Blog
Cityboy with a Brain
Written by SuenMike Sunday, 06 February 2011 00:00
If you’re a boring, tax-paying member of the public who’s not the type to get breast implants or have an affair, perhaps you should take some time to read Geraint Anderson’s book, Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile. After reading his sordid descriptions of city high-finance, your life will suddenly seem to take on a meaning and a quiet sort of dignity it did not have before.
Mr Anderson takes us through the career of an investment broker, Steve, who is a fictionalisation of Mr Anderson’s own experience in the City. Steve seems to be an honest bloke from a hard-working family who stumbles and bumbles his way into a brokerage job. Fortunately for us, he manages to maintain a by-stander’s approach throughout and is able to see the craziness and hypocrisy of the banking world. This is a world that is based half on intelligent analysis and concern for creating value, and half on bravado, hyperbole, one-upmanship and just plain lying. The daily chores of charts and spread-sheets are “balanced” by strip clubs, prostitutes and cocaine binges.
I like how Mr Anderson questions why the world is the way it is. Why is it that so much money is being earned by these devils? Why are clients so easily buttered-up by fast-talking investment brokers? Why is money the central commodity of all this activity, and why is money so important anyway? The author brings in historical water-sheds to put things in context: the great Depression, Black Monday, the Enron scandal, etc. He also talks about other aspects to the banking world: gold-digging women, personal rivalries between brokers, making money out of adversity, how business leaders pressure brokers to artificially inflate stock prices.
The book is not for the delicate-minded or those easily offended. This isn’t your mild throat-lozenge sort of read. It’s Fisherman’s Friend for the mind. The author has an off-handed writing style that uses colourful language. In other words, he swears a lot. He doesn’t need to rely so much on the swear words; I think his writing is impactful enough. That said, it’s a rich and multi-textured book that raises a lot of questions. One of the main questions left in my mind is: how is the culture of the City affecting life outside the City? How is does the anger, jealousy, fear and competition affect us common folk? Perhaps that’s a topic for Mr Anderson’s next book.
Add a commentWhen The Bread Bug Bites
Written by SuenMike Tuesday, 01 February 2011 00:00
We started baking our own bread a month or two ago.
We just got sick of bad bread. Sticking the tasteless and changeless slice into the toaster day after day made life feel cheap and bland.
We also did some reading on how bread is made. One good source was Guardian food writer, Felicity Lawrence in her book, “Not on the Label”. We quickly learned that the Chorleywood Bread Process is at the heart of the modern loaf.
CBP is how modern-day bread products are made to rise in quick-time. It relies on an inordinate amount of yeast, additives, fat, emulsifiers, and salt. A good explanation of the process can be found here.
A loaf can be made in about 3 hours and that’s only after one rise. A home-baker can’t use the CPB because it requires a high-speed mixer that releases extra gluten from the wheat.
Most domestic bread recipes call for at least two risings. You set the dough in an airing cupboard or beside a radiator, wait an hour and punch it down. You do it again an hour later. It takes a good 4 hours usually to bake a decent loaf. In fact, the more risings, the better; the more character it has.
We haven’t bought a loaf in a couple of months now, and I’m never going back. My question is: what took us so long? It really isn’t that much more work, it’s a heck of a lot of fun and you get to experiment with different flours and ingredients. You also don’t get the added chemicals and additives that the big boys put in their breads. It’s a life-style change. It’s a different way of thinking but, as usual, the hardest thing to change is the mind.
Add a commentThe Appeal of 'The Apprentice'
Written by SuenMike Wednesday, 24 November 2010 00:00
It’s Tuesday evening and I’m disappointed that it isn’t Wednesday because that’s when ‘The Apprentice’ is on. A part of me wants to race through the next 24 hours to see the next episode.
Pathetic? Yes, I agree. What’s happened to me? I’m not exactly sure.
I avoided the program like the plague for many a year. I thought the whole country was crazy. I couldn’t believe a spin-off program was formed during which a panel interviewed the person who was the latest to be fired. It’s filmed before a live audience of at least 200. Oh yes, I love watching that too now.
I’m not exactly sure what sucks a person in to watching it. Certainly it’s not the tasks. The tasks they perform are rather stupid but are backed up with a fair amount of cash to give them credibility. Mr Sugar’s people have done a lot of networking in order to place the contestants in real life scenarios, i.e. shopping malls, ad agencies, food production lines, etc. There’s got to be a significant finances (or product placement) greasing the wheels to make this machine go.
