A not so good dinner. We were going to eat in the hotel but at the last minute decide to try a place that's had 'rave' reviews. This was a mistake and the fact we could get a table at the last minute should have warned us off. The politest thing that could be said about it was that the chefs hype on social media outpaced his skills in the kitchen. To make matters worse the first bottle of wine had bottle stink and the second was corked. This double jeopardy has never happened to us before. 'The Font' was bemused that anyone should think super sweet macarons as an amuse bouche were a good way to start dinner. It went down hill from there but we enjoyed ourselves in a 'let this be a lesson never to change your booking' sort of way. The restaurants pale pink lampshades with gold tassels will not easily be forgotten.
This morning it's cooler than it's been. Hotel dog has found the perfect work life balance. Guests wandering into the garden are ignored but the occasional deep sigh indicates that the heady responsibility of being the hotel guardian has not been forgotten. This is the ' You may think I'm asleep but I'm not ' approach. One paw is gracefully placed over the other.
You can still find memorials like this commemorating the 'mutiny' in old Anglican churches in India. The best are in the 'Old Church' behind the main bus station in Delhi. How much longer the church, or the memorials, will survive is another question.
Some 16th century tombs have lost their hands.
English, History and Divinity are disappearing as degree level subjects in the US :https://x.com/benmschmidt/status/1562212497272279041
Proof of the above if you needed it :https://www.cato.org/blog/53-dont-know-why-we-declared-independence-britain-1776 Please may journalists not use the word semiquincentennial. It loses what little attractiveness it has very quickly.
Are rising expectations revolutionary ? If so where are we all headed ? :https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/revolution-rising-expectations
Jimmy Swaggart. An interesting obituary :https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2025-07-01/preacher-jimmy-swaggart-dead-obituary
Those Chinese toys again :https://thediplomat.com/2025/06/labubu-plushies-arent-just-toys-theyre-a-brand-new-frontier-for-chinese-soft-power/
2 comments:
Sorry that your dinner was disappointing, but lucky (?) that it was so bad it may well move into the "amusing anecdote" category with the passage of time. As I recall, our momo-mad son insisted that we dine at the Yak & Yeti in York - I wasn't sure Nepalese was the best idea, but it turned out to be a solid choice. Your links today are interesting as always. I think there is something to the rising expectations theory of revolution - it's either that or sheer boredom that's driven people mad. On the other hand, it seems possible that the humanities may stage a comeback, with all those computer science students now struggling to find jobs in an AI world.
Hari OM
... are not bottle stink and "corking" the same thing? Either way, very disappointing, I am sure. My main eating memory of York is the biggest and best Yorkshire puddings ever... so good, they were sold as a dish in themselves, with vegetarian gravy and perfectly steamed vegetables piled inside. YAM xx
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