The Night Mail

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, br2975 said:

.

Dining 'Gangnam Style' ?

 

A video maybe?

[monkeysarefun]

19 hours ago, PupCam said:

I actually prefer them cold ....  Whoops, there's an admission.

 

 

 

Cold baked bean sandwiches were  a staple at every Australian school canteen in my formative years.   For the posh more worldlier kids, spaghetti was also available

 

[polybear]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Korean food is great, one of the world's great culinary traditions IMO.

 

Bear "struggled a bit" with Korean food** - I'd describe it as being not far off Klingon in some respects; whilst I didn't actually see anything still moving on a plate I did get the impression that some of it probably would if you prodded it hard enough.

Fortunately Western Food is very widely available so no problem whatsoever.

 

**Deep Fried Chrysalis anyone?  Or maybe pickled Silkworm Pupae?

 

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

If people ever have an opportunity to visit the Republic of Korea take it, it's a wonderful place with stunning scenery and rather like Japan in having a sharp focus on quality. 

 

Absolutely, 100% - the people are very friendly too.  Highly recommended.

The G.E. sold them a system back in the late 80's - they built much of it under licence; you could always spot the stuff they made because the quality was much higher.....

 

5 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Avon, Michelin or Pirelli?

 

I was reading an interesting article about Michelin in Bike Magazine last night; it seems they 3d print all the tyres for MotoGP - they are soooooo protective of the machine used to do it that they won't even allow their own official photographer anywhere near it.

It's got to the point now where a Rider can give feedback on a tyre to one of the Michelin team reps., who then transmits it back to the factory where they print new/modified tyres overnight and then drive or fly them out to the Race Track in time for the following day's race.

Edited July 8 by polybear

[pH]

15 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear "struggled a bit" with Korean food** - I'd describe it as being not far off Klingon in some respects; whilst I didn't actually see anything still moving on a plate I did get the impression that some of it probably would if you prodded it hard enough.

You mean like this:

 

 

My brother-in-law was involved in supervision of a contract for construction of oilfield equipment in Korea. This involved attendance at fairly formal banquets with officials of the company doing the construction. The seafood course could still be live on the plate - no prodding needed to provoke movement.

[iL Dottore]

One of the things that has heavily impacted on labour relations in the UK is the class system, which although perhaps not so rigid nowadays still stratifies the country. 
 

This, of course, impacts on society as a whole, not just labour relations although it is in the latter that it has the most visible impact. Other countries have class structures - of course - but not as rigid or as stifling as in the UK. Switzerland doesn’t have an aristocracy (although it certainly has its share of “old monied families”) and in Italy, social mobility is much prized (everyone wants their kids to grow up to be doctors and lawyers*). There’s none of this “What! Little Tarquin become an Engineer? Go into “trade”? Over my dead body” or “I don’t care if you’re the smartest boy in the school, you’re NOT going to university, you’re going down the mines/into the factory like me, your grandad and your great grandad” (OK, I exaggerate somewhat, but these attitudes are still very present in the UK).

 

Another European advantage, well certainly in Switzerland, is there is a lot more social interaction between classes (or, probably more accurately, between the monied and the non-monied) through things like Fassnacht Clique and other verein. This certainly helps social cohesion.

 

Because I’m a “Johnny Foreigner”, I’m completely outside the UK’s class structure - which definitely has its advantages. And being rather theatrical (having spent a little time as a semi-professional actor), when in the UK, I can slip into the appropriate patois as needed….

 

Innit?

 

I wonder what the social structure of the UK would be, had Britain followed France and had a proper revolution (y’know: heads on spikes, tumbrils, busy guillotines, scaffolds and firing squads - the whole circus) - something that Britain’s government of the time was desperately afraid of…..

 

* of course the perfect career would be to work as Doctor Mon-Thurs, do some light legal work as a lawyer on Fridays and drive trains on the weekend! 😁 Oh, and take the summer off to tour as a major rock star…

[jjb1970]

The live octopus stuff isn't my cup of tea (though neither is tea). One of my favourites is naengmyeon, cold buckwheat noodles in a chilled broth (it is cooked, but chilled). It's one of those simple dishes which when done well is wonderful but has to be done well as there's nowhere to hide. Good buckwheat noodles and good broth.

 

The Korean shipyards are unusual as they are not interested in variation orders. Those who work in engineering will know what I mean when I talk about a variation order culture. In Europe and the US and the associated bubble of countries there's a culture of bidding low and then waiting for variations to make $$$$$$$$$$s. The Korean yard culture is you agree a contract and what you get is what is agreed in the contract on the agreed date for the agreed price. End of. Their view is the interruption to production processes far outweighs the extra money. If it's not what you want then tough, change it after delivery.

