The Second Coming

Word is that Robbie ‘walks on water’ Fowler has signed for the North Queensland Fury. This means I’ll get to see him play again, so that’s definitely a game I’ll be going to watch, and it might spice things up a bit in the A-League.

Him Outdoors and I have been following the Wellington Phoenix for the past two seasons – having bought season tickets to support them. They have recently lost their two best players, Shane Smeltz and Glen Moss which is a big blow and suggests they might be struggling even more next season.

When Dad told me the news, he suggested that I might have a dilemma in whom to support. I’m not sure where he got that from – there’s simply no question – just as there’s only one Robbie ‘walks on water’ Fowler.

He is a legend and one of my favourite ever Liverpool players. His playing days alongside the likes of McManaman, Redknapp and Owen are such stuff as dreams are made on. Not least because of this against Arsenal, which was nice.

A Toast to Friendship

This morning I was sitting on the bus coming into work. As usual I had my nose in a book; The Cellist of Sarajevo as it happens. It’s a good book but I was imagining the destruction of a city that you knew well from birth and how it must feel to race across the streets to avoid sniper fire. How could this possibly feel normal? I read the following passage which made me reflect:

“It seems impossible to remember what things were like. And he suspects this is what the men on the hills want most. They would, of course, like to kill them all but, if they can’t, they would like to make them forget how they used to be, how civilised people act. He wonders how long it will take before they succeed.”

As I was thinking about this, I gazed out of the window and was confronted by a large toast image on the side of an art gallery. Maurice Bennett designed this Pasifika-themed toast piece to reflect the strong Pacific culture of Newtown. It was installed on the side of the Suite Gallery to coincide with the Six degrees of Separation exhibition.

I really like Maurice Bennett’s toast art – it’s amusing and creative and accessible, which are fine things to be found in artworks. The man also owns supermarkets and makes beer – good beer. I tasted some at the Beervana beer festival and enjoyed it immensely.

I recently read an article about Mr Bennett who has lived with leukaemia since being diagnosed with the disease in 2000. He still leads an active and inspiring life, and is quoted as saying, “Life revolves around friendship. It's not about seeing every place in the world, it's about enjoying what you've got.” This sounds glib until you think about his situation.

Juxtaposed with the terrible things I was reading about in Bosnia, it was humbling to think I could look out of the window and see a work of art that made me smile. I have a good life. I need to remind myself of that occasionally when I get stressed by work, family, or social commitments. It does revolve around friendship (and I’m including my family in that) and in that respect I move in a pretty special orbit. So thank you to all of you who make it special, and here endeth today’s lesson.

Calypso Cafe

We’ve seen the bright blue and yellow building on Taranaki Street as we drive home – in fact it’s quite hard to miss it – and I’ve often thought I would like to try it out. It’s called Calypso and is purportedly Wellington’s only Caribbean restaurant.

Last night I had an hour between work and rehearsal, and Him Outdoors was working late, so we met there for dinner. The colours, reminiscent of golden sands and seductive oceans, lured us into a sense of calm despite the busy location next to the main road. It’s bright, cheerful and spacious, with décor almost like a fast food place and the food is reasonably priced, but very different.

The dishes display the fresh ingredients and tropical produce of the island region. Apparently the local cuisine is a fusion of Native American, African, European and Asian flavours, adapted to the produce of the tropics. Him Outdoors was expecting something like goat curry, but there are plenty of curry places already, so they (and we) tried out something new.

The service was friendly and attentive without being pushy. Our waitress was keen to point out what ingredients they use and how they cook them. A basket contained breadfruit and plantain, or Caribbean banana, so we could see what they looked like in the raw. Plantains are firmer and lower in sugar than dessert bananas and are treated in a similar way to potatoes in tropical regions.

I had a seafood gumbo which was rich and hearty with plenty of seafood and vegetables, including okra – one of my favourites. Him Outdoors had a beef and corn stew with chunks of meat and baby sweet corn and breadfruit in coconut milk on the side which he also declared to be delicious. Our meals came in clay pots with pyramids of yellow rice and peas, and a hot dipping sauce. The portions were certainly substantial.

