The world adores matt hayward

Seldom do cook books truly overwhelm, but I am in awe of this one. The Curry Bible is nothing short of brilliant. Not that it’s hard covered, or 800 pages (it’s probably 150 odd). It doesn’t need to be. If the house was burning down though, this would be the one cook book I’d take with me.

Chapman is an English lad (presumably half caste) with a great insight into the methods and traditions of the curry. He lists the top 20 curries of the UK, each with its own story of how it came to be. These stories are worth the price of admission alone. For example, one curry that was invented by irate curry shop owners when pissed, racist Pommies would come in asking for something extra hot.  Kind of like a curry shop owner’s revenge!

Each of the curries has variations too, e.g. restaurant style, or traditional, vegetarian, you name it.  Each recipe is also broken down into its elements and nothing is left out. For example, how to make ghee, garam masala, a good curry ‘gravy’ etc. So after a few recipes you can start making your own variations.

Also handy is the A-Z of spices scattered throughout the book. Again explaining the etymology and how to use them. Chapman has truly left no stone unturned.

You don’t have to be a great cook for this. But the results will make others think that you are. Look at any other curry recipe in isolation and you’ll feel overwhelmed. Chapman has succeeded in making a book that’s both enjoyable readable and simplifies the art of curry making. Brilliant stuff.

Well I’m now back in civilisation after Christmas with the family. Just wanted to say a belated merry Christmas to all. Thanks to all who sent cards and text messages on the day.

Special shout-outs to those who supported us in Movember this year (especially one very generous person), and the Herald Sun for publishing our pic the day after. Our group raised twice as much money as last year, for diseases described by Al Pacino in Donny Brasco as ‘cancer of the cock’.

2008 will bring some challenges. Extra special shout-outs for those having kids (you know who you are!) or buying houses in the new year. All the best and good luck for future challenging times.

To all the player haters doing MBAs, you’re not automatically MVPs. Please for the love of god, DO SOMETHING ORIGINAL! Remember when the objective of post grad education was to learn something to better yourself, not instant career gratification? To learn something you may apply one day, not just because everyone else in your department is doing it?

If you’re doing one, or some other high falutin post grad that you think earns you wanker points in conversation, in the words of Johnny Rotten ‘how lovely for you’.

Nonetheless, the best of luck to even the player haters anyway.  Thanks to Ice T for the ebonics!

Anyways, as the years get quicker and tougher, all the best and good luck. Happy 2008 to all from the dodgiest blog in town! Shalom! Peace!

This year it was a big call for what to match to the Christmas turkey. There were a few cherryish pinots from the Yarra Valley which i’ve grown fond of, but they’re nowhere near ready yet. There are big cab savs, but you’d need a really old one that had a bit of grace about it. This was the year for an odds on bet. I took out a 2002 Petit Verdot.

Make no mistake this is not a trendy wine. For a start it’s from the Murray Valley region, not some glitzy South Australian region. It’s also worth saying that despite the five gold medals on the label (not like the bottle pictured), it cost less than twenty bucks in a corner store. What it was, from this winery and in this vintage, was a sensation.

This verdot, with five years in the bottle, had been aged properly and had lost its harsh tannins. It had a very luxurious fruit/acid balance, with a subtle tinge of cranberry that suits roasted turkey. Mouth finish was viscous and bang on perfect.

If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen verdot anywhere it’s simple. It’s not cool. It’s been an anonymous blender in Bordeaux blends since Adam was a boy and the vine looks like brambles in full bloom. When most wine makers will only mix about 4% of petit verdot with a Shiraz or something red, you get the idea how hard it is to make 100% of it taste great.

So my advice to you is this. If you see a 2002 Trentham Estates verdot, just buy it and drink it now. Don’t go pass go, don’t collect $200. Just get the corkscrew and a nice looking woman. After the requisite five years it’s sublime. You won’t find one. But if you see a 2004 or 2005, I reckon it would actually be better.

If you drink it before hand, it will be a bit more gruff and in your face. But if you’re patient it will royally award you with something very special at a very bargain basement price.

