The Ultimate 80’s Quiz. That’s actually a really well-done quiz! (Aside from a few spelling mistakes, anyway.) It starts really easy but gets a lot harder. I scored 72 out of 100, which puts me at the “Brat Packian” rank. Sweet.

The Good: Another article in the Australian media about TiVo!
The Bad: They doubt it’ll ever be available here.
The Ugly: The cost of importing one and hacking it to work Down Under.

Adventures in Food Preparation
As you can see from the photos below, the Snook and I have been makin’ pickles. Specifically, we’re making sun dills. My mom used to make them when I was a kid and I loved them, so a few months ago we planted cucumber seeds in the garden. As with everything else we planted, they went berserk. Last weekend the Snook noticed that I had three big fat ripe ones. Here you can see the before and after shots. Now we just need to leave the jar in the sun for a couple days and I’ll be eating ice cold fresh pickles by Monday!

Also, we tried out a great new sausage and bean stew for dinner tonight. It’s sorta like a cross between chili and gourmet beanie weenies. It’s not exactly the most Atkins-friendly dish but it’s an awesome winter warmer. (Why we made it in the height of Indian summer is a mystery even to me.) It even involved fennel, which I didn’t think I liked. Read on for the recipe.This recipe is courtesy of my friend Kiri, with a few small adjustments by the Snook and myself…

Sausage and Bean Stew
4 thick Italian style sausages
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large bulb of fennel, trimmed and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
400g tin chopped tomatoes
440g can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 small sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Shaved parmesan

Place sausages in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for two minutes, then drain well. When cool, cut on the diagonal into 2cm pieces.

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based flameproof casserole, add sausage pieces and cook over medium-high heat until browned, then drain on absorbent paper. Reduce heat to low-medium, then add onion, garlic, fennel and chilli to pan and cook stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until soft and then stir in tomato paste and cook for another five minutes. Add tomato, beans, stock and rosemary, cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir in sausage pieces and parsley and season to taste. (Pull out the rosemary.) Serve topped with parmesan with a crusty bread on the side.

Note: The Snook felt that this was a little too much chili, so next time we’ll probably use about half that much. If you’re scared of fennel (like I was), don’t sweat it. The strong licorice-ness really mellows out in the cooking and it ends up complimenting the spiciness nicely. (Incidentally, the fennel was labelled “aniseed” in my greengrocer in case you have trouble finding it.)

Are any of you English folks in listening range of BBC Radio Suffolk? They contacted me about doing an interview about my Roald Dahl site, which they want to feature as their “site of the day”. The piece airs at 3:45 pm each afternoon but I don’t know the day yet (as I haven’t yet done the interview). I’ve checked their website but it isn’t clear if this segment is broadcast on the Internet. Anybody around there that could possibly tape it for me? I’ll provide more details once I know them.

Who the hell are Aphrodite Marketing? My Yahoo account has been relatively quiet spam-wise lately (with most offenders being sent straight to the Bulk Mail folder) but these jerks have suddenly exploded into my Inbox in a big way. They seem to specialize in HTML emails where the actual spam pitch is contained in a big image, while the text of the email looks like a message from a friend. I keep reporting it as spam but the torrent isn’t slowing. Bastards.

This waiting-for-my-residency thing is a little nerve-wracking. I was reading this article on mail-order brides today (more on that in a minute) and was surprised to see that only 191 Australian spouse visas were granted to Russian women last year. That places them fifth on the country list and the US is ranked even lower. I know I don’t really have to worry but I was surprised to learn how uncommon my situation is. I figured the number would be in the thousands.

On a related note, The Age has a story today on green card marriages of convenience. Last year almost 10% of applicants got rejected for lack of evidence. We haven’t had to go through the interview process they describe but I know all about trying to prove your relationship is “genuine.” It’s hard enough for legitimate couples; I can’t imagine trying to fake all the necessary documents.

Going back to the Russian bride article… It made my blood boil, all that crap about how Western women have been somehow “ruined” for marriage by feminism. WHATEVER. If our desire to be treated with respect and equality by society and our partners precludes the Neanderthals of the world from proposing to us, LUCKY US. Finding a wife shouldn’t be about choosing a mother-substitute to cook your food and iron your shirts. I just feel sorry for the women in bad circumstances – economic, political, whatever – who are so desperate that they feel the possibility of domestic and sexual violence at the hands of a man they hardly know is a gamble worth taking.

25 degrees!
Drink Pepsi? Want to maximise the number of free iTunes songs you win? Check this out. It’s hardly a novel concept, but I probably wouldn’t have thought of it. (Not that it matters, given that we still can’t even buy iTunes songs in Australia, much less win free ones with our sugar water.)

The Herald has a nice interview with Ani Difranco (though it includes a not-too-favourable review of her latest album). She’s in town for a couple concerts. I’ve seen her in London and the US and I wouldn’t mind seeing her here, but I can’t find anybody who wants to go with me! (The Snook jokingly said he’d go only if I found him a “Cover me in honey and throw me to the lesbians” T-shirt to wear.)

The Onion A.V. Club is currently running an interview with Arthur C. Clarke, author of Max‘s favorite movie.

I was happy to read this article from The Age about new birth control options for women that lessen or stop menstruation. Finally scientists are starting to realize that most women would be happier not having a period. I’ve been on Depo Provera for over two years now and it’s the Best. Thing. Ever. It’s like being a guy! And for those who are worried about being “unnatural”, it turns out that monthly bleeding isn’t exactly a natural state of events either:

And although it may initially seem unnatural, prolonged amenorrhoea is actually nothing new. An article in the Medical Bulletin of the International Planned Parenthood Federation last summer said, “regular menstruation is not natural: before modern contraception, women spent much of their reproductive lives amenorrhoeic as a consequence of either pregnancy or breastfeeding”.

Plus it’s fun to say and it’s got that cheery little “Amen!” in there. AMEN-ORRHOEA!