Sm. Boy Takes Over World

James and I played Risk today - he did much better than the last time we played, about a year ago. He plays more strategy games and is getting better at the 'don't spread yourself too thin' concept.

Here's the board, right before we called it a draw:

I was blue and James was grey, which you can't quite tell from the picture. We were just about tied (with ongoing conflict in Europe).

Yesterday the Bach Choir performed in St Mary's Church in Bury - it was one of the best concerts I've done with them. We sang quite well and the soloists were fantastic. The mezzo-soprano was a replacement at the last minute (the scheduled one was ill) and she had the most gorgeous operatic voice. Our conductor works at the English National Opera and so has a rather large database of opera singers at his fingertips.

We performed with the Suffolk Baroque players, and for one of the pieces had some Baroque trumpets perform with us for two of the pieces. Then the orchestra played an aria from Julius Caesar with the mezzo and the most spectacular Baroque horn that I've ever heard. I heard the horn player warming up and complimented her on her playing, but I was completely unprepared for what she played in the concert. It was a really complex piece, with lots of running scales and trills. All of which were unbelievably hard and beautifully played. I was really glad that we weren't singing while she was playing - it meant that I could watch and drool. I've tried to find the Suffolk Baroque website and can't - I'll have to ask our secretary for their contact info so I can hear the hornist again.

Here's the back of the church before the concert

Lost

Here are some pictures from our walk last weekend - the weather was gorgeous.


I've been awol because we rented the first half of the first season of Lost on Saturday and have been watching the episodes every night. I don't think it's as good as Heroes but it's really compelling (and way better than 24).

And, as we hadn't had enough TV, we watched The Illusionist last night. It was a great movie. I can't think of an Edward Norton movie that I haven't liked. It was really well done and had a great story. And the magic was v. cool.

I think another blogging hiatus is in order: it's a concert weekend, so check us out if you're in the neighborhood on Saturday night!

Happy V-Day!

It's hard to believe that 5 years ago tonight I was shouting "CUNT!" from the Colby rooftops (in the Vagina Monologues). It is an amazing show and we had a cast of some of the strongest women I know. It's in the top 5 most amazing things I've ever done, and I'll never forget it.

This morning, John woke me up with some cards, and this one had me chuckling all day:
And on the inside, instead of the sappy message, he wrote, "My ordinary wife didn't get a Valentines card!". I'm the special wife...teehee! I love it - I've been chuckling about it all day. He also gave me a brand new shiny 'collector's edition' DVD of Ratatouille. So why am I sitting here blogging? Good question...it's movie time!

The other Eye, and a recipe

Here are some snowdrops that we found on Saturday - there were a zillion more behind them. I'm going to plant some bulbs in the fall - there have been crocuses and daffodils popping up every where and I love it!

Hello, sheeps.

If anyone can explain these to me, I'd be grateful. NO idea what they are. They were by themselves in the middle of a pond in the middle of some woodland.

We thought this tree looked like a giant squirrel:


John and I had the most glorious pasta for dinner - here's the recipe.

Pasta '34'
by StowmarKate (with assistance from John)
serves 2

lots of garlic, sliced (we used 6 cloves)
6 mushrooms, sliced
a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (quartered if they're large)
2 tbs capers (we like the ones in salt)
olive oil
squiggly pasta

Put the pasta water on. Chop the garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes. Rinse and drain the capers. Pour yourself a glass of wine and put your feet up until the water's boiled.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Put the olive oil in a frying pan, over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and fry for a minute or two. (Don't get it too brown - it'll be in the pan for a while). Add the mushrooms to the garlic and oil, sautee until glassy-looking. Add the tomatoes and the capers, poke with a wooden spoon.

Serve hot with lots of pepper and some more olive oil.

Eye

We went to Eye yesterday for a walk - the weather has been absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Glorious sunshine both days and really mild. Eye is an old village off the beaten track with the ruins of a castle and a spectacular church.Loved the gargoyles:

And the designs in the stonework:

And the tower (for bells, natch):

The inside was incredibly ornate - it's quite unusual.

The walk was the perfect length - 2 1/2 miles. There was a playground near the end - here's the small boy on the swings. Those were some very muddy wellies.

And here's the hubby. I call this one 'Green & Black'. Couldn't resist. His face is a bit washed out - we'll just have to go back with the bigger camera.

More Bells

I went to bells last night - I took this picture of the church tower in the dark. It's quite grainy but I thought it was a neat angle.


There were 7 of us there last night: 3 'veteran' ringers, 2 people who have been ringing for about a year, and 2 of us who have just started. I'm really psyched - I can now ring the bell entirely by myself, although I still need someone standing next to me. I panic pretty easily - I need to work on that. It's getting more comfortable, though.

