Baking with Funsize #7: Jam Layer Flapjacks

This one came from Nadiya Hussain's latest TV series, by way of the BBC website. (I believe the recipe also appears in her latest book, "Nadiya Bakes Everyday".)

The flapjacks were nice and easy to make, and ideally suited for baking with Funsize. Indeed, unlike a lot of the previous efforts, this one held her attention throughout, which is good.

The flapjacks came out very well. I did make one big mistake, in that I cut the flapjacks too early. In highsight, after they had cooled "completely" I should have moved them into the fridge for a couple of hours before cutting. (I also made up a batch of brownies yesterday, and exactly the same was true there - chill and then cut.)

As anticipated, the end result is very nice - soft and squidgy with just the right sharpness from the jam, and a nice layering of chocolate. Huzzah!

#31: "Shogun", by James Clavell (a book from The List - three to go)

Flush!

When we first moved into the house we had more toilets than people. That has, of course, gradually reversed. However, one of the toilets, the one in the main bathroom, never worked terribly well - the flush was unreliable, and when it did work it was a feeble thing.

I've had various goes at fixing it, with no real success. A couple of months ago I thought I had cracked it - it stopped working entirely, I made an adjustment, and then it worked. Huzzah!

But on Monday it gae up again, this time completely, and this time beyond my ability to do anything about it.

Anyway, long story short, we've had the flushing mechanism replaced, and now it works properly, for the first time since we moved in. Additionally, the new mechanism is a much better design, so the hope is that this one will now keep working rather more reliably than the last.

Huzzah! - for real this time.

Rings of Power review

I really hate it when media that has been pilloried for "woke casting" turns out to be rubbish. Whether it was the female-led "Ghostbusters", the Star Wars sequels, or now "Rings of Power", there was a noisy segment of the internet (and supposed fandom) that reacted to the casting by condemning the whole thing. And since the internet doesn't allow for any sort of nuance, thereafter any and all criticism of the thing gets lumped in with the same racism and sexism that motivates that.

All of which is rather annoying.

Anyway, I finished "The Rings of Power" this week, and I'm afraid it sucks.

In fairness, there is an awful lot to like about the show: the look and feel of it is great, the casting is universally great, and they do a really good job with the material that they are given. Basically, if it wasn't that that material was just rubbish, the show would be great!

The most fundamental issue with the show is quite simply that they're trying to build an adaptation spanning multiple years of TV, but they're basing it on virtually no source material. Not only did Tolkien not actually write all that much on the Second Age, but Amazon only actually hold the rights to the even more miniscule amount in the appendices of "The Lord of the Rings" (plus one or two other specific things). I forget exactly who it was, but some wise person said something about "butter spread over too much bread"... somehow, that all comes to mind here. There's just not enough that happens to justify nine hours of TV, and the notion of many other seasons of this doesn't bode well.

The other fundamental problem concerns Galadriel. I should note that, as with everyone else, the casting here is perfect, and she does a good job with the portrayal she is asked to give. And that portrayal would also be absolutely spot-on... if this was the Dragonlance show and she was Laurana, the Golden General. But this isn't Galadriel, the noted and powerful sorceress. In short, they've turned her into the bog standard badass action woman. Good job, you guys!

The only other thing that really warrants discussion occurs in episode 6, which is the great big set-piece battle of the season. This was clearly their version of Helms Deep, where a small force faces off against much stronger forces, all while others race to their aid. Except that, unlike in Helms Deep, the defenders don't have extensive and impregnable walls around them. By rights, they should be slaughtered. And, unlike in Helms Deep, the reinforcements don't actually know that the battle is actually happening, nor where it is happening, or the need for urgency.

But the biggest issue with the battle is this: at various points the show cuts away from the battle (at night) to the Numenoreans racing to their aid (daytime), and then back to the battle (at night). Just one problem: the Numenoreans are coming from the West, which means that dawn should come to them later than at the battle. Unless, I suppose, they're riding so fast that they literally travel backwards in time.

I'm afraid the whole thing is just so spectacularly stupid as to undercut everything that's good about the episode. And since this was their big set piece... yeah, not good.

And despite that, I fully intend to watch the next season. Unlike "Wheel of Time", I'm sufficiently invested in the setting that I really want to give it a chance to improve. But it's the same as with the later Star Wars films - I'm now going in with increasingly desperate hope rather than expectation. Still, hope is never mere, even if it is meagre.

No IndyRef, ever

The Supreme Court have, as widely expected, ruled that Holyrood does not have the right to conduct an independence referendum without Westminster approval. Most importantly, this does not apply to holding a referendum in 2023; it applies to holding one ever.

The major consequence of this is that the SNP, and other pro-independence campaigners, need to drop any discussion of another independence referendum. That route is dead. Find some other route, and persuade people of it, or give up the fight.

Because Westminster will never authorise another referendum, as they know fine well there's a very good chance that they'll lose it, so that route is done. Whether it is a Tory government or a Labour one, it's done.

Alister Jack: A Quick Thought

I see that Boris Johnson has decided to elevate Alister Jack to the House of Lords in his resignation honours. This has prompted calls for him to be sacked as Secretary of State for Scotland and a bi-election called.

Well...

Firstly, it's a disgrace that we still have a House of Lords. Secondly, it's a disgrace that Boris Johnson (and, I presume, Liz Truss) get to give out resignation honours, given the nature of his departure. Thirdly, it's a disgrace that the majority of these honours are nakedly party political, designed to give the Tories an imbalance in representation in that place.

