Um, that's not me speaking here, it's GUMI with her 'Megpoid English' voicebank. The title sounds like it could belong to a James Bond movie...
This very good composition has just this afternoon been uploaded by its creator, the illustrious (and quite prolific!) neutrinoP, under his real name.
Although the exact wording of the song isn't entirely correct English in places, it's near enough that we can all get the meaning. This video also features a rather splendid still image of GUMI herself...
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Prawn Again
I've enjoyed prawn cocktail starters ever since I discovered the dish in 1975 (at the Minerva Greek/English restaurant in West Croydon, long since gone). Over the years, I've found (as one does) that different establishments each have their own way of preparing and presenting this starter, as for other dishes.
Some would serve it up in shiny metal dishes, some in glass, some on a plate. Some would include a slice of lemon, sometimes in a squeezer, others on the edge of the glass/dish. Some might have a small slice of cucumber and/or one of tomato. And so it went on...
My preferred style was with the tomato and cucmber slices, plus lemon to squeeze the juice of over the dressing, and cayenne pepper. This I found delicious, especially with slices of brown bread on the side.
My own experiments, here and at Chateau John before that, have included substituting king prawns (either standard or large) for the usual prawns, and sometimes paprika for the cayenne pepper. I also sometimes have a crusty white roll, warmed and still crisp, with butter (this is one of those occasions where no other spread works as well), and I have just done today – indeed, with all of those variations: large king prawns, a good mixed (crispy) salad, paprika, and a warmed crusty white roll with butter.
All of this was washed down with the classic (if unadventurous) Montpierre French Sauvignon Blanc, which happens to be ideal for this sort of meal.
In recent months I have also been trying a new (to me) technique of pouring out the first glass of white wine well in advance, and placing the filled glass in the 'fridge to chill, i.e. glass and all. It's actually rather good; so if I am sufficiently on the ball, I hope to make this a more regular practice.
Overall, even something as comparatively simple as a prawn cocktail can be made more interesting with a little experimentation, and I do recommend trying variations on such established themes.
Some would serve it up in shiny metal dishes, some in glass, some on a plate. Some would include a slice of lemon, sometimes in a squeezer, others on the edge of the glass/dish. Some might have a small slice of cucumber and/or one of tomato. And so it went on...
My preferred style was with the tomato and cucmber slices, plus lemon to squeeze the juice of over the dressing, and cayenne pepper. This I found delicious, especially with slices of brown bread on the side.
My own experiments, here and at Chateau John before that, have included substituting king prawns (either standard or large) for the usual prawns, and sometimes paprika for the cayenne pepper. I also sometimes have a crusty white roll, warmed and still crisp, with butter (this is one of those occasions where no other spread works as well), and I have just done today – indeed, with all of those variations: large king prawns, a good mixed (crispy) salad, paprika, and a warmed crusty white roll with butter.
All of this was washed down with the classic (if unadventurous) Montpierre French Sauvignon Blanc, which happens to be ideal for this sort of meal.
In recent months I have also been trying a new (to me) technique of pouring out the first glass of white wine well in advance, and placing the filled glass in the 'fridge to chill, i.e. glass and all. It's actually rather good; so if I am sufficiently on the ball, I hope to make this a more regular practice.
Overall, even something as comparatively simple as a prawn cocktail can be made more interesting with a little experimentation, and I do recommend trying variations on such established themes.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Ghibli Music Concert
Here is an amazing concert featuring 25 years of music from Hayao Miyazaki's world-famous Studio Ghibli's animated productions, some of which are shown on a huge screen in excerpts to accompany the music. All the music was (I believe) composed by their brilliant composer Joe Hisaishi, who also conducts the orchestra and choirs at this event in Budokan and plays the piano.
It's nearly two hours long in total, so you might wish to watch it in several sessions. I think after just the first few minutes you will want to go through the whole event, so be prepared to be captivated. There is a lot of life, fun, variety and considerable style in this collection, even though one item sounds somewhat Wagner-ish!