There was no need for desserts, although the puddings listed on the blackboard all looked enticing (and coconut-laden) but I’m pretty sure I’ll go back and try them again. Next time I’m also going to have one of their cocktails ($10 and rum features heavily). Last night they had a special concoction called ‘Obama-rama’ but sadly, being as we both had to concentrate for the next couple of hours, we had to give this a miss.

For some reason, I've had Blue Bayou in my head ever since - beautiful song, The Roy Orbison version - not the Linda Ronstadt one, which is way more screechy and less powerful to me.

Betrayal - Harold Pinter

Last night I went with Him Outdoors and my parents to Circa Theatre to see Betrayal. It was fabulous – all four of us thought so, which is a pretty good strike rate from a fairly diverse audience. My parents first saw this play about 30 years ago and were keen to see it again. Him Outdoors has never seen a play by Pinter and wondered what I meant when I said a play was ‘Pinteresque’. I think he has a pretty good idea now.

Betrayal is the story of an affair between Emma (Danielle Mason) and Jerry (Toby Leach). Emma is married to Robert (Jason Whyte), and Robert and Jerry are best friends. Yes, it’s an old story and the love triangle has been played out on stage in so many ways, but this feels fresh and memorable. The split level divided set works well and the sound and lighting add to the ambience without intruding, allowing the audience to concentrate purely on the three people in the ring.

It is a play about power and the distortion of assumptions, which is told in reverse. The effect is like finishing a book and going back immediately to re-read it to wonder, ‘would I have seen that coming?’ Founded on dramatic irony, there are times when we know that she knows that he knows, but he doesn’t know. If this sounds like it’s confusing, it could be. It pays to pay attention; to keep the upper hand.

Toby Leach is on crutches due to a pre-play incident which must have altered the staging of some scenes. It is tricky to indicate power when you are sitting on a sofa with your leg in plaster, but the play is one of verbal sparring rather than anything physical and many of the scenes are critical in their repressed motion – an arm flung across a sofa; a tightly belted coat; a briskly-snapped-shut book all speak volumes.

The revealing moments thick and fast, and the sympathy switches from wronged husband to aggrieved couple to man/woman desperately trapped in a loveless marriage and back again. This play was written in 1978, and there is a tendency of critics to ask, ‘Is Pinter still relevant?’ Hell, yes. Love; jealousy; repression; competition; excitement; self-affirmation; and, indeed, betrayal – aren’t these universal themes? Or are we all perfect now?

Jason Whyte is excellent as Robert; his fast-paced delivery with crystal clear enunciation is the perfect counterpoint to Leach’s more languorous posturing. Whyte plays his part with controlled menace and a smile that could give you nightmares. Danielle Mason could concentrate less on the accent and more on the assent. Her Emma is beautiful in a willowy way, but she radiates more constipated sterility than consummate sensuality.

The dialogue is almost frustratingly natural, giving the play its moments of humour. The circuitous communication conceived here gave birth to the conversations beloved of modern comedy (think Teachers; Green Wing; The Office; Alan Partridge). Apparently Harold Pinter hated actors (or other directors) messing with his script. Why would you when one of the definitive playwrights of modern theatre has laid it all out for you?

Unless they have been seduced by American popular psychology talk shows, real people don’t analyse their feelings in excruciating detail. You have to surmise what they mean from what they say and how they act, and that is exactly what we are given in Betrayal.

Is there an underlying current? Under close questioning from Emma, Jerry barks back, ‘I said exactly what I meant’. There is a lot of movement beneath these still waters, and, as a popular contemporary advert would have it, ‘If you’ve never learned to swim, you’re like a baby in the water.’ Will these characters drown or stay afloat? It all depends how well they have learned to negotiate the hidden rapids.

Read other reviews

The Blackhurst Beer Festival (continued)

Continuing on with the Blackhurst Beer Festival. The conversation and the beer was flowing by the time we got to,

Beer Number Six - Green Man Dark Mild, 3.5%, New Zealand

Green by name; um, black by nature. Brewed in Dunedin at the Green Man Brewery to strictly organic standards (with no additives, sugar or isinglass – a fish product often used to clear beer), the Dark Mild is even suitable for vegans! Mellow, rich and sweet with an underlying bitterness, this style of beer was very popular in the North and the Midlands of England in the early-mid 20th century as the ‘beer of choice’ for manual workers looking to quench their thirst after a hard day’s work down t’pit or at t’mill, and is undergoing a revival among real ale producers in the UK.

