:: The Wendy House ::

UK Vacation 6

My rental car was a cheeky little 206. A Portsmouth friend drove an even cheekier Blue convertible, we cruised with the top down and waved at other middle-aged girlies in Blue 206 convertibles. I want one. The mechanical action (electronically powered) of the roof folding into the boot was so so so pleasing it was almost sexual…

UK Vacation 5

I highly recommended this book.  I suspect the reviewer cited in my March 9th entry has a problem seeing the trees (story details) for the wood (prior knowledge of Ben’s political beliefs).  The review misses Ben’s keen observation of the familiar and ability to smoothly transform this into the plausibly bizarre.  An example of a non-political observation that doesn’t give away part of the plot:

“From Newton to Einstein there has been much fascinating discussion on the various factors that affect time.  These include speed, mass, weight distance and strange phrases like ‘quantum mechanics’ which scientists make up in order to sound important and convince the rest of us that we are thick.  However, for some inexplicable reason, despite all this racking of the brain,  no serious research has been done into the commonest form and most radical ‘time bender’ of them all,  which is,  of course, exercise.”

The plot has many characteristics of a classical western.  Clearly identified good guys and bad guys.  The good guys are revealed as people with strengths and weaknesses and the bad guys are evil, powerful and sometimes just stupid.  Think about westerns where the good guys own the small farms and the bad guys are the big cattle or oil companies whose plans for mass production are radically changing the lives of the farmers.  Think of Star Wars,  the rebels against the Federation.  It’s a classic format that Ben spins with very clever twists. 

The strongest impact for me was in the introduction and description of the heros. opening scenes are fabulous because of the way Ben lets your assumptions fill in gaps about the people he is describing, then he gradually introduces fundamental challenges to those assumptions.

It has an excellent ‘chase’ scene which easily rivals Bullitt.  The key characters are distinctive and richly described, as you would expect from the writer of the Black Adder series.

My main complaints are petty.  For example he describes a character as being  “Farty” this is not a descriptor that I recognise.  The closing scene was rather a sensible close,  and consequently I found it a little disappointing.  I was hoping for something a little more comically fulfilling.   That aside,  this is the 3rd Ben Elton book I have read and I plan to read all the rest.

Good reading,  Wendy

Classic UK gorgeous food…

UK Vacation 4

Chicken curry’s are extremely popular in the UK and with me.

I’ve just had a chicken curry in my USA work-place canteen. They called it Thai. I dont believe it. It was so so so bad compared to all my recent UK meals (listed below). It wasn’t spicy, it wasn’t hot. I’m not sure what qualified it as a curry. It was more like stir-fry chicken and vegetables with a ‘hint’ of curry flavor. Maybe it had been cooked in pans that were once used to cook a real curry. Judging by the taste no marinating was involved in the preparation process. It almost tasted raw, except it was sufficiently warm to qualify as ‘cooked’.

Warning: Do not eat curry in USA canteens if you are a British person. The restaurants can be slightly better. Finding a good curry is extremely difficult.

Here’s a summary of my main meal of each day of my UK visit - can you see a theme?:

1: Toad in the hole (family #1 Pub)

2: Roast Duckling & Yorkshire pudding (family #1 home)

3: Chicken Curry (family #2 home)

4: Chicken Tandoori (family #3 home delivery)

5: Chicken Curry (family #4 home)

6: Chicken in pepper sauce (family #5 restaurant)

7: Chicken balti & onion bhaji (family #6 home delivery)

8: Chicken Curry (family #1 home)

9: Roast Beef (family #1 home)

Hungry Wendy