Greenie, Birdo, Foodie, and Karaoke nut

I probably would have checked it out. Tom Hiddleston doing Shakespeare? Medieval warfare? Count me in.

What I didn't realise until recently is that Henry V focuses on the Battle of Agincourt. Last night we were watching Braveheart (well, I was in and out of the room and commenting loudly on Medieval battle tactics, because, despite it now being an old game, I still happily play Age of Kings. There is a William Wallace tutorial on it, so I was like, "Bleh, I know this story. NEAT, he got run through with a pike!" I decided to play a bit last night because it got me in the mood, but decided to play the slightly more interesting Joan of Arc campaign instead of the William Wallace tutorial. Then I went, "Hey, there is a Battle of Agincourt scenario too isn't there?" So I played that one and what do I learn - In the scenario you have to keep ol' King Henry alive and get him back to England, all you have is a small army, consisting mainly of Yeomen.

I first learned about this particular fracas in the 1999 production of Joan of Arc starring Leelee Sobieski as Joan (and, as I discovered this morning, Neil Patrick Harris as the Dauphin, which just makes it MORE awesome). This was a 2 part miniseries thing aired on TV, but it's also available now on DVD.

In it I remember one of the generals telling the tale, of how the English archers slaughtered the French cavalry. The character, being French, made it look like the English were bloodthirsty and savage and that the French never stood a chance. (Warning, my knowledge of Agincourt is really limited to this movie and that game, so I may have facts wrong). In reality the English were pretty much resigning themself to a loss and just wanted to get the hell back on English soil. They were seriously outnumbered. The problem was getting through lines of French heavy cavalry.

It was only due to a quirk of the terrain and weather that they won. The cavalry had to charge uphill, across a field that had turned into a quagmire due to rain. Henry figured, if they could get a line of Yeomen at the top, they could pick off the slowed down French cavs as they approached. There is a reason "Elite Longbowman" is the English unique unit in Age of Kings.

They won. Just, it was enough for Henry to retreat back to England. Apparently in the end, because neither the French or English truly won the war, it created a vacuum that was promptly filled by Burgundy.

But shit, I am interested in this. Now I'm even more keen to see Tom rip it up as Henry in this movie.

Okay, so I saw The Avengers on Friday night. Since then I seem to have fallen in love with both Loki AND Tom Hiddleston.

God of Mischeif/Menace/Deceit/Malice, a terrifying, petulant manchild with too much power. You know, after I saw The Dark Knight I spent a good week or so “processing” The Joker and have been a firm Batman!verse fan since. The Joker however, is not damn sexy like Loki.

And Hiddleston. My dear God, the eyes, the smile, the audio erotica of his perfect English diction. Be still my beating heart.

Yes Loki, tell me all about how you’re going to subjugate us all…

Excuse me, I’ll be in my bunk.

Time to post another recipe. I made a batch of this last week, then mum nicked half a jarful to take away on her holiday and I had loads of tomatoes left, so I made a second batch today. This stuff is great for pasta sauce, in sandwiches, on meat or veggies, whatever you can think of.

Easy Roast Tomato Sauce

You will need

- A large baking sheet, one with sides, because a bit of liquid will come out of the tomatoes and you don't want it ending up on the bottom of your oven.
- A blender/liquidiser/thing that purees (I guess a stick blender would work as well, just stick everything in a pot first).
- Glass jars, to store the sauce.
- A funnel - useful for getting the sauce into the jars.
- A spatula - useful for getting the sauce out of the blender.

Ingredients

Measures vary according to what you like. If you like the ingredient, add more, if you don't, add none/less.

- Tomatoes - as many as will fit on your baking sheet/s. Riper ones are better, in Summer you can usually get bulk, overripe tomatoes at any fruit and veggie store. (Often sold as "Tomatoes for sauce", fancy that! Variety of tomato doesn't matter.
- Onion, I usually use about 1.
- Garlic cloves - I use about a head.
- Salt - I use Maldon sea salt, but I don't think it matters terribly.
- Dried basil.
- Olive oil.
- Pepper if you like.
- Any other herb or spice or thing you think might be tasty. I had some thyme leftover in the fridge this time 'round, so I added some of that.

Method

- Preheat your oven to... 160C, about that, doesn't matter if it's a smidge hotter.
- Quarter the tomatoes and place them on the tray. I put them skin down, that way at least not all the juice falls out into the tray.
- Chop the onion into large chunks and scatter them on the tray.
- Peel the garlic and scatter it over the tray.
- Sprinkle some salt, basil and whatever else you fancy over the top.
- Drizzle with olive oil.
- Stick the tray into the oven and let it roast for... oh, about an hour. The tomatoes should be squishy and the garlic and onion browning up and softening a bit.
- Remove the tray of roasted goodness from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Scoop all the contents of the tray into a blender and puree.
- Stick the resulting puree in jars, refridgerate and use as you like. I find the stuff lasts fine for at least a few months in the fridge.