 

It was comical when the MoD built the new RFA tankers at DSME as they really couldn't handle the pace at which the Koreans work or being held to what they'd agreed in the contract. 

[iL Dottore]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Purely out of curiosity, what does asking for butter to go with the bread mark you out as?

 

(Asking for a friend......)

Depends upon where you are in Italy and at what meal you want butter for your bread (Breakfast is usually OK) As @zarniwhoop pointed out it seems that many Italians have low tolerance for lactose, which helps explain why dairy isn’t a huge part of the Italian diet.

 

There is also a North-South divide, with more dairy (milk, butter, cream) being used the further North in Italy you go.

 

Perhaps I am a more (culinarily) adventurous sort than many on TNM, so I don’t get all “precious” about what I eat when visiting foreign climes. There are some things that you have to have grown up with in order to enjoy (like fermented herring), otherwise apart from (most) insects, cat and dog, I’ll try anything local. I’ve even had Fugu in Japan and Sea Urchin in Singapore.

 

In many countries around the world, food is an incredibly important part of local culture - much more so than with the Anglo-Saxon “food is fuel” attitude - and to not try the local food when visiting a country does take away from the whole “foreign travel experience”.

 

So I really pity those who travel thousands of miles to exotic climes and limit themselves to pizza and chips whilst lamenting they can’t get “proper” this and that. They might as well stay home with a sunlamp and a picture of a beach and save ££££££!

 

[Hroth]

I enjoyed a beef in ale casserole* with spuds and peas last night.

Does that make me one of the barbarians at the gates? 🤔

 

*  Prepared in a slow cooker by my own fair hands and subsequently frozen.  It was the last portion, I'll have to make some more. Maybe in September?

 

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I enjoyed a beef in ale casserole* with spuds and peas last night.

Does that make me one of the barbarians at the gates? 🤔

 

*  Prepared in a slow cooker by my own fair hands and subsequently frozen.  It was the last portion, I'll have to make some more. Maybe in September?

 

All depends on how you eat it. If you and given your preference for eating things on the 'cool side' eat it straight from the freezer, sans microwave, it would be yes. If however you collect firewood for a fire, suspend a cooking pot over said fire and cook casserole whilst gentle stirring it would be No - weird yes but definitely No.

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

So I really pity those who travel thousands of miles to exotic climes and limit themselves to pizza and chips whilst lamenting they can’t get “proper” this and that. They might as well stay home with a sunlamp and a picture of a beach and save ££££££!

 

I must admit that was one of my most memorable holidays ever!!!

 

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

All depends on how you eat it. If you and given your preference for eating things on the 'cool side' eat it straight from the freezer, sans microwave, it would be yes. If however you collect firewood for a fire, suspend a cooking pot over said fire and cook casserole whilst gentle stirring it would be No - weird yes but definitely No.

 

Straight from the freezer is extreme for any food, unless you're talking about ice cream, etc!

 

As for chilled, there's nothing unusual about that - there are a number of soups, for example, that are served chilled.  And where chilled rice pud is concerned, you can even get it in little pots from supermarkets, though its cheaper to buy a tin and chill it yourself....

 

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, Hroth said:

 

I must admit that was one of my most memorable holidays ever!!!

 

 

Straight from the freezer is extreme for any food, unless you're talking about ice cream, etc!

 

As for chilled, there's nothing unusual about that - there are a number of soups, for example, that are served chilled.  And where chilled rice pud is concerned, you can even get it in little pots from supermarkets, though its cheaper to buy a tin and chill it yourself....

 

Oh no don't say we've got another 'one'.

 

Nurse the screens. Put this man in isolation immediately. Let no one and I mean no one, not even if they claim to be a visiting Swiss doctor specialising in food 'disorders' near him. And on no account let him watch cookery programmes, that'll only make his condition worse. I'm off to get a big Mac with some curly fries to keep my U.P.I's topped up. Doctors orders.

[Happy Hippo]

Never mind food disorders, what about my slight interest in model railways? 

Edited July 8 by Happy Hippo

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

So I really pity those who travel thousands of miles to exotic climes and limit themselves to pizza and chips whilst lamenting they can’t get “proper” this and that. They might as well stay home with a sunlamp and a picture of a beach and save ££££££!

 

 

Bear has a variation whilst on hols - within reason; for some strange reason I'm not into blowing twenty or thirty quid on a din dins that I subsequently discover I really don't like (or worse, find totally inedible).

[Hroth]

14 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Never mind food disorders, what about my slight interest in model railways? 