I also had my first try at 'change ringing' last night, where I was ringing half of the bell with one of the more experienced ringers while the two intermediates were learning how to call the changes. It was really neat the way they were teaching us - we were all practicing different things but while ringing together.

I love how mind-emptying it is - I had quite a week at work and there isn't room for thinking about anything other than the bells. It's how I feel yoga should be, except that I can never get my mind to empty during yoga. I need something absorbing to distract me, I guess.

I had an early Physio appointment this morning and it's a gorgeous day - the sun on the church in Woolpit was gorgeous.


Here's the little bit of spring on our kitchen windowsil: some daffs that are nearly done and some hyacinths that are held together with a rubber band because they keep falling over. There are three of them in a tiny pot, and I didn't think to replant them before they flowered. They smell SO good.


And Mom & Dad sent me this fantastic bag from Muji in New York - I love it! It's the perfect size for my wallet and phone and a book. All I ever need, really.

A bell ringer more famous than I

From today's New York Times:

Paris Journal
No Quasimodo, He Brings Music to Notre-Dame Bells
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
Published: February 8, 2008
A 40-year-old chemist by training, Stéphane Urbain became the keeper of the bells of the Paris cathedral in 2005.

Yup, it's for us.

I called our friendly neighborhood Blockbuster (the selection is mediocre and the fact that the employees are awesome is the only reason we're not on a Netflixy thing) to find out if they had Tales From Earthsea, the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki's son. They'd recommended it and it was out when James and I went in last Saturday, but they had it when we called tonight.

When we arrived in the store, I went to the spot on the shelf and it wasn't there. The Blockbuster Guy was standing by the counter holding the DVD, and said, "I thought it was for you guys!" He'd taken it off the shelf and was holding it for us. Literally - in his hand - holding it. He also looked up the first season of Lost (out) and The Dresden Files (out). See...not much selection. But v. friendly. We got some other movie - The Walker - we'll watch it tomorrow night and see how it goes. I just read the reviews for Earthsea and they haven't been great...but if James likes Miyazaki I'm not going to stand in his way!

Germs on all fronts

Both my office-mate and the hubby were home sick today. Since I spend 95% of my time with one or the other of them, I can't see that I'm going to make it through unscathed. In defense, I had a grapefruit after dinner tonight - I sat at the kitchen table and peeled it and thought about all the tasty grapefruits that we liberated from the dining hall at breakfast time and had as a snack in front of the fire in the evening after lots of studying senior year. Mmmm...college.

I feel like a bit of a book snob: I just read three Maeve Binchy books that the MiL loaned me. And I kind of liked them. But don't want to admit it. Does that make me a bad person? (In case you're interested, in order of preference: The Evening Class, Quentins, and The Copper Beech). I'm not sure that I'll have the gumption to take more of her books out of the library, but they were enjoyable.

I also read another of the 'myths': Jeanette Winterson's Weight. I didn't like it as much as The Penelopiad or Dream Angus, but it was still quite good. There was a very witty part about what really happened to Laika, but overall the portrayal of Heracles as an endlessly horny 20something got tired pretty quickly.

I wanna watch the Superbowl

From the Radio Times website. Maybe I can stay home tomorrow? 10:50pm to 3am isn't really going to work with my schedule. I love that they have a 'guide to the rules of American football,' though.

All times are ish

I went to bells on Friday - I can now ring a bell on my own. Well, by 'on my own' I mean I can ring it with someone who knows what they're doing standing rightthere ready to catch something if I screw up. I'm still finding it surprisingly scary, though. I also have what are probably the most bizarre bell-injuries ever. I was wearing a somewhat tight oxford shirt under a sweater, and when I raised my arms over my head for the backstroke, my shirt was digging into my upper arms. Completely forgot about it until I was brushing my teeth, when I noticed that I have HUGE welts on my arms from the shirt. Good thing it's not summer - if I were wearing a tank top people might think that hubby was beating me. Granted, in odd places, but still. I'll try not to get injured at practice next week. It's a dangerous 'sport' - one of the v. experienced ringers broke her finger when she got it stuck in a rope a few weeks ago. Ouch!

John and I ran errands in the morning yesterday and then decided sort of late in the day to go to Woodbridge for a walk. I'd only ever been to the part of town by the river, which is gorgeous, but it turns out that there's a v. cute high street with lots of independent shops and neat places to poke around. When John was growing up, his parents spent a lot of time on a boat moored in Woodbridge, so he knows the town pretty well. We drooled in the cookshop, the bookshop(s), the lamp store, and some art galleries. This little guy was keeping watch outside an art gallery/antique/junk shop. V. funny.


We stumbled on a wood furniture store, filled to the brim with all kinds of gorgeous furniture, extremely well priced. None of which would fit in our house. The sign outside was the best:

It was just up the street from this - I loved the way it's silhouetted against the sky.