It is named after the Green Man, oddly enough, an old folk-fertility symbol, said to represent the essence of nature itself. Hedonistic and ritualistic, the pagan figure dies each year in November and is reborn on 1st May.

The brewery website claims, ‘He is found in the spirit of the trees, and his presence can be felt around you, in the bush… He is in orgies on the hillside, riots in the street, the celebrations of plenty, and the privations of crop failure. He is in inebriation, orgasm, trance and possession. His eyes typically do not focus, and his image is part comforting and part worrying, like the force he represents.’ Sounds like a drunken old hippy to me – hurrah!

Comments:
Smooth silky little number
Dark and sexy – like an Asian prostitute
Rich, full of potential but overall a letdown – just like Man City
Hints of charred oak – or how I imagine it tastes
A Shakespeare beer – full of great content, but not everyone will appreciate it
Insipid and dark – the Keanu Reeves of ale
Chocolatey burnt taste – very nice; put me down for a case
Sticky but not that strong – I likeeee likeeee
A seductive, languid liquid – bloody good. Well done to whoever made this

Green Man Dark Mild came in at 6th place.

Beer Number Seven - Köstritzer Schwarzbier, 4.8%, Germany

The brewery that produces this fine drop was founded in 1543 and is one of the oldest producers of black beer (schwarzbier) in Germany. It was a favourite of Goethe who sustained himself on its health-giving properties when he was too ill to eat. Perhaps if we all fortified ourselves thus we too could write literary masterpieces with the impact of Faust. Here’s to trying…

Typical words used to describe this beer include chocolate, coffee, creamy, malty, roasted cereal, and (strangely considering all that) bitter. The amusingly translated German website states, ‘Brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516, the original is convincing by its light and sparkling character; it really is a great enjoyment. The production of Köstritzer Schwarzbier is based on the Pilsner style. Its strength is comparable with light beers. It has been and will remain the nation-wide market leader.’ And who are we to argue with the Germans…?

Comments:
Revolting fizzy black stuff
I would rather eat glass than drink this
Marvin Gaye of ales – smooth, smooth and darkly dreamy
Hints of liquorice
Yuk, bitter and twisted – the Joan Collins of beers
Aroma of treacle and roasted nuts – perfect accompaniment to a Sunday afternoon
A big black lovely hole – dark, dreamy heaven
Another tasty beer, defo on the road to somewhere
Malty molasses on a wintry evening to warm the cockles of one’s soul – except it is summer

Quite a range of comments for this - some people like black beer and others simply don't. It came 8th overall.

Beer Number Eight - Jenning's Sneck Lifter, 5.1%, England

Another offering from the Lake District (Cockermouth to be precise), this winter warmer is a completely different ale. It is strong and dark with a reddish tinge derived from the use of coloured malts, described as ‘like diving through a bubble bath of hops’ – now there’s an image... Bitter and smoky; rich and chocolately; nutty and almost ashy, it is one for a night in front of the fire.

A sneck is a door latch in Northern-speak and a sneck-lifter was a man’s last sixpence with which he lifted the latch and entered the pub. Jenning’s are committed to beer drinking in the fells and sponsor ‘Geo-trails’ a GPS service that allows fell-walkers to know how far away they are from the nearest pub. This sounds like the sort of thing every household should have.

Comments:
I couldn’t drink a lot of this, but I expect it’s expensive and gets you drunk quickly
Black and fizzy – like coke but not
Poor!
Not my favourite – burnt taste, burnt after-taste and a burpy after-hue I want a grappa with this one – magic stuff
Very tasty beer
Chocolatey in a beer-like way

Really rather nice
Sweet and yummy
Many a good night forgotten on this one
Chocolatey goodness
Like velvet on the back of the throat
Chocolate and coffee – mochabeero

Ladies and gentlemen - we have a winner. Jenning's Sneck Lifter is our Champion Ale of the night.

Beer Number Nine - Petrus Dubbel Bruin, 6.5%, Belgium

A Belgian offering ‘brewed with pure spring water and carefully selected hops and malts’ – so they didn’t just bung them all in then? I particularly like the jolly monk on the label waving a tulip glass of beer and a large ‘key to heaven’ – that is not a euphemism for anything nasty.

