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January 08, 2003
Snowy Morning
My children had never seen falling snow until yesterday. There was sufficiently much snow today that many of our plans were disrupted. Outside my office window, the facade of the Royal Society for the Arts looks like a street scene Christmas card, with snow settling on roofs, window ledges, railings and statuary. While I had a rare quiet lunch with my husband, half my staff nipped out to Embankment Gardens, built a snowman, and had a snowball fight.
This is a very austere time of year, especially for journalists. But nestled in amongst the weather reports, resolutions, detox plans, and recommended fitness regimes comes this counter-cyclic article, which makes me deeply hungry just thinking about it. I've eaten some of these things, but not the majority. These reminders of the ones I have eaten (food pulled straight from the ground, extremely good chicken, durian, and so on) leave me agreeing enthusiastically. What I really need is to eat a perfectly ripe durian straight from the tree.
Bad news report of the day: Fizzy Drinks 'affect children's sleep', explains the BBC. I click through hungrily, astonished by the headline -- I know that carbonic acid isn't the best thing for teeth, but what could carbonation possibly have to do with sleeping patterns? Of course, if they'd said 'Caffeinated Drinks affect children's sleep', it would hardly have been news. The poor quality of this article is not confined to the headline; the term 'fizzy' is used repeatedly in the text too. Marianne explained confidentially to me that Orangina Rouge is her very favourite drink. Which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that it's packed with enough stimulants to wake the dead.
Posted by Alison Scott at January 8, 2003 07:20 PM
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Comments
eat perfectly ripe durian, yes.
smell perfectly ripe durian, hmm.
(John Foyster is known in Shah Alam as "the old white man who takes durian".)
Posted by: Damien Warman at January 9, 2003 03:40 AM
now that I have read the article, I quibble with the description of durian: "They weigh around 50-60kg and look like rolled-up armadillos..." Maybe if you got twenty of them.
This from the author of a book on Thai food.
Posted by: Damien Warman at January 9, 2003 03:54 AM
et encore, pourquoi choisir l'orangina rouge?
paaaarce que!!!
this is my new phrase.
Posted by: Damien Warman at January 9, 2003 04:00 AM
I too was surprised by the suggestion of massive archdurians bigger than a person.
Posted by: Alison Scott at January 9, 2003 10:03 AM