• Fish and Chips
• Yeah Detroit (Now the Michigander side of me would not be opposed to this one, but maybe lose the Yeah)
• Keenan Got Lucy
• Sex Fruit

I did some looking around, and you'd be surprised to know that the Germans regulate what you can name your child, saying it must be reflective of the gender of the child and not endanger the well being of the child (if they only regulated ALL celebrities, you know their children will be ridiculed, and probably scarred from it). All of the baby names must be approved by the German Office of Vital Statistics, and they rely on an international manual of first names, and if they still can't decide, they may call on a foreign embassy for assistance. There apparently is a fee for registering a name, and should your name be rejected, you could appeal it, but if you lose that, you would be spending more to resubmit a name. They did reject the name "Huckleberry" because in Mark Twain's novel, Huck was considered an outsider, but "Nemo" is supposedly an acceptable name! In Mexico, the government has tried regulating names, Lluvia (rain) and Azul (blue) have been deemed "improper" and they will only allow "common spellings" of names.

Here is a list of the 20 strangest celebrity baby names, they're WAAAAY out there!

1. Audio Science. Parent: Shannyn Sossamon (she's the actress from 40 Days and 40 Nights)

2. Blue Angel. Parent: The Edge (from U2)

3. God’iss Love Stone. Parent: Lil’ Mo

4. Heavenly Hiraana Tiger Lily. Parent: Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates.

5. Jermajesty. Parent: Jermaine Jackson

6. Kal-el. Parent: Nicholas Cage.
(Kat-el is Superman’s birthname).

7. Memphis Eve. Parent: Bono (U2)

8. Messiah Ya’majesty. Parent: T.I. (Atlanta Rapper)

9. Moxie Crimefighter. Parent: Penn Gillette

10. O’shea. Parent: Ice Cube

11. O’shun. Parent: Tamika Scott (Xscape)

O’shitt. (Sooner or later, some celeb will use this for an unplanned kid).

12. Peaches Honeyblossom. Parent: Bob Geldoff

13. Pilot Inspektor. Parent: Jason Lee
(Gee, how can I really mess up my child without doing anything illegal? GOT IT!)

14. Poppy Honey. Parent: Jamie Oliver.

15. Reign Beau. Parent: Ving Rhames.
(I would make a joke here but Ving Rhames is a big dude. Great names, sir).

16. Seven Sirius. Parents: Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000) and Erykah Badu

17. Sy’rai. Parent: Brandy (this one I don't think is so bad, it means princess I think, and if this one's up here, where's Suri (Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes' child)??

18. Starlite Melody. Parent: Marisa Berenson

19. Spec Wildhorse (son) Parent: John Cougar Mellencamp

20. Tu. Parent: Rob Morrow
(”It sure is cloudy today Daddy.” “Don’t worry. The sun will come out, Tu Morrow”).

E cosi' in Nuova Zelanda, la povera Talula balla la Hula delle Hawaii ha vinto la sua battaglia contro mamma e papa'!

Chissa' quali saranno le sorti di tutti gli altri poveri bambini che ogni giorno devono combattere contro il proprio nome..ce la faranno Sex Fruit, Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen, Fish and Chips (due gemelli), Chiappe Rosa, Pom Pino,Vita Mina (per ricordarne alcuni italiani), a vincere le loro battaglie contro quei coglioni dei loro genitori?...Ai posteri l'ardua sentenza! :)

A judge ruled that the nine-year-old girl, who is the subject of a custody fight, should be placed in the guardianship of the court until she is renamed.

A lawyer acting for the girl claimed she was so embarrassed by her name that she had kept it from her friends, insisting she should be known as "K" instead. She also feared that if it became public she would be mocked and teased.

The lawyer claimed the girl fully understood the absurdity of her name, unlike her parents who had not considered the implications when they named her.

Justice Robert Murfitt said the name clearly presented a social hurdle for the child.

"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said.

He also voiced concern over other names given to New Zealand children, such as Violence, Midnight Chardonnay and Number 16 Bus Shelter.

