Dinner is served...

Though I am mainly revising these days, a man still has to eat. Consequently it seems appropriate to show you what I ate this evening.

Sometimes when you come to prepare a meal, you find yourself presented with leftovers from the rest of week. Rarely was this more true than of tonight’s proprietor’s special at the Café. The meal is called Quinoa chez Highfield. Although it may look like couscous it is in fact a more unusual ingredient called quinoa added to tomatoes and in this case sausages etc. It is a seed which comes from South America and I have developed quite a partiality for it of late.

Quinoa chez Highfield bears a close resemblance to another dish called Pasta chez Dilettante, after the person who showed me the method. That pasta dish resembles Quinoa chez Highfield in two main respects: 1. chopped tomatoes provide the base on to which you can place almost anything you like, 2. sugar can be added liberally, along with herbs to provide more variation. To the best of my knowledge, however, quinoa has not yet been tried in maison Dilettante.

What were the outcomes of this meal? I was filled up and I enjoyed the it. I conclude it was a success!

Reasons to be cheerful

Reasons to be cheerful…

Why, might you ask, am I still reasonably cheerful despite the prospect of six exams imminently?

Here are a couple of reasons:

1. Two days ago, I got course work marks back. I got the highest marks for the year on two course work essays. One was on social Psychology (74%) and one was on the Psychology of Religion (76%). I am extremely pleased that these are the areas I scored best in because these are the kind of areas I would like to focus on in my academic career.

2. I have got all my course work for the year out of the way now and I dare say quite a lot of the readers of the blog do too. I will not have to revisit my coursework for another month and even then hopefully only fleetingly. In July, I have yet another series of exams with the BPS and they require me to submit this year’s course work before they will allow me into the exams. Still it is nice they are all out of the way for the time being.

3. Government authorities in Spain have seen fit to produce an excellent ‘Green’ power station. It uses sun rays to power solar panels which produces enough electricity for around 6000 homes. Another clever thing is that it uses heat from the sun as well which is stored during the day, then released at night after the sun has completely gone for the night. It is heartening to see this kind of project getting off the ground - tee hee hee.
   (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6616651.stm)
   

4. After many lunch times watching Jeremy Brett over a bread roll and cheese, I have finished the entire span of Sherlock Holmes episodes in which he featured. I don’t know how many episodes that is exactly, but I believe it is around 18 DvDs, of which at least three are film length rather than three episodes. Brett’s final line at the end of the final episode was unexpected and pleasing, “there must be some meaning to all this – for to think there is no meaning is unthinkable – but a meaning which, as yet, logic has not provided an answer to.” I could n’t help wondering if there was going to be some sneaky shot of Arthur Conan-Doyle’s work on spiritualism, but alas not on this occasion. Still, a worthy end to a very enjoyable series of adaptations. I now feel I can say I 'know' the Sherlock Holmes stories pretty well.

5. Maroon 5 are releasing their new album "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" later this month!

Back to exam revision I go now. To all of you sitting exams at the moment, or in the near future, Good Luck!

(my thanks to Mr. Amazon for the picture of Maroon 5, and www.dnrec.state.de.us for the image of success and the BBC for the image of the power station in Seville)

Christianity and Reincarnation

Though in the west today, we consider reincarnation an Eastern philosophical and theological issue, it has not ever been thus.

In the early days of Christianity, by that I mean 0 CE-200CE, it was not uncommon for writers to draw on Plato and others who wrote of reincarnation. There is also some support for reincarnation in the bible itself. To take three examples:

"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his mother's womb. And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Teacher, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'"
John 9:1-2 – The point being that since the man was blind since the womb, he could not have committed any crime in this life – implicitly reincarnation.

"When Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, 'What do men say concerning me, that I am merely a son of man?' They said, 'There are some who say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
Matthew 16:13-14 – again, if reincarnation is so wrong, does not Jesus not rebuke the disciples for implying it here?

Though strictly speaking this is re-animation, the distinction is an extremely small one. The underlying principle is that spirit control the body; not the body controlling the spirit.

Lazarus, who having died comes back to life again. Without relating the whole story, the reference ends at “And he that was dead came forth” John 11:44.

