Cricket, tv, soup
Well. I've been enjoying the cricket a lot. I have obtained a couple of appropriate cricket icons, since my previous ones featured people who aren't playing in this series due to being injured, retired, in disgrace, or Sri Lankan. This icon is of Ricky Ponting losing the toss in the first Test. I'm agnostic about whether Ricky captains well overall, but he's had a long history of poor results at the toss.
We've had a nail-biting draw, an overwhelming Australian loss that was nevertheless quite nail-biting, and that match where the main source of tension was "Will it ever stop raining?" And the fourth Test was pretty one-sided to Australia, but there was some very nice cricket from both sides at various times.
My only complaint (other than the weather, and if this Test is affected by rain I shall be campaigning to ban cricket from England until they fix it) is that Graeme Onions never got into a batting partnership with Cook.
Cricket stats -
- Days of work lost to staying up too late: none!
- Dodgy umpiring decisions: some (I lost count and then couldn't be bothered)
- Number of socks darned: 2 (Had a slow start, since it's impossible to darn when it's too cold to take your gloves off)
* * *
I haven't been thinking solely about cricket!
I've watched Merlin, and thought that Morgana and Gwen were clearly Xena and Gabrielle. I base this mostly on that episode where they fight brigands and Gwen fights with a staff.
I enjoyed Heroes, but don't really have any thoughts. I haven't been nearly as critical of the last couple of seasons as many people have, but I guess I probably was more engrossed by this most recent one.
I quite enjoyed Supernatural - again, more so than last season - and have many tangentially related thoughts about their religious themes. A large part probably boils down to being sympathetic to Uriel's position. Not that I'm feeling particularly misanthropic at the moment. I'm a bit sunshine and rainbows. Maybe because I have Roma tomato seedlings coming up. That's always good. And it's rose-pruning time, and I know from experience that the great Peter Cundall is completely correct when he says "If ever you're feeling depressed and a bit frustrated on a cold winter day, get out into the garden and start pruning the roses. Honestly, you'll feel so much better."
* * *
I've also been thinking about sweet potato soup, and have come to a tentative conclusion that the best possible spice combination may well be a little bit of cumin and cinnamon, and somewhat more coriander (powder) and lemon myrtle. More experiments are required, obviously, but I was really impressed with how that one turned out (soup made from roasted/baked potato and sweet potato, with quite a bit of onion cooked very slowly, and a bit of garlic).
We've had a nail-biting draw, an overwhelming Australian loss that was nevertheless quite nail-biting, and that match where the main source of tension was "Will it ever stop raining?" And the fourth Test was pretty one-sided to Australia, but there was some very nice cricket from both sides at various times.
My only complaint (other than the weather, and if this Test is affected by rain I shall be campaigning to ban cricket from England until they fix it) is that Graeme Onions never got into a batting partnership with Cook.
Cricket stats -
- Days of work lost to staying up too late: none!
- Dodgy umpiring decisions: some (I lost count and then couldn't be bothered)
- Number of socks darned: 2 (Had a slow start, since it's impossible to darn when it's too cold to take your gloves off)
* * *
I haven't been thinking solely about cricket!
I've watched Merlin, and thought that Morgana and Gwen were clearly Xena and Gabrielle. I base this mostly on that episode where they fight brigands and Gwen fights with a staff.
I enjoyed Heroes, but don't really have any thoughts. I haven't been nearly as critical of the last couple of seasons as many people have, but I guess I probably was more engrossed by this most recent one.
I quite enjoyed Supernatural - again, more so than last season - and have many tangentially related thoughts about their religious themes. A large part probably boils down to being sympathetic to Uriel's position. Not that I'm feeling particularly misanthropic at the moment. I'm a bit sunshine and rainbows. Maybe because I have Roma tomato seedlings coming up. That's always good. And it's rose-pruning time, and I know from experience that the great Peter Cundall is completely correct when he says "If ever you're feeling depressed and a bit frustrated on a cold winter day, get out into the garden and start pruning the roses. Honestly, you'll feel so much better."
* * *
I've also been thinking about sweet potato soup, and have come to a tentative conclusion that the best possible spice combination may well be a little bit of cumin and cinnamon, and somewhat more coriander (powder) and lemon myrtle. More experiments are required, obviously, but I was really impressed with how that one turned out (soup made from roasted/baked potato and sweet potato, with quite a bit of onion cooked very slowly, and a bit of garlic).