That said, that's all part of the system, so so be it.

I don't agree with the SNP calls for Jack to be sacked as Secretary of State for Scotland - while he's hopeless in that role, so would be any of his successors. More importantly, there's no constitutional impediment in him filling that role while in the Lords.

However, there absolutely should be a bi-election. The rules are very clear here: you can't be an MP if you're in the Lords. And this notion that he could delay his elevation until the General Election to avoid a defeat for the Tories is a disgrace. If he's going to accept the elevation at all, it really needs to be now, not later, and a bi-election held.

#29: "Firefly: Life Signs", by James Lovegrove 

Return of the Poo

One of the things that I don't recall anyone ever actually telling me about parenthood is that you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of effort considering poo. Is there enough, too much, what about the colour, consistency? Where does it stand on the universal food stuff comparison chart?

Fun times.

Surprise! has been unwell for the past week, suffering from a bout of the same sickness bug that laid low the rest of us the week before. This was an unwelcome surprise, as we'd assumed we got it from him, and so we'd come to the end, only to be rudely disabused of that notion.

The symptoms were fun: first he was productive at one end, then the other. And gradually it all tailed off as he was emptied out. And I think I'll avoid going into any more detail than that.

All of which is a tragic build up to the absolute highlight of my weekend: the return of the poo in yesterday's nappy.

It's fair to say it was not the greatest weekend ever.

Rangers Management Woes 2022

Dear oh dear!

WHen Steven Gerrard resigned from Rangers last season, it seemed to be immense good fortune that Giovanni Van Bronckhorst was a free agent and willing to come. And the initial results were good. Alas, once we got past the winter break the wheels started to come off - for the fourth year in a row, the league was decided by one team having a meltdown in form while the other went fron strength to strength.

But last season there were a couple of mitigating factors: the signings made in January, that on paper were excellent, proved to be disastrously poor; and the run in the Europa League covered a lot of troubles.

Then there was the summer, a chance to rebuild, and a chance for GvB to really put his mark on the team. Early signs were promising, with the team managing to qualify for the Champions League with some impressive performances.

And then the wheels well and truly came off: a flood of bad performances, a shockingly poor Champions League campaign, poor performances in the league, and now a defeat that may put the league beyond them.

At the time of writing, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst is still Rangers manager. If I waited to post this until tomorrow, there's a decent chance that that would not be the case. Though perhaps that precipitous - the board might yet give him until the break for the World Cup and then decide.

But I really can't see any way back for GvB or any way to turn this around - he's basically reliant on a collapse from Celtic, which isn't impossible but really doesn't look likely.

I've no idea who they'd replace him with, though.

Experimental Cookery 2022: Cajun Chicken Traybake

This one came from "Jamie's £1 Wonders" show, and was as quick, easy, and cheap as promised - a handful of inexpensive ingredients mixed together in a tray, then stuck in the oven. Also of note was that the rice was cooked along with the rest of the meal, reducing the washing up and also making the whole thing even easier.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, we didn't get the full benefit of the meal - I had to rush mine, while LC was left waiting until it had cooled beyond its best. Still, from what we saw it was nice enough. And, since neither Funsize nor Surprise! had any, we've been left with lunch for today.

This feels like one we'll have again - being quick and easy is a major boon. With a bit of luck at least one of the children, or ideally both, will start eating this. But we'll see.

Jamie's £1 Wonders

I watched Jamie's latest show yesterday. And, um, yeah, it's a thing.

The truth is that this show, like "Jamie's Money Saving Meals" isn't actually for poor people - Jamie's just not in a position to understand and approach the problems that the genuinely poor face. And there are people who are better placed to address those problems (notably Jack Monroe).

Where this show does have value, like "Money Saving Meals" before it isn't for people who have nothing, it's for people who can and have made use of Jamie's work in the past, and who may well have a well-stocked kitchen and a well-stocked pantry, but for whom there is value in having a few lost cost meals that they can use to bring overall bills before. That is, if you can afford to buy a great big chunk of salmon and then make a week's worth of meals from that, or if you have a rack of spices and herbs, and just need some recipes with which to use those, this show may be of use to you.

In other words, it's aimed more or less squarely at people like me.

And, look, I'm not going to fault Jamie for his offering. The meals he made yesterday mostly looked reasonably appealing - there were at least two I figured I might have a go at, and one other that I thought looked quite nice but just couldn't eat (brocolli...).

But at the same time, it did feel like a bit of an odd one. I just wish I thought it wasn't needed.

Halloween 2022

Well, we now have a house full of sweets. So many sweets.

Actually, I rather enjoyed Halloween this year - the estate seems to get really quite involved in it, which means both that there are plenty of enthusiastic houses to visit and also plenty of people going about in costume. And where the whole thing could be quite sour and mercenary, in general it all seemed to be in pretty good fun.

One thing that was interesting was that Funsize is now something of an old hand at this, well versed in the need for a costume, a song at the ready, and off she goes. Meanwhile Surprise! was getting involved for the first time, which started the evening with him being rather apprehensive about it all, but ended with him happily wandering up to the doors to collect his sweet, sweet treasure.

Most of which he won't get to eat, poor thing. Oh well.

Alas, the night that followed was not so good. But that's a whole other topic, and one of which I'll spare you the details.