Well, Augusto Pinochet is down for the count. It's setting up to be a truly bad year for conservatives, all in all. First, the Republicans fall in commerce. Then, Rumsfeld resigns. Next, the former head of the Sandinistas gets elected in Nicaragua. And now this.
It's not quite Republican hell, but you can see it from here.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The Ugly Duckling
On my birthday last Monday, I had lunch at a restaurant across from St. John's College, The Ugly Duckling. The Ugly Duckling is a Chinese restaurant, but unlike most establishments of that type in the United States, it does not feature such faux Chinese dishes as chop suey. The Ugly Duckling specialises in more traditional Chinese dishes, offering its customers interesting new culinary experiences, at least to western palates.
For my lunch, I had a starter of prawn crackers and a main course of king prawns and rice with undercooked egg white. (What can I say, I like shrimp!) Although the prawn crackers were advertised as a starter, they served as a course in their own right, with an entire dish full of them accompanied by a side of sweet and sour sauce. I had expected them to be saltine crackers with tiny shrimp on them. However, they turned out to be more like a pork rind, composed of actual shrimp processed into crunchy crackers. This starter was decent, but it lacked a strong prawn flavour, and only served to fill me up in advance of the main course.
Further complicating matters was the fact that the only silverware provided by the Ugly Duckling is chop sticks. On the whole, these proved to be less difficult to maneuver than their reputation would suggest. (It was particularly helpful that the chopsticks came in a small paper bag with instructions on how to use them.) However, they proved rather ill-suited to picking up the thin prawn crackers, especially in my beginner's hands.
Far better was the main course of shrimp, rice, and undercooked egg white. The egg white in this dish was deliberately undercooked, provided the overall dish with a pleasant, gooey consistency. The prawns were truly excellent: large, plump, and pink. They were a genuine treat, particularly when combined with a coating of egg white. Eating this dish with chop sticks was surprisingly easy, particulary when compared with the prawn crackers. The large prawns were easily picked up, while the egg white helped the rice to clump together for easier handling. (I think my handling of the rice may have further benefited from the fact that the rice was of a sticky variety found in some Thai and Chinese dishes.)
One true disappointment was dessert. I requested a cup of vanilla ice cream, which cost roughly three pounds. You can imagine my surprise then when, peering over the counter, I noticed the waiter scooping out ice cream from a Walls carton. Walls is a British brand of ice cream that costs no more than two pounds for an entire carton, less than what they were charging me for just one dish. That will be the last time I order ice cream there.
On the whole, however, I greatly enjoyed my lunch at the Ugly Duckling. The restaurant itself had a quiet atmosphere that was highly pleasant, though no doubt this was helped by the fact that I was eating lunch a little before noon, thus avoiding the main rush. I would definitely recommend it.
For my lunch, I had a starter of prawn crackers and a main course of king prawns and rice with undercooked egg white. (What can I say, I like shrimp!) Although the prawn crackers were advertised as a starter, they served as a course in their own right, with an entire dish full of them accompanied by a side of sweet and sour sauce. I had expected them to be saltine crackers with tiny shrimp on them. However, they turned out to be more like a pork rind, composed of actual shrimp processed into crunchy crackers. This starter was decent, but it lacked a strong prawn flavour, and only served to fill me up in advance of the main course.
Further complicating matters was the fact that the only silverware provided by the Ugly Duckling is chop sticks. On the whole, these proved to be less difficult to maneuver than their reputation would suggest. (It was particularly helpful that the chopsticks came in a small paper bag with instructions on how to use them.) However, they proved rather ill-suited to picking up the thin prawn crackers, especially in my beginner's hands.
Far better was the main course of shrimp, rice, and undercooked egg white. The egg white in this dish was deliberately undercooked, provided the overall dish with a pleasant, gooey consistency. The prawns were truly excellent: large, plump, and pink. They were a genuine treat, particularly when combined with a coating of egg white. Eating this dish with chop sticks was surprisingly easy, particulary when compared with the prawn crackers. The large prawns were easily picked up, while the egg white helped the rice to clump together for easier handling. (I think my handling of the rice may have further benefited from the fact that the rice was of a sticky variety found in some Thai and Chinese dishes.)
One true disappointment was dessert. I requested a cup of vanilla ice cream, which cost roughly three pounds. You can imagine my surprise then when, peering over the counter, I noticed the waiter scooping out ice cream from a Walls carton. Walls is a British brand of ice cream that costs no more than two pounds for an entire carton, less than what they were charging me for just one dish. That will be the last time I order ice cream there.
On the whole, however, I greatly enjoyed my lunch at the Ugly Duckling. The restaurant itself had a quiet atmosphere that was highly pleasant, though no doubt this was helped by the fact that I was eating lunch a little before noon, thus avoiding the main rush. I would definitely recommend it.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Latin Mass
This morning, I gave the first reading for the 9.30 A.M. Latin Mass at the Fisher House Catholic Chaplaincy here in Cambridge. (Luckily, the reading was not in Latin.) I woke up to get there on time at 7.30 A.M. I had set my clock to 7.40, but I was awakened by the sound of bursts of rain getting blown against my window by the wind. This meteorological wake-up call was courtesy of a storm which had produced wind gusts of up to 100 miles an hour in Scotland, according to the BBC website. Luckily, Cambridge was not hit that badly.
I arrived at Fisher House roughly fifteen minutes before Mass started. I was rather nervous because I had never attended the Latin Mass before, and consequently I did not know exactly when I would have to get up and give the reading. (As it turned out, it was right after the Collect.) Sister Pauline, who was in charge of the readings, showed me where to begin and end.
Overall, it went well. I did mess up slightly when I began the reading without mentioning what book of the Bible it was from. Luckily, I noticed this mistake quickly and corrected myself, with some slight embarressment. (If I remember correctly, the book was Jeremiah. I was so wrapped up in giving the reading that I did not really pay attention to its contents.)
The Mass itself was a rather interesting experience. I remembered a bit of my high school Latin, but not enough to understand more than a small portion of what was being said. This lack of comprehension was rather disconcerting. Indeed, part of me wondered why I was even there. (Most of the people who were there were old enough to remember the pre-Vatican II Latin masses.) Still, my experience did give me insight into the appeal of the Latin Mass. It had a mysterious feel to it, with its ancient language and some of the rituals, that to many people must have conveyed a sense of the divine. It was definitely an interesting experience.
I arrived at Fisher House roughly fifteen minutes before Mass started. I was rather nervous because I had never attended the Latin Mass before, and consequently I did not know exactly when I would have to get up and give the reading. (As it turned out, it was right after the Collect.) Sister Pauline, who was in charge of the readings, showed me where to begin and end.
Overall, it went well. I did mess up slightly when I began the reading without mentioning what book of the Bible it was from. Luckily, I noticed this mistake quickly and corrected myself, with some slight embarressment. (If I remember correctly, the book was Jeremiah. I was so wrapped up in giving the reading that I did not really pay attention to its contents.)
The Mass itself was a rather interesting experience. I remembered a bit of my high school Latin, but not enough to understand more than a small portion of what was being said. This lack of comprehension was rather disconcerting. Indeed, part of me wondered why I was even there. (Most of the people who were there were old enough to remember the pre-Vatican II Latin masses.) Still, my experience did give me insight into the appeal of the Latin Mass. It had a mysterious feel to it, with its ancient language and some of the rituals, that to many people must have conveyed a sense of the divine. It was definitely an interesting experience.
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