Planet Bods Blog

Bods's Cookbook Collection Reviewed - Cranks Fast Food

2010-03-06T15:41:52Z

All this week I've been reviewing cookbooks that sit on my shelf. Well it kept me off the streets for a bit. In this final post of part one of the series, it's time to get quick, quick, quick!

It didn't take long after moving in with Catherine for us to realise that our old collections of recipes weren't particularly interesting. Catherine's vegetarian collection mostly consisted of tomato, mushrooms, onions and pasta, whilst my meat eating background meant I had few vegetarian recipes to fall back on - just a handful from my student-orientated cookbooks.

Admittedly it took over a year for us to realise this, but when we did, and the first new book to arrive on the shelves was Nadine Abensur's Cranks Fast Food. Nadine was, for five years, Food Director for Cranks and wrote a number of books under the Cranks brand. We got the paperback version, published in October 2001, just months before the Cranks restaurant chain was closed for good.

The concept of Cranks Fast Food is a simple one - brilliant, tasty vegetarian food in under 30 minutes - many can be easily done in 15-20 minutes.. Living in a country where sizeable proportions of the population live off ready meals because "cooking takes too long", it's a book you often want to wave in front of people going "LOOK! IT'S EASY!"

As with any cook book, it's split into sections, starting with anti-pasto and snacks. There's naturally a section on soup, which has to be the ultimate fast food, and which contains an outstanding Butternut Squash Soup with mango chutney and coriander pesto.

The fritters section has, it has to be said, not been used extensively, however this is followed by the Warm Salads section which has proved a series of well used lunch recipes. Nadine describes her Seared Green beans with potatoes, mushrooms and six minute eggs as her version of a salad niçoise. I'd describe it as utterly brilliant, and has remained a firm favourite ever since.

The warm salads section also introduced me to Halloumi - the wonderful Cypriot grilling cheese that's been described by some as the vegan equivalent of bacon. Many vegetarians state that bacon is the one thing that they really miss, and apparently many vegans say the same about Halloumi.

It was the chickpea, lemon and herb salad with tomatoes and grilled Halloumi that started my love affair with the cheese - and it was the recipe I cooked for Catherine's dad just after he'd completed the London Marathon in order to provide the perfect antidote to the piles of pasta he'd been eating. This particular salad has become a firm favourite of everyone who has ever tried it, and will remain one for me until I die.

Naturally pasta features highly in the book with its own dedicated section, and introduced me to the odd soundly but lovely concept of spaghetti with new potatoes and green beans. There's also a section on eggs and cheese, tarts and casseroles.

Yes casseroles. The old fashioned veggie stew and dumplings is another firm favourite in our house.

It was the cous-cous and risotto section that introduced me to both cous-couse and proper risotto rice, and that section also offers the marvel of an entire Indian meal cooked in 30 minutes - and I've tested it. You really can make Coconut dahl with raita, cardamom rice and paneer tikka in 30 minutes. Although that said, it is better if you marinate the paneer overnight.

There's no doubt that there's some brilliant flavours in here, and the book itself is well presented, it's full colour with lots of photographs to drool over.

In case you're in any doubt, I love this book. It remains a firm favourite for me - of all the Cranks books I own, it's the one that's most thumbed - as it completely blasts wide open the myth that vegetarian food is dull, worthy and uninteresting. It was a book that changed my cooking life, introducing a whole host of new flavours, new ideas, new concepts and new ingredients. It was the book that turned me into someone who loves cooking so much, that they write an entire series of blog posts reviewing recipe books. And that's saying something.

Give a good cookbook a home on your bookshelf. Go to a bookshop and buy it. Or buy it on Amazon. Although personally I prefer Foyles...

Well that's it for now - but if you liked this series, don't worry... my book shelf has barely been touched...

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Bods's Cookbook Collection Reviewed - Hansa's Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

2010-03-06T15:39:10Z

Yes, it's still going on. I'm still reviewing cookbooks from my shelf. Well it's just one of those things a blogger has to do every now and then. Anyway, time to head to the Indian sub-continent now...

Once upon a time, home made curries just seemed to consist of lobbing some curry powder into a pan and hoping for the best. Then the world learnt about jars of curry sauce and the differences between a korma and a rogan josh. And they were happy.

Personally I was never a curry sauce fan - my mum introduced the family to Patak's curry paste - a far better ingredient, and cheaper too. So when I moved out of the parental abode and started cooking myself, the curry paste came with me.

However I still wasn't quite satisfied. I wanted to be making my own curries from scratch. I tried a few recipes, including one which involved making your own curry paste, however the results were lacklustre and uninspiring. And then a good friend gave me a copy of Hansa's Indian Vegetarian Cookbook for my birthday, and the world was changed forever.

31% of people in India are vegetarian, and it's the country of the world with the most vegetarians. Some regions are more vegetarian than others, and in the Gujarit region, the population and food are primarily vegetarian. So no surprise then that Gujurati cuisine has come up with some excellent dishes over the years.

Hansa's is a Gujrati resturant in Leeds. And if the self-published recipe book is anything to go by, it must be an excellent place to eat. (If you're in London, may I suggest a trip to Kastoori in Tooting)

The book isn't just a collection of recipes, but an insight into the culture of food in the region, and how people eat it, and all the information you need on how to cook it. It's split into several sections, like street food and snack items like bhajis and pakoras, chutneys and salads, however it's the curry sections that are of most interest.

Split between vegetable and pulse based meals, there's much to choose from. Many are dry curries which can be served either with chapatis, or with rice and a sauce (there's an excellent dahl sauce and kahadi sauce which is brilliant and yogurt based). The Ful Cobi - cauliflower, carrots and peas - is excellent, whilst the Ringan Mattar (aubergine, tomato and pea curry) is to die for.

Most surprising however is the Cobi Mattar - a potato and cabbage curry. I'll run that by you again - potato and cabbage. Doesn't sound particularly inspiring I know, however it's absolutely superb. It'll be hard for even the hardened cabbage hater to dislike this particular dish. The pulse section contains even more brilliance, and of course lots of lentil based dahls.

Then there's the rice section, which contains the best pillau rice I've ever made at home and tastes just like you'd get in a good restaurant. The khichadi rice (basically a spiced rice with lentils) is especially good.

Although the ingredients lists can be rather high thanks to the number of spices, most of the recipes are very quick to do if you're organised. Most can be done in 25-30 minutes without a problem if you're ready to go - and most of that is cooking time with nothing to do. Most of the spices are added in one go, so the trick is simply to collect them all in a ramekin and put them all in together at the relevant point.

One of the annoying things is usually how many pans I end up requiring - a curry, dahl and rice is at least three pans and whilst its doable, there's easier ways. I learnt very quickly that dahl freezes wonderfully meaning you can make a large batch in advance and just heat them up when required. And whilst many of the recipes tell you to use all manner of exciting and interesting dahls (dahl being a split bean or lentil), if you're in a rush and can't be bothered with the soaking, red lentils can be bunged straight in and will cook quickly.

The book also includes a desert section, salads and fresh chutneys too. Most of the ingredients you'll be able to find in a good supermarket, although there are a few spices that I had to put more effort in to track down - thankfully I live in an area with lots of Sri Lankan shops, although even then it took me ages to find Carom seeds. That was thankfully a rarity, and pretty much everything else could be found in my local Sainsburys. Mind you, even then some detective work was needed thanks to many spices having varying names - I eventually found Hing sold as Asphodita, and Carom seeds sold as Ajwain. Thankfully a glossary at the back gives various alternative names along with the health benefits associated with them!

If there's one flaw in this book, it's in some of the sub editing. Every now and then you'll spot little mistakes, like on page 60 where the Spinach Bhaji recipe tells you it's perfect with Khirchadi rice, where the recipe can be found on page 85. Page 85 then provides a recipe for Coriander Rice - the actual recipe is on page 89. There are other little niggling things like the intro to the Chutneys section which references two recipes which aren't even in the book, and on one occasion, you're not told what to do with a particular ingredient.

Okay, that's a bit picky - this is an excellent book and I'd be lost without it. It's opened up a whole new world of cooking for me and given some excellent meals that are real crowd pleasers. If you've ever thought vegetarian curries were slightly lacking in something, this is a book you need to get hold of.

According to Hansa's website, author Hansa Dabhi is currently writing a second book. I can't wait for it to be published.

Incidentally, if you're wondering... no, I haven't stopped buying curry paste. Sometimes it just works very well. But I am buying far less of it than I ever used to...

I wholeheartedly recommend and/or endorse this product or service, which can be found on Amazon.

Tasty, tasty, ooh such a good time... Tomorrow it's time for some food. But better make it fast!