Here's the harbor, looking cold and wintry:

And this warmed me up:


After we got home, we went to the Stowmarket Regal to see The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. 8/10 on IMDB and 75% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes - we thought we couldn't miss. It was LONG. And dull. It was pretty, though. The cinematography was stunning and Brad Pitt is easy on the eyes. And you know from the title what happens at the end - I felt like I spent the whole movie waiting for it. And about half way through started thinking, "Ok, kill him now! No? NOW! ... still no? Bloody hell."

Kate the Bear

There are always people taking collections and running raffles at work, for various charities. Today, one of my colleagues came around with a "guess the bear's name" sheet and a bear. I gave her £1 and plopped my name in the 'Katie' box. And completely forgot about it.

About half an hour later, the receptionist came on the PA and said, "Thank you all for your donations. The bear's name is Katie. Congratulations to Kate - please come get your bear!" At which point I let out a whoop of joy (which was heard throughout the sales department and caused much laughter). Katie the bear has come home and has been introduced to the other soft toys - I think they'll all get along.

Spring soon?

I know it's weeks and weeks until spring, but it's starting to feel like the darkest part of winter is over. We were driving home from the inlaws this evening at about 5, and while it was definitely twilight, there was still some light in the sky at 5:20. I was also given a small pot of bulbs by my friend last week - they turned out to be tiny daffodils that are blooming happily on the windowsill. Spring, I tell you.

Whatever extra light there is has pressed the 'garden' button in my brain. I'm obviously not the only one - the Thompson & Morgan seed catalogue arrived today. (Not sure how - since it's Sunday and it was sent via the postal service, but it was on the mat when we got home.) We planted a few shrubs last year and a whole bunch of bedding plants, as well as lots of herbs. We're definitely going to go with the bedding plants by the house again - they looked so jolly and lasted well into October.

There's a runty piece of lawn between the patio and the fence, about 18 inches deep and 5 feet wide. Last year, it was a pain in the ass to mow. This year, it's going to be a raised bed with tomatoes and marigolds in one end and herbs in the other. We also have a spot at the back of the garden where the parking lot behind goes underneath the grass. It's a perfect spot for a tree, except that there's only about a foot of dirt before you hit concrete. So we're going to use three half-barrels that we found at the garden center as planters and give up on the grass. Gravel will be our friend. The area around the compost bin is another spot that's going to get the gravel treatment - it's the lowest part of the garden and gets kind of boggy. The grass is dead in one spot and 8 inches high in others, fueled by what must be by now some v. ripe compost.

Trouser Mystery/Dilemma

I ordered some trousers from Boden this weekend - they turned up today. Having not ordered from them before (except for James), I wasn't sure of my size. They have really clear sizing charts, so I measured. Lots.

I ordered two pairs: these sailor trousers that look like they were made for me, and these jeans that are a bit too small. And yes, they're both the same size. Grrr. I called and asked if they would shrink, and the girl said that they hadn't had any feedback that they would. So do I keep the jeans and hope they stretch a little or do I get the bigger size? They're a little bit stretchy, and we don't have a dryer... It's a little frustrating - you'd think a mail-order company would rely on consistent sizing. Right?

Jeans are the first picture, sailor trousers the second. Ok, now that I've put them in as thumbnails they kind of look the same. They're different, I promise.



Update: I returned the jeans for a different cut - the same as the sailor pants. We'll see what happens.

Two completely different movies

John was working yesterday so I had the kind of quiet Saturday that I used to have when I lived in New York. I had a lazy morning, then walked into town (in my new and v. waterproof jacket), where I went to the library, Blockbuster, and then had a very tasty jacket potato for lunch.

We got to Blockbuster quite a bit - one of the employees has very similar taste in movies to John, and so is always recommending things. I got Hairspray, which I hadn't seen - I LOVED it. The music was fantastic and the story was cute. My parents saw it on Broadway ages ago, but somehow I missed it. I may have to watch it again before taking it back to the store.

Then when John got home, we watched Shoot Em Up. This was the one that Blockbuster Girl had recommended - she said that it was a very stylized and funny action movie. I wasn't so sure, and was thisclose to not even watching the movie after the previews on the DVD were all either really stupid action flicks or sophomoric comedies. The basic premise of the movie is that the hero finds a baby and needs to protect it. I usually can't tolerate violence in movies at all, but this was just so completely over-the-top that it was fine. It was filled with lots of in-jokes and Bugs Bunny references, and John and I really liked it. Not one to watch with James around, but a thumbs-up anyway.

Ring-y ding-y!

I've been meaning to go learn how to ring the church bells in Stowmarket for about a year, and finally made it down to a rehearsal on Thursday night. However, they'd canceled rehearsal at the last minute so nobody was there. Boo. I'd called someone a few months ago and never gotten a response, so I was feeling a little frustrated. I left a message on the answering machine of one of the ringers, explaining that I'd love to come ring but that I didn't seem to be able to get in touch with anyone. We were at work pretty late last night, and didn't get home until about 6:45. I checked our messages, and Jo (the ringer) had called back. I called her, and she said that they were going to be having a quick practice tonight and did I want to come down? John said he didn't mind, so we bolted some dinner and I drove down to the church.

