Resolutions

I've been mulling over a few achievable goals for the new year. Granted, it's been a little while since last year ended, but i like to have a smooth glide-path into the new year without knee-jerk decisions. I spent the first week back at work enjoying the evenings in much the same way as i did at Christmas: with a tipple and a smile on my chops. I weaned myself off of the booze gradually over that week and got to grips with normality, and during that time I've formulated some reasonable aims for the year:

• Paint x1 miniature per month. Guaranteed. No shenanigans. Just do it.
• Cook a new vegan dish per week.
• Do at least 6 decent mountain walks.
• Learn to use my camera in proper manual mode and look like a pro.
• Re-learn French (to be achieved in conjunction with painting).
• Jog twice a week.

And as an aside, I'll be watching all the X Files episodes ever made.

Here's some examples of what's to come:

Happy New February.

Scotch on the rocks

Ah, scotch on the rocks. That's how we kick back. Sweet.

The final legge

This is the long bit, the rubbish bit before the nice bit, the bit where work will somehow crank up and chuck all sorts of silliness at me before I limp over the line at some point on Christmas Eve. Already I'm due to head north for the first few days of Christmas week to cover annual leave. My hope - and it's a naive one - is that I'll be able to focus purely on what needs doing there, but I'm pretty sure there are going to be a few slippery balls to catch on the hoof, as it were. And this week brings the team Christmas meal. I'm not going to grumble about that as we're off to a wickedly good fine-dining Indian restaurant. I've had to clarify my position (vegan) to them ahead of time and we've managed to make sure I get a  decent bit of tucker. And let's be fair, if the Indians can't cook that stuff well, no one can. So I'm looking forward to that. But there will be a sting in the tail of this week somewhere. I can see it. I dreamt about work last night so it's playing on my noggin.

Anyway, in other news, I have a Slambo miniature being painted for me by a true pro. I'll unveil him when he gets back and give details of the dauber. 

Vegan mushroom pate anyone? I've got a tonne of it. Freshly made by me. And it's almost nice...

Kafka and Oldhammer

I only popped out for half hour, but it feels like months.

Anyway, apart from dodging painting and collecting like a pro, I've been spending time in the kitchen learning more about cooking like a vegan. Quality stuff - I've got lentil loaf coming out of my ears...

But, in between my kitchen chemistry and real life stuff, I have dived into a bit of Kafka. I picked up two books in a secondhand gaff, The Trial and The Castle, and it's the latter of the two I'm currently reading. What has struck me is the atmosphere of the novel: it reminds me of some of the old WFRP scenarios and bits and pieces from WD published for the game. The basic premise as I see it to date is that the protagonist is called to a village to undertake land-surveying, but there has effectively been an admin error and he needn't have bothered. The snow-shrouded village has a castle in it, but access to it is seemingly almost impossible (not physically, but in principle). Despite not really needing to survey anything he is still able to remain in the village but as an employee of the invisible authorities represented by the castle. I'm about a third of the way through and it's a mind bender - the protagonist struggles to be accepted in the village and even though seemingly employed to the castle is unable to gain access, which itself is becoming a burning desire for him. Again, it's the atmosphere that puts me in mind of the encroaching weirdness of chaos in the Warhammer Old World.

That's all I've got to say at the moment. I'll keep on reading.

Epic Fails

Had a funny one today. I pulled my finger out yesterday and got going on my Kimril (he of slaying fame) with a black undercoat and some grimy/rusty chainmail. I wasn't sure about the idea of a dwarf not buffing his armour, but let it go having considered the drunken nature of your average slayer perhaps impacting on armour-cleaning time, etc., so went with it. I got to a point from which I could tidy up later to improve the look, so I took a stab at his mohican and beard. I wanted to go for a nice contrasting colour to the silver and orange brown I was expecting to end up with on the chainmail so plumped for a purple to pink to white combo. I wanted gritty so I worked from a dark base. The result was - sadly - utter shite. I have since sent him to the well of eternal dettol and will go at him again once he has repented and/or drunk his way out. Here he is in all his shame prior to his banishment:

