Buy better, buy less. That appears to be the current commercial mantra. Enjoy less of what you like, as long as you are prepared to pay more than you normally would – is another way of approaching it. After the meat fiasco of the supermarkets earlier in the year, I noticed a number of emails and tweets from local farms positioning themselves as the reliable alternative. They realise they can’t compete on price, so pitch it as quality over quantity. You can trust us; you just can’t necessarily afford us – so buy less. It is, after all, what environmentalists have been lobbying us to do for some time now. Have non-meat meals every now and again. You never know you might enjoy it –
Wine Archive
I can’t ride a bike. Not in the technical sense of can’t, more so the physical act of. My last knee operation left me with a leg that I can’t bend beyond 110 degrees, if you view a straight leg as being 180. To ride a bike, to push the pedals round, you really have to be able to bend your knee past 90 degrees. So why then, am I writing a post about professional road racing as a joyous, audience participation sport? Why, for the backdrop; naturally. I’m not the first to highlight the joys you can have from adapting the route of a road race, and putting it in to a more social context. The wine writer, Juel Mahoney, produced an excellent reference
I’m at a crossroads. Not an emotional, sell-my-soul to the devil kind of crossroads – more the virtual, unsure where to go next kind. See I worked in Milan. I could spend the rest of my life drinking coffee or Negronis in Piazza del Duomo, but then I’ve recently booked tickets to fly out to Rome. We’re going as a family. We’re going at the end of March. So as you can imagine – there’s a lot for me to fit in on my Il Viaggio between Milan and Rome, as i travel along the length of the old boot. So what of this crossroads? Well, I know at some point I’m going to have to head south down the A1, but before then –
Why do you choose the wine you buy? I mean – what makes you choose the wine you buy? Are you the sort of person who once had a bottle with friends, or in a restaurant, and have steadfastly stuck with the same bottle ever since? Did you once watch a well known American comedy series about a group of acquaintances, which was usually sponsored by a wine organisation – and then decided that you would give that wine a try? Do you always go for the second most expensive wine on any list in a restaurant? Or are you governed by what supermarkets decide is cool, or are paid to confirm what is cool? Do you drink New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for no other
Originally posted on Parla Calcio? Oh Italy. The place I’d love to one day call home – that beautiful country I have visited more than any other (if you discount Lancashire) in recent years. Italy – the home of great food, great wine, historical landmarks, fantastic football teams – and a language so, so, err, so…. Parla Calcio? This is a project I have thought about doing for a couple of years now. A way in which I can interweave my love for football with a burning desire I have to learn the Italian language. To see if the language of football – that of players names, club names, stadium names, formations – can be used as a bridging gap between the vocabulary used to
You find me writing from that familiar place once more. I’m sat at my desk, staring aimlessly out of the window – as the sun illuminates the weeping willow in the courtyard outside. Although I’d rather not be at work on such a glorious day, the thing with this familiar place is that it is where I tend to come up with most of my ideas to post on this blog. For this familiar place is as much about a physical location as it is a state of mind. A momentary lapse of concentration – a distracting thought whirling around inside my head – captured quickly on the PC or lost forever if I’m brought back in to the room too quickly to act. Three,