A set of twins was named Benson and Hedges, after the cigarette brand and some children had been named after six-cylinder Ford cars. There has ever been a case of a child being named after the entire All Blacks side.

"Recently, for the first time in my experience as a Family Court judge, the name of a child described in text language has emerged," Mr Murfitt said.

In that case, a girl was named O.crnia, but in negotiations with the mother over a parenting order, the name was adjusted to Oceania.

New Zealand officials said they did have the power to block outlandish names.

Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages, told the New Zealand Herald that the law did not allow names that would cause offence to a reasonable person, that are more than 100 characters or that include titles, military ranks, punctuation or numerals.

Names rejected by the office include Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit.

Mr Clarke said officials attempted talk to parents who proposed unusual names and convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

"Often when we explain the situation to parents we can agree on an acceptable name to register," he told the paper.
*Source:  Click Here

Takeout counter at Tom's Place with LED "daily catch" board.

Seeing Things is a biweekly design column by Brooke Hodge, the curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

If you’ve worked up an appetite after all that art viewing, head over to Tom’s Place, an eco-friendly fish-and-chips restaurant in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. Located on a quiet street a block from bustling Kings Road, Tom’s Place is the latest venture by the Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens, who made his name sourcing and cooking the best local ingredients. Here, he offers fish that is fresh-caught daily from sustainable sources — mostly small, family-run businesses on the Cornish coast. Forget about that tired old cod. A cool LED display board lists the different types of fish available each day — sole, pollock, hake, gurnard, red mullet, sea bass and plaice, among others — which can be ordered grilled, pan-fried, or deep-fried, with delicious chips and homemade ketchup. The casual low-budget trappings of traditional seaside fish-and-chips joints have been upgraded to a sleek aluminum interior with cheery red designer plastic chairs, mock-granite tabletops, recycled paper napkins and clever portholes displaying video footage of the sea. Top off your meal at Tom’s Place (a nice pun on plaice!) with a pint of organic ale from Meantime Brewery, and don’t skip dessert. The homemade pistachio ice cream is divine. And if you get tired of the endlessly looping video of Aikens chatting with fishermen, you can always opt for takeout.

The second-floor dining area at Tom's Place on Cale Street, in London's Chelsea neighborhood.

Read previous Seeing Things columns by Brooke Hodge.

The black half of Obama angrily accuses the white half of enslaving him, making him pick cotton, and keeping all the good stuff for himself.

The white half apologises (on his knees) and promises to release the black half from his chains, get the Mexicans to pick cotton instead, and stop making watermelon jokes.

The black half is placated and, moved by a rare spirit of generosity, apologises for 50 Cent, Oprah Winfrey, and all crimes committed by black people. He adds that 'whitey' can keep making watermelon jokes since he's got used to them by now and it's not like he's neurotic and hypersensitive or anything.

Thus will black and white America be united in peace - in the person of Obama. i propose he divide his personality in half on camera and perform the above routine as part of his inauguration.

As an Anglo-Indian i shall follow suit here.

My Indian half (Raj) hereby accuses my English half (Roger) of enslaving India and stealing all our rubies.

Roger apologies but would like to point out that we did teach you cricket, after all.

Raj concedes the point and muses that it's a pity the English are so crap at cricket, as they are at everything, so it's just as well they taught it to those as can play it properly.

Roger shrugs with a defeated English shrug and suggests they go out for a curry.

A capital idea, Raj agrees, and is moved to apologise for driving fish and chip shops out of existence, and also volunteers a certain distaste at Bollywood and its excesses.

Thus are the crimes of the British Empire and the bad taste of Bollywood finally laid to rest.

grease-o-mania! and chip shop ketchup is foul.

Apart from the stupid names celebrities give their children, like Coldplay's lead singer who said..

"People make a big fuss over names. Names of babies, names of albums, names of bands.T here’s nothing weird about calling your baby Chewbacca if that’s what you want to call your baby. It’s no stranger than Sarah."

Um what, naming your child after a fictional woolly alien is no stranger than Sarah! What planet are you on, oh wait, planet-too-much-money-and-no-sense.

