Snippets #20
By Primal Sneeze ~ September 17th, 2008. Filed under: Snippets.
- I had a visit from the TV licence inspector. Finally. After writing to An Post many times asking them to stop sending me warnings - I don’t have a damn TV. The inspector’s reaction wasn’t what I expected at all. Apparently more and more are ditching their TVs in favour of other things like reading, listening to music, playing games, socialising and so on. When I told him I like to go for walks he grinned and asked so you can do that on the Internet too?
- MacKozer has begun doing stuff on the Internet again. Not that he ever stopped. He kept his fotoblog going and his regular blog in Polish. But he has returned to posting in English (since Ireland from a Polish Perspective slipped away) on MacKozer.com. If you’re interested in Polish and world affairs it’s well worth reading.
- Of course, other than the financial turmoil in the markets, the world* news we are all following is the US presidential election. While the best anti-McCain-Palin slogan I’ve seen yet has to be Unstable and Unable, the best observation has to be that by John-Joe Brogan (rider of the high stool and pundit-in-residence, aged 76 and with a bad cough): The only good thing about McCain is his fucking oven chips.
- And speaking of spuds, Conor Pope’s Pricewatch chose mashed potato for this week’s price comparison. Products tested were from Tesco (Helping you spend less), Centra (For the way we live today), (Your) M&S and some outfit called Mash Direct - probably the factory outlet for SpudWorld Museum and Amusement Park in Longford. The winner was … wait for it … homemade mash potatoes. His only quibble was that it took 25 minutes to go from raw, unpeeled potatoes to mash on the plate, which is significantly longer than the five minutes in the microwave the other options. But, Conor, with just a teaspoon of water in a bowl and you can microwave spuds in minutes, so homemade wins hands down.
* World = places Palin has visited for longer than it takes to pee: Ireland, Germany, Iraq, Kuwait, USA
You know what’s pants? We have a tv but don’t have cable… not even a terrestrial signal. We use it for gaming and DVD watching, but we still had to pay a license!! Robbink baxters.
You can’t bate home mashed buttery spuds but Smash runs a close second!
@K8 - The law states “capable of” receiving a signal which means you haven’t a leg to TV-stand on if you refuse to pay. Robbink baxters is right.
Oh, home mashed buttery spuds are great but Maris Pipers with real butter will get you laid.
Don’t get me started on the evils of the RTE Christmas Party fund…sorry TV licence. I have been formulating a post on it for a little while now but I get too angry, fire the blasted computer on the ground and I have yet to get out a full paragraph!
@Lottie - Okay, I won’t.
Ah fek it, I will. “A fee of €160 per year for a service you don’t use …” Would you pay Bord Gáis if your heating was oil fired? Would you pay Vodafone if you didn’t have a mobile?
Right, now you carry on.
‘Oh, home mashed buttery spuds are great but Maris Pipers with real butter will get you laid’ - Now I know where I am going wrong.
I blogged about Pipers, but forgot the Maris and the butter.
When are you starting the ‘I have no TV’ blog?
Okay, the microwaving of spuds in minutes. How? Please .
TV licence thing, quick story.
Licence man calls.
Fella says no TV.
Inspector points at roof (ariel), asks what that’s for.
Fella points at empty milk bottles, “that doesn’t mean there’s a dairy in the back, either“
I’m in a similar boat K8, on the rare occasions I use a TV for… watching TV, I’m sure as shit not watching the Irish channels. Paying em for nothing, and the bastards don’t even have the decency to buy any of my scripts.
I’m puzzled by this concept of pre-mashed potatoes. Surely everyone has em homemade?
“*World = places Palin has visited for longer than it takes to pee: Ireland, Germany, Iraq, Kuwait, USA”
Brilliant, Rimal!
@Grannymar - But you were buttering up the Pipers, right?
@Sniffle&Cry - I would have microwaved spuds when I was a
time-pressedlazy student, but microwaves weren’t invented then. If they were …Slice them up a bit and pop them in a large bowl/container. If they’re not a ‘watery’ variety, add a teaspoon or two of water, but not to much or they’ll turn soggy. Time depends on quantity, so zap them for 3 mins, prod with a fork to check and toss them over and zap for another 3 mins. Keep going until they’re done.
@emordino - RTÉ only buy local scripts if they are abysmal. Maybe that’s where you’re going wrong.
I thought myself that pre-cooked spuds died with the demise of that ‘For Mash Get Smash’ jingle. Apparently not - Mr. Pope proves it.
@Aye - Thank you for that. And for remembering how to pronounce my name.
thanks for the link to the alaskan public radio show! hadn’t heard about it down here in the south! (georgia) xox
@savannah - I don’t know where I came across it. The Internet’s a funny animal that way.
And don’t you worry down there, ma’am. If Georgia is invaded again, President Palin will bomb the crap out of somebody for revenge. She knows geography and will use force (even) if (not) needed.