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 11 March 2010

2010-03-11T14:08:33Z

Harry Hill signs two-year deal with ITV - guardian.co.uk

Phew!
Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere - The Onion

They've done it again.
You say tom-AY-to, I say tom-AH-to, Jupitus says #tomsontoast - Phill and Phil's Musings on The Perfect Ten

Phil Jupitus on why tomatoes on toast matters!
Bulletproof Mobile Device Detection and Style Sheets without User Agent Detection or Server-Side Scripting - Bushido Designs Web Development Blog

I was randomly wondering whether to do a "narrow screen/mobile" version of Planet Bods. I don't bother with mobile internet myself, however I thought it would be an interesting thing to play with. This interesting code gives a relatively simple way to provide a mobile/handheld stylesheet without using any JavaScript.
ADAM BUXTON'S BIG MIX TAPE - Adam and Joe's 6music blog

Adam and Joe are (alas) on sabbatical from 6music, however news comes of an interesting sounding pilot Adam's recording. Adam Buxton's Big Mix Tape is "is supposed to be kind of like a compilation tape that I've made for the listeners with a different theme or mood each week.The pilot Mix Tape is called Øddens and features some of my favourite weird but accessible music by both well known and less well known artists. The show is 2 hours so it's divided into two sides with a guest joining me for an hour to add their own tracks and just talk generally about any other rubbish that comes up." Pilot will hopefully be broadcast in a few weeks time.
If the answer is shutting 6 Music, what exactly was the question? - guardian.co.uk

"The BBC cannot prove in any meaningful way that 6 Music threatens commercial listening now, or will do so in the future. It can't argue that it's operating three popular music stations when one of them clearly isn't. It can't even denounce 6 Music as too expensive for such a small audience - not when Radio 3 escapes unscathed with 1.87 million listeners and a budget of £51m." Paul Smith, formerly of BBC Radio 7 doesn't understand the logic being dished out by BBC management for closing 6music. Frankly, nor do I when you could argue the logic given should mean 1xtra and Radio 7 should also get the chop.
Don't just shorten your URL, make it suspicious and frightening - ShadyURL.com

Fantastic!

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio, BBC Radio 6music, Harry Hill, internet, ITV, ITV1, radio, web development | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Bods's Cookbook Collection Reviewed - Grub on a Grant

2010-03-06T15:16:13Z

This week I'm reviewing cookbooks. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time. Still, here we go with a student classic.

Every year without fail, there will be a huge group of people who will leave home and go to university completely unprepared in the basics of life. They will have no concept of budgeting. And they will have no idea how to cook.

No surprise on the latter then that there is a huge market for cookbooks aimed at students, and the best well known of them all is Grub on a Grant. Originally published in 1986 (and updated as More Grub on Less Grant in 1999), my original version sits alongside Catherine's dogeared copy of companion book, Vegetarian Grub on a Grant.

Over the years, author Clas Clarke became almost the Delia of student cooking and Grub on a Grant became known by many as the student cookbook bible, thanks to its extremely easy to follow recipes which were simple, and wholesome and tasty. And of course, especially useful for the student audience, it was a book that didn't get extravagent and therefore expensive.

However for me, the most useful section was its selection of recipes for one person - the solo diner is a concept that most cookbooks seem to ignore, despite the fact that a third of the population live by themselves.

Even after leaving university I was regularly using Grub on a Grant, and when I moved in with Catherine, the Vegetarian version became more important too. Regular favourites had included a crusted mince recipe, where mince and onions would be served with french bread croutons, and a sort of mushroom pasta sauce made with condensed mushroom soup. Frying pan pizza came out time and time again for those times when only some melted cheese could do.

Okay, they don't sound particularly glamorous and sexy meals, and I can't deny that both books tend now to sit on the shelf looking rather folorn and unused. Getting jobs after university meant more money, and our tastes have changed and matured.

And it is perhaps not so much a surprise that neither book gets much of an outing anymore. Why do frying pan pizza with self raising flour and cheddar cheese when I can make a proper pizza base and smother it with mozarrella and sundried tomatos? Chances of me doing crusted mince are slim as it's not veggie friendly, however if I did find myself with some mince in hand, I'd probably make a lamb keema instead.

Yet it would be wrong to dismiss Grub on a Grant just out of hand as not being sophisticated. For it's a book that helped me learn more about cooking - that helped give me the basics. It's recipe for chilli-con-carne is pretty similar to what I do now for example (except with veggie mince). Perhaps it is fair to say however that much of the food is representative of the era it was written in - cooking in the mid 1980s was quite different to now. I mean, I can still remember this strange stuff called pasta appearing in my mum's food.

Times have changed, and the title perhaps most reflects this. Student grants have gone and so too have these books - although still available, they're not published any more. A new edition merging More Grub on Less Grant and Vegetarian Grub on a Grant was published in 2003 called The Essential Student Cookbook. I haven't seen it, but I'm sure it's been gone through and a host of new recipes have been added to it. And no doubt it's the student cookbook bible for a whole new generation.

Well if that's tempted you, you can find Grub On A Grant, More Grub on Less Grant and Vegetarian Grub on a Grant in the second hand sections of Amazon. And if you want something new then you're clearly not a student. so don't look for Essential Student Cookbook: 400 Quick and Easy Cheap Recipes.

Tomorrow, well I think we'll have a curry...

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 10 March 2010

2010-03-11T11:19:02Z

In the BBC Radio 6music news....

Spare 6 Music for us indie dads - The Guardian

"The BBC says it has to show that the era of expansion is over. But closing 6 Music is hardly going to stop Sky and ITV from complaining." James Purnell MP, former Culture Secretary and (soon to be former) MP for Stalybridge and Hyde (up the Tameside Massive!) wades in to the debate.
An open letter to BBC Director General Mark Thompson from MW editor Paul Williams - Music Week

"Although we would agree the commercial sector is not in the fortunate position to finance a station like 6 in the way the BBC can do presently, it is also true the musical make-up of 6, in championing a range of acts that at least initially do not have mass-market appeal, does not make such a station commercially attractive to launch. But that is why we have public service broadcasting and why only the BBC can make a station like 6 properly work." Music Week wades in.
Some Thoughts On The Demise Of BBC 6 Music - Carnival Saloon

"The BBC are unwilling to try to increase 6 Music's reach because they believe commercial radio will well serve its average audience. Really? On page 56 the report states, 'it is clear that commercial radio effectively delivers mainstream popular music broadcasting to younger and middle-aged adults. This audience is commercially attractive and the BBC’s digital services in this space (for instance, Radio 6 Music) do not currently deliver significant enough public value to justify their intervention.' But which commercial stations are going to step up and fill the void left by 6? Certainly none of them do so at present." Nigel Smith wades in too. You probably don't know him. He works for the BBC in Audio and Music and is a thoroughly nice dude.
6Music - Going Deaf for a Living

"On a personal level, I believe that shutting 6music would be disastrous for the British music scene - and alternative music from further a field too. There is so much music being played every week on Six that simply doesn’t get played anywhere else, that losing it would be unthinkable. [...] The cultural hole it would leave if scrapped, would have terrible repercussions for everyone from small promoters to indie labels to bands and to music fans of all ages. We’d be denying people the chance to hear music which could - even in just a few cases - alter their life, as listening to John Peel changed mine." Steve Lamaq wades in also.
BBC chief: 6 Music listeners 'at heart of commercial radio demographic' - guardian.co.uk

"'The average age of its listeners - 37 - is at the heart of the demographic targeted by commercial radio', she told delegates at a Westminster Media Forum event." And Caroline Thomson, BBC COO wades in (with the party line). So 6music listeners, off to Heart and Magic with you!
Popjustice - Another quick thing about BBC radio then we'll be quiet

"You have to admire the spunk of someone who can stand up in front of media execs and claim with a straight face that someone who currently spends all day listening to Broken Bells, Vampire Weekend and French Horn Rebellion (all of whom, we feel compelled to point out here, are shit) on 6 Music will in any way be well catered for by the commercial sector, but let's be serious here: 6 Music's listeners will be no better served by the commercial sector than a man with no arms would be by a lifetime's supply of mittens." And finally Popjustice say what perhaps many are thinking about Ms Thomson's comments. But in a better way that some could.

In other news...

You need a paper licence to link to the Royal Mail website - malcolm coles

The hysterical tale of getting a "licence" in order to link to Royal Mail's website.
Royal Mail Customer Service - Offering help and advice

I iz breakin' da law.
Thou Shalt Not Link Without Permission - Bods's Blog

Back in 2003 I spotted similar with Pace's website. I didn't bother to ask for permission. The paradigm I didn't come up with in 2003 but have now, is that it's like having to apply to the police to visit someone's house. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Rebuilding All Your Movable Type Blogs In One Go - Movable Tips

Incredibly useful sounding plugin for Movable Type that allows you to rebuild all your blogs in one click. Yet to install it myself, however sounds incredibly useful.
Work to start on most hated building in Colliers Wood? - Wimbledon Guardian

I think the question mark says it all.
June Whitfield to swap Wimbledon for Coronation Street cobbles - Wimbledon Guardian

June Whitfield lives in Wimbledon?
First class on trains - what's the point? - BBC News

I like first class on intercity routes - especially ones over three hours. Much more comfortable. Meanwhile in the South East, Southern Trains have some trains where first class has completely the same seats as standard class, and there's not even a door to isolate first from standard. Every time I see those trains, I wonder what on earth the point is...

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio, BBC Radio 6music, internet, Merton, Movable Type, radio, railways, Royal Mail, trains, Wimbledon | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Bods's Cookbook Collection Reviewed - Delia's Complete Cookery Course

2010-03-10T09:44:00Z

All this week I'm reviewing some of the cookbooks on my shelf. And book two is a staple of many a household...

I've been cooking since a pretty young age, having been introduced to it by my mum. Pretty much as soon I was old enough to be trusted with the oven, I spent time in school holidays making things like shortbread or fudge.

