Taking an axe to split ends
September 19, 2006
From a recent Amazon mailing:
More:
- “American Hair Metal” by Steven Bush (amazon.co.uk)
“an extravagantly visual tribute to the 1980s glam rock phenomenon” - “The Gates of Janus” by Ian Brady (amazon.co.uk)
“a fascinating look into the mind of a murderer”
Jam today and tomorrow
August 16, 2006
The first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning was Lorne sausage and black pudding, despite the fact that I haven’t eaten either for years. The reason for thinking about them was obvious – I recently re-discovered ‘Scots Cooking‘ by Sue Lawrence. After leaving it unread on my bookshelf for more than five years I’ve started eating my way through the recipes.
Despite a couple of attempts at ‘learning to cook’ over the last couple of years I still eat out most nights of the week (i.e. 6 out of 7). Most cookery books I’ve read have left me unexcited and unmotivated – I simply find the dishes unappealing. ‘Scots Cooking’ is different. There are over 120 recipes and almost every one is both simple and deliciously enticing.
So far I haven’t got much further than the ‘breakfast and preserves’ section so it’s been breakfast pankcakes, scrambled egg and cold smoked venison and, of course, black pudding (I still haven’t found a butcher in Amsterdam that sells decent Lorne sausage). Future treats include stovies, Musselburgh pie (made with rump steak, oysters and onions) and, of course, tablet. This is not delicate food and all the better for it.
The book is written in a clear and informal style. The recipes are straightforward, well laid out and usually prefaced with an interesting and informative anecdote from the author. Finally, I might learn to cook after all.
‘Scots Cooking’ by Sue Lawrence (amazon.co.uk)
More:
- BBC Radio interview with Sue Lawrence (bbc.co.uk)
Everybody would like to be Cary Grant
August 12, 2006
Despite the pedigree of the author, and the threat of a foreword by fashion dimwit Giorgio Armani (a man who wouldn’t know style if it came round his house and polished his tassled loafers for him), the forthcoming ‘Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style‘ by Richard Torregrossa will be an essential purchase for me.
Throughout the 1940’s, and into the ’50’s, Grant eptomised stylish, sophisticated manhood. If extracts published in the September 2006 edition of ‘Town & Country’ magazine are anything to go by, this book will provide a new level of detail about his enviable and timeless style and how it evolved.
“I got a phone call one day, and the voice on the other end said, ‘Good morning, this is Cary Grant. I am going to send you an evening shirt that I would like a new neckband put on. Is that okay?’ I said, ‘Yes’” When the shirt arrived, Lachter was amazed. “The label in our shirt had the old Prince of Wales coat of arms on it, which meant that the shirt was actually made before Edward VIII became king, probably around 1934 or ’35. Yes, He really did send me a forty-year-old shirt to repair!”
Stephen Lachter (former manager of Hawes & Curtis, London)
- Cary Grant filmography (imdb.com)
- Hawes & Curtis
- London Lounge (thelondonlounge.net)
The premier forum for discussion of male style - The 30’s Style (the30sstyle.com)
Dedicated to the ‘Elegant, Dandy and Exquisite Style of The Golden Age’
Treat yourself
August 10, 2006
Sometimes I think Amazon knows me better than I know myself…
Personalised book suggestions for me, today at www.amazon.co.uk.
In praise of human shields
August 4, 2006
I’m pleased to present my first Book of the Week: “Cooking Bacon Naked” by Stephen E Chatman.
If the back cover blurb doesn’t hook you:
MY RELATIONSHIP PAINS ME, BUT I STAY WHERE I AM. IF I WAS TO WALK AWAY, THE ONLY WOMAN I HAVE EVER LOVED WOULD GET BURNED. THAT’S COOKING BACON NAKED. UNDERSTAND?
Drinking, fighting, and cheating on her. Whatever! She’ll take him back like she’s done so many times before, right? As long as he can stay alive and out of prison long enough to prove he loves her.
Stephen, a connoisseur of 7-Eleven merlot and wild women, has the perfect life for a guy who is overloaded with prescription medications, suffering from rage and bipolar disorders, and on probation for the premeditated assault of a seedy porno producer. “…Red wine is served at room temperature and the floor around my bed is always room temperature.”
Liza, his off-again, on-again fiancée is the only good in his forsaken life. She is book smart, but street dumb and willing to do anything to break into show business. Her poster-girl good looks and country-girl gullibility made her a perfect target for Nikolai, an aged porn star turned porn producer. Nikolai has tricked Liza into believing she is just filming a raunchy soap opera. He allowed her to fake-sex her way through the first half of the film, leading her to believe that fade-to-black means no real sex.
Liza learns that in porn films, there are no special effects and the gooey white stuff isn’t dishwashing liquid mixed with baking soda. When she refuses to have real sex with the block-away ugly actor from a banned porn film called Really Big, she’s given a life-threatening ultimatum, and Stephen may be the only man who can save her.
the opening paragraph surely will:
All men want a more beautiful woman and if you say you don’t you’re lying because your woman is standing right next to you with her Marilyn Manson makeup and horror flick hairdo looking to you for approval. Hey, it’s not your fault; you warned her that her forehead was to big for that new haircut, but no, she forged ahead anyway.
Violence, sex, room-temperature wine, bacon and women with high foreheads.
You know you want it. (amazon.com)
