor!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Liverpool_Metropolitan_Cathedral_at_dusk_%28reduced_grain%29%2C_corrected_perspective.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Liverpool_Metropolitan_Cathedral.jpg

Not far away at Crosby is a public art installation "Another Place" by Antony Gormley, creator of the massive Angel of the North near Gateshead in the UK, a figure on a hillside with outstretched arms the span of a Boeing 747. Another Place consists of 100 upright iron casts of the sculptor's body dotted along about 3 miles of beach at various points between low and high tide. All are facing out to sea, as if looking for something unseen. The effect of watching a part submerged figure in the rolling waves is uncanny - you can convince yourself the figure is moving, walking out to sea. In fact on several occasions the coast guard has been called by people believing somebody is in trouble. Seen on a warm day with lots of people playing on the beach, it was great to find so many people taking an interest in the sculptures, though for a more atmospheric experience it would probably be best to view the installation at dawn or dusk. I was simply glad to have seen them, as the statues are due to move to New York later this year. Catch them while you can!
http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/product-p76741

Finally to Leyland in Lancashire to see a series of sculptures by the late Liverpool artist Arthur Dooley at St Mary's parish church. These bronzes were raw and vibrant and worth the trip to see. I first became aware of Dooley when working at Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington UK a few years ago. In the 1970s Dooley had been commissioned to create a sculpture representing the peaceful use of nuclear science (it used to be Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory, and it's accelerator was the predecessor to CERN), and the materials he was given to use included two magnet poles from a decommissioned cyclotron. The sculpture stood at the lab gates until the entrance was rebuilt a couple of years ago and has be moved elsewhere on site.
http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/LL/CHHT0011.htm

Defeat, grasped from the jaws of Victory

2006-09-19T13:11:50Z

I got back from Germany yesterday to find most of my carefully nurtured seedlings had become snail food. I transplanted about twenty five tomato seedlings just before leaving - San Marzano plum tomato and a heritage variety Victory. Only two survived the cull. I also lost all my yarrow which was being grown for tea - I guess it must have been tasty! They didn't touch the borage though... I was probably presuming too much on a benign Australian spring and had left them all outside while I was away. I didn't count on the rain bringing the gastropod army out in force. In the UK I was used to having to raise them in a heated propagator before moving them carefully to my greenhouse. Still it's not too late. We moved to Australia a year ago next week, and as a result last year I didn't sow until mid October and we still picked tomatoes by the bucket load.

Germany calling… Karlsruhe

2006-09-16T21:37:40Z

Germany never used to appeal to me as a holiday destination. Childhood memories of that country do not stretch much beyond the Rhine Valley as most holidays were spent in France. This continued in later years with camping trips to various corners of France interspersed with ventures to Australia. But a few years ago, penned in by a rain storm in Alsace, we headed to Germany for the day, ending up in Freiburg. This turned out to be a pretty and welcoming town, and subsequent visits have taken me to Karlsruhe, Berlin and the Elbe valley in the east. The people I’ve met have always been friendly, the towns steeped in history and the food and beer hearty and tasty.

This time I’m in Karlsruhe which is one of the most cycle friendly places I’ve visited. It also has an excellent tram system which is not just run for the tourists, and around half of the population here uses the tram to get to work. This morning in the space of 20 minutes I counted a dozen bikes with child trailers; I think I have seen maybe one bike trailer in Melbourne in the last year. Here it all seems to be part of a self sustaining system – the trams are fast and cheap and work well, so fewer people drive, so it is both more safe and more attractive to cycle, so there are even fewer cars, so the trams can operate more efficiently… and so on.

Last night I explored the town centre and ended up eating outside in the warm late summer air at the Lehner restaurant. No cars could be heard, only groups chatting, people cycling past, and the occasional tram running by. This place has a good feel to it.

In-flight relaxation

2006-09-09T07:44:09Z

The journey from Melbourne to the UK can’t help but be a tiring experience, but having undertaken this for the third time this year, it’s definitely becoming less of a burden. Once you accept that you are going to be in the same seat for the best part of 24 hours, you may as well make the best of it. So equipped with a stack of CDs, a new set of noise canceling headphones and plenty to read, the time seems to slip by. There are two additional steps that I also find are helpful.

Firstly, a couple of late nights and early mornings just before flying ensures that I’m tired enough to sleep on the plane. As I am usually traveling for work, the late nights tend to happen as a matter of course as I never have time to finish off everything I need before leaving. This time I slept for about half of the two legs to Singapore and to Dubai, and I once managed to fall asleep before the plane left the gate.

The second recommendation came from a chiropractor I went to in the UK. After a bad back injury a few years ago I was unable to sit for long periods due to sciatica. This lasted over a year and was eventually relieved by a combination of chiropractic and physio. When I had pretty much recovered I discussed a flight to Australia that I was due to make, and asked my chiropractor for some advice. She suggested some pre-flight and in-flight exercises, as I had expected, but her tip for muscle relaxation was more unexpected – I was perhaps expecting some thoughts on deep breathing or meditation, but… “as soon as the trolley comes round, get a couple of glasses of red wine down your neck. It will relax you and it’s what I do!” At least I can now say it was on doctor’s orders.

Here goes...

2006-09-04T13:42:48Z

Well I've been meaning to get round to this for ages... I suppose this first entry is where I'm supposed to announce that this journal has been bursting to get out into the light of day and will bring together a carefully distilled selection of witty anecdotes, deeper thoughts, and helpful tips reflecting the rich charivari that is my life... but why pretend! It's actually just to see if I've worked out how to use Livejournal...

I'm currently in Melbourne, trying to finish off a pile of work before heading off to Europe tomorrow evening for about 10 days. I had set myself a target of starting this journal before I left so at least that's one thing I can tick off the list.