On Sundays I'd make the gravy and stuffing whilst the rest of When my dad was briefly working in the US and my mum was on odd shifts due to training to be a nurse, I'd sometimes make tea. I could follow a recipe and get a result.

So when I went to university in 1996 I had at least some idea of how to get round a kitchen. I even had a recipe for pasta which involved smoked sausage, mushrooms and cheese sauce.

However there was still a lot I didn't know, and after leaving uni, there wasn't going to be much opportunity for those extra lessons to be given to me by mum, and if this was the reason my mum bought me a copy of Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, well she never said.

As it happened, I did move out (and to London) and ended up moving in with a vegetarian so there's still a lot I don't know about cooking. I may have a book where Delia can tell me all about roasting a chicken, however I never have actually cooked a chicken.

Still even for a household that never puts poultry in a roasting tin, Delia's much reprinted tome has still had some serious use. When I first wanted to try making bread, it was Delia that I turned to. When I want a cake or nice desert, the Complete Cookery Course comes out. And when I bought some raspberries on offer last year and decided to make jam, guess who was there to guide me?

And that's the joy of Delia. The book covers everything, and starts with the basics. Rather than presenting you with just the recipes, the book explores the equipment you need, general techniques and information about key ingredients.

It's always clear. It's always easy to follow. It will even tell you about marrow, and few books even acknowledge the existence of that particular vegetable.

No other cookbook I own is as comprehensive. It'll even tell you how to make a wedding cake. Or mayonnaise. Or a wedding cake covered in mayonnaise.

True, for me, huge swathes of the book have gone unread. But still, if by any chance Catherine is out for the evening and I happen to have bought some steak or a pork chop, and I need an idea of how best to cook it... Well I'll know where to turn...

If you haven't done a Delia in your house, you could find it on Amazon.co.uk. But it's not compulsory.

Tomorrow it's a student classic.

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Bods's Cookbook Collection Reviewed - Cranks Recipe Book

2010-03-06T15:30:31Z

All this week I'm reviewing some of the recipe books that fill my book shelves. And we start with a classic.

Cast your mind back to 1961. It's the swinging sixties and you're on Carnaby Street. Far out man. There's fashion everywhere. And a restaurant.. And oh look it's vegetarian. That's good healthy food man!

What started as one restaurant grew into lots of the things. And then less so - the chain, having been through many owners, shut up all but one of its outlets in 2001, and the brand became mostly a purveyor of sandwiches and ready meals.

However the restaurant legacy remains in the form of a single outlet in Devon and a series of six cookbooks, mostly written by Nadine Abensur. Three of the Cranks books form pride of place in our collection, including the original "Cranks Recipe Book" by David Canter, one of the founders of Cranks.

Published in 1982, the year after David died, the Cranks Recipe Book seems like half recipe book, half historical document. It offers a glimpse into the food the nation ate in the 1960s and 1970s - an era of good old fashioned British veg. Nowhere to be seen is the Mediterranean diet many of us seem to live on know. Pasta recipes are macaroni based, and you'll be hard pressed to find any noodles. Lemongrass and chopped coriander? Don't make me laugh!

Instead you'll find stews and casseroles. Pies and savoury crumbles. Things not often mentioned in many modern cookery books - and ironically that's where the book really comes into its own, because it offers a perfect collection of comforting winter food.

In an era when you can buy almost any fruit and veg you want any time of the year, many people have completely forgotten that food is seasonal. And we had too until we first started getting a vegetable box delivered. Packed full of seasonal produce like swedes, celeriac, parsnips and kale, I suddenly found my other cook books severely lacking. Yet here was a book rammed with such recipes and good ones too.

True, some of the recipes in the book seem rather dated - the curry recipe (made with real, genuine curry powder!) could be described only as "brown" and "70s" and whilst I did make it once, I never made it again. It reminded me of curries by mum made when we were young - and I didn't like them then.

However for every dated recipe, there's a classic recipe. Vegetable fricassee, homity pie, carrot portage, vegetable crumble and more.

During the summer, Cranks Recipe Book never gets a look in, however come the winter, it's well thumbed and regularly used. Like veg, it's seasonal. And long may it be around.

If you want it, you can find Cranks Recipe Book on Amazon.co.uk

Tomorrow, it's a book from the queen of UK cooking.

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Bods's Cookbook Collection

2010-03-04T22:43:59Z

Later this year it will be ten years since Catherine and myself moved in together, and the start of some changes in our lives. For starters we had to combine our books onto the same shelves. Oh and VHS tapes too. And lets not go there for the CDs, many of which we had in duplicate.

And then there was eating together. That was a bigger change mainly as Catherine is one of those vegetarian things whilst I am a committed carnivore.

One way people handle such scenarios is to cook two separate meals however I instantly dismissed such a notion because it is harder work, involves washing up and is less cost effective. I'd happily cook and eat vegetarian food under a couple of conditions:

no Quorn. I don't do Quorn, or anything similar. My attitude, if you don't eat meat, why eat something that tastes like meat, but isn't quite right (it's the texture that gets me every time - it's never right) when there are lots of lovely vegetables, pulses and more to eat on. (I should note that soya mince and good vegetarian sausages are excluded from this ban - although we rarely have the latter as they're so hard to find!)
food must be tasty and interesting. If you know where to look, you can find some absolutely horrible, bland vegetarian food. Food that people eat because it's healthy; because it's worthy. Or food that's just because the chef is just really bad and has no imagination. Catherine once had a meal in a pub that was tagliatelle, with sauce on top and a giant piece of unflavoured soya plonked on top. It looked awful. And I didn't want any part of it. (In the same pub I had what looked like an burnt Fray Bentos pie. We never ate there again.)

For some reason Catherine agreed. Something to do with her not liking Quorn, but liking interesting, tasty food I think. And so it began.

As I do most of the cooking, there was a challenge in store - I had few vegetarian recipes in my collection, having got very few cookbooks anyway. My recipe collection had consisted of a few meals that I'd cooked for myself during my student years, and a couple of student cookbooks. It was blatantly obvious that the recipe repertoire needed updating - we needed some new cookbooks, stat!

Over the years we've now amounted a sizeable cookbook collection, so I've decided to review them. Rather than do the whole lot at once, I'm going to break it into a few different series of posts on this blog over the coming weeks, nay, more like months. I'm going to share what I have and review them for you, sharing what's good and what's bad in the veggie cook book arena.

I'm going to start the first batch of reviews tomorrow kicking off with an old veggie standby, and you can meet me here to read it. See you then!

More blog posts about: Bods's Cookbook Collection, food | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 5 March 2010

2010-03-05T13:26:50Z

Radio boss: Commercial sector will gain nothing from 6 Music closure - The Drum

"Commercial radio can never replicate 6 Music’s cultural value - it’s not viable for us to do so. The commercial landscape has featured many fine rock music stations that have never made any real money - over time we water them down and gently shepherd them back towards the traditional commercial heartland. We will gain nothing from this closure yet the music industry will lose much."
Lily Allen: Why we must save BBC 6 Music - The Guardian

"If they close 6 Music, instead of acts like Seasick Steve and presenters like Lauren Laverne, it will be the Pussycat Dolls and Fearne Cotton on Radio 1."
The BBC Strategy Review & BBC Radio - About the BBC Blog

Tim Davie does a rather half-hearted defence of the closure of 6music by describing it as "distinctive, much loved and I too am passionate about it's output". The comments aren't exactly positive, raising a number of points - points the posters believe to be valid and want a response to. As one commenter is nor impressed.... "Will no one from the BBC engage with us in this discussion like grown ups?
BBC Strategy Review public consultation

And don't forget you can have your say about the proposed BBC strategy, including the closure of 6music, the Asian Network and huge chunks of the BBC website. You pay for it. It's your BBC. Your say can make a difference. Seriously. And if you want your say, this is the place to do it.
Former Mitcham resident lands top BBC sports job - Wimbledon Guardian

"Man who once lived somewhere gets top sounding job" What a scoop!

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio, BBC Radio 6music, Daily Links, Merton | Comment on this post, and read other comments

When technology goes bad - traumas during recent user testing.

2010-02-28T15:44:57Z

One of the things I'm always keen to do on large work projects is a bit of user testing - where we get real people to come in, try using our services and see what happens. The idea is to see what works, and more importantly, what doesn't.

We do sometimes use dedicated testing companies for this work, however the BBC does have a small team of usability gurus and there's a testing lab on site. The main room is decked out to look a bit like a living room, although the video cameras kind of spoil the effect. Then there's a viewing room where team members can watch proceedings.

For TV based services we normally test using prototypes built in Flash. The prototype runs off a laptop connected to a TV, and an infra-red sensor allows the testee to use a normal remote control to control the service. However the preference is to test real services running real code if we can. That takes serious development time, however sometimes its possible, and the lab has a TV signal for such times.

Recently we planned a round of testing for BBC iPlayer on Freesat. The plan was to test some changes to the user interface, however whilst looking minor they could have a big impact on the way people use the service. Because the user interface already existed, it was quicker to build some set top box versions than it would have been to build in Flash, and we'd have the benefit that we'd have full access to the live data and video.

We had three variants to test, two days booked in the lab and ten people lined up to try it out.