If you’re like me you don’t like snow domes and kitschy spoons as souveneirs. You’d rather bring back something genuinely local from that place, like a CD, even if it’s never listened to. So what a surprise when it turns out to be pretty listenable.

Hladno Pivo is Croatian for ‘cold beer‘. Like a lot of punkers, they’ve come from rock bottom (paricularly in the post war years) to doing pretty well for themselves. This 2006 CD ‘Knjiga Zalbe’ looks like no expense was spared in its packaging or production. So resting on their laurels a bit, this is not hard core skater punk, it’s a lot more polished than that.

What Hladno Pivo are all about now is a more pop-punk tinged with blue collar acoustic ballads. Imagine Jimmy Barnes as a Croatian drunk and not a Scottish drunk. There’s a lot of pop punk riffage, and even the odd death metal departure. Bioloski sat even has some electric blues harp. Fortunately, it’s all cohesive and all sounds pretty good. If these guys weren’t so good, it would sound a lot worse. Although you can imagine a bunch of dissapointed Croat punkers longing for the old straight up punk stuff.

And no I can’t understand a single word of Croatian. But this is still bloody enjoyable! And let’s face it you can’t get more punk rock than calling your band cold beer.

On a completely separate note, the CD packaging itself mocks a Soviet complaint book. These are a communist artifact still mandatory in pubs and clubs in Croatia. Basically the owner of the place has his complaint book reviewed by the government at the end of the year and pays a fine according to the condition of his book. So despite looking very posh, this cover is the ultimate in punk rock, as each page is a complaint about a member of the band!

Go on! Sponsor a mo! Sponsor mine! Here’s a link. You know you want to. Movember is raising money this year for mens’ depression (Beyond Blue) and prostate cancer.

All you have to do is click on http://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-search.php and specify mo bro number ‘64808′. It’s totally tax deductible and it justifies this manifest of sleazy facial hair.

To be truly honest, this is almost the solo album that I didn’t buy. There was lots of talk of orchestral arrangements and the dreaded ‘conceptual’ album. It didn’t work for Kiss (Music from the Elder), the Ramones (End of the Century) and I didn’t want to see Timmy go down a similar path. Before you get delusions of Phil Spector moments , like getting Timmy being made to play the intro chord 500 times, don’t stop reading just yet. Well Timmy’s solo efforts take a while to grow on you. But thankfully I am here to say, The Luxury of Hysteria is an absolute corker.

Gone are the melancholy moments of Ghost Songs (an album to shoot yourself to) and the guitar sleaze of Dirty Ron and Spit Polish. The Temperance Union are still there but used sparingly. At the forefront are some brilliant orchestral arrangements. They add so much more texture and dynamism to a very familiar and rocking Rogers vibe.

I’d almost go out on a limb and say that the orchestral arrangements are far from classical, far from contemporary. They almost remind me of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys went he started adding orchestras - yes to me at least this album is that good (I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan so please spare me the emails).

Most tracks feature Rogers’ trademark half flamenco, half steel string sounding guitar work. Definite highlights would be When Yer Sad and James the Second. But there’s no dead weight on this album. No flabby bits whatsoever.

5 out of 5 Mr Rogers. Perfect songwriting, perfect tunes. A truly stellar album. Just don’t scare us with a concept album ever again. Fingers crossed the next You Am I album is this good.

What a friggin’ cack! Apparently Blair had ordered an armored 7 series BMW limousine and when it arrived in the UK, it had four illegal immigrants sitting in it.

The skeptic in me wonders if something isn’t unusually suss about it. Apparently the car was in an unmarked container. Which is interesting, because what has an ex-Prime Minister of England got to hide? Was he trying to avoid the stamp duty? Did he declare it as a Mini Metro? Meh, who cares. It’s just great to see this oligarch suffer.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=122844

Was going through the photos of the Croatia trip and realised that we left out Pula. Pula is in Istria, north western Croatia, bordering on Slovenia. It’s a cute harbor city that has the sixth largest Roman Colosseum in the world - and a sight to behold at that.  Especially the bay views through the Colosseum wall arches. This Colosseum was a far better experience that the world famous Roman one. It’s in much better shape and is still used today as a concert venue.