And don't get me started with silly spelling of names. God only knows why but some people clearly don't feel special enough so they think that spelling their names differently will make them 'different', or maybe it's just because they can't spell. If you've changed the spelling of your name, say from Kylie to Kylee, Kyleigh, Kiley, Kyley, get a grip, the only thing you've proved is that you're a twit that can't spell.

Back to the real reason for this post, it's been around for a while but it's parents who are stoned, or maybe just stupid giving names to their kids that will without any doubt lead to their lives being a complete misery, or as a Judge described it, essentially child abuse. I've heard the ones about Holden and Ford, but how about this selection...

Fish and Chips (twins), Masport and Mower (twins); boys Yeah Detroit, Spiral Cicada, Kaos, Stallion and Hitler; girls Cinderella Beauty Blossom and Twisty Poi; and sex unknown Keenan Got Lucky and Sex Fruit.

You're probably thinking "only in America" right? well no, the muppets who gave their kids these names are right here in New Zealand. WTF is going through someones head to call their kid 'Sex Fruit'? Maybe in addition to licencing people to own dogs we should be licencing people to have kids, because clearly some people think it's a bit of a joke!

So people, if you're thinking of giving your kid a name based on a food, consumer product, or hated historical figure, take a deep breath and a cold shower and then go to a web site which has real human names on it and pick something that isn't going to make their life a misery, and when you pick one leave the spelling alone and don't screw with it!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4628997a6479.html

Our server was delightful, the food came fast, and it was DELISH. Here's the confession - it's not really the healthy kind of fish place. It was more like deep fried everything. But GOOD deep fried, if you know what I mean. You did know that authentic foods have less calories than their fast food counterparts, didn't you?

BTW - Donna got the do-it-yourself lemonade... they bring out all the ingredients - lemon juice, simple syrup, water - and you get to mix it to your taste.  Fun and yummy.

What's your favorite vacation-getaway-in-a-meal spot?

I tried hard to cram as much as I could into 4 days, and believe it or not, did it without so much as a wrinkle of stress. Here are my favorite things to do and see in Seattle:

Ballard - my favorite neighborhood in Seattle.

Golden Gardens - a beach on the edge of Seattle where we watched the sun set over the Puget Sound. (yes, it's as romantic and wonderful as it sounds.)

Take in as many views of Lake Union (which lies in the middle of the city) and the bridges that connect Seattle to itself as I can.

Take in a random naked, all-male bicycle parade.

Take a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island for the best fish & chips in Seattle.

(above: view of Seattle from ferry.)

(below: best seat in the house at The Public House on Bainbirdge Island)

Go to any of the many Sunday farmer's markets. (This one happens to be in Ballard.)

Sea kayaking (here with friend and weekend host Susan).

Yes Seattle is an amazing, green (in color and environmental progress), water-filled city. There are so many other things to see, do, eat and hear in this northwestern city, too. Give it a chance, sometime. You just might get stuck there for 5 years like I did.

- Sarah

I love fish and chips.  I’ve always assumed this to be a true statement, but now that I’ve tried the real thing there’s no denying it.  I’ll be the first to say (well maybe Liz would beat me to the punch) that I was a little skeptical of the food after our first couple days in Auckland.  We had a couple of so-so meals and that was enough to put me in a bit of a tailspin.  Of course, my sample size was much too small, and after just a couple more days, and some great recommendations from the new friends we’re meeting around New Zealand, I can say that my impression has completely changed. 

With the help of the staff at the IEP (the organization that’s helping us get our feet off the ground here), we’re going to make our trip through the country partly a culinary one.  They are currently assembling a list of some of their favorite places around the country and we’ll be sure to mention some of our favorites as we travel around in the coming months.  You never know when it will come in handy.

Besides the food…. Liz and I have left Auckland with Stray, a great little bus company that provides guided tours through the cultural and scenic highlights of the country.  Every day we travel to a particular destination, and in the evening we settle down in a hostel for dinner and drinking (sensible amounts, not like those other bus tours). 