The contestants themselves are also dressed to the nines. They wear some beautiful business clothing, and one should also mention some of the beautiful women contestants. One man commented on the Guardian website that he was certainly going to watch the show because of the “eye-candy” on display.
No one can argue that there’s not any superficiality to the show. By God – to judge someone after one task is pretty ridiculous.
So I come back to my main question – why is it so watchable? I think it’s because that there is some real thinking going on. Smart people are on display in the real world. Brains are engaged. That’s interesting. Of course there’s competitiveness to it so the audience is lured in to a base curiosity about who wins. But there’s also a nod to skill, cleverness, eagerness, and teamwork. Lord Sugar and his partners leave their mark by making astute observations, and Lord Sugar always steals the show. I hate to admit it but it’s hard not being impressed by the man.
Add a commentA Salute to....Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Written by SuenMike Thursday, 18 November 2010 00:00
Hugh F-W has been appearing more and more on our t.v. screens and we say AMEN to that!
What exactly is so attractive about this guy?
Enthusiasm –down-to-earthness – a love of gardening – a joy of sharing – a generous heart. His recipes are straight-forward; his kitchen is simple and not showy; he puts on lavish dinners for friends, family, staff, neighbours. He’s not too picky or squeamish. He butchers, plucks, picks, plunders, and even swims for his supper – nothing is beneath this Renaissance man. His easy manner is combined with an astute business sense and an appreciation of just-about-everything in the kitchen and garden. And he likes to party.
He encourages complete beginners and brings in ordinary folks to encourage them to develop their skills. He wants to break down food barriers, making mystical processes, like bread-baking, seem less daunting. He tries to make everything less intimidating, less of a chore.
Hugh is also a cheerleader. He enjoys sharing the limelight with other people who are more knowledgeable in certain areas than he is. Celebrating the skill of others, Hugh gives them the credit (and air-time) that they deserve.
Mr F-W also has developed the Landshare idea, which matches people who have spare land with gardeners who need gardens. This concept is central to Hugh, because community seems to play a central part in his philosophy. Bringing people together, through food, is at the heart of what he does.
Three cheers for Hugh!
Add a commentFat is a Mental Issue
Written by SuenMike Wednesday, 17 November 2010 00:00
I just finished watching Panorama’s report on Britain’s burgeoning waste-line: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00w4dsy/Panorama_Tax_the_Fat/. It didn’t say anything we don’t already know.
I’m puzzled with the constraints around the fat debate. It seems that you can only talk about two things – you guessed it - diet and exercise. You can talk about the chicken or you can bring up the egg – but don’t say anything else!
The problem with those constraints is the fact that human beings are much, much more than just bodies. It turns out we are also thinking critters! And much of our behaviour is determined by the beliefs and unconscious influences we carry in our heads. The fact that advertising influences our eating choices so much gives testimony to that fact. So do a number of other things – the idea that we like variety and adventure in food and that we like to try new things. We appreciate when someone takes the time to make food look good. We are attracted to food on an aesthetic level and enjoy having an assortment of textures and colours to eat.
In short, we eat with our minds. Food is much more than the physical to us; it goes through a mental process as we wonder exactly what to eat, how to prepare it, what plate to put it on. And it is this mental component that we need to examine if we want to get to the bottom of the overeating question.
Obviously, it is a huge question and I readily admit that sometimes the body and its hormones are involved. But I’ve also noticed (and I’m sure I’m not alone here) that I also over-eat when I’m bored or lonely or upset. When I’m frustrated with a problem or low and want to cheer myself up, when there’s nothing else to do, I find myself opening the fridge.
On the other hand, I find myself not eating when I’m interested in something else. When I’m gardening or writing, when I’m engaged in an activity I love, I find that I don’t make another cup of tea or open that second bag of crisps. And, since it’s sometimes difficult to realise how much we’re not living life to the fullest, we don’t fully understand how much we rely on eating to fill this spiritual void.
I think the obesity epidemic is more about this lack of Life than diet or exercise; it basically reflects a society-wide boredom. It’s disappointing that the media and the medical establishment are too scared or too simplistic to go down that line of enquiry. While we all go on diets, the nation-wide debate needs to be enlarged.
Add a commentMore Articles...
Page 1 of 4
