OMG TMI LOL ROTFL JDB

‘I don’t like Monday 24 January’

California to be precise. 48 hours to go…

I saw some Taunton photos on Flickr today and went to the blog of the photographer, she’s an American considering moving to Taunton or thereabouts with her family and is in need of some restaurant recommendations. They’re currently staying in Holford. Here’s my list of possibilities and observations:

Food options are tricky though. I’m not sure how long you’ve been in the country but (pull)there just isn’t the same culture of dining out like in the States(/pull). It’s almost always for a special occasion / celebration with prices to match. This changes the bigger the city, so the nearest gastronomical hub would be Bristol. It’s quite common to get “take away” meals from the Chinese restaurant or Indian, or, obviously, fish and chips (my favourite: on Kingston Rd, by Gladstone st.) though. For a good, cheap(ish) meals your best bets are pubs and the prices’ll be higher and portions smaller that stateside…

I forget the name of the one in Bishop’s Lydeard, not far from holford, but it has a skittle alley and does fine food. There’s only 2 pubs there and I think only one of them does food, The Bell?
The Blue Ball (at Triscombe Quarry, your side of the Quantocks)
Porlock: Lorna Doone Pub, nearish minehead specialises in seafood i think…
Taunton: You can’t go wrong with either of the Weatherspoons pubs: The Perkin Warbeck and the Coal Orchard. They often have special deals and their food’s not half bad at all. They also have well enforced no-smoking sections.
There are a few chain restaurants at the Hankridge development (where the multiplex cinema is)
The Merry Monk in Monkton Heathfield’s also good….
Plenty of Indian / Chinese restaurants down East Reach and for takeaways, near the train station on Station Rd..
The Swan in Kingston St. Mary’s just changed management and they’re out to impress with their food apparently…
Ooh, there’s a Mexican restaurant just off St. James’ street called The Old Gringo or somesuch. Which, though the food bears little resemblence to US or even Mexican ideas of what Mexican food is, is very nice but a bit on the pricey side.

Any other food places to recommend? Brazz has been done… And I’m not sure how 4 yr old friendly Henry’s is…

Also, what’s the difference between nondenominational and CofE schools. I can’t think of many in rural somerset except there’s maybe more singing involved in religious schools and prayers can be boring.

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Stay home, make bread, eat bread, repeat

A post shared by Gwyn Fisher (@gwynfisher) on Mar 26, 2020 at 9:10am PDT

I was planning to do some kind of E-advent calendar- I only just realised it’s december, that means there’s already 2 chocolates waiting to be devoured- anyroad, it may still happen. In the meantime, I never got round to posting any Mexico photos from last year. I had planned to write a novel of some sort, but instead I took about a thousand photos and learnt how to use photoshop. I was a bit too enamoured with the photo border plug-ins, but have a look at a sample of pix from the trip here

I just sent in a top 10 list to the superlative podcast, Top of the Pods. Wonder if they’ll read it out…

Top 10 US-UK Linguistic Misunderstandings

10. Beverages: For some reason no matter how I pronounce coke or water in American restaurants I have to repeat it several times. Water and ‘wodder’ I get, but the Coke one puzzles me no end. Lemonade’s another, firstly there’s the pronunciation, LEMonade instead of lemonADE then there’s the fact that it’s some kind of water and squeezed lemon concoction not the ‘Every bubble’s passed its fizzical’ proper stuff. And don’t get me started on Ribena/orange squash’

9. Hair styles: Bangs- ‘I like girls with bangs’, my mate told me. I let it pass thinking well, it takes all sorts to make the world go round. I later found that across the pond, ‘bangs’ means a fringe. Somehow’

8. Food: Zucchini / Courgette, Cilantro / coriander, eggplant / aubergine, ground round/ mincemeat, ‘ If you’re buying a recipe book in the states, make sure you have a native handy to translate. Zucchini, I ask you…

7. Adjectives: Mad- If you’re mad in the States, you’re extremely angry. In the UK, you’re insane. It’s a subtle, but important difference. ‘My mate got sectioned after his wife left him’, he must be mad. Discuss’ see also ‘mean’ (evil vs. stingy) and if you’re allowed to say it on the family-friendly interweb, pissed (drunk vs. in a bad mood)

6. Carcinogens: Fags / cigarettes/ smokes- Somewhat frosty reception to the phrase ‘It’s nigh on impossible to bum fags round here (in California)’.

5. Body parts: Fanny/arse: The first time I heard the theme tune to dire 90’s US sitcom, ‘The Nanny’ and it got to the line, ‘What was she to do, where was she to go, she was out on her fanny’ I was shocked to the very core. Of course, fanny means bottom in US English.

4. Car parts: windshield/windscreen, bonnet/hood, trunk/boot, gas/petrol, bumper/fender, lorries/trucks. It’s a mystery…

3. Verbs: Fancy, as in I fancy a pint/your mate is simply not said. My (American) wife thought she understood what it meant and asked me, after I met her parents for the first time, if I fancied her mum. I answered, erm no, and she got extremely upset. She thought I didn’t get on with her mum or something. It took a dictionary and a lot of tact to rectify the situation.

2. Gender of names. Gwyn is definitely a girl’s name in the States (I’m a bloke, it’s a Welsh name and the female version is Gwynne *edit* Gwen), but there’s plenty of other names you’d expect to be girls but aren’t. There are men happily living their lives called Tracy (http://tracylawrence.musiccitynetworks.com/) and women called Charlie.

1. Sweets/ Candy. As you’ll hear on Total Podcastrophe, it’s extremely hard to hold a conversation between an American and a Brit about favourite sweets/chocolate/candy/biscuits without a lot of explanation. Some exist in both countries: Cadburys’ Creme Eggs, some don’t: Dime bars, Crunchies, some have the same name but aren’t the same: Milky Ways. It’s a minefield. Stay well clear.

At work and pretty busy. Went out last night for coffee and wine to Las Palomas and Montjuic. Sita let slip a few of her grand business plans… more of which one day. Anyway, a mere 2 episodes of Lost last night. Aren’t we good?