We decided to jump off the bus a couple of days ago and stay in a little town named Raglan.  Apparently it’s one of the surfing capitals of the world.  It’s dead winter here right now, and surfers can still be found in the bay at any time of the day catching waves, hanging ten and the sort.  We decided to do the same and have been surfing for the last couple days in full wetsuits with bootys.  It’s still cold as…. but it’s been a lot of fun.  The town of Raglan is also a sight to see.  It’s a great little beach community that’s still bustling even in the middle of the off season.  There’s a good chance we’ll be back to see this place next summer.

Tomorrow we’re going to jump back on the bus for the next adventure.  We’re going to get our Maori culture in and stay at a Marae and have a traditional hangi meal.  This promises to be another great night of food and fun.  I’m betting the food will be great.

Pics to come soon, internet's slow out here in surfer land.

UPDATE: It was awesome down in the nui meeting Mara's parents, sisters and brother.  They are all awesome.  We even went on a tour of the town - or lack of hahaha, nah there were a few shops, and a lot of fish and chip shops.  If there is ever a queue at your local fish and chip shop, just head down to Taumarunui!  

On the way back I drove through a stop sign!  Heck!  Lucky God kept the cars away from us!

I had a couple of man to man chats with Mara's dad, but he wasn't scary so thats all gee. Now Mara gets to meet Mum ahohoho, but she's the least scary person I know.  

Off to watch the rugby now, BOOM!

Friday means Fish & Chips. A great British lunch if ever there was one (it's no doubt one of the few). We enjoy our team lunches at neoco. Some of us eat faster and more than others, which has lead to several conversations about an eating content... I think the unofficial record is set at 10 McDonalds cheese burgers. Is it immature or wasteful to eat like this? Maybe. Or we could stuff a load of food, then undertake physical activity until we puke, and then make an online TV show/ website about it... is that more immature and wasteful?

I've always said that tours are pretty pointless unless you've absolutely no idea what's going on in a country.  Tour guides generally take you to the typical "touristy" joints, say the "touristy" things, and are pretty much useless for anything else.  I suppose that's when you should ask the locals for help, and who knows London better than a cabbie?  After asking one for a place with a decent fish and chips, we arrived at The Seashell, the proclaimed "best fish and chips in London".

The Seashell is well known to the London cabbies, as they also enjoy the food from time to time.  Therefore, it's rather easy to find; even if you don't use a cab, however, it's very accessible from the Underground.  You have plenty of options to get there.  Once you arrive, there's the takeout station (cab driver heaven) and the main restaurant, where we decided to sit for dinner.  It's a no-frills, no-nonsense environment.  A simple blackboard details the day's specials, and the simple artwork and warm-colored walls don't distract you from the main feature - good food.

Here, the menu is straight to the point.  After a list of starters, the menu goes into two main sections, the fish and chips and the grilled fish.  The only non-seafood option is lamb, but it's clear the major emphasis is on their famous fish and chips.  So why not go for it?  For me, I've never seen a restaurant give so many options for the type of fish in the fish and chips.  It's quite interesting, really.

For starters, we tried the haddock chowder and deviled whitebait.  The haddock chowder is significantly richer than clam chowder, with little pieces of fish being strewn throughout the soup.  It's also seasoned with mustard to add some kick to it; in all, an enjoyable starter, but rather filling.  The deviled whitebait is also quite good regardless of its...interesting ingredients.  It's basically battered and deep fried whole fish, but it's been seasoned incredibly well.  There isn't a trace of fishiness at all.  The dipping sauce, a garlic butter sauce, also adds quite a bit of taste to it all.  If you don't mind having something fried for your first dish, it's well worth it, and apparently quite popular too.

The main dish doesn't leave a lot to the imagination - it's traditional fish and chips, with a variety of fish available.  The typical ones are the cod and haddock, but there is also rock salmon (dogfish), skate (stingray like thing), and plaice.  I actually have no clue what plaice is, but rock salmon and plaice weren't recommended compared to the cod and haddock.  Therefore, the only real "exotic" one we tried was the skate.  The cod and haddock were about the same, so I'll say that both were truly excellent preparations.  The fish was light, flaky, and tasteful; also, the batter was incredibly thin but well done.  It's not greasy or oily, but still has a satisfying crunch.  The skate, however, was something totally different.  Since it was more a stingray than a fish, the meat was oily but not fishy.  Also, the meat was stringy; you could pick it with a fork and a long strand would come off.  That's not to say it's a bad decision.  In fact, it was the tastiest out of all of the fishes.  However, I do think you should prepare yourself for something completely different.