The previous week we'd dutifully gone into the lab to run a test session - check the satellite and broadband connections were all working correctly - that kind of thing. They were and all we needed to do was wait until Tuesday morning when the tests would kick off.

Early on Tuesday I arrived to get the set top box set up. And that's when the trouble began.

Over the weekend there had been electrical works in the building, and as such part of the lab was in disarray. A frantic half hour was spent by the person who knows how the lab works, just trying to get the camera working properly again.

Then we had internet connection problems. The BBC network runs everything through proxy servers for internet connections, however set top boxes don’t usually offer you the ability to set a web proxy so to run services we need what we call a "dirty connection" - raw access to the internet.

The lab's dirty connection was on a network which had its own DNS server. The power works had seen the server shutdown, and unfortunately when the server reboots, it hadn't rebooted properly, thus requiring manual intervention.

With minutes to spare, we got everything set up and ready for the first test. Phew. We'd made it.

Halfway through the first test, the internet connection failed again. Not the DNS server this time - that was still running fine. After much struggling, we had to abandon the first test.

Much scratching of heads, I eventually stumbled on what looked like the problem - for some reason, the set top box didn't like the particular ethernet cable or socket we were using. We changed to a different cable and a different socket and got everything working perfectly and we sighed a huge sigh of relief that test two wouldn't need to be cancelled as well.

Then mid way through test two we got another problem - the box lost connection to our development server where the prototypes were being hosted. We could get through to other servers, however the development one had disappeared. Before randomly coming back a few minutes later. It was a problem that would plague us throughout the day although thankfully didn't cause any major problems.

Quite what the problem was, we never did find out - the server in question is a standard BBC development server that our team were using next door without a problem. The problem could have been anywhere. Still, it was something that could be worked round.

Day two arrived and once more we had no connection to the internet, and the lovely bloke who knew how everything worked had the day off. I'm therefore sure he was very happy to spend half an hour talking me through diagnosing the problem and working out how to get the server up and running again. It looked liked the power work had disrupted everything once more.

The time taken to sort it all out meant we'd had to cancel the first session of the day. This was not good as arranging the sessions costs money and we get nothing useful out of a cancelled session! However we were up and running once more for the second of the day.

Mid way through the second one, the connection disappeared once more. The DNS server was running, however it wasn't doing any DNS look ups. The exact problem could have been anything. We were stuck and admitted defeat. We'd need to find another room. We wouldn't have the viewing room and cameras, however we'd at least be able to test.

The first problem was finding a room. We needed a meeting room with a satellite feed and a dirty internet connection. And preferably a sofa. Such rooms in the BBC are hard to find. We came up with three options.

There was the Blue Room - the BBC's gadget demo space, which has all sorts of cool stuff in it, including a Freesat box. Unfortunately it was booked up all afternoon being used for an important demo.

Our next thought went to Ada Lovelace which has TVs, comfy chairs and the all important broadband link. It took was booked up all afternoon with a large meeting…

Finally the Board Room was considered. No comfy chairs, however we were desperate. Ah. No. In use all afternoon.

In the end we managed to commandeer part of an informal meeting area on the third floor, owned by our colleagues in FM&T: Journalism. It had a TV feed; it had a net connection. We knew there may be some small meetings going on in the background, however it was better than nothing. Beggars can't be choosers.

I now had about 90 minutes to rig up one of our boxes and get it working before the third test. A doddle I thought!

I dutifully crowbarred our Humax PVR set top box in to the rig. Only to find it had no signal and wouldn't show a picture. Wondering if it was just the box being stroppy, I ran upstairs and borrowed a different - a Humax HD box this time. I got downstairs again, saw the box had a signal but then I found the box was tuned in to our development environment and needed a retune. Okay I thought. Retune.

First part of the retune process - enter your postcode. I did. Postcode invalid I was told. I entered another. Invalid. I entered my parents postcode. Invalid.

Sighing big style, I went back upstairs and plugged the box in at my desk where it retuned perfectly and worked fine. I took it downstairs and plugged it in. No signal. Excactly the same problem as the PVR box.

I eventually deduced that, for some reason, the satellite feed going through to the third floor wasn't carrying the "Freesat Home Transponder". This is the data area which contains the postcode tables and EPG data, and clearly what the set top boxes used to determine if there was a signal. Without access to the Home Transponder, the Humax boxes wouldn't work. Clearly the satellite signal distribution system wasn't providing a full signal to the third floor. As the room hadn't got a Freesat box, no one had ever spotted the problem. No doubt fixable, however not in the time we had available!

Clearly using our Humax boxes wasn't an option however I wondered if another make of box would work. Groping around the office I found a Technisat set top box running a development version of their firmware. Thus it may feature an odd quirk or two, however it was worth a shot.

Thankfully the Technisat box didn't require the presence of the Home Transponder so turned on fine. Now all we had to do was check the internet connection and we were home dry.

The connection worked.

Result! Ten minutes to spare before our third test of the day and we were up and running. The test was conducted with me lurking in the background hoping nothing else would break. At one point the box locked up (such things happen with pre-production firmware) however a swift reboot later and it was running once more.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief (once more) I left, leaving the fourth test to start.

Half way through the fourth test, the satellite signal apparently failed several times. When the satellite signal fails, the set top box shuts down everything and says "No signal". The fourth test had to be abandoned.

That left one final test which managed to be completed thanks to some very lucky failures. We were testing three variants, and, by all accounts, the signal failed just as they'd finished testing each variant. It was amazingly lucky timing and meant that at least we'd got the final test completed. It was over. I packed up the set top box and restored the room's equipment as I found it.

We did at least get something out of it - it wasn't as much a disaster as originally feared. Experience has shown me that during user testing, something will go wrong. However it was a stunning example of those scenarios where if something could go wrong, it would to stunning effect!

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC iPlayer, Freesat, usability, work | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Which pub to choose?

2010-02-28T15:32:03Z

When I lived in Ealing and wanted to go to the pub, the discussion between meself and Catherine usually went "Pub?" "Yeah. Go on then." Then we'd leave the house. Near six years in Merton and the conversation still goes "Pub?" "Yeah. Which one?"

Ealing has lots of great pubs - it's just that we always loved The Red Lion the most. There were a few scenarios where the Red Lion wouldn't do - namely if we wanted to eat out on a Sunday evening (at the time, the Red Lion didn't do food on Sunday evenings) or if we just wanted to go somewhere because we wanted a break from being a "local". But most of the time, it was the Red Lion and there was absolutely no need to talk about it.

Merton too has lots of great pubs. However we have no standout single pub that we love the most, so we end up on a conversation weighing up the various benefits and drawbacks of each of our options...

The Sultan is nice and does good ales from Hopback. They have no TVs and one of their rooms has no music (result! I like a pub without TVs and music.) The beer is always excellent, however are usually golden. and whilst they're good, I do prefer a malty ale to a hoppy one.

Down the road is The Traf which is great and has the most varied ale selection in the a however its tiny so if there's a band on or if there is sport on the TVs, it dominates the whole place.

Then there's the Princess of Wales. This used to have no music and the TV (a very old CRT with OnDigital box!) was very rarely on. And the TV was in one side of the pub and very easy to escape. However the old owners retired last year, and inevitably there's been some changes - notably an increase in ale selection (yay!) and the arrival of background music. Plus there's been a couple of extra TVs added recently, meaning it's a tad harder to escape the screens when football or rugby is on.

There's no one perfect pub in that mix - just three different pubs and I have to work out which mood I'm in, to decide which pub to go to.

That was all fine, however the status quo has now begun to be threatened by a fourth pub.

The closest pub to us is actually the William Morris, housed in the old Liberty print works. However for as long as we've been in the area it's been a pub that you go in and think "this could be really great" and then you got bored of waiting to be served and walked out. Even when the place was dead, you'd spend 15 minutes waiting to be served. Tables were ofen sticky, it was untidy and the staff were usually useless. In six years in the area, we can't have visited ten times.

Recently they got a new manager. And he seems very good. The ale selection is now far better than it was, with the handpulls containing Adnams Broadside and a selection of ales from the Westerham Brewery. The latter ales are not ones I've come across before, but they're really good - the 1965 and Special Pale Ale are excellent.

And they do what none of the other three pubs do - evening food.

Food at the William Morris also used to be particularly dire (memories of coleslaw slapped on a single lettuce leaf fill the mind) however it now seems much improved. We ate there the other night, and true we had a Pieminster pie each, however the accompanying mash was tasty and well mashed giving me a feeling of optimism of actually trying something else there. Add to that that the service is now prompt and efficient, and you have another problem….

There's now four pubs to choose from...

More blog posts about: London, Merton, pubs, pubs in Merton | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 1 March 2010

2010-03-01T13:45:17Z

Inevitably there would be a strong focus to these links...