Aside from the Colosseum, there’s a great archeology museum and a cosmopolitan city. Pula feels like there are a few more cultures represented and feels somewhat more assimilated than other cities. If you’re planning a trip, you could probably do Pula in a day or two. It’s a blindingly good drive from Opatija too! Heaps of twisty mountain roads for the more adventurous driver.

Rune Rebellion, the rhythm guitar backbone hero of Turbonegro, has amicably left the band to concentrate on the business side of the band (he’s involved in the record label side). He will not be replaced and Pal Pot will be the lead guitarist now.

It does make me wonder what sort of band Turbonegro will be now, and whether there will still be that monster wall of guitars they produce. While not well recognised, Rune’s downpicking style breakneck pace defined death punk and is not easily imitated. Hopefully, the band will maintain the fury as a five piece without him.

All the best Mr Rebellion. The band will go on but we’ll miss you.

Source  turbojugendusa.com

Today was not a day for convertibles. Dry, dusty wind had me lusting for a big German luxo barge like an Audi A6 to thrum down the highways in, totally oblivious to the weather conditions. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be. After meandering through the rental car companies, it was down to either a Facladore or a Magna or the ever more alluring Saab convertible. Yeah sure it’s more Elton John than David Beckham, who cares!

So let’s get straight to the neddies. It might have the most subtle boost gauge I’ve ever seen, but the performance is far from subtle. Saab’s four cylinder feels as bullet proof as the Falcon 4.0 straight six - a real surprise. It just doesn’t feel like a four banger. An automatic I can live with too. Sure an auto and a turbo front driver are never a good combination, but despite subtle auto indecisiveness under duress, the power delivery isn’t too shabby at all. And believe me, it doesn’t mind revving out in first gear.

From a standing start it’s not so impressive thought. But floor the puppy at sixty and there’s a big rush of power. Class leading overtaking power in fact. Like the Seat we drove not long ago, there’s nothing really below two grand (call it the auto transmission with a touch of turbo lag). This thing must be purpose built for power on the autobahns and not the 60kph B-roads.

Handling wise, it takes the bumps fairly smoothly. Easily one of the most comfortable cars (especially for a convertible) I’ve driven. It’s rigid with minimal body roll despite the lack of a tin roof. Sadly though, turn in is wrecked by Saab’s dogged dedication to front wheel drive. It makes the car a bit skittish on turn ins and not as relaxing a ride as it deserves to be. Thankfully it isn’t equipped with run flat tyres, so the ride’s firm and sporty but very comfortable.

If you ever needed more validation that this car was designed for beach roads and autobahns, drive down Melbourne’s tram tracked roads. The steering wheel darts around with the fervor of a Labrador at a Wiggles concert, as it’s limited slip diff jolts for grip on tram tracks. It’s a dog’s breakfast!

This car was a 2007 model, but it doesn’t have the updated Priscilla Queen of the Desert headlight treatment going on. And to be honest, it looks quite long in the tooth for it. Albeit sit in it for 10 seconds, and you’ll see where half of the finer Commodore points came from. They’ve taken heaps of styling queues from Saab - namely the hand brake and the cup holders. But the Fishermans Bend boys still haven’t come close to what Trallhatan have achieved here.

Fit and finish is where the Saab truly excels. No fiddly interior features, no unnecessary bells and whistles, but a cohesive place to be. Heaps of leg room, excellent seats, great plastics and leather, all put together very nicely. Everything looks bespoke to the car. No afterthoughts or after market switches. Everything is seamless like good Danish furniture. These touches mean the car could really grow on you.

All in all i’m not a Saab convert. The power isn’t usable enough and the front wheel drive isn’t for me. But if you want to know what the inside of your Holden will look like in 10 years, love overtaking and want to see how much like a big six a little four can be, get yourself a 93 turbo now.