Prior to 553, a few groups, including some Origenists, had been quite happily putting a Christina façade over a religion that resembled Hinduism and very closely Platonism; allowing both class structures and re-incarnation. However, one woman got in the way of this potential link up. Her name was Theodora. She was wife of Emperor Justinian.

Theodora could not stand the various rumours that abounded that she might come back as some lower animal in the next life because of her misdeeds and murders. Perhaps not surprisingly as she had started out pretty lowly in that life she sought to avoid going down any notches on the social ladder. Thus she wanted Christianity changed and those who spoke of reincarnation declared heretics.

Using her influence with Justinian, she had doctrine changed in order to prevent any further links with Karma. By the Fifth Ecumenical Council 553, the soul was deemed to be part of the body, which only came into existence once the foetus had been conceived.

One can only wonder what people presented with this doctrine might have thought happened to their souls once the body died, with this change to church philosophy. Anyone who did not abide by this doctrine was considered a heretic and would die as such.

The sad thing is, that this arbitrary decision:

a) continues to inform the abortion debate without people being aware of it.

b) prevented a more unified approach with the East and a faster exchange of information between our cultures.

c) causes considerable muddiness of thinking surrounding issues of the life force in human beings and where it comes from.

(my thanks to for the picture of Yin Yang energies. http://www.healingtherapies.info/images/Yin__Yang.gif)

How my last piece of course work yielded a fragment of Roman History

Funnily enough, yesterday was my last course work deadline. A tremendous feeling of relief flooded over me when it sank in that – yes ! – really, that was the last piece of work I would hand in with a deadline at Holloway; unless I come back for a PHD. I celebrated as best I knew how… I spoke with a friend and we went for a drive in my car, Pegasus.

The friend, Dantares, also had finished his work for the year and we decided to go out together. With no particular plan, but my car at our disposal we headed for a motorway.

After a little while, we spotted a village with a ridiculous name. Such is our mutual sense of silliness that we decided immediately that the place must be worth of a visit. As it is so beautiful I am tempted not to tell everyone its name, lest some less discerning people come to hear of it. For that reason, we will call it simply Silly Bottom Wick.

Many qualities about the place seemed like they were from a blissful time 50 years ago. There was plenty of green open space, trees and quietness. Around us, buildings from every age before the 1930s could be seen. Occasionally a classic British sports car could be seen parked in a rural and tasteful drive way. The road did n’t even have road markings most of the time. The take home message was, this is a place with ‘good taste.’

The sophisticated grace of the three manor houses was particularly praise worthy. One day I aspire to own a house similar to one of them. They appeared to be largely Georgian houses, but with earlier constructions still visible in places. Even more unusually, they were not spoiled with excessive property developments, but rather stood in tasteful company with only a few ‘comfortable’ houses a short walk away.

Then something a little unusual happened. We took a short walk into a field and Dantares saw a pile of debris that interested him. Like a tracker dog smelling the scent, he bent down and soon held up about an inch square of pottery.

‘It’s Roman I would say… you can tell by the lack of crystallisation... since the Romans cooled their pots very quickly there was not chance for the crystals for form.’

Such are the benefits of studying classical archaeology, being able to spot Roman pottery at 10 paces! A free cup of Café Lumiere coffee to you Mr. Dantares!

(my thanks to http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/reticulum/HOWWEKNOW/Archaeology/PotSherdHandsSml.jpg for the image)

Personality of the week

For those of you who regularly read the blog you have probably noticed two things:

1) posts are a less frequent at the moment

2) Personality of the week is often late.

My apologises for these two issues. Owing to exams, however, I doubt neither will be properly fixed until the end of the exam season. Be assured that I will keep at least a couple of items for you in the week.

Without further a do then, this week’s personality of the week is….

SAKI also known as Hector Hugh Munro, congratulations to you.

Saki, and his favourite character Clovis lies somewhere between Wilde and Wodehouse both chronologically and in some ways content.