Tory culture spokesman joins 6 Music fanclub with U-turn over closure - guardian.co.uk

As a 6music listener, the rumours of the demise of 6music are something I'm not keen on. However if such rumours can convert the shadow culture minister to the delights of the station, perhaps this could work to the station's advantage. Well I can dream...
Nicholas Lezard: If you could see the BBC now, John ... - The Independent

"Dear John Peel, Forgive the impertinence of my writing to you care of the afterlife, but I thought you'd better know about what's been going on down here lately." Nicholas Lezard writes to John Peel about BBC Radio 6music
Killing BBC 6 Music would be a slap in the face to licence-payers - guardian.co.uk

"As I listen to 6 Music today, I keep hearing tracks and thinking, where else would I hear this kind of radio during the day? The tragic answer to that question is nowhere. The end of 6 Music at this moment in the BBC's history is not only an act of cultural vandalism, it's also an affront to the memory of John Peel and a slap in the face to thousands of licence-payers" says Phil Jupitus
Safety Dance: Literal Video

Some weeks ago I linked to the insane video for 1980s "classic" Safety Dance. Well now I've found the literal version!

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio, BBC Radio 6music, music, radio | Comment on this post, and read other comments

A Year of Train Travel

2010-03-01T17:01:42Z

Back in 2004 an era came to an end when my Young Persons Railcard expired. To celebrate this monumental moment of growing old, the year before I'd decided to save up all my rail tickets for the year and see how much money I saved. As the blog post at the time revealed, the answer was £47.75.

I looked back at that blog post in January 2009, but it wasn't the £47.75 saving that caught my eye but how many railway journeys I'd done. Excluding my travelling in Greater London - of which there is a fair amount, and none of it recorded by myself - I'd done just 14 journeys (6 return trips and 2 singles - throughout this piece I've classed a return ticket as covering two journeys.)

I wondered how things had changed, so decided to do a bit of an experiment. I decided to keep all my tickets from travelling on the national rail network, and see where I'd go. The full data is available for perusal if you so desire.

Once again, travelling in London would be excluded as I wouldn't have a record of it - although as it's all by Oystercard, I'm sure Transport for London have it and I'd love to see it! Also not included would be the actual number of trains involved or anything too detailed. I'd just keep the tickets and glean all the information from that.

But what would they actually reveal?

The Wonga

Back in 2003/2004 there was a mere 14 journeys. In 2009 I did 40.

There were other differences - distances were greater, and the costs involved... well... Back in 2003/2004 if I'd bought every ticket at full price I would have spent £141.80 - an average of £10.13 per journey.

Fast forward to 2009 and I spent £920.65 (well, including £50 paid for by work.)

That might look a lot, especially when added on to the £1208 for my annual Travelcard, however there's a couple of factors involved:

I don't own a car, and the cost of owning even a small car is around £3,500. If I owned a car, I'd need my Travelcard on top of that as hey, there's no way I'm driving to work in London! And the car would probably take on some other journeys I do by public transport and are already paying for with my Travelcard
the amount includes travelling to holidays and, for our Ireland trip, some travel during our holiday. All our holidays last year were in the British Isles and we used no planes or hire cars.

The whole lot offers an average price of £23.24 per journey. That's slightly skewed by three (more) expensive sleeper trips - if we take them out of the mix, the average comes down to £14.58. The flip side is that five sleeper trips came out at £82.01 each way - although you have to bear in mind that sleepers are part train, part hotel!

Averages don't show everything however so I decided to take a look at price bands for each return journey (including things like upgrades.) The stats show that 35% of all journeys came in at under a tenner. Flip side is that 15% were over £100 - again these were the three sleeper train journeys. Incidentally by far the most expensive sleeper journey was actually in standard class… Anyway, over half the journeys cost under £30.

The Wonga per Journey

If I was really geeky I'd do some sort of cost per mile kind of calculation for each journey. However I couldn't be bothered on working it all out. However I thought I'd look at it for the longest journey, the shortest journey, the cheapest and the most expensive.

For this I used a tool which calculates distances between railway stations in the UK - I presume it uses an "as the crow flies" calculation rather than an accurate trip along the rails!

The shortest journey was Putney to Staines at a distance of 12 miles. The cost was £3.10 making it also the cheapest journey - thus killing two birds with one stone. Thanks to the Gold Card discount, it came in at 26p a mile.

The longest journey was, without a doubt, London Euston to Aberdeen. This is 396 miles and with the return ticket cost being £136 (first class sleeper) came out at 34p per mile. Given this journey also included overnight accommodation and was first class, this is a very good rate of return I think!

Another sleeper journey claimed the prize for the most expensive journey. At £171 for 331 miles, it worked out at 52p a mile.

Incidentally, the costs do include travel in Ireland - at the time the exchange rate was roughly £1 to €1, so this is what I've assumed in my cost calculations.

What will you do with the money you'll save?

As mentioned, I have an annual season ticket and this gives me a third off train travel in the South East after 10am on weekdays and all the time at weekends. 35% of journeys involved that Gold Card discount. Below we'll see that 45% of my journeys were made in the South East, meaning I qualified for the discount most of the time I travelled in the Gold Card region.

One ticket was a Group Save, which is where you get three or four people travelling for the price of 2 if travelling in the off peak period.

And one train ticket was bought using a BBC staff discount (as it was part of a return trip, I've classed it as half a journey.) Scotrail offers a discount on first class single sleeper tickets to BBC staff. It's part of the BBC's drive to encourage staff to take the sleeper rather than fly. The deal was done for business use, however is also available to staff for leisure purposes and can be used on any of the Caledonian Sleeper routes - including the lovely Fort William route. And no, none of your licence fee is involved.

Advance tickets were used in 27.5% of journeys whilst normal walk on fares were another 25% - covering any time and normal off peak fares. And then there was one journey with that super cheap sail/rail thing to Dublin.

Again, this surprised me slightly - I expected the advance tickets to be higher in proportion. However again that's about perception. I was thinking most of my journeys were "big ones" - crossing the country. However as I travelled more in the South East than any other area, clearly I was more likely to get either normal tickets or tickets with a Gold Card discount.

Across the year

So what's the spread of journeys per month? Well lets have a nice chart to show it.

Now isn't that pretty?

Looking at that, I did at least one return trip a month - somehow managing to be both more and less than I was actually expecting.

More because, for various reasons, I hadn't felt like I'd done a particularly huge amount over the year, and less because I probably had suburban London train usage in my mind when considering how many trains I'd been on.

Two notable months were February and November - both coinciding with trips to Edinburgh and Dublin respectively.

Why? WHY?

Yes, why?! I mean it's all very well saying you've done at least one round trip a month, however why was I doing them?

Turns out there's six camps. And most of my train travel is related to getting out of London and going walking. In fact I did six day hikes and three hikes that were over several days (part of the North Downs Way, the West Highland Way and the Cumbria Way.) That lot accounts for 45% of all my train travel.

If I wasn't hiking I was at weddings or wedding related situations (well, okay, a stag do.) That's pitiful at 15% though. A mere 10% was "other" and 5% was work related - one trip, which shows how little I get out of the office! Well, okay, they let me go to TV Centre every now and then but I can get there by foot!

This makes me look like I never go out unless its to walk, however I do most of my going out in Greater London so that gets paid for under my Travelcard. I don't often just go out and visit a town or city. He says having had a day out in Brighton the other week. But that's 2010 and therefore doesn't count.

We're on a train to...

So where did I go? Well another chart can show us.

Not surprisingly the destination for most trips was in the South East of England - 42% in fact. North West England and Scotland did very well covering 16% each - Scotland scored highly thanks to high profile visiting of Catherine's brother, Catherine's brothers wedding and a trip to do the West Highland Way.

Then there's Ireland which came out with a 21% share mainly thanks to going on holiday there. I did debate about including it in these stats, but in the end decided to keep them in. It was train travel after all.

A Class Act

Now we're getting into more pointless stats. 20% of journeys were made in first class - hark at me. Of the eight individual journeys in first class, five were advance first class tickets and three were from Weekend First Upgrades.

Of those five proper first class journeys, three were actually sleeper journeys, and, ironically, all cheaper than the standard class journey I did earlier in the year! Believe me, if you can get a good deal for first class on the sleeper, it's well worth it!

I'm also a bit of a fan of the old Weekend Upgrade. With bigger seats, generally quieter carriages and free tea and coffee, it's often worthwhile doing on longer journeys.

And your point is?

So what have we learnt?

We've learnt that an expensive first class sleeper ticket to Aberdeen can provide a comparable cost-per-mile rate to that of a short hop suburban journey in the South East.

We've learnt that going first class is nice, and that I did a lot of walking when I actually got off the train.

And most importantly, we have ascertained that actually I'm a bit of a stats bore and that I like creating graphs using the Google Charts API. And isn't that the main thing?

More blog posts about: railways, train tickets, trains | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Walking the South Downs Way: Day 2 - Exton to Petersfield

2010-02-24T09:18:55Z

Charles, the owner of the Copper House B&B (who, incidentally, only does B&B for walkers) had warned me the day before that I'd probably be woken up by the cockeral at about 4am. Well if it did crow, I slept right through it - an unusual occurrence given I normally get woken up at the drop of a hat. Or Catherine's snoring.

Instead I woke up at the infinitely more sensible time of just before seven, leaving me ample time to awake from my slumber, break my fast and prepare for a days hiking.

When we did the West Highland Way in the summer of 2009, Catherine had pointed out that the second day of walking is always the hardest.

The first day you're in optimistic mood - everything's fresh and wonderful.

And by the third day everything's settled down. The rucksack starts to become far less noticable, and your back becomes used to the weight. Your muscles have had two days good slog of exercise, so whilst they ache a bit at night, if you've stretched well the day before you'll find them as good as new in the morning.