The desserts were also very good, with two homemade desserts topping the list.  The favorite is a butter and bread pudding, topped with custard.  It's a beautiful combination of sweetness, with raisins embedded throughout, and the soft texture of the bread.  The apple tart is supposedly excellent, though I don't have first hand experience.  An amusing dessert was the "spotted dick", with is a rum raisin cake with custard slathed on top of it.  I have no idea why it's called such, but I did hear a few chuckles from here and there.  My my, we're all such kids at heart.

In all, the Seashell does live up to its name of having the best fish and chips in town.  I was quite happy with the goods, and I'm pretty sure most people would too.  I'm not even a huge fan of British food, either, so that should be saying something.  The worst part is the service, which isn't very good at all.  We sat for twenty minutes before we even got anybody to come by.  These are college students who aren't particularly enthusiastic about things here.  If you're lucky, then you'll find someone who will serve you promptly, but be prepared ot wait just in case.

Pros:
**"Cheap" food
**Best fish and chips isn't an overstatement

Cons:
**Annoying service towards foreigners

Important Information:
49-51 Lisson Grove
London, NW1, United Kingdom
+44 20 72249000
www.seashellrestaurant.co.uk

Well, I do love tea, pubs and fish and chips...stereotypes they may be, but I find no fault! Although taken out of context of the rest of the episode, saying that 'we're just fast' seems kind of insulting...

Sometimes, we'd break our  trip in Rotorua; other times we'd go through Taupo, a wonderful place to stop for fish 'n' chips. Never have I tasted better. Bought from any of a number of uninspiring takeaway shops along the lakefront, the fish and chips would emerge steaming from the deep fat frier, wrapped first in paper, then in a layer of the previous day's New Zealand Herald, which could make for catch-up reading if you'd missed that particular edition. Then we'd hurry to find a picnic bench by the lake. There we'd eat the succulent fish as it fell away from its batter, looking across at the three peaks of Tongariro National Park: Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, sometimes snow-capped and other times hidden by mist. Mum and Dad would repeat for us the legends of the lake: that it was a volcano itself once, but so large that when it erupted in AD 186, the ancient Romans, all the way across the world, wrote about strange skies and falling ash. That was quite a story for our young heads to absorb as we sat watching the bottomless lake in front of us, its hot water beaches bubbling away with the local thermal activity. There was always a slightly unnerving aspect to Taupo's size and beauty. Crime writers, take note: this would be a great place for a character to disappear.

As we left the nauseatingly windy Taupo road behind us, wine country began. Vineyards flank the thoroughfare in row upon row of grape-heavy vines on the approach to Napier. On we'd go, past the airport and flat farmland that used to lie beneath water until the devastating quake of 1931 which changed the face of this town forever. Soon we'd arrive at my grandmother's house and head straight for the living room, off which her galley kitchen stood. We'd sit and talk to her as she cooked her old-fashioned meals. Most of the time it would be a classic meat and two veg, but I remember her tomato scallop with fond nostalgia. A metal pan would be lined with white bread, butter side down, then filled with a tomato and onion mixture before being closed with more slices of white bread, butter side up. In the oven, the bread turned crispy gold and the filling steamed as we ladled it onto our plates. There was never enough. I could have eaten the whole panful myself.

Napier being a seaside town, summertime picnics on the beach of baking black pebbles were great fun. Sometimes we'd have fish and chips up there on the Norfolk pine-lined Marine Parade, perhaps washed down with a bottle of Gilberd's 'pop', lemonade or flavoured sodas that arrived in a mixed crate. On outings with my great aunt and great uncle I learned to love toasted cheese and onion sandwiches, still one of my top comfort cravings. Back at their flat we'd make ice cream sodas with a scoop of ice cream topped by lemonade and stirred with long orange swizzle sticks in the shape of a giraffe. Then I'd sit with my great uncle and play card games with him for 2 or 1 cent stakes. He must have let me win because I always left with pockets full of change.

