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Never underestimate an English persons’ ability to find a bit of beautiful country side, balance on a stick for a while and then go home.
The problem with taking seat-sticks with you when you go walking, is that everytime you stop, you feel you have to sit on them. Even if there is a bench 10 metres to your right.
Written by exmonkey on May 29th, 2006 with no comments.
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So I’ve had my straight edge - or cut-throat - razor for over a year now and I’d like to share what I’ve learnt.
I bought my first straight edge razor because it seemed like a good idea. Plus I’ve always liked that scene in “A fistful of dollars” where Clint is getting a shave and shots all the baddies. Basically I wanted to be Clint Eastwood. Without the orang-utan.
The shaving industry is all about getting men to use over priced, multi-bladed disposable plastic items and a bewildering array of chemical sludges (read the ingredients next time you shave) for something that should be about:
Soap, Water, Sharp Thing.
This is mainly aimed at my various brothers who I’ve given cut throats to for birthdays.
Equipment:
Preparation:
Notes: Water should not be too hot, as this will dry out the shaving cream on your face to quickly. If the cream on you face starts to dry out (the last bit you shave may well do) re-apply with the brush.
Most shaving cuts occur for two reasons.
1 - wrong angle. The blade should be at about 30° to the face. To steep an angle and the blade will just go in to your face. To slight and it will not cut.
2 - Skin too slack. Your should always try to pull the skin taught just behind the passage of the blade.
After care:
And that’s it. I can honestly say that, having always hated shaving, I now look forward to shaving every other day.
Yes, it takes longer; but it is such a great way to start the day - a real ritual. I especially like going camping and making a point of getting a good shave with a small mirror and a billy can.
The other huge bonus is that you will never need to buy a new razor. Disposables cost a fortune these day, whereas a quality second hand straight edge razor (mine is over 50years old) can be found on Ebay for £10 - and it will last for ever.
Written by exmonkey on May 26th, 2006 with 2 comments.
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Quick observation this - the powers that be (i.e. advertising agencies) have decided that Bank Holiday Monday is now called Holiday Monday. Why? Are banks now longer shutting on these national holidays or is it just that our quaint British customs are confusing to our European and American friends?
All very odd. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Snickers/Marathon and Opal Fruit/Starburst debacle.
Written by exmonkey on May 26th, 2006 with no comments.
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On may way in this morning, I witnessed two cars driving through red lights (separate incidents, where the lights had been red for over a minute) whilst the green man was telling people to cross.
It made me wonder if the safety by consensus we all enjoy is finally breaking down.
We all like to think we drive safely, and even if this is true we are ultimately at the mercy of other people. We have to trust that other road users will obey the law; otherwise none of us would feel confident driving down a two way road.
Is this a symptom of a larger problem facing the whole of society? Will historians and sociologists look back at this time and identify the erosion of politeness, lack of respect for small law (ie the laws that govern our everyday lives) and the general retreat into our own selfish little boxes as being the warning signs that western civilisation was on the rocks?
It may sound extreme to cite a case of jumping red lights as an early sign that we are approaching the end of days, and it may be my age that is making me look back on halcyon days of door opening and table manners… but it may also be the apocalypse.
At some point, one batch of middle aged grumpy blokes is going to be right when they say that society is going to hell in a hand basket (rather than just being grumpy and wrong); and it may as well be my generation that takes that honour.
Written by exmonkey on May 25th, 2006 with 2 comments.
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Would you eat a Spunkmeyer muffin?
We went to the Cafe Culture exhibition at Olympia in west London today to try and drum up some business.
All in all a pretty good day, some really interesting people, from Fair Trade to Piper Crisps (who knew a LOT about potatoes), but the one that made be laugh were these muffins making muppets.
We tried their Spunk-muffins. How did they taste? Salty.
I didn’t ask to sample their biscuits.
Written by exmonkey on May 24th, 2006 with 5 comments.
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Bit of shameless advertising here…..
We have just launched a new site, GutterEats.
The idea is fairly simple (like me). My place of work is on the outskirts of the City (near Old Street). Most days I take a packed lunch to work, but every now and again I either forget or can’t be arsed, so I go to one of the MANY sandwich shops in our area.