But the second is difficult. It's the day that the rucksack seems not to want to settle, and you get backache because there's a heavy lump on your back. And it's the day that all those walking muscles you haven't used much for a while, complain the most. Your feet get the most sore as they adapt to boot life. And everything just turns into a slog, no matter how good the views.

The best solution is to ensure you have a relatively easy second day. Don't go beyond twelve miles if you can, and don't over exert yourself. I tried it whilst doing the Cumbria Way. It worked.

Whilst preparing for my second day, I realised that the way I'd planned doing the South Downs Way had left me with four second days. Four days when the rucksack would grumble and the muscles may ache.

Oh and on this particular second day, I was also going to be breaking the distance rule. For in order to get to Petersfield for my train, I'd need to do fifteen miles - twelve on the South Downs Way and then a further three to Petersfield.

Still, at least it wasn't raining. Actually it didn't look bad as Charles drove me down the road back to Exton, stopping off at the fabulous Meonstoke Village Store for some provisions. A bit cloudy; a bit on the cool side. However for a February Saturday, it didn't look half bad.

Walking past large groups of dog walkers, I strolled out of the village and on my way to the first challenge of the day - leaving Exton.

The route from Beacon Hill through Exton is currently a temporary route, and labelled as such on several signs. And it's not perfect, which was shown on my attempted exit from Exton.

The path. Honest.

The temporary route was supposed to go alongside a stream, however I found it was more "pool" than path. My guide book proclaimed that it's often impossible to use at this time of year, and that most people instead use the stream bank instead.

This naturally involved climbing over a broken wire fence, and scuttling along a very narrow and overgrown stream bank fighting off trees. With a large rucksack on, this proved to be a serious challenge.

Even when the footpath finally became usable, there was fun with fallen trees and more. Not exactly the best start to the day and I was more than happy when the temporary route passed over an old railway line and became the proper route in much better condition.

As my muddy boots and legs began to dry off, I began the gentle climb up Old Winchester Hill - the first landmark of the day.

From the direction I was heading to it, it looked nothing special - just a small hill with a wood on it and a nature reserve. Even at the top it seemed little more than a place providing excellent views of the South Downs and beyond - providing me with my first of many glimpses of the Isle of Wight.

It was only having left the hill that I found out it's actually the site of an Iron Age fort, with a huge raised ring surrounding the ring top. Within the fort are also a number of Bronze age barrows. It was a lovely sight which was coupled with a lovely blue sky which gave a spring to my step and some joy to my spirits.

After being on the relative high levels of the hills for a bit, the Way went down hill towards more farmland and a surprising amount of middle aged women with black labradors, before I arrived at the next, even more surprising landmark.

Whilst skim reading my guidebook (the official South Downs Way National Trail Guide by Paul Millmore), I'd seen some odd sounding references to HMS Mercury.

Now if I'd read the book properly I would have known what to expect, however the book is rather annoying in that it starts from Eastbourne and ends in Winchester, which seems completely bonkers. I mean, who wants to start a walk at the sea and end in a cathedral city? No. The sea should be at the end! It's a natural end point!

Because of the book's direction being different to mine, I was using it more for the excellent OS maps it contained rather than the text. As such I hadn't read about HMS Mercury other than that the Way passed by the "remains" of it.

I had images of some rotting battleship or something, however it turned out that HMS Mercury is actually an old Naval Comms school which was shut down in 1993.

It was a sizeable complex, however it felt like walking round a ghost town. The Way went alongside a main road outside the complex, which was deserted. I half expected to see grass growing out of it. It was lined with tatty lampposts which looked like they hadn't been maintained for years - and given the base of them was inside the wire fence surrounding Mercury, is probably the case.

Yet despite the ghost town feel of the place, there were things here. Several old logs lined the wide pavement opposite Mercury and I stopped for a rest and some food to take it all in.

Across the road from HMS Mercury was a café in a place called The Sustainability Centre. Down the road was a large village. Yet there were no cars; the only people walkers and cyclists who all seemed rather bemused.

Finally leaving the eerie sight of HMS Mercury, I headed on to the next stage - Butser Hill. One of the highest points in Hampshire, it provides good views all around - or would do if I'd popped up to the actual top. For some reason I didn't - just close to it - settling down for another bite to eat overlooking a nice view somewhere in the distance.

I headed downhill to the noise of a busy road and, on the other side, the Queen Elizabeth Forest - part (along with Butser Hill) of the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Although it hadn't been as quiet as the day before, to suddenly find myself in the bustle of a busy country park visitor centre and car park was a slight shock to the system, although I was heartened to find that most of the visitors clearly didn’t make it beyond the children's play area as once I'd passed by and was walking through the forest, peace was restored once more.

Once again I was making excellent progress, and found myself at Buriton an hour earlier than planned, arriving at 2pm.

It would be here that I'd leave the South Downs Way for the time being - the nearest train station was three miles away at Petersfield following the Hangers Way, passing first through woodland and through the picturesque village of Buriton itself.

An easy going grassy path led me towards Petersfield, however the curse of Day 2 began to strike as I found my little toes feeling rather sore. My hiking boots were relatively new, and whilst I'd worn them a few times, I hadn't worn them for much more than three quarters of a day.

Something suggested they needed a bit more breaking in than I'd given them (although the week later, I pondered whether I'd also done them up too tightly). Although not hobbling or in agony, I was looking forward to having a sit down and taking them off!

Thankfully Petersfield was not far away - a town which proved to be rather infuriating as, despite erecting several signposts for pedestrians, the council clearly had decided that there was no way people might want to get to somewhere as obscure as a train station which led me to wander aimlessly around the shopping district, hoping I was going in the right direction. I finally found a sign (broken) for the station, although by that stage the place was in sight.

Wearily making my way up the hill, I looked at my watch. Nearly half four. Fifteen miles had been done in about seven hours. Maybe it was no surprise my feet were feeling a little tender...

Some point in the future I'll blog about days 3 and 4. However you'll have to wait as I haven't walked them yet! In the meantime, you can see all the photos from day 2 on flickr, or see the full lot (such as it is currently)

More blog posts about: South Downs Way, walking | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Walking the South Downs Way: Day 1 - Winchester to Exton

2010-02-22T21:17:40Z

I couldn't actually tell you where the South Downs Way starts in the city of Winchester. My guide book seemed suitably vague - suggesting it was somewhere near a youth hostel. Online I found nothing useful; just comments that it started in Winchester. Well I knew that already.

Starting near a youth hostel didn't seem particularly awe-inspiring, so I headed to the city's cathedral; it's grand Norman era sitting peacefully in a small area of parkland. I would have headed inside to appreciate it, however they wanted £6 and over a fiver for a quick tour round before doing a twelve mile walk didn't exactly scream value for money. Ironically if they'd let me in for free, I would have probably given them a £4 donation for my brief visit...

I was in Winchester to start the South Downs Way - the hundred mile National Trail which runs from Winchester to Eastbourne, across the lovely South Downs of England. The Way walks from one end to the other of the forthcoming South Downs National Park.

It's an area I'd done a lot of day walks in, many of which pop along part of the trail in various levels. And as I had a few days of leave to use up, I decided to do the whole thing, doing it pretty much as Catherine had done in 2006.

Rather than walking it all in one go, I'd planned to do it over four weekends - breaking it up to meet conviently sited train stations. I'd travel from home on the Friday morning, walk for the day, stay over somewhere on the Friday night, walk for another day then head home for Saturday evening.

I had it all planned - two Fridays, a week off (well, off walking - I'd actually be in work instead), then two more Fridays, arriving in Eastbourne in a blaze of glory having walked it all. Hurrah!

But first I had to find the beginning of the confounded thing, winding my way through the shopping streets of the city on a chilly morning trying to find a youth hostel. I never actually found it, finding instead a YMCA on the same street. I decided that was good enough and found a sign for the South Downs Way across the road. Well if it hadn't started here, it must be nearby. I was on my way.

As it happened, it was also the last South Downs Way sign I saw in the city of Winchester, and almost immediately I got lost after walking down the river and missing a turnoff near Wolvesey Castle.

After walking through a housing estate, I finally got to an area where the Way was signposted, declaring I'd already gone a mile - so only 99 to go then! From there-on-in, the Way would be very well signposted, meaning I barely had to look at my guide book if I didn't want to.

Crossing over the motorway that provides Winchester's eastern boundary, I headed into the countryside.

I had a relatively easy day ahead - I'd told my B&B I'd be there around five, leaving me with about six and a half hours to cover twelve miles of pretty level walking. All nice and achievable. So I had no reservations about diverting off the way to visit the attractive Saxon church of St Andrew's in the village of Chilcomb. Okay, we're not talking a major diversion here. Just a half mile up the road and then a half mile back. Apparently it's very nice inside, however I didn't pop in.

Passing by a miltary training area, with suitably churned up fields, I spent some time trampling alongside fields and along country lanes, stopping off on a handy embankment on a lane grandly titled "King's Way" to eat a sandwich, before passing by The Milbury's - an enticing looking pub which I was severely tempted to pop in having found that I'd got there about an hour earlier than I'd planned.

Instead I settled down for some tea at "Wind Farm". Seeing that name on the map I naturally expected huge wind turbines. What I found was a farm in a very windy place.