Born in India in 1870 Saki was an active writer of satirical and comic stories from around 1900 until the outbreak of World War 1.
His stories usually feature dapper and witty young Edwardian men who delight in the discomfort of their elders. In one Clovis story for example, the main character argues that really there is no value in anything – just look at Nietzsche. Lest things get too morbid, however, on another occasion Clovis finds tremendous meaning in his sartorial elegance.
Saki is like Wilde in the sense his stories can sometimes be quite biting, but like Wodehouse in the sense that his characters tend to be wealthy and slightly childish.

Here are some nice quotations from Saki to round off the entry. Saki, your free drink awaits at the bar - but remember no smoking in public places comes into effect soon!

“Romance at short notice was her speciality”

“The stage, with all its efforts, can never be as artificial as life.”(he even sounds like Wilde!)

“The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as cooks go she went.”(but this word play reminds me more of dear PG!)

Let the music play!

Tonight the café will lay out what music typically plays here. Tomorrow is live music night. We especially hope Mr. Autumn Blake will be able to play a few numbers on his guitar. There is also a piano in the Café, which my brother (who is very musical) will play for us. When he has finished doing that, he will sing whilst I play the piano.

• Mr Blake will leave his music choices secret until a later time.
• My brother will first of all play, a number of Rags by Scott Joplin and a little Chopin
• Then, he will sing a number of Gilbert and Sullivan songs including tit willow and the policeman’s song.

During a more normal day, however, we let recorded music play. This is the sort of thing that is currently playing:

Maroon 5, Daniel Powter, the Beatles, the Feeling and the Kinks.

Requests for music can of course be made at the bar. We have a pretty good collection of music, but we also welcome CDs of personal compilations.

Sometimes, we have classical music nights. When we do, the programme is likely to feature, the Brandenburg concertos, Holtz’s Planets and Chopin. Elgar and Mozart also make appearances, though not in person.

If you have a choice of music in mind, which is tasteful, feel free to post your request and we will do our best to play it.

A glimpse of the future

As regular readers will know, the café is always keen to support new forms of transport that will reduce harmful emissions to our environment. For many there is considerable debate about which form of green transport and green solution represents the best option to pursue.

The café believes that it is too early to rule out any particular form of greener energy.

It is pleasing to note, however, that there are already some electric vehicles that are beginning to become viable alternatives to the internal combustion engine. Here is a look at just some of them. Below are vehicles you might just see around and about.

The London Bus

A London bus, but with a difference… this one has a hydrogen powered motor, which produces nothing but steam. To be fair, there is also a small diesel motor that can be used to power up the hydrogen engine. The overall fuel comparison is impressive: 89% less nitrogen oxides, 83% less carbon monoxide and the bus uses 40% less fuel than an equivalent conventional bus.

The Smart Car EV

This Smart Car is probably the most affordable of the vehicles featured here. It is congestion charge exempt, but with a range of 72 miles it probably needs a little more development before it becomes main-stream. An interesting development nonetheless.

The Nissan Altra,

This car is proving very popular in California, where owing to liberal state laws, people are able to avoid all sorts of costs through leasing an electric car. Unlike some of the other cars featured here, it is a very normal family car. Ranges of up to 120 miles and £1.50 to fill up; no wonder Gordon Brown has not seen fit to grant this car subsidies to encourage more people to drive them!

The Tesla Roadster

The manufacturers claim that this electric vehicle has an incredible 250 miles range before needing a charge – that’s about the same range a Ford Fiesta has on a full tank. Even more impressively, the car can achieve reach 60 mph in around 4 seconds. Unless you are feeling a little rich this month though, you might want to give the $92,000 car a miss until the price come down. I think my Fiesta is safe for a while. Still it is lovely to see that the technology is becoming available to the market.

The Venturi Fetish

Another sports car, this one with a lower range of 155 miles, but it weighs less than a tonne and the batteries can last for around 10 years. The batteries are made musing lithium-ions, which seem to be the most efficient type available on the mass market at the moment… but watch this space for developments.

Of all these, I think I will have the Tesla Roadster, but with the number of clients at Cafe Lumiere, perhaps the bus would be more appropriate.

(My thanks to Microsoft and the BBC for the pictures)