TASTY!

Bold if you did it as a kid, or heck as an adult.

1. Climb a tree.
2. Roll down a really big hill.
3. Camp out in the wild. - had to wait until adulthood first.
4. Build a den. - well, more of a fort, but I did deck out various hidey-holes in the yard.
5. Skim a stone. - tried, never succeeded.
6. Run around in the rain.
7. Fly a kite.
8. Catch a fish with a net.
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree. - but replace "apple" with various other fruits.
10. Play conkers.
11. Throw some snow. - When I finally visited a snowy area at age 26 I threw some.
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach.
13. Make a mud pie.
14. Dam a stream.
15. Go sledging. - No snow in sunny Perth.  I have however sat on a skateboard and rolled down a hill.  Actually, I have slid down sand dunes on cardboard - does that count?
16. Bury someone in the sand. - and in shells (at Shell Beach)
17. Set up a snail race. - and hermit crab races in Broome.
18. Balance on a fallen tree.
19. Swing on a rope swing.
20. Make a mud slide.
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild.
22. Take a look inside a tree.
23. Visit an island.
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind.
25. Make a grass trumpet.
26. Hunt for fossils and bones.
27. Watch the sun come up.
28. Climb a huge hill.
29. Get behind a waterfall.
30. Feed a bird from your hand.
31. Hunt for bugs.
32. Find some frogspawn. - weirdly, I've seen frogs and tadpoles plenty of times, but never the spawn!
33. Catch a butterfly in a net.
34. Track wild animals.
35. Discover what’s in a pond.
36. Call an owl.
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool.
38. Bring up a butterfly. - it was a hawkmoth.
39. Catch a crab.
40. Go on a nature walk at night.
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it.
42. Go wild swimming. - define "wild swimming".  I have swam in various places that weren't swimming pools, but I have only ever skinny dipped in a spa/hot tub.
43. Go rafting.
44. Light a fire without matches. - tried though.  Still perfecting the flint.
45. Find your way with a map and compass.
46. Try bouldering. - well I have clambered over rocks.
47. Cook on a campfire.
48. Try abseiling. - but I'd like to.
49. Find a geocache.
50. Canoe down a river.

So, I have a job again. Just admin stuff, pretty basic and straightforward. The previous person in the position told me it was very busy.

So far I've spent most of time twiddling my thumbs, either becuase there was nothing to do, or because I needed to wait for a higher-up to be free to run something by them before proceeding.

It would be okay if I could openly browse the web, or read a book or something in the downtime, but there is expectation that you're always working, so you read manuals over and over, or just scribble in notebooks or straighten papers and try to make it look like work, it's mind-numbing.

A bit of work comes along and you go YAY! And finish it off in 10 minutes flat and then go back to idling.

*sigh*

This is growing in a creek/stormwater drain just down the road from my house in the Perth hills, Western Australia. The creek has been dry all Summer (it's just coming into autumn).

I'm 99.9% sure this is an introduced plant, does anyone know what it is and/or if it's edible? The berries look inviting and I'll go pick them if they're safe to eat.

ETA : Well, it looks like I haven't found free fruity food. Consensus is that it's a nightshade of the deadly kind.

( Big pics under the cut )

Poll #1827408 I am Iron Man
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31

Do you iron?

Seafresh usually has a few bargain trays available - $10 for a few random fillets. Last time I was there I bought 2 - one had 2 kinds of white fish and a chunk of tuna it, the other had 2 salmon cutlets.

We had the salmon last night - this is rapidly becoming my favourite fish, the fatty parts near the skin and the bone are so damn delicious, and the meat just falls apart in your mouth. Matt and I had a brief discussion about what we could have with it and I mentioned I could do up some sushi rice and do a lazy sushi of some kind (this is actually authentic - it's called Chirashizushi) with what I could find in the fridge and cupboard.

The end result was delicious, so I figured I'd post the vague recipe.

Miso salmon on Chirashizushi

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 Salmon cutlets
White miso paste
1 cup Nishiki (sushi) rice
Rice vinegar
Mirin
Salt
White sugar

Red capsicum
Fresh coriander leaves
Dried wakame (a type of seaweed)
Dried shittake mushrooms - soaked in boiling water for about 20 minutes (if you have them fresh you don't have to soak them)
This is just what I had on hand, you can chop and change things to suit your tastes and leftovers.

