web-goddess

Month: January 2011

  • Shared today on Google Reader

  • RunningBlog: Week 4

    I suppose it was inevitable that I’d have a “down” week after so much exercise last week. That’s okay. We’re also having a run of hot weather, so just getting out there is a big win. I started with a run of 7km on Sunday. (It’s a cutback week on my marathon training plan.) On Monday I did a Spudds class after work, where I had some good form on the rower. Tuesday I ran to work wearing my new backpack, but it was a really sucky run. I just felt flat and tired. Wednesday I did a quick core workout before the Australia Day festivities, and this morning I did an easy run before work. Huh. I guess I did more than I realised.

    Jan. 23: 7.01km
    Jan. 25: 5.21km
    Jan. 28: 6.06km
    Total this week: 18.28km (11.4mi)
    Total in 2011: 82.81km (51.75mi)

    To meet my goal of running 1100km in 2011, I should be at 84.6km. So I’m about 2km behind pace. That’s fine; I’ve got another long run scheduled this weekend that should put me well ahead!

  • Shared today on Twitter

    @ArtWebEtsy I did some research. Import is banned, but you can still make them domestically in US as long as they don’t have lungs in them.

    @drkknits RULE BREAKER! HERETIC! You do realise this is all being noted in your permanent record, yes?

    @richbuggy I thought the problem was that you can’t get flood insurance on a flood plan. Like you can’t get hurricane insurance in Florida.

    @drkknits @knitdra But… but… if you don’t follow the rules, how will people know you’re Hermione and the best? I HAVE TO KEEP SCORE.

    @richbuggy My point is simply that you made it sound like they were too lazy or cheap to get insurance. When that’s not the case at all.

    @richbuggy I’m just depressed at level of selfishness I see in SMH comments. No mateship & generosity, just “Fuck off I got mine.”

    @richbuggy Sometimes Australians demonstrate that they’re a lot more like Americans than they like to think they are.

    I’ve deleted like 6 snarky tweets so far about the flood levy. Suffice it to say I am happy to pay my share in dealing with this disaster.

    @SallyPompom Exactly. The level of selfishness I’m seeing (on Twitter, SMH comments, etc) is pretty disheartening though.

    @TimBags Assume you also support my right to not pay taxes for schools? I don’t have kids; why should I subsidise somebody else’s disaster?

    @TimBags And you got the first homeowners grant, right? 🙂

    Random observation: those bitching about the flood levy were all born here. All the immigrants I know are happy to pay it. Curious.

    @Lauren_lolly_ Uh, I’m one of those immigrants. My standard of life in the US was pretty damn high.

    Didn’t mean to imply those born Aussie all object to the levy. Many of you are awesome. Just odd that so many of the whingers are…

    @venks79 I disagree. If a person can’t afford an extra $250/yr to help, they probably weren’t going to be donating anyway.

    @sharre Damn socialist! 🙂 Next you’ll want to feed the starving and house the poor!

    @aimee_maree Totally agree with you there.

    @venks79 But lots of stuff is enforced. Medicare. Firemen. Schools. The military. Why should massive natural disaster recovery be optional?

    @gilmae Maybe it’s a trait that takes time to develop. Like a proper ocker accent? 🙂

    @gilmae So whinging about the whingers… makes me a fair dinkum Aussie?! Awesome!

    @venks79 But where do you think the government gets its money? It doesn’t, like, sell things on eBay. It comes from taxes (i.e. levies)!

    I’m not arguing that the gov (both state & fed) shouldn’t have some sort of emergency fund. So should my bldg strata. But shit happens.

    CRAP! Secret free Amanda Palmer gig at Carriageworks Saturday night… and I’ll be at Opera in the Domain. GAHHHHHH.

    @drkknits It’s like I’m an actual, well-rounded adult or something! I need to watch some Gossip Girl to make up for it. 🙂

    Bickford’s Lemon, Lime & Bitters Cordial + fizzy water from Soda Stream = hot summer night bliss.

    @Ezzles 8’s are lucky numbers, I think. We put in $188 when we went to one a few years ago, I seem to recall. (They put on a huge feast!)

    @SallyPompom @kat13v Why the hell was I CCed on that email? I got bored 1/2way through and started skimming. I wrote shorter essays in uni!

    Good article on SMH about flood levy: http://bit.ly/eUX5d1. Highly recommend you use calculator before whinging: http://bit.ly/fg1zJM

    @Lauren_lolly_ No idea. Because it didn’t destroy as much infrastructure? That’s what the levy is for.

  • Happy Australia Day!

    Knitters' PartyWell, yesterday anyway. It’s weird having a holiday in the middle of the week. It’s like it’s thrown off my whole circadian rhythms or something.

    Anyhoo, I had a lovely day. I spent the morning baking cookies and making Rice Krispie treats. Then I caught the train with JP over to RoseRed’s house for a lovely knitters’ party. We had scones with jam and cream, sandwiches, meat pies, cakes, cookies, and everything lovely. I noticed a pavlova sitting beneath a dome and wondered to myself why the fruit seemed to be clumped together instead of evenly distributed. Imagine my surprise when I realised it was Sydney Harbour, complete with a banana bridge and a strawberry Opera House!