Items featured come from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Porco Rosso, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea, Kiki's Delivery Service, a few of the truly excellent pieces from Howl's Moving Castle (and not forgetting Laputa: Castle In The Sky while we're with the mobile castles) and of course My Neighbour Totoro. How could anyone forget him?
My favourite piece? Has to be the lovely waltz Merry-go-Round of Life from Howl's Moving Castle, starting at 1:18:10...
It's nearly two hours long in total, so you might wish to watch it in several sessions. I think after just the first few minutes you will want to go through the whole event, so be prepared to be captivated. There is a lot of life, fun, variety and considerable style in this collection, even though one item sounds somewhat Wagner-ish!
Items featured come from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Porco Rosso, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea, Kiki's Delivery Service, a few of the truly excellent pieces from Howl's Moving Castle (and not forgetting Laputa: Castle In The Sky while we're with the mobile castles) and of course My Neighbour Totoro. How could anyone forget him?
My favourite piece? Has to be the lovely waltz Merry-go-Round of Life from Howl's Moving Castle, starting at 1:18:10...
UKIP are Dave's Downfall
The latest re-captioning of this now notorious clip from Der Untergang, with Hitler playing (in effect) David Cameron on this occasion, looks at the success of UKIP at last week's local elections.
Although it's sort-of political, it's more humorous than anything else, so I think it can be posted here. Besides anything else, it's one of those rare examples of the parody that is 'family friendly' so is acceptable here. It's why I was able to post so few of them in the past...
Although it's sort-of political, it's more humorous than anything else, so I think it can be posted here. Besides anything else, it's one of those rare examples of the parody that is 'family friendly' so is acceptable here. It's why I was able to post so few of them in the past...
Chinese Snack
I am having one of my 'funny times' where I am up during much of the night and have necessarily had lie-downs during the preceding day.
Usually, when I have to get up in the night, it is because of hunger: my insides operate on their own timetable these days. Hopefully this is just a passing phase and I shan't be like this for the rest of my life; but we shall see...
Anyway, for tonight I cooked half a pack of Chinese snacks/side items: that's two each of sesame prawn toasts, won tuns and mini spring rolls. As usual, I had these with some crispy veg-based tray salad and a generous (though not excessive) splash of sweet chilli sauce. I actually prefer the hot sauce, but it's not easy to find, and I do like the sweet variety almost as much.
The 'secret ingredient' tonight, though, was surprisingly simple: an ordinary tomato, cut into very small pieces. Each quarter of the (standard size) tomato was quartered, and then those sixteen pieces were each halved again. Thus I had 32 small pieces of tomato, each such piece just enough to have a bonus effect on each mouthful (four per won tun, four per mini spring roll, six per prawn toast), with four spare to intersperse as I went along.
It worked really well, and is something I recommend trying. Sometimes the simplest things can have a disproportionately beneficial effect...
Usually, when I have to get up in the night, it is because of hunger: my insides operate on their own timetable these days. Hopefully this is just a passing phase and I shan't be like this for the rest of my life; but we shall see...
Anyway, for tonight I cooked half a pack of Chinese snacks/side items: that's two each of sesame prawn toasts, won tuns and mini spring rolls. As usual, I had these with some crispy veg-based tray salad and a generous (though not excessive) splash of sweet chilli sauce. I actually prefer the hot sauce, but it's not easy to find, and I do like the sweet variety almost as much.
The 'secret ingredient' tonight, though, was surprisingly simple: an ordinary tomato, cut into very small pieces. Each quarter of the (standard size) tomato was quartered, and then those sixteen pieces were each halved again. Thus I had 32 small pieces of tomato, each such piece just enough to have a bonus effect on each mouthful (four per won tun, four per mini spring roll, six per prawn toast), with four spare to intersperse as I went along.
It worked really well, and is something I recommend trying. Sometimes the simplest things can have a disproportionately beneficial effect...
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