The same great uncle kept a vegetable patch hidden from wind and prying eyes behind the garage. He taught me how to pull up carrots and that pop each time one was released from the earth was a huge thrill for a city child. Suddenly, carrots in plastic bags on supermarket shelves seemed incredibly boring. It's strange how such simple memories glue themselves to people we know, becoming intertwined with their personalities in our heads. At my great uncle's funeral, many years later, all I could think about was carrots.

As my grandmother and her sisters sat talking about the neighbourhood, the people, the houses and what colour to paint the fence this year or whose roses were growing well, occasional pieces of information raised my interest like someone offering to make a mock chicken. What on earth was that? How could it be possible to make anything that's not chicken taste like chicken, I wondered. It tasted perfectly good and even a bit like chicken, which was peculiar to my small head as no chicken or meat made it into the mixture. Here is a recipe for mock chicken that I found on abc.net.au Apparently it was very popular in war times when meat and chicken were rationed so that's how it found its way into our family's cooking history.

Click here to go to Kiwi Cuisine 1

Also, from Flickr, under creative commons, with the photo taken by mellowfood.

The first thing I was impressed about at 202 was the bar. They stock the really good stuff that cocktail geeks go crazy over, Hudson Bay bourbon, Allspice Dram, Scarlet Ibis Rum etc. We started off lunch with two cocktails, I had a kumquat carpirhina, and my girlfriend had a passion fruit mimosa. Both were really good and of the quality you would expect of a bar that carries such fine brands.

For lunch I chose the tuna burger with guacamole and plantain chips and my girlfriend ordered the fish and chips with smashed peas. When they brought our food, my order was correct but they brought her fish tacos instead of fish and chips so we actually ate our food at separate times.

The tuna burger was cooked perfectly and the guacamole was freshly made, I perhaps would have preferred a different side than a few lame plantain chips with some sort of southwestern creamy dipping sauce but the burger was so good that this did not spoil the meal. I really liked my girlfriend's fish and chips and especially loved the smashed peas but she didn't really like the fish or the tarter sauce that came with it. She did like the chips and smashed peas however.

The quality of a bar at a restaurant is a big thing for me and the fact that 202 is so serious about their own is a very good sign of a restaurant. I'm not in Chelsea that often and while 202 is a little expensive for my taste I would have absolutely no reservations about returning for a dinner.

Cocktails - $12.00 each

Tuna Burger - $19.00

Fish and Chips - $22.00

202 at Nicole Farhi - 75 9th Avenue (Between 15th and 16th Street) NY, NY, 10011, 646-638-1173

The Riverside wrap up continues as I scoot downtown to dine with my homegirl Alex.

We met up at The Royal Falconer, a nice little english pub that has a location in Redlands as well as Riverside.

this place has had an enormous selection of beer long before yardhouse ever existed, and has a fair amount of the less common stuff on tap

Since they have it on tap, I went for my favourite hef: Franziskaner. Alex grabbed a strongbow cider(another favourite of mine), but it looks boring so I didn't photograph it.

Alex placed an order for irish nachos instead of a dinner. The irish nachos are pretty basic with sourcream, melted cheese, bacon, and chives. despite being basic, It all just tastes so good on top of french fries...err "chips"

I felt obligated to order the fish and chips. the offer both cod and halibut. I went for the halibut but because I've always heard gross things about cods living habbits. Never the less it was delicious, as were th chips served under the fish. I defintiely recommend this place, my favourite appetizer is the english sausage roll.

http://www.royalfalconerca.com/

I think I must have complained too loudly about being hot yesterday after all - it's raining now.
Whenever I complain about the rain here some "Hilarious" German feels the need to say "but shouldn't you be used to this, coming from England?" or "doesn't this weather make you feel at home then?". Do you think they've noticed that Great Britain is an island. It's surrounded by sea. If it really rained as much as people here seem to think we'd have been washed away by now!

