Thinking back, there were a couple of bullet point blog posts early last year, but I don’t think I’ve fallen back on that particular crutch since. But I’m doing it now: I’m invoking the Too Busy To Blog Properly clause of the Web Logger’s Constitution.
This weekend I left my bedroom. Actually, I’m scheduled to leave my bedroom next weekend too, so you might get two blog posts like this. My most heart-felt, belaboured but ultimately spurious apologies in advance. After being cooped up for six months, it does feel awfully good to breathe fresh air — I wonder how much oxygen remains in the recycled air of my bedroom…
Anyway, I was in Southampton this weekend, observing the yearly pancake pilgrimage (it takes all of my effort to leave that uncapitalized). There’s actually a photo of me post-pancakes from the same pilgrimage last year, and the making of the ultimate pancake. I’ve actually changed what I consider to be the ultimate pancake this year… but read on, for my awesome bullet points!
- Southampton is about two hours away by train. On Sunday, when there are replacement bus services and you have to hop around from station to station like a backwards tourist, it’s nearer three and a half hours. This is one thing I hate about travel (cars specifically and trains to a lesser extent) — you take so long to get somewhere. When I went to the Faroe Islands, it took me longer to get to the airport, than from the airport to some fly speck islands in the middle of the Atlantic. I was away for weekend, but about a quarter of my waking hours were spent on a train. Lame.
- Last year we had biologists, this year we had philosophers. One of my friends in Southampton is a biologist, the other a philosopher — quite a disparate bunch of friends, I assure you! After a long afternoon last year spent with biologists — most of them doctors, or close to it — I wasn’t sure if this year was going to be better or worse. I’m at home with scientists and engineers, but most lab-dwelling ones tend to be even dorkier than me — if you think I spend little time in the presence of others, imagine what it’s like when you spend most of your time with microbes and tissue cultures… is it better to talk to yourself, or to a Petri dish?Anyway, the philosophers were OK. When you do a PhD in most subjects, it’s towards a specific target — to be a rocket scientist, a medical doctor, a master of a particular subject — but philosophers don’t seem to be like that. Do they want to be scholars of their favourite philosopher, or do they actually want to become a philosopher? Do you become a philosopher by reading a book? No. Do the books shape your thoughts into philosophical shapes? Maybe. Nothing wrong with scholars of course, but I can’t help but feel the world would be better with more actual philosophers. Maybe.
- Pancakes rule. The pancake master still reigns supreme. (That’s me, by the way: The Pancake Master). Philosophers eat less pancakes than biologists, you know? Last year it was three or four each! This year, only the friendly Greek Nietzschean guy could keep up with me! I created a new ultimate pancake: clotted cream, Canadian maple syrup and fresh strawberries. I used a little lemon juice to cut through the richness of the cream. It was very, very good. I had four of those.
- The New Forest is pretty. You probably saw this on Facebook already (check out my self-promotion! I’m so proud of myself), but the New Forest is, despite its name, a very old and well-maintained forest. It was originally ‘curated’ by William the Conqueror in 1079, a few years after his successful invasion of Britain — probably so he had somewhere to hunt. The quality of the soil is poor though, so there aren’t many trees — lots of scrub and shrub though. It’s basically a heath (and I rather like heaths!)
At this juncture, you’d expect me to break into photos… but I haven’t had a chance to go through them all yet. You get one now (which is also this week’s 52), and a bunch tomorrow.
Happy Monday!
MentalSarcasm
Feb 22, 2010
Damnit Seb I’ve just eaten lunch and now this pancake talk has made me hungry!
Your pancakes sound very interesting, is it safe to assume they were proper British pancakes and not those small, puffy American ones?
Kristi A.
Feb 22, 2010
Wait wait wait, what are the pancake differences between American and British pancakes?
sebastian
Feb 22, 2010
European pancakes tend to be more… ‘crepe’. Thin. Less about the pancake, more about the filling, and the fact that it’s FRIED and tasty.
American pancakes are all thick… more about soaking up as much syrup (or bacon??) juice as possible.
And yes, these were thin. Wafer thin!
MentalSarcasm
Feb 22, 2010
Woo hoo for thin pancakes! Although if we had your inventive topping here my youngest sister would steal all the strawberries XD
Sara Strand
Feb 22, 2010
I like pancakes- I don’t care if they are thick or thin. Pancakes are possibly the best breakfast food. Especially with butter. Like the real butter with enough fat to possibly induce a heart attack immediately. YUM.
I really like that picture- the animals don’t even look real. Like you just pasted them on there.
ps) my picture is framed..blog post coming soon on that and my new painting…
sebastian
Feb 22, 2010
Hooray! Can’t wait to see it
The horses do look pretty unnatural. They look a little less pasted-in on the full-size image — when you reduce the size, things can get a little sharpened. The ‘outline’ around the horses shouldn’t really be there, just a visual anomaly!
I didn’t know there was not-real butter… maybe in America…
chiefy
Feb 22, 2010
Pancakes are my number one mortal enemy. I will cut a bitch.
Actually no, I won’t because if I even see one I will throw the fuck up.
andhari
Feb 22, 2010
All these pancake talks make me hungry. What kind of pancake do you like best? Does it involve oreo, cheese and ice cream? HOT DAMN.
Hezabelle
Feb 22, 2010
Yay! Horses!
sebastian
Feb 22, 2010
Oreo and cheese…? WTF?
Is that globalisation gone wrong?
Emily Jane
Feb 22, 2010
You actually kept your promise and did the belated pancakes! I completely forgot. But that doesn’t mean I won’t make them this weekend. Your ultimate pancake sounds PRETTY EPIC. How are the arteries today?
sebastian
Feb 22, 2010
A man always keeps food-related promises!
The arteries are… sluggish.
But I’m eating lots of fiber to make up for it!
Eleni
Feb 22, 2010
That ultimate pancake sounds amazing… I don’t know if I’ve ever had cream on pancakes (here people do whipped cream but I’ve never been a fan), but I bet clotted cream would be good, even if its name makes me think of a heart attack.
I can’t knock biologists since my boyfriend is one, but I rather enjoy conversations with philosophers. I suppose it might depend on what kind of philosopher. Also, they’re probably pretty good at arguing so if you disagree with them that might be frustrating. But other than that, philosophers are fun. Of course, I’m the kind of person who on occasion frightens people away by bringing up metaphysics debates (“So, what if you had a teleporter that malfunctioned…”) in random conversation.
sebastian
Feb 23, 2010
It was really very good. Yeah, spray/whipped/single cream isn’t great on pancakes. Double cream (40%) is very good, as is clotted. As is home-made vanilla ice cream, made from double cream… (we also had that). It’s a shame about the whole clotted/heart attack thing… but there’s something about eating ‘naughty’ food that makes it taste better, right?
I think I need to delineate between philosophers and scholars of philosophy. I hope to one day be a philosopher, but scholarly pursuits really aren’t for me.
AGD
Mar 1, 2010
Seb-
“scholar of philosophy” is a necessary, though sadly not sufficient, condition of being a “philosopher”. You can be the former, without the latter, which makes you a historian of ideas/philosophy. Attempts to do the latter without the former are, at the very best, Ayn Rand (i.e. foamingly-mad).
the issue, covered by professionals, here: http://crookedtimber.org/2009/05/20/michele-lamont-on-philosophers/