The beer is made at the Bavik Brewery in Bavikhove, West Flanders; a town with an admirable history. Records from the end of the seventeenth century show that the population was about 800 people and the village had six pubs – a document signed by the mayor and the aldermen, and addressed to the higher authorities, states that all these pubs ‘are a necessity and useful’. Quite so.

The Bavik Brewery was ‘confiscated’ by the German army during WWI, but they were persuaded to keep it open while the town and several nearby cities, such as Ypres, were destroyed. After the war, the brewery owner married a brickie’s daughter and he sent barrels of his beer on the cart with the bricks from the brickyard to the building front – bricks and beer; the foundation of any good city.

Now the largest international criterion for professional cyclists takes place in Bavikhove annually. It is accepted and expected that spectators take their glass of beer out onto the streets to watch the race. As the Bavik Brewery writes, ‘We don’t want anyone to be thirsty or having a dry mouth while shouting and encouraging the racers.’

Comments:

Creamy, good body
Very sweet and syrupy – a bit sickly really
Definitely a friend of Dorothy’s – far too fruity for friendship
Belgian beer, much liked by the group – suitable for cold dark evenings by the fire
Sweet finish yet malty – strong in alcohol like a Belgian beer
Couldn’t drink a lot, but a little is lovely
Like a cream pudding – you want a small slice but couldn’t eat the whole pie
Strong and sweet like alcoholic treacle
Fruity aroma initially – very fruity and a little jammy
Ginger, yeast, lovely magic beer
Malty, citrusy and gingery

Coming in at second overall, this proved quite a popular choice, 'much liked by the group' indeed!

Beer Number Ten - Urbock, 7%, Namibia

This is a traditional German-style bock, proof of Namibia’s past history as a German colony. Bocks are made with all malt and are strong, malty, medium to full-bodied beers with moderate hop bitterness. It is brewed in Swakopmund which is also interestingly enough the birthplace of the world’s most unfortunately-named human spoonerism; Shiloh-Pitt (think about it).

Namibia Breweries Ltd make this beer once a year so it is only available in May of each year in limited quality. It adheres to the German Purity Law and samples are regularly sent to a leading German brewing institute in Munich where the product is evaluated against quality standards prevailing in Europe.

Huge squabbles have developed between NBL and the giant South Africa Breweries and things seem to be getting nastily political, with the Advertising Standards Authority and the Namibian Government becoming involved. It’s serious stuff, is beer.

Comments:
A brooding beer
Packs a punch but a bit crazy – like Frank Bruno
Not bad at all for something I would never order in the pub
Taste of seasons greetings – Chateau Neuf de Christmas
No idea what this is, but I’d have it again once I found out what it was Undertones of honey – I like it
Looks fruity, smells strong – sticky
A small taste explosion occurs in the mouth – malty, yeasty, hoppy and quite yummy
Very strong with BIG flavour – too much
Liquorice, aniseed and black treacle

And this tasty little number merited a 4th place overall.

So, there we have it - the Annual Blackhurst Beer Festival is drunk and dusted for another year. Thanks to everyone for caming and sharing yur thoughtsand comments with the group. We may see you again next time. Meawhile, here is a reminder of the ladder of success.

The Blackhurst Beer Festival

Last weekend we hosted the sixth annual Blackhurst Beer Festival. We provide blind tastings of ten different beers from a range of styles and countries, and our guests take tasting notes and then rank them in their preferred order so that we can pronounce a Champion Ale.

At the end we collate the notes and hand out a guide so they know which is which. There are spot prizes given at random and at our discretion, such as one for the best description and one for anyone who guesses any of the beers correctly (no one did on this occasion) or the person who identifies the most countries of origin.

We provided pie and peas at half-time and there were also crisps, nuts and sandwiches on offer (ham and mustard; beef and tomato; and cheese and pickle for the vegetarians). I didn't hand out a spot prize to whoever made the hummus and guacamole, but I should have done because it was delicious!