    After much merriment, knitting, and champagne, I headed back to the city with Kylie. After a quick stop to pick up the Snook, we caught a bus to the city and met Kunaal at the Opera House. It was time to see Amanda F**king Palmer!

    Me and KylieThe show was AMAZING. Kylie and I spent some time marvelling at the set (one half of which was “bogan”; one half was “art fag”). Amanda opened the show herself by acknowledging the Gadigal people, the Aboriginal people of this area. Then The Jane Austen Argument kicked everything off with a couple songs. They were okay; a bit too “Melbourne arty” for my taste. Then came Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, who we LOVED. Hilarious and brilliant, and great musicians too. And finally, with much fanfare, out came Amanda Palmer! She swooped around the stage; she climbed down into the audience; she slithered across people in the stalls. We were entranced. She sang a hilarious song about how evil Vegemite is. She drank VB on stage and we commiserated on how shit it is. She threw flowers. She played the piano; she played the ukelele; she played the keyboard. She played for hours. At one point, she brought out her husband Neil Gaiman who read a few pieces for us, including one he’d written that day on Australian megafauna. He also surprised her with a poem about all the reasons he loved her. (WE WERE ALL SQUEEING LIKE CRAZY.) The Black Sea Gentlemen came out at various points to accompany her, and they amused us by dressing up in increasingly crazy costumes. The show ended with a raucous encore of “Map of Tasmania” with sexy go-go dancers and a female beatboxer and all kinds of fun. It was amazing. Three-and-a-half hours! Great way to end the day.

  • Cinnamon Rolls

    Note to self: Make the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls… but do a small batch.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    @CortneyM They are in my house! 🙂

    A knitters tea party! http://twitpic.com/3tge0l

    How’s that for a patriotic dessert? It’s Sydney Harbour on a pavlova! http://twitpic.com/3tggn5

    Waiting to see Amanda Palmer! (@ Sydney Opera House w/ 8 others) http://4sq.com/exleK0

    That. Was. AWESOME. @drkknits http://twitpic.com/3tjl3q

    RT @kunaal84: Cannot remember the last time I was this entertained! @amandapalmer was AWESOME! 3.5 hours of awesome!

    RT @drkknits: Amanda fucking palmer rocks. That is all.

  • Robbie Burns Night

    Snook and a haggisYesterday at 11am I got an IM from the Snook: “Och! It’s Rabbie Burns Day.” To which I jokingly replied: “Neeps and tatties for dinner then?” For those who are confused, Robert Burns was the most famous poet of Scotland and January 25th was his birthday. It’s traditional for Scots to have a Burns Supper on that night with traditional foods, whisky, and recitations of Burns’s poetry. Now, the Snook and I are not Scottish. Not a bit. But we’ve visited Scotland on a couple occasions, and we have good friends who are Scottish. Also, we’re foodies and we love any excuse for an exotic feast. (I have a dream of going to the annual Bastille Day dinner at Bennelong some year.) So that little joking exchange in the morning stuck in my head all day…

    At 5pm I was packing up from work and I messaged the Snook to see if he really did want Scottish food. On a whim, I asked Twitter where I could get a haggis in Sydney on short notice. A few people replied mentioning various specialty butchers in the suburbs, but making a special trip was probably taking the joke too far. Then my friend Sharon tweeted that Hudson Meats have haggis on their website. Hudson is in Surry Hills, which is only like a 20 minute walk from my office. So I rang the shop to confirm, and half an hour later I had a 2-pound haggis in my backpack. Was I really going to cook and eat this thing?!

    For those who don’t know (or who’ve never seen So I Married an Axe Murderer), haggis is a dish containing sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours. Yes, SERIOUSLY. Basically, it’s like a cross between a meatloaf and a breakfast sausage… involving lots of organ meat. (You don’t actually eat the stomach though; that’s just there for cooking.) Neither of us had ever had one before. Haggis come pre-cooked, so all you really have to do is heat them up. Traditionally you boil them, but there’s always a risk they’ll rupture and you’ll have haggis soup. So I went with the safer oven method: wrap tightly in aluminum foil; place in roasting pan with some water; and roast at 180C for an hour. While it was roasting I invited Fiona and Matt over to join us. We had our haggis with mashed neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) and a whisky sauce. We also recited Burns’s poem “Address to a Haggis” in terrible Scottish accents. It was great!

    This is how the vac-packed haggis from Hudson Meats looked. It cost me about $26 for a 900g haggis.

    Haggis

    And here it is out of the packaging. I felt very brave doing this myself. (I am traditionally not a huge fan of organ meat.) Steeling myself, I leaned forward to take a whiff, expecting some sort of grossness. To my surprise, it smelled good! Like a fresh sausage with lovely spices.

