tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66812649683751330612024-11-01T04:00:56.469-07:00Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-29207118373818646952012-09-16T00:23:00.001-07:002012-09-17T00:45:30.059-07:00

For as long as I can recall, Jermyn Street has been synonymous with quality tailored products for the discerning gentleman. Jermyn Street had everything. Shirts, ties, suits, colourful corduroy trousers of a certain weight, shoes -  the list goes on. When as a student I lived in London, I would visit Trumpers for a monthly haircut. Their West Indies Lime cologne remains a classic. Perhaps

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-89689909788568498992012-08-23T16:15:00.001-07:002012-08-23T16:15:39.180-07:00

At this time of year the Queen hits the Highlands. The dogs come too.Oh dear. It looks like the Queen's corgis have been acting a bit rough whilst on their holidays in Balmoral, the monarch's rather chilly, gloomy and under-heated home in Scotland.Brenda has always liked corgis. Her first one was called Susan. The Queen has three Corgis – Monty, Holly, Willow. She also has three Dorgis (

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-36373118285711502192012-08-02T13:58:00.001-07:002012-08-02T13:58:56.265-07:00

The first commercially available digital fax machine was the Dacom Rapidfax first sold in the1960s. It used digital data compression technology that was initially developed by the Lockheed company for efficient transmission of digital images from satellites.Nowadays in the UK, most fax machines can be found in office cupboards, attics and junk shops. But according the news this week the fax is

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-72087665347287034362012-08-01T05:17:00.001-07:002012-08-01T05:17:30.596-07:00

Another story that avoids the Olympic 'O' word. You couldn't make it up.Despite our double dip recession that's looking for its triple dip, there seems to be no shortage of money for pointless academic research projects. The University of Exeter has got both DEFRA and independent milk industry funding for a study into the social skills and friend-making ability of cows.The aim is to

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-56425101081272070862012-07-29T15:07:00.001-07:002012-07-29T15:07:23.362-07:00

The Olympics is truly upon us. A woman in Tesco said "It's only the second day. When will it all end? They must have run out of things to bore us with. Every non-British win is another little national disaster. Who gives a sh*t!"But I've managed to find an unrelated story, hidden under all the Olympic news. So to Oxford. Several months after Brasenose College gave some guidance on the wearing of

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-11960212913739636202010-12-04T07:49:00.001-08:002010-12-04T16:02:02.262-08:00

This is the Sephardic Museum in Toledo.Sephardi Jewish cooking developed alongside the local cookery traditions of Spain and Portugal. Due to the influence of Muslim rule of Southern Spain a lot of exotic ingredients, not common to Europe became part of the regular diet. Caraway, coriander, cumin and turmeric feature in the cooking. Olives and pickled vegetables would be served as a accompaniment

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-37994460242378587752010-11-20T13:31:00.001-08:002010-12-02T12:02:56.571-08:00

Rhubarb is a vegetable and not a fruit. Official. The rhubarb season in the UK is limited, but getting better due to growing it under cover and with forcing it in long pipes or specially made pottery. As a variant from the normal pudding I offer you a Rhubarb and Raspberry Crumble. Preparation Time 15 minutes Cooking Time 1 hour Ingredients Base 400g Rhubard stalks, cut to 10cm lengths

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-873672949195603142010-11-16T14:46:00.001-08:002010-11-16T14:46:52.307-08:00

The Nazi rocket scientist of World War II, Werner Von Braun who developed the V2 rocket said something like "I am only responsible for how the rockets go up - not where they come down." After the war he was integrated into the United States space program despite having been an officer in the SS and despite the German rocket program using slave labour from concentration camps. How convenient. In

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-65060157062139163292010-11-13T15:40:00.001-08:002010-11-13T15:40:29.402-08:00

The phrase "Know your onions" has got nothing to do with Dr CT Onions, the British lexicographer, as some people believe. It is a phrase imported from the USA in the 1920s. "He knows his onions" means to be highly knowledgeable in a particular field. Another of my favourite phrases from the same era is "He doesn't know shit from Shinola." To prove I do, the picture below is of a pot of Shinola, a

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-813258968969448492010-11-11T10:58:00.001-08:002010-11-11T23:39:07.032-08:00

Today's theme is mainly about drugs. Well one drug - cocaine and three events that have merged, as it were, into a common theme.Yesterday I stopped off at a Little Chef, on my way back from Oxford. I had a cup of coffee, well I think it was coffee, it arrived in a cafetière anyway. You see I just couldn't take any more Woman's Hour and in any case they'd used the word 'impact' at least five

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-2582104406579225062010-11-09T12:52:00.001-08:002010-11-09T12:52:15.038-08:00

Our government, through the National Security Council, has classified hostile computer attacks on UK cyberspace as a level 1 threat to this country. In other words, a higher threat than a nuclear attack by an unfriendly power. is there ever a nuclear attack by a friendly power? Probably not.£500M has been pledged to bolster cyber security, with a focus on key infrastructure and defence

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-32795286230626067132010-11-06T19:09:00.001-07:002010-11-07T03:28:03.003-08:00

I'm having some days off this week, so I've had lunch out on a few occasions, mainly in North Wales, but also in Shropshire - possibly two of the last of the culinary wastelands in the UK.Everywhere, that is to say upmarket hotels and pubs alike seems to be serving either parsnip or pumpkin soup. Usually uninspiring, over-thickened, probably with corn flour and lacking any sort of imagination.

