FlameBoy's New Writeups

Animal Farm (thing)

2002-09-23T09:49:36Z

A pornographic film that was infamous in my childhood. For years it would come up in schoolyard conversation as the height of illicit viewing. If you had seen this film you had seen everything. At a time when most of us could just about look at page 3 without running home to mother, the stories we heard about Animal Farm were fascinating in the same way as a car crash or train wreck. Rumour had it that the film featured men and women getting busy with various farm animals, ranging from a man plucking a chicken to a woman literally getting porked.

Whether the film ever actually existed I may never know, but those scenes will play on forever in the minds of my peers.

appetizer (thing)

2002-09-05T10:07:44Z

An appetizer is the first part of a meal, designed to boost the appetite of the diner. It tends to be a small amount of food. The idea is that this stimulates the mouth to produce saliva and the stomach to produce acid ready for the arrival of food in the main course. These reactions in the body make a person feel physically ready to eat, but the flavour in the appetizer also stimulates the mind and inspires the correct mood for tucking into some delicious food. It provides a taste of what is to come.

The term is also sometimes used to refer to anything that provides people with a suggestion of something good on it's way. A preview of a film may be called an appetizer or mild flirtation on a date may be considered an appetizer, rasing anticipation of activities to come.

This is one of those words that we spell differently in British English, as appetiser.

main course (thing)

2002-09-03T10:23:01Z

Modern living often leads to people eating when they have time to fit it in alongside work and a hectic social life. Maybe just a sandwich at your desk in the office or a burger on your way to the pub. But if you're going to eat properly (or maybe 'traditionally' would be a better term) then your meals will be made up of courses. On a simple level these are likely to include an appetiser or starter, followed by the main course and then a dessert.

The main course is the part of the meal that is intended to really fill you up. It will usually consist of the most substantial food and be the largest section of the meal.

You may also hear people refer to the main course in other business, as an analogy to the main course of a meal. Imagine a meeting where many minor points have been covered, someone could then say, "Let's get on to the main course." suggesting that it's time to deal with the more important issue on the agenda.

Fallen Dragon (thing)

2002-08-22T08:52:31Z

Fallen Dragon is a novel by Peter F Hamilton set two or three centuries in the future when humankind is coming to the end of its extra-solar colonisation drive. The big companies who invested in colonising new planets have found there's no return unless they basically send troops in and raid them, taking their assets by force. Against this background we follow the life of Lawrence Newton, a kid who wants to explore the stars, but ends up working for the companies. On one of many missions he comes across a community that seems to have a hidden source of wealth and the novel charts his attempt to steal this from them and make his own fortune.

Anyone who has read Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy will instantly recognise the style and enjoy the pace of this book. It reminded me very much of the Norton Ridge Liberation subplot with it's descriptions of highly technologically equipped troops going into battle. In fact overall, Fallen Dragon could…

Mersey wash (thing)

2002-07-22T13:27:20Z

Mersey Wash

The Mersey Wash is one of those drinks you only tend to try once. The name comes from the appearance of the drink at the final stage, though arguably also from the taste. It's not pretty and it doesn't taste too good, but if you like a challenge then this is a good one. A recommended drink for students or anyone else lucky enough to enjoy a cheap bar with low standards of behaviour.

Ingredients:

1/2 pint of lager.
1/2 pint of bitter.
1/2 pint of stout.

Method:

Place the lager in a normal pint glass and mix in the bitter, stirring well.
Drink half the contents of the glass.
Pour the stout into the remaining mixture and stir well.
Drink it.

As you can see, this is not a particularly difficult process, so it can easily be performed when already drunk. It is also ideal for drinking at speed, with friends.

June 28, 2002 (person)

2002-06-28T08:58:54Z

Yesterday, whilst looking for something entirely unrelated in an old daylog, I came across my entry for June 28, 2001. It wasn't a long writeup, but for me it was quite an effective reminder of how I was feeling one year ago today. I was young, free and single, but a little bit lonely and feeling slightly detatched.

Things have changed.

This morning I was woken up by the same person who woke me a year ago to the day. My friend from another continent, however, did not wake me by telephone, but by getting out of our bed, as she went to turn off the alarm clock.

Life is good.