- Spread miso paste onto the cutlets - I quickly found that miso paste doesn't spread that easily, so I kinda used my fingers to rub it over as evenly as possible. Allow to sit for 10 minutes or so - the longer it can sit the longer the miso has to penetrate and flavour the fish.
- Cook the rice using your preferred method. I have discovered that sushi rice cooks perfectly in the microwave rice cooker (1 cup rice, 1.5 cups water, white rice setting on the microwave), so that's what I did.
- Season the rice. I'm a bit slapdash with this nowdays. Bit of vinegar, bit of mirin, sprinkle of salt, small spoonful of sugar, mix, taste, adjust until it's how you like it. Keep the rice warm (I just stuck the lid back on).
- Cook the fish. I just put a teeny bit of oil in a frypan and fried it. The miso will burn a bit, don't worry. Hold the skin to the heat for a bit to crisp it up. Don't overcook! The middle should be pink and look almost raw.
- Serve rice into bowls, sprinkle sliced capsicum, coriander leaves, wakame and sliced mushrooms over rice. Place fish on top of rice.
- Eat. Watch out for bones.

Took Marie here this morning as it was new area for her and she was excited by what I'd seen. This time we spent more time investigating the seagrass bed in the shallows - which revealed species like Gobbleguts and Sea Trumpeter - both new for me.

Seeing as I now had company I felt a lot more confident and we managed to swim all the way to the bend in the wall. A little over twice as far as I went on my own. The visibility was good in most places and I managed to get a few new species as well as a starfish and jellyfish - which became commonplace in the deeper water. Was interesting to see the different weed types at different depths too. Fine, green sea lettuce in the shallows and thick, strappy kelp further down. I had the thought, "Wow, it's just like swimming in an aquarium." and then thought, "Well, duh!"

So much to see deeper down and in the caverns, so I practiced my diving. Still have to get the knack of equalising the pressure in my ears, and I need to work on my technique to actually get some depth. Seems no sooner do I get down there that I'm bobbing back up again.

Once again, saw plenty of certain species and can't find them in the book. One I think may have been Long-finned Pike - although in situ they looked a lot darker above and below with a distinct pale stripe. The other I have identified as Perth Herring - there were masses of these further out. They are not actually in the fish book I own, but they DO appear in the library book I got out. A bit annoying that. Might have to just write "Perth Herring" in my book and highlight it.

Poor Marie got cold and clambered out of the water onto the rocks to walk back while I swam. Fins really are amazing things, you can really power along if you want to.

So, onto the fishlist! Not complete, as many fish are notoriously hard to ID.

( A surprisingly long fishlist )

Yesterday I went to another dive store (this one a warehouse, so the prices were excellent) and purchased a rashy and a backpack to carry all my gear in.

Today I dragged Alison out to the beach. I decided to investigate the wall of Hillarys Marina because fuel was cheap at nearby Whitfords, and I figured it would be safe and sheltered.

The weed everywhere made me a bit dubious at first, but the water itself didn't look too bad. Geared up and in I went (OMG cold!)

There was a bit of seagrass growing right in the shallows and lots of chopped up weed floating in the water reducing visibilty, but swimming out a little further things cleared up.

I went out a little way and managed to spot a Western Smooth Boxfish before the hair getting in my face bugged me enough that I swam back for my hood.

I went out a bit further on the second run and spotted a lot of blowies, Silver Drummer and Buffalo Bream as well as plain old Black Bream. Spotted a very pretty metallic blue fish sitting on a rock... it was a fishing lure. Also found a lone Old Wife on the way back in. I was starting to get cold.

Alison however assured me that she was quite content and really, do I ever want to leave the water? So I went back for round 3. Passing over the same dead blowfish I'd swum over twice before. There were HUGE schools of large baitfish over the sand, but I didn't see anything new along the rocks. I made my way back to shore and got some practice at removing all my kit and putting it in the gear back without everything getting too sandy. I made myself comfortable and flicked through my fish guide.

IDing fish is really starting to bug me. I want to cross off species seen in my book, but I consistently find 3 or 4 species that what I saw could have been. Unlike birding, you can't look back and forth between the fish and the book. You have to try and remember all the fish you saw while swimming, then look them all up when you return. And here I am thinking I'm noting distinguishing features - but they turn out to be no help at all!

I saw something I think was a Goodlad's Stinkfish, but it could have been Large-toothed Flathead. And the baitfish! I spend ages scrutinising them and trying to memorise their features (of which there are few), and still I end up with 5 possibilities of the species. Among the main fish there was a small group of more disc shaped, very silvery fish with fine scales - no idea what they were.

I guess it just means I will have to keep on doing it until I get my eye in. Marie and I will probably head to Boyinaboat Reef on Saturday, and of course Sunday is the Point Peron oddessey. I may sleep all Monday!

ETA : Made it home just before sunset and set about rinsing everything and hanging it out to dry, which is quite a rigmarole, but made easier by having an easy-to-carry gear bag. Especially in a house with a crap outdoor area and no outdoor lighting. This is one thing that will be vastly improved when I move to Greenmount. I also discovered another pocket in my bag! A back section which seems to be waterproof and also has a hanger for keys. Handy!