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-86570687940382925372010-11-04T14:52:00.001-07:002010-11-05T00:35:46.769-07:00

Well, shiver my stealth technology cladded timbers.This submarine incident in or rather adjacent to the Isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland, or Scotlandland as George Dubya called it, seems not to be going away. In summary a brand new nuclear stealth submarine costing about one billion pounds sterling got stuck on some rocks near to the Skye Bridge.The Royal Navy describes the vessel in

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-40851010132108747732010-11-03T14:05:00.001-07:002010-11-03T14:05:20.664-07:00

According to the urbandictionary.com website the phrase ”cooking with gas“ means to efficiently perform a task after a long period of inefficient performance, or possibly failed attempts at a task or project. Hardly Dr Johnson, but there you have it. Firstly may I extend my thoughts to the good folk of Salford, Greater Manchester, who got caught up in the gas explosion yesterday. Especially

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-32012126805129803812010-11-02T13:06:00.001-07:002010-11-02T13:06:54.908-07:00

The Anglo-French agreements signed today herald a new dawn of co-operation between two closely matched military powers. Perhaps.It will mean that UK planes will be able to land on a French aircraft carrier and vice versa.  I can see a lot of co-operation in the form of fact finding trips over the next few months. We will just have to accept that catering on the French side will far outstrip

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-26219747912113432102010-11-02T07:29:00.001-07:002010-11-02T07:29:38.456-07:00

I've never thought that highly of David Miliband or for that matter his smarter kid brother of "Mithter Thpeaker, the prime minithter hathn't anthered my quethtion" fame.Come back Spitting Image.- Until the weekend that is. Since then my respect for him has risen enormously. Well from about zero in fact. And it's all to do with a painting and the right to hang whatever you want on your walls at

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-22022927568288394642010-10-31T05:50:00.000-07:002010-10-31T06:17:14.676-07:00

It seems that some people would beg to differ on my analysis of the relative merits of Lincoln and the cathedrals of Northern France. Actually there was no begging involved. Just the "You are totally wrong" approach, as favoured by Newish Labour. So, in the spirit of fairness I enclose some pictures of the buildings in question and some more besides. In no particular order! Lincoln - the

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-66848609083566744112010-10-28T17:02:00.001-07:002010-10-28T17:02:14.882-07:00

When I was at school in the 1960s, we had a large printed poster on the classroom wall. The poster was entitled Flags of the World.There were the local ones, the Commonwealth (the pink bits), Europe and worldwide. A strange way to classify things, but probably just as good as alphabetical.Even at that early age, I got the idea in my head that people liked to have some common symbol of belonging

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-71707789620338413892010-10-28T09:37:00.000-07:002010-10-28T09:37:08.369-07:00

I've just spent a few days in Lincoln. I stayed up the hill, beside the cathedral. It's one of the finest in Europe - far more elegant than Chartres or Caen. While taking tea in Woodthorpe Spa with my friend of some 45 years, I saw the remains of one of Barnes Wallis' bouncing bombs. And for the first time I tasted Lincolnshire plum bread. It has in my opinion a better taste and texture

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-61617130397726766012010-10-25T14:25:00.001-07:002010-10-25T14:38:26.622-07:00

The Southern Irish tiger economy is a thing of the past thanks to people believing that the bubble would never burst and spending, building and expanding beyond their means. Lean times are ahead and this is affecting Northern Ireland too. In fact the North saw it coming.The late JF Kennedy, United States president and supreme womaniser had spotted this one. He said "If you ride on the back of a

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-29532501785086162792010-10-21T08:33:00.001-07:002010-10-22T17:11:18.315-07:00

Why do French girls wear All Stars?You can travel to France by Eurostar. The idea is that you step off the train into a world of gastronomy, shopping and if you're in Lille, even more shopping.The first thing that I nearly stepped into was a little mound of dog shit, just outside the station. There was more. Every few hundred metres, especially on corners from a variety of calibres, as far as I

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-85959144180051234522010-10-20T09:37:00.000-07:002010-10-20T14:28:13.065-07:00

The current strikes in France remind me of the old days of industrial unrest in the UK, but with Gallic enthusiasm. The recent London Tube strike seems a pretty genial affair compared with what's going on today - kindly reported by France-24. Demonstrators staged almost 300 marches across France yesterday. Air and rail services were halved from normal levels and disrupted commuters in

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-4940613778059949212010-10-17T09:40:00.001-07:002010-10-17T09:40:31.153-07:00

A delightful day wandering around some of my old haunts in London, especially around South Kensington, Imperial and the Royal Albert Hall, backdrop to part of one of my favourite films, The Ipcress File.Lunch at the Polish Club in Queens Gate. A fine venue and charming staff.There are railings and diversion signs outside, as part of some misguided scheme to pedestrianize the road with vile bricks

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-3325271837660271512010-10-05T12:41:00.001-07:002010-10-05T12:43:15.761-07:00

The London Underground system is probably one of the finest in the world. It is certainly the oldest, commenced in 1854. It is the second longest in terms of track length, behind Shanghai and it is the third busiest in the world, behind Paris and Moscow. It has 260 stations and over 4,000 carriages, served by a staff of about 19,000. Over one billion individual journeys per year - an impressive

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681264968375133061.post-82434132964746103712010-10-03T18:03:00.000-07:002010-10-04T04:03:31.459-07:00

Just when the poor folks attending the Commonwealth Games thought that things couldn't get much worse, Prince Charles turns up. No doubt he'll be asking ridiculous questions and even worse he'll be pointing at things. I've noticed that a lot of photographs of him and his even more useless brothers show them pointing, usually at some obvious structure that most people would just accept, like a

Edwin Pottlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416932283548110964noreply@blogger.com0