Beer Number One - Chang, 5%, Thailand

Just because they sponsor Everton Football Club, there’s no need to hold that against them. Chang (Thailand’s biggest brewer) do good things too – such as establishing the Chang-Everton village in Thailand in the wake (sorry!) of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The beer’s symbol is two Asian elephants because these beasts (more closely linked with the extinct woolly mammoth than the African elephant – random useless fact) have played a major part in Thailand’s history.

Tasting notes suggest a ‘full-bodied citrus quality and a smoky blend of sweet green apples and full-bodied vanilla’, which is allegedly especially brewed to complement the exotic flavour and textures of Thai dishes. It was awarded a gold medal at the Australian International Beer Awards – make of that what you will.

If you drank it on your hols and you thought it tasted different (even Fiji bitter can taste decent under a palm tree on a beach), you would be right. The beer brewed for export is 100% malt beer and is 5% abv; that brewed for the domestic market is stronger (6.4%) and contains rice. I kid you not.

Comments for this beer from our drinkers included the following:
Revolting
A hint of woodland spices with higher notes of lime and kiwifruit
Rotorua hot pools
Could drink it all night, but not worth writing home about
Weak, watery and flowery - could be alcohol free?
Is it supermarket brand lager?
No body or legs - good hair of the dog
Undertones of banana
Was this once a beer?
No flavour and not much alcohol - perhaps low carb?
Like eating carpet, but I wouldn't know
Tastes very New Zealand-y, better than stadium beer - not boutique, more mainstream

Unsurprisingly, it came 10th (i.e. last) overall.

Beer Number Two - Peroni, 5.1%, Italy

Most Italians drink wine to complement their meal, but apparently pizza is too salty and if you drank a red wine with it you would be very thirsty by the end. Heaven forbid! To the rescue comes Peroni Nastro Azzurro which is allegedly the perfect pizza beer, or an aperitif.

Claimed by the marketers to be Italian style in a bottle (are they putting Feraris and Gucci handbags in it?), it is supposed to bring out the Italian in you. It means ‘Blue Ribbon’ and has something to do with boats – the Blue Ribband was a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners – you could tell the Italian ships, because they were the ones going backwards.

Comments:
A pissy lager, I would say
Drank it loads when I was 15
Lingering after-taste with severe after-burp; I expect a windy belly by night end
Not very distinctive – a little bit bland
The sort of thing I’d end up drinking in a foreign country because there’s nothing else
Flat, flowery and not good
Goes down fast and has a bit more biteThis one tastes the same as the last one, but it’s probably different

And this beer was the group's second least favourite - it came 9th

Beer Number 3 - Methode Moa, 5.5%, New Zealand

What happens when a winemaker makes beer? Josh Scott, winemaker for Allan Scott Family Winemakers put his winemaking expertise to finding out. He brewed a beer in the normal fashion, and then added a dose of yeast and sugar and sealed the cap. Just like champagne, the bubbles produced by the second fermentation are dissolved in the liquid.

There are several varieties in this range, but the German style Pilsner is the original lager. Described on rate beer.com as ‘tarty and flat with a strong bite’ could this be the Teri Hatcher of the beer world?

Comments:
Very nice nutty oaky vintage
Like a night on whizz – lively and unpredictable
Nice warm after-feeling
Definitely has a Belgian beer flavour to it – very more-ish
Real personality – unlike the Belgians
Wheaty hoppy number – not bad, but two pints only
Very drinkable – taste lingers in the back of the throat
Frothy glass of lovely hops and yeast
Perhaps a vanilla after-taste? Giving me heartburn
Not my thing – I like to be able to see through my beer
Hoppy and wheaty – a touch of Northern Europe in New Zealand
Smells like Hoegaarden, but much greener in flavour
Wheat beer but quite hoppy and lemon-y

This one was 5th overall.

Beer Number 4 - Bluebird Bitter, Premium XB, 4.4%, England

If ever a beer were light and refreshing, this is it – it could be the ultimate session brew, and is the perfect fireside ale to be drunk after a hard day’s hiking over the nearby fells – trust me, I have done the research on this one. It is named to commemorate Donald Campbell’s tragic attempt on the world water speed record on Coniston Water, but it is far from being all doom and gloom.