They were the most welcoming group of people - the ringing captain who's been ringing since about 1850, a married couple who have been ringing for a year, a very enthusiastic 9-year-old boy who's been ringing for 2 weeks, and Jo. I had a lesson on the '4' bell, which is an 8 cwt bell that was cast in 1450. Eek! It was the most incredible experience: relaxing and challenging and a little bit scary. And I'm completely hooked.

There's an entire Bell subculture that I never knew existed - there's lots of jargon and a crazy camaraderie and all kinds of networks of bells and ringers. Check out the Suffolk Bells website. There's also lots of info on Wikipedia about change ringing. I'm not up to the changes or exciting stuff - I'm still trying to get to the point where I can ring the bell without breaking anything or hanging myself. We were up in the church tower (click the picture to go to the church website):



My dad has sent another batch of photos - I thought these were good Jr. Foodie pictures. Mmmmm.

2 reviews

I finished two books this week. And now I'm going to review them. Lucky you.

First, When Madeline Was Young, by Jane Hamilton. I don't remember where I heard about this - I think I stumbled across it on one of the blogs that I read. It's a 'family saga' tale told over the lifetime of the narrator, who is raised with a somewhat odd family. It didn't really have much of a plot, as far as I could tell. If the same story had been presented as autobiography, I probably would have enjoyed it more - it just seemed a sort of pointless novel. Meh.

Then I picked up one of the books in the pile from Freda (she makes extensive use fof the book swaps when they go on vacation). This time, Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad. It's the second book I've read in the series of myths retold by modern authors, published by Canongate. I've found some of Atwood's other books to be sort of spacey and wandering, but that style fit this story perfectly. It's kind of like The Red Tent in that it casts a minor (female) character from a well-known story in her own tale. It was a quick read and very witty - I loved it. The other one I read in this series was McCall Smith's Dream Angus and that was really good too. The rest of the series are at the bottom of this page. And are going to be in my library queue very shortly.

Mug Cozy

I've been at loose ends since I finished the blanket - I'm not feeling inspired or energetic enough to start something as big as a sweater, I have a million hats & scarves, and I don't wear mittens. Don't like wool socks, either. So I was trawling the interwebs for project ideas and made a mug cozy. I cannibalized a bunch of patterns around the internet: I cast on 50 stitches and worked a K2P2 rib until I was 'done'. It's a little tall for this mug, but it works on our bigger ones. Guess I'll just have to make another one. Oh, and because I'm so clever, I found this tutorial and made a buttonhole. I'm not sure I did it right, but it's a buttonholey looking thing and it hasn't unraveled. Yet. It's tied together with yarn at the moment, since I'm short a button. There were lots of tutorials where I was supposed to crochet a loop and other nonsense - I need to learn how to crochet but not right this second.



We had the inlaws over yesterday for lunch - we roasted a chicken using this recipe from Good Food. It was, by far, the best chicken I've ever had. Sorry, Mom. And then I made chicken soup for the boys, using the stock and some carrots and peas and pasta. Which was good, because I was home sick today (some kind of cold-y thing), and it was a very restorative lunch.

Gloria Steinem on Barak and Hilary

This is a fantastic article, published in Monday's New York Times.

Op-Ed Contributor
Women Are Never Front-Runners

By GLORIA STEINEM
Published: January 8, 2008
Correction Appended

THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?

If you answered no to either question, you’re not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).

If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

I’m not advocating a competition for who has it toughest. The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be uprooted together. That’s why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that.

I’m supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country’s talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I’m not opposing Mr. Obama; if he’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama.

But what worries me is that he is seen as unifying by his race while she is seen as divisive by her sex.

What worries me is that she is accused of “playing the gender card” when citing the old boys’ club, while he is seen as unifying by citing civil rights confrontations.

What worries me is that male Iowa voters were seen as gender-free when supporting their own, while female voters were seen as biased if they did and disloyal if they didn’t.

What worries me is that reporters ignore Mr. Obama’s dependence on the old — for instance, the frequent campaign comparisons to John F. Kennedy — while not challenging the slander that her progressive policies are part of the Washington status quo.

What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age.

This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. It’s time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: “I’m supporting her because she’ll be a great president and because she’s a woman.”

InevitaBagel

What comes after bagels? Bagel chips! I cannibalized a bunch of recipes from the web and ended up slicing the bagels thinly, spreading them with a mix of crushed garlic, herbes de provence, and olive oil, and baking them at 160C for about 10 minutes. They're a little greasy but v. crispy and tasty.