Catherine had already warned me that first day wasn't particularly "downsy", and whilst although I have no particular beef against field walking, I was rather glad to find myself at the top of Beacon Hill overlooking the Meonstoke valley. As well as admiring a beautiful view, I was also sharing the path with a number of other walkers having spent the day walking down empty paths.

The path down to Exton - where I'd be finishing up for the day - was clearly marked and it appeared I had 70 minutes to do a 1.3mile trek downhill. Time enough to dawdle, and wandering around the hill I spotted a rather hidden and covered up signpost pointing into a field.

A sign over the top said that the South Downs Way would be going that way, but basically didn't yet - people following it would ultimately find a dead end. Well, with time to waste, I popped through the stile and went to see where the South Downs Way would be going.

A few minutes down the faint path, I was treated by an even better view of the valley. The kind of view that makes you just breathe in and be happy to be alive. It was the first of many great views that I'd find on the South Downs Way, and put a spring in to my step as I took the path down to Exton.

Finding myself outside The Shoe Inn, I called up my B&B who had offered to collect me. It was then that the heavens opened - it had been spitting on and off all day with some sort of alarming routine. First a few specs of water would appear on my glasses. Then I'd wait a bit to see if there would be any more. There wouldn't be so I'd clean my glasses. Almost immediately it would rain a bit more. This had happened on and off all day! Still, at least the heavy rain had waited until I'd finished!

After having a shower, a clean up and a cup of tea at The Copper Room B&B in nearby Corhampton, I was dropped back off at the Shoe Inn for an excellent meal and a couple of pints whilst reading a collection of Philip K. Dick's short stories. If you're in the area, I can thoroughly recommend the Shoe - my confit shoulder of lamb was divine, and the goey chocolate brownie was fantastic.

Happily fed and supped, it was time for bed. Tomorrow would see me walking another twelve miles to Buriton, before heading off the Way for another three miles to catch the train home at Petersfield. Some good views were promised, and the weather looked even better. I couldn't wait!

Tomorrow I'll be walking day 2 - Exton to Buriton. And you can see all the photos from day 1 on flickr, or see the full lot (such as it is currently)

More blog posts about: South Downs Way, walking | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 22 February 2010

2010-02-22T14:10:48Z

London's lighthouse and the story of Trinity Quay Wharf - BBC London

London has a lighthouse. I never knew.
Residents want answers over "hated" Colliers Wood tower - Wimbledon Guardian

"At a public meeting last week more than 100 residents voiced their anger at the condition of the 17-storey structure - which they claim is crumbling dangerously and has become home to rough sleepers." Whether London's ugliest eyesore has or not become home to rough sleepers, I don't know. I do know that someone asked me for some spare change a couple of nights ago - and that's never happened in the six years I've lived in the area.
UK Newspapers Want BBC Mobile Apps Blocked For ‘Undermining’ Them, BBC Disagrees - paidContent:UK

"I wondered how long it would be before print media pointed at the BBC’s new smartphone apps plan as another example of expansion in to their commercial territory. The answer: just 24 hours..."
How Time Lord Doctor Who took on Mrs Thatcher - BBC Newsnight

"Doctor Who actor Sylvester McCoy has claimed that scriptwriters of the cult TV show wrote material in the 1980s which was designed to undermine Margaret Thatcher's government."
BBC R&D Heritage Microphones

On the BBC R&D blog, a fantastic look at old microphones!

More blog posts about: BBC, Doctor Who, London, Merton, television, television programmes | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Say 'ello to @planetbods

2010-02-18T15:45:12Z

A couple of months ago I installed a little Movable Type plugin that, when you have a new blog post published, will insert a message on a Twitter feed

Illustration by Matt Hamm. Creative Commons licensed.

Which was great. Except it didn't work. At all. Don't know why - the details were all correct and dandy. All was fine. It just wouldn't publish.

Then the other day it started publishing for no apparent reason. Why? Who knows. I had done nothing. But it started working. So with that in mind, I replaced the plugin with another one that works even better. In that it published straight away.

So I thought, what can I do with this? Well how about set up a Twitter account that publishes updates to this blog? So I did. It's called @planetbods and its yours to do with what you see fit. It doesn't replace anything - the XML feeds naturally remain, and you can - naturally - still just come here as well. I mean. Why wouldn't you?

More blog posts about: Planet Bods, Twitter | Comment on this post, and read other comments

The future of TV is... TV

2010-02-18T15:03:44Z

I haven't exactly mentioned much about it on this blog, however for the last year or so I've been working on the Freesat version of BBC iPlayer.

For me, bringing BBC iPlayer to the TV screen properly is a key to real success for the service. I say real success because I passionately believe that most people just don't want to watch TV via their computer screen if they can get away with it.

However put it in front of someone and make it easily accessible via your normal remote control and then you'll have the chance to change things completely.

And you only have to look at Virgin Media's on demand system to see this in motion. At the touch of a few buttons on a remote control, a whole host Earlier this month, the company announced that almost 60% of the company's TV customers use the on demand service regularly (although what defines regularly isn't noted in the press release.)

Meanwhile, on BBC iPlayer, about a quarter of all programmes are viewed by Virgin Media customers. That's despite the company only having 3.7m customers taking their TV package - about 12% of homes according to the latest Ofcom report on digital TV takeup.

Lets repeat. 12% of homes account for 25% of BBC iPlayer viewing.

Then there's the games consoles, which account for about 11% if the remaining BBC iPlayer users, according to the BBC iPlayer stats pack for December 2009.

It doesn't take a genius to see from those various statistics that there is a huge appetite for watching on demand TV via the TV screen. After all, if you've got a good TV with a good sound system, why would you want to watch on a laptop?

And they are all very impressive statistics. There is no doubt. And some people will use all these stats to say we'll all be watching on demand all the time soon and that linear TV is dead.

Given my iPlayer involvement, you might think I'd be saying "too right! We're changing the world, baby!" but I've never believed that. However I've never had anything to back up my hunch. So I was interested to read on the BBC intranet a short, but interesting piece about ondemand viewing facts. And I'm even happier to see it's been posted to the About the BBC blog.

It lists seven quick facts about on demand TV, and how it's enhancing linear TV, not replacing it. Although no specific research is stated, the BBC's audience research team really are very good at their job and this will be based on a number of pieces of research.

One of the most interesting is that 95% of all viewing is live and just 5% is time shifted by PVRs, video recorders and - of course - BBC iPlayer. Okay so it's up to 10% for those in the 16-24 age range - teenagers watching iPlayer on their laptops is often held up as scientific proof that the TV set is as doomed as the linear channal. Yet 90% of 16-24 year olds still watch live TV.

Then there's the fact that 50% of all time-shifted viewing is done by the humble PVR - and only 15% by BBC iPlayer on the PC. In that tell tale 16-24 year old market, iPlayer does rise to 31% however PVRs still measure strongly at 46%. Nothing is stated on the humble video recorder, but one would suspect that they're dying off with the younger generation. The PVR may be under attack, but all the main pay TV providers do push their PVR offering very strongly, and no doubt will continue to do so.

And here's the kicker for me - only 0.4% of the population watch TV via online methods alone. As the article says, "We still love our TV sets".

Of course times change - there's no denying it. However behaviours change a lot slower than people think. After all, digital TV started in this country in 1998 and yet we still haven't got everyone on digital yet and won't for another two years. Habits will change, and who knows quite how they'll change. However it's fair to say that it's going to take a long time before they change to such an extent that TV as we know it is dead.

In a way it reminds me of the whole "TV will kill radio" and "VHS will kill the cinema" kind of debates. Radio still remains and is, arguably, stronger than ever. The cinema has had a battering over the years, however they're still in our towns.

Things just change and adapt. New services just get added into the mix. Times will change - behaviours will alter. However I have this strange feeling we'll still be watching a large amount of live TV in twenty years time…

More blog posts about: BBC, BBC iPlayer, Freesat, television, video on demand, Virgin Media | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 15 February 2010

2010-02-15T14:08:55Z

BBC Trust's service review of Radio 2 and 6 Music

As a 6music listener, I was particularly keen to see what the Trust thought of the station during its recent review. It seems pretty positive stuff with some sensible tweaks to the format and encouragement.
Flickr: London dot gov

The Greater London Authority is getting all social media and inviting you - yes that's YOU - to join their flickr group and post photos of London. I suspect they won't want ones of graffiti, overcrowded tube trains and traffic jams though.
Ban all advertising in public spaces, says thinktank - guardian.co.uk

If I remember correctly, over in the kingdom of Bhutan they did something akin to what this thinktank are suggesting. The idea is that the key to success of the country is not wealth but the happiness of the population. I think they banned billboards as part of that. It's an intriguing concept and as someone who has to walk past about 15 billboards in a mere ten minute walk to the tube station, one I'd happily support!
Gross national happiness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia explains Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness
Noel Edmonds develops TV quizshow starring a monkey - guardian.co.uk

"In an echo of fictional TV character Alan Partridge's idea for a programme called Monkey Tennis, Edmonds' idea is for a quizshow in which questions are asked but are chosen at random for contestants by a monkey picking up stones, filmed as pre-record." It's not April 1st is it? [Checks date] Oh no. It's not...
Sky closes in on deal to buy Virgin Media TV channels - guardian.co.uk

Quite why Sky would want Virgin 1 and Challenge is a good question, although no doubt Living and Bravo would be good investments. Or Sky Living and Sky Bravo as they'd undoubtedly become.

