h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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I'm not a big fan of fish, but as it's 'good' for me, I am trying to up my intake.

Shelfish can cause reactions due to their higher microbe levels. (they are filter feeders, and end up retaining more bugs(if memory serves ))

I only like fish when it has been covered in batter, deep fried and served with chips.

On occasions that I have felt I should try some fish, (e.g. when we were staying in Looe where the fish is caught daily and sold on the quay side) I have been rather disappointed, it never seems to taste as good as everyone says it does.

The one exception is when H does fresh tuna or swordfish steaks on the barbie. Then it is really delicious, he usually squeezes a little lime over it and a quick brush with olive oil.

I have some salmon filets in the freezer which I am using in a new recipe later this week--they're marinated in a teriyaki sauce and then baked with a coating of shredded coconut and chopped almonds. Sounds I know, but something about it appeals to me. I'm serving it with sobe noodles in a lemon sauce.

I like fish for the most part, but I really hate picking through bones. That's why I don't eat fish as often as I should. I love shellfish, however. I don't care that they're bottom feeders. Broiled lobster with drawn butter is as rich as eating dessert.

Any seafood is susceptible to bioaccumulative toxins. Shellfish and aquatic spiders (lobsters) are not as mobile as swimming fish, so they tend to have higher concentrations of various toxins that are potentially dangerous. I don't know about microbial issues, but I do know that shellfish can be a repository for dioxin and PCBs.

I like fish and shellfish, but it's hard to get anything fresh around here. My dad fished a lot, so while he was alive we always had fresh crappie, bass, and trout for the table. But, alas, Frank doesn't fish.
We have to make do with catfish and whatever the market has flown in.

My oldest son has a wholesale seafood business in Texas, so he keeps me supplied with shrimp and crab. I always knew he would come in handy for something.

I shall be watching Rebels and Redcoats tonight. Professor Richard Holmes' look at the American Revolution. He was so irritated at Hollywood's historical rewriting of events after he saw The Patriot that he started researching almost immediately.

It might take my mind off the proposed housing development. It is really quite upsetting me, even though we knew it was coming some time ago, but seeing it in black and white makes it a reality

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Around here, the big problem is mussels turning red. There's big signs all over that say "do not eat red mussels!". I personally like salmon that has been grilled with fresh lemon, ginger, garlic and a splash or two of tabasco.

Caer, what specifically are Richard Holmes' complaints about the way the story of the American Revolution is told by Hollywood? I never saw The Patriot, so I don't know what slant Mel Gibson put on it.

Having been raised on the shores of Cape Cod, it just takes the smell of deep fried clams to throw me back into childhood. I love cod in batter, I dutifully munch fish fingers to get the nutrients, and can eat tuna any time. But almost all the other sorts of fish repel me, and today I have some minor intestinal backlash just from eating the rice out of the shrimp dish. I shall probably skip book group tonight.

The lobster must be my totem. It ~does~ look a lot like the traditional pictures of scorpions...

Caer, that's a real bummer about the impending development. It was being threatened for the field opposite the entrance to the subdivision where I lived in Florida, and that was going to be 1200 manufactured homes. What kind of homes will they be, which is a coded way of saying, what kind of neighbors will you have?

Don't get me wrong -- my subdivision was integrated racially and religiously. I have more neighbor problems here in Lincoln! Emma's dogs have not been dispersed, even though she's in court about them, and the other neighbors across the street are yer quintessential Ma & Pa Kettle, shouting at each other and the baby so loud that I can hear them in my living room. But the thing is, we all know each other. 1200 modular homes means a horde of people who are alien not just to us but to each other. It's the death of neighborliness, hence of trust.

I haven't seen it either! But when it was released over here much was made of the alleged brutality by the Redcoats, or Thomas Lobster as the Militia nicknamed them. But there are no historical records to prove this.

What Prof Holmes is setting out to show is that the Revolution was closer to a civil war, a term that is suppressed in the US in connection with the Revolution, apparently.

The first one tonight is a factual account of the course of events, starting with the Proclaimation Line that seperated the colonies from teh land westwards occupied by the Native American Indians that Same Adams et al wanted to expand into, culminating with George Washington's rise to prominence.

The Patriot, I mean by not having seen.

The development will have to reflect the low density nature to some extent. But the Borough has to find space for 5220 homes within the next ten years and the Green Belt (designated open space between us and London) is seriously under threat.

So any development that can be squeezed into existing zones is smiled upon. All we can hope for is reducing the proposed 12 to 8. Doesn't sound much I know, but those 12 house could increase traffic on our small stretch by 200% to 400%, if each home has 2 cars.

They are to be built on an area of land created by neighbours selling up bits of their gardens.

Sounds like they'll be cottages, really.

That program sounds good. I love revisionism.

Once we have seen the plans at the Council Offices on Thursday, I will have a better idea, but the proposal is for two storey houses, doesn't say if they will be detached in the letter. But oddly, only 5 garages.

I suppose what really upsets me is that we shall lose our lovely open view from upstairs. It was one of things that attracted me, as we were living on a modern estate where we were cheek by jowl and we could all see into each other's gardens.

I'm not fond of revisionist history, but I can see the angle he's taking. I think one of the biggest obstacles concerning the history of the American Revolution is the mythos of it. The Founders, Paul Revere's Ride, etc. No one wants to admit that Jefferson was a lousy husband, or that Washington was an egotist, or that Franklin wasn't the philanthropist he's made out to be.

God forbid the folks who founded the US were human!

I wouldn't say it was revisionist as it was what I was taught at school over 30 years ago.

But it was only the first programme.

Well, it looks like I am going to go in to the doc to have him take a poke at my gut. It feels like a knife is twisting in my gut at the moment.
I'll let you know all what's up as soon as I know.

for Marv

A link to Rebels and Redcoats:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1442-730567,00.html

Ahhhhh, revisionist history. My favorite is that the US Civil War (c 1860 in deference to the 'first' civil war ) was fought to liberate the slaves in the south.

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