Meenzer

I've been up and working since 4 to meet an 8am deadline. Some post-deadline loafing will be quite firmly on the cards.

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Toonpack goes apeshit:

Greenlandic troubadours ftw

Table tennis is my sport of choice. Y'all are fine.

That "not mentioning Leazes" thing turned out well, then

The hypothetical question that you raised? Hopefully "the bloke who's actually any good at sex", since (at least as I understand it) that's the correct answer.

Late

Tonight's bout of insomnia drove me to finally crack open the "Damned United" DVD I was given by a friend a while back, and frankly I'm perplexed. I assumed (and, perhaps foolishly, was anticipating) a nuanced portrayal of the complex personality of Brian Clough, insofar as we know/knew him; instead, the film basically delivered a brutal 90-minute character assassination of the man followed by a brief interlude over the end credits instructing us to love him after all - which makes me wonder if love (albeit conflicted love) was what I was supposed to be feeling in the first place. If so, the makers really missed their mark, because he was portrayed as an utter twat throughout, and without any prior knowledge I'd have quite readily come away thinking he was a pompous nobody who got exactly what he deserved. Maybe it comes down to Michael Sheen's apparent decision to play the man himself as a Welsh-sounding Tony Blair, mannerisms and all, but still: if the filmmakers' intent was to engender even the slightest sympathy for Clough among its viewers, it didn't work with me at least. All very odd.

Proved his defensive mettle too

That's exactly what it is, comfort food to the max. It's a funny one with Mattessons, most of their products are bloody awful - Fridge Raiders ffs - but the smoked sausage is spot on and hugely versatile when it comes to dishes like this. The reduced fat version works too, you might have to add a drop more olive oil at the frying phase but that's probably preferable to pig fat, so hey.

Never a bad time to repost this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/19/brussels-sprout-chorizo-barley-hotpot-recipe-marcus-wareing

While we're talking peas, here's a simple Meenzer household favourite since I was a nipper: Fry a chopped onion in a little oil for 5 minutes. Add a cubed Mattessons sausage and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add a teaspoon of paprika, a crumbled beef stock cube, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, two bay leaves and 200-300ml of water. Mix well and let it simmer away for 15 minutes until thickened, adding 200g or so of frozen petits pois about 5 minutes before the end (and a splash or two of water if it looks like drying up completely). Discard the bay leaves then stir into the pasta or noodles you've prepared in the meantime. And don't forget plenty of grated cheese. Lovely jubbly.

Broad beans are an ace meaty side (oo-er) with a bit of butter and parsley.

Him indoors's mum hates peas too. I don't get how you can hate something so innocuous. Mind, I don't understand picky eaters generally.

Perfect.

You should instruct people to pronounce your screen name like a stereotypical Russkie saying "hi!", throaty "khhhh" sound and all. That'll stop them thinking you're Antipodean.

Not too far in the grand scheme of things, indeed, so ta for that. And http://www.brockleymarket.com/ is even closer to home (though it can be hard to cope with the picturesque beauty of its location in the Lewisham College car park).

Any farmers' market type things within striking distance? They can still be expensive but cutting out the middleman can often knock a bit off the price, and you get to try before you buy and all. There's a risk of getting dragged into long and tedious conversations about cheese production techniques, mind.

Tbf, frozen and tinned stuff is exactly what I use online shopping for, once every 2-3 months. Tinned tuna, tomatoes, "extra light" "mayo", frozen veg and chicken and mince, bottled fizzy water, all the stuff you can't be arsed to carry back from the shops, en masse. Then shop locally for the fresh stuff as and when.

Quite inventive I thought. They could have gone with Grout or Pedestal Mat.