Good work, Holmes. And surely no jury in the land would convict for such an understandable crime!
State of journalism today. WHAT FUCKING FLAVOUR WERE THE CRISPS?
I tried watching a few episodes a while back. Glorious overacting and some of the shonkiest sets and special effects ever.
But you can't beat a bit of Avon's Five.
No, but they were:
Strategic bombing of a civilian population
For me it’s not about the actual temperature it’s about the dependability of the weather.
When I was a kid, cough-cough years ago, summer was weeks of decent weather. It might not have had the temperature extremes we’re seeing now but it was warm and sunny for weeks. Glorious, long weeks.
Now it feels like you can’t even plan a barbecue because it might be nice or it might be absolutely shitting down with rain.
I’ve met many. Funny thing, anecdotal data.
The most successful besiegers were probably the Romans. It wasn't so much the act of laying siege that caused cities to surrender, it was the utter, uncompromising determination of the Romans to see the siege through to the end, and the atrocities they would commit on the surrendering population that made them so successful. Surrender immediately and you don't get enslaved or butchered... hold out and things will go very, very badly.
I don't recall all the details but there was one siege in western Europe where the mayor of the town declared 'you won't take us: we have supplies for four years in our store houses' to which the Roman commander replied 'then we'll take you on the fifth year.'
Or take Masada, a supposedly impregnable fortress built on a mountaintop. First the Romans built walls all the way around it, both to contain the Jewish 'rebels' but also to protect the Roman siegeworks from any potential rescue force. Then they just built a ramp. A massive, massive ramp, that reached all the way up to the fortress walls (which weren't that strong because who builds a strong wall when your fortress is perched on top of a mountain?). Then they wheeled up some siege engines, smashed their way through the walls and discovered most of the inhabitants had commited suicide rather than face capture.
Strategic bombing of a civilian population has only ever hardened that population’s resolve.
Are you including Hiroshima and Nagasaki in that?
That is entirely correct. You Americans are far too clever for us simpleton Brits. Pigs in blankets are exactly the same thing as sausage rolls. There is no need for you to investigate any further at all.
All problems can be solved by violence if you use enough of it.
Dry brined then cooked low and slow (just around 100'c) for about two and a half hours (in a braising liquid made of mostly beer). Then finished over direct heat on the grill.
Then I got over excited and didn't take any more pictures.
They were ok - bought from Sainsbury's on a whim for about £5. Not that great in terms of meat/bone ratio, but good flavour.
I would gladly pay good money for re-released AC games without any of the modern day Abstergo stuff. Am I the only one? I mean, at the time it was interesting, but the modern day missions now just detract from immersion and are usually crap.
Just me or anyone else?
[Just started replaying Revelations!]
All of Chaosium's Runequest: Roleplaying in Glorantha is currently available in PDF from Humble Bundle for £14.21.
That's everything. Which is insane value for money. You'd be mad not to. Get it here!
[Original post on the excellent (but undernourished) /c/runequest_glorantha!]
All of Chaosium's Runequest: Roleplaying in Glorantha is currently available in PDF from Humble Bundle for £14.21.
That's everything. Which is insane value for money. You'd be mad not to.
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/runequest-chaosium-inc-books
We've had to wait for it, especially in the UK since the initial shipment of hard copies seemed to go missing, but it's well worth that wait.
This is the counterpoint, the rebuttal, the answer to questions posed by the Lightbringers and Earth Goddesses cult books. The Lunars are not just baddies, they're the flip side of the coin, the pragmatists, the side with the winning perspective. I believe in the Red Goddess, Mistress of Life and Death.
Presented here are cults including the Seven Mothers, Teelo Norri, Honeel, the Crimson Bat, the Red Emperor and the Red Goddess. Also included is Nysalor/Gbaji and an introduction to Lunar illumination.
This is a must have volume if you want to run anything connected to the Hero Wars in Glorantha.
Plus, also, once again the art is breathtaking.
Martin Helsdon, the man who brought us the magisterial Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass has done it again with an even larger, even more ambitious addition to the Jonstown Compendium collection of community content for Runequest.
Focused, as the name suggests, on sea-faring it is hugely detailed and comprehensive, and blessed with some of the finest artwork ever produced for a Gloranthan book.
While it covers everything to do with ships and seaborne trade (ship-building, shiphandling and seafaring, cargo and harbours, naval warfare, nautical terminology, etc) and documents a whole flotilla of different types of vessel, in many ways the stand out is the ‘Periplus’, a first-person account of the voyages of an Issaries trader interspersed with the meat of the book, which brings the material to life.
Thoroughly recommended!
Available from the Jonstown Compendium on Drivethru, here. Note: this isn't an affiliate link or anything, just a direct link to the listing.
Chicken and asparagus risotto
Serves 2
Ingredients
- asparagus, one bunch - for this, where the asparagus is chopped, I like quite thin stalks, if I'm serving it whole as a side I prefer thicker stalks
- chicken breast, 250g cooked, and chopped - this is a weeknight meal, if I was taking time I'd poach and shred some chicken breast fresh for it
- risotto rice, 250g - I like Carnaroli most, but only had Arborio in the cupboard so that's what I used here
- shallots - I had some huge Echalion shallots and just used a couple, finely sliced
- garlic, 2 cloves, finely slived or minced
- butter, an ungodly amount, in 1 cm cubes - some for frying and some to finish. Maybe 100g
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- stock, 1L - I used half chicken and half veggie
- flat leaf parsley, 1 fistful, chopped
- Parmigiano Reggiano, 50g, finely grated
- salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
Method
- take a bunch of asparagus and snap off the woody stems (don't bin them!). Cut the asparagus into roughly 1.5cm to 2cm pieces on a slight bias.
- bring some stock to a bare simmer and toss in the woody asparagus stems. I used about 1L stock total.
- bring half the butter to a low simmer in a heavy bottomed pan (an enamelled dutch oven is perfect here, a Le Creuset or other similar). Gently cook the chopped asparagus in the butter, until fragrant and softening, maybe 3-4 minutes.
- remove the asparagus and reserve.
- add the chopped shallots to the pan and let soften, about 5 minutes.
- add the garlic to the pan and let soften, about 2 minutes.
- turn the heat up under the pan to medium, add the rice, and stir in the rice. Fry until you can smell a slightly toasty note from the rice, stirring often.
- toss in your white wine and keep stirring frequently until it's been absorbed.
- remove the woody asparagus stems from the stock and chuck.
- a ladle or two at a time, add some stock to the risotto and keep stirring often until the stock has been almost completely absorbed. Repeat until you've used almost all the stock. Test the rice. You want no chalkiness, but still a little but of a bite to it, it shouldn't be mushy.
- add the chopped chicken and the fried asparagus to the pot along with the last ladle or two of stock. Keep stirring until it's at about the consistency you're looking for[1].
- add the chopped parsley and the rest of the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
My wife declared it to be as good as the M&S microwave Chicken and Asparagus risotto ready-meal, so you can't get much better than that, can you?
[1] - the perfect risotto should 'creep' across the plate, ie when you add a ladleful to a plate it shouldn't maintain a heaped shape but should gradually relax and spread a bit. Mine, here, was a bit thick, but what can you do?
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They make a good point. That's helped me decide; I'm going to go with Four Day Bruise and Ruptured Spleen for my boudoir.