The bottled Premium XB ingredients and the abv are different from the CAMRA Supreme Champion Cask Ale (brewed out the back of the Black Bull Inn, Coniston), but it is brewed in Hepworth (Yorkshire) under the supervision of Peter Scholey (former master brewer for the late and much-lamented Brakspear Brewery of Henley-on-Thames). It combines the English pale ale tradition with American hops (Mount Hood) and is apparently extremely popular with our more discerning American beer-drinking cousins.

Comments:
Fruity, honey summery taste, leaves a fizz on the palate
A glass of alcohol gold – taste sensation
Not too fizzy – no after-taste – I like it!
Quite flat and no real bite
Dirty dishwater
Quite insipid and tasteless but less fizzy and slips down easier than the others
Orange colour, subtle nutty flavours
Fresh and fruity, easy to drink – could get you in trouble with the wife
On first glance, the amber nectar – a Vienna-style – tasty
Fruitful but not sweet – half and half on this one but I think I like it
It tastes like beer and it looks like beer
Very mellow, honey tones

A (for me) disappointing 7th on the ladder for this one.

Beer Number 5 - Little Creatures Pale Ale, 5.2%, Australia

From a small, independent brewery in Freemantle, Western Australia, comes this hoppy pale ale. The brewery was established by a group of mates in an old crocodile farm, because they wanted to make, and drink, the perfect pale ale. They make theirs in small batches with Australian malts and hop flowers from Tasmania and Oregon, USA. It is named for the live yeast, present in the bottle, and has a cult following among young Australian drinkers.

Some interesting comments include: ‘In a land of bland beers, this makes for a pleasant change’ – Oxford Bottled Beer Database, and ‘This is love. An angel from the west, armed with a mischievous grin and a schooner of ale, has stolen my heart. They make the best beer in the country.’ – Peter Lalor, Sydney Daily Telegraph. It takes a lot to make a Sydneysider so sentimental – I’ll wager he’d had a few.

Comments:
Tremendous
Nice mellow taste but an average beer – I wouldn’t trek across the moors for a pint of it
Sweet smelling and tasty – hangover material perhaps?
Kate Moss meets Robbie Fowler – a little beauty with a nice finish
Independent brewery – all round fine beer with fine perky breasts
When all the other flavour has gone there is just a hint at the back of the mouth lingering like a diamond in the rough
More like the lighter Kiwi beers I’d buy here
Cloudy and hoppy with a hint of caramel
Hoppy! I can’t even begin to think of the hangover you would get from this
Hoppy goodness – tasty lager for a summer’s day

This beer came a very creditable third overall, and this seems like as good a place as any to take a drinks' break.

Yosemite - Part 3

Ellery and Tioga lakes are semi-frozen and glistening beneath peaks and domes of rock.

We picnic and play ‘Guess the jelly bean flavours’ as we sun ourselves on the rocks at Tuolumne Meadows and startle the fish as we stepping-stone across the river.

Walking up to Cathedral Lakes through the trees, I keep a lookout for bears while Him Outdoors is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of scenery.









I love the big rock faces with large boulders on them that must have come down in floods or avalanches and are now left abandoned behind.

I also love the fact that they are called, 'erratic boulders' which conjures up notions of them nipping off to raves and behaving irresponsibly when no one’s watching.

We walk up and run back down – the huffing and puffing and shuddering should scare away any bears, or make them wet their fuzzy pants as they grown to each other, ‘I thought I was a big lumbering beast – have you seen that?’







There are reflections in Tenaya Lake and a glorious pink light over Half Dome. Glacial erratic boulders abound as we pile out of the car at Olmsted Point to take photos and a bloke tells us proudly of his eight-hour walk earlier in the day, pointing out the peaks he has encountered. A sign says ‘Watch for Rocks’ – Him Outdoors and I say simultaneously, “There’s one!” How childish!

Dark descends as we drive out of the park and come to Buck Meadows on the edge. We check into a motel and continue our American culinary experience with a meatball sandwich for me and a chiliburger for Him Outdoors.

I have a Fat Tire Amber Ale, which is nutty and malty, while Him Outdoors tries the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. They come in frosted schooners which are way too cold and turn the beer to slush – it’s much more palatable when it warms up.

Walking back to the motel, we are accompanied by the clear night sky. The starts are so beautiful; forgive me for sounding like an old hippy, but the Northern Hemisphere constellations are like dear friends. Hello Great Bear.