As much for my own reference as anything else, but should any of you out there be planning on coming, and fancy doing a masterclass (costs extra) I’m doing the following ones:

Friday:
4-5: Dalmore and Jura.  Jure 1984 is one of my favourite malts, but I really don’t know that much about the output of either of these distilleries, and Richard Patterson (the speaker) was extremely entertaining just working the stall last time, so this should be fun.

Saturday:
2-3: A Coffee and Malt Experience.  Like I was going to pass up a chance to try different combinations of premium coffees and premium whiskies.  I think this may be Patterson again, which is a bonus.

3:30-4:30: Matching Whisky With Food.  I’m getting a bit better at this anyway, but I’d like to pick up a few tips.

Ia!  Cthulhu!  Etc!

So, I ordered a CD of Lovecraftian Christmas carols (before anyone says anything: 1) I’ll still have it next christmas, won’t I? and 2) Exactly how festive do you really think songs like “I Saw Mummy Kissing Yog-Sothoth” are?).  But there’s been a slight cock up, and what I’ve got is a copy of “A Shoggoth On The Roof”, the songs from a brilliant sounding bit of Lovecraftian musical theatre, as done by these marvellous people.

I’ll be getting in touch with them about sorting this out, but I suspect that “sorting this out” will actually translate into saying “well, you cocked it up, but I really like what I got, so how about I just pay you again and you get it right this time…”

Maybe it’s just a surname thing, but I’ve loved the Sherlock Holmes stories as much as I’ve loved any bit of fiction, since I was old enough to understand them.  Hell, as much as they’re one of the progenitors of comics, they’re probably a progenitor of my interest in them.
I’ve gone on a bit, here

Whisky Live is on the 11th and 12th of March.  If you want to come, book soon – it sold out in early Feb last year, and I don’t imagine it’ll get less popular.  (Those of you from The Frozen North that expressed an interest – care to confirm/deny/reserve couch space for definite?)

(The masterclass details aren’t on the website yet, but should be from tomorrow, I’d expect – the site claims from the 15th, but they probably forgot it was a weekend, or something. I’m probably going to try and do a couple – I’ll throw another post up with details of which, if anyone else is interested…)

Foodshopping, mostly.  Last Saturday, I went round Borough Market with burge.  Saw many lovely foods, and bought extremely nice cider and brownies.  Yesterday, I went to L’artisan du Chocolat (and then the Natural History Museum, which was annoyingly full of small humans, and irritatingly lacking in quality dinosaur action, but fun nonetheless) with zoo_music_girl, and bought what I have every reason to believe will be marvelous chocolate.  I haven’t tried any of it yet, because I have a cold, and my tastebuds are shot, and it’d just be wasted on me right now.  I shall report back later in the week, though.

And speaking of having colds, this is now the second one I’ve had in as many months.  Will whoever it is that goes around giving me diseases please stop it?  I had planned to go out and be excitingly social last night, but instead, I staggered home after the NHM and collapsed.  This is no good, especially since I can’t take time off work sick while in my probationary period unless I want to add another three months onto it.  And since I’d like to buy a house some time in the near future, this is not an option.

Right.  I’m going back to bed.  If I’m going to be unwell, I will at least take the excuse to lie in bed, read and watch DVDs in a guilt-free manner.

Heston Blumenthal’s cookery practices in his own words.

Survey rubbish doing the rounds, I’m bored, you do the maths…

Everyone else etc etc

Those of you who’re disposed to shop at Waterstones may want to read Charlie Stross’ comments on how Waterstones in Edinburgh have fired an excellent employee simply for keeping a blog in his own time.  I’m certainly thinking I won’t be shopping there any more.

(link via tinyjo)

This will probably mean nothing to most of the people on my friends list. I find that thought almost as depressing as the news itself.

Eisner’s got such a body of work behind him that I’ve never got around to reading it all, but of what I have read, I’ve liked most of. He’s the author of one of only two or three decent texts on the craft and mechanics of comics, and he produced “A Contract With God”, generally reckoned to be the first original graphic novel (a bookshelf comic that had not previously published in serialised form) in 1978. He’s been a huge infulence over the medium, specifically toward a more grown-up market, and were there any justice, he’d be the household name while Stan Lee languished in obscurity.

If you have no idea who he is, you really should check out his work.