Here are some other stereotypes that the Germany have about English people:

• British people can't cook. We also don't know what spice is for, so all our food is boring and bland.
• We're obsessed with "peppermint" sauce and eat it with everything.
• We have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning (I blame the school text books for this one... especially the "ham" part. Would it really so difficult for the kids to remember the word bacon??)
• We eat fish and chips all the time. With lots of vinegar, which makes them taste disgusting. (Actually if we used the kind of vinegar they're thinking of it probably would taste disgusting. They don't seem to do malt vinegar here...)
• We drink lots of tea, all the time. Several hundred cups a day. And we put milk in it. (This one's partially true. I know people that actually do drink (what seems like) hundreds of cups of tea every day. But try getting a German to believe that not every English person likes tea...)
• We're crap at football (actually I can see why they think that. Which team isn't in the European cup this year again? That'd be England I believe...)
• All English people have ginger hair, pale skin and freckles. I actually almost fit this stereotype - I have pale skin and freckles and my hair is red, but not ginger

That's all I can think of right now, and I have to get ready for work anyway. If anyone would like to add any more stereotypes to the list please comment. Maybe some stereotypes that people in countries other than German have about us? (And any Germans reading this please don't take offence. It's just for fun! I actually really like Germans and love living in Germany.)

Like we weren't already gushing over all things English - BBC television shows and miniseries, Top Shop, the selection of sauces at Nando's, the Brits strike again with a new location to see your favorite bands: a taxi cab. What started a year ago as a solo performance that music promoters Hidden Fruit and film company Just So Films decided to film for Johnny Flynn became a series attracting the likes of Spoon, My Morning Jacket, The Raveonettes, and more. With the days of MTV Unplugged: Eric Clapton gone, Black Cab Sessions fills the hole for intimate, bare bones music performances that can be experienced by the masses. Even better, these young music promoters and filmmakers only have to pay the price of their taxi ride for the venue. Also, props to the cameramen who not only are squished in the back of these cabs and are able to film the bands beautifully in a single take, but for the extranneous pieces of the environment that they capture on miniDV.

Here is a taste. For more click here.

Spoon - I Summon You

Okkervil River - Big Black Car

Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone

Daniel Johnston - Greivances

Johnathan Byers - Bach's Cello Suite, Prelude in G Major

St. Vincent - Dig A Pony

]]> http://shotthefood.wordpress.com/?p=48 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:01:16 +0000 sabine01 http://shotthefood.wordpress.com/?p=48 This past weekend, Dan and I ventured to Old Town Alexandria with a couple of friends of ours to Pat Troy's Ireland's Own to take in some live music (mainly drinking songs and covers) and great food and drink.

The long island iced teas were strong, and the musician was quite comedic. It made for a very enjoyable evening and welcome respite from day's heat.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Dan's Plate of Fish and Chips

Jessie and Justin's Plate of Wings

Originally uploaded by casc0017

Contrary to popular belief, Britain's national dish not always used to be battered cod with chips (that's "fries" for our American readers). The truth, as you can see, is far more shocking...

It is believed that the misunderstanding of Fish 'n' Chips was first introduced by anthropologists who studied the Britons in the late 19th century. Whilst inquiring into the feeding habits of the indigenous people they came across this rather unsavoury practise...

"Pray, tell me good Sir what might this curious dish be that you and your fellow countrymen partake of with so much appetite?"

-"Fish 'n' hips."

"Fish and... hips?"

-"Tha's right, guv. Good, innit lads?"

(Aside to his assistant): "Surely, they mean fish and chips, an incredible Belgian invention that the Roman invaders must have brought with them to these isles."

Nothing more was heard of the anthropologist apart from a peculiar note about man who was hardly recognisable as the intrepid explorer of British culture only a couple of years before. Stark raving mad, he died in an asylum, mumbling constantly "Cod and hips is people! It's peeeeeeeeeeople!"

It is believed that the nowadays almost forgotten practise of serving fish with hips was responsible for the disappearance of many a visitor to England in the last centuries, and as you can see now this barbaric tradition has not yet completely died out.