Posts by Brent Jackson

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  • Hard News: The next four years, in reply to John Farrell,

    I saw that too, and smirked, ... and then wondered.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Hard News: Fear of Cycling,

    I reckon it's a symptom of bullying. They are not having a good life, so they make themselves feel better by picking on someone smaller than them (ie car versus bike). I don't understand how people can be so oblivious to their own behaviour, but there it is. I don't commute by bike, because my homeward journey involves risking my life travelling westward along Jervois Rd, with 2 narrow lanes, lots of cars, and some of them entering and leaving car parks and side roads (sometimes without indicating). The safest way is to take the lane (and I always get my speed up over 40kph when I do so), but the occasional car driver takes real exception to this. My life (and health) is precious to me, so I am not willing to risk it on a daily basis.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Feed: World of Food 2: Albania (Kime Me Vez),

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    Off to Albania this week. Your comments on frying onion was interesting, because for me it is almost the opposite. Many of my standard meals start with frying an onion, so the smell of frying onion is pretty much the smell of cooking dinner. It could be a habit that I've picked up from my mother, as she says that when we were little, and she suddenly noticed that my dad was about to get home, she'd quickly throw an onion in the pan so that when he walked in the door he would smell dinner cooking, which would give her time to get the rest of the meal sorted.

    You didn't state quantities, so for the four of us (2 teenagers, so effectively cooking for 6), I used 4 large brown onions, 4 cloves garlic, 4 level teaspoon paprika, 750gm beef, and six eggs. Instead of fresh tomatoes, I used a can of Watties Italian-style tomatoes (since Italy is closer to Albania than Morocco). With hindsight, it may have been better with 2 cans.

    You suggested serving with bread, so I served it on toast (Ploughman's Soy & Linseed to be precise), with a green salad on the side. It was a great variation of mince on toast, and the 10 minutes for the poached eggs was spot on (I checked after 8 minutes, and they weren't quite done).

    Thumbs up from the family, with three 7s and an 8, with the main criticism being it was a bit plain. Maybe could've done with more paprika and pepper to spice it up a little more.

    And this time I remembered to take a photo.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Capture: Marshall Law,

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    Enjoyed myself at The Mockers on Jan 20th. I was surprised by how few of their songs I really knew. But did end up with Trendy Lefties running through my head for a few days afterwards.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Feed: World of Food 1: Afghanistan,

    Finally got around to making this meal for the family. My changes were :
    - Used Lamb shoulder chops, and cut the meat off the bone before cooking.
    - Used fresh spinach instead of frozen, but didn't need to add any extra water (but did leave it wet after washing it).
    - Used purple onions instead of yellow
    - No dill (or fenugreek)
    - and unfortunately, I forgot to add the yoghurt before serving.

    Served on brown rice, with broccoli and cheese on the side.

    Considering that spinach is not a vegetable that is ever purchased in this household, (I personally dislike it), the meal wasn't bad. The spinach taste didn't come through at all, and it was a nice stew. Ranked out of 10, was a 5 and three 6's. Miss found it a little too spicy (though not enough to warrant going to the effort of going the fridge to get the yoghurt).

    One down. 195 to go :- )

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Hard News: Public Address and PressPatron,

    Made a one-off contribution, and was surprised that my credit card number was stored. There is no option to clear the credit card number. Nor is there any "contact us" information or "home" button on the accounts page.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Speaker: Broadcasting and the Public Interest,

    Interesting that the opposite statements F & G, and H & I, and J & K, come nowhere near to summing up to 100%. I guess this means that most of those polled were very unsure about :
    F&G : Whether NZME and Fairfax NZ can continue successfully without a merger (71% unsure)
    H & I : Whether they feel better or worse served by NZME and Fairfax NZ if the merger goes ahead (68% unsure, or no difference)
    J & K : Whether having strong competition between news media companies in New Zealand is important to them (54% unsure)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Little Things,

    Love this paragraph.

    To be fair, I’ve recently realised he’s not as stupid as I thought he was. Not ‘driving up the hill to look at the fires getting in the way of emergency services’ stupid. He’s just reckless. ‘Being the Prime Minister on TV suggesting both fires might be arson’ reckless.

    Thanks for brightening my day.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    In this day and age (ie since television became ubiquitous), unfortunately, appearance is all important in politics.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert,

    The ods are that on February 26 it’ll be three out of five.

    Aren't those odds 100% now? Whoever wins the by-election will become the MP for Mt Albert.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

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