With grateful thanks...

With grateful thanks... It may not surprise you to know, from my other blog or from my constant ramblings and pictures of food on twitter, that my favorite programs on television are about cooking and food! My inspiration mainly comes from four main sources (or should that be five?), the sensually curvaceous cooking of the beautiful Nigella Lawson, the copiously unctuous cooking of the Hairy Bikers, the no-nonsense style of the goddess herself (Saint) Delia, and the inspirationally healthy (if not slightly manic) Jamie Oliver! There naturally are many many more TV chefs, cooks and celebrities out there and I have shamelessly stolen ideas from most of them, but my highest idea theft crime spree comes from my top five! I have followed them from their kitchens and gardens, to exotic places around England, Europe and the World, picking up tips, information, discovering new recipes and people, that not only teach us about the food but about the people who created the idea in the first place! It is not only about the food they teach and inspire us about, but a philosophy of food in general, a common theme that runs through all the shows is that invariably it is just as easy (and without a doubt more fun) to cook a meal from scratch, using fresh produce and simple techniques than it is to defrost and "nuke" that woefully inadequate "meal for one" from the depths of the freezer! Why not give it a try, I know we all seem to have manically busy lives now, and most people "just don't have the time", but maybe we should make time, after all cooking and eating is a 'kinda' important and basic necessity in life, and in the current climate you will probably save yourself some money too (always a bonus!), you may even rediscover your taste buds! So I will finish, as I started "With grateful thanks" to my top five for all the fun, food and frivolity over the years that has made my kitchen the happiest room in the house, for my successes, and failures that made me try again until I got it right, I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart and stomach... And finally, I am in no way in the league of my own personal "food heroes" but just have a look at my sister blog http://redbeard1970mylarder.blogspot.co.UK/ and see for yourself how easy and fulfilling cooking can be!!! With thanks and recognition for all their inspiration, to Nigella Lawson http://www.nigella.com/, the Hairy Bikers http://www.hairybikers.com/, Delia Smith http://www.deliaonline.com/, and Jamie Oliver http://www.jamieoliver.com/!    @RedBeard_1970 (Twitter)  http://about.me/james.bridle

“Twitter, I don’t get it!”

“Twitter, I don’t get it!” The amount of times I have heard that phrase is too numerous to count, but for those of you out there who “don’t get it” let me shine a little ray of light on the matter!

There are a veritable plethora of networking sites, Facebook, Twitter, foursquare are the ones I use but there are many more, linkedin, myspace, google+, livejournal, tagged the list just goes on and on.

They all offer similar services to their users, it just really depends what your friends use more than anything, but the following little guide is for the layman, of which I’m a proud subscriber!

FACEBOOK is a networking site that lets users create profiles, upload photos, videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. The site is available in over 37 different languages. It allows you to see through the “timeline” your life, events and friends all in one place. Keeping up to date with your friends is simple, but with all your details of your life in one place you do have to be careful who you “friend” and how much (as little as possible is best) information you allow the “public” to see, there are great set of security settings available... USE THEM!

TWITTER however is more of a “snap shot” of your (and all other users) life in 140 character “texts”, photos, videos or links. Sharing with the Twitterworld as a whole or individually! The real bonus is you can not only get feedback from friends and family but from all walks of life, and also the stars of stage, screen and sports use it on a daily basis to inform their fans on future appearances and personal observations of life around them! Not to be a name dropper... oh why not... I have exchanged laughs with the great Leslie Phillips (ding dong) and the mega star Warwick Davis (no, apparently not the one in Time Bandits), I even made a friend who sent me a Haggis for Burns Night (delicious!).

FOURSQUARE is new to me but after using it for a while it gets to be fun. The principle is simple, you “check in” to wherever you are, earning points, if you check into somewhere the most, you can get rewards, for example most Wetherspoons pubs offer 20% discount on food to the “mayor” (person who has checked into somewhere the most), you can also add “tips” to places, telling others the best time to order in a restaurant, what discounts a shop offers, even the best places to sit down in London parks. It also informs your friends where you are (if you wish) and has quick settings so you can simultaneously upload your “check in” to Facebook and Twitter!