    Haggis

    Fresh from roasting, still in its foil. It’s traditional to cut the haggis open with a dagger. We didn’t have a dagger, but Snookums had a fancy-looking letter opener that we used for the photos.

    Haggis

    And here it is unwrapped. It actually looked kind of good! The casing went translucent and you could see the dark filling inside. The smell was a little bit gamey, but by no means unpleasant.

    Cooked Haggis

    And now for the ceremony. A proper Burns Supper has a whole set of steps you’re meant to follow. Snookums gave the host’s welcoming speech, and then I recited the Selkirk Grace. I had an mp3 of some bagpipes playing the “Robert Burns Medley” playing in the background. Then we all took turns reciting verses from Burns’s “Address to a Haggis”. Great chieftain o’ the puddin’-race!

    Addressing the Haggis

    After a whisky toast to our noble haggis, it was finally time to cut the thing open.

    Slicing the Haggis

    Here you can see what it actually looked like inside. Basically, just a big dark meatball kind of thing. The texture was moist and slightly paté-like.

    Cooked Haggis

    I’ll admit that my first few bites were tentative, as I couldn’t get my brain to stop thinking about all the organs in it. But you know what? It was really tasty! It was lovely with the mashed veg and the cream sauce. Matt was the only one of us four who’d ever had it before, and he said this one was better than the previous two he’d had in Scotland. We pretty much demolished the whole thing!

    Burns Supper

    So what started as a bit of a joke in the morning turned into a full-fledged culinary adventure in the evening. It was loads of fun! Thanks to Sharon for suggesting Hudson Meats, who were awesome. And thanks to Matt and Fiona for helping us eat it!

  • Shared today on Twitter

    Easter Show entry has been made for 3 items. No, I’m not telling you what they are. #paranoia #conspiracy #knittersforevil

    RT @acatinatree: Finally internet delivers something useful: cancel phone directory deliveries for 3 yrs http://bit.ly/hzFejj // BRILLIANT!

    @glittertrash My kitty. http://instagr.am/p/BLuKY/

    @grabyourfork I did agree with GYF commenter about the number of comped meals. It does affect my perception of some food bloggers…

    RT @googlereader: The Reader link at the top of Gmail (and other sites) was accidentally removed. It’s coming back soon, we promise. Don …

    Trying for the hundredth time to convince the Snook to sign up to Twitter. And yet he denies us all.

    @Opheli8 True. But he’s always sending me links with pithy one liners. Plus he reads Tweets (via RSS!) already. HE’S A NATURAL FIT.

    Qriocity is the dumbest product name I have heard in a long time. Has Sony done anything cool since the 90’s?

    Anybody know where I can get a haggis in Sydney on short notice? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper

    I am oddly enamored of the idea of reciting poetry in a bad Scottish accent to a giant boiled sausage. LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

    @toastman Do ya reckon I can cook a haggis with a pressure cooker?

    @hudsonmeats Ooh, that is tempting! I could get to Surry Hills. Are they precooked? Do I have time to prepare it tonight?

    @toastman Hudson Meats tweeted that they have them in stock! This might just happen!

    @toastman OBJECTION! You live far too close to my house to buy bagpipes.

    Haggis procured! Many thanks to the fine folks at @hudsonmeats. I can’t believe I’m going to hike to Surry Hills and pay $25 for a whim!

    @randomknits @knitabulous @knitdra @drkknits You should see it soon! It’ll make this year’s sock monkeys that much more awesome. 😀

    I have a haggis in my backpack. This in not a euphemism.

    @toastman I SMSed you. Are you going to help us eat this?!

    @ArtWebEtsy I doubt it. They sell them in San Fran (in the film So I Married an Axe Murderer, anyway).

    The haggis is in the oven! I was brave and touched it AND smelled it. It actually smells really good! Like a lovely sausage with spices…

    Correctly deduced that the Sock Victim would be a big fan of haggis, so he’s coming over to help eat it tonight. 🙂 (cc @mrs_sockvictim)

    Robert Burns Medley (as performed on the bagpipes) has been downloaded. Now to make the neeps and tatties…

    HAGGIS! It’s actually pretty good! http://twitpic.com/3t8cit http://twitpic.com/3t8clq http://twitpic.com/3t8cmz

    @DomesticJules We did haggis, neeps & tatties, and whisky mustard sauce!

    @drkknits @knitabulous My friend had some wacky theories about the film. Will have to discuss tomoz so as to avoid spoiling it for others!

    Uuuggggghhhhh. Haggis and Whisky hangover headache.

    Robbie Burns Night, complete with photos of our haggis: https://web-goddess.org/archive/9601. Great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race!

    @hudsonmeats Thanks for the help with the haggis yesterday! It turned out great. I blogged with photos: http://bit.ly/dQaDRM

    Snickerdoodles and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats are cooling. Happy Australia Day!

  • Shared today on Google Reader

  • Coming Soon: The Ninth Annual Web-Goddess Oscar Contest!

    The Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow… which means it’s almost time for the Ninth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest! I hope you’re getting ready to make your predictions. This year’s sock monkeys are going to be something special!