Another epic fail today relates to my adventures in vegan cooking. I've been 11 weeks a vegan now and it's been enjoyable. I'm cooking stuff that's completely new to me but cooking well as I'm quite a decent home cook thank you very much. I've realised that Indian cooking is the best way for me, especially as I enjoy learning to cook with different ingredients. Generally speaking, I've been quick enough to realise that the best way of approaching veganism (for me at least) is to avoid substitutes like Quorn and whatever. The main reason is that they're pretty shite, but I also think that such a change is better made by learning new skills rather than cooking the same old same old with a replacement product which is (inevitably) inferior to the original meat product. It's far more rewarding. So I'm a bit pissed off with myself for having my will bent by a desire to replicate BBQ pulled pork. Recently there's a bit of excitement in vegan circles over a pulled pork substitute called jackfruit. This fruit in its young and green state offers a strand-like texture and look, and little or no taste. It is available in tins from Chinese supermarkets for something like a quid a tin. As much I have been pulling away from the old dishes I loved, this one pulled me back in with huge hopes for something that has - anecdotally - tricked meat-eaters into thinking they were eating pork. So I cooked it tonight. And to be fair, it looks massively like pulled pork. And the homebrew BBQ sauce I made is boss. But the initial texture of the fruit, not dissimilar to pulled pork, quickly becomes mush. And apart from holding some BBQ flavour, it's pretty insubstantial stuff. My stepson doesn't like it at all, saying it made him think of mushy fruit. Mango to be precise. I'll have to question him on his sudden expertise on fruit, mango especially, but I can see his point. But his reaction was tame compared to my wife, who almost gagged and had to gob it up into a tissue. Strong stuff that - a definite statement! The worst I ever heard from her about my food before tonight was that a dish had been salty. Perhaps on a couple of occasions we agreed I wouldn't make a dish again, but that's an issue of preference. This was physical dislike. Horrendous 😞. Anyway, I'll eat it tomorrow with nachos and pretend cheese (still kidding myself). The original recipe can be found at http://minimalistbaker.com/bbq-jackfruit-sandwiches-with-avocado-slaw/. I should credit them with a hashtag too: #minimalistbaker. Fair play to the blogger for the attempt, but I see this stuff as the Emperor's New Clothes. Shame. Here's the result alongside a killer BBQ sauce:

Back to the daal and stuff I reckon!

Everything

Realising the remit in my blog intro/description, here's some stuff in general:

5-a-side - we've had a lot of trouble of late; regulars have been dropping out, numbers dwindled...it took an impassioned plea to get everything back on track and all seems to be well again. I'm hoping we're good for another block booking as we've been playing for about 8yrs in different guises.

Rugby - RWC 2015 looms large. Wales are in the same group as England, Australia and Fiji, a stinking arrangement caused by the WRU's greed in insisting on the annual 4th and unsanctioned Autumn International game allied to some poor results, albeit against top teams, in the period prior to the RWC 2015 draw, despite a 4th place world cup finish and 2012 championship win if i remember correctly (lots of commas there - not too many I hope). Anyway, the first warm up game at home versus Ireland went badly for the pack, but we had a developmental team out against them (they did too but were far more canny in the pack selection). We play them again next weekend in Dublin and this time we need to look tidy with a decent team expected to be running out.

Beer - to be fair, as a near 2-month vegan, real ale is off-limits to a degree. I need to check which i can drink as they are often made with finings made from fish. Other drink like wine (sparkling or otherwise) is often clarified with animal products. It's a steep learning curve but scotch is a-ok!

Cooking - I'm loving this vegan lark. Been making ratatouille, falafel, Thai broths, aubergine curries, mexican jazz, all sorts. I miss cheese though. And proper gravy 😐.

Minis - i have been somewhat active of late in the trade business. By which I mean i have traded x3 pieces. But i also got a freebie from a comrade in the north of Wales. In total, for the loss of x1 chaos warrior, x1 Marauder greatsword type fellow and an orc with a spear and a goblin skin hat, I have received the classic Space Wolf captain with the wolf helmet, a skeleton champion with 2 swords and a spike helmet, an Yyrkoon model (Eternal Champion), as well as that freebie I just mentioned: Moonglum, another Eternal Champion piece. I'm one piece up! Can't fault it. Still looking for Elric, Dorian, Erekose and some other bits, as well as moon face Tzeentch feller and Nurgle fly head dude. Feel free to contact me for trade 👍.

Religion/atheism - weirdly, a Polish couple and their kid knocked the door earlier asking if there were any other Polish families locally. They were JW's looking to spread the insidious word. It struck me that the kid had no chance of a normal life and would no doubt have to carry the mental baggage of his parents' belief system all his days, whether happily within the narrow confines of that organisation or else perhaps awkwardly if he is ever able to break out from the belief system his parents have forced upon him. Other than the fact the doorstep evangelisers thought us unworthy of the good news they had for their Polish compatriots, that got me a bit riled this morning. Religion is a choice, so don't force it on your kids. I can only hope the poor feller has a chance to break away later in life, but judging by the rallies we have in Cardiff every year, it's unlikely: there are teenagers and young adults by the thousands lapping this stuff up. As a willing victim of Christianity in my young adult life (I successfully pulled away when I employed logic and free thought, but it was one hell of a wrench - more of that another time) I know the pitfalls and the difficulty of stepping away from a very loving, caring group. It's not easy, and that's an understatement. Good luck to them all.

Piffle - see above.

Nos da...

Dark Torgt Hell Grim

Bagged him. Oh glorious day! What a piece. Just waiting on delivery now.