a fact you will definitely tell someone else

In the absence of convenient internet, this one's a quickie.

Did you know you can work out which side your cars petrol tank is on by looking at the fuel gauge? It's indicated either by a small arrow or by which side the handle is on on the petrol pump icon.

See below - in the first one the fuel flap is on the left, in the second it's on the right.

Good one, eh?

Kitty x

thomas keneally and his ideas

Posting from Maccas tonight, free wifi, wunderbar. The big move went exceptionally well - Carney and his mate Justin did the heavy lifting while I looked around for where to put tupperware containers. Internet is still forthcoming, 10 days apparently which is pretty much eternity. But in the meantime, here's an interesting not-so-hypothetical: tv or oven? We currently have a cubic metre of TV (circa 1992) and a stove top (i.e. no oven) and enough $ to purchase a new one or the other. A penny for them. At the moment it's one all - in a terribly gendered split I'm all for the oven and Carney wants the TV.

In unrelated news, last week my mum and I went to the Melbourne University ‘Festival of Ideas’. Great name, eh? Nearly as good as the Wheeler Centre’s. The theme was ‘In search of identity – landscape, history and genetics’. We saw Thomas Keneally, author of among other things Schindler's Ark (the film upon which the movie Schindler's List was based), speak. This is him in a terribly Texan hat – used as his biopic which I thought ironic given his address was on 'Australian National Identity in the 21^st Century':

Thomas is pretty fascinating, same bucket as Alex Miller. He’s a living national treasure, which you may be surprised to learn, is an actual thing - the National Trust compiles a list, which I find a bit odd. When you die, you’re obviously no longer living so you become a deceased national living treasure. Unless you’re ‘disgraced judge’ Marcus Einfeld who is a former national living treasure and the lone ranger on that particular list.

We bowled up expecting to hear about ugh boots and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but instead he talked about immigration and the idea of being ‘UnAustralian’. He basically argued that the more narrowly you define identity, the more threatened you are by people who differ and that in fact, identity is quite resilient; it doesn’t need protecting. He likened the experience of migrants in the aftermath of WWII to those arriving today – both in terms of their reception and of their experience in refugee camps/war, etc. It's difficult to do it justice... Thomas has a beautiful way of putting words together and is lovely to listen to. I don’t know if I came out feeling happy or hopeful... I’m still thinking about it. It was dense.

Anyway, the podcast is here if you fancy something to walk the dog to. One ear only though or else you might get run over by a car/walk into a pole, neither of which would be very much fun.

Kitty x

Picture credits: http://www.ideas.unimelb.edu.au/speakers/thomas-keneally

from the nose to the tail: josie bones, collingwood

Two sleeps til the big move. Eek! Must put things into other things for ease of transportation.

And in other news, last night Carney and I went to Josie Bones for dinner.

Josie Bones is the brainchild of Masterchef (season 1) contestants Julia Jenkins and Chris Badenoch. Chris was variously known (by me) as the ‘guy with the hat’ and ‘the one that wanted to make a restaurant based on beer and weird cuts of meat’. Julia was the first contestant to beat a professional chef and went straight to the finals. And then the next season they changed that rule because it turned out it was a bit of a disadvantage not to go through all of the rounds of eliminations. Which is not so say I watched the entire season obsessively or anything, just that I remain well abreast of popular culture despite now having entered lower-middle age (i.e. am 30, egad).

Anyway, who did we encounter on arrival? One Julia Jenkins, who is lovely. Only I didn’t realise it was Julia Jenkins until Carney told me this morning. With the benefit of hindsight I did think it was odd he asked if she thought cooking foie grais and serving it with brandy would be a good idea - it is rather specific for small talk.

Dishes at Josie Bones include ‘crackling of the day’, rolled pigs head and chicken giblets. Giblets, interestingly, are not any one part of a chicken, rather an umbrella term for a multitude of sins all of which are dark and dangly. As with anything crumbed and deeped fried, they are actually quite tasty. I ordered some of the more conventional items (much to Carney’s irritation) but the grilled cuttlefish something-or-rather with tomatoes was, I declared ‘the dish of the evening’. And it was de ja vu with the corn and chirizo dressing salad, also proclaimed ‘dish of the evening’. Lest you think everything was the ‘dish of the evening’, the grilled lambs tongue (Carney’s pick) was simply ‘delicious-ness personified’ and 'not at all like kissing a goat'. I only regret that we didn’t try the scotch egg as I love mince (as has been documented here).

The beer menu is erm, massive and they even employ a beer specialist to talk you through your selection. Possibly my only criticism – the beer man was nice, knowledgeable but honestly, we wanted to chat to each other and he was a bit ‘look at me/my beers’. This is particularly problematic for parties of two because you have to sit at the bar (which I also love, as documented).

No dessert for us but my rubber arm would have been twisted if they were still serving the bombe alaska I am told was amazing. Alas, this is not on the menu at the moment which is a pity, because I am dying for one of those bad boys. Bel if you are reading this, food for thought? Subtle?

Verdict: Four stars. Great date night – impress them with your penchant for offal. Which is impressive.

Kitty x

picture credits:
1) http://josiebones.wordpress.com/gallery/
2) http://pig.almondrose.com/

the end of telephone-based inconvenience

Yesterday we had an hour long training session on how to use our new phones at work. This alerted me to all manner of things that inconvenience me that I never even knew were inconveniencing me. Case in point: looking up a number on the interweb and then having to physically dial it into the phone. The trainer (nay, truthsayer) said: 'I don't know about you, but it takes me two or three tries to get the number right'. Right you are Sir! Suffice to say this is a thing of the past!

Other highlights included:

'Sure it took a little getting used to to constantly update my phone status. But now, when I go a fill up my water or go to the bathroom I just change it to "Out office, forward to mobile". It's second nature now'.

and

'And if you come into work and your phone is not working, but everyone else's is, you are the victim of a cruel practical joke. AND NO, THAT'S NOT A FUNNY JOKE'.

We also heard about the time the trainer juggled FIVE phone calls at once. This was a true story, but not something to be tried willy nilly.

Anyway, after that it was the long weekend. Which was ace because it was a slow day. In fact, the content of this post may alert you to the fact it has been a slow week.

Kitty x x

the best soup ever

I love soup. Carney has been studying at the library at uni a lot lately and on those night I get to eat soup for dinner. He believes soup is not an actual meal. Anyway, this is the best recipe ever. I like it more than a stampede of wild horses.

eggplant soup

2 x big eggplants

garlic

oil

2 x onion

can of butter beans.

3 cups (ish) stock

prep time: 5 mins

cooking time: 50 mins

method:

Cut eggplant in half longways and place cut side down on an oven tray. Add some cloves of garlic. Put eggplant and garlic in the oven as high as it will go for about 40 mints.

At the 40 minute mark, chop the onion and fry in a pot. Add the stock. Boil for about 5 mins. Take the eggplant and garlic out of the oven. Scoop the inside of the eggplant into the saucepan. Do the same with the garlic. Add the canned butter beans. Add thyme if you like it.

Blend with a stick blender.

I say eat before anyone else gets home because that's how I roll, but if you're feeding others probably three of you will get a big bowlful. It's rich and hearty. Sometimes I add yoghurt or sour cream on top for hot/cold deliciousness in the manner of pudding.

Kitty x