Sandwich shops must be one of the most numerous of all businesses in London, virtually all of us have visited one. Most of us have a favourite and tend to buy the same thing day in day out. We may want to try the other sandwich shop, the one across the street. It always seems quite busy, so it must be OK and you’re pretty bored with your normal sandwich shop…. but no, why risk it. Better the mundane devil you know.
What you don’t realise, is that the people on the other side of the street are watching your sandwich shop and thinking exactly the same thing.
If only there was somewhere you could find out about that other sandwich shop (or cafe etc) and post up a review of yours….
GutterEats is aimed at the lunch time office sandwich market. Most of these small independent places fall well below the radar of the numerous food review sites that litter the internet.
We have tried to make it as simple as possible to use, mainly because it needs users to submit their reviews and suggestions for it to work.
So take a look, add your reviews and shops, and let me know if it works for you or if we need to tweak it to get it right.
***end shameless advertising***
Written by exmonkey on May 24th, 2006 with no comments.
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WARNING - you probably have to be a bit of a Star Wars fan to appreciate this.
ALSO WARNING - If you think that by Star Wars I mean “The Revenge of the Sith” etc etc, stop reading now and go an appropriate your own culture of nostalgia - base it on Agent Cody Banks or something.
(link lifted from http://www.bullwinkleblog.com)
Written by exmonkey on May 22nd, 2006 with 1 comment.
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Is there a watery stool epidemic? Are faeces on the loose?
There must be some kind of intestinal bug going around, because almost every commercial break recently seems to contain an advert for Immodium (and the revolutionary Immodium Gel - the breakthrough in medical science that allows us to take the poo blocker on the move).
So is there an epidemic or is this a response to our societies’ appalling diet? Bizarrely, there also seems to be an increase in the amount of over-the-counter laxatives on sale and on TV - maybe the two are related.
My theory - these two trends are due to either;
a) The dreadful low fibre, high sugar, high fat, high chemical diet our country enjoys or
b) The general public are not very good at self medicating and keep over estimating the dose in a self defeating, and self perpetuating see-saw of poorly controlled bowels.
Written by exmonkey on May 21st, 2006 with 4 comments.
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This new(ish) technology looks fab - E-Ink.
What makes me smile though, is the way that, on Channel 4 news, a spokesman for one of the technology companies promoting this new was of making books more prone to crashes, demonstrated how robust the screen was by hitting it with his shoe.
Two things.
1 - I nearly never hit any electronic display device with my shoes, and I’m fairly sure I’m not alone in my tendency not to do this.
2 - Does anyone remember when CD were first shown on Tomorrow’s World - They demonstrated how utterly indestructible compact disks were by variously freezing, heating and (my personal favorite test of indestructibility) smearing raspberry jam on them. Brilliant.
In a bizarre twist of fate, I lost my entire CD collection in an unlikely, but highly destructive, burning frozen jam accident.
Written by exmonkey on May 19th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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In addition to radishes that only a small minority actually like, we have now harvested mixed salad.
The main reason I picked the small leaves is because they were interfering with the potatoes. Allow me to explain.
When I planted the seed potatoes, I though I’d try and be clever and plant what some of the magazines call a ‘catch crop’ - ie a crop of fast growing stuff that can harvested before the main crop already planted in that bit of allotment starts to take over. That’s the idea anyway.
So I planted a couple of rows of ‘italian mix’ salad leaves either side of where I thought the spuds would appear. Unfortunatley, I must have put the potatoes in at a funny angle, because they decided to break through right along one of the lines of salad leaves. Hence the early harvest.
Why did I leave it as long as I did? I kept on expecting a nitrogen gas filled plastic bag to appear over the leaves. This never happened - I can only assume that you only get nitrogen gas filled bags in Spain and Israel.
So what does this stuff taste like? Plants. Stephen assures me that it tastes like salad, but I think it tastes like a handfull of grass. Maybe I don’t like salad either. Hopefully, the next crop will be more to my seemingly choosey palate.
Written by exmonkey on May 19th, 2006 with 3 comments.
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