 

That's more an epidemic.  There are plenty of infectious carriers around here...

 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I wonder what the social structure of the UK would be, had Britain followed France and had a proper revolution (y’know: heads on spikes, tumbrils, busy guillotines, scaffolds and firing squads - the whole circus) - something that Britain’s government of the time was desperately afraid of…..

* of course the perfect career would be to work as Doctor Mon-Thurs, do some light legal work as a lawyer on Fridays and drive trains on the weekend! 😁 Oh, and take the summer off to tour as a major rock star…

Indeed they were, that is why when the Metropolitan Police were formed they were expressly forbidden to carry firearms and were armed with swords instead. Most if not all revolutions started from the same lower middle class part of society from which the police were recruited. They also kept a close watch on suspected sympathisers such as the poet Wordsworth, they even sent someone to spy on him.

[PhilJ W]

An interesting statistic.

But Starmers percentage of the vote was higher but with a lower turnout.

[jjb1970]

I think Starmer was ahead of JC in 1019 but not 2017. In 2017 Corbyn's Labour party got 40% I think.

 

Really, last week's result is bizarre, a huge landslide majority on a very average vote (and with a low turn out). That Starmer failed to capitalise on the utter shambles and train wreck of the last lot in terms of vote share should be worrying as the message would appear to be that the country is sick of politicians. 

 

The other thing that is interesting in terms of media reporting is we had a constant barrage of stories about how Corbyn was an electoral catastrophe, yet he appears to have had more supporters than Starmer.

[Dave Hunt]

9 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

…..the message would appear to be that the country is sick of politicians. 

From what I have gleaned from conversations recently this is very true -and no wonder.

 

Dave

[PupCam]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

From what I have gleaned from conversations recently this is very true -and no wonder.

 

I know I am .....

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

To lighten the mood , yesterday I spent six hours playing trains at the Warley club open day. The whole time I was working the main panel on Ellerton Road, which being Midland S7 is exactly what rocks my boat, and to make things even better I was supplied with endless cups of coffee, two bacon butties and a slice of fruit cake. No mention was made of elections to spoil the fun and a great time was had by all.

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

I enjoyed a beef in ale casserole* with spuds and peas last night.

Does that make me one of the barbarians at the gates? 🤔

 

*  Prepared in a slow cooker by my own fair hands and subsequently frozen.  It was the last portion, I'll have to make some more. Maybe in September?

 

We had mussels, bought fresh then done in cream and white wine with a few chips.  Fresh made mdri gue for afters. 

 

This moaning I've been cutti g the main hedge along the road,  it looks a lot better. 

 

Jamie 

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

A slightly overcast morning here now after a sunny start. 
Aditi has gone off to the doctors to deliver her weekly blood pressure chart. She also has to ask what “embargoed appointment” means on her one planned for Thursday. 
She has just returned. Appointment explained by reception, no problem.

Aditi has a few minutes before going off to the dentist. This requires searching our pockets and wallets for cash, our dentist doesn’t take cards, only cash or cheque. 
The nearest I am going to get to model railways today is when I go in to the garage to get some ladders. We have a rose that grows alongside and over the top of the front door. It seems to be my job to remove the dead flowers. It will flower again if I do (I have been told so).

Otherwise not a lot happening, which is the usual thing in this area, new traffic cone layouts are major news events. 
 

[iL Dottore]

The interesting (and challenging) parts of British politics are the FPTP system and the “safe seat”.

 

Comparing number votes cast last Thursday for any given team to votes cast in earlier elections for that same team is a bit pointless. I look at it this way. It doesn’t matter whether or not the Great Wonderful Railway Party increases the number of votes cast for it in Swindon, as Swindon will always be a GWR town, whether 50’000 or 55’000 vote for the GWRP.

 

A successful election strategy - no matter how it may pain the ideologues and purists - is to get enough voters in Crewe and Derby to vote for the GWRP to get it first over the line under the FPTP system.

 

And who knows, if the GWRP governs successfully, it may need to campaign not as hard in Crewe and Derby as the first time around.

 

p.s. Of course, if the GWRP did get into power, @Dave Hunt and @jamie92208 (amongst others) would be immediately categorised as “enemies of the people” 🤣🤣🤣

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Fresh made mdri gue for afters. 

I’m assuming that this is a local French delicacy.

 

Is there a recipe for mdri gue in the Larousse Gastronomique?

[Hroth]

16 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Of course, if the GWRP did get into power, @Dave Hunt and @jamie92208 (amongst others) would be immediately categorised as “enemies of the people” 🤣🤣🤣

 

They'd certainly be candidates for "re-education".....