1st BBQ in La-La Land

The crazy month that was August is nearly over. Thank goodness for that. I don't think I crawled into bed any earlier than 1am for over a month.

Being totally worn out from the constant partying, I lost all sense of reason and invited my entire lab to my first LA BBQ. Technically, it's the 3rd (see soon to-be-uploaded Flickr shots of the 2nd), but it's the first in my new apartment. Being the host and chef, I failed to take ANY photos, and also later found out that everyone else was too drunk to take any either. Which is a shame. I put a fair amount of effort into marinating pounds and pounds of flesh (purchased from Trader Joe's thanks to Santos' tip): baby back ribs in pineapple juice/ketchup/soya sauce/maple syrup marinade, tri-tip huge-chunk-of-beef in a pseudo-Korean/soya sauce/sesame oil/green onion/garlic/sesame seed marinade, chicken yakitori, chicken/papaya/peppers/pineapple kebabs marinated in coconut milk/pineapple juice/ginger/garlic/soya sauce and chicken drumsticks in miso paste and sesame seeds. And for afters: bananas BBQed in their own skins and served either with squares of Maya Gold (lightly spiced chocolate by G&B) or a Nutella-like spread, slices of fresh pineapple, rum and brown sugar, wrapped in foil and warmed on the pit, and figs with a knob of butter and sprinkling of sugar. I could really kick myself for not appointing a designated photographer. Which is kinda ironic given that I invited my photographer neighbour... C'est la vie.

A good time was had by all, what with mojitos, bottles of Ca' del Solo rosé (a personal favourite for taste, price and sentimental reasons), and several good bottles of hefty reds being consumed by 10 over the course of 5 hours. And how could I forget to mention the absolute pepper vodka? Foul stuff; harsh and an appetite killer. I'm not tempted to try any of the other flavoured vodkas of the same make. They don't quite compare to a very pleasant bison-grass flavoured vodka we tried in a Polish restaurant in Santa Monica (Warszawa?).

Since I can't upload any shots of the food I cooked, here's a gratuitous shot of a scrummy salad crafted by the Monsieur Marcel café at the Third and Fairfax farmer's market:

Sad person that I am, I bought a small jar of Marmite.

Mandelson's textiles U-turn

From the Guardian: Mandelson's textiles U-turn

Honestly! "Rationing"? When did clothes become one of life's essentials? And if we're talking about clothes from China, 1. they've probably been made by poorly paid, badly treated workers, and 2. they're probably more tat that we would do well to stop buying.

Who's been twisting Mandy's arm anyway?

England triumph in Women's Ashes

This is brilliant. English women's sports teams seem to be doing better and better these days. Although they didn't get far enough in the Women's European Championships (footie), they certainly upped the profile of the women's game. Perhaps this Ashes victory will inspire more girls to play cricket in school. I wish I had the option back then... We played bloody netball (sucked at that), basketball (too damn short for that), softball (yawn...), volleyball (ouch, my wrists!), athletics (double yawn) and various racquet-and-ball games. While it got us out in the open and physically active, none of these school-sponsered sports fired my imgaination, nor gave me a sport for life. Should have been cricket. Or maybe rugby... (Still too damn short, but I'd make a decent prop for my height/weight... Be useless at line-outs though.)

Oh. The men ain't doing too bad either. As evidenced by my total lack of sleep last night, what with BBC's TMS playing on the laptop, waking me with every wicket!

Je ny crois pas!

From BBC news: Liverpool play Owen waiting game

Benitez doesn't want him. And I don't want him back either. He might be a good Shearer replacement for Newcastle Comedy Club (trademark the folk who write The Fiver at the Guardian) though.

Good mood...

Australia may have to follow on! Heh. How often does that happen? Not counting chickens before they hatch, but it's put me in a good mood this morning...

Discovery

From BBC News: Discovery returns safely to Earth.

Funnily enough, I had BBC 24 on the telly yesterday morning at 5am (yes, I wake up pretty early). Which is why I didn't s*** myself when I heard the sonic boom. It shook the windows and patio doors. First time I've ever heard one.

Penguins

Went to see March of the Penguins recently, which makes this penguin song by eclectech all the more funny. My apologies for the lack of content recently. I've been very busy getting pished for the last fortnight.

Greenpeace short

Recently stumbled across IFILM when the TV in my wee studio died. It's a great collection of viral videos, trailers and fan films. The one that cracked me up the most? A Greenpeace video: Blair Blows Bush. Might offend those of finer sensibilities. Who might prefer this: boarding Hurricane Dennis. Well cool. Wish I could afford a kiteboarding set-up.

Storr on Skye

This could explain this:

Which would make our original guess at an explanation wrong.