As with all these type of sites, the more friends you have, the more fun and use you get out of it, even a blog can be fun (if people read it “lol”), for those out there who don’t use them, branding them “dangerous”, each to their own but really, would you walk into a pub handing out your personal and bank details on slips of paper to every Tom, Dick and Harriet... NO... so use the same common sense on line... simples...

I hope this has added a little illumination to the initial statement... “Twitter, I don’t get it!”... maybe now you do, but if you do hear that old worn phrase, steer them to this blog and let them “see the light”... 

Man Flu

Man Flu

(or Mannus Influenzus), the truths and facts.

Man flu is no myth (according to the telegraph, 24^th March 2010), but there are a few mysteries surrounding it which I hope this little offering will dispel.

To start with the basics, there are several layers to the common cold... There is...

“The Sniffles” caught by girls young children and the elderly.

“The Common Cold” anyone can catch this one

“Man Flu”, caught by men (the clues in the title really!)

This is a general outlay but based in “medical fact”**!!! In addition it makes NO difference if you are gay or straight, Man Flu will strike down Arnold Schwarzenegger just as easy as Graham Norton!

Man Flu (the most serious affliction in this category) it’s self can be broken down into three main groups...

Stage 1 – still able to function on a basic level, work becomes difficult, and the extensive help around the house (taking the rubbish out and hovering the living room) is not recommended. However basic functions like watching the TV and going to the pub can still be performed!

Stage 2 – movement becomes limited to the living room, TV is recommended, Alcohol is still possible but Pub visits are now out of the question, home cooked meals, beer or whiskey should be served, as required, walking should not be encouraged due to risk of dizzy spells!

Stage 3 – All movement from the bedroom is now impossible, favourite food must be served in bed, even alcohol is not wanted! This stage is very rare and must be treated with all the care and attention your wife/girlfriend or mother can muster.

These emergencies in a man’s life need to be supported, as indeed he would support with care and consideration if it were the other way around, by the woman in his life. As soon as Man Flu has been diagnosed the emergency services must be called, NOT 999, after all we are not ones to complain as anyone knows, but the number of your girlfriend/wife or mother.

The advantage of calling mother for her is that she gets to relive when you were four and poorly, and gets to say “he still needs his mummy”,  the advantage to you is you get your toast cut into solders and your boiled eggs are done correctly!

The advantage of calling your girlfriend/wife (or both) is obvious, and I don’t need to spell it out surely!

I am of course in no way being sexist in saying that it is only a woman’s job to look after a sick man, but purely scientific logic, as Man Flu is not transmittable to a woman it seems only logical precaution to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to another man by using a woman!

In conclusion Man Flu needs to be fully understood, diagnosed and appreciated by woman kind, after all we are always understanding when you have a problem, we will remove ourselves to a safe distance, the pub, and sympathetically talk and ask the advice of our mates and guru (the barman).

I hope this has manage to clear up any misunderstanding, If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer all serious enquires!

** All “Medical Facts” are true and scientifically proven with the exception of the ones I made up!

The 12 Days of Rickmas...

On the first day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
A copy of the big issue.

On the second day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the third day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the fourth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the fifth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the sixth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the seventh day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the eighth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Eight legs scaring Ricky,
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the ninth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Nine Pilkington’s dancing,
Eight legs scaring Ricky,
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the tenth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Ten Merchant’s a-leaping,
Nine Pilkington’s dancing,
Eight legs scaring Ricky,
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the eleventh day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Eleven Twonks Twittering,
Ten Merchant’s a-leaping,
Nine Pilkington’s dancing,
Eight legs scaring Ricky,
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue.

On the twelfth day of Rickmas,
my Stalker sent to me
Twelve Practical Jokes,
Eleven Twonks Twittering,
Ten Merchant’s a-leaping,
Nine Pilkington’s dancing,
Eight legs scaring Ricky,
Seven BAFTA Awards,
Six Flanimals a-laying,
Five Box office Smash Hits,
Four stand up comedy DVD’s,
Three Golden Globes,
Two Emmy Awards,
And A copy of the big issue!