More blog posts about: adverts, BBC, BBC Radio 6music, London, radio, Sky, television, television programmes, Virgin Media | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Introducing Bodstoons

2010-02-14T15:10:00Z

If I was to write a list of all my unfinished projects, it would probably take up several volumes. As I type, I'm surrounded by them - CD singles un-digitised; VHS tapes not converted onto DVD; Christmas decorations not put back in the loft... Oh and a host of lofty web stuff type ambitions never finished.

So I thought I'd better finish one. It's called Bodstoons and it's the new home for all the little doodles and silly cartoons I have done over the years, along with some of Catherine's too. Well mostly when I was a student. With time on my hands. And less projects to complete...

As ever with one of my projects, it's not completely done - I was going to (gasp) add a new cartoon! But then I lost the sketch. Then I found it. Then I decided I needed to redraw it. And you know how it is... I mean those CDs really did need digitising first....

To go with it, I've rejigged the website homepage too. It's got lots of whitespace on it cos that's trendy these days. Oh and it means there's room to grow...

But the reason for that, my friends, is another unfinished project... And when that one gets to the top of the pile, only time will tell...

More blog posts about: cartoons, Planet Bods | Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 10 February 2010

2010-02-10T14:37:25Z

The professional masquerade - The F-Word

"When I started, I was treated by my manager to an introductory lecture about dress code. She presumed this would be sufficient to educate me in ‘professional’ and ‘non-professional’ work attire... I wore a black dress the next day with flats, as I figured that was pretty unassuming. How wrong I was. Hauled into her office, I was told I looked like a whore and that my dress had caused complaints from male co-workers who insisted that I was ‘distracting’ them from work and they couldn’t focus with such an outfit in the office."
Guardian Media Group sells regional business to Trinity Mirror - guardian.co.uk

GMG flogs off a host of papers in the North West and South of England. But perhaps the biggie is the Manchester Evening News, thus pretty much ending the Guardian's link with Manchester's newspaper scene.
The Royal Borough of Merton? (From Wimbledon Guardian)

"It might now be a giant shopping centre, but the former site of Merton Priory in Colliers Wood lays claim to be the only place outside Westminster Abbey where a King or Queen of England has been crowned in the last 1,000 years." I'm less convinced by the graphics department's attempt at a "Royal" logo for Merton... Great use of clip art there dudes.
Automatic fare collection and you - Film collection, London Transport Museum

Explaining ticket gates and ticket machines to London Underground customers in 1969. I love old films like this - offers a wonderful insight to another world. The London Transport Museum also have several other videos from the archives online.
The elephant will never forget - Film collection, London Transport Museum

Another delight from the London Transport Museum film archive - this one lamenting the loss of the London Tram. If they'd been withdrawn these days, all you'd get would be some dodgy filmed footage on YouTube... As it happens, three of London's old trams are lovingly preserved at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire. I went there myself about 15 years ago - they have a mile long track where they drive the trams down and everything.
The Ultimate Driving Experience - National Tramway Museum

Ever wanted to learn how to drive a tram? Bet you haven't before, but do now! Well, okay I do now! So very tempting...

Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 3 February 2010

2010-02-03T17:06:15Z

Another rather random assortment for you today... How are you liking this "irregular posting but with more links" thing anyway?

National Chip Week 2010 is coming soon...

15 - 21 Feb everyone! Get those potatoes frying! No Oven Chips allowed! (Says me. Or else.)
Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance

Weird, freaky, mad 1980s pop video of the day!
Carling is the official beer of Scottish rugby - Brands news - Lager & Cider - Morning Advertiser

Yes nothing quite says Scotland than the taste of a Canadian lager brewed in Yorkshire and Hampshire.
Railways and slime moulds: A life of slime - The Economist

Using slime mould to solve complex network engineering problems. Seriously. It works.
Boris Johnson 'furious' at Northern Line closure plan - BBC News

"We are angry because this is where we feel the Tube Lines have not really learnt a lot from what's been a debacle in terms of delivering the Jubilee Line update, for which they are also responsible." As I said recently, it's time to get angry. But this person can get angry and do something. So Boris, whatcha gonna do about it?
Terry Pratchett: A tribunal of mercy - guardian.co.uk

"I would like to die peacefully before the disease takes me over. I hope that will not be for some time, because if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice." An edited excerpt from Terry Pratchett's Richard Dimbleby Lecture for 2010

Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 1 February 2010

2010-02-01T16:32:54Z

TV star meets climate change politican at New Malden B&Q - Wimbledon Guardian

"The duo were shown innovative products on offer at the superstore that homeowners can use to retrofit their houses in a bid to make their homes energy-efficient and save money." Now that's what I call a scoop!
R&D (South Lab)- Video report on the Move - BBC R&D Blog

Great video all about the move from the BBC's current R&D facility in Kingswood Warren, deep in the heart of Surrey, to a rather grey 1960s office block in the frankly less glamorous White City.
Bakers Greggs wins freedom of city of Newcastle - BBC News

And from this we learn that it's not just individuals that can be awarded the freedom of a city...
Northern Line could shut every evening for a year for engineering works - guardian.co.uk

I said this a while ago, but I'll say it again. BBC London's Inside Out told the story that in Paris they've been doing major upgrade work on one of their metro lines - work comparable to the upgrade of the Jubilee Line. They're doing it without any line closures. Why do Tube Lines get away with this crap? It's time people to start getting ANGRY. London can't keep on going on like this.
Battery recycling rules in force for stores - BBC News

New rules coming in to play that will mean we'll all be able to recycle our batteries at the local supermarket. Of course the best solution is to use rechargables, however personally I've never found them last very long with my Wii... Mind you, that might just say something about how many charges those batteries have had!
Make no mistake, this is a war on drink. We need to fight back - The Publican

"Make no mistake - this is a war on drink. The issue has been described as a ‘battleground’ for the general election. The problem with that description is that all main political parties are on the same side, competing over who can look toughest. Their enemy is you and me. The battle plan is to make drinking socially unacceptable, to create an appetite that will support far more draconian measures than those currently being proposed. That’s how the smoking ban worked. It took 40 years - with drink, it’s happening much quicker." I tweeted recently that I thought the UK was slowly heading towards prohibition without realising it. It's time to start realising.
The real age drinking starts - General News - Morning Advertiser

"Government ministers, like policemen, judges and everyone else used pubs before 18; they know and permit their children to use pubs before 18 like the rest of us, because they generally prefer the supervised environment, yet their entire policy is based on persecuting pubs for what they themselves did, and for what they condone today on a personal level... We need to get back to the situation of teenagers drinking with their parents and grandparents, which I first did along with many others, at the age of about 15, rather than in the teenage ghettos created by parties and the crackdown on pubs." JD Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin makes a rather valid point.
TermBuilder: a graphical Linux command line generator - TuxRadar Linux

If you've ever struggled with learning the Linux command line, then this is for you! Doesn't quite cover all the basics though - I mean, surely everyone needs to know how to remove ^M's from files?

Comment on this post, and read other comments

Links for 27 January 2010

2010-01-27T11:38:32Z

Well Delicious link publishing started working again, but published to the wrong category. I fixed that, then the link publishing broke again... Sigh...

Still, maybe it's better doing it in a more manual way as I can stack links up and save them until I've got a few rather than having to do a publish every day. One knocked up a little RSS parser that writes all the code for me later and here we go...

What's Haiti single and REM song Everybody Hurts about? - BBC News Magazine

"Everybody Hurts is not a typical REM song. For one thing, you can hear all of singer-songwriter Michael Stipe's words. More importantly, it's immediately obvious what they mean: don't give up."
Tetley's Huntsman to make a comeback - The Publican

“The Huntsman is at the very heart of what Tetley’s is all about, signifying quality and heritage.” Which is why Carlsberg UK are closing the Tetley brewery in Leeds...
Kids' TV presenters carrying hairdryers stopped under anti-terror laws - The Guardian

"We were stopped, not arrested, but they had to say 'we are holding you under the Anti-Terrorism Act because you're running around in flak jackets and a utility belt', and I said 'and please put spangly blue hairdryer' and he was, like, 'all right'."
YouTube's video choice prompts Firefox fightback - The Guardian

Web video has never really been open, unencumbered and free. We've had Real Networks RM format, Apple's QuickTime, Microsoft's Windows Media Video (now standardised as VC-1), the DivX and XviD codecs, and Adobe Flash among others. There might never be one open standard, simply because some content owners will want to include DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy restrictions. However, the web would benefit from having an open, unencumbered and free video format that enabled HTML programmers to include a video as easily as they now include a headline or a photo, wouldn't it? How do we get to that?
Freeview HD Content Management

The BBC's Graham Plumb spells out in detail the reasons behind content protection on Freeview's forthcoming HD channels.

Comment on this post, and read other comments

links for 2010-01-20

2010-01-21T10:00:19Z

Make your own David Cameron poster

You've seen it, you can't unsee it!

(tags: DavidCameron advertising mashup ConservativeParty)

Comment on this post, and read other comments